More Runestaff Shenanigans
The latest episode sees the characters take the boar shield of the Scaled People Tribe to its intended recipients in the Valederian Directorates. Marion's growing pieces of the Runestaff have been going crazy, pointing incessantly towards a location in the centre of town. While Avan Astran leads the diplomatic and trade negotiations, she heads off to investigate, along with Sir Blanque and Destiny.
They arrive outside a large fest hall named after the fabled Cockatrice, a creature said to turn anyone it touches to stone, with two imposing doormen standing at the entrance. Marion is befriended by an extremely large hound with an off-yellow shade to its shaggy coat. It sits outside waiting for her while she goes in; it doesn't seem to like at least one of the bouncers. The hall is built around an open air courtyard that contains a large cage containing four actual cockatrices; a very lifelike statue of a man dressed as a merchant stands next to the cage, with one finger poking through the bars. Inside, the hall has two bars, a gambling area and a large kitchen zone for the staff.
The three characters settle in to see what happens; Marion takes a surreptitious look at her two combined sections of the Runestaff, only to see it spinning much as does a compass when next to metal. She surmises that this means she needs to stay here. Apart from an incident where a dodgy thief person tries to cut purses and sell what he describes as an advanced security purse, the place seems fine - busy, but with no real problems.
The peace is shattered, however, by a scream from outside the main front door, and the three rush to see what has happened. A man is lying on the ground, already dead from the venom of a large spider demon with a fanged wolf's head standing over him; his outstretched hand contains the third section of the Runestaff. One of the bouncers is seen running away in terror; the other blinks out of existence and then reappears right next to the spider hound and the piece of the staff. The witch sight of Sir Blanque and Destiny now reveals him to be some sort of demon as well, with the illusory appearance of a normal human. Sir Blanque reacts with his customary speed and snatches up the section on the ground, while Marion throws a dagger at the spider thing. It hits, but does not do any damage - that beastie is tough. Her friendly yellow hound jumps up at the two-legged demon, joining in the fight; the demon swings two shortswords viciously at the dog, hitting with each. They both bounce right off - Marion thinks it's some sort of hound of law or something.
Three other spider fiends are seen approaching, and there is a confused melee as Destiny tries to hold back the reinforcements with her elementals and the two original demons make magical attacks. Marion's mutt ends up on the floor, whining in terror, but the characters are unaffected. The Runestaff piece joins itself to Marion's two sections and it seems to her that it tries to afflict the man-demon with some sort of magical force; whatever the effect, he manages to resist it. The commotion is attracting a great deal of attention, so the demons all teleport away. Marion reckons that some sort of Dharzi magic is at work, but that should be impossible. She also suggests that somebody - or something - else is after the staff, or at least is trying to stop them getting their hands on it. The locals say that the body is that of a well known local healer, which makes the characters think that he was able to use his piece of the Runestaff to cure minor ailments, much as Marion has been doing. She wants to find out what its new power is, though. Her friendly dog licks her hand and then it too disappears.
The forces of the local Duchess arrive, and the three characters are thanked for seeing off the infestation of spider demons; this has the locals extremely worried, because they have never seen anything like it before. The characters wisely forebear from enlightening their new allies about their own role in all of this; if the townspeople think that the strange westerners are somehow linked to the death of their healer, things could take a turn for the worse. Marion, Destiny and Sir Blanque are invited by the Captain of the Horse to the ducal palace, and they all troop off to join their friends, who are already there.
There is some entertainment and food, and then the Duchess asks her new guests if they might be able to help with a recent local issue. The levels of the waters in the river have drastically risen, and nobody knows the cause. Her advisers have suggested that it might be worth sending some adventurous types upriver to see if they can find out what is going on, especially since it seems to be rather an unnatural occurrence. These lands have been relatively barren for several hundred years, and the river should not be at this height in late springtime. She asks Marion, Sir Blanque and Destiny to investigate, since they have shown great ability to deal with the supernatural. They agree, thinking this can only help with the trade negotiations.
They set out the next day, deciding to start at the point where the river debouches into the lake near the capital. Here Sir Blanque spots a sizeable magical disturbance in the water, and a large female water elemental rises to greet the group. Introducing herself as the Lady Amaranth, she says she has recognised an "affinity for the waters" in Sir Blanque. "I am a daughter of Straasha, and this river is my domain. Centuries ago, a powerful Chaos sorcerer named Xamoxis bound me to a magical bowl, and the water levels receded; this had the additional effect of making the region prone to drought. If you look carefully, you will see some signs that the waters used to be higher than they are now; this area used to be much more verdant. After Xamoxis died in a struggle with his enemies, my binding object was deposited in the care of a tribe of cat people known as panthotaurs. They did not know the significance of the great crystal bowl, but revered it as treasure and somehow sacred. It has now been stolen by some cultists; presumably they read about Xamoxis and decided to take the bowl for itself. Their meddling finally freed me, but everything is out of control and the waters are rising in a dangerous fashion. I need someone to recover the bowl for me so that I can use it as a focus to restore everything to its rightful condition. Will you help me?"
