Once Upon a Storytime
Summary
Adventure: Once Upon a Storytime
GM: Mandos
Session: Winter 825 wk
Day: Saturday
Level: Low
- Party
- Nick Bone - Elven Necromancer - Heather
- Kassian - Elven Druidic Cheesemaker - Gray
- Hrothgar Bronzebeard - Dwarven Binder - Alex - Party Leader
- Iz - Elven Necromancer Paige
- Ron - Elven Mind Mage - Kyan - Military Leader
- Athos Ironfist - Dwarven Namer - Martin - Lead Scribe
- Fitzroy - A human Air Mage - Dean
- Time on adventure
- 1st Frost 825 WK to 25th Frost 825 WK
- Adventure Full
- Employer
- Severus Blue, representing Alata Astronius
- Mission
- To track down 5 missing lords that set off years ago across the sea and recover them or their signet rings. Also to recover an autobiographical tome that has been misplaced.
- Pay
- 10,000sp per Lord (or ring) located or recovered. 5000sp for information on how a Lord died and confirmation of it. 1 favour for each party member upon the successful return of the book to its owner.
Addenda
| Lord | Ship Name | Location | State | Known Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lord Rupert Friedburg | The Wanderer | At his manor on Friedburg Island | Alive, ring recovered | Married to resurrecting Healer |
| Lord Reginald Antimony | Captured by dökkálfar | Alive, recovering on our ship | Possibly an Enchanter | |
| Lord Percival Stonegate | Turned to gold in drinking mishap | Alive, restored, aboard our ship | ||
| Lord Galen Ashford | Captured by pirates | Rescued, aboard our ship | ||
| Lord Darian Ravenhill | Captured by a spider queen? |
Scribe Notes
Original notes recorded in dwarven and translated to the common language by Guild services.
The following account compiled by Athos, þegn of Clan Járnfyst of Dvergarheim, is a true and accurate accounting of the events experienced by the Seagate Adventurers Guild members detailed above.
1 Frost (Seagate, Butlerworld, Storyland)
At the winter meeting we were engaged by one Severus Blue on behalf of his employer to undertake a mission involving the location and retrieval of five missing nobles and an autobiography. Rewards were offered for the return of the Lords or their signet rings, with lesser recompense if we were able to provide information on the death and non-recovery of a Lord.
Goodman Blue is a Butler, a member of an organisation of such people, and is possessed of unusual abilities in the realm of transportation. Even the Guild’s usual protections against unwanted manifestation within its walls are unable to prevent a Butler’s transport abilities.
After minimal discussion and collection of a few essentials Goodman Blue transported us to the realm of the Butlers by walking us out through a wall in the Guild and following a misty path through a Middlemarch that brough us to an amazing destination.
The realm of the Butlers appears to be a world shaped as a tube. From where we arrived the ends of the tube could not be seen but looking to left and right the ground rose on both sides connecting above our heads many miles away. Even at this distance we could see that there were figures walking on the ceiling from our perspective.
We walked to a way station where a horseless carriage attached to a rail carried us the length of the tube to one of the ends. The end cap of the tube appeared as a great wall of metal with five enormous buildings like spokes spaced around the tube’s circumference and meeting in the middle. Another carriage carried us up the end cap to the centre. The usual weight one feels when walking upon the earth decreased and when we arrived at the centre we were floating as though under a spell. Goodman Blue explained that this was natural rather than magical and that many of the inhabitants enjoyed flying in this environment by way of mechanical wings.
The Butlers do however have mages, and these provided us with a Greater Enchantment, taking less time than usual and being able to target all of us at the same time. After this, and as an indulgence, particularly to young Fitzroy who appears unable to sit still, we accepted our host’s offer to sample the wonders of flight. Not all of my companions were willing to chance themselves to a mechanical harness with wings, Hrothgar in particular noting that he would rather keep his feet upon the ground. I well understood his sentiment but felt that I should keep an eye on young Fitzroy and the inexperienced Ron, both of whom fortunately managed to land unharmed.
After this diversion we returned to the centre of the hub and were ushered into a large library to meet Goodman Blues superior, one Alata Astronius, a highly ranked Butler.
Lord Astronius provided additional information regarding our mission, explain that the missing Lords and misappropriated autobiography are unrelated other than by accident of their location within Storyland, a world of stories, myths, and archetypes, close to Fey and Dream. Having two requests made of their organization the Butlers had decided to combine them.
