Dramatis Personae: Bear [Ian], Debbie [Steven], Gillard [Kevin], Myrtle [Andrew], Oliver[Jeff], Ouzo [Darryl], Scuttle [Chris], and Tu [Shane]. Dexter [Jamie] had been startled by a strange marmalade taste, spontaneously transformed into a cat, and fled into the night with Cellar [NPC (non-player cat)] in tow.
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| Battle Plans |
Some two hours after midnight the party slowly and quietly made their way down from their elevated observation post in the trees above the rear of the farmhouse to a more suitable staging ground behind the outbuildings. The fighters checked their blades while Scuttle and Ouzo crept off into the darkness.
After Scuttle had led Ouzo to the rear wall of the outbuildings, they prepared for the break-in. Ouzo reached up and attempted to open the window into the bathroom at the rear of the rooms where the three fighter guards were living. He fiddled around for a few minutes.
"You have a go Scuttle" Ouzo whispered, "its an old tricky one"
Ouzo crouched down on the ground, allowing Scuttle to climb onto his back to reach the window. Scuttle fiddled around for a few minutes.
"Not good" Scuttle whispered, "we can't even get in"
They retreated back to the others at the staging ground. Adjustments to the attack plans were made. Scuttle and Ouzo crept off into the darkness again.
"Remember" stated Myrtle, "Only six rounds, tick tock"
After Scuttle had led Ouzo to the rear wall of the outbuilding again, they prepared for the break-in. The covered lantern was briefly opened and a small gleam of light was signalled back to the waiting group. Myrtle cast a Silence spell, its location carefully calculated to include the bathroom within its sphere of influence, but not the sleeping quarters beyond.
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| Shattered glass silently falls |
Two: Tick - Ouzo hoists Scuttle up to the window opening. Scuttle clears the remaining glass from the frame and prepares to dive through. The remaining shards of glass fall silently to the ground. Oliver and Debbie set off after Myrtle and the fighters - tock
Three: Tick - Scuttle dives through the window and silently rolls to his feet within the bathroom. It is empty and he steps to the side to leave space for Ouzo. The fighters clatter noisily down the stretch of hill behind the outbuildings - tock
Four: Tick - Ouzo dexterously dives through the window and rolls silently to his feet inside the bathroom. Scuttle shakes his bag of invisibility dust over his head and "disappears". Myrtle splits off from the fighters and heads towards a spot where she can cast her second silence at the front door of the outbuilding - tock
Five: Tick - Ouzo upends his bag of invisibility dust over his head and "disappears". Scuttle silently opens the door from the bathroom into the sleeping quarters and peers through. Two men sleeping in beds and one "guarding" in a chair. But he was slumped over, snoring lightly. Perfect - tock
Six: Tick - Scuttle slips through the door and heads towards the furthest bed, short sword clutched tightly in his hand. Ouzo follows, heading towards the nearest bed, magical dagger gleaming in his hand. Myrtle casts another Silence spell, its location carefully calculated to include the front door and the bulk of the sleeping quarters in its sphere of influence - tock
One: Tick - The silence previously enveloping the bathroom expires, and if anyone had been listening they might have heard the gentle night sounds wafting in through the broken window of the bathroom. Scuttle and Ouzo strike their killing blows on the sleeping figures in the beds. Blood spurts silently onto the bedsheets, and the invisible assassins reappear. The fighters, led by Bear, clatter across the path towards the front door and enter the new zone of silence. The night quietens considerably - tock
Two: Tick - Scuttle and Ouzo move quickly across to the snoring, and soon to be very surprised and very dead, guard who was slumped in his chair, head resting on his forearms on the small dining table. Bear reaches the front door and tries to turn the handle. Locked - tock
Three: Tick - Scuttle and Ouzo simultaneously give the guard a new Scabport Smile. His eyes jerk open briefly and a silent yell is not heard. Blood spurts profusely. Bear backs up, preparing to charge down the door and smash his way in to rescue the thieves - tock
Four: Tick - Ouzo steps to the door, flips the bolt and pulls it open, silently. Scuttle begins to rummage through the possessions of the three dead guards. Bear pulls up mid-charge, and warily steps through the open door. The others arrive behind Bear - tock
Five: Tick - Scuttle finds a Great Axe under one of the beds, and some small bags of coins. Bear surveys the carnage, and gives Ouzo the thumbs-up. Everyone else quickly and silently enters the room - tock
Six: Tick - Oliver pulls Debbie through the door, and quickly pulls it closed behind her. The thud is felt, but not heard - tock
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| Blood pools on the floor |
"See" he exclaimed happily, "Just like I said. And now for the next bit"
Scuttle slipped off through the door to scout out the main house, while the rest of us quietly debated the merits of full frontal attack versus a stealthy entry. We were only expecting two men, albeit undoubtedly tough, and about three dogs in the main house. We hadn't been able to determine the interior layout of the house, but there were only two of them. How hard could it be?
