Erastus 4, 4712
When they returned to Fort Inevitable yesterday, the Cooper sisters agreed to investigate who would possibly want Zoarth dead. This morning, Darelle and Daryle gather at Darelle's house for a light breakfast.
Gerald returns to Fort Inevitable with his mother Gertrude and he wants installs her at his house. However, she currently lives with her cousin outside of the town walls but comes and visits. Gerald is currently trying to regularize her situation with the Hellknights.
Over two years ago, in an incredible plot twist that no one would ever have believed, the back of his hand had been branded with a rune signifying a vow of marriage with Miévi, a younger daughter of the Elven chief from across the river where the family farm was located. Though old, for a human, she somehow had been smitten with the under fifteen years old, pimply faced and no-prospect Gerald and had, one suspects in a fit of utter insanity she was often plagued by, decided that he, a teenager without abilities, money, or even a reputation, would make the perfect husband. Something about his bloodline, she muttered to her confidants. Could she smell the demons that plague the Shadowborns, or was she simply crazy?
Be that as it may, Gerald also brought back Miévi Gertywindindlysin with him, and quickly realized that it may have been a mistake to do so as a wife can be very demanding of one's time. Gerald's wife was supposedly two days behind but should be arriving within the day, but then it turns out that she's already been here four days because she arrived with the quarterly caravan. Gerald has to pay the Hellknights a fee of 100 crowns to receive the proper permits for his wife to live in Fort Inevitable, since she is elvish.
Gerald takes his wife and his mother to visit Falandra, Abernard, and Dr. Mordel. He runs into several people along the way, including Roscoe, Nissa, and Cassandra, which almost leads to a catfight between the sorceress and Miévi. He then runs into his sisters, who have come into Fort Inevitable to resupply before heading out to track where the giants came from. Sensing an opportunity to abandon his new wife, Gerald jumps at the chance to go with his sisters, and they decide to report their departure until tomorrow so Gerald can settle his affairs and attempt to catch the double that has been going around town for the last month pretending to be him. His plan is simple. Since he is supposed to work with Falandra tomorrow, like he did today, he will be the first one at work and he hopes to catch the fake Gerald in the act of impersonation.
Erastus 5, 4712
Gerald arrives at work bright and early. It's almost a relief after the long fight he and Miévi had over his behavior with Cassandra while she was still in the woods around Xer. Who knew Elven wives could be so temperamental? By noon, the fake Gerald still hasn't arrived at work.
Darelle touches base with Dr. Mordel about her blue pegasus powder. Dr. Mordel's alchemist research shows that the magical ingredient missing is a pegasus' hoof. Mordel can order one, but it will take at least three months before it will arrive in Fort Inevitable. Or Darelle can take her chances and hope to find one in her adventuring. Darelle is concerned that finding the missing ingredient will be very difficult indeed.
Finally, in the afternoon, Daryle picks up her siblings and they head out. They plan on trekking back to the giants' fort and hope that the tracks continue from there.
Erastus 8, 4712
After an uneventful trip through the wilderness, the Coopers reach the giants' fort in the morning. They discover a large path that has been traveled by a group of giants heading west towards Zoarth's house. The path also heads east, but both rangers are able to identify that the eastern path is not as recent as the western path. Clearly the giants stopped here for a few days before continuing on their mission.
The Coopers pursue the trail and continue eastward. The terrain changes from forests to a barren landscape, and soon the vegetation disappears all together. Darelle remembers the warning Zoarth gave them about a dragon living in these parts. Soon they see in the distance a large worm floating in the sky. The Coopers attempt to find shelter, but are unable to locate anything other than tall boulders. The worm is moving fast, and the distance is closing rapidly. Daryle recognizes the monster as a crag linnorm, a type of wingless dragon. It's pretty dumb, but very vicious.
The Coopers engage in combat with the creature. Gerald takes to the sky, while Darelle becomes invisible. Daryle fires arrows after arrows, but the dragon is too quick and Gerald suffers the effects of its breath weapon before crashing to the ground. Darelle strikes it with her sword, but she too is taken down. The dragon returns for another pass, but Daryle's true shot shatters internal organs and the dragon crashes to the ground, where it is quickly dispatched. Gerald is healed and revived.
The Coopers decide to look for its lair, and as dust comes over the barrens they find it. Along with a large quantity of coins, they discover a +2 frost longsword, a +1 heavy steel blinding shield, a wand of cure serious wounds (19 charges), and gauntlets of dexterity +2. The siblings share the items and decide to camp here for the night.
Friday, May 26, 2017
Friday, May 19, 2017
The cloud giant's cats
Erastus 3, 4712
Following the green storm that affected the area two weeks ago, a flood of cats have appeared in Fort Inevitable and have made themselves a general nuisance with their incessant begging and meowing. Residents, fed up with the noise and the aggravations, have requested that measures be taken to rid the town of its unwanted cat residents. The only benefit seems to be that there are no rodents left anywhere within five miles of Fort Inevitable.
Plagued with so many cats, residents are asking that a solution be found. Roscoe asks his two ranger sisters to come up with ideas. Daryle can't come up with anything specific, but Darelle proposes that a cat recipe contest be held. This event, to be called the Purrfect Plate festival, could take place in one week, giving enough time to the area's best cooks to learn how to cook cats. Roscoe thinks it's a great idea, and he approves it. He orders that notices be posted and the town crier spread the news.
The sisters return to Daryle's place to continue working on their renovations. After a light lunch at the Shadowborn Manor, Daryle and Darelle receive a visitor. Shim Longbranch brings the sisters a wheelbarrow in which is a large burlap bag. He tells them that he and the recruits were out hunting in the woods west of the Emerald Spire yesterday when they ambushed a trio of goblins. They were heading west, away from the Spire, and were carrying this bag with them. Darelle inquires the direction in which they were heading, and Shim replies towards giants country. All three goblins bore the mark of Greenhide's Dark Blood tribe.
Shim wheels the wheelbarrow inside the courtyard, and Darelle takes it out of the bag. a large tome written in dwarvish. Using her Eastern Star ioun stone, she translates the title of the book for Shim and Daryle. Titled The Strength of the Mighty in dwarwish, Darelle is unable to open the book as it appears to be magically locked. Invited to remain for lunch, Shim shares a meal with the sisters and leaves to return to the Hunters' Lodge. Darelle sends a tree token message to Falandra asking her to come and examine the new book.
Falandra arrives a couple hours later, and after looking at the book and casting a few spells she informs the Cooper sisters that only a wizard with giant blood can counteract the magic lock placed on this book. Fortunately, she knows of a cloud giant wizard named Zoarth, who is a collector of books much like herself. She has met him a couple of times at intriguing book auctions held in learned cities, and is willing to travel with the sisters to go visit him. When Darelle tells her they will be employing her blue pegasus, Falandra decides a letter introducing the sisters to Zoarth would be much better.
Falandra also tells the sisters that Zoarth is not only a book collector but a lover of cats. He has hundreds of them in his keep. Thus, the recent appearance of both this book and of the cats in Fort Inevitable may be connected with the green storm. As to why the goblins were transporting the book, she can only speculate that Greenhide had figured out how it was locked and they were probably taking it to their giant allies so it could be opened.
If the cats in town are indeed Zoarth, they are about to be eaten. Darelle decides that Roscoe must be warned before the notices go up, but at the same moment they heard the town crier passing by, yelling out information about the new festival while hanging up a notice from a nearby tree.
Armed with directions and Falandra's letter of introduction, Daryle and Darelle fly on the blue pegasus and arrive in the wizard's keep area about three hours later.A large storm blocks forward progress in the air, but the trees below are not completely bent, which suggests that the strength of the winds is much lower on the ground. The sisters decide to land and walk the remaining distance. The going is not difficult and soon they overtake a group of four hill giants accompanied by two ogres and four dire wolves, as well as a truly massive dire wolf leading the pack. They wisely decide to keep a distance between them and the giants' party. Eventually, they clear the storm and enter its eye. The winds die down, and they can see a truly magnificent keep floating on a cloud. A brass road spirals from the ground to the keep's main entrance. There are several giants on the path, and the party they were following begins the ascend.
Sensing combat in their future, Daryle hides the book, and they too begin to climb the ramp. After two complete loops, they arrive at the base of the keep. The doors are still fifty feet up from here and another quarter turn, but it looks like someone breached the basement of the keep and entered it through a large hole. From the hole a hill giant with hammers instead of hands steps out, and he gloats that the great wizard could only get such puny allies to help him. He then attacks the sisters. Shooting from a distance, they get two volley of arrows into him before he reaches them. He almost knocks Darelle off the ramp to her doom, but Daryle rescues her, and a well-placed arrow in his eye sends the giant to the edge. Darelle finishes him off with a well-placed sword hit to the knee which forces him over the edge. He crashes a hundred feet below and does not get up.
The Coopers glance inside the hole. They notice a large room, where five hill giants and a stone giant fight a huge air elemental. They join the fray and hurl arrows at the giants, who are too engaged with the elemental to notice the two humans taking cover behind a fallen giant. However a well placed arrow to the stone giant's rear end attracts his attention, and as the air elemental dies, the remaining three giants attack. Daryle and Darelle make quick work of them, but must pause to heal. They are approached by a cat who asks them to go to the base of keep, which is under attack and in danger of collapsing. The sisters can feel it vibrate and oscillate dangerously every minute or so. If the keep falls out of sky, all of its denizens will die on impact.
They quickly travel downstairs and come upon a frost giant and an insect-like creature from the outer planes. The creature is attacking the column with a spear, transforming the mist into ice and shattering it. Darelle summons a small fire elemental, and the situation becomes a stalemate. Daryle notices that the giant is controlling the creature, and the sisters attack the giant. Darelle casts entangle, and Daryle lights the entanglement on fire, causing significant damage. The planar creature does not react, but continues to fight the fire elemental. The Coopers fight the frost giant but nearly lose their lives in the process. They succeed in killing the giant, only to realize that it was the planar creature that controlled it, not the other way around. Sensing that its moment of glory has come, the planar creature jumps into the columnhoping to destroy it but Darelle communes with her deity and her small elemental intercepts the devil as it teleports, preventing it from reaching the column.
The Coopers ascend the stairs, again, and reach the great entry hall. Here, a cloud giant stands in the arms of an even bigger statue and fires lightning bolts at hill and stone giants. A giant meaner than most riding an armored triceratops charges the Coopers, and they fight savagely while all around them the giants continue to battle. The effort is staggering, but the sisters are eventually triumphant over the giant, and the triceratops in its fear and anger rushes out the hall and slips on the brass ramp, falling to its miserable end. At the same time Zoarth manages to kill the last giant, and soon all three of them meet at the base of the statue.
Zoarth introduces himself and thanks the Coopers profusely for coming to his aid. Hundreds of cats emerge from their hiding places and begin to swarm both the wizard and the Coopers. They give him Falandra's letter of introduction, and Zoarth tells them that any friend of Falandra is a friend of his. They explain the purpose of their visit, and soon they recuperate the book. Zoarth tells them what it does and explains that it can be read twice more before its magical powers are exhausted. Thanking them again, he gifts them the book. He then tells them he has a request. He's not sure why these giants have attacked his keep, but he's convinced there will be another assault. He wants to investigate who's behind the attack, but can't leave the keep. Could the sisters take it upon themselves to find out who sponsored this assault? He would reward them handsomely if they could. They agree to help. Zoarth tells them he will bring them back to Fort Inevitable and recuperate his cats. Darelle asks him how they will travel, and Zoarth proudly displays a cupboard filled with jars of cloud, one of his proudest inventions.
Darelle sends a tree token message to Roscoe to explain the misunderstanding about the cats and request the cancellation of the festival and their arrival. In Fort Inevitable Zoarth is reunited with his cats, and he tells the sisters that it shouldn't be too hard to follow the trail of destruction that brought the giants to his keep. He also warns the sisters about the dragon that dwells in the hills about a day's trip away from the hill giants' fort ...
