Aged Concern

Present:

• Phoebe Lacrosse. Human Barbarian from Pugtown – Andrew
• Griza Muso. Human Thief from Lakeside – Jeff
• Balder Dash. Gnome Wizard from Toluene - Jamie
  
• Bush Tucker. Human Rogue from Spite Anti - Darryl
• MARMALADING: Red Feuersturm. Human Temple Fighter of Hob from Toluene - Chris
• Malcom Gandhi. Gnome Thief from Brian – Kevin
  
• Napolean Twig. Elf Priest of Caribou Gorn from Pugtown - Ian
• Joe Manco. Human Fighter from Toluene – Shane
• Galena Alfdis. Elf Priestess of Vingt et Un from Palantir - Steven

 by Jeff 

........

The Warehouse Buildings

Balder fumbles his Detect magic

"Cough, cough" spluttered Balder as the huge cloud of ash settled around the group, "Oops, sorry about that."

"Ah well" coughed Phoebe, "We already gave away 'subtly', let's just get out of here before someone turns up"

We were upstairs in the apartment above the Massimo warehouse in Spite-Battle. Having just recovered Balder from a glass jar in the vault here (after he had triggered a magical trap on the warehouse side door and disappeared) and having determined that the Massimo family have property just down the coast at Kilgith Cove, and even managed to grab some loot in passing, it was time to leave.

Griza led us down the stairs towards the ground floor, where we assumed we could just open up one of the doors from inside and slip out into the night. But, coming down the final stair flight at ground level we found ourselves in a long gloomy corridor, with another two statues standing at the far end in front of the only door. These statues were a matching pair to the magically enchanted pair in the corridor on the mezzanine level above.

"Not going there" mumbled Griza to himself, "Back upstairs everyone!"

We all huffed back up the two levels of stairs to the apartment, and Griza slipped out the window onto the roof.

"Wait here" Griza whispered, "I'll just check the street"

A few minutes later Griza was back, silently gliding out of the darkness, across the roof and towards the window.

"Town guards" he whispered, "Probably a dozen, all round the building. Back downstairs everyone"

We all clumped back down the stairs to the ground floor, clustering in the long corridor in front of the magic statues.

"Magic trap here" noted Griza.

"I don't want to be back in a jar" noted Balder.

Backing up, we conducted a careful search of the corridor wall that separated us from the warehouse proper.

Nothing.  Balder was lingering at the base of the stairs staring at the end wall of the building.

"What was in the building next door?" he asked.

"Another warehouse" responded Malcolm, "With an apartment above, like this one"

"I have an idea" Balder grinned.

Doing his hand wavey thing, Balder gestured at the end wall and mumbled something.

Suddenly a small section of the wall faded away, leaving a hole into another gloomy warehouse.

We all clambered through the hole and into the neighbouring warehouse.

There were no windows, but a lantern was quickly lit, revealing a large storeroom space. A haphazard collection of boxes, crates, and barrels was scattered across the floor on the right, and a large pair of loading doors faced us from the wall opposite.

Griza slipped across the room, laid his ear against the door, and then silently returned.

"Two dogs lurking on the other side" he reported, "Barred from the other side too, but no traps"

"The dogs will hear us and start barking" complained Bush, "Let's go back"

"No, they won't" stated Napolean, and subsequently cast a Silence on the door.

"Try and pry open the bar" suggested Napolean.

Griza and Phoebe both had an attempt, but the bar wasn't budging.

"Let's just 'Knock'" suggested Napolean, casting a Knock spell from beyond the silence zone.

There wasn't a mighty explosion of sound, but the doors sprung violently open. Two surprised looking large dogs were standing just inside the doors, and inside the silence zone. [A successful Luck roll was made]

They charged, as did Joe and Phoebe, and met in the door opening.

Griza drew his sword and stepped into the melee a moment later.

Despite Phoebe taking a serious bite wound, the melee was over in seconds, and we entered the next room.

Just another large warehouse space. Some closed-in stables, with two horses, at the far end, an old cart, a bunch of stored goods, a ladder leading up into a loft above, and a set of barred exit doors to the street. Which was trapped!

Griza shimmied up the ladder and checked out the loft area, a winch with trapdoor to below, a few windows on the street side of the building (town guards still milling about), and a door into what looked to be an apartment complex.
Reporting this to the others, we decided to hunker down for bit, at least until the guards gave up and left. Phoebe was healed from her serious dog bite, and we set up watches and rested for a bit. 

A few hours before dawn, we made a move to leave.

"Trapped" noted Griza, after examining the main exit doors.

"Don't worry" stated Balder, "I'll use my new trick"

And with a small "poof" a small section of the rear wall of the warehouse, out into the back ally, just faded away.
After leaving the vicinity of the warehouse and feeling pretty chuffed that we had discovered the likely whereabouts of the Massimo estates, we were on the way back to our Inn.

Harlequin

"Hang on" grunted Bush, "We better let that Hobbit dude out of his jar."
"And claim a reward for saving him" he sniggered.

Bush pulled the jar from his backpack and dropped it onto the paving stones of the small alley we were traversing.

"POOF"

And the tiny hobbit from the jar was standing amongst us, full size. Well, full hobbit sized anyway! 

After some serious discussion, we learnt that this was Harlequin, a local "investigator" who had been captured in the magic jar about three months ago while "investigating" the warehouse. 

He was a bit disoriented by his experience and had lost all track of time. But he wasn't hungry or thirsty apparently.

Bush and Harlequin didn't get on, and Bush wound up taking his ring off him and telling him to get lost, "and be damn grateful that we got you out". Which didn't go down all that well with Harlequin as you might expect.

"I'll get you done, you bastard" Harlequin yelled, as he scampered off down a side ally.

"Not very grateful at all" noted Bush unsympathetically.

"sigh ..." mumbled Napolean quietly to himself.

We continued on and arrived back at the Inn a short while later. Griza made sure that no one, and particularly Harlequin, hadn't followed us, and we all took a well-deserved rest. In fact, in light of some party injuries, and a depletion of magic energy, we took a decent four-day rest. 

The location of Kilgith Cove was researched, healing was undertaken, magical energy was replenished [over a series of twelve-hour resting periods and under the influence of magical grapes/holy wafers. 2D4 power points gained each period], and the six magical vials were investigated (3xHealing, 1xFly, 1xInvisibility, and 1xDiminutation).

On the evening of day three, as the party were lounging around in the common room, we noticed a couple of burly looking bully boys shuffle in. They glanced around the room and drifted over to the bar for a discussion with the barman. Bush slipped away and disappeared off to the room.

A few seconds later they all turned and looked directly at our table. The bully boys plodded over.
"Where is the ring?" one of them grunted.

"Um, ring? What ring?" stammered Malcolm, who actually had the ring as Bush had palmed it off real quick.

