Varus' Journal: Entry #4: And Then There Were Four (or, Tyala Turns the Tide!)

Episode 4 - And Then There Were Four (or, Tyala Turns the Tide!)

By: Stan Lingle

Sensing the impending storm for Guldize, Varus spent his downtime identifying as many of the mystery items that we had recovered as possible. The potions turned out to be Healing, Cure Disease, two Greater Healing, an Oil of Magic Weapon, and Cure Poison. The scrolls contained spells of Scorching Ray, Cure Wounds (3^rd level), Identify, Fireball, and Bless. (Note: Items crossed off were used during the session).

After a short day’s rest, Guldize was here! The ranger and the druid did not want to be in town with all of the crowds and noise so and headed out into the woods to patrol and hunt. Nagi was nowhere to be found, and no one knew where he had gone. Though there were still rumors of giants on the road, the patrols had reported nothing. They did report that a fort had been erected near the mine and that it bore the symbol of the Cult of Five. And the farmers claimed ruin, with crops eaten and their tools of wood, iron, and steel destroyed by The Reaper.

Tyala awoke that morning feeling strangely. She ripped off her sheets and found her feet were covered in mud, as if she had been walking in the bog! There seemed to be some strange connection to the chest in her room. It turned out that the previous resident had been cursed by Auntie Murphy, but Tyala was feeling the effects of the witch’s curse, and she was not the only one.

Basel’s vision went black, and he saw a green dragon fly over town and breath deadly poison on the townspeople. As soon as he awoke, he asked several of us to accompany him to the Temple of St. Cuthbert. Tomeck had told him to burn the witch’s horn, and he knew he had to get rid of it. Basel tried to enter the temple but could not pass the door. The temple was protected against evil.

“Please, we must enter. This horn is cursed!” Basel implored the servant of St. Cuthbert who appeared.

“Have you filled out the forms?" asked Bert the Banker, “Cursed horn, fill out the forms.”

Basel enthusiastically filled out the form. “Age...29 and loving it; occupation…adventurer; wealth to store here…2 gp. Reason for visit…cursed horn. Identification…you don’t need to see my ID.” Tomeck donated 5 gp to the cause. Finally, once the administrivia was complete, one of the clerics examined the horn.

“The horn is linked to someone’s life force. Protection from evil may work if you cast the spell on it.” Basel cast the spell and suddenly felt Auntie Murphy trying to take his soul into the horn. He called on the strength of his god, and she faded away.

The nobles presented the group with 50 pp for our efforts in revealing the treacherous noble house. Varus also found 3 gems worth 5 gp.

The day of the festival was beautiful, and the town was joyous and crowded. Wonderful smells of food wafted throughout. There were fairgrounds, games, a feast hall, a petting zoo, a butchery, a magical curiosity shoppe, Hassam’s used livestock (including camels!), and other merchants. There was a memorial to those who had passed.

Varus performed in the noble’s tent for several sets and chatted with the nobles; Basel went to the memorial to reflect; and Tyala won at games of chance. Tomeck went to the curiosity shoppe and met the shop owner, who was more curious than most of his wares. He tended to speak in rhyme and expected you to keep up in time.

“Do you need a sharkskin cloak so that you can swim like that toothy bloke? Or a camouflage cloak of green that would allow you to be in the forest unseen? Perhaps rings are the things that sing to your magical heart and you sing for the ring?” He brought out a box of rings and showed Tomeck a spider ring, which would allow him to climb like a spider. When the sorcerer found it cost 1500 gp, he stormed out.

“This is an outrage!”

“Have a magical day for the rest of your stay!”

Tomeck was still grumbling as he walked along the street and some youths sidled up beside him.

“Hey, Tomeck, do you want some moonsugar?”

“What is that?” asked Tomeck.

“It’s refined wolfbane, dude. Amazing hallucinogenic. Then it might make you sick when you’re coming down.”

