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Telalore's Tale
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Introduction
I am called
Telalore Donavan. I have lived for
years on the streets of Sigil making my living, as it’s best taut. Unfortunately hazards fill the streets of Sigil.
Consequently I learned how to properly defend myself.
For the most part I have managed to stay out of trouble, earning enough
money to get by, only resorting to the less scrupulous side of my nature when
money became an unfamiliar commodity. I
stake out the Market Ward for those in need of finding something. I figure that if someone has money, than they will want to
spend it, and what better place than the Market Ward. The Hommlet
Chronicle Sigil Day 1: Meeting My day
had been going on like every other day. I
walked around looking for cutters that seemed to be lost or out of place.
Offered my assistance for a modest fee and showed them where they wanted
to be. I had just returned from
lunch when a voice hailed me. I turned calmly as a dropped my hand to my Rapier.
I saw a female Bariaur across the street with a group of assorted
cutters. It was Dora, an old friend
(with a nasty odor problem). She brought these cutters to me for my assistance It
seems that my prowess has spread though out the outlanders if these cutters have
come to Sigil to find me particularly. From the look of them they were well off,
far beyond most that I assist. The
apparent leader of the group was a regally dressed (Aasimar) creature from the
upper planes I think by the name of VanGuard.
Near him was a human woman in robes, by the name of Brianna, she was shy
and reserved almost subservient. Just
as withdrawn as Brianna was another human, male by the name a Verrin. He stuck me as odd.
Nothing about him caught my eye. I’ve
decided to watch him. People that
blend in can be very dangerous. I know. A
half-breed by the name of Mark Anthony Leaf looked very well armed. He had a bow and a whole lot of daggers.
I’ve seen people with more but any more than one dagger and your asking
for trouble. An elvish woman by the
name of Kat finished off the group. She
said something about mugs of some sort.
Anyway, they wanted to go to Oerth via a portal.
So for my nominal fee I began to do my thing.
I first took them to someone whom I knew had no information to bill more
time and than I took them to people who knew the answer.
It seems that that portal is not accessible. I prepared to bid then good night when Astral travel came up.
Astral travel is big money, which is why I got into it.
If I took them where they wanted to go than I could live for months. I agreed and got ready to do the astral thing when they told
me they were not ready. They rented
nice rooms and even got one for me that night. Sigil Day 2: Employment
I’ve kept my distance for the most part from these cutters.
Dora has known them for only a short time.
They seem really well off. Today
as I took VanGuard in search of a portal to Astral space I got a better feeling
of what he is. He seems to be
hiding swords of some sort under his robes.
This guy has bad ass written all over him. I’ve known tougher I’d wager, but tough is tough and you
don’t mess with though.
There is not a Portal to Astral space in Sigil so I took VanGuard to a temple
when he commissioned a bunch of scrolls. Weeks
will pass before they will be ready. I
have other responsibilities to attend to so I negotiated a retaining fee for my
services. He will pay me ten pieces
of gold per day for the time and hire me to get them back to Sigil when they are
finished in Oerth. All expenses
paid. I can’t let that one by.
Sigil Day 3-64: Retainer I spent some of my
time helping other people, but most of it hanging out with my new employers.
It seems that Kat is some sort of merchant.
She seems to sell anything and everything that she can find.
Brianna I suspect is a priestess. Most
likely she is a priestess of Lugh based on some of the conversations she and
Dora have had. Mark Anthony Is a
mercenary, he has to be. He only
thinks of money. He listens very
little and knows even less about what is going on.
VanGuard seems to be a rich man of some sort.
I don’t have a clue as to his true occupation.
He knows of magic and carries swords, so he has the best of both worlds.
Verrin is a quiet man. Speaks
very little and with great thought. We’ll
see how well I am received in the long term with these people. Sigil Day 65? : Departure We packed up our gear and enchanted
our packs and headed out for the astral plane. Astral Space The cutters did it,
VanGuard managed to get us to Astral Space.
Once there the silver void took me in and I was impressed as always.
It did not take me long to get a lock onto the Oerth pool and we headed
out. While we were traveling the
Thrumming of an Astral Dreadnought began to echo every so often.
