Realm of the Technomancer Play Report Part I

 

Burne’s apprentice Panyus rarely emerges from the tower of his master. One day he showed up in the common room of the Inn and quietly approached the table where Thimbur and Fezziwig were seated. He had a job for them. Burne was out of the village on important business and something strange had happened in the master’s laboratory. He needed some assistance in “cleaning up” the problem. Absolute discretion was required and due to the sensitivity of the problem, he needed their commitment before he could bring them into the tower. After some bargaining, the parties agreed on a price. The next morning, Thimbur and Fezziwig arrived at the tower together with two other adventurers (Deah and Thundar) and two local hirelings (Johnny Morose and Young Edward).

Panyus led the group up to Burne’s laboratory, a dusty, cramped room halfway up the tower. Moving aside a large oaken table, Panyus slid two large stone blocks out of the wall revealing a narrow chute illuminated by a soft amber glow. Panyus led them down the ladder to a larger laboratory underneath the tower. This room was large and bright, illuminated by unseen light sources. An assortment of oddly-shaped glassware sat on a steel table, several of the containers holding brightly colored fluids, bubbling over brightly colored flame. A soft warm breeze wafted through the room. Panyus did not allow the party to tarry, but opened a set of steel doors and led them into a small chamber. He closed the door, the room trembled slightly and another set of doors opened. “Here,” he said “is where things get weird.”

He showed them a map, illustrating their way to the engine room. They were to discover the source of the weirdness and correct it. The weirdness, he explained consisted of lots of mud, things being moved around, and weird creatures. No, he wouldn’t come with them, but would wait for them in the small chamber. They should signal their return with a special knock. And he would let them borrow his special glowing wand. The party stepped into the corridor and the doors closed behind them.

About thirty feet down the corridor, they began to notice the mud Panyus had told them about. It was black and slick, and a thin layer covered the smooth stone floor ahead of them. Cautiously, they walked onto it, and noticed no ill effects. Continuing, they saw a bright, pale light ahead of them. Approaching, they found a stone column, clouded in steam, and encircled by a pit. An iron bridge crossed the pit to the column. Ropes made of braided metal hung from the unseen ceiling. When Thundar stepped onto the iron bridge, a ferocious-looking creature covered in white fur dropped down and grabbed him. His companions pulled him to safety while Thimbur rushed at the weird beast—a bipedal combination of a bear and a man, but stronger and more agile than either. It grabbed Thimbur and threw him down the pit to land in hot mud. But having been shot by several arrows and stabbed with spears, the creature jumped across the pit to the far side and ran away. The party helped Thimbur out of the mud and continued their exploration.

 

They found that Panyus’s map did not resemble the reality they were experiencing. While he drew a straight corridor to the engine room, the party found themselves in rough-hewn, steeply-sloped and forking passages. They followed one of these passages into a room illuminated filled with giant mushrooms and glowing fungi. A pair of odd-looking blue men were there, harassed by foot-long centipedes. When the blue men saw the party, one of them threw a metal canister in their direction that erupted into a ball of flame as it hit the ground. All sustained minor injuries, but none were prevented from attacking the blue men. After the blue men were killed, the party searched them, but did not find any more of the powerful missiles.

The party decided to harvest some of the giant mushroom caps, turning one of them into a “sled,” for continuing down the sloping mud passage. They placed the dead blue men on the mushroom sled, and, let it slide down the passage before them, and then anchoring a rope to follow after it. Hearing the sounds of their mushroom sled meeting living—and alarmed—creatures, the party hurried back up the slope to find easier ground to fight on if necessary. The party caught only a glimpse of the humanoid forms that were climbing up their own rope after them before another one of the exploding cans landed among them, killing Johnny the Morose and injuring other party members severely.

Leaving Johnny’s body behind, the party fled, and took refuge in a nearby side passage. From there, they waited and watched. They saw five of the blue men who, seeing Johnny’s body, scrambled to examine it. The party seized this opportunity and attacked with a volley of arrows. In the ensuing melee, Young Edward lost his footing and slid down the slope. Thimbur, after ambushing and killing one of the blue men, slid down after him.

