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The Durnhill Conscripts
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7384369" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 12: SPECIAL DELIVERY</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 3</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Galen Thorne, human paladin 5</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 5</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Syngaard, human fighter 5</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 21 March 2018</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>Before this adventure started, Logan verified with each of the players whether their PCs had accepted a room above the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em> as their own rooms; there were four bedrooms, a balcony, and a common area, all reachable from a set of stairs in the back exterior of the tavern building. All of the other players agreed, whereas I had already given Syngaard a backstory that involved him spending his spare time between adventures as a bouncer in a brothel, where he was paid only in room and board. So Daleth, Galen, Kaspar, and Orion each have a room above the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>, while Syngaard generally sleeps many blocks away.</p><p></p><p>Then, to begin the adventure, Logan passed a piece of paper to each player which contined a "status briefing" about what their PCs were doing at 3 a.m. the morning of the adventure in question. I'll start this write-up by posting each of the player handouts, in turn.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>Awakened in the middle of the night with orders to meet at the tavern in an hour - the tavern directly below them - the four conscripts each pulled on their clothing and armor, grabbed up their adventuring gear, and headed downstairs (Orion bringing her dog Carl with her). Galen opened the door to the tavern; it was locked, but his iron ring glowed gently for a moment as he touched the handle and the door offered him no resistance. Stepping into the tavern, <em>everburning torches</em> flared up to full brightness around the room. Behind him came Kaspar, Daleth, and Orion; already present in the room were Dow, the doll-homunculus Skevros had left upon a tabletop before last leaving the tavern, and the unnamed bartender, an <em>unseen servant</em> the king's adviser had given an illusory visual image so she could better interact with others. She smiled up at the adventurers upon their arrival, wiping absently at the bar with a damp rag as she did so. "An ale!" called out Galen, wanting something to help him wake up at this odd hour.</p><p></p><p>The group of four took their accustomed places around the table, yawning. Orion went to the back of the bar where she kept the food for Carl, who had accompanied her into the tavern. (All four of the bedrooms on the top floor were the same size, so there was plenty of space for Carl to sleep in Orion's room with her. Galen's warhorse, Seneca, was another story altogether - he was out in the stables to the south of the tavern.)</p><p></p><p>"I wonder what's taking Syngaard so long to show up?" questioned Daleth.</p><p></p><p>"He's probably paying off the five halflings he sleeps with every night," mused Galen, getting a sputter of laughter from Orion as a response. "Not likely!" she replied.</p><p></p><p>"He <em>is</em> across town," pointed out Kaspar matter-of-factly. "More to the point, I wonder why Skevros chose to wake us up to meet in an hour when it took us all of about five minutes to make it down here?"</p><p></p><p>"Probably had to account for Syngaard," surmised Orion. "It'll likely take that bumbling oaf at least half an hour just to find his damn pants." She suddenly smiled, thinking about the dream she'd been in the middle of when she had been awakened: Syngaard as her tiny little assistant, only half as tall as the halfling rogue herself. She wondered if it were possible to have a double-strength <em>potion of reduce person</em> made up that would shrink the bald fighter to about a foot and a half tall....</p><p></p><p>Galen, starting to come fully awake after sipping his cold ale, decided since they apparently had some time to kill this was as good a time as any to try some experiments with the "seen" <em>unseen servant</em>. "Excuse me, Miss," he said, "Do you have a name?"</p><p></p><p>The illusory barmaid just smiled at him and raised an eyebrow as if in query.</p><p></p><p>"Is there some way you'd prefer to be addressed?" the paladin tried, but he received merely a patient smile in return.</p><p></p><p>"It's no use," pointed out Orion. "She's just a spell effect - two, really: an <em>unseen servant</em> and an illusion spell of some sort, both made permanent. Trying to get an intelligent conversation out of her is as pointless as trying to have an intelligent conversation with a wall - or with Syngaard."</p><p></p><p>Dow took that moment to surprise the halfling by walking up to her and hugging her from behind. "Hey!" squawked Orion, turning to face the homunculus. "How did you get here?"</p><p></p><p>"You put me in a bag," the animated doll replied. "You took ow the culloo away. Then, when you took me back out, the culloo was ow wong."</p><p></p><p>"All wrong?" asked Daleth, intrigued after translating her sentences from baby-talk to normal Common. "In what way?"</p><p></p><p>"The gwass and the twees," replied Dow. "They'w supposed to be bwoo, not gween." The elf wizard nodded his head sagely at this information, deducing she was used to the predominant color scheme of the flora in the Azure Glade, where she had spent most of her...if not "life," exactly, then at least existence. Kaspar suppressed an involuntary shiver; the animated doll still struck him as creepy. Galen and Orion seemed to be taking a liking to her, though.</p><p></p><p>About a half hour after their rude awakening upstairs, the four conscripts heard a pounding on the door to the tavern - which was still locked to anybody not wearing one of Skevros's iron rings.</p><p></p><p>"Who's there?" called out Galen. "We're closed!"</p><p></p><p>"I got a package ta deliver!" replied a gruff voice. "I seen yer light on." Peering through the window, the paladin saw a stout dwarf with a small wooden box tucked under one arm.</p><p></p><p>"Who are you?" Galen asked through the door.</p><p></p><p>"M'name's <strong>Melvik</strong>. I was hired ta deliver this box ta this address by some guy at the faire."</p><p></p><p>Galen opened the door, already peering at the dwarf with his temple-trained ability to see auras; the dwarf's did not have the tell-tale stench of evil about it. "Do I need to sign for it or anything?" he asked Melvik.</p><p></p><p>"Nah," scoffed the dwarf, handing the box over to Galen. "I was jest told ta bring it to ye, and ye'd know what ta do with it." With that, he gave the group a nod in parting and turned on his heel, heading south back down the street.</p><p></p><p>"What do you suppose it is?" asked Daleth.</p><p></p><p>"I'm not sure," admitted Galen, turning it over in his hands. "There are no markings on it. And it's not inherently evil."</p><p></p><p>"Let me see it," suggested Orion, giving it a good scrutiny. "There don't look to be any magical traps on it - not that I can detect, in any case."</p><p></p><p>"Perhaps it's from Skevros," suggested Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"That seems unlikely," replied Galen. "I'm going to open it."</p><p></p><p>"Do it outside," suggested Orion. "Just in case." It seemed like a prudent course of action to Galen, so he pried the wooden box open with a dagger while standing just outside the door to the tavern. Inside the box was a single sheet of parchment, folded over and sealed with a blob of wax.</p><p></p><p>"What's it say?" demanded Daleth, trying to look over the paladin's broad shoulder. Unnoticed by either of them, Orion and Kaspar had given each other a knowing look and quietly stepped back inside the tavern - again, just in case.