Return to Mainstay
It was more than a week before the headmaster fully recovered and even than he was still quite weak. Yet he insisted on meeting the last drop and so they were brought before him at again. The headmaster was very gracious and thanked them each in turn for thier efforts. He also announced that they were to be given the honorary title of Defenders of Ithulios in commemoration of their bravery. He personally offered to provide each mermber with one favor, be it an object from his magical collections, special training or otherwise. Ruhdon opted for special training to regain some of his lost knowledge, while the others each selected objects of curiosity from the headmasters extensive collection.
Finally he inspected the objects which the group had brought before him. All four (the necklace, book, bone and card) were very curios to the great wizard and he confeaed that he would need some time to examine them closely. He sent them along to rest and enjoy the city while he studied the objects in detail.
The party spent over a week in town, resting and recuperating from several long months of work. Finally the headmaster called them in to inform them of what he had found.
"My friends, I regret that I have failed you in my requested task for I have not been able to determine the nature of most of the objects you laid before me. These three are of great evil and power yet I can find no record that eludes to their nature or origin. I suspect an unholy nature for them, but this is beyond my knowledge. However I will vow to keep working on it. I confess that the presence of these objects concerns me greatly. I would keep them a secret from all but your most trusted friends. In addition I would find a safe pace to store them. In my week with them I felt their sinister influence working on my mind. I believe prolonged exposure to these objects will only lead to corruption of the heart and mind. Indeed it seems your experiences in acquiring these objects bear that out."
"What of the card headmaster?" Asked Adrick.
"The card is much more integuing. Based on my research it appears to be part of the legendary Deck of Many Things. The object of extreme curiosity, whoever draws from the deck takes fate into their hands as the cards hold the key to great power and wealth or death and destruction. Normally the the deck is a single unit, the drawer takes his card, gets his fate and then the whole deck disappears to some other mysterious place to await another daring adventurer. However, my research indicates that the last known whereabouts of he deck were the vaults of Gardmore Abbey, where it was protected by the order of paladins who resided there. Something tragic happened there several hundred years ago and the record runs cold. Whatever occurred it seems the deck played a part."
"Hmm.. Any leads on finding more information about these objects?" Asked Adrick.
"Yes and no. The three I have no leads, but I have secretly sent notes to several trusted friends to see if anyone can help. I will let you know if I learn anything. However, I was able to locate one of the last remaining memebers of the ancient order of paladins that once built the abbey. His name is Sir Oakley and he has agreed to meet you in Mainstay. He seemed quite excited to here about your predicament."
"Well headmaster. I can not thank you enough for your efforts. You have been of great help to us. Please send word should you learn more," said Adrick.
"I will surely do so. Take care my friends, I fear that ominous clouds are on the horizon." The headmaster bid them well and retired to his work once more. The next day the group set out for Mainstay.
When they arrived they went to see Sir Marcus. They explained all they had been through and all they had learned. He seemed concerned about their news and offered to hold safe the three objects of power in the kings vaults. The party agreed this to be best and entrusted their care to Sir Marcus. He then informed them that the Charitable Marauders had claimed credit for Hampstead. He also offered them a spot in the Kings Tournament that was to be held next month. Winning this could do the group credit in the eyes of the kingdom. He arranged them to be sponsored by Ithulios. He then sent them on their way to meet up with Sir Oakley at a near by inn.
Sir Oakley was a kind old man, who wore the marks of numerous battles. He proved a man of great manners and dedication to the ideals of his order. The welcomed the parties company and explained to them that as the head of his order he was privy to knowledge about the orders history that most were not. He explained that abbey came under siege by a large band of orcs nearly 300 years ago. The situation was dire as the abbey garrison had used all their resources and were in risk of starvation soon. The grand master at the time believed that'd the knights only hope was to draw from the deck in hope of a miracle. Alas he drew the death card and the abbey was assaulted from with in by a horse of undead. Nearly all the inhabitants were slain and the orcs captured what remained soon after. Only a couple knights escaped to carry this tale elsewhere. A curious thing occurred however. The powerful magic that protected the abbey distrusted the decks actions. Instead of disappearing the cards were scattered about the grounds.
