Consequences of the Quill (Restored 5/13/06)

[LordVyreth]

So, what next?

After defeating the strange creature, the party reclaimed their mounts, which they hid before first visiting the temple, and began the trek home. It took a couple of days to return to Methosilang using the underground tunnels, and it wasn’t for Lerissa’s help, they would have been completely lost. The path branched every few hundred feet for the entire trip, and it was becoming increasingly obvious to the party members exactly how Methosilang has stayed in existence this long. Between the protection of the gods and this constant labyrinth of tunnels, no invading army would get very far before getting split into hundreds of smaller forces or herded into a dead end, while being attacked by guerilla forces constantly.
As the party traveled, Lerissa explained about the powder. Apparently, the orcs called it Spark Powder, and it is used primarily as fuel for a unique variety of orc weaponry. These devices can propel an explosive blast at an incredible range, and is capable of puncturing even heavy armor with little difficulty. Lerissa is a devout worshiper of Ordhari, the goddess of knowledge, and while their church has been trying to duplicate this weapon for centuries, the best that they can come up with is a slow, unreliable imitation, but if they can discover the secrets of this powder, they might be able to improve upon their designs by quite a bit.
Apart from this, the party rode largely in silence. All had their own concerns. Quercus, Tal, Tsine and Raz were still trying to figure out the strange world they are in, and why it’s both so familiar and so alien to what they think is “right,” while Rudyard and Flix are trying to understand this Bas figure, and if she’s a real goddess or a fraud. And if she is a real goddess, then why has the church never mentioned her?
The party soon arrived home, where they received the gratitude of the church of Ordhari, the Temple of the Sisters, and Lerissa’s family. In addition, with their test completed, the party had the freedom to pursue their own missions, provided it theoretically works in the best interests of the kingdom. However, before they could make a decision about it, Quercus realized he had to speak to Shanna about what he saw at the temple. When he finished his tale, she was very quiet, yet was clearly very angry about something. She carefully responded, “Whatever this Bas is, it’s clearly a fraud. There are only eleven sisters. However, there were Bas cultists before in the past. Centuries ago, these madmen and women endangered the kingdom, and in fact helped destroy the original city of Methosilang, forcing us to move to a new home. But they worshipped a lie! There never was a Bas; I don’t know what they really worship, but it can’t be one of the sisters. Perhaps it is Nerull, or the false, faceless god of the orcs?”
Hearing this, Quercus took his leave of the priestess, and gathered together with the rest of the company to discuss their next move. He also came to a difficult decision. Though it might compromise his position in the church if it became known, he revealed to all of them about the existence of Nerull, proving that there is at least one god beyond that of the eleven sisters. Now that they’ve heard of a second potential new goddess, it was time to get some answers. Flix suggested that they go to Delaspie, the last bastion of pure good left in this world. Its capital apparently has a library which contains books and other relics of the time before the Two Plagues (the Puppet and the Head the Rules the Claw,) and while they worship the eleven sisters there as well, they’re not as certain about the theory that the sisters always existed, and just returned in this new age. They have a theory that the goddesses inherited their powers from an old set of gods, which Nerull was a part of. Finally, the party agreed to this mission, and eager to travel in the world above after a lifetime of living underground, and to prove themselves further as adventurers, they decided that instead of a long and boring trip underground, they would work adventuring missions above ground as they went. With a decision made, they decided to rest in town for tonight, and look for a job in the morning.
OOC Notes: Not much to say. This was actually one of the more in-depth role-playing adventures we had, between the temple sneaking and the party-based decision to advance the plot in a specific direction. It also helped quite a bit because the actual adventure ended earlier than expected, as I mentioned above. And, for those wondering (assuming anyone actually reads this thing,) the reason Flix and Rudyard are out of the whole “Lady Memory” thing is because they don’t have players. They were NPCs added to help fill gaps in the party, but the PCs control them in combat.