Scuttle reported back that two of the dogs were sleeping in closed cages on the veranda near the front door to the house. The third must be inside with the men.
Much discussion ensued regarding the keen hearing of dogs, the noisy state of jogging fighters in chain or splint armour, the length of time to Open Locks, the likelihood of traps and alarms, the duration of Myrtle's Silence, the presence of a back door to the house, the challenges of splitting the party, the risks of sending in the thieves alone, and the relatively low chances of bashing in a door.
"Um ..." interjected Oliver, "I do have the Knock spell you know"
And so the battle went like this ...
Fighters began charging in with Gillard at the back of the group, little legs pumping furiously.
Ouzo and Scuttle close behind, with Debbie, Myrtle, and Oliver cruising at the rear.
Silence onto the front door and the dog cages. [The range of Silence is 120 yards. Myrtle stopped to cast her spell from way back, and started jogging again afterwards]
Two silent dogs
Knock onto the front door. [The range of Knock is 60 yards. Oliver stopped once he got into range, cast the spell, and started jogging again]
The dogs in their cages on the veranda go crazy, but silently!
Bear thunders silently through the open front door, down the short hallway and turns left at the Tee.
Tu thunders silently through the open door behind Bear, and stops at the Tee, looking right.
Sound returns: dogs barking, people yelling, footsteps thumping, and armour clattering.
Gillard pushes past Tu, turns right at the Tee and clomps up that passage, past a few doors towards the last door in the hallway. Ouzo pushes past Tu, turns left and follows after Bear. Scuttle follows Ouzo. Tu looks both ways, sighs loudly, and follows Gillard.
Debbie rushes in, Myrtle and Oliver just behind them. Debbie turns right, following behind Tu.
Myrtle and Oliver turn left, following behind Ouzo and Bear.
"Classic" grumbles Myrtle, "split the party in two"
Bear rushed left down the passage, past a few doors, and around a right turn. Just in front of him was a huge dog, bounding straight for him, teeth barred, saliva dripping. Bear hastily triggered his new Crossbow of speed, but the bolt flew over the dogs head and disappeared into a large dark room. The dog flew through the air and bit savagely at Bear's groin. Fortunately his new splint mail armour was up to the task, and no damage ensued.
Having dropped his crossbow and drawn his magical +1 Long Sword, Bear sliced savagely across the bears back, and killed the creature on the back swing. [Ian rolled a twenty followed by a hit, a critical hit. His roll on the critical hit table indicated two extra damage and an extra free hack at +4]
Somewhere behind Bear Ouzo kicked in the first door along the passage, and yelling at the top of his voice charged into a small empty bathroom brandishing his magic +1 Dagger.
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| Thomas attacks |
"F-off out of my house" he yelled, charging forward.
Somewhere behind Bear Ouzo kicked in the second door along the passage, and yelling at the top of his voice charged into a small empty study brandishing his magic +1 Dagger.
Meanwhile on the other side of the house, Gillard was boldly marching down towards the end of the hallway he was in. And marching the other way was the second big guy, a Great Axe spinning in his grip. He was just wearing a pair of shorts, and his hair was all messy. Just awakened.
Somewhere behind Gillard Tu muttered something about narrow corridors, but confident in Gillard's prowess against larger opponents, paused and watched to see what would occur. The Great Axe cut the air over the top of Gillard's head with a loud SWISHHH, and Gillard's magical Short Sword slipped past his knee as she stepped under the Axe and attacked.
From somewhere behind Gillard came the rousing tones of Debbie's flute, +2 to our attack rolls for this combat!
Aiming a little lower, the Great Axe swung in again and collected Gillard across the upper chest, parting her studded leather armour like a hot knife through butter, and continuing on to slice into Gillard's chest. Blood spurted and Gillard flew sideways into the wall and slumped to the ground. She was totally unconscious, and blood was spurting from the massive wound. [Gillard was struck with eleven damage, less two for her armour, dealing nine damage. Gillard has five hit points, so was rendered unconscious on negative four, and bleeding out at one hit point every round. Fortunately she is able to drop to her -CON stat before dying. But if too many rounds of bleeding occurred, it could be curtains]
Tu stepped forward and engaged the Axe wielding maniac, but couldn't force him back to let Debbie tend to Gillard. Blood continued to spurt ...
