The Scourge of the Ratmen [Scarred Lands] - Updated 1/26
- Thread starter Amaroq
- Start date
joshwitz
First Post
Actually, there was a little bit more to it than that. Pulling back the curtain...
I gave the party the Tear of Madriel, a poweful artifact with unspecified powers, to give myself some flexibility. I knew the swamp was going to be VERY difficult, and over the party's skill level. I did not tell the party that this was what it was, but Paks' player did a good job of remembering it and using it at just the right time (It had been about 3-4 m onths since the Tear had even been mentioned.)
I made an encounter table for the northern Mourning Marshes that went up to EL6. This encounter was the '00', which I mistakenly made harder by having it a surprise situation. (Shambling Mounds are notoriously quiet.). I don't mind player deaths, but I like them to be heroic. They should mean something so the player comes away with something more than just feeling that he rolled poorly or the DM was out to get her.
In this case, it also fit the story of Paks discovering her powers.
The Tear of Madriel is loosely based on the "Claw of the Concillator" from "The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe, which, of course, is based on the myth of the holy healing object (ie. "The Holy Grail").
I also like the idea of Madriel feeling remorse as she slew her own mother, Mormo, and that the resulting Tear has healing powers that further Madriel's objectives generations later. This becomes clear in a later episode that was prophesied when Verinia gave the party the Tear.
I gave the party the Tear of Madriel, a poweful artifact with unspecified powers, to give myself some flexibility. I knew the swamp was going to be VERY difficult, and over the party's skill level. I did not tell the party that this was what it was, but Paks' player did a good job of remembering it and using it at just the right time (It had been about 3-4 m onths since the Tear had even been mentioned.)
I made an encounter table for the northern Mourning Marshes that went up to EL6. This encounter was the '00', which I mistakenly made harder by having it a surprise situation. (Shambling Mounds are notoriously quiet.). I don't mind player deaths, but I like them to be heroic. They should mean something so the player comes away with something more than just feeling that he rolled poorly or the DM was out to get her.
In this case, it also fit the story of Paks discovering her powers.
The Tear of Madriel is loosely based on the "Claw of the Concillator" from "The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe, which, of course, is based on the myth of the holy healing object (ie. "The Holy Grail").
I also like the idea of Madriel feeling remorse as she slew her own mother, Mormo, and that the resulting Tear has healing powers that further Madriel's objectives generations later. This becomes clear in a later episode that was prophesied when Verinia gave the party the Tear.
Elder-Basilisk said:
We were all trying to figure that out!
As Paks' player, I knew that there was nothing we had which could resurrect a dead character. However, we had one item which I didn't know the powers of - the Tear, which my internal memory of the prophecy was "At your darkest hour, remember Madriel's Tear..."
Losing Stone sure felt dark, though as the story will tell, it certainly wasn't our darkest hour...
Issue #11: The Lizard Men and the Duck - Episode 1 of 5
We are deep in the Mourning Marsh, seeking the home of the tribe of ratmen who attacked Kratys Freehold. After two days of slogging through the swamp, we camped on the only hummock of dry land we could find.
Overnight, a shambling mound attacked us, leaving Miriel unconscious and Stone apparently dead. We were barely able to beat it off with Chuck and Telryn using burning logs from our campfire to drive it back into the swamp. Paks exhausted herself with the effort of using Madriel’s Tear, an artifact of the goddess which Miriel is carrying, to bring Stone back to life, and stumbled to her bedroll in a daze afterwards. Chuck and Telryn were both sick with Swamp Fever, and only Goldpetal, recently recovered from the disease, was awake and coherent after the shambling mound left.
Goldpetal stood watch through the night, and decided that we needed to sleep until we woke of our own accord, which turned out to be well into the morning, several hours after dawn came to the swamp. He gathered some more hag’s tongue, which helps to cure the Swamp Fever, and collected as much water as he could, using our waterskins and purifying it with a spell.
It is mid-morning on the 3rd Vanday of Charder. Goldpetal stands watch, silently. He is an elf, slight of build and less than five feet tall, with the fine aquiline features and pointed ears associated with his race. His hair is long and dark, flowing down over a muddy, tattered hand-sewn cloak, which he keeps wrapped about him. He watches intently around the campsite, noticing the small lizards, frogs, and insects which abound in the swamp.
Miriel wakes up first. She wears a cloak, once beautifully embroidered, which is now dirtied almost beyond recognition. Her hair is red, and she wears a holy symbol of Madriel about her neck. After greeting Goldpetal, she checks over the other wounded members of the party, waking them up as she goes to them in turn.
Chuck, the Vigilant, has recovered from the Swamp Fever, since we are now familiar with the symptoms and caught them fairly early.
Telryn is likewise recovered from the disease. The youthful mage is still suffering from the weakness he’s had since the stirges attacked, but Miriel remains unable to help him with that.
Paks wakes, refreshed and otherwise uninjured. Her wounds from the fight with the mauler and shaman are now merely scars, thanks to Miriel’s divine healing. She and Miriel are the only ones who have not become ill during our sojourn in the swamp. She begins to don chain mail as the others wake up.
Stone, however, is another story. The half-orc is still unconscious, and looks dangerously weak. Miriel heals him as best as she can, bringing him back to consciousness, but he still looks as though he is teetering on the brink. He isn’t sick, that she can tell, and his visible wounds have healed, so she concludes that something else must be wrong.
“What’s happened to him?” she asks the rest of us.
Telryn tells her the story of how he was dead, and Paks used Madriel’s Tear to bring him back to life. He describes how a great golden light, as of the sun, filled the clearing, and Stone, who had no heartbeat, drew his first breath.
Both Stone and Miriel look at Paks with respect and awe, but she shrugs and says, “I remember it only vaguely, as though it were a dream.”
Miriel looks back to Stone. “You should rest, then. It looks as though the goddess has borrowed your own, inner strength in working whatever healing you have had, and even now uses it to power healing beyond what I could provide you.”
He nods weakly, and lays back down. Within moments, he is asleep.
Miriel is also injured after the shambling mound threw her to the ground, and she heals herself. We rest a little longer, exhausted by our travails to this point.
It is already shaping up to be another hot, humid day. It still hasn’t rained.
“We should press on,” Goldpetal says, when everyone else is again awake. “We should not stay here much longer.” The rest of us nod, and grimly begin to pack our gear to continue.
“I hate the swamp,” Telryn says. It has become his mantra, and is said with passion. He is a tall mage, with brown hair, and his robes are dirtied like the rest of our ruined clothing.
Goldpetal tells us to drink as much water as we can, and then to fill our waterskins from the swamp. When we have done this, Goldpetal again purifies our waterskins.
Just as we are ready to go, we hear the sound of a melee to the southeast. There’s a thick fog coming off the swamp, and we can’t see very far, so Telryn sends Chester, his white owl, to see what is making the noise.
Paks asks Chuck to check the ground in the direction of the fight to see if he can find a safe path, which he does. Chuck also listens to see if he can tell who’s fighting, but with the swamp and the fog, he can’t tell much, other than that he hears metal on metal. Chuck and Paks draw their bows, and head off toward the fight, each with an arrow knocked. Telryn quickly goes after them. Goldpetal and Miriel bring up the rear with Stone, who has yet regained only a remnant of his former strength.
After about two hundred yards, Chuck and Paks come upon an amazing sight. They see a small, shallow lake of water, with all sorts of worn rocks sticking up, appearing to be the remains of a ruined building, most of which is under the water, with nothing higher than our knees. The lake is full of obese brown ratmen, nothing like those we’ve seen before. They’re fighting creatures who look like walking bipedal lizards. There are a dozen ratmen fighting six lizard men, one of which looks larger and more powerful than the others. The ratmen are wearing metal armor, which is also something we haven’t seen before.
Even as we come onto the scene, one lizard man falls with a scimitar in the gut. We notice a female human fighting on the side of the lizards, and if there were any doubt about which side to join, her presence makes up our minds. Chuck, Paks, and Goldpetal each shoot at the closest rat men. Chuck misses, but Paks hits one, wounding it. Goldpetal’s arrow misses his intended target, but strikes a different rat man. Telryn steps up behind Paks to cast mage armor on her. Stone loads his crossbow, but does not join the fight; instead, he keeps watch to make sure nothing sneaks up behind us.
Goldpetal and Chuck continue to fire, and Chuck wounds his target. Telryn adds a crossbow bolt to the withering hail of fire, but Paks draws her longsword. The largest lizard kills his opponent, and Goldpetal’s two hawks swoop down to attack one of the injured ratmen from behind. One of them hits hard, and the force of the collision breaks the ratman’s neck, killing it! The surviving ratmen fight on with desperation; one of them knocks a lizard unconscious, and he falls into the water.
Paks charges into the water towards the fight with her longsword drawn. She reaches the fight, and hits a ratman hard from behind, killing it. The strange woman grabs one of our arrows and stabs the nearest rat man with it. Miriel runs into the water to the aid of the fallen lizard, with her short spear out. She charges the ratman between her and the fallen lizard. She buries her spear into its chest, and is astonished to see it fall dead. Goldpetal, Telryn, and Chuck continue firing arrows at the eight surviving ratmen, but all three of them miss.
The lizard men and ratmen continue exchanging blows. The lizard men wound one, but the ratmen are still numerous, and knock down another lizard man. The hawks dive on another wounded ratman, and one of them scratches it further. The unknown woman stabs again with her arrow, but the improvised weapon does her little good.
One of the ratmen attacks Paks, but Paks blocks its blow with her shield, and counters with her longsword. Its metal armor turns her blow aside. Miriel casts a new spell, sound burst. A loud noise, as of an explosion, bursts over the battlefield, and one ratman collapses, dead, with blood streaming from its ears. Only seven ratmen remain, and two of them are stunned from Miriel’s spell.
Chuck shoots twice and misses both times. On the second shot, he fumbles, and his bow makes a horrible cracking sound. It is impossible to control, and flies out of his hands to land and sink into the water, out of sight. Goldpetal and Telryn continue to fire, but to no avail. The hawks attack another ratman. One claws at its eyes, but as it brings up its arms to protect its face, the other hawk flies straight into its fist. The second hawk is stunned and flutters weakly to the ground.
The biggest lizard man kills the ratman who Paks was fighting. For a brief moment, he and Paks face each other across the body. Paks asks him, in the common tongue, “Do you need help?” but he just looks at her strangely. After that brief exchange, they turn as one to face the surviving ratmen.
The ratmen continue to battle, but now they are starting to give ground. Odds which had been firmly in their favor now have turned against them, and they try to fall back towards each other, circling in defense of each other. They fight like cornered rats, seeing that there is no escape.
Paks steps further into the battle and swings at one of the injured rat men, but it parries her blow. That leaves it open for the leader of the lizard men, who crushes in its head with his great club. Miriel steps over to one of the stunned ratmen and attacks it with her short spear, running it through, and Telryn wounds one of the others with the next bolt from his crossbow. Goldpetal, worried about hitting his friends, fires low into the water, but his hawk attacks another ratman. Talons tear at its throat, and it falls backwards into the water, dead.
Only three ratmen remain. The strange woman steps to one of the downed lizard men, holding his head out of the water, and staunching the bleeding with a makeshift bandage. Goldpetal and Telryn let loose one more volley, but then the elf puts out his hand and shakes his head, telling the young mage not to bother reloading.
One of the surviving ratmen attacks Miriel. She steps into its blow, allowing it to hit her, and skewers it on her spear. It dies, and she has to step on its chest to pull her spear back out. Chuck charges into the battle with his two swords, and attacks one of the remaining ratmen, but his longsword turns aside on the enemy’s armor.
The last two ratmen give no quarter, and one of them manages to wound one of the lizard men, but then Paks reaches it, and a single blow from her sword catches it through the ribs, and it falls at her feet.
With only one rat man remaining, we have the fight clearly in hand, and Miriel turns her attention to one of the fallen lizard men. The stranger is holding its head out of the water so that it won’t drown, and Miriel prays for Madriel’s healing. The goddess grants her request, and the lizard man’s wounds close visibly beneath her touch. The stranger looks up at her, and says, “Thank you.”
The lizard men attack the remaining rat man and beat it down with their clubs.
As the fight ends, the lizard men do not put their clubs away. They look at us suspiciously. The leader says something in a strange hissing language. To most of the group, the hissing sounds threatening, but Paks sheathes her sword, and gestures at him with her palms open.
Telryn yells to Paks, “He was thanking us!”
He moves into the water and greets the lizard man in the same sibilant tongue. Miriel goes over to heal the other downed lizard man, and Telryn gestures at her, as though explaining that she’s a healer. The lizard men seem very impressed with her, and the attitude of the group seems to change. The leader gives a quick command, and the lizard men put away their clubs.
The leader gives a short speech, and Telryn is the only one who understands what the lizard man is saying. He translates for the rest of us. “He says, ‘Thank you for saving my people. We’ve had a rough time lately. My name is Hands of Fire. I can see that you folk are in very bad shape and possibly lost here in the swamp. Please, we would be honored if you would come to our home and stay with us.’ ”
Without waiting for the rest of us to respond, Telryn immediately accepts Hands of Fire’s offer. He tries to explain to the lizard man how he hates the swamp. Hands of Fire looks confused, but offers a gentle response.
Telryn turns to us, and says, “He says, diplomatically, ‘One has heard that drylanders do not always fare so well in this lovely swamp of ours.’ ”
Telryn asks the leader another question, about the human traveling with them. “They saved her a few hours previously, just before the rat men started hunting them. The rat men have been chasing them for the last several hours.”
Paks requests, “Ask if the ratmen were hunting her or them.”
“The Gorgers will eat anything they can get,” Hands of Fire answers.
Telryn explains that we are hunting the disease tribe, and Hands of Fire says, “We do not like them either. Please, come to our home. We can talk there.”
Telryn asks them to pick a dry path to their home, which they say they understand. Meanwhile, Chuck searches the bodies, along with the other lizard men. The lizard men throw a bunch of stuff away; most ratman gear is poorly made and not worth taking. Chuck notices an oddity – the obese ratmen don't have any food on them at all.
Chuck picks up his bow and finds that it’s snapped in half, and completely useless. He rescues the bowstring, but leaves the bow where it fell.
We head off with the lizard men towards their home. They make a column, with Hands of Fire leading, some of the lizard men in front, the others bringing up the rear, and our little band in the center with the strange woman.
As we walk, Telryn asks the woman, “So who are you? Tell us about yourself.”
“I’m Novalia,” she says. “I haven’t been able to speak with them. Can you ask them about yesterday?”
Paks asks Telryn, “So how is it you can talk to them?”
He explains, “They’re speaking a form of Draconic, which is the language of magic. Their pronunciation is a little different from what I’ve been taught, and they talk so fast it can be hard to understand, but I’m able to follow most of it.”
Telryn overhears them whispering, talking about the priest of healing, the follower of the winged healer god. He catches up to Miriel and tells her, “You know, they seem to be in awe of you.”
She looks slightly uncomfortable, and attributes it all to Madriel.
15th of December, 2002
Issue #11
The Lizard Men and the Duck
The Lizard Men and the Duck
We are deep in the Mourning Marsh, seeking the home of the tribe of ratmen who attacked Kratys Freehold. After two days of slogging through the swamp, we camped on the only hummock of dry land we could find.
Overnight, a shambling mound attacked us, leaving Miriel unconscious and Stone apparently dead. We were barely able to beat it off with Chuck and Telryn using burning logs from our campfire to drive it back into the swamp. Paks exhausted herself with the effort of using Madriel’s Tear, an artifact of the goddess which Miriel is carrying, to bring Stone back to life, and stumbled to her bedroll in a daze afterwards. Chuck and Telryn were both sick with Swamp Fever, and only Goldpetal, recently recovered from the disease, was awake and coherent after the shambling mound left.
Goldpetal stood watch through the night, and decided that we needed to sleep until we woke of our own accord, which turned out to be well into the morning, several hours after dawn came to the swamp. He gathered some more hag’s tongue, which helps to cure the Swamp Fever, and collected as much water as he could, using our waterskins and purifying it with a spell.
It is mid-morning on the 3rd Vanday of Charder. Goldpetal stands watch, silently. He is an elf, slight of build and less than five feet tall, with the fine aquiline features and pointed ears associated with his race. His hair is long and dark, flowing down over a muddy, tattered hand-sewn cloak, which he keeps wrapped about him. He watches intently around the campsite, noticing the small lizards, frogs, and insects which abound in the swamp.
Miriel wakes up first. She wears a cloak, once beautifully embroidered, which is now dirtied almost beyond recognition. Her hair is red, and she wears a holy symbol of Madriel about her neck. After greeting Goldpetal, she checks over the other wounded members of the party, waking them up as she goes to them in turn.
Chuck, the Vigilant, has recovered from the Swamp Fever, since we are now familiar with the symptoms and caught them fairly early.
Telryn is likewise recovered from the disease. The youthful mage is still suffering from the weakness he’s had since the stirges attacked, but Miriel remains unable to help him with that.
