Printable Format

Chapter 4: A Deeper Darkness

Turn 85: The Wrath of Hedrack

After Sparhawk’s stunning realization about the identity of the man in the coffin, he, Danton, and Luger climbed back up the rope to join Syll and Tenaris in the room above and decide on a course of action.

“My friend,” said Luger, placing a hand on Sparhawk’s shoulder, “you of all persons should realize that this does not have to be the end of Prince Thrommel. We have a decision to make and I would prefer that it be made by our group as a whole. Varachan provided me with a much more powerful spell than I myself have employed with Erky and just recently, you yourself. This scroll will allow me to bring any man back from the dead and completely whole no matter how little remains of the body—as long as there is some remnant. To do this, we must destroy the vampire and then resurrect the ashes.”

”What sort of man was this Prince?” asked Luger. “Was he a holy knight as you, Peter? Would he repent what he has become and fight alongside us or will he slink out of the mountain and simply return to claim his throne? I am willing to cast this spell on Prince Thrommel if all agree I should, but keep in mind, it will expend a scroll I had planned to use on the next one of us who falls, Heironeus forbid. At the very least, we can destroy this vile beast and take a bit of the ashes with us to be resurrected when our task here is complete.”

With a glance at Danton, Luger added, “I suspect returning the Prince to your homeland will go a long way towards forgiving your past, uh, improprieties.”

Sparhawk rubbed his chin and said, “An incredible turn of events. We hath destroyed an evil prince and canst probably decide the fate of Oerth in this decision because of thine powerful magicks. Well, if he can be turned to good, he would become a powerful ally indeed. The main question is, can it be done? Doth we have the strength and time to turn him from the dark side and exorcise the hold that evil doth have over him?”

”It would appear that Heironeous hath brought us here at just the right fortuitous moment,” said Sparhawk. “In his youth, Prince Thrommel was a renowned paladin of Pelor prior to his disappearance—and assumed death—some two decades ago. But now, we hath the opportunity to restore stability to Furyondy to battle the forces of evil in the vile Empire of Iuz! To think that we wilt be responsible for such a feat and win renown throughout the kingdom!”

”Methinks that Heironeous is smiling on thee, good Danton,” added Sparhawk, “for thou just might be rewarded with thine rightful position once again for thy part in all this!”

”Like you Peter,” cautioned Luger, “the Prince will find himself diminished by the experience of being brought back to life. He may not be capable of fighting alongside us. If that is the case, we cannot expect him to try to do so and we cannot protect him in such a hostile place. Nor can we take a month to return him to Furyondy. On the other hand, he may be a boon of information if he has been here all these years. He may have even fought to bring down the Temple of Elemental Evil all those years ago.”

“Frankly, I am not in favor of resurrecting this man,” said Danton with a scowl, “and 'tis not merely the fact that I am Velunese and he is Furyondian. Let it be known that I hath no desire any more to resuscitate mine former position in Veluna -- I am a citizen of the Oerth now, and no longer a dupe of governmental masters who would -- and did -- use and dispose of me at their pleasure. Nay, his Furyondian heritage is not part of mine calculus.”

”Instead,” continued Danton, “mine feelings art principally twofold. First and most especially, I believe that that scroll should be saved for one of our group. Frankly, while Luger hath had the power in the past to raise up Erky and Sparhawk upon their deaths, we know not if some horrible fate may bring about a manner or instance of death that defies Luger's powers. Indeed, Luger himself hath said that this scroll is more potent than his own divine powers. It should be saved for our group.”

Luger, Sparhawk, and Tenaris all seemed surprised at Danton’s words, but the Velunese plunged on:

”I hope that this is not seen as mere venial selfishness. Look around you, and make no mistake: save p'raps Varachan alone, what you see assembled here art the only beings who wilt steadfastly, knowledgably and self-sacrificially take the battle to the Tharizdun cult to the bitter end. We hath collectively proven it time and again, and some there are -- Nanoc and Karzak, at a bare minimum -- who hath made the ultimate sacrifice. 'Tis not that our lives -- certainly, to be clear, mine own life -- is inherently more worthy than those of others. Instead, 'tis that, in this context, our lives art paramount ... for the future of all the Oerth rests upon them.”

”This bringeth me to mine second point. Let us say that Luger resurrects this man. Who knows what wilt be the outcome? Wilt he remain undead? If so, then plainly the scroll is wasted. Yet, even if not, consider this: whate'er he wast once upon a time, there is no guarantee that he is this further. Who knoweth the path that his mind and soul hath taken? He may be a willing agent of evil, vampire or no. In short, there is no guarantee that he may aid us. He may turn against us, directly or at a moment of convenience. Then again, setting melodrama aside, he may merely seek to play usurper in Furyondy or otherwise embark on quests of his own designs. One doth not have to be an evil man in order to embark on goals aside from our own, and he might opt to do so.”

By this time, while Sparhawk seemed primarily shocked at Danton’s words, Tenaris’ expression was darkening noticeably.

”Finally,” said Danton, “if you art so willing to resurrect a third-party, then why not resurrect yonder skeletal cleric of Pelor? He or she fairly clearly died here for righteousness' sake, p'raps a victim of the very villain you now seek to raise. Why not use your spell on her or him? What justifies raising this particular nobleman, other than the fact that he hath already been so privileged as to have his visage engraved along the side of a coin? I hath learned well: do not become overawed by kings, politicians and noblemen. Their lives art not necessarily worth more than the merest, tongueless prisoner waiting for us to save them ... and who might yet die and have need of that scroll!”

”But setting aside all philosophy, mine bottom-line feeling is that such potent magick be saved for our core group. And if we survive the quest without e'er using it, so much the better -- use it to raise some poor child who hath died from the pox before e'er getting to know the world. But waste it not on some leader who hath already had a chance to live, and who did so in pleasure and plentitude, lording power over millions.”

When Danton finally finished speaking, it was Syll who broke the ensuing silence. “My vote is to bring back the Crown Prince,” said the elf sorcerer. “If he's a twerp we just cap him—again. Then we snag the other stiff and bring it back when we get a chance. If we're worried, Luger could always do a speak with dead and ask the stiff if it was evil when it was alive. My main thinking is vampire boy has been hanging about with Hedrack and company for quite some time and may well be a right proper font of knowledge. Plus it would just be a nice thing to do. As far as which spell to use, well, that is a matter that would be open for debate. My other question is do we bring him back now or attack Hedrack and then bring him back?”

Looking directly at Danton, Sparhawk said, “I still am very much in favor of taking a great risk. For I think that the Crown Prince wilt be critical to our success, either by what he tells us or by the strength of his arms. Verily, I hath little faith that the events of this Temple wilt await the armies of Furyondy. They wilt be decided, as wilt our fates, and that of Oerth, in the near future.”

”Sometimes,” continued the paladin, still looking at Danton, “we must trust in the blessings of fortune - as thou knoweth all so well - I call it Heironeous. We art imperfect creatures and must act the best we can with the information that we have. To reject a good tiding is just as foolish as following what thou erroneously thinkest to be a blessing. We simply doth not know. We must ‘take a chance’ or ‘have faith’ - whatever thou preferest.”

