Episode 22: 11/14/09

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/4-3
Nineve, human knight/7
Xicar, human cleric/7
Haroldur, human wizard 3/cleric 4
Sarek, human wizard 7

We burn Akasha on the cart she rode in on. Mossad takes one last look at her garlic-stuffed, disembodied head before tossing it on the pyre. That evening, Mossad mostly keeps to himself as Arrad pals around with the Legionnaires. We camp for the night in the relative safety of our fortifications.

In the morning, Mossad pokes through the ashes and fishes out a ring, which he tosses to Sarek. He puts the ashes in some urns, and then gives us each one. We scatter Akasha's remains to the four winds while Mossad says a prayer for the departed foe. Afterwards we break camp and head back to the Cabal; a journey of about a week. Along the way, we gain from our experiences and receive some special training from Arrad! As we travel, we finally get around to giving Mossad and Arrad our full report on the Blackwall Keep mission.

We settle in to life at the Cabal, but rumors of trouble in Diamond Lake pique our interest. We soon decide that the time is right for us to go after 31E. We remember that we'll need a Repair spell to attach the new leg to 31E, but those are hard to come by. After a bit of research we learn of a shop, called Stonebones, which might sell such a thing.

We make our way to the Cogs, a bustling foreigner's marketplace that is out of the way and off the radar for most of Istivin's inhabitants. We locate the curio shop and are somewhat surprised to find it is run by Stonebones, a Xorn. He is hesitant to deal with us at first, and things get off to a rocky start when Sarek spots a suspicious-looking amalgam of body parts in the Xorn's workshop. Officially, this is something we should definitely investigate, but it's clear that Stonebones won't deal with us if we give him any trouble. Things get a little heated, but we decide to turn a blind eye here for the sake of rescuing 31E. Stonebones is still uncertain about us, but the "irresistible aroma" of our gems gets the better of him and he agrees to sell us some Repair scrolls. While Stonebones is rummaging around for the scrolls, I spot a disembodied troll hand in a small cage among the jumbled piles of trinkets and treasures. I've been casually looking for just such a thing, in the hopes of combining it with my troll gut rope to make a troll hand grappling hook! I must have it. It costs me a few "delicious" rubies from my personal stash, but I eventually convince Stonebones to let me have it. Thrilled, I attach the hand to the rope and it flips me off immediately. I love it!

That evening, back at the Cabal, we are stunned to be summoned to meet with the Canoness. None of us has met with her since we were inducted as Greycloaks. No one meets with her!

Canoness Embiril Ilustani receives us in her large and richly appointed office. A cheery blaze in the hearth casts dancing shadows about the chamber. Draped in luxuriously embroidered silks and velvets, the elderly Canoness is still more graceful and charming than most women half her age (whatever that may be). Her eyes seem to shift color constantly. She chats with us in a relaxed manner that speaks of her absolute supremacy.

She informs us that since Ironbriar's imprisonment, Marten has been appointed as an Interim Justice for the district. This doesn't surprise me at all, since I've always thought Marten was a power-hungry snake. However, his appointment has elevated the Cabal's status and influence somewhat. Canoness Ilustani goes on to say that due to Marten's new post, the Ruby Temple has a more direct influence over Ironbriar's fate. She asks us to submit a recommendation on this matter. This type of thing is quite a bit above our pay grade, and we're all rather stunned, but of course we agree. After a few more minutes of small talk, she replaces our Greycloaks with Traveling Greycloaks, in recognition of our service to the Cabal. We are deeply honored to be rewarded by the Canoness herself, but we leave her chambers uneasy with the weight of our task to provide a recommendation.

Legally, Ironbriar has earned death as a punishment for his crimes ten times over. However, it seems evident that he was under Akasha's direct control for many months, and was merely carrying out her wishes when he committed his crimes. On the other hand, as Sarek repeatedly points out, it was Ironbriar who actually, physically performed these acts. But if a person is not in control of their own mind, if their will is not their own, can they be held completely and solely responsible for their actions? We weighed the arguments and it was obvious that we were getting nowhere. We decided to seek out help.

We approach Hezzrak and ask him to cast Commune. In the end, though, we decide we can't trust Hezzrak's Commune because we don't know who he's communing with! It doesn't help that when asked, the imp becomes evasive on that point... We ask him to cast Augury for us as well, but both courses of action (leniency and death) return a divination of "Weal and Woe". Those damned Divination spells never clear anything up! Desperate, we consult with Advocat and find there are some precedents for leniency in these types of cases. At length, we turn in our well-written missive to Mossad recommending leniency for Ironbriar based on evidence, the circumstances surrounding this case, and the historical precedents.

As we prepare to leave for Diamond Lake, we find Tamklar ready to depart with us. No caravans have come from the Diamond Lake area in weeks, and he is anxious to see for himself what has happened in his home region. We're happy to have him along.

A day or two into our journey by carriage, Zolara appears and offers us a reading:

The Choosing:

Nineve - The Avalanche
Sarek - The Juggler
Ashe - The Crows
Xicar - The Cricket

The Spread:

The Paladin The Keep The Dance
The Beating The Avalanche The Joke
The Juggler The Tyrant The Tangled Brier

"Regarding the past, The Paladin is strength through adversity - he does not back down under any circumstances, much like you all. The Beating shows an attack from all sides. You may have survived, but something was lost, perhaps trust. Misaligned, The Juggler has faltered in the past, and a great disaster followed.

In the present, The Keep represents all of you, your quiet strength that cannot by shaken by any force. The Avalanche shows me the chaos and suffering that arises from an unthinking crowd, though it may be averted. The Tyrant is a blight on those ruled. In this case, I see a true dragon, though his rule is felt through the actions of another - one you are familiar with, I think.

The Dance represents the rich and delicate framework in which we all exist. Knowing your place and seeing the patterns will allow you to remain in perfect step. The Joke shows us a terror overcome through trickery or wit - not force. The Tangled Brier is a card of past deeds - it tells of a lost object or person who may still influence the present day."

In a few days we arrive at the outskirts of town. We are "greeted" by a gang of thugs in tattered red cloaks who try to extort us for a "toll". Nineve convinces them that they should look elsewhere if it's easy money they're after.

We round a corner and gasp as we catch sight of what used to be Diamond Lake. It's been largely leveled. We interrupt a town gathering of sorts that appears to be some kind of lottery. Officiating it all is Balabar Smenk. Dressed in faded, tatty finery with a tin crown on his head, he is a far cry from the smooth and powerful crime boss he once was. The town is crawling with his lackeys - the thugs in the tattered red cloaks. After some quick inquiries, we find out what happened.

A huge red dragon attacked Diamond Lake. (We deduce that it was probably the same dragon that leveled Blackwall Keep). The dragon still holds the town. In the wake of the destruction, Balabar stepped in to fill the power vacuum, acting as the dragon's envoy. He and his lackeys hang out on the Harkness, and collect what valuables can be had from the scavenging survivors. About once a week Balabar sends an "offering" of goods and people to the dragon, as payment/incentive for not continuing to raze the town. The people who are to be fed to the dragon are selected through a lottery, which is currently in progress.

Some of the citizens of Diamond Lake recognize us, and beg us to save them once again from their cruel fate. However, our presence is enough to distract Balabar for the moment. He focuses on us and leaves the lottery unsettled for the time being. An excited and desperate-sounding Balabar invites us to dine with him that evening. We wearily accept. Balabar rushes off to make preparations, and in the meantime, we make some inquiries. We are looking for Lazare. We determine that he left town a few days before the dragon attack, and may have been heading to the Whispering Cairn...

A few hours later, we meet Balabar for dinner on board the Harkness. Smenk goes on and on about the fine spread he has assembled for this repast, and from the state of the town, it must have been hard to come by indeed. We enjoy the relative delicacies he has prepared and discuss the Diamond Lake situation. Balabar approached the dragon immediately after the attack and proposed their current arrangement. The dragon's demands were that no one may leave Diamond Lake, and offerings of beautiful maidens and precious objects must be made to it at regular intervals to appease its hunger and increase its hoard. Balabar was able to keep the definitions for "beautiful maidens" and "precious objects" vague enough to satisfy these requirements with what is actually left in Diamond Lake - scraggy peasants and twisted scrap metal. Balabar is aware that he can't keep up this arrangement forever - eventually he'll run out of townsfolk - and the strain of this knowledge has taken a toll on his sanity. From atop a makeshift throne surrounded by piles of junk, he chats glibly about living like a king surrounded by finery, all without a hint of sarcasm.

