A Gentleman's Sport

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: A Gentleman's Sport
GM: Eamon
Season: Autumn 826 WK
Night: Someday
Level: Level

Party

• Scorpion Human Namer – Scribe
• Viola Human Illusionist
• Miss Hilbourne, Human Namer with Bedevere, an Avatar of Winter
• Tharkun, Dwarf E&E
• [Killramadrum Gillgiver]] (Drum), Giant War Adept
• Phaeton, Human Celestial
• Grendel, Human Mind Mage

Mission

Hired to escort 30 expendable nobles through the Dark Circle on a hunting expedition.

Employer

Captain Sherwood

Original Scribe Notes

Media:Snsp0102.zip

Scribe Notes

Summary

Hired to escort 30 expendable nobles through the Dark Circle on a hunting expedition. Met an interesting liche necromancer with a lot of flesh-shaped golems and Malbar, and a fortified city of humans run by vampires and protected by sentient wraiths, all of which happened to be friendly, and managed to avoid two armies that weren’t.

Lost 4 nobles to the Dark Circle, and 5 by their own choice to the city they wanted to become important vampire lords.

The Dark Circle

Divinating the Dark Circle causes death. There are skeletal “death bunnies” that eat dead grass, including hay. Ghost rain that goes through cover and drains about 1 fatigue an hour. Lightning that kills the body, but leaves the unhappy spectral spirit in its place. It could be growing or morphing to take in more ground.

There’s a Dark Tower golem construction plant run by the lytch master Lambert, who takes tours. The walled town of Kithdwalin is a haven for live people run by the lytch lord Amgore and his vampire court. Both places of interest seem civilised and hospitable.

Day 1 (1 Thaw)

Phaeton pacted to Dienseth (Light), Viola pacted to Reneve (Dark), can’t do churches, Grendal pacted to a water deity, Hilbourne’s dog familiar, Bedevere, is some kind of conduit for Winter personified.

When they say you’ll rub shoulders with all kinds of scum in the guild, they’re not fucking around. Viola says she’ll cast Flash of Light every second round if we’re in combat with six or more live entities.

What’s the chance, where we’re going? She’s wearing illusory clothes. Damn. Drum can become a dwarf at will.

Hired by Captain Sherwood to escort thirty young nobles (not first sons) and a few servants through the Dark Circle on a hunting expedition, adventure, and safari, one kill expected per person. Sigh. They can hunt and fence, don’t do magic. Little armour, and no silvered or magical weapons.

We have to conceal our casting while being guides and helpers, keeping them alive and letting them play. Sigh. Pay = 7000sp each, plus loot.

Also asked to keep an eye out for Captain Harwood and 19 men who got lost in there recently. No bonus for bringing any out. We have to bring our own horses, carts and food provided, expense account for supplies. Have a couple of days to prepare, then portal to Haven where the nobs are waiting.

Sherwood will not accompany us, but will deliver us from Haven to the Dark Circle in his ship, the Jolly Lucky. He leaves. We get to kill pirates, too. Yay.

Hilbourne gets party leader, being noble, Drum gets Mil Sci, with me as second.

Get 2 Waters of Healing, and 2 10-point healing potions, and Tharkum gives us all a Rank 20 Greater. Yay!

Bedevere does some kind of paralysis on me to prove a point. Can’t work out how. Supposedly he can also give us luck. Phaeton says he can’t kill anything. Not really surprised. I borrow Drum’s battleaxe; returns when thrown, hits easier. Drum says his soul is absent, in a safe place, and that he’s part shadow creature. Wonder if he’ll fit in, going to the Dark Circle and all. Leave, go home. Show Al Viola, decide to eat out. Drum pays for nice dinner. Tell Hilbourne to be leader for the lordlings.

Day 2

Shop, get horses, except Drum.

Go through Water College to portal to Haven. Horses get a bit twitchy. Nice view.

Get led to a longboat. I hate boats. Rowed out to floating castle. Last quarter someone dragged it up from the bottom. Sigh. Make a note of all the floaty things: five cargo boats.

Party try to loosen me up with vodka fruit drinks. See pretty fish and Aqualina under the water. Hilbourne finds Sherwood. She gathers us, girls get tarted up, he gathers the nobs. Phaeton gives me a drink every time I mention hating boats. Why didn’t anyone else think of this?

Go to a party: courtesans, alcohol. Nice. Hilbourne does a pep talk. Rah. We stagger out. No apparent storms coming. Others find casinoes, Viola checks out the clientele. We find our rooms. Attach inflated waterskin to pack.

Party for two days. Phaeton does modelling and painting.

Day 4

Make our way to the ship at the crack of noon. Looks fast, crew look hard. Think women are unlucky. Will be one day on board. Sigh. Sherwood gives us some maps. Ruins, savannah, tower in middle of dark forest. Chosen path goes past it. Sigh. Three of the nobs are disguised women. Bunter the bagman is obviously a combat veteran. Four other servants.

Day 5

We get there alive. Yay!

Me, Drum and Phaeton go in first boat with keen lordlings. Viola flies over and lands like a frog. Ha! Drum does some scouting (Ranger Rk 5). Finds tracks of a big bird and a skele dog. Light is dim. So are clients. Should we test them in weapons? Magic them to caution? See rapiers, non-silver, non-magic, and two boar spears. Sigh. Project. Check out horses. Good quality hunt-trained palfreys. Can see the anti-undead barriers clearly by glittery sparks: Phaeton’s jade amulet is 50’.

Home base is where the cart is. Four major factions in lordlings, some individuals. Martial group leader = Squire Manton. About 16 years old.

Finally get them moving. Lord Frederick chats up Viola, she’s looking for potential husbands, though not a good choice here. Me and Drum see no game, only some insects. Not good. Can we magic some up? Maybe summon something. Lunch takes 2½ hours, counting pack up.

Lots of thorny bushes in shadowy parts. Definite barrier effect. Not magical, just warped. See the dark grove ahead. Declare it tomorrow morning’s hunt. Camp on rocky outcrop with 5 15-foot drops around, water nearby. Drum sees something move. Sends me out. See nothing. Oh fuck. It must be insubstantial. Drum stealths out for a look. Beaters couldn’t do better. Something snuffy, glimpses of white. Skele bunnies, eating dead grass. Lots of them. D.A = death bunnies. Tie down horses.