Seeing that he was apparently outvoted four to one on the matter of attempting to ‘bring back’ Prince Thrommel, Danton sighed, made an effort to calm himself, and replied:

“If the consensus is to raise this man, I wilt not stand in the way. As I hath been generally happy to do, I wilt follow the will of the majority. Moreover, I also concede that Thrommel -- if this truly is he and not some trick of the minds or magick -- could play a role in settling Furyondian political problems, which could have a salutary effect on our own quest. Indeed, I suppose 'tis not inconceivable that a restored Thrommel could rally a host and bring it to crush the Temple of Elemental Evil. But it remains, at least in mine mind, a gamble.”

”Ultimately, p'raps despite mine chosen calling or because of it, I am an inherently conservative man, not prone to gambling. A good spy, as a rule, is not reckless, though I suppose desperate times may call for it. Thus, while I cannot claim in the abstract that I value Thrommel's life above that of a pox-ridden child -- for, let me again speak plainly, I do not -- I am willing to concede that a gamble here could pay dividends for many, pox-ridden children included. So, at bottom, while I doth not know if I can vote for it ... I wilt not vote against it.”

With the general decision made that an attempt would be made—at some point—to bring Prince Thrommel back from the dead, Luger proceeded to heal some of the damage the vampire had done to him using one of Varachan’s scrolls (Cast Cure Serious Wounds: Luger +27 HP).

While the cleric was doing this, Danton, who had not failed to notice the scowls he was receiving from Tenaris, approached the elf woman and said quietly:

“Tenaris, I hath publicly spoken my views on resurrecting this would-be Thrommel, previous princely lord of Furyondy. When I spoke first, in part I spoke out of concern for our group and our own efforts, critical as they are to the Oerth -- for that, I do not make apologies. But mine personal biases wert also apparent in my statements, and so I spoke yet a second time, admitting the possibilities to our larger quest in raising Thrommel. What I would like at this point is your counsel. I respect your views on things and find your mind incisive ... and your heart true. By your expression, I hath gathered that you agreeth not with mine views, but you hath said nothing, so I wilt put the question to you plainly: do you think we should raise Thrommel or not?”

Tenaris shook her head vigorously. “You...disappoint me, Danton,” she said finally, in a tone that was like a dagger through the scout’s heart. “Every time I start thinking you are fundamentally a good man with a rough exterior, you do something to make me believe that I am wrong and that you are merely a selfish cad with a smooth tongue. I do not understand the risks or issues associated with bringing the dead back to life that Luger and Sparhawk have discussed, so I leave that to them to sort out.”

”But,” said the woman sharply, “when Sparhawk tells us that he believes that restoring this man to life could bring order back to his country and allow it to remain a bulwark against Iuz and his horrible empire, your instinctive response is to launch into a tirade about what suits us best and how we need to save the spell for ourselves? I don’t even know what so say to you anymore, Danton. I really don’t. Now, leave me alone,” finished the woman dismissively, pointedly moving away from Danton to stand right next to Syll and Sparhawk. There she stood, looking in the opposite direction from Danton.

Danton’s face flushed and he could feel blood throbbing in his temples as anger and frustration washed over him. Stalking after Tenaris, he walked around Syll until he stood facing the woman.

“I wilt keep mine distance, if that's what you wish, though it troubles me to do so,” he began. “But allow me to say this in mine favor. Rarely is there but one route to the promised land, or one plan of action. Things in the Oerth may seem white and black to some, but history belies a simple chiaroscuro approach.”

Tenaris folded her arms over her chest and stared back at Danton.

“You art welcome to your opinion,” he said, “and I doth not think badly of you for it. Rather, in a spirit of charity, I assume -- indeed, I always assume -- the best of you, in what you say and what you do, even if I disagree with it. I do not take, for instance, the sheer recklessness with which you occasionally enter battle as a sign that you hath no value for life itself nor the feelings of others who would be crushed by your death ... mine not the least. Rather, I attribute your actions to a genuine desire to achieve the good, as seems best under the circumstances. Neither did I think that your feelings toward Nanoc wert the result of base and ugly racial prejudice, but rather I assumed misunderstanding on the part of both parties, each of whom I assumed -- and still believe -- wert honorable and well intentioned.”

Danton’s voice increased in volume as he went on. “But the same benefit of the doubt plainly is not to be afforded to Danton Verbrugge of Veluna, irrespective of anything he may have said or done. And, I emphasize, also irrespective of his spoken and primary concern: preserving our group not -- emphatically not, so that I may be plainly apprehended -- for our own sakes, but instead for the sake of the Oerth, which hangs in the balance. Evidently, that mode of reasoning is too obscure to be given any credibility and is deemed ... how did you put it? ‘Selfish’ and ‘caddish’? Yes, methinks those wert the words you used.”

By now, Luger, Syll, and Sparhawk were all standing about awkwardly alternately watching and trying to ignore the drama unfolding right in front of them.

”Indeed, 'tis so plainly and indisputably selfish -- despite mine own vouchsafed assurances to the contrary -- that you immediately berate me and call mine character into question,” spat Danton. “Your spoken judgment is not that mine judgment is wrong or that I hath reached fallacious conclusions -- which I could accept. Indeed, I asked your feelings so that you migth help me reason through the present situation. Instead, your spoken judgment is that, in failing to see things as you do—in that chiaroscuro world that you evidently occupy but that I, alas, do not—I am a bad person of disreputable moral traits and character.”

”Frankly, if you want my opinion, which, you hath made clear, you do not, moral reasoning requires somewhat more than the tip of a blood-drenched blade, especially when the Oerth is complex, as it is, and the variables art many and uncertain, as they are. But I suppose this is to dance angels on pinheads ... and is nothing more than the ruse of a thief and a liar who careth about nothing more than himself and his own well-being.”

Tenaris stared back at Danton, her expression unreadable.

”Whyfore give any of what he says the slightest credence?” continued Danton. “Instead, assume the worse, for he is among the worst. If this is histrionics, well then, 'tis a rejoinder, candidly, to your own histrionics, Tenaris. If I disappoint you, then I must say to you in return that you disappoint me ... and also that I disappoint mineself. For, plainly, after all these weeks, through thick and thin, I have not proven mineself worthy of even the merest benefit of the doubt in an uncertain moment.”

”Fine and so be it. But allow me this parting warning: moral self-righteousness is not an especially endearing trait, nor is it a virtue to be celebrated. Mine sins art legion and most of them obvious, but I hath always given the benefit of the doubt to mine friends ... and never once hath I ever given anything other than that -- and love besides -- to you. If nothing else, you know that to be true. I proved it almost from the first moment, when I abandoned mine best friend in all the Oerth -- to death no less, as it turns out -- because I would not gainsay your honor and character. Now, I hath spoken mine peace and wilt do as you ask, and leave you to your devices for as long as you wilt have it so.”

