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Prologue: Shadows of the Past

Turn 15: Belak The Outcast

“To hell with this!” hissed Danton. “Enough bandying about with this Frog Man! Let us see if his vampiric tree burns readily enough! Cleave the Frog Man, Nanoc! To the axe, to the axe, my boy!”

“Attack!” screamed Telemachos, charging through the hole in the courtyard wall.

By this time, Nanoc was already halfway across the courtyard, his long legs carrying him faster than any of the others could possibly run.

Mauser, Danton, and Erky moved into the courtyard more cautiously, even as the huge frog sprang down from the tree. The frog and the rest of Belak’s minions formed a defensive perimeter around him and battle was joined.

“Entangle the druid, Erky!” called out Mauser as he followed in the wake of Nanoc and Telemachos.

[Initiative: Nanoc: 17, Telemachos: 11, Mauser: 12, Danton: 17, Erky: 11, Belak: 9, Sharwyn: 15, Frog: 17, Braford: 16, Twig Blights: 15]

With Braford, the huge tree frog and the three twig blights blocking his path towards Belak, Nanoc charged directly at the frog and brought his axe crashing down atop its body (attack: 12+8=20; hit; 18 damage). The effect was devastating. The great axe slashed clean through the frog’s body, exploding the creature in a greenish-red mass of blood and ichor that sprayed all over Nanoc and most of the surrounding defenders.

With the frog destroyed, two of the twig blights rushed forward to fill the gap in Belak’s lines, slashing at Nanoc with their claws. The barbarian was hit twice (4 damage), but he easily shrugged off any effect from the burning sap that coated the creature’s claws (fortitude saves: 19+5=24, 13+5=18).

Alongside and slightly behind Nanoc during his charge, Telemachos slowed his pace as the missing adventurer known as Sir Braford moved forward to block him. Only a few feet apart now, Telemachos could clearly see the bark-like texture of the other man’s skin and the bizarre roots or thick veins that now ran just underneath it.

“Stand aside,” said the Furyondian. “I’ve no wish to fight you, even if you do look like a real horror-show now.”

Braford’s answer came in the form of a sweeping strike with his longsword. Telemachos brought his own weapon up in a defensive posture and the two blades smashed together (Opposed attack roll: Braford: 21, Telemachos 14). Only too late did Telemachos realize that Braford had intentionally targeted his blade rather than trying to hit him. When the two longswords crashed together, there was a flash of brilliant white light and then Telemachos’ sword exploded in his hand, leaving him standing facing the other fighter holding only the useless hilt of his blade.

With Telemachos facing off against Braford and Nanoc having destroyed the frog and now occupying two of the twig blights, only the last blight remained for Mauser to deal with as he came forward in the wake of the two fighters. The wooden creature cut a gash along Mauser’s abdomen (2 damage), and, unlike Nanoc, he immediately felt the effects of the poison sap (fortitude save: 2+8=10; fail; 1 additional damage). The cleric sought to swat the blight aside with his newly acquired magical morningstar, but his lingering weakness made the attack futile: (attack: 8+3-2=9; miss).

As the battle raged, the spellcasters on both sides began to make their presence felt. First, Sharwyn Hucrele fired off a blast of magical energy that slammed into Erky, nearly knocking the gnome off his feet. The blast staggered the gnome, but did not prevent him from reading the scroll Mauser had given him, and within moments, Belak’s own vegetation was reaching up from the ground in an effort to trap him and Sharwyn. The woman managed to leap clear, but with a scream of frustration, Belak was held fast at the foot of his own Dark Tree.

The druid took his revenge by hefting a long wooden wand of some sort and casting the same spell into the confused melee where Telemachos, Nanoc, Mauser, Braford, and the twig blights fought back and forth (reflex saves: Telemachos: 19+0=19; success, Nanoc: 1+4=5; fail, Mauser: 12+3=15; success). Both Telemachos and Mauser managed to leap away from the encroaching plants, but Nanoc was held fast, with vines and leaves crawling up his legs to bind him in place. However, it appeared that Braford and two of the twig blights were held as well.

