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Message: <blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 1125702" data-attributes="member: 463">Leo's account:The Margravine’s Journey Part IHaving semi-successfully dealt with the two problematic tombs in the graveyard, the group was now ready to escort the Margravine Eloise on her diplomatic mission to the High King of the Makyans in his capital Ankheight. The plan was to make a short two-day journey to the town of Carrisqui where it would join a trading caravan heading South into the Makyan lands. Leo was still speculating about the motivations of the Scornic League in attempting to establish diplomatic relations with a nation whose main export was slaves but his main concern was to get the aristocrat to her destination in one piece. This tied in directly with Leo’s worry that the first two days of the journey through the wildlands outside Gaxmoor were going to be very dangerous as it was likely that Heracules was aware of the Margravine’s mission and would consider her a prime captive. Therefore, there was a strong possibility that an ambush was being prepared.The first day of the journey proved uneventful. The group, along with the Margravine and her handmaiden Eryla, traveled on horseback and made good distance. A camp was made for the night and watches were set. On the last watch, just before dawn, the expected attack came. Tarquin and Leo were on watch while Sol, having little need for sleep, was loitering nearby. Stealthily, an array of Dark Folk, mainly orcs, gnolls, ratmen and goblins, crept through the woods and approached the camp. Unfortunately, Leo and Tarquin were watching the wrong side of the encampment and it was Sol, who at the last moment, shouted a warning. The enemy rushed and were able to land severe blows on Leo and Tarquin; several archers shot into the sleeping group. At this moment the situation erupted into frenzied action. Most of the sleeping people leapt up and armed themselves as best as they could. Xiang was unfortunate as he was only in his light clothes; Aos and Titania were lightly armored but this was their usual state while Cho was unaffected and relied on her amazing dodging ability. However, the people most at risk were Saphie and the Margravine. Saphie bravely arose and shouted words of power. A moment later a ball of fire swept a group of gnolls as well as Cho and Sol. Strangely, both of them tumbled through the ball and seemed unaffected although Cho did look slightly charred. The gnolls however were decimated with most of them falling while their leader ran into the dark woods. At this point the situation was made even more chaotic by Titania’s actions. Misconstruing the range of her spell, she shouted mystic words and a strange lassitude settled over the enemy, who didn’t seem to know what they were going to do from one moment to the next. However, this same pall also affected Aos and Titania herself. Leo at this point transported himself out of harm’s way and called the Margravine to him. The enemy had suffered set backs but obviously they had been given their orders. Capture the unarmed woman; therefore they swarmed first Tarquin and then Saphie, landing heavy blows on both of them. Xiang sprang into action and was able to alleviate some of Saphie’s problems, and she herself burned her opponents around her. Tarquin had to transport himself out of harm’s way also, but at this stage the tide was turning. Both Cho and Xiang were carving through the enemy, Sol was stalking them in the woods while Titania and Aos were still in the grip of this strange pall. Finally the enemy were fully routed, and hunted in the woods. The gnoll commander was attempting to get away, but Leo found him and used one of his more powerful effects (chain lightning), sending the gnoll to his just desserts. He also managed to recover some interesting items from his corpse. In the meantime, Tarquin dispensed healing blessings to alleviate injuries.In good spirits, the group set off first thing in the morning after their battle and after an uneventful day, reached Carrisqui just after dusk, only to find the wall gates closed. Titania, using her wit and charm, was able to convince the wall guard to let the group enter, ascertained that the first caravan of the season was about to set off and that the caravaneers were at the Inn of the Laughing Unicorn. In the right circumstances, she was a most useful person. The group made its way to this establishment, which was full of the usual assorted riff raff. Both Tarquin and Leo had had a very long day and a previous night of interrupted sleep so they both decided to retire early. Leo was able to establish what happened the next day. Contact was made with the caravan master, a person by the name of Gysshk. This individual had a history with the Margravine, which resulted in her demanding that Aos to challenge him there and then to a duel to the death. Fortunately, Aos was not quite so hasty and was able to reason with the aristocrat. Tension was also high as the caravaneers were their usual irrepressible selves. Phrases such as “oh look, its an elfie; we thought you were all dead” and “the Mongali chick looks a bit of all right” were bandied around. Thinking that they were being very funny, they didn’t realise just how close they were to death in both cases. Neither Cho nor Sol take insults lightly but luckily for all concerned they were able to hold their tempers. At the same time, there was talk of strange occurrences in the town of Kanuu, a stopping off point for the caravans and also the home of a cousin of the Margravine, Lord Amari. Finally, only Aos would have the front to openly flirt with Lilith