3-5 James's Request: Into the Fire
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Dafan time:
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162 Quellë 06 - 43 (October 06 - November 13) |
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Real time:
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2011 October - 2012 February (sessions 225-236) |
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Starting members:
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Aknot
(F8), Artemisia (B8),
Vragg (NtC9), Kelvin
(F6) |
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(Session 225)
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| Quellë 06 |
Eldor relays a message from 'Sheh, who says
that James requests the Party's services to investigate the disappearance
of Lomaran, then the young crown prince of Noranglia. A distinctive
and valuable necklace belonging to the prince was recently found in
rugged mountains to the west of James's castle, on the body of a knight
of the realm who had been out on patrol; but the prince was thought
to have died at sea to the east 15 years ago. Vragg casts Commune
and asks some questions concerning James's request; he learns
that the necklace arrived in the mountains "by air", and
that it is unknown if Lomaran is still alive. |
| Quellë 09 |
The small Party departs Sidheag: Vragg uses
Planeshift to take them to Old Dafan, a.k.a. "Broken"
Dafan. They arrive in the sanctuary at Mura, the Elvish community
where they first met 'Sheh, north of Kyffhäuser Tower (see the
Wandering Trees). Eldor having
warned the Elves there of what was arriving (two Part-Orcs, one Dwarf,
and a Human), the Party is begrudgingly allowed to leave the sanctuary.
They proceed overland to Gwllwn. |
| Quellë 18 |
After days of walking through nearly vacant overgrown former farmland,
at night they are attacked by some undead. The have little difficulty
destroying them; however, the Zombies were stronger than usual and
a Ghast particularly cunning. The next morning, they find a large
fan-shaped region near their camp spot in which all vegetation is
completely dead. Investigation reveals no explanation.
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| Quellë 27 |
Party arrives at the hamlet of Elk Meadows.
There they meet a rugged traveller who is eager to do something productive
in this strange, depressingly depopulated land: Rodelinda
(R6) joins. |
| Quellë 28 |
Party arrives at the bustling town of Gwllwn.
Artemisia notes that the population has noticeably grown since they
were here just a year ago, continuing the trend that has turned a
nonedescript village into a booming centre of nice and safe farmland
in just 7 years. |
| Quellë 29 |
Party meets with Lord James,
Earl of the Stafford lands of Middle Anglia. James explains what little
is known of the finding of Lomaran's necklace. He also introduces
the Party to an eager adventurer who has been assisting him with the
investigation: Aloysius
St. John-Smythe (NrC6) joins; as well, his trusty batman,
er henchling Budgy (F1/T1)
joins. |
| Quellë 30 |
Realising that they lack both wizardry and
sneakery, the Party visits the local mercenary guild that hosts all
adventuring sorts. Rodelinda is particularly keen to make sure that
if they have to have a wizard it be a sturdy one. They quickly find
a sturdy-looking mage/archer, who is looking for things to do: Halonen
of Onkalo (M/F) joins. Halonen points out a quiet thiefly-type
who might be suitable: after some discussion, Ikodi
(T/I) joins. |
| (Session 226) |
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| Quellë 32 |
Party walks north to Fort Silan, then into
the Grim Mountains, following the route the knights took. |
| Quellë 33 |
Party ambushed by 3 Galeb Duhrs, who start
by turning all the rock under their feet into a large mud pond and
rolling boulders down on them. Further rock-to-muds almost drown Vragg,
Halonen and Artemisia. Vragg escapes by shape-shifting into a snake;
Halonen saves his own life by turning his Wand of Paralysis on himself
when he goes under, thus preventing the need for breathing, and is
fished out by Ikodi; Artemisia is fished out by a flying Aknot. The
Party rests. |
| (Session 227) |
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| Quellë 35 |
The Party continues up the valley in light
snowfall. Rodelinda finds the occasional horse print dating to about
a month ago, which they assume is from the exploring knights; she
also sees Giant and Elf prints. Two days later, Ikodi spots smoke
plumes in a side valley. The Party moves cautiously closer, and Vragg
shapeshifts into a small bird to investigate. He spots a camp with
several large fires, in which 5-6 armoured giants and several large
canines are feasting upon a huge bird. The Party debates whether or
not to attack them, and in the end decides to leave them alone. |
| Quellë 36 |
They come to a Vanyar Elf sitting on an
embankment, singing and playing a lyre. Artemisia approaches, singing
as well; but they find they have no language in common. The Elf beckons
them to a cabin across a small, snow-covered pond, but the Party is
suspicious. When some follow partway to the cabin, the ground erupts
with 5 undead elves that attack. Meanwhile the singing Elf turns into
an Snowy Owl, screeches and flies away, and the cabin transforms into
a burnt out ruin. The corpses' touch and breath is freezing cold,
and one shatters the ice that covers the pond, dropping Artemisia
into the freezing drink. Artemisia and Aknot in particular are severly
numbed by repeated touches, to the point of barely being able to function.
