Wraith's Whispers - CoSQ (Update: 4/5/04)

[Wraithdrit]

Heh. Needless to say, I don't have tape recorders running during game sessions, so will not always get every blow or spell cast in the right order. Most of this is reconstructed from memory, recalling what stuck out for me behind the DM screen. So don't feel bad. Its like watching the movie for a good book. It can be good in its own right, without being exactly the same as the book.

- Wraith

 

[Amador]

I am just interested in when we will see the rest of the last session. And I can't wait for the next.

 

[Wraithdrit]

Last of session 3 should be up today (hopefully). Next game session will be next week at some point. I will let everyone know as soon as I do when it will be.

- Wraith

 

[Wraithdrit]

The party quickly regrouped, set off into the mines. They had significant notes taken by the female wizard they had slain mere moments earlier. It seems that these were indeed Thayans, and that they had been disguised. The head of the camp, Lurthkaus, was a true Red Wizard of Thay, and all the rest of the camp, his followers. They were apparently here looking for some sort of book. According to the notes, the Zhentarim did not know their true identity, and the Thayan henchmen, were beginning to chafe under the charade of serving the Zhents.

Into the mines the group crept. This was obviously not a true mine, but rather some sort of underground dwarven structure. A great battle had taken place here, a battle between dwarven defenders and the evil horde that overrun Tethyamar hundreds of years ago. Corpses were everywhere. Ancient dwarven skeletons mixed with ancient goblin and orc bones. Some bones were not even recognizeable.

The party followed the Thayan notes, and used the map to quickly locate a room they thought might have a secret door. Sure enough two such doors were found and the party slipped through one. The other side was a room filled with trash and junk. A voice chirped in the darkness as the party poked through the junk. "Hey, leave that alone."

Will quirked an eyebrow, "Who's there?"

"Me," chirped the voice.

Durgaden growled, "Whose me?"

"Ugh, not a dwarf... go away. Go home."

"This is me home!"

"Not no more. This me home now." Tanerus bent to pick up some dirt in one hand.

"Can you tell us anything about this area?" asked Amador.

"Yes, I suppose, if you will leave me home."

"We will leave. If you tell us more. Have you seen people around here?" Will asked.

"Yes, seen people. Many people. Even seen a dark skinned elf. She was nice. Mulgup helped her get out past humans. Was much fun!"

Will and Amador glanced at each other. That explained how the drow had fled past the Thayans. The Thayan journal had made mention of them having found the signs of someone gravely wounded moving through, but they were unsure how the person got through. The party had assumed it was the drow priestess they had met in the woods. Now they knew were she had come from, but not what had hurt her so bad, or why she had not healed herself.

Tanerus said, "You saw her in the kitchen?" Thats where the notes said the tracks of the wounded person had seemed to originate.

"Yes, Mulgup saw her in kitchen."

"Will you take us there? We will pay you." Tanerus pulled a gem from his pouch at his side.

"Ooooh. Pretty... yes... we show." As Tanerus felt something pulling the gem from his hand he tossed the handfull of dirt at it. The creature coughed and gagged then appeared suddenly as if losing its concentration on whatever magic made it invisible.

A small misshapen creature, stooped over, not a single hair on his head, with massive pointed ears sticking out to either side. His visage is somewhat goblin like, but this is definitely no goblin. His arms are longer than his legs, and dangle towards the ground. Soot and grime blacken everything about him. Not a single spot of the miserable creature seems untouched by the mess.

His back is hunched, and he has a scrap of an ancient suit of dwarven mail draped over his shoulders, dangling down his back. On the front the mail slides down his shoulders, and seems to be riveted in place, attached to the creature’s very bones. Ancient bracers are on his wrists, his skin seeming to have grown up around the edge of the bracers. His feet are clad in dingy strips of leather, wrapped again and again around his feet, then up around his ankles. He wears an ancient tattered pair of pants, an old belt with an ancient dwarven knife stuck in his belt. The bones of his fingers are ridged, with odd shapes on each finger, by the looks of it, rings the creature has scavenged and have been worn so long his flesh and the grime have all but buried them.

The party looked on, wondering what the little thing was. Finally Will spoke up, "You will take us to the kitchen?"

"Yes, to kitchen." The creature known as Mulgup proceeded the way leading them to a room that looked much like a kitchen.

