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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 8434475" data-attributes="member: 508">ADVENTURE 19: DREGSPC Roster: Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 4             Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 1             Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 2/paladin 2             Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 4             Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 4Game Session Date: 16 October 2021 - - -It was noon in the Merry Minstrel Inn and the five adventurers were enjoying a hot meal.  Jorbalee Bennicut, the innkeeper herself, was bringing another basket of rolls to the table when she saw a young boy of perhaps eight summers enter the dining area of the inn and approach her guests' table."Are you the people who can wake people up who won't wake up by themselves?" he asked, tugging on Xandro's sleeve.  The bard couldn't help but notice the boy's eyes kept darting to the food on the table before them."Yeah, that's right," he said, handing a roll over to the boy, who grabbed it up and started eating it at once.  It was apparent he hadn't eaten in a while and the state of his raggedy clothes hinted at a life at or below the poverty level.  "Do you know of someone who needs help waking up?""My mom," replied the boy between bites of the roll.  "She fell asleep two days ago and I can't wake her up.""What's your name, honey?" asked Alewyth."Tommy.""Well, why don't you come sit over here by me and have some lunch, and then we'll go see about waking up your mom, okay?"  That sounded like a great idea to Tommy, who climbed up on the bench beside the dwarven priestess and grabbed up a slice of cheese.  He ate remarkably well for someone his age and asked Alewyth if it would be okay of he brought some food back for his mom.  The dwarf pulled out a handkerchief and helped him wrap up a nice lunch for Tommy's mom.  Then, after paying Jorbalee for the meal and promising to be back in time for dinnertime - during which Xandro would be providing the entertainment with his lute and his songs - they let Tommy lead them back to where he and his mother, Greta, lived.This turned out to be in the poorer section of town, where the good buildings were made of thin wood and the less sturdy were little more than patchwork tents.  Grubby faces stared out at the heroes as they walked beside Tommy; they got the idea the local inhabitants didn't often see anyone with such fine clothing and equipment wandering around in the low section of town.  Thurloe stared belligerently at the curious locals, daring them to try anything.  Xandro kept a smile on his face so as not to look threatening but made sure his hand was close to the hilt of his rapier, just in case.Eventually, Tommy led them to his home, a one-room structure of wooden struts, canvas walls, and a roof of thatch.  "She's in there," he said, pointing to a thin blanket hanging from a rope strung across the room to form a makeshift wall.  Thurloe couldn't help noticing the landfill next door, where all sorts of accumulated refuse had been tossed.  Hell of a place to grow up, he thought to himself, but that didn't stop him from giving the place a good once-over to make sure this kid wasn't leading them into an ambush.Wakuren moved aside the hanging sheet serving as a front door and likewise pushed the hanging blanket aside so he could see to Greta.  She was laying motionless on a pile of rags in the corner which apparently served as her bed.  In the dark of the room (once the blanket fell back into place) Wakuren knelt beside her and placed a hand on her forehead.  He was immediately aware of several things: she was cold to the touch, had apparently been dead for two days, and yet occasionally twitched slightly.  He imagined this slight movement had convinced Tommy that his mother was still alive."Keep Tommy away from here for now!" Wakuren called to the others and Thurloe dropped a hand on the boy's shoulder and led him off to the side of the hovel.  None of the others knew the specifics but the worried tone in the half-orc's voice caused Zander to cast a mage armor spell upon himself and Alewyth to cast a bless spell on the group, each of them anticipating the possibility of combat."What are you doing?" Xandro hissed to the two spellcasters.  "You're going to be seen!"  Belatedly, Zander and Alewyth recalled the prohibition against casting spells within the city of Baron's Haven and guiltily looked around to see if anyone had seen them.  