Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 4076117" data-attributes="member: 16069"> Dungeon Crawl Classic #3 The Mysterious Tower Level 3-5Turn 86: To the Tower.Nudge Toomes, Professor of… well almost everything, leading light in the Department of Magics at Grimbo College, and sometime mentor to Anya, the pair relax in his cosy office.“Of course there’s still one possibility, but it’s a long shot.”“Tell me.” Anya leans forward in her comfy chair.“The Wizard Balthazhar, one of my predecessors, of sorts, he left Grimbo about a century ago, they say he knew about, well… everything. He did a lot of work with the Watch also, which may help you with some of your other problems- I hear you’re all very unpopular.”“So there’s a history of the Watch getting other people to do their dirty work for them.” Anya frowns.“I should say so- that’s how they work, shift the blame if need be, grab the glory if there’s any going.” The Professor smiles back at his apt pupil.Anya thinks about it a while.“So who’s Balthazhar, where can I find him, 125 years ago- that’s an awful long time, is he even alive?”“No. No, he’s very dead.”“Then how can I possibly ask him questions- if he’s dead?”“That my child is the hard part. Listen.”Anya leans closer in; the Professor looks left and right, like he’s about to tell Anya some big secret.“You have of course heard of the Wizard’s Tower?”Anya nods.Professor Nudge Toomes smiles and leans back, conspiracy over.“That’s him.”Anya suddenly sits up, “the Ghost in the Tower?”Nudge nods, and grins. “You just have to free him; that might make him grateful.”“That’s impossible.”“Nothing’s impossible my girl, haven’t you learnt that yet. Certainly many others have tried, and for less honourable reasons, they say Balthazhar hid a fortune in gold and magic in his Tower, if all you want are some answers to your questions then who’s to say he won’t see fit to share his findings with you.”“Others have tried- to get the gold.”“Tried and failed. Have you ever failed?”“Not yet.” Anya whispers back, “not yet.”“Do you even want the gold?” “No, I mean it’d be nice, but I want answers.” Anya grimaces.Nudge leans back in his sagging old armchair, smiles.“Then my advice to you is simple, don’t fail- you have questions, Balthazhar may have the answers.”Time ticks by, Nudge continues to grin at Anya, certain that she has already made her decision.“The question then is what’s keeping you in Grimbo?”“Nothing.” Anya mutters and looks away, “nothing, nothing at all.” “Then have a safe journey.”The Professor heaves himself out of his chair and heads off to potter about a bit, leaving Anya alone with her thoughts, the fire spits and crackles behind her.Six days later the Goodman Gang stride over a low hill and down into a rocky valley towards a range of craggy foothills, beyond the foothills nameless black spires pierce the clouds, the village of Ghoul lies hidden within the peaks, the village of the Damned, or so its said.But the Goodman Gang are not going there, at least not now.Their target is a little closer, only half a mile or so down the valley, across rugged scrublands not yet tamed by man.In the last six days the Gang have ridden hard, although each night with the promise of fresh clean beds ahead of them. Tonight they’ll have to make do with a camp fire and the Mysterious Tower, home and prison to the ghost of the Wizard Balthazhar.The Gang have made there way through Lacey and on to K-Stor, from there on through Bigg and to Skinthorpe, the final leg of their journey taking them to the village of Growl, and the Red Lion Inn, there they left their mounts in Bungo’s Stables. It’s but a short walk to the fabled tower, or so the lad at the Inn told them, he may have been lying.“My feet hurt.” Newt states.“Stop complaining, we’ve all walked the same distance.” Ala chides.“But I have to walk two steps, at least, to your one- I’ve travelled twice as far.”“It doesn’t work like that Newt.”“It feels like it does.” The Gnome sulks away, back to the rear of the Gang.And so here they come, with only a few hours of daylight left, the trek has taken twice as long as they expected, it’ll be getting dark soon, they need to find some shelter.They trudge on, the Tower’s close now, they can’t see it yet- but Anya can feel it, the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, there’s a storm brewing.Finally the Gang crest the last hill and there before them is the Mysterious Tower. Made of gleaming white marble; perfectly preserved amidst the ruins of an ancient keep. A shimmering blue force field surrounds the Tower, encasing it from ground level to its summit; it extends out mere inches from the walls. Newt can see something flitting about between the force field and the tower – it’s the ghost of the Wizard Balthazhar, according to Anya’s story. Newt hawks and spits, a bad taste in his mouth, he trudges on.The ruins are old stones of granite, pulverized by years of neglect and occupation. Newt can still make out the basic outline of the ruined, four-cornered keep; the perfectly preserved tower is startling by comparison.What’s that, the Gnome raises a hand, the others quickly stop and crouch ready for action.