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Story Hour
Ghourmand Vale (3.5 campaign)
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 8694866" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 4: WE'RE WHERE?</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Ageratum Purslane, halfling rogue 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Alistair Mandelberen Pastlethwaite, human sorcerer 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Chaevaris Noarunal, elf archer 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Harlan Starblade, half-elf paladin 2</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 13 July 2022</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>Father Barbados offered to allow the four fledgling heroes to spend the night in the church of Saint Cuthbert, a converted barn. They readily agreed, although they'd also received an offer from the <strong>Stouts</strong>, the human family whose daughter they had rescued from kobold raiders during the trek to Ghourmand Vale, for the four to stay with them as long as they needed - and that offer now included either their home in Ghourmand Vale or the farmhouse they'd just purchased from the <strong>Bennigans</strong>, the young couple having decided being kidnapped by hobgoblins was more than they had bargained for. They planned to pull up stakes and try their hand in a more civilized land.</p><p></p><p>But now it was getting late and the quartet opted to take up the cleric on his offer to stay overnight in the church. "Well, I'd best be on my way," said Holyrood Carp, finishing up the last of his flagon of ale.</p><p></p><p>"Before you go," asked Alistair hesitantly, "am I correct in assuming you sing in taverns and the like?"</p><p></p><p>"I have been known to do so, yes," agreed the bard, not sure where this was going.</p><p></p><p>"And do you write your own songs? Or are you willing to purchase new material from others?"</p><p></p><p>"Why?" asked Carp, smiling at the young nobleman. "Are you a songwriter, by trade?"</p><p></p><p>"Oh, no, no," scoffed Alistair. "However, I am a student of elven poetry, and I had considered many of the elven classics could easily be turned into songs...I'd certainly be willing to give it a try, if you were interested."</p><p></p><p>"Tell you what - you whip something up and let me take a look at it, and we'll see where it goes from there," suggested Carp. He slapped Alistair on the shoulder for good measure.</p><p></p><p>"Very well, then, yes," agreed Alistair. This adventuring business could be somewhat lucrative - at least by the standards of the common people - but it also seemed to be rather hit-and-miss as far as how often an opportunity to make money arose. The young nobleman wouldn't mind a steadier source of income, and included in the carpet bag Nanny Rogers had hastily packed for him on his way out his father's door was Alistair's favorite book of elven poetry - surely some of those ballads could be put to music with a bit of determination!</p><p></p><p>"We've two small rooms not put t' much use as 'f yet," Father Barbados pointed out. "One fer th' men, one fer th' wimmen. Take yer pick, an' we'll see ye all in th' mornin'." He and Brothers Scrimshaw and Scarborough had their own rooms and headed to them, the sun having long since gone down.</p><p></p><p>"By all means, you may take your pick of the rooms," Alistair offered to Ageratum. Being a halfling, she graciously took the smaller of the two. "Very well, then, it looks like this one is for us, men!" Alistair said, heading to the other room, Harlan in step behind him. "Are you coming, Elfy?"</p><p></p><p>Chaevaris just sighed deeply at the hated nickname. "You go on ahead," the archer replied. "I may just camp out here in the vestry. I'm used to sleeping out under the trees on my own - I'll be fine."</p><p></p><p>"Suit yourself," offered Harlan. "Good night, then."</p><p></p><p>The next morning, as the four were eating a light breakfast with the three clerics of Saint Cuthbert, there was a knock upon the door. Brother Scrimshaw answered it, and there in the doorway before him stood <strong>Kasselban Picksmart</strong>, one of the dwarves who had been part of the caravan from Greyhawk City to Ghourmand Vale. He was the head dwarven miner at the Slippery Shaft Mine, up in one of the mountains that made up the Lortmil Range. "We've got a bit o' spot' o' bovver up at th' mines," Kasselban explained. "I was wond'rin' if'n we might borrow yer security forces, like."</p><p></p><p>"We have no security forces here," explained Father Barbados.</p><p></p><p>"Them lot," replied the dwarven miner, pointing a thumb at the heroes. "Them what kept th' wagons safe, an' fought off them zombies, like." The cleric explained the four heroes were no longer under his employ, but were able to be hired directly by the dwarves if they so desired.</p><p></p><p>"What is the nature of the problem for which you wished to hire us?" asked Alistair.</p><p></p><p>"Like I said, a spot o' bovver in th' mines. Not t' put too fine a point onnit, we done got ourselves a bit o' a <em>gnome</em> prollum!" The miner explained these gnomes had gotten into the bottom levels of the mines somehow, and he wanted to see if the four heroes were available to clear out the lower levels of these vermin - who had already caused the death of several miners - and see if they could find out how the gnomes had entered the mines in the first place. Once they'd found their entry point and reported back, the dwarves were sure they'd be able to seal off the gnomes' tunnel to prevent any further incursions.</p><p></p><p>The group looked at each other. "I am certainly willing to lend a hand," Harlan offered, for he had frowned at hearing of the miners already slain. After all, he had been sent out into the world outside Greyhawk City to do good deeds in the name of Pelor, and this was one such group in need of his services.</p><p></p><p>"I'm in," agreed Alistair. He had spent a good chunk of his earnings thus far on a set of arcane spell scrolls he was eager to try out, plus a light crossbow and a set of bolts he was likewise willing to learn to put to good use. Ageratum and Chaevaris echoed the sentiment, and Kasselban walked them to the mines, a trek of a good half hour or so, most of it up a rather steep incline. Less than halfway up the slope, Alistair cast an <em>unseen servant</em> spell and had "Ogilvy" carry his light crossbow, which was not all that light when climbing up the side of a mountain! (It wasn't actual climbing but rather walking up a steep road, but the point still stood as far as the young nobleman was concerned.) On the way there, they discussed their payment, a topic Kasselban had been hoping to avoid; he'd privately hoped they were still under the direct employ of Father Barbados, who might be willing to "loan them out" for a good cause.</p><p></p><p>"We shall be putting our very lives on the line," observed Alistair. "Given the risks - I assume these gnomes are fearsome creatures, to have slain a number of your miners already - I believe 500 pieces of gold apiece would be adequate recompense."</p><p></p><p>"500?" squeaked Kasselban. "We've no' got that kinda coin layin' about! I was thinkin' more along th' lines o' 200, tops." Alistair counter-offered 350 gold pieces, plus the free use of the lamps the dwarf had been planning on renting to them. Begrudgingly, the dwarf agreed.</p><p></p><p>Once inside the cave that led to the mines, Kasselban took them to the main elevator. This was a large, metal cube, 10 feet on a side, that was lowered by chains from a winch structure overlooking the vertical shaft. "Th' mines're 2,000 feet deep," Kasselban explained. "We'll lower ye t' th' lowest level, where there be none left but <strong>Greasy Thom</strong>, who be finishin' up a bit o' scaffoldin' work. When ye all get off, we'll bring Greasy Thom up. Then, when ye've finished wit' level six, just ring us up an we'll pull ye up t' level five, an' ye c'n clear that'n out as well. Then give us a 'oller an' we'll pull ye all th' way back up." He also explained there were "express elevators" - each only big enough for a single person at a time - that could be entered at the lower levels and activated, which would rapidly pull the passenger up to the top level of the mine.</p><p></p><p>"Is Greasy Thom going to be okay by himself like that?" asked Harlan. He didn't understand why they'd let a lone miner down there by himself if there had already been earlier attacks on the lower levels.</p><p></p><p>"Ah, Greasy Thom c'n 'andle 'imself all right - ye jus' wait'll ye lay eyes on 'im," assured the miner. He passed them four lit bullseye lanterns and bade them enter the metal cube in which a group of miners would be lowering them down the central shaft.</p><p></p><p>"You had best stay here, Ambrose," Alistair suggested. He didn't want his grackle familiar to have to brave the dangers of these vicious gnomes in the confined space of a series of mine shafts. "You keep an eye out up here for me." The bird just cawed and flew from the sorcerer's shoulder to land upon the handle of a shovel leaning against the stone wall of the cave. Alistair didn't realize it at the time, but this was the last he'd be seeing of Ambrose for some time.