Lordlings haven’t noticed anything yet. No apparent fear effect. Drum, Tharkum and Hilbourne start casting. I prep smashy things (horseshoes, faggots, spikes, hammers etc). Viola trying to charm an audience of nobs, but they distracted by casting.

Getting surrounded. We get inspired (spell). Something catches the bunnies’ attention. Life? Something else? A lordling bothers Hilbourne but she casts anyway. Forbidding. Gather lordling back to others. Viola flies up and sees a sea of bunnies. I try to convince lordlings not to bother those casting. Wall of Starlight goes up, another Forbidding. Drum decides to engage. Lots of them, close together. Three smashed. Lordlings stroppy, anti-magic. Distract the troublemakers by getting them onto the bunnies that have breached the barriers. Appears it’s the hay that’s attracting them. Decide to sacrifice a bit with a death bunny in it out of the ring.

Sic the rest of the nobs on the bunnies while Drum puts the hay in his portable hole. Pulls out a ballista and a barrel of giant ale to make room. Lordlings get stuck in, some bunny bites before they’re all gone, then burn most the wood in a bonfire and do some duelling. Sigh. Watch for those wandering out into the dark. Frederick seems more interested in dancing with the boys than Viola.

Day 6

Sky to west has storm front. Two hours to rain. Move camp uphill to avoid flooding. Hungover lordlings unhappy about moving. Throw horseshit at Hilbourne. Viola soothing their pain. Get lords to campsite. Bunter says they’ll stay undercover and gossip. Fine. Others batten down tents, I tie horses up.

Rain gets here. Ghost of rain, goes through the cover, doesn’t make things wet. D.A.’s give life-drain effect, necromancy, not illusory. Minute amounts of life get washed away. No puddles. Phaeton makes a 30’ column of light to stop the rain. Sigh. Dispels it when we suggest it’s somewhat obvious. Drain not too bad if we sit still, about 1 fatigue per hour. Use up the rest of the wood making chicken soup.

Thunder crashes, hear a horse scream. Was instantly mummified; several around it also part affected. They’re panicking. I go through tent wall to horses. Drum sees mad spectral horse standing where the body went down. Lordlings shocked. Drum attacks. Me and Viola closing. Phaeton sees a hole in his protective barrier. Hilbourne paralyses some horses as Drum fights. I sap one. Grendal stops 2/3 of the nobs from panicking. Sap another. Phantasm attacks horse spectre. D.A. = lightning horsie.

Drum suffers pain when hit phasing, takes its hoof off in return. I grab a horse and ride after the others. Herd them up. Lightning horsie decides to bolt. Hilbourne rides “after” it (her horse won’t approach). Phaeton lasers it. It “dies.” Grendal rallies the last 10 lordlings. Three horses gone, counting the one hit by lightning, three are horribled. Two can’t be fixed okay. Meat. Phaeton gives his horse to Hilbourne, who lost hers, and says he’ll ride the one with the mangled face. Two pairs of lordlings volunteer to double up, including Frederick. Sigh. Duel fought for the last pair-up.

Nobs want to leave. We pack up. Have an interesting discussion with Viola, the details of which is no-one’s business but ours. Moving. Others see some interesting material in a gully. Send image in to look. Teddy bear, torn in half on briars. Hiking boot, adult. Grendal teleports out the teddy. Drum finds tracks = wagon convoy, four large wagons, four horses and people pulling. About 50 people in all, going north to south between 2–4 weeks ago. Why the fuck? Do an object read. See 250–300 people fleeing burning village, flying spooks and monsters, child with teddy. Refugees. During Dark Circle creation? Too recent. Is Circle expanding or morphing?

Hilbourne wants to camp again, not in Dark Grove. Find campground. Tell ghost stories with harsh endings for any stupid lordlings that ran off on their own.

Day 7

Who cares about Purify anyway? Head towards Dark Grove. Mist closes in. 30’ viz for normals. Forest of dead trees, been dead about a year. Firewood. Viola backfires on herself. Sigh. Telepathy shows no life but us. Suggest setting fire to it to flush game. Not accepted. Move on, see swamp ahead. Sigh.

Grendal volunteers as Mil Sci for nobs. Spot some bones. Elf, dead 9 months. Tharkum investigates, finds an old sword, is drawn further. Column halts. Tharkum finds a feather glove, non-magical, drawn further out. Finds more bones and an interesting figure. Manages to control curiosity enough to come back and tell all. We approach figure in glade together. Limited precog: is there an enjoyable event in the glade? Seems to think so. Sunshine. Nice.

Lots of bones in glade. Big tree, dead. G.T.N. = giant brownwood. Figure nailed to it by spears. Dead. 8’ tall, has antlers, and a bearskin cloak. G.T.N. = forest guardian. Some fingers been hacked off. Elf troops were defending it. No attackers’ corpses. Phaeton considers resurrecting it. Tharkum starts pulling spears out. Why take it down? Sentimentality. Sigh.

Grendal flies looking for seeds, finds a bird’s nest with egg. Leaves it. Drum shoots his ballista with a rope attached up into the tree. Manages to miss Grendal. They decide to mail the bones home for further investigation. Looting uncovers three silver rings, a charm bracelet, and a pouch of silver. Guardian has hunting horn at its feet. D.A. = Blathgard Horn. What is the effect of picking it up? No answer. Effect of blowing the horn = summoning. Hilbourne does divination of horn; I do divination of horny. Lordlings have lunch and a tug-of-war to pass the time.

Blowing horn under the moon summons hunters once per month. Guardian is highly magical, not Avatar level, local power. Allies with elves. Protector of forest. Can we bring it back? Uncertain, is bound to forest. Others decide to bury it after all. Covered in holy water. Move on. Woods would have been nice when alive.

Cross a little bridge. Cave underneath. Find bones of troll, a cookpot, and an old sword. Move on. Find dead fairy rings. Get to swamp. Same trees as rest of forest, not right. Swamp must be more recent than trees. Someone wonders about the definition of a body of water. I say Aqualina. Watersnake pops up and swims off. D.A. = poisonous. Nobs want to kill the first living thing we’ve seen since getting here. Nothing apparent under water. Tally ho.

