Sapphire:Sessions:20181103
Scout slips into the tunnel. Lighted torches are mounted on the walls every 10'. The first 30' is freshly dug, 7' high and 7' wide and ludicrously steep (45°). The next stretch is timbered and the earthen walls have been partly turned to stone. Then the floor levels out slightly (30°) and after 150' there is a platform covered with (somehow) living moss in front of an ornately carved oak door, 6' wide. He feels a tingle in the base of his spine and the torches momentarily flare.
Chalker checks Sonya's aura: normal willpower, "a large reservoir of energy" (meaning she tires less quickly), greedy, callous, and morally grey. She has been touched by demons, and harbors regrets from her past.
The heads of the other four factions look on with suspicion as Sonya negotiates with the newcomers. Sonya comments, "In the Troubled Lands I have a bit of a reputation." She asks, "Are we inviting the others?" Chalker replies, "Certainly. We will invite the leaders." He checks their auras:
Otto - Double-crosser, morally dark, greedy, obsessive, has made and broken deals with demons, and is just a nasty person. Part of his aura is shielded. He commands the largest troop, about 50. Wears scale mail.
Dinah - Naïve, strong-willed, has an air of "purity"; she is reverent but not connected to any of the First Chosen; somewhat greedy, extremely curious. While she is not perfect, she is a good person. She wears enchanted leather armor, bears three swords (two shortswords on her belt and a longsword strapped to her back), and carries a longbow and quiver.
Valor - Leans toward evil; has a strong psi shield and a low level of magic resistance. He told Chalker not to trust Sonya. There are 15 in his group.
Boran - Aspires to be like Otto; stubborn; has the demon taint (though no 'hook'); basically a shady mercenary. There are 24 in his group.
Chalker tells Alastor to keep an eye on Otto, "and if he does anything, stop him." Alastor evaluates Otto as a trained fighter, and carefully notes the chinks in Otto's armor.
Otto greets Shawna in "perfect" elven (though his speech lacks refinement), then in Common he says "It is an honor." He assumes a parade-rest stance. Behind him, his men "go on war footing" including saddling their horses.
Dinah has a vague memory that she had seen Chalker once in a port city in the Coastal Kingdoms. "You were with a dwarf and an elf, maybe two elves." Chalker: "I want something in Pitern. We'll have to talk." Dinah: "I'm an explorer... from here I will head up the trade route to Alpina."
Scout quietly reports to Shawna and Chalker, then trots down the hill to look for poisonous plants.
Otto and Valor have been down the tunnel already. Valor: "I advise you to be prepared. There is someone in the first room." Otto: "I burned the door down, but it was intact when I left."
Dinah, who is lined up beside Alastor, smiles at him and says, "This should be an interesting adventure. Good fortune!"
The torches, it is noted, are magic; any smoke is being drawn into niches, and Chalker sees an odd-looking pebble behind each torch.
Scout sees two of Otto's troops, a boy and a small man, watching the tunnel. He remarks to Cal, "I don't trust those two." Cal responds, "Neither do I." Scout tells Cal to go on ahead, "I'll catch you up."
The moss carpet in front of the door was "installed" about two weeks ago; it must have had sunlight since then. The magic on the door is concentrated in the carved oak leaves. The magic on the frame is different. Chalker looks through the door (with some difficulty), noting that the space beyond has a 12' ceiling, torches on the walls to the left and right, and granite columns 3' in diameter. The oaken floor matches the oaken door. Expensive-looking tapestries and paintings adorn the walls.
The lock is intricate and the keyhole quite small. Chalker shivers from head to toe -- the lock "feels" wrong and dangerous. Shawna reports a spell on the lock that generates feedback against physical efforts, psi, and magic. Alastor steps up and knocks firmly; the sound reverberates and the lock clicks open. He turns the knob and swings the door inward to the left. There is a well-lit room. A desk is 42' away. Behind the desk is a chair; a man sits in the chair. Beyond the desk another 90' is a vacant throne on a 6" platform. At the far end of the room are two doors, each with an armored man standing beside it. Ten more armored men line the walls. Five stone golems occupy space behind the desk.
Chalker takes Sonya's hand, saying "Come on." As soon as he takes a step, more armsmen are suddenly revealed, and a long couch to the left where assorted male and female mages sit.