</p><p></p><p>With a series of chants keeping their rhythm, the dwarves lowered the lift down into the darkness of the mine. They'd been warned there was only minimal light down inside the mine tunnels; the dwarves didn't need any light at all, but they did keep a few torches lit down below for the benefit of their mules, which they used as beasts of burden to carry saddlebags of ore or rock needing cleared away. It took nearly twenty minutes to make the complete journey, but eventually the cube reached bottom and Chaevaris opened the door to let them all step out into the mine proper. "I'll leave my lantern here by the elevator, to help us find our way back," the archer offered. "I'll want to keep my hands free for my bow, in any case." Chaevaris's share of their earnings had been put toward the purchase of a masterwork composite longbow of a type built to capitalize on the wielder's strength and the elf was eager to put it to the test against these killer gnomes. Unlike these "children," Chaevaris fully expected they'd be up against not surface gnomes but svirfneblin, the "deep gnomes" who laired deep in the Underdark. Svirfneblin were one of the friendlier races one might expect to find living in the Underdark, but that certainly did not mean one couldn't encounter individuals of a more evil bent, and Chaevaris imagined that was the type they'd be meeting up with down here in the lowest depths of the Slippery Shaft Mine.</p><p></p><p>Level Six was, thus far at least, carved rather like a giant letter "H", with the elevator emptying out at the middle of the easternmost of the longer sides. There was a straight section ahead of them, with two side shafts leading off in opposite directions right by the elevator and another two side shafts branching off at the far end, by the scaffolding. But by the lamplight of the arriving heroes, they could see three figures over by the scaffolding, the two smaller ones on either side of the larger one, who was lying down on the cold stone floor of the mine being kicked by the others. The smaller figures had skin the color of gray slate and each carried a heavy pick and a light crossbow scaled to their shorter sizes - for they stood no taller than Ageratum.</p><p></p><p>The halfling woman stifled a cry at seeing the abuse Greasy Thom was taking - for she fully expected that was the identity of the dwarf lying on the ground being kicked - and raced forward in concern. But with her relatively short stride, she didn't get very far before Chaevaris had stepped forward, aimed an arrow at the leftmost svirfneblin, and released it to deadly effect. The arrow went flying over her head to bury itself in the deep gnome's throat, slaying him instantly.</p><p></p><p>"Ogilvy, if you please," Alistair said, his hand out to receive the light crossbow the <em>unseen servant</em> had continued carrying for him. Ogilvy passed the crossbow - already loaded and ready to shoot - over to its master. Alistair sighted down the shaft, lined up his shot in the manner he'd been instructed by the man in the weapon shop who had sold him the device, and pulled the trigger. The bolt went flying across the length of the mine, to crash against the wall beside the second svirfneblin's head. "Oh, rot and bother!" cursed Alistair - he hoped he hadn't been sold a defective light crossbow!</p><p></p><p>The second svirfneblin gave Greasy Thom a final kick, then, looking at four approaching heroes and not liking the odds, ran for the far corner. There, in the leftmost mine tunnel being carved out of the solid rock, a much smaller, narrower passageway connected to the mine - no doubt the means by which these svirfneblin were entering the Slippery Shaft Mine in the first place! Harlan gave chase, his <em>flaming burst longsword</em> providing him all the light he needed to find his way; he left his bullseye lantern on the ground beside the one Chaevaris had left at the elevator, the better for the paladin to have both hands free, for on his left arm he held his shield. Ageratum caught up with the fleeing svirfneblin and lashed out with her masterwork short sword, the tip of the blade slicing into the back of the deep gnome's calf as he ran. But then Chaevaris rounded the corner and just that quickly fired off another arrow that caught the small-statured killer in the back of the head, slaying him instantly.</p><p></p><p>Harlan went immediately to see to Greasy Thom, but it was quite apparent the miner was already dead, his body hacked apart by the deep gnomes' picks. The others checked out the narrow passageway for which the last svirfneblin had been running, and it ran diagonally for a bit, meandering this way and that - certainly no miner's tunnel. Chaevaris pulled a dwarven-sized knapsack from the last svirfneblin slain - and which the deep gnome had apparently taken from Greasy Thom - and inside it found a coin purse containing 15 pieces of gold and a half-pound chunk of what at first glance looked to be silver, but upon closer examination was actually a hunk of mithril; apparently the greedy dwarf had decided to help himself to a quite valuable chunk of the rare metal unearthed here in the Slippery Slope Mine. In fact, Chaevaris speculated that might have been what impelled Greasy Thom to stick around by himself in Level 6 when the other miners had been evacuated to allow the heroes to clear out the level. <em>Typical dwarven greed</em>, the elf thought.</p><p></p><p>"What do we do now?" asked Ageratum. "Should we bring Greasy Thom's body back up to the miners?"</p><p></p><p>"There doesn't seem to be any hurry for that," suggested Harlan. Turning to Chaevaris, he added, "I don't see any other passageways into or out of this level but the elevators where we came down and the tunnel the gnome was heading for. Would you mind doing a circuit around the mines and verifying there are no other hidden entrances?" Chaevaris, born with a full-blooded elf's keen vision, retrieved the discarded bullseye lantern and went to do just that, reporting back soon with a negative finding. "That's all there is," the elf announced.</p><p></p><p>"Then let's go check out this svirfneblin entrance," suggested Harlan. "We needn't explore its entire length, but we ought to make sure there aren't any more of these deep gnomes ready to ambush us when our backs are turned." He led the way, Ogilvy at his side carrying a lantern, with Alistair just behind them. Ageratum and Chaevaris came in just behind them, the halfling carrying the only other lantern the group brought with them, for the two heroes of elven descent preferred having both hands free. (Not coincidentally, of the four they also had the best vision and thus could make do with a lesser amount of illumination, although neither had the full darkvision of the dwarves.)</p><p></p><p>The narrow svirfneblin tunnel was completely unlit. Around 50 feet in, the passageway all of a sudden doubled in width; where before it had been a mere 5 feet wide - if that - it was now twice that width. Shortly beyond that was a wide room of a particularly odd shape: the tunnel connected to the long side of a staggered triangle, whose angled sides got progressively smaller, rather like a ziggurat seen from the side. At the narrow point this room met up with its exact mirror image, so seen from the top it had the general shape of a wavy bowtie. But Ogilvy's narrow beam of light from the bullseye lantern, aimed at the intersection of these two almost-triangles, allowed Harlan and Chaevaris to make out two figures in the farther room. They were talking; one had a gruff, menacing voice whose words - in a language none of the heroes spoke - seemed to be dwarven in nature and cadence, while the other spoke in a feminine voice that seemed somehow familiar, although none of the heroes could pick out individual words from this distance. The woman was garbed in a hooded cloak, obscuring her features, while the dwarf wore chain mail and carried a warhammer in one hand and a shield upon the other arm.</p><p></p><p>Ageratum decided to sneak closer to see if she could hear them better. But by the time she'd gotten close to the narrow gap connecting the two halves of the chamber the two figures had noticed the light from the two bullseye lanterns and stepped apart. Worse yet, the halfling had unknowingly approached a strange creature whose grayish skin almost perfectly blended in with the stone walls and she only noted its presence by the motion of the stone battleaxe it swung at her. She leaped back and in so doing likely saved herself from a much more grievous wound, but the axe's blade had been meticulously sharpened and it cut a line of pain down one shoulder as she frantically scrambled away.