After confirming directions to the Hamlet of Jakkarton, Sir Gerard led the party out of the City of Greyhawk, carrying the dead body of Pontus across his horse. About 20 miles east of the city, near the head of the Ery river, the party came across the a set of stone buildings that they knew to be the monastery of Heironeous, just outside of the Hamlet of Jakkarton. The party rode their horses down a small, seldom used path which led down to the buildings and a young woman came out to greet them. She introduced herself as Tythis, cleric of Heironeous. Sir Gerard introduced himself and the party, and explained the reason they had come. Tythis stabled their horses and invited them inside the temple to wait as she summoned Asanther.
A few minutes later, the door opens. An elderly woman enters, a woman whose right arm is missing at the shoulder. Her face is framed by a luxurious cascade of black and silver hair that falls to the small of her back. She wears a deep blue robe trimmed in silver. She is missing her right arm. She smiles gravely, a brilliant smile that radiates an aura of trust and understanding. Her movements, however, are weary. She nods, and moves slowly toward a covered chair.
Sir Gerard greeted Asanther and introduced himself and the party. He explained that Heironeous guided him to this temple in order that he may resurrect their fallen comrade. He then began to regale Asanther with tales of Pontus bravery and heroics - of how he rescued Prince Thrommel and helped destroy the Temple of Elemental Evil. He believes that Heironeous is not finished with Pontus in this world, and he needs to be brought back to continue his destiny.
Asanther explained that while only Heironeous' will can bring back Pontus, she was not strong enough to cast the necessary spell either way. She did, however, have one Raise Dead scroll in her possession that was provided to her by the high priests in Chendl. It is her only scroll, and the local Burgomaster is expecting that she will use it on him if the time should come that he has need of it. It is one of the few ways that she has to keep him in check, as he is otherwise a cruel tyrant to his peasants who rely on her for their protection. Because he is the lord of the land here, she is forbidden from taking any direct action against him, and so she helps the peasants as best she can. But she now knows that Heironeous himself sent the party to her aid on a quest, and she cannot deny his will. She stated if Sir Gerard and his companions would assist her in a mission, that she will use the scroll on Pontus.
“Mine is a tale of hardship and of joy; now of little importance." she said "As I have grown older I have also grown wiser. Many are my regrets, and few the deeds of which I am still proud. There is something I must do before I die. Years ago, I entrusted a very powerful magical item to a dear friend of mine. I must retrieve the item before I die . . . if I do not . . . the land may suffer and evil may fall upon the people I hold dear. Will you please help me?”
Without any discussion with the party, Sir Gerard bowed to one knee and swore his sword to her service. Asanther then continued “There is a magical lake three days’ journey from here. The man who resides there is whom I seek. I will gladly pay you for your time with what little gold I own. Also perhaps, I shall entrust you with an item of great importance, if you are worthy.”
Sir Gerard insisted that no payment will be necessary, as it is his duty to assist her on her mission.
Asanther then prepared Pontus' body for the Raise Dead ritual, and read the scroll. After a few moments, Pontus opened his eyes heaved a breath of life. Asanther then performed some ritual healing magics on the now living Pontus to assist in restoring his body. As it was getting late, Asanther made rooms for the party to stay overnight, and prepared a simple meal for them.
Over dinner, she said “We should leave first thing in the morning. My only concerns are my lack of youth, and the possibility that I might meet resistance attempting to leave this area. Junus Jakkar, the local burgomaster, has ordered me to remain at this shrine. He fears that my departure, even for a day or two, could affect his field laborers. He is a greedy and insensitive man who fears too much. The land and its people are the most important things in my life. Even if I were to leave for a short time I would return. Janus thinks only of his fat belly. Forgive me if I speak ill of him, but he often bullies the people who work so hard to put food on his plate.”
The next morning (25th day of Flocktime), the part headed out on horseback with Asanther. The way out led through the hamlet. Asanther warned that the burgomaster's may try to stop them, and she would prefer to avoid violence. Sure enough, 10 armed and armored guards were blocking the road ahead. "Halt in the name of the burgomaster, Junus Jakkar!" one of them shouted. "Leave the good priestess with us and go quietly and no one will get hurt. Otherwise we will take her from you by force." Sir Gerard attempted to negotiate his way through the impasse, but their orders were clear. They moved in for the attack, but Sarril and Luapan were ready with Hold Person spells. The first round held about half of them, while the Sir Gerard, Jarrus and Pontus defended and did not attack. The second round, all but 1 were held, and the last guard ran away.