Paks wakes, refreshed and otherwise uninjured. Her wounds from the fight with the mauler and shaman are now merely scars, thanks to Miriel’s divine healing. She and Miriel are the only ones who have not become ill during our sojourn in the swamp. She begins to don chain mail as the others wake up.
Stone, however, is another story. The half-orc is still unconscious, and looks dangerously weak. Miriel heals him as best as she can, bringing him back to consciousness, but he still looks as though he is teetering on the brink. He isn’t sick, that she can tell, and his visible wounds have healed, so she concludes that something else must be wrong.
“What’s happened to him?” she asks the rest of us.
Telryn tells her the story of how he was dead, and Paks used Madriel’s Tear to bring him back to life. He describes how a great golden light, as of the sun, filled the clearing, and Stone, who had no heartbeat, drew his first breath.
Both Stone and Miriel look at Paks with respect and awe, but she shrugs and says, “I remember it only vaguely, as though it were a dream.”
Miriel looks back to Stone. “You should rest, then. It looks as though the goddess has borrowed your own, inner strength in working whatever healing you have had, and even now uses it to power healing beyond what I could provide you.”
He nods weakly, and lays back down. Within moments, he is asleep.
Miriel is also injured after the shambling mound threw her to the ground, and she heals herself. We rest a little longer, exhausted by our travails to this point.
It is already shaping up to be another hot, humid day. It still hasn’t rained.
“We should press on,” Goldpetal says, when everyone else is again awake. “We should not stay here much longer.” The rest of us nod, and grimly begin to pack our gear to continue.
“I hate the swamp,” Telryn says. It has become his mantra, and is said with passion. He is a tall mage, with brown hair, and his robes are dirtied like the rest of our ruined clothing.
Goldpetal tells us to drink as much water as we can, and then to fill our waterskins from the swamp. When we have done this, Goldpetal again purifies our waterskins.
Just as we are ready to go, we hear the sound of a melee to the southeast. There’s a thick fog coming off the swamp, and we can’t see very far, so Telryn sends Chester, his white owl, to see what is making the noise.
Paks asks Chuck to check the ground in the direction of the fight to see if he can find a safe path, which he does. Chuck also listens to see if he can tell who’s fighting, but with the swamp and the fog, he can’t tell much, other than that he hears metal on metal. Chuck and Paks draw their bows, and head off toward the fight, each with an arrow knocked. Telryn quickly goes after them. Goldpetal and Miriel bring up the rear with Stone, who has yet regained only a remnant of his former strength.
After about two hundred yards, Chuck and Paks come upon an amazing sight. They see a small, shallow lake of water, with all sorts of worn rocks sticking up, appearing to be the remains of a ruined building, most of which is under the water, with nothing higher than our knees. The lake is full of obese brown ratmen, nothing like those we’ve seen before. They’re fighting creatures who look like walking bipedal lizards. There are a dozen ratmen fighting six lizard men, one of which looks larger and more powerful than the others. The ratmen are wearing metal armor, which is also something we haven’t seen before.
Even as we come onto the scene, one lizard man falls with a scimitar in the gut. We notice a female human fighting on the side of the lizards, and if there were any doubt about which side to join, her presence makes up our minds. Chuck, Paks, and Goldpetal each shoot at the closest rat men. Chuck misses, but Paks hits one, wounding it. Goldpetal’s arrow misses his intended target, but strikes a different rat man. Telryn steps up behind Paks to cast mage armor on her. Stone loads his crossbow, but does not join the fight; instead, he keeps watch to make sure nothing sneaks up behind us.
Goldpetal and Chuck continue to fire, and Chuck wounds his target. Telryn adds a crossbow bolt to the withering hail of fire, but Paks draws her longsword. The largest lizard kills his opponent, and Goldpetal’s two hawks swoop down to attack one of the injured ratmen from behind. One of them hits hard, and the force of the collision breaks the ratman’s neck, killing it! The surviving ratmen fight on with desperation; one of them knocks a lizard unconscious, and he falls into the water.
Paks charges into the water towards the fight with her longsword drawn. She reaches the fight, and hits a ratman hard from behind, killing it. The strange woman grabs one of our arrows and stabs the nearest rat man with it. Miriel runs into the water to the aid of the fallen lizard, with her short spear out. She charges the ratman between her and the fallen lizard. She buries her spear into its chest, and is astonished to see it fall dead. Goldpetal, Telryn, and Chuck continue firing arrows at the eight surviving ratmen, but all three of them miss.
The lizard men and ratmen continue exchanging blows. The lizard men wound one, but the ratmen are still numerous, and knock down another lizard man. The hawks dive on another wounded ratman, and one of them scratches it further. The unknown woman stabs again with her arrow, but the improvised weapon does her little good.
One of the ratmen attacks Paks, but Paks blocks its blow with her shield, and counters with her longsword. Its metal armor turns her blow aside. Miriel casts a new spell, sound burst. A loud noise, as of an explosion, bursts over the battlefield, and one ratman collapses, dead, with blood streaming from its ears. Only seven ratmen remain, and two of them are stunned from Miriel’s spell.
Chuck shoots twice and misses both times. On the second shot, he fumbles, and his bow makes a horrible cracking sound. It is impossible to control, and flies out of his hands to land and sink into the water, out of sight. Goldpetal and Telryn continue to fire, but to no avail. The hawks attack another ratman. One claws at its eyes, but as it brings up its arms to protect its face, the other hawk flies straight into its fist. The second hawk is stunned and flutters weakly to the ground.
The biggest lizard man kills the ratman who Paks was fighting. For a brief moment, he and Paks face each other across the body. Paks asks him, in the common tongue, “Do you need help?” but he just looks at her strangely. After that brief exchange, they turn as one to face the surviving ratmen.
The ratmen continue to battle, but now they are starting to give ground. Odds which had been firmly in their favor now have turned against them, and they try to fall back towards each other, circling in defense of each other. They fight like cornered rats, seeing that there is no escape.
Paks steps further into the battle and swings at one of the injured rat men, but it parries her blow. That leaves it open for the leader of the lizard men, who crushes in its head with his great club. Miriel steps over to one of the stunned ratmen and attacks it with her short spear, running it through, and Telryn wounds one of the others with the next bolt from his crossbow. Goldpetal, worried about hitting his friends, fires low into the water, but his hawk attacks another ratman. Talons tear at its throat, and it falls backwards into the water, dead.
Only three ratmen remain. The strange woman steps to one of the downed lizard men, holding his head out of the water, and staunching the bleeding with a makeshift bandage. Goldpetal and Telryn let loose one more volley, but then the elf puts out his hand and shakes his head, telling the young mage not to bother reloading.
One of the surviving ratmen attacks Miriel. She steps into its blow, allowing it to hit her, and skewers it on her spear. It dies, and she has to step on its chest to pull her spear back out. Chuck charges into the battle with his two swords, and attacks one of the remaining ratmen, but his longsword turns aside on the enemy’s armor.
The last two ratmen give no quarter, and one of them manages to wound one of the lizard men, but then Paks reaches it, and a single blow from her sword catches it through the ribs, and it falls at her feet.
With only one rat man remaining, we have the fight clearly in hand, and Miriel turns her attention to one of the fallen lizard men. The stranger is holding its head out of the water so that it won’t drown, and Miriel prays for Madriel’s healing. The goddess grants her request, and the lizard man’s wounds close visibly beneath her touch. The stranger looks up at her, and says, “Thank you.”
The lizard men attack the remaining rat man and beat it down with their clubs.
As the fight ends, the lizard men do not put their clubs away. They look at us suspiciously. The leader says something in a strange hissing language. To most of the group, the hissing sounds threatening, but Paks sheathes her sword, and gestures at him with her palms open.
Telryn yells to Paks, “He was thanking us!”
He moves into the water and greets the lizard man in the same sibilant tongue. Miriel goes over to heal the other downed lizard man, and Telryn gestures at her, as though explaining that she’s a healer. The lizard men seem very impressed with her, and the attitude of the group seems to change. The leader gives a quick command, and the lizard men put away their clubs.
The leader gives a short speech, and Telryn is the only one who understands what the lizard man is saying. He translates for the rest of us. “He says, ‘Thank you for saving my people. We’ve had a rough time lately. My name is Hands of Fire. I can see that you folk are in very bad shape and possibly lost here in the swamp. Please, we would be honored if you would come to our home and stay with us.’ ”
Without waiting for the rest of us to respond, Telryn immediately accepts Hands of Fire’s offer. He tries to explain to the lizard man how he hates the swamp. Hands of Fire looks confused, but offers a gentle response.
Telryn turns to us, and says, “He says, diplomatically, ‘One has heard that drylanders do not always fare so well in this lovely swamp of ours.’ ”
Telryn asks the leader another question, about the human traveling with them. “They saved her a few hours previously, just before the rat men started hunting them. The rat men have been chasing them for the last several hours.”
Paks requests, “Ask if the ratmen were hunting her or them.”
“The Gorgers will eat anything they can get,” Hands of Fire answers.
Telryn explains that we are hunting the disease tribe, and Hands of Fire says, “We do not like them either. Please, come to our home. We can talk there.”
Telryn asks them to pick a dry path to their home, which they say they understand. Meanwhile, Chuck searches the bodies, along with the other lizard men. The lizard men throw a bunch of stuff away; most ratman gear is poorly made and not worth taking. Chuck notices an oddity – the obese ratmen don't have any food on them at all.
Chuck picks up his bow and finds that it’s snapped in half, and completely useless. He rescues the bowstring, but leaves the bow where it fell.
We head off with the lizard men towards their home. They make a column, with Hands of Fire leading, some of the lizard men in front, the others bringing up the rear, and our little band in the center with the strange woman.
As we walk, Telryn asks the woman, “So who are you? Tell us about yourself.”
“I’m Novalia,” she says. “I haven’t been able to speak with them. Can you ask them about yesterday?”
Paks asks Telryn, “So how is it you can talk to them?”
He explains, “They’re speaking a form of Draconic, which is the language of magic. Their pronunciation is a little different from what I’ve been taught, and they talk so fast it can be hard to understand, but I’m able to follow most of it.”
Telryn overhears them whispering, talking about the priest of healing, the follower of the winged healer god. He catches up to Miriel and tells her, “You know, they seem to be in awe of you.”
She looks slightly uncomfortable, and attributes it all to Madriel.
Issue #11: The Lizard Men and the Duck - Episode 2 of 5
The lizard men seem to know the swamp extremely well, and they guide us around the dangers. The column moves much more quickly than we could by ourselves. We travel for about three hours with no incident, until we come to a stand of big weeping willow trees. The trees are not very tall, perhaps twelve to twenty feet, but they have numerous branches and the hanging willows make a curtain through which we cannot see. Hands of Fire parts the branches and leads us through the curtain into a clearing.
There is a large tree in the center, its roots arching over a hole into the ground. The ground beneath our feet is as firm and solid as any we have encountered since entering the swamp, and the base of the tree is well above the waterline. The lizard men lead us to the hole, and from their gestures, it is clear that we will be going underground. The owl and the hawks make themselves comfortable in the trees above.
The lizard men climb down into a cave complex, and we follow them below. Their warren is damp and warm, but the soil surrounding us is strong and firm, not muddy at all. There is a pungent reptilian odor, which is comforting to some, but disconcerting to others. There are roots lining the walls and ceiling of the passage, but there is plenty of clearance for us, since the lizard men average seven feet tall.
We walk down a hallway into a large cavern, well-lit by torches, with numerous smaller passages leading off from the sides. As we enter, we see that it is filled with many more lizard men, who greet the returning party with joyous clamor. We recognize women and children among them, which helps ease any tension even before Hands of Fire gives a clear introduction, gesturing at us.
Hands of Fire tells us there will be a big feast, but that he is going to take us to a place to rest first, and then we can talk to others of the tribe. He takes us into a small empty cave, where we settle down, setting down our packs and weapons, and relaxing a little.
Several minutes after we are settled, an elderly lizard man comes into the cave. His skin is a paler grey than his companions, and he moves with the aid of a cane. He introduces himself as One Fang. He speaks very slowly, through Telryn’s interpretation.
“One sees,” One Fang says, “That some of your people are sick and not at full strength. We have some potions that can help with that.”
“We would be grateful for healing,” Telryn says.
The elderly One Fang offers Stone and Telryn some potions. Telryn grimaces at the foul taste, but perks right up, as the healing spreads through his body. Stone also looks better, but still seems weaker than usual.
Miriel says, “Telryn, tell him I offer to heal any of the lizard men who need help.” He relays her message in the strange sibilant language of the lizard men.
“One hears stories,” One Fang says, “Of followers of the winged goddess. We have a strange sickness here and could use your help.”
“I am as yet inexperienced,” Miriel says modestly, “But I will do anything I can.”
One Fang leads Miriel and Telryn to a cave where a single lizard man lays deathly ill on a cot. Miriel examines him, and it quickly becomes obvious to her that he has the Slimy Doom. She explains, through Telryn, that this means that his insides are rotting and turning to slime. She has quite a bit of experience with this because there was a big outbreak of it in Lave last spring, and she knows very well how to heal it. She gives the aged lizard man information about the illness and the cure through Telryn, and eventually they determine what they need to heal him. Miriel continues to work on him, while One Fang leads Telryn back to ‘our’ cave.
The young mage wants to go off to take time to meditate on his recent experiences, but as soon as he arrives, everyone wants him to translate. Goldpetal asks Telryn to ask for someone to teach him properties of local plants. Telryn explains the request to One Fang, who responds in the draconic tongue.
“One Fang says that there are herbalists who would be willing to educate us,” Telryn translates. He tells how we are on a mission to wipe out the disease clan nearby, and the old lizard man refers him to the chief, who he says will very much want to talk to us as well.
Chuck asks for a lizard man to assist him in a search for good wood to make a new bow with, but Telryn has difficulty translating that request, and after a frustrating minute, he tries a different question, asking how long we will be allowed to stay here.
“He tells us that tomorrow is the big feast day,” Telryn translates, “And asks us to stay for the feast.”
“Tomorrow is Denev’s day,” Goldpetal realizes. He asks a quick question in the secret tongue of the druids. Old Fang does not appear to comprehend, and looks to Telryn for a translation. The mage, of course, understood just as little, and looks at Goldpetal quizzically. “Ask them what god they worship,” the elf says.
Telryn draws a breath as though about to embark on that question, but then pauses. “I… think that might be too personal of a question,” he says hesitantly.
“Then ask about the feast,” Goldpetal says.
After a brief exchange, Telryn translates. “One Fang tells us that it is in honor of the land,” he says. “The great spirits protect them all year long, so one day each month they honor them. I asked if ‘the great spirits’ refers to Denev, but he said that he doesn’t know who that is.”
“May I speak to the shaman?” Goldpetal asks.
Telryn translates, and laughs at One Fang’s response. “He says to assure you, ‘I am the man of medicine.’ ”
“Ask about their history,” Goldpetal says. “How long have they been here? Did they know…”
Telryn interrupts him. “I’m not going to translate all of that. I need to rest.”
One Fang asks him a question, and we can only listen as he and Telryn interact. The mage takes the moment to tell Goldpetal, “He says, ‘One would expect that all your questions about the lizard people will be answered tomorrow at the great feast.’
“Also, I asked what the food is, and warned him that we might not eat the same food. One Fang comprehends this, and explained that they are roasting a big pig, lots of fish, some lizards, and some snakes.”
“Ask if it would be offensive if we contributed food to the feast,” Paks says.
One Fang shakes his head and looks concerned as he explains to Telryn. “Yes,” the mage says. “He would be very offended if we did. He says that the hosts must provide food for the feast day.”
“Will it offend them for me to perform my rituals on the feast day?” asks Goldpetal.
Telryn has one last exchange with Old Fang, and translates, “He says of course not. Now, I really am done – I need to meditate.”
Paks offers, “Goldpetal, I would go with you, to protect you.”
“I would appreciate that,” he answers, “Though of course, there are some parts of the ritual which you may not see.”
Telryn gratefully goes off to meditate. Stone and Novalia also sleep. Several hours later, Miriel returns.
“Where were you?” asks Chuck.
“There was a lizard man who had the Slimy Doom,” she explains. “I worked on him for several hours, and I think he’ll pull through. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go rest.”
The rest of us talk quietly amongst ourselves. Paks continues to study the elvish tongue under Goldpetal’s tutelage, and even Chuck learns a bit of it.
In the evening, a lizard woman brings in some raw fish for us to eat. Miriel asks Telryn to explain that we generally prefer cooked food. When he translates this request, the lizard woman looks at us strangely, laughs, and walks away. Miriel cooks her share, but the rest eat it raw, and say it tastes better than they expected.
All seven of us are gathered again in our small cave, and have just finished our evening meal. Paks looks at Novalia and asks, “Novalia, would you care to exchange stories with us?”
“Yes,” Goldpetal adds, with a more ominous tone to his voice. “Tell us. Why were you wandering alone in the swamp?”