</p><p></p><p>Alistair stepped forward to come to Ageratum's aid, Ogilvy keeping pace with the second lantern, and the increased illumination revealed another of these gray-fleshed creatures across the room from the one fighting Ageratum. But Alistair's long-honed sense of chivalry forced him to ignore this new threat and concentrate on the one menacing his little halfling friend. This time his crossbow hit true, the bolt sticking out of the grimlock's torso, just below the rib cage. It hissed in pain but didn't fall over, still clinging to life. Chaevaris shot at it as well, with less effect, the arrow shattering against the stone wall by the creature's head.</p><p></p><p>Harlan, feeling the others had the first grimlock well in hand, charged forward at the other one, his <em>flaming burst longsword</em> cutting through the creature's midsection and causing it to stumble backwards, one hand holding its belly shut. Ignored for the moment, the duergar in the other room took on a defensive stance, ready to wallop anyone who got close enough with his warhammer. The cloaked woman also took precautionary actions of her own, but for now, at least, the four heroes were concentrating on the pair of grimlocks in the first half of the chamber.</p><p></p><p>The first grimlock swung at Ageratum again, but she nimbly ducked beneath his swinging axe and came through the attack unscathed, then stabbed forward with her own blade and caught him in the side, just below where the crossbow bolt protruded. The other one seemed determined to take Harlan with him as he died, catching the paladin in a swing of his own axe and then falling forward to the stone floor, blood seeping from his opened belly. Harlan was wounded from the surprising blow but far from out of action.</p><p></p><p>Alistair missed with his second shot at the remaining grimlock, then stepped protectively in front of Ageratum, shielding her from the gray-skinned creature's attacks. He saw, to his surprise, the grimlock didn't seem to have any sense of vision, its eyes merely dull orbs of a lighter gray without any pupils, staring lifelessly at the heroes. Then another of Chaevaris's arrows came whizzing past the young nobleman, catching the grimlock between his sightless eyes and dropping him at once. Alistair let out a sigh of relief; his shielding of Ageratum had been an instinctive one, but he had had no real desire to engage the axe-wielding grimlock in hand-to-hand combat!</p><p></p><p>Harlan took a moment to ensure the other grimlock's death by severing its head from its body, then looked over to the gap between halves of the chamber. The duergar had approached closer to the opening but had resumed his defensive stance, ready to attack anyone who got near. "Talk to them!" hissed the woman in the back. "They're blocking the only way out!" The duergar merely growled gutturally in reply. Harlan was fairly sure he hadn't been meant to hear the woman's quiet input to her duergar companion, but he had the excellent hearing of his mother's race and had made out every word. Even better, he had recognized the voice as that of Maya Thorpe. Instinctively, he cast forth with his evil-detecting senses and was not the least bit surprised to get the distinct feeling both shadowy figures in the back half of the chamber radiated auras of evil. He was, however, a bit surprised to detect a sort of background "ambient level of evil" all around him, in both halves of the chamber. He surmised this oddly-shaped room must have been used for unholy purposes, possibly many times in the past. Sacrificial chamber, perhaps?</p><p></p><p>Ageratum moved up to the gap and tossed a dagger at the duergar, but he swatted it away with his shield. Maya readied herself, seeing the heroes were now ready to focus their attention on her and her gray dwarf associate. But why were they here, and why now of all times? She didn't like the current odds against her.</p><p></p><p>However, Alistair probably buoyed up her spirits by completely missing the duergar with his next shot, the crossbow bolt flying so far away from the duergar he didn't even feel the need to flinch or move his shield. But at the nobleman's command, Ogilvy focused the lantern's beam directly at the gray dwarf, illuminating him in a beam of light. Chaevaris fired another arrow and missed, although the archer had come much closer than had Alistair and the duergar actually needed to duck to remain out of the arrow's path. Still, Chaevaris was not in the least bit amused to have performed no better than the silly human fop.</p><p></p><p>By then, Harlan had reached the limits of his patience and charged at the duergar. The move allowed the duergar to get in a hit on the paladin with his warhammer, but in retaliation Harlan's flame-covered blade bit deep into the duergar's chest, slaying him instantly. "Are you okay?" asked Ageratum, looking over to the half-elf paladin who had taken several hits in battle by this time.</p><p></p><p>"Well enough for now," Harlan assured her, and turned to face the woman in the cloak. "And now, Maya, would you care to explain your presence among these creatures?"</p><p></p><p>The woman did not like the four-against-one odds at all and decided to try to bluff her way past the heroes. Dropping her hood so they could all see who she was, she cried out, "Oh, thank goodness you've arrived! And just in time to save me from that brutish dwarf! I hesitate to guess his intentions!"</p><p></p><p>"We are not in the least bit impressed with your attempts at trickery," Chaevaris told her, frowning in disdain at the rather childish way in which she apparently thought she could convince them of her innocence. Turning to Harlan, the archer asked, "Is she evil?" Harlan confirmed she was.</p><p></p><p>"Anything magic upon her?" Chaevaris asked, this time turning toward Alistair. The sorcerer, jolted by the realization he could indeed determine whether she had any magic about her, hastily cast a <em>detect magic</em> spell (and congratulated himself for the ease by which it came, now that he was aware of himself consciously casting it), and replied, "Yes - there on her left hip, beneath the sash - something magic."</p><p></p><p>"Hand it over," demanded Harlan, holding out a hand.</p><p></p><p>"What? No! It's mine!" wheedled the woman, bristling as the paladin stepped forward and grabbed up a fist-sized ruby from her sash. Holding it up, he said, "It's the <em>Blood Mirror!</em>"</p><p></p><p>"I say!" exclaimed Alistair. "How did you get that back in your hands? Father Barbados had it stashed away in the church for safekeeping, just last night!"</p><p></p><p>"She must have retrieved it this morning, after we left for the mines," suggested Ageratum. "How? He wouldn't have turned it over willingly. What did you use, <em>charm person</em>?"</p><p></p><p>Maya opted not to directly answer the halfling's accusation (for that part was entirely correct), instead taking the opportunity to correct her. "It was Brother Scarbororugh, actually. He turned it over without question. And why not? It belongs to me - it's a family heirloom." She turned back to Harlan Starblade. "Now give it back, if you please."</p><p></p><p>"It is no such thing," replied Harlan in a stern voice. "It is a magic item crafted from a ruby taken from the Lortmil Mountains, with different powers based upon the inherent goodness or capacity for evil held by its wielder. You no doubt were hired to steal it from the tomb outside Greyhawk City and you and your brother in turn hired us to do your thievery for you. As such, you may consider yourself under arrest. Please turn over all weapons and magical items. Ageratum, you're probably the best of us with knot-craft, would you mind tying Maya's hands behind her back with her sash?"</p><p></p><p>"Not in the least," gushed Ageratum, eagerly applying herself to her appointed task. Chaevaris confiscated a dagger and a couple of rings, but none of them had any magic about them. There was likewise no magic to be found on the corpse of the duergar - but the elf did find a leather purse filled with diamonds. "Aha! Payment for the ruby, perhaps?" asked the archer.</p><p></p><p>"You may as well confess," suggested Harlan. "We intend to take you back to the church of Saint Cuthbert, and I'm sure the clerics there have a means of magically detecting lies."</p><p></p><p>"Assuming you can find your way back there," Maya said coyly. "You may find you need me after all."</p><p></p><p>"We'll see about that," said Harlan, taking her by the arm and leading her back the way they had come. Chaevaris, in the meantime, had searched along the walls of the odd room looking for secret or hidden doors and found nothing of the kind - although there was an oddity of sorts: a chunk of obsidian had been placed inside a gap in one wall. The elf puzzled over it for a moment, then followed Harlan and his prisoner down the passageway through which they had first come to the ziggurat-shaped chamber, expecting it to lead back to the narrower svirfneblin tunnel that breached Level 6 of the Slippery Shaft Mine. All thought of obsidian chunks were banished from the archer's mind.