Bloodmäter

[StGrimblefig]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

...for a moment there, I thought you were running a Brutal Legend game in the Age of Metal.

 

What? The name has an umlaut.

I keep having flashes of a rusted-out anthropomorphous tow truck . . . with fangs.

 

Interesting campaign concept, though.

[Lethosos]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Hrmm, intriguing thought... Too much on my plate to think it over, but I'd recommend waiting a bit for the Brutal Legend game first.

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

I'm a couple of weeks behind in my recaps! Here's the one from 2 sessions ago, IIRC...

 

Recap 08/01/2009

The heroes made short work of the rats guarding the entrance to the ancient temple. Then they turned to the open doorway. The darkness within seemed to pool outwards…

 

Inside they found a wide chamber, very dark within. It seemed like something was moving along the walls and up against the ceiling, but it was impossible to say. The whole place gave off a vibe of creepiness and gloom. They spotted a light from a fire up ahead, somewhat hidden behind a pillar. The heroes approached (stealthily for some, not so much for the others), when a group of men came from around the pillar and attacked!

 

There were only three of them, so the heroes felt they could take them pretty easily, but as the battle was joined two more men stepped out of the shadows behind the troubleshooters and attacked by surprise! Rody and Hakkoz were taken unawares, and turned from the main battle to join these two new enemies.

 

But as the battle heated up, a slithering, gelatinous creature oozed up behind Brontus and whipped him with a tentacle. The wound itself wasn’t so bad, but it continued to sizzle and burn – this thing was made of acid! The heroes had a hard fight ahead of them! It was made worse when Brontus unleashed a mighty blow on the slimy thing, and it split into two deadly creatures!

 

Finally the heroes were victorious. They caught their breaths and went to check the rest of the room. The light they had seen was a small campfire. The men were obviously camped out here, guarding something… but what?

 

Paxton and Brontus searched the bodies. Apart from their weapons and armor, they found that each of them was wearing a symbol of some sort – it looked like a letter “T” with a circle connected to the bottom. Hakkoz examined them and gravely declared that they were the ancient and forbidden symbol of the King Who Crawls.

 

Meanwhile, Rody and Alix searched the back of the room. The found the wall decorated with three elaborate friezes. One was a giant worm with a gaping, tooth-filled maw that looked like it was going to devour the viewer. The second was a huge rat holding the moon in its paws. The third looked like the bars of a cage.

 

Alix took her quarterstaff and prodded the rat carving. Suddenly the floor gave way under her. She barely managed to leap to the side, clinging to the edge of the pit for dear life. After the others helped her up, they dropped a burning stick down the shaft. It fell into the darkness and disappeared.

 

“OK, how about you step aside and let a professional check the next one?” Rody said. He carefully examined the giant worm and found a hidden latch that opened up a door. The heroes formed up and headed into the darkness. They soon found an elaborate (but heavily corroded door. Hakkoz managed to read some of the runes carved there, which promised a dark fate to any who dared steal that which belonged to the King Who Crawls.

 

Rody checked the door, easily disarming the traps that protected it, and opened it. Inside, they found what appeared to be an ancient armory/store room. There were weapons (mostly rusted and useless), bags of grain (long ago spoiled and eaten by rats), and other temple supplies. It all looked ravaged by time, but Alix managed to find something buried under a pile of old junk. It was a quarterstaff, painted in vivid reds and oranges. It looked brand new, and felt warm to the touch.

 

Alix did not trust it. “I think it’s cursed,” she suggested.

 

“Nonsense!” Brontus scoffed. “After a difficult battle, the gods reward the victors. We’re the heroes – that is our prize.”

 

Reluctantly, Alix picked up the staff. It felt warm and familiar in her hands. She started to have a good feeling about it.

 

The heroes left the armory and Rody checked the third frieze. He found another secret passage, this one leading to a spiral staircase, going downwards. The heroes weren’t sure if they should investigate – if they went any lower, they would definitely be beneath the level of the Mist! But they girded their loins and trooped downwards, into the dark.

 

The stairwell led downward into the darkness, until the heroes were certain they were well beneath the even the low-tide level of the Mist. The air was cool and damp and smelled musky and foul, like a dirty animal’s lair. They entered a large chamber filled with cages lining both sides of the room. A huge, circular window looked out into a dark and cloudy scene – the heroes were looking at the Mist from within it! Only that thin pane of glass separated them from certain madness… or death!

 

“OK, everyone,” Rody whispered quietly. “Let’s make sure we practice very good fire control while we’re in here. Agreed?”

 

The cages contained huge rats or people, huddled in the tiny cramped prisons. There was an enormous, strange piece of machinery in the center of the room, and pipes that lead from the wall beneath the window to the machine.

 

A group of humans wearing gray robes and rat-men moved around the room, working. As the heroes watched, the gray-robes grabbed a man from one of the cages, and a giant rat from another. They placed both struggling figures into the machine and, before the heroes’ stunned eyes, Mist began to flow down the pipes and into the machine. The rat and the human were bathed in the cloudy death. They screamed (chittered) in agony, and then the Mist slowly drained away. When they could once again see what was going on in the machine, the rat and the human were both gone, replaced by a rat-man.

 

Before the heroes’ horrified eyes, the gray-robes began preparing the chamber to do it to another person…

 

“Oh no they don’t!” Brontus snarled. “This ends here!” And with a barbaric yell, he charged into the room, with the other troubleshooters following close behind.

 

The troubleshooters were beginning to function as a well-oiled team. The hardships they had faced were forging them into stronger metal. Brontus, Paxton, and Clio stood up front, knowing their superior armor and toughness could take whatever these cultists would dish out. Rody and Alix moved freely across the battlefield, lending their aid where it was needed and taking advantage of their opponents’ surprise and weakness. Hakkoz bolstered their ranks, using his faith to strengthen them before they could falter. And Berrian stood back, using his spells to eliminate any opponents who clustered together or who came too close.

 

The heroes killed the cultists and their perverse rat-men followers to the last man. Now they had to finish the job once and for all…

 

TBC!

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Bloodmater Recap for 08-22-2009

Now that the guards were dead, the heroes spread out to search the room, free the prisoners, and disable the bizarre magical machinery that was creating the dire rats/rat-men.

 

Berrian and Alix were attracted to the huge window. They had noticed the frame was covered with writing. They studied it, conferring with each other on its age, the language it was written in, and its possible meanings, and came to the conclusion that it was a history of this temple, begun some 400 or more years ago, and updated again very recently.

 

It told them that the temple was built ages ago, in complete secrecy, by the followers of the King Who Crawls. They used it to create an army with which they could venture forth and destroy all that was good, to corrupt the land, foul the crops, poison the water, and kill the people. It was discovered long ago by temple guards of the Raven Queen, who rallied the king’s troops and stormed the place, killing all the priests who were found within. However, some of the followers of the evil god remained hidden in these dark places. The most recent updates indicated that these evil priests have recently found allies, rediscovered and reactivated the temple, and have begun churning out hideous abominations in the service of the King Who Crawls in the service of their wicked plans.