Balabar talks and talks and we realize he is stalling. It soon becomes evident that he has poisoned us. He really must be crazy! We start to feel foggy and drowsy, but we manage to shake off the effects. By this time Balabar has become increasingly nervous. He realizes the poison has failed and jumps up suddenly. Before we can react, he fires a loaded crossbow at Sarek, pinning him to his chair!
Nineve fires back with a blast from her pew-pew gauntlets and the battle is on!

My old friend Kullen, the albino half-orc with a grudge against elves appears from the shadows. He calls me "Pinky" and cuts into me with his axe! Fortunately, I immediately answer with a cut of Searing Light from Captain Lorring's sword. Xicar throws down Order's Wrath, which dazes Balabar (who turns out to be BalaBARD!) Enemies pour in as the dinner party suddenly becomes a pitched battle. Balabard recovers, turns invisible, and flees.

We take a few seconds to heal up and collect ourselves and then give chase. We run around on the lashed-together decks of various boats that serve as a makeshift village on the water, fighting our way through thugs and pirates. Balabar hits me with a spell and I become confused. The rest of the battle is a blur as I alternate between staring off into space singing the Hamster Dance song and accidentally attacking my dog. My companions finish off the thugs and we continue on our chase, which has now progressed to the docks. Xicar gets shoved off the dock and narrowly avoids falling into the gar-infested waters.

We have a very tough slog through Balabar's minions - thugs, pirates and the like, before we finally manage to catch up with him at the end of the dock. He is standing next to a large, violently shaking container, looking smug. As we approach, he says "Oh, now you've made him angry. You won't like him when he's angry!" and unleashes his trained dire ape, ManBearPig, on us!

Nineve and I are on that monkey like a rat on a Cheeto. The men keep Balabard occupied while we hack ManBearPig to pieces before it can become a problem. Without his meat-shield, the mighty Balabar Smenk is easy pickings. Killing him is so easy it almost feels like an accident. Looks like we solved his dragon problem after all...

~Ashe

Episode 21: 10/25/09

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/3-3
Nineve, human knight/6
Xicar, human cleric/6
Haroldur, human wizard 2/cleric 4

We find ourselves in a stone chamber, empty except for the bodies of Filge's minions. At the edge of the chamber leading deeper into the caverns, I recognize a large patch of yellow mold. We carefully burn a path through the dangerous mold with alchemist's fire. Then, we use our troll gut rope to navigate down a small cliff and deeper into the caverns. We advance down a rough-hewn stairwell and are ambushed by more Nerullian cultists and some acid zombies. We bravely charge in with Hezzrak by our side. We blast through the competition and take a moment to examine our surroundings.

Crates of slightly disturbed dirt and individually hand-crafted storage crates line the walls of this cavern. We notice some finely traced runes along the outside of the door leading to the adjacent chamber. Nineve insists on kicking open the door, and we eventually let her. She gets blasted with a glyph of warding, but successfully disables the trap!

We proceed cautiously into the next chamber. Blood stains over the floor of this high ceilinged room. A broken column lies undisturbed on the floor, and a large pile of skulls occupies the center of the room. Atop a raised dias rests a twisted altar to Nerull. A horrible skeleton horse-daemon flies towards us on moth-eaten wings and booms out a warning. Apparently, we should not be here, but we'll never be able to leave! (Dun dun dun!) We wade in.

The daemon blasts us with waves of sickening air and swirling clouds of choking flies. His disease-ridden weapon bites cruelly into our flesh, dripping with pestilence. At the end of the long and difficult battle, poor Nineve is suffering from Plague, Red Ache, Cackle Fever, and Slimy Doom. She just seems to catch every little thing that goes around! I suggest she look into vitamin supplements.

We quickly investigate the remainder of the complex. Through some locked doors we find a well-appointed office. We root around and find:

coded ledgers!
a small statuette of a jade falcon
a small chest containing 600 gp of diamonds
Journeyman's staff
potion - Resist Electricity
a scroll of Sending

We collect the loot and return to the Cabal to get Nineve sorted out.
A few days later, after we've all had time to recover from our ordeal, we get debriefed by Mossad.

There is no need to look into the warehouse. Other agents were sent to investigate and found nothing there. We've destroyed the cell of necromancers and Justice Ironbriar has been arrested. Mossad is sure our next step is the Shadowclock, referenced int he coded ledgers we retrieved. He thinks the Shadowclock is in the district of Fallen. He thinks our quarry is the Wanton of Nature's forms. The plan is this: Too many agents wandering around Fallen looking for the Shadowclock will spook our prey, so Mossad and the Legionnaires will be waiting outside the gates of Fallen. We will go in as bait and look for the Shadowclock. When we find it, we'll send to Mossad and he'll back us up.

Immediately, we head out to this ruined section of the city. We unlock the creaking gates and enter the district of Fallen.

Fallen, formerly called Godsgate, is a large district with wide expanses and dense construction, but a portentous dearth of visible life. From the tangle of chimneys, scarcely a wisp of smoke is visible, and the multitude of tall, ruinous towers looms stark against the horizon. Nearby, one is crumbling down at the top, and in another, there are only gaping black holes where masonry has fallen away. The vast huddle of sagging roofs and peaked gables conveys with offensive clearness the idea of wormy decay, and as we approach along the now uneven road, we can see that many roofs have wholly caved in, or the buildings have collapsed completely to rubble.

Skill challenge!

We enter a slum. A few of the crumbling buildings here show signs of inhabitants. Here and there we spot a wisp of smoke or a hastily closed shutter. The few residents move around a lot, making it hard to recall anything useful about this area, but the locals are easy to push around, if we can find them. We meet no one on the rubble-cluttered road, but presently begin to pass a few inhabited houses with rags stuffed in the broken windows and bones and dead fish lying about the littered yards. Once or twice we spot listless-looking people working in barren gardens or digging in the piles of rubble, and groups of dirty, simian-visaged children playing around weed-grown doorsteps in the growing evening shadows.

We move on into a desolate area, the swath of destruction caused by the fall of the Glass Tower many years ago - the event that sealed the fate of the Godsgate district. There is little here but mounds of rubble, making navigation difficult. Even the locals avoid these areas, as the rubble can be hazardous. The decay is worse further into the district. The ruins, long clogged with rubble, are enclosed by mounds of stone; on which we can just discern the minute forms of a few solitary figures, and at whose end are what look like the foundations of another bygone tower.

We pick our way through to a ruined area. This area is little more than piles of rubble and garbage. A few buildings and towers remain, but even these are damaged so badly the desperate residents of this area have abandoned them. If anyone lives in this area, they hide themselves well, making it very difficult to interact with the locals. Here and there the ruins of towers jut out from the tangle of buildings to end in indeterminate decay and collapse, those closest to the swath of rubble seeming the most ruinous. And far out in the district, despite the multitude of high, crumbling towers, we glimpse a tall, decrepit clock tower rising above the sagging roofs and crumbling spires, yet carrying a suggestion of odd latent malignancy. This, according to our directions, must be the Shadow Clock mentioned in the cult’s notes.

In the distance something howls, a long, agonized wailing, as if from fear. The sound is taken up elsewhere, and then another and another, till, borne on the wind which now sighs softly through the ruinous buildings, a wild howling began, which seems to come from all over the district, as far as the imagination could grasp it through the gloom of the evening. Soon, the shapes of wolves, huge and shaggy in the dim light, appear behind and ahead of us. An especially large grey wolf leaps upon the remains of a fallen statue and regards us with keenly intelligent eyes. Few things would seem more out of place in the squalid ruins of Istivin than this pack of wolves. We hurry along towards the tower, and enter another slum.

Ahead of us a small group of thugs is viciously beating someone on the ground. As we approach the thugs flee, leaving a pitiful figure groaning and struggling amidst the rubble. Xicar and I quickly render aid to the person, who gives us directions in thanks. Though still trailed by the shaggy grey wolves, we follow the directions and come to a sort of open concourse or radial point with the ruins of churches on two sides and the bedraggled remains of a circular green in the center. On the far side is the clock tower we seek. The structure's once white stone is now gray and mold-stained and the black and gold sign on the pediment near the steps is so faded that we can only, with difficulty, make out the words "The Bells of Godsgate" with the word “Danger” scrawled across the sign in red paint. As we strain to decipher this inscription, we are distracted by the raucous tones of a cracked bell high in the tower. The tolling bell sets the wolves to howling again, the loud, sharp howling of many wolves together.

