Tales of the Demon Lord 2: Level 0, Session 2

 Upon returning to the village, the Victims found the villagers mutated by the voidstone, wandering in a state of shock/confusion.  The worst affected appeared to be Guntar the Jotun, who was also hideously mutated and rampaging through the square.  Upon seeing the Victims, he charged at them in a crazed rage.  Einar found his boss, Aris the Smith, and talked him out of his confused state and Aris went through the square to do the same for the others affected by the Voidstone.  Chikatinga tried to talk the jotun down, but Guntar was too enraged.  Tordar and Einar then attempted to trip up the jotun with a length of rope, but were not strong enough to take him down before the jotun cut a villager in half with his battleaxe.  When aided by Ripples and Chikatinga, they managed to knock the joten prone and reason with him, which calmed is manic rage.

 

Meanwhile, Me7a and Glinda went to Elder Kemp's home and found his servant crying over his dead body.  Glinda asked if he still had the "token" and the servant said that Advisor Wollerdek took it earlier.  Me7a left Glinda there to see if she could do anything for Kemp and rejoined his companions in the village square.  They gathered the survivors and told them to get the other survivors not affected by the stone out of the village.  Helga led them away and told the Victims that she would take them to the Starstone, a landmark on the outskirts.

 

The group searched Wollerdek's house and found a chest full of coins and a drawer full of letters from the University of Occult Philosophy in Lij, the City of Wonders.  It seems that the advisor had initiated the correspondence and gained the interest of Dr Vordair to come to Starfall to study the ancient ruins surrounding town.  Vordair indicated that he needed a tome that was vital to his work and was rumored to be hidden within a ruined mage tower near Starfall, which Wollerdek agreed to get for him.  Me7a told the group about the token that Glinda asked about and that Wollerdek had taken it earlier.  The group regathered at Kemp's house and Glinda told them that the token was needed to acquire a vile tome that was kept within this ruined mage tower.  She used to have the token but gave it to Kemp when she tired of the responsibility.

 

Assuming the tome is the same that Dr Voidair claimed to need for his work, the group took Glinda back to her house and started heading to the mage tower. 

 

Then something strange occurred. 

 

Despite it being mid-afternoon, the sky began to darken and night time came several hours early.  Then the group witnessed a beam of light fire up from Observatory Hill, where Dr Vordair and his entourage were camped to study the ruins.  This beam rose into the heavens and a blazing star that was not there a moment earlier came into being in the dark patch of night sky.  The beam seemed to touch this new star, almost beckoning it. 

 

Fearing these events were connected to this vile tome that Wollerdek and Vordair were after, the group continued on to the mage tower.  Once there they found some kind of magic active within, as rings of power circulated through the interior. They also discovered that the spirit of the tower's original inhabitant still lingered and was trying to drive them away.  Chikatinga braved the rings in the tower and made it to the center where he found an invisible chest had been placed and lay open.  The spirit of the mage appeared to Chikatinga and frightened him out of the box and caused him to get shocked by the protective rings of magic circulating along the floor.  However, he realized that he had inadvertently grabbed an enchanted hat out of the invisible box.

 

Tordek then braved the room as his companions tossed him into the center where the invisible chest was.  He landed in the box and was also approached by the spirit who accused them of robbing him just as the man did earlier when he took his book.  Realizing that Wollerdek had already come here and claimed the vile tome, the group asked the spirit where the man had gone and the spirit pointed to Observatory Hill.  The group asked if they could borrow the hat and the flying rug they found in the chest and the spirit wanted them to give their word that they'd return them.  Giving that, they used the rug to fly a short distance towards the hill, then walked the rest of the way.

 

Upon reaching Observatory Hill, they found two metal orreries apparently powered by Voidstones operating in the camp and several of Vordair's staff dead or mutated.  The group stopped the operation of both orreries which apparently stopped the beam of light that was emanating from the observatory.  They then ascended to the top of the hill and entered the observatory, finding Dr Vordair, Wollerdek and a mutant, who tried to stop the Victims from interfering, and failed. 

 

Whatever Dr Vordair, Wollerdek and the rest were attempting to do here was a mystery that would hopefully be revealed as the group search the observatory.

 

·         End of Session

·         End of Adventure - LEVEL UP AND DETERMINE NOVICE PATH

 

AFTERMATH:

 

The Victims spend the rest of the night and several days following looking through the vast amount of information left by the scientists from Lij.  Various documents reveal that they were part of a secret society known as the Seekers of the Wandering Star, who were awaiting the return of a celestial object that appears once every 88 years.  Apparently, ancient astronomers used Observatory Hill to witness the return of this "star" and built these ruins to facilitate this observation and to honor the being they believed the star represented.  Dr Vordair believed these ruins were the key to making contact with this celestial being that they called "Atropus," but needed a book he called the Manuscript of the Black Sun to do so.  This is apparently the tome that Wollerdek provided from the mage tower.  But Vordair's notes indicate the tome is a copy and not the original, and as such the rituals he sought were incomplete.  Despite that, he proceeded with his experiment to contact this Wandering Star named Atropus, however whether he succeeded or not remains to be seen, as the Victims shut down his experiment.