</p><p></p><p>"I say," brought up Alistair, "That odd chamber back there, it didn't have any other entrances to it, did it?" Chaevaris acknowledged it did not. "Then where did those gnomes come from?" he asked.</p><p></p><p>"That's...a very good point," admitted Harlan, looking ahead down the tunnel they were traversing. Although it was the exact same tunnel they had traveled through to get to the odd chamber where they fought the grimlocks and the duergar, on the way back it now apparently opened up to a cave set into the side of a hill. The sun was shining and it was significantly hotter than it had been when the heroes had walked to the mines with Kasselban Picksmart.</p><p></p><p>Harlan stopped Maya's forward motion with a gauntleted hand upon her shoulder. "Explain," he said, drawing his <em>flaming burst longsword</em> back out of its scabbard and holding the blade by her neck. The implied threat was obvious.</p><p></p><p>"Very well," replied the woman with a sigh. "There's a village below the hill. You're no longer where you think you are: we are all now in the domain of Jasgun Singh. We were hired to fetch the <em>Blood Mirror</em> for Jasgund and were told once we had it in hand it would tell us where to go so we could turn it over." Harlan held the ruby to his eye and looked through it and sure enough, he could see a path forward for him to take, one that led down the hill to the village below, to a specific house across the town. The paladin had heard of such magics: <em>find the path</em> was a spell that had this specific property, if he recalled his spellcraft training correctly.</p><p></p><p>"I don't think she's lying," Alistair interrupted. "I can't feel Ambrose's presence in my mind." Ambrose, as the young sorcerer's familiar, could send along empathic feelings through the link they shared - but only if they strayed no further than a mile apart. The grackle, it seemed, was no longer within a mile of Alistair's current position.</p><p></p><p>"But she's lied to us before," Chaevaris growled. "Give it up: who are you, really?"</p><p></p><p>Maya sighed again, quite theatrically. "Fine. My real name is <strong>Marjorie Mustaine</strong>. The man you know as 'Carlton Thorpe' is really <strong>Garabond Thorpe</strong>, and no, he's not my brother, merely another associate of mine in the same business."</p><p></p><p>"One you didn't mind selling out, once the <em>Blood Mirror</em> was in your hands. How much was that pouch of diamonds worth, do you think?" asked Harlan.</p><p></p><p>"I'd put it at about a thousand pieces of gold," replied Chaevaris.</p><p></p><p>Harlan looked back at Maya - or rather, Marjorie. She shrugged as best she could with her hands bound behind her. "<em>I</em> was the one who made the effort to get it back from that cleric," she pointed out. "He was content to just wait for the old fool to hand it back over."</p><p></p><p>"So how did we end up here - wherever exactly 'here' is?" demanded the paladin.</p><p></p><p>"I have no idea exactly where Jasgund's domain lies," Marjorie admitted, and Harlan got the feeling she was telling the truth. "But like I said, the ruby showed me which way to go, and I imagine there was some sort of <em>teleportation gate</em> or something at play."</p><p></p><p>"That svirfneblin tunnel, where it suddenly widened out!" exclaimed Chaevaris. "We passed through a <em>gate</em> of some sort and ended up here, while the real svirfneblin tunnel continued on to wherever it normally goes!"</p><p></p><p>"If that's true," asked Harlan, "then why didn't we end up back where we came from?"</p><p></p><p>"The gates aren't very steady," Marjorie answered. "And they don't stay in one place for very long. That's why I had to look through the ruby to see where I needed to go to end up where I could turn it over to Singh's man and get my payment."</p><p></p><p>Harlan moved the group forward again, to the cave opening. Sure enough, there was a village below them, filled with people going about their business: women in sarongs hanging out laundry, small children running through the dirt streets, men in turbans walking about on errands. The story Bhao and Rami had told them about walking through mists and suddenly being on a completely different road had sounded fake at first, but now seemed to have been the absolute truth.</p><p></p><p>"What do we do now?" asked Alistair. Unofficially, the group seemed to have automatically turned to Harlan Starblade for leadership.</p><p></p><p>The paladin was peering through the <em>Blood Mirror</em>. "Our way leads through the village," he said. "There's a building on the far end, with an overhanging roof providing shade and a kind of canvas-roofed pavilion before it. There are two men under the overhanging roof, talking to the group assembled in the shade of the pavilion. That's where we need to go, to the back half of the building with the overhanging roof."</p><p></p><p>"I say," remarked Alistair. "I fear we'll rather stick out amongst that crowd." It was true: between the five of them, they represented several different races - human, elf, halfling, and a half-breed mixture of elf and human - but all were much paler in skin tone than the dark-haired, dusky-skinned humans in the village above. And their clothing and armor was much different than the garb preferred by the villagers.</p><p></p><p>"At least they speak our language, if in a much different accent," added Chaevaris. "If you listen closely, you can hear what those two are saying." Alistair, Ageratum, and Marjorie strained their ears but couldn't make out the words of the two men under the overhanging roof, but Harlan and Chaevaris certainly could.</p><p></p><p>"Rejoice," cried one of the two turbaned speech-givers, <strong>Akahm Singh</strong>, "for two openings have presented themselves for two chosen children to study at the feet of the great Lord Jasgund Singh!"</p><p></p><p>"This a great opportunity!" enthused the other man, <strong>Kana Singh</strong>. "Who among you would send your sons to a life of wonderment? You, sir - yes! Your son will be elevated above his station to study under the tutelage of our great Lord!" The father, smiling with pride, sent his teenaged son forward to stand beside Kana Singh.</p><p></p><p>"You, son, you will fill the second slot!" announced Akahm Singh, pointing to another teenaged boy. He also stepped forward, chest puffed out with importance at having been chosen for such an honor.</p><p></p><p>"What of our daughters?" insisted another man, sitting beside a girl of twelve or thirteen summers.</p><p></p><p>"As it happens, Lord Jasgund Singh has need of a young girl of your daughter's age," Kana Singh assured the man. "It will be our great honor to present your lovely daughter before the great Lord's presence." The man pushed his daughter forward to nervously stand with the other teens between the two men.</p><p></p><p>From the top of the hill, Ageratum couldn't hear what the men were saying but she didn't like the fact the teen girl didn't seem to want to be there. "That seems kind of creepy," she pointed out.</p><p></p><p>"You don't know the half of it," Marjorie promised.</p><p></p><p>Harlan spun her around and started untying the sash from around her wrists. "Okay, this is how it's going to be," he told her. "We're already going to be a big enough spectacle in the village below by being foreigners. I don't want us drawing any further attention by us parading you around as a captive. But we'll be keeping your dagger, I'll be using the ruby to guide us to where we need to go, and with any luck we'll be led through whatever magical gateway leads back to Ghourmand Vale. No spellcasting on your part. Got it?"</p><p></p><p>"Got it," replied Marjorie, rubbing her wrists.</p><p></p><p>"All right then," Harlan said, stepping out of the cave and starting down the hill. "Let's do this."</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>So Dan kind of inadvertently let out that this "domain of Jasgund Singh," while not necessarily making up one of the official lands of the Ravenloft campaign, is more or less loosely patterned after the Ravenloft campaign (the original one from AD&D 2nd Edition - while we're aware there's now a 5E version, none of us has seen it). Given the descriptions, we're pretty sure we're in a D&D fantasy version of India, which makes it a pretty good bet Lord Jasgund Singh is a rakshasa - or if not, perhaps a weretiger. Fortunately, while both of those creatures are well beyond the combat capabilities of a quartet of 2nd-level PCs, the fact that he also told us the next adventure's called, "Ghee, It's Good to Be Back Home" is a pretty good indication that we won't be spending a whole lot of time in this pseudo-Ravenloft. Of course, given the random nature of the portals, there's every chance we won't have seen the last of Jasgund Singh and his cronies even if we do make it back to Ghourmand Vale next session. But Dan's also hinted that the only reason Jasgund Singh has an opening for two more students is because we killed Bhao and Rami last adventure, and also that if our suspicions about what type of creature he really is are true, there's every reason to suspect the 12-year-old girl has not been chosen for anything beyond his next meal.