 

Meanwhile, Hakkoz went to investigate the machine. He examined it closely, using the skills he learned working as an apprentice in his father’s shop. However, the technology that went into building the machine was far beyond anything he’d ever seen. He surmised that it was magical in nature, but other than that he couldn’t tell. He called Berrian over, thinking that the little gnome might know more about magic than he did. Berrian did, in fact. He began crawling all over the machine, figuring out which buttons to press and which to leave alone. Before long, he managed to shut down the machine, proverbially pouring sugar into the gas tank so that it could not be used again â€... at least, not without a complete rebuild.

 

Paxton and Brontus went to free the prisoners. Pax managed to break the first cage open and coax the filthy, bedraggled prisoner out of it. Brontus, stunned by how strong the little woman seemed to be, had some trouble getting his cages open. Eventually, Rody came over to help, and picked open the remaining cages. Clio came over to try to calm and reassure the prisoners, who were reluctant to trust the heroes, but together she and Paxton managed to convince them that they were friends.

 

One of the prisoners, and older man who called himself Charles, told the heroes how they came to this place. “See, these men in gray robes came to the neighborhood I was squatting in. They were preaching about some new god or something. They wanted people to come with them, to join their cult. Me, I’m a follower of Moradin, born and raised, and I told them I wanted nothing to do with them! They said that bad things might happen to people who didn’t join their religion, and I guess they were right. One night, someone threw a bag over my head. Next thing I knew, I was here. Thank the gods you guys came along when you did, or else the rest of us would’ve ended up like those rat-things over there!

 

He went on to tell the heroes, “I overheard them say something about a crawling king, or something like that. He’s supposed to come and destroy the whole world. They say there are signs of his return -- the missing king, the impoverished people, the skies filled with pirates, the plagues of rats, all of it is a part of his plan. Anyone who resists will get devoured, anyone who joins up will get rewarded. I don’t know who their leader is, but the guy who gave these jerks their marching orders was named... I dunno, Abraham or Ibrihm or something. They used these symbols to identify one another. I guess they used to

mean something, but nobody remembers them anymore. Even so, they’re careful not to wear the symbols openly, for fear of someone asking difficult questions.”

 

While the old man was talking, Alix went to check the stairs. She shifted into cat form and crept stealthily downward, into the dark. She smelled a foul, powerful odor that made her nose hurt, then began hearing skittering, squeaking sounds -- like a thousand rats were coming up the stairs. But more than that, she also heard a sound like something enormous, slithering towards them.

 

“We need to go!” she called to the others. “Something’s coming!”

 

They heroes formed up around the people they had freed, and helped them back up the stairs. They continued upwards, past the temple antechamber where they had first encountered the gray-robed guards, until they eventually found themselves up in a lower, semi-abandoned part of the city. After all that time, finally they were above the cursed Mist and once again in the sunlight!

 

They escorted the homeless people up to a higher part of the city, where they took their leave. The poor people were very grateful that the heroes had rescued them, and promised they would somehow repay them for their bravery.

 

Then the troubleshooters headed back to Dimlight, where they found Seth and the others moving back into their homes. “Most of the rats are gone,” Seth told them. “We’re very grateful for your help!” He gave the heroes free drinks, and offered them a chest of gold as payment for their services. “Everyone in the whole neighborhood contributed,” he told them. “We pay an honest day’s wage for an honest day’s work, and this is money well earned. You’re all welcome back here any time.”

 

The heroes headed back up to the Tower of the Red Wizard for a little R&R, little knowing what fate next had in store for them...

 

TBC!

[matrix3]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Cool, more Bloodmater! Thanks!

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Bloodmater Recap, August 29, 2009

Finally back from their ordeal down in the depths of the city, the heroes split up to take care of private matters.

 

Rody wanted to see if he could find some work (either legal or not so much) to help make good on his debt. He kept his ears open, and while he was sitting around he heard about some guys recruiting toughs like him. “Some sort of Salvation Army types,” his contact told him. “Religious types, but they’re looking for some guys who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty if you know what I mean.”

 

Before he could follow up on this possibility, though, someone came to sit at his table. “Rody Falcos,” the large, heavily scarred man sneered. “You got Mr. Gordo’s money yet? Well, you only have 20 days to pay up… or to learn how to fly. Your choice!” The legbreaker swaggered off, laughing. Rody sighed. He really needed some money, and fast.

 

Meanwhile, Brontus was out looking for a good time. But as he sauntered (and later staggered) from bar to bar, he felt like someone was following him. He kept a careful eye out, and eventually spotted someone – tall, willowy, with long hair and wearing blue. He couldn’t tell if it was a woman, or perhaps an Elf or an Eladrin. But after some time, he was certain he had lost them.

 

While all that was going on, Clio headed to her temple, where she told her superiors what she had learned down below about the King Who Crawls. The high priest was alarmed by this turn of events. “Yes,” he told her. “Over a hundred years ago our templars destroyed a growing sect of this cult. But we had the backing of the King and his soldiers to do it! Our numbers right now are too few, and our allies are too timid or are gone altogether, to fight a war against these people!” He advised her to seek out allies in the city, friends who could help contain and destroy this latest outbreak of evil. “There might be one person who can help. His name is Jackson. He used to be one of the King’s personal guards. He’s one of the only ones left in the city. He tends to spend his days drinking at a tavern not too far from the Jade Palace.”

 

Likewise, Hakkoz and Pax went to the temple of Kord to disclose their latest findings. Though Kord normally does not care about the petty political goings-on of mortals, this news interested the high priest. “Kord does not want this city to fall, nor her people to be devoured by this upstart godling,” the priest said. “I want you to seek out and destroy any infestations of these vermin that you find. This is your charge!”

 

While they were leaving, Hakkoz and Paxton were stopped by an old beggar man. “Psst,” he whispered. “It’s me, Charles! You rescued me from the pits down below!” The heroes recognized him, so they stopped to talk. “I saw them again,” he said. “The gray robes. I saw them preaching their word, and I came up here to tell you about it. I thought I might find you near the temple of Kord, so this is where I came.”

 

“You did good,” Hakkoz assured him. “Where did you see these evil men?”

 

“Down in the neighborhood of Middletown,” he said. “They were preaching openly in the street. The last time I saw them, they were merely whispering their honey-sweet words to the homeless like me. This time, they were out where everyone could see and hear! They might still be there – they were still preaching when I came up to find you.”

 

Hakkoz gave the man some coins for his trouble, and they headed off to find the others. Soon, the heroes were off to Middletown, a working-class neighborhood somewhere in the middle section of the city.

 

Before they got there, Clio and Rody got the feeling they were being watched. Carefully, they checked their surroundings and eventually spotted several lurkers on building tops or alleys – three people, always carefully just out of sight. One of them wore scarlet, one wore azure blue, and one wore emerald green. But they seemed content just to watch, so Clio and Rody didn’t bring it up to the others.

 

Eventually the group arrived at Middletown. Sure enough, right in the square were a group of men in gray robes. They were talking about how the nobles of the city had abandoned the common folk, about how pirates and criminals now seemed to rule the town, how the king was gone – perhaps dead or worse, and no one would come to save them. Except now! Now, the King who lives under the earth is coming again! He will protect the common folk and make the criminals and the rich dogs who profit from our misery pay! He will elevate the ordinary and humble those who hold themselves to be better than others!

 

The speaker was quite a convincing orator, and had many of the townsfolk worked up. He called for any and all people to join him, and several folks agreed. They trailed out of the neighborhood, our heroes following along behind at a distance.