As the fighting continued, Danton found himself completely ignored by the enemy—precisely the scenario he preferred. The Velunese quickly removed his first vial of oil, lit the wick with his torch, and lobbed the vessel over the melee, directly at the trunk of the Dark Tree (throw attack: 12+3=15; hit). Danton’s aim was true, and the flask sailed through the branches of the tree to strike a direct hit on the trunk some twenty feet above the base of the tree. The glass vial shattered on impact, scattering burning oil over a large section of the tree and setting it alight (4 points immediate damage).

Fighting the urge to pump his fist in the air in triumph, Danton instead lit and lobbed his second vial (throw attack: 18+3=21). Once again his aim was accurate, and the vial shattered and exploded fire amidst the center of mass of the tree—this time ten feet above the first impact point (3 points immediate damage).

While the tree began to burn, it was the other effect of Danton’s pyrotechnic attacks that was the most striking. When the first vial landed, Belak immediately began screaming:

“Stop him! Save the Tree at all costs! Stop him!”

In response, Sharwyn immediately fired off a magical projectile at Danton, which homed in with arcane precision, making it impossible to avoid (2 damage). As if that were not enough, Belak himself began chanting arcane words and moments later a great ball of fire appeared out of thin air next to Danton and rolled towards him (reflex save: 10+5=15; success). The Velunese managed to leap out of the way at the last moment as the sphere rolled past, but the heat it emanated told him that being hit by the ball of fire would likely prove fatal.

Although held fast by the encroaching vines and brambles, Nanoc still had two twig blights within range of his axe and he slashed one of them to bits almost casually as he struggled to free himself (attack: 12+8-2 penalty=18; hit; 16 damage). The remaining blight hacked at Nanoc, but its movements too were hindered by the clinging undergrowth and it did not even come close to striking the barbarian.

With the blight that had been attacking him now similarly held by Belak’s spell, Mauser disengaged from combat and moved around the entangled area and towards Belak, Sharwyn and the Dark Tree. Sensing an opportunity to remove an enemy spellcaster from the fight, the cleric charged directly at Sharwyn, who was so busy readying another spell to fire off at Danton that she did not even register his approach. Mauser smashed his morningstar into the woman’s midsection with all of the strength he currently had (attack: 20+3-2=21; critical hit: 14 damage). With a muffled scream, the woman crumpled to the ground.

After leaping clear of the entangling plant growth and dropping the hilt of his ruined longsword, Telemachos withdrew his long bow and began firing off arrows at the trapped Belak, ignoring the snarling and similarly trapped Braford nearby (attack: 10+2=12; miss). Unfortunately, Telemachos’ first shot slammed into one of the brambles surrounding the druid, causing the shaft to carom off and miss its mark.

While Nanoc, still held fast, tried to cut down the last nearby twig blight, but missed (attack: 5+8-2=11; miss), the remaining party members concentrated on missile attacks on the trapped Belak and his Dark Tree. The only other foes left standing, Braford and the last twig blight, were both held fast and effectively out of the fight for the time being.

Telemachos fired off another shot from his long bow and this time his aim was perfect (attack: 20+2=22; critical hit; 11 damage). The arrow struck Belak in the chest, producing a grunt of pain. At the same time, Mauser, his crossbow now in hand, fired off a bolt towards Belak from the other side (attack: 13+4=17; 4 damage), producing another hit. When the two projectiles struck the druid, the flaming sphere that he had been maneuvering to strike at Danton a second time suddenly winked out of existence.

No longer under attack, Danton and Erky both lobbed vials of flaming oil at the Dark Tree, where flames were still smouldering from Danton’s earlier strikes. Unfortunately, both vials missed the mark (Danton attack: 3+3=6; miss). While Danton’s vial fell to the east of the tree and ignited some of the undergrowth, Erky’s toss was even worse and his vial landed right at Mauser’s feet, splashing flaming oil on the cleric (1 damage).

“Watch your aim, damn it! I’ve already been burned once down here and that was more than enough!” screamed Mauser as he reloaded his crossbow for another shot at Belak.

