Returning to Hodam from the ruins of Justice, our heroes are surprised to meet Darface-- whom Sheriff Feer had deputized to look after the city in their absence-- about a half-mile outside of Hodam. Something's happened, but they're unable to coax it out of him; he does advise, however, that they seek out Melany behind the brewery and give the rest of the town a wide berth.
They do so, meeting Melany, and their wizard friend Irving. They have bad news: the townsfolk, angered by how Feer and Jarmangle had appropriated a number of horses, wagons, and supplies, had rioted. Darface was unable to quell the riot, and the city's grain-stores had been burnt to the ground. But at least, Melany says, you have some good news to help quiet things down.
Of course, they don't; most of the ale is gone, without a cent to show for it. The city of Justice has been utterly destroyed. The bounty on Aratin's head was unclaimed. And the six whores were exhausted not for coin, but by Tralamin and Aratin's raging libidos. This, Melany tells them blankly, is the very opposite of good news. Chances are, if word of this disaster gets around town, the lot of them will be lynched.
They decide to seek out another town to ply their wares, with the bard Robyn suggesting that they head southwards. They leave four of the whores, and the severely hung-over Jarmangle, in Melany's care; Melany, in turn, appoints Irving the protector of the prostitutes, so that they might not be ill-used by Tralamin.
Hunting
Having run out of food-- including the meat from Robyn's horse, the untanned skin of which is still worn by Tralamin as a foul-smelling cloak-- they keep a special eye out for something to hunt as they make their way south. Shortly after coming to a mountainous pass, they find an elk. Feer's longbow proves ineffective, and it starts to run off; Robyn, with an elf's special precision, kills it with an arrow to the head. Tralamin and Irving run over to pick it up.
A few yards from the elk's body, they see a group of ettercap hunters emerging from a hidden nook in the mountain. The ettercaps are lean with hunger, and seem prepared to fight over the meal. Wishing to avoid conflict, Irving offers them a third of the meat. The ettercaps find this agreeable, and leave our adventurers alone.
Feer cooks the meat-- it's gamy, but good-- and Tralamin decides to complement his rotting horse carcass with elk-skin pants.
The hat
Moving through the pass, they come to an obstruction; it's a huge plant, with a closed bulb the size of a man. Its roots and vines stretch out, thick and green, over the entirety of the pass. And entangled within that mass of foliage is the skeleton of a bard who wears a particularly fetching hat.
Tralamin-- and it's always Tralamin, isn't it?-- decides that he wants the hat for himself. Brashly, he rushes towards the growth and reaches for the hat. The vines lash out, grabbing him and hoisting him in the air; the plant's bulb opens, revealing seven petals, each lined with sharp teeth, and a sharply-pointed stem flinging out from the gulf of its seven-sided mouth.
Seeing the danger, Irving unleashes a magical blast of cold into the mouth, damaging the stem. Feer bravely rushes in with her sword in one hand and the gnollish mace Peacebringer in the other; before she can reach Tralamin, however, the vines grab hold of her, too. She hacks at the vine, but in vain; when she touches it with the Peacebringer, however, it releases both of them. They roll to safety.
Tralamin starts to reach for the hat again, but Irving intervenes, using his mage-hand to pluck the hat out of the mess. Tralamin puts on the hat and discards the horse carcass; Robyn, at long last, can bury what's left of her steed. The party pulls back and hits the plant with a number of ranged attacks, until it seems dead. Now that it's safe to approach, they examine and then loot the skeleton of the unfortunate bard.
Irving sets the plant mass on fire, and after it has burnt itself out, they ride their wagon right over its ashes.
The bridge and the gorge
Coming out of the pass and still heading south, the group comes to a deep, fairly wide gorge with seemingly no way down. There is a rickety old bridge swaying in the wind-- wide enough to accommodate the wagon, but unlikely stable enough to holds its wait. A number of possibilities, both ingenious and impractical, are considered, and it seems as if night will fall before they reach a solution. Finally, combining elements of various plans which brought new possibilities to light, which were then incorporated into other plans, which were then combined together, they arrived at an answer.
Capturing a small insect in a beer bottle, Tralamin and Irving use rope to lower themselves several feet along the cliff-face. Finding a crevice in which to place the bottle, Tralamin performs a difficult ritual-- made more-so by the fact that's he's hanging off the side of a cliff-- to transform the insect into a tree for a handful of hours. At the same time, Irving performs a ritual to increase its size, timing it so that it takes effect just as Tralamin has finished his ritual. The insect-turned-tree grows sideways from the cliff-face until its trunk stretches over the entire gorge, its branches destroying the rickety bridge and some mud huts on the other side.
Tralamin and Irving climb back up, and the group hurries over the gorge before the size-changing ritual loses its effect. On the other side, they meet a group of ettercap villagers who are quite upset at the destruction of their huts. Irving, however, is able to prevent things from escalating into violence.
They continue south, and as night falls, they make camp.
Part II
Kobold Pocket
Early in the morning, they come across what appears to be an ancient temple. The doors are blockaded with slabs; unable to find any mechanism to gain entrance, Irving opts to just knock on the door.
A voice answers, at first claiming, ridiculously, that there is no one within. The group explains that they're on a mission of trade and commerce. The voice relents, and, after a moment, the slab moves aside.
Two kobolds are in the room, operating cranks to move the slab; they rush off down a corridor, leaving the room empty. Irving peers in and notes a large cage suspended over much of the room, and cautions the others to be careful. No sooner has he said this, however, then he sets off the trap; luckily, everyone is able to avoid the cage.
A kobold appears, hoping to take them by surprise, and he is understandably miffed that they're not inside the cage. He distrusts them-- especially the elves-- but they're finally able to convince him that they are indeed simply trying to sell some ale and "entertainment". A couple of kobolds are sent to escort the wagon to the back of the structure-- which the first kobold calls "Kobold Pocket"-- and Tralamin accompanies them. The others follow the first kobold deeper into the temple.
