Maissen: Shades of Grey [UPDATE 12/12, post 199]

[Beale Knight]

Revelations Happy and Furious

In the quiet that followed Ren’s comment, the only sound to be heard was water, flowing faintly in the distance. Then that tranquil sound was broken. Splashes and the sound of tramping feet echoed up the cave.

“That’s enough reflection,” Aneirin said as he finished double checking his gear. “We obviously haven’t killed or driven off everything in here, and there’s more coming.”

Just then there was a big splash, followed by heavier stomps and the distinct sound of a huge tail dragging and swishing atop the ground. “With another drake in their number,” Bessie added.

Ren nodded. “For sure it’s then time to go on.”

“Go,” said Dumb Bear with a nod. He pointed toward the exit. “There.”

The Heroes left the carnage of the room behind them. They paused briefly in the throne room, eyeing the treasures it held, but the sound of more and more tromping feet persuaded them to hold off on looting. Whoever, whatever, was down there would certainly make their return trip all the harder, but the Heroes had been on the go for far too long to endure another fight just now.

Outside, the night was brighter than it should have been. A starburst filled the sky. “Look there,” Ren said, pointing up to a nearby ridge. Three figures stood atop the ridge, two tall women and a short man, all bathed in a blue glow.

Aneirin blinked and squinted. “Is that….”

Bessie gasped. “Yes! Madge! And Killian!”

Ren looked to the third figure and saw she held a tablet in one hand. He nearly dropped to the ground, overwhelmed. It could only be the goddess Fespa he was seeing. “A miracle,” he whispered.

They stood rock still and stared as the forms of Madge and Killian blurred, becoming patterns of light that ascended upwards. Their light flowed through the night sky and condensed into bright points. The late companions of Maissen had joined the ranks of legends. They were new stars. They had received their eternal reward, they would never be forgotten. A moment later Fespa the storyteller herself ascended into the night sky and disappeared.

Bessie, Ren, and Aneirin exchanged silent smiles. Elated that their friends had been rewarded with honorable peace, they made our way back to the town in happy silence.

The town was just as dilapidated as it had been when they left. The Heroes had expected no different. What caught them by surprise however, were the cheers. As soon as they stepped through the broken town gate and to the barricade, the Heroes were greeted by lines of people cheering and clapping for them. The sons of Lastelle met them in the square and led them to the council building, where the Heroes told their tale to the assembled crowd.

“The important point to remember,” Aneirin said as the tale wound down to the end, “is that the threat is lessened but it is not, I say again, NOT, vanquished.”

The oldest of the sons of Lastelle stepped forward. “You have done much good, Heroes,” he said. “I could not make out from your tale however, whether or not you slew the purple drake.”

The quartet stared at him. “Noooo,” Ren finally said. “We never even saw a purple one. In fact, this would be the first time a purple drake has come up in – anything. So, what purple drake?”

“Well we haven’t seen one either,” the old man said. “but we heard tell of it.”

Aneirin cocked his head. “Old tales? Records?”

“Oh my no,” a different old man said. “We captured one of those little lizard men…”

“A kobold,” said a third son of Lastelle.

“Yes, that’s it. We captured a kobold and he said, most vehemently, that the purple drake was as big as a house and would be our doom.”

Bessie sighed. “So there’s at least one more *really* big threat in those caves.”

Aneirin cupped his chin. “Which means more of a threat to the town. So there’s work to be done.” He looked around the square and thought for a minute. “Where’s Jon?”

“Here!” The town’s last living soldier stepped out from the crowd.

“With the punishment we gave the lizard-men, they should be busy rebuilding their defenses. That gives us time to do the same here,” Aneirin said. “Gather some of the heartiest town folk and set to work getting that gate back up.”

“Up we can do, but it won’t hold against those monsters,” Jon said.

“It doesn’t have to. It just needs to stop them from walking in here effortlessly.” He paused. “But we’ll be going back and will need a way in and out.”

Jon nodded, then snapped his fingers. “I have an idea. We could…”

“Don’t bother explaining it,” Aneirin interrupted. “I believe you. Make it work. And post sentries on the wall too. It’s no good having all your eyes inside the walls. At the first sign of lizard-men coming, have everyone gather here at the square. At least there’s a little bit more safety behind the barricade.”

“And when the sentries see them,” Ren said, “have someone come and wake us.”

Jon nodded and turned away. He pointed at half a dozen townsfolk before he’d taken five steps, and soon had a crew gathered.

“Wake you?” one of the younger sons of Lastelle said. “You’re needed. We need your hands and back making repairs to the wall and gate. And someone needs to guard….”

Bessie wheeled on her heel. “Listen to me. We have been on the move for more than a day. More than One Full SOLID day. We last slept for a handful of hours at the edge of a desert. We have fought and bled for you where you wouldn’t. We have bought your town a reprieve and we have exhausted ourselves doing it. If you want more hands on repairs I suggest you put on some workpants and get to it. WE are going to get some sleep. Is that clear to you?”

The son of Lastelle was positively quivering before her. Everyone still in the town square, Aneirin, Ren, and Dumb Bear especially, were staring at the druid with wide eyes. Then her companions smiled. Ren leaned to Aneirin. “When she gets pushed…,” he said. Aneirin nodded, still smiling as the man before Bessie called out in a shaky voice for someone to show the town’s Heroes to some quarters.

Once in their quarters, and after waving away the apologies for its condition, the Heroes collapsed into a deep and much needed slumber. How long he slept before feeling a hand shaking him awake, Ren didn’t know. But it wasn’t long enough. He blinked his eyes open and was staring at a dirty boy in ragged clothing.

“There’s some people here to see you,” the boy said. “At the gate.”

One question came right to Ren’s mind. “Humans?” The boy blinked, as if it were an absurd thing to ask, but nodded. “Show me,” Ren said as he got to his feet. He looked down at Bessie. She was still fast asleep and Ren decided to let her stay that way – she’d need the rest to do whatever it was she did to get ready to cast spells. Ren bent down by Aneirin and gave him a few hearty shakes, but the warrior didn’t wake. “Ah well,” Ren said. “He was hurt the worst of us after all.”

