SESSION 34D: THE BATTLE TURNS AGAIN
January 5th, 2009
The 18th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty
… AND AGAIN … AND AGAIN
Things looked bleak. But then Agnarr, who had been feigning death while secretly being replenished by Dominic’s touch, surged up – stabbing the ratbrute in the back from his prone position. The ratbrute with a snarl of rage backhanded him, sending the barbarian back into unconsciousness, and then moved towards Seeaeti.
But Dominic, with another burst of divine energy, had managed to close up Tor’s grievous wounds. With the vicious serrated edges of raw flesh still glowing from holy power, Tor stood up.
The ratbrute whirled to face him… and then was forced to retreat before his bloody-minded assault. It cried out to the dwarf over its shoulder. “Woreron! Help me! Help me, please!”
But to no avail. Tor cut him down.
The dwarf, having apparently exhausted his supply of spells summoning a veritable swarm of hawks to plague Tee in the air, charged back into melee. Tor, who had been anticipating doing the same to him, blocked the sudden and unexpected attack in frustration.
Ibulli swooped out of the door and up to a level equal with Tee… who promptly released the magic of her boots and dropped back to the ground as the summoned hawks began winking out of existence.
Tor headed towards the spider-thing, letting Agnarr (newly rejuvenated once more by the constant ministrations of Dominic) take his place in the skirmish with the dwarf. Ibulli and the dwarf both fought towards each other, trying to encircle the battered heroes. And then the quasit reappeared as well – darting in and out of invisibility as it harried them time and time again.
But then Dominic dumped a potion of see invisibility down Tor’s throat, and he could finally see the invisible quasit. The quasit, on the other hand — getting ready to leap onto Agnarr’s back — never saw it coming: Tor thrust his sword straight through its tiny chest.
The quasit screamed in pain and tried to pull itself off Tor’s sword… but it was too late. Tor smashed the blade to the ground, cleaving the demonling in twain.
THE FINAL BLOWS
With the quasit’s death, Ibulli gave a wail of pain and re-doubled its efforts.
The combatants circled each other in a furious flurry of blows, but then Elestra emerged from the tower and Woreron the dwarf found himself caught between her and Tor.
With Woreron’s defenses harried, Tor was able to land a blow hard enough to dent the dwarf’s armor. Electricity arced up from the impact and the dwarf grimaced in pain.
But then the grimace turned to a grisly smile and the dwarf took a casual swing at Elestra with his battleaxe, easily sweeping aside her rapier and cutting deep into her thigh.
“A fine hit, youngling,” he grinned manically at Tor. “But what are you going to do once your friend is dead?”
“What did he say?” Agnarr shouted over the din of battle.
“He’s taunting me!” Tor laughed. “He’s actually taunting me.”
Tor swept the dwarf’s axe to one side and killed him. “That. That’s what I’m going to do.”
He pulled his blade free from the dwarf’s corpse with a crackle of lightning.
Agnarr, seeing the dwarf fall, threw his own blade aside and grappled Ibulli – thinking it imperative that the creature not be allowed to flee lest it fetch yet more reinforcements to the fray.
Ibulli struggled to escape. And perhaps, if Agnarr’s massive thews had been unsapped he might have held. But eventually the thrashings of the creature freed it. It began to fly up and away…
… and Seeaeti leapt up onto its back, grabbed the spidery head in its teeth, and tore. The bloated body of the spider-thing collapsed at Agnarr’s feet while Seeaeti landed nimbly a few feet away with the head clenched between his teeth. He padded over and dropped it at Agnarr’s feet.
The barbarian laughed. “Good boy!”
WITHDRAWING IN VICTORY
The invisible Dominic did a quick sweep through the partially excavated building from which the ratmen had emerged, but found little of interest.
Of much more interest, however, was the room from which Woreron the dwarf had come. It turned out to be his personal bedchamber, with a wooden bed, a chest of drawers, and (most interesting of all) a large iron coffer.
The chest of drawers contained nothing but clothing and personal items of little note, but the iron coffer was locked. In fact, a careful inspection revealed that it was double locked – with a second, concealed keyhole on the base of the coffer which disabled a trap on the primary lock. Tee quickly picked both locks and opened the coffer to find several potions, a collection of fancy snuff bottles, a silk purse filled with coins, and a thick sheath of papers.
From there they worked their way back through the complex – searching the bodies as they went. On one of Ibulli’s claws they found a bone ring matching in all ways those they had recovered from the creatures which had breached the Banewarrens and they fell into a brief discussion concerning its meaning. (Was there a connection between the cultists and the activities at the Banewarrens?)
On Woreron’s corpse they found two keys (causing Tee to groan at the thought of the wasted time she had just spent picking the locks on the iron coffer).
On Gavele, they found a note:
LETTER FROM REGGALOCH TO RHINNIS
Rhinnis,
I think we are being foolish. The Brothers of Venom are almost certain to betray us. They seek nothing less than complete control over the venom-shaped thralls. I am leaving to warn Malleck in the Ebon Hand Temple. He must know about the violent treachery they plot. Watch your back until I can return.
Reggaloch
Tee suspected that this was the note she had seen Gavele remove from Reggaloch’s corpse in the apartment complex.
Heading cautiously up the stairs in the tower, they found the second level choked full with Ibulli’s webs. Hidden within the webs they found a small cache of gems and other treasures, including a finely-crafted wooden puzzle locket. Once Tee realized what she was looking at, she was able to quickly undo the puzzle, revealing the locket’s hidden compartment. Within it, they found another letter – this one only half completed — written to the Brothers of the Quaan.
