Darkhawk: The Horror Begins

[airwalkrr]

Kyros' hands touch the fallen guard's wound and the gash in his head slowly seals, leaving a clearly visible scar, but the wound no long bleeds profusely. It seems Kyros' magic has saved him. The man groans and looks around a bit bewildered. "Ugh," he moans, "Now you've done it Lynward. When Drestor hears about this, he's gonna have your hide."

The man clearly does not have his wits about him at present, but that will probably pass soon enough.

[sblock=Blind_Azathoth]The rules for the dying condition state that the character must make a Fortitude save or another character must make a DC 15 Heal check. I think it is perfectly reasonable to say any magical healing that heals 1-4 hp stabilizes a character too. 5-9 points of healing would improve the character's condition to disabled, and 10 points of healing or more would remove the disabled condition. Your cure light wounds spell healed him for 8 points of damage so he is now disabled.[/sblock]
[sblock=dave_o]As a human, you can select any language as a bonus language. Other than those in the PH, there are a few other languages on Oerth that are out of fashion but still used with at least a bit of regularity. If you are interested you might find details online or you might try to get a copy of the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. You can probably download it from RPGNow for cheap.[/sblock]

 

[airwalkrr]

Balin strikes the guard known as Lynward on the chin and he falls to the floor unconscious. He finds a light mace and a light wooden shield on the guard, in addition to a set of leather armor, but no other weapons. The man has 12 copper pieces and 6 silver pieces on his person. The mint of the copper coins shows a snake on one side and a skull on the back. The silver coins show the current modified heraldry of the Domain of Greyhawk on one side (similar to the old heraldry, showing a castle atop a field of yellow, but the heraldry is topped by a serpent instead of the familiar falcon) and a laughing skull on the back. Listening at the door, there seems to be no commotion.

Allister meanwhile heads downstairs to check on the guard below, only to find that Kyros has already managed to stop the bleeding with magic. He gathers the same items from this guard as Balin gathered from the one on the upper floor (a light mace, light wooden shield, and leather armor). He finds 6 copper pieces and 6 silver pieces on the guard, the same mint as those Balin finds.

[sblock=Blind_Azathoth]Kyros recognizes that the laughing skull common to each of the coins is the symbol of the Iuz. Not surprising since the Falcon (the present ruler of Greyhawk) is a follower of Iuz.[/sblock]

After retrieving the fallen guard's possessions, Allister sets to work freeing the woman with the torturer's. As luck would have it, his next try yields success and the woman's bonds are opened. Even as he does this, the woman appears to come to. She lets out a soft moan of pain and then speaks, "Oh, um... my head... so dizzy. Who are you? Where did the torturer go?"

 

[dave_o]

Leaving the mace and shield to more capable hands, Allister eyes the woman as he shrugs into the leather armor, cinching up the side. "I'm someone who may have been right where you are, given a few days," he takes the torch from the wall sconce again, "the torturer is fled, likely rousing the watch -- we'd best be off."

Allister walks past the rest, toward areas unexplored.

 

[Blind Azathoth]

Kyros nods a greeting to the awakening woman. "Elsya, I assume. Are you able to walk? I am afraid I am out of magic I might use to help you recover from your injuries. I wasted it keeping this sod alive... Vecna knows why I bothered."

Kyros stands, hefting the downed guard's light mace and smiling slightly at the familiarity of it. A little lighter than my usual weapon, and I'd still prefer my crossbow...but this will do. He tucks the weapon into his belt, then shrugs off his cloak and moves over to Elsya, handing it to her to cover herself.

"What shall we do with him?" Kyros asks the others, gesturing down at the semi-delirious guard. "Knock him out? Tie him up? Take him with us? Beat whatever information we need out of him right here?"

 

[airwalkrr]

'Y... yes, thank you," the woman replies, wrapping the cloak around herself, "How do you know my name? Were you sent by the Order? How did you know where to find me?"

 

[Jemal]

Jonathon approaches the guard "He's going to tell us where they keep all the gear, so we can get what we need to free ALL of these prisoners and put these men in their place." With that, he slaps the guard, hoping to 'wake' him from his deleriousness.

 

[Blind Azathoth]

Kyros shakes his head. "I apologize, but I know naught of this 'Order.' We four, like you, were prisoners here. We awakened in a cell, our door unlocked and opened--by design, I suspect, though who did it or for what purpose I am unaware. We were drawn down here by your screams, but before we were, we investigated an office above; within was the corpse of a slain man and a ledger containing names and information on those incarcerated here. I noted the name 'Elsya' among them, as well as the date of her scheduled execution, and assumed you were she."

He pauses, not used to speaking so much. After a brief respite, he continues, "But now I have a query for you, Miss Elsya. What is this 'Order' of which you spoke?"

 

[airwalkrr]

"Oh dear, um..." Elsya stammers for a second, clearly trying to gain her composure, "The Order... let's talk about that once we get out of here. Have you found a way out yet? I'm afraid I am significantly weakened and won't be of much help. They used poison as part of the torture process and I feel as sick as I have ever been."

 

[airwalkrr]

You each gain 45 XP as a story award for rescuing Elsya.

 

[dave_o]

Hearing Elsya's mention of "the Order," Allister turns on his heel, the torch burning in his left hand cowling his features, painting his shadow tall on the wall behind him. "We will hear on this Order now -- I'm not one to stumble from one trap direct into another." Turning his look to Jonathon's dealings with the guard, he gestures with the torch toward the opposite wall. "Stand them there, we've questions for both."

The solider looks Elsya up and down. "I've no quarrel with you but equally do I stand uncertain that you are not a trick of Iuz," Allister almost spits the name.