He looked over to see Dumb Bear standing. “We go?” the elf asked. Ren nodded and the two followed the boy through the streets and to the gate.

Jon’s crew had been busy. The gate was now closed and a set of ramps led to the ramparts. When he saw Ren and Dumb Bear walking up, Jon came down from the walls to meet them at the gate. “It’s shut for good now,” he said. “But we can get you, and your mounts, up and over and back when needed. But it won’t be quick.”

“I’m sure it’ll do all kinds of fine, thanks” Ren said. “I guess the visitors are on the far side?”

Jon nodded and led the two Heroes up the ramp and to the top of the wall. From there Ren saw two men and a woman in especially fancy and shiny armor, one with a tall red plume, and all on magnificent mounts. One he recognized. When he and the elf climbed down the far side of the wall and stood before the three, the familiar one held a lance down almost to Ren’s nose. Dangling from it was Miriam’s broach, the one Bessie had buried the day before.

“One would think,” Miriam said in the haughty tone of an experienced powerbroker, “that certain people would appreciate being able to be found.”

Ren crossed his arms. “We were unsure why we were being found quite so much,” he replied.

“Why are there only two of you? Why have the others chosen to ignore our summons?” Miriam asked.

“They were both more exhausted than us,” Ren said, his arms still crossed. “I chose to let them sleep some more. Especially since I didn’t know who had come by, and wouldn’t have guessed it’d be you.”

“That the messengers here are lacking is not an excuse,” Miriam said. “I’d know why my broach, entrusted to you, was cast aside.”

“We were ambushed twice more by agents of Idien,” Ren said. “He hit us with dead on accuracy. We were getting to thinking that maybe he was using that little broach there to scry on us. Is that something that could happen?”

“This is a powerful broach, but it’s power is mine,” Miriam said. “You should have trusted it.”

“So it’s impossible for Idien to use it to scry on us?” Ren asked, happy he’d apparently used the word scry correctly.

Miriam huffed. “So far as I know it is impossible for anyone not on the council to use this broach to scry. Certainly not anyone evil.”

“Well he’s done something that kept an eye on us.”

“It is strange, and I don’t have all the answers regarding how that you seem to want,” Miriam conceded. “But it would do you well to hold onto this.”

Pleased he’d at least gotten a council member to confess she didn’t have all the answers, Ren reached out and took the broach.

One of the other riders with Miriam coughed. Now Ren recognized them both, Kerros the Black and Ofieg the short. The former had coughed and now spoke. “The reason we have come to you is to let it be known to you that one of the teams has turned.”

“The redbreasts,” Ren said.

Kerros nodded. “The team from Balos, yes. They located the phylactery of Idien – and returned it to him. Since, they have settled with the giants in the lands west of the mountains. They have a bounty of 5000 pieces of gold. Each.”

Ren nodded. “Good to hear. Maybe we’ll see them again and do something about it. Now I’ve got something to ask you.”

He explained how the town was under dire threat from the drakes and lizard-men and kobolds, what he and the others had done about it so far, what they hoped to do, and asked if the mighty council members of Maissen, assembled in their full combat regalia, could help the town.

“No.”

Ren’s mouth dropped open. “’No’? How ‘No’?”

“It is against the rules,” Ofieg said.

“This is your test,” Miriam said. “You will be told all when you return in victory. Perhaps then you will understand why we lend no aid here.”

Ren could think of no answer to those callous refusals. He stood mouth agape as a circle of light grew on the ground beneath the mounted trio. It brightened and encompassed them, and then when the light faded they were gone. Ren thrust the brooch into his pocket and stalked back into town.

Dumb Bear put the relative importance of things into unique perspective. “Lady shiny.”

“Like a fishhook,” Ren muttered.


Next: The Temple Depths POST 155
Soon: Radical Actions

 

[Zaruthustran]

"Like a fish hook."

Yeah! Great line.

Er, "quip". Great quip.

-z

 

[alsih2o]

"Like a fish hook."

Yeah! Great line.

Er, "quip". Great quip.

-z

Total agreement. Awesome line.

The players were making it all fun for me, but as we reach this point i the story I started to feel that they were all really getting a completed grip on their characters.

Great stuff.

 

[Greylock]

It was certainly around this time that I was getting comfortable with Aneirin. I recall getting my first real sense of him in the battle with the drakes. Do you remember it? When Aneirin poked his sword under the curtain because he refused to get down on his knees?

"You see [big dramatic DM pause] a snout."

 

[Beale Knight]

Deeper into the Temple

Ren and Dumb Bear returned to the quarters to find Aneirin and Bessie still fast asleep, and they joined them in slumber. Afternoon was waning when the woke and addressed what to do next. While getting back to the temple was a certainty, there were a few other points that came first on their agenda.

First was a visit to the Sons of Lastelle council chambers to ask the question Ren had voiced earlier.

“Why aren’t you using those folks at the tonk, the tavern, on the other side of the woods?” he asked.

“Bah!” the eldest Son answered. “Those drunken sods are a waste of flesh. Lazy and useless. They are worse than no help.”

“Ridiculous,” Aneirin said. “They are warm bodies. If nothing else they could throw rocks at the invaders. You must go and recruit them.”

“And how,” the Son retorted with a sour look on his face, “are we to do that when we have barely the manpower to see to our defenses. We can’t risk a troop going throught the woods when they might be ambushed by lizard-men at any moment.”

“You’ve got boats,” Bessie said. “Use them.”

“They won’t care,” the Son said. “They care only about their drinking.”

“We’ll come along and motivate them,” Aneirin said. “Just ready the boats and pilots. We’ll handle the rest. We insist.”

The Sons reluctantly agreed, and a little over an hour later a handful of small boats came ashore near the tonk. The Heroes walked up and strode right inside. There was a little activity; the sun was still up so things were generally quiet. What men were awake stopped what they were doing to stare at the strangers that had returned.

