el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Session #27
“You know,” the illusory Richard the Red called, now floating about twenty feet in the air. “It’s not too late for you to switch sides. I’ve always got a use for a creature like you in my organization. All the human flesh you can eat! Think about it!”
Ratchis loaded his crossbow once again, as he kept the handle tied to a leather thong so when he dropped it would remain at his side. Jana stepped back to the open doorway, while Kazrack picked up the front door by the doorknob, which lay flat in the snow, and hefted it on to his back.
“Use me for cover!” he cried.
“Somebody bring that thing down so I can finish it off,” Jeremy cried, reloading his own crossbow, but taking a moment to shake his fist at it. “Come back here!”
The manticore made its wide turn going far out past the other side of the ruin and back along the front again, to make another pass.
“What do you plan to do with door?” Beorth asked the dwarf, with a hint of a mocking sneer.
“I can’t fire my crossbow so I’m going to try and provide cover,” Kazrack looked up at the pale paladin from squatting under the door. “We could tie it to me and two people could walk on either side with cover.”
Beorth raised an eyebrow. Ratchis turned and fired at the approaching manticore.
“I wanted to stay behind it since it banks so severely, but it moves too fast,” said Ratchis, hustling between them and to the doorway.
Martin saw the manticore coming in their direction once again and ducked for cover in the entry hall, but not before having the illusory Richard the Red say, “Come now, surely we can come to some form of agreement. Just tell me what you want. I’m sure I can supply it.”
The manticore said nothing.
Beorth stepped into the thing’s path and fired Jana’s crossbow once again. He saw the bolt bury itself deep in the creature’s shoulder before hissing away into nothingness. The manticore grunted.
Ratchis began to load his heavy crossbow once again, as Jeremy stepped out on to the roof of the entry hall.
“Whoa!” he cried as his foot followed by his leg came crushing through the roof. Martin and Jana leaped back startled.
“They sure don’t make roofs like they used to,” quipped the confident Jeremy, a smile on his face, so certain of his victory.
Beorth loaded the light crossbow again and fired, but the manticore changed its course and gained a bit of altitude.
Ratchis fired not a moment after, but he too missed, and he ducked under the doorway. Jeremy pulled his leg out and fell to one knee firing. The bolt went high as the thing lowered itself again. Now it was only ten feet off the ground, barreling right towards Beorth. Kazrack stepped in front Beorth, pulling the door back in front of himself.
The manticore continued to race towards them. Beorth reloaded and fired again, but again he missed. The smell of the approaching creature came over them in waves, like copper and sulfur mixed together.
Ratchis frantically reached for another bolt, and realized it was his last.
“Jana, give me your crossbow and your quarrels,” he cried, as he loaded.
“I don’t have them. Beorth has them,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
Martin hovered behind him offering his own crossbow. But Ratchis did not see this, and the bow fell on the floor.
Kazrack looked up at the manticore as it bore down on them and suddenly the thing’s eyes shone, and Kazrack blinked. The dwarf was suddenly aware of his own imperfections, short-comings and likely failures. He knew that he would disappoint his father with his choices, and likely let down the dwarven people as had so many young dwarven warriors who were so arrogant to think that they would be the one to re-unite the dwarven people. He felt useless. (110)
“I’ve got you now you ugly son of b*tch!” Jeremy cried, firing his crossbow once again, and laughing as the bolt drew a splurt of ichor as it struck in the same place Beorth’s had.
Beorth dropped the crossbow with a curse, and drawing his sword charged at the manticore even as it continued to approach, now only a few feet off the ground.
“Anubis! Give me strength and power to smite this evil!” the paladin roared as he channeled the power of his god into the blow.
The manticore slapped its wing down and sent the blow bouncing away and ineffective.
“Beorth! Fall back so we can all get this thing together!” Kazrack called, dropping the door.
Ratchis, seeing the thing was close to landing, dropped his crossbow even as it was nearly cranked all the way back and drawing his war hammer charged the thing. “Nephthys!” he roared.
The blow bounced off the thing as if it were made metal.
