Forest Adventures

Mapping refresh

Present:

• MARMALADING: Phoebe Lacrosse. Human Barbarian from Pugtown – Andrew
• Griza Muso. Human Thief from Lakeside – Jeff
• MARMALADING: Balder Dash. Gnome Wizard from Toluene - Jamie
  
• Bush Tucker. Human Rogue from Spite Anti - Darryl
• Red Feuersturm. Human Temple Fighter of Hob from Toluene - Chris
• Malcom Gandhi. Gnome Thief from Brian – Kevin
  
• MARMALADING: 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 dryads were apparently satisfied with our cleaning up of their creek problems and handed over a large posy of the herb Tulsi to Thursa. We were able to camp the night at the edge of their clearing, and the next morning Dahma led us back into the forest, heading back to the town of Tarp.

Red had been peering at Dahma's facial tattoo for most of the morning and eventually asked her about it.

"I, um, really like your tattoo" Red stammered, "What ... does it mean?"
"Nothing" she replied, "I just liked the pattern"
"Oh. Where did you get it done?"
"At the tattooist's"
"Oh. Could I get one?
"It's in Emerald"
"Oh"

"What would your tattoo be of?" Dahma asked.
"Flames of course" Red exclaimed.

That evening Dahma found a nice camp site and we set out watches for the night.
It was during the third watch while Griza and Red were on duty that the sounds started.

"Shhh" whispered Griza, "Do you hear that?"
"Nope" replied Red, "What can you hear?"
"A faint singing I think" stated Griza, "Maybe a woman, but it's very quiet"

Griza took a couple of steps away from the camp, and Bush's snoring, and listened.
The sound was very faint, but sounded lovely, and definitely a female voice.
Griza took a few more steps away from the camp, shook his head, and returned.

[I successfully made a saving throw against Arcane Magic and was able to shake off and resist the compulsion to investigate the source of the singing. Probably a good thing!]

Griza and Red decided to ignore the singing. No one else was awake and there didn't appear to be any immediate threat. Eventually the signing faded away. Then it was light.

The party packed up and Dahma led us all back to Tarp. It was an uneventful and peaceful trip through the forest. We spent the night at the One-Eyed Wombat in Tarp, and in the morning, we loaded up the wagons and left Tarp for Ambient, the next small town along the klib road. We passed a few other wagons travelling on the road, but arrived safely in Ambient before dark, and took rooms in the Fried Bat Inn.

"We'd like fried bat for dinner thanks" requested Bush.
"No sir, we do not eat bats here. That is just the name of the Inn."
"Why's it called the Fried Bat then?" snorted Bush indignantly.
"Unfortunately, the origin of the name is lost in antiquity"

The next day we travelled on. But we left the klib road and took the bypass to Dove.
Dove is deeper within the forest, lying about central between the Spite Delta plain and the barren lands Anti of the Emerald Forest. Thursa informed us that from Dove we would be making another off-road diversion for some different herbs. This time for Lilith, a root nodule collected from below the ground.

"Don't be eating it!" Thursa instructed.

The night in Dove was calm and quiet, but the rain started just after midnight. By the morning it was thundering down. As we peered out from the Dove Inn wondering if it was the wisest thing to be taking off deep into the wild forest during yet another rainstorm, Dahma pushed out through the front door with her rain poncho on and looked back at us.

"Come on then, get a move on"
"We should wait here for a day" noted Joe, "My new chain mail should be delivered here this afternoon"
"Too right mate," agreed Bush, "A cobber with chain mail would be extra useful"
"And your leathers might shrink and constrict your .... bits" noted Red.

We stayed the day in Dove, playing cards and telling stories. At exactly midday, the Gnomepost wagon slithered into town, dropped off a heavy package for Joe, and roared off again, spraying mud and water.
Joe eagerly tried on his new armour.
"Beautiful" he sighed, "Fits like a glove"

The next morning the rain had cleared up and we left Dove, heading directly towards the centre of the forest. Oddly, Thursa walked beside Malcolm for the whole day, engaging him in conversation about all things Gnome. The rest of us thought it was very strange, but decided there was no accounting for elven tastes, and hoped Thursa knew what she was doing. 

Dahma led us on a winding path that weaved through the thick bush. We were immediately enveloped by the warm, humid atmosphere of the forest. The air was thick with the scents of damp earth and exotic flowers. The canopy above was a tapestry of vibrant greens, filtering REAL's light into dappled patterns on the forest floor. The ground was carpeted with moss that seemed to glow faintly with each step. As we travelled, we noticed the moss behind us slowly rearranging itself, erasing our tracks. We were totally reliant on Dahma's sense of direction now.

We camped overnight in a lovely little meadow and two hours into the next day we arrived at the banks of a small stream. Rows of willow trees stretched along each side of the stream, leaning in close, their branches trailing down into the water and their leaves rustling with whispers. 

At first, it sounded like nonsense, but as we listened closely, we could almost recognize fragments of ancient wisdom and forgotten secrets. It was very peaceful and relaxing, and Thursa stopped us and said that this was our destination. Her words broke the enchantment of the area and returned us to reality.

"You will climb down below the willow root bowl and harvest the nodules that grow on the roots"
"Down where?" queried Bush.
"Those small holes in the bank there, beside the willow trunks"
"Ha" laughed Bush, "You're daft luv, we can't fit down those!"

He was right of course, but also wrong. The small holes were only about 200mm in diameter, much too small for us, even the Gnomes, but Thursa was planning on using her Diminution spell to make us smaller until we could fit. We also noted that columns of ants were heading into and out of most of the holes. Bush scowled. 

"No way luv" responded Bush, "I'll just use this here spade and dig down"

While Bush fished his travel spade from his backpack and went about enlarging one of the holes, the rest of us discussed the Diminution option. 

"I'll do it" volunteered Griza, "Maybe with Invisible to Animals"

Thursa agreed and cast a series of Diminution spells until Griza was just a tiny thing, then went to cast an Invisibility to Animals spell on him.

A large explosion of ash enveloped the party

"BOOM" and a cloud of black ash exploded in the middle of the group. Everyone was instantly covered in black ash, which continued to flutter down around us for some minutes. Griza was blown off his tiny little feet and tumbled across the ground.

"Oops" apologized Thursa, "Let's try that again"

[Richard fumbled the spell cast, rolling a 20 on the D20 die. Similar to all other rolls, a fumble roll initiates a negative effect on a table of 20 options. An 11 was rolled, and a cloud of ash resulted] 

The second attempt was successful. 

Equipped with tiny gloves, a collection bag, and a good description of the Lilith nodules, Griza descended down one of the holes. Keeping clear of the ants, Griza climbed down, down, down, a long way down, until he dropped into a large cavern. 

There were no roots here, but the ants, looking as large as horses now, were tracking along the cavern from a tunnel at one end to a tunnel at the opposite end. They weren't paying any attention to Griza, so feeling confident, he followed their path along the tunnel. 

Eventually the tunnel passed into an area where the ants were scrambling up the wall to the roof above and harvesting the exact Lilith nodules that Griza was hunting. Well versed in climbing, Griza easily managed to climb to the overhead roots and harvest sufficient nodules to fill up his bag. Too easy. Once the bag was full, Griza returned the way he had come, climbed back up the access hole, and delivered the Lilith to Thursa. Everyone was happy, except for Bush who had developed blisters from all his digging. 

