Chapter 21: Pact With The Devil

[Inferno]

The Haunted Wood, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Five. Dawn. Wednesday, November 16th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy






In the haunted wood, unnatural wolves offer their friendship to the lost, forsaken heroes, at a terrible price. When the heroes will not see reason, the wolves begin to withdraw, knowing it's only a matter of time before the doomed wretches will come to their senses.

Telkis laments that they would be better off dead. Mouser is torn by the wolves' dark proposal, but neither moves nor speaks. Brevos starts to scale the tallest nearby tree, determinedly working to find their way out of here.

Club in hand, Hothhil races between the retreating wolves and his companions, addressing Bo, Grey and Pyotr. "Hope is not lost yet, and we have work yet to do. Remember your promise to help the girl!"

Pyotr stands for a moment, his eyes darting from his companions to the pack and back again. He trembles. A stray tear runs down his acne-scarred cheek. "I- I am sorry. I know I promised to help the girl- and the people of that village. But I can't.... I can't even help myself. Good luck, friends....." The half-orc warrior turns away from the party, still shaking, and runs off into the mists, following his new pack. "Wait! I am coming!"

"Pyotr, what are you doing?!" Rudolf cries in alarm. "Come back!!!"

Suddenly, Urdur lunges forward and weaves a cunning spell of mental domination, targeting the great black wolf of the pack! (W1) Hearing the gnome's advance, the large beast wheels and sees Urdur chanting and moving his hands in patterns arcane and hypnotic.



The black wolf shows its wicked fangs and barks something in the language of wolves, and the pack readies to attack!
Then it snarls viciously in the tongue of Men: "Cheap conjurer of tricks! Release me now or I shalt tear out thy throat!"

Urdur states in a voice calm and soothing: "We are your dear friends and packmates. You should answer our queries directly, for the good of the pack."

The great black wolf suddenly falls still, but its eyes are wild with impotent, murderous fury.



Urdur says: "Where is the black altar in the wood?"

Through clenched fangs, against its ferocious will, the wolf growls: "One day to the southeast, for thou."

Urdur asks, "Where is the human village?"

"Which one?" snarls the wolf with malice. "Vicar's Head is to the southwest, almost two days hence for thy ilk.
"The Ashblood Colony is due south. It might take thee nearly three days."

Urdur asks, "Do any members of the pack reside within the Ashblood Colony, hidden as humans?"

"Yes," growls the wolf.

Bo rushes forward and shouts: "Can you tell me more about this Pact?"

"Yes," snarls the wolf, guttural and low enough for only Urdur to hear. "It shalt possess thee and damn thee, mind, body and soul, for all eternity."

Then suddenly, wolves descend upon Urdur without mercy!



Two beasts (W3, W4) pounce upon the valiant gnome and rip his mortal flesh asunder! Urdur falls in a gruesome spray of crimson (12 hp damage!), his lifeblood flowing from him, feeding the ravenous earth.

Instantly, the trance is broken and the black wolf barks savagely to the pack!


Actions?!


Map:



Area Map, based on Wolf's answers:

Green "?" might be the heroes' current location. Red "X" is thought to be the location of the Lost Temple of Evil.


Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):

Wolves surprised? (1-2): [1d6] = 5 Wolves are not surprised by Urdur's attack, so PC's don't get a surprise round of combat. But given that Urdur's attack is initiating the combat, and that it's a 1 segment spell, I'll rule Urdur can cast it, and then we'll commence with regular combat initiative. Because the wolves are not surprised, they may communicate throughout.
PC movement actions will precede Urdur's casting action as per normal combat initiative.
Urdur moves 1" (30 feet outdoors) before casting, to move within range of the spell, and...
Wolf saves vs Spells: [1d20] = 14 Alpha wolf (W1) fails. Urdur's suggestion is that he should answer the party's questions for the duration of the spell, 4 rounds.
Now we go into a regular combat round...
Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 2, Monsters: [1d6] = 4 Wolves win.
Wolf attacks Urdur: [1d20] = 1, damage: [2d4] = 4 Crit fumble for W2!
Crit fumble result: [1d8] = 1 "Stumble: Move 1 hex or square in a random direction."
W2 crit fumble direction. North is '1', then clockwise: [1d8] = 6 Stumbles SW.
Second wolf attacks Urdur: [1d20] = 9, damage: [2d4] = 4 W3 hits for 4hp.
Another wolf charges forward and attacks Urdur: [1d20] = 7, damage: [2d4] = 8 W4 hits due to +2 from charge. 8hp damage.
Wolves have had their actions this round. Now it's the heroes' turn, if they wish to continue with combat.

PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 12/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 9/15, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Hothhil Thornbush, Elven Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 20/20
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 18/22, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 20/30, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 7/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 16/32
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: -6/9, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl and 1/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• None currently.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[Rusty Tincanne]

redacted per Inferno's post in OOC

Hothhil races farther forward, screaming at the Alpha and the pack, Hold! Leave the gnome be. If I am to become part f your Pact, it will not be as a servant to you.He stares at the Alpha. I challenge you for the right to lead this pack! Hothhil races to bludgeon the Alpha into submission.

Club [1d20] = 10, [1d4+4] = 3+4 = 7, [1d6+1] = 3+1 = 4
I couldn't remember the dmg for a club, so I typed in both, but that should have been 1d4+1 = 5.

Hothhil races forward, swinging his club wildly at the pair that had ravaged Urdur. Seeing them breaking away, he spits in their direction while stooping to stabilize the gnome.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur bleeds from his many wounds, inches from death.

His spirit once again roams the Astral plane, and once again encounters the shade of his beloved hound, Mittens.

The hound barks something that sounds suspiciously like, Wow, that was quick.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric offers no opposition to the wolves. Should we try traveling back to the altar? We may be able to regain our equipment. Otherwise, it appears our options are return to Vicar's Head or go back to Ashblood Colony having failed to find the girl. Knowing there are werewolves hidden among the villagers, we may be able to ferret them out. If the wolves leave the party alone, she will convert a second level spell slot into two first level healing spells and cast Cure Light Wounds upon Urdur.

Cure Light Wounds [1d8] = 7

[ravenn4544]

Mouser searches for a branch that will serve as a club as they need to defend their lives - again.

[wolfpack]

Brevos will climb back down

Now that we know the direction I still believe we need to find the altar, recover our things, and destroy the altar. From there we can head back to the village.

The other option is to split into 2 groups, 1 head back to the altar, 1 back to the vicors head to recover the scrolls that may have some hint of our curse.

Brevos will also look for something to use as a club

[ChubbyPixie]

As a seasoned fighter, Telkis knows that without their equipment they have no chance of defeating the wolves in a fight. He watches Urdur go down with a peculiar sense of hopeless detachment, then mechanically searches for a suitable, clublike branch. He won’t attack outright, but he won’t just stand there and be attacked, either.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhil is relieved when the wolves are gone, and Urdur is standing again. He agrees with Brevos and Telkis about the need to retrieve their belongings before doing anything else. He reminds the group of the warped treeants. They might defend the altar, and if it is not the source of all this evil, perhaps we should leave it be. He is open to either option though.

As to the Ashblood Colony, he is against returning. Any cultists are likely to know our souls are now tainted. The colony could turn on us, leading to senseless deaths. We are this far already, let's continue to the source.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo looks like he is about to burst after seeing the wolves attack again. He sneers and snarls at the leader from a distance, but seems frustrated when they turn to leave.

"Let them go! We got the information we seek. The sooner we find that damned alter and retrieve our things, the sooner we can get back to the task at hand. Finding this trail into the den of evil that corrupts this place and putting an end to it once and for all!!!"

The druid looks around for a long walking stick that he might use as a staff before looking for a safe route towards the southeast.

