Sometime Before:
Garren, feeling a bit queasy after his friends left, suddenly threw up yet again. "Raaallllllllphhh." Ewwwww, ah, that's a relief. Suddenly feeling much better, and knowing the worst was over, he got up and began to make preparations to follow his friends. If he hurried, he figured he could catch them before they got too far.
This was a pain, she knew, as she walked away from the docks with her traveling companion, Trekken. She looked at him. A large man, this holy warrior of Thor's, and he got on her nerves a lot, but she was glad she was not alone in this new city. Trekken led his new horse as he followed her. Watching her from behind gave him comfort for he felt she was safer while he watched over her. Sure, he knew she could take care of herself, but it still made him feel better just knowing where she was. He patted his horse's neck, smiling to himself. His new acquisition looked like a beauty. He didn't mind being nearly broke again now that he had a fine horse.
Alodar was so big, so mysterious, so new to her, and she didn't like the thought of exploring on her own. True, she had left her home in the far north, having left the city of Katana with the captain of the Silver Falcon, sailing for adventure and her never-ending quest to slay Mamamon (Alderami for Demons, Devils, or in general any evil force of the dimensions, a traveler between the PMP and the lower planes). She wished to gain some experience, but she was no fool, and a little company never hurt.
Katsumi Yuriko stopped to sit by a large fountain, waiting while Trekken took off a boot to remove some pebble or something while his horse drank from the fountain. The majestic fountain wasn't exactly a horse trough, but no one seemed to mind; it even seemed expected since passersby didn't give it a second glance, as if something unusual was happening. She first looked at the water, upon which particulate matter from the horse's mouth floated off its snout and up to the surface, but soon that material floated to the rim of the fountain and was dragged under the outer ridge; there it disappeared, the mirror-like surface reasserting itself in most places near the periphery where the water was less disturbed. Then she forgot about the horse, its dirty muzzle, and just looked at herself in the mirror-like water of one of the smaller reflecting pools set apart from the fountain's more ostentatious spurting streams that danced around the fine figure of a noble warrior in the center of it.
Katsumi looked like a cute, teenage Gray Elf with long fiery red hair, and she could see her deep blue eyes looking back at her from below the pool's surface; she was smiling. She was wearing some kind of Martial Arts Gi that barely covered any of her shapely legs, and she looked pretty hot for someone who seemed to be about fifteen. She chuckled softly that the old men on the peer seemed concerned such a lovely young lady should be traveling alone (Trekken was far enough away from her then, buying a horse, in fact, so it wasn't apparent she had a traveling companion then). Katsumi wondered how much older she was than they were? More than they would have ever guessed just from looking at her, that much was certain. Then she heard Trekken stomping his boot down, snugging it up and making sure there were no more rocks in it, before he grimly looked toward Katsumi and said, "We better get something to eat soon or I'll not be able to perform well in His name," such that anyone could almost hear the capitalization on the word, His.
Katsumi stood up and glanced at her beautiful, shapely form once more before looking back at Trekken. "Alright, I'm hungry too. Look, there's a tavern just up the street a bit. I can smell something delicious from here." Both traveled to the Ferryman's Inn and were soon immersed in the normal breakfast crowd.
Garren, now thinking better of his plan, began to worry that it might not be too wise to travel alone. His comrades said something about fighting a whole mess of orcs soon, too, so he began to ponder the matter. Having another adventurer or two wouldn't hurt in a battle, and they'd make excellent companions on the way there. He weighed the pros and cons of his thoughts and decided to go for it, looking around the room for possible candidates. His eyes immediately fell upon a young elven maiden (so it seemed) and a burly, well-outfitted warrior, himself almost majestic in appearance. As beautiful as Kat was, it was the warrior that drew his attention. There was just something about him, something important, something . . . oh, he didn't know, perhaps holy, almost as if a kind of reverence emanated from the guy. Garren walked over and introduced himself.
"Ah, I'm Garren; Garren Rayne," he said bowing to the couple. "I was wondering, are you two adventures?" Both nodded in the affirmative, indicating they were indeed members of that highly dangerous profession. Introductions occurred and a conversation ensued, at the end of which all had agreed to travel together in the hopes of excitement, adventure, experience, and other possible rewards. They acquired a few provisions but quickly set out along the path Garren showed them.