Xandro, in the meantime, took out his lute and started the tune that inspired courage."Is everything okay?" Tommy asked Thurloe."It's going to be," promised Thurloe, "one way or the other."Inside the building, Greta suddenly lurched upright to a sitting position, her glazed eyes focusing on Wakuren as she pulled herself to a standing position.  Then, lurching and staggering as if in a drunken stupor, she slowly headed his way, an arm reaching out to the half-orc as if pleading for contact.  Wakuren stepped back, holding forth his holy symbol of Cal and channeling a blast of positive energy through it, hoping to turn the zombie away.  Surprisingly, it had no effect, as Greta stepped forward and slammed a stiff arm against the half-orc's armored chest.Zander could see a little of what was going on inside the hovel through the gaps between the doorway and the sheet hanging in it, enough to determine it might not be a bad idea to activate his figurine of wondrous power.  Pulling the statuette from a belt pouch and dropping it to the ground, an elven dog sprang up in its place.  The cooshee needed no urging or instruction; it stuck its head into the doorway of the hovel, intrigued by the scent of dead flesh.  He bit at Greta's leg as she stumbled by but the woman didn't even seen to notice.Alewyth stepped past the hanging curtain, saw the zombie attacking Wakuren, and brought her dwarven warhammer Sjondra swinging into Greta's side.  And then, to everyone's surprise, a form burst out of Greta's chest, dark and wet and aimed in Wakuren's direction.  The half-orc bleated in terror and bashed the giant worm aside; it dropped to the ground and he slammed the edge of his shield down upon the dregworm, crushing it to death.Tommy was getting worried about all of the screaming and yelling inside his house.  "Tell you what," said Thurloe, pulling a silver coin out of a pouch at his belt.  "Why don't you take this and go buy some garlic from that marketplace we passed, okay?  We'll need it to go help your mom wake up."  Glad to have something to do to help his mother, Tommy grabbed up the silver piece and sprinted off.Greta, now with a gaping hole in her chest, swung a feeble arm at Wakuren but failed to connect; the sudden movement almost sent her crashing to the floor.  But then another dregworm came leaping out of the hole to slam against Wakuren's shield, while a separate hole burst open in Greta's side and a third dregworm leaped out at the cooshee.  Zander, not worrying at all if anybody was watching, cast a magic missile spell at the slime-coated worm biting at his elven dog, and the cooshee finished the dregworm off with a snap of his teeth.Alwyth swung Sjondra at the shambling corpse and Greta sprawled in a heap onto the floor of the hovel, still as dead as she had been but now no longer moving.  Wakuren crushed the last remaining dregworm with the edge of his shield and then looked over at Greta to see if any more would crawl out of her body.  It didn't seem like there were any left."Where's Tommy?" Alewyth asked, stepping back out of the dwelling.  After Thurloe told her of his ploy with the garlic purchase, she grimaced and asked, "What are we going to tell him when he returns?""How about, 'Sorry kid - your mom's dead.  Let's go check out the orphanages,'" Thurloe suggested, which got him a lot of "What's wrong with you?" looks.When Tommy returned with the garlic, Alewyth took him aside and said, "We weren't able to wake up your mom just yet, sweetie.  We're going to still try a few things, but do you have any relatives you can stay with in the meantime?"  Tommy thought it over and revealed he had an Uncle Willick, his mom's brother.  "But we don't see him very much.  I don't think he and Mom get along.""Do you know where he lives?" Alewyth prompted."I know where he works: in the temple."That gave Alewyth a little bit of hope.  "Which temple?" she asked."The one with the lady."  Tommy wasn't able to elaborate any further, but he said he could take them to where his Uncle Willick worked.  Alewyth wondered whether it might be the temple of Delphyne, Goddess of Magic, or maybe that of Feron, Goddess of Nature.  Either one would be a good environment for a young orphan to be raised in, she mused.  And in any case, she'd find out soon enough when they got there.But they didn't head over to the Godswalk, where the majority of the temples and shrines were to be found in Baron's Haven.  Instead, Tommy led them to a run-down brick building in the low part of town.  "There's Uncle Willick!" he said, pointing to a fat-bellied man standing outside the building."You wait here," suggested Wakuren, walking up to Willick.  Thurloe decided he didn't want to miss out on this and went with the half-orc."Are you Willick, brother of Greta?" asked Wakuren."Yeah, maybe," answered the heavyset man.  Wakuren noted he had about three days' growth of beard on his face and smelled heavily of alcohol, despite the early hour.  "Who wants to know?"Wakuren introduced himself and Thurloe and pointed over to Tommy, waiting by the others across the street.  "I'm afraid your sister is dead," Wakuren said.  "Dregworms - there were probably a few eggs in something she ate.  In any case, I assume Tommy's father is no longer around?""Died years ago," confirmed Willick.  Then sudden realization dawned on him.  "Wait -- you're not trying to pawn the kid off on me, are you?""I understand you might be his only living relative," Wakuren pointed out.Willick scratched his stubbly beard as he thought aloud.  "Well...yeah, I suppose I could use him here at the temple.  I reckon he's old enough to stop shirkin' and start workin'.  Yeah, okay, I guess I can make this work."Wakuren's eyes narrowed.  "This...is your temple?  Here?" he asked."Sure," Willick replied.  "We gotta tend to the needs of them what don't got lots of coin.  Best way to do that's to serve 'em where they live."  At this observation, Thurloe left the others behind and approached the shabby brick building.  There was no door on the front face of the structure; he found the sole entrance at the back end of a narrow alley, between it and the neighboring building.  There was no writing on the door, merely the silhouette of a well-endowed woman, which Thurloe recognized as the holy symbol of Desdemona, Goddess of Fertility.Stepping into the building, Thurloe was met by a dark-haired woman in well-worn clothes that were somewhat fashionable years ago, standing behind a wooden counter.  The dim lighting in the room was provided by a pair red-glass lanterns.  "Welcome to the Temple of Desdemona," Maria Cuescu greeted the fighter.  "Have you come to perform a sacrament in the name of the Lady?""I'm here to warn you that a relative of one of your workers was just killed by dregworms," Thurloe answered.  "Any of your employees feeling sick or anything?""All of our priestesses are clean," Maria replied, brows furrowed in irritation."They all willing?" Thurloe pressed."I don't think I like your attitude," Maria answered, giving a shrill whistle between her teeth.  A pair of hanging curtains parted in the wall behind her and a pair of hungry-looking dogs slinked out into the reception room.  "If you're not here to receive the Lady's blessing, I suggest you go elsewhere to stir up trouble."Thurloe gave her a sarcastic salute and left the way he'd come, wondering what kind of legitimate house of worship kept their guard dogs underfed to increase their aggressiveness.  He returned to Wakuren and Willick.  "Place is a whorehouse," he announced without preamble."It's a legitimate temple of worship, providing a much-needed service--" sputtered Willick."We're not interested in hearing your excuses," Wakuren interrupted him.  "The boy's not coming to work for you.  He'd be better off in an orphanage.""He's my own flesh and blood," Willick argued.  "I'll decide what's best for him.""You're not pimping out an eight-year-old boy!" snarled Wakuren, his orcish nature getting the better of him despite his best efforts to remain calm.  Then he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and slowly counted to three.  "All right," he said.  "We'll buy him from you.  You get a sum of cash up front, and he gets to go on to live a better life than the one you can provide for him.""I dunno," Thurloe said.  "This chump's likely to take your money and then hunt Tommy down anyway.""There ain't a place in this city I can't get to," promised Willick.  "And I got connections - I'll find him if I want to."  Then he rubbed his bristly chin again.  "But out of curiosity, how much money are we talking?"Wakuren suddenly strolled away from the two men, walking up to the building, seeming to give the bricks a close inspection.  But it wasn't the bricks he was concentrating upon: it was the emanations of evil he was picking up from the other side of the bricks - three separate ones, in fact.  He'd already determined Willick's own aura reeked of evil and if anything it was the strongest of the four, although that may have simply been because Wakuren was able to get closer to the man without any intervening walls in the way.When Wakuren returned, he'd made up his mind.  "Okay," he said.  "I think we can come to an arrangement.  Let's all go inside and work out the details."  He motioned for the others to accompany him.  Seeing this, Zander pulled out a copper penny from his pocket and gave it to Tommy.  "We have to talk with your uncle inside, okay?  I'll pay you this coin to stay out here and watch over my dog."  In reality, the elf knew it was the other way around: his cooshee would be watching over Tommy to make sure nothing happened to him."Okay," Tommy agreed, snatching up the coin before the sorcerer could change his mind.  "What's his name?""I'm still working on that," Zander admitted.  "Maybe you can help me come up with a good one."Alewyth and Xandro were already walking down the narrow alleyway with Willick, Thurloe, and Wakuren; Zander hurried to catch up.  Thinking he had a pretty good idea what Wakuren had planned, Thurloe surreptitiously cast a shield spell while in the alleyway, feeling pretty sure nobody would be able to see him do so.Once everybody had made it inside the crowded reception area, Wakuren made a quick demand.  "I want any 'priestesses' not here of their own free will released immediately," he said.Maria Cuescu took exception to that.  "What gives you the right to just barge in here--" she sputtered, then cut herself off short when Wakuren wheeled on her and bared his teeth.  He was not in the mood for any arguments.  Cowed, the temple's "house matron" closed her mouth and instead reached down below the counter for something.  Wakuren half expected she'd bring out a weapon of some sort and was somewhat curious as to what she thought she could do to him, but to his surprise all she held in her hand was a metal bell.  "You'll be sorry, you self-righteous, half-breed bastard!" she sneered, clanging the bell back and forth for all she was worth.That was apparently an alarm signal, for the door in the back of the room burst open and a pair of burly dwarves stepped up, each clad in studded leather armor and wielding a heavy mace.  This was no doubt the "temple's" security force, ensuring the clients didn't sneak off without paying and the "priestesses" didn't try escaping their employment.  "Kill them!" demanded Maria and the dwarves just grinned, having been given permission to do their favorite part of their job.  Wakuren was not in the least bit surprised to see the dwarves were responsible for two of the auras of evil he'd sensed in the building; more surprising was the fact that Maria's aura barely held any taint of evil - she no doubt believed she was truly taking care of those who worked in her temple and protecting them from intruding interlopers.Safely inside the building with no witnesses they intended to let live, Zander Quilson felt it safe enough to cast a scorching ray across the room to strike Willick.  The pervy lech already had his short sword out and was stabbing it at Thurloe, but the fighter had his bastard sword unsheathed and deflected the smaller blade away from him.  A furious growling presaged the appearance of the guard dogs from their curtained cubbyhole, but Xandro's magic longsword - taken from the Tannenheim crypt - stabbed at the first canine to poke his head out.  Alewyth likewise felt it safe enough for spellcasting and threw a cause fear spell at Maria Cuescu, but the house matron shrugged off the worst of the spell's effects.  Still, possibly out of a sense of self-preservation, she backed out of the reception room through the door to her own private room and pulled the door shut behind her.  The sound of latching made it fairly obvious she was locking herself in where she hoped it would be safe while her security forces dealt with this threat to her temple.Thurloe slashed his blade along Willick's arm, slicing through the man's leather armor and the flesh and muscle of his upper bicep.  Willick cursed aloud, making quite specific observations about Thurloe's likely ancestry.  The first dog dashed forward and clamped its jaws around Wakuren's leg, trying to topple the half-orc, while the other one maneuvered to get out of their small living area, given as how Willick was blocking the way.  But as Wakuren was the closest to the back door, he was also the target of both dwarven guards, and while he caught one heavy mace with his shield the other one got past his defenses and went crashing into the side of the half-orc's armor.  Shaking his foot to free it from the guard dog's mouth, Wakuren sent his shield slamming into the face of one of the dwarves.It being fairly crowded in the reception area, Zander scrambled up onto the counter and over to the other side, where he was nicely lined up to send a scorching ray spell straight at the dwarven guard who had hit Wakuren.  The guard cursed aloud as his beard was set ablaze, but then Alewyth sent a spiritual weapon spell his way and the floating warhammer put the flaming dwarf out of his misery.  Willick stabbed at Thurloe with his short sword but was then immediately downed, the victim of Thurloe's bastard sword.Xandro's longsword came slashing down and slew the first of the guard dogs.  The other rushed out of its chamber and snapped at Wakuren but failed to catch the half-orc's leg between its jaws.  