Present:
- Balder Dash (gnome wizard) - Jamie
- Donk Platebreaker (human fighter) - Jeff
- Elvis Ghenna (elf bard) - Shane
- NPC: Igbot Farci (human Barbarian)
- Malcolm Gandhi (gnome thief) - Kevin
- MARMALADE: Red Feuersturm (human temple fighter of Hob) - Chris
- Slim Jim (human rogue) - Darryl
- Sophia Beauchamp (half-elf priest 21) - Ian
- Walton Formalin (half-elf mystic of 21) - Andrew
The party gathered around the top of the well shaft and peered down into the darkness. The slow drip of water plinking echoed up out of the depths. The piercing screams from Walton had faded away and only the memory of what must have been absolute terror reverberated in our thoughts. The cleanly sliced rope that had been Walton's safety line swung loosely from the windlass.
Red toppled backwards in a faint and curled up into a ball, marmalade foaming from his mouth, just as Donk stepped out of the old shack and strode up to the rest of the party.
"Hey guys" spluttered Donk, clearing out the marmalade, "Where's Walton?"
"Oh deary deary me" replied Balder, "He a goner, disappear in hole"
"Let's go get him then" stated Donk, leaning over the well shaft and peering down."Not me" stated Slim, "I don't see so well in dark places"
Sophia volunteered to be lowered down the well to the side tunnel and assess the situation. A study of the cut safety line indicated that the rope had travelled maybe five yards into the side tunnel before being cut, so she figured she would be safe until around that point. And she had magic and could cast a light as necessary.
"Walton cast a light too" noted Elvis, "Before he started screaming"
"Bah, he is only a Mystic" replied Sophia confidently, "Whereas I am a Priestess of the great VINGT-ET-UN and her LUCK falls on all her trusted servants. I will be fine!"
Sophia was tied securely to a new safety line and Donk cautiously lowered her the three yards down the well to the side tunnel.
"Nothing to see with my infra-vision" she whispered up to us, "I'll make a light now"
 |
| The well shaft dropped away into darkness |
"Nothing to see with the light either" she whispered.
"This, tunnel looks to go for only five yards before opening up into a larger chamber" she added.
"I'll creep in about four yards and take a look"
We watched from above as Sophia slipped into the side tunnel. Her glowing light started to dim as she moved along the tunnel, out of sight. The safety line spooled slowly out as she progressed.
Suddenly everything went dark, her light had disappeared.
"ARE YOU OK SOPHIA?" yelled Slim franticly.
Sophia, having dismissed her Light spell and made a successful Stealth roll to creep silently along the short length of side tunnel, rolled her eyes and muttered quietly to herself.
"What is that idiot thinking? ... Oh yeah, not thinking!"
Popping her head back out into the well shaft, Sophia indicated that all was well, but that she would be proceeding quietly without the light, unless she needed it. Then she disappeared back into the side tunnel, and everything went dark and quiet again.
Sophia crept along the side tunnel, using her infra-vision, for about four yards till just short of where the tunnel opened out into the larger chamber beyond. Casting a Detect Traps spell, which revealed nothing, she then Listened [This involved rolls against Sophi's Divine Magic and Listen skills, both of which she successfully made] and heard a soft moaning coming from somewhere in the chamber ahead. And it was definitely Walton!
Casting a new Light spell, Sophia peered into the chamber, taking care not to cross the threshold line between the tunnel and the chamber. She spotted Walton crouched in the far-right corner of a square room. He looked to be uninjured but was sitting on the floor with his knees up in front of him and his head bowed down over something clutched in his hands. His attention was totally focussed on whatever it was he was holding, and he was uttering a continuous low moaning sound. Sophia also noted that a very faint blue glow was coming from whatever it was he had clutched in his hands.
 |
| The dark tunnel went about 5 yards |
Arriving at the threshold to the room beyond, Donk spotted Walton on the far side and slid his sword partly into the room to see if anything would happen. Nothing happened.
"There are no traps" whispered Sophia from behind him, "Possibly Walton triggered it already"
The room was pretty gloomy and there were definitely hidden corners on either side of the tunnel opening where Donk couldn't see, without going into the room itself. Donk then pushed the lantern out into the room so he could get a better look at the space.
