Company of the Random Encounter ('complete' 14 Nov 2004)

[Capellan]

"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 2

In the event, they ask only Rose, who agrees to join the expedition. This brings their numbers up to six, which they decide will be enough for the task. The fact that only the surly Anastria and her brother are left to ask has nothing to do with their decision, of course.

With their group decided, the adventurers set out the next morning. They have only the vaguest directions as to how to find Gardan: Jarrek could tell them little more than to search the hills to the north of town.

"Gardan didn't think t'leave a forwardin' address." He shrugs, "Yer got trackers, don't yer?"

As they head north, they formulate a plan,

"This Gardan would need to find game, and fresh water." Ming Li observes, "Perhaps we could search for signs of him at watering holes, or game trails."

Stormstrider and Elspeth nod.

"It's a sound idea." The female elf acknowledges, "We'll scout out and look for game trails. Neither of us knows this area that well, but the local wildlife will know the way to water, and that's the best place to look. If the old man knows anything about surviving in the wild, he'll have done the same ... and we'd better hope he does know something, or we're chasing a corpse."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Twinkle shrugs, "And it would be kinda appropriate, since we want to ask him about a tomb."

Ignoring the gnome, the two elves range out ahead of the others, searching for signs of local creatures. Their aim is to find signs of deer or similar beasts - or better yet, the old man himself - but what they actually discover is somewhat more disturbing.

"Kobolds." Elspeth points out the tracks to the others, "At least twenty of them, heading north-west. Something else came through after them. A big humanoid ... possibly an ogre or a hill giant. It had two large dogs with it."

"Perhaps the giant was travelling with the kobolds?" Macwood suggests. The elves both shake their heads,

"It was at least a few hours behind them." Elspeth gestures to the way the large creature's prints overlay those of the kobolds, "The kobolds passed through while the ground was still damp. It was dry by the time the giant came through. If it has still been wet, the prints would be deeper."

Ming Li clears her throat,

"I think we should follow these tracks." She proposes, "These creatures are too close to town to be left to roam free, and they may be a danger to the old man, as well."

The monk's suggestion is met with agreement from the others, and the Company sets out in pursuit of the kobolds, and whatever might be tracking them. They set a brisk pace, but so did those they are following, and by nightfall, they have still not sighted their quarry. As they make camp, they discuss their options,

"I say we keep on for a few more hours tomorrow." Macwood says, "If they're still heading away from town after that, I say we turn back. We aren't being paid to chase kobolds, and the longer they travel this way, the less of a threat to Amberdale they are, anyway."

No-one voices any objection to the halfling's proposal, and the group settles in for the night, warming tea over a small fire and gnawing on trail rations for their dinner. This done, they set watches and bed down for the night.

Stormstrider has third watch. As he sits silently, facing out into the darkness, a hoarse but sibilant voice calls softly to him,

"We want speak. No harm you."

Not trusting the voice's claim of good intentions, the elf immediately begins to wake the others. By the time they are all on their feet and armed, however, whomever called out to him is long gone. Both of the elves search for tracks, but the darkness thwarts their efforts.

"We'll check again in the morning." Elspeth decides, "We won't have any trouble tracking them once we have decent light to see by."

But trouble is just what they do have.

"Little sneaks have brushed out their tracks." The female elf fumes, "We might be able to pick them up if we roam out a bit, but that's going to slow us down a lot."

"Given that we know they're out there, I don't think we have any choice." Macwood shrugs, "They could have turned back toward town, and we need to make sure they haven't."

Ming Li nods,

"If they approach us again, we should listen to what they have to say. From what happened last night, it seems they wish to negotiate."

"What's with that, anyway?" Twinkle grumbles, "Kobolds aren't supposed to negotiate. They're supposed to fall into all your traps and generally be stupid."

"They must have missed the edict." Macwood offers, drily.

The group moves on, Elspeth and Stormstrider ranging ahead of the others. After about an hour, a voice calls out to the female elf, the speaker somewhere in the midst of a clump of heavy underbrush,

"Want talk. You no kill, we bargain."

