Chapter 26: The Possession of Amity Mantle

[ravenn4544]

Mouser sees the fire and fangs and slowly edges his way towards the front door....

[Inferno]

A Ramshackle Cabin, Banemourne, the Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Twenty-one. Long Before Dawn. Friday, December 2nd, 576 CY
Freezing cold, overcast, windy.







The roaring blaze and the howling of murderous wolves fills a night seemingly without end!

The cabin is engulfed in fire as Brevos and Telkis make a desperate last stand, surrounded by flames and fangs! Brevos survives another feral onslaught, but Telkis falls beneath the ravenous jaws of the merciless pack! (7hp damage!)



Brevos stands alone!

Mouser surrenders and inches past the bloodthirsty wolves, queasily creeping over the unconscious, bound body of his friend Rudolf. He peers out the open door to the icy darkness beyond and sees no escape. Illuminated by the raging flames, Bo's magic has awakened the roots beneath the frozen ground there, ensnaring any who come near! Mouser's only way now to flee for his life is through a window.

Outside, Bo and Ingrid narrowly avoided being burned alive. The grey druid dives around the corner lest he be seen by any wolves not in the grip of his enchantment. He feels intense heat emanating from the cabin wall as he weaves another incantation and walks atop the snow without leaving a print!

Around the burning building, Ingrid falls to her knees and fervently prays to her god that he will aid her and her friends in this utmost hour of need!



Inside the fiery cabin, Urdur casts sorceries from a scroll before it combusts in the scorching heat! His appearance blurs, becoming indistinct, vague, uncertain!

And Brevos' coldly glimmering blade splits the lupine skull of the wolf that had been Mondegreen Cindereye! (W3)

Urdur and Jerome feel the fierce heat blistering their backs! (Must move or take damage next round!)

Little Amity tells Jerome, "Stay here," and leaps down from his arms onto the bed, petting the nearest great black wolf. Their shadows jump and writhe with the flames.




Actions?!


Map:

One square = 5 feet. X = Unconscious. E = Entangled.


Behind the DM Screen:

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 4, Monsters: [1d6] = 6 Monsters win.
W4 attacks Telkis: [1d20] = 7, damage: [2d4] = 8 Misses.
W3 attacks Telkis: [1d20] = 18, damage: [2d4] = 7 Hits.
W5, W7 attack Brevos: [1d20] = 5, [1d20] = 2, damage: [2d4] = 3, [2d4] = 6 Both miss.

PC Status:

Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 16/36
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 4/19, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 9/25, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 1/5 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 7/20, Laying Hands: 1/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 36/38, Spells: 1/6 1st lvl, 0/4 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl
Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 0/16
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: -5/34
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 1/11, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl, 0/2 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil (Ingrid): Target: Amity. Duration: 21 rounds.
Entangle (Bo): Targets: W6, W10-13. Duration: 6 rounds.
Hypnosis (Urdur): Targets: W1, W2. Duration: 1 round.
Pass Without Trace (Bo): Target: self. Duration: 9 rounds.
Prayer (Ingrid): Target: Party. Duration: 4 rounds. +1 to hit and on saving throws. -1 to be hit.
Blur (Urdur): Target: self. Duration: 6 rounds. -4 to be hit, then -2 to be hit. +1 save vs Magic.

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)

[ravenn4544]

Mouser's shoulders slouch, as does his soul, at the sight of his way to freedom blocked. Futility again. Seeing no other way out, and fire spreading, he springs to the nearest window to escape!

as needed: [1d20] = 15

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Ingrid casts Create Food and Water, summoning forth a bounty of precious liquid to the area in front of the window, hoping to douse the fire and allow her friends to escape.

[OGRE MAGE]

Thoroughly confused at this point, Bo flees south, away from the conflagration, ready to duck behind the nearest building to save himself, when he spots a second survivor. Surprised to see that Ingrid was also able to escape through a window, he rushes towards her, helping any others out of the inferno before all is lost.

”Ingrid! Thank the Shalm! Have any others made it out? If not, we should probably......leave this area.”

As he does so, he keeps a sharp eye out for approaching wolves from both sides, still willing to slip away if necessary to avoid being spotted, if he is able.

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome nods to Amity, gritting his teeth against the pain in his back. May I move away from the fire, Miss? I am burning.

[SocraticLawyer]

With no other options available to him, Urdur jumps through the nearest window, hoping to escape both flame and fang.

[wolfpack]

The wolf in front of him dead Brevos throws telkis over his shoulder and pushes through the flames dumoiung him out a window and then crawling out himself.