Sir Oakley suggested that most off the cards still lay on the abbey grounds. He offered to guide the party through the grounds if they would assist him in one task, to purify the temple of Bahamut that was defiled during the scourge. The party found this offer appealing and the group set out for Gardmore Abbey in the morning in search of adventure
Winterhaven
The trip north was long but uneventful. Along the way they each got to know each other better, taking time to hunt and forge while the traveled. Sir Oakley proved to be good company, regaling them all with the history and stories of his order and his numerous adventures. A week later the group arrived at the cross roads near Hightower and headed due east towards Winterhold. The city was a two days ride east, and this journey too proved uneventful. They arrived at the gates of Winterhold near midday and made their way into the city, creating quite a stir from the locals in the market. Apparently adventures were a rare thing to see this far north and their presence was noted by most everyone.
Several vendors approached the group and attempted to sell them food, wares and other oddities of all shapes and sizes. Sir Oakley lead them to a local inn were the group made arrangements to stay for a time, while they gathered information and formulated a plan for approaching the abbey. Ballimor went straight to work drinking the finest ales the bark had to offer. He found the ale to be of decent quality, though the prices seemd quite high, a fact he suspected to be on account of their foreign nature. Still everyone seemed content to settle in after so many days out on the road.
Adrick went about chatting up the locals to try and gather any information he could about the abbey and the local area. He found most everyone to be very forthcoming but pretty much everyone had the same three pieces of information, “Yes the abbey was close bye but nobody really went there on account of the orcs that took it over years ago. No, the grounds were not safe; the orcs patrol the area and often raid passing travelers. What’s a deck of many things?” Frustrated, Adrick retired for the night, hoping that his scouting in the village market would prove of more use.
In the morning he and Lucan left to explore the market, while Ballimor and Hazlo splet off the ale from the night before. Ruhdon headed out with Sir Oakley to talk to the local temple priests. Adrick chanted up several vendors but found nothing of consiqurnce from his converstaiotns. Pretty much everyone had the same thing to say about the abbey. It seemed that very little was really known about the grounds or their situation.. Late in the morning Adrick caught the eye of a pretty young elf maiden selling flowers from a cart at the far notheren end of the market.
“Buy a flower for you special someone Sir Dwarf?” she questioned when she caught his eye.
“You certainly have a nice collection here, do you pick these all on your own?” replied the dwarf.
“Oh yes sir, my younger sister helps sometimes too. I’d say the two of us know these surrounding hills better then anyone, at least when it comes to hunting for flowers.”
“Interessting, have you ventured far? Perhaps anywere near the remains of the old abbey nearby?” questioned Lucan.
“Oh yes, the abbey grounds grown the prettiest lily’s, here these were picked just this morning. Perhaps you would like to buy one for some lucky young elf who likes to sell you flowers?” Swooned the girl.
“Eh, well we will see about that I suppose.” Said an obviously blushing Lucan. “If I buy you a flower will you tell me all about the abbey?”
“Oh, I’ll tell you whatever you like free of charge.” Replied the cheerful maiden. “The abbey is very dangerous, the Orcs patrol the grounds regularly. However they only control the lower portion of the grounds. The upper section seems relatively empty, from what I can tell. Furthermore the western end is overgrown with trees and other wildlife along with a battered watchtower. I have never seen orcs patrol over there, I think they are afraid of the woods.”
“Well, you have been very helpful young lady. Here please take a few gold pieces for your trouble.” Adrick held out ten gold pieces for the girl, but she refused to take the coin.
“No, no, no, no. I will not take your money for just talking. It ain’t right. However, if you are going to the abbey you might be needing one of my special flowers. Here let me show you.” The girl rummaged through her cart and pulled out a dark purple flower, that looked half wilted and very dead. She held it out to the two with great pride. Both Adrick and Lucan looked very confused.
“Oh, it’s a very nice flower, but what exactly makes if special?” questioned Lucan.
“Oh, this flower is very important. I see visions sometimes and I see this flower being critical to your success in the future. I dare say you can not afford to travel to the abbey with out it. I told that other group that came last week the same, but they refused to listen to me. Terrible things will happen to them I can see it.”
“Wait, what other group?” questioned Adrick.
“Oh there were a bunch of them. Some kind of bull-man, and some giant bug, and a few others I don’t remember right now. They were kind of mean.” Said the young elf.
“The Charitable Marauders. If they are here then we must not waste any time at all heading over to the abbey. How much for this special flower?” asked Lucan.
“For such a handsome elf as you? Only 1000 gold pieces.” said the maiden very mater of factly.
“1000 gold pieces! That’s outrageous. Come on Lucan I think I’ve heard enough.” Said Adrick in disgust.