Than a most off thing occurred, VanGuard began to talk to me in my head.
I’m not going to ask how but I put his mind at easy.
Astral Dreadnoughts usually hunt astral whales and other much larger
creatures, not a handful of humanoids. Never-the-less
Mark Anthony was rather concerned so I altered course in order to avoid it. I’ve only heard story’s of Dreadnoughts, and I now know
them to be true. After I avoided
the thrumming sound I reacquired the Oerth pool and headed for it. When we got there it was waiting. I don’t know how or why but it was behind the pool.
At that point I just told everyone to run for the pool.
We all made it though just as the beast closed its mouth around the pool. I got’m here just like they wanted. Now, what have I gotten myself into. Oerth Day 1: Arrival The
pool dropped us out on a country road. Brianna
and Dora set up a small shrine to Lugh and did their thing.
Oerth is a nice Prime. The
sky is blue, and clear. Down the
road a short ways I could see some small children playing. Clean air, that is what I like best about it.
Anyway VanGuard got directions to an Inn called the Welcome Wench.
So we went. While there Some
guy named Elmo talked about some missing people and VanGuard offered our
services. Elmo seems like a nice
enough guy but he’s slow. Talks
about shinny armor and big axes. I
don’t know about him. It seems
that a pair called Burne and Rufus governs this town of Hommlet.
Apparently the protocol was to announce ourselves to them upon arrival.
I let VanGuard, my employer, to take care of that.
I spent the time silently thankful for avoiding that dreadnought. Elmo promised to return promptly the next afternoon to take
us to his friend. After giving the
room a once over I went to sleep soundly that night, even though Mark Anthony
was paranoid. Oerth Day 2: Moat House Trip 1 I purchased a cloak and
gloves at the general store before heading out to the Moat House.
VanGuard purchased Elmo his shinny armor and big axe and we went to the
moat house. On our way we stopped
by Elmo’s home and promised his parents to keep him safe.
At this time VanGuard decided that he would not come with us to the moat
house directly. He had some
business with Verne and Rufus to attend to before joining us.
So we went out on our own. I don’t know what type
of prime this is but it has some big frogs.
As we approached the Moat house a handful of giant frogs leapt out and
mauled some of us. I was ok, and
Elmo made short work of them. Elmo
gutted the frogs looking for Joe, but only found a gem. I think that he may want to… share? Verrin has proven to be a user of magic as he burnt some of
the frogs with a rolling ball of flames. Kat could apparently
fly. I don’t know how but she
can. She flew off to scout the area
and returned with two crossbow bolts in her sides.
Were ever the shots came from, I knew it only meant trouble. As I got closer to the
keep I saw that is was quite a worn down construction. The roof seemed to have fallen in and some of the wall
collapsed. The bridge was in poor
condition, but I crossed first being one of the lightest members of the group.
Dora made a fuss as it may break under her weight and the water didn’t
make things any easier. Once across I found myself in a gatehouse of the same quality
as the rest of the keep. Elmo found
a door and proceeded to force it open letting loose a very large spider.
Once this creature was dispatched, mostly by Elmo’s heavy strikes, I
looked into its lair. Assorted
coins and a small box we amidst the bones.
About this time Brianna had a change of heart and decided to return to
the town. She mumbled something
about VanGuard needing to be here. I
don’t know what to make of that. It
seems that this strengthens by thinking that she is quite subservient and shy
not wanting to venture without a power near by. The gatehouse opened
into a large courtyard. Rubble from
the walls and towers scattered thought out the yard.
It seemed that the main complex was still in a stable condition.
Arrow slits pointed in to the yard from the building, and atop a slight
stair a pair of large doors blocked entry to the house proper.
Wanting some indoor reconnaissance I attempted to climb the wall to peer
into the arrow slits. Unfortunately
the grips were not there for me to climb. The
oaf Elmo than lifted me up into the air and stuck my head into each of the slits
in turn. I got a vague idea of the
rooms, all of which were empty. Having concluded the
scouting the group entered the main complex.
I imagine that at some point this building was quite the beautiful place.