Elspeth frowns, less than happy that a kobold has got so close without her seeing it.

"What do you want?" she snaps, with her usual lack of diplomacy.

" Tall ones looking for something, yes? Tall ones tell Dragon-folk what it is. Dragon-folk tell tall ones where to find it." The kobold falls silent

"We're looking for a human man. An old one. He's supposed to live out here." Elspeth frowns in suspicion, "Why are you offering to help?"

A second kobold voice replies, from Elspeth's other side,

"You seek the Grey One. Dragon-folk know Grey One's lair. Dragon-folk tell ... if tall ones help Dragon-folk, first."

 

[Capellan]

"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 3

"The kobolds claim that they've been living in these hills for months, without harming anyone." Elspeth's tone makes it clear that she doesn't find that claim very likely, "They also say that recently, a huge monster - which they call 'One-Eye' - has been attacking them. Apparently, this One-Eye is a giant, who has two huge wolfhounds as pets."

"The other tracks we saw must have been One-Eye's." Stormstrider observes.

"In any case, they say that if we get rid of this creature for them, they'll tell us where to find Gardan." Elspeth continues, "I told them we'd think about it. If we accept, I'm to climb that hillock over there and wave a torch."

"Can we trust them?" Ming Li asks.

"Probably not." Is Macwood's opinion, "But do we have any choice?"

"We can find Gardan without them." Elspeth doesn't like her tracking skills impugned.

"But this will be a lot quicker."

The matter continues to be debated for several more minutes, but in the end the group decide to take a chance on the kobolds' offer. They give the signal, and a few minutes later one of the little dog-men appears out of the trees. He is a particularly ragged example of the race, with one torn ear and a pronounced limp.

"I take you One-Eye's cave." The creature rasps nervously, standing half-hunched over. It does not give its name, and shies away from any member of the group that gets too close. The adventurers, already on edge about dealing with the kobolds, views this nervousness with dark suspicion.

"He'll probably lead us into a trap, then run off." Twinkle is usually one of the more trusting members of the group, but this is a kobold, "That's why he's staying clear of us."

"I think he's just scared of us." Rose offers. Twinkle snorts.

Despite the gnome's concerns, no trap or ambush eventuates. After leading them across country for the best part of an hour, the kobold pauses, pointing to a ridge line about a quarter of a mile to the east.

"Stay quiet and low. Den of One-Eye is over hill. Is cave, near stream. Two big rocks outside."

"Right. You wait here. We'll deal with One-Eye." Elspeth glances around, "He's got dogs, so we'd better come around from the south. That'll keep us downwind."

Following the elf's lead, the group circles around, creeping over the ridge well away from the cave. The lay of the land is much as the kobold told them: the cave is set into the side of the hill, and overlooks a small stream, the bed of which is strewn with small, smooth rocks. Two ancient, weathered stone pillars flank the dark cave entrance. At the foot of the pillars, two large, bristle-furred hounds are dozing, sprawled on the dirt.

Macwood wrinkles his nose.

"Can you smell that?"

Stormstrider nods.

"Rotting meat."

"We should have come from upwind." The halfling grumbles, "We'd have been spared that stench, and there's no way they would have smelt us, over that."

"You'll cope." Ming Li replies calmly, "It cannot be any worse than the sewage."

The group quickly discusses their options for an attack. Elspeth favours the use of missile weapons to kill the hounds, but the others are not so sure.

"We might not get both immediately, and they'll make a hell of a racket if we don't." Macwood observes, "That will alert One-Eye. I don't fancy going in there after him, if he's on his guard."

"So what do you suggest?"

"They're dogs, right? Let's distract them with food, and while they're busy, sneak in and kill him before he knows we're there."

"That's a ridiculous plan." Elspeth huffs.

"It might work."

"You mean it might work on you." The ranger rolls her eyes. Then, confident of the support of the others, she adds: "But just to be fair, we'll put it to the vote."

She should, perhaps, have thought more carefully about this.

"I can't believe you voted for the bard's plan." She grouses at Ming Li, a few minutes later, "I might have expected that Rose and Twinkle would go for it - some kind of midget solidarity thing - but why you?"