For the first, a realm in that story land named Narnia, sent five Lords into the West to find a solution to a crisis their Kingdom was experiencing. The trouble has since past, the Lords have been gone some six or seven years, and the Kingdom has been unable to recall them.
For the second, the missing book is the autobiography of a great mage, perhaps a mentalist, named Legata Selus, who may be deceased. The book has been stolen from its owner, who believes that is being concealed in Storyland. This owner wishes to remain anonymous and for reasons undisclosed cannot go to the story realm, Lord Astronius stating that this would be “anathema to him”. The owner is offering undefined favours to the party should we return the tome.
Athos: if we as mortals can journey to story and our anonymous employer cannot, this may imply a being that is tied to a specific realm, and offer a possible indication as to whom or what we are returning the book.
The Butlers retain the services of story weavers who have conjured a ship for us and will transport us to the vessel. No crew are expected to be needed as this is a ship of story. Lord Astronius advised us that stories can be both more simple and more complex than we expect. A map has been provided, though it shows only islands with no other information, other than a return point that we will need to reach in order to leave Storyland.
The story weavers had us relax into sleep and when we awoke, we found ourselves upon a galleon at rest in the ocean as though anchored. The ship indeed had no crew but was otherwise appointed as expected for a sea voyage. Some experimentation by Hrothgar found that the ship could be directed by its wheel and a wind from any of eight compass points would fill our sails and move us in the desired direction. The ship has a name plate “The Willing Prince”.
Athos: The Willing Prince is the epithet of a demon well known to the Guild. Is this relevant? We are in a land of story, and some elements appear to be “as we expect”; was this detail plucked from our minds? I am concerned as none of my companions appear to know this name, I only recognise it from my studies, and it is hardly a name I would consider for a vessel.
Not all of my companions proved familiar with sea travel, two in particular being afflicted with the sickness of the sea until they remembered that healers are able to deal with this, and that they possessed this skill.
We sailed in a north-westerly direction towards the first of the islands on our map, anchoring off the coast at night. As dark fell we sighted a light to the north and agreed to investigate in the morning.
Athos: A note on dates. Lunar and seasonal indicators suggest that Storyland seasons do not match Alusia. I will however continue to record elapsed days as being in our Winter season.
2 Frost (Friedburg Island)
With daylight we continued north and located a lighthouse marking rocks that would be a danger to shipping. Beyond these was a navigable passage close to a cliff atop which we could see a building. We tied our ship up to the pier and made our way up the stairs on the Cliff. (Map: Point of Interest #1)
Athos: "Everyone remember where we parked." Fizz: "We're in Bay Sea."
The Cliff passage took us through a short tunnel and after more stairs we were met at the top by a human noble and retainers. The noble introduced himself as Nigel Friedburg, the first of the Lords that we were seeking.
An extended discussion with Lord Friedburg indicated he thought he had been here some 10 plus years and had largely forgotten the country from which he came and had very little recollection of the mission that he undertook. His ship the Wanderer had wrecked on the rocks now marked with a lighthouse and the survivors had settled on this island. After explaining our mission to him he agreed to surrender his signet ring and provide a letter for us to return to Narnia.
We spent the next day enjoying the hospitality of him and his lady wife, a healer of considerable expertise. We visited the village outside the Manor and picnicked with locals in the summery weather of the island. Most were originally the crew and families from Lord Friedburg’s ship while others were from later ships that had landed here. We spoke to one local who was formerly a pirate around the islands and gathered some information about pirate activity and location. We received some information warning us of sea monsters a sea witch. Next morning we set off towards the island whose coast the ex-pirate had discussed with us.
3 - 6 Frost (At Sea)
We sailed to the new island and followed the coast north for three days, hooking around a point on the fourth day and as dusk fell saw lights twinkling in the trees. We anchored the ship and spent the night offshore.
In the morning, after securing the ships wheel to guard against its misappropriation, we lowered a boat and rowed ashore. (Map: Point of Interest #2)
We had travelled up the beach, and through scrub towards the woods when we noticed that our companion Nick had vanished.
6 Frost cont. (Unnamed Island, Fey mists, Winter Court, Summer Court)
Ron, having noticed Nick vanish headed to the same location and promptly vanished as well.