Jana stepped through the doorway and fired another green ray from his finger that struck the manticore squarely. Again, the spell could not get through.
The manticore flew past the two attackers, and even with the roof to the entry hall as it turned to make it s wide bank once more.
“Come now! I’ll give you one more chance,:” Martin had the false Richard call.
“That’s it! You shouldn’t have come that close!” Jeremy said, and in fit of heroic genius he dropped his crossbow and running across the entry hall roof leapt onto the back of the passing manticore.
“What are you doing?” Ratchis cried in horror.
“This thing is mine!” Jeremy cried out in glee. He sat perched between its wings, his fingers rubbed raw against the hide like copper wire that seemed to sizzle softly. The skin on his face and hands stung.
“Jeremy! You’re crazy! Grab its legs!” Kazrack cried, running and leaping to grab manticore, but it was already gaining altitude.
The manticore flew up another thirty feet and then rolled to left, trying to shake off the Neergaardian, but Jeremy held on, his fingers cramping and burning. He risked drawing his short sword, holding on with one hand.
“This one’s from Arafel!” he cried, bringing the blade down onto the thing’s back, but it lurched and Jeremy was jerked forward, losing the momentum of his swing. The blade struck the thick hide with no effect.
Martin picked up his crossbow with a sigh, while Kazrack walked over to the doorway.
The manticore turned and jerked its body back and forth, while slowing down. J
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Jeremy mused aloud, his elation suddenly slipping away as quickly as his grip did, as he was only holding on with one hand now. He tumbled off the manticore’s back from forty feet up.
Jana raised her hands over her head, but Jeremy landed heavily upon her, driving her to the ground, and getting a dark bruise on the side of her face. Jeremy lay atop of her unconscious and bleeding profusely from his nose and head.
“Oh, I guess Jeremy is dead again,” Kazrack mumbled to himself. “The gods are never going to take me, I keep failing my companions.”
Ratchis ran over to the unconscious companion, while Jana began bandaging his head. Beorth positioned himself for another shot with the crossbow he had retrieved while Jeremy was riding the manticore, but as usual, he missed.
“Well, if neither you nor your master will parley I suppose there’s nothing more to say,” Richard the Red said. “Go back and tell your diseased lord that I’ll never work with him and I’ll kill him if I see him!” The false watch-mage disappeared with a flick of his cloak.
Kazrack sat in the snow and held his crossbow with his foot while he reloaded with his good arm.
“You know, we’re not working together very well,” the dwarf continued to complain dejectedly, knowing his actions were futile. “I wonder what I’ll look like as a pin cushion.”
“Nephthys, give me the strength to prevent Jeremy’s death,” Ratchis called to his goddess while laying a hand on Jeremy. The Neergaardian was now stabilized.
No longer concentrating on the illusion, Martin stepped out of the doorway and fired his crossbow at the manticore, missing.
“Martin, give me some of your bolts!” Beorth said, jogging over. Kazrack put his loaded crossbow on his back and picked up his flail.
“Nephthys, I beseech you, heal Jeremy again so that he can join us in defeating this foul beast,” Ratchis called to his goddess again, casting his cure moderate wounds spell.
Jeremy coughed and sat up, “Wha- what happened?”
“This isn’t over yet,” Ratchis said.
Martin handed over two of his crossbow bolts to Beorth, while Jana moved back under cover, followed by Kazrack who came hustling over once again. Jeremy stood and picked his crossbow up off the ground. Beorth passed through the entry hall and peeked out the other door hat once opening into the main hall of the house, looking for the manticore, which was once again on the far end of its loop.
“Is it fleeing?” Kazrack asked, shaking his head and regaining his confidence. “That thing ensorcelled me.”
“I think it may come back for another pass,” said Beorth, breathing heavily.
Ratchis stepped under cover as well and took up his heavy crossbow once again. Jeremy stepped back against the wall and re-loaded his own. Beorth picked up the door that Kazrack had dropped and propped it sideways across the doorway, creating a three foot high barrier to act as cover.
Ratchis dropped the crossbow again and grabbed on the to the door, which still hung up by one rusty hinge, and considered ripping it down for more cover.