After the main party had killed the blue men, they followed after Edward and Thimbur, arriving on the shore of a vast mud lake just in time to see Thimbur kill the shaggy white-furred monster with his spear. Edward had been killed by the monster. Thimbur skinned the white furred monster while the rest of the party worked to carry Edward up the muddy slope. Together, they returned with both of their dead hirelings to the steel doors. They knocked and Panyus opened.

Monk Rage

Ramakien Battle Mural, Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok, a photo by Aidan McRae Thomson on Flickr.

The morning after Jiro was assassinated at the Monastery of the Two-Fold Path, The Founders’ Council announced that the Abbot was banished from the town of Pasar. The Council also banished the monk who made the initial attack. He did deserve execution not only because he did not harm Jiro, but also because he did not show a clear intent to do so, but was clearly manipulated by sorcery. Jiro death was the result not of one monk’s evil intent, but of the entire monastery’s mismanagement. The Abbot was responsible for the management of his monastery.

In protest, about half of the monks chose to banish themselves with the Abbot. As the monks prepared to leave the monastery they agreed that the Shining Path had caused them this dishonor. They should be punished. Gwinch and his sohei agreed to support them in breaking into and vandalizing the main temple of the Shining Path.

About 75 monks, marched through Pasar with long knives hidden beneath their robes and bows hidden in a cart of firewood. They convened near the Temple of the Shining Path and, finding the front gate hanging open and unguarded, charged into the courtyard with their weapons!

But the warrior monks of the Shining Path were ready and waiting. Archers shot them from the walls, and spearmen emerged from the temple, followed by about two dozen of the mercenaries commonly employed as Silk Merchant bodyguards.

The Two-Fold Path monks were less disciplined than those of Shining Path, and were guided by fury and revenge rather than well-conceived tactics. Many were shot with arrows, and when they broke ranks, killed by the well-organized Shining Path spearmen and battle-hardened mercenaries. Gwinch’s sohei, on the other hand, responded to the surprise attack with level-headed confidence. They escaped the courtyard into the Shining Path Temple. When the Shining-Path monk pursued them, Saisho suddenly appeared and with a magical blast of steam killed their leader and his lieutenants. At the death of their leader, many of the Shining Path monks and the mercenaries were put to flight. The remainder fought to the death.

Victorious, the Two-Fold Path monks began appropriating the Shining Path prayer banners, while Gwinch searched for evidence that they were responsible behind his own temple’s recent misfortunes. A letter on the body of the dead leader showed that someone had warned Shining Path that they were going to be attacked, and had offered both weapon and the mercenary support. But there was nothing to confirm that they had planned or caused the death of Jiro.

Demolition 5371 (exposed slats), a photo by Brayo on Flickr.

An old priest who lived at the temple castigated the Two-Fold Path monks for their violence and so they fled from the Shining Path temple and from the town of Pasar. Together with Gwinch and his own sohei, they rejoined the Abbot in the wilderness. The Abbott led them to a small, secret temple in the jungle which they began to expand and fortify. He told Gwinch that he should continue his quest to find Tempat Larang. Beyond fulfilling the Emperor’s orders to locate and apprehend Governor Goyat and General Kawabi, if Gwinch were to find the legendary lost capital-- from the time before the great divergence of the Paths to Enlightenment-- then he might begin to restore the honor of his monastery.

Monks & Merchants

Gwinch, Kishi, and Gunjar have spent the past year as guests of the Two-Path Monastery in the market town of Pasar. Pasar is a peaceful town, having benefited from the age-old wisdom of its Founding Families, who continue to direct its administrative affairs and staff the militia. The Founding Families aversion to both violence and commerce have made Pasar an ideal place for foreign merchants from all corners who know it as a place where they bring their goods to market without fear of criminals or corruption. Tariffs and duties are high, but it’s a small price to pay knowing that the businesses they build are well-protected.