Ren banged two metal pots together, making enough of a clatter to stir the rest of them. Without preamble, Aneirin began to speak. “The town is under attack. Vicious lizard-men have broken its defenses and most of their able bodied men are out at sea. They may return home to find it is no longer there. Many women and children and men have already met death at the hands of these inhuman monsters, and those that survive need your help. We, my companions here and I, have already taken the battle to the lizard-men, and have slain many of them. They can be killed and the situation is far from hopeless. But your help is needed. The town needs more defenders and we have brought the call to you!” As he spoke, Aneirin stood as heroically as he knew how, doing his best to present a picture of the noble, inspiring warrior.

Someone threw a chunk of cheese at him. “Sod off!” “Yeah, what do we care about what goes on there?” “Them folks ain’t never had nothing to do with us, why should we ought to put ourselves out for them?”

Bessie stepped up. “Don’t you see that they’ll just come here when they finish off the town. You won’t be safe.”

“We’re safe enough here, always have been.” “Yeah – sounds like you’re just shilling for the Sons.”

Ren cleared his throat. “We found out one of the things they want,” he said. “They want your ale. And apparently aren’t too particular if they have to get it out of your blood.” The men in the tavern blinked at Ren, then turned to look at each other, then back at him. Ren continued his lie. “Oh yeah. We found where they wrecked up that place in town with the drink. They weren’t happy with the ale they found there. They’re trying to find out where the good stuff is. The Sons aren’t saying so, I think they’re embarrassed that their town’s attacked because the lizard-men want your ale, and not something more high minded.”

“They want – the grog? Our grog?”

Ren nodded. “Near as we can tell. And we are obliged to defend the town there. We want to do it by slaying the monsters that are attacking it, but if we have to do it by giving them what they want we’ll do that. It’ll send them right here, but the town’ll be safe for it.” He looked down and shook his head. “Be a shame about all the grog though. What doesn’t get spilt going down the throats of the lizards. Pity really.”

Fifteen minutes later the boats were filled with the men from the tonk and headed back to the town. Once they docked, the drunks were handed over to one of the young fighters that had been manning the barricade yesterday. The Maisseners went to check the progress on the gate, and found it impressive.

Jon’s team had the doors hammered shut and braced. These would slow down an assault considerably. He proudly showed off the rope and plank method he’d overseen that would let the Heroes ride out over the wall and past the defensive ditch. In a day, he had gone from over his head overwhelmed to an able and clever commander.

“And there’s some more good news,” Jon said after the tour. “While you were asleep we saw a flare from the fishing ship. They should be back in town within a day or so.”

“Wonderful,” Aneirin said, mentally checking off that last item from the Heroes’ agenda. “With that set, it’s time to get ready for a second assault on the lizard-men’s lair.” Within an hour all their last minute preparations were made and the Heroes were making their way over the town’s wall.

“One last thing,” Jon said. He handed two arrows to Aneirin. “These are flares. We’ll be keeping a watch on the wall. Send up one and we’ll take it to mean to expect you coming hard and fast with monsters right behind you. Send up both and we’ll take it to mean things are even worse – we won’t be looking for you.”

Aneirin nodded and handed the arrows to Ren. “Hopefully we won’t need to use either.”

The ride up the trail into the wooded mountains went quietly. Soon the briarwood barricade was in sight, but before the Heroes could draw close there was a WHOOSH! and the thing went up in flames.

”They’re using our own tricks against us,” Ren said.

“Ready for attack,” Aneirin said.

No attack came. The flames died out leaving a pile of burnt brambles on the path. Ren scouted ahead, but came back reporting nothing. “Looks like they scrambled inside during the fire. This one’ll be tougher I bet.”

Carefully, the Heroes rode up to the temple entrance. No ambush came. They lit their lantern and slowly stepped inside. That huge first room was the same as before, still filthy and empty of life. Ren and Aneirin chose to ride their mounts on into the place, just so one wouldn’t have to run back to get them.

At the far end of the great entry was the first sign the lizard-men had worked at bolstering their defenses. The door that had been spiked open was shut. It opened with the same ease as before, but this time the Heroes left it free. Off to the right, Bessie pointed out where the rope Ren had tied around the double doors to the west lay in pieces on the floor.

Those doors were closed, so Ren dismounted and carefully pushed them open. Aneirin dismounted, but let Dumb Bear took the first step into the room, using his elf sight to peer further than the humans were able.

An arrow nearly struck his pointed ears. “There!” Dumb Bear shouted. “Bad!” He pointed to a barricade at the far corner of the room, and Aneirin charged. Dumb Bear roared something else and followed on his heels. Ren stepped close enough to fire a few arrows but it was the two warriors, standing on a hastily made barricade of bones and rubbish, that slaughtered most of the kobolds. Two escaped down the tunnel, which the Heroes packed tight with the garbage to hamper any future efforts by the kobolds to occupy the place.

The entire scene replayed itself when the Maisseners investigated the opposite door. It wasn’t until they entered the big pillared hall that they found where something significant had been changed.

“There’s light,” Bessie said. Indeed the room was quite well lit. As Aneirin and Dumb Bear carefully stepped in, they could see the entire room perfectly well. Four torches had been attached to each of the four pillars.

“Too strange,” Ren said. “They don’t need this kind of light, do they?”

“See better,” Dumb Bear said, pointing to his own eyes.

“This means they can see us as well,” Aneirin said. “Be ready.”

Weapons drawn, the four entered. Sandy’s claws and Avashan’s hooves echoed as they stepped on the smooth floor, but there was no other sound. No ambush came as the Heroes crossed the room.

“They’ve closed the door at the back,” Bessie said. “They might be waiting just on the other side.”

Aneirin and Ren dismounted and the party assembled in a now-standard formation to open the door. As Ren crouched down at the door handle he noticed something odd. “There’s a wire,” he said as he stood. “They’ve rigged this door.”

“Can you dismantle it?” Aneirin asked.

Ren looked back at the door, then to the others. “Well, no. I know what I’m doing with some simple hunting traps, but this is more than I’ve ever dealt with.”*

The Maisseners discussed a variety of ideas for several minutes, but it was clear that they simply had no delicate way to get around the trap. Finally the decided on a brash method.