Martin fumbled through his pack for more crossbow bolts. Beorth kneeled behind the door-barrier and fired his crossbow once again as the manticore came racing towards them once again. He missed.
Ratchis let go of the door and leapt over the door pulling his war hammer. He charged the thing once again, hearing the crunch of bone as the blow struck its back.
Martin reloaded his own crossbow and fired, but being worried he might hit Ratchis, missed completely. Jana risked another ray of enfeeblement, but this time it missed completely.
Ratchis grunted as he felt the rake of the manticore’s clawed paw across his chest. The half-orc’s armor was hanging on by just a few links, barely absorbing any damage any more.
Kazrack barreled right through the door barricade and swung his flail with all the might in his off-hand. He missed.
Martin dropped his crossbow and stepped through the doorway, and reached into his red magic bag of animals with a whispered prayer to Isis. He pulled out a ball of fur that he tossed at the manticore. It expanded into a badger that landed atop the monster, and clawed wildly. Unfortunately, its tiny claws did not seem to be enough to get through its hide.
Jana tried a daze spell, and again she found her spell would not get through.
“I hate that thing!” she cursed.
The manticore let out a low rolling growl as it turned to face Ratchis with hatred in its glowing red eyes. Ratchis let out a cry of pain as he felt the sharp cuts of the things claws on his shoulders. Blood burst from the half-orc, and splattered on the monster’s face and on Kazrack’s arm. The hulking ranger fell from the weight of the blow.
Jeremy stepped to the left a bit and took a shot with his crossbow. Remembering the battle with Richard the Red in the Chamber of the Three, he cursed, as he was robbed of the results of his excellent shot once again. The bolt burst into smoke even as it would have buried itself into the manticore’s neck. It had no effect. (*)
Beorth ran over and joined the melee, his sword cutting into the manticore’s side. The paladin wiped his eyes clear of the monster’s spurting black ichor.
Now they had the thing flanked and partially surrounded. Kazrack struck a very hard blow with his flail, and the manticore roared in pain and anger.
Ratchis struggled to his feet, and swung his hammer, but he did not wait to have good footing and his blow was short of the rearing creature. Both Martin and Jana spoke arcane words and flicked their wrists in arcane gestures, but their daze spells failed.
The manticore snapped its wings and took to the air. Beorth and Ratchis were able get in last blows before it was out of range, but only Beorth’s found purchase. The badger tumbled off the thing and waited for a command from Martin.
“Let’s regroup and make a plan!” Kazrack called He fell on his back and pulled his crossbow out and braced it on his foot. The bolt hit the manticore in its hind quarters, but burst into smoke ineffectively.
Ratchis dropped his hammer and took up his still loaded crossbow and fired. The half-orc’s bolt while hitting, was as ineffective as the dwarf’s.
Martin hustled back under cover.
Jana grunted in frustration and fired another ray of enffeblement. It struck and she felt her magic finally get through the monsters spell resistance. Unfortunately, it was still able to shrug off the effect of the spell.
Beorth also ran for the cover of the doorway.
“I think it is really running away this time,” Jeremy said, turning to watch it fly off in a straight line. “I mean, fly away.”
“Damn it!” Ratchis cursed, but then held on to his belt of scored and broken chain links and called to Nephthys to heal his wounds.
Kazrack awkwardly reloaded his crossbow, just in case.
“Maybe that thing is Mozek shape-shifted,” Martin mused aloud. “Okay, badger back in the bag.”
The badger leapt into the air and tumbled back into a ball of fur, plopping into the bag.
“I don’t like that thing,” Thomas chittered in Martin’s mind, referring to the bag. “I don’t like any of those animals.”
“Why not?” Martin asked.
“Because…” was the squirrel familiar’s only reply.
The manticore disappeared from view.
The party let out a collective sigh.
“We need to keep moving,” Ratchis said. “This may be a ruse and it will be back.”
“We should at least wait for Jeremy to recover some from being so close to death,” Jana said.
“No, we should go,” Ratchis insisted. “Kazrack walks slowly anyway, so Jeremy will not be slowing us down.”
