Moving On

Returning to the Mages of Saruun with news of their triumph, the heroes — the dwarven warrior Yshven, the elven archer Quorbin, the human wizard Casval, Garrosh, the warrior-priest of Kord, and their leader, the dragonborn Kurgan — much to their dismay, were met, not with gratitude, but further demands. “These papers you recovered from the renegade indicate that he had discovered a source of magical power somewhere up north, a source he was undoubtedly planning to harness, and which we must now have information on,” declared the  Magus Onotor, the representative of the Mages. “Fortunately,” continued the mage with a slight sneer, “you still owe us a service for the many debts your group has incurred during its visit to these halls. Take the map, go to the site, and return to tell us what you discovered.” The magus tossed the map to Kurgan and turned to leave the room.

“But what of our reward?” asked the dragonborn, “We were promised recompense for undertaking the quest against your traitorous brother.”

With a sigh of irritation, Onotor looked back. “Oh very well,” muttered the magus. He made a curt gesture and uttered a few sharp syllables and suddenly, there a flash of light quickly followed by a small explosion of air. On the floor before the adventurers was a bulging cloth sack and a huge, two-handed sword in a scabbard of white leather etched with silver. “Payment in full,” declared Onotor, as he walked out of the room, “I shall expect results on your new ‘assignment’ within a few weeks.”

Kurgan bent to pick up the sack, which he noted was filled with gold coins, while the priest Garrosh took up the sword. The magus suddenly stopped at the door. “Oh, and the sword is called, Hackfrost,” he said before finally stepping out of the room.

The dragonborn drew the blade and saw that the steel was rimed with ice.

***

Before travelling north to the “place of power” indicated on Paldemar’s map, the party decided to tie up some loose ends. First stop on their journey was their hometown of Fallcrest. Here, they sold most of the treasure they obtained from their adventures in the depths of Thunderspire.  With the gold thus gained, Yshven and Garrosh commissioned the town’s armorer, the famous dwarven smith Teldorthan Ironhews, to craft several suits of magical armor.

While in Fallcrest, the mage Casval, whose increasingly erratic behavior was starting to become a cause of concern to the party, suddenly declared that he was setting out on his own and demanded his share of the treasures reclaimed by the heroes from the labyrinth. Yshven, the keeper of the party’s coin, gave him a magical staff as his portion of the spoils. At first, it seemed that Casval would refuse and that the conflict over the treasure would explode into violence. Eventually however, the mage backed down and took his leave, but not before uttering several dire threats against the remaining heroes.

While the rest of the party rested waited in town for the armorer to finish his work, Quorbin took a trip into Harken Forest, home to his clan of wood elves.  Here the ranger brought word to the clan elders that his brother, Ayesh, was lost in Thunderspire Labyrinth, apprently fallen. This task done, Quorbin travelled back to Fallcrest to rejoin his companions.

Their business in Fallcrest concluded, the heroes then travelled by riverboat to Riverdown, home to the captives they had freed from the hobgoblins, duergar, and  gnolls in Thunderspire. Here they were greeted with gratitude and celebration. A feast was held in their honor, and various public tributes given them. After two days of feasting, they left, heading for Winterhaven.

At this remote village to the west of the Vale, the party delivered the goods they had procured from the drow merchant in the Seven Pillared Hall. After collecting their payment for this task, they set out north, following Paldemar’s map.

After over a week’s travel through the rugged hills and tangled woodlands of the northern Vale, the heroes arrived at their destination — a strangely silent clearing deep within the Winterbole Forest. Immediately upon their arrival, the party was  ambushed by a well-armed group of brigands. The heroes, however, had faced and triumphed over foes far more fearsome, and made quick work of the bandits.

The threat repulsed, they searched the clearing, and discovered a discovered a mound of stone, oddly placed in the center of the clearing. Before their eyes, the mound seemed to grow, sucking them into its depths. Suddenly, they found themselves transported into a deep pit with stone sides, filled, most gruesomely enough, with the corpses of various humanoids. As they were still taking in this strange turn of events, a booming voice emanated from above the pit, “Heads! More heads for my collection!”

As the heroes looked up, they saw peering down on them, a two headed giant brandishing a huge club studded with spikes. They were in yet another fight for their lives.

 

~ by mmphil on November 9, 2009.