Trik whistles in admiration. "Nice jump elf. Pretty sure I can't do the same though." He plays with the rope tied around his waist. "What's the next move?"
Friday 31 August 2012
The Vault round 2
Baleon focuses, runs towards the pit and jumps. He sails across most of the pit and comes to a landing just shy of his mark on the last column on the other side ( roll (11)+11 = 22 ft cleared). He totters for an instant then rights himself and skips to the far side of the chasm (DC 10 to stick the landing: roll (14)+11 = 25). Behind him, the column that he landed on begins to glow. The runes etched on its surface gives of a pale yellow light.
Trik whistles in admiration. "Nice jump elf. Pretty sure I can't do the same though." He plays with the rope tied around his waist. "What's the next move?"
Trik whistles in admiration. "Nice jump elf. Pretty sure I can't do the same though." He plays with the rope tied around his waist. "What's the next move?"
Monday 27 August 2012
Into the Vault
Vandermir proves true to his word. The mausoleum grounds are deserted, and Baleon and Trik glide through to the indicated vault smoothly. The heavy chain on the stone doors has been unlocked, and with some effort the two would be grave robbers pull open one side far enough to slip through. They descend a narrow staircase and find a secret chamber off the main burial chamber right where it is supposed to be as indicated on Vandermir's map.
"Hmph," snorts Trik as Baleon opens the concealed door. "This hardly seems worthy of two highly skilled operatives such as ourselves. The Baron could have sent his butler strolling here."
"We're not out yet human. Let's not invite trouble." Baleon turned back to Trik. "Which brings up a question. You moved quite stealthily back there. You are more familiar with the ways of shadow than I would have expected for a priest."
Trik smile and whispered. " Why Baleon, I think you just paid me a compliment. Though it was more of a statement than a question. People always forget that Asmodeus is the god of trickery and deception as well as tyranny. I've got a few other tricks up my sleeve."
The two move into the secret chamber. Magical, flameless torches illuminate this massive stone chamber, which features a strange series of columns rising from a deep chasm in the room’s centre. The top of each column is flush with the surface of the floor and features an arcane rune. At the far end of the room stand two stone thrones on a raised dais. On the wall behind the left throne is a relief of a king signing a document while speaking to a crowd of featureless faces. Behind the right throne is a relief of a thief who holds a knife to a featureless man’s throat while picking the pocket of a nearby woman.
Trik looks out over the room, then down at the Baron's map. "Uh, no mention of crazy stone columns and a giant pit in Vadermir's notes here."
"His butler could do it huh?" Baleon sighed and moved into the room...
We are now in turn by turn. Baleon and Trik can each move 6 squares per turn and still take an action, 12 squares if you give up any other action. you can move diagonally butt the 2nd diagonal you move counts as 2 squares. It is a DC 5 acrobatics check to move from one column to another (so Baleon only fails on a 1, Trik on a 1-2). You can automatically pass this test if you spend double movement to cross it. In your response, please map out the EXACT route you are moving. You can take actions for both Baleon and Trik. To speed things along, Perception checks made on the part of the room you are already in reveal no traps or secret doors, nor anything out of the ordinary about the pit (which seems about 40 ft deep) or columns. Neither Baleon nor Trik recognise the symbols on the columns.
"Hmph," snorts Trik as Baleon opens the concealed door. "This hardly seems worthy of two highly skilled operatives such as ourselves. The Baron could have sent his butler strolling here."
"We're not out yet human. Let's not invite trouble." Baleon turned back to Trik. "Which brings up a question. You moved quite stealthily back there. You are more familiar with the ways of shadow than I would have expected for a priest."
Trik smile and whispered. " Why Baleon, I think you just paid me a compliment. Though it was more of a statement than a question. People always forget that Asmodeus is the god of trickery and deception as well as tyranny. I've got a few other tricks up my sleeve."
The two move into the secret chamber. Magical, flameless torches illuminate this massive stone chamber, which features a strange series of columns rising from a deep chasm in the room’s centre. The top of each column is flush with the surface of the floor and features an arcane rune. At the far end of the room stand two stone thrones on a raised dais. On the wall behind the left throne is a relief of a king signing a document while speaking to a crowd of featureless faces. Behind the right throne is a relief of a thief who holds a knife to a featureless man’s throat while picking the pocket of a nearby woman.
