Markdoc Posted August 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Re: And off we go! Khatz, and Bellona take up defensive positions, while the rest of the party bolt down the narrow alley in the direction of the council chambers – except for Aquila who runs back a few steps and then swarms up the side of a nearby hulk, disappearing out of sight onto the roofs. From there he runs along the roof (really the upside down hull of a boat), springs across another narrow alley and arrives, panting on top of the ramshackle building opposite the bridge to the council chambers. Meanwhile, below in the alley, drawn blades are crossed. None of the fighters are wearing armor so there is a deal of blocking and dodging. Bellona holds off two opponents while Khatz crosses blades with Adriana, the pirate queen. For a few moments, they are evenly matched striking and blocking, but then Adriana feints high, Khatz blocks – and she kicks him in the groin (GM’s note: this is a fighting trick – a triggered HA). Khatz goes down like a deflated balloon. Suddenly about to be surrounded, Bellona decides discretion is the better part of valor and races away after the rest of the party, followed by a tide of angry pirates. The rest of the party make it to the building which gives access to the bridge – bursting in, they find it’s a bar, with several surprised pirates goggling at their sudden entrance. Dalarna and Thana run for the bridge, where the pirates who had been lounging there, spring to their feet and draw their blades. Gen and Khelsen set about trying to block the door. Gen drags some untenanted tables to the door just as Khelsen lets Bellona in, and then pulls the door to, barely holding it closed against the efforts of the pirates outside to force their way in. Eventually, they pile several tables up against the door allowing Khelsen to hold it closed. At the other end of the bar, a door and two windows give onto the deck with a rope bridge across to the council chambers. Thana rushes onto the deck and immediately engages two of the pirates – when a third tries to flank him, Aquila hurls a dagger (missing) and then leaps from the roof, hitting his target so heavily that the man flies back, hits the railing, back flips over it and drops two stories to the roof below – where he lies still. Thana throws his hat in another’s face, then punches the man with the guard of his sword while his foe is blind. Two other guards join the fray, but too late – Dalarna casts a whirlwind spell, lifting Thana over their heads and dropping him at the other end of the bridge. Adriana, who has decided to follow Aquila comes up over the roof and drops to the deck, followed by a few pirates. Gen fences with one of the pirates back and forth through the open window into the bar. When Adriana joins the fight, she is distracted by a barrage of beer mugs hurled by players in the bar, pausing long enough to let Thana disappear into the council chamber. At that point, the fighting slowly eases and both sides draw apart. Adriana slowly crosses the bridge and also enters the council chamber and both PCs and pirates draw as close as they can get to hear what is going on. The assembled captains are already in place and Thana lays out his grievance and demands the return of his ship. The other captains seem very impressed, one of them drawling “Thana, we ‘eard you was dead.” Adriana doesn’t deny the mutiny but instead charges Thana with betraying his own first mate by sending him off to steal a magic map – and sending him to certain death, because he was courting Adriana. She had planned to sail back and rescue him before they got into the sea fight with the Samadrians and had to turn for home and repairs. Thana counters that there is no evidence that Thomas is dead – he’s merely missing - and anyway, stealing the map was Thomas’ own idea. Thana says he only helped him to give him a sporting chance – after all, if he had the magic map then he might be able to compete with his magnificent self – and his magnificent ship. Adriana refuses to yield the ship without a fight, and for a moment it looks like the fight will break out again in the council chamber until Thana shouts “All right! I’ll sail to the Tooth and rescue Thomas! If you” and he points at Adriana “will marry me.” There a moment’s stunned silence and the Adriana mutters “I’ll think about it”. She stomps out of the council chamber and it is clear that Thana has got his ship – called the Goldenprow - and crew back. That afternoon, after the council is finished, Thana rows out to the ship with PCs and explains the situation. The magic map in question apparently shows the position of ships, so that the Lord Jasos, who owns it, has been able to sweep the shores around free of pirates. This lord lives in a strong fortress called the Thorn, on a peninsula called the Tooth, a day’s ride out of Jasshai (the capital city), commanding the straits to the city. It’s a naval base. That’s where Thomas went. The next day, Lamoniak turns up with Sea Ghost and over the next few days, the PCs are busy helping with repairs, doing a little trading and plotting. They buy a fine knightly suit of armour in red and gold from Klithe (where Vathmar Boat burner comes from) and Khelsen puts another bounty on his head of 3000 silver sails. He’s not a man to forget a grudge! They also hire some more sailors –several enlist for free, just for the chance to kill Samadrians. Before they sail, Khatz scries some of Thomas’ belongings to see if he is still alive. He gets an image of slimy steps going down into darkness, a stony snarling griffin’s head and a feeling of despair – but at least he’s still alive. Then, the crew replenished, they head out to sea, bound for the Tooth. On the way, they interrogate the few sailors who have been there, about the Tooth. What they hear is not reassuring. The Lord Jasos is said to be able to talk to drowned men. The Thorn is impregnable. There’s a funny Temple there – and lots of Armigers. The best plan the players can come up with is to scout the town out and try to get into the castle … somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted August 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Re: And off we go! And here, as promised are the heromaker files for the group, including a new character who hasn't worked through her disadvantages yet, and whose joining the party will soon be described. Cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted August 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Re: And off we go! And the rest of the group Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Re: And off we go! Lamoniak, modelling the Flauberge. It looks wonderfully impractical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted August 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2008 Re: And off we go! Lamoniak' date=' modelling the Flauberge. It looks wonderfully impractical.[/quote'] And therefore perfectly suited to him! cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted August 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 Re: And off we go! The two ships anchor in a small secluded cove a half day’s walk from the Thorn. Climbing a nearby hill, they shelter under a dolmen and spy out the land. All seems peaceful – small villages and the Thorn (a castle with spiky roofs) on the horizon with a small town below it. Gen and Aquila walk to town and enter through the palisade without too much trouble – things are obviously fairly relaxed, though there are plenty of soldiers about and 6 sleek war galleasses in the harbour along with a dozen other ships. They find rooms in an inn by the docks – facing a gibbet, it is called “the hanged pirate”. Talking with the innkeeper they soon find out that the town is basically a garrison town for the navy. They rest until nightfall, and then Aquila slips out and climbs the hill the castle. Scouting around the walls he finds an angle where a tower meets the wall that he thinks he could climb. He also finds two sally-ports. One has no keyhole and can clearly only be opened from the inside. The other, however has a lock. Aquila quickly picks this and finds a dark, narrow stair. He moves silently up it (GM’s note: he has 18- in stealth!), picks another lock and hides himself in a small antechamber. Through another door he hears several men talking, though it’s boring stuff about shipping, taxes and trade. Slipping away, he looks out a window and times the guards patrolling the wall until he has the timing down. He leaves, locking the doors behind him as he goes. On returning to the inn, he climbs out onto the roof and watches the guards patrolling with lanterns until he has their timing down too. Then he goes to sleep. The next day, Aquila goes up to the castle, pretending to look for work, while Gen stays at the inn keeping an eye out. Aquila pretends to be a bounty-hunter, and manages to get a look into the outer bailey of the castle. There is a temple there, built of dark stone like the castle, but outside it, there are statues of a hooded woman with a horse’s head. Since there are no horses in the archipelago (except for Lamoniak’s) this is distinctly odd. When the guard see him loitering, they order him away: apparently, this is the lord’s private chapel. Aquila asks about Vathmar and gives Thomas’ description as that of a man he is hunting, but draws a blank. On e thing strikes him as odd, though. Criminals – including pirates – are either fined, beaten, maimed or executed. People are normally only held prisoner for ransom or a special reason. What is the special reason for Thomas being held? Do they know he’s a pirate? Has he talked? Aquila takes some notes on possible bounties and leaves. Meanwhile the Sea Ghost has turned up in port with the rest of the PCs pretending to be a Noble (Lamoniak) and his retinue. Gen goes to meet them, posing as a servant sent ahead and the whole party moves to a better quality inn. After some discussion with a pair of merchants they meet there who have been at the castle, they learn that the Lord has a new leman, who has recently arrived. The lord seems very taken with her, but she is a bit mysterious: hardly ever leaves the castle. The PCs decide to go up to the castle to “pay their respects”. After some discussion, with the guards, they are asked to leave their weapons and they are sent to meet the castellan, passing the odd temple on the way. The Castellan talks with them a while and after receiving some “presents” invites them to stay at the castle and attend his lord. There will be modest feast that night in their honor. Obviously, the castellan decides that Lamoniak is a man of quality. They are shown to a series of rooms on the third floor, over the great hall and Gen goes out, ostensibly to run some errands, but really to spy out the layout. He soon discovers that the guards will not let him wander very far, but he does get the basic