Campaign:
Stamus Contra Malum: 1013-1014 YE
Chronicle:
The Lost Vault
The
Light Bringers (Active Members)
- Ivanova Hastinov - Half-Elf Female, Black Swan Maiden (Paladin) of Fionnghuala, Heiress Presumptive to Leadership of the High Elves
- Lozen the Lioness - Thracian Human Female, Blade Dancer of Ianna, Courtier of Ivanova's Camarilla
- Avery Aileanach -High Elf Male, Spell Blade, Ivanova's Lord Marshall
- Garrick Aileanach - High Elf Male, Night Blade, Ivanova's Spy Master
- Oberron the Reborn - Dwarf Male, Dwarven Fury, Son of Oberron Trollnose, Courtier of Ivanova's Camarilla
- Damien, Son of Ulf - Danish Human Male, Vagabond Paladin of Ammonar, God of the Sun
- Moryna Morning Star - High Elf Female, Spell Blade, Scion of Morning Star Clan, Avery's Henchwoman
- Noelia Night Song - High Elf Female, Night Blade, Garrick's Henchwoman and Lover
- Robyn Spring Rain - High Elf Male, Man-at-Arms, Avery's Henchman
- Mock Wind Willow - High Elf Male, Cavalryman, Avery;s Henchman
- Tycho the Terrible - Dwarven War Dog, Oberron's Companion
Inactive
or Former members
- Vilhelmus Hastinov - Thracian Male, Fighter, Capt of the Lion's Roar, Ivanova's Cousin
- Lukos - Thracian Male, Explorer
- Atticus - Thracian Male, Bard, Deceased
Night
at the Library
Juselen 14th 1014 YE
After returning to the library on the upper level, Avery
sealed the door with magic; the party finally rested safely. After a full night
of sleep, the party began to attend to their many injuries. The party chose to
spend the whole day in the library; Avery and Garrick wanted to transcribe the
spells they recovered from the dwarven tomb into their spell books.
During this time Damien noticed that Oberron had disappeared.
Getting up he looked for the dwarf, his sixth sense told him something was
wrong. As he wandered around, his nose detected the coppery smell of fresh
blood. Following the scent, he found Oberron naked lying in a pool of his own
blood.
Someone or something had carved him up like a hog for the Fall Festival.
Damien yelled for help as he checked to see of the dwarf was
still alive. He could see that Oberron was still breathing, if only shallowly.
Lozen came running over and quickly saw the dwarf’s dire condition. She and
Damien picked up the dwarf and brought him back to where the others were. Lozen
began to administer first aid while Damien unsheathed his sword, lit a torch
and went looking for whoever had attacked the dwarf.
Lozen used her Staff of Healing on the wounded dwarf to
stabilize him and then began to clean his wound. As she washed away the blood
she noticed something odd about the wounds.
Damien had made his way over to where he had found Oberron.
Damien held the torch aloft and noticed something metallic shining in the
blood. It was a dagger, was it the murderers? He vaguely remembered the dwarf
asking to borrow one the night before, was it this dagger?
Damien soon rejoined the others. Lozen had finished cleaning
the dwarf’s wounds and have a puzzled look on her face.
“Will he
recover?” asked Ivanova
“Yes, I
believed so, most of the wounds were not deep” replied
Lozen
Avery knelt down beside Oberron and spoke in a hushed tone. “His wounds look a lot like dwarven runes
with some Thracian hieroglyphs thrown in. That looks like the sign of Ianna,
the goddess of love and war.”
Ivanova looked up as Damien approached “Did you find anything?”
Garrick cast a sideways glance at Damien as held up a dagger.
“You want to tell her or me”
“It is my
dagger that I loaned Oberron last night.” Garrick spoke forthwith.
“I don’t
think Oberron was attacked, I think he did this to himself” Lozen
spoke.
Everyone seemed shocked at this. Why would Oberron do this to
himself?
A
Fury Born
Several hours later, Oberron began to stir. Everyone gathered
together around him as he woke.
“Why you
all looking at me like that?”
“What
happened to you Oberron?” Lozen was the first to speak.
“Oh you
mean the new haircut? I felt like I could use a trim”
Lozen gently boxed Oberron’s ear “Stop being funny and tell us what is going on”
Oberron let and sign and expression of determination crossed
his face “I decided that I needed a change and it seems Ianna has shown me a
new path, the Path of the Fury. I have you to thank for this Lozen.”
Lozen looked a bit skeptical of this but accepted this newly
re-born dwarf.
