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The Adventures of the Knights of Spellforge Keep
- Thread starter Dr Midnight
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Malachai_rose
First Post
Assasination
I found this in the general forum discussion and since its from Doc about what just happened and was extremely interesting I figured I would pass the link along here so those (like me
) that weren't aware of it can check it out.
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28183
I found this in the general forum discussion and since its from Doc about what just happened and was extremely interesting I figured I would pass the link along here so those (like me
) that weren't aware of it can check it out.http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28183
Re
Doc Midnight,
How is it at the table when something like this happens? Do the players bicker or brood? Most of the folks I play with don't like it when you pit party members against each other. I think it makes for some great roleplaying personally, glad to see Dartan roleplaying his hate for Jamison.
Doc Midnight,
How is it at the table when something like this happens? Do the players bicker or brood? Most of the folks I play with don't like it when you pit party members against each other. I think it makes for some great roleplaying personally, glad to see Dartan roleplaying his hate for Jamison.
Dr Midnight
Explorer
Sunday, 16th of Harvester
In the last three days, the Knights had lost two party members. The recent events had left a cloud of gloom over them… or, at least, the few Knights of a nature to show emotions. Orthos, Jamison, Lem and Vek remained in Whiteport.
Since Kizzlorn was the glue that seemed to keep the party together, no one had much to say to anyone else. Lem kept to himself in the library, reading various arcane texts (or as such could be found in a small port town). Vek kept a vigilant watch for Dartan, and immersed himself in his spells. Orthos seemed troubled as well, and kept to his temple, praying for an end to the party bickering. Only Jamison found it in himself to talk to the others… but they obviously weren’t feeling very conversational.
An idea occurred to him. “Hey,” Jamison asked Vek. “We haven’t found anything here, and we’re falling apart. Why don’t we teleport back to Spellforge Keep and just meet Kizz there? She won’t even have arrived for another two weeks, at least.”
The lich agreed. Anything was better than sitting around, going nowhere, waiting and looking for something that wasn’t happening. The group teleported back to the Keep.
Vek stood at the top of the stairs to his lair in the basement and said “Ahh… be it ever so dank and eerie, there’s no place like a trap-ridden dungeon.” He laughed and descended into the black.
The skeleton with a broom that Vek had created to keep things somewhat orderly around the dungeon was sent upstairs to sweep the levels of the castle. Lem and Jamison went to work selecting their rooms and helping the skeleton in cleaning up the dust and cobwebs. Orthos was a little too unnerved by the undead to work alongside it. It was believed that he was in denial about Vek’s condition, as well.
In the two weeks to follow, the group cleaned and repaired. They rid the castle of moldy old tapestries and rotted furniture. The table in the grand dining hall was replaced, and the upper bedrooms were cleared of bats. The winch mechanism for the drawbridge was oiled, and Orthos purified the water in the moat, as it had grown horribly stagnant and choked with algae. The place started to look hospitable again.
Godsday, 4th of Patchwall
A booming knock at the main door brought Lem from his study, irritably rubbing his eyes. He’d been reading many of Vek’s tomes on death and undeath and was in no mood to deal with visitors. He opened the portcullis and glared at the person standing on the drawbridge.
The boy couldn’t have been older than fifteen. He wore the rugged, simple clothes of a farmer. His hands were rough and dirty. His hair was uncombed. He was obviously quite nervous.
“What do you want,” Lem snapped.
“Uh… um…” the boy was now clearly frightened and rethinking his errand. Spellforge Keep still had a reputation for miles around as the den of a lich. That Rafflorn Spellforge was held responsible for the deaths of so many by the townsfolk around him didn’t help. The castle was something of a boogeyman for all the people who lived in its shadow. The new Knights hadn’t yet spent enough time in the area to work on their public relations. “I was told I could find adventurers here,” the boy stuttered.
“What of it?”
“Uh- well, I’m from a village not far to the south, in the foothills of the mountains. We’ve got a problem.
“How’d you like to be flayed? We don’t have time for—eh?” Lem turned his head, as if listening to something that wasn’t there. Invisibly, Vek had come to Lem’s side to keep him from entirely terrifying the young man. Still, he may as well have a little fun, and dole out a fright or too. He whispered to Lem. Lem thought for a moment, then nodded and turned back to the visitor. “All right, then, tell us about it.”
“Us? S-sir, there’s a monster up in the forests surrounding our town driving the animals down into our valley. We’re just farmers, sir, and we can’t fight-”
“What kinds of animals, boy? Loosen your tongue, lest I cut it out and make a stew of it.” This was going a bit far, Jamison thought. He’d also turned invisible and joined the jest at Lem’s other side. He whispered. Lem replied to the whisper with “Well, we want an answer out of him, don’t we? Go on.”
