Chp. 7 - Intrigue in the Court of Chaos

[OGRE MAGE]

Bravo fellow pilferer! Says Fingal the Finger as the song ends.

That reminds me of when I was just a lad back on the farm.

I must admit that, before I was the ladies man that ya see now, I used to practice my mating skills on some of the tamer farm animals back home.

He looks to the others trying to gauge a reaction.

[thesniperknight1]

Gagel takes a piece of paper then starts to write down,

"Fingal the Finger was a young lad
He used to get all the farmers mad
Because he would stick his tongue
Down a cow's lung
Then he would leave the broken hearted cow and what they had"

He laughs loudly, "Your tale is coming out quite nicely my thief friend".

[Grognardsw]

The adventurers persevere, using humor and the burgeoning bardic skills of Gagel to pass the time. And there is much...

time...

to pass...

Year Two

The Lords of Law are surely evil to abandon the adventurers here. Why have not other Agents of Chaos appeared? Or Agents for Law, for that matter. There are no answers, only the five walls and unchanging light of this pentagonal chamber of peaceful torture.

Then one day a beautiful androgynous angel appears:

"Your punishment has ended. Go in peace, and remember the path of Chaos leads only to woe."

The adventurers find themselves on a small mountain top. To the east is a peaceful village.



To the west a strange... standing stone?



To the north a large lake with a village along its shore



To the south, far away, is the Keep on the Borderlands. Is that a second spire of another tower? That wasn't there before.

[greyarea]

Asherrion

Next time we drink the rainbow potions.

Let's head off to the Keep again.

[OGRE MAGE]

Fingal stretches and scratches himself.

I dunno....... Do we really want to go back to that wretched place? What is there for us now?

Looks like there might be some interesting things around here to explore first. What about that strange stone to the west?

[AleBelly]

"Let's head to that village. I need some female companionship" remarks Wulfhart. No matter where they go the uncouth fighter, braid hanging nearly to his feet now (and looking very nice thanks to Groyn), will make sure he stays between Fingal and any livestock they encounter along the way.

Can we assume we're back to max hp?

[thesniperknight1]

Gagel stares at the strange rock, "That place looks interesting, filled with darkness and mystery, a good place to write a nice song...........although a woman is very tempting indeed, a humanoid female not a sheep", he looks to Fingal and laughs.

[doughx99]

Niles

with all this down time we are in need of a good walk and adventure,let's check out the stone before the village.

[greyarea]

Asherrion concurs.

[Pulpatoon]

After two years in a small room with Porphyry, the others have learned a few things about the goat-man:

He has an extensive knowledge and passionate interest in anatomy, but no healing skills. He is much more interested in things once they're dead. He several times, when the monotony of the situation became truly crushing, tried to convince various members of the party to let him kill them and resurrect them. "It will be painless, and think of the knowledge you'll gain from your journey to the other side! And of course the resurrection will work. No, I've never done it before, but the theory is sound. Let me explain it to you again..."

He seems genuinely annoyed by the familiarity and affection for the others that he has necessarily acquired after such a long time together. Periodically he would withdraw to a corner of the room he claimed for himself, and named Porphyria. He could spend a week huddled into the corner of Porphyria, ignoring everyone else.

He talked freely about his homeland, which is a world rich in myth and lore (insert basically all of Ancient Greece here), although he doesn't seem to remember it as fondly as he pretends. None of his stories involve friendships, and rarely is even his family mentioned.

He spent a big chunk of time in the room inventing increasingly elaborate games that involved every object the adventure's have on them. Many of these were tedious, but anything to help pass the time. "Cloaks and daisies" was probably the best game, which involved spending days constructing an elaborate landscape out of clothing and other items, before then enacting scenes from myth with coins and toenail clippings.

Anyone with knowledge of magic will realize that some of Porphyry's assumptions about how magic works are a little off. Whoever taught him must have been either a genius or a madman.

Lastly, unwashed satyrs stink. Badly. Even when magically preserved. You can taste it. Even now.

___________________________________

Back in the World:
Do we still have our Chaos weapons?
Porphyry thinks his companions are insane for wanting to explore, right now. "I want food. Hot food, cold food, what have you. I'm not sure my tongue even remembers how to taste. And after I eat, I want to sit on a chamberpot and spend all afternoon voiding my bowels—peculiar the things one misses when they are taken away. I want a bed, and a bath, and... oh, by all the gods and stars and stones, I want to see faces other than your lot. Can you imagine? Other people? Even if they're human? To hear different voices? To smell different smells?"

[Grognardsw]

You have your normal equipment back, HP and spells.

It's sort of a tie between stone and village. Motivationally, having been in a room for two years, you'd probably be hungry for other human companionship, food, etc. Then perhaps adventuring forth again?

[OGRE MAGE]

That sounds like a great idea to me.

[AleBelly]

Wulfhart grows impatient. Perhaps he can no longer bear the stink of the satyr or Fingal's leering at the hindquarters of the mountain goat a few paces away. "I'm heading for the village! Anyone who seeks mud for his turtle come along!"

[Pulpatoon]

Although the phrase "mud for his turtle" is nearly enough to send him in the opposite direction, Porphyry follows Wulfhart towards the village.

[OGRE MAGE]

Fingal follows as well.

Ooohh ya! Turtle......I get what yer saying there........I think.

[thesniperknight1]

Gagel continues laughing, "Ahhh who am I kidding, after two years stuck in that place with this sausage fest, all I want is a woman", he follows along.

[Grognardsw]

The adventurers make their way down the mountain to the peaceful-looking hamlet. It is a farming village with about 50 houses, one of which is a stone house of some size.

Yes, there is also a tavern.

[greyarea]

Asherrion claps Gagel on the back and says, That tavern might be just what you need. Let's all head there.

Being Asherrion, he also attempts to steal Gagel's lute again. Asherrion's kleptomania roll [1d100] = 10

Apparently Asherrion was cured of his kleptomania. What nice gents those Courts of Chaos folks turned out to be.

[thesniperknight1]

"You said it my friend!", Gagel puts his hand on his lute.....just in case.

[Hotgoblin]

Groyn Did yous guys say tavern?? Groyn starts off toward the tavern..Come on Bene, let's get us some Ale....there might be some Dwarven females for ALL of us to get acquainted with too.