When Danton finally ran out of breath and could speak no more, Tenaris simply turned and walked off to the far northern end of the room and stood looking through the doorway into the chamber from which the party had come.

With silence now falling heavily in the room, Sparhawk sighed and whispered. “I would wish to pin myself between a couple of warring dragons before I would interject myself in a lover's quarrel.”

Luger followed Tenaris across the room and said, “Tenaris, do not be too harsh on Danton for in this instance, he speaks aloud my own thoughts and concerns...
I will put this it as I see it. I would be very pleased to bring a paladin back to life, but I fear of raising a tormented soul only to be forced to kill him again, or worse: to be unable to protect him if he is unable to hold his own. I do not doubt the honor of Prince Thrommel, but if he has been cursed to be a vampire these 20 or more years, what state will his mind be in? Will his grief consume him or will he simply embrace the chaos that found him in undeath?”

Although her back was turned away from the others, Luger stood close enough to see that Tenaris was quietly crying.

”When I brought Peter back,” explained the cleric, “I knew he would take up his sword and continue his fight against chaos and evil. I was also confident that he would not take arms against his killer and recognize Danton's innocence. I am also confident that the rest of you will respond similarly. On the other hand, I had no such reason to believe in Erky and raised him on the tales of his deeds, relying on my own sense of justice and fair play. Bringing him back proved to be a good thing, but Erky was in no shape or state of mind to stay in this foul place and fight his tormentors. Instead, we found ourselves with a good friend we were obligated to extricate from the mountain.”

Tenaris looked at Luger with her eyes, but she pointedly remained facing north so that no one else could see her tear-streaked face.

”If Prince Thrommel proves to be in a similar state to Erky,” said Luger, “we are in no position to smuggle him out of the mountain. We may be sentencing him to more torment and another death. I don't know. Peter speaks for this man and I value his opinion and trust his intuition. If the Prince was a paladin of Pelor, I may also be able to help him atone for his vampirism. The question is whether we have the time for this. A restored paladin of Pelor would certainly be a great ally to us in this place.”

“When Luger finished, it was several moments before Tenaris said anything. “If… you believe we should be careful, I trust your judgement,” she said finally, trying to wipe her face clean. “But I still think Sparhawk is right. If this man could restore order to his country, I believe we must take the chance on him. Although few elves of Celene would admit it to themselves, much less anyone else, all who are not fools know that without Furyondy, Iuz would have rolled over most of the northern Flanaess long ago.”

The woman sighed deeply and then added, “I know I have a bad temper and I am sorry to cause so many problems, but he just makes me so angry sometimes! And he can’t ever shut up! He always has to have the last damned word on everything!”

Tenaris then uttered what sounded to Luger like an elven curse and stalked through the doorway into the room beyond, muttering the invocation to Tharizdun that allowed her to enter the other room without setting off whatever trap was supposedly there.

While Luger was speaking to Tenaris, Danton looked at Syll and Sparhawk. “Let us be clear on one thing. When I counseled that we hold the spell in abeyance, mine primary motivation, it must be confessed, wast to raise Tenaris in the event of her death. Of course, I would readily have counseled it if one of you had also died, so take me not wrong. But I would put mine hand on the Book of Heironeous and swear that, not for mineself, but for Tenaris Glimmerdawn that I counseled restraint. Ah, but that is part of the irony of life.”

“Now, I wilt say no more of it,” muttered Danton bitterly, “for there is much work to be done. And, unless mine ears overheard incorrectly, Luger hath extended a favor to me and pleaded mine case to Tenaris. We shalt see what comes of it ... but she is a stubborn lass!”

“Here's another thought,” said Syll, pointedly changing the subject, “we could bring up the body, get the other stiff, take them both back to Varachan's, and then come and deal with Hedrack. Then, assuming we survive Hedrack, we could return to Varachan's room, rest up, and have Luger question both the Prince and the other stiff the next day and find out the reason they are here, and maybe even get a feel for whether or not they want to come back. After all, there is always a chance that the bones belong to some evil dude and the symbol of Pelor was hung on him by way of a joke.”

While Sparhawk, Syll, and Danton spoke, Luger collected the various items that the vampire had worn and wielded and brought them back near the pit with the coffin and the body of Prince Thrommel.

“Peter,” said the cleric, “do you detect any evil in the immediate area—other than the vile nature of this room in general?”

Concentrating quietly for several minutes, during which time Danton removed one of his notebooks and began writing furiously in it, Sparhawk proceeded to examine each of the items Luger had recovered, as well as those down in the pit (detect evil ability). Of the various items that were either ‘buried’ with the Prince in his coffin or that he had wielded or worn when he attacked the party in vampire form, only the massive black two-handed sword gave off evil emanations.

With this information available, Syll and Sparhawk thus collected all of the items—Thrommel’s metal breastplate, symbol of Tharizdun, boots and rings, along with the dagger, gold belt, necklace, amulet, and ring from the coffin—this amounted to all of Thrommel’s equipment, save for the evil sword, which Sparhawk kicked down into the pit.

When this was done, Danton was still scribbling away in his notebook. Syll approached the scout and said, “Ya know, Danton, you might want to patch it up with Tenaris before we bring this guy back. Otherwise you might well end up with some competition from a tall noble chap who will be king.”

“I mean,” added the elf, his tone light, “'Hey baby, my face is on the coinage of the realm' is one heck of a pick up line.”

Sparhawk laughed out loud at this comment. “Although others hath said the same of me at times - thou included,” said the paladin to Syll, “thou speakest in a most . . . how shalt I say . . . colorful language. I doth hardly know what thou is saying most of the time.”

Danton slammed shut his notebook, stowed it in his pack, and stood up from where he had been crouching as he wrote.

“We still seem to have plenty of magical firepower left,” said the scout firmly. “Sir Sparhawk is magically bulked up and well nigh impenetrable in a way that suggests ‘use it or lose it.’ Finally, and this is key to me, we know where Hedrack is, we art close to where he is, and we hath reason to believe that we can trap him inside his chambers and prevent flight. Adding all these things up leadeth me to conclude that we should quit talking and that we take the fight to him ... right now,” finished the scout, a tone of urgency in his voice.

Sparhawk rubbed his chin once again. “I doth think the idea of assaulting Hedrack now, and raising the Crown Prince immediately after, hath merit, and I would be willing to support that course of action.”

“Let’s kick the tires and light the fires,” said Syll, apparently signaling agreement, although his words only confused Sparhawk.

“Very well,” said Luger, moving to the button on the wall that would close the pit in which the vampire that was Prince Thrommel lay with a wooden stake through its heart.

As the floor closed over the pit, Danton approached the doorway to the north and looked into the other room, where Tenaris stood, apparently watching the two other exits from that room for any sign of danger.

Speaking softly, the scout said, “Prithee, set aside for the moment your annoyance with me, Tenaris. Time is wasting, we must decide the immediate issue, and your opinion is important to us all. Will you not come and let us have your mind on the matter?”