As the other three took cover with the mounts on the far side of the room, Dumb Bear hoisted the large cauldron from its position between the pillars. He carried it toward the rigged door, judging the distance carefully, then threw it. The cauldron, still mostly full with cold, town-person soup, hit the door handle almost dead on.

It was close enough to trigger the trap.

The party had expected some sort of fireball blast. What they got was much subtler. From the ceiling an odd power fell. When the powder made contact with the torch flames it hissed and became a gas. The gas billowed throughout the room, catching all the Heroes in its midst. It wasn’t a deadly poison, none of the Maisseners died, but they all coughed and wheezed and hacked for several long minutes.

“Trap works pretty good,” Ren said through a cough.

Bessie nodded. “We’ll have to give our compliments to the designers. Then kill them.”

The party stayed in the room recovering their breath for a few minutes longer, then carried on to the throne room and then deeper into the caves. Their initial impression that the man-made section of the dungeon had ended were quickly proven false. The wide tunnel going into the dark narrowed and its walls became as smooth as those in the first rooms. They heard the sound of flowing water again, and it grew louder as they progressed down the hall.

Then they began to hear the sound of heavy breathing.

At last they found the source of the water sound, in another smooth walled room the size of a tavern room. Cutting the room in half was a twenty foot wide river, flowing through a squared off ditch that disappeared into the left and right walls. Beyond were a pair of pillars, and then blackness. Their lantern’s light only cast so far. The heavy breathing continued, but from where, and how far away, was still impossible to determine.

“Well this is some puzzle,” Ren said. He’d dismounted from Sandy and was standing at the edge of the ditch.

“Too much to jump, and the mounts probably couldn’t make it either,” Bessie said.

Aneirin stood from where he’d been checking the water’s depth with a spear. “About fifteen feet,” he said. “And flowing too fast for a safe swim.”

Ren shook his head. “All this power we got. Strength, stealth, weapons that have been the death of more foes then we can remember, all kinds of supplies for dungeoneering, and here we are stumped by a stretch of water.” He was thinking that just getting across wasn’t the problem. Getting across with everyone and all the gear they’d need – that was the challenge.

“Pitons and ropes are going to be our best option,” Aneirin said.

“Have we got enough?” Ren asked.

Bessie nodded. “Probably, I still have the dwarf spelunking kit, and there should be more on Avarshan.”

As the three of them discussed how to go about it, Dumb Bear, bored by the conversation in a language he could barely understand, decided to test the water for himself. He stuck one foot in and there was a sudden screech from upstream.

* As a wilderness rogue (from Unearth Arcana), Ren put no points in Disable Device (or Tumble, but that’s another story).

Next: Deeper in the Depths - Two Grand Discoveries POST 157
Soon: “Oh and by the way - - -“

 

[Greylock]

Man, in retrospect it is really amazing how many sessions it took to play out that part of this adventure. It was epic in every sense, in game and in real life.

Good work, Wes.

 

[Beale Knight]

Deep in the depths - two grand discoveries!

From up-river three lizard-men rode small logs into the room, spears ready to throw. From behind the pillars came two drakes, the smaller type that walked upright. The battle was on!

Bessie immediately took a step back and began a long chant as Ren pulled his bow and shot at the approaching lizard-men. Aneirin joined Dumb Bear at the channel’s edge and waited for the drakes.

They soon had their targets. The drakes ran and jumped over the water, but neither quite made it all the way across. As they scrambled to climb out of the water the warriors attacked. Aneirin’s sword cut through one drake with ease, and Dumb Bear’s flail smashed the other one. The drakes made feeble swipes with their too-short arms, but the warriors barely felt the claws. They pressed the attack and soon the two drakes were so much pulp, sliding back into the flowing water.

Meanwhile, Bessie had called forth a water elemental and set it after the log riding lizard-men. It rose into a great waterspout and slammed first one, then another lizard-man. Both of their chests were crushed from the force of the water, and Ren’s arrows sent the last to his watery grave.

“Easy Meat,” Dumb Bear said with a grin.

“Not so much,” Bessie said. She leaned down to look into the up-stream tunnel. “There’s many, many more eyes looking this way. They’re just waiting for us to get vulnerable again.”

They’ve got the numbers too,” Aneirin grumbled. “And probably the patience to wait us out.”

“Dumb Bear rope,” the elf said, holding his hand out. He glanced at the twenty foot expanse of water. “Jump.”

The other three looked at each other. “If any one of could make it, it’s him,” Ren said. “We could secure the other end on Avarshan. She’s about the only one that could hold it firm when we went across.”

They talked about the specifics for another few minutes. No one was especially happy with the plan, they were certain to be attacked as they crossed, and the mounts would have to be left, but finally no one could come up with a better plan.

So one end of the rope was secured to Avarshan, and held more secure by Aneirin. Dumb Bear took the other end of the rope, ran to the ditch, pushed off the edge, and jumped.

He very nearly made it. But not quite. Dumb Bear splashed in right at the far edge of the waterway. Though he climbed up quickly and easily, his splash was the catalyst for more attacks.

There was another great screech from up-stream and another set of three log-riding lizard-men swam down to attack. They threw their spears, missing the Heroes wildly. One was killed from Ren’s arrows and Bessie’s bolts, and the other two escaped down-stream and out of reach.

With Dumb Bear safe on the far side and holding his end of the rope tightly, Ren jumped into the water and grabbed hold of the rope. He quickly swam across, but unsurprisingly his splash brought another set of log-riding lizard-men. Bessie killed one of them as they floated by, making spear attacks that nicked and bloodied Dumb Bear and Ren. The druid was next. Once Ren readied his bow, she jumped in the stream and used the rope to speed her way across. She lost her grip at one point, throwing a scare into everyone, but she quickly caught herself. Ren managed to kill two of the three lizard-men that floated by that time, but not before they drew some blood from Aneirin and Bessie both.

