Struggle and Strife- A scarred lands storyhour

[Lars Frehse]

A different kind of shade, part 3 of 4

However, there wasn’t much time to wonder about slitheren with invisible flesh right now. There was an open stable and a two-story house made from wood. In front of the house, there were three tents which seemed to have been abandoned a while ago, since the snow and the wind had tilted them to a side. Through the windows of the house, warm light was streaming out into the darkened day.

As the wind picked up, howling through the gaps of the ancient walls, they walked to the windows, and Niklas and Torn peeked inside. It was one large room with doors to the left and right. There was a fire place burning on the far side in front of which there were three make-shift beds.

There was more furniture in the room, and close to the fireplace were two humans and three slitheren skeleton. It appeared as if the five were engaged in idle conversation, and from what could be gathered by a short glimpse, it even looked as if the humans were treating the skeletons as their equals.

The friends gathered in front of the front door. Torn counted to three and after he had kicked in the door, they all charged into the room. While the attacked ones were still stumbling to get up from the chair, Torn already shot his spiked chain at one of them, while Ben used the effects of a spell he had cast before entering. His tongue was now several yards long, and he slung it around one of the humans, making him look like an oversized toad that had captured a bug which was too big for it's mouth.


Charging into the room, the heroes soon gained the upper hand. Niklas tumbled into the room and knocked out the human, while he was attempting to cast an arcane spell, while Ben and Torn held the Slitheren and the other human in check. Two of the skeletons seemed to have been trained as battle-monks, and like Niklas they were fighting with only their bare hands and feet.

After Trepat had used his arcane power for the day, the remaining rat-skeleton, who was wielding a scimitar was pushing him outside of the door, and the two fought on in the snow. Meanwhile, all the enemies except for one of the monks were defeated, as the door at the wall to the left of the entrance opened.

A man dressed in dark robes stood there, and two insubstantial humanoid forms stepped ahead. They looked like shadows, but unlike the Slarecian shadows, these ones were truly three-dimensional, and they stood there without being cast to a wall or the floor.

The Shadows took up a defensive stance in front of the dark robed man, who gestured towards Niklas. At his command, a spectral hand moved forwards and touched the surprised monk. Now Niklas felt a part of his life force sucked out of him, and looking at the spellcaster he noticed how he seemed to “drink” the essence of life that he had robbed from the monk.

This must have been the magic that killed the guards of the caravan without leaving any wounds.

 

[Nightfall]

Shadows and White Wraiths! Nice combo!

 

[Lars Frehse]

A different kind of shade, part 4of4

Torn slashed at one of the shadows with his spiked chain, but the weapon passed through, as if the creature wasn't there at all. Then Ben, who had summoned a flameblade before, attacked the same shadow, and this time the humanoid shape shrieked in pain.

Meanwhile, as Trepat kept on battling his opponent out in the snow, the necromancer guided his spectral hand, threatening the remaining three heroes inside. Niklas commenced fighting the remaining Slitheren. They both used the terrain for the advantage, jumping on chairs and tables, as they pummeled and kicked each other, but the human was slightly quicker and because he was calmer and more focused, he eventually defeated their last opponent in the room.

Torn dropped the chain, seeing his only chance in his magical mace. In order to get to the necromancer, who was standing behind the doorway, they had to defeat the shadows. But this turned out to be harder than it looked. Even though Torn's mace had been enchanted, it still wasn't guaranteed to hurt the undead. Ben was making better progress, however after he got hit, he felt his strength getting drained from his body, and he had trouble supporting his own weight.

As Torn fought on, his shield spell kept the shadows at bay, but since he had cast it when he had stormed the house, and since it was destined to expire after just one minute after having been cast, he was in a sticky situation. His shield flickered and disappeared, and the two shadows moved to flank him as the necromancer bellowed a triumphant laughter.

By now, however, Ben had engulfed Niklas's fists with magical energy. The halfling went outside to help his elven friend as the monk jumped forward and hit a shadow square in the centre. There was an unearthly scream and the shadow lost it's substance.

At last, there was an opening. Dodging the spectral hand, Niklas jumped into the breach and delivered a stunning attack against the mage. Torn, who had been hit by a shadow too, but still retained some of his enormous strength, bashed away at the remaning shadow.

