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Zad/Wizardru's Story Hour (*final update 11/12*)
- Thread starter Zad
- Start date
LightPhoenix
First Post
So I'm completely obsessed already, simply because I can't figure out who the narrator is... 
Glad to see you guys take on some low-level play... not that I didn't enjoy TSSoM, but low-level play has a bit more of a sense of mortality.
I love the adventuring quote!
Glad to see you guys take on some low-level play... not that I didn't enjoy TSSoM, but low-level play has a bit more of a sense of mortality.
I love the adventuring quote!
LordVyreth
First Post
Nifft said:Most excellent. I look forward to enjoying them vicariously.
-- N
PS: And maybe maybe maybe helping your poor, hapless DM come up with some cute fuzzy monsters... or something...
Unfortunately, since this Story Hour is based on a complete series of adventures designed to be played for an entire campaign, I don't think Dru will need much help making monsters. Believe me, I already asked.
dravot
First Post
Nifft said:Most excellent. I look forward to enjoying them vicariously.
-- N
PS: And maybe maybe maybe helping your poor, hapless DM come up with some cute fuzzy monsters... or something...
Rogues Gallery Thread
Zad
First Post
Life's Bazaar - Chapter 4
Life’s Bazaar – Chapter 4
OOC Notes:
Experience is 550xp. Due to user error, the notes for this session were destroyed. As a result, the story for today may be more fictional than usual.
This Week’s Adventure:
They all bowed of course. All but one. He bowed too, but he was slower than the others. I ordered him tortured for his insolence. Such is the way of things – if you don’t express your dominance once in a while, people become… rude. At such times, I remind them why I am the Lord and Master of all I survey, with the Flanaess bowing before my will, my reign going back centuries…
Oh, sorry. Wandered off there for a bit. Where was I? Oh, the Vanishing. Right.
Keygan had the most abrupt reaction. He shrieked. Then he ran up the stairs to his room, slammed the door behind him and locked it. I managed to get a look inside, he was hiding under the bed. All things considered, it may be the smartest way to handle it.
The Vanishing, whatever it was, was beyond the ability of this group to deal with. The unspoken possibility was that it may be impossible to deal with at all, if an entire gnomish enclave failed to handle it years back. But this was a dark thought that no one expressed aloud. Glyph did a detailed examination of the magic wand and determined that in addition to its obvious fire-shooting spell, it was cursed with the Vanishing and it was his use of it that caused him to become cursed. The bag that had produced the summoned feline was also infected, and this suggested that any magic item found in the enclave should be considered suspect and not used. But the question of how to save Glyph remained.
The group split up, with Elizabeth charged with disposing of the latest salvage from below (just the non-magical and hence non-cursed items) and the others would proceed to the temple of St. Cuthbert to speak to Jenya.
I elected to follow Glyph, since the Vanishing was more troubling. Elizabeth’s activities were simple enough to inquire about later, and I learned that after she made a few inquiries, she found her way to Maavu’s Imports, run by Maavu Arlintal. Maavu, it seemed, was one of the largest scale merchants in the city who was responsible for a great deal of the traffic of mundane goods in and out of Cauldron. The shop or storefront was a two-story affair but more impressive was the large warehouse across the street. Given the armed private guards and the amount of traffic, it was obvious a considerable amount of trade came through here.
Elizabeth entered the busy shop – it was more of an office really – and was directed to an upstairs office where she met with one of Maavu’s clerks. He was efficient, if not overly pleasant and indicated they were both equipped and willing to purchase mundane goods of the type adventurers often recovered. (I’m beginning to believe that either the merchants in this town meet daily with each other to discuss who’s new in town or they have some arcane ability to detect adventurers since this fellow, like every other merchant met so far, knew he was dealing with adventurers. Personally I’d rather be viewed as having some honest living like “mercenary” or “horse thief” but there’s no way around it for now.)
The clerk in question had little interest in the exact items being offered once he knew the general type and number. To him, the main thing was to settle the terms. Elizabeth hadn’t been thinking that far ahead but it made sense and she gladly negotiated terms with the man, which would simply make future sales a matter of bookkeeping and not of haggling over every paltry item. Maavu’s was not some flea-ridden bazaar where loud haggling was the language of the sale – it was a professional business and terms were agreed to and then carried forward. The terms and sale consummated, the clerk offered to send a cart around to collect the items.
The experience also served to cement another idea in my mind: this town ran off relationships. With Keygan, with Skie, with Tygot, and now with Maavu, the key driver was not value or haggling skill – it was how well they knew you. As a stranger you couldn’t expect too much, but as familiarity increased the terms would change. It was about trust and reputation and it was the currency of Cauldron more than gold or silver. Elizabeth too was making this connection as she made her way to Tygot’s. She’s not all that clever, but she is very intuitive. And since she has some skill in repairing armor, sooner or later she would need to get access to a blacksmith’s shop. In order to do that, she would need to understand how things work in Cauldron, so understanding the driving currency is an important step for her and by extension the rest of the group.
