Mourning in Malthlyn

The mood on the trek back to Malthlyn was sombre. Jyrdani, her face still streaked with the traces of her tears, stayed silent while maintaining a distance from the dour dwarf. Despite his efforts, Syrus was unable to elicit any response from the grieving barbarian. Arriving back at the town, Jyrdani walks away from the party opting to distance herself from her friends. She walks between several structures before turning a corner out of sight of the inn and, with her back to a wall, she slides to the floor and sobs. 

Norrin remained silent as the group made the sombre trip back to the village, his thoughts a whirl. Ever since coming east, he has seen many trusted companions come and go, mostly because their travels and fortune carried them elsewhere. But there are those whose fate it was to not continue on life's journey at all. And that number is four. Four times now, has Norrin had to watch close friends give their lives so the others may live. And it does not sit well with him. Being a hero is to vanquish evil, loot forgotten tombs, protect those who can't protect themselves, and to celebrate the victories. But this last trip is anything but celebratory. First, he lost the ranger Tarrin, a young quiet woman, when Dauphin's Inn was infiltrated by the Crimson Monk Turuko and assassinated her in her sleep. Many died that night, and Norrin feels responsible. The signs of impending doom were there, he just didn't see them. Then he lost his good friend Jack when the ranger went back to cover the tracks of their escape from Gurzun's Festhall. He thought they were safe, and Jack was just being cautious. In hindsight, he should have accompanied Jack, and he would be alive today. Now the loss of Erasmus and Qiviel weighed heavily on his shoulders. He will always remember the look in the monk's eyes as he told Norrin to go -- a look of someone at peace and accepting his fate. Norrin hopes he can meet death with the same calm demeanour as Erasmus had. He lied to Jyrdani when he told her that Erasmus was covering their escape. He had to, or else she would have returned to rescue him and most likely she would have met the same fate. But she is alive, and her and Erasmus' baby has a chance at life. She can hate him for lying to her with every fibre of her being, and he will be fine with that. He would not have honoured Erasmus' memory if he did not at least try to protect her and get her safely away. Then a few minutes later, Qiviel goes down, delaying the pursuit of the bullywugs. As a paladin, she was sworn to fight evil and protect good. She had done that, even disrupting the bullywug priest's summoning spell and allowing the rest to escape. He will raise a mug in her honour tonight. So is this what it means to be a hero, he asks himself? No one told him about this; the tavern tales he listened to while growing up in Waterdeep only spoke of the victories and the trophies, of the glory and the triumph. No one said anything of the pain and sadness. Maybe the grizzled old veterans weaving those tales left that part out. Maybe for good reason.

:-( I can't "like" this but I do love it. In a very sad way.

Kimberly P. said: :-( I can't "like" this but I do love it. In a very sad way. Me too. Norrin, you ol' softy! 

It's a miserable day in Mathlyn. Heavy rain rattles off the pitched roofs, overflowing ditches spill onto the uneven road, a hooded rider clatters into the hamlet on a mud-splattered horse. "Where can I find Lord Norrin's crew!" Barks the rider, startling a soggy guard sheltering from the downpour in the lea of the gate.  " Yonder ." Says the young levy, waving his spear at a two-story building.   " Bloody idiot adventurer. " Mutters the guard under his breath as the rider slides silently off a blowing palfrey onto muddy cobblestones and marches into the Road House.  Dripping wet, caked in mud, careless of the sombre atmosphere, the rider crosses the tavern, muddy boot prints in his wake, he draws back his cowl, causing several villagers to gasp—the rider is a half-orc.   "They got one of them in Helix." Mutters a villager.   Ted looks to each of you, breathing heavily from the hard ride.   "I went back to the caverns and searched for Qiviel and Ras but found nothing, no corpses, no equipment, no frog folk, nothing!"   Silence. Rainwater drips from Ted, a pool of muddy water expands on the floorboards around him.    "Could have at least brushed his boots." Complains a waitress.   "It's certainly not house trained." Somebody sneers. "Dudes, don't you get it? The Bullywugs must have taken them; they might still be alive!" Says Ted, exasperated.   He continues imploring.   "I hear there's a dude in Helix who's fought the Bullywugs; maybe he knows where they lair. I'm going to find them; who's with me?" He looks at you hopefully.  "If I can't rescue my friends, I will give them vengeance!" Ted's yellow eyes narrow, he grins wickedly.   "Yeah, I'm talking toadal annihilation!"