“I’ll tell you,” Novalia says. “I grew up in Northern Vesh a few days’ walk north of Lave, in a small rural village you’ve probably never heard of. I was a farmer’s daughter, though I always found farming boring, and I wished for something more adventurous. When I was a teenager, I…” She breaks off for a moment, eyes clearly far away. She shakes her head.
“I’d rather not speak of that. Suffice it to say that the Handmaidens of Tanil saved me from an unspeakable evil. In return, I went traveling with them. They taught me the way of the bow, the way of Tanil, and how to be good person. I appreciated this, but felt that I was being pulled in a different direction, somehow. They were a bit too preachy, and too… against men… for my tastes. I felt I needed to go fight real evil, not just male oppression.
“At a freehold near this swamp, I met a group of ratman hunters, and decided to venture forth with them, as a minor healer and a fighter. Yesterday, our group was ambushed by the Brown Gorgers.”
“Those fat ratmen?” asks Paks.
“Yes,” she answers. “I was knocked unconscious almost immediately, and later awoke surrounded by the lizard men. I didn’t quite know what to think of them, and I couldn’t communicate with them. I insisted on giving them money, but they didn’t seem to know what to do with it. We started traveling, I thought to go to their home, when they were ambushed again. Many of the lizard men died, and the rest ran away, through the night. The ratmen caught us again shortly after dawn, and we made our last stand where you found us.
“So, I don’t know what happened to my companions, though I fear the worst. Telryn, you can speak with them? I’d like to ask Hands of Fire where they are, and what happened, and to tell them ‘thank you’.”
Paks tells her our story in some detail, leaving out some parts of it, but ending with our defense of Kratys Freehold and our plan to wipe out the Disease tribe.
Novalia is aghast and impressed. She says, “I stayed Kratys Freehold myself, perhaps a month ago. That’s where I met the ratman hunters! Can I travel with you? I’d like to help against the ratmen, and then find my way back out of this swamp. I’ve been in the swamp for weeks.”
“We’ll talk about it,” Miriel answers, “But I think any assistance will be welcome.”
While we’re talking, a lizard woman comes in and offers us some wine. We accept it and taste it; it’s a sort of fermented berry drink. She delivers the wine and leaves, as we can’t communicate.
In the evening, Paks takes Miriel aside, finding a quiet corner of the cave to ask, “How could I have healed Stone? I’m no priestess.”
“The artifact you held is a powerful one,” Miriel answers, “And it is not surprising that the goddess might work miracles through it.”
“It wasn’t the first time,” Paks tells her. “In the tower, that first visit, when you were unconscious, I asked the goddess to heal you. I’m not sure if it worked, but your bleeding slowed, and you woke up moments later. Then, during the raid on SySy’s camp, the same thing happened. Milo was bleeding to death, and I asked Madriel to heal him, and I felt a healing power in my hands, and he woke up.”
“The goddess does not work only through her priestesses,” Miriel tells her. “She has been known to answer a true prayer, from one of her believers, especially so for those in dire need.”
“That’s just the thing,” Paks says, her voice a miserable whisper. “I’m not one of her followers.”
“Paks, Paks,” Miriel says, putting her arm around the distressed woman. “You are good of heart, and surely Madriel sees that.”
After a pause, when Paks says nothing, Miriel asks, “Are you the follower of another god?”
“No,” she says. “My father taught me to respect all of the gods, but we never worshipped one above the others.”
“So you are not dedicated to another?” the priestess asks.
“No,” Paks whispers.
“Then it seems Madriel has chosen you,” Miriel says. “Perhaps there is something special about you. Verenia has always thought that you carried a special blessing of Madriel.
“Remember Verenia’s prophecy? About you, she said, ‘Madriel has chosen you. Tempered in a forge of trouble, are you worthy of the Redeemer?’ Madriel is often referred to as ‘the Redeemer’, in our religious texts.
“Then, during the siege of the freehold, when you were injured, I came to your side. You were badly wounded, and I feared I was too late, but when I prayed for the goddess’ aid, just as I uttered the words, the sun reached your face, and I felt a great, divine power move through me, in a way that felt very different from a normal healing. It was a long and exhausting healing, to bring you back from so close to the verge of death.
“I think that, for reasons beyond either of us, the goddess has taken a special interest in you.”
Paks says nothing, but appears comforted by Miriel’s words, and the two women sit in companionable silence for a while, before unrolling bedrolls and joining the others in sleep.
The lizard men seem to know the swamp extremely well, and they guide us around the dangers. The column moves much more quickly than we could by ourselves. We travel for about three hours with no incident, until we come to a stand of big weeping willow trees. The trees are not very tall, perhaps twelve to twenty feet, but they have numerous branches and the hanging willows make a curtain through which we cannot see. Hands of Fire parts the branches and leads us through the curtain into a clearing.
There is a large tree in the center, its roots arching over a hole into the ground. The ground beneath our feet is as firm and solid as any we have encountered since entering the swamp, and the base of the tree is well above the waterline. The lizard men lead us to the hole, and from their gestures, it is clear that we will be going underground. The owl and the hawks make themselves comfortable in the trees above.
The lizard men climb down into a cave complex, and we follow them below. Their warren is damp and warm, but the soil surrounding us is strong and firm, not muddy at all. There is a pungent reptilian odor, which is comforting to some, but disconcerting to others. There are roots lining the walls and ceiling of the passage, but there is plenty of clearance for us, since the lizard men average seven feet tall.
We walk down a hallway into a large cavern, well-lit by torches, with numerous smaller passages leading off from the sides. As we enter, we see that it is filled with many more lizard men, who greet the returning party with joyous clamor. We recognize women and children among them, which helps ease any tension even before Hands of Fire gives a clear introduction, gesturing at us.
Hands of Fire tells us there will be a big feast, but that he is going to take us to a place to rest first, and then we can talk to others of the tribe. He takes us into a small empty cave, where we settle down, setting down our packs and weapons, and relaxing a little.
Several minutes after we are settled, an elderly lizard man comes into the cave. His skin is a paler grey than his companions, and he moves with the aid of a cane. He introduces himself as One Fang. He speaks very slowly, through Telryn’s interpretation.
“One sees,” One Fang says, “That some of your people are sick and not at full strength. We have some potions that can help with that.”
“We would be grateful for healing,” Telryn says.
The elderly One Fang offers Stone and Telryn some potions. Telryn grimaces at the foul taste, but perks right up, as the healing spreads through his body. Stone also looks better, but still seems weaker than usual.
Miriel says, “Telryn, tell him I offer to heal any of the lizard men who need help.” He relays her message in the strange sibilant language of the lizard men.
“One hears stories,” One Fang says, “Of followers of the winged goddess. We have a strange sickness here and could use your help.”
“I am as yet inexperienced,” Miriel says modestly, “But I will do anything I can.”
One Fang leads Miriel and Telryn to a cave where a single lizard man lays deathly ill on a cot. Miriel examines him, and it quickly becomes obvious to her that he has the Slimy Doom. She explains, through Telryn, that this means that his insides are rotting and turning to slime. She has quite a bit of experience with this because there was a big outbreak of it in Lave last spring, and she knows very well how to heal it. She gives the aged lizard man information about the illness and the cure through Telryn, and eventually they determine what they need to heal him. Miriel continues to work on him, while One Fang leads Telryn back to ‘our’ cave.
The young mage wants to go off to take time to meditate on his recent experiences, but as soon as he arrives, everyone wants him to translate. Goldpetal asks Telryn to ask for someone to teach him properties of local plants. Telryn explains the request to One Fang, who responds in the draconic tongue.
“One Fang says that there are herbalists who would be willing to educate us,” Telryn translates. He tells how we are on a mission to wipe out the disease clan nearby, and the old lizard man refers him to the chief, who he says will very much want to talk to us as well.
Chuck asks for a lizard man to assist him in a search for good wood to make a new bow with, but Telryn has difficulty translating that request, and after a frustrating minute, he tries a different question, asking how long we will be allowed to stay here.
“He tells us that tomorrow is the big feast day,” Telryn translates, “And asks us to stay for the feast.”
“Tomorrow is Denev’s day,” Goldpetal realizes. He asks a quick question in the secret tongue of the druids. Old Fang does not appear to comprehend, and looks to Telryn for a translation. The mage, of course, understood just as little, and looks at Goldpetal quizzically. “Ask them what god they worship,” the elf says.
Telryn draws a breath as though about to embark on that question, but then pauses. “I… think that might be too personal of a question,” he says hesitantly.
“Then ask about the feast,” Goldpetal says.
After a brief exchange, Telryn translates. “One Fang tells us that it is in honor of the land,” he says. “The great spirits protect them all year long, so one day each month they honor them. I asked if ‘the great spirits’ refers to Denev, but he said that he doesn’t know who that is.”
“May I speak to the shaman?” Goldpetal asks.
Telryn translates, and laughs at One Fang’s response. “He says to assure you, ‘I am the man of medicine.’ ”
“Ask about their history,” Goldpetal says. “How long have they been here? Did they know…”
Telryn interrupts him. “I’m not going to translate all of that. I need to rest.”
One Fang asks him a question, and we can only listen as he and Telryn interact. The mage takes the moment to tell Goldpetal, “He says, ‘One would expect that all your questions about the lizard people will be answered tomorrow at the great feast.’
“Also, I asked what the food is, and warned him that we might not eat the same food. One Fang comprehends this, and explained that they are roasting a big pig, lots of fish, some lizards, and some snakes.”
“Ask if it would be offensive if we contributed food to the feast,” Paks says.
One Fang shakes his head and looks concerned as he explains to Telryn. “Yes,” the mage says. “He would be very offended if we did. He says that the hosts must provide food for the feast day.”
“Will it offend them for me to perform my rituals on the feast day?” asks Goldpetal.
Telryn has one last exchange with Old Fang, and translates, “He says of course not. Now, I really am done – I need to meditate.”
Paks offers, “Goldpetal, I would go with you, to protect you.”
“I would appreciate that,” he answers, “Though of course, there are some parts of the ritual which you may not see.”
Telryn gratefully goes off to meditate. Stone and Novalia also sleep. Several hours later, Miriel returns.
“Where were you?” asks Chuck.
“There was a lizard man who had the Slimy Doom,” she explains. “I worked on him for several hours, and I think he’ll pull through. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go rest.”
The rest of us talk quietly amongst ourselves. Paks continues to study the elvish tongue under Goldpetal’s tutelage, and even Chuck learns a bit of it.
In the evening, a lizard woman brings in some raw fish for us to eat. Miriel asks Telryn to explain that we generally prefer cooked food. When he translates this request, the lizard woman looks at us strangely, laughs, and walks away. Miriel cooks her share, but the rest eat it raw, and say it tastes better than they expected.
All seven of us are gathered again in our small cave, and have just finished our evening meal. Paks looks at Novalia and asks, “Novalia, would you care to exchange stories with us?”
“Yes,” Goldpetal adds, with a more ominous tone to his voice. “Tell us. Why were you wandering alone in the swamp?”
“I’ll tell you,” Novalia says. “I grew up in Northern Vesh a few days’ walk north of Lave, in a small rural village you’ve probably never heard of. I was a farmer’s daughter, though I always found farming boring, and I wished for something more adventurous. When I was a teenager, I…” She breaks off for a moment, eyes clearly far away. She shakes her head.
“I’d rather not speak of that. Suffice it to say that the Handmaidens of Tanil saved me from an unspeakable evil. In return, I went traveling with them. They taught me the way of the bow, the way of Tanil, and how to be good person. I appreciated this, but felt that I was being pulled in a different direction, somehow. They were a bit too preachy, and too… against men… for my tastes. I felt I needed to go fight real evil, not just male oppression.
“At a freehold near this swamp, I met a group of ratman hunters, and decided to venture forth with them, as a minor healer and a fighter. Yesterday, our group was ambushed by the Brown Gorgers.”
“Those fat ratmen?” asks Paks.
“Yes,” she answers. “I was knocked unconscious almost immediately, and later awoke surrounded by the lizard men. I didn’t quite know what to think of them, and I couldn’t communicate with them. I insisted on giving them money, but they didn’t seem to know what to do with it. We started traveling, I thought to go to their home, when they were ambushed again. Many of the lizard men died, and the rest ran away, through the night. The ratmen caught us again shortly after dawn, and we made our last stand where you found us.
“So, I don’t know what happened to my companions, though I fear the worst. Telryn, you can speak with them? I’d like to ask Hands of Fire where they are, and what happened, and to tell them ‘thank you’.”
Paks tells her our story in some detail, leaving out some parts of it, but ending with our defense of Kratys Freehold and our plan to wipe out the Disease tribe.
Novalia is aghast and impressed. She says, “I stayed Kratys Freehold myself, perhaps a month ago. That’s where I met the ratman hunters! Can I travel with you? I’d like to help against the ratmen, and then find my way back out of this swamp. I’ve been in the swamp for weeks.”
“We’ll talk about it,” Miriel answers, “But I think any assistance will be welcome.”
While we’re talking, a lizard woman comes in and offers us some wine. We accept it and taste it; it’s a sort of fermented berry drink. She delivers the wine and leaves, as we can’t communicate.
In the evening, Paks takes Miriel aside, finding a quiet corner of the cave to ask, “How could I have healed Stone? I’m no priestess.”
“The artifact you held is a powerful one,” Miriel answers, “And it is not surprising that the goddess might work miracles through it.”
“It wasn’t the first time,” Paks tells her. “In the tower, that first visit, when you were unconscious, I asked the goddess to heal you. I’m not sure if it worked, but your bleeding slowed, and you woke up moments later. Then, during the raid on SySy’s camp, the same thing happened. Milo was bleeding to death, and I asked Madriel to heal him, and I felt a healing power in my hands, and he woke up.”
“The goddess does not work only through her priestesses,” Miriel tells her. “She has been known to answer a true prayer, from one of her believers, especially so for those in dire need.”
“That’s just the thing,” Paks says, her voice a miserable whisper. “I’m not one of her followers.”
“Paks, Paks,” Miriel says, putting her arm around the distressed woman. “You are good of heart, and surely Madriel sees that.”
After a pause, when Paks says nothing, Miriel asks, “Are you the follower of another god?”
“No,” she says. “My father taught me to respect all of the gods, but we never worshipped one above the others.”
“So you are not dedicated to another?” the priestess asks.
“No,” Paks whispers.
“Then it seems Madriel has chosen you,” Miriel says. “Perhaps there is something special about you. Verenia has always thought that you carried a special blessing of Madriel.
“Remember Verenia’s prophecy? About you, she said, ‘Madriel has chosen you. Tempered in a forge of trouble, are you worthy of the Redeemer?’ Madriel is often referred to as ‘the Redeemer’, in our religious texts.
“Then, during the siege of the freehold, when you were injured, I came to your side. You were badly wounded, and I feared I was too late, but when I prayed for the goddess’ aid, just as I uttered the words, the sun reached your face, and I felt a great, divine power move through me, in a way that felt very different from a normal healing. It was a long and exhausting healing, to bring you back from so close to the verge of death.
“I think that, for reasons beyond either of us, the goddess has taken a special interest in you.”
Paks says nothing, but appears comforted by Miriel’s words, and the two women sit in companionable silence for a while, before unrolling bedrolls and joining the others in sleep.
Issue #11: The Lizard Men and the Duck - Episode 3 of 5
The next morning, Goldpetal gets up early and goes out to do his private rituals, planning to wake Paks to go along and guard during the later ones. Paks, a light sleeper, wakes as he slips out, and she follows him, taking only enough time to grab her sword and cinch on her belt.
She follows him up to the surface, and off into the swamp. The elf moves lightly, easily, clearly at home in the swamp, while the tall, well-muscled woman splashes uneasily through the muddy waters. His keen elven ears hear her behind him, but he continues on for a quarter mile before he stops to allow her to catch up.
“I thought you wanted me to guard you,” she says, as she draws up to him.
“Some of my rituals,” he says, “Cannot be performed in the presence of an outsider.”
“But the swamp is hardly safe for us,” she protests. “I could stay far enough away to honor your religious needs, but I would worry if you were out alone.”
“I appreciate your concern,” he says, “But my vows require you to stay away altogether.”
The warrior sees that there is no arguing with the stern druid, and she can do naught but agree.
While they are out, the lizard women bring some fruits for breakfast. After having a light morning meal, Miriel asks Telryn, “Can you come with me? I want to visit the sick lizard man, and I need you to come interpret.” They find the lizard man feeling much better, and though he is not completely well, Miriel thinks his life is no longer in danger.
Paks returns while they are out, and when Miriel, and Telryn return, we decide to go to the common area. Stone stays in our side cave with our baggage, admonishing Chuck, “Don’t forget to wake me for the feast.”
We all wander out into the common room, and find the lizard men roasting a pig. There are some little lizard children running around. Telryn is kept very busy interpreting, as we seem to be regarded with great interest. The children in particular seem quite amused by us, pointing and laughing and running away.