"We know you got it" stated the other bully boy, "We'll be back in 24 hours to collect it for the boss"

"Um, boss? What boss? Harlequin can't be no boss" muttered Malcolm.

"Ha" chuckled one of the bully boys, "You know Harlequin then?"

"Um, no, no. Harlequin who?"

"Anyway, not Harlequin. The Guild!"

"Um, the guild? The thieves guild?" 

"Ha" chuckled the other bully boy as they left, "No, the other guild, with an A!"

Gulp.

The next morning, we packed up, left the ring in an envelope with the barman, and left town heading Battle towards Quoll. 

"Really?" queried Bush, "The Assassin's guild? Well, crap on a cracker"

Kilgith Cove

Kilgith Cove was on the coast

Kilgith Cove was on the coast, a few hours from Spite Battle, and between Spite Battle and Quoll. The three healing potions had been divided amongst the party, Bush, Griza, and Malcolm, while Balder carried the other three in his potion belt. After the few hours hiking along the coats read, we took the left turn heading towards the sea, and Kilgith Cove. The brilliantly sunny day quickly faded to grey as the path wound its way down a valley filled with mist. 

The coastal scrub and bush gave way to desolate rocky ground with sparse clumps of tussock. Open and barren. The sound of waves breaking on a rough coast could be heard crashing ahead. The path turned towards the sound, rose up over a small rise, and then dropped down into Kilgith Cove. The mists were thick now, and we could barely make out the sea ahead. 

In fact, we couldn't. What we could see though, was a curve of low stone wall. Springing from the top of some rocky cliffs down to our left, the stone wall arched towards us, curving across in front of us, and back to the cliffs on our right. At its closest, a stone structure spanned the path as it cut through the wall, some form of gatehouse we surmised, although there was no gate. Two dark windows stared towards us, like eyes, from the front wall of the gatehouse. The mists swirled thickly across the area, and we caught glimpses of a tall stone tower, on the left, behind the stone wall, a old two-storey stone homestead, central, perched on the cliff top, and a low stone shed or outhouse, on the right, also behind the wall.

"Ohhh" whispered Bush, "So, so, creepy"
"Is there any magic?" asked Phoebe quietly.

Balder did his thing, twice, a second after the first attempt exploded quietly in his face causing cuts and contusions. [Jamie fumbled his magic roll, a 20, and received a D4 (3) of damage]

Galena did her thing, twice, a second after the first proved quite ineffectual. [Steven rolled a 1 on his first D6 healing attempt, but that hardly made an improvement to Balder's situation and felt a second D6 healing was necessary]

Malcolm and Griza did their thing, and snuck off around the hillside to the right, to approach the far end of the stone wall near its end at the top of the cliffs.

They found that the cliffs dropped vertically about fifty metres into the rough and rocky cove. Huge waves pounded relentlessly against the base of the cliffs; sea spray being flung up the cliff face like an inverted waterfall. There was no beach, no jetty, and definitely no access. Creeping back along the base of the low wall, they made their way to the gatehouse building. This was a two-level stone building with a row of battlements along the roof level. Lantern lights flickered inside the two upstairs windows, one on either side of the pathway. An old rusty portcullis hung crookedly from the top of the stone archway over the path.

"I'll take a look in the windows" whispered Malcolm, setting his hands to the old craggy stonework of the wall.

Griza gasped when Malcolm slipped just near the top of his climb and tumbled off the wall towards the ground some four metres below. "That's going to hurt" he thought.

But no, Malcolm dropped slowly and drifted gently to the ground, landing silently on his feet.
"Feather Fall ring" he muttered, then clambered back up the wall to the nearest window.

The old guard slumped in a chair

Malcolm took note of an old and gaunt guard perched in a rickety chair inside the room. His face was worn and wrinkled like old leather left in the sun for years. He wore an old patchwork suit of armour, much too big for his emaciated frame, and a rusty old long sword weighed down his left side. His rheumy old eyes stared unseeing out the window, but he was actually breathing.

Malcolm continued on towards the roof top, but before he managed to reach the battlements, he slipped off the wall again and drifted down to the ground. 

Fortunately, he fluttered down beyond the window jamb, out of sight of the old guard. A second attempt also proved abortive, but the third attempt saw Malcolm clamber up the other side of the gatehouse, pause briefly at the other window, and then head up towards the top and through one of the battlements to disappear onto the roof.

"Nice ring!" thought Griza.

Malcolm was back soon thereafter and whispered his discoveries to Griza.

"Another old guy in the second room. A huge, loaded crossbow thing on the roof, pointed up the path there to where the others are probably standing about waiting for us. A closed trapdoor in the roof" he noted.

Taking the reverse path they had come by, Griza and Malcolm returned to the rest of the party, who were indeed standing at the side of the path, just at the crown of the rise, and reported on their discoveries.

"Is there any magic?" asked Phoebe.
"Um, magic? How would we know?" replied Malcom, glancing questioningly at Griza.

So Griza, Malcolm, and Galena went back, using the same looping route through the mists and hopefully out of sight of the old guards in the gatehouse, or anyone else on watch from the tower of the house. 

Galena did her thing, twice, and her other thing, once, and then they returned.

"Magic on the wall and the guardhouse" Galena reported, "But no undead presence"
"Massimo must actually employ those poor old dudes as guards then" declared Phoebe.
"Elder abuse!" grumped Napolean, "We better put a stop to that"
"Well, not today" stated Bush, "It's getting dark soon, and I for one ain't staying around here after dark!"

We retreated back up the path towards the main road and found a nice hidden and secure place to camp for the night, out of the creepy mists! A plan was made, watches set for the night, and then we slept.

In the morning, we advanced again to just shy of the top of the rise, and Malcolm and Griza took a rope and returned to the cliff face at the end of the wall. Malcolm grabbed one end of the rope, Griza the other, and Malcolm leapt boldly off the cliff. After fluttering down to the rocks below, Malcom explored along the base of the cliff, towards the house, until the rope drew taught. Then he returned up the cliff face, and they both returned back to the others.

"Nothin" Malcolm reported.
"Sigh" breathed Napolean, "My turn"

Napolean began to shrink, his clothes transforming to feathers, his arms to wings, and soon a seagull launched into the air and swooped off towards the cliffs.

We waited patiently for his return, which was some ten minutes later.

"A cave" Napolean reported, "Below the tower, about halfway down the cliff face"
"Let's go" commanded Phoebe.

Five Spider Climbs later, some simple bouldering, and the whole party were crouched on a ledge in the cliff face. A dark tunnel led straight into the cliff face below the tower, and there were a few lanterns with coloured glass shutters stored on a small shelf just inside the entrance.

"Signalling" guessed Balder.
"No magic here" reported Napoleon.
"Let's go" commanded Phoebe.

We crept forwards into the dark.

