What's the Plan?

 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
• MARMALADING: 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

Our group regroup in the house study. Everyone is tired and hungry. The night is passing into the early hours. At some point someone notices that the light that was shining weakly from the harbour has gone out or away - either way it is all darkness and mist outdoors. All is quiet except for the occasional  howl from the patrolling wolves.

Wearily the gang list out the remaining questions:

1. Now that we have searched everything, where the heck is Simeon? He MUST have a workshop somewhere?
2. Where to we hold up to get our spells back and heal? Balder is dying in this house and can't stay here?
3. What were the lights in the harbour? What were they expecting?

"Well, we did only quickly search the stables at the time? Should we go there and pick apart the place?" offered Griza. 

"Yeah, might as well. We have all but run out of places to look at now. Maybe Balder will feel better there and we can rest up?"

As quietly as they could, the party head to the rear mansion door, through the smelly kitchen.

[The party roll a very lucky roll] The wolves were near but not close enough to cause any problems. The party cross the damp, foggy 30 or 40 meters between the house and the stables. Damn that is dark and cold.

Once inside, everyone looks around the stables. There are two stalls that house rather stunning horses. Based on their stature and quality, they looked very much like veteran light war horses.

Napolean steps forward "I have been studying zeee animal handling..." [Ian has upgraded Napolean's Animal handling skill as it aligns with a talent that allows 2 dice per check]

After a period of time needed to befriend the horses, Napolean manages to form a bond and they are happy for him to handle. Not so much for anyone else...

That night the stables are secured, watchers are set to the fighters as the spell casters all take grapes and wafers and opt for the full re-charge.

The night passes very peacefully and the spell point recovery was terrific with high rolls all round. Enough for the group to press on now that the sun is up.

"Ok, what's the plan?"

It's another predictable, damp and murky day ahead. The mists swirl around the buildings. The very few sounds from the surrounding areas travel with ease in all directions.

Rotting offal

Everyone is now back in the kitchen (holding their noses from the stench of the rotten offal from previous days). A quick explore around the mansion shows nothing has changed. Nothing moved. Nothing stirred. Exactly the same as the group left everything. 

"Well, I guess that is good news then? Or is it bad news?"

The party spend some time discussing options for the day:

"Should we identify the Simeon portrait that is magical? That might tell us the triggers and the destinations?" 

"Nahhh, we don't have all day for that. Besides, Balder would have to do it and he is looking very ill. Probably should make one part of today's plan to get Balder away from this house and area."

Joe stirs from his slumped marmalade position. A big stretch and yawn and he shakes his head awake, "What's the plan, team?"

The decision was made to take out the large, bald undead 'thing' (Mr Zombie) that sits between the house and the cave system under the tower. At least there would be a clear path when ever wanted without needing to cross above ground. The party make their way to the underground room before the monster and magical chair.

Balder casts Enchant Weapon on Joe's two-handed sword to give an additional boost +2 to hit and ability to hit magical creatures. Therefore Joe takes lead on combat, and the party opens the door to the room.

The creature calmly turns to look at the opening door. It stands and starts rapidly moving to engage the intruders.

A couple of frantic rounds and a well-organized attack, sees the creature destroyed quickly enough. Joe took some minor damage, but was in no trouble. It turned out the creature did not need a magic weapon to hit but had a LOT of resilience (HPs).

Once the creature is destroyed and disassembled to remove any chance of coming back, the group head to the cells and disemboweling table where, yet again, there was no change in the room. Nothing different or moved.

A further detailed search was conducted and, yet again, nothing new was discovered. Nothing missed.

"Ok then, what's the plan????"

More discussions and deliberations. Hmmmm.... "Where the heck IS this guy. He MUST be here somewhere?"

This starts Bush off: "Ahhh yeah, must be that fire room. Bet THAT is a secret tunnel". 

Eyes roll... "Yeah sure Bush - this isn't an action play. Talk about cliché".

"Nah, nah, I mean it. Bet ya a double-ty-dingo that is the tunnel". Bush is ignored...

The group move to the study where the magic portrait of Simeon is. 

"Hmmmmm. We could try and locate object on that fancy necklace of his???" Some smarty thought.

 "Yeah, that necklace looks pretty unique? Can't be too many that look that garish in the world?"