</p><p></p><p>It turned out to have been a good idea. Galen opened the parchment and immediately activated the <em>explosive runes</em> printed on the inside surface of the sheet. A blast of fire scorched his face, doing little more permanent damage than irritating the rugged paladin - but knocking back Daleth, who hit his head against the tavern wall and collapsed to the ground in a seemingly boneless heap. "What--?" asked Galen, turning to look down at the unconscious wizard - these elves were frail, indeed! He bent down to administer to him - and four crossbow bolts <em>thunked</em> into the tavern wall by his head.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar had retreated to the safety of the tavern interior while Galen opened the sealed parchment, but he had been monitoring events from inside and heard the attack. He pulled the door back open and rushed out by the others, pulling a healing potion from his robes as he did so. Pouring the contents down the wizard's throat, Kaspar scanned the street across from him and his elven eyes picked out four burly shapes atop the two buildings across the way. Dwarves with crossbows, it looked like to the monk in the dim starlight.</p><p></p><p>Daleth blinked back to consciuousness in the span of time it took the would-be assassins to reload their heavy crossbows. Kaspar helped his fellow elf back into the tavern, where the wizard downed a <em>potion of cure light wounds</em> of his own to get him back to full strength.</p><p></p><p>In the meantime, Galen had activated a sunrod and tossed it out into the street, to help those (like him) without elven vision to see what was going on. The paladin saw the four dwarves on the rooftops, reloading their weapons. Orion stepped up beside him, took aim, and sent one of her throwing daggers flying across the street to the opposite rooftop, where it landed with a meaty <em>thunk!</em> in the shoulder of an assassin. His dwarven curses brought a smile to the halfling's lips.</p><p></p><p>Then another figure stepped around the tavern corner, from the alley between the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em> and the stables to the south. He aimed a hand crossbow at Galen and shot a bolt before the paladin could even make him out fully; fortunately, the bolt glanced off Galen's armor to no real effect. But then alongside this new assassin - a half-orc, now that he had entered the range of illumination of the sunrod in the streets - stepped none other than Melvik the delivery-dwarf. He fired a light crossbow at Galen, but his aim was no better than the half-orc's.</p><p></p><p>Ensuring Daleth was now safe inside the tavern, Kaspar made a snap decision and went sprinting across the street, to the northern side of the northernmost of the two buildings holding dwarven assassins on their rooftops. Fortunately, both buildings were but a single story high and the monk had no difficulty scaling up the wall and onto the roof. The nearest assassin turned to face this new threat - and was struck by a blast of fire, a <em>scorching ray</em> spell cast by Daleth from the tavern's doorway.</p><p></p><p>The four dwarves by now had their heavy crossbows ready for another volley. Kaspar was the obvious target for the two dwarves on the rooftop with him, while Galen, Orion, and Daleth were all standing just outside the tavern's front door, turning to face Melvik and the half-orc, and thus perfect targets for the other two crossbowmen. But then a commotion from the southern end of the street brought all heads aimed that way, if only for a moment.</p><p></p><p>"GUYS!" called Syngaard, nearly out of breath from running halfway across town in his full armor and adventuring gear. "GUYS! WE GOT TROUBLE!"</p><p></p><p>Truer words were never spoken from the bald fighter's lips. The two dwarves on top of the southernmost building whirled around and fired at this new reinforcement. The bolts whizzed by Syngaard's head but he didn't even notice. All he could see in the starlit night was that the lights were on in the tavern, so presumably the rest of the team was already there - and he had to get them focused on the problem at the Temple of Pelor before Skevros sent them out on some other stupid mission. The fighter almost ran into the half-orc assassin before even registering his presence. But the half-orc could see the human fighter just fine in the minimal light, and decided he wasn't as big a threat as those he was already fighting. For at the same time, Galen was charging at Melvik, swinging with his <em>sword of Zehkar</em> and causing the dwarf to grunt in pain as the blade struck true. </p><p></p><p>Orion tossed another dagger at her dwarven target across the street, hitting true as well, as the half-orc wheeled around behind Galen, pinning him between Melvik and himself. But the paladin had anticipated the move and struck out suddenly with his blade, piercing the assassin in the gut while the half-orc's own blade when whizzing harmlessly above Galen's helmeted head. Unfortunately, Melvik was able to take advantage of Galen's preoccupation with his larger opponent and he got his own blade in deep between the paladin's armor.</p><p></p><p>Up on the northern rooftop across the street, Kaspar handily ducked a blow from a dwarven warhammer and retaliated with a flurry of blows that turned the rooftop assassin into the first casualty of the fight. With a strangled cry, the dwarf fell from the roof to fall in a heap in the street below. The other three rooftop assassins shot at Syngaard again, for now he was much closer and easier to hit - although for all of that, only one of the three bolts managed to deal any damage to the scarred fighter, the others bouncing off his shield and armor as a matter of luck more than anything else - for Syngaard was just now even registering that his team was in the midst of a street battle.</p><p></p><p>Cursing the poor choice of spells he'd prepared the previous day, Daleth drank down a <em>potion of mage armor</em> before hestitantly exiting the tavern once again. He hefted his own light crossbow, thinking he'd likely have to use it if he wished to deal any further damage to the team of assassins.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard finally reached the side of the tavern and came up behind Melvik, whose attention was still on Galen. The fighter grabbed Melvik by the shoulder, whipping the dwarf around to face him. Then, morningstar raised menacingly, he roared, "WHERE ARE THE KIDS?" This was met with only a befuddled, "--Huh?" from the dwarf, so Syngaard followed through with the implied threat of his weapon, slamming it down into the dwarf's face.</p><p></p><p>Having determined the half-orc was evil by a quick examination of his aura, Galen channeled the power of Hieroneous through his magic longsword and used his next strike to smite his foe. The assassin dropped to the ground, unconscious and bleeding out.</p><p></p><p>Sudden dwarven cursing from across the street told the paladin that Orion's latest dagger strike - her third, none of which had missed - had struck her target once again. The dwarf was near to blacking out from blood loss himself, and Syngaard would likely have appreciated the anti-halfling invective pouring from the assassin's lips - had the bald fighter spoke the Dwarvish tongue. But then Galen returned his attention to Melvik; the little dwarf had caught him unawares once and he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice! Melvik, for his part, found it much more difficult getting in a sneak attack when his foe's full concentration was focused solely on him.</p><p></p><p>The two dwarven assassins across the street from Syngaard hastily reloaded their ammunition for another shot each, while the one on the other rooftop dropped his crossbow altogether to deal with Kaspar, who was fast approaching. He swung his warhammer at the elven monk, but Kaspar had no trouble dodging it. He followed up with a punch to the face that broke the dwarf's nose and sent a bolt of electricity coursing through his body, courtesy of the <em>tenryutsume</em> he wore on that hand. As the dwarf started to collapse, Kaspar grabbed him by the shoulder and led him to the edge of the roof, helping him to topple over the edge to land by his slain compadre. The dwarf's spine snapped when he struck the ground, causing him to lay at an awkward angle that instantly identified him as already dead.