Once the Diminution spells had expired and Griza was back to his normal size, the party set of back towards Dove.  We made it back after an uneventful day and night and prepared for the next section of the journey.  It was at least a six-day trip to reach the town of Burq, where the klib road intersected the Spite-Quek road. And Thursa informed us, we had a few diversions along the way to Burq to retrieve even more herbal items.

The first day of travel passed quietly and we camped on a small clear area on the side of the road. The two wagons were positioned to either end of the camp and we laid out the bed rolls between them. Malcolm and Joe were on the first watch, one seated on each of the wagons. It was just a few hours later than Malcolm noticed a mist rising up out of the ground all around.

"That's odd" he thought, "It's way too warm for mist"

Jumping down off the wagon, Malcolm pointed the mist out to Joe, and then woke Thursa.

"Ah" Thursa exclaimed, "That's the Emerald Mist. We'll just need to wait it out. Wake everyone up"

Bush scampered up a tree to keep out of the mist, but everyone else just lay back down in their bed rolls and waited for the sleepy effects to occur or to pass over them. Malcolm and Thursa both slumped into a deep sleep, otherwise the party was unaffected. 

Griza took over Malcolm's watch and jumped up the wagon, everyone went back to sleep, the thick mists rising to about five meters above the ground. Shortly thereafter Griza heard a crashing noise out in the forest. The noise didn't come any closer, so Griza didn't bother waking everyone, and just kept alert. The noises quietened down, and after an hour the mist started to dissipate, dropping back into the ground and disappearing.

Joe had to chuckle. As the mist dropped, the sleeping party was revealed. Malcom was curled up next to Thursa, clutching her leg, a rag draped across his face. But it wasn't a rag at all. Malcolm had retrieved one of Phoebe's pairs of knickers, for whatever reason, and stuck his head into them.

The rest of the night was uneventful. Thursa woke in the morning with a headache. Malcolm didn't wake at all. He was loaded onto the lead wagon after breakfast and joined the marmaladers as we travelled on. At the end of the day's travel, we set up camp in another clearing and settled in. Malcolm finally woke, but he had a terrible migraine and moaned and groaned for half the night. 

 But that was the only disturbance for the night. In the morning Thursa explained that today would be our first diversion off this section of the road. We would be travelling deeper into the forest to find the old Dwarfish Lookout. Apparently, this lookout is located on the top of a large pillar of rock, rising above some prominent hills in the middle of the forest. Growing at the top of the lookout is a very rare herb called Erontas, or the "Lovers Herb". This diversion would take us at least two days, so the wagons were pulled of the road, secured and hidden, with the marmaladers left to guard.

"Don't worry though" stated Thursa, "The Dwarves are long gone, it's only a ruin now"
"But" she continued, "Don't forget to wear gloves if you are harvesting the Erontas. Its power comes from the naturally distilled Starfall that accumulates in the leaf. And we all know what rare Starfall does, don't we!"

We all looked over at Napolean.

"Yeah baby" laughed Bush.

Dahma led us off into the forest. That night we camped peacefully, and the next day Dahma led us on. The ground began to rise, and through the trees we spotted some rocky hills that rose up out of the forest. The trees stopped around the foothills in a flat line, the forest like a sea unable to rise any higher. Above the hills, a narrow pillar of rock thrust up like a finger.

"We go there" stated Dahma.

Later that day we arrived at the treeline and peered out over the lower hills. The rock pillar looked very slender, and extremely steep! A small waterfall tumbled from low down towards the base of the pillar, and the resulting river could be seen flowing through the foothills and disappearing into the forest some distance off to our left. A black speck was slowly circling the top of the pillar, some large bird. We watched as it settled onto the top of the pillar and disappeared.

"How are we meant to get up that?" wondered Joe aloud.
"That's why I hired you" stated Thursa, "It's a lookout, so there must be a way"
"And what is that bird thing?" asked Galena, "Is it dangerous?"

Griza volunteered to Fly, provided he was Invisible to Animals.

He was given the collection bag and a pair of gloves.
Both Invisibility to Animals and Fly were cast by Thursa, and Griza literally took off and headed for the top of the rock pillar. 

"Don't dawdle" yelled Thursa, "You only have ten minutes"

This was a totally new experience for Griza, and it took some time just to get the hang of flying. It was like he had invisible wings attached to his arms, and by adjusting his arm position he could control his direction, orientation, and speed. 

Soon Griza was racing for the top of the pillar, trusting that he would be invisible to the bird.

But shortly thereafter, the bird was racing directly for Griza. Obviously, this was no animal! Spinning in the air, Griza powered back down towards the treeline, the creature in hot pursuit. Griza had noted that it was birdlike, but with a four-meter wingspan, feathered wings and body, but with pink skin along its neck. Sharp talons glittered at the end of its legs, and it had a viscous looking hooked beak.

Crashing in through the trees just in front of the creature, which swooped low across the top of the trees, circled a few times, and then flapped its way back up to the top of the stone pillar, Griza breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Not invisible to that" he reported to the rest of the party, "Now what?"
"Let's lure it down and shoot it dead" suggested Bush, "There is only one after all"
"It's pretty big" noted Joe, "And you are the only one with a bow"
"Let's see if that waterfall provides a stealthier route up the pillar" proposed Griza.
"Yes, good idea", decided Thursa, "Go check it out"

Griza snuck cautiously down to the river and stealthily made his way upstream to the waterfall.
The water sprung out of the side of the pillar about forty meters above its base. It thundered down into a large pool among the rocks, a large cloud of spray billowing up, and then flowed away down the river. The waters in the pool and around the base of the falls seemed to flow not in one direction, but in complex patterns that defied gravity. Strange fish with scales like mirrors and reflected the surroundings swam through the air above the water as easily as through it. As Griza watched, a fish leapt from the water and transformed mid-air into a small, winged creature before diving back into the pool and disappearing. 

"Cool" thought Griza.

A dark shadow behind the waterfall indicated the presence of a cavern or cave tucked secretly away behind the thundering cascade. Keeping a wary on the strange fish things, Griza clambered over the rocks and along the narrow path that threaded between boulders and led behind the waterfall. Directly behind the densest section of the waterfall the path turned into the rock face and a dark tunnel led on, directly towards the centre of the pillar which towered overhead. Peering into the pitch-black depths of the hillside, Griza decided that it was time to report back to the team, so cautiously way his way back downstream to where the party waited.

"Good news" reported Griza, "There is a tunnel into the middle of the pillar"
"Awesome" said Joe, "What's in there?"
"Um, I didn't actually go in" replied Griza sheepishly, "It was very dark"
"Use your magic spectacle things" suggested Malcolm.
"Check the tunnel out" instructed Thursa, "See if you can get to the Erontas bushes at the top"
"Give me two hours" noted Griza, "Then come rescue me if I'm not back"

The cave behind the falls

It was no trouble for Griza to get back to the tunnel entrance, and slipping on his magical spectacles, he slowly made his way forward into the tunnel. It was still dark, but at least there was nothing showing up in the infra-vision range as he crept forward. And noise wouldn't be an issue, the thundering of the water from the falls just behind masked any sounds that Griza might have made. After about twenty metres of level stone floor, the tunnel widened up into a much larger cavern. Some small amount of light filtered in from somewhere above, and combined with the infra-vision spectacles, Griza could make out some details. A cobbled path led directly across the cavern, with shiny black and seamless obsidian stone filling the remainder of the cavern floor. A series of three stone statues lined each side of the cobbled path, extremely lifelike statues of dwarfs in pairs, staring towards each other over the cobbled path, and each holding some form of weapon.