 

They went lower and lower into the city until they came to an abandoned neighborhood. There, the gray robes had set up a shelter and soup kitchen, and were welcoming the city’s undesirables. The common folk were invited in, but when the heroes tried to enter, a group of gray robes stopped them. “These are the people who want to punish you! Who want to keep you down! They like things just the way they are, and they won’t let us change the world!” the orator yelled. “Kill them, before they kill you!”

 

The gray robes attacked the heroes, fighting with a fanatical zeal. Most of the newly-recruited common folk just watched with wide, frightened eyes. Brontus charged and slashed the orator, who turned to flee – but not fast enough! The barbarian chased him down and hacked him to shreds before the terrified eyes of the people. “This is what you get when you follow false gods!” he bellowed as the people scampered away from him.

 

The gray robes were mostly dead, except for one that the heroes left alive to question. He was terrified and soon agreed to answer their questions. He didn’t know much – he was a sailor who was down on his luck. These guys gave him food, shelter, and something to believe in. They were very charismatic and everything that they told him sounded good to him. He knew that the god was called the King Who Crawls, and that he had something to do with rats, but other than that he really didn’t know much about who he was worshipping.

 

He also told them that the boss was named Abrihm, and he was a rich, noble muckety-muck from the very heights of the city. The name Abrihm rang a bell with Clio, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on where she had heard it before.

 

The former gray robe begged the heroes to get him out of town alive. “If they know I squealed, they’ll kill me! “ He begged. “Get me out of town and I promise I’ll never come back again!” The heroes discussed their options, and eventually agreed to get him out of the city in one piece.

 

Meanwhile, unknown to the heroes, they were still being observed from on high…

 

TBC!

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Cool' date=' more Bloodmater! Thanks! [/quote']

 

You're welcome! I'm still trying to catch up on my recaps...

[ghost-angel]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Now that I don't have a headcold and the standard issue ongoing migraine that they trigger for me... I managed to come up with an actual real, more than two sentences, character history. I'll email it to you this afternoon when I get home from work. . .

[Cardinal]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Great stuff (Shadowrun meets Forgotten Realms). Sounds like a fun game. Keep it up.

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Now that I don't have a headcold and the standard issue ongoing migraine that they trigger for me... I managed to come up with an actual real' date=' more than two sentences, character history. I'll email it to you this afternoon when I get home from work. . .[/quote']

 

Cool! Good stuff. I can work with that. Maybe I'll post it here...

[ghost-angel]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

 

I didn't write it to hide it from the world ... I just give the GM first read. You're behind on recaps, you should fix that

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

I didn't write it to hide it from the world ... I just give the GM first read. You're behind on recaps' date=' you should fix that [/quote']

 

 

Justine's Character Background

The earliest I remember is waking up in the wreckage scattered across the hills. Some of the ship was smoking, some sliding off the cliff into the mists below. I looked up into the face of a demon, the Teifling looked down on me and smiled with a mouthful of teeth. It was as friendly as he could make it, I suppose.

 

However it goes, he took me in. He lived on the outskirts of a tiny village that made a living herding goats and trading with the nomads that passed through the area. Ashaerd taught me a lot of things, but he couldn't tell me my past. Who I was before the ship I was on crashed. Pirates had taken everything from me, my childhood and family. As grateful as I am to Ashaerd that hatred never left me.

 

He taught me the rites and paths of the Warlock, how to contain and control the eldritch energies of the universe, how to bend the secret words to my will. When I was old enough he taught me the rites to make my own pacts with the things beyond, to gain my own power.

 

It was night, a cold night, I drew the circle, recited the words, and called forth the Other Side to make my pact, to draw a source of power. This power would be my revenge, I would learn it, control it, I would use it to reach out and crush the pirates that had taken from me.

 

Ashaerd had no doubt planned for me to call some infernal being to bend my will around, as he had. Instead in the cold night air something else came.

 

The unblinking eye of the universe turned towards me, and I gazed upon that cold forever and it whispered a secret in my ear.

 

Dawn came, and washed the cold away, the circle was made of frozen dew in in the grass, ice burned into the blades. I was ready, the path was set. And I took the first step away from my home. Ashaerd gave me enough to start me on the path of power, and now I walk its secrets whispered across the unknown black cold.

 

Ashaerd's lessons were many, and varied. But the most important thing he taught me was to keep my wits about my, a curse ready on my lips, and to give no quarter. I will crush the pirates and send them into the mist forever.

 

Journal, 1st Entry, ~Justine.

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Bloodmater Recap 09/19/2009

The heroes had made a promise – to get Pete (former cultist who repented his evil ways and spilled the beans on his masters) out of the city alive and in one piece. After discussing their options at length (“Any plan that involves a Resurrection spell is a bad plan!”), they opted to take him to the very top of the city and put him on a caravan heading out into the desert. Once away from the city, he should be safe from his former masters’ vengeance.

There was one slight hitch, though. The city of Bloodmater is huge, and to get anywhere, you have to climb stairs and ladders, or cross bridges. There are very few avenues, so routes are by necessity circuitous. It is very easy to get lost – even if you can see your destination, you might not be able to get there… and you frequently can’t see your destination at all. Most neighborhoods are therefore somewhat isolated and self-sufficient; when it’s hard to travel very far, all the necessities have to be close to home (or you have to learn to do without).

As the heroes were discussing their next step, a stranger – a female human dressed in “witchy” clothes – arrived. She introduced herself as Justine, and said she’d been looking for them. She told them that she was a warlock, recently arrived at Bloodmater, looking for word on the Addertongue Brotherhood. “I had heard through the grapevine that the Brotherhood may have had something to do with the King's disappearance,” she said. “I’d also heard that there was a group of Troubleshooters, working for the Red Wizard, that was actively working against those pirates… and that the pirates have hired a team of assassins to eliminate those Troubleshooters. I came to warn you about that, and find out if you needed any help – I’ve got a particular hate for these pirates, and anyone working against them is a friend of mine.”

The Troubleshooters thanked them for the information, and invited her to come along with them (“Ding! A New Player Has Joined!”)

Now with one additional member, the heroes spent several hours making their way through the circuitous city, avoiding blind alleys and obvious ambush spots. They felt that they were being watched the whole time, but no one attacked them. Once or twice they caught sight of a flash of blue, or red, or green, but whoever it was always disappeared before they could get a good look at them. Pete got more and more nervous as they continued (despite Brontus’ continued assurances that he was safe).

Finally, near the very top of the rim, they found that their path went through a long, vaulted tunnel. It seemed like an obvious place for an ambush, but there was no other way to get up to the next level of the city. The tunnel was long, and dark, and fairly narrow. It looked (and smelled) like the homeless had used this as a shelter for some time, but it was empty at the moment.

The heroes tried to pass through the tunnel quickly, but before they could get all the way through, a group of rough-looking men wearing gray robes appeared in front of them. The heroes turned to go back the way they came, and they saw a hoard of rat-men blocking the way back. There was no other choice but to fight… or die!

The enemy was ready for battle. The leader of the gray robes cast some sort of hex, filling the tunnel with a swarm of blinding, biting, bothersome flies and other stinging insects. The bugs didn’t seem to bother the rat-men, who charged in to attack, slashing their crude blades viciously at Brontus, Berrian, Clio, Hakkoz, and Justine!