"One-Eye is our enemy, not these animals." The monk reminds her, "If we can slay him, without harm to them, so much the better. I am surprised this displeases you ... are you not a ranger, dedicated to protecting the creatures of nature?"

"I'm more dedicated to protecting myself." Is the elf's rejoinder. "This will never work."

She's right about that, at least.

 

[Capellan]

"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 4

As soon as the dogs see Macwood approaching, they scramble to their feet. Ignoring the cured meat in his outstretched hand, their hackles rise, and they begin to growl menacingly.

The halfling pauses, giving them time to get used to his presence, hoping this will calm them.

"Enough of this." Elspeth mutters. Drawing her bow, she looses an arrow at the dog on the left. The shaft plunges deep into the creature's flesh, knocking it to the ground. It gives a howl as it goes down, and the other dog immediately adds to the noise, barking aggressively as it lopes toward Macwood.

The adventurers rush out of hiding, Stormstrider and his wolf 'Blackfang' leading the way. Seeing them come, the dog that is still on its feet gives a rumbling howl, the skin and fur on its face peeling back to reveal the bloody flesh underneath as it does.

Though hideous to behold, this display does little to unnerve the Company: after all, they have three to one odds in their favour.

At first, the progress of the fight seems to confirm their confidence: the wounded dog - if a dog it truly is - is quickly slain, and the second is hard-pressed.

And then "One Eye" bursts out of the cave.

The ogre - for that is what he is - is a particularly large and badly-scarred example of his race, with a massive gnarled club in one hand. Strings of frothy saliva drip from his lopsided mouth as he roars his rage at these attackers, veins standing out like thick cords in his neck.

The baleful red glare of his single eye falls first on Ming Li. The ogre bellows, and there is a sickening crunch of broken bones as the club slams into the monk's chest, knocking her ten feet through the air. Ming Li's training has taught her how to overcome her pain, but even her iron self-control is shattered by the sheer agony of this wound. The mind resorts to the last defence against pain, and she is unconscious before her body hits the ground.

"Somebody flank it!" Elspeth yells, her sword cutting a shallow gash in the ogre's chest. "We need to keep it off-balance! Twinkle!" she calls on the nearest of her companions, "Aid me!"

But Tweedlefinkle, taking one look at the state of the battle, steps back and quaffs a potion, vanishing from sight.

"Gods damn you, gnome!" the ranger rants, "After I'm done with this monster I'm coming after you!"

Whatever else she might have said is driven out of her in an explosive whoosh of air, as the ogre's club slams into her stomach. Elspeth's body all but folds over the weapon, yet she somehow stays on her feet. Stormstrider is not so lucky: as he moves to take the position that Twinkle refused, One-Eye sweeps his club in a wide arc. The elf ducks just a little too slowly, and hits the ground like he's been pole-axed, blood streaming from a gash in his head.

Twinkle, folded in the safety of a cocoon of invisibility, winces at the blow. The dangerous reach of the ogre's weapon has been clear to her since the moment it emerged, and she knows that she would have fallen as easily as Stormstrider, had she tried to do as Elspeth desired.

The gnome also knows that she is not as strong, or as brave, as many of her companions. Even Rose is moving in to the melee, seizing the moment while the ogre recovers from his swing. As she does so, Macwood runs to Ming Li's side, where he drops to his knees, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.

No, Twinkle is not as strong, or as brave, as many of her companions.

But she wants to be.

The gnome rushes forward, the shield of her invisibility letting her race unseen between the ogre's legs. As she does so, she shouts in anger, and fear - and in triumph.

Her shortsword - her tiny, insignificant blade - cuts straight across the tendons in the ogre's leg.

One-Eye bellows in pain and rage, even as he crashes to one knee, blood spraying from the wound. The ogre twists, his club sweeping round to pulp the insolent foe who just harmed him.

But he is swinging at a gnome, not the human or elf he expects: his blow is too high, and Twinkle finds herself miraculously unscathed.