Drum and Hilbourne ride with the front. I go with the main body and Grendal, who’s got telepathy. Viola, Tharkum and Phaeton take the rear. Snake gets butchered. Grendal hears something think “awake.” Huge skeleton crocodile head rises up next to those in front. All nobs turn and run like hell. Sigh. Six 2’ spiders jump out of the croc’s jaws with a big mama spider that runs up a tree. Undead spiders, we guess.

D.A. croc = giant undead croc, non-sentient, lots more fatigue and endurance than Hilbourne. We close in. Why? Gung ho. Drum kills a spider. Grendal hears a sentient mind in anticipation. Picks up two beasties and a female. A caster. Spiders pounce on Drum. Croc roars, horses bolt. Fuck. Mine’s tied up well enough. Decide to retreat a bit. Hilbourne sees the female ghosty thing. Nice. D.A. = wraithwitch, sentient undead. College = Blackmage (Witch). Two of them. Sigh.

Croc moves toward Bedevere. Earth Tremor from Wraith Witch 1 gets Hilbourne. Drum in close anyway. Wall of Thorns goes up. Hmm. Another wraith witch appears. Croc ignores Bedevere. Spiders munch on Drum. Throw battleaxe at mama spider. Croc wanders into Earth Tremor and falls over. Two wraith witches move into Wall of Thorns, casting. Drum munches the spiders. Me and Viola get toppled by Earth Tremor. Sigh. Give up projection. Phantasm munches Wraith Witch 2. I get hellfired. Fuck me. No fatigue. Drum and Hilbourne get it at half. Wraith Witch 3 moves up to zap me. Hilbourne drops a counter under her. I miss my attack. Can’t see them.

Eight black smokey things burst up through croc. Busts it, starts a whirlpool. Ground drops out from underneath. Fuck! Try to get Drum between me and landing. Swamp coming down with us. Hit face first. Ow. Drum pulls me out. Lost battleaxe. Again. Drum’s one returns. Phaeton tries to pull Hilbourne out. Grendal can sense a whole lot of sentient minds. Sigh. They close in. I see a nasty-looking elf. Drow. Must be. See a warrior and a winged naga. Oh shit. Warrior has a nice whip. Mine.

Four elf/drow approaching. A plaguebearer lurches into view. A stalactite comes crashing down, misses everybody. Help Phaeton pulling out Hilbourne, who’s still stuck, in the hope he’ll heal me. A nasty priesty thing and a mud spirit thing appears. Drow throw a grenade, hit Drum, Grendal and me, then they attack Viola, who’s projected. Nasty. Plaguebearer is joined by three others. Shit. Naga wriggles through mud, followed by other strange folk.

Hilbourne gets free. Throw the axe at one of Viola’s attackers. Spec grev. Yay! Cut his sword hand off. Ha. Grendal runs at one of the others. Me, Drum, Tharkum, Grendal and Viola get quickened. Two huge dobermanns with glowing eyes and sulphurous fumes turn up to protect Viola. Friends in low places. Grendal guts a drow. Project, ready blowgun. Face plaguebearers. Hit. Go down. Phaeton hit, loses concentration. Sigh.

Two drow attack Drum. Naga flanking Bedevere. D.A./G.T.N. = plaguebearers from Nephilum (Hell). Phaeton fumbles a healing potion at me. Sigh. Gets hit. Stuns. Sigh. Hellhounds dealing to the one I maimed. It vanishes. Tharkum drowning in mud. Naga attacks Hilbourne. Minimal. Lucky. Hilbourne paralyses all the plaguebearers, including one that went off to attack the beastmaster and golem. Beastmaster kills that one. Phaeton puts a Waterbreathing on Tharkum, who’s still stuck. Viola flashes everyone. Gets a drow, the golem, some plaguebearers. Drum rips into the plaguebearers. Naga still missing Hilbourne. Phaeton finally heals me some. Have a battleaxe, retrieve blowgun.

Three drow flee. Priesty thing casts. Phaeton, Drum, Bedevere and Hilbourne get necrosis. Ow. Drum saves. Phantasm wallops naga. Priesty gets hit by his delayed necrosis backfire. Ha. Naga, golem and plaguebearers all disappear as priesty goes down. Viola tells the beastmaster to surrender or die. He surrenders. Drum pulls Tharkum out.

Beastmaster is human. Told to strip (out of bronze plate). He does. Go and search drow body. Find bronze ring with an Elvish “I” rune. Concealment magic. Also has Elvish chain, and robe etc. Find lost battleaxe. Am diseased/infected as per usual. Phaeton heals me some, Drum gives me a Water of Healing. Plaguebearers left their swords. Non-magical. Nasty. Made to infect. Grendal takes one. Ex-necromancer has a silver glove = magical handyman thing. Bedroom slippers = water repellant. Nipple ring = attraction. Tin facemask of vision enhancement. A book of necromancy (Out of the Bones, and Exploration of Dark Necromancy and Magick) and robes.

Beastmaster (Siegfried) speaks Volksprect. Hilbourne thinks he’s cute. Was manservant to necromancer. Was going to be made immortal. Ha. Thinks I’m a girl. Masters horses, gryphons and people. Check his whip. Colourful. Magic = suggestability. Drum offers 50sp for a month’s service. Viola suggests immortality in return for 100 years’ service. Bronze armour non-magical. Find him a normal whip. Says he’s good at it. Time to leave. Water still pouring down.

Viola flies up with Drum in dwarf form. They go to wagon, get more rope, tie it to a tree, drop it down. Some nobs have wandered off to go hunting. Sigh. Get Mage Current to help climb rope. Last bit is hard. Find horsie, take healing potion. Hilbourne can’t climb for shit. Dislocates her shoulder, falling. Phaeton on hand. Drum goes down for her. I go looking for nobs. Cautiously. Drum flies up with Hilbourne. Siegfried also stuck. Drum goes for Phaeton. Grendal and Tharkum help each other up. Viola and Drum haul Siegfried up the rest of the way. Hilbourne backfires summoning her doggy. Now she smells like wet dog. Haul up the loot.

