After resting most of a week in the Bulls' base at Westroad, the party handles a few loose ends including collecting a bounty in Larka City for the heads of Demon Ogres, getting Mitu some clothes, conversing with Gorvalyk the Windwalker about Air Emala, and replenishing basic supplies.
Along with Orin Lamir, the party ports to Ordona on the Sea, the site of Orin's home. The party hopes to secure passage on ship bound north to Hrulgaard, and during their stay in Ordona, will be camped at Orin's house.
While some folk relax and recouperate, Rin decides to get involved with a pair of seedy looking gentlemen who appear to be trying to find a fence for some stolen gems, including a sapphire the size of a small plum. Rin meets them, sees the merchandise, and decides to change the plans slightly. Using money secured from the other party members to buy several cut amethysts, Rin offers them the flat cost of the amethysts for everything they have. Readying to fight, he seems to bluff them into compliance, and wanders outside, into two other accomplices. The newcomers launch a volley of bowfire and force Rin to retreat. He takes a circuitous route and thinks he loses them.
During this time, Slip learns that the Red Sun Trading Company, an organization with which he once held close ties, is in town seeking guards for a large freight haul. These traders are not too well disposed toward the young elementalist, who left under dubious circumstances when he fled Mehbt.
Also, Mitu gets quite inebriated for the first time in his life thanks to Orin... who just could not resist the challenge.
That night, everyone beds down quietly, except for Rin. He stays awake and is startled to notice that two men are skulking around the fenceline of Orin's property, looking for someone. Rin sneaks about and sets to ambush them... Slip, being quite a light sleeper, hears the footfalls and hushed chatter of these folk, and awakens. He notes Rin moving behind one of the pair, and slips his blade to the man's throat, holding him immobile under threat of death. Meanwhile, Slip lets loose a bolt of water that catches the other man quite by surprise and leaves him in a crumpled heap, unconscious.
Rin and Slip question the hostage, who informs them that he and his cohort were hired to make a good show of harrying Rin, without actually doing him any serious harm. It was all a ruse to make Rin believe a fine glass forgery was a real Sapphire, that its value was so immense that people whould kill him to reclaim it. In truth, it was nearly worthless, as were half the amethysts. Though Rin's doublecross saved him some money, he still is the worse off for the scam. The two men explain that they are hirelings of the Red Sun Trading Company, paid by the pair of grifters to make a good show while the real culprits escape from town.
Lugh joins the inquiry, having awakened to the sounds of conversation -- and Mitu remains snoring, asleep in a puddle of his own drool. The man does indeed appear to be a hireling of the Red Sun, and as Rin is about to let the man escape with his life, Slip decides to put the man out. He looses another water bolt, fearful that when the guard speaks to his superiors, he'll make mention of an Usho water elementalist in town. Slip is unwilling to draw their attention, and an alternate plan is readied.
The pair are brought to Larka City, and a favor is asked of Commander Kethryn. The pair are to be detained in Larka City for several days, then set free. Kethryn laughs, and quickly concocts a story about a potential health hazard which requires medical examinations and a period of quarantine.
However, Soreiss and Rin (an Mitu initially, though he opted to turn back early on) decide to pursue these grifters using a spell of seeking upon the faux sapphire. They learn quickly that the grifters are travelling by river turtle. They catch up at a small hamlet about 20 miles upriver, and confront the grifters in a dive tavern. Fortunately (or unfortunately), direct conflict is avoided as one of the pair seems quite aware of Soreiss's legend as the flame of Whitefalls. The grifters are convinced to give back the money stolen... and Rin takes a bit extra for good measure.
Later that morning, with everyone back in Ordona, the party asks around about ships bound for Hrulgaard. While many are indeed headed that way, Lugh decides to speak with a the captain of a smaller ship. Captain Ahze is a half-Nohn Luma from Sashmir, a no nonsense kind of fellow who makes it clear that on his ship his word is to be obeyed. However, he offers them a price quote that seems reasonable to Lugh, and the party secures passage on the ship.
The following morning, Captain Ahze and his various passengers leave Ordona, and head out to the open sea, a bit further out than the coastal traderoutes...
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Chapter 13: Session 02
Chapter 13: [Cities of the Dead, Part 1: The Violet Path]
Fleeing the oncoming assault of dragons, Soreiss ports the party back to the crossroads where first they had left off their trail in pursuit of Orin Lamir's path. Rin opts to stay behind and scout, having some suspicions about the heavy spined brambles that grow on all sides of the road. Meanwhile, Soreiss, Lugh, Slip, Kestra, Mitu, Arius, and the soldiers return to the Bulls' base at the town of Westroad.
Wounds are bound and Mitu makes some adjustments to his armor. Soreiss casts a charm of finding on a blade belonging to Orin, hoping it will lead them to him. The seriously wounded are left at base as the remainder promptly return to the trail of Orin through another teleportal gateway of Soreiss's.
