Sarloc's Heir [closed]

[Dr._Bob]

Elthan rushes over and turns over the bodies gently. Their lips are blue and their faces have already assumed the waxy pallor of the dead.

Elthan bows his head in regret, a vow of revenge on his lips.

Suddenly, Thokk's lips move. The voice Elthan hears is not Thokk's however. The voice is recognizable as Graevic's yet not Graevic's. The strange accented voice intones a parting message:

"I am a man of my word, so I leave you with your small and worthless lives. Cross me again and you will surely die."

The magic mouth fades and Thokk's mouth is his own again. Both Thokk and Taern are barely breathing, but they are alive.

Fizahn looks up the empty shaft in dismay. Elthan has been carrying some silk rope, but it probably isn't long enough to reach the top even if there were a way to get the rope up the shaft.



OOC: Taern and Thokk have been stabilized at -8 HP each.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"Okay, the way I see it, we have five major problems...
Number one: Sethra. He is an evil-hearted demon who would kill someone just because they liked someone else better than him...
Number two: Sethra. He is extremely powerful, and there is no way we can stand up to him...
Number three: Taern and Thokk. They are both very hurt, and we are out of healing items and spells...
Number four: This crypt. We're stuck and there's no way out of here that we can find.
Number five: Taern and Thokk. Neither of them are in any way fit for exploration, and we need to find a way out of here...
I would also like to add a sixth, and say that Sethra may have taken my horse and/or pony..."

*Fizahn looks forlornly up into the hole, looking for a ladder or something.*

[sacreddeamon]

Thokk

*If I have regained conscioiuness*

"Lad, carefull, rope in backpack..."

*If not, I cant really say anything*

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Linda the White
Linda is relieved to see that Taern and Thokk are alive but tries to stay pragmatic:
The way I see it master Fizahn our situation is not so dire:
We all survived where we could have all died a horrible death.
The crypt seems empty and we're safe for the time being.
Sethra is back but his body is not his own-his powers are limited to what Graevic can do. I think that the spell he cast was only through an item-we still have time to stop him before he gets ressurected fully.

[Dr._Bob]

OOC: Thokk is not conscious, but even if he is mumbling in his sleep, he has forgotten that his rope was the one you originally used to climb down the shaft. It seems to be missing now. To my knowledge, only Elthan thought ahead and carried rope down into the crypt.

[sacreddeamon]

Thokk

*Mumble Mumble rope*

OOC: Oops

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"Linda, aren't spells just set motions of your hands or words that you recite out of a book? If he gets his spell book back, couldn't he cast any spell that he could before? You were never unable to cast spells because you'd grown an inch overnight, were you? This is merely a growth spurt, or detraction, for him. He is still human, he just changed height, weight, and physical build a bit, similar to what people go through while they're still growing. So it's logical, that he still knows how to cast his spells and can cast them, if he has his spell book and components for it, which were probably both hidden in his room and were retrieved while we were fighting the magmin... How else do you explain the magic mouth on Thokk?"

[sacreddeamon]

Thokk

*Mumble Mumble Mage Hand?"

[griffon666]

Elthan:

"Don't worry about getting out of here, I've got that covered, we should worry about keeping Thokk and Taern alive."

OOC:Are they stable? If they are, then Elthan suggests we rest, if not, he will suggest that anybody with healing abilities tend to their wounds.

[Dr._Bob]

OOC: Taern and Thokk are stable.

I advise against staying in the crypt overnight. For one thing, you probably don't have food or beds. Also, it is one thing to explore a necromancers crypt at high noon, and another thing completely to hang out after the sun goes down ...

[griffon666]

Elthan

"We should get out of here now." Elthan takes out a scroll from his belt. "I can make anyone here fly for a couple of minutes, but it should be the strongest one since he could carry Thokk and Taern while they are unconscious. Unfortunately, those two are the strongest ones. We could simply go tie a rope like we had done, but its going to be hard to carry two bodies while climbing up the rope."

[sacreddeamon]

Thokk

"Mumble Mumble tie a bowline Mumble Have Fizan stay at the bottom Mumble Rest lift us up Mumble"

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"Unfair discrimination against gnomes! No one listen to the mumbling unconscious dwarf!"

