Lindaton ahead: the adventurers met up with their friends outside the fortified capital of Fastague as they realized, grimly, that the city was now under martial law, and access to the city from the outside was prohibited. Emmaeai, with her many connections and talent for gathering information, found that there may be a hidden door or portal on the northern outer wall, but none was found when the party searched. Frustrated, Smitty Selindoff, the halfling thief, tried to climb the walls of Lindaton, but was repelled by two guards wielding golden daggers.

Gaarik DaRuth, the human bard, suggested an alternate method: a tunnel between Selvan and Lindaton that ran under the Ned River and led to a familiar tavern within the city. This prospect, though very unattractive to the majority of the group, appeared to be the only way in the city, and thus the group trekked west towards Selvan.

Upon their arrival, they found Selvan inaccessible, due to an energy shield surrounding the town. Gaarik led them to the entrance of the cave, and led them down inside. After what seemed like hours of walking, the group met with an orc patrol prowling about the area, and after the gruesome monsters attacked (after being "nudged" by Gaarik), they were easily though messily dispatched. Two hours later, the adventurers found three grell, huge floating bird-beaked brains with tentacles, levitating in their path. Dittoc opened fire upon the monsters with one of the clunky laser guns he had picked up off of a goblin earlier, but was dismayed to learn the technology had not been perfected. This he found out when the gun jammed. The grell commenced their attack and paralyzed Irana Starjay before being defeated by the characters' concerted attacks, including the final titanic push by the cleric Emmaeai and the mage Mathurin.

Victory was short-lived, however. The preceding battles had served to weaken the integrity of the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, and the Ned River flowed forth, flooding the caverns and sweeping the adventurers towards the sea. One by one, the heroes began to drown, but were saved by a strange new force: Diesna had returned from the dead as a nereid, and saved the group, depositing them in the inn previously mentioned! Only Gaarik did not survive, despite attempts to revive him by both Irana Starjay and Renee, the cleric of the Triple Goddess. Also, more problems arose when a grey ooze attempted to envelope them all in its choking slime! Emmaeai and Muric Goblinslayer did their best to rid the area of this threat.

Once in the now-deserted tavern, the heroes decided how they were going to enter the castle and confront Mioken. Diesna suggested that the party allow themselves to be captured, and thus, after Diesna freed them and retrieved their items, have free access to the remainder of the castle from the dungeon. Mathurin agreed to stay behind and guard any items the characters felt would be better left within the inn. The rest of the group, satisfied that Diesna knew what she was doing, went out of the tavern, acted like drunks, and thanks to the martial law curfew, were arrested, and taken to the dungeons.

The adventurers were split up and put in separate cells. Dittoc found himself naked and alone with a naked gypsy woman named Laurin and a naked Paladin Wyrmslayer who went by Redun. Ovarin was on the other hand completely alone and naked. Emmaeai and Renee, thrown by chance into a cell together, began a deep discussion of their faith. On the other end of the cell block, Diesna and Muric were visited by Mioken himself, who first wisked Muric away to be tortured, then assumed Muric's identity with a disguise spell. Then, knowing that Diesna was half-nereid, he stole the king's niece's shawl, to be able to control the girl later.