There is no sign of Rin upon their return; however, hidden low in the briars is a piece of red cloth. They investigate further, and find that it marks a very large circle of camouflaged wooden planks that hide some kind of tunnel access. The party opts to descend, but realize that the mercenary soldiers will be hard pressed to fight in the much more close quarters tunnels. Yet another teleportation gateway dismisses the mercenaries back to Westroad, with only Kestra remaining to help rescue her leader.
The party believes that Rin has passed through here, and find similarly red-cloth marked passages as they pass. Following the trail set by Rin, and matched by the Finding Charm of Soreiss, the party moves deep into the tunnels and eventually come upon a door, behind which both Slip and Soreiss sense arcane wizardry. Mitu notes that the party wants to get through the door, and takes it upon himself to try and tear it from its hinges.
However, while the big Ogren busts open the door, sundering a wooden bar on the far side, he makes himself an easy target. A bolt of blue-white flame impacts his chest, and Mitu staggers... then loses control for the first time in over a year. He charges into the chamber -- where four armored Ogres are rising to attack, and another, smaller Ogren in fine clothes, is half obscured by a stalagmite while arcane flames dance around his hands. Mitu impacts against a magical barrier just into the chamber... He lunges at it, bursting through it with a mighty swing of his club, and continues forward until colliding with a second barrier that surrounds the smaller Ogren spell caster.
The fight is on, as spells fly and a massive, fiery explosing covers most of the party. The spellcaster taunts Mitu, seemingly able to stymie him at every turn, and distracting him enough for on of the Ogres to land enough hits to knock him cold. Hurt and shaken, the party fights on, forcing the magic slinging Ogren -- who seems quite wary of Soreiss and his odd necromantic aura -- and his Ogre pals onto the defensive. When it seems all is about lost, he disappears...
...and a few minutes later, a projection of his voice seems willing to parlay. The party demands Orin, but the Ogre says that he does not have the man. Instead, he recommends that they seek deeper, to the regions controlled by the giant troll or by the dragons. He adds, the dragons never take prisoners. Since Soreiss's finding charm seems strong, it would indicate that Orin remains alive. Which means the trolls must have the party's friend.
The party agrees not to push any more fighting with the arcanely gifted Ogren or his troops, and in return they are given safe passage though to the deep tunnels.
The party moves steadily through the area, eventually passing once more into an area without troops or guards. The tunnels become quite grisly, smeared with blood and who knows what else, with skulls set here and there in various stony alcoves. They note an occasional red cloth -- Rin is still marking a path that coincides with their own directions. For almost an hour, the party pushes forward, and eventually hear the sounds of rushing water. The passage widens and at the edge of an almost sheer cliff, Rin sits huddled in the corner, gasping for breath and obviously hurt from the lack of plentiful, moving air. Past Rin is a vast chamber into which a trio of waterfalls cascade. Small islands of stone are connected by lashed together bridges far down at the bottom. A steep staircase leads down on this side. At the chambers height is a small aperture through which a faint ray of sunlight streams, and from which what little fresh air that circulates spawns. Dozens of Trolls mill about the islands below.
Most strangely, though, is that this place is a pure Water Node, and Slip feels the boost to his elemental abilities. Rin, they decide, is far too hurt and far too vulnerable down here, and open a gateway for him back to the surface while the rest of the party considers their plans.
Slip and Soreiss note other passages on the chamber's far side, past the various Trolls. Picking the passage that is set roughly in the same direction, Soreiss opens a gateway, and the party translocates just behind the furthest set of visible guards. Knowing the Trolls have keen senses of smell, Kestra decides to keep the chance of their detection to the lowest likelihood and casts a shroud of invisibilty upon the party -- hiding them and their voices. Now the Trolls will have only their senses of smell... and while they do indeed smell something odd, they pick out the Ogre scents and think it is just something from the Ogre band from nearer the surface. However, the party moves quickly down the tunnel, getting away before the Trolls get curious enough to investigate.
This tunnel begins as another grisly path, with skulls (three of which are fresh from the mercenary soldiers) and gore coloring the area. However, this soon ends when the path abruptly turns perfectly smooth. Lugh's affinity with stones reveals this area once was shaped by an earth elementalistm nearly half a millenia ago.
The smooth passage leads into a perfectly round, domed chamber with three other exits. In the center of the room is a posted guard, a troll covered head to toe in gleaming steel scale armor wielding a broad-headed Bardiche. The guard seems vigilant, even canny, which is an unlikely trait for most Trolls. He smells the Ogre scent on the party, and first assumes the Ogren wizard from the shallows was sneaking around again. However, when he catches the scent of humans, he becomes more agitated, intuiting some kind of ruse or betrayel.