The sound came from the sagging belfry high above the roofs of most of the houses and towers, which was built in a clumsy Gothic fashion, with a conical black roof. Though the hands of its clock are missing on our side of the tower, we know that those hoarse strokes were tolling the hours of late evening. It was surrounded by a high wall, of ancient structure, built of heavy stones that has not been repaired for a large number of years. The gates are of heavy old oak and iron, all eaten with rust. There are many dead and skeletal trees nearby, which makes the area even more gloomy.

Then suddenly all thoughts are blotted out by an onrushing image of sharp intensity and unaccountable surprise which seizes each of us before we know what it really is. The doors of the tower stand open, revealing a rectangle of blackness inside. And as we looked about, a certain object crossed or seemed to cross that dark rectangle...

It was something living - the first we have seen apart from the wolves since entering this part of the district of Fallen - and under other circumstances we would have found nothing whatever unusual in it. Clearly, we realize a moment later, it was the form of a child; clad in filthy rags. The thing which had probably caught your first subconscious glance and supplied the touch of bizarre horror was the strange way in which it moved, jerkily crossing the doorway.

We send to Mossad that we've found the Shadowclock, and approach. The grubby, pale little girl inside the tower entreats us to play with her. Anxious to get away from the pack of scraggly wolves, we go in. As we're closing the doors, the little girl's friend, "Mr. Bigs", slams into Haroldur. Mr. Bigs is a huge hunchback gravekeeper. He tells us to leave. With his shovel. Haroldur casts Hold Person on Mr. Bigs and I coup de grace him. The creepy little girl gets angry and tries to escape by jumping into a pile of straw. We burn it. Unfortunately, after the straw burns away, we can see several large cracks in the wall through which she could've escaped. We grudgingly move on to the stairs to ascend the tower.

The inner walls of the tower are traversed by a winding wooden stairway supported by an intricate network of wooden beams, but lacking, in many stretches, a handrail or other enclosure. In certain places, two or even three stairs are missing. Far above we can dimly see the great bronze bells swaying gently in the belfry. Apart from the occasional mournful howl of a wolf outside the tower, the silence is complete and oppressive.

Nineve, Haroldur and Xicar have difficulty managing the treacherous spiral stairwell, and fall a few times. About halfway up the tower, one of the bells comes crashing down and almost takes us all out. It hits Xicar squarely but since he is tied to me, I manage to prevent him from tumbling down the yawning gulf of blackness. At length, we arrive at the top of the tower. I sift the broken mount for the bell - it seems like someone is trying to kill us!

Looking around, we see the smoky, filthy rooftops of Fallen sprawl below this dizzying perch. Above, the conical roof supports an onyx statue of an angel. Towering above the stricken district, her weathered features are streaked with grime, giving her a demonic appearance. Beyond the open doorway is a chamber strewn with cushions, silk curtains, and other incongruously fine bits of décor. Antique lanterns throw long, quivering shadows about the room as their flames flicker in the draught of the open door.

We enter the strange room. The décor of this odd chamber shows extraordinary evidences of wealth and taste. The antique lanterns are beautifully wrought and each must be of great value. The curtains and upholstery of the chairs and hangings are of the costliest and most beautiful fabrics, and must be of fabulous value, as they are clearly centuries old, though in excellent order. One area appears to be a small library. The bookshelves contain numerous volumes of the most varied kind; history, geography, politics, law, economy, all relating to Istivin and Caledonian customs and manners.

As we're looking around, we are suddenly addressed. The voice came from the entry behind us. Just inside the doorway stands a tall, voluptuous woman with long black hair and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of color about her anywhere. On her side hangs a simple sword in a black scabbard. Her face is strong, aquiline, with high cheekbones; overall an exceptionally beautiful woman, although with a pronounced predatory aspect, and an unhealthy pallor. From far below, we can hear the howling of many wolves. The sound seems to please the woman, as her strange, dark eyes gleam with sudden emotion.

She begins with a welcome, but relations quickly sour. We deduce that she is Akasha Von Stratt, also Wanton of Nature's Pagan forms, and a vampire. In particular, Akasha seems to have been expecting Nineve. The vampire asks if she has come to follow in her father's footsteps. A heated conversation ensues, wherein Nineve's past, and Akasha's involvement in it, is revealed.

Nineve's grandfather and Mossad were great friends, and served together. They had been tracking a vampire, Akasha, for some time, and finally saw their chance to take her out. They enlisted the help of Nineve's father as well, as he was a good man and a seasoned warrior. At some point during this foray, Akasha claims to have brought Nineve's father under her power, and in the climactic confrontation he secretly betrayed and murdered his own father, Nineve's grandfather. The battle was lost, Mossad and Nineve's father were forced to retreat, and Akasha escaped. Nineve, troubled by the death of her beloved grandfather, investigated and through magical means discovered that he was murdered by his son, her own father. Filled with a desire to avenge her grandfather's death, she challenged her father to a duel, and defeated him, losing an eye in the process.

Now, Akasha insists that this has all been part her plan, and is the will of Nerull. Akasha claims that Nineve serves Nerull in all but name, that she cannot deny her fate, her destiny is inescapable, etc. Nineve has heard enough and it's showtime!

Vampire spawn drop in from the ceiling, and Nineve is Dominated almost immediately. We rush forward. Captain Lorring's longsword bites into Akasha and unleashes a powerful blast of searing light through her undead form. That's about the extent of our success, though. The vampire spawn quickly swarm us as Nineve stands idly by. Xicar and Haroldur throw down buffs and use our newfound falcon statue to attack Akasha. Meanwhile, I am dazed by one of the vampire spawn and stand by helplessly while Xicar and Haroldur struggle against increasingly overwhelming odds. Just as I'm about to break free of the vampire spawn's thrall, Akasha crushes my will, Dominating me. I am again forced to simply stand by and watch. Xicar takes up Captain Lorring's sword and makes an impressive stand, but the tide of the battle has long since turned against our party. Just as things are looking bleak, Mossad and the Legionnaires burst in and save the day. Akasha flees, and we return to the Cabal.

We are ushered into Mossad's office for a debriefing. Immediately, he gives Nineve and me amulets of Protection from Evil. This suppresses Akasha's domination and allows us to act and think freely - for now. He encourages us to sit down, while he begins pacing his office. His excitement is as palatable as it is unexpected.

"Akasha von Stadt is a foe I have pursued most of my life", he begins. "She is the bitch of Nerull, a whore of Darkness! She lives beyond the grace of the Gods – a wanderer in the Outer Darkness. She is Vampyr, Nosferatu. We may yet stop this foe – this concubine of death – but not on an empty stomach!" He laughs heartily. We stare at him in shocked disbelief. But, we ARE pretty hungry... Just then, an acolyte delivers a tray of food.

Mossad continues with a cheerfulness which shows that the serious work has begun.

"Let me be accurate in everything,” says Mossad, “for though you and I have seen some strange things together, you may at the first think that I, Mossad, am mad. That the many horrors and the long strain on nerves has at the last strained my sanity. There are such beings as vampires, some of us have evidence that they exist. Even had we not the proof of our own unhappy experience, the teachings and the records of the past give proof enough for sane peoples.

"I have studied, over and over again since you returned from the mountains, all my papers relating to this creature, and the more I have studied, the greater seemed the likelihood that she had come again to plague me. All through the city there is evidence of her designs. The corruption of Justice Ironbriar and the recent murders carried out by Ondore Lillybrook’s walking corpse are only the most obvious, and most recent. I thought it impossible that this creature would be so brazen to return to Istivin. But return she has, as you have found in that clock tower. Now we must bend our every effort to stamp this creature out!

"The vampire lives on, and cannot die by mere passing of time, she can flourish when she can feed on the blood of the living. She throws no shadow, she makes no reflection in the mirror. She has the strength of many men, and within her range, she can command all the meaner things, the rat, the bat, and the wolf. She can come and go in a mist and disappear at will; those slain by her hand rise later as her thralls. She can see in the dark, no small power this, in a world which is one half shut from the light.

"Well, you know what we have to contend against, but we too, are not without strength. We have on our side power of our faith in the Ruby Lady, a power denied to the vampire kind, we have sources of science, we are free to act and think, and the hours of the day and the night are ours equally. In fact, so far as our powers extend, they are unfettered, and we are free to use them. We have devotion in a cause and an end to achieve which is not a selfish one. These things are significant.

