“Oh, no. There is no way I’m going.” said Yvala emphatically, holding up her hands. “It’s bad enough that you want me to go into Mason’s Rock where half of the city guard will be able to recognize my face. But traveling with five obvious outsiders is a sure-fire way to get myself caught and hung, which is something I’ve been trying rather hard to avoid.” I snorted incredulously as I crossed my arms across my chest. As if there’s a town on this continent she isn’t wanted in, I thought. “Well, as much as I’d love to leave you on the boat, we can’t.” I was going to continue but Markas silenced me with a glare. The paladin turned his attention to the rogue. “As our cleric was saying, we need you to come with us. Your knowledge of the town is the only way we can get in to find this Polyxena and get out again without losing our heads.”
Yvala looked unconvinced, so Kyri tried a slightly different approach. “It’ll be a challenge, but I’m sure we can succeed with your help.” Yvala dropped her hands to her side. “Well if the lot of you are that desperate, I’ll go. But we’re not going dressed like this.” Kyri inclined her head toward the rogue, “Of course. We will submit to any changes you see fit.” Yvala smiled and grabbed Vixi’s hand, pulling the warlock out of the room. “I’ll do you first as I need time to think about how to make the rest of them acceptable.” Kyri and Kalena filed out behind, waiting for their turn. Markas cornered me before I could slip out the doorway. “Despite your personal feelings toward our resident rogue, we need her to get in to House Hydra’s post here and get back out again. I know you don’t trust Yvala, and frankly she hasn’t gone out of her way gain our trust. But she hasn’t betrayed us yet and until she does, she can stay with us. And right now, we need her expertise. So, Tone It Down.” I was going to roll my eyes at Markas’s big brother speech, but thought better of it. “Fine. I’ll do what she wants. You can even supervise if you want.” He seemed satisfied by this and stepped aside. “Probably a good idea. I’ll fetch you when it’s your turn.” “Not like I want to get caught anymore than the rest of you.” I muttered as I passed him.
Which is why, two hours later, Markas was watching calmly as Yvala attempted to yank the hair from my scalp. Okay, she was actually twisting and braiding it into an approximation of her own piled locks, but it felt like the hairs would be pulled out at any minute. His presence was the only reason I was sitting through the whole thing quietly and not berating the rogue for the torturous procedure. When she had finished, Yvala selected a black dagger from an array of weaponry and threaded it in through the back to hold everything in place. As few swipes of a makeup brush and I was declared finished, my blue robes already having been exchanged for a blood red tunic and flowing black pants under the curseforged chain. “I hope you haven’t given me a hairstyle advertising my status as a whore.” I said under my breath. Yvala must have heard because she answered back. “No, it’s a mercenary’s style. But the dagger indicates that you’ve done assassin’s work, and only an idiot would sleep with a known assassin.” I ignored the comment and watched as she went to work on Markas.
Using cooking oil and soot, she blackened his bright armor. “Lucky this is already a little banged up.” With an added eye patch and a bit of mussing to his dark hair, he too was ready to go. I looked around at the rest of the group and had to agree that we looked a lot more dangerous than we had before Yvala started. Vixi retained her leather chestpiece but had swapped her leggings for a short skirt and a pair of heeled boots. A pair of daggers was visible on either thigh and her hair was done up in a similar fashion to mine. Kyri kept all of her armor and weapons, she already looked dangerous with her cutlass and longsword on either hip and the vicious longbow strapped across her back. In addition, Kalena would cast a spell to change the fletching of the arrows from green to dark blue right before we entered town. Kalena wore her fiery robe open and a short dress underneath. Her hair was twisted out at various angles and I could see beads glittering as she turned her head. Yvala had swapped out her own outfit for a pair of tight leather pants and deep red bodice. Under the bodice, the billowy sleeve of a purple tunic concealed a good deal of weaponry. After passing out dark cloaks to everyone, Yvala instructed us to keep the deep hoods up and we headed out of the cove and into Mason’s Rock.
The journey was fairly easy. Two hours had us overland and on the main road into town. It was late afternoon when we arrived at the city walls. Holding my breath, I waited for the guards to shout out and take us into custody. Instead, they barely ran an eye over our motley party. They’re probably told to pay more attention to who’s leaving than who is coming inside. Most of the windows and doors were partially open. Small groups of city dwellers stared out from the shops, inns and alleyways, eyeing the party with marked suspicion. I pulled the hood of the cloak lower over my face, squared my shoulders, and tried to add a bit more bravado to my step. Luckily, Yvala still knew the streets and denizens of Mason’s Rock well. A couple of bribes and a single stabbing later, we stood in front of the villa Princess Thanaphe was staying at.
A gated tunnel ran through the wall into an open courtyard and from the street we could see planter boxes and a three foot hedges. The whole place had an air of desertion about it. “Well maybe there’s someone inside,” Markas said. The gate swung open with a push, and we walked through the tunnel, looking about wearily and the roofs and doors surrounding the courtyard. A teenaged tiefling was sitting in the middle of the hedges wearing a split purple skirt and matching bodice, no doubt our Princess Polyxena Thanaphe. She had been watching a small whiney child tear the leaves of one of the hedges, but shushed it as we approached. “Hi. Hello. What are you doing here?” she asked us, voice straining with nervousness.
Kyri answered her question. “We’re looking for the heir to House Wyvern.” The girl smiled brightly. “Oh, that’s very interesting. Hold on a second.” She turned to the child and swatted at her. “Shut up you little brat.” “But I want candy.” It pleaded. “Eat something that wriggles in the ground. For two seconds, shut up.” Turning back to us she smiled again. “Now what was it you were looking for?” Kyri smiled back at the girl tightly. “The heir of House Wyvern. We were given information that they were in residence here.” The girl seemed to ponder this. “Well, I’m a princess.” “Oh” “I’m a princess. This one’s a shit,” she said pointing at the child, “but I’m a princess. Want to take me?” “Are you of House Wyvern?” asked Kyri, looking to the rest of the group for confirmation. “I have no idea, but I am more than willing to leave this place” said the girl, scoffing at the dilapidated building. She whirled around on the child as it started up its protests for candy again. “I am going to kill you, you little brat. Shut up.”
“Well who else is with you?” Kyri asked the girl that claimed to be royalty. “I don’t care. I just want to leave.” At this point Markas was looking a little fed up. “I’m going to go keep watch,” he said simply before moving back toward the door to the street. “Is anyone in the house?” “I don’t know. I know I have been saddled with this brat…Hey! Don’t put that…Fine put it in your mouth. See if I care.” She turned to yell at the child. “I think everyone is on vacation and I have this, who I don’t deserve.” “And who is this.” Kyri asked watching the scene between the tiefling youths with a questioning look. “And who is this? Your sibling? Your child?” “This is a brat. And no it’s not my brat. And it’s not my sibling. I’m not related to this, I would not be related to this. This is obnoxious and I don’t deserve obnoxious. I deserve nice things.” The girl said smugly. “I’m going to kill you,” she said to the child as it pulled the leaves of the bottom of a hedge.
Uncomfortable with the whole situation, I went over and picked up the child. I didn’t like this girl’s attitude and I certainly didn’t like the way she was treating the young child. She can’t be more than a year younger than me, but she’s so undisciplined. Did no one teach her manners? And everyone knows that children misbehave more when you yell at them, I thought. The girl looked down her nose at me. “I wouldn’t do that,” she said in a singsong voice, “It bites.” The child turned and looked at me brightly, deciding I was much more interesting than the princess who had been watching her. “Can we go steal things?” she asked. That was all it took to bring Yvala over to my side. Brilliant.
“By the time I was your age I was your age, I was picking pockets everyday in the town square.” The child bounced excitedly on my hip. “Oh can we do that. I want to do that.” Moodily, I muttered. “You could be sent to the monastery like I was.” The child wrinkled its nose. “That’s not fun. I want to go with her.” Across the courtyard, Kalena looked thoughtful for a moment. “I was being taught how to burn things.” “I already know how to burn things.” It said. Yvala beamed and got down to the kid’s eyelevel. “Now little girl, you don’t want to listen to such prudes. If you listen, I’ll teach you how to make money.” The teenager was looking a little annoyed that the attention had moved off of here. “I don’t care what you do with that. I don’t care if you sell it.” Yvala clapped. “I have just the place.” I turned to Yvala, as I set the child on the ground. “We’re not selling the child!” I said loudly.
Meanwhile, Kyri had dug the locket out of her pack and opened it. Blue light spilled from the locket and Aelerion appeared superimposed over the picture of the woman. “Oh good you found her! But I can’t manifest here. Can you take her to a shrine or a temple? There’s one about 50 miles northwest of here at the summit of Mt. Kalathon.” “Sounds like a good place to be. Shall we bring the other child with us?” Kyri asked. “What? No, just Polyxena.” Aelerion said as he faded.
“Heads up!” cried Markas. I looked up to see black clad figures climbing down the roofs. “Make sure we protect the Princess,” he added. “Wait, you have to rescue me properly!” Polyxena whined. “We need to go to my room and get my things.” The black clad figures on the roof fired first. Kalena, Yvala and Polyxena were hit by crossbow bolts. Kalena hit two and they exploded into clouds of dust. But unlike the vampires at Tiegel Manor, moldy cloth wrappings dropped to the ground. “Don’t breathe the dust! We’ve got mummies under those black suits! Mummy rot is hard to cure!” I cried. Looking up on the roof, I noticed that the mummy across the roof was holding a short bow. One of the ninjas swung at me and his blade sliced the unprotected flesh on my arm, but I ignored his hit, not wanting to bring a cloud of mummy dust down on Yvala and I. Instead, I called up my prayer of daunting light and released it on the mummy with the short bow. It screamed as it was seared by the column of white light. I drew the flameburst cross bow and passed it to Yvala. “Now would be a good time to fire at the guy on the roof.” I said. She nodded as she took the shot. It sailed through the sniper’s shoulder as it continued to writhe in the light of my prayer. Markas shifted toward Yvala and I and laid down a sacred circle to help protect us from the mummies’ attacks.
The mummies were not pleased with my tactics. The sniper’s arrow punched into my chest. The three remaining mummies jumped from the roof. One swung at Kalena, but she threw up a magic shield just in time. The other two brought scimitars down onto Yvala and me. Blood poured from our wounds, and I could feel my armor send a magical backlash at the ninja. Kalena called for Polyxena to move again and this time she did. Kalena unleased a wall of sound that caused two of the ninjas to explode, bathing the wizard in two doses of dust. Polyxena, seemingly not of her own volation, raised her arm and released a steam of green fire at a ninja.
The two ninjas who had been initially menacing Yvala and me, raised their scimitars for a simultaneous attack on me. One hit my legs and the other took a head shot and I blacked out. When I came to, a few moments later – probably thanks to the warlord tactics for healing Garn had taught Kyri before he left – Yvala was looking at me with concern. I sat up in time to watch Kyri fire at four of the mummies on the ground. One missed but the other three exploded in clouds of dust. Unfortunately, the elf took a flurry of attacks from the mummies closest to her as well as a lungful of mummy dust for her brave actions. Kalena fired rays of frost to immobilize one ninja and a cloud of daggers on another.
I stood painfully and started a powerful healing spell. Kord does bless the strong… A warm healing breeze wafted over me, Yvala, Markas and Polyxena. It also washed over the mummies around me, weakening their future attacks. I wove another healing prayer from the faith floating in the air to heal my wounds completely. Yvala pulled her flaming sword and sliced into one of the ninjas. Markas moved around the hedges to help us. The mummies struck again but this time I was able to keep the attacks from doing major damage. The princess unleashed a fire ball to the mummies attacking Yvala and me. One exploded, showering the two of us with both mummy dust and burning us in the backlash.
Since I had just been bathed in mummified dust, I wove together a prayer to turn the undead, a prayer I had been avoiding since I knew it would likely cause the mummies to turn to more dust. One did, and the others were seared by the hot wind of the spell. Polyxena raised her hand again and a giant spectral claw appeared in the air. It attempted to pull the ninja away but it evaded. Kyri’s arrows took out the one on the roof, and one on the ground. A final blow from Markas took out the last remaining mummy.
We grabbed Polyxena and quickly got out of town. Luckily, our bribes had been sufficient enough to guarantee our safety on the way out. We finally returned to the Southern Stream after three hours of leading Princess Polyxena Thanaphe through the woods. She whined the entire time about how hard walking was, why we didn’t get her things before we left, and how we should have protected her better during the battle. By the time she plopped down to sleep in Captain Raccan’s quarters I was ready to sell her to the contacts in Mason’s Rock Yvala had mentioned. Unfortunately, I could neither sell the picky princess nor go to sleep myself. I took Kyri, Kalena, Yvala and myself down to the cabin which served as the infirmary and spent the next 6 hours administering the potions, policies, pots of steam, and prayers that would cure mummy rot.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Curtains Drawn
Holding our weapons tightly, we gathered around the double doors leading to Avaro Tiegel’s personal chambers. Markas gripped the doorknobs tightly and with a flick of his wrists the doors sprang open. The master’s chamber was opulent and lavish. Embroidered tapestries hung from the walls and ornate bookshelves filled the spaces in between. Trays of rotting food dotted the low tables spread throughout the room. Tiegel and his spawn lay sprawled across fine cushions layered over the wood floors. A huge wooden desk occupied one full corner. Two stacks of paper rested upon it and between it a severed hand floated in the air, busily writing out page after page of letters. As usual, the windows were painted black.
Markas charged straight for Tiegel and swung his flail. The flail connected with Tiegel’s shoulder and lightning shot out to everyone within 10 feet of the baron. From the door, Kalena tossed an orb onto a spawn wearing a blue waistcoat and the resulting shock knocked two others off their feet. Garn charged into the room right behind Kalena’s attack, devastating the vampire in blue. Sneaking behind Garn and Markas, I made for the right side of the room, hoping to get near as many of the spawn as possible while I prepared to turn the vile undead. Yvala sprinted into the room and, with a well placed dagger, brought the attendant to his final resting place.
Baron Tiegel smiled so that his elongated canines showed. “Oh good,” he said in a voice like rich velvet, “breakfast.” He stared deep into the paladin’s eyes, but the half-elf was unamused. Snarling, the vampire master brought his ornate broadsword across Markas’s chest. I stole a glance to my side and, to my horror, saw the flesh closing over Tiegal’s shoulder. The vampires were slowly moving in toward me, but as I was in the middle of preparing my prayer, there wasn’t much I could do to protect myself. Seeing my predicament, Kalena moved into the room. Stopping behind Markas for protection, she traced a complicated sigil in the air. “Sorry Tavia,” she said as the symbol glowed green. A wall of sound burst from the spot. It hit me with a bruising force but hit the vampires closing in on me with just as much power and the blackened window behind me shattered. Driven by the force of the spell, a vampire in a red dress flew out the window and compelled by gravity, fell to the ground. A second was pushed through the battered frame but I could still see his hands holding the broken pane. Looking up into her green eyes, I expressed my gratitude to the wizard. “I don’t think there’s any way I can thank you for doing that.”
Seeing that I was now safe, Kyri moved the trajectory of her arrows to the master, but by now the Baron was fully awake. He held up his hand and the arrows turned aside just enough to flutter his clothing as they went by. The vampire hanging from the window lost his grip and plummeted to the ground. A female spawn tapped Kalena on the shoulder and whispered “Behind you.” It attempted to trap her in a gaze but the wizard merely shook her brown hair and parried its attack. I vocalized the words to my prayer and the searing wind blew into the three vampires still around me. One slammed into the wall, another burst into the cloud of dust, and the master slid in front of an unopened window. Yvala obliged by firing her crossbow through the glass pane.
Markas attempted to strike Baron Teigel again but the vampire’s reflexes were faster than the half-elf’s. “Are you sure you wouldn’t want to relax?” the vampire crooned. Markas’s eyes glazed over and he swayed on his feet. “Ah that’s what I was waiting for,” said Baron Tiegel before he opened his mouth wide to feed off the paladin but an arrow slammed into his forehead, cutting off the attack. He surged forward again but his teeth clanged off the plate armor. Annoyed, he snarled “What’s a guy got to do to get a good meal around here.”
Kyri spun and slammed two arrows into two remaining spawn. They died messily, spraying the stacks of paper with ichor. A thrust from Garn’s spear brought down the last one, shouting at Markas to “Shake it off” as the vampire crumbled to dust. Luckily, I was able to catch a lance of faith across Tiegel’s chest, the radiant power of the prayer doing far more damage than it would to a normal opponent. Markas managed to stun Avaro Tiegel, allowing Yvala to toss a shuriken at the Baron and Kalena to place a cloud of daggers over his head. Garn moved in, cutting off Teigel’s only path out of the sunlight. At that point it was fairly easy for Yvala to sneak up behind and strike a terrible blow with her flaming sword. A final blow to his wounded shoulder was too much for the vampire to take and he crumbled to dust.
A silver circlet peeked out from Avaro’s ashes. We stuck it in Markas’s bag and dove into the papers with enthusiasm. Despite being soaked with vampire blood, the stacks of letters were still readable. Kyri and I volunteered to go through the stacks while Kalena, Garn, Markas, and Yvala began on the numerous bookshelves. The letters were written in a number of languages, mostly common, and the bulk were boring correspondence and party invitations. Kyri found one in high fiendish that she presented to Kalena. “Well it references Aurincia and Perinor. And there’s a date that’s a little less than five years in the future, but that’s all I can glean. We’d need to find someone pretty shady to be able to read the rest.” She tucked the letter into her pack.
Thankfully the letters and documents provided enough information for us to piece together the heritage of House Wyvern. The heir we were searching for was one Polyxena Thanaphe. The deposed princess was currently under the protection of House Hydra in their stronghold of Mason’s Rock. It was a few days overland from Tiegel’s manor, but could also be accessed from nearby coves. Yvala looked decidedly unpleased that we would be traveling to the city, but didn’t say anything. We grabbed maps, nautical charts and any document relevant to House Wyvern, and we headed outside.
“I don’t feel good about that stairway or the door with the sigils. Either one could contain a portal to hell.” Markas said as we exited the manor. “Well, we could burn it down,” stated Kyri frankly. “I suppose…” Markas began but trailed off. I followed his gaze to see a line of dust rising up from the road. Quickly we hid in the bushes alongside the porch to wait. Much to our surprise, Rhegar appeared. He jumped down from his horse and started toward the manor.
“Rhegar, it’s finished. We killed Baron Avaro Tiegel,” said Kyri. “What are you doing over there, then?” he asked. “We were debating whether or not to burn it down.” Rhegar looked at the lot of us incredulously. “Well yeah. You people talk too much.” Shaking his head at our actions, he launched into a small speech.“I return with news. The Council has spoken. The lands of Arborea shall remain a mystery no longer. A ship has been fitted, supplied, and crewed, and they have renamed her the Silver Talon. We are to meet her at sea. Garn, in the name of your ancestor Krazixaz, you are to lead the expedition. We all know the prophecy and none would sail there but under your command. And Garn, Nala is aboard the ship and waits to hear of your adventures.” He looked around at us as if to hurry us. “So let us make haste. Round up the last of the slaves and burn this hellish house to the ground.”
