Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 1205719" data-attributes="member: 463">AryptLeo calmed himself. It had happened. Nothing could be done about it now. It was a disaster but it could have been worse. No one had died. No one was in prison. They were seen as a nuisance and people to be avoided but not outright criminals. Not murderers or pillagers; or demons and warlocks and any other thousand names that the ignorant or superstitious could hurl. Instead they had just been kicked out of the desert village of Artuaat. Annoying but not disastrous; and so much better than it could have been. So, under the stares of suspicious town guards, the group walked out of the village. They were heading into the desert. Khonsu Khibet, the champion of Thoth, was leading them to the Pool of Hapy, some local deity which he claimed was friendly. A sufficient distance away Leo stopped. He turned to the others and asked, mildly under the circumstances, he felt.“Now, could someone please tell me just what happened back there?” There was a confused babble.“.…she was going for her amulet…..”“….and everyone owes me five thousand gold pieces….”“….Aos, Elros, are you two completely insane…..”“…..Titania, you had that woman dominated. Why didn’t you…”“….there’s no time to be lost. We must go and rescue the priestess….”“…..if you think I am going anywhere near that gorge with you right now then you must think I am stupid…..”“….we should burn this bunch of hovels around their ears. They are just a bunch of unbelievers….”“…..Tarquin, could you cast all or any Detect spells you have. I really think Aos has been possessed again….”This last comment came from Cho. The Western woman was unusually agitated, showing anger. Most unlike her; she was normally serene, as if untouched by the world. At this moment she was disheveled, staring daggers at Elros and Aos in equal measure and sporting a large bruise on the side of her head. There was no sign of her punch daggers or Hawk’s Talons as she called them. Leo shook his head. What had happened to the well- honed team he thought he knew? These were squabbling children. “Could we please just get to this Pool? And could everyone please mentally prepare themselves to relate exactly what happened in a calm and collected manner, that way we can maybe put together an account of just what occurred.”The Pool of Hapy was not far. It was an idyllic location. A large pool was fed by a small waterfall, which in turn came from a small cave in a hill. The water provided nourishment for the myriad of palms and other vegetation around. The air was cool and there was a gentle breeze. The area was cared for by a holy man of Hapy by the name of Mahu. He lived in the cave.  Upon arrival, Khonsu, Aos and Xiang went to pay their respects to the priest while the rest of the group set up camp beneath the palms. Soon the others came back. Khonsu and Aos were still tense but Xiang was much more relaxed. He seemed at peace in this setting. He reveled in the atmosphere. Strange for someone so used to violence. He even stopped looking at his spear all the time. It was as if this shrine to Hapy was making him take stock of the events of his life so far. As supper progressed, everyone relaxed. It was almost impossible not to here. Instinctively everyone understood that this Oasis was safe. Finally, after supper a small swig of Sigurd’s precious brandy was passed around. Elros appeared and with a shy grin, handed Cho her Hawk’s Talons. Then everyone told their stories and like a jigsaw, an account was put together. Leo at this point had gone to an area by himself where he was casting a long and complicated spell, which would allow him to understand the properties of certain items that Elros had given him. He finished in the early morning and Tarquin was able to let him know just what everyone believed had happened. Scrolling back time to this morning, the group was augmented by two members. Petronius contacted Tarquin asking him to remove his Amulet. Sigurd and Saphie had come back from their missions on behalf of Gaxmoor and were anxious to join their companions in the South. Dovistar, kindly, had arranged to transport them to the group’s current location. This was duly done. It was the middle of the tavern in Artuaat. Fortunately, there were no other customers in the common room at the time otherwise all sorts or rumours about witchcraft would have started. As it was, Saphie and Sigurd arrived without mishap. A certain amount of surprise was expressed when it was seen that Sigurd arrived with two large dogs under his arms. The poor beasts immediately started panting in the intense heat. Sigurd and Saphie were both brought up to date about events that had occurred since their separation and both