Back In the Hall of the Trickster (12th June 2013)
The Dragon Warriors
Aethelfrith – Thane
Sir Erich of Barton – Knight
Hillson – Warlock
Nazir al Khalid – Barbarian (NPC’d)
Solaran – Elementalist (NPC’d)
Karban Telos – Sorcerer (NPC’d)
The Hunt (Days 34-35 (114-5))
Sir Erich, Karban the sorcerer, and Aethelfrith returned to
the ship to find the mad man still gibbering on in his own language and no
sense had been made from his ramblings so far by the rest of the crew. They
reported their story to the rest of their companions and discussed what they
had found. They decided that the following day they would try to appease the Trickster
with sacrifices and then settled down for a good night’s rest.
The following morning the party rose early – there still
hadn’t been any sign of the Bloody Bitch or her pirate companions. This time,
Sir Erich, Aethelfrith and Hillson the Warlock decided to go hunting for the
fresh meat that would be used as an offering at the Trickster’s table. They
spent all day hunting but came back with only a handful of shellfish and some
edible lichens.
The next day they decided to try extending their search for
meat a little further away from the ship but, as luck would have it, a small
herd of caribou turned up for a drink at the fresh water pool below the
waterfall in the cove where they had anchored the ship. The three companions
decided to trail the herd as it left and after about two hours travel, they
finally caught up with it. They stalked up on a trailing member of the herd, a
magnificent stag, and got to within the distance of an easy bow shot.
Sir Erich and Aethelfrith let loose their shafts at the
beast. Aethelfrith’s arrow flew true and struck the caribou square in the flank.
This startled the creature and it started to run, but as it was unaware where
the shaft had come from it fortuitously headed straight past the party. Hillson
was able to jump out from his hiding place and scare the animal back towards
the warriors, thus enabling them both to put another arrow into its flank. This
frightened the stag even more but shock and loss of blood had by now slowed it
enough for Hillson to catch it and deliver the killing blow. They skinned and gutted
the beast and returned to the ship with the hefty haunches of fresh meat.
The Trickster’s Hall
The adventurers quickly collected the other offerings from
the ship and headed back towards the hall under the mountain. Once within the
illusory confines of the feasting hall, the party headed to the central fire and
roasted the caribou meat. This took a while, but they waited patiently until it
was properly roasted.
Once the meat was cooked they made their way to the end of
the hall where the main seats were. Once there, they presented the cooked meat
and some mead to all of the places that were set. They also took a quick look
at the water offering they had made a few days before. It did not look like it
had been touched since their departure, so they poured it away and replaced it
with mead.
They waited for a while but nothing seemed to happen. Feeling
a little foolish they decided to start singing a few feast hall songs and
attempted to entertain what they hoped were their invisible hosts. Again,
nothing seemed to happen. As it had been a few hours now since they had last
eaten and the smells from the roasted caribou had permeated their senses, they
decided to eat what was left of the offerings. They took the remaining part of the
meal that had not been used for the offering and walked to what they recognised
as the human table and plonked themselves on the mead bench set at it. As soon
as they arrived within the vicinity of the table they could hear the faint
sounds of merriment and feasting. They decided to try joining the feast with
their own food and drink but touched nothing of what was on offer; the sounds
of the party did not become any clearer. They discussed who should start to eat
and drink from the table offerings and it was quickly realised that Hillson
would be the best to do so as he had a sharper wit to avoid the Trickster’s
illusions and the two warriors were strong enough to drag him away from the table
should another elf or similar appear to attack them.
Hillson began by drinking some of the mead from the table
and instantaneously heard the feast in full swing. The shadowy figures around
him came into full vision and he became a member of the drinking and feasting
fraternity at the table. He felt the magical tug of the illusion but would not
be drawn into its clutches. The two warriors asked him how he felt and what he
could see and he responded to them with clarity. They prompted him to try the
food and see what happened then. He did so. The pull of the illusion became stronger
but he was still able to resist its allure and report back to his companions
what he observed. He could understand all that the feasting warriors were
saying even though it was not his native language, and even got involved in a
few bragging and drinking games with them.
The warlock kept up the feasting and drinking for an hour or
so, but as nothing unusual had happened he decided to slowly wean himself off
of the illusory victuals to see if the sounds of merriment faded again; it didn’t.