Following the green storm that affected the area two weeks ago, a flood of cats have appeared in Fort Inevitable and have made themselves a general nuisance with their incessant begging and meowing. Residents, fed up with the noise and the aggravations, have requested that measures be taken to rid the town of its unwanted cat residents. The only benefit seems to be that there are no rodents left anywhere within five miles of Fort Inevitable.
Plagued with so many cats, residents are asking that a solution be found. Roscoe asks his two ranger sisters to come up with ideas. Daryle can't come up with anything specific, but Darelle proposes that a cat recipe contest be held. This event, to be called the Purrfect Plate festival, could take place in one week, giving enough time to the area's best cooks to learn how to cook cats. Roscoe thinks it's a great idea, and he approves it. He orders that notices be posted and the town crier spread the news.
The sisters return to Daryle's place to continue working on their renovations. After a light lunch at the Shadowborn Manor, Daryle and Darelle receive a visitor. Shim Longbranch brings the sisters a wheelbarrow in which is a large burlap bag. He tells them that he and the recruits were out hunting in the woods west of the Emerald Spire yesterday when they ambushed a trio of goblins. They were heading west, away from the Spire, and were carrying this bag with them. Darelle inquires the direction in which they were heading, and Shim replies towards giants country. All three goblins bore the mark of Greenhide's Dark Blood tribe.
Shim wheels the wheelbarrow inside the courtyard, and Darelle takes it out of the bag. a large tome written in dwarvish. Using her Eastern Star ioun stone, she translates the title of the book for Shim and Daryle. Titled The Strength of the Mighty in dwarwish, Darelle is unable to open the book as it appears to be magically locked. Invited to remain for lunch, Shim shares a meal with the sisters and leaves to return to the Hunters' Lodge. Darelle sends a tree token message to Falandra asking her to come and examine the new book.
Falandra arrives a couple hours later, and after looking at the book and casting a few spells she informs the Cooper sisters that only a wizard with giant blood can counteract the magic lock placed on this book. Fortunately, she knows of a cloud giant wizard named Zoarth, who is a collector of books much like herself. She has met him a couple of times at intriguing book auctions held in learned cities, and is willing to travel with the sisters to go visit him. When Darelle tells her they will be employing her blue pegasus, Falandra decides a letter introducing the sisters to Zoarth would be much better.
Falandra also tells the sisters that Zoarth is not only a book collector but a lover of cats. He has hundreds of them in his keep. Thus, the recent appearance of both this book and of the cats in Fort Inevitable may be connected with the green storm. As to why the goblins were transporting the book, she can only speculate that Greenhide had figured out how it was locked and they were probably taking it to their giant allies so it could be opened.
If the cats in town are indeed Zoarth, they are about to be eaten. Darelle decides that Roscoe must be warned before the notices go up, but at the same moment they heard the town crier passing by, yelling out information about the new festival while hanging up a notice from a nearby tree.
Armed with directions and Falandra's letter of introduction, Daryle and Darelle fly on the blue pegasus and arrive in the wizard's keep area about three hours later.A large storm blocks forward progress in the air, but the trees below are not completely bent, which suggests that the strength of the winds is much lower on the ground. The sisters decide to land and walk the remaining distance. The going is not difficult and soon they overtake a group of four hill giants accompanied by two ogres and four dire wolves, as well as a truly massive dire wolf leading the pack. They wisely decide to keep a distance between them and the giants' party. Eventually, they clear the storm and enter its eye. The winds die down, and they can see a truly magnificent keep floating on a cloud. A brass road spirals from the ground to the keep's main entrance. There are several giants on the path, and the party they were following begins the ascend.
Sensing combat in their future, Daryle hides the book, and they too begin to climb the ramp. After two complete loops, they arrive at the base of the keep. The doors are still fifty feet up from here and another quarter turn, but it looks like someone breached the basement of the keep and entered it through a large hole. From the hole a hill giant with hammers instead of hands steps out, and he gloats that the great wizard could only get such puny allies to help him. He then attacks the sisters. Shooting from a distance, they get two volley of arrows into him before he reaches them. He almost knocks Darelle off the ramp to her doom, but Daryle rescues her, and a well-placed arrow in his eye sends the giant to the edge. Darelle finishes him off with a well-placed sword hit to the knee which forces him over the edge. He crashes a hundred feet below and does not get up.
The Coopers glance inside the hole. They notice a large room, where five hill giants and a stone giant fight a huge air elemental. They join the fray and hurl arrows at the giants, who are too engaged with the elemental to notice the two humans taking cover behind a fallen giant. However a well placed arrow to the stone giant's rear end attracts his attention, and as the air elemental dies, the remaining three giants attack. Daryle and Darelle make quick work of them, but must pause to heal. They are approached by a cat who asks them to go to the base of keep, which is under attack and in danger of collapsing. The sisters can feel it vibrate and oscillate dangerously every minute or so. If the keep falls out of sky, all of its denizens will die on impact.
They quickly travel downstairs and come upon a frost giant and an insect-like creature from the outer planes. The creature is attacking the column with a spear, transforming the mist into ice and shattering it. Darelle summons a small fire elemental, and the situation becomes a stalemate. Daryle notices that the giant is controlling the creature, and the sisters attack the giant. Darelle casts entangle, and Daryle lights the entanglement on fire, causing significant damage. The planar creature does not react, but continues to fight the fire elemental. The Coopers fight the frost giant but nearly lose their lives in the process. They succeed in killing the giant, only to realize that it was the planar creature that controlled it, not the other way around. Sensing that its moment of glory has come, the planar creature jumps into the columnhoping to destroy it but Darelle communes with her deity and her small elemental intercepts the devil as it teleports, preventing it from reaching the column.
The Coopers ascend the stairs, again, and reach the great entry hall. Here, a cloud giant stands in the arms of an even bigger statue and fires lightning bolts at hill and stone giants. A giant meaner than most riding an armored triceratops charges the Coopers, and they fight savagely while all around them the giants continue to battle. The effort is staggering, but the sisters are eventually triumphant over the giant, and the triceratops in its fear and anger rushes out the hall and slips on the brass ramp, falling to its miserable end. At the same time Zoarth manages to kill the last giant, and soon all three of them meet at the base of the statue.
Zoarth introduces himself and thanks the Coopers profusely for coming to his aid. Hundreds of cats emerge from their hiding places and begin to swarm both the wizard and the Coopers. They give him Falandra's letter of introduction, and Zoarth tells them that any friend of Falandra is a friend of his. They explain the purpose of their visit, and soon they recuperate the book. Zoarth tells them what it does and explains that it can be read twice more before its magical powers are exhausted. Thanking them again, he gifts them the book. He then tells them he has a request. He's not sure why these giants have attacked his keep, but he's convinced there will be another assault. He wants to investigate who's behind the attack, but can't leave the keep. Could the sisters take it upon themselves to find out who sponsored this assault? He would reward them handsomely if they could. They agree to help. Zoarth tells them he will bring them back to Fort Inevitable and recuperate his cats. Darelle asks him how they will travel, and Zoarth proudly displays a cupboard filled with jars of cloud, one of his proudest inventions.
Darelle sends a tree token message to Roscoe to explain the misunderstanding about the cats and request the cancellation of the festival and their arrival. In Fort Inevitable Zoarth is reunited with his cats, and he tells the sisters that it shouldn't be too hard to follow the trail of destruction that brought the giants to his keep. He also warns the sisters about the dragon that dwells in the hills about a day's trip away from the hill giants' fort ...
Friday, May 12, 2017
Gerald, you killed me again, thank you very much
Sarenith 21, 4712
On this beautiful morning, Roscoe inquires with the guard if there has been signs of Thorne. The head of the night watch reports that the rogue has not been seen since a warrant was issued for his arrest. His associates have revealed some details about his various operations, but all of them are unawares of the extent of Thorne's network.
After a lovely breakfast, Darelle heads over Nolm's Bindery to talks to Falandra about Gerald. She inquires about the different Geralds that have been reported around Fort Inevitable, and Falandra says she has in fact noticed inconsistent performances on the sorcerer's part. Falandra wonders who would take the time and spend the magical power and the money necessary to resurrect Gerald multiple times. Darelle speculates that someone, or something, is attempting to sow chaos, and that Gerald is the perfect agent for that. But who would be able to do so in Fort Inevitable? Falandra believes only High Mother Sarise Dremagne from the Temple of the Golden Key, is capable of performing a resurrection, but she also suspects that the Hellknights also possess this capability.
Darelle then proceeds to the Temple of the Golden Key. She meets with High Mother Sarise, and they discuss Gerald's multiple appearances. Sarise also believes that an agent of chaos must be at work. She acknowledges that she has the power to resurrect a dead person, but it would require a substantial donation to the temple, and in no case would she resurrect a Hellknight. She also suspects the Hellknights possess this ability, but when the Lord Commander Varden was assassinated he was not resurrected. She believes this entire incident was a power play between different Helknight factions.
Omok, meanwhile, spends some time reading the second chapter of the Book of the Damned and gains a new ability.
Daryle arrives in town, and she finds her siblings and Omok. After a meal of sausage, fresh bread and ale, at the Juliver Arms, they gather their gear and they begin the trek back to the Emerald Spire. In the forest, they encounter a disheveled Gerald, bearing scratches and evidence of having been in combat. He reports that he was just coming back from the Spire where he had looked on the 13th level for them, but was attacked by a strange gnarled man and a bunch of twigs on the way out. This Gerald reports having been away from town for four days. A discussion among the Coopers about what to do with all of the Geralds running around. Gerald is incensed that someone would be usurping his good name for nefarious purposes. Omok tells Gerald he can get rid of the other Geralds for a small cost. Gerald says he will think about it, but he really wants to find the other Gerald, discover out who is behind it and why. Maybe, the sorcerer muses, he could unite all of the Geralds and take on Greenhide and his cronies.
Roscoe proposes the idea of a tattoo to identify each Gerald with a specific number, so at least they'd know which one they're dealing with. Gerald is game for it. He could also stylize the blade embedded in his head with a different design. Daryle cuts the conversation short and gives him a shallow cut on the right arm. That should identify at least this Gerald. This is the moment that Gerald chooses to reveal that he has a wife. Gerald officially took her last name of Gertywindindlysin and is no longer a Cooper.
With the death of the Mistress of Thorns, the 9th level is now open for exploration, so the party decide to travel back and liquidate the remaining residents. Unfortunately they never acquired the rune for her level, so they will need to travel either to the 8th level, or to the 10th level. Considering that the 10th level is where the magma dragons lived, the Coopers wisely decide to head back to the snakepeople's level.
The Coopers complete the trek, enter the tunnel leading to the Spire, emerge on the 3rd level, and teleport down to the 8th. Immediately it is clear they are in a section of the dungeon they did not previously explored. The Spire appears to be located in a hatchery. There are several large eggs laying around in carefully built nests. Omok grabs an egg, and so does Roscoe. Omok plans to either cook the thing or see what hatches and raise it as a pet. Unfortunately Roscoe is attacked by an emperor cobra but he drops the egg on its head and it falls unconscious. Roscoe cuts its head and decide to keep the head and dry it out later. Darelle discovers a couple of goblin bodies that have been bitten by the snake. She searches the bodies and discover a lone copper coin. The coin appears to have been minted by Greenhide.
Gerald opens the door, and it explodes in his face. He closes the door and returns to the middle of the room, shaken. Roscoe carefully opens the door as well. It explodes again, the trap having had time to reset while Gerald was explaining that he had not seen anything.
Roscoe enters the room, and recollections immediately flood him as to its purpose. The paladin discovers the entrance at the bottom of the stairs has been barricaded, so he heads for the next door. Darelle follows, and Omok decides to break through the door just as Gerald casts a knock spell. At the same time, a flight of arrows is loosened from the barricade and each Cooper takes a few hits. They enter the next room but not before being splashed by a rain of acid. Gerald, who witnessed this attack, emerges from the hatchery and he sends a fireball against the barricade. It is soon engulfed in flames with the yells of many goblins coming from its ruins. Daryle crosses the expanse of the shrine and joins the rest of the party. She thinks about closing the door, but doesn't. Gerald follows suit.