“Yes, we may be lucky enough to reach Summit before nightfall, and before that thing comes back to finish us, unless we wounded it too much for it to risk it,” Kazrack said.
“What was that you said about the manticore before, Martin?” Jeremy asked.
“I think that the manticore may have been sent by Mozek. Presumably it was looking for me, and not for Richard,” Martin explained his theory. He looked at Ratchis. “You know, I may be able to do some minor repair on your armor with a spell I have, but it will take a while.” (111)
“I was going to buy something in Summit. Perhaps I will wear that until you are done working on my chain shirt,” Ratchis replied.
------------
The party marched on northward, coming to the ridge that surrounded Greenreed Valley and following it until they saw sign of Summit above. They made the arduous climb as Ra’s Glory made its descent into the underworld.
They made their way through the gathering gloom of Summit’s one wide street and to the Sun’s Summit Inn. The place had a few shepherds wrapped in fur cloaks and sipping mulled wine. The balding inn-keeper, Gibb, came around the bar, brushing a lick of hair over his bald spot.
“By the gods!” he exclaimed. “I can’t believe you’re still alive! Finn said you were, but I didn’t believe it! Come have a seat, get a load off, you must be cold. I’ll fetch you something to drink.”
The party took seats around a table, while one of the barmaids brought them a pitcher of mead. Jana asked if there has been any more trouble with ‘haunting’.
“Nothing like that night,” she said. “Plus that hole in the basement was bricked over.”
“Good,” said Martin the Green.
A moment later, Stump the Cook, came out of the kitchen with a tray full of bowls.
“This is something special for you,” he said, passing out a spicy venison stew.
The door to the inn opened with a howl of wind and in walked four figures. It was Finn Fisher, Carlos, Frank and Gwar.
“Hey look who it is!” cried Frank with a big smile.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes
(110) Kazrack’s “discouragement” (along with Jeremy’s “over-confidence”) led to his having a –1 on all attack and damage rolls, checks and saves.
(111) The mending spell will repair one damage point per casting when used on armor.
(112) See Session #21
“You know,” the illusory Richard the Red called, now floating about twenty feet in the air. “It’s not too late for you to switch sides. I’ve always got a use for a creature like you in my organization. All the human flesh you can eat! Think about it!”
Ratchis loaded his crossbow once again, as he kept the handle tied to a leather thong so when he dropped it would remain at his side. Jana stepped back to the open doorway, while Kazrack picked up the front door by the doorknob, which lay flat in the snow, and hefted it on to his back.
“Use me for cover!” he cried.
“Somebody bring that thing down so I can finish it off,” Jeremy cried, reloading his own crossbow, but taking a moment to shake his fist at it. “Come back here!”
The manticore made its wide turn going far out past the other side of the ruin and back along the front again, to make another pass.
“What do you plan to do with door?” Beorth asked the dwarf, with a hint of a mocking sneer.
“I can’t fire my crossbow so I’m going to try and provide cover,” Kazrack looked up at the pale paladin from squatting under the door. “We could tie it to me and two people could walk on either side with cover.”
Beorth raised an eyebrow. Ratchis turned and fired at the approaching manticore.
“I wanted to stay behind it since it banks so severely, but it moves too fast,” said Ratchis, hustling between them and to the doorway.
Martin saw the manticore coming in their direction once again and ducked for cover in the entry hall, but not before having the illusory Richard the Red say, “Come now, surely we can come to some form of agreement. Just tell me what you want. I’m sure I can supply it.”
The manticore said nothing.
Beorth stepped into the thing’s path and fired Jana’s crossbow once again. He saw the bolt bury itself deep in the creature’s shoulder before hissing away into nothingness. The manticore grunted.
Ratchis began to load his heavy crossbow once again, as Jeremy stepped out on to the roof of the entry hall.
“Whoa!” he cried as his foot followed by his leg came crushing through the roof. Martin and Jana leaped back startled.
“They sure don’t make roofs like they used to,” quipped the confident Jeremy, a smile on his face, so certain of his victory.
Beorth loaded the light crossbow again and fired, but the manticore changed its course and gained a bit of altitude.
