Tales of Braxus: The Queen with Burning Eyes

Recap from 10/15/04

The group went back into the dungeon located in the ruins near Old Town in the rough part of town across the river.  We moved the now familiar rock and went down through the hole in the floor of the room there to continue our exploration.  We went down some passages to an area we hadn’t explored yet and heard voices up ahead.  Our sorcerer cast ghost sound to create the sound of a large group of soldiers marching up the hall towards the room but the men in the room paid it no mind and said something to the effect of “its about time you guys showed up” meaning they were expecting others.

We sent Malik to investigate and report back with what he saw.  He quietly snuck up to the entrance to the room ahead and as he looked in, an unusual spectacle was there before him.  It was Vestan Irsimul in a large and ornate chamber chanting some unknown ritual in an obscure language in front of a hole in the floor.  It looked like he was trying to summon something.  Seeing his chance, he loosed an arrow at our former employer since it was now obvious that he was some sort of evil necromancer and clearly up to no good.  To his surprise, the arrow bounced harmlessly off of his armor worn below his robes (we found out later he was wearing plate mail).  At this point, the screams of pending combat reached the group and we charged into the room to engage the enemy.  We fought with Vestan’s cronies while he kept chanting.

Eventually, we overcame his men but at about the time the last one was killed, something started slithering out of the hole in the floor.  It was some kind of large snake with the head of a woman – he had summoned a Naga from the realm of shadow!  So the group shifted its focus to fighting the Naga and Vestan.  We fought the hideous creature taking many grievous wounds while wounding it in turn and did our best to avoid its terrible gaze.  The battle with Vestan wasn’t going as well since, as we found out, he was wearing plate mail and was very hard to hit.  That’s when our sorcerer cast his Grease spell below Vestan’s feet and he slipped and fell into the pit screaming in terror “AAAIIIYYYEEEE!”.  We turned our full attention to the Naga and Hraal finally killed it with a savage flurry of blows.

After the combat, we took stock of our surroundings.  The room appeared to be some sort of throne room but the hole in the floor disappeared into a swirling dark and shadowy mist below.  Our sorcerer pointed out that this was no doubt a portal to the plane of shadow and that Vestan was summoning the Spirit Naga from the other side.  We were just glad that he was now residing in the plane of shadow with the rest of the shadow creatures if he yet lived…

Tales of Braxus: Into the Hole Again

Recap from August 6, 2004

We met back up with Malik and decided that it was time we continue with our quest to find the body of Vestan Irsimul’s friend since he had, after all, paid us to complete that task.  We also decided that going after the green tree bandits for the reward could wait until we finished the work of our first employer.  So we geared up and headed across the bridge to Old Town with the Hudan mercenaries in a torrential downpour.  After we crossed the bridge we were approached by a familiar figure dressed in skins to protect him from the rainy weather.  It was Yorgi the Hyaalmar bard who led us to the Hovel before we went down the hole the first time.  He told us that Vestan Irsimul wanted to speak to us before we went back underground because of “recent developments”.  We had been gone for two days after all – a lot could have happened in that time especially because of all the loot we had been selling recently after returning from Old Town.  These “recent developments” could involve some form of competition.  Malik made the comment that some other group or groups could be trying to “muscle in on our action”.  He also told us that the tunnels were flooded from the recent rains and said that Master Irsimul “forbade us” from entering the ruins.

We also noticed that the whole time he was talking to us that he kept looking over his shoulder as if he suspected someone was watching him and us – this struck us as odd.  We also asked him why the lock on the hovel, which he gave us the key to, didn’t work and told him of being attacked by brigands who crashed through the bogus lock with ease.  His only reply to this implied accusation of complicity in the attack was “it’s a rough neighborhood”.  We told him we would meet Vestan at the usual Inn at the time of the evening meal and that we had to go to the hovel to “check on something”.  With our suspicions aroused about these unusual developments we decided we were going to go to the tunnel entrance and check it out to see if we could discover anything unusual.  Of course since Vestan forbid it only made us want to go even more.  We found that the rock covering the entrance had been closed and opened several times and that many people had passed through it in the last few days.  We went further in to discover that the tunnels were in fact not flooded and that whoever had engineered the complex in the past had designed it so that the water could drain out without flooding the upper room at least.