The room they now find themselves appears to be a sacrificial room with three snake statues. It is evident by the lack of desecration that the goblins have not entered this room. Darelle uses her acrobatic skills and jumps around the room, hoping to trigger a trap, but she finds none. The Coopers explore the room but find no other exits. Daryle climbs one of the snake statues and discovers that they can be turned. She turns her statue, and Darelle does the same for the other statue on the same wall. A secret passage opens.
The hallway leads to a hot spring that must be crossed to reach the other side. Gerald casts ice storm as Daryle examines the spring, catching her by surprise. She avenges herself by firing an arrow and hitting Gerald. The sorcerer has accomplished his goal, however, and the water is frozen solid. The Coopers run across the ice to reach the door. The ice soon melts and the hot spring begins to flow again. Darelle notices that there is a passage underneath the hot water. Since she and the rest of the Coopers are protected against natural heat, she decides she will swim and see where the passage leads.
Darelle emerges in a room with a staircase ascending and another one descending. This looks very familiar. Against the wall, by the pool from which she emerges, is a statue of a snake holding an emerald in its mouth. The other members of the party also make the short swim and come out. Darelle reaches over and touches the emerald. She immediately disappears. Again this feels very familiar to the Coopers. What was it that happened the last time they did this? The remaining Coopers argue among themselves about what they should do next. Omok tires of the conversation, makes the jump to the statue and touches the emerald. He feels pulled away but manages to resist the effects. He successfully pries the emerald out of the snake's mouth, and he decides he will try to touch Gerald with it. Unfortunately Gerald is rather nimble, and he avoids being touched. Roscoe has enough, and he touches the emerald and soon joins Darelle in the snake's labyrinth.
Meanwhile, Omok and Gerald continue to fight, and soon it becomes a full-blown confrontation. Omok uses a slay living spell while Gerald dimension doors the hobgoblin back into the acid temple. Daryle jumps back in the spring and emerges in the other room. She opens the door and discovers a set of goblin sentries. She manages to kill three of them, but the fourth one is proving to be rather tough. Gerald, who was closely behind his sister, sees his sister on the ground in mortal danger, and he unleashes a fire ball, instantly incinerating her opponent but also slaying her. Omok, who was coming from the other side, summons a land shark and attacks Gerald, who joins his sister in death. Omok then touches the emerald and is transported to the snake's labyrinth to join Darelle and Roscoe's doom...
Sarenith 22, 4712
The Coopers awaken one at a time, in warm beds at the Juliver Arms. Doliber is soon with them, and apologizes profusely. The Coopers had eaten the sausage and had all collapsed on the floor soon after, along with several other customers who had also partaken of the inn's fare that noontime. He's not sure how his stock of sausages got poisoned, but all of the victims report living through rather vivid nightmares. Thankfully, a full night's rest did wonders and none of them feel any of the ill effects of this rather strange food poisoning. So, after all of that, the events at the Spire were only a dream. But it felt so real ...
On this beautiful morning, Roscoe inquires with the guard if there has been signs of Thorne. The head of the night watch reports that the rogue has not been seen since a warrant was issued for his arrest. His associates have revealed some details about his various operations, but all of them are unawares of the extent of Thorne's network.
After a lovely breakfast, Darelle heads over Nolm's Bindery to talks to Falandra about Gerald. She inquires about the different Geralds that have been reported around Fort Inevitable, and Falandra says she has in fact noticed inconsistent performances on the sorcerer's part. Falandra wonders who would take the time and spend the magical power and the money necessary to resurrect Gerald multiple times. Darelle speculates that someone, or something, is attempting to sow chaos, and that Gerald is the perfect agent for that. But who would be able to do so in Fort Inevitable? Falandra believes only High Mother Sarise Dremagne from the Temple of the Golden Key, is capable of performing a resurrection, but she also suspects that the Hellknights also possess this capability.
Darelle then proceeds to the Temple of the Golden Key. She meets with High Mother Sarise, and they discuss Gerald's multiple appearances. Sarise also believes that an agent of chaos must be at work. She acknowledges that she has the power to resurrect a dead person, but it would require a substantial donation to the temple, and in no case would she resurrect a Hellknight. She also suspects the Hellknights possess this ability, but when the Lord Commander Varden was assassinated he was not resurrected. She believes this entire incident was a power play between different Helknight factions.
Omok, meanwhile, spends some time reading the second chapter of the Book of the Damned and gains a new ability.
Daryle arrives in town, and she finds her siblings and Omok. After a meal of sausage, fresh bread and ale, at the Juliver Arms, they gather their gear and they begin the trek back to the Emerald Spire. In the forest, they encounter a disheveled Gerald, bearing scratches and evidence of having been in combat. He reports that he was just coming back from the Spire where he had looked on the 13th level for them, but was attacked by a strange gnarled man and a bunch of twigs on the way out. This Gerald reports having been away from town for four days. A discussion among the Coopers about what to do with all of the Geralds running around. Gerald is incensed that someone would be usurping his good name for nefarious purposes. Omok tells Gerald he can get rid of the other Geralds for a small cost. Gerald says he will think about it, but he really wants to find the other Gerald, discover out who is behind it and why. Maybe, the sorcerer muses, he could unite all of the Geralds and take on Greenhide and his cronies.
Roscoe proposes the idea of a tattoo to identify each Gerald with a specific number, so at least they'd know which one they're dealing with. Gerald is game for it. He could also stylize the blade embedded in his head with a different design. Daryle cuts the conversation short and gives him a shallow cut on the right arm. That should identify at least this Gerald. This is the moment that Gerald chooses to reveal that he has a wife. Gerald officially took her last name of Gertywindindlysin and is no longer a Cooper.
With the death of the Mistress of Thorns, the 9th level is now open for exploration, so the party decide to travel back and liquidate the remaining residents. Unfortunately they never acquired the rune for her level, so they will need to travel either to the 8th level, or to the 10th level. Considering that the 10th level is where the magma dragons lived, the Coopers wisely decide to head back to the snakepeople's level.
The Coopers complete the trek, enter the tunnel leading to the Spire, emerge on the 3rd level, and teleport down to the 8th. Immediately it is clear they are in a section of the dungeon they did not previously explored. The Spire appears to be located in a hatchery. There are several large eggs laying around in carefully built nests. Omok grabs an egg, and so does Roscoe. Omok plans to either cook the thing or see what hatches and raise it as a pet. Unfortunately Roscoe is attacked by an emperor cobra but he drops the egg on its head and it falls unconscious. Roscoe cuts its head and decide to keep the head and dry it out later. Darelle discovers a couple of goblin bodies that have been bitten by the snake. She searches the bodies and discover a lone copper coin. The coin appears to have been minted by Greenhide.
Gerald opens the door, and it explodes in his face. He closes the door and returns to the middle of the room, shaken. Roscoe carefully opens the door as well. It explodes again, the trap having had time to reset while Gerald was explaining that he had not seen anything.
Roscoe enters the room, and recollections immediately flood him as to its purpose. The paladin discovers the entrance at the bottom of the stairs has been barricaded, so he heads for the next door. Darelle follows, and Omok decides to break through the door just as Gerald casts a knock spell. At the same time, a flight of arrows is loosened from the barricade and each Cooper takes a few hits. They enter the next room but not before being splashed by a rain of acid. Gerald, who witnessed this attack, emerges from the hatchery and he sends a fireball against the barricade. It is soon engulfed in flames with the yells of many goblins coming from its ruins. Daryle crosses the expanse of the shrine and joins the rest of the party. She thinks about closing the door, but doesn't. Gerald follows suit.
The room they now find themselves appears to be a sacrificial room with three snake statues. It is evident by the lack of desecration that the goblins have not entered this room. Darelle uses her acrobatic skills and jumps around the room, hoping to trigger a trap, but she finds none. The Coopers explore the room but find no other exits. Daryle climbs one of the snake statues and discovers that they can be turned. She turns her statue, and Darelle does the same for the other statue on the same wall. A secret passage opens.
The hallway leads to a hot spring that must be crossed to reach the other side. Gerald casts ice storm as Daryle examines the spring, catching her by surprise. She avenges herself by firing an arrow and hitting Gerald. The sorcerer has accomplished his goal, however, and the water is frozen solid. The Coopers run across the ice to reach the door. The ice soon melts and the hot spring begins to flow again. Darelle notices that there is a passage underneath the hot water. Since she and the rest of the Coopers are protected against natural heat, she decides she will swim and see where the passage leads.
Darelle emerges in a room with a staircase ascending and another one descending. This looks very familiar. Against the wall, by the pool from which she emerges, is a statue of a snake holding an emerald in its mouth. The other members of the party also make the short swim and come out. Darelle reaches over and touches the emerald. She immediately disappears. Again this feels very familiar to the Coopers. What was it that happened the last time they did this? The remaining Coopers argue among themselves about what they should do next. Omok tires of the conversation, makes the jump to the statue and touches the emerald. He feels pulled away but manages to resist the effects. He successfully pries the emerald out of the snake's mouth, and he decides he will try to touch Gerald with it. Unfortunately Gerald is rather nimble, and he avoids being touched. Roscoe has enough, and he touches the emerald and soon joins Darelle in the snake's labyrinth.
Meanwhile, Omok and Gerald continue to fight, and soon it becomes a full-blown confrontation. Omok uses a slay living spell while Gerald dimension doors the hobgoblin back into the acid temple. Daryle jumps back in the spring and emerges in the other room. She opens the door and discovers a set of goblin sentries. She manages to kill three of them, but the fourth one is proving to be rather tough. Gerald, who was closely behind his sister, sees his sister on the ground in mortal danger, and he unleashes a fire ball, instantly incinerating her opponent but also slaying her. Omok, who was coming from the other side, summons a land shark and attacks Gerald, who joins his sister in death. Omok then touches the emerald and is transported to the snake's labyrinth to join Darelle and Roscoe's doom...
Sarenith 22, 4712
The Coopers awaken one at a time, in warm beds at the Juliver Arms. Doliber is soon with them, and apologizes profusely. The Coopers had eaten the sausage and had all collapsed on the floor soon after, along with several other customers who had also partaken of the inn's fare that noontime. He's not sure how his stock of sausages got poisoned, but all of the victims report living through rather vivid nightmares. Thankfully, a full night's rest did wonders and none of them feel any of the ill effects of this rather strange food poisoning. So, after all of that, the events at the Spire were only a dream. But it felt so real ...
Friday, April 28, 2017
The prodigal son returns, and now everyone is about to die
Sarenith 18, 4712
With the magical doors now closed, the Coopers minus Thorne are reunited again , but they find themselves once again locked in a hostile dungeon. As there appears not to be any exits except for the closed door, Darelle searches for secret doors. She quickly discovers that the statue next the west wall features a spot for a key in a similar shape to the leviathan's eye. She retrieves the crystal eye, and inserts in the statue. The entire statue and its pedestal slides silently over, revealing a secret passage.
The party enters the hallway, followed by the four Azlants. Daryle listens to the southern door, and hears nothing. At the other door, Roscoe can hear some chanting drifting from the other side. It appears more than four people are conducting some sort of ritual. Omok barges through the door. Twelve knights of the ioun star in their ancient garbs have been brought back to life in a hideous mockery of what they fought for millenia ago. Armed with their battle axes, the undead knights attack. Gerald fireballs the dead knights, which Roscoe and Omok follows up with a channel positive energy. A rain of acid falls on the Coopers. Daryle and her sister Darelle drop a stream of arrows on the knights, and Roscoe and Omok unleash another channel positive energy, which drops all of the knights.
The room appears to be an ancient chapel. The stone furniture was not affected by Gerald's fireball, but the drapery hung on the north wall burned to ashes, revealing a flight of stairs and another door heading north. Roscoe successfully avoids a magical trap located on the top stair, but the prismatic spray hits Omok instead. Roscoe opens the door, and he finds a platform heading to the middle of a cylindrical room with no visible ceiling or floor. The howling winds shake the paladin. Roscoe ties a rope around a stone pew and around himself, then heads out on the platform. In a stroke of bad luck, the rope unties but Roscoe remains standing and reaches the center of the room.