Ratchis fired not a moment after, but he too missed, and he ducked under the doorway. Jeremy pulled his leg out and fell to one knee firing. The bolt went high as the thing lowered itself again. Now it was only ten feet off the ground, barreling right towards Beorth. Kazrack stepped in front Beorth, pulling the door back in front of himself.
The manticore continued to race towards them. Beorth reloaded and fired again, but again he missed. The smell of the approaching creature came over them in waves, like copper and sulfur mixed together.
Ratchis frantically reached for another bolt, and realized it was his last.
“Jana, give me your crossbow and your quarrels,” he cried, as he loaded.
“I don’t have them. Beorth has them,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
Martin hovered behind him offering his own crossbow. But Ratchis did not see this, and the bow fell on the floor.
Kazrack looked up at the manticore as it bore down on them and suddenly the thing’s eyes shone, and Kazrack blinked. The dwarf was suddenly aware of his own imperfections, short-comings and likely failures. He knew that he would disappoint his father with his choices, and likely let down the dwarven people as had so many young dwarven warriors who were so arrogant to think that they would be the one to re-unite the dwarven people. He felt useless. (110)
“I’ve got you now you ugly son of b*tch!” Jeremy cried, firing his crossbow once again, and laughing as the bolt drew a splurt of ichor as it struck in the same place Beorth’s had.
Beorth dropped the crossbow with a curse, and drawing his sword charged at the manticore even as it continued to approach, now only a few feet off the ground.
“Anubis! Give me strength and power to smite this evil!” the paladin roared as he channeled the power of his god into the blow.
The manticore slapped its wing down and sent the blow bouncing away and ineffective.
“Beorth! Fall back so we can all get this thing together!” Kazrack called, dropping the door.
Ratchis, seeing the thing was close to landing, dropped his crossbow even as it was nearly cranked all the way back and drawing his war hammer charged the thing. “Nephthys!” he roared.
The blow bounced off the thing as if it were made metal.
Jana stepped through the doorway and fired another green ray from his finger that struck the manticore squarely. Again, the spell could not get through.
The manticore flew past the two attackers, and even with the roof to the entry hall as it turned to make it s wide bank once more.
“Come now! I’ll give you one more chance,:” Martin had the false Richard call.
“That’s it! You shouldn’t have come that close!” Jeremy said, and in fit of heroic genius he dropped his crossbow and running across the entry hall roof leapt onto the back of the passing manticore.
“What are you doing?” Ratchis cried in horror.
“This thing is mine!” Jeremy cried out in glee. He sat perched between its wings, his fingers rubbed raw against the hide like copper wire that seemed to sizzle softly. The skin on his face and hands stung.
“Jeremy! You’re crazy! Grab its legs!” Kazrack cried, running and leaping to grab manticore, but it was already gaining altitude.
The manticore flew up another thirty feet and then rolled to left, trying to shake off the Neergaardian, but Jeremy held on, his fingers cramping and burning. He risked drawing his short sword, holding on with one hand.
“This one’s from Arafel!” he cried, bringing the blade down onto the thing’s back, but it lurched and Jeremy was jerked forward, losing the momentum of his swing. The blade struck the thick hide with no effect.
Martin picked up his crossbow with a sigh, while Kazrack walked over to the doorway.
The manticore turned and jerked its body back and forth, while slowing down. J
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Jeremy mused aloud, his elation suddenly slipping away as quickly as his grip did, as he was only holding on with one hand now. He tumbled off the manticore’s back from forty feet up.
Jana raised her hands over her head, but Jeremy landed heavily upon her, driving her to the ground, and getting a dark bruise on the side of her face. Jeremy lay atop of her unconscious and bleeding profusely from his nose and head.
“Oh, I guess Jeremy is dead again,” Kazrack mumbled to himself. “The gods are never going to take me, I keep failing my companions.”
Ratchis ran over to the unconscious companion, while Jana began bandaging his head. Beorth positioned himself for another shot with the crossbow he had retrieved while Jeremy was riding the manticore, but as usual, he missed.