In the end, most of the corpses are destroyed, with one survivor submerging
into the already refreezing pond. |
| (Session 228) |
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The damage done to many in the Party is
cold-based, and regular cures do not heal it. Eventually, they figure
out that a curse is involved; and after Vragg casts several Remove
Curses, everyone is patched up. |
| Quellë 37 |
The next morning, the Party decides to try
to destroy the surviving corpse and anything else unpleasant in the
pond. Artemisia starts with Call Lightning, shattering the
ice; Vragg then casts Lower Water, which he things should at
least temporarily remove almost half of the water. The results are
noticeably less than expected; and soon after, even more corpses crawl
out of the pond and attack the Party, two that fly and four that start
by regenerating from their mangled initial condition. Once again,
all but one of the corpses are destroyed. But a series of spell failures
are somehow triggered during the battle, including Halonen summoning
2 Ghasts that nearly kill him. Aloysius is totally paralysed by repeated
numbing touches from the corpses, and is in risk of suffocation. Vragg
finds that none of his spells work as expected, meaning he cannot
revive Aloysius. Fortunately Artemisia finds that her magical songs
still work; she uses a special scroll she recently acquired to Heal
Aloysius. |
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Once everyone is back to some semblance
of funtionality, Artemisia continues her barrage of lightning bolts
on the pond. After a while, they notice that the pond is no longer
refreezing unnaturally fast. The spend some time trolling the pond
with a grapnel hook; while they do not find anything of interest or
value, they conclude that at least nothing dangerous remains. |
| (Session 229) |
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Aloysius thinks there is more to find in
the pond, but Kelvin thinks it is a waste of time. With some magical
assistance, Aloysius goes diving in the icy, now-murky pool. He finds
nothing of interest until he comes to the bottom at the centre of
the pond: the singing Elf, sitting on some sort of statue. Ignoring
a glaring stare, Aloysius grabs the statue and hauls it ashore. It
turns out to be a solid gold statue of a gryphon; Kelvin now is entirely
on board, and urges Aloysius to check out every part of the pond;
but he finds nothing else. Vragg and Artemisia think the statue may
relate to the Elven goddess E'arwen. |
| Quellë 38 |
Next morning, the Party carries on. They
come to a junction of valleys; the main valley goes north, but Rodelinda
believes the horse tracks go west into the smaller side valley. She
also sees more recent bear-like tracks that may be following the horse
tracks. Late in the day, these bear-like prints lead to a frozen horse
corpse, which shows signs of a broken leg, wolf predation, and some
relatively skillful butchery. Scattered gear is clearly consistent
with a knight of the realm. |
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Vragg turns into a hawk and scouts uphill
from where the horse died, the direction that many horses went, and
the direction from which this one seems to have been running. He comes
to a narrow cleft leading to a small lake, clearly much warmer than
the surrounding cold air; but he suddenly feels very watched, and
returns to the Party. |
| Quellë 39 |
Next morning, they all head to the cleft.
But on the way, they are intercepted by a Vanyar Elf: Vilyamarth,
a Ranger. He explains that the lake above is a rather puzzling place;
it is protected from scrying and makes one feel watched. More pressing
to Vilyamarth, though, has been the activity in Glanby Valley to the
west (for they have almost proceeded all the way through the mountains).