The Tower

The tunnel continued for maybe thirty meters before opening up into a large room carved out of the rock of the cliff. A series of six barred cell doors were directly ahead, shelves stacked with tools and torture devices covered the walls, and a large stone slab table sat in the centre of the room. Some poor half-elven male had met an untimely end there, his eviscerated body sprawled face up across the table, his entrails coiled up beside him in small piles. Flies buzzed thickly around the body, and the stench of death permeated the air.

Napolean reported that each of the cell doors sparkled with magic, but Bush was already peering through the bars. Most of the cells were empty, but one held a female elf in a sorry looking condition.
The elf must have heard us, because she lifted her head and croaked out a brief "help me".
Phoebe passed in some food and a drink bottle, noticing a tingling as the items passed through the bars. 

Turns out that she and her brother had been kidnapped a week ago when they sought shelter during a particularly violent storm. They had been offered shelter in the house, fed, and then remembered no more until waking in these cages. Her name was Alicia, and we promised to help get her out of her cell and safely away.

"But first" asked Phoebe, "Who did this and how did you get in here?"

Alicia described Simeon Massimo to a tee, noting that he had entered the room through a door. But we could not see any doors, and the tunnel from the cliff didn't have a door. A thorough search of the room revealed a hidden door!

Griza checked it for traps, declared it safe, and found the latch mechanism. 
The door swung open into a storeroom, packed with boxes, and with the base of a wide spiral stair that led upwards.
Two large urns with sealed lids stood just inside the room, obviously different from the rest of the stored items there.

"Better check those" suggested Malcolm.
"Magical" determined Napolean.
"But not evil" noted Galena.

Keeping clear of the urns, Malcolm slipped across the room and furtively started up the stairs. After winding upwards for quite a few turns, the stair arrived at a large circular room. Malcolm cautiously peered up over the last step, only to see ... a huge dragon in front of him! With a startled gasp, Malcom ducked back down into the stair, waiting for a reaction. Having quite recently conversed with a dragon, Malcolm wasn't too keen to engage another in conversation. After a few seconds of silence Malcolm raised his head and took another look into the room.

Oh, not a dragon at all. Just the head of a dragon, mounted on the wall as a trophy.

Breathing a sigh of relief Malcom stepped up the final step and looked about properly. The stair had arrived on one side of the large circular room, about the size of the stone tower Malcolm figured. Lamps around the walls had flickered to life as Malcolm had arrived, magical Malcolm figured. On the opposite side of the room the stair continued upwards, winding around the inside of the outer wall of the tower and disappearing through the roof of the room. The large dragon's head was mounted just above the start of the stair upwards, its piercing green eyes staring straight at Malcolm. Scanning around the room, Malcolm spotted another two trophy heads, a gorgon and a chimera, one directly above him and the other to the right. On the left was a sturdy timber door. Strange runes were carved haphazardly into the stone floor, no doubt unsafe to walk over Malcolm figured.

He retreated back down the spiral stair and got the others.

Everyone followed Malcolm back up the the Dragon chamber. Napolean cast his Detect Magic spell and reported that the runes, the door, the trophy heads, and the lamps were all magical.

"Those runes though" Napolean warned, "Death magic, particularly nasty!"
"And those trophy's", he added, "Their eyes are watching us, following our every move"

Malcolm didn't believe that though, as far as he could tell, the eyes were just glass, and they didn't watch anything. The pupils didn't even move as he circled the room and started up the opposite stair.

The next level was some type of waiting room. Chairs and table were scattered across the space, but it looked unused. The floor was covered with dust, and old cobwebs draped across the walls and the suits of armour. Although Malcolm noted, there were scuff marks through the dust, leading to the suits of armour.

Oh dear, upon closer inspection these were not suits of armour at all. They stood on the opposite side of the room, to either side of the stair up. And each suit was inhabited by an ancient skeleton! Human sized, wearing helmets, and carrying swords and shields, these were obviously undead guards. Drawing back into the stair, Malcom heard one of the skeletons move. Curling into a small ball and pressing himself into the darkness at the top of the stair, Malcolm opened one eye to watch his death approaching.

But fortune was with Malcolm today. The skeleton walked right up to the top of the stair and peered down. It's eyeless skull staring straight through Malcolm and either not seeing him, or just totally ignoring him. Tracking the skeleton without moving, Malcolm watched it look around the room and return to its original spot beside the upward flight. Its feet followed the exact tracks through the dust that it had obviously made many times.

"Sweet" Malcolm thought to himself, "I am protected from undead"

Standing up straight and striding confidently across the room, Malcolm started up the next flight.

The next level was some type of lounge. Again, it was super dusty. Two large settees stood near a large bookcase. A drinks trolly stood next to them. A reading table contained a number of old books, and two unlit lamps.  The stairs continued upwards from the far side of the room. Malcolm continued.

The next level was a dusty old study and workroom. More bookcases, a couple of desks, painting on the walls. Shelves all around the walls were stocked with jars and vials of assorted things. A ladder continued straight up on the opposite of the room this time, obviously this was the upper room with a hatch to the roof of the old tower. The paintings were of Simeon Massimo and his brother Loris. Two women stood with them, and two children. Nodding to himself, Malcolm returned to the ground floor and reported his discoveries.

It was around mid-day now; the party had been exploring the whole morning. Deciding it was time to head across to the main house to confront the evil Simeon, everyone moved carefully around the room, avoiding the death runes, to the front door. Griza bent down to check for traps.

Just Griza's pick remained

"All clear" he confirmed, whipping out his lock picks and slipping them into the gap behind the handle.
"POP"

And he was gone, his lock pick still protruding from behind the handle.

"Crap" grunted Phoebe.
"Ah, I did say there was magic" reminded Napolean.
"Did you say you saw some jars upstairs?" asked Balder.
"Could there be an alarm too?" wondered Galena.

Malcolm raced back up the spiral stair to the study, but no joy, none of the jars held a tiny Griza.
Leaving Joe and Bush to watch the door, in case anyone came to investigate, everyone else descended the spiral staircase to the cells below. Sure enough, Griza called a welcome from inside one of the magical cells.

"I hope you can get me out of here" Griza said.

"Knock will do it" Balder confidently stated.

Everyone stood back away from the cell doors as Balder cast his Knock spell.

"BOOM" 

A brilliant glow suffused the whole room, the cell door glowing REAL himself, but still shut fast.
[Jamie rolled a 20 and fumbled his cast. The light was the consequence from the D20 fumble roll. six minutes]

Trying again, Balder cursed and the cell door remained firmly closed.
[This type of magical use is an opposed roll. Balder's skill against the skill of the caster of the magical lock. Fail]

"Don't worry Griza" comforted Balder, "I have a cunning plan. Watch this"

Apparently Balder had been doing some magical research and wanted to try out a new spell he had read about. Something called Dimension Door, whereby a magical door was created that led through other dimensions from one point to another, the two points linked by a line of sight.