Fraener kicks a chair out from the table towards Ted. “Sit down lad, before you flood the place.” He orders ale and meat for the half Orc and makes room by the fire. “Now you say the Bullywugs have taken our fallen friends? Would the witch give up her prey so easily to the toads? Either way if there’s any chance they are alive we must make every effort to find them.”   Paying the serving girl with good silver he rolls out the well worn travel map of the area, holding down the edges with the tavern’s battered, pewter tankards. “Helix, you say?”  He draws a big X over the place not far to the east north east on the South Moors. ( Helix Manor pop. 632 - Sir Kell Ironguard, a well known warrior knight, a matrilineal cousin of Baron Solkar Grimstead.) Matt said: It's a miserable day in Mathlyn. Heavy rain rattles off the pitched roofs, overflowing ditches spill onto the uneven road, a hooded rider clatters into the hamlet on a mud-splattered horse. "Where can I find Lord Norrin's crew!" Barks the rider, startling a soggy guard sheltering from the downpour in the lea of the gate.  " Yonder ." Says the young levy, waving his spear at a two-story building.   " Bloody idiot adventurer. " Mutters the guard under his breath as the rider slides silently off a blowing palfrey onto muddy cobblestones and marches into the Road House.  Dripping wet, caked in mud, careless of the sombre atmosphere, the rider crosses the tavern, muddy boot prints in his wake, he draws back his cowl, causing several villagers to gasp—the rider is a half-orc.   "They got one of them in Helix." Mutters a villager.   Ted looks to each of you, breathing heavily from the hard ride.   "I went back to the caverns and searched for Qiviel and Ras but found nothing, no corpses, no equipment, no frog folk, nothing!"   Silence. Rainwater drips from Ted, a pool of muddy water expands on the floorboards around him.    "Could have at least brushed his boots." Complains a waitress.   "It's certainly not house trained." Somebody sneers. "Dudes, don't you get it? The Bullywugs must have taken them; they might still be alive!" Says Ted, exasperated.   He continues imploring.   "I hear there's a dude in Helix who's fought the Bullywugs; maybe he knows where they lair. I'm going to find them; who's with me?" He looks at you hopefully.  "If I can't rescue my friends, I will give them vengeance!" Ted's yellow eyes narrow, he grins wickedly.   "Yeah, I'm talking toadal annihilation!"

"Thank you, Frae." Ted sits fidgeting nervously, suddenly very self-conscious.  He removes Jack's old gauntlet's and stabs the X with a dry green finger.  "Hendon the Miller of Helix."  Says Ted nodding, gaining confidence.  "He is a good man and knows the Moors like the back of his hand.  He may be able to help us."  Ted slumps back into the chair and attacks the ale and meat savagely gnaw, gulp, gnaw, gulp "Um good."  gnaw, gulp, gnaw, gulp "food cooked."

Strohm was reminded how grim these adventures as he nearly lost his life in the Mistwood Mine, even more, frightening was leaving the thought of leaving his women alone. That fear managed to help him escaped from certain doom in the hands of the toadmen but left two of his friends to their deaths.  Strohm wanted to leave and return to D'Ashe Manor but Malthyn still needs heroes to guard it against the followers of the toad god. He seeks solace in the only way he knew how and spends the nights of Malthyn with Finira the bar wench of Ore Road Inn.  