Trik looks out over the room, then down at the Baron's map. "Uh, no mention of crazy stone columns and a giant pit in Vadermir's notes here."
"His butler could do it huh?" Baleon sighed and moved into the room...
We are now in turn by turn. Baleon and Trik can each move 6 squares per turn and still take an action, 12 squares if you give up any other action. you can move diagonally butt the 2nd diagonal you move counts as 2 squares. It is a DC 5 acrobatics check to move from one column to another (so Baleon only fails on a 1, Trik on a 1-2). You can automatically pass this test if you spend double movement to cross it. In your response, please map out the EXACT route you are moving. You can take actions for both Baleon and Trik. To speed things along, Perception checks made on the part of the room you are already in reveal no traps or secret doors, nor anything out of the ordinary about the pit (which seems about 40 ft deep) or columns. Neither Baleon nor Trik recognise the symbols on the columns.
Sunday 19 August 2012
Enter the Baron
Baleon rendevoued with Trik at their arranged spot early in the evening. The sun was beginning to set and already the drow was finding his mood improve as he gained some relief from the summer glare.
Baleon observed Trik as he walked into the tavern and strolled over to his table. The human seemed happy, or rather happier than usual. Baleon would have used the word "giddy" to describe the bounce in Trik's step, except that "giddy" wasn't in Baleon's vocabulary.
"You're awfully... buoyant." Baleon remarked as Trik sat down, leaning slightly across the table to examine Trik for signs of drunkenness.
"What?" said Trik defensively, pulling back. "I'm not drunk."
And he was right. Baleon heard no slur in his speech, smelled no alcohol on his breath. But there was a faint scent of what? Blood? Baleon catalogued that and put it away for later consideration. Instead he leaned back and steepled his fingers. "Mmmhm. So where are we headed next?" He asked.
Relieved to change the subject, Trik layed out another note from thorn's packet. "OK, this is a letter of invitation to meet the Baron Arkov Vandermir. Apparently he has a job for us."
And so the pair leave the tavern and travel to one of the most opulent manor houses in all of Ghastenhall. There they present their letter to the door man, who ushers them into a drawing room where after some delay they meet the esteemed Baron Vandermir. Baleon's blood rose as the baron strode into view. Wile the baron's lank black hair was clearly of human origin, is long lean frame and sharply pointed ears gave away his half elven heritage. Baleon scoffed to himself and thought for the hundredth time that the surface was indeed a strange place. In his home a half breed like this would be born into slavery at best, yet here they are raised to royalty.
Vandemir allows no time for small talk, perhaps uncomfortable having the pair in his home. "I have entered into a business arrangement with your master, Thorn. Forty years ago one of the noble families in this city was accused of being Asmodeans. They repented and were spared the pyre as little actual proof could be found against them. The current scion of said family has fallen on hard times and owes me a considerable sum. Under some...duress, he confided in me that his family had hidden many incriminating and valuable relics in the family tomb to avoid the purges. Among these are supposedly some artifacts taken from a fallen drow ally. This upstanding citizen and I have come to an arrangement. In return for wiping away his debt, he has arranged for the guards and priests normally stationed in the mausoleum to be away tonight."
Vandermir leans forward. "In this tomb you will find a sceptre - a Crook of Mitra. You will know it by the blue starburst it emits. bring me the crook, and anything else you can carry out of there is yours."
He slides across a piece of parchment upon which is scrawled the location of the family crypt. "Can you do this before the sun rises?"
Baleon observed Trik as he walked into the tavern and strolled over to his table. The human seemed happy, or rather happier than usual. Baleon would have used the word "giddy" to describe the bounce in Trik's step, except that "giddy" wasn't in Baleon's vocabulary.
"You're awfully... buoyant." Baleon remarked as Trik sat down, leaning slightly across the table to examine Trik for signs of drunkenness.
"What?" said Trik defensively, pulling back. "I'm not drunk."
And he was right. Baleon heard no slur in his speech, smelled no alcohol on his breath. But there was a faint scent of what? Blood? Baleon catalogued that and put it away for later consideration. Instead he leaned back and steepled his fingers. "Mmmhm. So where are we headed next?" He asked.
Relieved to change the subject, Trik layed out another note from thorn's packet. "OK, this is a letter of invitation to meet the Baron Arkov Vandermir. Apparently he has a job for us."