The humans moved in more cautiously, engaging Paxton, Rody, and Alix and keeping them away from their master. Rody boldly moved forward to challenge the hex-caster, but was felled by a blinding burst of powerful magic! Alix leapt forward to viciously maul the spellcaster, but one of the guards jumped in her way, heroically taking his master’s wounds for himself.

Pete, blinded by the cloud of insects and terrified by the sounds of fighting around him, fled, rushing straight into the arms of one of the human cultists. The cultist cracked him across the face with a mace, but it was only a glancing blow. Pete ran back into the cloud of bugs and would have kept going except Brontus yelled at him to stand right where he was. “We can’t protect you if you run away!” the huge barbarian yelled, and Pete meekly complied.

Alix rushed to the fallen Rody’s side and administered enough first aid (or as the heroes would later describe it, “First Aid wink-wink”) so that he regained consciousness. “No time for thanks!” he snarled. “I’ve got some payback to take care of.” He sat up and began firing arrows at the evil wizard (though the spellcaster’s unlucky bodyguard managed to get in the way of most of those).

The heroes slowly whittled the rat-men down, taking several terrible wounds in exchange (especially poor Berrian!). They were hampered by a handful of rats that stayed just out of melee range, firing arrows filled with globs of stinking glop, sticky goo, or burning oil. Finally, Brontus had enough of the sniping and charged directly into the midst of the archers! They panicked and scattered, firing arrows to try to keep him away, but he was soon joined by Justine who cursed them with terrible fates (said terrible fate being, “I foresee that you will soon be hacked to death by a large, angry, berserking barbarian”).

On the other side of the battle, the heroes finally managed to kill the last of the spellcaster’s bodyguards. He turned to flee, but before he could get away Rody pierced him with an arrow and Berrian blasted him with a cloud of daggers, and he fell to the ground, bloody and dead.

The heroes paused to catch their breaths and make sure everyone (especially Pete) was OK. Rody went through the wizard’s pockets, and found what appeared to be the holy symbol of Kord, god of battle. He passed it over to Hakkoz. “Maybe someone at your temple is a double agent?” Pax suggested, and Hakkoz frowned, not liking the implications of this possibility.

That was when Alix noticed someone watching them – a tall, willowy person clad in a diaphanous blue wrap. The person had long, silver-gold hair and large dark eyes, but (his? her?) face was covered by a mask so the shifter couldn’t tell who (or what) it was. But before Alix could get over to the mysterious watcher, he (she?) was gone…

TBC!

[matrix3]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Thanks for the update!

[teh bunneh]

Bloodmater Recap for 09-26-2009

 

The heroes (and their charge) had finally made it to the top of the cliff. The only obstacle in their way now was a broad rope bridge over a deep chasm, which led to the walled-in area where the caravans gather supplies and rally for their trips through the desert.

The bridge was busy with tradesmen and merchants crossing from one end to the other, and the Troubleshooters were hoping to blend in with the rest of the crowd. However, when they got about halfway across, suddenly three figures seemed to just materialize in front of them – one was dressed in blue, one in green, and one in red. At the same time, several of the other “travelers” on the bridge threw off their cloaks, revealing warriors in armor and carrying weapons.

“Halt!” the woman in red commanded. “You will go no further. There is a contract on your heads, and we have been commissioned to collect it.”

Some of the party recognized them – they were Andrastre the Red, Aramil the Green, and Bethrynna the Blue, known as the Three Assassins. They were mercenaries who hired themselves out to the highest bidder, and were very deadly!

Andrastre the Red looked the Troubleshooters over, then pointed to Justine and Pete. “Our contract doesn’t specify either of you. You can leave. But if you cross us, we will kill you as sure as the others.”

“That man is in our charge,” Hakkoz protested. “We swore to get him out of the city alive. Let us escort him to the end of the bridge, then we’ll fight you.”

The woman seemed to consider this for a moment, then shook her head. “No. We will finish this here and now.” And with that, the assassins attacked!

Aramil the Green leapt over towards Brontus. The big man was amused that this tiny woman thought she could hurt him, so he just smiled at her and let her stab him with her little sword. She dexterously jumped over him, and stabbed him in the back, dealing him perhaps the most painful wound he had ever experienced. “I don’t know if I hate her, or if I love her!” he thought to himself, biting back the agony.

Bethrynna the Blue then let off a bolt of electrical energy, nearly cooking Brontus, Hakkoz, and Clio. The warriors stepped forward to engage the heroes as well, but Andrastre the Red only stood back and watched, commanding the others to move into more advantageous positions and strike with fury.

The heroes took a severe beating those first few minutes of combat, but they managed to rally quickly. The warriors were no match for the heroes’ blades, and once they were gone the women began to fall back. Brontus charged forward and slashed Aramil the Green and Andrastre the Red, wounding them badly. Before he could follow up, they both faded from sight and disappeared. Bethrynna the Blue quickly followed suit, and then the battle was over.

The heroes grabbed Pete and hustled him across the bridge to the safety of the caravan meeting circle. The place was utter chaos – all the tradesmen on the bridge had fled here as soon as the fight started, so the place was filled with braying camels, shouting men, and all manner of to-do.

Therefore, it took the heroes a while to find the caravan master. He was a tall, broad man, with skin that looked like it had been carved from sandstone. He had a thick beard like a wire brush, and wore a huge white turban on his head. “What do you want?” he demanded. “Can’t you see I’m trying to organize this place?”

“We’ll only take a moment of your time, sir,” Clio said, pushing Pete forward. “We’d like to put this man on your caravan.”

“Bah!” the Master snorted. “I’ve no need of layabouts and ne’er-do-wells in my organization!”

“He’ll make an excellent guard,” Hakkoz said. “He is loyal and dependable, and is pretty handy with a halbard.”

“I’ve got plenty of guards!” the Master sniffed.

“He used to be a sailor,” Alix said. “He knows much about weather, and knot-tying. He’s a hard-worker and won’t let you down.”

“I suppose I could use another hand with the animals…” the Master mused.

“And the gods bless those who are merciful,” Clio added.

“Spare me your religious nonsense!” the Master scoffed. “I’ve got no truck with the gods, and they’ve no truck with me!”

“And he’ll work for half the usual rate!” Hakkoz said. Pete tried to protest, but Brontus clamped a large hand over his mouth.

“Half price, eh? Very well, he can come along. But at the first sign of slacking, I’ll leave him in the desert!” The Master shook hands with Hakkoz and Clio, and dragged Pete off to get acquainted with his new job. The heroes said some quick farewells, gave Pete a little starter cash, and sent him on his way.

Their promise fulfilled, the heroes then checked into a nearby inn and pondered what their next step was.

“Who were those women?” Rody asked. “And why were they trying to kill us?”

“Assassins,” Justine said. “I’d heard that there was a price on you guys’ heads. It must be serious money to attract people like that.”

“So they’re just freelancers, like us?” Brontus asked. “Not related to the cult?”

Justine shrugged. “I guess. Maybe the cultists are tired of getting killed, so they sent someone else to do their dirty work.”

“Great,” Rody sighed. “So now every freelancer and troubleshooter in the city will be gunning for us. We need to get out of town.”

