Grand Duchy 120

Grand Duchy of Adventure

Session 120
April 21 - May 20, 2017

Return to the Temple of Pflarr

Moldain 14th, Klarmont

Perched on High

Several members of the Grey Company, with their Hutaakan companion Kasiex, crouch behind crumbling stonework above the main entrance to the Temple of Pflarr while a handful of zombies and skeletons shamble about below, trampling the recently defeated remains of a wight that had tried to climb up the face of the Temple. The other undead seem to know that the Company is hiding up above but do not seem to possess the skill or intelligence to figure out how to get up there, so they merely wait below. The sun shines brightly in the mostly clear sky and the three lizard pack animals have taken up spots nearby on the temple sunning themselves contentedly. The village of Ronkan can be seen just a mile or so distant. Sentries still walk the walls, smoke still drifts from its chimneys, though no other activity can be seen. The farmers and workers are not out in the fields and the city walls block the view into the city proper.

Remar whispers to the group at large, “Well, do we leave those other corpses that have us treed there to greet Golthar and his ilk should they come this way?  Or are we still considering being the filling of an enemy sandwich, in which case you’d like me to bolt these others as well?”

Mmmm.  Sandwich.

The Wizard’s stomach growls and he blushes a little as he continues.  “The later will leave a more obvious mess than the one ‘Wight there’ lying amongst the rocks out of the way here on the side.”

Draven ponders the situation. “They are unlikely to leave with us up here now, mindless as they are. As your bolts are in infinite supply, they seem the most likely tool to dispatch them and clear the way for us to move at need.”

After receiving affirming nods from the others, the Alphatian takes a look around to make sure they aren't being physically monitored.  As he does so he says, “Do you all see anyone watching? I'm also going to check to see if we are being magically monitored here first and maintain that, before I start bolting.” With a small gesture, Remar whispers “Obvistatae revelator.”  Here's to hoping no one’s watching.

But will yer spell account for meh s’well?

After casting his spell, Remar believes that there is no one watching him at this moment.

The Battlemage  takes aim and begins blasting away at the blasphemous, shambling husks.

After a few handfuls of bolts resulting in several Zombies on the ground, the remaining undead wander off away from the area and out of sight or range of Remar’s pulsating magical blasts.

“Okay, good job, Remar. Any undead that harry Golthar’s troop will be drawn here by them. Less chance of them being tipped off.” He ponders for a while. “So, is there anything else we can do to prep for their arrival? Troops on the ground, Golthar in the air?” He pats his Gnomish crossbow. “I really want to get a clear shot at that bastard.”

He gazes out over the approaches to the temple. “If they’re smart, once we engage, they’ll probably want to pull back. We’re not very mobile here. Hmmm, where do you think they’d retreat to? Around the shoulder of the hills? Kasiex? Have you a quick way to get up above them there?”

Remar scratches his head.  “Oh, I thought we were just going to hide up here and let however many do go in to suffer the brunt of whatever the undead carnival has in store in there.  We do still think Golthar is going to come here and go in, right? If they split up so some go in and some stay out, we could wait a designated amount of time, ambush those outside, proceed inside, impinge their retreat, and hope they’ve encountered the other undead in a to negative effect.”

“Hmmm” Kasiex muses. “I like this plan. Let the dark things in the temple winnow their numbers. Then we fall on them from behind. Griffin and I can catch the Yellow one in cross fire. Would his spells protect from our arrows, do you think?”

Waiting

The Grey Company sits and waits on the top of the Temple of Pflarr for about an hour and nothing seems to be going on. The sun continues to beat down on everyone but Remar’s spell keeps everyone cool and comfortable in the slight breeze. The occasional undead wanders by, but none of them pay any attention to the hiding Company. Ronkan seems to be especially quiet with little to no activity visible beyond the wall sentries keeping their patrols up.

Draven speaks, “It’s beginning to look like we might have a bit of a wait ahead of us. I’m wondering if we mightn’t need to give them a little nudge, something to put a little fire under them to move quickly?”

“The dead? Or do you wish to mount an expedition into the village to lever the Yellow One out?” replies Kasiex.

