Captured

February 20, 2007

The group gets the items identified by Tabra that they recovered from the temple. Then, they take some time off.

During this time, Victor gets the rangers with whom he trained and they watch the brothers from his monastery. He doesn't see too much suspicious or wrong, pretty much confirming his thoughts that not everyone is corrupt or was behind what happened. After getting a sense of what was happening in the area, after several tendays, he heads back to Arabel.

Eric spends a lot of time at the temple of Helm, learning more about the doctrines of Helm and thinking that he has found the correct god for himself. He hires himself out through the temple several times and does well. He also watches the noble that was the other suitor several times to get a feel for what he is like. The other suitor is a mover and shaker. He attends parties at noble houses, goes to the expensive and exclusive fest halls and knows a lot of important and powerful people. Further, he usually is in the company of two or three other nobles. There are even some bodyguards.

Reece has spent a lot of time studying and a lot of time with Tabra. At first, he wasn't sure he would be interested in a relationship with her, but when she was interested, he pursued it. So far, things have gone well. He also learned a new kind of magic for himself during this time. He hasn't had much time to put it in practice but he at least knows it.

Duece spent the first few days learning about the amulet. Tabra suggested a wizard in town named Theavos and he went to him to ask about it. It turns out it is a holy symbol to Shar. Duece was not happy about that and it explained a lot, as well as why sometimes his magic wasn't very effective or consistent. He asked if Theavos would be willing to buy it for a ruby, which would work in his new bow, and Theavos said yes but it would take several days for him to get it. During this time, Duece studied magic more and more and got more and more nervous. The day before he was to sell it, a fire happened in the boarding house and Duece barely left. He had to grab the amulet and valuables before doing so. Fortunately, it was put out easily. That night, the owners put on a party that the fire wasn't terrible and Duece didn't go. It sounded like fun but he was too nervous about getting rid of the amulet. The next day, he took it to Theavos' and they exchanged items and Duece felt better. He felt so good, that he went and pick pocketed. He only got some copper and a crappy feast knife and almost took it back and yelled at the guy to have better stuff! He didn't even keep it.

Duece went out twice more to the market to rob people. He robbed a servant paying his master's debts and got another feast knife and some gold trade bars. Quite unexpected! And this feast knife was much nicer! So, a week later, he went to the market and again waited for a good mark. Again he found a servant paying his master's debts and robbed him. He got some coin and a very ornate chest. It was carved out of malachite and inlaid with silver. He was curious but put it away and went to the tavern near the boarding house.

When he arrived, the others were already there, talking and having a meal. He went and joined them, talking about the chest he found. He was entranced with it. When Tabra joined them, he asked her about it and she said it looked like the component of a secret chest spell. It allows the owner to have a real sized chest nearby but only have to carry the smaller version. Duece got that gleam in his eye and excused himself from the table, mumbling something to the others.

Duece goes back to his room and calls forth the big chest. When the monster of a chest appears, Duece gets to work looking at it. He disarms the trap and opens the lock. He throws open the lid, unable to contain his excitement.

Brandon stands up from within the chest, shadows pouring away from him. "I cannot believe how easily you fell for this trap."

Duece was so shocked that Brandon is able to cast a spell. A black ray hits Duece, sapping some of his energy. Brandon then says a command word and a ring glows while the wooden door and shutters swell and fill their openings, blocking any escape. Duece is still trying to recover as Brandon then calmly steps out of the chest, readying a mace. Duece grabs his bow and manages to put the ruby in and fire a flaming shot, aiming for Brandon's head. Brandon casually turns his head and it bounces off his skull helm, barely hurting him. Before Duece can do more, Brandon steps up and slams him in the chest with his mace, nearly knocking him over. Brandon follows up with a jab to the stomach, knocking Duece's breath out. Brandon then lets the mace drop, almost to the floor, and then brings it up into Duece's jaw. Duece flies up and lands hard on the bed. As everything goes black, he sees Brandon smile.

Meanwhile, the others are having a fine time at the tavern. Tabra keeps trying to get the normally taciturn Victor to speak about himself. She also talks about how the Netherese servants are doing well. The mayor of Arabel is looking out for them, so she isn't worried about them anymore. As time passes and Duece hasn't come back, Reece wonders about him but gets pulled back into the conversation. Soon, they all head to bed.

The next morning, Reece goes looking for Duece so they can all meet up. That's when Reece notices the door and he gets everyone. They break in and find the signs of battle in the room and the open chest. After finding some teeth of Duece's, Tabra grabs washing bowl and pours some quicksilver from a pouch into it. She then intones some words of power over the bowl, asking the others to come closer and think of Duece. A picture forms in the bowl of Duece, bruised a bit, chained up and naked in a cell. They manage to wake him up and talk to him. Duece tells them what happened to him and yells for them to get him out of there. Unfortunately, he has no idea where he is. The room has a window and light is coming from it but that's about all he knows.

As they are talking, Duece hears footsteps and warns the others. Reece tells the others to be quiet as Brandon opens the door and enters. He taunts Duece, saying that he has taken care of him and healed his wounds. "You have to be ready for the ceremony." Duece doesn't like the sound of that. Eric then yells that they will stop him before it happens. Brandon turns and sees the scrying point and says they had better hurry, for the ceremony would be soon. He then leaves and locks the door. The others say they are on their way and Duece feels alone as the scry ends.

The others grab Duece's things, put them in the chest and have it disappear again. They talk about how to find him and what to do and get to it.

Notes

• We talked a bit about the game mechanics and how it was working. I will post that more on the page where I talk about Alternity.
• I told them of my idea for the campaign. The idea is that they are stopping a plot by the city of Shade. It involves what happened at Tilverton and will hopefully end with them stopping an attack on Cormyr, in retribution for Cormyr helping stop Shade's plans. I wanted them to know so that they can use that knowledge to move their characters in that direction. I got a lot of good feedback from this, including that it wasn't obvious this was what I had been doing. It is really going to help me.
• I think I have almost learned how much the players look for an adventure. They don't want to be able to go anywhere. They want the illusion that they can go anywhere but otherwise, they just want an adventure. I have been GMing for a long time and I still don't remember that.
• It was interesting because the fight wasn't much of one. Duece is very good with his bow, making many good called shots, including this one to Brandon's head, but Brandon was too well armored to hurt. Further, he got three actions in a row, which brought Duece down.
• The other players couldn't help but laugh when Duece was attacked. They kept trying to find ways that they might go help in character but couldn't. So, they pretty much sat there and enjoyed themselves, much to Duece's player's chagrin.
• I don't know if it still happens but I remember reading that the scry spells in DND make an obvious point where it is looking. At first, I had it be an eye and ear but then had the stone on the cell form a face. That's what Brandon saw when he looked at them.