Mysteries of Mystara Lucky

The background and prequel story of Vlajic Savago, the Lucky Savage, a Traladaran bard starring in the on-going GURPS saga of five unlikely companions attempting to unravel the mysteries of Mystara.

Mysteries of Mystara 005T

Talyn's first person account of the events of Session #5 of the Mysteries of Mystara GURPS campaign. 

Mysteries of Mystara 005

The party searches for some twig blights, finds them, then tracks some Goblins to a mysterious underground fortress. The on-going GURPS saga of five unlikely companions attempting to unravel the mysteries of Mystara.~

Mysteries of Mystara 004T

Talyn's first person account of the events of Session #4 of the Mysteries of Mystara GURPS campaign. 

Mysteries of Mystara 004

After more searching the curse of the banshee's tower is finally laid to rest. Also some strange geese and mischievous Fey. The on-going GURPS saga of five unlikely companions attempting to unravel the mysteries of Mystara.

Mysteries of Mystara 003T

Mysteries of Mystara
Session 003T

From Talyn's Point of View

211107

Contemplating Names, Friends, Maces, and Fey

In the morning Talyn met with Father Berabellus where the old priest gave them some holy water and some kind of spell scroll. He also blessed the party. Once that was done the company moved on to meet the Gray Company mercenaries. 

Thinking to himself, "we really need to come up with a name for this group, something like the heroes of wherever, nah that would just mean someone would shout it all over and wouldn't that be embarrassing?"

We meet up with Cass, Lev, and another young woman they introduce as Ilya the Red. Apparently Panya and Ilya know one another and start up a conversation that seems like it will be a bother, so I just moved the group along. Maybe I shouldn't have done that, I mean bold action is the Vanyian way, but I want to be different, better than that. Maybe I should have let Ilya and Panaya talk it out.

We get back to the keep and enter through the same entrance. Malachai and Dak both indicate movement in one of the buildings and we go to investigate. Opening The door and entering the room beyond I find a bunch of undead and take action to engage the creatures. I did not expect my companions to pull back through the door, but fortunately it worked as the zombies stupidly followed them allowing me to engage the Wight in the room. After spending several seconds dancing with the dead thing, my companions finally entered and we ended the fight. Not sure these mercenaries were worth the cost, or maybe it's just Lucky didn't seem to negotiate very hard. 

The mercs seemed a bit battered and were complaining about being hard pressed. Panya had some words for the woman in orange as she apparently did nothing during that fight? Also, if I'm going to be travelling with these people for long, I probably need to start training with them in tactics. That could have gone disastrously wrong.

After resting and patching up the mercs we continued on into the next building where a small dog growled menacingly at us. I tossed it some of my dried meat and that seemed to appease the beast. Which was good while Vanya teaches that anything that dares to bare fangs at you should be put down, I just don't think everything needs to be met with steel.

Pushing on we once again descended into the darkness that was the basement of the old keep. We found an old stinky cistern, some abandoned rooms, an old prison, and some more of those shadow things that while they hit us in sneak attacks didn't stay and fight. 

All in all after finding the mace and gold the keep is turning out to be disappointing.The group then moved to climb the tower stairs and after some maneuvering and helping each other up over the hole finally found the ghost. It is apparently a banshee mourning the loss of its children. 

We engaged it, but after a few rounds of combat and some chatter by the ghost my companions wanted to back off and find another solution. While I know what Vanya would want me to do I decided to see where this was going and let my companions try their way. I mean we can always come back and bash the banshee later. Besides, it doesn't have to be all fighting all the time does it? Taking the banshees chatter about her babies to mean we needed to find them to put her to rest we went back down the stairs and started searching for the bones.

While we were searching Malachai had a chat with the dog and apparently it is not just a dog, but a magic blink dog. Also he seemed to have some kind of gift for it. Fae are kind of weird are they not? Anyway after a while we found the bones under the undead willow tree and buried them. I voiced my opinion that we should take them to the banshee and put them to bed, but the group wanted to bury them. I still think that is the wrong idea and we will probably have to bash the banshee and the little ghosts too now.I thought it was quite obvious that we needed to reunite the ghosts and the children were haunting their bones, but I'll let this play out. So, now we wait. I wonder how long the mercs will stay or if they will head back to town before sunset?

Session Notes

This was an In Character report from our last session (not posted yet, not done putting it together). Talyn is a young and naïve Celestial that has recently escaped from the Cult of Vanya. He was being trained as a holy avenger but chaffed under the strict training and dogma. Now out wandering the world, the young, glowing warrior tries to fit in with a strange and eclectic group of companions, but has no real skill to do so.

Cast of Characters:

Talyn Dilectus Vanyilam, teenage Celestial warrior on the run - played by Don K

and GMJasonGURPS as the DM

Mysteries of Mystara Dak

Mysteries of Mystara
Dak's Background and Prequel Story

The Landing

The twin masted sailing sloop glides through the water with a surety that belies its quick pace.  Despite the lack of a breeze nor oars in the water it leaves a sizable wake in its path.  Alongside the captain a young dusky skinned man holds his arms aloft with a look of quiet concentration on his face.  The captain works the rudder with confidence born of long experience.  Occasionally he glances at the youth on his right, smiling and nodding in obvious approval.