Finally it was Aneirin’s turn. He made it into the water safely enough, but his armor proved a little too much. Avarshan gave a step and Aneirin’s grip slipped. Ren dove in after him as another set of lizard-men came to attack. Bessie shot one dead as it hit her hard with a spear. Meanwhile Ren, one hand on the rope, reached out and grabbed Aneirin’s hand. Avarshan gave another step, but with Ren’s aid, Aneirin was soon safely on the far side with the others.

Soaking wet and bloodied from the relentless attacks, the Heroes of Maissen were finally on the other side of the underground stream. After half an hour of work, they had progressed twenty feet. It took that long again to dry themselves and their gear. As they did they noticed something unusual. First Bessie and then the others realized just how hot it was. It was far hotter than it had been just down the hall. And that strange, immense breathing sound, continued unabated.


“Look at this,” Ren said. He’d circled around to the back side of the pillars. Very relieved there was no ambush waiting there, he found something quite odd.

“What is it?” Bessie asked as she and the others walked up.

Ren held up the light to focus it on his discovery. “Wheels,” he said. The hunter pointed to a large wheel, like that of a ship, mounted midway up the column. There was an identical one on the other column.

Bessie bent down for a close look. “They’re covered with gunk and grime," she said. "It looks like they haven’t been used in years. Decades even.” She tried to give one a turn, but couldn’t. “They’re stuck fast.”

“Let’s see how fast,” Aneirin said. He stepped up to one but Dumb Bear put a hand on his shoulder. “Me,” the big elf said. Aneirin smiled. Dumb Bear had made the jump that got them here, if he wanted to take the first chance to make these things work, Aneirin wouldn’t stand in his way.

Dumb Bear stood before the wheel and flexed his muscles for a moment. Staring at the wheel he threw both hands on it and turned. The wheel resisted for just a moment, then with a metallic groan it turned. The elf turned it until it stopped, and by then the Heroes could see what it had done.

The water level was going down. With a smile, Dumb Bear bounded over to the other wheel and repeated his impromptu ritual. The second wheel gave under his strength as the first had. This time there was a loud, metallic “THOOOMP!” sound from downstream somewhere.

“Well that’s quite something,” Ren said. He frowned. “Still no way to get the mounts across though, even with the ditch empty.”

Aneirin was frowning too. “We’ll have to leave them there.” He sighed. “They’re both trained for battle though. They ought to be able to take care of themselves.”

Ren nodded. “Yep.”

Bessie thought they both sounded an awfully lot like they were trying to convince themselves of what they were saying.

With that, they turned their attention to the continued exploration of this ancient temple place. The rear of the room squared off and gave them three options. Each back corner opened into a hall, and there was a third hall directly in the middle of the rear wall. With no hints about which way would be best, they went right.


That hall turned and soon opened up into another chamber too huge for their light to take in at once. They could make out massive pillars dotting the front part of the chamber, but no more.

“Plenty big,” Ren said.

“This would be a good place for defenders to make their move,” Aneirin said. “But we need to go on through.”

The warrior’s judgment proved dead on. As soon as the Heroes set the first foot into the room the attack came.

With a loud “screeeech” a hoard of lizard-men ran out from behind various pillars. Some had real swords, some axes, some just their claws, but at least one had a bow. From the darkness to the back of the room a light shown and flew toward the fight. It clattered on the floor, doing no harm, but lighting up a wide area.

“This’ll help,” Ren muttered as he fired an arrow into one of the charging lizard-men.

Aneirin gutted a sword wielding foe. “It’ll help them all find us without trouble!” he shouted. “Dumb Bear! Here!” He pointed with his sword to the floor beside him. The elf understood and the two of them formed a short front line. From behind, still in the hall, Bessie and Ren held back and shot at choice targets.

The lizard-men came on and on and on. There seemed no end to them. They soon flanked Aneirin and Dumb Bear, and others were able to slip passed the warriors to directly engage Bessie and Ren. The hunter did his best to slice open the lizard men with his sickle, but he was getting sliced up himself by two of the lizard-men’s axes. Bessie’s fire magic bought him much needed breathing room, and he was finally able to get one from behind. Up front, Dumb Bear and Aneirin were slaughtering lizard-men in bulk, but the elf was paying the price for it. Barely moving, his feet were soon coated in blood, his own as well as the lizard-men.

Finally there were no more lizard-men attacking. From the sounds at the back of the massive room, many escaped, but the Heroes had higher priorities at the moment. Except for Aneirin, for once, they were each deeply wounded.

“We’ll have to get into the potions and scrolls to heal these wounds,” Bessie said. “Knowing we’d be fighting I prepared battle flavored spells today.”

Watching for a renewed attack, Aneirin asked, “how’s the supply of those?”

Bessie shook her head. “Dwindling, but I see no other choice. We can’t go on so wounded.” Aneirin nodded and Bessie distributed the healing magics as best as she could. With everyone’s wounds magically tended as much as they were going to be, the party readied their gear and pressed on.

The pillared room was huge, larger than the first room of pillars. At the rear was an alcove that opened into a hallway going even deeper. A few steps ahead of the others, Ren heard frightened whimpering as he approached the alcove, and soon saw the source. Gathered in the alcove was the pathetic sight of frightened lizard-women, huddled together and avoiding eye contact with the Heroes as they came up.

“What should we do?” Bessie asked.

Ren shook his head. “There’s all kinds of solid reasons to slaughter them here where they sit, but….”

“But there’s no Good in it,” Aneirin finished for him. “Mercy?”

The other humans nodded. Dumb Bear took an extra moment to process the signs, but then he nodded. “They go.”

It took the Heroes several moments to get the lizard-women’s attention, get them to stand, and direct them to go. They stared at the strange invaders for a long minute before it sank in that they weren’t about to be slaughtered in cold blood. Then they ran full speed away, down the way the invaders had come.

Beyond the pillared room, the hall quickly turned into a mess of twists and turns, as though someone was planning to build a maze but never got very far along with it. From the trash, filth, and junk in these halls, they were clearly the lairs of the hoard of lizard-folk. There was one central hall turning left or right every few steps, and two side halls that did much the same thing. The side halls may have been symmetrical like so much else of this place, but from the crude, “just enough to not get lost” map Bessie sketched it was hard to tell. Both came to sudden dead ends though.