Malik dropped into the hole in the floor in the first room with the lantern.  When he hit the floor he noticed some kind of undead creature nearby so he put down the lantern, turned invisible and withdrew to the corner.  The creature smashed the lantern and started looking for him.  Meanwhile, above the hole, Hraal managed to get a torch lit and climbed into the hole followed by Master Ho and the Hudan warriors.  We quickly dispatched the ghoul or whatever it was and decided to explore a few of the other passages.

The first one led to a rubble-strewn room.  As Malik, Carl and Snurri entered they quickly became entangled in spider webs.  That’s when Malik noticed the giant spider in the corner of the ceiling.  The Hudan warriors that could see it threw their spears and Carl shot his bow at it peppering it with missile fire.  It attacked and managed to bite Carl and Snurri before we finally finished it off.  Fortunately, the stout Hudan warriors were aided by their great stamina and were not affected by the poison.  We gave Carl the antidote to help him because he was starting to look a little green.  In the webs of the room we found a bunch of copper coins, a gold plated hourglass and a finely crafted dwarven greataxe encrusted with runes.

We picked up the loot and moved on.  In the next passageway, several missiles struck Malik after he rounded a corner.  He came back to tell us that he was under attack from something that sounded like small dogs yipping.  Carl entered the hallway and was showered with missiles, a few of which struck him.  The rest of the group entered the hallway with a few of them entering an alcove with a door in it for cover.  After several exchanges of missile fire, Hraal and the Hudan warriors entered the room and slew the small dog like creatures.  While this was going on, the door in the alcove opened and poor Carl was hit with some kind of a magical projectile spell from the doorway – he staggered back into the hallway for cover barely managing to stay on his feet and the door closed back up.  Malik reached around the doorway in the alcove and kicked the door back open.  Right after he did this he narrowly avoided being chopped in half by a swinging axe trap, which came out of the walls at both sides of the alcove.

They called for reinforcements and the warriors, master Ho and Hraal entered the room to deal with the last of the small dog like creatures, one of which was obviously a spellcaster.  Hraal threw an axe at the spellcaster and missed.  The spellcaster cast his magical missile at Hraal and singed his eyebrows a little bit.  Hraal dropped his other axe and rearmed with the newly acquired greataxe.  He swung the mighty weapon and splattered the remains of the spellcasting creature all over the walls behind it – there was barely anything left.  The one remaining creature curled into a ball on the floor and began whimpering and salivating, obviously petrified.  Malik knocked it unconscious with his sap.

Master Ho cast detect magic on the remains of the spellcaster and noticed that a ring on one of the fingers of the badly mangled body was in fact magical.  He also noticed that the great axe, which Hraal carried, was magical as well.  Also in the room we found a finely ornamented chest, which alone would fetch a handsome price at the markets.  Inside the chest we found a couple of hundred gold pieces.  Since it was mid afternoon at this point we decided to return to the city with the loot and clean ourselves up before we were to meet with Vestan Irsimul to see what he had to say.  Rather than taking the bridge and attracting attention carrying all of this stuff back we decided to hire a boat to take us across the river back to the other side.

It could very well be that the “recent developments” were caused by the group returning from the underground with loot that was openly sold in the city.  This has probably aroused the interest of other “treasure hunters” who have entered the ruins in recent days.  The group decided that we would have to be more discreet both in returning to the city with treasure and with how it was sold off afterwards.  Hraal thought that we should attempt to disguise the loot and/or take a boat across the river to return to the city.  He also thought that Malik should attempt to dispose of any loot we acquired at a local fence since they are naturally more discreet about that sort of thing.  We might not get as much money for the treasure but we also wouldn’t fan the rumor mill of the city of vast riches to be had in the underground ruins in Old Town.  We also thought it was a good idea to attempt to gather information at the local taverns to try and discover what sort of rumors about the ruins, other treasure hunters and our group may be circulating in the city.  We thought that we could discover who some of our rivals were in this way.