layout of the first three floors, including the kitchen and the guard barracks. He also sees how the castle gets its name: peering out the window, he notices that the castle roofs are guarded by cruel curved blades almost like sword blades set in the roof. This puzzles him greatly. In their rooms, they also discover that the large portrait over Lamoniak’s bed is fastened to the wall, and sounds hollow. A secret door? A murder hole? In the castle however, there is another person watching things. This is the lady Endre, who was bought to the castle some months ago under false pretences (GM note: new character, and new player). The Lady Endre is told her presence is not expected at the feast and that dinner will be served in her chambers. Curious, she slips out of her room and overhears the castellan instructing several guards to keep an eye on the visitors – and also placing several archers in the musicians’ gallery with orders to keep well out of sight unless summoned. It is clear that he is preparing for trouble. Endre is intrigued, but returns to her rooms. Later, the PCs are summoned to dinner. Lamoniak sits beside the lord Jasos, while the lord’s leman sits beside him. Bellona and Khatz are seated further down the table, with the armigers while Gen and Khelsen end up at the bottom of the table with the merchants and senior servants. The talk is lively, with Lamoniak talking of far off Remoulade and his wonderful castle, while Khatz entertains with tales of the contests at Houndsgard. However, there is something odd. The lord Jasos, while polite, seems almost bored and says little, beyond asking Lamoniak the occasional question. When Lamoniak aks him about the statues by the temple he briefly comments that they represent a cult figure. Lamoniak mentions that the igure’s head resembles that of a horse, which appears to startle the Lord briefly though he says he does not know what a horse is and soon subsides. His mistress, on the other hand watches Lamoniak closely, and though he is normally an excellent judge of character, he finds that he cannot read her body language at all. In fact, her pale face and dark eyes, though apparently attractive make him feel uneasy, almost repulsed. He also notices that the lord often exchanges glances with her and she shakes or nods her head as though answering some unspoken communication. The dinner party ends suddenly when the Lord Jasos announces that he is retiring early and things break up soon after. The PCs retire to their rooms, though not before Bellona steals a knife from off the table and they discuss the Lord and his odd leman. They can’t work out her position, though the fact that no-one ever introduced her means she can’t be a noble. Meanwhile, as the dinner is going on, Endre finds herself not being watched for the first time. The guards are stationed at the head of the stairs by the great hall. She goes upstairs into the lord’s rooms and has a good look around. She’s been here before but never unescorted. The solar upstairs is dominated by a large table with a slate top on which is carved a map. Small wooden ships decorate it. On a nearby stool are some papers. Endre glances through them but they just seem to be naval orders – something about setting a squadron of ships to wait off the coast for the signal. Clearly it’s a trap set for someone, but it means nothing else to her. Looking behind an arras, she discovers a hidden door! She unbolts it and passes through a small antechamber with locked chests and some clothing to a narrow stair that runs down to a door. She realizes she has found a secret exit, but the door out is a stout iron door and she cannot open it. After looking around and finding else nothing exciting, she slips back to her rooms. She hears the lord’s party coming up the stairs and afraid of being caught snooping hides behind a curtain by one of the windows. As the lord’s party passes she hears him saying to his mistress “You’re sure he recognized the name? Could he be an agent of the cult?” before they passed out of hearing. Even more curious, Endre returns to her rooms. At the same time, in the town, Aquila and Dalarna are worried that they have heard nothing from the rest. They go to the Sea Ghost and consult with Adriana and hatch a plan to find out what is going on. The plan involves getting a castle guard. This proves fairly easy – they soon find one in a nearby inn and after a few drinks he is chatting happily with Adriana. He is willing to make a short detour with her ... which ends in dark alley with a blow to the head from Aquila. They wrap him in a cloak and spirit him onto the Sea Ghost, where Aquila takes and dons his livery and then using his Magic gift and a mirror copies the man’s face. He heads up to the castle, and soon passes the gates. Aquila cannot get to where the players are – there are too many guards, but he hangs around and is soon rewarded by Atun, Lamoniak’s servant heading down to the kitchen to eat leftovers with the rest of the servants. He drops his disguise, intercepts Atun and soon finds out where the party is staying. He then manages to find a stairwell which leads him out onto the wall walk, and looping a light line that he had hidden under his cloak round a machiolation slides down into the dark below the walls, before he is noticed by the guards and then heads back into town to meet up with Dalarna. In the kitchen Atun chats with the other servants and soon finds out that no-one much likes the Lord’s mistress. She turned up about the time the temple was renovated and the new statues put up. Now the temple is only for the lord and a few of his close associates to worship at – everyone else has to go to the temple in the town. He also finds out that prisoners are kept in griffin tower – one of the wall towers in the outer ward – though there are only a couple being held there now in the oubliettes: they (and the prison guards, headed by a generally disliked man called Darl the torturer) get food every morning carried from the kitchen through a small door and out across the ward. Atun goes back upstairs and passes this information on. The PCs discuss it all. It seems clear that Thomas is alive and in the oubliette in Griffin tower. Exactly why they are keeping him alive – but well locked up is not clear. Perhaps they hope to pry the location of Pirate cove out of him with powerful magic? Could it be that the Lord’s mistress is actually a cult priestess? While they chat, Khatz examines the painting over Lamioniak’s bed more closely and discovers that the eyes of the picture are actually separate – they can be slid sideways to leave a spyhole! Now that he knows there a space behind it, he and Gen fiddle about with the picture, eventually managing to find a bolt that holds it shut and getting it open –it reveals a small space and a short passage inside the wall. But just as they are examining it, there are loud voices raised outside the door to their rooms! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted August 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2008 Re: And off we go! It'll be some time before I get around to posting this adventure, but this email about last night's session was sent by one player to the game list today, and I thought I'd share We did *SO COOL* last night! Dazzling deeds of heroism performed by all! Wild magic! Plans gone wrong! Daring rescues and breathtaking escapes! Foul and monstrous demonic spawn unleashed on the world! - but that wasn't our fault, not really. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted September 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Re: And off we go! Filling a request: here's the character sheet for a Qurrock. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted October 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Re: And off we go! Endre has decided she wants to meet these strangers – all the more so since the Lord clearly does not want her to. So she smothers the coals in her brazier with water and then goes out to the guards casually lounging in front of the PCs’ rooms. She demands that they get her a new brazier. They argue that they are the “honor guard” for the guests, but she makes a big scene and they are afraid to offend a noble – and the lord’s betrothed at that. Eventually two of them agree to go and get a new brazier, at which point Endre also states that she will visit with the guests and until her room is warmed up. The guards are unhappy but not enough to physically restrain her and she sails past them into the room. Gen and Khatz have just managed to close the portrait and are standing about in the bedroom trying to look innocent. The rest are sitting around their brazier pretending to talk: when Endre appears, Lamoniak, ever the gallant, stands up offers her a chair. Endre doesn’t mince words. She tells the PCs that they are under guard, and that they may not leave the castle alive. However, she also is a prisoner, though a privileged one, being forced into marriage against her will and – she suspects – without her clan’s knowledge. If the PCs will take her with them, she will try to help them escape. The players are dubious – this could be some kind of a trap – but in the end, decide what she tells them matches their own suspicions. They decide to trust her – all the more so as soon after the guard captain turns up and in a fairly direct manner, just barely polite “escorts” her to her own rooms. Once she is gone, Gen and Khatz investigate the secret passage, finding it leads to a staircase in the outer wall, that goes down to a sally port (locked) and upwards to another locked door – perhaps to the lord’s rooms? Afraid of being caught, they retreat to their own rooms and sleep. It’s a busy night. While all of this is going on Aquila, having passed his info on to Dalarna, goes back to the castle and this time scouts around the outside. He discovers one sally port that gives access to the castle ward where the Griffin tower is but cannot open it: there’s no lock and it’s barred from the inside. He finds another, well-hidden, small door in the corner of the main building however, and while this is very solid, being made of iron, it has a keyhole. He soon gets it open – the lock and hinges are well-oiled, making him think it is used often - and discovers a stairway going up. In the dark, he passes the secret passage going to the PCs rooms, which is painted to match the wall. He opens the locked door at the top of the stairs and finds a small antechamber, with a locked chest some lanterns and various other items. He dares go no further because he can see light under the next door. He gets the chest open and finds books, scrolls and some leather bags. He takes a good assortment of scrolls, locks the chest and leaves the place, locking all the doors behind him as he goes. He returns to the ship as it is getting light, gives Adriana the papers (which prove to be a