Castle Amber: A D&D Adventure

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 3:36 pm

Kalar keeps quiet as to how he doesn't think that will work too well, and instead asks Rob:

"Rob, I have an idea for a magical item that might suit you. However, I am short on materials. Might I use your cape for it? You will get it back as soon as I am done, you have my word."

Hrulgin turns to Kalar and says:

"Boss, if you're going to be taking that long here, it might be a good idea if I scout around a bit to see what might be going on elsewhere. Traveling through the night, I might be able to reach Galse in a few days. Might be a good idea to see what sort of information he's got and if there's been any news about us and the Inquisition."

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea. But be careful. Don't get into any sort of fights, and be sure to flee instead of engaging."

Kalar thinks for a while, and then says:

"However, if you are attacked, and if you're certain that the person attacking you is alone, then go ahead and paralyze that individual. If you're able to, see if you can turn that individual into a ghoul as well, we could always use more on our side. But no innocents. If you're attacked by a farmer or something who's trying to protect his family, then get out of there. But Inquisition members, bandits, outlaws, they're all fair game. Oh, and if you run into any undead who can understand you, see if you can't bring them into my service.

"I'll prepare a couple of sending spells each day, and I'll get in touch with you each day an hour after dawn, and an hour before nightfall."

"Right, boss. Understood."

And with that, Hrulgin dashes off.

Hrulgin will head for Galse. He will stick the the forest to avoid detection, and preferably to the treetops so he can see where he's going and so that he's not killed by bears. Once at Galse's inn, he will leave a note for Galse under cover of night to ask about how to meet up for information and news.

If Hrulgin is attacked by outlaws or by the Inquisition, he will flee, relying on the fact that he does not tire to escape those chasing him. If he is able to with minimal risk, he will attempt to kill and ghoulify the attacker.

If he meets any intelligent undead, and if there is no risk to himself, he will attempt to proselytize them into Kalar's service.

Both the ghouls and the other undead are for filling out Kalar's followers, he can have fifteen level 1 followers and one level 2 follower.

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 4:32 pm

Rob presses the Hat of Disguise into Rachelle's hands, and tries to hide his annoyance that she does not try it out right away.

Rob listens to Kalar's idea, and takes his spare Noble's outfit from his Bag of Holding. He removes the cape from it. It s nicer than the cape on his usual clothes, and he never wears it.

It bears a fake House Rottlerwits emblem that Rob made up starting with a variation of the crest of his Mother's House, except one of the Rampant Zebras is invisible. He has no idea if his father even has a House Crest.

Spoonweaver · Post by **Spoonweaver** » Sun Jun 14, 2015 6:23 am

Voulton got the gruff farmer to call for an escort. Voulton noticed that he was using a ring to do so. The party waited for the escort while deciding what they were going to do. The escort arrived and ushered the party forth. "Who all is coming with me?" asked the escort.

Meanwhile...
"While testing the spell I was able to pierce through the mist. I'm afraid what was behind the mist was worse than I could have guessed," Dan said in the presence of a huge dragon.
"We did know we were on a plane closely connected to the abyss," said the dragon in a booming voice. "What was out there does not matter. Whatever barrier protects his kingdom from a full scale demon invasion was not breached by your spell as we feared it might be. So, unless breaking the curse brings down that barrier, we'll never have to deal with anything outside."
"I hope you're right," replied Dan. "Anyways, this means we'll have to gather those four items again. Which means facing our old friend."
"Maybe you'll catch him on a good day," The dragon mused.

Though he called for an escort, Voulton did not return to the library. Instead, Rob, Rachelle and Lynda returned. They spent their time reading on various subjects. Lynda read about what might be found in dungeons and ancient crypts. Rachelle read more about the local religions, looking for answers. Rob decided to read up on the art of conversation, rather than participate in it as he did last time. The three were drawn into their research, as if magical forces were compelling them to do read.