“But there still may be slaves inside,” protested Markas. “So light the fires and break open the windows. We really don’t have time for this sort of thing.” Rhegar went to gather kindling from the forest, disgusted with our lack of movement. “You know we have a wizard who can set fires.” Markas said. “And a cleric.” I added. “Oh, no. The lot of you would have to discuss it first.” Annoyed by the paladin, I uttered the word that lit the hand crossbow on fire. “Fine.” I said testily and aimed for the window of the sigiled room. Rhegar’s face lit up immediately. “Now that’s more like it.” He continued to light small fires along the perimeter. Kalena and I dropped spells and prayers of flame into the manor. Kyri even relieved me of the crossbow to launch a few bolts onto the roof. Before long the building was burning nicely. Through one window we could see bone devils chanting around a pentagram, but they seemed unable to leave. In any case none of us knew what they were doing. Taking several horses from the stables, we rode quickly back to the Southern Stream and headed to sea to meet the Silver Talon.
The celestial messenger aboard our ship led us to the Silver Talon in just under two days. To my delighted surprise, my dear friend and indeed the dragonborn who had taught me to speak and read draconic – Cora – was aboard the ship. She scooped me up in a crushing embrace that lifted my toes two feet above the decking. “Oh I’m so glad to see you. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye properly before we shipped off for Arborea. But then Bishop Jorda told me you were sailing with Garn.” She said happily. Setting me down, she ran an eye over my gear. “I have to admit that you have acquired a nice set of chainmail in your travels. But where is your staff?” “I traded it out in our latest adventure.” I said, holding up the shield and bastard sword. Cora laughed. “About time. I never understood why you carried that thing around instead of a good solid shield. But the sword has got to go. Come on, we’ll find a mace to fit those tiny hands.”
Less than an hour later I watched as the Silver Talon sailed off for the frozen continent where my father and brothers fished rich waters. I stared after the ship long after she sailed over the horizon, well aware that I may never see my three dragonborn friends again. “Tavia, come inside and get some rest.” Kalena said, from the doorway to the forecastle. “You’re going to need the rest for when we reach Mason’s Rock.” I nodded my head, and she headed back inside. I offered one last silent prayer before following her. Kord, keep their sails filled and their sword arms strong. Let them have the strength to retake their homeland.
Markas charged straight for Tiegel and swung his flail. The flail connected with Tiegel’s shoulder and lightning shot out to everyone within 10 feet of the baron. From the door, Kalena tossed an orb onto a spawn wearing a blue waistcoat and the resulting shock knocked two others off their feet. Garn charged into the room right behind Kalena’s attack, devastating the vampire in blue. Sneaking behind Garn and Markas, I made for the right side of the room, hoping to get near as many of the spawn as possible while I prepared to turn the vile undead. Yvala sprinted into the room and, with a well placed dagger, brought the attendant to his final resting place.
Baron Tiegel smiled so that his elongated canines showed. “Oh good,” he said in a voice like rich velvet, “breakfast.” He stared deep into the paladin’s eyes, but the half-elf was unamused. Snarling, the vampire master brought his ornate broadsword across Markas’s chest. I stole a glance to my side and, to my horror, saw the flesh closing over Tiegal’s shoulder. The vampires were slowly moving in toward me, but as I was in the middle of preparing my prayer, there wasn’t much I could do to protect myself. Seeing my predicament, Kalena moved into the room. Stopping behind Markas for protection, she traced a complicated sigil in the air. “Sorry Tavia,” she said as the symbol glowed green. A wall of sound burst from the spot. It hit me with a bruising force but hit the vampires closing in on me with just as much power and the blackened window behind me shattered. Driven by the force of the spell, a vampire in a red dress flew out the window and compelled by gravity, fell to the ground. A second was pushed through the battered frame but I could still see his hands holding the broken pane. Looking up into her green eyes, I expressed my gratitude to the wizard. “I don’t think there’s any way I can thank you for doing that.”
Seeing that I was now safe, Kyri moved the trajectory of her arrows to the master, but by now the Baron was fully awake. He held up his hand and the arrows turned aside just enough to flutter his clothing as they went by. The vampire hanging from the window lost his grip and plummeted to the ground. A female spawn tapped Kalena on the shoulder and whispered “Behind you.” It attempted to trap her in a gaze but the wizard merely shook her brown hair and parried its attack. I vocalized the words to my prayer and the searing wind blew into the three vampires still around me. One slammed into the wall, another burst into the cloud of dust, and the master slid in front of an unopened window. Yvala obliged by firing her crossbow through the glass pane.
Markas attempted to strike Baron Teigel again but the vampire’s reflexes were faster than the half-elf’s. “Are you sure you wouldn’t want to relax?” the vampire crooned. Markas’s eyes glazed over and he swayed on his feet. “Ah that’s what I was waiting for,” said Baron Tiegel before he opened his mouth wide to feed off the paladin but an arrow slammed into his forehead, cutting off the attack. He surged forward again but his teeth clanged off the plate armor. Annoyed, he snarled “What’s a guy got to do to get a good meal around here.”
Kyri spun and slammed two arrows into two remaining spawn. They died messily, spraying the stacks of paper with ichor. A thrust from Garn’s spear brought down the last one, shouting at Markas to “Shake it off” as the vampire crumbled to dust. Luckily, I was able to catch a lance of faith across Tiegel’s chest, the radiant power of the prayer doing far more damage than it would to a normal opponent. Markas managed to stun Avaro Tiegel, allowing Yvala to toss a shuriken at the Baron and Kalena to place a cloud of daggers over his head. Garn moved in, cutting off Teigel’s only path out of the sunlight. At that point it was fairly easy for Yvala to sneak up behind and strike a terrible blow with her flaming sword. A final blow to his wounded shoulder was too much for the vampire to take and he crumbled to dust.
A silver circlet peeked out from Avaro’s ashes. We stuck it in Markas’s bag and dove into the papers with enthusiasm. Despite being soaked with vampire blood, the stacks of letters were still readable. Kyri and I volunteered to go through the stacks while Kalena, Garn, Markas, and Yvala began on the numerous bookshelves. The letters were written in a number of languages, mostly common, and the bulk were boring correspondence and party invitations. Kyri found one in high fiendish that she presented to Kalena. “Well it references Aurincia and Perinor. And there’s a date that’s a little less than five years in the future, but that’s all I can glean. We’d need to find someone pretty shady to be able to read the rest.” She tucked the letter into her pack.
Thankfully the letters and documents provided enough information for us to piece together the heritage of House Wyvern. The heir we were searching for was one Polyxena Thanaphe. The deposed princess was currently under the protection of House Hydra in their stronghold of Mason’s Rock. It was a few days overland from Tiegel’s manor, but could also be accessed from nearby coves. Yvala looked decidedly unpleased that we would be traveling to the city, but didn’t say anything. We grabbed maps, nautical charts and any document relevant to House Wyvern, and we headed outside.
“I don’t feel good about that stairway or the door with the sigils. Either one could contain a portal to hell.” Markas said as we exited the manor. “Well, we could burn it down,” stated Kyri frankly. “I suppose…” Markas began but trailed off. I followed his gaze to see a line of dust rising up from the road. Quickly we hid in the bushes alongside the porch to wait. Much to our surprise, Rhegar appeared. He jumped down from his horse and started toward the manor.
“Rhegar, it’s finished. We killed Baron Avaro Tiegel,” said Kyri. “What are you doing over there, then?” he asked. “We were debating whether or not to burn it down.” Rhegar looked at the lot of us incredulously. “Well yeah. You people talk too much.” Shaking his head at our actions, he launched into a small speech.“I return with news. The Council has spoken. The lands of Arborea shall remain a mystery no longer. A ship has been fitted, supplied, and crewed, and they have renamed her the Silver Talon. We are to meet her at sea. Garn, in the name of your ancestor Krazixaz, you are to lead the expedition. We all know the prophecy and none would sail there but under your command. And Garn, Nala is aboard the ship and waits to hear of your adventures.” He looked around at us as if to hurry us. “So let us make haste. Round up the last of the slaves and burn this hellish house to the ground.”
“But there still may be slaves inside,” protested Markas. “So light the fires and break open the windows. We really don’t have time for this sort of thing.” Rhegar went to gather kindling from the forest, disgusted with our lack of movement. “You know we have a wizard who can set fires.” Markas said. “And a cleric.” I added. “Oh, no. The lot of you would have to discuss it first.” Annoyed by the paladin, I uttered the word that lit the hand crossbow on fire. “Fine.” I said testily and aimed for the window of the sigiled room. Rhegar’s face lit up immediately. “Now that’s more like it.” He continued to light small fires along the perimeter. Kalena and I dropped spells and prayers of flame into the manor. Kyri even relieved me of the crossbow to launch a few bolts onto the roof. Before long the building was burning nicely. Through one window we could see bone devils chanting around a pentagram, but they seemed unable to leave. In any case none of us knew what they were doing. Taking several horses from the stables, we rode quickly back to the Southern Stream and headed to sea to meet the Silver Talon.
The celestial messenger aboard our ship led us to the Silver Talon in just under two days. To my delighted surprise, my dear friend and indeed the dragonborn who had taught me to speak and read draconic – Cora – was aboard the ship. She scooped me up in a crushing embrace that lifted my toes two feet above the decking. “Oh I’m so glad to see you. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye properly before we shipped off for Arborea. But then Bishop Jorda told me you were sailing with Garn.” She said happily. Setting me down, she ran an eye over my gear. “I have to admit that you have acquired a nice set of chainmail in your travels. But where is your staff?” “I traded it out in our latest adventure.” I said, holding up the shield and bastard sword. Cora laughed. “About time. I never understood why you carried that thing around instead of a good solid shield. But the sword has got to go. Come on, we’ll find a mace to fit those tiny hands.”
Less than an hour later I watched as the Silver Talon sailed off for the frozen continent where my father and brothers fished rich waters. I stared after the ship long after she sailed over the horizon, well aware that I may never see my three dragonborn friends again. “Tavia, come inside and get some rest.” Kalena said, from the doorway to the forecastle. “You’re going to need the rest for when we reach Mason’s Rock.” I nodded my head, and she headed back inside. I offered one last silent prayer before following her. Kord, keep their sails filled and their sword arms strong. Let them have the strength to retake their homeland.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Searching for Baron Tiegel
We turned our attention to the large double doors leading into the manor. I was sure that half the manor had been roused by our little tussle but the doors remained firmly closed. Yvala sauntered up the steps and Rhegar followed ploddingly. “We’re sure there isn’t a back entrance? No kitchen door, nothing?” Vixi asked, note of resignation in her voice. “I haven’t seen one in the time I’ve been here. And, I did lead you around the back so you could see for yourselves.” Yvala said in a bored voice. “The last fight was pretty loud and right on the front porch too. Personally, I’m surprised that no one has come out the door yet.” Markas said. “Well I am an invited guest in this house. No one would take notice if I went inside and took a look around.” Yvala said smoothly. I didn’t particularly like this plan. It would give Yvala a chance to confer with her fellow conspirators without the rest of us breathing down her shoulder. But I didn’t like charging into the unknown either, no matter how fond Rhegar was of that plan. And the others were nodding their heads in agreement with her plan.
We stepped to either side of the doorway. Yvala stepped inside and closed the door behind her to prevent any prying eyes. A few minutes later, two slaves bearing wine came out of the double doors. Their eyes went wide at the sight of us. Garn grabbed one and Markas took a hold of the other, making sure to cover their mouths to keep from screaming. “Keep quiet.” I told the slaves calmly. “We’re here to take care of the Baron. We’ve already released some of your fellow slaves. If you follow the cart path past the onion and wheat fields and into the huge trees, you should be able to catch them.” The slaves nodded enthusiastically and took off at a run when they were released. “Thank you.” One cried over her shoulder.
Yvala appeared on the porch after a few more minutes. “Most of the household is asleep but the front hall will be a bit of a problem. There are three overseers and their hellhounds are mulling about waiting for their shift to start and half a dozen more bone devils on the upper balcony.” “If we crashed in there would be nothing stopping them from going and getting help,” said Markas. “What if we could draw a few out here?” asked Vixi. “We would be able to use the doorway as cover,” added Kyri. Yvala interrupted the debate. “I have an idea. I could order a couple of the bone devils to come out here to beat the slaves for some infraction.” We mulled over this. “It seems like the best idea. And even if one or two run, it’s likely they won’t find anyone who cares. And it is one less that we would need to keep from running away. I’m all for that.” Markas said with a grin.
We arranged ourselves on either side of the door while Yvala splashed some wine across her stomach and thighs. Acting furious, she threw open the door. “You two, leaning on the stairs, a slave spilled wine on me. This cannot be tolerated. How can you accept such insolence?” she snarled. The bone devils in question began moving toward the door. “Their suffering will be long, my liege,” one intoned. They stepped out the door and let out a bloodcurdling howl at the sight of us. One uncoiled a barbed whip and struck at Rhegar. The other fumbled and his whip caught the doorway. Vixi cursed the one in front of her with a nasty little spell. My own flame burst off to the devil’s side and the bone devil laughed as he blocked Garn’s spear thrust. Yvala drew her sword and her strike bit deep into the devil’s side. She used the attack as a diversion to slip through the doorway. After Markas struck the bone devil on the right with a heavy blow to the ribs, Kalena was able to destroy the fiend with a cloud of daggers.
The lesser bone devils unfurled their wings and flew over the balcony, heading toward the doorway. Vixi killed a bone devil hovering in the doorway and my sacred flame hit the devil on the porch this time. Garn moved into a flanking position on the devil and yelled for Yvala to attack, which she did with a flourish. The hounds, sensing that their masters were in danger, rushed the doorway. They growled and snapped their slobbering jaws, but were unable to hit anyone. A second blow from Yvala’s sword brought the other bone devil down.
Kalena dropped a second cloud of daggers in front of the other door in an attempt to block the minions from exiting. Rhegar in front of the doorway and took out two of the lesser bone devils with his icy breath. Enraged at being trapped, three of the bone devils rushed the right hand door. But Markas was able to push back the first two and crushed the skull of the third with his flail. The three dogs on the porch were beset with attacks from Yvala, Vixi, and Garn. With the dogs tied up, I was finally able to move and take out the last overseer. The dogs still had some fight in them, though. Both Yvala and Rhegar suffered nasty bites. Markas finished one dog and Kyri peppered another with arrows. As Kalena’s cloud of daggers faded, Rhegar careened though the doorway and into the entrance hall. “There’s three in here running for help.” He yelled. Yvala ran through the door and skewered a bone devil hovering near the floor. She pulled a dagger from her hair as she turned toward Rhegar. It shot from her hand and thudded into the back of the bone devil beside the paladin. Kyri drew back her bow and killed the last bone devil and the remaining hellhound with an arrow apiece.
Cautiously, the rest of us moved into the entrance way. The devils didn’t have much on them, other than barbed whips and chainmail. Markas exchanged his wooden shield for a steel one carried by the lead bone devil. Though I was loath to abandon my maple quarterstaff, I recognized the need for additional protection in the fights to come. “Markas please pass me your old shield,” I asked. He did, and I adjusted it to fit on my slender arm. I plucked a bastard sword from the corpse of another bone devil and nodded to indicate that I was ready to push onward.
“Now I know some of the spawn like to use a lounge room across from the one I was lodged in.” Yvala informed us. “Easy, we kill them first then,” decided Rhegar. He took the ever-burning torch from his pack and thrust it into his belt. We formed up behind the door to the lounge. Rhegar threw open the door and charged toward the back of the room. He thrust his glaive into the painted window and the glass shattered, opening a beam of light into the vampire’s quarters. It fell over two of the vampires, who froze in place and started to smoke lightly. Yvala, Markas, and I rushed into the room right behind the warlord. Of the three attacks, mine was the only one to hit. As I did, the vampire faded a bit, and then fizzled. “It’s just a blur effect. He’s not actually phasing. He’s still there.” Markas shouted. Kyri followed close behind me and slashed at the blurring vampire with her long sword without hesitation. Kalena stood in the doorway and released two icy beams at the vampires in the sunlight, freezing one to the ground and killing the other. “Tavia, over here!” shouted Markas. As I moved past, I could hear him murmur, “Perfect time for what you do best.” I let the words of encouragement enrich my prayer as I pulled the strands of faith into my holy symbol. When I released the prayer in a storm of searing wind, it did even more damage than usual, hitting and immobilizing all but one within reach.
Irritated by my devastating attack, the one vampire I had missed lunged forward. His long nails left stinging scratches on my skin but I threw him off before he could bite me. Another leapt on Rhegar, biting his shoulder. It was Kyri, however, that came off for the worse. The blurry vampire solidified and locked onto Kyri’s purple eyes with his own deep blue orbs. Swaying under his spell, she didn’t put up any fight when he sunk his canines into her neck. Vixi cursed the vampire feeding on Kyri and it screamed before crumbling to gray dust. Attacks from Rhegar, Garn, and Yvala turned three more vampires into piles of ash. Kyri shook off the vampire’s bite and traded her sword for her longbow. The vicious weapon reflected the elf’s mood and sharp thorns sprung from both the arrow shaft and the curve of the bow. The green fletched arrow punched through the midsection of a fifth vampire.
All in all, the vampire spawn didn’t stand much of a chance against a prepared party of adventures and we soon cleared the room. At the far end of the hallway, there was a set of servants’ quarters and a door set with demonic glyphs. Yvala didn’t know what was behind the imposing door other than that she had been told not to try to open it. We left it for the time being, and moved to the hallway on the other side of the entrance hall. There we found more of the same; a pantry, more servants’ quarters, an empty ballroom and two empty guest rooms. The door below the main staircase proved to hide a staircase that spiraled down. There was no light, but the unpleasant whistling noise coming from below reminded me of the cavernous shaft on Aelerion’s Island. We shut those doors quickly and decided to continue searching for Baron Tiegel upstairs.
There were two rooms on the upper story. Yvala pointed to a set of double doors. “Avaro Tiegel is in there, spending the day resting in the company of his vampire spawn. This,” she said indicating the door of our side, “is something of a pleasure quarters for his personal guard.” “Well that’s an easy choice,” said Rhegar, “we take out the guard first.” We arranged ourselves behind the big dragonborn and he threw open the door with a bang. The room held five female slaves in scant, yet expensive looking robes and three tiefling bodyguards. Unlike the guards on the porch, these three were huge hulking specimens. Muscles bulged across their chest and down their arms and legs. Vestigial wings sprouted from their broad backs, but there was no way the puny appendages would hold their weight. Personally, I was far more worried by the generous amount of razor sharp teeth showing past their narrow lips.
Kyri fired first from the doorway and was rewarded with two dull thunks as the arrows bit into their intended target. Using the arrows as cover, Yvala ducked into the room. She brought her short sword up in a quick swipe but the bodyguard parried easily. He did not, however, parry Garn’s crushing attack that came right behind the rogue.
About that time, the situation turned upside-down on us. Rather than fleeing, the slaves began to laugh as their images flickered. Extravagant bat-like wings sprouted from their backs. Their clothing became briefer. Now we were surrounded by eight, rather than three enemies. One raised its eyes and locked Garn with a glowing blue gaze. She made a beckoning gesture and Garn followed docilely, not even flinching as another succubus ranked her claws across his back. Another succubus ensnared Yvala in her gaze, allowing her partners to reap at the tiefling. With a mighty prayer to the Raven Queen, Markas charged into the room. He slammed into the succubus controlling Yvala, and the rogue shook off the spell. Following his fellow paladin’s lead, Rhegar did the same for Garn, the swing of his blade causing the succubus to lose her concentration on the spell. From the hallway, I wove a healing prayer and sent it toward the injured Yvala.