Goldpetal returns a few hours later, having completed his Denev’s day rituals, and he arrives just in time for the feasting.
Around midday, we are called in to the feast, and wake Stone to join us. The food smells somewhat peculiar, with exotic spices, but the smells awaken great appetites in all of us. Telryn pulls us aside and offers to cast a spell to let us understand what the lizard men are saying. Novalia and Goldpetal accept his offer; Novalia wants to talk to the chief, and Goldpetal wants to talk to the shaman. Telryn also offers the spell to the shaman, who accepts appreciatively.
We sit at the end of a low table. Appetizers of snake and raw fish are handed out. The adult lizards sit with us, but the children run around, enjoying a carnival air with no formality. They particularly seem to like Stone – they keep daring each other to touch him, running up and tapping him, and running away. Telryn creates a magical light on a pebble and tosses it at them. They scatter, but then run back and pick it up and exclaim over it.
As we eat, some of the lizard men start drumming, while another plays a flute. The music is odd – the flute does not use the musical scales we are accustomed to, and the beat is syncopated, almost halting. The shaman starts chanting in Draconic, politely pausing so Telryn can translate for the rest of us. The chant is clearly a well-known ritual, and tells the story of the lizard men:
After this chant, the lizard people serve the great entrees of the feast: roast pig, a great snake, and numerous dishes of fish, some raw and some cooked. The side dishes include berries, nuts, and tubers from the surrounding swamp, as well as some fruit which are completely foreign to us. Miriel keeps an avid eye, and asks Telryn several times to get the name or descriptions of some of the spices. Stone and Paks eat heartily, partaking even of the strangest dishes with apparent relish.
After the feast, the chief, Eyes Of The Snake, introduces himself. He thanks us for assisting Hands of Fire and his band. With great formality, he tells us a story:
He points to Miriel.
He nods to Miriel. “Perhaps a healer of peoples like you.”
“Perhaps a healer of lands like you,” he looks at the elf, Goldpetal.
“Perhaps a learned person of language like you,” he smiles at Telryn as the mage translates his words.
“Perhaps a northern monster person like you,” he looks Stone in the eye.
“Perhaps great warriors like you,” and he gestures at Paks and Chuck, “Can drive this great enemy away.
Miriel does not consult with the others, answering, “Telryn, tell him we’re happy to help, and indeed we have come to fight the Disease tribe. Is this sickness coming from them?”
“No,” the chief responds. “We will guide you to fight the Disease tribe, but it is the ruin that these problems are coming from.”
Paks, speaking in the common tongue, says, “We should finish off the rat men first.”
Miriel answers, “If it were left to me, I would go work on the ruin right away.” The discussion is too rapid for Telryn to translate.
Goldpetal agrees. “I agree. This ruin sounds like a great wound upon the land, a much greater evil.”
Paks nods. “We should at least negotiate for help against the Disease tribe, in exchange for helping against the ruin.”
This suggestion meets widespread approval, and Telryn explains to Eyes Of The Snake about the rat men attacking the freehold, and how we want to get to their camp quickly.
“The ratman force didn't come back,” he tells us. “We've been watching the ratman town, and have also thought about attacking it while it is weak.”
“Will you continue to watch it?” Telryn inquires.
“Yes, we intend to. Hands of Fire will both lead you to the ruin, and help fight the rat men, and One Fang will provide you with useful potions.”
Telryn explains this to Paks, and adds, “He suggests that fixing the ruin will only take a day or so.”
We sit in contemplative silence, each debating both courses. After half of minute of reflection by both groups, the chief offers, “If you mighty warriors help with the ruin, more lizard men might want to come with you to exterminate the Disease tribe. However, only Hands of Fire would dare go into the ruin.”
Miriel asks Telryn, “Please ask for time for us to discuss it, and then for as much information (and potions!) as they can give us.”
Telryn does, and also politely thanks him for everything they’ve done for us.
Novalia talks to the chief to thank him, and to thank Hands of Fire for rescuing her. After the feast we return to our cave to discuss the path presented to us.
In our cave, Miriel starts the discussion by saying, “We have been asked in the name of Madriel to battle the evil contained in the ruins, and I feel very strongly that we should. We’ve already lost so many days on the ratmen that the element of surprise has certainly been lost.”
“I agree with that logic,” Telryn concurs.
“We have an opportunity,” Goldpetal says solemnly, “To heal a great scar in the land, and save an ancient people who may also worship Denev.”
Novalia nods. “I just want to help the lizard men, who have helped me so much.”
Paks shakes her head. “I disagree,” she says. “And I have four reasons. First, the fight against the ratmen is still time-sensitive. The more time they have to regroup, the stronger they will be. Second, the poison coming from the ruins has been around for a long time. It can wait another day or two while we wipe out this Disease tribe. Third, we should finish what we start. We haven’t finished any of our missions yet. Finally, we don’t know that this side trip is really only a day-long mission.”
Chuck says, “But the ratmen already know what’s happened. It’s been five days, and the shaman escaped. He’s surely had time to warn them.”
“And it will be even more by the time we get there,” Telryn adds, “Even if we leave tomorrow.”
“I think we have finished missions,” Miriel says.
“Unless you count rescuing Reginald, no,” Paks disagrees. “There are still many things unresolved about the smuggling, we let SySy escape, and we have not finished this battle with the Disease tribe.”
“The only good rat man is a dead ratman,” Novalia avows. “Fighting ratmen is a good thing, mission or no mission.”
It seems she may have been swayed by Paks’ arguments, but Goldpetal says sternly, “We are being asked, on Denev’s day, to take care of a terrible wound to the land. This cannot be a coincidence.”
“Think for a moment,” Chuck adds. “We have the best chance of taking out the ratmen with more help. They may have run away by now, and how the heck could we find SySy in the swamp anyway? I do want to go back and track down members of the evil de Asuras family, but overall, I don’t see the need to complete the other missions Paks mentioned. At least not right now.”
“As long as we do both, what does it matter the order?” asks Stone.
“I can see that the will of the group is against me,” Paks concedes, “I’ll go on the mission to the ruin, but I’d like you all to help me go after the warren when we are done.”
“Of course,” Chuck agrees, and the others are all nodding in agreement as well.
“Thank you,” Miriel tells Paks. “This is the right thing to do.”
Novalia says, “If we are going into great danger, I can offer the Blessing of Tanil to anyone in the party.”
Chuck and Paks accept. The rest of the group thank her, but each turns it down: Miriel and Telryn worship Madriel, Stone worships Hedrada, and Goldpetal’s faith with Denev prompt each of them to refuse the blessing of another god.
Telryn leaves to inform Eye Of The Snake that we have decided to go the ruin, but asks him to watch the rat men closely. Telryn also casts four more comprehend language spells in order for Miriel, Goldpetal, Paks and Novalia to speak to the lizard men and vice-versa.
Goldpetal talks to One Fang, who says, “One is glad that you are going to examine this wound upon the land. One can give you these to assist you.” He hands Goldpetal five vials. “These three are potions of healing, and here are two potions of remove disease. They must be used early, soon after the disease is contracted.”
He and Goldpetal walk together through the swamp, where One Fang shows the elf how to identify and harvest the leaf of the ninequine plant to make doses of a tonic to prevent swamp fever. “If taken once a day,” he says, “It should protect humans and even elves from the swamp fever. I do not know if it will work for a northern monster-person, but it should not hurt him.”
The elderly shaman moves slowly, but the elf patiently paces him. As they walk, Goldpetal asks him questions. “Tell me everything you know about the ruins we’re going to,” the elf requests. “Who built them? Who lived there?”
Eye Of The Snake tells him, “Long ago, it was a human settlement, but for many generations it has been sunk under the swamp. Every generation, some foolhardy warrior breaks the taboo and goes there, but when they come back they have the slimy sickness and die shortly thereafter.”
“Have there been any other occupants?” Goldpetal inquires.
“No. None have lived there, not lizard man or rat man.”
“How long has your tribe been here?”
“We have lived here a long, long time,” One Fang says, “My grandsire’s grandsire’s grandsire lived here, and the warren was old then.”
“Was there always a lake here?”
“Yes. The lake is older than our tribe.”
“Were there any elvish settlements around before the swamp came?”
“Yes,” One Fang says. “A long time ago the elves lived here, but it has been many, many, many generations.”
“Would it be possible for one to guide us to the site where the elves lived?”
“One is not exactly sure where that would be, but one believes that it was west of here.”
“Who taught you to celebrate and revere the land?”
“We have always done this. It is the way.”
Goldpetal considers carefully, and then asks, “What did this particular tribe do during the Titans’ War?”
One Fang says, “This tribe tried to avoid the fighting and stay neutral.”
“How did you know that I was a healer of the land?”
“It was obvious,” One Fang says mysteriously.
Goldpetal shakes his head, and abandons that line of questioning. After a minute, he asks, “Is there anything on the way to the ruins that would harm us?”
“The ruins are not that far away,” One Fang tells him, “And Hands of Fire will help you.”
“How did going to the ruins become a taboo?”
“It has always been that way, ever since the Titans’ War.”
“Are there any stories about what happened there?”
“Not much is known.”
“Will the tribe perform rituals at the end of the day, after the feast?”
“No, the tradition is just to tell our history and have a feast. We do not follow the Titans nor worship the gods, but we have respect for Madriel because her priestess helped us during the Titans’ War, a story which has been passed down through the many generations.”
“How long do your people live?”
“Perhaps forty turnings of the seasons,” he says.
In other conversations, Miriel asks Eye Of The Snake for provisions. The chief looks almost insulted, and says that of course they will give us food. There are many leftovers from the feast, and though the raw fish will not keep well for traveling, many of the leftovers will make good trail rations. There are also smoked meat strips which the chief says their warriors use for long journeys.
Paks finds Hands of Fire, and with Telryn’s interpretation, she says to Hands of Fire, “We are brothers, having fought together. I would like to pledge my friendship to you and your people, and offer to help with any fight against evil.”
Hands of Fire is very impressed and honored, and hands her his club, she hands him her sword, they bow and re-exchange weapons.
He tells Paks that he will lead us to the ruins tomorrow morning.
Novalia also seeks out Hands of Fire to ask him about her former companions, and learns that, as she had feared, they are all dead.
Near sunset, Goldpetal ventures out into the swamp to fulfill his evening rituals. This time, he allows Paks to go with him to protect him.
The next morning, Goldpetal gets up early and goes out to do his private rituals, planning to wake Paks to go along and guard during the later ones. Paks, a light sleeper, wakes as he slips out, and she follows him, taking only enough time to grab her sword and cinch on her belt.
She follows him up to the surface, and off into the swamp. The elf moves lightly, easily, clearly at home in the swamp, while the tall, well-muscled woman splashes uneasily through the muddy waters. His keen elven ears hear her behind him, but he continues on for a quarter mile before he stops to allow her to catch up.
“I thought you wanted me to guard you,” she says, as she draws up to him.
“Some of my rituals,” he says, “Cannot be performed in the presence of an outsider.”
“But the swamp is hardly safe for us,” she protests. “I could stay far enough away to honor your religious needs, but I would worry if you were out alone.”
“I appreciate your concern,” he says, “But my vows require you to stay away altogether.”
The warrior sees that there is no arguing with the stern druid, and she can do naught but agree.
While they are out, the lizard women bring some fruits for breakfast. After having a light morning meal, Miriel asks Telryn, “Can you come with me? I want to visit the sick lizard man, and I need you to come interpret.” They find the lizard man feeling much better, and though he is not completely well, Miriel thinks his life is no longer in danger.
Paks returns while they are out, and when Miriel, and Telryn return, we decide to go to the common area. Stone stays in our side cave with our baggage, admonishing Chuck, “Don’t forget to wake me for the feast.”
We all wander out into the common room, and find the lizard men roasting a pig. There are some little lizard children running around. Telryn is kept very busy interpreting, as we seem to be regarded with great interest. The children in particular seem quite amused by us, pointing and laughing and running away.
Goldpetal returns a few hours later, having completed his Denev’s day rituals, and he arrives just in time for the feasting.
Around midday, we are called in to the feast, and wake Stone to join us. The food smells somewhat peculiar, with exotic spices, but the smells awaken great appetites in all of us. Telryn pulls us aside and offers to cast a spell to let us understand what the lizard men are saying. Novalia and Goldpetal accept his offer; Novalia wants to talk to the chief, and Goldpetal wants to talk to the shaman. Telryn also offers the spell to the shaman, who accepts appreciatively.
We sit at the end of a low table. Appetizers of snake and raw fish are handed out. The adult lizards sit with us, but the children run around, enjoying a carnival air with no formality. They particularly seem to like Stone – they keep daring each other to touch him, running up and tapping him, and running away. Telryn creates a magical light on a pebble and tosses it at them. They scatter, but then run back and pick it up and exclaim over it.
As we eat, some of the lizard men start drumming, while another plays a flute. The music is odd – the flute does not use the musical scales we are accustomed to, and the beat is syncopated, almost halting. The shaman starts chanting in Draconic, politely pausing so Telryn can translate for the rest of us. The chant is clearly a well-known ritual, and tells the story of the lizard men:
“Before the Titans arose, the dragons bestrode the earth. They were magic incarnate - it was the dragons who taught the first Titan, Mesos, the essence of magic. When the Titans created the two-legged races, the dragons were intrigued. Some even changed their form to live with these new peoples. Some spent ages in this shape and mated with the new peoples. The lizard peoples are the results of these matings. During the Titans’ War, some dragons fought for the Titans, and some dragons fought for the Divines. Some dragons hid among the two-legged peoples. In all cases, the great dragons perished. Only the dragon’s distant cousins, the Lizard People, live on, and there are not many of us left either. Ratmen, and other foul creatures, and even humans hunt the Lizard Peoples for food or sport or slavery.”
After this chant, the lizard people serve the great entrees of the feast: roast pig, a great snake, and numerous dishes of fish, some raw and some cooked. The side dishes include berries, nuts, and tubers from the surrounding swamp, as well as some fruit which are completely foreign to us. Miriel keeps an avid eye, and asks Telryn several times to get the name or descriptions of some of the spices. Stone and Paks eat heartily, partaking even of the strangest dishes with apparent relish.
After the feast, the chief, Eyes Of The Snake, introduces himself. He thanks us for assisting Hands of Fire and his band. With great formality, he tells us a story:
“Hands of Fire says that you saved his band from the fat brown ratmen. We have repaid you with food and healing and shelter. We can also act as guides while you remain in the swamp.
“But we ask another boon from you.”
“But we ask another boon from you.”
He points to Miriel.
“You are special, a priest of the winged healer god. Hands of Fire recognized you and brought you here. You are the first ever to come here since the war between the Titans and the Gods.
“Once, during the great war, one of your sisters came here for help and safety and in return taught us secrets of healing, and helped protect us from our enemies. Now, many generations later you are here, in a new time of trouble for the Lizard People. This is not a coincidence. Many of our people have been getting sick, the slimy sickness, more every year. We know from where it comes: an old ruin not far from here.
“Our grandsire's grandsire's grandsire told us it was a bad place. This we have known for a long time. In the old time, the lake surrounding the ruin was clear and full of yummy fish. In my grandsire's day, the water and the fish in that lake made us sick. In my father's day, strange monsters began to lurk in the lake. Now in my day, even the animals near the lake are getting sick and we have to hunt far from here for our food.
“We have considered leaving our ancient home, this great cave, but this we do not want to do. It is the home of our ancestors, and it is our home, and it will be our children’s home.
“Once, during the great war, one of your sisters came here for help and safety and in return taught us secrets of healing, and helped protect us from our enemies. Now, many generations later you are here, in a new time of trouble for the Lizard People. This is not a coincidence. Many of our people have been getting sick, the slimy sickness, more every year. We know from where it comes: an old ruin not far from here.
“Our grandsire's grandsire's grandsire told us it was a bad place. This we have known for a long time. In the old time, the lake surrounding the ruin was clear and full of yummy fish. In my grandsire's day, the water and the fish in that lake made us sick. In my father's day, strange monsters began to lurk in the lake. Now in my day, even the animals near the lake are getting sick and we have to hunt far from here for our food.
“We have considered leaving our ancient home, this great cave, but this we do not want to do. It is the home of our ancestors, and it is our home, and it will be our children’s home.
He nods to Miriel. “Perhaps a healer of peoples like you.”
“Perhaps a healer of lands like you,” he looks at the elf, Goldpetal.
“Perhaps a learned person of language like you,” he smiles at Telryn as the mage translates his words.
“Perhaps a northern monster person like you,” he looks Stone in the eye.
“Perhaps great warriors like you,” and he gestures at Paks and Chuck, “Can drive this great enemy away.
“We have never seen a group of peoples like you, with Titans and Divines, scholars and warriors:
“Obviously the great dragon spirits have sent you here to save the poor Lizard Peoples from the evil spirits sickening our lands!