 

[LordVyreth]

Race For Life

The party woke up early the next morning, but before they began their next journey (or even began to look for their next journey,) each spent the morning quietly pondering the events of the last week, and their hopes for the future. Quercus wondered what his stepfather thought of him now that he was an accomplished hero of at least some regard, and considered asking Tsine if he heard anything. At the same time, though, his thoughts drifted again to his real father, the celestial. Who was he? What type of celestial was he, and was he still a good being, or a fallen? And if he was good, why did he abandon Quercus and the entire plane? As he thought of these things, he had a premonition that he would soon find out. Meanwhile, Tsine was also pondering his future, and his father, but his reaction was that of disdain. He was tired of his father forcing him to take the arcane road. He wanted to take the fight to his enemies, especially the orcs, who have so humiliated his people so over the millennia, and still mock their goddesses at every opportunity. He was also disappointed partially with his teammates. Why did they show mercy and honor to the orcs, who would never have done the same if the situation were reversed? The orcs will never be stopped if they are constantly coddled. Tal’s plans were less conflicted, but no less ambitious. He was always the black sheep of the family, and his parents and other relatives always insisted that the Moinens were nobles, not entertainers or wilderness-trudging soldiers. But he would show them. With that, Tal got up, eager to practice his art at the local inns, to tell the tales he and his new friends have been on, and maybe earn an honest coin or two, and the eye of a charming lass. Raz didn’t have any clarity at this point. The loss of his memories affected him deeply, as did the captivity and the knowledge that just as he was getting his memories back, they were becoming a lie. He wanted the truth about this world more than anything, and while he is willing to travel with the group for now to find them, if they diverge from this plan, he’d also be happy to abandon them, and do whatever it takes to learn of what they are and what their purpose is.
As morning drifted into noon, the four of them met up with Flix and Rudyard, and sought out the typical places of employment. After a half-dozen false leads or missions that were too easy or difficult for them, or that led them in directions they didn’t want go, they finally found something promising. A noble merchant named Randall Pillora was killed recently by undead, but the death was a strange one. He wasn’t brought back as an undead, which often happens, but he also couldn’t be brought back by normal means. It was like he was cursed. Radmackis, a gnome cleric who has been taking care of him, did some research, and discovered a possible solution. About a week to the southeast of Methosilang, there is supposedly a shrine dedicated to Nelkiss, the goddess of dead, or more accurately, the post-death judgment and afterlife. Apparently, the shrine somehow judges those who go to it, and those who are deemed worthy are blessed with a free, and extremely powerful form of resurrection magic. It could be enough to break the curse, but it is a dangerous journey. The area is completely controlled by the orcs, and there are few if any tunnels in the area, so most of the trip will be overland. But all of the members of the party are eager for glory, revenge, or a chance to prove themselves, and readily agree to the cause. A grateful Radmackis gave them 500 gold in advance, and prepared a gentle repose for Randall, so he would last until the end of the journey before decomposing. After buying the supplies, the party got directions to the shrine, and further instructions to go from there to Necropolis, where Radmackis will be waiting for them, either to reward them if they succeeded, or to help prepare the body for burial if they failed. As they left the town, however, they heard an unusual song that an unfamiliar drow bard was playing to them. After hearing and pondering it, they turned to ask the bard about it, but he had already gone. (The song itself can be found at the end of the update, btw.)
The first day was spent underground, as they traveled towards the surface exit that was closest to the shrine. It was silent, for at least a few hours, though surprisingly, it was Quercus who broke the silence. “So, Tsine, did your father ever, ummm…” he began awkwardly, before trailing off.
Tsine sighed, having heard this before. “No, Quercus, he never mentioned you. I honestly don’t see why you feel the need for his approval, anyway. The man hasn’t had a dignified thought in his body since, well, you know…” he trailed off, not wanting to bring up a what was a painful memory to both of them. He suddenly changed the subject, “And I want to make something clear before we move on. If we have to pry information out some other humanoid, fine. But I am not helping you deal with the orcs any more. They long since lost any right to mercy or forgiveness, and I won’t strike any more deals with them.”
Rudyard grunted his approval. “I agree. I lost my family to those arrogant monsters. I’m sick of them and their dragon lackies ruining our world. The only good orc is a dead orc, as far as I’m concerned.”
None of the others seem concerned about this, save Tal, ironically, who is the first to admit he cares the least about the intricacies of abstract morality. That being said, extremism at every level concerns him far more, but since he also wasn’t known for being confrontational, he rode on in grudging silence.
They rested that last day underground, and emerged on the surface at the beginning of First Light. However, they didn’t travel for more than a few hours before danger struck. In the sky above them, a half-dozen hippogriffs, a strange spider/wasp creature, a giant eagle, a monstrous bat, and even two white dragons were approaching! Well aware that this was not an enemy they could face, the party dove into the bushes, and hid while Rudyard and Flix tried to watch their flight stealthily. Luckily, they apparently passed without incident, but a grave Rudyard informed the group that they were headed straight towards the shrine of Nelkiss. This simple mission might have become a race!