Nearly a day passes.
At the complex, the other party members were continuing to rummage through the armory, looking at old equipment, cleaning it and checking its serviceability. A few items were taken here and there. The secret door leading to a stairwell going downwards seemed to beckon to them, but it was never too wise to leave things behind that might help, so they continued to check out the armory. Then the noise occurred. Springing into fighting formation, they drew close to the old rusted iron door, drawing their weapons and preparing for the worse.
02/14/745 A.E. Again
After camping for the night, since they were too slow to make it before night fall, Garren and company get up and continue onward. Soon, they are there. Garren led Trekken and Katsumi down the muddy tunnel into the complex and went toward the bashed-in wooden door. No one was in sight. He led the others along the hall where he saw both a secret door ajar and the rusted iron door were now open. "Ah, they must have gone this way." Looking cautiously around the corner and into the darkness, he could just make out a moving figure.
02/14/745 A.E. Continued.
Drael cocked her dagger back and was about to let it fly when she recognized Garren. "Hey! Garren!" she exclaimed, turning back to the others. "It's alright guys; it's just Garren." But it wasn't 'just' Garren.
Alaian looked at him enter, and then at Trekken and Kat who followed closely behind. "Friends of yours, I take it?" Everyone relaxes a bit, explanations follow, then introductions. Yarr, kobold fighter, finally spoke up, and in Common, so everyone knew what he said. "By the lords of kobolds, you human types are thicker than flies on dung!" Apparently, he was not comfortable with so many non-kobolds so close to home, but he said little else. They were not farmers, those human-types, and he knew if he said or did the wrong thing, they might decide his services were no longer required and end their relationship, perhaps with unfortunate consequences. He did, however, resolve not to fight anything the party encountered, unless he absolutely had to. With this many, they didn't need him for that, but only for information, so he wouldn't risk his neck for nothing.
Finally, after much banter, Alaian spoke up. "We have just found a secret passage and are about to investigate it. Your timing is very good." He held up his Continual Light rock and illuminated the stairwell going downwards to the north, past the secret door, more than 30 feet at least. The darkness swallowed the light beyond that. Katsumi gleefully started picking up some martial arts weapons in the armory the others didn't seem to want, perhaps not being familiar with them as she was, getting ready to follow them as they began to descend into the depths.
A constant dripping sound rang off the stonewalls. As they proceeded downwards, stalactites and stalagmites, flowstone and columns, all revealed themselves, and the drip drip drip from the ceiling above collected in various pools along the floor. Mostly a natural cavern, it seems, but they soon discovered signs some of this area had been worked and was artificially cut out of solid rock. Gillmesh lights his lantern, wanting his own light source, and began to point it around, inspecting his surroundings. Alaian sniffed the air, catching the scent of mold and mildew, a musty smell typical of a wet cave, and then the slight, putrid smell of something else; something rotting. He looked around but only saw Drael tapping the walls every few feet, probably looking for more secret doors with unguarded treasure chests behind them. Wouldn't that be nice?
Katsumi turned to look toward at dripping noise and saw Garren looking at her, but he quickly looked away. "Ah," she thought, "he likes me. And he's cute, too." She moved closer to him, perhaps to give him a better look or maybe just to get a better look herself. She wasn't quite sure which. She didn't care which.
A soft movement then fell upon Gill's ears and he stopped, looking toward the noise. Drael almost ran into him he had stopped so abruptly. She stopped, listened, and heard it too. A soft twang, like someone plucking a loose string on a lute. Very bad note, too. She looks at Fen and then at Garren, but both bardic types were not playing with their instruments, musical or otherwise, so it must be something else.
Gill shines the light into a cul-de-sac along the wall to the south and east; a pair of glowing eyes stared back at him, but then disappeared.