So, Napoleon, who is carrying the location twig (15 charges), programs up the necklace and lets fire a charge. The stick leaps, shudders and gets a clear hit!!!! That means that the item at least is within 500 paces. 

"Wow, that is odd. It is pointing straight out the harbour?". They move across the mansion site and triangulate with another locate charge from the twig. Confirmed. Out to sea through the fog.

"Ok, what's the plan then?". 

"He must have been on that boat? What a smarty he is then."

More pondering. The group run low on ideas.

Jonathan Livingston Napolean

"I can try something." Offers Napolean. "Although it is misty, it does seem to lift and fall? If I time it ok, I could be a seagull [druid ability] and head out the harbour for five minutes, and see if there is a boat moored there?"

Brilliant! Worth a try.

As the mists part slightly, and a faint extra ray or two of sunlight feebly tries to shine through, Napolean changes to the gull and heads out the harbour as fast as seagull can fly.

[At this point a luck roll is needed (darn and Napolean's luck is very poor. Something like 6 out of 20. A '1' is rolled; fate has worked in favour of the group.]

"We will not be using a boat any time soon."

As the gull heads up the harbour, a large monstrous sea serpent breaches the surface. It is huge. It effortlessly dives back under the waves and its large body follows. 

"Hmmmm. Guess we are not going to be using a boat any time soon. That was lucky spotting that from the air."

At the four-minute mark, and when the timer was thin on remaining 'at sea' time, finally an island appears in the distance, about 500m from the shore. "Ahhh, not a boat at all!". 

A very quick tour revealed an island about 500m x 200m. The island had a small rocky outcrop and scrub to one end, but otherwise very barren. Wind and ocean swept, there is very little chance of anything growing there. There is an old ruined jetty (no boat moored).

There were a series of 12ft high black statues in a formation near a central ruined keep and courtyard. The ruin was square in shape with a crumbling tower in each corner. The walls were in tatters and well beyond any normal definition of 'wall'. You could ride horses through the gaps.

Further on from the ruined keep and courtyard, toward the coast line that faces the mainland, there was a high tower. Napolean guessed that it was the same design as the one on the mainland. Who knows for sure? Seemed to be about the same and that is enough.

A strange black obelisk three-sided square (one side missing) was formed into the side of the island. The missing side was toward the tower. From this distance and speed, the guess is the same stuff as the statues. Looks very similar for sure. That is it,. Time is out. Napolean races back to the land and snaps back to Elf form just in time.

"Amazing recon. That provided a LOT of information and hints to answers. Seems the locate and the island would suggest we finally know where Simeon is!"

"Awesome. We are doing well now. What's the plan?"

More discussions and ideas floated.

"I tells ya" - oh no, it's Bush again... "It's that bloody fire pit. It's the secret tunnel to the island". "Ok Bush, how about YOU climb down into the fire and the demon and confirm that for us!!!".

Bush quietly replies, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Suit yourselves. Just saying is all. You might want to check it out".

Back to the study. The group are sitting in front of Simeon's magic portrait again. "Now what???". In frustration, Balder reaches up and touches the portrait. I swirl of colour and wind and 'blip' he was gone. The others all look at each other. Oh well. They go through in quick succession. One after another the party members touch the portrait and are gone.

[everyone had to roll vs arcane save. Not one person failed! 100% saved]

The party were all together in the room at the top of the tower that was 30m from the mansion. It's the room that Gandhi had described. They all knew that there were a couple of undead guards in the floor below. They made sure the stairs downward were blocked off and secure.

The room they were in was very dusty and smelt damp and musty. Nothing had moved here for many, many months. It seemed to be a simple and comfortable (in its day) library or study room. Main feature is a desk in the middle of the room. Covered in dust and dirt.

The party search round and notice that there was ONE change from when Gandhi had first explored. There were a series of fresh humanoid footprints in the dust surrounding the desk. Not walking to or from the desk. Just AROUND the desk. Careful inspection showed that there was a single gap in the series of books on the desk, where the was one slot that was now dust free where a book has been removed. It seemed fairly clear that Simeon had teleported in, grabbed a book of interest and left again.

The investigation also revealed a death rune on a top drawer of the desk (magical trap). 

"Griza!!! We need your help".

"Wait!" Balder steps forward. "Don't risk it. Allow me..." 