“I heard you all,” the elf warrior replied flatly, without looking at Danton. “If the consensus is to get Hedrack first and then raise Thrommel, I can go along with that.”

Without another word, Tenaris followed Danton back into the coffin room.

“So, then,” said the scout when everyone was back together again, “are we all agreed on the following plan? We wilt immediately kill Hedrack and search his chamber -- hopefully recovering his journal, among other things -- and then we can raise Thrommel. Following that, we'll deal with Thrommel, hopefully learning some new, useful things and then bringing him on board with us. Mine thought is that we should next proceed to the southern part of the Outer Fane to find and eliminate Naquent and especially to obtain a thurible and torch for purposes of making a go at the orb. Then, for mine money, we should make a go at the orb.”

”In the event that Hedrack slips the noose, p'raps the best move at that point would be to raise Thrommel and then liberate the prison. Because if Hedrack escapes, methinks our chances of survival wilt be improved only by maximizing the chaos within the Outer Fane. If Hedrack hath multiple fires to put out, 'tis surely to our benefit. If he hath but one fire to put out, 'twould be much easier to quench. Indeed, the more I talk, the more methinks we should liberate the prison to cause problems and then seek the orb—regardless of whether Hedrack lies dead or yet lives to torment us.”

”I think raising the Crown Prince and liberating any allies is an imperative after we deal with that evil villain,” agreed Sparhawk.

“Then let us turn quickly to tactics and then be off,” said Luger. “I do have a scroll with a silence spell on it. The only question is: Do I use it on the guardians or on Hedrack once we breech the door? If we hope to catch him off guard in any way, it would seem I must silence the door to prevent any signs of struggle reaching the man inside.”

”I suspect Hedrack has considerable defensive and/or augmentation spells in place on his person or in his chamber,” continued the cleric. “Because of that, I had intended to cast an area dispel around Hedrack in an attempt to thwart any protections he may employ. I also have considerable offensive spells to attack with, but if they are expended fighting the guards, we may be out-gunned.”

”Because of Hedrack's position, I would also expect him to have the means to counter or ignore any elemental attacks since he would likely distrust the up-and-coming priests for Earth, Fire, Watter and Air outside the Fanes,” said Luger. “Syll's fireballs and my flame strikes are likely to be no more effective than they were on Ukemil and his pets. Other spells may be more effective, and I doubt he has an amulet of Caladbolg resistance...”

This last comment drew a laugh from Syll. “Yeah, they don’t just leave those kind o’ amulets lying around,” said the elf with a smirk.

“Excellent points,” said Danton approvingly. “Especially about the possible resistance to elemental spells. P'raps that suggests we should employ elemental spells -- such as fireballs -- directly on the guardians and the door to Hedrack's room. If we can blast the door open with such pyrotechnics, Luger, can you use the scroll to cast silence into the chamber beyond? If so, then p'raps we can have Tenaris, Luger and Sparhawk bum rush the door and take on Hedrack with violence and holy bombardment whilst Syll lobs more fireballs at the guardians and I sit around imagining how best to loot Hedrack's chambers.”

”Sounds good,” said Syll. “Use the elemental spells on the guards and then take Hedrack with everything else we’ve got. Now, shall we get going? By the way, let’s avoid the route with the green goo on the walls that you told us about. That stuff is sure to attack us if we go that way.”

Since there was no disagreement with Danton’s plan, the party members shouldered their packs and set out to deal with Hedrack at last. They moved first north, invoking Tharizdun’s name yet again to avoid the trap in the next room, and then headed east.

As the group went, Syll withdrew a scrap of paper from a pocket, paused long enough to write something on it with a pen from his pack, and then resumed walking, having delayed the others only slightly. The elf made a show of stowing paper, pen and ink in his pack once again—as if he had only been writing a note to himself—but then subtly passed the paper to Sparhawk when he allowed the paladin, who was still at the rear of the party, to catch up to him.

When the paladin surreptitiously examined the paper, it read:

When we get back to Varachan's, room check him for any sign of evil. His story may be legit, but he could also have thought up a clever way to get us to clear the path for him to become a Doomdreamer. If he passes, give us a thumbs up. If he fails, give a thumbs down, but show no other sign. We don't want him to know that we know. Pass this to the others and have the last one destroy it. If he is evil, he may be watching.

After heading east, the party then reached the long north-south hallway with the spiral stairway at its northern end. While Danton was checking the door that led into the hallway, Sparhawk passed Syll’s note to Luger, who read it and gave it to Tenaris. Eventually, the woman slipped the paper to Danton as she went through the doorway. After receiving the note and examining it, Danton subtly nodded his agreement.

Having chosen the path of fire and force to gain entrance to Hedrack’s chambers, the party made no particular effort to conceal the sounds of its approach. Instead the group moved quickly and methodically down the chamber. At the corner, Sparhawk and Tenaris moved to the front and Danton to the back, with Luger and Syll in the middle. Then the whole party went around the corner at once.

[Initiative: Danton: 19, Enemies: 18, Syll: 17, Luger: 15, Tenaris: 12, Sparhawk: 4]

When the group rounded the corner, they all saw an area of cloudy blackness that obscured the door to Hedrack’s chamber and everything else for a distance of twenty feet around it. But before anyone could decide what to make of this strange sight, a pair of projectiles came rocketing out of the darkness and towards the party.

The first projectile was a javelin that shimmered and shifted into a bolt of lightning in mid-flight. The blast of lightning shot towards Sparhawk, and, behind him, Luger and Danton (reflex saves: Sparhawk: 12+9=21; success—6 damage taken, Luger: 1+7=8; failure—12 damage taken; Danton: 12+10=22; success—zero damage taken). Sparhawk avoided the worst of the blast by ducking beneath it, while Danton avoided the lightning entirely by rolling back around the corner, but it struck Luger directly—burning the cleric in his metal armor (Luger concentration check to avoid losing spell: 13+9=22; success).

The second projectile was a crossbow bolt fired at Tenaris. It hit the woman, but did little damage. However, as the bolt flew, it produced an awful screaming sound that echoed in the ears of everyone in the party (will saves: Sparhawk—no save necessary since immune to fear effects—Sparhawk’s presence also gives all others a +4 to their saves versus fear; Danton: 7+4+4=15; success; Luger: 13+14+4=31; success; Syll: 15+9+4=28; success).

"Use thy massive explosives, my friends!” said Sparhawk firmly as he stood straight once more and held Caldabolg high. “When it is done, I shalt immediately lead the attack. Follow me, keep thy weapons steady, and have courage. Ignore these pathetic distractions, and may Heironeous be with all of thee this day!"

Whether it was because of the presence and words of the paladin or the sheer determination of the party to find and slay Hedrack, no one was fazed in the slightest by the strange attacks that emerged from the area of darkness. Syll’s reply came almost immediately—in the form of a fireball launched into the midst of the blackness (35 area-effect damage in a 20 foot radius—effectively filling the entire darkened area).

