No Holds Bard

Three weeks ago…

Hawkmoon is searching idly for more diamonds when he hears a noise nearby…

“Are you alone?”

Looking around, Hawkmoon can see no one but knows Estaban’s tricks well enough to recognise this as being one of his.
Durin’s in sight but too far away to hear anything.

“What do you want Estaban?”

“I need to hear your report. I need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your travelling companions. Their favoured spells and tactics. Their vulnerabilities and defensive shortcomings. Everything I need to know to defeat them when the time comes!”

Hawkmoon sighs and, while making sure he’s out of sight, tells Estaban everything he wants to hear.

“Very well - though I don't approve of your underhand tactics to influence the others. Am I not insurance enough?
Overall the Party are a disparate bunch. Different aims and goals. They don't act together, but somehow manage to salvage most situations. Usually through the use of powerful magics.

Bodush should probably be your first target. His firepower is unprecedented, but catch him early on and he would be an easy target.
After a few seconds, though, beware. He will fly, become invisible and also likely create a number of fake images to confuse your archers.
There's even a chance that he’ll pre-empt an attack and protect himself in advance.

The Werebear is nothing special in his human guise, but beware him once he changes. He becomes extremely strong. I would suggest avoiding melee with him if you can.

Next you may wish to focus on Thesis: the lizard-man. He and the Dwarf are both good close combatants, but the lizard has the slight edge. Being a barbarian, Durin's tactics are often baffling but once stuck in a combat he will quickly become angry and become a whirling dervish of axe! Be prepared for healing against these two. Split them up; Divide and conquer.

The pedantic Cleric: Eolar is more an annoyance than anything. He’s self serving and almost as shambolic in combat as the Dwarf. He will probably be called on to heal the others, but instead will try to damage you himself! He may call down the fury of his God, but catch him in melee and he will drop quickly.

Mara'ch, the new Kobold, is a tricky one. Keep your fighters away from him. He can't fight himself but is somehow able to sap the strength of others.
If you are looking for an easy kill, then shoot him. Be quick, though, as he will likely disappear like Bodush.

Use the element of surprise to your full advantage. Act quickly decisively. Concentrate your attacks against one target at a time.

I have no loyalty to these adventurers - but make no mistake. Turn on me as you would turn on them and I swear I will return from the very bowels of Hell to take my revenge upon you...”

There’s silence for a moment before Estaban speaks again.

“Good work Hawkmoon. You’ve confirmed my thoughts and given me everything I needed to know. When you arrive back here, do nothing until Bodush and Eolar have handed over the diamonds. No doubt my youngest son will try to speak up for his friends. As soon as he starts talking, shoot Bodush in the back.
As for me turning on you… save your oaths. A deal is a deal."

The Babies on the Boat go Whaaa Whaaa Whaaa

The journey back is surprisingly uneventful. This is lucky because there’s scarcely room to swing Hawkmoon’s cat.

The Elven Box-Ship contains:

Thesis the hulking Lizard-man.

The two Lizard-folk slaves.

Durin the stout Dwarf.

Eolar the tall Half Elf.

The (thankfully) human sized Ragnar.

Bodush the Sorcerer.

Gajapan the tiny viper.

Mara’ch the slightly larger Kobold.

And his unnamed rat.

Hawkmoon the Elven Archer.

Rou the cat.

Roly (the annoyingly obese) cleric.

The two Hamster-men.

The four Sailors.

The three boys.

The four girls.

The three Siren children.

A Riding horse.

And last but not least: Meldo the donkey.

A total of thirty-one creatures in a ship designed to hold fifteen.
Still if you get hungry…

Alternative Alignments

After the last email, I thought about what are Party would be if we used a combination of traditional and personality based alignments…

Mendez: Flamboyant Good
Thesis: Chaotic Selfish
Eolar: Lawful Rigid
Durin: Erratic Good
Hawkmoon: Cynical Neutral
Bodush: ‘I swear I’m Neutral’ Evil
Mara’ch: True Newt-ral
Ragnar: Awful Hairy.