He is greeted by an eerily voice that introduces itself as a devil. Ten thousand years ago, Nhur Athemon swore fealty to this devil, but as he grew powerful he forgot where his loyalties laid. Now the devil wants its revenge on the Azlanti who became a lich. He offers a wish to Roscoe in exchange for the lich's head and his phylactery. Roscoe questions where the phylactery could be found. The devil identifies it as the mechanical heart inside the leviathan. Roscoe motions to Omok to join him on the platform. With the winds having abated, the hobgoblin reaches the edge of the platform. Roscoe tells the devil they already have the heart, and after a short discussion Omok agrees to throw the Heart of Nhur Athemon into the abyss. The deal made, the platform pivots and reaches a hidden door in the East wall. Roscoe and Omok go through the door.
Meanwhile, the triplets and their Azlanti allies returns to the main room, looking for another path. Darelle places the other eye in the other statue's base, and it slides open, revealing another passage. The party enters a workshop filled with clockwork parts. As they carefully search among the wreckage for anything of value, they are attacked by animated parts. The Coopers quickly defeat the constructs. Gerald finds scrolls of expeditious retreat and of obscuring mist. Darelle discovers an alchemical silver dagger +2, while Daryle lays her hands on a headband of vast intellect +2 made of fine pink feathers and featuring a bouncing wooden flamingo mounted on springs on either side.
As Roscoe and Omok enter the room, they realize they have stumbled upon Nhur Athemon's throne room. Standing on a balcony, they see Nhur Athemon in full undead splendor, sitting on a throne carved into the Emerald Spire, facing away from them. Eight undead nobles stand before him. His throne slowly pivots and soon the two Hellknights are face to face with the lich. Athemon welcomes them, and tells them he has been following their exploits. Seeking new servants to lead his armies to defeat and enslave the outside world, he offers them a bargain. In exchange for them swearing fealty in a ritual, he will provide them with enhanced abilities. Roscoe and Omok debate the pros and cons of accepting such an offer, but eventually agree that this is the wisest course of action, firstly because they are unlikely to be able to defeat the lich by themselves, and secondly because they would enjoy being more powerful. Roscoe hopes that his deity will forgive him his trespass.
Roscoe is the first to participate in the ritual. A noble brings Roscoe a blade of pure silver. The Hellknight pricks his finger, and a drop of blood falls onto the Spire. Immediately tendrils of green smoke rise, and bind Roscoe as he swears fealty. He suddenly feels stronger and more nimble on his feet, as well as incredibly blessed with fast healing [+2 temporary modifier to Strength, +2 temporary modifier to natural AC, temporary +10 fast healing per round]. Omok follows suit. The hobgoblin also bargains for the ability to read the Book of the Damned he found a while back. Athemon grants him this ability, and soon Omok becomes smarter and embued with the ability to control some undead. Unfortunately, this is accompanied with a slide into insanity. Both Roscoe and Omok also experience an alignment shift of one step towards evil.
As a rewards for his loyalty, Athemon summons the Mistress of Thorns, who appears next to his throne. He paralyzes her, and offers her head to Roscoe. Roscoe swings his sword and with one mighty blow decapitates the Mistress of Thorns. Thus ends her hold on his soul, something that had weight heavily on the paladin.
This is the exact moment that Daryle opens the door from the workshop into the throne room. She sees Nhur Athemon sitting on his throne, surrounded by his undead nobles, with Roscoe holding the Mistress of Thorns' head in his hand and a weapon in the other, while Omok looks bemused. She wisely closes the door and reports to Darelle and Gerald. Roscoe and Omok soon come through the door, and the paladin has some explaining to do. He attempts to justify himself to his siblings, telling them that he has found a way to save Fort Inevitable from the menaces that threaten the town,
but soon the sisters decide to leave their brother, and they pursue their exploration of the dungeon.
Daryle and Darelle return to the stone chapel, and decide to investigate the door in the opposite hallway. They barely get it opened that a nightmarish vision stands in front of them. Undead yet animated by evil, a humanoid very much resembling the statue of the Lady Estrekan of Almorain Blue, Knight Commandant of the Western Star that they discovered in the hallway, immediately attacks. This fearsome vision scares Darelle out of her wits, and she runs away, only to fall victim to the prismatic spray trap in the stone chapel. Luckily, she is transported back home, right at the foot of her bed. Daryle, meanwhile, is not so lucky and suffers a crippling hit that drops her down. Her last vision before passing out is that of the Lady Estrekan methodically walking away from her.
Back with the remaining Coopers, Gerald decides to pursue his exploration, and he stumbles upon a room in a circular shape with white walls. There he meets a strange bird-like creature. In an extremely condescending tone, the jyoti informs Gerald that he is here to fulfill one of his requests. Gerald asks it to find his sisters. The jyoti departs, and returns a few minutes later with the corpse ... of a female knight previously encountered and killed in the stone chapel. Gerald takes greater care to describe his sisters. The jyoti rolls its eyes, but leaves again. It returns a few minutes later with Daryle, and tells Gerald that trouble is coming before he vanishes. Gerald heals his sister just as Lady Estrekan steps in the room. Daryle pretends to be still dead, and Gerald is swiftly defeated.
The Lady departs, and Daryle heals her brother. Meanwhile, the Lady Estrekan enters the other room, and confronts Omok and Roscoe. Omok suffers the same fate as Darelle and runs away in an unrational fear. Roscoe confronts the fell knight, but he too bites the dust in a combat quickly concluded. Fortunately for him, he heals quickly and returns to the world of the living a few minutes later.
Daryle and Gerald discover their brother, and they decide they have had enough. Gerald casts dimension door, and the party leaves the level.
Omok eventually recovers his wits, only to discover that he has been abandoned by the Coopers. Fortunately Gerald returns once more, and with Omok they depart. The Coopers return to Fort Inevitable, where they are reunited with Darelle.
With the magical doors now closed, the Coopers minus Thorne are reunited again , but they find themselves once again locked in a hostile dungeon. As there appears not to be any exits except for the closed door, Darelle searches for secret doors. She quickly discovers that the statue next the west wall features a spot for a key in a similar shape to the leviathan's eye. She retrieves the crystal eye, and inserts in the statue. The entire statue and its pedestal slides silently over, revealing a secret passage.
The party enters the hallway, followed by the four Azlants. Daryle listens to the southern door, and hears nothing. At the other door, Roscoe can hear some chanting drifting from the other side. It appears more than four people are conducting some sort of ritual. Omok barges through the door. Twelve knights of the ioun star in their ancient garbs have been brought back to life in a hideous mockery of what they fought for millenia ago. Armed with their battle axes, the undead knights attack. Gerald fireballs the dead knights, which Roscoe and Omok follows up with a channel positive energy. A rain of acid falls on the Coopers. Daryle and her sister Darelle drop a stream of arrows on the knights, and Roscoe and Omok unleash another channel positive energy, which drops all of the knights.
The room appears to be an ancient chapel. The stone furniture was not affected by Gerald's fireball, but the drapery hung on the north wall burned to ashes, revealing a flight of stairs and another door heading north. Roscoe successfully avoids a magical trap located on the top stair, but the prismatic spray hits Omok instead. Roscoe opens the door, and he finds a platform heading to the middle of a cylindrical room with no visible ceiling or floor. The howling winds shake the paladin. Roscoe ties a rope around a stone pew and around himself, then heads out on the platform. In a stroke of bad luck, the rope unties but Roscoe remains standing and reaches the center of the room.
He is greeted by an eerily voice that introduces itself as a devil. Ten thousand years ago, Nhur Athemon swore fealty to this devil, but as he grew powerful he forgot where his loyalties laid. Now the devil wants its revenge on the Azlanti who became a lich. He offers a wish to Roscoe in exchange for the lich's head and his phylactery. Roscoe questions where the phylactery could be found. The devil identifies it as the mechanical heart inside the leviathan. Roscoe motions to Omok to join him on the platform. With the winds having abated, the hobgoblin reaches the edge of the platform. Roscoe tells the devil they already have the heart, and after a short discussion Omok agrees to throw the Heart of Nhur Athemon into the abyss. The deal made, the platform pivots and reaches a hidden door in the East wall. Roscoe and Omok go through the door.
Meanwhile, the triplets and their Azlanti allies returns to the main room, looking for another path. Darelle places the other eye in the other statue's base, and it slides open, revealing another passage. The party enters a workshop filled with clockwork parts. As they carefully search among the wreckage for anything of value, they are attacked by animated parts. The Coopers quickly defeat the constructs. Gerald finds scrolls of expeditious retreat and of obscuring mist. Darelle discovers an alchemical silver dagger +2, while Daryle lays her hands on a headband of vast intellect +2 made of fine pink feathers and featuring a bouncing wooden flamingo mounted on springs on either side.
As Roscoe and Omok enter the room, they realize they have stumbled upon Nhur Athemon's throne room. Standing on a balcony, they see Nhur Athemon in full undead splendor, sitting on a throne carved into the Emerald Spire, facing away from them. Eight undead nobles stand before him. His throne slowly pivots and soon the two Hellknights are face to face with the lich. Athemon welcomes them, and tells them he has been following their exploits. Seeking new servants to lead his armies to defeat and enslave the outside world, he offers them a bargain. In exchange for them swearing fealty in a ritual, he will provide them with enhanced abilities. Roscoe and Omok debate the pros and cons of accepting such an offer, but eventually agree that this is the wisest course of action, firstly because they are unlikely to be able to defeat the lich by themselves, and secondly because they would enjoy being more powerful. Roscoe hopes that his deity will forgive him his trespass.
Roscoe is the first to participate in the ritual. A noble brings Roscoe a blade of pure silver. The Hellknight pricks his finger, and a drop of blood falls onto the Spire. Immediately tendrils of green smoke rise, and bind Roscoe as he swears fealty. He suddenly feels stronger and more nimble on his feet, as well as incredibly blessed with fast healing [+2 temporary modifier to Strength, +2 temporary modifier to natural AC, temporary +10 fast healing per round]. Omok follows suit. The hobgoblin also bargains for the ability to read the Book of the Damned he found a while back. Athemon grants him this ability, and soon Omok becomes smarter and embued with the ability to control some undead. Unfortunately, this is accompanied with a slide into insanity. Both Roscoe and Omok also experience an alignment shift of one step towards evil.
As a rewards for his loyalty, Athemon summons the Mistress of Thorns, who appears next to his throne. He paralyzes her, and offers her head to Roscoe. Roscoe swings his sword and with one mighty blow decapitates the Mistress of Thorns. Thus ends her hold on his soul, something that had weight heavily on the paladin.
This is the exact moment that Daryle opens the door from the workshop into the throne room. She sees Nhur Athemon sitting on his throne, surrounded by his undead nobles, with Roscoe holding the Mistress of Thorns' head in his hand and a weapon in the other, while Omok looks bemused. She wisely closes the door and reports to Darelle and Gerald. Roscoe and Omok soon come through the door, and the paladin has some explaining to do. He attempts to justify himself to his siblings, telling them that he has found a way to save Fort Inevitable from the menaces that threaten the town,
but soon the sisters decide to leave their brother, and they pursue their exploration of the dungeon.
Daryle and Darelle return to the stone chapel, and decide to investigate the door in the opposite hallway. They barely get it opened that a nightmarish vision stands in front of them. Undead yet animated by evil, a humanoid very much resembling the statue of the Lady Estrekan of Almorain Blue, Knight Commandant of the Western Star that they discovered in the hallway, immediately attacks. This fearsome vision scares Darelle out of her wits, and she runs away, only to fall victim to the prismatic spray trap in the stone chapel. Luckily, she is transported back home, right at the foot of her bed. Daryle, meanwhile, is not so lucky and suffers a crippling hit that drops her down. Her last vision before passing out is that of the Lady Estrekan methodically walking away from her.