Nobs straggling in. Sir Thomas pale. D.A. = short-lived sentient, human. Last major effect on his life force = draining. 1/10th of his life. Won’t say what he’s been playing with. Phaeton gets rough. Ha. Drum hauls him in. Viola tries to win the nobs over. They go talk to him. I listen in. They convince him not to consort with ethereal women. Got 20 nobs in. Who goes to look? I can see under water. Drum and Tharkum are rangers. Phaeton explodes undead. Hilbourne and Viola stay with the nobs. Phaeton and Viola swap amulets (hers only covers 10’). Go hunting.

See three undead ravens. Find some nobs hunting in circles. Getting late. Sir Philbrook and Sir Callum still missing at dusk. Tharkum locates Sir Philbrook’s face. Follow to briars. Can’t see him in there. Sigh. Drum gets stuck in. Nasty thorns. No E.S.P. Sigh. Find him impaled on thorns, dead. No muscles liquefied. Briar fertiliser. Retrieve body. Thorns left scratches on Drum’s armour. Gathered nobs unhappy. Go after Sir Callum. Find his head on a cairn. Severed by big teeth. Can’t find the rest of him, except a bit of his pinky. Sigh. One down.

Return to camp swotting vampire mosquitoes. They’re not interested in me. Ha. No nobs injured, all otherwise present. What were the two deceased doing when last seen? Hunting a beastie. They split off. I show the nobs the remains. Make a point about running off. Keep the body parts together. Sir Philbrook will take months to regenerate. Do all the families have the money to pay for it? D.A. a thorn = liquefying vine. How long to liquefy a person? Three hours. Natural venom? Yes. Share some Kastell with Bunter. Viola doesn’t trust Siegfried entirely. He does exercises, then retires. Should we scare them ourselves?

Day 8

I Purify. Yay. All present and accounted for. Hilbourne wants a rest day. Move out of the swamp and camp. Beastmaster’s whip is cool. Scintillating. Moving through swamp, see liquefying vine like gin traps under water. Throw wood in, it springs up. Nasty. Nobs get lesson.

See dark twisted tower with cloud above. Wood sign with a picture of a spyglass and skull and writing: “Beware! The Dark Tower!” Advertising. Get lunch. Divinate things. Whip = Suggestable, aka Hypnotise spell. Can resist. Chance of success depends how good you are with the whip. Hit to trigger, can hit magical entities. Can only use it Rank/3 times per day. Nipple ring = if visible gives +2 to beauty. Must be in the nipple for girlies, or a Prince Albert for men. Mask = Rank 12 See Invisible and Witchsight (as per spell). Slippers = walk on water. Need agility test depending on the roughness of the water; it can be slippery. Can’t take them under water, at all. “I” ring = invested Rank 16 invis, one shot. Fine Elven chain. Silver glove = handyman glove. Good for dancing.

Tower has five floors, top has red glow. Climbable black basalt. Arrow slits. Drum turns into a dwarf. Do Force Shield, Mindspeech, Telepathy. Ten minds in there. One on other side of door, six on top story, three on other levels. Mind on the door thinking about chess. Door = iron-bound oak, malevolent look. Mat at front. Nature of magic? No answer. Door magic? Telekinesis, not ward. College? Shaper. Password? No answer. Guess it’s a door opener.

Of the six minds at the top: #1’s pouring something carefully, #2’s planning for an invasion of witches, #3’s playing cards with #4, who’s winning, #5’s wanting to speed things up magical or alchemical, but things might have unusual growth, #6’s enjoying the view.

Tharkum bangs on the door. Door mind loses chess thought, then is surprised. Viewport opens. Tharkum jumps up for a better look. Something black and chitinous says, “We don’t want any.” Tharkum convinces him to reconsider. He thinks about it. Hopes we’re not Michealines. Another voice says hullo. Two minds behind door, two more behind them, cluster above repositioned. Tharkum introduces self, tries to get a tour for the nobs. “Is this a trick?” Master = Lambert. Tharkum says we could pay. Cluster minds think we’re bonkers. Three Silvers says the Master will blast us where we stand. Trying to keep out unsavoury types. Maybe a few at a time. Tharkum being friendly and thick. Doorguy uncertain. We could be assassins, but we look thick. Agrees. Get seven nobs. They’re tired already.

See someone on battlement. Spikey. Tell Grendal to get the nobs to leave their weapons behind. Send Hilbourne, Drum and me. So much for keeping out disreputable. Hilbourne tells the nobs not to attack the host etc. They were looking for a fight. They agree. Take seven calm ones.

Big thing opens door. Insectoid head, compound eyes, buff ogre torso. Two ogre arms, two scythy things. Golem. Animated construct. Grasshopper legs and normal legs. First room is kill room. Murder holes, chains, locks etc. Doorguy, Fresco, Dilbert and Freddy. Latter two playacting the use of the equipment. Lambert designed the tower. Doorguy knows siege design, is an engineer. Tower is about two years old. Well used.

Get the guided tour. Spiral stairs. Second floor = Master’s personal chambers. Sense three minds, no entry. Third floor = staff and kitchen, common room, all beds big. Ask Doorguy what he’s paid. Life. Fair enough. Fourth floor = two gorgeous cleaning maids: one dark sultry type, one thin English rose type. Constructs. Nice. Formal meeting chamber and trophy room. Spikey plate and Greek-style suits of armour, carpet, big bear skull. Why didn’t the master use that? He’s had it for some time, significance from youth. Hilbourne asks if anything’s for sale. Master works for others. Doesn’t make servants for others, though. Weapons around. Hilbourne says bugger that, let’s see the view. Drum looks at weapons. Most standard, four Rank 6 or above.

Fifth floor = laboratory. Vats, chemicals. Mad scientist. Old guy, black robe etc. Growing golems. Displayed dead headless gryphon on table. D.A. Lambert = greater undead. G.T.N. lytch. College = necromancer. Skill = taxidermy. Is he psychotic? No. Two assistants, each with four Elvish arms and two halfling, and eyes in the back of their heads. Look healthy. Admire the lab and alchemy. Nice needles. Lambert’s employers dropped off gryphon. Going to add hellhound, gargoyle and basilisk. Gets paid in something interesting to undead (unspecified). Who are the employers? Confidential, but mutual. Signs outside are to keep Michealines away. Assistants used to be Michealines. Could possibly do a deal for body bits. He and assistants will join us for feast.

