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.

The Blue Door

 Present:

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

 by Jeff

The Aftermath

"Cough cough" spluttered Red as he sat up and looked around.

At first Red thought it was sometime during the day, but quickly realised that it was in fact night with the area illuminated by a huge source of light. It looked like REAL itself had come to earth as the source of light was blazing just off to his right in the shape of a humanoid figure lying on the ground. 

Looking around, Red saw that he was propped up in the party's wagon along with Malcolm, Napolean, Joe, and the two bodies of the Smack-Water Jack followers they had found on the road earlier. The wagon was pulled into a small clearing just off the road, with thin bush surrounding the clearing. Bits of the bush were alight, small fires fizzing and popping in a few locations where Fireballs had obviously exploded. 

"Is REAL a gnome?" wondered Red as his eyes adjusted and he slowly recognised that the source of the light was in fact a gnome, lying on the ground.

Phoebe and Griza were crouched down in the middle of the clearing looking at the figures laying on the ground. Leicester and Balder! Leicester was a goner, half his head crushed flat, but Balder was glowing like the sun and twitching. A cluster of other bodies were scattered on the ground around them. 

"What happened here?" wondered Red, as he grabbed his mace and jumped down off the wagon. Malcolm and Napolean were also stirring, wiping marmalade from their chins, and clambering down off the wagon to join the others. Joe was still out, lying beside the dead Smack-Water Jacks.

The two-handed mace

Red's gaze was drawn to one of the bodies on the ground beside Leicester. It was a huge human, muscles bulging. A leather clad fighter, dead, but his hand still grasping a gleaming two-handed mace which was reflecting Balder's glow with a fascinating red shimmer. Two rows of spikes surrounded the head, with a further spike on the tip.

"Oooooh" Red exclaimed, "Beautiful"

"Oooooh" Balder groaned, sitting up, "What hit me?"

"Oooooh" Napolean wondered, "What happened to Leicester?"

The bodies were dragged into a row; a female wizard, four male fighters, and Leicester.

The loot was placed into a small pile; a wand, two vials, a bag of gems, a money pouch, a long knife, a bunch of swords, and the gleaming two-handed mace.

Cures were cast on Balder, although he still looked considerably unwell.

[Due to a fumble, Griza randomly benefitted from the Cures and regained full health]

Detect Magic was cast on the loot; the wand, the vials, and the mace.

Red tossed his old mace into the wagon and reverently picked up the new mace.

"I'll take this" he stated.

Balder's brilliant glow switched off. It took at least five minutes before anyone could see anything.

The bodies were loaded onto the wagon, now holding seven dead, and Joe.

Griza and Phoebe took the last watch, and everyone settled down for the rest of the night.

In the morning, the party set off for Spite, hoping to arrive in the early afternoon with time to report to the Smack-Water Jack Temple and the city militia before night.

Spite

As the wagon rolled below the arched gate to Spite, the bodies tastefully coved with tarpaulins, and we inquired as to the location of the Smack-Water Jack Temple, we indeed had three hours left before dark. 

The Temples of Spite

Spite has eight temples, one each for REAL, IMAG, Aqua-Marina, Caribou Gorn, Gelding, Kliban, Smack-Water Jack, and Vingt-Et-Un. 

We of course headed directly to the Smack-Water Jack Temple, not wanting to get on the bad side of the God of Justice and Revenge! 

Phoebe explained to their head Priestess, Iva Scales, that we had come across the bodies of their Priestess and Holy Fighter on the road, about one hour shy of the Incandescent Rat waystation, and that we had pursued the perpetrators into the swamp beside the road, but had lost their tracks after their path had meandered back onto the main road. And also, that we had been ambushed by five very shady characters that same night.

"How do I know it wasn't you that killed them?" Iva grumpily asked.

"Well" explained Phoebe, "These other five bodies are the ones. Why don't you ask them directly?"

"I will indeed" Iva stated, "And don't leave town. Where are you staying?"

"We came straight here" replied Phoebe, "We'll let you know once we have found suitable accommodation"

"Immediately you find accommodation!" Iva instructed.

The Voluptuous Mermaid

We left the Smack-Water Jack Temple and found a suitable Inn nearby. 

Twas named the Voluptuous Mermaid, and indeed the ladies serving in the bar were extremely voluptuous.

Galena was sent back to the Smack-Water Jack Temple to confirm our accommodation, and then she continued on to the Vingt-Et-Un Temple to check in and obtain more appropriate lodgings for herself. Napolean slipped off to relieve some of the stress of the city at the Caribou Gorn grove.

