Back to work, lazy DM! And don't worry, you'll soon be repaying me for our drives to your place when you start driving down to my neck of the woods to join in on Star Wars: Tales from the Outer Rim. Which reminds me, we should start e-mailing back and forth about your SW character again soon.
Campaign of DM Cthulu Ftaghn
cthuluftaghn
First Post
Session II: Chapter 7, Part II
Hearing the screams that were emanating from the darkness, Valeria judged that her attempts to provide a focal point for her companions with her voice were fruitless. The wizard gathered up all of the courage she could muster, recalled an effective spell to keep in the back of her mind, and then she plunged into the pitch-black mill. Val followed the noise of combat until she emerged behind Thor who was standing at the edge of the cellar stairs, magically frozen in place. With no way of knowing what she was walking into, the young woman was just getting her bearings when a black-clad halfing came rolling towards her.
Valeria jumped to the side to avoid being bowled over, and she nearly screamed out loud as she stared into the ghastly white, fast approaching, flour-covered face of Gann Tolar. The unfortunate cleric was just emerging from the darkness for his third trip around the flourmill. Val dodged out of the way as Willow came running over to help Gann. Willow reached up and tried to pull him down as he flew past, but instead she managed to get herself hopelessly tangled in his dangling buckles and straps. Valeria shook her head in astonishment as she watched the cleric sail around the room with his newly acquired druid passenger.
Tas was deeply frustrated with his failed volley against his sneaky foe, and he was determined to cause some damage. The light-footed rogue tucked his chin hard against his chest and dove forward into an acrobatic roll. He tumbled past a very startled Valeria, straight down the steep stairway and into the cellar. With surprising grace, Tas pulled out of his roll and deftly landed on both feet, right between the two evil mages. In one fluid motion, he jammed his magical crossbow into the gut of the man in black and pumped a bolt into him at point blank range. As the man staggered back against the wall, the halfing had just enough room to turn and fire at the female wizard behind him. His shot was forced wide and high, however, as the woman sliced him across the back with a wickedly curved dagger.
Tonan saw his chance to make a move, and he dropped his crossbow to the floor. The ranger drew his sword and jumped into the basement. He landed hard on the bottom step, and he was forced to hold on with his off hand to avoid falling off. In an impressive display of strength and agility, which was further fueled by his anger, Tonan pushed off of the stairs and swung around in a wide arc. His outstretched sword opened a wide gash across the chest of the already injured man in the black robe. Tonan smiled in grim satisfaction and jumped down to the floor.
The rest of the companions, who were still upstairs, had no idea what was going on below. Tyris was still dazed by the spell that was cast upon her, and the sorceress was unable to focus. She had made several failed attempts to stand, and finally resigned herself to remaining on the floor until the effects had passed. Endora knelt down at her side, and the she laid hands upon Tyris. The paladin closed her eyes and she called upon the holy power of Heironeous to aid her friend. The genasi felt her strength return as the evil magic was forced from her body, and the two women helped each other to stand. They paused briefly to watch Willow and Gann fly by yet again before heading towards the open trap door.
The women; the three that had their feet firmly planted on the floor; stood at the edge of the stairs and surveyed the scene below. Tonan was standing nearly on top of Tas. Both of them were packed tightly into the narrow space between the wall and the steps along with two evil, and obviously combat savvy, magic users. Despite the nasty wounds on the male, both still posed a serious threat.
Valeria was determined to eliminate that threat, especially when her truest and dearest friend was the one in danger. Seeing Tonan's heavy crossbow lying at her feet, she picked it up and clumsily took aim at the injured wizard, intending to finish him off. She pulled the trigger and was delighted with the resulting squeal of pain from below.
"Uh oh," groaned Endora, prompting Valeria to take a second look at her handiwork. Tas was jumping up and down wildly, and cursing at the top of his lungs. As he turned away from the ladder, Val could see the shaft of a crossbow bolt protruding from his derriere.
"Oops," she said, stifling a chuckle. Valeria quickly knelt down and placed the crossbow back on the floor where she had found it.
The wounded halfling was furious, and he spun around looking for a victim to vent his anger against. Looking up, he saw the man in the black robes grimacing down at him. "You'll do," growled Tas, and he popped off another round from his deadly assassin's bow. The bolt hit his target in the shoulder and it spun the man around. With two crossbow bolts sticking out of him and a gaping chest wound from Tonan's sword, the dark wizard staggered across the damp basement.
Tas cried out in pain again as he was bumped from behind, and the offending projectile was driven deeper into his... wound. His vision was momentarily obscured as the female mage attempted to push her way past him, and into the open area of the basement. The rogue looked up just in time to see Tonan's sword lash out, and it cut deeply into the woman's back. She jerked around and twisted to the side at the unexpected attack, and Tas launched a bolt into her chest for good measure. He smiled as she slumped to the floor, dying, but still breathing.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Tyris, Endora and Valeria were waiting for their chance to join the fray. The small space at the bottom of the steps was far too crowded to accommodate any more bodies. As soon as the two robed magic users were out of the way, Endora drew her weapon and charged down the stairs with Valeria tight at her heals. Tyris waited until Tonan had lunged out of the corner with both swords drawn and waving in the air, and she started her descent as well. She stopped and looked back, however, when she heard the sound ofshouting coming from behind her.
"Blast you, let go of me! I can't BELIEVE I got myself into this mess trying to help you," bellowed Willow as she and Gann circled the mill once more. The angry druid was kicking and squirming, trying to work herself free from the rotating mill, and from the struggling cleric.
Tonan's charge gave Tyris the space she needed to drop into the cellar and assess the situation. Things seemed to be well in control. The female mage lay on the ground a few feet away, gasping for air. The powerful man in black was also mortally wounded. Tyris was impressed by the fury of the ranger's renewed attack, which brought the evil wizard to his knees with a series of deep cuts and slashes. The genasi sorceress was about to relax and drop her guard, but what she saw next made her blood run cold.