We approached more cautiously and noted the presence of mushrooms forming a line. Magical detection indicated a fey presence, suggesting we were seeing the edge of a fey mushroom circle. We discussed options but were forced to conclude that we would need to enter the area in pursuit of our companions. Hrothgar seemed unimpressed by my statement that we had a spare Necromancer and that Ron was no great loss.
Crossing the mushrooms we stepped into a circular area surrounded by walls of mist. My suspicions of a fey realm were reinforced as I left the hobnails of my boots behind. The large open area seemed initially to be little more than a grassy circle with some cast off armour piled in the centre; one suit appeared to be hard leather fashioned like plate armour while the rest were more ragged leather. As we investigated, we began to notice moss covered bones scattered around the ground. Although these appeared ancient, magic revealed they were no more than two years old.
One path lead from the circle and we were considering taking it when we heard rumbling and crashing in the mists. Before we could decide about the path a large creature apparently made of wood charged from the mists into the circle and swung a club at Fizz. Fortunately, it missed as the blow appeared to be one that could remove a head. The creature was not however terrifically fast, and I was able to prepare weapons and step up to it hoping that my armour would protect me and provide an opportunity for Fizz to escape, which he did. I struck the creature with my war pick but in return was dealt an enormous blow that felt as though it came completely through my armour leaving me stunned.
The party now began to pour fire into the creature, quite literally in the case of Nick’s skull, the strange shot coming from Hrothgar’s axe, and whatever bizarre fire-thrower he used that I would thank him to never use over my head ever again. Iz engaged the creature with her glaive and took several blows for her efforts, while Rocky the Owlbear tore into it from behind and Kassian shot arrows. I took the chance to recover my wits and withdraw, taking a moment to use DA which revealed that the creature was a “Fey Wood Giant”. Ron’s mental attack was not successful, the creature having little in the way of a mind but after more physical attacks along with additional fire and Fizz’s lightning the creature finally succumbed, exploding in a shower of wooden splinters.
With a chance to investigate the circle unmolested the Necromancers discovered spirits with whom they could speak. It appears that Lord Antimony, one of the five Lords of Narnia that we seek, passed through this circle but did not return.
Taking the creature’s war club and the fine leather armour we entered the path through the mists.
After some time, the path diverged. To the left it seemed colder while to the right it felt warmer. I advised the group to head left though some of the soft southerners seemed to feel that warm was more desirable. Heading left we eventually stepped from the path into snow in a pine forest. Detection indicated we were now in the realm of the Winter Court, and I suggested we should reverse course – Summer fey in the stories generally being less undesirable than their Winter kin.
Retracing our steps and then taking the right fork, we exited the path into a desert under a blazing sun with little in sight other than some cacti, that DA showed were part of the Summer Court. Kassian spoke with a cactus that demanded water in return for any answers.
We retraced our steps again to the snow and filled a container. While there Kass spoke with a pine tree that demanded blood. Thinking this a bad plan we returned to the Summer Court, by which time the snow had melted to water, and continued our conversation, though the cactus revealed little useful information.
Kass: "I think I'm being played by a cactus."
We weighed our options of venturing forth under the blistering sun without any knowledge of oases or other sources of water against returning to Winter into and braving the cold. After consideration the party opted to return to Winter and attempt to find locals. The rangers’ sense of north suggested a centre point not too distant so we headed in that direction. When the snow became too difficult, we fashioned snowshoes using warping. Some three hours of tramping brought us within sight of a bonfire.
6 Frost cont. (Winter Court, Gold Island, At Sea)
After a brief discussion all the wiles of the dökkálfar we approached the bonfire.
Some 80 fey encircled four human dancers on the verge of collapse, one wearing a signet. As we approached a dancer fell, was set upon by fey, dragged to the edge of the circle, and murdered with knives.
A dazzling fey lady arose before us causing some members of the party to flee and others to prostrate themselves at her feet. Those of us who retained our wits spoke with her and Nick arranged to trade the signet wearing human in the circle for a lost minion of the fey lady, with safe passage out.
The lady opened a fiery portal and stepping through we found ourselves in a cave above a mere on some other island. We descended the hill and followed the narrow lake to where a waterfall dropped hundreds of feet to short river leading to the nearby coast. (Map: Point of Interest #3)
At the bottom of the shallow lake near the waterfall lay two gold statues, one human sized and wearing a signet ring, the other smaller and possessed of a single foot single arm and single eye.
