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Hints of the Past and Future

Page history last edited by PBworks 15 years, 7 months ago

September 2, 2008

From the Log of Sereck:

Glenmaple in the morning is a bustling place, even with overcast skies. As I wander through the merchant area, farmers are selling food while craftsman are selling all manner of tool and weapon. The recent information provided by our group must have created a large demand for weapons, for I see many a vendor with items up for sale. All of the mundane variety, but good enough for appearance to ward off a lone goblin I suppose.

I still get the occasional stare as I wander though the street, dragonborn not being as common as the human folk in the city. I ponder the large amount of my ancestor’s ruins in the area yet the total lack of my kind; it is indeed a mystery that I would like to look into. Kernosh is not the only one interested in our kinds past.

I hear my name called out from in front of a small tavern, “Sereck, over here,” as I see Duncan waving his arms. The rest of the party has already arrived, and as usual, somehow I am the last one to the group. The scales on my forehead crinkle in frustration; I was arriving early after all. As I arrive, Orrin is accounting something he overheard.

“And the rumor is that there is a tower set up along the river to the north by an undead fellow. Came from a whole city-state run by the undead they say. Talk is nobody has seen it, but the rumor persists it’s north along the river.”

“That would be interesting to find,” comments Duncan as he idly adjusts his swords.

“Well, I am not looking forward to taking on a group of forty goblins, hobgoblins, and human followers of Bane all at the same time,” said Kernosh, “So, until that group either spreads out or becomes more of a problem, I wouldn’t mind heading north for a while.”

“Hmmm, maybe we could see about providing protection for a caravan headed that way.”

I decided that sounded like a good idea, and it made me think of another one, “what if we find people that need deliveries up north. We could travel to Longmaple and carry their messages and such for a fee. Easy money, plus we get to explore to the north.”

“Easy money,” said Orrin, “I like the sound of that.” Orrin was suddenly smiling at the thought. At least he was easy to figure out. Kernosh was also nodding his head in agreement. “That does sound like a good idea. It would allow us to increase our knowledge of the area, and make more friends of the merchants. Alright, lets see what kind of business we can get.”

We divided into two small groups and made our way though the market. It didn’t take long to find people eager to engage our services. Of course, they were all fairly cautious and only wanted to give payment on the return trip or have the receiving party pay. Apparently, even with out recent accomplishments, merchants still did not want to part with their money easily.

About an hour later we all regroup. Combining the items, we end up with nearly four pounds of letters and small missive’s to deliver to Longmaple. The group as a whole is upbeat about the seemingly simple quest. Saddling up our mounts and leaving town, everyone was in good sprits, and a jovial melody could be heard by a local bard as we departed the north gate, a good omen in deed.

The mood lasted all of fifteen minutes, before the overcast clouds proceeded to release a steady stream of water. Within minutes, the temperature dropped and we were all soaked. As we road on, the miserable drizzle continued, reminding all of us that this wasn’t a happy ride of friends along the river but instead a mission to deliver goods…for me at least, the illusion was broken.

Eventually, we came to an area full of hills rising along the riverbank. For a moment, I thought I saw movement. Riding in the rear of the party, it seems I am the only one that noticed the movement. I move up to Duncan and get his attention.

“Duncan, I thought I saw something ahead, movement of some sort, I’m not certain what.”

Duncan grunts in reply, and moves along to the front, suddenly in full battle mode. The group stops and dismounts, as everyone scans the hills ahead.

“Yes,” says Orrin, “I definitely see something moving along the hill over there, I just can’t make out what. I think we should check it out.”

“Agreed,” says Kernosh, getting nods from the rest of the group at his decision. As we move forward, the ground under our feet becomes wet and pliable. It’s as if we suddenly walked into a swamp instead of an area between some hills. Duncan reaches down and pushes on the wet earth. “It’s not quicksand or a variant of that. But look how odd the water is pooling over there, this doesn’t look right.” We all watch as Duncan continues his close examination of the ground. He motions for us to stay as he trots off to the edge of the wet area and comes back, a confused look on his dwarven face. “It’s very odd. There aren’t a lot of animal tracks, and I find no sign or spore of either rabbit or squirrel, although they are plentiful just a few hundred yards back the way we came.”