Shawna detects the artifact, 150' ahead and another 50' down.
Chalker walks up to the desk. Suddenly the wood floor becomes marble tile. Very softly, orchestral music plays. The man smiles as Chalker and Sonya seat themselves in front of the desk. "I am Shree... This is the property of my Lord Galen. We have claimed it and are renovating it. Everything in this place belongs to Lord Galen. Nothing is for sale." Chalker: "You might think you can hold onto this.... Let us retrieve the one item we came for and be on our way. Otherwise, Mister Otto here has a lot of people and he will kill you." Shree: "He showed prudence [earlier] and walked away." Otto is visibly sweating. Shree: "I will give you a demonstration." Otto and Valor suddenly shriek and sink to the floor, their bodies jerking in agony. Otto passes out but his limbs continue to spasm.
Scout sees one of the men on the couch reach into the cushions, then look at Shree. Shawna senses a stream of mana being fed to Shree from the couch. Chalker hooks Shree's iron dagger and stands up. "We should give you a 'demonstration'," he says, abruptly pulling the knife and stabbing Shree, who screams. Chalker: "...in the spirit in which it was given. I'm glad you did Otto.... If you move a muscle, I'll push it in further." Shree: "So be it!"
Chalker pushes the dagger inward and upward. Shawna throws a Sunbolt at the couch mage, setting his clothing on fire. Scout throws two poisoned shurikens, one of which hits an enemy in the face. Two henchmen grab Shree by the shoulders. Alastor stabs an enemy in the vitals with a poisoned dagger. Dinah prays aloud, "Bless my efforts," then charges and strikes with her sword. Sonya leaps up and stabs Shreee. Cal smashes into the burning couch mage.
Cal dodges a slap. The burning mage passes out. The two henchmen try to pull Shree off of Sonya's sword and fail. Scout throws two more poisoned shuriken, striking an enemy. With her sword Shawna staggers a crossbowman who had been aiming at Chalker. Alastor charges and swings and is parried. Chalker unexpectedly punches Shree in the face, and Shree goes unconscious.
An enemy strikes Dinah, cutting through her enchanted armor. A woman slaps Cal; a man tries to strike Cal and falls over. Shawna kills one woman and cuts another in the neck. Scout circles to the right and hurls a shuriken, hitting an enemy in the face, who falls. Alastor stabs an enemy in the vitals and kills him. Chalker steps around the desk and avoids being clotheslined by a couple of golems; he punches at Shree's face but misses.
The two henchmen throw Shree on top of a table; Shree vanishes. (Chalker senses he's now within the area of the artifact.) Another man stumbles toward the same table. Two golems clothesline a woman who's attempting to flee. Chalker fast-draws Dink-Dink and strikes; his target falls unconscious. Alastor vaults over a golem and lands near a male cowering under a table. Scout runs and leaps behind an enemy while waving his cloak. Shawna and Dinah strike down Dinah's opponent. Tara and Solant draw swords; Tara kills an enemy. Boran stumbles into a table, hurting himself. Sonya slides between two golems, swings wildly, and misses. A golem kills an enemy male. Two males jump up on a table and disappear; Shawna senses that "two evil men have gone to Dar."
Scout fast-draws a shuriken and throws it into an enemy's neck; then the impulsive youth seats himself upon the throne. Shawna strikes another enemy. Chalker calls out "Sonya, follow me;" he runs toward a guard near the throne, swings Dink-Dink and hits, slicing through armor. Chalker parries a heavy return blow. A golem swings its fist at Boran, missing badly and breaking a table instead. Tara reloads her bow, fires, and kills an enemy. Alastor strikes a man and dodges the return blow.
Shawna casts Stone to Earth on a golem but the spell is resisted. Scout feels that he wants to rule this place; the golems are his servitors; he yells "Stand down!" The others notice that Scout is glowing. A golem smashes a woman who was trying to run away, killing her, then turning toward Shawna. Chalker stabs at an enemy's vitals; the man parries but his sword breaks. Alastor kills an enemy by stabbing them in the vitals, then steps away from a golem.