Balder concentrates, waves his hands and blurts some gibberish. The room FILLS with ash and the party all cough and splutter. "What the????" 

[Jamie 'the 20' once again rolled for his spell check and fumbled with a 20. Luckily with the 2 luck Jamie spent, one option was to fill the room with ash. That seemed to be the less harmful option!]

Brave Balder decides to try again and, alas, fails - but at least not a fumble this time! But 2 points is lots of power points (total 6) from his pool.

Griza steps forward and the rest of the party scramble out onto the room parapet. They are all strapped in and cowering behind anything solid. That means they are all hiding behind Phoebe and Joe!

Griza tries the disarm and -karrrrummmmmpppph- the trap goes off. Griza and Balder who are still in the room make their saves vs. Arcane and take a modest half damage to a lightning bolt. Napolean chuckles. "I know that one!".

Galina heals up the electric damage. Well, should we say that Galina wanted to heal - but fails the spell check with a fumble. Her strength drops to '1' and she falls to the floor, unable to hold the weight of her own clothes or head. That wears off after a few minutes.

Napolean does the cures while Galina closely examines the floor wood grains.

The draw contained a small number of interesting items:

- 2x potions of gaseous form

- 1 bag of identify gems

- 1 bag of coins

- A magic key

Bush Tucker chooses to climb

All the party (except Bush) pass through the portrait again. While there was a moment of "Hey, what if there is another portrait on the island...." But no... everyone is ok and ends up back in the study of the main mansion. 

Bush choses to climb down the outside of the tower and cross the ground back into the house and the cells under the tower. He quietly waits there for something to happen.

"Cool. Now what's the plan?"

Again the next action is considered. "I think Bush was going to wait in the cell room. Let's go there". They move to the cell room and catch up with Bush. They try the magic key in the cell doors and sure enough - that is the master key for the cells. Another handy find if anyone gets accidentally teleported to them.

"Well, that is all done. Now what's the plan?"

Running low on things to do and try? 

"Fire tunnel!" a strong outback voice offers from the back of the room. The group decide to lower Bush down the well. They make sure he is safely tied and lower him down to explore. Nothing unusual. Solid walls leading a long way down to cold, dark, fresh water.

Everyone sits in the room with the well. The warm door is just there. Party members look to each other and away. Bush is there rubbing the door. "Yeah well, this is about it now! Ya sees. This is the place to look next. It's the fire demon hole I tell ya".

Shoulders slump and eyes roll. "Ok Bush, lets check out the fire demon and pit 'somehow'. It's on YOU if it all goes bad.". 

"NO WORRIES MATE!" Bush is elated. Finally!

Balder and Phoebe gently open the door. Bush is there peaking in too. Nothing has changed with the fire still venting from the pit and the statues still in place around the room. Balder and Phoebe make their Arcane saves and the room all looks still. Balder considers that it may very well be that the fire and statues are real, but the demon was an illusion?

Bush gets shoved from behind and stumbles, arms flailing, into the room. He trips and falls on his knees. Joe follows and both Joe and Bush fail their Arcane saves and a large fiery hand starts emerging from the fire pit. Napolean and Galina look in to see the commotion and they also see the hand of the demon reaching across the room. Joe and Bush scarper. The others cower in the safety of the well room.

Griza enters the room and seems ok. He studies the statues and reports back to the others. "Hey, why don't you try and cover zee statues and pentagrams" suggests Napolean? "It maybe zat zee pentagrams are zee source of zee power? Just an idea?"

The party search the mansion and return with a number of sheets and tablecloths and start covering the statues. As each is covered, the intensity of the fire diminishes. Eventually the last statue is covered and the flames go out. The party enter the room (no saves needed now) and peer down the fire pit.

Balder looks down. "Damn. There is a ladder and tunnel...."

Bush is dancing around the room. A kind of weird, music-less line dance with his thumbs tucked into his oversized belt buckle. Boots and knees firing in all directions. The party have never seen him move so much?

Griza leads the party off, down the firepit and into the tunnel. This is single file and seems to be heading toward (and under) the harbour.

Half a km later, the party emerge from a small cave onto the rocky outcrop waste area at the far left of the island. No change to the heavy mist and drizzle. Plenty of movement cover for sure.