Griza, his senses fully alert, slowly approached the first pair of statues. They were incredibly lifelike, finely carved in intricate detail. And each of them with a different weapon. This first one's fingers wrapped around the handle of a large two-handed axe. Lowering himself to the ground just before the statue, Griza checked the ground for traps. Surely this would be the perfect place for a trap to catch the unwary Griza thought to himself. And sure enough, Griza sensed something. No pressure pads or mechanical triggers, but a tingling sense of danger and arcane powers that raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Magic!  Griza looked up from the floor at the nearest statue.

"Did it have its axe raised up like that before?" he wondered.
"Surely it must have" he decided.

Backing away, Griza then studied the edge of the shiny black obsidian surface that ran behind the statues. The same sense of pending threat. Magic! He picked up a pebble from the path and tossed it over the shiny stone surface. Plink, plink, plonk as it tumbled across the stone. Nothing unusual there.

Looking back at the statue, the axe was now definitely held low across its chest. It had moved!
But it wasn't moving at the moment. Griza backed away and decided that some additional party support might be required, especially if the stone statues were able to move, and gods forbid, fight!

Outside again, Griza checked the skies around the pillar, two large bird things circling up there now! Moving stealthily back down the river, Griza made his way back to the party, still secreted safely within the forest edge near the river and reported his findings within the cave.

"Well" chuckled Red nervously, "We won't be able to sneak up to the waterfall"
"Maybe they can't see at night" suggested Joe.
"Wait" cut in Bush, "I have a plan to get the bird things on our side"
"What's that then?" asked Galena.
"We'll negotiate with them" Bush proudly stated.
"They are birds" replied Thursa, "How are you going to do that?"
"Food" replied Bush smugly.

Bush took off into the forest to hunt a deer, which he was going to place out on the rocks beyond the forest edge. This would make them friendly to him he surmised, and then they would listen to him and let him up onto the top of the pillar to harvest the Erontas bushes.

"It won't take long" stated Bush as he strung his bow and walked off into the forest.
"I'm getting low on spell points" Thursa noted, "Can anyone Transfer?"

Five spell points were transferred to Thursa and then we all settled down to wait for Bush to return.

[Transfer is a spell that allows the transfer of D6 power points from one caster to another. Very useful if a key spell caster is running low on power and another has plenty spare. Note, do not attempt this spell if the caster has less than six points as the results could be hazardous to your health!]

"How's Bush going to talk to a bird?" asked Malcolm.
"That ain't no bird" noted Griza.

Needless to say, Bush's negotiation plan with the bird things didn't pan out. After that first day, the night, and a second day, with multiple deer, flag waving, and even a note, the birds were not cooperating. 

"I don't understand" grumbled Bush.

During that second night, the party made their way up the riverbank and gathered at the entrance to the cave, behind the waterfall. Galena cast a Light spell, and everyone proceeded into the first cavern, where the cobbled path and the six dwarfish statues still waited.

"See" waved Griza, "Magic stuff. And check that first guys axe, held across his chest yeah"
"Yes, magic" confirmed Galena, casting her Detect magic spell.
"Well" she concluded, "That shiny black stone and the statues anyway"
Yeah, and watch this" said Griza.

Griza moved carefully up to just in front of the first statue, looked up, and noted the axe had again been raised above its head, ready to strike.

"See that" Griza cried, "It swung its axe up, ready to attack"

Everyone looked at the statue, then at each other, then back at Griza.

"Ah ... nope" replied Joe, "It's still holding it across its chest"
"No no, it's definitely up above its head" confirmed Griza, checking carefully, without moving forward.
"Ah ... nope" countered Red, "It definitely hasn't moved, the axe is down"
"Oh ... weird" declared Griza, "Is this not real then?"

Gritting his teeth and deliberately looking down at the cobbled path beneath his feet, Griza hurried through between the pairs of statues. He could feel their eyes on him, and he was sure he could hear the air swish as weapons swung towards him. But the rest of the party were watching, and no alarm was raised. Popping out from between the last pair of statues, Griza hurried on a fee more steps before turning and looking back. Each of the statues had their weapons poised in the air, ready to hack down at anyone passing.

"You bastards" Griza yelled, "They were all ready to take go at me!"
"Ah ... nope" yelled Joe, "Not a one of them has moved, all still exactly the same"
"#@#%^&&$" muttered Griza under his breath.

Beyond the statues the tunnel continued out of the cavern, and Griza cautiously moved forward. Which may have been a waste of time given all the yelling that had just taken place, and light shining from Galena's spell, but ever cautious in strange dark tunnels was one of Griza's guiding principles. 

The short tunnel opened up into another large cavern, a similar cobbled path running along the centre to an opening in the far wall. A huge statue stood right in the centre of the path, just in front of the far opening. At the feet of the statue, the path split left and right, rounded the statue and merged again behind it, just in front of the far opening. The statue was stone, depicting another Dwarven warrior clad in heavy armour and wielding a mighty two-handed axe. Its gaze seemed to pin Griza to the floor as he looked up at it. Looking around the room Griza noticed a lot of carved symbols all over the walls, maybe some of that writing stuff that he could never understand.

Yelling a report back through the tunnel behind him, Griza sidled across to the walls and took a closer look at the carvings. He he leaned forward to study one of the carvings, a burst of Light flared out from the wall. Griza stumbled back, momentarily dazzled by the flash.

"What was that flash?" yelled Thursa from the previous cavern.
"Some writing stuff on the wall" yelled back Griza, "But it's all good"

Griza carefully approached the huge guardian statue and checked for traps on the path.
Nothing, not even the tingle of magic. Easy Griza decided.
Keeping his head down and not looking at the statue, Griza strolled left on the path.

"TWANG" 

A crossbow bolt embedded itself in Griza's chest and he staggered back.
Two glowing heat sources appeared behind the statue, and Griza turned and fled.
Zigzagging back along the path, through the narrow tunnel, and straight back between the first sets of statues, Griza screamed out for help.

But nothing followed him.

"Look" Griza complained, "I got shot, there were two of them, at least"

The crossbow quarrel was indeed there, quivering from Griza's chest. Galena cast a Cure, and it dropped to the ground, the wound closing up. Joe inspected the quarrel, it was finely wrought, not your normal brigand's weapon, a well-crafted dwarven quarrel. Plans were quickly made.

Protection from Normal Missiles were cast on Joe and Griza, and they hastened past the paired statues, heads looking down, Dahma slipping in right behind them. Half the party moved forward in that initial wave, while the rest watched the statues to make sure there was no movement. Then the second half moved forward, the others watching the statues, except for Joe and Griza who waited in the tunnel, keeping a watch out for the actual live dwarves. Once everyone was past the statues, they all rushed through into the second cavern, Joe and Griza in the front, Dahma right behind them.