</p><p></p><p>Daleth cast an <em>expeditious retreat</em> spell upon himself and used his extra speed to dash across the street to the dead dwarves, where he gathered up the throwing daggers Orion had already impaled into them before their falls. She only had so many of these, and the wizard was certain she'd appreciate getting them back so she could continue using her most successful weapons to date.</p><p></p><p>Over by the tavern, Melvik - now surrounded by Galen and Syngaard - was doing his best to stay alive. Syngaard's morningstar just missed the dwarf's head by a hair's breadth and the fighter had to waste a moment yanking it back out of the tavern wall, where the force of his blow had caused it to stick in the wooden surface. But Galen followed up with a blow of his own, cutting deep across the dwarf's chest. By now, he was familiar enough with his magical sword to realize he wasn't doing the extra damage his blade dealt to evil enemies - and yet Melvik continued to try to kill them.</p><p></p><p>Another roofside assassin groaned in pain, as another uncanny throw by Orion caused her dagger to find its target - apparently fighting in the middle of the night with hardly any light to see by suited the little rogue just fine!</p><p></p><p>Melvik looked down at the half-orc assassin, noting he was still breathing, before returning his attention to the paladin he was fighting. The dwarf struck out again with his short sword, but Galen deflected the blow with his shield. "Never shoulda accepted this job!" Melvik hissed to himself in irritation - and no small amount of fear. Syngaard finally dropped him with a hard strike from his morningstar, and Galen was there at the dwarf's side almost immediately, applying just enough healing to prevent him from bleeding out. "I want him alive for questioning," he explained, seeing Syngaard's puzzled expression.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar ducked beneath a flying crossbow bolt, but in doing so fell prey to the other one streaking his way. Still, despite the wound, he managed to wall off all thoughts of pain and discomfort in his mind so he could best deal with the situation at hand. Putting his all into it, the monk sped across the rooftop and leaped across the gap, landing lightly upon his feet onto the next roof over, where he was greeted in combat by two very astonished dwarven assassins. They dropped their heavy crossbows and picked up their dwarven warhammers, but the one closest to Kaspar wasn't quick enough to avoid the monk's quick-striking hand, which nearly pitched the dwarf over the edge of the roof. As the dwarf pinwheeled his arms to avoid plummeting over the edge, he was struck in the gut by a crossbow bolt; he looked down at the street below to see Daleth looking up at him, his crossbow still pointed his way. But he spun back to face Kaspar, just as his partner was reaching the monk. Both swung their warhammers at him, but neither connected - and Orion's luck ran out at the same time, for a throwing dagger she'd just hurled at one of the dwarven assassins Kaspar was fighting went whizzing past its target. But Kaspar followed up with a flurry of blows, finally killing the dwarf he'd hit before and contemptuously kicking him off the roof as he swung at the other dwarven foe, making a solid connection. Daleth finished him off with a well-placed crossbow bolt through the eye.</p><p></p><p>With combat over, Syngaard wasted no time letting the rest of the group know what was up. "There's this orphanage the Temple of Pelor runs - all of the kids have disappeared!"</p><p></p><p>"You know this how?" Orion asked.</p><p></p><p>"They were all up and about when I passed their way," Syngaard explained. "They asked for my help - as a professional adventurer, no doubt. The only thing they could figure out was it might have something to do with a faire they took some of the kids to earlier yesterday - only when we went to the grounds where the faire was held, there was nothin' to show they'd ever been there. But I found this" - and he pulled a broken ink quill feather from a belt pouch.</p><p></p><p>"Interesting," replied Daleth, rubbing his chin in thought.</p><p></p><p>"Let's go interrogate our prisoners," suggested Galen. "We'll question them separately, and compare their stories." He pulled the half-orc over to the tavern, while Syngaard dragged Melvik over to the stables and dropped him inside. Orion and the elves went over to strip the dead dwarven assassins of any valuables.</p><p></p><p>"What's your name?" demanded Galen after the half-orc, who had been bound tightly with rope from the paladin's pack, had been awakened. The assassin thought it over for a moment, then answered, "<strong>Thorgaarth</strong>."</p><p></p><p>"What's the story behind that tattoo behind your neck?" Galen asked. While binding him tightly, he couldn't help but notice the tattoo on the base of the half-orc's neck: an hourglass with silver sand lying on its side.</p><p></p><p>"If you don't already know, then it's none of your damned business," Thorgaarth spat.</p><p></p><p>Over in the stables, with a nervous Seneca as his only witness, Syngaard picked up the questioning of Melvik where he'd left off. "Where are the kids?" he demanded.</p><p></p><p>"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about - I swear it!" insisted Melvik. Syngaard hated to admit it, but this Melvik stank of sincerity - or he was a really, really good liar.</p><p></p><p>"So you were hired to kill us," Galen prompted. "That didn't work out so well for you, did it?"</p><p></p><p>"Don't matter," replied Thorgaarth. "Dave's got a second plan in place - don't know what it is, but you'll find out...soon enough." Galen wracked his brain - he'd heard the name "Dave" recently, hadn't he? After a few moments, the memory came to the forefront of his brain: Dave was the guy who had hired that other half-orc to steal the dragon statuette from the castle, thinking it was Skevros's phylactery.</p><p></p><p>Galen tried another tactic, thinking back on the vision he'd had before being awakened. "Who are Osleth and Hirek?" he asked his bound captive. That got a reaction out of Thorgaarth: he furrowed his brow and asked, "I thought you said you didn't know about the mark...?"</p><p></p><p>"Let's see who else knows about the mark," replied Galen, pushing Thorgaarth onto his stomach and pinning him in place with his knee. Then, using his sharpest dagger, he skinned the back of the half-orc's neck off and brought the dripping tattoo over to the stables, leaving Orion and the elves to watch over the screaming assassin.</p><p></p><p>"What can you tell me about this?" Galen asked Melvik, holding the tattooed patch of skin before Melvik. "Nothing!" insisted Melvik. "Listen, if I had known my employer had anything to do with kidnapping children, I never would have taken this job -- I swear!"</p><p></p><p>"Who hired you for this job?" asked Galen.</p><p></p><p>"A guy named Dave - Thorgaarth took me to see him. Dave said we would be helping to destroy a terrible evil that threatened to destroy the world! I'm one of the good guys, I swear!"</p><p></p><p>"By trying to kill a paladin of Hieroneous?" demanded Syngaard, pointing to the holy symbol of the God of Valor painted on Galen's shield.</p><p></p><p>"There's no way I could be sure that was for real!" insisted a frantic Melvik. "Or that you hadn't taken it from some paladin you had killed! You guys were supposed to be evil-- that was what we were told!"</p><p></p><p>Galen went back to Thorgaarth to try to corroborate the dwarf's story. But as the paladin approached the group, Orion wondered aloud what was holding up Skevros - and why he hadn't shown after all this time.