Seravin's Tales of the Night Below (Two Updates this Week - 07/24/07)

[Seravin]

The Third Basement

The third basement of The Blue Diamond tavern serves mainly for training and planning. There are a few private rooms on this level for the senior taskmasters, but for the most part the organization’s members are uncomfortable living this far below ground.

Like the two other floors above, the third basement is entirely paneled in a worn dark wood and lit by magical torches that emit neither heat nor smoke. There is however a slight musty smell reminiscent of several unwashed people forced into close proximity. Unlike the floors above where various sections are separated by hidden doors, the bulk of the third basement rooms are open to each other with only a few hidden areas.

The third basement’s first training room is filled with a variety of items, including a variety of mats, hanging ropes for climbing, and a small fighting ring. The room is large and of the same size as the two rooms directly above it. Unlike the first two room above, the first training room has an actual door that leads out as well as an open archway that leads to a narrow corridor.

The small corridor wraps around the south end of the first training room which apparently leads to a dead end. Suspicious people will quickly find the secret door at the far end that leads to the first set of hidden rooms. For the most part these rooms are unoccupied; however there are a couple rooms occupied by night workers who have squirreled away a few coins and trinkets. Predicatably Ashimar and Kellron decided against searching these rooms as they came across them and choose to search the hallway finding yet another secret door that led into the second training room

The second training room is of similar size and equipment as the first training room. Three normal doors lead out from it, one on the east wall that leads back to the first training room and two on the west wall. One of the doors leads to a small guardstation, but this was undiscovered on the night of the raid, for the other door on the west wall was investigated first and leads to a far more interesting room, filled with a variety of locks and a variety of doors in free-standing frames.

The room of locks is obviously a training ground for those learning how to bypass mechanical defenses. Ashimar and Kestral were impressed by the variety and quality of the locks, ranging from the simple to wickedly complex. It took only a brief discussion between the four friends to decide to search the room and the three locked doors leading out of the room.

Jallarzi, Sarah the cat, and Kellron walked around the room looking for anything obvious while Ashimar and Kestral checked out the three locked doors leading out of this room.

Ashimar hit pay-dirt with what was obviously an armory filled with quality made weapons. A small assortment of every type of weapon was represented; some bearing obvious marks of the empire and the Watch.

It was Kestral who had the biggest find however. Behind the locked door she choose to open the former courier found a complete counterfeiting outfit, including a coin minting set. Close examination revealed that the minting set had two complete coin dies for every imperial denomination.

“Guys, look at this!” She called out after looking around the room. “They were making their own coins here; shaving them too.”

Kellron and Ashimar joined her immediately in the room; Kellron out of a sense of protection and Ashimar more out of professional curiousity.

Kestral held out her palms, showing the two men a single set of coin dies. “Copper, silver, gold, and platinum. They could make anything they wanted here.”

Ashimar let out a low whistle. “This just made getting in here worth it.”

Kestral nodded and offered up the four coin dies to Kellron. “You take them in case something happens.”

Kellron nodded gravely and accepted the set of dies, proud of Kestral’s caution and honesty. It never occurred to either man to ask if there had been a second set and where it might be. Which was just as well as they were hastily concealed in Kestral's pouch.

The third locked door led through a small hallway into yet another training room, this one obviously meant to train for rooftop work. Two walls were set up for climbing and there were balance beams and low tightropes set up throughout the room.

Two more doors, the last of which was spell-trapped with a lightning bolt were passed and eventually the four friends made their way down to the fourth basement. If they had thought about it and applied carefully calculation they would have realized they were now under the very warehouse that Kestral and Ashimar had robbed two nights previous.

 

[Seravin]

Kestral's player noted that the part of the previous of post was either vary subtle at best and potentially confusing at worst. I've rewritten and highlighted a couple changes.

Kestral's player has kept this particular secret for the last two years both game time and real time.

 

[Seravin]

The Fourth Basement

The bulk of The Blue Diamond’s fourth basement actually resides under the neighboring warehouse; though the only direct access to this level is from The Blue Diamond building itself. This basement is where the leadership and taskmasters store the majority of their aquired loot. This level is also unique in that it is the only sub-basement which has exits into the surrounding sewer tunnels.

Needless to say the fourth basement is well secured and only the leadership of the guild knows where all the hidden exit tunnels are and how to safely bypass this level’s physical and magical protections. These protections are extensive and rumors of them are discouraged, though the leadership has on occasion started their own false rumors as an act of disinformation. The leadership is well aware that they are training the largest group of people most likely able to bypass their own security.