Not giving him a chance, Arius and Mitu charge the Troll. Spell casters offer distance support, especially Slip who uses his expanded power to pull the water from the Troll's body, leaving him tired and constantly pained. The fight is short but brutal, leaving all fighters battered and bruised. However, the party is victorious, and Mitu strips off the Troll's armor after Arius decapitates the fallen warrior. They incinerate the body as they look around.
The finding charm is acting strangely, and eventually Lugh points out that the charm is indication that Orin is somewhere below them. In an adjoining chamber, they find the means of opening a hole in the floor, and trigger it. Mitu, Lugh's wolf, Kestra, and Slip all fall down the open chute, with Slip using his water powers to catch himself and Kestra, who seems to flutter down slowly using her magical cape. Mitu and the wolf, however, hit the ground hard almost forty feet below. Arius spikes a rope and climbs down to join them, while Lugh, Slip, and Soreiss follow.
The level of carnage increases, with thousands of bones (and a few wet chunks) littering the floor and pushed up against the walls. More skulls adorn the upper walls, and a red, smoky flame sputters from a short way down the hall...
Lugh senses imbalance and corruption, and both Mitu and the wolf are overcome by the stench of old blood. As the party nears, both Soreiss and Slip can sense faint traces of magic up ahead, the sound of heavy breathing and laughter can be heard by all.
In the chamber a gigantic Troll sits lounging on a makeshift throne. At his feet are a pair of spiny, unnatural looking dogs. Across the chamber is a pair of trolls and a naked, human man spiked to a wooden "X". The man is recognizable as Orin Lamir, though he is covered in blood and large portions of his skin are flayed from his torso. The trolls seem to be torturing Orin at their lord's command.
The massive troll laughs, and tells the party that if they come nearer the man will die.
Lugh tosses Mitu and Arius a potion each, even as the pair are moving quickly ahead without consulting the party. The pair quaffs the potions and turn invisible as Kestra mutters the words to a spell that heightens the physical speed of several people. Mitu grows even more determined when the voice in his head informs him that this massive troll is demonic in nature, and refers to it as Mitu's cousin.
The demon troll does not see Arius and Mitu, but his dogs do. They dogs breath flame, but have little effect on the two warriors. Slip, however, moves forward and into the demon troll's line of sight -- Slip has little time to act before the troll flicks a long, sticklike object his way which turn into a long streak of lightning in mid air. Slip is struck hard and slammed backwards into the wall. The elementalist slumps down, knocked into a coma.
Arius and Mitu strike, barely wounding the demonic creature, who responds by punching Arius hard in the chest with his spiked fist and knocking the young man sprawling. Mitu leaps back as the Troll rises and swings about, lifting the sword that had been leaning next to him on the throne's edge. Mitu harries the demonic Troll, who it turns out is also a product of the Pain Demon, Tolixenos. Arius, who remains on the ground, regains his senses, gasping for breath and waiting for his moment to strike. Soreiss teleports behind Orin, and grabbing him, teleports away again before the Trolls have a chance to kill him. Lugh's wolf squares off with the demon dogs (LORDS OF LIGHT!), and Lugh moves forward to try and take shots at the demon troll. Kestra readies a magical barrier in front of herself, even as Soreiss returns. The pair of wizards use spells to tear chunks from the demon Troll' flesh from a distance. Mitu keeps the bastard distracted, and Arius strikes with blow after blow to the creature's Stomach and Vitals.
The demon's henchmen see Soreiss across the room and begin to chase him around, though he basically ignores them by using his magical defenses to keep out of their reach. Eventually, between Mitu's constant avoidance and taunts, Arius's vital strikes, and the incessant minor damage and distance harrying by the spellcasters, the demon troll is overwhelmed and stunned from a particularly vicious blow.
Lugh's luck takes over, and using one of his cold iron tipped arrows, embeds a shot in the monster's skull. With his death, the demon dogs (LORDS OF LIGHT!) disappear in a plume of flame.
Though Arius, Mitu, and Slip are all seriously wounded, and Kestra and Soreiss are all but exhausted, they turn to face the Trollish henchmen. The pair of trolls look frightened, and in halting Talish, plead "Surrender?". When told to drop their weapons they comply, and are then told to run. A gateway openned by Soreiss returns the party to Westroad, where Orin and Rin both are resting. Lugh binds Arius's wounds, and the young warrior sets about tending to others of the wounded. Mitu and Lugh handle the most seriously wounded, especially Orin, who is the recipient of many applications of healing balm. Everyone passes out, hurt and exhausted, but finally safe.
The party rests their much needed rest...
Fleeing the oncoming assault of dragons, Soreiss ports the party back to the crossroads where first they had left off their trail in pursuit of Orin Lamir's path. Rin opts to stay behind and scout, having some suspicions about the heavy spined brambles that grow on all sides of the road. Meanwhile, Soreiss, Lugh, Slip, Kestra, Mitu, Arius, and the soldiers return to the Bulls' base at the town of Westroad.