“Oh, the dead would be easy to tempt out of their hiding places. I want our friend in yellow to storm this temple so that we might close the jaws of the trap on him. We talked once of leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for him to follow. I’m not sure how best to engage his interest now,” Draven explains.

Another hour passes and everything remains virtually the same. There is little to no activity in Ronkan besides the regular patrolling of the wall sentries and only a few more undead are spotted nearby, but not close enough to bolt. The riding lizards seem quite content with this course of action and sleep quietly on the sun-warmed stone of the temple roof.

Thoughtfully, Kasiex looks at the mobile dead nearby. “Revolting things...but, would this yellow one recognize your party? Perhaps we could slay a few of these...things…, and tie them to the lizards.  I could lay a trail leading here, then use the lizards with their disguised cargo to reveal myself to the guards on Ronkan’s walls; then lead any pursuit to the false trail. Discarding the disguises, we can make it appear that the bodies of the mannequins were dead we stumbled upon in our flight, and I can scatter the lizards after.  They won’t find me once we make the woods, but they should be able to follow the trail here. I’ll circle around and rejoin you here; if I’m quick, I’ll beat them as they follow a wandering path here, and we can spring the trap when the Temple has weakened them. Classic lure and bait hunting.” Kasiex’ jaws part in a canine grin.

“Kasiex,” Remar asks.  “How close can you get to see inside without getting spotted if that was the goal and how long would it take to get back?  Do you think it would be less risky to climb up higher to look into the village and see the surrounding area?” To everyone he adds, “Is flying straight up to forward observe from here an acceptable risk we'd be willing to take?”

Kasiex answers with an honest assessment of his chances based upon available concealment and his skills.

Kasiex does not think he could get close enough to the village to make any good reconnaissance. The area surrounding the village is relatively well cleared making any approach more than difficult. An aerial reconnaissance might do better, though distance would be an issue to any such scouting.

Griffin listens to the back-and-forth. “I dunno, guys, if the best we can do is an aerial recon, and we’ve seen Golthar take to the skies before, I think it might be asking for trouble if we pursue that approach.” He hunkers down behind the facade where he had been keeping watch. “If we want to stick to the plan of letting him take the worst hit against the fell folk inside here, I think we’ll just have to exercise a little more patience.” He grins. “And you know that that isn’t necessarily sitting well with me. I want to know what’s inside, too.” He shrugs “But we don’t want to soak all the pain from those monsters and then have to deal with Golthar after that. So, I’m willing to yield to wiser heads.”

He ponders. “But since we’re stuck here waiting, anyone mind if I just do a reconnoiter of this roof - see if there’s anything we missed along the way? A quick whistle if we see anything changing at the village and I can be back in position, toot sweet.” Assuming there are no objections, Griffin will take his time exploring the rooftop of the temple, looking for any other access points both to the inside and the ground outside. Wouldn’t do to be surprised by some zombies sneaking up the back stairs, would it?

Oh, ey object.  Aside from da fact dat ye should ‘ave better spells fer spyin’, Rema’, an’ not just 50 different ways to set fires, ye canna just fly straight up.  Keep goin’ up until ye spy da whole valley ‘round ‘ere an’ know fer sure where dat mage’s camp be!

“Um…” Remar hesitates.  “No objections here Griffin, if you tink...er...think climbing up to check the roof is best while we wait patiently.”

Iris nods at Griffin and says, “Knowing who's down there makes waiting difficult, but I agree that patience seems to be our safest course at the moment.”

Ree mumbles to herself and kicks some rocks, clearly becoming more and more irritated with the waiting. She looks around for something to occupy her time, sees nothing and grunts. She looks at Iris, “patience,” she mutters and sneers.

Griffin clambers around on the roof of the temple, though there is not really that much roof to explore. The back of the temple butts up to the sheer rock face of the mountain, so there is no real chance to be surprised from behind, though there are plenty of ways someone, or something, could climb up out of sight along the front and sides of the temple.

After searching for a while, he finally finds what he thinks may be a more accessible way to enter the temple besides climbing up to the hole in the dome or going through the front door. It will take a little work but it seems that there may be a way to shift some rubble and bricks near the left side of the 2nd level. Griffin believes that it will enter into the balcony area that ringed the main temple chamber.