"Swish" went a shimmering blur in front of Donks face as a very large blade sliced downward from the right side of the tunnel entrance. It sliced cleanly through the empty air just where Donk's wrist had been fractions of a second before. The lantern continued to shine, from its location on the floor just inside the room, as Donk grunted in surprise and pulled back from the threshold.
Drawing a deep breath in preparation for sudden and violent action, Donk prepared for the worst.
Nothing happened.
"No traps aye?" he queried Sophia crossly.
"Ah, no ... but that looks more like an ambush!" she replied.
....
Meanwhile, back on the surface at the top of the well shaft, Slim and Igbot were monitoring the ropes down into the well and keeping a general lookout.
"Shhhh" whispered Slim, "I hear something approaching through the bush"
"May as well sneak over and take a look" whispered Igbot.
Slim slipped quietly into the bush and flittered off towards the approaching noise.
 |
| Malcolm Ghandi appeared from the bush |
"R u vying to hide? Hahaha" the voice chuckled.
"I fend. I come look vor my coosin Balder" it continued as a small Gnome suddenly appeared just a few yards in front of the surprised Slim.
"I fend. I come look vor my coosin Balder" it continued as a small Gnome suddenly appeared just a few yards in front of the surprised Slim.
[This is Kevin's new character, Malcolm Ghandi, arriving tonight after his previous character, Macron, had literally lost his head while trying to sneak around Gnoll's in the dark. Malcom is a Gnome Thief archetype, reasonably slender and dexterous, sporting a number of concealed knives]
"So, vere is that midget Balder den?" he asked.
"Down there" stated Slim, pointing to the well.
They both walked back to the well, and Malcom peered down the shaft into the darkness.
"Typical" he muttered.
....
Down in the tunnel, Donk was preparing to parry an anticipated blade strike while he crawled out into the room where Walton was still crouched down and moaning in the far corner. Lifting his sword up into a defensive block position he dived forward into the room. [This manoeuvre required an opposed roll, Donk's Dodge skill (15) against the unknown opponent's 2H Sharp (two-handed sharp blade) attack skill. With skills ranging from -ve numbers (worst) up to 20 (best) a lower roll is always advantageous. Unfortunately, Jeff rolled a 20, a Fumble (almost always loses!), and he lost the opposed roll. Donk was hit. It played out something like this ...]
As Donk dived through the small opening into the room, his two-handed sword held securely up with his right hand while his left hand supported him in his crouched posture, he accidentally placed his left hand down on the lantern he had pushed out into the room just moments before. Stumbling slightly as a result, his attempted Dodge was ineffective, and the anticipated blade swept down from above and crunched firmly into his chain mail covered back. The blow, dished out by a large, animated stone statue with a massive two-handed sword, peeled apart Donk's chain mail like a hot knife through butter, and sliced into his back. [Fortunately, the statue's D10 damage roll only turned up a 1 and combined with a +4 strength bonus and a -3 modifier for the chain armour, Donk only received 2 points of actual damage, dropping his available Hit Points from 14 to 12. This strike could have been quite different and totally changed the whole outcome of the rescue mission if a larger damage roll had been made]
 |
| A stone statue guarded the tunnel |
"Don't come in" Donk yelled, as Sophia made a move to follow.
Feeling a chill draft from behind, Donk looked over his shoulder. Nothing unexpected. Looking down though, Donk noticed that he was standing right on the edge of a square pit located in the centre of the room.
[Donk had rolled successfully against his Luck and hadn't toppled into the pit as he dived into the room, stumbled on the lantern, been hit by the statue's sword, and rolled back up to his feet]
"Thank you, VINGT-ET-UN" whispered Donk, as he peered down into the apparently bottomless pit.
So, the room was essentially a square donut around a central pit, with an armed stone statue in one corner beside the tunnel opening and an incapacitated Walton in the adjacent corner.
Wary of the stone statue and its wickedly heavy blade, Donk moved cautiously towards Walton, hoping to be able to drag him over to the tunnel entrance and get Sophia to pull him out, while he engaged the statue. But as soon as Donk approached Walton's corner, from either side, the statue activated and slowly advanced towards him. Leaping away from Walton deactivated the statue and it would return to ambush mode with its sword raised by the tunnel entrance.