A
Little More Conversation
While Oberon was recovering from his self-inflicted wounds,
Avery pulled Ivanova aside.
“Can I have
a moment of your time, my Queen?”
Ivanova, still trying to get used to the moniker, nodded in
the affirmative and they moved into a secluded corner of the room. As per
usual, Garrick followed his brother.
“This is
what’s going on, my Queen.” Avery pulled out his sword, a beauty even when not
lit up with elven flames. “Flamebrand has
been a valuable tool for us, but as you know, I have given up the art of
flame.”
“Yes, and I
remember thinking that it was quite noble. I haven’t had time to talk with you
about it, but I approve of your decision and I know Lozen does as well.”
“Are you
sure?” Avery asked.
“I trust
her and you,” Ivanova replied.
“Well,
trust is exactly what I wanted to discuss. Our new paladin friend, Damien. Do
you trust him?”
“I have no
reason not to as of yet,” Ivanova said as Garrick scoffed from the shadows. “He joined us for a reason. He came from the
orphanage that I set in flames that brought me to this path. That cannot be a
mistake.”
As Garrick made another sound of impatience, Avery spoke
again. “I want to give him this sword, as
a token of trust. I do not trust him yet, but I feel that this might be a gift
of welcome as well as a symbol of trust. What do you think?”
“It’s a
terrible idea!” Garrick stepped forward. “That sword speaks to him in our mother’s voice! Why on earth should my
brother give up such a strong item to a man who thinks his god speaks to him?
It’s insanity!”
“Calm
yourself, brother,” Avery admonished.
“Is this
true, that your mother speaks to you through the sword?” Ivanova
asked.
“Well,
yes,” Avery admitted. “But I
don’t know if it’s her exactly, perhaps just her voice… Anyways, I feel that is
it right to give up the sword, and why not kill two birds with one stone?”
“But what
if Damien is untrustworthy!?” Garrick exclaimed, exasperated. “It’s a bad idea.”
“If he
betrays us, I will cut him down,” Avery said calmly. “But I wanted her majesty’s opinion, as
we
do not yet fully trust Damien, but this sword could be an olive branch. Also,
to give it up would definitely mean I will not go back to flame magic.”
Ivanova leaned in and took Avery’s hand. “My friend, I trust you and think you made the right decision in giving
up the flame magic. You are powerful, and wherever you concentrate your arcane
arts, I know you will be successful. As for giving Damien the sword, well-”
she put her hand on
Garrick’s shoulder and looked at the brothers steadily-“I think that you should trust in your
brother Garrick. And if his trust in giving Damien the sword is mislaid, then I
would expect nothing less of my general than to impale the paladin with
Flamebrand. Agreed?”
“Now we’re
talking,” Garrick smiled.
“Agreed,” Avery
said. “Now, let us join the others.”
The rest of day passed quietly. Garrick, Avery and Lozen had
a private conversation in a corner of the library. At one point, whatever they
were talking about seemed to get heated with Garrick throwing some dark looks
in the general direction of Damien.
Passing
of the Flame
Later while the group broke bread during dinner, Avery undid
his sword belt and wrapped around the scarab of his enchanted sword of flame.
“Damien, I
have given this some thought and I have decided that this sword no longer
favors me. It is a powerful weapon that in the right hands could be a weapon of
freedom and justice that sees too little of it.”
Avery offered the hilt of the sword to Damien, while Ivanova
and Garrick looked on, Garrick expression had a sour twist to it.
“I don’t
know what to say, I am truly honored”
“Then honor
me by wielding it in good faith and with a fair heart.”
The party went to bed, tomorrow brought with it a day of new
challenges
Juselen 15th 1014 YE (Evening)
The party broke camp in the library and headed back towards the
great hall. Avery removed his seals on the door and Garrick and Oberron quietly
opened the doors. The elf and the dwarf took a quick peek inside. The purple
smoke that once covered the floors was gone; instead the floor was covered in
gore and blood. Piles of dead dwarves, gnolls, shattered weapons and armor
covered the floor.
It seemed the Gnolls in the valley had discovered their way
into the vault and had engaged the undead dwarven sentinels. The north wall of
the hall had been broken open revealing a hidden chamber behind it. The sound
of rushing water could be heard echoing from this chamber. On the south side of
the hall, a cart had been rolled in from outside. A number of slaves were
loading the dead on to it under the supervision of two gnolls.