Oooo, what have we here? “Hey, Ree, check this out!” He inspects the area carefully - last thing he wants is to tip off the monsters inside. Once he’s sure things are solid, he spreads out his cloak over the area and, slipping under it, starts chipping away at the bricks and rubble, hoping first to find a way to peek into the temple without being detected.

Ree snaps out of her boredom and hurries quickly to Griffin’s side. He hears a quiet, whispered, “yesss” slide from her lips as she sees what he is doing. The space behind the bricks is dark, completely so now with the cloak hung up. Griffin was expecting to see the light from the magical ring of fire that had sat in the center of the main chamber but now realizes that maybe this new entrance does not lead directly into the main temple room after all. He moves a few more bricks and scrapes away obstructing hunks of ancient mortar until he has a space large enough to carefully slide through. He leans forward and holds his magically glowing necklace into the opening. He sees a vertical shaft, possibly for light or air. Above him the shaft extends up a bit and some faint rays of light pierce the blackness where the sun is peeking in through some cracks near the top of the shaft some 5 feet above him. The shaft, about 3 feet square, extends down into the blackness. He notes that there are plenty of good handholds and that he could no doubt make the climb down quite easily.

“You first, or me?” Ree asks with a sly look on her face.

Kas’ ears flick as his two fellows huddle together behind the screen of Griffin’s cloak.  He looks back and forth between Griffin and Ree’s hidden forms and Iris and Draven, then, quietly and with an amused wag of his tail “They are ‘getting a room’?”

“Certainly not.  Sounds more like gently probing a crack or two for entrance” the Alphatian suggests.

Ey'll say!

“Draven, Iris, are you two alright?” Remar asks.  “You sound like you both are choking.”

Going Down

Griffin smiles. “Oh, me first. I found it, after all.” He pokes his head out from under the cloak. “Hey guys, found something I want to check out. Give a yell if Golthar starts heading this way!” He swings into the shaft and starts making his way down.

Griffin easily climbs down the shaft, being able to support himself on all four sides easily. The bricks of the shaft are well-fitted but easy enough to find good hand and foot-holds. After a few moments, Griffin finds himself at the bottom of the shaft. It opens up in the middle of the ceiling over a room below. Due to his angle and position, he can’t quite get a good look at the floor of the dark room below, but guesses it's about 15 or so feet down. He cannot quite tell if the floor below is clear of rubble or level at all.

Griffin climbs back up, muttering to himself. Ree’s face is at the top of the shaft. It’s obvious she was on her way down. She says, “What?”

He braces himself in the opening to the shaft and swears. “It opens in the roof of a room. Drop down and getting out could be tricky. I want to run a rope down. Should be one in my pack. Tie it off and pass it over. I’d like a way out before I commit.”

Ree rolls her eyes. Just like a man… But she scrambles across the roof and returns with the rope, tying it off against the base of one of the statues that festoon the temple. She tosses it to him, and, quick as he can, Griffin is back down the shaft. He pauses at the hole in the roof. He still can’t see anything from his angle, so he wraps the rope around his waist and slowly starts lowering himself into the room.

Meanwhile, amidst the grunting and labored breathing beneath the cloak, Remar looks to Iris, Draven, and Kasiex and asks, “Sounds like Griffin is working hard.  Do you think he or Ree needs any help? Should we ask if they require any assistance?”

Kas blinks, surprise evident. “They would...accept help? That seems like it could get crowded under the cloak.”

“You do have a point there, Kasiex,” Remar says.  “Maybe when we ask, we should suggest that some of us could trade in and out as needed due to the tight confides?”

Still red in the face with embarrassment, Iris locks her gaze out over the valley and whispers, “I’m all for lightening the mood, but you two are incorrigible today.”  She clears her throat softly and continues, “I’m sure they’ll let us know if they need help with whatever they’re doing. Have you all seen any movement beyond this rooftop?  I haven’t seen a thing.”

With a bemused look to Iris, the Wizard says, “I, uh, haven't seen anything unusual.  My scry detection spell hasn't notified me of anything unusual, either. What about you and your keen eyes, Kasiex?”

Come on.  Ask 'er. Ye know ye gonna.