</p><p></p><p>As a reminder, Harlan is played by my 15-year-old nephew. The rest of the (adult) players all more or less decided we'd put the half-elf paladin in an unofficial leadership role for our party; in game, it makes sense as he's a respected paladin of Pelor, a Lawful Good Sun God, and out of game it's a good opportunity for Harry to take on a bit more responsibility where there's nothing more on the line than the pretend lives of a group of pretend characters in a pretend world. So far, he's taking to the role a bit hesitantly but I think he'll do fine in the long run.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 8694866, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 4: WE'RE WHERE?[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Ageratum Purslane, halfling rogue 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Alistair Mandelberen Pastlethwaite, human sorcerer 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Chaevaris Noarunal, elf archer 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Harlan Starblade, half-elf paladin 2[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 13 July 2022 - - - Father Barbados offered to allow the four fledgling heroes to spend the night in the church of Saint Cuthbert, a converted barn. They readily agreed, although they'd also received an offer from the [B]Stouts[/B], the human family whose daughter they had rescued from kobold raiders during the trek to Ghourmand Vale, for the four to stay with them as long as they needed - and that offer now included either their home in Ghourmand Vale or the farmhouse they'd just purchased from the [B]Bennigans[/B], the young couple having decided being kidnapped by hobgoblins was more than they had bargained for. They planned to pull up stakes and try their hand in a more civilized land. But now it was getting late and the quartet opted to take up the cleric on his offer to stay overnight in the church. "Well, I'd best be on my way," said Holyrood Carp, finishing up the last of his flagon of ale. "Before you go," asked Alistair hesitantly, "am I correct in assuming you sing in taverns and the like?" "I have been known to do so, yes," agreed the bard, not sure where this was going. "And do you write your own songs? Or are you willing to purchase new material from others?" "Why?" asked Carp, smiling at the young nobleman. "Are you a songwriter, by trade?" "Oh, no, no," scoffed Alistair. "However, I am a student of elven poetry, and I had considered many of the elven classics could easily be turned into songs...I'd certainly be willing to give it a try, if you were interested." "Tell you what - you whip something up and let me take a look at it, and we'll see where it goes from there," suggested Carp. He slapped Alistair on the shoulder for good measure. "Very well, then, yes," agreed Alistair. This adventuring business could be somewhat lucrative - at least by the standards of the common people - but it also seemed to be rather hit-and-miss as far as how often an opportunity to make money arose. The young nobleman wouldn't mind a steadier source of income, and included in the carpet bag Nanny Rogers had hastily packed for him on his way out his father's door was Alistair's favorite book of elven poetry - surely some of those ballads could be put to music with a bit of determination! "We've two small rooms not put t' much use as 'f yet," Father Barbados pointed out. "One fer th' men, one fer th' wimmen. Take yer pick, an' we'll see ye all in th' mornin'." He and Brothers Scrimshaw and Scarborough had their own rooms and headed to them, the sun having long since gone down. "By all means, you may take your pick of the rooms," Alistair offered to Ageratum. Being a halfling, she graciously took the smaller of the two. "Very well, then, it looks like this one is for us, men!" Alistair said, heading to the other room, Harlan in step behind him. "Are you coming, Elfy?" Chaevaris just sighed deeply at the hated nickname. "You go on ahead," the archer replied. "I may just camp out here in the vestry. I'm used to sleeping out under the trees on my own - I'll be fine." "Suit yourself," offered Harlan. "Good night, then." The next morning, as the four were eating a light breakfast with the three clerics of Saint Cuthbert, there was a knock upon the door. Brother Scrimshaw answered it, and there in the doorway before him stood [B]Kasselban Picksmart[/B], one of the dwarves who had been part of the caravan from Greyhawk City to Ghourmand Vale. He was the head dwarven miner at the Slippery Shaft Mine, up in one of the mountains that made up the Lortmil Range. "We've got a bit o' spot' o' bovver up at th' mines," Kasselban explained. "I was wond'rin' if'n we might borrow yer security forces, like." "We have no security forces here," explained Father Barbados. "Them lot," replied the dwarven miner, pointing a thumb at the heroes. "Them what kept th' wagons safe, an' fought off them zombies, like." The cleric explained the four heroes were no longer under his employ, but were able to be hired directly by the dwarves if they so desired. "What is the nature of the problem for which you wished to hire us?" asked Alistair. "Like I said, a spot o' bovver in th' mines. Not t' put too fine a point onnit, we done got ourselves a bit o' a [I]gnome[/I] prollum!" The miner explained these gnomes had gotten into the bottom levels of the mines somehow, and he wanted to see if the four heroes were available to clear out the lower levels of these vermin - who had already caused the death of several miners - and see if they could find out how the gnomes had entered the mines in the first place. Once they'd found their entry point and reported back, the dwarves were sure they'd be able to seal off the gnomes' tunnel to prevent any further incursions. The group looked at each other. "I am certainly willing to lend a hand," Harlan offered, for he had frowned at hearing of the miners already slain. After all, he had been sent out into the world outside Greyhawk City to do good deeds in the name of Pelor, and this was one such group in need of his services. "I'm in," agreed Alistair. He had spent a good chunk of his earnings thus far on a set of arcane spell scrolls he was eager to try out, plus a light crossbow and a set of bolts he was likewise willing to learn to put to good use. Ageratum and Chaevaris echoed the sentiment, and Kasselban walked them to the mines, a trek of a good half hour or so, most of it up a rather steep incline. Less than halfway up the slope, Alistair cast an [I]unseen servant[/I] spell and had "Ogilvy" carry his light crossbow, which was not all that light when climbing up the side of a mountain! (It wasn't actual climbing but rather walking up a steep road, but the point still stood as far as the young nobleman was concerned.) On the way there, they discussed their payment, a topic Kasselban had been hoping to avoid; he'd privately hoped they were still under the direct employ of Father Barbados, who might be willing to "loan them out" for a good cause. "We shall be putting our very lives on the line," observed Alistair. "Given the risks - I assume these gnomes are fearsome creatures, to have slain a number of your miners already - I believe 500 pieces of gold apiece would be adequate recompense." "500?" squeaked Kasselban. "We've no' got that kinda coin layin' about! I was thinkin' more along th' lines o' 200, tops." Alistair counter-offered 350 gold pieces, plus the free use of the lamps the dwarf had been planning on renting to them. Begrudgingly, the dwarf agreed. Once inside the cave that led to the mines, Kasselban took them to the main elevator. This was a large, metal cube, 10 feet on a side, that was lowered by chains from a winch structure overlooking the vertical shaft. "Th' mines're 2,000 feet deep," Kasselban explained. "We'll lower ye t' th' lowest level, where there be none left but [B]Greasy Thom[/B], who be finishin' up a bit o' scaffoldin' work. When ye all get off, we'll bring Greasy Thom up. Then, when ye've finished wit' level six, just ring us up an we'll pull ye up t' level five, an' ye c'n clear that'n out as well. Then give us a 'oller an' we'll pull ye all th' way back up." He also explained there were "express elevators" - each only big enough for a single person at a time - that could be entered at the lower levels and activated, which would rapidly pull the passenger up to the top level of the mine. "Is Greasy Thom going to be okay by himself like that?" asked Harlan. He didn't understand why they'd let a lone miner down there by himself if there had already been earlier attacks on the lower levels. "Ah, Greasy Thom c'n 'andle 'imself all right - ye jus' wait'll ye lay eyes on 'im," assured the miner. He passed them four lit bullseye lanterns and bade them enter the metal cube in which a group of miners would be lowering them down the central shaft. "You had best stay here, Ambrose," Alistair suggested. He