bairdec
First Post
The campaign jdrakeh started on this thread is on hold until the new year, but I thought I'd make a write up to remind myself of what happened on that fateful night.... This is written from the perspective of my halfling cartographer, Fédro. We are using the True20 rules instead of the standard D&D rules.
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It was a dark and stormy night (yes, it's a cliché, but it's true) and I was tired of being soaked to the bone. I was out in the miserable cold and wet because I was working on a set of charts for the North Wood region, near Beacon Tor, and not getting much at all done because the rain and ink don't mix. Or more properly, they do. Too well. As luck would have it, there was a promising set of ruins near where I was. I made my way up a rubble-strewn hill to the ruins. To my surprise, there was a dwarf fighter-type also taking refuge in the ruins and I was appalled that I didn't see him on the way up. He was as soaked as I was, and he hadn't been there long as he was still settling in. I found a different room in the ruins that was reasonably dry and dropped my pack.
I normally don't like sharing a camp with strangers, but there was a storm out, and the Storm Peace is a good tradition to have in times like these. The dwarf and I introduced ourselves and set about making a fire to warm ourselves and cook a meal. The fire was roaring along quite nicely when it abruptly died. The dwarf and I looked at each other and we moved to rekindle the flames. The fire burst back into flames as quickly as it had died. We looked about, and finally spotted an overgrown rat that had snuck up through the rubble.
At least, it looked like a rat. "It" turned out to be a short, emaciated man in a (thoroughly) soaked rat-skin cloak. He gave us a queer smile as though taking credit for our fire's misfortune. He then went around the ruins to try to find a dryer spot away from the dwarf and I. The rat-man spent at least an hour shuffling about outside the walls trying to keep out of the wind and rain, but he eventually came back into the limited shelter of the ruins. After poking about for a bit, he started trying to uncover a rubble-filled hole. I suggested that it could wait until morning, but he persisted. The dwarf even tried to help uncover the hole for the sake of curiosity. Curiosity is all well and good, but it was late, cold, and my belly was still full from the evening's repast. Curiosity could wait until morning.
The storm apparently thought I was wrong, for shortly after the dwarf started digging, a magnificent lightning bolt fell from the darkened sky and smote the rubble filled hole, clearing the rubble in a single mighty blast. I was fortunate to be standing away from the hole, and the lightning did little more than make the hair on my neck stand on end. The rat-man somehow managed to roll away and escaped harm as well. The dwarf, well, the dwarf didn't. He was blown clear of the hole by the bolt and slammed against the walls of the ruin, hard. He wasn't seriously injured, but he certainly had seen better days. He had numerous bruises on his exposed skin from the debris, and his armor had many tiny pock marks from the rocks.
The rat-man made a light appear out of nothingness; I filed away in my mind that he must be a fire-shaping adept, and thus truly responsible for the camp fire's mishap earlier in the evening. He jumped down into the hole, and the dwarf and I moved to where we could see inside the room below. Inside were three doors with a large keyhole in the center of each. The rat-man tried various ways to get the doors open, but each firmly held. His searches of the ruins produced no keys. Once again, I suggested that curiosity could wait until morning. By then, the dwarf had made his way down into the room (rather ungracefully, I might add) and brushed himself off after getting up from the dusty floor.
The dwarf produced a set of lock picks and tried to open the door on the left, but the lock was beyond his abilities. I was preparing my own set of lock picks when the rat-man finally gave up on finding a key and returned just as the dwarf gave up his futile efforts. The rat-man placed his hands upon the door, and muttering words arcane, pushed against the door. The door shattered into several large pieces and blew into the room behind it. The dwarf and I stood agape, as the rat-man looked about with smug satisfaction. The dwarf entered the room beyond, and finding a pedestal there, took a few items from the pedestal and pocketed them.
While the dwarf and the rat-man were concentrating on the newly opened room, I climbed down into the main room and went to work on the right hand door with my own well-made lock picks. I am no thief, but being an explorer, the ability to enter long-locked portals can be useful. I made short work of the door, and it swung open on it's hinges. It was the rat-man's turn to look agape, and I chided him on the wastefulness of his method. This door concealed not a room, but a long corridor. The three of us advanced down the corridor, myself in the lead looking for the bane of the unwary. At the end of the corridor was another room with a pair of doors and pillar with a winged head on the top against the wall between them.
I went around the room looking for concealed passages, but instead the head on top of the pillar came to life and swooped above my head at the dwarf. I took my spear and thrust at it before it got to the dwarf, and the rat-man muttered more arcane words and set the thing on fire! The dwarf took a swing at the flying head but missed, and it firmly attached itself to the side of his face. I stepped closer to the dwarf, but was unable to attack without risking hitting the dwarf instead of the head. The rat-man showed concentration and the flames surrounding the flying head intensified greatly, charring beast and dwarf alike. Charred beyond recognition, the flying head yielded it's aberrant life.
The rat-man and I rushed to the dwarf's side, but there was little that I could do. I am an explorer, not a healer. The rat-man muttered more arcane words, and the worst of the charring faded away, although the dwarf was still badly injured. At least the rat-man seemed to have some redeeming qualities. I searched the room again, as I had obviously missed a few things, and found a ring and a vial in the head's resting place. With that the three of us went back up to the surface to rest and tend to the dwarf while his injuries healed. The healing magic of the rat promises to make the healing go much quicker. The dwarf may even forgive him for setting him alight in the first place.