Attacks flew back and forth between the party and the devilish guards. At one point, Garn brought out his magic hand axe and the resulting lightning sparked to all but two of the fiends on the far end of the room. Kalena launched one of her sleep spells at the far end of the room and was rewarded with the snores of one of the muscled tieflings. Somehow in the middle of things Yvala became dominated again. Under the succubus’s spell, she turned and swung at Markas. He was able to avoid the clumsy attack and she shook off the daze before she was forced to attack anyone else. Vixi ran through the room and struck a blow to the sleeping tiefling that ended his life. I dropped a hovering succubus with a lance of brilliant golden light and Kyri dropped another with a well placed arrow. The tide of battle turned our way and it didn’t take much for the eight of us to batter our way through the guards.
At the end of the brief encounter, Rhegar noticed his armor hanging in disarray. When he attempted to fix it, the whole thing fell apart. The side links had been torn to pieces by a rending blow from one of the succubi. “You’ll need to have that fixed.” Markas said wearily. Rhegar shook his head in agreement. “I’ll take a horse from the stables. I’ll take the path we sent the slaves on and make sure they’re still on the right path to the ship. I’ll be back as soon as possible.” He turned and headed down the stairs. “The sun could very well be down by the time he returns. We attack now or we don’t attack at all.” Garn said to the rest of us. “Well, then, I guess we flambé this guy.” Kalena said, rubbing her hands together with a little smile of anticipation.
We stepped to either side of the doorway. Yvala stepped inside and closed the door behind her to prevent any prying eyes. A few minutes later, two slaves bearing wine came out of the double doors. Their eyes went wide at the sight of us. Garn grabbed one and Markas took a hold of the other, making sure to cover their mouths to keep from screaming. “Keep quiet.” I told the slaves calmly. “We’re here to take care of the Baron. We’ve already released some of your fellow slaves. If you follow the cart path past the onion and wheat fields and into the huge trees, you should be able to catch them.” The slaves nodded enthusiastically and took off at a run when they were released. “Thank you.” One cried over her shoulder.
Yvala appeared on the porch after a few more minutes. “Most of the household is asleep but the front hall will be a bit of a problem. There are three overseers and their hellhounds are mulling about waiting for their shift to start and half a dozen more bone devils on the upper balcony.” “If we crashed in there would be nothing stopping them from going and getting help,” said Markas. “What if we could draw a few out here?” asked Vixi. “We would be able to use the doorway as cover,” added Kyri. Yvala interrupted the debate. “I have an idea. I could order a couple of the bone devils to come out here to beat the slaves for some infraction.” We mulled over this. “It seems like the best idea. And even if one or two run, it’s likely they won’t find anyone who cares. And it is one less that we would need to keep from running away. I’m all for that.” Markas said with a grin.
We arranged ourselves on either side of the door while Yvala splashed some wine across her stomach and thighs. Acting furious, she threw open the door. “You two, leaning on the stairs, a slave spilled wine on me. This cannot be tolerated. How can you accept such insolence?” she snarled. The bone devils in question began moving toward the door. “Their suffering will be long, my liege,” one intoned. They stepped out the door and let out a bloodcurdling howl at the sight of us. One uncoiled a barbed whip and struck at Rhegar. The other fumbled and his whip caught the doorway. Vixi cursed the one in front of her with a nasty little spell. My own flame burst off to the devil’s side and the bone devil laughed as he blocked Garn’s spear thrust. Yvala drew her sword and her strike bit deep into the devil’s side. She used the attack as a diversion to slip through the doorway. After Markas struck the bone devil on the right with a heavy blow to the ribs, Kalena was able to destroy the fiend with a cloud of daggers.
The lesser bone devils unfurled their wings and flew over the balcony, heading toward the doorway. Vixi killed a bone devil hovering in the doorway and my sacred flame hit the devil on the porch this time. Garn moved into a flanking position on the devil and yelled for Yvala to attack, which she did with a flourish. The hounds, sensing that their masters were in danger, rushed the doorway. They growled and snapped their slobbering jaws, but were unable to hit anyone. A second blow from Yvala’s sword brought the other bone devil down.
Kalena dropped a second cloud of daggers in front of the other door in an attempt to block the minions from exiting. Rhegar in front of the doorway and took out two of the lesser bone devils with his icy breath. Enraged at being trapped, three of the bone devils rushed the right hand door. But Markas was able to push back the first two and crushed the skull of the third with his flail. The three dogs on the porch were beset with attacks from Yvala, Vixi, and Garn. With the dogs tied up, I was finally able to move and take out the last overseer. The dogs still had some fight in them, though. Both Yvala and Rhegar suffered nasty bites. Markas finished one dog and Kyri peppered another with arrows. As Kalena’s cloud of daggers faded, Rhegar careened though the doorway and into the entrance hall. “There’s three in here running for help.” He yelled. Yvala ran through the door and skewered a bone devil hovering near the floor. She pulled a dagger from her hair as she turned toward Rhegar. It shot from her hand and thudded into the back of the bone devil beside the paladin. Kyri drew back her bow and killed the last bone devil and the remaining hellhound with an arrow apiece.
Cautiously, the rest of us moved into the entrance way. The devils didn’t have much on them, other than barbed whips and chainmail. Markas exchanged his wooden shield for a steel one carried by the lead bone devil. Though I was loath to abandon my maple quarterstaff, I recognized the need for additional protection in the fights to come. “Markas please pass me your old shield,” I asked. He did, and I adjusted it to fit on my slender arm. I plucked a bastard sword from the corpse of another bone devil and nodded to indicate that I was ready to push onward.
“Now I know some of the spawn like to use a lounge room across from the one I was lodged in.” Yvala informed us. “Easy, we kill them first then,” decided Rhegar. He took the ever-burning torch from his pack and thrust it into his belt. We formed up behind the door to the lounge. Rhegar threw open the door and charged toward the back of the room. He thrust his glaive into the painted window and the glass shattered, opening a beam of light into the vampire’s quarters. It fell over two of the vampires, who froze in place and started to smoke lightly. Yvala, Markas, and I rushed into the room right behind the warlord. Of the three attacks, mine was the only one to hit. As I did, the vampire faded a bit, and then fizzled. “It’s just a blur effect. He’s not actually phasing. He’s still there.” Markas shouted. Kyri followed close behind me and slashed at the blurring vampire with her long sword without hesitation. Kalena stood in the doorway and released two icy beams at the vampires in the sunlight, freezing one to the ground and killing the other. “Tavia, over here!” shouted Markas. As I moved past, I could hear him murmur, “Perfect time for what you do best.” I let the words of encouragement enrich my prayer as I pulled the strands of faith into my holy symbol. When I released the prayer in a storm of searing wind, it did even more damage than usual, hitting and immobilizing all but one within reach.
Irritated by my devastating attack, the one vampire I had missed lunged forward. His long nails left stinging scratches on my skin but I threw him off before he could bite me. Another leapt on Rhegar, biting his shoulder. It was Kyri, however, that came off for the worse. The blurry vampire solidified and locked onto Kyri’s purple eyes with his own deep blue orbs. Swaying under his spell, she didn’t put up any fight when he sunk his canines into her neck. Vixi cursed the vampire feeding on Kyri and it screamed before crumbling to gray dust. Attacks from Rhegar, Garn, and Yvala turned three more vampires into piles of ash. Kyri shook off the vampire’s bite and traded her sword for her longbow. The vicious weapon reflected the elf’s mood and sharp thorns sprung from both the arrow shaft and the curve of the bow. The green fletched arrow punched through the midsection of a fifth vampire.
All in all, the vampire spawn didn’t stand much of a chance against a prepared party of adventures and we soon cleared the room. At the far end of the hallway, there was a set of servants’ quarters and a door set with demonic glyphs. Yvala didn’t know what was behind the imposing door other than that she had been told not to try to open it. We left it for the time being, and moved to the hallway on the other side of the entrance hall. There we found more of the same; a pantry, more servants’ quarters, an empty ballroom and two empty guest rooms. The door below the main staircase proved to hide a staircase that spiraled down. There was no light, but the unpleasant whistling noise coming from below reminded me of the cavernous shaft on Aelerion’s Island. We shut those doors quickly and decided to continue searching for Baron Tiegel upstairs.
There were two rooms on the upper story. Yvala pointed to a set of double doors. “Avaro Tiegel is in there, spending the day resting in the company of his vampire spawn. This,” she said indicating the door of our side, “is something of a pleasure quarters for his personal guard.” “Well that’s an easy choice,” said Rhegar, “we take out the guard first.” We arranged ourselves behind the big dragonborn and he threw open the door with a bang. The room held five female slaves in scant, yet expensive looking robes and three tiefling bodyguards. Unlike the guards on the porch, these three were huge hulking specimens. Muscles bulged across their chest and down their arms and legs. Vestigial wings sprouted from their broad backs, but there was no way the puny appendages would hold their weight. Personally, I was far more worried by the generous amount of razor sharp teeth showing past their narrow lips.
Kyri fired first from the doorway and was rewarded with two dull thunks as the arrows bit into their intended target. Using the arrows as cover, Yvala ducked into the room. She brought her short sword up in a quick swipe but the bodyguard parried easily. He did not, however, parry Garn’s crushing attack that came right behind the rogue.
About that time, the situation turned upside-down on us. Rather than fleeing, the slaves began to laugh as their images flickered. Extravagant bat-like wings sprouted from their backs. Their clothing became briefer. Now we were surrounded by eight, rather than three enemies. One raised its eyes and locked Garn with a glowing blue gaze. She made a beckoning gesture and Garn followed docilely, not even flinching as another succubus ranked her claws across his back. Another succubus ensnared Yvala in her gaze, allowing her partners to reap at the tiefling. With a mighty prayer to the Raven Queen, Markas charged into the room. He slammed into the succubus controlling Yvala, and the rogue shook off the spell. Following his fellow paladin’s lead, Rhegar did the same for Garn, the swing of his blade causing the succubus to lose her concentration on the spell. From the hallway, I wove a healing prayer and sent it toward the injured Yvala.
Attacks flew back and forth between the party and the devilish guards. At one point, Garn brought out his magic hand axe and the resulting lightning sparked to all but two of the fiends on the far end of the room. Kalena launched one of her sleep spells at the far end of the room and was rewarded with the snores of one of the muscled tieflings. Somehow in the middle of things Yvala became dominated again. Under the succubus’s spell, she turned and swung at Markas. He was able to avoid the clumsy attack and she shook off the daze before she was forced to attack anyone else. Vixi ran through the room and struck a blow to the sleeping tiefling that ended his life. I dropped a hovering succubus with a lance of brilliant golden light and Kyri dropped another with a well placed arrow. The tide of battle turned our way and it didn’t take much for the eight of us to batter our way through the guards.
At the end of the brief encounter, Rhegar noticed his armor hanging in disarray. When he attempted to fix it, the whole thing fell apart. The side links had been torn to pieces by a rending blow from one of the succubi. “You’ll need to have that fixed.” Markas said wearily. Rhegar shook his head in agreement. “I’ll take a horse from the stables. I’ll take the path we sent the slaves on and make sure they’re still on the right path to the ship. I’ll be back as soon as possible.” He turned and headed down the stairs. “The sun could very well be down by the time he returns. We attack now or we don’t attack at all.” Garn said to the rest of us. “Well, then, I guess we flambé this guy.” Kalena said, rubbing her hands together with a little smile of anticipation.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Clothing Optional
We easily bypassed the sets of slaves and overseers on our way to the manor. We would come back to free them later, but as much as I disproved of following this strange woman into a house with a powerful vampire and various unknown dangers, I knew that it would be better to attempt such matters while the daylight was still strong. Sunlight might not kill a vampire outright, but it still slowed them down enough to get a couple of extra shots in.
Yvala led us up behind the manor, allowing us to see it from all sides. Oddly enough, there was no back entrance for the servants to enter into the kitchen. The only entrance was a set of grand double doors fronted by a large porch. The porch sat four feet off the ground with a wide set of stairs set directly in front of the doors. Six tiefling guards sat around on the deck, laughing boisterously and calling for the house servants to bring them more wine. From their slurred voices and unsteady movements, it was apparent that they had been drinking for most of the afternoon. Several made lewd comments alluding to Yvala, who had left the inebriated sentries some time before coming across our scuffle.
Rhegar turned to Yvala. “Think you could get them off the porch? It’d be a fairer fight on the ground and we wouldn’t have to worry about any ducking inside.” “Well not all six, but certainly one or two. I have been distracting them all day. I’ll see what I can do.” She loosened the ties on her bodice to bring it down even further, cocked her hips and walked out around to the front of the porch. She made an elaborate show of stretching her arms over her head, straining the abused lacing further. “You know, I think I fancy a bath. Which of you would like to come with me?” One of the guards elbowed his buddy and snickered drunkenly. “I knew she’d come back.” The guards were pushing each other to get to the front as Yvala ran her hands over her minimal armor. “I’ll need to do my shoulders and someone to help me remove my armor.” She pulled up the hem over her skirt to flash more leg. By now the guards were drooling and pulling weapons on each other. One rushed forward but a bigger tiefling slapped him out of the way with the flat of his sword. “You stay here Berthos. Guyvax, you can come with me.” The big tiefling and the one he called out to head down the stairs. Yvala sauntered up to the big tiefling. “I’ll need someone to hold my wine for me.” She said, giving him a pout as she pulled the laces from her top. “Sure thing, darling.” He drawled. He snapped his fingers at the porch, not taking his eyes off the rogue. “Iathos, grab a couple skeins.”
The guard that had been hit by the sword grabbed a wineskin and hunkered down in a corner to sulk. The other two took bets on the likelihood that the girl would knock the three out for their earlier lecherous behavior. Once the harlot had ambled halfway to the stream with her three companions we made our way to the porch. Vixi and Kyri slunk silently to the edge of the house, hiding in the shadows falling from the manor. Unable to silence their scale plates sufficiently, Rhegar and Garn clanked around the side, drawing attention away from the ranger and warlock and letting Kalena and me come around the side of the house unnoticed. The three guards swung around, eyes falling on the dragonborn pair. “Yep, it was a trap,” said one as he accepted some silver from the other tiefling not currently sulking. A fourth tiefling came out the double doors. “What the hell is this? Who are they? Where are Guyvax, Iathos, and Blejak?”
Kyri stood up at fired two arrows into a tiefling as he raised a wand. As the arrows buried themselves deep in his flesh, a dark cloud exploded outward from his body. The black fog rolled outward covering him and his companions. I called a column of light down on his position. While he screamed with agony, the light did little to dispel the inky fog. Irritated, the tiefling wizards called out a pair of devastating spells. Pain washed over my body. Lights exploded in front of my eyes and all I could see was an opaque film of oily grey. Kalena called out a spell but I could hear it explode off to the side. She must also have been caught in the spells, not surprising since she had been right in front of me. I could hear the human slaves on the porch dropping their trays and bolting down the steps, wailing with terror. Around me my companions were yelling, complaining about the loss of sight or cheering that they had gotten their eyes back. Satisfied that I knew everyone’s location and still blinded by the hellcaller’s spell, I held clasped my outstretched hands together and called out the most widespread healing spell I knew. Kord does bless the strong and the athletic. Kord does bless the sailor with fair winds and washes the wicked from the coast with heavenly storms. We pray to Kord with each swing of a sword, each twang of a longbow, and every hit taken on ourselves to protect a lesser being. Kord hears and Kord rewards with the strength to fight through the end. I spun in an arc as I finished the prayer, letting the healing wave wash over my companions and allowed the holy energy to soak into my body, reinforcing my spells.
Off to my right, Rhegar blindly bullrushed into the brute attacking Garn. His blundering attack was easily stopped by the guard, who shoved the silver dragonborn to the side. Kyri shot the hellcaller a third time and he fell to the porch with a thud. Unable to see, I concentrated on clearing the wicked film from my eyes. It cleared just in time for me to see Vixi curse the other hellcaller standing just inside the rolling black cloud on the porch. Two arrows from Kyri pierced his armor at the stomach and neck. He too fell gurgling to the porch decking. Between themselves, Garn and Rhegar took out the drunken brute. I pulled myself onto the porch and took a wild swing at the last tiefling standing on the deck as he came out of the dark cloud. Vixi’s curse worked just fine though, and an arrow from Kyri brought him to rest on the deck with his magical companions.
Over at the stream, Yvala had been quite free with the wine and quite adamant about her flirting. All four were naked and the brutes were getting grabby after all the teasing. Not wanting to take on all three by herself, she called their attention to the commotion on the porch. “Oh my. There’s a dark cloud on the porch. Something must have happened.” Blejak motioned to the other two. “Go see what those idiots are playing at.” Grumbling, they grabbed their swords and, still naked, ran toward the manor. As they ran, they saw Kalena duck into the black cloud. “Hey, maybe this won’t be bad. There’s another girl up there. As soon as they were far enough away, Yvala pulled a slim dagger from her intricate hairstyle and stabbed the big tiefling in the chest.
“We’ve got two more coming,” said Kalena from the edge of the cloud. Before the others had time to move in, the guards had leapt onto the porch and were menacing the wizard with their blades. “Well you’re a pretty one. All alone, are you?” one leered. “Don’t count on it.” I said as I dropped a holy flame on his naked body. Kyri jumped onto the porch and loosened an arrow at both brutes, as the others moved into position. Kalena stepped back and froze both of the tieflings in place with a pair of icy rays. Rhegar pounded into both. Garn pulled off a devastating attack into the one on the right while I seared the other with a second burst of flame. The tieflings broke out of their icy embrace and attacked Rhegar with gusto. Vixi brought one down with a disturbing curse, allowing Rhegar to move back for a healing spell. Kalena kept the other from moving forward with a cloud of magic daggers. I called down a final flame that was more than the tieflings’ body could take. Renewed by my spell and satisfied that the party was no longer in danger, Rhegar ran to the stream to assist Yvala. He arrived just in time to run his glaive through the tielfling’s midsection as the brute swung at the rogue.
We searched the bodies as Yvala dressed. Happily, the corpses had a hundred gold worth of gems and jewelry. We stuffed the loot in our packs and waited for the other two to return from the river. The black cloud dissipated and Vixi went over to look at the two undressed bodies. “You know,” she said in a contemplative voice, “I’ve only met one other tiefling in my life before today. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a naked male tiefling.” I shrugged and put my hand on her shoulder. “Well now you’ve seen two. Maybe next time we encounter male tieflings, they won’t be set on killing us.” I looked to the doors and wondered what kind of a trap Yvala could be leading us into.
Yvala led us up behind the manor, allowing us to see it from all sides. Oddly enough, there was no back entrance for the servants to enter into the kitchen. The only entrance was a set of grand double doors fronted by a large porch. The porch sat four feet off the ground with a wide set of stairs set directly in front of the doors. Six tiefling guards sat around on the deck, laughing boisterously and calling for the house servants to bring them more wine. From their slurred voices and unsteady movements, it was apparent that they had been drinking for most of the afternoon. Several made lewd comments alluding to Yvala, who had left the inebriated sentries some time before coming across our scuffle.