Wounds are bound and Mitu makes some adjustments to his armor. Soreiss casts a charm of finding on a blade belonging to Orin, hoping it will lead them to him. The seriously wounded are left at base as the remainder promptly return to the trail of Orin through another teleportal gateway of Soreiss's.
There is no sign of Rin upon their return; however, hidden low in the briars is a piece of red cloth. They investigate further, and find that it marks a very large circle of camouflaged wooden planks that hide some kind of tunnel access. The party opts to descend, but realize that the mercenary soldiers will be hard pressed to fight in the much more close quarters tunnels. Yet another teleportation gateway dismisses the mercenaries back to Westroad, with only Kestra remaining to help rescue her leader.
The party believes that Rin has passed through here, and find similarly red-cloth marked passages as they pass. Following the trail set by Rin, and matched by the Finding Charm of Soreiss, the party moves deep into the tunnels and eventually come upon a door, behind which both Slip and Soreiss sense arcane wizardry. Mitu notes that the party wants to get through the door, and takes it upon himself to try and tear it from its hinges.
However, while the big Ogren busts open the door, sundering a wooden bar on the far side, he makes himself an easy target. A bolt of blue-white flame impacts his chest, and Mitu staggers... then loses control for the first time in over a year. He charges into the chamber -- where four armored Ogres are rising to attack, and another, smaller Ogren in fine clothes, is half obscured by a stalagmite while arcane flames dance around his hands. Mitu impacts against a magical barrier just into the chamber... He lunges at it, bursting through it with a mighty swing of his club, and continues forward until colliding with a second barrier that surrounds the smaller Ogren spell caster.
The fight is on, as spells fly and a massive, fiery explosing covers most of the party. The spellcaster taunts Mitu, seemingly able to stymie him at every turn, and distracting him enough for on of the Ogres to land enough hits to knock him cold. Hurt and shaken, the party fights on, forcing the magic slinging Ogren -- who seems quite wary of Soreiss and his odd necromantic aura -- and his Ogre pals onto the defensive. When it seems all is about lost, he disappears...
...and a few minutes later, a projection of his voice seems willing to parlay. The party demands Orin, but the Ogre says that he does not have the man. Instead, he recommends that they seek deeper, to the regions controlled by the giant troll or by the dragons. He adds, the dragons never take prisoners. Since Soreiss's finding charm seems strong, it would indicate that Orin remains alive. Which means the trolls must have the party's friend.
The party agrees not to push any more fighting with the arcanely gifted Ogren or his troops, and in return they are given safe passage though to the deep tunnels.
The party moves steadily through the area, eventually passing once more into an area without troops or guards. The tunnels become quite grisly, smeared with blood and who knows what else, with skulls set here and there in various stony alcoves. They note an occasional red cloth -- Rin is still marking a path that coincides with their own directions. For almost an hour, the party pushes forward, and eventually hear the sounds of rushing water. The passage widens and at the edge of an almost sheer cliff, Rin sits huddled in the corner, gasping for breath and obviously hurt from the lack of plentiful, moving air. Past Rin is a vast chamber into which a trio of waterfalls cascade. Small islands of stone are connected by lashed together bridges far down at the bottom. A steep staircase leads down on this side. At the chambers height is a small aperture through which a faint ray of sunlight streams, and from which what little fresh air that circulates spawns. Dozens of Trolls mill about the islands below.
Most strangely, though, is that this place is a pure Water Node, and Slip feels the boost to his elemental abilities. Rin, they decide, is far too hurt and far too vulnerable down here, and open a gateway for him back to the surface while the rest of the party considers their plans.
Slip and Soreiss note other passages on the chamber's far side, past the various Trolls. Picking the passage that is set roughly in the same direction, Soreiss opens a gateway, and the party translocates just behind the furthest set of visible guards. Knowing the Trolls have keen senses of smell, Kestra decides to keep the chance of their detection to the lowest likelihood and casts a shroud of invisibilty upon the party -- hiding them and their voices. Now the Trolls will have only their senses of smell... and while they do indeed smell something odd, they pick out the Ogre scents and think it is just something from the Ogre band from nearer the surface. However, the party moves quickly down the tunnel, getting away before the Trolls get curious enough to investigate.
This tunnel begins as another grisly path, with skulls (three of which are fresh from the mercenary soldiers) and gore coloring the area. However, this soon ends when the path abruptly turns perfectly smooth. Lugh's affinity with stones reveals this area once was shaped by an earth elementalistm nearly half a millenia ago.
The smooth passage leads into a perfectly round, domed chamber with three other exits. In the center of the room is a posted guard, a troll covered head to toe in gleaming steel scale armor wielding a broad-headed Bardiche. The guard seems vigilant, even canny, which is an unlikely trait for most Trolls. He smells the Ogre scent on the party, and first assumes the Ogren wizard from the shallows was sneaking around again. However, when he catches the scent of humans, he becomes more agitated, intuiting some kind of ruse or betrayel.