“I think I know something that can get us out of town for a few days, at least.” Berrian volunteered. “Remember that golden triangle we found in the giant spider’s lair? Well, the Red Wizard is friends with a sage, named Zacharaius. He knows all kinds of things; he might be able to help us identify it. Maybe even help us with the whole Cult problem we’ve been having. And he lives a couple of days’ walk out of the city.”

“Why don’t we just ask the Red Wizard for help?” Paxton asked.

“Erm…” Berrian stammered. “There’s sort of a problem with that. I’d like to ask him, but I, er… I don’t know where he is.”

“What?” Brontus demanded.

“It’s just that… well, a few days ago, he sent me off on an errand. He told me that he was going to recruit a new team of Troubleshooters to deal with the rat problem in the lower levels, so he sent me off to put up fliers around town. When I got back, he was gone.”

“Gone, just like that? He didn’t leave you a note or anything?”

“No, and it’s worse. His whole workshop upstairs was trashed. It looked like there had been a huge fight. I sort of freaked out, but then you guys showed up,” Berrian sighed. “I figured that if anyone could take care of himself, it was the Red Wizard – he’s the most powerful wizard in the whole city! And I thought this might also be one of his little tests. He sometimes does stuff like this to keep me on my toes…”

“He sounds like a jerk,” Brontus said.

“Yeah, sometimes,” Berrian agreed. “But most of the time he’s cool. I figured that I would lead you guys down to take care of the rats, and then… I don’t know. I thought he’d be back when we were finished. But he wasn’t. Now I’m really starting to worry.”

“Maybe we should go back to the tower,” Alix suggested. “Look around. Maybe there’s some clue to his disappearance.”

“Yeah, but then we’d have to go back through the heart of the city, where the next group of assassins could come after us,” Rody said. “I like the idea of getting out of town until the heat’s gone down.”

“Who is it that’s put a price on our heads?” Paxton wondered. “Hey Clio, remember Pete mentioned that Abrahm guy? You’re from around here. Any idea who that might be?”

Clio thought about it. “Yes, I think I know who it is,” she said. “One of the most powerful nobles in town is the Duchess Quintessa. She used to have six brothers, but they’re all dead or missing now, under mysterious circumstances. That makes her the sole heir to her family’s fortune and power. Her major-domo is named Abrahm. She’s an evil woman, and he’s the guy who does most of her dirty work. If they’re involved…” she left that worrying thought unfinished.

“All the more reason to get out,” Rody said. “Take some of the pressure off of us, then when we come back into town, they won’t be expecting us.”

“Then we’re agreed,” Pax said. “Berrian, where did you say the sage lives?”

“That way,” Berrian said, pointing out over the Mist. “There’s a bridge. We can get there by walking.”

“Oh no,” Brontus grumbled. “Not more bridges!”

TBC!

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Bloodmater Recap, 10-03-2009

The Troubleshooters decided to get out of town for a few days to let the heat die down a bit, so they elected to make the trip to the Sage Zacharaius’ island. It was about two days’ walk across a series of narrow rope bridges hanging over the Mist.

The heroes gingerly began their trip, a bit worried about the physics and logistics of such a bridge. However, Berrian insisted that it was safe, that he and the Red Wizard have taken this very route a dozen times. So the trudged along the creaking bridge for several hours, until they came to a small island where the bridge was anchored.

The island was a way-station, for people walking along the bridge. It was tiny, only about 50 feet around. There was a flat space with a small stone structure for people who come this route to camp for the night. So the heroes settled down for a well-deserved rest. Berrian and Brontus took the first watch, sitting near the anchor point of the bridge in case someone came along in the night. They chatted into the night, staring up at the stars and paying little heed to their surroundings.

…Until they heard Rody shouting. “Ahh! Get it off get it off!” the rogue screamed, jumping up from his resting place and running away from a huge flying creature. The rest of the heroes, awakened by the noise, realized that they each had one of these enormous mosquitoes latched to their own bodies!

Everyone leapt to their feet, trying to get the huge, blood-drinking scourges off. Brontus, heedless of his own safety, struck at the one latched to Berrian (on the theory that the little gnome had less lifeblood to drain than the huge barbarian). After a pitched battle in the darkness, the heroes managed to kill all of the horrible things.

The next morning, at first light, they searched for where these things may have come from. They found a ramshackle nest made up of sticks, rocks, and bones glued together with mud hanging from the side of the island. Rody and Pax climbed down to check it out. They found eggs as well as the mummified body of some previous traveler. Rody took a valuable-looking belt off the body, then they burned the nest and the eggs.

The whole encounter worried Berrian. “That’s so strange!” he said. “I’ve walked this path many times, and we’ve never ever seen anything like this, or been attacked. What could be going on that these creatures would try to feast on unwary travelers?”

Once again, the Troubleshooters set forth across the next leg of the bridge. About halfway through the second day, they crossed another island. From a distance, Rody and Alix spotted the silhouette of a wrecked airship embedded against the side of the mountain, a bit higher up than the path the heroes were walking. They decided to investigate.

It wasn’t a difficult climb, but when they got up there they found that the ship was completely wrecked. It looked like it had been on the losing side of a fight before it crashed. They noticed several bodies scattered around the area; they looked like they’d been there for couple of days.

On closer examination, they learned that most of the people had died of violence before the wreck. Some of them were burned; others were peppered with arrows. All of them looked like they had been partially eaten.

As they were examining the bodies, they heard a noise, like the flapping of a thousand wings. Suddenly they were set upon by a swarm of savage drakes, perturbed at someone disturbing their food source!

The drakes were savage and vicious, but the heroes managed to keep it together and kill them all. Now that the drakes were all dead, the heroes set about to explore what was left of the ship…

TBC!

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Bloodmater Recap for 10/10/2009

With the drakes dispatched, the heroes split up to investigate the wrecked ship. It was a mess. Hakkoz estimated that it could probably be repaired at a decent drydock, but it’s not flyable at the moment. Hakkoz, Alix, and Berrian climbed up to the deck of the ship to look around. Hakkoz heard what sounded like faint rapping on the main hatch, so he and Paxton pried it open.

Out of the darkness below clambered a horror from beyond the grave! The dead crewmen climbed to their feet and attacked the heroes, and the battle was on! The undead were tough, but the heroes were tougher and eventually managed to send them all back to the grave from whence they came.

Once the zombies were all dead (or… re-dead… whatever), the troubleshooters went back to searching the ship. In the captain’s cabin, Alix found a hidden compartment, partially broken open, which contained a chest of gold and valuable objects.

Back up on deck, Rody was searching the captain’s body when suddenly it stirred. Rody jumped back, his blade in his hand, but the body made no move to attack. Instead, it spoke. “Cursed!” it moaned. “We have been cursed by the pirates of the Addertongue Brotherhood, doomed forever because I would not give up my treasure! Now forever are we doomed to haunt these lands, unless some brave hero kills the one who cursed us…”

“Who is your enemy?” Rody asked, still keeping his distance.

“Captain Drudge of the ship Skallywag,” the apparition groaned. “Kill him, and bring proof of his death back to me to free our souls, and I will give you my treasure…”

“We already found your gold,” Rody snickered.

