Blue flames erupted from the stage, enveloping the trumpeters, podium, guards and visiting high priest from Fassjammer City.
The crowd had gathered for the town's ceremony, celebrating the upcoming wedding of royalty in the neighboring capitial. Before anyone had time to react, explosions of blue flame had killed some of the most important council-folk of Vestergaard Village, including Bloor Warksworth, the village mason and Lord Gorssel Flawinne, a prominent farmer.
Immediately afterwards, though, some heroes in the crowd saved council-folk from the Village Hall's crumbling edifice, taking cover from the quickly dying blue fire behind market-carts. The injured villagefolk included Baron Gilet Culaan (wealthy heir), Sir Tormod Kamban (Tiefling landowner, and patron of the Blessed Ones), Vamuli Ormstunga (dwarven blacksmith/stable owner), Ogilvie Whitewood (proprietor of Oglivie's Hooves) and Schmat Razum (owner of the village bank, The Oaken Chest). A barbarian stranger named Maude tried throwing a bucket of water on the flame, but was amazed to see it consume the water, as if drinking it! Finally, within moments of the terror, the blue flames died out, magically tied to some arcane spell that had run its course.
The heroes were praised and thanked for their efforts. A wizard named Castlinetta was given a brooch of two dragons clasping a person by the owner of Artichoke Gardens, the local marketplace's elven coucilwoman, Orenda Soelvi. Ormstunga gave the samurai, Yul, a magically silent grappling hook. Olfuss gave Cruckshank a bedroll that provided an improved, blessed rest.
Late into the evening of recovery, at Hanging Cloud's local brothel and gambling/opium den, The Nine-Tailed Tortoise, this same motley crew of adventures were approached by Friar Olfuss, now in charge of the village's Pelor church. He asked if they could help with a minor problem he had the day before the blue flame explosion: while returning to the village with a present of a magical ring designed for the royal couple, the Friar was attacked by flying drakes, who stole the gift. They presumably stowed it in a drake nest Olfuss believed they had established in the church's attic.
The adventures accepted the challenge, chuckling at their luck to have such an easy-sounding mission after such dire circumstances experienced in the village. The villagefolk were mourning the loss of two of their councilfolk, the local stable-owner and a banker. Here they were, climbing a rope to the unused-attic above the church. As they climbed in, however, they found that the drakes were not the only ones using this attic. The drakes had a cage built against one wall, complete with window access. As the heroes entered through the trapdoor they were set upon by several drakes. After a short fight, maneuvering around the cage door, and a large chest behind the door, the heroes gained victory. One by one these beasties were slain as they flew and dove around their heads. The dragonborn cleric, Cruckshank, climbed a chest and smote a drake while it tried eating the face of a half-elf named Yul Brenner. This same half-elf samurai dropped the final drake as it tried fleeing the scene through the cage's window. This dead drake's body fell into the street with a weight unexpected for its small size.
After the fight, upon exploration, the adventurers found a strange, torn letter from two unknown persons, apparently organizing a conspiracy of undead and goblin forces against a Fort a half day north of the village.
Before they could fully contemplate the horror soon to be visited upon the village itself, the heroes were attacked by the wererat owners of the drake coop. Again, the fight was quick and despite a close brush with rat filth fever, the heroes prevailed.
An appreciative but dull-headed Friar Olfuss was surprised to hear of the drakes and wererats using his church's attic. He was as confused as the adventurers about what schemes they had in using the drakes for some sort of flying postal service, delivering notices between conspirators. Olfuss, in his clumsy, bumbling way, informed the heroes about strange going-ons at Fort Grundetjern. Apparently the Fort had recently not rotated back its local guard upon bi-weekly post shifts. A small contingent of city guards were sent up to the Fort to determine what the problem was, but they had not been heard of for another 2 weeks. The heroes were asked to now visit the Fort and clear up any trouble.
Ofluss had no information about the author of the letter, Minister Tanjisoo, or some rival organization called True Dawn and but he was plenty nervous about evocations of the strange-sounding Death Tide cult's patron, Szickszai. Olfuss worried that this might refer to a primal evil, sentient force from beyond the veil of reality, trying to weave strands of dark, undead magic to unpleasant ends for the countryside.
The adventurers set out to the Fort...
No comments:
Post a Comment