Not giving him a chance, Arius and Mitu charge the Troll. Spell casters offer distance support, especially Slip who uses his expanded power to pull the water from the Troll's body, leaving him tired and constantly pained. The fight is short but brutal, leaving all fighters battered and bruised. However, the party is victorious, and Mitu strips off the Troll's armor after Arius decapitates the fallen warrior. They incinerate the body as they look around.
The finding charm is acting strangely, and eventually Lugh points out that the charm is indication that Orin is somewhere below them. In an adjoining chamber, they find the means of opening a hole in the floor, and trigger it. Mitu, Lugh's wolf, Kestra, and Slip all fall down the open chute, with Slip using his water powers to catch himself and Kestra, who seems to flutter down slowly using her magical cape. Mitu and the wolf, however, hit the ground hard almost forty feet below. Arius spikes a rope and climbs down to join them, while Lugh, Slip, and Soreiss follow.
The level of carnage increases, with thousands of bones (and a few wet chunks) littering the floor and pushed up against the walls. More skulls adorn the upper walls, and a red, smoky flame sputters from a short way down the hall...
Lugh senses imbalance and corruption, and both Mitu and the wolf are overcome by the stench of old blood. As the party nears, both Soreiss and Slip can sense faint traces of magic up ahead, the sound of heavy breathing and laughter can be heard by all.
In the chamber a gigantic Troll sits lounging on a makeshift throne. At his feet are a pair of spiny, unnatural looking dogs. Across the chamber is a pair of trolls and a naked, human man spiked to a wooden "X". The man is recognizable as Orin Lamir, though he is covered in blood and large portions of his skin are flayed from his torso. The trolls seem to be torturing Orin at their lord's command.
The massive troll laughs, and tells the party that if they come nearer the man will die.
Lugh tosses Mitu and Arius a potion each, even as the pair are moving quickly ahead without consulting the party. The pair quaffs the potions and turn invisible as Kestra mutters the words to a spell that heightens the physical speed of several people. Mitu grows even more determined when the voice in his head informs him that this massive troll is demonic in nature, and refers to it as Mitu's cousin.
The demon troll does not see Arius and Mitu, but his dogs do. They dogs breath flame, but have little effect on the two warriors. Slip, however, moves forward and into the demon troll's line of sight -- Slip has little time to act before the troll flicks a long, sticklike object his way which turn into a long streak of lightning in mid air. Slip is struck hard and slammed backwards into the wall. The elementalist slumps down, knocked into a coma.
Arius and Mitu strike, barely wounding the demonic creature, who responds by punching Arius hard in the chest with his spiked fist and knocking the young man sprawling. Mitu leaps back as the Troll rises and swings about, lifting the sword that had been leaning next to him on the throne's edge. Mitu harries the demonic Troll, who it turns out is also a product of the Pain Demon, Tolixenos. Arius, who remains on the ground, regains his senses, gasping for breath and waiting for his moment to strike. Soreiss teleports behind Orin, and grabbing him, teleports away again before the Trolls have a chance to kill him. Lugh's wolf squares off with the demon dogs (LORDS OF LIGHT!), and Lugh moves forward to try and take shots at the demon troll. Kestra readies a magical barrier in front of herself, even as Soreiss returns. The pair of wizards use spells to tear chunks from the demon Troll' flesh from a distance. Mitu keeps the bastard distracted, and Arius strikes with blow after blow to the creature's Stomach and Vitals.
The demon's henchmen see Soreiss across the room and begin to chase him around, though he basically ignores them by using his magical defenses to keep out of their reach. Eventually, between Mitu's constant avoidance and taunts, Arius's vital strikes, and the incessant minor damage and distance harrying by the spellcasters, the demon troll is overwhelmed and stunned from a particularly vicious blow.
Lugh's luck takes over, and using one of his cold iron tipped arrows, embeds a shot in the monster's skull. With his death, the demon dogs (LORDS OF LIGHT!) disappear in a plume of flame.
Though Arius, Mitu, and Slip are all seriously wounded, and Kestra and Soreiss are all but exhausted, they turn to face the Trollish henchmen. The pair of trolls look frightened, and in halting Talish, plead "Surrender?". When told to drop their weapons they comply, and are then told to run. A gateway openned by Soreiss returns the party to Westroad, where Orin and Rin both are resting. Lugh binds Arius's wounds, and the young warrior sets about tending to others of the wounded. Mitu and Lugh handle the most seriously wounded, especially Orin, who is the recipient of many applications of healing balm. Everyone passes out, hurt and exhausted, but finally safe.
The party rests their much needed rest...