"Now let us see how far the general powers arrayed against us are restricted, let us consider the limitations of the vampire in general, and of this one in particular. She can do all these things, yet she is not free. Nay, she is even more prisoner than the slave of the galley, than the madman in his cell. She cannot go where she wishes, she who is not of nature must obey some of nature's laws. She may not enter anywhere unless invited by one with the authority, though afterwards she can come and go as she pleases. Her power ceases, as does that of all evil things, at the coming of the day. By day this Vampire is limited to the powers of man, and till sunset she may not change her form, nor enjoy her unearthly powers until sunset. Finally the vampire cannot stray far from the unhallowed earth of her burial. The vampire must always return to this unhallowed earth, which restores her strength, and without which, she is powerless. This is, of course, the purpose of the cases of earth scattered about the city.

"We are faced with a grim duty, and in such case do we turn away? For me, I say no, but then I am old, and life, with its sunshine, its fair places, the song of birds, music and love, lie far behind for me. You others are young. Some have seen sorrow, but there are fair days yet in store. What say you? None will think the lesser of you, should you turn away from this foe.

At this point, we all agreed (especially Nineve) that we were willing to see this through to the end.

Mossad looked pleased, and continued. "My plan is this: We will trace each of these boxes, and when we are ready, we must kill this monster in her lair, or we will sterilize the earth, so that no more can she can seek safety in it. Thus in the end we may find her in the form of man between the hours of noon and sunset, and so engage with her when she is at her most weak, or drive her from the city and confront her with no sanctuary in which to hide. Then we cut off her head, and drive a stake through her heart, and burn her remains, and then may she find peace."

After the meal we returned to our chambers to reflect on the plan, and this new side of Mossad. We stayed in the Cabal for a few days recovering, while the Legionnaires hunt down and destroy the boxes of desecrated earth. Around mid-morning one day we receive an urgent message from Mossad to meet him at the Aerodrome in the city's center.

We rush to the Aerodrome and find him with Arrad and a squadron of Legionnaires. Mossad explains that despite placing checkpoints along all the roads in and out of the city, Akasha has managed to escape via ship! She is traveling downriver on a vessel called The Harbinger. He thinks her most likely target is Varna, a large port city. He's already made the arrangements - he bustles us all onto an airship as he explains his plan to intercept Akasha and The Harbinger at the docks in Varna.

As soon as we arrive in Varna, Mossad secures permission to board The Harbinger as soon as it docks, thus trapping the vampire. We wait for the ship, but it never arrives. Mossad gets word from the Legionnaires that The Harbinger sailed past Varna in the night!

Not to be outdone, Mossad charters a ship and we set off down the river after our quarry. We find The Harbinger 2 days later, run aground on the riverbank. A quick investigation finds most of the crew dead, and signs of several people dragging something heavy onto the bank. These tracks end in a set of deep, muddy wagon tracks.

Consulting his maps, Mossad determines that Akasha is headed for the Borgo Pass, a narrow pass 70 miles to the west. Once through the pass, she will be nearly impossible to find in the mountains.

He decides to split the pursuit up. Wagons are slow, so our advantage must be speed. He will go with several Legionnaires via boat to the next sizeable city, and then by carriage. Arrad will take his Legionnaires and travel to the nearest town by land to continue the pursuit via carriage, and the party will take the first horses they can find, and head to the Borgo Pass immediately, ensuring she has no chance to escape.

Skill challenge!

We run inland and happen upon a tiny fishing hamlet nearby. They don't have much, but Nineve's keen eye spots a few swift horses for us from a pen of mules and nags. I guide the party inland for 2 days, picking paths through the mountainous terrain I hope will lead us swiftly to our goal.

Near the end of the third day, we arrive at the pass. We're the first ones there. We have a chance to set up a bit of an ambush for once. In the distance, we can see Akasha's wagon, with riders along side, coming up to the pass. But, we're ready.

As Akasha draws closer, we see Mossad and Arrad's carriages, from different directions, also closing in on the pass... and Akasha.

As Akasha's party approaches, we pick off the horsemen with arrows and spells. Akasha's wagon attempts a charge to burst through our barricades, but we've set up several layers of impediments, and they hold firm. The horses rear, upsetting the wagon. The crate carrying Akasha topples and shatters upon the stony ground. The still form of the vampire lies within the box upon the unholy earth, scattered with dirt from the rude fall. She is deathly pale, just like a waxen image, and her eyes glare red with a horribly vindictive and savage light. With an eerie smooth motion, she rises from the scattered dirt, bits of soil clinging to the white and gold of her burial shroud.

On even footing, Akasha is no match for us. She waves her sword around in an impressive display, but we easily overwhelm her and her remaining lackeys. Nineve lands the killing blow just as Mossad arrives. He jumps out of the carriage and strolls up to the wreckage of Akasha's wagon. He reaches down and unceremoniously beheads the fiend, then straightens and pats Nineve on the back. He looks up at all of us, nodding, and says simply "Good job....Good job."

~Ashe

Episode 19: 9/19/09

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/3-3
Nineve, human knight/6
Xicar, human cleric/6
Haroldur, human wizard 2/cleric 4

Mossad is very concerned about what we have to say. We present him with our evidence - the charred parchment, and hope he believes us. Fortunately, he doesn't have to. Mossad sifts the letter himself, and after a few moments tells us to get what rest we can here at the Cabal - he'll take care of this. We're keyed up from our adventure, but exhausted from our long and frantic journey, and it IS the middle of the night, so we head off to get some sleep (in our REAL rooms!)

A frantic Hezzrak wakes us early in the morning. He insists that we come down to the crypt RIGHT NOW because he has something to show us. He pesters and pushes us into the depths of the crypts, and then shows us... absolutely nothing important. After some antics, we piece together that the town guard is currently at the Cabal searching for us, and Mossad has sent Hezzrak to hide us in the crypt. About an hour passes, and we are summoned from the crypt to Marten's office.

Mossad is there as well. Marten restores us to our position and returns our stuff, and awards us Influence for our deeds. Then he leaves. Mossad helpfully fills us in. The Church is protecting us because Justice Ironbriar has moved against us in the night and has sent half the Ministry of Justice after us. They are currently trying to figure out what to do with us. Since we need more hard evidence to clear our names in the eyes of Istivin's authorities, Haroldur suggests we go to the lair of the Morg, which we assume must be Lillybrook Manor, to look for clues. This sounds like a pretty good idea to Mossad except for the fact that the city is crawling with guards looking for us. We'll have to sneak out.

We make preparations (including having Remove Disease cast on a few of us who are feeling rather unwell), and discuss tactics for escaping the city and confronting the morhg. Xicar comes up with the idea to cast Searing Light into Captain Lorring's sword, since that spell is particularly effective against undead. Also, a few days ago when Haroldur and Sarek were researching the Nerull human sacrifice runes, I checked out the history of Lillybrook Manor. I share what I learned.

83 years ago - the Lillybrook Manor is built by Vorel Lillybrook. Construction is partially funded by an unknown outside source.
63 years ago - Lillybrooks living in the Manor perish mysteriously over the course of a few years.
30 years ago - Vorel's great nephew Traver Lillybrook and his family move into the manor; Ondore Lillybrook is born.
14 years ago - The servants' quarters at the manor are destroyed in a fire. Ondore's mother commits suicide by flinging herself from the Conservatory window, and Traver kills himself. Ondore is taken by a fleeing servant to Istivin to be raised by relatives.
1 year ago - Ondore returns to Lillybrook manor and begins restoration work.
8 months ago - Ondore found dead.
5 months ago - Ondore's body stolen (from second funeral)

We finish our preparations and begin our attempt to sneak out of Dura.

We begin our escape in a civic quarter. Civic quarters are home to government buildings, temples, and trade houses. Guard patrols are heavy here, as well as being more alert, making hiding difficult. However, the tall, ornate towers, bridges and sculpture gardens make vaulting from building to building or scrambling up a wall a fairly simple affair. We escape the civic quarter without incident.

