It seems I have been missing some of the lessons people have been trying to teach me in life. My mother showed me little pin traps and similar small devices that you might find in a lock. I was merely fascinated by them but I could tell my mother had real skill with them. I never pushed her to learn more about them. In my wizard's college, magical traps didn't interest me even though I was the one trying to get around them to have a look at artifacts or more interesting magic. Not learning these lesson better has come back to haunt me.
After some debate, the party decided to do our captors' bidding and head into our prison, this Elven mausoleum. I pressed Civlis for a few more answers about what to expect but he seems reluctant to share much about Elven lore with us, especially me. I found and disarmed the first pit trap well enough but I misjudged disarming the second one I found. I was lucky to have a quick spell available to keep Krieger and myself from crashing at the bottom. At least one other adventurer had met his end down that pit. His body had been down there a while and I didn't have the stomach to see if he carried anything of use. After that slip, I was rattled. It took a few attempts to get past a sleep trap and the summoning trap is still active. I have a better idea of how to deal with summoned panthers now but they were tough when we weren't expecting them. One had me in its jaws and I passed out from the pain until Friar Gregory helped me. Civlis could have dispelled one of the magic traps but he seems to be holding his spells in case we meet something bigger later. Maybe he knows more about this place than he's sharing. The friar did tease him about wasting a Fireball on that illusion.
The tomb of the Elven hero, I forget his name as I have trouble with the Elven language, was a disappointment for me. I would prefer a little more time in the library. He was a warrior and surrounded himself in death with warrior's garb. We should have given everything to Krieger; it all suits him the best. I guess it was okay for Civlis to take the sword. He uses his sometimes but his skill doesn't match Krieger's and that may be where it's of more use. I had my hopes up for a few interesting devices. Before we leave, I should take a better look around.
I hope there's still more to be found down here. I don't think our captors knew why they were sending us down otherwise. We haven't found anything to really increase our odds of beating them in a fight. The spells we found in the library would be good but I don't have time to write them in my book. Civlis and I could use a few days to add some spells from the walls, the scrolls we've found, and each other's books to our own spellbooks. I wonder how long it would take before the bugbears came down to look for us in the mausoleum! Maybe if the friar could summon some food for us, we could stay a few days. I gave half of my food to Lanfell so all I did this morning was study my book and tighten my belt. Hmmm... Maybe it was working on an empty stomach all day that affected my trap-finding.
Baezel
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Lanfell the lost
"The third last day of my life dawned in the village of King's Lynne. I have never been so out of my head with the drink, but it was also the sorrow that had unhinged me... all my friends were hanging out at the forest's edge, waving grotesquely in the wind. No one in the village could have made me to go out there again after the horrors I'd seen, because of all the grief I felt; meanwhile, some miserable brute was about to murder me and pretend it was in the King's name, so of course I had to take them under my wing before they walked into a death trap.
He and his stupider-than-thou companions at least had the sense to listen to me when I told them to head for safety; they started back up the road towards the Bastard. They wanted to head right on by the Cliffside Inn, but my ranger's senses told me something was wrong... too many things didn't add up, you develop a feel for these things after you survive in the wildwood by yourself for a time. The brute spent too much time shouting at the house; when you're a man of action like me, you know when you're giving your enemies too much time.
As I predicted, they ran into trouble. If they'd attacked quickly with the element of surprise, I'm sure no one would have been hurt. Instead they concocted some over-fancy plan, with tricks and fakes and invisible wizards and bison battering rams. No one was listening to sense, but I knew I had to save them from their own short-sightedness. I leapt the wall and charged right through the front door, surprising all the bandits inside. At least the others had the sense to follow, but of course they stumbled on caltrops and got tangled in nets; they were next to useless. No, it was my swift sword that won the day, coolly capturing the innkeeper-imposter Rezzyn and ending the fight.
After a night's recuperation, the fools opted to swing into the forest. I guided them forward to the bandit's main camp, which I had been observing for some time. I had been waiting for a good opportunity to surprise them, and thought that the bumbling group of cityfolk would provide a handy distraction. Sadly, my erstwhile companions did that latter part all too well, tripping an obvious early-warning system and separating too early without waiting for my plan. A couple sickly panthers ambushed the others, but of course I couldn't help while guarding the enemy commanders; turned out the brute had no skill with a blade whatsoever, just waving it around uselessly while getting mauled. The dark one panicked and fled, Sandals just stood and watched it happen, while the cowardly wizard tried to hide in the bushes; it could not have been a more disastrous rout. It took the whole bandit camp to wrestle me down, but even I have was overcome.