</p><p></p><p>"Skevros?" repeated Thorgaarth. "You guys work for Skevros? Crap! If I'd have known that, there's no way I'd have taken this job! I'm not going up against that fiend--I wouldn't stand a chance!"</p><p></p><p>"I'm confused," admitted Orion.</p><p></p><p>"What are we going to do with them?" asked Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"We're killing this one," decided Galen. "He reeks of evil, and the world will be better off without him in it."</p><p></p><p>"Go ahead," replied Thorgaarth. "Kill me. See how long <em>that</em> sticks."</p><p></p><p>"Very well," replied Galen, slitting the half-orc's throat with the <em>sword of Zehkar</em>. He noted with satisfaction that the sword seemed to deal extra damage to the evil being he was executing - proof of his evil nature. Orion turned away; killing someone actively trying to kill you was one thing, but executing a bound captive seemed like a different thing entirely.</p><p></p><p>"Let's go see to Melvik, before Syngaard kills him," replied Galen. The group went to the stables, where Syngaard was in the midst of threatening the terrified dwarf with a dagger.</p><p></p><p>"Leave him be," commanded Galen. "He seems sincere. And he's not evil."</p><p></p><p>"Tried killing me," retorted Syngaard. "That's evil enough for me."</p><p></p><p>"If wanting to kill you is a sign of evil," replied Orion, "then I'd wager the majority of the kingdom was evil. Starting with me."</p><p></p><p>Syngaard looked contemptuously at the group, all wanting him to put his weapon down and let Melvik go free. Well, he wasn't going to stand for it! He spun back to his bound captive, put the dagger back to his throat, and gave the weapon a sharp tug. Melvik howled in torment.</p><p></p><p>"Syngaard!" roared Galen. "I said not to kill him!"</p><p></p><p>"Didn't," replied the bald fighter, holding up a handful of beard to the paladin. "But he ain't goin' free with that beard of his intact." And he scraped his weapon against the dwarf's throat again, slicing off another chunk of beard. Melvik screamed as if he were being flayed alive. Only after the dwarf's face was baby-smooth did Syngaard step away, allowing Orion to cut the ropes binding him. "Get out--now!" warned the halfling. Tears of shame flowing freely down his smooth cheeks, Melvik raced off into the darkness of the night.</p><p></p><p>The conscripts went back into the tavern. "So what are we gonna do about them missing kids?" demanded Syngaard. Orion frowned in confusion; Syngaard's concern for missing children didn't seem like him at all. Maybe he was more...human than she'd given him credit for.</p><p></p><p>"I suggest we wait for Skevros to arrive," said Kaspar. "He may be able to shed light upon the matter. Perhaps even scry upon them."</p><p></p><p>"Well, what's taking him so damn long?" demanded Syngaard, starting to pace back and forth among the tables.</p><p></p><p>"Hey, Dow," said Galen suddenly. "Have you ever seen this tattoo before?" The homunculus was decades old; it was worth a shot.</p><p></p><p>"Shoo," said Dow. It took a moment for Galen to realize this was how she said "sure" in baby-talk.</p><p></p><p>"You have? Where?"</p><p></p><p>"Daddy has one," she replied innocently, pointing to the back of her neck. "Wight hewe." <em>That</em> was interesting, since Dow's "daddy" was none other than Skevros.</p><p></p><p>Daleth had been pondering something quietly by himself over in the corner for some time. Now he spoke up. "How exactly were each of you summoned here?" he asked. Each of the conscripts explained their respective summons, Orion and Galen adding what they'd been dreaming about when they'd been awakened.</p><p></p><p>"Did anyone specifically hear Skevros's voice?" asked the wizard. Nobody had.</p><p></p><p>"Then I don't think Skevros summoned us at all," Daleth reasoned. "It was no doubt the assassins, or someone associated with them. They wanted us to show up here, where they were already waiting in hiding. The obviously didn't know that most of us live directly upstairs - that would explain why we were told to meet here in an hour. Skevros wouldn't likely do that."</p><p></p><p>"Son of a bitch!" swore Galen. "We need to get in contact with Skevros immediately!" But although the king's adviser could contact the conscripts at will through their rings, they had no way to do likewise - not that that stopped Syngaard from trying. "Skevros!" he yelled into his iron ring. "Getcher scrawny butt over here, pronto!"</p><p></p><p>Orion turned to Dow. "We need to get in touch with Daddy," she said. "Do you know where he is?"</p><p></p><p>"He went in the magic dowe," the doll-homunculus replied, pointing to the door which led to the back room where caskets of ale and wine were stored. "When I open it, it's just a woom with dooty baywoows in it, but when Daddy opens the dowe, it's his magic house inside."</p><p></p><p>"I'm gonna check it out," decided Syngaard. The illusory bartender tried to block him, but the bald fighter couldn't be stopped by a simple <em>unseen servant</em> spell. Upon touching the doorknob, Syngaard's iron ring glowed faintly and the door opened - into an elaborate parlor. A family portrait hung on the far wall, depicting Skevros with a young woman and little girl, presumably his wife Jessica and daughter Sarah, now both long since dead. Nearby was a table filled with various alchemical equipment.</p><p></p><p>"Skevros!" roared Syngaard. "Get out here if you're in here!"</p><p></p><p>There was a commotion from one of the closed doors along the side walls, then Skevros opened it while pulling on and tying a robe, a scowl on his face. Behind him in the room beyond, Syngaard saw another "seen" <em>unseen servant</em>, this one bearing a strong resemblance to the woman in the family portrait.</p><p></p><p>The king's adviser looked less than happy at being awakened in the middle of the night and even less so being summoned by his own servants - who were trespassing in his own abode, of all things. But Syngaard quickly filled him in on the children who had been mysteriously taken from the Pelorian orphanage and his face softened at once.</p><p></p><p>"Do you have a means of finding them?" asked Daleth.</p><p></p><p>"I would recommend the osteovox," suggested Skevros. "Write your question and wrap it around the ink-quill."</p><p></p><p>After some consideration, the group decided on the following question:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The minutes spent waiting for the answer to arrive nearly killed Syngaard, whose patience was known for its short duration. But finally enough time had passed, and Galen fished the paper-wrapped quill-pen from the barrel of osteovox. Opening the paper, he read what was now written there:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"Oh, great," moaned Syngaard. "We gotta go face that damned succubus again."</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>Logan originally wrote this adventure with a specific constraint in mind: I was traveling on a courier trip for work on the Wednesday we were scheduled to play through this adventure, and there was a distinct possibility that I wasn't going to get back home in time for the session's start. So he wrote a way for Syngaard to arrive late, by tying him to a "missing children" plot that was the seed for the adventure that would follow this one.</p><p></p><p>As events unfolded, I did arrive home late that Wednesday - so late, in fact, that I would have missed the entire adventure had we played that night; however, they had to cancel it because Joey was sick and Dan and Vicki didn't want to chance spreading any flu germs our way. The following week, Harry had just gotten over the flu himself (it had been hitting the kids in his school pretty hard) so we canceled that session as well. So when we did end up playing through this adventure, there was no longer any reason for Syngaard to have to show up late. But, reading through my "starting status" handout, it only made sense for him to show up much later than the others. So Logan had me roll a d10 to see how many rounds into the fight Syngaard would show up, and fortunately I rolled low so I didn't miss out on much of the action. It was my idea to have Syngaard enter the area screaming at the top of his lungs, because that's about the normal situational awareness he has and it seemed like something he'd do.