mixture of accounts, and reports from ships’ captains and from spies – interesting, but not much use to Adriana or the PCs) and goes to sleep. The next day, Endre goes to breakfast in the great hall, against custom, and tells the guards she is going into town and wants a guard (she has no male servants of her own) and when they explain that they have duty, and besides they can’t accompany her without orders from the lord. Lamoniak is there, but Khatz has taken some porridge up onto the wall overlooking the town “for some fresh air” From there he watches the guards carry food to griffin tower, knock on the door and exchange the food bowls for empty ones: now they know there are prisoners in the tower. Meanwhile Endre, asks Lamoniak, if he will lend her his female bodyguard (Bellona) – which he does. Since she takes her servants, the guards don’t object. However she manages to slip Bellona a piece of parchment with all the information she knows about the castle. Bellona goes back to her room to get her gear and adds some notes about the secret staircase and asks Aquila to come at midnight. Later in the market, Bellona is able to slip it to Khelsen, who has visited the castle earlier and gotten permission to set up a stall. While this is going on, the PCs stroll about the castle. It clear they are not allowed to leave and there are many places they cannot go, but they are otherwise treated politely. They use the time to check how often guards are relieved and where they walk. They check out the small temple in the castle and to their surprise, are allowed to walk on the grass near griffin tower which matches one of Khatz’s earlier visions. Now they are certain that Thomas is in there. Aquila wakes up that afternoon, and discusses the note from the PCs with Adrian and Dalarna. They suspect a trap at first, but that makes little sense: there are six warships in harbour: if they wanted to seize he pirates they cold do it now. In the end, Adriana agrees to slip out late at night with 6 of her best fighters, and the two ship’s boats and meet Aquila and Dalarna on the shore near the sally port. The plan is that the PCs will spring Thomas, while the Sea ghost will sail on the morning tide and meet the PCs at sea. She goes off to arrange departure with the harbour master, while Aquila goes back to the inn to rest. The first part of the plan goes of without a hitch: Aquila enters via the sally port, carrying a sack full of weapons and meets the PCs in their bedroom and they go over the plan, which is for Aquila to go and unlock the sally port into the second ward, meet the PCs there and then they and Adriana’s crew will storm the jail. The PCs have not forgotten the magic map that Thomas came looking for, so they decide to try the jailbreak closer to dawn and in the mean time, Bellona and Aquila sneak up the lord’s chambers, carrying blankets and pillowcases from the beds. Aquila gets the doors open to the room he has not yet explored and by light through the windows they see that there are three other doors. They carefully block these with the blankets to stop light shining through and then light a small lantern. The room they are is a gallery. There are scrolls and books on shelves, maps on the wall but the dominating factor is a huge table with a slate top and a wooden rim. Carved in it is a map of the seven kingdoms. On the map sit hundreds of tiny wooden ships.. They throw up their hands in despair! The magic map is a giant table and probably weighs more than a tonne. They can’t possibly move it. They do examine it closely though, and see that in the town where they are, they can see a variety of ships, coloured white and one grey ship. The soon work out from the numbers that these are the warships and that the grey ship is theirs. On other places they can see white grey and black and soon work out from placement that white ships are probably friendly, black ships hostile and grey neutral or unknown. There is also a squadron of ships at sea off the Thorn, which they suspect are the ones Endre read about in the recent orders. Most importantly far out at sea where no land is mapped they see a white ship – in the area where they suspect the Samadrian cultists disappeared to. They watch the ships to see if they can detect movement but after 5 minutes see nothing – not surprising given the scale of the map. They then push one ship out of position: it silently slides back to where it was before. Bellona carefully notes the location of the suspected samadrian cultists’s ship and then since they can’t move the table, they steal all the little wooden ships. They also take a random assortment of scrolls and then extinguish the light, remove the pillowcases and blankets and creep back to join the others. At last the sky shows the first traces of dawn and the PCs start to set their plan in action. Most of the group leaves via the secret door, while Aquila hangs his rope out the window of the PCs room down into the ward below. There are guards on the wall, but at that distance and in the dark, the PCs decide there is no chance of them seeing the rope or Aquila in his dark clothes. Aquila slides off the windowsill and starts to climb down. But he slips! He manages to grab the rope desperately, the friction burning through his gloves and then cutting into his palms, but only enough to slow his fall, not stop it. He falls into the ward with a heavy thud, injuring himself badly. Alerted by the sound, a guard comes along the wall-walk and shines his lantern down into the ward where Aquila lies helpless….. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefton Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: And off we go! *Qurrock Bump* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted January 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 Re: And off we go! *Qurrock Bump* Got some more for ya - but have been on vacation in Australia and New Zealand the last month, so nearly no time to surf the boards. Will be back next week, so will post some updates then. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted January 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 Re: And off we go! As promised, another update. These will be more regular for a while, as I got the notes organised while I was on vacation. The rest of the PCs open their door, on the pretext of asking for some water and sandbag their unfortunate guards. The unequal fight lasts but seconds and there is little noise. They swiftly rush to Endre’s room, where she is waiting with her personal belongings and then retreat through their own rooms, out the portrait secret door and down the stairs. They exit the castle via the sally port. There they wait until it begins to get light and a light sea mist begins to rise. They hear people approaching through the weeds and soon join up with Adriana and her pirates. The whole crew creeps toward Griffin Gate and wait for Aquila to open it Meanwhile, in the ward, Aquila realizes he cannot get out of sight in time, so he pulls his dark cloak over himself and lies still. The guard looks about and shines a lantern down into the ward, but he fails to spot Aquila lying on the grass under his cloak and seeing noting else moving, the guard eventually returns to his rounds. Once he has moved on, Aquila crawls to the wall and supporting himself against the wall, hobbles to Griffin Gate and opens it. The pirates and PCs enter, go to the prison and Aquila very quietly unlocks the door. The pirates swarm in – and find the place deserted! There are no guards, although there are 4 bunks. Adriana and her pirates go below, where they find holes bored down into the stone floor. Above some of these hang heavy iron cages, just big enough to take a person and just big enough to fit into the hole: they are suspended from chains that run to a windlass. The chains for four cages run down into dark holes. They swiftly wind the cages up – the first two are empty, but the next two contain Thomas, in pretty bad condition and an older man who is in an even worse state. Neither of them can stand, having been forced to crouch in the cage. The party carry them away as quickly and quietly as they can and retreat through the Griffin gate to the shore. There they board the ship’s boats that await and row out to the Sea Ghost. Once on board, Dalarna raises a magical wind and a fog, and the Sea Ghost sails rapidly past the Thorn and its harbor. They have succeeded in rescuing Thomas! In less than two hours they are reunited with Thana and the two ships sail away from the coastline under as much sail as they dare. They then turn to interrogating Thomas and the other guy they rescued. The PCs are elated at their escape but Thana is uneasy when they tell him their tale. It seems almost too easy – why were there no guards at the prison? The old man turns out to be the former priest of the temple at the Thorn. He has revived slightly with fresh air, food and drink and tells them that the woman they thought was the Lord’s Leman is in fact the priestess of a deviant cult of the Woman of Tides. They worship an avatar or a demon they call the Lady of Horses (though he doesn’t know what a horse is, merely that it is a “marvelous mount”. It still excites Lamoniak, who thinks that perhaps they know something of Remoulade, his home country). She had the old priest thrown in prison when she took over the temple – and she can read minds and send evil dreams. They try to get more information from him, but talking about her sends him into a fit, rolling on the deck and screaming “She’s in my temple and she’s in my head!” He has to be locked in the rope locker until he calms down. They do manage to piece out of his ravings the facts that she used her mindreading spell on him to try to discover his cult secrets but that he would not reveal them. He also says something about burying the temple treasures under the floor so she couldn’t find them. Thana is worried at first by the thought that she read the location of Pirate Cove from Thomas’ mind, but realizes that if it was that simple, it would have been done long ago. Thomas confirms that she was there when he was interrogated, but that his jailors didn’t actually ask many questions: they just threw him in the cage, after asking him what he was doing in the castle and where he had come from. Then he suggests that maybe the Lord of the Thorn will track them via his magic map – he’s had a chance to see the Sea Ghost, after all. Or can she track the old priest? Dalarna is persuaded to use his wind magic to carry one of the PCs aloft and though no ships can be seen from the masthead, from a height of several hundred metres, Khelsen can see 6 war galleys in the far distance. It seems that the squadron that was holding station off the coast is chasing them and everyone is persuaded that Thana is right: that they are being tracked somehow. That means they cannot return to Pirate Cove – and