:)

Hag’s Swag

Mara’ch and Hawkmoon swim to the treasure room and open up the door with the keys found on the old Hag’s dead body.
The room is wide but the ceiling is low. Both adventures are slightly built and the blue kobold has magically shrunken himself.
Still this room gives them a claustrophobic feeling.
The treasure litters the floor in piles but just as Mara’ch reaches for some an eel like creature shots out from its hiding place!
Mara’ch feels a shock of electricity shoot through him but before he can even register it, the eel is gone.
Realising that this might be a problem, Hawkmoon and Mara’ch wait for the others to deal with the annoying eels...

Treasure from the treasure room:

24,000sp
4,000gp
224pp
29 gems
A pearl encrusted comb
A crystal hourglass
A golden cup.

Treasure from the dead Sirens

19 Javelins
8 gems
8 golden tiaras.

Treasure from the dead Hag

A Crystal bowl
A jet-black amulet
3 gems

And a Spell book:

1st) Shield / Feather Fall / Obscuring Mist / Magic Missile / Sleep

2nd) Protection from Arrows / Mirror Image / Blindness / Gust of Wind / Continual Flame

3rd) Lightning Bolt / Water Breathing / Clairvoyance

4th) Ice Wall / Invisibility (Greater)

The Children are the Future

Roly gathers the seven remaining children around him. Despite the abundance of food and wine and the absolute safety of Bodush’s mansion, Roly doesn’t feel safe.
These adventurers seem oblivious to the suffering of others. Hawkmoon seems the coldest, treating the Hamster-men and Sailors as servants or worse.
Although the adventurers rescued all the children, other than poor Daniel, it seemed more out of challenge than concern.
Still the Were-bear, the Lizard-man and the Dwarf, did try to help.
Eolar the Half-Elf seems the most aloof. Roly has heard of St Cuthbert; He can even still remember the stories of its great navy from when he was a boy. They believe in order above all else. Order but not kindness.
Still the diamonds he’s found will partially make up for the loss of his treasure chests.
Rocking the little ones back and forth across his massive belly, Roly decides that he should stick to the Dwarf. Barbaric though he may be, at least he has a conscience.
He is also worried about the journey back to Shalalah. The Sorcerer’s spells leave him and the children unsettled and disorientated. It’s almost as if he is torn into strips while travelling through the nothingness.
The Kraken has been fed recently. Perhaps it’ll leave a ship alone?
If only they had one.

It’ll all End in Tears in the Fabric of Time and Space

Hawkmoon kicks at yet another diamond. How is it possible to be bored by such riches?
Still, all he wants is to go home. This mission has taken far too long.
Despite having training in the Eldritch arts, he feels nervous of Bodush’s ‘Teleport’ spell. He’s heard of terrible disasters befalling those who became over confident while using it.
Still he feels even more nervous of Eolar’s plan. The thought of travelling through the Plane of ‘Law’ makes him shudder.

Thank the (wrong) Gods!

Eolar, Ragnar, Hawkmoon and Durin finally reform from their gaseous forms and join Bodush, Thesis, Mara'ch and the others just inside the main wall of Ape city.
They are just discusiing what to do considering the deserted state of the city when a corpulent figure emerges from one of the buildings and waddles towards the newly arrived group.
“Pelor be praised, salvation is at hand!”
Though caked in dirt and looking like he hasn’t washed in years, Eolar easily recognises the vestments of a Cleric of Pelor.
He is leading eight smaller figures who turn out to be children. The eldest is a girl around eight, the youngest, a boy of four.
The fat priest looks at Eolar joyfully. “I’d almost lost my faith! How did you find us?”
The Cleric introduces himself as ‘Roly’ and though well into middle age, has a naïve look about him.
Perhaps it's the sight of the poor orphans that causes Bodush to surprise everyone by conjuring up a magical mansion, filled with delicious hot food and staffed by invisible servants.
Everyone soon forgets their immediate troubles and despite it still being early, they all relax in safety until the next morning.

Four’s a Cloud

Eolar leads Ragnar, Durin and Hawkmoon across the twenty-five or so miles. They travel high above the treetops but fail to see a single sailor or Hamster-man.
They do see several of the strange clearings that Hawkmoon had described after his scrying spell. About a hundred feet in diameter with single trees at their centre.
At the tremendous speed they’re travelling, it only takes them about half an hour before they arrive at the walled city.