Two figures were crouched behind the huge statue. Trusting in the power of the Protections, Joe and Griza charged, yelling ferociously. Two crossbow quarrels flew from behind the statue, dropping harmlessly in front of Joe as their momentum was absorbed by the Protection spells. Then the figures turned and fled, Joe, Griza, and Dahma in hot pursuit.

"Ware ambush" panted Griza as he hurried along with Joe, footsteps sounding from ahead.
"New chain mail" grinned Joe, "And Protection, their crossbows are useless now"

The tunnel forked, footsteps echoing from the right-hand branch. Joe followed, Griza and Dahma right behind him. Then another fork, footsteps from the right. Joe, Griza, and Dahma followed. The tunnel opened up into a medium sized cavern, a single exit on the far side. A large number of sleeping mats were scattered around the room. Griza counted at least twenty. Joe charged on, following the fading footsteps across the cavern and into the other tunnel. Griza, casting a nervous glance over the large numbers of sleeping matts, followed right behind him. Dahma trotted forward also, just behind Griza.

The sound of crashing water echoed from ahead, masking any further footsteps, and any other sounds!
Joe rushed into the next chamber. A tumble of water from the left, mist spraying up and a small channel of water crossing the rear of the chamber. Two pale skinned creatures stood before him; axes raised. They could have been dwarves he figured, but pasty skinned ones. Joe attacked one, Dahma stepping forward past Griza and engaging the second. Griza stepped in beside Dahma and also attacked.

The battle was over quickly. And despite Griza's worries, no other creatures appeared. A quick search of the room revealed a set of old sleeping matts, long rotted away, dust everywhere despite the gentle breeze stirrer up by the tumbling water. There looked to be a small shaft leading deeper into the rock beside the outflow of water, about two meters above the ground, which was left unexplored, for now.

Returning triumphantly back to the rest of the party, Joe, Griza, and Dahma reported that the two creatures had been eliminated, but that there were other tunnels yet to explore. A flurry of Cures for Joe (despite his new shiny chain mail armour, he was quite battered in the battle with the pale dwarf) and then everyone passed by the large guardian statue and the rest of the tunnel complex was explored.

There was one large room, a dining room it appeared, which contained a large oak table with many chairs surrounding it. One large chair, almost a throne, sat at the head of the table. Two stairs led upwards from each side of the room, a statue of a dwarven warrior standing at the base of each stair. Candlesticks sat on the table, and two of them spluttered and flickered to life as we entered. Galena cast a Detect magic and confirmed that the candlesticks, the thronelike chair, and the two statues radiated a magical aura. Leaving this room and the upstairs for later, the party returned to other unexplored parts of the lower level. 

Another mess hall with a smaller table and chairs. A large fireplace, stained black but cold and empty, sat at the end of the room, a dark and dusty chimney cut up through the stone of the hill behind it extending upwards. Five or so sets of tracks could be clearly seen on the floor, meandering around the room and leading out an exit on the far wall into another dark tunnel. We followed.

The tunnel eventually opened up into a massive underground lake, the water lapping just beyond the opening of the huge cavern. The water was calm and still, although a faint current flowing to the right could be detected. A tinge of light penetrated the cavern far off to the left, and a small island could just be seen way out in the lake, surrounded by darkness. The faint sound of dripping water echoed around the cavern, although the source of the sound could not be determined.

Without wading or swimming there was no way forward, so the party returned to another unexplored branch of the complex. This branch again opened up to the lake, somewhere to the right of the previous shore. The opening was raised up above the water level, and an old iron ring was anchored into the rock of the wall, an empty boat mooring. But again, there was no way forward from there, so we backed up again to yet another branch of the complex that opened up on the lake.

Third time lucky!
A boat bobbed in the water just in front of us, its painter attached to an iron ring anchor in the wall.

"The island then?" questioned Malcom.
"No way cobber" stated Bush firmly, "There might be crocs out there"
"Look" noted Griza, "This boat has had recent repairs carried out"
"Maybe there are still creatures around?" wondered Joe.

"TWANG, TWANG" echoed from the tunnel behind us, and Galena and Bush collapsed to the ground, crossbow quarrels protruding from their backs. A small fountain of blood erupts from Galena's wound in a spurt, and Thursa immediately prepares to cast a Cure. Joe, Griza, and Dahma spin around and charge up the tunnel, hoping that all the attacker's crossbows are now unloaded. Bush opened one eye from his prone position on the ground.

"Are they gone?" he asked.

[No one made their Hear Noise/Perception rolls so the party was "surprised" by the attack. Richard's crossbow attack roll against Galena was a critical hit. For critical hit rolls against a party member, the party member decides how much Luck to spend to attempt to reduce the critical effect. Steven chose to spend 3 Luck, so rolled 3 D20 dice, and selected the critical table entry with the least significant effect to Galena. Steven rolled a 1, a 6, and a 10, and selected entry 1 in the critical table. Stagger forward and take an additional D4 damage. This was still enough to knock Steven's Priest Galena unconscious. Going negative from a single attack also means that a Major Wound has been inflicted, and the character is bleeding out. A roll against Constitution must be made every combat round thereafter, until First Aid is administered, or a Cure is cast. Failing this Constitution roll results in death!

Following the conclusion of the game, Darryl raised an issue with the frequency and potentially significant effects of the critical hit and fumble mechanism. Too frequent and too significant were his claim. Discussion ensued and will be ongoing. 

Predicted outcome - the critical and fumble effect tables will be adjusted to water down and reduce the scale of their effects. Watch this space ...]

THUD!

Present:

• Phoebe Lacrosse. Human Barbarian from Pugtown – Andrew
• Griza Muso. Human Thief from Lakeside – Jeff
• MARMALADING: Balder Dash. Gnome Wizard from Toluene - Jamie
  
• Bush Tucker. Human Rogue from Spite Anti - Darryl
• 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 Jeff

‘Beating people up in little rooms… he knew where that led. And if you did it for a good reason, you’d do it for a bad one. You couldn’t say “we’re the good guys” and do bad-guy things.’

Oh wait, this isn't the classic storey by Sir Terry Pratchett!
But, read on to spot the parallels ...

Phoebe pulled her horse ahead and rode as the group's vanguard.
They were making their way klibward from Emerald, on the road towards Tarque. It was day one of the approximately two-week trip to the Great Tower (aka The Emerald Tower, aka The Mystics Tower, aka The Great Pilar of Quek), escorting Thursa and Dahma through the Emerald Forest. Balder, Galena, Joe, and Malcolm were sprawled out on our lead wagon, Bush was driving, Napolean shotgun.

Griza was seated on the back of Thursa's wagon, keeping an eye out to the rear, with surreptitious glances at the other two rears perched on the seat at the front of the wagon! Dahma's black leather breaches stretched tightly around her large backside, and Thursa's robes were also pulled tightly across her posterior, the twin globes of her buttocks expressed magnificently as the wagon bumped up and down over the rough terrain. 

Griza sighed contentedly. 

The day's travel was uneventful, although Galena and Joe both awoke from their marmalading states and joined the conversation as the day progressed. Arriving in Tarque near the end of the day we took rooms in the Sweet Tamarillo Inn. Predictable, as it's the only Inn in Tarque. 

