409 - Jul 7
The party left the fort at the Antonine Wall at 0800 on July 7, Hester at point with Aileil sweeping the flanks.
Progress was slow due to the livestock, but steady. The party covered 16 miles (meaning that Hadrian's wall should be about 85 miles away).
The night was uneventful. The following morning (July 8), the party moved off and came upon a Leprechaun in a bright red shirt sitting in a small tree. It was their old friend from the forest.
He advised the party that, about 8 miles away was a dead forest in the midst of which was a rocky hill with a cave in it in which dwelt a fearsome Necromancer named Philocrates. Philocrates is from Greece and fled the Empire after being involved in some dreadful affair. He conducts ghastly (or should that be ghouly?) experiments in his cave. The Leprechaun said that the Necromancer had some powerful magical items and he (the Leprechaun) would be keen on acquiring any magic mirrors that Philocrates might have.
The Leprechaun further advised that the party was being followed by a group of evil adventurers.
The party comprised:
- A Kobold Warlock (a survivor of the party's forest ambush).
- A High Elf Female Wizard (another ambush survivor).
- A male Human Ranger who appeared to have poisons.
- A male Human Cleric.
- A male High Elf Wizard.
- A Goblin Rogue.
- An Orc Barbarian.
The party was about 30 miles to the north of the PCs and appeared to be moving at a pace which kept them at the same distance from the party even though (being unencumbered by livestock) they could presumably move much faster.
The male Elf Wizard seemed to be using a variety of birds (thrushes, owls and terns had been noticed) to spy on the PCs. The birds went out at dawn (or dusk in the case of the owls) then returned at dusk (dawn).
Having absorbed this information, the party moved on deciding to explore the Necromancer's cave.
As the Leprechaun predicted, after several miles the party found themselves in a dreary forest of dead and withered trees and dry yellowed grass. The forest was about 300 yards in diameter and in its centre was a hill about 120' high covered in rocks. Half way up the hill a cave entrance could be seen.
The party moved up carefully. They came to a cave entrance which opened out into a 30' by 30' cavern with a ricketty looking rope bridge visible spanning a 40' wide crevasse of great depth. On the far side of the bridge a solid looking oak door was visible.
Aradec crossed the bridge and examined the door. Suddenly he froze in place, apparently paralyzed by some effect. Vincenzo, recalling his lessons in "Glyphs and Wards" at the Magic Academy, opined that some sort of warding spell had been cast on the door. Taryyn crossed the bridge and attempted to pull Aradec to safety, but was himself paralyzed.
Hester then moved up and, with great care, secured a rope around Taryyn's ankle. Vincenzo then used the Wand of Levitation on Taryyn to lift him and then pull him back across the bridge.
The paralysis wore off after several minutes.
Aradec again examined the door and, in an impressive display of thiefly prowess, discerned that a glyph had been cast on the door. He neutralized the glyph.
Taryyn forced the door open (the lock proved too hard for Aradec to pick) and was confronted by two hideous looking undead. They were 7' tall and looked like exhumed corpses that had been surgically modified. They had very thin extra long arms, wide wedge-shaped heads and very wide mouths that featured glittering black teeth from which vapour exuded.
Vincenzo, who was clearly a swot at the Academy, identified the monsters as Blasphemes and commented that they were bloody dangerous.
The Blasphemes were clearly waiting for the party as they stood on either side of the door and lunged at Taryyn. Taryyn received a vicious bite which dazed him and drained his strength.
Melee ensued with Aileil wading into the fray. Alaricus, conscious that Mind Thrust would have no effect on these creatures summoned an Astral Construct and had it attack the Blasphemes from behind. Vincenzo zapped one of the Blasphemes with a Magic Missile Spell.
Donuk attempted to turn the undead but they viewed his gestures with contempt.
Hester and Aradec sniped at the monsters.
The Blasphemes proved to be fearsome opponents and both Aileil and Taryyn received terrible wounds and felt their strength being rapidly drained away and were repeatedly dazed.
Taryyn, AIiel and the Construct all landed solid blows and Hester and Aradec were able to score some hits, but the creatures had tough hides and seemed relatively unscathed.
The Construct played a key role as it attracted the attention of one Blaspheme. If both of the undead had focused on the PCs then Taryyn and maybe Aileil could have been in serious trouble. The Construct eventually was destroyed.
At this point one of the Blasphemes moved across the room to an open doorway - it appeared to be talking to an invisible presence. It then passed through the doorway and the doorway sudddenly was filled with some sort of energy wall.
The other Blaspheme then vanished (an Invisibility Spell according to the insufferable Vincenzo). A secret door was seen to open in a nearby wall.
The PCs carefully checked the secret door. Beyond a narrow corridor could be seen. There was also a floating skull which delivered a piercing shriek whjich deafened some of the PCs, presumably another warding spell of some sort ("Skull Watch" I reckon" said smug Vincenzo). A wall of force identical to the one that had appeared in the doorway appeared in the corridor.
Aradec fired at the force wall in the doorway and saw his arrow reduced to a blob of molten metal and ash.
At this point, given Taryyn and Aileil's weakened state and the lethality of the Blasphemes, it was decided to retreat and try and recuperate. The party caught up with the Leprechaun (now wearing a green and red striped shirt). He led the PCs to a cave to hide in. He expressed sympathy over their injuries and offered to help if they promised him two magic items of his choice when Philocrates was defeated. The party decided to examine their options.
