Conquering the Barbarian Altanis: Session 56
Adventurers
| Character | Class | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Marston Dangon | Magic-User level 1 | A tall man engulfed by large cloak with broad, stuffed shoulder pads. Hundreds of sewn fireflies make his cloak look alive. |
| Darrad | Cleric level 1 | A cleric of Pernatem, God of Sculptures, is a well sculpted man himself with long brow beard, slicked dark hair, and imposing frame. |
| Brent Goose | Cleric level 4 | An eccentric, but charismatic, cleric seeking the Holy Bird. White robes and black cloak conceal his tall, frail and anemic frame. His eagle-like nose is exposed for all to see. |
| Hedwig Hogwarts | Elf level 2 | An always alert owl masquerading as an elf. |
Goodgrove 1st, Airday
“We should go back to that tower.”
“Yeah, it was full of treasure.”
Having rested for a week, some of the adventurers were itching for a new adventure.
Brent Goose spent his time proselytising, telling stories about great heroes and great cities and how Kadrim aided them with small birds. The God of Small Birds is very well known for granting boons in form of small gestures that made great impacts.
Gestures such as going silent to warn travelers/hunters of dangers and spreading food and abundance through the winds along with spirits of the wind. The cleric leveraged his affinity towards birds, as well as Speak with Animals spell to have them gather around him and chirp in unison as he built small birds nests.
Not by accident, Brent preached in the most well off parts of Hara. Oh, and has it paid off handsomely.
His sermons attracted more and more people. Whomever disturbed was shooed away by the guards—they too were captivated with Brent's displays of piety and good nature.
On the fourth day of his procession, a young woman came to him and kisses his hand. She was utterly bedazzled with the cleric's divinity. Her name was Sara Pilter, fourth daughter of Mihajlo Pilter, the head of Pilter family.
“Pick a spot preacher, pick it, and we shall build a grand fountain there! With bird nests, and benches, so people can gather around you and hear the wise words of Kadrim!”
Edimus Gorgon spent his week gathering rumours at the Partihouse, the palace of vile debauchery. This is what he learned: “We heard yo mamma is so ugly you worship Pernatem just so you could sculpt something that doesn't look like a mix of a boar and a whale!” What happened next is best left unwritten.
Marston the Humble sought an apprentice, that'd ideally work for free. He picked the most trafficked spot—after all, he deserves the grandest audience—the main market square. Of course, we will gloss over the fact they are captive audience, since most of them are there to do work.
The wizard told fantastic stories of his great arcane exploits and powers. Once he judged he gathered a group of respectable size, he finished his story by throwing a stone into the air and blasting it with a Magic Missile.
At least that's the story he tells. The locals will tell you of a guy in oversized robe throwing pebble at people and then hitting the Temple of Forsetti with a glowing orb. He was promptly chased away by the clerics and angry crowd.
Now, Marston's display wasn't for naught. A young man with the constitution of an adult brick approached the wizard, seeking to teach him “magik.” His name was Rockhill. Marston bought him a sword and plate mail, scrapped arcane-looking symbols on them, and convinced his new apprentice they are enchanted.
“Master, this does not look like a Wizard's staff?”
“My young apprentice, you must be able to swing a sword before you may sling a spell. Besides that is the blade of Resolute Fortune, a very powerful enchanted blade I created myself.”
“You may keep your excellent wand and use it when I deem you worthy of learning sorcery but for now please stick to the sword.” The wand being a club owned by Rockhill.
Tangay Of The Seven Stars, the new headmasters of Hara's wizard guild, grudgingly allowed Rashomon and Lyffed access to the Guild's arcane library and workshop. Using obscene amounts of gold, a well known lubricant, Rashomon also convinced the man to teach him the Sleep spell.
The female owlelf Hedwig spent her week mapping and exploring Hara. She created a detailed map and marked all the locales. It's important to say that she hasn't seen all of them in person, in fact, most were based on what people had told her.
Either way, a decision had been made to revisit the ruined tower to extract more of its treasure. The adventuring party consisted of:
- Marston Dangon, his wardog Danny, and his apprentice Rockhill.
- Darrad, a newly recruited cleric of Pernatem. Nearly as brickish as Rockhill.
- Brent Goose, and a hand-picked follower he had named Scuttle Dinglehopper.