Rhegar turned to Yvala. “Think you could get them off the porch? It’d be a fairer fight on the ground and we wouldn’t have to worry about any ducking inside.” “Well not all six, but certainly one or two. I have been distracting them all day. I’ll see what I can do.” She loosened the ties on her bodice to bring it down even further, cocked her hips and walked out around to the front of the porch. She made an elaborate show of stretching her arms over her head, straining the abused lacing further. “You know, I think I fancy a bath. Which of you would like to come with me?” One of the guards elbowed his buddy and snickered drunkenly. “I knew she’d come back.” The guards were pushing each other to get to the front as Yvala ran her hands over her minimal armor. “I’ll need to do my shoulders and someone to help me remove my armor.” She pulled up the hem over her skirt to flash more leg. By now the guards were drooling and pulling weapons on each other. One rushed forward but a bigger tiefling slapped him out of the way with the flat of his sword. “You stay here Berthos. Guyvax, you can come with me.” The big tiefling and the one he called out to head down the stairs. Yvala sauntered up to the big tiefling. “I’ll need someone to hold my wine for me.” She said, giving him a pout as she pulled the laces from her top. “Sure thing, darling.” He drawled. He snapped his fingers at the porch, not taking his eyes off the rogue. “Iathos, grab a couple skeins.”
The guard that had been hit by the sword grabbed a wineskin and hunkered down in a corner to sulk. The other two took bets on the likelihood that the girl would knock the three out for their earlier lecherous behavior. Once the harlot had ambled halfway to the stream with her three companions we made our way to the porch. Vixi and Kyri slunk silently to the edge of the house, hiding in the shadows falling from the manor. Unable to silence their scale plates sufficiently, Rhegar and Garn clanked around the side, drawing attention away from the ranger and warlock and letting Kalena and me come around the side of the house unnoticed. The three guards swung around, eyes falling on the dragonborn pair. “Yep, it was a trap,” said one as he accepted some silver from the other tiefling not currently sulking. A fourth tiefling came out the double doors. “What the hell is this? Who are they? Where are Guyvax, Iathos, and Blejak?”
Kyri stood up at fired two arrows into a tiefling as he raised a wand. As the arrows buried themselves deep in his flesh, a dark cloud exploded outward from his body. The black fog rolled outward covering him and his companions. I called a column of light down on his position. While he screamed with agony, the light did little to dispel the inky fog. Irritated, the tiefling wizards called out a pair of devastating spells. Pain washed over my body. Lights exploded in front of my eyes and all I could see was an opaque film of oily grey. Kalena called out a spell but I could hear it explode off to the side. She must also have been caught in the spells, not surprising since she had been right in front of me. I could hear the human slaves on the porch dropping their trays and bolting down the steps, wailing with terror. Around me my companions were yelling, complaining about the loss of sight or cheering that they had gotten their eyes back. Satisfied that I knew everyone’s location and still blinded by the hellcaller’s spell, I held clasped my outstretched hands together and called out the most widespread healing spell I knew. Kord does bless the strong and the athletic. Kord does bless the sailor with fair winds and washes the wicked from the coast with heavenly storms. We pray to Kord with each swing of a sword, each twang of a longbow, and every hit taken on ourselves to protect a lesser being. Kord hears and Kord rewards with the strength to fight through the end. I spun in an arc as I finished the prayer, letting the healing wave wash over my companions and allowed the holy energy to soak into my body, reinforcing my spells.
Off to my right, Rhegar blindly bullrushed into the brute attacking Garn. His blundering attack was easily stopped by the guard, who shoved the silver dragonborn to the side. Kyri shot the hellcaller a third time and he fell to the porch with a thud. Unable to see, I concentrated on clearing the wicked film from my eyes. It cleared just in time for me to see Vixi curse the other hellcaller standing just inside the rolling black cloud on the porch. Two arrows from Kyri pierced his armor at the stomach and neck. He too fell gurgling to the porch decking. Between themselves, Garn and Rhegar took out the drunken brute. I pulled myself onto the porch and took a wild swing at the last tiefling standing on the deck as he came out of the dark cloud. Vixi’s curse worked just fine though, and an arrow from Kyri brought him to rest on the deck with his magical companions.
Over at the stream, Yvala had been quite free with the wine and quite adamant about her flirting. All four were naked and the brutes were getting grabby after all the teasing. Not wanting to take on all three by herself, she called their attention to the commotion on the porch. “Oh my. There’s a dark cloud on the porch. Something must have happened.” Blejak motioned to the other two. “Go see what those idiots are playing at.” Grumbling, they grabbed their swords and, still naked, ran toward the manor. As they ran, they saw Kalena duck into the black cloud. “Hey, maybe this won’t be bad. There’s another girl up there. As soon as they were far enough away, Yvala pulled a slim dagger from her intricate hairstyle and stabbed the big tiefling in the chest.
“We’ve got two more coming,” said Kalena from the edge of the cloud. Before the others had time to move in, the guards had leapt onto the porch and were menacing the wizard with their blades. “Well you’re a pretty one. All alone, are you?” one leered. “Don’t count on it.” I said as I dropped a holy flame on his naked body. Kyri jumped onto the porch and loosened an arrow at both brutes, as the others moved into position. Kalena stepped back and froze both of the tieflings in place with a pair of icy rays. Rhegar pounded into both. Garn pulled off a devastating attack into the one on the right while I seared the other with a second burst of flame. The tieflings broke out of their icy embrace and attacked Rhegar with gusto. Vixi brought one down with a disturbing curse, allowing Rhegar to move back for a healing spell. Kalena kept the other from moving forward with a cloud of magic daggers. I called down a final flame that was more than the tieflings’ body could take. Renewed by my spell and satisfied that the party was no longer in danger, Rhegar ran to the stream to assist Yvala. He arrived just in time to run his glaive through the tielfling’s midsection as the brute swung at the rogue.
We searched the bodies as Yvala dressed. Happily, the corpses had a hundred gold worth of gems and jewelry. We stuffed the loot in our packs and waited for the other two to return from the river. The black cloud dissipated and Vixi went over to look at the two undressed bodies. “You know,” she said in a contemplative voice, “I’ve only met one other tiefling in my life before today. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a naked male tiefling.” I shrugged and put my hand on her shoulder. “Well now you’ve seen two. Maybe next time we encounter male tieflings, they won’t be set on killing us.” I looked to the doors and wondered what kind of a trap Yvala could be leading us into.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
New Arrivals
The crew of Eliza’s Revenge sailed alongside us for a day before heading for their hidden homes. Prior to their departure, Captain Plate came aboard one last time. He gave Captain Raccan an elegant bow as he apologized profusely. “I dearly wish we could give ya the location o’ at least one o’ our refuge harbors, but ta do so would surely be death sentences fer any that remain behind. The fact that lot o’ you are headed into the mouth o’ the beast don’t bode well fer escaping without bein’ tortured.” Captain Raccan returned the bow. “Indeed, we understand the need to keep your own people safe. May the wind fill your sails.” I then cast a storm ward on the privateer vessel as our ships cut separate paths through the green ocean waves.
Eliza’s Revenge would no doubt be changing headings once the Southern Stream had passed from view. As for us, we were headed for the northwest coast of the continent. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was all the information we had on the location of House Wyvern. Three days after parting ways with Eliza’s Revenge, we made landfall. We’d specifically chosen a stretch of coastline that seemed deserted, and therefore unpatrolled. Leaving Captain Raccan and the crew to hide the Southern Stream, the Order of the Rampant Dragon set out overland to see if we could find any clues to the fate of House Wyvern.
Coastal Vertinia was stranger than any portion of the Perinor islands I had been to. It was stranger than even the ice covered headlands of Arborea my father had once showed me. The weather was hot, like high summer in Farport even though it was only late spring. Huge red-barked trees dominated the forests, with ferns and tall leafy bushes covering the forest floor. We made camp the first night in the roots of the giants, using their huge pinecones to start a crackling fire. After breakfasting on hot fruit pies from our everlasting provisions, we continued thought the strange forest, looking for signs of habitation.
Sometime around midday we found the civilization we had been looking for as the forest gave away to gently rolling farmland. Field after field stretched on for over a mile, leading to a grand two story manor and beyond. The variety of crops was incredible. From our hiding spot on the edge of the tree line, I could see fields of wheat, flax, onions, potatoes, and beets. Beyond the house I could see fruit orchards. The pleasant view, however, was marred by the field workers. Instead of being tended by hard-working peasant farmers, the fields were being turned under by ratty, underfed, over-beaten slaves. In the wheat field directly ahead, there was a group of ten chained together in a mix of humans and dwarfs, an arrangement obviously designed to make walking and working as difficult as possible. The pitiful group was overseen by three skeletal creatures with bat-like wings. Each overseer held the leash to a growling hellhound. The creatures were bone devils, vulgar entities created by infusing a fiendish spirit in to a freshly killed corpse, in this case tiefling corpses. The bone devils lashed out at the slaves with barbed whips, for no other reason than to cause pain.
We grouped up to discuss the situation. Freeing the slaves would, in the very least, get us some information about the manor off in the distance and the owner of the plantation. But the overseers were too far from the tree line to be taken out with arrows, even with Kyri’s range. If we charged from the trees, the bone devils would see us before we crossed half the distance and would raise an alarm. It was Rhegar who came up with the final plan. We would pose as a new group of slaves being delivered to the plantation. We would carry Garn’s spear lengthwise, as if it was being used to tie us together. Vixi would take Rhegar’s glaive and act as our tiefling escort.
We shuffled forward from the trees, tall stubble in the wheat field hiding the fact that our feet were not, in fact, chained together. The bone devils watched our progress suspiciously and one stepped forward hand raised. “Who are you?” he asked in a deep, bored voice. The warlock held her head high. “I am Bellavixi. Who are you?” The bone devil uttered a name in Fiendish then continued in common. “What are you doing here?” Vixi rose up to her full height and glared coldly at the bone devil. “I am bringing fresh slaves to his Excellency. Who are you to question me?” The bone devil backed up, dipping its skeletal head. “Sorry, mistress.” He intoned.
As his head dropped further, we made our move. Vixi threw Rhegar his weapon. The rest of us released the spear shaft and spread out, releasing attacks as we moved. Garn’s magic handaxe landed in the side of one of the hellhounds and lightning leapt to the infernal creatures around it. Kalena tossed an orb on another hellhound that threw a shockwave out to the animals on either side. Two arrows from Kyri tore into the overseer that had come to greet us and I called a beam of light from the heavens that caused it to crumble to a pile of bleached dust.
The other two bone devils flew straight up. Unable to do much about the bone devils above their heads, the boys went after the canines on the ground. The heroes and hellhounds jumped around each other, trading blows and bites with the paladins and the warlord. Kalena centered an icy ray on one of the flying skeletons. It froze mid-stroke and plummeted to the ground, landing heavily on its cervical vertebra. Its companion flew toward Kyri and Vixi and they loosened arrows and curses in response. Knowing my prayers against undead would be less effective against these infused spirits, I added crossbow bolts where I could. On the ground, the hellhounds moved in to flank either side of Rhegar. He stabbed at one dog and it burned into a pile of ash, allowing him to move deftly out of their check.
The bone devil still in the air suddenly crashed to earth as two arrows from Kyri severed the membrane attaching the devil’s leathery wings to its body. It exploded into a pile of shattered bones on impact, fiendish spirit returning to the eighth circle of hell. The other bone devil stood and leapt back into the air. I ran toward it, hoping to get a prayer off before it could fly off to raise backup, but one of the hellhounds broke off to take a snap at me, blocking my route. Vixi cursed the beast, bringing it to a stop before it could do any damage. I stepped back, annoyed that the beast had ruined my attack, and caught a lance of faith across its back. The dog exploded in a burst of flames, spraying most of the party with bits of dog gore. Luckily, the bone devil was unable to escape when our wizard sprinted forward and released another bolt of energy into its frame. This time when the devil fell from the sky, it would not rise. Rhegar released the last hellhound from its miserable existence with a devastating swipe of his glaive. We gripped our weapons tightly, heads sweeping around see if our scuffle had attracted any unwanted attention. Fortunately, the closest overseers, some six or seven fields away, remained unaware of our presence.
However, we were not so lucky that our presence went completely unnoticed. As the slaves gathered around the Order, thanking us profusely for our bravery and cunning, I took a moment to take in our spectator. Standing on a dirt cart path between us and adjacent field was a female tiefling. She was tall, close to 6 feet, and quite striking. She had a lean, leggy build topped off by an attractive face, complete with pouty lips and bedroom eyes. Interestingly enough, her reddish hair was pulled up away from her face in complex system of braids and twists. Her minimal clothing, little more than two rectangles of black leather situated over her breasts and the cleft of her legs, amplified her feminity. A smattering of piercings and weapons, coupled with the tail and horns gave the tiefling a dangerously sexy look. She was completely different from our own mild mannered Vixi.
Though the stranger twirled a silver and black dagger between her hands, she made no move to attack us or to run toward the manner for help. Instead she viewed us with a kind of detached suspicion, as if she was too bored to give us much thought. I was taught not to judge a book by its cover, but something about the tiefling made me want to keep my weapon at ready. It’s the fact that she just watched you slaughter a group of three bone devils with hellhounds and doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about it, my inner wisdom screamed at me. I tried to push the thought aside but years of sidestepping the fights Kord liked to push into my direction had left me with an internal barometer for a coming fight. Right now the trumpets were sounding at full blast. If I knew anything about this woman, it was that violence followed wherever she went. She would need to be watched carefully.
Therefore, when Rhegar announced that he and Garn would go question our audience of one, I bit back my comment about ‘talking’ to scantily clad women and turned my attention to the slaves. I did, however, urge the chain a bit closer to the trio as I healed their wounds so that I could fry the harlot should she be a devil in disguise.
The paladin walked up to the tiefling with a loose gait, Garn a few steps behind. He kept the glaive at his side, with a loose one handed grip to indicate that he didn’t wish to fight, at least immediately anyway. She kept the dagger in hand, using it to idly remove a bit of dirt from underneath a fingernail. “So you’ve taken an interest in our fight?” he rumbled, not threatening but not totally friendly either. She smiled at him. “It was entertaining.” “Are you from around here?” asked the dragonborn. “No, not at all. And from your question, I doubt you are either.” Her voice was low and sultry. Rhegar ignored it for the most part. He looked off to the side, trying to appear bored with her games. “We have only just arrived.” She seemed to pounce on this information. “And what would bring you to the Baron’s manor.” “We did not know it belonged to him.” “So you are strangers to this land. I am Yvala. What brought you to Vertinia?” Rhegar decided to play it straight with the tiefling. “We came by sea. We are searching for an individual that will fulfill a prophecy in our homeland. What we have found has not been what we expected. Tell me how are things here?” Yvala sighed dramatically. “Oh you know, the usual. Death. Tyranny. Destruction.”
Over to the side, Markas had released the slaves from their chains. Kyri had pulled the repaired box of everlasting provisions from her pack and doled out a meat pie to each of the waif-like slaves. I was currently blessing each of the drudges with a healing prayer to cure the welts left by the barbed whips. “We have a ship on the coast. The work would be hard, but I suspect that Captain Raccan could easily train you to pull rigging.” One of the dwarfs came up and began shaking her hand. “Ma’am the hardest work we could be put to could be no contest to our daily toils in this hell.
Kalena had wandered over to where Garn, Rhegar and Yvala stood. “We need information more than we need anything else. After all, we are trying to prevent what happened in Vertinia from happening in our own homeland.” Yvala gave out a small laugh as she ran her eyes up and down the wizard, giving her a dangerous smile. “I would not advertise that, not if you are trying to leave this country in one piece and avoid unwanted attention.” Kalena looked a little miffed at the tiefling’s disregard, but pushed on. “Tell us about this Baron.” Yvala gave a smile that flashed teeth. “A charismatic individual, or at least he likes to think he is. He had good food, and good wine, but I make sure to keep daggers under my pillow at night. He is….unusual.” “How?” asked Rhegar, tightening his grip on his weapon. “Well for an eighty year old, he’s very handsome.” “Is this depressed aging common in Vertinia?” Kalena interjected. Yvala smiled again. “Oh no. He’s a vampire.”
Why thank you Kord, for throwing something new and different at us. As if demon infused corpses weren’t enough, I thought. I hate vampires. When I was younger I had accompanied Merrab on a mission to clear out a mansion of the scum on Wit’s End. Many legends about vampires are wrong. Stakes wound only because they are sharp and pointy and sunlight merely stops their regeneration. It did explain the heavy scar tissue on the necks of the slaves. They were probably regular items on the vampire buffet.
“Surely there those who are opposed to this Baron and his cult.” Rhegar growled. “Of course there are.” Yvala purred. “But they won’t associate with me. I had to flee to protect myself after I threw something belonging to one of their leaders into the river. It was self defense, I assure you.” She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her hair, attempting an innocent look I didn’t believe for a second. Kalena continued on questioning the stranger, hoping to pull a bit more information from her. “Well we wouldn’t want to get you in any more trouble. Perhaps if you could tell us a bit about the ruling houses, we can be on our way. We’re looking for one called Wyvern.” “Baron Teigel belongs to House Shoggoth. I know that House Kraken patrols the coasts and there is one called Basilisk that is further inland. But I don’t know anything about a House Wyvern.”
With that information Rhegar seemed to come to a conclusion. “There is much work to do in this land, if these slaves are anything to judge by. We will be continuing our search, starting with a through cleansing of this plantation and its vampire masters. You are welcome to accompany us.” I almost fried the paladin with a burst of holy flame. The nerve he has to invite a viper into our mix without consulting the group, I seethed silently. I glared at his back as Yvala rocked back on her heels, considering the offer. “I accept. It’s a good offer and I couldn’t have stayed here much longer anyway. Besides the drunken oafs I left on the porch, the staffing isn’t much during the day. Most everyone is asleep, waiting for night to come.” “Then we go now, while the sun is strong. Kyri, Tavia, give these slaves some of our extra supplies and send them back to Raccan” stated Rhegar, happy to be jumping into a fight. “We’ve already given them directions.” I replied coldly, silently vowing to watch our new arrival carefully. “Then we’re off.”
Eliza’s Revenge would no doubt be changing headings once the Southern Stream had passed from view. As for us, we were headed for the northwest coast of the continent. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was all the information we had on the location of House Wyvern. Three days after parting ways with Eliza’s Revenge, we made landfall. We’d specifically chosen a stretch of coastline that seemed deserted, and therefore unpatrolled. Leaving Captain Raccan and the crew to hide the Southern Stream, the Order of the Rampant Dragon set out overland to see if we could find any clues to the fate of House Wyvern.
Coastal Vertinia was stranger than any portion of the Perinor islands I had been to. It was stranger than even the ice covered headlands of Arborea my father had once showed me. The weather was hot, like high summer in Farport even though it was only late spring. Huge red-barked trees dominated the forests, with ferns and tall leafy bushes covering the forest floor. We made camp the first night in the roots of the giants, using their huge pinecones to start a crackling fire. After breakfasting on hot fruit pies from our everlasting provisions, we continued thought the strange forest, looking for signs of habitation.