The foreign merchants bring their foreign faiths with them and the most prominent temples are those dedicated to One Law and to Shining Path. Both have multiple temples and monasteries throughout the town. The Two-Fold path is one of several faiths whose place in the town is currently small but may be larger in the future.

The merchants also organize themselves along commercial lines and most belong to one of two merchant’s guild. The Silk Guild is the older of the two, but The Spice Guild may have more members today. Most Silk Guild members are dedicated (in varying degrees) to the Shining Path faith while most Spice Guild members have submitted (at least nominally) to One Law. That said, neither guild is restrictive as to membership. At the same time, both guilds expect loyalty of its members—especially with respect to what territory each member may buy and sell in and the prices charges for various goods.

In the past, when controversies have arisen among guild members or, more seriously between the two rival guilds, one of the temples of the Shining Path has offered its priests and facilities as a neutral meeting place for the resolution of differences. In response to complaints of bias, the merchants recently met at a One Law temple—but merchants from both guilds found the priests too intrusive and the atmosphere generally inhibiting. 

So, in response to the latest controversy, the Abbott of the Monastery of the Two-Fold Path offered to host negotiations, pointing out that the Two-Fold Path claimed few adherents from the merchant class. His offer was accepted, and a meeting scheduled. The Abbott asked Gwinch and his associates to delay their pursuit of Goyat and Kawabi until after the meeting so that they could help ensure everything ran smoothly. He was excited about this opportunity to raise the status of his monastery, but had strong concerns that something bad would happen. His long-time visitors agreed to repay his hospitality by preserving peace at the event.

With about a week to prepare, Gwinch, Gunjar, and Kishi decided they should get to know what they could about the most prominent invitees. Jiro, as the de facto leader of the Spice Guild was their first person of interest. With the help of Saisho’s magic, they made themselves invisible, and after a couple hours exploring the streets of Pasar and were able to find Jiro. They trailed him for the rest of the day, watching him interact with customers, share a lavish dinner with other members of the Spice Guild and, at the end of a long night, retire to an inn. They heard him refer to the upcoming negotiations in conversations with both customers and his associates, but did not hear say anything that suggested any underhanded plans.

Ramakien Mural, Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok, a photo by Aidan McRae Thomson on Flickr.

When the day of the meeting arrived, the adventurers divided themselves into six patrols and circulated throughout the monastery grounds, giving special attention to the entry points and the rooms where the merchants were meeting. Jiro and the other Spice merchants had just finished a private meeting and were leaving it to rejoin the Silk Merchants in the larger room where negotiations were taking place when— one of the Two-Fold monks drew a sword from under his robes and charged Jiro. Gunjar’s patrol was passing nearby; the priest responded quickly, using his magic to apprehend the attacker. Unfortunately, Jiro’s bodyguards regarded Gunjar as a threat and drew their swords on them. Other monks joined the fight and for several minutes confusion and chaos reigned.

super monk, a photo by letgoandletsgo on Flickr.

As Gwinch and Kishi reached the scene, they noticed an odd sight. While most of the servants who worked at the Monastery were fleeing from the brawl, one woman was standing and watching. This woman raised a blow gun to her lips; seconds later Jiro raised his hand to the back of his neck and then crumpled to the ground. Kishi attacked the mysterious servant with her magic, but the woman disappeared. Gwinch’s sohei helped to calm the general melee while Gwinch looked for the invisible assassin. 

Gwinch’s efforts were unsuccessful. The chaotic fight among the monks, the merchants, and their bodyguards ended without any deaths— except Jiro’s. The other Spice Merchants did their best to save their leader, rushing his unconscious body to the One Law temple. There the priests determined that he had been poisoned, probably by a dart, and administered their most powerful drugs. Despite their efforts, after a few hours, the priests of One Law announced that Jiro had died. Before dying, he expressed remorse for the dissipation, pride, and occasional deception that had marred his life, exhorting all people, and especially his fellow Spice Merchants to adhere more closely to One Law. The priests announced that they were organizing a procession to carry his body back to his home village for burial.