One Eye bellows again, summoning his pet to aid him, but the dog-thing's path is blocked by Blackfang. The wolf pays a terrible price for its temerity, as the beast savages it brutally, but it stays the creature just long enough for the tide of the battle to turn.

Ming Li staggers to her feet, somehow revived by Macwood's ministrations. The monk is moving gingerly, but she is back in the fight. And Elspeth, despite her injury, still stands: she uses the ogre's moment of distraction to drives her blade deep into his side.

The dog-beast savages Blackfang again, dropping the wolf, which falls beside Stormstrider, before loping toward its own master. But it is too late: Twinkle, clutching her blade in white-knuckled hands, steps in its path.

With an explosive shout, Ming Li rushes into the battle, pointing her staff like a spear. The thrust smashes through the thinnest part of the ogre's skull, driving deep into its brain.

The ogre falls. And as the dust settles, it reveals Twinkle standing over the corpse of the dog-thing, her bloodied blade still in her hands. The gnome turns, her face split in an enormous grin.

"I killed it!" she exults, "First I stabbed him and then I stabbed it and I killed it!" Limping, she walks around the ogre's body. "It bit my foot but I killed it! Dead!"

She points at her boot, which has been torn by the creature's teeth.

"Well done." Ming Li says gravely, "You did well. And your injury is a proud one. It still bleeds, I see."

"Bleeds?" Twinkle looks down, her eyes widening as she sees the red fluid seeping from her boot. Her face goes pale, and she manages a faint "I think I need to sit down." before she passes out completely.

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

...cool. How's "Twinkle Giantslayer" sound?

 

[Capellan]

"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 5

After using their wand of cure light wounds to heal their injuries from the battle, the adventurers search One Eye's lair, in the hope of making some some extra coins for their troubles. There's nothing to be found, however - in fact, apart from some mouldering corpses, One Eye literally seems to have no belongings. This rouses Macwood's suspicions, and he checks the Ogre's body, discovering an apparently nondescript leather bag which emanates magic. The bard gleefully calls dibs on this bag of holding.

"So how do we let the kobolds know that we've killed One Eye?" Rose asks, "Should one of us go and tell them?"

"I think we should stake his head outside the cave, and wait where we are." Macwood's voice echoes out of the depths of the save, where he is carefully going through the contents of his new acquisition, "They'll see it eventually and come to us."

"I'll cut his head off." Stormstrider volunteers.

"It's a good idea." Ming Li admits, "It will give us longer to rest and recover, and is a defensible location, should the creatures try to betray us."

"Would they do that?" Rose wonders.

"They're kobolds." Is Twinkle's opinion, "Doing nasty things like that is in their nature."

The kobolds, however, abide by the deal.

"You can reach the Grey One's home by going toward the rise of the sky-flame." a sibilant, reptilian voice calls out of the darkness that night, "Travel until the sky-flame is high and hot, and you will see a place of trees. Good for shade. Go there, and you will find his man-burrow."

"So," Ming Li puzzles out the instructions, "travel east at dawn, and keep on that path until noon, then look for a wood. Sounds easy enough."

"Let's hope it's accurate." Elspeth sniffs, "Or those little freaks will be joining One Eye."

Despite the adventurers' continued misgivings, the wood is where the kobolds' claim it is, and – once they are under the cover of the trees – signs of the old man's habitation of the area are readily apparent.

"I could have found this without the help of those kobolds." Stormstrider opines, pointing out some scuff marks of Gardan's boots upon the track.

"Perhaps," is Macwood's tart rejoinder, "But not all of us are as long-lived as you elves."

Following the trails, the Company soon see that Gardan has chosen a pleasant vale for his retirement. The trees form a canopy against the sun and the rain, but are not so dense as to make travel difficult, and the wood is filled with the scampering sounds of small animals and birds, and criss-crossed with small streams.

"Truffles have been dug up here." Macwood points to the base of a tree, a faraway look in his eyes, "They used to make a truffle soufflé, at home –"

"I think I see something." Twinkle interrupts, pointing through the trees. Following the direction of her arm, the others catch a glimpse of the same thing the gnome has seen: a glimmer of something reflective, like water – or glass.