Beaten by a Bunch of Damned Dirty Apes

Driven back by the baffling magics of the disgusting ugly man-things, the huge apes prepare themselves for another assault.
Disconcertingly though, the Party take this opportunity to make good their escape.
Eolar calls to the heavens and transforms himself, the massive Ragnar, Hawkmoon and Durin to smoke and they drift off into the air.
Bodush smirks to himself. “Only four?” he mutters under his breath.
Looking around he does a quick head count: Thesis, three sailors (two alive, one dead), and one of the freakish Hamster men.
He can do that. Just as he’s casting the spell however, the little blue Kobold, ‘Mara’ch’ sprints back into view from his hiding place.
Unable to take an extra person (regardless of his tiny size), Bodush is forced to abandon the dead sailor.
At least the apes won’t let his body go to waste.
With a flash of arcane light, they are gone.

Pellet of the Apes

Considering the standard of the opposition, the situation is actually quite grim.
The Party (Eolar, Thesis, Bodush, Durin, Hawkmoon, Mara’ch and Ragnar) have nursed the stricken Sky-ship to Ape island where it is currently beached.
They have moved inland into the jungle interior searching for any surviving crew-members (who bailed out using assorted two-floating or singular life saver balloons).
Hawkmoon used his arcane powers to discover the locations of a few of them and the Party have so far found three Human sailors and one of the Hamster men.
When they came to the fifth location, they found a ripped harness hanging from a tree and just as they were about to start searching they came under fire from at least a score of apes throwing rocks from the tree-tops.
Despite their crude tactics of whooping and throwing, the cover from the foliage and distance grants them quite an advantage.
Only Hawkmoon seems to be making it difficult for the apes so far.
Most everyone in the Party is injured and two of the Human sailors are unconscious or worse and so is the Hamster-man.
There is a city on the other side of the island but it’s at least 25 miles away!
Also, there are still 6 humans and 9 Hamster-men missing.

Current Hit points:

Mara'ch 37
Eolar 97
Thesis 171
Durin 154
Hawkmoon 61
Bodush 47
Ragnar 104


Initiative Order:

Bodush 23
Thesis 21
Fapes 21
Dapes 20
Napes 19
Mara'ch 19
Hawkmoon 14
Ragnar 14
Durin 7
Eolar 6

Good luck!

Eolaaaaaaaaaaagh!

Groaning softly as he comes around, the huge Ragnar rubs his temples.
He was sure he'd only drunk moderately...
Looking around he finds that he's somehow back on the Sky-ship. Staggering to his feet he leans over the side and can see an island pass by miles below. It's got a very strange looking mountain at its centre.
Slowly his memory returns to him...
A song...
An Island covered in diamonds...
Serpents!
His train of thought is interrupted however, by the Elf: Hawkmoon calling down from the rigging.
Is that a bird flying towards them?
No, it's too big to be a bird...
By the Mace of St Cuthbert, surely it's too massive even to fly?
Suddenly the air is rent with blasts of flame from the youthful Sorcerer and arrow after arrow zips through the sky, shot from Hawkmoon's magical bow.
Everything suddenly falls into chaos with the Sky-ship crew yelling instructions to each other,
Then, impossibly fast, the colossal creature is above them and it starts to slash and rend the fragile air-sacks over his head.
With a sickening crunch, the Sky-ship lurches sideways and down.
Ragnar's massive bulk works against him and he finds himself pitched sideways towards the side-rail.
He watches in dismay as the rigging proves just out of his reach.
For a dizzying moment Ragnar finds himself hovering in the air...
He's already calling Eolar's name when he starts to fall...

First Impressions

Hawkmoon stood to one side in Bodush's reception room. The surviving members of the party were stood talking with, presumably, another of their number. It appeard that he was called Mendez, and was obviously well liked and respected by the rest of the group. He was also obviously another archer and his almost grotesquely overt display of jewellery and finery spoke to Hawkmoon - maybe there would be money to made here, after all.

