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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Welcome to the Halmae (updated 2/27/07)
- Thread starter spyscribe
- Start date
spyscribe
First Post
Part the One-Hundred Sixteenth
In which: the party occasionally stumbles, but they do not fall.
As the group scatters, Eva is forced to leap over the head of one of the children then dodge and whirl out of the way of a second in hot pursuit. With a shock, she realizes that the children are playing tag. Just at that moment though, Annika steps back to avoid one child and gets clipped on the back of her calf by another. Again, the skeleton children quickly detour around the visible party members, but seem utterly unconcerned by their presence.
As the children pass on, Anvil stands for a few moments, waiting to see if there will be any reaction from the town’s residents. A few nod to him in a friendly way as they pass, but other than that, the party members get no discernable reaction.
“Are you going to recast?” Annika asks him.
“Let’s see what happens if I don’t.”
After that, the party makes quick progress, the still hidden party members following close behind the visible ones. This is especially helpful as the party reaches the main road that runs parallel to the river just in front of the western bridge, which is heavily trafficked. However, the party is able to negotiate crossing the street without incident, where they find five samurai skeletons guarding the bridge.
Anvil, still visible, walks straight up to them as though he crosses bridges guarded by undead samurai every day. The skeleton however, is unswayed by Anvil’s show of confidence. He puts out a bony hand as Anvil approaches and clacks his teeth officiously. When Anvil advances again, he slowly moves his hand towards his sword.
Anvil bows, and withdraws. As the party retreats to a respectful distance, the skeleton returns to his post.
The party regroups at the nearest point out of direct sight of the bridge, where Anvil quickly recasts on himself and the second half of the group. There are some near misses and the party once again makes their way across the busy thoroughfare, but they do all make it to the bridge.
Eva has to remind herself to breathe as they once again approach the skeleton sentries. Anvil, naturally, walks right up the center of the bridge as though he owns it. Closer, closer…
It’s hard to read skeletal facial expressions. They all look either impassive or manic, somehow at the same time. But whatever thoughts are floating through their empty skulls, the sentries do not react.
###
The North side of the city is clearly where the truly well-off make their homes. Anvil notes that here most of the skeletons wear side-arms or wakazashi, and those that do not are obviously servants. Their clothes are no better kept than anyone else’s they have seen in the town, but they are definitely of the highest quality. The houses too, while currently in disrepair, were once obviously very fine.
This side of the city is dominated by a large keep. The building itself can only be glimpsed behind a high stone wall, but it is surrounded by what was once extensive gardens, and a cemetery and shrine. At least, that is what the party is forced to assume.
There does seem to at one time to have been a sort of park around the keep, but now the area is filled with uprooted plants—now long dead—and poking up from the dirt everywhere are dug-up graves.
A small round building, barely more than a colonnade with a domed roof has been heavily vandalized; Lira notes signs of defilement similar to those on the temple. The party passes by quickly, helped by the light foot-traffic in this part of town.
They are on their last leg of their trip, in sight of the gate, and Benedic has just turned to make sure that everyone is following behind him, when he is suddenly—and with no warning—tackled from behind by Anvil.
“What the—”
“Dog,” Anvil replies. Pointing to where the rest of the group is scrambling out of the way of a small dog that had just entered the city’s back gate and was running straight for them. “You should keep your eyes on the road,” Anvil adds.
Benedic shakes his head and turns to continue out of the city. Has he never heard of shouting, “watch out”? he wonders, then nearly jumps out of his skin as Anvil brushes a hand across his shoulder.
“What now?” he practically shouts.
Anvil is unruffled. “You had a bit of dirt there.”
Benedic grits his teeth and says nothing as he leads the party the remaining twenty feet to the gate, and out of town.
**********
The tower is only a half an hour farther on. Despite its impressive dimensions, Petros—if indeed it is his tower—appears to have taken some care to locate his tower out of sight of the casual passer-by. Luckily, the party is able to rely on Kiara’s earlier reconnaissance.