It's been converted to a kobold settlement, with shops, homes, and areas for recreation. Irving, Feer, and Robyn take particular notice of the tall stalks of wheat growing here, without any visible source of sunlight; this is Darkwheat, the kobold explains, and it grows from the blood of their dragon. Said dragon was slain many years ago "by the gnollish kings", who "stole" its hatchling and sealed it up somewhere. Robyn realizes that this might be the "great evil" that is locked behind the door in the tomb of the Gnollish Holy Dead.
The Orc Problem
They are led to the leader of the kobolds, and there rejoin Tralamin and the wagon. The kobold leader finds the ale to be most excellent, and agrees to buy some "after the darkwheat season". Irving inquires how long that will be; the kobold says it won't be much longer. They're just waiting for the orcs to raid Kobold Pocket, butcher scores of kobolds, and steal the wheat, leaving only a few desperate scraps for the hungry kobolds.
It began when the ignorant kobolds tried to trade with the orcs; to an orc, an offer for trade is an insult. The kobolds then tried to give them some of the wheat, so that their lives may be spared; to an orc, a gift is an even graver offense. Orcs only accept that which they can take through violence and theft, and an insulted orc will err on the side of the former. This has been going on for generations; no matter how many traps they set, there are always more orcs, and a kobold can't hold his own against those mountains of muscle.
Tralamin says that they'll come back after the season, then, but Irving pressures the group to do something about these orcs. Learning from the kobolds that the orcs are completely unable to hold their liquor, the group decides to "allow" the orcs to "steal" the remaining ale, with Irving playing the role of the "victim". Then, the four heroes and the kobolds can make short work of the drunken hordes. The kobolds agree that this is a grand plan, and hold a feast in their honour.
Told it is a custom for guests to tell a story at a kobold table, Robyn regales them with a grossly-exaggerated version of their adventures, claiming to have single-handled destroyed the city of Justice (which, it could be argued, is technically true) and to have rid Firepalm of its dwarfs (which is an outright lie). Fully believing the prowess of their new friends, the kobolds prepare for battle.
Battle in the swamp
Robyn, Tralamin, and Feer wait with the kobolds some distance from the swamp where the orcs have made their camp. Irving drives the wagon into the swamp, and is soon set upon by vicious orcs. Using a smoke pellet to cover his exit, he watches from a distance as they discover the strong spirits within the wagon.
An hour or so later, the kobolds and the four adventurers head into the swamp together. Most of the orcs are passed out, or wobbling pathetically-- quick work for even the most cowardly of kobolds. However, a few orcs have proved to be made of sterner stuff, among them their fearsome leader Worgi, who holds the mighty two-bladed sword The Mouth of Death.
The battle is, in a word, hard-fought. Each of the four come dangerously close to death, and Worgi's armour proves frustratingly difficult to pierce, especially for Feer, who doesn't have the options that magic affords the others. Slowly, however, the half-dead and exhausted heroes manage to eke out the slimmest of victories. Feer claims Worgi's blade as her own, and they leave the swamp to tend to their many wounds.
Denouement
The kobolds are elated to at last be freed from the orcish raiders. They give the heroes a quantity of darkwheat to take back home as a gesture of good faith, promising to come to Hodam to trade after they have finished celebrating.
Feer, still hungry for adventure and danger even as it brought her close to the reaper's embrace, suggests that they return to the Tomb of the Gnollish Holy Dead to seek out the young dragon imprisoned within, to either vanquish the evil or free it if its imprisonment proved unjust. Telling the dragon-worshiping kobolds only the latter, the quartet adds two of the kobolds to its ranks, and heads back to Hodam so that they might prepare for the challenges that await them.
Showing posts with label darface. Show all posts
Showing posts with label darface. Show all posts
10.10.2010
9.26.2010
4. Death-Ride to Justice!
In the weeks following the dissolution of the Distaff Temperance Society and the demise of their gambler-patron, the vampire Lord Jasen, the wretched cesspool of Hodam has returned to its potent mix of drinking, gambling, prostitution, and violence. It's not quite as lawless as it used to be-- the newly self-appointed Sherriff Feer and her deputy, the tiefling Jarmangle, have seen to that. And while Hodam's famous brewery is back in business, now under the, uh, unique management of the eladrin warlock Tralamin, the economic damage done by the Distaff Temperance Society is still acutely felt: pubs and inns have no money to buy the brewery's goods, meaning they must do so on credit; likewise, their penniless patrons must have it put on their tab. A vicious cycle that shows no signs of stopping.
Tralamin, taking the advice of the madam Melany, decides it might be advantageous to open trade with other settlements and allow them access to Hodam's famous brew. The arrival of the outlaw Aratin provides an opportunity to do so; claiming to have repented his evil ways, he seeks safe passage to the city of Justice so that he might stand trial for his crimes, and likely be hanged. Enticed by the hefty reward and the possibility of opening trade, Tralamin gathers his friends Feer, Jarmangle, and Robyn. (The wizard Irving is nowhere to be found, or, perhaps, does not desire to be found, given his disagreements with their somewhat lax morals.)
Preparing for the journey
Tralamin puts Melany in charge of the brewery in his absence; Feer and Jarmangle, perhaps unwisely, appoint the developmentally-disabled dwarf Darface as a deputy. Jarmangle suggests that they not only take Aratin and their famous potable to Justice, but also the six best of Hodam's whores. Feer and Jarmangle commandeer two large wagons, one for each of their industries, as well as enough food for the four days journey round-trip. To pull the wagons, they hit up the stables. Inventing a fictitious law about horse-breeding, they threaten the stablemaster until he has surrendered all of his horses. Thus prepared, they head off to Justice.
Cult of the Cloth
As they ride across the dry, barren earth, two bizarre figures begin trailing them on foot. They are shaped vaguely like men, but are covered completely with rags and patches that have been clumsily stitched together. They have no eyes, no mouth-- just vague silhouettes made of cloth. Tralamin and Jarmangle, riding behind the wagons, take note of them, but say nothing, as they're moving much faster than the cloth-men, who are unlikely to catch up.
At least, until a giant beetle appears in front of the wagons. From the scars it carries, Feer and Robyn identify it as the same mother beetle they fought weeks before. Then, they had driven it away from the ailing civilized gnoll. It, too, recognizes them as the creatures that had butchered its two offspring. Enraged, the beetle begins to attack.