From the civic quarter, we find ourselves in a slum. Guards rarely enter the squalid slums. Crumbling old buildings, flop houses, run-down taverns and other seedy establishments dominate this quarter, along with tenements filled to overcrowding. The thugs and criminals of this quarter have little use for social niceties, but respond well to strength and bravado. Streetwise individuals may easily find dives that the guards avoid, side alleys, and other ways to keep out of sight. We round a corner and are face-to-face with an accident: a cart has overturned, and a small contingent of patrolling Ministry of Justice agents has stopped to assess the situation. It's terrible luck, and of course they recognize us and drop what they're doing to give chase. We scatter like quail and after several very tense minutes of ducking down alleys and hiding in plain sight, we manage to lose our pursuers. We escape the slums and find ourselves in a poor quarter.

The poor quarter is an impoverished area home to laborers and the downtrodden. Failing businesses, warehouses, and seedy taverns populate this quarter. The poor folk here pay little attention to genteel language, but this quarter provides ample opportunities to blend in with the crowds of laborers, or slip into a rowdy tavern. Our bad luck follows us here as we encounter a group of town guard. Fortunately, these guys will usually seek any excuse to avoid a fight, and we manage to convince them we're not worth it. We get away from them, but a few blocks later a swarm of rats suddenly pours out of a sewer grate, sending the crowded street into a panic. Xicar doesn't move in time and gets slightly trampled by the fleeing mob, but I realize that we can use the sewers to escape this quarter - there's no way we'll find guards down there! It's hard to convince Nineve, but we all hop down the sewer and once I get my bearings, we're home free! We emerge in another civic quarter.

We spot a group of soldiers patrolling a little ways up the street, but we manage to avoid their notice. At last, we find ourselves at the gates of Dura. I bribe an urchin to make a small disturbance and we slip past the distracted soldiers guarding the gate with ease.

We escape Dura and reach the boundaries of Istivin at dusk. A little ways outside of the city, we find a farm family to stay with for the night by passing ourselves off as traveling priests of Pelor. The evening takes an awkward turn when Haroldur suddenly drops the Pelor bluff and starts trying to convert our hosts to Wee Jas, but we leave in the morning after a great breakfast.

After several hours of hiking, a storm rolls in. The clouds hang oppressively low in the heavens as we pass through a singularly dreary tract of country. At length we find ourselves within view of the House of Lillybrook. An unredeemed dreariness seems to hang over this part of the countryside. The manor's principal feature seems to be that of excessive antiquity. Minute fungi overspreads the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled webwork from the eaves. The manor clings remarkably to a sheer cliff overhanging the dark waters of a small lake far below. The foundation stones of a ruined outbuilding thrust up from the weed-choked earth like rounded and decayed teeth. Several large, ragged black birds perch on the old stones, eyeing us warily.

In front of the house, we find a neglected hedge maze that appears to house a mausoleum at its center. We enter and wander around for a few minutes, eventually
finding a weeping marble statue. Just as we're moving past the statue, we hear a strange rustling in the bushes... a spellstitched ghast, accompanied by ghouls, bursts through the maze and attacks us! It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and we're all out of gum! The West Side Wee Jas crew (complete with hand signs) cleans up, and we move on towards the crypt.

Two corroded bronze doors carved with the Lillybrook crest bar our entrance to the mausoleum. I begin to pick the lock, but then Haroldur remembers we have a Lillybrook key! We try it and it works! We advance down the stairs and arrive at an octagonal chamber in the depths of the crypt. Three crates full of completely normal dirt are in the center of the room. Shipping manifests are tacked to the outside of the containers. I take samples of the dirt while paranoid Nineve stabs the dirt to ensure nothing is in there. Nothing is. I also collect a shipping manifest. As there is nothing else of interest here, we exit the crypt.

It starts to rain as we pick our way through the ruined hedge maze and approach the house. Politely, we ring the doorbell. No one answers, so we go in. The doors close ominously behind us. The entry hall is large and lofty. The windows are long, narrow and pointed, reaching upward to a vast distance from the black oaken floor. Dark, stained draperies hang upon the walls, and moth-eaten, rotting trophies hang crookedly here and there. Upon entry, Haroldur and I smell the faint scent of burnt fur. Suddenly, Haroldur dodges out of the way and swears the stuffed manticore head on the mantle has lunged to attack him, but he as avoided it, saving the party! We smile and nod and move into the parlor.

The dark paneled parlor seems unaccountably gloomy, as motes of dust drift through the air and settle on the dilapidated remains of a once magnificent piano. Hezzrak bangs on the keys, but mercifully no sound comes out. Suddenly, Xicar inexplicably begins waltzing with an invisible partner, but comes to his senses after a few moments. We shake our heads and move on.

Nineve hears some scratching behind a side door. She opens it and finds a washroom. An ancient metal washtub stands against the far wall, a ring of mold crusting its inner surface. Several eyeless, tumor-covered rats are scrambling frantically within the filthy basin. We leave them and advance to a gloomy lunge.

A sagging couch slumps in one corner of the lounge, opposite a grand fireplace. Motes of dust and ash skitter and swirl along the warped floorboards near the hearth. Xicar is suddenly seized with a sense of impending doom and tries to push us all out of the house. Nineve restrains him, and after a few moments he regains his composure. We move on, through a damp, mildewy drawing room and into the library.

The door to the library creaks loudly as we open it. Feeble light struggles to illuminate rotten books, sagging shelves, and stained rugs and tapestries. Oddly, amongst this gloom is a splash of bright color - a red silk scarf is draped over the side of a fallen and molding chair. I attempt to sift the scarf. When I pick it up, a shriek startles me. Then, I see Lord Ondore's face as he suddenly wraps the scarf around my neck and chokes me to death! I pass out. Xicar heals me, and Nineve and Haroldur tell me I strangled myself with the scarf - she had to cut it off my neck! We quickly leave the library and move to a stairwell that takes us upstairs.

We pass through a landing and enter a small, unremarkable bedroom. We advance through large double doors to a musician's gallery. Large dusty windows dominate the curved wall of the gallery. Despite the heavy glass, we can hear the rising wind and the branches of the trees crashing together in the yard outside. Aside from the mold and dust of ages covering the room and several ruined musical instruments, nothing is remarkable. We continue on.

Nineve gets bored first and opens the door to another fungus-covered bedroom. Suddenly, she slams the door shut and starts clawing at her own face! She regains her composure and starts to complain about the fungus attacking her and causing boils on her face. She also mentions a child. Before we can make sense of her ramblings, Hezzrak comes up the stairs, eating cancer rats. I try to dissuade him, as they are CLEARLY diseased, but then I remember that outsiders are usually immune to disease. I shrug and tell him he can eat what he wants.

We wander into a gallery with covered portraits on the walls. We uncover the portraits and the room grows icier and icier...until they explode outward in a shower of freezing dirty water. Afterwards, I feel ill, but I try to shake it off.

We move on into a completely preserved bedroom! However, the lack of dust and mold does nothing to dispel the bewildering influence of the dark and tattered drapes which, tortured into motion by the rising tempest outside, sway fitfully to and fro. Haroldur rushes to a writing desk in the corner and appears to contemplate stabbing himself in the throat with a large splinter of wood, but then decides against. We move on.

Nineve and I force the door to a small bathroom. An iron tub, scaly with rust, squats in the center of the room. The floorboards sag and bow with the tub's weight. Green scummy water fills the tub to the brim, and dribbles over the side to pool on the floor in several nasty puddles. As I approach, the floorboards crack and give way! I barely manage to jump back in time to avoid falling through the floor. The tub falls into the cancer-rat bathroom below and explodes in a shower of water.

There's only one more door to investigate. We open it and find ourselves in a large bedroom. Everything in the room, including the bed has been torn to pieces - with one exception. A portrait hangs backward, untouched. Xicar turns the picture around and claims to recognize the beautiful woman depicted therein. As we turn to head back down to the first floor, Xicar inexplicably kicks Nineve down the stairs! Then, he turns on me with his shortspear! He shouts "Traitorous women! You filthy whores! I'll kill you all!!!" We easily restrain him and Nineve intimidates some sense into him.

We abandon the idea of going back downstairs and head up to the attic, which is full of steamer trunks. Among the random luggage, we find a well-appointed study which has an amazing view of the lake at the bottom of the cliff several hundred feet below. We proceed cautiously. Scorch marks mar the walls. A battered telescope stands in one corner, and a trapdoor leading to the roof is tied closed. I sift the scorch marks and witness a brief scene: A man and his wife are arguing. She is accusing him of something; he denies it. She throws a lantern at him and accidentally catches herself on fire... Just as I snap out of it, Nineve flails about like she's on fire and throws herself out the window! I toss one end of my troll gut rope to the boys and dive after her. Luckily, her armor had gotten hung up on the ornate roofing, and I barely manage to rescue her before she plummets off the cliff to her death! We climb back into the study, regroup, and head for the assumed safety of the basement.