This was a major challenge for Donk's problem-solving skills [Mind stat of 8/20] and he soon found himself backed into the corner opposite the statue, thinking slowly through potential actions. Walton was crouched into a fetal ball staring at a dimly glowing blue egg the size of a bowling ball, unresponsive to external stimuli, and groaning to himself. Sophia was assisting from the tunnel by calling out things to try including lassoing Walton and dragging him out of the activating corner (but Donk was unable to drop the rope loop over Walton), lassoing the statue and dragging it into the pit (but Donk was unable to drop the looped rope over the statue), attracting the statue away from the tunnel so Sophia could get into the room and help (Sophia got part way into the room, the statue's speed increased considerably, and that plan was quickly abandoned).
Running out of options, but tending towards a full out plan A attack on the statue, Donk's attention was momentarily caught by the central pit. Shining his lantern light down into the pit did not reveal a bottom, so he pulled an old bronze coin from his pocked and flicked it in and watched it drop into the darkness.
"Chink ... boing .... tink ..... tink ...... thud"
"Maybe eighty feet" estimated Donk, "and dry down there! Holy crap"
Donk moved back towards the tunnel entrance to discuss the situation with Sophia, who was still tucked up inside the tunnel with Balder and Elvis jammed in behind her. Keeping back from the line of statue activation that crossed just in front of the tunnel, Donk crouched down and let her know about the depth of the pit.
 |
| A giant spider emerged out of the depths |
"It's about 80 feet if you fell ..." he started, but suddenly felt a subtle change in the air flow behind him and spun around to see a monstrous spider-like creature emerge out of the depths. Its massive frame unfolded from the pit, towering over Donk with its two forelegs raised menacingly. Its fangs glistened in the dim light, promising a gruesome fate for anyone in its way. [Donk has the Alert talent and is unable to be surprised in combat. Surprise attacks are somewhat nasty as the attacker gets two dice rolls and takes the best. This is still an opposed role against the surprised defender's Dodge skill, but even so, we try not to be surprised in combat!]
Without warning, the spider lunged forward, launching a flurry of attacks. Three times each combat round, it struck out with its forelegs and poisonous bite, aiming for Donk's vulnerable spots. Donk's chain mail armour held up for the first two rounds, but each hit left him reeling. Just as Donk thought it was all over, he struck a perfect blow on the spider's head. [Donk rolled a critical hit, a 1 with the D20 attack roll. Unless the target also rolls a 1 (which it didn't) this type of critical hit does additional "super damage" equal to the maximum possible weapon damage. In this case with Donk's two-handed sword (D10 damage) the damage inflicted by the critical hit was 10 (super damage) plus 9 (normal damage rolled with the D10) plus 3 (Donk's strength bonus) minus 1 (Spider's natural armour) equals 21 damage. Take that you bastard!]
The massive creature recoiled, giving Elvis an opening to act. Squeezing past Balder, he reached around Sophia and cast a powerful Magic Missile from inside the tunnel, striking the spider with a burst of energy that dealt an additional 3 damage. The creature stumbled back, placed four of its legs down over the central pit, and fell in. [The spider fumbled its next attack, rolling a 20 on its attack roll, and the consequential effect was to lose its footing] Elvis fired off another Magic Missile (1-1=0 damage) and as the spider caught itself on the edge of the pit, Donk smashed in another perfect blow that pushed it further into the pit and it tumbled back into the depths it had emerged from. [Donk had made a second consecutive critical hit dealing another 20-odd points of damage]
Donk and his companions held their breath as the spider disappeared into the darkness of the pit, unsure if their combined efforts would be enough to keep it down. An enraged squealing echoed up from the darkness, but there was no falling thud, although the noises did slowly diminish as if the creature was crawling off to lick its wounds. With a sense of triumph, Donk spun back towards the statue, emboldened by his success, and ready for whatever other dangers it might throw his way.