A few days had passed with Jyrdani in a quiet, contemplative mood. Despite the return of Ted and the news of his interesting discovery, she had lost all hope of seeing her lover again. Her sorrow began to subside, being replaced with anger. He had promised that he would stay safe. He promised not to be reckless and abandon her. The words of the others, trying to convince her that he had done a brave and noble thing failed to break through. The brave and noble thing for Erasmus to do would have been to come home with her and be a father to their child. Now she’s going to have to raise a baby on her own. What did she know about bringing up a child? It was not all that long ago she was but a child herself. Had events not transpired as they did, she would not have been forced to grow up as quickly as she had. So, what now? Does she stay with the party and risk her own life and that growing inside her? That would be foolish but she has nowhere to go, nowhere she can call home. Fraener had offered a roof, of sorts, in the halls of Khundrakar once they were made safe, but she doubted that offer still stood. D’Ashe Manor was no place to bring up a child, although she had become friends with a couple of the girls during her various stays there. She chuckled to herself as she recalled Erasmus’s embarrassment when the scantily clad girls would dance past suggestively. She couldn’t move like they did, but he never seemed to complain in the privacy of their bedchamber. Gods! There she goes again, thinking about the one man who had shown her love and whom she would never see again. Tears began to streak down her cheeks again. She steels herself. The tears do not stop, but she begins to sort through her pack. The greatsword she carries, magic though it is, she’ll never use. She has become accustomed to fighting with Ironwolf, and the shield she claimed with it from the treasure room beneath Skulnar Keep. Maybe someone in the party would appreciate it? If not, someone will probably want it. Her chain bikini top would likely be useless to the remaining members of the party, but she may be able to get some gold in exchange for it somewhere, right? The half plate she claimed from the late Jack Blackthorn was a good fit. Perhaps she should keep that, both in memory of the fallen ranger, and in case she ever needs to venture out again in future. The rest of her kit is standard fayre, torches, tinderbox, bedroll. She’ll need those on the road while she looks for somewhere to live. The only other items of note are the chunks of rock she carried from the mine. These are utterly useless to her, she has neither the skill nor knowledge required to extract the mithral contained within. She paid a brief visit to Malied, the only person she’d seen with parchment and quill, and asked if she could have a page. She wrote, as best she could, a note to Fraener to leave with the bag of rubble for him to find after she had departed: "Frayner I am sorry for what I did. I wanted to get Ras back and I put every one in danger. I thort we could beat the monsters but I was wrong. I can not stay here any more. I am going to find some where to live. Thank you for being a freind to Ras and me. I will miss him. I no you said to keep it but the ore is yours. I can not do any thing with it but I hope you can make some thing special with it. I hope you get to go back home one day. I do not no where I am going to live with the baby but you will always be wellcome. I hope you can forgive me. Jyrdani"   The following morning, Jyrdani entered the taproom of the inn with her pack and dressed for travel. She laid the greatsword (+1) on one of the tables and asked if anyone wanted it. “I’ll only try selling it no one claims it.” She explained. “I’m heading out. I cannot bear to be near here, where he is, any longer. I will go back to Lady Barbara’s place and see if I can maybe stay there for a little while, but then I’ll be moving on. I need to find somewhere safe for us,” she put a hand on her belly unconsciously “and probably somewhere away from the memory of Erasmus. “I will try to send word to Lady Barbara once I know where I’ll be staying. I wish you all the very best on your travels and adventures. I hope you all stay safe and are successful. Thank you all for being our friends. If you do find his body, I know he had lots of gold. I hope you can put it to good use.” She makes her way over to Syrus, standing by the bar. “Syrus, you have been a very good friend to me over the past few months. Until I met you and Erasmus, I’d never really stayed with one group of people for very long since leaving home. You will always be welcome wherever me and the baby end up. I hope you will come and visit us as often as your adventuring allows?”