Balder totted off too, to the Wizards' Guild, to inquire after his condition and get a restful night's spell recovery. He chatted to the head Wizard there, one Matilda Fletch, who agreed to check out his ailments for him.

Phoebe and Griza also went off, to the Militia headquarters, and reported to Sergeant Deux Trois regarding the grizzly discovery on the road, the subsequent ambush at night, and the unfortunate loss of lives that resulted.

The night passed uneventfully, and the next morning Phoebe was summoned back to the Smack-Water Jack Temple to learn the outcome of their overnight investigations.

"You are cleared" summarised Iva Scales, "The dead have confirmed your story."

Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't been particularly worried, but Smack-Water Jack was known to get "fastidious" about tracking down and dealing to anyone they perceived as an enemy.

"So, they confirmed that they were behind it then?" asked Phoebe.

"Oh no, they were just hired by someone else" Iva replied with a frown. 

"As soon as we find out who that was, they will be sent to meet their God, and mine!" she grinned.

"You have our thanks and may call on us, mentioning my name, at any time" she continued.

"But just once!" she clarified.

A few days were spent in Spite, at the Voluptuous Mermaid and other assorted Temple and Guild accommodations. Poor Red Leicester was afforded his cremation ceremony by the Wizards' Guild, and everyone used the break to recover from their battle injuries and power use. (I.e. Hit points and spell points were recovered) 

Balder was summoned to the office of Matilda Fletch, the head wizard at his Guild, and given his prognosis.

"You are very sick, dying even" Matilda stated.

"Wait, what?" stammered Balder, "I feel fine. It was just the Fireball's that knocked me out"

"There is no denying it. You are sick and will need to make some difficult choices very soon"

"What sort of choices?" asked Balder.

"Just choices" replied Matilda, "You will also benefit from the power of Mystics"
"Mystics, who is that?" asked Balder.

"No, The Mystics", Matilda clarified, "They who care for the great Tower of Emerald"

"Emerald has a great Tower?" 

The smiling Bush Tucker

Griza met a friendly rogue around town who was looking for adventure. Going by the name of Bush Tucker, he was a friendly looking human bloke with a big smile and seemed to be quite resourceful and athletic. Griza brought him back to the Voluptuous Mermaid to meet the group. After a few tough questions he was employed.

The various recent items of magic loot were Identified. The two-handed mace that Red had commandeered turned out to be a +1 to hit weapon, while the Staff that the ambushing wizard was carrying is a Staff of Continual Light, able to cast two Continual Light spells per day. Although "Continual" turns out to be just a loose title as the spells only last for ten minutes before spluttering out. No one actually wanted this, so Phoebe was tasked to carry it on behalf of the party.

"What about this +1 to hit Bow that no one can use?" asked Griza.

(This was a previous magic item that Griza was carrying on behalf of the party, since no one had the Bow skill)

"I can use a Bow" stated Bush.

"You can have it then" the party generously decided.

"Wow, you guys are awesome" exclaimed Bush.

Off to Emerald

Then our few days of rest were over, Balder's inquiry to the Wizards' Guild complete, and we used the daily barge to carry us down to Spite-Anti. We were back on task to deliver the package to Alexandria Montrose in Emerald.

"I hear there is a great tower klibwards of Emerald forest run by the Mystics" noted Balder.

"Who is Mystics?" asked Malcolm.

"No, The Mystics", Balder clarified, "They who care for the great Tower of Emerald. I need to go there"

"Righto then" agreed Malcom.

Spite River Barge

The barge trip down to Spite-Anti was uneventful. The barge was comfortable enough, roofed for shelter from the relentless drizzle, and we shared the trip with some other travellers. A few colourful flags fluttered from the roof and the magic powered engines drove the barge downriver quick enough, but even so, it was a four-day trip. We had three overnight stays at the travel waystations, the Sunken Mast, the Fluid Pipes, and the Pinched Tart. 

Towards the end of the fourth day of river travel, we arrived in Spite-Anti. The Inn we had previously stayed at, the Wanton Pug, was crowded, so we hired rooms for the night at the Grizzled Beaver.

The night there was peaceful, but Napolean reported a strange dream in the morning as we were preparing to leave.

"A female voice" Napolean described.

"Calling out, 'help me, help me, free me'. And a blurry vision of a blue door just off a cobbled street"

"Hey" cried Baldur, "Remember, I had a similar dream the last time we were here. Or was it in Emerald?"