Balder created said door on the back wall of the cell, with its linked door on the wall of the cavern, beside the tunnel out to the sea. Griza stepped through.

Balder looked over at Alicia still trapped in the other cell.
"I'm sorry my dear, I am out of power and unable to repeat that particular feat"

"But" responded Napolean, "I still have power and could transfer some"
"Me too" declared Galena.

So, magical power was transferred using the Transfer spell, and shortly Alicia was able to be removed from her cell.

"So" asked Phoebe, "What now? Back out through the tunnel and the cliffs?"

Climb Down the Chimney

 Present:

• Phoebe Lacrosse. Human Barbarian from Pugtown – Andrew
• Griza Muso. Human Thief from Lakeside – Jeff
• Balder Dash. Gnome Wizard from Toluene - Jamie
  
• Bush Tucker. Human Rogue from Spite Anti - Darryl
• MARMALADING: Red Feuersturm. Human Temple Fighter of Hob from Toluene - Chris
• Malcom Gandhi. Gnome Thief from Brian – Kevin
  
• Napolean Twig. Elf Priest of Caribou Gorn from Pugtown - Ian
• Joe Manco. Human Fighter from Toluene – Shane
• Galena Alfdis. Elf Priestess of Vingt et Un from Palantir - Steven

By Phoebe 

Pillar of Quek

We were in the Great Pillar of Quek. Thursa Demont had given us a new job to capture Simeon Massimo alive. He was currently at Spite Battle, two weeks' travel away, with the body of his brother Loris. 

Serendipitously, Balder needed the bones of a "creature of power" to cure his malady, and we knew that Loris Massimo was a necromancer, so he would fit that bill nicely. So this trip should be able to kill two Massimo birds with one stone.

Thursa had a selection of individualized magical items for us all, which we would receive as payment for this job:

• Phoebe: Bracelet of Aishwarya [ +1 APP ]
• Bush: Bag of Holding (200kg)
• Griza: +1 Sword
• Napolean: Lyra's Bracelet of Storage [ Store 5 MP - recharge with Transfer ]
• Balder: Bobbin's Amulet of the Goblin (speak the goblinoid lingua franca - kobold, goblin, orc, hobgoblin, gnoll)
• Gandhi: Lacy Underwear of Deftness (+1 DEX).
• Joe Manco: TBA
• Red: TBA
• Galena: TBA

We stayed another day at the Pillar to cure and spell-up.

Thursa Demont

Balder and Gandhi arrived at breakfast early the next morning, only to eavesdrop on Thursa talking to Bobbin. But they were using a guttural brutal language Balder and Gandhi did not understand. 

"Aytganimdek, shokoladli keklarim pishirish kukunidan foydalanmaydi. Ko'tarilish agenti tuxumdir. Bundan tashqari, sakson foiz kakao shokoladidan foydalanganingizga ishonch hosil qiling."

As soon as Thursa noticed them, she stopped.

The rest of us wandered down and Balder mentioned this.

"I bet it was dragon-speak," I said.

I went over to Thursa and asked the question that had been on my lips for several days now.

"Why didn't you tell us that Bobbin was the Green Dragon? It would have saved us - and you - a heap of time."

 

"I don't give a fuck about your time!" snapped back Thursa, obviously in a bad mood.

"Well, it was your time too. He... Bobbin.. could have ...uh... donated a tooth or claw straight away."

Thursa's eyes started to blaze. Remembering the Fireball incident in this tower only three days ago, I quickly withdrew.

Spite ho !

We left for Spite later that day. Thursa and Dahma would not be accompanying us this time. Thursa had more business in the Pillar.

First day's travel was uneventful and we arrived in the town of Quek. At Bush's insistence, we stayed at Simon's Pouch.

The next day we got to Peignoir. Here, stayed at Green Avocado.

The next day to Burq. The Rabid Monkey this time.

Then the town of Acruchet: Solemn Gargoyle.

The next day, bright and early, we left Acruchet onto the road to Rouen. It was raining and miserable.

Ambush

Ghoul a la cart

After a few hours into the trip, the horses began to get nervous. I was on my horse Concorde up on point. The wagon (with two horses) was carrying everyone else. Joe, Galena and Red were marmalading.

Balder mentioned he could feel undead.

Griza & Napolean heard a breaking of branches above, and suddenly a grey-skinned creature, with  and long filthy nails, clogged with grave dirt, leapt from a branch and capered towards us. A ghoul! Two more followed.

I wheeled Concorde around, and rode at the first one, slicing the foul creature. It turned on me, but another sword chop sliced its head off, and the dreadful thing collapsed to the road.

 

Bush fires

The other two had got to the cart. Bush got a shot off.

Tiny went in to bite one, and Balder cast a Magic Armour Bolt at that one, but he fumbled and a heap of fireworks went off. This so scared Tiny that he took off, and ran into the bush.

Luckily, Joe awoke then, coughed up some marmalade, and he joined the fray. He dutifully took the majority of the hits and got paralyzed.

I beheaded another one, and the third one took off down the road after the fleeing Bush, followed by Gandhi.

I rode it down too, Griza caught it, and we all chopped it to bits.

Bush ended up breaking one of his new magic arrows.

[ For every shot, there is 1 chance in 6 that the arrow is broken or lost. Normal arrows are consumables, so we don't bother tracking them (unless there is scarcity). But magical arrows are tracked. ] 

Galena awoke then from her marmalade.

"Why didn't you turn them, Galena?" mocked Griza.

poor Tiny

Tiny was still missing and did not heed Napolean's whistle, so he turned into a bloodhound (using his Druid ability) and followed Tiny's trail. After several hundred paces, he came to a clearing in the woods. There were four stone pillars, each with a Stonehenge-type lintel. In the centre was an altar, and off to one side was an old graveyard.

Tiny was next to the altar, lying, unmoving, on his side, but he was still breathing.

Not willing to approach, Napolean the bloodhound, turned tail and rushed back down the track to the party, and changed back into his elf form.

"I may need zum 'elp," he said. And told us all about the ominous clearing.

So, we left Gandhi and Bush to guard the wagon and horses, and all headed down the track. The whole place was steeped in magic and evil - no surprises there.

Napolean and I tentatively walked under the lintels towards Tiny. We both felt a sickly shudder passing through our marrow, but nothing happens.

Being a strong girl, I dragged the 55 kg unconscious Tiny back out through the pillars. And then Napolean cured him.

Meanwhile, Balder himself decided to walk back through the pillars. Upon doing this, there was a grinding of stone and the black stone lid of the altar - maybe it was a sarcophagus after all - slid slowly off.  

Seeing this, the dastardly poltroons in the group, Napolean, Tiny, Griza and Joe, rushed off at a sprint down the track. While the brave stalwarts, Balder, Galena and I, bravely walked backwards, so we could see the danger as it emerged.