Thatch estimates the tower to be about forty or fifty feet high and it is “slant-y” as Kiara had described, with a gradual taper making the top approximately 10’ narrower than the base. There are two chimneys visible, and a row of four square windows about 15 feet up from the ground level. The base of the tower is dominated by large wooden doors.
When the party gets closer, they can see that the doors show signs of damage.
“It doesn’t look very… inhabited,” Annika finally ventures.
Lira casts detect magic.
“Any hits?”
Lira nods. “Oh yeah.”
“Anything on the doors?” Anvil asks.
“Not that I can see.”
Anvil nods once, then strides up the doors, and knocks firmly. The door swings inward by about a foot under his assault.
Anvil reaches forward for the door handle, closes the door, and holds it closed while he knocks again.
There is no response.
The party waits for two full minutes before Thatch finally says:
“Umm… should we go in?’
##
The doors open onto a stone-tiled foyer, which would have been stately if not for the stained floor and scorched walls.
“What happened here?” Eva asks.
“Some kind of fight,” Benedic offers.
“I wonder who won?”
Although the foyer might have been the site of a pitched battle some time before, there are also signs that someone has been through the area since. An end table by the stairs has one broken leg that has been crudely, but solidly, repaired. A grand central staircase rises up before the party, presumably leading to the second level of the tower. Two open doorways are also visible, one to the party’s left and one to their right.
Lira calls out experimentally, “Hello?”
No response.
By unspoken agreement, the party decides to investigate the ground floor before moving up the stairs. The doorway to the left leads into a large rectangular sitting room with comfortable chairs and dominated by a large hearth. Reyu checks for embers, but the ashes have long ago gone cold.
Eva finds herself morbidly fascinated by the assortment of macabre tapestries covering most of the walls. She calls out to Anvil, “Hey, what do you think?”
Anvil turns his attention to the décor, not usually his first area of interest when entering a room. He notes that although the tapestries vary in specific subject and to a certain degree in style, each one contains grisly scenes of undead being messily vanquished by warriors bearing holy symbols of Kettenek.
“So?” Eva prods.
Anvil shrugs. “I’m going to check the room on the other side of the foyer.”
Eva rolls her eyes as she watches him go.
Anvil strides across the foyer. From what he can see through the doorway, the other room is some kind of dining area. Probably nothing interesting to be found, but Kettenek’s Justice demands thoroughness in all endeavors.
And so Anvil steps into dining room, to be greeted by two massive fists driving into his stomach.
In which: the party occasionally stumbles, but they do not fall.
As the group scatters, Eva is forced to leap over the head of one of the children then dodge and whirl out of the way of a second in hot pursuit. With a shock, she realizes that the children are playing tag. Just at that moment though, Annika steps back to avoid one child and gets clipped on the back of her calf by another. Again, the skeleton children quickly detour around the visible party members, but seem utterly unconcerned by their presence.
As the children pass on, Anvil stands for a few moments, waiting to see if there will be any reaction from the town’s residents. A few nod to him in a friendly way as they pass, but other than that, the party members get no discernable reaction.
“Are you going to recast?” Annika asks him.
“Let’s see what happens if I don’t.”
After that, the party makes quick progress, the still hidden party members following close behind the visible ones. This is especially helpful as the party reaches the main road that runs parallel to the river just in front of the western bridge, which is heavily trafficked. However, the party is able to negotiate crossing the street without incident, where they find five samurai skeletons guarding the bridge.
Anvil, still visible, walks straight up to them as though he crosses bridges guarded by undead samurai every day. The skeleton however, is unswayed by Anvil’s show of confidence. He puts out a bony hand as Anvil approaches and clacks his teeth officiously. When Anvil advances again, he slowly moves his hand towards his sword.
Anvil bows, and withdraws. As the party retreats to a respectful distance, the skeleton returns to his post.
The party regroups at the nearest point out of direct sight of the bridge, where Anvil quickly recasts on himself and the second half of the group. There are some near misses and the party once again makes their way across the busy thoroughfare, but they do all make it to the bridge.