“Get out of here or I’ll blast you!” They looked at him in surprise, dropped the moonsugar and ran. In the alley, Tomeck noticed some crude graffiti of what looked like a monk beating on children. Very odd.

Back in the noble’s tent, Varus took a break between sets and met Tyala.

“What have you learned of Sir Klavin in our absence? The Dal’rens, the noble house that we destroyed, had been taken over by the cultists. They were one of his strongest allies.”

“From what I could tell, Sir Klavin is happy with us. We saved his life when he was captured. We have helped defend his town. I saw no evidence he was lying. He did talk to me of his heritage. When I was in the castle, I saw a large painting over the fireplace. It was a man riding a red dragon. He said it was from a time before Tiamat existed, when most of dragon kind was good. Humans worked with the dragons to stop the Ordening, the time when giants ruled the world. At that time, every other race was a slave race, and dragons and humans had worked together to end it.” Tyala’s expression changed.

“I did hear Sir Klavin whispering in a strange language, which sounded like Draconic. He said something about responding to a new menace.” Is that reassuring or foreboding? Varus wondered.

We looked up to see Sir Klavin waving at us and walking over.

“Varus. Tyala. So good to see you. I hope you are enjoying the festival.”

“Thank you, my lord. It is good to see the town celebrating after all these recent troubles. I couldn’t help but notice that handsome ring on your hand. What a magnificent dragon.”

“Ah, thank you, it is a family heirloom. My family has traditionally been close to dragons. Heroes of times past, I fear.”

“You’ll have to tell us the tale. I’d love to hear it.” Varus was about to press the matter, when Tomeck joined us. He was in no mood for small talk.

“Sir Klavin, I would have a word with you. The Dal’ren noble house openly displayed the Sign of the Five. They threatened the other noble houses. It had been infiltrated by the cultists and we destroyed the house. It is well known that your house are their closest allies. Did you know of their treachery?”

“I understand your concerns, good Tomeck. I did not know. I had my suspicions of the Dal’ren’s, but had no proof before now. Perhaps I did not want to believe they were involved. I can assure you, my only interest is in protecting the town.”

Varus followed up. “What about the reports of the hatchery?”

“Obviously the hatchery would be a problem now.” He looked at us with a knowing glance.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must attend to my social duties.” He looked directly at Varus and then glanced down at the table before leaving.

Varus followed his gaze and realized that he had intentionally left something behind on the table. He scooped up several small pieces of parchment. Upon closer inspection, Varus realized that they were pieces of the map that the group had been assembling! So Sir Klavin had been feeding us pieces of the map. Varus had to believe it was a map of the new fort. Which meant Sir Klavin knew what was going on. And he was leaving us clues to help out…or lead us right into a trap.

Someone ran up and told us that two large oafish figures had been spotted on the road. We grabbed our gear and headed in that direction. We felt the ground shaking, as if something large were hitting it. When we neared the edge of town, a boulder the size of a cart barreled right into a house. We were just taking this in, when another boulder came crashing into the second floor of the Defeated Pillow. Oh no, not our lodgings! thought Varus. We advanced under cover until we could see what had done that.

There were two large, brutish humanoids some distance away. Varus estimated they were at least 10’ tall. Evidently, the giants were here. They were dirty and dressed in filthy furs. Unfortunately, they were out of range of our shortbows, as well as Tomeck’s and Varus’ spells. We had not fought anything at this range yet, much less boulder-throwing giants. Flidais skills and her deadly longbow were sorely missed. Basel blessed us and Varus applied the Oil of Magical Weapon on five of Tyala’s arrows. She climbed up on a roof and hid, Varus cast Invisibility and joined her, and Tomeck moved into position to cover Basel.

As we watched, the giants suddenly got into an argument. This consisted of one giant knocking the other one over and then laughing at his great joke. He said something to the other giant, then turned and marched towards the town. The giant that had been knocked down turned and left. To ensure the remaining one came our way, Tyala taunted it and Varus used his voice illusion to sound like another giant. Basel cast Sanctuary on Tyala and she fired her bow but missed. Tomeck’s missiles of magic hit, and the giant responding by chucking another boulder. It rolled through the building that Tyala and Varus were standing on. Varus sang a tune to inspire Tyala. She ran over, jumped to roof of the next building, and fired her bow, hitting the giant in the shoulder. The sorcerer hit it with more magic missiles, then retreated.

