[Game Thread] III. The Silver Cornucopia

[mountainbound]

"Aisha," Jamie breathes. "I wrote a song about her -- if I knew you were who you were, I'd of sung it last night. Ahh, then again, this place is a nest of Darlock lovers, and they ain't fit to hear of her beauty."

"I met her 3... maybe 4 years ago in Houndsdale, I was suffering from wounds taken in the wilderness -- and there weren't half as many worms out there then as there are today. It's like something has stirred them up from their deep places, and they're all coming to the surface now. In any case, she healed my wounds, soothed my fears, and put a pin in my heart, if you take my meaning."

Whatever Jamie was about to say next is cut short. Dan manages to down another glass of his father's wine, shouting "For courage!" in brash disregard of Jamie's warning. He then stumbles toward the steps. "I'm with you Sy, a-hunting we will go!" Recklessly he starts down them with little thought to what might be waiting for him -- most likely another dagger in the gut from Randy.

The wizard stops about half way down the steep stairs and then calls up, less brashly, "Do you have that torch? Fecking dark down here!"

Silas and Fahd follow quickly, the ranger bearing a burning brand, and a long, narrow room soon presents itself in the glow. There are the expected shelves full of food stores, common to any establishment like this. Rows of empty ale barrels give off a stale beer smell, and rats flee the torchlight, reluctantly leaving a large wheel of cheese.

There is no sound beyond the squeaking of vermin and the whisper of the newly lit torch. At the far end you see a door hanging ajar, and next to it a small wooden desk. There are sheaves of parchment on the floor, and several wooden boxes which seem to have been hastily opened and scattered about on the ground. A piece of paper slides from the desk as you approach. A few other wooden boxes are lying opened, but their contents remain. "Looks like Randy looted his own desk. I wonder what he was after? Whoa!" Dan pushes past Silas and kicks through the papers, heading straight to a small collection of items. "These are... buzzing. Can you feel it? Look at this!" There is a long wooden box that was laying upside down, with a silken bundle below it. Dan casts aside the fitted box and withdraws from the silken wraps a slender longbow. "Ichvaali runes all over it, this thing must be worth a fortune! Check it out!" Without thinking he hands it to Silas and keeps rooting around.

"This cloak too, it's making my ears ring," he says, his voice giddy as he fingers a dark sable garment that had been half-pulled from a chest, but discarded on the dirty floor. Red and gold embroidery along the hem recalls flames, intertwined with more strange Ichvaal sigils. Dan is about to lift it when his eyes glance upon the staff leaning against the desk. "Whoa-whoa-whoa, what's this?" The young wizard is drawn to the polished piece of wood like a child to a tinkerer's cart. He practically gasps when his hand takes hold of it, and the weapon responds immediately, its unadorned surface suddenly alight with clandestine runes glowing blue and white. "Hell yes! This is mine!" he says, testing the stoutness of the staff on the floor. "Payment for that miserable Randy trying to gut me."

DM's Note Open door to the north. Please specify if you are taking the items Dan found and I can provide you with more info.

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 10/12, Spirit Healing 0/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Fahd is mildly amused by the apparent nature of Jamie's feelings toward Aisha. It is a light Fahd does not see his spirit guide in, his relationship to her having always been that of student to teacher. Fahd is not unaware of the qualities which would lead someone to be attracted to her, but the few months he had spent with her had been filled with teaching, and her expectations were always quite high. Perhaps it had something to do with her disappointment at Fahd's father having, at least to some extent, abandoned her teachings. "I look forward to the chance to hear the song you've written of her," Fahds says bemusedly.

Fahd joins Dan and Silas down in the cellar. As Silas handles the bow, and Dan the staff, Fahd picks up the cloak. It doesn't exactly fit his usual style, but the shaman is fascinated by the Ichvaal runes inscribed on it. The buzzing Dan describes suggests that the items contain a power different than what Fahd is used to calling on, but nonetheless Fahd opens himself up to any spirit component which might be attached to the items before slipping the cloak over his robe.

 

Knowledge/Spirits

Dice kSpirits:

d20+6

(16)+6

Total = 22

Perception

Dice Perception:

d20+6

(3)+6

Total = 9

[Krimchee]

Silas accepts the bow from Dan with curiosity. In the wavering torchlight, he examines this strange bow closely. His weapon of choice had always been the bow. For years as a hunter, the bow had been not only a key to his livelyhood, but a trustworthy companion on many an uncertain trail as well. But of course, in the tiny hamlet of Lehman's Hollow, Silas had not had much opportunity to see many bows other than those made by Ramik, the local bowyer. Silas' own bow in fact, was Ramik's work. With a bit of excitement, Silas examines the new bow, and the imminent dangers of the basement are momentarily forgotten.