Griza quickly scouts the island as per the description above. He checks the black statues and sees that they are some kind of very hard obsidian that matches the strange obelisk structure. Being near the obelisks and statues gives Griza and uneasy feeling. Beautiful in their own way. But sinister in other ways. One for the magic users to sort out he thinks.

Ruined Keep

He returns and the party agree that it is safe to move to the ruined keep. They get there and hide as best they can. The place is desolate and broken. Two buildings are odd in that they are not so ruined. A small square building in the middle of the keep grounds, to one side of what looks like a total collapsed building. Within the area of the collapsed building is a single room that still looks solid. It is not rusty or worn in any way. A quick check determines another magic trap on the door in the building room. Another Death rune.

The other building is a stable. In the stable is an intensely dark stallion that stares at the group. "Ahh, lets just leave that horse there shall we?" The group unanimously agree. Well Napolean would be keen to meet, another day perhaps.

Marine ghoul

A close up investigation of the tower shows that it is indeed a copy of the 4 story tower on the mainland. Arrow slits all around and, on the island, the front door not trapped and is unlocked.

Griza explores the dilapidated buildings near the rotten jetty and foul smells emit from underneath. A look under had a series of revolting eyes peering back. Kind of marine ghouls. Griza beats a hasty retreat. No sense in hanging around there.

The group gather at ruined keep.

"What a day! Terrific work. It's two bells before light and we really don't want to be on this island at night"

• Balder has not deteriorated any further and feels ok on the island
• Party is down on spell points
• Party is healthy on fighters

The next decision is whether to press on and plan A the tower, or to rest up and rebuild resources. One for the start of next Tuesday!

Dirty House

 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 

Alicia Leafturner

Our group had been tasked by Thursa Demont to capture suspected necromancer Simeon Massimo. We had broken in to his residence in Kilgith Cove, battlewards from Spite Battle. Deciding that the sea route might be safer, we had rappelled and magicked down the cliffs (near his mansion) to a smugglers' cave entrance.

We had done a bit of exploring in here, and had rescued an elf girl, Alicia Leafturner.

But, already, all our spellcasters (Balder, Napolean and Galena) had used a lot of magic and were pretty low on power. We could not rest to recharge, as we had to get Simeon tout-suite. Should they discover that Alicia was out, the alarm would be raised. And being an undead-friendly place, we suspected this would happen tonight - in three hours.

Balder, undead-adjacent

Also, Balder's health was deteriorating. He was feeling sick all the time [CON was dropping ], but he could now "see magic". Any magic items or enchantments in his line of sight would take on an eerie glow.

We had established that Balder could no longer actually see Gandhi. Gandhi was wearing Bobbin's (the green dragon) jade ring, and he got told it made him invisible to undead. So, Balder being "undead-adjacent", it made sense he could not see Gandhi.

Cellar

Balder and Gandhi found a secret door. Moving some shelves opened a door to a tunnel, heading in the direction of the cliff top mansion. In we all traipsed, me leading the way.

After one hundred or so paces, it opened out into a room. There was a musky rotting stink - 

eau de cadavre desséché - and Balder's hackles rose.  

"Mr Zombie"

I brought Galena forward and she could sense undead. Gandhi went for a recon, and confirmed a tall ex-human, half-rotted, half-desiccated, zombie creature, with his belly cut open and intestines galore, seated upon a large chair, carrying a two-handed sword.

So Galena, with power of Vingt et un (and a bit of Luck), turned the creature. She held "Mr Zombie" at bay, allowing us all to safely progress.

There was a metal door here which was warm to the touch. Balder confirmed that the door and the chair were magic.

"Do not sit in the chair!" cried Napolean.

Gandhi confirmed that Mr Zombie could not see him, so cavorted about with his jade ring.

We did not need to open the warm metal door, because we found a secret door. It lead to a cellar storage area with bags of flour, sugar, onions, almonds, etc., and a doorway and stairway exiting.

So Galena kept Mr Zombie at bay, and that allowed everyone into the cellar. We closed the secret door effectively blocking our exit route. C'est la vie, as the elves would say.

There was another metal door here, warm and magic like the other one, and a door to a well - down six metres to water. Again, we wisely did not open that metal door.

The stairway up was single file, and finished on a door. With a rune.

"That rune says Death," quipped Balder.

But the door wasn't locked.

Griza opened it carefully. Immediately there was the smell of cooking meat. And frying noises.