The group tries to maneuver around it, but has no luck. As the beetle attacks at the front, the two cloth-men quickly bring up the rear. One wields a powerful wizard's staff, and a bolt of electric power strikes the wagon containing Aratin and the prostitutes he was entertaining himself with. The wagon turns over and the cloth-men close in.
It's soon apparent why, as all of their attacks and movements seem focused on Aratin the moment he leaps from the wreckage. With their mouthless voices, they demand in unison that he surrender "the stone!"
The battle is tense but light on casualties; when one of the cloth-men falls to Tralamin's magicks and Aratin's blows, the one wielding the staff retreats in a puff of smoke. Jarmangle makes several attacks against the she-beetle Klikslyth, but many of his blows do not land or cannot pierce the beetle's tough hide. Feer and Robyn have slightly more luck, and soften the beetle up enough that Jarmangle is able to put out one of its eyes. The beetle is enraged but retreats, leaving our heroes to lick their wounds and investigate the destroyed wagon.
Amazingly, none of the passengers have sustained lasting injury. Room is made in the beer wagon, and they press on-- mindful to give the direction the beetle was headed a wide berth.
The "massacre"
As afternoon gives way to evening, our heroes come across the ruins of three wagons-- the handiwork of gnolls, if the giant turtle-tracks and gnollish markings are to be believed. Aratin, however, reads gnollish and reports that the markings are gibberish; not the work of gnolls, but the work of those seeking to blame them.
Searching one of the wagons alone, Robyn discovers some pieces of familiar-looking egg-shell. It's the same sort of mysterious egg that Jarmangle found in Firepalm. Robyn realizes what sort of creature lies within, and grabs an item necessary to train it. She does not tell Jarmangle this, thinking perhaps he will part with the egg in lieu of paying his monetary debt to her. In the same wagon, she finds an Owlbear Trap, which she gives to Tralamin-- who is eager to capture such a beast, so as to replace the rug he had cloaked himself in but had fallen into a miles-deep pit below the Tomb of Gnollish Kings.
The storm
Carefully examining the environment, Feer realizes that a sand-storm is brewing, and will soon be upon them. The group brings the ruined wagons closer together and herds the horses within. All of them-- the four adventurers, the outlaw, and the six prostitutes-- hold up in the beer wagon. Before the night and the storm come, Jarmangle borrows Tralamin's trap, setting it up outside the wagon as a precautionary measure.
The storm beats against the wagon, threatening to topple it, but it proves steadfast even when filled over capacity. What follows is a long night of drinking and debauchery, with Aratin and Tralamin both availing themselves of multiple prostitutes. Jarmangle, for all his bluster, does not indulge in that particular appetite.
Come the morning (and the hangovers), the group makes a horrific discovery; the sand-storm blew the owlbear trap through the air and into the face of Robyn's horse. Robyn is clearly not pleased, and is even less pleased when Tralamin asks Jarmangle to skin the horse so that he might wear it as he had the owlbear rug. Loathe to let the rest of the horse go to waste, Jarmangle cooks the meat, and the party-- except for Robyn-- consumes it. Now in addition to repaying his monetary debt, Robyn tells Jarmangle that he owes her a new and better steed. She'd be willing to forgive the debt, of course, if he would give her his egg. He refuses.
Fighting with a hangover
Their bickering is cut short by the sudden appearance of a group of human bandits. It turns out that the "massacre" site not only wasn't done by gnolls, but wasn't a massacre at all. Instead, it's a trap meant to lure the curious and altruistic so that these bandits might relieve them of their gold, goods, and lives.
Before they can do so, however, they are killed-- by cloth-men, demanding again that Aratin surrender the stone. Again, they focus their attacks almost exclusively on Aratin, making it relatively easy for the others to pick them off. When all of the cloth-men have been killed, reduced to harmless piles of rags (which Tralamin gathers up, insisting that he will make use of it), the group questions Aratin about these cloth creatures.
Aratin admits that he knows the stone they're after, and that he stole it, but that he doesn't have it on him any longer. He even offers to let the others search him. Tralamin performs a thorough search of Aratin's body but does not find the stone.
Friend to the gnolls
A gnollish huntress comes upon the group and believes that they have killed the human bandits that had defiled her culture to lay their trap. The group does nothing to correct this assumption, and Feer accepts the gnollish longbow that is offered as a token of thanks. "By this bow, you will be recognized as a friend to the gnolls."
Part II
Justice
Towards the end of their second day, our adventurers find themselves in the city of Justice. This walled city is shaped like an "X" and populated by seemingly upstanding, if self-righteous, folks. At the center of the town is a prominent and well-used gallows. They relieve Aratin of his weapons and begin looking for the sherriff. But before he is to be turned in, Aratin excuses himself to heed the call of nature.
Tralamin finds a pub and immediately begins negotiating with its owner with regards to the stocking of Hodam's beer. The pubmaster tries to haggle, even making thinly-vieled attempts to intimidate them, but the group gets him to agree to a fair price. The pubmaster goes inside and returns with a sack full of coin in exchange for exclusive rights to stock Hodam beer in Justice.
As he and his men get to work unloading the wagon, the quartet head to the necessary to check up on Aratin. They find him attempting to crawl out of a window. They prevent him from doing so.
He explains that he hasn't been completely honest with the group. Too many of his fellow outlaws had met their end in Justice, and he wanted a little vengeance. And he had had that stone the Cult of Cloth was after; he had ingested it, not knowing that it served as a sort of homing beacon, calling to them. Now that he was in Justice, he had passed the stone through his bowels. Soon, the Cult of Cloth would be here in full force-- an army of single-minded animates possessing untold destructive power. Aratin would have his revenge on Justice.
The heroes briefly consider coming to the city's defense, but then Robyn discovers that the gold they have been given is fake. The heroes rush to confront the pubmaster, who has unloaded half the wagon. It is about to come to fisticuffs when they see the swarms of cloth on the horizon. They leave the unloaded beer with the pubmaster, pack up the rest of their wares, and flee the town, running over one of the cloth acolytes.
