Rurik's Mission IV
Kobolds and Were-rats and Gnolls. Oh My!
For six months I worked the forges of Port Luck and High Castle. I hired several workers to assist me and speed up production. In my free time I thought of my adventures with the Warriors of the Eclipse. I knew that I wanted to contribute more to the group. I wondered if Rourke ever had problems establishing himself in the groups he traveled with. I pondered how I could improve my effectiveness as I worked on my armor. By the end of the first month, I had completed a suit of high quality scale mail. I returned to High Castle with my new suit of armor and sold it for the last few supplies I needed to begin working my raw mithril into a perfect suit of full plate. With five months of intense labor and a large sack of gold to hire the entire blacksmith staff, I finally completed my suit of armor and made all of the proper adjustments so that it fit me perfectly. I imagined myself to be the great warrior Rourke Mithrilheart, slaying orcs left and right with his mighty axes. My sense of satisfaction was short lived, however, because within hours of finishing the suit, the Warriors of the Eclipse were once again summoned to Lord Lucasson’s hall.
I arrived at the meeting hall and looked for my fellow Warriors. In the six months since our last adventure, I had rarely seen any of them. My time at the forges did not help, and each of the other Warriors had their own work to do. As a result, I was genuinely looking forward to seeing them all again. Seamus was already in the hall, waiting for the rest of us. I gave him a sharp nod and started toward my proper place. Soon the rest of the Warriors filed into the room. Korthian and Arcadius arrived together, as was to be expected. Then Rigel walked in with what looked like a small child in tow. I gave him a baffled look, but he was in deep conversation with the child, and did not notice. We waited several more minutes with no new arrivals. I was greatly looking forward to seeing Solomon so that I could show off my new armor, but Lord Lucasson addressed us before any more of the Warriors entered the meeting hall. After a short introduction in which we and all in attendance were reminded of our past successes, Lord Lucasson informed us of our new mission. A call for aid had been received from Rema. We were to head south to meet with the commander of Rema, Lord Derrek. I glanced around the room, and still, Solomon, Fenulla, and Scout were missing. Lord Lucasson must have noticed my troubled look because he then went on to divulge what information he had about our missing members. Fenulla had returned to the elven islands. Apparently life among the humans was not quite as exciting as she had thought, or maybe too exciting. Either way, she would not be joining us again any time soon. Solomon, it turns out, was sent off to Willow Ridge to clean up the last of the undead in the area. So he too would be missing out on our group adventures for a while. Finally, Scout had been reassigned to the South Road to protect Lucresia from invasions of goblins, gnolls, and worse. Upon our arrival at Rema, she would be reassigned to our company. The final bit of news was a bit of a shock to me. Lord Lucasson focused on the child with Rigel. He was introduced as Hippston from the halfling settlement of Merrydale. He was assigned to our group to help bring up our numbers, and to add a second scout to help us hunt down all evil in the land. Lord Lucasson gave us the blessing of the court, and sent us on our way.
We started the long trek to Rema under fair conditions and without so much as a deer to block our path. During this time, we all took turns meeting with and interviewing Hippston. I was impressed with his demeanor, but it was very clear that he was fresh off the turnip farm, so to speak. I was glad to have the extra pair of eyes and ears in the group, and I was glad he was so small that, if worst came to worst, he wouldn’t be any trouble to carry back to town. We made camp for the night and I started a nice night of sleep. Around midnight, Arcadius woke me from my slumber and told me that he had heard a group of what he thought sounded like kobolds moving north past our camp. I stumbled out of my tent, trying to clear the sleep from my eyes, and searched out Hippston’s tent. I kicked him awake and told him it was time to earn his keep and to report to Arcadius for instructions. I then stumbled back to my tent and started to prepare for a potential battle. After 30 minutes or so, Hippston ran back into the camp. He told us that there was indeed a band of kobolds, about 20 strong, heading north. He also told us that the group included 3 kobolds that looked suspicious as they wore robes and headdresses. We decided, especially after our encounter with Xextic, that these kobolds should be stopped here and now, if possible. We made some hasty battle plans and set off after them. Rigel was to use his mental abilities to incapacitate the main force, and the rest of us would attack and destroy their band. Rigel gave the signal and we charged the kobold shamans. Something didn’t work as planned because it appeared that only three of the peons were incapacitated at all by the time I got there. I was able to break through the lines and take down the shaman with the fanciest headdress with my first swing. From there the battle was joined, and the other two shamans harassed our group with missiles and various other spells. We took some nasty hits, and Korthian fell, but we finally routed the kobolds, only allowing two of the body guards to get away. The head shaman was wearing a strange, dragon tooth necklace which we confiscated. Korthian was tended to by Arcadius, and we made our way back to camp. From there, we traveled the rest of the way to Fox Run, the first stop on our way to Rema. We rested for two days at Rema to heal up and prepare for the next leg of our journey. Arcadius locked himself away with the necklace that was taken from the kobold shaman. As we met up to leave for Quail Hollow, the next stop on our journey, Arcadius was mumbling to himself about the necklace being incomplete. I wasn’t sure what he meant, and to be honest was somewhat uninterested, so I let it be. We were ready to continue our journey, but we needed to inform Lord Lucasson of the kobold danger. Rigel volunteered to run the message north and to meet us in Rema.