A fraction of a second before the fireball exploded, two figures leaped out of the darkened area. Each wore a black cloak, chainmail, and a lilac-colored mask. Their speed was such that both escaped Syll’s conflagration entirely, much to the sorcerer’s amazement—and annoyance. However, he had at least succeeded in drawing the pair out into the open where they could be seen. Luger took advantage of this by attempting to drop a pillar of fire down on the pair (Cast Flame Strike: 36 damage in a 10 foot radius). Incredibly, both masked figures leaped out of the way of this second fiery attack just as easily as they had the first, but the effort again forced them away from the area of blackness and the door to Hedrack’s chamber.

“Methinks we shalt have to deal with this pair the old fashioned way!” hissed Danton. When Sparhawk and Tenaris heeded his words and each moved to engage one of the masked guards, the scout followed, drawing Rat’s Tail and waiting for an opportunity of his own.

While the two figures had managed to avoid Syll and Luger’s spells with apparent ease, at least the first one clearly lacked an amulet of Caladbolg protection, for Sparhawk, rushing forward with his enchanted blade held high, was upon the figure in an instant, striking him down so quickly that Danton, running up behind the paladin, could scarcely believe his eyes (Sparhawk attack: 18+14=32, 17+9=26; two potential critical hits—2^nd rolls: 11+14=25, 6+9=15; result is one critical and one ordinary hit: 33, 20 damage). The guard went down in a welter of blood and was on the ground mere seconds after Sparhawk had engaged him.

Like Sparhawk, Tenaris still enjoyed the benefits of greatly enhanced strength, as well as a heavily enhanced longsword, both courtesy of Luger, and she used these advantages to produce results every bit as devastating as what Sparhawk had done. With two swift strokes of her blade, the second guard lay dead on the floor, and the way to Hedrack’s chamber was open.

Syll, Luger, and Danton were all briefly stunned by Sparhawk and Tenaris’ handiwork and just how quickly the fight was over.

“Damn,” muttered the sorcerer. “This sorta thing could make a guy feel positively redundant. Oh, and Danton, you might wanna rethink making that lady mad all the time!”

Seeking to press the attack as quickly as possible, Danton ignored Syll and rushed into the area of darkness—making straight for where he believed the door to be. He could hear Sparhawk and Tenaris hard on his heels. Somewhere ahead, a male voice was performing what was very clearly an incantation. And then, Danton found the door and rushed through it.

[Hedrack initiative: 17]

Danton suddenly found himself in a large, richly appointed bedchamber. A wide bed with black linens and a black canopy over it, the ebony wood carved into hideous faces, stood near the north wall. Other dark wood furnishings included an ornate trunk, a nightstand with a lamp, a bookshelf, a desk, and a folding screen that cut off the southeastern section of the room. In the two corners farthest from the door stood a pair of gray stone statues, six feet tall, of creatures made of writhing snakes, tendrils, or tentacles. Next to one was a black marble bathing tub, with a dark wooden towel rack next to it. The walls were covered in tapestries depicting normal scenes of daily life in human situations—dinner in a castle, an auction in a village, a party, and so on. A purple robe hung on a peg near the door.

And standing in the middle of the room, in the middle of performing some sort of spell, was the armored man that Danton had previously identified as Hedrack. With Rat’s Tail already free of its scabbard, Danton rushed the man in an attempt to wreck whatever spell he was performing (attack: 14+11=25, 13+6=19; both miss). However, Hedrack blocked one of Danton’s strikes with his shield, and the other clanged harmlessly off his plate mail.

Moments later, the others were rushing into the room. Syll immediately fired off a salvo of magic missiles (Cast Magic Missile: 13 damage; Caster Level Check: 10+9=19; failure; spell has no effect on Hedrack), but the four enchanted projectiles simply disappeared when they ‘hit’ Hedrack.

“You were right, Luger!” yelled the sorcerer. “He’s got shields up, so bring ‘em down!”

Luger had indeed anticipated that Hedrack would be protected by all manner of spells and he called on Heironeous to help him bring them all down at once (Cast Dispel Magic—targeted on Hedrack—four different spells currently in effect on Hedrack that could be dispelled: 11+10=21; failure, 3+10=13; failure; 5+10=15; failure, 10+10=20; failure). Luger’s spell went off as planned, but he was not at all certain that it had done anything to weaken Hedrack’s defenses.

With magic apparently doing little to harm or weaken Hedrack, it was left to Tenaris and Sparhawk to try to knock him off balance. The elf woman struck the evil priest once, but not to much visible effect, while Sparhawk also struck the villain a single glancing blow (attack: 16+14+2 flanking bonus=32, 15+9+2=26; one hit; 13 damage).

With three different party members now attempting to melee with Hedrack, Danton maneuvered around the man’s back, trying to strike him down from the rear (attack: 6+11+2=19, 17+6+2=25; both miss), but he simply could not penetrate Hedrack’s platemail and whatever magical defenses augmented it. Syll tried another magic missile attack, but his efforts were every bit as ineffective as Danton’s (Cast Magic Missile: 13 damage; Caster Level Check: 11+8=19; failure; spell has no effect on Hedrack).

At that moment, Hedrack raised his holy symbol—an inverted ziggurat shape he wore around his neck and uttered foul words that boomed and echoed in the ears of everyone in the room—stunning everyone and freezing them where they stood (Tenaris, Luger, Danton, and Syll are each stunned and weak: Tenaris –7 strength, Luger –5 strength, Danton –7 strength, Syll –6 strength. Sparhawk is also stunned and loses strength (-8), but is also totally paralyzed).

When Hedrack uttered his foul incantation, Luger had just begun a second attempt to dispel the evil cleric’s defenses (Cast Greater Dispel Magic from a scroll), but this effort was ruined, and the spell lost, when the stunning effect of Hedrack’s magic swept over Luger along with the others.

With the entire party effectively frozen around him—at least for the moment—Hedrack took advantage of the respite to wave his unholy symbol and cast another spell—this one aimed at Danton. When he finished his incantation, Hedrack pointed his finger at the scout, who suddenly felt an unholy fire burning him from the inside out (fortitude save: 16+4=20; failure). The fire burned to the surface of Danton’s body in an instant; the Velunese could not even scream because of his state of paralysis; and then, with a flash of fire and light, he was gone. All of Danton’s items and equipment cluttered to the floor, but there was no trace of him or his body. Of Danton Verbrugge, there was simply…nothing.

Whether it was this awful sight or simply the fact that Hedrack’s earlier stunning spell was of short duration, no one could say, but even as Danton disappeared in a burst of fire and light, Tenaris, Luger, and Syll snapped out of their torpor. Sparhawk, however, remained completely immobilized.

Tenaris screamed wildly and incoherently, hacking away at Hedrack with some effect. Her screams, however, were cut off a moment later when Luger, reading another spell from a scroll cast a silence spell on the floor at Hedrack’s feet (Cast silence from scroll: eliminates all sounds in a fifteen foot radius for 12 minutes).