Dak

In a short time the ship pulls alongside the empty pier and several sailors move to secure her. The captain reaches out and shakes the youths hand warmly.  “That was a fine bit o’ work there lad.  Ye saved me boys a lot of work on the oars ye did.”  The youth tries to downplay his contribution but the captain over rides him firmly.  “I’ve been with ye long enough already to know ye won’t accept praise for yer work.”  He forces a small pouch into the youths hands and it clunks softly of metal coins.  “That’s yer passage fee back and a bit more besides.  We never woulda made it through that storm if it wasn’t for ye and yer magic!”  

The captain rubs his scruffy beard nervously and continues talking.  He’s already having said more than his usual wont.  “The boys and I have taking a liking to ya, this ye know already.  Yer a fine hand and a calm one in the middle of a storm.  Not to mention what ye can do with the wind and sea.  We’d like ya to stay on with us and give ye a full share and a quarter to boot!” 

Several of the sailors have stopped in their duties to add their voices to the captain's offer.  He silences them with a gruff wave of his hand.  “Ye were born to sail these waters same as us lad.  The landlubbers there will only give ye trouble, mark me well!  I know your people like to see all what the world has to offer, but ye can do that right here with me and the boys.  What say ye?  Will ye join us?”

The youth smiles broadly and answers them boldly.  “It would be a pleasure to stay and sail with you and the crew of the ‘Emerald Maiden, but the wind is blowing me in the opposite direction!  It will give me no rest until I have followed it to the source.  I do promise if I ever do make it back this way I will look for you and the rest of your fine crew!”  The young man takes a moment to make his farewells before slinging his pack over his shoulder.  

He steps lightly down the gangplank as it bounces beneath his feet.  It takes only a brief moment for him to acclimate to the solid ground again.  Squaring his shoulders he heads down the pier and into town.  Gently but insistently an unseen wind blows at his back propelling him onward.

Dak Goes With the Flow

Dak arrived in Specularum, the capital city of Karameikos. It was the largest city he had ever seen. It was also the stinkiest place he had ever been. He found the sights and sounds exciting, but the press of people and their aroma was a bit much at times. While spending several weeks in the city, he made several new friends, and even some enemies. One interesting fellow was a halfling, or Hin, as they like to be called, named Fergus Proudsun. Something of a rogue and adventurer, Dak was immediately taken by the diminutive character. Fergus helped Dak navigate some of the intricacies of city living and kept him from making too many serious blunders. Fergus had traveled all over the Known World, or at least so he said, and this impressed Dak quite a bit.After several weeks, Dak had begun to grow tired of the city life and was ready to explore the countryside. Fergus, who originally had plans to get a group of friends together to go adventuring, was unexpectedly called away to deal with some “serious business” that he did not elaborate on and was out of Dak’s life. 

Fergus Proudsun

The young Makai decided to again use his magic to pay for his explorations and hired on as a “propulsion expert” on a merchant boat heading upriver. He spent the next several weeks traveling up and down the Highreach, Windrush, and Hillfollow Rivers to cities like Kelvin, Penhaligon, Verge, Stallanford and many smaller villages and towns in between.

One day, while resting between jobs in the city of Kelvin, where the three major rivers come together, he found that he had a letter from his old friend, Fergus. Apparently the Hin was currently located in a place called Castallen Keep, far to the north. Fergus asked Dak to travel the Highreach River to the Castallen River and come north to meet him. He tempts the  young mage with stories of a cave where the water flows upward…

Folding the letter up Dak tucks it away in his rucksack.  Talking to no one in particular, “I wonder what Fergus is carrying on about?  Water flowing upward?  Surely my tiny friend is exaggerating again. Even if he is, it's sure to be something worth seeing.  Wherever Fergus seems to go, adventure is waiting.  Besides, I think I’ve had enough of the city life for a while. Time for fresh water I think!”

Dak gets up from the levy he was sitting on.  He tucks away the slender pole he was using as a fishing rod and adjusts his rucksack.  “The fishing here was never good anyways, here's to hoping it will be better up north.”  Dak heads back into town and down to the docks.  Surely someone will be heading north soon enough.  

Dak is able to find a riverboat heading upstream on the Highreach, or Volaga, as the Traladaran’s call it, to the Castellan River. The captain of the boat offers 100 silver in payment to see the boat safely to Veseya, one of the farthest points north boats can reach on the Castellan River. 

Dak agrees to the captain's terms with a handshake.  She seems to be a capable leader but he’s still trying to get used to all the new mannerisms these mainlanders seem to have.  Once aboard he’s introduced to the crew and shown a place to stow his gear.  Dak takes a bit of time and begins to familiarize himself better with both the ship and its crew. 

From the stern of the ship he looks back at Kelvin one last time.  It was an interesting city located in such a prime trading locale.  So much to learn and every question answered just led to more questions. Not for the first time he feels like a bluefin in uncharted waters and a strong current pushing him forward.  Dak smiles and holds his arms up taking in the humid breeze from the river.  He has no clue where this current is pulling him but he is keenly interested in finding out.