Again, Ashimar was the first person down the stairs and he took a quick look around and his friends gathered around behind him. This time they were in a storeroom, filled near to bursting with small boxes and crates. “What do you think they have here?” He asked out loud.

“Let’s find out. Maybe we’ll find Imych’s harp.”

“Maybe.” With that the four began to pick randomly through the boxes, prying open the sealed crates with prybars the previous movers had left behind. It quickly became apparent that there was no rhyme or reason to stacking of the boxes. One box held crystal goblets while another contained a collection of sharp cheeses. In the corner was a rolled up rug apparently made in Relk, while behind a stack of boxes was a pile of forgotten books (poetry of the Southern Empire). After a quick five minutes of ransacking the room with nothing exceptionally interesting found, the group decided to move on through the iron-bound, heavy wooden, double doors that were on the far side of the room.

Ashimar checked the doors first, sighed, and then stood up gesturing for Kestral to take a look. The young woman approached the door warily for none of them believed that anything on this level would be untrapped.

“Another spell-glyph.” She announced after a thorough examination. Pulling out her tools she began to carefully etch additional incisions into the nearly invisible runes around the door. After a short while she stood up and waved Kellron forward. “Your turn. It’s unlocked and I think the trap is disabled.”

Kellron suppressed a sigh and mentally steeled himself as Kestral backed away. Once everyone was clear he firmly grasped the heavy latch, lifted it, and pulled open the rightmost wooden door. The doors swung silently open on well-oiled hinges revealing a short, wide hallway with identical doors at the end. Before Kellron could say anything, Kestral was right there kneeling on the floor and examining the floor just inside the hallway.

Her caution was well reward as her sharp eyes caught the subtle displacement in the wooden paneling. It took only a bit of experimentation and probing to find a concealed panel with a lever inside. Kestral pulled the lever up into the up position and then cautiously made her way down the hallway. It looked like the wall paneling would swing open to reveal some nasty trap or another. Privately Kestral was betting on scything blades but perhaps poisoned darts or some other ugly mechanical monstrosity.

The far doors were trapped similarly to the first set and it didn’t take Kestral long to disable this one too. She gestured Kellron forward and moved out of the way as he prepared to open the double doors.

This time the paladin swung both doors open, revealing another obvious storage room. Unlike the first storage room, this one was perhaps a little larger and nearly empty, with only a few stacks of boxes here and there. However, like the first storage room this one was lit by two flickering, magical torches. Kellron entered first as Ashimar, Kestral, and Jallarzi closed up ranks behind him in the tunnel.

ZzzRAaaP!

Five feet into the room, Kellron was nearly knocked backward as a bright blue spark nearly exploded on top of him. Kellron was now face to face with a bright, glowing blue ball of light hovering just in front of him. The warrior was certain it hadn’t been there when he walked in but his still spasming muscles confirmed it was there now.

The globe of light pulsed briefly as if amused and zipped forward again. ZzzRAaaP! Kellron’s still tingling muscles were slow to react as his armor channeled another burst of electricity and then the ball of light zipped away into the middle of the room.

Shaking his head and shrugging off the pain, Kellron drew his sword and moved into the room; his enchanted blade catching flame as it cleared the scabbard. Ashimar, Kestral, and Jallarzi also moved into the room, fanning out while reaching for weapons and spell components.

ZzzRAaaP! This time Jallarzi took the brunt of the electric blast as the globe darted in, touched her, and darted away. “Aoowww! Will-O’-Wisp!” She called out as she tried to remember what she could of the creature; nothing came to mind.”

Ashimar charged the wisp which was now hovering some thirty feet away, swinging his rapier and wondering what the heck was going to happen. The lightball was murderously fast and the electric arcs were doing more then just stinging. Unfortunately the creature just bobbed out of the way of swing.

Jallarzi focused passed the tingle and forced her muscles to work as she let loose with a trio of magic missiles. Fortunately the bolts unerringly sought out the bobbing light, swinging wide around the creature before striking, causing the creature to leave a small trail of roiling blue vapor. By accident Jallarzi had stumbled on one of the few weaknesses of the creature.

Kestral eyed the situation grimly and with a shrug pulled out her bow, nocked an arrow, and let loose at the creature. With Ahsimar standing right next to it she had little hope of hitting, but there was always luck. She missed.

Kellron charged just as Kestral’s arrow arced over the bobbing light. He was luckier then Ashimar and Kestral and managed to connect against the wisp; his flaming blade trailing burning vapor as he passed through the lower third of the wisp.