 

The Victims and the villagers of Starfall are now homeless, as the village is now too dangerous to live in due to the Voidstones that litter the area.  The villagers that were not affected by the stones decide to find another home and leave Starfall for good.  Those who were mutated believe that civilization will reject them due to their mutations, so they decide to move to a place rumored to take in outcasts, a place near the Desolation called Pariah.  Over the next few months, the Victims help the villagers gather their belongings and see them on their way.  Helga, Aris, Guntar and the others bid their farewells to the Victims, thanking them for their aid and begin their long journey north, first to West Hold, then on to Pariah.

 

As for the Victims, well, they have discovered that there is a wide world beyond Starfall, filled with wonders and dangers and those who would use both with diabolical intent.  What should they do next? What do they do with this copy of the Manuscript of the Black Sun? What if this Atropus had been contacted, what does that mean?  Many questions, few answers here, but perhaps those answers could be found somewhere out there…

Tales of the Demon Lord 2 - Electric Bugaloo: Level 0, Session 1

The village of Starfall, situated just north of the Mist Wood and the Haunted Forest, is an out-of-the-way place for those seeking to escape the troubles of the broader world. 

 

The Victims of the Demon Lord (heretofore called "Victims") of this tale are as follows:

 

·       Me7a: A clockwork who has fled the tyranny of clockwork slavery in the city of Lij and traveled with a caravan to Starfall.

·       Einar: A dwarf smith who believes his destiny is to create a weapon that will save the world.

·       Ripples in the Pond: An elf whose shame of his past has driven him to find the good in all people of the world.

·       Chikatinga: A man seeking adventure and enlightenment.

·       Tordar: A dwarf who accompanied Einar out of Caecras and seeks his place in the world.

 

6 months or so ago, a caravan came to Starfall, led by a man of science called Dr Vordair from the city of Lij, who wished to study the strange celestial phenomenon that the area was known to have.  The caravan was welcomed by Elder Kemp and his two advisors, Red Fedder and Kobas Wollerdek and the scientists were granted leave to set up camps in the ruins near the village.

 

One morning, Advisor Wollerdek and his servant called for a town gathering in the square.  He announced that Elder Kemp had become severely ill.  He stated that Advisor Fedder was dispatched to bring a healer to town, but  and, given the Elder's advanced age, he was likely to pass soon.  Wollerdek announced that he would be assuming the role of the town Elder upon Kemp's passing.  This came as a shock and surprise for many of tose gathered, as Fedder was the one Kemp was grooming for his replacement.  Some of the locals, such as Helga, the kindly halfling cook and care giver, was clearly not pleased with this announcement.  Aris the dwarf Smith seemed unsurprised and disinterested by this announcement, though clearly saddened by the news of the Elder's prognosis.

 

As the townfolk discussed these announcements, the Victims decided to go check on the Elder, but found that Wollerdek placed the town guardian, Guntar the Jotun, on guard at the Elder's home with orders not to allow anyone inside.  Chikatinga goes to the jotun and begins to perform a ritual of healing around the Elder's home and the Jotun follows him around the house to ensure he did not try to enter, and the two were followed by Me7a, who questioned the jotun as they circled the house.  Seeing that the sentry had left the door, Einar decided to go check on the Elder himself and snuck in through an open window.  Inside, he finds Kemp violently ill in his bed with a servant in another room cleaning soiled bed pans.  Einar tries searching the room for anything suspicious, but then Kemp comes out of his delirium and tells the dwarf to help Fedder find Glinda the Hag (not really a hag).

 

Einar leaves the house just as Chikatinga, Me7a and Guntar come back around.  Just as they begin to head back into the village square, a sudden shower of rocks rain down from the morning sky, peppering the area with glowing green crystals.  One such crystal created an impact crater near the center of the village, killing two of the locals and damaging Helga's home.  Guntar and the Victims rush to the scene and inspect the crystal, which gives off a sickly green glow and intense heat.  Guntar places a fence up around the crater to keep the townfolk away, but Einar notices that the crystal cools quickly, but continues to glow.  Chikatinga had heard about such skystones, called "voidstones" and heard they were dangerous to be near. 

 

Despite the freak meteor storm, the Victims decide to go seek out Red Fedder and Glinda, as Kemp had instructed Einar to do.  Chikatinga had visited the blind, legless woman many times for her knowledge of herbs, medicines and other natural healing practices.  She called herself a hag because she was a hermit and wished to be left alone.  They traveled on foot to the woods where she resided and along the way they found another impact crater, but the object that caused it was not inside.  They reached Glinda's hut and found her within.  After informing her of the Elder's condition, they inquired on the whereabouts of Fedder, but Glinda had not seen him in weeks.  The group helped Glinda prepare for the journey back to the village, when a disturbing roar was heard from just beyond her hut.  She said that a bear had been wandering the area lately, but it didn't sound like that.  The group emerged from the hut to find a large and horribly mutated bear entering the clearing and upon seeing the Victims, it attacked!

 

The Victims fight the bear, who continued to mutate as it was wounded, but they managed to kill it, whereupon it melted into a pile of green glowing goo. 

 

After the disturbing fight, they get Glinda and head back towards town, but on the way back they find the body of Advisor Fedder hidden in the brush, his throat cut.  Suspecting Advisor Wollerdek of being behind this murder, they head back to the village with the body to confront him.  However, upon reaching Starfall, they find that it is in chaos as townfolk run through town screaming as the voidstone mutates them into hideous creatures!  Then the Victims see Guntar, or rather the thing that Guntar had mutated into, moving towards them, growling through his mutated mouth…

 

To be continued.