were keen to explore the Gorge of Osiris. At the same time, Khonsu corrected Leo about certain historical facts he had misunderstood. Leo was still not happy with the direction this whole expedition was taking but he sighed and reconciled himself to the fact that with Sigurd and Saphie the majority of the group was committed to the exploration of the Gorge. Astragard was fairly disgusted but willing to wait. He was a very patient being. With hindsight, the group now did the most foolish thing they could have done. They separated. Amitha Re decided that she was going to go and buy a set of hide armour for herself. She went to the general merchant. Leo, Astragard and Tarquin went to Astragard’s room where Leo was going to spend all of the day and a lot of the night ascertaining the properties of the magical items taken from the bodies of the bandits. Aos, Titania, Cho, Saphie, Elros and Khonsu were going to go and talk to a man named Gurheit, the brother-in-law of the sorcerer who attacked the group the day before. Xiang and Sigurd decided to stay in the tavern. So, Astragard, Leo and Tarquin were in the tavern practicing magic in private. Xiang and Sigurd stayed in the inn. They rapidly became bored, asked for the strongest brew in the house and then indulged in a drinking contest. That was as much as either of them revealed but Leo could imagine the rest. It wasn’t a pretty picture. The others went to visit Gurheit. They approached a ramshackle dwelling where they saw an older man and a small boy. The dwelling itself was little more than a one-room hut, smelly, dusty and old. The man introduced himself as Gurheit and the boy as his son. He was friendly and conducted a conversation with the group. However, little information was coming from him. Frustrated, Titania decided to charm him. An easy feat for someone of her looks and power. However, she found out very little considering, except that the sorcerer cast some spells, didn’t do his fair share of the work and seemed to have a mysterious source of funds. It was at this stage that Elros noticed the boy edging away from the group. As soon as he was a little distance away, he started moving towards a particular building. Unseen, Elros was on his heels. Surreptitiously the invisible Elros spied on them through a window and saw an agitated boy chattering in Aryptian to a large, fat, bald man. He also saw a variety of strong looking men carrying goods and an open trap door into a cellar. At this point a tall, handsome, regal looking woman approached the building. Suddenly she stopped and looked very uneasy. She looked around, sniffed the air and frowned. It was obvious that although she couldn’t see Elros, she definitely knew he was around. Rapidly she strode into the building and chattered in Aryptian. Elros had seen enough and hurried back to the group. In the meantime, Titania finished her conversation with Gurheit, finding out little more and she and the rest of the group were about to go back to the tavern. Elros caught up with them and related what he had found out. The group conferred and decided that they should visit the fat man as soon as possible.They hurried to the after Elros to a large warehouse type dwelling with apparently two rooms and a cellar. Titania cast an effect making everyone faster and Elros made himself invisible. As they approached, they could hear raised voices, one of which they recognised as Gurheit’s.  Then there was silence. Elros entered the building first and went into a corner, his bow ready.  Then Aos entered, followed by the rest of the group. They were greeted. “Good afternoon, honoured ladies and gentlemen. You honour my establishment. My name is Heptfha and I am the merchant. How may I serve you?”Aos replied. “We are looking for our friend. Amitha Sethen Re, a priestess of Isis. She came here this morning.”“I am afraid no one by that name came here this morning,” said the merchant, beginning to sweat. Aos, frowned. “She said she was going to buy some hide armour. Could she have gone elsewhere?”Heptfha grinned falsely. “No she couldn’t. Oh, you mean the lady this morning. Yes, she did come in but never gave her name; but she left. I don’t know where she went”. By now, he was sweating profusely. Cho, very discerning in these matters, could see he was lying. The woman Elros had seen earlier had been standing quietly in a corner but at this point she stared directly at Elros, even though he was unseen. She started to chatter in Aryptian. Alert, Titania cast her ability to understand all languages and caught the last words of a sentence about “invisible demons”. The Aryptian woman also started to finger a bone amulet she was wearing. Elros, suddenly remembered this was the same type of amulet as worn by the sorcerer