Back with the remaining Coopers, Gerald decides to pursue his exploration, and he stumbles upon a room in a circular shape with white walls. There he meets a strange bird-like creature. In an extremely condescending tone, the jyoti informs Gerald that he is here to fulfill one of his requests. Gerald asks it to find his sisters. The jyoti departs, and returns a few minutes later with the corpse ... of a female knight previously encountered and killed in the stone chapel. Gerald takes greater care to describe his sisters. The jyoti rolls its eyes, but leaves again. It returns a few minutes later with Daryle, and tells Gerald that trouble is coming before he vanishes. Gerald heals his sister just as Lady Estrekan steps in the room. Daryle pretends to be still dead, and Gerald is swiftly defeated.
The Lady departs, and Daryle heals her brother. Meanwhile, the Lady Estrekan enters the other room, and confronts Omok and Roscoe. Omok suffers the same fate as Darelle and runs away in an unrational fear. Roscoe confronts the fell knight, but he too bites the dust in a combat quickly concluded. Fortunately for him, he heals quickly and returns to the world of the living a few minutes later.
Daryle and Gerald discover their brother, and they decide they have had enough. Gerald casts dimension door, and the party leaves the level.
Omok eventually recovers his wits, only to discover that he has been abandoned by the Coopers. Fortunately Gerald returns once more, and with Omok they depart. The Coopers return to Fort Inevitable, where they are reunited with Darelle.
Friday, March 31, 2017
The Coopers are steamed
Sarenith 17, 4712
Following the arrests of Thorne's associates, the Hellknights conduct muscled interrogations. All of them tell a similar story. They last saw Thorne in the first week of Gorzan, which corresponds to the same time frame as the last time the sisters saw him. Roscoe orders further interrogations. The suspects are to be kept apart from each other and under 24 hours surveillance. They are to be interrogated at least twice a day until useful information is gathered from them.
Roscoe then departs the Citadel and meet his sisters and Omok at the Juliver Arms for breakfast.
Doliber welcomes them and vigorously shakes the Coopers' hands, congratulating them on their good fortune. When Roscoe looks confused, he tells them that earlier in the morning Gerald came in and announced that he and Cassandra would be married at the end of the Festival of Songs on Rova 1, 4712. After a great meal and some discussion about their brother's insanity, they decide it is time to return to the Emerald Spire. They gather their gear, and then head out. They'll deal with Gerald later.
They trek through the blooming countryside, and soon enter the Echo Woods. At the halfway point, the sky begins to cloud over, and the greenish darkness that descends bodes ill. The sisters immediately begin looking for shelter, as another green storm is striking the area. The best they can find is a large pile of rocks that offer protection against the rain, but not much else. Still, it's better than nothing so the Coopers hide there, weapons drawn and on guard against any surprises. The green fog rolls in, the cloud cover is low, and the winds begin to howl. Lightning flashes, and rain starts to pelt the ground. For half an hour, the intensity of the storm does not diminish.
Then, among two flashes of lightning, Daryle spots seven small figures emerge from the surrounding trees. The group is under attack. She recognizes them as twigjack, which they encountered back in the forest by Dimsdale. Darelle can smell the rot in the air. Clearly something is out there. The twigjacks separate and attack each member of the party. Roscoe and Darelle emerge from the shelter to engage, while Omok and Daryle stay behind and attack from a distance. The cackling of a voice can suddenly be heard, and giant slugs appear behind Daryle and Omok. Slime pours out of them, and the space soon become extremely slippery. Engaged on all sides, the Coopers do not notice the gnarled old man emerge from the nearest tree. He rushes Roscoe, who, surprised, gets knocked aside.
With the slime saturating the area, and with rain and wind battering them from all sides, the Coopers are soon down in the slime, struggling to get up and yet still fighting their enemies. The gnarled old man taunts them and tells them their doom awaits in the Spire. Eventually, he withdraws and merges back in a tree. After everyone managed to get up Darelle tells Roscoe and Omok about their previous encounter with the gnarled old man and tells them that he is an agent of chaos, one of the many who have emerged or been drawn to the Spire.
It takes four hours, but the storm finally abates. During this time they hear strange noises in the forest, and at one point a rendering cry of pain, but aside from hints that things are moving in the distance, nothing bothers the Coopers.
In the late afternoon, the Coopers reach the Emerald Spire. They enter through the tunnel and reach the Splinterden level. Using the transport token, they arrive on the Pleasure Gardens level, then use the hovering platform by the Devourer's throne to reach the 14th level.
The Coopers descend on the platform and arrive about a thousand feet lower in a large hall. The ceilings here are 30 feet tall, and the craftsmanship indicate that significant resources and time were spent building it. A large staircase lead from the elevator platform to a huge set of stone double doors. On either side are two large statues. The whole level is bathed in an eerily green light. On either side of the doors, in their own alcoves, are two statues, as finely crafted as those they encountered in the Pleasure gardens. The first one is that of a woman wielding a sword and appearing to be leading troops in combat. A star-shaped hole in her left palm is clearly visible. Omok comprehends languages and reads the inscription written in Azlanti "Eternal is the Seal of Estrekan. Eternal is her vigil against evil."
Next to the other statue the Coopers discover a dead body. Based on her cloak, Roscoe recognizes her as Tiawask, a missing wizard from the Goldencloak Iliara Starcloak had asked him to locate. She displays no visible wounds, and from the state of the body Darelle estimates that she's been dead about four days. Omok speaks with dead and converses with the dead wizard. Tiawask tells them her story of being captured by Klarkosh on the sixth level, and explains how she escaped using a potion of gaseous form. She was unable to find a way up, so she made her way down, hoping to discover another exit. She's been meandering down here over the last ten months, and died when she placed a star shape ioun stone in the statue's palm. The Coopers then notice that this statue has a similar star shape hole in its palm, but a stone fills the space perfectly. Roscoe promises to fulfill his mission and bring the body back when they return to Fort Inevitable.
Wrapping her hands in parts of her Shadowborn dress, Darelle retrieves the eastern star ioun stone. She realizes she has a similar stone in her equipment, the western star ioun stone. She is also suddenly able to read the inscription on the statue, even though it is written in Azlanti. It reads: "Dedicated to the brave sacrifice of Lady Estrekan of Almorain Blue, Knight Commandant of the Western Star." Omok casts divination to find out if placing the stars in the reverse order would work, and the answer is that indeed that is the fact.
On the count of three, Roscoe and Darelle place the stars in their appropriate spots, and the double stone doors shimmer, then majestically open. Daryle quickly spike them in place. In the middle of this large room is a huge clockwork leviathan, surrounded by four humanoids bounds in chains by its feet. The construct releases a jet of superheated magical steam that takes the Coopers by surprise. They suffer grievous wounds, but they engage the creature. Darelle is thrown against the wall, and falls to the floor. She notices that the humanoids' eyes and mouth are sewn shut.
Roscoe leads a valiant attack but he is grabbed and swallowed by the leviathan. He lands ten feet below in the creature's stomach, a pool of boiling water. Since the water itself is not magical, Roscoe is able to withstand the heat due to the protection against heat they acquired from the Mistress of Thorns back when they headed down to the magma level. Inside in the darkness he spots what seems like a large mechanical heart. It appears easy to dislodge, but Roscoe hesitates to do so.
Meanwhile, the combat outside the leviathan continues. Daryle is grabbed by the creature and is when swallowed, joining Roscoe in its stomach. He points the heart to his sister, and she removes it from the wall. The monster keeps operating, however. Roscoe then plans to throw the heart out before the leviathan releases steam again. Unfortunately, Roscoe misjudges the timing, however, and as he aims the leviathan releases another jet of steam. Both Roscoe and Daryle are ejected while Omok and Darelle suffers grievous wounds. Roscoe drops the heart to the ground, and Omok picks it up and puts it in his backpack.
The Coopers continue to rain blows on the leviathan, and they inflict enough damage to disable the construct. As the party recuperates, Darelle looks at the four humanoids. They are humans. She carefully removes the stitches from the first person's mouth and eyes. His voice is a first raw and much disused, and Darelle can't understand a word he says. She remembers the ioun stones, and heads back out to the statues and removes both of them. Returning in the room, she sees Omok following the lead and removing more stitches from the other folks.
The first man Darelle freed introduces himself as Ithan. His companions are Efrah, Urian, and the lady Ommarra. All of them were Knights of the Ioun Star, and they had pursued the perfidious Nhur Athemon from Azlant all the way to his refuge here at the Emerald Spire. In a mighty battle they destroyed the archmage and his acolytes but the lady Estrekan and themselves were slain in the process. They were revived later by the archmage, who had indeed become a lich before the fall of the Spire, and, to taunt them and flaunt his power over life itself, forced them to endure in mock salute for over ten centuries.
As he tells his tale, Gerald walks in holding a couple of spikes, and happily returns them to Daryle. The doors to the outside world close with a ominous bang. The Coopers are once again locked behind magical doors...
Following the arrests of Thorne's associates, the Hellknights conduct muscled interrogations. All of them tell a similar story. They last saw Thorne in the first week of Gorzan, which corresponds to the same time frame as the last time the sisters saw him. Roscoe orders further interrogations. The suspects are to be kept apart from each other and under 24 hours surveillance. They are to be interrogated at least twice a day until useful information is gathered from them.
Roscoe then departs the Citadel and meet his sisters and Omok at the Juliver Arms for breakfast.
Doliber welcomes them and vigorously shakes the Coopers' hands, congratulating them on their good fortune. When Roscoe looks confused, he tells them that earlier in the morning Gerald came in and announced that he and Cassandra would be married at the end of the Festival of Songs on Rova 1, 4712. After a great meal and some discussion about their brother's insanity, they decide it is time to return to the Emerald Spire. They gather their gear, and then head out. They'll deal with Gerald later.
They trek through the blooming countryside, and soon enter the Echo Woods. At the halfway point, the sky begins to cloud over, and the greenish darkness that descends bodes ill. The sisters immediately begin looking for shelter, as another green storm is striking the area. The best they can find is a large pile of rocks that offer protection against the rain, but not much else. Still, it's better than nothing so the Coopers hide there, weapons drawn and on guard against any surprises. The green fog rolls in, the cloud cover is low, and the winds begin to howl. Lightning flashes, and rain starts to pelt the ground. For half an hour, the intensity of the storm does not diminish.
Then, among two flashes of lightning, Daryle spots seven small figures emerge from the surrounding trees. The group is under attack. She recognizes them as twigjack, which they encountered back in the forest by Dimsdale. Darelle can smell the rot in the air. Clearly something is out there. The twigjacks separate and attack each member of the party. Roscoe and Darelle emerge from the shelter to engage, while Omok and Daryle stay behind and attack from a distance. The cackling of a voice can suddenly be heard, and giant slugs appear behind Daryle and Omok. Slime pours out of them, and the space soon become extremely slippery. Engaged on all sides, the Coopers do not notice the gnarled old man emerge from the nearest tree. He rushes Roscoe, who, surprised, gets knocked aside.
With the slime saturating the area, and with rain and wind battering them from all sides, the Coopers are soon down in the slime, struggling to get up and yet still fighting their enemies. The gnarled old man taunts them and tells them their doom awaits in the Spire. Eventually, he withdraws and merges back in a tree. After everyone managed to get up Darelle tells Roscoe and Omok about their previous encounter with the gnarled old man and tells them that he is an agent of chaos, one of the many who have emerged or been drawn to the Spire.
It takes four hours, but the storm finally abates. During this time they hear strange noises in the forest, and at one point a rendering cry of pain, but aside from hints that things are moving in the distance, nothing bothers the Coopers.
In the late afternoon, the Coopers reach the Emerald Spire. They enter through the tunnel and reach the Splinterden level. Using the transport token, they arrive on the Pleasure Gardens level, then use the hovering platform by the Devourer's throne to reach the 14th level.
