To War and Arms

Hiya Blockheads!

TWAA is my current campaign, in my world of Shalador. We're a bunch of sessions in (about 36), but recently much of what I am doing in the game is coming straight from the podcasts as I listen to them.  (I have a couple hours three times a week at work where I can listen while I work, and I've been going through them fairly rapidly. Just finished the Divine Spotlight III episode with Corellon/Kislev/Quom this morning) My group is, or was, completely new to the game.  I worked at a pawn shop for years, and became great friends with the guys and gals who worked there, but when I moved on to my new job, I never saw them.  So I joked that we should get together once a week to play D&D just to see each other more often, and to my great surprise they all loved that idea! We play 3.5, and I try to combine a sandbox feel with some prepublished adventures, with a ton of top-of-my-head stuff.  They aren't the most intense RP group ever, but we all love the game, and they constantly improve.  I have had to throw a lot of twists and new things at them to keep it fresh, as they don't really always know what to do next, or how to effectively use down time.  Anyway, we are in the middle of some plane-skipping madness right at the moment, and I have been relying heavily on the Block for inspiration.  We were running the tried and true "Red Hand of Doom", which fits nicely with my war scenario, when I dropped them into one new reality after another.  Their most recent was a Leonin world, allee samee except humans were leonin, including this world's versions of our PCs.  The baddies were, instead of goblins, Noggles. They had some fun with that, but I was ready for the next change, so at the end of the session last week, the world turned and they found themselves underwater.  Deep underwater.  They got picked up by someone passing by and enveloped in an air pocket, but that's where we left off.  Clearly, I need some Rich Howard inspiration for the next couple of sessions.  Anyhoo.  Since I plan on being around for a bit, I thought I'd make myself comfortable and tell you guys our story.  From the beginning.  You'll have to pick up on the setting as we go, but it's a homebrew world where Elves are essentially all Drow (Drithii).  I am playing them as the 'Master Race', bent on eradicating the lesser races once and for all.  Our story takes place in the Sevestri Provicium of the Danarian Empire, only recently conquered.  For your amusement (please note that since none of the players had ever played before, I deliberately started them in a tavern):

Session Zero:  Our Intrepid Adventurers

Jamstaer is a half-elf (Drithkin) who was raised by his mother in the Morhedge Wood. She is an elderly oracle for the Circle of the Old Ones, a druidic order, and Jamstaer was raised among them for the first fifty years of his life to follow druidic ways. In session 0, Jamstaer was approached by a grig who told him the Circle was concerned about a source of 'imbalance' that seemed focused on a man traveling along the man-road towards Aspenbrook. As Jamstaer was ranging the plains near there, would he see if he could discover the source of the imbalance and bring it to the Circle for purging? Jamstaer agreed and he and Biter traveled to Aspenbrook. Along the way, they were accosted by three Gherkin and a Gher, but killed them. Jamstaer rested in a field on the edge of town, where he could watch the road for this man the Grig had described.

Alaric Odinstone is a Duaru of the Cosmas Mountain Duaru clans, born under another name. His father was the Great Chief Chaska and as such he was privy to a great deal of the inner workings of the High Council of the Duaru. His mother, Mida; whom many held in just as high regard as her husband, was a historian/priestess and wonderful story-teller, and Alaric spent a much of his free time learning about Duaru customs, traditions, and history. When he was not dutifully at his father’s side for council, or studying under his mother’s tutelage, Alaric could be found with the clan’s blacksmiths learning how to create weaponry, armor, and even on occasion jewelry. (a task only Duaru women usually performed) He also took to throwing the small hammers of the forgers and eventually began throwing the full size warhammers with deadly accuracy. This perfect world came to an abrupt end when Chaska was killed while defending the city against another Duaru tribe. This meant Alosaka (Alaric’s oldest brother) was now the leader of the clan and his first act as the new Chief was to banish Alaric for not protecting their father from the assassins that breached the defenses and killed him. He also took from Alaric his given name ( a fate usually only reserved for the worst kind of Duaru). Alaric was allowed no time for mourning, no time to say his farewells. His hair and beard were cut to show his disgrace and he was banished from the Cosmas Mountains forever. Those loyal to Alaric surreptitiously gathered supplies, armor, and retrieved his father’s hammer(Alosaka had discarded it) and loaded a cart and donkey for him to ease his journey (it was the best they could do) Guilt-ridden he made his way out of the Cosmas Mountains, when he was far enough away to feel safe he held a small “rock-setting” for his father’s passing and took the name Alaric (in remembrance of his family) Odinstone (a stone with an unnatural hole in its center) He now makes his way out into the world torn between the desire to be recluse in shame and his natural longing for kinsman-ship, and so when he sees a young woman traveling down the mountain alone, follows her, to ensure her safety. Once in the hills, he continues to follow her to the Man-town, called Aspenbrook.