The first room was a massive chamber with a broken dinning table of some
length in the center. At this time
Mark Anthony threw a gold coin on the floor that illuminated the room.
It was quite a shock to my eyes. The others divided some taking watchful
positions, and others to explore. After
a few empty rooms and an old trophy room a cry was heard.
I looked out he arrow slit in the trophy room and saw that a handful of
men were shooting at use from the courtyard.
I moved to make access to the slit available to someone with a bow.
I went to make myself useful. When
I got to the main hall I found the light coin was still illuminating the room,
making Verrin and Mark Anthony visible targets.
I ran through the room snatching up the coin and throwing it into my
pouch. The room quickly darkened,
save for a glow from the opposite passage.
I glanced down it and saw Kat being coiled up by a large snake.
I hate snakes. I loath them,
and they scare me to death. But I
was here to help these people. I
shouted for Elmo and faced my fears. A
few pricks from my rapier and it bit me. Just
as its teeth began to pierce my shoulder Elmo’s Axe cleaved the head clean
off. At this point I began to
unwrap Kat who could not move, most likely from the Snakes venom. Elmo began to cut open the snake. I wandered into the next room and found a nice dagger.
Jewel studded. I’ve decided to retain sole ownership as a reward for
facing my fear and saving Kat. As Kat was recovering
another eruption of combat came from the main hall as a large group of
crossbow-men emerged from a door in the hall and began to shoot up the
other’s. Elmo ran headlong into
the combat, but I decided to take a more cautious approach and stayed back to
protect the still immobile Kat. The
battle ended and Kat woke up. I
walked out and saw that the corner of the room had been burned somehow.
The corpses were in various states of intactness, one had been trampled
my Dora. I am glad that I was not
involved. Elmo and I resumed the
exploration when we were re-directed to the room from which the brigands came.
The others needed Elmo to move a stone that was resting upon a chest.
It was the large score of the trip.
It was full of coins and other valuables.
At this time the whole group, Dora having done her healing thing, move to
investigate a set of double doors down past the trophy room.
It looked to be an old barracks of some sort.
Well, a large lizard was there and we all hacked at it until it was
killed. Elmo gutted the thing and
found a shield. Elmo likes to gut things.
I have decided to make sure I’m always on his good side.
Even the giant Tick the lodged itself onto his back was turned inside
out. As we were leaving the
lizard’s lair five more brigands ambushed us.
Mark Anthony ran someplace and I was shot again.
I stayed back as Elmo ran off to be a hero.
A few moments later Mark Anthony re-appeared and he was covered in rats,
with more in chase. I would have
laughed under different circumstances, but some of these large rats began to
attack me. Someone made the
Brigands freeze in place, I suspect Verrin.
After the rats were killed I went out into the hall.
Several other rats were gnawing on brigand corpses.
I move up behind one and stabbed at it.
It turned and bite me in the leg. I
found my leg no longer had the strength to hold my weight.
Elmo killed the rat before it could kill me.
At this point we decided to leave the Moat house and returned to Hommlet We made a stop at
the tower of Burne and Rufus to announce the brigand threat. VanGuard and Brianna rejoined us at the welcome wench.
It was diagnosed that I have had my tendon severed by that rat, what ever
that means. I may loose the foot.
VanGuard and Brianna have some Ideas hopefully they will be able to save
my foot. If not, I’m planning on
collecting severance pay. Oerth Day 3-8: Recovery and Training Kat
and Mark Anthony both assisted me with some of my skill.
As I sat on an uncomfortable cot Kat brought me locks and I worked on
them while Mark Anthony lectured me on Traps.
After my leg got better Kat and I would go outside and she would show me
the shadows and My understanding grew. Keeping
quiet was also a major part. Oerth Day 9: Recovery, Training, and a new face While Dora was
drinking at the Welcome Wench she met a young half-elf named Gailen.
Gailen was looking for some employment and VanGuard thought that it would
be a good idea to bring him along. So
our mighty band has grown to eight, nine if you count Elmo. Oerth Day 10: Moat House Trip 2 It was decided that we
as a whole group return to the Moat House to continue cleaning out the lower
levels of the keep. VanGuard and
Brianna both came with us. Once we
arrived Elmo lifted me to the arrow slits to
investigate the rooms once again, just to make sure that nothing had changed
from when we were last there. It
all looked fine to me, except that the doors had been closed.