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Chapter 13: Session 01
Chapter 13: [Cities of the Dead, Part 1: The Violet Path]
As some of the party spend a final night in Larka City among their friends, Soreiss, Slip, and Rin travel to the Bronze Bull's camp in the Lagragon Wildlands. They hope to find Orin Lamir, leader of this Trollkin hunting band, and secure his aid in their journey to Hruulgard and the Hills of Necropoli.
However, the palisade-walled camp is dotted with fires that blaze barely controlled. Slip extinguishes the remaining fires, and Soreiss learns that Orin has been missing since noon of the previous day. Furthermore, the Trollkin who attacked the camp were exceptionally well outfitted, organized, and seem to have been accompanied by something that seems only too similar to the description of a Dragon.
Slip, Soreiss, and Rin head off in the direction of Orin's patrol's route, with Rin having mixed success in tracking their passage. They find a wall of brambles that would be impassible to horses, and note that the patrol split, a larger portion of the eleven man force heading north. They opt to search in that direction, and find a busy crossroads that has not only the hoof print of the passing horses, but dozens of different, enormous boot prints. Ogres they figure, definitely Ogres. They follow the horse tracks east for only a few dozen yards before they find a dead horse in the road, brought down by half a dozen spears sticking through its flank. Using a bit of necromantic magic, Soreiss sees the last moments of the horse's life -- confirming a sudden ambush of Ogres who seemed to rise up from beneath the briars. They find no more sign of the patrol, and decide to return to camp, relay information, and get help. Slip remains behind at the camp to help put out fires in case of another attack, while Soreiss and Rin travel around reporting information.
Unable to find Lorin and Ruln at the Iron Wolves encampment at the Kinlari Hunt, and unwilling to take the time to search the region around their last posted checkpoint, they head to the Bulls' field office in Westroad and speak to the wizard Kestra. She takes a great deal of interest when the possibility of a dragon is mentioned and she promises that twenty men will be mobilized within two hours time.
During that two hour window, Soreiss and Rin return to Larka City, and speak to their allies in the Boathouse. They wait for Lugh to return from walking his dinner date home, and awaken Arius from his slumber. Mitu is concerned and offers his help, as does Lugh and the young warrior Arius, even though he knows it will get him in trouble come morning. They port to Westroad, and picking up Kestra and the troops, port again to the Lagragon camp.
A battle rages, fires burn on all sides of the camp and the front gate is no more than smouldering cinders. Slip and a handful of soldiers race to extinguish the flames while two large units of men are harrying over a dozen Ogres just beyond the wall. Kestra immediately orders her units to put out the fires and the front gate and join the soldiers outside in fighting the Ogres. She casts a spell of invisibility upon herself as she lifts into the air...
Indeed, about two dozen armed and armored Ogres surround the camp's burning walls, tossing pitch and oil to the flames. Soreiss opens a gateway though the southside of the fort, and Arius is the first through. The young warrior charges the largest and best equipped of the Ogres and nearly cleaves the Trollkin's leg from his groin. A second blow finishes him off in seconds.
Mitu, Soreiss, and Rin all pass through the magical gateway, and joing the battle. Rin leaps about taking attacks where he can find them and avoiding injury by virtue of his speed and mobility. Mitu charges, and knocks an Ogre sprawling to the ground, and then wades into the fray. Soon the big Ogren finds himself trading blows with several of the Ogres. Soreiss is charged by Ogres on sight, but his magical defenses save him until he is forced to take to the air, where he launches mystic bolts of flame at the battling Ogres. Arius cuts a path through the Ogres, focusing on one at a time, except when others seem to be having some trouble. Mitu trades blow for blow with one of the Ogre captains, eventually embedding a spiked club in the captain's head and felling him.
Meanwhile, Lugh remains within the camp and begins to summon a change in the already wet weather. Soon, the drizzle intensifies to a total deluge, thunder crashing and lighting flashing across the sky. Lugh takes to a lookout tower and begins raining lightning down upon the Ogres. His wolf joins Kestra's forces, and begins tripping up some of the Ogres.
Kestra and the Bulls are not faring so well, trading close range missile volleys with the Ogres. Kestra's magics seem to have little effect, until she uses a kind of lightning magic far beyond her normal range of power. Soreiss senses something strange about that power, even from across the battlefield, and knows it did not come from her at all. However, the magic is effective, leaving several Ogres sprawling. One unit of Bulls advances, even as Lugh brings his weather magic to bear upon this cluster of the fighting. Slip also finishes putting out the fires of the camp, and hurling spears of ice, joins Kestra's soldiers.
Arius, Mitu, Rin, and Soreiss soon have the ground littered with dead Ogres. Kestra's forces, while having a slight advantage, still struggle with the remaining handful of attackers. However, with the heavy hitters now able to join them, the remaining Ogres are mopped up in short order... only then do they notice that on cluster of Ogres seems to have fled the battlefield entirely.
