Copper Sands and Broken Dice

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Summary

Adventure: Copper Sands and Broken Dice
GM: Jono Bean
Session: Winter 814
Night: Starting Wednesday the 11th of June starting at 6:30pm
Location The Quadrant, 12 Waterloo Quadrant, Auckland CBD
Level: Low -- Medium.
Information: Information from players for Jono.
House Rules: Quickness & Slowness, No 'B' Colleges please

The Party:

• Quincey Honeymead of Finger Bottom, Earthmage Assassin, Halfling - played by Brett
• Leif Valguard, Celestial Thief - played by Tim
• Aleeza Tas’ad, Wicca Herbalist, Elf - played by Paul
• Ragna, Priestess of Hel Healer - played by Kelsie
• Billy Rubin, Mindmage, Dwarf - played by Craig
• Algernon, E&E Thief - played by Ian Wood

Employer & others

An Elven Ranger named Silver Wind, who has been watching the stars of the night sky, wishes to employ an Elf, a Hobbit, a Human with blood in the Northlands, a Gythja of Hel and a Dwarf.

He understands that some creature is at risk of returning from the Gatar Depression and wants to talk to the group of adventurers he has seen in the night sky.

Payment:

He has secured payment in the form of favors to the value of 30 Arcane Points each from the court of the Duke of Carzala with the Mages of Freetoun.

Scribe Notes

Session 1

Prologue

Quincey, Leif, Aleeza and Ragna have been working for a guy for the last few months. Turns out he was running a scam and was picked up by Baron Balrain, a cattleman who holds Gugnir's Hope. The Baron hanged him, and we are now on his wanted list. On the upside the adventurers "inherited" a decent amount of the dead boss' takings.

Briefing

We meet with Silver Wind, who work for the Duke.

The Duke's children having been having nightmare involving guild members so needs us to be redeemed. If we do some jobs for the Duke, they will quell the investigations and quash rumours.

He wants to arrange codenames and a "drop", but we don't bother.

Job No. 1 At Gugnir's Hope, west of Seagate there have been unspecified problems with the ruins under the town. The sheriff, who is definitely the Baron's man, seems to be "not investigating". We should check it out, without raising any alarm, and report back.

The town was built on the ruins of a Dwarven settlement. It can be seen well over six miles away, because of the large stone 
walls. The inside of the walls are about 30 feet high above street level, and the outside of the walls are well over 70 feet 
high. The town has outgrown the walls with buildings spilling out on the southwestern side of town. It is common knowledge 
that there are old tunnels running under the town. Most of the outflows from the tunnels have iron bars on them. The local 
merchants have run Hobbits out of town based on their race.

He gives us four rank 6 Waters of Healing

Job No. 3 Far south on the edge of the Gatar Depression there is movement of sand creatures trying to animate a long dead whale to fly out to sea.

I have a feeling about bloodmagic in that area.

To work

Since there is a price on our heads where we are going we plan out a route avoiding the main roads and towns where we have had trouble - via trails to Daggergrove, Goodblood, to the main road, then to Moncks Corner, tails to Whitecros, Redtree to Gugnir's Hope.

Someone arranges Chicken Mules (Q has one of his own). We get Greaters at the bargain price, sponsored by an amazing creature called Sabrina.

As we have a witch and a dark celestial, and want to avoid eyes, we decide to travel at night. As we step outside the guild there is and old woman there, with a cooking fire and a cage full of bunnies.

She reads the entrails of a bunny for Aleeza for 2sp and gives her the rabbits foot. "Something dark is coming for you".

She recognises Q, was there at his birth or something and they talk about his home and family. She gives him 3 amulets, of woven grass, from her basket. They protect the home (or where you sleep) from bad dreams and harm; from the venom of biting creatures and allows the breathing of air that is only suitable for the dead. She gives one of the former to Leif. They have the side effect of causing itching sometimes.

She tells us about an orc and a human, with a black crow, who were asking after Quincey, at the Hinsted lace on the Venture road.

Quincey should talk to his Aunt, the one that nobody mentions, she has a secret from the time that he was born. She also says something to him about wolves.

We have some stew which "enhances the ability to see strange things". We have some bread that restores fatigue used in the last hour, after Quincey does us all Lessers and Strength of Stones and she lets us have two loaves which are each four pieces. He backfires and we hears a boom in the distance.