Leslynn is a Drithkin who lives with her parents in a hermit's cottage high in the Cosmas Mountains. Her father, an ebon-skinned Drithi named Alonzig, tends to his garden and reads to his daughter aloud from his books. Her life is lonely but full of wonder, and she often feels that she is the only person in the world. One day, for no particular reason, she climbs to the top of the highest peak she can find. Unprotected and alone, she stumbles and falls. Just as she realizes she is about to die, she is snatched from death by a giant owl. The owl sets her down on a safe ledge and asks her, through a mental communication, what exactly she is doing up in the mountains. She tells him that she lives there, that she has lived there her entire life, all 42 years of it. The owl scoffs, commenting that her old Drithi dad may have come here to putter in a garden until he died, but that she had a life ahead of her and a destiny to fulfil, and that she was withering in the Mountains. She asked the owl where her destiny lay, and the owl gestured with its wing to the land outstretched before them. "There, out there." She agreed that she would seek out a different life out there, dazed by the possibility of leaving the mountain. The owl reflected that she would be as guileless as a babe out in the world and sent one of his owlet children with her, to watch over her. When Leslynn told her father she was going out into the world to seek a different destiny, he accepted it without question, but asked her to first go to see his friend Martin Keeper, at the Golden Frog in Aspenbrook. "It may be that he can set your feet upon the right path, child". Alone, save her new owl friend Elwin, and unarmed save for the charms and sorceries her father had awakened in her with his magicks, Leslynn headed down the mountain. She made her way without incident through the foothills and into the city of Aspenbrook. She found the Inn her father had described to her, and made the acquaintance of the owner, Martin Keeper, and his daughter Caryn.

Ric is a Barakti warrior of the Qedar tribe, a band of desert nomads. His life is harsh, but has made him strong, and he is among the strongest of his tribe. Though he is young, his strength and toughness are quickly becoming legend. He has only recently received the scimitar, a double bladed one to suit his size, but is expected to be the greatest warrior of his generation and fully expects to fill that role. He is naturally chosen for the yearly trek across the mountains to the Khafa lands to trade goats for much-needed goods, as a guard. His mentor, Uluru, the leader of the warriors of the tribe, tells Ric that he has hand chosen him to be his right hand on this trip. It is a routine journey, but one of great importance to the tribe. The trip settled into monotonous boredom quickly, though the pass through the mountains was lush with vegetation compared to Ric's native desert, the Monassan Thulla, and he was astonished by the abundance in the Khafa lands. They left the goats with the rest of the warriors and herders, and Uluru, Ric, and the chief goatherder went into the Khafa tents of wood and stone to find the merchant they were sent to meet.

Caryn Keeper has lived and worked in the Golden Frog Tavern for nearly forty five years. Her father, Martin, has told her that she is a 'Drithkin', but all she knows is that the children she was friends with when she was very little are now the parents of children who look her own age. She therefore has no close friends in the city, and spends most of her time with her father. Twenty years ago, when the Danarian general, Stephanaius Vos Bericus, conquered the Drem-Danu and renamed the land the Sevestri Provincium, with himself as High Magistrate, Martin Keeper assured his young daughter that they would always do well, for they had an inn. "No matter the person, the country, the circumstances, love, a man with an Inn will make out alright." Still, she was very bored with the life of tavern wench and innkeeper's daughter. She had taken to listening at doors and pilfering things from the tenants of the inn. She practiced her lightfingered enterprise in the tavern as she waited tables, and has thankfully never been caught. She can beat any patron at darts, and keeps them near to hand to prove it, and can drink most of them under the table as well. She dearly loves her father, but hates her life and wants it desperately to change.

Session One: Betrayal at Aspenbrook Pt1

The Adventure began with the five characters: Leslynn, Jamstaer, Caryn, Ric, and Alaric, standing on the top of a grassy hill, looking down into a valley. Before them, stretching from horizon to horizon, are the Cosmas Mountains. At the end of the valley, in a gap in the mountains called Starfall Pass, a battle is raging. About a half mile ahead of the party, a group of Gherkin (little dog men, think Kobold) are fleeing towards the battle. As the sky begins to lighten, and the party realizes that it is almost sunrise, they reflect on how much they have been through in the last ten hours.

Ten Hours Earlier…

Caryn Keeper is listening at the door of the recent arrivals to the Golden Frog Inn and Tavern, the Barakti warrior Uluru and his tribe’s chief goatherder. She overhears the warrior say in Barakti (orcish) “Something feels wrong. Return to the valley, and tell the warriors to be alert. I will take the boy to scout the area before total darkness descends. The merchant we were told to meet is not here.” Caryn darts into an open doorway, successfully concealing herself as Uluru opens the door and goes down the stairs with the goatherder.

Ric and Leslynn are alone in the tavern room of the Golden Frog. Martin Keeper is advising Leslynn that if she wishes to be an adventurer, she needs a group of like-minded folk with a variety of talents, when the door opens and a golden haired bard enters, a mandolin slung over his shoulder, with a red haired female tough in tow. He leaps onto the tavern stage and begins tuning his instrument, as the woman goes to get ale. Amber, the tavern wench, promises to bring it, and asks Leslynn if she needs anything. A young couple entered the tavern arm in arm, followed by the Duaru Alaric.

As Alaric enters, Uluru descends and motions to Ric, telling him that things are not right, and that the two of them will scout for danger, as the merchant is not here. They leave, just as the bard begins to speak. “My name is Gwydyon Luck, and these are sounds from the Southern Province. The first is a ballad you likely know, ‘Etair and the Companions Go Riding Down the Hill’”

Caryn arrives at the bar just in time to take Alaric’s food order. Leslynn, in the meantime, has noted that Caryn looks remarkably like herself, and has cast ‘Detect Magic’ upon her. The two Drithkin women spend a long moment recognizing the similarities between them, before Caryn heads to the kitchen to fill Alaric’s order.