A quick experiment with a rock showed that the water transformed objects into gold. Our two necromancers were able to use their spectral hands to drag both statues to the bank. The statues’ auras indicated the transformation would end with “the dawns rays”.
Looking over the cliff we were surprised to see our ship “The Willing Prince” anchored offshore despite us leaving it at a different island, and in the far distance we could see the coast of the island where we had entered the fairy circle.
Nick transported the smaller statue down to the ship, in an enormous flying skull that he apparently produced from his pocket, while Fizz made use of featherfall on the human-sized statue and himself, negotiating it down the cliff. Nick shuttled us down the cliff in his flying skull, and we dragged and carried the heavy human statue to our long boat that was pulled up on the shore and rowed it out to our ship, before using block and tackle to winch it aboard. Both statues were tied to the mast, and we began to sail back to the island with the fey circle.
7 - 9 Frost (At Sea)
Three days. At dawn’s light on the 7th the gold transformation ended on both statues leaving us with a confused Lord Percival Stonegate and a ravenous Fachan. We released Lord Percival and made him comfortable and plied the rather unpleasant fey with meat and fish.
During our return journey we took time to investigate our ship further, with Hrothgar’s binder divination revealing the ship to be only a couple of months old but still growing, and able to sail itself and to potentially teleport.
Athos: Despite Hrothgar finding no demonic influence I remain deeply suspicious of a ship with this name that is able to move in the twinkling of an eye.
Divination on the wood giant’s club showed a form of magic that inflicts damage directly proportional to the armour of the target.
10 Frost (Unnamed Island, Winter Court, At Sea)
As we arrived back at the beach near the fey circle, we caught a glimpse of earlier selves heading into the mists.
We waited a moment to prevent us meeting ourselves in the Wood Giant’s circle and then entered the mists ourselves. In the circle the remains of the giant were turning into an oak tree. Taking the left path, we headed back to the winter court.
The signet wearing captive was alive in the snow, the other humans now hanging dead above fey dwellings. We swapped the lady’s minion for the human, and true to her word she opened a swirling grey portal that took us back to the beach.
The former captive, Lord Reginald Antimony, was in a bad way and was attended to by our healers as we headed away from the fey beach.
I cannot recall who suggested to the ship that it should take us somewhere interesting, but we allowed it to select its own course which had us heading back in the direction of the gold lake island.
10 - 13 Frost (At Sea)
On the 12th, just north of Gold Island we were attacked by a kraken. (Map: Point of Interest #4)
The first indication of this was a single questing tentacle sliding over the starboard railing, quickly followed by many more on all sides of the ship. The tentacles attempted to grab crew or to get a grip on the ship itself and to pull so that the Prince would capsize or founder.
Above us a storm opened, either some other aspect of the kraken’s power, or perhaps that of the sea witch of whom we had been warned, whose pet the kraken might be.
All of the party joined in a desperate fight to repel the tentacles. Though focused on my own targets, I noted Iz charging back and forth across the deck with his glaive, Hrothgar pumping many fiery shots into the rubbery appendages, and Fizz, the lunatic, releasing lightning bolts far too close for comfort.
As the storm intensified, the last of the tentacles finally slithered and squelched overboard and our ship began to move away. Behind us the storm broke, a blue bolt shot off to the West, and the seas calmed.
13 Frost (Skyfall Island)
We approached an unusually circular island that in a moment of whimsy I decided to name ø on our chart. [Norsk: ø, translates to Common: island.](Map: Point of Interest #5)
Taking the long boat to shore we began to investigate. Fizz had the unusual idea of looking for story elements in the island’s aura. Examining these I was able to see that there was a story associated with this island and the name of the story was James and the giant Peach; though this meant nothing to us.
The island rose towards high ground, and we set off in that direction. Towards the middle of the island, we discovered a scene of destruction that took some time to understand.
Enormous chunks of a gnarled woody material were scattered around a clearing, pieces of a gigantic peach stone that appeared to have shattered. Trailing away from this were numerous strands of heavy silken rope, and at the end of these the skeletons of many birds. Among the woody fragments we located the bones of a child and the chitinous remains of giant insects. We salvaged lengths of the valuable rope for future use.
Our necromancers spoke with the spirits of what turned out to be a human child and sentient giant insects that had hailed from Victoriana and pieced together parts of the story.