We were propelled through the brambles, and there was never a moment when I might have escaped; I knew that while I could burst my bonds at any time, the helpless fools I was with would be killed out of hand. I suffered in noble silence all the way to the encampment of Keszimir, a notorious werewolf sorcerer lord. He barked and howled his delight, and I knew that the bloodlust was on him; in moments, one of us would die. I was by far the greatest threat to him, and knew that Keszimir secretly feared my strength, so I made the ultimate sacrifice. I stepped forward and volunteered for death so that innocents might live for a few hours more. "Til death take me", indeed."
Selected Highlights:
He and his stupider-than-thou companions at least had the sense to listen to me when I told them to head for safety; they started back up the road towards the Bastard. They wanted to head right on by the Cliffside Inn, but my ranger's senses told me something was wrong... too many things didn't add up, you develop a feel for these things after you survive in the wildwood by yourself for a time. The brute spent too much time shouting at the house; when you're a man of action like me, you know when you're giving your enemies too much time.
As I predicted, they ran into trouble. If they'd attacked quickly with the element of surprise, I'm sure no one would have been hurt. Instead they concocted some over-fancy plan, with tricks and fakes and invisible wizards and bison battering rams. No one was listening to sense, but I knew I had to save them from their own short-sightedness. I leapt the wall and charged right through the front door, surprising all the bandits inside. At least the others had the sense to follow, but of course they stumbled on caltrops and got tangled in nets; they were next to useless. No, it was my swift sword that won the day, coolly capturing the innkeeper-imposter Rezzyn and ending the fight.
After a night's recuperation, the fools opted to swing into the forest. I guided them forward to the bandit's main camp, which I had been observing for some time. I had been waiting for a good opportunity to surprise them, and thought that the bumbling group of cityfolk would provide a handy distraction. Sadly, my erstwhile companions did that latter part all too well, tripping an obvious early-warning system and separating too early without waiting for my plan. A couple sickly panthers ambushed the others, but of course I couldn't help while guarding the enemy commanders; turned out the brute had no skill with a blade whatsoever, just waving it around uselessly while getting mauled. The dark one panicked and fled, Sandals just stood and watched it happen, while the cowardly wizard tried to hide in the bushes; it could not have been a more disastrous rout. It took the whole bandit camp to wrestle me down, but even I have was overcome.
We were propelled through the brambles, and there was never a moment when I might have escaped; I knew that while I could burst my bonds at any time, the helpless fools I was with would be killed out of hand. I suffered in noble silence all the way to the encampment of Keszimir, a notorious werewolf sorcerer lord. He barked and howled his delight, and I knew that the bloodlust was on him; in moments, one of us would die. I was by far the greatest threat to him, and knew that Keszimir secretly feared my strength, so I made the ultimate sacrifice. I stepped forward and volunteered for death so that innocents might live for a few hours more. "Til death take me", indeed."
Selected Highlights:
- "Make a smellcraft check."
- The triumphant return of Lanfell the Magnificent
- "Excuse me, Mr. Dee. Your sneakers are untied!"
- Civlis postulates a working theory for double invisibility
- This battle sets a low-water mark for intra-group cooperation.
- Far from a green rage monster, we demonstrate the powers of annoyance
- "Dear Baezel, As you might have guessed, we have been captured by rangers. No doubt, you are examining the scene right now, as their camp is immediately to your left. They have decided to take us to - " - hasty message scrawled in the dirt by Civlis
Sunday, April 8, 2012
The Inn and the prison
I don't know if this is what my mother had in mind when she sent me off with two of her friends and said, "go have an adventure." The place where her friends left me for a while quickly ran out of locals to solve their problems and I was pressed into service with an interesting bunch of characters. I was sad to lose Torvald, and that spell book we found, but Civlis has seemed more of an adventurer. It's probably all that hunting experience he continually boasts about. I've been feeling useless in almost every situation. Father had many good stories to tell about adventures he recorded for our lord and the wondrous items those heroes had found. Even Mother used to tell some pretty vivid stories of adventure, and even showed me some wonderful, magical trinkets she had come across though I don't know where she got them. It made adventuring sound wonderful.