Once they're a safe distance, they watch the carnage as the sun sets over Justice. Aratin bids them farewell, and they head back towards Hodam.
Tralamin, taking the advice of the madam Melany, decides it might be advantageous to open trade with other settlements and allow them access to Hodam's famous brew. The arrival of the outlaw Aratin provides an opportunity to do so; claiming to have repented his evil ways, he seeks safe passage to the city of Justice so that he might stand trial for his crimes, and likely be hanged. Enticed by the hefty reward and the possibility of opening trade, Tralamin gathers his friends Feer, Jarmangle, and Robyn. (The wizard Irving is nowhere to be found, or, perhaps, does not desire to be found, given his disagreements with their somewhat lax morals.)
Preparing for the journey
Tralamin puts Melany in charge of the brewery in his absence; Feer and Jarmangle, perhaps unwisely, appoint the developmentally-disabled dwarf Darface as a deputy. Jarmangle suggests that they not only take Aratin and their famous potable to Justice, but also the six best of Hodam's whores. Feer and Jarmangle commandeer two large wagons, one for each of their industries, as well as enough food for the four days journey round-trip. To pull the wagons, they hit up the stables. Inventing a fictitious law about horse-breeding, they threaten the stablemaster until he has surrendered all of his horses. Thus prepared, they head off to Justice.
Cult of the Cloth
As they ride across the dry, barren earth, two bizarre figures begin trailing them on foot. They are shaped vaguely like men, but are covered completely with rags and patches that have been clumsily stitched together. They have no eyes, no mouth-- just vague silhouettes made of cloth. Tralamin and Jarmangle, riding behind the wagons, take note of them, but say nothing, as they're moving much faster than the cloth-men, who are unlikely to catch up.
At least, until a giant beetle appears in front of the wagons. From the scars it carries, Feer and Robyn identify it as the same mother beetle they fought weeks before. Then, they had driven it away from the ailing civilized gnoll. It, too, recognizes them as the creatures that had butchered its two offspring. Enraged, the beetle begins to attack.
The group tries to maneuver around it, but has no luck. As the beetle attacks at the front, the two cloth-men quickly bring up the rear. One wields a powerful wizard's staff, and a bolt of electric power strikes the wagon containing Aratin and the prostitutes he was entertaining himself with. The wagon turns over and the cloth-men close in.
It's soon apparent why, as all of their attacks and movements seem focused on Aratin the moment he leaps from the wreckage. With their mouthless voices, they demand in unison that he surrender "the stone!"
The battle is tense but light on casualties; when one of the cloth-men falls to Tralamin's magicks and Aratin's blows, the one wielding the staff retreats in a puff of smoke. Jarmangle makes several attacks against the she-beetle Klikslyth, but many of his blows do not land or cannot pierce the beetle's tough hide. Feer and Robyn have slightly more luck, and soften the beetle up enough that Jarmangle is able to put out one of its eyes. The beetle is enraged but retreats, leaving our heroes to lick their wounds and investigate the destroyed wagon.
Amazingly, none of the passengers have sustained lasting injury. Room is made in the beer wagon, and they press on-- mindful to give the direction the beetle was headed a wide berth.
The "massacre"
As afternoon gives way to evening, our heroes come across the ruins of three wagons-- the handiwork of gnolls, if the giant turtle-tracks and gnollish markings are to be believed. Aratin, however, reads gnollish and reports that the markings are gibberish; not the work of gnolls, but the work of those seeking to blame them.
Searching one of the wagons alone, Robyn discovers some pieces of familiar-looking egg-shell. It's the same sort of mysterious egg that Jarmangle found in Firepalm. Robyn realizes what sort of creature lies within, and grabs an item necessary to train it. She does not tell Jarmangle this, thinking perhaps he will part with the egg in lieu of paying his monetary debt to her. In the same wagon, she finds an Owlbear Trap, which she gives to Tralamin-- who is eager to capture such a beast, so as to replace the rug he had cloaked himself in but had fallen into a miles-deep pit below the Tomb of Gnollish Kings.
The storm
Carefully examining the environment, Feer realizes that a sand-storm is brewing, and will soon be upon them. The group brings the ruined wagons closer together and herds the horses within. All of them-- the four adventurers, the outlaw, and the six prostitutes-- hold up in the beer wagon. Before the night and the storm come, Jarmangle borrows Tralamin's trap, setting it up outside the wagon as a precautionary measure.
The storm beats against the wagon, threatening to topple it, but it proves steadfast even when filled over capacity. What follows is a long night of drinking and debauchery, with Aratin and Tralamin both availing themselves of multiple prostitutes. Jarmangle, for all his bluster, does not indulge in that particular appetite.
Come the morning (and the hangovers), the group makes a horrific discovery; the sand-storm blew the owlbear trap through the air and into the face of Robyn's horse. Robyn is clearly not pleased, and is even less pleased when Tralamin asks Jarmangle to skin the horse so that he might wear it as he had the owlbear rug. Loathe to let the rest of the horse go to waste, Jarmangle cooks the meat, and the party-- except for Robyn-- consumes it. Now in addition to repaying his monetary debt, Robyn tells Jarmangle that he owes her a new and better steed. She'd be willing to forgive the debt, of course, if he would give her his egg. He refuses.
Fighting with a hangover
Their bickering is cut short by the sudden appearance of a group of human bandits. It turns out that the "massacre" site not only wasn't done by gnolls, but wasn't a massacre at all. Instead, it's a trap meant to lure the curious and altruistic so that these bandits might relieve them of their gold, goods, and lives.
Before they can do so, however, they are killed-- by cloth-men, demanding again that Aratin surrender the stone. Again, they focus their attacks almost exclusively on Aratin, making it relatively easy for the others to pick them off. When all of the cloth-men have been killed, reduced to harmless piles of rags (which Tralamin gathers up, insisting that he will make use of it), the group questions Aratin about these cloth creatures.
Aratin admits that he knows the stone they're after, and that he stole it, but that he doesn't have it on him any longer. He even offers to let the others search him. Tralamin performs a thorough search of Aratin's body but does not find the stone.
