Chapter 3 - Illuminating the Darkness

Wednesday 10th September

As we had left Jzadirune we met Sergeant Zyn Kraghammer, after he had shaken of the disappointment over us not yet finding the Missing Children we told us of the Stormblades trying to gain access to Jzadirune but he stopped them because he does not likes the "Toffs playing at adventurer".

This in my mind is a fine out look on the world, especially when it comes to people trying to push in on our commission and hard work.

While we were talking to Zyn as small human child arrived with a letter, Zyn jokingly referred to the letter as Urchin Mail. The letter informed us that the adventuring party badges would be ready for us on Monday, to get the badges we would need to have a name for our party.

One the way back to the Drunken Morkoth to have some lunch and recover from the activities of the morning we visited Tygots Old Things to see if we could sell some of the items we had found in Jzadirune. He was known to me by reputation only; fair prices for items could be had and interesting stories as well. Certainly someone we would probably be visiting quite regularly if Jzadirune had any other items to discover.

Tygot is a very welcoming Halfling that is more than happy to listen intently to the stories regarding each of the items that we found. His companion, Lepook, a Blink Dog lay happily on the floor after watching us carefully upon our initially entry.

Each time we showed an object to Tygot we would offer us a price upon which Lepook would growl, Tygot would then increase the offer until Lepook rested it large head back on its paws in apparent approval of the offer.

It is thanks to Lepook that we managed to sell the following for a much better price:

ceramic mask; sad gnome with rabbit ears

5 Gold Pounds

silver ring; shaped like a serpent with gems for eyes

25 Gold Pounds

silver pitcher with moss agates

75 Gold Pounds

After leaving Tygot we felt slightly better about ourselves, I am not sure if it was being in the company of a well respected former adventurer, that fact he listened to our adventures or a combination of all these elements as well as us being 105 Gold Pieces richer.

We then visited Zanathor Provisions; Zanathor seemed less willing to engage us in conversation but was happy enough to sell us equipment such as torches, replacing our which had either been smashed or partially burnt out.

Knowing that we need additional healing potions we visited Weers Elixirs. This time the prices for the positions are crippling, it appears Vortimax has now recovered from the shock of seeing his step-son and even with a “family” discount we are unable to purchase the potions we feel we will need.

On a lighter note for us but apparently a disturbing one for Owyn, Vortimax and his mother have been making good use of their marital bed and she is expecting a child. Upon hearing the news all the colour drained form Owyn’s face and he stammered some sort of congratulations and left. We had to run after Owyn to catch him up such were his strides away from the shop.

With some effort we were able redirect him towards the Churchof St Cuthbert. When we arrive at the Church we are greeted by Cleric Kavour Drinthall who informs us that Jenya is not currently within the Church and that the current stocks of healing potions are low, as a result he is not able to supply us with any. During the conversation I am able to convince Kavour to buy back the empty potion bottles we have for 1 Copper Penny each. A small transaction admittedly but at the moment every penny counts and we get back 6 pennies.

As we turn to leave Kavour informs us that in fact Jenya was looking for us and was going to start at the Drunken Morkoth.

With our stomachs reminding us that have not eaten since early in the morning and the exertions of the day he decide to head to the Morkoth for lunch and to meet with our employer. We know exactly what she is going to ask of us and it weighs heavily upon us that we are not yet able to provide good news to Jenya.

When we enter the Morkoth I get the usual feeling of coming home, followed by revulsion at the images on the wall. Anari runs up and hugs Mother will animatedly telling a story of daring and heroics much to her obvious horror. While Anari is telling her story she also convinces Mum to supply extra large portions for less than the normal cost, well a saving at any time is as good as getting copper pennies for bottles you did not pay for. During the conversation I can her Mother ask if he have found the Missing Children yet, this question stops Anari dead, he shoulders drop as she has to admit that we have not yet located them.

When the food and drink is brought over to us we are told that Jenya had indeed visited the Drunken Morkoth looking for us and that she would be returning in one hour.