The next day dawned grey and drizzly, and we travelled on to Laque, where we stayed at the Pig & Whistle again. The new owner there offered us free accommodation and meals on account of our recent magnificent efforts in ridding the town of the evil were-boar pig farmers. We accepted of course.

Another drizzly morning dawned, and we set off for Lemon. The town isn't actually called Lemon, but as a result of some Known World map layering issues, the actual name is lost behind the trees. Perhaps the name is Forest?

Arriving at the only Inn in Lemon, The Mysterious Ferret, at the end of the days travel was a relief. It had been persistently drizzly and damp the whole day, and everyone was looking forward to a dry room, a good meal, a hot bath, and a peaceful night's sleep. Not Bush though.

"Nah cobber," he stated, "Ey'll just take a small walk-about and check outback" 

Or something like that. Is his strange accent. And off he went for a few hours.

"Lemon!" laughed the innkeeper, "No mam, this here town is called Ugerton, and always has been".
"But we understand" he concluded, "Not many travellers can make out our town's name on the maps"

The next day we would head on to SARS (again, not the real name of the town) where Thursa informed us that we would be making our first diversion off into the forest to collect some rare herbs.

"SARS" laughed the innkeeper, "No mam, that be called Taro, because of the root vegetable that they farm and harvest around the area there. It grows real good on account of the local Starfall effects"
"You should stay at the One-Eyed Wombat there, it's a very nice Inn" he concluded.

Which we did; and it was a very nice Inn!

"Crikey!" exclaimed Bush after we had arrived, "Do you fellas have wombats around here?"
"Nope", replied the barmaid, "Just Taro"

At breakfast the next morning we quizzed Thursa on what we could expect on our 'diversion'.

"We will be heading roughly Battle" she replied, "About a day and a half into the forest. I will be collecting some Tulsi, aka Holy Basil, from a clearing there"
"What's this Tulsi like then?" asked Napolean, "I've never heard of it before"
"It's a spiritual herb" Thursa noted, "A rare ingredient used in many useful potions and unguents. But mostly in assisting the restless soul to pass on from the Known World to the Unknown World"

"Oh, and can we expect any trouble?" asked Phoebe.
"Always expect trouble" muttered Dahma.

There was no specific trail, so we left the wagons at the Wombat and Dahma led us into the forest. Napolean totally enjoyed the days travel and was constantly noting foresty points of interest to the rest of us. It was raining heavily, all day, so the rest of us weren't particularly interested.

Towards nightfall Dahma found us a comfortable and sheltered campsite and we set up for the night. Fortunately, Thursa could cook, and she prepared us a tasty evening meal. 

"Let's detail the night watches then" suggested Phoebe after dinner.
"Galena and I will take the first watch" Phobe decided, "Napolean, second watch with ..."
"Dahma ... can join me on the second watch" interrupted Napolean.
"Yeah mate, me too" chimed in Bush.
"Griza and Red, third watch" Phoebe concluded.

Sometime during the third watch Griza caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his magical Spectacles of Infravision and spun around to check, drawing his long knife.
"Did you see that?" he asked Red.
"It's dark" replied Red, "I can't see nothing. Although, ... I can see your knife"

Griza looked down and saw that his knife was glowing red, an infused magical red light.
The rest of the party was quickly woken, and everyone peered out into the surrounding darkness.
Slowly other things began to glow. Red's two-handed mace took on a sickly green glow.
"Oi" yelled Bush as his eyes shone with a white light, "Crickey, I'm blind, can't see nothing" 

"Magic" grumbled Thursa, casting a spell which returned Bush's natural squinty eyed state.

Suddenly there was a crash and a titter from out in the forest, and we all saw a small creature tumble to the ground, leap up, and run off into the trees.

"Brownies" decided Napolean.
"Mischievous nuisance creatures" stated Thursa, "But essentially harmless"
"Harmless" squawked Bush, "That thing blinded me"
"You got better" laughed Galena.

Everyone went back to their bedrolls, except Griza and Red who were still on watch.
Griza tried to hide a little way out in the forest to avoid any more Brownie attacks.
"I see you there" laughed Red, "And I can't even see in the dark!"

Snorting disappointedly, Griza tossed a silver piece out into the darkness and slipped back to the camp. A rustle from the forest, a quiet chittering, and then silence. Nothing else was seen or heard until morning when Real's light burst over the forest.

After a quick breakfast Dahma led the party on, deeper into the forest.
The forest was dense now, massive trees stretching up to the light above. Thick undergrowth covered the ground, which was littered with years of rotting vegetation. Somehow Dahma managed to slide her way through the wall of green, forming a narrow trail that weaved forward. We followed.

After a half day of travel, Thursa spoke.
"We should be there soon" she declared.
"You must all beware the tree creatures" she continued, "Be respectful, and subdued"
"Fortunately, none of you men are handsome" she chuckled, "You should all be fine"

Shortly thereafter we crossed a small creek and popped out of the forest into a large grove. Oak tress dotted the area, all contained within a large grassy meadow. Clusters of yellow and purple wildflowers covered the ground, and the sound of birds twittered from all around. Thursa stopped us just inside the boarder of the meadow and then moved forward on her own towards one of the larger oak trees.

Suddenly, she wasn't alone. A stunningly beautiful, green-tinted woman appeared out of the large oak. Almost naked, with flowers adorning her green hair, this lovely creature stepped forward and spoke with Thursa. No one could understand the language, but the conversation continued for some minutes, until Thursa turned back towards us and returned. 

The green woman had disappeared.

"They will give me the Tulsi" Thursa reported, "If we provide a service"
"Mate" squeaked Busk huskily, "Pick me, I can surely service that sheila"
"Idiot" grumbled Thursa, "You are much to ugly. Wouldn't even be noticed by them!"
"No" Thursa continued, "You must investigate and clean up a bitter contamination of their creek"

"For some days now their water source from the creek has been unusable, somehow contaminated"
"Dahma and I will stay here with the Dryad's, you lot will investigate"

There were about three hours of light left in the day, so we backed off into the forest to where we had crossed the creek and turned upstream. Napolean cast a Detect Magic spell on the water. 
"Yup" he stated, "As I suspected, Magic. But no different to that everywhere around here, so no help"
Phoebe dipped her fingers into the water, sniffed, and took a lick.
"Eww", she cried, "Definitely bitter and not at all pleasant. Unnatural for sure"
Napolean cast a Detect Poison on the water.
"Yup" he stated, "Poisoned. You probably should have waited for me before tasting it"
Phoebe spat and wiped out her mouth.
"Why didn't you say you could do that" she yelled.

We set off upstream as the drizzle started again.
Two and a half hours later the drizzle had become a heavy rain, dark clouds massing over the forest canopy above us. The creek had swollen, at least doubling in width, and it would soon be dark.

"Find us a dry camp site" suggested Joe, "Now"

Napolean waved towards the top of the bank we were walking beside.
"Up there" he suggested, "Should be partially out of the rain"  

It wasn't, but we set up a little shelter and huddled beneath it as darkness fell.
The creek was roaring just below us, and then flashes of lightning, and thunder rumbling overhead.
"At least it can't get any worse" Joe muttered.

"CRAAAACK" 

A brilliant bolt of lightning flashed into the forest just beyond our token campsite. The flash was followed by a splitting sound, and a muted bubbling just audible over the thundering of the rain.