The boy was now clearly weighing the prospect of turning and running away from the castle. “TH-THERE’S SOMETHING UP IN THE HILLS AND WE CALL IT THE EVIL EYE SOME OF US WENT UP AND KILLED IT BUT BUT NOW IT’S BACK AND and AND IT’S DRIVING THE DIRE BEASTS DOWN ON OUR VILLAGE THEY’RE REALLY HUNGRY AND and and” He calmed somewhat after the outburst, and added feebly, “purple worms…”
Lem listened to invisible council and said “All right, we’ll go out and kill this thing again. How much are we being paid?”
“What?? We don’t have much to give you- what do you want?”
Lem’s lips curled in the darkness of his cowled face. “Power,” he hissed. He rocked on his feet as if nudged, and said “Oh, all right.”
They followed the boy to his town and were pointed in the direction of the cave of the “Evil Eye”. Some locals thought it might be the beholder mage come again, but others weren’t so sure. The sum-up of the situation was that a village named Havenfast had uncovered a cave deep in the hills during a mining expedition. In the cave was a beast that slew all the miners. The town hired a small adventuring party to go out and destroy the creature. When they returned, they reported fighting and killing something that resembled a beholder mage in the hills. Done. Now, several weeks later, it seemed something up in the hills was chasing dire wolves and bears down out of their hunting grounds. The town was attacked the day before by two purple worms and had lost several sheep and a pony in the assault. The animals were afraid to hunt in the hills, and it was now the job of Orthos, Vek, Lem, and Jamison to discover what and stop it.
They found the cave right where it was supposed to be. Vek walked in. His darkvision cut through the black and he saw nothing, even forty feet inward, where the cave ended. Then, it appeared. Something looking not entirely like a beholder shimmered into view before them. It appeared to be an enormous floating bloodshot eye with ten bloody nerve ends trailing off behind it, each of these tipped with another bloodshot eye. It was very clearly undead, Vek saw.
Lem cried out, as its horrifying appearance shook him to the core. He quailed and trembled, but held fast. It raised three of its eye-tendrils and blasted greenish and orange rays of light at them. Vek and Lem ducked, but Jamison was struck. Immediately, the eye “spoke”; a voice echoed through the cavern. “Stand aside,” it said. Jamison happily did. He stepped out of the cave and began petting Scratch, whistling to himself.
“So he IS a traitor,” Vek joked. Then, they were awash in the creature’s field of antimagic. They felt the strength blink out from their armor and the power wash away from their weapons. Orthos cursed a blue streak when he realized the Tear of Moradin was now just a normal warhammer.
Vek drew his sword and prepared to wade in. They wouldn’t be able to cast anything on it while the antimagic field was on them. The Evil Eye turned off the field and blasted them with its rays again. Vek said “This will never do.” He cast his own antimagic field on himself, and moved the remaining steps towards the creature. As he moved his field over the Eye, it disappeared. He thought for a moment, and realized that it was manifested as a ghost. It could well be moving through the ethereal plane behind them to strike at his partymembers. “Everyone, to me! Keep close!”
They ran forward and clustered about him, then began to slowly walk away from the cave. The Eye appeared thirty feet overhead and roared somehow. Its rays couldn’t touch them, though it tried. After a moment, it thought a bit, and blasted at the branches of trees overhead. The branches’ bases disintegrated, and the immense pieces of wood fell on the party. Vek raised his shield, Lilith, and deflected them as best he could… but they still took some damage.
Lem jumped out of the antimagic field and fired several rapid-shot fireballs straight upwards into the Eye. When the flame cleared, the Eye wasn’t there anymore. “There, I’ve killed it,” Lem said without much interest. “Let’s go home.”
The thing didn’t manifest again, so they assumed they really had killed it. They walked back to Havenfast. Behind them, the cave of the Evil Eye waited for its master to reappear… because Lem and Vek seemed to forget that destroying a ghost is no way to be rid of it.
They assured the grateful residents of Havenfast that yes, they’d met and destroyed the Evil Eye, and if there would be no payment, the Knights would be off to their castle now. They declined hesitant invitations to feast at a banquet in their honor. The farmers didn’t really want a lich at their tables, but they’d felt like asking them to dinner was the only reward they could afford to offer.
They got back to Spellforge Keep. The castle was lit up as they ate and drank and talked of adventure.
Next: THIS YEAR'S HALLOWEEN SESSION
In the last three days, the Knights had lost two party members. The recent events had left a cloud of gloom over them… or, at least, the few Knights of a nature to show emotions. Orthos, Jamison, Lem and Vek remained in Whiteport.