Meanwhile, Ric and Uluru leave their horses tethered in front of the Inn, and go down the alleyway, past the paddock and stable, to the small field behind the Inn on the edge of the city. As they approach, Jamstaer and Biter retreat into the tall grass of the plains to avoid discovery. Uluru claps Ric on the shoulder like a kindly uncle and says, “I have watched you grow from a boy, Ric. Your heart, your strength, your intelligence… you are already at seventeen years a growing legend among our tribes. The time you survived the sandstorm on your own, with no tent or horse, is still spoken of today. I forsee that in a few short years, with some experience under your belt, you will easily be ready to lead the warriors of the tribe.” He paused, gazing out at the tall grass, adding apologetically, “And I cannot have that.” He draws his scimitar and cuts deeply into Ric’s neck. Jamstaer watches, shocked, as Uluru plunges his scimitar again, through Ric’s chest. As the huge young warrior falls, Uluru wipes his blade on Ric’s shoulder, then calls out, in Gher(Gnoll)

“Remember our arrangement. Do as you will to the Khafa tents of wood and stone, and I will ensure you have the promised goats. Do not, however, harm one of my warriors, or you will regret it for the rest of your very short lives.”

With that, Uluru whirls and runs to the front of the Inn, where Ric sees he grabs both horses and rides, just as Ric loses consciousness.

Back in the Inn, the tavern is starting to fill up with locals out for a good time. Gwydyon Luck ends another tune and basks in the applause and a few tossed coins. One comes from Alaric, a copper.

Out in the field, Jamstaer has rushed to Ric’s side, calling on the healing power of Nature to bring Ric back from the brink of death. Once he has the young Barakti stabilized, Jamstaer kneels over the unconscious form, thinking of what to do next. As he is trying to decide, he hears a massive rustling and yipping and growling behind him.

Emerging from the tall grass is a huge band of Gher and Gherkin. One Gher steps forward, clearly the leader. He addresses Jamstaer in Common, telling him not to stand between them and the town.

“You have killed four of my kin this day, Man-who-wishes-to-be-Gher. Blood demands blood. However, we want no quarrel with the Old Blood you serve. Slink away on your belly now, and you will live.” Then to his Gher and Gherkin allies, “Come, it is not yet full dark.”

After briefly considering actually slinking away on his belly, Jamstaer instead drags Ric away, toward the Inn.

Inside, the Drithkin Leslynn grows tired of the revelry of the crowd, and heads for the door. The bard, Gwydyon, interrupts his song introduction to remark on how much she and the waitress Caryn look alike. Leslynn shrugs and continues to leave. Before she reaches the entrance, however, the door bursts open and a man enters, wearing a tattered cloak and clutching it around him tightly. He is pale, with bloodshot eyes, and he coughs and retches in fits. He grabs Leslynn desperately.

“Betrayed… (cough, cough) Mu- must take it… to Pag- (Hack, hack) to Pag- (cough, cough, cough) THE BARAKTI LIED!” He falls over, dead.

Gwydyon, in a voice that carries, “Plague.”

Patrons scramble for the door in a press, streaming around Leslynn in a panic. Gwydyon jumps from the stage to search the body. Leslynn moves again to the door, but is confronted by Jamstaer, dragging the unconscious and bloody Ric. Alaric moves to intercept Gwydyon, who has removed a package wrapped in oilcloth from the dead man’s body. Caryn rushes to the kitchen to tell Martin that a man has died in their common room.

Martin tells Caryn he cannot come just at the second. There appears to be a small fire in the kitchen, so he tells her to drag the body to the storeroom, that he will be there in a moment.

Alaric and Gwydyon argue over the package, and Gwydyon hands it over reluctantly. The dead man suddenly twitches and writhes in a convulsion, opening his mouth and extending his tongue out further than any man could do naturally. The room occupants realize that a huge eel-like worm is emerging from the man’s mouth, just as several more Gutworms burst from the man’s chest and belly.

Caryn attempts to leap the bar, but trips, barely catching herself in time. She jumps upon a table and leaps to another, flinging a dart from her apron at one of the creatures and pinning it to the floor.

Gwydyon uses the confusion to snatch the package back from Alaric, retreating to the stage and announcing to his partner, “Got it! Let’s go!”

Leslynn flings a magic missile at one of the Gutworms, smashing it with arcane energies.

Two of the Gutworms attack Alaric, one snagging its fangs in the top of his boot. Another squirms near Leslynn, shrieking and biting at her, but missing. A third crawls up on the table where Caryn perches, lunging at her, but again missing.

Jamstaer reaches in a pouch, withdrawing a handful of goodberries and feeding them to Ric, who awakens in response to the healing fruit.

Alaric smashes one of the Gutworms with his hammer.

Ric roars, startling the entire room, and chops one of the Gutworms in half.

Caryn flings a dart at Gwydyon, hitting him in the throat.

Enraged, Gwydyon pulls the dart from his throat and hoarsely tells his companion, “Kill that ****!”

Leslynn casts Resistance, and moves to get a better angle on the worms.

One of the remaining gutworms attacks Alaric, again snagging its fangs in his boot. The other remaining gutworm lunges at Caryn, but she catches it in her hand.