Luger’s silence spell changed the entire nature of the fight with Hedrack in an instant. With a look of shock and rage on his face, the cleric, who had just started another incantation that he had apparently intended to aim at Tenaris, realized what had happened and abandoned his spellcasting. With what just might have been a look of fear on his face, the armored man withdrew a strange black rod with three long tentacles and began swinging it at Tenaris.

With his sorcerer’s spells apparently useless even while he could still cast them, now that Luger had silenced the entire room, Syll could do nothing against Hedrack with his magic, so the elf withdrew his longsword and moved to engage the cleric in melee, in the hope that this might at least make it easier for Tenaris to bring the man down (attack: 7+3+2 flanking bonus=12; miss).

With Syll and Tenaris keeping Hedrack occupied and effectively preventing him from trying to leave the room, Luger made his way out of the bedchamber, through the area of darkness and out into the area of the hall outside where he could see. There he withdrew another scroll and cast a spell back into the room where the others were fighting. He could not see exactly where Sparhawk was, but he had at least a general idea (Cast Remove Paralysis from a scroll).

While this was happening, Syll continued to flail away at Hedrack with no effect whatsoever (attack: 19+3+2=24, 18+3+2=23, both miss). The elf’s arms were still so weak from Hedrack’s stunning spell that it was all he could do to lift his sword, much less do any harm to the evil cleric. Tenaris was considerably more effective, but she was also being worn down by the touch of the tentacles from Hedrack’s rod, which flashed with black light every time one of the tentacles touched the elf woman and caused her to emit a silent scream. Tenaris was clearly weakening and Syll was beginning to think that the party might yet be wiped out by Hedrack—even without the evil cleric being able to use his spells—when suddenly—out of nowhere, Sparhawk reentered the fray.

As luck or fate would have it, at the same moment that Luger’s spell freed Sparhawk from his paralysis, the weakening effect of Hedrack’s spell wore off as well, so it was with full strength and righteous wrath that the paladin rushed into fight with the high priest of the Outer Fane (attack: 11+14+2=27, 20+9+2=31; one potential critical hit—2^nd roll: 17+9+2=28; critical hit; 33 damage). Hedrack blocked Caladbolg once with his shield, but Sparhawk’s enhanced strength was enough to knock the shield aside at the same time and the paladin followed so quickly with a second swing that Hedrack, his shield arm still numb from the first attack, was unable to recover in time. Caladbolg smashed through Hedrack’s plate armor and cut a long gash all along the cleric’s chest.

Even though no one could hear it, Sparhawk screamed thanks to Heironeous with all the force in his lungs. With Luger now back in the room and joining Syll in harrying Hedrack, albeit doing no damage (Syll attack: 15+3+2=20, 13+3+2=18, both miss; Luger attack: 9+8+2=19, 7+3+2=12; both miss), it was left to Tenaris and Sparhawk to try to bring the now-panicking cleric down. Hedrack found it impossible to try to deal with so many foes at once, so he continued to flail at Tenaris with his tentacle rod and she continued to weaken under its baneful effects. However, this left Sparhawk entirely free to smash away at the villain with Caladbolg and he did so with abandon (attack: 14+14+2=30, 6+9+2=17; one hit; 14 damage).

The sustained abuse from Caladbolg staggered Hedrack, and he stumbled back towards the bed—with his four enemies in full pursuit. Syll swung wildly at the cleric one last time (attack: 19+3+2=24; miss) and Tenaris was hit by two more tentacles from Hedrack’s rod. Then, with what appeared to be the very last of her strength, the elf woman slashed her longsword past Hedrack’s defenses and lodged it in the cleric’s neck. Hedrack fell backward and collapsed unmoving onto his own bed.

Not taking any chances, Sparhawk used Caladbolg to remove the fallen cleric’s head from his shoulders. With the fight over, but Luger’s silence spell still in effect, the party members were forced to use hand signals to coordinate their subsequent actions. The weakness that had plagued Luger and Syll longer than Tenaris and Sparhawk finally faded. Syll removed a large sack from his pack, swept all of Danton’s belongings into it, and then began to systematically strip Hedrack of all of his items—taking care not to touch the black rod directly as he slipped it and the other equipment into the sack.

While the elf was doing all of this, he directed Tenaris to gather up all of the obvious, visible items in the room worth taking, including the purple robe hanging on a peg. No one wanted to take the time to try to open the chest at the moment, so Sparhawk and Luger simply hauled it to the doorway and then set it down next to Syll’s sack. The chest would have to be hauled off, opened, and examined later.

When the desk proved to be mostly empty, save for blank paper and writing instruments, the only other item obviously worth ransacking was the bookshelf, where Hedrack’s journal might be found. When Luger approached the shelf and reached out to begin pulling books off it, there was a flash of green light that sent a shock through the cleric’s body (fortitude save: 18+12=30; success; 28 damage taken). The pain was terrible, but Luger somehow managed to survive it and, gingerly at first, continued pulling books of the shelf and dumping them into a sack. The trap did not strike a second time.

Within a few minutes, the bookshelf was empty, the chest was ready to be hauled off, and all of Hedrack and Danton’s other items were in sacks. With Sparhawk taking the lead, followed by Syll, Tenaris, and Luger, the party then finally made its way out of Hedrack’s silenced bedchamber, through the black cloud, and out into the room beyond. When they were all through the darkness, everyone could finally both see and make themselves heard once again.

“What happened to Danton?” asked Tenaris, panic evident in her voice as the party stopped to catch its breath. Syll took advantage of the brief pause to quickly loot Hedrack’s two fallen guards and stuff their equipment into the sacks the party had already partially filled with Danton and Hedrack’s items.

“I am not certain,” said Luger. “But Hedrack used an evil spell of great power. That much is certain. Danton may have been killed, but if so, I saw absolutely no trace of him. We may yet be able to do something for Danton, but first we must get far from here. Let us retreat to Thrommel’s coffin, bring him back to life to aid us, and then decide what to do next.”

With tears once again running down her face, Tenaris nodded and helped Luger to lift Hedrack’s heavy chest once again. With Sparhawk and Syll both carrying massive sacks of books and equipment, the party made a great deal of noise as it went back north up the corridor towards the spiral staircase. Once there it turned west and passed through three doorways before returning to the room with Prince Thrommel’s coffin once again.

Once there, Luger pressed the hidden button that opened up the pit below. When the floor slid back it appeared that nothing had changed—the coffin was still open and Thrommel still lay in it—with a stake through his heart.

After lowering Luger down into the pit with a rope, Sparhawk lay hands on Tenaris (Tenaris +21 HP) to get her into somewhat better shape for whatever was to come. Down in the pit, Luger clipped a single lock of hair from Thrommel’s head and then poured a vial of Furyondian fire oil along the length of Thrommel’s body and then set the body, and coffin, alight with a torch. Then, again with Sparhawk’s assistance with the rope, Luger climbed back out of the pit.