She then went to Tygot’s who seemed pleased in a subdued way – he mentioned that he’d been able to sell the last gemstone to Lord Vhalantru already, and no doubt he made some profit from it. Recognizing the value of trust and reputation, she stayed a while, made conversation, and enjoyed some tea while they negotiated over the latest set of pretty things. Tygot also pointed out that in addition to gems and art objects, his customers have a great interest in antiquities and old things, and that should the group come across any documents or old papers, he would be very interested in such things.
“Tygot,” Elizabeth asked “how long have you lived in Cauldron?”
“All my life, my dear girl,” he replied. Which was not an inconsiderable amount of time.
“Might I ask what you know of the Vanishing?”
“Oh… hm… nasty business that. There was a gnomish enclave you see – Jazadirune I think it was – beneath the city. Used to produce quite a few magic items as I recall. Then people started just disappearing. I don’t think anyone who contracted the disease survived it, but some lingered on for quite a while.”
“I see,” she said, slightly disappointed. “Do you know anyone who was around at the time who is still in Cauldron?”
If Tygot was curious about the reason for the questions, he didn’t show it. “Hm. Some time ago. Gelve, the locksmith – he’s still in town but he would have been very young at the time. And there was another old gnome, but I think he went missing a month or so back.”
So there is someone who might know more about the Vanishing, but he was kidnapped. Wonderful.
At the temple of St. Cuthbert, things were more interesting. The group arrived and asked to speak to Jenya.
“Priestess Jenya,” he emphasized. “She is occupied right now. I am Brother Duos. I will be happy to help you.”
“Well, I suppose. We were looking into the disappearance of the children at Jenya’s request. But we’ve hit a problem. A member of group has become… afflicted,” Krisfallion explained.
“I see. Well, if the glorious grace of St. Cuthbert is willing, then I shall serve as His vessel and you shall be healed.” He led the group into the same meeting chamber that they had used before and only then did Glyph remove his cloak and show himself in all his half-transparent glory.
“By Cuthbert’s Cudgel! You are afflicted indeed! Those glowing runes are surely the sign of great evil!” Brother Duos exclaimed.
Kris buried his face in his hands. Maris tried to explain “No the runes are natural for him. He’s an illumien. But he shouldn’t be transparent. It’s the Vanishing – a disease or curse from the gnomish enclave.”
“Oh. I see. Well, you shall be healed. I shall use my most powerful prayer!” And with that Brother Duos cast a spell.
Which really wasn’t that powerful at all. It was only slightly more powerful than the wand the group had. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t healed.
Brother Duos looked genuinely surprised as he said “I’m sorry my son, you are doomed.” Fortunately for everyone involved, Rufus stumbled into the room.
“Oh you’re here? Any progress on the children? I know Jenya will be anxious to hear of your progress. Oh no, what happened to you?” Rufus said, finally catching sight of Glyph.
Some explanations followed and Jenya arrived shortly. Brother Duos lingered, not entirely sure what to do with himself. Unfortunately Jenya had no way to help Glyphandar, but she was glad to get an update on the efforts to locate the children.
Lacking any way to help Glyph, the group decided to return to Jazadirune to continue their mission and hopefully learn more about the Vanishing. If there was a cure, it seemed the only place it would come from would be the abandoned enclave.
Astrid and Elizabeth had spent some time copying Keygan’s map and drawing in what they had discovered. Armed with that they set off to the west and came to what seemed to be a throne room, complete with a sleeping gnome wearing a crown sitting in the throne. As Bellsin crept up the stairs to the dais, a large carving of a smiling gnome face on the landing declared loudly “To gain audience with the glorious king, you must give a tribute of the most valuable coin you possess!” and the carving moved and the tongue stuck out, awaiting the offering.
Bellsin shrugged, and placed a single gold piece on the tongue. It swallowed the coin and cheerfully proclaimed “Proceed!”
The fact that the sleeping gnome was an illusion surprised no one. In a compartment in the arm of the throne was the collected tribute. As they checked the room however, Bellsin had gone down, then come back up the stairs.
“To gain audience with the glorious king, you must give a tribute of the most valuable coin you possess!”
Bellsin shrugged, having already paid the tribute. But as he went by the carving it shouted “MISER! I CURSE YOU WITH CLUMSINESS!” A blue ray shot from the eyes, and Bellsin immediately stumbled and fell. The glow faded and he got back up, but he was now convulsing slightly, which made him prone to tripping and clumsy movements. Hopefully it would wear off.