The black robed wizard was on the floor, bleeding from multiple wounds that had been inflicted by the party of heroes. He barely had the strength to breathe, and he certainly seemed incapable of standing or otherwise posing any kind of significant threat. Then the man turned his head to look at his fallen companion, the woman who had been cut down by Tas and Tonan, and he smiled wickedly. With great effort, he forced himself to speak a single word through bloody lips. "Lamia", and he grabbed the woman by the wrist.
Seconds before, the female mage had been unconscious and very close to death. Now, she was jerking spasmodically in the evil man's grasp with her back arched nearly to the breaking point, and writhing in supreme agony. From her mouth issued forth the most blood curdling scream that had ever been heard by any of the heroes, and the hair stood straight up on the backs of every one of their necks. They watched in horror as the woman's eyes sank back into her skull, and her lips and gums receded from her gaping mouth to expose her blood red teeth. The skin on her face and arms shriveled like aged parchment. It became taught and brittle, and finally cracked apart to reveal her yellowed bones and sinew beneath. The terrifying scream became a strangled shriek before it was choked off completely, and the woman crumbled to ash.
The dark mage shook the dust from his hand, and he rose to face the group. His wounds had healed into jagged white scars that stood out in stark contrast to his black robes. When he began muttering the arcane words of another presumably dangerous incantation, Tyris was shaken from her horrified stupor and immediately launched a spell of her own. "Succendo," she cried, and she hurled a flaming sphere straight towards her foe. The fully rejuvenated mage stepped nimbly aside and the sphere rolled past him to detonate harmlessly in the corner.
The companions sprung into action. Tonan moved in on the mage with his twin swords whirling in a dance that was dazzling to behold. Once he stepped within range, the half-elven ranger snapped his wrists outward and thrust both blades in towards his dangerous foe. With his black robes flowing behind him, the wizard side-stepped the attack and escaped without a scratch. The man's smug grin widened as his sharp eyes caught movement in the dark corner behind Tonan.
"Look out," yelled Tyris, just as a third attacker emerged from the shadows with a dagger aimed at Tonan's throat! The ranger spun to his left, and with a single swipe of his longsword he managed to turn his attacker's blade aside. He turned to face this new threat that appeared, at first glance, to be another female mage. Tonan did a double take, however, when he realized that she had two short, spiraled horns protruding from her skull and a long, sinuous tail emerging from the rear of her tight, ochre colored dress.
Valeria was markedly alarmed that Tonan had turned his back on an adversary as powerful as the man in black, and she stepped forward to intervene. The young wizard pulled a tiny candle from her pouch, and she pointed the unlit tip towards the floor between her friend and the evil mage. "Voco prodigium," she chanted, and a tiny burst of flame shot forth from the candle and struck the ground right where she had been aiming. The air seemed to shimmer for a split second, and suddenly an insect-like warrior stood in their midst.
The armored creature instantly drew forth a double-tipped javelin from its back and raked it across the evil mage's stomach. The dark man's eyes widened in surprise just before he doubled over from the searing pain of the deadly weapon tearing through his vital organs.
The evil man's scream of pain echoing across the basement had an odd effect as it mingled with a desperate cry of frustration from above. Gann Tolar and Willow were both engaged in mortal combat with the mill wheel. The druid had finally gotten her legs underneath her body, and she was now running in circles around the grinding stone while attempting to cut herself loose. She was forced to duck repeatedly as Gann reigned blow after blow upon the grease trap with his holy Truncheon of Truth. With every swing, the cleric bellowed in rage, and Willow shouted over and over for him to "Shut up and be careful with that thing!"
Back in the basement, Tas and Endora sought to eliminate their newest adversary swiftly and efficiently. The halfing rogue fired a bolt into the plane-touched wizard's gut as the paladin charged in with her longsword. Endora's vicious swing nearly severed her enemy's left arm, and an additional quick thrust of Tonan's deadly blade was enough to bring the woman to the ground.
All five heroes now turned to face the dreaded man in black. The scarred and twisted figure pulled a bloody hand away from his horrid stomach wound and placed it upon the antlike formian warrior that had been summoned by Valeria. "Imperium," he growled, and he pointed a gnarled finger towards Tonan.
The summoned creature whirled his javelin around with dizzying speed and opened a gash across Tonan's waist before the he had a chance to react. The ranger clutched his side and stumbled out of harm's way just as Tyris unleashed another flaming sphere at the wounded mage. Incredibly, the evil man once again was able to leap out of the way and avoid taking any damage from the powerful spell.
Endora stepped forward and attempted to dispel the dark mage's control over the formian warrior, but it was too late. The duration of Valeria's summoning spell ended and the creature vanished, back to its own realm of existence.
Furious that the evil mage had used her own spell to harm her friend, Valeria charged in and wrapped her hands around the man's throat. "Aduro," she wailed, and her hands became as flame. The mage screamed as the smell of charred flesh filled the cavernous cellar. The circle of friends gathered silently around Valeria as she continued to throttle the wretched man in her scorching grasp. With a final cry of rage, the young woman pushed the man away and kicked him back into the wall.
Tas fired a single bolt through the heart of the black robed man and he slumped to the floor, dead at last.
The group let out a collective sigh of relief, and then they heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Once again, spells were readied in an instant, swords were raised and the heroes turned as one to face the new danger.
There, at the bottom of the stairs, stood Gann Tolar, vengeful cleric of St. Cuthbert. He was covered from hair to boot in thick, sweat-clumped wads of sticky flour. His clerical garb dangled loosely from his left shoulder, exposing his chain tunic underneath. Willow sat on the steps behind him with a tired expression on her face.
"I told you the flour in this town was evil," Gann said between clenched teeth. "But fear not, my friends." The righteous cleric strained to stand up straight and tall, and he raised his mighty Truncheon of Truth as if in salute to a fallen enemy. "Myself and the noble druid have smote the wicked device of its creation!"
Hearing the screams that were emanating from the darkness, Valeria judged that her attempts to provide a focal point for her companions with her voice were fruitless. The wizard gathered up all of the courage she could muster, recalled an effective spell to keep in the back of her mind, and then she plunged into the pitch-black mill. Val followed the noise of combat until she emerged behind Thor who was standing at the edge of the cellar stairs, magically frozen in place. With no way of knowing what she was walking into, the young woman was just getting her bearings when a black-clad halfing came rolling towards her.