While Tenaris and Sparhawk watched the vampire’s body and coffin burn, Luger converted spells to healing for himself and Tenaris (Convert two Searing Light spells to Cure Serious Wounds: Luger +22 HP, Tenaris: +27 HP). At the same time, Syll rifled through the books in one of the sacks until he found a handwritten tome that he realized was what the party had been looking for—the journal of Hedrack. Skimming through the journal as quickly as he could, Syll did his best to mark passages that seemed of likely interest to the party and its agenda.

After roughly a half-hour, the fire in the pit below finally burned itself out, with a black cloud of oily smoke still floating up, circulating through the room and then out each of the two exits from the chamber. Once Luger was satisfied that the body of the vampire had been entirely consumed by the flames, he closed the pit and got the party moving again. The group moved as quickly as it could, considering the fact that it was hauling a heavy chest and sacks laden with equipment, and no one bothered with stopping to listen at doors as Danton would have done. The northern reaches of the Outer Fane seemed as deserted as ever and it was not long before the party made its way back to Varachan’s chamber.

Once there, Sparhawk urged the others to wait a moment while he searched for any evil emanations from Varachan or anyone else inside (detect evil ability), but he discerned nothing of the kind. Syll then used the key that Varachan had given Danton to open the room and everyone slipped inside, hauling everything they had brought with them.

No one was present in the room, so the party dropped all of its booty. Tenaris collapsed onto Varachan’s bed, Sparhawk sat down heavily at the cleric’s desk, and Syll returned to reading Hedrack’s journal. While all of this was taking place, Luger began the preparations for bringing Prince Thrommel back to life.

“I wonder where our friend Varachan hath gone off to at the moment,” said Sparhawk after several minutes of silence.

“He did say he was going to try to seize power in the Outer Fane if we killed Hedrack,” said Syll with a shrug. “Assuming he was watching us with that crystal ball of his, then he knows we got Hedrack, so he’s probably off trying to take over right now. I sure hope he really is a good guy and that we didn’t get suckered and used again like we did with Kelashein and the Water Temple.”

Luger had been quietly examining and trying to grasp all the intricacies of the resurrection spell on the scroll that Varachan had given him, but now he looked up.

“If Danton was killed, this spell could theoretically be used on him—if we had anything at all of his body to serve as the focus of the spell. In spite of the potential value of Prince Thrommel to us and to Furyondy, I would use the spell for Danton rather than the prince if it came to such a choice, as would we all, I am sure.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” muttered Syll.

“But,” said Luger, “without the certainty that Danton is in fact dead, and without something of his body, the spell will not work. Thus, I believe that we must proceed with raising Thrommel and our other plans—such as storming the prison to gain additional allies. Hedrack’s death will hopefully cause a great deal of chaos and if Varachan is able to take his place, it will be a great step forward for us all, but I do not think that we can afford to sit still and wait to see what happens. As for Danton, I do not believe that we can do anything for him—at least for now.”

This last statement produced a wail from Tenaris. Sparhawk and Syll shook their heads sadly.

“I believe I have mastered the requirements of this spell,” continued Luger, “and I mean to attempt it now.”

“Fair enough,” said Syll, “but when the prince comes back, we’re going to have lots of questions for him, and likely he for us. Before we get distracted by all that, let me tell you what I’ve found in Hedrack’s journal.”

Flipping from page to page and reading passages he had marked while skimming the slim tome, Syll read aloud from Hedrack’s journal:

The material in Hedrack’s journal was clearly going to take a great deal of time to absorb, so Luger decided to proceed with the resurrection of Prince Thrommel. Using his lightning bolt holy symbol, the lock of Thrommel’s hair he had preserved, and reading at regular intervals from the scroll that Varachan had given him, Luger spent ten minutes conducting what amounted to a short religious ceremony while Sparhawk prayed along with him and the others watched in silence.

When Luger finally read the last words of the resurrection spell from the scroll, the words on the paper faded out of existence and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, there was a tall man with long brown hair, approximately forty years of age, lying on the floor where only moments earlier had been only a lock of hair. The man’s eyes fluttered open and he looked up at his surroundings and onlookers in shock.

Sensing no evil about the man (detect evil ability), Sparhawk fell to one knee and bowed his head to the man on the floor.

“Welcome back, my prince,” said the paladin. “Your country hath great need of you—and so do we.”

________________________________________________________________

Notes for turn 86:

Please send postings for Turn 86 by the end of Friday, February 29th.

Sparhawk, Tenaris, and Luger have all earned enough XP to go up a level. I have already raised Tenaris and Sparhawk. I already had all the information I needed on Sparhawk since he was essentially just regaining the level he lost when he was raised from the dead. So, the only character I need new level-up information for is Luger.

Current date/time/location: 22 Kolovoz; approximately 1400; The Outer Fane of the Temple of All Consumption

Items gained this turn and not yet divided:

Thrommel’s Items: metal breastplate, boots, dagger, gold belt, necklace, amulet, and 3 rings, symbol of Tharizdun

Hedrack’s Guards’ Items: 2 rapiers, 2 sets elven chainmail, 2 bucklers, masterwork light crossbow, 19 bolts, 2 cloaks, 2 unknown potions, javelin, 2 lilac-colored masks

Hedrack’s items: journal, sack of books, unopened chest, purple robe, masterwork full plate armor, tentacle rod, masterwork heavy mace, periapt, amulet, masterwork large steel shield, two scrolls, medallion, light crossbow, 10 bolts, 15 platinum, 68 gold, Tharizdun holy symbol

Danton’s items: 6 daggers, light crossbow, studded leather armor +1, quiver with 23 bolts, bedroll, backpack, flint & steel, thieves picks, 3 waterskins, 24 days trail rations, hooded lantern, gold ring engraved with the name Karakas, 1 sap, 1 metal key from Yusdrayl, Everburning Torch, old journal, 8 iron triangles with upside down ‘Y’ inside,1 inverted ‘Y” pendant in a brown triangle, new journal, notebook, pen, ink, parchment in sealed waterproof box, pipe, tobacco, metal box, whetstone, six packets of tinder for lighting fires, gold inlaid dagger, Journal of Geynor Ton, a folded piece of parchment with a note addressed to someone named Festrath, spider pendant, a disguise kit, letter to Master Dunrat, ochre-colored robe, potion of love, a dozen vials of lantern oil, masterwork thieves’ tools, Rat’s Tail (Rapier +1), silver and gold brooches, bracers of armor +1, potion of hiding, pouch of unknown dried herbs taken from the home of Tal Chamish, emerald pendant, a small ebony troglodyte statuette, a curved dagger, six sticks of incense, an emerald pendant, boots of elvenkind, 1/3 of Oamarthis gems, tattered dwarven book, pearl from the Dark Lake, nine inverted Y pendants with blue-green squares behind them, 3 iron keys from Fire Temple forces, inverted y pendant with red diamond background, map of Fire Temple area, letter from Hedrack to Tessimon, 2 vials of unknown liquid #1 and three vials of unknown liquid #2 (Turn 66), healing elixir from the fungal forest man, masterwork dagger, sack of random bits of metal intended to be used as chess pieces, 4 bottles cheap red wine, 2 pink pearls, 2 dwarven scrolls found on the balcony over the dark lake, cloak of resistance +1, Fachish’s papers, letter from Hedrack to Terrenygit, potion of cure light wounds, Naquent letter to Dunrat, 3 Greater Slaying Arrows (humans), one refuge stick, key to Varachan’s quarters, 200’ silk rope

Gold: 1025

Silver: 430

Items used/lost/destroyed/sold/left behind this turn: one of Luger’s cure serious wounds spells from a scroll, along with Remove Paralysis, Silence, Resurrection and Greater Dispel Magic, also from scrolls, 1 vial of Luger’s Furyondian fire oil

FOES DEFEATED:

Active party members listed in bold.