With their oil stocks running low, Danton and Erky threw another volley. This time, the gnome’s aim was true, and he ignited the base of the tree (6 damage, +2 damage from existing fires). Danton’s toss fell well short of the mark (attack: 1+3=4; miss), but still had some positive effect when it landed near Belak and scorched the druid lightly (1 damage).

“I’m getting right tired o’ this! I want outta here!” screamed Nanoc to no one in particular as he finally smashed the last twig blight confronting him (attack:18+8-2=24; hit; 9 damage) and began thrashing about in an effort to free himself.

Although he had been burned and hit by multiple arrows and bolts, Belak continued to scream and chant, so Telemachos and Mauser feverishly fired shot after shot at the druid in an effort to take him out before he could complete another dangerous spell (Telemachos attack: 8+2=10; miss, Mauser attack: 14+4=18; hit; 4 damage).

Suddenly Belak fell silent and raised both hands in a strange gesture before pointing them at Telemachos. The fighter steeled himself to be hit by a blast of fire, but nothing of the kind occurred (will save: 6+0=6; fail).

“Hold, friends!” shouted the Furyondian fighter. “Please don’t hurt the Frog Man! The Frog Man is our friend too! He’s just been misunderstood! No more oil either! Remember, only you can prevent forest fires!”

“Lovely,” muttered Danton, “our fearless warrior’s mind hath been turned to tapioca.” With a shake of his head, Danton launched the last of his oil flasks (14+3=17; hit; 2 damage; +7 damage from existing fires).

The flask smashed into the Dark Tree, adding to the growing conflagration that was slowly spreading up and down the tree and all along its branches. Between flaming limbs that were now falling from the tree and the fires started in the undergrowth by Danton and Erky’s errant tosses, the entire area was beginning to go up in flames. With all the dry wood and plants about, it was not difficult to imagine that within a few minutes, the entire area would be one great fire.

Still struggling against the clinging foliage, Nanoc nearly fell over when all of the vines and brambles that had held him suddenly disappeared. Because the way ahead was still blocked by Erky’s entangle spell, Nanoc turned to deal with Braford and the last twig blight, both of which were freed at the same time he was.

“I’m gonna try ta use my club on this guy,” shouted the half-orc. “I don’t want him trashin’ my axe an’ maybe we can jus’ knock im out and then find a cure or somethin’ for ‘im!”

Sliding his axe into its harness on his back and withdrawing his goblin sap, Nanoc ignored the twig blight and stalked towards the human fighter who had so easily destroyed Telemachos’ prized sword. The half-orc hefted the club and brought it down on the man’s head (attack: 17+7=24; hit; 10 subdual damage). The blow visibly staggered the man, but he remained standing and repeated his earlier tactics, striking at Nanoc’s weapon rather than at the half-orc (opposed attack roll: Braford: 1+10=11, Nanoc: 14+7=21). But unlike Telemachos, who had been surprised by the tactic, Nanoc expected it and he was able to get his club out of the way of the man’s sword to avoid having it shattered. However, the twig blight took advantage of Nanoc’s preoccupation to slash him in the back (2 damage; fortitude save: 1+5=6; fail; 1 extra poison damage).

With flaming bits of the Dark Tree crashing down all around him, Mauser fired off another bolt at Belak (14+4=18; hit; 6 damage). The bolt struck home, but the druid somehow seemed to shrug it off like he had all of the others. Mauser reached down to load another bolt into his weapon, but then Telemachos, leaping through the burning undergrowth and screaming “Good Frog Man!” threw himself at Mauser in an attempted flying tackle (Telemachos grapple: 10+4=14; miss).

Fortunately for Mauser, the fighter’s wild yell spoiled any surprise he might have had, and the cleric managed to duck out of the way while Telemacos crashed headfirst into the undergrowth. Trying to dodge away from the man while reloading his crossbow, the cleric shouted, “Someone keep this oaf off me so that I can finish the druid! We don’t have much longer before this whole place is aflame!”