"Good one Joe" complained Red, "Although, maybe there will be a fire?"

Galena, Napolean, Phoebe, and Red slipped out into the night to investigate.

Phoebe used her new magic staff and cast a Continual Light (one of the ten-minute ones!)
"Look" noted Napolean, "That old willow tree has been split open by the lightning"
"Oh, look" he continued, moving closer, "There is some white sap running out of the split"
"OH YEAH" he yelled, spinning back towards Galena and licking his finger.
"OH YEAH BABY" he yelled with a huge grin, and a huge erection!

Ripping off his cloak and rubbing his crotch suggestively, Napolean swaggered towards Galena, who was backing quickly away. "YEAH BABY YEAH" Napolean yelled as he dived at Galena.

Phoebe threw herself at Napolean, trying to tackle him and prevent any unfortunate incidents from occurring between party members. But she flew just behind him and rolled across the ground.
Galena dived behind a tree as Napolean flung himself at her, and he missed, but sprang up and looked around wildly.

"YEAH BABY, COME ON" he yelled, spotting Phoebe still on the ground, "YOU AND ME BABY"
Napolean dived back at Phoebe, hips thrusting, attempting to land on top of her.

But Phoebe was both bigger and stronger than Napolean, and gathered him up in a restricting hold, facing away from her, and held on tightly as he thrashed around, attempting to grope Phoebe.

"Starfall poisoning" suggested Galena, "Just like back in the Lighthouse cave a few weeks ago"

Phoebe held on for about ten minutes while Napolean struggled to satisfy his urges.
"Crikey," whispered Bush in awe, "That's a boner and a half right there, matey."
"Maybe you should just finish him off Galena?" suggested Phoebe.
"Not likely" squawked Galena, keeping well back out of the way.

After ten minutes Napolean quietened down and slumped to the ground, asleep.
Phoebe gave a great sigh and shook out her arms.

We carefully examined the split tree and found that it was full of accumulated Starfall. The lightning strike had opened up the interior, letting the Starfall out. We made sure there was no way it could leak into the stream, and then backed off and let nature take its course.

In the morning, Napolean had no recollection of his lewd activities, and no one was keen to talk about it. We ate a quick breakfast and continued on up the creek. The rain had eased off a bit, but it was still wet. The creek had gone down some, but still looked swollen with all the rainwater. We trudged on upstream, keeping a look out for something else that might have caused the unusual contamination.

A few hours later the creek led us into some low rocky hills, cutting through the rock in a gutted ravine. Just ahead we spotted a flat clearing on the side of the hill. Some larger tress jutted out over the ravine, and hanging from one of the trees was a dead horse. Slung up by its hind legs, eviscerated, with its entrails dangling over the creek, blood was slowly dripping down the body and into the water below.

"Shhh" whispered Phoebe, "Can you go check that out please Griza?"

Slipping silently from bush to bush, almost invisible though the light drizzle that was still falling, Griza slunk forward, closing in on the grizzly scene. As he got closer to the dead horse, it quickly became apparent that this was no horse. The stump of a large horn could be seen on its dangling forehead. Griza could also see a large open cage, four wolves resting within, and just behind the trees at the rear of the open area, a dark cave mouth leading into the rocky hillside.

Returning to the party, Griza reported all he had seen.
Napolean was incensed. "Unicorn!" he hissed angrily, "What evil is this?"
"And" he noted "Unicorn blood is toxic"
"This will be the source of the contamination then?" questioned Phoebe.
"No doubt" fumed Napolean, "Let's get down there are kill everything, right now"
"Well..." questioned Bush, "That's not actually a plan mate. More like a goal"
"Last time we faced wolves, we locked them in their cage" noted Griza.
"Yeah, good idea" agreed Napolean, "Get closer for a look into that cave too"

But before anyone could do anything though, there was a loud thumping that echoed over from the clearing, and a huge creature appeared through the trees. It was giant sized, over 3.5m tall, with green flaky skin like bark. Green moss grew from its head like hair. It tossed a large haunch of meat into the wolves' cage, looked around, and then returned to the cave.

"Strewth mate!" whispered Bush.
"What on earth was that?" asked Red.
"Big" replied Joe, "Bigger than us"
"Probably a Troll" suggested Napolean.
"Can we deal to that?" wondered Red aloud.
"No trouble" declared Phoebe, "So long as there is only one!"

Napolean cast Invisibility to Animals on Griza, and Griza quietly returned to the rocky clearing.
Sidling forward, Griza gently pushed the cage door closed and placed the locking pin through the latch.
The wolves didn't even stir. Then he slipped closer to the cave entrance and cupped his ear.
A rumble of deep voices, no more than twenty metres inside the cave. Griza crept away.

"Definitely two" Griza reported to the others.
"On the plus side" Griza continued, "The cave entrance wouldn't fit more than one at a time"

Then the party descended into planning mode ....
"Lure them out one at a time"
"Charge straight in"
"They'll notice the wolf cage locked closed soon"
"Cast a Silence"
"Balder is still marmalading"
"What about a Fireball? ... Oh right, Balder"
"Wait for one to leave, then charge the other"

Then an even larger version of the first creature emerged from the cave. More than four meters tall, and fatter, this one also looked around, then it grabbed a felled tree and dragged it into the cave. A little later smoke started to puff up from somewhere back in the hills behind the cave entrance.

"We can climb down the chimney"
"But there are still two of them"
"Let's set a trap in the cave entrance"
"But that would take at least ten minutes, the wolves would notice"
"Kill the wolves first"
"But they would howl, the Trolls would notice"

Then the first Troll, the smaller one, came crashing through the trees down the hill from behind the cave, a dead boar slung over its shoulder, and carried it inside the cave.

"It never came out"
"A back door! We could sneak in there"
"But there are still two of them"
"Let's just leave them and head back"
No way, we have to get vengeance for the Unicorn"
"And clean up the creeks contamination"
"Let's go back and get Thursa and Dhama, they'll help"
"Surely we can do this without help"

Griza was sent to reconnoiter the rear entrance and the smoke vent. There was a smoke vent, smoke billowing out, and there was a rear entrance, a dark cave on the side of the hill, similar to the front.

"Better hurry" complained Galena.
"Right" stated Phoebe, "Joe and Red with me. Griza and the healers behind. Bush hidden at the rear"

We rushed forward, the wolves awoke and began to howl. The three fighters stood resolutely in front of the cave entrance as a rumble came from inside. The air stirred and suddenly gusted towards them. A huge shape emerged from the dark, a massive club swinging straight towards Joe.

"THUD" 

Joe's mighty two-handed axe smashed directly down on the Troll's head, quickly followed by Red's shiny new two-handed mace. Phoebe's sword cut the air and glanced harmlessly of the Troll's thick skin. The Troll staggered back.

[The rolls for this combat were particular exciting. Last week Joe had cut down the nasty Wight with the help of a critical hit. I.e. rolling a 1 on the 20-sided dice. The mechanic for a critical hit requires an additional D20 to be rolled, and the resulting additional effect read from the 20 numbered options available. Shane again rolled a 1, a critical hit. The D20 option was an additional D4 damage with the opponent losing its next attack. Shane rolled 10 on the initial D10 damage roll, 2 on the additional D4, plus 3 points from his strength. Then Chris rolled 10 on his D10 damage roll, plus 3 points from his strength. Shane spent 2 luck points and exercised his Heavy Hitter talent, and rolled an additional D10 damage roll, 9. A total of 37 damage, less 2x2 for the Troll's armour deduction, 33 points. Boom]

Joe boldly stepped forward and swung his mighty two-handed axe at the Troll again. 