Eager to show the captain his value, Dak begins casting a spell.  He waves his arms in an intricate pattern imitating the flow of water around the ship and claps his hands together vigorously.  Simultaneously he chants the words of power, first under his breath asking for the water spirits to heed his call.  Then gradually he intones louder and more insistently calling for the spirits to pull the ship forward.  

The water around the ship roils furiously for a moment then erupts in a large wave that crashes into the stern of the ship soaking Dak and the captain.  Abashed, Dak looks over into the now smoldering gaze of the captain.  Hoots of derisive laughter break out from the crew.  Dak pulls some stray moss from the front of the captain's tunic.  “Let me get that for ya ma’am!”  Before she can recover Dak begins the ritual again.

This time the spell goes off without any further blunders.  The nimble ship seems to dance across the tops of the waves.  Dak hopes the captain is impressed enough to keep aboard.  His normally buoyant optimism flounders momentarily as he mutters to himself, “What a way to start a new adventure!”

“Yes, yes, good show, water mage, fortunately for you, we’ll have to sail DOWN river for a bit before making the turn into the Highreach. Not a lot of traffic up this way, and with you to help guide us along, we should make quick time! At least my lazy rowers will get to take it easy enough!” The captain laughs at this and the nearby rowers chuckle uncomfortably. “Really though, even with your magical help, there will be plenty to do. I am assuming you can change the course and direction of the flow in case we need to stop or make maneuvers? The Highreach is fairly navigable pretty far up, but the Castellan can be a bit tricky. See, once we move on to that tributary, the surrounding land becomes more rocky and high. Lots of mud and rock slides come down into the river from the western bank, and the eastern bank is quite shallow and a frequent place for ambushes by bandits and humanoids. There are also a few fords where the boat may need to be dragged a bit, but we'll see."

The boat, a low-keeled riverboat with eight deckhands, is loaded with cargo and a handful of passengers as well, all camped out on deck amid the crates and bales of trade goods. The below deck area is small and cramped, loaded with the more valuable cargo. Dak sees a mast and sail that can be used as well. As the voyage gets underway, Dak notices a lot of looks from both passengers and crew. Not necessarily bad looks, but definitely curious. 

Dak returns their looks with equal curiosity.  He’s about as familiar with the myriad ethnicities of these mainlanders as they are with his island kin.  Undaunted he realizes that time will prove he’s just as capable of a sailor as any of them.  He doesn’t shy away from hard work and is always willing to lend a hand without being asked.

As soon as the work is done though Dak breaks out his fishing pole and chats randomly with the crew and the passengers alike.  There is so much to learn, they have such odd customs compared to what he is used to.  He’s not sure he will ever understand it all.  

Taking stock of the passengers and crew, Dak is able to tell that the crew of the boat are mainly Thyatians, though three or four of them could be Traladaran or mixed ancestry Karameikans, he hasn’t quite gotten good enough to discern that yet. Mostly it was the clothing, he assumed, that set the local people apart, that and their language. Fortunately he had already picked up a workable mastery of both languages and was beginning to understand the customs of the Thyatian segment of the population, though the Traladaran customs were definitely still a mystery to him. 

There were 11 passengers on the boat. A Traladaran family of five: father, mother, young adult daughter (16-18ish), and two younger boys, they all appear to be a dour, mourning lot, all wearing black; three Thyatian soldiers or mercenaries based on their armor and weapons carried onboard; an older, bronze skinned Human wearing a turban and long flowing robes traveling with a very attractive young woman with bronze skin and dark hair; and finally a young Human minstrel that is constantly singing, joking, spinning yarns, or strumming his lute. 

Just as Dak settles in to do some fishing, the bard sashays over and begins singing a song about a dark stranger filled with the magic of the water. He dances around Dak’s spot paying no mind to the fact that Dak is trying to fish. "Toss a coin to your fisher…” he sings on and on.

As unobtrusively as possible Dak murmurs a few words of power and twirls his hands delicately.  On the boat reactions are mixed.  The two young boys catch sight of Daks casting and look at each other quizzically.  The Thyatian mercenaries seem unimpressed although one does ease his blade in its scabbard just in case. A long fat tendril of water pulls itself out of the river behind Dak.  

The bard gives Dak a raised eyebrow look as he continues playing, the water tendril rises up and dances above his head, threatening to pour down on him at any moment. The two boys at the other end of the boat point and laugh, bringing attention from pretty everyone else. The Captain turns and looks as the bard steps away from the edge of the boat and moves in next to Dak, still singing and strumming, now going on about a magic river and the luck bestowed upon any who sailed her waters. Recognizing the audience and the potential consequences, Dak has his water snake move and undulate to the bard’s song, forming a little dance. This encourages the bard who launches into yet another song. Dak and the bard keep this up for a few minutes until Dak fears he is going to wear himself out again so soon after casting the taxing Current spell on the boat. He nods to the bard who raises his eyebrows in understanding and both finish their performances at the same moment, the water splashing down back in the river and the bard doing a little jump. Everyone, even the Thyatian soldiers, clap and cheer at this impromptu music and water show.