Aeven, the redhaired tough, flings a dagger at Caryn, just barely missing her.

Alaric steps on a Gutworm, but misses it, and it scrambles up the leg of his pants.

Ric grabs the tail of the Gutworm before it can get completely up Alaric’s pants, and yanks it out, chopping its head off with his axe.

Caryn flings the Gutworm at Aeven, missing her, but putting the Gutworm at her feet.

Gwydyon tells Aeven to run for it, but as he steps away, Alaric hits him in the jaw with his hammer, raising him up off the floor, and knocking him to the ground.

Leslynn fires her crossbow, killing the final Gutworm.

Aeven swings her mace wildly, missing all foes.

Gwydyon and Aeven are surrounded by the party, and though Gwydyon is able to drink a potion of healing, he is not in any shape to fight, or even break through them to the door.

Martin Keeper finally emerges from the kitchen and yells at the fighters. He bellows that they won’t kill each other in his Inn. Gwydyon wisely offers to stop fighting, offering to tell the party what he knows of the package, a square golden cup that is engraved with runes, with a hole in the side, if they will spare his life. Martin agrees, and tells the bard and his woman to sit over at a table, and tells the party to sit at the bar.

“I’ll talk to them first, and see if I can make some sense of this damned foolishness”

*   *   *

Session Two:  Betrayal at Aspenbrook Pt 2


When last we left our intrepid adventurers, they were sitting at the bar in the Golden Frog, discussing what to do about the bundle they had found on the body, and how to handle Gwydyon Luck, who had attempted to take the package twice.

Ric and Leslynn disclosed some of their history to the group. Caryn and Leslynn went to search the body, while Ric, Jamstaer, and Alaric discussed what to do. Alaric was able to determine that the square cup in the package was made of gold.

Martin reprimanded the group, saying, “You cannot simply kill people in my tavern.” He asked to see the item, but Ric was very protective of it. Eventually, though, he allowed Martin to hold it briefly and examine it.

Gwydyon came over to the group and apologized for getting off on the wrong foot. He explained that he needed to secure the item for his employer.

As they debated whether or not to let Gwydyon have the item, two Comitas of the guard came into the tavern to find out what had caused the crowd to flee. The older Comitas saw Gwydyon and commented that he was a seedy con man. This reversal caused Gwydyon to produce a writ signed by one Paganus, an advisor to the High Magistrate, authorizing him to take whatever measures necessary on behalf of the Scientarium Inquisitates. He demanded the assistance of the guard in securing the Coffer of Manitea from the PCs, and the guard assured the PCs that they would, in fact, have to obey.

A crash at the window, and a torch is thrown in to the tavern. Outside there is commotion and screaming. The younger guard, Cornelius, goes to investigate. He returns shortly, calling for help from the Sergeant (Marcus), but he is followed in by a large band of Gher and Gherkin.

It looks fairly bad for the adventurers, but the tide turns with the arrival of Biter, Jamstaer's wolf companion, who comes in behind the Gherkin to occupy their attention, while Caryn cuts the rope of one of the room’s chandeliers, dropping it on several of the Gher, and Marcus. With most of the threat eliminated, the rest of the party easily mops up the remaining combatants. As the fight ends, Ric realizes he no longer has the Coffer.

Gwydyon and Aevin have made for the door, where Biter snarls at the bard and receives a kick to the face for his trouble. Gwydyon flips the writ onto the body, holding up the Coffer triumphantly. He fiddles with it, activating some part of the device, and calls out, “So long, suckers!” before fleeing out into the night.

The dead man and all the dead Gher begin to stir, rising in undead menace, but are quickly dispatched by the Comitas before they can rise. The group, outraged over Gwydyon’s deception and theft of the Coffer, pursues him into the street. The Comitas have a duty to join their comrades in fighting off the Gher raid, but Marcus calls to the PCs before he departs that Gwydyon is usually found at “The Painted Lady, in the Eastern Quarter”.

Jumping upon an overturned wagon, Leslynn glimpses Gwydyon pushing through the crowd and darting down a side street. The group attempts to pursue, but the chaotic press of fleeing and panicked crowd of cityfolk proves too hard for the group to navigate, and they are ordered indoors once again by officers of the Comitas, a formation of which has arrived to clear the streets and take control of the situation.

After an hour or so of regrouping, gathering the meager posessions of the Gher, and deciding the next course of action, the PCs venture out in the street to go to East Quarter and find the Painted Lady. They find the streets heavily patrolled by Comitas, but are given a pass to be on the streets by Cornelius, who happens to be posted on a nearby streetcorner.

The group runs into trouble in finding the Painted lady, but Alaric asks a Comitas guard for directions. After chiding Alaric for asking a guard how to get to a gambling den and brothel, the Comitas nevertheless knows the route and tells Alaric.

When they arrive at the Painted Lady, Caryn slips inside, while Ric finds tracks of many many Gher and Gherkin leading in and around the brothel. Caryn sees a slaughterhouse inside, with all the inhabitants dead save Aevin, who is attempting to hold off a couple of Gherkin. She kills one, but is mortally wounded in the process, and Caryn opens the door to motion the rest of the party inside.

Caryn questions Aevin while Jamstaer attempts to heal the dying woman. His efforts fail, and she dies, but not before she tells Caryn that while Gwydyon fled upstairs, the Gherkin have stolen the Coffer and fled down a hidden tunnel.