“Not gold,” the undead creature sighed. “Much more valuable than that. This treasure is something that the Addertongue Brotherhood would pay any price to recover – even to commit such a horrible crime as this. My treasure is a map – a map to the Cauldron.” And with that, the captain’s body once again collapsed back into death.

The Cauldron! A legendary island somewhere in the Mist Sea, hidden from prying eyes. Everyone has heard of it, but no one who has ever been there has returned alive. They say that the secret base of the Addertongue Brotherhood is concealed there! With such a map, a brave band of powerful heroes could finally break the back of the Brotherhood for good!

Some of the heroes were for taking on this quest, others were not so much. But after some debate, the Troubleshooters agreed to help free these poor souls of their curse.

But first, they had their own problems to take care of – mainly, getting back on the bridge to Zacharaius’ island. It wasn’t very far, and after just a couple of hours they spotted the green and lonely island…

Except it didn’t look all that green and lonely to them! By all appearances, there was a small, ramshackle town on the flanks of the island, and the air was full of smoke and the noise of rough music, shouting, and laughter.

“OK,” Berrian said, staring in disbelief. “That’s different…”

The heroes kept walking up the bridge, and they were hailed by a trio of bored looking guards, who seem to be watching the bridge. “Ahoy, you there!” they shouted. “What’s your business on Drudge Island?”

“Drudge Island?” Brontus asked.

“We’ve heard this is a good place for roughnecks and scallywags to come,” Clio said.

“Aye,” the guards agreed warily.

“We’ve come to sign up on Captain Drudge’s crew!” Rody suggested.

“Aye, well how do we know you’re the right sort of person? Not just anyone can sail with the mighty Cap’n Drudge!”

Alix nimbly leapt up onto the rope handrail of the bridge and did a summersault. “I’m a trained topsman,” she lied. “I’d do well on any ship!”

“Hm, well I suppose we could use a few more whores,” one of the men laughed.

This incensed Hakkoz. “Stand aside and let us through!” he demanded. “Or we’ll see how well you know how to fly!”

The pirates were cowed, and meekly let the heroes pass. “If you’re looking to wet your whistle,” one of them said as the heroes walked by, “Head up to the Squawking Parrot. Just up the hill, you can’t miss it.”

The troubleshooters found the Squawking Parrot without any trouble at all. It was the only tavern here, and it took up most of the center of town. There were a number of ne’er-do-wells passed out on the ground outside. The door was swinging wide open, and the sound of off-key singing was coming from inside. The heroes went in and began to mingle, in order to get some information about how this place came to be.

Alix gravitated towards the bartender, just to overhear what people were saying to him. Berrian found himself a lovely wench to chat up (she was quite taken by the handsome young gnome – apparently, she likes short guys). Clio and Rody attempted to establish their bona-fides by mingling with the rough crowd, and Paxton wound up playing dice with a group of louts. Brontus, barely concealing his dislike of pirates, stayed quiet at his table, drinking his beer and fuming silently. The battle-torn Troubleshooters actually fit in pretty well amongst the pirates (which seems natural, since both groups are rough, action-ready people who regularly do violence on others as part of their job… they just direct the violence on different targets).

But it was only when Brontus, growing more and more grumpy as he downed beer after beer, spotted a weedy-looking pirate trying not to be noticed in one corner. The big barbarian stomped over to the little guy, sat down next to him, and put his arm around the poor fellow’s shoulders. “Why is a cute little guy like you sitting all by himself?” Brontus asked, giving the man a frightening grin.

“Nuh…nuh… nothing!” the pirate blurted out.

“Nuh-nuh-nothing, huh?” Brontus asked. “Then maybe you could answer a couple of questions for me, seeing as you aren’t busy?”

“Anything… anything!” the pirate readily agreed, fearing for his life (or worse!).

“So how’d all these pirates come to this island?” Brontus asked. “Seems like just a few months ago, wasn’t nobody living here at all.”

“Oh, that,” the cowardly pirate squeaked. “It weren’t so very long ago that Cap’n Drudge come upon a lonely island out in the Mist, with no one here to defend it but a feeble old wizard. “Well,” says the Cap’n to hisself. “This will never do! What if some violent man came here and tried to take the island by force? Why, no one could stop him, and he’d have his run of the place. Who knows what mischief he’d get up to! I can’t in good conscience allow that!”

“Zat so?” Brontus asked, leaning in closer.

“Aye!” The man agreed, swallowing hard. “And when the Cap’n explained it that way to the old man, the old man enthusiastically agreed, and invited the Cap’n to lay anchor here. And here we are, happy as clams, defending this poor island and its residents from any who’d try to take it, just out of the good in our hearts!

“And where’s that old wizard now?” Brontus asked.

“The old wizard?” the pirate laughed nervously. “Well, from what I hear, he’s so grateful to Cap’n Drudge for everything what he’s done for him, that he stays up in his tower and does… I don’t know what. Magical things, I suppose, for the benefit of the Cap’n and his crew! Guarded round the clock, he is, so he doesn’t have to worry about people disturbing his peace while he works, an’ that’s the truth.”

“Very good,” Brontus said, releasing his grip on the man’s arm. “Maybe you should run along home now.”

The scrawny little pirate didn’t need any further encouragement, and lit out of the bar like his pants were on fire.

Brontus revealed what he had learned to the rest of the team. “We should go up to the tower and free him!” Berrian insisted.

“We should rest first,” Clio suggested. “We’ve had a hard two days. We’ll do Zacharaius no good if we’re too weak to fight.”

The team agreed to that, and rented a room from the tavernkeeper to stay the night…

TBC!

[matrix3]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Great adventure! Thanks!

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Bloodmater Recap for 10-17-2009

The heroes got up bright and early the next morning to find the town mostly asleep. The pirates had partied late into the night, and now were passed out in nearly every nook and cranny they could find. The heroes decided to split up and investigate the town, to see what kind of opposition they faced.

Clio and Justine walked around town, trying to get an idea of how many actual pirates lived here. They knew that some of the town had to be made up of normal shopkeepers and tradesmen (even if they were “gray market” types). They discovered that there’s usually around 40 pirates or so in the town at any given time, unless Captain Drudge’s flagship is in port, in which case the number doubles.

Hakkoz and Paxton went to the docks to see if there were any other ships docked here. They found three small merchantmen – two of them using gas bags, one with a complicated steamwork engine. Hakkoz spoke with the captain of the steamship, complimenting him on his engine. The dwarf learned that the many was planning on taking cargo as soon as Drudge’s ship came in, and then taking his load to Bloodmater to sell for a profit. Hakkoz asked if the man would consider taking on passengers, but he was hesitant. “There’s more profit in cargo than passengers,” he told Hakkoz. “If the price were right, I’d think about it, but the price would be pretty high.”

Brontus and Berrian walked up the trail to Zacharaius’ tower to see what the opposition would be there. They saw that the tower was well defended, with at least six tough-looking men and women standing at the only entrance. “Be gone with you!” they yelled as soon as Brontus and Berrian came up the road.

“We’re hoping we could sign up with Captain Drudge’s ship,” Brontus lied, hoping to get the men talking.

“Then go down to the docks like everyone else, you idiots!” the guards sneered.

Not wanting a confrontation this soon, the two Troubleshooters headed back to town.

