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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rhael" data-source="post: 240454" data-attributes="member: 5269">Party DetailsRhael [Rhay-ell](Human Ranger), Reikon [Rye-Con](Elf Rogue/Illusionist), Terjon [Ter-jon](Human Paladin), Warramayl [Varr-a-May-el](Human Monk), Mareth [Mar-Eth](Elf Fighter), Entarsis [Enn-tar-siss](Human Sorcerer), Chade [how it’s spelled] (Human Cleric of St Cuthbert)Final Notes before I beginWhile detailed where I can be, there are certain side-tracks that we followed and general buggerising around (which for some reason seems to take a long time), which I leave out of the story.  For instance, there was an otherwise pointless encounter a small fortress we came across which I leave out of the initial part of the story.  It didn’t result in any of the three ‘C’s (Combat, Conversation or Clues), or even a bit of humour, so I left it out.Also, I’m going from memory on quite a lot of this stuff, so the early adventures will probably gloss over the bits that I can’t quite remember, and specifics will be more plentiful as time goes on.  I’ve just realised that I should have taken more notes during those early adventures…For those who read through this, some feedback would be appreciated regarding the length - too long, too short, about right etc.It all started when one day…It was a windy night, we were in the tavern (strangely enough), drinking, taking the piss out of one-another and bemoaning the general lack of talent in Esgaro when the door slowly opened and a stranger appeared out of the darkness.  This was not unusual in and of itself, but this guy was not part of the usual mercenary crowd.He lurched inside and stumbled toward the bar.  It wasn’t until he was fully in the light at the bar that I noticed that he was quite old, bedraggled looking and definitely injured.  He rented a room for the night and headed upstairs.  None of the other guys seemed particularly interested, so I wordlessly got up from the table and followed him upstairs.  I caught up to him just as he was opening the door to his room.  It was as he lit some candles in the room that I got a close look at him.  He was relatively nondescript, with the exception of an interesting disc he wore suspended from a leather thong about his neck.  He waved off any concern regarding his injuries, but after some probing as to his presence in Esgaro on a night like that he told me of his quest.  His studies lead him to believe there was an ancient warrior’s tomb hidden in the forest to the north west of town.  I did not let on, but I was a little skeptical at this, having spent a great deal of my time in the wilderness surrounding this town over the last six or seven years, and not come across any tombs.  He seemed very sure that this crypt lay within an hour’s walk near the northwest edge of the forest and contained vital clues to the unlocking of the keep of King Aldaran, now the subject of legend and bard’s tale.  Within the keep, he told me, was the power to save the world by turning back the tide of evil.Always being up for a bit of saving the world and evil tide turning, and conscious of his state of health, I offered my escort when he set out the next morning and agreed to meet him in the common room at an hour before dawn.  I bid the old man goodnight and returned to my friends.I informed them of my promise and the early start the next morn.  Terjon, probably my closest friend, due to the time we had spent training under the same master was willing and eager.  The others weren’t too concerned, but agreed to come along just to get out of town.  Entarsis balked at the early hour, but the others were okay with it.  I asked them not to drink too much and went home to get my gear together for the next day and to polish my sword.The Journey Begins.I was up and ready ahead of time, wanting to make sure the old man didn’t leave without me, and on my way to the tavern when a very loud explosion rocked the area.  It sounded like it had come from the tavern!  I broke into a run, my scabbard slapping against my thigh and rounded a corner just in time to see four riders covered head to toe in black plate armour mount their black war-horses and gallop out of town.I drew my sword and sprinted, into the tavern common room where the innkeeper was emerging from a back room with bleary eyes, up the stairs and down the hall to the old man’s room.  The door was torn from it’s hinges and the destruction in the room rivals anything I had seen before or since.  A blackened hole about six feet in diameter had been torn out of one wall and the old man’s body was left a broken and battered heap on the floor.  The leather thong that was around his neck lay broken on the floor and the ring that had been attached was missing.  After I checked the body for any signs of life the constabulary arrived.Over the next half-hour my friends turned up for our planned trip, similarly awed by the damage done to the room.  The constable who was in charge of the case was suitably unimpressed at the obvious involvement of magic and I remember thinking that he seemed almost happy the old man was dead.  No further investigation was carried out and no pursuit of the riders was made.  