He continues, searching everyone’s faces for answers, “So, what’s incorrigible about poking our heads in to ensure they are satisfied with their discoveries?  I assure you that I am nothing but serious in this endeavor.”

Ye ser be growin’ on meh, hahaha.

“I feel as if I've missed something...”

Iris sniffs and says, “You’re just trying to goad me into saying something salacious.”

Remar’s face colors like a thermometer, “Wh...what?”

When Ree comes out from behind the cloak and takes the rope from Griffin’s pack, some eyebrows raise. She then ties it off to base of one of the sturdier looking pieces of masonry sculpture nearby. She plays the rope out and takes it with her behind the cloak. A moment later her head pokes back out, “Grif found another way into the temple. Leads to some abandoned room down on the main level. Not one of the rooms we explored earlier. We’re going to check it out. You coming or staying up here?” With that she disappears back behind the hanging cloak.

After the rope finishes snaking past Griffin, he grabs it and easily makes his way down. As he hops to the floor, he is thankful that he did not try to make the drop. While he could have easily landed the 15’ drop, the floor is covered with bricks, rocks and other pieces of rubble which would have thrown off his landing and no doubt caused injury.

In the dim light of his glowing Pixie necklace, he can see that the room is large, about 10 paces north to south and twice that east to west. Dark, gaping archways leave the room to the north and the south. The northern exit is reached by a set of stairs leading up to a small platform about 4 feet above the floor of the chamber. The walls and ceiling look to have been once covered with intricate carvings and decorations, though much of this appears to now be littering the floor as rubble.

Cast of Characters: 

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

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

Remar Umerus, an Alphatian battle mage that escaped forced service in the Thyatian army currently marshalled by Patrick K

Iris Varda, a Thyatian explorer and historian searching for answers and adventure, now guided by Stephanie K

Kasiex, a Hutaakan Wildsteward used to ranging the mountains and valleys now led down a new path by Patrick B

and Jason W as The DM

Grand Duchy 102

Grand Duchy of Adventure

Session 102
September 29, 2016

The Knowledge of Elders

Nytdain 8th Klarmont

Griffin steps in to the left and sweeps the room looking for trouble and sees that the rest of the room appears to devoid of unnatural dangers. Debris lines the outer edge of this room. Some dragging tracks can be seen through the dust and dirt in the middle of the room, probably mummy tracks

Iris pokes her head in the room and looks for mummies and Draven begins picking through the rubble near the walls in a search for secret doors. There are no mummies present so Iris searches the room for symbols, text, inscriptions with help from Kifein. Griffin says, "Okay, we can't do any other doors until we're done here." Griffin checks for secret doors too. The search goes on in relative silence and the rest of the Vault remains silent.

While the others search the room, Remar keeps an eye out for enemies approaching from where they came, especially the hole in the ground since it appears the doors seal when 1 is opened. Kasiex remains in the silent vault with Remar, his bow ready.

There are no writings on the walls that are visible but it seems that the debris in the room seems to have been racks or bookshelves and much of what is there is made up of ruined books. Over the course of 20 minutes, Draven and Griffin find no secret doors or anything of the sort though Iris and Kifein find a handful of potentially salvageable writings.

Iris says, in Thyatian, “I think...I think this may have been a small library”

Kifein says to Iris,”I will hold these and we can examine them once we return home,” and carefully stores the writings in her pack.

Draven intones, "well, I hope your searches are more fruitful. There's no way forward in this room that I can find. So, where to next?"

Kifein mentions that there was a set of stairs at the far end of the main vault chamber.

Hearing his friends discussing the search in the next room, Remar calls out, “Thankful to say that my searching out here is also proving fruitless.” Iris giggles at this.

Iris says, “Thanks, Kifein! That's a great idea. Basement does sound good for our next move”

The Company closes the door and moves to investigate the door at the bottom of the stairs.
The group approaches the door at the bottom of the stairs. Kasiex reaches out and pulls the door open. An L shaped room lies ahead. The floor is covered with much debris. It looks to have once been an old store room, but all the contents have been destroyed by time, or other hands possibly. Draven steps inside and glances around, seeing that there is a door off to the left side of the room. The group moves through the debris to the next room and in the process, Kasiex catches his leg on a sharp piece of debris while crossing the room and cuts his leg! He lets out a pained yelp.