Of course the characters agree, and Amaranth directs them to an island about three days' ride upstream. There is an old temple to herself there, and it seems that this is where the cultists have gone. She gives her blessing, and the three make it to the location with very little trouble. They see a large, elongated island somewhat in the shape of a teardrop, rising to a hilltop at the northern end farthest from their own location. On top of that is an ancient temple. Destiny says that the island bears all the hallmarks of sorcerous beginnings, reckoning that it was raised from the riverbed itself.
The characters spot several boats under some tree branches on the island, near a useful beach. Destiny orders her water elementals to bring one of the boats to her, and the three manage to cross in safety. Slightly farther up the beach they find signs of a melee, with five dead bodies dressed in black, each of which has a silver cloak clasp in the shape of a skull - typical cultist regalia. They also find many other boot prints and large feline prints leading up to a path that goes straight through the interior of the island, climbing towards the summit temple.
They follow the path carefully, fully expecting to find sentries up ahead. They come across two of the 'panthotaurs' and signal a greeting. The creatures wave back and vanish as they also head further up the hill.
The three characters find a group of panthotaurs waiting for them, in anticipation of a parley. They have carried two bodies of their slain comrades to this point, arranging them in ritual poses of repose as befits warriors who died in battle. Beside these is the writhing body of another, who is described in broken communication as their clan leader. Destiny recognises the signs of poisoning, and cures him using her magical knowledge. Their new friends are delighted, and explain that they have cornered the rest of the cultists inside the temple, creating a stand-off. The characters say they will act as intermediaries and approach the grand entrance.
The large stone-faced ritual doorway has been partially blocked from the inside by the cultists, so Marion goes up and knocks. This really confuses the sentry standing behind the door, and the characters hear him running off to fetch his boss. Several sets of footsteps are heard returning, and a voice asks what the characters want. Marion does the talking, and at Destiny's request threatens the men inside with sorcery and Melnibonean weird stuff. At this, several nasty looking spirits emerge through the stone door, but the characters force them back through a combination of magical defences, magical weapons and high Power.
The leader then apologises from inside the doorway. Obviously shaken by the failure of this assault, he speaks in Low Melnibonean. Destiny takes over, delighted that she gets to converse with a man of education. This scares him even more, as he realises that one of the voices outside belongs to an actual Melnibonean, not a liar. Eventually, the characters work out a deal whereby the cultists can go free providing they leave the bowl with the panthotaurs; the characters get their feline friends to agree, and broker the deal, guaranteeing the safety of the cultists. They keep to their word, rather pleased that they have managed to get out of this alive, albeit without the cult item of the great crystal bowl. They use the boats to cross to the far river bank, and then disappear from view.
The Lady Amaranth manifests, and the panthotaurs are well impressed. She invites them to live here as her people from now on, and takes back her precious bowl and temple. She also speaks a prophetic warning to the characters: "Beware the future plans of the Dharzi Lady of the Spiders."
Umpire's notes
Marion was right about the Dharzi connection - I have a cunning plan for that, something I have had in mind for a long time. Destiny has theorised that the panthotaurs are themselves a remnant of Dharzi sorcery, musing that this might prove some ideas held by Melnibonean scholars. Basically, there has been a suggestion proposed by several specialists that, in theory, some of the types of amalgamated creatures invented by the Dharzi may in fact have been capable of breeding true - new races, in effect. Lady Amaranth's final utterance has intrigued her; the one type of creature the Melniboneans did not manage to control via the Beast Lords was the spider. She also suspects that there may be an underlying Melnibonean link to this part of the world. It was one of the final areas to be conquered by the Bright Empire, not long before the great war with the Dharzi began. Not only is is possible that the Dharzi may have originated here, but the name given to their continent by the local peoples - Menastree - is itself a corruption of an ancient Melnibonean term. There are very few fragmentary legends remaining from the time of the building of Imrryr 10,000 years ago, but some of them suggest that there was a civil war between the new Melniboneans associated with Arioch of Chaos and the Black Swords on the one hand, and another group of Melniboneans known as the 'Menastrai', which may even be an earlier term for those who became known as Melniboneans. There is a suggestion that their defeated remnants, who served the Balance, may have fled in this direction. The rest, as they say, is history, because the Chaos worshippers of Imrryr then went on to conquer the world. Maybe her presence here is no accident after all, especially given her name of Destiny. Marion sighed when she heard this; she is beginning to suspect that the Balance plays a very long strategic game indeed...