Case closed, apparently.  We decided that if this was important enough for the old man to be dragging himself around the countryside to find, then we should take on his quest.  With the exception of Terj, the others didn’t seem overly eager but they agreed to come along.  Given that we had all our gear with us, we set off immediately.The old man’s directions were not very specific, but at least we had an idea of where to look.  After about an hour and a half of exploring the area mentioned by the old man the night before we came across a stone embedded in the forest floor with ‘Enlor’ carved into it.  About twenty yards beyond it, toward the centre of the forest was what looked like a ruined temple with a heavy stone door.  It took myself, Terjon and Warramayl to get the door open and our reward was a dark passageway that smelled both musty and foul at the same time.With Mareth and Warramayl carrying the torches, Terj and I lead the way into the tunnel.Raiders of the Lost TombFollowing the foul odour to the left of a three-way intersection we came across a group of goblins living in a room that most human families wouldn’t use for a privy.  Warramayl jumped at the chance for some combat, the rest of us followed suit and the gobbos were dispatched without too much red blood shed.A little further on we encountered some more goblins, but it was a wall a short distance past their living quarters which was one of the more interesting finds of the trip.  The wall was at the end of a corridor and contained a nook, built into the wall over which was an inscription which, to paraphrase, said that Enlor’s hand had to be placed there and only those of Enlor’s blood could pass.  Of course, we had no idea what in the name of the gods that meant, so we all tried putting our hands on the stone, some quite tentatively – to no avail.Backtracking through the tunnels we killed off some more of the putrid residents and found a piece of parchment, apparently unaffected by the scourge of time.  Mareth and Entarsis identified the writing as an alternate form of Draconic and also suspected that the contents were encoded.  Not wanting to disturb the document, the sorcerer made a copy (I had the requisite implements with me).  Note:  The text of this parchment can be found in my post entitled "Prophecy of the Inner Key"Our final encounter in the catacombs was the most frightening to date.  We stepped into a long, rectangular room, and the figure that appeared from the darkness beyond our torchlight has stayed with me.  A 6’ hulking stone figure, resembling a massive gargoyle with glowing red eyes slowly moved toward us.  Jumping to action, like the well-honed fighting unit we were, we attacked.  Before we could strike it, it dealt an almost fatal blow to Terjon with it’s massive stone hand, who promptly retreated.  Finally, after near misses and glancing blows I finally struck what I believed to be a palpable hit to it’s shoulder.  After my strike, I was preparing to step back and watch another worthy adversary fall, but to my horror the cut (which seemed puny, considering the effort I put in) closed over almost immediately.Drawing on my studies of other planar creatures and the knowledge that only enchanted weapons have a chance of doing permanent damage, I yelled to the group something to the effect that magical weapons were probably required to take this foe down and that we should remove ourselves post haste.The group replied and we fled the room and the catacombs with me forming the rearguard.  After determining that the creature was not following us beyond the room, we all collapsed, exhausted, frightened and exhilarated on the forest floor outside the tomb.“In the name of Hieroneous!  What was that?!”  Terjon gasped, between breaths.We all shook our heads, wearily, having no idea of the exact nature of our foe.  Entarsis suspected an automaton, but he was noncommittal.After Chade got St Cuthbert’s assistance with Terjon’s wounds, we made our way back to town.My older sister, Brianna was studying with the local sage and given he was the only one in town who would have any idea about this document, it was for his residence that Mareth, Terjon and I headed after we cleaned ourselves up.  We showed Matthias the copy of the parchment I had stowed in my scrollcase.  He looked at it over his spectacles and requested to hang onto it overnight to study it further.  Having studied with the man myself during the course of my life, I trusted him with the document and we agreed to the course of action.After saying our thanks to Matthias we headed back to the tavern where we had predetermined our meeting to be.  I informed them of Matthias’ reaction and that we would return for the document the next morning.The rest of the day and some of the evening was spent in the warm embrace of the tavern’s fire and a few too many ales.  We discussed everything except for the stone beast, there appeared to be a silent acknowledgement that it was off limits, at least for the moment.  I headed for bed late in the evening, wondering what Matthias would be able to tell us in the morning…</blockquote>

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