She does a reading for Leif. Ragna has been sent to stand over his fallen body. The Girl (we figure out this is Aleeza) is in need of his help this season against those who seek to end her line. Ragna will bring him back from the dead. He chooses to know the time of his death. When he is among the mules, at a near deserted village, at dusk or dawn and can see a line of crows on the roof of a wooden lodge house. When javelins strike through his chest thigh and neck.

Quincey finishes off his casting with a few more backfires.

We see a wall of rain approaching from the direction of Seagate, then two Erehleine running ahead of the rain. This is worrying to me, I don't know much about the weather in this area, so I run back into the guild, followed by the rest except for Algie, Leif and the old woman who is not allowed in.

Turns out the runners were just messengers and have a message to the guild about something stalking an elvish family, that concerns the guild, and the danger has come close.

Them out in the rain are just wet. Seems that Quincey's backfires did stormcalling

So we set off. With Chicken Mules. We travel all night and it is very cold and tiring. Just before dawn we pass Goodblood and the farm of the Ebon family, who work in woods and the the source of Witch Nails, that slow down mages if nailed into their footprints.

In the lightning flashes I see a 30ft high Wicker man, which gets closer between flashes but doesn't move while we can see it. Then skeletons erupt from the ground. The wicker man is not a valid target for Hand of Death and a mule gets it instead. The control is higher than mine so I can't control them. Aleeza decides that being alone in the barn is a good idea. Unfortunately but not unexpectedly, she is not alone. A greater undead (??) casts something nasty on her but she resists and flees back outside, where we are cutting down skellies. It comes to the exit and cast on her against, something that makes her twist and contort, unable to act and taking damage and dislocating her shoulder. She can hear a loud angry voice speaking in her head in an ancient language.

We deal to the wicker man who says "You can't protect the elf forever" and "from the master" and " knows what she has done".

Then we deal to the creature in the barn. We find an invisible dagger and a lightning gem.

Quincey tries a healing on Aleeza but backfires again and doubles her damage. She also looks like she might need a higher rank healer for the shoulder, so we might need to go back to the guild.

Session 2

We rest in the barn as we are too exhausted to walk back to the guild just yet. The area of the barn is clearly being avoided long term by the local and travellers, which is good for us, and I can detect no more undead in the area. Aleeza is feverish and hallucinating and we determine that she is transforming into undead, so we plan to rest only until noon and then set off, in good time to be back at the guild before midnight.

Some of Aleeza's hallucinations include:
Three disapproving horse-headed black crows (figure that these are the chicken mules) on with her on a column of rock. Something is being kept at bay.
Red and green scarab like beetles on the walls
A coyote that walks through walls and sinks into the floor.

Billy dreams of a chime which signals that a spectral hunter has been sent.

Mid morning the watch hears a group of about 15 humanoid footfalls. They carry on past, but Leif recognises the leader as an orc who was a rival card hustler who tried to frame us. Billy says that he saw them yesterday camped near the guild.

Afternoon we trek back to the guild. On the way we spot three gryphons flying overhead towards the guild with riders. About 8pm,arriving back at the guild, there is a market set up outside with caravans, wagons and tents.

We quick to the healers. The head healer works on Aleeza, drawing a huge amount of mana and eventually draws out a number of large black slug-like undead things. I put them in a jar (they are dead). She then proceed to the rest of her wounds while lesser healers deal with the rest of us.

About 4am we are all well and about to find comfy beds, when the guild bakers come to us for help, as the elemental powering the ovens has gotten loose. We get it back into the oven and they pay us two more loaves of mouldy magic bread, and some more waters of healing, plus some fresh bread.

About 6am we are all about to find comfy beds, when a chicken mule comes with a message that the old woman is being roughed up. Turns out that there is a big fight going on outside between a binder with an ogre and a bear bodyguard and a lot of golems, and the witch with some of the caravan guard so we join in (against the binder). We are doing alright and the binder goes into retreat with her ogre, but then a couple of incoming "Falling Stars" come down which take out everyone still standing outside. Leif is killed (despite rabbits feet), and Billy injured but Quincey rescues the old woman.

She appears to have been cursed with one wolf's foot. She gives us one ore rabbits foot and tells us that the binder is working for Quando who wants a treasure map that she has. She seems about to give us the job of finding the treasure "for her", but sees that Quincey's soul is black and changes her mind. Leif ties to pickpocket her but she bites of three of his fingers.