Outside, Trepat had managed to defeat the skeleton, just as a new one turned around the corner. Ben came out to aid, but they were both weakened by now and their opponent was still unscathed. He shot his crossbow at the Elf, missing him by an inch, and then as he dropped it to pull out his scimitar, he charged at them.

As the halfling and the elf fought desperately outside, the necromancer inside recovered. But before he could complete his spell, his concentration slipped and the monk covered him with a flurry of blows. Staggering and at his wit's end, he guided his spectral hand to attack Niklas one last time, but he missed and collapsed. After all the damage he had received, the strain had been too much at last.

At the same time, Niklas and Trepat had defeated the remaining ratman and Torn was done with the shadow. Ben came in and after making sure that the necromancer would live, he took care of his injured friends. Even though he was able to cure the wounds, it was beyond his powers for the moment to give himself or them their lost strength back. However, he was able to assure them that they would regain their full power eventually.

After making sure that all enemies were defeated, the adventurers searched the house. There were some simple sleeping rooms, and one room that was fully furnished. In there, they found a chest with several golden statues depicting Corean and his steed, and a holy symbol crafted from ebony and studded with diamonds.

Even though these objects weren't magical, they must have been worth a fortune. The materials used were already priceless, and the craftmanship was excellent. After searching a bit more, they discovered a secret compartment with a small note:

"Expect small two carriage caravan around sunset today. Hidden among cloth you will find sacral art dedicated to Corean. As usual, leave no witnesses. D."

The message was signed with a magical rune. Trepat cast a spell and after a short moment, he uttered the name that belonged to that rune:" Dar' Tan".

None of them said anything for a while. Everyone had heard the name before, but all they knew were rumors. Dar' Tan was a dark elf, a race that was rumored to be extinct except for him, and he had once lead an organization called the Penumbral Pentagon that had wanted to destroy Mithril. He had been stopped by Barconius, but escaped. Noone knew much about the motivations of that organization. Some said that they were ultimately using their shadow magic to end all life while others believed that they were continuing the dark machinations of the Slarecians.

Whatever the implications were, they had to get in touch with the authorities. Searching the rest of the house, they found carrier pigeons, which they took with them. They disposed of the bodies, once again puzzled about the slitheren with invisible flesh and waited in the main room until the darkness of the night was disposed by the grey light of yet another winter day. Then, they took their findings, their still unconcious hostage and the pigeons and rode back to Mithril.

It looked as if they would miss out on the Gravelfists' new years celebration.

They reached Mithril in the evening and went directly to Barconius. Upon hearing that hisarch enemy was active again, he smashed his fist down at his desk:" I knew it. I will have that rune checked. Unless this is a fake, this means we have definite proof that Dar' Tan is still as alive and as active as he ever had been before!"

"You see, at the ball, Khelarian Asuras took me and Emili Derigesh into one of the side rooms. There, under six eyes he told us that his house wanted to make a gift to the city of Mithril. I think he is still worried that we will kick them out after the incident at Mullis Town. Anyway, he told us that several icons will be brought in a small two carriage caravan, hidden among more mundane articles."

He then took care of the Necromancer, but all the captive said was that Dar' Tan will take revenge eventually. Barconius had him taken to the dungeon and after a while both Emili Derigesh and Khelarian Asuras arrived in spite of the late hour.

Khelarian was certain that noone in the organization could have possibly been the leak of information, since he himself had received the news about the gift from his grandfather on the day of the ball. He wasn't willing to say just how he had received the information, but he assured them that it had been direct, and there were no middlesmen involved.

Likewise, neither Barconius nor Emili Derigesh had told anyone about the pieces of sacral art just yet. So, the only way anybody could have possibly found out about the valuable freight was at the ball itself. After all, the writer of the message even knew the exact time when the small caravan would be close to the raider's camp. Even if the informer would have hailed from Mullis Town, he wouldn't have been able to give such a precise estimation of time.

Since they were already involved, Ben decided to talk to the pigeons on the next day. Maybe they would be able to tell them where in Mithril they had their home. Likewise they would check Barconius' manor and the room where Asuras had told them about the gift.

But for now, a well deserved night of rest was waiting for the heroes. The way things looked, there would be more than enough to do on the next day.

 

[Nightfall]

No kidding there would be a lot to do tomorrow. House Asuras in bed with the Prince of Shadow?! They're lucky that Barconius himself doesn't rip Khelarian head off, and then proceed to do the same to Dar'Tan...if he can find him.

