Sundered Lands 11

The Sundered Lands of Palladium

Session 11
April 24, 2016

The Riddle of the Eyes

Friday October 27

Vanderboren Family Vault under Castle Teraknian

While Valinya is away doing some research, the rest of the companions find themselves in a treasury vault deep under Castle Teraknian. Lavinia and the companions are trying to figure out a strange riddle that was discovered with the family signet ring that is supposedly the "key" to the vault.

The gathered heroes ponder the riddle and the strange area they have discovered behind the initial vault room. This room has a large, movable column in the center with an 8-pointed star with one red point inlaid in both the floor and images inlaid in the wall of seven different creatures, none of which are mentioned in the riddle. 

Much conjecture is thrown about and many ideas, though no one is quite sure if any of them are correct. Seeker and Fortis debate different ways to match up the creatures from the riddle to the creatures here on the walls. Silver suggests turning the column, pointing the red arrow at different beasts while Arn becomes impatient and just wants to do "something." Meanwhile, Moonscar and Lavinia wait in the antechamber, trapped when the archway connecting the two vault chambers magically closed. Lavinia is becoming upset bordering on hysterical and Moonscar does his best to calm her, explaining that they are tasked with "keeping watch" for the rest of the group.

Seeker resets the pointer by bringing it back to point at the entry door. Arn identifies the eyes of the creature carvings as Blood Emeralds, which he states are very valuable. Meanwhile, Silver finds 3 small crystal potion vials on the floor. Seeker starts turning the column, lining the red arrow up with yet another creature. Fortis tries some magical analysis of the area while Arn tries prying some of the gemstones out. After Seeker and Silver turn the column back and forth between a few creatures, there is a sudden click, the column spins around several times on its own then ends up pointing back at the entry door. Nothing else happens.

Seeker tries again, with a different combination, but it too ends with the column spinning on its own and then pointing back at the door. While Fortis is busy casting his spell, he hears Valinya trying to communicate with him telepathically but he tells her he is busy casting. Upset, she then contacts Seeker and tells him that she has researched some of the animals and has found out that a Grimbor is a large ape like creature from the Yin-Sloth jungles. Another attempt at figuring out the riddle fails and Seeker asks Valinya some other questions about the beasts in the riddle. 

Before he can get any answers, the room starts filling up with a pale green gas from somewhere up where the wall turns into the ceiling. Fortis tries to use magic to shut it off and Arn tries to smash it with his mace but neither plan works. Everyone holds their breath while Seeker tries again to turn the pillar in the correct order but it does not work. Silver says she can clear the poison out of the air but she needs to wait till it is no longer filling the room or her spell would have no effect. 

Fortis creates a magical glass globe big enough for a Dragon to fit in, along with an Ellyl and a Dwarf. Seeker remains out, frantically trying to figure out the right combination. The gas starts to get to the large Wolfen, causing his eyes to water and making him cough. He is no longer able to hold his breath. Silver quickly casts a spell to purify the air around her friend. The green gas in the room disappears, but quickly begins refilling because poison is still pouring into the chamber. 

 

Thinking he has it this time, Seeker becomes mad with the pillar again spins and points back at the door. He punches the pillar and pleads with Valinya to "get down here" and help them out. Inside the glass bubble, the others continue trying to formulate plans, but are able to come up with nothing useful. Seeker keeps trying but all of his ideas and combinations fail. The poison gas starts getting to him again, he telepathically tells Valinya that if he doesn't make it, to tell his parents he died  stuck in a hole in the ground. The poison is taking its toll on the large Wolfen, but fortunately Fortis is on hand with some healing magic, giving Seeker just a little extra umpf when he needs it.

After several more failed attempts, the gas stops filling the room and Silver is able to purify enough of it that it does not seem dangerous anymore. Seeker sags to the floor exhausted and quite irritated by the poison gas. He keeps up his telepathic banter with Valinya and she has him explain exactly how they were coming up with the combinations they had been trying. After a few moments of discussion, Valinya decides that they had been looking at the correlations all wrong and proposes a different tact. 

Eventually the group decides to match the creatures up based on the number of eyes they each have. Ready to try the central pillar once more, Fortis creates a glass bubble that fits around Seeker's enormous head. He smiles and thanks Fortis, seeing the front of the bubble begin to fog up with his heated breath. The others gather near the exit and Fortis prepares to create another gas envelope for them to hid in if the gas returns. Seeker then starts moving the pillar in the newly proscribed patter and this time, a deep rumbling sound is followed by each of the 6 carved pillars raising up to reveal hidden alcoves behind them. Each alcove contains a chest or smaller coffers. All of them are open and empty except for a few silver and copper coins here and there. Seeker collapses to the floor, exhausted and nearly poisoned while the others check the alcoves. All but one chest has been emptied. Fortis uses magic to see if this is but an illusory ruse while Arn checks for other secret doors, but none are found. The treasury has already been raided.