The original inhabitants are gone, it is crawling with undead, and
camps of heavily armed Orcs are visible. There is also some enormous
structure being built. Vilyamarth has been spying on the activity
with someone named Tsoto, who seems to have some disturbing ideas
as to what is happening there - something about the structure interfering
with defensive towers of the world. Vilyamarth does not know what
this is about; but Artemisia and Aknot, having been in Kyffhäuser
Tower, have a strong feeling they know what this is about. |
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The Party decides to go talk with this Tsoto.
Much to their surprise, they meet some Bugbears from Kyffhäuser.
And Tsoto turns out to be a legendary Hobgoblin: Ell
Kara Tsoto. Ell (as she was most commonly known in Old Dafan
days, a title meaning "Lady") has come to investigate this
spot from Kyffhäuser, where Hallgato has detected peculiar activity
that is interfering with her attempts to solidify the power of the
Towers. Ell has not ventured further than this point, as Glanby Valley
appears to be swarming in undead and also to have encampments of heavily
armed and well-organised Orcs; but by telescope she has been observing
a massive tower of disturbingly familiar yet also unfamiliar design
being built by tall, spindly humans ("Trehellians", the
Party tells her). The Party and Ell discuss the situation at great
length. |
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(Session 230) |
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| Quellë 40 |
The Party decides to leave Ell to her observations
of Glanby Valley and return to the small lake above where the dead
horse was found. Vilyamarth
(R/M) joins, at least for the time being. |
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They come to the small lake. It is clearly
quite warm, as mist rises from it and the rocky shore is free of snow.
In the mist, they see a tiny island with a tower that leans against
a cliff side. A drawbridge still leads to the island. Large life forms
are detected in the lake and Aloysius volunteers to be bait. He goes
onto the drawbridge while Artemisia and Vragg call down lightning
into the water. Soon large corpses are seen floating in the water
- crocodiles, it seems; hardly what was expected in a snowy mountain
lake. More crocodiles are attracted by the corpses, and some are clever
enough to follow Aloysius; so he tries to be tricky, and ends up falling
over the edge of the drawbridge. He hangs onto the edge, while Budgy
and Aknot try to haul him back to shore; but before they do, an enormous
crocodile grabs hold of Aloysius. Archers unleash death upon the crocodile,
and Aloysius survives. |
| (Session 231) |
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Artemisia and Ikodi retreat back up the
path to observe the party by telescope, just in case strange things
are happening by the lake that cannot be sensed when there - all looks
well. However, Rodelinda and Vilyamarth notice that their compasses
point at the tower from various directions. Meanwhile, Aknot eats
some crocodile - yum, he says. |
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Aknot flies Ikodi and Rodelinda onto the
roof of the tower. Ikodi opens a trap door and they look down into
a trashed library/laboratory. A small piece of cloth is noticed dangling
from a spur of the roof, which Aknot retrieves; the cloth experts
(Vragg and Budgy) determine that it was a sleeve of a high-quality
wool tunic. |
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Aknot ferries the rest of the Party to the
roof, and they all descend through the trap door. While the debris
in the room has been lying about for many years, they find relatively
recent tracks and signs that things have been searched. A skeleton
is found buried in ruined books and lab material; a tiny block of
wood carved into an intricate chest is by the hand, faintly radiating
magic. |
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Ikodi finds a hidden trap door, and they
descend another level into a ruined bedroom. More tracks are found.
Vragg shapeshifts into a dog and finds faint scents of both humans
and undead. |
| (Session 232) |
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Slowly the entire tower is searched. One
room has a trapped door that when opened releases a Symbol of Pain,
which inflicts wracking pain on everyone. Artemisia retreats back
up the tower, to see if the effect is restricted just to the interior
of the tower; almost unnoticed, she is grabbed and paralysed by chameleon-like
aquatic Ghoul which carried her out the trap door in the roof. Before
the creature can reach the lake, it is cut down by Rodelinda and Aknot;
in the process, many fall into the lake (including of course Artemisia
(she of the Silver Salmon Award award), attracting the attention of
the few remaining crocodiles. Vragg shapeshifts into a hippopotamus
and scares them away. |
| Quellë 41 |
After resting back in the tower, they find
a nifty magic chest that can vanish and reappear on command. They
then find a dead knight whose obviously magic sword is still glowing.