In this case, the gleam is the latter: light reflecting off the dark windows of a small, but neatly-made wooden cottage, which has been weather-coated in a deep brown plaster.

"Not very good glass." Twinkle complains. The gnome has boosted herself up onto the window-sill and has her hands cupped around here eyes as she tries to peer within, "Can't see through it, properly."

"That's the way I like it." A deep, gravely voice interrupts, causing several of the group to start and Twinkle to slide off the sill with a squeak of surprise. The speaker is a human male, clearly well into his sixties, with a fringe of hair around his bald skull, and a thick grey beard about his chin. "Made it m'self, along with every other part o' the place. What's your business here, strangers?" It occurs to them all at this point that the old man holds a woodsman's axe in his strong, gnarled hands.

"We seek Gardan, once sheriff of Amberdale." Ming Li explains.

"You've found him." The old man rests his axe on the ground, and leads on the haft, "You're from Amberdale, eh? Don't recognise most of you … but you –" he points at Twinkle, "- you're Tallyhoop's niece, am I right?"

"You remember me?" Twinkle looks guilty.

"Aye, I remember you. Young trouble-maker." Gardan gives a mock scowl, then suddenly grins, "Of course, back then you were only as high as my knee. These days, you're as high as some much more interesting places." The old man cackles as the gnome flushes bright red at this innuendo, "Come inside, young folk. There's room for all, if you don't mind getting cosy."

Over a meal of malt beer and dark-grained bread, the adventurers explain their errand.

"Jarrek is Captain now?" the old man shakes his head, "Boy couldn't find his own rear with two hands and a map."

No-one in the Company seems inclined to argue.

"But what about the tomb?" Twinkle persists, "Do you remember that?"

"You're an eager one, aren't you?" Gardan waggles his eyebrows, then laughs as the gnome hurriedly inches her chair away from him, "Aye, I remember the tomb. 'twas one of the few excitements o' my thirty years in the job. We sealed the door with molten iron, but like as not you could simply chip that away, so we also got the high priest -" He pauses, "- that's old Danslaw, not the new fellow – to place a magical ward on it."

"How do we unseal the ward?" asks Macwood.

"Danslaw said he made it so that only open to the touch of holy energy." Gardan squints, trying to remember the priest's exact words, "Said somethin' about priests channelin' good power, or bad, and that only the good energy would open it."

"Like when the Padre blasted those zombies to dust?" Twinkle suggests.

"Or a healing spell." Macwood offers, "Stormstrider could cast one of those."

"Can't you, as well?" Twinkle challenges him, "Ming Li got up again in that fight because of you."

"Healing spells, me?" Macwood shrugs, "I just told her if she didn't get up again, I'd make sure I was the one who wrote her eulogy."

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

Dirty old man with gnome fetish. That must have been... interesting to roleplay.

 

[Lefferts]

"You remember me?" Twinkle looks guilty.

"Aye, I remember you. Young trouble-maker." Gardan gives a mock scowl, then suddenly grins, "Of course, back then you were only as high as my knee. These days, you're as high as some much more interesting places." The old man cackles as the gnome flushes bright red at this innuendo, "Come inside, young folk. There's room for all, if you don't mind getting cosy."

He remembers her. He's been waiting for her to grow up.

Lefferts

 

[Capellan]

"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 6

After declining the offer of a bed for the night - Twinkle whimpers when Gardan tips her an outrageous wink - the adventurers depart, eager to get back to Amberdale and open the tomb.

The return journey takes two days, by which time most of the adventurers' injuries have been healed, but they elect to wait until the next morning before they enter the tomb itself.

"May as well be at full strength when we start." Macwood sums up the plan for Captain Jarrek, "Because we probably won't stay that way for long."

Entering the sewers the next morning, the Company makes their way to the huge iron door. Once there, Twinkle uses a knife and a small hammer to chip away the physical seal on the door, and then Stormstrider invokes his druidic powers, channelling a cure light wounds into the metal.