The child, James, and his intelligent insect friends had been living inside a giant peach. Using the rope making abilities of giant silkworms and spiders they had fashioned tethers and used these on hundreds of sea birds, somehow achieving flight, but they had been attacked by the Men in the Clouds who had used snow and storm against them.
Athos: Most likely Cloud Giants. They claim to be more civilized but are every bit as vicious and untrustworthy as their cousins.
With the birds slain their improbable vehicle had plummeted from the sky, catastrophically impacting here on this island. We gathered the remains of the sentients, buried them and built a cairn. Checking another part of the island's aura we could see that this story had ended.
It was a more subdued crew who made their way back to the Willing Prince, and I updated the chart to show the island's name as Skyfall.
14 - 15 Frost (At Sea, Unnamed Island)
Making use of our new knowledge that story elements could be detected we sailed on to the tip of a large island. Heading to the beach we were able to see that this area was not currently involved in any story. We departed, asking the Prince to take us to the next story.
15 - 16 Frost (Sea Witch Archipelago)
Our ship approached an archipelago, and we noted that the seas had become much rougher. It was also about this time that we realised there had been no moon visible previously, but that a large and clear moon was visible here.
Checking the aura of the first island we discovered the story to be “Celtic Myth”, and that the centre of the story was on the other side of the island group from us. We sailed around the islands until in the distance we could see a raft heading towards land. The raft did not appear to be having as much trouble with the rough water as a craft of that nature should and we decided to follow it. A storm began to form to the north, and we made for the lee of an island, the raft disappearing into a narrow channel between two of the larger islands. (Map: Point of Interest #6)
The channel looked a tight fit for the Prince and not wishing to chance rocks and shoals we anchored in a bay and set off over land towards the centre of the story, arriving at the narrow channel, directly above our target that was now in some sea caves. Nick created a bone staircase down the cliff towards the cave entrance, and heading in we saw the raft pulled up on the stony beach. The raft appeared quite unseaworthy, constructed of driftwood, bones, and seaweed, tied together with nets and fishing lines.
An entrance led deeper into the cliff, and while we attempted to approach quietly this group is not the stealthiest. From deeper in the caves, we heard muttering, then a voice, and then clear signs that we had been detected.
Rushing forward towards a cluttered and unwholesome cavern we beheld a humanoid figure with seaweed for hair who we immediately presumed to be the sea witch of whom we had been told, and who we held responsible for the kraken attack.
The witch completed her spell and from the detritus on the floor many bedraggled and barnacled humanoid figures arose clutching corroded and encrusted weapons.
Nick and Iz, having charged ahead to engage the witch, found themselves surrounded by these zombie-like creatures and were nearly overwhelmed. We attempted to fight our way clear to help them but the creatures that had risen near us proved resilient, taking heavy blows without flinching and having to be hacked apart to stop. Fizz shot lightning across the cavern striking many of the zombies (and Nick)) while Ron attempted to knockout the witch using his mind magics.
As we were beginning to bring the zombie numbers down lizard folk arrived from deeper within the cave complex, and a hideous humanoid angler-fish creature arrived from the water near the raft and charged towards me. We were beginning to consider retreat, but with Iz and Nick now regrouped and fighting side by side, their glaive and battle axe proved more effective against the fortunately less resilient lizards, and with more lightning from Fizz (this time better aimed), and the witch finally succumbing to a mental attack we gained control of the cavern. I managed to land some solid blows on my aquatic foe, who fled back to the water.
Athos: Hrothgar had considerable difficulty in melee combat, a problem I lay squarely upon his fusing a pseudo-crossbow with his battle axe. As everyone knows, we dwarves are practical and pragmatic sorts, little given to superstitions or flights of fancy, but such tinkering with a battleaxe borders on the unholy.
After despatching the last of the lizard folk, Iz slew the witch, and we took a moment to rest and recuperate. A few meagre items were retrieved from the caves and as we left, we destroyed the unnatural raft. The islands aura indicated that the story had ended, and we were able to see that we had influenced it. We travelled back to the Prince and set off anew, heading for the next story.
17 - 18 Frost (At Sea, Pirate Archipelago)
Approaching another group of islands, we saw in the distance pirate ships and decided to avoid their notice for now.
Landing on a small island we were able to detect the story “Peter Pan”. The Ellenic States have a god Pan, and there is a musical instrument named for him, though whether this is relevant to the story is unclear.