"THUD"

The axe again cleaved down directly onto the Troll's head, biting straight through its thick skull and embedding deep into the brain cavity. Blood splattered in a red cloud. Red also struck successfully, his shiny new two-handed mace pounding solidly into the Troll's chest. It toppled backwards to the ground.

"THUD"

[Shane rolled another 1, critical head hit, D8 additional damage, ignore all armour, and an immediate free attack. He also exercised his Heavy Hitter talent, spent 2 luck, D10 additional damage. 6 points on his D10 damage roll, plus 3 points from his strength bonus, plus 2 points from the additional D8 and 6 from his additional D10 talent damage, 17 points, no deduction for armour. Chris rolled 2 on his D10 damage roll, plus 3 for his strength bonus, less 2 for the Troll's armour, 3 points. A total of 20 points of damage that combat round. Boom, dead]

"Well" stated Phoebe, "You guys can just take the next one yourselves"

But there was no sign of the second Troll, the cave ahead was silent. The twang of Bush's bow was repeating from behind, out in the bush, though, and the wolves were yelping and whimpering. They were soon all dead, peppered with Bush's arrows.

"It comes" yelled Bush from the trees.

The second Troll came charging down the hillside and straight at us. Joe, Red, and Phoebe stepped forward again, confident after their extremely rapid demolition of the first and larger Troll. The others slipped behind them into the mouth of the cave. Bush remained hidden in the trees, but his sharp eye noticed the dead Troll's head slowly pulling itself together.

Firing an arrow at the back of the second Troll as it charged Joe, Bush yelled "Regenerating".
He must have been shaking from fright though, his arrow flew harmlessly up behind the cave.

The Troll's mighty club, complete with an extremely large spike protruding from one side, swung up and back, then swept down directly towards Joe's head.

"THUD"

The spike in the Troll's club somehow collected the back of its own head as it swung. It roared and shook its head, and then Joe's axe, Red's mace, and Phoebe's sword all smashed into the Troll.

[More excitement and laughter from the players. Richard rolled a fumble on behalf of the Troll, a 20 on the D20 attack dice. Hits self, ignore armour. 18 points of damage to itself. Joe rolled a 6 on his D10 damage roll, plus 3 strength bonus. Red rolled a 5 plus 3 strength bonus, and Phoebe rolled a 4 on her D8, plus 3 strength bonus. 24 damage, less 3x2 armour, 18 damage from the party. With its self-inflicted 18, that was a total of 36 points of damage in the first round. How we laughed.]

But it didn't go down. Joe, Red, and Phoebe set themselves for another swing.

Griza slipped around the three fighters and prepared to hack at the regenerating Troll on the ground.

This time the Troll's club did connect with Joe's head.

"THUD" 

Joe staggered back in a daze. But Red and Phoebe were successful, and the Troll toppled to the earth.

"THUD"

The bodies were all burned, including a second dead Unicorn body found inside the cave.
Two Unicorn horns were also recovered, and the party made their way back downstream to the Dryad's grove. There was a lot of boasting and back slapping, although Joe was suffering from a nasty headache and blurred vision. 

"Trolls" exclaimed Thursa, "Why didn't you come back for us?"

Fight the Wight

Present:

• 

  Phoebe

  Phoebe Lacrosse. Human Barbarian from Pugtown – Andrew
• Griza Muso. Human Thief from Lakeside – Jeff
• MARMALADING Balder Dash. Gnome Wizard from Toluene - Jamie
• Bush Tucker. Human Rogue from Spite - Darryl
• 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 Phoebe Lacrosse 

We were lounging around in the Velvet Glove inn awaiting the return of the reconnaissance party of Griza, Balder and Malcolm. They had gone to reconnoiter the "haunted" house of the Masimos (Selena and Loris) in preparation for us all to investigate the place. This was the place with the blue door that had infected the dreams of our spell-casters over the last week or two.

The three arrived back at the inn, breathless and wide-eyed, but before they could report anything, they all sank to the floor coughing and vomiting marmalade.

Marmalade was always fickle, so we tucked up the two gnomes (Malcolm and Balder) and put them to rest in a trough in the basement. 

The Masimo House

We had a portent that Joe Manco (who was Marmalading too) and Griza's marmalade maladies would be temporary, so we plonked them both in a wheelbarrow, and everyone headed to the Masimo house. It was 5 be'light [2am]. 

Griza had left the door unlocked, so we all went inside, and began to explore. 

First was a kitchen. This place had not used in years, five to ten, but it had been hurriedly abandoned. The cupboards still full of food (very rotted, now dry); all the crockery and utensils were there.

"Remind me why we are here?" asked Red.

"The dreams," said Phoebe. "The dreams told us. That, or 'exposition'."

We methodically explored the house, room by room. Points to note:

• 

  Animated clown toy

  Napolean fumbled a Detect Magic and he turned into a bright light. This turned out serendipitous, as a moving glowing druid is better than any lantern or Continual Light. Plus this light is sentient.
• There was a living room, lounge, dining room, withdrawing room, and a waiting room on ground floor. Upstairs was all bedrooms and hallways.
• A fancy necklace and gold ring was found in a woman's bedroom. The necklace was magic.
• Bush Tucker tried to pick a door, but failed and we resorted to shoulder-charge. 
• One bedroom had a hole in the floor which connected to a living room below. The lower room had bat guano all over the floor. The upstairs bedroom was full of bats - normal bats. We did not go in, wisely. Maybe there was a Ring of Wishes hidden deep in the bat guano, but none of us wanted to search, arm-deep in maggoty guano (and Joe was not awake.)
• In a locked child's bedroom, the bed had been slept in recently. Magic was detected, and it came from some kind of gnome-sized clown toy (not undead). As I approached, it lunged out and grabbed my ankle with an icy grip. We hacked and we smashed it to pieces with sword and mace, and still the severed hand clung to me with tenacious strength. Eventually, I managed to prise the horrid thing off. We then chopped the cursed toy into little bits.
• We happened to revisit the clown room an hour later; the nasty clown had reformed. We let sleeping clowns lie this time.
• As we were about to tackle another locked bedroom, Griza coughed up marmalade and awoke (as predicted). With his trap and lock skills, we got into the room tout suite. It wasn't a bedroom, but was a study, and had magical torches which sprung alight when we entered. Heaps of books and papers lined the walls. On the work bench were vials containing teeth, pickled ears, noses, blood, and other foul things. Necromancy, I bet.
• There was a scroll tube which Detected Magic. Napolean checked it and it was a Priestly scroll, but then started to feel himself lost in the text. He managed to pull his eyes away [made a Divine Defence roll], and avoided the Cursed Scroll.