Valeria jumped to the side to avoid being bowled over, and she nearly screamed out loud as she stared into the ghastly white, fast approaching, flour-covered face of Gann Tolar. The unfortunate cleric was just emerging from the darkness for his third trip around the flourmill. Val dodged out of the way as Willow came running over to help Gann. Willow reached up and tried to pull him down as he flew past, but instead she managed to get herself hopelessly tangled in his dangling buckles and straps. Valeria shook her head in astonishment as she watched the cleric sail around the room with his newly acquired druid passenger.
Tas was deeply frustrated with his failed volley against his sneaky foe, and he was determined to cause some damage. The light-footed rogue tucked his chin hard against his chest and dove forward into an acrobatic roll. He tumbled past a very startled Valeria, straight down the steep stairway and into the cellar. With surprising grace, Tas pulled out of his roll and deftly landed on both feet, right between the two evil mages. In one fluid motion, he jammed his magical crossbow into the gut of the man in black and pumped a bolt into him at point blank range. As the man staggered back against the wall, the halfing had just enough room to turn and fire at the female wizard behind him. His shot was forced wide and high, however, as the woman sliced him across the back with a wickedly curved dagger.
Tonan saw his chance to make a move, and he dropped his crossbow to the floor. The ranger drew his sword and jumped into the basement. He landed hard on the bottom step, and he was forced to hold on with his off hand to avoid falling off. In an impressive display of strength and agility, which was further fueled by his anger, Tonan pushed off of the stairs and swung around in a wide arc. His outstretched sword opened a wide gash across the chest of the already injured man in the black robe. Tonan smiled in grim satisfaction and jumped down to the floor.
The rest of the companions, who were still upstairs, had no idea what was going on below. Tyris was still dazed by the spell that was cast upon her, and the sorceress was unable to focus. She had made several failed attempts to stand, and finally resigned herself to remaining on the floor until the effects had passed. Endora knelt down at her side, and the she laid hands upon Tyris. The paladin closed her eyes and she called upon the holy power of Heironeous to aid her friend. The genasi felt her strength return as the evil magic was forced from her body, and the two women helped each other to stand. They paused briefly to watch Willow and Gann fly by yet again before heading towards the open trap door.
The women; the three that had their feet firmly planted on the floor; stood at the edge of the stairs and surveyed the scene below. Tonan was standing nearly on top of Tas. Both of them were packed tightly into the narrow space between the wall and the steps along with two evil, and obviously combat savvy, magic users. Despite the nasty wounds on the male, both still posed a serious threat.
Valeria was determined to eliminate that threat, especially when her truest and dearest friend was the one in danger. Seeing Tonan's heavy crossbow lying at her feet, she picked it up and clumsily took aim at the injured wizard, intending to finish him off. She pulled the trigger and was delighted with the resulting squeal of pain from below.
"Uh oh," groaned Endora, prompting Valeria to take a second look at her handiwork. Tas was jumping up and down wildly, and cursing at the top of his lungs. As he turned away from the ladder, Val could see the shaft of a crossbow bolt protruding from his derriere.
"Oops," she said, stifling a chuckle. Valeria quickly knelt down and placed the crossbow back on the floor where she had found it.
The wounded halfling was furious, and he spun around looking for a victim to vent his anger against. Looking up, he saw the man in the black robes grimacing down at him. "You'll do," growled Tas, and he popped off another round from his deadly assassin's bow. The bolt hit his target in the shoulder and it spun the man around. With two crossbow bolts sticking out of him and a gaping chest wound from Tonan's sword, the dark wizard staggered across the damp basement.
Tas cried out in pain again as he was bumped from behind, and the offending projectile was driven deeper into his... wound. His vision was momentarily obscured as the female mage attempted to push her way past him, and into the open area of the basement. The rogue looked up just in time to see Tonan's sword lash out, and it cut deeply into the woman's back. She jerked around and twisted to the side at the unexpected attack, and Tas launched a bolt into her chest for good measure. He smiled as she slumped to the floor, dying, but still breathing.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Tyris, Endora and Valeria were waiting for their chance to join the fray. The small space at the bottom of the steps was far too crowded to accommodate any more bodies. As soon as the two robed magic users were out of the way, Endora drew her weapon and charged down the stairs with Valeria tight at her heals. Tyris waited until Tonan had lunged out of the corner with both swords drawn and waving in the air, and she started her descent as well. She stopped and looked back, however, when she heard the sound ofshouting coming from behind her.
"Blast you, let go of me! I can't BELIEVE I got myself into this mess trying to help you," bellowed Willow as she and Gann circled the mill once more. The angry druid was kicking and squirming, trying to work herself free from the rotating mill, and from the struggling cleric.
Tonan's charge gave Tyris the space she needed to drop into the cellar and assess the situation. Things seemed to be well in control. The female mage lay on the ground a few feet away, gasping for air. The powerful man in black was also mortally wounded. Tyris was impressed by the fury of the ranger's renewed attack, which brought the evil wizard to his knees with a series of deep cuts and slashes. The genasi sorceress was about to relax and drop her guard, but what she saw next made her blood run cold.
The black robed wizard was on the floor, bleeding from multiple wounds that had been inflicted by the party of heroes. He barely had the strength to breathe, and he certainly seemed incapable of standing or otherwise posing any kind of significant threat. Then the man turned his head to look at his fallen companion, the woman who had been cut down by Tas and Tonan, and he smiled wickedly. With great effort, he forced himself to speak a single word through bloody lips. "Lamia", and he grabbed the woman by the wrist.