Good stuff Lars!

 

[Lars Frehse]

Thank you.

Oh, since it was House Asuras's caravan that had been raided they are safe. For once, they can even look good: They wanted to make a gift to the leaders of Mithril and became victims. But of course, the common interest of all is what their trading house really cares about.

I probably wasn't clear enough (comes from only telling parts of what occured). House Asuras sent the two carriage caravan with the icons, in order to distract raiders. They had decided that it was a good time to maintain Mithril's good will by making a pious donation. The icons were purchased at some point during the divine war, and there is nothing illegal involved on their part.

Alas, by some means, the raiders, possible Dar Tan himself, had found out about it. Maybe he wanted to cause frictions between the house and the city. Maybe the reason was a different one.

 

[Nightfall]

Ah, sorry then Lars. I guess I misunderstood. In any case, it's still pretty devious of Dar'Tan to pull something like that.

 

[Lars Frehse]

Before I go on, I have to say something that is pretty embarassing for me.

When I had spoken of doves earlier, I meant carrier pigeons. I will go and edit it now, and I just wanted to let you guys know. To my defense, I can say, that in German, both pigeons and doves are "Tauben", so I simply used the wrong word because we make no difference in German.

Sorry about that, it must have been confusing. I will post the next update now and edit the previous text.

 

[Lars Frehse]

Shadows of Mithril, part 1

The sky was clear and the sun was shining, as the heroes rose to another busy day. For the first time, a hint of spring was in the air, and the snow in the streets and on the roofs started to melt.

Ben talked to the carrier pigeons they had brought with them, and one of them told him about her home in the city of Mithril. She lived in a tower with other pigeons, and every now and then, a halfling who was as nice as the incarnate came to visit her and the other ones.

“If I let you free, could you fly slowly back, so that we can follow you?”, Ben asked.

The pigeon answered:” Yes, you are a nice man, and I would be glad if you would visit. Just let me go, and I will slowly fly over the roofs back home”.

Except for Torn, who expected to be faster on foot, the friends mounted their steeds, and Ben freed the pigeon. It flew up and eastwards, but even though it was flying slowly, they had to dash through the streets to keep up with it. It turned out that it’s idea of “slow movement” was still pretty fast, and since it was able to fly in a straight line, while the friends had to crisscross through the sidestreets and the alleyways, they had to spur their horses to keep up.

By now, the streets of Mithril were rather busy, and on more then one occasion, they had to jump over the cart of a horrified merchant, or shout at pedestrians to keep out of their way. However, they never lost the pigeon.

Eventually, they arrived at the Caravansery. It was placed close to the West Gate, which was the major departure point for Caravans bound for Mullis town, and it was a sprawling complex full of stables, small stands for food and drink, dormitories, storing spaces and much more. From what they had seen, the pigeon had headed for a wooden tower in it’s middle.

There was a lot of activity there. A big caravan was preparing to leave, and there were teamsters directing their animals through the mud, and shouting at each others, while merchants checked the wagons one last time and mercenaries were trying to get one last drink before leaving.

Ben sat down at one of the stools at one of the small roofed stands where mulled wine was sold, and he turned to the mercanaries sitting to his left. To his surprise, it was Old Toby from Mullis Town, and next to him was Kalle, Toby’s friend who had directed the heroes to him when they had first investigated the plague.

Ben was surprised:”Hey, what a surprise!”

The halforc recognized Ben right away, and his leathery face was beaming:” Ah, it’s you! I am glad to meet you! I always felt I never thanked you enough for what you did for me!”

“Never mind that. What brings you here.”

Old Toby took a deep gulp from his tankard:” You see, when you had me cured, I still faced the problem of my kids being ill. You may remember that you had given Kalle some money when you had asked where to find one of the first plague-victims, well, me, ya know.”

Now the halforc looked around, and after seeing that they were alone at the moment, he continued with a lowered voice:” Kalle needed the money, since he was already infected. So, he got himself an axe and a leather armor and went out to get the money, no matter what, if ya know what I mean.”