Kalar and Voulton spent the time crafting. Weeks went by and the pair had finished their work. The other three had not returned yet, however. Kalar brushed it off though. "They'll be back, this happened last time too," he said to Voulton. Voulton, though very stoic, didn't have Kalar's newly discovered patience. He was planning to go and check on them just as they emerged from the cave once more. To them, it was as if less then a day had past. However, Kalar and Voulton assured them a month had past.

The preparations were ready. The party took this time to plan their next move.

Rachelle gains a permanent +6 arcane bonus to her knowledge religion skill
Lynda gains a permanent +6 arcane bonus to her knowledge dungeoneering skill
Voulton gains a permanent +2 arcane bonus to his knowledge history skill
Rob gains a permanent +2 arcane bonus to his diplomancy skill

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 5:41 pm

Rob admires the Standard that Kalar made for him, and sets about mounting it on Stumpy's saddle.

"Where are we going next friends?" Rob asks.

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 6:04 pm

"I'm glad you like the standard. It's not just for decoration though. Once a day, you can use it to grant all allied to you prowess in battle."

Kalar begins handing out other items to the group.

"Voulton, here is a vest. It may not seem much, but if you wear it, you will gain a measure of protection granted by my divine powers.

"Rachelle, these bracers will aid you in combat. They might not help much in the way of defense, but the extra power they grant you when you go into those berserk rages of yours will certainly be of use.

"Lynda... Recently, you have been able to fly, but as you need to hold onto the Sword of Sylaire, you can't use your bow. I would have made you an item to allow you to fly, but alas, that was beyond our monetary means. This item is instead, a bit... unorthodox. Wear these bracers, and you can at will manifest a second pair of arms. At will, you can cause them to retract into you again. They should allow you to use your bow while flying, something that will aid us immensely.

"Lastly, I have these silver stones for all of you. They are identical to the ones I gave to Rachelle. Once, and only once, you can use them to protect yourself against all attacks for a few seconds, enough time to regroup or to fall back.

"Here, there were 681 gold coins left over from the items I made. Lynda, you had best hang onto them."

Kalar places his own gear back into his pack before continuing.

"As for where we are off to, I say we stick to the plan. We raid Nathaire's stronghold and search it for clues and tools that we can use against the Inquisition. We are certainly wanted men and women now, so we had best be cautious. I propose that we travel through the night, so as to avoid unwanted attention. I have no need of sleep, and I can see in the dark, so I will take responsibility for moving the wagon through the night. However, we are still in need of horses, so we will need to procure those somehow. Until then, my bloodhulks can move the wagon.

"After Nathaire's stronghold, I propose we continue north to find Kathar's axe. It was used once against what could very well have been an agent of Levistus, and if that is the case then it is a weapon that we will need."

What about Hrulgin and his intel from Galse? Kalar had two daily Sendings to Hrulgin, so has some idea as to Hrulgin's progress.

Spoonweaver · Post by **Spoonweaver** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 4:15 am

After running into more dire bears three days into his journey, Hrulgin had turned back. When he was only a day away from camp, Hrulgin happened upon a man in a uniform that resembled the inquisitor's. The man spotted Hrulgin and then played it off as if he had seen nothing at all. Hrulgin decided to flee towards Vyones, but soon noticed the man chasing him. Hrulgin had never seen Jehan before he approached him in the forest. "What are you," asked Jehan.
"I'm a ghoul," Hrulgin replied. "I was transformed this way." Jehan drew his silver blade at that. Hrulgin escaped but not before taking a knife to the back. Hrulgin later noticed the knife had vanished and so had Jehan, or the man in what Hrulgin assumed was a high ranking inquisitor's uniform.
Communicating with Kalar, he chose to stay away from camp and keep on the move in the direction of Vyones. Hrulgin encountered only shadows after that. The shadows ignored him, but he did report them to Kalar.
After the party returned from the library, Kalar thought it might be time to finally call Hrulgin back. If the man had followed him this long he might follow him for yet another month. Hrulgin arrived back at camp the morning after everyone had left the library.
After purchasing the only two horses in the farm from the gruff farmer, the party set out towards Nathaire's lair.
As they traveled, some discussion was had over whether they should stop by Vyones on their way.