The group takes some time here, with Ric gathering up spilled coins and exchanging his hide armor for a more durable scale mail. Caryn and Leslynn search the upstairs, but find no one living. Alaric searches for any other clues to Gwydyon’s whereabouts, but to no avail, though he is able to determine that the tunnel was dug by hand over several years. Eventually, the group ventures into the tunnel, which after sixty feet or so leads into the gridlike sewer system under the city.

The party tracks the Gher through the sewers, and though there are a few mishaps (Ric falls into the sewage and is nearly swept away, but is saved by Alaric), after a few hours of tracking, find a sewage grate that empties into a ravine well away from the city. From the grate, they see a small group of Gherkin, likely their quarry, up on a nearby ridge.

The party follows, and shortly finds themselves up on a hill, looking down into the valley that leads to Starfall Pass. A battle is raging in the pass between the Gher and Gherkin and the Barakti. As the party approaches, and catches up to the Gherkin, easily retrieving the lost coffer, they see that Uluru is deep in the Gher, cursing them for violating their agreement by attacking his warriors.

However, at that moment, a figure descends from the sky, landing in the midst of the battle. A black-skinned female Drithi, she makes a mockery of the fighting prowess of both sides, with a twirling, flipping dance of unarmed combat that kills or disables nearly thirty opponents before anyone even thinks to act against her. The Barakti flee deeper into the pass, as the Gher try to pile on the stranger. As the party watches, she raises a sword and smashes it into the ground, sending waves of earth flying into the sky and flinging Gher away from her. The earth rocks under the party, and rocks and snow tumble from the cliffs, filling the pass with rubble. The party does not know if the fleeing Barakti are alive or dead.

Uluru leaps upon his horse and shoots the party a look of hatred before kicking his heels and galloping away. The remaining Gher melt into the scrub and trees , leaving their dead and dying behind. The Drithi woman straightens and walks toward the party, her face concealed behind a mask.

*   *   *

Session Three:  With Friends Like These...

Our intrepid adventurers survey the aftermath of the battle at Starfall Pass, as the Drithi woman approaches them. Her face is masked, and she is cloaked, but they can clearly mark her blue-black skin and golden eyes.

“Greetings, Cousins. May I offer you service?” She speaks to the Drithkin: Caryn, Leslynn, and Jamstaer. She gives her name as Silalia, and briefly instructs the three in the finer points of Drithi etiquette.  The Drithi, it seems, pride themselves on being very hospitable to one another, and have a total commitment to respecting the privacy of Kin. The entire conversation is in Drithi, of course, which the three Drithkin discover they can speak intuitively though they have never heard the language before. She informs them that she wants the Coffer, but when she is refused, she acknowledges their right to refuse her. She seems mildly intrigued by the existence of Drithkin, something she claims is unknown among the Kin. Jamstaer (correctly) intuits that her mild interest would be shocked surprise in a human. She indicates that she will soon be seeing the party again, and leaps into the air and away.

The PCs search the bodies of the fallen, with the notable exception of Alaric, and head back to the city. They have to swing wide to the road, for they have no desire to go back through the sewers, and cut across a farm on their way. They stop in the farmer’s lush garden, feeding Tangular (Ric's horse, recovered from the Pass with a shrill whistle [Ric/Tangular. You're hilarious, Jeremy]) and themselves on the fruit and veg. When Caryn notices a shadow in the window, however, the party decides it is time to be on their way.

Just inside the city, the ’Brigand’s Forge’ is the party’s first stop. Blacksmith Ernid Bainum agrees to make blades that fit on the end of a crossbow for Leslynn and Caryn, and accepts the 12 bags of copper coins that Ric has been lugging around all night, trading him for 10 pearls. He sharpens Ric’s double scimitar, and agrees to Alaric’s request to plan for a Masterwork creation of a hammer, but tells him that it will be around 300 gold for such a thing. He stops Caryn before she can ask about various illegally concealed blades, but invites her to return for dinner, implying he might be more willing to discuss her requests privately. The group departs for the Inn.

Back at the ‘Golden Frog’, Martin Keeper is raising the chandelier from the floor, but allows Alaric and Ric to take over the task. He shows each PC to their room, and bids them to bathe and rest well.

When they awake, each PC makes their way to the bar eventually. Caryn tells Martin that she is unwilling to continue as his barmaid and waitress, and he reluctantly agrees to replace her. As the tavern fills up with the lunch rush, the party overhears a rumor about some missing children, but dismisses it.

Another patron is overheard saying, “They’re coming”, and when Alaric asks, “Who is coming?”, gives him a bit of a hard time about eavesdropping, but finally answers, “The Order of Orthos, apparently.” He doesn’t know from where they are coming or why, but only that they are on their way. He again chides Alaric for eavesdropping, and Ric quickly takes offense. The man clearly has no wish to have a confrontation with the big Barakti warrior, but Ric pulls his double scimitar threateningly.

Ric growls loudly, and everyone in the tavern sits meekly down, save for Jamstaer and Ric. Though the bar patron has clearly indicated his wish to avoid confrontation, Ric swings his newly sharpened weapon at the man anyway, neatly cutting the poor man in two. The crowd flees the ‘Golden Frog’, and the threatening barbarian Barakti.

