The Liberation of Tenh (updated April 24)

To New Readers

The Liberation of Tenh is the campaign continuation of our homebrew Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil campaign, which was the first "serial" story hour on the EN Boards. It's one ongoing campaign that has seen a series of adventurers buried in shallow plots, resurrected, killed again and raised as undead.

If you haven't read the TOEE2 story hour, you should do so before starting this one. You won't be dissapointed. (Unless dead PCs dissapoint you, in which case you will be dissapointed over and over and over again.)

In addition, I have compiled .rtf versions of the Liberation of Tenh logs along with the TOEE2 and the Risen Goddes logs. If you'd like a copy, email me at [b]cklarock@hotmail.com[/b].

Thanks for reading, and remember-- take it one level at a time, kill everything, and move on!

The PCs have grown from 1st to 12th level, despite having picked a fight with the biggest, nastiest bad guy on the block: IUZ. Our story picks up the spring after the PCs stunning defeat of Zinvellon and his Abyssal cronies.

At the time, a few of the readers were curious, "will Jespo Crim adventure in the Liberation of Tenh?"

Alas, as we shall soon see, Jespo Crim is preoccupied with weighty matters of state (most likely frantically trying to keep his meal ticket, er . . . Prince Thrommel from adventuring) and must remain in Chendl. But he is not forgotten, and we will be revisiting him soon.

At this point in the story, we shift gears and go from a site-based political/intrigue adventure where everybody dies to a free-form political/intrigue adventure where everybody dies.

I left my players entirely up to their own devices as to where they would like to go in order to take the war to Iuz. Their response: Tenh.

Tenh. Not a happy place. Tenh has remained a battleground since the Greyhawk Wars. The land was conquered by men of the Stonehold (Stonefisters) working in conjunction with priests of Iuz. The Tenha were routinely massacred, enslaved and oppressed.

Duke Eyeh is the hereditary leader of Tenh, but has not set foot in the country since the Greyhawk Wars, preferring to lead his 'rebellion' from the safety of a Nyrondeese court. Morale amongst his troops is shaky, and their successes have been few.

In the last few years, the majority of the Stonefisters have left Tenh, in the wake of a political falling out with Iuz. The Fisters who remain, however, are those who have grown particularly fond of Iuzian debauchery and the easy life afforded by the rape of Tenh.

The Iuzian stranglehold on the land is at its weakest since the Greyhawk Wars. They have abandoned most large population centers, attempting to hold the natural resources of Tenh with an ever-thinning military force.

The Theocracy of the Pale views the current Chaos and Unrest in Tenh as just exactly the sort of vacuum that Nature abhors, and they have mobilized a Holy Crusade to "convert" large sections of the land to the Blinding Light.

And oh yeah, there's a horde of trolls and a few liches, but we'll get to that later.

The story will begin with the PCs in Chendl and Hommlet, at First Thaw, CY 593.

The Liberation of Tenh

The characters that begin the adventure:

Prisantha, human enchantress, 9
Ethel, human sorcerer, 8
Gnomishic, gnome cleric 8
Heydricus, human fighter 4, sorcerer 5
Elijah, Heydricus' cohort follower, human ranger 8

"The Lads", a small group of warriors and mercenaries that follow Heydricus, including:
° Ywain (known as Urin), ftr 1
° Dimethius the Scout, exp2
° Otto the Hammer, exp2
° "Sarge", war3
° Pel, war1
° Ulrich, war1, and
° A cast of tens.


Fireseek 20, CY 593

1: Our Heroes Gather in Much Abused Hommlet for First Thaw, CY 593, then Create a Plan

Heydricus has renovated the Chapel of St. Cuthbert in Hommlet and turned it into a common area, as construction on Kelanen's Rest was forced to halt for the winter. Pris teleports in with four priests of Tritherion, sent from Chendl to answer the spiritual needs of the community, as well as being the proof and seal of a political understanding Heydricus had cemented with His Inimical Magnificence, Halrond the Fourth (Stalwart Master of Tritherion, Lord Protector of Chendl, etc.), the temporal head of Tritherion's worshippers in Furyondy.

Pris also arrives with a letter written by Jespo Crim, begging his and Esril's absence from the arranged meeting. Jespo was vague, but hinted that Great Things were brewing in Chendl that required his presence, and Esril had also determined to remain in Furyondy, to take a new post as Master Instructor to the Royal House.

Gnomer arrives from the forest, with the heartening news that he has left his rebellious sons Gnomishic and Gnomio in charge of the Gnomish community, freeing him up indefinitely for whatever adventures lie ahead. Ethel also arrives, sporting a new sun hat and her now ubiquitous handbag of holding.

Ren Qi and C'min are known to be in the Veseve, on assignment from the Knights of the High Forest. Word is left for them to contact the Chapel in Hommlet upon their return.

Keriann neither sends word nor arrives in person. The last anyone had heard from her she was returning to her St. Cuthbertian nunnery in Verbobonc.