A golem smashes and enemy male's ribs. Shawna kills an enemy. Chalker kills an enemy. Scout focuses on one particular golem and orders, "Stop!" Scout brings his hands up and starts bleeding from his nose; lightning shoots out from his hands and strikes the walls to either side. The platform on which the throne rests glows and begins rising upward. Lines of force play across Scout's body. A henchmen approaches Scout and begs, "Empower me!" Shawna casts Teleport Other and brings Scout to her side; he promptly throws up. Chalker steps up beside Sonya and tries to hook onto a guard's armor but his power slips off the metal. A golem tries to strike Alastor, who acrobatically dodges.
Shawna critically strikes an enemy. Chalker hits a golem's leg; it starts to fall down. Scout runs toward the door. Alastor kills an enemy. Solant fires and hits an enemy who appears to be a clerk; his arrow explodes. Tara fires and a golem crumbles. A golem veers away from Shawna toward a door.
Finding the door shut, Scout stops and turns around. Alastor runs away from a golem toward Otto. Chalker chops another golem in the leg. Shawna strikes a golem's neck. Tara and Solant are chanting.
Shawna hits the golem's neck again. Alastor reaches Otto, who is still unconscious but twitching. Chalker chops a golem's neck. Tara and Solant both fire; when their arrows strike, they explode, and one golem crumbles. A golem knocks Sonya's sword out of her hand.
Shawna strikes and a golem stops moving. Alastor pours a potion down Otto's throat. Chalker steps up and finishes off one golem.
The golems are all fallen and/or disabled. Scout goes around collecting his shurikens. Chalker raises a table off of an enemy, but the man is dead. Chalker finishes off the rest of the enemies.
Shawna senses "surprise" from Dar as he collects enemy souls. They were not truly alive... They are not in their right place. Similarly, Chalker checks an aura that is "out of sync with the world."
Otto is hallucinating, an effect of Alastor's potion. Alastor notes, "Otto will not be as functional as before. It's as though he suffered a stroke."
Shawna heals Scout, who tells her, "I felt authoritative, in command... then I started leaking lightning!" She asks Dinah "To whom were you praying?" Dinah responds, "The Chosen." Chalker first-aids Boran, then wakes up Valor with a slap and tells him, "Remember, always be our friend." Valor: "I'll be glad to stay here with them." Chalker: "How can I say this -- No."
Lord Galen is a younger son of Blackburn. He is a scholar, a student of history. He is not a mage. Cullen, Blackburn's older son, is heir to the throne.
Loot collected from the fallen contains no money, but there are many weapons of good to fine quality, and sixteen expensive rings. Alastor is fascinated by a display of valuable artifacts. Chalker orders Cal to "bag it all up" and offers to share the treasure with Sonya, Dinah, and Valor. Chalker tells Sonya, "You're my protector now."
Cal will stay behind in this room with Otto and Boran. Shawna leads Scout, Tara, Dinah, and Alastor to the lef-hand door; Chalker leads Sonya, Solant, and Valor to the right. Shawna drags over a chunk of golem to prop open the door.
Scout descends to a landing and knocks at a locked door. Behind it he hears movement and growling. Shawna unlocks the door which opens upon an office lit with mage globes. There are papers and notebooks containing information on various types of beasts. Some of the more recent pages have been ripped out. Some entries apparently date back 3000 years. Alastor searches a desk, discovering a false bottom in one drawer, but the small journal that had been concealed there is gone. The next door opens onto rows of cages containing dire wolves, shadow wolves, and taddarita. Shawna explains to Alastor that taddarita are bats that can cast certain spells.
Meanwhile, Chalker speaks with a Sgt Andrew, who takes his orders from Lord Galen. Chalker: "I'm going to have to kill you, because you're being stupid... What year is this?" "It's the year of... uh... um... 2613? No, 2313... I don't know! What's wrong with me? ... Let me summon my lieutenant." Chalker: "Well, you're not bright enough to lie...." "Lord Galen said it's 2-4-3-6." Chalker checks Andrew's aura: He has done bad things; he holds some regrets; he is a hardened soldier; there are no spells on him; his will is somewhat lower than average."
Chalker writes to Shawna to come help him. Alastor says, "It will take a while to work our way across to them." Shawna replies, "We'll just go back the way we came." Shawna tells her squad to start heading back up the stairs.