We find ourselves in a vast kitchen which is damp and completely dark. It's silent at first, but soon the walls are alive with the sound of hundreds of diseased rats. We brace for impact. Several large cancer rats like the ones we saw in the bathtub emerge and approach us. I cut two of them down, but then 2 large swarms pour out of the walls and over our party. The clerics detonate negative energy bombs and we are soon saved from what would have truly been a fate worse than death! We leave the rat-ridden kitchen and investigate an unremarkable servants' quarters, complete with rusted, sagging bunk beds.

Moving on, we find the rotting pantry, which is filled with dozens of blind, bloated, diseased rats. The stench is horrible. Despite the smell, I take a moment to closely observe the rats. They appear to be suffering from some kind of bubonic plague variant. We all realize we're feeling less than stellar, all of a sudden. We're concerned and quickly move on.

Next we find an ancient wine cellar. Haroldur and I poke around and identify 8 bottles of non-vinegar that are probably worth something. We collect them and move on to a ruined workshop.

Broken glassware, shattered pottery, and rusty tools litter the floor. Suspicious crates of dirt, similar to the ones we found in the mausoleum, stand in the center of the room. As we're looking around, Xicar suddenly falls through an unseen trapdoor and disappears! Hezzrak spots a darkened doorway behind Haroldur and starts down the stairs he finds. Meanwhile, I locate the release mechanism for the trapdoor that claimed Xicar. After a brief conference with Nineve and some crate-shuffling, I open the trap door and send her down to the cavern below, riding a crate, Dr. Strangelove-style!

Haroldur disappears down the stairs with Hezzrak and calls for a locksmith. Usually that's my cue, but through the open trapdoor I can see a skeletal figure menacing Xicar and Nineve! It's the morhg, and I'm not really surprised to see it's none other than our old friend Lord Ondore. On hearing this, Hezzrak whizzes past me and flies down to the action. I call for Haroldur to quit being such a baby and get his ass down the hole like everyone else, as I line up the morhg in my Line of Lightning Sword sights. Reluctantly, Haroldur flings himself down the hole, clockwork wings flapping.

Xicar accidentally blinds himself with his own spell, and Morhg Ondore and Hezzrak point and laugh (who can blame them?). Flame leaps from Morhg Ondore's fingertips as Nineve is fricasseed! Things are dire. In a truly unimpressive display of lightning, I zap Ondore and teleport into a flank behind him. Nineve throws herself at Morhg Ondore with the last of her strength, and then I draw Captain Lorring's longsword (previously prepared by Xicar!). I savagely slice through his undead body and discharge the stored Searing Light. The glory of Wee Jas and Xicar's plan rips through his husk, destroying him utterly.

~Ashe

Episode 18: 8/23/09

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/3-3
Nineve, human knight/6
Sarek, human wizard/6
Xicar, human cleric/6
Haroldur, human wizard 2/cleric 4
Enoch, human sorcerer 1/monk 5

The next day we travel with the survivors from the ruins of the keep back to the hunting lodge. That evening, Vander approaches Nineve and mentions some helpful things he remembers about working with the cultists and Akasha, the leader. It seems she HATES silver! It's a strange thing to remember, but it struck him as odd and it was all he could think of.

As we're all sitting around the campfire, I notice the strange dog is hanging around the edge of our camp. It shrinks into the woods at my approach, but I leave it some food and I notice it back again a few minutes later, eating.

As we're heading off to bed, Zolara appears! She looks concerned. She says, "Your resilience and courage will see you through the trials ahead."

The Choosing:
Ashe - The Trumpet
Nineve - The Teamster
Haroldur - The Sickness
Sarek - The Tangled Briar
Xikar - The Waxworks
Enoch - The Desert

The Spread:
Paladin Teamster Cricket
Locksmith Eclipse Hidden Truth
Liar Rakshasa Survivor

Zolara interprets our reading:

"The Paladin represents strength in adversity. In this case I see one of you standing in victory over a fallen superior, perhaps an instructor or or father? The locksmith grants the keys to unlock destiny. He grants the tools but not insight as to how they may be used. One of you will unlock secrets from your past. The liar represents treacherous love, deception that pits brother against brother or father against son.

The Teamster is a driving external force that keeps you going, no matter what. The Teamster exhorts you to continue on, despite the self doubt and loss of purpose shown by the Eclipse. Elsewhere, the Rakshasa sits upon the backs of its slaves, imposing its will on them, opposing your every move, from the shadows.

The Cricket represents travel, in this case, a speedy return home. The Hidden Truth has the power to reveal secrets. I see family histories revealed in a new light to allow you to see past the obvious to the greater truth, and dark secrets hidden within."

Then, faster than you can say "Oops, forgot to mention the GRW!", she's gone.

The next day, we part with Vander, Edain, and the other survivors and begin the 5 day journey to Turtleback Ferry. We're not in a hurry, so I have plenty of time to spend with the strange dog that keeps following us. We win him over after a day or so, and he starts actually traveling with our group. I'm delighted that he's traveling with us, but the next day, he seems incredibly nervous. I get the sense that he's trying to get us to take another path. Intrigued, I follow the dog and lead our group down a smaller game trail that takes a slightly circuitous route around (rather than through) a valley before rejoining the main trail at the top of the ridge. I'm feeling a little irritated at myself for allowing a flight of fancy to add 45 minutes to our hike that day. As we crest the ridge, I pause a moment to take in the surroundings. As I glance back, I spot a grey render lurking in the valley below. My original path through the valley would have taken us right into its territory! I give the dog a few appreciative pats and continue on our journey.

A few days later we arrive at the tiny hamlet of Turtleback Ferry. We all buy riding horses, practically gorge ourselves on a hearty home cooked meal, and spend a welcome night in warm beds. The next day, the dog brings me a dead chicken, and I have a slightly sticky encounter with an irate farmer. I apologize and pay him 5sp for his chicken... and he suddenly offers us some more chickens "for the road". We take him up on his offer of a few fresh eggs, and spend our last night at his house.

After a hearty farmhouse breakfast, we head out to Istivin. We travel through rural but civilized lands for a few more days and finally arrive at the city walls. We take a winding path through the lower tiers of the city and make our way to the Cabal, purchasing some badly needed fresh clothes along the way. The journey takes about two days.

We finally arrive at the Cabal and are greeted by acolytes who are happily surprised to see us. We have about an hour to get situated before we're summoned to Marten's chambers.

Marten is pretty put out at us for vanishing on him, and, more importantly, The Ministry of Justice, and specifically Justice Ironbriar are after us for questioning regarding the events at the Sawfish Boys slaughterhouse. He asks us why he SHOULDN'T just turn us in. We present our arguments, with varying degrees of success, before Nineve jumps in and actually tries to INTIMIDATE him! It's a great performance, but it was doomed from the start. Marten is none too impressed, and we are taken into custody by Legionnaires (who are polite). We are escorted to a nearby prison facility, and handed over to those authorities. They shackle us and admit us to our cells.

After a few days we are transferred to a smaller prison facility. That evening, we are taken to meet Sheriff Hemlock. The Sheriff tells us he has specifically requested our transfer here to his facility and proceeds to explain why.

Apparently, there have been a number of murders in the city of late that have our names all over them. Hemlock produces a note from the most recent murder. It is battered and written in blood. It reads "You return, and now the chase begins. I am simply what you have made me, O my masters!" Apparently it was attached to the victim with something of Sarek's. Clearly, we aren't involved, but whenever Hemlock tries to look into the murders, his investigation is inexplicably blocked by someone higher up the chain. He asks if we'd be willing to investigate for him, and of course, we're in no position to disagree.

Hemlock takes us to a lumbermill. At the bottom of the logsplitter is the nauseating mess of what used to be a person. Apparently this was the miller's wife, Cassandra Vinder. Despite the gruesome scene, this isn't the murder he's interested in.