The moved southward, and as they reached another room, they saw a fur-covered humanoid just disappearing through a secret door. Rather than chase him into an ambush, they moved farther south to try to intercept him. They came into a spacious theater and then moved into a grand hall supported by columns carved into the shapes of gnomes standing on each others shoulders to support the vaulted ceiling. Expecting an ambush from their stealthy prey, they spread out and began moving through the room.
And as they did, two skulks leaned out from behind the columns and threw thunderstones. Bellsin, Tzaddik and Maris were standing almost on top of the stones when they broke and were deafened by the blast. I count myself fortunate I was nowhere near them.
The great hall was perfect for the skulks. In addition to the large columns for them to hide behind, the room was lit with dancing lights that flickered and wandered, giving them no shortage of shadows to move around. As the fighters moved slowly forward, the others threw sunrods into the room to help flush out the skulks. It worked better than expected, not only showing the skulks circling to attack Tzaddik but drawing hisses from the bright light.
Once they were exposed, they were vulnerable. The girls moved in on either side of one skulk and cut him apart, while the other was killed by Kris and Tzaddik.
But neither of them was furry. They both had the smooth leathery skin typical of their race. So what was it that ran away? They consulted the map and saw that the creature likely fled into a room that adjoined the great hall, but the gear door was closed. They decided it must be hiding, and ran back around to the secret door through which it fled. The door was opened and Elizabeth stepped through.
She was attacked by a wolf. Or something that any observer would mistake for a wolf. If the observer were drunk. Or addled. Or addled and drunk.
It lunged at her, and she stepped to one side and brought her falchion down on it, cutting it in half. “It” turned out to be a skulk wearing a tattered wolf costume. (The room it was hiding in was filled with the threadbare remains of costumes and scenery for the nearby theatre.) But when the mangy fur was pulled away, the skulk revealed had more problems than simply poor fashion sense – it was fading away. Even as we watched, the creature disappeared as the Vanishing took away its lifeless body. It was a chilling look at what might await Glyph, and through it nobody could say a word and they filed out silently.
Going back to the great hall, they looked down a few of the hallways leading out of the room. As they went down one hall, Elizabeth was looking at the map.
“Hold up a second,” she said, looking at the wall at a corner. “Let’s check right here.”
“What for?” Bellsin asked.
“Secret door,” she replied. “Call it a hunch.”
It only took Bellsin a moment to find the door hidden in the wall, just where it was predicted.
“You know what this means?” Astrid asked. “You’re starting to think like a gnome.”
Elizabeth feigned disgust. “What an awful thing to say.”
It wasn’t nearly as awful as the contents of the room. Inside was the decaying corpse of some kind of carrion beast. It had a bulbous head with many tentacles topping its eight foot body and it probably smelled as bad alive as it did dead. The room seemed to be a treasury of some sort and the group checked it carefully. Someone had decided to use the creature as storage – inside the guts were two coffers. One had a fair bit of money, while the other had a healing kit, and a pair of scrolls.
Further along was a bath containing a large pool in the middle with a ceiling shrouded in webs with a single large web-covered corpse hanging down. The group became immediately wary, and Tzaddik spotted two smallish spiders in the webbing. (Not large enough to kill a man, I noted.) Kris shot them and the group moved in warily waiting for the ambush from above that never came.
Instead it came from the pool, when a large spider leapt out of the water at Tzaddik. The group killed it but not before it had poisoned Tzaddik. When it fell back into the pool became apparent that the water was an illusion. (Why would someone make a fake bath?) The cocoon held the desiccated body of a skulk but it had a small magical stone orbiting its head which resumed its orbit once the webbing was cut away.
Going north, the hall led past a gear door and Maris’ familiar grew restless and was sure she smelled another rat. They backed up and went down a nearby tunnel that they believed would let them bypass the door without opening it. The tunnel ended in a wall and a hole in the ceiling six feet up. While looking up, Tzaddik spotted a skulk. Unfortunately the skulk also spotted him. It fired a crossbow bolt that came straight down through the elf’s throat and he collapsed onto the tunnel floor.
Astrid and Elizabeth exchanged a quick look then both charged forward and up the hole. The room they hauled themselves into was very small, with barely enough room for them and the very unhappy skulk, who could do little to stop them coming up once he had fired. Krisfallion healed Tzaddik while the girls made short, bloody work of the skulk. Around his neck was a chain with a silver key.
The small closet had a concealed door that opened into the room they sought. In the room was a chest on top of which was a cage containing a rat. The rat had a star-shaped marking on its fur on its head leaving no doubt that this was Starbrow. His nose and whiskers twitched excitedly as he pressed up against the bars of the cage.
But before anyone could approach the cage, a toothy maw appeared on the front of the chest. “Well hello there,” it said in smiling Undercommon. Not that I had any idea, but it turned out that Tzaddik was fluent in the language of below.