Eva has to remind herself to breathe as they once again approach the skeleton sentries. Anvil, naturally, walks right up the center of the bridge as though he owns it. Closer, closer…
It’s hard to read skeletal facial expressions. They all look either impassive or manic, somehow at the same time. But whatever thoughts are floating through their empty skulls, the sentries do not react.
###
The North side of the city is clearly where the truly well-off make their homes. Anvil notes that here most of the skeletons wear side-arms or wakazashi, and those that do not are obviously servants. Their clothes are no better kept than anyone else’s they have seen in the town, but they are definitely of the highest quality. The houses too, while currently in disrepair, were once obviously very fine.
This side of the city is dominated by a large keep. The building itself can only be glimpsed behind a high stone wall, but it is surrounded by what was once extensive gardens, and a cemetery and shrine. At least, that is what the party is forced to assume.
There does seem to at one time to have been a sort of park around the keep, but now the area is filled with uprooted plants—now long dead—and poking up from the dirt everywhere are dug-up graves.
A small round building, barely more than a colonnade with a domed roof has been heavily vandalized; Lira notes signs of defilement similar to those on the temple. The party passes by quickly, helped by the light foot-traffic in this part of town.
They are on their last leg of their trip, in sight of the gate, and Benedic has just turned to make sure that everyone is following behind him, when he is suddenly—and with no warning—tackled from behind by Anvil.
“What the—”
“Dog,” Anvil replies. Pointing to where the rest of the group is scrambling out of the way of a small dog that had just entered the city’s back gate and was running straight for them. “You should keep your eyes on the road,” Anvil adds.
Benedic shakes his head and turns to continue out of the city. Has he never heard of shouting, “watch out”? he wonders, then nearly jumps out of his skin as Anvil brushes a hand across his shoulder.
“What now?” he practically shouts.
Anvil is unruffled. “You had a bit of dirt there.”
Benedic grits his teeth and says nothing as he leads the party the remaining twenty feet to the gate, and out of town.
**********
The tower is only a half an hour farther on. Despite its impressive dimensions, Petros—if indeed it is his tower—appears to have taken some care to locate his tower out of sight of the casual passer-by. Luckily, the party is able to rely on Kiara’s earlier reconnaissance.
Thatch estimates the tower to be about forty or fifty feet high and it is “slant-y” as Kiara had described, with a gradual taper making the top approximately 10’ narrower than the base. There are two chimneys visible, and a row of four square windows about 15 feet up from the ground level. The base of the tower is dominated by large wooden doors.
When the party gets closer, they can see that the doors show signs of damage.
“It doesn’t look very… inhabited,” Annika finally ventures.
Lira casts detect magic.
“Any hits?”
Lira nods. “Oh yeah.”
“Anything on the doors?” Anvil asks.
“Not that I can see.”
Anvil nods once, then strides up the doors, and knocks firmly. The door swings inward by about a foot under his assault.
Anvil reaches forward for the door handle, closes the door, and holds it closed while he knocks again.
There is no response.
The party waits for two full minutes before Thatch finally says:
“Umm… should we go in?’
##
The doors open onto a stone-tiled foyer, which would have been stately if not for the stained floor and scorched walls.
“What happened here?” Eva asks.
“Some kind of fight,” Benedic offers.
“I wonder who won?”
Although the foyer might have been the site of a pitched battle some time before, there are also signs that someone has been through the area since. An end table by the stairs has one broken leg that has been crudely, but solidly, repaired. A grand central staircase rises up before the party, presumably leading to the second level of the tower. Two open doorways are also visible, one to the party’s left and one to their right.
Lira calls out experimentally, “Hello?”
No response.
By unspoken agreement, the party decides to investigate the ground floor before moving up the stairs. The doorway to the left leads into a large rectangular sitting room with comfortable chairs and dominated by a large hearth. Reyu checks for embers, but the ashes have long ago gone cold.
Eva finds herself morbidly fascinated by the assortment of macabre tapestries covering most of the walls. She calls out to Anvil, “Hey, what do you think?”
Anvil turns his attention to the décor, not usually his first area of interest when entering a room. He notes that although the tapestries vary in specific subject and to a certain degree in style, each one contains grisly scenes of undead being messily vanquished by warriors bearing holy symbols of Kettenek.