didn't want his grackle familiar to have to brave the dangers of these vicious gnomes in the confined space of a series of mine shafts. "You keep an eye out up here for me." The bird just cawed and flew from the sorcerer's shoulder to land upon the handle of a shovel leaning against the stone wall of the cave. Alistair didn't realize it at the time, but this was the last he'd be seeing of Ambrose for some time. With a series of chants keeping their rhythm, the dwarves lowered the lift down into the darkness of the mine. They'd been warned there was only minimal light down inside the mine tunnels; the dwarves didn't need any light at all, but they did keep a few torches lit down below for the benefit of their mules, which they used as beasts of burden to carry saddlebags of ore or rock needing cleared away. It took nearly twenty minutes to make the complete journey, but eventually the cube reached bottom and Chaevaris opened the door to let them all step out into the mine proper. "I'll leave my lantern here by the elevator, to help us find our way back," the archer offered. "I'll want to keep my hands free for my bow, in any case." Chaevaris's share of their earnings had been put toward the purchase of a masterwork composite longbow of a type built to capitalize on the wielder's strength and the elf was eager to put it to the test against these killer gnomes. Unlike these "children," Chaevaris fully expected they'd be up against not surface gnomes but svirfneblin, the "deep gnomes" who laired deep in the Underdark. Svirfneblin were one of the friendlier races one might expect to find living in the Underdark, but that certainly did not mean one couldn't encounter individuals of a more evil bent, and Chaevaris imagined that was the type they'd be meeting up with down here in the lowest depths of the Slippery Shaft Mine. Level Six was, thus far at least, carved rather like a giant letter "H", with the elevator emptying out at the middle of the easternmost of the longer sides. There was a straight section ahead of them, with two side shafts leading off in opposite directions right by the elevator and another two side shafts branching off at the far end, by the scaffolding. But by the lamplight of the arriving heroes, they could see three figures over by the scaffolding, the two smaller ones on either side of the larger one, who was lying down on the cold stone floor of the mine being kicked by the others. The smaller figures had skin the color of gray slate and each carried a heavy pick and a light crossbow scaled to their shorter sizes - for they stood no taller than Ageratum. The halfling woman stifled a cry at seeing the abuse Greasy Thom was taking - for she fully expected that was the identity of the dwarf lying on the ground being kicked - and raced forward in concern. But with her relatively short stride, she didn't get very far before Chaevaris had stepped forward, aimed an arrow at the leftmost svirfneblin, and released it to deadly effect. The arrow went flying over her head to bury itself in the deep gnome's throat, slaying him instantly. "Ogilvy, if you please," Alistair said, his hand out to receive the light crossbow the [I]unseen servant[/I] had continued carrying for him. Ogilvy passed the crossbow - already loaded and ready to shoot - over to its master. Alistair sighted down the shaft, lined up his shot in the manner he'd been instructed by the man in the weapon shop who had sold him the device, and pulled the trigger. The bolt went flying across the length of the mine, to crash against the wall beside the second svirfneblin's head. "Oh, rot and bother!" cursed Alistair - he hoped he hadn't been sold a defective light crossbow! The second svirfneblin gave Greasy Thom a final kick, then, looking at four approaching heroes and not liking the odds, ran for the far corner. There, in the leftmost mine tunnel being carved out of the solid rock, a much smaller, narrower passageway connected to the mine - no doubt the means by which these svirfneblin were entering the Slippery Shaft Mine in the first place! Harlan gave chase, his [I]flaming burst longsword[/I] providing him all the light he needed to find his way; he left his bullseye lantern on the ground beside the one Chaevaris had left at the elevator, the better for the paladin to have both hands free, for on his left arm he held his shield. Ageratum caught up with the fleeing svirfneblin and lashed out with her masterwork short sword, the tip of the blade slicing into the back of the deep gnome's calf as he ran. But then Chaevaris rounded the corner and just that quickly fired off another arrow that caught the small-statured killer in the back of the head, slaying him instantly. Harlan went immediately to see to Greasy Thom, but it was quite apparent the miner was already dead, his body hacked apart by the deep gnomes' picks. The others checked out the narrow passageway for which the last svirfneblin had been running, and it ran diagonally for a bit, meandering this way and that - certainly no miner's tunnel. Chaevaris pulled a dwarven-sized knapsack from the last svirfneblin slain - and which the deep gnome had apparently taken from Greasy Thom - and inside it found a coin purse containing 15 pieces of gold and a half-pound chunk of what at first glance looked to be silver, but upon closer examination was actually a hunk of mithril; apparently the greedy dwarf had decided to help himself to a quite valuable chunk of the rare metal unearthed here in the Slippery Slope Mine. In fact, Chaevaris speculated that might have been what impelled Greasy Thom to stick around by himself in Level 6 when the other miners had been evacuated to allow the heroes to clear out the level. [I]Typical dwarven greed[/I], the elf thought. "What do we do now?" asked Ageratum. "Should we bring Greasy Thom's body back up to the miners?" "There doesn't seem to be any hurry for that," suggested Harlan. Turning to Chaevaris, he added, "I don't see any other passageways into or out of this level but the elevators where we came down and the tunnel the gnome was heading for. Would you mind doing a circuit around the mines and verifying there are no other hidden entrances?" Chaevaris, born with a full-blooded elf's keen vision, retrieved the discarded bullseye lantern and went to do just that, reporting back soon with a negative finding. "That's all there is," the elf announced. "Then let's go check out this svirfneblin entrance," suggested Harlan. "We needn't explore its entire length, but we ought to make sure there aren't any more of these deep gnomes ready to ambush us when our backs are turned." He led the way, Ogilvy at his side carrying a lantern, with Alistair just behind them. Ageratum and Chaevaris came in just behind them, the halfling carrying the only other lantern the group brought with them, for the two heroes of elven descent preferred having both hands free. (Not coincidentally, of the four they also had the best vision and thus could make do with a lesser amount of illumination, although neither had the full darkvision of the dwarves.) The narrow svirfneblin tunnel was completely unlit. Around 50 feet in, the passageway all of a sudden doubled in width; where before it had been a mere 5 feet wide - if that - it was now twice that width. Shortly beyond that was a wide room of a particularly odd shape: the tunnel connected to the long side of a staggered triangle, whose angled sides got progressively smaller, rather like a ziggurat seen from the side. At the narrow point this room met up with its exact mirror image, so seen from the top it had the general shape of a wavy bowtie. But Ogilvy's narrow beam of light from the bullseye lantern, aimed at the intersection of these two almost-triangles, allowed Harlan and Chaevaris to make out two figures in the farther room. They were talking; one had a gruff, menacing voice whose words - in a language none of the heroes spoke - seemed to be dwarven in nature and cadence, while the other spoke in a feminine voice that seemed somehow familiar, although none of the heroes could pick out individual words from this distance. The woman was garbed in a hooded cloak, obscuring her features, while the dwarf wore chain mail and carried a warhammer in one hand and a shield upon the other arm. Ageratum decided to sneak closer to see if she could hear them better. But by the time she'd gotten close to the narrow gap connecting the two halves of the chamber the two figures had noticed the light from the two bullseye lanterns and stepped apart. Worse yet, the halfling had unknowingly approached a strange creature whose grayish skin almost perfectly blended in with the stone walls and she only noted its presence by the motion of the stone battleaxe it swung at her. She leaped back and in so doing likely saved herself from a much more grievous wound, but the axe's blade had been meticulously sharpened and it cut a line of pain down one shoulder as she frantically scrambled away. Alistair stepped forward to come to Ageratum's aid, Ogilvy keeping pace with the second lantern, and the