“Ahh, my friend, that was grand, was it not?” the bard says as he flops down on a pile of canvas sacks full of something not altogether uncomfortable. Dak eases himself down onto a nearby crate. “I am Willoby Montgomery Egorian, III, esquire. Pleased to meet you, navigator. I did not initially intend to disturb you, well, let’s be honest, sure I did. I was feeling you out. You being the outsider of the group. You hail from the Irendi Isles, no doubt, one of the Makai people? I have met your kind before. I was merely engaging you in hopes of drawing you out, to see who you really were! And well met, well met!” He laughs heartily then leans forward, extending his hand to shake.

Dak grips his hand firmly and returns the greeting.  “It is good to meet you, Willoby.  It was no disturbance but I just thought to return the favor a bit.  As you sought to learn a little about me I thought it would do to show me some of your character as well.”

“I am of the Makai, although now it has been many days since I have seen my homeland. The winds of change have caught me up and blown me in this direction. Then as the winds faltered the current grabbed a hold of me and continued pulling me forward.” Dak seems to be quite literal about the forces that have brought him to the mainland.

Dak gestures to the lute the bard is carrying. “You play and sing very well. It pleases me that you were able to make these people forget their troubles for a while. I thank you for that.”  

The bard smiles and he and Dak become friends. Over the next few hours, Dak reestablishes his control over the flow of water beneath the vessel. This keeps him relatively depleted magically and he mostly just fishes and rests. At the rate the boat is moving, the Captain expects to arrive at Misha's Ferry before nightfall, well ahead of schedule. The plan is to dock there for the evening and continue on at first light. 

But before the boat reaches its first day destination, things start to happen. While fishing, Dak starts to notice some strange debris floating downstream around the boat. It appears to be clothing and foodstuff with an occasional barrel or broken up crate. Curious, he gets up to have a look but before he can glean any further information, he hears a terrified scream from the other side of the boat. Juri, one of the two young Traladaran boys, has snagged some of the clothing debris with a pole and pulled it close to the boat. His brother, Laszlo, is quickly retreating from whatever they have discovered. 

As it turns out, the boys had discovered a huge, dead fish that stunk horribly. The boat, the River Arrow, reached Misha's ferry well before nightfall. The Ferry is a minor affair: a dock, a shack, a raft, and a Traladaran youth named Bahaznic, though today it was quite busy. Some homesteaders from nearby were there driving a herd of majestic white horses and would use the ferry to cross in the morning. Another group of Traladarans had just been ferried from the far side after doing some work out on the moor harvesting peat to fuel the big cities downriver. If that weren't enough, there was a small group of lumber men from the camps to the north waiting for passage back to Kelvin.

Dan takes all this in and watches as the bard, Willoby, entertains the rather large crowd easily. Based on the amount of coin, food, and drink he takes in, Dak considers briefly learning to sing.

The next morning, the River Arrow heads north. It stops at two lumber camps, Ilyakana and Sielo to take on some lumber cargo. Though the boat only traveled 20 miles that day, the rest of the time was spent loading lumber at Sielo, which seemed more like a fort than a lumber camp. Apparently some trouble with Goblins several years ago had prompted the Duke to fortify the area. Seemed safe enough now, if not loud and boisterous after sundown. 

As the River Arrow heads out the following morning, Dak learns that Willoby has decided to stay in Fort Seilo for a while, as have some of the other travelers, though a handful of new travelers have boarded, including another Bard. This one keeps his distance from Dak, though it is clear that the Traladaran entertainer is intrigued by Dak’s magic. The Captain explains that there are not many safe or civilized places to dock between here and Veseya, so everyone needs to be on the lookout for danger. The river is narrower and runs faster here as well, which means, due to Dak' s magic, the boat travels faster as well, making underwater obstacles more of a problem. Dak and the crew have little time for much else than safely navigating the rapidly moving River Arrow.

Just after noon, the steep northern bank levels off into a wide plain with a high escarpment about 200 yards back. The escarpment is the near edge of a high plateau that runs on for some distance. Soon, a broken, ruined tower can be seen above the edge of the plateau. Numerous ravines run into the plateau here and facings of buildings and cliffside dwellings can be seen. Flocks of large, dark birds can be seen circling the top of the strange, octogonal tower. Even though it is broken off at the top, it towers some 60 feet over the top of the escarpment and nearly 100 feet above the river. 

"Xitaqa," the Captain mutters. "No good, that place. It was at the center of all the trouble several years ago. Goblins and slavers and the Yellow Wizard. Nothing but trouble." As her boat rushes past, she says no more. 

A little later, both banks are high, rocky cliffs, the sound of many galloping horses can be heard. Up high on the top of the western bank, a company of mounted riders can be seen. After a second look, it seems they are not horses and riders but a large herd of Centaurs, at least thirty of them. They hoot and holler and wave their spears and axes in the air but make no threatening moves. One of the crew calls them the Stormwind Centaurs.

The day ends where the Castellan River joins the Volaga from the north. The Captain directs her crew to make for the bank between where the two join because there is a campsite there that some hunters and trappers use and it is the best, most defensible spot in the area and there are too many people and too much cargo to comfortably rest on the boat anymore. 