UNFINISHED NOTE TO THE BROTHERS OF THE QUAAN
Brothers of the Quaan—
The cultists’ research into askara has proven successful. I have obtained a sample which I will send with this missive. Its effects are even more potent than we had been led to believe. They have, if anything, improved upon the arts of Jessuk. I think it truly possible that we may have gained the key for both subjugating and using the scum of the natural races.
Although my mission has been accomplished, I shall not return yet. There is another project here – one the cultists believe to be even larger than their venom-shaped thralls. They talk of a huge machine in the caves beyond, and something called the Final Ritual which will be performed […]
Then, in the lower level of the tower they found a hidden compartment beneath the stairs, containing a small bed. Hidden under the mattress of the bed, there was another letter, this one written by Gavele and addressed to Wuntad.
LETTER FROM WUNTAD TO GAVELE
Gavele—
I applaud your sentiments. As long as none of the Tolling Bell are challenged and the work is not threatened, allow those squabbling fools to do whatever they want and spill blood wherever they will. The strongest shall prevail. Chaos shall reign. The Night of Dissolution nears and all acts are as homage to those who will be freed!
Wuntad
Satisfied that they had found all that there was to find, they quickly hurried back up the stairs and out of the Old City.
Their bodies were wracked with poison. The Brotherhood of Venom had lived up to its name and taken their toll. But, in the end, they had little difficulty escaping through the sewers and emerging onto the streets of Ptolus about a quarter mile from the apartment complex.
DWARVENHEARTH RESEARCH
This is a thick bundle of parchment tied together with black ribbon. These papers appear to be a disparate collection of research pertaining to Dwarvenhearth – a legendary dwarven city referenced obliquely in many ancient texts and believed to lay somewhere beneath Ptolus.
SEALED DOORS: Several dozen pages appeared to have been excerpted from the reports and journals of many different delvers. These describe massive doors found in various locations deep in the caverns beneath Ptolus. These doors are all virtually identical and clearly fashioned with dwarven skills, but have apparently proven impenetrable.
Included in these papers are several sketches of the doors, including an arcano-map of one of the doors (etching the patterns of arcane force present in the doors) and attempts to decipher (unsuccessfully) the various wards and seals protecting the doors.
ESTIMATED SIZE: Another large section of the research appears to be an attempt to estimate the size of the complex locked behind the doors that had already been discovered. It appeared that some of the doors were more than a mile apart, suggesting a city larger than some of the Kingdoms of the East. More than ten thousand dwarves might have once lived there.
THUNDERSONG: There are many myths collected from the Three Kingdoms regarding a mythical axe known as Thundersong. This is one of the great dwarven axes. There are several notes connecting various pieces of research which make it clear that the writer believes Thundersong lies within the city of Dwarvenhearth. There are references to the tale of the Woman Thane of Utarien, a legendary swordswoman of the Three Kingdoms, who the writer connects to the “Line of Queens” associated with Dwarvenhearth in several ancient texts.
CATHEDRAL CAVERN: In the middle of the papers, carefully wrapped in silk cloth, is what appears to be the original copy of a small, ancient painting depicting a subterranean cavern of mammoth proportions. Built on the floor of the cavern are five massive ziggurats. There is a short inscription of dwarven runes on the front of the painting. On the back, written in faded common, are the words “The Cathedral Cavern”.
CONCLAVE OF THE QUEEN: There is one enigmatic note buried in the various pieces of research which reads, “I believe that the Conclave of the Queen is responsible for the loss of the third testaments.”
STUDIES OF AKNAR RATALLA
The pages of this small notebook with a cover of black leather are covered with meticulous notes regarding Aknar Ratalla.
AKNAR RATALLA: Aknar Ratalla was apparently a minor, but powerful, warlord in the annals of prehistory a few decades before the founding of Arathia. References to him in historical records are apparently scant, because the notebook’s writer has clearly had to go far afield to collect much of the lightly detailed material.
SIEGE OF THE DALENGUARD: Aknar Ratalla cut a wide swath through the lands of what would become western Arathia. At the height of his power he laid siege to the Dalenguard at the foot of the Spire. In one of the texts collected here, this siege reportedly lasted for “101 days and nights through the hard winter of the wolf”.
THE END OF AKNAR RATALLA: Aknar Ratalla possessed the “power of the Vested” and he wielded the Blade of Chaos. With these “twin mights” he was “unvanquished”. Nonetheless the Siege of the Dalenguard ended when Aknar Ratalla disappeared and his warriors scattered.
THE TOMB OF AKNAR RATALLA: In the back of the notebook are three scraps of badly tattered parchment covered with various illustrations and dwarven runes. Several pages near the end of the notebook provide a translation of this text along with an extensive and evolving analysis of it.
The writer believed that Aknar Ratalla and the Blade of Chaos were interred in a dwarven-built tomb somewhere in the caverns beneath Ptolus. After what appears to be years of research, it appears that – from the scraps of parchment and other sources – he has reconstructed the secret path that would lead to the tomb.
Unfortunately, the path originates at a place named Kaled Del – a small dwarven settlement beneath the city. Recently rediscovered by the Delver’s Guild, the location of Kaled Del nevertheless remains a secret: The Delver’s Guild has kept that secret in order to monopolize trade with the dwarves.
There are several pages of frustrated ruminations as the author attempts to re-discover the location of Kaled Del himself… but meets with failure.
“I shall speak to Gavele about going to the Guild directly. The Tolling Bell must surely realize the importance of recovering an artifact such as the Blade of Chaos.”
Running the Campaign: Combat Verticality – Campaign Journal: Session 35A
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index