Old Toby waited for a moment, and seeing that Ben nodded understandingly, and that he wouldn’t judge him, he continued:” When I was cured, I armed myself, and together we got the money to cure my family. By then, neither one of us had the taste to get back to the mines, even though the plague was gone by then. So, we decided to switch sides- after all, I have a family to feed and I can’t risk my life on a daily basis, trying to rob people. So, I signed up as a mercenary in Mullis Town about three months ago, and that is what he have been doing ever since.”

“Good for you”, Ben said:” Are you already familiar with this place?”

“Sure.”

“Can you tell me something about that building with the tower?”

“Oh, the pigeon place. From what I know, you can put your carrier pigeons there, and you can even rent them. Actually, we are going to have some on our caravan as well. It seems to work this way: you can rent a pigeonry and buy pigeons there. When the pigeons get back, you get part of your money back. This way, if something happens to our caravan, we can inform the headquarter of the trading house we are working for.”

“Can only trading houses rent pigeons and pigeonries there?”

“Ah, I wouldn’t that. Even though I had been thinking about buying one or two young ones, and raise them at home in Mullis Town, so I could send messages home to my family…”.

By now, the commotion at the caravan had calmed now, and they were ready to leave. Toby and Kalle got up and said goodbye, since they had to join it now.

Ben walked back to his friends, and together they went to the wooden tower. On the way, their boots were heavied by the mud and they had to be double careful to avoid the droppings of the horses that had just left. Over the entrance there was a sign saying “Torkinus’ Carrier Pigeons” and inside, there was a balding man behind a counter, and some employees were going up and down the stairs that lead up.

Seeing Jan, who’s armor and emblem of Corean showed that he had the power of a guard and judge, the man behind the counter greeted them with the utmost respect:” Greetings, dear gentlemen! My name is Tak Torkinus and I am the owner of this humble enterprise. How can I be of service to you?”

Jan stepped ahead:” We are currently leading an investigation, and your pigeons are a lead that could get us ahead. Do you have a list of your customers?”

“Sorry, sir, but we don’t. You see, a lot of our customers value their privacy. There are those with romantic affairs, that have to remain secret, or trading houses who want to act without other houses knowing what they are doing and many others. Of course, all this is legitimated, and I have a license that was signed by the high council. If you would wish, Sir, I would be more than happy to show it to you.”

Jan shook his head:” This won’t be necessary. How do you make sure that only the right people get to their pigeons then?”

“Ah, when a customers rents a pigeonry, he pays it’s rent in advance. He also pays for the pigeons he purchases of course. Then, the customer can get as many metal plates with the number of his pigeonry as he wants. You see, those plates are almost impossible to forge, except for magical means, maybe. Anyway, then showing the plate suffices to get to the pigeons, or get money back for returned pigeons, or paying further rent.”.

Since Jan was busy contemplating what the man had told him, Niklas stepped in:” And is there a chance you could tell us something about the owner of one of the pigeonries, if we told you which one it is?”

“Sure, if it is a regular customer, I would probably remember him. After all, I would like to help the government in every way I can”.

Ben nodded, and after walking up to the roundway with several pigeons, he recognized the one he had talked to earlier that morning. He showed it to the owner, and Torkinus’ face lightened up:” Ah! There is a halfling who comes to this specific one twice a day. In fact, you have missed him by merely half an hour! But he will most likely be here again before sunset”.

The friends talked to each other. They would use the day to investigate the DeBronis estate, where the culprit must have found out about the transport of the artifacts. Then, in the evening, Torn and Niklas, who were the stealthiest, would try to follow the halfling after he had been to the pigeonry.

Once they had decided about their next steps, they told Torkinus to keep silent about their investigation and went up to Temple City

 

[Lars Frehse]

Shadows of Mithril, part 2

In the DeBronis estate, the majordomus welcomed them. He showed them to the room where Asuras had told Derigesh and Barconius abou the gift the house wanted to make to the city.

It was a nice room with a big picturewindow to the south side, giving a view of Mithril below. There were some comfortable chairs, shelves with books on the wall and a fireplace in which a small fire was burning away. There was definetly no space in here for someone to hide.

They checked whether it was possible to listen to a conversation in this room by listening in one of the adjactent rooms, but even where the shaft of the fireplace lead upwards, there was no way to hear what happened in any other room.

Talking to some servants, they found no further clues on how anybody could have obtained the knowledge. There was of course the possibility of magic, however they were certain that a man like Emili Derigesh would have made sure that there were no scrying sensors and no magic around before having a confidential talk.