Sometime around midday we found the civilization we had been looking for as the forest gave away to gently rolling farmland. Field after field stretched on for over a mile, leading to a grand two story manor and beyond. The variety of crops was incredible. From our hiding spot on the edge of the tree line, I could see fields of wheat, flax, onions, potatoes, and beets. Beyond the house I could see fruit orchards. The pleasant view, however, was marred by the field workers. Instead of being tended by hard-working peasant farmers, the fields were being turned under by ratty, underfed, over-beaten slaves. In the wheat field directly ahead, there was a group of ten chained together in a mix of humans and dwarfs, an arrangement obviously designed to make walking and working as difficult as possible. The pitiful group was overseen by three skeletal creatures with bat-like wings. Each overseer held the leash to a growling hellhound. The creatures were bone devils, vulgar entities created by infusing a fiendish spirit in to a freshly killed corpse, in this case tiefling corpses. The bone devils lashed out at the slaves with barbed whips, for no other reason than to cause pain.
We grouped up to discuss the situation. Freeing the slaves would, in the very least, get us some information about the manor off in the distance and the owner of the plantation. But the overseers were too far from the tree line to be taken out with arrows, even with Kyri’s range. If we charged from the trees, the bone devils would see us before we crossed half the distance and would raise an alarm. It was Rhegar who came up with the final plan. We would pose as a new group of slaves being delivered to the plantation. We would carry Garn’s spear lengthwise, as if it was being used to tie us together. Vixi would take Rhegar’s glaive and act as our tiefling escort.
We shuffled forward from the trees, tall stubble in the wheat field hiding the fact that our feet were not, in fact, chained together. The bone devils watched our progress suspiciously and one stepped forward hand raised. “Who are you?” he asked in a deep, bored voice. The warlock held her head high. “I am Bellavixi. Who are you?” The bone devil uttered a name in Fiendish then continued in common. “What are you doing here?” Vixi rose up to her full height and glared coldly at the bone devil. “I am bringing fresh slaves to his Excellency. Who are you to question me?” The bone devil backed up, dipping its skeletal head. “Sorry, mistress.” He intoned.
As his head dropped further, we made our move. Vixi threw Rhegar his weapon. The rest of us released the spear shaft and spread out, releasing attacks as we moved. Garn’s magic handaxe landed in the side of one of the hellhounds and lightning leapt to the infernal creatures around it. Kalena tossed an orb on another hellhound that threw a shockwave out to the animals on either side. Two arrows from Kyri tore into the overseer that had come to greet us and I called a beam of light from the heavens that caused it to crumble to a pile of bleached dust.
The other two bone devils flew straight up. Unable to do much about the bone devils above their heads, the boys went after the canines on the ground. The heroes and hellhounds jumped around each other, trading blows and bites with the paladins and the warlord. Kalena centered an icy ray on one of the flying skeletons. It froze mid-stroke and plummeted to the ground, landing heavily on its cervical vertebra. Its companion flew toward Kyri and Vixi and they loosened arrows and curses in response. Knowing my prayers against undead would be less effective against these infused spirits, I added crossbow bolts where I could. On the ground, the hellhounds moved in to flank either side of Rhegar. He stabbed at one dog and it burned into a pile of ash, allowing him to move deftly out of their check.
The bone devil still in the air suddenly crashed to earth as two arrows from Kyri severed the membrane attaching the devil’s leathery wings to its body. It exploded into a pile of shattered bones on impact, fiendish spirit returning to the eighth circle of hell. The other bone devil stood and leapt back into the air. I ran toward it, hoping to get a prayer off before it could fly off to raise backup, but one of the hellhounds broke off to take a snap at me, blocking my route. Vixi cursed the beast, bringing it to a stop before it could do any damage. I stepped back, annoyed that the beast had ruined my attack, and caught a lance of faith across its back. The dog exploded in a burst of flames, spraying most of the party with bits of dog gore. Luckily, the bone devil was unable to escape when our wizard sprinted forward and released another bolt of energy into its frame. This time when the devil fell from the sky, it would not rise. Rhegar released the last hellhound from its miserable existence with a devastating swipe of his glaive. We gripped our weapons tightly, heads sweeping around see if our scuffle had attracted any unwanted attention. Fortunately, the closest overseers, some six or seven fields away, remained unaware of our presence.
However, we were not so lucky that our presence went completely unnoticed. As the slaves gathered around the Order, thanking us profusely for our bravery and cunning, I took a moment to take in our spectator. Standing on a dirt cart path between us and adjacent field was a female tiefling. She was tall, close to 6 feet, and quite striking. She had a lean, leggy build topped off by an attractive face, complete with pouty lips and bedroom eyes. Interestingly enough, her reddish hair was pulled up away from her face in complex system of braids and twists. Her minimal clothing, little more than two rectangles of black leather situated over her breasts and the cleft of her legs, amplified her feminity. A smattering of piercings and weapons, coupled with the tail and horns gave the tiefling a dangerously sexy look. She was completely different from our own mild mannered Vixi.
Though the stranger twirled a silver and black dagger between her hands, she made no move to attack us or to run toward the manner for help. Instead she viewed us with a kind of detached suspicion, as if she was too bored to give us much thought. I was taught not to judge a book by its cover, but something about the tiefling made me want to keep my weapon at ready. It’s the fact that she just watched you slaughter a group of three bone devils with hellhounds and doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about it, my inner wisdom screamed at me. I tried to push the thought aside but years of sidestepping the fights Kord liked to push into my direction had left me with an internal barometer for a coming fight. Right now the trumpets were sounding at full blast. If I knew anything about this woman, it was that violence followed wherever she went. She would need to be watched carefully.
Therefore, when Rhegar announced that he and Garn would go question our audience of one, I bit back my comment about ‘talking’ to scantily clad women and turned my attention to the slaves. I did, however, urge the chain a bit closer to the trio as I healed their wounds so that I could fry the harlot should she be a devil in disguise.
The paladin walked up to the tiefling with a loose gait, Garn a few steps behind. He kept the glaive at his side, with a loose one handed grip to indicate that he didn’t wish to fight, at least immediately anyway. She kept the dagger in hand, using it to idly remove a bit of dirt from underneath a fingernail. “So you’ve taken an interest in our fight?” he rumbled, not threatening but not totally friendly either. She smiled at him. “It was entertaining.” “Are you from around here?” asked the dragonborn. “No, not at all. And from your question, I doubt you are either.” Her voice was low and sultry. Rhegar ignored it for the most part. He looked off to the side, trying to appear bored with her games. “We have only just arrived.” She seemed to pounce on this information. “And what would bring you to the Baron’s manor.” “We did not know it belonged to him.” “So you are strangers to this land. I am Yvala. What brought you to Vertinia?” Rhegar decided to play it straight with the tiefling. “We came by sea. We are searching for an individual that will fulfill a prophecy in our homeland. What we have found has not been what we expected. Tell me how are things here?” Yvala sighed dramatically. “Oh you know, the usual. Death. Tyranny. Destruction.”
Over to the side, Markas had released the slaves from their chains. Kyri had pulled the repaired box of everlasting provisions from her pack and doled out a meat pie to each of the waif-like slaves. I was currently blessing each of the drudges with a healing prayer to cure the welts left by the barbed whips. “We have a ship on the coast. The work would be hard, but I suspect that Captain Raccan could easily train you to pull rigging.” One of the dwarfs came up and began shaking her hand. “Ma’am the hardest work we could be put to could be no contest to our daily toils in this hell.
Kalena had wandered over to where Garn, Rhegar and Yvala stood. “We need information more than we need anything else. After all, we are trying to prevent what happened in Vertinia from happening in our own homeland.” Yvala gave out a small laugh as she ran her eyes up and down the wizard, giving her a dangerous smile. “I would not advertise that, not if you are trying to leave this country in one piece and avoid unwanted attention.” Kalena looked a little miffed at the tiefling’s disregard, but pushed on. “Tell us about this Baron.” Yvala gave a smile that flashed teeth. “A charismatic individual, or at least he likes to think he is. He had good food, and good wine, but I make sure to keep daggers under my pillow at night. He is….unusual.” “How?” asked Rhegar, tightening his grip on his weapon. “Well for an eighty year old, he’s very handsome.” “Is this depressed aging common in Vertinia?” Kalena interjected. Yvala smiled again. “Oh no. He’s a vampire.”
Why thank you Kord, for throwing something new and different at us. As if demon infused corpses weren’t enough, I thought. I hate vampires. When I was younger I had accompanied Merrab on a mission to clear out a mansion of the scum on Wit’s End. Many legends about vampires are wrong. Stakes wound only because they are sharp and pointy and sunlight merely stops their regeneration. It did explain the heavy scar tissue on the necks of the slaves. They were probably regular items on the vampire buffet.
“Surely there those who are opposed to this Baron and his cult.” Rhegar growled. “Of course there are.” Yvala purred. “But they won’t associate with me. I had to flee to protect myself after I threw something belonging to one of their leaders into the river. It was self defense, I assure you.” She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her hair, attempting an innocent look I didn’t believe for a second. Kalena continued on questioning the stranger, hoping to pull a bit more information from her. “Well we wouldn’t want to get you in any more trouble. Perhaps if you could tell us a bit about the ruling houses, we can be on our way. We’re looking for one called Wyvern.” “Baron Teigel belongs to House Shoggoth. I know that House Kraken patrols the coasts and there is one called Basilisk that is further inland. But I don’t know anything about a House Wyvern.”
With that information Rhegar seemed to come to a conclusion. “There is much work to do in this land, if these slaves are anything to judge by. We will be continuing our search, starting with a through cleansing of this plantation and its vampire masters. You are welcome to accompany us.” I almost fried the paladin with a burst of holy flame. The nerve he has to invite a viper into our mix without consulting the group, I seethed silently. I glared at his back as Yvala rocked back on her heels, considering the offer. “I accept. It’s a good offer and I couldn’t have stayed here much longer anyway. Besides the drunken oafs I left on the porch, the staffing isn’t much during the day. Most everyone is asleep, waiting for night to come.” “Then we go now, while the sun is strong. Kyri, Tavia, give these slaves some of our extra supplies and send them back to Raccan” stated Rhegar, happy to be jumping into a fight. “We’ve already given them directions.” I replied coldly, silently vowing to watch our new arrival carefully. “Then we’re off.”
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Assisting Eliza's Revenge
I tried hard not to look down at the water below as I crossed the plank bridging the Southern Stream and the Eliza’s Revenge and focused instead on the flurry of activity aboard the ship. Two swashbucklers dropped a chest large enough to hold a halfling onto the deck and began passing out crossbows to the crew. The jack tars added the ranged weapons to their already impressive personal arrays of cutlasses, rapiers, and daggers. With a shout from the captain, the privateers pulled the plank aboard. “Remember the sequence for all clear!” he shouted as Raccan pulled away.
“All right, you hapless dogs! Furl the sails and arm up! We’ll show these devils that the Revenge has teeth.” The captain lashed the wheel and jumped down to where the five of us had gathered, followed by two more swashbucklers with better jackets and blades than the rest of the crew. Bowing elegantly, he introduced himself formally. “I am Captain Jonathan Plate of the Eliza’s Revenge and allied to the remainder of the House of the Crimson Rapier. This is my mate, Yadkov and my bosun, Tollain.” “I am Kyri, and these are Garn, Kalena, Tavia, and Markas. We belong to the Order of the Rampant Dragon and have sailed from Aurincia in Perinor.” The captain acknowledged everyone with a nod of his head. “I dinna want ta say this in fron’ o’ the crew, but this is gonna be a tough fight. Vertinian naval ships are usually captained by a half-devil Cambion. I hope you kids have a trick or two up your sleeves.” I bowed to the halfling. “I am a cleric by profession, Captain Plate. If there is an opportunity, I can swing across to the other ship and clear the deck with a couple of prayers that are exceptionally effective against undead. But we would need to take out a few of the tiefling officers first, as they would surely burn me down before I had a chance to attack.” The captain mulled over the idea, stroking the sideburns on his cheek. “Daring, lass-and reckless too-but better than nothing. We’ll keep it as a backup.”
The sleek Vertinian ship closed the gap quickly. The skeleton crew congregated at the railings, menacing the crew with rusty cutlasses and dark bows. The halfling jack tars rallied back, returning catcalls and insults as they loaded bolts into their cross bows. “Wait for the signal, boys. I don’t want ta see any bolts bein’ fired ‘fore I gives the word.” Plate told the crew. Markas cast a sacred circle under the blessing of the Raven Queen. The glowing runes spread across the deck, fortifying the armor of anyone within the thirty foot circle. Kyri loosened two arrows while the ship was still at long range for the rest of us, but the unfamiliar rolling of the ship caused the arrows to dive below the sea. When the trim ship came into range the captain released the crew. With a battle cry of “For Eliza and the Crimson Rapier!” the swashbucklers fired as one. Half of the skeleton crew fell to their crossbolts. Garn tossed a hand axe at one of the two mail wearing skeletons and a bolt from my cross bow turned the creature to a pile of bones. The remaining undead crew returned fire and two of the halflings fell screaming to the ocean’s embrace. Kalena flung a glowing green orb at the other skeleton in chain. It exploded on impact and the minions on either side crumbled to dust.
As the two ships moved closer, three tiefling officers came into range. The one in the middle wore robes of white with fancy red and gold embroidery, obviously denoting his rank as first mate. To his right he was flanked by a tiefling covered in the trappings of a necromancer and a junior officer in green stood at his left. A feathered arrow thudded into the mate’s shoulder. “You will pay for that, elf.” He sneered. “Not if we have a say” said Captain Plate as he fired a second crossbow bolt into the tiefling. The air between the ships was peppered with bolts. The remaining skeleton crew on deck shattered under the impact. Skilled shots from Yadkov and Tollain tore through the mate’s throat.
Uttering demonic curses, the two officers unleashed dark spells across the open decks. One enveloped Kalena and she shrieked, jumping about as if the deck were on fire below her feet. The other spell settled around me, but I saw the snakes that wriggled up through the planking for the illusion they were. Kalena formed a cloud of daggers around the necromancer’s head in retaliation, but it teleported out of the way before much damage could be done.
The ghastly ship finally came alongside Eliza’s Revenge, but the captain of the vessel had yet to be sighted. Markas jumped on board the Vertinian vessel and attacked the chainmailed skeleton standing within range of Kalena. A third volley from the jack tars pinned the junior officer to the decking. Yadkov and Tollain executed a skilled pair of blows against the soldier but it was a flourish from Plate’s rapier that stole its lifeforce. Garn ran onto the deck to attack the necromancer but attacked something behind the mast instead. “He’s here! The captain is behind the mast!” He yelled right before showering the fiends with an icy breath to slow their movements. I vaulted over the railings and ran to the opposite side of the mast from where Garn attacked. Sure enough, there stood the Cambion in all his hooved glory. Immediately I pulled a column of daunting white light from the sky above. He hissed in pain but leapt toward me with lightning speed. Despite the solid blow I landed with the butt of my quarterstaff, the half-devil pirouetted around me and charged into the middle of the square created by Markas, Kalena, Captain Plate, and his officers. The wicked grin pasted on his face was the only prelude to the devastating whirlwind attack that followed. Kalena shifted back from the firey greatsword thrust in her face and pinned the fiend in place with an icy ray. Two arrows from Kyri pierced his throat to end his miserable existence. With a yelp, the necromancer fled through the door to the sterncastle.
The halfling privateers swarmed the deck singing. “We beat ‘um! We beat ‘um! We beat back the Navy.” The captain was unimpressed by their celebration. “Hush up you lot! Those were just the ones on deck. There may be more below. Yadkov, take three and start searchin’ the captain’s cabin. Tollin, take the rest and start goin’ through the forecastle.” The crew jumped to follow his orders. Satisfied, he followed Markas through the door the tiefling had fled through.
The rooms of the sterncastle were hideously decorated with symbols devoted to Asmodeus and a stylized black octopus, which Captain Plate informed me, was the symbol for House Kraken. Official symbols of the former Vertinian royal family were also abound. From beneath a closed hatch we could hear a strange, low humming. Climbing down the hatch we found ourselves in a small room with two wooden doors leading into the middle hold. Markas and Garn braced themselves against the doorways while the rest of us readied ourselves for what stood on the other side. “One. Two. THREE!” shouted Markas and the pair pulled open the doors.
Two skeleton soldiers flanked the necromancer who had fled from the deck. Behind the trio stood a swirling portal. Glowing red smoke poured from the hole and bright vermillion flames licked at the hull without charring. However, none of us took much notice of the necromancer or the portal to hell. Instead our immediate attention was taken up by two hulking zombies hunched in front of the open doorways. The one in front of Markas’s door was the reanimate corpse of a two-headed, half-giant. Grayish lumps of fatty skin rolled over his corded muscles as he raised a club that looked more like a small tree. The aberration- and that was the only word for it had been crafted from the combined corpses of an ogre, a bear, and some type of giant insectoid- hissed a warning and drew back a clawed arm. “Oh, I bet someone’s happy,” remarked Kalena dryly. “Oh I’m always happy. We’re always fighting undead.” I replied sarcastically. Effective, yes. But certainly not happy. I thought. The hulking creature in front of Markas battered the paladin with a tree-trunk sized club. Garn’s monster was slower on the follow through and the warlord was able to slam the door shut. The doorway splintered but held for the moment. “Can you fry them with that wind of yours?” Kalena asked, panic creeping into her voice. “Not unless you want bits of healer instead of a whole one. I can do this, though.” I said, calling down a pillar of white light around the two-headed monster before murmering a healing prayer for Markas. A sudden roll of the deck drove Kyri’s arrows into the doorframe, but Captain Plate took advantage of the zombie giant’s weakened defenses to stab it thought the kneecap. The wound gushed yellow pus onto the deck. Markas took another smashing blow to the ribs from the creature’s club as the other door exploded in a cloud of splinters. Blinded by the flying wood, Garn missed his counterattack.
I called another healing prayer as I stepped around the injured paladin who was stoicly protecting the rest of us from the devastating attacks of the monstrosity in the hold. Healing light washed over Markas as I connected with the zombie’s other leg. It fell to the deck with a meaty thud. Fortified, Markas moved into the hold to attack the second hulking undead with a prayer that caused the creature to shudder with pain. A green arrow squelched into the shoulder of the umberhulk’s twin abomination. Knowing he was outmaneuvered, the necromancer dove through the portal. “Kill ‘em good, boys.” He hissed over his shoulder.
By this time four of the privateers had joined us in the small room beyond the hold. Laughing, all but one ducked into the shadows. The three behind Garn’s door fired crossbows at the vile creation and the bolts slurched into its stomach. The halfling who had remained visible taunted the skeletons on the opposite end of the hold and fired wildly. Distracted, they didn’t notice as Captain Plate slipped through the doorway to slice into the zombie with a devastating flourish of his rapier. The skeletons shifted to the left and took careful aim at the dragonborn in the doorway. With a gasp, Garn fell to the floor, bolts protruding from his neck and chest. Screaming with rage, Kalena brought down the looming beast with a blast of energy.
To our surprise the first hulking zombie stood and picked his club from the floor. I felt a few gazes turning toward me as if expecting an answer but I ignored them. I lashed a quick lance of faith across its greyed flesh and knelt beside Garn. Pulling out the arrows, I placed my hands over the wounds and uttered a third healing prayer. The wounds stopped oozing and closed neatly. Inside the hold, I could just catch a glimpse of the captain as he spun on his booted heel and drove the point of his rapier deep into the monster’s chest. A few more bolts from the halflings pierced its rotting flesh and the living corpse slid to the floor, not to rise again. An arrow from the skeletons pierced one of the halflings in the chest. It was a lucky shot, killing him before he hit the floor. Garn stood and braced himself for the second aberration to rise again.