In the months since the fall of the Temple, Heydricus has called to him any able-bodied warriors from the surrounding territory willing to raise a hand against Iuz and take revenge on the Old One. They number thirty men and women, a small force perhaps, but they are hardy and eager.

They are led by a human ranger known by the name of Elijah (iy-LEE-yah) "The Long Step". Elijah, like Esril, is an expatriate of the Great Kingdom, though her home is among the free woodfolk of the Adri Forest. She had been wandering far from her homeland when she stumbled across the Temple of Elemental Evil. While the party was debating which of their associates to raise, Elijah was hunting down stray groups of humanoids and bandits from Knulb. She quickly determined that the Temple was the root of the Evil plaguing the land, and shortly before the earthquake, she attempted to gain entrance, but was nearly killed by Orcs and Iuzian priests. When she heard that Heydricus was responsible for the fall of the Temple, she was quick to join his cause. Elijah is a capable scout and woodsman, as well as a powerful combatant.

The four PCs strategize about how to best take the war to Iuz. They are not so naïve as to think that their encounters in the Temple of Elemental Evil would be forgotten by the Tyrant, and have determined that the best defense is a good offense.

To that end, Heydricus proposes his ancestral lands of Tenh as a suitable battleground. Duke Eyeh, although still the official ruler of Tenh, is fallen into disrepute, and commands no confidence among either the royal houses of the Flannaes or the Tenha themselves.

Heydricus reports on his meeting with the Lord Protector, and explains how Halrond has given his tacit support to a covert military action in Tenh, should the PCs manage to obtain a foothold.

Much debate ensues as to the best entry point for the first assault. The mines at Cur'ruth in the Bluff Hills, the Prentiss fortresses, and a guerilla action in Calibut itself are all discussed. The final decision is to proceed by boat as far as Stoink, and from there travel to Cur'ruth.

Cur'ruth was one of the first townships to fall before the Stonefist invasion in CY 582, and little has been heard since, although Furyondy's best military intelligence indicates that the copper and iron mines there are still productive, and a vital source of raw materials for Iuz in Tenh.

The group travels to Dyvers, and manages to charter a boat willing to transport them and their war-band as far as Stoink, where the Captain assures the group, it should not be difficult to obtain a place to hide their troops while the party scouts the mines.

It isn't. They have barely left the docks before they have found someone willing to rent them a suitable 'hideout', then forget their names, faces and existance.

In Stoink the group inquires about a suitable guide to take them into Tenh, and are directed toward a band of Stonefisters who are in the city to sell slaves. The group meets with them in a festhall curiously abandoned save for the Stonefisters (apparently even the bandit scum of Stoink have some principles about who they will or will not drink with).

The party poses as buyers, and demand to see the slaves. The leader of the Stonefisters is a coarse, cruel man, and with each mention his price grows higher. When the barbarian leader begins an insulting diatribe about the racial weakness of the Tenha, it is more than Heydricus can bear, and Heydricus overturns the long oaken table, followed in short order by a shout from Ethel that stuns several of the barbarians. Elijah is quick to draw blood, as is Gnomer. Prisantha dazzles and slows her opponents, and before the barbarians can say "I'm . . . so . . . angry" they are slain. But not before Ethel has a chance to fire two lightning bolts in succession through the wall of the inn, destroying a nearby produce cart in the process!

-----

Next: The Liberators high-tail it to a hidey hole where they make friends with some of Stoink's more colorful citizens! What's grey, Large-Size, and wants to kill everything in sight? No, it's not Heydricus' baby mama, its . . . well, the Liberators are about to find out!

Readye'en 6, CY 593

2: A Situation Emerges In Which One Thing Leads To Another

The party quickly slinks out the back door of the inn, with the surviving slaves in tow. Heydricus leads the group into the back alleys of Stoink, intending to distance the party from the growing commotion outside of the festhall. The younger of the two slaves tugs on Gnomer's sleeve, and tells the gnome that his aunt lives nearby. The party slips into her home unseen, and hides in a cramped wine cellar. The young boy asks the group to wait while he tends to his aunt.

The older slave expresses his gratitude, and offers the party a few interesting facts: The Men of the Fist have many more slaves, the majority of which are not Tenha. There is a large group of the barbarians in Stoink, and they have been waylaying citizens in the alleyways, and putting them to work digging in an underground lair. The physically weak or mentally strong slaves have been sold off in small groups.

The party quickly determines to put an end to this villainy, and asks the man to provide details about his captors - - their numbers and defenses, etc. He replies that he was blindfolded and drugged, and cannot say much for sure, but he thinks there is someone who can find this information out. The party agrees to meet this informant at the Gallows' Toll, a local watering hole of ill repute.

Like clockwork, the rogue arrives an hour late. He introduces himself as "the best burglar in Stoink" and bickers with the party, but is quite obviously afraid of them. He indicates that the older slave, contrary to his self-assessment, is a very "important man", presumably within the local underworld. (It seems the party has earned the gratitude of someone very important in Stoink.) The uber-burglar contracts out a reconnaissance mission looking for these Stonefisters and their lair.

