Rumor has circulated for several weeks that a pair of adventurers, along with a number of hired swords--or crossbows, rather, as the case may be--had been engaged in the ruins of Tsur al Qadim securing for themselves the remnants of one of the ancient fortresses. Perhaps even the Tower Invincible itself?--but surely not that Tower, surrounded as it is by a strange field of force!
And indeed, in the midst of the Advent of the Immortal Dead, close before this weeks Masquerade of same, the rumors were confirmed: Warda the Rose, erstwhile likely lass and now a magic-user in her own right, recently came through the city of Cothon seeking a variety of artisans, craftsmen, etc., seeking to hire them for the refit and repair of an ancient castle. Which fortress? "The Crag Keep," she responds to such inquiries, "newly claimed by my teacher, Althis, and Zet-Frin, his boon-companion. If you know of anyone wishing to sell in a new marketplace, or to rent space in its great armory or brewery, the pair are willing to negotiate."
A semblance of the story falls out as Warda goes about town hiring the right men to refit the place. The adventurers were twain:
- Althis (magic-user 2)
accompanied by his magical apprentice Warda the Rose (magic-user 1) - Zet Frin (magic-user 2)
accompanied by Mrrshan scout Harrava Rrl (Mrrshan 1) - a squad of 6 mercenary crossbowmen
Having secured the first level of a keep built into a high stony crag in the midst of Old Tsur, and setting the majority of their two dozen men-at-arms to continue to defend the place from attack, be it from within or without, the two adventurers led a smaller group up a spiral stair in the western section of the fortress to explore and clear out the upper levels.
(drawings by Chris, player of Althis, earning Althis 100 xp per level)
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| Some of the Klackons observed outside the fortress earlier--potential threats from without? |
As Warda relates, the second floor seemed widely devoid of creatures, outside of a colony of feathered, six-legged creatures that had left behind a number of corpses all variously gnawed, but all most especially having had their eyes gouged out. The crossbowmen identified them as 'ulasta, the lesser eaters of eyes:
There was another encounter--a creature dwelling hidden in the walls, intending to leap out at unsuspecting victims, but whose lair was discerned by keen-scented Harrava, and then laid low by a mixture of sorceries from the magicians.
As noted at the outset, a number of facilities were cleared and seized in the course of securing the fortress, most especially an armory-forge, an internal market-square, and a brewery, amongst the other facilities necessary to a castle (kitchen, barracks, fighting-floors, etc.). Not a small amount of treasure was likewise taken, one of Warda's duties being to sell that which her employers wish to sell--including, among other things, the wing-cases of the gerednyá to the Guild of Alchemists in Cothon.
The Lucre
- 1000 cp, 1000 sp, 2100 ep, 300 gp
- silver fireplace guard decorated as ranks of phalangites (700 gp)
- bronze singing bowl (200 gp)
- silvered harp strings (100 gp)
- cache of classically notated music (600 gp)
- "tortoise" shell lyre-body (100 gp)
- a number of iron, copper, and tin ingots (1200 gp)
- assortment of finely detailed tin soldiers (200 gp)
- a fair collection of copper, silver, and lapis lazuli jewelry, claimed from the lair of the dnelu (600 gp)
- 11 pairs of gerednyá wing-cases (1100 gp)
- a shield decorated like the plumes of a kheshchal bird, which could double as the body of a harp
- a curious metal stake with springs and a clapper attached to the upper/blunt end
- 6260 xp from treasure
- 890 xp from 'ulasta x16 (50 + hp ea.)
- 1826 xp from gerednyá x11 (150 + hp ea.)
- 219 xp from dnelu x1 (200 + hp)
The Cut
- 2086 gp to each player-character
1043 gp each to Warda and Harrava Rrl - 4597 xp to each player-character
2299 xp each to Warda and Harrava Rrl - the shield
- the odd stake-device
- the Crag Keep!
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