Chpt. 2 Kobold Prisoners & Prisoners of Kobolds

[LilacBird]

Gwennethel, Elf Druid

Gwennethel remarks, I think Sammy has the best idea. Hope everyone has eaten and is up to the task. Let's roll... and watch each others backs!

[FronkyDondo]

Gwydion and Coppish
"We agree! Let's get to it!"

[Nuke66]

"Alright, let's do this." Sammy moves to stand in front of the wall. "OK, someone throw the switch."

[SlyFox]

Jenn waits until Llewellyn is finished speaking with Freddie. She has apparently come to a decision, then approaches the assassin with a warm smile. She is extremely warmed Llewellyn's attention paid her and feels she can trust this man with any information. In fact, she believes she finds him particularly attractive and even begins to blush."I can use the bow, but I don't have it with me. I left it back in the village, but I think you're right. I should let Freddie and all of you work here without distracting any of you. I wouldn't want him to worry about me and I know I'll only worry more if I'm watching what you all have to go through down here. Please be careful!" She finds herself fond of how he mentions that a man involved with her would be unable to think if worrying about her well being. She begins to rethink a few things while cogitating on new things that are springing to mind. "I will go. I will continue to pray for all of you. Sir... please take care down here." There is genuine concern in her expression, but she manages to give Llewellyn a smile anyway and even curtseys to him respectfully. She turns gracefully to leave, but brushes by Dakara on her way out, asking for the beautiful assassin's name. After all, he was so completely generous and forgiving and seemed to understand everything she was feeling. He was almost... godly in his knowledge of her emotions. Dakara gives Jenn the assassin's name and sees her safely outside. Jenn assures the party not to worry about her, that she'll be safe on the path home while they fight the demons inside the cave.

Dakara waits until Jenn is gone, then lets out a relieved sigh. No more having to worry about that mess!

Corun is asked by Fanxyl about their mission here and he pulls out a list of the different holy relics and historical artifacts they were sent to retrieve from an inner pocket of his leather vest. "We were sent to find these items. Each one will bring each of us a reward of 500gp. That's 500gp per item, per person bringing it back. There were certain conditions to these items though..." He hands Fanxyl the list to look over.

Relics & Artifacts To Find (said to be in Evander's Lair, a cave near Farmtown Village): Reward - 500gp per person/per item.

1) The Dagger of Helios – This is a holy relic belonging to the Amazon Tribes of the Lithican Rainforest. An Amazon Shamaness, Alti, is the visiting dignitary from Darna Village. She describes this item as a silver dagger, more like a kris. It will be known from other weapons of its class as it glows with a soft blue hue. It is rumored to be the key to the ambrosia (food of the gods) that the Amazons of the Lithican guard fiercely. It is said that several mortals have become gods once obtaining the ambrosia and eating of its forbidden essence. The dagger is said to be an extremely powerful weapon of the gods that cannot be touched by anyone other than an Amazon Shamaness. Druids have the gods' blessing to touch this artifact to retrieve it. Legend says that anyone else handling the Dagger of Helios will die a grim and instant death.

2) The Thieves' Pride – This item is a historical artifact that belonged to the Thieves Guild here in Snake River City a few hundred years ago. It is described as a stone key that will fit into the palm of the hand, but acts as a powerful weapon since it was instilled with an enchantment by a wizard. Legend has it that the key can only be handled by a thief belonging to the Snake River City guild without dying an instant death. The gods have granted any thief or assassin the permission to touch this item.

3) The Mighty Shield of Verrax the Virile – This item is a holy relic described by Duke Kalvar as a fine yellow gold kite shield with an amethyst encrusted coat of arms, forming the design of a mighty sword with a crown on top, a lion to the left and a unicorn to the right. The shield belonged to the Duke himself. It is said to give its bearer the ability to fend off any attack, and will attack back if provoked, even if the bearer is dead. There is nothing in any legend that specifies who can or cannot touch this relic.

4) The Spellbook of Renterus the Raucous – This item is a historical artifact that was owned by the Magic-Users Guild and belonged to the founder hundreds of years ago. It contains some of the old wizards first spells, but it is described as being bound completely in gold and fairly heavy. There is nothing in legends that say anything about who can or cannot touch it.