Perception check Dice Roll: 1d20+9 (6)+9 Total = 15

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 10/12, Spirit Healing 0/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Even if Dan and Silas were not preoccupied with examining the Ichvaali items in their own hands, it is unlikely they would see what Fahd sees when he opens himself up to the spirit realm while holding the cloak. They might, however, note his reaction. His eyes widen, then a few moments later the irises, dilated from the darkened cellar, contract, as if he is staring at a bright light. Simultaneously his hand lifts, as if to shield himself from something, then falls still, and his eyes gradually dilate again.

When I have time, Fahd thinks as he slips the cloak over his shoulder, I will see if the spirit will speak with me. The shaman senses that he might learn much from it. Out of the corner of his eyes he sees a shimmering in the air above his shoulders, as if heat is rising from the cloak where it rests on his shoulders, though when he looks at them directly he does not see it, and the cloak feels no warmer than any other cloak he has ever worn. Somehow he knows, though, that the cloak has, and by wearing it grants him, an affinity with fire. If he wished he could make the torch in Silas's hand flare, the flame increasing far beyond its current size, or even have the flame leave the torch entirely and travel across the room. He senses further, though, that the cloak's power to do so is limited, so he chooses not to waste its resources with such a pointless display.

Fahd picks up some of the papers and attempts to read them.

[Krimchee]

In awe, Silas traced the graceful silver etchings on the bow with a slender finger tanned from long hours in the sun. He had know idea what they meant, but that's not what really caught his attention. "What kind of wood is this?" he whispered to himself. Despite having spent most of his adult life in the forests near Lehman's Hollow, he could not recognize the wood. "What is it?" Putting one end of the bow on the floor, he put a little bit of weight on the limb, to feel how it would flex. He put more. The wood was supple but very strong. Picking it up he hefted it, surprised at the balance of it, the sureness of the grip. Impressed, Silas drew the bowstring back to his ear to get a feel for the tension. As he did, the bow hummed with power. Silas felt a bit of thrumming pressure on his temples and a thin filiament of spinning energy sprang from his head the the bow, like an arrow nocked for flight.

Surprised by what he felt and saw, Silas let go of the string. He expected the unhealthy sounding thwack of a dry-fired bow (which he would normally never do). Instead the spinning filament of energy lept from the the bow and smashed into the wall where it did....very little. A few motes of dust flew around in slow circles to land lazily on the floor. "God's blood", he whispered reverentially. He looked at the bow, and to his eyes the silver etchings seemed to glow where they flowed around the riser and up and down the limbs of the bow, though oddly, they cast no light. What the Eff just happened? he thought. Another puzzle for later. He couldn't wait to get out into the forest and test it.

Pleased with the find, Silas took the torch back up. "What do you say guys, shall we get on with it?"

[mountainbound]

The torch in Silas' hand flares momentarily as Fahd dons the sable cloak. It seems the man has made the garment his own. Nearby, the ranger tests his new bow. He too finds in it a source of wonder, holding the promise of more to discover. Dan seems to stand taller with his new staff as well, its runes still faintly pulsing as he strides over to Silas. "I'd best take that from you, you nearly had your eyebrows burned off a minute ago," Dan jokes, taking the torch from the ranger. "Besides, you need two hands to use that bow, and... I'm pretty much all out of spells, so I might as well be the torch guy."

Fahd roots through the papers, finding little of clear value, except for many letters from one "A. G." from the town of Wilk's Bear. Some notes were nothing more than trading receipts for the inn, and others seemed to make no sense, as though A. G. and Randy were intentionally writing gobbledegook to each other. Wilk's Bear was a long way to the south -- 30 miles or so as the crow flies.

It seems the only other closer, regular writer was Charles Colaruso, a fur trader from Jessup. Charles' penmanship is so horrid though, that Fahd can only make out the odd line or two. Two phrases stand out in the few papers the spiritchaser peruses however: "...we fryends of the Ancient Powers," was the first, and "...the Summoner of Goblyns," the second.

"This torch won't last all day, Fahddy my boy," Daniel says, tearing the young shaman away from the papers. "Unless you're communing with the papers."

With Silas in the lead, the gaping door is pushed open, creaking as Dan's light pours in to reveal another long chamber. This one has steps every ten feet or so, and soon you fall into a kind of rhythm, taking a few steps and then stepping down. The tunnel is wider than the arms' width of a man. Broken statuary lines the path like an endless cemetary trail. Amid the ancient rubble and dust you can see a set of prints, far spaced, as though someone was running away. It doesn't take the wisdom of a wizardess to know who the prints belong to.

After some time the steps become more regular and lead sharply downward, ending in a small chamber with two arches. Dan lifts the torch, now guttering, and groans. "The other Ichvaali temple, the one where we, uh, had our snooze, had a long stair like this, but it went straight down. No twists or turns or feckety archways. Which way d'you think that bloody rascall went?"

