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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Olgar Shiverstone" data-source="post: 270482" data-attributes="member: 5868">CHAPTER 3 – Son of TedThe party stayed at the Temple of Kraig in Aerolite City for a relatively uneventful week.  Alton was still off on his spirit quest, and had not returned, and the group had decided to wait a while longer for him.  Streith mumbled something about a vision, and wandered off, vowing to return.  Belarn spent the week wandering about town, gathering information, and spying on a halfling-run bookshop in the market district.  Nelum spent most of his time in his room, mumbling incantations over the many yet-to-be identified magic items that they had recovered during their adventures.  Wodyn wandered about the woods, doing some hunting and communing with the squirrels.  Olgar spent a lot of time praying – brawling – in the common room, but did take time out to scribe a few scrolls that he had been meaning to work on.  He discovered that by the end of the week Kraig had favored him, and he could cast even greater divine incantations.He was demonstrating his newly discovered hold halfling spell to Belarn one morning in the common room when Wodyn strode in from the woods, looking torn and bloodied. “Wha’ happened t’ you, man?” Olgar asked.“I was attacked by some kind of fiendish boars in the woods,” the barbarian replied.  “They were tough – I had to retreat to survive.”“Think it was th’ work o’ tha’ druid we irritated las’ week?” Olgar asked.“Probably.  Didn’t see anyone around,” Wodyn shrugged, and sat down.Nelum came downstairs, then, the pile of equipment in his arms.  He had finished identifying all the items.  Yuusdrail was sporting the black-and-red robes of Moloch.“Wha’s she wearing those fer?” Olgar demanded.  “We’ve not divided th’ treasure yet!  Them’s our magic!”  Yuusdrail passed Olgar the curing wand, and he hushed his protests.After a bit of haggling, the party came to a consensus.  Nelum would receive the protective earrings of natural armor and cloak of resistance, to be considered a permanent retainer for the use of his services in the future.  Yuusdrail kept the robes, Olgar the wand, and Belarn received a potion of invisibility and a set of pipes of the sewers.  They divided up the magical flaming torches equally.  They decided to pool the remaining items, the holy symbol of Moloch and the magical sickle, until they could sell them and divide up the profits.  Aerolite City was too small to have much of a market for such powerful items, so that would mean a trip to a larger city.They had just resolved to make the trip the next day when the sounds of screaming came from the street outside.  The group rushed out on the front steps of the temple, drawing weapons.A local woman was running toward the temple, a look of abject horror on her face.  Chasing her was a squat, whitish, blubbery humanoid, that stood about three feet tall.“Cousin a’ yers?” Olgar smirked at Belarn, but Nelum shouted out “It’s a DEMON!”The woman ran behind them, gasping, and fainted.  The thing made a series of rumbling, burbling, screeching noises.  Nelum’s eyes brightened, and he said “It said: ‘You summoned me, I have come for my payment!  Give her to me!’”“That tears it,” Olgar said, “Iff’n she made a deal with a demon, i’s no business o’ ours, let it have ‘er.  Ye deals wi’ demons, ye suffered the consequences.”The creature stopped advancing, and burbled at Nelum.  Nelum burbled back, then translated “It says she is of the bloodline, and must be taken.”“We’ll see about that,” Wodyn said, and stepped off of the temple steps, drawing his greataxe.  With one powerful; overhand swing, he crushed the thing to babbling goo.  He turned around and looked helplessly at Nelum.  “I thought you said this was a demon.  Aren’t demons supposed to be tough?”Nelum shrugged.  “It’s just a little demon,” he explained, “they mostly run errands.”“Aye, an’ we’ll ha’ nae truck wi’ demonic errands,” Olgar protested.  “Thi’ town’s goin’ t’ ‘ell in a ‘andbasket.  Entirely too much weird stuff goin’ on fer me likin’.  Best we’re off t’ other parts.  Leave th’ wench – she made ‘er bed, let ‘er lie in it.”Wodyn was already helping the woman to her feet, though.  “You saved me!” she said, once she’d been steadied.  “I don’t know where it came from!  I was just burning some terrible books Sarah had, and …”“You’d better begin at the beginning,” Wodyn said, sitting her down.  Olgar rolled his eyes, but stowed his weapons and leaned in to listen.“Well, about a week ago some of my daughter Sarah’s friends began to disappear.  They had been acting really strangely, going out in the dead of night, but I didn’t think much of it.  First Zachariah Lightbringer disappeared, then the twins Brandon and Brenda.  Then yesterday, Sarah didn’t come home from the market.  I was worried, so this morning I searched her room.  I found some sort of evil, demonic books.  I threw them into the fire, and that’s when that thing appeared.””What kind of parent ye call yerself, lettin’ yer daughter get caught up wi’ a demonic cult,“ Olgar said accusingly.  The woman just gaped at him.“The thing mentioned bloodlines,” Wodyn continued, and then had an inspiration, “are you related to the Gentries?”“Yes,” she said, “Distantly. Zachariah was part of the family.”The others looked at Wodyn, who was letting the woman go, asking her to return to her home.  “What’er ye inferrin’ big man?  A couple a’ missin’ kids ‘re no businees o’ ours, ‘specially wi’ idjit parents lik tha’.  T’aint seen no dwarven tykes runnin’ around wi’ demonic cults lately, have ye?” Olgar asked.“I think the missing girl, and maybe th’ others, are related to Farmer Ted,” Wodyn explained.  “That’s where our interest comes in.  We don’t know if we killed him, or he escaped.”“Aye, best not t’ leave an enemy behind ye,” Olgar agreed. “But ‘m still not convinced.  Show me a direct connection, an’ I’ll help ye, but without, yer on yer own.  None o’ out business, I still say.”Wodyn looked to Nelum.  “Is there a place that keeps birth records in this town?” he asked.Neelum nodded.  “The temple of Veriday.”“Then let’s look there.”They trooped across town to the Temple of Veriday, a soaring electric blue and white structure on the north side of town.  After a few minutes negotiating with the acolyte on duty, they were escorted in to the room of records, and shown a slim book bearing the name “Gentry”.“Here’s Farmer Ted …” Wodyn said.  “Says here Zachariah Lightbringer and Noir Rutherford are adopted grandchildren of Farmer Ted.”“Noir Rutherford is the druid you had problems with last week,” Nelum said.  Olgar looked up at him.“Aye, that’d be explaining it.  Iff’n there’s one bad apple in th’ basket, there’s bound t’ be more.  Like as not ol’ Farmer Ted came back, ‘n was corruptin’ ‘is grand kids.  Th’ druid attacked us once, and we heard this Zach kid was involved wi’ this demon worshipin’.  Bet both o’ them went bad.  Explains tha’ druid actin’ all weird t’ord us ‘n all.”Olgar looked at the records.  “Look ‘ere, only one survived outta each generation, but even th’ oldest taint listed as dyin’.  So either t’ records ‘re shoddy, ‘er there’s a lich in t’ family.”Wodyn located the acolyte.  “Is there a Gentry house in town?” he asked politely.  The acolyte reflected a moment, then gave them directions to the Gentry mansion, which lay in the woods outside of town.  It had supposedly bee abandoned for decades.“I bet the missing kids are at the mansion, working on something demonic,” Wodyn said.  “I’ll warn the woman that she may be in danger, then we’ll head out there and investigate.  I think we should warn the druid.  Farmer Ted might be there, too.”“Are ye daft, man?” Olgar asked.  “By all evidence t’ druid’s knee deep in this!  I’ll go wi’ ye, iff’n only t’ spoke Farmer Ted’s wheel.  But we goes in th’ mornin’, so I kin better prepare me spells.”  Nelum nodded in agreement.“Then it’s settled,” Wodyn said.  “Tomorrow we go investigate the Gentry house.”The headed back to the temple, to rest and prepare for the next day.  During the night, Olgar was restless.  He went to the window, and noticed a human form below, watching the temple.  It was vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t identify the man at this distance.  Th’ druid, he thought, spyin’ on us?  I’ll take care o’ him!  Olgar whispered an incantation, which fizzled.  The figure below turned and walked away. Ah, well, we’ll see ‘im again soon enough, I reckon.</blockquote>

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