</p><p></p><p>By the way, Logan prepared a player handout for when the other PCs opened the message that Melvik had delivered to the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>. When Dan opened the folded up piece of paper, this is what he read:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As far as Skevros's tattoo, he indeed has an hourglass with silver sand on the back of his neck, but he doesn't recall having gotten it - it likely happened during the "missing memory" time when he was evil, courtesy of the <em>helm of opposite alignment</em>. Just another little bit of mystery we'll have to figure out in the adventure sessions to come.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7384369, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 12: SPECIAL DELIVERY[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 3[/INDENT] [INDENT] Galen Thorne, human paladin 5[/INDENT] [INDENT] Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 5[/INDENT] [INDENT] Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Syngaard, human fighter 5[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 21 March 2018 - - - Before this adventure started, Logan verified with each of the players whether their PCs had accepted a room above the [I]Enchanted Flagon[/I] as their own rooms; there were four bedrooms, a balcony, and a common area, all reachable from a set of stairs in the back exterior of the tavern building. All of the other players agreed, whereas I had already given Syngaard a backstory that involved him spending his spare time between adventures as a bouncer in a brothel, where he was paid only in room and board. So Daleth, Galen, Kaspar, and Orion each have a room above the [I]Enchanted Flagon[/I], while Syngaard generally sleeps many blocks away. Then, to begin the adventure, Logan passed a piece of paper to each player which contined a "status briefing" about what their PCs were doing at 3 a.m. the morning of the adventure in question. I'll start this write-up by posting each of the player handouts, in turn. - - - Awakened in the middle of the night with orders to meet at the tavern in an hour - the tavern directly below them - the four conscripts each pulled on their clothing and armor, grabbed up their adventuring gear, and headed downstairs (Orion bringing her dog Carl with her). Galen opened the door to the tavern; it was locked, but his iron ring glowed gently for a moment as he touched the handle and the door offered him no resistance. Stepping into the tavern, [I]everburning torches[/I] flared up to full brightness around the room. Behind him came Kaspar, Daleth, and Orion; already present in the room were Dow, the doll-homunculus Skevros had left upon a tabletop before last leaving the tavern, and the unnamed bartender, an [I]unseen servant[/I] the king's adviser had given an illusory visual image so she could better interact with others. She smiled up at the adventurers upon their arrival, wiping absently at the bar with a damp rag as she did so. "An ale!" called out Galen, wanting something to help him wake up at this odd hour. The group of four took their accustomed places around the table, yawning. Orion went to the back of the bar where she kept the food for Carl, who had accompanied her into the tavern. (All four of the bedrooms on the top floor were the same size, so there was plenty of space for Carl to sleep in Orion's room with her. Galen's warhorse, Seneca, was another story altogether - he was out in the stables to the south of the tavern.) "I wonder what's taking Syngaard so long to show up?" questioned Daleth. "He's probably paying off the five halflings he sleeps with every night," mused Galen, getting a sputter of laughter from Orion as a response. "Not likely!" she replied. "He [I]is[/I] across town," pointed out Kaspar matter-of-factly. "More to the point, I wonder why Skevros chose to wake us up to meet in an hour when it took us all of about five minutes to make it down here?" "Probably had to account for Syngaard," surmised Orion. "It'll likely take that bumbling oaf at least half an hour just to find his damn pants." She suddenly smiled, thinking about the dream she'd been in the middle of when she had been awakened: Syngaard as her tiny little assistant, only half as tall as the halfling rogue herself. She wondered if it were possible to have a double-strength [I]potion of reduce person[/I] made up that would shrink the bald fighter to about a foot and a half tall.... Galen, starting to come fully awake after sipping his cold ale, decided since they apparently had some time to kill this was as good a time as any to try some experiments with the "seen" [I]unseen servant[/I]. "Excuse me, Miss," he said, "Do you have a name?" The illusory barmaid just smiled at him and raised an eyebrow as if in query. "Is there some way you'd prefer to be addressed?" the paladin tried, but he received merely a patient smile in return. "It's no use," pointed out Orion. "She's just a spell effect - two, really: an [I]unseen servant[/I] and an illusion spell of some sort, both made permanent. Trying to get an intelligent conversation out of her is as pointless as trying to have an intelligent conversation with a wall - or with Syngaard." Dow took that moment to surprise the halfling by walking up to her and hugging her from behind. "Hey!" squawked Orion, turning to face the homunculus. "How did you get here?" "You put me in a bag," the animated doll replied. "You took ow the culloo away. Then, when you took me back out, the culloo was ow wong." "All wrong?" asked Daleth, intrigued after translating her sentences from baby-talk to normal Common. "In what way?" "The gwass and the twees," replied Dow. "They'w supposed to be bwoo, not gween." The elf wizard nodded his head sagely at this information, deducing she was used to the predominant color scheme of the flora in the Azure Glade, where she had spent most of her...if not "life," exactly, then at least existence. Kaspar suppressed an involuntary shiver; the animated doll still struck him as creepy. Galen and Orion seemed to be taking a liking to her, though. About a half hour after their rude awakening upstairs, the four conscripts heard a pounding on the door to the tavern - which was still locked to anybody not wearing one of Skevros's iron rings. "Who's there?" called out Galen. "We're closed!" "I got a package ta deliver!" replied a gruff voice. "I seen yer light on." Peering through the window, the paladin saw a stout dwarf with a small wooden box tucked under one arm. "Who are you?" Galen asked through the door. "M'name's [B]Melvik[/B]. I was hired ta deliver this box ta this address by some guy at the faire." Galen opened the door, already peering at the dwarf with his temple-trained ability to see auras; the dwarf's did not have the tell-tale stench of evil about it. "Do I need to sign for it or anything?" he asked Melvik. "Nah," scoffed the dwarf, handing the box over to Galen. "I was jest told ta bring it to ye, and ye'd know what ta do with it." With that, he gave the group a nod in parting and turned on his heel, heading south back down the street. "What do you suppose it is?" asked Daleth. "I'm not sure," admitted Galen, turning it over in his hands. "There are no markings on it. And it's not inherently evil." "Let me see it," suggested Orion, giving it a good scrutiny. "There don't look to be any magical traps on it - not that I can detect, in any case." "Perhaps it's from Skevros," suggested Kaspar. "That seems unlikely," replied Galen. "I'm going to open it." "Do it outside," suggested Orion. "Just in case." It seemed like a prudent course of action to Galen, so he pried the wooden box open with a dagger while standing just