OOC Notes: For this adventure, you should be aware that I’m using house rules for resurrection. Basically, instead of the standard results of the raise spells, the raising cleric has to make a check based on a new skill, Knowledge (afterlife.) The results vary a lot. Besides level-loss and no effect at all, the raised being could have an alignment change, an ability score drain, or various mental effects, or they could come back with or as an undead, or even gain a template as a result!
Oh, and the song the party heard was this.


Out of the darkness came the Four.
The Hand and the Lady, the Prince and the Blade.
Now, gentle travelers, gaze at this world,
And look at all the trouble they’ve made.
And the Blade, trouble they’ve made,
And look at all the trouble they’ve made.

The Hand ruled armies and conquered cities,
But Fate twisted it into a Claw.
The Fury overthrew order’s rule
And so Chaos sprung forth from law
Into a Claw, forth from law,
And so Chaos sprung forth from law

The Lady’s past hides beyond the stars.
The Queen of Darkness her mother served.
Blood she spilled, but her own drove her mad.
Fear not! Her fate will be deserved.
Her mother served, will be deserved.
Fear not! Her fate will be deserved.

The Prince of Nightmares rules the Fallen’s Valley,
A relic of ancient evil his only friend.
He betrayed she who gave him his gift,
But justice was served in the end.
His only friend, in the end.
But justice was served in the end.

There is mercy in the Blade’s cut.
She believes her cause is right.
But her brilliant mind cannot pierce the lies.
Twisted minds lead to unjust might.
Cause is right, unjust might.
Twisted minds lead to unjust might.

This is why the evils lament,
And in their mistakes the Evil dies.
But will the world survive their wrath,
Or join in their despairing cries?
The Evil dies, despairing cries.
Or join in their despairing cries?

 

[LordVyreth]

They really should be using more attentive guards.