He returns the next morning with startling news. The men of the Stonefist have occupied a walled complex that once belonged to a bandit-lord of the city until he was lynched by his own men some 15 years ago. He reports seeing at least a score of Fisters, giant bears and a pair of giants. There are suspicious piles of dirt throughout the compound, lending credence to the older slave's story. Most interesting is the presence of a shaman type wearing a holy symbol made from a giant bear's paw print.

The party asks the man to find someone who is familiar with the building, and he returns with an old woman who used to be a servant to the lord. She paints a scathing picture of life in the lord's mansion, but is able to give the PCs a description of the building's interior.

Our heroes set up an early morning assault, and take a moment to discuss strategy. Elijah scouts ahead, and returns ashen-faced. She reports that the burglar's account was essentially correct, and after sneaking around the complex exterior, she tried to get in the front door. Just inside the door was a pair of two-headed giants, who spotted her, and raised four clubs between them to crush her! Fortunately, she was able to get the jump on the slow brutes, and use her advantage to escape.

The party is almost ready to move on the Stonefisters when they spot the old servant woman coming from the direction of their target. Gnomishic follows her to a tea house, and then into a pawn shop before returning to the group.

The PCs prepare themselves with spells and "liquid courage" (in Ethel's case), then creep over the wall, moving toward the kitchen doors. Heydricus enlarges to nine feet in height, and after his next incantation creates a handful of mirror images he signals that he is ready. Remembering fondly the assault on the Moathouse outside Hommlet, the group reprises that oh-so-crafty strategy. They go invisible and knock on one of the two doors, determining to ambush the first Stonefister foolish enough to open it.

But no one does.

Okay, plan B . . . The PCs kick in the door, and come face to face with a horrible creature, giant-sized and humanoid, covered with gray, scaly skin, sporting six red eyes and a mouth large enough to swallow a halfling whole. The beast leans forward and hunches over a pair of long, cruel claws. Two sets of chains lead off from a manacle about its neck, held by a pair of straining Fisters. A much tougher looking barbarian clutches his greatsword eagerly and commands "Release the Render!"

First things first, however. Ethel lets loose a lightning bolt which sends one of the Fisters to his Eternal Reward, and seems to agitate and disorient the Render. The huge gray monstrosity shakes its head, and gets turned around in the confusion. The Render snatches one of its handlers in its massive claws, delivers a viscous bite and then begins to demonstrate how it received its name.

The Fisters' cries are pathetic, but brief.

Gnomer summons a trio of celestial bears into the room, giving the Render more targets. This seems to cause a state of reverent awe in the Stonefisters, who immediately begin screaming in their guttural tongue that they "must save the brothers!". The Fisters turn on their Render, and try to distract it from rending the bears.

Meanwhile, the party members outside of the door have their hands full trying to bring the gray monstrosity down. Heydricus, Gnomer and Elijah shift to cover the second door, and are prepared when another four Fisters and a second Render come bursting out!

The giant-sized Heydricus goes toe to toe with the gray scaly beast, and proves that he can equal its damage, if not its hardiness. Fortunately for him, it does not also have a mirror image spell.

A furious, enraged, Stonefister takes a lightning bolt from Ethel, and decides he's not going to respect his elders, he's going to kill them. He charges her, and drops her with one furious blow! Fortunately, her handbag is not covered in blood, but unfortunately her new sun hat is.

Gnomer races to her side, and before anyone can say "dismembered" Ethel is back on her feet, with vengeance in her eye, and more lightning bolts than she'll ever need. The poor Fister never knew what hit him. And hit him, and hit him, and . . . well, eventually the sucker died.

Meanwhile, the first Render has finished off all the bears and all the bear cultists, and is about to propose that they pick the fight up from this spot in a couple of months when the party rushes into the room and does it what for. And how.

-----

Next: The liberators make a big mess, and do their best Jackson Pollack impersonation!

Readye'en 8, CY 593

3: Onward and Onward

Gnomer scouts through one door, and Heydricus sends Elijah through the other. They determine that both of the interior rooms are kitchens, and both open onto a long feasting-hall that appears unused. The hall itself is unlit, and there are no visible windows.

Elijah examines the floor of the hall near the kitchen doors, where a small amount of light spills through from the gray morning outside. She notices the tracks of men, and a creature that must be a Render, but nothing unexpected.

Gnomer creeps out of the feeble circle of light surrounding the door, and into the darkness of the great hall. He strains his ears and hears a constant hissing sound, that modulates from a higher to a lower pitch and back again.

Ethel steps into the hall, and enchants one of her spare buttons (one never knows when one will need to repair her overcoat, especially if you're in Ethel's line of work). The button flickers with a yellow-orange light and illuminates part of the hallway, leaving the remainder covered in shadow.

Ethel throws her button into the darkness and the party can now see that the feast hall is a deserted, dust-covered place. The remnants of fine furniture are shoved against the wall, leaving a wide walkway from the back of the room (where the PCs are) into the darkness beyond.