Meanwhile, at the Temple of the Two-Fold Path, the Silk Merchants expressed their outrage at the poor hospitality and despite the Abbott’s apologies, departed very soon after the Spice Merchants. Gwinch questioned the servants and learned that they had noticed a new laundress among them. He searched the servants’ quarters and found several scrolls inscribed with prayers characteristic of the Shining Path. The monk that attacked Jiro was also found to be carrying Shining Path prayer scrolls, although he claimed he had not seen them before. He was turned over to the City Guard. 

The Abbott was disappointed. But more than disappointed, he was absolutely furious.

Hommelet thinks it's about time for you all to take your leave.

Following the attack on the farms south of the village, the council explained to the company that if they wished to remain in Hommelet a little longer, they could be quartered in the cellar of the church and in the barracks at Rufus and Burne’s tower.  They had been perceived as a threat and it was unfair to draw attacks of the undead onto defenseless widows.  The company complied, and while Angus recuperated from his wounds, Caber tried to find a buyer for the magical staff they’d recovered from the moathouse.  Meanwhile Godith tried to recover her dog which, after deserting her at the moathouse, had found its way back to the traders.  The traders, however denied it was the same and then argued that she had mistreated it.  Lem was able to communicate with the dog, and convinced Godith that she was better off without him.  After several days bedrest, Angus started licking the blue frog snad trying to put them in his mouth.  After watching him wretch and dry heave a few times, Steele declared that the patient seemed well enough for another trip to the moathouse.

Given the number of times they’d visited the foul place, the company reasoned that its thinking inhabitants was beginning to learn their movements and sought toapproach in a roundabout way, first heading south out of Hommelet along the main road and then cutting east through the forest.  It was tough going, especially with a mule and after a few hurs, they returned to Hommelet and followed the path, with the plan that in the last half mile or so, they would leave and make their own way through the thickets and brambles. 

As they were reaching this point, they heard a clanging and clanking coming from ahead of him.  Immediately they crashed into the underbrush, and tore through it, seeking to evade the source of the sound.  They nearly stumbled upon a man in a black cloak who, seemingly alerted and alarmed by their approach, sprung up and ran deeper into  woods on a narrow path.  Angus and Roark chased after him.  As Angus was catching up with the man in the black cloak, that man turned and shot Angus with a crossbow.  Angus tumbled to the ground and Roark fired his own bow, and felled their enemy.  Angus sprung up, clobbered his enemy and then, with Roark, limped back to join the rest of the company.

And meanwhile the others had been investigating the clanging noise in the road.  It was made by a man—or once-man, his jerky movements and stench gave away his present state— who was wearing various bells and chained to a stake in the road.  Arpad, who had assumed position of the magical staff brandished it at the zombie.  The zombie recoiled from the sight of the staff and, when touched, exploded in a blast of light as bright as the sun.

Arpad tended to Angus’s wound.  Roark searched the body of the hidden assailant and inspected the place where he had been hiding.  The crushed weeds suggested at least two men had been watching the road.  He had been carrying a few pieces of gold and silver and wore black livery with the sign of a burning eye. 

The company followed the trail on which the watched had been running.  After a few hundred yards, until it intersected, at a sharp angle, with another trail.  The company followed this new trail northeast (and seemingly forward) until, after about a hundred yards, it brought them into the boggy area around the moathouse.  They evaded the giant frogs by walking around to the breach by which they’d entered on previous expeditions.

“WELCOME HEROES”
 

So read the greeting painted on the wall outside the breach.  The company did not feel welcome, but uneasy, but after Roark had thoroughly checked the area for trip wires on other traps, they ventured inside.  Once inside, everything seemed much the same, but still they moved cautiously, Roark gliding along the wall and carefully inspecting the door that led into the next large hall. 

A flash of red light from down the south wing was oddly comforting.  “Oh, those giant bugs.”  The company decided they would delve into the lower level of the moathouse, and returned to the mouth of the pit from which they’d previously retreated.