“Obviously the great dragon spirits have sent you here to save the poor Lizard Peoples from the evil spirits sickening our lands!
Miriel does not consult with the others, answering, “Telryn, tell him we’re happy to help, and indeed we have come to fight the Disease tribe. Is this sickness coming from them?”
“No,” the chief responds. “We will guide you to fight the Disease tribe, but it is the ruin that these problems are coming from.”
Paks, speaking in the common tongue, says, “We should finish off the rat men first.”
Miriel answers, “If it were left to me, I would go work on the ruin right away.” The discussion is too rapid for Telryn to translate.
Goldpetal agrees. “I agree. This ruin sounds like a great wound upon the land, a much greater evil.”
Paks nods. “We should at least negotiate for help against the Disease tribe, in exchange for helping against the ruin.”
This suggestion meets widespread approval, and Telryn explains to Eyes Of The Snake about the rat men attacking the freehold, and how we want to get to their camp quickly.
“The ratman force didn't come back,” he tells us. “We've been watching the ratman town, and have also thought about attacking it while it is weak.”
“Will you continue to watch it?” Telryn inquires.
“Yes, we intend to. Hands of Fire will both lead you to the ruin, and help fight the rat men, and One Fang will provide you with useful potions.”
Telryn explains this to Paks, and adds, “He suggests that fixing the ruin will only take a day or so.”
We sit in contemplative silence, each debating both courses. After half of minute of reflection by both groups, the chief offers, “If you mighty warriors help with the ruin, more lizard men might want to come with you to exterminate the Disease tribe. However, only Hands of Fire would dare go into the ruin.”
Miriel asks Telryn, “Please ask for time for us to discuss it, and then for as much information (and potions!) as they can give us.”
Telryn does, and also politely thanks him for everything they’ve done for us.
Novalia talks to the chief to thank him, and to thank Hands of Fire for rescuing her. After the feast we return to our cave to discuss the path presented to us.
In our cave, Miriel starts the discussion by saying, “We have been asked in the name of Madriel to battle the evil contained in the ruins, and I feel very strongly that we should. We’ve already lost so many days on the ratmen that the element of surprise has certainly been lost.”
“I agree with that logic,” Telryn concurs.
“We have an opportunity,” Goldpetal says solemnly, “To heal a great scar in the land, and save an ancient people who may also worship Denev.”
Novalia nods. “I just want to help the lizard men, who have helped me so much.”
Paks shakes her head. “I disagree,” she says. “And I have four reasons. First, the fight against the ratmen is still time-sensitive. The more time they have to regroup, the stronger they will be. Second, the poison coming from the ruins has been around for a long time. It can wait another day or two while we wipe out this Disease tribe. Third, we should finish what we start. We haven’t finished any of our missions yet. Finally, we don’t know that this side trip is really only a day-long mission.”
Chuck says, “But the ratmen already know what’s happened. It’s been five days, and the shaman escaped. He’s surely had time to warn them.”
“And it will be even more by the time we get there,” Telryn adds, “Even if we leave tomorrow.”
“I think we have finished missions,” Miriel says.
“Unless you count rescuing Reginald, no,” Paks disagrees. “There are still many things unresolved about the smuggling, we let SySy escape, and we have not finished this battle with the Disease tribe.”
“The only good rat man is a dead ratman,” Novalia avows. “Fighting ratmen is a good thing, mission or no mission.”
It seems she may have been swayed by Paks’ arguments, but Goldpetal says sternly, “We are being asked, on Denev’s day, to take care of a terrible wound to the land. This cannot be a coincidence.”
“Think for a moment,” Chuck adds. “We have the best chance of taking out the ratmen with more help. They may have run away by now, and how the heck could we find SySy in the swamp anyway? I do want to go back and track down members of the evil de Asuras family, but overall, I don’t see the need to complete the other missions Paks mentioned. At least not right now.”
“As long as we do both, what does it matter the order?” asks Stone.
“I can see that the will of the group is against me,” Paks concedes, “I’ll go on the mission to the ruin, but I’d like you all to help me go after the warren when we are done.”
“Of course,” Chuck agrees, and the others are all nodding in agreement as well.
“Thank you,” Miriel tells Paks. “This is the right thing to do.”
Novalia says, “If we are going into great danger, I can offer the Blessing of Tanil to anyone in the party.”
Chuck and Paks accept. The rest of the group thank her, but each turns it down: Miriel and Telryn worship Madriel, Stone worships Hedrada, and Goldpetal’s faith with Denev prompt each of them to refuse the blessing of another god.
Telryn leaves to inform Eye Of The Snake that we have decided to go the ruin, but asks him to watch the rat men closely. Telryn also casts four more comprehend language spells in order for Miriel, Goldpetal, Paks and Novalia to speak to the lizard men and vice-versa.
Goldpetal talks to One Fang, who says, “One is glad that you are going to examine this wound upon the land. One can give you these to assist you.” He hands Goldpetal five vials. “These three are potions of healing, and here are two potions of remove disease. They must be used early, soon after the disease is contracted.”
He and Goldpetal walk together through the swamp, where One Fang shows the elf how to identify and harvest the leaf of the ninequine plant to make doses of a tonic to prevent swamp fever. “If taken once a day,” he says, “It should protect humans and even elves from the swamp fever. I do not know if it will work for a northern monster-person, but it should not hurt him.”
The elderly shaman moves slowly, but the elf patiently paces him. As they walk, Goldpetal asks him questions. “Tell me everything you know about the ruins we’re going to,” the elf requests. “Who built them? Who lived there?”
Eye Of The Snake tells him, “Long ago, it was a human settlement, but for many generations it has been sunk under the swamp. Every generation, some foolhardy warrior breaks the taboo and goes there, but when they come back they have the slimy sickness and die shortly thereafter.”
“Have there been any other occupants?” Goldpetal inquires.
“No. None have lived there, not lizard man or rat man.”
“How long has your tribe been here?”
“We have lived here a long, long time,” One Fang says, “My grandsire’s grandsire’s grandsire lived here, and the warren was old then.”
“Was there always a lake here?”
“Yes. The lake is older than our tribe.”
“Were there any elvish settlements around before the swamp came?”
“Yes,” One Fang says. “A long time ago the elves lived here, but it has been many, many, many generations.”
“Would it be possible for one to guide us to the site where the elves lived?”
“One is not exactly sure where that would be, but one believes that it was west of here.”
“Who taught you to celebrate and revere the land?”
“We have always done this. It is the way.”
Goldpetal considers carefully, and then asks, “What did this particular tribe do during the Titans’ War?”
One Fang says, “This tribe tried to avoid the fighting and stay neutral.”
“How did you know that I was a healer of the land?”
“It was obvious,” One Fang says mysteriously.
Goldpetal shakes his head, and abandons that line of questioning. After a minute, he asks, “Is there anything on the way to the ruins that would harm us?”
“The ruins are not that far away,” One Fang tells him, “And Hands of Fire will help you.”
“How did going to the ruins become a taboo?”
“It has always been that way, ever since the Titans’ War.”
“Are there any stories about what happened there?”
“Not much is known.”
“Will the tribe perform rituals at the end of the day, after the feast?”
“No, the tradition is just to tell our history and have a feast. We do not follow the Titans nor worship the gods, but we have respect for Madriel because her priestess helped us during the Titans’ War, a story which has been passed down through the many generations.”
“How long do your people live?”
“Perhaps forty turnings of the seasons,” he says.
In other conversations, Miriel asks Eye Of The Snake for provisions. The chief looks almost insulted, and says that of course they will give us food. There are many leftovers from the feast, and though the raw fish will not keep well for traveling, many of the leftovers will make good trail rations. There are also smoked meat strips which the chief says their warriors use for long journeys.
Paks finds Hands of Fire, and with Telryn’s interpretation, she says to Hands of Fire, “We are brothers, having fought together. I would like to pledge my friendship to you and your people, and offer to help with any fight against evil.”
Hands of Fire is very impressed and honored, and hands her his club, she hands him her sword, they bow and re-exchange weapons.
He tells Paks that he will lead us to the ruins tomorrow morning.
Novalia also seeks out Hands of Fire to ask him about her former companions, and learns that, as she had feared, they are all dead.
Near sunset, Goldpetal ventures out into the swamp to fulfill his evening rituals. This time, he allows Paks to go with him to protect him.
Issue #11: The Lizard Men and the Duck - Episode 4 of 5
The next morning is the first day of Madrer, the month of Harvest. It is Corday, Corean’s Day. Miriel awakens before dawn, as Goldpetal had the night before for Denev’s Day. She slips out into the swamp to perform a special ritual and greeting to Madriel as the sun rises over the first day of her month.
Hands of Fire wakes the rest of the group shortly after dawn, and as we pack we eat a quick breakfast. We are all ready to set out by the time Miriel returns, and without further ado we begin our journey to the ruins which the lizard men believe are a source of infection.
With the guidance of Hands of Fire and Goldpetal, we are able to make good time, and avoid all of the worst perils of the swamp. The air is still and cool, and the swamp teems with signs of small life – insects, birds, lizards, and frogs, which can be seen keeping a respectful distance from our noisy passage.
After about an hour of traveling we arrive at a large lake. Fog rises off the still surface in the early morning, and we can see, in the distance, a large island. Those with the sharpest eyes, Miriel, Stone, and Goldpetal, can see a ruin in the middle of it.
Hands of Fire steps to the edge of the lake, and pulls aside some branches to uncover a canoe. He gestures for all of us to board. It is just large enough for the eight of us, though we doubt that eight of the sizeable lizard men would fit in it.
There is only one set of oars, and our guide starts paddling out across the lake. The surface of the lake is very quiet, disturbed only by the ripples of our passage. Something about the solemnity prevents any of us from speaking for the first half of the voyage.
Finally, a growing sense of unease prompts Chuck to whisper, “Do you get an odd feeling about this place?”
“Definitely,” answers Novalia in the same hush. “Something is wrong.”
“There is nothing alive,” Goldpetal observes. “No fish, no insects, no birds.”
“Don’t you guys feel anything?” Chuck asks, looking at the others, but his question is met with quick head shakes.
Novalia gesticulates and mutters an incantation under her breath. Stone eyes her cautiously, as though he is not yet sure he trusts her, but Telryn puts out a restraining hand. “Detect evil,” he whispers.
After a minute of concentration, the young woman shakes her head. “I tried to detect evil,” she says, “But aside from this odd sense of unease, I don’t detect any evil on the lake itself.”
Telryn, still the only one who can speak with Hands of Fire, asks a quick question in Draconic. The lizard man responds, and Telryn translates. “He says it is the power of the taboo place.”
When we reach the island, we see that the ruin looks like it was once the top of a tower. Crenellated stone walls protrude about three feet from the top of the soil. One wall is crumbled and worn down, and it is easy to step onto the stones which pave the center of the rectangular space. There is a hole in the paving stones, and a ladder leads down into the darkness below.
Novalia, Paks, Stone, and Miriel approach the tower, while Hands of Fire and Goldpetal stay near the boat. “I can feel evil emanating up from underneath,” Novalia tells the others.
“I sense it, too,” Paks confirms.
Novalia concentrates to see if she can determine anything about the source, but she cannot learn anything.
Meanwhile, Chuck explores the small confines of the island, seeing what he can observe about it. It is small and surprisingly barren, though some small plants grow about, unnaturally twisted. Telryn inspects the stones of the ruins, but they are covered over and he cannot learn much. Goldpetal stops at the water’s edge, and casts detect poison, a simple spell, on the water of the lake. Though the water is clearly fouled in some way, his spell does not indicate that it has been poisoned.
Hands of Fire shouts a warning, and we turn towards him. Three corpses, dripping wet, are shambling out of the water towards him. They are waist deep in the water, and judging from the lichen and grasses streaming from their hair, they have been underwater a long time. Two of the animated bodies used to be human, while the third was once a lizard man.
Paks yells, “Zombies!” She is the first to react, drawing her longsword and charging at them. She reaches the first as it reaches ankle depth in the water. Her first blow catches it across the chest, wounding it, but her momentum carries her into its reach. It swipes at her with one arm, and claws dig through her chain mail and into her ribs.
Stone is about to charge into the fray, but Miriel restrains him. “Stay and watch the ladder,” she says. “That’s where the real danger is. We can handle these.”
Paks continues to fight alone, as the others ready their weapons and knock arrows. She retreats to the solid footing of the beach, trying to stay between the zombie and the solid ground. She yells for Miriel, “Medic!” Two bolts of blue light streaks over her shoulder as Telryn casts a magic missile, further wounding Paks’ zombie. She has just enough attention to spare to realize that it was two bolts, not one. Goldpetal’s hawks dive to attack the other human zombie, and one successfully claws it. It swipes at them, but misses its footing, and falls into the water with a splash.
Novalia pulls out her bow and arrow. “Tanil, help me,” she says, invoking her god’s assistance as she knocks an arrow. Chuck wastes no time in speech, as he unleashes two shots into the melee. Both of his arrows strike true. One wounds the lizard man zombie, while the other dispatches Paks’ opponent. Hands of Fire rushes at the fallen zombie and clubs it over the head as it struggles to regain its feet. It slips, unmoving, beneath the water’s surface. Goldpetal engages the lizard man zombie with his scimitar, but the seven-foot tall monster’s claws have much more reach than the slight elf’s arms, even extended by a blade, and he is unable to get in a telling blow.
Miriel rushes up behind Paks, who positions herself between the priestess and the remaining zombie. “Madriel, heal this warrior,” she pleads, and Paks’ wounds close under her hands.
Three more zombies appear; two of these corpses were once ratmen. They begin to close in on Paks, and for a brief moment, she and Miriel are almost surrounded. The young warrior lays about desperately with her longsword, unable to wound any of them, but keeping them at bay. The eldest one tries to bite her, but it meets her shield and loses its footing on the wet earth. As it falls, Telryn’s second magic missile hits it in the chest, and the twin bolts of magical energy ensure that it will never rise again.
Chuck draws his two swords and charges, with a wordless cry, into the fray. Hands of Fire and Goldpetal are right behind him. Chuck’s initial rush catches two of the slow-moving undead, injuring both, and Hands of Fire finishes one off with his great club. Goldpetal’s rush helps push the two survivors back into the water. They are trapped knee-deep in the water, which seems to be slowing them somewhat, while the defenders are able to stand on the firm ground of the beach. Both of the hawks dart in and out of the fray, ripping chunks of degenerating flesh from one of the ratman zombies.
Miriel raises Madriel’s symbol above her head, and shouts, “In the name of Madriel, be gone!” It is an attempt to turn the undead, but they ignore her. Novalia steps around the other side of the ruin with Stone, to make sure there are not more zombies approaching, unseen, from the other side. She sees none. Telryn draws his crossbow and begins loading it.
Just as it looks like we are making progress, three more zombies clamber out of the lake. As they approach, Goldpetal hits one of them, cutting a deep gash across its chest with his scimitar. The three zombies of the third wave crash into the fray, and one of them hits Paks, driving her backwards. The other two attack Goldpetal, but he nimbly steps to the side.
Telryn shoots his crossbow at the zombies, but misses. Chuck steps back from the front line, sheathing his swords and drawing his bow. He fires two rapid shots at a zombie attacking Goldpetal. He hits with the first arrow, but the second shot goes horribly awry as the bowstring clips his hand on release, numbing his hand.
Hands of Fire goes berserk, as he misses a zombie with his great club, but then leaps upon it and bites it, ripping a big chunk out of it as it falls, lifeless, beneath his weight. Miriel again calls, “In the name of Madriel, be gone!” but fails to turn undead. Novalia steps into the top of the tower, taking cover behind the crenellations. She continues to wait for a clear shot.
Goldpetal shifts around to get shoulder to shoulder with Paks, but can do little more than keeping the zombies at bay with his scimitar. The hawks dive to his aid, attacking the two zombies he faces. One of the hawks claws a chunk of rotting flesh off of the ratman zombie, and the hawks’ attack distracts the zombies from pressing the attack against the elf.
Paks stabs one of the zombies in front of her, but the other takes advantage of the opening to rake her across the shoulder. Hands of Fire splashes through the shallow water to her side, and brings his club down across the skull of one of her opponents. The zombie collapses into the water.
Three more zombies are staggering out of the water towards us, and it looks grim for us. Telryn fires his crossbow, wounding one of the newcomers. Stone loads his crossbow, abandoning his watch of the ladder, and fires, but at that range, he narrowly misses. Novalia casts guidance on herself, asking Tanil to guide her arrow, still knocked but unfired.
“Madriel, hear my plea!” Miriel cries, raising her holy symbol above her head. “Be gone, vile beasts!” This time she succeeds in turning all of the zombies, and they turn to flee.
We all attack them as they flee. Chuck wounds one of the zombies in front of Paks with his arrows. Paks hits one, and the hawks harass a third, tearing chunks of it away repeatedly until it submerges beneath the water.
All of the zombies escape underwater, moving further away and out of sight. We pause to catch our breath for a moment.