It was a long, hectic fight. The creature was faster then everyone else and Kellron found himself chasing the creature about the room as it zapped everyone. By the time Kellron’s blade sliced through the creature for the final time, Jallarzi found herself barely standing and neither Ashimar nor Kellron were looking good. Only Kestral was virtually unscathed for she hadn’t posed much of a threat.

As one, they decided to take stock and expend what healing resources they needed. Briefly they wondered how the creature had been bound to the room. That question would go unanswered however and they would never learn that the will o’wisp had been drawn from the fiendish realms with a magical contract.

Ashimar stowed his empty potion vial in his pouch and let out a long sigh. “Huh. What now?”
“I don’t see any doors.” Spoke up Jallarzi as she walked around.

“No visible doors.” Corrected Kestral.

“I have an idea.” Piped up Ashimar. “Since every other door has been spell-trapped, how about a detect magic?”

“Good idea.” So saying, Jallarzi invoked the simplest of divinations and scanned the room. “On second thought, great idea.” She concentrated briefly and then began to slowly walk around the room. “I see only three sources. One on each of the long walls, and a third over here on the floor in the corner. Moderate strength and illusionary.” She puzzled the last out in her mind as she directed Ashimar and Kestral to the wall sources.

It took the former rogue and the courier only a few seconds to find the hidden doors on the walls. Kestral spent a few more minutes on her door and confirmed the existence of a spell-trap on it. Next they investigated the enchanted patch of floor; this time it took over a minute to find the devilishly hidden trap door, which in the end was only given away by the spell-trap runes encircling it.

Ashimar looked sidelong at Jallarzi. “Do you have a Dispel Magic?”

“Wand, scroll, or spell?” She asked sweetly.

“Whatever it takes.”

Shortly the spells on the two secret doors and the trap door were either suppressed or dispelled. Investigation revealed that the two secret doors opened into narrow stone corridors, each of which had a trace of sewer stench. After a brief conference they decided to head further down.

Their decision ws well rewarded. The trap door revealed yet another narrow tunnel that sloped away and upward, to finally open up into another empty room lined with a dull, gray metal. At the far end of the room was heavy iron door with three locks on it. Between Kestral and Ashimar it took only a few minutes to open the heavy door. The tunnel beyond opened up into a water filled cavern, echoing with the sound of running water.

 

[Seravin]

I was going through some paperwork this morning and found the original adventure write-up for this arc that made me realize I had forgotten a few things about this session. I suspect my players would say 'whatever' but I'm something of a completist when it comes to stories. Fortunately my girlfriend puts up with it pretty well.

As I said earlier these write ups are from a combination of in-game notes and memory, which were only briefly detailed during the first year or so. All of the events described pretty much happened (in game ) but the dialog is almost completely made up unless a player said something that particularly stuck. Still and all I think I'm doing pretty good considering my game notes for the first 150+ days fit on 13 pages.

For example, my notes for the last few posts consist of:
The group talks to Kellron, letting him know what’s going on. He determines it’s best to find the man Kestral described to Grandal as the person who paid her to let them into his house.
Eventually they find the man and cart him off to a safe house. Kestral then poses as the man and makes her way around the city – guarded by her friends.
Eventually the group is ambushed by a group of assassins, including a sorceror, a fighter, and two professionals. The party captures one assassin and every one else flees.
Interrogation reveals that the thieves guild is located near the two suspected warehouses.
After conferring, Ashimar and Kellron go to the Guardhouse to talk with someone in charge. They turn over the assassin and convince the Lieutenant the place needs to be investigated – if only for non-taxed gambling.
A little later the party descends upon the illegal gambling den. They sneak the lieutenant in and show him the gambling going on and he starts his raid. The rest of the party descends into the thief-den, meeting very little resistance.
Eventually after overcoming many traps and guardians the party finds the vault and loots everything from it. :\

Memory fills in the rest.

So this morning I went looking for the vault notes so I could write up the next installment and I find my hand drawn maps and notes I had made to run through the encounters. I had forgotten I had these. To be fair my memory was pretty accurate.

Except for the hallway trap that released the Insanity Mist, the two (not one) will o'wisps that gave the party pause, the water filling the tunnel just beyond the trap door, and the bound air elemental that was in the last small room before the water filled cavern.
It's amazing how looking at the notes triggered more memories of that session.

Normally I'd just update the chapter and let folks know; but as I'm going on vacation in a couple days and I want to complete this arc before leaving, I'm just going to leave things as they are and proceed to the next installment. Hopefully I'll find the time to re-do The Fourth Basement chapter while I'm gone.