If Fraener sees Jyrdani or her note before she leaves he’ll explain that he wasn’t cross at her for attempting the rescue but for starting then giving up when they were so close. “A job is either done or it’s not.”  He will also reinforce his offer that both she and the child will always have a home and family with his people; either at Khundrakar when it is reclaimed or among his few followers wherever they find themselves until then. He will gently suggest she go to his men at D’Ashe Manor and get them to sort things for her until he can follow up this most recent lead on Erasmus. He also gives her 1,000GP in bullion and coin to keep regardless of her choice.  Tim M. said: A few days had passed with Jyrdani in a quiet, contemplative mood. Despite the return of Ted and the news of his interesting discovery, she had lost all hope of seeing her lover again. Her sorrow began to subside, being replaced with anger. He had promised that he would stay safe. He promised not to be reckless and abandon her. The words of the others, trying to convince her that he had done a brave and noble thing failed to break through. The brave and noble thing for Erasmus to do would have been to come home with her and be a father to their child. Now she’s going to have to raise a baby on her own. What did she know about bringing up a child? It was not all that long ago she was but a child herself. Had events not transpired as they did, she would not have been forced to grow up as quickly as she had. So, what now? Does she stay with the party and risk her own life and that growing inside her? That would be foolish but she has nowhere to go, nowhere she can call home. Fraener had offered a roof, of sorts, in the halls of Khundrakar once they were made safe, but she doubted that offer still stood. D’Ashe Manor was no place to bring up a child, although she had become friends with a couple of the girls during her various stays there. She chuckled to herself as she recalled Erasmus’s embarrassment when the scantily clad girls would dance past suggestively. She couldn’t move like they did, but he never seemed to complain in the privacy of their bedchamber. Gods! There she goes again, thinking about the one man who had shown her love and whom she would never see again. Tears began to streak down her cheeks again. She steels herself. The tears do not stop, but she begins to sort through her pack. The greatsword she carries, magic though it is, she’ll never use. She has become accustomed to fighting with Ironwolf, and the shield she claimed with it from the treasure room beneath Skulnar Keep. Maybe someone in the party would appreciate it? If not, someone will probably want it. Her chain bikini top would likely be useless to the remaining members of the party, but she may be able to get some gold in exchange for it somewhere, right? The half plate she claimed from the late Jack Blackthorn was a good fit. Perhaps she should keep that, both in memory of the fallen ranger, and in case she ever needs to venture out again in future. The rest of her kit is standard fayre, torches, tinderbox, bedroll. She’ll need those on the road while she looks for somewhere to live. The only other items of note are the chunks of rock she carried from the mine. These are utterly useless to her, she has neither the skill nor knowledge required to extract the mithral contained within. She paid a brief visit to Malied, the only person she’d seen with parchment and quill, and asked if she could have a page. She wrote, as best she could, a note to Fraener to leave with the bag of rubble for him to find after she had departed: "Frayner I am sorry for what I did. I wanted to get Ras back and I put every one in danger. I thort we could beat the monsters but I was wrong. I can not stay here any more. I am going to find some where to live. Thank you for being a freind to Ras and me. I will miss him. I no you said to keep it but the ore is yours. I can not do any thing with it but I hope you can make some thing special with it. I hope you get to go back home one day. I do not no where I am going to live with the baby but you will always be wellcome. I hope you can forgive me. Jyrdani"   The following morning, Jyrdani entered the taproom of the inn with her pack and dressed for travel. She laid the greatsword (+1) on one of the tables and asked if anyone wanted it. “I’ll only try selling it no one claims it.” She explained. “I’m heading out. I cannot bear to be near here, where he is, any longer. I will go back to Lady Barbara’s place and see if I can maybe stay there for a little while, but then I’ll be moving on. I need to find somewhere safe for us,” she put a hand on her belly unconsciously “and probably somewhere away from the memory of Erasmus. “I will try to send word to Lady Barbara once I know where I’ll be staying. I wish you all the very best on your travels and adventures. I hope you all stay safe and are successful. Thank you all for being our friends. If you do find his body, I know he had lots of gold. I hope you can put it to good use.” She makes her way over to Syrus, standing by the bar. “Syrus, you have been a very good friend to me over the past few months. Until I met you and Erasmus, I’d never really stayed with one group of people for very long since leaving home. You will always be welcome wherever me and the baby end up. I hope you will come and visit us as often as your adventuring allows?”

Chris T. said: If Fraener sees Jyrdani or her note before she leaves he’ll explain that he wasn’t cross at her for attempting the rescue but for starting then giving up when they were so close. “A job is either done or it’s not.”  "Thank you, Fraener. That does make me feel a little better. Had things gone differently, or if we had gone in the way we cleared first time, perhaps we could have finished the job. We made the wrong choice, and now we have to live with that. But at least we are alive. More of us would have died if we hadn't have left." He will also reinforce his offer that both she and the child will always have a home and family with his people; either at Khundrakar when it is reclaimed or among his few followers wherever they find themselves until then. He will gently suggest she go to his men at D’Ashe Manor and get them to sort things for her until he can follow up this most recent lead on Erasmus. He also gives her 1,000GP in bullion and coin to keep regardless of her choice.  "You are too generous and I do not wish to accept your money; however, I can tell from your face that I won't be leaving here without it. "I will check in with your men at Lady Barbara's. If it isn't too much to ask, can you perhaps give me something to show them so they know that you sent me? I never really spoke to any of them all that much." 

Fraener pens and seals a letter to the effect that Jyrdani and her child should be rendered every assistance by the Durgeddin. He asks her to deliver the magical hand axe and battle axe he’s been carrying since finding them on the dead Ranger along with his own +1 Warhammer to his followers as reward for their faithful service.  Edit: though with his fancy new 3rd level spells he could use Sending. Perhaps arrange for his men to meet Jyrdani at Dwarfhome? 

"Thank you, Fraener. I'm sorry again for upsetting you, and I'm sorry for thinking that meant you wouldn't want me around. Your are an honourable dwarf, and I should have known that you would stand by your word. I will indeed pass on these weapons to your men." Jyrdani stoops down to give Fraener a hug. "You have been a great friend to Erasmus and I, even though we... I... haven't known you all that long. I hope I'll be able to stay in touch through Lady Barbara. And who knows? Maybe one day we'll get to slay a dragon together. When the baby is grown up, of course!"

With Fraener’s new Sending spell he will be able to keep in touch with Jyrdani, wherever she is :) 

Gentle Repose + RevIvify.  I just want to check that you can use the two in conjunction. By my reading Gentle Repose suspends them from the moment you cast the spell in their exact state and time essentially stops for them. This lasts 10 days so, as we caught Ted  in the first minute after he died, then we have 10 days to cast Revivify?  Providing I got this bit right I’ll do an in character ‘raising’ at Dwarfhome. 