They arrive outside a large fest hall named after the fabled Cockatrice, a creature said to turn anyone it touches to stone, with two imposing doormen standing at the entrance. Marion is befriended by an extremely large hound with an off-yellow shade to its shaggy coat. It sits outside waiting for her while she goes in; it doesn't seem to like at least one of the bouncers. The hall is built around an open air courtyard that contains a large cage containing four actual cockatrices; a very lifelike statue of a man dressed as a merchant stands next to the cage, with one finger poking through the bars. Inside, the hall has two bars, a gambling area and a large kitchen zone for the staff.
The three characters settle in to see what happens; Marion takes a surreptitious look at her two combined sections of the Runestaff, only to see it spinning much as does a compass when next to metal. She surmises that this means she needs to stay here. Apart from an incident where a dodgy thief person tries to cut purses and sell what he describes as an advanced security purse, the place seems fine - busy, but with no real problems.
The peace is shattered, however, by a scream from outside the main front door, and the three rush to see what has happened. A man is lying on the ground, already dead from the venom of a large spider demon with a fanged wolf's head standing over him; his outstretched hand contains the third section of the Runestaff. One of the bouncers is seen running away in terror; the other blinks out of existence and then reappears right next to the spider hound and the piece of the staff. The witch sight of Sir Blanque and Destiny now reveals him to be some sort of demon as well, with the illusory appearance of a normal human. Sir Blanque reacts with his customary speed and snatches up the section on the ground, while Marion throws a dagger at the spider thing. It hits, but does not do any damage - that beastie is tough. Her friendly yellow hound jumps up at the two-legged demon, joining in the fight; the demon swings two shortswords viciously at the dog, hitting with each. They both bounce right off - Marion thinks it's some sort of hound of law or something.
Three other spider fiends are seen approaching, and there is a confused melee as Destiny tries to hold back the reinforcements with her elementals and the two original demons make magical attacks. Marion's mutt ends up on the floor, whining in terror, but the characters are unaffected. The Runestaff piece joins itself to Marion's two sections and it seems to her that it tries to afflict the man-demon with some sort of magical force; whatever the effect, he manages to resist it. The commotion is attracting a great deal of attention, so the demons all teleport away. Marion reckons that some sort of Dharzi magic is at work, but that should be impossible. She also suggests that somebody - or something - else is after the staff, or at least is trying to stop them getting their hands on it. The locals say that the body is that of a well known local healer, which makes the characters think that he was able to use his piece of the Runestaff to cure minor ailments, much as Marion has been doing. She wants to find out what its new power is, though. Her friendly dog licks her hand and then it too disappears.
The forces of the local Duchess arrive, and the three characters are thanked for seeing off the infestation of spider demons; this has the locals extremely worried, because they have never seen anything like it before. The characters wisely forebear from enlightening their new allies about their own role in all of this; if the townspeople think that the strange westerners are somehow linked to the death of their healer, things could take a turn for the worse. Marion, Destiny and Sir Blanque are invited by the Captain of the Horse to the ducal palace, and they all troop off to join their friends, who are already there.
There is some entertainment and food, and then the Duchess asks her new guests if they might be able to help with a recent local issue. The levels of the waters in the river have drastically risen, and nobody knows the cause. Her advisers have suggested that it might be worth sending some adventurous types upriver to see if they can find out what is going on, especially since it seems to be rather an unnatural occurrence. These lands have been relatively barren for several hundred years, and the river should not be at this height in late springtime. She asks Marion, Sir Blanque and Destiny to investigate, since they have shown great ability to deal with the supernatural. They agree, thinking this can only help with the trade negotiations.
They set out the next day, deciding to start at the point where the river debouches into the lake near the capital. Here Sir Blanque spots a sizeable magical disturbance in the water, and a large female water elemental rises to greet the group. Introducing herself as the Lady Amaranth, she says she has recognised an "affinity for the waters" in Sir Blanque. "I am a daughter of Straasha, and this river is my domain. Centuries ago, a powerful Chaos sorcerer named Xamoxis bound me to a magical bowl, and the water levels receded; this had the additional effect of making the region prone to drought. If you look carefully, you will see some signs that the waters used to be higher than they are now; this area used to be much more verdant. After Xamoxis died in a struggle with his enemies, my binding object was deposited in the care of a tribe of cat people known as panthotaurs. They did not know the significance of the great crystal bowl, but revered it as treasure and somehow sacred. It has now been stolen by some cultists; presumably they read about Xamoxis and decided to take the bowl for itself. Their meddling finally freed me, but everything is out of control and the waters are rising in a dangerous fashion. I need someone to recover the bowl for me so that I can use it as a focus to restore everything to its rightful condition. Will you help me?"
