Troublesome caves
Bomilcar's narrative
After finishing off Tormiel, Destiny is delighted to acquire not just a Demon of Desire, but a Demon of Knowledge as well. Marion gets her demon dagger. We then arrive in Andlermaign, the main city of southern Argimilar. We know where the university tower is in the hills west of Andlermaign, but we also know that some form of fearsome undead is lurking in the hills. Jorthan reminds us of the stories we were told previously about needing magic or silvered weapons to help deal with the undead, so we pay for some of us to have our weapons edged with silver and then set off with great care.
We spot a series of cave entrances (three, to be precise) up in the hills off the beaten track, and debate what to do. The consensus is that we should try to clear out the nasty thing that killed the defenders of the university tower before going to the tower itself. We have been warned that the tower may contain various dangerous items, and we want to make sure we don't have something at our backs when we go there. So into the caves it is.
Jorthan and I stay outside to care for the horses; this is relatively wild country and we can't afford to lose them to a passing bear or something. The others go into the caves after Nadjana summons a fire elemental to help herself see in the dark inside; Destiny has one of her own, and another for Ehlessa. Sir Blanque and Marion can both see in the dark anyway, so that takes care of that. The hope is that a lack of torches might mean that whatever is in there doesn't see them coming.
It didn't work, though, because apparently Ehlessa startled a very large watch wolf that almost took a chunk out of her; she managed (just) to dodge out of its way, and the group then dealt with it quite easily. All hope of surprise gone, they just continued regardless. At this point, they heard some weird chittering up ahead in the caverns, almost sounding like a language, and were attacked by a group of sort of devolved human remnants that had climbed out of a fissure in the ground, leading to the spirits only know where. These creatures were tough, but Destiny used a fire elemental blast to scare them off. They then came across the five animated bodies of the guardians of the tower, lurking in a large cave that had one of those spoils of Chaos pools we were told about in the Shudder Mountains. Destiny and Sir Blanque warned about getting too close; their Witch Sight showed constant low level magic, so proximity and long exposure would not be good. These partly armoured undead warriors were tough, but Sir Blanque used the magic fiddle we acquired in the Shudder Mountains to help dispel whatever force was keeping the bodies moving. They then came across the big bad undead guy, who was swinging a battle axe with a rune of sharpness inscribed on it; he was accompanied by two more large wolves. This lot went down fighting, and there were some dangerous moments, especially when he summoned the spirits of the five troopers in the form of translucent owls - well, that's how Marion described them later to me; I wasn't there, not that I'm complaining. Ehlessa just managed to parry that guy's magical axe, but eventually he was dismembered and destroyed. Destiny grabbed his axe, being the only one of us who uses one.
Jorthan and I are glad to see them all emerging from the caves unscathed, although tired. We spend a night camping in the hills, and then go to the tower repository of the university. This is locked but empty, so Destiny lets us in, and we thoroughly search the place. We manage to appropriate a number of large gold pieces, presumably the garrison's pay, which they won't be needing any more. We then head up to the main top floor, which has a treasury as well as a set of steps leading up to the attic room we are heading towards. I am a little bit paranoid because of the warning about traps and such, so I check out the door into the treasury. It's just as well I do, because it is very intricate and has a poison needle in the mechanism. I disarm it and then Destiny picks the lock. There is a lot of money in there, together with various potions and lotions. There is also a very large triangle of Law inscribed on the floor, in the middle of which sits a large chest. Presumably all of this stuff was taken from Chaos types, so we quite happily appropriate the whole lot part from the chest. I have a look at that, and it also bears a difficult mechanism with another poison trap. I disarm that one, but Destiny finds the lock beyond her capabilities. Losing patience, I draw my scimitar and hack into it. After all, it's not protected against the likes of me. Inside are several demon weapons, which look quite dangerous, so we just leave them.
We now approach the trapdoor leading up to the attic that contains the weird box we have come to find. It has a triangle of law all of its own, so Marion speaks the password - "Hawkmoon" - and the door opens for us. We go up to the attic, which takes up the entire roof space of the tower. It is totally empty apart from a little box floating right in the middle, with an inscription in Common that reads "For the Shadowborn". There appears to be no lock or seal or anything like that. Marion shrugs and takes it, and it immediately opens for her. Inside is what looks like the broken tip of a staff or something like that, covered in runes that glow a misty orange. Marion says she feels it pointing to the northeast, which is the direction of Eshmir, where we have already decided to go anyway. At the same time, an image shimmers into existence where the box was floating. A man in extremely sophisticated looking black plate armour chased with gold speaks to us: "Seek the man from the East bearing a dead god's dream in Dhoz-Kam". He then fades from sight.
Destiny says she has seen images of this sort of armour in Melnibone; our recorded delivery, it seems, is from one of the Nihrain, the fabled Black Seers. They are supposed to manifest at a moment of great change, perhaps even the end of the world.
Umpire's Notes
This session was a mash-up of a bonus scenario included in the DCC "Chained Coffin" scenario I used earlier in the campaign, together with elements of Colin A. Brett's campaign for Stormbringer. The DCC scenario has cougars, but I don't have the figures for those, so I changed them to enormous wolves, which I do have. As you can probably tell, I am combining bits and pieces from all sorts of role-playing scenarios and campaigns to help stitch together an overall plotline. All will be revealed - a bit at a time, of course!