Hearing the cleric’s words, Danton stood appalled near the courtyard wall watching the growing firestorm. High overhead the dry wood at the top of the Dark Tree crackled and exploded (10 damage to tree from fires). Flaming bits of wood rained down in all directions now.

“Get the finger and the ring of the Hucrele woman!” Danton shouted. “Then we can withdraw. Leave the druid to burn in his own grove!”

Erky stood next to Danton and nodded agreement, but none of the others appeared to give any heed to his words. Nanoc remained locked in combat with Braford, while Mauser dodged wildly about trying to avoid being tackled by the gibbering, raving Telemachos. With the smoke and fire, it was growing harder to see exactly what was happening.

“Come on, man!” shouted Danton again. “Hath you not a wink of sense? Hath Boccob stolen all your common sense in return for book smarts? Think, man, think! We need only the ring to claim our reward and then we can flee and leave the Frog Man to be consumed by the flames! We must flee—and flee now—and not stop running until we are back before Yusdrayl and the relative safety of the kobolds’ lair!”

Taking advantage of his foe’s single-minded determination to destroy his weapon, Nanoc feinted with his club, dodged the man’s attempt to strike it, and then clobbered him again in the head with it (attack: 13+7=20; hit; 9 subdual damage). This second blow was more than Braford could take, and he collapsed to the ground unconscious. Nanoc then dropped the club, spun on his heel and withdrew his axe in a single fluid motion, and slashed the last twig blight to splinters (attack: 7+8=15; hit; 8 damage).

With Telemachos harrying him every step of the way, Mauser did finally manage to reach the body of Sharwyn Hucrele and slip her ring off her finger, but as he stood up again, Telemachos finally caught up to him, slamming into his side and knocking him to the ground (Telemachos grapple attack: 14+4=18; hit).

“Please don’t hurt the Frog Man! Please don’t hurt the Frog Man! Hah hah hah! Frog Man! Frog Man!” raved the Furyondian as he struggled to pin Mauser (Telemachos: 20+4=24 vs. Mauser: 5-2=3; Mauser is pinned). Exhausted by the long day’s exertions, constant combat, and weakened by his encounter with the shadow, Mauser was simply no match for the fanatic Furyondian, who seemed to have superhuman strength and to be blissfully ignorant of the fact that the entire grove was burning down around him.

Closer to the courdyard wall, Nanoc bent down and picked up his club, Braford and the warrior’s sword and hauled everything through the burning underbrush back to where Danton and Erky stood.

“What happened to the others?” asked Danton. “In truth, I can see little through the flames at this point. Doth the Frog Man yet live?”

“Dunno,” said Nanoc. “Why don’t you fellas get outta here with this poor guy and I’ll see if I can find Mauser and Tel?”

“This…er…fellow,” said Erky, “is quite dead.”

“What?” shouted Nanoc. “That can’t be! I only knocked him out.”

“Perhaps what life remained in him was connected to the tree,” said Erky, pointing up just as the entire top of the huge tree came crashing down, smashing through an entire section of wall and igniting still more of the underbrush (15 fire damage to Tree).

“If he is dead, then ‘twould be wiser to stick together,” said Danton. “Let us find the others and then go very, very far from here. I fear we must also have a discussion about your lack of hygiene later,” finished the scout, pointing at the blood and ichor-spattered barbarian and holding his nose.

Nanoc looked perplexed, but then turned and charged back through the burning underbrush with Danton and Erky struggling to keep up. In addition to the obvious hazard of the fires, smoke was now accumulating in the underground cavern, making it harder and harder to breathe.

The trio finally found Telemachos holding Mauser pinned to the ground with his arm twisted behind his back. The fighter shouted incoherently that he had done his “master’s bidding” and was caught completely off guard when Nanoc hit him in the back with his club (12+7=19; hit; 12 subdual damage).

The blow knocked Telemachos off Mauser. The fighter rolled twice and then came back on his feet cursing and importuning the Frog Man for aid.

“Get him outta here,” said Nanoc, pointing at Mauser. “I’ll deal with Tel.”

Danton and Erky helped Mauser to his feet and then the group began to pick its way back through the flames towards the courtyard entrance.