The remainder of the group was oblivious to this drastic turn of events, and were unassuming when Diesna and "Muric" (Mioken) rescued them from their plights and returned their inventory to them. The group now assembled to find their way out, they traveled along the corridors to an arena, and were told by "Muric" and Diesna that they had to go across that battlefield to reach Mioken. So the group wandered cautiously inside, only to find the true Muric strapped to one wall, his guts hanging by a thread from his body, his leg now shriveled and lame, and as they turned to escape, found they were trapped. Mioken then unmasked himself, gloating of the adventurers' bold yet stupid plans to thwart him, and then he magically floated up to the parapets of the arena and ordered Diesna to attack. Diesna sadly and reluctantly complied to save her soul shawl, and fought the heroes until a rift opened above the arena, and the armies of the elves, riding atop griffons, attacked the goblin regime of the city. Mioken, distracted, dropped Diesna's soul-shawl and a parchment known as the Ritual of Awakening, and fought the onslaught, while the gates opened and patrols of orcs and goblins filed into the arena to finish off the heroes. Muric was rescued and given healing potions to recover. Renee then heard Gaarik's voice direct her to one end of the arena, another barred entrance, and Dittoc and the weakened yet recovering Muric bent back the bars to allow the characters access. They ran through the corridors until, satisfied that they were safe, they stopped to rest atop one of the towers of the castle. Mathurin, meanwhile, seeing the griffons pouring out of the rift above the castle from his hiding place at the tavern, decided to join his fellows, and was somehow guided to the tower he could ascend magically to join the adventurers.

Gaarik's presence was strongly felt by both Mathurin and Renee now, and Renee was told that there was another fighter against Mioken skulking in the throne room of the castle. Having said so to her companions, the group decided to trek back down into the lion's den in search of this fighter. Soon, they found themselves within the immensely-ornate throne room, but then realized that some magical force was holding them inside! Dittoc was attacked, then possessed by a spirit, who claimed to be the dead King Relao. Meanwhile, Renee and Emmaeai had found a ring in the cushions of the throne. Dittoc (the King) demanded the ring be returned to him. Emmaeai refused, and was subsequently slaughtered by the possessed dwarf. The dwarf donned the ring and walked out of the throne room. No other could follow.

After the King (Dittoc) had left, Emmaeai was revived by Mathurin, and the weakened Muric Goblinslayer found a secret passage near one of the guardposts of the throne room, and the group followed the passage back... to the arena, where they witnessed Dittoc and Mioken fighting each other! Mioken was surrounded by a shield no one but Dittoc could challenge, though a few tried, such as Muric, who charged the goblin mage and was decapitated. After a long and hard battle, Mioken cast another spell, and sent our heroes flying through the air as the city beneath them crumbled to dust. When the debris cleared, they found Lindaton destroyed. Khydras had fallen to Mioken's attack, and Muric was cured of his condition by Mathurin's Rod of Resurrection.

A week passed, with little left to do but wait and plan. Irana tried to revive Khydras with the rose, but the rose did not work as she had planned. Khydras' spirit was still with her, but his body remained inanimate. Laurin and Redun were busy with Mathurin, deciding on a course of action, while Dittoc and Muric planned a coup of the dwarvenlands, starting with building a new stronghold. During this time, also, Mathurin found time to cast a find familiar spell, and gained the aid of a hawk he named Skye.

One night, the group was visited by Rillinnither, cleric of Dartal, who bore interesting news: the Gritton High Council was prepared to make peace with the humans. Dittoc, however, was not so ready to make peace with Rill, and he attempted to attack the elf, but was stopped by Emmaeai and Redun. Rill therefore dealt with Mathurin, who was more open to the idea of peace. Then King Relao took over Dittoc once again and made a deal with him: the group would agree to peace if Rill showed Dittoc how to fly a griffon. Considering this a small price to pay, Rill agreed. The night afterwards was peaceful, quiet, and restful.

Just before dawn, a dark, impenetrable fog descended upon the group. Redun was up first, holy symbol in hand, looking for trouble. The other characters did not know what to make of it. Then Redun told them that he felt a vampiric presence, and lo, a vampire appeared to them out of the mists. The vampire was a dark and pale canvas of contrasts, and he held a map-like scroll in one hand. The vampire was willing to trade the scroll for food. Food... as in humanoid flesh and blood. The group disagreed with him and tried to force him away, but the vampire attacked Irana and bit her; then he and the fog vanished with a cackle, leaving the scroll behind.