The campsite is deserted, which is just fine, as the passengers need all the room they can get. Dak opts to sleep on the boat as he prefers the slight undulating motion of the craft to the unmoving ground. The following two days of travel are uneventful. Only two other boats pass heading downstream. As the boat pushes farther north, the banks become higher and higher, only leveling off occasionally. The dark line of mountains can be seen in the distance, but usually their view is blocked by the wooded hills of this area. The leafy trees obscure anything beyond the banks in most cases. Here and there, pine trees begin to appear. Despite the approaching summer, the wind occasionally has a coolness to it as well. The land continues to rise slowly and finally, just after noon, the boat arrives in Veseya, a quaint little riverside village. The docks are busy as another boat looks to be loading up. Several dockhands wave and indicate where the River Arrow is to tie off. Dak and the crew guide her deftly to her destination. The Captain thanks Dak, pays him his 100 silver and tells him he has a job with her whenever he likes. The two shake hands and Dak steps onto the wooden planks and makes his way into Veseya. As he approaches the base of the dock, he notices one of the other passengers standing there, looking at him. Dak recalls that he was another bard type that came aboard at one of the lumber camps. The young Traladaran man is tall, over 6', smiling widely, and has a small stringed instrument hanging from his shoulder. He is definitely waiting for Dak. Further into the village, across the street, Dak notices a strange woman with bronze skin and a top-knot of dark hair wearing an unusual outfit of matching jacket and pants. She is staring at Dak and this Traladaran bard then stumbles and sits down hard on a barrel. The Traladaran turns and looks at her too. She just stares back in open-mouthed surprise.

Cast of Characters:

Dak, a Makai islander fluid mage - played by Ben L

and GMJasonGURPS as the DM

Mysteries of Mystara 003

Mysteries of Mystara
Session 003

Rest Easy, Child

211009

The group woke at dawn to prepare for the day though Panya, the strange monk, had been up since midnight reciting litanies, performing katas, burning incense, and meditating. When she finally finished, the group headed back to Old Lord Stelenov's tower to confer one last time with the Traladaran Priest, Father Berabellus. Dak excused himself to run another errand but promised to meet up with the group later. 

Father Berabellus

The cleric once again thanked the group for tackling the problem of the haunted keep nearby. As promised, he was able to pull together some items that might help against the incorporeal undead that had been discovered. A scroll containing an old spell that, once cast, enables the target of the spell to directly and physically interact with spiritual entities was given to the party in addition to several vessels of holy water. Finally, the priest blessed the gathered adventurers in hopes of protecting them in their upcoming exploits. 

Ilya the Red

Cass of the Gray Company

The group then meets up with their two hired mercenaries, Cass and Lev, members of the Gray Company, a renown group of hired soldiers and guards. The mercenaries then introduce the group to their mage associate, a young Traladaran woman with red hair wearing orange robes called Ilya the Red. Panya and Ilya stare at each other with wide eyes and mutter, "You?" at the same time. Clearly both know each other from a previous incident involving pushing someone off a mountain, though neither seem interested in elaborating. 

They take the "Old Road" back to the keep, hearing the mournful wail for the last mile of a several hour hike. Malachai seems to struggle with the hike and Panya once again feels the chilling effect of the howling. Finally, the keep is approached and just before entering, Lucky casts a spell to help Panya overcome her fear. 

The enormous death vulture is perched atop the defeated willowhaunt tree and the remains of the deaf thief are nothing but cleanly picked bones. Malachai once again engages the winged creature, but no real information is gained besides the vulture's desire to consume all of the adventurers. Talyn heads toward the door to the building just north of the entrance where Malachai and Dak each detected movement thought to be undead. Kicking the door open,he finds himself surrounded by sword-wielding skeletons and a wight blowing on a set of darkly enchanted panpipes.

The wight

The rest of the group quickly moves to engage with the undead, though somehow, Talyn gets isolated inside the building battling the wiley wight while the rest of the group trades blows with the skeletons in the courtyard. After a gruelling battle of back and forth, the undead are finally vanquished. Malachai, intrigued by the panpipes, moves to inspect them and feels a dark energy emanating from them and into himself. Suddenly he realizes that the light shining in from outside is painfully bright and he has to shield his eyes. Ilya, the mage, offers to analyze the magic of the pipes, though states that it will take her at least an hour to do so. Malachai agrees and moves to pass the pipes to her, then changes his mind and holds on to them himself.

While resting, Panya grills Ilya on why she did not help fight the skeletons, noting that she stayed behind Dak for the duration of the conflict. The mage in the orange robes replies by stating that she is not a combat mage or adventurer, but does have many magics that could be useful out of combat. The two seem to be at odds, but Panya tries awkwardly to bridge the gap peacefully. Cass and Lev stay out of it, just watching how the group of novice adventurers work together. Lev was quite battered during the battle and receives some healing in the form of potions and spells. Lev points out that adventuring is much different and dangerous than mercenary work. From the shadows of the skeleton-inhabited barracks, Malachai coolly informs the mercenaries that if they were to turn on the group there would be consequences. The mercenaries proclaim the honor of the Gray Company and pledge to uphold their end of the contract.