they may have to ditch their ships. After a brief council of war they come up with a cunning plan. They will sail through the Teeth and try to lure the enemy ships into a giant maelstrom called The Mouth. Thana has been there in his youth and his magic brass ball (the item he was worried might have been stolen when his home was ransacked) can guide them precisely there. If the players will assist in this plan, then Thana and Adriana will sail south to the coordinates where they saw the strange ship far out to sea. The PCs agree and the ships set sail westwards, towards The Mouth. On the way the players question the pirates about The Mouth. It is in an isolated region of the Teeth, full of reefs and tricky shallow water. Pirates occasionally venture there and they have fished odd things up out of the water, like statues or corroded mechanisms. It also seems there is something not quite natural about the maelstrom – it appears suddenly about noon, lasts less than half an hour, and then ends – with big bubbles floating to the surface. Nothing that goes into it is ever seen again. The ships sail on for two more days, deeper into the Teeth and making a wide circling course designed to deliver them to The Mouth before noon on the third day. The enemy ships draw slowly closer and closer until they can be seen by the lookout. On the third day, the pirates approach the area of The Mouth. Dalarna uses his spells to guide them through the treacherous water and the PCs work out that this must be a sunken city – the reefs are too regular to be anything else, though the buildings are now no more than lumps - and they are sailing down sunken boulevards and streets. Eventually they enter what must have been a great plaza. In its centre Dalarna’s magic detects a raised, square mound, not too far below the surface. This is the place of The Mouth. The plan is to draw the enemy ships into the maelstrom while the two pirate ships are well anchored. The pirates immediately go to work, sinking anchors as well as they can in rubble piles, but they are barely finished when the Samadrian ships can be seen approaching: though they cannot sense the reefs as Dalarna does, they are galleasses and their oars let them maneuver through the reefs faster than anticipated. They are only about 20 minutes away and it still lacks an hour to noon. To try and slow them, Dalarna calls up a heavy sea mist, plunging everything into darkness, but in only a few minutes, it suddenly vanishes and the sun shines from a clear blue cloudless sky again: his fog magic has been dispelled. Clearly the Samadrians have at least one capable sorcerer with them. Aquila climbs into the crows nest and spots the sorceror with is telescope – he is on the foredeck of the leading ship, guarded by the men with shields. The players get the old priest from The Thorn out on deck, explain the situation and ask if he can help. He gestures, makes arcane symbols in the air and then turns to water which runs away across the deck, draining into the sea, leaving the PCs gaping. When they reach the plaza, the Samadrian ships form a line, clearly planning a pincer movement to overwhelm the pirate ships with their superior numbers, then start to slowly advance. When they come into extreme longbow range, archers on both sides start exchanging shots. Few of the shots hit the mark, but it is clear the Samadrians have many more archers and things are looking grim. Endre however, takes aim at the mage Aquila identified and at extreme range plants an arrow in his shoulder despite the two shieldmen. As he staggers back, stunned, she hits him with a second arrow in the chest and he collapses to the deck. His bodyguards drag him to cover and Dalarna immediately casts his fog spell again. In a minute, the fog again blots out the sun and the pirates wait in the clammy darkness, clutching their weapons. The Samadrian ships are close enough that the sound of slow oars can be heard. Suddenly a Samadrian ship looms out of the fog on the port side and the air is filled with a hail of arrows and grappling hooks. Most miss but several snag in the rigging and along the rails, despite the efforts of the pirates to cut them free. In moments, the galleass draws alongside the Sea Ghost and the Samadrian marines start clambering aboard, led by several armigers. They are met by a wave of pirates and for a minute the Samadrians are held at the rail. Then their heavier armor starts to tell: a Samadrian armiger cuts his way onto the deck followed by another. In the background the sounds of screams and crossing blades indicate that the Samadrians have also boarded Thana’s ship. It starts to look bad for the pirates, but the PCs counter attack. Lamoniak challenges the leading Samadrian armiger, who waves his men back and engages Lamoniak in single combat. The Samadrian leader manages to stun Lamoniak, and then knocks him unconscious and bleeding to the deck but is himself met by Khatz, who manages to fell him in turn. The other armiger is charged by Bellona, and the two fight furiously, each wounding the other. With his way clear, Khatz jumps onto the deck of the Samadrian ship striking all about him and wounding three marines. From the after deck, Endre rains arrows onto the Samadrians and Dalarna uses magic winds to pick several armoured soldiers up and throw them into the sea. Khelsen seizes the remaining armiger, hoists him over his head and throws him into a group of Samadrian marines, knocking several of them down. The Samadrians recoil and Kelsen uses this opportunity to tear the remaining grappling hooks free. Khatz whirls around, and tries to jump back onto the Sea Ghost, but slips and almost falls into the sea. Adriana grabs his arm and hauls him onboard as the Samadrians back away, disappearing into the fog – they have had enough! The pirates cheer and shake their weapons, but a quick look around is not encouraging: the deck is littered with badly wounded and dead and half the pirate crew is down. Endre is wounded by an arrow, Lamoniak, Khatz and Bellona are all badly slashed and most of the pirate archers on the after deck are wounded amid a thicket of arrows stuck in the wood. As the players catch their breath and administer what healing they can, they can hear the Samadrians shouting to each other. The fog soon disperses – Dalarna had to stop maintaining it when he used his whirlwind spell, and the pirates and PCs watch as the Samadrians their ships together and transfer their men from 6 ships to 4. They group the ships together two by two and advance side by side towards the pirate ships – they clearly plan to attack again and use their advantage in manpower to fullest advantage. Adriana points out they were only repelled last time because the fog prevented them from coordinating and only one ship found them in the fog. If they had attacked from both sides they would have overwhelmed the defenders – and now there are even fewer defenders ….. Everyone looks at Dalarna who explains that the spell takes a minute to cast – and the Samadrians will be on them by then. Then, the Samadrians come closer and everyone takes cover as their archers rake the pirate ships with arrows. In a minute, the Samadrian ships are alongside and they hurl their grappling hooks. There are too many to deflect and soon one ship is alongside. The Samadrians roar their battlecries and charge the greatly outnumbered defenders! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Re: And off we go! As the first Samadrian ship crashes alongside, Endre, Gen and the remaining archers (who have been holding an action) rise from cover and fire down into the massed Samadrian archers – at this range it is nearly impossible to miss and many of them go down. Adriana leaps on a hanging rope from the rigging, soars over the heads of the boarding troops, landing behind them and charges the Samadrian mage and the helmsman. Khatz scrambles into the rigging after her, while the rest of the PCs spring to defend the railings. The leader of the Samadrians also proves to be a mage as he casts a battle spell, shielding his archers from missile fire. The attack is somewhat blunted as a good number of Samadrian marines run after Adriana as she dashes up onto the galleass’ sterncastle and kills the helmsman. Khatz swings over on a rope to join her, and lands just ahead of the charging Samadrians. Adriana glares at him and snarls “Idiot! It was just supposed to be a diversion!” before nimbly leaping onto the rail and running back to the Sea Ghost along one of the grappling lines. Khatz looks at the dozen angry Samadrians charging him, and tries the same trick - but slips and is left dangling from the rope. The second Samadrian ship pulls along side, and men start to pile over the railings. The remaining PCs charge into the fight and the Samadrian leader drops his shield spell and also leaps aboard. As the pirates close in, he activates another spell – a great flash that blinds all those in front of them. He closes in for the kill on his blinded opponents. Glancing around, Gen sees two things from the after deck. On one side, two Samadrian ships have grappled Thana’s ship and are trying to board. Suddenly, the great gilded figurehead that gives his ship the name Goldenprow, comes alive, grasping men in its long wooden arms and either breaking them like sticks of wood or flinging them into the sea. On the other side, she sees a dip suddenly appears in the sea – the maelstrom is waking at last! On the main deck, the battle rages. Bellona who is skilled in blindfighting, engages the shiplord, striking him two solid blows and driving him back, allowing the others time to clear their eyes. Aquila darts in and manages to sever two grappling lines, while Khelsen cuts two more. Caught in the grip of the current, the second Samadrian ship peels away from the Sea Ghost, attached by only a single rope, which one of the pirates soon severs. Endre shoots arrows into the Samadrians on the other ship who are pulling their grappling lines taut, forcing them to drop one line. The Samadrians, however, seeing the maelstrom, and watching it swallow their two unengaged ships, fight desperately to protect the remaining lines – the battle wavers back and for a minute, but in the end, Lamoniak and Bellona strike down the Samadrian shiplord – though he cuts down Lamoniak in the same fight. Khatz, who has been hauled back on board, by one of Adriana’s pirates, charges into the fray and clears a space for Khelsen, who reaches the railing. Unable to sever all the grappling hooks, he takes a mighty swing with a boarding axe at the railing itself, shearing away several supports – with a crash, it tears free and the Samadrian ship pulls away from the Sea Ghost in the grip of a racing current. Then it reaches the extent of the remaining ropes and it slams to a halt, throwing half the combatants off their feet, before ripping away part of the Sea Ghost’s rigging and