There is a grinding sound as the door swings inward, revealing a rough-hewn stone chamber, the floor of which is littered with bones.

"Think they'll attack us?" Stormstrider asks.

"When we haven't got a cleric? I'm sure they will." Is Macwood's assessment.

The bard is swiftly proved correct. As the adventurers move into the chamber - bludgeoning weapons at the ready - the bones roll together, gradually building from the feet upwards into five complete skeletons. Teeth clattering in macabre laughter, the creatures surge forward, their bones hands outstretched like claws.

The first one gets its skull crushed before it even gets within arm's reach: Ming Li lashes out the end of her staff, shattering the brittle old bone with a rapid flick of her wrist. The other four fair little better: they meet mace and staff and hammer, and rapidly return to the scattered bones they were before the adventurers entered the room.

"You know," Rose remarks at the end of it, "Those things used to a lot scarier."

With the immediate threat at an end, the group takes their time in looking around the chamber. The rear wall has the only properly worked stone in the room. Not only is there a large sarcophagus before it, but the wall itself has had a mural engraved upon it. There are three panels, two depicting the sun either just rising or setting, and the one in the middle showing it high in the sky.

"Is that it?" Twinkle looks at once disappointed and relieved, "One room with skeletons, an old coffin to empty, and we can go home?"

"Not quite." Macwood has scrambled up onto the sarcophagus and is staring at the lid. "There's some kind of runes here. You might want to stand back: I'm going to wipe the dust away and see what they say -"

The bard abruptly realises he is talking to an empty room. Turning, he can just make out the others, peering in through the doorway.

"- and it might not be safe." He sighs.

The halfling crouches, draws in a deep breath, and then exhales as hard as he can, blowing a cloud of dust out of the deeply-cut runes on the stone lid.

"I'm not dead!" he calls, "The runes are in an some kind of Old Elvish. They say: 'When I move to greet the morning sun, my greatest secret shall be revealed."

"Any ideas what it means?" Elspeth asks, as she re-enters the room. Macwood shrugs,

"Probably that we have to move it to point at one of those two panels." He suggests, indicating the mural. "And then it'll open, or a secret chamber will be revealed. Something like that."

"It looks pretty heavy." Stormstrider remarks. Macwood shrugs again,

"You're strong. You'll get over it."

"It should move pretty easily, actually." Twinkle has been peering at the base of the sarcophagus, and now pops up. There's a smudge of dust on the tip of her nose, "There are grooves in the floor here, under the dust. We just need to get the blowhard here -" she indicates Macwood, who preens unashamedly, "- to clear them, and we should be able to swing it in either direction."

"The sun rises in the east, so I say we move it that way." Ming Li points at the panel in question.

This suggestion meets with agreement - and another max exodus from the room. After a short argument about who has to go back in, Elspeth and Stormstrider return, set their shoulders to the sarcophagus, and push it eastward.

They don't die, either.

Instead, their actions reveal a short flight of steps that lead down to an open doorway, just beneath the middle panel of the mural. Light spills out of the doorway, and Macwood scampers down the stairs to peer through the gap.

"Secret room." He reports, his face light by the glow from within. "There's a lit torch down here." He squints at it carefully, "Looks like a continual flame."

The group moves into the new area. This chamber also has murals in the walls, this time of elven warriors battling monsters. A badly rotted couch is set against one wall. Twinkle promptly sits on this, and the couch collapses into a sodden heap, throwing up a small cloud of dust and mould. A panicked stampede for the exit follows, ending only when it becomes clear that the gnome's choking and sputtering is simply the result of mundane dust, rather than any of the lethal varieties of fungi.

"Don't do that again." Elspeth tells Twinkle, sternly.

Once they have all returned to the room, the group reviews its options. There are two exits: on the right, a corridor set with a series of alcoves; on the left, a closed door.

"So, do we flip a coin to see which way to go?" Macwood asks, "Or just throw the gnome down one and see if anything eats her?"

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

Poor Twinkle can't get no respect. First Gardan and now this....

 

[Grondmar]

Bump!

This story is AWESOME!