Sword grasped firmly and ready for anything, Donk moved right in front of the statue and suggested firmly that it would be in its own best interests to allow us to gather Walton and leave in peace. Of course, it wasn't really open to sensible suggestions like that, and with a grinding rumble, it's head slowly rotated until its eyes were staring directly into Donk's, and then its body followed. While the thing was totally focussed on Donk, Sophia attempted to slip in unnoticed. Fail.
 |
| Swords clashed with a shower of sparks |
Seconds later Sophia slid into the corner of the room and spun to see what had happened. She caught a brief twinkle of light as the statue's sword spun end for end and fell into the pit. The statue was frozen in place, poised over the tunnel entrance in mid-attack, its mighty stone hands clutching empty air. Donk was back en guard, balanced on the balls of his feet and ready for anything. [The statue rolled a 20 for its attack roll, a fumble, and a fumble in the new FSS system has dire consequences. PC's can expend 2 Luck points to mitigate the consequence, but NPC's do not have the same ability. For attacks, a fumble means your weapon is rendered useless, and here the storey accommodated this by having the attacker drop and loose his weapon.]
"Chink ... boing .... thunk ..... thunk ...... clang"
Sophia looked up and Donk, caught his eye, and grinned. Then she rushed across to Walton.
Donk grinned too, then brought his attention back to the statue. It might be without its sword but could still pose a serious challenge with its two clenched fists. Effectively, a stone hammer in each hand!
Rushing forwards and utilising a stunning brawler's move, Donk flipped the statue over his hip and straight into the pit. [Although this encounter was all over in seconds, there was considerable vacillating as Jeff considered the merits of attacking, brawling, dodging, and ignoring. Brawling came out as the best option, and an opposed roll was made. Donk's Brawl skill of 15 vs. the statue's dodge skill. Donk's roll prevailed, and the statue took an eighty-foot plunge]
"Chunk ... bonk .... thud ..... thud ...... squelch"
"Squelch?" wondered Donk, "Perhaps the spider didn't crawl anywhere after all"
Sophia quickly scrambled around towards the catatonic Walton, and cautiously peered over his shoulder at what he was clasping. An ovoid egg shape made from some form of translucent glass like material, about the size of a bowling ball, was clutched firmly between his two hands. A blue glow radiated from the depths of the egg, and strange swirling movements could be seen within. Sophia tried to help Walton to stand, but he flinched away and wouldn't let her touch him.
"What to do?" Sophia wondered.
Donk watched from the other side of the pit as Sophia leant over and snatched the egg right out of Walton's grasp. Donk's yell of "Noooo" was cut off as Sophia uttered a piercing scream and toppled backwards to the ground. Sophia's shrieking echoed around the room and didn't stop. She was thrashing around on the floor, the egg gripped tightly in front of her, her gaze captured by whatever was in there. Donk hoped she didn't thrash right off the edge of the pit as he raced around the room to assist.
Grabbing Walton firmly around the waist, Donk picked him off the ground and quickly carried him to the tunnel entrance. Lashing his feet to the safety rope, Donk instructed Balder and Elvis to get him up to the surface. Then he turned back towards the screaming Sophia and closed in.
Careful to not accidentally touch the egg, Donk grabbed Sophia around the waist, pinning her arms in place, and carried her around to the tunnel. Her screaming had quietened somewhat, although she was still letting out the occasional bloodcurdling shriek that echoed throughout the room, and no doubt down into the depths of the pit, and the well shaft. Lashing her to the safety rope by the ankles, he gave a tug and her trip to the surface began.
Donk watched as Sophia was dragged along the tunnel by the rope, and then she swung out into the well shaft and rose up out of sight. Some seconds later, a blue glow dropped past the tunnel entrance just in front of Donk and fell into the depths. [Sophia uncharacteristically failed a Luck roll, and dropped the egg as she was being hoisted upside down up the well shaft.]
"Chink ... bink .... crack..... bonk...... splash"
Four faces peered over the top of the well. A dim blue glow could be seen in the depths.
"Do we go down and get it?" questioned Elvis.
"No way" replied Slim.
"Definitely" countered Balder and Malcolm simultaneously.
"Get me out of here" yelled Donk from below.
Donk was retrieved from the tunnel. Balder was tied to the safety rope and lowered down into the well. He took a wooden staff and the well's water bucket with him. Just above the surface of the water at the bottom of the well, and while dangling from the rope, Balder probed down into the water with the staff. Fortunately, the water was only a few feet deep, and the egg was almost in reach.