As the night wore on, Aethelfrith and Sir Erich started to
become a little bored watching their companion enjoying himself so decided to
call a halt to the proceedings. The illusion hadn’t worn off for Hillson even
though he had stopped eating a good few hours before. The party decided that
around midnight they would get Hillson away from the table if nothing happened
at that hour.
The hour of midnight came and went with no change to the
pace of the feasting, so Hillson stood up to leave the mead bench. As soon as
he stood up, the merrymakers at the table fell fast asleep and a booming voice sounded
out from behind him (that only he could hear). A huge, ugly man stood up in the
distance and started yelling for everyone to be quiet whilst holding onto his
ears as if in pain. The ogre of a man locked his eyes on the warlock and
charged at him yelling a war-cry.
Hillson had the presence of mind to cast a defensive spell
upon himself before the creature got to him. However, Sir Erich and Aethelfrith
were closer and struck the brute with their magical weapons; neither seemed to
have any effect. Hillson swung his weapon at the troll but missed just as
Aethelfrith remembered some of his ancient lore. He yelled at everyone to
strike the brute with their fists rather than weapons as it looked like Grendel
had come back from the dead. The two warriors made their blows connect solidly
but the ogre struck Hillson regardless, ignoring the hits from the two stalwart
companions. The blow startled Hillson but did not penetrate his thick mail armour.
Hillson cast another defensive spell and then threw himself into the brawl. All
the while Grendel was pummelling Hillson, the two companion warriors struck at the
ogre with their fists. Finally, the man-troll could take no more of the
punishment, staggered a little and then fell to the ground where his body
dissipated to a smoky haze.
Other Worlds (Day 36 – the early hours)
After their encounter with the Grendel being, the party
decided to take a breather and headed back to the main table at the end of the
hall as they could not work out exactly what was going on at the feasting tables.
Time was running out quickly now so they decided to be a
little hastier in trying to work out what was going on. Hillson, now wanting to
get back to his bed on the ship for a good sleep, asked his companions to watch
out for him and promptly sat himself upon the chair with the well sigil carved
upon it. His thinking was that it may be something to do with knowledge and who
better to sit upon it than someone versed in the arcane arts? As soon as he touched
the seat he disappeared backwards into it, far too quickly for either of his
companions to stop him. Sir Erich grabbed hold of the end of Aethelfrith’s
spear and sat upon the same chair. He too was whipped backwards through the chair;
a hapless Aethelfrith was dragged through on the end of the spear he was still
holding onto tightly.
Hillson and Sir Erich found themselves sat upon a log with
Aethlfrith stood in front of them still holding his spear. He quickly whipped
around to make sure nothing was behind him and saw that they had all appeared
in a glade within a forest. In front of them was a well with two small pails
beside it. Stood beside the well was an old man dressed in good quality clothes;
obviously some kind of wizard or wise man thought Hillson. The warlock hailed
the man in the language of the feast hall (somehow he could speak it fluently)
and said that he was lost. The man replied that the party were indeed lost as the
woods carried on forever in every direction. He said that they had to make a
decision - They could either give him an eye each or answer his riddle to get
out of there and back to their own world. Sir Erich managed to recall something
he had heard when he was a child from the tales his mother told him at his bedside.
He asked whether the old man’s name was Mimir, the Wise One. The wise man chuckled
but only repeated his offer.
The party decided they would try to answer his riddle. Mimir
pointed to the two small buckets beside the well and said that one has a
capacity of three pints and the other a capacity of five. He wanted them to
give him exactly four pints of water from the well. Whilst Hillson and
Aethelfrith scratched their heads and tried to get their minds in focus for the
challenge, Sir Erich was already there with the answer – those fairy tales told
to him upon his mother’s knee were at last coming in useful for something other
than as cautionary tales. He immediately took up the five pint pail, filled it
to the brim with water and poured it into the three pint bucket which he then
tipped away. Then he took the two pints left in the five pint bucket and poured
that into the three pint bucket. He then refilled the five pint bucket, tipped
out one pint to fill the three pint bucket again, leaving exactly four pints in
the five pint bucket.
Mimir was impressed at the speed with which the knight
solved the puzzle and placed a small vellum-wrapped package into his hand and
asked the three companions to sit back down upon the log. The party complied
with his request and were instantaneously transported back to the chair in the
Trickster’s Hall, somehow not falling on top of each other. Sir Erich’s
curiosity got the better of him, and he un-wrapped the vellum package despite
Aethelfrith’s warnings. Inside the package was an eye.
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