Once into the dinning hall I went with Elmo to check out half of the
rooms, while the others check the other half or stood watch.
I opened the first door and got a Crossbow bolt in the gut.
I figured that the trap was over and stepped into the room, only to be
struck again in the side. I quickly
looked around the room seeing no other traps staggered my way to the others for
healing. I was soon healed and went
the a second door. I looked for a
mechanism and found none. Upon
opening the door I found an empty room. Elmo
closed the door afterwards and fire rained down from above. I managed to dive out of the way only getting singed, but
Elmo’s armor heated up and burned him slightly. I decided that I had
enough traps for today, and took up
a watch position. It seems that the
far door, which once held the chest we found, was re-occupied. A plan was hatched by my companions, which I decided to watch
from afar. With a loud crash a
large ugly creature emerged from the door, well it more tossed the door off its
hinges and into Dora. I think I
heard someone yell Ogre. The next
thing I knew there was a bright flash and than an explosion followed by an
erupting fire. Kat was laying in a
pile of junk that seemed to appear out of the air itself.
It reeked of magic. Dora
assisted Kat and she frantically withdrew specific Items from the mess and
abandoned the rest. The room and
begun to fill with a thick smoke. Kat
had been burn up pretty badly. All
of her hair was gone, and so were a number of her things. Dora and Brianna used up much of their magical power to
restore her to her previous strength. We
left and decided to return to the Moat House the next day. Oerth Day 11:
Moat House Trip 3: Day 1 After a nights
rest and a good meal we once again went out into the near wilderness to conquer
a few brigands and what have you for the greater glory of… we us I suppose.
Anyway this time getting to the moat-house was not nearly as simple as
before. As we neared the keep we
came under fire. Once again I was
his by a painful bolt from a crossbow. I
really am beginning to dislike this place.
I dropped to the group, under cover of tall grass.
The other members of the party soon followed, with the exception of Elmo.
He stood out like a shinny target. The
bolts they fired either missed or broke harmlessly on his armor.
Shortly they stopped firing at him, having realized that they could not
hurt him. We
had some difficulty decided how to approach the walls.
Every time that someone stood up they were shot.
Someone thought to walk one at a time behind Elmo to use him as a shield
of some sort. Mark Anthony went
into the surrounding swamp only to be attacked by leeches.
A few charge attempts were made, while I laid on my back in safety.
I was not going to put myself in harms way for nothing.
We almost gave up when Kat turned herself invisible and scouted the
enemy. There were about half
a dozen men. Verrin disappeared and
after a few moments he shot a single lighting bolt across their ranks.
We all got up and ran at that point.
Verrin than flew off on his own. One
by one we sprinted across. Once we
made it across several large spiked logs thrust down into the gatehouse. I managed to leap out of the way, and so did most of the
others, only Mark Anthony failed. He
was pined to the ground, and oil began to seep down the logs. They intended to burn us.
Elmo pulled the log out of Mark Anthony and Brianna and Dora healed him
as I moved slowly down the wall, under the interior lip.
Once again Mark Anthony was taken out of the action when he stepped out
into the open for a brief moment. The
brigands pin cushioned him. A few
moments later screams rang out from above me followed by splashes from behind
me. I quickly climbed up the wall
to find the brigands gone and a misty scary Verrin like creature atop the
parapet. I picked up one of the
crossbows and shot one of the running men in the back.
I admit, that it felt good to take down one of those guys.
I decide to remain on the parapet while the others secured the main hall. Apparently the brigands had laid an elaborate set of traps
making movement in the building nearly impossible.
Mark Anthony began to make a clear passage for us to use through the
hall. Unfortunately on his way back
he set of a small set of the traps. He
made it out and we waited for a short time.
He and Kat both moved in and set off more traps.
This time the whole trapworks were set aflame.
More thick oily smoke billowed out of the building.