Meanwhile, the sun was nearing the horizon on the west, and so it was high time to return to the pigeonry. Trepat and Jan went to a pub where they had a meal and waited for their friends to fetch them.

Ben went into the wooden building, where he lingered near the counter. After a while, a young, dark haired halfling entered, and the owner nodded to Ben, signalling him that this was the halfling they were looking for.

Ben left the building, and now Niklas and Torn, who were waiting outside near a stand where mulled wine was sold over a counter that consisted of a bar between two barrels, knew that the next halfling who would leave the building was the one they were looking for. They finished their drinks, and soon they saw the halfling. He was happily whistling a song, gingerly sidestepping horsedroppings and ponds on the way, and he was heading out of the caravansary compound.

As the halfling walked down the road that lead southwards between the merchant quarter and the harbor, the last rays of the setting sun were gone, and Niklas and Torn took turns following him through the evening. Then, as Niklas was falling back, he noticed that they weren’t the only ones moving through the shadows.

It appeared that there was a woman with a green coat following Torn. She seemed unaware of Niklas, so that she was staying out of Torn’s view but stayed visible for the monk. Like the two heroes, she was expertly using doorways and other shadows to stay invisible for the one she was following. Niklas decided to stay behind her and see what she was up to. After all, she could very well be an accomplice of the halfling.

Eventually, the halfling reached the Demon Whale, a former warehouse that had been converted to a huge tavern with a sailor’s rooming house on the upper floors. The halfling entered the building, followed by Torn, followed by the woman, followed by Niklas, and except for Niklas all of them were unaware that they were being followed. Each one was greeted by a wall of heat and smoke as they went into the one big tavern-hall that was stretching out on the ground floor of the structure. There were over a hundred sailors in there, drinking, dancing, singing and pinching the barmaids’ bottoms.

Yet, the tavern wasn’t completely full yet. At this time of year, the seaways to Albadia were still blocked by ice, and so it was actually offseason in the Whale. The halfling went to a free table close to the middle of the hall, where he sat down and hailed a barmaid. After a short while, he was given a bowl of steaming soup and a tankard of ale. Niklas watched as Torn settled down near him and the woman did the same. He positioned himself to be able to watch all three of them, leaning against one of the beams that supported the ceiling of the drinking hall.

The halfling finished his meal, and as he reached for his tankard, something strange happened to him. First, his right hand got darker, and insubstantial. He looked at his hand in horror, but before he could even shout out, his whole body transformed. The flesh disappeared, and his clothes fell to the ground, no longer held up by any substance. Where there had been a halfling before, there was now an unattached shadow, similar to those the heroes had encountered at the raiders’ camp.

Torn was up on his knees, and he ran forward, but it was too late, and now he was standing face to face with the shadow, which attacked him. Meanwhile, panic rippled through the room, starting near the transformed halfling and then expanding like the waves in a lake after a stone had been thrown into it, until all of the hall was caught, and people were running around in a mad rush for the exit, knocking over tables and stepping on the unfortunate who had fallen down.

Niklas was bracing himself against the beam. He had noticed that the woman seemed to be as surprised as him, and she too stayed. He was pretty sure that when the halfling was transformed, she had been looking into the crowd to her right, as if she had seen something peculiar there.

As sailors and barmaids were trampling over each other, the shadow attacked Torn, draining strength out of him. The half orc pulled out his mace, but he was barely able to wield it with so many people running into each other. Then, the woman cast a spell. Before Niklas was there to intervene, she had finished it, and two magical missiles flew at the two combatants, both hitting the shadow.

Torn used the advantage, but he wasn’t able to hit his transparent opponend. Barely noticing another pair of missiles hitting the shadow, he fought on. Then Niklas and the woman, who he hadn’t seen before, were next to him. Niklas punched at the shadow without any effect, and the woman cast another spell and flames burst forth from the tips of her fingers which she had fanned out in front of her.

This was enough. The shadow dissipated and before Torn could thank her, the woman was heading for the exit.

“That woman, she had been following you ever since we left the pigeonry”, Niklas said, panting.

“Let’s not lose her, then!”, Torn said, and they both headed to the exit, catching up with the mysterious woman.

 

[Nightfall]

Mm I always did love that spell, transmute flesh to shadow.