As they exited town, something invisible grabbed Asanther and started dragging her away. Recognizing that this was a summoned creature of some sort, Luapan cast a Dispel Magic, which succeeded, breaking the summoning charm and sending the creature away. The party then rode away on their mission, stopping after about 8 hours to let Asanther rest. Popping up the Daern's Instant Fortress, the party and their horses were able to rest inside, completely impervious to danger. They listened to some howling wolves for a while, but they eventually dispersed. And so the three-day journey continued uneventful like this.
On the evening of the second night, as the party made camp, Asanther revealed some more of her story. “The time has come,” Ansanther speaks in a voice little above a whisper, “to tell you of the wonders of the Lake of Mist. The lake is small but protected but powerful magics and surrounded by a thick mist. It can not be found on any map, But can be found with this. . .” So saying, Ansanther revealed a small, clear glass ball that was half filled with water. She continues, “Ilkif the mage once gave me this device. It will lead us to the lake through the magical mist.” As she held the item in her hand the water defied gravity and slide up the inside of the sphere. Smiling, Ansanther said, “Ilkif was always so clever. The water shows us the direction in which the lake lies. Beware though, for the mist is thick, and we must pass through it quickly, as fell things are known to live within. Lastly, beyond the mist at the edge of the lake stands the guardian. Fear not, it has never stopped me in the past.”
The next morning (28th day of Flocktime), the party continued on the road, which led into a forest. Thick mist began to surround them, and grew thicker to the point that they could only see 10 feet in any direction. They realized they could go no further with their horses, so setup the Instant Fortress and placed the horses inside, before shrinking it back down to a cube. As the party continued through the mist, shadows could be seen in the mist 20 feet out. Low to the ground and long, there were no less than 12 shadows circling them as they walked. An occasional howling could be heard. The party ignored the shadows and continued to follow the water in the glass sphere, eventually leaving the trail and arriving on the shore of a lake. The mist cleared, and they could see, suspended in the air above the center of the lake, an enormous, opaque sphere. Standing at the water's edge was a stone statue next to a brass gong. The statue struck the gong with its fist, causing a reverberation across the water. The statue then turned toward the party, raised its fists, and moved in for the attack.
"Please, tell the golem why we are here. Ilkif will hear you," pleaded Asanther in a whisper. Sir Gerard spoke to the golem, telling it that the party was escorting Asanther and that she seeks the mage, Ilkif, but the golem did not respond. It attacked first with a "slow" spell on the party, which everyone successfully saved against. Hiding behind the golem was the pixie, Snotme, who fired sleep
The pixie then cast one of the few spells it had that could be effective, "Otto's Irresistable Dance," on Pontus. This took Pontus out of the fight for the next couple of rounds while the rest of the party whacked at the golem like a piñata. With the incredible damage Jarrus is dealing out with two attacks per round, the golem didn't last long, and crumbled into pieces. Snotme, the pixie, flew to a safe location and, as the party started to approach the lake, yelled out "I wouldn't go in there if I were you! There is a big, bad, terrible monster in that lake. It will eat you up, yep, swallow you whole it will."
Ignoring the pixie, the party went to the water's edge where Asanther placed the glass sphere into the water. The sphere grew large and a door opened on the side. The party stepped inside the sphere, and
As Asanther began calling for Ilkif, she feared something was wrong when she received no response. The party led her up to the third level, where they heard a faint moaning coming from behind a door. Everyone rushed in to find a man lying in bed, fevered and delirious, and possibly dying. Asanther rushed to his side “Ilkif, my poor Ilkif. . .”, she cries. She then turned to the party and said “Please leave us alone for a time. I will do all
in my power to help or comfort him as I can. Please, our time together may be short. I also suggest that you rest, since we all know that we are safe here.”
The party decided to hang out in the main living area, as well as raid the kitchen for food. A few hours later, they heard a loud explosion come from behind the door which shook the sphere severely. Using his newly acquired Boots of Striding and Springing, Sir Gerard rushed through the door and bounded up the stairs through an open trapdoor. The room above looks like it was once a magical workshop, but was now engulfed in multi-colored flames. In the center of the room, resting on top of a burning tome, was a beautiful, glowing sword. To the right and left of the sword were the bodies of
Ansanther and Ilkif. Ilkifs left hand resting on the burning book, his right wrapped around Ansanther. Asanther lied still. Her right hand on the pommel of the shining sword.