“WELCOME HEROES”

Besides another message painted on the wall, there was a coil of rope, one end helpfully tied around a spike in the floor.  Godith lit a torch and Roark leaned out over the edge of the pit, surveying its contents.  The green slime had grown back to cover most of the floor, the shrieking mushrooms were silent, and hiding in one corner was the undead creature that lurked at the bottom.  It smiled.  After some debate, the company concluded that fire would likely solve at least one of their problems and retrieved from the mule 10 flasks of oil.  Roark dumped the oil on the slime and on tossed it on the mushrooms and tossed it in the general vicinity of the undead creature.  They used the “welcoming” rope as a wick and created a big fire.  While it burned, they retreated to the great hall.  They listened to the shrieking mushrooms and watched the black smoke.  When the shrieking it stopped, they planned an all-out assault.  They anchored their own rope well outside the room, and then charged in, Steele sliding down the rope into the pit while Arpad stood at the top calling up St. Bocrates to drive the unholy things back into the darkness.

They were not repelled.  As soon as the rope fell to the floor, two of the undead creatures leaped at it.  Steele evaded their skeletal claws and took a position in the middle of the room, making room for Angus to follow him.  Two more of the wights emerged from the shadows.  Roark shot silver arrows at their enemies and Lem flung silver pieces while the warriors engaged with their swords.  Arpad slid down the rope, brandishing the staff that had destroyed the zombie, and one of these undead creatures was similarly obliterated.

Here the tales of the survivors are unclear.  (No, not all survived.  But some did.)  Roark tossed a silver dagger to Steele the Paladin, but before the hero could reach, the terrible creature reached him.  And with a touch of its claw, Steele turned ashen white and fell in a heap.  Moments later, Angus was similarly slain.  Did Arpad destroy another of his assailants with the holy staff before he was killed?  Regardless, he was killed.  But as the wights began to drag away the bodies of the fallen heroes, those who had remained at the top of the pit shot them with more missiles.  And killed the undead horrors.  There is moral here, favoring guile over valor, but few in Hommelet are in a mood to hear it.

The bodies were retried from the pit.  And place on the mule.  And carried several miles away from the moathouse.  And buried in the forest.

entrance, a photo by Brayo on Flickr.

It’s not the job of the living to take care of the dead so we should forgive them.  For in making their way back to Hommelet, hacking through the forest and driving their mule and its almost unbearable burden, they came upon a group of men in black cloaks, who were watching for their return along the main path.  The men had crossbows, but the company had magic.  At Lem’s command the undergrowth entangle the black-garbed men.  The men’s calls for help were silenced by Godith’s spell of magical slumber.

But not before they were heard by another group.  As the shots of these men were heard and their black cloaks were sighted through the thick screen of trees, Roark and Lem took off running.  But loyal Godith stayed with the mule, and the bodies of Steele and the other heroes.

As the blackguards reached their fallen comrades, they too were ensnared.  And Godith, patiently, slowly, drove the mule on her way.  She says she heard one of the men escape and come running after her.  She ducked into a hollow and allowed him to run past.

Godith rejoined Lem and Roark at the edge of the forest, at a place where they good see woodsmoke rising from the cooking fires of Hommelet. They buried the bodies.

The council listened to the survivors’ account of what happened.  And then explained that—it was in everyone’s best interest— the company should leave Hommelet.  Winter was coing and it was going to be a lean harvest.  They did not want to further aggravate forces of evil that seemed capable of fierce and terrible counter attacks.  And the Paladin was gone.

The council gave Caber the money that Angus had stored in the jeweler's bank.  They gave the frogs to Lem.  They offered a large sum for the holy staff.  They provided everyone with sausages and drinking water. 

“Stay in the tower tonight.  In the morning, you should be prepared to take your leave.”

Leaving Hommelet, the company saw the mammoth demon-pigs peacefully grazing in Squire Denton’s fields.

Hommelet is in some sense impressed-- and yet . . .

