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.
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| 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.
"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 |
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.
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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"
"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 |
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.
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