Our trip to Quail Hollow started off much less eventful. It wasn’t until we approached the outer limits of the town that we were ambushed by what appeared to be giant rats. I quickly took the head off of the first rat with a vicious slash from my glaive. As the rat fell, its corpse changed shape until it was humanoid. I noticed the transformation, but could not allow this mischief to cloud my thoughts. Unfortunately, I was distracted just enough for one of the rats to bite me at the knee. We fought on for several minutes, and I noticed that many of the hits we made on the rats scabbed over the instant the blade left the wound. This, along with the shifting of body shape was enough to remind me of a myth I had once heard about lycanthropes. We finally managed to kill two more of the rat-folk, and the last one bolted. We tended to our wounds, and set to burning the were-rats as the fire provided by our mages worked well during our battle. As we threw the last of the corpses on the pyre, a troop of the Quail Hollow militia came to investigate the fire. We told them of our battle, and they were surprised to see us all still standing. Apparently these rat-folk had become a relatively common occurrence of late in the southern lands. The militia agreed to escort us to the town on the condition that all who had been bitten would see the herbalist immediately. We agreed and made it safely to the town. Hippston, Korthian, and I made our way to the herbalist while the rest of our group tended to the business of selling our excess weapons and armor, and procuring a room at the inn for the night.
Hippston and Korthian both looked terrible as we headed for the herbalist. They were feverish and had developed a nasty cough. We knocked on the herbalist’s door, and were quickly escorted inside when she saw my friends’ condition. I told here about the rats and that we were all victims of bites from these foul beasts. She peered at us as if she didn’t believe anyone could have survived such an encounter, but once she examined the wounds she had to accept our story. She went to her cupboards and prepared her final three draughts of an herb called belladonna. She told us this was the only known cure for the diseases caused by the were-folk, but it was highly toxic in its own rite, and many who took this medicine did not survive. She suggested that it would be better to die from this poison than to survive as a lycanthrope, and I had no doubt that she was correct. So, even though I was feeling fine, I took the medicine, too. Korthian had a terrible reaction to the medicine and Hippston could not seem to break the fever, so they were stuck at the herbalist’s shop for several days. I, on the other hand, never came down with the fever and I had no adverse reaction to the belladonna beyond the terrible taste. I left the herbalist’s shop to find a nice mug of ale to wash away the foul taste. Then I searched for my friends. We learned that we would not know if the medicine worked until the night of the full moon. At that time, we would either be normal, and thus able to continue, or we would turn into were-rats, and would have to be sent to the church of Pelor, which for Korthian and me would be the same as a death sentence. Quail Hollow, unfortunately, did not have the resources to handle potential were-folk, so we had to push on to Rema even though Hippston was still weak from his fever.
We left Quail Hollow with the intention of rushing straight through to Rema. Just as we left the town, however, we were once again ambushed by a group of were-rats that caught us in crossfire and shot poisoned arrows at us from the relative safety of nearby trees. I charged one of the two groups of were-rats and quickly chased them further up the tree. I slowly worked them down until, finally, I was able to drop one, then another. Finally, I had killed four were-rats in my tree, and my fellow Warriors had killed another three, and only one escaped. We gathered their equipment and burned the bodies.
As we continued our journey to Rema, Seamus got his hands on the magic necklace that we had captured from the kobold shaman. He examined it for a while and then decided to wear it. Nothing happened. We continued walking until a sudden drum beat came from Seamus’s necklace. Then a ring of energy was released from the necklace and spread over a large area around us. Then, with no more warning, 8 kobold skeletons erupted from the ground and attacked our party, concentrating on Seamus. Fortunately, kobold skeletons are not very powerful and even less wily than their living counterparts. We decimated the kobold skeletons and smashed their bones to powder. Seamus was so happy that he started dancing. Almost instantly, the necklace gave off a second drum beat and another ring of energy was released. All of the skeletons we had just destroyed were rebuilt, and a ninth skeleton joined them. We once again destroyed the undead, and this time Seamus wisely removed the necklace and returned it to Arcadius. Seamus then did a few cautious steps of his dance. Nothing happened. Now that it was safe, he completed the dance steps while the rest of us gathered our equipment and prepared to finish our journey. We made it to Rema without further incident. As soon as we entered the city, Korthian, Hippston, and I were directed to the infirmary where we were once again dosed with belladonna. Again, the medicine greatly weakened the other two, and again, all I suffered was the terrible taste. While we endured our treatment, Seamus and Arcadius went to find Lord Derrek and see if Scout and Rigel had checked in yet.