The next door is similar to the other doors, dark wood, ironbound, well fitted. Griffin says "Okay, we have another door. Let's skip searching the trash in here and press on."

Kifein closes the door to this chamber then nods to Kasiex to go ahead and open the next one. It reveals a small storage room, possibly a wine cellar or something. The floor of the room is about 3 feet lower and the ground is covered with what looks to be broken wood and debris from a time long past. Bits of broken glass glint in the shining light of flaming weapons

Griffin says "OKay, split up. Let's take both rooms on at the same time."

Remar adds, “Be careful not to allow your weapons to aflame the debris in here”

While searching in the first, larger, room, Ree calls out that she has found what looks like a secret door and Griffin rushes over. In the corner of the room she points out what appears to be the outline of a door in the wall. Iris takes Griffin's weapon in her off hand so he can get a better look at it. He quickly finds what he thinks is a hidden latch. Griffin maneuvers the workings of door and after a moment he hears a click and a section of wall slides away revealing another chamber beyond.

Griffin takes back his sword from Iris with a short bow, then enters the secret room. This next room appears to be much less destroyed and ruined as the others. Iris smiles wide. There are several old tapestries, similar to the one from the homestead, but depicting different images, some intact bookshelves and books. Iris seems anxious to explore this ancient find.

Draven says, "Let the lady through..."

Iris says, “Be careful of your weapons! There are delicate flammables in here. Kifein! You should see these tapestries! And the vaulted ceiling!!”

The door in the northwestern wall is about 15 feet overhead. A wooden ladder leans up against the wall below it. The ceiling in this room is nearly 25 feet overhead, terminating in a decorated dome. Iris and Kasiex gawk at the ceiling from the doorway of the chamber.

Having an idea, Iris asks Draven for the enchanted needle they had used previously to reveal clues from some of the tapestries. The priest holds the needle out to her and Iris accepts the needle, and carefully touches it to the closest tapestry. Each of the tapestries are at least 10 feet high and 3-5 feet wide. They would weigh hundreds of pounds if they had to be carried.

As the needle touches the tapestry, it moves of its own accord and begins weaving itself through the tapestry, pulling a magical golden thread behind it. When it is done, the image remains the same, but the gold accents now give it a different focus. No one has any idea what it refers to though. Kifein scratches her head. This is wonderful, though I do not know what it shows.

Iris muses, “Perhaps we should sketch it?”

Kifein responds, "That would be smart."

Iris produces some drawing material and sketches the tapestry while Griffin checks out the ladder. The chamber contains several other items as well. Several valuable items appear on various shelves. A tea service, a writing kit, some other metal objects, possibly religious implements.
The ladder looks to be many hundreds of years old and probably would not support much weight. Instead, Griffin decides to climb the wall to check out the door

While moving about the room and searching, Draven exclaims that he has felt a terrible evil and blackness wash over him. Iris half turns, clearly concerned and pales visibly. She says, “I mean, you still think you could handle it, right Draven?”

Draven says, "It's not so bad that I feel the need to flee, but we must be vigilant"

Iris nods and furrows her brow. Iris says, “Kifein, do you feel this darkness?” The Hutaakan priestess nods that she does not.

Draven searches the northwest half of the room more closely, looking for anything out of sorts and then activates his boots and floats up to the high door. Draven says, "Let me see... the feeling of foreboding doesn't increase at the door..."

Griffin reaches the door just as Draven floats up and searches around. There is a small ledge at the door. Standing on the ledge, Griffin checks out the door and finds it to be not trapped or locked. Feeling brash, he opens the door. Griffin sees another squarish room. It's ceiling is of normal height. The walls are carved decoratively and to the left, he sees a golden pedestal containing a thick, leather bound tome.

Upon hearing that the object of their desiring is potentially in the next chamber, Iris makes her way up into the room. Iris says, “I'm going to keep looking through this room until everyone else is up, if that's alright” Griffin, Iris and Draven search the newly discovered room. Iris looks at the tome and pedestal, but doesn't touch it quite yet. Next to the book on the pedestal is a golden necklace and a finely wrought ring.