“OH NO!” wailed the young elf. “I mean know disrespect, only I though you would appreciate such a rare and special item. It may even be magical, but I can not tell such things. Please do not be angry with me I mean no harm.” The girl turned her head away form the two, sobbing into her hands.
“Now don’t cry little one. See I love your flowers. I’ll buy a whole bunch for you right now, see?” Lucan placed a whole wade of gold coins on the cart and scooped up several bunches of flowers. He handed them to the girl who took them timidly.
“And the special flower, you will buy that too?” asked the girl.
“Well… its just so much money…” began Lucan before being cut off by an even louder wail from the young girl. By now the commotion was drawing the attention of other ins the market place. “Ok, ok. I’ll pay 1000 for the flower. Please just clam down,” pleaded Lucan.
“You will?” questioned the suddenly calmer girl.
“Yes I will,” said Lucan holding out the coin to the girl. She cracked a large smile and eagerly took the coin thanking him profusely. Lucan thanked her for her help and beat a hasty retreat with Adrick in toe chuckling all the way. Before long they had rejoined the others back at the Inn. Ruhdon and Sir Oakley had come up empty, but Ballimor got an interesting note in the morning from the Count of Winterhold. Apparently he had heard of the group entering town and had a proposal to discuses with them.
The next morning the group headed to the town keep to see the Count. They were ushered in to see him right away and he greeted them warmly. “I have heard some good things of your group. I was sorry when I heard you had left already last week, but I’m glad you returned. Winterhold could use the help of a group as powerful as the Charitable Marauders."
“Uh, your honor, I apologize to disappoint you, but we are not the Charitable Marauders. We are the Last Drop,” said Adrick as apologetically as possible.
“The who? Oh never mind, I suppose it was to good to be true anyhow. Well, since you are already here, I might as well offer you the same deal. I’ve been having issues with the orcs of Gardmore Abbey raiding travelers along the road for years. However, recently these attacks have died off. My captain of the guard thinks this is due to infighting or some other tragedy inside the Abbey and thinks it of little concern. I on the other hand think its of primary concern. I fear that the orc warlord is gathering his strength and lulling us into a false sense of security before he launches a full scale assault on the city itself. I need someone to go and check out the area, scout the status of the orcs and then report back to me. If you do this I will be happy to compensate you richly. Say 1000 gold pieces?”
“Hmm… I think putting our lives on the line is worth a little more than that, perhaps more in the 2500 gold pieces range?” replied Hazlo.
“I think that 1000 is more then acceptable considering you just going to poke around the area for a day or two and report what you see. I’m not asking you to fight or anything like that. Of course I understand that conflict might be unavoidable, but I would ask you to be discrete. I’m not interested in starting a war here; I just want to know if I need to be ready for one,” said the Count.
“And am I correct in assuming that the standard adventurer guidelines apply, such as us keeping all items we recover,” asked Ruhdon.
“Of course, keep what you want. Just don’t get caught,” said the count.
“In that case, I think we have an agreement,” said Adrick. The group left the Count in high spirits, confident that they had gotten all they needed from Winterhold. They made preparations for some supplies and other materials and setup out for the abbey in the early morning before sunrise.
Scouting the Abby
The group arrived at the outskirts of Gardmore Abbey near midday. Hazlo and Lucan guided them within to within a quarter mile of the walls before settling into a small thicker of trees. From this point they could make out the walls and gate and could see patrols of or a manning the battlements. The party weighed their options and chose to send Lucan and Hazlo out to sneak up closer.
The pair managed to get within a few hindered feet of the fate house and watched the orcs for a few minutes. They noticed that they seemed very attentive to their duties and reasoned that sneaking the entire party over the walls would be very difficult. They then employed Lucan's new magical item obtained from the headmaster, the eyes of the owl. A pair of goggles that allowed him to see throught the eyes of one animal. Heet loose his hawk and activated the magical device. Soon Lucan was transported high above the abbey. He described what he saw to Hazlo and was as detailed as possible.
The eastern portion of the grounds we're crawling with orcs, perhaps a couple hundred. However they seemed content to stay in the remains of the abbey'a village. Above this upon a plague stood several large buildings which Lucsn guessed to be he temple and other structures. Here he saw no movement or signs of recent habitation. On the western half was a large overgrown forest with the outlines of structures beneath. He noted some movement from within, but do discerning what was impossible though the tree canopy. The back half of the grounds were in walled. Instead they ended in a sheer cliff that fell from the Temple Mount.