About two hours after the flight passed overheard, the party neared a clearing. Even from a distance, it looked inhabited, so Flix and Rudyard approached carefully, while the rest of the party withdrew, ready for danger. They came upon a small camp, that we clearly set up very recently, possibly even by the riders of the creatures from earlier that day. A tall but rickety watchtower stood in the middle of the encampment, with about twenty or so tents scattered haphazardly around it. A hyena-headed humanoid was at the top of the tower, watching the clearing for danger. Luckily, it didn’t look like it noticed the two heroes just yet, so they cautiously withdrew to report the situation. Once back with the rest of the party, they collectively planned their next move. “With twenty tents that are as big as you say they are, they could easily have forty or more troops there!”
Tsine shook his head. “If these are the same people that were with those fliers a few hours ago, they couldn’t have that many. They’d never fit on the mounts.”
“We could just try to sneak around the camp,” Tal offered.
The others grumbled about that idea. “Even if we sneak past undetected, if these are the same creatures, they have access to flight. We have to take them down now before they can rest and get the rest of the way to the shrine. And if they’re another group, we can get information about the fliers.”
The others agreed, though Tsine pointed out again that he won’t interrogate any more orcs. The group came to a plan, and Flix and Rudyard quietly snuck back to the area of the camp. There, they both fired at the gnoll before they could be spotted. Flix dagger went wide, but Rudyard’s arrow flew true, giving the creature a nasty gash in his harm. However, he was still alive, and before the two of them could finish the job, he howled at the top of his lungs, immediately alerting the entire camp! Realizing that the time for stealth is over, Quercus flew in from above, while Tsine, Raz, and Tal rode in. Rudyard followed them into camp, while Flix danced around the perimeter, ready to ambush whoever came out.
They didn’t have to wait long. Out of various tents, three orcs, a lizard woman, a hobgoblin, and a wolf stepped out to meet the invaders, while the gnoll fired one shot at Quercus, and then started climbing down the tower’s ladder to engage the enemy in melee. However, he didn’t make it. Another arrow hit punctured him, and he lost his grip on the ladder, falling to the earth headfirst and with a sickening crunch. One of the orcs didn’t fair any better, for he was sandwiched between Tsine and Flix’s attacks, and was gutted from behind with an expert shot by Flix. Another orc was killed by Raz’s arrow and Tal’s magic, while Quercus went to engage the hobgoblin. However, the remaining enemies demonstrated that they weren’t so easy to defeat. The hobgoblin immediately erupted into a screaming rage, and hammered Quercus with a vicious blow from his great axe. Quercus’ blood flowed freely, but he was able to take advantage of his enemy’s reckless behavior, and slashed him across the chest with his greatsword. Only anger help the creature on his feet, and a volley of magical orbs launched by Tsine finished the job. Meanwhile, the reptilian woman began to chant in a guttural, but strangely natural tongue, and her pet wolf’s teeth and claws suddenly extended. It rushed at Flix, but the little one was able to roll out of the way of the bite, and then reverse with a thrust of his own short sword. Rudyard went to help the fellow scout, while Tal focused on the final orc, who was dressed in lighter armor and was much faster than his fellows, and Raz tried to attack the lizard woman, only to repeatedly fail to penetrate her surprisingly thick armor. She made it even harder immediately after this point, when she summoned a thick fog around her, making it almost impossible to see where she was exactly. Soon, the tide totally turned against the humanoids, as Rudyard distracted the wolf long enough for Flix to pierce the animal’s heart, while Quercus and Tsine joined Tal in dispatching the final orc. Realizing she was outnumbered six to one, the lizard woman sighed with regret, and dropped her weapon.
While Flix and Rudyard searched the camp for valuables, Tal and Raz checked the fallen enemies for survivors, and Tsine and Quercus interrogated their prisoner. Tal noticed that one of the armored orcs still drew breath, but realized that he couldn’t tell Tsine this. He helped bind the creature’s wounds, while singing a song of renewal softly to speed the healing process. The lizard woman, meanwhile, began her story. Her name was Setisth, and she was part of one of the many humanoid tribes that serve the orcs as second-class citizens of their empire at best, slaves at worst. However, she will not betray them, for she believes in the truth of their religion and doesn’t think any other force can truly rule this empire besides them. She will, however, explain about their mission here. Apparently, an orc cleric of some renown has come down with a strange affliction, which is literally spread over his body, taking it over! The orcs learned of this shrine, and also that it refuses none who come to it in need, even orcs. Desperate to save their leader, a group of his followers left to find this shrine, and potentially heal him, or at least bring him back to life if the disease claims him. However, those left in the camp are just the rear guard. The rest of the force already left to find the temple. After hearing this, the party freed her, but told her to remain in the camp, and not follow the party or try to help her comrades. She agreed, and almost thanked them for their humane treatment of one of their own, but was silenced when Tal but his finger to his lips while standing behind Tsine. Meanwhile, Flix found a small cache of treasure hidden in one of the tents, so after distributing the wealth, the party set off in a hurry.
The second day had no other interruptions, and their journey on the third day was mostly quiet. The only exception was when they heard a large creature flying overhead once early in the morning, before True Light began, and then again in the afternoon, well after True Light. Between the darkness and the foliage, the party couldn’t really see what the creature was, but they knew it was flying towards the enemy camp in the morning, and then back in the direction of their destination the second time.
That night held a few other surprises, and few of them were pleasant. Again, it was Quercus’s watch when all the fun began. As he studied the woods around them, trying to keep an eye out for hidden enemies, he suddenly heard singing, like that of a beautiful woman. After taking a few moments to try and discern where the music his coming from, he silently roused his party members, and then approached the music. However, he only was able to go about fifty feet when the singing stopped, and that same female voice quietly said, “It begins.” He then heard the sound of wings flapping, and saw a hideous walking corpse and a field of living darkness in the shape of a man heading towards the camp, and he realized he had bigger things to worry about at the moment!

OOC Notes: This adventure has quite a bit of foreshadowing, as that song from the last recap would indicate. The singing woman and the disease afflicting the orcs are also future plot points. By the way, all the characters are fourth level, or at least ECL 4 at this point. Quercus is a cleric 2, Rudyard a ranger 2, Tsine a Wizard 3/Fighter 1 I believe, Tal a Bard 2/Sorceror 2, Flix a Rogue 4, and Raz a Fighter 4.