Hippston, Korthian, and I had our own problems. It was the night of the full moon and we had no idea if we were still infected or if the medicine worked. We were restrained in the infirmary and the full moon rose. As far as I know, nothing happened, but I slept through the whole night, so I would know any details. In the morning, we were released and told we all had a clean bill of health. Happy to not be were-rats, we went to find the rest of the group and meet Lord Derrek. When we found them, Rigel and Scout were there, so we were back to our full complement. While we had been out of commission, Rigel had been scouring the taverns, looking for information about problems in Rema that might need investigating. He told us about a “Shadowman” and his family of thieves. There was also a strange ceremony associated with his new gang of thieves, something associated with the were-rats we had recently faced. We also finally got to meet Lord Derrek. He was an admirable fellow, large, strong, and bearded. He listened as Rigel discussed the new information he had discovered. Lord Derrek commanded us to look into the were-rats and disband their guild if at all possible. We were to have no further contact with Lord Derrek or any of the law in Rema, as the were-rats might have infiltrated the city guard. He gave us the money to get our weapons silvered (so they might be more effective against the lycanthropes), as well as 20 gp each so that we could rent rooms as the barracks would now be off limits. Rigel also suggested a password (the moon has risen and nothing stirs) so that we could inform him of our success or failure to deal with the were-rats and their guild. We then left the compound and prepared for the next stage of our investigation.
Rigel went out to the taverns again to see if there were any new moves by the thieves’ guild. He found out that there was increased activity on the north road. We decided to investigate, allowing Scout and Hippston to scout out the road ahead of us. As we followed, a torrent of were-rats burst forth from a hidden door on the side of the road. Seamus used one of his rolling fire spheres to rush the were-rats as they were still exiting the tunnel. I tried to get into the battle, but every time I approached a were-rat, one of our mages would drop it. Soon, I was completely isolated from all of the were-rats, so I reassessed the battle. I noticed that neither Scout nor Hippston had yet returned to reinforce us. I also remembered hearing Scout’s pet owl screeching just as our battle began. I figured that there might be trouble up the road, so I broke into a run to investigate. Just as I neared our two scouts, the remaining were-rats that had attacked them turned tail and ran. When all was said and done, we had only killed a couple of the were-rats, Seamus managed to stabilize one of the injured, and the rest got away, including their leader. Our injuries included Korthian (again) and Scout. We decided it would be best if we hurried back to Rema to medicate our injured and interrogate our prisoner. We would have to investigate the enclave at some future date.
We returned to Rema. Scout and Korthian went straight to the infirmary to be dosed with belladonna. The rest of us took our prisoner to an inn and started our interrogation. I basically guarded the door as Rigel’s interrogation style works best without non-human witnesses. Rigel was able to obtain some basic information. The group leader who had escaped was named Mikey. He was the leader of the “country” crew who monitored the road. There was a much larger “city” crew that worked the sewers of Rema. Rigel pressed for more information, such as passwords for the sewers. Our prisoner agreed to give the passwords, but only if he was released. Rigel agreed, but quickly sent Seamus off to inform the guards of the soon to be released thief. We were told that the best entrance to the sewers was a tavern called Jack’s box. Rigel also managed to glean information about their total numbers (36 troops with 7 thieves in each troop). Seamus returned with a hooded figure. Rigel said they were ready to release the rogue, but added that he should also be captured, so as not to reveal his part in this trickery. The guards were ready, so when Rigel and the prisoner attempted to leave via the window, they were quickly recaptured. The prisoner had no part of it, however, and quickly changed into rat form and fought for his life. We all heard the commotion outside and went to investigate. Once I saw what was happening, I turned and went to the infirmary to check on our friends. I wanted no part of the deception. Korthian and Scout were still fighting off the effects of the belladonna, so I returned to the interrogation room to reclaim our manacles. I then met up with the group at our room in the inn.
The hooded figure was still with them, and revealed himself as Larathain, a spell weaver of Elvaris. He was a very haughty elf, and I did not like him from the start. He told us that he had sensed evil forces in the sewers. We had no idea what he was talking about so he decided to start from an earlier point. He told us of an elven hero who had died. He said the lost hero’s mind and power had been dispersed into various items and places. As a result, the elves had been looking for magical disturbances across the land. In recent times, their eyes had been pulled to Lucresia. A powerful force was consistently being used in Rema around the time of the full moon, which, according to our information, coincided with the time of the initiation ceremonies of the were-rats. Also, just a few days ago, another source of power was detected to the north. We told him of our incident with the kobold skeletons. He asked to see the necklace, and said he would study it and let us know what it was. Finally, he told us to continue our investigations, and warned Arcadius that this situation might be more than we could handle. Rigel tried to play into Larathain’s haughtiness by playing the fool and pretending to be incompetent. It worked to some degree. Larathain then left us for the evening. We stayed at the inn for a little while longer, but discovered that the inn was being watched. We decided to take no more risks, and, as our cover was blown anyway, we moved back into the barracks.