We head upstairs and find another body. Embedded in the corpse's sleeve is Sarek's missing dagger. Carved into the corpse's chest are some sort of symbols. Sarek can't identify the symbols, but he's sure they're related to ritualistic human sacrifice. I sift to to find out some information, but I don't get much of use. We discuss the murder and its similarities to other murders in question. We are told a survivor from another attack is being held at a local sanatorium. We decide to visit the survivor at the Saintly Haven of Respite while Hemlock cleans up the lumber mill mess.

The survivor's name is Grayst Savilla. It takes some convincing, but we are eventually admitted to see him. He's a wild-eyed fellow drooling on himself. He shrieks as we approach, but Haroldur seems to calm him down. Suddenly, he starts spouting nonsense. Between thrashings and mumblings, we get "He, he, he said that the victims are the harvest of seed you have sown!" and "When the harvest is done, you shall remember him forever and, and, and". Several minutes of screaming later, we get "the Misgivings shall, they shall be his throne, and there you shall bow before him!" He then collapses to the ground and lies still. Enoch and I recognize that he's still twitching slightly as Xicar moves in to check if he needs healing. Suddenly, Grayst the Mad lunges at Xicar and bites his hand! Enoch leaps in and restrains the crazy and Xicar tries to calm him down again. He spouts more nonsense, and then Sarek stuns him with a Word of Authority. While he's out, I heal check him and determine that he is suffering from the advanced stages of ghoul fever. The friar runs into the room and starts apologizing, swearing he didn't know, and he had no idea Grayst would react so strongly. We promise not to make a fuss and leave the sanatorium.

We are reutnred to Hemlock's smaller prison facility. Haroldur manages to convince Sheriff Hemlock to allow us to stay in a large communal cell instead of our individual ones. We pass the evening discussing our leads and options: basically none.

Sarek and Haroldur are interested in doing some research at the library. Amazingly, Hemlock manages to arrange this, and the next morning we are returned to the Cabal (under supervision) to research the arcane runes found on the bodies. We discover that these runes are related to a Nerull worshiping death cult and prevent spells such as Raise Dead, Speak with Dead, etc., as well as damning the soul to Nerull's realm. We share this knowledge with Hemlock, who is disturbed by the news. When we return to our cell, we find a package from Mossad! There are of course no weapons or anything, but it does contain a few essentials - better food, spellbooks, holy symbols, etc. Tucked inside the outer packaging is a crumpled scrap of paper that reads "Hambly farm" in scrawled blood.

We find out where Hambly farm is and convince Hemlock to equip us. Then we head out, under guard of course, to the boondocks where Hambly farm is. On the way, we are regaled with tales of the shocking boredom of rural life by one of the guards, who is as local. The guard mentions that if anyone knows what's going on in these parts, it's Farmer Gump. At this, naturally we stop by and talk to Farmer Gump. Gump thinks it's a bit odd that he hasn't seen the Hamblys around in the past few weeks. He mentions that he warned the Hamblys not to live near the Misgivings, a local haunted house. Haroldur inquires rather directly about the Hamblys and the history of the Misgivings, an old Lillybrook homestead. After an awkward and tactless interrogation, we leave and are led to the Hambly farm.

We come to a large cornfield and are told it's the Hambly farm. The house is apparently in the center of the fields. I stand on Enoch's shoulders to orient ourselves, and then we head in the direction of the farmhouse. At one fork, we encounter a scarecrow shaking violently. We approach it and Sarek discovers that is in fact a human in the advanced stages of ghoul fever. We're about to leave the person there and move on when we're ambushed! Several scarecrow-ghouls break free of their bonds and attack us! We wade through the ghouls and manage to only lose one of the guards, even though a few do get bitten. An eerie silence falls over the cornfield. This is an unsafe place for anyone, especially unseasoned recruits. We send the remaining guards back to town with the surviving scarecrow guy and move along.

A little while later we come to another scarecrow ghoul ambush. Enoch gets five-across-the-eyes and Xicar gets paralyzed from behind, but we finish off the ghouls before they finish off him. At length, we come to the farmhouse and barn in the center of the cornfields.

The smell of death hangs heavy in the air. The barn is constructed around a 12 foot tall stone head. Inside, it is a macabre tangle of bones and animal (mostly) carcasses. Ghouls are obviously lairing here, but none of the foul beasts are occupying the place at present.

We press on to the house, where the stench of rotting death is overpowering. We move to the kitchen and find another rune-caved corpse. Before we can investigate, I hear movement in the adjacent bedroom. I hiss a warning and Enoch sees a foot climbing out the bedroom window. In a moment, we're outside, battling the foul creature on the roof of the farmhouse. I climb the pillars of the porch and find myself facing a ghast. He opens himself up for an attack so I slash him as he shoves me off the roof. He rears, calling ghouls out of the corn. Soon, I am up on the roof again, locked in battle with my sworn enemy. More ghouls climb out of the well and attempt to pull Sarek and Enoch down to the watery depths. Fortunately, they don't manage to move the unusually tall humans. Nineve, Haroldur, Xicar and Enoch battle the ghouls, and Sarek offers ranged support to me as I battle the ghast. Eventually, Sarek vaporizes the ghast and we all prevail.

Back in the house, we search for clues and find a note. It's crumpled and written in blood, like the others. It reads, "You fools! You left them unprotected! Now I will take them from you one by one, until you come to me! Who will burn next? The scholar? The Dwarf? The Sheriff?". We have a brief pow-wow and decide to return to the city to warn our friends. I sift on the body and we discover that the killer must be a mohrg.

We rush back to the city, arriving very late at night and check on Tamklar. He's fine, though he almost puts an axe through Xicar's skull for busting in on him at this time of night. We quickly explain and bustle Tamclar and his family over to Alastor Land's place. We rouse him and take them all to the Cabal for safekeeping. Then we go to Sheriff Hemlock's place.

Our stomachs sink as we find his door is open. We burst onto a gruesome scene, much like the other rune-carved corpses. Enoch fishes a letter out of the fire, while we check on the mutilated corpse of the late Sheriff Hemlock. The letter is badly burned, but I examine it and use Sift to read its original message:

"Your Honor, Lord Justice Caradoc,

It's taken me some time, but I've finally managed to determine who has been obstructing my investigations into these strange murders. I fear a sinister and calculating mind has both perpetrated these killings, and endeavored to obscure them. A dear friend, whom I hesitate to name, has brought me information and evidences that point to a horrifying possibility. If he is correct, and I fear he may be, these murders are much more than the work of a simple madman. He has brought to light the facts that my, and many other, investigations have been misdirected, denied, reassigned, and otherwise defeated by note other than the direct intervention of Lord Justice Ironbriar, Justice of Dura and 7th Justice of Istivin, capital city of The Kingdom of Caledon. I await your direction in this matter.

Your loyal servant,

~Giles Hemlock Sheriff, Whietwall, Dura, Istivin."

Of course, this pivotal evidence is merely circumstantial, as it requires a person with the ability to sift in order to decipher any meaning from the scorched and ruined scrap of parchment. Nevertheless, this could be enough to at least clear our names with the Cabal. Besides, we all decide it's not wise for us, currently prisoners, to be hanging around the murder scene of our current jailer... We rush back to the Cabal, rouse Mossad, and tell him everything.

~Ashe

Episode 12: 10/11/08

The Party:

Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/2-3

Haroldur, human cleric/5

Nineve Floret, human knight/5

Sarek, human wizard/5

We're just finishing up with Filge's pets when suddenly we hear the elevator returning from upstairs! We scramble into a defensive formation. The doors open to reveal four more cultists. Fortunately, we have the tactical advantage. We corner them in the elevator and cut through them like a knife through butter. At the end of the skirmish, we hear horses and a commotion upstairs. Nineve and Haroldur head up to investigate and hold off any over-zealous authorities while Sarek and I examine the altar for evidence.

Using Improved Sift, I see a vision of Filge and a buxom shrouded female in the midst of what appears to be a reanimation ceremony. A loud crash (sounds like us) breaks Filge's concentration and the spell goes awry amidst much cursing and calamity. On the altar, we find diamonds and the remains of diamonds (about half are intact), along with a partially-charred scroll of Raise Dead. We net:

2100 gp in diamonds

I put everything into an evidence bag and we join Nineve and Haroldur upstairs.

Nineve has skillfully convinced the mounted city guardsmen of the truth - that we are here on business with the church of Wee Jas, and have captured the Sawfish Boys for assisting with illegal necromancy. We notice that Kinto is missing from our group of captives, but the other three are still there. The guards take our prisoners into custody and we are escorted back to the Ruby Temple with only moderate hassling. We check in with Mossad, heal up, and go straight to bed!