Telemachos snarled, screamed “Frog Man!” and threw himself at Nanoc, just as he had done previously with Mauser. However, tackling the weakened cleric and tackling the six foot nine half-orc were two different matters. When Telemachos made his charge, Nanoc simply hit him with the goblin sap again (attack: 11+7=18; hit; 13 subdual damage) and the fighter collapsed to the ground unconscious. Nanoc slipped the club into his belt, stooped down and picked up Telemachos, threw the fighter over his shoulder, turned and jogged away from the Dark Tree. As he ran, the tree continued to explode, one section at a time, raining flaming debris in an ever wider arc and setting more and more of the grove alight.

Nanoc’s long strides enabled him to catch up to Danton, Mauser and Erky not long after they made it out of the courtyard and into the larger expanse of the grove. By the time the group had traveled another fifty feet through the flaming brambles, they managed to get ahead of the worst of the flames and smoke, both of which continued to spread. With Danton and Erky in the lead, the party made its way back through Belak’s study, down the long hall, through the lower passageway and eventually back into the area with Belak’s many gardens. As they went, they saw no sign of goblins or any other humanoids.

Finally, roughly a half hour after the group had fled the burning grove, it arrived at the large chamber with the tunnel in the roof that led back to the upper level of the citadel. At that point Nanoc removed his armor and most of his gear and climbed (climb: 1+8=9) up the vines to the top, where he secured a rope to assist the others in their ascent. When the others were all safely up, Nanoc climbed back down to haul the unconscious Telemachos up as well.

“You know,” said Mauser while he and Danton stood looking down into the hole as Nanoc climbed up with Telemachos lashed to his back, “I still maintain that the tree did not present a direct threat to anyone. It was simply misused by a crazy druid, and if we had been able to study it, it could very well have turned out to be a treasure trove of knowledge. I also hope that if it truly did grow out of a vampire’s heart that the destruction of the tree will not allow him to rise again. Had we not burned down the entire grove, we could have taken care to find and destroy any such remains.”

Danton looked at the cleric in sheer disbelief.

“Truly, Mauser,” he said, “you are insane. I can hardly imagine greater foolishness than sticking around to exhume vampires or watch as you study the Frog Man’s flora and fauna. And while we are at it, I should very much like to know the full story behind these ‘unique abilities’ of yours. You are, by the way, still in goblin form in case you had forgotten.”

“Oh, er, right,” said the cleric. As he spoke, his form twisted and shifted yet again, growing taller and more stout before Danton’s eyes until the familiar face of the cleric once again looked back at him.

“Don’t suppose you’d care to explain how it is you put the talents of disguise of the finest spymasters and con artists of Veluna to shame in a matter of seconds, would you?” asked Danton.

Mauser shook his head. “Not here, not now. Maybe later. Let’s get moving again as soon as Nanoc is topside—at least as far back as the kobold area. By the way—do you think there’s any way the druid could have survived the conflagration?”

Danton froze. “How could anyone have possibly survived that?”

Mauser shrugged. “Druids are reputed to have many strange powers, particularly over the elements of nature, and that one seemed to absorb whatever we threw at him. I think we got all his flunkies, but as for him…well, I’m really not sure. But it might behoove us to get far from here as quickly as we can once we claim our reward—just in case.”

“No arguments there,” said Danton. “The last thing I need at this point is an encounter with a revenge-seeking Frog Man, particularly while Telemachos remains the charter member of his fan club.”

***

An hour later, the exhausted party members were back in the chambers of Meepo the kobold, having hiked the long, but known, way back to the kobold part of the citadel and requested that Yusdrayl allow them to rest there before they departed. The kobold leader assented, on the condition that they stay with Meepo and then depart in the morning.

When morning came, Erky administered healing to the party (DM note: Mauser still has no new spells since he will not receive any until the late afternoon; Danton +2 HP, Mauser +6 HP, Telemachos +2 HP, Nanoc +8HP), and Telemachos finally resumed consciousness. The fighter seemed more himself now, but he still exhibited great interest in the “wondrous Frog Man” and constantly inquired as to the druid’s welfare. Although this was worrisome, there was at least some good news for the party, as Mauser’s strength had finally returned to normal.