whirling away toward the maelstrom. However that last impact has had a dire effect – one of the Sea Ghost’s anchors has also torn free of the reef and the Sea Ghost swings wildly about, caught in the current. Everyone on board – pirate and Samadrian – stare at the remaining hawser, which groans – then stretches – and then parts with an explosive snap! The Sea Ghost accelerates away towards the maelstrom which is getting ever larger and ever faster. As everyone on board watches in horror, the first Samadrian ship reaches the centre of the maelstrom and is suddenly whipped from sight below the frothing waters. The second Samadrian ship and the Sea Ghost whirl out of control toward the same fate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Re: And off we go! On the after deck, Dalarna picks himself up and begins to gesture. As he casts his spell of calm waters, the current suddenly ceases to pull at the Sea Ghost and one by one they watch the remaining Samadrian ships rush past them to destruction. With their leader unconscious, and The Mouth greedily swallowing their ships, the remaining few Samadrians lose their will to fight: two of the armigers leap into the sea to avoid capture, while the rest of the soldiers throw their weapons down. The deck is covered in bodies. Of the pirates only a handful remain, while none of the PCs are unwounded – most of them are seriously wounded. Dalarna’s crew, which was larger, has fared slightly better. Faced with a choice of the sea or turning pirate, the remaining Samadrians choose to turn pirate and take the blood oath, all apart from their captain, who when he regains consciousness offers his parole – he promises not to try to escape as long as he is treated well. He says his family will ransom him. His name is Daros Strongwake and he is from a noble family. Thana grants him this and he thereafter becomes relatively cooperative. The newly recruited pirates confirm that they were ordered to pursue the pirate ships and that their sorceror could talk magically with a priestess back in The Thorn who told them where the pirate ships were. The PCs conclude that the magic map is still working and thus that they cannot return to Pirate Cove. However, the crews are too battered to set sail for the lost island right now. They decide to anchor a safe distance away from The Mouth for a couple of days so that the healers can get to work. While they are resting, several of the PCs go with Dalarna to investigate The Mouth. Rowing there in a ship’s boat, Dalarna casts a waterbreathing spell and they slide down the anchor rope into a dim, green world. The large square thing that puzzled them seems to be the source of The Mouth. On investigation it appears to be a squat truncated pyramid with a ramp or flight of stairs up two sides, though it is so covered in weeds, coral and silt it is hard to tell for sure. They investigate the stairs and carry an odd-shaped rock off with them. At the top the pyramid is flat and there is a circle of smooth, jointed stone – oddly, the circle is completely free of any sign of weed or silt, enabling the joints between the huge blocks to be felt with the fingers. When they surface, some scraping away with knives reveals the odd-shaped stone to be a weathered head off a broken statue – apparently a bearded man, maybe with a crown. The rest of the crew is intrigued – clearly there is a sunken city here. The legends of the seven kingdoms are full of such stories. However, they don’t have time to explore further. Once the two ships have recovered crews somewhat, they weigh anchor and set sail southwards. The PCs converse with Daros and those who can’t speak it, start to learn Samadrian – the others skim through the papers they have acquired in their travels, looking for more clues. After 5 days, they sight a thin plume of smoke on the horizon and the next day, they see the island ahead of them: two peaks rising from the sea, clad in trees. The higher of the two emits a stream of smoke: the volcano. Daros is promptly locked in the hold again, in case his vow is tested too much. Sailing cautiously along the coast they spot a white sand beach and on it a ship, that matches the description of the one they have sought. After a brief tactics discussion, the ships hang back while several PCs approach underwater using Dalarna’s waterbreathing and swimming spells. Aquila climbs up onto the ship, but all is quiet. He sneaks below decks and hears voices. Quickly concealing himself he sees two sailors carrying a barrel of beer towards the deck. Letting them pass him, he sees them sit down on the railing and take a couple of drinks. He rushes them and bodyslams one, who flies off into the sea – Khelsen, who is lurking up against the hull, out of sight from the deck, promptly grabs him and holds him underwater, drowning him. Aquila then attacks the second, stunning him and then holding a knife to his throat. The man surrenders. The other PCs climb on board and Aquila climbs the rigging and signals the other ships, which sail into the bay. Meanwhile the rest of the PCs search the ship. It appears to be empty, apart from the captain’s cabin, which is locked. Eventually Aquila and Khelsen get that door open, and immediately start trying to open the seachest they find. They do so, but on opening the lid, a small bright light floats up – and then explodes! The sea chest and its contents are incinerated and Aquila is blown clean out through the windows, into the sea, where Dalarna saves him from drowning. Khelsen is knocked unconscious by the explosion and many things in the cabin are set on fire. The other PCs come running and eventually get the fire under control, but all the papers in the cabin and much else is destroyed. The PCs heal their injured companions and then, somewhat angrily, they interrogate the captured sailor. He tells them that the rest of the crew have headed inland where they have been working – his job was just to watch the ship. There are 26 crew on the ship, including a number of armigers – and master Thomas, plus 7 other cultists. The PCs are jubilant: these are the men they are seeking! The sailor they have captured says he will guide them to the others, but wants passage back to Ostragya and his freedom in exchange. They agree. He tells them the cultists are hunting treasure in a white city up on the mountainside and that they have spent weeks cutting a path to the ruins and clearing the forest away. He also tells them that they rotate the guards on the ship every couple of days and that tomorrow two more guards will come: if he and his comrade don’t return, the alarm will be raised. If the PCs want to surprise them they will have to move fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phookz Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Re: And off we go! This is some really great stuff, thanks for sharing it with us and please keep it coming. I have to spread rep around or I would hit you with some. I really like the feel of the world you have - do you have more information on it, like maybe the religions you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted February 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Re: And off we go! This is some really great stuff, thanks for sharing it with us and please keep it coming. I have to spread rep around or I would hit you with some. I really like the feel of the world you have - do you have more information on it, like maybe the religions you have? Yep, the entry to the site for my gaming world is here From the main menu (upper left), choose "Races and Peoples", and then from the subsidiary menu (bottom left) choose "Societies and Cultures". This give access to all the different regions in my game world: the current setting is at the top: "The Su'uvenayan Archipelago". Clicking on this will change the main menu to one covering the various aspect of the archipelago. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted April 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Re: And off we go! When the other ships arrive, they haul the cultists’ ship off the beach. Thana says that he has done his bit and says that he will leave now the players have found their prey. They try to persuade him to help them fight the cultists. He refuses saying he has shed enough blood already, but Adriana promptly claims the cultists’ ship as her “reward” for helping the PCs further – she also says she wants a share of any treasure they find. They grumble a bit but in the end let her have it. Khatz scries takes a sailor’s hat from the cultists’ ship to see their next destination – but he sees only a brief and terrifying glimpse of a huge mouth full of teeth. That does not encourage him. The PCs plus Adriana and a half dozen of her toughest and most trusted crew, begin immediately preparing to pursue the cultists. They arm themselves and Gen and the captured sailor move ahead to look at the path which runs into the forest alongside a little stream. It is thick and tangled. While Gen is looking for tracks, the captured sailor takes advantage of his distraction to flee up the path. The PCs give chase but he has a good head start and eventually Gen catches up with him by cutting through the jungle (GM’s note: he has environmental movement - forest) and corners him by a sheer cliff with a waterfall. There is a brief struggle and Gen is forced to stab the man – doing a lethal amount of damage. As the sailor dies, he gestures at Gen and says “It will be waiting for you...” When the rest catch up, they find that the path ends at the cliff-face, but there are handholds made with wooden wedges hammered into cracks in the rock. Wearily, they ascend the cliff. At the top, they find a pulley attached to a large tree and signs of an encampment – a clear trail runs off into the forest. On all sides they can see rugged terrain. Not only is the mountain covered in heavy forest, but its flanks are cut by many small streams, so that it is covered in steep-sided gorges. They follow the trail which winds among the largest trees and eventually come to a steep but narrow gorge which is crossed by a three-rope bridge. Khatz is unable to cross it because of his vertigo. The rest cross –though a bit uneasily – and make camp on the other side, since it is getting dark. Khatz manages to cross the gorge by clambering down into it and climbing the other side, though it takes him over an hour. That night on guard, Endre is on watch. It is very, very dark under the trees and she is glad when bright moonlight finds its way through the leaves. Then she thinks “That’s funny, the moon shouldn’t be full.” She wakens Dalarna who casts a spell to confirm that the moon is not full – and anyway the light they see is coming from the wrong direction to be the moon. They wake the others and they peer around – eventually Gen climbs a tree and sees a beam of light like a searchlight stabbing up into (or perhaps