Outside, Moonscar and Lavinia hear the rumbling and then a faint click. Moonscar quickly begins scrambling to try to open the door again to rejoin his friends. After a moment, the archway reopens and they step in to see their friends, still alive, but with looks of utter defeat on their faces. Lavinia looks quite dejected as she sees that all of the chests are emptied. "Vanthus!" she yells. "It must have been him!"

Cast of Characters: 

+Arne Jamtgaard plays Seeker, a teenage Wolfen Warlord

+Ben Zittere plays Fortis, an Ellyl trickster and Mage

+Stephen Kolmetz plays Valinya, an Elven Wildsong Mage
+Mike Biancone plays Arn, a surly Dwarven Warrior

+Amergin O'Kai plays Moonscar, the esoteric Kankoran Druid

+Daniel White plays Silver, a young and curious Dragon
and +Jason GURPS as the GM

Grand Duchy 78

Grand Duchy of Adventure

Session 78
January 28, 2016

Scouting the Valley

Soladain 24th of Yarthmont

Snakebite!

The Grey Company continues their exploration of the valley, continuing to move further to the west. Iris and Remar, already tires and exhausted from the arduous journey so far, seem even more trail worn as they Company sets out. While taking a rest during the early morning, Ree is bitten by a snake. She cries out in pain and the wound immediately shows signs of poison. Acting quickly, the wound is treated by applying some found herbs but it does not seem to be doing the trick. Draven tries his divine healing magic, but it is not effective against the poison. The group decides to camp out until the poison is dealt with. 

Draven attempts to meditate, praying to his patrons in the hopes that they bestow upon him the knowledge to cure the poison. Finally, after several hours, Draven is granted the knowledge he sought. In no time, Ree is better, thanks in no small part to Draven and his Patrons. The Company spends the rest of the day encamped, resting and foraging. Marcel cooks a wonderful meal of rabbits, seasoned with his prized spices from Rifllian.

Exploring more of the valley, heading west!

Spooky Tidings

That night, an eerie face can be seen in the side of a tree near the campfire. It appears to be watching the Company but upon closer inspection, it is nothing more than interesting pattern in the bark being highlighted by the shadows and light thrown by their campfire. The sound of skittering rocks in the nearby darkness draws everyone's attention and the Company springs into action but after a careful look around the camp, nothing can be found. 

As everyone arrives back to camp, a distant, blood curdling scream can be heard from somewhere out in the darkness. This whole valley seems to have set everyone on edge. 

Lunadain 25th of Yarthmont

Bugs!

The next day the Company gets back on the march and heads west, sees some more ruined structures, an arch of some kind, and decides to head around it, giving it a wide berth. As they bypass the arch, though, they are accosted by several huge swarms of some nasty, biting insects. They try to swat, ride past and even burn the bugs with magic before they are finally rid of them. 

Wanna See a Dead Body?

Finally past the bugs, the Company crosses a stream and spot some more ruined structures ahead. From a distance, they can see what appears to be three dead bodies laying around on the rocks. A closer inspection shows that the bodies are very recently dead (and not UN-dead!) 

Dead bodies

Being very careful and approaching slowly, the Grey Company gets closer. It appears that they are Human, young adults and all three bald. They look to have been slain by spears and swords and the blood is relatively fresh still. As they move in to examine them a bit closer, they hear the sounds of several somethings rushing toward them through the foliage. 

Meet the Neighbors

The Grey Company is then face to face with a large contingent of bald headed Human warriors, all mounted on large, formidable lizards. They yelled and waved stone tipped spears in the direction of the Company and advanced slowly and menacingly. As they shouted, Iris, Draven and Marcel realized they could understand some of the words they were speaking. It was clear to them that they were accusing the Grey Company of killing their people.

The neighbors... and their giant lizard pets

Cast of Characters: 

Garrett "Griffin" Constantine, a Thyatian rogue of a gambler from Penhaligon rolled by +Arne Jamtgaard 

Marcel Maas, a homely but sincere wielder of spears aspiring to cooking greatness commanded by +Christian Blouin 

Draven Rickart, a Thyatian Acolyte of the Church of Karameikos ministered by +Jason Packer 

Iris Varda, a Thyatian explorer and historian searching for answers and adventure guided by +Alex Safatli 

and +Jason Woollard as The DM