Seconds before, the female mage had been unconscious and very close to death. Now, she was jerking spasmodically in the evil man's grasp with her back arched nearly to the breaking point, and writhing in supreme agony. From her mouth issued forth the most blood curdling scream that had ever been heard by any of the heroes, and the hair stood straight up on the backs of every one of their necks. They watched in horror as the woman's eyes sank back into her skull, and her lips and gums receded from her gaping mouth to expose her blood red teeth. The skin on her face and arms shriveled like aged parchment. It became taught and brittle, and finally cracked apart to reveal her yellowed bones and sinew beneath. The terrifying scream became a strangled shriek before it was choked off completely, and the woman crumbled to ash.
The dark mage shook the dust from his hand, and he rose to face the group. His wounds had healed into jagged white scars that stood out in stark contrast to his black robes. When he began muttering the arcane words of another presumably dangerous incantation, Tyris was shaken from her horrified stupor and immediately launched a spell of her own. "Succendo," she cried, and she hurled a flaming sphere straight towards her foe. The fully rejuvenated mage stepped nimbly aside and the sphere rolled past him to detonate harmlessly in the corner.
The companions sprung into action. Tonan moved in on the mage with his twin swords whirling in a dance that was dazzling to behold. Once he stepped within range, the half-elven ranger snapped his wrists outward and thrust both blades in towards his dangerous foe. With his black robes flowing behind him, the wizard side-stepped the attack and escaped without a scratch. The man's smug grin widened as his sharp eyes caught movement in the dark corner behind Tonan.
"Look out," yelled Tyris, just as a third attacker emerged from the shadows with a dagger aimed at Tonan's throat! The ranger spun to his left, and with a single swipe of his longsword he managed to turn his attacker's blade aside. He turned to face this new threat that appeared, at first glance, to be another female mage. Tonan did a double take, however, when he realized that she had two short, spiraled horns protruding from her skull and a long, sinuous tail emerging from the rear of her tight, ochre colored dress.
Valeria was markedly alarmed that Tonan had turned his back on an adversary as powerful as the man in black, and she stepped forward to intervene. The young wizard pulled a tiny candle from her pouch, and she pointed the unlit tip towards the floor between her friend and the evil mage. "Voco prodigium," she chanted, and a tiny burst of flame shot forth from the candle and struck the ground right where she had been aiming. The air seemed to shimmer for a split second, and suddenly an insect-like warrior stood in their midst.
The armored creature instantly drew forth a double-tipped javelin from its back and raked it across the evil mage's stomach. The dark man's eyes widened in surprise just before he doubled over from the searing pain of the deadly weapon tearing through his vital organs.
The evil man's scream of pain echoing across the basement had an odd effect as it mingled with a desperate cry of frustration from above. Gann Tolar and Willow were both engaged in mortal combat with the mill wheel. The druid had finally gotten her legs underneath her body, and she was now running in circles around the grinding stone while attempting to cut herself loose. She was forced to duck repeatedly as Gann reigned blow after blow upon the grease trap with his holy Truncheon of Truth. With every swing, the cleric bellowed in rage, and Willow shouted over and over for him to "Shut up and be careful with that thing!"
Back in the basement, Tas and Endora sought to eliminate their newest adversary swiftly and efficiently. The halfing rogue fired a bolt into the plane-touched wizard's gut as the paladin charged in with her longsword. Endora's vicious swing nearly severed her enemy's left arm, and an additional quick thrust of Tonan's deadly blade was enough to bring the woman to the ground.
All five heroes now turned to face the dreaded man in black. The scarred and twisted figure pulled a bloody hand away from his horrid stomach wound and placed it upon the antlike formian warrior that had been summoned by Valeria. "Imperium," he growled, and he pointed a gnarled finger towards Tonan.
The summoned creature whirled his javelin around with dizzying speed and opened a gash across Tonan's waist before the he had a chance to react. The ranger clutched his side and stumbled out of harm's way just as Tyris unleashed another flaming sphere at the wounded mage. Incredibly, the evil man once again was able to leap out of the way and avoid taking any damage from the powerful spell.
Endora stepped forward and attempted to dispel the dark mage's control over the formian warrior, but it was too late. The duration of Valeria's summoning spell ended and the creature vanished, back to its own realm of existence.
Furious that the evil mage had used her own spell to harm her friend, Valeria charged in and wrapped her hands around the man's throat. "Aduro," she wailed, and her hands became as flame. The mage screamed as the smell of charred flesh filled the cavernous cellar. The circle of friends gathered silently around Valeria as she continued to throttle the wretched man in her scorching grasp. With a final cry of rage, the young woman pushed the man away and kicked him back into the wall.
Tas fired a single bolt through the heart of the black robed man and he slumped to the floor, dead at last.
The group let out a collective sigh of relief, and then they heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Once again, spells were readied in an instant, swords were raised and the heroes turned as one to face the new danger.
There, at the bottom of the stairs, stood Gann Tolar, vengeful cleric of St. Cuthbert. He was covered from hair to boot in thick, sweat-clumped wads of sticky flour. His clerical garb dangled loosely from his left shoulder, exposing his chain tunic underneath. Willow sat on the steps behind him with a tired expression on her face.
"I told you the flour in this town was evil," Gann said between clenched teeth. "But fear not, my friends." The righteous cleric strained to stand up straight and tall, and he raised his mighty Truncheon of Truth as if in salute to a fallen enemy. "Myself and the noble druid have smote the wicked device of its creation!"
Great update! The scene with Tas getting shot in the rump was just hilarious! And the scene where the man in black sapped the lifeforce from his dying companion to strengthen himself was appropriately spooky. The parts about Gann and the mill wheel ... well, I'd prefer to forget that whole episode. I think you've created a Don Quixote figure. I picture Gann charging mills with a lance now, loudly proclaiming to all within earshot the evil of flour power.
Malessa
First Post
Good story honey!!! I really love how you've brought the spell casters to life. Tas getting shot was great.....Course it's nice to know what exactly happened down stairs since all I got to see was GANN AND THE FLOUR MILL!!
Um....Gann, if your character reminds you of a cross between Bruce Cambel and Don Quixote, does this mean poor Willow is a Flour Puff Girl trying to save your arse? EEEK.....Lets hope not!
Um....Gann, if your character reminds you of a cross between Bruce Cambel and Don Quixote, does this mean poor Willow is a Flour Puff Girl trying to save your arse? EEEK.....Lets hope not!