5) The Stone of Brugendorn – The Dwarves of Forevermore Valley once owned this holy relic. It is described as a solid gold amulet set with a very large red ruby. More importantly, it is said to give its wearer the ability to withstand any attack, no matter how powerful the opponent. Legend does specify that only those of Dwarven blood can touch this relic without being stricken down instantly. The Dwarven lord Ragencline is the dignitary from Forevermore that has asked for the retrieval of this item.

6) The Mace of Meresen – This is a holy relic that belonged to the main temple here in Snake River City. The priests have asked for help in retrieving this relic, which is said to be a golden mace with a glowing red hue. It is said to cleanse the enemies of righteousness with fire and can only be handled by a cleric of lawful good alignment. The penalty of handling this mace without the proper class and alignment will result in instant death. For this mission, the gods have granted any cleric the blessing to retrieve this relic.

7) The Bow of Belrain – This is a historical artifact that was said to have been owned by the greatest of Elven warriors. Several dignitaries from the Elven lands to the south have requested help in the retrieval of this item. It is said that Belrain was so loved by his people and his god that his bow was bestowed with a powerful enchantment, able to shoot fire without the need for any arrows. Legend also says that anyone not of Elven blood handling this bow will find himself turned to dust.

8) The Freedom of Finandoa – This historical artifact was once owned by a long ago Chief of the Tanaka Plains. A group of barbarians from the plains have come to Snake River City to plea for its return. The item is described as being an eagle feather dipped in gold and encrusted with tiny jewels. It is said to hold the power to cut through lies, deceptions and illusions, to see through to the truth of any matter. Nothing says it cannot be touched by anyone in particular.

The party has finished lunching and they put their food away and begin getting ready to move on. Corun takes up his position in the back of the line with the mule to help bring out any much wanted treasure or items while the rest of the party gets into their usual marching order, Fanxyl taking up position to the right of Llewellyn, since the assassin is the only one who walks single file. Sammy and Trendt take up the lead again and the general consensus is to go south and through the secret door that has just slid shut.

Marching order:

Sammy, Barbarian --- Trendt, Dwarf Cleric

Gwydion, Elf Ranger --- Dakara, Fighter/Cleric

Adel, Monk --- Biblo, Illusionist/Fighter

Gwennethel, Elf Druid --- Freddie, Elf MU/Thief

Llewellyn, Assassin --- Fanxyl, Ranger

Merthyr, Half Elf F/MU --- Rubesca, Cleric

Coppish, Elf Fighter/Th --- Corun, Ranger

People holding light sources:

Gwennethel - torch
Dakara - torch
Rubesca - torch
Adel - hooded lantern
Sammy - torch
Corun - torch

Trendt finds the metal lever behind the torch on the wall where the now dead kobold prisoner said it would be. He reaches up and pulls it. The stone walls moves inward and before the party is a 20' span that opens up into a pitch black room beyond. The west wall looks to curve further inside to the west, everything looking exactly as the kobold said it would. Before the party begins moving, they hear the faintest sound of water dripping. It isn't a regular drip with a rhythm and isn't even that frequent. It is the sound of water hitting something wet, but not a hard surface. Whatever it is hitting is close by them. As Trendt observed before they entered, this cave was most likely carved out from water, though there looks to be no source of that water anymore. Perhaps some of the moisture still exists yet and seeps through the rocks. The walls, floor and ceiling are made of smoothed over stone, just like river rock, but it is grainy enough to walk on without slipping. There seems to be dead silence beyond the blackness and softly dripping water.

Cave Map

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Actions??

[AleBelly]

"Careful now" whispers Adel. Doesn't sound like rock ahead, and damp places can mean unfriendly slimy things…or so my monastic friends have said. Any torch-bearers want to toss one forward?"

He pulls his emerald robe tighter around his person to ward off the damp cold.

[SlyFox]

LLEWELLYN! Add 7 Favor Points to your character sheet. 'Tis a mysterious thing what just happened, especially for one who worships none. Just which deity/deities grant these are not to be known.

[GreyWolfVT]

Trendt "A light spell might do us well you know instead of willy nilly throwing torches away."