"Down two more" yelled Balder, and he was lowered into the water.
"Oww, bloody freezing" he muttered to himself, up to his chest in the icy water.
Successfully gathering the egg into the well's water bucket, Balder called for extraction.
"Stop, stop" he subsequently yelled, "It, it ... jumped out of the bucket. Back down please"
[Balder failed a roll against his Dexterity, and the bucket caught and tipped when only halfway up the shaft. In fact, Balder had a series of failed Dexterity rolls starting from that one, and while scooping the egg the second time, accidentally brushed it with his hand.]
"Arrrrrgggggghhhhhh" echoed piercingly up from out of the depths of the shaft.
"Aaaarrrrgggghhhh"
"Aaaaarrrrggghh"
The rope was hastily drawn up, and Balder rose up out of the depths, no egg.
Four faces peered over the top of the well. A dim blue glow could be seen in the depths.
"Do we go down again and get it?" questioned Elvis.
"No way" replied Slim.
"Definitely" countered Malcolm immediately.
"That's you then" noted Donk.
Malcolm was tied to the safety rope and lowered down into the well, and the egg was safely retrieved.
 |
| The egg was blue translucent porcelain |
In the meantime, Walton and Sophia had regained some form of cognisance, both temporarily losing their mental abilities as a result of their horrid encounters with the creature within the egg.
[Walton was down 9 Mind points and Sophia down 7. These would slowly recover at a rate of 2 points a day, but until recovered all their mental abilities, like thinking and spell casting, would be affected]
Balder also came out of his fugue state not long after being laid on the ground at the top of the well shaft and was pretty soon chattering away. Obviously not affected as much as those who had peered into the depths of the egg.
A sling was rigged up, and the two Gnomes slung it between them, the wrapped egg hanging in the centre, and the party made haste towards the town of Brian. A heavy rain wall falling, REAL's light was obscured by cloud, and the temperature was dropping. Everyone was looking forward to warm dry shelter and a hot meal in Brian, only about an hour away through the hills.
But of course, that wasn't to be!
As the party hustled further into the hills, led by Igbot, Elvis became aware of quiet noises behind us, as though someone was cautiously following. Nothing could be seen though, so Slim slipped behind a blade of grass and disappeared to scout the back trail. [Slim rolled a critical success (1) against his Stealth proficiency, and effectively became invisible in the dim light of the wet afternoon]
He soon returned to report that an insubstantial translucent shadow of human size and form was gliding along behind us but keeping a constant distance back. Igbot noted that the walls of Brian were just ahead, and we should get into the town as quickly as possible.
"Would that be where that thick black smoke is coming from then? asked Elvis.
"Oh, bugger" grunted Igbot.
The gates of the walled town were firmly closed, and multiple pillars of thick black smoke were rising from behind the walls, whipped away by the continuous winds. The guard towers appeared empty and there was no sign of movement. The heads of large numbers of humans and gnolls adorned spikes around the top of the walls and a large sign on the gate, apparently painted in blood, read "Plague - Do not enter"
Igbot pounded on the gate though, and shortly an aggressive voice from inside told us to leave.
"Can't you bloody read" came from the other side of the sturdy gate.
"Only plague and slow death sleep here today" it continued.
"You best be on your way" it concluded.
We choose discretion and continued on our way!
Igbot found us a relatively sheltered campsite about a half hour from the town walls, upwind, and tucked up against some rocky bluffs. Healing spells were cast, and watches arranged for the approaching night. Sophia took her Arcane recharge Holy Wafer, and Balder swallowed his Arcane recharge grape, and they settled comfortably into their uninterruptable recovery sleep.
During the second watch of the night, Donk and Malcolm on duty, a strange uneasiness came over them and fearing the worst, they woke the rest of the party. Everyone was on high alert (except Sophia and Balder who slumbered on, deep into their power recovery) and Elvis soon spotted the rope binding the sacking around the egg begin to unravel. Something unseen was unwrapping it!
Elvis determined the likely location of the perpetrator and loosed a Magic Missile into the space just above the egg bundle. A humanoid shape briefly lit up in the darkness, and jerked away, before fading back into shadow. The uneasy feeling soon faded away also, and we figured the threat had passed. Donk and Malcolm were soon back on watch, as everyone else settled back to rest.