"Rou - come away form there".
The kitten had crept over to the chaise longue upon which the dead dwarf had been lain and, with a gleam in her eyes, was about to nibble on the fingers of the hand which hung towards the floor. The cat, it seemed, had a rather macabre fascination with the digits of the recently dead.

Having now met this group his first impressions are those of bewilderment. From what he'd been told of the success of this group he had expected them to be well organised and prepared. Instead he met them bedraggled and beaten - obviously fresh from a fight and completely unprepared for anything else. How Bodush had allowed a roving band of orks to infiltrate his mansion in his abence was unbelievably. Hawkmoon knew his magical gifts paled into insignificance nect to those of the scorceror, but still... A little imagination goes a long way.

His eyes fell again on the fallen Durin and Elogyn. It may well be a shame that they had died, but they really had no-one to blame for themselves, and he felt no sympathy towards them. It was inconceivable that a group of hardened adventurers would let this happen. His experience as a mercenary would surely be of use here...

He had developed some admiration for the prowess of Bodush and Wer however. They had responded quickly to the surprise attack, and had acquitted themselves well in the combat. The way that Bodush had managed to stay alive was... impressively disconcerting.

He walked over to join the main group. "You must be Mendez - I am Dulinithil Cu'Maksa, though you may find it easier to call me Hawkmoon Bowgentle. While the prosepect of visiting yet another of your homes fills me with dread of what may come to pass I find it hard to believe that anywhere could be less safe than here. For what little it may be worth, I would accept your offer."

A motion of his hand waves in the direction of Durin and Elogyn. "Perhaps it may be wise to prepare ourselves a little first though? Just in case, of course..."

Please allow me to introduce myself...

The charcoal grey short-haired kitten hissed and spat at the dying would-be thief. From his chest sprouted three arrows - still crackling slightly with electricity. A silent shadow stood over him and looked down with contempt in his green eyes. The silouhette of his ears against the dull , amber streetlight marked him out as an elf.

"Who... who are you?" sputtered the thief through a throat of foaming blood.
"Who am I?" sneered the standing form. "I am Dulinithil Cu'Maksa, though I doubt your common tongue could handle such subtle syllables. Instead you may know me as Hawkmoon Bowgentle - though why I was named this I do not know. I have no especial affinity for hawks nor moons, and neither is my bow gentle." Twisting an arrow so as to make the thief gurgle in pain, he added "A fact to which you can attest."

Hawkmoon continued. "You may also wish to know of the bow. The bow you sought to steal. The bow which instead has killed you. This is the Longbow of the Leaping Lightning and it is mine. I commissioned the creation of this bow long before your short life began." A cruel smile played across his lips. "And by one look at you I can tell it will survive you also."

The thief groaned - his life energy draining slowly and painfully from him as the blood pooled amongst the cracks between the cobblestones paving the dark alley way in which he lay. Hawkmoon did nothing to ease the suffering, though he took no particular pleasure from it. He had seen so many deaths in his long years serving in mercenary companies that now he had entered business for himself he was not about to go soft.

"I will give you some credit, nameless thief. You were quick. Too quick in fact. Too quick for most of your victims I am sure. Unfortunately for you, however, I am no mere bowman but have the gifts of the arcane to support me..."

"Now - up close - my suspicions as to the nature of this speed are confirmed. How you came by them I know, or care not. I do know and care, though, that such pretty footwear should not go wasted."

With that he bent down and dragged the boots roughly from the thief's feet - causing yet more blood to bubble up from the arrow wounds. Seating himself on a nearby kerb, he casually removed his own, and not overly worn, boots - tossing them carelessly over his shoulder - and replaced them with those he had just looted from the unfortunate thief.

Standing slowly Hawkmoon stretched his feet in the leathern boots to ease the fit. "They suit me better than they suited you, don't they Mr. Thief?!" He chuckled jovially, but received no answer. The thief's eternal soul had departed to whichever Hell his faith proposed.

Looking down at the kitten, who had already begun to gnaw on the dead man's toes, he shrugged at the dead thief's fate and said: "Come, Rou. The night is yet young and our struggle through this grim world must continue. Indeed, I have earlier espied that band of adventurers of whom I have heard many a tall tale..."