 

[LordVyreth]

Battles in the Night

The two undead horrors shambled into camp. One, that living shadow, quickly closed with Quercus, while the other undead, which reeked with the stench of death, charged into camp with surprising speed. Quercus held up his symbol of Bha-Ael, and shouted, “Goddess of creation, make these unnatural abominations cower at your might!” However, while his faith was strong, he lacked understanding in the true power of his goddess, and the undead laugh at him scornfully. The shadow then plunged its hand deep into Quercus’ chest, bypassing his armor like it wasn’t even there. Though the touch was painful, it chilled Quercus to his very bones, making his muscles sluggish and tired. Meanwhile, the other five adventurers converged on the ghast, and between Rudyard’s blades, Raz’ arrows, and Tal and Tsine’s magic, the creature was brought down quickly. However, the shadow proved more resilient; Flix moved in to help Quercus deal with it, but his weapon passed through the creature’s body like it was nothing but air. Quercus tried his weapon as well, but had the same result, and was rewarded for his bravery with another debilitating touch. As he struggled to recover, the dark creature’s body was buffeted by energy blasts from Tal and Tsine, and Rudyard closed in, using a magical sword that was found among the treasures in the Temple of Bas. It hit the creature true, and its body unraveled into strands of darkness, which quickly faded into the night. But the creature’s damage was done, and they had no way to heal Quercus’ lost strength, nor could they afford to wait for it to heal naturally. Btu Quercus barely seemed to notice, and as soon as the undead were destroyed, he was searching the forest, looking for some signs of the singer. All he could find was a small set of humanoid footprints, which apparently appeared and disappeared without further tracks. “You know, Quercus, if you want to go back to Methosilang and just meet us in Necropolis later, we’d understa…” Tal began, but Quercus merely held up a hand to silence him. “No, you’ll need me to perform the ritual of raising if they can’t finish the job at the Shrine. And I don’t want to leave until I solved this little mystery, either.” With that resolved, the party finished resting for the night, and continued on their journey.
However, the next night wasn’t any more peaceful. Near the end of their day’s journey, while the party was traveling further down the path to the shine, they suddenly noticed a small team of skeletons coming up the road. There were two normal skeletons, and a third that wielded a long sword, and was riding an equally skeletal horse. Again, Quercus raised his voice high, exhorting his goddess, and this time, he was rewarded as the two skeletons on foot turned to flee. Meanwhile, Rudyard moved up to engage the mounted skeleton, while Tsine, Tal, and Raz stayed behind to lend magical and missile support. Flix dove into the undergrowth, with the intent of sneaking up behind the undead to help surround the enemies, only to suddenly stumble upon another undead, which appeared to be the remains of a six-legged cat of some sort. The cat immediately pounced on Flix, taking a chunk out of his leg with a bite, but fortunately, it looked like it could have been worse. The creature shifted some strange bones in its shoulders, as if trying to slap him with a long-rotted natural weapon, but the effect was useless. Meanwhile, Rudyard and the others concentrated their fire on the skeletal warrior, easily finishing it, but the horse then focused all of its attacks on him, and despite being nothing but a walking pile of bones, the horse was still able to attack effectively with both hooves and a bite. Both hooves struck true, knocking Rudyard to the ground. Quercus and Tal prepared to help their fallen friend, only to hear Flix’s screams, and instead charged into the bushes to help him. Quercus got a strong hit with his great sword, but the effect merely chipped at the creature’s hard bones, and Tal’s magic had little use as well. Flix also got an effective but minor shot in, before again being ravaged by the creature’s bite. Things were going slightly better on the road, as Tsine hurled an arrow of pure acid at the creature, dissolving much of its shoulder. Raz’s arrow bounced off harmlessly, but Rudyard was able to flip himself onto his feet, and with one strong blow, finish bisected the horse’s shoulder. The remaining bones collapsed into an unmoving pile, and the heroes were ready to help out their friends in the bushes, when a shot rang out behind them!
Everyone turned, and saw Tsine, who now had a gaping whole in his chest. They looked around desperately for their new enemy, and saw a dark figure in the sky above them. Quercus knew he was the only one who could easily attack this new threat, and took off, leaving the undead beast to uselessly bite at him. When he climbed above the lowest branches, he saw an orc woman, riding a hippogriff and wielding a strange weapon. It looked like a crossbow, but had a tube where the bow should be, and it was currently leaking smoke. Tal and Flix resumed fighting the remaining undead creature, and Rudyard, not wanting to switch weapons, joined them and gave the creature a telling blow with is magical blade. Meanwhile, though he could barely speak above a whisper because of the pane, Tsine wanted revenge. He hissed a few arcane words, and launched a few orbs of pure magic at the rider. Raz fired at the creature as well, but hit the mount instead. The woman flew higher, while trying to reload her strange weapon, but Quercus followed, and cut deep into shoulder. She cried out with pain, but in a feat of strength, managed to keep her grip on both her weapon and the saddle. Meanwhile, Flix and Rudyard surrounded the undead creature, and finally managed to cut into the creature’s spine so often that it just disintegrated, causing the creature to collapse in a heap. Another one of Raz’s arrows pierced the creature, and then Tal released his own magical orb, sending it streaking towards the orc woman. Tsine fired one more volley of his own magic, which struck both mount and rider. The mount finally couldn’t remain conscious anymore, and crashed into the ground. The rider, already heavily wounded, was sent flying when her mount plummeted, and landed hard on her back. She did not get up again. Quercus, who was best able to track her descent, flew down to investigate. He picked up her strange weapon, and was taking a few moments to try and figure out how it worked when it exploded in his face! The shrapnel also cut deep into the orc woman, emptying her of what little blood she had left. While her weapon was destroyed, the party was able to salvage her equipment, along with the few coins and minor items the humanoid skeleton had among its tattered scraps of clothing. Quercus used his powers and wand to heal the party’s wounds, and then continued on their journey. All of them were mostly silent after the fight they just survived. Only Flix broke the silence until they made camp. “So, that was the kind of weapon Lerissa was talking about,” he observed.