She tells Aleeza that if she returns after her journey to the west, still pure (ie not having killed someone that didn't deserve it) she will give her the map and teach her to make medallion out of fingers.

We get Leif resurrected, and the kitchen staff have a whip-round to replace his greater. We are also given the paws of the binder's bear which function the same as rabbits feet. We get Leif's fingers reqrown (clearly something is wrong with this timeline).

We try to rest until this evening when we will set out again.

Session 3

With the regrowing of fingers, the morning of the 4th rolls around and we are woken by a knock from guild security. The Lord of the Bats has arranged for a cloud to transport us.

We decide to land at night in a storm near Bluegrass. (two sets of scribe notes describing Bluegrass - Ath's diary & Daizy's notes). The guild has friends there and strange magical commodities are available. We will go and visit the witch, Catelin, who is grumpy and has a big ghostly wolf guardian.

Quincey buys some pre-poisoned darts, are we buff before leaving and the buffers consume hot meals that restore 14Ft for 7sp each. Leif's Strength of Stones is a backfire and alternates between +5 and +16 EN until damage is taken.

We meet the young airmage at 3pm who takes us by cloud to near Blue Grass and will come back to pick us up at dusk on the 6th.

The town is a bit run down. There is one distinctive house, a hut surrounded by hedges with a huge tree growing out of it. There are three gates in and a maze. Billy does a limited precog about us entering by the left gate and the result seems good so we choose that. We are in a misty maze and it takes us about 2 1/2 hours to get to the house.

We meet the witch Catelin, who DAs as long lived sentient but looks human. It seems that someone has cast the curse on her hedge as she is finding it very annoying. The likely culprit is a water fae illusionist in the mill pond, the Water Queen. The witch annoyed her by summoning an alligator, which was probably controlled, and waking her up. She then summoned a basalisk to deal with the alligator, and some gargoyles who took the basalisk away. The witch thinks the the hobbit, as an earth mage should be immune to basalisks. The curse can be removed as a minor curse or counterspelled by the caster, so maybe we will negotiate with her.

Catelin gives us some blue grass amulets, amulets of luck, grass voodoo dolls and healing salves. The blue grass amulets absorbs backfires but get corrupted. Billy suggests that we use them for a while, then throw them into the mill pond.

There are some cages hanging from the ceiling behind curtains which contain piglets.

When Quincey comes back inside after DAing the maze, Algernon sees a dark shadow follow him in, so we all go outside while the witch drives it out. We are reminded of rumours of shadows hunting elves.

We leave the hut. The big dog is outside and Quincey chats to it. It claims to be a person. She was Grizelda who lived across the road from the witch and the witch turned her into a dog when her dog died. The witch shoos us away from the dog. It takes us about an hour to get out of the garden.

We get to the outskirts of Gugnir's Hope at around 3am. Reminding the party that we are not to contact the authorities who have been behaving in a dodgy matter regarding the strange goings on, we begin to circumnavigate the town. We find a pond near the wall, with a stream leading away, and a landing in an opening in the wall covered by a grill. Detect undead shows 2 skeletons in the pond and some kind of greater undead in the tunnel (within 150').

Quincey and Leif climb along the wall to the landing. A ghostly hand reaches out and drains Quincey of fatigue. The *ghost*? steps through the grill. Billy takes out the ghost with a mental attack, and as it falls it makes more of a solid thunk than we would expect. A DA gives nature of magic as wraithcloak.

Leif pulls open the grill with a loud screech. We all enter the tunnel except Algie who watches over the Chicken Mules. There is a trap with a swinging club to avoid and Quincey eventually disarms it. I remove the gauntlets, which drains me, and the person is no longer wispy. We tie him up.

Three burly dogs with spiked collars come barrelling down the hallway towards us, followed by three shadowy figures. We deal with the dogs and the shadowy figures run off after being blackfired.

Algie deals with the skeletons when they come after the mules. Quincey finds the operator for the grate.

We set off to explore the tunnels. ESP tells us that there are three entities down there, off to the right, concentrating, and six others alarmed.

A little further in is a disused storeroom behind a secret opening, containing very old stored alcoholic beverages.

There is a large tunnel with a body of water and canals with ropes for pulling boats along. Some arrows come out of the dark and we resolves to go after them in canal boats with shields at the front.