down from) the sky, but the bulk of the mountain prevents him from seeing where it touches land. The next day the party rises early and creeps along the trail, with Gen and Aquila out ahead as scouts. Here and there in the forest they see signs of ancient buildings – a tumbled wall, or a column of white stone wrapped about with tree roots. In places they see flagstones leading them to suspect the trail follows a prehistoric road. They climb up and down over several ridges and then the trail comes out onto an exposed ridge. Attached to a large tree is another three-rope bridge but this one swoops from the mountain they are on across a gorge hundreds of metres deep and nearly 100 metres wide, to a ridge on the flank of the smaller peak. Far below, they can hear water running and they can see all the way back to the coast on both sides of the island. On the side they did not visit, steep cliffs fall from the volcano into the sea. On the other side, they can see the three ships at anchor. Khatz takes one look at the fragile bridge and shudders. He can’t cross it, no matter how hard he tries. The rest of the party are forced to leave him behind and on the other side they find more evidence of ancient building. The bridge is fastened to the remnants of some large columns and gives access to an open space. Beyond that, wide steps, overgrown with leaf mould and scrub rise up through a high stone wall capped with heavy forest. Gripping their weapons, the party sets out. But as they ascend the stair, 4 armoured warriors step out to bar their way. At the same time two dozen archers reveal themselves along the top of the overgrown wall. One of the armigers at the top of the stairs demands their surrender. With only a two archers of their own, the party is trapped. To rush the stairs would mean dozens of archers could shoot them down in that narrow space – while to try and cross the bridge would leave them easy targets. And on either side of the ridge is a drop down hundreds of metres into space. And after only a brief debate, they drop their weapons. They have been captured by the cultists! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted April 15, 2009 Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 Re: And off we go! Great to see this game is still going! Somehow it feels as though the party has wandered into an episode of Lost or possibly a Conan tale. I'm not sure which would be more dangerous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted April 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Re: And off we go! Great to see this game is still going! Somehow it feels as though the party has wandered into an episode of Lost or possibly a Conan tale. I'm not sure which would be more dangerous. Glad you like: I'm really behind writing this up - this adventure is from summer last year, and we are still playing every 2-3 weeks, so I have about a years' worth of games to write up - about 15-20 sessions I still have all the notes, sketches and maps, but they are all freehand ..... cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted April 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 Re: And off we go! Several armigers come forward and collect the party’s weapons and check them for concealed weapons. Gen manages to conceal his sling and Aquila conceals a knife, but everyone else is disarmed. They are then marched under heavy guard along the trail. Signs of ruins in the undergrowth become more frequent and it is clear that hey are entering the heart of the old city. Lamoniak strikes up a conversation with one of the armigers, who is happy enough to talk – he explains that the party has now become forced labor, for which he is very happy: he has had enough of clearing the forest by hand. The group soon arrives at a cleared area. Amid the tree stumps, are the remains of walls and columns – in some places the outlines of whole buildings remain. Dominating the clearing is a short, squat pyramid, with steps up to the top on two sides, surrounded by a double arcade of columns. These are made of a white stone, with deeply carved characters winding around them. The PCs recognize them at once – this is where their “magic stone” came from. When they are bought into the clearing, a group of men come forward to meet them and the recognize the cultists they have been chasing for so long. The head cultist – the man with the black, bushy beard – repeats what the armiger has told Lamoniak: that despite the fact that the party have been chasing him for months now, he bears them no ill will. He claims that they are dupes, having been fooled by the church militant. He and his companions are simple scholars and if the party works to help them clear the area, he will simply let hem go when their work is finished. He also warms them that the columns around the pyramid are set to protect it from magical forces: they will attack anyone using magic, so don’t try any spellcasting! The party doesn’t believe him when he says they will be freed. Lamoniak in particular is certain he lies. However, there is not much else they can do – constantly watched by archers, they are set to work clearing an area off to one side of the clearing uprooting tree stumps and moving rocks. They are told to be especially careful to remove any of the white runestone. On hearing that, Khelsen manages to bury a big chunk close to the centre of the cleared space rather than moving it. It’s not clear what the goal is, although they hear one of the cultists refer to it as “a landing place”. The party also manages to work out from several comments that the cultists are expecting the imminent arrival of someone important. Lamoniak has a more immediate problem, however. He has a charm that keeps his clothes clean and neat – unfortunately scattered though the area are chunks of the white runestone, and when he gets his clothes dirty, the magic on his clothes activates these. Several times he is injured by stone – fortunately only small ones – that shoot out spikes. He tries to convince the cultists that he can control the spikes by surreptitiously smearing dirt on his clothes – almost spiking a guard in the process. Eventually they decide he is too difficult to have around and force him to go and sit on the steps of the pyramid. He demands - and gets – a blanket to sit on so that he does not dirty his clothes. At night, the prisoners are herded into a small group, hobbled with rope, given food and water and closely watched. They see the cultists go to the area they have been clearing and enact some sort of ritual. The find the buried chunk of white stone and there is some consternation, but eventually it is removed. They enact another ritual and soon a beam of light shoots up into the air, just as they saw last night, bathing the clearing in a light like the brightest moon. Although it is well away from the colonnade, the PCs hear the stone rustle and see the runes moving on the surface of the stone. The players complete the clearing the next day, though they work as slow as they dare, and that night the cultists again erect the silvery beam. Later that night however, they are awakened by cries “Up there. It’s here! He’s arrived!” People are looking upwards, and the players see a winking light in the sky. One of the cultists lights a lamp and signals back and slowly the players see a ship arrive. It’s an old fashioned dragonship, and its sail bulges as though filled with an invisible wind. It spirals lower, coming in to land in the cleared space. Khelsen takes advantage of the fact that everyone is watching the ship to grab a chunk of runestone and then he dashes forward, hurling it as the ship. The stone arcs into the silvery light beam and instantly becomes a mass of spikes and tendrils stabbing out. Khelsen can’t quite reach the ship, however and it falls to the ground. The next second, so does Khelsen, with several arrows in him. The PCs drag his body back and Gen manages to bandage his wounds. He’s badly injured, but Gen doesn’t dare use healing magic in case there are rune stone fragments in the soil around them. A portly man in ornate robes descends from the ship once it has landed and greets the other cultists. There is much bowing. After that, torches are lit and the silvery light is extinguished. The new arrival comes over and examines the PCs asking if these are the people who attacked his fellow cultists in the market square at Houndsgard. When that’s confirmed, he simply shakes his head and says “Remarkable. Quite remarkable.” After that, things quieten down and eventually everyone goes back to sleep. The next morning, while the prisoners are being fed and people are moving about, Aquila uses his knife to saw mostly through everyone’s hobbles, so that they can be broken easily. The cultists are standing around discussing. Apparently they are “interested in the principle of how this works” but apparently they did not expect the white runestone. It’s complicated things by preventing magic being used to clear the forest and it prevents them using magic up close. Eventually, they come to some conclusion and order the guards to herd the prisoners up onto the temple steps. The party has no choice but to obey, though Adriana whispers that they can beak their hobbles, run up the steps and down the other side of the pyramid, where they will be protected from arrow fire. But the players only get part way up the steps when the new arrival orders the archers to “Kill the one with the magic clothes”. There is a hail of arrows and even though the PCs dodge, Lamoniak is hit twice, but does not fall. As the blood stains his clothes, white spine shoot out from the columns, and he only avoids impalement by a hairbreadth. Gen and two pirates are also wounded. The rest of the party break their hobbles and run. Two more pirates fall and half the group are wounded, before they reach the top, which reveals a broad circle of stone, apparently unmarked by moss or creeper. The party don’t dare cross this, so run around its margin, but oddly, the arrow fire seems to have ceased. Glancing back, they see that the cultists and their soldiers are retreating towards the colonnade and that a half dozen are sprawled in the clearing. At the edge of the trees are a row of archers. It’s Khatz, Thana and the pirates! Under cover of the confusion, the ex-prisoners sprint away from the pyramid and reach the forest’s edge. At that point most of the group runs to the left, towards the area where they slept. Their weapons are there, but now no-one is guarding them. Aquila turns right and stealthily creeps around the clearing towards the flying ship. The ex-prisoners come close to the sack containing their weapons and Lamoniak bursts from cover running to it. He reaches the sack and starts to drag it away but is hit by an arrow and collapses only halfway back to the trees. Endre races out and retrieves the weapons. Everyone quickly arms themselves