The other dwarf managed to connect with his heavy mace, sending Wakuren reeling from the force of the blow.  But then he shook it off and gave back as good as he had taken, slamming his shield into the side of the dwarf's head.Zander tried opening Matron Maria Cuescu's door but it was firmly locked.  Hoping there weren't any other exits from the room she was in, he tossed a tanglefoot bag at the door, gumming it up and with any luck preventing her from being able to open it back up.  That, he figured, ought to keep her out of the picture while the heroes dealt with what remained of her security forces.Xandro tried stabbing the remaining dog but it dodged the point of the bard's blade, growling at the attempt.  Instead, it noticed Zander Quilson with his back turned, messing about with the Matron's door.  That looked like a much easier target for the vicious dog so he started heading towards the elf - but was then cut down by Xandro's blade, it having been a foolish tactic to give the bard a chance to strike.Alewyth redirected her spiritual warhammer at the other dwarven guard, who was still concentrating his attacks on Wakuren.  She pushed her way to the back of the room with Sjondra in hand, eager to join in the melee herself if possible.  But with Willick now dead, Thurloe was able to turn his attention on the remaining dwarven guard as well and the look in the burly bouncer's eyes said he didn't particularly like the way the odds were turning against him.  But he swore to Thunderwolf, God of Battle, that he'd go down fighting if that was His will and he swung another blow at Wakuren's head; the half-orc just barely blocked the swing with his shield in time.And then all of a sudden the dwarf had a combat partner at his side, appearing out of thin air!  This was a thick-bodied snake, easily 12 or 15 feet long, with reddish-black scales and a pair of small horns at the top of its eyes.  The fiendish constrictor darted out at Wakuren but the half-orc dodged the strike at the last moment.  He in turn kept his focus on the dwarf, preferring to concentrate on the already-wounded foe before turning his attention to a creature who had to have just been summoned via a spell and thus whose presence had a definite time limit, depending upon the spellcasting power of the person who had summoned it forth - presumably the other source of evil Wakuren had detected from outside the building.  With his paladin training he could detect the aura of evil emanating from the serpent; with his nose, he could detect the sulfurous stench coming off the snake's body.But Wakuren didn't need to worry about the dwarven fighter for too much longer for a magic missile spell from Zander brought him down, allowing Wakuren to turn his attention to the fiendish serpent.  Hoping the snake didn't have a means of detecting him, he activated his ring of invisibility and vanished from view.Seeing how crowded it was in the back of the reception area, Xandro opted to sheathe his longsword and pull the lute from his back.  He began the initial chords of his most common fighting tune, the one that magically inspired his compatriots to greater acts of courage in combat, deeming it the best way for him to contribute to the current fight.  Alewyth sent her spiritual warhammer over to swing at the fiendish constrictor, then stepped up to mirror its actions with her own weapon.  But it was Thurloe who landed the killing blow, slicing its head from its body with a side-swipe of his bastard sword's blade.  Upon its decapitation, both head and body dissolved into stinking mist and dissipated; Thurloe wasn't thrilled by the smell but wished all of the bodies of those he slew cleaned up after themselves in so efficient a manner.Thurloe crossed the hallway beyond the guards' station and positioned himself on the far side of the door, the logical place for an allied temple spellcaster to have cast the summon monster spell that brought the serpent across the myriad planes and into existence here.  He held his sword at the ready, waiting to bring its blade down upon anyone stepping out of the room.  Wakuren stepped closer, making sure not to get in Thurloe's way, as he was quite aware the fighter couldn't see him in his present state.  Zander stepped through the doorway from the guards' station and readied a thunderstone for throwing, hoping to take out the spellcaster's ability to cast spells if he couldn't accurately hear himself speak.  Xandro continued playing his tune of inspirational courage, well aware this fight was not yet over.Inside the bedroom, Lenulus had taken the time to prepare himself for combat, casting magic circle against law and shield of faith spells upon himself and readying his few combat spells as needed.  