And so the pair leave the tavern and travel to one of the most opulent manor houses in all of Ghastenhall. There they present their letter to the door man, who ushers them into a drawing room where after some delay they meet the esteemed Baron Vandermir. Baleon's blood rose as the baron strode into view. Wile the baron's lank black hair was clearly of human origin, is long lean frame and sharply pointed ears gave away his half elven heritage. Baleon scoffed to himself and thought for the hundredth time that the surface was indeed a strange place. In his home a half breed like this would be born into slavery at best, yet here they are raised to royalty.Vandemir allows no time for small talk, perhaps uncomfortable having the pair in his home. "I have entered into a business arrangement with your master, Thorn. Forty years ago one of the noble families in this city was accused of being Asmodeans. They repented and were spared the pyre as little actual proof could be found against them. The current scion of said family has fallen on hard times and owes me a considerable sum. Under some...duress, he confided in me that his family had hidden many incriminating and valuable relics in the family tomb to avoid the purges. Among these are supposedly some artifacts taken from a fallen drow ally. This upstanding citizen and I have come to an arrangement. In return for wiping away his debt, he has arranged for the guards and priests normally stationed in the mausoleum to be away tonight."
Vandermir leans forward. "In this tomb you will find a sceptre - a Crook of Mitra. You will know it by the blue starburst it emits. bring me the crook, and anything else you can carry out of there is yours."
He slides across a piece of parchment upon which is scrawled the location of the family crypt. "Can you do this before the sun rises?"
Thursday 16 August 2012
On the Road
Day One
Baleon and Trik depart from Thorn’s manor on the moors at
first light the next morning, riding two nondescript brown mares. Tiadora, dressed again as the grieving widow,
sees them off from the stables. “Goodbye
my dears,” she says coquettishly. “I’d
bid you safe travels, but I think that is rather unlikely, don’t you?” She reaches up and hands Trik the leather packet containing Thorn’s
instructions and maps. To Baleon she
gives over a clay tablet inscribed with the pentacle of Asmodeus surrounded by
a tangle ot thorns.
"That may be so, but that’s not where we need to go - at
least not first. Didn’t you read Thorn’s
packet?”
“She’d likely spit you over an open fire.”
“Nahh, she’d be into me.”
“Why?”
Baleon and Trik depart from Thorn’s manor on the moors at
first light the next morning, riding two nondescript brown mares. Tiadora, dressed again as the grieving widow,
sees them off from the stables. “Goodbye
my dears,” she says coquettishly. “I’d
bid you safe travels, but I think that is rather unlikely, don’t you?” She reaches up and hands Trik the leather packet containing Thorn’s
instructions and maps. To Baleon she
gives over a clay tablet inscribed with the pentacle of Asmodeus surrounded by
a tangle ot thorns.
Her fingers run playfully over the back of Baleon’s hand. “When your mission is completed, break this
seal and I will find you.” Suddenly her
playful expression drops away to be replaced by a glare of hellfire and cold
iron and her delicate fingers close in a vise-like grip around the drow’s
wrist. “Fail our master, and I will
still find you.”
Baleon jerks back as she releases him and the playful smile
returns to he lips. She retreats into
the manor with a wave. Trik leans over to
Baleon as the two ride out onto the road.
“I don’t know about you elf, but that girl scares the piss out of
me.” He flashes a grin. “Although, might be a good way to go eh?”
After about half a day’s journey Baleon makes to turn inland
when Trik calls out. “Whoa, elf! Where are you going.”
Baleon reigns in. “Zhaanzen-Kryr
lies this way human.”
Baleon hides his irritation.
All morning with nothing but a cloak to shade him from the hateful sun
had left his patience thin. He tried not
to sneer as he replied. “You mean the
packet you’ve kept to yourself since we left?”
Trik grins. “Oh,
right. Here, read this.” He tosses the
leather satchel over and Baleon snatches it out of the air, and reads the
documents inside as Trik continues to talk.
“Master Thorn wants us to form an alliance with your people, but to do
so he feels you need to return to them triumphant – you know, like you actually
accomplished that suicide mission your loving sister sent you on.” Trik makes an obscene gesture as he mentions
Baleon’s sibling. “In order to do that,
we need to visit Thorn’s contact in the city of Ghastenhall. Apparently he’s got information for us on
where we can find one of these high and mighty drow artefacts. Trik spurs his horse forward and calls over
his shoulder. “So, Ghastenhall first,
Underdark second my taciturn friend.”