As stripping the bodies of the dead commences (and an inventory of the wounded -- 11 wounded, 2 dead), Kestra gets a shocked look on her face. She shouts for Soreiss to open a gateway... and even as he complies, everyone sees the winged, serpentine silhouettes of six dragons advancing quickly from the north...
As some of the party spend a final night in Larka City among their friends, Soreiss, Slip, and Rin travel to the Bronze Bull's camp in the Lagragon Wildlands. They hope to find Orin Lamir, leader of this Trollkin hunting band, and secure his aid in their journey to Hruulgard and the Hills of Necropoli.
However, the palisade-walled camp is dotted with fires that blaze barely controlled. Slip extinguishes the remaining fires, and Soreiss learns that Orin has been missing since noon of the previous day. Furthermore, the Trollkin who attacked the camp were exceptionally well outfitted, organized, and seem to have been accompanied by something that seems only too similar to the description of a Dragon.
Slip, Soreiss, and Rin head off in the direction of Orin's patrol's route, with Rin having mixed success in tracking their passage. They find a wall of brambles that would be impassible to horses, and note that the patrol split, a larger portion of the eleven man force heading north. They opt to search in that direction, and find a busy crossroads that has not only the hoof print of the passing horses, but dozens of different, enormous boot prints. Ogres they figure, definitely Ogres. They follow the horse tracks east for only a few dozen yards before they find a dead horse in the road, brought down by half a dozen spears sticking through its flank. Using a bit of necromantic magic, Soreiss sees the last moments of the horse's life -- confirming a sudden ambush of Ogres who seemed to rise up from beneath the briars. They find no more sign of the patrol, and decide to return to camp, relay information, and get help. Slip remains behind at the camp to help put out fires in case of another attack, while Soreiss and Rin travel around reporting information.
Unable to find Lorin and Ruln at the Iron Wolves encampment at the Kinlari Hunt, and unwilling to take the time to search the region around their last posted checkpoint, they head to the Bulls' field office in Westroad and speak to the wizard Kestra. She takes a great deal of interest when the possibility of a dragon is mentioned and she promises that twenty men will be mobilized within two hours time.
During that two hour window, Soreiss and Rin return to Larka City, and speak to their allies in the Boathouse. They wait for Lugh to return from walking his dinner date home, and awaken Arius from his slumber. Mitu is concerned and offers his help, as does Lugh and the young warrior Arius, even though he knows it will get him in trouble come morning. They port to Westroad, and picking up Kestra and the troops, port again to the Lagragon camp.
A battle rages, fires burn on all sides of the camp and the front gate is no more than smouldering cinders. Slip and a handful of soldiers race to extinguish the flames while two large units of men are harrying over a dozen Ogres just beyond the wall. Kestra immediately orders her units to put out the fires and the front gate and join the soldiers outside in fighting the Ogres. She casts a spell of invisibility upon herself as she lifts into the air...
Indeed, about two dozen armed and armored Ogres surround the camp's burning walls, tossing pitch and oil to the flames. Soreiss opens a gateway though the southside of the fort, and Arius is the first through. The young warrior charges the largest and best equipped of the Ogres and nearly cleaves the Trollkin's leg from his groin. A second blow finishes him off in seconds.
Mitu, Soreiss, and Rin all pass through the magical gateway, and joing the battle. Rin leaps about taking attacks where he can find them and avoiding injury by virtue of his speed and mobility. Mitu charges, and knocks an Ogre sprawling to the ground, and then wades into the fray. Soon the big Ogren finds himself trading blows with several of the Ogres. Soreiss is charged by Ogres on sight, but his magical defenses save him until he is forced to take to the air, where he launches mystic bolts of flame at the battling Ogres. Arius cuts a path through the Ogres, focusing on one at a time, except when others seem to be having some trouble. Mitu trades blow for blow with one of the Ogre captains, eventually embedding a spiked club in the captain's head and felling him.
Meanwhile, Lugh remains within the camp and begins to summon a change in the already wet weather. Soon, the drizzle intensifies to a total deluge, thunder crashing and lighting flashing across the sky. Lugh takes to a lookout tower and begins raining lightning down upon the Ogres. His wolf joins Kestra's forces, and begins tripping up some of the Ogres.
Kestra and the Bulls are not faring so well, trading close range missile volleys with the Ogres. Kestra's magics seem to have little effect, until she uses a kind of lightning magic far beyond her normal range of power. Soreiss senses something strange about that power, even from across the battlefield, and knows it did not come from her at all. However, the magic is effective, leaving several Ogres sprawling. One unit of Bulls advances, even as Lugh brings his weather magic to bear upon this cluster of the fighting. Slip also finishes putting out the fires of the camp, and hurling spears of ice, joins Kestra's soldiers.