Durgaden looked around, "She musta come from a secret door..."

Mulgup shook his head, "Nope she come from back there." He pointed back the way the party had just come from. They had passed two doors on the way.

Will frowned. "Show us." The group backtrapped, "This door?"

"No that door have creepies in it, don't go in there." Mulgup shuddered.

"What kind of creepies?" Durgaden lifted his axe. "How many legs they got?"

Mulgup tried to count on his fingers, but kept getting lost after three. "One... two... three.... five... no wait... one ... two... three... nine..." Finally, "Um, many."

Amador frowned, "Spiders."

Mulgup nodded exictedly, "Yes! Creepy things. But she come out of here." Mulgup pointed at a different door.

Tanerus stepped up, "Whats in there Mulgup?"

The dark color almost drained from Mulgup's face, and his ears drooped. "The great hall..." He whispered, looking frightened. "Lots of bad mojo."

 

[Wraithdrit]

Just a quick update...

Just a quick update to let the readers know why there has been a delay. Will's player started his new job a couple weeks ago, and just as his schedule evened out, Tanerus' player was sent out of town for a week. So this weekend Tanerus is back in town, and I'm hoping to play either this weekend or early in the week (Mondayish). I will post something the day after the game session.

On another note, is anyone interested in reading just straight fantasy fiction as well? If so, drop me a line and I will post a link to it.

- Wraith

 

[Wraithdrit]

Session tonight!

Finally the game gets back underway tonight. Update here in the morning! Woot!

I am soooo jonesing to play tonight it ain't even funny.

- Wraith

 

[Wraithdrit]

Session 4

Eleint 26th, 1372 - Inside the Mines of Tethyamar, just before midnight

Durgaden grunted and nodded toward the door, "So lets go through."

Mulgup looked aghast. "Yous guys crazy!" He backed up a couple of steps. "Baaad mojo."

Will smirked, "What kind of bad mojo?"

"Yous know. Crushy things. Smashy things... Bad mojo!" Mulgup hopped from one foot to the other.

Tanerus hrmed softly and said, "Traps?"

Mulgup threw his arms up, "Yes! Bad mojo! Yous crazy." With a soft popping noise, Mulgup dissappeared. Will rested his hands on his pouches, just in case.

"We need to be careful. The Zhents are going to know something is up soon," said Will.

Amador nodded, "I think we have about an hour before they know, maybe more."

Durgaden growled, "Lets go check out the box then. We can explore all this afterwards." The notes they had recovered referenced a stone box in an audience chamber. The Thayans had not opened it yet, according to the notes. They suspected it contained a magic gem of some sort.

Everyone agreed and the party slipped through chamber after chamber, witnessing the remains of many an orc and dwarf. Long ago a great battle had taken place here.

Just outside the audience chamber Will and Tanerus stopped and looked around. Seeing them glance around the other two nodded as well. The chamber was oddly shaped for an entry chamber, it was too long. The group fanned out and quickly found a pair of secret doors leading out to the north and south.

Will paused, "We should check out the box first still."

Amador nodded and Tanerus slid opened the doors to the audience chamber. A massive firepit was in the middle of the room. Benches lined the north and south walls. On the east side of the room, opposite the door, set away from the wall a bit, was a large stone table on which sat a large granite box.

Tanerus slipped forward to the box and Durgaden settled in behind the raised firepit to watch. Amador and Will flanked the doorway outside the room. They alternately watched the room and the set of doors behind them.

On the other side of the fire pit Tanerus discovered the remains of three orcs. The box itself had obviously not been opened in a long time, deposits of minerals on the hinges and lock attested to that. The halfling slipped out his tools and began to probe the box. He knew it was trapped, the question was how.

Soon he discovered that it was the lock that was trapped. He saw too many mounts holding it in place. Two must conceal something, like a needle trap. He quickly set small metal plates in place to block any thing from flying from them. Confident the lock was disarmed he slid out his picks. Tumblers clicked quickly beneath his able hands and soon the satisfying click of the lock was heard.

As Tanerus opened the lid, two of the other mounting holes snapped open and four tiny needles flew at him. He had time to throw up his hands to protect his face. The needles buried into his arms, two on each side. Tanerus yelped and slumped back, his left arm burned, and his knees started to weaken. He quickly fumbled for a potion and quaffed it. The potion's warmth spread through him, and the poison in his arm seemed to receed. He still felt weak, but he knew the poison would not continue to make him weaker now.

