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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SolidSnake" data-source="post: 986" data-attributes="member: 102">Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, Session 3: A stranger in Nulb(Or: “Nulb sucks more than last time!”)The party left the nice town of Hommlet the following morning, heading for the ill-reputed den of cutthroats known as Nulb.  They left Eblis’ gear behind in case he returned – he had not checked out of his room, nor told anyone where he was going. The group had no more time to wait, so Merk asked Elmo to look out for the quiet warrior. The path through the woods to Nulb took three days and nothing out of the ordinary happened.  Merk had plenty of time to tell the party as many stories as she remembered about the miserable village from the adventurers she had known who had stayed there.  “Everybody in Nulb is a low-life, an agent of the Temple, or both.  Don’t trust anyone, and stick together.  The last group got into fights constantly by just being in town and walking around.  We’ll have to stay at the dump of a tavern there, but let’s not stay long.  Oh, and Rufus said that we should be on the lookout for the priests from the Moathouse, because they probably fled here.”After the journey the group approached Nulb cautiously, but there was little to see.  The place was an abandoned wreck.  Those rotten huts that hadn’t collapsed were in complete disrepair, and it was clear that nobody had lived here for some time.  Nobody was more surprised than Merk – where had everyone gone?  “Aye, lass, there’s nubuddy here!” Aramek growled, annoyed that another reputed haunt of evil was abandoned.Just then Strider spotted a huge man’s body in front of the run-down building with a faded sign reading: “Waterside Hostel.”  The group hushed and cautiously approached.  The man’s head had exploded, but the only evidence of what had happened was horse tracks around his body.  Inside was a bunch of broken tables covered in dust – nobody had been inside for some time.  On the alert, the party drew together; Merk and Strider snuck inside.  [Player’s advice: Never enter an Inn with a freshly dead body out front without determining the cause of death.]Merk headed for the stairs as Strider ventured out into the clutter of tables and chairs, and the rest of the group watched from the doorway.  Suddenly, a translucent, decaying creature materialized behind Strider and stashed at his back with a glowing sword.  Only the surprised warrior’s armor saved him from a deadly hit.  Just seeing the horrible undead spirit weakened Merk and Lathander, but the other’s resisted its powerful evil aura. Shaking from hatred, fear, and new weakness, Lathander stepped forward, holding out his holy symbol of Pelor.  Screaming “The sun of Pelor is upon you!,” Lathander willed forth incredible holy power that shone out of his sunburst medallion.  The ghost vaporized before Pelor’s rays, ending the battle before it had truly begun.The whole group was still tensed from the fear and surprise of the undead’s appearance, but the dwarves soon recovered.  Bandar and Aramek clapped Lathander on the side and said “Good job” in gruff voices as they walked in.  Strider thanked the shaking cleric somberly, knowing that Lathander might have just saved his life.  Merk didn’t thank the good cleric, and instead stumbled over towards the group, as white as a sheet (even for an elf).  The ghost’s mere presence had stolen her vitality [-2 Str/Dex/Con] – the sense overwhelmed her, and she was violently sick.  Strider tried to comfort her, and offered the undead’s weapon to her with the rest of the group’s support.  So weak, she took Strider’s magical rapier instead, insisting he take the sword.Someone heard a sound coming from upstairs, and the party was on guard again.  The group snuck up the creaky stairs and found all the rooms abandoned except for one at the end of the hallway.  The door to the room was closed, muffling the sounds of wind and occasional thumps from within.  Strider signaled for everyone to wait while he went downstairs and outside to climb up to the window of the room and see what was going on.  While the party fingered their weapons and strained to hear, Strider climbed onto the roof and swung down, crashing through the window and into the bedroom.  He was taken aback by what he found.The furniture of the room flew around in a whirlwind, smashing into everything except for the room’s young woman occupant, who held her face in her hands and was moaning.  Before Strider could ask what was going on, a lamp knocked the breath out of him.  