When handled by Kelvin, it starts shrieking in Dwarvish. When promised
not to be left alone in the dark, the sword settles down and tells
the Party some things about the previous occupants. |
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They come to lower levels that are under
water. With Water Breathing cast on all, the Party explores.
Another aquatic Ghoul surprises them, and almost drags Budgy away
as a big meal; he is saved by being too big to fit down a tunnel in
the dungeon floor. |
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Having explored the entire tower, the Party
stops for lunch. Afterwards, Vilyamarth suddenly announces that a
solitary figure, a small humanoid, is approaching the tower (as reported
to him by his familiar, a suspicious snowy owl noticed by a few the
day before). Aknot flies a few people outside, and they meet a Deep
Gnome (a.k.a. Svirfneblin). He introduces himself as 'NoMixi ("but
you can call me Mixi'No"), and states that he is here
to negotiate trade; in particular, a percentage cut of the treasure
they are about to find, in change for information that will help them
survive what guards the loot. He offers useful hints for 10%, everything
he knows about the treasure for 30%; and information about what is
going on in Glanby Valley for another 10%. His one condition is that
they Party not volunteer any information to that "arrogant git,
ogre spawned thing" - i.e. Ell - for her kind "still won't
admit that we whupped their asses". The reason for such blatant
greed, he says, is that much of what will be found used to belong
to his people; so in effect, he is simply paying them to recover some
of it. For that reason, he also wants to claim some specific items
as part of his cut - things of value to his people, fairly appraised.
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To further emphasise that he knows much,
for a mere 1% fee (reduced to free if any other deal is agreed upon)
Mixi'No offers the following tantilising bits of information. He addresses
Kelvin by name and explains that in 47 days Kelvin will lead a host
of his ancestors and relatives to attack the Trehellians in Glanby
Valley. Unfortunately, this is a trap, and will lead to the invasion
of the Dwarven cities of eastern Ut-Khuzdul by the undead host observed
in the valley that was raised for that specific purpose. Mixi'No then
scolds Artemisia for "tainting the timelines", by wearing
Hestian clothing that displays a weaving technique that won't be invented
for at least a century in this world. He then explains that he knows
about the parallel worlds and Dafan and Hobbitika and their misplaced
timelines, and that this seems to be the source of problems - for
by means of it the Trehellians have somehow learned to see the future.
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| (Session 233) |
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After some negotiation and much spluttering
by Kelvin and Ikodi, the Party negotiates a package deal of everything
Mixi'No knows of here and of Glanby for just 35%. They learn that
they are up against Flame, an ancient Red Dragon; that scrying and
other forms divination areseverely hampered here; and the Trehellians
seem to have knowledge of the future. |
| Quellë 42 |
Forewarned, the Party rests the night and
prepares to battle a Red Dragon. Accompanied by a Gnome "observer"
named Uppsala, they enter a tunnel entrance and find a carved
passageway. A pair of traps are noticed and set off with minimal injury. |
| (Session 234) |
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Ikodi explores ahead, discovers that the
passageway ahead is an illusion; she frantically waves the party to
flee back the way they came as the enormous head of Flame the Red
Dragon appears in the passageway. Flame breathes and most of the Party
is fried; Rodelinda dies. |
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Vragg brings the ceiling down upon the head
of Flame with Rock to Mud (from a wand he forgot he had). Aknot
and Aloysius fly over the mud pile and discover an enormous cavern;
before others can arrive to help, they notice that Flame avoided most
of the mud and is flying straight up to eat them. Aloysius jumps off
Aknot's back, counting on Feather Fall to save him after he
swings at Flame on the way down; he misses and is bitten for his trouble.
At that moment, Vragg casts Mud to Rock; his primary target,
the mud pile, simply becomes a rock lump; but he also affects out
of sight the mud still on Flame, which solidifies painfully under
his scales and utterly disables his wings. Flame paws ineffectually
at Aknot, then plummets to the ground ... landing solidly on Aloysius.