When everyone’s heart rate returns to normal, and it is clear that the zombies are not returning, Miriel and Telryn gather around Paks, who was wounded.
“I’m all right,” she insists, as Miriel inspects the wound.
Miriel can see from the wounds that the young warrior is being less than honest. She bandages the wound, and then asks Madriel to heal the young warrior. The wound on her shoulder closes under the healing hands of the priestess.
“Here, perhaps this will help prevent the need for that,” Telryn says, and casts mage armor on her again.
While they are working, Goldpetal and Stone look down into the dark hollow. “It looks like a sewer,” Stone says, and Goldpetal mentally agrees with the half-orc. The floor is wet, with puddles of standing water and mud. The elf drops a sling bullet down into the hole, and it lands with a splash in the mud, but it doesn’t sink.
“Solid enough to stand on,” he says, and Stone nods in agreement.
When Miriel and Telryn are finished tending to her, Paks suggests, “Let’s see if there’s something around to cover the hole with, in case those things come back after we go into the ruin. I don’t want them coming upon us from behind.” She looks around to see if there’s something around to cover the hole with, but the island is fairly barren, and she doesn’t see anything better than our rowboat.
“Here, Paks,” Chuck offers, “Let’s use Stone’s canvas. We can hold it in place with some rocks.”
Miriel lights a torch and we all gather around the hole in the tower roof. Paks leads the way, sitting over the hole and dropping herself in.
She finds herself in the northwest corner of a room twenty feet wide and perhaps double that in length. The walls are stone, fitting her mental image of it as ‘a tower’ even though the bulk of the space lies under the surface of the island. As she looks around, she sees a staircase in the southeast corner, going down. In the center of the hall, against the east wall, there are two doorways, with the remains of shattered doors. She steps out into the room and calls for the next people to follow. Judging from the wooden rubble on the floor, any furniture which was once there is broken, and yields few hints as to its former use.
As Chuck and Miriel climb down after her, Paks looks through the doors for movement. All she can see from the doorway is standing water and the rubble of more broken furniture. Behind her, Novalia comes down next, then Stone, then Telryn. Goldpetal comes down last, affixing the canvas over the hole to hide us from the zombies, if they return. He also picks his bullet out of the mud.
“Goldpetal, Stone,” Paks says, “You guard the doors here, while Chuck, Novalia, and I check out the next rooms. Miriel, Telryn, you stay behind us.”
Paks walks into the second room with Chuck at her back. The room is a twenty foot square, aligned with half of the first room. Before she has time to recognize much more, a swarm of small creatures leaps from the floor to fly towards her. They are rusty-red, with a bulbous, furry body about a foot long. They have bat-like wings, with a two-foot span, and a huge proboscis and insectoid yellow eyes. They swarm on Paks, using their small, pincer-like legs to try to clamp onto her body.
Paks, with horror in her voice, shouts out, “Stirges! Get them off!” as they swarm over her. There are four of them. One hits, sucking her blood, and weakening her. Luckily for us, however, two of them collide with each other, in mid-air, and appear a bit stunned by the collision.
Outside, Telryn backs into a corner of the first room, getting a solid wall behind his back. Goldpetal summons a swarm of rats on the other side of the stirges.
Chuck steps in next to Paks and grabs the stirge sucking on her. He pulls it off, holding it with two arms as far from his body as he can. Before he can do anything with it, Novalia fires an arrow at it, which goes straight into the small, bulbous head, killing it.
Paks staggers back out of the room, and slumps against the opposite wall, next to Telryn, while her companions battle the stirges. Miriel steps over to see if she needs help, but Paks weakly waves her away. Hands of Fire moves into her place, and swings wildly at the stirges, but he fails to connect. There’s not enough room for Stone to join the melee, so he goes to the staircase to stand guard lest something come in response to the noise.
Telryn moves up behind Chuck and casts a magic missile at the stirges. Two iridescent blue bolts streak from his fingertips, killing one of the stunned ones.
One of the stirges latches itself onto Hands of Fire, sucking his blood. Chuck attacks it with his bare hands, ripping it free of Hands of Fire and killing it by breaking its neck.
Goldpetal’s swarm of rats clambers onto the stunned stirge, the only one they could reach, but before they can do much to it, Hands of Fire brings his great two-handed club down on it in a furious overhand swing, smashing it. All of the stirges are dead.
The next morning is the first day of Madrer, the month of Harvest. It is Corday, Corean’s Day. Miriel awakens before dawn, as Goldpetal had the night before for Denev’s Day. She slips out into the swamp to perform a special ritual and greeting to Madriel as the sun rises over the first day of her month.
Hands of Fire wakes the rest of the group shortly after dawn, and as we pack we eat a quick breakfast. We are all ready to set out by the time Miriel returns, and without further ado we begin our journey to the ruins which the lizard men believe are a source of infection.
With the guidance of Hands of Fire and Goldpetal, we are able to make good time, and avoid all of the worst perils of the swamp. The air is still and cool, and the swamp teems with signs of small life – insects, birds, lizards, and frogs, which can be seen keeping a respectful distance from our noisy passage.
After about an hour of traveling we arrive at a large lake. Fog rises off the still surface in the early morning, and we can see, in the distance, a large island. Those with the sharpest eyes, Miriel, Stone, and Goldpetal, can see a ruin in the middle of it.
Hands of Fire steps to the edge of the lake, and pulls aside some branches to uncover a canoe. He gestures for all of us to board. It is just large enough for the eight of us, though we doubt that eight of the sizeable lizard men would fit in it.
There is only one set of oars, and our guide starts paddling out across the lake. The surface of the lake is very quiet, disturbed only by the ripples of our passage. Something about the solemnity prevents any of us from speaking for the first half of the voyage.
Finally, a growing sense of unease prompts Chuck to whisper, “Do you get an odd feeling about this place?”
“Definitely,” answers Novalia in the same hush. “Something is wrong.”
“There is nothing alive,” Goldpetal observes. “No fish, no insects, no birds.”
“Don’t you guys feel anything?” Chuck asks, looking at the others, but his question is met with quick head shakes.
Novalia gesticulates and mutters an incantation under her breath. Stone eyes her cautiously, as though he is not yet sure he trusts her, but Telryn puts out a restraining hand. “Detect evil,” he whispers.
After a minute of concentration, the young woman shakes her head. “I tried to detect evil,” she says, “But aside from this odd sense of unease, I don’t detect any evil on the lake itself.”
Telryn, still the only one who can speak with Hands of Fire, asks a quick question in Draconic. The lizard man responds, and Telryn translates. “He says it is the power of the taboo place.”
When we reach the island, we see that the ruin looks like it was once the top of a tower. Crenellated stone walls protrude about three feet from the top of the soil. One wall is crumbled and worn down, and it is easy to step onto the stones which pave the center of the rectangular space. There is a hole in the paving stones, and a ladder leads down into the darkness below.
Novalia, Paks, Stone, and Miriel approach the tower, while Hands of Fire and Goldpetal stay near the boat. “I can feel evil emanating up from underneath,” Novalia tells the others.
“I sense it, too,” Paks confirms.
Novalia concentrates to see if she can determine anything about the source, but she cannot learn anything.
Meanwhile, Chuck explores the small confines of the island, seeing what he can observe about it. It is small and surprisingly barren, though some small plants grow about, unnaturally twisted. Telryn inspects the stones of the ruins, but they are covered over and he cannot learn much. Goldpetal stops at the water’s edge, and casts detect poison, a simple spell, on the water of the lake. Though the water is clearly fouled in some way, his spell does not indicate that it has been poisoned.
Hands of Fire shouts a warning, and we turn towards him. Three corpses, dripping wet, are shambling out of the water towards him. They are waist deep in the water, and judging from the lichen and grasses streaming from their hair, they have been underwater a long time. Two of the animated bodies used to be human, while the third was once a lizard man.
Paks yells, “Zombies!” She is the first to react, drawing her longsword and charging at them. She reaches the first as it reaches ankle depth in the water. Her first blow catches it across the chest, wounding it, but her momentum carries her into its reach. It swipes at her with one arm, and claws dig through her chain mail and into her ribs.
Stone is about to charge into the fray, but Miriel restrains him. “Stay and watch the ladder,” she says. “That’s where the real danger is. We can handle these.”
Paks continues to fight alone, as the others ready their weapons and knock arrows. She retreats to the solid footing of the beach, trying to stay between the zombie and the solid ground. She yells for Miriel, “Medic!” Two bolts of blue light streaks over her shoulder as Telryn casts a magic missile, further wounding Paks’ zombie. She has just enough attention to spare to realize that it was two bolts, not one. Goldpetal’s hawks dive to attack the other human zombie, and one successfully claws it. It swipes at them, but misses its footing, and falls into the water with a splash.
Novalia pulls out her bow and arrow. “Tanil, help me,” she says, invoking her god’s assistance as she knocks an arrow. Chuck wastes no time in speech, as he unleashes two shots into the melee. Both of his arrows strike true. One wounds the lizard man zombie, while the other dispatches Paks’ opponent. Hands of Fire rushes at the fallen zombie and clubs it over the head as it struggles to regain its feet. It slips, unmoving, beneath the water’s surface. Goldpetal engages the lizard man zombie with his scimitar, but the seven-foot tall monster’s claws have much more reach than the slight elf’s arms, even extended by a blade, and he is unable to get in a telling blow.
Miriel rushes up behind Paks, who positions herself between the priestess and the remaining zombie. “Madriel, heal this warrior,” she pleads, and Paks’ wounds close under her hands.
Three more zombies appear; two of these corpses were once ratmen. They begin to close in on Paks, and for a brief moment, she and Miriel are almost surrounded. The young warrior lays about desperately with her longsword, unable to wound any of them, but keeping them at bay. The eldest one tries to bite her, but it meets her shield and loses its footing on the wet earth. As it falls, Telryn’s second magic missile hits it in the chest, and the twin bolts of magical energy ensure that it will never rise again.
Chuck draws his two swords and charges, with a wordless cry, into the fray. Hands of Fire and Goldpetal are right behind him. Chuck’s initial rush catches two of the slow-moving undead, injuring both, and Hands of Fire finishes one off with his great club. Goldpetal’s rush helps push the two survivors back into the water. They are trapped knee-deep in the water, which seems to be slowing them somewhat, while the defenders are able to stand on the firm ground of the beach. Both of the hawks dart in and out of the fray, ripping chunks of degenerating flesh from one of the ratman zombies.
Miriel raises Madriel’s symbol above her head, and shouts, “In the name of Madriel, be gone!” It is an attempt to turn the undead, but they ignore her. Novalia steps around the other side of the ruin with Stone, to make sure there are not more zombies approaching, unseen, from the other side. She sees none. Telryn draws his crossbow and begins loading it.
Just as it looks like we are making progress, three more zombies clamber out of the lake. As they approach, Goldpetal hits one of them, cutting a deep gash across its chest with his scimitar. The three zombies of the third wave crash into the fray, and one of them hits Paks, driving her backwards. The other two attack Goldpetal, but he nimbly steps to the side.
Telryn shoots his crossbow at the zombies, but misses. Chuck steps back from the front line, sheathing his swords and drawing his bow. He fires two rapid shots at a zombie attacking Goldpetal. He hits with the first arrow, but the second shot goes horribly awry as the bowstring clips his hand on release, numbing his hand.
Hands of Fire goes berserk, as he misses a zombie with his great club, but then leaps upon it and bites it, ripping a big chunk out of it as it falls, lifeless, beneath his weight. Miriel again calls, “In the name of Madriel, be gone!” but fails to turn undead. Novalia steps into the top of the tower, taking cover behind the crenellations. She continues to wait for a clear shot.
Goldpetal shifts around to get shoulder to shoulder with Paks, but can do little more than keeping the zombies at bay with his scimitar. The hawks dive to his aid, attacking the two zombies he faces. One of the hawks claws a chunk of rotting flesh off of the ratman zombie, and the hawks’ attack distracts the zombies from pressing the attack against the elf.
Paks stabs one of the zombies in front of her, but the other takes advantage of the opening to rake her across the shoulder. Hands of Fire splashes through the shallow water to her side, and brings his club down across the skull of one of her opponents. The zombie collapses into the water.
Three more zombies are staggering out of the water towards us, and it looks grim for us. Telryn fires his crossbow, wounding one of the newcomers. Stone loads his crossbow, abandoning his watch of the ladder, and fires, but at that range, he narrowly misses. Novalia casts guidance on herself, asking Tanil to guide her arrow, still knocked but unfired.
“Madriel, hear my plea!” Miriel cries, raising her holy symbol above her head. “Be gone, vile beasts!” This time she succeeds in turning all of the zombies, and they turn to flee.
We all attack them as they flee. Chuck wounds one of the zombies in front of Paks with his arrows. Paks hits one, and the hawks harass a third, tearing chunks of it away repeatedly until it submerges beneath the water.
All of the zombies escape underwater, moving further away and out of sight. We pause to catch our breath for a moment.
When everyone’s heart rate returns to normal, and it is clear that the zombies are not returning, Miriel and Telryn gather around Paks, who was wounded.
“I’m all right,” she insists, as Miriel inspects the wound.
Miriel can see from the wounds that the young warrior is being less than honest. She bandages the wound, and then asks Madriel to heal the young warrior. The wound on her shoulder closes under the healing hands of the priestess.
“Here, perhaps this will help prevent the need for that,” Telryn says, and casts mage armor on her again.
While they are working, Goldpetal and Stone look down into the dark hollow. “It looks like a sewer,” Stone says, and Goldpetal mentally agrees with the half-orc. The floor is wet, with puddles of standing water and mud. The elf drops a sling bullet down into the hole, and it lands with a splash in the mud, but it doesn’t sink.
“Solid enough to stand on,” he says, and Stone nods in agreement.
When Miriel and Telryn are finished tending to her, Paks suggests, “Let’s see if there’s something around to cover the hole with, in case those things come back after we go into the ruin. I don’t want them coming upon us from behind.” She looks around to see if there’s something around to cover the hole with, but the island is fairly barren, and she doesn’t see anything better than our rowboat.
“Here, Paks,” Chuck offers, “Let’s use Stone’s canvas. We can hold it in place with some rocks.”
Miriel lights a torch and we all gather around the hole in the tower roof. Paks leads the way, sitting over the hole and dropping herself in.
She finds herself in the northwest corner of a room twenty feet wide and perhaps double that in length. The walls are stone, fitting her mental image of it as ‘a tower’ even though the bulk of the space lies under the surface of the island. As she looks around, she sees a staircase in the southeast corner, going down. In the center of the hall, against the east wall, there are two doorways, with the remains of shattered doors. She steps out into the room and calls for the next people to follow. Judging from the wooden rubble on the floor, any furniture which was once there is broken, and yields few hints as to its former use.
As Chuck and Miriel climb down after her, Paks looks through the doors for movement. All she can see from the doorway is standing water and the rubble of more broken furniture. Behind her, Novalia comes down next, then Stone, then Telryn. Goldpetal comes down last, affixing the canvas over the hole to hide us from the zombies, if they return. He also picks his bullet out of the mud.
“Goldpetal, Stone,” Paks says, “You guard the doors here, while Chuck, Novalia, and I check out the next rooms. Miriel, Telryn, you stay behind us.”
Paks walks into the second room with Chuck at her back. The room is a twenty foot square, aligned with half of the first room. Before she has time to recognize much more, a swarm of small creatures leaps from the floor to fly towards her. They are rusty-red, with a bulbous, furry body about a foot long. They have bat-like wings, with a two-foot span, and a huge proboscis and insectoid yellow eyes. They swarm on Paks, using their small, pincer-like legs to try to clamp onto her body.
Paks, with horror in her voice, shouts out, “Stirges! Get them off!” as they swarm over her. There are four of them. One hits, sucking her blood, and weakening her. Luckily for us, however, two of them collide with each other, in mid-air, and appear a bit stunned by the collision.
Outside, Telryn backs into a corner of the first room, getting a solid wall behind his back. Goldpetal summons a swarm of rats on the other side of the stirges.
Chuck steps in next to Paks and grabs the stirge sucking on her. He pulls it off, holding it with two arms as far from his body as he can. Before he can do anything with it, Novalia fires an arrow at it, which goes straight into the small, bulbous head, killing it.
Paks staggers back out of the room, and slumps against the opposite wall, next to Telryn, while her companions battle the stirges. Miriel steps over to see if she needs help, but Paks weakly waves her away. Hands of Fire moves into her place, and swings wildly at the stirges, but he fails to connect. There’s not enough room for Stone to join the melee, so he goes to the staircase to stand guard lest something come in response to the noise.
Telryn moves up behind Chuck and casts a magic missile at the stirges. Two iridescent blue bolts streak from his fingertips, killing one of the stunned ones.
One of the stirges latches itself onto Hands of Fire, sucking his blood. Chuck attacks it with his bare hands, ripping it free of Hands of Fire and killing it by breaking its neck.