Spider_Jerusalem
Explorer
Yup. This continues to be one of the best characterised Story Hours out there... you can't help but begin to know and empathise with the characters, especially that guy Bruce... uh... I mean Gann.
Loved the description of the evil mage spell... what was that? Death Knell?
Spider.
Loved the description of the evil mage spell... what was that? Death Knell?
Spider.
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cthuluftaghn
First Post
It was indeed death knell. Good call! And thanks for the interest and the praise
By the way... I posted a compliment on your thread just now, but didn't realize my wife was logged in. The note from Malessa is, in fact, me (in disguise!)
For those of you that never make it over to the art gallery... here are the custom drawings of our characters. They were done by my wife. Some in color... some just pencil sketches. The only one missing is Tas:
Willow
Tyris
Gann
Valeria
Tonan
Davok
Endora
I also have quite a few pictures that she's done of some of the people, places, and critters that we've met along the way. (In fact, I've actually done a couple myself!). If anyone expresses interest, I'll post those links here as well.
By the way... I posted a compliment on your thread just now, but didn't realize my wife was logged in. The note from Malessa is, in fact, me (in disguise!)
For those of you that never make it over to the art gallery... here are the custom drawings of our characters. They were done by my wife. Some in color... some just pencil sketches. The only one missing is Tas:
Willow
Tyris
Gann
Valeria
Tonan
Davok
Endora
I also have quite a few pictures that she's done of some of the people, places, and critters that we've met along the way. (In fact, I've actually done a couple myself!). If anyone expresses interest, I'll post those links here as well.
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Spider_Jerusalem
Explorer
Ker-BUMP
Hope you guys have more of this to post.
Don't leave all us readers hanging like this... story hour withdrawal is a truly terrible thing to behold. Don't let it happen!
Spider.
Hope you guys have more of this to post.
Don't leave all us readers hanging like this... story hour withdrawal is a truly terrible thing to behold. Don't let it happen!
Spider.
cthuluftaghn
First Post
Session II: Chapter 8 - Regrouping
Sorry for the delay, Spider and company... I was on vacation.
28 Growfest, Night:
After helping Gann and Willow to get cleaned off, the party conducted a thorough search of the mill’s basement. In the unlit northeast corner, five sleeping pallets were laid out in a neat row. A stack of clean plates and a barrel of drinking water sat nearby, along with a crate of carefully preserved foodstuffs. It was apparent that the cultists had been using the mill as a base of operation for several days, at least. Oddly, however, there were no personal belongings to be found anywhere, except on the bodies.
“Look at this,” announced Gann as he pulled a rolled parchment from the pocket of the deceased man in black. “It’s a letter. Perhaps it will afford us some clue as to what foul forces we are up against.” The cleric unrolled the letter and read it out loud to the group.
“Master Dunrat,
Praise the Lord of Decay!
Proceed to the ruined moathouse outside of Hommlet and recover what artifacts you can from The Pit. Take with you only those whom can be trusted with this sacred duty. Walk in shadow, for while much of Hommlet have become complacent there are those who are ever wary for signs of trouble. Secure in secret a base of operation in Hommlet and keep prying eyes away from the moathouse.
When you have finished with the excavation you must seal The Pit and then return the artifacts to the Temple of All-Consumption. A wagon can be obtained from Tal Chammish in Rastor to haul whatever you find back to the crater.
Do not fail me.
Blessed Destruction!
Naquent”
“Dunrat! My greatest enemy lies dead at my feet!!” roared Gann, grinning from ear to ear, red-faced and quivering. He suddenly slumped and said more softly… almost timidly, “And yet he was not cut down by mine own evil-smiting hand?” The look on the cleric’s face was an impossible amalgam of jubilation, righteous rage, and bitter disappointment. His friends couldn’t decide if he was about to laugh hysterically, or burst into tears. Tas chuckled.
“And what do you seem to think is so funny about this?” Gann inquired of the rogue. Tas bit his lip to stifle his laughter, and he stared meaningfully down at the corpse at the cleric’s feet. Gann followed his gaze, and suddenly he understood. The short, black shaft of an assassin’s crossbow bolt protruded from the dead man’s chest. Gann almost stopped breathing. “The… the halfling?” he managed to croak. “The thief delivered the killing blow? Tas killed Dunrat?!”
The cleric wrenched the heavy war mace from his belt and squared off to face Tas. The fiery look in his eyes was frightening to behold. A throaty growl escaped from Gann’s lips that, to the startled band of heroes, sounded an awful lot like “murder.” Even the cocky rogue was stunned into silence. For a long, tense moment, everyone was certain that Gann was about to unleash the fury of his Truncheon of Truth upon the halfing. Valeria broke the silence…
“The outlander… she’s alive!” Val announced loudly, eyeballing Gann with a worried expression. The group moved with urgency to gather around the defeated cultist, and Tas took advantage of the opportunity to slither out of the angry cleric’s reach.
Tonan drew his sword and approached the strange woman. She moaned softly and coughed up a bit of blood as he stood over her. “It seems my blade did not cut deeply enough,” grumbled the ranger. He touched the tip of his sword to the woman’s throat, and her eyelids trembled but did not open. “Should I finish her off?”
“She’s a tiefling!” Gann announced in awe, and he approached to kneel beside the mortally wounded magic user. He casually pushed Tonan’s sword away, eliciting a scowl from the muscular elf. “She’s plane-touched… not of this world. She may be able to provide us with a wealth of information if she does not die. Does anyone have something with which to bind her?”
Valeria produced a pair of iron shackles from her pack and stepped forth. This caused Tonan to raise an eyebrow, ever so slightly. He blushed and turned away. Val bent over and rolled the fallen wizard on to her side, and she roughly bound the woman’s wrists behind her back. She moved with speed and precision, as if she’d done this before. The troubled hero wrinkled her nose and kept her head slightly averted; as if she was loathe to touch the evil creature.