Garrick and Oberron turned back towards their comrades and
relayed what they saw. Avery and Ivanova who were right behind them started to
formulate a plan when Damien shoved his way past them without a word and
marched into the hall. The rest of the party was in shock as Damien then
proceeded to loudly whistle at the two gnolls guarding the slaves before
charging them. Everyone was dumbfounded by the reckless actions of the Dane.
The rest of the party at a loss charged in after him watching
as he charged right into the gnolls with his flaming sword. What the party did
not see were the 13 battle wounded gnolls who were resting in the chamber
beyond the broken wall. They charge the
heroes catching them off guard. Ivanova
took command and ordered everyone into a fighting withdrawal.
Avery and Lozen closed in on Ivanova’s flanks preparing to
make the gnolls pay a high price for their blood. Garrick ignored Ivanova’s
orders and instead moved towards were the paladin was fighting. Was he going to
help Damien? Or was he worried the warrior might run off now that he had
Flamebrand and leave them all to die?
Damien made short work of the gnolls and shouted to the
chained slaves to fight for their freedom. Most of the slaves looked stunned
except for one, a silver haired elf, who picked up a halberd and charged
forward to fight the gnolls.
The heroes and the gnolls on the other side of the hall
traded ringing blows. Lozen called down the blessing of Ianna upon her friends
but her efforts were thwarted. A gnoll bedecked with fetishes had stepped out
of the doorway which the purple smoke once poured out. The gnoll shaman called
down a dark curse of Bel the Slaughterprince negating Ianna’s blessing.
A giant hyena appeared from behind the shaman and launched
itself across the hall to maul Garrick. Avery sensing the battle slipping away
from them stepped back and unleashed a furious lightning bolt that struck down
many of the gnolls. Additional aid came when the elf slave joined the heroes
and fought against the gnolls with great furor.
Lozen, Oberron and Ianna carved through the remaining gnolls,
while Damien came to Garrick’s aid and helped put down the hyena. Lozen brought
down the gnoll shaman with a savage blow and the last of the gnolls fell
beneath Ivanova’s and Oberron’s blades.
A Family
Reunion
Lozen began to use her healing arts to tend to the parties
many wounds. Ivanova walked over to were Garrick was sitting and knelt down
beside him.
“How are
you Garrick?”
“Tenderized,
the damn hyena tried to turn me into a snack; luckily he did not break
anything.”
“That is
good.” Ivanova reached out and grabbed Garrick’s ear and whispered.
“If you ever disobey my orders in combat
again, I will cut off your fucking ears, do you understand me?”
“I am sorry
Ivanova”
Ivanova stood up and then spoke to Damien.
“As for
you, do me a favor, trying thinking with your brains instead of your balls. We
are a party and we work as a group.” Damien said nothing but sheathed
his sword.
Ivanova surveyed the room and noticed the silver haired elf.
He was tall for a high elf with high cheekbones. His body lean from depredation
and enslavement still betrayed the grace that only elves had.
“Who are
you?” asked Ivanova quizzically
“Greeting
Champion of Fionnghuala the Fair Shouldered,” said the elf in a
surprising rich baritone voice. “My name
is Connor Morning Star; I was once Clan Lorde of Clan Morning Star and
commander of the White Eagle Company of the City of Selenica. Until now I have
been a prisoner of the beastmen.”
This was shocking news to the group, because Mornya had
mentioned her family in passing and told stories about her uncle who supposedly
perished during the fall of Selenica. In short order, Avery relayed this
information to Connor, Connor was overcome with emotion. He had believed he was
the last of his clan and the news that some of his family was still alive
overwhelmed him.
Connor provided a great deal of information about the
activities of the Gnolls in the valley and what had been going on in the vault.
The gnolls had found some kind of weapon known as the Fire Seeds in the priest
chambers next to the great hall. They had also discovered the grand shaft and
the lifts to the lower level were the Banes were supposed to lay.
The party found out that 3/8ths of the Gnolls had died in the
hall and one warband had been give the Fire Seeds to take them to the Citadel
of Fulgrim. Leaving just four warbands in the valley and one of them was on the
lower level which meant there were only three outside. There was also a great
many slaves being held captive.
The heroes decided they needed to secure the Banes before
tackling the gnolls outside. Connor and the other slaves agreed to keep up the
ruse that everything was fine in the vault and they would keep drag out bodies
outside.
The heroes then entered the room behind the false wall which
had fountains of cold clean water that the party took advantage of. Beyond the
fountain room was the Grand Shaft. After killing the three gnolls archers who
were on sentry duty they took one of the lifts and descended back into the
depths of the vault.