Satisfied that they had succeeded in gathering enough intel, they snuck back to the group to share the news. Adrick wanted to return to he count right away to inform him, but Ballimor was more interested in exploring he grounds up close. Since they had promised Sir Oakley they would help purify the temple he thought this should be their top priority. He proposed they sneak around back under cover of night and climb the mountain on he cliff side. He reckoned they could do it, especially with his new magic rope which.could reach up to 100 feet on its own. With some hesitation he group agreed to this plan and do they snuck out after sound down to climb to the temple.
They avoided detection easily and once away from the walls could talk and move without fear. The climb went smooth as well. The only issue came from Adrick, who struggled to get himself going, but once he finally did he was up in no time like the rest. Once atop the mountain, named the Dragon's Roost according to Sir Oakley, the party checked their sourly sings for danger. Finding themselves secure they decided to settle in for the night and wait for light of day to continue on.
The Temple of Bahamut
At day break the party searched the Dragon's Roost. Just as expected they found the grounds quite deserted. There we're only four buildings on the mount, the largest being the temple which was centered on the plateau. Flanking this to the west and north were a pair of evenly shaped buildings. Sir Oakley explained that one was the barracks for the order, the other was a memorial to fallen heros. The final building was a small gate house that guarded the roost from the path down to the village.
Having mad certain the surrounding area was clear the group opted to explore the temple itself first. Sir Oakley warned that there might be terrible horrid within. This temple was dedicated to the orders patron deity the platinum dragon Bahamut. However during the chaos brought on by the draw from the deck of many things a terrible scourge defeiled the temple itself. Prepared for the worst the party crept inside a side door and looked around
Initially they found the temple empty say for its alters and columns. The inside of the structure held up well, the walls and ceiling were finely decorated with symbols and scenes of great valor and heroism. In the center of the building stood a series of columns that were ornately carved leading up to a grand alter to the Bahamut. Along the sides of the building stood several alters to other important deities such as Pelor and Mordin.
Finding the temple empty the group spread out, examining the artwork and exploring the various nooks. Suddenly the silence was broken by a high pitch screech followed by the appearance of several wigged creatures descending from the ceiling. Ballimor recognized the sound of harpies, and warned the group to be on gaurd. Yet the were all surprised by the appearance of who angles along side the monsters. The angles lashed out at the party members and refused to acknowledge Sir Oakley's appeals to them not to. With a heavy heart he ordered the group to put them down as well.
The fight was tough, the angles put up a strong fight and he harpys stay well away from the two dwarfs, chosing to make passing attacks on the others when able. Still in the end he party emerged histories with only a few injuries to account for. Sir Oakley knelt near the corpses of the fallen angles and said a prayer for them. The the. Rose and addressed the group solemnly, "These creatures were sent by Bahamut himself to protect and aid the defenders of his temple. They two were corrupted by the scourge. I must now cleanse the temple of the curses that have defiled it. It will take some time. All I ask is that you watch my back and allows to continue uninterrupted." Sir Oakley the. Set himself up near he alter and began offering prayers to Bahamut. Several hours later he rose up and announced the temple to be cleansed, but that he needed to rededicate it to Bahamut again. In order to do so he would need three sacred objects, the Brazier of Sacred Fire, the Bowl of Io's Blood and the Dragon Chalice. The indicated that his knowledge did not tell him were on the grounds these objects would be stored shut he suggested that the catacombs and vaults bellow the Roost might be a good place to start looking.
Enter the Crypts
Ruhdon search the back rooms of the temple and found a stairwell leading down. Sir Oakley was convinced this lead to the catacombs, were many of the greatest heros of his order were laid to rest. He wanted to continue on but found himself spent from his hours of prayer. Adrick I sited that the old paladin stay behind and rest while they explored the crypts themselves. Sir Oakley consented and the party set out down he stairwell cautiously.
The stairs let out into a small antechamber with two stone sarcophagus. Hazlo ventured out first checking for traps and other obstacles. Finding the room clear he signaled for the group to follow. There were doors in the north and east and both proved to be unlocked. The group paused to debate the best course of action, with some in favor of splitting up.