 

[Seravin]

The Vault

Standing at the end of the short, rough-cut, curving tunnel where deep, blue water roiled up to the edge, Kestral raised her magical amulet over her head to bring as much light as possible into the watery cavern beyond. The ceiling curved overhead about fifteen feet up and was easily visible in the flickering light; however the walls to either side quickly curved away beyond the flickering light. She wasn’t sure but Kestral thought she could just make out the far wall; she wasn’t betting on it though.

Satisfied nothing was lurking in the air or on the nearby walls, Kestral next examined the turbulent water itself. The clean scent of the water filling the air told her that it was from a pure source while the low roar told her that the source was pouring into the cavern from above the water line. Given that the water level appeared to be stable there was obviously an exit for the water too. Her careful examination of the water was rewarded when she finally saw the narrow rock path about an arms-length beneath the bubbling, swirling water.

Ashimar came up beside her, his keen eyes peering into the darkness. “Anything out there?”

“No, but there’s a path just below the water.”

Ashimar raised an eyebrow and looked to where she was pointing. He quickly spotted the narrow pathway. “I don’t trust it.” He stated flatly as Kellron and Jallarzi moved up behind them.

Kestral smiled sardonically. “Who would? There’s been a trap almost every step of the way. The question is do we want to go forward?”

The four conferred shortly and eventually decided that it was worth going forward but that there was no way they were going to take the proferred path.

Kestral held up her left hand, showing the ring gifted to her by the Water King. “I can get across at least.

Kellron looked to Jallarzi. “Do you have a spell of flying.”

Jallarzi shook her head. “Not memorized. Not even a levitate.”

Ashimar cocked an eyebrow in thought. “Kestral. Question. Do you still have the boots of levitation?”

Kestral nodded. “In my pack, in case they were required. I thought the elven boots would be more appropriate down here.”

“How about I wear the boots, levitate up, and you can tow me across with the rope? If there’s a good place to touch down at the other end I’ll take them off and you can bring them back for the next person.”

His three friends nodded at the clever idea and Kestral shrugged off her magical backback, rummaged through it pulled out the polished black leather boots. Ashimar quickly put them on, so jaded with magic that he didn’t even marvel at their size-changing properties. While he put the boots on Kestral pulled out a length of silk rope and quickly tied off a quick loop.

When Ashimar had both the boots and rope affixed he invoked the command word and willed himself to rise up a few feet over the floor. Then, Kestral took the other end of the rope, leaving about ten feet of slack, and began to walk across the turbulent water. She raised her amulet up in her other hand the better to see the rest of the cave.

She didn’t make it twenty feet before the turbulent water began to roil even faster and then exploded upward directly in front of her forming a wall of water; a living wall of water. The courier, adventurer, and mortal representative of the Court of Water stood straighter at the sight of the elemental. Kestral could feel the invisible power of the ocean’s tide ripple forth from her ring and knew the elemental recognized her authority.

Her authority, not Ashimar’s. The living wave tried to sidle around the young woman, but she was just as quick and moved to block the creature’s path. “You cannot.” She told the creature in the gurgling aquan tongue, though above the water her accent was horrid.

The wave ignored her and tried to sidle the other way around, unwilling to approach too close to her but bound by some hidden purpose. Ashimar who was now over the water with nowhere to land willed himself a little higher and pulled his rapier.

Again, Kestral moved to block the creature’s path. “No. She told the elemental. Kestral knew she could try and use the ring’s authority to force the elemental, but she was unsure how it would react. “Who are you?” She asked the creature.

The elemental made a sound very similar to the sound of the water in the small cave and Kestral nodded with understanding.

She wasn’t going to be able to reproduce the name unless she stuck her head under the water. “Nice to meet you. She said politely. “My name is Kestral and I’m here for the Water King. Have you seen any of his sons around here?”

The elemental paused, still agitated. Then it’s body dipped low and flattened in negation. “No.” It burbled.

Kestral shrugged, expecting the answer. “What are you doing here?” She then asked.

“Bound to guard the cavern. I must attack all who walk upon the path.” Burbled the elemental.

Kestral took a moment to look around the cavern, then at her feet, and finally at the path a few feet to her left and under the water. “I’m not on the path.” She pointed out. “And neither is he.” She said indicating her levitating friend.

The elemental considered her words. He could not attack her for she bore the mark of the Water King and her words were true. The elemental was essentially a simple creature and could find no fault with the mortal’s logic. The binder had specifically said all who walked upon the path. Only the mortal was walking and she was exempted by the Water King. The elemental spread itself low in a gesture of respect, satisfied that its oaths were not violated. It then subsided into the water, disappearing from sight.