Elijah and Gnomer hide behind the discarded furniture, and begin sneaking forward along the left-hand side of the corridor.

Ethel marches forward, retrieves her button, and pitches it again. The globe of light doesn't reach the end of the room, but it does barely illuminate the front end of a Render, standing in the middle of the hall, completely motionless. Its six eyes narrow as the light strikes them, but it does not move. The rhythmic hissing noise is the creature taking air in through a pair of slits along the top of its head, scenting the room.

Ethel backs away slowly, while Prisantha and Heydricus move forward. As the three of them come even with each other, the Render springs to the attack!

The gray beast springs forward directly at Gnomer's hiding place! From behind the Render comes the war cry of first one, then another, then a half-dozen Stonefisters. The Render seizes Gnomer with both hands, ripping and tearing through his armor, and delivering a bone-crunching bite.

Ethel leaps to his rescue (figuratively only, of course - - grandmothers don't leap) with a reduce spell. The nine foot tall monstrosity rapidly becomes a 4' 6" monstrosity, and Gnomer is able to wrestle himself free and retreat to safety before the render can shred him like a Defense Department memo left overnight in Fawn Hall's office.

This new, improved render is set upon by Heydricus who fortunately is still protected by his mirror image.

Prisantha begins casting on the back of the room, and the tide of butchering Stonefist warriors slows to a trickle. The crafty enchantress then charms one of the Stonefisters still moving about.

Ethel sends a flaming sphere into the fray, setting Men of the Fist on fire, and breaking their ranks.

Elijah drinks a potion of spider climb and plants herself squarely on the ceiling, then begins to rain death on her enemies in the form of arrows. The Stonefisters have never heard the old chestnut "A failure to plan is a plan to fail", but they sure are living it, as none of them possess missile weapons. One slowed individual shows some real initiative and starts flinging debris at Elijah. She kills him a round later.

Stonefisters are desperately trying to fight their way to the back of the room. Ethel places a grease spell under the feet of a barbarous duo, causing them to slip and stumble to the floor. At the same time, Prisantha captures the mass of barbarians in a web, which is immediately ignited by their torches, causing a general conflagration of barbarians, webs, and grease.

Gnomer, meanwhile, has healed himself, and uses his charm of friendship to summon Ren Qi. The elven commando appears covered in dirt and camouflage paint with leaves woven into her clothing and hair. After taking a minute to orient herself, she charges into the fray at Gnomer's side.

A lone Stonefister makes it past the front line of Heydricus, Gnomer and Ren Qi, and menaces Ethel and Prisantha. He charges Pris and smites her mightily with his greatsword, stunning her and nearly killing her with one blow! Angered, and more than a little worried, Prisantha breaks out her ace in the hole. She feebleminds the lout, and as fast as you can say "lobotomy" the Fister has forgotten his name, rank, serial number, and what his greatsword is used for.

To add insult to injury, Ethel directs her flaming sphere to pounce upon the feebleminded Fister, who, too stupid to flee, burns to death. Slowly.

The charmed Stonefister stands up stunned and shaken in front of Prisantha and Ethel. His face relaxes, and he looks at the Enchantress of Verbobonc with new eyes. Her hair! Her skin! The flecks of blood splattered across her face! She's beautiful . . .

Just as things are looking especially bleak for the surviving Men of the Fist, the two ettins guarding the front door poke their heads in to the room, followed by a 12' tall Stonefist barbarian!

The ettins demand that the party surrender, and Heydricus coolly informs them that he would be willing to discuss terms. When he clarifies that he is referring to the ettins' surrender, the poor beasts have just about had all the intellectual challenge they can stand, and grow very confused.

Which gives the party the jump. Lightning bolts streak from the fingertips of One Bad Grandma, while Heydricus, Gnomer and Ren Qi demonstrate what they learned in Stone Cold Killer School (a.k.a. the Temple of Elemental Evil). The ettins are quick to fall, and despite drinking a pair of healing potions, the Stonefist giant manages only a pair of fruitless swipes before Heydricus and Elijah cut him down.

As the debris (and blood sprays) settle down, the party turns their attention to their captive. The charmed Stonefister warily eyes Heydricus and makes Prisantha a proposal of marriage, promising her that he would sire many strong sons, give her many slaves, and beat her very rarely. As tempting as that sounds, she declines tactfully and prompts the brute to tell her what he knows about the Stonefist activities here.

The barbarian explains that his clan worships Usul, the Bear-Spirit of the Northern Reaches. All bears are sacred to them, and the spiritual hierarchy of the clan have been advised by Iuzian priests to gather the remains of all the "great brothers" from the ancient burial sites. One such ancient site is directly beneath this house. The Stonefisters have been mugging Stoink citizens, and bringing them here to mine, selling the weak or strong-minded as slaves.

-----

Next: How will Heydricus deal with this new rival for Prisantha's love? Can Elijah really prove that sometimes the best punishment is corporal punishment? Helthrax walks the streets of Stoink! Stay tuned!

