Ambushed – (20th November 2013)
The Adventurers
Bow – Ranger
Hallan – Fighter
Johan - Cleric
Paulix – Thief
Vox – Magic User
Spugnoir – Magic User (NPC)
Card Games - Freyasday 12th Quattrober (Day 17)
– late evening
The huge severed head of Lubash the Ogre was slowly
unwrapped from its cloth sack to the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of the gathered crowd
within the Plough and Stars Inn. Meanwhile, outside the tavern’s walls, peels
of thunder sounded like the rumble of boulders hauled over the hills by storm
giants.
The party were not in the mood for celebrating their latest
foray to the moat house. They had been severely compromised due to the major
injuries borne by most of the party and the lack of treasure that they had
found. The magical cloak identified by Spugnoir might go some way towards massaging
their money pouches if it was sold but that thought did not help lift the mood
of the party much. They decided that the following day they would head to
Castleford to collect the rewards in person from the rescued merchants, find
out a way to get their magical items identified, and generally take in a change
of scenery before returning to the moat house to rid it of the presumed high
level Cthonic priest that still inhabited the lower dungeon where they found
the zombies and ogre.
Bow however decided to make the most of the situation and
carried on carousing whilst the rest of the adventurers headed to their beds
for a rest. He spotted the card shark and decided to play him at dice. He had
noticed how his luck was always just about good enough to make him a small but
tidy sum each evening. Bow suggested that they used a different set of dice
other than the one that Furnok had been using. The card shark agreed to this
and they diced for silver. After a few rolls, Bow decided that dice were indeed
with Furnok and that maybe he was just a lucky person, but his inner voice was
adamant that he was a cheat who fleeced passing merchants with his card and
dice con tricks.
A Visit to the Tower - Godsday 13th Quattrober
(Day 18)
The following day, they all rose early to the sound of
constant dripping from the gutters of the inn. The rain had returned, albeit as
just a light constant drizzle. Their limbs still stiff from the cuts and
bruises gained the day before, the companions paid a visit on Johan who had
been advised to stay at the temple of Sol Invictus overnight. He was in good
health; all signs of the infection from the grey ooze had been removed by the
Canon Terjon. With the exception of Paulix and Vox, they all returned to the
inn to prepare for their journey to Castleford that day.
The mage and thief had decided to tell Lord Burne about the
theft of the metal amulet. Burne, a concerned look on his face upon hearing
this news, was able to answer their questions with a little more information. He
had found out through further research and conversations with his more learned contacts
that the amulet was indeed a key to the doors that imprisoned the demoness
Zuggtmoy; the terrible demon that was fought and defeated by the elders of his
order ten years previously when the Temple was razed and her followers
defeated. The cartouche was an abbreviation of her name written in runes of
power. It was essential that this key and the three others like it (one for each
door in the spell-locked Temple) were recovered and kept away from agents of
the Temple as they could release Zuggtmoy upon the world and her reign of
terror would begin again.
The mage was also able to tell them that his informants had
noticed several furtive characters had left the village of Staneford over the
last day or so. He was unable to name them but there were maybe half-a-dozen or
so suspect characters identified by his network.
Ambushed – late
morning
The party pulled their cloaks tightly around their heads and
shoulders and stepped out into the rain. As they walked past the stables of the
inn they noticed that the heavy warhorse belonging to Kobort was absent. They
made their way along the north road, past the temple dedicated to Sol Invictus
towards the despicable village of Nulb. They could have gone via the forest
road past the moat house but that way was more likely to be fraught with danger
and was actually a slightly longer path.
Three hours into journey the party came to a short straight
in the road between two curves in the forest path. Bow’s trackers’ senses
tingled and he felt that something was wrong just as four bandits burst from
the bushes to the right of the party. They had waited until the magic users
were in sight and then pounced.
A quick flurry of blows pushed the mages back and stopped
them from casting their spells, so they were reduced to fighting with their
more mundane weapons. Spugnoir tried to step back from the fray after being hit
by a sword but the numbers brought to bear by the bandits was enough for one of
them to break past Johan who valiantly held most of the bandits at bay and cut
him down, his body falling into the bushes at the side of the road. Meanwhile, Hallan
and Bow tried desperately to get back to help their companions, and Paulix, as
was his usual method of travelling, was hidden in the trees off to the left
hand side, quickly crossed the path to enable him to get round behind their
attackers.
As he entered the forest on the opposite side of the road the
thunder of hooves was heard coming down the forest track way from the direction
they were headed. Paulix had his attention fixed on the sound of hoof beats as
he passed through the trees but it was his lightning reflexes that allowed him
to dodge out of the way of the fists of Turuko; the small companion of Kobort.
The battle between the bandits and the magic users was eased
by the arrival the fighters and Paulix set himself upon the little monk. The charge
of Kobort on his heavy war horse was halted by Hallan with a hefty swipe of his
great two-handed sword. This slowed the rider and horse enough that they were
kept within the melee, but the numbers were in favour of the attackers now that
Spugnoir had been dropped.
Paulix made short work of his opponent, proving that a blade
was a far better weapon than one’s fists, and he re-joined the fray on the track
way. Unfortunately, things did not go well for the party thereafter. Kobort on
is warhorse rapidly reduced the battered fighters to little more than weak
kittens before he landed a telling blow on each of them; Hallan took the worst
blow, a severed artery in his leg pumped his life blood into the forest leaf
litter. Johan and Vox had more luck and were able to kill two of their
opponents but the remaining two bandits and Kobort held the upper hand.
