Chapter 21: Pact With The Devil

[wolfpack]

Brevos rushes the hobbit to the priestess and deposits hinm at her feet

he yet lives

after setting him down Brevos turns back to the altar sword and shield up.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Seeing Rudolf still draws breath, albeit weakly, the cleric of Tritherion wastes no time beseeching her god to allow her the ability to snatch the halfling from the jaws of death. Tritherion grants her request, but only allows her just enough healing power to allow him the barest level of consciousness. Knowing this will not be sufficient if more enemies should appear, the cleric repeats her request, which is granted with exactly the same amount of healing energy.

Cure Light Wounds [1d8] = 3
Cure Light Wounds [1d8] = 3
Converted a 2nd level spell slot for two 1st level healing spells.

[Inferno]

DM:

With Ingrid's merciful orisons, Rudolf awakens from out of a nightmare dark and excruciating.

[ChubbyPixie]

With the frozen thief facing away from him in case he can still see, Telkis will pick up Mouser's dropped dagger from the ground in his heavy blanket, being careful not to touch it with his hands, and pack it away for future disposal. He will then drag mouser out of the "zone of destruction" proposed by Long Bo.

[OGRE MAGE]

Still hoping to find Hothhil before destroying the alter, Bo winces at the moaning from the trees. He guesses that they are beyond any hope of saving after years of being poisoned by evil, but as a man of nature, he must make certain.

Sneering at Mouser as he passes, the druid places his hands on the closest tree he believes to be ent-kin and attempts to make a mental link of communication.

“Oh great protector of oerth and forest, can you understand my thoughts? Tell me what has happened here, and if there is a way for us to reverse the evil that has tainted this area. Oh, and can you tell me where our elven friend has gone?”

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur waits, unseen, hopeful that Bo has the power to cleanse this awful place.

[rredmond]

With a great gasp of breath Rudolph's eyes snap open, and he draws sword and dagger attempting to, somewhat shakily, stand.
Staring around wide eyed, breathing heavily as he quickly regains his balance, he says, louder than he would have liked, By Brandobaris' mouse, what in the hells is going on?

[Inferno]

The Strange Black Altar of the Haunted Wood, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Five. After midnight. Wednesday, November 16th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy






Beneath the tormented trees, Brevos carries the bloody ruin of Rudolf from the black sacrificial altar and lays him at Ingrid Esthof's feet. "He yet lives," the ranger stoically reports.

The pious priestess of Trithereon heals Rudolf with miraculous blessings. Suddenly, the little hobbit bolts to life with a start! "By Brandobaris' mouse, what in the hells is going on?"

Grim Brevos keeps watch with sword and shield poised at the ready. There is still no sign of Hothhil nor the witches of Vicar's Head within this frail circle of light in the pitch darkness of the vast wood.

Telkis drags the tied, stricken Mouser from the blasphemous altar. Minutes later, the sorcerous thief is released from the grip of paralysis! But he is not free yet. His hands are bound by rope and Telkis tightly holds the collar of his jerkin.

The grey druid attempts to mentally commune with the tortured Ent creatures that seemingly surround the heinous altar. When they don't react, he speaks to them gently and with deep concern. “Oh great protector of oerth and forest, can you understand me? Tell me what has happened here, and if there is a way for us to reverse the evil that has tainted this area. Oh, and can you tell me where our elven friend has gone?”

Like the sound of cracking trunks and wind moaning in dry leaves, anguished voices reply slowly in the common tongue of Men...

"Pleeaassseee doonn'tt huuurrtt uusss... Nooo mmooorree!... Weee beegg yooouuu!... Plleeeaaasseeee!..."


Actions?





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 15/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 13/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 18/22, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl and 2/4 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 4(3), HP: 20/30, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 0/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 4/16
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 17/32
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 5/9, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl and 0/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• Invisibility (Urdur): Target: self

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]

Brevos cringes at the tourtured ents plee.

Destroy the altar Bo anyway you can. maybe once it is gone the ground can start to heal.