The giant charged up, wielding a 14’ long tree trunk.

“Soon monster friend, I wrestle you,” he bellowed, responding to Varus’ voice illusion.

Basel threw a javelin and hit the giant in the throat, but he shrugged it off. Tomeck read the scroll with the fireball spell and blasted the giant with a ball of fire. Tyala hit with another arrow. He looked for her, but couldn’t see her because of the Sanctuary spell, so he held a boulder and waited. Varus stuck his head out to cast Faerie Fire on the giant, but the giant saw him and chucked his readied boulder. The huge rock smashed into the bard, hurting him badly and nearly pinning him against the building. The other three attacked. Basel jumped out and landed another javelin; Tyala hit with an arrow in a sneak attack; and Tomeck blasted with more magic missile. Then it was the giant’s turn. He charged in slammed Basel twice with the huge tree trunk, and Basel went down hard. The Sanctuary and Bless spells ended.

Varus stepped up and cast a Suggestion spell, hoping to turn the tide.

“Good friend giant, please help us get rid of the other giant.”

“Okay.” He turned around and waved at the other giant. “Bye! Okay, he gone. Now me deal with you.”

Varus realized the hard way that such spells had to be used carefully as he cursed and dodged out of the way. Tyala hit again with a magic arrow and Tomeck with magic missiles. The giant picked up the unconscious paladin and threw him at Tyala. The paladin missile smashed into the surprised rogue. The giant walked over to pick up a boulder, but Varus had had quite enough, and blasted the giant’s brain with Dissonant Whispers. The giant keeled over and the ground shook as he hit. Varus healed the paladin and the rogue.

Basel harvested the tongue and other parts so that we could use them as ingredients to create Enlarge spells. The town guard soon showed up and secured the area. Sir Klavin came to inspect the scene, and invited us to the castle to stay until things were fixed at the inn. The body of the giant was hauled to the town square.

All of us were shaken, literally and figuratively, and we retired to get some sleep. Four hours later, the castle alarm was sounded. Tomeck and Varus had only recovered half of their spells. The town militia ran in and started grabbing weapons and armor from the armory. Reports coming in from around town revealed that the town was under attack.

Sir Klavin was setting up a war room as his squire put on his plate mail. Varus noted that his shield bore the symbol of a silver dragon, and remembered from legend that silver dragons were good dragons.

Three or four nobles ran in. They had been at the festival when arrows started raining down. The attackers bore the banner of the Cult of The Five; there were humans and many half-dragons. They were killing some townspeople and rounding up the rest. The nobles had seen the shadow of a large dragon flying around. More than one building was on fire. They insisted that the noble houses be protected. Sir Klavin addressed everyone.

“No, we must protect the town and the essentials so that we can survive. There are many half dragons. Go, defend your houses and send men to help the guard and militia. Secure as many townsfolk as you can. The town hangs in the balance. We must protect the granaries, the vaults at the bank, and the children. We must retrieve the ballista bolts! The dragon is here. Secure what we have. The attacks should break in the morning if we can endure. If we can draw his fire, we might save the town.” He turned to us.

“My friends, will you help secure the town?”

“Of course, my liege. What has the highest priority?”

“There is a magical item in the bank vaults that would aid the attackers if it falls into their hands. If we could secure it, it could be a great help.”

“How do we get there?”

“We have established safety points throughout the sewers that you can access through the cellar. The closest exit to the bank is the new town well.” He gave us the key to the vaults.

“What are we looking for in the vaults, Sir Klavin?” asked Varus.

“A silver dragon mask.” Our group exchanged glances, but no one commented.

“Very well. We should be on our way.”