Since Kizzlorn was the glue that seemed to keep the party together, no one had much to say to anyone else. Lem kept to himself in the library, reading various arcane texts (or as such could be found in a small port town). Vek kept a vigilant watch for Dartan, and immersed himself in his spells. Orthos seemed troubled as well, and kept to his temple, praying for an end to the party bickering. Only Jamison found it in himself to talk to the others… but they obviously weren’t feeling very conversational.
An idea occurred to him. “Hey,” Jamison asked Vek. “We haven’t found anything here, and we’re falling apart. Why don’t we teleport back to Spellforge Keep and just meet Kizz there? She won’t even have arrived for another two weeks, at least.”
The lich agreed. Anything was better than sitting around, going nowhere, waiting and looking for something that wasn’t happening. The group teleported back to the Keep.
Vek stood at the top of the stairs to his lair in the basement and said “Ahh… be it ever so dank and eerie, there’s no place like a trap-ridden dungeon.” He laughed and descended into the black.
The skeleton with a broom that Vek had created to keep things somewhat orderly around the dungeon was sent upstairs to sweep the levels of the castle. Lem and Jamison went to work selecting their rooms and helping the skeleton in cleaning up the dust and cobwebs. Orthos was a little too unnerved by the undead to work alongside it. It was believed that he was in denial about Vek’s condition, as well.
In the two weeks to follow, the group cleaned and repaired. They rid the castle of moldy old tapestries and rotted furniture. The table in the grand dining hall was replaced, and the upper bedrooms were cleared of bats. The winch mechanism for the drawbridge was oiled, and Orthos purified the water in the moat, as it had grown horribly stagnant and choked with algae. The place started to look hospitable again.
Godsday, 4th of Patchwall
A booming knock at the main door brought Lem from his study, irritably rubbing his eyes. He’d been reading many of Vek’s tomes on death and undeath and was in no mood to deal with visitors. He opened the portcullis and glared at the person standing on the drawbridge.
The boy couldn’t have been older than fifteen. He wore the rugged, simple clothes of a farmer. His hands were rough and dirty. His hair was uncombed. He was obviously quite nervous.
“What do you want,” Lem snapped.
“Uh… um…” the boy was now clearly frightened and rethinking his errand. Spellforge Keep still had a reputation for miles around as the den of a lich. That Rafflorn Spellforge was held responsible for the deaths of so many by the townsfolk around him didn’t help. The castle was something of a boogeyman for all the people who lived in its shadow. The new Knights hadn’t yet spent enough time in the area to work on their public relations. “I was told I could find adventurers here,” the boy stuttered.
“What of it?”
“Uh- well, I’m from a village not far to the south, in the foothills of the mountains. We’ve got a problem.
“How’d you like to be flayed? We don’t have time for—eh?” Lem turned his head, as if listening to something that wasn’t there. Invisibly, Vek had come to Lem’s side to keep him from entirely terrifying the young man. Still, he may as well have a little fun, and dole out a fright or too. He whispered to Lem. Lem thought for a moment, then nodded and turned back to the visitor. “All right, then, tell us about it.”
“Us? S-sir, there’s a monster up in the forests surrounding our town driving the animals down into our valley. We’re just farmers, sir, and we can’t fight-”
“What kinds of animals, boy? Loosen your tongue, lest I cut it out and make a stew of it.” This was going a bit far, Jamison thought. He’d also turned invisible and joined the jest at Lem’s other side. He whispered. Lem replied to the whisper with “Well, we want an answer out of him, don’t we? Go on.”
The boy was now clearly weighing the prospect of turning and running away from the castle. “TH-THERE’S SOMETHING UP IN THE HILLS AND WE CALL IT THE EVIL EYE SOME OF US WENT UP AND KILLED IT BUT BUT NOW IT’S BACK AND and AND IT’S DRIVING THE DIRE BEASTS DOWN ON OUR VILLAGE THEY’RE REALLY HUNGRY AND and and” He calmed somewhat after the outburst, and added feebly, “purple worms…”
Lem listened to invisible council and said “All right, we’ll go out and kill this thing again. How much are we being paid?”
“What?? We don’t have much to give you- what do you want?”
Lem’s lips curled in the darkness of his cowled face. “Power,” he hissed. He rocked on his feet as if nudged, and said “Oh, all right.”