“So I’m thinkin’ you must have killed the skulk. That’s fine. Dey won’t let me eat the rat. All they feed me is spiders. Now don’t get me wrong, I LIKE spiders. Like ‘em a lot really. But all I’z ever GET is spiders.” Large pseudopods waved idly, but making anyone think twice about grabbing at the cage all the same.
Nobody said a word. They were all just staring at the mimic and trying to decide if they were going to have to fight it and if so, how. The creatures were known for destroying adventurers.
The mimic was unafraid, which in itself made me even more afraid. It said “So you look like adventurers to me. Not slavers or skulks, no sir. You come from above – I’z can tell. So I find myself wonderin’ if you have any of dem… iron rations.”
“Yes,” Tzaddik said, starting to see why the mimic was talking to them. “We have some. They’re very tasty.”
“Oh YES,” it said, slavering. “So very tasty. Tasty treats dey are indeed. I LOVE dat surface food. So I was thinking if you gave me a week’s worth I could let you ‘ave the rat.”
The part about “and not kill you” was unspoken but implied.
Tzaddik said “I can’t give you a week’s worth. I only have six days.” Elizabeth looked apoplectic and Astrid was looking concerned – the mimic would not be an easy opponent to fight, and it just wanted food. If it were me, I wouldn’t be trying to haggle. Astrid was thinking the same thing and threw another package of the stuff at Tzaddik. Why anyone would want to eat that stuff was beyond me anyway, so nothing lost as far as I’m concerned.
Tzaddik tossed the rations to the mimic. It didn’t even open the pack as it tossed a portion into its toothy maw, and followed that with a lot of chewing and smacking sounds. “Oh yes. Oh soooo good.” It pushed the rest of the rations into the corner. “Food dat good you don’ eat all at once!” it laughed.
It offered the cage over and we released Starbrow with the silver key. The rat quickly crawled into Maris’ satchel with Penelope and hid.
“See, I knew you weren’t with those slavers. They won’t let me eat the slaves either. Not as tasty as rations though. Mmmmm.”
“So,” Tzaddik asked cautiously, “where are the slavers?”
“Well they’z down below somewhah. The Malachite Fortress, yes. But I’z don’t know how they get there. Mus’ be nearby though.”
“What can you tell us about them?”
The mimic was in a good mood from the rations and seemed to have virtually no loyalty to the skulks. “Well, I can’t say’z I know much. Kasmogen runs the slave market down below. That’s where they take the prisoners they won’t let me eat. And I can’t eat skulks you know – taste terrible. But dey takes them down to the hobgoblins who run t’ings down there. Some of them wuz up here with mah cousin but not too long ago they went below. A day or two – not long. But dey’z dun leave me here.”
The mimic went silent for a moment. Then burst out “I can’t HELP myself!” and swallowed another ration. “So good…. Oh yes… Salty…”
The group withdrew, making a note to get some more rations in case more bribes were needed. Some discussion over the map had everyone convinced they knew where the tunnel downward had to be, and they set off to the north to the room where they fought the digging machine.
There was a tunnel they hadn’t checked, and they were all set to head straight in but as they entered the tunnel they saw a sign, written in gnomish.
Turn back or die
The sign didn’t seem like a threat – it seemed like a warning. I didn’t really think the skulks could read, but who can say. Plus there are the other creatures that Keygan described with the hooves. Was this an attempt to keep us out, or did it lead to something they were afraid of?
Once again the map proved invaluable. The tunnel headed in the direction of the room that had been barricaded, and that seemed to suggest it was a warning. The group decided to heed that warning for now, and rather than risk any further harm to their first rescue, they decided to retreat and return Starbrow to Keygan.
Keygan knew Starbrow had been freed, but that wasn’t enough to make him want to get anywhere near Glyph. The group came to the door to Keygan’s shop and knocked, and the bar was lifted, followed by the sound of feet running upstairs and a door slamming.
He yelled from upstairs “Thank you for finding Starbrow. If Maris could just bring him up alone, that would be fine. You didn’t let Glyph touch him, did you?”
Loot:
Clear spindle ioun stone (cursed)
Scroll of mage armor (cursed)
Scroll of mirror image (cursed)
Healer’s kit
Assorted objects lost in the note crash, 415gp worth
Life’s Bazaar – Chapter 4
OOC Notes:
Experience is 550xp. Due to user error, the notes for this session were destroyed. As a result, the story for today may be more fictional than usual.
This Week’s Adventure:
They all bowed of course. All but one. He bowed too, but he was slower than the others. I ordered him tortured for his insolence. Such is the way of things – if you don’t express your dominance once in a while, people become… rude. At such times, I remind them why I am the Lord and Master of all I survey, with the Flanaess bowing before my will, my reign going back centuries…
Oh, sorry. Wandered off there for a bit. Where was I? Oh, the Vanishing. Right.