After finishing off Tormiel, Destiny is delighted to acquire not just a Demon of Desire, but a Demon of Knowledge as well. Marion gets her demon dagger. We then arrive in Andlermaign, the main city of southern Argimilar. We know where the university tower is in the hills west of Andlermaign, but we also know that some form of fearsome undead is lurking in the hills. Jorthan reminds us of the stories we were told previously about needing magic or silvered weapons to help deal with the undead, so we pay for some of us to have our weapons edged with silver and then set off with great care.
We spot a series of cave entrances (three, to be precise) up in the hills off the beaten track, and debate what to do. The consensus is that we should try to clear out the nasty thing that killed the defenders of the university tower before going to the tower itself. We have been warned that the tower may contain various dangerous items, and we want to make sure we don't have something at our backs when we go there. So into the caves it is.
Jorthan and I stay outside to care for the horses; this is relatively wild country and we can't afford to lose them to a passing bear or something. The others go into the caves after Nadjana summons a fire elemental to help herself see in the dark inside; Destiny has one of her own, and another for Ehlessa. Sir Blanque and Marion can both see in the dark anyway, so that takes care of that. The hope is that a lack of torches might mean that whatever is in there doesn't see them coming.
It didn't work, though, because apparently Ehlessa startled a very large watch wolf that almost took a chunk out of her; she managed (just) to dodge out of its way, and the group then dealt with it quite easily. All hope of surprise gone, they just continued regardless. At this point, they heard some weird chittering up ahead in the caverns, almost sounding like a language, and were attacked by a group of sort of devolved human remnants that had climbed out of a fissure in the ground, leading to the spirits only know where. These creatures were tough, but Destiny used a fire elemental blast to scare them off. They then came across the five animated bodies of the guardians of the tower, lurking in a large cave that had one of those spoils of Chaos pools we were told about in the Shudder Mountains. Destiny and Sir Blanque warned about getting too close; their Witch Sight showed constant low level magic, so proximity and long exposure would not be good. These partly armoured undead warriors were tough, but Sir Blanque used the magic fiddle we acquired in the Shudder Mountains to help dispel whatever force was keeping the bodies moving. They then came across the big bad undead guy, who was swinging a battle axe with a rune of sharpness inscribed on it; he was accompanied by two more large wolves. This lot went down fighting, and there were some dangerous moments, especially when he summoned the spirits of the five troopers in the form of translucent owls - well, that's how Marion described them later to me; I wasn't there, not that I'm complaining. Ehlessa just managed to parry that guy's magical axe, but eventually he was dismembered and destroyed. Destiny grabbed his axe, being the only one of us who uses one.
Jorthan and I are glad to see them all emerging from the caves unscathed, although tired. We spend a night camping in the hills, and then go to the tower repository of the university. This is locked but empty, so Destiny lets us in, and we thoroughly search the place. We manage to appropriate a number of large gold pieces, presumably the garrison's pay, which they won't be needing any more. We then head up to the main top floor, which has a treasury as well as a set of steps leading up to the attic room we are heading towards. I am a little bit paranoid because of the warning about traps and such, so I check out the door into the treasury. It's just as well I do, because it is very intricate and has a poison needle in the mechanism. I disarm it and then Destiny picks the lock. There is a lot of money in there, together with various potions and lotions. There is also a very large triangle of Law inscribed on the floor, in the middle of which sits a large chest. Presumably all of this stuff was taken from Chaos types, so we quite happily appropriate the whole lot part from the chest. I have a look at that, and it also bears a difficult mechanism with another poison trap. I disarm that one, but Destiny finds the lock beyond her capabilities. Losing patience, I draw my scimitar and hack into it. After all, it's not protected against the likes of me. Inside are several demon weapons, which look quite dangerous, so we just leave them.
We now approach the trapdoor leading up to the attic that contains the weird box we have come to find. It has a triangle of law all of its own, so Marion speaks the password - "Hawkmoon" - and the door opens for us. We go up to the attic, which takes up the entire roof space of the tower. It is totally empty apart from a little box floating right in the middle, with an inscription in Common that reads "For the Shadowborn". There appears to be no lock or seal or anything like that. Marion shrugs and takes it, and it immediately opens for her. Inside is what looks like the broken tip of a staff or something like that, covered in runes that glow a misty orange. Marion says she feels it pointing to the northeast, which is the direction of Eshmir, where we have already decided to go anyway. At the same time, an image shimmers into existence where the box was floating. A man in extremely sophisticated looking black plate armour chased with gold speaks to us: "Seek the man from the East bearing a dead god's dream in Dhoz-Kam". He then fades from sight.
Destiny says she has seen images of this sort of armour in Melnibone; our recorded delivery, it seems, is from one of the Nihrain, the fabled Black Seers. They are supposed to manifest at a moment of great change, perhaps even the end of the world.
Umpire's Notes
This session was a mash-up of a bonus scenario included in the DCC "Chained Coffin" scenario I used earlier in the campaign, together with elements of Colin A. Brett's campaign for Stormbringer. The DCC scenario has cougars, but I don't have the figures for those, so I changed them to enormous wolves, which I do have. As you can probably tell, I am combining bits and pieces from all sorts of role-playing scenarios and campaigns to help stitch together an overall plotline. All will be revealed - a bit at a time, of course!
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