We all listen to this information and again look back at the hill. Both Orrin and Duncan can see movement at the base of the hill, and describe to us that the area seems to be covered in dirt instead of grass. “Look,” exclaims Orrin, “it’s like small earth avalanche, something must be moving over there.”

In tandem, Orrin and Ducan nod to each other and head out to investigate, throwing their reigns to Kernosh and I. Apparently, they don’t want my armor announcing their approach.

Kernosh, watching the group finally turns to me and says “they are too far ahead, let us tie the horses here and go catch up. Otherwise, if they run into trouble, they are too far away for us to help.” I merely nod in agreement and proceed to follow Kernosh towards our two scouts. We don’t even bother to be sneaky, and as the two stealthy members of our group reach the top of the hill, we also crest it. The momentary looks of anger on the two are enough to tell me they aren’t happy at our approach.

“We were doing fine on our own you know,” comments Orrin.

“You were too far away. What have you found?” answers Kernosh.

“Nothing. This hill is odd though, look at the ground,” says Duncan.

Kernosh does look, as he kicks the loose dirt around. He then pulls out his sword and pushes it easily into the ground all the way up to the hilt. “That’s very odd, it’s as if there isn’t anything underneath my sword at all, like this hill is hollow.” He had just pulled his sword out of the ground when suddenly it erupted in a shower of dirt.

What came up out of the ground was a monster from a campfire story. The two creatures looked like giant snakes, but instead of having a head the things split into four tentacles with a large beaked mouth at it’s center of the four. The creatures were large, easily two-hundred pounds, and blue. I had never seen a Grick before, but they were easily recognized based on stories I had heard. And I had heard they were hard to kill. So, without hesitation, I moved up and attacked the closest of the monsters. I swing my axe over my head as if I’m cutting wood and drive it into the creature. Stunned, the creature misses me as the second Grick attacks Kernosh with a vicious bite from the beak. Duncan attacks and hits, as does Orrin as he sneaks in behind and easily stabs at the large creature. Kernosh responds in kind with a solid strike with his longsword. The creature suddenly screams in a cacophony of pain as the sound reverberates through the group. Kernosh was hit the hardest with the sonic attack as he begins to sway unsteadily on his feet. Knowing the danger, but realizing we need his blade in this fight, I pull back from the Grick I’m fighting and rush to Kernosh’s aid. But in my haste, the beak reaches out and manages to bite me as I back away. Worse yet, the other Grick manages to bite me as well as I approach. Still, I am the one in plate, and I take the punishment even as I heal Kernosh. The others all attack again in unison, striking the snake like creatures. But I have apparently upset both of them, as the one slithers out of the hole in the ground and around, manages to get behind me and attacks. It’s a devastating attack, and this time it’s Kernosh that buys me time to heal myself. The creatures don’t even look as if they are bloodied yet, as Duncan moves up and performs his twin-strike attack, managing to critically wound the one Grick. Kernosh then attacks with such violence that Duncan is able to get another quick attack in. I glance at our forth member and see Orrin dancing around behind the Gricks, taking one and then another attack at the snakes. As one turns to attack him I see him shimmer in mid air and then appear behind the other Grick as he stabs that one from behind. He phase stepped to attack, brilliant!

Feeling confident watching the others, I manage to concentrate and perform my daily attack, bloodying the grick in front of me with a solid hit with my axe. Both of them still think I’m the biggest threat and again attack. I am dizzied from their onslaught, as I stumble in place. Tentacles and beaks hitting me from both front and behind as the two attack in unison. Again Duncan manages to hit the creatures twice, as a haze fills my vision. From Orrin I only see flashes of movement from his constantly moving attacks. Then, a sudden clarity fills my eyes, as Kernosh again helps me clear my head. But it’s a momentary thing, as both attack and I feel my life blood oozing out of me. Just as I begin to think I won’t make it, I witness the dwarf, swords glistening in Grick blood, swinging back and fourth through a suddenly very dead Grick. One is down. I turn to face the second one, but before I can even get turned around, Kernosh swings deep and under the tentacles, removing them from the rest of the Gricks body and flinging them over ten feet away. The suddenly lifeless Grick fountains blood out of its snake like stump, then falls to the ground leaking blood into the loose soil.