We all decide to what to report to Jenya; we kill the time discussing Jzadirune and looking at the map for likely places for the Missing Children to be held. We also examine the divination that Jenya had supplied to us; again I point to the section that makes it appear that we have to find another location underneath Jzadirune. All through these discussions, while Owyn drinks ale, I am aware of the other patrons paying more attention than normal. After a while I decide to play my flute; the thought of the missing children and the struggles within Jzadirune weigh heavily on my mind and affect my music. When I finally decide to stop playing I notice someone has thrown a penny at my feet.

I glance up from the table when the door opens; Jenya walks serenely towards us, as she approaches I stand up and gather another chair for her to sit at. She smiles slightly at the gesture and bids us all good afternoon. She seems momentarily distracted, looking around the Drunken Morkoth; her eyes fix one someone I have never seen in the inn before. A very well appointed elven gentlemen, dressed in very fine clothes marking him out form the usual patrons of the Drunken Morkoth. She smiles towards him and beckons to him, he rises gracefully and walks in our direction, another chair is gathered for this guest of Jenya.

When the man arrives at the table the quality of the clothing screams out as does the perfectly poised smile. Jenya introduces to the group Lord Vhalantru, a major sponsor of the Church Of St Cuthbert. I am already stood to great the Lord but have to nudge the rest of the group to do the same. Lord Vhalantru greats everyone warmly and sits down, I glanced around the inn and saw everyone looking at us with their mouths open. Jenya’s clear voice had cut through the noise of the inn like a scalpel and now everyone was watching a high ranking Cleric from the Church of St. Cuthbert and Lord Vhalantru talking to us; it took all my self-control not burst out laughing at the looks we were getting.

Jenya then asks the inevitable question about the children and we again have to explain the Jzadirune is providing us with quite some resistance and currently he have been unable to locate the children Disappointment flashes across Jenya’s fine features and she again urges that speedy resolution is required to the kidnapping of the children.

During this exchange Lord Vhalantru had beckoned to the bar staff and our mother had approached the table. In a very clear voice he offered to buy drinks for everyone. Lord Vhalantru simply ordered water, Owyn ordered, another, ale as did Kellen, Jenya, Anari and Cass all asked for a glass of wine and I simply asked for water.

Lord Vhalantru smiles to the group and Anari seems to melt under his gaze, he thanks us for stopping the kidnappings from the homes by locating the entrance to Jzadirune and identifying Keygan's complicity, in the affair, and handing him over to the Town Guard. He pauses and then states that he is impressed enough with us to, on behalf of the city thank us.

With that he pulls extracts a bag from the deep folds of his luxurious cloak and places it on the table. He smiles again and says that he hopes that the five hundred Gold Pounds will suffice as both rewards and thanks. It is all I can do to say thank you very much and avoid the reaction from everyone else in the party, whose jays have dropped open and their eyes have locked onto the bag of money.

Lord Vhalantru looks around and a wry grin plays upon his lips saying that he is looking forward to and expecting a speedy and successful resolution to the missing Missing Children. I assure him we are doing our best. He bids us good day and leaves saying that he might be able to make us of our services in future and that he has recommended us to Captain Skellerang.

I manage to rise as he gets up to leave and bid him thanks again and farewell, Jenya also bids us farewell and leaves with Lord Vhalantru. I sit heavily in my chair my head spinning slightly form the meeting; a noble has paid us for the arrest of Keygan and stopping the kidnappings, along with that he has offered his recommendations and patronage.

Looking around the inn I see the same reactions to the turn of events that have just occurred is playing out on every face.

After a few minutes we are able to pull ourselves together just as Skylar Krewlis arrives to present a message. Skylar presents the message to Anari and seems to be rather bashful about it; hardly able to make eye contact and there is certainly reddening of his cheeks. The message is a summons to the trial of Keygan which is set for Wednesday the 17th September at noon. Skylar tries to joke that the trial is likely to involve a small gallows. We thank him for the message and Anari virtually ignores him as he leaves, he seems a little crushed by that. I should may be talk to him about her, it was a shame his timing was not better; before Lord Vhalantru and she would have paid him more attention.

