Another Reminder
For the record, at this point the pcs in this group are:
Dexter Nadly- human psionicist 4; align N.
Malford the Magnificent- gnome thief/illusionist 5/4; align CN.
Lochenvare- human fighter 1; align NE.
Able Steel (see below)- I believe human; fighter 1; align N.
Keep in mind that this is 2e, so Malford is more like a 5th level pc than a 9th level pc.
Regardless...
Lochenvare grunted as he pushed through the foliage. The jungle was thick and humid, and he was sweating fairly profusely. The muscles on his back glistened as he hacked a bush savagely with the machete he had purchased from the elves earlier, and said bush got right out of their way.
Since they had time to kill, our heroes had searched out what sign of adventure they could. As it turned out, one of the few things Aerisa boasted was a host of old overgrown ruins. Though there were doubtless several areas of ruins at various levels of overgrowth, our heroes could only easily discern the location of one, so it was towards that one that our heroes headed.
They had also, in the elven villages, picked up another companion- Able Steel. Now, truth to tell, the memories are a lil rusty here, and Able only lasted two games, and I don’t have his old character sheet in my ‘body bag’ file. So I’m not sure- I might be makin’ this stuff up. If any of my old players recalls this- Able was one of the only Cydran pcs played by Bo- I’d love some input and correction of the record.
Anyway, if memory serves (hah!), Able Steel was a human warrior the group picked up, who, like them, had been shipwrecked and survived only through the clever vagaries of fate and that self-same current that had swept Dexter, Malford, Lochenvare and Setson ashore. Now, as they were all adventurers, they were waiting for the next ship out- so it seemed logical that they should all check out the ruins together.
The ruins, when the party finally arrived at them, were surrounded by a crumbling wall on a little more than half of their perimeter. Elsewhere, the stones of the wall had tumbled or been removed past the point of their serving as an effective barrier. Within the wall there were a number of smaller buildings and a pair of larger ones; and as our heroes examined the interior, they were attacked by a pair of huge hungry lizards as long as Lochenvare was tall. But the lizards could not stand before the furious power of our heroes, especially now that they contained a pair of fighters; and in a few short moments, the lizards lay dismembered or disemboweled on the flagstones of the ruins’ courtyard.
Searching out the ruins- with Malford watching for traps, and Dexter feeling a growing presentiment of danger- the party found a secret panel concealing a small vault. As Malford opened it, however, a terrible thing appeared without warning in a sudden burst of black radiance!
It was humanoid, with two legs, but it looked supple, like a snake; and where a man would have arms it had snakes. Four long whipping snakes, fangs dripping caustic venom, struck out at our heroes! In an instant it had bitten Lochenvare and he dropped, spasming and frothing at the mouth, unable to move.
Worst of all was the thing’s head. It wore Dexter’s visage like a mask.
“I come for you, Son of the Light,” the snake-demon hissed. “In the name of BLEAK!! He will have you!!”
Dexter swung his new staff, catching the thing in the head. He shouted in anger as he did so, and both Able and Malford pressed in. They battled fiercely against the thing for a few moments, and then Dex laid it low.
He was shaking.
He leaned his staff against the wall and pressed his head against the crumbling surface as well. The cool stone contrasted bitterly with the burning heat of the scars on his forehead.
“Lochenvare’s alive,” Malford announced. “He’s just paralyzed...” He glanced at Dexter’s face and shut up.
***
The secret vault held a gold box that contained a ring and a bag of 66 red coins. The bag of coins and the ring were both magical.
They diced, and Lochenvare took the ring. The coins went to Dexter.
They immediately laid their curse upon him, though it was not to be recognized for quite some time.
***
When the ship arrived, they were overjoyed. When it left, they were on board. Already Dexter had tried to weasel out of paying for his food.
Next Time: Back to Forinthia, and thence- where?