We set off down the coast, following the same road we had been on before. The first two days travel would take us to Sylar, and then Koalt, where we would turn inland and head back towards the Emerald Forest, and Emerald.

In Sylar, after a quiet night in the Chaste Monk Inn, Balder reported that he had a dream, similar to Napolean's one, but more detail. "Aye, it was definitely a human female figure calling 'help me, help me, free me', and the cobbled street had a greenish tinge" Balder noted.

The next day we moved on to Koalt and stayed overnight at the Fist & Hammer. This time it was Galena who had the strange dream. "The same" Galena reported in the morning, "But the blue door was just one in a row of two storey brick terraced houses. 'Help me, help me, free me' the woman was calling". Galena tried to sketch the houses, but it was just a disappointing mess.

We then travelled on to Torbin, staying at the Polite Frog, again. Balder had the dream that night.

"It was clearer though" Balder noted in the morning, "And there was an Inn just up the street from the blue door. I could even make out the name on the sign out front. It was called the Velvet Glove Inn"

Then off towards Dolvin. It was between Torbin and Dolvin that we had had the run in with the crows and the basilisks that did for poor Sushi, and where we didn't find the supposed Slyth in his secret cave in the forest. We determined to be particularly vigilant, just in case Slyth was still around and out to "test" us again.

We passed our original cart, axle still broken, still shoved off the side of the road in the ditch where we had left it a few weeks ago. As we passed the broken cart, Napolean called out.

"Oi" he yelled, "There is mist ahead"

In the Mists

The road dipped into thick mists

Just ahead, the road dipped slightly and dropped into a swirling mist which extended out to the left across the fields, and to the right into the forest. A few hundred meters beyond, the road lifted back out of the mist, and we could see it was clear beyond. Looking all around, there was nothing of note to suggest a problem, but we pulled the wagon to a halt just before the mists as a precaution.

"Remember the sleeping mists in the forest last time" cautioned Griza.

"This is definitely a different mist than that" stated Balder, "It's not moving like that one did, and it's too low"

"I figure if we keep moving, this mist will only get up to the the mid-height of the wheels" Phoebe estimated.

"Yeah" exclaimed Malcolm, "It's very shallow, what could go wrong?"

Cracking the reins, Malcolm drove the wagon down the gentle incline and into the mist. Everything was fine, until about twenty meters into the mist, when the horses reared back and stopped dead. Figuring that magic must be involved, Balder cast a Dispel Magic spell on the mist. No effect.

"That tree looks weird" noted Galena, pointing to a large dead tree just ahead that leaned out across the misty road.

"Allow me" offered Bush, drawing his new +1 bow and sending an arrow into the trunk.

The arrow sunk deep into the trunk, obviously rotten, and the whole tree quivered. With a slight crack and a rattle, a chunk of the trunk split off the tree and dropped into the mist, along with a bunch of bugs and critters.

"Ewww" exclaimed Bush, just as our left side horse reared up with a terrified whinny. 

Attached to its leg was a huge centipede creature, its jaws clamped around the horse's foreleg and legs wriggling furiously as it raised up out of the mist, and then dropped back into the mist as the horse pranced about.

Bush hastily fired off an arrow, but it missed the creature. 

The horse was in a panic, jumping about and whinnying in terror, and it looked like we would be dragged off the road unless something was done. So brave Napolean and Phoebe leapt off the wagon to calm the horse, while Bush covered them and the wagon sides with his bow. Unfortunately, no one could see into the mists, and both Napolean and Phoebe soon felt things striking at their legs. More centipede things! Phoebe began to swing her sword into the mist at her feet while Napolean focussed on the horses, ignoring the creature nipping at his calves.

Giant Centipedes attacked

"Over there" yelled Balder, firing a Magic Missile at one of a handful of the large centipedes which were clambering out along a branch in the dead tree. One of them tumbled off the branch, with a sizzling wound in its carapace, but the others dropped down into the mists above the road. No doubt to head in our direction!

Napolean and Phoebe attempted to manoeuvre the horses and wagon around in a tight U-turn to get us heading away from the tree and out of the mists, while everyone else sheltered in the wagon with their eyes peeled for attacking centipedes. Bush let fly an arrow, which collected a centipede off the dead tree and slung it away, but another live one dropped down onto the road.

"Bugger this" muttered Balder and loosed a Fireball directly at the tree.