The central hall came to an end by opening into a good sized chamber that the lizard-men had turned into a temple. On a pedestal at the rear of the room was a statue about the size of a large sport ball. It depicted some blobbish lizard-man god and looked to be made of gold!

“I’ll go up for a close look,” Ren said. “Keep me covered.”

Aneirin nodded. “I don’t think there’s anyone left to keep you covered from. We’ve seen no signs of life since the pillar room.”

Ren found the pedestal rigged for a trap. The top of the pedestal looked as it were a solid piece of stone, but a close look discovered it was two, a central circle inside an outer one. “I think it’s a weight based trap,” Ren said. “Get a bag and fill it with pebbles and stuff until it’s about this size.” He demonstrated with his hands a size equal to the statue. He was only guessing that the weight would be right, and that he could switch the bag for the statue fast enough.

When the bag was ready, everyone else backed away. Ren placed one hand on the statue and had the bag ready to take its place as soon as he pulled the statue away. But he wasn’t fast enough. He pulled the statue off, but even as he was dropping the bag into place the pedestal flashed with fire! The fire singed Ren in several places, but he came through it whole and smiling.

“It was worth it,” he said. “It was more than worth it. This thing feels like it must be solid gold. Solid! A few healable burns? A bargain!”

There was nowhere else to go in that direction, so the Maisseners turned and made their way back, debating if they should return to town and come back a third time or press on. They’d had reached the second room of pillars when they heard shrieks of animals in pain. The mounts were under attack!

Racing back to the stream room they found Sandy the war lizard was being attacked by a half dozen of the females the Heroes had just granted mercy! The lizard-women had apparently found and turned the proper wheel, for the water was gone. Aneirin and Dumb Bear jumped most the way across the ditch, Ren shot from the far side, and Bessie took a slower, but more reasonable, way across the ditch. Sandy, bless the elves that trained her, more than held her own. After three of the female lizard-men were killed the rest fled.

That was enough of a sign for the party. They decided to return to town, see about some healing, and come back to the Drake Temple sans mounts.

As they were leaving, Bessie said, “Do you realize it was cooler in the lizard-men’s lair that it was in the stream room?”

“Another mystery for us to solve on our next visit,” Aneirin said.

The town was in wonderful spirits when they returned. As the Heroes made their way over the wall they saw why. A ways out to sea were three single mast ships. The promise of last night’s flare was coming true.

“Looks like your folk will be here soon,” Aneirin said to Jon as they began walking toward their quarters.

“Within the day we think,” the guard answered. “You didn’t use the signal arrows, but I see you’re wounded. You left more of them dead there then?”

Aneirin nodded. “A hoard of the lizard-folk lie dead in one of the chambers of that place.”

“We did get hurt pretty bad,” Ren said. “Is there anyone in town that know some healing tricks?”

Jon nodded. “Poepah,” he said. “You’ve not been introduced to him. He’s a priest of Simus, and so old he rarely gets out of his bedchamber anymore. But I’ll take you to see him.”

The priest was every bit as venerable as Jon indicated. But his eyes were clear. When Jon told him the tale of the Heroic strangers, those eyes lit up and he nodded. With mumbled words the Maisseners couldn’t understand, he healed each of them, and Sandy as well. Then he patted each of them on the head and nodded, smiling.

“This – this puts quite a different spin on the day,” Ren said.

Bessie nodded. “Yes. We’re healed to full strength, and I’ve still plenty of spells uncast. I say we head back now.”

“Indeed,” Aneirin said with a sly smile. “They may know we’ve left, but they certainly won’t expect us to return so soon. We may catch them by surprise.”

Fifteen minutes later they were back on the trail to the temple. Nothing had changed in their brief absence, not until they reached the stream room. The water there was flowing again.

“Clearly we haven't eliminated all the inhabitants,” Bessie said.

“Or some that fled, returned,” Aneirin said.

There were no eyes peering down from up-stream, so once again they gave Dumb Bear the rope and he jumped across the stream. This time he cleared the water with room to spare. Dumb Bear turned off the water flow and the rest of the party crossed over, ready to see where the other two corridors led. They scouted the one going “west” as far as its first intersection. There were no signs of life, but it grew even hotter that way.

After a moment’s discussion they decided to backtrack and take a look down the central hall before going any further. This one didn’t go far. It led right to a wide room that was blisteringly hot. The mysterious breathing sounds were coming from this room – somewhere.

“Are those wells?” Bessie asked. She pointed to three low walls in the floor in the middle of the room.

“They’re the right size,” Ren answered.

Spread out and ready for an ambush, the party made their way to the closest wall. “They’re surrounding holes in the ground,” Ren said – the warriors still had their eyes peeled for an attack. “But I can’t see anything but dark down in them.”

Bessie threw in a pebble, making Ren jump. He hadn’t noticed she was about to do that. The two leaned partway over the pit and waited. Bessie counted to six before they heard the pebble hit something. “So there is a bottom,” she said.

“And it’s not water,” Ren added. “Let’s get one of those torches.” He lit a torch and dropped it. He and Bessie watched as it tumbled down some one hundred feet or so. When it clattered on the bottom it illuminated a frightening sight.

“What do you see?” Aneirin asked.

“Eggs,” Bessie answered.

Ren nodded. “Lots of eggs. They’re lining the floor and go on out of sight. Come on and look.”

Aneirin and Dumb Bear joined Ren and Bessie in staring down into the abyss just in time to see something down there move. And then the breathing sounds stopped.

The scaled head of a drake came into the light. It was much like what they’d seen and killed before, but this head was bigger than Anierin.

And it was purple.

The Heroes had a moment to stare. The purple drake sniffed at the torch and then snorted – blowing it out. Automatically the Heroes all stepped back from the well wall and waited for disaster. None came.

“What if we leave now?” Ren asked.

“A fine strategy,” Aneirin answered.

Once out of the room, their collective heart rates slowed to normal rhythms. “So it looks like we found the purple drake the kobold prisoner spoke about,” Ren said.