Durgaden popped his head over the firepit. "You alright?"

Tanerus cursed softly. "Yeah... just fine." He slid the lid open and a bright green glow washed out over him. A fist sized emerald sat in the box. On either side of the emerald were carved dwarven runes. Tanerus backed up, "I've done my part." He looked to Will. "Your turn."

Will stepped forward and examined the emerald without touching it. "Without knowing what those runes say I wouldn't begin to know what it does."

Durgaden examined them. "This one is uh... power... or fire. Something like that."

Tanerus rolled his eyes. "Yeah those are real similar."

Durgaden continued, "And this one is... armor... or protection." He nodded.

Will smiled, "Well without knowing exactly I can't even hazard a guess." He stepped away from the box.

Durgaden shrugged and pulled off his gauntlet. He reached in and plucked the gem out. The glow receeded into the gem and became a steady pulse. The box seemed almost relieved to have the gem finally removed. Cracks appeared in the box, and it crumbled into dust.

Durgaden examined the gem for a few moments, and unable to get it to do anything, he slid it into his magical backpack.

The party backed out of the audience chamber and moved to the north secret door. The exploration continued, the party found a locked door, and decided not to break it down when Tanerus failed to pick the lock. The next room they found contained an ancient well, and another secret door. This led to a passage that ended in the backside of another secret door. A large bedroom sat on the otherside.

The party fanned out to search the bedroom, when Will was overcome with a sharp pain in his head. When his vision cleared, instead of an ancient ransacked bedroom he saw a well kept room, with a single armored dwarf readying himself for battle. The doors burst open, and an orc and goblin horde rushed in. The dwarf faught valiantly, and was able to destroy the horde, including three ogres that were with it. But as the horde fell away, a demon joined the battle. The ancient dwarf and the demon clashed with a bright flash, and when Will's vision cleared, the room was back to normal. He quickly told his companions what he saw.

Durgaden kicked at the remains on the floor. "But there is no dwarf here. He must have lived." The party exited the room from its main doors to the south, as they did so, Will stopped short. He could see an apparition of the ancient dwarf. The ancient warrior priest had one armed ripped off, but had survived the encounter with the demon it would seem. He stumbled off to the south, down an immense hallway. Will quickly told his companions and they followed the ghost to the south.

Right before a massive set of double doors, the dwarf stumbled and began leaning on the wall a lot. Will narrowed his eyes and looked back at where they had come from. "Why would he go some fifty feet, and then start leaning on the wall?" He pushed against the wall in every place the dwarf ghost did. Meanwhile, the ghost pulled out a key, used it, and faded through the closed doors.

Will felt part of the wall give slightly, then there was a satisfying click. "Ah ha... a trap."

Tanerus stepped up and examined the floor. "Sure enough, large pit trap by the looks of it." He jogged back to a pile of rubble and began piling it on the trapdoor to see if it would open. Nothing happened.

Just as Tanerus was about to step forward a soft click was heard. Will looked at the wall, the shifting stone had reset itself. He pressed it again and Tanerus quickly moved to try and pick the lock on the door. He cursed as he broke pick after pick, "Its a no go." He quickly got off the trap door before it reset.

Durgaden smiled, "I can open it." The rest of the party quickly disagreed. They didn't want to attract that kind of attention yet. Another set of double doors led to the south. Will repressed the switch and Tanerus quickly opened that set of doors.

Tanerus peered in, "More stairs, and another set of double doors." He jogged back to the party. They looked down at their map.

Amador pointed to past the doors. "That looks like it leads back to the bad mojo area. We've come in a circle."

Will frowned, "We also have another problem, soon the Zhents are gonna know something is up. Their runner is due any minute."

Durgaden smiled, "Lets go pay them a visit then."

Tanerus frowned, "Thats a fortified position, there is no way we can take that."

Will shook his head, "They have lots of things outside the fortification, even if they miss one runner, its not like that is going to be enough to have them shut themselves in."

Tanerus thought about it. "Your right. We would be better to hit them now even if they might know something is up, than to wait and let them get entrenched even further once they are sure something is up."