Kestral heaved a sigh of relief, mimicked by Ashimar floating above and behind her. “That’s that.” She said. Then spying what looked to be the narrow mouth of a tunnel on the far side of the cavern, she hurried toward it with her friend in tow. Nevertheless, Kestral made sure not to cross over the path.

The pair was disappointed though when they saw that the mouth of the tunnel ended in a rough, rock wall.

“Wait a minute.” Said Ashimar, carefully lowering himself to the water, trying to make sure he wasn’t over the hidden path. “The path leads here and it has guardian. Let’s look for a secret door.”

Kestral eyed the wall doubtfully. The dark, nearly black, rock looked completely unworked and there didn’t appear to be any seam between it and surrounding rock. Still she joined Ashimar in the search and both of them saw the same obvious clue immediately.

They said it as one. “The rock isn’t wet.”

Ashimar slapped at the rock forcibly and watched his hand pass right through it. “I’m guessing we’re almost there.” He said. Carefully he stuck his head through the illusionary rock. The path beyond was illuminated by Kestral’s flickering light. “I think I see a door up ahead.” Ashimar quickly stepped onto the path and took his borrowed boots off.

“I’ll get the others.” Said Kestral as she took the proferred boots. It was only the work of a few minutes to ferry Kellron and Jallarzi across. Fortunately the elemental seem content to let matter stand as they were and didn’t bother them.

When they were all past the illusionary wall, Kestral and Ashimar made their way cautiously to the door at the far end; meticulously examining every rock and depression. They sensed that they were close to something important and hoped it was the resting place of Imych Thassel’s harp.

The hallway itself was mercifully untrapped. The heavy iron door though was inscribed with runes that spoke of menacing power. Kestral grimaced and waved Ashimar and the others back while pulling out her tools.

“****!” Kestral said a very unladylike word as her tools slipped against the door. There was a flash of poisonous green light from the runes and then the door gushed forth with acid, covering the trapspringer. The acid was strong and caught Kestral straight in the chest, burning through her clothes straight to the flesh. “****! ****! ****!”

Kestral invoked the least power of her ring and began summoning water, drenching herself with it as Kellron moved up next to her and laid gentle hands onto her shoulders. “Here you go.” He told her as he channeled Sarath’s might into golden healing.

The water and the healing helped and Kestral shook herself and examined the door again. She cursed again, certain that the trap had reset itself. Snarling, she went back to disarming the trap again, and this time she succeeded. She almost stood up before she realized that she hadn’t touched the lock. Still snarling Kestral went to work on the wickedly comple lock. The lock had been put in place by someone who understood good lock design, but Kestral’s patience and effort were eventually rewarded. Grabbing the iron pull ring Kestral heaved the door open. Beyond was another hallway, this time made of worked stone and lined with eight doorways; three on the left, one at the end, and four on the right. The doors were made of iron and looked to have similar locks as the entry door.

--
A dark cloaked man with his hood pulled low stood acroos the street from The Scabbard. He had been watching the inn now for several hours. The adventurers were staying here, but so far they had yet to show this evening. He was starting to grow impatient but he disciplined himself to wait. The adventurers had come back here every night without fail.

Inside the inn were his most trusted henchmen and some highly paid assassins. It would be difficult and this was certain to cause quite a stir amongst the Watch but it couldn’t be helped. These adventurers were apparently willing to do almost anything and were disrupting both revenue and carefully laid plans. Besides, a little fear was good for the populace.

That’s when the mental alarm began to pulse in the back of his head. Three quick pulses accompanied by a flash of white light. It was the alarm for the Vault being opened; but he knew where everyone who had Vault access was. It didn’t take a genius to make a guess who entering. First the warehouse, followed by the approaches to secure items into the ‘secret’ vault. The adventurers had somehow found a trail and struck first.

Swearing, the man gestured to one of his men hiding nearby. “Get the others. Everyone has to get back to The Diamond now.”
The man was confused but he knew to obey Father Dark’s orders. He turned and ran into the inn while the one he knew as Father Dark dashed down the street to a waiting coach. He had to get back fast.

--

“It looks like a vault to me.” Said Kestral. “Which door first?”

“Middle left?” Suggest Jallarzi.

Kestral shrugged. One was as good as another. She moved into the room with a minimum of caution, only fairly certain that the hall wasn’t trapped. Apparently she was right because nothing bad happened. The choosen door also appeared to be untrapped and the lock was indeed similar to the entry door. Her experience with the first lock helped here and it gave way with a minimum of effort.