A sickly cloying black smoke drifted out of the open altar and slowly formed into dark figure. It was not solid - perhaps wraith or spectre.

We looked at each other and decided that "dastardly poltroon" was not such a bad insult after all, and took off, sprinting, after the other four.

By the time we got to the wagon, it was set to go. Galena and Balder boarded, and Bush cracked the reins. I leapt onto Concorde, and cantered off after them.

Spite Battle

We arrived at Roux that afternoon, and stayed at the Wandering Pansy (and not at the Floundering Rat).

The next day, we got to Spite city itself.

Having been here before, we go to a familiar tavern: the Voluptuous Mermaid.

Bush engaged one of the mermaid's whores for 50gp.

"I'll even wear a tail for you," she purred.

The next morning, we boarded (cart, horses and all) a barge headed for Spite Battle. This trip took four days and was relievingly uneventful.

In Spite Battle, we booked in at the familiar tavern Jolly Jester. Lyra Silvermoon still worked here, and she remembered us of course (from about a season ago). We questioned Lyra about the Massimos. She didn't know where their house was, she just knew they were well known.

From Thursa's info, we discovered that the Massimos had a place down in the Warehouse district next to the docks: 16 La Rue d'Noir. It was a warehouse with a apartment built on top.

There was a tavern much closer than the Jolly Jester called the Frothy Mug, so we shifted there.

Bush went to reconnoitre first, relying on his witty charm (Persuasion). With his hair slicked back, he thought he made a smart impression (rather than a drowned rat). The place had a large sliding front door on the warehouse part with an inset door, and a small side door. There was no answer.

As he was loitering with intent, a passer-by wandered past.

"You lookin' for Massimo family?" the new fellow said. "Haven't seen 'em for weeks."

"Loris passed away. Here to pay me respects," said Bush.

"This place hasn't been open for weeks," was the reply.

"Anywhere else?"

"Dunno"

Info Reconnaissance

Balder went to the Wizards' Guild, and thence to the dubious Underguild faction (this is the darker side of the UGW, unique to the Spite area). And met Lyra Spellweaver.

"I am in search of the eternal truth," was the standard entry shibboleth.

"You have come to the right place," was the standard reply.

But there was no obvious sign of any Massimo here, despite Loris being an necromancer, and we did know already that Simeon was in the Underguild in Emerald. But then Lyra would not confirm nor deny their presence.

Phoebe and Bush in the Lucky Leprechaun

The poshest place in town was the Lucky Leprechaun. Bush, with his hair greased back, and I with my new magic necklace [+1 APP] and a new set of glad-rags, went in.

A couple joined us at a table: Samuel & Amelia Hightower.

We questioned them a bit about the local toffs. Like all the Spite, Spite Battle is run by elves and half-elves. The Cadillac family rules the roost.

The Massimo family was not one of the landed gentry and didn't fit into the ruling families. But it was know for its magic. But they were a bit hoi polloi: not classy, not elvish.

With her necklace, I was looking extra stunning tonight, and Samuel was finding it hard to take his eyes off her.

Amelia didn't seem to be jealous, though she was trying to make small-talk with Bush, and give him the eye. Bush noticed this, so wanted to impress. He had heard some elvish slang in the streets which he was told was "Your beauty teaches the torches to burn bright". 

So, he let rip in cockney elvish.

"Tee koon sahl poot koo s'meddy gods dahn l'kewl."

"What?" she blinked.

Bush slowed down and spoke, all posh like. 

"T'est qu'une sale pute qui se met des godes dans le cul."

Amelia's jaw dropped, and Samuel's face went white with rage.

"How dare you call my wife THAT," he stammered. "Who ... who shoves ... WHAT?!"

Bush said it again, very slowly and loudly this time.

"T'est qu'une sale pute qui se met des godes dans le cul.*"

The whole restaurant went quiet in a clatter of cutlery. Patrons paused and looked across at the table. Somewhere off in the distance a dog barked.

"What the hell did you say?" I hissed under my breath.

Amelia sat fanning herself in shock. Samuel stood tall.

"Go!" he roared. "Just go, you you uncouth... barbarians!"

So we left. He can pay the damn bill.

[ * = You are a filthy whore who shoves dildos up her arse. ]

Massimo Residence

That night, we broke into the Massimo warehouse.

It started with Malcolm, Griza and Balder. They sojourned in first. The rest of us, Phoebe, Napolean, Bush, Galena and Joe, hung around the various stalls and shops on Rue de la Noir.

Ten minutes later Griza and Malcolm returned sheepishly.

"Balder vanished! Trap on the main door."

We all returned to the side alley. Napolean had his Twig of Locate Object. He managed to think of a unique item on Balder's person (Locate Object will not track living things). The twig had a 200-pace range, and it worked. It pointed towards the apartment area on top of the warehouse.

The chimney that never was

"Climb down the chimney?" asked Bush.

"But I don't think there is a chimney," said Phoebe.

"Climb down the chimney," said Bush.

"There is no chimney," said Griza, who had already reconnoitered.

"Climb down the chimney!" insisted Bush.

We had another look. There was no chimney

"Climb down the chimney!" ranted Bush.

"Shut up."

Griza and Bush scurried up a wall. A few minutes later, ropes came snaking down. So we all climbed up and into the second story - the apartment. 

Joe was forced to remove his precious chainmail. Can't have him clinking around.

We searched through various empty rooms. The place had not been occupied in months, maybe years. There was one room shrouded in magic, with magical traps on its doors and magical stone in its walls. And, another suspicious corridor, heading down towards the warehouse below,  which had two magical wooden statues at the end. We did not dare pass through these.

Using Napolean's Locate Object Twig and three more charges, we determined that Balder was indeed, where we expected: inside the magical room.

No-one was brave enough to test the magical traps, so Napolean stepped up and volunteered to cast a Knock spell on the door. Everyone else wisely backed away and down the stairs, in case there was any blow-back.

Sure enough, there was a mighty crackle of energy and a loud BANG. Then we could all smell ozone.

We returned to Napolean to see him sitting on the floor, smoking, his hair standing on end. But, he was still alive, and now the door was open.

Sure enough, (with the twig's help) Balder was in there, shrunk tiny, inside a glass jar on a shelf. Next to him was a tiny halfling, and another dozen similar jars, all empty. Both were frozen in stasis. 

When the lid was removed, Balder suddenly appeared out of the jar, right as rain. No time had passed for him.

Bush decided to take the halfling but leave him in his jar until we left the property.

There were literally hundreds of other mundane jars containing every herb you could think of. Balder chose a choice selection of these.

There was also a desk and lots of papers. One of the drawers of the dresser was trapped with a poison needle trap. Griza dismantled it.