Readye'en 8, CY 593

4: All Covered in Blood and Nowhere to Go.

As the charmedStonefister's attitude degenerates, so does his life span. The Fister says something unintelligible in his native tongue, but the meaning is clear. He wants to fight Heydricus.

Bad call.

Heydricus tears a strip from the cloak of the dead Fister and writes the following on the wall in his blood: "Let this be a warning to all those who displease the Old One. Cross Iuz at your peril. Next time we will kill you all."

Hoping that will confuse their foes, the group tries to decide where to flee to. Ethel makes Elijah invisible, and the ranger guards the entrance to the chamber o' gore. Prisantha stays behind with Elijah, keeping her dimension door spell at the ready. Heydricus takes Gnomer and Ethel with him out the kitchen door and over the wall. Both groups of adventurers spot Fister groups at the same time. One band of Fisters is searching the temple grounds and attacks the group going over the wall with missile fire. A second band is exploring the battle site, and an advance scout gets enough ahead of his fellows to catch a charm spell from Pris. The Ravishing Enchantress and Elijah take their opportunity to flee to safety through an opening in space/time.

Ethel covers the second group's retreat with an obscuring mist, and the party reunites itself on the other side of the compound wall. Gnomishic uses Intimidation on a bunch of gutter-urchins who had mistaken him for a very bloody (and well armed!) little kid. It would have been funny if they weren't so pathetic.

The party are dirty, disheveled, wounded, and covered in blood, most of it not their own. The stench of burning feebleminded barbarians clings to Pris and Ethel's clothes and hair. There is a wild-eyed post-combat look on each and every face.

Now they finally fit in here in Stoink.

The party decides that in the rougher part of town a group of gore-covered adventurers would be less likely to draw attention from the guard. So off to the slums of Stoink they go. To further 'blend in', Prisantha decides to disguise herself as an Iuzian Priest. As she has only ever met two, she chooses the more dashing of the two to mimic, and behold! Helthrax leads a group of bloody, bristling mercenaries, including an old lady in a sun hat and a 9' tall giant.

What's so unusual about that, you say? Nothing, except the surprising amount of street traffic that bows to Helthrax, muttering "Dread Lord". After a few minutes, Pris is approached by a young man in a fine tunic.

"Sum of My Fears", he begins "don't you remember me? It is I, Mirn, your altar boy from Chendl!"

(Now, there have been some cases where Iuzian priests don't molest and abuse their altar boys, but they have been hushed by the Church, and all offending parties have been sacrificed.)

Prisantha begins to answer the boy in her high-pitched voice, but Heydricus thinks fast and covers up, explaining that the Dread Lord has a terrible cold and has lost his voice. Mirn cringes from the nine foot tall blood covered warrior and begins to apologize with that curious mix of abject terror and hatred that only a member of the Iuzian clergy can produce.

The lad takes them to his house, and forces his young wife to go out and obtain some clean clothes for the group. He is convinced that Helthrax has come in response to his request for poison from the church hierarchy. He crowingly unfurls a map of Stoink, with all the wells circled. The boy plans to poison the entire city, and march the corpses back to Dorakka as an undead army.

Prisantha dominates the young fool, and gives him instructions to sail to Admunfort and explain his plan to the Port Authority, who will, she tells him, give him the poison. The lad, overjoyed, practically floats to the docks, looking for the first transport to sail.

The group returns to their hideout, where Elijah has to dress down the men for throwing a party while the party was out fighting Stonefisters. No parties without the party! That's the party line.

A couple of soldiers get flogged, and so much extra detail is handed out that Elijah assures Heydricus that he will soon be in command of the cleanest hideout in Stoink. (A city known for its impeccable hideouts.)

As the party settles in to rest, they send Elijah to spy on the Stonefister stronghold. She spots a group of Fisters dragging the old lady informant into their stronghold. She immediately returns to tell the others, but notices a pair of suspicious customers tailing her.

The party is convinced that the old lady sold them out to the Fisters, and after the assault has been called in for 'questioning'. What is worrisome is the fact that the informant met with Heydricus at the young slave's home. Heydricus, Ren Qi and Elijah take 4 of the lads and double-time it to the home, convinced that the Fisters will attack.

They are right, but they are also there first. They set up an ambush, and attack the group of five barbarians who arrive. The battle goes the PC's way, but Elijah and two of the lads are left hurt and unconscious. One villain escapes, running into the night.

Heydricus remains behind to convince the boy and his aunt to go into hiding. The other two lads and Ren Qi gather the casualties and high-tail it back to the hideout, but are confronted along the way by the two suspicious customers - - a young boy and an older man.

The suspicious customers demand to know what the PCs were doing in the company of Helthrax, and tell Ren Qi that she is under arrest. Ren Qi cleverly demands to see their warrant. When the older man produces a Lord's Writ, Ren Qi runs for it. The rogues cannot hope to catch the fleet-footed monk, but they do capture Elijah and the four guardsmen.

-----

Next: Elijah captured! (consort, cohort or convict?) Meet the Lord of Stoink! Watch the party utilize their Diplomatic skills! Plus -- The Big Brawl!