Outside, Grendal sees a shadowy figure slip into the tower. Tells me. I mention it to Doorguy. Roof: gargoyle man, morningstar tail etc. George. Minarets for show, red glow to scare morons. View fantastic. See stormcloud over hill in distance. Small town, two manoeuvring groups.

Going back down, see the shadowy figure. Buff, carrying a thin person who looks like the drow we saw earlier. Really good sneak. D.A. = animate construct. Rank Assassin = 9. Tell him we killed the drow. Ha. Tour the next three groups. See figure transporting more drow bodies up the tower. Good work. Invite him for a drink later.

Afternoon tea with Master Lambert, George, Doorguy, handmaidens, lab wretches and the three from the bedroom. Master Lambert stopped by the undead barrier, but not seriously hindered; passes through. The shadowy one is a collector. Drow. Malbar. Master Lambert didn’t make him. Ask if he can get him in. Tharkum gives Master Lambert a keg of preserving. Doorguy comes back with Malbar. In his perfect body. Sigh. Give Malbar some Kastell. Handmaidens = Grace and Sin. Tell Viola that Malbar does not belong to Master Lambert. Hoping she’ll lure him off.

Master Lambert has cold store, full of drow, guarded by big door to distract Michealines. Likes to leave his constructs sentient and biological, as much as possible. Helps them learn to look after themselves. Malbar has soul. Is here to clean out drow. Thinking of setting up a religion-based office in Seagate. Offer my help. Viola tries to lure him in. Gives him a scented hanky with her address. Drum returns to giant size. Do small talk. Hilbourne gets jumpy and wants to leave before dark. Arrange to send body parts to Master Lambert. Move off. Try to find a good defendable campsite. Fail. Sigh.

2am watch. Drum points out a nob running into the darkness. I follow. Drum wakes others. He’s pulling ahead. I quit, pull back. See Drum and Viola on horse. Pull everyone back. It’s the one that got snacked on, Sir Thomas. Reckon he’s dead, we’re not going to be next. Tharkum wants to go after him. Locate. They don’t listen to me. Tharkum, Hilbourne and her glowing doggy, and Grendal (given Witchsight) go off after him. Sigh. Me and Drum think it’s a bad idea. They find a barrow mound, no minds. Two sentient emotional minds near barrow. Having sex. Or something similar. Tharkum et al return. He’ll come back undead. Too dangerous, he’ll lure out others. Viola tells them all the story of the silly lord who was seduced by the dark side.

Day 9

Tharkum, Viola, Grendal and Phaeton all want to rescue him. Grendal mentions barrow loot and gets them all interested. They want to bring the nobs too. Sigh. I fight against it. Nob is bait for a trap. Fuckwits. “We’ll be fine,” says Hilbourne.

Nobs get up late, and we all troop off to the barrow. Put Water of Healing in the beltpouch. Telepathy shows one mind, wandering. Locate shows Sir Thomas in barrow. Empathy shows he is content. He comes out looking ruffled, carrying a bundle. Aura hasn’t changed. Believes the lady is reposing inside. Bundle is his cloak over a huge bronze helm and sword. See something coming up behind him. Gigantic entity in bronze armour rising out of the barrow entrance. Miss D.A. Tell Sir Thomas to run. Duh. Project and move, as some of the others get shadowform. Viola rushes into Phaeton’s holy light area. Sigh.

Drum charges giant, hits. Giant grapples Drum, but he slips it with his shadow phase thing. Phantasm attacks it. Giant munches it and sends Sir Thomas flying. Sword nearly lands on me. Fuck. It seems to be quickened. I can see the skeleton; everyone else sees the not-quite-there flesh. Viola picks up Sir Thomas. Got a broken jaw. Giant walks over Drum into light, towards rest of party. D.A. = titanic spirit guardian. No college. Throw battleaxe. It scrapes. Phaeton backfires. Saves. Hilbourne mounts up. Wonderful. They’ll leave me behind.

It tramples through Phaeton, towards lordlings. Ow. Swots Grendal. Drum quickens everyone but Tharkum. Goody. Phantasm dies. I grab sword and run for barrow. Tharkum’s silvered weapon doesn’t seem to hurt it. It turns around and kills Phaeton. Wow. Also hurts Tharkum, who seems to be having a panic attack. Then attacks Hilbourne and Bedevere. I lob the sword into the barrow. Drum charges. Non-magical weapon does seem to hurt it, though. Glaive gets stuck in its ribs. I run for the helm. Hilbourne runs. Sigh. Triple phantasm. Drum gets glaive free. Giant kills phantasm. Waps Drum. Runs between me and barrow. Oh shit! Tear past, throw helm into barrow. Flank giant. Tharkum checks on nobs. Hilbourne keeps running. Phantasm attacks. Draconic flame comes from sky and zaps it. Probably Phaeton’s pact. It’s also paralysed. Goody. Climb up its ribs and try to decapitate it. Lop off its secondary arm. It falls over. I allow image to join as I ride it down. Ha.

Others want to raid barrow. Stupid. Won’t believe me that wraith woman is inside. Tharkum looks at helm. Moveable castle. Ha. Further in find ancient titan skeleton lying in state. Garb, weapons, dog etc. Seven niches, ornate bronze armour in each, bar one. Like the one that attacked us. Fuck me. D.A. sword = magic, negotiation. Has I.T.N. Trying to get party to think. They say they’re putting things back. Wouldn’t rob a grave, after all. Fuck me. Look for witch. Find disturbed spot. Swap eyes. Throw up in corner. Go round up nobs. Grendal sends Phaeton’s carcass back to the guild. 2/3 of the nobs are missing, again. Crack whip. Can’t see any. Hilbourne comes out and does “come to me” calls on a hunting horn. Some come back. Have 15.

Rangers go looking. I set up camp. Stupid nobs. Lost all the horses bar five, and Viola’s and Hilbourne’s. Shit. My horse gone with all my gear. Dragonflames came from nobs, Sir Tim, one of the disguised ladies. Tharkum saw “him” casting while running. By end of the afternoon, still missing two nobs. Can’t locate them. Sir Thomas regains consciousness. Suggest torturing him to death, loudly. Nobs disagree. Fuckwits won’t get the point about the risk. Manacle Sir Thomas to the cart overnight. Meanwhile, Phaeton gets resurrected, recuperates, gets wings and Corruscate, and flies back to us.