Larathain returned after a few days. He was kind enough to inform us about our necklace that he was studying. It was a magic focus to be used by sorcerers to raise undead draconic beings. We quickly postulated as to why the kobolds were heading north. The great dragon Dagnalock was killed many years ago in the northern part of Lucresia. In fact, our first battle against Xextic took place not too far from the reported resting place of Dagnalock’s remains. If Dagnalock were to be raised as a dracolich, Lucresia would be destroyed. Larathain said that he could transport us to High Castle, if we would like to look into this problem first. We deliberated for a few minutes, and realized that we could probably do nothing with the were-rats until the next full moon. We agreed to be transported, but I added the stipulation of a delivery of belladonna to the herbalist of Quail Hollow. He said the herbs would be delivered, and that he would also hire a sage to look into cures for lycanthropy so that we could be more prepared when we resumed investigating the were-rats. Larathain nodded, and then vanished, but we were still sitting in the barracks. I was very distrustful of Larathain already, so I grabbed my equipment and left the barracks to see what was going on. As soon as I left the barracks, I felt a sensation of vertigo. Suddenly I was in the great hall of High Castle. Soon the rest of the Warriors of the eclipse had joined me. We quickly met with Lord Lucasson to inform him of our new focus. He gave us permission to proceed and we headed to the presumed site of Dagnalock’s Stand. Rigel and Scout stayed behind.
Just a couple of miles out of High Castle, we encountered a party of kobolds that was being attacked by four peasants. We quickly moved to assist the peasants. We also noticed a wagon nearby, and as we approached, we could hear the sounds of babies crying inside. Seamus and Korthian broke the kobolds’ ranks with a combination of spells that first immobilized the kobolds with a wild growth of plants then fried them with a lightning bolt. We made quick work of the rest of the kobolds. The peasants were from a small farming community outside High Castle. The kobolds had apparently invaded their homes and stolen their babies. They took nothing else and did no other damage. These four had tracked them and had finally caught them. If we had not found them when we did, they would likely have been killed. Fortunately, that was not the case. We decided to escort them back to High Castle to make sure they were safe. This was the first report of any baby theft in the region, but it still gave me an uneasy feeling. Lord Lucasson rewarded us with a grand, midday feast. Rigel rejoined us as we set off again.
We headed back to the site of our last battle, as we had forgotten to take our plunder from the bodies. Unfortunately, before we reached the battle site, those same kobolds found us. The very kobolds that we had just killed had been animated and were now attacking us. Seamus conjured a blast of fire to destroy most of their number. We quickly destroyed the remnants. We examined the corpses, but there was nothing left of value, so we continued on our way. As night approached, we made camp and tried to sleep.
Around midnight, Arcadius noticed a bright fire burning on the horizon. We could also hear a sound much like a drum. Hippston went out to investigate, but after 30 minutes, the fire had not moved at all on the horizon, so he returned and told us that it was still relatively far off. This was too curious to pass up, especially since the consequences of ignoring it could be dire. We decided to break camp and investigate immediately. We marched towards the fire. We quickly dispatched 2 kobold skeletons. A little further on, we encountered a band of kobolds. We managed to kill the shaman, two “fighters,” and five normal kobolds, but four normal kobolds ran off before we could catch them. The shaman had a set of fancy bracelets and a smoky-white potion of some kind. We continued toward the fire and soon it was clear that we were getting close. We topped a hill and the sight that met my eyes nearly froze my blood.
I finally saw the source of the fire. It was coming from a circle of bonfires that surrounded a circle of stones. Within the circle of stones was an altar. There were five kobold shamans standing at the altar, chanting some sort of hideous incantation. On the altar was the still moving form of a small child. In the intervening space was a group of undead kobolds, three of the kobold “fighters,” and at least 10 peons. Korthian and I immediately charged forward in the hopes of disrupting the ceremony. Rigel also ran forward, but was quickly caught by several kobolds. These kobolds dropped Rigel in a matter of seconds and left him, bleeding, on the top of the hill. Our mages did an excellent job of occupying the kobold shamans until Korthian and I made it to the altar. Even with their great effort and Korthian and I running at full tilt, the shamans completed a sacrifice. The dead body was carried to a fire and dropped onto it. This caused the ribs of Dagnalock to burst forth from the hill. After a terrible battle in which another child and one of the kobold shamans were killed and burned, Korthian, Seamus, and I looked gravely at the dead bodies of the kobold shamans. We also realized that the bonfires were not typical pyres. They seemed to be open portals into the deep earth that spewed forth flame. I tried to extinguish one of them, but there was no quenching the roaring flames. Several of Dagnalock’s bones had been revealed, but we had stopped them from becoming animated. Furthermore, we had saved three of the children. We burned the bodies of the kobolds in natural fire then spent some time destroying the newly exposed skeleton of Dagnalock. We gathered our spoils, including 5 more of the smoky-white potions and 5 more dragon tooth necklaces. We were all seriously drained after the battle, but decided to march the whole way back to High Castle. As we left the battle site, Larathain appeared and offered to take us to a “kinder” location. We could do naught but accept the offer. With a wave of his hands, Larathain transported us to a beautiful marble hallway.