“And it looks like there’s ittle doubt about either of his claims,” Bessie said. “That monster’s as big as a house. If it attacked the town there would be no town left.”

Aneirin frowned and nodded. Then they all fell silent. They’d seen the horrible threat of the temple depths, but what they could do about it – they had no idea.

So they went on and explored the last hall. The heat grew as they progressed, finding at least two dead ends before reaching a large, empty room. It was even warmer here, and there was something else. A squeaking sound from down the last hall out of this room.

That last hall turned twice and led to another square room, and there the Heroes came upon a sight unlike anything they’d seen before. Eight long chains, one from each corner of the room, held a human figure over a pit in the floor. A prisoner, but not any man that they’d ever seen.

This figure was made of metal, with metal wings partially ripped apart, legs completely gone, and coated with the dust of decades, perhaps centuries. He was the source of the squeaking; every few moments he would release a silent burst of energy into the pit, rattling the chains and himself.

When the Heroes entered his room the metallic man looked up to them. In a hollow voice that sounded as if it were coming from a metal cave, it said,

“By Simus’ uncaring eye – kill me!”


Next – Radical Actions (I promise this time) and “oh by the way….” POST 159
Soon – Babrack and Moving On

 

[Beale Knight]

The lizard-men came on and on and on. There seemed no end to them. They soon flanked Aneirin and Dumb Bear, and others were able to slip passed the warriors to directly engage Bessie and Ren. The hunter did his best to slice open the lizard men with his sickle, but he was getting sliced up himself by two of the lizard-men’s axes. Bessie’s fire magic bought him much needed breathing room, and he was finally able to get one from behind.

During this fight I was in real fear for the first time that Ren was going to get killed. I built him up around a hunter theme, and so he excelled at spotting and hearing stuff, survival, profession: hunter, knowledge: nature, and so forth, and of course at shooting. But when it came to melee fighting Ren was simply horrible. His AC was moderate, his hit points average, and as you see above, his primary melee weapon was a sickle. A SICKLE! I chose that because it fit the setting and his character (common born folk in Maissen are not known for carrying swords), knowing it would be crappy if I actually had to use it. And I was right!

So I ended up not the least bit afraid of Ren getting killed during the battle against the giant lizards, the elemental in the desert, the lich thrall at the bridge, the ettercaps, or anywhere else. But a bunch of lizard men put the fear of death into me. Just had to share.

 

[Beale Knight]

Radical Actions and “oh by the way….”

The Heroes of Maissen stared gape-mouthed at the impossibility before them. Its chains rattled and another burst of energy silently shot down into the caves below it. “Kill me - - Now!” it repeated.

“What are you?” Bessie asked.

“I am abused, made to nurture what I was created to destroy,” it answered. “End it.”

Dumb Bear began to walk around the pit, ducking under the chains as he studied the metal man.

“That’s not a whole much of an answer,” Ren said. “How about an answer that’s not a riddle?”

“If it will speed your hand to do what I ask, gladly,” the being said. “I am the mechanus.”

“Picture man,” Dumb Bear said. The others turned to stare at him. “Picture man,” the big elf repeated. “Wall pictures. Shiny throne place.”

It took a moment for his roughly translated conclusion to sink in, but it was sudden when it did. “The tapestries!” Aneirin said. “In the throne room. You’re the being fighting the demons.”

“I am the mechanus. I was created to battle the evil that is Idien. Those tapestries show my failure.” He grimaced and the chains rattled again. Another burst of energy shot down through the hole in the floor. “Idien imprisoned me here. Forced it to be that my energies warm the eggs of the great purple drake. She cannot leave this place, but her offspring can. They can because I have nurtured them.”

“How long,” Bessie asked.

“Centuries!” the mechanus answered. “I am eternal. As my energy is drained it is ever renewed.”

Ren was biting at his lip. “But,” he said, “but would it work better for you if we freed you from the chains? You don’t have to die.”

“I DO!” the mechanus bellowed. “I am eternal. My death is not the death you know. I cannot be unmade anymore than a soul. Loose me from these chains and Idiein will find me and defeat me again, I cannot best him weakened as I am. Kill me and I will return from whence I came. There my power will return in full. Only then will I have the might and power to defeat the evil one. You must kill me.”

The Maisseners stared at each other, trying to decide if they believed what they heard.

“We must think this through,” Bessie said.

“What’s to think?” the mechanus shouted. “Every…” he paused. The chains rattled as another bolt of his energy fired down. “Every moment you pause you aid his cause.”

“We have screwed things up before by jumping too fast in the wrong way,” Ren said.

“The only way you can ‘screw this up’”, the mechanus said, “is to NOT kill me.”

Despite his insistence, the Heroes stepped back and gathered together. Their whispered conversation was short; they were each convinced already but wanted the reassurance that the others felt the same way. Finally they nodded and Aneirin stepped forward.

The warrior drew his sword as he walked to the prisoner. In two swift strokes he ended the mechanus’ torture.

The Heroes’ reward was a cold, mechanical smile, and a promise. “He will not care, but I will tell Simus that you are Good.”

With that his form turned to dust. The chains dropped and hung limp from their shackles. There was a heavy moment of silence, broken suddenly by Dumb Bear sneezing. His was followed by Bessie’s, and then Aneirin and Ren sneezed almost as one.

“It’s gotten cold,” Bessie said. In just a few seconds, a strong chill had filled the room. The disappearance of the mechanus and his heat caused a sudden and dramatic change.

“The drake!” Ren said. He turned and headed for the “well room” and, as he had the lantern, the others quickly followed.

In the well room, sounds, scrapes and deep huffs, drifted up from the caverns below. The Maisseners lit and dropped another torch down there. In its light they saw the great purple drake gathering her eggs about her as best as she could. There was panic in her hasty grasps. She knew and feared what the sudden temperature change meant.

“That’s good,” Bessie said. “Even if it’s sad in a way.”

Ren nodded. So did Aneirin, who also said, “We aren’t yet finished here. There are still threats to be answered.”