Amador nodded, "Back to the surface then?" The entire party agreed and they quickly made their way toward the exit, vowing to return here once the Zhentarim were dispatched.

As the party got close to the entrance, Will stopped and frowned. Durgaden asked, "What is it?"

"Its my owl. He says there is lots of movement at the camp. They know something is up."

Durgaden grinned, "Then we better move faster." The party quickened its pace and set out across the city toward the Zhentarim camp.

Nearly halfway there Will's owl sent another warning that he relayed to the party. "The giant bat is in the air, it has a rider, and it's flying air support for people on the ground."

Tanerus frowned, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Amador slid an arrow into his bow. "Let them come, Corellian will protect us."

Durgaden grinned his dwarfish grin and looked around for a good place to make a stand, "Bring it on."

 

[Gilgalad]

Well...what are ya wait'n for ?

Finish the bloody adventure story already

 

[Wraithdrit]

Session 4 Continued...

Meanwhile within the Zhentarim fortifications, about half an hour earlier....

Captain Argah strode from the commander's office. Lt Grendar, a fairly impressive half-orc wearing the black full plate emblazoned with the Zhentarim's badge on his left shoulder, was waiting for him. The half-orc fell into step with the human captain who wore matching armor.

The half-orc spoke first, "Well? What did she say?"

"We are finally going after them." The captain never faltered in his step, even as they entered the large central chamber of the mine. He called out to the first servant he saw, "Saddle our horses." He motioned between himself and the half-orc. "Then summon Bergosh." The servant nodded and rushed off.

The half-orc grinned, "Captain Bergosh will be glad that he and his tribe members will be able to avenge the blood of their fallen."

The captain stopped dead in his tracks and spun on the half-orc. "Get this straight, and quickly, lieutenant. We are eliminating a threat, not pandering to our lesser minions wishes."

The half-orc snapped to attention, "Yes, Sir!"

The captain nodded, then sighed slightly, "At ease, lieutenant. Sorry, did not mean to take that out on you. Its just the commander has ordered us to take Xandos, his apprentice, and the woodsman with us." The contempt the military man felt for the added baggage was obvious.

The half-orc tried to soften the anger his captain was feeling. "The woodsman's tigers could be useful, Sir, and we know they have arcane mages with them, they proved that just outside of Dagger Falls."

"Yes, I know. But the last thing I want is Xandos' mount giving away our position."

"The bat is fairly quiet, sir. Besides, we have no way of knowing if they are at the camp still, in the temple, or even in the city."

"They are still in the city, lieutenant. I can assure you of that. In fact, I guarantee you they are still in the temple."

"Of course sir." The half-orc knew when to stop argueing. The sounds of leather and metal, clinking over and over again, as well as the ackward sounds of something flopping about signaled the arrival of the captain's least favorite member of the Zhentarim forces.

Xandos walked in, his robes, dangling with fetishes and scroll cases, a wand sheathed at his side, leading his mount, a massive dire bat. The creature half flopped, half hopped along the ground, its harness rattling as it moved. "Greetings captain. I hear we are going hunting."

Captain Argah nodded, "Indeed skymage, we are. Is your apprentice ready?"

A voice from beside Xandos said, "I'm here, captain."

The captain scowled. The apprentice was invisible. That would make for a wonderful random variable. He made a note not to get choked up if he got caught in a cross fire. "Good." The growl that came from a side passage caught everyone's attention and they turned to see a massive pair of tigers padding out of the gloom of the corridor. A young fellow with dark hair, and matching dark clothes followed the tigers in. Attached to his belt was a scourge and a long sword. The backs of the tigers were marred with scaring from the scourge.

"Greetings Cap." The youth grinned darkly as he strode up. As a scout he was outside the normal Zhentarim chain of command. He reported only to the commander. The captain scowled, if any of his men dared call him 'Cap', he would have had them beaten. "What's our prey?"

"A group of four. They left Dagger Falls a few days ago, and came straight here. They have run into and destroyed two of our patrols, so far. If it was not for Tursa's escape we would not even know their capabilities. They have a dwarven warrior, a halfling scout, an elven warrior, and a young human wizard adept at dispelling magic. We know they have passed through the Thayan camp, killing all of them. They are now in the mines." The Captain paused as the smell of the unwashed hit him.