The Coopers descend on the platform and arrive about a thousand feet lower in a large hall. The ceilings here are 30 feet tall, and the craftsmanship indicate that significant resources and time were spent building it. A large staircase lead from the elevator platform to a huge set of stone double doors. On either side are two large statues. The whole level is bathed in an eerily green light. On either side of the doors, in their own alcoves, are two statues, as finely crafted as those they encountered in the Pleasure gardens. The first one is that of a woman wielding a sword and appearing to be leading troops in combat. A star-shaped hole in her left palm is clearly visible. Omok comprehends languages and reads the inscription written in Azlanti "Eternal is the Seal of Estrekan. Eternal is her vigil against evil."
Next to the other statue the Coopers discover a dead body. Based on her cloak, Roscoe recognizes her as Tiawask, a missing wizard from the Goldencloak Iliara Starcloak had asked him to locate. She displays no visible wounds, and from the state of the body Darelle estimates that she's been dead about four days. Omok speaks with dead and converses with the dead wizard. Tiawask tells them her story of being captured by Klarkosh on the sixth level, and explains how she escaped using a potion of gaseous form. She was unable to find a way up, so she made her way down, hoping to discover another exit. She's been meandering down here over the last ten months, and died when she placed a star shape ioun stone in the statue's palm. The Coopers then notice that this statue has a similar star shape hole in its palm, but a stone fills the space perfectly. Roscoe promises to fulfill his mission and bring the body back when they return to Fort Inevitable.
Wrapping her hands in parts of her Shadowborn dress, Darelle retrieves the eastern star ioun stone. She realizes she has a similar stone in her equipment, the western star ioun stone. She is also suddenly able to read the inscription on the statue, even though it is written in Azlanti. It reads: "Dedicated to the brave sacrifice of Lady Estrekan of Almorain Blue, Knight Commandant of the Western Star." Omok casts divination to find out if placing the stars in the reverse order would work, and the answer is that indeed that is the fact.
On the count of three, Roscoe and Darelle place the stars in their appropriate spots, and the double stone doors shimmer, then majestically open. Daryle quickly spike them in place. In the middle of this large room is a huge clockwork leviathan, surrounded by four humanoids bounds in chains by its feet. The construct releases a jet of superheated magical steam that takes the Coopers by surprise. They suffer grievous wounds, but they engage the creature. Darelle is thrown against the wall, and falls to the floor. She notices that the humanoids' eyes and mouth are sewn shut.
Roscoe leads a valiant attack but he is grabbed and swallowed by the leviathan. He lands ten feet below in the creature's stomach, a pool of boiling water. Since the water itself is not magical, Roscoe is able to withstand the heat due to the protection against heat they acquired from the Mistress of Thorns back when they headed down to the magma level. Inside in the darkness he spots what seems like a large mechanical heart. It appears easy to dislodge, but Roscoe hesitates to do so.
Meanwhile, the combat outside the leviathan continues. Daryle is grabbed by the creature and is when swallowed, joining Roscoe in its stomach. He points the heart to his sister, and she removes it from the wall. The monster keeps operating, however. Roscoe then plans to throw the heart out before the leviathan releases steam again. Unfortunately, Roscoe misjudges the timing, however, and as he aims the leviathan releases another jet of steam. Both Roscoe and Daryle are ejected while Omok and Darelle suffers grievous wounds. Roscoe drops the heart to the ground, and Omok picks it up and puts it in his backpack.
The Coopers continue to rain blows on the leviathan, and they inflict enough damage to disable the construct. As the party recuperates, Darelle looks at the four humanoids. They are humans. She carefully removes the stitches from the first person's mouth and eyes. His voice is a first raw and much disused, and Darelle can't understand a word he says. She remembers the ioun stones, and heads back out to the statues and removes both of them. Returning in the room, she sees Omok following the lead and removing more stitches from the other folks.
The first man Darelle freed introduces himself as Ithan. His companions are Efrah, Urian, and the lady Ommarra. All of them were Knights of the Ioun Star, and they had pursued the perfidious Nhur Athemon from Azlant all the way to his refuge here at the Emerald Spire. In a mighty battle they destroyed the archmage and his acolytes but the lady Estrekan and themselves were slain in the process. They were revived later by the archmage, who had indeed become a lich before the fall of the Spire, and, to taunt them and flaunt his power over life itself, forced them to endure in mock salute for over ten centuries.
As he tells his tale, Gerald walks in holding a couple of spikes, and happily returns them to Daryle. The doors to the outside world close with a ominous bang. The Coopers are once again locked behind magical doors...
Friday, March 24, 2017
Of Hellknights and Gold
Sarenith 13, 471, continued
Roscoe cracks the accounting books of Fort Inevitable, both the real ones and those kept on the side and abandoned by Thorne since his disappearance. In the latter he discovers a letter. It is clearly coded.
He spends a few hours trying to break the code before he realizes that this letter is written in a similar code he used to employ with Thorne when they were both younger, back at the farm in Novensia.
Roscoe is pretty sure that Rose is Thorne, and Demon is Duke Mosley. But who is Lotus? Roscoe wonders aloud about why Mosley's death would create civil war among the Hellknights.
Roscoe continues to peruse the books, and he also discovers the following amounts that are not accounted for, even though there are "receipts" that prove the expenditures:
As if this was not enough, Doliver Reedbank arrives at the Citadel and he hands Roscoe a list of Thorne associates, as promised during their last meeting:
That night, Roscoe, Omok and the sisters are in the Commander's office. Roscoe sends a messenger to the Juliver Gate and requests that Maralictor Wirt report to his office. When she arrives, he asks her about the Duke. She informs him that Mosley is the bastard child of Queen Abrogail II of the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune, ruler of Cheliax, and he has spent his youth at Court. It is rumored that he headed out with a large army to the Worldwound to burnish his military credentials. When asked about the reference to the Hellknights fighting each other, Wirt reports that the situation in Cheliax is tense. Not everyone agrees with the diabolical pacts that have bound Abrogail II's authority over the state. Despite marshaling forces and effort, the Queen has been unable to eliminate all opposition. As the possibility of a civil war increase, Mosley has built a base of supporters throughout all Hellknight orders and clearly plans to take control of the organization and use it. Roscoe questions Wirt which side Mosley would support, and she answers that she's not sure, but he owes allegiance to his mother. The fact that there is doubt, however, means that his support is clearly not unwavering. Daryle asks Wirt where Audara Drovust, the former Lady Commander, fits in this picture.
Wirt replies that Audara also grew up at court, the third daughter of a minor noble at the same time as Mosley. It is believed that Mosley forced himself on her, and she has developed a hatred for the man. Upon her return to Cheliax, she purchased a barony and remained there over the last four months, developing her estate. The discussion then moves to the Hellknights and their Orders and organization. How could Mosley, who is from the Order of the Nail, be able to infiltrate and control the other Orders? Wirt speculates that he has been implementing sleeper agents for at least a decade in the other Orders, ready and awaiting his signals to throw them in complete chaos or even directly eliminate their leadership.
After Wirt departs, the Coopers decide that the financial crisis threatening the Fort must be resolve. They decide to head back to Mosswater and retrieve more money from the treasury in the ghost city.
On her way home, Darelle stops by Dr. Mordel's house. When he comes downstairs to meet her, she asks him if he could investigate her blue powder so that it could be replicated. He tells her he will do his best.
Sarenith 14, 4712
The Coopers head out in the middle of the night on their horse. They arrive mid-morning. Their first order of business is to ensure that the Food to Dye For remains a viable shelter. Their thorough inspection reveals that it indeed is. Roscoe is impressed at the quantity of bones that litter the roads. The Coopers then proceed carefully to the lighthouse. After searching the lighthouse, they find no disturbances that would indicate that someone has been in the building. Climbing to the top, they verify that the light has not been tampered with since the last time they were here. Daryle and Darelle carefully remove a section of the lense, and glance inside. Gold still glitters.
Thus, over the course of the day, Roscoe, Omok and the Coopers manage to retrieve approximately 100,000 crowns. They place the money in old chests found in various houses around the city, then park the wagon in the warehouse behind the restaurant. While working, Roscoe wonders aloud if there was an astrologist or an oracle who might have predicted this disaster. The others do not know. Whatever happened here, Roscoe rhetorically asks.
As the sun begins to drop, Darelle and Daryle return to Food to Dye For with the money. They carefully barricade themselves in the old restaurant. Omok and Roscoe remain in the lighthouse, curious to see what types of creatures come out at night. At sunset, Omok blasts the horn of Ovtik to summon whatever creatures dwell in the water to come to him. The creatures come out of the water, and soon the lighthouse is surrounded by some kind of undead ogres, pushing ahead of them undead orcs. They all try to climb the tower but can't. More fearsome are six-legged beasts that look like undead rhinos. They begin to meander the town, leaving the ogres and orcs behind. Roscoe and Omok debate the wisdom of attacking the undead, and eventually agree that they make great guards for their treasure, and that eliminating or greatly reducing their numbers would be to Coopers' detriment. They decide to wait.
Unfortunately, the monsters' constant wail is grating. Omok, being deaf thanks to the horn of Ovtik, can't hear, but Roscoe begins to suffer under the noise. During the night Omok helps himself to the treasure inside the light.
Sarenith 15, 4712
Just before dawn monsters leave. Roscoe is completely wiped since he couldn't sleep at all during the night. The Coopers reunite in the lighthouse over breakfast. With so many chests, they decide that it would be safer to travel by cloud. Darelle summons her jar of cloud and the Coopers head back to Fort Inevitable. Roscoe deposit the money in the treasury. That should be more than enough to pay upcoming expenses and retire any debt Fort Inevitable accumulated under Thorne's trouble leadership in the treasury.
Darelle brings back a barrel of Mosswater Dye and leaves it at the Hunters' Lodge, planning to study it and extract the recipe to replicate it in the future. Shim informs the Coopers about the progress of the trainees over the last day. He thinks that they should be ready to lead in about a month, though more time training would provide them with better odds of surviving an attack.
Returning to the Fort, Darelle talks to Mordel about what might have triggered so many demons. He doesn't know for sure, but he suspects that an expedition by the Hellknigths about two years ago might have hastened their arrival. He also provides her with a recipe to recreate the blue pegasus. Now all she will need is to gather the ingredients. Thankfully there is a laboratory she can use at the Hunters' Lodge.
Roscoe asks Wirt about the status of Thorne's associates. She replies that there have not been any unusual activities. With the quarterly muster and trials coming up soon, Roscoe decide it's time to round them up. They may be more talkative under arrest, and if nothing else they will provide a good spectacle for the crowd as they are executed. Warrants are issued, and Hellknights are dispatched to seize them.
Sarenith 16, 4712
Roscoe decides it's time to mint new Hellknights. Accompanied by Omok, they head out to the Hunters' Lodge. There, Roscoe leads Omok and three of the trainees down in the mine, where they confront the demon behind the crystal. Omok breaks the barrier after some effort, and in the fight everyone is bloodied but the demon is dispatched, and the hobgoblin and his three companions are immediately officially appointed as Hellknights by the Lord Commander himself.
Taking a look through the gaps in the broken crystal, Darelle sees shadow dimension beyond. How can they prevent other creatures from stepping through? Daryle suggests that they consult Abernard. The sisters trek back to Fort Inevitable and meet with the old man at his house. Abernard welcomes them, and he tells them they just missed their brother Gerald. Darelle inquires as to whether Abernard noticed anything weird or different about Gerald, and reports her beliefs that an impostor is running around. Abernard states that in fact Gerald has not been his whinny self lately, and no calamity has befallen the town.
After hearing the sisters' plea for help in sealing the gap in the crystal, Abernard travels to the Hunters' Lodge and takes care of the problem.
Roscoe cracks the accounting books of Fort Inevitable, both the real ones and those kept on the side and abandoned by Thorne since his disappearance. In the latter he discovers a letter. It is clearly coded.
He spends a few hours trying to break the code before he realizes that this letter is written in a similar code he used to employ with Thorne when they were both younger, back at the farm in Novensia.
Roscoe is pretty sure that Rose is Thorne, and Demon is Duke Mosley. But who is Lotus? Roscoe wonders aloud about why Mosley's death would create civil war among the Hellknights.