Friend to the gnolls
A gnollish huntress comes upon the group and believes that they have killed the human bandits that had defiled her culture to lay their trap. The group does nothing to correct this assumption, and Feer accepts the gnollish longbow that is offered as a token of thanks. "By this bow, you will be recognized as a friend to the gnolls."
Part II
Justice
Towards the end of their second day, our adventurers find themselves in the city of Justice. This walled city is shaped like an "X" and populated by seemingly upstanding, if self-righteous, folks. At the center of the town is a prominent and well-used gallows. They relieve Aratin of his weapons and begin looking for the sherriff. But before he is to be turned in, Aratin excuses himself to heed the call of nature.
Tralamin finds a pub and immediately begins negotiating with its owner with regards to the stocking of Hodam's beer. The pubmaster tries to haggle, even making thinly-vieled attempts to intimidate them, but the group gets him to agree to a fair price. The pubmaster goes inside and returns with a sack full of coin in exchange for exclusive rights to stock Hodam beer in Justice.
As he and his men get to work unloading the wagon, the quartet head to the necessary to check up on Aratin. They find him attempting to crawl out of a window. They prevent him from doing so.
He explains that he hasn't been completely honest with the group. Too many of his fellow outlaws had met their end in Justice, and he wanted a little vengeance. And he had had that stone the Cult of Cloth was after; he had ingested it, not knowing that it served as a sort of homing beacon, calling to them. Now that he was in Justice, he had passed the stone through his bowels. Soon, the Cult of Cloth would be here in full force-- an army of single-minded animates possessing untold destructive power. Aratin would have his revenge on Justice.
The heroes briefly consider coming to the city's defense, but then Robyn discovers that the gold they have been given is fake. The heroes rush to confront the pubmaster, who has unloaded half the wagon. It is about to come to fisticuffs when they see the swarms of cloth on the horizon. They leave the unloaded beer with the pubmaster, pack up the rest of their wares, and flee the town, running over one of the cloth acolytes.
Once they're a safe distance, they watch the carnage as the sun sets over Justice. Aratin bids them farewell, and they head back towards Hodam.
9.12.2010
3. The Terror That Came to Hodam
En route to Hodam, the five adventurers who braved the Tomb of the Holy Gnollish Kings-- Filliam, Tralamin, Jarmangle, Robyn, and Feer-- meet up with their friend, the human wizard Irving. While the quintet had tried but failed to save the life of the mysterious civilized gnoll, Irving was far more successful in tracking down Kylia and retrieving the gold she had stolen from the others. Thus reunited, the six heroes press on towards "the wretched cesspool of Hodam", renown for its drinking, gambling, violence, and whores.
But as they approach the once-bustling frontier town, they meet a red-nosed dwarf with a sad story to tell: temperance has come to Hodam. The Distaff Temperance Society-- a group of moralistic widows and spinsters-- has won the brewery in a card game and then shut it down. The prostitutes have been disappearing at an alarming rate, and the tieflings, once tolerated, are evicted without a second thought. The dwarf announces his intention to press on to Firepalm, but then decides to head to the city of Justice when Irving informs him that the Firepalm Dwarfs have been driven insane by the Firepalm Ore in their blood.
Jarmangle, with the help of the others, covers up his red tiefling skin and horns with a mask and some toweling. Thus disguised, they head into the town.
The People of Hodam
Our heroes soon make the acquaintance of Danald, formerly the owner of the brewery. It was his disapproving aunt, Matilda, who founded the Distaff Temperance Society. Ironically, she passed away just before the Society finally wrenched the brewery from him in a game with a card-shark called Lord Jasen. The legitimate gambling has been shut down, but a secret game is still held by the Society, which they use to keep the city in a perpetual state of poverty-- and thus ensuring that no one can question their power.
It seems a little silly to our heroes-- in a lawless town like Hodam, why doesn't someone just take the brewery back by force? But the residents are hesitant, says Danald; the Society is a bunch of old ladies, after all, and even the worst of scoundrels has to draw the line somewhere. Something might happen soon, though, if things don't get better.
They meet one of the society matrons and her gnollish slave. She sees nothing wrong with the Society's "good works", proclaiming that "pure blood is healthy blood"; she's convinced that the town's economy will bounce back, that somehow, there will be honest and civilized work to be found in this wilderness. Her slave seethes not-too-secretly with rage. Across the street from the brewery is what he refers to as sacred ground-- a scene of a great battle between a gnollish prince and a great evil. The evil's body was interred in the ground, turning the large mound of dirt and rock blood-red; the evil's spirit was sucked into the prince's blade.
And what were the humans of Hodam using the Blood Circle for? For boxing matches to the death, and other debaucheries. The humans, he says, are always meddling in things they can't even begin to understand.
Across the street, they see a procession of Society members running a female tiefling out of town. Jarmangle recognizes it as the tiefling with whom he flirted and crossed swords with at the burial site of the Gnollish Holy Dead. The disguised Jarmangle leaves the group, following the procession.
The group, meanwhile, meets a former prostitute, Melany, who is concerned about the disappearance of the other girls. An atypical whore, Melany is well-read and seems well-versed in economics, proceeding to lecture our heroes about the dangers of basing an economy around ale, sex, and gambling.
Tyne's challenge
Jarmangle catches up to the procession and convinces the Society matrons to let him escort "this filthy tiefling" out of town, as she might be dangerous. The Society is duly charmed by this masked stranger and gives custody of the tiefling, Tyne, over to him.
Once on the outskirts of town, Tyne recognizes Jarmangle, who flirts with her incessantly. Tyne is not impressed, but doesn't give him the cold shoulder, either.
Tyne explains that when the tieflings were booted out of town, she was permitted to remain, so long as she performed missions for Lord Jasen. One of those missions-- the most important-- was to retrieve the sword of the Gnollish King of War, the very sword that was now in Jarmangle's possession. Because she failed, she was now persona non grata.