Captain Bergosh had arrived. The immense orc settled into a chair and growled, "These are the ones that kill my brethren?"

"Aye. They are... so this is how it is going to go down. Xandos, you will fly air support, if anything happens-"

The Skymage interrupted him, "Do not forget whom you are talking to Captain. You command your troops, I will support your units. Beyond that, I will do as I please. Do not forget your place."

Captain Argah's nostrils flared and he swallowed his anger before continueing. Argueing back with a Zhentarim mage as high ranked and Xandos was a quick way to end his career. He went on with the briefing, "Bergosh... you and your ... 'men', will split up into two flanking units. Myself, the lieutenant, the woodsman, and two of our men will make up the center column."

"When we get to the Thayan camp, Bergosh, you and your men will stay outside. Woodsman, your team will go inside. You have been assigned two of my best men, and Xandos' apprentice. You will enter the temple complex and seek out these interlopers and engage them. You will then retreat towards the exit. Bergosh, your men will ambush them as they leave the temple complex."

The human captain looked at the woodsman a moment. "You have twelve hours in the temple. Should you fail to report back in that amount of time..." he turned to look at the orc captain, "you are to collapse the front hall of the temple."

"What about the book sir?" This was from his lieutenant.

"The Commander says the book will wait. We know where the key to the crypts are. We can go back to business as usual till we are confident they have starved to death. Then we continue where we left off. Everyone clear on your orders?"

A chorus of 'ayes' went around the group and they moved to prepare their troops and be underway.

The woodsman tapped Lt Grendar on the shoulder after the captain had strode off. "You know if this goes bad, you'll be the first to go." The half-orc stiffened and snarled a bit, showing a bit of fang. "But don't worry lieutenant, when I get back here I will tell the commander you died valiantly."

"Coward... you would flee a battle?"

"Faster than you can say 'My mother didn't know when to keep an orc out of her pants.'" The woodsman turned and started to walk off. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "I'm not one of you, half-orc. I'm not a lamb blindly following the wrong man into battle. Captain Argah is a fool, and you are a fool to follow him. No one has faced these four and lived except for Tursa, and that fey'ri wench is slippery. The commander wants to know more about their forces, so she is sending her most bull headed troops to die, in hopes I can learn something more about what we are up against. I know I can get out of there if need be. Can you?"

"I would never flee a battle." The lieutenant puffed up a bit, his wounded pride evident.

"Exactly. Lambs to the slaughter."

 

[Wraithdrit]

Session 4 (continued)

Durgaden found a good spot behind a still standing wall, placing the wall between himself and the oncoming forces. The Zhentarim were nothing but a soft glow distant in the ruins, their torches giving away their location.

Tanerus found a good corner with rubble piled near it. He found a small hole in the wall, nestled into it and pulled up the hood of his magic cloak, all but dissappearing from sight.

Will and Amador found an intact wall with a window that looked down the path of the approaching forces.

They all hunkered as close to their cover as possible. The dire bat and its rider would have to fly directly over them to be able to see them. The waiting began.

Tanerus settled in, wanting the fight to start. Fighting was scary, and he never liked to fight, but it was always easier than the waiting. The uneasy anticipation before a fight was enough to rattle anyone's nerves.

Durgaden checked the straps on his breast plate. Satisified it was well in place, he examined the head of his magic waraxe. With his waraxe in his hand, he felt like he could take on anything.

Will went over calculation after calculation, combination of spells after combination of spells.

Amador pulled a few of his arrows out and stuck them point first in holes in the rubble. He figured he could fire faster if he had them so easily at hand.

Finally the first of the Zhentarim came into view. It was a relatively small party compared to what they were expecting. In the lead were a pair of immense tigers. Behind them strode a young man dressed in leathers. He wielded a sword in one hand, and carried something else in the other. Behind him strode two Zhentarim Regulars. Large men, maybe even half-orcs, the two wore plate armor and carried the shield and short swords common to all Zhentarim Regulars.

Behind the regulars rode two men, obviously commanders. Both wore full plate armor, and carried shields. Both had long swords in their hands. Overhead, the dire bat circled, a couple hundred feet up. The whole group was easily two hundred feet off in the ruins still.

"No better time than the present," muttered Will. He let loose with a spell, a single pea shaped ball of fire shooting forth from his outstretched hands, ripping forward to explode in the middle of the group.