Irana was beginning to feel the effects of the vampire's bite almost immediately, and had to fight her very instincts to keep from killing her companions. Meanwhile, the group decided that staying in Lindaton was futile, and, not having anything better to do, decided to find and assemble the parts of the Kithsteroth Sword. Their next stop: Avondale. With the map that the vampire left behind, they were easily able to find it, and started their journey, while Ovarin, the elven fighter/mage, began a trip to his homeland.

The trip to Avondale, with Irana becoming more and more vampirish, was fraught with peril. Between Selvan and Selina, the party encountered first an orc/goblin patrol, then a pair of humans that had been bitten by the same vampire as Irana. Redun identified this vampire as one named "Eichre", saying he had dealt with the vampire before, but was unable to defeat him. Then again, Redun was having his own problems, for now Gaarik was trying to bond with him! Redun at first fought this new intrusion into his mind, but then welcomed it, as Gaarik was identified as a Paladin (before the death that had transformed him into the bard we knew earlier).

At Selina, hope for Irana was found by the Church of Alfadon. Redun implored the mercy of the Bishop of the church there, and the Bishop agreed to impart his help, though he could not cure the ranger. Only one cleric that the Bishop knew of could, and she lived in Avondale. After the Bishop supressed the curse, the group headed out that same night, renewed, heading for their next stop, Kommnach.

There was an interesting side effect of Irana's treatment: her vampirish appetite for blood was replaced with her equally powerful vampirish appetite for sex, which Dittoc obligingly relieved. Thus, they made their way to Kommnach, and stayed the evening before moving on to Avondale.

Between Kommnach and Avondale stood a great forest, which the beaten path avoided. The forest felt cold yet familiar to the bitten ranger, though she had lost her powers to function as one. Therefore, for the first day of travel, the adventurers did not stray from the path. However, that night, Redun disappeared, and Laurin began to exhibit the same signs of vampirism as Irana had. Had she been bitten, too? That same night that Redun disappeared, Eichre returned and tried to get Irana to join him. She, of course, refused, and Eichre again attacked, trying to take her by force. He was beaten back by the party, but then disappeared before he could be defeated. The group decided to get to Avondale as quickly as possible, going through the forest.

The trip through the forest brought Redun's return, but Laurin could no longer be a part of the group. She was now attacking the adventurers, before being dropped by Diesna, who had followed the group and now lent her aid. Laurin barely escaped, another vampire to the world. Redun wished to follow, but was stopped by the others. A vain effort, considering he was missing during head count the next morning.

Avondale was heralded by three goblins riding worgs (huge wolves). The group was barely able to avoid them, but with Irana and Dittoc riding the griffon and the others in the group knowing goblin, they were able to fool the goblins into thinking that the group was part of the raiding party to be sent to them, and they were allowed to pass. The adventurers then broke into a run for the town, making their way under cover of night to the inn, where they attempted to warn the patrons thereof. All the heroes got for their trouble was a boot to the door. The adventurers shrugged and went to look for their halfling cleric to get the pure gold they got from the goblins' homeworld blessed and Irana cured. Soon, the halfling cleric found them, and Irana and the gold were taken to a secret altar of Anala, the forest Goddess. Irana was cured, and the gold was blessed, as was the group against any other trouble that may befall them.

Next, the group needed to find an Orb of Moons for the Kithsteroth Sword. Zinsaber had told them that one could be found in Green Pell, which was just to the north and a little west of Avondale, by Medea Lake. So the group headed that way. Little did they know they were walking into a conquered city. While there, they found a little orphaned elf girl in a tunnel underneath the house of one of the local mages, being molested by a large group of gnolls. The adventurers killed the gnolls and rescued the girl, taking her to the town magistrate, who gruffly took her off their hands and sent them away. Walking outside, they found themselves at the mercy of a number of the town guard, who took them outside and prepared to kill them. Then did Dittoc's griffon come to the rescue, killing the guards and freeing the party.