and they prepare to charge the soldiers who have taken shelter among the colonnades as they appear to be running short of arrows. Endre takes aim at one of the cultists who is peering around a column and drops him with one well placed arrow. At that point everybody charges towards the remaining soldiers. The chief cultist has had enough. He makes an arcane sign and suddenly he is englobed by a shimmering field. The columns around him go crazy, shooting out spikes and tendrils which shatter against the force wall – half the soldiers guarding him are killed by the explosions of stone in the first few seconds. As he forces his way forward the columns writhe and shake as the shoot spike after spike at him, and the colonnade becomes so active that in places it collapses. But none of the stone can penetrate and the arrows shot at him simply shatter against his spell. He begins to run clumsily towards the flying ship and his fellow cultists run out of the colonnade to escape the spiky stones and the collapsing columns. They are met by the charging pirates from both Adriana and Thana’s bands and a fierce battle ensues. The PCs run towards the flying ship (Khelsen scoops Lamoniak up on the way and tosses him over one shoulder), but it is clear the cultist priest is going to get there first. However, Aquila by this time has reached the flying ship and is lying hidden by the gangplank. As the priest rushes up his magical protection spell passes over Aquila so that when Aquila stands up to confront him, he is inside it. Aquila catches the priest totally by surprise and stabs him three times – in the face (stunning him), chest and shoulder – before he has a chance to do anything. The cultist collapses and Aquila tears from around his neck a prominent piece of jewellery – a gold necklace with a large black hemisphere covered in strange gold runes. The cultists, atacke d on two sides and abandoned by their leader, flee towards the forest. The pirates are cheering and waving their weapons. And then about this point, people notice that something like a vortex has formed over the top of the pyramid and down the step runs a vivid red thread like a ribbon of blood. The red river touches some of the fallen coprses and suddenly eyes open in its length and a fanged mouth at its end. From the top of the pyramid, a red and purple shuddering mass of fanged and eye’d tentacles erupts and begins to flow down the pyramid. Most of the mass heads for the hole in the colonnade made by the chief cultist’s escape but it goes in other directions too – screams are heard from the cultists who fled around behind the pyramid. Other tentacles snake after the PCs who have to run past the thing to reach the ship. Aquila runs up the gangplank and as soon as he sets foot on the deck, the ship begins to lift off. It hangs for a second, held by two ropes, then they pull the stakes free of the ground and the ship begins to slowly rise into the sky. Gen and Belllona reach the dangling ropes and start to climb, while Aquila finds a rope ladder and casts it over the side. Khatz races to the rope ladder starts to climb it and then part way up looks at the receding ground and freezes. Dalarna reaches the ship but hesitates. It’s clear that Khelsen is not going to make it. Dalarna shouts at Khelsen to throw Lamoniak into the air and he catches his body in a whirlwind and lifts it onto the ship. Then he does the same for Khelsen, lifting him just clear of the grasping tentacles. At that point, alas, the ship has risen too high for Dalarna – but as the red tentacles slither towards him, an anchor hits the ground beside him, thrown by Bellona. He grabs the anchor and is lifted free of the ground. The tentacles reach up after him and the ship, but fall just short. One by one the others are hauled up onto the ship as it slowly climbs up over the pyramid, revealing a scene of pirates and cultists fleeing willy-nilly into the forest, pursued by scarlet tentacles. A never-ending stream of red monstrosity empties out of the pyramid. Everyone congratulates Aquila on getting the ship airborne, but then he explains he did nothing – it started as soon as he bought the necklace on board and he can't control it. The ship – now as high as the volcano’s peak –is still climbing, bearing them away to an unknown destination! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefton Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Re: And off we go! *Qurrock bump* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted May 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Re: And off we go! The ship climbs for an hour until it is above the level of the wispy clouds and heads north-east. The experiment with the strange medallion Aquila took from the chief cultist. They find that the central part looks like black glass with gold symbols on it, but they can wipe the symbols away. They try writing on it, and find that what they write appears in gold letters, but that has no effect on the ship’s course. Khatz tries standing at the tiller and “willing” the ship to change course, but that also has no effect. At last they give up. With nothing else to do, the PCs turn to healing their wounded comrades and exploring the ship. It soon becomes apparent that the ship is the possession of a wealthy man. Everything is of the highest quality and there is only one cabin. They manage to rig hammocks in the bow. The ship is stocked with lots of food and drink, enough for a voyage of months. There is also a library in the cabin. Much of it is in languages that they cannot read, but what they can read seems to focus on two things – religious documents (all fairly orthodox as far as they can tell) and old accounts of voyages by sea captains or adventurers. There are log-books, rutters and even a collection of tales told by street story-tellers. One of them details a journey into the high mountains of Samadria to the kingdom of the vampire-sorceress, but most describe voyages to a city called Paddish. Most of these are very old, written in archaic dialects, so it takes Endre some time to puzzle her way through them. Paddish is described as a city ruled by powerful sorcerors with impregnable defences. Several more recent ones however, detail voyages to Paddish and describe it as a ruin, overwhelmed by a volcanic eruption, whose surviving inhabitants live in a state of war with uncivilized tribesmen and cannibal cultists. One tale recounts the sinking of their ship by monstrous shark-men and a long journey home to Samadria on foot through a vast wilderness. All of the journey tales are heavily annotated in a fine hand, with comments cross-referencing other scrolls. From several comments it looks like the owner was searching for something or searching for an entrance into something. Bellona and Dalarna have heard of Paddish – the dreaming city – a semi-legendary place that lies in the uttermost west. Few sailors have ever ventured there, and they know nothing much apart from the name, but tales have it as a place of riches. The ship sails on and on, first, for days over the sea, then across land. Looking down, they can see tiny villages and cities far below and Bellona calculates that they have come to Samadria. The ship sails on – across farmland and forest and then out to sea again. Several days over the sea and huge mountains soaring high above the clouds can be seen to the southwest. The group begins to worry about food and water and starts rationing what they have. Fortunately they sail into a huge storm. Dalarna is able to quiet the winds around the ship, while the others put out every vessel they can find to catch water. Soon the ship crosses the coast line again and now it crosses huge forests and high heaths where signs of civilization are few. The occasional town is seen, heavily walled and moated. Still the ship sails on. At last the food runs out and the PCs survive on water they harvest by putting sails up to catch moisture from clouds. The PCs, weak and hungry, begin to wonder if the ship will ever land. At last the ship approaches another mountain range and begins to descend, and the group quickly gathers all they can, wrapped up in cloths for a quick departure. As they descend, the can see ahead of them a grim black crag at the head of a long narrow bay. On the foothills of the crag, off to their right is a vast city, with gigantic walls towering perhaps 100 meters. However, as they get closer, they can see the city is ruined, with parts of walls, shattered domes and open plazas covered in plant life. In addition, the city is flooded, with approximately a third of the area inside the walls sunken in the sea and parts of walls projecting from the waves. There is also a huge, many-turreted castle projecting from the sea. However their destination appears to be a smaller city, built up against the outside of the giant walls like refuse piled up against a building. As the ship sails lower, peering down, they can see this small city is made of many buildings of all shapes and sizes crowded around narrow alleys. They can see some people looking up and pointing at them. Many of the buildings appear to be have been made of scavenged stone and tile. But this city does not seem to be their destination either. Just outside the smaller city’s walls they can see what seem to be a military base. Stockade walls surround open grassy fields, a regular grid of streets holds many low identical houses and beyond them what looks like a complex of temple buildings. One corner of the stockade is built up into a motte topped by a small castle. There is a square lake at the edge of the fields and it soon becomes apparent that this is where the ship is going to land. As the boat glides in to a smooth landing on the lake, Gen takes an empty barrel with his belongings and drops over the side into the water, his splash hidden by the spray. Before going, he tells the others that he will swim off and hide and then meet up with them later. Dalarna scouts for a place to hide in the hold – the rest decide to tough it out and see what happens. The ship glides up to a dock and small pavilion built at the edge of the lake. As the PCs look out, they see a procession hurrying out of what look like temple buildings or a monastery. This procession is headed by several priests and brought up by a file of soldiers. They will be at the ship in a few minutes. The PCs have long since been healed of their wounds, but their lack of food has rendered them weak. They are in no shape for a fight with a dozen soldiers. They hatch a cunning plan and put it into action. Aquila rapidly dons some of the former ship owner’s robes and uses his magical gift to make his face resemble that of the chief cultist he killed. With the help of the others, he then pads himself out with pillows to make himself look fatter and puts the amulet around his neck. Finally – since he can barely speak Samadrian, he wraps a bloodied