Draven says, "The book and pedestal are not the source of the ill feeling. Hutaakan sanctity which, while different, is not evil."

Iris oh so carefully turns the cover of the tome. Iris excitedly whispers, "This is it!!"

Down below, Remar senses the importance of the discovery and says to the Hutaakan priestess, “KIEFINE REMAR GET YOU HIGH?” in very awkward Traldar.

Kifein calls up above "Have you found the Knowledge of the Elders?" then turns to Remar and responds "Yes, Remar. Can you help me get up there?" though Remar’s unskilled ears hear “Yes, you get me off” while Kifein points up to the door and makes butterfly motions with her hands.

Remar hears, "See, yer a regula lady killa Rema. Fun fer all ages, shapes, sizes, and races"

Iris says, “Griffin, how about you examine the jewelry while I look at the tome?”

Draven looks over Iris's shoulder as she whispers, “That's a special ring”

Griffin examines the necklace, holding it up to the light of his flaming sword. He smiles wide. "This looks VERY valuable. Very fine craftsmanship. Some of the most well made stuff I've ever seen.

Iris seems completely absorbed in the tome. The cover of the book is heavy, written in Hutakan and possibly some other language as well. Iris sees some Nithina writing as well as a third language she does not recognize but have seen in the Hutaakan library back at their village. The book is very old and feels that rough handling of it could easily damage or destroy it. Iris mutters under her breath, "I wonder if this is some kind of codex," then louder, “This is a fragile piece.” Iris walks to the door and pokes her head out looking for Kifein as the Hutaakan priestess floats up to the doorway awkwardly. Iris helps Kifein get her feet on the ground.

Once she gets into the chamber, her eyes widen and she looks around. Tears come from the corners of her eyes. "This vault and this tome have been lost to my people for centuries. Thank you for recovering such valuable artifacts for us.” Kifein carefully hugs Iris, Griffin and Draven, watching out for their flaming weapons. Iris feels freakin' awful and looks at Griffin guiltily.

Griffin gives her an "It's okay" look

Kifein says "How do we get the book out of here? I fear that carrying it in a backpack could damage it. I would hate to have come all this way only to ruin what we need to save the valley and all its inhabitants." Kifein looks carefully at the book and pedestal and the space to either side of the book. Fortunately there are no dust lines indicating the missing items.

Griffin says, "Should we try and glean the knowledge we need from it while we're here? How long would that take?"

Kifein says "Oh no, that could take days. We should return this to Kforedez."

Iris says, “Well...Kifein, I was thinking about transporting the tome. Perhaps if we wrapped it carefully, and carried it by hand, that would be for the best,” then adds  “And it may be a good idea, as Griffin suggested, to read what we can while we are here and it's safe. If Remar could levitate the book as he did you, that might help as well, but I'm not certain as to how much effort that would cost him.” In Traldar, then Thyatian, Iris says, "There are no less than three language in the pages I've already seen"

Kifein gives Remar the thumbs up and has Iris tell him that she no longer needs the magic. Iris raises an eyebrow.

Draven comes back over from examining the other side of the room. "Whatever this evil, we need to deal with it before we leave this place. It is a blight upon all that is good and just."

Iris sighs then  shakes her head and grins

Ariadne says "So what's the plan?" she yells up?

Notes

This part of the Vault is also a Dyson Logos Map. Flear's Temple has been altered a bit and combined with another Dyson map to create the Vault. Thanks +Dyson Logos for all your wonderful maps!

Cast of Characters: 

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

Draven Rickart, a Thyatian Acolyte of the Church of Karameikos ministered by +Jason Packer with help from +Patrick Burke 

Remar Umerus, an Alphatian battle mage that escaped forced service in the Thyatian army currently marshalled by +Patrick Kelly 

Iris Varda, a Thyatian explorer and historian searching for answers and adventure, now guided by +Stephanie Kelly 

Kasiex, a Hutaakan Wildsteward used to ranging the mountains and valleys now led down a new path by +Patrick Burke 

and +Jason Woollard as The DM

Grand Duchy 86

Grand Duchy of Adventure

Session 86
April 13, 2016

Three Shadowy Figures and a Pack of Ghouls

Tserdain 27 Yarthmont

As Draven attempts to use his divine magic to dispel the magic holding the large door bar in place, Griffin and Remar see something small fly up from the top of Draven's head and disappear in the shadows near the ceiling of the temple. Draven stands there, completely still staring ahead, ignoring all questions to his current state of well being.