Redun returned to the group, coming in from the north and explaining that he'd learned that the town had been overrun by gnolls a short while back (he had spoken with some of the refugees). The group, under direction of Muric Goblinslayer and Irana Starjay, decided to take back the town and save the little elven girl. A brilliant trap was set up by the ingenius Muric, in which Irana saved the girl and led the gnolls outside the forest, where Mathurin was waiting to put them to sleep. Meanwhile, Dittoc was in the air, shooting the following gnolls from the air. After such a display of force, Mathurin cast a burning hands spell at the brush the group had laid out and that now lay beneath the remaining oncoming gnolls, and it ignited, incinerating the lot of them.

Redun then felt the icy hand of evil coming up upon them. Eichre! Fog fell upon the land once again. Irana and Smitty stayed with Redun, while all the others gathered near to Llael, cleric of Anala. Redun, though, would not display his holy symbol before him, stating that it was useless. Then, after "asking" Smitty to rejoin the others, Redun took hold of Irana and began floating aloft! The "paladin" then revealed that he was really Eichre in disguise, using the cover of night and the disguise of the still-missing paladin to retrieve what he claimed was rightfully his!

The mighty vampire revealed his plan: He had the Orb of Moons, and was preparing to use it to purge himself partially of his vampirism, so he could walk the daytime as the human ranger he had been before. However, the problem arose that he would still be a vampire at night. To continue, he needed a cleric or ranger of the goddess Anala to perform the ceremonial ritual. He had chosen Irana. Irana reluctantly agreed, though Dittoc plainly voiced his opinion against it. As she began the ritual using a black and very painful-to-hold dagger, she took her own dagger and killed Eichre, then set fire to the body after decapitating him, though the fire did not feel hot when she went near to touch the unnatural-looking flame. She then took the Orb of Moons, justifying her kill by the fact that she was the sworn enemy of all vampires. She then returned to her friends.

The move proved to be more than she could handle. Redun returned to his companions (the REAL Redun, this time), and then explained that Irana had done the worst possible thing that she could have. First, he explained that Eichre was definitely not dead, and the flames that had engulfed him were a mere illusion. Second, the paladin warned the ranger of the dangers of leaving a ritual half-done: since Eichre's wrist had been slashed by the black dagger, he could now walk the daylight... as a vampire. Third, he noticed a very strange painting that the heroes had found during their search through Green Pell for items they could use on their journey. The painting was of Eichre... and Eichre's hand was moving. The painting resisted all attempts to destroy it, so Redun and Mathurin instead contained the painting within a shield spell, and the group headed back toward Avondale, putting this evil behind them. Their goal: a blue star sapphire reputed to reside in Sedjiwick, deep within Gritton.

A few notes must now be made to enhance understanding of this text. First, Mathurin did not want to go back to Gritton, knowing that certain death awaited him from his enemies, friends of the man he had killed (named Laeryllon) still hunting the killer. It became known to Gaarik (Redun) and Dittoc during this journey that he had killed Laeryllon chiefly because of Zaishalla, for they had competed for her hand, though there were other, more dark reasons Laeryllon met his end upon Mathurin's blade, reasons shrouded in mystery and politics. Second, Irana claimed responsibility for the young elf girl, who had subsequently called herself "Oak", and became a foster mother to her. Third, Mathurin has been and is continuing to use Skye to his tactical advantage, using her enhanced sight, and even using Skye's eyes to get another view on things. Fourth, Muric and Dittoc, thanks to Gaarik (Redun), found a benefactor in Avondale named Skanker that agreed to help them build their stronghold and take back the dwarvenlands. (Okay, so it was really in Selina a long time before this point, big deal. Fact is, it still happened.) Skanker went to Trepun to find a useful and trustworthy chief engineer for the project, and Dittoc and Muric promised to meet with them as soon as possible.

Finally... Dittoc and Irana were having their problems. No longer a vampire mistress, Irana became edgy towards the dwarf, thanks to their... history. Dittoc, wondering what was so wrong, became edgy towards Irana, and thus tension between the two grew strong. In the midst of this, a new member joined the party, a drake that called himself Filitus. Filitus claimed to have come from the afterlife, though how he joined the group he did not know. Without the permission of Dittoc, the drake became the dwarf's pet and used psionic powers to join with the unsuspecting dwarf. It was soon realized he would be more trouble than he was worth.