Day 10

Party decide to hunt while waiting for Phaeton. Some small undead. Sigh. Still want to torture Sir Thomas to death. Tim only vaguely associated with nob groups. Was careful while casting; no nobs noticed. Drum finds a death badger. Nobs bash it to bits. Grendal borrows Viola’s flying belt to look for horses. Finds 16. Comes back, tells us. Me, Hilbourne and Bedevere go to pick them up. Estimate two hours out, three back. Take an amulet. Go like hell. Find horses. Bedevere leads us back. Takes five hours back, and we lost two on the way. Fourteen recovered, one’s mine. Lost some stuff, replace most of it from the cart.

Day 11

Phaeton comes in at lunchtime. Has picked up some stuff off Aqualina for Drum and Grendal. Fixes Sir Thomas without anaesthetic. Still have him manacled. Move out. Up valleys to high crest of verdant valley. See a big forest a long way to our left, over a wasteland. Right goes to rocky ground and mesa. Ahead is huge open valley with lots of streams leading to a river. See a walled town on the river (about 7 miles away). Smoke coming from the chimneys. Cathedral, keep, tilled fields, peasants (humanoid, clothes, hair), guards (ditto), pennants (green with white charge), 25’ walls, regular towers. Tracks lead to a path.

Move in. Find man wearing a hat with a big feather, carrying a lute, under a tree. D.A. = short-lived sentient, human, no college. I fade back, hide image. He hopes town is Kithdwalin, a living-village haven. Was travelling with others, but decided to spend some time alone because they were so negative. Lost a lot of companions. Used to live here. Hasn’t heard the term “Dark Circle” before. Not controlled or possessed. Party spills their guts to him. He speaks nice, after all. He = Fusional. Intros all round. Sigh.

Can go to town and petition to be a member. Will be protected by the “Lords of the Land,” rulers of Kithdwalin. Living? He doesn’t know. Tharkum does a jam with him. I shut it out; no bardic charm on me. Offer horse to Tim. Baronette Childer notices. See another group about 1 mile ahead. Raggedy peasants. No obvious undead. Some life drained. Sample shows no control/compulsion. Reckon we should let the peasants go first.

Approaching with caution. Could it be an illusion? Does it all sum up? What’s keeping the undead out? How do the walls help? Bedevere thinks it’s not an illusion. D.A. local peasants: no magical compulsion or control. Hilbourne declares we’re going in first. Fuck. Peasants don’t trust Phaeton to heal them. Ha.

Big gates, cold iron-bound oak. Brand new. Top-class siege warfare stuff. Running-water moat, drawbridge. On bedrock. Baffling. Mantlet, murderholes, battlementing etc. About 1000 houses, guess 7–10,000 people. 1000-strong garrison could hold off 10,000-strong army. Official comes out. Green velvet tunic with white crescent moon. Rod of office. Telepathy shows peasants, not official. Closer look shows red eyes, pointy teeth. Taps staff and 30 wraiths float up, encircling us. I can only see their pikes. Sigh. I’m told they have stylish Corinthian helmets and armour.

Hilbourne asks if there is a good inn. Official says the Master will put us up, if he makes us welcome. Amgore the Lytch King. Pageboy summoned to show us to Master. See town. Picturesque, quaint. Clean. Boy is short-lived sentient, human, about 7¾. Length of time since he was drained? No answer. Courtier? No rank. Peasants behind us stopped, talking. Not captured like us. Boy shows the way. Four wraiths “escort” us. I look for escape. Wraiths showing signs of individuality. Lob a pebble at Viola’s horse’s rump. Good shot. Take advantage of it jumping in the air to dive behind a roadside cart. Tent falls off our cart, exposing Phaeton, who’s trying to hide. Drum throws tent back on. I get away. Shadow party. Bedevere slips out too.

Nice, charming town. Healthy prosperous villagers. Silt layer suggests it’s been flooded at one point or another, regularly. Could be way to clean streets. Town is Kithdwalin. Lots of it is still empty of people. Keep has paved court and trees, not many people around. Castle is older than town. Good siege stuff. Defence against airborne as well: spiky roofs, arrowslit windows. Gates winched open.

Great hall. Mezzanine killzone 20’ up. Forty wraithknights in hall. Relaxed, not elite guards. Doors close with me outside, as others go forward. Spend my time scouting the place, finding front doors, back doors and two postern gates, and watching comings and goings.

Others see group of about 40 nobs up the end of the hall, being served food and drink by green-and-white tabarded servitors. Nobs’ garb somewhat worn; maybe they don’t have any ranked seamstresses yet. Throne is well made, but a bit battered. Amgore is tall, dark and handsome, black hair, blue eyes and a crown. D.A. of one of the nobs = sentient undead, vampire. Less than three years vamped, closer to three months.

Phaeton motioned out of cart by wraith, then our nobs and party sent forward to the court. Servants left with cart. Wraiths are obviously chatting, but words can’t be heard. Thirty vamp nobs, mostly male. King talking to 18-year-old boy, with upset-looking older woman standing by. Vamps interested in our lot. A bunch of nobles accompanied by hard-assed killer types. Not a petty court. Feels purposeful. D.A. king = sentient greater undead, lytch lord. College = Mind.

Our nobs relaxed. Their environment, after all. Treated with general courtesy. Wraiths escort 18-year-old out. Woman looks relieved. Telepathy shows he’s upset, panicky; she’s uncomfortable. King’s been generous/caring. King greets our lot, introduces self. Hilbourne intends to stay in town a couple of days. Amgore offers hospitality of castle. Says land is in conflict. Forces amassing in area. Most powerful in Dark Circle having a spat, jockeying for position. Why are we here? Drum says we’re on safari. Courtiers register disbelief. Amgore thinks we’ve done okay to get them this far. Right to be dubious, given how easily we were got into the present situation.