“Well, if neither you nor your master will parley I suppose there’s nothing more to say,” Richard the Red said. “Go back and tell your diseased lord that I’ll never work with him and I’ll kill him if I see him!” The false watch-mage disappeared with a flick of his cloak.
Kazrack sat in the snow and held his crossbow with his foot while he reloaded with his good arm.
“You know, we’re not working together very well,” the dwarf continued to complain dejectedly, knowing his actions were futile. “I wonder what I’ll look like as a pin cushion.”
“Nephthys, give me the strength to prevent Jeremy’s death,” Ratchis called to his goddess while laying a hand on Jeremy. The Neergaardian was now stabilized.
No longer concentrating on the illusion, Martin stepped out of the doorway and fired his crossbow at the manticore, missing.
“Martin, give me some of your bolts!” Beorth said, jogging over. Kazrack put his loaded crossbow on his back and picked up his flail.
“Nephthys, I beseech you, heal Jeremy again so that he can join us in defeating this foul beast,” Ratchis called to his goddess again, casting his cure moderate wounds spell.
Jeremy coughed and sat up, “Wha- what happened?”
“This isn’t over yet,” Ratchis said.
Martin handed over two of his crossbow bolts to Beorth, while Jana moved back under cover, followed by Kazrack who came hustling over once again. Jeremy stood and picked his crossbow up off the ground. Beorth passed through the entry hall and peeked out the other door hat once opening into the main hall of the house, looking for the manticore, which was once again on the far end of its loop.
“Is it fleeing?” Kazrack asked, shaking his head and regaining his confidence. “That thing ensorcelled me.”
“I think it may come back for another pass,” said Beorth, breathing heavily.
Ratchis stepped under cover as well and took up his heavy crossbow once again. Jeremy stepped back against the wall and re-loaded his own. Beorth picked up the door that Kazrack had dropped and propped it sideways across the doorway, creating a three foot high barrier to act as cover.
Ratchis dropped the crossbow again and grabbed on the to the door, which still hung up by one rusty hinge, and considered ripping it down for more cover.
Martin fumbled through his pack for more crossbow bolts. Beorth kneeled behind the door-barrier and fired his crossbow once again as the manticore came racing towards them once again. He missed.
Ratchis let go of the door and leapt over the door pulling his war hammer. He charged the thing once again, hearing the crunch of bone as the blow struck its back.
Martin reloaded his own crossbow and fired, but being worried he might hit Ratchis, missed completely. Jana risked another ray of enfeeblement, but this time it missed completely.
Ratchis grunted as he felt the rake of the manticore’s clawed paw across his chest. The half-orc’s armor was hanging on by just a few links, barely absorbing any damage any more.
Kazrack barreled right through the door barricade and swung his flail with all the might in his off-hand. He missed.
Martin dropped his crossbow and stepped through the doorway, and reached into his red magic bag of animals with a whispered prayer to Isis. He pulled out a ball of fur that he tossed at the manticore. It expanded into a badger that landed atop the monster, and clawed wildly. Unfortunately, its tiny claws did not seem to be enough to get through its hide.
Jana tried a daze spell, and again she found her spell would not get through.
“I hate that thing!” she cursed.
The manticore let out a low rolling growl as it turned to face Ratchis with hatred in its glowing red eyes. Ratchis let out a cry of pain as he felt the sharp cuts of the things claws on his shoulders. Blood burst from the half-orc, and splattered on the monster’s face and on Kazrack’s arm. The hulking ranger fell from the weight of the blow.
Jeremy stepped to the left a bit and took a shot with his crossbow. Remembering the battle with Richard the Red in the Chamber of the Three, he cursed, as he was robbed of the results of his excellent shot once again. The bolt burst into smoke even as it would have buried itself into the manticore’s neck. It had no effect. (*)
Beorth ran over and joined the melee, his sword cutting into the manticore’s side. The paladin wiped his eyes clear of the monster’s spurting black ichor.
Now they had the thing flanked and partially surrounded. Kazrack struck a very hard blow with his flail, and the manticore roared in pain and anger.