outside the door to the tavern. Inside the box was a single sheet of parchment, folded over and sealed with a blob of wax. "What's it say?" demanded Daleth, trying to look over the paladin's broad shoulder. Unnoticed by either of them, Orion and Kaspar had given each other a knowing look and quietly stepped back inside the tavern - again, just in case. It turned out to have been a good idea. Galen opened the parchment and immediately activated the [I]explosive runes[/I] printed on the inside surface of the sheet. A blast of fire scorched his face, doing little more permanent damage than irritating the rugged paladin - but knocking back Daleth, who hit his head against the tavern wall and collapsed to the ground in a seemingly boneless heap. "What--?" asked Galen, turning to look down at the unconscious wizard - these elves were frail, indeed! He bent down to administer to him - and four crossbow bolts [I]thunked[/I] into the tavern wall by his head. Kaspar had retreated to the safety of the tavern interior while Galen opened the sealed parchment, but he had been monitoring events from inside and heard the attack. He pulled the door back open and rushed out by the others, pulling a healing potion from his robes as he did so. Pouring the contents down the wizard's throat, Kaspar scanned the street across from him and his elven eyes picked out four burly shapes atop the two buildings across the way. Dwarves with crossbows, it looked like to the monk in the dim starlight. Daleth blinked back to consciuousness in the span of time it took the would-be assassins to reload their heavy crossbows. Kaspar helped his fellow elf back into the tavern, where the wizard downed a [I]potion of cure light wounds[/I] of his own to get him back to full strength. In the meantime, Galen had activated a sunrod and tossed it out into the street, to help those (like him) without elven vision to see what was going on. The paladin saw the four dwarves on the rooftops, reloading their weapons. Orion stepped up beside him, took aim, and sent one of her throwing daggers flying across the street to the opposite rooftop, where it landed with a meaty [I]thunk![/I] in the shoulder of an assassin. His dwarven curses brought a smile to the halfling's lips. Then another figure stepped around the tavern corner, from the alley between the [I]Enchanted Flagon[/I] and the stables to the south. He aimed a hand crossbow at Galen and shot a bolt before the paladin could even make him out fully; fortunately, the bolt glanced off Galen's armor to no real effect. But then alongside this new assassin - a half-orc, now that he had entered the range of illumination of the sunrod in the streets - stepped none other than Melvik the delivery-dwarf. He fired a light crossbow at Galen, but his aim was no better than the half-orc's. Ensuring Daleth was now safe inside the tavern, Kaspar made a snap decision and went sprinting across the street, to the northern side of the northernmost of the two buildings holding dwarven assassins on their rooftops. Fortunately, both buildings were but a single story high and the monk had no difficulty scaling up the wall and onto the roof. The nearest assassin turned to face this new threat - and was struck by a blast of fire, a [I]scorching ray[/I] spell cast by Daleth from the tavern's doorway. The four dwarves by now had their heavy crossbows ready for another volley. Kaspar was the obvious target for the two dwarves on the rooftop with him, while Galen, Orion, and Daleth were all standing just outside the tavern's front door, turning to face Melvik and the half-orc, and thus perfect targets for the other two crossbowmen. But then a commotion from the southern end of the street brought all heads aimed that way, if only for a moment. "GUYS!" called Syngaard, nearly out of breath from running halfway across town in his full armor and adventuring gear. "GUYS! WE GOT TROUBLE!" Truer words were never spoken from the bald fighter's lips. The two dwarves on top of the southernmost building whirled around and fired at this new reinforcement. The bolts whizzed by Syngaard's head but he didn't even notice. All he could see in the starlit night was that the lights were on in the tavern, so presumably the rest of the team was already there - and he had to get them focused on the problem at the Temple of Pelor before Skevros sent them out on some other stupid mission. The fighter almost ran into the half-orc assassin before even registering his presence. But the half-orc could see the human fighter just fine in the minimal light, and decided he wasn't as big a threat as those he was already fighting. For at the same time, Galen was charging at Melvik, swinging with his [I]sword of Zehkar[/I] and causing the dwarf to grunt in pain as the blade struck true. Orion tossed another dagger at her dwarven target across the street, hitting true as well, as the half-orc wheeled around behind Galen, pinning him between Melvik and himself. But the paladin had anticipated the move and struck out suddenly with his blade, piercing the assassin in the gut while the half-orc's own blade when whizzing harmlessly above Galen's helmeted head. Unfortunately, Melvik was able to take advantage of Galen's preoccupation with his larger opponent and he got his own blade in deep between the paladin's armor. Up on the northern rooftop across the street, Kaspar handily ducked a blow from a dwarven warhammer and retaliated with a flurry of blows that turned the rooftop assassin into the first casualty of the fight. With a strangled cry, the dwarf fell from the roof to fall in a heap in the street below. The other three rooftop assassins shot at Syngaard again, for now he was much closer and easier to hit - although for all of that, only one of the three bolts managed to deal any damage to the scarred fighter, the others bouncing off his shield and armor as a matter of luck more than anything else - for Syngaard was just now even registering that his team was in the midst of a street battle. Cursing the poor choice of spells he'd prepared the previous day, Daleth drank down a [I]potion of mage armor[/I] before hestitantly exiting the tavern once again. He hefted his own light crossbow, thinking he'd likely have to use it if he wished to deal any further damage to the team of assassins. Syngaard finally reached the side of the tavern and came up behind Melvik, whose attention was still on Galen. The fighter grabbed Melvik by the shoulder, whipping the dwarf around to face him. Then, morningstar raised menacingly, he roared, "WHERE ARE THE KIDS?" This was met with only a befuddled, "--Huh?" from the dwarf, so Syngaard followed through with the implied threat of his weapon, slamming it down into the dwarf's face. Having determined the half-orc was evil by a quick examination of his aura, Galen channeled the power of Hieroneous through his magic longsword and used his next strike to smite his foe. The assassin dropped to the ground, unconscious and bleeding out. Sudden dwarven cursing from across the street told the paladin that Orion's latest dagger strike - her third, none of which had missed - had struck her target once again. The dwarf was near to blacking out from blood loss himself, and Syngaard would likely have appreciated the anti-halfling invective pouring from the assassin's lips - had the bald fighter spoke the Dwarvish tongue. But then Galen returned his attention to Melvik; the little dwarf had caught him unawares once and he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice! Melvik, for his part, found it much more difficult getting in a sneak attack when his foe's full concentration was focused solely on him. The two dwarven assassins across the street from Syngaard hastily reloaded their ammunition for another shot each, while the one on the other rooftop dropped his crossbow altogether to deal with Kaspar, who was fast approaching. He swung his warhammer at the elven monk, but Kaspar had no trouble dodging it. He followed up with a punch to the face that broke the dwarf's nose and sent a bolt of electricity