I step back from the battle area and tend my wounds. That was yet another close call; this is really becoming a very bad habit. When I look up, I see Duncan holding and whipping blood off a new battleaxe. The Grick that he had chopped into pieces had actually swallowed a battleaxe? What were these things? As the early afternoon light trickles through the clouds, I can see flames on the black handle of the bronze looking axe. Duncan had a smile across his entire face; I wasn’t even going to bother trying to contest that new toy.

Meanwhile, while this was going on the other two members of the team had managed to find an opening in the ground. I didn’t really feel like crawling down a snake hole, and said as much.

“It’s not a Grick hole, it’s a foundation to a rather large house. At least 15’x15’ room under the dirt. Although I don’t see any stairs down,” answered Orrin. A story drifts to my memory of a Kobold and a pie…

We all move over to look inside. He is correct; this is no cave or snake hole. The area is lined with inlaid brick floors and walls. It’s about a ten foot drop down into the newly discovered basement.

“I bet I could climb down there, but getting back up…”comments Orrin out loud as he’s thinking.

“Oh, I could pull you up. Or myself and one other from the group. You really want to climb down in there and look around?” I ask of Orrin. But he has that look on his face again. He’s looking for treasure.

I notice that as I’m asking, he is already tying rope around his waist.

He really does climb down fairly easily, and pulls out one of his glow torches as he begins to look around. “Ugh, this place smells of mildew and wet feet. Wait, there is something that looks like dragonborn script on the walls down here.” Yells back Orrin. That is all it takes to get Kernosh’s attention, as he promptly jumps into the opening and goes over to the script pointed to by Orrin.

Duncan looks at me and comments “I guess we will pull them both up.” I just smile in reply.

“Funny, it looks like graffiti. I was expecting something like on the temple we found. I bet this was another remnant of an old dragonborne settlement, this could be the work of kids.” Calls out Kernosh after looking at the script on the walls.”The rest of this place looks empty,” he continues.

“Are you ready to come out then?” I call down to the two.

“No, not just yet. I could swear the outside hill was larger than this room. If that is the case, then there might be a secret door or something over here on this side, I just can’t find it,” says Orrin, as he moves out of my sight towards the far wall. Kernosh, hearing his call, moves over to assist in the search. I can hear the sound of tapping as they examine the wall, and suddenly a sliding, as if a brick was pulled out. The next sound is that of a very loud sliding and the hissing of air, as I hear Orrin exclaim “jackpot” as he opens up a hidden door.

“Well, I bet Sereck will want this,” says Kernosh. My curiosity peeked, I stick my head into the opening and look. The two are within a small room. Most of the stuff in the glow-light is in taters as they have been ruined by time and the elements. But, what is most amazing is the crystal armor, as it is reflecting and illuminating the room. It looks old, and is in the shape of dragonborn plate. I suddenly agree with Kernosh’s assessment. I see Orrin grab up a leather suit and possibly a dagger and short-sword as he walks back to the opening. Kernosh places the armor in a bag and moves over, and we pull the two out of the hole.

The plate he lays out is indeed made of crystal, and shines brightly in the meager light showing through the clouds. I recognize draconic symbols and the phrase “exalted.” I am suddenly very glad we took the time to inspect the hills.

The story continues from the Journal of Orrin Derrikkross...

Having found such wounderous pieces, my thoughts turn to the other hills in this area and the possibility of more treasure. Kernosh believes there is too much movement one of the hills and he bets there are more of those creatures. I suggest a closer look at one of the quiet hills might lead us to more treasure. As we explore it, my hopes are rallied at the discovery of a stone floor. More expensive construction to include a stone floor, and not simple wood must mean more expensive trasure. We make quick work out of mapping the stone floor under the overgrowth and discover a stone hatch in a corner. The opened hatch revealed five Grik eggs, and Kernosh thinks perhaps they might be worth 10 gold each. Seems to be an easy choice as no Griks are in site. As it turns out, the eggs were old, worthless, and hiding a burrowing hole from which sprang two Griks. Kernosh quickly climbed out and I step up and out as quickly as I can, and Sereck closed the stone door over the Griks. That did not stop them, unfortunately, and they burst through the stone floor in pursuit. I was not as quick as the others, and one of the Griks caught me and ripped me up in short order, while the other Grik apparently lost interest. As we kill the Grik that attacked me, it becomes clear that the other one didn't lose interest, but instead went for reinforcements. We mount up and ride off fast, choosing to fight another day. I mark the spot in my memory as it seems to be a place we should return...