Paulix saw that things were going badly for the party so
extricated himself from the combat leaving Johan and Vox to carry on the fight.
He thought of running away but at the last moment remembered the two potions in
his pouches. Trusting to luck rather than judgement, he unstopped one of the
elixirs and poured it down Spugnoir’s throat. His luck held, and the Healing
Potion restored the mage to full health. Luckily they were both still in the
bushes and were unseen by their assailants, so Spugnoir was able to recover his
wits and cast a spell that rendered all of the remaining combatants into a stupor.
The last two adventurers quickly tended to their companions
and saw that all were OK with the exception of Hallan who had bled to death at
the side of the road. In his rage, Paulix grabbed up his dagger and quickly
dispatched the rest of their sleeping attackers. He then searched the bodies
and robbed them of all their valuable possessions. He kept the scroll case and
potion secret from Spugnoir but told him of the coins and the two more wooden
amulets that he had found.
After everyone had been given first aid and the bandit’s
bodies disposed of on the opposite side of the road, the party rested up to allow
Johan to regain his healing spells from his god Balder.
A few hours later they heard the creaking of harness and the
snorting of horses. Paulix quickly grabbed Kobort’s war horse that was on the
trail eating grass and brought it under cover with the rest of the party.
A merchant caravan passed by that consisted of about four or
five wagons and a large body of guardsmen. Luckily they were making quite a bit
of noise and did not notice the snickering of greetings that Kobort’s war horse
gave to the passing horses.
Return to Staneford – a Visit to Jaroo and Burne
Johan recovered his spells and healed the party as best he
could until all his magical power had been drained again. The party loaded the
war horse with Hallan’s body and the booty gained from the bandits and they
headed back towards the village that they had left only a few hours previously.
They made straight for the druid’s grove to see if he could
prepare Hallan’s body for burial in sacred ground as they did not wish for him
to be tended to by the priests of Sol Invictus. Jaroo said he would prepare
Hallan for burial overnight and stand vigil upon his body to keep away any evil
spirits before he was interred. Vox volunteered to dig the grave of his friend
and help out with anything that Jaroo required for the ceremony.
During their conversation they found out that it would be
possible to bring Hallan back to life provided that he was seen by a priest within
the next week or so, but it would cost a lot of silver. Paulix made a quick
calculation and realised that if Kobort’s warhorse was healed up and given a
good brush down it would raise enough silver to pay for the ceremony to bring
Hallan back from the dead. They thanked Jaroo for his help and headed back towards
the inn.
On their way up the path from the grove, Bow noticed that
there were tracks made by a huge bear criss-crossing the area. The small
movements in the undergrowth of the grove he had spotted whilst talking to
Jaroo convinced him that the druid had a powerful protector beside him at all
times.
Paulix and Vox said that they would head off to see Burne
and report their findings whilst the rest of the party returned to the inn to
rest up. Johan got straight back to praying for guidance from his god and was
rewarded with several healing spells again, which he used on his companions.
At Burne’s tower the thief and young mage were again granted
an audience to tell their story. Burne listened with interest and offered them
guidance on how they might get their friend brought back from the dead. The two
companions grimaced internally as they were told the ceremony could only be performed
by Burne’s friend the High Priest Ralph in Castleford; a priest of Sol
Invictus. He reiterated it would not come cheap but he wrote a note of commendation
none-the-less that they could show to the priest to hasten an audience.
They mentioned the wooden amulets that Kobort and Turuko
were carrying, which fitted in with the intelligence that Burne had gathered
concerning the furtive persons that had left the village recently. They also
mentioned that they had a number of magical items that required identification.
Burne said that he was unable to identify these items but the lady Mathilde in
Castleford could do that for them. He wrote another sealed note addressed to
his superior and handed it to the party.
Finally, Paulix produced the scroll case that they had found
on the body of the evil fighter. Burne sat up with interest and asked what it
might be. A quick movement of his fingers meant that he was able to decipher
exactly what it was, a spell that enabled the caster to give the ability to climb
walls like a spider to either himself or a companion. He asked what they would
like in return for him keeping the scroll and Vox replied that he would also
like to learn it at the right hand of someone so knowledgeable as the worshipful
magician of Staneford. Burne instructed Vox in how to add the spell to his
spell book and said that as this was a spell he had not seen before and as he
had been flattered by Vox’s compliments he would teach him another lesser spell
that he might find useful. As he was short of offensive spells Vox requested that
he would like something that allowed him to cause damage at a distance. Burne
knew just the spell and taught him how to cast an invocation that sent forth
burning fire from the spread hands of the caster.
A Morning of Rest - Sunday 14th Quattrober
(Day 19)
After a subdued evening of chicken broth and healing at the
hands of their cleric, the party rose the following day to the sound of rain
pattering against the shutters of their rooms. They got up and finished a large
breakfast whilst Johan used up the first of his new set of healing spells
getting his companions back to full strength.
The party then visited the stables to see what they could do
for the badly injured warhorse that was now in their possession. Paulix suggested
that they might want to heal it and groom it so that it would fetch the best
possible price in Castleford and thus allow them to get their companion Hallan
raised from the dead. Johan healed the horse to the best of his ability and as
he had a few spells left he and Vox wandered up to the workers building the
curtain wall around Burne’s Tower. He healed a few sprains and breaks for those
who had picked up a few injuries during their work over the last few days and
mentioned that the power of Balder would protect them if only they would
worship him with all their hearts.
It was at this point that Vox and Johan noticed that one of
the more militant workers had left the work gang.
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