We headed down to the cellars and the secret door to the sewers. We moved through the sewers and up the new town well, and surveyed the street before moving stealthily to the bank. When we entered, we discovered to our horror that the cleric guards had been murdered. We prepared for battle as Basel blessed Tomeck, Tyala, and himself and Varus inspired Basel and Tyala.

We burst into the bank, where several cultists and many kobolds were plundering the vaults. The first cultist ran up and slashed Basel with his greatsword. Tomeck cast a Shatter spell on 4 kobolds, and 3 of them went down, and then blasted the cultist with magic missiles, but it triggered his damn wild magic. He realized, to his horror, that he was immune to alcohol for the next fortnight! Basel cast sacred weapon and then swung his hammer and slammed the cultist. All hell broke loose in the vault.

Tyala went right and flanked the cultist, hitting him with a sneak attack. Varus finished him with Dissonant Whispers. One kobold yip-yipped and fired at Tomeck but missed and ran into the room on the right. 

Tomeck moved up and blasted that kobold with a firebolt as Basel advanced and killed another one with a javelin as three arrows whizzed by him. A kobold fired and hit Varus as Tyala critically failed on her bow shot and retreated. A kobold fired a javelin over Basel and Tomeck and out the door. Varus sang a song of sleep and 4 kobolds went down. One of the cultists dashed up and threw a glowing knife that barely missed Basel, but then it returned to the cultist’s hand! Another cultist ran up and cast, and 4 magic missiles shot forth, hitting each one of us. Tomeck cast Shatter on that asshole and the two nearest kobolds, and then Basel literally shattered him as he charged in and slammed the cultist’s head, totally crushing it. Indeed, the blow was so mighty that it blasted through the cultist and killed one of the sleeping kobolds. A kobold missed Basel, and Tyala missed a cultist, then Varus hit with Vicious Mockery. Tomeck fired a firebolt, but the damn wild magic flared again made it go toward Basel. Somehow, Basel sensed it, spun, and blocked it! He then charged up and killed the last visible kobold.

Tomeck coup de graced the remaining sleeping kobolds. As we moved to the vaults, Tyala found a sledgehammer taped to the ceiling, and removed the trap. We came to a closed door, and Varus imitated the wizard to gain access, barely managing to convince them. When they told us to come in, Basel charged in and smashed the nearest cultist. The barbarian turned around, wiped the blood off his wound, and licked his hand. Tomeck blasted 3 kobolds, killing one and Tyala killed another. The barbarian slammed Basel and knocked him down; Varus rolled the ball bearings under the cultist to slow him down and inspired Tyala. Basel slammed the cultist right back with his hammer, who went rolling backwards on the ball bearings as a result. Tomeck firebolted the barbarian and a kobold. Tyala’s arrow was on target, but deflected off of the barbarian’s armor. Unfortunately for Varus, the barbarian ended up right next to the bard and then blasted him right over the teller’s bar. Everything went dark. The barbarian advanced on the sorcerer, but Basel slammed him again with the hammer. 

Tomeck disengaged and moved smoothly across the ball bearings, but was hit by a kobold. The barbarian attacked Basel, but missed. Tyala ran over and administered a healing potion to Varus.

Unfortunately, Varus shot at the cultist, but fumbled and hit Basel instead. Basel slammed the cultist, who was now past bloody. Tomeck killed a kobold with a magical spray of poison and Tyala took down another one with a sneak attack. The barbarian blasted Basel, and the paladin went down; the barbarian then closed on the sorcerer. Basel tried to hit him with a javelin, but missed and hit Tomeck in the leg. Casting through the pain, Tomeck used a scroll of burning hands on the barbarian, then Tyala dropped him with an arrow through the head.

We inspected the vault. There was another gem, a silver mask in the shape of a dragon, which was magical, and 5 scrolls from the wizard cultist. Tyala claimed the magical returning dagger.

We snuck back to the sewers. As we made our way back to the castle, we saw signs of the cultists. We manage to make it back without encountering any.

Level experience, 1200 xp