increased illumination revealed another of these gray-fleshed creatures across the room from the one fighting Ageratum. But Alistair's long-honed sense of chivalry forced him to ignore this new threat and concentrate on the one menacing his little halfling friend. This time his crossbow hit true, the bolt sticking out of the grimlock's torso, just below the rib cage. It hissed in pain but didn't fall over, still clinging to life. Chaevaris shot at it as well, with less effect, the arrow shattering against the stone wall by the creature's head. Harlan, feeling the others had the first grimlock well in hand, charged forward at the other one, his [I]flaming burst longsword[/I] cutting through the creature's midsection and causing it to stumble backwards, one hand holding its belly shut. Ignored for the moment, the duergar in the other room took on a defensive stance, ready to wallop anyone who got close enough with his warhammer. The cloaked woman also took precautionary actions of her own, but for now, at least, the four heroes were concentrating on the pair of grimlocks in the first half of the chamber. The first grimlock swung at Ageratum again, but she nimbly ducked beneath his swinging axe and came through the attack unscathed, then stabbed forward with her own blade and caught him in the side, just below where the crossbow bolt protruded. The other one seemed determined to take Harlan with him as he died, catching the paladin in a swing of his own axe and then falling forward to the stone floor, blood seeping from his opened belly. Harlan was wounded from the surprising blow but far from out of action. Alistair missed with his second shot at the remaining grimlock, then stepped protectively in front of Ageratum, shielding her from the gray-skinned creature's attacks. He saw, to his surprise, the grimlock didn't seem to have any sense of vision, its eyes merely dull orbs of a lighter gray without any pupils, staring lifelessly at the heroes. Then another of Chaevaris's arrows came whizzing past the young nobleman, catching the grimlock between his sightless eyes and dropping him at once. Alistair let out a sigh of relief; his shielding of Ageratum had been an instinctive one, but he had had no real desire to engage the axe-wielding grimlock in hand-to-hand combat! Harlan took a moment to ensure the other grimlock's death by severing its head from its body, then looked over to the gap between halves of the chamber. The duergar had approached closer to the opening but had resumed his defensive stance, ready to attack anyone who got near. "Talk to them!" hissed the woman in the back. "They're blocking the only way out!" The duergar merely growled gutturally in reply. Harlan was fairly sure he hadn't been meant to hear the woman's quiet input to her duergar companion, but he had the excellent hearing of his mother's race and had made out every word. Even better, he had recognized the voice as that of Maya Thorpe. Instinctively, he cast forth with his evil-detecting senses and was not the least bit surprised to get the distinct feeling both shadowy figures in the back half of the chamber radiated auras of evil. He was, however, a bit surprised to detect a sort of background "ambient level of evil" all around him, in both halves of the chamber. He surmised this oddly-shaped room must have been used for unholy purposes, possibly many times in the past. Sacrificial chamber, perhaps? Ageratum moved up to the gap and tossed a dagger at the duergar, but he swatted it away with his shield. Maya readied herself, seeing the heroes were now ready to focus their attention on her and her gray dwarf associate. But why were they here, and why now of all times? She didn't like the current odds against her. However, Alistair probably buoyed up her spirits by completely missing the duergar with his next shot, the crossbow bolt flying so far away from the duergar he didn't even feel the need to flinch or move his shield. But at the nobleman's command, Ogilvy focused the lantern's beam directly at the gray dwarf, illuminating him in a beam of light. Chaevaris fired another arrow and missed, although the archer had come much closer than had Alistair and the duergar actually needed to duck to remain out of the arrow's path. Still, Chaevaris was not in the least bit amused to have performed no better than the silly human fop. By then, Harlan had reached the limits of his patience and charged at the duergar. The move allowed the duergar to get in a hit on the paladin with his warhammer, but in retaliation Harlan's flame-covered blade bit deep into the duergar's chest, slaying him instantly. "Are you okay?" asked Ageratum, looking over to the half-elf paladin who had taken several hits in battle by this time. "Well enough for now," Harlan assured her, and turned to face the woman in the cloak. "And now, Maya, would you care to explain your presence among these creatures?" The woman did not like the four-against-one odds at all and decided to try to bluff her way past the heroes. Dropping her hood so they could all see who she was, she cried out, "Oh, thank goodness you've arrived! And just in time to save me from that brutish dwarf! I hesitate to guess his intentions!" "We are not in the least bit impressed with your attempts at trickery," Chaevaris told her, frowning in disdain at the rather childish way in which she apparently thought she could convince them of her innocence. Turning to Harlan, the archer asked, "Is she evil?" Harlan confirmed she was. "Anything magic upon her?" Chaevaris asked, this time turning toward Alistair. The sorcerer, jolted by the realization he could indeed determine whether she had any magic about her, hastily cast a [I]detect magic[/I] spell (and congratulated himself for the ease by which it came, now that he was aware of himself consciously casting it), and replied, "Yes - there on her left hip, beneath the sash - something magic." "Hand it over," demanded Harlan, holding out a hand. "What? No! It's mine!" wheedled the woman, bristling as the paladin stepped forward and grabbed up a fist-sized ruby from her sash. Holding it up, he said, "It's the [I]Blood Mirror![/I]" "I say!" exclaimed Alistair. "How did you get that back in your hands? Father Barbados had it stashed away in the church for safekeeping, just last night!" "She must have retrieved it this morning, after we left for the mines," suggested Ageratum. "How? He wouldn't have turned it over willingly. What did you use, [I]charm person[/I]?" Maya opted not to directly answer the halfling's accusation (for that part was entirely correct), instead taking the opportunity to correct her. "It was Brother Scarbororugh, actually. He turned it over without question. And why not? It belongs to me - it's a family heirloom." She turned back to Harlan Starblade. "Now give it back, if you please." "It is no such thing," replied Harlan in a stern voice. "It is a magic item crafted from a ruby taken from the Lortmil Mountains, with different powers based upon the inherent goodness or capacity for evil held by its wielder. You no doubt were hired to steal it from the tomb outside Greyhawk City and you and your brother in turn hired us to do your thievery for you. As such, you may consider yourself under arrest. Please turn over all weapons and magical items. Ageratum, you're probably the best of us with knot-craft, would you mind tying Maya's hands behind her back with her sash?" "Not in the least," gushed Ageratum, eagerly applying herself to her appointed task. Chaevaris confiscated a dagger and a couple of rings, but none of them had any magic about them. There was likewise no magic to be found on the corpse of the duergar - but the elf did find a leather purse filled with diamonds. "Aha! Payment for the ruby, perhaps?" asked the archer. "You may as well confess," suggested Harlan. "We intend to take you back to the church of Saint Cuthbert, and I'm sure the clerics there have a means of magically detecting lies." "Assuming you can find your way back there," Maya said coyly. "You may find you need me after all." "We'll see about that," said Harlan, taking her by the arm and leading her back the way they had come. Chaevaris, in the meantime, had searched along the walls of the odd room looking for secret or hidden doors and found nothing of the kind - although there was an oddity of sorts: a chunk of obsidian had been placed inside a gap in one wall. The elf puzzled over it for a moment, then followed Harlan and his prisoner down the passageway through which they had first come to the ziggurat-shaped chamber, expecting it to lead back to the narrower svirfneblin tunnel that breached Level 6 of the Slippery Shaft Mine. All thought of obsidian chunks were banished from the archer's mind. "I say," brought up Alistair, "That odd chamber back there, it didn't have any other entrances to it, did it?" Chaevaris acknowledged it did not. "Then where did those gnomes come from?" he asked. "That's...a very good point," admitted Harlan, looking ahead down the tunnel they were traversing. Although it was the exact