Angus and Lem wanted a place where they could keep their brightly-colored frogs without bothering anyone or anyone bothering them.  About a mile south of Hommelet, they found a spotted a dilapidated barn and bargained with its owner, “Mama,” and her lodger/servant, “Mr. Penny” to rent the place for a month.  There were chickens but no large animals, and it was plenty wet enough for the frogs.   They made a wooden box, filled it with dirt and started catching crickets to feed them.

Lem asked the frogs if they liked their new home.  The Blue ones did, especially the food.  The White ones liked it, except that they didn’t like being so near the Blue ones.  The Red one had nothing to say.  He was inside a Blue frog’s belly.  Lem made a barricade to separate the Blue and White frogs.  And then, feeling a bit out-of-sorts after sleeping under a leaky roof for three or four nights in a row, Lem went to spend to find a nice warm bed in the forest.  He was replaced by Arpad and Roark.  They didn’t care so much about the frogs as the cheap rent.

One night, the barn-dwellers were awakened by a traveling priest, the overnight guest of one of the neighboring homesteads.  His hosts were under attack!  The Wandering Dead were breaking down the front door!  (Some in Hommelet have wondered why the priest and only the priest managed to slip out the back, but that’s Hommelet for you.)

The three adventurers formed an instant alliance with the traveling priest.  Hearing screams at a second house that was under attack, Roark charged to investigate.  Already two zombies had broken in and killed the man of the house.  Roark shot one of the zombies with arrows and lured the other back outside, giving the children and their mother a chance to escape.  Meanwhile Angus intercepted two more zombies as they were breaking into Mama’s house and destroyed them.  Arpad and his fellow priest killed zombies wandering the yards between the houses. 

But then as Angus emerged from Mama’s house, he was set upon by a pair of the wandering dead.  For the first time, he saw his foes clearly—they were the frog men that they had killed in the forest, now reanimated with unholy magic.  Using both the same spiked clubs and their own limbs as weapons, they struck Angus down in the dooryard.  The priests rushed to his rescued in time to save his life, and Roark killed the last of the zombies.

 

When at last their foes were slain, they went to check on the first house, knowing what they would find.  The priests said a prayer for the slain family, and then all the bodies were burned, the innocents wrapped in shrouds, the undead in haphazard pile. 

a photo by Jamison Wieser on Flickr.

The next morning, a farmer wandering by was stopped by the widow who told her terrible tale and asked to be escorted into the village.  Roark and Arpad ran ahead of them, rousing Steele the Paladin (He does have a name.  It’s Steele.  We’re not sure how it’s spelled but we need to know so we can carve it on a tree.) and beseeching him to plead their case with the village council.

Everyone agreed what was going on.  The newcomers were a serious threat to an evil power that resided in the area.  And when that evil power fought back, innocents were going to die.  So the newcomers needed to finish what they started, and quickly.  They asked for and received more holy water and longbows.  And then Steele, Roark, and Arpad decided they should visit the moathouse again.  They had seen zombies there.  And the zombies who attacked the farm were re-animated frogmen, probably the bodies of the forgmen they had killed on the road to the moathouse.  That was where the evil lived.

Angus was too wounded to accompany them.  Lem had not come back from his visit to the forest.  And Godith had become thoroughly engaged in an local game involving balls and sticks that she was learning from the village youth.  And writing jolly good poems about it, too.  There was one Caber, another wanderer and resident at the Inn who promised that he was good with a bow and asked to join them.  And so he did.

The four heroes (five if you count the mule) made their way to the Moathouse.  At the scene of their battle with the wild frog men, the bodies of the vanquished were predictably missing.  As they came close to being in sight of the moathouse, they departed from the path and hacked and tramped through underbrush and march, taking a widdershins route around the moathouse, aiming for the northeast corner where they’d made their earlier entry.

Before they reached that point they came upon a faint but definite trail, seeming to lead from the moathouse or its vicinity to points further east.  After some debate, they crossed that path and reached the northeast corner where they crossed the sludge-filled moat and entered the moathouse.