DM's Note Roll a Track check. You may each roll one Knowledge (Dungeoneering) check as well, which will represent your basic luck with, and knowledge of, all things subterranean. Other Dungeoneering checks may be requested as needed.

[Krimchee]

After handing the torch to Dan, Silas looked around a bit more while waiting for the party to get it together, unable to keep still with all of the excitement he felt. The wonder of the new bow filled his mind. The danger ahead pulled at him. The effin Ichvaali and Isaiah's brotherhood haunted him. Absentmindly he looked around some of the toppled crates in the corner. Pausing at one in particular, he gasped. This is where the horn was, he thought in surprise. Does Randy have it?

"Hey guys, look over here, this is where the horn was at least." The interior of the box was pressed into the shape of a circular horn of sorts, with a large mouth on one end, winding in and around upon itself. Running a hand over the cream silk lining the box, Silas wondered for the first time what was so special about the horn. If it was anything like his bow and the other items they'd just found, then perhaps it was a thing of power. That realization made him want to set out after Randy even more.

Distracted, Silas begins looking for tracks, all the while wondering if the horn would be a force for good or ill. Did the stalkers want the ruddy thing because they wished to use it, or because they feared it being used?

rolls Dungeoneering check Dice Roll: 1d20+4 (14)+4 Total = 18 tracking check/profession Dice Roll: 1d20+6 (3)+6 Total = 9

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 10/12, Spirit Healing 0/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Fahd seems to take Dan's question seriously, his face taking on a look of thoughtful concentration. "I will try," the shaman says, then holds one of the pieces of paper up to his forehead for several moments. "The Great Paper Spirit says... two crates of turnips." He holds Dan's gaze for several long moments then winks. "The tree this came from, perhaps with that I might commune, but the way in which wood is turned into paper effectively severs any link. Those rats that were eating the cheese, now, perhaps might have offered a link to the spirit realm, had they not all run away."

Silas's discovery of the crate which appears to have held the Silver Horn makes Fahd wonder just how recently Randy was in possession of the relic. Did he take it as he fled? the shaman wonders. Fahd rolls up the papers that can't immediately be deciphered and puts them away in his pack. The fur trader was obviously a lead that would need to be followed up, but the letters from someone in Wilk's Bear was also very suspicious. A more detailed examination of the letters could wait until later, though, so Fahd follows Silas deeper into the earth.

The small chamber the tunnel leads them to seems to be a dead end, but the fact that Randy is not in it argues otherwise. Either there is a hidden door in the room or in the tunnel, which would mean that Randy would have had to double back. Lynx would almost certainly be able to determine the truth, but Fahd's own tracking skills are also quite good, and he puts them to use attempting to determine the path taken by the innkeep.

When he is done, Fahd notes the guttering of the torch. Reaching out his hand, Fahd says to Dan, "I can keep the torch lit, but it will take some of my attention to do so. It will be easier if I am holding it." Fahd uses the power of the cloak to bolster the guttering torch.

 

Knowledge/Dungeoneering

Dice kDungeoneering:

d20+1

(20)+1

Total = 21

Survival (tracking)

Dice Survival:

d20+9

(17)+9

Total = 26

[mountainbound]

It takes Dan a few moments to realize that, in the midst of the tense situation, Fahd was taking the piss out of him. "Turnips?" the wizard questions, then chuckles. "Ha Ha, good one, spiritchaser. Well, the rats have all run away, so all you have left to talk with is me and Sy, and in case you didn't notice, we don't know sh!t. Looks like we've nothing left to do but follow Silas the Impatient," he grins at his old friend, turning the ribbing in a new direction.

The trio follows the descending hall down, down into the darkness, coming to a chamber that ends in two stone archways which lead nowhere. By the guttering light of Daniel's torch, Fahd and Silas each examine the ground, but it's the spiritchaser who finally notices a clue: a single piece of straw, the kind used to pack the crate that Silas found, had fallen into a crack in the floor, just in front of the arch to the right.

As Dan hands Fahd the torch, it flares back to life, causing the wizard and ranger to nod in appreciation at the trick. But their attention quickly returns to the lone straw on the floor. "So, he passed this way, but is gone," Daniel mutters. "And we didn't see any side-opening on the way down, so he couldn't have doubled back. Either he has some Ichvaali invisibility cap, or he knows of a way through here that we don't." He scratches his head, inspecting each arch. "They look like they could have been doorways that were bricked over."

The stones of each archway rise up from the floor of the chamber, mortared beautifully. Each arch is set at its peak with a large piece of granite, carved in the middle with a detailed sunburst. There is a set of nearly identical runes scribed in the stone below the suns. The stone wall inside each arch is set about a foot back, but is quite solid. After pushing on it, Dan looks at Silas and says: "We got that other Ichvaali temple to work somehow. Maybe this is another puzzle. I'd try to decipher those glyphs, but I don't think I could recall a spell right now for all the ale in Archeebald."