Alix and Rody decided to climb the mountain and see if they could get a better view of the wizard’s tower from the top. It took them most of the day to get above the tower without getting spotted by the sentries, and up top they were disappointed to see that there appeared to be no other entrances to the tower. However, from their vantage point they noticed activity going on around the far side of the island, so they climbed down to see what it was.

It was a mine – brand new from the looks of it. Slaves were forced to carry heavy loads of a shiny black rock out of the tunnel. Alix snuck close enough to grab a chunk of the rock, and found that it was coal. “Why are they mining coal?” she wondered. The two took this news back to town with them.

The heroes met up for dinner at the Squawking Parrot and shared their information. “We need to raid Zacharaius’ tower and get him out of here,” Alix said.

“Yes, but how do we get him out of town?” Justine asked.

“We could steal one of the ships in port,” Hakkoz suggested. “I know how to pilot it, and I could teach you guys the basics.”

“Or we could buy passage on the ship, and slip out without causing a fuss,” Rody suggested. “If we do this quietly, no one will know he’s gone for hours – that’ll give us a good head start to get back to the city.”

Everyone liked this idea, so Hakkoz headed back to the docks to talk to the captain. The captain drove a hard bargain, but he was willing to transport the heroes, no questions asked. Hakkoz told him to have the ship ready to leave by 2:00 am.

Around midnight, the Troubleshooters headed up the mountain. Clio, Justine, Pax, and Alix disguised themselves as wenches bringing refreshments to the guards. The menfolk lurked behind them, staying down the road out of sight. The guards welcomed the “barmaids” and their gifts, and the Troubleshooters sidled themselves amongst the pirates. Then, Clio yelled “Now!” and the heroes shed their disguises and attacked!

The guards, though surprised, fought back ferociously. And what’s more, the heroes discovered that there were more of them lurking inside the tower, firing crossbow bolts and magic spells out through arrow slits in the walls. After a fierce battle outside the walls (in which the heroes accepted the surrender of two of the pirates), they managed to pull open the portcullis and attack the pirates inside.

They killed the wizard and then demanded that the crossbowmen surrender, but the men (who were apparently Cap’n Drudge’s personally hand-picked men) refused to throw down their weapons. They fought to the death, but they were outnumbered and outclassed, and soon the Troubleshooters were victorious. They had taken the gate!

TBC!

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Alix’ Perspective

Alix's eyebrows went up as she watched Pax clench the enemy warrior, and engage in ferocious lip to lip combat... or something like that. "First Berrian that the half-elf, and now this," she purred, deep in her throat. Well it was certainly a unique way of... subduing an opponent.

Shouldn't you be dodging? asked her spirit guide, Mah'dri. The miniature sphinx, for so she appeared to be, hovered in the spirit world just at the edge of her sight, offering wisdom, insight, and rude commentary in equal measure..

Alix flattened herself against the wall of the wizard's tower as another crossbow bolt whizzed by. The bolts were annoying, but the real threat was the wizard who stood behind the portcullis, fearfully flinging spells at Brontus. The enormous human roared like a demon out of hell and threw himself against the barricade. His muscles bulged, his veins popped, and pink, bloody foam flecked from his lips. Iron groaned and wood splintered before his onslaught. No way to tell what would give first, the man or the machinery.

Her own pulse thrumming with the thrill of the hunt, Alix dived for the portcullis. In mid flight, she twisted inside her skin and landed all fours, the world suddenly grown huge in her sight as she shrank to the size and shape of a desert cat.

A flash of lighting arced through the gateway. White hot claws of electricity raked Brontus from head to toe, but the barbarian only bellowed louder and redoubled his efforts. In her cat form, Alix saw the red haze of primal fury boiling around him like a bloody cyclone. It was the beast of man, the primordial howling thing that had challenged the cave bear and broken its neck with bare hands , that had raged at the darkness of death when the gods themselves had no names. Brontus called the beast and the beast used him like a ripping talon, a piercing tooth. The beast would guide him to victory even if it shattered him in the process.

Her own nature was sly and clever, Alix squirted between the bars of the portcullis and darted behind the wizard, who was far too preoccupied with Brontus to spare a thought for a stray. She turned once more inside her skin, a sensation like rolling over between satin sheets, and the world shrank as she grew, ballooning into the shape of a sabergfang. The wizard waved his arms and chanted, preparing to pelt Brontus with another spell. Magic snapped in the air, and acidic taint that burned Alix's senses.

Alix filled her lungs and roared. The wizard jumped and turned, his spell evaporating from between his fingertip. His face went pale and his eyes bulged. Alix pounced. His hands flew up defensively. She swatted them aside and sank her fangs deep into his neck. Warm blood sprayed. It rolled across her tongue, warm, salty. Down her throat.

Mine. Rumbled the voice deep inside her, the voice of the cat she had been for two years before the shaman brought her back to herself and set her on the fulcrum of her own life. Her vision blurred. No, her understanding blurred. Her senses were as sharp as ever, sharper, but there was a part of her that didn't want to think, to understand, that she had just bitten a man to death. All it wanted to do was feed. Mine!

No. Alix twisted in her skin, releasing her hold on the wizard as she resumed her upright shape. Yet even as a human, there was blood on her lips, and the memory of the hunger. Always hungry, she reminded herself. The cat lived in the moment. It cared nothing for past or future, but it was always hungry. It was not an escape from troubles, merely a different sort of trap... and too dumb to know it.

By the time Alix had got herself sorted out Pax and her tongue-wrestling partner had joined Brontus at the gate. "...Mercy will be coming with, us as will her sister, Hope." She patted the stunning brunette... make that brunettes--Good grief, they're twins!-- on the shoulder. Well, no wonder they surrendered together.

"We only paid for nine," Rody, always keenly interested in money, complained.

"We'll just claim Berrian as a minor, and Hakkaz as a... miner," Pax said.

Hakkaz bristled, "Just because I'm a dwarf doesn't make me a dirt digger."

"I'll pay for them," somebody said. Alix realized it was her. Well, of course she would. Pax was her friend. Besides, there was a story here, and twins were a little bit sacred in her clan. "If it comes to that, I'll pay their passage."

[Panpiper]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

I have in one sitting, read your every installment, and read them much as I would have a fantasy novel. And I've enjoyed it just as much. Thank you ever so much for sharing.

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Thanks! Glad you like!

[teh bunneh]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Bloodmater Recap for 11-07-2009

Now that the heroes had taken the tower’s gate, they had to get in. There was a thick oak door barring their way, with a sign nailed to it (filled with misspellings and covered with crudely-drawn skulls) that read: “Do not open! DETH!”

 

Rody, though feeling poorly after that last fight, finally agreed to examine it. He discovered a fairly simple but ingenious trap in the doorknob – a needle in the lock. If you try to open the door without disarming it, it would poke you in the hand. He wasn’t sure what effect that would have on a person, but it was bound to be nasty. Alix offered to help disarm it, but he waved off her help, pulled out his tools, and quickly made the trap harmless. No fool he, Rody then stepped back to let someone else open the door.

 

Alix went first. Sniffing carefully along the dark corridor, the first thing she spotted was another crudely-drawn sign. “Wee wornd u! Now iz deth 4 u!” While puzzling that out, the floor around her suddenly began to glow with a hellish light and then exploded in a burst of flame that roared up and down the hallway, scorching her and Paxton badly.