OOC Notes: This was the first time I used templated monsters to fight the party. This was still back in 3.0, where the skeleton as a template concept was still not core, but was introduced on the Wizard’s web site. This was also the first time I introduced orc firearms into the game. They were only used rarely, but I did have to change the system at least once after this point, eventually creating a system that combined a few other types that I found online. I’ll post the relevant details of the new system if anyone’s interested.

 

[LordVyreth]

Battle of the Bridge

The fourth night passed uneventfully as they rested, and they began the fifth day of their journey. It was quiet until near mid-day, as the sun was crested over the sky, well between the magic of the two dark moons. Once again, the party saw the telltale signs of an orc camp, and Rudyard and Flix quietly made their way over to investigate. This one turned out to be much smaller. Only two tends were set up here, with a small resting log and campfire between them. An orc was currently slouched up against the log, apparently oblivious to both the party and the noonday sun, which is normally painful to orcs. However, Rudyard didn’t want to take any chances, especially with his hated enemy, and fired a pair of arrows into his back. The orc barely responded, except for slumping over even more, and oozing a vile fluid that looked a little like blood, but was far too black to be normal. Now more curious than alarmed, Rudyard carefully crept up to the orc, while Flix retreated to bring the rest of the party forward. After looking closer, Rudyard was certain the orc was dead, though it looks like it was his arrows that finished him off. However, he clearly wasn’t too well off before that point, since his body was strangely mutilated. Parts of his skin have been ripped off, to be covered with some sort of metal plating, one arm and a foot were replaced with some more metal parts, and even one of his eyes was made of some glassy substance. Killing him was almost an act of mercy, Rudyard thought to himself bitterly. The party didn’t seem to think so, however, when they arrived. “We could have gotten some information out of him, you know!” Raz barked. “Now we have no idea what did this to him!”
Tsine shrugged. “It’s probably the same thing that happened to their chieftain. This looks like a typical grunt, so they probably abandoned him. They’re animals, they don’t care what happens to their own unless they’re of some use.”
The party gave him the standard cremation, and set up the alert marker, then did a rudimentary search of the area. The tents were empty of everything but a few misshapen sets of clothing, so they quickly returned to the trail. They still had to make up for some time, after all.
The rest of the day, passed uneventfully, as did the night and the morning after. However, on the evening of the sixth day, the party finally reached the shrine. It was built on a tiny spike of rock, some two hundred feet from the end of the trail. The forest ended here, and the party finally got a chance to notice how deep into mountainous territory they got since they entered the woods. This was a rocky, dangerous area, and while there was a bridge between the cliff and the shrine, anyone who slipped and fell in would fall for hundreds of feet, and almost certainly be killed by the impact. They also noticed that the orc forces are still here, and they posted guards. An ogre was standing about three quarters of the way down the bridge, a massive spear in his hand. Behind him, a pair of tiny lizard-like creatures that could barely be seen in this light and distance were hiding. And another orc waited on top of a hippogriff, ready to take flight at any moment.