Tyris and Willow moved towards the stairs. They hadn’t agreed to this course of action, and they were not sure that they approved. “She and her crazy friends tried to kill us without hesitation,” complained Willow. “I think Tonan should cut her throat and be done with it.”
Gann Tolar, who occasionally shows signs of being somewhat arrogant and single-minded, ignored the druid and laid his hands upon the dying tiefling. Closing his eyes, the cleric called upon the healing powers of St. Cuthbert to bring the woman back from the brink of death. Gann smiled slightly as he felt the divine presence of his deity move through his body, and into injured wizard. The woman’s body glowed briefly with a warm, soft luminescence. Her shallow, raspy breath settled into a strong and steady rhythm as the light faded, and she opened her eyes.
In an instant, the insane cultist was on her feet and lunging towards Gann in a display of agility that was quite unexpected from one who had her hands shackled behind her back. The cleric grabbed the woman by her shoulders, spun her around, and pinned her against the wall. The rest of the party drew their weapons and backed off a pace or two when the wizard started gnashing her teeth and snarling like a deranged beast. Gann Tolar was in no mood to put up with this kind of behavior. When the woman spit in his face, the angry cleric reached his breaking point and he slammed her head hard against the stone wall. The woman ceased her thrashing and stared evilly into Gann’s eyes with a hellish grin.
“What is going on here?” Gann yelled at her face. “Who are you people, and what evil have you thrust upon this peaceful town?”
The woman shut her mouth into a tight-lipped smile and released a throaty chuckle. She flared her nostrils in defiance, and said nothing.
Gann pressed a hand firmly against the evil wizard’s throat and raised his heavy mace with his free arm. “I’m warning you, women… tell us what is happening in this town, and at the Moathouse… or, by the Cudgel, I shall smite thee!”
The tiefling’s eyes widened slightly, and her complexion paled visibly. She seemed to be in some kind of distress. The woman’s eyes began to water as she fixed her devilish gaze once again on Gann. The wizard grinned wickedly, and blood spilled from the corners of her mouth. Turning her head to one side, the woman spat a chunk of bloody flesh onto the dirt floor.
Tyris gasped in horror, “It’s her tongue! She bit off her own tongue!”
Gann recoiled as the wizard cackled loudly, her mouth and bloody chin glaring red in the dim lamplight of the cellar. She slumped back against the wall, weak and sick from the pain of what she had done. The cleric stared in disgust, noting that the look of twisted pleasure never left the insane cultist’s face.
The companions argued briefly over what to do with the woman, and it was finally decided that she should be turned over to the militia. Gann wrapped his hand around the back of the bleeding woman’s neck, and shoved her roughly towards the stairs. Although she continued to grin smugly, the evil wizard was too weak to put up any kind of resistance. “Up you go,” ordered Gann. “Give us any trouble, and you’ll be making a swift journey to whatever dark underworld spawned your evil soul.”
Tonan charged up the stairs in front of Gann and the wizard, and the rest of the party followed behind. They were weary and badly shaken from their violent encounter, and every one of them was anxious to offload their prisoner and get back to the inn. As they walked past the inert body of Themock, however, Gann noted that the foreman was laying face-down on the floor. “I thought I propped him against the wall?” the cleric wondered aloud.
Tyris knelt beside the fallen man and gently placed her hand on his back. “He’s breathing!” she exclaimed. The sorceress rolled Themock onto his side and tilted his head back as Valeria lifted a healing potion to his lips. The big man winced and sipped gingerly at the green liquid. The potion dribbled down the mill worker’s chin, and it formed a sticky paste as it blended with the flour that covered his face. Themock spat out a mouthful of the nasty mixture, and he sat up on his own strength. He took the vial from Val and quaffed the rest of the potion with a single, giant gulp.
Gann barely gave the poor fellow time to swallow before assaulting him with questions. “Why didn’t you warn us of the ambush? Are you in league with the evil ones? What have you done with the millers?”
The color returned swiftly to Themock’s face as the magical potion coursed through his body. The foreman stood and backed away from Gann, visibly upset. “I’m so sorry,” the big man said with a shaky voice, on the verge of tears. “They said they was gonna kill me, and my family. There was nothing I could do! Please, just let me go home to my wife. I’ve been through enough.”
“You may go home, sir. But please, help us first by telling us what happened here,” Endora pleaded. “What happened to Mandy and Karlun Fies?”
Themock bowed his head, and then the tears did come. “Dead. They’re both dead. The poor, dear couple… it was horrible.” Valeria’s knees buckled and she buried her face in Tonan’s chest. The stoic ranger held her tightly, his eyes boiling with unconcealed hatred and rage over the fate of his friends.
The heartbroken foreman continued, “These people showed up ‘bout two weeks ago, claiming to be old friends. None of us know’d ‘em, but Karlun seemed to take kindly to them from the git-go, so we didna put up a fuss. They stayed down in the cella and was no problem. Even helped out up heeya in the mill on mo’ than one occasion. Then it all went ta hell a couple days back when that man in black showed up. ‘Master’ they called him. The bastid cast some kinda spell on us all so’s we couldna move, and he slit poor Mandy’s throat as we watched. No reason or nuthin’.”
Tears welled up in Valeria’s eyes, and even the mighty Tonan turned his face away to hide his emotion at the news.
Themock continued. “I think Karlun died on the inside right there and then. Woulda been betta fo him if he had died from ‘is broken heart… to save ‘im from what happened next. That crazy black-robed sonofabitch pulled out this curved blade and pointed it at each of us… Karlun, the workers an’ me… Then he… he told me to keep the mill runnin’ day and night. He said to keep the folks away, and not say nuthin’ concernin’ their presence heeya. He said I betta not betray him, or my family an’ me would share Karlun’s fate. And then…” The burly foreman shuddered and covered his eyes, struggling to go on. “And then he took that knife… he took it to Karlun’s throat like he was gonna cut it. Merciful Pelor, I wish he had cut ‘im and ended it there… but he didna do it. Nossuh. The ‘Master’ took that wicked knife and skinned the miller slow. I dunno why nobody came fer all the screamin’ that night. Made it last for whut seemed hours while we stood froze there. I cain’t never forget that… nossuh, I cain’t. When it was over, the dark man’s goons dumped the bodies in the river back yonder. We been heeya workin’ the mill outta fear ever since as they come and go’d.”