Readye'en 9, CY 593

5: Our heroes find themselves in a Delicate Situation, or, You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it think.

That morning, with everyone healed, rested and in possession of a full compliment of spells, the guards smugly report a quiet evening. No disturbances at all, sir. Unfortunately, they can't explain the note slipped under the door, which reads:

"Your crew is alive and well. We need to talk. There are two Cloaks in the alley across the street who will take you to the meeting. Elijah says that a sharp tack like you would leave his weapons at home, if he knew what was good for her."

The note is stamped with the Seal of Stoink, a pair of hands crossed over a single coin.

Considering the fact that being weaponless would leave . . . um, . . . nobody without offensive capabilities, the party decides to leave the choppers at the base, and see what these 'Lord's Men' are all about.

-----

Aside: In a land run by thieves, the biggest, toughest thieves' guild runs the land. The Lord of Stoink is an honorific given to the rogue with the most influence in the city. An honorific that holds with it the writ to 'dispense justice' and set all matters of tariff and tax. A thief can squeeze a shop, a gang can gouge a district, but only the Lord can extort the whole city.

He who dies with the most victims wins.

-----

The party is met by a pair of disreputable-looking guards who eyeball them for concealed weapons, then look nervous at the fact they can't find any. They warily lead the group to a nearby alleyway, and after delivering a secret knock on a seemingly blank wall, a secret door opens into a long hallway. The hallway is filled by a gray-skinned, yellow fanged half-orc, bristling with arms and armor.

The half-orc looks the party over, and appears nervous at the fact that the party doesn't appear nervous. He leads them to a small antechamber containing exactly one table, four chairs, and three beings. A gaunt, pale human stands near the door, wearing clothes that are remarkable only by being so unremarkable. At the table is a half-elf dressed in bright colors and dripping with jewelry, sitting next to a halfling sporting a carefully coifed mane of hair.

The half elf begins the interview. "Where is the priest."

Heydricus casually pulls up a chair and says, "I don't know what you're talking about. My name is Heydricus, and these are my companions Ren Qi, Gnomer, Ethel, and Prisantha. We're here to retrieve our people."

The halfling leans close to the elf and mutters, "They don't look scared. You assured me they would be scared."

Prisantha chimes in. "If you mean Helthrax, I can explain. You see, it was a clever disguise. Here, I'll show you."

The duo look startled as Prisantha activates her hat of disguise and transforms herself into the visage of the fell priest. The rogue at the door curses and puts a hand to his weapon, but backs away at a signal from the half-elf.

The halfling says "I see. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Lord of Stoink. The honorific here is My Lord, or if you prefer, Number One."

Heydricus and Prisantha start to explain their disguise, thinking that in this situation, honesty is the best policy. The two thieves listen carefully, occasionally whispering to one another. Things seem to be going well, and the Lord is about to say something when Gnomer jumps on to the table.

"You can't be the Lord, you're too short," he exclaims.

There is a long, uncomfortable silence, lamentably broken by more insults from the gnome. "And not a great looking guy either. Whew! You remind me of a horse I once owned, but I won't say which end of him!"

Heydricus attempts to break in and silence the cleric, but the damage has been done.

"No one talks to me that way," the Lord says. He gets up to leave the room glancing at the half-elf "You know what to do."

The half elf watches his master leave and whispers "There is no need for bloodshed, but you have to leave now."

"Not without my companions," Heydricus replies, tensing his spell-casting hand. Prisantha glances about for the most likely feeblemind target, and Ren-Qi cracks her neck meaningfully, straightening her shoulders and shifting her weight onto the balls of her feet. Ethel begins rummaging through her handbag for spell components.

The half-elf glances nervously at the party, and then whispers into Heydricus' ear. "Your friends are safe, and have been healed. You can't fight your way out of here. Meet me at the Loaded Dice tomorrow at noon."

There is an almost pleading tone to the half-elf's command, and after a moment's reflection Heydricus stonily agrees.

Score one for diplomacy.

The next day, Heydricus finds the half-elf sitting at a table outside the Loaded Dice, which despite the early hour, and its discouraging name, is filled with gamblers of all sorts. The half elf sunnily orders Heydricus the Blooded Veal, a house specialty he hastens to add.

Heydricus is in no mood for small talk, so they settle their business before the veal arrives. Elijah and the lads will be returned to the party before sundown. The Lord was primarily concerned that a powerful priest of Iuz, rumored to be in line for membership in the Lesser Boneheart, then rumored to be dead, had arrived in Stoink, consulting with a known psychopath. As far as the Fisters go, of course the Lord knows they've been enslaving citizens, but what do you want him to do about it? Weaken his forces fighting barbarians so that he can loose the city to another gang? The Lord has been covering up for the Fisters, in order to save face. As long as no one knows they're acting with impunity, they're not really acting with impunity, get it? The Lord was overjoyed to hear that the party sent so many Fisters to their shallow plots. More power to 'em, they almost got a medal.