[rredmond]

"Did you all hear that?? Did I hear that??" Rudolph asks, still somewhat shaky, but short sword and dagger remain gripped with white knuckles in his hand.
"We have to worry about the shrouded woman and the chanting cultists, and now we have to worry about something that can hurt trees??" His eyes go wide, he shakes off the memories of the chants... och the chants, "there are legends of moots of good trees among the halflings... where the trees would meet together. Could this be such a place?" He looks toward the druid, "is there not an unwarp wood, or talk to plants, or purify soil spell you can do... or remove the curse that has been placed upon them?" He stops as Brevos speaks, after hearing the emotion in the 1/2 elf's voice he adds, "will destroying the altar free the trees? Can it be done? Can it free those of us who've heard the chants??" He wipes his dry forehead with the back of his dagger hand trying to remain calm, trying to remain upright, wanting to collapse but not feeling safe enough to do so.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser slowly awakens from his walking sleep. He struggles weakly against his bonds. Voices.
The voices. What is happening? What has happened? He whispers.. "What is happening...??"

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo smiles when the trees begin to speak, hoping it isn't too late for them to recover from the evil atrocities done to them here. He winks at the Halfling, glad to see him on his furry little feet again. He makes a mental note to address the concerns about the "chanting" they have heard once the altar has been dealt with.

He continues trying to communicate with the entlings.

"I can free you of this misery for good, by destroying this evil altar with lightning. I know you don't like lightning, but you will need to trust me on this. Can you retreat from this area a short distance, so you are not injured accidentally? Just move away a little bit and you should all be fine."

The druid continues to look and listen for anything strange approaching the area, wishing Hothhil would return soon.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur waits, anxiously but invisibly, for Bo to blow the altar to smithereens. He makes a mental note to try to learn some blow-stuff-to-smithereens magic in the future. If he lives that long.

[ChubbyPixie]

“You were bewitched, Mouser, and did a very bad thing. You weren’t the only one. How are you feeling now?”says Telkis. “Your dagger is gone for good, I’m afraid. You may borrow one of mine.”

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

O great trees of the forest, one of our company has gone missing. An elf. Have you perhaps noticed where he might have gone off to?

[Inferno]

The Strange Black Altar of the Haunted Wood, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Five. After midnight. Wednesday, November 16th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy






As Brevos cringes at the piteous wailing of the trees, Rudolf frantically beseeches the grey druid whether destroying the unholy altar could free him and those others who have heard the chanting of the witches. Mouser struggles weakly against his bonds, whispering, "What is happening...??" while Telkis tries to soothe him.

Urdur watches unseen and anxious as Ingrid asks the tormented trees about Hothhil, their missing companion. None know the elf's fate. Perhaps they were struck as blind as the heroes when Hothhil disappeared.

"Wwwaaaaaassssss hheeeeee ttaaaaaakkkkkeeeennn...? ...bbyyyyy tthheeeee wwiiiiittcchhheesss...?!"

Bo gently implores the wretched tree creatures to move away from the evil altar, that he might rain the fury of the heavens down upon it. The tortured Ents move slowly with fear and trepidation.

In the flickering sphere of light that holds back the endless darkness of the midnight wood, the heroes see excruciated faces emerge upon the bark; anguished and pained.



"Weee ccaaannnnooootttt lleeeeaaaavvvvveeeee hheeeeerrree... Wweeee aaaarrrree nnoooottt ffrreeeeee...."

As if somehow bound to this unhallowed ground, the towering entities of root and bark can move off only a little. But the grey druid deems it enough for his righteous terrible purposes.


Actions?





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 15/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 13/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 18/22, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl and 2/4 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 4(3), HP: 20/30, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 0/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 4/16
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 17/32
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 5/9, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl and 0/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• Invisibility (Urdur): Target: self

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)

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo explains to his friends that summoning lightning to do his bidding is not an easy task. If it were, he would do it all the time. He lets them know how long the conjuring will take, and that he will be vulnerable at first, needing protection while he casts. He picks out a good spot to begin, keeping his eyes peeled for the elf or any approaching danger.

He asks one more thing of the ents before he begins.

“Oh great shepard’s of this forest, I beseech you one last time before I attempt to free you of your torment. There is a hole in the ground below this altar. Is it merely a hiding place for the demented? Or is there more to it? Do the evil creatures that come here access it often? Are there tunnels or doorways below that we can’t see from up here?”

He turns to his friends again with a frightened look. “I am afraid that Hothhil may have been taken below by the missing witches. Is anyone braver than I willing to repel inside for a closer look before I light it up?”

[wolfpack]

Brevos takes a deep sigh.

I will look.

he takes some of Bos mint leaves or the like and crushes them up rubbing them under his nostrils preparing for the stench. He will move the altar.

[ChubbyPixie]

"Hold on. I'll back you up, Brevos," says Telkis, abandoning Mouser for a moment. He clutches Cranach at the ready as they approach to move the altar.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric accompanies those investigating the altar in the event that any restless dead are found.