Session 4

We go back to the room with the crates and booze to get wood for shields, but we hear three people in the room talking so we listen. They know we are in the tunnels and are planning to ambush us so we ambush them. We dispatch them quickly, and take their stuff.

Buffs & Mil Sci

Long Term (assumed always on)

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Dur	Qu	Le	Al	Ra	Bi	Al
Lesser (Quincey)	Rk	-1 off all percentile dice rolls	2 weeks	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Strength of Stone (Quincey)	8	+8 on stat	8 hrs	EN	EN	EN	EN	EN	EN
Witchsight (Lief)	6	See invisible, see in the dark	7 hours	N	N	N	Y	N	Y
Spell (Caster)	Rk	Effect	Duration

Short Term

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Dur	Qu	Le	Al	Ra	Bi	Al
Spell (Caster)	Rk	Effect	Duration

DAs

Quincey:

• on Leif - last magic to take effect

Leif:

• on Quincey - last magic to impact

Loot

Outgoing

550sp to fix Aleeza's undeadness

4500sp Leif resurrection

4800sp regrow Leif's fingers

600sp for Q's lesser

14sp 2 hot meals

60 gold for magical golden bread

inn at Dwarf Hold - 12 sp per person per night + 6 sp per dinner

Quentin personal

Poisoned darts

sleep x 15

paralysis x 15

all up 300sp including 10% discount for merchant

out of combat they work, in combat 4xEN save

Incoming

Guild

WoH rk 6: x4, +4+20 (-2)

WoH rk 2: x4,

bear paws: (like rabbit feet) x2

Witch outside the guild gate

Loaves of bread: 4 doses per, cure all fatigue lost in last hour, x4 (-7 doses)

Four amulets

Rabbit's feet: x2

Undead near Ebon Farm

an invisible dagger

a lightning gem

Witch (Catelin) at Bluegrass

Amulet of Bluegrass: x8, absorbs backfires, but gets corrupted

Amulet of luck: x8

Healing salves: x12, 8pt healing applied to a wound

Grass voodoo dolls: x3, as per silver set S9, target for enchantments, lesser, medium (-2) and greater

False ghost

Gauntlets

what else?

Dogs x3

??

Gwill, under Gugnir's hope

Necklace of stone gialt bollocka

Titan belt of healing

Small red river stones x3

Skeleton ball

Blackened rank armour

Several bottles

Sash of Dry Waters

Magical shield

Little girl baker

Loaves of gold bread x6

Outside gugni'rs hope

Magical trap - curse of spiders

Interim Carrying

Item	No.	Qu	Le	Al	Ra	Bi	Alg
Waters of Healing rk 6	28	5	5	5	5	4	4
Waters of Healing rk 2	4					2	2
Healing salves	12	2	2	2	2	2	2
Amulet of Bluegrass	8	2	1	1	2	1	1
Amulet of Luck	8	1	1	2	2	1	1
Bread	4	1	1	1			1
Rabbit feet	2		1	1
Bear paws	2	1					1
Invisible dagger							Y
Lightning Gem			Y
Grass voodoo dolls		Y		Y		Y
Guantlets of Undead					Y

Tasks

1. The Duke: Job No. 1 At Gugnir's Hope, west of Seagate there have been unspecified problems with the ruins under the town. The sheriff, who is definitely the Baron's man, seems to be "not investigating". We should check it out, without raising any alarm, and report back.
3. Silver Wind: some creature is at risk of returning from the Gatar Depression and wants to talk to the group of adventurers he has seen in the night sky. Far south on the edge of the Gatar Depression there is movement of sand creatures trying to animate a long dead whale to fly out to sea.
4. Quincey should talk to his Aunt, the one that nobody mentions, she has a secret from the time that he was born.
5. Putting the elemental back into the oven
6. Save the old woman outside the guild from the binder working for Quando
7. Catelin: Deal with the water creature in the millpond at Bluegrass
8. Save the dog who is not a dog from the witch at Bluegrass

People

An Elven Ranger named Silver Wind - our employer

A witch outside the guild

Catelin the Witch at Bluegrass

Places

Ebon Farm (near Goodblood), work in woods and the source of Witch Nails, that slow down mages if nailed into their footprints.

Bluegrass

Gugnir's Hope