Larathain called some elves to lead us to separate bathing chambers. I quickly bathed but could not leave my armor in its current state. I started mending my armor as best as I could. I was so intent on cleaning up the armor that I jumped at the knock on my chamber door. An elf was at the door with a cart of food. Realizing that I was rather hungry, I thanked the elf and brought the cart into the room. I started picking at the food as I finished what minor repairs I could make on the armor. Now that my armor was repaired, I could turn my focus to the food. I devoured all the food and drink on the cart. It was pretty good, for elvish faire and, while the wine wasn’t very strong, it was pleasing to the palette. I then turned back to the armor and started polishing so that it would once again gleam in the sunlight. I got all of a single boot done when I was overcome by a wave of fatigue. I tried to keep working, but I could not fight it and soon passed out on the marble floor. When I woke up, I was surprised to find my wounds completely healed. I was a bit baffled as it should have taken a week or more for this level of healing to occur naturally. Had I really slept that long? The water in the bath was still lukewarm and everything was as I had left it before I passed out. It couldn’t have been a week. The food that I had consumed must have had some sort of magical healing property. I decided to finish polishing my armor. Just as I finished, one of the elves came to escort me to a group meeting. I asked him to help me don my armor, and soon was ready to go again.
The elf escorted me downstairs into a moderate sized meeting hall. Larathain was already there, talking with the rest of the Warriors. As I entered the room, Larathain was discussing the Veil, a barrier between the planes of the living and the dead, with Arcadius. This was a baffling concept as I had never heard of such a thing in any of my religious discussions with my clan leaders. Apparently, thousands of years ago, this Veil prevented the passing of souls from the realm of the dead to the realm of the living. While the Veil was in place, no undead could be created, and not even the most pious of priest could bring back a lost hero from the dead. The Veil was removed long ago, but not completely destroyed. The elves, it seemed, were planning to reconstruct the Veil to counteract the huge numbers of undead that had been produced in the last few years. This seemed rather important, but there were other pressing matters to take care of immediately. Larathain told us to complete our mission against the Shadowman and the were-rats. He said that the elves had discovered that the Shadowman was just a lackey working under an unknown figure. This unknown figure was acting as a distributor of powerful magical items to various evil groups. We immediately suspected that these groups might be more of a distraction than part of the true intent of the unknown figure. This being said, we were told to capture the Shadowman, not kill him. The elves were desperate to interrogate him and try to put an identity to the unknown figure.
We prepared to leave and complete our mission when Larathain was joined by another elf. This was the sage that Larathain had set to learn about lycanthropy for our group. He reported his findings, which included more specifics about the herb belladonna, which fortunately seemed to be more than just a myth. It could actually work, but only if administered quickly. Best results occur if it is administered within an hour of the bite, but it can have some effect if a dose is given within two days. After two days, the infection would be too advanced for belladonna to have any effect. Not everyone bitten will get the disease, as some people can fight it off before it becomes a problem. Certain clerical magic spells can prevent the infection, but only if cast within three days. After three days, you just have to wait and see if the infected individual was able to fight it off naturally. If not, hope is not lost, for clerics can, with their god’s favor, remove the curse of lycanthropy during the full moon when the individual is transformed into a mad beast. Even this procedure is not perfect, and it often takes several nights of prayer to remove the effects of lycanthropy from the infected individual. One further point of interest was about a certain priest of Pelor, who was reported to have a perfect cure for lycanthropy. His whereabouts, however, were unknown. He was either keeping a low profile or perhaps some kind of foul play was involved. Either way, he is a known purist, so there was still a problem if the elves wanted to deal with him assuming, of course, they could find him.
Larathain told us to prepare for a journey to Rema, but we needed to stop at High Castle first. He was a little frustrated at our lack of preparation, but agreed. While we made our preparations, he took Arcadius for a quick visit to Elvaris. When Arcadius and Larathain returned, we were packed and ready to go. Arcadius had apparently spent some time doing a little bit of trading. We had found some scattered, magical items in our adventures so far, and Arcadius had used those to barter for a magical item for each of us. He gave me a magical pair of gloves. I thanked him, even though they were a little too gentle looking for my taste. I decided to wear them under the mithril gauntlets of my full plate. As soon as I put them on, I knew that Arcadius had made a great acquisition. My backpack suddenly felt much lighter. Arcadius told me that the elves used these gloves to magnify their strength while doing heavy lifting. I could imagine several ways that these could be useful in my pursuits. Larathain once again uttered an incantation and we were standing in the high hall of High Castle. I quickly retrieved my silvered glaive then made a quick stop at a nearby goldsmith shop to commission a small trinket. I then returned to the meeting hall and we reported our success in defeating the kobolds to Lord Lucasson. We then asked Larathain to deliver us to the outdoor enclave of the were-rats. He agreed, and almost instantly we were standing in front of the hidden doors of the entrance.