Beyond the door was a small room about fifteen feet square. It was empty except for four large, ironbound wooden chests with heavy locks. Kestral whistled tunelessly and approached the chests. The locks were a little less complex then the door locks and she started to touch them when she caught a faint odor reminiscent of the color blue. She caught herself at the odd though and wrinkled her nose. Gas traps.

Sighing, she went to work on the chest trying to find a release trap or something. She was getting tired of all the traps and the stupid locks. Unfortunately her inattention cost her while trying to disable what she thought was part of the trap mechanism. Instead she slipped and punctured a hidden bladder, releasing a purplish mist into the room. Kestral began coughing on the blue-scented mist and her mind began to wander. Fortunately she had the presence to stumble outside of the room and her friends closed the door behind her.

She faced the wall and spoke. “I’m feeling a little woozy.” She explained. Ashimar was already there with a scroll and begin speaking the words of a lesser restoration spell. Kestral immediately felt better. “Thank you.” She nodded towards the closed door. “Insanity mist. It should clear away soon.”

The group paused for a moment, and then Kestral decided to examine the other doors while they waited. The next door down on the same side was spell trapped while the door at the far end was surrounded with hidden gas nozzles. The far door on the right was unlocked and apparently untrapped and the vault beyond was empty. Of the three remaining doors on the right side, only the one closest to the entry was trapped. The first door on the left that she had ignored was also untrapped.

Shrugging, Kestral began diabling the traps next. Through a combination of luck and skill she managed to disable most of them without incident, though she took a nasty shock from one of the spell-trapped doors. At last all the traps were disabled (or at least believed disabled) and the group began to enter the vaults one at a time.

The vault with the heavy chests contained coins; thousands of coins. One chest for each denomination. Kestral did the math and came up with a quick estimate. “Thirty, maybe forty thousand pieces of copper. Maybe fifteen thousand silver, and five thousand gold lions.” She announced.

The next vault on the left held a single stand upon which rested a dozen potions a single, amulet made of wood carved into an abstract shape. Fortunately the stand wasn’t trapped.

The far vault held the gems which were divided by type and quality. Again the group relied on Kestral’s estimate and they were impressed with her valuation of eight thousand gold pieces.

Two of the vaults on the right side were empty, but the electrified door held a variety of art objects, from paintings to vases, to a single intricately carved harp made of some light colored wood. Everyone smiled in satisfaction at seeing it.

The first vault on the right, spell trapped with acid (which Kestral dodged this time), contained weapons. These were not just ordinary weapons though; these were arms and armor stolen from the various noble families around Corlean. None of the adventurers could identify he family crests stamped on the items within but they were all complex and looked important.

The only oddity in the room was an unadorned shortsword made of some dull metal, chained and locked to a heavy metal stand. It looked decidedly out of place. Aware of the passing time, Ashimar picked up the entire stand and placed it in his enchanted bag. They could look at later. He wasn’t certain but he thought the metal of the sword and the chains might be adamantine.

That left the first vault which they had ignored the first time through. The door was apparently untrapped but was locked. Kestral bypassed the lock quickly enough and swung open the door. The vault was similar to the others and the room was nearly empty except for a single pedestal in the middle of the room. Atop the pedestal was a large, multi-faceted gem, similar to quartz or an impossibly huge diamond.

Her friends were still in the weapon room; so shrugging, Kestral entered the room, strode up to the pedestal, and picked the gem up. There was a soft popping sound from behind her.

“GROARR!”

Kestral didn’t even have time to turn before four large claws ripped into her, buffeting her this way and that. Recovering she yelled with pain and drew her sword. Before her stood an eight foot tall man-like beast with four arms. The creature had dark reddish fur and an evil glint in soft-glowing red eyes.

Kestral couldn’t name the thing, but Jallarzi shouted “It’s a fiendish Girallon!” as she came out of the weapon’s vault. The fight was short, though Kestral was driven into unconsciousness by the creature’s next claw attacks. Fortunately Ashimar and Kellron were there to fight the creature before it killed the badly wounded woman. Within a few seconds the creature’s body was so badly wounded that the magics that summoned it discorporated leaving only Kestral’s body as proof that it had been there.

More healing was expended to get Kestral on her feet while the others filled the bags with what they could. They understood that whatever they didn’t take on this trip would disappear before they could return. They intended to deliver what items they could back to the city and their original owners.