We decided to make camp on this parapet this time, as last time we nearly
died trying to get to the complex. Oerth Day 12: Moat House Trip 3:
Day 2 After an
uneventful night and a brief check of the upper flow we readied ourselves to
descend to the lower level. It was
decided that Brianna and VanGuard would remain at the surface to guard us from
any brigand incursions. As we
reached the lower level ooze of some sort dripped onto Mark Anthony. He franticly attempted to remove the Green Ooze.
Gailen burnt the thing off of him and it turned into a powder.
Apparently two oozes dropped onto him before it was all removed. I was unable to actually see the event but I heard it. The bottom floor was
very big. It was just as large if
not larger than the keep above. I
was immediately drawn to a pair of doors to the right of the stairwell.
A small path between two piles of garbage led to them.
When I got to the doors Mark Anthony had declared one of the locks
magical. I looked at both of them, finding them to be of a very good
quality as well as being new, or at least well kept. We opened the non-magical door and found a storeroom
containing, foodstuffs, clothing, and weapons.
Of particular interest was a pile of black cloaks with a yellow flaming
eye imprinted on them. I took two,
one for myself and one to hand over to Burne and Rufus. The second door was not magical and contained the same as the
other room. We left, after breaking
all of the bolts and spears so that they could not be used to harm us. As we proceeded
down hallway to the left several door opened at one time.
Out of which emerged large
number of rotting corpses. They
moved and moaned. I moved to attack
with my rapier. It seemed to be in
effectual, but the undead’s fist hammered into me.
I made a quick, agile withdrawal. Verrin
summoned his flaming ball again and rolled over the zombies consuming them. At the end of the
hall was a room that contained a large number of torture devices.
We decided to avoid that room for this time.
A quick search of the rooms, which once held the Zombies, showed that
they held nothing. A single door
remained to be opened, before we would investigate the torture chamber.
It opened to an empty room with another door. We approached the door only to have it burst open revealing
another ugly ogre. It charged Elmo
striking him in the chest with a long spear-like device.
I just stayed out of the way while the ogre was dispatched.
The door lead to a large chamber with a smelly pile of junk that looked
like a bed of some sort and one more door.
Five tall pillars held the roof up.
Elmo, Kat and I opened the last door to find three half-dead people, a
gnome and two humans. We gave them
water as began to search the area for any hidden passageways.
We found none so Kat and I moved to the torture chamber. Kat and I searched
the walls and found no doors. As I
was finishing Kat looked at the Iron Maiden.
When I was finished with my checking I called to her for us to leave.
She did not respond. She
seemed to be enthralled with something inside.
I asked what was so interesting and she fell to the floor.
A black mist floated out. I
called for help and backed up. Gailen,
Dora, and Mark Anthony all came to my aid.
Something bite into my arm, another thing had come out of the pillar that
I was leaning my back on and attacked me. I
ran out of the room calling for Elmo and Verrin.
I meet them halfway to the ogre’s bedroom and told them that Kat seemed
dead. Moment’s later screams came
from the ogre’s room. The
prisoners had been left alone. The
three of us ran to help but to no avail. They
were already gone when we arrived. No
one could have passed us otherwise we would have seen them.
We began to search for the door they used. I could not find anything so Elmo picked up a large beam of
wood and began to pound the wall, looking for hollow sounds.
The wall broke away above him and rats poured out.
He squashed them all. I hide
behind a pillar, careful that no monster lay within.
Moments later a
door in the wall opened and two large hairy big eared things stood there with
long pole-arms. Elmo entered into
some sort of battle rage and walked right into their weapons.
I had been preparing my grappling hook to disarm them but it was too
late. When Elmo backed off they
closed the door. I put away my
grapple and rope and went to looking for the door.
I easily found the mechanism. The
door opened to a small room with stairs heading upward.
Elmo ripped the mechanism to close the door out and parts of the wall
fell on me. We all had been wounded
and Kat was still living but in poor condition, so we decided to withdraw from
the lower level and explore the stairway the next morning. As we began our
assent a strange sound echoed in the small stairway.
It was kind of a rumbling. A
boulder rolled over me. A few
minutes later another one, but Elmo caught it.