Jarmangle seems exquisitely single-minded, hand-waving all that off as he makes yet another lame pass at his fellow tiefling. Tyne hints that she might be amenable to his advances if he can get revenge for her and kill Lord Jasen. Without missing a beat, Jarmangle agrees and asks where he can find Jasen; Tyne doesn't know. Somewhere in town. He only comes out during the secret card game, and only when the house is losing. Tyne leaves, and Jarmangle rushes off to rejoin the others.
Finding the card game
Jarmangle suggests that they enter the card game, win back the brewery, and then kill Lord Jasen. Irving is all well-and-good with the first two, but blanches at the last: just kill him, without provocation?
In trying to find the card game, they make the mistake of approaching a priggish Eladrin called Ofscar. Jarmangle casually insults him by referring to him as an "elf"; Ofscar challenges him to a duel by slapping him with his glove. Jarmangle, in turn, steals the glove, further inciting Ofscar, who now threatens to "turn them in" for attempting to find the card game.
The elven bard Robyn, perhaps a little tired of this flighty Eladrin, knocks him over and steals his coin pouch, containing some 500 gold coins. Irving is shocked at the behaviour of his traveling companions but says nothing about it.
Jarmangle is about to temporarily paralyze Ofscar with some magical stones he acquired from Tyne, but Tralamin has a better idea. He helps his fellow Eladrin off the dusty earth, and ascertains that Ofscar shares his thirst for knowledge and awareness. Tralamin gives Ofscar a powerful ritual scroll that's intended to impart absolute knowledge of one topic. Said scroll will leave him in a trance for hours; if the question is too cosmic for his brain to comprehend, he might be driven insane. Tralamin, of course, doesn't tell him that, but instead advises him to ask the biggest question he can.
Irving, again, is quite appalled when he learns the true possible consequences of Tralamin's actions. And while Robyn is now considerably richer, they've no clue as to how to get in on the card game.
That's when they meet Darface, a dwarf suffering from severe developmental disabilities. Darface, it turns out, knows exactly how to get into the game-- which building to go into, what words to say, and what the answer will mean. Others might dismiss him as a simpleton, but Irving listens intently to his words and deciphers their meaning.
The Pawn Shop
Before they take part in the game, however, they decide to stop at the pawn shop just outside of town, where Jarmangle hopes to replace his grappling hook, among other things. The pawnbroker is pleased to see them; everyone's been selling/pawning these days, but no one's been buying because no one has had money. In bartering with the pawnbroker, Jarmangle offers him one of the paralyzing stones, inadvertently encasing the broker in a statue-like layer of rock. With some chiding from Irving, Jarmangle gives the unaware broker the rest of the promised payment.
Lord Jasen
The game our six heroes enter isn't really about the cards, but about bluffing. Through their combined efforts, they quickly drive the dealer to bankruptcy. That's when the Society summons Lord Jasen.
Jasen is a very sickly but elegant looking human who ups the ante aggressively and seems particularly focused on the disguised Jarmangle, making veiled references to something in his possession. Jasen's fabled luck, however, seems to have run out, as Filliam and Tralamin are surprisingly adept at the game. In a desperate gamble, Jasen puts the brewery on the table, hoping to chide Jarmangle into gambling the sword. Instead, Jarmangle folds.
So focused was Jasen on Jarmangle, however, that he quite forgot Tralamin, who wins the brewery and a sizable amount of gold. Enraged, Jasen grabs Robyn and demands that both the brewery deed and the gnollish sword be "returned" to him.
"Or else," he says, curling back his lip to reveal his sharp canines, "I'll open her pretty throat!"
Part II
The Vampire and the Daywalker
Lord Jasen is a vampire-- even when looking quite ill, he's still more than a match for our fledgling heroes. He has, however, overplayed his hand; the Society members are horrified to discover that the handsome gentlemen is a member of the undead. His support in Hodam is gone, and he knows he'll be hunted down by its enraged citizens. Jasen, terrified, bites Robyn-- draining her dry in but a few scant moments-- and turns to mist, escaping into the night.
Using the Peacebringer mace that she took from the Gnollish Queen of Peace, Feer saves Robyn from the brink of death. She is, however, still feverish and unconscious. Tyne appears and leads the group to one of the whorehouses where they can hold up for the night.
As they watch over the ailing Robyn, they begin to piece things together. Jarmangle is incensed that Tyne put them up against a vampire, but she claims that she had no idea of his true nature. That must be why he wanted to get rid of all the tieflings, though, she says; there's a legend that the oldest vampires couldn't handle the "impure" blood of tieflings. Remember the slogan of the Society-- "pure blood is healthy blood"-- they realize that perhaps the same could be said of blood containing high amounts of alcohol. Perhaps Jasen tried to feed on someone with such an elevated level of alcohol and the resulting toxic shock is what resulted in his current haggard and sickly appearance. Irving realizes that in order to be one of those oldest of vampires, Jasen must be the ancient evil that the gnollish slave spoke of, and that the sword Jarmangle holds must contain Jasen's spirit and power.
Come the morning, Tyne has left and Robyn awakes but discovers that she has changed; the interaction of the vampire's bite and the holy Peacebringer mace has transformed her into a living "half-vampire" daywalker, a dhampyr.
The Fearless Vampire Killers
When the six adventurers walk out onto the street, they find it a scene of drunken debauchery. The entire town, realizing that Jasen is a vampire and, like the visiting heroes, realizing that the alcohol is toxic, decided to break into the brewery as a kind of protection. The group considers leaving things be, but Irving convinces them that slaying the vampire is the best course of action. Jarmangle agrees, and all six down a frosty one before setting to work trying to find Jasen's lair.
It doesn't prove a difficult task; the Hodam graveyard, colourfully called the Corpse-dump, has caved in, revealing a tunnel leading towards the Blood Circle. Our heroes venture into the tunnel before coming face to face with a magical sentry. This Eye of Alarm guards the entrance to Jasen's lair.
Irving creates an illusion of mist, making it easier for Jarmangle to sneak to the door, unnoticed. Jarmangle takes note of a host of undead horrors: former whores turned into vampire spawn, animated skeletons, the rotting corpses of two large dogs, and a wight dressed in the garb of a Society member. And then, at the far end of the chamber, there sits the accursed coffin.