two days ago. He panicked and though she was about to attack. He let loose with his deadly bow and shot her in the flank. She shrieked and collapsed. The merchant shrieked and started begging for mercy. There was chaos. Elros was shouting that she was going to fireball them. The woman was screaming in agony. The merchant was begging for mercy. Cho, inhumanly fast, sped to the next room to see Gurheit and the boy leaping through the window. Titania, remarkably calm, used one of her most powerful abilities. It was the ability of domination. Aos told the merchant to keep quiet. He complied although there were small whimpers from him. The woman was also quiet and looked at Titania. There was hate in her face and her whole demeanour changed. She was very strong. Titania asked her a few questions while in this state but could only find out that the priestess had been captured and taken North. Then the effect was broken. The merchant at this stage stopped whimpering and grinned maliciously at the group. Now he realised that they wouldn’t kill him out of hand it was almost as if he was taunting them. In the next room, Cho leapt out of the window and gave chase to Gurheit and his son. It was child’s play for her to catch them. Thinking him nothing more than a simple fisherman, she relaxed. Suddenly she was struck a heavy blow by his club and even more surprised to see the little boy with a dagger, endeavoring to cut her to pieces. It was at this point that Cho’s story gets confused. It is not known if she realised that she was in full sight of the guards of the caravanserai or not but she made short work of Gurheit making sure that she didn’t kill him. She also caught the boy but at the same time a detachment of guards had been sent out to investigate. Half a dozen approached Cho and commanded her to cease and desist. The Westerner decided that she would not fight them and that when she explained the situation, Gurheit would be apprehended and questioned. She allowed her hands to be tied behind her back and let herself be walked with the patrol. Gurheit and the boy were also taken along. On the way to the caravanserai, the guards walked past the tavern. Xiang and Sigurd had just recovered from their drinking contest and gaped as they saw Cho, obviously arrested. “Ho,” both cried. “What are you doing with our friend.? There must be some misunderstanding.”The rest again is confused but it seems that Sigurd tried to bribe the guard, failed, and both were arrested after a slight scuffle. Fortunately, both Xiang and Sigurd sensibly did not attack the patrol although Sigurd did surrender with the words “you are not touching my sword”. The guards, not being stupid, decided to take the two formidable looking warriors with them. Their superior could decide what to do with their weapons. That’s what he was there for. However, in the confusion of the melee, Cho suddenly used an interesting ability. She seems to have an ability to transport herself, much like magicians. Although she calls it “going into the void” or some such mystical nonsense. Whatever it is, it worked. She appeared in Astragard’s room. Out of sheer instinct from his days in the Tower of the White Way, Leo sensed her and remarked: “Go away, I am busy” before he realised what he was saying.The other two did not show such composure. They gasped. Cho sprang to Tarquin and said: “Cut my bonds now. I haven’t time to explain. Wait for me and I will be back shortly.” With those words she ran out of the room.The three looked at each other for a long moment. “I…suppose she knows what she is doing,” muttered Tarquin to himself. Leo was already busy looking at a ring and Astragard was studying Leo’s techniques. Leo was explaining certain refinements he was thinking of adding to this divination.Aos and the others were still trying to question the merchant and his wife but not getting very far. Xiang and Sigurd were taken to the caravanserai, where they met the lieutenant of the guard. Again he looked at the two formidable figures and decided that asking them to give up their weapons was not going to work. Therefore a compromise was agreed that the two would go into a cell with all their equipment until the rest of their friends arrived. The lieutenant then would strive to solve the mystery of the whereabouts of the “yellow woman”. A patrol went to the merchant’s house and was met with beautiful unearthly music that told them to go away. A stronger patrol was then sent and the rest of the group decided to go with them to the caravanserai but by that stage, Titania was dubbed a conniving witch. Another black mark against the group.The guards sent to Astragard’s room knocked on the door and bellowed “Open in the name of the Pharaoh. You are wanted in the