[Dr._Bob]

Elthan is the strongest of you at the moment, and so he casts fly on himself. Unfortunately, Linda, Thokk, and Taern prove too heavy for him to lift. Only Fizahn is light enough for Elthan to carry.

The two of them ascend to the upper crypt, where they find that Graevic has cut Thokk's rope free from the log. The hemp rope is nowhere to be seen.

To make matters worse, when Elthan and Fizahn exit the crypt into the blinding noontime sunlight, they find that Graevic has scattered the party's horses.

It takes them almost an hour to retrieve the horses (and Fizahn's pony). They are able to retrieve more rope from their saddlebags - Fizahn's 50 ft of silk rope and Taern's 100 ft of hemp rope, but the fly spell has expired, so some way needs to be found to retrieve Linda, Thokk, and Taern from down below.

[griffon666]

Elthan:

Using the newly found lengths of ropes, Elthan makes a new way up by tying the rope to the closest, most stable thing he can find.

OOC: Actually, he leaves Fizahn to the rope tiying since he is more skilled at it.

[Dr._Bob]

Elthan and Fizahn secure the hemp rope onto the tree trunk and drop the other end to Linda who has been patiently waiting below with Thokk and Taern.

Linda could climb up, but obviously neither Thokk nor Taern will be able to.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Linda the White

After a few moments of thought Linda says to the others:
Fizahn, can you climb down and tie securely the rope to Taern? I was never good with ropes. Then, with Taern tied to its end we two will climb up again and the three of us will haul Taern up. Then we will untie her, throw the rope back down and you will clib down again and tie up Thokk. You'll come up and the three of us will trie to haul him up. I do hope the dwarf hasn't eaten too much today.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"I think that that's a good idea."

*Fizahn says as he climbs down the rope.*

"But I think that just you and Elthan should haul Taern up, and that I should stay down here to make sure nothing happens to Thokk... and maybe remove some of his armor."

[Dr._Bob]

It is mid afternoon by the time the three of you are able to retrieve Taern and Thokk.

Fizahn's hands are rubbed raw from climbing up and down the hemp rope and tying countless knots.

There was also a delay when it turned out that Thokk was too heavy to lift while in armor. Fizahn had the pleasant task of "undressing" Thokk - even then, Elthan and Linda were barely able to pull him up.

Thokk's armor and the recovered gear are the last things to be pulled up.

Finally, your mounts are loaded up with Thokk and Taern slung on the backs of their horses. Aholoh, Graevic's badger, appears just before you ride off (from wherever he was hiding). He growls sadly, then waddles off into the Wetwood.

You ride slowly so as not to jostle your friends too much so it is dusk by the time you FINALLY arrive back at Oden Homm's estate. He comes out to greet you with a smile on his face, but when he sees how battered you are, the smile vanishes.

"What happened?" Looking at Taern and Thokk, he asks, "Are they alive? Where's Graevic?"

He calls for help and several workers gently carry Thokk and Taern into the house.

The rest of you all but collapse once you have reached safety. It takes nearly a week of good food and rest before everyone feels back to normal. Fortunately, aided by magical healing, Thokk and Taern make full recoveries.

...

Once again, you find yourselves gathered around the large table, surveying a variety of weapons, armor, and items that you have recovered from the Wetwood.


OOC: Check OOC thread for a wrap up.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"I would like to find Aholoh and question him on Graevic's former life, to see if the badger knew his parents, so we can tell them the news..."

[Dr._Bob]

Fizahn, being hardy like all of his folk and being only moderately injured, made a rapid recovery and made a couple of trips back to the Wetwood while Thokk and Taern continued to mend.

On one visit, he found Aholoh, thin and sad, keeping vigil over the old barrow.

Fizahn brought the badger back with him to Oden Homm's. Now the badger sits on the table amongst the different items you had recovered.

"So who here speaks badger?" inquires Oden wryly.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"I do!"