It stood moments later but this time the party was not taken by surprise. Markas battered it into full view of the doorway and an arrow from Kyri’s vicious bow sliced neatly through the creature’s eye, burying itself in what was left of its brain. Garn stabbed the bloody carcass out of spite. Jumping up, I dodged around the mountainous bodies of the fallen zombies and stopped beyond the two skeleton soldiers. I released the pent-up power my glowing holy symbol and the skeletons flew back. The force was enough to cause one to crumble. They other sailed past Markas and into a cloud of daggers Kalena had created earlier. A final blow from Markas’s flail turned the skeleton to dust.
The hold clear, we turned our attention to the portal. “I know that I don’t have the skill to close a portal of this nature and strength,” remarked Markas. Kalena and I nodded our heads in agreement. “Well, then, as much as I would like to keep such a fine ship for meself, our only choice is to scuttle her,” settled Captain Plate. We left a couple of jack tars to watch the portal and began preparations while we searched the rest of the ship.
In the captain’s cabin we found letters of mark signed by the Doge of House Kraken. They were quite nasty, allowing the Captain Volant and the crew of The Damnation to take out any vessel suspected of piracy and take any treasure found on board. There was, of course, no requirement to return the treasure to the original owners. We also found maps of both the Vertinian coastline and mainland and 3,500 in gold coins and jewels. In the necromancer’s chambers we found a book containing rituals for summon water and animate dead. Up on deck, we discovered that the first mate’s robes were crafted from Flameburst cloth while Captain Volant wore Curseforged chainmail. Both could be appropriated for Kalena and myself.
When we offered to split the treasure with the crew of Eliza’s Revenge, the halflings insisted that we load everything on board the Southern Stream. “Without your help The Damnation would have killed us for certain.” “There must be something we can do for you. After all, we both would have gone down had we not joined forces.” Kyri remarked diplomatically. “We would be grateful if you could chart us a map to Perinor. Even if Tiamat comes back like you say she will, it would still be five years of freedom. We’ll go collect our families and sail out straightaway. We wouldn’t say no to an escort either.” “Unfortunately, we on a mission we can’t be turned from, even to help such fine folks as yourselves. We are looking to find House Wyvern. There is a prophecy which said the heir will be instrumental in defeating Tiamat.” “Well now, I don’t know much about House Wyvern. Continentals they were, somewhere in the northwest. All we see out here are occasional ship carrying supplies between the lands of Asmodeus, Bane, Torag and others. And then we rob them. I’m afraid that’s all I know.” Kyri bowed to the captain. “Sir, you have been more than helpful. Now, lets finish getting you the directions to Perinor.”
“All right, you hapless dogs! Furl the sails and arm up! We’ll show these devils that the Revenge has teeth.” The captain lashed the wheel and jumped down to where the five of us had gathered, followed by two more swashbucklers with better jackets and blades than the rest of the crew. Bowing elegantly, he introduced himself formally. “I am Captain Jonathan Plate of the Eliza’s Revenge and allied to the remainder of the House of the Crimson Rapier. This is my mate, Yadkov and my bosun, Tollain.” “I am Kyri, and these are Garn, Kalena, Tavia, and Markas. We belong to the Order of the Rampant Dragon and have sailed from Aurincia in Perinor.” The captain acknowledged everyone with a nod of his head. “I dinna want ta say this in fron’ o’ the crew, but this is gonna be a tough fight. Vertinian naval ships are usually captained by a half-devil Cambion. I hope you kids have a trick or two up your sleeves.” I bowed to the halfling. “I am a cleric by profession, Captain Plate. If there is an opportunity, I can swing across to the other ship and clear the deck with a couple of prayers that are exceptionally effective against undead. But we would need to take out a few of the tiefling officers first, as they would surely burn me down before I had a chance to attack.” The captain mulled over the idea, stroking the sideburns on his cheek. “Daring, lass-and reckless too-but better than nothing. We’ll keep it as a backup.”
The sleek Vertinian ship closed the gap quickly. The skeleton crew congregated at the railings, menacing the crew with rusty cutlasses and dark bows. The halfling jack tars rallied back, returning catcalls and insults as they loaded bolts into their cross bows. “Wait for the signal, boys. I don’t want ta see any bolts bein’ fired ‘fore I gives the word.” Plate told the crew. Markas cast a sacred circle under the blessing of the Raven Queen. The glowing runes spread across the deck, fortifying the armor of anyone within the thirty foot circle. Kyri loosened two arrows while the ship was still at long range for the rest of us, but the unfamiliar rolling of the ship caused the arrows to dive below the sea. When the trim ship came into range the captain released the crew. With a battle cry of “For Eliza and the Crimson Rapier!” the swashbucklers fired as one. Half of the skeleton crew fell to their crossbolts. Garn tossed a hand axe at one of the two mail wearing skeletons and a bolt from my cross bow turned the creature to a pile of bones. The remaining undead crew returned fire and two of the halflings fell screaming to the ocean’s embrace. Kalena flung a glowing green orb at the other skeleton in chain. It exploded on impact and the minions on either side crumbled to dust.
As the two ships moved closer, three tiefling officers came into range. The one in the middle wore robes of white with fancy red and gold embroidery, obviously denoting his rank as first mate. To his right he was flanked by a tiefling covered in the trappings of a necromancer and a junior officer in green stood at his left. A feathered arrow thudded into the mate’s shoulder. “You will pay for that, elf.” He sneered. “Not if we have a say” said Captain Plate as he fired a second crossbow bolt into the tiefling. The air between the ships was peppered with bolts. The remaining skeleton crew on deck shattered under the impact. Skilled shots from Yadkov and Tollain tore through the mate’s throat.
Uttering demonic curses, the two officers unleashed dark spells across the open decks. One enveloped Kalena and she shrieked, jumping about as if the deck were on fire below her feet. The other spell settled around me, but I saw the snakes that wriggled up through the planking for the illusion they were. Kalena formed a cloud of daggers around the necromancer’s head in retaliation, but it teleported out of the way before much damage could be done.
The ghastly ship finally came alongside Eliza’s Revenge, but the captain of the vessel had yet to be sighted. Markas jumped on board the Vertinian vessel and attacked the chainmailed skeleton standing within range of Kalena. A third volley from the jack tars pinned the junior officer to the decking. Yadkov and Tollain executed a skilled pair of blows against the soldier but it was a flourish from Plate’s rapier that stole its lifeforce. Garn ran onto the deck to attack the necromancer but attacked something behind the mast instead. “He’s here! The captain is behind the mast!” He yelled right before showering the fiends with an icy breath to slow their movements. I vaulted over the railings and ran to the opposite side of the mast from where Garn attacked. Sure enough, there stood the Cambion in all his hooved glory. Immediately I pulled a column of daunting white light from the sky above. He hissed in pain but leapt toward me with lightning speed. Despite the solid blow I landed with the butt of my quarterstaff, the half-devil pirouetted around me and charged into the middle of the square created by Markas, Kalena, Captain Plate, and his officers. The wicked grin pasted on his face was the only prelude to the devastating whirlwind attack that followed. Kalena shifted back from the firey greatsword thrust in her face and pinned the fiend in place with an icy ray. Two arrows from Kyri pierced his throat to end his miserable existence. With a yelp, the necromancer fled through the door to the sterncastle.
The halfling privateers swarmed the deck singing. “We beat ‘um! We beat ‘um! We beat back the Navy.” The captain was unimpressed by their celebration. “Hush up you lot! Those were just the ones on deck. There may be more below. Yadkov, take three and start searchin’ the captain’s cabin. Tollin, take the rest and start goin’ through the forecastle.” The crew jumped to follow his orders. Satisfied, he followed Markas through the door the tiefling had fled through.
The rooms of the sterncastle were hideously decorated with symbols devoted to Asmodeus and a stylized black octopus, which Captain Plate informed me, was the symbol for House Kraken. Official symbols of the former Vertinian royal family were also abound. From beneath a closed hatch we could hear a strange, low humming. Climbing down the hatch we found ourselves in a small room with two wooden doors leading into the middle hold. Markas and Garn braced themselves against the doorways while the rest of us readied ourselves for what stood on the other side. “One. Two. THREE!” shouted Markas and the pair pulled open the doors.
Two skeleton soldiers flanked the necromancer who had fled from the deck. Behind the trio stood a swirling portal. Glowing red smoke poured from the hole and bright vermillion flames licked at the hull without charring. However, none of us took much notice of the necromancer or the portal to hell. Instead our immediate attention was taken up by two hulking zombies hunched in front of the open doorways. The one in front of Markas’s door was the reanimate corpse of a two-headed, half-giant. Grayish lumps of fatty skin rolled over his corded muscles as he raised a club that looked more like a small tree. The aberration- and that was the only word for it had been crafted from the combined corpses of an ogre, a bear, and some type of giant insectoid- hissed a warning and drew back a clawed arm. “Oh, I bet someone’s happy,” remarked Kalena dryly. “Oh I’m always happy. We’re always fighting undead.” I replied sarcastically. Effective, yes. But certainly not happy. I thought. The hulking creature in front of Markas battered the paladin with a tree-trunk sized club. Garn’s monster was slower on the follow through and the warlord was able to slam the door shut. The doorway splintered but held for the moment. “Can you fry them with that wind of yours?” Kalena asked, panic creeping into her voice. “Not unless you want bits of healer instead of a whole one. I can do this, though.” I said, calling down a pillar of white light around the two-headed monster before murmering a healing prayer for Markas. A sudden roll of the deck drove Kyri’s arrows into the doorframe, but Captain Plate took advantage of the zombie giant’s weakened defenses to stab it thought the kneecap. The wound gushed yellow pus onto the deck. Markas took another smashing blow to the ribs from the creature’s club as the other door exploded in a cloud of splinters. Blinded by the flying wood, Garn missed his counterattack.
I called another healing prayer as I stepped around the injured paladin who was stoicly protecting the rest of us from the devastating attacks of the monstrosity in the hold. Healing light washed over Markas as I connected with the zombie’s other leg. It fell to the deck with a meaty thud. Fortified, Markas moved into the hold to attack the second hulking undead with a prayer that caused the creature to shudder with pain. A green arrow squelched into the shoulder of the umberhulk’s twin abomination. Knowing he was outmaneuvered, the necromancer dove through the portal. “Kill ‘em good, boys.” He hissed over his shoulder.
By this time four of the privateers had joined us in the small room beyond the hold. Laughing, all but one ducked into the shadows. The three behind Garn’s door fired crossbows at the vile creation and the bolts slurched into its stomach. The halfling who had remained visible taunted the skeletons on the opposite end of the hold and fired wildly. Distracted, they didn’t notice as Captain Plate slipped through the doorway to slice into the zombie with a devastating flourish of his rapier. The skeletons shifted to the left and took careful aim at the dragonborn in the doorway. With a gasp, Garn fell to the floor, bolts protruding from his neck and chest. Screaming with rage, Kalena brought down the looming beast with a blast of energy.
To our surprise the first hulking zombie stood and picked his club from the floor. I felt a few gazes turning toward me as if expecting an answer but I ignored them. I lashed a quick lance of faith across its greyed flesh and knelt beside Garn. Pulling out the arrows, I placed my hands over the wounds and uttered a third healing prayer. The wounds stopped oozing and closed neatly. Inside the hold, I could just catch a glimpse of the captain as he spun on his booted heel and drove the point of his rapier deep into the monster’s chest. A few more bolts from the halflings pierced its rotting flesh and the living corpse slid to the floor, not to rise again. An arrow from the skeletons pierced one of the halflings in the chest. It was a lucky shot, killing him before he hit the floor. Garn stood and braced himself for the second aberration to rise again.
It stood moments later but this time the party was not taken by surprise. Markas battered it into full view of the doorway and an arrow from Kyri’s vicious bow sliced neatly through the creature’s eye, burying itself in what was left of its brain. Garn stabbed the bloody carcass out of spite. Jumping up, I dodged around the mountainous bodies of the fallen zombies and stopped beyond the two skeleton soldiers. I released the pent-up power my glowing holy symbol and the skeletons flew back. The force was enough to cause one to crumble. They other sailed past Markas and into a cloud of daggers Kalena had created earlier. A final blow from Markas’s flail turned the skeleton to dust.
The hold clear, we turned our attention to the portal. “I know that I don’t have the skill to close a portal of this nature and strength,” remarked Markas. Kalena and I nodded our heads in agreement. “Well, then, as much as I would like to keep such a fine ship for meself, our only choice is to scuttle her,” settled Captain Plate. We left a couple of jack tars to watch the portal and began preparations while we searched the rest of the ship.
In the captain’s cabin we found letters of mark signed by the Doge of House Kraken. They were quite nasty, allowing the Captain Volant and the crew of The Damnation to take out any vessel suspected of piracy and take any treasure found on board. There was, of course, no requirement to return the treasure to the original owners. We also found maps of both the Vertinian coastline and mainland and 3,500 in gold coins and jewels. In the necromancer’s chambers we found a book containing rituals for summon water and animate dead. Up on deck, we discovered that the first mate’s robes were crafted from Flameburst cloth while Captain Volant wore Curseforged chainmail. Both could be appropriated for Kalena and myself.
When we offered to split the treasure with the crew of Eliza’s Revenge, the halflings insisted that we load everything on board the Southern Stream. “Without your help The Damnation would have killed us for certain.” “There must be something we can do for you. After all, we both would have gone down had we not joined forces.” Kyri remarked diplomatically. “We would be grateful if you could chart us a map to Perinor. Even if Tiamat comes back like you say she will, it would still be five years of freedom. We’ll go collect our families and sail out straightaway. We wouldn’t say no to an escort either.” “Unfortunately, we on a mission we can’t be turned from, even to help such fine folks as yourselves. We are looking to find House Wyvern. There is a prophecy which said the heir will be instrumental in defeating Tiamat.” “Well now, I don’t know much about House Wyvern. Continentals they were, somewhere in the northwest. All we see out here are occasional ship carrying supplies between the lands of Asmodeus, Bane, Torag and others. And then we rob them. I’m afraid that’s all I know.” Kyri bowed to the captain. “Sir, you have been more than helpful. Now, lets finish getting you the directions to Perinor.”
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Pirates Dead Ahead
I flung open the door onto the deck of the Southern Stream and sucked greedily at the sharp salt air. Having expelled the foul odor from my lungs, I gingerly raised my arm to my nose. I took a quite whiff and let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully the sour smell of bile mixed with stomach acids and sea rations had yet to permeate the blue fabric. I heard a soft snickering behind me. “Is there something wrong with the air below decks, Healer? You’re looking a little green about the gills.” I turned and smiled serenely at the brown haired human leaning on the quarterdeck railing. “Why, not at all. The air below is fresh as a spring meadow. But you know, Kalena, Vixi has been missing your chats somewhat terribly. Hey, I have an idea! In two hours, when the upchuck buckets need to be changed, you can go and have a nice long talk with her.” I threw the wizard another wide grin and she returned it with a Look. Climbing the stairs to the quarterdeck, I joined the half of the Order of the Rampant Dragon that wasn’t throwing their insides or locked in deep meditation.
We had stayed in Aurincia a mere two days. As soon as we arrived we informed the Council of our adventures to date. Naturally, they had wanted our group to depart for Vertinia as soon as the Southern Stream had been resupplied. The Council, however, was persuaded to let us stay in an extra day for some needed retraining. Bishop Jorda was elated to see me walk into the temple of Kord looking, as she put it, “as happy as a shellfisher who’d found her first pearl.” She smiled knowing as I related the tale of our short adventure. “Well it seems like you are putting both the Symbol of Life and ol’ Father Cerrance’s teachings to good use.” The bishop sent me on my way that afternoon with a book a healing prayers to and letter from my friends Cora and Caling.
The Southern Stream sailed out on the dawn tide the following day. The first five days from port had been smooth, fast sailing. On the sixth day, the weather turned dreary and mists cast a shroud over the horizon. The winds changed from westerly to easterly and we were forced to tack into a headwind at a third of our previous speed. Despite my appeals to Kord, the winds had stayed in that unfavorable direction for the last two days and the fog remained. To further lower morale, Vixi, Rhegar, and three of the Stream’s crew had become violently sick at dinner the previous evening. As four of the five victims were experienced sailors, I suspected the culprit to be a stomach illness rather than the result of rough seas. The wind-chopped water, however, did little to settle their nausea and the five were currently huddled in the captain’s captain to prevent the illness from spreading to the rest of the crew.
Kalena opened her mouth to express her distaste with my idea, but before she had uttered a word the sailor in the crow’s nest let out a bellow. “Ship come out of the fog, Captain! Headed straight for us!” Forgetting the banter, Kalena and I clustered up with Kyri and Garn as Captain Raccan pulled a bronze spyglass form a coat pocket. “Well, what do you see? Are they friendly?” inquired Kalena. Captain Raccan snorted into his moustache. “They are most certainly not friendly, madam. That ship is flying the Crimson Cutlass and is running downwind straight for us.” Kalena’s eyes widened. Beside her, Kyri rested her hands on her slender hips. “Well we can’t have expected to avoid pirates all the way to the Vertinian coast. Can we out run the other ship Captain?” “Nay. She’s larger and carries more sails on her. She’d be on us before we could unfurl the extra canvas to run.” “Then we should tack north. If they are sailing to intercept us, then there is nothing we can do but prepare to be boarded. However, if the pirates have another vessel in their sights, then they can easily bypass us.” Kalena said. “That’s as good a plan as any, lass” agreed the captain as he grabbed the wheel and turned the Stream northward. “Perhaps someone should wake Markas?” suggested Kyri as she scanned the horizon for signs of another ship. “I’ll go.” I said as I headed down the stairs. “I’ll need to get my mail if there is going to be a fight. And while I’m down there I think I’ll grab Rhegar’s flaming crossbow as well. It’s not like he is going to be using it” I called over my shoulder.
By the time I returned to the quarterdeck, the black clipper was no longer bearing down on us and Kyri and Captain Raccan were taking turns looking at their deck through the spyglass. “The whole crew is Halflings.” The elf remarked. “Well Halflings are excellent sailors to be sure, but the speed they are putting on is to the point of recklessness. It’s almost as if they’re running from something.” “I wonder what they are running from. If it’s dangerous perhaps we should be running, too.” Garn mused. As if on cue, a cry came down from the nest. “ ‘Nother ship on the horizon!” Raccan’s first mate had taken the spyglass from Kyri and was now sighting down the new ship. “Sir! She’s flying the colors of Vertinia as well as the Quartered Crimson.” “There’s your answer lad. Pirates tend to avoid being boarded by the Port Authority as it tends to mean they lose their treasure and their lives.” Kalena rubbed her hands together and smiled in a spritish fashion. “Then I think it’s time we cultivated some favor with the local navy.”
Raccan wheeled the Stream around, and steered her into the direct course of the oncoming halfling vessel. Unwilling to ram the Stream and sink both ships to the bottom of the sea, the pirate captain turned his ship so that the two were sailing side by side. The Halfling sailors continued to throw on sail and Raccan ordered his crew to do the same, matching the pirate’s speed. Jack tar halflings brandished cutlass and sword at our crew, crying out “Arr! Come and taste steel! You’ll never take us alive ya landlubbers! We’ll send you to Melora’s embrace!”