Hrulgin took 13 dmg.

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 4:51 am

On the topic of visiting Vyones on their way, Rob says

"I say lets not risk it. I don't want to talk to Gaspard again until we know better how he fits in Azedarc's schemes."

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 5:20 am

Voulton adjusts his new vest as he thinks. "They'd be looking for us in Vyones. No telling how short their memory is: It's been months since we saved their bacon. We're already well-outfitted, so we have no need of the shops there. The only thing we'd be able to get is information. We're risking our lives in Nathaire's stronghold to get information (We never did hear back from Moriamis' scouting expedition, did we?), so I guess the question is which information is most worth the risk?"

He hoists his shield up and down getting a feel for it, and practices throwing motions with the other hand. Lots of new things to consider in the heat of battle. Best to get used to them now. "Personally I think we go to Nathaire's first. If Vyones is burning to the ground when we go past, we can change our minds and help, obviously. But right now? There's nothing there for us but trouble. If we did kill Nathaire and can find something in his stronghold to prove it, that might buy us some good will at Vyones. It also takes us closer to Kathok's Axe, though I wonder now if his god Kor will let us lay claim to it."

Voulton wishes he'd read a bit more about Kor while at the library, but it doesn't matter now. If he wants us to find the axe we'll find it, and if not we'll make do without.

He's still keeping his eyes on Lynda off and on. She hasn't done anything yet, but the sting of being so close to home and yet still here hasn't faded over these months. He wonders if the Sword of Sylaire is really safe with her, if it wouldn't be better off in his own hands, or even Rachelles.

Feenicks · Post by **Feenicks** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 6:25 am

Rachelle, having mostly kept to her (physically new) self for now, pipes up. "Could we at least get some sort of plan for when we inevitably face things on the road? Letting them either catch up to us or running right into them hasn't really worked out well for us." Who knows how the party would fare when it got to Nathaire's lair if they couldn't even deal with what lay on the path to it?

...Rachelle also slowly gets the feeling that the wish Lynda used to get them here may have been better used, but can't think of any right now. After all, there was always the chance that trying to get out of whatever this place could be called would just fail, or only transport a few of them away. And who was to say whatever powered the castle wouldn't just take them back the next chance it got?

Did Rachelle ever get the armor in the end? Can't really tell from the text.

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 5:25 pm

"That is wise, Rachelle" says Rob "we should discuss tactics"

"I think we made several mistakes with the bears. First of all we underestimated them, and I blame myself for that a lot. Next, we tried head-on-brute-force against a foe that specializes in head-on-brute-force. We tried to out-bear bears in a bearfight."

Rob thinks some more...

"But I think even without those mistakes, we might have been able to take them if we had separated them. When we fight multiple strong foes, we need to try and take them on one-at-a-time. I should have tried to use my magic to daze or charm a couple of them, so we could focus all our attacks on whichever ones remained."

"We also need to coordinate our attacks-- and by me, I mean especially me! My Bardic Songs can strengthen you Rachelle, and you Voulton in battle, but I need to stay within shouting range so you can hear my magic and benefit from its effects."

"Just because Stumpy wears Horseshoes of Speed is no reason for me to dash out in front, especially because Lynda, with her ability to become ethereal and to fly can scout ahead so much more safely and effectively than any of us can"

Another idea occurs to Rob, but he hesitates before mentioning it. "I .... I almost think... perhaps we should go track down a few dire bears and take them out with STRATEGY just to get our confidence back!"

Then as an aside to Rachelle. "I notice you haven't tried the Hat of Disguise on yet. Do you want me to take it back? I didn't want to give offence. I can accept you the way you ...look... now."