Sir Gerard picked up the sword, and immediately knew what it was. A +5 Holy Avenger. But more than that, the sword contained the soul of Asanther, who spoke to Sir Gerard, explaining to him that it was her final wish that she be placed within the sword before she died so that she may continue to do the will of Heironeous and fight evil. She also explained that her most pressing mission is to finish a quest that she had previously failed - to kill an evil mage by the name of Xenous Zenpour. When shewas a paladin, she and her party attempted this feat and failed, with all of the members of her party being killed and she losing her arm. She had been waiting for one worthy enough to succeed where she could not, and she knows that Sir Gerard is the one.
As the party was surveying the damage, the sphere around them started to collapse and break apart. The quickly ran down the stairs and the floor beneath them fell away. Everyone grabbed onto to alien-looking furniture as they were dumped into the water. The furniture floated, allowing them to paddle to shore. As they had just been earlier discussing the need to furnish the inside of the Instant Fortress, the party decided this was the perfect opportunity and set up the fortress and placed the furniture inside before continuing. Using Pontus' outdoor tracking skills, they were able to find their way back out of the mist, recover the horses and be on their way. Since they did not have Asanther slowing them down, they were able to make it back to the Hamlet of Jakkarton in just two days, arriving the afternoon of 2nd day of Wealsun.
Back in the Hamlet there was pandemonium, as the villagers, believing their beloved priestess had been kidnapped or murdered by the party, were quickly turning into an angry mob. The burgomaster came out of his manor house along with his mage, Mercres and many guards. The burgomaster demanded justice for the kidnapping and murder of his citizen. Sir Gerard then pulled out the holy avenger sword, which spoke to the crowd in Asanther's voice, assuring them that this was her plan and the party had done a noble deed in assisting her in her dying wish. The crowd then split in two, with half of the people praising the party and getting angry at the burgomaster for his misdeeds, and the other half suspicious. The guards were afraid to act, knowing from experience the superior strength of the party, and it seemed things were at an impasse. Tythis came running up the road to see what was going on and grew concerned about the whereabouts of Asanther (as the party would soon learn that Asanther was her mother - a secret they kept to avoid the shame associated with a paladin failing her vows). Sir Gerard was able to sway the rest of the crowd to the party's side in a persuasive speech, which then turned the crowd, as well as most of the guards, against the burgomaster. Soon they were chanting for the death of Junus Jakkar, for all of the horrible treatments he had inflicted on them. Possibly not wanting to be strung-up by association, Mercres cast a spell and turned Junus Jakkar into a slug, after which he was quickly squashed to death by the citizens.
Recognizing a power vacuum, Sir Gerard insisted that law and order must prevail in the absence of the local lord and asked the villagers to elect a new leader. They gathered together and asked Tythis to be their new leader, which she cautiously agreed to. Sir Gerard then realized he will need to stay for a few days to make sure the transition of power takes place smoothly. He would help Tythis prepare for a ceremony to honor the life of her mother. During their conversation with Tythis, she expressed that she never knew her father, whom the party was able to guess must have been Ilkif. They told her all that they knew of him and Luapan gave her the burned spellbook - the only thing they had of his to give her and honor his memory (well, except for all of the furniture they crammed into the fortress, but that didn't occur to anyone at the moment). Sir Gerard and Pontus then remained in the hamlet while the rest of the party went to Greyhawk to get supplies.
While in Greyhawk, Jarrus was able to pick-up his completed full-plate armor, which he realized he
 |
| Janziduur, Priestess of Tritherion |
After collecting some more goods in the city and taking care of other personal business, the next morning (3rd day of Wealsun), Jarrus, Sarril and Luapan rode back to Jakkarton to help setup for the ceremony. Several young men, and a few young women from Greyhawk and from the hamlet arrived to test themselves for the honor of being Jarrus' squire. It seems Jarrus (and the party) has started to develop a reputation, and many people would find it an honor to be associated with him. The contest was held and Jarrus selected a girl by the name Tonya for the prestigious job of being his squire. After seeing this, Sir Gerard decided that he will also test the candidates, to see if any might qualify to become his squire - though he has his own criteria used to judge.
And so we left it, on the 3rd Day of Wealsun, 579CY, one day before the ceremony to honor Asanther. Will Sir Gerard find his squire amongst the many hopefuls?
No comments:
Post a Comment