Martin Keeper comes out and tells the party to flee. “The penalty for murder is DEATH”, he warns. With some brief advice for Caryn, he sends them on their way. The party, with no where else in mind to go, returns to the Blacksmith.

Ermid apologizes, but tells them that he has not completed their blades yet, and asks what the problem is. Leslyn tells him that they need a safe house, and the blacksmith chuckles. “I might know a place, but it’s not a SAFE house. In fact if rumor is to be believed, it is quite UNsafe. But no one would look for you there, I’ll wager.” He tells the group that he has heard that the abandoned Anastacia place is perhaps haunted, and that rumor has it that the missing children of the town have each been seen near the house before their disappearance.

The group agrees that an abandoned house that the neighbors are fearful of would be a perfect place to lay low until dinnertime, and head off for the other side of the Quarter. As they pass the ‘Golden Frog’ once again, they are accosted by two Comitas who are going in.

“We have a description of a Barakti warrior who may have caused some mayhem in this tavern, and look here, a Barakti warrior fitting that description.” Leslynn produces the writ that Gwydyon had used the night previous, and convinces the Comitas that they are about lawful business and must not be hindered. The guard accepts this authority, albeit skeptically, and allows them on their way.

As they cross the center of the Quarter, an old priest in white robes is pronouncing the judgement of Orthos on the city, loudly. They pass through quickly, and find that the quarter grows seedy on this side, spying a vendor with a cart who is roasting rats on his portable stove, and avoiding him altogether.

The house is large, with an iron gate, and overgrown and shabby with disuse. The gate sticks a bit, and the windows are boarded up, but the door opens easily, being unlocked. Caryn enters silently, but Biter pushes past her and makes for the stairs. There are two large doors on either side of the stairs, and both burst open. Grotesquely large rotting corpses of a man and a woman lumber into the foyer and begin beating on Biter, leaving him broken and bleeding at the foot of the stairs.

The PCs tactics are put to good use, and the undead nightmares are soon laid to rest. Jamstaer tends to his wolf companion, but the rest of the party hurries upstairs, having heard a child crying and singing. Caryn attempts to determine the source of the singing, when suddenly a piercing scream comes from behind the door at the end of the hall.

The door to the room is locked, but Caryn makes short work of it, and the party enters, including Jamstaer and Biter, who have rejoined. A child of perhaps eight years faces the boarded up window, alternately singing to herself and sobbing incoherently. Though she is approached gently at first, Ric quickly threatens the child, who reveals her true nature. Her face distorts terribly, and she lets out a horribly scream and attacks, the dresser lifting off the floor and flinging itself at Ric, missing him narrowly.

The party hits at the apparition with their weapons, but do not seem to be visibly damaging it. Alaric and Caryn both attempt to calm the child, speaking with her, but with little effect. They are able to elicit that the girl was killed by the ‘Dretch in the basement’ before the ghost flees through the wall. Leslynn finds a music box with a silver inlay in the nightstand, and the party decides they had better check the basement, if they are going to stay here for long.

*   *   *

Session Four:  No Good Deed

Our “heroes” make their way back downstairs, stepping over the crumbling forms of the corpses they returned to unliving, to explore the remainder of the house.

Through one door, they find a sitting room full of rotting furniture, but nothing of any significance. Through the other, a large living area with a fireplace and life-sized portrait of a family. The rest of the room is dank and smells of decay, also filled with rotten furniture. The room connects to a dining area, and then a kitchen. In the kitchen, there are various body parts strewn about, and it is the source of the smell that permeates this side of the home. The group decides to leave, but as they pass through the living area, Ric and Leslynn notice something oddly familiar about the portrait.

After some searching and experimentation, Leslynn finds a secret door behind the portrait which leads to a spiral staircase going down into an unnaturally dark basement. Even Alaric and Ric cannot see into the gloom, and though Jamstaer attempts to alleviate the darkness with a spell of light, it does not pierce the black.

At the bottom of the stairs, the group finds themselves in a small, closed space, but an iron door set in the opposite wall opens as they approach. They hesitate, debating on how much they wish to know what is on the other side of the doorway, when the inky blackness decides matters for them. Tendrils of darkness wrap around Ric’s legs, yanking him suddenly through the doorway, and the rest of the party leaps in after him.

Here they find a creature, unnatural beyond description, seemingly trapped inside a circle of white powder. The powder has been carefully arranged into sigils and is yet unbroken. The demon inside clicks and gargles unintelligibly in what seems an attempt to communicate, but the party is not able to decipher what meaning, if any, the sounds may have.

The party is struck with the horror of the nightmare they are watching, but Ric has the presence of mind to test the bounds of the circle, and Caryn examines the powder more closely, to the creature’s great interest. Finally, however, Alaric smashes the circle with his hammer, disrupting the runic pattern and dissolving the protection of the circle.

The creature, freed, lashes out at the party with its tentacles, attempting to grab or otherwise harm them. Alaric, however, smashes the creature with his hammer, and kills it in one mighty blow, instantly dissipating the darkness, and the unnatural fear the party had been experiencing.

In a jumble of waterlogged junk in the corner of the room, Caryn finds a finely worked leather bag, filled with gold and a statuette of a silver raven. She shows it to Leslynn, who recognizes it as an ancient figurine forged to commemorate an ancient Duaru and Drithi peace accord. On the base, she finds the word “APPONDEA”, and she casts the figurine to the ground, speaking the word, which she knows is the way to activate such a thing.