They followed the boy to his town and were pointed in the direction of the cave of the “Evil Eye”. Some locals thought it might be the beholder mage come again, but others weren’t so sure. The sum-up of the situation was that a village named Havenfast had uncovered a cave deep in the hills during a mining expedition. In the cave was a beast that slew all the miners. The town hired a small adventuring party to go out and destroy the creature. When they returned, they reported fighting and killing something that resembled a beholder mage in the hills. Done. Now, several weeks later, it seemed something up in the hills was chasing dire wolves and bears down out of their hunting grounds. The town was attacked the day before by two purple worms and had lost several sheep and a pony in the assault. The animals were afraid to hunt in the hills, and it was now the job of Orthos, Vek, Lem, and Jamison to discover what and stop it.
They found the cave right where it was supposed to be. Vek walked in. His darkvision cut through the black and he saw nothing, even forty feet inward, where the cave ended. Then, it appeared. Something looking not entirely like a beholder shimmered into view before them. It appeared to be an enormous floating bloodshot eye with ten bloody nerve ends trailing off behind it, each of these tipped with another bloodshot eye. It was very clearly undead, Vek saw.
Lem cried out, as its horrifying appearance shook him to the core. He quailed and trembled, but held fast. It raised three of its eye-tendrils and blasted greenish and orange rays of light at them. Vek and Lem ducked, but Jamison was struck. Immediately, the eye “spoke”; a voice echoed through the cavern. “Stand aside,” it said. Jamison happily did. He stepped out of the cave and began petting Scratch, whistling to himself.
“So he IS a traitor,” Vek joked. Then, they were awash in the creature’s field of antimagic. They felt the strength blink out from their armor and the power wash away from their weapons. Orthos cursed a blue streak when he realized the Tear of Moradin was now just a normal warhammer.
Vek drew his sword and prepared to wade in. They wouldn’t be able to cast anything on it while the antimagic field was on them. The Evil Eye turned off the field and blasted them with its rays again. Vek said “This will never do.” He cast his own antimagic field on himself, and moved the remaining steps towards the creature. As he moved his field over the Eye, it disappeared. He thought for a moment, and realized that it was manifested as a ghost. It could well be moving through the ethereal plane behind them to strike at his partymembers. “Everyone, to me! Keep close!”
They ran forward and clustered about him, then began to slowly walk away from the cave. The Eye appeared thirty feet overhead and roared somehow. Its rays couldn’t touch them, though it tried. After a moment, it thought a bit, and blasted at the branches of trees overhead. The branches’ bases disintegrated, and the immense pieces of wood fell on the party. Vek raised his shield, Lilith, and deflected them as best he could… but they still took some damage.
Lem jumped out of the antimagic field and fired several rapid-shot fireballs straight upwards into the Eye. When the flame cleared, the Eye wasn’t there anymore. “There, I’ve killed it,” Lem said without much interest. “Let’s go home.”
The thing didn’t manifest again, so they assumed they really had killed it. They walked back to Havenfast. Behind them, the cave of the Evil Eye waited for its master to reappear… because Lem and Vek seemed to forget that destroying a ghost is no way to be rid of it.
They assured the grateful residents of Havenfast that yes, they’d met and destroyed the Evil Eye, and if there would be no payment, the Knights would be off to their castle now. They declined hesitant invitations to feast at a banquet in their honor. The farmers didn’t really want a lich at their tables, but they’d felt like asking them to dinner was the only reward they could afford to offer.
They got back to Spellforge Keep. The castle was lit up as they ate and drank and talked of adventure.
Next: THIS YEAR'S HALLOWEEN SESSION
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Don't I feel a little sheepish. Boy and when you think you know someone, bam, they hire an assassin. I don't know quite what to think about Dartan. I figured he had a little honor, maybe not.
Thanks for the quick updates Doc. I am enjoying the new crew.
Thanks for the quick updates Doc. I am enjoying the new crew.
Dr Midnight
Explorer
I know. It's a little tough. He's never been away from the group, and now he's gone. I was really surprised when he hired the assassin, but you've gotta let Dartans be Dartans. I thought the whole baker-killing incident was nastier... but he pulled through that one.
I don't think we've seen the last of Dartan, Jeeves.
I know Dartan was a favorite, but stick with the new group people. They're going to prove just as interesting, if not more.
Plus, let me whet yer int'rest with this little image I just made up, heralding the coming week's Halloween-themed session:
I may re-post last year's session, THE HORROR BEFORE DAWN, here just to smack you with more Halloweenie goodness. THE WITCHES' LAMPS will be up and creeping about soon.
I don't think we've seen the last of Dartan, Jeeves.
I know Dartan was a favorite, but stick with the new group people. They're going to prove just as interesting, if not more.
Plus, let me whet yer int'rest with this little image I just made up, heralding the coming week's Halloween-themed session:
I may re-post last year's session, THE HORROR BEFORE DAWN, here just to smack you with more Halloweenie goodness. THE WITCHES' LAMPS will be up and creeping about soon.
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