Back in the Lounge, Bear was facing off against Thomas Price. Long Sword vs. Long Sword.
Fighter vs. Fighter. Although Bear was recalling that Thomas was a retired adventurer, and noting that he was actually quite handy with his sword.
In fact, so handy that his next strike thumped into Bear's head like a hammer on an anvil. Bear staggered backwards, his eyes rolled up into his head, and he nearly toppled backwards. [Thomas struck Bear with a critical hit, ignoring his armour protection, stunning him senseless for three rounds, and applying a -4 to-hit penalty for the rest of the combat. He took six damage from the blow]
And of course Bear missed his swing. Oliver did fire off a Magic Missile II spell, which bypasses any armour protection of the target. Three damage dealt. And Scuttle was sneaking quietly around behind Thomas to deal a surprise backstab in the next round.
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| Myrtle wields her obsidian staff |
Thomas's eyes tracked Scuttle from the door, so there was no surprise there. In fact Scuttle was so astonished that Thomas was actually watching him "sneak" past that he tripped and fumbled his attack. [Chris rolled a 17 on the fumble table, "hit so well that your weapon is wrenched from your hand, loose weapon, do normal damage"]
Scuttle staggered forward, dagger stretched out, and struck Thomas in the leg. The blade slipped between the knee pad and the shin guard, and wouldn't come out. Scuttle hastily retreated.
Oliver's second Magic Missile II shot into Thomas's chest for another two points of damage.
Ouzo bravely stepped forward and attempted an attack, but totally missed.
Thomas's distracted swing at Myrtle hit her, but was absorbed by her armour. Zero damage.
Seconds later Thomas swung again at Myrtle, and this time the parry effect was successful and his blade was deflected aside.
Bear had regained his senses, and reengaged Thomas. The -4 effect was still in force. Bear felt that he was almost unable to actually hit the big guy, so he also choose to parry, hoping the others would eventually arrive and assist in taking Thomas out.
Three quick attacks by Thomas against Bear followed, the first ringing off Bear's new armour, and the next two attacks missing.
Back on the other side of the house, Tu and the other Axe wielding enemy were trading blows in the hallway. Tu had taken one solid blow and four points of damage, and dealt three points of damage in return. Tu then ducked under a couple of wild swings of the Axe and skewered the guy with an excellent thrust to the throat. Seven damage and down he went.
Debbie rushed up to assist Gillard. Four rounds had passed and the spurts of blood were definitely smaller, but Gillard still lived. Debbie applied the customary bandages to stop the bleeding. They could both hear the sounds of battle from back down the hallway behind them. With a final check to make sure Gillard was comfortable on the floor of the hall, they both hurried off to help the others.
They arrived through the door of the Lounge to see Ouzo leaping onto the back of Thomas with a mighty backstab. Scratched his neck for one point of damage. [While the successful backstab does do double damage, the targets armour protection is deducted from the damage roll. Darryl rolled a one, plus one due to the magic weapon is two, doubled is four, less three for Chaim Mail leaves one point of damage inflicted]
As Thomas sees Tu and Debbie arrive to back up Bear and Myrtle, he takes a step back, lays his weapon down on the ground, and surrenders. No one knows what to do, this has never happened to us before. Ouzo wants to kill him immediately, but Myrtle insists that he be handed over to the local REAL authorities. We tie him up pending further discussion.
Myrtle rushes off to assist Gillard, and winds up casting there Heal spells before she even regains consciousness, but still only on one hit point.
While the rest of us are discussing how to deal with a captive, Scuttle slips away to have a good search of the house. He rubs his hands together and chuckles as he sidles out of the Lounge.
Hanging on the wall of the Lounge is a painting, of a very familiar looking woman. The same woman who has been the subject of a number of paintings we have seen in the various houses of coven members.
"A teleport portal" states Tu, "This'll take us straight to the damn witches"
"A teleport portal" confirms Ouzo, "Who knows where it might take us"
Oliver's Detect Magic confirmed it was a magical painting, and that Thomas's Long Sword was also magical. Although nothing else was; apart from the usual compliment of items we were carrying.
Myrtle casts her final Heal spell on Gillard, but fails to bring her to full. Gillard remains one point down from full, on four hit points.
At this point both Myrtle, Oliver (and Debbie) are all at zero spells left, so a three hour rest and recovery session is taken.
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| The other fighters head |
Bear stands watch over the painting, but nothing comes through. Myrtle, and then Oliver, awake and are fully charged after their three hour resting.
Bear walks over to where he saw Thomas come through the back wall of the room, and gives it a tap.
"Secret door here somewhere" he says.