This Chapter:

Entire Campaign:

Current Status of the Party:

Luger

AC: 22

Hit Points: 49/91

New XP: 5130

XP total: 56,499

XP needed: 55,000

Equipment: masterwork heavy mace, chainmail +1, masterwork large steel shield, light crossbow, 13 bolts, 3 belt pouches, large bag, 50’ rope, flint & steel, 24 days rations, silver holy symbol of Heironeus, 3 healer’s kits, backpack, cleric’s vestment, traveler’s clothing, 3 waterskins, bedroll, iron triangle with upside down ‘Y’ inside, eight cockatrice feathers, scroll of cure disease, Geistblatt (ghost touch longsword +1), 4 vials of Furyondian Fire, cloak of resistance +1 (+1 to all saves), potions of reduce, nondetection, 2 silver and 2 gold brooches from Woodstock, tattered black cloak with burning eye emblazoned on it, note from Master Hedrack to Master Uskathoth (in Draconic), one large triangular metal bar and one large diamond shaped metal bar, 2 emerald endants, book on history and worship of Elder Elemental Eye cult, one inverted Y pendant in brown triangles, scroll with protection from elements, Oamarthis note, 3 books: The Worship of the Elder Elemental Eye, A History of Evil Cults, and The Temple of Elemental Evil, Aseneth’s House Torquann dragon ring, ring of jumping (+30 to jumping checks), 1 iron triangle with inverted ‘Y’, three black cones made of some unknown substance, a black scepter decorated with a half dozen violet gems, metal scroll tube, one inverted ziggurat pendant; scrolls of contagion, greater magic weapon, bracers of health +2, scroll of bless, hold person, and dispel magic, 2 pink pearls, large steel shield +1, scroll with neutralize poison, purple lamp (everburning torch), unknown magic morningstar, scroll with two Cure Serious Wounds spells, one Neutralize Poison spell, one Remove Disease spell, and one Remove Curse spell, scroll with Heal, and Restoration, one refuge stick

Spell Selection

Level 0 (6): Detect Magic (x3), Light (x3)

Level 1 (5+1): Protection from Evil (Domain)

Level 2 (5+1): Aid (Domain)

Level 3 (4+1):

Level 4 (4+1): Divine Power (x1), Holy Smite (Domain as 11th level)

Level 5 (2+1): Flame Strike (x1)

Syll

AC: 15 (16 versus one opponent)

Hit Points: 44/56

New XP: 5130

XP total: 44,268

XP needed: 45,000

Equipment: Ring of Protection +1, Cloak of Resistance +1, Urrtarr’s spellbook, Masterwork Longsword, backpack, 3 water skins, 24 days rations, bedroll, magnifying glass, 2 flint & steel, 10 candles, map/scroll case, parchment, ink & pen, mirror, oil flask, 40 arrows, clothing, longbow, 1 dagger, sack, 50’ rope, chalk, 5 torches, storm whistle, 5 bells, gold brooch, lamp, black cloak, inverted Y pendant, rose quartz gem, ring of climbing, bracers of health +2, 1/3 of Oamarthis gems, scrolls of Pyrotechnics, Protection from Fire, Animal messenger, Summon Monster II, Change self, Enlarge, Sleep X2, Wand of Monster Summon I (8 charges), potion of water breathing, potion of lesser restoration, ring of feather falling, wand of fireballs (12 charges; caster level 6), potion of protection from elements (fire), potion of cure moderate wounds, 2 pink pearls, eyes of the eagle (+5 to all spot checks), gauntlets of Kord (not worn), scrolls of blink and shield, wand of detect magic (14 charges), unknown potion from the battle at the western bridge complex, one refuge stick

Spells per level per day:

Level 0: (6)

Level 1: (7) 4 used

Level 2: (7) 1 used

Level 3: (7) 1 used

Level 4: (5) 4 used

Gold: 3737

Silver: 42

Sparhawk (+5 Temporary Strength, +2 Temporary Constitution)

AC: 18 (20 when using longsword/shield combination instead of great sword) (AC temporarily 21/23 due to Magical Vestment)

Hit Points: 66/74 (temporarily 74/82 due to Endurance)

New XP: 5130

XP total: 30,673

XP needed: 36,000

Equipment: backpack, water skin, 24 days rations, bedroll, tent, 2 daggers, masterwork great sword (Justice), longsword, composite longbow, 1 quiver with 10 arrows, ink & inkpen, 50’ silk rope, whetstone, 1 vial holy water, masterwork large steel shield, 2 candles, signet ring and sealing wax, gilded warhorn, chalk, 2 mirrors, flint & steel, 5 pitons, 20 pieces parchment, 2 empty sacks, silver holy symbol of Heironeous, Everburning Torch, black cloak, inverted Y pendant, gauntlets of dexterity +2, pearl from the Dark Lake, gold-inlaid black urn, Tessimon’s jewelry box, golden orb set with amber, Book of the Dark Eye, Caladbolg (barbed great sword +1 with special properties), two dark vision potions and one strength enhancing wafer from the fungal forest man, 2 pink pearls, suit of chainmail +1, cloak of resistance +1, unknown magic club

Spell Selection:

Level 1 (2):

Level 2 (1):

Turn Undead attempts left on current day: 6 of 6

Lay on Hands healing points left on current day: 3 of 24

Smite Evil used today?: No

Gold: 333

Silver: 0

Tenaris (+4 Temporary Strength, Longsword temporarily +4)

AC: 23

Hit Points: 61/86

New XP: 5130

XP total: 38,128

XP needed: 45,000

Equipment: longsword, chitin full plate mail, large steel shield, masterwork morningstar, 4 javelins, inverted Y pendant, 24 days rations, potions of cat’s grace, spider climb, 1/3 of Oamarthis gems, cloak of resistance +1, black robe, Bracers of Kord (strength) +2, pearl from the Dark Lake, short sword +1, large steel shield +1, two strength enhancing wafers and one healing elixir from the fungal forest man, Masterwork longsword, Maicarya (flaming short sword +1), 2 pink pearls, longsword +1, golden dagger, golden necklace, 2 vials Furyondian fire oil, slippers of spider climbing, one refuge stick, potions of haste, bull’s strength, and heroism

Gold: 507

Silver: 30