Roscoe continues to peruse the books, and he also discovers the following amounts that are not accounted for, even though there are "receipts" that prove the expenditures:
- 34,000 crowns have been paid for bonuses for the out of town workers that helped rebuild Fort Inevitable.
- 47,000 crowns have been paid for various repairs to the town wall and other Hellknight structures around Fort Inevitable, but upon investigation only minor work was performed, and certainly nowhere near the price the Hellknights paid.
- Finally, there are 120,000 crowns that have been paid in miscellaneous expenses, including 13,000 listed as incentive pay for Roscoe. Roscoe never received any of this money.
As if this was not enough, Doliver Reedbank arrives at the Citadel and he hands Roscoe a list of Thorne associates, as promised during their last meeting:
- Roger Silverfish, employee of Drurn's Tannery, who helped Thorne hoard and move food during the famine.
- Nolan Crueleye, Nethan Scarletlance, and Ivan Browndog, mercenaries from the Salamander Company provides muscle.
- Daman Blackelk, who ran the racketeering racket in the tent city during the winter.
- Selif Redlyon, who works at the Poldmar stables and who is responsible for smuggling merchandise in and out of Fort Inevitable through horse equipment.
- Ossian, who sold water from his private well at inflated prices.
- Dwayne Saucyeye, who works at the Ironworks, melted precious metals into mundane items so it could be smuggled out.
- Regan Redeve, who works for the stonemason Zoldor Maril, has built various structures throughout the area, and indicates 3 specific locations.
That night, Roscoe, Omok and the sisters are in the Commander's office. Roscoe sends a messenger to the Juliver Gate and requests that Maralictor Wirt report to his office. When she arrives, he asks her about the Duke. She informs him that Mosley is the bastard child of Queen Abrogail II of the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune, ruler of Cheliax, and he has spent his youth at Court. It is rumored that he headed out with a large army to the Worldwound to burnish his military credentials. When asked about the reference to the Hellknights fighting each other, Wirt reports that the situation in Cheliax is tense. Not everyone agrees with the diabolical pacts that have bound Abrogail II's authority over the state. Despite marshaling forces and effort, the Queen has been unable to eliminate all opposition. As the possibility of a civil war increase, Mosley has built a base of supporters throughout all Hellknight orders and clearly plans to take control of the organization and use it. Roscoe questions Wirt which side Mosley would support, and she answers that she's not sure, but he owes allegiance to his mother. The fact that there is doubt, however, means that his support is clearly not unwavering. Daryle asks Wirt where Audara Drovust, the former Lady Commander, fits in this picture.
Wirt replies that Audara also grew up at court, the third daughter of a minor noble at the same time as Mosley. It is believed that Mosley forced himself on her, and she has developed a hatred for the man. Upon her return to Cheliax, she purchased a barony and remained there over the last four months, developing her estate. The discussion then moves to the Hellknights and their Orders and organization. How could Mosley, who is from the Order of the Nail, be able to infiltrate and control the other Orders? Wirt speculates that he has been implementing sleeper agents for at least a decade in the other Orders, ready and awaiting his signals to throw them in complete chaos or even directly eliminate their leadership.
After Wirt departs, the Coopers decide that the financial crisis threatening the Fort must be resolve. They decide to head back to Mosswater and retrieve more money from the treasury in the ghost city.
On her way home, Darelle stops by Dr. Mordel's house. When he comes downstairs to meet her, she asks him if he could investigate her blue powder so that it could be replicated. He tells her he will do his best.
Sarenith 14, 4712
The Coopers head out in the middle of the night on their horse. They arrive mid-morning. Their first order of business is to ensure that the Food to Dye For remains a viable shelter. Their thorough inspection reveals that it indeed is. Roscoe is impressed at the quantity of bones that litter the roads. The Coopers then proceed carefully to the lighthouse. After searching the lighthouse, they find no disturbances that would indicate that someone has been in the building. Climbing to the top, they verify that the light has not been tampered with since the last time they were here. Daryle and Darelle carefully remove a section of the lense, and glance inside. Gold still glitters.
Thus, over the course of the day, Roscoe, Omok and the Coopers manage to retrieve approximately 100,000 crowns. They place the money in old chests found in various houses around the city, then park the wagon in the warehouse behind the restaurant. While working, Roscoe wonders aloud if there was an astrologist or an oracle who might have predicted this disaster. The others do not know. Whatever happened here, Roscoe rhetorically asks.
As the sun begins to drop, Darelle and Daryle return to Food to Dye For with the money. They carefully barricade themselves in the old restaurant. Omok and Roscoe remain in the lighthouse, curious to see what types of creatures come out at night. At sunset, Omok blasts the horn of Ovtik to summon whatever creatures dwell in the water to come to him. The creatures come out of the water, and soon the lighthouse is surrounded by some kind of undead ogres, pushing ahead of them undead orcs. They all try to climb the tower but can't. More fearsome are six-legged beasts that look like undead rhinos. They begin to meander the town, leaving the ogres and orcs behind. Roscoe and Omok debate the wisdom of attacking the undead, and eventually agree that they make great guards for their treasure, and that eliminating or greatly reducing their numbers would be to Coopers' detriment. They decide to wait.
Unfortunately, the monsters' constant wail is grating. Omok, being deaf thanks to the horn of Ovtik, can't hear, but Roscoe begins to suffer under the noise. During the night Omok helps himself to the treasure inside the light.
Sarenith 15, 4712
Just before dawn monsters leave. Roscoe is completely wiped since he couldn't sleep at all during the night. The Coopers reunite in the lighthouse over breakfast. With so many chests, they decide that it would be safer to travel by cloud. Darelle summons her jar of cloud and the Coopers head back to Fort Inevitable. Roscoe deposit the money in the treasury. That should be more than enough to pay upcoming expenses and retire any debt Fort Inevitable accumulated under Thorne's trouble leadership in the treasury.
Darelle brings back a barrel of Mosswater Dye and leaves it at the Hunters' Lodge, planning to study it and extract the recipe to replicate it in the future. Shim informs the Coopers about the progress of the trainees over the last day. He thinks that they should be ready to lead in about a month, though more time training would provide them with better odds of surviving an attack.
Returning to the Fort, Darelle talks to Mordel about what might have triggered so many demons. He doesn't know for sure, but he suspects that an expedition by the Hellknigths about two years ago might have hastened their arrival. He also provides her with a recipe to recreate the blue pegasus. Now all she will need is to gather the ingredients. Thankfully there is a laboratory she can use at the Hunters' Lodge.
Roscoe asks Wirt about the status of Thorne's associates. She replies that there have not been any unusual activities. With the quarterly muster and trials coming up soon, Roscoe decide it's time to round them up. They may be more talkative under arrest, and if nothing else they will provide a good spectacle for the crowd as they are executed. Warrants are issued, and Hellknights are dispatched to seize them.
Sarenith 16, 4712
Roscoe decides it's time to mint new Hellknights. Accompanied by Omok, they head out to the Hunters' Lodge. There, Roscoe leads Omok and three of the trainees down in the mine, where they confront the demon behind the crystal. Omok breaks the barrier after some effort, and in the fight everyone is bloodied but the demon is dispatched, and the hobgoblin and his three companions are immediately officially appointed as Hellknights by the Lord Commander himself.
Taking a look through the gaps in the broken crystal, Darelle sees shadow dimension beyond. How can they prevent other creatures from stepping through? Daryle suggests that they consult Abernard. The sisters trek back to Fort Inevitable and meet with the old man at his house. Abernard welcomes them, and he tells them they just missed their brother Gerald. Darelle inquires as to whether Abernard noticed anything weird or different about Gerald, and reports her beliefs that an impostor is running around. Abernard states that in fact Gerald has not been his whinny self lately, and no calamity has befallen the town.
After hearing the sisters' plea for help in sealing the gap in the crystal, Abernard travels to the Hunters' Lodge and takes care of the problem.
Friday, March 17, 2017
The Foxes assemble
Gozran 5, 4712
Concerned over the loyalty of the Hellknight command staff, Roscoe and Omok devise a clever strategy to determine whom can be counted on. Every day, they will question the orb of command with the name of a Hellknight on the command staff and determine whether that individual is loyal to Roscoe or not. Over the course of the next 45 days, the same depressing answer is returned: No one is loyal to Roscoe. The entire command is not loyal, nor are any of the senior officers out in the field. Roscoe begins to ponder how to replace the command structure before it is too late.
Three options present themselves to Roscoe. First, he can clean up the command staff of Fort Inevitable either by wholesale replacement or through attrition and appoint a new command staff that will be loyal to him. His second option is to figure a way to exile the Hellknights completely by clever stratagem or rapid battle attrition, and replace them with soldiers loyal to Roscoe before the next quarterly exchange of troops. The third option is to simply walk away from the Fort and its people.
It will take Roscoe a long time to reach a decision, and he wants to talk to his siblings. Unfortunately, none of them are currently around.
Sarenith 12, 4712
Now back from investigating the stealing of lumber, Daryle and Darelle meet with Roscoe and report on their discoveries. First, they mention that one of the conversation they overheard on the Unbroken dealt with the rumor that Duke Mosley's injuries were serious and were getting worse. Such rumors have been swirling around Fort Inevitable for a few months now.
They mention to him that it's time to come up with an exit strategy from Fort Inevitable. Roscoe tells them he's been thinking the same thing, and it is time to implement his strategy. He presents the options he and Omok have been weighing over the last few weeks. The sisters agree that the first option, that of replacing the command staff with new leaders is the best option. There is no realistic way to entirely remove the Hellknights from Fort Inevitable, and as for simply walking away many people in town and around depend on them, including their mother's cousin and others who depend on them for help or for work.
Roscoe mentions that there are references in Hellknight files to an organization in Fort Inevitable called the Seven Foxes. This resistance group was decimated six years ago when two of its leaders were arrested, tried, and executed following the assassination of the former Lord Commander, Emos Varden. Since then there have been hints that this group still operates in the shadows, but none of the remaining principals' identities have been revealed. Perhaps someone can connect Roscoe with this group and survey their interest in participating in a replacement of the Hellknight command staff? Darelle says that she's never heard of this group, but Dr. Mordel probably has. The Coopers decide to go talk to him. Their plan is to invite some of the Foxes at the Hunters' Lodge, then discuss with them Roscoe's plan.
After exchanging pleasantries, Darelle reaches the reason for their visit. She explains the dilemma the Coopers are in, and explains the three options outlined by Roscoe. Mordel agrees that the first option is not the safest, but it provides the most likelyhood of keeping Fort Inevitable away from disaster. Roscoe asks Mordel if he knows of anyone who could serve in a leadership position and be loyal to the town. Mordel provides the names of six people who could form an effective council to govern Fort Inevitable: Falandra Nolm, whom he trusts; Abernard Roysts, whom he does not trust; Karlyle the Butcher, whom he does not trust but knows he has Fort Inevitable's best interests at heart; Doliver Reedbank, owner of the Juliver Arms, whom he trusts; Mormuk Goldfoot, owner of Goldfoot's Mercantile, whom he trust; and Peter Ardra, son of Adrian Ardra, one of the civic leaders of Fort Inevitable. Adrian was executed following the assassination of the Lord Commander Varden in 4706, and Peter is currently in exile. When asked by Darelle whether he could also serve, Dr. Mordel replies that he has no interest being involved in such a leadership entity. He expresses that he has enough work with his research and his patients.
Departing Dr. Mordel's hospital, Roscoe and the sisters decide they need to organize a meeting between themselves and members of the Seven Foxes. Getting the Seven Foxes involved, along with the citizens named by Dr. Mordel would help fill a void left with a dismantling of the Hellknight command staff. Roscoe asks his sisters where they think they should start looking. Daryle mentions that Mordel suggested Karlyle's name. Since she's on friendly terms with Karlyle, and he seems to know everyone that's anyone in Fort Inevitable, he's probably the first one the Coopers should talk to. Roscoe agrees and says that he will talk to Doliver, since he used to live there and knows the halfling pretty well. Darelle agrees to talk to Falandra. The Coopers part ways to talk to their respectives contacts.