Current time, 1400 on July 8.
Progress was slow due to the livestock, but steady. The party covered 16 miles (meaning that Hadrian's wall should be about 85 miles away).
The night was uneventful. The following morning (July 8), the party moved off and came upon a Leprechaun in a bright red shirt sitting in a small tree. It was their old friend from the forest.
He advised the party that, about 8 miles away was a dead forest in the midst of which was a rocky hill with a cave in it in which dwelt a fearsome Necromancer named Philocrates. Philocrates is from Greece and fled the Empire after being involved in some dreadful affair. He conducts ghastly (or should that be ghouly?) experiments in his cave. The Leprechaun said that the Necromancer had some powerful magical items and he (the Leprechaun) would be keen on acquiring any magic mirrors that Philocrates might have.
The Leprechaun further advised that the party was being followed by a group of evil adventurers.
The party comprised:
- A Kobold Warlock (a survivor of the party's forest ambush).
- A High Elf Female Wizard (another ambush survivor).
- A male Human Ranger who appeared to have poisons.
- A male Human Cleric.
- A male High Elf Wizard.
- A Goblin Rogue.
- An Orc Barbarian.
The party was about 30 miles to the north of the PCs and appeared to be moving at a pace which kept them at the same distance from the party even though (being unencumbered by livestock) they could presumably move much faster.
The male Elf Wizard seemed to be using a variety of birds (thrushes, owls and terns had been noticed) to spy on the PCs. The birds went out at dawn (or dusk in the case of the owls) then returned at dusk (dawn).
Having absorbed this information, the party moved on deciding to explore the Necromancer's cave.
As the Leprechaun predicted, after several miles the party found themselves in a dreary forest of dead and withered trees and dry yellowed grass. The forest was about 300 yards in diameter and in its centre was a hill about 120' high covered in rocks. Half way up the hill a cave entrance could be seen.
The party moved up carefully. They came to a cave entrance which opened out into a 30' by 30' cavern with a ricketty looking rope bridge visible spanning a 40' wide crevasse of great depth. On the far side of the bridge a solid looking oak door was visible.
Aradec crossed the bridge and examined the door. Suddenly he froze in place, apparently paralyzed by some effect. Vincenzo, recalling his lessons in "Glyphs and Wards" at the Magic Academy, opined that some sort of warding spell had been cast on the door. Taryyn crossed the bridge and attempted to pull Aradec to safety, but was himself paralyzed.
Hester then moved up and, with great care, secured a rope around Taryyn's ankle. Vincenzo then used the Wand of Levitation on Taryyn to lift him and then pull him back across the bridge.
The paralysis wore off after several minutes.
Aradec again examined the door and, in an impressive display of thiefly prowess, discerned that a glyph had been cast on the door. He neutralized the glyph.
Taryyn forced the door open (the lock proved too hard for Aradec to pick) and was confronted by two hideous looking undead. They were 7' tall and looked like exhumed corpses that had been surgically modified. They had very thin extra long arms, wide wedge-shaped heads and very wide mouths that featured glittering black teeth from which vapour exuded.
Vincenzo, who was clearly a swot at the Academy, identified the monsters as Blasphemes and commented that they were bloody dangerous.
The Blasphemes were clearly waiting for the party as they stood on either side of the door and lunged at Taryyn. Taryyn received a vicious bite which dazed him and drained his strength.
Melee ensued with Aileil wading into the fray. Alaricus, conscious that Mind Thrust would have no effect on these creatures summoned an Astral Construct and had it attack the Blasphemes from behind. Vincenzo zapped one of the Blasphemes with a Magic Missile Spell.
Donuk attempted to turn the undead but they viewed his gestures with contempt.
Hester and Aradec sniped at the monsters.
The Blasphemes proved to be fearsome opponents and both Aileil and Taryyn received terrible wounds and felt their strength being rapidly drained away and were repeatedly dazed.
Taryyn, AIiel and the Construct all landed solid blows and Hester and Aradec were able to score some hits, but the creatures had tough hides and seemed relatively unscathed.
The Construct played a key role as it attracted the attention of one Blaspheme. If both of the undead had focused on the PCs then Taryyn and maybe Aileil could have been in serious trouble. The Construct eventually was destroyed.
At this point one of the Blasphemes moved across the room to an open doorway - it appeared to be talking to an invisible presence. It then passed through the doorway and the doorway sudddenly was filled with some sort of energy wall.
The other Blaspheme then vanished (an Invisibility Spell according to the insufferable Vincenzo). A secret door was seen to open in a nearby wall.
The PCs carefully checked the secret door. Beyond a narrow corridor could be seen. There was also a floating skull which delivered a piercing shriek whjich deafened some of the PCs, presumably another warding spell of some sort ("Skull Watch" I reckon" said smug Vincenzo). A wall of force identical to the one that had appeared in the doorway appeared in the corridor.
Aradec fired at the force wall in the doorway and saw his arrow reduced to a blob of molten metal and ash.
At this point, given Taryyn and Aileil's weakened state and the lethality of the Blasphemes, it was decided to retreat and try and recuperate. The party caught up with the Leprechaun (now wearing a green and red striped shirt). He led the PCs to a cave to hide in. He expressed sympathy over their injuries and offered to help if they promised him two magic items of his choice when Philocrates was defeated. The party decided to examine their options.
Current time, 1400 on July 8.