Some hours after the change to the third watch, Elvis and Slim, Elvis heard something from the bush in front of the camp. It was the noise of stealthy approach, and the occasional quiet muttering of hushed non-human voices. Again, everyone was woken, and the party formed a defensive perimeter around the two sleeping forms of Sophia and Balder. Swords were drawn with rasps of steel, and bows were strung, and arrows notched. Peering into the darkness, the defenders searched for targets.
 |
| Arrows rained among the party |
Then a second round of arrows rained down upon them from the darkness. The sleeping Balder was struck in his little chest, but of course didn't even notice and slumbered on, deep into his power recovery. Another arrow speared down into Sophia again, who now had two shafts quivering from her sleeping form.
"Bugger this" grumbled Donk and charged out into the darkness with his two-handed sword raised. Igbot followed, charging in a different direction, while Slim picked up the wrapped egg and flung it out towards the unseen attackers in yet a third direction. Elvis took a moment and cast an Armour spell on himself before he and Walton preparing to defend the two sleeping forms of Sophia and Balder.
Malcom slipped off into the bush and secreted himself safely out of harm's way.
As Donk charged into the darkness to the front of the party, he spotted two goblins fleeing the location where the egg had landed. Slim had tossed it out to the left, while Igbot had charged to the right. Figuring that the previously chased off translucent shadow, which generated fear and anxiety, was probably trying to get the egg from the bound-up sacking, Donk turned right towards the sound of battle and hurried through the bush on a goblin hunt.
Igbot had charged out to the right, and almost immediately found himself in a confrontation with five Goblins. They split up and circled warily. Darting forward towards the largest, Igbot took a mighty swing with his two-handed sword. Its reach was over twice that of the puny Goblins, and the tip of the sword sliced across the Goblin's torso. Scittering across the Goblin's thin leather armour and peeling it open, the blade cut into the Goblin's flesh, but only shallowly. As the wounded Goblin staggered back, the other four launched their attacks from all around. They all missed that attack, but they didn't miss their subsequent attacks!
Rushing quietly through the bush, Donk spotted the backs of a pair of Goblins. They were dancing forward and back, attacking Igbot from behind. Deftly swinging his sword in a horizontal arc as he ran towards them, Donk neatly decapitated one. The second looked around in shock as his partners head bounced to the ground in front of him, but all he saw was the shimmering blade of Donk's two-handed sword as it cut the air towards him. The battle was brief, and Donk leapt forward to assist Igbot, but he had taken multiple wounds and had fallen to the ground, blood welling from a myriad of small cuts. The bodies of two Goblins lay beside him, and a third Goblin backed away as Donk stalked menacingly forward. Walton emerged from the darkness and successfully rendered First Aid to stop the bleeding. [Having been dropped to less than zero hit points, Igbot had collapsed unconscious with an automatic Major Wound and was Bleeding out. This meant that he had to make a save vs his Constitution every round or die. This roll vs death continues until dead or successfully assisted with the First Aid skill, which stops Bleeding and heals D2 points]
Meanwhile, back at the camp, three Goblins had emerged from the bush and charged towards Slim and Elvis, who stood guard over the slumbering forms of Sophia and Balder. Slim prepared to defend his companions with his life, if necessary, and loosed an arrow. Elvis was more circumspect and fired off Magic Missiles as the Goblins quickly advanced, then backed off to assist from the shadows. Slim stood his ground against the three advancing creatures. Goblins slowly fell, but the party wasn't without their own casualties.
After saving Igbot's life and ensuring all opponents there were dead, Walton bravely rushed to Slim's assistance and together they battled the remaining two Goblins threatening the sleepers there.
Sophia and Balder eventually roused from their restorative sleep, both suffering arrow wounds, to find a battered party tending their wounds. Igbot was unconscious on the ground, Slim beside him groaning loudly and complaining about his many injuries. Walton and Elvis were out of magic power and rested fitfully on the uncomfortable ground, and only Donk and Malcolm were relatively unharmed as they stood watch and waited for the dawn.
The bodies of twelve Goblins were drawn up into a stack a little downwind from the camp.
The egg was gone ...
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