Hippston checked the front door of the enclave for traps, but there were none. Seamus stepped forward to use a spell to open the door. The doors swung open, and the two guards inside immediately attacked. We worked our way down the corridor, when a mass of were-rats filled the hallway. Rigel used his mental magic to incapacitate them all, and Seamus sent one of his rolling fire spheres down the hall. I slowly followed the rolling sphere, dispatching the defenseless were-rats as I went. I finally made it to the end of the hallway and slew the last few were-rats, when a small group of were-rats attacked my fellow Warriors at the top of the corridor. Fortunately, the mages were able to take them on, and Korthian stepped up to protect them long enough to achieve victory. We cleaned out the enclave and burned the were-rat corpses. In the deepest room of the enclave were two interesting features. The first was an escape tunnel, which might have allowed the second group of were-rats to catch our mages by surprise. The second was a stone desk built into the wall of the room. Hippston worked his “magic” on the desk, and reported that it was heavily trapped, and that if we made a single mistake, we could all be killed. We decided to rest for the night so that everyone would be alert and ready to deal with the desk, should something go wrong. Fortunately, as the slowest member of the group, I got to wait outside and see the results of the attempt. Seamus cast a spell of flying to increase the speed of Hippston and Rigel, the two who would be involved in the attempt. As I stood outside, I could hear a little bit of struggling. I heard a snap, then a sound I knew all to well from a lifetime in the mines . . . a cave-in. Rigel then flew out of the exit, completely unscathed. I held my breath until, a split second later, Hippston followed. I was glad to see that we wouldn’t have to start digging them out, because that is never a pleasant business. Inside the drawer, Hippston found a few papers with a list of passwords and codes. He also found a secret compartment in the drawer. He did his searches then opened the compartment. Unfortunately, he was not as lucky as before, and was hit by a small, poisoned needle. He immediately passed out. His breathing was very shallow, but he did survive the poison. Korthian took care of him for while, and Hippston finally woke up, although it was obvious that he was still hurting. In the secret compartment was a set of identically formatted papers, but with different passwords and different codes. The simple point of view says that the hidden papers were more likely to be correct, but not everyone would agree with me. We left with two sets of papers. We then carried the weakened Hippston back to Rema.
We decided to split up once we reached Rema. Rigel was still not completely associated with our group (as far as we knew) in the city, so he went off to do some more reconnaissance in the local taverns. The rest of us decided to head out again with the hopes of catching a few more prisoners to interrogate. Our first encounter was something completely different. A troop of goblins accompanied by four gnolls attacked us. They were all wearing tunics with a black paw on the chest. I rushed through the goblin horde, killing a couple as I ran by. I then attacked the nearest gnoll, as they were the ones shooting poisoned arrows at us and seemed the real threat. Soon, the entire goblin force was destroyed, and the mages dropped one of the gnolls, so the other three turned to flee. I took a final swing and dropped the gnoll that I was attacking. They appeared to be human hunters, as they each had a necklace of human ears, presumably marking the number of kills they had made. We kept one of the tunics to show Lord Derrek then disposed of the bodies. We were all in fair health after that battle, so we decided to camp for the night and try to catch some rats the next day. During the night, we were beset by a troop of were-rats. Unfortunately our night guards were unable to give us decent warning, so most of us started the fight from our backs. One of the were-rats attacked my just as I was startled awake. I was able to roll out of the away. Seeing the dire straights we were in, I grabbed for the rat’s leg and tripped him as I stood. Unfortunately, as I grabbed for him, his sword scratched my neck, and for the first time I felt the strange heat of poison coursing through my veins. The fight continued for several more minutes. All of the Warriors had taken significant damage, but two rats still remained. Hippston was already down. Korthian was fallen as well because he went to the aid of Seamus who had fallen earlier in the battle. Fortunately, being knocked unconscious had not rattle Seamus, who unleashed a lightning bolt at the remaining rats . . . and our pack mule who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The rats were killed immediately, and the mule was knocked unconscious. We bandaged our fellow Warriors, and tried to save any of the rats that we could, but they were all slain. We burned the lycanthropic corpses, then limped through the darkness back to the city gates and took the now familiar route to the infirmary. Fortunately, none of us had been bitten, but we were all in pretty sad shape.
