The party headed east from Whitewater. On the trip, Anders identified the alabaster crystal as a Shakti crystal, into which one could store Shakti (one point per day). Hadlof was assigned the staff-mounted crystal for use in either Domination or Spiritology; Anders had little use for it as a Seer. After two days, the party entered Alton, which would have been undiscoverable except for two stone walled houses that still stood, albeit without roofs. The town was completely overgrown; the forest had taken over. The party made camp in one of the homes, knocking down the vegetation inside. While having breakfast the next day, a curious moose looked over the wall, but otherwise their time there was unremarkable.
Two days later they came to the ruins of Mistymoor, a rocky outcropping over the confluence of the Misty River and the larger Abhata River. The walls of three stone buildings remained, but the walls of the town were mere piles of rubble. A ransacked campsite sat at the center of town, with the burnt and dismembered bodies of two men rotting on the dead campfire. The bones tossed to one side indicated they had been roasted and eaten. “Goblins,” murmured Anders, “We better not stick around long.”
There was nothing on the bodies so the party cast about for any loot that might remain. There was nothing, but Sunnhild happened to spot a small depression and remembering the wine cellar at Lebnam, she investigated further and then called out, “A cache! I found a cache!” And what a cache it was. Hidden in a collapsed cave were the spoils that the two dead adventurers had been bringing south. Gold, silver, and even ten Wyrmgeld. Ten Witchwood Teas. A broadsword of quality (+2/+2 Flaming), which Sunnhild immediately claimed. Even more astonishing was an iron-bound book that proved to be the handwritten notebook of Archmage Wilst. Entitled Broken Dreams and bound after his death by his students, a glance throughout it promised a wealth of learning. Anders glommed onto it, while Hadlof was most pleased by the aged keg of fine brandy at the rear of the cave. That part of the treasure would probably not survive the trip, as Hadlof had already dipped into his bottle of fine wine from Lebnam.
After Cynthia extracted all of the mage’s teeth (spell components, you know?), the party buried the bodies under two piles of stones. They stayed at the campsite that night regardless of goblin danger. They decided to head north to Morkeep as they still hoped to retrieve their stolen belongings from the rival adventurers at Deadhorse. Morkeep proved similar to Mistymoor, except that the town walls and many of walls of houses remained. It was also on a rocky outcropping above the confluence of two rivers, this time Abhata and Bitter rivers. Once in Morkeep, Anders scouted ahead and began to discover the numerous traps set about town. First he was crushed under a collapsing wall. His friends healed him, but his helm was smashed. He avoided a second wall thanks to his Intuition, but then fell into a pit and was impaled on the spears below. The party followed carefully to rescue him again. Sunnhild unknowingly passed between two houses with scything blade trap, but she had chosen to crawl forward fearing another pit, and the blade missed her.
Cynthia Shaped a ramp down into the pit so Sunnhild could pull Anders free. His wounds were minor, but since he had already been healed that day, all they could do was bind them and wait for tomorrow, when he could use Body Control. While they were concerned with Anders, a female warrior slid up behind Hadlof and choked him out. Binding him to one side, she tried to do the same to Cynthia but was defeated by Cynthia’s Intuition. The warrior then cut at Cynthia’s leg but gave her only a minor wound. Sunnhild rushed to the attack with her new flaming blade, and Cynthia tried unsuccessfully to Sleep the stranger. The stranger scuttled away over a gap in the wall and, advised by Anders to not pursue, they instead freed Hadlof, who was convinced he had been the victim of a Sleep spell.
Their months in Therrea had left them with a greater understanding of the paranoia of the region, and since the stranger had not injured Hadlof, they retreated from the town and hoped for a parlay. None was forthcoming, so after a single circle outside of the city (“Why are we doing this?” queried Hadlof, thinking of the traps), they returned to Mistymoor and prepared to cross the Abhata.
Sunnhild loaned her Helm of Clean Air to Cynthia, who stripped down, tied a rope around her and jumped into the raging river. Her swimming skills were not up to the task, but the Helm provided air while she was bounced around the bottom of the river, and her Bracers of Swimming dragged her across to the other side, where she tied the rope to a tree. With the other end tied to a rock at the top of the cliff, the party began to slide their goods across, following themselves by shinnying down the rope. Hadlof went first and the others followed successfully. Cynthia then Shaped the rope free from its cliffside anchor.
The next day found them in Trollmeadow, again with only a few standing walls, though the town well was still usable. They found signs of a body dragged east and tracking it, the entrance to a great cave. They explored for a time, finding a great number of bones and dead in one chamber, including a recently slain Elf ranger. A cursory search for loot found nothing. Deeper in the caverns was an enormous but empty sarcophagus. Returning to the room with the bodies, they began to explore another side tunnel, and it was then that Cynthia (at the rear) was attacked by what seemed to be an enormous dead bear stuffed into scaled armor and wielding a gigantic axe.
It is now Fyrsunu 6. The Shakti crystal is full, with 8 stored Shakti. And we will continue the story in two weeks.
lostdelights 