First thing in the morning, we're summoned to Marten's office. I'm pleasantly surprised to find my favorite uncle, Justice Ironbriar of the city guard, is also there. Unfortunately, my bright mood evaporates as it becomes clear he is not visiting, but in fact here under rather unpleasant circumstances. He inquires about our involvement in the deaths of Captain Tevlis and his two (secretly treacherous) guards, and a challenging conversation ensues.

The interview does NOT go well. We are implicated in the deaths, and Uncle Ironbriar, who could never be accused of nepotism, demands our arrest. Just when I think this can't get any worse, Marten uses his considerable political clout and refuses to allow us to be taken into custody, assuring the Justice we'll be secure in the custody of the church. Suddenly, the city jail is looking like a better option...

Uncle Ironbriar leaves and Marten lays into us, suspending our Keeper status! After a thorough dressing-down, we leave and meet with Mossad. He explains that he's still in our corner, and will try to get to the bottom of this complex situation. I hand over our bag of evidence to Mossad and thank him for his support. We go have breakfast in the mess and return to our quarters - only to find our things have been relocated to the acolytes' quarters! We trudge down to the common sleeping area and begin our new, mundane tasks as acolytes. Yay.

Our first task: The Potter's Field.
Cremation and entombment cost money that is rarely spent of the poor, Instead they are buried in the potter's field, left to decompose, and the graves are eventually re-used, over and over. However, it takes skill and careful cataloging to prevent disturbing previous graves that have not had time to rest sufficiently. We spend all day in the archives going over the complicated plans so we can find an appropriate resting place for this week's batch of deceased peasants. We give the burial orders, but a few days later we hear there were some problems with the plots we ordered for a few of our charges...

Next up: The Drowned Son
The eldest son of a well-respected family loyal to the Cabal has drowned in the river - they desperately want him raised as they feel he perished before his time. They cannot afford the Commune spell, nor the cost to raise him, but they are insistent. They have been loyal parishioners of the Cabal for years, and we are keenly aware that mishandling this situation could cost the Cabal valuable members. We almost feel like Keepers again as we make our way to the somber house. Through sensitivity and patient understanding, by the end of the afternoon we convince the family to let their son go.

Then, we're back to playing corpse-jenga with: Cataloging Catacomb 7A
As is to be expected, the catacombs of Whitewall become overcrowded from time to time. When this happens, acolytes are sent into older catacombs to catalog the remains therein and determine where there is room to inter additional remains. This week, that's us. We get to brush up on our Profession: Gravekeeper skills and spend several days carefully cataloging, reorganizing, and cleaning this section of the catacombs in preparation for future use.

During our "adventures in acolytism" in the Temple one day, we hear Marten curse and then stagger backwards through a doorway, clutching a fresh, bleeding wound in his shoulder. Naturally, we're intrigued. Resisting the urge to start chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!", we sidle in closer for a better look. Moments later 31E hobbles into view, eyes red and weapon bloody! Marten sees us and demands we deal with our "rogue construct". 31E matter-of-factly informs Marten that he cannot give him the key-plate under any circumstances, and demands to be taken to the Exarch at the Grand Terminus immediately. It's a tense situation, but we tread carefully and manage to talk sense into both Marten and 31E. Marten reluctantly agrees to allow 31E to retain the key-plate, and 31E agrees to cooperate with Marten and the Cabal's clergy (on the condition that said cooperation will not violate his programmed directives). We all gain 1 influence point.

The next day we're back at it with: The Sickly Girl
A young girl is very ill and near death. We visit the home to discuss arrangements with her family and ease their grief, but while we're there, I happen to notice that she's suffering from Red Ache, the same disease that almost claimed Tamclar's wife. I bring this to everyone's attention, and suddenly our focus shifts from easing her passage to bringing her back from the brink of death! We give her family detailed instructions on how to tend to her, and with some magical assistance and our careful ministrations, in a week or two the girl recovers and the family members all become loyal followers of Wee Jas!

A few days later we are assigned to investigate: Missing Gravediggers
We receive word that several gravediggers have gone missing in Whitewall this morning. Gravediggers vanish from time to time in the Whitewall, so this isn't terribly unusual. Occasionally, gravediggers turn to tomb-robbing and attempt to make off with their ill-gotten gains! We're sent to get to the bottom of it.

When we arrive at the scene, we quickly rule out skulduggery. It looks like the workers were digging a grave when the floor collapsed beneath them. They must have breached the vault of an old crypt, not listed in the records. It appears they may have fallen in. We tie a rope to a piton anchored to the secure part of the floor and descend into the pit. We find a shovel on the floor directly under the hole, and at the other end of the room, two dazed-looking gravediggers. They don't seem to notice us, which is odd. Just as we're trying to figure out what's wrong with them, my heightened hearing detects an incoherent babbling off in the distance. It's so distracting! I'm forced to stare off blankly into middle distance while the rest of the party addresses the gravediggers.

Luckily, I snap back to reality just in time to brutally lay into an Allep. After it is dispatched, we turn our attentions towards the skeletons which start to pour into the chamber. We've got a lot on our hands, suddenly. Honestly, it's the most excitement we've had in weeks. It becomes too much for Sarek to bear. Crackling with unspent magical energy, he fireballs the place without warning, which takes care of the skeleton problem but also immolates the hapless gravediggers, unfortunately. We climb out of the vault, seal it up temporarily, and report back to the Cabal.

That evening Mossad asks to speak with us. Marten is still very irritated with us, but Moussad hates to see our skills going to waste on mundane tasks. He recommends we leave town for a while to let Marten and the general political climate cool off a bit. We agree and make preparations to leave while Mossad works on finding a reason for us to be gone.

Meanwhile, Sarek and Haroldur have also noticed some of their inconsequential personal items are missing. We're a bit concerned when we realize that someone is stealing from us. Our thoughts turn to the usual suspect - Hezzrak. We lure him out of invisibility with a game of chess, but we quickly become convinced that he's not the one behind the thefts. Sarek cleverly convinces him to help us find the culprit.

The next day, it's back to business as usual as we're tasked with cataloging the remains found in the newly discovered crypt. We toil for days and produce a accurate and beautifully detailed record of the entire area. Around this time, Sarek receives a Sending from Lazare:

"A friend, Jakardos, may have insight that can aid you in solving the mysteries of 31E37 and the Cairn. Go to Blackwall Keep."

We relay this message to Mossad. He thinks Blackwall Keep is a perfect destination - a potentially dangerous journey, but remote enough so that the trip there and back will give things time to calm down in Istivin. He tells us he'll look into this possibility.

A few days later, Mossad approaches us with a plan! Blackwall Keep is on the frontier of orc and goblin country. Because of this, detail on the Keep is dangerous and maintaining a sufficient garrison is always a concern. In fact, garrisoning Blackwall Keep is so dangerous, violent, convicted criminals are frequently offered the option to serve at Blackwall instead of going to prison - if they are still alive at the end of a two-year tour of duty, they are freed. Some choose to stay on at Blackwall and become part of the elite group of rangers which manage and run the Keep. It happens that a group of such criminals is to be dispatched to Blakcwall Keep presently, and Mossad has arranged that we are to be their escort.

Additionally, it would seem that Tamclar, who has been studying in the Temple, is running into some difficulty. Mossad has observed that our favorite dwarf seems to be struggling to balance Our Lady's tenets with the deep-seated cultural and ideological ways of his people. Noting that Tamclar is the type that prefers deeds over words, Mossad suggests that he shoud take a break from his scholastic endeavors and accompany us on our journey to the Keep. Perhaps he can find his way more easily in a forest than in a library...

We set off the next day, with Tamclar and our company of criminal scum. They're unarmed and shackled together, but there are about 50 of them. About half an hour outside of town they make their first attempt at a mutiny. Fortunately, we're able to intimidate them into submission - for now. This will no doubt prove to be an interesting journey. I lead us through the woods and we find a place to camp for the night. Just after dinner, Zolara appears to us and offers us a reading:

The Choosing:

Sarek: the Midwife
Haroldur: the Owl
Nineve: the Mute Hag
Ashe: the Queen Mother

The Spread:

The Foreign Trader-----The Dance-----The Unicorn
The Eclipse-------------The Forge------The Keep
The Joke---------------The Midwife----The Winged Serpent

~Ashe