Garn gripped a rope and shouted into the wind. “Where are you going in such a hurry?” The halfling captain beamed back at us. “Who us? Agh, we just be takin’ the ol’ sheets out for a stretch. But what be ye doin’ hereabouts? Yer not even flyin’ a flag o’ yer house.” Garn was unfazed by the pirate’s comments, though our first mate sent a crewman scurrying to get Perinor’s flag. “I’ve seen pleasant sailing, sir, and this isn’t it. Why don’t we just wait for the law to arrive?” The pirate captain doubled over with laughter. Guffawing he cried, “Wait for the law?! Boyo, where are ya from that ya think they’re the law?” Kyri had climbed up beside Garn and this time it was she who replied. “We’re from Perinor.” She shouted into the wind. The pirate’s laughter stopped immediately and his voice went cold. “Perinor is a myth.” Kyri drew her shoulders back and raised her head high, nobility radiating from her stance. “Then you find yourself in the middle of a legend for we sailed from the capitol city just over a week ago.” The halfling dipped his head in acknowledgement. “Well I hope y’all have some legendary powers then because if that ship catches us, we’re all dead. Take another look at yonder crew, lass.”
Kyri took the spyglass from the first mate’s outstretched hand. She focused on the deck and with a shocked look handed the spyglass to me. I put the instrument to my eye and nearly dropped it in shock. Skeletons crawled over every available scrap of wood not bearing canvas, wielding rusty cutlasses and crossbows. They were commanded by a plethora of tiefling officers that looked more demonish than any tiefling I had ever seen. Kyri turned back to the halfling captain. “Why are there skeletons crewing an official ship of Vertinia?” “Ye kiddies must really be from Perinor iffin ye has no idea how that happened. A hundred years ago, the evil gods divided up the known world. Asmodeus took Vertinia. He uses the dead bodies o’ honest Vertinians to crew his ships and staff his armies.” “Well, what are you then? Vertinians or something else?” Kyri shouted. “Oh, we’re Vertinians all right. We escaped though the fortune of residing on the outer island. In Vertinia’s heyday the House of the Crimson Rapier was an alliance of merchants. When the world went to hell we switched to piracy.”
“Are you planning on attacking the Port Authority?” Garn asked. The pirate captain gave a mirthless chuckle. “That would be suicide.” Kyri threw Garn a glare and the dragonborn nipped off his next question. “So what normally happens in this situation?” she yelled though the winds. “Well we either escape into the fog or we die.” “Would it help if we worked together, paired up and attacked from one ship with a larger force?” The captain mulled over the idea, running a hand over his thick braids. “It could even the odds and with the skellies bearing down on us we don’t have much choice. Throw a plank over, boys.”
We had stayed in Aurincia a mere two days. As soon as we arrived we informed the Council of our adventures to date. Naturally, they had wanted our group to depart for Vertinia as soon as the Southern Stream had been resupplied. The Council, however, was persuaded to let us stay in an extra day for some needed retraining. Bishop Jorda was elated to see me walk into the temple of Kord looking, as she put it, “as happy as a shellfisher who’d found her first pearl.” She smiled knowing as I related the tale of our short adventure. “Well it seems like you are putting both the Symbol of Life and ol’ Father Cerrance’s teachings to good use.” The bishop sent me on my way that afternoon with a book a healing prayers to and letter from my friends Cora and Caling.
The Southern Stream sailed out on the dawn tide the following day. The first five days from port had been smooth, fast sailing. On the sixth day, the weather turned dreary and mists cast a shroud over the horizon. The winds changed from westerly to easterly and we were forced to tack into a headwind at a third of our previous speed. Despite my appeals to Kord, the winds had stayed in that unfavorable direction for the last two days and the fog remained. To further lower morale, Vixi, Rhegar, and three of the Stream’s crew had become violently sick at dinner the previous evening. As four of the five victims were experienced sailors, I suspected the culprit to be a stomach illness rather than the result of rough seas. The wind-chopped water, however, did little to settle their nausea and the five were currently huddled in the captain’s captain to prevent the illness from spreading to the rest of the crew.
Kalena opened her mouth to express her distaste with my idea, but before she had uttered a word the sailor in the crow’s nest let out a bellow. “Ship come out of the fog, Captain! Headed straight for us!” Forgetting the banter, Kalena and I clustered up with Kyri and Garn as Captain Raccan pulled a bronze spyglass form a coat pocket. “Well, what do you see? Are they friendly?” inquired Kalena. Captain Raccan snorted into his moustache. “They are most certainly not friendly, madam. That ship is flying the Crimson Cutlass and is running downwind straight for us.” Kalena’s eyes widened. Beside her, Kyri rested her hands on her slender hips. “Well we can’t have expected to avoid pirates all the way to the Vertinian coast. Can we out run the other ship Captain?” “Nay. She’s larger and carries more sails on her. She’d be on us before we could unfurl the extra canvas to run.” “Then we should tack north. If they are sailing to intercept us, then there is nothing we can do but prepare to be boarded. However, if the pirates have another vessel in their sights, then they can easily bypass us.” Kalena said. “That’s as good a plan as any, lass” agreed the captain as he grabbed the wheel and turned the Stream northward. “Perhaps someone should wake Markas?” suggested Kyri as she scanned the horizon for signs of another ship. “I’ll go.” I said as I headed down the stairs. “I’ll need to get my mail if there is going to be a fight. And while I’m down there I think I’ll grab Rhegar’s flaming crossbow as well. It’s not like he is going to be using it” I called over my shoulder.
By the time I returned to the quarterdeck, the black clipper was no longer bearing down on us and Kyri and Captain Raccan were taking turns looking at their deck through the spyglass. “The whole crew is Halflings.” The elf remarked. “Well Halflings are excellent sailors to be sure, but the speed they are putting on is to the point of recklessness. It’s almost as if they’re running from something.” “I wonder what they are running from. If it’s dangerous perhaps we should be running, too.” Garn mused. As if on cue, a cry came down from the nest. “ ‘Nother ship on the horizon!” Raccan’s first mate had taken the spyglass from Kyri and was now sighting down the new ship. “Sir! She’s flying the colors of Vertinia as well as the Quartered Crimson.” “There’s your answer lad. Pirates tend to avoid being boarded by the Port Authority as it tends to mean they lose their treasure and their lives.” Kalena rubbed her hands together and smiled in a spritish fashion. “Then I think it’s time we cultivated some favor with the local navy.”
Raccan wheeled the Stream around, and steered her into the direct course of the oncoming halfling vessel. Unwilling to ram the Stream and sink both ships to the bottom of the sea, the pirate captain turned his ship so that the two were sailing side by side. The Halfling sailors continued to throw on sail and Raccan ordered his crew to do the same, matching the pirate’s speed. Jack tar halflings brandished cutlass and sword at our crew, crying out “Arr! Come and taste steel! You’ll never take us alive ya landlubbers! We’ll send you to Melora’s embrace!”
Garn gripped a rope and shouted into the wind. “Where are you going in such a hurry?” The halfling captain beamed back at us. “Who us? Agh, we just be takin’ the ol’ sheets out for a stretch. But what be ye doin’ hereabouts? Yer not even flyin’ a flag o’ yer house.” Garn was unfazed by the pirate’s comments, though our first mate sent a crewman scurrying to get Perinor’s flag. “I’ve seen pleasant sailing, sir, and this isn’t it. Why don’t we just wait for the law to arrive?” The pirate captain doubled over with laughter. Guffawing he cried, “Wait for the law?! Boyo, where are ya from that ya think they’re the law?” Kyri had climbed up beside Garn and this time it was she who replied. “We’re from Perinor.” She shouted into the wind. The pirate’s laughter stopped immediately and his voice went cold. “Perinor is a myth.” Kyri drew her shoulders back and raised her head high, nobility radiating from her stance. “Then you find yourself in the middle of a legend for we sailed from the capitol city just over a week ago.” The halfling dipped his head in acknowledgement. “Well I hope y’all have some legendary powers then because if that ship catches us, we’re all dead. Take another look at yonder crew, lass.”
Kyri took the spyglass from the first mate’s outstretched hand. She focused on the deck and with a shocked look handed the spyglass to me. I put the instrument to my eye and nearly dropped it in shock. Skeletons crawled over every available scrap of wood not bearing canvas, wielding rusty cutlasses and crossbows. They were commanded by a plethora of tiefling officers that looked more demonish than any tiefling I had ever seen. Kyri turned back to the halfling captain. “Why are there skeletons crewing an official ship of Vertinia?” “Ye kiddies must really be from Perinor iffin ye has no idea how that happened. A hundred years ago, the evil gods divided up the known world. Asmodeus took Vertinia. He uses the dead bodies o’ honest Vertinians to crew his ships and staff his armies.” “Well, what are you then? Vertinians or something else?” Kyri shouted. “Oh, we’re Vertinians all right. We escaped though the fortune of residing on the outer island. In Vertinia’s heyday the House of the Crimson Rapier was an alliance of merchants. When the world went to hell we switched to piracy.”
“Are you planning on attacking the Port Authority?” Garn asked. The pirate captain gave a mirthless chuckle. “That would be suicide.” Kyri threw Garn a glare and the dragonborn nipped off his next question. “So what normally happens in this situation?” she yelled though the winds. “Well we either escape into the fog or we die.” “Would it help if we worked together, paired up and attacked from one ship with a larger force?” The captain mulled over the idea, running a hand over his thick braids. “It could even the odds and with the skellies bearing down on us we don’t have much choice. Throw a plank over, boys.”
Monday, August 11, 2008
Where is Prince Robin?
We traveled leisurely down the grassy path to the towering white temple. As we got closer, I was truly awed by its beauty. Despite all that we had encountered on the way down, the temple was pristine and the white stone blushed with warmth from the sunlight. A blue-white light shone through the elaborate latticework around the arches, radiating from the center of the temple. I made a small sign of devotion as I stepped over the threshold. By your will, Kord, we have proved ourselves worthy on the battle to this place. I pray that the entity housed within this temple is a friend, and not a foe.
A child-like voice swept over the party as the last person passed through the archway. “Who are you? Where is Prince Robin?” it pleaded. My eyes swept over the bright interior, but there was no one about. The voice continued on, sounding as disappointed as a boy told to finish his studies before being allowed to go out and play with his friends. “He was supposed to be here by now.” I could just imagine a dejected little boy standing in the center of the blue-white light.
Rhegar was the first to speak. Lacking a body to go with the voice, he pointed his muzzle toward the ceiling. “Well how long have you been waiting here?” “About a month. He should have been here by now.” In my mind, the imaginary boy scuffed his feet against the stone tiles. A month, I thought, Wow that seems like so long ago. I was still in Farport a month ago. “Well I may not know this Robin you seek, but I can tell you who we are. My name is Rhegar and these are my companions - Kyri, Kalena, Garn, Vixi, Tavia and Markas. We have been sent by the King of Perinor to search for allies to help us in a battle against Tiamat. Can I ask who you are and why you were sent to wait for Prince Robin?”
The bodiless voice mulled over Rhegar’s request for a moment, but in the end decided that we must have been okay people. “My name is Aelerion. Correlon sent me here to be friends with the prince and advise him on important things. Correlon said we would have fun together.” Now Markas presented the spirit with a question. “Kind of an out of the way temple, don’t you think?” “Yeah, I know. This place sucks. It’s so boring.” I could imagine the spirit rolling his eyes and pouting. “But Correlon said that the prophecy said Robin would be here. I was supposed to inspire him to beat a horde of devils and protect a city from their attack.”
This time it was Kyri that voiced the group’s thoughts. “Are you aware of what happened in Aurincia a week ago?” she asked gently. “Um, let me check….Yep, Tiamat stormed the island kingdom of Perinor and sacked its capitol city with a horde of devils at her back, and oh...” the voice trailed off. When no one spoke, it continued brightly, “You know you should really find that kid. He could probably help you a whole bunch. I think he was supposed to arrive by sea, that’s why I sent the sirens.” he finished excitedly. I just barely resisted slapping my hand to my forehead, though I could see Rhegar indulging in the action. Gods save us from the helpfulness of the divine, I thought. “Do you have any idea how much trouble the sirens have caused?” Rhegar said with a groan. “They weren’t helpful?” “No.” “Oh. I’m sorry.” The spirit went into a contemplative silence.
I had been thinking about the mysterious Prince Robin the angelic spirit had originally asked about. “Aelerion, you don’t know much about Robin do you? Just that he was a child and you would inspire him to fight the devils.” “Yeah, that’s about it.” “Well, then Robin could have been any age, right? Even a newborn?” “Babies aren’t much fun, but I guess he could be a baby.” My heart sunk to my stomach as I realized why Robin had never come to the white temple on the golden plain. “Aelerion,” I said gently, “I think that Robin never came to be your friend because he’s dead.” “Dead,” the spirit cried, “How can he be dead?” “Well, you see, Robin’s mother was waiting for the pirate captain Voko to return to this isle. But when he found her, he wasn’t happy that she was pregnant and drowned Voko drowned Robin’s mother in the caverns above this temple.” “But why would anyone do that to their child?” He whined plaintively. Insistent as any kid with a question. I stole a panicked look at my companions on either side, but they seemed intensely interested in their shoes. Gods, how do I explain this to an angelic spirit that sounds five years old? “Robin’s mother, well, that is, Voko was a half-orc. A mean, nasty, sterile half-orc. Seeing his favorite mistress pregnant with another man’s child enraged him and he drowned her in drunken rampage.” The words tumbled out of my mouth as quickly as possible.
“He killed the heir of the house of Wyvern. But he can’t do that. The prophecy says he is supposed to beat back the devils of Tiamat!” the angel sputtered with anger. “Is he still here?” “In a sense.” I said. “Then I want you to kill him!” “Sorry kid. The pirate died while drowning his mistress. He’s a Drowned One now.” Kalena told the irate angel. “Then I want you to banish him to hell!” “That’s a tough fight. Why don’t you just take Voko out?” Markas said. “Because my powers are limited outside this temple. Tell you what, if you kill the pirate I can make each of you a toy. I’m good at toys and it can be anything you want.” “Toys?” Rhegar asked suspiciously. “Duh, magic items. Armor, weapons, I could probably even manage a holy symbol, though it would be better if you followed Corellon.”
The order went into a huddle. “Will we get the toys before we fight Voko?” Garn asked hopefully. “I’m not stupid.” The voice reproached. “Banish the pirate and then you’ll get your reward. But to make it easier for you, if you stay in the temple for two hours, it’ll be as if you slept for eight.” We whispered among ourselves a bit more and came to a decision. Kyri stood nobly and addressed the spirit for the group. “We accept. We will banish Voko then return to accept our reward. And you will dismiss the myriad of will-o’-wisps, saplings, and sirens to ease our travels.” “Done.”
I slept soundly in the glowing temple of Corellon. In my dreams, I was seated the Temple of Kord in Farport with a bunch of my fellow novices and Father Cerance was giving a lecture on attacks using light. “A column of light can engulf a foe, burning your enemy with the brilliance of your devotion to Kord. An ally can then use your attack to slip through the creature’s defenses.” In my dream, I dutifully copied down the prayer, noting inflictions of voice and hand movements in the margin. When Kalena shook me awake at the end of two hours time, the prayer of daunting light stood out at the forefront of my mind, itching to be used against Voko.
The climb up to the dark, dank pool where Voko resided was much shorter, thanks to the fact that we no longer needed to fight our way through will-o’-wisps and saplings. We did, however, remain wary of gelatinous cubes lurking in the stone corridors. The zombies that had chased us earlier had also, thankfully, vanished. As we marched to the top of the cavern, we strategized about the best way to beat Voko. “He wasn’t very happy to let us go down in the first place.” I said, “It’s almost certain he won’t want to let us all back up.” “True, and we don’t want to let him know that we plan to attack until all of us are in the grotto.” Markas contemplated. “I think we could trick him. Voko wasn’t a very bright ghost. If he thinks we have found a victim to drown for him, he would pay little attention to what we were doing.” Vixi said, outlining her plan. “In that case, I think you should go first. As a warlock and a tiefling, such a plan would be most believable coming from you. I’ll follow right behind you as backup since Voko is afraid I will banish him.” Markas agreed.
I was the fourth person out of the pool, after Vixi, Markas, and Kyri, who needed to be able to put some distance between herself and the drowned one. I swam to where the water was only waist deep and watched Vixi as I waited for the signal to attack. Ignoring the paladin at her side, the Drowned One smiled in what he thought was a handsome manner. “Does the guy look good? I don’t want to end up as one of those dragonborn.” Vixi shook her head emphatically. “Oh, yes. You remember the rogue we had with us - human, about eighteen, with sandy hair and green eyes.” “He will do nicely I think.” “Well he should be coming up the tunnel just now.”
As Voko peered down through the dark water, Rhegar slammed his glaive down on the back of the Drowned One’s head. Kalena shot the ghost with an icy blue ray and frost formed over the chains encircling his body. “Hey! You can’t do this.” Shouted Voko. The spirit went insubstantial and attacks from Vixi, Garn and Markas went straight through. Kyri’s arrows, however, found their target. The prayer of daunting light prayer sang off my tounge and I smiled slightly as the column of light flared over the spectere.
Another icy ray from Kalena struck the ghost. “There is no thief, is there?” roared Voko. Spectral skulls exploded against Rhegar and the Drowned One winked out of view. Vixi took offense to his disappearance and uttered a dark curse. The water rippled as her attack shoved the ghost around the pool. “He is in front of Tavia now!” she shouted to the group. Garn’s own icy breath crusted over the ghost and he stepped aside for Markas land a blow with his flail. I called on Kord’s strength to help me invoke my devastating attack against the undead above the pool but the damp room stole some of the power from the blistering wind the spell normally created. Voko cackled, laughing at the attack instead of seething with pain. Through the water’s surface I could just make out the bodies lying at the bottom of the stone cauldron. Maybe his mother deserved to be punished for her indiscretions, but the child had done nothing to deserve his fate! “By Kord’s strength, I protect those who cannot fight on their own!” I cried as I released another attack on the fiend. My lance of faith struck true, followed by two of Kalena’s fireballs, seared the ghost just fine.
Voko howled with unintelligible rage. Dark, wraith-like skulls exploded from his person in all directions. Garn, Rhegar, and Markas were all hit and Kyri stopped a skull aimed at my chest. A mighty blow from Garn tore into Voko as he shouted “Honorable warriors never fall!” A feathered arrow grew from Voko’s chest. Ghostly arms clamped onto the pirate’s ankles and pulled him down into the dark waters. “You escape your fate no longer, Voko the Black.” A deep voice rumbled as Voko vanished, screaming, below the water.