Swamp Ruins, a photo by Drik7 on Flickr.

Soon after entering they saw a flash of red light from the end of a corridor. They explored the great hall and both wings, surprising several solitary zombies standing guard, watching the courtyard through an arrow slit.  These zombies were destroyed.  They also found the source of the red light—very large )two feet long) beetles with glowing red glands.  The beetles fled from light and sound, but the party surprised several of them, killing them and harvesting their glands as a light source.

And then one surprised them.  After climbing out of a pit and onto the walls and then ceiling, one dropped on Roark, and caught his neck between its mandibles.  Fleeing he shook off the terrible thing and his comrades destroyed it.  Arpad kicked the body into the pit and they a horrible once-human trying to climb up the sides.  Steele pour a vial of holy water onto and the creature—like a zombie, but more thoroughly imbued with undead energy, capable of movement as fast as a living man.  The company began to consider their options.  A loud piercing unmitigated shriek drowned out their voices and their thoughts.  Braving another glance into the pit, they saw that the glowing glands of the dead beetle were beginning to fade, consumed by the greenish sludge that covered the bottom of the pit.  They dumped a canister of oil, followed by a torch into the bit, the entire insect carcass caught on fire and in its light they better perceived the nature of the room beneath them.  At least forty feet by forty feet, it was covered with greenish slime except for where it had been burned away by the fire.  In the eastern end of the room, a half-dozen giant mushrooms seemed to emerge from the slime and these fungi seemed to be the source of the wailing.  The undead creature had returned, with a friend, and they were both smiling, especially when the company started shooting them with arrows.  The slime turned black under their feet.

Then Caber and Steele started shooting silver arrows.  The undead creatures fled again. 

Rather than chase them, the party decided to take a breath of fresh air outside in the courtyard.  But wait—Steele sensed the presence of evil there, coming from the sinkhole next to the crumbling curtain wall.   Surveying the pit from the safety of an arrow slit, they saw it was filled with refuse and foot-long centipedes—nothing obviously and categorically evil.  The company tore up some of the zombies they’d killed earlier and tossed hunks of carrion toward the edge of the pit, hoping to draw out some of the centipedes.  This proved effective and the company processed and distributed more and more chum to the centipedes.  When about a score had crawled out of the pit and no more seemed likely to follow, Steele ventured into the courtyard for a closer look.  The pit was at the base of the curtain wall and seemed the result of natural entrophy—rubble from beneath the curtain wall.  A scrap of cloak was visible, emerging from the raw earth about halfway down the 10-foot pit.  There were silver coins littered here and there along with bones, refuse, centipedes, and a dead man lying face down, his flesh nearly consumed by the centipedes.  After being prodded by Steele, he rose from the the pit, only to cleaved in two and sent to his final final rest.

A few centipedes, perhaps confused perhaps not hungry, perhaps enjoying their own private repasts in the pit presented a challenge to retrieving the pit’s more interesting contents.  So Roark and Caber shot those centipedes with arrows.  Next Roark secured himself with a rope and asking his companions to hold it, he climbed into the pit and begin pulling on the cloth.  More loosened rubble and clods of earth tumbled down, along with a skeleton that spilled out of its winding shroud.  And also a staff of long mace.  Roark grabbed the staff and got out of the pit.  The silver coins were buried but no matter.  The new staff—or maybe rod—was about 6 feet long, made of heavy wood with one end wider than the other and about two-thirds of its length embedded with metal studs.  A brass disk, engraved with a sunburst capped the wide end.

And so, burdened with their mysterious treasure rather than their wounded companions, the company returned to Hommelet.

A brief linguistic history of Alyan

Humans were living there.  Elves arrived.  The Elves taught the humans many things including a simplified version of their own language, now known as “Common.”

If human characters speak an additional language, it will probably be dialect of Common that’s spoken in their home area.

Pure elvish is the language of educated people, though most humans know a few words. 