But Alewyth opted to put her spiritual warhammer to good use before its duration expired and had it smash against the locked door.  Once it winked out, she completed the job with Sjondra, stepping through the remains of the shattered door.  There wasn't much to the room: a bed, a wooden chest, and a silver mirror and holy symbol of Desdemona hanging on the wall.  But standing there in the back corner was the spellcaster they'd been seeking, wearing nothing more protective than woolen robes.Thurloe rushed inside with his bastard sword swinging, catching Lenulus as he tried stepping to the side to avoid the blade.  Zander's thrown thunderstone exploded by the cleric's head but he managed to avoid being deafened more by simple luck than anything else.  But then he cast the spell he'd had prepared, sending Thurloe jolting as if struck as the hold person spell took effect (but not before the fighter was able to slash at the cleric again as he cast the spell).  Lenulus then used Thurloe as a human shield, hiding behind him as he readied his next attack spell.However, Lenulus hadn't counted on an invisible half-orc cleric-paladin and Wakuren's shield slammed into the cleric's side as both he and his defensive weapon returned to visibility concurrent with the attack.  Zander cast a scorching ray from outside in the hallway, and that was the end of Lenulus.  But he died with his greatest secret intact, for none of the heroes bothered disturbing the holy symbol of Desdemona hanging on the wall of his room; had they examined it, they'd have found an unholy symbol of Gareth, God of Betrayal on the other side.A quick search through his room revealed a minimal amount of coins; what little Lenulus had was added to the silver pieces they took from the bodies of the slain dwarves and given to the six unwilling "priestesses" of the temple of Desdemona, who were each offered the opportunity to leave the temple if they wished to do so and to a woman they took the heroes up on the offer."What are we going to do about the woman who ran this joint?" asked Zander now that the security forces had been dealt with and the six young women freed."She's not evil," pointed out Wakuren.  "A little twisted, perhaps, but not evil - not yet, in any case."  Eventually, they decided to leave her where she was, trapped in her room by dint of the hardened tanglefoot goo sealing her door shut; she'd either work her way out or maybe be rescued by the clients who normally attended this "temple" - and her fate, after they found out there were no "priestesses" on hand any more, would be left in their hands.  Given the treatment she'd provided to her imprisoned "priestesses" - and her half-starved dogs - none of the heroes gave any further thought to her predicament.Leaving the "temple," the group caught up with the cooshee, who was heavily invested in a stirring game of "fetch the stick that Tommy throws and bring it back to him" - and judging from the elven dog's wagging tail and the smile plastered on the boy's face, it would be difficult to decide which of the two was enjoying the game more.  "Let's go," Thurloe said in his usually brusque manner."Where to?" asked Tommy.  "I thought I was going to stay with Uncle Willick until you can wake up my mom.""Yeah, about that--" Thurloe began but Alewyth cut him off before he could spill the beans on either front."We're going back to the inn where we got the food," the dwarven priestess said.  "I think we can get Jorbalee - the nice lady who brought the meal to our table - to let you stay with her until we get everything figured out."  She glared at Thurloe, mentally warning him not to tell Tommy about the deaths of his mother or uncle until they could find a way to do so gently.  Thurloe just raised his hands in surrender and let the soft-hearted dwarf have it her way.  Sheesh!  The mollycoddling Alewyth could perform was almost nauseating!  Hell, Thurloe's parents had been killed when he was little and he grew up just fine; he didn't see why telling the kid the news straight out was such a bad thing.  But he let the dwarf do it her way. - - -It looks like I can add dregworms to the list of monsters my players absolutely loathe (along with the boneless from the adventure "No Bones About It" and the grave medusa from "Down Among the Dead Men").  And now that Willick's not around any more to bother Tommy, he'll be left with Jorbalee to be raised; the elderly widow was more than happy to take in an eight-year-old apprentice, since she and her late husband had never had any children of their own. - - -T-shirt worn: My white "Walking Dead" T-shirt, to represent Greta, whose dead body was being piloted by the dregworms.</blockquote>

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