The party realized they had little time to prepare, since the orcs inside the shrine could be ready to begin the ritual of raising at any minute, so they charged forward. The hippogriff and orc sprung into action, and Quercus took off, preparing to intercept her attack. Meanwhile, Flix and Rudyard sprinted towards the ogre, while Tal, Tsine, and Raz prepared their long-range attacks. Tal strummed a few notes on his lute, singing a song of peace and friendship at one of the lizard-creatures, which were obviously kobolds now that they’ve been seen up close, but the creature merely laughed. “You can’t fool us that easily, point-ear!” it sneered in Draconic. As Raz and Tsine’s arrows flew towards the ogre, resulting in one near miss and one grazing shot that merely gave the ogre a scratch, the taunting kobold muttered a few words of enchantment, and a pool of slippery black fluid appeared in front of the ogre. Meanwhile, the second kobold began a bloody but inspiring tune, promising his allies that they will inflict pain and death on the cowards and slaves of the false gods. Emboldened, the orc rider drew a sword, and flew past Quercus, giving him a brutal cut with her blade and flying past him before he had time to react. Angrily, he followed her, desperately trying to score a hit with his own blade, but the pain of the cut and the sudden lost of so much blood gave him a bit of vertigo, and nothing could connect. Rudyard tried to maneuver through the grease to reach the ogre, but lost his footing, and had to grip the railing to avoid falling over. The ogre laughed and seized the opportunity, thrusting his spear with all his might. Rudyard was able to partially deflect the spear with his own sword, but it still penetrated deep into his shoulder. He gave a yelp of pain, then retreated from the ooze, ready to try again if he got the opportunity. Meanwhile, the kobold that created the grease took advantage of the moment of peace and began chanting again. Tal drew a wand, and fired a magical orb out of it, hitting the creature squarely in the chest, but it withstood the pain, and finished his spell. A strange mystical symbol appeared in the air, and a black eagle flew out. It screamed evilly, and dove straight for Tal. Meanwhile, the mounted orc whirled her mount around, driving her blade straight through Quercus’ chest. The half-celestial gasped in pain, and the world went black as he began the long plummet to the ground below. However, as his friends watched in horror as he fell, then were even more shocked when an elven woman, with magnificent bird wings similar to Quercus’ own, dove towards him from out of the forest. She caught him in mid-drop, then began to carry him back to the cliff-side.
The party gave a cheer, and emboldened from the dramatic rescue, they turned their attacks on the bird the kobold summoned and the hippogriff. The orc rider was able to whirl around Rudyard’s arrow, but a full volley of Tsine’s magical missiles struck it, and not wanting to share the fate Quercus almost suffered, she rode her hippogriff back to the shrine, sent it out to attack Quercus, and then retreated into the shrine herself. The kobold bard did likewise, as did the spellcaster after finishing one more bird summon. The pair of birds harried Tal and Tsine, before finally being killed by Raz and Tal’s long-range attacks. Meanwhile, the winged elf woman had sent Quercus down on the forest side of the cliff, healed some of his wounds, and then flew off again just as Quercus was recovering. However, while partially healed, Quercus was caught unprepared by the hippogriff’s sudden attack, and was again on the ground, barely fighting it off as the creature bit deep into his arm. Seeing their friend was again in trouble, Tal and Raz fired at the bird/horse amalgam, wounding it heavily and causing it to flee over the horizon. Their attention now focused entirely on the ogre, the part turn on him again just as the magical grease pool vanished. The suddenly panicky ogre managed one more stab at Rudyard, then was attacked himself by Rudyard’s blade. Flix tumbled between the creature’s legs, and dealt a telling blow to the creature’s back, while Tsine drew his own bow and fired a shot deep into the creature’s leg. It stumbled, and gave an angry roar, but it now lacked the room to effectively swing his spear, so he dropped it and drew his greatclub, then tried to slam it into the halfling. But Flix was too quick for him, and he and Rudyard simultaneously attacked, catching the orc in a pincher attack. Flix’s short sword cut deep into the ogre’s neck, and with one last gurgling cry, he slumped onto the bridge, and moved no more. Quercus managed to catch up to the group by this time, and after giving the wounded (including himself,) a few shots of the wand of healing, the party dashed into the Shrine, intent on preventing the ritual.