Desiring to catch the undead by surprise, the six rack their brains for a way to thwart the Eye of Alarm. Filliam suggests that Irving create an illusion, a sort of miniature magical "drawing" of the tunnel that can be conjured directly in front of the eye. Irving does so, and it works!
Aunt Matilda, the Deathlock Wight
The battle that follows is fierce and hard-fought; Irving and Jarmangle both come close to death's door. But through valiant effort, cunning strategy, and the powerful fireball magic at Irving's disposal, the living proves victorious. Once Matilda-- the now-undead founder of the Distaff Temperance Society-- falls, the other undead crumble to useless dust.
Tralamin creates a wooden stake from his quarter-staff; Feer opens the coffin with a mighty pull; Robyn drives the stake directly into the groggy vampire's heart. Carefully, our heroes take the dazed, pathetic vampire out of its coffin and carry its corpse up the tunnel. Exposing it to sunlight causes it to burst into flames. Even as they watch it burn, they all know that if they should meet a vampire lord again, they will not achieve victory quite so easily.
Denouement
Filliam, now a much richer man, bids his friends good-bye so that he might return to the wondrous house where they tried to save the mysterious civilized gnoll. The remaining five elect to stay in Hodam for the time being, with Tralamin especially pleased to be the new owner of its brewery.
But as they approach the once-bustling frontier town, they meet a red-nosed dwarf with a sad story to tell: temperance has come to Hodam. The Distaff Temperance Society-- a group of moralistic widows and spinsters-- has won the brewery in a card game and then shut it down. The prostitutes have been disappearing at an alarming rate, and the tieflings, once tolerated, are evicted without a second thought. The dwarf announces his intention to press on to Firepalm, but then decides to head to the city of Justice when Irving informs him that the Firepalm Dwarfs have been driven insane by the Firepalm Ore in their blood.
Jarmangle, with the help of the others, covers up his red tiefling skin and horns with a mask and some toweling. Thus disguised, they head into the town.
The People of Hodam
Our heroes soon make the acquaintance of Danald, formerly the owner of the brewery. It was his disapproving aunt, Matilda, who founded the Distaff Temperance Society. Ironically, she passed away just before the Society finally wrenched the brewery from him in a game with a card-shark called Lord Jasen. The legitimate gambling has been shut down, but a secret game is still held by the Society, which they use to keep the city in a perpetual state of poverty-- and thus ensuring that no one can question their power.
It seems a little silly to our heroes-- in a lawless town like Hodam, why doesn't someone just take the brewery back by force? But the residents are hesitant, says Danald; the Society is a bunch of old ladies, after all, and even the worst of scoundrels has to draw the line somewhere. Something might happen soon, though, if things don't get better.
They meet one of the society matrons and her gnollish slave. She sees nothing wrong with the Society's "good works", proclaiming that "pure blood is healthy blood"; she's convinced that the town's economy will bounce back, that somehow, there will be honest and civilized work to be found in this wilderness. Her slave seethes not-too-secretly with rage. Across the street from the brewery is what he refers to as sacred ground-- a scene of a great battle between a gnollish prince and a great evil. The evil's body was interred in the ground, turning the large mound of dirt and rock blood-red; the evil's spirit was sucked into the prince's blade.
And what were the humans of Hodam using the Blood Circle for? For boxing matches to the death, and other debaucheries. The humans, he says, are always meddling in things they can't even begin to understand.
Across the street, they see a procession of Society members running a female tiefling out of town. Jarmangle recognizes it as the tiefling with whom he flirted and crossed swords with at the burial site of the Gnollish Holy Dead. The disguised Jarmangle leaves the group, following the procession.
The group, meanwhile, meets a former prostitute, Melany, who is concerned about the disappearance of the other girls. An atypical whore, Melany is well-read and seems well-versed in economics, proceeding to lecture our heroes about the dangers of basing an economy around ale, sex, and gambling.
Tyne's challenge
Jarmangle catches up to the procession and convinces the Society matrons to let him escort "this filthy tiefling" out of town, as she might be dangerous. The Society is duly charmed by this masked stranger and gives custody of the tiefling, Tyne, over to him.
Once on the outskirts of town, Tyne recognizes Jarmangle, who flirts with her incessantly. Tyne is not impressed, but doesn't give him the cold shoulder, either.
Tyne explains that when the tieflings were booted out of town, she was permitted to remain, so long as she performed missions for Lord Jasen. One of those missions-- the most important-- was to retrieve the sword of the Gnollish King of War, the very sword that was now in Jarmangle's possession. Because she failed, she was now persona non grata.
Jarmangle seems exquisitely single-minded, hand-waving all that off as he makes yet another lame pass at his fellow tiefling. Tyne hints that she might be amenable to his advances if he can get revenge for her and kill Lord Jasen. Without missing a beat, Jarmangle agrees and asks where he can find Jasen; Tyne doesn't know. Somewhere in town. He only comes out during the secret card game, and only when the house is losing. Tyne leaves, and Jarmangle rushes off to rejoin the others.
Finding the card game
Jarmangle suggests that they enter the card game, win back the brewery, and then kill Lord Jasen. Irving is all well-and-good with the first two, but blanches at the last: just kill him, without provocation?
In trying to find the card game, they make the mistake of approaching a priggish Eladrin called Ofscar. Jarmangle casually insults him by referring to him as an "elf"; Ofscar challenges him to a duel by slapping him with his glove. Jarmangle, in turn, steals the glove, further inciting Ofscar, who now threatens to "turn them in" for attempting to find the card game.
The elven bard Robyn, perhaps a little tired of this flighty Eladrin, knocks him over and steals his coin pouch, containing some 500 gold coins. Irving is shocked at the behaviour of his traveling companions but says nothing about it.
Jarmangle is about to temporarily paralyze Ofscar with some magical stones he acquired from Tyne, but Tralamin has a better idea. He helps his fellow Eladrin off the dusty earth, and ascertains that Ofscar shares his thirst for knowledge and awareness. Tralamin gives Ofscar a powerful ritual scroll that's intended to impart absolute knowledge of one topic. Said scroll will leave him in a trance for hours; if the question is too cosmic for his brain to comprehend, he might be driven insane. Tralamin, of course, doesn't tell him that, but instead advises him to ask the biggest question he can.