While the debate ragged on, Hazlo took a moment to examine one of the ancient tomes in the room. Finding the stone cover slightly ajar he decided to move it off, looking for gold and other loot that may lie inside. He found the skeleton of a knight decked in gilded armor and wearing a silver necklass. He reached in for the necklace and was suddenly searing pain from his head to his toe. In his mind he heard the dooming voice of Bahamut, "Thou art a wicked thing to disturbed the peace of my holy warriors. Bahamut judges you guilty of the crime of grave robbing. I curse you with misfortune and ill luck until you pay penance for your crimes."
"But, I wasn't looking for much, just something that might help us in the quest to restore your temple," said Hazlo.
"Liar! Bahamut sees your hearts desire and knows your wicked ways. As penance you must clear the evil that has taken root in these crypts. Only than will your nurse be lifted," boomed the voice in Hazlo's mind.
By now the others had taken notice of the rouges situation. Hazlo stood up and addressed the group, "well I'm cursed!"
"What did you do," asked Lucan.
"I might have tried to loot a grave and possibly pissed off Bahamut in the process. But it's all good he said if we clear the crypts he'll lift my curse," replied Hazlo. The group soon settled on the northern door as the best option and so proceeded in that direction.
They found the room crawling with animated skeletons in various states of armor million around. Once the door was open they quickly responded to the intruders with a surprisingly organized offensive. He weaker skeletons stayed in the back and launched arrows and javelins at the intruders while a trio of fully armored skeletons blocked the way and kept the heros at bay. The knight skeletons proved very resistant to attacks taking blow after blow without flinching. Furthermore the were very prone to griping attacks which the employed to good use against the party.
The group went into the fight confident that they would be able to overcome the enemy easily. The soon discovers how ill prepared they were for the well organized undead. No one was more frustrated than Ruhidn. The mage had confidently cast Stinking cloud the minute he saw the tight formations. However he quickly learned the folly of his maneuver when the skeletons were not only unaffected by the acid cloud, but used the poor visa iota it offered to setup their defense. When Ruhdon was finally able to dispense the cloud the group found the skeletons waiting for them in their battle formation.
Battle dragged on for sometime, with neither side gaining he upper hand. Finally Ballimor scored a critical hit on the knight on the right flank destroying the creature in the process. This allowed him to wheel and flank the central skeleton knight and also opened up a gap for the others to attack the back row. Soon others began falling as the skeletons formation was broken up. Without their cohesion the undead quickly fell victim to the cordinated attacks made by the group. Finally Adrick finished off the last of the creatures with a flourish and the room fell silent again.
Flaming Skulls and Other Odd Things
Having successfully cleared the northern room of undead the party took a moment to regain the bearing. The fight proved longer and harder than expected and they rightly decided to be more cautious in future explorations. Still they were strong enough to proceed and so after a few minutes the regrouped and headed back into the antechamber to explore the eastern room.
Ballimor had briefly checked in on the room when the others had opened the northern door. He knew that there were several more animate skeletons in the eastern room as well. He warned the others to be on guard then threw open the door with enthusiasm and charged ahead. Within were four more skeletons milling around a single open sarcophagus. They turned to meet the new intruder who slammed into them with full force.
These skeletons proved equal to those of the other room, but they were fewer in number and the group was more prepared for their attacks this time around. The avoided getting caught by their trip attacks and Ruhdon abandoned any efforts to use any acid based attacks. All went well until the group was caught off guard by a small flaming skull that zoomed in from a nook in the northern portion of the room. The tiny object zoomed around the room at rapid speed casting fire attacks all over the place. At first they did not pay much attention to the head, but soon that became impossible when it started raining fireballs down upon them. The skull proved more then a challenge for must as its fast pace allowed it to avoid arrows and spells with ease while it flew well above the reach of the melee fighters weapons.
Ballimor broke off his attack on one of the skeletons in order to deal with this new threat. He watched the skull for a minute, searching for an opening to exploit. He noticed that the skull liked to come to rest in a small nock near the southern wall. The masonry in that area of the room was in worse shape than the rest. Large roots from the trees in the courtyard were breaking through the ceiling in several places and the stonework looked ready to crumble. He followed the roots back across the ceiling and found one that ran above his head. With a mightily leap her reached up and grabbed the vine in question, putting all his weight upon it as he fell back to the ground. With a shutter the stone above the skull quaked then collapsed completely; burring the unsuspecting skull underneath several tones of stone and earth.
After the skull was dealt with the rest of the monsters were dispatched with ease. The group was finding the inhabitants of the crypts quite the challenge compared to the last adventure. The decided to press on, weary of what lay ahead.