Goldpetal’s swarm of rats clambers onto the stunned stirge, the only one they could reach, but before they can do much to it, Hands of Fire brings his great two-handed club down on it in a furious overhand swing, smashing it. All of the stirges are dead.
Issue #11: The Lizard Men and the Duck - Episode 5 of 5
When we’ve all sheathed our weapons, Miriel hurries to Paks’ side. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she inquires with genuine concern.
“I’m not injured,” Paks answers, “But I feel very weak. It’s tough to hold up my shield.”
As Miriel checks Paks over, Telryn nods. “That’s how I’ve felt since our first battle with the stirges,” he tells her.
“There’s nothing I can do for her,” Miriel says, standing up and helping the warrior to her feet. She turns to the others. “What was in the room?”
Chuck walks into the room and looks around, with Hands of Fire following him. On the floor is the rubble of broken furniture which appears common to this area. Leaning against the west wall is a desiccated human corpse. After our brush with undead on the surface, Hands of Fire bashes it with a club and knocks its head off, lest it animate behind us.
Chuck searches the corpse and finds a pouch with coins in it. The purse contains 5 gold pieces, 11 silver pieces, and a topaz. The currency is unfamiliar, with a double-headed eagle on it. He also finds some tools, apparently thieves’ tools, and two scroll cases. He searches through the rest of the room cursorily, but doesn’t find anything.
In the main room, Goldpetal sends the rats through the second door. Nothing attacks them, so Paks steps in behind them. She sees a matching square room, with a lot more ruined furniture.
“There’s nothing here,” she calls. “Do we want to search the rooms thoroughly?”
“Yeah,” Chuck calls back, and nobody objects. Miriel lights a torch and stays in the larger room. Goldpetal lets the rats go, and walks along the perimeter wall, examining the stones to search for hidden doors.
Chuck, Hands of Fire and Telryn thoroughly search the room where the stirges were. Telryn finds a rose-quartz prism in the mud near the body. He quickly casts detect magic on it, and discover that it has a magical aura. Further study reveals that the magic is an abjuration, but he can’t tell what it might do.
Stone and Paks search the third room, and Paks finds an old gold candlestick.
Miriel pokes around in the main room. She doesn’t find anything useful, but does notice that there is a shallow pool of standing water in the southern end of the room. It doesn’t look deep enough even to wet the tops of our boots, if we step in it, but it is deep enough that a slight stream drips down the staircase in the southeast corner of the room.
When we are done searching, we gather at the top of the staircase. “I’ll lead this time,” Chuck suggests. “Paks, you stay near the back with Stone.”
The young Vigilant cautiously steps through the pool of water to the staircase. He examines the ground for tracks, but the staircase doesn’t seem to have been disturbed in many years. “Be careful,” he cautions the others. “It’s wet and covered in lichen – it’ll be very slippery.”
He works his way cautiously down the staircase, with Hands of Fire and Novalia behind him. The stairs are slippery, but taking care to plant their feet, they make it down the stairs quietly.
At the bottom of the stairs, Chuck finds a room similar to the main room above. It is somewhat larger, perhaps fifty feet long, but seems to occupy the space directly underneath. Like the room above, there are also two doors in the east wall of this room. They are intact and closed. A staircase leads further down from the northwest corner of the room. The water dripping down the stairs forms a pool at the southeast corner, at the bottom of the staircase.
Chuck steps into the pool. The water comes up to his ankles, and he is glad that his boots come up most of the length of his calf. His feet stay dry as he splashes through the water to the dry land nearer the center of the room. Looking around, he can see the remains of rotted banners on the walls. On one wall are the remains of what must once have been a great tapestry, but he doubts it would be worth anything to anyone after centuries of decay. He checks the ground again, looking for tracks, but the lichens growing on the stone floor have not been disturbed in many years.
He motions for the rest of us to follow him, and moves to the door nearest the stairs we came down. Hands of Fire follows him, and Novalia steps past them both to guard the down staircase and the second door. Stone and Goldpetal stay at the foot of the up staircase, while Miriel stations herself in the center of the room, where she can move quickly to assist anyone.
Chuck attempts to open the first door, but it is stuck fast. He strains against it, trying to pull it open, but to no avail. “A little help, here?” he whispers. Hands of Fire and Paks come to assist, with Telryn standing behind them, ready to cast a spell if need be. All three pull together, but it still refuses to budge.
“We need Stone,” Paks says. The half-orc dutifully comes to lend a hand, but he is still suffering from the effects of his near-death and miraculous recovery, and the door resists our every effort.
“Let’s try the other door,” Chuck suggests. The same group moves to the second door.
Before attempting to open it, Chuck leans an ear to the door, to listen against it. He doesn’t hear anything, and shakes his head to indicate that to the others. He pulls at this one, and though it offers a brief resistance, he manages to pull this one open.
He steps into another square room, the same size as those upstairs, twenty feet on a side. It looks like it might have been a library, with lots of broken chairs. There’s a large bookcase against the eastern wall, and the young Vigilant smiles as he considers Telryn’s reaction to that find. There is a door in the southern wall. Some of the books are in the bookcase, but others have been tossed around the room; some of them are on the floor in the mud.
“What’s in it?” Telryn asks, from the main room.
“A bunch of books and stuff!” Chuck calls back softly. “Come on in!”
“We should have the scholars look at that,” Miriel suggests. “Come out, and watch our backs.”
With a quick bit of direction from the priestess, we adjust our roles. Hands of Fire and Paks guard the staircase up. Chuck and Stone guard the staircase down. Our scholarly party members, Miriel, Goldpetal, Novalia, and Telryn light some extra torches, and go in to look at the books.
Telryn enters the room first, carrying one of the torches. As he moves towards the corner of the room, he feels very cold. Goldpetal is standing right behind him, and notices that the young mage is starting to shiver. As Telryn approaches the bookcase with the torch, the elf sees a mold which was on the bookshelf spread before his very eyes, covering more of the wall and bookshelf.
“Ow!” Telryn gasps, as a burst of cold air gives him a small freezer burn. Goldpetal is similarly affected.
They both back away, back to the door. Telryn warns the others “Stay away from that mold. I think it might be activated by the heat.”
Miriel asks, “Goldpetal, do you knows what this mold is?”
“I’ve never seen it before,” he says, “But I’ve heard stories of ‘brown mold,’ which is pretty common underground. Heat sources make it grow, cold sources make it shrink.”
Miriel and Telryn, who have torches, leave the room, and Novalia follows. Goldpetal stays. “I can see without the torch,” he says. “I’ll look around.”
“Be careful,” Miriel cautions.
As she and the others return to the larger room, Paks asks “What happened?”
“It was cold,” Telryn says, and explains about the mold. When he’s finished, he calls to the elf, “Goldpetal, bring out any books which are not next to the mold. I’m going to study a cold spell.”
Telryn sits in the center of the main room and opens his spell books. As he studies to learn to cast the spell ray of frost, several of us re-enter the library. If we move carefully, keeping the torches away from the mold, we’re able to slip through the library to the door on its south wall without making the mold grow. Chuck, Goldpetal, Hands of Fire, and Paks step to the door, while Miriel watches the mold. Stone and Novalia remain behind to guard Telryn.
Chuck listens at the door, but he doesn’t hear anything from the space beyond. He tries to open the door, but, like the first door on this level, it won’t budge. “Somebody else try,” he says, stepping back to make room.
Goldpetal steps forward and puts his shoulder to it. The slight, small elf gives a quick heave, and the door creaks open. Chuck looks completely surprised, assessing the elf’s build with his mouth agape.
Looking through the door, Goldpetal sees a large hall, with a big wooden table in the center. As he carefully moves into the room, his eyes take in other details which suggest that this was once the great hall of this tower complex. He notes a lot of old banners, a pair of swords crossed on the wall, a large fireplace, and a pair of mighty double-barred doors on the east wall. A door on the west wall is clearly the stuck door from the main hall.
Goldpetal moves slowly along the wall of the room, and Chuck follows him into the room. The watchful eyes of the pair notice a sizeable pool of water in the southeast corner, and mud seeping in under the great double doors. Paks steps to the doorway, where she can survey the room.
Chuck examines the puddle from afar. “I don’t like the looks of that water,” he tells Goldpetal. The elf, when he pays closer attention to it, notices what Chuck has spotted – the water has a weird sheen to it, and it ripples strangely. The room is still, and there have been no ripples in the previous pools of water.
Chuck picks up a broken chair. Before Goldpetal can say anything, he throws it at the water. The pool moves, and a large pseudopod reaches out of it. It catches the chair in mid-air, and holds onto it. A shimmering clear ooze slimes out of the water towards them.
Goldpetal shouts a word of command, and summons a swarm of bats which attack the ooze. Chuck draws his bow, and shoots an arrow at the ooze. The arrow hits it, sticks in the ooze for a moment, and then begins to dissolve.
Paks quickly backs out into the library, where she tells the other members of the party, “We’ve found some sort of clear ooze. It moves, and I think its acid.”
“Not good,” says Stone, from the main room.
Telryn looks up from his studies, and hands Novalia a flask. “Try this,” he says. Seeing the blank look on her face, he adds, “Its alchemist’s fire.” He returns to his studies and Novalia hands the vial to Paks.
Miriel moves to the door between the hall and the library, where she can watch both the mold, and the clear ooze.
The ooze moves slowly towards the party – it does not move fast enough to catch even a walking human. The first pseudopod has returned into the body of the ooze, which is working on digesting the remnants of the chair. The bats dive to attack it. Another pseudopod forms out of the ooze and swats at the bats. One is trapped within it, and begins to dissolve as well. The rest of the bats follow the slime, which is oozing under the table.
Chuck pulls out a vial of acid and throws it at the ooze. The vial bursts right in the center of it, but the strange creature doesn’t seem to care. Paks moves back into the doorway, and throws the vial of alchemist’s fire at it. The flammable liquid bursts near the front of the slimy beast, ignites briefly, but is quickly extinguished.
Hands of Fire says something in a commanding tone of voice, but none of us understand. His interpreter, several rooms away, does not hear. The lizard man, in frustration, grabs the table, and tries to shift it. He runs out of time, as the ooze seeps towards his feet. A pseudopod swipes towards him, and he leaps back out of the way just in time.
Everyone backs away from it, staying near the walls of the room. Chuck shoots two more arrows at the ooze, hitting it twice more. Like the first arrow, these two arrows dissolve. However, the ooze stops moving and squishes to the floor, looking like any ordinary puddle of water. Chuck throws another chair at it, but nothing happens.
“I think its dead,” he says.
Chuck picks up another chair, and throws this at the larger pool of water in the corner. Again, nothing happens. The pool appears to be about a foot deep.
“What was that thing?” asks Paks, with disgust in her voice.
“I have no idea,” Goldpetal answers. “Chuck?”
“Who cares, as long as it’s dead?”
The danger has passed, and we return to a standing watch. Stone, Paks, Novalia, and Hands of Fire remain in the main room of the level, keeping two pairs of eyes on each staircase. Telryn continues to study, Miriel keeps an eye on the brown mold, and Chuck and Goldpetal search the hall thoroughly.
They do not find anything useful. The wall hangings are all too old to be of value, the swords on the wall have rusted, and a search of the fireplace reveals nothing. They examine the walls and fireplace for hidden doors, but find nothing out of the ordinary. As though by unspoken agreement, they ignore the great double doors with mud seeping through them – remembering that the doors are about twenty feet below the surface of the lake, neither of them is foolish enough to contemplate opening them.
When Telryn finishes studying, he moves in to attack the brown mold. It is very anticlimactic: he casts the simplest cold cantrip, a ray of frost, at it, and the mold shrivels up and flakes off.
Goldpetal, Miriel, and Telryn go in to look at books, while Chuck inspects the bookcases for secret doors. Several minutes pass in silent search, broken only by occasional noises from the readers.
“Hey guys,” Chuck calls excitedly, “It looks like the section where the mold was hides a secret door. If I move this book…”
“Don’t!” Telryn interjects sharply. “Let us finish here, first.” Chuck steps away from his discovery, and waits impatiently while the others read.
Goldpetal finds that one book is a treatise on the old Leadan empire, which Telryn says covered this whole continent at one time. Telryn finds a useful reference book on gems. Paging through it, he figures that if someone spent a week reading it, they could learn to appraise gems. Nothing else looks useful, and many of the books are damaged beyond legibility due to the damp conditions.
When they have finished, Chuck asks plaintively, “Now can we look behind the secret door?” Without even waiting for an answer, he pulls on the false book he discovered. A section of the bookcase shifts back and slides sideways, revealing a dark room beyond.
Chuck draws his magical dagger, which provides a shimmering, blue-tinged light. He steps into the dark room, holding his glowing dagger aloft. He discovers a study, covered in dust. It looks as though nothing has been disturbed within since the tower fell. A desk, a chair, and a small chest are the only furniture in the room.
Paks and Telryn enter the room as well. It is crowded, as the room is only about five feet wide and ten feet long. Paks examines the chest for traps. She doesn’t find any. She draws her short sword, which she keeps sheathed at her belt in case her longsword breaks, and tries to jimmy the lock. Afraid of breaking the blade of her sword, she can’t push with too much force, and she thinks the sword will break before the chest does. Telryn pulls out the thieves’ tools and tries to open the chest, but he can’t make any sense of the lock picks.
While they worry at the chest, Chuck examines the desk. He searches it thoroughly, but doesn’t find anything too useful. It looks as though the occupant just stepped out for a moment – there are ancient sheets of parchment, which crumble at his touch, and an inkwell filled with dry black ink. Everything is covered in a fine dust.
The chest involves everyone. Goldpetal slashes at it with his scimitar, but that only nicks the blade. Hands of Fire tries to pry it open, but fails, so he bashes at the lock with his club, but it still refuses to yield. Chuck tries to pick it up, thinking it might break if he dropped it, but it’s too heavy. Stone tries to pry it open with his bare hands, but concedes that it is beyond his strength. He cannot pick it up, either.
Finally, Telryn pours his flask of acid into the lock. Hands of Fire pries at it, and breaks it open at last. He kicks the lid open.
Inside the chest, we find a big sack, a little pouch, a folded cloak, and a gold duck statue. Hands of Fire uses the short sword to try to pick up the sack; it rips open and some coins spill out. He picks up the little pouch and dumps it out onto the table; six garnets spill out.
Stone and Chuck reach for the duck, which Chuck touches first. He grabs it, holds it to his chest for a moment, and then furtively puts it in his bag.
Goldpetal pulls the cloak out, and immediately recognizes it as the work of the High Elves, the ancestors of his race. Their cloaks are legendary for giving camouflage, especially in woodlands areas. He looks at his homespun clothes, worn through from our travails through the swamp, and smiles at the thought of replacing them. Hands of Fire tips the chest over and spills out the gold coins.
Goldpetal calls out “Miriel, why don’t you come in and detect magic, here.”
Miriel enters the room, and casts detect magic from the corner of the room, where she can use it on everything in the room. The spell lets her see magical auras, and finds that there is something magic in Goldpetal’s pack, and also something in Chuck’s pack. Telryn has a lot of magic on him. She gets a weird feeling from Chuck, as if he himself is enchanted.
“The gold is fine,” she tells everyone. As Chuck moves past her, out of the room, she pulls Goldpetal aside. “I think Chuck might be enchanted,” she tells him. “Keep an eye on him.” Goldpetal follows Chuck into the main room.
Stone examines the coins, and notes that they have a wheel stamped on them. They do not match any coins which the half-orc has seen before.
Miriel goes to find Telryn. “I think Chuck might be enchanted,” she says. “I got a weird feeling from him when I cast detect magic. I don’t know what to do.”
“I don’t know, either,” the mage says. “I think it might have been that duck he picked up.”
Miriel finds Chuck, in the hall where we killed the ooze, and tells him, “I think the duck might be enchanted.”
“Yeah, it’s my duck!” he says, looking at her as though she were crazy. “Now I can swim, fly, and talk to ducks.” She looks at him blankly, and he concludes, “But not when you’re looking at me.”
“Is it a curse?” Paks asks from the doorway.
“No, no, its magic!” Chuck says, whirling to face her. Goldpetal, behind his back, catches Paks’ eye and nods his head yes.
Everyone looks doubtful of Chuck’s assertion, but there doesn’t seem to be much we can do. Though we’ve all heard of magical curses, and the counter-magic to remove them, none of us have learned such a spell.
Paks, ever the conciliator, suggests, “Shall we open the double doors?”
“No,” Telryn says quickly. “We’re under the water level, and look at the mud seeping in.”
“We might let in half the lake,” Miriel says, in agreement. “Let’s go down the next staircase.”
Stone starts to lug the sack of coins into the main room, but Telryn tells him, “No, just leave it in the study. We can pick it up on our way back out.”
We close the secret door, and gather in the hall. The dark opening of the staircase awaits us.
When we’ve all sheathed our weapons, Miriel hurries to Paks’ side. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she inquires with genuine concern.