[Inferno]

A Ramshackle Cabin, Banemourne, the Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Twenty-one. Long Before Dawn. Friday, December 2nd, 576 CY
Freezing cold, overcast, windy.







"Nice doggie," Amity Mantle says as she pets a bristling monstrous wolf.

Sickeningly, the doomed heroes feel fate tightening around them like a noose.



The cabin is becoming their funeral pyre. Those that can, flee for their lives!

Urdur, his form shifting and rippling, leaps on Telkis' bed and bursts through the window! Brevos lifts Telkis and follows, but not before he is savaged by the merciless fangs of the wolves! (12hp damage!)

Urdur and Brevos crash hard to the frozen ground. Suddenly roots and plant tendrils entwine and ensnare them as if of their own rapacious will! (please Save vs Spells to escape) Mouser smashes through an eastern window and plunges to the ground among shards of broken glass.

Bewildered, Long Bo circles the burning shack and finds Ingrid in prayer, lit by the hungry, flickering flames! Their friends and little Amity Mantle are still inside the raging inferno! Ingrid prays to save them but her prayers go unanswered! (no 3rd level spells left) The grey druid quietly counsels the better part of valour.

Inside the heart the of the raging conflagration, Jerome stands alone. "May I move away from the fire, Miss? I am burning." he asks little Amity.

Amity's only answer is to slit Rudolf's throat with Jerome's dagger.



The paladin looks at his belt and finds its sheathe empty.

"Funny little man. He was naughty." Amity explains in her high pitched little voice.



Then Jerome's clothing bursts into flames! (3hp damage. Please Save vs Spells on 1d20+3 to act freely)

With all too human intelligence, the wolves in the burning cabin start to follow Mouser's path out! They lunge from the eastern window to the ground. North of them, the voice of Pyotr Whitetip chillingly comes from the mouth of a trapped wolf. Mouser, Brevos and Urdur hear it say, "It is de old druid who holds us."

The alpha wolf snarls at the packmates that just burst from the window, "Kill the druid, that we may be free!"


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 5 feet. X = Unconscious or Dead. E = Entangled.


Behind the DM Screen:

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 6, Monsters: [1d6] = 1
Brevos flees a melee. His opponents from last round get free opportunity attacks upon him.
W5, W7 attack Brevos: [1d20] = 3, [1d20] = 20, damage: [2d4] = 7, [2d4] = 6 One hits, critically.
Fire damage Jerome: [1d4] = 3

PC Status:

Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 4/36
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 4/19, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 9/25, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 1/5 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 4/20, Laying Hands: 1/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 36/38, Spells: 1/6 1st lvl, 0/4 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: -6/34
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 1/11, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl, 0/2 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil (Ingrid): Target: Amity. Duration: 20 rounds.
Entangle (Bo): Targets: W6, W10-13. Duration: 5 rounds.
Pass Without Trace (Bo): Target: self. Duration: 8 rounds.
Prayer (Ingrid): Target: Party. Duration: 3 rounds. +1 to hit and on saving throws. -1 to be hit.
Blur (Urdur): Target: self. Duration: 5 rounds. -4 to be hit, then -2 to be hit. +1 save vs Magic.

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)

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome stands in the fire, holding himself stiffly at attention. She knows best, She has given him an order.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo starts to panic even worse when he sees that Ingrid is obviously in shock and unsure what she is doing.

He grabs her by the arm and tries to lead her away from the blazing building, but he does not force the issue. If she is content to stay, the druid will leave of his own accord, fleeing to the west, looking for a building to hide behind, or better yet, climb up to the roof of.

"This is madness! My vines wont hold all those wolves for long. We must flee before we are all dead or captured!"

[wolfpack]

brevos is tangled by the vines

[1d20] = 3

[ravenn4544]

Mouser gets to his feet after crashing through the window and remains crouched. It doesn't look good. He hears movement behind him and can only assume it's his comrades - the doomed. He backs away from the wolves around the corner westward to make some type of escape...

[SocraticLawyer]

Pulling himself away from the tangling, magical vines, Urdur runs around the back of the flaming building, towards Long Bo and Ingrid. He draws his dagger, hoping not to use it.

Save vs spell (12) [1d20+5] = 11+5 = 16

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Stunned that Tritherion refused to answer her prayers, Ingrid follows Long Bo. I...I was confused. Waking up like that, I lost track of my spells. I tried to call upon divine power to put out the flames, but I had already been granted those spells. I can't help our friends trapped in the fire... The cleric is clearly distraught over her failed spell attempt.