That's right Chris.

Thank you very much for trying to keep Ted outa Shargaas cold dark hell Chris :-D.  Exciting game, I had fun, nice to dnd with you all again and to get to say bye (for now) to Tim.  Cheers! 

Cheers guys. 

Matt said: Thank you very much for trying to keep Ted outa Shargaas cold dark hell Chris :-D.  Exciting game, I had fun, nice to dnd with you all again and to get to say bye (for now) to Tim.  Cheers!  Cheers Matt, it has been a blast! :) 

Fraener carefully lays out the body of his friend, Ted. Using a slim mithril stylus he draws the Dwarven life runes upon the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, chest and forehead as he was shown by his mentor. His constant, low mumbling prayer seems to slow time in the dusty, wooden walled chamber leant to him at Dwarfstead, leant it has to be said with no degree of good will when the  deceased’s Orc blood was revealed. Indeed even the kindly, Mirna Norsdottir had questioned if Father Moradin would consent to restore life to an Yrch, the traditional enemy of his people.  Fraener had to believe that the Dvarfatter saw past the form and into the heart of a man.  But now he had to concentrate. This would be the most potent magic he had ever attempted and the life of his friend depended on every aspect of the complex ritual been perfect.  The last Rune complete, he set aside his materials and stood over Ted’s still form, his right hand touching the Y shape he’d drawn onto the forehead.  Fraener, an imposing sight, bareheaded but dressed in the massive, shining armour of his ancestors begins to chant the words of power required to restore life. “The hearth is cold The hammer still No heat left in the iron The body here Has work to do Calls Fraener your scion Restore  breath Into his heart Be it Moradin’s desire?!” The painted runes glow hot, like molten metal. Fraener holds his breath in anticipation....

GM: As the diamonds (399gp) are consumed, Moradin grants his blessing and Ted the Half-Orc awakens!

Ted shudders to life, and he sits bolt upright, his hands clutch at his chest where the orc buried his axe.  Eyes wide, he looks around.  "Woah!  Frae, you are most excellent.  Thank you, dude."

So folks, is it off to Helix this afternoon to follow up Ted’s lead on our fallen friends? 

Ted wipes the last of the giant carrion moth intestine from his face with a fireball damaged sleeve and says .  "I reckon we've found the witches lair and it is most heinous."

Fraener grins at Ted through his blood flecked beard. “Aye! It’s a glorious fight!”

Night fog laps at the walls of Malthlyn, giving the hamlet the appearance of a small island in a misty lake. Atop the palisade, a tired sentry draw's her cloak to keep out the night chill.   The Road House taproom is warm and cosy. Malthlyn's defenders, off duty militia and adventurers enjoy a lull in raids. Ted sits by the hearth, engrossed in Visthis Journal, bar cat nestled in his lap. "Whoah, dude." He says to nobody in particular. "It's like the story McCready told me, up in the mountains." He continues, eyes glazed from whatever he's been smoking. "There was an outpost in the frozen north. The monks or soldier dudes stationed there found this Thing buried in ice and brought it back to base. Well, the Thing was only asleep and when it woke up it used powerful mutating magic, to infect and control the ice base dudes one by one.  But a few hero dudes fought back, burning the outpost and mutants, then fleeing onto the glacier."   The usual hubbub of the taproom subsides into silence; someone says. " You've been smoking too much Thing mate."  and the crowd ripples with laughter. " But what's that got to do with Malthlyn?"   asks a pot boy.   "Well, the Mathen dudes are like the ice base dudes. They're like erm.." Ted glances around, looks down at barcat "..the catalyst, their return has woke the 'Master' Thing and the curse, and now 'Master' Thing is expanding its territory, mutating dudes and wildlife as its power grows."   Ranger McCready.

TPK'd the Sunday live (Barrowmaze/Helix) group today! RIP Ted's brother Manu! :-O M12 T3 (22/8/21): Winter Festival approaching. One snowy night, orcs attack the Brazen Strumpet, but are defeated by the defenders led by Manu, Ripper and a dwarf warrior, Brago of the Oceans. One orc is captured, questioned and released after Brago removes a leg. Ripper gets it on with the night's entertainment, a lusty half-elf Bard named Roxanne Barr.  Next day, Manu, Ripper, Brago and the men-at-arms Milly & Mathor crew the miller's flat-bottomed boat out onto the marshes, seeking the lair of the giant vultures who slew Krago & Herald. They do not return. finis (for now)