Of course the characters agree, and Amaranth directs them to an island about three days' ride upstream. There is an old temple to herself there, and it seems that this is where the cultists have gone. She gives her blessing, and the three make it to the location with very little trouble. They see a large, elongated island somewhat in the shape of a teardrop, rising to a hilltop at the northern end farthest from their own location. On top of that is an ancient temple. Destiny says that the island bears all the hallmarks of sorcerous beginnings, reckoning that it was raised from the riverbed itself.
The characters spot several boats under some tree branches on the island, near a useful beach. Destiny orders her water elementals to bring one of the boats to her, and the three manage to cross in safety. Slightly farther up the beach they find signs of a melee, with five dead bodies dressed in black, each of which has a silver cloak clasp in the shape of a skull - typical cultist regalia. They also find many other boot prints and large feline prints leading up to a path that goes straight through the interior of the island, climbing towards the summit temple.
They follow the path carefully, fully expecting to find sentries up ahead. They come across two of the 'panthotaurs' and signal a greeting. The creatures wave back and vanish as they also head further up the hill.
The three characters find a group of panthotaurs waiting for them, in anticipation of a parley. They have carried two bodies of their slain comrades to this point, arranging them in ritual poses of repose as befits warriors who died in battle. Beside these is the writhing body of another, who is described in broken communication as their clan leader. Destiny recognises the signs of poisoning, and cures him using her magical knowledge. Their new friends are delighted, and explain that they have cornered the rest of the cultists inside the temple, creating a stand-off. The characters say they will act as intermediaries and approach the grand entrance.
The large stone-faced ritual doorway has been partially blocked from the inside by the cultists, so Marion goes up and knocks. This really confuses the sentry standing behind the door, and the characters hear him running off to fetch his boss. Several sets of footsteps are heard returning, and a voice asks what the characters want. Marion does the talking, and at Destiny's request threatens the men inside with sorcery and Melnibonean weird stuff. At this, several nasty looking spirits emerge through the stone door, but the characters force them back through a combination of magical defences, magical weapons and high Power.
The leader then apologises from inside the doorway. Obviously shaken by the failure of this assault, he speaks in Low Melnibonean. Destiny takes over, delighted that she gets to converse with a man of education. This scares him even more, as he realises that one of the voices outside belongs to an actual Melnibonean, not a liar. Eventually, the characters work out a deal whereby the cultists can go free providing they leave the bowl with the panthotaurs; the characters get their feline friends to agree, and broker the deal, guaranteeing the safety of the cultists. They keep to their word, rather pleased that they have managed to get out of this alive, albeit without the cult item of the great crystal bowl. They use the boats to cross to the far river bank, and then disappear from view.
The Lady Amaranth manifests, and the panthotaurs are well impressed. She invites them to live here as her people from now on, and takes back her precious bowl and temple. She also speaks a prophetic warning to the characters: "Beware the future plans of the Dharzi Lady of the Spiders."
Umpire's notes
Marion was right about the Dharzi connection - I have a cunning plan for that, something I have had in mind for a long time. Destiny has theorised that the panthotaurs are themselves a remnant of Dharzi sorcery, musing that this might prove some ideas held by Melnibonean scholars. Basically, there has been a suggestion proposed by several specialists that, in theory, some of the types of amalgamated creatures invented by the Dharzi may in fact have been capable of breeding true - new races, in effect. Lady Amaranth's final utterance has intrigued her; the one type of creature the Melniboneans did not manage to control via the Beast Lords was the spider. She also suspects that there may be an underlying Melnibonean link to this part of the world. It was one of the final areas to be conquered by the Bright Empire, not long before the great war with the Dharzi began. Not only is is possible that the Dharzi may have originated here, but the name given to their continent by the local peoples - Menastree - is itself a corruption of an ancient Melnibonean term. There are very few fragmentary legends remaining from the time of the building of Imrryr 10,000 years ago, but some of them suggest that there was a civil war between the new Melniboneans associated with Arioch of Chaos and the Black Swords on the one hand, and another group of Melniboneans known as the 'Menastrai', which may even be an earlier term for those who became known as Melniboneans. There is a suggestion that their defeated remnants, who served the Balance, may have fled in this direction. The rest, as they say, is history, because the Chaos worshippers of Imrryr then went on to conquer the world. Maybe her presence here is no accident after all, especially given her name of Destiny. Marion sighed when she heard this; she is beginning to suspect that the Balance plays a very long strategic game indeed...
Nice post,makes me want to dig out some Moorcock! Lovely feel to the right up too,I guess figures for this have fallen by the wayside?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Hi Iain, thanks for looking in on us. I still use figures when they are needed, and I have plenty more to paint. I need to find some headspace, though; my mental energy is lacking, mainly because work life is so heavy. That’s also why my production of ancient wargames figures has ground to a halt. My gaming goes through phases, so I’m not worried. This has happened before; I guess I needed some sort of a change, and a role playing campaign with the kids does the trick.
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