Arius, Mitu, Rin, and Soreiss soon have the ground littered with dead Ogres. Kestra's forces, while having a slight advantage, still struggle with the remaining handful of attackers. However, with the heavy hitters now able to join them, the remaining Ogres are mopped up in short order... only then do they notice that on cluster of Ogres seems to have fled the battlefield entirely.
As stripping the bodies of the dead commences (and an inventory of the wounded -- 11 wounded, 2 dead), Kestra gets a shocked look on her face. She shouts for Soreiss to open a gateway... and even as he complies, everyone sees the winged, serpentine silhouettes of six dragons advancing quickly from the north...
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Chapter Break -- End of Chapter 12
Chapter 12 has ended and the party stands at the precipice of greater danger and greater impact upon the events of this cycle of Prophecy. They've drawn more attention from their enemies and proven they are up to the challenge. As they ready themselves for a long journey to northern Kinlara, into Hrulgaard and beyond, into the Hills of Necropoli, let us consider what the party has only recently accomplised. From the tragic to the heroic to the blandly social, their world has definitely begun to change.
Maraianna Taviann has ceased to exist -- indeed, that she ever truly existed at all is in question. An extension of Marika the Dragon, supposedly a heroine of the 2nd Prophecy held in stasis by the Darkweaver until the end times, Maraianna has been returned to where Marika sleeps...
A Flesh Collossus of Calendrabarus has been revealed in the Southern Boneshores, while another remains unaccounted for...
The Crypt Kings have been scattered. Two are dead, and a third has betrayed his order and tossed his lot with the Nendir in a bid for mastery over the undead. The remaining four have disappeared...
Contact has been made to further the attempts to forge a blade from Eog, capable of housing Krosbye's spirit and slaying the Darkdragon, Akur. Oddly enough, the smith who says he can help lives in the very city that bears Krosbye Turwin's name...
Several of the Legendary Artifacts have been discovered, including Thorgrimm's Girdle and the Jeweled Skull of Cahabi...
New allies have been made, most notably the "Warriors Three" -- Caedin Ulnir, Warrin Fynir, and Fartlegoth Bearneck. The Phoenix's seem to have taken an interest in this trio, even as they head to the glass continent to aid the Firelord, Muros, in his quest...
Slip, a water elementalist on the run from the Arcane Council seeks refuge in the party...
Rin, a mysterious man who claims to recieve messages from an owl asserts that he was sent to them...
A Nendir Fleshcrafter was defeated, her floating tower turned to rubble...
Distrust and misunderstandings almost lead to mass conflict within the party...
The groundwork for a united Mercenary Alliance is set, with the Bronze Bulls, Hel's Clan, and the Iron Wolves all amicably disposed toward each other and bound my a mutual hatred of The Company...
Soreiss discovers that he is an incarnation of the Lichelord Athrin Nur, locked in a game of existence and self-sovereignty...
And the Kinlari Hunt has been abandoned, left in the hands of others to resolve as they see fit. They party realizes that they have more important tasks to attend than the violent intricacies of Vampire politics...
Maraianna Taviann has ceased to exist -- indeed, that she ever truly existed at all is in question. An extension of Marika the Dragon, supposedly a heroine of the 2nd Prophecy held in stasis by the Darkweaver until the end times, Maraianna has been returned to where Marika sleeps...
A Flesh Collossus of Calendrabarus has been revealed in the Southern Boneshores, while another remains unaccounted for...
The Crypt Kings have been scattered. Two are dead, and a third has betrayed his order and tossed his lot with the Nendir in a bid for mastery over the undead. The remaining four have disappeared...
Contact has been made to further the attempts to forge a blade from Eog, capable of housing Krosbye's spirit and slaying the Darkdragon, Akur. Oddly enough, the smith who says he can help lives in the very city that bears Krosbye Turwin's name...
Several of the Legendary Artifacts have been discovered, including Thorgrimm's Girdle and the Jeweled Skull of Cahabi...
New allies have been made, most notably the "Warriors Three" -- Caedin Ulnir, Warrin Fynir, and Fartlegoth Bearneck. The Phoenix's seem to have taken an interest in this trio, even as they head to the glass continent to aid the Firelord, Muros, in his quest...
Slip, a water elementalist on the run from the Arcane Council seeks refuge in the party...
Rin, a mysterious man who claims to recieve messages from an owl asserts that he was sent to them...
A Nendir Fleshcrafter was defeated, her floating tower turned to rubble...
Distrust and misunderstandings almost lead to mass conflict within the party...
The groundwork for a united Mercenary Alliance is set, with the Bronze Bulls, Hel's Clan, and the Iron Wolves all amicably disposed toward each other and bound my a mutual hatred of The Company...
Soreiss discovers that he is an incarnation of the Lichelord Athrin Nur, locked in a game of existence and self-sovereignty...
And the Kinlari Hunt has been abandoned, left in the hands of others to resolve as they see fit. They party realizes that they have more important tasks to attend than the violent intricacies of Vampire politics...
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