Recap from 7-16-04
Our heroes met up in the town of Hammerstad with one goal in mind - the pursuit of immeasurable riches! Hraal the Reaver, a barbarian Hudan from Hybronesse, traveled to Necrovidia to hire on as a mercenary in one of the many small wars occurring in the lands around the city. However, when he arrived he found that all of the fighting was over and he had no skill to sell besides the use of his broadsword and axe and thus he was unemployed. Hraal befriended a small rogue named Malik Tanglefox who then introduced him to his friend Tyco the bard and Master Ho a Balduin spirit shaman, their NPC ally. And thus, the band of adventurers was forged.
The new group decided to seek out information in the city pertaining to the many ruins rumored to be in existence in the area where large amounts of wealth could be acquired at great peril to mind, body and spirit. It was suggested that the group split up to cover more territory so Master Ho and Tyco went in one direction and Malik and Hraal went in another. Tyco and Master Ho soon discovered that there was a group of caves off the Trader’s Way road on the peninsula northwest of town. The rumor had it that the caves were once a holdout for Balduin bandits. They also found out that Hammerstad was built on the ruins of one or two previous cities. Many of these ruins could be seen on the fringes of Old Town across the river. They found out that Old Town was a rough neighborhood where robberies and disappearances were common. It was also rumored to contain a way into the underground ruins below the city.
Meanwhile, Hraal and Malik headed to the wharf to see what they could find out. Soon, however, Hraal lost track of his small companion who seemed to just disappear into the crowd in a strange sort of way. Hraal managed to strike up a conversation with a net mender who told him that someone was hiring people to investigate a disappearance and were paying the whopping sum of 5000 g.p. as a reward! While this was going on Hraal noticed a commotion in another stall nearby but couldn’t determine what was happening. He decided to return to the inn where they had agreed to meet up later to share his news with the others.
Once the group met up and discussed their findings they determined to pursue the potential reward for finding the missing person. This time they split up with Malik and Tyco trying to find the identity of the employer in the main city and Hraal and Master Ho traveling to Old Town to seek out his identity. Malik and Tyco discovered that there was a shortcut to the caves off the Trader’s way called the Fool’s path which passed through a small town and was rumored to be very dangerous (and thus the name). They also found out that the man who was seeking investigators to find his missing companion was Vestan Irsimul and he could be found at the Inn of the Dancing Pony. Also, it was discovered that the reward was a mere 100 gold pieces.
Meanwhile, Master Ho and Hraal made the trip across the river to Old Town. It was very rough indeed as they witnessed a couple of children looting what they could from a corpse that lay sprawled out in the street. They spotted a blind man who appeared to be begging and decided to see if they could find anything out about the man who was paying the reward to solve the mystery. After beating around the bush a little bit and getting nowhere, Hraal put a silver piece in his cup and asked for the name of the man that was hiring. At this point the beggar told him it was a man named Vestan Irsimul. That’s when he noticed one of the street urchins poised with a dagger about to cut his purse loose! He snatched the urchin’s hand and picked him up off the ground. He then gave a great yell straight at his face and tossed the little thief to the ground. Stunned, the youth dropped his dagger and ran along with his friends and the supposedly blind beggar who could see quite well where he was going as he fled. Having gained a dagger and the information that they were looking for a mere silver piece Hraal and Master Ho returned to meet their companions and pool their information.
The group went to the Dancing Pony seeking Vestan Irsimul to try to apply for the job. They soon found the man that they were seeking who told them a friend of his, Ahwad, had discovered the entrance to the undercity and then disappeared some time ago. He offered the group 100 gold crowns up front to find him dead or alive and another 100 gold crowns each if we could retrieve his body. He told us that Ahwad was a great friend of his and was a man of arms and learning. He also described to us a six block area where he thought the entrance to the underground ruins was located. Apparently, Ahwad and his guides had made an attempt to conceal the entrance in some way. The group accepted the offer and was told to meet an associate of his near the bridge in the morning who would lead them to a hovel where they could base their search.
The next day the adventurers went to Old Town and met Yorgi, a Hyalmar bard, who led them to the hovel and gave them the keys. During the search of the hovel, Malik found several items. Under the floorboards he found some money, a longsword and some vials containing some sort of liquids. In the chimney he found another sword which had a hollow handle containing a small parchment map with some notes scribbled on it. The notes read, “Must return for Shezmar’s body. He’s a valuable mage but so was his staff. Also, must find water breathing spell – too dangerous without.”
After identifying a few of the liquids as healing potions and securing the hovel the group decided to try to find the entrance to the undercity. They went to the area that Vestan had described and Malik soon found a hole in the ground, which was partially covered by a rock. After the group moved the rock out of the way, Malik proceeded into the tunnel beyond cautiously with a rope tied to his waist and his lantern in his hand. Hraal was holding the other end of the rope and eventually it went slack. He decided to venture inside the tunnel to see what happened to Malik as the rest of the group followed.
They found Malik poised before a closed door at the end of a sixty foot corridor. From the other side of the door we could hear voices saying, “They are coming”. Master Ho laid his hand on Hraal’s shoulder and told him “this will help you if you are injured.” Hraal kicked in the door and walked into the room. He suddenly found himself flanked by two goblins, one on either side of the door. He attempted to bull rush one who held his ground and managed to trip him. Hraal was in trouble, lying prone on the ground. The goblins attacked and hit him once and missed him a few times. Tyco cast a stun spell on one of the goblins and Hraal managed to get back up shaking off the blow with the aid of master Ho's spell. He then went into a blind rage and quickly dispatched the goblin in front of him with his sword and killed the goblin behind him with his axe. Master Ho entered the room and engaged a third goblin who was wielding a bow across the room along with Malik. They traded a few blows and Hraal ran over and finished the last one off. They searched the bodies and took stock of their surroundings. On one end of the room was a caved in tunnel and on the other side was a pit that led downward. They pondered their next move…
No comments:
Post a Comment