 

“That’s a Glyph trap!” Berrian helpfully called out to them from way back by the front door. “You’ll probably want to get away from it before it re-arms itself and blows up again!” On the little wizard’s advice, the heroes hustled back out of the hall to discuss their next move.

 

Eventually, they “volunteered” Rody to go back in and try to disarm it. With magical advice from Justine and Berrian, he managed to render the trap harmless, and the heroes went up the now-safe passage.

 

They entered into the base of the tower. The place looked like it was once richly-furnished, but it had been recently looted. Only a few basic pieces of furniture and some worthless tableware was left. “Rotten pirates,” Brontus grumbled, angry at the wanton looting.

 

“Yeah, they didn’t leave anything good for us,” Rody sighed.

 

“Let’s try up those stairs,” Alix suggested, having found a stairwell. “Maybe Zacharaius is up there.”

 

Rody went first, disappearing into the shadows and hurrying ahead (no doubt so that he could claim first share of any loot they might find up there). He entered a once-opulent room, now mostly bare except for a desk, a reading chair, and a couple of shelves full of books. An old man was busy reading something, and didn’t notice the sneaky rogue coming in. Rody took a look around, but saw nobody else in the room, and nothing worth stealing.

 

Before long, the others came up the stairs (making considerably more noise). The old man got up from his chair and snarled, “Can’t you people leave me alone? What does Drudge want this time?”

 

“We’re not with Drudge,” Hakkoz tried to reassure the old man. “We’ve come to rescue you. The Red Wizard sent us!”

 

“Nice try, shorty!” the old man snorted. “You think that’s the first time you bastards have tried to trick me? ‘Oh, we’re here to rescue you, ha ha ha fooled you!’ I don’t think so!”

 

“Those pirates, they’ve been so cruel to you!” Brontus said, tears welling up in his eyes at the memory of his own youth, lost to those heartless raiders. At the sight of the barbarian’s genuine tears, the old man softened a bit. But there was still a lot of convincing to do! The heroes were truthful, trying to get the old man to trust them, but his trust was hard-won. Justine got him talking about some of his books, and Alix asked him about the anatomical models he had hanging up from his ceiling, and Brontus (big, mean, hard-hearted Brontus) commiserated with him on how evil the pirates are. Pax, exhausted from the day’s labors and bored to tears by all this nonsense, dozed off in the old man’s easy chair, and Hakkoz chewed his beard in frustration at how long things were taking – “Come on, people! We’re on the clock here!”

 

Eventually, the Troubleshooters convinced Zachariaus of their good intentions, and he agreed to leave with them. “But all my books and instruments!” he wailed.

 

“Take only what you can carry,” Alix said.

 

“Nah, take what *I* can carry,” Brontus volunteered, and the sage filled up a trunk with books and scientific apparatuses for the barbarian to haul out.

 

Now that they had the old man in tow, they just had to get him through the pirate town in one piece!

The streets were fairly quiet at this time of night, but they weren’t completely dead. There were still a few pirates and other citizens wandering around town, looking for a drink, a companion, or a bed (or all three). Even worse, Mercy and Hope (the two young pirates that Berrian and Pax… ahem… “recruited”) said that Drudge employed a few toughs to keep a lid on things while he was away. They weren’t police, exactly, but they were around to keep drunken fools from burning down the town when things got too rough. They tended to be pretty alert during these late hours, and if any of them spotted the heroes, there would be questions… and possibly trouble!

 

To keep from attracting too much attention, the team split off into smaller groups. Several of the heroes would run interference and guide the larger group (protecting Zacharaius) to the docks. And despite a few close calls, the Troubleshooters managed to make it all the way through town without attracting any undue attention!

 

The skipper was waiting for them, as promised. He asked for more money to transport the additional people (Hope and Mercy), but Brontus growled at him and he meekly let everyone aboard. Soon, they were off, flying over the Mist on their way back home to Bloodmater!

 

Once they were on board, Hakkoz told Berrian to show Zacharaius the golden triangle that the heroes found in the giant spider’s lair. The old sage marveled at it for a moment. “This is a Golden Helm,” he said. “Not a helm like the kind you wear on your head, but the kind used to control some types of airship! They’re very rare; the King’s flagships used to carry them. Someone skilled in the use of one of these can assume partial control over other ships! They used to use them to interdict enemy ships and pirates – an expert could use this to shut a ship’s engines down so that marines could board them, for instance. Unfortunately, I haven’t a clue how to use it. I may have a book that gives instructions, but it would still be back in my library.”

 

The skipper told them that he was going to fly low over the Mist, to avoid attracting attention from pirates (the skies were full of them, you know!), and he told the heroes to keep an eye out because you never know what might be lurking unseen in the Mist below. But nothing seemed to go wrong. The heroes, exhausted from being awake for more than 24 hours and lulled by the gently drifting motion of the ship, began to slowly doze off, one by one.

 

Then, as dawn began to rise over the horizon, Paxton called out a warning! Something was coming up out of the Mist! The heroes leapt to their feet as swirling columns of wind rose up from below and swept out across the deck! These deadly vortexes whipped across the ship, sending sailors and cargo hurling into the night. The heroes charged these strange creatures, defending their ride!

 

During the fight, Justine was lifted up off the deck and hurled into the darkness below. She managed to barely grab the edge of the railing as she went over, but she couldn’t hold on for long! Alix ran and slid across the deck and grabbed Justine’s arm just as the young Warlock’s grip gave out. The Druid hauled her compatriot back to the deck of the ship. “The whole falling off the ship thing?” Alix said to a breathless Justine. “Don’t do that anymore. OK?”

 

Paxton closed with one of the larger vortexes, shouting out a challenge and battering it with sword and shield. It reeled back against her assault and eventually tipped back over the edge and disappeared back into the Mist.

 

Rody tried to engage one of them in melee, but was hurled back across the ship. “Screw this,” he said, still nursing his aching body. He whipped out his bow and began firing at them, hoping to whittle them down for the others to dispatch.

 

Brontus, with a swing of his mighty blade, managed to cleave one of them in two, dispelling it. He then charged one of the others, but the thing saw him coming and blew him backwards across the deck. Brontus gritted his teeth and pressed forward, pushing up against the wall of wind until he was close enough to swing his sword. With a mighty cut, he disrupted that one as well, sending it spiraling back into the Mist!

 

Hakkoz, who had been in the rear of the ship tinkering with the engines, stomped forward, holy light blazing from his hammer, smiting the vortex-creatures left and right. “I just got the ship fixed up!” he yelled. “I’m not about to let you things break it!”

 

In short time, the vortexes were gone. The deck of the ship was a mess and some of the cargo had gotten tipped over the side, but the heroes had managed to keep the ship upright and all its crew intact. The ship’s skipper was very grateful for their help (though he did tell them that if they ever needed a ride in the future, they should find a different ship to travel on).

 

By the next nightfall, the heroes arrived in Bloodmater. The skipper dropped them off not too far from the Tower of the Red Wizard, and they hurried back home to get some rest and to plan out their next move…

[Panpiper]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

Still reading, still enjoying, still grateful. Thank you.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Bloodmäter

 

I believe, with the Roll made, Rody simply disarmed the magical glyph while Barrien and Justine argued over which part to erase first . . .