The figurine turns into a life-sized raven made still of silver metal. It flutters a bit, then settles on the floor and says to Leslynn: “What is the message, and whom is it for?” With a bit of questioning, she quickly discovers that this is a messenger raven, and speaks the command word again, to turn it back into a figurine, which she gives back to Caryn.

The party opens the rotting wooden door opposite the one they entered, to find a pedestal with a burned book open upon it, and six children between the ages of six and ten chained to the wall, weeping in terror. Caryn quickly unlocks the manacles, while Ric questions the children, who are all too hysterical to answer. Alaric smashes the book and the pedestal into bits with his hammer.

One of the girls, one of the older ones, finally calms enough to say her name: Marsail Chandler, the candlemaker’s daughter. She tells a tearful tale of leaving friends at sunset, only to be taken off the street by a pair of rotting corpses, presumably the same pair that the party killed upstairs earlier in the day. She claims the creature in the next room ‘fed’ on them, and that this is the reason the children all seem so sickly. The party quickly agrees that these children must be returned to someone in authority, and they ascend, leaving the house.

The motley crew moves through the streets of the slum, searching for a Comitas guard, but are unsuccessful until they reach the center of the Quarter. They come across a Comitas working at something on a wall, and get his attention. He is quite surprised to be approached, and looks incredulously from Ric to the picture drawn on the poster he has just plastered on the wall. The party realizes that he is hanging a wanted poster with Ric’s picture, and becomes agitated.

The Comitas motions to some other guards and politely explains that while he is sure the Commander will want to thank them personally for finding and freeing the missing children, that there is a matter on which she desires to question the party. He insists that Ric and the rest of the party must accompany him to the Comitas guard house.

Ric makes a break, leaping on his horse and dodging the Comitas attempt to grab him. The guard calls for reinforcements and tries to cut Tangular out from under the Barakti warrior. His sword bites deep into the horse’s flank, but Tangular keeps his feet and gallops away. The rest of the party flees, as Ric calls out, “Meet me at the strawberries!”, except Jamstaer, who surrenders to the Comitas guard.

Jamstaer is marched under guard to the Comitas guard house. On the way, a crowd presses against the guard to reach out and touch Jamstaer, crying out their thanks for saving the children of the city. The guard pushes the crowd back and marches him inside, where he is put in a small room and questioned by the Commander of the guard. The hard nosed woman presses Jamstaer about his friends location and about the letter from Paganus that the group displayed to one of her guards. She brings in Baedon Kennrick, who limps lopsidedly into the interrogation room, and stares balefully at Jamstaer with his mis-aligned face, stuttering, “Y-y-yah, th-th-that’s one of ’em. He was w-w-with him what c-c-cut me.” The commander dismisses the man, and tells Jamstaer, “The clerics were able to restore him to life, but he will never again be the man that he was. Someone is going to pay for that, and if you will not help us find the Barakti, then that someone will be you. Think on it.” Two Comitas drag Jamstaer to a cell and throw him in.

Ric, meanwhile, flees the city on the injured Tangular, going into the hills above the city and finding a spot where he can observe a certain farm just outside the city limits. He uses his limited skill to close the grievous wound his horse has taken, while he waits.

The rest of the party: Caryn, Leslynn, and Alaric, runs out of the city just ahead of their Comitas pursuers, and goes to the farm where they raided the garden that morning. Not seeing Ric, they melt into the hills themselves, where the Barakti warrior meets up with them. Caryn decides to send the raven to Jamstaer with the message, “We are coming back. Get to the tunnel entrance”, and the party moves slowly and carefully to the sewer runoff they exited the night before.

Jamstaer sits in a bare cell, weighing his options, when there is a ‘tink… tink’ from the cell door. The silver raven perches outside the grate, and says “We are coming back. Get to the tunnel entrance.” Jamstaer nods, and gives the bird a return message. “I am on my way,” and the raven flies off. Not long after, two Comitas guards come and drag him from his cell, saying the commander wants to see him.

They take him to the Commander’s office, where she motions to him to sit. “We were very interested in your friend’s claim to work for the Inquisitors, so we sent for someone who can verify your story. He should bee here any moment.” After a very short time, a glob of energy appears in the center of the room, expanding quickly into a humanoid shape, and coalescing into a very old man in exquisitely tailored red robes. He nods to the commander, “As you have summoned me, so I have come, Commander.” He listens with interest to the story the Commander has to tell, and then turns to Jaemstar.

“You are not one of mine, I don’t believe, young man,” the man says, “Perhaps you are in a bit over your head?”

Jamstaer protests ignorance again of where Ric has gone, and the man waves it away. He turns to the Commander and asks to speak to Jamstaer privately. Reluctantly, the Commander agrees and she and the guards leave the room. The man turns back to Jamstaer.

“You and your friends are in quite a lot of trouble, I am afraid. Not the least of which is showing that paper that I signed around this city, pretending that you work for me. However…. I can make this go away. I can make it as though it never happened. Wouldn’t that be nice?” Jamstaer agreed that it would be, indeed. “And all you have to do is what you were already pretending to do. Work for me.”