• 

  Phoebe finds some new boots

  There was some money here: 200gp and four Identify gems. But it was noted that this room had been rummaged through in the past. Maybe when the owner left hurriedly? Maybe robbers more recently (but why did they not take the gems?).
• There was a poison needle trap in the desk, which Griza deftly dismantled while Bush Tucker looked on in awe "Crikey, mate. Yer good".
• In another room, I got half way across the floor when the others screamed at me from the doorway. I looked down. My (suede) boots were melting ! I quickly withdrew, yanked them off, and threw them onto the room - where they dissolved utterly. It was some kind of fast-acting fungus or mould.
• Luckily there were some smart and stylish kid-leather woman's boots in one of the bedrooms, which fitted me perfectly.

The Basement

Under the stairwell was a secret door into a little room with a trapdoor and ladder going down. Galena could sense undead down there.

So, I put a rope harness on Galena and Red lowered her down the shaft. If need be, Galena could be yanked out in a trice. Napolean cast Protection from Evil on me, and so I climbed down the ladder after her.

It was a basement. It had a single exit tunnel. There were three large cages here. Two had dead husks of naked women - maybe dead for five years. The third cage had its bars bent and torn as if something escaped. They were thick iron, so this 'something' was pretty strong. There was a hair clip in this third cage too, suspiciously bright and uncorroded.

Suddenly, there was a skittering noise from down that tunnel.

"Here it comes," muttered Galena. I drew my sword.

Skeletal rats greet us

Five giant rats flooded into the room. These were the size of dogs and they were half-rotted half-skeletal, and fully undead.

Galena called on the power of Vingt-et-un: "Snake eyes, rats! Vingt-et-Un bids ye to get hence!"

Vingt-et-Un smiled on Galena and three of them turned tail and fled. The other two I took on, and killed them in two swipes.

Everyone climbed down the ladder to the basement except Bush, who cowered at the top of the trapdoor, scared because he didn't have a magic sword.

"Let me know when all the undead are gone," said Bush.

Just then, Joe, lying next to Bus at the top, spluttered and woke up coughing large hunks of grapefruit peel. He soon joined us below too.

Another three rats arrived. Galena turned them too. She now held six at bay. She cajoled and herded them down the tunnel and it opened out into another rough-cut room. We all followed except Bush.

The only exit from this room was a small tunnel leading off from a ledge, the height of two men off the floor. Griza climbed up and snuck down that tunnel.

Thirty seconds later, there was a wail and a scream. Griza came rushing back, hell-for-leather, shrieking and hollering. With no time to climb down, he leapt off the ledge, and soared to the ground in a graceful arc ... and landed solidly and HARD, on his back, knocking the stuffing from his body. [ Someone failed his Jump roll. ]

Husk of a woman

Right behind him was a creature from your nightmares. An emaciated, corpse-pallor husk of a woman, with evil glowing eyes, long rank black raggedy hair, and grave-long obsidian nails. With a shriek of hatred, she launched herself off the ledge. Unlike Griza, her graceful arc ended with a deft landing, barely breaking her stride. 

With her came the stench of the grave; musky rotted meat, tinged with eau de maggot. 

Galena held forth her holy dice, tried to turn the creature, and failed [ even though she rolled a 1 ]. She suddenly realized why and shrieked "It's a wight!"  

Joe drew his double-axe and I drew my magic sword, and we strode forth - as one - to meet the horror. 

The rest of the group cowered behind Red, behind us, edging nervously towards the exit, but they knew that if the wight got past us, they would not get two steps before she would be on them. Galena kept a weather-eye on the six turned rats, keeping them at bay. Back down the tunnel, Bush, who had bravely crept down the ladder, paused at Griza and Galena's shrieks, his face ashen. He quietly returned to the ladder.

Joe went high, I went low. He raised his mighty magic axe and brought it down with all his power.

Apparently, Vingt-et-Un, the goddess of Luck, hadn't scorned us after all, because Joe's mighty axe sliced off half the wight's head. 

My sword plunged full depth into her foul belly, and out her back piercing her black heart. And then Joe brought his axe around for another right cut and left sweep, and chopped off her head.

[ Another 1, a critical for Joe, which was an extra unopposed attack. Plus Shane had used Joe's talent (cost 2 luck) which gave another D10 worth of damage. This combined with my hit, did 32 points, in just one round. ]

A ragged cheer came from the group. We promptly set about chopping the creature into little pieces and pouring holy water on them. We didn't want any risk of it reforming

The wight was wearing an amulet. Napolean checked: magic, but not evil.

The skeletal rats were flagging, now that their mistress was gone. One fell over, and the rest lost interest in us. I suspect they will quietly die now.

We assumed that the wight was Selena Masimo who committed suicide. If you believe the old rhyme about elf women:

An elf maiden's love is intense as the sea,

An elf maiden's trust is as loyal can be. 

But if she be scorned,

And loss is unmourned,

And takes her own life; a wight she shall be.

That, or it was magical experiments by Loris her husband.

We returned to the basement to the base of the ladder. Bush, unsure of all the noises from the tunnel, had retreated back to the top.

"Bushie, are you still alive?" asked Griza.

"Yer not undead, are ya mate?" said Bush Tucker.

Phoebe heard this, lowered her voice and wailed "We are undead!"  Then trailed off into hysterical screeching laughter.

"Freak'n oath. Fuck that!" Terrified, Bush fired an arrow ... 

... and missed Griza by a hair's breadth.

"Oi! Cut that out!" snapped Griza.

"So yer not undead then?"

"Who? No, course not!"

"Well, someone was playin' fuckin' jokes. You don't play jokes when I got me bow loaded," ranted Bush. "You can do that as often as you like mate. Guess what? Every time you do, guess what I'm gonna do?"

"You do that," mused Griza. "Guess what? You will become short-lived."

When we returned to the Velvet Glove, Napolean discovered that the wight amulet opened up. Inside was dust - ground bone.

"We will wait for Balder to wake up," said Phoebe. "Then he can Identify all the items." (The amulet, the hair-clip, and the necklace)

We had a few days before we were scheduled to meet Alexandra Montrose's patron. So we rested, cured up, and recharged spell points. There were no nasty dreams; good sign.

Leaving Emerald

Thursa Demont
Smackwater Jack Priestess

When the time was up, Alexandra Montrose called us in and introduced us to her important patron Thursa Demont and Thursa's body-guard Dahma Chopin. They were both elves. Thursa was a Smackwater Jack priestess, blonde and stunning, in a shimmering green robe. Dahma was a Smackwater Jack temple fighter in chainmail. Half her face was tattooed.

Thursa explained our mission. We were to travel to the Great Tower of Quek, two weeks travel klibwards from Emerald City.

"The mystics tower?" I said naively. Because that is what Balder had called it. Thursa acknowledged that there were in indeed mystics there, but she didn't call it that. 

We got our wagon greased up, bought in heaps of supplies. And bought four riding horses. Joe and I were good riders, so we would run van-guard or rear-guard. The rest of the group were non-riders, so they would stay on the wagon. Red was the best wagon driver, so that was his job, backed up by Bush Tucker.

Thursa and Dahma had their own wagon.

We said our good-byes to Montrose and headed klibwards out of Emerald City. I chatted to Thursa about our previous exploits. She was, of course, interested in the Smackwater Jack incident we had in the Spite Delta (this was where Red Leicester met his end), and the meeting with the Spite city Smackwater Jack priestess Iva Scales.

Dahma listened on stoically.