[Urson]

Jerome
Save vs Spells: 14
[1d20] = 11+3
The pain of the burning fabric against his skin penetrates the fog in Jerome's brain. He shakes off the demonic influence.

He steps toward her, still burning, swatting at the wolves with his burning cudgel.
[1d20+1] = 6+1 = 7 melee

[Inferno]

A Ramshackle Cabin, Banemourne, the Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Twenty-one. Long Before Dawn. Friday, December 2nd, 576 CY
Freezing cold, overcast, windy.







Outside the blazing cabin, the shimmering colors and shadows that are Urdur the conjurer leave Brevos to his dark fate.

Having saved Telkis' life, the grim ranger is held tight by the grey druid's enchantment! Near him, also bound against their will, are ravenous wolves whose eyes and fangs flicker in the firelight!



Urdur finds Bo, Ingrid and Mouser on the opposite side of the burning building and the four escape with their lives, running west down the desolate lanes of the frozen hamlet of Banemourne!

Inside the fiery shack, Rudolf dies by Jerome's dagger. Amity smiles at the paladin engulfed in flames.



"Simon says, follow me," she giggles to Jerome as she leads the black feral beasts out the window.

The shock of his friend's murder snaps Jerome out of it. He quickly beats out his flaming clothes, barely aware of the dead body of Mondegreen Cindereye on the floor. Jerome moves to the window in time to hear outside: "Kill the druid, that we may be free!"

"No!" Amity demands in a pouty little voice. "I want to do it."

(next round)

Little Amity holds a tiny, solemn hand toward the ensnared pack and chants, "Olly olly oxen free!" and the thick roots that bind them wither and die. The wolfpack is free, and so is Brevos!

Within the inferno, the bed that holds Rudolf's fresh corpse suddenly combusts!



The cabin completely aflame, Jerome has no choice but to flee or die. He leaps out the window, landing near the newly freed wolves who ignore him and Brevos as they gather round Amity Mantle in worshipful adoration.

"Thou art free at last," cries the pack leader. "The hour hast come!"

Another wolf rejoices: "The black coven shall never die, waiting til the stars come right again, and the secret witches and wolves shall rouse great Shub-Niggurath from his resting place beneath the Dark Mountains to revive his subjects and resume his rule of Oerth!"

"The time shall be easy to know, for then mankind will have become as the Great Old Ones themselves; free and wild and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and reveling in joy!"

"Then the liberated Old Ones shall teach them new ways to shout and kill and revel and enjoy themselves, and all the Oerth will flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom and death!"


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 5 feet. X = Unconscious or Dead.


Behind the DM Screen:

This post covers two rounds of actions.
Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 4, Monsters: [1d6] = 5 Monsters win.
Next round: Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 4, Monsters: [1d6] = 5 Monsters win.

The wolves leave the building before Jerome can attack them. His action rendered moot, I did this instead:
Round 1: Puts out his burning clothes so he doesn't take more damage. Moves 1" east.
Round 2: Leaps out window of burning building so he doesn't die.

PC Status:

Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 4/36
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 4/19, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 9/25, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 1/5 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 4/20, Laying Hands: 1/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 36/38, Spells: 1/6 1st lvl, 0/4 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: -7/34
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 1/11, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl, 0/2 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil (Ingrid): Target: Amity. Duration: 18 rounds.
Pass Without Trace (Bo): Target: self. Duration: 6 rounds.
Prayer (Ingrid): Target: Party. Duration: 1 rounds. +1 to hit and on saving throws. -1 to be hit.
Blur (Urdur): Target: self. Duration: 3 rounds. -4 to be hit, then -2 to be hit. +1 save vs Magic.

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)

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome grits his teeth against the pain, and against the blasphemy the wolves and the demon child are chanting. By the grace of Saint Cuthbert. he mutters, Laying Hands on himself. (6 hp)

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo stops abruptly once it is clear they aren’t being pursued.

“I feel I must return to see if any of our friends yet live. The wolves can’t currently see my tracks, so I will double back while you make your escape. You are all badly wounded, and though I am nearly out of magic, I am mostly unscathed. Get yourselves to safety, wherever you can find it. We can meet back at the tavern at sunrise, if any of us still live.”

With that Bo starts moving back towards the burning shack on a differing path, keeping to the shadows and behind buildings where he can, hoping to avoid being seen by the enemy, while keeping a sharp eye and ear out for any other survivors.

[Inferno]

We're past three days. Going to move it along.

Urdur, Ingrid and Mouser and still fleeing. I'll NPC Brevos.