D&D 5E One Shot #3: Lady of the Mist

[EarlyBird]

OOC: Part of the mystery. There are multiple instruments in the music, so their could be multiple ghost band members. lol

 

[KahlessNestor]

Avenia
Afternoon
Round 0

Ivar stopped at the lake. He grunted and and shielded his eyes. Damn sun was worse off the water. Ah, what he wouldn’t give for the cold, black waters of the Darklake. Of course, the Darklake wasn’t safe for swimming in.

Ivar closed his eyes and listened to the music coming across the water. So different than the music of the Underdark. It sounded almost elven, from what he’d heard of elven music on the surface. Of course, drow music was different, darker. He looked expectantly to the old man for his explanation.

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[JustinCase]

Intrigued, Mister Bubbles follows the villagers to the edge of the lake, his attention more on the people and their reactions than on the music itself. Yes, it was beautiful, but the half-orc had learned not to trust beauty.

He shouldn't be distracted by it. He knows that to focus his ears, he will be vulnerable, and whenever Mister Bubbles is vulnerable is when something painful happens. He shouldn't.

But then he does.

 

[EarlyBird]

Nidar moves up to stand between a few of you listening for a moment and then he wipes his watery eyes and says, "That's the Lady you hear. Sometimes, when the wind is just right, we can hear her music. It's beautiful, but always so sad." He sighs and listens.

"I guess she has good reason to cry, though. Legends have it her ghost is doomed to wander the ruins of her castle until the end of time." his voice turning from the gruffness of before softening as he speaks of The Lady. "It is said she was killed by her own friends after she betrayed them in some horrible way."

"Ghosts are not to be toyed with; they're dangerous things. That's what I tried to tell this Althon fellow. Now I suppose his ghost is wandering the halls of the Lady's castle by now."

The music fades away and the villagers return to their work, and some head for their homes. Nidar seems resolved about something after the music and says, "Come let's go to the taproom, I know a little of The Lady. Hakon knows a great deal more, and will be there."

He walks ahead of the party heading back towards the village.

 

[Greenmtn]

Bilkar Gnome Druid

At the first mention of ghosts Bilkar looks around in the sky quickly for a moment. Seeming to not find what he was looking out for he calms and remains silent while the man talks.

Bilkar looks to the water for a moment his mind racing at the others start to leave.
Are these people taking more fish than they should?
I wonder how many new fish friends I could make out there?
I'll have to watch out for flying daggers.
I should remind them to thank the animal spirits for the fish.

 

[JustinCase]

"Ghosts?" mutters Mister Bubbles, and the fancily dressed half-orc raises one eyebrow. He shakes his head a bit, trying but only partially succeeding in getting the music out of his mind.

"Never encountered any ghosts before, but I know enough not to provoke them," he starts talking to Nidar as the party returns to the village, towards the taproom. "Do you know how to approach the Lady in a safe way? Or perhaps this Hakon fellow?"

 

[KahlessNestor]

Avenia
Dusk
Round 0

“Who is this Hakon?” Ivar asked as he fell in with the others. A taproom sounded wonderful right now. But messing with a ghost? That wasn’t too appealing.

“Did Althon Escandor say why he wanted to go out there, see this lady? I’m assuming there’s an island out there in the lake with a castle?”

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[EarlyBird]

Nidar leads you to a small home, with an extra wing added to it. As he holds the door and takes on the questions smiling. "Ah, to be young and full of questions again." he sighs. "Come and I'll do my best to answer you all."

The Knoblock family's small tavern has a warm, friendly feeling to it. The only people there when you arrive are Asa, Nidar's youthful-looking wife, and a dour, gray old man whom Nidar introduces as Hakon Alvgard. Hakon barely looks up as you are introduced and quickly resumes carving a piece of wood, already recognizable as a warrior wielding a sword. You notice the walls of the tavern are lined with shelves packed with beautiful wood carvings of people, creatures, and objects such as ships and even buildings.

Asa offers you your choice of beverages as you sit down at one of the small tables. Nidar soon joins you, a mug in hand.

"Don't mind Hakon; he likes to keep to himself. In our younger days we had a lot of adventures together. Now all he does is carve wooden images of heroes and monsters. He's pretty good at it though. Everything you see on the shelves is his work. Speaking of adventures, I should tell you a bit about the Lady's island in case your considering going out there."

"To be frank, the island is a bad place: cold, barren, and dangerous. It's always shrouded in mists so thick you can hardly see your hand in front of you. There are monsters and vile creatures everywhere. And then there's the curse. The Lady's curse can turn you to stone if you get to close to her ruined castle. Those who have been there and come back speak of a Garden of Death filled with dead trees and statues of once-living people and animals."

"I've been to the island myself once, although it must be more than 30 years ago now. I went ashore on one of the beaches on the lower, east end of the island and made my way inland. There was a path running up to a few tumbled-down buildings that looked like old warehouses. From there another path led to the beginning of an elevated walkway that climbs the enormous cliff at the west end of the island. It's on top of that cliff that the castle ruins supposedly stand."

"No sooner had I started up the walkway than music began playing from somewhere high up on the cliff, just like you heard it earlier today. I turned around and ran like a rabbit. I sure didn't want to see what a ghost looked like, even in daylight!"

"Well, that's all I know. Usually when I tell this story I'll add a bit about dragons I had overcome while fleeing the island, and about the fair maiden I rescued from clutches [Nidar nods towards his wife]. But now you know only the truth."

During his story the old man takes a few sips of his ale, and steals glances at Hakon, as if expecting him to jump in. But the man continues his carving so Nidar shrugs and continues.

"If you ask me, the only thing on the island that could interest Althon would be the castle ruins. Over the years we've had a few adventurers come through here headed for the island and the castle. Not too many ever returned. Those that did were in pretty bad shape. Some kept babbling about evil spirits and ghosts - and the curse of course. I really don't know what they hoped to find out there. I mean, what kind of treasure would a ghost bother keeping?"

You hear another voice calmly reply, "Secrets. That's what the Lady of the Mists is guarding. That's her treasure. Secrets so powerful and horrible that she killed her own friends to protect them." The voice is Hakon's. He stopped his wood carving and is staring straight at you all.

Nidar puts down his mug and nods, as if Hakon has the truth of it.

 

[jmucchiello]

"If this ghost is so terrible, it may not be guarding so much as it's just in the way of whatever treasures may have once been in the castle," Lee says. "But I suspect you may be right about there being secrets being guarded as well."

 

[JustinCase]

Mister Bubbles nods solemnly.

"Can't speak for anyone else, but the Lady can keep her secrets and her treasure as far as I'm concerned." The half-orc picks his next words carefully, "I just want to find Althon and bring him home."

Looking at Hakon directly, Mister Bubbles tries to match the man's gaze openly, showing that although he may have some secrets of his own, the half-orc is genuine about what he said.