After the fiasco with Gnomer, a hasty council was convened, and the Lord of Stoink was finally convinced that Heydricus and his group were worth more alive than dead, if they continued to assault the Stonefist stronghold.

Heydricus assures the half-elf that he intends to do just that, and bids him a good day, without touching his food.

True to their word, the Lord's Gang releases Elijah and the lads well before sundown. The party decides that no more time should be wasted, and moves toward the Stonefisters' stronghold to finish the job.

They find the Men of the Fist lying in wait for them; their severely depleted numbers entrenched in the extensive tunnels beneath the building.

The battle takes place in a large hall accessed by a pair of stairwells. The fighting is furious, and within a few seconds all Chaos breaks loose: Stonefisters supported by ettins charge from either stairwell, up into the room at large.

Prisantha has a field day disrupting the Men of the Fist's ranks. A second giant barbarian manages to reach the top of the northernmost stairs, but is swiftly reduced to a mewling, drooling, feebleminded state of anxiety, while a group of confused barbarians alternately stare into space or chop him into bits.

Gnomer staves off the depredations of four dire bear skeletons, cleverly buried just beneath the floor near the entrance. His positive energy burst sends the undead monstrosities fleeing into the Stoink night, where they can do no harm. (Um, to the party, that is.)

Ethel and Prisantha find themselves cornered by a handful of enraged barbarians, but manage to use defensive magic to escape. In the end, an ettin, a giant, a half-score of barbarians, four dire bear skeletons and a real live dire bear aren't enough to protect the Priest of Usul, and his plan to 'free the brothers' meets the cutting edge of Heydricus' sword, with gruesome results.

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Next: Their 'mission' completed, the Liberators are visiting Stoink on borrowed time. How will the Lord treat them now that they are No Longer Useful? What could an accountant possibly have to contribute in this nest of thieves?

Readye'en 10, CY 593

6: "As sunlight gives rise to all Nature, so too do we thirst to be useful." - - Harin, Theocrat of Pelor

The slaves are quickly found and released, and a thorough search of the Stonefister's lair reveals a pair of hidden warehouses containing bulk goods and enough equipment for outfitting a double-score of raiders. The dust on the loot indicates that it was left there by the Lord who was the former occupant of the stronghold, and had gone unnoticed by the Men of the Fist.

The PCs exit the stronghold, and discover that the undead dire bears turned by Gnomer made their way into the surrounding city, destroying property and lives before meeting their end at the hands of the Lord's men. One of the skeleton corpses is still slumped half inside a second floor window where it was rooting for flesh, in some dim memory of its foraging habits from life.

A quick conversation with one of the Lord's henchmen at the site make it clear to the PCs that their business in Stoink should be concluded hastily, as they are now visiting on borrowed time.

Elijah and Heydricus gather the troops, and march them to the Stonefister's manse. Along the way, a personable rogue by the name of Curst joins in, and pleasantly introduces himself to Heydricus, asking innocuous questions about the troops, their pay, etc. Heydricus fends him off, but wary of angering the Lord of Stoink further, leaves him be. Curst strikes up a conversation with Urin, making comments about Heydricus' gift for leadership, and remarking what a magnificent sword he possesses. Curst casually compares the sword's value with the entire troop's yearly pay, and points out how much better Urin might have it working for a Lord who knows what he is worth. Urin proves steadfast and loyal, and rebuffs the rogue's advances.

Heydricus' company spends the next day preparing their goods for transport and dodging the ever-curious Curst and his leading questions. A confrontation with the rogue reveals that his role for the Lord is High Accountant, a position charged with assuring that the Lord receives his fair 'tax' of booty won in Stoink's endless gang wars. Curst proves resistant to bribery (but accepts the swag gratefully) and in the end, his message is clear: You can insult the Lord of Stoink and live, but f*** him out of his gold, and you're a dead elf.

Heydricus reluctantly allows the "Accountant" to go over the treasure and assess the Lord's Tax. Satisfied, Curst bids the party a cheery goodbye, and promises to check in tomorrow, to ensure that "all preparations proceed apace for your departure from Stoink". Curst promises to "help" the PCs through the gate personally.

The Lord gets his cut, and the party gets the boot.

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Next: Gnomer consults his God, Heydricus consults his Better Judgement, Prisantha consults her Hat, and the Lord of Stoink throws a party!

Readye'en 12, CY 593

7: My God, my God - - Why hast thou forsaken me?

Five days after their arrival in Stoink, the PCs have managed to slaughter a double-score of Stonefisters, anger the Lord of the City, and accumulate some bulk treasure. What they haven't done is find out a single thing about Tenh, or determine where they wish to go. As the PCs debate their next steps, Gnomer communes with Garl Glittergold. As the tiny priest leaves his trance, he has learned the following things about Tenh:

* There is, as rumored, a Troll King.
* The Troll King does not control the Prentiss fortresses in the South of Tenh.
* There are no less than three liches (!) contesting for control of Southern Tenh.
* The Iuzians use Tenh for its resources, but no longer have a firm hold on the land.
* Duke Eyeh has taken Holy Vows, and is now supported by the Theocracy of the Pale.
* There is a being in Stoink who has accurate intelligence on Tenh.
* The PCs have met him, and
* One of these answers was a lie (this is Garl Glittergold we're talking about after all).