A disembodied eyeball

Griffin quickly grabs his friend under the arms and starts to drag him back, telling Remar to keep an eye out for whatever it was they had seen flying around the place. Scanning the upper reaches of the room, Remar spots the object, which he thinks looks like a 2-inch eyeball, now flying quickly directly at him. Thinking quickly, Remar summons up a defensive spell that allows him to not only avoid being struck by the flying eyeball, but to roll and catch the tiny orb in his hands. Before he can examine it closer though, it disappears with a tiny popping sound. 

The shadowy speaking figure

Thinking it was some sort of Wizard Eye, Remar begins to explain this to Griffin and Iris but is interrupted by a booming, disembodied cackle echoing through the large temple chamber. The laughing voice then taunts and threatens the group, telling them their doom lies behind the double doors they had been trying to open. As the group starts to leave, dragging the unresponsive Draven with them, the voice changes its mind and invites them in. The locking bar on the door magically rises and the doors swing open, revealing a long dark hallway that ends in a larger chamber some distance away. Three shadowy figures can be seen standing in the center of this distant chamber. Griffin tries tricking the voice, no doubt coming from one of the three figures but that does not seem to work. Remar flings his glowing dagger down the dark hallway, trying to get a better idea of the lay of the land. The light of his thrown dagger, only about halfway down the hallway, reveals a pack of Ghouls making their way through the darkened hallway toward the Company. 

Remar's glowing knife reveals a pack of ghouls on the prowl.

The Death Knight

The Company prepares for battle and Draven snaps out of his paralysis, ready to battle the undead abominations. Remar crouches behind the doors and starts casting a spell while the voice from the far end of the hallway continues to taunt the Company. Remar taunts back and learns the name of the speaker, Orule. The voice quickly tires of Remar's witty remarks and declares that the companions will now die. As the pack of ghouls advances, Remar summons an explosive fireball and holds it ready. Behind the ghouls, two of the three figures from the far chamber are also advancing, at a faster pace than the ghouls and will soon catch up to them. One is fully armored and wears a huge horned skull helmet while the other looks like a person with all their skin flayed off. The Death Knight charges forward in a straight line while the Flayed One cartwheels, flips and rolls back and forth across the hallway, stopping briefly to snatch up Remar's glowing blade in the process. 

Griffin takes a shot at the advancing Flayed One but it twists and flips, dodging easily. Remar continues to watch the approaching ghouls, waiting for the right moment to release his flaming orb. Draven and Iris stand ready to back the others up once the pack reaches them, Draven going over a mighty spell to blast the undead before it can rip his friends apart. As the ghouls get closer, forced together in a tighter group while passing between a set of wall pillars, Remar flings his explosive fireball at the floor just below their rotting, undead feet. All watch the flaming bolt speed down the hallway but just before it its the 

The Flayed One

ground, the bolt turns around and flies right back at at him, heading right at his chest! The exhausted mage does what he can to avoid being struck by the bolt and drops frantically to the floor at the very last second. The bolt sizzles past him and heads directly for Iris instead! She too frantically dives out of the way, barely avoiding the magical missile. The bolt flies past and hits the floor behind her, exploding. The fiery blast expands and engulfs everyone in its magical fire!

The explosive fireball idea backfires.

Fortunatley, everyone is far enough from the blast that it is not too painful though the laughing voice of Orule finds it amusing. The ghouls and their two scary companions continue to advance while the Company braces for the onslaught. The Flayed One holds Remar's glowing knife aloft and croaks in a strange, froggy, bubbly voice, "I've got your knife! I would like to return it to you!"

The Flayed One tries to be a good friend by returning Remar's glowing knife.

Cast of Characters: 

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

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

Remar Umerus, an Alphatian battle mage that escaped forced service in the Thyatian army currently marshalled by +Patrick Kelly 

Iris Varda, a Thyatian explorer and historian searching for answers and adventure, now guided by +Stephanie Kelly 

and +Jason Woollard as The DM