While Erky kept Telemachos occupied, Danton pulled Mauser and Danton aside.

“If the Frog Man were dead, would not his spell have died with him?” asked the Velunese. “Is this not proof that the villain yet lives?”

“Don’t ask me,” said Nanoc, “I’m still tryin’ ta get my head around the whole idea of evil plants.”

“I don’t know either,” said Mauser (spellcraft: 12+3=15). “Normally I would think so, but this Belak was no normal spellcaster. The tree clearly gave him unusual powers, and that’s even without getting into its vampire origins…I truly do regret the destruction of such a unique specimen.”

“I’m sure Tel will snap out of it before long,” said Nanoc. “In the meantime, why don’t we get goin’ again? Let’s go find that one door we couldn’t get through way back when we first arrived—I bet that key Yusdrayl gave us will open it and maybe we’ll find some good loot in there—maybe even my magic axe!”

_______________________________________________________________

Notes for turn 16:

Please send postings for Turn 16 by the end of Friday, July 21st.

Your characters have now gained enough experience to attain 3^rd level. Please level them up and let me know all the changes. I’d also appreciate a fresh copy of your character sheets.

In your postings, please let me know what, if anything, else you want to do in the citadel, what you want to do when you return to Oakhurst (I presume that at a minimum you’ll want to return there to claim your reward), and what your plans are after that.

Items gained this turn: Sharwyn’s Hucrele signet ring, Sir Braford’s longsword

Undivided Loot previously gained: 977 silver, 440 gold, 3 gems, 2 onyx gems

Items used/lost/destroyed this turn: 7 oil flasks, scroll of entangle used by Erky, Telemachos’ longsword, arrows and crossbow bolts

FOES DEFEATED:

Current Status of the Party:

Nanoc

AC: 17
Hit points: 27/27
New XP: 540
XP total: 3210
XP needed: 3,000

Equipment: great axe, 2 short bows, short sword, studded leather armor (2 sets), 46 arrows, 2 quivers, backpack, waterskin, 10 days trail rations, bedroll, 2 sacks, 2 flint & steel, bearskin, tent, 50’ rope, 16 pounds of caltrops, 1 sap, spare chainmail shirt, 2 small marble statues, 3 silver rings

Gold: 2

Mauser

AC: 18
Hit points: 20/23
New XP: 540
XP total: 3210
XP needed: 3,000

Spells Available:

0 Level (4): none
1^st Level (4*- one of these four spells must be a domain spell):Alter Self

Equipment: quarterstaff, heavy mace, light crossbow, scalemail, 36 crossbow bolts, small wooden shield, backpack, pouch belt, 50’ silk rope, 3 torches, waterskin, flint & steel, 2 holy water flasks, peasant outfit, bedroll, entertainer’s outfit, cleric’s vestment (all clothing badly damaged by fire), healer’s kit, 8 days rations, four jade dragon figurines, ½ potion of cure light wounds, 1 sap, 2 unknown arcane scrolls, 2 Hucrele signet rings, 1 unknown potion, scroll of slow poison, unknown tome, enchanted morningstar (?)

Gold: 0

Danton

AC: 15 (16 vs. one opponent)
Hit points: 12/12
New XP: 540
XP total: 3210
XP needed: 3,000

Equipment: rapier, 6 daggers, light crossbow, studded leather armor, quiver with 13 bolts, bedroll, backpack, flint & steel, thieves picks, waterskin, 12 days trail rations, hooded lantern, notebook, pen, ink, gold ring engraved with the name Karakas, 1 sap, 1 metal key from Yusdrayl

Gold: 9

Telemachos

AC: 16
Hit points: 23/24
New XP: 540
XP total: 3210
XP needed: 3,000

Equipment: short sword, 2 daggers, long bow, quiver and 36 arrows, scalemail, large wooden shield, backpack, large sack, flint and steel, 13 days rations, waterskin, bedroll, tent, 1 sap, spare suit of scalemail

Gold: 12