-Finis-
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It was a dark and stormy night (yes, it's a cliché, but it's true) and I was tired of being soaked to the bone. I was out in the miserable cold and wet because I was working on a set of charts for the North Wood region, near Beacon Tor, and not getting much at all done because the rain and ink don't mix. Or more properly, they do. Too well. As luck would have it, there was a promising set of ruins near where I was. I made my way up a rubble-strewn hill to the ruins. To my surprise, there was a dwarf fighter-type also taking refuge in the ruins and I was appalled that I didn't see him on the way up. He was as soaked as I was, and he hadn't been there long as he was still settling in. I found a different room in the ruins that was reasonably dry and dropped my pack.
I normally don't like sharing a camp with strangers, but there was a storm out, and the Storm Peace is a good tradition to have in times like these. The dwarf and I introduced ourselves and set about making a fire to warm ourselves and cook a meal. The fire was roaring along quite nicely when it abruptly died. The dwarf and I looked at each other and we moved to rekindle the flames. The fire burst back into flames as quickly as it had died. We looked about, and finally spotted an overgrown rat that had snuck up through the rubble.
At least, it looked like a rat. "It" turned out to be a short, emaciated man in a (thoroughly) soaked rat-skin cloak. He gave us a queer smile as though taking credit for our fire's misfortune. He then went around the ruins to try to find a dryer spot away from the dwarf and I. The rat-man spent at least an hour shuffling about outside the walls trying to keep out of the wind and rain, but he eventually came back into the limited shelter of the ruins. After poking about for a bit, he started trying to uncover a rubble-filled hole. I suggested that it could wait until morning, but he persisted. The dwarf even tried to help uncover the hole for the sake of curiosity. Curiosity is all well and good, but it was late, cold, and my belly was still full from the evening's repast. Curiosity could wait until morning.
The storm apparently thought I was wrong, for shortly after the dwarf started digging, a magnificent lightning bolt fell from the darkened sky and smote the rubble filled hole, clearing the rubble in a single mighty blast. I was fortunate to be standing away from the hole, and the lightning did little more than make the hair on my neck stand on end. The rat-man somehow managed to roll away and escaped harm as well. The dwarf, well, the dwarf didn't. He was blown clear of the hole by the bolt and slammed against the walls of the ruin, hard. He wasn't seriously injured, but he certainly had seen better days. He had numerous bruises on his exposed skin from the debris, and his armor had many tiny pock marks from the rocks.
The rat-man made a light appear out of nothingness; I filed away in my mind that he must be a fire-shaping adept, and thus truly responsible for the camp fire's mishap earlier in the evening. He jumped down into the hole, and the dwarf and I moved to where we could see inside the room below. Inside were three doors with a large keyhole in the center of each. The rat-man tried various ways to get the doors open, but each firmly held. His searches of the ruins produced no keys. Once again, I suggested that curiosity could wait until morning. By then, the dwarf had made his way down into the room (rather ungracefully, I might add) and brushed himself off after getting up from the dusty floor.
The dwarf produced a set of lock picks and tried to open the door on the left, but the lock was beyond his abilities. I was preparing my own set of lock picks when the rat-man finally gave up on finding a key and returned just as the dwarf gave up his futile efforts. The rat-man placed his hands upon the door, and muttering words arcane, pushed against the door. The door shattered into several large pieces and blew into the room behind it. The dwarf and I stood agape, as the rat-man looked about with smug satisfaction. The dwarf entered the room beyond, and finding a pedestal there, took a few items from the pedestal and pocketed them.
While the dwarf and the rat-man were concentrating on the newly opened room, I climbed down into the main room and went to work on the right hand door with my own well-made lock picks. I am no thief, but being an explorer, the ability to enter long-locked portals can be useful. I made short work of the door, and it swung open on it's hinges. It was the rat-man's turn to look agape, and I chided him on the wastefulness of his method. This door concealed not a room, but a long corridor. The three of us advanced down the corridor, myself in the lead looking for the bane of the unwary. At the end of the corridor was another room with a pair of doors and pillar with a winged head on the top against the wall between them.
I went around the room looking for concealed passages, but instead the head on top of the pillar came to life and swooped above my head at the dwarf. I took my spear and thrust at it before it got to the dwarf, and the rat-man muttered more arcane words and set the thing on fire! The dwarf took a swing at the flying head but missed, and it firmly attached itself to the side of his face. I stepped closer to the dwarf, but was unable to attack without risking hitting the dwarf instead of the head. The rat-man showed concentration and the flames surrounding the flying head intensified greatly, charring beast and dwarf alike. Charred beyond recognition, the flying head yielded it's aberrant life.
The rat-man and I rushed to the dwarf's side, but there was little that I could do. I am an explorer, not a healer. The rat-man muttered more arcane words, and the worst of the charring faded away, although the dwarf was still badly injured. At least the rat-man seemed to have some redeeming qualities. I searched the room again, as I had obviously missed a few things, and found a ring and a vial in the head's resting place. With that the three of us went back up to the surface to rest and tend to the dwarf while his injuries healed. The healing magic of the rat promises to make the healing go much quicker. The dwarf may even forgive him for setting him alight in the first place.
-Finis-