After patching up and resting for a bit, the group makes their way into the next outbuilding by squeezing through a narrow crack in the wall that might have once been a window. As Panya and Talyn make their way into the darkness of the next area, a growling can be heard from a dark corner. Malachai follows them in, and hearing the growling sounds, bravely steps forward to discover a dog-like creature with stripes of blue, glowing fur. Malachai looks and says, "Its a blink dog. I don't think it's aggressive."

The mercenary Cass calls from outside, "We'll stand out here. A blink dog? What's that?" Malachai cautiously approaches and explains they are magical creatures, typically of a good nature but shy around strangers. It growls some more and Talyn fishes some food out of  his pack, tossing some dried meat to the animal. It takes the food and quickly starts eating it. Malachai suggests leaving the beast alone as it is not a threat. The group makes their way back out of the crumbling building.

Heading back to the main tower, the group moves around to the kitchen area and the trap door leading below ground. More of the brown, metal-rusting spider webs have been strung about this area, though not as many as before, are easily cleared away by waving a stick around. The group follows their glowing warrior back down the narrow stairs. Once again at a crossroads, the group decides to head to the left this time. Finding the door secured, Lucky attempts to open the lock using the thieves tools he had recently picked up. Sadly he is not yet skilled in that art and finds himself unsuccessful. Talyn proceeds to bash it in with his found crowbar. After several mighty swings, the door is in shambles and the group is greeted by a foul, damp smell. Moving in, Talyn finds himself in a small cramped storeroom. A pool of murky brown water dominates the leftmost half of this room while hogsheads filled with moldy ale stand against the curved northern wall. Looking up, it is seen that the ceiling above is damaged and seems to line up with the broken floor at the base of the tower stairs. Falling through would have deposited Talyn into this stinking pool of brown water. Hoping to find more treasure or clues as to what is going on here, Talyn begins smashing barrels open, only to find dark, sticky liquids inside.

Finding nothing, the group proceeds to the next unopened door. Lucky again tries to pick it, but fails, so Talyn uses the crowbar to bash the door in easily. The path passes through a rough stone area into a room lined with flagstones. A crumbling table and chairs dominates the center of this strange underground conference room. While exploring the dark corners of the room, Talyn triggers a bit of a rockslide as the floor and walls crumble and fall away. He is just able to dive away to avoid falling down into a darkened pit below. The group moves on into another rough stone passage and finds a doorway off to the left. Lucky and Talyn check the door out and both find it difficult to open. It seems there has been some settling and the rock above the door frame has moved down to block it. Talyn swings away until it is opened, revealing a dark, curving stone passage that follows some steps downward.

The group opts to remain on the current level before delving any deeper and takes another passage out of the room. As they move into another worked stone corridor, they are accosted by a suddenly manifesting massive skull bathed in purplish flames. It croaks in a low, unearthly voice, "Go away!" then suddenly vanishes.

Flaming purple skull

Ilya the Red shrieks "Ahh. That was scary!" and moves back behind Lev. 

The rest of the group, undaunted by the warning, continues forward to find what looks like the beginning of a dungeon block. Several ironbound, locked doors line the hallway. Small metal panels in the bottom of each door allows a peek in if the observer does not mind lying prone and forcing a light through the opening. Several of the chambers appear empty though some are “occupied.” One chamber has some human remains as well as another shadow guardian that reaches out and caresses Talyn’s face, sapping his strength before he can roll away and shut the panel. Panya also encounters a shadow that claims to be the lord of the keep and proclaims, “Come for me, have you? No need! I sent myself to my own watery grave!” Panya is able to nimbly roll away before being touched by his shadowy, grasping hand. Panya looks puzzled, "How would a ghost go to a watery grave from a locked prison cell?"

Ilya responds, "Sometimes a spirit does not manifest where it passed. There is a reason it is here though."

The group quickly moves out of this area and continues through the dungeon, finally entering what appears to be a torture room. As he enters, Talyn notices that his celestial nimbus dims and the torches some of his companions bear also seem to shed only half their normal light. He then hears quiet whispers coming from some manacles bolted to the far wall. The far end of the room seems to have suffered a bit of a cave-in and it is quickly deduced that it was caused by Talyn’s earlier search in the conference room. Thoroughly creeped out by this area, the group continues on. The exit passage leads around and up some stairs, connecting with the door that was hampered by the settling rock, making something of a circle. Malachai groans. "Human architecture makes NO sense."

Finally the group gets into a discussion about the source of the wail and Ilya the Red says that despite the presence of spiritual activity in the basement, the source of the wail needs to be dealt with, and its source seems to be from the upper floors of the tower, so the group heads back to the surface to climb the upper floors of the Mourning Lady’s Keep. 

Carefully bypassing the broken floor at the base of the stairs, the party climbs to the second floor of the keep. The second floor room at the top of the stairs contains nothing but some scraps of destroyed furniture. The mournful keening can be heard coming from behind the door to the next chamber. The stone stairs continue up to what used to be the third floor, but the unfiltered light of the sun shining down indicates that there is not much left up there. Malachai curses quietly and shields his face from the intense light and asks Lucky to read the incantation on the scroll to imbue his weapon with the ability to interact with the banshee if it comes to blows.