Irving, again, is quite appalled when he learns the true possible consequences of Tralamin's actions. And while Robyn is now considerably richer, they've no clue as to how to get in on the card game.
That's when they meet Darface, a dwarf suffering from severe developmental disabilities. Darface, it turns out, knows exactly how to get into the game-- which building to go into, what words to say, and what the answer will mean. Others might dismiss him as a simpleton, but Irving listens intently to his words and deciphers their meaning.
The Pawn Shop
Before they take part in the game, however, they decide to stop at the pawn shop just outside of town, where Jarmangle hopes to replace his grappling hook, among other things. The pawnbroker is pleased to see them; everyone's been selling/pawning these days, but no one's been buying because no one has had money. In bartering with the pawnbroker, Jarmangle offers him one of the paralyzing stones, inadvertently encasing the broker in a statue-like layer of rock. With some chiding from Irving, Jarmangle gives the unaware broker the rest of the promised payment.
Lord Jasen
The game our six heroes enter isn't really about the cards, but about bluffing. Through their combined efforts, they quickly drive the dealer to bankruptcy. That's when the Society summons Lord Jasen.
Jasen is a very sickly but elegant looking human who ups the ante aggressively and seems particularly focused on the disguised Jarmangle, making veiled references to something in his possession. Jasen's fabled luck, however, seems to have run out, as Filliam and Tralamin are surprisingly adept at the game. In a desperate gamble, Jasen puts the brewery on the table, hoping to chide Jarmangle into gambling the sword. Instead, Jarmangle folds.
So focused was Jasen on Jarmangle, however, that he quite forgot Tralamin, who wins the brewery and a sizable amount of gold. Enraged, Jasen grabs Robyn and demands that both the brewery deed and the gnollish sword be "returned" to him.
"Or else," he says, curling back his lip to reveal his sharp canines, "I'll open her pretty throat!"
Part II
The Vampire and the Daywalker
Lord Jasen is a vampire-- even when looking quite ill, he's still more than a match for our fledgling heroes. He has, however, overplayed his hand; the Society members are horrified to discover that the handsome gentlemen is a member of the undead. His support in Hodam is gone, and he knows he'll be hunted down by its enraged citizens. Jasen, terrified, bites Robyn-- draining her dry in but a few scant moments-- and turns to mist, escaping into the night.
Using the Peacebringer mace that she took from the Gnollish Queen of Peace, Feer saves Robyn from the brink of death. She is, however, still feverish and unconscious. Tyne appears and leads the group to one of the whorehouses where they can hold up for the night.
As they watch over the ailing Robyn, they begin to piece things together. Jarmangle is incensed that Tyne put them up against a vampire, but she claims that she had no idea of his true nature. That must be why he wanted to get rid of all the tieflings, though, she says; there's a legend that the oldest vampires couldn't handle the "impure" blood of tieflings. Remember the slogan of the Society-- "pure blood is healthy blood"-- they realize that perhaps the same could be said of blood containing high amounts of alcohol. Perhaps Jasen tried to feed on someone with such an elevated level of alcohol and the resulting toxic shock is what resulted in his current haggard and sickly appearance. Irving realizes that in order to be one of those oldest of vampires, Jasen must be the ancient evil that the gnollish slave spoke of, and that the sword Jarmangle holds must contain Jasen's spirit and power.
Come the morning, Tyne has left and Robyn awakes but discovers that she has changed; the interaction of the vampire's bite and the holy Peacebringer mace has transformed her into a living "half-vampire" daywalker, a dhampyr.
The Fearless Vampire Killers
When the six adventurers walk out onto the street, they find it a scene of drunken debauchery. The entire town, realizing that Jasen is a vampire and, like the visiting heroes, realizing that the alcohol is toxic, decided to break into the brewery as a kind of protection. The group considers leaving things be, but Irving convinces them that slaying the vampire is the best course of action. Jarmangle agrees, and all six down a frosty one before setting to work trying to find Jasen's lair.
It doesn't prove a difficult task; the Hodam graveyard, colourfully called the Corpse-dump, has caved in, revealing a tunnel leading towards the Blood Circle. Our heroes venture into the tunnel before coming face to face with a magical sentry. This Eye of Alarm guards the entrance to Jasen's lair.
Irving creates an illusion of mist, making it easier for Jarmangle to sneak to the door, unnoticed. Jarmangle takes note of a host of undead horrors: former whores turned into vampire spawn, animated skeletons, the rotting corpses of two large dogs, and a wight dressed in the garb of a Society member. And then, at the far end of the chamber, there sits the accursed coffin.
Desiring to catch the undead by surprise, the six rack their brains for a way to thwart the Eye of Alarm. Filliam suggests that Irving create an illusion, a sort of miniature magical "drawing" of the tunnel that can be conjured directly in front of the eye. Irving does so, and it works!
Aunt Matilda, the Deathlock Wight
The battle that follows is fierce and hard-fought; Irving and Jarmangle both come close to death's door. But through valiant effort, cunning strategy, and the powerful fireball magic at Irving's disposal, the living proves victorious. Once Matilda-- the now-undead founder of the Distaff Temperance Society-- falls, the other undead crumble to useless dust.
Tralamin creates a wooden stake from his quarter-staff; Feer opens the coffin with a mighty pull; Robyn drives the stake directly into the groggy vampire's heart. Carefully, our heroes take the dazed, pathetic vampire out of its coffin and carry its corpse up the tunnel. Exposing it to sunlight causes it to burst into flames. Even as they watch it burn, they all know that if they should meet a vampire lord again, they will not achieve victory quite so easily.
Denouement
Filliam, now a much richer man, bids his friends good-bye so that he might return to the wondrous house where they tried to save the mysterious civilized gnoll. The remaining five elect to stay in Hodam for the time being, with Tralamin especially pleased to be the new owner of its brewery.
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