Keygan had the most abrupt reaction. He shrieked. Then he ran up the stairs to his room, slammed the door behind him and locked it. I managed to get a look inside, he was hiding under the bed. All things considered, it may be the smartest way to handle it.
The Vanishing, whatever it was, was beyond the ability of this group to deal with. The unspoken possibility was that it may be impossible to deal with at all, if an entire gnomish enclave failed to handle it years back. But this was a dark thought that no one expressed aloud. Glyph did a detailed examination of the magic wand and determined that in addition to its obvious fire-shooting spell, it was cursed with the Vanishing and it was his use of it that caused him to become cursed. The bag that had produced the summoned feline was also infected, and this suggested that any magic item found in the enclave should be considered suspect and not used. But the question of how to save Glyph remained.
The group split up, with Elizabeth charged with disposing of the latest salvage from below (just the non-magical and hence non-cursed items) and the others would proceed to the temple of St. Cuthbert to speak to Jenya.
I elected to follow Glyph, since the Vanishing was more troubling. Elizabeth’s activities were simple enough to inquire about later, and I learned that after she made a few inquiries, she found her way to Maavu’s Imports, run by Maavu Arlintal. Maavu, it seemed, was one of the largest scale merchants in the city who was responsible for a great deal of the traffic of mundane goods in and out of Cauldron. The shop or storefront was a two-story affair but more impressive was the large warehouse across the street. Given the armed private guards and the amount of traffic, it was obvious a considerable amount of trade came through here.
Elizabeth entered the busy shop – it was more of an office really – and was directed to an upstairs office where she met with one of Maavu’s clerks. He was efficient, if not overly pleasant and indicated they were both equipped and willing to purchase mundane goods of the type adventurers often recovered. (I’m beginning to believe that either the merchants in this town meet daily with each other to discuss who’s new in town or they have some arcane ability to detect adventurers since this fellow, like every other merchant met so far, knew he was dealing with adventurers. Personally I’d rather be viewed as having some honest living like “mercenary” or “horse thief” but there’s no way around it for now.)
The clerk in question had little interest in the exact items being offered once he knew the general type and number. To him, the main thing was to settle the terms. Elizabeth hadn’t been thinking that far ahead but it made sense and she gladly negotiated terms with the man, which would simply make future sales a matter of bookkeeping and not of haggling over every paltry item. Maavu’s was not some flea-ridden bazaar where loud haggling was the language of the sale – it was a professional business and terms were agreed to and then carried forward. The terms and sale consummated, the clerk offered to send a cart around to collect the items.
The experience also served to cement another idea in my mind: this town ran off relationships. With Keygan, with Skie, with Tygot, and now with Maavu, the key driver was not value or haggling skill – it was how well they knew you. As a stranger you couldn’t expect too much, but as familiarity increased the terms would change. It was about trust and reputation and it was the currency of Cauldron more than gold or silver. Elizabeth too was making this connection as she made her way to Tygot’s. She’s not all that clever, but she is very intuitive. And since she has some skill in repairing armor, sooner or later she would need to get access to a blacksmith’s shop. In order to do that, she would need to understand how things work in Cauldron, so understanding the driving currency is an important step for her and by extension the rest of the group.
She then went to Tygot’s who seemed pleased in a subdued way – he mentioned that he’d been able to sell the last gemstone to Lord Vhalantru already, and no doubt he made some profit from it. Recognizing the value of trust and reputation, she stayed a while, made conversation, and enjoyed some tea while they negotiated over the latest set of pretty things. Tygot also pointed out that in addition to gems and art objects, his customers have a great interest in antiquities and old things, and that should the group come across any documents or old papers, he would be very interested in such things.
“Tygot,” Elizabeth asked “how long have you lived in Cauldron?”
“All my life, my dear girl,” he replied. Which was not an inconsiderable amount of time.
“Might I ask what you know of the Vanishing?”
“Oh… hm… nasty business that. There was a gnomish enclave you see – Jazadirune I think it was – beneath the city. Used to produce quite a few magic items as I recall. Then people started just disappearing. I don’t think anyone who contracted the disease survived it, but some lingered on for quite a while.”
“I see,” she said, slightly disappointed. “Do you know anyone who was around at the time who is still in Cauldron?”
If Tygot was curious about the reason for the questions, he didn’t show it. “Hm. Some time ago. Gelve, the locksmith – he’s still in town but he would have been very young at the time. And there was another old gnome, but I think he went missing a month or so back.”
So there is someone who might know more about the Vanishing, but he was kidnapped. Wonderful.
At the temple of St. Cuthbert, things were more interesting. The group arrived and asked to speak to Jenya.
“Priestess Jenya,” he emphasized. “She is occupied right now. I am Brother Duos. I will be happy to help you.”
“Well, I suppose. We were looking into the disappearance of the children at Jenya’s request. But we’ve hit a problem. A member of group has become… afflicted,” Krisfallion explained.