“Something’s coming.”“What?” Cas scans ahead.“Beetles.” Newt remembers them well from his time in the desert, “big ones, three of them.”“Heads up, missiles to the fore- time for action.” Cas swings into motion, the others hurry to obey, it’s a well oiled machine at times.Six feet long with shining black carapaces, that’s them alright, the same as in the desert, Newt’s not going to get caught out twice.FWUNGA volley of missiles, but only Anya’s crossbow bolt is true, it gouges a deep gash in the side of one of the creatures causing it to lag dramatically, it struggles to keep up, the lead pair however apply a little more fuel to the fire, they’re closing the gap very quickly.“MELEE.” Cas orders, the Gang ditch missile weapons and ready the big guns.The Giant Bombadier Beetles scuttle into the action.Ala and Jim leap at the first of them, Ala’s flashing longsword is turned aside by the creatures jet black carapace, Jim’s axe however finds a weak spot, a gout of yellow ichor erupts from the rent in the Beetles side.Bec and Cas lurch towards the second Beetle, before Cas can even aim his blow, Bec leaps in and smashes his greatsword down onto the creature, which is almost split in two, such is the ferocity of the attack.But Bec’s not done yet, he spins and steps back, dances a half-circle, which leaves him just to the rear of the first Beetle.SMASH.It’s dead too.Which just leaves.“Pelor…” The squeaky voice is Newt’s, a frontal assault this time, it seems he has a score to settle, the final Beetle wanders into a world of pain, it is however short lived, Newt smashes his mace down into the Beetles brain, the customary yellow ichor erupts, the Beetle twitches a little and then expires.“Feckers.” Newt spits, and grins.And is instantly gripped by a smiling, almost laughing Bec, the Barbarian hugs the Gnome to him, lifting Newt clean off the floor.“That feels better, doesn’t it?” The wordy Barbarian grins, then remembers his place and lets the Gnome down.“Well that went rather well, here’s hoping the rest of it will be that easy. Come on.” Cas strides on, the others wreathed in smiles, follow after.And less than a minute later enter the ruins proper.The Gang stand in the courtyard of what was once a powerful keep, now nothing more than weathered ruins. In the south-western corner of the courtyard, behind them and to their left, is an overgrown apple orchard, tangled by weeds and years of neglect. On the northern half of the west wall, is the still-standing stone foundation of what looks to be ruined stables. Continuing clockwise is the battered remains of a much smaller and better constructed building, obviously the officer’s quarters, in the north-eastern corner. Further round still, along the southern half of the east wall, is a larger, similar looking building, probably once the barracks of the common soldiery, now ruined.But none of this draws the Gang’s attention so much as the Mysterious Tower in the dead centre of the destroyed keep. Built of the whitest marble and still in pristine condition, it is a mere fifteen feet wide and rises just thirty feet in the air. There are no doors or windows. Completely encasing the tower is a shimmering blue force field roughly six inches from the wall.Anya’s gaze wanders across the tower; she spots a flicker of movement at its apex. Suddenly a gruesome looking Ghost flits from behind the structure. The Spirit is clearly trapped behind the force field, but that doesn’t stop it from fixing its gaze upon her, the Ghost of Balthazhar the Wizard moans, the sound- like a death knell.Which causes all of the Goodman Gang to take a step back, except one.Cas strides closer to the Tower, more or less oblivious to the noise, he stands there, hands on his hips, staring intently at the spirit.“We come in peace.” Cas waves at the Ghost.“Oh Pelor, he’s so embarrassing at times.” Ala can’t watch.“Can you hear me? We mean you no harm.” Cas turns back to grin at his audience, he gives a thumbs up sign to Ala, who smiles back- weakly, then hides her face when the Paladin turns back to the tower.The Priestess of Correllon shakes her head, muttering, “so embarrassing.”“We are here to free you.” Cas announces, grins at the Ghost Wizard, and tries a two thumbs up signal for good measure.The Ghost ceases its flitting, hovers, halfway up, halfway down the Tower.Slowly.Ever-so slowly.It raises both hands.And for some unknown reason makes a double thumbs up gesture back.Which makes the Paladin smile, he turns back to share his grin with his compatriots. “I think he understands”, the Paladin nods for emphasis, “this should be a piece of cake”, Cas winks at his compatriots.Then turns back, and pronounces every word, as if he were talking to a foreigner.“STAY THERE.”The Ghost of Balthazhar looks sharp left, then right, he has about six inches of play between the walls of the Tower and the shimmering blue force field, Balthazhar shrugs and looks cross-eyed at the Paladin- bloody adventurers, where else is he going to go?Next Turn: Scrumping for beginners.</blockquote>

Verification