The papers revealed that the Massimo's had some property in a place called Kilgith Cove, which was down the coast road, towards the Wild Coast. There were also six vials and a bag of six 100 gp Identify gems

We thought we had what we came for, but to be sure, we got Balder to do a final Detect Magic in every room, to see if there was anything else notable.

Normally, this spell is trivial for Balder, but not today it seems. There was a loud BANG and we all got covered in a fine cloud of ash.

[ Balder has a skill of 20 with L1 spells. But a 20 roll always fails. And with a skill of 20, the fumble chance is 1 in 4. Nevertheless, he threw a 20 and a 4. Fumble ! ]

Green Dragons and Ham

 Present:

• Phoebe Lacrosse. Human Barbarian from Pugtown – Andrew
• Griza Muso. Human Thief from Lakeside – Jeff
• Balder Dash. Gnome Wizard from Toluene - Jamie
  
• MARMALADING: Bush Tucker. Human Rogue from Spite Anti - Darryl
• Red Feuersturm. Human Temple Fighter of Hob from Toluene - Chris
• Malcom Gandhi. Gnome Thief from Brian – Kevin
  
• Napolean Twig. Elf Priest of Caribou Gorn from Pugtown - Ian
• Joe Manco. Human Fighter from Toluene – Shane
• Galena Alfdis. Elf Priestess of Vingt et Un from Palantir - Steven

By Ian 

From Dragons to Keeps

Amortha's cave

Napoleon walks carefully and quietly back through the woods to the party's camp. He relates all the findings like the human-sized bed and a recent carcass in the cave system - no other worthy mentions. 

The party speculate... 

"Could this be a were-dragon?" 

"Just how powerful is it????"

"Not sure" responds Napoleon. "Thank le Caribou Gorn for I deed not see zee dragon at all. I am very 'appy wiv zat to be 'on'est."

Throughout the night, the group discuss and plan what the next steps might be. Not too many options but a smart and careful plan emerged eventually. Balder suggested that a nimble gnome, like Gandhi, could explore the narrow 'gnome size' rear tunnels without too much risk of alerting Amortha, the colossal green dragon. 

The greatest choice was should he chose the dry tunnel or the wet tunnel....

Gandhi decided wet would be the way to go and off he went - just after dark, with the rest of the party waiting at the cave/tunnel entrance eagerly awaiting his safe return.

The water was shallow and cool. The small stream weaved among natural boulders and walls. Ancient stalactites and stalagmites formed in the natural cave. Many moss and mould covered rocks with small climbs up and down bore Gandhi further into the cave. All seemed very normal, natural and safe - all be it, uncomfortably small.

Approximately 300m later, the cramped narrow gnome-sized cave opened to a more accommodating human-sized cave. 

Gandhi was sampling the dank cave air and determining if there was a directional air flow (there was) when a loud crashing and rumbling sound happened BACK in the narrow gnome tunnel. Between Gandhi and the party. A deep, bass belly-laugh from ahead easily bounced around the cave walls and reached Gandhi. Darn. Loud rocks and crashing behind.... Rather ominous laughter from ahead....

Gandhi retraced his steps back to a rock-fall only about 80m from the expansion to human sized area. The cave was totally blocked toward the safe exit out. 

Meanwhile, the party at the cave entrance totally failed to hear anything from the cave [ 20 fail on a Hear Noise roll ]. 

"Gandhi must be doing really well. We have not heard a THING! That has to be good news, right?".

Gandhi edges forward. He makes a successful sneak roll and moves to a point where the tunnel ends and a large dark shape fills a much larger cavern. All the while the laughing and chortling continues. Someone (or something) ahead is certainly amused.

Gandhi eventually makes out the shape of the 40 m dragon!!! Lying in its cave, looking out through the main cavern exit - away from Gandhi. Gandhi sneaks perfectly from his cave entrance to an alternative exit cave.

"HELLO LITTLE GNOME. I DO KNOW YOU ARE THERE" booms a voice slowly and laced with age.

Gandhi freezes and thinks.... Crap!

"Hello, Mr Dragon" a very timid, wobbly gnome voice staggers across the cavern. 

Gandhi shuffles through his back pack and retrieves a pair of saved frilly knickers. He proceeds to wee on them to be ready for any noxious chlorine gas that Amortha might send his way. The perfect counter to chlorine gas from a green dragon has always been urine-soaked panties (well, at least in Gandhi's mind anyway). It's odd just how many solutions to problems involve ladies' undergarments in Gandhi's thought processes.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?" and "WHERE IS YOUR DEAD COMPANION?" demands Amortha.

A clattering of scales the size of table tops and meters of sinew and muscle mobilise as Amortha turns slowly to face Gandhi.

"WHERE IS THE OTHER GNOME" Amortha repeats.

Various dialogue and nonsense is shared between Gandhi and Amortha the Green.

"I don't think you will be seeing Balder any time soon" Gandhi finally proclaims and he heads to an exit from the main chamber. 

It turns out to be a natural, nearly circular room with a pyramid of old bones in the middle of the room - about 6m diameter. The pile of bones has a peak that is faintly illuminated from above. Gandhi moves to the centre of the room, clambers over the pile of bones and looks directly upward. He sees signs of distant stars through a very small aperture. It does not take too much to realise that this is the base of the altar-sacrifice chute, from the top of the hill.

Gandhi starts the climb of his life. First stage was to the ceiling opening. .

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING LITTLE ONE?" enquires Amortha.

"Ummm.... Well.... You know... I am going now if that's ok with you?"

"I LIKE ANYTHING FROM THE FOREST. I PROTECT THE FOREST. YOU TRAVEL WITH A DRUID AND A DOG?"

"Oh, Napoleon and Tiny. Yes. I travel with them. We ALL protect the forest. We LOVE to protect the forest. Would you like the Druid to visit????" trembles Gandhi hoping for permission to leave.

"NO" clearly booms the green dragon.

"Oh, ok... Will you let me go????" whimpers Gandhi.

"NO"

Gandhi has a cunning plan, and while precariously clinging to the ceiling, he rummages through his gear and finds another lovely silky pair of frilly knickers he had procured from Thursa (for special occasions of course). This would classify as one heck of a special occasion.

Gandhi throws the knickers into the room as a parting gift and climbs up the shaft. He reaches the top. There are now TWO skeletons on the altar there (there was one last time). They do not move. 

Two hours after the party saw the rear of Gandhi enter the steam cave, a heat source moves toward the group from the forest.

"It's GANDHI!!!!" Everyone is relieved. 

Everyone moves back to camp and re-groups. Gandhi relates the last two hours and the party (yet again) consider the next steps. And what they might be??? 

The conclusion of these discussions has a clear plan. Unfortunately this plan hinges on the fact that Gandhi emphatically states that Amortha the Green Dragon would *love* a visit by a Druid.

The party decide to head to the main cave entrance immediately. The time is 3 bells after nightfall (10pm) and 1 hour to the cave sees the party arrive at the cave mouth at 4 bells after dark.