*Fizahn uses speak with burrowing mammals, and asks the badger if it is aware of what happened to Graevic.*

[McMouse]

Taern Torminson

As the days slip by, Taern sits in introspective silence, first in bed, then in a comfortable chair. She sleeps a lot and doesn't say a word. She seems to be thinking long and hard. Finally, on the fifth day, she rises and goes outside with her axe, silently practicing endless stances, swings, parrys, and cuts in the air against invisible opponents. Her brow is furrowed in concentration, and her movements are meticulous, if slow. She spends the rest of the day practicing her axecraft before falling deep asleep.

-----------------

On the sixth day, Taern spends her time pouring through the library, sifting through tomes and books. Anyone who's interested notices several books about dragons or having to deal with the draconic language.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Upon returning to Oden's house Linda goes to her room and collapses in her bed sleeping for almost two days. She spends the next day in the bath, removing all the dirt from her and her clothes. She goes on lying lazily on her bed for several more days only coming down for breakfast. The last two days you hear blasts coming out of Linda's room and she insists on not being disturbed. At the seventh day she comes down, having fully recovered from the perils of the adventure. She comes where the group gathers to discuss the recent events with Oden but waits for the others to speak first. She seems to be struggling with herself about something.

[Dr._Bob]

Fizahn consults with Aholoh. The badger saw Graevic emerge from the shaft, but immediately sensed that something was wrong with his master. The badger stayed in hiding and saw Graevic remove the hemp rope, scatter the horses, then head back to the main road on horseback. More than that the badger can not say.

...

After a week of careful examination and judicious use of detect magic and identify you have the following items laid out on the table:

Items from Sethra's crypt

a cloak of elvenkind
bracers of armor +2
gauntlets of archery +1
a ring of feather fall
an adamantium breastplate
a dagger +2
chainmail +2

Items "looted" from the other crypt

a small, black lacquered chest (still unopened)
a brooch of shielding
an amulet of natural armor
an elemental (water) gem (sort of claimed by Thokk already)

The silver chalice and the black pearl were exchanged in town for a string of a dozen white pearls that were used in casting the multiple identify spells. Furthermore, the black staff turned out to be a rod of the viper that Oden Homm immediately insisted on destroying due to its evil nature.

The rest of the items and equipment are yours to divide.

[griffon666]

Elthan:

Elthan spent his time recovering from the minor wounds he received in the crypt, and discusing with Oden the events that took place in the crypt. He spoke of what was to be done(and maybe searched the library for more information about Sethra and Sarloc's descendants). Most of his free time was spent in the library, searching about Sethra, Sarloc, or just reading book that cought his eye.

[sacreddeamon]

Thokk

"All I am really wanting are this amulet, brooch and shielding, and this delightful gem..."

*Stares into Gem*

"Just out of curiosity, we should open up the box and see whats inside it"

OOC: I cant really take anything else. I dont need the armor, being that my current Full Plate is better. Bracers of armor would be better for our local sorc. Fizan should take the cloak to help him hide. Gauntlets of archery to whoever is going to be our archer. Anyone else have any suggestions to how we break the items up?

[Dr._Bob]

While everyone is examining the different items and debating whether to keep or sell them, Thokk fiddles with the black lacquer box (about the size of a large jewelery box). Before anyone can warn him not to, he opens the latch and lifts the lid ...

Fortunately, there are no explosions or other traps (as best anyone can tell). The box appears to be lead lined, thus resistant to magical investigation. Inside the box are a few dozen engraved copper discs. The discs are too large to be just copper coins; they look more like medallions perhaps.

[McMouse]

Taern Torminson

In a strange ceremoy, to say the least, Taern takes the melted, blasted haft of her axe and builds a small fire outside. She tosses the haft of the axe in and chants some words under her breath in Elvish. When the haft is reduced to nothing more than a few bits of twisted metal, she kicks the fire out and buries the ashes.

Then she rises and jogs into town. About four hours later, she returns with a large sword and three spears thrust into her leather harness to the back. She also has a smaller sword in a sheath to her side, opposite her dagger.

When she sees the metal discs, she immediately pokes through them, examining them closely.

[sacreddeamon]

Thok

"Hrm, very interesting..."

OOC: Quick appraise check, with the +2 bonus i get for being a dwarf