Chaos reigned for a moment or two in the Zhentarim ranks. Lt Grendar went down hard, his mount slain from beneath him. The woodsman and the two Zhentarim Regulars were thrown around like ragdolls. Captain Argah's horse reared up, but he managed to keep on his saddle and threw his sword forward, pointing and yelling. Then Will's second fireball exploded in their midst.

Captain Argah's horse collapsed, dead. The Captain managed to roll to his feet. Lt Grendar also gained his feet. The two Zhentarim Regulars were dead. The woodsman scrambled to behind some rubble, yelling something at his tigers. Both the animals had been outside the blast of the fireballs. The flames had surprised the tigers, and it was in that moment of surprise that Amador's arrows started to sink into the flank of one of the tigers. One, two, three, then a fourth arrow, all streaked in, biting deep into the tiger's flesh.

With yowls of anger, the twin beasts charged toward thir assailants. The woodsman quickly quaffed a potion, then began to move in after them.

Above the battle field, Xandos was momentarily blinded by the bright flash of the fireballs. He cursed and flung his own fireball into the ruins in which the arrows and spells were flying.

Durgaden watched as the ball of fire streaked over his position. He covered his eyes and felt the heat of the blast, but was well out of the area of effect. Will and Amador braced as the fireball raced toward their position. The explosion was intense but both survived. Tanerus winced as the fireball went off behind him. He held his position, waiting to spring his ambush.

Quickly Will went through the motions of his best protection spell, a globe of protection magic sprung up around him and Amador. It would keep out the effects of anything as powerful as a fireball or lightning bolt.

Durgaden broke from cover as he heard the sounds of orcish howls. From the left and right flanks a score of orcs and ogres broke from cover at a dead run, looking like they were going to try and swarm the groups positions. Durgaden broke to the left, found a sturdy pile of rubble and set himself to hold the line against the coming charge. "Bring it ya smelly mongrels! These are my mines!"

Tanerus' heart leapt into his throat as he heard the battle cries of the approaching orcs. He was on the right flank. He dared not move as half a dozen orcs raced past his position. He could have thrown a dagger at any of them, probably killed one, maybe two, but then all of them would know he was there.

Durgaden smirked as the first of the orcs on his flank charged up the rubble at him. He dropped one, then a second, then a third one with easy swipes of his waraxe. Two larger orcs came racing up, but slowed at the base of the rubble. Obviously more intelligent, these two looked like leaders. One of them ordered the other to one side. So that was their leader then, thought Durgaden. The orcs moved more cautiously, not recklessly charging up the mound of rubble. They quickly surrounded the dwarf and swarmed in on him. Orcs he could handle, even the ogre that was moving in did not concern Durgaden. When he heard the yowl of the tiger though, he started to worry.

The beast threw itself at Durgaden, latching onto him and biting and clawing at his armor. The shield and breast plate protected him well though, and while he was cut in places, none of the wounds were mortal. The orcs started to strike at his weapon and at the rubble he stood on, trying to break his defensive position and make it easier for thier captain, the ogre, or the tiger to finish the dwarf off.

But Durgaden held his own. His training had been for just such instances. He knew how to defend himself, and as long as he had his shield and his axe, he was confident he could survive this. That was about the time the woodsman's scourge whipped up at Durgaden, wrapped around his waraxe's handle and yanked the weapon from his grasp.

Over where Will and Amador were the second tiger raced toward them. It decided at the last moment that the window they were firing from was too small, so started to move around their position, flanking then with the orcs.

Captain Argah and Lt Grendar were closing quickly on foot. Overhead Xandos ineffectively bounced Magic Missiles off of Will's Minor Globe of Invulnerability. Will cast his spell of webs up at the dire bat, hoping to entangle it, and bring it to the ground. The webs all dissappeared ten feet from Xandos, dissolving against Xandos' own Globe.

Tanerus was about to move from his cover when a massive ogre walked right in front of his position and paused. The halfling held his breath hoping the ogre would move on.

The mages were almost cancelling each other out. Durgaden's waraxe had been ripped from his hand, Amador and Will's position was being flanked, and Tanerus was trapped behind the enemy line. Things were not looking good for the companions, then Xandos' ice storm ripped through the ruins that Will and Amador were hiding in, easily penetrating thier protecting globe.