[Nuke66]

Sammy the Barbarian.

Sammy moves forward without any attempt at stealth.

[AleBelly]

Sammy the Barbarian.

Sammy moves forward without any attempt at stealth.

Adel turns to address Llewellyn, smiling faintly. "Have you helped Sammy craft a will? Doesn't seem like he's long for this world...

[FronkyDondo]

Gwydion, Elf Ranger
"Samwise - hold! Go not forward in a foolhardy fashion!"
Gwydion, from his rank, tries to "see" what is ahead before going forward.

[Grognardsw]

Biblo, illusionist

"Everyone - I have a code phrase that I'll say which will indicate that what you suddenly see around you is mere phantasm and not to be believed," announces Biblo. "It is: 'Enlil be praised!' So if one hears that followed by, say, a fireball in a room or a wall of flame or who knows? - you can disregard it and not suffer psychosomatic wounds."

[SlyFox]

As Sammy moves a little further into the room, Gwydion tries to get his elven vision working in there, but Sammy has a torch. He finds that his infravision won't kick in at the moment.

Sammy gets closer to the water dripping sound and realizes that it is in dripping in more than one spot. With his torchlight, he makes out the entire curve of the west wall covered by moss, but it seems more green and more alive than moss, like a living moss. The water is coming from the ceiling and splatting onto the moss to keep it in this 'live' condition. However, the ceiling only drips the water very occasionally and it looks to be coming through some normally formed crevices in the rock.

Sammy hears a slight scuffle coming from the west, a soft sound that he can barely make out. It sounds like an animal that he frightened with his presence and made it scurry away. The entire room is squared off on the east and south sides, but the west wall definitely curves off heading into a corridor that goes further west. This corridor continues leading into complete darkness beyond and the floor of the southern corridor begins sloping down again.

Cave Map

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[GreyWolfVT]

Trendt steps up his pace and moves up to keep pace with Sammy "Durned it Sammy you in a hurry to meet death?"

[Zhym]

Llewellyn DeNonce, Lawyer-Assassin Favored of a God to Be Named Later

"Alas," replies Llewellyn to Adel, "Sammy did not consult me before we set out on this expedition. Now that you mention it, however, I don't know why I didn't raise that issue before. We should all have estate plans in place before engaging on dangerous assignments, don't you agree? Most wills are quite straightforward, and could be prepared for a small fee. Of course, adventuring adds wrinkles, such as questions of property rights to unallocated treasure shares of the deceased, but these things should not affect the complexity of most adventurers' wills overly much. Do remind me to offer my services in this area to the party when we have some time."

[GreyWolfVT]

Alright now I think I should claim to be an Investment Banker

[SlyFox]

At level 2, characters can decide to learn a second trade (between adventures). That's definitely a possibility.

[FronkyDondo]

Sammy hears a slight scuffle coming from the west, a soft sound that he can barely make out. It sounds like an animal that he frightened with his presence and made it scurry away. The entire room is squared off on the east and south sides, but the west wall definitely curves off heading into a corridor that goes further west. This corridor continues leading into complete darkness beyond and the floor of the southern corridor begins sloping down again.

Wait - the map shows West is the opposite of what you're saying (if I'm looking at it right? Although I screwed up East and West earlier in this campaign)

[SlyFox]

I curve my E's, so what looks like a 'w' would be an 'e'. I flipped the whole map on its side so north is up where it should be. The only direction spelled out is west since that's how I originally had the map.

[Grognardsw]

Biblo, bookman

...the entire curve of the west wall covered by moss, but it seems more green and more alive than moss, like a living moss. The water is coming from the ceiling and splatting onto the moss to keep it in this 'live' condition. However, the ceiling only drips the water very occasionally and it looks to be coming through some normally formed crevices in the rock.

Biblo pauses before walking under the green moss. He examines the consistency, tosses a stone or something up to it. "I would stay away from that. I've read of many strange things on ceilings..." he says crossing on the east side away from moss wall and ceiling.

[Dram]

Fanxyl will fall in line with Qwydion. I still need to find gear if I to be of any use on this mission. He states to Qwydion.