The heroes were silent, and the foreman stared at Gann with pleading eyes. “Can I go now, suh? I ain’t seen my family in days. It’s a long walk, and I reckon I’d love to be holdin’ my dear wife in my arms by first light.” Grim-faced, Gann didn’t reply.
“Go,” ordered Tonan in a strangled voice. “Go home, Themock.” The man bowed briefly and shuffled out the door without another word. As soon as he hit the fresh night air, Willow and Tyris saw him quicken his pace and he practically sprinted up the road, and away from that place of death.
Sorry for the delay, Spider and company... I was on vacation.
28 Growfest, Night:
After helping Gann and Willow to get cleaned off, the party conducted a thorough search of the mill’s basement. In the unlit northeast corner, five sleeping pallets were laid out in a neat row. A stack of clean plates and a barrel of drinking water sat nearby, along with a crate of carefully preserved foodstuffs. It was apparent that the cultists had been using the mill as a base of operation for several days, at least. Oddly, however, there were no personal belongings to be found anywhere, except on the bodies.
“Look at this,” announced Gann as he pulled a rolled parchment from the pocket of the deceased man in black. “It’s a letter. Perhaps it will afford us some clue as to what foul forces we are up against.” The cleric unrolled the letter and read it out loud to the group.
“Master Dunrat,
Praise the Lord of Decay!
Proceed to the ruined moathouse outside of Hommlet and recover what artifacts you can from The Pit. Take with you only those whom can be trusted with this sacred duty. Walk in shadow, for while much of Hommlet have become complacent there are those who are ever wary for signs of trouble. Secure in secret a base of operation in Hommlet and keep prying eyes away from the moathouse.
When you have finished with the excavation you must seal The Pit and then return the artifacts to the Temple of All-Consumption. A wagon can be obtained from Tal Chammish in Rastor to haul whatever you find back to the crater.
Do not fail me.
Blessed Destruction!
Naquent”
“Dunrat! My greatest enemy lies dead at my feet!!” roared Gann, grinning from ear to ear, red-faced and quivering. He suddenly slumped and said more softly… almost timidly, “And yet he was not cut down by mine own evil-smiting hand?” The look on the cleric’s face was an impossible amalgam of jubilation, righteous rage, and bitter disappointment. His friends couldn’t decide if he was about to laugh hysterically, or burst into tears. Tas chuckled.
“And what do you seem to think is so funny about this?” Gann inquired of the rogue. Tas bit his lip to stifle his laughter, and he stared meaningfully down at the corpse at the cleric’s feet. Gann followed his gaze, and suddenly he understood. The short, black shaft of an assassin’s crossbow bolt protruded from the dead man’s chest. Gann almost stopped breathing. “The… the halfling?” he managed to croak. “The thief delivered the killing blow? Tas killed Dunrat?!”
The cleric wrenched the heavy war mace from his belt and squared off to face Tas. The fiery look in his eyes was frightening to behold. A throaty growl escaped from Gann’s lips that, to the startled band of heroes, sounded an awful lot like “murder.” Even the cocky rogue was stunned into silence. For a long, tense moment, everyone was certain that Gann was about to unleash the fury of his Truncheon of Truth upon the halfing. Valeria broke the silence…
“The outlander… she’s alive!” Val announced loudly, eyeballing Gann with a worried expression. The group moved with urgency to gather around the defeated cultist, and Tas took advantage of the opportunity to slither out of the angry cleric’s reach.
Tonan drew his sword and approached the strange woman. She moaned softly and coughed up a bit of blood as he stood over her. “It seems my blade did not cut deeply enough,” grumbled the ranger. He touched the tip of his sword to the woman’s throat, and her eyelids trembled but did not open. “Should I finish her off?”
“She’s a tiefling!” Gann announced in awe, and he approached to kneel beside the mortally wounded magic user. He casually pushed Tonan’s sword away, eliciting a scowl from the muscular elf. “She’s plane-touched… not of this world. She may be able to provide us with a wealth of information if she does not die. Does anyone have something with which to bind her?”
Valeria produced a pair of iron shackles from her pack and stepped forth. This caused Tonan to raise an eyebrow, ever so slightly. He blushed and turned away. Val bent over and rolled the fallen wizard on to her side, and she roughly bound the woman’s wrists behind her back. She moved with speed and precision, as if she’d done this before. The troubled hero wrinkled her nose and kept her head slightly averted; as if she was loathe to touch the evil creature.
Tyris and Willow moved towards the stairs. They hadn’t agreed to this course of action, and they were not sure that they approved. “She and her crazy friends tried to kill us without hesitation,” complained Willow. “I think Tonan should cut her throat and be done with it.”
Gann Tolar, who occasionally shows signs of being somewhat arrogant and single-minded, ignored the druid and laid his hands upon the dying tiefling. Closing his eyes, the cleric called upon the healing powers of St. Cuthbert to bring the woman back from the brink of death. Gann smiled slightly as he felt the divine presence of his deity move through his body, and into injured wizard. The woman’s body glowed briefly with a warm, soft luminescence. Her shallow, raspy breath settled into a strong and steady rhythm as the light faded, and she opened her eyes.
In an instant, the insane cultist was on her feet and lunging towards Gann in a display of agility that was quite unexpected from one who had her hands shackled behind her back. The cleric grabbed the woman by her shoulders, spun her around, and pinned her against the wall. The rest of the party drew their weapons and backed off a pace or two when the wizard started gnashing her teeth and snarling like a deranged beast. Gann Tolar was in no mood to put up with this kind of behavior. When the woman spit in his face, the angry cleric reached his breaking point and he slammed her head hard against the stone wall. The woman ceased her thrashing and stared evilly into Gann’s eyes with a hellish grin.
“What is going on here?” Gann yelled at her face. “Who are you people, and what evil have you thrust upon this peaceful town?”