Paganus goes on to explain that the coffer is rightfully his, that his agent was bringing it to him when he was killed by the gutworms. He wants the return of his coffer. Also, he says, the coffer is but one piece of a larger, and more powerful, object. There is another piece nearby here, he explains. “I am not conversant with the archeological aspect of it, but there is a cleric here in town.. oh, what is her name… some sort of healing cult. In any event, she knows. A resourceful bunch like you and your friends should be able to find it, and retrieve it for me, yes?”

Paganus assures Jamstaer that if they do this, the charges against them will be dropped, and indeed, they will be celebrated as the heroes they clearly are. After a moment, Jamstaer agrees. Paganus is clearly pleased by the prospect, and withdraws a large ruby earring from a pouch. “This earring will signify your agreement, and show those who work for me that you are also mine. All you must do is wear it, to show that you agree.”

With a bit of trepidation, Jamstaer puts the earring into his ear. Paganus smiles broadly. “Now, there are rules you may not break. You will never touch the earring, nor speak of it to anyone, ever. You will never speak of me or our agreement to anyone either.” Jamstaer is puzzled, but quickly forgets any concern on the earring or the agreement. Paganus walks him out of the guardhouse, telling the commander, “This one is free to go.” The commander protests, but Paganus reiterates, “You have badly misunderstood the nature of our relationship, Commander. We will speak of it. For now, though, this one is free to go.” And, as Jamstaer leaves, he takes the commander aside.

Meanwhile, the rest of the PCs have run into some trouble in the sewers. Some sort of creature has popped up from the river of sewage, and seems ready to munch on members of the party. Fortunately, a quick blow from Ric’s double scimitar convinces the beast that they are not easy prey, and the creature slips back under the sewage.

They carry on, though Ric’s digestive system causes some dissension from Leslynn, to the hidden entrance to the Painted Lady, and slip in behind the bartender. The common room has been hastily but expertly cleaned of the bodies and blood from the night before, and three drunks gamble at a table while the bartender wipes out a filthy mug. He is startled by the appearance of the party, but offers them a table and plentiful ale. Ric and Alaric proceed to get alarmingly drunk, while Caryn gets close to the gamblers, helping herself to the purse of one of them. Jamstaer enters the brothel and rejoins the party, telling a very censored version of events that have transpired.

As she goes back to the party’s table, Caryn hears one of the gamblers talking about caves that have opened up in Starfall Pass following the landslide of that morning, and interestedly asks the gambler for more information.

The bartender brings more ale, and gives a signal to some men coming down the stairs, indicating the party. The men approach, and the leader asks the PCs if they know where he can find Gwydyon Luck. When the party professes ignorance as to the bard’s whereabouts, the leader seems skeptical. “Are youse sure? I heard youse got into some sort of conflict with Gwydyon at the Frog last night. Hey, I gots no beef wit’ youse guys. Gwydyon owes me somethin’, is all. Youse sure you can’t help me out?” They continue to deny any knowledge, and Ric offers to buy a round of ale, and the leader softens. They drink together for a while. There is some discussion on Jamstaer’s reluctance to discuss certain aspects of his imprisonment and release, and the earring is mentioned a few times, but the druid continues to deflect questions, and the matter is tabled.

Caryn has circled around the men, two of whom seem amused and keep a close eye on her. One, an eyepatch covering a ruined eye, recognizes her. “I heard you do a bit o’ liftin in that bar o’ yer da’s” Caryn claims she doesn’t know what he means, and he grins. “Oh, I think ye do. So long’s you keep that kind o’ stuff in yer da’s place, we gots no problems. Don’t do it anywhere’s else, though, or we’re gonna have a problem. This here’s our city.”

Before leaving for a dinner engagement, the leader of the men tells the group to let the bartender of the Painted Lady know if they find out anything about Gwydyon. “Tell him youse have a message for Lucien. I’ll get it.” They bid him and his men goodbye and head back in to the brothel, using the tunnel and the sewers to get out of the city. They make their way to Starfall Pass, in unconscious echo of last night’s events, reaching the pass once again at sunset.

The party sees that a work party has been clearing rocks out of the pass, but is quitting for the day. They also see a group of people heading up the mountain, presumably for the caves. The party heads down into the valley and towards the pass, passing the work party on their way back to the city. They begin to climb the narrow ledge leading up to the caves. Leslynn nearly pitches off the edge, but is steadied by one of her companions, but her fear seems to cause a rush of blood that to her seems infused with a newfound power. When the party reaches a level spot, they spy the two cave entrances, and choose the one on the right to enter.

Jamstaer once again provides light in the dark caves, though the Duaru and Barakti do not need it to see the horde of tiny spiders all over one wall. Avoiding the arachnids, the party heads deeper into the cave, reaching a large cavern that is depressed in the center and filled with water. In the water is a pile of bodies, and Caryn decides to search them for any valuables. However, when she shifts one of the bodies, a ghoul springs up from the pile and attacks!

The ghoul’s paralyzing touch causes the party a scary moment, as one by one, it paralyzes each of the party, slavering over the moment when the last one would be immobilized and it could finally feed. With only one party member, Jamstaer, unaffected, the ghoul seemed poised to vanquish them all, but the Drithkin druid put the ghoul down with a well placed slung stone, and began to help his friends back to mobility, beginning with the unconscious Leslynn.