“I’m not injured,” Paks answers, “But I feel very weak. It’s tough to hold up my shield.”
As Miriel checks Paks over, Telryn nods. “That’s how I’ve felt since our first battle with the stirges,” he tells her.
“There’s nothing I can do for her,” Miriel says, standing up and helping the warrior to her feet. She turns to the others. “What was in the room?”
Chuck walks into the room and looks around, with Hands of Fire following him. On the floor is the rubble of broken furniture which appears common to this area. Leaning against the west wall is a desiccated human corpse. After our brush with undead on the surface, Hands of Fire bashes it with a club and knocks its head off, lest it animate behind us.
Chuck searches the corpse and finds a pouch with coins in it. The purse contains 5 gold pieces, 11 silver pieces, and a topaz. The currency is unfamiliar, with a double-headed eagle on it. He also finds some tools, apparently thieves’ tools, and two scroll cases. He searches through the rest of the room cursorily, but doesn’t find anything.
In the main room, Goldpetal sends the rats through the second door. Nothing attacks them, so Paks steps in behind them. She sees a matching square room, with a lot more ruined furniture.
“There’s nothing here,” she calls. “Do we want to search the rooms thoroughly?”
“Yeah,” Chuck calls back, and nobody objects. Miriel lights a torch and stays in the larger room. Goldpetal lets the rats go, and walks along the perimeter wall, examining the stones to search for hidden doors.
Chuck, Hands of Fire and Telryn thoroughly search the room where the stirges were. Telryn finds a rose-quartz prism in the mud near the body. He quickly casts detect magic on it, and discover that it has a magical aura. Further study reveals that the magic is an abjuration, but he can’t tell what it might do.
Stone and Paks search the third room, and Paks finds an old gold candlestick.
Miriel pokes around in the main room. She doesn’t find anything useful, but does notice that there is a shallow pool of standing water in the southern end of the room. It doesn’t look deep enough even to wet the tops of our boots, if we step in it, but it is deep enough that a slight stream drips down the staircase in the southeast corner of the room.
When we are done searching, we gather at the top of the staircase. “I’ll lead this time,” Chuck suggests. “Paks, you stay near the back with Stone.”
The young Vigilant cautiously steps through the pool of water to the staircase. He examines the ground for tracks, but the staircase doesn’t seem to have been disturbed in many years. “Be careful,” he cautions the others. “It’s wet and covered in lichen – it’ll be very slippery.”
He works his way cautiously down the staircase, with Hands of Fire and Novalia behind him. The stairs are slippery, but taking care to plant their feet, they make it down the stairs quietly.
At the bottom of the stairs, Chuck finds a room similar to the main room above. It is somewhat larger, perhaps fifty feet long, but seems to occupy the space directly underneath. Like the room above, there are also two doors in the east wall of this room. They are intact and closed. A staircase leads further down from the northwest corner of the room. The water dripping down the stairs forms a pool at the southeast corner, at the bottom of the staircase.
Chuck steps into the pool. The water comes up to his ankles, and he is glad that his boots come up most of the length of his calf. His feet stay dry as he splashes through the water to the dry land nearer the center of the room. Looking around, he can see the remains of rotted banners on the walls. On one wall are the remains of what must once have been a great tapestry, but he doubts it would be worth anything to anyone after centuries of decay. He checks the ground again, looking for tracks, but the lichens growing on the stone floor have not been disturbed in many years.
He motions for the rest of us to follow him, and moves to the door nearest the stairs we came down. Hands of Fire follows him, and Novalia steps past them both to guard the down staircase and the second door. Stone and Goldpetal stay at the foot of the up staircase, while Miriel stations herself in the center of the room, where she can move quickly to assist anyone.
Chuck attempts to open the first door, but it is stuck fast. He strains against it, trying to pull it open, but to no avail. “A little help, here?” he whispers. Hands of Fire and Paks come to assist, with Telryn standing behind them, ready to cast a spell if need be. All three pull together, but it still refuses to budge.
“We need Stone,” Paks says. The half-orc dutifully comes to lend a hand, but he is still suffering from the effects of his near-death and miraculous recovery, and the door resists our every effort.
“Let’s try the other door,” Chuck suggests. The same group moves to the second door.
Before attempting to open it, Chuck leans an ear to the door, to listen against it. He doesn’t hear anything, and shakes his head to indicate that to the others. He pulls at this one, and though it offers a brief resistance, he manages to pull this one open.
He steps into another square room, the same size as those upstairs, twenty feet on a side. It looks like it might have been a library, with lots of broken chairs. There’s a large bookcase against the eastern wall, and the young Vigilant smiles as he considers Telryn’s reaction to that find. There is a door in the southern wall. Some of the books are in the bookcase, but others have been tossed around the room; some of them are on the floor in the mud.
“What’s in it?” Telryn asks, from the main room.
“A bunch of books and stuff!” Chuck calls back softly. “Come on in!”
“We should have the scholars look at that,” Miriel suggests. “Come out, and watch our backs.”
With a quick bit of direction from the priestess, we adjust our roles. Hands of Fire and Paks guard the staircase up. Chuck and Stone guard the staircase down. Our scholarly party members, Miriel, Goldpetal, Novalia, and Telryn light some extra torches, and go in to look at the books.
Telryn enters the room first, carrying one of the torches. As he moves towards the corner of the room, he feels very cold. Goldpetal is standing right behind him, and notices that the young mage is starting to shiver. As Telryn approaches the bookcase with the torch, the elf sees a mold which was on the bookshelf spread before his very eyes, covering more of the wall and bookshelf.
“Ow!” Telryn gasps, as a burst of cold air gives him a small freezer burn. Goldpetal is similarly affected.
They both back away, back to the door. Telryn warns the others “Stay away from that mold. I think it might be activated by the heat.”
Miriel asks, “Goldpetal, do you knows what this mold is?”
“I’ve never seen it before,” he says, “But I’ve heard stories of ‘brown mold,’ which is pretty common underground. Heat sources make it grow, cold sources make it shrink.”
Miriel and Telryn, who have torches, leave the room, and Novalia follows. Goldpetal stays. “I can see without the torch,” he says. “I’ll look around.”
“Be careful,” Miriel cautions.
As she and the others return to the larger room, Paks asks “What happened?”
“It was cold,” Telryn says, and explains about the mold. When he’s finished, he calls to the elf, “Goldpetal, bring out any books which are not next to the mold. I’m going to study a cold spell.”
Telryn sits in the center of the main room and opens his spell books. As he studies to learn to cast the spell ray of frost, several of us re-enter the library. If we move carefully, keeping the torches away from the mold, we’re able to slip through the library to the door on its south wall without making the mold grow. Chuck, Goldpetal, Hands of Fire, and Paks step to the door, while Miriel watches the mold. Stone and Novalia remain behind to guard Telryn.
Chuck listens at the door, but he doesn’t hear anything from the space beyond. He tries to open the door, but, like the first door on this level, it won’t budge. “Somebody else try,” he says, stepping back to make room.
Goldpetal steps forward and puts his shoulder to it. The slight, small elf gives a quick heave, and the door creaks open. Chuck looks completely surprised, assessing the elf’s build with his mouth agape.
Looking through the door, Goldpetal sees a large hall, with a big wooden table in the center. As he carefully moves into the room, his eyes take in other details which suggest that this was once the great hall of this tower complex. He notes a lot of old banners, a pair of swords crossed on the wall, a large fireplace, and a pair of mighty double-barred doors on the east wall. A door on the west wall is clearly the stuck door from the main hall.
Goldpetal moves slowly along the wall of the room, and Chuck follows him into the room. The watchful eyes of the pair notice a sizeable pool of water in the southeast corner, and mud seeping in under the great double doors. Paks steps to the doorway, where she can survey the room.
Chuck examines the puddle from afar. “I don’t like the looks of that water,” he tells Goldpetal. The elf, when he pays closer attention to it, notices what Chuck has spotted – the water has a weird sheen to it, and it ripples strangely. The room is still, and there have been no ripples in the previous pools of water.
Chuck picks up a broken chair. Before Goldpetal can say anything, he throws it at the water. The pool moves, and a large pseudopod reaches out of it. It catches the chair in mid-air, and holds onto it. A shimmering clear ooze slimes out of the water towards them.
Goldpetal shouts a word of command, and summons a swarm of bats which attack the ooze. Chuck draws his bow, and shoots an arrow at the ooze. The arrow hits it, sticks in the ooze for a moment, and then begins to dissolve.
Paks quickly backs out into the library, where she tells the other members of the party, “We’ve found some sort of clear ooze. It moves, and I think its acid.”
“Not good,” says Stone, from the main room.
Telryn looks up from his studies, and hands Novalia a flask. “Try this,” he says. Seeing the blank look on her face, he adds, “Its alchemist’s fire.” He returns to his studies and Novalia hands the vial to Paks.
Miriel moves to the door between the hall and the library, where she can watch both the mold, and the clear ooze.
The ooze moves slowly towards the party – it does not move fast enough to catch even a walking human. The first pseudopod has returned into the body of the ooze, which is working on digesting the remnants of the chair. The bats dive to attack it. Another pseudopod forms out of the ooze and swats at the bats. One is trapped within it, and begins to dissolve as well. The rest of the bats follow the slime, which is oozing under the table.
Chuck pulls out a vial of acid and throws it at the ooze. The vial bursts right in the center of it, but the strange creature doesn’t seem to care. Paks moves back into the doorway, and throws the vial of alchemist’s fire at it. The flammable liquid bursts near the front of the slimy beast, ignites briefly, but is quickly extinguished.
Hands of Fire says something in a commanding tone of voice, but none of us understand. His interpreter, several rooms away, does not hear. The lizard man, in frustration, grabs the table, and tries to shift it. He runs out of time, as the ooze seeps towards his feet. A pseudopod swipes towards him, and he leaps back out of the way just in time.
Everyone backs away from it, staying near the walls of the room. Chuck shoots two more arrows at the ooze, hitting it twice more. Like the first arrow, these two arrows dissolve. However, the ooze stops moving and squishes to the floor, looking like any ordinary puddle of water. Chuck throws another chair at it, but nothing happens.
“I think its dead,” he says.
Chuck picks up another chair, and throws this at the larger pool of water in the corner. Again, nothing happens. The pool appears to be about a foot deep.
“What was that thing?” asks Paks, with disgust in her voice.
“I have no idea,” Goldpetal answers. “Chuck?”
“Who cares, as long as it’s dead?”
The danger has passed, and we return to a standing watch. Stone, Paks, Novalia, and Hands of Fire remain in the main room of the level, keeping two pairs of eyes on each staircase. Telryn continues to study, Miriel keeps an eye on the brown mold, and Chuck and Goldpetal search the hall thoroughly.
They do not find anything useful. The wall hangings are all too old to be of value, the swords on the wall have rusted, and a search of the fireplace reveals nothing. They examine the walls and fireplace for hidden doors, but find nothing out of the ordinary. As though by unspoken agreement, they ignore the great double doors with mud seeping through them – remembering that the doors are about twenty feet below the surface of the lake, neither of them is foolish enough to contemplate opening them.
When Telryn finishes studying, he moves in to attack the brown mold. It is very anticlimactic: he casts the simplest cold cantrip, a ray of frost, at it, and the mold shrivels up and flakes off.
Goldpetal, Miriel, and Telryn go in to look at books, while Chuck inspects the bookcases for secret doors. Several minutes pass in silent search, broken only by occasional noises from the readers.
“Hey guys,” Chuck calls excitedly, “It looks like the section where the mold was hides a secret door. If I move this book…”
“Don’t!” Telryn interjects sharply. “Let us finish here, first.” Chuck steps away from his discovery, and waits impatiently while the others read.
Goldpetal finds that one book is a treatise on the old Leadan empire, which Telryn says covered this whole continent at one time. Telryn finds a useful reference book on gems. Paging through it, he figures that if someone spent a week reading it, they could learn to appraise gems. Nothing else looks useful, and many of the books are damaged beyond legibility due to the damp conditions.
When they have finished, Chuck asks plaintively, “Now can we look behind the secret door?” Without even waiting for an answer, he pulls on the false book he discovered. A section of the bookcase shifts back and slides sideways, revealing a dark room beyond.
Chuck draws his magical dagger, which provides a shimmering, blue-tinged light. He steps into the dark room, holding his glowing dagger aloft. He discovers a study, covered in dust. It looks as though nothing has been disturbed within since the tower fell. A desk, a chair, and a small chest are the only furniture in the room.
Paks and Telryn enter the room as well. It is crowded, as the room is only about five feet wide and ten feet long. Paks examines the chest for traps. She doesn’t find any. She draws her short sword, which she keeps sheathed at her belt in case her longsword breaks, and tries to jimmy the lock. Afraid of breaking the blade of her sword, she can’t push with too much force, and she thinks the sword will break before the chest does. Telryn pulls out the thieves’ tools and tries to open the chest, but he can’t make any sense of the lock picks.
While they worry at the chest, Chuck examines the desk. He searches it thoroughly, but doesn’t find anything too useful. It looks as though the occupant just stepped out for a moment – there are ancient sheets of parchment, which crumble at his touch, and an inkwell filled with dry black ink. Everything is covered in a fine dust.
The chest involves everyone. Goldpetal slashes at it with his scimitar, but that only nicks the blade. Hands of Fire tries to pry it open, but fails, so he bashes at the lock with his club, but it still refuses to yield. Chuck tries to pick it up, thinking it might break if he dropped it, but it’s too heavy. Stone tries to pry it open with his bare hands, but concedes that it is beyond his strength. He cannot pick it up, either.
Finally, Telryn pours his flask of acid into the lock. Hands of Fire pries at it, and breaks it open at last. He kicks the lid open.
Inside the chest, we find a big sack, a little pouch, a folded cloak, and a gold duck statue. Hands of Fire uses the short sword to try to pick up the sack; it rips open and some coins spill out. He picks up the little pouch and dumps it out onto the table; six garnets spill out.
Stone and Chuck reach for the duck, which Chuck touches first. He grabs it, holds it to his chest for a moment, and then furtively puts it in his bag.
Goldpetal pulls the cloak out, and immediately recognizes it as the work of the High Elves, the ancestors of his race. Their cloaks are legendary for giving camouflage, especially in woodlands areas. He looks at his homespun clothes, worn through from our travails through the swamp, and smiles at the thought of replacing them. Hands of Fire tips the chest over and spills out the gold coins.
Goldpetal calls out “Miriel, why don’t you come in and detect magic, here.”
Miriel enters the room, and casts detect magic from the corner of the room, where she can use it on everything in the room. The spell lets her see magical auras, and finds that there is something magic in Goldpetal’s pack, and also something in Chuck’s pack. Telryn has a lot of magic on him. She gets a weird feeling from Chuck, as if he himself is enchanted.
“The gold is fine,” she tells everyone. As Chuck moves past her, out of the room, she pulls Goldpetal aside. “I think Chuck might be enchanted,” she tells him. “Keep an eye on him.” Goldpetal follows Chuck into the main room.
Stone examines the coins, and notes that they have a wheel stamped on them. They do not match any coins which the half-orc has seen before.
Miriel goes to find Telryn. “I think Chuck might be enchanted,” she says. “I got a weird feeling from him when I cast detect magic. I don’t know what to do.”
“I don’t know, either,” the mage says. “I think it might have been that duck he picked up.”
Miriel finds Chuck, in the hall where we killed the ooze, and tells him, “I think the duck might be enchanted.”
“Yeah, it’s my duck!” he says, looking at her as though she were crazy. “Now I can swim, fly, and talk to ducks.” She looks at him blankly, and he concludes, “But not when you’re looking at me.”
“Is it a curse?” Paks asks from the doorway.
“No, no, its magic!” Chuck says, whirling to face her. Goldpetal, behind his back, catches Paks’ eye and nods his head yes.
Everyone looks doubtful of Chuck’s assertion, but there doesn’t seem to be much we can do. Though we’ve all heard of magical curses, and the counter-magic to remove them, none of us have learned such a spell.
Paks, ever the conciliator, suggests, “Shall we open the double doors?”
“No,” Telryn says quickly. “We’re under the water level, and look at the mud seeping in.”
“We might let in half the lake,” Miriel says, in agreement. “Let’s go down the next staircase.”
Stone starts to lug the sack of coins into the main room, but Telryn tells him, “No, just leave it in the study. We can pick it up on our way back out.”
We close the secret door, and gather in the hall. The dark opening of the staircase awaits us.
joshwitz
First Post
About the duck:
It was inspired not only by Munchkin ("The Duck of Doom -- Never pick up a Duck in the Dungeon"), but I had also read Cerebus "Church and State" that month. I actually wrote up a long history of the Duck, why it's cursed, and what it's doing at the bottom of the lake.
It was inspired not only by Munchkin ("The Duck of Doom -- Never pick up a Duck in the Dungeon"), but I had also read Cerebus "Church and State" that month. I actually wrote up a long history of the Duck, why it's cursed, and what it's doing at the bottom of the lake.