Before anyone else can deliver a message to us and before any of the patrons of the inn can bother us for a loan we leave heading back to Jzadirune.

As we descend the stairs Owyn is in front with Kellen and Anari close behind him; as they step into the entrance hall they are set upon by four hobgoblins. There is a brief fight in which Owyn is quite severely injured by the hobgoblin attacks, though he does manage to kill one of them. Anari strikes a vicious blow to the throat of one hobgoblin that nearly severs its neck, the head held on by a flap of skin and a couple of ligaments. Kellen butchers two hobgoblins in one attack, his bastard sword never showing signs of slowing down as he carved through one and into the other.

The fight is brief but extremely bloody, leaving Owyn in need of healing again. I decide that I should try to heal him using a spell I had been taught by a bard in Sasserine. I feel warm energy pulse through me and I gasp as the wounds on Owyn close up in front of me; I can feel the muscle and skin knitting together, suddenly the heat is gone as are the wounds.

I look over at the others Cass has gone quite pale as she watches Anari cutting the earrings from the hobgoblins. Each solid ring of gold she removes it threaded onto a leather cord, once she had completed the grisly task the tied the cord around her neck. I am going to have to talk to her about this, quite a serious talk.

We move warily out of the entrance hall and into the corridor, aware that the noise of battle might attract more unwanted attention. I am slightly concerned by the appearance of the hobgoblins, there had been no sign of them before and yet they were readied for our return.

Working our way through Jzadirune we come to the room in which we had defeated the raggaymoffyn

Owyn unlocked and opened the “Z” door at the northern end of the room without fear and then carefully entered the room. The room has two fans suspended from the ceiling, there are hundreds of gears in both metal and wood scattered across the floor having spilt out from the smashed crates in the room. In the eastern wall there is a corridor.

In the centre of the room a large object covered in a white sheet, I advise everyone to leave the sheet alone. Owyn’s curiosity gets the better of him again and he pulls the sheet off, exposing the Pulveriser Automaton underneath. This construct looks very similar to the one in the other room except that it has two arms ending in sharp spike and it looks completed.

Owyn steps away from it carefully and the sheet drops from his hand. He all stand and stare at the thing for a moment or two before Anari hisses at Owyn to put the sheet over it again, to keep the place tidy. Khandalar, Kellen, Cass and I look at her in amazement for suggesting such a thing and then in horror as Owyn actually did as she said.

Owyn deftly flicks the sheet over the construct, as it softly lands on it, clicking and whirring noises can be heard. Suddenly the sheet is rent apart, by the two spiked arms and it starts to turn. Anari dashes forwards and tumbles underneath the thing, she swings her rapier at its underside but her blade skitters along it ineffectually.

I study the thing for a moment and notice two Gnomish words engraved on the side; deactivate and activate. I shout deactivate and it stops, its arms going into a relaxed position. Wondering if we would be able to control it, I shout in Gnomish; activate. After a few false starts the clicking and whirring can be heard but when it fails to respond to any Gnomish commands I am force to deactivate it once more.

We move past it silently this time, leaving the torn sheet on the floor, moving down the corridor to investigate.

The corridor has six niches, three in the north wall and three in the south wall the first four niches contain machines with lots of complex gears and linkages. The ropes that are around the fans run east so I presume that are linked to these machines in some way. Oddly Owyn is not keen to investigate these machines further so we leave them. The last two niches are empty apart from the usual dust and cobwebs that accumulate over 75 years.

The eastern end of the corridor ends in a roughly built wooden wall, braced from this side, obviously designed to keep something from getting into this area of Jzadirune. This causes me great concern; when vicious creatures want to stop something it usually means it is more vicious and dangerous than they are. I eventually persuade Owyn and Kellen from ripping the wall apart.