Are we professional guides? At the moment. Tharkum describes himself as a powerful wizard. Viola says she does anything (too true). Drum says he’s a warrior of skill. Amgore thinks we may have difficulty leaving the area because of the other armies. Says we can stay as guests. There’s a medallion naming them friends of the city if they go out, so the guards know. Reckons he can assist us out. Local calm not lasting. Religious zealots (Michealines) been charging around as well. Made up their own refugee camp. Town sympathises with the refugees. Send out skeletons loaded with supplies for the Michealines to “capture.” Viola suggests poisoning them. No sympathy for the Michealines at all. Why don’t we bring their live refugees here? Sigh.

Tharkum asks if they can have some medallions now. Amgore says to stay in the guest quarters and hall. It’s a military state, peace is fragile. Manages to avoid pissing off the two major players by providing supplies. Hilbourne reckons we should set up a trade route to Kithdwalin. Amgore suggests waiting a few years for a more stable political situation. Long-term plans for four satellite towns. Plenty of supplies for workforce, described as large and very loyal. Introduced to Samuel (vamp), bureaucracy of valley, and Geoffories, chief of servitors. Told to watch for security. Tharkum asks for bathhouse. Yes. Go up tower, to guest quarters. They go. Ten suites, office and ablutions. Not very decorated. Double beds. Viola likes Amgore. Surprise, surprise. Tharkum is cautious. Better late than never. Watch for peckishness. Phaeton thinks we’re better off with Michealines. But they won’t like his pact.

Hilbourne notices I’m missing. Suddenly considers mind spells. Too late. Telepathy shows alert wraith minds outside door. Decide to spend night and leave. Hilbourne ritually speaks to Bedevere. Goes to him in spirit form. He hasn’t seen me. She sends him looking for me, somewhere around the keep. Message is to tell me all’s okay, coming out tomorrow, and I’m to hang out with Bedevere. Grendal sends a note to guild sec, just in case: if they don’t hear from us by tomorrow night, send a rescue party. Our nobs bathing, talking, sending servants for all sorts of things. Primping. Phaeton falls asleep. Hilbourne tells the nobs not to accept any advances. Might end up dead. Yes, mum. Considers hiring live entertainment.

Meanwhile, I see Bedevere. Beckon him over with my image. He gives me message: “They okay ’til tomorrow.” Decide to rescue them now; he’s keen to help. He can sniff them out, but how to get him in? Steal handcart and linens. Bury Bedevere under linen, disguise self as peasant. Prep weapons, start wheeling to castle. Get to servant’s entrance. Door closed, but another servant opens it as I get there. Follow them in. Miss what they say to the lady behind the door. Dressed in household livery. D.A. = human. What does she do? Mil Sci. Uh huh. Logistics, planning, leading troops etc. Gets Carol to escort me (Paul) to linens. I follow.

Get to laundry/sewing circle. Jump image into hot dye vat, and use distraction to get me and Bedevere out. They think I’ve dissolved in there. Go upstairs. Normal mana. Someone behind me, sounds noble. I hurry up. Hear someone puffing downstairs. Head that way. Someone in household livery. Say I’ve been walking the dog for the lady. He shows me the way, locking doors behind us. Party take a moment to realise who the peasant is. Then get rid of servant. They don’t want rescuing. Rooms have one door, arrow slits only to five stories up. Walls of unmortared dressed brick. Tell others to hang cloak out, change colour if they need rescuing. Steal some sandwiches, get escorted out, with Bedevere. Suspiciously easy. Go to roofs to see their window. Can’t. Change eyes. Barf. Sigh. Red. Go on watch, prepared. I think they let me through. Why was that servant running, then not rushed enough to not lead me? Move roofs, as tricky as possible trailing a dog.

They have a nice dinner. Sigh. Phaeton makes some excuse. Watch as patrols move through castle, see guardians on castle roofs. One hour after dark, about 5000 skeletons move out with tools and overseers. Building. Peasants obviously used to them.

Meanwhile, 120 local nobs come to rub shoulders with ours. Only six of theirs still living. All like to eat. Singing, dancing, alcohol etc. Nobs all over the place. Viola likes the pretty vampires. They like her pretty dress. Even the party gets drawn off singly. Viola first. Sigh. Hilbourne finds an earnest live young man. Engineer. Tharkum gets dwarven ale. Even Phaeton decides to join the party on the fringes. Viola makes nine new acquaintances. Sigh. My night was miserable. Cold. Streets flooded out about midnight = cleaning.

Day 12

They’re all happy, I’m fucked after watching all night. Rulers of town were all noble, became undead, adapted. Different attitude to “normal.” Becoming a wraithknight is a good career move for the peasantry, about 500 so far. Medium-level undead. Trying to build to a safe level. Illegal to turn someone against their will. Won’t talk about their deity, but mention hoping to negotiate with “lower power” to save them if the Dark Circle falls. Thinks it’s unlikely that the “living ones” will win. King has councillors working on projects.

Hilbourne and Grendal check out the nobs and servants. Five nobs missing. All present okay. Grendal sends message to guild sec: all okay. Tharkum locates a missing nob. Sends a house servant out to fetch them. Nobs plotting amongst themselves. Grendal checks it out. They’re thinking about staying. Yes or no? Ringleader types want to go, except Childer. They’ve got more of a chance to get a life, after all. Quiet ones have nothing to go back to.

Hilbourne tries to convince them not to stay. Suggests they join the guild. Hilarity. They want power. Lots of it. About 10 seem convinced to stay. Still missing two nobs. Viola goes looking for king. Grendal tries to “convince” Childer he wants to go. Within the day, with the others. Missing two return. Manages to “convince” five more to go with us. Viola gained a favour from her pact for all the “friends” she made. Hilbourne tries to herd them out, loses five on the way, including Sir Thomas. Down to 21 nobs.

I see them appear. They look tired. About midday. Cathedral bell rings. Peasants go indoors, wraiths come out. I scramble for party. Viola flies up. Two armies about five miles away. Some combat between them. In the direction we want to go. About 3000 per side. Experienced. Vampires doing communications in city. Wraith dragon goes over. Not ours. Nobs fucked with running by the time we get to the gate. Gates already closed, peasants being hoisted in in a basket. See wraiths with 10’ bows. Armies seem more interested in each other than us. Outriders around though. Fast and manoeuvrable. We’re a decent-sized slow-moving group.