coursing through his body, courtesy of the [I]tenryutsume[/I] he wore on that hand. As the dwarf started to collapse, Kaspar grabbed him by the shoulder and led him to the edge of the roof, helping him to topple over the edge to land by his slain compadre. The dwarf's spine snapped when he struck the ground, causing him to lay at an awkward angle that instantly identified him as already dead. Daleth cast an [I]expeditious retreat[/I] spell upon himself and used his extra speed to dash across the street to the dead dwarves, where he gathered up the throwing daggers Orion had already impaled into them before their falls. She only had so many of these, and the wizard was certain she'd appreciate getting them back so she could continue using her most successful weapons to date. Over by the tavern, Melvik - now surrounded by Galen and Syngaard - was doing his best to stay alive. Syngaard's morningstar just missed the dwarf's head by a hair's breadth and the fighter had to waste a moment yanking it back out of the tavern wall, where the force of his blow had caused it to stick in the wooden surface. But Galen followed up with a blow of his own, cutting deep across the dwarf's chest. By now, he was familiar enough with his magical sword to realize he wasn't doing the extra damage his blade dealt to evil enemies - and yet Melvik continued to try to kill them. Another roofside assassin groaned in pain, as another uncanny throw by Orion caused her dagger to find its target - apparently fighting in the middle of the night with hardly any light to see by suited the little rogue just fine! Melvik looked down at the half-orc assassin, noting he was still breathing, before returning his attention to the paladin he was fighting. The dwarf struck out again with his short sword, but Galen deflected the blow with his shield. "Never shoulda accepted this job!" Melvik hissed to himself in irritation - and no small amount of fear. Syngaard finally dropped him with a hard strike from his morningstar, and Galen was there at the dwarf's side almost immediately, applying just enough healing to prevent him from bleeding out. "I want him alive for questioning," he explained, seeing Syngaard's puzzled expression. Kaspar ducked beneath a flying crossbow bolt, but in doing so fell prey to the other one streaking his way. Still, despite the wound, he managed to wall off all thoughts of pain and discomfort in his mind so he could best deal with the situation at hand. Putting his all into it, the monk sped across the rooftop and leaped across the gap, landing lightly upon his feet onto the next roof over, where he was greeted in combat by two very astonished dwarven assassins. They dropped their heavy crossbows and picked up their dwarven warhammers, but the one closest to Kaspar wasn't quick enough to avoid the monk's quick-striking hand, which nearly pitched the dwarf over the edge of the roof. As the dwarf pinwheeled his arms to avoid plummeting over the edge, he was struck in the gut by a crossbow bolt; he looked down at the street below to see Daleth looking up at him, his crossbow still pointed his way. But he spun back to face Kaspar, just as his partner was reaching the monk. Both swung their warhammers at him, but neither connected - and Orion's luck ran out at the same time, for a throwing dagger she'd just hurled at one of the dwarven assassins Kaspar was fighting went whizzing past its target. But Kaspar followed up with a flurry of blows, finally killing the dwarf he'd hit before and contemptuously kicking him off the roof as he swung at the other dwarven foe, making a solid connection. Daleth finished him off with a well-placed crossbow bolt through the eye. With combat over, Syngaard wasted no time letting the rest of the group know what was up. "There's this orphanage the Temple of Pelor runs - all of the kids have disappeared!" "You know this how?" Orion asked. "They were all up and about when I passed their way," Syngaard explained. "They asked for my help - as a professional adventurer, no doubt. The only thing they could figure out was it might have something to do with a faire they took some of the kids to earlier yesterday - only when we went to the grounds where the faire was held, there was nothin' to show they'd ever been there. But I found this" - and he pulled a broken ink quill feather from a belt pouch. "Interesting," replied Daleth, rubbing his chin in thought. "Let's go interrogate our prisoners," suggested Galen. "We'll question them separately, and compare their stories." He pulled the half-orc over to the tavern, while Syngaard dragged Melvik over to the stables and dropped him inside. Orion and the elves went over to strip the dead dwarven assassins of any valuables. "What's your name?" demanded Galen after the half-orc, who had been bound tightly with rope from the paladin's pack, had been awakened. The assassin thought it over for a moment, then answered, "[B]Thorgaarth[/B]." "What's the story behind that tattoo behind your neck?" Galen asked. While binding him tightly, he couldn't help but notice the tattoo on the base of the half-orc's neck: an hourglass with silver sand lying on its side. "If you don't already know, then it's none of your damned business," Thorgaarth spat. Over in the stables, with a nervous Seneca as his only witness, Syngaard picked up the questioning of Melvik where he'd left off. "Where are the kids?" he demanded. "I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about - I swear it!" insisted Melvik. Syngaard hated to admit it, but this Melvik stank of sincerity - or he was a really, really good liar. "So you were hired to kill us," Galen prompted. "That didn't work out so well for you, did it?" "Don't matter," replied Thorgaarth. "Dave's got a second plan in place - don't know what it is, but you'll find out...soon enough." Galen wracked his brain - he'd heard the name "Dave" recently, hadn't he? After a few moments, the memory came to the forefront of his brain: Dave was the guy who had hired that other half-orc to steal the dragon statuette from the castle, thinking it was Skevros's phylactery. Galen tried another tactic, thinking back on the vision he'd had before being awakened. "Who are Osleth and Hirek?" he asked his bound captive. That got a reaction out of Thorgaarth: he furrowed his brow and asked, "I thought you said you didn't know about the mark...?" "Let's see who else knows about the mark," replied Galen, pushing Thorgaarth onto his stomach and pinning him in place with his knee. Then, using his sharpest dagger, he skinned the back of the half-orc's neck off and brought the dripping tattoo over to the stables, leaving Orion and the elves to watch over the screaming assassin. "What can you tell me about this?" Galen asked Melvik, holding the tattooed patch of skin before Melvik. "Nothing!" insisted Melvik. "Listen, if I had known my employer had anything to do with kidnapping children, I never would have taken this job -- I swear!" "Who hired you for this job?" asked Galen. "A guy named Dave - Thorgaarth took me to see him. Dave said we would be helping to destroy a terrible evil that threatened to destroy the world! I'm one of the good guys, I swear!" "By trying to kill a paladin of Hieroneous?" demanded Syngaard, pointing to the holy symbol of the God of Valor painted on Galen's shield. "There's no way I could be sure that was for real!" insisted a frantic Melvik. "Or that you hadn't taken it from some paladin you had killed! You guys were supposed to be evil-- that was what we were told!" Galen went back to Thorgaarth to try to corroborate the dwarf's story. But as the paladin approached the group, Orion wondered aloud what was holding up Skevros - and why he hadn't shown after all this time. "Skevros?" repeated Thorgaarth. "You guys work for Skevros? Crap! If I'd have known that, there's no way I'd have taken this job! I'm not going up against that fiend--I wouldn't stand a chance!" "I'm confused," admitted Orion. "What are we going to do with them?" asked Kaspar. "We're killing this one," decided Galen. "He reeks