Aloysius dies. Much of the rest of the Party by this point
arrives to see the carnage below and opens up with arrows, while Aknot
attacks with sword. Flame dies one round later. |
| (Session 235) |
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The Party loots Flame and his lair. They
find mountains of loot, including a merchant ship and a royal carriage;
it is soon obvious that a big problem will be how to carry it all
out. The coins alone weigh over 7 tons! Oh - and of course the Gnomes
get 35%; so it is time to take stock of the immense inventory ... |
| (Session 236) |
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Rodelinda is raised from death by
Vragg. Aloysius is too much of a mangled mess to be raised, however,
and so is left dead. |
| Quellë 43 |
The next morning, while breakfasts are consumed,
spells are recovered, and money recounted, Ikodi is restless and grumpy.
She suddenly announces that they need to do something with Aloysius's
body, either to make something good happen or more likely to avoid
something bad; she thinks a burial under a stone cairn is what is
needed. She doesn't know any more details; but she had a bad dream
last night, and is feeling more and more that they have to act quickly.
The Party decides to heed her warning; but they draw the line at burying
Aloysius in his magic armour and so they stuff the gruesome mashed
body bits in some nice surplus non-magical armour found in the cavern.
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Half of the Party then heads outside, and
finds a blizzard. They scramble up the rocky slope to the top of the
crater, round up a lot of rocks, and bury Aloysius. While Vragg is
offering some suitable prayers, they suddenly notice a small, tornado-like
disturbance approaching quickly. They scatter and find rocks to hide
behind or simply hang onto. The disturbance - Vragg is sure it is
an Air Elemental - arrives at the cairn and then suddenly stops; and
then the cairn slumps; the body and armour are gone. |
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Moments later, the entire Party finds itself
in a strange place: a bright misty hall of some kind, in which the
surroundings are not hidden by cloudy vapour; rather the cloudy vapour
has not yet formed into surroundings. A great, domed glass roof glitters
high above you in sunlight; there are glimpses of distant walls that
are ornate and beautiful. Present as well are four beings: Aloysius;
a feather-cloaked, Norse woman; a large, golden-brown Gryphon; and
a strange and obviously injured bird-like being lying on the floor.
Vragg, as a priest of Freyr, immediately recognises the woman as Freyja
and is awestruck. Artemisia, a little slower on the recognition of
divinity, cautiously decides not to shoot Her. Freyja introduces Herself
as both Freyja and A'erwyn Faenya (the elvish deity of birds
and air). She says that in exchange for his life, Aloysius has just
accepted to help the Gryphon (the living embodyment of the gold gryphon
statue that Aloysius retrieved from the frozen pond 6 days before)
and the suffering individual on the ground - an Aarakocra named Tcho'eh.
The Party agrees to help, once they are assured that their moutain
of loot will be safe in their absence ("no time shall pass
there", She says). Vilyamarth, however, is the one exception;
he appears to know to what Freyja refers when She says he cannot accompany
them. Uppsala is abruptly summoned, told in no uncertain terms that
the Party will be gone for a while and that their share of the treasure
shall remain untouched, and then abruptly dismissed. |
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With a nod, Freyja sends the Party back
to Flame's lair in order to collect their belongings. Looking quite
alive, it is obvious that Aloysius has been revived. But Ikodi
turns on him and furiously accuses him of being responsible for the
loss of her well-deserved pilfering; for she was compelled to leave
a fabulous tiara on his cairn moments before his body vanished. It
was a shiny trinket that some careless fool had left on top of the
royal carriage, clearly an inappropriate place for something so valuable;
she simply had to pocket it for safe keeping. Poor Ikodi. |
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After a quick round of negotiations with
the Gnomes, who are clearly in shock over the obvious divine activity,
the Party (less Vilyamarth who retires at this point)
rounds up possessions and the most useful items from the treasury
and are summoned back to the bright misty hall ... |
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Surviving members:
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Aknot
(F8), Artemisia (B8),
Vragg (NtC9), Kelvin
(F6); Rodelinda (R6),
Aloysius (NrC6), Budgy
(F1/T2), Halonen (M/F),
Ikodi (T/I), Vilyamarth
(R/M) |
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New members:
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Rodelinda, Aloysius, Budgy, Halonen, Ikodi, Vilyamarth
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Casualties:
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Rodelinda (revived), Aloysius (revived) |
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Retirees:
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Vilyamarth |
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Continuing party:
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Aknot, Artemisia, Vragg, Kelvin, Rodelinda, Aloysius, Budgy, Halonen,
Ikodi
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