DM's Note Fahd: enlivening the torch will cost 1 PSP and provide light and heat equivalent to a campfire for a few minutes.

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 10/12, Spirit Healing 0/6 remaining, Cloak PSP 4/5 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

"The runes might contain a clue. If we can't solve the puzzle, we may need to come back tomorrow when your ability to translate them is renewed." It occurs to Fahd that, not really knowing how Dan's power works, it might not be certain that Dan will be able to translate later. "Perhaps I can find a local spirit who can aid us."

Using the increased light of the torch, and the certain knowledge that there must be a hidden way out of the dead end room they find themselves in, Fahd takes a pinch of moss from the pouch at his belt and puts it under his tongue. The shaman then opens himself to the spirit realm, seeking guidance to find the means of continuing on.

 

Fahd attempts to See Spirits, and will use Knowledge/Spirits to modify his Perception check to try to identify the key to this puzzle. Rolls are here, a 25 on the knowledge check, which gives him +2 on the perception check for a total of 22.

[Krimchee]

Silas raised an eyebrow at Fahd's use of the moss. He wanted to ask questions about the moss, but seeing Fahd's concentration, Silas decided not to. He'd seen the Old Man back at Lehman's Hollow use the moss in a similar fashion before, though Silas didn't think it'd had anything to do with spirits. The Old Man had been looking for answers though. In any case, Silas wasn't sure what Fahd was about, and he'd heard somewhere that it could be dangerous business interrupting a spell caster at work.

Silas hoped Fahd would find answers for them, but waiting was never one of his strong suits. Taking advantage of the increased light from Dan's torch, Silas set himself to examining the archways, looking around any hint of a latch or a clue that might help them.

Perception Check Perception+Alertness Dice Roll: 1d20+11 (20)+11 Total = 31

[Krimchee]

Looking around intently, Silas's breath caught with a hiss when he saw it. "Son of a bitch, he muttered. "You fecking son of a bitch, he whispered again. His mouth went dry. His palms itched. His hand moved towards the idols on the wall. "You Ichvalli sons of bitches, he whispered again, this time with a bit of reverence in his tone. Last time he laid a hand on one of these things.... No harm had come to them though, curse all he wanted about the weirdness of it. Did he dare? Again!? Blood and flaming ashes!

Gods, he was tempted to pull the damned thing, burn him if he wasn't! "Guys....Dan, I've seen something like these before." He looked at Dan. "The last time I tugged on one we.....Bloody hell Dan, do we dare to do it again?"

Without waiting for a response, Silas reached up and pulled on the idol.

[mountainbound]

Cursing reverently, Silas heads toward a few of the statuary lining the walls around the strange Arches to Nowhere. He pulls, grunts like a boar, and then pulls again. Then he tries the next one. Meanwhile, Dan takes up the assignment and pulls, pushes and inspects the other scant objects in the room which aren't already broken. In a matter of a few minutes, they are left where they started, staring up at the sun carvings etched over each archway. When Fahd moves the still-sizzling torch upward toward them, you can see tiny forms carved in the stone, contemplating each sun as though sharing a vision. "Fecking Ichvaal," Dan mutters.

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 10/12, Spirit Healing 0/6 remaining, Cloak PSP 4/5 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

A ghostly form impinges itself on Fahd's spirit vision, forming out of the stone of the archway. In appearance it is nothing like the Ichvaali with his long, grey-streaked hair who appeared to Fahd when he used his spirit vision on the cloak. Eyes of stone bore into Fahd from a pitted and ancient face, weighing and measuring the shaman in a way reminiscent of the spirit of the cloak. Without shifting his gaze the spirit ponderously lifts a ghostly arm, the stone of the archway rippling, the finger pointing upward. Fahd's eyes follow the motion, his vision shifting subtly so that it is the room that is now ephemeral, the spirit more solid, upward to the sun engraved at the top of the archway. Fahd recalls that the Ichvaal venerated, even worshipped, the sun. Though the torch remains in his hand, it is the graven sun which blazes in Fahd's vision.

"Turn your thoughts to the sun," Fahd says quietly but firmly to his two companions, his gaze locked to the sun carving.

[mountainbound]

And so Fahd does, bringing to mind a brilliant red sunset he had seen years ago as a young man, racing through the forest with his friend Ibram. Smiling faintly at the memory, the spiritchaser can almost feel the warm rays on his skin, even now in the darkening Ichvaali cellars.

Raising his hand, he steps forward toward the right arch and then disappears.

"Sh!t!" Dan whispers as all at once their light source vanishes. "He fecking walked through the wall! Fahd! Come back! It's dark as hell!" the wizard calls, but his voice simply echoes around the small room and back up the long hall leading to Randy's Inn. The complete blackness seems to push in on all sides as the sound of Dan's voice fades.