Killing at least one of the demons that has been troubling The Bastard was great since it allowed us to get out and look for help. The trip to the other stronghold down the road was nearly fruitless. I tried to get Civlis to let me add a few things to our little wish list but it seems it would have been useless anyway. The stronghold we visited is even smaller and less well equipped than The Bastard. They also have their own problems. We cut down a number of Rangers who had been killed and strung up just outside the walls. We dragged one poor Ranger out to help us go back to The Bastard but he would have served us better staying drunk under the table and would be more alive than he is today.
The only good we've really done since leaving The Bastard is cleaning out that thieves' den at the old inn. We thought something wasn’t right so, while Krieger talked, I used my magic to read minds. The “innkeeper” claimed to be there alone but I sensed 16 minds, most of them hoping we were coming in and looking for a fight. After giving them a chance to give up without bloodshed, we stormed the place with Civlis working his way around the back to cut off escape and Friar Gregory watching the front door in case anyone got past us. Krieger's become like a man possessed when evil is around and the bison Civlis summoned were a real step up from the fire beetles he used to summon.
The night in the inn, after we had routed those bandits and before we went looking for their main encampment, has improved things for me. I was able to figure out two more of the spells I copied into my spell book from borrowed books before I was expelled from school. One proved quite useful as Friar Gregory's Spiritual Weapon and it finished off that Displacer Beast with only minor trouble. The second beast really hurt Krieger. I guess that's why the others were taken captive so easily. We shouldn't have let Civlis scout so far ahead of us. There was no sign of him throughout the whole fight and I hoped he was also out alone in the forest until I was able to get a count of the number of prisoners the bandits had taken to that first camp. I was a little far away to see clearly but it looked like the leader of that camp ate Lanfell right in front of the others! My useless feeling was back as all I could do was follow my friends to the two camps. I was completely out of spells and I need to avoid a straight fight. It would have taken a raging barbarian with a Greatsword to fight all the bandits, wolves and hobgoblins alone.
I got only about ten seconds into my attempt to sneak in and get my friends out of their prison before I was discovered and locked up with them. Oh well, we're unharmed, we have all our stuff and we're all back together. Civlis said our prison is an old elven burial mound. I think there's more to this place than he's telling us but I'm eager to explore it more anyway. It'd be better if the only way out we know about wasn't back into the hands of our captors.
Killing at least one of the demons that has been troubling The Bastard was great since it allowed us to get out and look for help. The trip to the other stronghold down the road was nearly fruitless. I tried to get Civlis to let me add a few things to our little wish list but it seems it would have been useless anyway. The stronghold we visited is even smaller and less well equipped than The Bastard. They also have their own problems. We cut down a number of Rangers who had been killed and strung up just outside the walls. We dragged one poor Ranger out to help us go back to The Bastard but he would have served us better staying drunk under the table and would be more alive than he is today.
The only good we've really done since leaving The Bastard is cleaning out that thieves' den at the old inn. We thought something wasn’t right so, while Krieger talked, I used my magic to read minds. The “innkeeper” claimed to be there alone but I sensed 16 minds, most of them hoping we were coming in and looking for a fight. After giving them a chance to give up without bloodshed, we stormed the place with Civlis working his way around the back to cut off escape and Friar Gregory watching the front door in case anyone got past us. Krieger's become like a man possessed when evil is around and the bison Civlis summoned were a real step up from the fire beetles he used to summon.
The night in the inn, after we had routed those bandits and before we went looking for their main encampment, has improved things for me. I was able to figure out two more of the spells I copied into my spell book from borrowed books before I was expelled from school. One proved quite useful as Friar Gregory's Spiritual Weapon and it finished off that Displacer Beast with only minor trouble. The second beast really hurt Krieger. I guess that's why the others were taken captive so easily. We shouldn't have let Civlis scout so far ahead of us. There was no sign of him throughout the whole fight and I hoped he was also out alone in the forest until I was able to get a count of the number of prisoners the bandits had taken to that first camp. I was a little far away to see clearly but it looked like the leader of that camp ate Lanfell right in front of the others! My useless feeling was back as all I could do was follow my friends to the two camps. I was completely out of spells and I need to avoid a straight fight. It would have taken a raging barbarian with a Greatsword to fight all the bandits, wolves and hobgoblins alone.
I got only about ten seconds into my attempt to sneak in and get my friends out of their prison before I was discovered and locked up with them. Oh well, we're unharmed, we have all our stuff and we're all back together. Civlis said our prison is an old elven burial mound. I think there's more to this place than he's telling us but I'm eager to explore it more anyway. It'd be better if the only way out we know about wasn't back into the hands of our captors.
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