“So?” Eva prods.
Anvil shrugs. “I’m going to check the room on the other side of the foyer.”
Eva rolls her eyes as she watches him go.
Anvil strides across the foyer. From what he can see through the doorway, the other room is some kind of dining area. Probably nothing interesting to be found, but Kettenek’s Justice demands thoroughness in all endeavors.
And so Anvil steps into dining room, to be greeted by two massive fists driving into his stomach.
Fajitas
Hold the Peppers
Thanks, dp. This was pretty much my first stab at running something like a horror adventure, and I'm fairly pleased with the results. Glad to see it's working for you, too (and props to spyscribe for capturing the feel).dpdx said:
I *so* wish I could claim credit for the overall idea behind this adventure, but alas, that has to go to Bernard Mees, who wrote the Dungeon module I adapted (and can't you just see why?). And hey, at least it's a town full of waving, nodding, tip-your-hat-to-the-lady undead, as opposed to snarling, clawing, eat-the-brains-of-the-lady undead.
I mean, so far, anyway.
spyscribe
First Post
Part the One-Hundred Seventeenth
In which: the bigger they come… the harder they hit.
With the wind knocked out of him, Anvil does not really have any breath left to raise a general alarm. Fortunately, his “oophf” of surprise is enough to draw the attention of the rest of the party. And although they quickly charge in to engage, most of the melee fighters are severely hampered by the fact that the battle is taking place inside a doorway.
Eva charges in, slashing with her rapier to find Anvil being pummeled by a huge man with appropriately large fists. She hits the man’s arm but manages only to piece the fabric of his sleeve.
Annika casts magic missile, sending off three bolts at once, but they all dissipate harmlessly as soon as they touch the giant creature.
“Oh crap,” Lira mutters, and instead of following up with magic missiles of her own as she had planned, elects to cast shield instead. Not that it would have done her much good the last time she encountered creatures impervious to magic missiles, but it makes her feel a little bit better nonetheless.
Benedic and Kiara both jog partway up the stairs so as to get a line of sight to fire at the man through the doorway without the melee fighters getting in their way. Kiara tries calling out, “Petros! Is that you?”
This however only enrages their adversary who retaliates by hitting Anvil again. Kiara tries shooting, but her arrow goes wide. Benedic’s arrow does hit, but only does glancing damage before sheering off to one side.
Thatch finally manages to get across the foyer and into the fight where he dodges the enormous fists and takes a mighty swing. He does hit, but not as hard as he had hoped. “What is with this guy?” he yells.
Eva does not have a good answer. She does, however, have a good strategy, which she puts into practice by tumbling past the giant man and taking up a position behind him, allowing her allies more room to maneuver. Reyu quickly sees what the rogue is up to and moves into flanking position.
Meanwhile, Annika dashes up two steps until she can get a good view of the strange (and strangely silent, she notes) man. Getting a good look at him, there seems to be something… off about him, even beyond his large size. Professor Alexandra had once theorized that it would be possible to magically animate a construct of some kind. Although this man appears to be flesh and bone, it would seem to be worth a try…
Doing her best to concentrate all of her energies, Annika casts dispel magic centered on the giant man. As the spell goes off there is a sudden flash of golden light around the figure, but for a second it doesn’t seem as though there has been any other effect. Then, a large bulge suddenly juts out from his middle before being abruptly sucked back in again. It almost looks as though something is trapped inside and is trying to get out.
Anvil tries to follow up with an inflict moderate wounds, but the spell fizzles as soon as it touches its target. Lira tries magic missile again just in case, but is no more effective than Annika’s earlier attempt.
Arrows from Kiara and Benedic pepper the doorway or catch in the giant’s clothes, but none manage to do any damage.
“Whatever you just did,” Anvil calls out to Annika, “do it again!”
Meanwhile, Reyu and Eva both attack simultaneously from their places on either side of the giant man. As they both hit, Eva notices distinct resistance as she drives her blade forward. She brings her weapon back, still not sure how hard she managed to hit the thing. There is some… substance adhering to her rapier, but, whatever it is, it isn’t blood.