Ratchis struggled to his feet, and swung his hammer, but he did not wait to have good footing and his blow was short of the rearing creature. Both Martin and Jana spoke arcane words and flicked their wrists in arcane gestures, but their daze spells failed.
The manticore snapped its wings and took to the air. Beorth and Ratchis were able get in last blows before it was out of range, but only Beorth’s found purchase. The badger tumbled off the thing and waited for a command from Martin.
“Let’s regroup and make a plan!” Kazrack called He fell on his back and pulled his crossbow out and braced it on his foot. The bolt hit the manticore in its hind quarters, but burst into smoke ineffectively.
Ratchis dropped his hammer and took up his still loaded crossbow and fired. The half-orc’s bolt while hitting, was as ineffective as the dwarf’s.
Martin hustled back under cover.
Jana grunted in frustration and fired another ray of enffeblement. It struck and she felt her magic finally get through the monsters spell resistance. Unfortunately, it was still able to shrug off the effect of the spell.
Beorth also ran for the cover of the doorway.
“I think it is really running away this time,” Jeremy said, turning to watch it fly off in a straight line. “I mean, fly away.”
“Damn it!” Ratchis cursed, but then held on to his belt of scored and broken chain links and called to Nephthys to heal his wounds.
Kazrack awkwardly reloaded his crossbow, just in case.
“Maybe that thing is Mozek shape-shifted,” Martin mused aloud. “Okay, badger back in the bag.”
The badger leapt into the air and tumbled back into a ball of fur, plopping into the bag.
“I don’t like that thing,” Thomas chittered in Martin’s mind, referring to the bag. “I don’t like any of those animals.”
“Why not?” Martin asked.
“Because…” was the squirrel familiar’s only reply.
The manticore disappeared from view.
The party let out a collective sigh.
“We need to keep moving,” Ratchis said. “This may be a ruse and it will be back.”
“We should at least wait for Jeremy to recover some from being so close to death,” Jana said.
“No, we should go,” Ratchis insisted. “Kazrack walks slowly anyway, so Jeremy will not be slowing us down.”
“Yes, we may be lucky enough to reach Summit before nightfall, and before that thing comes back to finish us, unless we wounded it too much for it to risk it,” Kazrack said.
“What was that you said about the manticore before, Martin?” Jeremy asked.
“I think that the manticore may have been sent by Mozek. Presumably it was looking for me, and not for Richard,” Martin explained his theory. He looked at Ratchis. “You know, I may be able to do some minor repair on your armor with a spell I have, but it will take a while.” (111)
“I was going to buy something in Summit. Perhaps I will wear that until you are done working on my chain shirt,” Ratchis replied.
------------
The party marched on northward, coming to the ridge that surrounded Greenreed Valley and following it until they saw sign of Summit above. They made the arduous climb as Ra’s Glory made its descent into the underworld.
They made their way through the gathering gloom of Summit’s one wide street and to the Sun’s Summit Inn. The place had a few shepherds wrapped in fur cloaks and sipping mulled wine. The balding inn-keeper, Gibb, came around the bar, brushing a lick of hair over his bald spot.
“By the gods!” he exclaimed. “I can’t believe you’re still alive! Finn said you were, but I didn’t believe it! Come have a seat, get a load off, you must be cold. I’ll fetch you something to drink.”
The party took seats around a table, while one of the barmaids brought them a pitcher of mead. Jana asked if there has been any more trouble with ‘haunting’.
“Nothing like that night,” she said. “Plus that hole in the basement was bricked over.”
“Good,” said Martin the Green.
A moment later, Stump the Cook, came out of the kitchen with a tray full of bowls.
“This is something special for you,” he said, passing out a spicy venison stew.
The door to the inn opened with a howl of wind and in walked four figures. It was Finn Fisher, Carlos, Frank and Gwar.
“Hey look who it is!” cried Frank with a big smile.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes
(110) Kazrack’s “discouragement” (along with Jeremy’s “over-confidence”) led to his having a –1 on all attack and damage rolls, checks and saves.
(111) The mending spell will repair one damage point per casting when used on armor.
(112) See Session #21
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