Daryle is the first one to reach her destination. The doors are wide open, and Karlyle is busy butchering a sheep with his assistant. They make small talk for a few minutes, and then Daryle intimates that she would like to talk to him alone. Karlyle sends his assistant away, and brings Dayle to his storage area. Daryle uses all of her diplomatic and innuendo to invite Karlyle to a dinner at the Hunters' Lodge that very night. She tells him that he can invite a friend, and intimates that she hopes members of the Seven Foxes will be present. When Karlyle discovers that Roscoe will also be there, he wonders aloud, in these times of trouble, how his return back to the Fort will be made safe. Understanding that he's asking for a guarantee of safety that this is not a Hellknight trap to catch the resistance, Daryle personally vouches that he will neither be harmed not impeded. Karlyle agrees to meet her there at dinner time.
Roscoe arrives at the Juliver Arms. As he enters, the conversation among the numerous guests gathered for lunch swiftly come to an end. He steps to the counter, and is greeted by Doliver Reedbank. They talk for a few minutes, then Roscoe notices that the place has emptied rather quickly. He takes this opportunity to invite the halfling to a meeting at the Hunters' Lodge. Doliver agrees to meet him there at dinner. Roscoe steps outside, and waits around the corner. The departed guests all return inside the inn. Roscoe shakes his head and walks away. This is another reason to implement his plan!
Darelle walks to Nolm Bindery and is greeted by Gerald, who appears to be balancing the books. Something is off, though, and she can't quite put her finger on it. She meets Falandra in the back of the store, and asks her if she's noticed something strange about Gerald. Falandra replies that indeed she has. Gerald has not screwed up anything nor has he destroyed anything of significance in the last month. Darelle shakes this off and invites Falandra to dinner tonight. She agrees to attend.
In the afternoon the Coopers arrive at the Hunters' Lodge. Darelle prepares a sumptuous meal. Daryle patrols the grounds. Roscoe prepares his argument. Around five, the guests begin to arrive. Karlyle is the first one there, followed closely by Falandra and Abernard. Soon, Doliver and his cousin Dunleaf Appletop also cross the bridge. High Mother Sarise Dremagne , head of the Temple of the Golden Key arrives next. This surprises Roscoe, but not as much as the next guest to arrive: Maralictor Wirt! Finally, old Mother Holworth is the last to arrive. There are now seven guests at the Hunters' Lodge.
Roscoe questions Wirt and asks who invited her. Mother Holworth discreetly nods at the group, and Karlyle reveals that he invited her. Wirt may not be loyal to Roscoe, but she appears to be loyal to the people of the Fort. Roscoe then presents his plan, with the hope that the Seven Foxes could take a leadership position. Mother Holworth retorts that they are not willing to stick their neck out at this time in case his plan backfires, but they know some reliable young folks who could step up and fill these roles, with the Seven Foxes remaining in the shadows for the time being. However, Dunleaf adds, they have a condition. Thorne and his various associates and enterprises must be dealt with. Roscoe tells them that Thorne has already lost access to the treasury, and that he is more than willing to deal with his associates if Dunleaf could provide a list of names. Dunleaf agrees to do so. Darelle talks with Dunleaf Appletop about the missing lumber and reports what her sister and her discovered. Dunleaf is pleased that at least the wholesale theft of lumber from Fort Inevitable has been dealt with. Falandra agrees to take a look at the bookkeeping Thorne did while in charge.
Satisfied with their meeting, the Seven Foxes depart. The Coopers return to Fort Inevitable soon after. That very night, Falandra delivers three forged letters to Roscoe.
Sarenith 13, 4712
In the morning, Roscoe requests his top three commanding officers to meet with him, one at a time. Using Falandra's forged letters, he informs them that he has received news from the Hellknight hierarchy that several forts have recently lost their commanding officers, and due to their tireless and devoted services, they are being promoted but most leave immediately. By the end of the day, all three have ridden away. Roscoe's plan has begun!
Concerned over the loyalty of the Hellknight command staff, Roscoe and Omok devise a clever strategy to determine whom can be counted on. Every day, they will question the orb of command with the name of a Hellknight on the command staff and determine whether that individual is loyal to Roscoe or not. Over the course of the next 45 days, the same depressing answer is returned: No one is loyal to Roscoe. The entire command is not loyal, nor are any of the senior officers out in the field. Roscoe begins to ponder how to replace the command structure before it is too late.
Three options present themselves to Roscoe. First, he can clean up the command staff of Fort Inevitable either by wholesale replacement or through attrition and appoint a new command staff that will be loyal to him. His second option is to figure a way to exile the Hellknights completely by clever stratagem or rapid battle attrition, and replace them with soldiers loyal to Roscoe before the next quarterly exchange of troops. The third option is to simply walk away from the Fort and its people.
It will take Roscoe a long time to reach a decision, and he wants to talk to his siblings. Unfortunately, none of them are currently around.
Sarenith 12, 4712
Now back from investigating the stealing of lumber, Daryle and Darelle meet with Roscoe and report on their discoveries. First, they mention that one of the conversation they overheard on the Unbroken dealt with the rumor that Duke Mosley's injuries were serious and were getting worse. Such rumors have been swirling around Fort Inevitable for a few months now.
They mention to him that it's time to come up with an exit strategy from Fort Inevitable. Roscoe tells them he's been thinking the same thing, and it is time to implement his strategy. He presents the options he and Omok have been weighing over the last few weeks. The sisters agree that the first option, that of replacing the command staff with new leaders is the best option. There is no realistic way to entirely remove the Hellknights from Fort Inevitable, and as for simply walking away many people in town and around depend on them, including their mother's cousin and others who depend on them for help or for work.
Roscoe mentions that there are references in Hellknight files to an organization in Fort Inevitable called the Seven Foxes. This resistance group was decimated six years ago when two of its leaders were arrested, tried, and executed following the assassination of the former Lord Commander, Emos Varden. Since then there have been hints that this group still operates in the shadows, but none of the remaining principals' identities have been revealed. Perhaps someone can connect Roscoe with this group and survey their interest in participating in a replacement of the Hellknight command staff? Darelle says that she's never heard of this group, but Dr. Mordel probably has. The Coopers decide to go talk to him. Their plan is to invite some of the Foxes at the Hunters' Lodge, then discuss with them Roscoe's plan.
After exchanging pleasantries, Darelle reaches the reason for their visit. She explains the dilemma the Coopers are in, and explains the three options outlined by Roscoe. Mordel agrees that the first option is not the safest, but it provides the most likelyhood of keeping Fort Inevitable away from disaster. Roscoe asks Mordel if he knows of anyone who could serve in a leadership position and be loyal to the town. Mordel provides the names of six people who could form an effective council to govern Fort Inevitable: Falandra Nolm, whom he trusts; Abernard Roysts, whom he does not trust; Karlyle the Butcher, whom he does not trust but knows he has Fort Inevitable's best interests at heart; Doliver Reedbank, owner of the Juliver Arms, whom he trusts; Mormuk Goldfoot, owner of Goldfoot's Mercantile, whom he trust; and Peter Ardra, son of Adrian Ardra, one of the civic leaders of Fort Inevitable. Adrian was executed following the assassination of the Lord Commander Varden in 4706, and Peter is currently in exile. When asked by Darelle whether he could also serve, Dr. Mordel replies that he has no interest being involved in such a leadership entity. He expresses that he has enough work with his research and his patients.
Departing Dr. Mordel's hospital, Roscoe and the sisters decide they need to organize a meeting between themselves and members of the Seven Foxes. Getting the Seven Foxes involved, along with the citizens named by Dr. Mordel would help fill a void left with a dismantling of the Hellknight command staff. Roscoe asks his sisters where they think they should start looking. Daryle mentions that Mordel suggested Karlyle's name. Since she's on friendly terms with Karlyle, and he seems to know everyone that's anyone in Fort Inevitable, he's probably the first one the Coopers should talk to. Roscoe agrees and says that he will talk to Doliver, since he used to live there and knows the halfling pretty well. Darelle agrees to talk to Falandra. The Coopers part ways to talk to their respectives contacts.
Daryle is the first one to reach her destination. The doors are wide open, and Karlyle is busy butchering a sheep with his assistant. They make small talk for a few minutes, and then Daryle intimates that she would like to talk to him alone. Karlyle sends his assistant away, and brings Dayle to his storage area. Daryle uses all of her diplomatic and innuendo to invite Karlyle to a dinner at the Hunters' Lodge that very night. She tells him that he can invite a friend, and intimates that she hopes members of the Seven Foxes will be present. When Karlyle discovers that Roscoe will also be there, he wonders aloud, in these times of trouble, how his return back to the Fort will be made safe. Understanding that he's asking for a guarantee of safety that this is not a Hellknight trap to catch the resistance, Daryle personally vouches that he will neither be harmed not impeded. Karlyle agrees to meet her there at dinner time.
Roscoe arrives at the Juliver Arms. As he enters, the conversation among the numerous guests gathered for lunch swiftly come to an end. He steps to the counter, and is greeted by Doliver Reedbank. They talk for a few minutes, then Roscoe notices that the place has emptied rather quickly. He takes this opportunity to invite the halfling to a meeting at the Hunters' Lodge. Doliver agrees to meet him there at dinner. Roscoe steps outside, and waits around the corner. The departed guests all return inside the inn. Roscoe shakes his head and walks away. This is another reason to implement his plan!
Darelle walks to Nolm Bindery and is greeted by Gerald, who appears to be balancing the books. Something is off, though, and she can't quite put her finger on it. She meets Falandra in the back of the store, and asks her if she's noticed something strange about Gerald. Falandra replies that indeed she has. Gerald has not screwed up anything nor has he destroyed anything of significance in the last month. Darelle shakes this off and invites Falandra to dinner tonight. She agrees to attend.
In the afternoon the Coopers arrive at the Hunters' Lodge. Darelle prepares a sumptuous meal. Daryle patrols the grounds. Roscoe prepares his argument. Around five, the guests begin to arrive. Karlyle is the first one there, followed closely by Falandra and Abernard. Soon, Doliver and his cousin Dunleaf Appletop also cross the bridge. High Mother Sarise Dremagne , head of the Temple of the Golden Key arrives next. This surprises Roscoe, but not as much as the next guest to arrive: Maralictor Wirt! Finally, old Mother Holworth is the last to arrive. There are now seven guests at the Hunters' Lodge.
Roscoe questions Wirt and asks who invited her. Mother Holworth discreetly nods at the group, and Karlyle reveals that he invited her. Wirt may not be loyal to Roscoe, but she appears to be loyal to the people of the Fort. Roscoe then presents his plan, with the hope that the Seven Foxes could take a leadership position. Mother Holworth retorts that they are not willing to stick their neck out at this time in case his plan backfires, but they know some reliable young folks who could step up and fill these roles, with the Seven Foxes remaining in the shadows for the time being. However, Dunleaf adds, they have a condition. Thorne and his various associates and enterprises must be dealt with. Roscoe tells them that Thorne has already lost access to the treasury, and that he is more than willing to deal with his associates if Dunleaf could provide a list of names. Dunleaf agrees to do so. Darelle talks with Dunleaf Appletop about the missing lumber and reports what her sister and her discovered. Dunleaf is pleased that at least the wholesale theft of lumber from Fort Inevitable has been dealt with. Falandra agrees to take a look at the bookkeeping Thorne did while in charge.
Satisfied with their meeting, the Seven Foxes depart. The Coopers return to Fort Inevitable soon after. That very night, Falandra delivers three forged letters to Roscoe.
Sarenith 13, 4712
In the morning, Roscoe requests his top three commanding officers to meet with him, one at a time. Using Falandra's forged letters, he informs them that he has received news from the Hellknight hierarchy that several forts have recently lost their commanding officers, and due to their tireless and devoted services, they are being promoted but most leave immediately. By the end of the day, all three have ridden away. Roscoe's plan has begun!
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