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 8:46 pm

"You and Stumpy were doing good with your hit and run tactics. We should all have horses as fast... not that we'd be able to stay mounted. Not getting hit was definitely the right way to fight the bears." Voulton says, trying not to giggle at the out-bearing bears in a bearfight comment. I took one of 'em down, I woulda made a good bear.

"Hitting the strongest foe first seems like the right idea. Look at how fast the inquisitors split after we took down their.. hattiest member."

He doesn't address the "Let's go looking for trouble" strategy. It's clearly just bluster and better to let it go.

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 11:07 am

"Agreed. We should play to our strengths. And considering the forces we are up against, I do believe we will be facing forces far beyond us on a regular basis.

"I propose that should we encounter a strong opponent, the first move is sending in my undead. They are valuable resources, but we can more readily afford to lose them than we can another one of us.

"I agree with Voulton that you, Rob, were doing good with your hit and run tactics. It will take attention off the undead, giving them time to do as much damage as possible. Make use of the standard that I provided you, but judge well when to use it, as you can use it but once a day.

"Our two strongest hitters are Voulton and Rachelle, but as we've seen, they will not last long should their opponents overwhelm them. I hear, Voulton, that you managed to take down a bear alone. That is good. As much as possible, we should try picking things off one at a time. Try to work around the undead, picking off targets that have been separated.

"Lynda, your role is easy, I believe. Activate the bracers I gave you, and then fly into the air. From there, you would be in a good position to see the flow of battle. While in the air, you can call out orders to us while peppering the enemy with arrows. Because Lynda will have the best eyes on the field from up above, I propose that for the course of battles, we allow her to take leadership and follow her directions. No more fighting as individuals, but instead as a coordinated unit under her eye in the sky.

"As for myself, I will hang back and support everyone with spells. I will also need to keep back in order to direct the undead, and I will rely on Lynda to tell me where best to deploy them. I can fight in melee if need be, but I will only do so should the need arise. It would best be left to the specialists, Voulton and Rachelle.

"Whenever possible though, I will provide healing. In the din of battle, it might not be easy to hear one another, so I will rely on Lynda to inform me who needs to be healed.

"I believe in this group. We have accomplished and overcome much. If we work together, pooling our strengths and covering one another's weaknesses, I believe we can overcome much more."

Kalar does not respond to Rob's idea that they should go find some bears to kill. It will take up too much time, and he feels it would distract them from their current goal. He says nothing though, focusing instead on uniting the party.

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 11:12 am

Blast, this was not such a good idea after all. He should really have stayed with the others instead of offering to scout ahead.

Hrulgin moves his arm around. He can't exactly feel pain, but he can feel the damage that man's dagger did. Who was he? And if he was this close to the hideout, then this was pretty bad. He needed to get in touch with Kalar soon.

He decides to hide as best he can while waiting for Kalar's next Sending in order to figure out the rendezvous point.

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 6:39 pm

This seems like as good a time to mention it as any. "We've seen the power the Sword of Sylaire has against undead. Would we better off to have it on the ground where it could stab people, instead of Lynda using it to rain arrows from the sky? I don't understand her powers. It seems like attacks go right through her part of the time and other times she's uneffected by magic. Would bears even have been able to touch her?"

Later on he'll explain to Kalar "I didn't really beat the bear alone... they were busy eating Rachelle. I took one down and got a good lick in on the next one before we... ended up at the library"

Spoonweaver · Post by **Spoonweaver** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 7:46 pm

The party traveled on. The day past by. The party camped by the side of the road. The neither heard or saw anything of interest. They started back up the next day. Hrulgin met back up with the group early that day. There were no bear sightings nor inquisition sightings.
The party avoided Vyones and eventually came to the large river. The river was narrower closer to Vyones. There were also large bridges near the city. Neither of those things were where the party met the river. To the east, the city of Vyones. To the west, the possibility of a bridge eventually. Rob, the most knowledge of the area, didn't know whether the was a bridge to the west or not. If there was, he had never heard of it. To the north was the river. The river had a study flow. The current seemed strong. It seemed about 500 yards across at the narrowest section.