Thinking he might be able to see more with his Infravision, Alaian put his CL rock away in the light-tight bag. He was going to look toward where Gill and Drael stood, but two, massively large heat sources were immediately to the northeast of him, and his attention was suddenly fixed on these possible enemies. He let out a low, soft cry. "Uh uh, they are big . . . whatever they are." Gillmesh, having the wisdom of not starting a two front war, took Drael's arm and led her back away from the cul-de-sac. Whatever was in there could wait since it didn't seem anxious to move. What Al found, on the other hand, seemed more immediately dangerous.
Al called out to his party members, "Let's advance; we outnumber them greatly." Gill looked toward the dark silhouettes he could now make out. Large, very large. "Ye aoutnumber what ye see, An Ah donknow if we out weigh em."
"Ssshhhhhiiiinnnngggg," the metal claws emerge from the knuckles of her Tiger-Claw gloves as Katsumi Yuriko clenched her hands into a fist.
Weapons were drawn and prepared, but some started to think they maybe should move back instead of moving forward. Almost in answer to this, the two large worm-like figures started moving toward them, faster than any had hoped.
COMBAT BEGINS:
R1: Alaian fires two arrows, the second one actually seemed to find its mark. Kat tosses out some darts in a surprisingly effective, underhand maneuver, sinking a few of them into the lead crawler. "In the name of Thor, have at ye," cried Trekken, slicing into the beast as well. One of Drael's daggers shoots past Trekken, nearly hitting him, but lodges in the worm instead. Gillmesh leaps toward the beast, using it to shield himself from the second one, slicing into the first with his bastardsword with murderous fury.
The Carrion Crawler flailed repeatedly at Kat, the slimy mouth tentacles oozing a syrupy mess all over her lithe, petite form, causing her to stiffen up and fall over, completely paralyzed. Curses issued forth from various party members. Several other attacks all missed.
R2: One of the worm-like monsters begins to suck and chew on Kat's helpless form. A few attacks miss. Alaian's spell hurt the creature, but not enough to make it leave its newly acquired meal. The second carrion crawler slapped several tentacles against Drael's side, the ooze coating her, penetrating her clothing, causing her to rigidly fall to the stone floor. All others attack, but all miss the darn things.
R3: "By Thor's Holy Name, you shall die!" screamed Trekken, missing badly. But the worm did not miss and Trekken, too, fell rigidly to the stone floor into a waiting pool of cold water. "Splashhhh." Garren offers a quick prayer but misses again. No one else gets a hit.
R4: Fenarellnen manages to spray oil all over one of the crawlers and prepared to light it the next round, getting out her flint and steel and trying to light a strip of oil soaked cloth. "Die, by Poseidon's holy trident, die!" screamed Garren, as he plunged his trident so deeply into the crawler on Kat that it would take awhile to get it out later. But the beast did die, and Garren rolled it off of his new friend using the trident as a lever.
Gillmesh and Alaian simultaneously attacked the remaining beast from two sides, both slicing deeply into the creature that was gnawing away at Drael. They nearly cut it in half with their consorted effort, and then they dragged Drael to safety. Instead of lighting up the place, since the fighting was over, Fen instead dragged Trekken out of the pool, ensuring he wouldn't drown in a few inches of water, which had been a distinct possibility just then. When paralyzed and unable to move at all, face down in the water would quickly kill even the stoutest of warriors.
COMBAT ENDS:
Drip drip drip.
Breathing heavily, they all rest a minute before trying to revive their rigid comrades. The sappy goo on them seems to be active, and they could not wash it off with water. Fen tried her expensive elven wine, and though it cut the ooze, she was not happy at losing her remaining wine. Within minutes of being cleaned off, Drael, Katsumi, and Trekken came around. They find the carrion crawlers were feasting upon the bodies of a dozen orcs strewn along another stairwell leading upward, straight east. They assess their position while Gill snaps into a guarding stance between the group and the cul-de-sac. This would be a bad time for whatever was lurking back there to decide to come out.
Alaian cast a Cure Light Wounds on Drael. The exceptional energy flows into her, causing waves of pleasure as it heals her.
NOTE: This side effect only happens only about one in eight times (when rolling an 8 on a d8) AND only when getting healed for more than needed to bring one's HPs to their maximum. Just so you know.