Instead we went back to the room with the Pulveriser Automaton and used the Skulk tunnel that was in the northern wall. Quite early in the tunnel there was a fork to the west, which we followed this tunnel had another branch south which we chose to ignore; eventually we came to a room that was full of fog.

Khandalar pointed out that this was a mystical fog; Kellen that explained that it was fairly obvious as normal fog would not stay confined in one room like this for seventy-five years or more. We left the room via the Skulk tunnel, fearful of any surprise attacks that may happen if we lingered within the fog.

Retracing our steps back to the original Skulk tunnel we continued north, then the tunnel headed east and then south, breaking out into a small octagonal room that appeared to be a classroom with desks and a blackboard. Searching the room I find a secret door, which leads back into the room containing the magic fog.

Owyn opens the gear door and steps out into a very large room. There is the sound of gears turning and a large gear is suspended from the ceiling of the north wall. In front of the door he just stepped through, across the room, is another gear door with the “N” rune on it. To the south there are big iron wrought doors. The are corridors to the east and west and pillars on each side of the room that hold up balconies 30 feet from the floor of the room, we can see spiral stair cases leading form this floor level to the balcony level.

I suggest everyone switches to ranged weapons as the size of it would allow us to gain an advantage with them over a foe approaching us. Cass must also sense something about this room as she releases her raven familiar to check the area out, especially the balconies.

When the raven returns from the eastern balcony Cass shudders and turns quite pale form the amount of fear she is experiencing from her raven.

Ignoring this obvious clue that something is not right with this room Owyn goes over to the “N” door to unlock it. The rest of the party move out and down the western wall trying stay as close to the wall as possible while maintaining a good view of the eastern balcony.

As Owyn sat hunched on the floor working on disabling the trap in the “I” a ghastly vision floated up from the eastern balcony, the body looked like a brain with a beak and there were ten tentacles writhing underneath the creature, each tentacle had barbs at the end. As it rose it paused for a second and then approached us.

I fired my crossbow at it, but I failed to take into account the speed of the creature’s movement and quarrel slammed into the balcony behind it. Khandalar cursed at the creature and spoke some arcane words a ball of acid flew at the creature splashing it and causing some damage to the brain like body. Kellen loosed an arrow which caught the creature in the rear flank and cause it to twitch slightly.

It then glided down and reached out for Owyn and grabbed him with its tentacles, Owyn struggled for a moment before becoming limp in the creatures grasp. It paused for a second and that proved to be costly to the creature Anari loosed her arrow that she had readied before any of us; her aim was true and the arrow buried itself deep into the creature just above its beak. The creature screamed in agony, an unearthly scream. It continued to scream as it flew back to the eastern balcony with Owyn still in its tentacles.

As it started to vanish from sight, Cass rand for the stairs for the western balcony and we all followed. As we all arrived on the balcony we could see the creature biting at Owyn; Kellen again fired an arrow at the creature, the strike was sounder this time and caused the creature to writhe in agony. Anari fired another arrow at the creature and its scream was cut short as I collapsed on the floor of the balcony.

Anari then rand at the edge of the balcony and jumped the ten foot gap, landing on the edge of the balcony she then gracefully somersaulted off and landed onto the floor. She turned to all of us on the western balcony and gave a cheeky smile before setting to work freeing Owyn from the grip of the creature.

While tending to Owyn I realised I had seen this creature before documented in a book in the library of the Blue Crater Academy; it was called a Grell and little wonder the latest inhabitants had favoured boarding up the corridors instead of combating it.

Cass was searching through the lower level of the room and in amongst the debris and broken work benches she found a body of a creature. It was wrapped in a dark clock and carried:

A small dagger with a compartment holding a vile of sticky green liquid
Potion of cure light wounds
Potion of invisibility
A purse containing

32 Silver shillings
80 Copper pennies

After a few minutes Owyn started to regain movement, Anari prodded him with her finger and pointed out that drinking too much at lunchtime is likely to effect his judgement and luck in these hash and unforgiving environments.

Bran Journal Session4