As he recovered, the woman approached him and clawed at his face, somehow magically stuffing her hand in his head and causing him excruciating pain and loss [-3 Wisdom; our DM is suddenly big into irrevocably reducing PC ability scores].  With Strider’s audible howl of pain, the rest of the group moved into action.  Bandar smashed down the door, and the others poured in, caught off guard by the peculiar scene and clipped by flying objects.  Lathander quickly surmised what was happening and tried using his holy power again, but the creature remained unfazed.  The group attacked the monster and managed to fend off her terrible ethereal hands, but only enraged Strider managed to score any solid hits, each making it less substantial.  The creature began screaming, which magically immobilized Bandar and Lathander.  Between hits by swirling furniture and avoiding its claws, Strider managed to dissipate the undead with his magical weapons.  The whirlwind stopped, everything fell to the ground, and the party breathed a sigh of relief.  Even without people, Nulb was a miserable place!Lathander purified the building with a lengthy prayer to Pelor while the group rested.  Merk examined the body outside the Inn and found some peculiar leather loops on the back of his clothing, and recognition dawned on her face.  She said to Strider “This was Gatz, a powerful and ruthless mercenary I knew.  Couldn’t tell who he was with his head gone, but this long sheath gives him away.”  Strider looked curiously at the ‘sheath’ she spoke of – it must’ve been for an eight-foot sword!   “I’ve never heard of a weapon that big!” he exclaimed.  “Only a man like Gatz could wield it” Merk said, adding “Wonder where it is now?”The party was not anxious to venture in any other buildings in dangerous Nulb, but they looked around the abandoned village some more.  In a shop with a faded sign reading “Herbs” Strider found a hideous man sitting, looking at them with his good eye, because his other was lost amidst pulpy pink mass of flesh that was the rest of his face.  He held a staff with a crystal sphere on top, and looked at Strider in a strange manner.Taken aback, Strider asked for the man’s name, to which he replied “I am Tianden.”  A short conversation revealed that the man was just sitting there, watching things, not doing much, and not very willing to reveal anything else.  He was continuously lost in thought, gazing beyond Strider at the wall of the former herbshop.  Strider was curious about the stranger who seemed so out of place, and pressed him with questions, introducing the rest of his group.Merk took one look at Tianden and crept out of sight.  The others might want to chit-chat with this stranger, but she knew better.  Someone who was sitting around in an abandoned town, doing nothing, within a few miles of the Temple? Rufus had warned her about the Moathouse priests and Temple agents in Nulb, and this doubtless was one of them.  Were the others too naïve to realize how suspicious this situation was?Strider took extra care not to stare at Tianden’s face as he introduced the rest of the part.  Tianden’s smile noticeably widened when Strider landed on Lathander’s name.  Aramek visibly tensed at this reaction, but his agitation subsided slowly when Tianden offered the group a seat at his table.  As there was only one chair in the room, the strange man offered to get more so that everyone could sit at the table.  Strider waved the offer away, worried that Tianden shouldn’t have to inconvenience himself.  Once everyone was seated, Strider began to warn Tianden of the dangers of Nulb.Strider: “You should be careful Tianden, there are evil creatures about.  Especially at the local tavern…I wouldn’t go there if I were you.”Tianden: “Thank you for your concern Strider, I will not venture there.  What brings your group to Nulb?”Strider: “It is so good to finally meet someone reasonable after our long trek.  We are looking for priests.”Tianden: “Priests?  I have seen a few about while I was here.  They are not here any longer I am afraid.  They have probably left for the Temple by now.”Strider: “Really?  That’s fantastic.  You have been most helpful Tianden.  Would I be too forward if I asked you to join our group for lunch…it is noon anyways.”At that moment Aramek began to cough uncontrollably.  Once his fit had subsided he began to grumble something about the dust in the air.  Tianden’s expression was one of utter shock.  Quickly regaining his composure, the man heartily agreed to the offer.  During lunch, Lathander took over most of the conversation with talk of theology.Lathander: “I believe in Pelor’s overarching plan for human goodness.  What tenants do you believe in Tianden?”Tianden: “Well, I haven’t had a chance to brush up on Pelor’s dogma in quite some time.”Lathander: “You were a student of Pelor?”  