She watches the man’s face as Thatch’s sword sinks into his side. He doesn’t react at all.
As the party continues to shoot, stab and slash as best as they can (in Lira’s case, this means liberally peppering the ceiling with crossbow bolts), Annika tries another dispel magic. This time the roiling is even more pronounced, and the thing staggers for a second before resuming his attack.
“One more ought to do it!” Thatch yells.
“Except I don’t have one more!” Annika calls back. She takes out her crossbow, and—fearing as always that Kiara is about to do something foolhardy—casts mage armor on her familiar before taking aim at the giant man. The bolt hits, but doesn’t seem to do any damage.
It’s a bit of a letdown.
Eva and Thatch however, have found their rhythm. Thatch has managed to batter away at it sufficiently that the thing has apparently decided to leave Anvil alone in favor of beating-up the fighter. Eva however, is busy doing damage of her own. As the giant turns to swing at Thatch she stabs hard with her rapier, right above where its kidney ought to be. This time, there is no ambiguity about whether or not the thing bleeds as a spurt of clear, viscous liquid spatters her across the face.
She follows up immediately with another strike, this one even deeper, right through the spine, which sends a gout of the clear liquid… right at Thatch.
Thatch’s sword swings wide as he misses the thing completely. He turns aside for just a second to spit and glare at Eva. “Thanks a lot.”
Eva however is more concerned with the fact that the giant has apparently decided that it is she, and not Thatch that presents the greatest immediate threat, and is lurching around to face her. In the face of his giant fists, Eva’s rapier suddenly feels very, very small. She holds it ready and prepares to dodge as best she can when the blow inevitably comes, but then, just as the thing is raising its fists to bring down upon her… a sword-point appears on its head.
When the thing turned its back on him, Anvil readied himself for one last strike, and lifting his sword brought it down on the huge man’s skull with all his strength.
The thing’s head cracks open like a melon, clean down to his neck. There is a great roar of wind, and the air feels suddenly like a sandstorm. The body contracts, tensing up as still as a board, then, it topples. The air clears and it lies there, motionless.
“Is it dead?” Lira asks.
Annika shakes her head. “Who could say if it was ever really alive?”
Anvil kicks the motionless corpse. No reaction. “It’s dead.”
In which: the bigger they come… the harder they hit.
With the wind knocked out of him, Anvil does not really have any breath left to raise a general alarm. Fortunately, his “oophf” of surprise is enough to draw the attention of the rest of the party. And although they quickly charge in to engage, most of the melee fighters are severely hampered by the fact that the battle is taking place inside a doorway.
Eva charges in, slashing with her rapier to find Anvil being pummeled by a huge man with appropriately large fists. She hits the man’s arm but manages only to piece the fabric of his sleeve.
Annika casts magic missile, sending off three bolts at once, but they all dissipate harmlessly as soon as they touch the giant creature.
“Oh crap,” Lira mutters, and instead of following up with magic missiles of her own as she had planned, elects to cast shield instead. Not that it would have done her much good the last time she encountered creatures impervious to magic missiles, but it makes her feel a little bit better nonetheless.
Benedic and Kiara both jog partway up the stairs so as to get a line of sight to fire at the man through the doorway without the melee fighters getting in their way. Kiara tries calling out, “Petros! Is that you?”
This however only enrages their adversary who retaliates by hitting Anvil again. Kiara tries shooting, but her arrow goes wide. Benedic’s arrow does hit, but only does glancing damage before sheering off to one side.
Thatch finally manages to get across the foyer and into the fight where he dodges the enormous fists and takes a mighty swing. He does hit, but not as hard as he had hoped. “What is with this guy?” he yells.
Eva does not have a good answer. She does, however, have a good strategy, which she puts into practice by tumbling past the giant man and taking up a position behind him, allowing her allies more room to maneuver. Reyu quickly sees what the rogue is up to and moves into flanking position.