I say don’t run. Stay until they disperse. Wailing from mountains, approaching. Five banshees pass over. Nasty. Hilbourne decides to run. Fuck! Grendal’s plan: make a boat, Mage Current down. Will have to leave horses and cart behind. Hilbourne says mountains, where the banshees came from. River about 1–2 miles from armies. Giant ghoul attacks walls. Skewered by wraith arrows. Youth climbs down wall and runs off. Toast. Comes back with arrows. Go up river? Appears dammed downstream. Lots of flashy magic. Air battle as well. River is now still water. Hmm.

Castle servant appears. King requests audience before we leave. Hilbourne handsmacked for not saying goodbye. She still wants to go. Phaeton sees a school of ghost sharks swimming over. Party bickering over whether to see king / run / hide. I’m for hiding behind 7000 peasants. I can’t see sharks. Hilbourne freaks out. Grendal and Drum rally her. Fuckwits.

Something heavy approaching gate. Throws some luckless peasant trapped outside well over the wall to inside. Remainder desperate to get in. Four per basket now. Go up to look over. Fifty ghouls attacking a 100’ deadwood ent. Sentient battering ram. Drum hurts it. Moat connects to river. How would we stop anything attacking us if we’re floating down the river? Another summons from king. I ask to be left behind to talk to king while others swim for it. They decide to accompany me. Pack nobs up, go back. I hide amongst nobles.

King offers us solutions:

Smuggle out underwater upstream to hills to passage beneath mountains, to coast.

Stay until it blows over.

They’re worried, but armies aren’t actual enemies. He isn’t a threat. Technically, everyone is allies, just sorting out pecking order. Can’t stay in castle. He’s happy with new recruits. Viola offers our services in return. Best for him if we go. Sir Cartwright to meet us at dock, has waterproofed map. We leave.

Instructions: walk about four hours upstream with Mage Current. Map is accurate, but a bit confusing in tunnel. Some creatures about, but not interested in wraiths, so not noted. Won’t do Waterbreathing on Viola’s horsie. She upset, gifts it to king. Load Drum with saddlebags. In we go. I hate water.

Four hours up, get out. Been here before. Oh shit! The “cave” is the barrow. Note on map says watch the first step. So we check it. Go in stepping over first step. Bedevere lights up. Guardian helmets breathing mist. Drum becomes a dwarf. Order = Tharkum, Viola and Grendal at back, nobs in middle with Phaeton and me, Drum, Hilbourne and Bedevere in front. Natural cave. Map good. I’m doing well. Others get squashed a bit. Go in about 1/3, time to stop. Rangers find a dry spot with a conical pile of cree in the middle. Tharkum reckons we can’t be trapped and drowned. Consider wards, illusory terrain. Put up string and bells, 60’ diameter. Two ways out except crack above. Check it out. Go up 200’, still no end. Go back, leaving darts behind. Viola fails illusory terrain three times. Quits.

Day 13

We move out. Viola says illusions is tough. Nobs giggle. Party chats along. Couple nobs have to be rescued from underground streams, etc. Strenuous work. Go until nobs start stumbling. Eight hours.

Day 14

See a cave mouth that looks like jaws. Someone behind it, silhouetted by faint glow. Has red cape and armour. Something odd about its gait. Bedevere thinks it’s dead. D.A. = formally living. G.T.N. human body. What makes this body move? No answer. Not magic or intrinsic. Probably mechanical, a diversion.

We check the jaws. No aura. Mud quite high. Could be hiding something. Big open area beyond. T.K. shows three patient minds. Bored. About 50’ away, up, both sides. Same plane as entrance. E.S.P. shows six things. Alert them to our presence? Send image forward. Change eyes. Ugh. Ready weapons. Step through. Mind goes “yum.” Six creatures stuck to wall. Large cockroaches. One has long pink proboscis going to top of soldier’s head. Six shuriken things go through me.

Cavern is huge, roof about a mile up, covered in huge stalactites, covered in turn by glowing stuff, lots of colours. Beach leading to lake about 50’ away. Glowing fish in water. Stagger image toward beach, land it in front of cave mouth. Four probosces snap into image. Get mud, not happy. Taunt them through image. Ooo. Good reaction. D.A. = short-lived non-sentient. G.T.N. = hunter in the darkness. Range of proboscis attack = 60’ max.

Phantasm hits one, hurts it before getting popped. It decides to move, dies. Others eat it. Long mouths on end of proboscis, takes a pulse to swallow. Sneak up. They’re well hidden. Image taunts, draws fire, shoot blowdart. Hit. It dies. Goody. Miss the next two, too fast. Others rest. Grendal gets fatigue back, gives me a control stick. I take position. Third phantasm takes it out. Get one of them under control. Ha. Get it to attack the one not on T.K. It dies eventually. Fail to get the damaged one under control. Get the other, on T.K. Get it to finish off the damaged one, but it fails. Sigh. One damaged one left.

Invis Drum. He goes through. It senses him, throws shuriken. I follow, throw axe. Miss. Drum misses. It makes a proboscis shot at Drum. Ow. Drum tries to move out of range. Throw. Miss. Hit. It runs away, into crevasse.

Check out lake. Glowy fish. See nothing big and nasty. Beach seems to go all the way around. Map says “Marker Stone: Sword.” Probably the way out. Childer looting the bait body. Others outraged. Suggest fishing trip. Red cloak is magical = inspirational magnificence effect. Not trapped, warded or cursed. Elven longsword. Childer has the rest. Find a pouch of sparkly dust. Formerly living. G.T.N. fairy. Effect = forgetfulness. Twelve fairies’ worth. Ha. Permanent effect.

Check Childer out. Lots of pouches of little bits of loot. Well well. He’s been at it for a while. Walk around lake. Any time things get tight I slip some of Childer’s pouches. Others enjoy view. Find sword-shaped stone, hole in wall. Go through.

Day 15

Get 2500sp worth of stuff off Childer.

Get out of the cave at sunset.

Day 16

Get to coast on raft made by Grendal, and powered by Mage Current. Make rendezvous with Jolly Lucky with 21 nobles with improved attitudes in tow. Ship crew impressed, give us good food.

Day 20

Get to floating castle. Delouse. Sleep in fine rooms.

Day 21

Back to Seagate, through portal.

69 days to guild meeting. I go for handyman glove and dusted fairies. Give Drum his axe back.