The Mourning Lady

Peeling paintings of unicorns and fairies cover the walls of this once lovely room. A gaping hole in the roof permits natural light. The wooden floor is heavily water damaged and covered in many long, dark fingernail scratches. A sobbing and moaning phantom of a woman crouches in the northernmost corner of the room. A badly weather damaged painting hangs on the wall behind her. It seems to depict two girls playing by the willow tree in the courtyard. She wears an incorporeal crown of white flowers on her head and clutches the tattered remains of two little girl dolls. She paces then turns to face you, “Why? Why did you do this!” she screams at you.

Talyn calls back, “Do what?”

His only reply is an increase in the wailing sound and her crying, “By babies, my babies!”

Immediately, the group begins to question her about her babies and how they can help though the banshee seems to not really follow their line of questioning. Malachai looks at the painting and ponders, "The bones. the bones by the tree illusion."

"Where are my babies? They need to go to bed. It is much too late." She moans loudly and a wave of intense cold hits both Talyn and Panya. Seeing this as an attack, Talyn charges, swinging the Mace of St. Yuric at the phantom. She glides away but the holy weapon strikes her, "Oh nooooooo!" she cries. 

The phantom of the woman does not really even seem to pay attention as the group moves to attack. She floats across the room and gazes out the window. Dak asks, "So we're fighting this thing?" Malachai frowns, observing her behavior. Numerous attacks on her seem to have very little effect on the ghostly apparition as she floats from one side of the room to the other, moaning and gazing out various windows. Talyn’s assaults as well as Dak’s magical attacks seem to do the most good. Panya finds that using the holy water seems to help, though she is not quite sure she wants to attack the phantom anymore.

Panya cries out, “Could we find another way? She seemed beyond comprehending us!”

"I can try to repel her, but she does not seem to be attacking us," Ilya responds. 

Malachai begins playing his panpipes to try to negate the banshee’s wail, which works quite well and keeps her from more damaging wails. The battle ranges back and forth across the room with many ineffective attacks against the banshee and her seemingly unaware of the attacks. After a few moments, it is decided to retreat out of her chamber and regroup. She does not pursue while the group heads back out to the courtyard. It is decided that they must find and recover the remains of the Lady’s children, which just might be found near the willow. 

While the search for the children’s bones begins, Malachai goes in search of the blink dog in an attempt to get more help. Ilya says she may be able to find the bones via her magic, but states that it may be difficult as she does not have much connection or knowledge of them. She is encouraged to try but she is unsuccessful and cannot attempt the same spell until a week has passed. Everyone else starts physically searching the courtyard near the tree. The ground is a thick mat of dirt, debris, and leaves from years or being undended.

Meanwhile, Malachai finds the blink dog watching from near the outbuildings. He approaches in an unthreatening manner and casts a spell to be able to speak with the fey animal. The wild defender crouches and speaks to the blink dog, "Little one, how long have you been here?"

The blink dog replies happily, "Hello, my name is Lesaro. Are you here to help the sad lady?"

"We are,” Malachai replies. “She's sad because she wants to find her children. You, knower of bones, have you seen the bones of human children?"

Lesaro yips happily, "I have been here for a while. I am glad you destroyed those undead and that tree. The Vulture still scares me though,” it says, glancing up to the upper reaches of the nearby tower. "As for the children’s remains, they may be in the yard, but beware, sometimes the children return to the yard. They are scary. I have seen them play around the tree."

Lesaro the Blink Dog

Malachai flashes a concerned gaze to the tree. "When do they come back? When the sun falls?" Malachai asks.

“Yes, mostly yes, at night. They are SCARY," Lesaro explains, quivering in fear as he speaks.

Malachai nods and says, "I see,” he smiles warmly. “Thank you, friend. We will not harm you, and we will do our best to help the sad lady." Just then, Malachai recalls something from his journey to Veseya and gasps. "Lesaro...! You-!" He quickly reaches into his pack for the token he was to give.

Seeing the wooden feather token, Lesaro jumps up and down a few times, then suddenly teleports around Malachai several times in little blue flashes. "Thank you for the message from Robin Graywing. By the way, I can understand Sylvan if you can speak it, I just can't speak it myself." Malachai nods at this, confirming that he can in fact, speak Sylvan. Lesaro seems interested in helping the party in their quest to ease the suffering of the Lady of the Tower and agrees to help find the remains of her children. Malachai relates what he has learned from their new blink dog ally.

With Lesaro’s help, the remains of the children are located and dug up. They are taken up to the second floor of the tower and presented to the banshee. Upon seeing her dead children, she breaks out sobbing uncontrollably again and flies into a wild rage. Quickly, Lucky plays a song and enacts a magical spell to silence her. She rages across the room and does not seem to want to see the dead bodies of her babies. Quickly the group retreats back outside, Malachai sticking to the shadows and keeping out of direct sunlight as best he can. 

After some deliberation, it is determined that the remains should be buried somewhere. Talyn thinks it is a bad idea to bury them on the ground of the keep with so much undead activity around they could reanimate. Lucky says that most Traladaran nobles would have a nearby family plot or graveyard. The group spends the next several hours searching the nearby forest until they finally find a small and weather-beaten cemetery. Malachai uses his magic to shape the earth into a grave for the two long-dead children. Talyn says some words and attempts to recreate some funeral services he has witnessed before, though it is quite evident that he did not quite get it right. Lucky changes some words and phrases to a traditional Traladaran mourning poem as the final bits of soil are moved on top of the grave.