of evil, and the world will be better off without him in it." "Go ahead," replied Thorgaarth. "Kill me. See how long [I]that[/I] sticks." "Very well," replied Galen, slitting the half-orc's throat with the [I]sword of Zehkar[/I]. He noted with satisfaction that the sword seemed to deal extra damage to the evil being he was executing - proof of his evil nature. Orion turned away; killing someone actively trying to kill you was one thing, but executing a bound captive seemed like a different thing entirely. "Let's go see to Melvik, before Syngaard kills him," replied Galen. The group went to the stables, where Syngaard was in the midst of threatening the terrified dwarf with a dagger. "Leave him be," commanded Galen. "He seems sincere. And he's not evil." "Tried killing me," retorted Syngaard. "That's evil enough for me." "If wanting to kill you is a sign of evil," replied Orion, "then I'd wager the majority of the kingdom was evil. Starting with me." Syngaard looked contemptuously at the group, all wanting him to put his weapon down and let Melvik go free. Well, he wasn't going to stand for it! He spun back to his bound captive, put the dagger back to his throat, and gave the weapon a sharp tug. Melvik howled in torment. "Syngaard!" roared Galen. "I said not to kill him!" "Didn't," replied the bald fighter, holding up a handful of beard to the paladin. "But he ain't goin' free with that beard of his intact." And he scraped his weapon against the dwarf's throat again, slicing off another chunk of beard. Melvik screamed as if he were being flayed alive. Only after the dwarf's face was baby-smooth did Syngaard step away, allowing Orion to cut the ropes binding him. "Get out--now!" warned the halfling. Tears of shame flowing freely down his smooth cheeks, Melvik raced off into the darkness of the night. The conscripts went back into the tavern. "So what are we gonna do about them missing kids?" demanded Syngaard. Orion frowned in confusion; Syngaard's concern for missing children didn't seem like him at all. Maybe he was more...human than she'd given him credit for. "I suggest we wait for Skevros to arrive," said Kaspar. "He may be able to shed light upon the matter. Perhaps even scry upon them." "Well, what's taking him so damn long?" demanded Syngaard, starting to pace back and forth among the tables. "Hey, Dow," said Galen suddenly. "Have you ever seen this tattoo before?" The homunculus was decades old; it was worth a shot. "Shoo," said Dow. It took a moment for Galen to realize this was how she said "sure" in baby-talk. "You have? Where?" "Daddy has one," she replied innocently, pointing to the back of her neck. "Wight hewe." [I]That[/I] was interesting, since Dow's "daddy" was none other than Skevros. Daleth had been pondering something quietly by himself over in the corner for some time. Now he spoke up. "How exactly were each of you summoned here?" he asked. Each of the conscripts explained their respective summons, Orion and Galen adding what they'd been dreaming about when they'd been awakened. "Did anyone specifically hear Skevros's voice?" asked the wizard. Nobody had. "Then I don't think Skevros summoned us at all," Daleth reasoned. "It was no doubt the assassins, or someone associated with them. They wanted us to show up here, where they were already waiting in hiding. The obviously didn't know that most of us live directly upstairs - that would explain why we were told to meet here in an hour. Skevros wouldn't likely do that." "Son of a bitch!" swore Galen. "We need to get in contact with Skevros immediately!" But although the king's adviser could contact the conscripts at will through their rings, they had no way to do likewise - not that that stopped Syngaard from trying. "Skevros!" he yelled into his iron ring. "Getcher scrawny butt over here, pronto!" Orion turned to Dow. "We need to get in touch with Daddy," she said. "Do you know where he is?" "He went in the magic dowe," the doll-homunculus replied, pointing to the door which led to the back room where caskets of ale and wine were stored. "When I open it, it's just a woom with dooty baywoows in it, but when Daddy opens the dowe, it's his magic house inside." "I'm gonna check it out," decided Syngaard. The illusory bartender tried to block him, but the bald fighter couldn't be stopped by a simple [I]unseen servant[/I] spell. Upon touching the doorknob, Syngaard's iron ring glowed faintly and the door opened - into an elaborate parlor. A family portrait hung on the far wall, depicting Skevros with a young woman and little girl, presumably his wife Jessica and daughter Sarah, now both long since dead. Nearby was a table filled with various alchemical equipment. "Skevros!" roared Syngaard. "Get out here if you're in here!" There was a commotion from one of the closed doors along the side walls, then Skevros opened it while pulling on and tying a robe, a scowl on his face. Behind him in the room beyond, Syngaard saw another "seen" [I]unseen servant[/I], this one bearing a strong resemblance to the woman in the family portrait. The king's adviser looked less than happy at being awakened in the middle of the night and even less so being summoned by his own servants - who were trespassing in his own abode, of all things. But Syngaard quickly filled him in on the children who had been mysteriously taken from the Pelorian orphanage and his face softened at once. "Do you have a means of finding them?" asked Daleth. "I would recommend the osteovox," suggested Skevros. "Write your question and wrap it around the ink-quill." After some consideration, the group decided on the following question: The minutes spent waiting for the answer to arrive nearly killed Syngaard, whose patience was known for its short duration. But finally enough time had passed, and Galen fished the paper-wrapped quill-pen from the barrel of osteovox. Opening the paper, he read what was now written there: "Oh, great," moaned Syngaard. "We gotta go face that damned succubus again." - - - Logan originally wrote this adventure with a specific constraint in mind: I was traveling on a courier trip for work on the Wednesday we were scheduled to play through this adventure, and there was a distinct possibility that I wasn't going to get back home in time for the session's start. So he wrote a way for Syngaard to arrive late, by tying him to a "missing children" plot that was the seed for the adventure that would follow this one. As events unfolded, I did arrive home late that Wednesday - so late, in fact, that I would have missed the entire adventure had we played that night; however, they had to cancel it because Joey was sick and Dan and Vicki didn't want to chance spreading any flu germs our way. The following week, Harry had just gotten over the flu himself (it had been hitting the kids in his school pretty hard) so we canceled that session as well. So when we did end up playing through this adventure, there was no longer any reason for Syngaard to have to show up late. But, reading through my "starting status" handout, it only made sense for him to show up much later than the others. So Logan had me roll a d10 to see how many rounds into the fight Syngaard would show up, and fortunately I rolled low so I didn't miss out on much of the action. It was my idea to have Syngaard enter the area screaming at the top of his lungs, because that's about the normal situational awareness he has and it seemed like something he'd do. By the way, Logan prepared a player handout for when the other PCs opened the message that Melvik had delivered to the [I]Enchanted Flagon[/I]. When Dan opened the folded up piece of paper, this is what he read: As far as Skevros's tattoo, he indeed has an hourglass with silver sand on the back of his neck, but he doesn't recall having gotten it - it likely happened during the "missing memory" time when he was evil, courtesy of the [I]helm of opposite alignment[/I]. Just another little bit of mystery we'll have to figure out in the adventure sessions to come. [/QUOTE]
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