DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Vegarious (Changeling 3)
Jonesomon (Specialist 5)
Ranza (Changeling 4)
Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 6)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 6)
Thrax (Fighter 5)
[Slugs MacKenzie (Hedgefey 1)]
As the sun came up over the lake, heralding a fine spring day, the party discussed their dilemma. How to release Thrax from his geas while retaining the key to the Tomb? Various ideas were concocted, but none seemed foolproof. Then someone had the idea of sailing back over to the island to see the crazy man, Gnart. Maybe they could drag some useful information out of him. So over they went, and once more went through the pantomime show. Unfortunately, it seemed the wild man could tell them nothing of the key or Sir Azra; but they did glean that, with his antics with hiding the stone, he was trying to tell them something about how to enter the Tomb. Which may be helpful down the road, but not right now.
In the end, the party opted for a combination of subterfuge and violence. Rowing back to the headland, they untied Thrax and gave him the key. Then followed the fighter as he charged up the hill to the Blue Knight's camp, Jonesomon taking a somewhat circumspect route to get behind their foe. Reaching the camp, they found it much as before. Thrax called out, and the Blue Knight emerge from the pavilion and walked over to the fighter, hand out for the key. Which Thrax delivered, and was rewarded by the lifting of the heavy obligation he had been under. At which point, everyone else attacked. Jonesomon backstabbed, Hobbs charged in with swan and lance, Gnarl entangled , and everyone else laid in with various weaponry. Sir Azra, reveling his full might, put fear in their bones and caused Jonesomon and Vegarious to take off back to the raft and out onto the lake, But under the overall onslaught, the Blue Knight soon fell dead. They grabbed the key from his hand, stripped the armor to reveal a blue giant underneath, and likewise ransacked the camp to find nothing of interest beyond the warhorse (whom Gnarl engaged in conversation with speak with animal and learned his name was Quince). They took the knights body and burnt it on a funeral pyre out a combination of respect for their opponent and fear of what might happen if they left him around.
It getting late in the day, the party decided to stay in the camp and rest overnight, and then head the next day into the grey mist to search for the Tomb of the Half Blood King. The next morning under a leaden and misty sky, they rowed the raft to the fog for a closer look. It was visually very like the green mist, just a different colour. Hobbs took Waddle into the air to fly overhead, but could see nothing new. So they rowed the raft into the mist, and immediately all felt the same woozy, mentally light feeling as they did in the green mist. For most, the feeling passed quickly. Thrax and Vegarious, however, remained confused and had to be restrained on the raft to keep them from walking off the edge and drowning. Gnarl, relying on his well honed tracking skills, guided them by fits and starts through what he hoped was the centre of the mist, expecting the Tomb would be somewhere along that line. They wandered for an indeterminate time and in a vaguely planned fashion, until suddenly out the fog loomed an island. It was a strange island, almost perfectly circular, with a narrow band of grass and shrub around a massive translucent black glass dome that capped the centre. There was no sign of entrance, keyhole, or anything of help.
Finding nothing above water, Ranza donned the ring of water breathing and dove into the lake to see what may lie below. She followed the strangely symmetrical island all the way down, reaching bottom about at about 100'. Circumnavigating, she at last found what they were looking for; a pair of massive stone doors, carved with a complex design of intertwined stars and leaves. And right in the middle, a keyhole that matched the key they'd gained. She inserted the key, and the doors began to open on their own. A large bubble of air emerged and rose to the surface, and the changeling was drawn inside by the inrush of water. She found herself in a large chamber, now filled to the roof with water. A pair of black marble slabs with bas reliefs of fey warriors stood on either side of the doors. She could see a larger room beyond, but as she started to move deeper, the doors behind her started to swing shut. Not wanting to be trapped, she rushed outside, barely squeezing through. Returning to the surface, Ranza described what she'd found to the rest of the party.
Now left the problem of how everyone else could get safely below without drowning. Consulting the quilt, they learned that it would be possible to breath once inside the Tomb, though it wasn't clear how long they'd have to hold breath underwater before reaching that point. So after much discussion, it was determined that Ranza would go below and explore a little more. But with an invisibility spell from Vegarious and a length of rope around he waist and tied to the surface for additional protection.
Once more the changeling dove, entered the Tomb (leaving the key in the lock outside), and proceeded deeper into the room. The doors closed behind her, leaving Ranza trapped. Looking around, she found one end of the room was a twisted mess of filigree metal; whatever it was originally, the in-rush of water had wrecked it. And there were doors. One to the left opened into the flooded chamber and could not be budged. One to the south opened outward easily, the water pressure forcing Ranza into a small storage room where she crashed into a collection of clay amphora, which smashed to pieces releasing their brightly coloured contents into the water. And one to the west, beyond the twisted metal, opened outward. Tying herself down on to avoid another battering from rushing water, Ranza opened the door. Again water rushed out, and when it died down she found herself staring down a long curved corridor. The water now stood about 5' deep, so here at least was the breathable air the quilt had promised. There was also a door about halfway down the corridor on the west wall.
Raza opted against further solo exploration, and instead retraced her steps, planning to exit the doors and return to the surface. But reaching the doors, she could see on the inside a glowing green mass of slimy vines, writhing and flicking towards her menacingly. It would seem, that for now, she truly was trapped ...
TOTAL XP
1750
GAINS
Quince the Warhorse [500sp]
KILLS/VICTORIES
Sir Azra, The Blue Knight
LOSSES
none
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