Lord Derrek soon heard of our return and came to visit us in the infirmary. We showed him the tunic from the gnolls. He seemed very concerned by this news, as the black paw was a strong group south of the lines, but rarely made excursions into the north. It would seem that the human lines were breaking. He then produced a paper from his pocket. It was a proclamation from Lord Lucasson, praising the Warriors of the Eclipse for their work against the kobolds. Lord Derrek was irate that we would leave our duties in Rema to trounce a few kobolds. He yelled at us to get back to work, and so we did. I could completely understand his position, but my fellow Warriors just muttered under their breath about how he was an idiot. I suppose they preferred the condescending nature of Larathain to the straight forward anger of Lord Derrek, but I much preferred the anger. I gave Lord Derrek my word that these rats would be disbanded by the passing of the next full moon.
As soon as we were all in reasonable condition, we headed back to the north road. I suggested that we might have better luck along the west road (I wanted to try my hand at a few more of those goblins), but I was quickly voted down. As soon as we left sight of the city, we were ambushed by two troops of were-rats. I charged to hold our left flank, while the rest of the Warriors battled the other rats around them. As soon as I engaged the four to the north, a third troop of rats burst forth from the west side of the rode and joined the fray. I had my second taste of poison during this battle, but I held my own against my four enemies. After I killed them, I rejoined my fellow Warriors and cleaned up the rest of the rats. It was a truly gruesome battle. Seamus and Hippston were both badly poisoned, and both were so weakened that they were effectively paralyzed. We did manage to save three were-rats, including two leaders, so we were finally successful in prisoner acquisition. It was somewhat disconcerting that such an elaborate ambush could be set for us, but understandable seeing as how much trouble we had caused them. We strapped Hippston, who was still paralyzed, to the mule and headed back to Rema with our three prisoners. We immediately went to the barracks, and procured three interrogation rooms for our prisoners.
Scout took the lead on interrogation for the leaders, and neither one went well. No questions were asked, and both of the leaders were killed. The peon, however, was slightly more open to questioning. We told him that we could cure his lycanthropy. He was somewhat skeptical, but agreed to give us what information he could if we would all give our word to try and cure him. We all gave our oath, and he gave us information about the initiation ceremony, including numbers attending (100 or more), the location (rotating among three locations), and other useful information. We then sent this prisoner, under cover of invisibility, to a secret room in the barracks, so he could be held and protected until the curse could be removed. We then burned the two bodies of the leaders, as well as a decoy corpse so that no one would think we had not killed the third prisoner, and thus he would be safe from any prying minions of the Shadowman. It was also the first night of the full moon, so I guarded the secret room with our prisoner, while Korthian and Scout, the two most recently bit of our party, had to report to the infirmary for quarantine. My night was long, but uneventful. As the night wore on, I saw Korthian, Arcadius, Hippston, and Scout approach. Apparently, Scout had actually turned, but Korthian used his holy magic to cure her. Scout vehemently denied this, but both Arcadius and Hippston supported Korthian’s story. Korthian tried to heal our prisoner, but the spell failed to produce any visible effect. We locked the door again and waited for Seamus and Rigel, who were off on a mission to find the Shadowman. They finally returned, and told us that Rigel’s psionic crystal had been successfully planted on the Shadowman, and he had apparently come to the keep. Rigel concentrated on the Shadowman for a few more minutes, until he finally saw his face. It was Lord Derrek’s Captain of the Guard.
We were shocked. Some of us had suspected Lord Derrek because of his straight forward, and highly unsuccessful, tactics in trying to destroy the rats, but none of us suspected the captain. We decided to tell Lord Derrek that we had not found anything new, so as to make the captain overconfident. We then arranged for a meeting with the captain under the pretence of setting up a direct assault on the sewers. We then arranged the meeting room so that there would be no easy escape. Arcadius and Seamus used their magic to lock all three doors. Then Arcadius waited outside to await our “guest.” The captain entered the room, and immediately realized something was wrong. Arcadius was barely able to slam the door behind him before the captain started into the battle. Now there was no escape. We would either capture him, kill him, or we would be killed in the process, but the captain would not get out of the room. Korthian and Rigel both did their best to subdue the captain, and the rest of us tried to knock him unconscious. The captain broke free of the spells and came after me, because I had smashed him on the side of the head. He delivered a devastating blow, and for the third time, I felt the dreadful affect of poison in my veins. This poison was different, though, as I was not weakened but felt incredibly sick. I gave up trying to capture him and started fighting for my life. Scout ran over to me and cast a spell to delay further effects of the poison. Then Korthian cast a different spell on the captain, and suddenly he fell into a strange sort of funk. He would defend himself, and start to make an attack when he would stop in mid-swing and go back to defense. It was bizarre, but it probably saved us. We finally dropped him, and I had to hold back with all my will to avoid killing him. I succeeded, and we had our prisoner. My fellow Warriors restrained him, and I went into the corner of the room and retched. I knew it wouldn’t get rid of the poison, but it nauseated me so. I had to try something, but it didn’t work. Eventually, Korthian was able to heal me and we could focus on our next challenge: we had to prove that Lord Derrek’s trusted captain was indeed a were-rat.