“I see. Well, if the glorious grace of St. Cuthbert is willing, then I shall serve as His vessel and you shall be healed.” He led the group into the same meeting chamber that they had used before and only then did Glyph remove his cloak and show himself in all his half-transparent glory.
“By Cuthbert’s Cudgel! You are afflicted indeed! Those glowing runes are surely the sign of great evil!” Brother Duos exclaimed.
Kris buried his face in his hands. Maris tried to explain “No the runes are natural for him. He’s an illumien. But he shouldn’t be transparent. It’s the Vanishing – a disease or curse from the gnomish enclave.”
“Oh. I see. Well, you shall be healed. I shall use my most powerful prayer!” And with that Brother Duos cast a spell.
Which really wasn’t that powerful at all. It was only slightly more powerful than the wand the group had. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t healed.
Brother Duos looked genuinely surprised as he said “I’m sorry my son, you are doomed.” Fortunately for everyone involved, Rufus stumbled into the room.
“Oh you’re here? Any progress on the children? I know Jenya will be anxious to hear of your progress. Oh no, what happened to you?” Rufus said, finally catching sight of Glyph.
Some explanations followed and Jenya arrived shortly. Brother Duos lingered, not entirely sure what to do with himself. Unfortunately Jenya had no way to help Glyphandar, but she was glad to get an update on the efforts to locate the children.
Lacking any way to help Glyph, the group decided to return to Jazadirune to continue their mission and hopefully learn more about the Vanishing. If there was a cure, it seemed the only place it would come from would be the abandoned enclave.
Astrid and Elizabeth had spent some time copying Keygan’s map and drawing in what they had discovered. Armed with that they set off to the west and came to what seemed to be a throne room, complete with a sleeping gnome wearing a crown sitting in the throne. As Bellsin crept up the stairs to the dais, a large carving of a smiling gnome face on the landing declared loudly “To gain audience with the glorious king, you must give a tribute of the most valuable coin you possess!” and the carving moved and the tongue stuck out, awaiting the offering.
Bellsin shrugged, and placed a single gold piece on the tongue. It swallowed the coin and cheerfully proclaimed “Proceed!”
The fact that the sleeping gnome was an illusion surprised no one. In a compartment in the arm of the throne was the collected tribute. As they checked the room however, Bellsin had gone down, then come back up the stairs.
“To gain audience with the glorious king, you must give a tribute of the most valuable coin you possess!”
Bellsin shrugged, having already paid the tribute. But as he went by the carving it shouted “MISER! I CURSE YOU WITH CLUMSINESS!” A blue ray shot from the eyes, and Bellsin immediately stumbled and fell. The glow faded and he got back up, but he was now convulsing slightly, which made him prone to tripping and clumsy movements. Hopefully it would wear off.
The moved southward, and as they reached another room, they saw a fur-covered humanoid just disappearing through a secret door. Rather than chase him into an ambush, they moved farther south to try to intercept him. They came into a spacious theater and then moved into a grand hall supported by columns carved into the shapes of gnomes standing on each others shoulders to support the vaulted ceiling. Expecting an ambush from their stealthy prey, they spread out and began moving through the room.
And as they did, two skulks leaned out from behind the columns and threw thunderstones. Bellsin, Tzaddik and Maris were standing almost on top of the stones when they broke and were deafened by the blast. I count myself fortunate I was nowhere near them.
The great hall was perfect for the skulks. In addition to the large columns for them to hide behind, the room was lit with dancing lights that flickered and wandered, giving them no shortage of shadows to move around. As the fighters moved slowly forward, the others threw sunrods into the room to help flush out the skulks. It worked better than expected, not only showing the skulks circling to attack Tzaddik but drawing hisses from the bright light.
Once they were exposed, they were vulnerable. The girls moved in on either side of one skulk and cut him apart, while the other was killed by Kris and Tzaddik.
But neither of them was furry. They both had the smooth leathery skin typical of their race. So what was it that ran away? They consulted the map and saw that the creature likely fled into a room that adjoined the great hall, but the gear door was closed. They decided it must be hiding, and ran back around to the secret door through which it fled. The door was opened and Elizabeth stepped through.
She was attacked by a wolf. Or something that any observer would mistake for a wolf. If the observer were drunk. Or addled. Or addled and drunk.
It lunged at her, and she stepped to one side and brought her falchion down on it, cutting it in half. “It” turned out to be a skulk wearing a tattered wolf costume. (The room it was hiding in was filled with the threadbare remains of costumes and scenery for the nearby theatre.) But when the mangy fur was pulled away, the skulk revealed had more problems than simply poor fashion sense – it was fading away. Even as we watched, the creature disappeared as the Vanishing took away its lifeless body. It was a chilling look at what might await Glyph, and through it nobody could say a word and they filed out silently.