Meanwhile, Annika dashes up two steps until she can get a good view of the strange (and strangely silent, she notes) man. Getting a good look at him, there seems to be something… off about him, even beyond his large size. Professor Alexandra had once theorized that it would be possible to magically animate a construct of some kind. Although this man appears to be flesh and bone, it would seem to be worth a try…
Doing her best to concentrate all of her energies, Annika casts dispel magic centered on the giant man. As the spell goes off there is a sudden flash of golden light around the figure, but for a second it doesn’t seem as though there has been any other effect. Then, a large bulge suddenly juts out from his middle before being abruptly sucked back in again. It almost looks as though something is trapped inside and is trying to get out.
Anvil tries to follow up with an inflict moderate wounds, but the spell fizzles as soon as it touches its target. Lira tries magic missile again just in case, but is no more effective than Annika’s earlier attempt.
Arrows from Kiara and Benedic pepper the doorway or catch in the giant’s clothes, but none manage to do any damage.
“Whatever you just did,” Anvil calls out to Annika, “do it again!”
Meanwhile, Reyu and Eva both attack simultaneously from their places on either side of the giant man. As they both hit, Eva notices distinct resistance as she drives her blade forward. She brings her weapon back, still not sure how hard she managed to hit the thing. There is some… substance adhering to her rapier, but, whatever it is, it isn’t blood.
She watches the man’s face as Thatch’s sword sinks into his side. He doesn’t react at all.
As the party continues to shoot, stab and slash as best as they can (in Lira’s case, this means liberally peppering the ceiling with crossbow bolts), Annika tries another dispel magic. This time the roiling is even more pronounced, and the thing staggers for a second before resuming his attack.
“One more ought to do it!” Thatch yells.
“Except I don’t have one more!” Annika calls back. She takes out her crossbow, and—fearing as always that Kiara is about to do something foolhardy—casts mage armor on her familiar before taking aim at the giant man. The bolt hits, but doesn’t seem to do any damage.
It’s a bit of a letdown.
Eva and Thatch however, have found their rhythm. Thatch has managed to batter away at it sufficiently that the thing has apparently decided to leave Anvil alone in favor of beating-up the fighter. Eva however, is busy doing damage of her own. As the giant turns to swing at Thatch she stabs hard with her rapier, right above where its kidney ought to be. This time, there is no ambiguity about whether or not the thing bleeds as a spurt of clear, viscous liquid spatters her across the face.
She follows up immediately with another strike, this one even deeper, right through the spine, which sends a gout of the clear liquid… right at Thatch.
Thatch’s sword swings wide as he misses the thing completely. He turns aside for just a second to spit and glare at Eva. “Thanks a lot.”
Eva however is more concerned with the fact that the giant has apparently decided that it is she, and not Thatch that presents the greatest immediate threat, and is lurching around to face her. In the face of his giant fists, Eva’s rapier suddenly feels very, very small. She holds it ready and prepares to dodge as best she can when the blow inevitably comes, but then, just as the thing is raising its fists to bring down upon her… a sword-point appears on its head.
When the thing turned its back on him, Anvil readied himself for one last strike, and lifting his sword brought it down on the huge man’s skull with all his strength.
The thing’s head cracks open like a melon, clean down to his neck. There is a great roar of wind, and the air feels suddenly like a sandstorm. The body contracts, tensing up as still as a board, then, it topples. The air clears and it lies there, motionless.
“Is it dead?” Lira asks.
Annika shakes her head. “Who could say if it was ever really alive?”
Anvil kicks the motionless corpse. No reaction. “It’s dead.”
I started reading this SH about 2 weeks ago to kill time at work. Every lunch break and all the down time since I started has been put toward reading this and now I've caught up =(. I had to register so I could offer my praises on this piece.
Excellent writing Spyscribe, the story really brings the reader in. Fajitas, you've done an amazing job creating the storyline. And all the other players have really shown a lot of creativity in giving a character personality. Nicely done everyone.
Looking forward to seeing more in the future!
Excellent writing Spyscribe, the story really brings the reader in. Fajitas, you've done an amazing job creating the storyline. And all the other players have really shown a lot of creativity in giving a character personality. Nicely done everyone.
Looking forward to seeing more in the future!
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