Lathander spoke with excitement, hoping to find a kindred spirit in his quest against evil.Tianden: “Me? No, no…I simply met a priest of Pelor once.  He was in a party of adventurers at the time, much like the situation we are faced with now.  He was very militant, but I didn’t mind him so much as the priestess of St. Cuthbert.”Lathander: “You have had problems with them too?!  It seems as though their teachings are too strict…I think they lack the desire to help those in need.  A priestess of St. Cuthbert I know was more interested in the letter of the law than its spirit.”Tianden: “They are uncompromising aren’t they?  Yes…the priestess I remember was most…disagreeable.”  The man’s eyes seemed to wander with the last statement.----------------------The elf slid around back, checking in windows, and her suspicions were soon confirmed when she found Tianden’s room.  Inside was a bed, a trunk, a chest, a suit of menacing plate armor, a shield with Tharazdun’s eye emblazoned on it, and Gatz’s sword leaned against the wall.  Here we have Gatz’s killer… and the former leader of the Moathouse?  She slid up the window, making only a little noise, and slipped into the bedroom.----------------------As quickly as Tianden’s focus was lost, it was reinvigorated.  With a slight tilt of his head towards the door to the rear of the room, Tiaden shifted the gears of the discussion.Tianden: “Let’s say in a hypothetical scenario that one man owns a castle.  Let is also assume that this same man doesn’t want trespassers on his property.  What if someone were to invade his castle in the name of good?  These men kill all his…retainers and drive him from the very place he had created.  Do you think this is right?Lathender: “Absolutely not!  No man can claim to do good by taking what is another’s.  It is wrong!  Utterly wrong!”Strider: “I also agree.  I man’s home is his own.”Tianden: “I’m glad to see some reasonable people left in the world today.  You are all fine men.  Lathander your beauty is only surpassed by your oratory prowess.”  Tianden seemed very pleased, indicated by twisted smile.----------------------Merk found the door locked and breathed a sigh of relief – she could probably get out before Tianden could charge back here.  Unfortunately, she found nothing of note in his trunk, and did not have lockpicks for opening his smaller chest.  The chest, Gatz’s sword, and everything else of note was too heavy or too noisy to take out.  Merk contented herself with cutting all the fastenings to Tianden’s armor, so it would fall apart upon donning it.  She crept out, waiting to hear sounds of battle.----------------------Lathander: “I can’t remember the last time I had such an interesting discussion.  Thank you so much for joining us.”Tianden: “No…thank you for joining me.  Take care on your way to the Temple.”Everyone had gotten up and was headed towards the door…Aramek moving quicker than some suspected was possible.  The last person out was Bander.  He was about to cross the threshold of the doorway, when he heard Tianden’s voice call out.“That mark on the back of your neck, where did you get it,” Tianden said fervently.  The man was referring the tattoo the taciturn dwarf had on the back of his neck.  It was a picture of a red hand on a white background.Bandar: “I don’t know.  It was there ever since I can remember.”Tianden: “I remember that mark.  He had it on his sword.”  At this point, it became unclear if Tianden was talking with the group anymore.  “I would have won!  The battle was mine for the taking!  But then that stupid little half-elf interfered and cost me the fight!”Strider: “I am not sure what you are talking about…” Strider spoke very carefully.Tianden’s voice seemed to rise in anger and the grip he had on Bandar’s shoulder only strengthened.“Didn’t I invite you into my home?!  Didn’t we eat together?!  If one man from the party commits a wrong, the ENTIRE party is responsible!  I am talking about that elf STRIDER!”Strider: “I don’t understand…did Merk do something?”Tianden: “Yes…her.  She broke into my room.  You know what?  It doesn’t really matter all that much anymore.  I am glad we are friends.”  The transformation was terrifying to behold.  One instant he was on the verge of murder and the next Tianden was as cold as ice.  Bandar eased himself from the man’s grip as Strider promised to discipline Merk if as soon as he found her.The party left Nulb toward the Temple at a brisk walk, putting distance between themselves and the crazed Tianden.  Merk had circled Nulb and waited on the outskirts, whistling as she leaned against a tree.</blockquote>

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