Which exploded with a whump! Flaming bugs scattered into the air and fell to the ground like hot hail and the mist fizzed and popped and rolled back from the epicentre of the blast leaving a large circular clear zone around the smouldering trunk.

The horses bolted though, and the wagon lurched off with them. 

Fortunately, the U-turn was mostly complete at this point, and Red managed to control the horses to some degree. Soon we were out of the mist zone, where we stopped to assess the damage.

Phoebe and the horse were both sporting nasty red rashes around their bites. 

The rashes looked to be spreading and intensifying as we watched.

"Oh no you don't" exclaimed Napolean, successfully casting a pair of Neutralise Poison spells.

Then we re-turned the wagon and charged back up the road, through the still cleared zone in the mist around the tree, and then out through the other side of the misty hollow.

We didn't stop until we arrived in Dolvin! 

There we booked into the Dove and Pine.

Balder again had the dream that night.  "More" Balder added in the morning, "There was an attic window up above the blue door, with bats hanging just inside. Bats!"

Then we continued onward, to Downs Grove. The new waystation there was still under construction, although much progress had been made. The guards noted that the goblins were still about, and a close watch needed to be maintained at night. 

"Or if those damn mists roll in during the day" he added.

"Would you fine fellows consider taking up the contract to clear the goblins from the area?" the guard asked.

"Well, we would" suggested Phoebe, "But we have a current commission that precludes us from stopping just now"

"But we'll stay the night in your fine new waystation and definitely help if they attack tonight" Phoebe concluded.

But there was no attack, and in the morning, Galena brandished a coloured paper at us.

"I had the dream again" she said excitedly, "The house is definitely in poorer condition than its neighbours, and there is an ivy growing all around the second story window, and potted plants along the street frontage"

She dropped the paper on the table. "I managed to draw it down this time" she confirmed.

The house with the blue door.
Subject of many dreams!

We left Downs Grove behind, with its troublesome goblins, and continued on to Emerald.

Emerald

"is there a Velvet Glove Inn here in Emerald?" Griza asked the city guard.

"Oh aye" he replied, "That be over there in the Maltworks district"

So that was where we went. The Velvet Glove was a lovely inn, just up the road from a green tinged cobbled street with two storey brick terraced housing. One house had a bright blue door, with ivy clinging all about the upper-level window, potted plants along the street frontage, and an attic window with hanging bats just visible inside.

"That's not weird at all" muttered Phoebe.

Before sitting down for dinner that evening, we sent a message to Alexandria Montrose, and she arrived later in the evening to pick up her package. "My mistress is very pleased with you" she stated.

"But who is this?" she inquired, pointing at Bush.

Party Evolution

"That is our new bowman" replied Phoebe, "May I introduce Mr Bush Tucker, recently employed by ourselves in Spite due to the unfortunate loss of Red Leicester, who in turn replaced Sushi Rolle, who replace Kosha Pickle with whom I assume you are familiar from our previous dealings"

"Oh, I'm sorry for your losses" Alexandria commiserated.

"But, to business" she continued, "My mistress would like to employ you for a further mission. Well, more like a pleasant journey through the great forest, with one or two stops along the way. More details and the delivery items will be available in about a week. If you are able to stay"

"So, roughly where would this journey take us?" asked Napolean, always keen to travel the forests.

"Eventually, to the Great Tower of Emerald itself"

"DONE" exclaimed Balder, "We'll be here for the week!"

In the meantime, we felt a strong desire to investigate the mystery of the strange dreams, the blue door, and the captured woman. Enquiries were made.

"Aye" exclaimed the neighbour, "Tis a sad affair indeed. The house is empty now, haunted by the ghost of poor Selena Masimo, who committed suicide it is told. And to be fair she was dreadfully unhappy in the marriage. She should never have married that strange man, Loris Masimo. He was an odd one, never smiled, pale as an undertaker, and ..." she dropped her voice to a whisper, "was apparently a member of the Underguild! Along with his equally odd brother Simeon."

(Of the four flavours of Wizards' Guild in Emerald, the Underguild is the one that dealt in Necromancy and other less than savoury branches of the arcane arts)

"Loris still owns the house" the neighbour continued, "but he left Emerald some years ago, to Spite-Battle apparently. Which casts an ill light on him indeed! The state of the place and its strange noises have lowered the value of the whole neighbourhood. I'd be long gone, but no one is willing to buy. And that Loris is apparently dead set on keeping ownership of the house. REAL know why, he is never even seen in Emerald, and no one even looks after the place. I mean, have you seen it? Bats roosting in the attic! It's a disgrace"

That night Galena had the dream again, the exact same house that we had walked past during the day, with the exact same shadowed figure of a human woman calling for help. "Help me, help me, free me ..." 