We further confirmed that the central character was nearby, both a hero and villain of the story, that the pirates we had seen were antagonists, and that a Lord of Narnia was in this story, in need of rescue, and most likely at the pirate base.
We sailed around the island in an attempt to get a closer look at the central character’s location, anchoring at offshore and examining the land through our telescope. We were able to see a bonfire on a high point of land with small figures dancing and what appeared to be some captives. (Map: Point of Interest #7)
Landing on the beach we carefully approached closer and were able to make out that these small figures were human children armed with a variety of weapons and that the captives appeared to be pirates, being tortured by the children as some form of cheerful activity.
The party was split on our approach, some feeling that rescuing the pirates could provide a useful introduction at the pirate base while others felt that we had no business here as our contract is to recover the Narnian Lords, and some felt reluctant to engage the stabby children. After discussion we decided to withdraw.
Athos: An unknown in all this is the story’s central character who may be a goat-god. The behaviour of the children did not appear out of keeping with the reputed activities of his maniacal followers.
19 - 20 Frost (Pirate Archipelago)
In the morning, we circled the island away from the camp, crossing the channel to the north and finding a sheltered cove on the northern island from which we could make our way overland to the pirate base.
A day’s tramping saw us at evening on a ridge overlooking a small coastal town that had become a pirate base. Indications in the story pointed us towards a manor house near the forest edge and we settled on a plan to go in during the early hours of the morning, under the cover of a storm that we would produce from the hag’s eye. We rested until the appointed time before releasing a storm that built over the next half hour.
It was a dark and stormy night as we made our way down the ridge to the back wall off the manor’s palisade. Warping open a hole in the wall the elves were able to see two human guards huddled in the lee of the back door against the storm. Moving around to the side of the house we warped open a second hole and entered. We were able to get within a few yards of the guards and charge them before they noticed us.
One went down to a mental attack while Iz eviscerated the second leaving a scattering of viscera and organs across the porch. We opened the rear door of the house and crept into a large hallway. From there stairs took us to the upper storey. Hrothgar created a transparency through which we could look into a room outfitted as a cell and guard area and we could see the Lord of Narnia that we were seeking in conversation with two guards.
Fizz, Iz, and I headed along the eastern hallway towards the guard room door. Just as we were about to enter, a door further along the corridor opened and a well well-dressed pirate emerged. Seeing us he immediately began to yell for guards. Iz charged down the hallway and reluctantly removed his arm with a devastating glaive strike. The pirate captain collapsed while Iz apologised profusely.
Athos: Iz seemed genuinely upset by the fatal fashion in which he'd despatched the guard and captain. I did suggest that if he was hoping not to kill people then perhaps a glaive wasn't the ideal choice of weapon.
Fizz whipped open the guard room door and I charged the guards, wounding one seriously. When the second collapsed from a mental attack aimed through the transparency, the first guard surrendered, and gave Fizz the cell key.
Meanwhile on the other side of the upper storey landing, two guards emerged from rooms and were immediately met by slugger and bow fire from Hrothgar and Cass. They retreated back into their rooms and were pinned there.
On the lower floor two more guards emerged into the main corridor from a room near the front of the house. Cass dropped Rocky’s figurine off the balcony where it bounced on the floor before turning into a large Owlbear. Seeing this, the newly arrived pirates disappeared back into the front room, and we could hear the sound of furniture being dragged behind the door.
Fizz released the Lord Ashford who minced down the corridor, carefully avoiding Iz’s latest mess, and headed into the captain’s room to recover lost possessions. After retrieving a rather stylish hook from the dead captain we exited the building and returned to the ridgeline.
The next day we tramped back to the bay where we had left the Willing Prince and resumed our journey.
21 - 23 Frost (At Sea)
We followed islands north checking for news stories. We located a story called The Faraway Tree but as this did not appear to have a Lord of Narnia or magical book involved we continued on. (POI #8)
24 Frost (Wishing Well Island)
Arriving at a small group of islands we discovered a story named The Wishing Well which involved both a Lord of Narnia and a magical book and began to investigate. (POI #9)
We discovered a well-kept storybook cottage and a dry well which while not a magical wishing well, proved to provide access to underground tunnels.
Athos: "I know the well is not magical because I threw in a coin and Fizz is still here."