- Hedwig Hogwarts, eager to return to the tower once more.
The party had reached the tower by the end of the day. They made camp, shared some stories, and slept firmly.
Goodgrove 2nd, Waterday
Down they went with the first rays of sun.
“Let's explore that secret passageway.”
Following it led into a large chamber, fifty by fifty feet. Hedwig hugged the walls as she moved around.
“Hey, I've seen what happened to that other guys last week!”
There was nothing of interest in this room, besides an arched exit on the north side. Now that passage opened up in a more interesting chamber. This one was a rectangular room fifty feet wide and thirty feet deep.
Two lines of fluted columns ran along the full width of the chamber. Two huge iron pendulums were slowly swinging from side to side. There were three doors: in south-west corner, north-west corner, and north-east corner. Brent and Scuttle watched guard by the archway while others examined the chamber with pendulums.
Although big and obviously heavy, the swinging weights were easy to avoid with proper timing. Darrad heard human-like voices coming from the south-west doors. Naturally, the party lined up by the doors and went it.
Except they didn't.
The doors didn't budge.
The voices stopped.
“We come in peace.”
“What do you want?”
“Who are you?”
“We are resting here.”
“Please don't hurt us.”
“We won't if you don't hurt us.”
“Deal.”
“Deal.”
At that moment Scuttle turned to his master, point at three gigantic boring beetles rolling out of the darkness. Marston sent in Danny and fired of a magic missile. He also sent forth Rockhill, “to cast a Magic Missile up close.” Other warriors formed a line.
One of the beetles bit Danny in half. The dog's whelps were brief. Aforementioned line of warriors dissolved with great haste as they all retreated into the pendulum swinging room.
“Go for the north doors! Go!”
Iron balls might've been too slow for the adventurers, but they sure weren't for the beetles. Alas, they seemed to simply bounce off of each hit. Rockhill tripped, and one of the giant insects penetrated his lower regions.
“Ouch! Master, it hurts! Master, please save me with your great magik! Master!”
The last thing he witnessed in his troubled life was his Master fleeing through the north doors, shutting them behind him.
Party found themselves in a thirty by thirty chamber. Closest doors were to their left. Behind them a corridor turning into a T-shaped junction. A chest on an plinth to their right, another twisting corridor to their left.
“Na-uh, that's trapped.”
“I know.”
Marston and Darrad left behind to play with the chest. The rest moved on, exploring the labyrinthine corridors for several hundred feet.
“Cast Knock on it.”
“Like this?”
Darrad hit the lock with his trusted weapon. Several times. That did the trick. Then he grabbed a maroon- and emerald-coloured silk pouches. The duo rushed to reconnect with others.
“Nooo!”
Scuttle Dinglehopper just got speared into the stomach by a blue goblinoid creature with oversized head and ridiculous unibrow.
“Will... will the birds carry my soul to the Great After?” the boy uttered with his last breath. The answer was drowned out by sounds of battle as the adventurers massacred four cobalt-blue creatures.
Hedwig decapitated one with her two-handed sword, two were burned to death by Marston, and last one was caught in the Hedwig & Brent murder combo.
“We should head back.”
Brent Goose gingerly picked up the corpse of his follower, and carried it for the remainder of his time in the dungeon. Good followers deserve proper burial rites; not to be left to rot in a long abandoned place.
The party followed another corridor, taking an educated guess it might loop back into the camber with pendulums. And they were right!
What they did not expect to see are Hawkwerth and Oldham the Stormy, and two other unfamiliar men.
Three giant beetle corpses were now in the room, two of them obviously crushed to death by pendulums. The remaining one was full of arrows. Yes, the men they just ran into were sporting short-bows, and were standing just by the south-west doors.
“What are you doing here?”
“What?! Cleaning up your mess!”
“Uh, this wasn't us.”
“No?! How many people do you exactly think pass though here?!”
“OK, it might've been us.”
“Now, look what happened! They interrupted our rest!”
“Hey, how about this coin for your troubles...”
The party had exited the dungeon uninterrupted.
Brent found a solemn place to bury Scuttle. Little birds sung a beautiful, melancholic melody.
“Would you like me to say a few words for Rockhill, as well?”
“Who? OOOH! I forgot about him!”
“Never mind then.”
The party reached Hara by mid-day of Goodgrove 3rd, Earthday.
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