***
Day Two
“Hey Baleon?”
“Yes Trik?”
“This sister of yours… is she hot?”
“What?”
“Well, because every elf woman I’ve ever met has been hot,
and well, you could introduce us.”
“Why?”
“Well, your people revere Father Asmodeus right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m a priest of Asmodeus.
The voice of the Father made manifest and all that! She’d totally be into me.”
Baleon shakes his head as he pictures his sister arranging
Trik’s entrails into a pentagram on the family alter.
Trik, his mind wandering in a very different direction,
grins and holds up his five pointed holy symbol to catch the light. “Yeah, chicks dig pentagrams.”
***
Day Three
Finally the pair ride into the city of Ghastenhall. While not the biggest of the three major
cities in Talingarde, It is the most metropolitan due to the sheer volume of foreign
trade that comes through its sheltered port.
“Ah Ghastenhall,”
whistles Trik as they ride through the wide gates. “This is where me and the other White Ravens
first came ashore in Taligarde. Of
course, we were being smuggled in and under aour dear Tiadora’s watchful eye
the whole time so we didn’t get much sight seeing in. Hey Baleon?
Why don’t we take in the sights while we’re here? I’m told there are all manner of diversions
in this town for those who care to look.
We can spare an afternoon before we meet our contact can’t we?”
Monday 6 August 2012
Think of it as a student exchange...
After proving their worthiness to their new master, Cardinal Adrastus Thorn by completing the Nine Lessons, Baleon and his comrades are put through three months of intense training, most of it by Thorn himself. The training is gruelling, and Baleon is grudgingly impressed by the human's knowledge on the subtle arts of stealth and murder.
At the end of the three months Thorn gathers all of his pupils for a celebratory feast. He awards Baleon and his companions the title of the Ninth Knot, and the other four that trained with them the Eighth Knot.
"Welcome, my children,” he says in a deep resonant voice that has an almost inhuman quality to it. “Training is at an end. You have proven yourself worthy. Now, it is time for you to use that training and take on your first mission.
"Your mission is war, my children. You will bring war to Talingarde."He turns his gaze to Elise Zadaria, the raven haired witch who leads the Eigth Knot. "I am setting you upon a mission of murder in the north. You and your team will travel by land to the watch wall and there you will carry out the targetted disgrace and murder of key members of the military and nobility. You will ensure that Taligarde is ill prepared for an invasion."
To the Ninth Knot he assigns a two part task. First, they are to smuggle a shipment of weapons to an army of bugbears gathering north of the watch wall. Second, they are to infiltrate the fortress of Balentyne and throw open its gates for the waiting bugbear horde.
"But not all of you will be travelling north just yet. Baleon, step forward. If we are to win this war we need more than just barbarous bugbears for allies. We need to sow discord from within as well as wreaking calamity from without. And so it is time to make use of your particular talents and for you to embrace your birthright."
Baleon shifts nervously from one foot to the other, the eyes of all seven of Thorn's other disciples upon him.
Oblivious, or perhaps enjoying the elf's discomfort, Thorn continues. "You came to this land at the behest of your sister, seeking an artifact from your people's past. I tell you now that this was a ruse. No such artifact exists in the tomb you were instructed to plunder."
Baleon is sent reeling at this revelation. "How," he manages to stutter, "how do you know this?"
Thorn smiles thinly. "My dear disciple, you know the answer to that." He steeples his fingers and leans forward. "Your people long ago turned to the dark father Asmodeus, and I am his most loved servant in all Talingarde, above and below..."
Baleon, shakes his head at the implication in Thorn's words. Three months ago the thought of some weak willed human rising higher in the infernal hierarchy than even the lowliest drow priest of Zhaanzen-Kryr let alone even his mother, the matriarch, would have been laughable, but after witnessing Thorn's power, learning at his feet . . Baleon drops his eyes to the ground and listens intently to his new master.
"It was a quest you were never to return from Baleon; a way for your sister to rid herself of her mother's favoured son in advance of her bid for the throne.
"But such artifacts as you were sent to fetch do exist, and I will guide you to one. So armed, you will return triumphant to you people, and secure their aid in the coming war.
"You will not be alone on these missions. The drow of Zhaanzen-Kryr need to see that drow and human are already united in this goal, and so you will be accompanied by Trick Rackburn from the Eighth Knot."