We followed the stone tunnel north, where it ended at a teak door. Beyond the door we discovered a dwarf feeding nuts from a small bag to the illusionary that surrounded him. The dwarf required that we take nuts from him before he would answer our questions and acted in ways that suggested he was not entirely real.
Ron: "Can you DA his nut bag?"
Three doors left his room, one each to the north, east, and west. The dwarf repeated that we must find a crystal key to access the treasure and warned us that there were many traps. He also recounted that a man matching the description of Lord Ravenshill had been dragged through his room by minions of the spider queen and taken to the west. The minions had also been carrying a large book.
We exited by the west door and continued along a worked stone passageway that became narrower as it approached another door. Opening this we were faced with a circular pit with spikes some 50 feet down equipped with a narrow bridge spanning the space to a northern door. Faced with an obvious trap Kass was able to use tunnelling from our western corridor to the one behind the northern door. As we moved through the tunnel we were able to see into the circular room and watch as the narrow bridges retracted.
Continuing north and then slightly east we found a well-appointed bedroom with two lizards (or one lizard with two heads) named Doris and Boris in the four-poster bed. They seemed unperturbed by an armoured party tramping through their bedroom, warned us that the spider queen was to the north, and told us that to the east there was a wizard who may be able to help.
We continued east, briefly examining a prison room with skeletons and chests that again suggested a trap, before turning south and finding ourselves back at the nutty dwarf.
From there we headed east avoiding another trap room and then east again discovering an alchemical laboratory and a wizard. The wizard presented us without prompting with a crystal key and then asked us to slay a mummy for a reward that would aid us against the spider queen.
We exited for laboratory intending to find the mummy but, on a whim, I returned to the wizard and simply told him that the mummy had been defeated. He thanked me and presented me with a box of 6 anti-venom potions. Stepping back out of the laboratory Fizz repeated my action gaining another box of potions. Equipped with these we headed back to the Lizard’s bedroom and then north to the lair of the spider queen.
We discussed possible approaches and settled on tying up Fizz with the intention of presenting him as a sacrifice to the spider queen in the hope that this could get us close before hostilities ensued.
Opening yet another antique door we were presented with the view of a large cavern within which a number of webbed bowers housed humanoid figures and an enormous spider squatting in a northeastern corner. We closed the door and reconsidered our plan while waiting to see if any of the minions would follow us back into the corridor. As none did, we took a rest and had a hot meal before returning to the room.
Re opening the door, Kass cast a stone wall from floor to ceiling that blocked most of the queen's access from her alcove, preventing her from approaching us. Her minions, humanoids with arms that resembled spider legs rushed us. The minions moved fast and attacked quickly with envenomed strikes. Nick’s flaming skull set alight one bower burning a minion within, but Nick quickly found himself overmatched by two more minions.
Rocky was invaluable in holding the line while all the rest of us fought against the ferocious minions. Although the queen was pinned in, she was unfortunately able to spit toxic webs at party members on the right of the group, with Hrothgar and Kass both becoming fully encased. As the last of the minions was defeated Rocky went down and returned to a statuette while Hrothgar broke from his wrappings only to collapse, and Kass was rescued moments from death.
We moved the party outside of the queen’s angle of attack and took time to recover. Greek fire from Hrothgar and many lightning bolts from Fizz were used to kill the trapped spider queen.
With the spider queen and her minions vanquished we patched up the party and explored the cavern fully. Some alchemical supplies were gathered from the Queen's body, but fire and lightning had done their job well and there was nothing else to recover.
A chest yielded a paltry number of gold coins, while a second niche revealed a cocooned human. We cut him down, used an anti-venom to remove paralysis poison and confirmed that this was Lord Ravenhill, otherwise unharmed.
A third alcove appeared empty but showed signs of foot traffic. Nick identified a secret door which Fizz opened with our crystal key. The small room within held only a pedestal atop which sat a silver furnished book of the Tales of Odysseus. On disturbing this book a portal opened in the far wall that Detect Aura indicated led to hell!
Ron threw an object through the portal, and an irritated imp appeared. The imp informed us that we had succeeded in our mission, that the book was the one his master desired, and that we should enter the portal and receive our rewards. We hesitated as we had a Lord of Narnia to return and informed the imp that we would return Lord Ravenhill to the ship and then come back to the portal.
Athos: the title of the silver-bound book seems at odds with the original description provided that indicated it was the autobiography of a great mage named Legata Selus. Perhaps Odysseus was a pseudonym.