The party in this case is the members that would be at least risk from the dragon: Napoleon, Phoebe, Joe, Galena, and Griza.

The others; Bush (marmalade), Gandhi and Balder stay at base camp for fear that Amortha might take exception to their presence.

Napoleon moves forward with Tiny to enter the cave. Fearful, but fully reassured, because Amortha extended an invitation via Gandhi. 

"Hello??? You hooo??? Are you there???". Napoleon fails a Luck roll and the cavern is empty. Amortha is nowhere to be seen.

Napoleon quickly returns to the away party sheltering in the nearby woods - close to the cave entrance. "Eeet seems that le time to go in is now!"

Griza and Phoebe head in with Napoleon and Tiny close behind.

WHAT??? There is a large dark shape in the cavern and Tiny growls... 

"Zere vas nothing zere???" pleads Napoleon. "Zee cave was empity"

"PLEASE LEAVE" commands a voice that only Gandhi would recognise. "LEAVE THE DELICIOUS HUMANS. I WILL ENJOY EATING THEM"

Napoleon and Phoebe plead to Amortha and state that Gandhi had extended a welcome for Napoleon.

"HAHAHA - NO. YOU ARE NOT WELCOME. BUT THANK YOU FOR DELIVERING THE FOOD."

Very quickly the three realise that Gandhi was perhaps reading more into Amortha's invite than was reality. That, and all Amortha wanted to do was to eat Griza and Phoebe as humans and a worthy dinner. After a short round of dialogue the final decision was clear.

"BECAUSE I LIKE YOU DRUID. YOU ALL HAVE 30 MINUTES TO LEAVE MY AREA. AFTER THAT I WILL COME OUT AND HUNT YOU".

The cave entrance away team rapidly leave to return to the base camp, 1 hour away. The entire party break camp and move yet further away. They reset camp and what is left of the night (not much) passes peacefully.

***

At first light while the crew get ready for the day, they wonder what the next plan of action should be? It seems very clear that Amortha is not too motivated to any form of dialogue? However the party are desperate to get the last item for Thursa and finish the contract?

The next brilliant plan is to return to Amortha with a food offering from the forest, in the hope that will ease his mind and open dialogue. Not a great idea, but as good as the group has. They head out during daylight to hunt pig or deer for the green dragon.

After a few hours of tracking a decent set of pig footprints and tracks, the hunting party were surprised by two pigs that sprung out and attacked the group.

Two strong aggressive boars against Phoebe, Griza and Dahma. Napoleon sends in Tiny (bull mastiff) to take part.

The battle ensues and all make short work of the wild pigs, The only damage was done to Tiny and Napoleon makes sure to heal and comfort. Truth be told, Tiny loved the action and was more than happy to take part!

The party take the two pig prey to the cave mouth (yet again!). Here goes nothing....

Griza and Phoebe drop the pig offerings at the cave mouth and retreat. Gandhi and Napoleon press forward with the hope to engage with Amortha.

"COME FORWARD" says Amortha. Gandhi and Napoleon tentatively step forward.

"NOT YOU DRUID. GO AWAY. JUST GANDHI". Napoleon turns and leaves without hesitation. 

Amortha directs Gandhi to the other tunnel. "GO IN THERE AND WAIT".

The tunnel is nothing more than a door to a cosy little study. Many shelves of odds and ends. A dim candle burns on a desk. The room would clearly NEVER fit a green dragon of 40m in size. Very much humanoid size. Gandhi waits.

"I WANT TO EAT THAT VILE HOB RODENT - RED, AND THE OTHER MEATY HUMAN JOE. THEY ARE WELL COVERED AND OFFER A REASONABLE TASTING. DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING IN THAT STUDY WHILE YOU WAIT. I RETURN SOON."

With no prospect of eating Joe, Red or anyone else human, Amortha moves to the cave mouth and devours the pig offerings with pleasure while Gandhi waits in the study.

Night falls and the outside group split. Phoebe and Griza head back to base camp and to the others, while Napoleon and Tiny wait at the cave entrance for anything to happen. Night falls and all is quiet.

Nothing happens with Gandhi in the study and nothing happens with Napoleon and the rest of the party.

***

While Napoleon sees 'nothing happening', eventually in the study with Gandhi, the faint smell of sweet smoke arrives and the smoky goodness fills the study. Hmmm, this wonderful smell is familiar?

Our weird Emerald Forest dweller Bobbin appears in the study, via the small tunnel entry (not from the main cavern). He talks with Gandhi for a while. 

"I need to talk to you" offers Bobbin. "Soon.... Let me get things ready."

"Hmmmm" ponders Bobbin after a short while... "Wait here please. It is imperative that you do not move or make a sound. Things need to happen while you are here. Please be patient and wait."

Gandhi freezes as instructed. No complaints from Gandhi at this stage. Bobbin casts a spell along the lines of Stone Shape or whatever to totally close the entrance to the main cavern where Amortha is currently enjoying freshly killed pork. The door is gone and there is nothing but rock in its place. Bobbin exits through the narrow cave door at the rear of the study.

***

Meanwhile.....

Napoleon and Tiny wait and wait and wait into the night. Eventually Napoleon commands Tiny to wait as he ventures forward to the cave entrance...

Again... "Youuuuu hoooo, Anyone home??? Are you there Mr Amortha? Heeeellllllloooooo??? " Despite nothing leaving the cave during the entire vigil, the cave is deserted yet again. 

Napoleon spends some time taking a much closer inspection of the cave. One thing that is totally obvious is the missing tunnel entry/exit in the cavern with the human bed. That WAS there during the fly around and now there is no sign? Where the door was, is total rock wall. Nothing else...

Carefully picking through the recent deer carcass Napoleon happens upon a large tooth that seems to have lodged into to rib cage. [ Successful Spot Hidden with his 'Aware' trait that allows 2 die for the check on Spot Hidden and Listen - a 20 and a 3 - takes the 3 of course!!! ] Napoleon prises it out, secures in his backpack, and beats a hasty retreat to Tiny waiting just outside. They both travel safely through the night to the base camp and the remaining party (minus Gandhi at this point).

Back to Gandhi...

While Napoleon locates a tooth and travels with Tiny back to base camp.... Bobbin returns and has lengthy discussions with Gandhi over many hours. They eat and exchange stories of the world. To be fair, Bobbin seems to have the vastly more interesting stories, and really high quality food, and weed.

When the room is so full of ganja smoke and the sweet smells of preserved meat that the two can no longer tolerate staying there, Bobbin finishes the catch up.

"You MUST be very careful of Balder. You know... the dead Evil gnome you travel with. PLEASE take this beautiful Jade ring and wear it at all times. It will protect you from Balder's fiery balls".