The room was a kitchen. There was a large cook in here - as in HUGE, as in ogre-sized - wearing a cook's hat, with his back to us, frying offal in a huge iron frying pan. 

Phoebe fights the undead ogre cook

Napolean cast Silence on the whole kitchen area, and Joe and I engaged the cook in combat.

Everything went silent for him, so we didn't get surprise. He spun around - his belly open with intestines visible, like the downstairs zombie.

Joe's armour was chainmail so he became the whipping boy; this meant all of the ogre's attacks would be taken by Joe. Joe's weapon was not magic, so he couldn't actually damage the creature. But Griza and I had magic, so we hacked and cut it. 

Eventually it went down. Then we could tend Joe's wounds; we had to use a heal potion - no spells in the silence. 

We dragged the undead ogre body down the stairs and left it in the kitchen cellar, and here found a mop and bucket. So we cleaned up all the mess,

Kitchen had a door to the outside. We finally had an escape path. And it wasn't trapped.

Mansion

With the cook gone, we explored the rest of the mansion. Balder's new "see-magic sight" was a great help.

• Lounge with trophy heads of mythical legendary animals: unicorn, manticore, cockatrice, werewolf, thylacine, llama. All magic. The unicorn had an intact horn. Joe wanted to break it off, but we said no. Besides, he already had one - we pointed out the unicorn horn poking from his backpack (which he got from the Emerald forest unicorn, killed by trolls, whose blood was poisoning the dryad stream  [ August ]). "Duh," he cried. "I forgot I had that."
• Banquet hall with a 20-person table, with designer spider webs.
• Snooker room, with dartboard, whisky cabinet (with bourbon, whisky and whiskey). One of the red snooker balls was magic, and there was a magic decanter.
• Drawing room with a fire burning in a magical hearth.

• 

  Skeletal maid

  Entrance hall with the front door - which was magic and trapped.

As we explored, two figures shambled down the stairs. An undead butler and a man-servant.

These were soon put to the sword with Joe and I fighting, dutifully aided by Griza and Gandhi. 

During the fight, a third skeleton arrived, a maid this time. She was also destroyed.

Mention in dispatches to: Galena tried to turn them, but they were tough. Bush hit one of them with a magical arrow, but it passed through the rib cage and broke on the wall behind. And Griza got three criticals.

The butler had a set of keys, which was to prove useful later on.

Then we ventured upstairs:

• Four bedrooms, with magic slippers and a magic hat
• Three magical doors.
• An office-cum-study-cum-library had one-way (magical) walls so you could look out into the entrance hall. It also contained books on necromancy and books on unnatural acts with cadavers, but no magic books. On the walls, of this room were four portraits: Loris Massimo, Simeon, Selina and another woman half-elf whom we didn't know.
• The entire house had no room-shape-or-size inconsistencies, so no secret doors and no secret servant stairs.

Napolean volunteered to wait watching the road outside towards the gate-house of the estate (one hundred paces down the road).

We did not search thoroughly upstairs because there was only an hour until dark, so it was decided to return to the basement and to the warm metal doors. The first warm door was off the cellar, the other one in the room (with the tunnel to the smugglers cave entrance) which still had Mr Zombie wandering around.

Griza carefully opened the metal door and Balder peered inside, the rest of us nervously peered behind. It was a large stone room with a pit with in the centre. The pit had a low wall, and flames flickering up.

There were statues on either side of the door, and in corners of the room; carved statues, of people in torment

Balder confirmed that all statues were magical, and that the fire was magical.

Suddenly, a flaming creature reared up out of the fire, and with its long fiery arm, reached out for the door way.

Balder gave a squeak of terror, and Griza yelled too. Then Griza slammed shut the door before a fiery hand could reach through.

Galena, in the split second she had, confirmed that this thing was not undead detected. Balder saw that it was magical.

So much for that route!

Light in the bay

We re-convened.

Griza and Gandhi went outside to check the stables. 

The rest of us returned upstairs to ransack and search the study. Bush searched for servants' stairs. During the search, we noticed some lights out at sea in the bay, about 500 paces out.

Griza and Gandhi returned to report: Stables: Tack room, four stalls. Two fine horses and a cart. They also heard howling of wolves - in the grounds.

Darkness fell; it was night. Balder lurched and immediately felt more ill [ CON now 8. ]

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 ! ]