We re-entered the maze and discovered that all of the inhabitants had disappeared but that the furnishings remained. We checked some of these on the way out but recovered little of value.
Ron: the stick bit me!
We exited the maze, returned to the Willing Prince, and reunited Lord Ravenhill with his companions, who celebrated their good fortune and the success of their mission.
A mission that had seen the loss of five ships, four crews, and a failure to locate the hero they sought. As we watched the Lords sailed off into the sunset, quite the wrong direction for Narnia, and we returned to the cottage near the well for a good night's rest.
25 Frost (Wishing Well Island, Hell, Seagate)
In the morning, much restored, we descended the well and decided to give the maze one last look over. After locating nothing of interest we returned to the portal which remained open and entering it found ourselves in a bustling cityscape filled with market activities, gambling and general debauchery.
The imp led us to his master, Lord Astronius (aka the Willing Prince) who gratefully received the book which proved to contain the spirit of a mortal who had made a deal with the demon and then welched on it attempting to hide in a realm the demon could not enter.
The demon paid us for the return of the Lords of Narnia and told us to think hard on something that we wished.
A new portal was opened that took us to the basement of the temple of luck and chance in Seagate from where we returned to the Guild.
I, Athos, þegn of Clan Járnfyst of Dvergarheim, conclude this record and declare these notes to be a right and true recounting of the journeying into Story of this Seagate Adventurers Guild party. Lokið.
Locations
Buffs & Mil Sci
Buffs and Abilities
| Magic (caster) | Rk | Effects | Duration | Ni | Ka | Hr | Iz | Ro | At | Fz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength of Stone (Ka?) | ? | ? EN | ? hrs | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Armour of Earth (Ka?) | ? | +?% Defence | ? hrs | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Spell (?) | ? | ? | ? | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Short Term
| Magic (caster) | Rk | Effects | Dur | Ni | Ka | Hr | Iz | Ro | At | Fz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durability (Hr) | ? | ? | ? min | |||||||
| Spell (?) | ? | ? | ? |
| Magic | Rk | Effects | Dur | Ni | Ka | Hr | Iz | Ro | At | Fz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mind Cloak (Ro) | ? | +?% vs mental Attack | ? hrs | Y | Y | |||||
| Spell (?) | ? | ? | ? hrs |
| Capability | Rk | Effects | Dur | Ni | Ka | Hr | Iz | Ro | At | Fz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sense Danger (%) | ||||||||||
| Detect Ambush (%) | Ranger (-5/rank of opposition) | |||||||||
| See Invis (Rk) | Effective rank for seeing invisible | |||||||||
| Stealth (%) | Std / Ranger Outdoors |
Watch Order
(Proposed) An elf with witch-vision on each watch, attempt at partnering more and less experienced party members, with cooks on first and last watch (and Fizz and Ron not on the same watch).
| Hour: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron | Nick | Iz | Kassian | |||||||||
| Hrothgar | Athos | Fizz | ||||||||||
Marching Order
(Proposed) Attempt are strengthening front and back, keeping ranged mages/combat in the middle. For Default some attempt to put oddest (or dangerous looking owlbears) at back, keep Ron and Fizz in sight, and have responsible members able to corral stragglers.
| Skirmish Formations (Front) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Default
Hrothgar Ron |
Tracking/Scouting
Kassian (Rocky) |
Single File/Danger
Athos |
Calendar
| Winter: Frost 824 (7) | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moonday | Duesday | W'ansday | Th'rsday | Frysday | Reapsday | Sunday | ||||||||
|
Samhain | 1 | Guild Meeting Seagate | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||||
|
7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |||||||
|
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 10 | |||||||
|
21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |||||||
|
|
28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||
| Winter: Snow 823 (8) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |||||||
|
|
12 | 13 | 15 | Solstice | 16 | 17 | 18 | Yuletide | ||||||
|
|
19 | Days of Chaos | 20 | DoC2 | 21 | DoC3 | 22 | DoC4 | 23 | DoC5 | 24 | DoC6 | 25 | DoC7 |
|
|
26 | DoC8 | 27 | DoC9 | 28 | DoC10 | 29 | DoC11 | 30 | Twelfth Night | 1 | 2 | ||
| Winter: Ice 823 (9) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | First Plough | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||||
|
|
10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |||||||
|
|
17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | |||||||
|
|
24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||||||