Not all humans were so eager to welcome the elves and those who have continued to live aprt in the swamps, forests, and mountains, are known as Gray People.  They speak their own language, which includes many local variants.  As with elvish, everyone knows a few words.  Grayspeak is great for swearing.

The Hobbits’ language sounds like a dialect of common, though like other common dialects, its accent can be exaggerated to become nearly unintelligible to outsiders.  All hobbits understand each other when they speak this language, even if they come from areas very far apart form one another.

There’s little reason to know dwarfish or gnomish as most trade is conducted with members of these groups who speak perfect common.  Dwarvish is a very difficult language both to speak and to read/write.

Only people with very specialized knowledge will have made a point of learning Oanoise, the language of a group of settlers/invaders/guests who were driven out of Alyan a century ago.   Even those who “know” Oanoise might be able to do little more to recognize certain characters.  Pronunciation varies from one sage to another.

Orcish, goblin, hobgoblin, etc.  The monster languages are almost unknown.  Some sages argue that these creatures do not exist and that their languages have been artificially created by hoaxsters.

Protection from Evil

Weevil, a photo by kampang on Flickr.

I’m running a game in which one of the PCs is a paladin, meaning that we have to figure out what that permanent protection form evil spell is all about.  We are using Labyrinth Lord rules with the Advanced Edition Companion.  According to those rules, Paladins “radiate protection from evil in a 10 foot radius at all times.”

Protection from evil refers to a 1^st level cleric spell (also quoted from LL AEC):

“This spell wards a creature from attacks by “evil” creatures. It creates a magical barrier around the subject that moves with the subject. The subject gains a bonus to AC of –1 and a +1 bonus on saving throws. Both these bonuses apply against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures.

In addition, this spell prevents bodily contact by summoned or created creatures. This causes the natural weapon attacks of such creatures to fail, and the creatures recoil if such attacks require touching the warded creature. However, these creatures can attempt missile attacks. The protection against contact by summoned creatures ends if the warded creature makes an attack against or tries to force the barrier against the blocked creature.”

Despite the scare quotes and alignmental relativism, we could figure out the bit about “evil” creatures.  But what about “summoned or created creatures?”  If a creature is not “created” then what is it?  By one logical interpretation, a paladin and five of his closest friends are completely immune to undead touch attacks and a lone 1^st level paladin could sit down and have a picnic whilst surrounded by mummies, wraiths, and spectres.

The 2e rules are nicely succinct and don’t make a mistake of referring to a spell without seeming to think through what that spell really says:

“A paladin is surrounded by an aura of protection with a 10-foot radius.  Within this radius, all summoned and specifically evil creatures suffer a -1 penalty to their attack rolls, regardless of whom they attack.  Creatures affected by this aura can spot its source easily, even if the paladin is disguised.”

I like the 2e rules, but I don’t mind granting a little extra protection in the case of “summoned” creatures as long as I can be sure what that means.  So, for the purposes of my game and maybe yours, here is what the paladin’s protection is:

·         All “evil creatures” (which includes bad people of all sorts and almost anyone or anything that would attack a paladin in earnest-- except for things like giant frogs, green slime, and crazy drunkards) get a -1 to hit the paladin and anyone else within the spell’s area of effect.

·         The paladin & co. get +1 to saving throws against attacks from such creatures even if the creatures are attacking (by missile or magic) from outside the area of effect.

·         Summoned creatures are those creatures that were called into battle by some unnatural means.  The bats summoned by a vampire and a demon summoned by an evil cleric would not be able to touch the paladin or his friends who were within the area of effect.  If the summoned creatures successfully goad the paladin into battle (perhaps by threatening to attack innocents outside the area of protection) then the protection is “waived” with regard to those summoned creatures that the paladin attacks.

·         Created creatures are golems.  Undead are not created, but reanimated.  I can’t think of anything besides golems that would be “created” in this sense.  Such creatures are subject to the exact same rules as summoned creatures.

·         Creatures affected by this spell do figure out the paladin is the source of the protection.