At this point, Hraal was very suspicious of Vestan and Yorgi.  Yorgi led us to the hovel with the bogus lock and gave us the key and we were accosted that very night by thieves who could very well have been his accomplices.  Vestan on the other hand, was obviously covering something up from the beginning.  Now he is telling us that he “forbids us” from entering the ruins without his permission.  In addition, Yorgi’s or Vestan’s tale of the ruins being flooded was an obvious lie to keep us from going down there – there was no flood.  We will listen to what Vestan has to say but at this point Hraal has had about enough of his lies and deception and is tempted to give him his hundred gold pieces back and tell him that if we do find his friends body, not only will we loot it but we will let it rot in the dungeon where it lay.  So we prepared ourselves to meet our current and possibly former employer.

Tales of Braxus: The Fool’s Path

Recap from July 31, 2004

Our heroes started play by divvying up shares from the group purse (75 g.p. each including Malik)  and spending some time at the markets to sell old stuff and buy new equipment.  Tyco went to see the witch Mya in order to have the potions we found at the hovel identified.  One was a potion of invisibility, one was a potion of Owl’s Wisdom (which was given to Hraal in case we come up against a spell caster) and the last vial was an antitoxin against poison.

After the bartering and purchasing was completed the group decided to go to the Green Griffon Inn off of the trader’s road to see if we could find out some information about the reward for the bandit’s that have been plaguing the area around the fool’s path.  Hraal suggested to Tyco that he recite some of the Hudan sagas in order to gain some friends among the many Hudan warriors that frequented the tavern.  Tyco told the saga of how Cullincar slew the great bear to the delight and amusement of the crowd.

Meanwhile, Hraal struck up a conversation with a Hudan warrior named Fafnir.  An attractive young woman named Penelope eventually approached us.  At this point Fafnir told me he would have nothing to do with her and suggested the same to me and walked away.  Hraal decided to see what she wanted since she was a comely woman and he was handsome in a way that only a Hudan woman could see.  She first said that she had some skills in telling the future, giving a few examples of things she had predicted that came true.  She also said that she was soon to be accepted into the local coven of witches in the city.

Then she proceeded to tell a story of how her husband had gone missing and implored Hraal to help her find him.  She apparently had a dream that he was still alive and in distress.  Later she had another dream that he was alive but with a dark companion at the bottom of a great cavern.  She gave Hraal a description of him – 6’ tall with thinning blond hair and told him that he was very skilled in the arcane arts and taken to wandering ruins and such in search of lost treasures and artifacts.  She then offered us 50 gold crowns if we could find him.  Hraal asked her to give him some more information like where she last saw him or where he might have been exploring but all she could tell him was she last saw him at home.  He explained to her that that wasn’t much to go by and tried to assure her that the group would look for him during our adventures.  She got upset because she thought he wasn’t going to help her and ran off crying.

Meanwhile, Raghnaal was talking to the bartender Barnkey.  The bartender told him under hushed whispers that the man buying provisions at the bar was in fact the notorious leader of the Green Tree Bandits in disguise.  This was the same man that Strom Ironhand, the local Hudan Warlord who rules the Trade Road area, had posted a reward for dead or alive (500 gold crowns).  The man finished up his business and left the tavern quietly.

Meanwhile, Tyco was telling another Saga, this time about how Cullincar, the greatest warrior of the Hudan people, slew some giants in one of his adventures.  The Hudan warriors greeted this with great applause upon its completion.

The group of warriors that seemed the most interested in the sagas were friends of Fafnir’s who Hraal was talking to earlier.  The others in the band were Carl, Snurry, and Ivar.  After Raghnaal told Hraal of the recent visit by the leader of the green tree bandits we decided to try to go after him and collect the reward.  Hraal and Master Ho stepped outside to try to find his trail.  Meanwhile, Tyco and Raghnaal negotiated terms of employment for hiring the mercenaries to assist us in the chase.  After some haggling they agreed to come along after being paid some money up front for their services and a share of the reward.

The group left the inn hastily with their newfound band of Hudan warriors.  Master Ho had picked up the trail and the chase was on.  Shortly before nightfall we spotted some smoke ahead and went to investigate.  We found a burned out hovel, obviously recent victims of the bandits.  We followed the trail as far as we could until nightfall and then made a cold camp.  At first light we tried to pick up the trail but had difficulty because of the recent rain.  We made it to the Merchant’s Arms Inn in the next Hamlet up the road at around mid morning only to find that our quarry had probably left there earlier in the morning.