After we ride a distance off, we make camp and take watches. On Kernosh's watch, I come out of my trance when he calls my name. Silently, I move to him as I catch glimpse of movement in the tall grass. Kernosh saw something move but was having trouble seeing it. As I help locate whatever it was, the scene must have been comical. We were chasing movement here and there for an eternity before I was able to catch it. It turned out to be an Invisible Fairy just over a foot tall. He had ample opportunity to attack, but didn't and that is interesting. We ask him a bit about himself and he says he would rather work for me or my kind because he isn't treated very well by Famorian (I'm uncertain if that is a name or a race...should have asked...) who has his talisman and hold him in servitude. Famorian is having him scout ahead, and is working with the Tyrant Humans (Bane followers?) because they seek to cross over from the Feywild. As he is ready to leave, I ask him his name and after thinking hard about it, he tells me it is Somaet. Perhaps with his name, I can call out to him in the future...hmm.

Despite the tragedy of it, "You'd think we could spot a burning village by now" comes from Kernosh and the smoke rising in the distance brings a quake to my stomach. We move quickly ahead, and I move quietly ahead to the village alone. I see the back of a Fey who is peering into some kind of portal into a fiery pit of despair. With a wave of his hand, the Fey closes the portal and walks away. I quietly follow along to see a group of eight Bane followers and the Fay, and hear a conversation between the Fey and a Human in full plate with a Bane holy symbol etched into it:

Human in Plate - Is this going to work?
Fey - It appears your calculations were correct.
Human in Plate - How many?
Fey - 200 more sacrifices are necessary
Human in Plate - That will take another month.
Fey - If we go too fast, it won't work
Human in Plate - Bane wants to be let loose on this world. Will you meet us at the next place?
Fey - Despite everything our bargain still stands. (He leaves)

Human Mage - Maybe I can figure out how to use the weapon.
Human in Plate - "Maybe" isn't good enough...the books says the Fey will help and we're sticking to the plan.
Human Mage - Maybe we can get the Goblins to take 10 more prisoners in the nearby villages.

They finish their conversation as I slip away to inform the others. Trouble is coming...sooner or later...

Cabal's Log

It was midmorning before Cabal woke up. Groggy and grumpy, he stomped down the stairs and gruffly demanded food from the innkeeper. A few minutes later, one of the serving girls brought him a bowl. Mere seconds after that, Cabal was wearing his food with a nice red handprint across his face to accessorize. He didn't even remember what he'd said...something about wenches, probably. Oh, well, it didn't matter. A few flourishes with the bowl and the food that wasn't on the floor or bench was returned to the bowl, where Cabal could enjoy it properly.

Bloody rituals. They were exhausting, especially those enchantment ones. Those three scrolls had contained a lot of magic power; they'd enabled him to enchant items without any magic components. That was a lot more magic power than he was used to channelling; particularly after the third one. He'd wearily stumbled out of his room, down to Kernosh's, banged on the door, dropped the items in the dragonborn's general direction, then staggered back to collapse in bed. That was yesterday morning, and he'd been asleep ever since.

They must have left without him. There was a scribbled, barely legible draconic note from Kernosh saying they'd gone north on a fairly routine delivery and that he should join them when done. Cabal wondered if dragonborn were capable of being more than just barely literate. Brutes.

Cabal returned to his room, washed up and went down to the stable. In a bit of a better mood, he tossed a couple of copper at the serving girl without so much as a word. To the stable, onto his horse and out the village went Cabal, ambling north with a book balanced on the pommel of his saddle.