Collecting ourselves we dove into the tunnel and returned to Aelerion. As my reward I chose a set of boots that would save me from damage if I fell and aid me in feats of athleticism. “So is this the end of things? Is Perinor doomed because a pirate drowned an unfaithful mistress and her unborn child.” I asked the angelic spirit. “Maybe not. The prophecy said that it would be an heir of the House of Wyvern that would beat back the hordes of Tiamat. There is probably another heir, though I have no idea where he would be.” “If we could find the heir, would you train him as you would have trained Robin?” I asked, unable to keep the hope from my voice. “Of course,” said the spirit. “How can we contact you when we find the heir?” inquired Kyri. Aelerion levitated the golden pendant Vixi had taken off the mistress and the air flashed white. When our sight returned I could see that it was now surrounded with a blue glow. He dropped the pendant into Kyri’s hand. “Use this to contact me when you find the heir and I will come to you.” In another flash the angel vanished. With nothing further to keep us in the cavern or on the island, we returned to a very worried Captain Raccan and sailed for Aurincia to inform the Council of what we had discovered.
A child-like voice swept over the party as the last person passed through the archway. “Who are you? Where is Prince Robin?” it pleaded. My eyes swept over the bright interior, but there was no one about. The voice continued on, sounding as disappointed as a boy told to finish his studies before being allowed to go out and play with his friends. “He was supposed to be here by now.” I could just imagine a dejected little boy standing in the center of the blue-white light.
Rhegar was the first to speak. Lacking a body to go with the voice, he pointed his muzzle toward the ceiling. “Well how long have you been waiting here?” “About a month. He should have been here by now.” In my mind, the imaginary boy scuffed his feet against the stone tiles. A month, I thought, Wow that seems like so long ago. I was still in Farport a month ago. “Well I may not know this Robin you seek, but I can tell you who we are. My name is Rhegar and these are my companions - Kyri, Kalena, Garn, Vixi, Tavia and Markas. We have been sent by the King of Perinor to search for allies to help us in a battle against Tiamat. Can I ask who you are and why you were sent to wait for Prince Robin?”
The bodiless voice mulled over Rhegar’s request for a moment, but in the end decided that we must have been okay people. “My name is Aelerion. Correlon sent me here to be friends with the prince and advise him on important things. Correlon said we would have fun together.” Now Markas presented the spirit with a question. “Kind of an out of the way temple, don’t you think?” “Yeah, I know. This place sucks. It’s so boring.” I could imagine the spirit rolling his eyes and pouting. “But Correlon said that the prophecy said Robin would be here. I was supposed to inspire him to beat a horde of devils and protect a city from their attack.”
This time it was Kyri that voiced the group’s thoughts. “Are you aware of what happened in Aurincia a week ago?” she asked gently. “Um, let me check….Yep, Tiamat stormed the island kingdom of Perinor and sacked its capitol city with a horde of devils at her back, and oh...” the voice trailed off. When no one spoke, it continued brightly, “You know you should really find that kid. He could probably help you a whole bunch. I think he was supposed to arrive by sea, that’s why I sent the sirens.” he finished excitedly. I just barely resisted slapping my hand to my forehead, though I could see Rhegar indulging in the action. Gods save us from the helpfulness of the divine, I thought. “Do you have any idea how much trouble the sirens have caused?” Rhegar said with a groan. “They weren’t helpful?” “No.” “Oh. I’m sorry.” The spirit went into a contemplative silence.
I had been thinking about the mysterious Prince Robin the angelic spirit had originally asked about. “Aelerion, you don’t know much about Robin do you? Just that he was a child and you would inspire him to fight the devils.” “Yeah, that’s about it.” “Well, then Robin could have been any age, right? Even a newborn?” “Babies aren’t much fun, but I guess he could be a baby.” My heart sunk to my stomach as I realized why Robin had never come to the white temple on the golden plain. “Aelerion,” I said gently, “I think that Robin never came to be your friend because he’s dead.” “Dead,” the spirit cried, “How can he be dead?” “Well, you see, Robin’s mother was waiting for the pirate captain Voko to return to this isle. But when he found her, he wasn’t happy that she was pregnant and drowned Voko drowned Robin’s mother in the caverns above this temple.” “But why would anyone do that to their child?” He whined plaintively. Insistent as any kid with a question. I stole a panicked look at my companions on either side, but they seemed intensely interested in their shoes. Gods, how do I explain this to an angelic spirit that sounds five years old? “Robin’s mother, well, that is, Voko was a half-orc. A mean, nasty, sterile half-orc. Seeing his favorite mistress pregnant with another man’s child enraged him and he drowned her in drunken rampage.” The words tumbled out of my mouth as quickly as possible.
“He killed the heir of the house of Wyvern. But he can’t do that. The prophecy says he is supposed to beat back the devils of Tiamat!” the angel sputtered with anger. “Is he still here?” “In a sense.” I said. “Then I want you to kill him!” “Sorry kid. The pirate died while drowning his mistress. He’s a Drowned One now.” Kalena told the irate angel. “Then I want you to banish him to hell!” “That’s a tough fight. Why don’t you just take Voko out?” Markas said. “Because my powers are limited outside this temple. Tell you what, if you kill the pirate I can make each of you a toy. I’m good at toys and it can be anything you want.” “Toys?” Rhegar asked suspiciously. “Duh, magic items. Armor, weapons, I could probably even manage a holy symbol, though it would be better if you followed Corellon.”
The order went into a huddle. “Will we get the toys before we fight Voko?” Garn asked hopefully. “I’m not stupid.” The voice reproached. “Banish the pirate and then you’ll get your reward. But to make it easier for you, if you stay in the temple for two hours, it’ll be as if you slept for eight.” We whispered among ourselves a bit more and came to a decision. Kyri stood nobly and addressed the spirit for the group. “We accept. We will banish Voko then return to accept our reward. And you will dismiss the myriad of will-o’-wisps, saplings, and sirens to ease our travels.” “Done.”
I slept soundly in the glowing temple of Corellon. In my dreams, I was seated the Temple of Kord in Farport with a bunch of my fellow novices and Father Cerance was giving a lecture on attacks using light. “A column of light can engulf a foe, burning your enemy with the brilliance of your devotion to Kord. An ally can then use your attack to slip through the creature’s defenses.” In my dream, I dutifully copied down the prayer, noting inflictions of voice and hand movements in the margin. When Kalena shook me awake at the end of two hours time, the prayer of daunting light stood out at the forefront of my mind, itching to be used against Voko.
The climb up to the dark, dank pool where Voko resided was much shorter, thanks to the fact that we no longer needed to fight our way through will-o’-wisps and saplings. We did, however, remain wary of gelatinous cubes lurking in the stone corridors. The zombies that had chased us earlier had also, thankfully, vanished. As we marched to the top of the cavern, we strategized about the best way to beat Voko. “He wasn’t very happy to let us go down in the first place.” I said, “It’s almost certain he won’t want to let us all back up.” “True, and we don’t want to let him know that we plan to attack until all of us are in the grotto.” Markas contemplated. “I think we could trick him. Voko wasn’t a very bright ghost. If he thinks we have found a victim to drown for him, he would pay little attention to what we were doing.” Vixi said, outlining her plan. “In that case, I think you should go first. As a warlock and a tiefling, such a plan would be most believable coming from you. I’ll follow right behind you as backup since Voko is afraid I will banish him.” Markas agreed.
I was the fourth person out of the pool, after Vixi, Markas, and Kyri, who needed to be able to put some distance between herself and the drowned one. I swam to where the water was only waist deep and watched Vixi as I waited for the signal to attack. Ignoring the paladin at her side, the Drowned One smiled in what he thought was a handsome manner. “Does the guy look good? I don’t want to end up as one of those dragonborn.” Vixi shook her head emphatically. “Oh, yes. You remember the rogue we had with us - human, about eighteen, with sandy hair and green eyes.” “He will do nicely I think.” “Well he should be coming up the tunnel just now.”
As Voko peered down through the dark water, Rhegar slammed his glaive down on the back of the Drowned One’s head. Kalena shot the ghost with an icy blue ray and frost formed over the chains encircling his body. “Hey! You can’t do this.” Shouted Voko. The spirit went insubstantial and attacks from Vixi, Garn and Markas went straight through. Kyri’s arrows, however, found their target. The prayer of daunting light prayer sang off my tounge and I smiled slightly as the column of light flared over the spectere.
Another icy ray from Kalena struck the ghost. “There is no thief, is there?” roared Voko. Spectral skulls exploded against Rhegar and the Drowned One winked out of view. Vixi took offense to his disappearance and uttered a dark curse. The water rippled as her attack shoved the ghost around the pool. “He is in front of Tavia now!” she shouted to the group. Garn’s own icy breath crusted over the ghost and he stepped aside for Markas land a blow with his flail. I called on Kord’s strength to help me invoke my devastating attack against the undead above the pool but the damp room stole some of the power from the blistering wind the spell normally created. Voko cackled, laughing at the attack instead of seething with pain. Through the water’s surface I could just make out the bodies lying at the bottom of the stone cauldron. Maybe his mother deserved to be punished for her indiscretions, but the child had done nothing to deserve his fate! “By Kord’s strength, I protect those who cannot fight on their own!” I cried as I released another attack on the fiend. My lance of faith struck true, followed by two of Kalena’s fireballs, seared the ghost just fine.
Voko howled with unintelligible rage. Dark, wraith-like skulls exploded from his person in all directions. Garn, Rhegar, and Markas were all hit and Kyri stopped a skull aimed at my chest. A mighty blow from Garn tore into Voko as he shouted “Honorable warriors never fall!” A feathered arrow grew from Voko’s chest. Ghostly arms clamped onto the pirate’s ankles and pulled him down into the dark waters. “You escape your fate no longer, Voko the Black.” A deep voice rumbled as Voko vanished, screaming, below the water.
Collecting ourselves we dove into the tunnel and returned to Aelerion. As my reward I chose a set of boots that would save me from damage if I fell and aid me in feats of athleticism. “So is this the end of things? Is Perinor doomed because a pirate drowned an unfaithful mistress and her unborn child.” I asked the angelic spirit. “Maybe not. The prophecy said that it would be an heir of the House of Wyvern that would beat back the hordes of Tiamat. There is probably another heir, though I have no idea where he would be.” “If we could find the heir, would you train him as you would have trained Robin?” I asked, unable to keep the hope from my voice. “Of course,” said the spirit. “How can we contact you when we find the heir?” inquired Kyri. Aelerion levitated the golden pendant Vixi had taken off the mistress and the air flashed white. When our sight returned I could see that it was now surrounded with a blue glow. He dropped the pendant into Kyri’s hand. “Use this to contact me when you find the heir and I will come to you.” In another flash the angel vanished. With nothing further to keep us in the cavern or on the island, we returned to a very worried Captain Raccan and sailed for Aurincia to inform the Council of what we had discovered.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Drow on the Plain
I leaned against the rope railing as I gazed over the plain below. The sight before us had only come into view on the last few bridges, blocked from earlier view by a twist of the vertical shaft. Tall, golden grasses whispered musically in the wind. A winding path cut through grasses from the rock wall to a spire overlooking the ocean cavern. From there an enormous ramp spiraled down to the crashing ocean below. My eyes could barely pick out the tall narrow arches adorning the spire that denoted elven architecture. I couldn’t tell who the temple was devoted to from this far away, but the blue glow and high arches made me guess Melora or Sehanine, maybe even Corellon.
Always alert, Kyri’s purple eyes were the first to pick out the movement in the grass. A pair of orcs in black leather loincloths and harnesses were tramping down the head-high grasses. As we watched, they detached bags from their harnesses and began setting up a leather tent. “Come on.” Rhegar said with a whistle to grab our collective attention. “That camp is way too big for just the two of them. Let’s go have a look.” He grinned a toothy smile as he sauntered into the last cave opening. Some creature in the past had cut stairs into the black rock, making the final decent easier than many others we had come across on the way down.
As we stepped into the midmorning sun, the orcs began shouting in our direction. I don’t speak giant, but it wasn’t hard to detect the rudeness in their tone or gestures, especially when one turned and started pointing to his butt. Rhegar started down the grass corridor with Garn at his heals. “Don’t you think this could be a trap?” Markas shouted after him. “Yeah.” He yelled back at the half-elf, “Which is why you all should spread out as you follow me.”
Yep, any minute now something is going to jump out of the grasses and grab me...or maybe Kalena. I stole a glance at Kalena as we walked slowly through the trampled grass. She looked poised and ready to take on anything that leapt from the grasses. She caught my eye and leaned toward me. “You know I’d feel a lot better if we just dropped a couple of fireballs and burned through this lot,” she waved a hand about indicated the golden grass. Sighing, she continued, “But I doubt that would make the temple owner very inclined to talk to us. Oh well.”
The orcs dropped their bags as we approached and fled down another flattened trail. Our senses on full alert, we closed ranks as we moved into the camp. Therefore, it surprised no one when ten drow leapt from the grasses around us. Most were basic foot soldiers, but two females stood out from the others. They were stationed beside one another and flanked by two of the foot soldiers. One carried a flail and shield while the other carried a light rapier – a fighter-rogue combo if I’d ever seen one. The rogue laughed an evil little drow chuckle as she motioned for the foot soldiers to draw their bows.
Around me, the Order of the Rampant Dragon exploded into action. Garn stepped forward and released an icy breath across the duo. Kyri rushed to the tent and kicked open one of the flaps. “It’s empty!” she announced as she fired off two arrows with her back against the heavy leather. Kalena formed a glowing violet ball in her hands and lobbed the sleep bomb behind the leaders. It burst as it landed and lilac smoke curled up toward the four drow. Smiling, the wizard dove into the tent to avoid the shower of arrows that was surely coming. Despite the slowing affects of Kalena’s spell, the fighter leapt forward. She swung her flail in a shining arc that connected into the dragonborn’s thigh with a sickening crunch. That blow surely broke his femur, I thought with a wince. The arrows from the two flanking soldiers went wide as they succumbed to Kalena’s spell.
The rest of the drow fired but only Garn and Rhegar were hit. Markas and I called on the aid of our respective deities as we close in toward the rest of the party. Kord offered a subtle addition of strength to our sword arms while glowing runes from the Raven Queen created a circle of increased protection around the tent. As the fighter dropped to the ground snoring, Vixi ran forward and uttered a mystic curse. The fighter began screaming, caught in some terrible dream, and her body seized wildly. The warlock clapped her hands together and dissipated into strands of silvery mist. As Vixi reformed inside the sacred circle, the drow slumped over and went quiet, killed in the recesses of her own mind.
As she watched her partner go down, the rogue screamed with rage. She hit the paladin with a strike that pushed him away from the warlord. The drow voiced an insult in a haughty tone but before she could strike again two of Kyri’s arrows thudded into her chest. The drow’s eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed next to the dead fighter and sleeping archers.
Seeing their leaders go down was enough to take the fight out of the rest of the drow. Shouldering their arms, the dark elves sprinted down the trodden paths. “Well don’t stand there!” Kyri yelled at the rest of us as she nocked two arrows onto her bowstring. “Drow deserve nothing but to die.” She fired the arrows and made to go after the rest. “Hold your actions, elf!” roared Rhegar. He grabbed her shoulder and turned the elf around. “I understand your need to rid the world of your dark cousins, but the drow are no more than pests. We currently have better things to do then take care of a nest of rats. For example, heading to that temple to find out who is running the show here.“ The elf closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. When she re-opened her eyes, they had lost the fevor that had claimed them moments before. “Forgive me. I forgot myself when faced with my ancient enemy.” She gestured for the group to move forward. “Let us continue onward.”
Always alert, Kyri’s purple eyes were the first to pick out the movement in the grass. A pair of orcs in black leather loincloths and harnesses were tramping down the head-high grasses. As we watched, they detached bags from their harnesses and began setting up a leather tent. “Come on.” Rhegar said with a whistle to grab our collective attention. “That camp is way too big for just the two of them. Let’s go have a look.” He grinned a toothy smile as he sauntered into the last cave opening. Some creature in the past had cut stairs into the black rock, making the final decent easier than many others we had come across on the way down.
As we stepped into the midmorning sun, the orcs began shouting in our direction. I don’t speak giant, but it wasn’t hard to detect the rudeness in their tone or gestures, especially when one turned and started pointing to his butt. Rhegar started down the grass corridor with Garn at his heals. “Don’t you think this could be a trap?” Markas shouted after him. “Yeah.” He yelled back at the half-elf, “Which is why you all should spread out as you follow me.”
Yep, any minute now something is going to jump out of the grasses and grab me...or maybe Kalena. I stole a glance at Kalena as we walked slowly through the trampled grass. She looked poised and ready to take on anything that leapt from the grasses. She caught my eye and leaned toward me. “You know I’d feel a lot better if we just dropped a couple of fireballs and burned through this lot,” she waved a hand about indicated the golden grass. Sighing, she continued, “But I doubt that would make the temple owner very inclined to talk to us. Oh well.”
The orcs dropped their bags as we approached and fled down another flattened trail. Our senses on full alert, we closed ranks as we moved into the camp. Therefore, it surprised no one when ten drow leapt from the grasses around us. Most were basic foot soldiers, but two females stood out from the others. They were stationed beside one another and flanked by two of the foot soldiers. One carried a flail and shield while the other carried a light rapier – a fighter-rogue combo if I’d ever seen one. The rogue laughed an evil little drow chuckle as she motioned for the foot soldiers to draw their bows.
Around me, the Order of the Rampant Dragon exploded into action. Garn stepped forward and released an icy breath across the duo. Kyri rushed to the tent and kicked open one of the flaps. “It’s empty!” she announced as she fired off two arrows with her back against the heavy leather. Kalena formed a glowing violet ball in her hands and lobbed the sleep bomb behind the leaders. It burst as it landed and lilac smoke curled up toward the four drow. Smiling, the wizard dove into the tent to avoid the shower of arrows that was surely coming. Despite the slowing affects of Kalena’s spell, the fighter leapt forward. She swung her flail in a shining arc that connected into the dragonborn’s thigh with a sickening crunch. That blow surely broke his femur, I thought with a wince. The arrows from the two flanking soldiers went wide as they succumbed to Kalena’s spell.
The rest of the drow fired but only Garn and Rhegar were hit. Markas and I called on the aid of our respective deities as we close in toward the rest of the party. Kord offered a subtle addition of strength to our sword arms while glowing runes from the Raven Queen created a circle of increased protection around the tent. As the fighter dropped to the ground snoring, Vixi ran forward and uttered a mystic curse. The fighter began screaming, caught in some terrible dream, and her body seized wildly. The warlock clapped her hands together and dissipated into strands of silvery mist. As Vixi reformed inside the sacred circle, the drow slumped over and went quiet, killed in the recesses of her own mind.
As she watched her partner go down, the rogue screamed with rage. She hit the paladin with a strike that pushed him away from the warlord. The drow voiced an insult in a haughty tone but before she could strike again two of Kyri’s arrows thudded into her chest. The drow’s eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed next to the dead fighter and sleeping archers.
Seeing their leaders go down was enough to take the fight out of the rest of the drow. Shouldering their arms, the dark elves sprinted down the trodden paths. “Well don’t stand there!” Kyri yelled at the rest of us as she nocked two arrows onto her bowstring. “Drow deserve nothing but to die.” She fired the arrows and made to go after the rest. “Hold your actions, elf!” roared Rhegar. He grabbed her shoulder and turned the elf around. “I understand your need to rid the world of your dark cousins, but the drow are no more than pests. We currently have better things to do then take care of a nest of rats. For example, heading to that temple to find out who is running the show here.“ The elf closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. When she re-opened her eyes, they had lost the fevor that had claimed them moments before. “Forgive me. I forgot myself when faced with my ancient enemy.” She gestured for the group to move forward. “Let us continue onward.”
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