Except the coins which were practically untraceable. Kestral had estimated over fifty thousand copper and silver coins, which would weigh over a thousand pounds. Their enchanted bags and backpacks were already near capacity with the other recovered items. They were loath to leave the thieves any coinage however. Fortunately Kestral had a solution.

“Bring the chests to the water.” She told the men (there was no illusion on her part that she could actually move any of the chests). Once the chests were at the tunnel’s edge she stuck her head into the water. “This is all for the Water King.” She shouted. With that she and the men upended the chests containing the silver and copper coins into the water.

 

[Seravin]

Please Collect Your Items Before Leaving

A coach was parked perhaps eight feet away from the events happening at the Blue Diamond. Standing next to the coach, near the driver and horse was a man whose features were concealed by a heavy cloak with the hood pull low. Both the driver and the man watched the events for some few minutes trying to assess what exactly was going on.

The cloaked man known this evening as Father Dark swore softly at the swarm of watchmen and bystanders surrounding the entrance to The Blue Diamond. It was all going wrong and he could not forsee how it would get better. The best he could think of was to mitigate the damages. Off the top of his head he couldn’t think of anything in the building that could be traced to him or the one he reported to but the man behind the mask of Father Dark wasn’t going to rely on that.

Concentrating briefly he invoked one of the powers of the black silk mask he wore and his face and form ripple then shifted to match his mental image of a rather non-descript city watchman. “Wait here.” He ordered the driver. So saying, Father Dark then invoked the words of a dimension door spell. He stepped into the ripple of air and was gone.

A few minutes later the driver of the coach observed the flickering of fire through several of the windows of The Blue Diamond building. It didn’t take long for the flames to turn into an inferno.

--

Their bags and packs were loaded, now all the four friends had to do was escape. Perhaps anti-climatically, it was perhaps easier to escape then enter. The rough, sloping tunnel that ran underneath the will o’wisp room to the metal lined room was narrow enough to force the adventurers to go through single-file.

Ashimar was the first out of the rough tunnel and back into the will o’wisp room. Kellron was still in the tunnel behind him, but given the steepness of the sloping tunnel the paladin was going to need several more seconds before he could climb the short ladder.

The delay nearly cost Ashimar his life. After a quick scan of the room, Ashimar was barely out of the hatch when he heard what sounded like a few footsteps and then the familiar swish of a rapier. Ashimar was flat footed as an invisible rapier stabbed through the links of chain shirt.

The fight was on, but afterwards neither Ashimar nor Kellron spoke much of it. Neither man was inclined to brag and to be honest there wasn’t much to brag about. Knowing that this was only way out, Father Dark had waited for them to appear out of the trap door one at a time. The head of the thieves was prepared with several spells, including bull’s strength, cat’s grace, haste, and improved invisibility.

Ashimar was able to just hold his own against the invisible opponent for several seconds but he almost certainly would have lost. With Kellron’s help though, the outcome of the battle became less certain. When Father Dark’s improved invisibility eventually expired the tide shifted entirely into the favor of the Sarathian warriors.

Father Dark was forced to flee the pair as Kestral stuck her head out of the trap door. Before leaving he passed on two threats. Looking to Kellron first, “We know where you live and the inn you own. Expect retribution.” Then looking at Ashimar. “We know where your family is. Don’t expect them to live long.” With that Father Dark invoked another dimension door and disappeared.

Kellron and Ashimar shared looks with each other as they helped Kestral and then Jallarzi out of the tunnel.

“I can expect another attack on the inn, I guess.” Said Kellron. “Any idea what he was saying about your family?”

Ashimar shook his head, obviously confused. “Not a clue. I don’t even know who they are. I’m guessing he was just bluffing. I hope he was bluffing.”

--

Having no desire to fight their way up through the basements, the friends decided to utilize the secret doors in this storeroom to leave the underground complex. As they guessed, the secret passagesways do lead to small sewer passages which in turn lead to the surface a short ways away from the tavern. The flickering light of a fire starting to blaze out of control greets them when they make it to the surface.

Kellron and Ashimar quickly shucked their packs and dropped them next to Jallarzi. The two men then quickly went to help the bucket brigade. Using her elven cloak and boots, Kestral drifted around the burning building and used her ring of water elemental command to summon as much water as she could onto the fires. With her help the fire was quickly brought under control and soon put out.

The building is a total loss and deemed unsafe to enter. Lieutenant Brand’s superiors take a keen interest in the lower basements and the secret sewer entrances reported by the adventurers and promise to investigate. Sadly, there is not enough evidence to trace who the leaders are. The party is able to suppose that Grandal Deverex is Father Dark, but they have nothing to prove it. Given that Ker Deverex is considered an upstanding member of the community and vouchsafed by a prominent businessman, that line of investigation is dropped pending further proof.