Going back to the great hall, they looked down a few of the hallways leading out of the room. As they went down one hall, Elizabeth was looking at the map.
“Hold up a second,” she said, looking at the wall at a corner. “Let’s check right here.”
“What for?” Bellsin asked.
“Secret door,” she replied. “Call it a hunch.”
It only took Bellsin a moment to find the door hidden in the wall, just where it was predicted.
“You know what this means?” Astrid asked. “You’re starting to think like a gnome.”
Elizabeth feigned disgust. “What an awful thing to say.”
It wasn’t nearly as awful as the contents of the room. Inside was the decaying corpse of some kind of carrion beast. It had a bulbous head with many tentacles topping its eight foot body and it probably smelled as bad alive as it did dead. The room seemed to be a treasury of some sort and the group checked it carefully. Someone had decided to use the creature as storage – inside the guts were two coffers. One had a fair bit of money, while the other had a healing kit, and a pair of scrolls.
Further along was a bath containing a large pool in the middle with a ceiling shrouded in webs with a single large web-covered corpse hanging down. The group became immediately wary, and Tzaddik spotted two smallish spiders in the webbing. (Not large enough to kill a man, I noted.) Kris shot them and the group moved in warily waiting for the ambush from above that never came.
Instead it came from the pool, when a large spider leapt out of the water at Tzaddik. The group killed it but not before it had poisoned Tzaddik. When it fell back into the pool became apparent that the water was an illusion. (Why would someone make a fake bath?) The cocoon held the desiccated body of a skulk but it had a small magical stone orbiting its head which resumed its orbit once the webbing was cut away.
Going north, the hall led past a gear door and Maris’ familiar grew restless and was sure she smelled another rat. They backed up and went down a nearby tunnel that they believed would let them bypass the door without opening it. The tunnel ended in a wall and a hole in the ceiling six feet up. While looking up, Tzaddik spotted a skulk. Unfortunately the skulk also spotted him. It fired a crossbow bolt that came straight down through the elf’s throat and he collapsed onto the tunnel floor.
Astrid and Elizabeth exchanged a quick look then both charged forward and up the hole. The room they hauled themselves into was very small, with barely enough room for them and the very unhappy skulk, who could do little to stop them coming up once he had fired. Krisfallion healed Tzaddik while the girls made short, bloody work of the skulk. Around his neck was a chain with a silver key.
The small closet had a concealed door that opened into the room they sought. In the room was a chest on top of which was a cage containing a rat. The rat had a star-shaped marking on its fur on its head leaving no doubt that this was Starbrow. His nose and whiskers twitched excitedly as he pressed up against the bars of the cage.
But before anyone could approach the cage, a toothy maw appeared on the front of the chest. “Well hello there,” it said in smiling Undercommon. Not that I had any idea, but it turned out that Tzaddik was fluent in the language of below.
“So I’m thinkin’ you must have killed the skulk. That’s fine. Dey won’t let me eat the rat. All they feed me is spiders. Now don’t get me wrong, I LIKE spiders. Like ‘em a lot really. But all I’z ever GET is spiders.” Large pseudopods waved idly, but making anyone think twice about grabbing at the cage all the same.
Nobody said a word. They were all just staring at the mimic and trying to decide if they were going to have to fight it and if so, how. The creatures were known for destroying adventurers.
The mimic was unafraid, which in itself made me even more afraid. It said “So you look like adventurers to me. Not slavers or skulks, no sir. You come from above – I’z can tell. So I find myself wonderin’ if you have any of dem… iron rations.”
“Yes,” Tzaddik said, starting to see why the mimic was talking to them. “We have some. They’re very tasty.”
“Oh YES,” it said, slavering. “So very tasty. Tasty treats dey are indeed. I LOVE dat surface food. So I was thinking if you gave me a week’s worth I could let you ‘ave the rat.”
The part about “and not kill you” was unspoken but implied.
Tzaddik said “I can’t give you a week’s worth. I only have six days.” Elizabeth looked apoplectic and Astrid was looking concerned – the mimic would not be an easy opponent to fight, and it just wanted food. If it were me, I wouldn’t be trying to haggle. Astrid was thinking the same thing and threw another package of the stuff at Tzaddik. Why anyone would want to eat that stuff was beyond me anyway, so nothing lost as far as I’m concerned.
Tzaddik tossed the rations to the mimic. It didn’t even open the pack as it tossed a portion into its toothy maw, and followed that with a lot of chewing and smacking sounds. “Oh yes. Oh soooo good.” It pushed the rest of the rations into the corner. “Food dat good you don’ eat all at once!” it laughed.
It offered the cage over and we released Starbrow with the silver key. The rat quickly crawled into Maris’ satchel with Penelope and hid.
“See, I knew you weren’t with those slavers. They won’t let me eat the slaves either. Not as tasty as rations though. Mmmmm.”