After breakfast, Griza and Malcolm took a stroll around the block, checking all sides of the house. The front was clearly and fully visible from the busy main street, the two sides were enclosed by the neighbouring apartments, and both were occupied, and a narrow ally ran along past the rear. There was a rear door from the house to the ally, but there were also a few city low life, beggars, who looked like they had permanent shelters within line of sight of the various doors along the ally.

After that reconnaissance, Balder and Griza took a wander down to the Underguild to see if they could speak with the brother, Simeon Masimo, while Galena and Napolean visited the Funken Wagnall Temple (Library) to research any remaining family or associates of Salena Masimo.

Balder was welcomed to the Underguild with open arms.

"It's so good to have fellow Underguilder's visit from out of town" exclaimed the doorman.

"You" he said, pointing at Griza, "Can wait in that room"

That room turned out to be a very small and uncomfortable waiting room, more like a closet with a hard wooden seat. Griza waited patiently, although his fingers occasionally twitched.

Balder was given the full tour of the guild, with the doorman gushing effusively about Balder and all his amazing potential, which just left Bader confused. Balder did notice that he sensed Undead in a number of the rooms, and he caught the occasional glimpse of wispy and shadowy creatures from the corners of his eye. They all left him alone though, and Balder felt strangely comfortable and "at home" as they wandered through the place.

The doorman promised to pass on a message to Simeon Masimo that Balder was looking for him, and that Balder could be found at the Velvet Glove Inn most afternoons and evenings.

Galena and Napolean found that Selena Masimo, maiden name Young, did indeed have living family in Emerald. The Young's are a well-known family of Herbalists in Emerald, so they popped along to visit. Madame Young was an older human woman, accompanied by a sprightly half-eleven man. The didn't have a lot to add about their daughter though, but did make a few revealing comments.

"We pushed for an investigation into the supposed suicide" they stated, "But it was thrown out by the courts as a waste of time. Her husband, and we told her it was a bad idea to marry into THAT guild, was a member of the Emerald town council you know. And the brother still is. What can you do?"

That night, Simeon Masimo visited the Velvet Glove.

He pushed through the bar and stood in front of Malcolm.

"You were looking for me?" he questioned.

"Um" replied Malcolm.

"Me, Simeon Masimo, you were asking after me?"

"I think you want my cousin, Balder" said Malcolm, pointing across the room to the other Gnome.

"I think you're right" responded Simeon, striding off towards Balder.

Balder explained about his strange dreams and asked about the house and Selena's 'accident'.

"Suicide" Simeon declared firmly, "She was quite unstable at the end"

"The house is not for sale, and there is no need to visit" he stated.

"Do not enter the house" he instructed.

"What, not even a peep?" muttered Malcom.

"NO"

"Not even a little peep?"

"NO"

"Not even a tiny weeny little peep?"
"NO"

"Not even a teensy weensy idy bitty tiny weeny little peep?"

"NO"

"We will not ... " stated Napolean, concluding in a silent whisper "... let any misdeed go unpunished"

"I swear it by Caribu Gorn" Napolean declared.

"Good" Simeon replied, and hurriedly left.

"Look" noted Griza, "He went off in the direction of the house"

We decided that investigating tonight might be a little obvious, so concluded to wait for the next day.

Malcolm did set himself up to watch the place though, to see if any watchers or suspicious characters appeared.

Nothing and nobody were observed.

The back ally

The next day Malcolm, Griza, and Balder put on their best beggar kit and shuffled around to the back ally. Using the secret thieves cant Griza made contact with the beggars there. Both seemed legitimate, at least they knew the thieves cant and were willing to chat. They noted that the Wizard fella who owns the place never comes about, and definitely hasn't been seen recently, the place is definitely haunted, and while they tried to get in once, the place is locked and they haven't actually been inside. 

Griza handed over a few coins and they scuttled off towards the Inn.

"What sort of useless thieves are those guys?" wondered Malcolm, "Locked, psssh"

Balder cast a Detect Magic over the rear of the house, nothing.

Griza checked for traps on the door, nothing.

Griza picked the back door look, "click"

"Too easy" Griza stated, relocked the door and they all returned to the Velvet Glove.