The room erupts in protest as Trick, his brother Trak, and their leader Elise all react to the unexpected announcement. "You can't take my cleric away!" roars Elise.
Thorn cuts her off with a withering stare. "I can't?" There is ice in his voice and hellfire in his eyes and Elise immediately backs away, stammering, as a wave of almost palpable otherworldly rage washes across the room. "I can and will use the tools at my disposal to accomplish Asmodeus's divine will and exact revenge upon this wretched island!"
He sits back down, calm and collected once more. "Baleon, Trik," he slides a leather folio across his desk. "This contains the location of the artifact you seek and then name of a man who can get you access. I trust you will be able to find your way to Zhaanzen-Kryr on your own from there. Don't tarry. You both need to rejoin your respective knots in the north before the end of the month."
He dismisses the two with a casual wave. "You leave before first light tomorrow. . . Tiadora, show them to the stables."
"Welcome, my children,” he says in a deep resonant voice that has an almost inhuman quality to it. “Training is at an end. You have proven yourself worthy. Now, it is time for you to use that training and take on your first mission.
"Your mission is war, my children. You will bring war to Talingarde."He turns his gaze to Elise Zadaria, the raven haired witch who leads the Eigth Knot. "I am setting you upon a mission of murder in the north. You and your team will travel by land to the watch wall and there you will carry out the targetted disgrace and murder of key members of the military and nobility. You will ensure that Taligarde is ill prepared for an invasion."
To the Ninth Knot he assigns a two part task. First, they are to smuggle a shipment of weapons to an army of bugbears gathering north of the watch wall. Second, they are to infiltrate the fortress of Balentyne and throw open its gates for the waiting bugbear horde.
"But not all of you will be travelling north just yet. Baleon, step forward. If we are to win this war we need more than just barbarous bugbears for allies. We need to sow discord from within as well as wreaking calamity from without. And so it is time to make use of your particular talents and for you to embrace your birthright."
Baleon shifts nervously from one foot to the other, the eyes of all seven of Thorn's other disciples upon him.
Oblivious, or perhaps enjoying the elf's discomfort, Thorn continues. "You came to this land at the behest of your sister, seeking an artifact from your people's past. I tell you now that this was a ruse. No such artifact exists in the tomb you were instructed to plunder."
Baleon is sent reeling at this revelation. "How," he manages to stutter, "how do you know this?"
Thorn smiles thinly. "My dear disciple, you know the answer to that." He steeples his fingers and leans forward. "Your people long ago turned to the dark father Asmodeus, and I am his most loved servant in all Talingarde, above and below..."
Baleon, shakes his head at the implication in Thorn's words. Three months ago the thought of some weak willed human rising higher in the infernal hierarchy than even the lowliest drow priest of Zhaanzen-Kryr let alone even his mother, the matriarch, would have been laughable, but after witnessing Thorn's power, learning at his feet . . Baleon drops his eyes to the ground and listens intently to his new master.
"It was a quest you were never to return from Baleon; a way for your sister to rid herself of her mother's favoured son in advance of her bid for the throne.
"But such artifacts as you were sent to fetch do exist, and I will guide you to one. So armed, you will return triumphant to you people, and secure their aid in the coming war.
"You will not be alone on these missions. The drow of Zhaanzen-Kryr need to see that drow and human are already united in this goal, and so you will be accompanied by Trick Rackburn from the Eighth Knot."
The room erupts in protest as Trick, his brother Trak, and their leader Elise all react to the unexpected announcement. "You can't take my cleric away!" roars Elise.
Thorn cuts her off with a withering stare. "I can't?" There is ice in his voice and hellfire in his eyes and Elise immediately backs away, stammering, as a wave of almost palpable otherworldly rage washes across the room. "I can and will use the tools at my disposal to accomplish Asmodeus's divine will and exact revenge upon this wretched island!"
He sits back down, calm and collected once more. "Baleon, Trik," he slides a leather folio across his desk. "This contains the location of the artifact you seek and then name of a man who can get you access. I trust you will be able to find your way to Zhaanzen-Kryr on your own from there. Don't tarry. You both need to rejoin your respective knots in the north before the end of the month."
He dismisses the two with a casual wave. "You leave before first light tomorrow. . . Tiadora, show them to the stables."
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