“So,” Tzaddik asked cautiously, “where are the slavers?”
“Well they’z down below somewhah. The Malachite Fortress, yes. But I’z don’t know how they get there. Mus’ be nearby though.”
“What can you tell us about them?”
The mimic was in a good mood from the rations and seemed to have virtually no loyalty to the skulks. “Well, I can’t say’z I know much. Kasmogen runs the slave market down below. That’s where they take the prisoners they won’t let me eat. And I can’t eat skulks you know – taste terrible. But dey takes them down to the hobgoblins who run t’ings down there. Some of them wuz up here with mah cousin but not too long ago they went below. A day or two – not long. But dey’z dun leave me here.”
The mimic went silent for a moment. Then burst out “I can’t HELP myself!” and swallowed another ration. “So good…. Oh yes… Salty…”
The group withdrew, making a note to get some more rations in case more bribes were needed. Some discussion over the map had everyone convinced they knew where the tunnel downward had to be, and they set off to the north to the room where they fought the digging machine.
There was a tunnel they hadn’t checked, and they were all set to head straight in but as they entered the tunnel they saw a sign, written in gnomish.
Turn back or die
The sign didn’t seem like a threat – it seemed like a warning. I didn’t really think the skulks could read, but who can say. Plus there are the other creatures that Keygan described with the hooves. Was this an attempt to keep us out, or did it lead to something they were afraid of?
Once again the map proved invaluable. The tunnel headed in the direction of the room that had been barricaded, and that seemed to suggest it was a warning. The group decided to heed that warning for now, and rather than risk any further harm to their first rescue, they decided to retreat and return Starbrow to Keygan.
Keygan knew Starbrow had been freed, but that wasn’t enough to make him want to get anywhere near Glyph. The group came to the door to Keygan’s shop and knocked, and the bar was lifted, followed by the sound of feet running upstairs and a door slamming.
He yelled from upstairs “Thank you for finding Starbrow. If Maris could just bring him up alone, that would be fine. You didn’t let Glyph touch him, did you?”
Loot:
Clear spindle ioun stone (cursed)
Scroll of mage armor (cursed)
Scroll of mirror image (cursed)
Healer’s kit
Assorted objects lost in the note crash, 415gp worth
Argent Silvermage
First Post
A few days late
Message to Hawthornseed Trillian
Dearest Uncle,
It would seem that the distraction you and the Diamondshard Cabal have been praying for has come. Upon arrival in Cauldron, I became entangled in an investigation into the disappearance of many of the citizenry.
Investigating this matter has matched me up with a party of humans who have aided me in finding information.
The strange part is that “as one word leads to the formation of a sentence” my new companions and I seem to work well together; I’m very fond of the woman known as Mariss. She is a very young magus and I feel that she may have the potential to one day take the Ritual of Words Made Flesh.
But I digress. The reasons for my journey to Cauldron were two fold, as you must realize. The one we will not discuss at this time. The second was to continue Father’s research into the supposed chambers under the Cauldron where there may be information on more Artificer related studies. It seems there was a Gnomish outpost below the city. My companions and I are about to enter through the main doors. My skills will be challenged as I may be called upon to confound the magic on the doorways into thinking I am a Gnome.
When this missive reaches you I will already have been down in the sub-city for a few days. I hope this is not the last you hear from me as I have far too much to do than let a little thing like my demise stop me from perfection.
In Love and Knowledge,
Diamondshard Glyphandar
Seeker of ancient knowledge and vengeance.
(This message was sent the day we first went into the Enclave)
Message to Hawthornseed Trillian
Dearest Uncle,
It would seem that the distraction you and the Diamondshard Cabal have been praying for has come. Upon arrival in Cauldron, I became entangled in an investigation into the disappearance of many of the citizenry.
Investigating this matter has matched me up with a party of humans who have aided me in finding information.
The strange part is that “as one word leads to the formation of a sentence” my new companions and I seem to work well together; I’m very fond of the woman known as Mariss. She is a very young magus and I feel that she may have the potential to one day take the Ritual of Words Made Flesh.
But I digress. The reasons for my journey to Cauldron were two fold, as you must realize. The one we will not discuss at this time. The second was to continue Father’s research into the supposed chambers under the Cauldron where there may be information on more Artificer related studies. It seems there was a Gnomish outpost below the city. My companions and I are about to enter through the main doors. My skills will be challenged as I may be called upon to confound the magic on the doorways into thinking I am a Gnome.
When this missive reaches you I will already have been down in the sub-city for a few days. I hope this is not the last you hear from me as I have far too much to do than let a little thing like my demise stop me from perfection.
In Love and Knowledge,
Diamondshard Glyphandar
Seeker of ancient knowledge and vengeance.
(This message was sent the day we first went into the Enclave)
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