To avoid attracting too much attention the warriors decided to enter after the sorcerer and the bard.  Hraal offered to buy them a hot meal if they would wait a little while before entering.  When they entered, they decided that it was time to live it up since someone else was paying the tab.  Two of the men were fighting over which one would get the tavern wench, which they had forcibly detained.  As they began sparring, she ran screaming from the tavern along with the rest of the hired help.  After much raucous behavior, including the breaking of tables and chairs, we then asked the bartender if he could help us with some provisions.  He agreed to give us some bread and sausages if we would leave his establishment immediately.  We heartily accepted his offer to the dissatisfaction of our two young bear cubs who wanted to continue with their wrestling match.  Hraal had to remind them that they were under our employment and should act with a little more restraint in similar circumstances in the future.

We set off in pursuit of the bandits with little luck trying to pick up their trail.  We decided to continue until we found the fool’s path and then we would be able to try to find their trail again which we did.  We went a ways up the rough path, which was little more than a badly rutted dirt road.  We passed a group of traveling fishermen who quickly skirted our heavily armed group fearing for their lives.  After searching for the tracks with limited success we finally had to stop for the night.  We made a camp off the path and set up our watches and proceeded to go to sleep.

Tyco and one of the young warriors were on the first watch.  As Tyco was telling the warrior some of his stories they were greeted with a hail of javelins and both went down.  The disturbance alerted most of the rest of us who got up only to find the camp under attack by six Fomorri warriors.  It was looking grim – two of our number were down and we had no light to fight by.  From the ground Raghnall illuminated the camp with a Fairy Fire spell and then the Hudan warriors sprang into action.  Despite being grievously wounded, our Hudan friends fought with great courage and bravery.  One of them continued fighting even though he obviously should have been felled from his wounds.  Another of their number single handedly slew three of the brutish warriors.  Hraal went into a rage and charged two of them, killing each of them in a single stroke, while being grievously wounded as well.  Master Ho and Tyco assisted the fallen while the combat was going on.

When the combat was over half of our number lay on the ground bleeding and the other half were left barely standing but the six Fomorri were dead.  We searched the bodies and found a great deal of loot.  The leader had a masterwork greataxe, which we gave to the Hudan warriors for fighting so bravely in our defense.  They had around 250 gold crowns worth of coin mostly in silver on them as well.  Also, the leader had a pair of diamond studded ankle bracelets probably stolen from a Hudan princess judging from their excellent craftsmanship and beauty.  Tyco looked at them to assess their value and quietly told us they were worth a great deal of money, lest he alert our new found allies of their value and turn them against us.

Due to our wounds we decided to return to the Hamlet to rest up and recover rather than pursue the bandits in our present condition.  Since the value of the bracelets was so much higher than the reward for the bandits and we didn’t have adequate healing capability we decided to return to Hammerstad and quit while we were ahead.  The reward for the bandits would have to wait for another time.  Raghnaal managed to sell the bracelets for 2,200 g.p. even though they were worth nearly twice that much.  It was the best offer we received in Hammerstad, being the largest city in the country of Necrovidia.  It was likely the best offer we were going to receive without traveling a great distance to another large city so we decided to take it.

We split up the profits equally between the group, Master Ho and the mercenaries (they each got one share).  Everyone then proceeded to buy new equipment.  Hraal finally had enough money to buy the pattern-welded broadsword that he had coveted at the armorer’s shop since his arrival in Hammerstad.  The Hudan warriors all bought chainmail shirts and new weapons.  Master Ho bought a new sword and some other weapons as well.

So ends the tale of how our brave adventurer’s learned of why the road was named as it was.  The fool’s path is an appropriate and fitting name indeed because only a fool who is ill prepared for it’s rigors dares to take it.  We have learned an important lesson and the next time we venture down it’s rutted rocky surface we will not do so in such a hasty manner.

Tales of Braxus: Hard Times In Hammerstad

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…