cloth that they had previously wrapped their wounds with around his neck. When the soldiers and the priests arrive, Aqulia meets them standing at the head of the gangplank. They bow respectfully and bid the high priest welcome. Endre explains his silence by saying that the high priest has been injured in the throat and cannot easily talk. At that, the new priests exclaim that he must come at once to the hospital, but Endre replies that he would rather go to his own lodgings, and that they can send for a healer. The priest who has first spoken immediately agrees, detailing his underlings to run for a healer. He and the soldiers will escort the high priest to his house – the PCs carry Aquila as though he is too weak to walk. On the way, the local priest enquires who the PCs are – he seems to be under the impression that they are the cult members the high priest went to meet and Endre agrees with this and tells him a bit – without going into too much detail - about the gate and a ritual going wrong, after which they had to flee. She says she can’t say too much without the high priest’s permission, but that he will doubtless explain once he is healed. They soon arrive at the high priest’s house – a big stone place - and go inside: the soldiers stand guard outside. The maid leads them upstairs and they lay the “high priest” in his bed. They ask for food and drink while they wait for the healer and every one gorges themselves as much as they dare. The local priest questions them further while they eat. Endre tells him about the monster that came through and the priest seems astonished, saying “Imagine! Still active after all these centuries!” He also suggest that the columns of white runestone they describe were not to keep people away from the pyramid but to keep things in. Unfortunately, in the storytelling, Aquila gets carried away and adds some comments. The priest glances at him suspiciously and Bellona sees him casting a surreptitious spell. Aquila’s magic mask dissolves, but the priest doesn’t get a chance for anything else – Bellona punches him in the face, stunning him and then Khelsen wallops him unconscious. They rapidly tie him up using some belts and bundle him into the high priest’s bed after Aquila changes into his clothes. They ransack the place looking for loot and clues, but find nothing apart from a few coins and many scrolls. Endre bundles as many of these as she can fit in a pillowcase. But they have lingered too long – they hear steps on the stairs and two more priests and a soldier enter. There is a brief fight, but the new arrivals are taken by surprise and subdued in seconds. They are also swiftly tied up. This time however, it was not so quiet and fearing the soldiers may investigate en masse, the PCs grab a few items and run downstairs. To the servant’s surprise, they go out via the back door into a little courtyard, and through a gate into the lane behind the house. Then they start to run, Aquila dumping his borrowed priestly robes, on the way. Suddenly, they hear a hue and cry and an alarm being sounded. It seems the hunt is up and they are on foot, weak and in the midst of an enemy fortress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefton Posted July 13, 2009 Report Share Posted July 13, 2009 Re: And off we go! *Qurrock bump* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted July 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 Re: And off we go! Meanwhile Gen has swum to the edge of the lake and concealed himself in some reeds. He retrieves his clothes from the cask, dresses and then fills his cask and then walks to one of the gates as if leaving with water. The guards turn him back, saying only the front gate is open. He goes to the front gate, sees the guards checking passes and turns away. No-one pays much attention to a young man carrying a water barrel and after wandering for a while, he finds refuge in a stable. After talking to two boys there, they give him bread and egg. Somewhat fortified, he heads to the palisade on the side closest to the mountain. Glancing about, all seems quiet, so he walks up to the palisade, puts his barrel down and climbs on – then drives his dagger into the wood. Stepping on that he can jump high enough to catch the edge of the palisade and he is just climbing over when a soldier comes around the corner of a building. The soldier immediately shouts at Gen to stop, and when Gen hauls himself onto the palisade, throws a spear, which just misses Gen, as he jumps to the ground on the other side. Gen rolls down into the ditch on the other side, scrambles out, grabs the spear and runs towards the rough ground. Behind him, the alarm is raised. Gen runs, but weak from hunger has to slow after a minute or two, before he passes out. He gathers berries from the bushes as he goes and by the time a file of soldiers comes running from the fort, is among the bushes on the mountainside. The mountainside is rough and pocked with holes. Some of them seem to go down a fair distance into the ground and Gen investigates one of these as a possible hiding place. Rough steps cut into the ground lead to a rectangular portal and Gen realizes that it is artificial – a buried building. Going further inside he enters a large room with columns and hiding behind a column he kicks something which rolls across the floor, echoing. It is a skull. A few seconds’ investigation shows more bones, some of them cracked open and Gen realizes the dank smell might not all come from the soil. He flees out of the hole and the soldiers spot him. Gen runs again, heading always up the mountainside, using the many holes and pits to shelter his movement as much as possible. Gen has spotted a place where the mountainside comes up to the top of the great wall and realizes that the same landslide that buried all these buildings must also have breached the wall. There is a palisade with watchtowers there, but it seems like his best chance to get into the ruins and away from the soldiers. Eventually, Gen picks another dark hole. As he ran he gathered likely looking bits of wood and binding them together and splintering the ends with is knife, he makes a crude torch and presses into the darkness. Passing down a long colonnaded hall, he enters a large columned room and chooses a side doorway. This gives onto a staircase that leads down – and down and down. Gen persists, hoping to find water. Eventually, the staircase passes through an arch and now there is only a wall on one side – the other side is open to darkness, and judging by the lack of echoes gives onto a huge space. Gen goes down. Eventually, the staircase ends at a stone pier projecting from the wall, into a dark liquid. At its end stand two statues carved like robed skeletons. Gen pauses. Is this the sea? He looks down into the water, which smells foul and seems oily. He throws a stone raising some sluggish ripples. Then he hears a plop and a gurgle far out in the dark. A slow wave rolls in, as though something large had surfaced. Gen turns and retreats – then he hears what sounds like wet feet slapping the stone behind him and he runs up to the surface as fast as he can, eventually burrowing in under a bush. He plans to hide there and cross the palisade at night. While all of this is going on, the rest of the group exits the high priest’s house and walks quickly back to the flying ship. Despite the alarm, the guards they see do not seem to be paying attention to them (It was Gen climbing over the wall that caused the alarm). There are two guards there but they are not suspicious of the group when they explain the high priest has sent them back to get some of his things and the other member of their group who has been watching them. They collect Dalarna and a sack with their weapons and some gear and then walk around the corner of the monastery, out of sight of the guards. But they have not gone very far when they hear what is obviously another alarm bell. This time the game is definitely up. Dalarna summons a fog and they run for the back gate. It is only closed with a bar and they open it and run for the hills. They don’t get very far before the fog is dispelled, and take cover in a shallow ravine. Off in the distance they can see a group of soldiers (chasing Gen, although they don’t know that) and a second group with Qurrock riders comes out the gate they have just left. The riders spread out and start searching, but suddenly stop and the PCs notice them looking up at a nearby ridge top. There are a dozen armed men there, one of whom seems to be sitting on a giant toad-like creature. The newcomers have a savage aspect. There is a brief standoff and then the soldiers turn around and ride back into their fort. The party creeps away looking for a hiding place and soon find another excavated doorway. They hasten inside. Dalarna uses his magic to sense the space goes far back into the mountain so Aquila gathers wood from the bushes nearby to make torches and a fire. The light reveals two large brass doors. One has been forced open, the other is still partially embedded in the hard clay. Steps beyond the door lead up to a passage and then a high domed building. It was once heavily decorated, but the decorations have been prised out of the walls. They continue to explore, going through passages, both part of buildings and dug through the earth and finally find water in a depression. Halting there, they rest and Khatz scries Gen’s shortsword to determine his destination. After some time, he sees a vision of another palisaded fort – but he thinks that this is one they glimpsed among the ruins inside the great walls. It seems they have to go into the ruins if they are to find Gen. As darkness falls, Gen prepares to make his move – but glancing over his shoulder, he can see a bluish-green light issuing from the cavern he investigated before and recalling the wet footsteps, he decides to move now. He crawls down the hillside and eventually sees the breach in the wall. It is spanned by a palisade with a gate and over-watched by two towers with lit torches. The ground along the palisade is cleared, so there is little cover. Off to the side is another enclosed palisade with a stout blockhouse. Gen creeps along this palisade and then dashes towards the one spanning the breach. But he is spotted in the torchlight and a voice shouts out in Samadrian that he is to halt, or they will shoot. Tired, hungry, thirsty and unarmoured – and afraid of what might come out of holes in the dark mountain - Gen surrenders. Two soldiers come out of the blockhouse and escort him into a small but solid cell, locking him in. Gen is a prisoner of the Samadrians! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefton Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Re: And off we go! *sneaking....sneaking...* :idjit:BUMP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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