In the distance, the wailing moan of the banshee continues.

Session Pics

Session Notes

Missing a player again tonight (we miss you, Ben, come back!) the group followed through on their plans anyway. More exploring, making a new friend, battling a foe that did not seem interested in battling back.

Cast of Characters:

Malachai, Faetouched, Wilderness Defender - played by JeCorey H
Talyn Dilectus Vanyilam, teenage Celestial warrior on the run - played by Don K
Dak, a Makai islander fluid mage - played by Ben L
Panya Masika, a bronze skinned Nithian monke stranded out of time - played by Carol C
Vlajic Savago, the Lucky Savage, a Traladaran bard - played by Dan E

and GMJasonGURPS as the DM

Mysteries of Mystara 002T

Mysteries of Mystara
Session 002

From Talyn's Point of View

2109613

Having passed the night in Novaci, unfortunately there was bad news in the morning. The main road had been blocked by a landslide and it would take days, maybe weeks to clear and repair the road. Fortunately there was an old road that while not a straight shot did loop around and reconnect to the main road.

After some discussion the caravan decided to follow the old road. After a few hours' travel an eerie noise was heard that spooked the horses. It was decided that Talyn, Panya, Lucky, Malachai, and Dak would scout ahead and see what was going on. 

After traveling towards the noise we discovered an abandoned, ruined keep. Easily entering the ruins from the "front door", even though there was no door. We quickly made our way over to the tower and entered. In the main chamber of the tower there were some stairs that I attempted to climb, but accidently broke through the rotting boards. Deciding to explore the rest of the tower before attempting the dangerous climb the group went through a door. 

Finding themselves in a kitchen with some metal corroding cobwebs that Malachai eventually cleared we opened a trap door into a basement area. Curiosity compelling us to descend into the darkness. Once down the stone stairs we found ourselves in a corridor and decided to open the first door on the right. After some attempt to see if any traps were left we managed to get the door open into a storeroom. 

Confidently entering the room to search for clues or other hidden things we were attacked by shadow monsters. Our weapons were mostly ineffective, but the torches and perseverance won the day. After a search of the room where some coins were found, we decided to fall back, regroup, and see if we could find any resources to deal with the shadows back in town.

On your way out, as we trooped back through the kitchen I once again saw a glint of something shining. With no hesitation I pulled the shining thing out of the pile of debris and discovered a magical mace. Panaya almost immediately asked to see the mace and we discovered that she had been searching for it for the monastery up the hill from Novaci.

We then moved out into the courtyard through the back door when Malachai approached the Willow in the courtyard and we discovered that it was an undead tree. Which of course promptly attacked Malachai. We immediately sprung into action and after a few exchange of blows the tree was felled, but not before the vile thing whispered foul things about Malachai. I mean really what did the fae do before joining us?

There was then a lively discussion about what to do with the dead body behind the tree, apparently the man was a thief. I just couldn't understand why Panya wanted to bury the guy, I mean what benefit to us was that? Meanwhile Malachai wanted to leave the body to nature. There was a giant vulture that he seemed to be talking to and I think he wanted to leave it to the bird. I wonder if he is going to try and convince the vulture to become his familiar? Anyway a compromise was reached in that we would leave the body for now and then bury the remains when we come back. Note to self bring a shovel. We then made our way back to town and decided to visit the village priest up at the Lord's keep. At the keep we were stopped and questioned by some mercenaries working for the lord of the keep. After explaining our business, I was then let in to see the priest and we had a discussion about the old keep, the old lords, and the probable ghost there. The priest then said he would provide some items to help, and we could pick them up in the morning.

As we exited the keep I realized there was an opportunity before us and inquired if the mercenaries were for hire or knew someone who was. To my surprise this sparked a round of argument among my companions as some of them did not see the wisdom in hiring mercenaries. I pushed ahead anyway and came to an agreed price for 1 day service from the mercenaries. Amazingly Panya agreed to help defray the cost.

In the morning we plan on heading back to the old keep with the newly hired mercenaries and the items that the priest provides. Better equipped, with more swords, and more information. I am confident that we can overcome this challenge.

Written by Don K.

Session Notes

This was an In Character report from our last session (not posted yet, not done putting it together). Talyn is a young and naïve Celestial that has recently escaped from the Cult of Vanya. He was being trained as a holy avenger but chaffed under the strict training and dogma. Now out wandering the world, the young, glowing warrior tries to fit in with a strange and eclectic group of companions, but has no real skill to do so.

Cast of Characters:

Dak, a Makai islander fluid mage - played by Ben L

Malachai, Faetouched, Wilderness Defender - played by JeCorey H
Panya Masika, a bronze skinned Nithian monke stranded out of time - played by Carol C 

Talyn Dilectus Vanyilam, teenage Celestial warrior on the run - played by Don K
Panya Masika, a bronze skinned Nithian monke stranded out of time - played by Carol C
Vlajic Savago, the Lucky Savage, a Traladaran bard - played by Dan E

and GMJasonGURPS as the DM