The Heroes retreated to the neighboring room and discussed how to handle those threats. The lizard folk and kobolds were still living deep in the caves, and those caves led to who knew how many other monsters and threats to the nearby town. There was also the possibility that the purple drake would find a way to save her eggs. If not all of them, then possibly enough to make for another real threat. Collapsing the temple was not an option; it was simply beyond their power.

It was Aneirin that had the final idea. He outlined it to the others and after a few tweaks they decided it could work. They certainly had no better idea.

They returned to the well room and smashed down one of the wells’ side wall. Then they made their way back to the “river room.” There they turned the handle that lowered the block “down-stream.” With Aneirin and Bessie guarding up top, Ren and Dumb Bear ventured into the dry ditch and then into the rough natural tunnel. The two followed that for almost a half mile before coming to a steel plate that blocked the tunnel entirely. Smiling, they returned to report that their conclusion was right.

That left the final step. Aneirin, Bessie, and Ren crossed the dry ditch as Dumb Bear stayed behind to turn the first wheel. The big elf had just given the wheel a single good turn when a monstrous growl came from the back of the room.

Dumb Bear shouted in surprise and turned to face his new foe. A monster of a lizard-man roared with rage and charged the elf. Dumb Bear dodged the lizard-man’s club and pulled his flail free.

Water began to flow into the ditch. Across it, the other three Heroes heard the fight start, but could see nothing. Dumb Bear and his foe were lost is the shadows. Ren pulled the flare arrow he’d recovered from the fight in the many-pillared room and shot that toward the sounds. The arrow sparked and landed to illuminate the scene: Dumb Bear in battle against a lizard-man almost twice his height.

As the water level rose, the battle raged like a shooting star. The three across the water shot arrows and bolts to help Dumb Bear, who honestly needed little help. The lizard-man landed one good, solid blow with his club and ducked one of the elf’s attacks. But in moments Dumb Bear’s flail had turned the lizard-man’s head to so much pulp.

When his foe fell, Dumb Bear turned and ran full speed for the ditch. The water was just beginning to lap over the sides as he jumped, clearing the ditch by several inches. The Heroes spared only a moment for congratulations before running on. They were up into the throne room just moments later, separating to pry as much loot as they could in a show of naked greed.

As Aneirin kept watch behind them, the others gathered what they could. Gems were plucked from the thrones, the four tapestries were brought down and rolled up, as the carpet already had been. The red velvet was already down, and was hastily folded and used to gather everything together, making a great bundle atop a few sacks ready to be carried outside.

“How’s the water level?” Bessie asked over her shoulder to Aneirin.

“There isn’t any sign of it yet,” he answered.

Ren went to stand by Aneirin. “That must mean it’s working,” he said. “With all of it flooding down into the egg cave, it shouldn’t make it up here.”

Bessie joined them. “Well there’s no way to check, but that’s logical. And who knows how deep those caves go? At least we’ve cut this place off from access by underground.”

Ren smiled. “And got some good things for our treasure presentation.”

Elated and awed at all they’d seen and done in the past two days, the Heroes made their way back to the town. The atmosphere that greeted them was celebration. The ships they’d seen earlier had docked! The men were back with a huge haul of fish. Adding that to the fact the Heroes the elders had prayed for were back and victorious, the town decided it was time to throw a grand party.

But first there was fish to unload and prepare, and much information to get. The returning Heroes found a secure place to store the bundle and went in various directions on various errands. Aneirin and Dumb Bear helped unload fish. Ren went to the Sons of Lastell to finally spend some time learning what they knew of this area, Maissen, and the city to the west. Bessie went to the venerable priest of Simus to tell him of the Mechanus, and to see about healing potions and scrolls.

The Heroes' twenty-sixth day outside Maissen ended with a huge banquet. There the four regrouped and finalized their plans. They still had much traveling to do, sights to see, heroic acts to perform, and treasures to claim for Maissen.

Bessie had the most important task. She would be working with Poepah, scribing scrolls of Healing. The party knew they were certain to need them. Poepah also agreed to create a special substance for Aneirin and Dumb Bears’ armor. This unnamed substance would magically liquefy their armor and store it in a durable bottle. When needed, all the fighters must do is pour the liquid over them and in a heartbeat they would be wearing their armor – much faster than the conventional way of getting into armor. Ren would work in Taken’s bowyer shop, crafting arrows. Aneirin and Dumb Bear planned to work with Jon, helping him put together and train a new guard unit for the town.

All told they’d had taken on three full days of work, but the town folk happily put their heroes up and saw to their mundane needs. They regarded it as a small price to pay for their saving Town. Little did anybody know there was to be a slightly higher price coming down the mountain.

As they went about their tasks, the underground river the Heroes blocked continued to flood. Though they’d expected the underground would accommodate the water, they were wrong. They’d sealed the only way for water to leave that entire area. After two days the water had filled the entire complex. The only place left for it to go was out, and then down the mountain.

Straight for the Town.

Next: Babrack and Moving On POST 162
Soon: A keep in the middle of nowhere

 

[Beale Knight]

Title of the previous post

The above installment's secondary title doesn't come through well in the write-up, and it deserves a moment in the sun (the two radical actions are, I hope, clear enough).

Our ninth session had started just after that battle with the drake riding lizard man and carried through to the party after we mercy-killed the mechanus and flooded the temple. The beginning of session ten covered all the various errands and tasks that I mention, and then went into what's going to be part of the next installment, "Babrack and Moving On."

We were almost two hours into session ten when Alish2o virtually slapped his forehead. He'd forgotten something. We were loaded up and about to leave the town, and there was something he'd intended to tell us right at the very beginning of the night.

"The town's flooding. I meant to bring this up earlier, so there you are. You're doing the this and the that, and OH BY THE WAY - The Town's Flooding!"

We backtracked and handled it without much disruption to what we'd already established, but it was a funny moment. For months afterward any slight brain fart moment would be cause for someone to shout that out.

"I meant to tell you that I did cast the heal, and Oh By The Way, the Town's flooding."

"I did go and retrieve the arrow - and Oh By The Way...."

etc.