The tension began to wane in her, and Drael started to relax. Prayers of thanks were offered by several priests for their victory over the crawlers.
After a long while, they begin to stir again as a group, and Drael boldly takes the initiative and enters the cul-de-sac, looking for that noise, that twang, but she sees nothing past a central column where a stalactite and stalagmite must have joined many decades ago, if not centuries or even longer. Drip drip drip. Fen looks in, too, and saw the eyes and a bit of heat with her Infravision, but then it disappeared. Very strange. Then she saw a skeletal figure in platemail, lying there near the southernmost wall. A man, obviously, but quite dead. A long-lost corpse, resting now in a shallow pool of water. Drael looks at the fallen soldier from the past, this warrior, this man in shiny platemail. "Shinny? Not rusty? Magic?" she thinks.
COMBAT BEGINS:
S1: Drael moves in to go over the body and look for stuff, but a largish spider appears above her and tried to snap at her. Only her cat-like reflexes saved her as she skittered back, backing away from the hairy thing. Fen quickly stabbed at it, but she missed, and the spider disappeared again.
R1: Drael jumped in again, and again the spider appeared and attacked her. Fen, at the ready, slashes through the spider, it hit, or should have, but her blade somehow just phases through the large spider. The spider's mandible-like weapons did not, however, miss Drael, cutting into her scalp, causing a nasty head wound. Drael screams in pain and jumps back again. Gill, Garren, and Alaian get into position, the rest waiting outside the cul-de-sac because of limited fighting room.
R2: A rather long involved battle takes place here since the Phase Spider, even when hit, can sometimes phase out, making the weapon pass harmlessly through its body. Sometimes, but not always. Alaian strikes the first telling blow, an arrow hits it squarely and sinks deeply into its body.
R3: Everyone misses, including the spider.
R4: Drael gets hit again and retreats in pain. Alaian gets in with his sword and again delivers another telling blow, slicing into the hairy sucker, nearly killing it, but not quite.
R5: Garren, after missing a lot, finally lands a blow in the right place at the right time; just before the wounded spider can retreat to save itself, Garren buries his trident deep into the spider's fury flesh. The Phase Spider withers in agony and then dies, taking on whole new, more solidified look.
COMBAT ENDS:
Drip drip drip
Fen and Gill begin to search the body of the dead warrior while the others banter and heal and talk about what they must next do. Fen soon gives up, her heart not being in it, and lets Gill finish the job. He removes a pouch and a shinny Platinum colored Pearl falls from the rotten leather pouch to the ground, glinting in the light of the Continual Light rock. Everyone sees it, but Gill picks it up, and then continues to remove the armor from the dead warrior.
Fen, thinking ahead, searches the dead orcs and finds they have coin pouches, but she leaves them there. Scouting up to the top of the stairs, she finds a locked door, searches it, and picks the lock on it. Then she sits down to rest and wait for the others, taking shallow breaths since the air here is foul with the odor of decay. The soft music of Garren floats up the stairs to her, and she quietly listens to another bard's merriment, though she really isn't in a happy mood until she hears him break a string. That actually brings a smile to her face. "Beat me in a competition, will you?" she thinks to herself.
Gill finishes the gruesome job, collecting a fine set of platemail, the platinum pearl, and a holy symbol of an inscribed owl bearing the words, "SUMMUM BONUM."
Slowly, one-by-one, they file up the newly discovered stairwell, meeting Fen waiting at the top. A few of them do manage to gather up the pouches of money on the dozen orc bodies, but no one really stops to count the cash. A grim, almost joyless banter at the top of stairs ensues. Some offer such differences of opinion on what to do, one wonders how long these people will be able to work together.
Fenarellnen opens the door and finds it to be a secret door, from the other side, leading into a very large fireplace with no fire in it. Obviously, it was meant to be a secret exit from this new room, a large room they had not discovered before. Fen moves into the room walking out of the fireplace, looking around carefully. Then she hears a noise in the darkness ahead, the soft sound of someone or something snoring.
02/14/745 A.E. About noonish or a bit later.
SESSION ENDS:
© October of 1999
by
James L.R. Beach
Waterville, MN 56096