the barmaid in front of Titania. Leo was not sure what the consequences of this were, but he was pretty certain that he really didn’t want to know. He had long ago come to the conclusion that Aos led a complicated domestic life.The next day, in the late morning, the caravan set out to the south. It was an uneventful day and the group was able to enjoy new views and sights. In many cases this was the furthest south that any of them had ever been. Again nothing happened that night (in the village of Chembre) and hopefully the caravan would reach Kanuu at end of the next day. The Margravine was looking forward to seeing her cousin again. The caravan duly reached the town and set up camp outside while the group went with the Margravine to the manor in the town. It was an eerie place. The local population was quiet and went about their business in a very mechanical way. Everything was done in total silence and total uniformity. Leo’s alarm bells were beginning to ring. This was not normal. The group made its way to the large manor in the town, being inspected suspiciously by several groups of guards, who seemed ubiquitous. Upon reaching the door, the Margravine excitedly rapped on the door and demanded to see her cousin. A guard opened the door and informed her that the Lord Amari was unwell but that he was willing to see his cousin along with two other people. At this point, it was obvious to several members of the group that something was seriously wrong. Cho was uneasy and uncharacteristically protesting about these arrangements; Leo didn’t know what the problem was, but his instincts were screaming; both Aos and Titania were very uneasy and Sol was prowling around the edge of the group looking very worried. Finally, both Cho and Leo prevailed upon the Margravine that she would see her cousin tomorrow but later letting her know that the group had to investigate further. The group withdrew, still being viewed with suspicion by groups of guards, when Sol noticed that a pile of flammable material was being put together by a group of townspeople. At this point, the group withdrew slightly calling Saphie to them. She had wandered off, trying to ascertain what had happened to the local temple of Avanthe. Sol was still a little bit too far away, and suddenly a waft of blue flame and smoke came from the bonfire. Alarmed, Sol called Leo but the smoke wafted over him. He tried to stumble out of it but the wind  perversely blew it towards him again and suddenly he was mechanically walking over to the bonfire in the same entranced way as the rest of the population of the town.The group withdrew to the caravan site. The Margravine  was left in the care of Grysshk and Titania. The group was now thoroughly annoyed and decided that a direct investigation of the Lord’s house was the best course of action. A plan was made to go through the back door. As they approached the house, two guards followed them at a distance. Brooking no interference, Xiang and Aos approached them and Aos quickly and efficiently ran them through. Xiang looked slightly askance at him after these actions but Aos just shrugged. The door was opened to reveal a corridor; it had a door and a ladder leading up to a trapdoor. The group entered the house and Aos ascended the ladder. Unfortunately, stealth is not one of the group’s strong points and as soon as his head came through the opening, a guard rammed his sword through Aos, hurting him considerably. Battle was joined immediately!!  Xiang opened the door downstairs, revealing a room with a trapdoor and another door, which led to a kitchen. Aos was battling guards on the upper floor. Further guards were getting ready to come and assault the rear of the party, but Leo caught them in one of his more powerful dweomers, a field of black tentacles which caught several of the ensorcelled guards and townsfolk and held them. Xiang then joined Aos upstairs. The battle up there was fierce, with both sides suffering heavy blows. One unfortunate occurrence was that Xiang and Aos found themselves fighting Sol. He landed several fierce blows on Aos who struggled not to retaliate. When Aos withdrew to recuperate with a potion, Xiang stepped up and was able to knock the elf unconscious. In the meantime downstairs, further guards swarmed through the front door, trying to overwhelm the rest of the group. However, Cho, Tarquin and the two wizards were able to cope with them although it was a close battle for a time. Upstairs the battle also turned, with both Aos and Xiang battling strongly, both admiring each other’s different but efficient techniques. Finally, both sets of guards had been dealt with. Saphie had summoned a Hound Archon and ordered it to open the trapdoor. This revealed a curtain of unnatural darkness and a feeling of cold. Upstairs, Aos, Xiang and Tarquin were about to leave when Aos spotted a cowled figure in one of the neighbouring room. Running towards this figure, Aos ran him through with his rapier; the figure gurgled and fell over, revealing a pale aristocratic face. Xiang and Tarquin approached when another villain hurled a pouch on to the fire, filling the room with the same deadly blue smoke. This time though, everyone resisted its effects, although the rooms were quickly vacated and the door was shut. After a brief discussion, the group decided that Saphie should summon another Archon and get him to investigate the room and attack all enemies. The Archon came back to report that (he attacked the figure but) all he found was a set of empty robes.Now, the group is getting ready to open the trapdoor and tackle the curtain of forbidding darkness.</blockquote>

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