For their part, the adventuring companions are kept busy. Jallarzi eventually capitulates and agrees to create a wand for the Library in order to earn her journey-mage status. Meanwhile, Ashimar, Kellron, and Kestral keep their organization informed of what they found and turn over all the items recovered from the secured vault. Needless to say the respective owners are pleased. The money and the gems and potions are virtually untraceable and so by order of Duke Hilmaron the party is allowed to keep these (minus a small tax).

Oddly, the adamantine shortsword turns out to be untraceable too. Though finely made it only bears a single distinguishing mark, that of the elven word ‘Thereval’; meaning ‘Mine’ in a strongly personal way. The shortsword also bears a strong aura of transmutation magic, though Jallarzi was only able to identify a moderate magical strength (+2).

Further experimentation of the blade reveals that when wielded in mock combat the bearer found himself unwilling to strike at his or her friends, deciding at the start of the combat to not go through with the fight in case they hurt their friends. This affects everyone except Jallarzi who was able to ignore the compulsion. Shrugging, Kestral decides that she’s willing to wield the blade until they can find out more about it.

Finally, Panther decides to leave his companions and their adventures in the underdark. Having Imych Thassel's harp in his possession brings him to the attention of the bardic college of Keria where Imych himself had trained. Possession of the harp and his own skills are enough to earn him a place at the college.

 

[Seravin]

That was the last post for the next couple weeks. I'm going away on vacation and I've got no clue what kind of internet access I'll have.

For those interested, Father Dark as of this write up was a Div9/Rog3 (maybe Rog4 for the HP and skills). Spells were used to buff himself up for and to flee - he was pretty sub-optimal for his level, but he made an appropriate challenge for the characters.

Unfortunately there were a couple things working against me during the two sessions it took to explore the Blue Diamond.
First the party hit the inn at least a full session earlier then I had expected and while I knew which map I was going to use and the level of resistance I wanted to set, I didn't have everything statted.
Second, I hadn't looked as closely at the map as I should have - If a person finds the one secret door that leads to the hidden hallway on the first floor, they have a complete non-secret path all the way to the fourth basement, with only a single trapdoor hiding the path to the vault.
Finally, I had planned for the party to be assaulted by the assassins that game night. An act of desperation on their part which could have provided clues and possible evidence. Instead the party gets the jump on them and all the big guns are detailed elsewhere.

Later, I decided the bad guys would lie low after the incident at the tavern.

For their part, the group didn't seem interested in pursuing the theives guild at all. They only wanted the harp and any extra loot. After that they just wanted to get back to the underdark.

Sadly this would end up killing two of them and provide a method of revenge for Father Dark. I was pretty proud when Kellron handed over 75,000gp to the thieve's guild.

 

[Seravin]

Apologies for not updating for the last two months. I've been busy, but I really don't have a good excuse for not writing. Not knowing where to take it up again is a poor excuse.
I'll try and have one done by this weekend.

-seravin

 

[RedShirtNo5]

Apologies for not updating for the last two months. I've been busy, but I really don't have a good excuse for not writing. Not knowing where to take it up again is a poor excuse.
I'll try and have one done by this weekend.

-seravin

No worries, story hours happen when they happen. But please do post; I'm drawing alot of inspiration from your SH.

My group just completed a heavily modified Book 1. They wound up doing the mines first. They didn't have the keys, but managed to bluff their way into the orc lair for a big fight. That was followed by some add-libbed underdark adventures unrelated to Book 2, then back up to the surface to fight Ramor and the death dogs, and finally the fight with Shilek in Broken Spire.

I'm looking forward to starting the underdark portion in earnest. I'll probably cut out 75% of the trolls and replace it with a variety of other more unusual encounters.

-RedShirt

 

[Seravin]

No worries, story hours happen when they happen. But please do post; I'm drawing alot of inspiration from your SH.

My group just completed a heavily modified Book 1. They wound up doing the mines first. They didn't have the keys, but managed to bluff their way into the orc lair for a big fight. That was followed by some add-libbed underdark adventures unrelated to Book 2, then back up to the surface to fight Ramor and the death dogs, and finally the fight with Shilek in Broken Spire.

I'm looking forward to starting the underdark portion in earnest. I'll probably cut out 75% of the trolls and replace it with a variety of other more unusual encounters.

-RedShirt

They do indeed. Speaking of which, the very next post.
Good luck with the second book. Ditching most of the trolls is probably a good idea.