caravanserai in connection with the yellow woman.” The three occupants looked at each other. They could transport themselves out. But they might end up in a different place. Getting back would be a pain. All three had a full set of spells and the ability to transport themselves out of trouble so they decided that it was better to find out what was going on. They were treated respectfully and taken to the caravenserai into the cells to join the others.Cho had seen the mages being taken by the guard. At this stage she decided to surrender herself, trusting that the truth would protect her. She arrived at the caravanserai. She was chained as a precaution and her Hawk’s Talons were taken away from her. Then she was interviewed by the guard lieutenant. “Why did you attack Gurheit, one of our respected citizens?”“I didn’t attack him. He attacked me.”“My guards saw you chase him and his son and attack them.”“He is evil and he attacked me”.The rest of the interview went along those lines. Even with Cho’s rendition later that night, Leo could see the problems. Cho was seen chasing a citizen of Artuaat with his small child, a fight ensued and then the guards found her with her bloodied Hawk’s Talons next his body. No doubt some conspiracy was going on but there was no actual proof against anyone. Added to that these were pillars of the community while she was “the yellow woman” with her friends, the “demon” with the pointy ears and various other strange individuals.The lieutenant frowned. “Your answers are not satisfactory. Take her away. Bring the others here”The rest of the group was brought to the lieutenant. “You are free to go. It is recommended that you leave Artuaat. Your friend is here. Her answers were not satisfactory. She will be tried by a judge.”Leo asked. “How long will it take for him to get here”?“About three months. Four at the most.”Sigurd snorted. “We cannot afford to take that long. Is there anything we can do instead?”“Wait here.” The lieutenant went out of the room and came back after a few minutes. “Gurtheim is willing to forget the whole thing for a fine of five thousand gold pieces”.Sigurd paled. For a moment Leo thought he was going to draw his sword and go on the rampage. “Done” he grated. With that he drew various pouches and slowly carefully, put them on the lieutenant’s desk, glaring at him all the while. The whole group was escorted outside of town. The next morning at the Pool of Hapy several momentous decisions were taken:Xiang decided to stay at the Pool for a time. His experience in Artuaat had not been pleasant but his eyes had been opened to Aos’s newly acquired fanaticism. The duelist’s comment that the whole village should be burnt as unbelievers came as a shock to the warrior from the west and made him understand just what Aos was becoming. Saphie and he talked for a long time. Their concern about the “great evil of undeath” had not subsided but it was overwhelmed by their concern about the direction that Aos was taking.Aos, Titania, Elros and Khonsu were now even more determined to go to the Gorge of Osiris. Elros was acting like a sulky teenager after having been told that far from a devastating device the bone amulet the woman had been fingering was a shielding device.Cho was now calmer although this was belied by her flat refusal to go anywhere with Aos. It was difficult to tell what she was thinking most of the time but when she looked at Aos, it was obvious she thought him mad, bad and dangerous to know.Sigurd made one last attempt to keep Aos by his side for the sake of their friendship. However Aos was totally committed and Sigurd was disgusted at having to hand over a large amount of money, which Aos did not even acknowledge with a thank you.  Leo and Tarquin were talking quietly on one side.“Are you going to tell him?” asked the priest.“He is an adult. He also claims to be a Champion of a Goddess.”“Yes, but he is also Aos. He hasn’t thought about this at all. He is also leading Titania and the other two. Tell him, magician.”“As you will”. With that Leo approached Aos.“So, Aos, you are committed to going to the Gorge.”Aos replied. “Yes. Elros, Khonsu, Titania and I are going. With the blessing of my goddess we shall prevail.” “So be it. Sigurd, Astragard, Cho, Tarquin, Saphie and I plan to go to Gutheron’s Tomb. I will leave you with these thoughts though. Whatever or whoever is in the Gorge of Osiris know who you are; they know what you are; they know your abilities; they know what you look like and above all they know you are coming. Think about it.” Leo then created his magical horses and the group set out until they reached a particular point where Aos and his companions split off from the main group. Perhaps for the last time.</blockquote>

Verification