This test turned out to be fairly simple. All we had to do was present the captain to Lord Derrek, then make two superficial cuts: one using a normal blade, then one with a silvered blade. The cut by the normal weapon would instantly heal if the subject was a lycanthrope, but the silvered cut would not. This demonstration worked as expected on the captain (we actually did test it on the captain before we presented him to Lord Derrek, just in case) and Lord Derrek, aghast that the Captain of the Guards could be a were-rat, immediately called for the same test for all the guards. This brash decision, which was somewhat understandable, left the southern forces decimated. Nearly half the southern guards were already were-rats. Once they heard of the test, most of them deserted, and the rest attacked the non-lycanthropic guards. They were already spread thin as it was, and now at less than fifty percent strength, the southern line was really more of a joke. It was only a matter of time before the gnolls and goblins of the south swarmed into the north. If something wasn’t done soon, chaos would destroy the land known as Lucresia.
In the midst of all this disorder, Larathain finally arrived to take custody of our prisoner and the cursed amulet that was found in the captain’s room. He told us that he would destroy the amulet to help restore the fallen elf. This information struck me as somewhat odd, as I had assumed the fallen elf was dead. He had never before hinted, at least not to me, that the fallen elf could be recovered. He also told us that he would interrogate the captain in order to gain any information on the true source of the current evils. Before he could leave with his new acquisitions, we asked him to heal our prisoner, who was still imprisoned in our secret room. Larathain agreed, but stipulated that in addition to the cure, the prisoner’s memory of the last five years would be erased. In return, the prisoner would be released anywhere he wished, but would have to serve the elves, and potentially the Warriors of the Eclipse, at some future time. We brought this proposition to the prisoner, and he agreed. I could immediately see a change in the prisoner, a look of hope slowly filled his eyes. He smiled, as far as I know for the first time, and asked to be placed in Cunaxa. I was glad that he agreed to help. Even though he was a rogue, he wasn’t as disagreeable as some of the upright citizens I had met in this land. I also felt guilty about the deception with the first prisoner, who was released only to be recaptured and killed, so I gave Larathain 100 gp to give to the prisoner upon his arrival in Cunaxa. Even I had heard of the huge free city, and I knew that starting a new life in the city would not be cheap. Larathain agreed to give it to him, gathered the captain and the prisoner, and they all vanished.
We spent the rest of the day cleaning up the aftermath of our adventure. Korthian checked the infirmary and tried to heal all who had been recently bitten after the were-rats scattered. The rest of us watched the streets, looking to quell any restlessness in the city that resulted from the greatly reduced guards. That evening, we received word in the form of a joint letter from Lord Lucasson and Larathain about our next mission. It seems that Larathain had convinced Lord Lucasson that he should risk his elite military force to make a preemptive strike against the southern forces of gnolls and goblins. We were to infiltrate the lands to the south of Rema, and stop whatever plans the evil races might be formulating. We had one week to prepare for an extended tour of duty in hostile territory. The next morning we set right to work. I went out to commission the best possible maps of the southern lands and, realizing we would not be returning to High Castle any time soon, I sent a messenger to retrieve the trinket I had ordered earlier. Arcadius made plans to visit Elvaris to trade our newly acquired magical goods for more useful items for our group. In addition to a magical glaive, I also asked him to look into a special item. On the dwarven isle, there was an item that could provide all necessary nutrition for a dwarf. The nobles called them “ale belts” as they would not have to waste valuable stomach space on food, and could instead drink larger quantities of ale. (Not all of the nobles could handle the extra ale, however, so in these cases the belts are jokingly called “ail belts”). The illithid hunters also used such items for extended forays into the underdark. I asked Arcadius to look for such an item during his shopping trip. After Arcadius left, Korthian and I decided that we were well enough provisioned to assault the southern wilds, so we decided to join up with one of the patrols on the southern road. We wanted to get a little practice battling the goblins and gnolls before we were cut off from friendly healers and safe campsites. We were able to brutalize a few gnollish patrols before returning to Rema for the final days of our preparation time. Arcadius was able to procure my glaive and the item I had requested, but in ring form. I thought it was somewhat odd, but if it worked, it was more than fine by me. During all this time, we had kept Hippston busy. He had begged to go on goblin bashing missions with us, but Korthian and I refused, saying he had to stay behind and organize our gear. When we returned to find our newly acquired equipment strewn about the barracks and maps crumpled, we immediately tracked Hippston down, and put him to work straightening out the mess. Out of all of us, he was still the greenest and we had to remind him of his place. In reality, this was just busy work to keep him out of our hair for a day to make preparations. On our last evening before our next mission was to begin, we all met in a small dining hall. It was at this time the Hippston Hihill of Merrydale was officially accepted into the Warriors of the Eclipse. The ceremony was simple, and Hippston was given the ring which I had commissioned at High Castle. Then, as a complete military unit, we celebrated the acceptance of Hippston into our ranks, and drank the night away so that we might forget our fears of the dangers to come.