The woman shut her mouth into a tight-lipped smile and released a throaty chuckle. She flared her nostrils in defiance, and said nothing.
Gann pressed a hand firmly against the evil wizard’s throat and raised his heavy mace with his free arm. “I’m warning you, women… tell us what is happening in this town, and at the Moathouse… or, by the Cudgel, I shall smite thee!”
The tiefling’s eyes widened slightly, and her complexion paled visibly. She seemed to be in some kind of distress. The woman’s eyes began to water as she fixed her devilish gaze once again on Gann. The wizard grinned wickedly, and blood spilled from the corners of her mouth. Turning her head to one side, the woman spat a chunk of bloody flesh onto the dirt floor.
Tyris gasped in horror, “It’s her tongue! She bit off her own tongue!”
Gann recoiled as the wizard cackled loudly, her mouth and bloody chin glaring red in the dim lamplight of the cellar. She slumped back against the wall, weak and sick from the pain of what she had done. The cleric stared in disgust, noting that the look of twisted pleasure never left the insane cultist’s face.
The companions argued briefly over what to do with the woman, and it was finally decided that she should be turned over to the militia. Gann wrapped his hand around the back of the bleeding woman’s neck, and shoved her roughly towards the stairs. Although she continued to grin smugly, the evil wizard was too weak to put up any kind of resistance. “Up you go,” ordered Gann. “Give us any trouble, and you’ll be making a swift journey to whatever dark underworld spawned your evil soul.”
Tonan charged up the stairs in front of Gann and the wizard, and the rest of the party followed behind. They were weary and badly shaken from their violent encounter, and every one of them was anxious to offload their prisoner and get back to the inn. As they walked past the inert body of Themock, however, Gann noted that the foreman was laying face-down on the floor. “I thought I propped him against the wall?” the cleric wondered aloud.
Tyris knelt beside the fallen man and gently placed her hand on his back. “He’s breathing!” she exclaimed. The sorceress rolled Themock onto his side and tilted his head back as Valeria lifted a healing potion to his lips. The big man winced and sipped gingerly at the green liquid. The potion dribbled down the mill worker’s chin, and it formed a sticky paste as it blended with the flour that covered his face. Themock spat out a mouthful of the nasty mixture, and he sat up on his own strength. He took the vial from Val and quaffed the rest of the potion with a single, giant gulp.
Gann barely gave the poor fellow time to swallow before assaulting him with questions. “Why didn’t you warn us of the ambush? Are you in league with the evil ones? What have you done with the millers?”
The color returned swiftly to Themock’s face as the magical potion coursed through his body. The foreman stood and backed away from Gann, visibly upset. “I’m so sorry,” the big man said with a shaky voice, on the verge of tears. “They said they was gonna kill me, and my family. There was nothing I could do! Please, just let me go home to my wife. I’ve been through enough.”
“You may go home, sir. But please, help us first by telling us what happened here,” Endora pleaded. “What happened to Mandy and Karlun Fies?”
Themock bowed his head, and then the tears did come. “Dead. They’re both dead. The poor, dear couple… it was horrible.” Valeria’s knees buckled and she buried her face in Tonan’s chest. The stoic ranger held her tightly, his eyes boiling with unconcealed hatred and rage over the fate of his friends.
The heartbroken foreman continued, “These people showed up ‘bout two weeks ago, claiming to be old friends. None of us know’d ‘em, but Karlun seemed to take kindly to them from the git-go, so we didna put up a fuss. They stayed down in the cella and was no problem. Even helped out up heeya in the mill on mo’ than one occasion. Then it all went ta hell a couple days back when that man in black showed up. ‘Master’ they called him. The bastid cast some kinda spell on us all so’s we couldna move, and he slit poor Mandy’s throat as we watched. No reason or nuthin’.”
Tears welled up in Valeria’s eyes, and even the mighty Tonan turned his face away to hide his emotion at the news.
Themock continued. “I think Karlun died on the inside right there and then. Woulda been betta fo him if he had died from ‘is broken heart… to save ‘im from what happened next. That crazy black-robed sonofabitch pulled out this curved blade and pointed it at each of us… Karlun, the workers an’ me… Then he… he told me to keep the mill runnin’ day and night. He said to keep the folks away, and not say nuthin’ concernin’ their presence heeya. He said I betta not betray him, or my family an’ me would share Karlun’s fate. And then…” The burly foreman shuddered and covered his eyes, struggling to go on. “And then he took that knife… he took it to Karlun’s throat like he was gonna cut it. Merciful Pelor, I wish he had cut ‘im and ended it there… but he didna do it. Nossuh. The ‘Master’ took that wicked knife and skinned the miller slow. I dunno why nobody came fer all the screamin’ that night. Made it last for whut seemed hours while we stood froze there. I cain’t never forget that… nossuh, I cain’t. When it was over, the dark man’s goons dumped the bodies in the river back yonder. We been heeya workin’ the mill outta fear ever since as they come and go’d.”
The heroes were silent, and the foreman stared at Gann with pleading eyes. “Can I go now, suh? I ain’t seen my family in days. It’s a long walk, and I reckon I’d love to be holdin’ my dear wife in my arms by first light.” Grim-faced, Gann didn’t reply.
“Go,” ordered Tonan in a strangled voice. “Go home, Themock.” The man bowed briefly and shuffled out the door without another word. As soon as he hit the fresh night air, Willow and Tyris saw him quicken his pace and he practically sprinted up the road, and away from that place of death.
Last edited:
Spider_Jerusalem
Explorer
Great update, as usual.
Gann Tolar is now officially played by Bruce Campbell. I honestly can't shake the image. Especially when he goes round spouting wonderful lines like, "... or, by the Cudgel, I shall smite thee!".
Looking forward to the next post. Hope you had a good time on holiday.
Spider.
Gann Tolar is now officially played by Bruce Campbell. I honestly can't shake the image. Especially when he goes round spouting wonderful lines like, "... or, by the Cudgel, I shall smite thee!".
Looking forward to the next post. Hope you had a good time on holiday.
Spider.
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