The trip to Avondale was uneventful, and when they arrived, Emmaeai rejoined the group. She, however, became distasteful of some of the group's more reckless members as they crossed the Ned River, and eventually infighting broke out between her and Dittoc. In an open meadow within the Vrolok Forest, the two engaged in a wrestling match to determine who was better. Redun offered to pray over the match, that Anala and Alfadon show the group who was more correct, while Emmaeai secretly used arts she had possessed since childhood to give her an edge in the battle. Then the fighting started. Emmaeai first feinted a punch, and Dittoc retaliated by putting Emmaeai into a headlock. Emmaeai attempted to break the hold with a punch to the stomach, but to no effect as Dittoc began punching the woman in the face. Emmaeai broke the hold by hitting Dittoc in the face, and Dittoc fought back, gouging the cleric's eyes with his fingers. At this point, Emmaeai tripped and hit her head upon a stone, and was knocked out cold. Dittoc had won.

That night, a party of elves from the town of Red Rose in Gritton visited the adventurers. Though suspicious and skeptical at first, the drake psionically convinced them to accompany the heroes to the town, where they were able to spend a night in peace. The next day was filled with somewhat peaceful activity, including Redun finding a caravan heading to Sedjiwick and Irana finding new clothes for Oak. Dittoc and Muric found solice in the selection of weapons and armor available to them. Mathurin, however, was now under attack. First, when the group was served breakfast at the inn, his food was brought in separately from the rest... possibly poisoned? Then, when Smitty visited the local thieves' guild, he was surprised to find an assassin willing to pay him 300 gold pieces to kill Mathurin "the Red". When Smitty, who was too loyal to the mage that constantly saved the lives of the others in the group to follow the assassin's request, told Mathurin what was going on, he and Dittoc left Red Rose, going to the outskirts, and Mathurin learned the value of his recently learned invisibility spell. Then, they found Irana and Oak talking together in the woods about Rangers, and told her what was going on... but Irana was soon approached by four black-clad figures of obviously questionable intentions. One kept eyeing Oak suggestively, which brought a ferocious motherly attitude to Irana. However, the black-clad men offered 4000 gp to kill Mathurin, identifying her as one in his party. Mathurin, witnessing this, silently cursed the drake and Zinsaber for bringing him so far into Gritton.

The caravan that Redun signed the party up in was of the airborne type, a trailer carried by four griffons, and promised a speedy way to Sedjiwick, making only one stop, Fangan. Dittoc and Mathurin travelled invisible yet close by the caravan on Dittoc's griffon Airsword, and landed a little outside of Fangan when the caravan arrived. Dittoc then went to join the other adventurers, leaving Mathurin alone with Airsword and Skye. And while Dittoc and Muric went shopping with Smitty and Irana and Renee found new clothes for Oak, Mathurin found that invisibility has its flaws, especially when those you wish to hide from are carrying gems of sight. Mathurin was eventually able to beat them after Skye stole the gem from the leader's hands, and Mathurin went to find Dittoc and try to get the group on their way as quickly as possible.

To make a long story short (too late), the adventurers re-entered the caravan around nightfall, where it flew through the night and into the morning to Sedjiwick, passing High Elbon, the capital of Gritton, on the way. That morning, however, the caravan was waylaid by a small army of elves wearing ornamental plate mail. The elves stopped the caravan and had each trailer and all the inhabitants searched. They, too, were looking for Mathurin "the Red". Since Mathurin was invisible, the elven guards found nothing, and some fast talking by Irana allayed their suspicions and allowed the group to keep their weapons and armor. So the group made it all the way to Sedjiwick, their goal.

Next Chapter

Back to Flaming Sword

© 1999 by Flaming Sword Publications®