It looks like the party needs the Lord of Stoink after all. Cursing their luck (and their poor diplomatic track record), the group creates a plan to weasel back into the Lord's favor, using that most ancient of courtly artifice: Flattery.

Using Prisantha's hat of disguise to approximate the Lord's features, and with the help of Gnomer's stoneshape spells, Heydricus' expert craftsman Otto is able to create a trio of larger-than-life statues of the Lord in Heroic and Noble poses. A hasty meeting is arranged, and the suspicious halfling proves more than susceptible to flattery, he is positively overborne by it. He happily forgives the party's earlier gaffe, and cowingly informes Gnomer that he is a gnome after his own mettle: bloodthirsty and senseless to danger, a real Stoinker! Gnomer swallows the insult implied in the compliment, and agrees to sit at the right hand of the Lord in a feast called in honor of the party's foray into Tenh.

The feast is a lavish affair, with the Lord's Gang dressed (rather incongruously) to the nines, and attempting to conduct themselves in a civilized manner. Prisantha bristles at several courtesan's amorous admiration of Heydricus, and the entire group is forced to refrain from laughter while watching the Lord's Gang try to pretend that they are accustomed to eating with silverware. (DC 12 willpower save)

The Lord himself is in a jovial and talkative mood, proudly unveiling the trio of statues to his gang. He spills the beans on Tenh, verifying what the PCs learned with their commune, but adding the following of note: There is a mine in the Bluff Hills, near a town called Cur'ruth that is supplying the lion's share of raw ore to Iuz's war effort. The Lord shares its location, the route used to ferry the ore to a processing plant in Tenh, and the route used to ship the processed ore to the Empire of the Old One.

After dinner, the PCs are treated to a rare sight, an ancient Banditlands ritual - - the Dance of Many Knives, performed (for this occasion) with live blades. Four dancers live, seven die, and one is badly mangled. The performance is hailed as a smash success, and the Lord's Men erupt in drunken displays of admiration.

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Next: Prisantha flexes her craft skills, Heydricus flexes his negotiation skills, and the Liberators spot an Awful Sight!

Readye'en 28, CY 593

8: Final Preparations are made, a pair of Shady Deals are struck, and the party spots a Bad Omen

Now that they have secured the good will of the Lord, there is no haste to leave, and the party decides to take some time off to craft magic items, particularly those that might help them in Tenh. Prisantha successfully duplicates her hat of disguise, one for each member of the group. She also contracts out to create magic for other party members, taking a fee, and storing the gold away against the crystal ball she's been dreaming about.

Toward the end of this process, the party are approached (once again) by Curst. This time, the "Accountant" offers to join Heydricus' band for the same pay rate that Urin receives. Although viewed with suspicion, divinatory spells reveal no duplicity on Curst's part, and loose terms are arranged. Curst produces an extremely detailed Contract of Service, and negotiations begin in earnest.

While Heydricus and his new Accountant are wrangling, Prisantha receives a summons from the Lord of Stoink. He asks her to cast spells for him, for the going rate, of course. He produces an item of clothing, and asks her to scry the individual it belongs to. She obtains a vision of a young half-elf, merrily sharing wine and bread with a group of happily joking youths. Next the Lord calls for Haarn, a cruel-looking half orc, dressed in blackened armor, and bristling with weaponry. The Lord asks Prisantha to teleport the half orc to the scene of revelry. Anxious to return to her work, the distracted Enchantress complies without a second thought. The Lord seems pleased, and invites her back for tea and crumpets the next day.

With Curst on board, the magic created, and a plan in motion to punish the Old One by sacking his mines, the party sets out into Tenh. Elijah and Curst scout ahead, and plot a northerly course that hugs Tenh's eastern border, providing (it is hoped) enough cover that Heydricus' small band might travel unseen.

Along the way, they discover that one of the ore shipments from the mines at Cur'ruth had been attacked, and the large wagons destroyed. Some of the minerals were left undisturbed, while some wagons were torn apart, their contents missing. A tracking survey of the scene shows that fire was used in great quantities, the wagons were cast about like toys, but nothing approached the caravan on foot. Elijah is left to conclude that the attack was made by one or more flying creatures. A sobering thought.

To make matters worse, the party is followed for several days by some sort of flying monstrosity. The creature would not even be seen, save for the use of a pair of eyes of the eagle. It hugs the horizon, where reflected glare makes it near invisible, and makes no aggressive motions. After three days of this, the creature disappears

The party finally reaches the hills, and finds a suitably hidden valley from which they can launch forays into the mines. The troops set about fortifying the place, and the first scouting mission into the mines itself is prepared.

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Next: Elijah shows why she was voted Most Likely to Kill a Lot of Poeple in finishing school!