OOC Notes: This was the first time I made a fairly serious mistake in combat. In this case, I forgot the duration of the grease spell, causing it to last a few rounds longer than it should. No big deal; the kobold sorcerer would have just re-cast it instead of creating another summoned fiendish eagle, but still.
And before you ask, no the winged elf that saved Quercus was not a deus ex machina by me to save an early character. I planned on using her already for the first player to fall in, though I didn’t actually expect it to happen so soon into the battle. Anyway, you’ll see more of her in the next few updates, as you probably expected.

 

[Lela]

Came in, had a look around. You've asked me to give some feedback, so why not?

I've mentioned grammar before and I think you need a little help here. Don't rely on Word to do it for you (as it's wrong about half the time). There was a noticable improvement towards the later posts but you may want to reread the first few posts to correct.

Also, don't forget when JollyDoc said, "Write these story behind what happens." I don't know these characters. Nor do I care much about what happens to them. All I know is that "This happened, then that happened, then this."

Reediting the first few posts should help keep readers going through the thread and adding story should help readers want to keep going.

 

[LordVyreth]

Came in, had a look around. You've asked me to give some feedback, so why not?

I've mentioned grammar before and I think you need a little help here. Don't rely on Word to do it for you (as it's wrong about half the time). There was a noticable improvement towards the later posts but you may want to reread the first few posts to correct.

Also, don't forget when JollyDoc said, "Write these story behind what happens." I don't know these characters. Nor do I care much about what happens to them. All I know is that "This happened, then that happened, than this."

Reediting the first few posts should help keep readers going through the thread and adding story should help readers want to keep going.

Hmmm. Well, ouch! I didn't think I needed that much help. Well, I'll take another look at what I wrote so far, though if I take too much time editing and not enough advancing, I'll never catch up. I'll still bug my players to check out my SH, but since many of them haven't been introduced at this point, they might not be too willing just yet.

Well, can you think of any positives I have? Is the story itself at all interesting? Or the setting? Do you think I've been doing better with the characters in the last few updates? I've been taking the advice from the Shackled City thread, and have been including more dialogue, character impressions, and so on.

 

[Lela]

Oh, there's definitally a good story in there. Rereading the last update (post 15), I see a lot of improvement. I feel a deeper connection with the world and understand, through the chacters eyes, what's going on around them.

Seems like a classic adventure: Go through dungeon, find artifact, keep artifact out of the hands of evil doers. It's good and will get readers.

Don't spend too much time improving the earlier updates. They'll always make a good hammer to use on writer's block.

 

[LordVyreth]

Oh, there's definitally a good story in there. Rereading the last update (post 15), I see a lot of improvement. I feel a deeper connection with the world and understand, through the chacters eyes, what's going on around them.

Seems like a classic adventure: Go through dungeon, find artifact, keep artifact out of the hands of evil doers. It's good and will get readers.

Don't spend too much time improving the earlier updates. They'll always make a good hammer to use on writer's block.

Well, glad you noticed my attempts at improvement. You might be pleased to know there's a lot more character development coming up, especially for Tal and Quercus. The plot gets a bit more complicated as well, and Lady Memory's plotline will come into play a bit more. When you mention the artifact, though, are you referring to the current Shrine adventure, or the overall campaign, with the Quill of Destiny and all? And what do you think of the way the Prologue was set up and affected the setting as a whole? I'm just glad I didn't get any comments on the whole good drow thing; that seems to be a real love-hate concept with people. Oh, with luck, my next update should be coming up tonight.

 

[Lela]

Prologue is fine. You have a style of writing somewhat like P-kitty's initial adventures: Part story and part campaign log. It worked for him, I hear. Something about 500,000 views or so.

Don't be afraid to break your writing up into paragraphs. Especially with dialog. That solid block of text can be intimidating.