Sure enough, we find the secret door and the stairs down into the darkness below. A faint flickering light can be seen from below, Which is coming from a few guttering torches in scones around the walls of a small square room. There is a door on the far side, covered with strange symbols and radiating an unnatural chill.
But there are no traps apparently!
Ouzo steps up and slips his lockpick into the keyhole, "Snick"
The expected shrine to MALECHAI.
Oliver's Detect Magic reveals nothing magical except for the shrine itself.
So nothing to find, except for the door on the far side of the room.
Ouzo steps up and slips his lockpicks into the keyhole. They get stuck.
Scuttle steps up and slips his lockpicks in beside Ouzo's. They snap off.
Bear backs up and charges the door. He bounces back with a sore shoulder.
Tu backs up and charges the door. It shatters into pieces and smashes open.
Tu proudly struts into the room and looks around.
A dark armoury with weapon racks and cabinets of locked boxes.
"Lets try these" suggests Scuttle, holding up a ring of keys. "From that Thomas dude"
A small horde of gold (1000gp) and a tin box containing fourteen small vials.
Oliver's Detect Magic reveals one magical Short Sword and eight of the vials.
Tu heads back upstairs to stand watch over the magical painting, and after a thorough but unsuccessful search for any other secret doors, the rest of us join him in the Lounge.
Oliver examines all the bloodstained papers and extracts all the names mentioned. Some are familiar to us, but a few are not. And there are thirteen names, definitely the full compliment of the coven we are tracking down. Oliver lists them all down, and reads them out.
Yema Fail
Rose Gervan (Toluene city guard)
Hayley Price (Penstoke, this is her farmhouse)
Odette Wylie (Toluene city guard)
Lynley Inwood
Elizabeth Winchester (The Panma house owner)
Ruby Jeffrey (Toluene wizard - deceased)
Ophelia Treacle (Saucy Lake retreat - deceased)
Ingrid Barnett (The aged and supposed SOIXANTE-NEUF priestess from Penstoke)
Odette Pearson (The Innkeeper from Nitro)
Samuel Pearson (The Fireball mage from Nitro - deceased)
Barbara Comp (From Gazebo)
"That's only twelve" notes Myrtle
"Ah yes, well there is an issue with the thirteenth name" mumbles Oliver.
Oliver Smith (Wizard adventurer)
"I told you" crows Scuttle, "Black as the ace of spades"
"And this letter from a few days ago" reads Oliver.
"It's too late, they are onto us now. Come immediately to the final place in the Oble Hills and we will attempt to complete the summoning"
"Unsigned" Oliver concludes.
"The painting will take us there" states Tu, "We should go through immediately"
"The painting will not take us there" states Ouzo, "We need to find the location of those three unknown coven women, Yema and Lynley. One of them will be in the Oble Hills and we can go straight there overland"
"We must report all this to REAL" states Myrtle.
"Can I have the magic Short Sword?" asks Scuttle.
Myrtle heads off into Penstoke to report to the REAL priest and bring him back to view the evidence. As we have found in every town, they can't believe that the well respected and kind Prices' were involved in anything so sinister, until they were in the basement Shrine and confronted with MALECHAI's very presence.
I can't deal with Thomas though" the priest states, "You'll have to deal with him"
And then he hurries off to send dispatches and make cleansing preparations.
We make some attempt to clean up the mess we had made. The bodies were buried out in the farm, blood and bloodstains were washed and removed, furniture straightedged and replaced. Scuttle even fed the two dogs in the cages on the veranda.
Myrtle casts some Animal Friendship spells on the two warhorses in the stables (our warhorses now) and we decide that we will travel overland to Toluene with Thomas under guard, and hand him to the REAL authorities there.
"The pope will know what to do with him!" confirms Myrtle.
We prepare to depart the next morning after a good rest, some decent food from the farmhouse kitchen, and getting everyone healed back to their full hit points.
That night, Oliver "receives" a strange dream.
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| The glowing dream witch |
He is looking down from high in the sky at the town of Grezbo. He swoops down towards the town graveyard where a glowing witch is reading her book and pointing towards the hills. Her black cat sits on a tombstone nearby, watching with glowing eyes. There is a strong pull from the distant Oble Ranges and he streaks in that direction. The land blurs below him, the Hymer Saddle road a constant on the rushing landscape below. Very soon a dark circle looms ahead and he swoops down and into the mouth of a black cave. "Your destiny awaits" echoes a deep voice in his mind. "Together we will summon the Being and you will rule us all"
A strange figure looms into view from the darkness.
Oliver jerks awake.
"Holy Crap" he exclaims.
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