Gandhi accepts the ring and carefully places on his left hand. The ring fits perfectly! Its almost like it reshaped itself to be the perfect fit.

Gandhi and Bobbin part ways at the exit to the narrow, dry tunnel, back at the Emerald forest. Gandhi makes his way to the others at base camp. He arrives in the early hours of the morning. Sometime around the change from second to third watch.

At first light the party re-group and catch up and discuss what has happened. Turns out that Gandhi is unable to remove the Jade ring, even if he tries, It simply won't pass over his knuckle. Balder confirms it is magic and, more than likely, cursed. 

Napoleon announces the procurement of Amortha's tooth and Dahma confirms this is the last material component needed. The party can return to Quek (and Thursa). 

Quek

The adventurers head off from the wilderness base camp and return to their hidden wagon and gear on the main road to Quek.

The night passes peacefully, and the party arrive at the great town of Quek. They re-book their rooms at the infamous "Simons Pouch" and spend the evening cleaning, eating and making testicle/scrotum puns into the early hours  [check the shape of the dragon's cave - school-boy humour].

Thursa has been in Quek the entire time, and she catches up with the party and the dragon's tooth. 

Thursa casually notes that Bobbin is the humanoid polymorph form of Amortha and the two are the same entity. This surprises no one. 

"Gee, thanks for letting us know" the party sigh.

Discussing the Amulet of Resurrection and Balder, and if the amulet would help Balder - Thursa confirms that there is no chance. Balder needs another path.

The party also ask about the potion that Thursa is creating to keep someone 'alive'. 

"Not a chance. That would be an existence of torture. Would not recommend this at all".

Treasure Split

At this point the Tuesday mob decide to divvy out magical items that have been collected. Thursa has identified the items while the party were recovering the dragon's tooth. 

• Necklace +1 APP - Phoebe
• +1 Longsword  - Phoebe
• Ring of Feather Fall - Gandhi
• Amulet of Resurrection - party use (whoever dies first, sans Balder)

The Great Pillar of Quek 

A very well-used road from Quek to the Great Pillar of Quek. The road is surrounded by marsh, rather than forest. The road is very safe and the journey passes uneventfully. 

Great Pillar of Quek

The party arrive at the tower, and see a wagon at the main gate get 'teleported' into the tower. The wagon an occupants were there one minute then - wooosh - gone the next.

Thursa directs everyone to a side door and interacts with a guard, who seems very humble and subservient to Thursa. The party are in awe and say nothing, following every instruction without protest nor argument.

Each party member (including the marmalading Bush) are welcomed in and allocated a room. 

Balder finds out that the correct people to discuss his 'situation' are Ava Messima, a Tower Mystic and Femore Archedia, the Tower head mystic. He promptly books an audience with Femore for the next day and proceeds (like the rest of the group) to clean up and change into appropriate dress for the stay at the impressive Quek tower.

The adventurers are enjoying a satisfying and delicious meal at the restaurant of the Tower. They collectively relax and unwind to the immense flavour of the tower food and chef brilliance. It has been a while since this level of comfort and safety, and anxieties evaporate into the calm, safe evening. 

At some point, just after dinner, there is an almighty explosion and all heck breaks loose. Looking out the nearest window there is a roaring pillar of fire - reaching high into the sky from the upper tower windows. The noise and energy knock people to the floor where they cover their ears and tremble with the roar of the fire leaping hundreds of meters upward.

From a random local there is mumbling "Shit, bet that is Thursa in one of her rages. Jeez.... What could be wrong this time???? She has a seriously horrific temper".

While the restaurant patrons cower on the floor, the party move to the door where they hear voices talking from the main stairwell to the tower. Someone has engaged with someone stomping down the stairs. There is a calm consolidating voice, pleading for reason and patience. WHUMMMPHHHH. There is the sound and heat of an explosion and the voices stop instantly.

After a short time, the party timidly step forward out of the restaurant and into the tower stairwell where the smoking remains of the do-gooder smoulder and burn on a small grouping of the steps. Our adventurers sidestep the mess and continue down the stairs. Eventually there is a guard that fills the party in.

"Thursa is furious. She is wild. She killed the sergeant who was just trying to keep her calm and ask what was wrong! Wow."

The party quietly retreat to their allocated rooms for the night and lie very, very low.

During the party's breakfast the next morning, Thursa calmly walks in.

Balder timidly enquires how she is "Did your potion work???"

"Yes, the potion formed perfectly, thank you very much" Thursa retorts.

"Then why are you so upset?" The party winces....

Thursa goes on to explain that after drafting the potion and seeking out Loris Massimo, discovered that not only had he finally lost the battle with his illness, his revolting brother Simeon Massimo (who the party met earlier) had removed Loris Massimo's body and headed to Spite Battle.

"As you performed so well on the last adventure to here. Here is your pay by the way..." Thursa pays the group their contracted payment as the contract was to this Great Tower of Quek. 

"If you would like another contract, I am offering a magical item each. Your contract will be to return Simeon Massimo ALIVE. I want his ass on a plate. I am now not interested in Loris Massimo's body. That part is finished now he is dead".

The party are keen to accept this contract and agree to let Thursa know after Balder's sessions with Femore Archedia today.

"Come in" ushers Femore, a heavily facial-tattooed Elf. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Balder. You do seem to have a rather peculiar air about you. How can I help?".

Balder tells his story. Strange powerful undead tracking us. Blue Eggs. Powerful magics. Being killed recently, yet not dying. Everything is told over a few hours.

"Hmmmm. It does seem that you have been blessed by some very powerful magic. You can be helped - if you want to be helped - by making a choice:

1. Do nothing. You will die slowly over months and eventually become VERY powerful. Every death you have will hasten that journey. Be warned, this is unavoidable if you chose this way.
2. Return to us with the bones of a powerful magical being and we can perform a ritual that will remove the curse. We need enough bone to be ground into a powder"

Balder relates the recent contract result and if the bones of Loris Massimo would be suitable? 

"Oh yes - he was a mystic of some power. His bones would be ideal for the process." confirms Femore.

Balder asks, "Why have you let me have a choice? Would it not be bad for me to become a powerful undead?"

"Oh, we do not judge here." Soothes Femore. "The world needs the living and the dead in equal measure. It needs good and evil to be healthy. Your choice is yours alone. Go and make that decision. Oh, and another thing before you go" Femore offers hastily "Make sure you look after that Gandhi. He is important and seems to still have a very important role to play in the future. Now please be on your way..."

The party gather themselves, meet with Thursa and agree the new contract to return Simeon Massimo alive. Thursa and Dahma will not be joining this time. The party agree payment and the adventurers head out on the road to return to Quek, and then to the coast, and Spite Battle.....

[ The contract payment will be a magic item each, subject to DM approval, so the players can put some thought into what they might want. 

Richard did not agree to my "Ring of Always Luck 20" request, but thought it was worth asking for.]