Verrin launched a lightning bolt over me heads the next time one came but
Elmo caught that one as well. This
was going to be a long walk. Verrin
transformed himself into his misty form and floated up to the top.
The boulders stopped and we made it to the top.
They were the same creatures that had stolen the prisoners. Oerth Day 13: Moat House Trip 3:
Day 3 Camp was once
again made on the parapet. Brianna
helped those who needed it most. Kat
was wrapped up in some magical bandages. I
took second watch. During first
watch VanGuard had been woken up and erected a wall to protect us from missile
fire. During my watch I was stuck
my another damn crossbow bolt. I
hate those things. I need to find a
way to protect myself from them. Also
large logs began to be thrown at us. It
damaged the wall and really hurt Dora. Brianna
woke up and helped Dora. VanGuard
went off and made a few bright flashes and the attacks stopped.
The damage cause during the night resulted in some injuries so VanGuard,
Verrin, and I all took third watch as well.
It was an uneventful watch. Afterwards
I took a short nap. Two shifts are
an awful lot, I hope to get extra for this. Who ever had been
shooting at us had acquired a very large crossbow.
I didn’t know how but they got it up without making any noise last
night. During our investigation
small hand and foot holes had been discovered in the adjoining tower. Also in
the tower, the same room where we found the chest, was a secret door.
I think it connects with the one bellow.
We called over the others. Kat
also joined in by pulling the lever of the crossbow.
She disappeared. I don’t
understand what is going on. I tied
a part of VanGuard’s rope to the end and we floated off on a magical disk.
I pulled and the rope was cut 3 feet.
Than this Giant crossbow disappeared.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. All
that was left was a lever. It was
their and than it wasn’t. Apparently
this helped VanGuard because he found a rope hanging in the air and pulled.
Kat appeared along with another Giant crossbow and several logs.
I think these might be like the one’s that they used in the gatehouse.
Anyway I got off the disk and VanGuard decided that he wanted the lever
and pulled up on it. He disappeared, but we pulled the rope and he fell, along
with another crossbow and logs. This
time they fell through the roof and into the stairway bellow.
This blocked the passage so we were forced to descend the stair that we
found. It was a long winding
staircase. It got dark fast.
Gailen made sure that light was abundant.
As we went she check all the walls for secret doors.
The simple decent was made into hours of waiting.
Anyway, I was right… it took us the ogre’s room.
When we went to the main hallway again more zombies were waiting.
VanGuard made fire erupt all down the corridor, but they kept coming.
Brianna stepped out and made many of them turn to dust, two others ran
from her. Kat went off after them.
At the same time three more hair big eared things came out from behind us
with long spears or something. They
backed us off and locked the door. By
the time we got threw they had disappeared.
Most likely came from the stairway and ran back up it.
About this time Kat showed up again holding her left arm in her right
hand. She managed to get it ripped
off. Brianna fixed her up and sent
her on her way. Before I knew what
was happening arrows were fling at me from down the hall.
I looked, even though I couldn’t see them, I knew they were not Zombies
with crossbows. At this point we
just left the moat house, not to return anytime soon. We returned and
were received by Burne and Rufus. We
told them of the lower levels, the upper levels, and of the cloaks.
I gave both of mine as an example. We
were given food, bath and free lodging in the inn.
Elmo left us to return to whatever his duties might be. Oerth Days 14-41: Training Just more of the same,
lectures and running about the town hiding here and there.
It is getting quit boring. We
all seem to be good enough to keep games going on for a long time.
It’s getting quite boring. I
should learn something new. Oerth Days 42-76: Downtime VanGuard and
Verrin have decided upon the path to take from here on our journey to this city
of Greyhawk. Apparently it is a
large city. I wonder if it is as
large as Sigil? VanGuard has taken
Gailen to the local merchant and purchased six horses and a cart. We will load up our cargo onto the cart and those who can not
ride. Dora of course will be
walking. Gailen’s first time on a
horse proved him to be a natural horseman.
Oerth Day 77: To Nalb We’ve loaded up and
are about to head out. I’m riding
point for the small caravan. VanGuard,
Kat and Mark Anthony are riding in the cart.
I expect this to be a quiet trip. ... |
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