same tunnel they had traveled through to get to the odd chamber where they fought the grimlocks and the duergar, on the way back it now apparently opened up to a cave set into the side of a hill. The sun was shining and it was significantly hotter than it had been when the heroes had walked to the mines with Kasselban Picksmart. Harlan stopped Maya's forward motion with a gauntleted hand upon her shoulder. "Explain," he said, drawing his [I]flaming burst longsword[/I] back out of its scabbard and holding the blade by her neck. The implied threat was obvious. "Very well," replied the woman with a sigh. "There's a village below the hill. You're no longer where you think you are: we are all now in the domain of Jasgun Singh. We were hired to fetch the [I]Blood Mirror[/I] for Jasgund and were told once we had it in hand it would tell us where to go so we could turn it over." Harlan held the ruby to his eye and looked through it and sure enough, he could see a path forward for him to take, one that led down the hill to the village below, to a specific house across the town. The paladin had heard of such magics: [I]find the path[/I] was a spell that had this specific property, if he recalled his spellcraft training correctly. "I don't think she's lying," Alistair interrupted. "I can't feel Ambrose's presence in my mind." Ambrose, as the young sorcerer's familiar, could send along empathic feelings through the link they shared - but only if they strayed no further than a mile apart. The grackle, it seemed, was no longer within a mile of Alistair's current position. "But she's lied to us before," Chaevaris growled. "Give it up: who are you, really?" Maya sighed again, quite theatrically. "Fine. My real name is [B]Marjorie Mustaine[/B]. The man you know as 'Carlton Thorpe' is really [B]Garabond Thorpe[/B], and no, he's not my brother, merely another associate of mine in the same business." "One you didn't mind selling out, once the [I]Blood Mirror[/I] was in your hands. How much was that pouch of diamonds worth, do you think?" asked Harlan. "I'd put it at about a thousand pieces of gold," replied Chaevaris. Harlan looked back at Maya - or rather, Marjorie. She shrugged as best she could with her hands bound behind her. "[I]I[/I] was the one who made the effort to get it back from that cleric," she pointed out. "He was content to just wait for the old fool to hand it back over." "So how did we end up here - wherever exactly 'here' is?" demanded the paladin. "I have no idea exactly where Jasgund's domain lies," Marjorie admitted, and Harlan got the feeling she was telling the truth. "But like I said, the ruby showed me which way to go, and I imagine there was some sort of [I]teleportation gate[/I] or something at play." "That svirfneblin tunnel, where it suddenly widened out!" exclaimed Chaevaris. "We passed through a [I]gate[/I] of some sort and ended up here, while the real svirfneblin tunnel continued on to wherever it normally goes!" "If that's true," asked Harlan, "then why didn't we end up back where we came from?" "The gates aren't very steady," Marjorie answered. "And they don't stay in one place for very long. That's why I had to look through the ruby to see where I needed to go to end up where I could turn it over to Singh's man and get my payment." Harlan moved the group forward again, to the cave opening. Sure enough, there was a village below them, filled with people going about their business: women in sarongs hanging out laundry, small children running through the dirt streets, men in turbans walking about on errands. The story Bhao and Rami had told them about walking through mists and suddenly being on a completely different road had sounded fake at first, but now seemed to have been the absolute truth. "What do we do now?" asked Alistair. Unofficially, the group seemed to have automatically turned to Harlan Starblade for leadership. The paladin was peering through the [I]Blood Mirror[/I]. "Our way leads through the village," he said. "There's a building on the far end, with an overhanging roof providing shade and a kind of canvas-roofed pavilion before it. There are two men under the overhanging roof, talking to the group assembled in the shade of the pavilion. That's where we need to go, to the back half of the building with the overhanging roof." "I say," remarked Alistair. "I fear we'll rather stick out amongst that crowd." It was true: between the five of them, they represented several different races - human, elf, halfling, and a half-breed mixture of elf and human - but all were much paler in skin tone than the dark-haired, dusky-skinned humans in the village above. And their clothing and armor was much different than the garb preferred by the villagers. "At least they speak our language, if in a much different accent," added Chaevaris. "If you listen closely, you can hear what those two are saying." Alistair, Ageratum, and Marjorie strained their ears but couldn't make out the words of the two men under the overhanging roof, but Harlan and Chaevaris certainly could. "Rejoice," cried one of the two turbaned speech-givers, [B]Akahm Singh[/B], "for two openings have presented themselves for two chosen children to study at the feet of the great Lord Jasgund Singh!" "This a great opportunity!" enthused the other man, [B]Kana Singh[/B]. "Who among you would send your sons to a life of wonderment? You, sir - yes! Your son will be elevated above his station to study under the tutelage of our great Lord!" The father, smiling with pride, sent his teenaged son forward to stand beside Kana Singh. "You, son, you will fill the second slot!" announced Akahm Singh, pointing to another teenaged boy. He also stepped forward, chest puffed out with importance at having been chosen for such an honor. "What of our daughters?" insisted another man, sitting beside a girl of twelve or thirteen summers. "As it happens, Lord Jasgund Singh has need of a young girl of your daughter's age," Kana Singh assured the man. "It will be our great honor to present your lovely daughter before the great Lord's presence." The man pushed his daughter forward to nervously stand with the other teens between the two men. From the top of the hill, Ageratum couldn't hear what the men were saying but she didn't like the fact the teen girl didn't seem to want to be there. "That seems kind of creepy," she pointed out. "You don't know the half of it," Marjorie promised. Harlan spun her around and started untying the sash from around her wrists. "Okay, this is how it's going to be," he told her. "We're already going to be a big enough spectacle in the village below by being foreigners. I don't want us drawing any further attention by us parading you around as a captive. But we'll be keeping your dagger, I'll be using the ruby to guide us to where we need to go, and with any luck we'll be led through whatever magical gateway leads back to Ghourmand Vale. No spellcasting on your part. Got it?" "Got it," replied Marjorie, rubbing her wrists. "All right then," Harlan said, stepping out of the cave and starting down the hill. "Let's do this." - - - So Dan kind of inadvertently let out that this "domain of Jasgund Singh," while not necessarily making up one of the official lands of the Ravenloft campaign, is more or less loosely patterned after the Ravenloft campaign (the original one from AD&D 2nd Edition - while we're aware there's now a 5E version, none of us has seen it). Given the descriptions, we're pretty sure we're in a D&D fantasy version of India, which makes it a pretty good bet Lord Jasgund Singh is a rakshasa - or if not, perhaps a weretiger. Fortunately, while both of those creatures are well beyond the combat capabilities of a quartet of 2nd-level PCs, the fact that he also told us the next adventure's called, "Ghee, It's Good to Be Back Home" is a pretty good indication that we won't be spending a whole lot of time in this pseudo-Ravenloft. Of course, given the random nature of the portals, there's every chance we won't have seen the last of Jasgund Singh and his cronies even if we do make it back to Ghourmand Vale next session. But Dan's also hinted that the only reason Jasgund Singh has an opening for two more students is because we killed Bhao and Rami last adventure, and also that if our suspicions about what type of creature he really is are true, there's every reason to suspect the 12-year-old girl has not been chosen for anything beyond his next meal. As a reminder, Harlan is played by my 15-year-old nephew. The rest of the (adult) players all more or less decided we'd put the half-elf paladin in an unofficial leadership role for our party; in game, it makes sense as he's a respected paladin of Pelor, a Lawful Good Sun God, and out of game it's a good opportunity for Harry to take on a bit more responsibility where there's nothing more on the line than the pretend lives of a group of pretend characters in a pretend world. So far, he's taking to the role a bit hesitantly but I think he'll do fine in the long run. [/QUOTE]
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