[rredmond]

"Dammit Pyotr," Rudolph screams impotently. He makes a move to go help Urdur, but is relieved when the priestess makes it there first. "I care not about the cursed altar," he says with a quiet sigh as he gathers up all the stones suitable for throwing that he can, "but that's the most likely spot where are things are, and it's closest anyway. So that's where we should head. Perhaps the trees will allow us to regain our things, if we make no moves toward the altar, then we can plan from there. I have a month or so before I lose them again." The hobbit sounds grim and spirit weary, but resolute and undaunted.

Can I find any stones that are usable? They'll be as useful as clubs against trees, but maybe we'll find some gasoline on the way

[Inferno]

The Haunted Wood, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Five. Dawn. Wednesday, November 16th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy






The great black wolf says to the lifeless form of Urdur, "Well done, stripling. Soon thy devious cunning and treachery shall be ours... forever."

Then the unnatural wolves of the haunted wood withdraw with their prize, the immortal soul of Pyotr Whitetip.

"Dammit Pyotr!" cries Rudolf in shock and sorrow. The little hobbit gathers stones with which to defend himself, should the pack return. Others crack off branches to make clubs or walking sticks.

Hothhil binds Urdur's many wounds. Ingrid joins him and prays reverently that she may heal the brave gnome's injuries. (+7 to hp)

Miraculously, Urdur awakens again. It is as the great wolf said. He could never die now.

The weary heroes help up their fallen comrade and begin to discuss their next move.


Actions?!


Area Map:

Green "?" might be the heroes' current location. Red "X" is thought to be the location of the Lost Temple of Evil.





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 12/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 9/15, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Hothhil Thornbush, Elven Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 20/20
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 18/22, Spells: 4/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 20/30, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 7/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 16/32
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 1/9, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl and 1/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• None currently.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[wolfpack]

Holding his club tight Brevos will lead the way through the wilderness southeast towards the altar.

I plan to go towards the altar, those who wish to join me can follow. If others plan to go another direction lets make a plan to meet up in 2 days time.

[rredmond]

Making a quick makeshift pouch from ripped clothing, Rudolph gathers as many throwing rocks that he can carry... and one flat one for good luck. And traipses after the ranger, dropping to somewhere near the front of the middle of the pack. Close enough to the front rank to offer his skills when needed, but not close enough to be stupid.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

As they start out, the cleric asks the experienced woodsmen, Should we mark the trees or do something to make it easier to find our way back here? Will you be able to find our way without coming back here?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhil heads to the front of the party with Brevos, club in hand. He encourages the others to stay together and move as quickly as possible towards the last known location of their belongings. Hopefully nothing has taken it, or eaten our food. I'd like to get this taste out of my mouth. Long Bo, please tell me if you see any mint growing out here.

[wolfpack]

Ingrid Esthof

As they start out, the cleric asks the experienced woodsmen, Should we mark the trees or do something to make it easier to find our way back here? Will you be able to find our way without coming back here?

No reason to return to this exact spot and now that we know the direction or the shrine, village, and settlement we can navigate using the sun and moon.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur joins the others, heading back towards the black altar.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo

The usually calm druid snaps back slightly after Hothhils request.

"There are far more important things than your breath for me to consider out here, master elf. Most importantly, my mistletoe!"

The lanky human strides alongside the others as they begin their day long march through the forest.

"But if do spot any, you will be the second to know, as long as you tell me if you see any oak leaves or acorns lying around."

The druid tries not to think about what is happening with the half-orc as they travel, wondering if he is any better off than the group. He keeps a sharp eye out for any helpful plants or roots as they walk.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhil shrugs in response to the druid's dramatic response. Sure. I'll keep an eye open for some oak leaves. I'll keep an eye out for mistletoe, too.

[wolfpack]

Hearing the druid and knowing his magic will be needed Brevos also keeps an eye out for mistletoe, acorns and oak leaves.