Adventure 15: Part One, The Journey Backwards
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Despite having a peaceful journey from Foxford to the outskirts of the capital, this all changed as the party passed through Cellam's outlying farmlands. First they saw only a rising column of smoke ahead, but as they drew close the situation became clearer - there was a barn on fire. Being heroes, they went to help. Rather than trying to fight back the flames, the tenant farmers appeared to be using their pitchforks to keep whatever was in that barn inside.
It did not take long to establish what was happening; a huge snake had been cornered inside the old barn. It had turned up locally that lunchtime, and they'd shepherded it inside the building which they then set alight. The snake had bitten one of the farmer's wives, so Fax and Insorce headed off to help deal with that, while the others tried to help with the snake. The locals told them that more of these snakes had been spotted recently further to the west, away from the road. As the barn collapsed slowly, the snake could be seen off in the shadows, it was visible enough for Formil to land an arrow in it. This lifted Formil's confidence with his bow (which still had the department store price tag on it and had to be unwrapped from its original packaging before shooting at this snake). A second arrow was released; it could be described as following the first, but that would be a pretty inaccurate statement. Speaking of pretty inaccurate, the arrow passed clean through the building, but was safe, as one of the peasant farmers on the other side of the building caught it cleanly. In his chest. While the others scurried around the building to give help to the farmer, Randy quietly used his Magic Missile to finish off the snake, before following.
Insorce was fetched from the farmhouse to help back at the barn, and the injured farmer was soon well once again. The party took refuge on the farm overnight, and promised to go deal with the source of the snake problem in the morning, when the tracks would be easier to see, and where they would be far from the farmer or his family, and would not be able to do any more harm.
The next day was cold and bright. Investigation of the barn showed that the snake that was in there the previous evening had vanished; Formil's arrow was lying on the ground where the snake had been, and this was sticking through the snake when they last saw it. After a hearty breakfast of bacon and oatcakes, the party headed off to the west; Jim and Fax easily picking out the trails left by the snake. Slow at times, following the snakes route went on long into the morning; eventually they were led to an abandoned tenant farm. Peering through the windows of a dilapidated barn the party could see more of the snakes.
A hurriedly organised plan meant the first attack was through the windows, throwing lighting and magic into the barn. This worked well, and the snakes were disposed of quickly. Only one made it to the low exit where it could fight back, and this was swiftly dealt with in melee combat. The barn had been barred from the inside - something that the party found quite strange. Formil opened the door with little finesse, he used his axe.
In the back of the barn, behind another door that also required some of Formil's gentle persuasion were more of the snakes. These were dealt with quickly by the dwarf, they appeared to have been guarding the entrance to an underground room, steps lead down here into some kind of cellar. The party investigated; this time Jim's skill with the lock meant they passed through it more quietly. But the inhabitants already knew they were coming.
A short corridor at the bottom of the stairs turned to the right and led to a well equipped magical workshop or research place - there were three guards here and two wizards. Formil was so busy counting the guards and gauging ceiling clearance for his axe that he didn't spot the the Wish Magic book on the counter behind the two wizards; Jim, right behind him, saw it though. The fight started. Formil and Jim were at the end of the short corridor, and the others couldn't get past. They were caught in a volley of ice and debris from an Ice Storm spell from one of the wizards, while the other began an unusual incantation, which seemed to be aimed against the party. The guards at the front of the room were pretty tough, and took chunks out of Formil as he wound up his first swing. As this happened the floor around the party seemed to turn to liquid. They were now a foot deep into what appeared to be wet cement.
The fight went downhill from there. At the back of the party Randy, and Fax fell through their wet floor, and were followed by Formil. Jim and Insorce attempted to hold off the guards, but they were too strong for just the two of them, and they turned to flee, sploshing their way awkwardly back up the steps. They had not moved far before they too fell through the wet surface of the floor. They guessed that they'd been hit by wish magic.
Formil, Randy and Fax landed side by side in a small lake. Formil made the biggest splash then attempted to swim for shore. It took Randy and Fax to throw him a rope after they'd tugged themselves out. They were just out of the way before Jim and Insorce joined them. Jim swam elegantly to the side, while Insorce sank. Jim swam back with the rope back and tied it on then the others hauled ashore and angry dwarfish cleric.
They had no idea where they were; they were cold, wet, and at the side of an unfamiliar lake in the gentle rain. They were all hurt from the fight, and Insorce's attempts to cast healing spells failed. His clerical magic appeared not to function. Fax's did, although his skills as a healer are severely limited. Randy suddenly panicked, and cast a light spell. He breathed a sigh of relief when that worked; he noticed also that the light seemed to be brighter than he was used to seeing.
They needed to find a refuge, and to get some idea of where they were. Fax changed into the shape of an eagle and flew above up in the air to take a look around and help them get their bearings. There was a walled city nearby, the road towards it, scattered with traders and the odd knight, was off to (what appeared to be) the south. They headed that way. As they approached the city, they spoke briefly with one of the knights there. "What is this city called?" asked Jim; "I'm surprised you don't know" came the reply. "This is Hollingham."
An Ancient Walled City
The party had heard briefly about this place, but were not quite ready to meet it face to face. It was certainly squalid, even compared to Eversham where they had come from. It was also much smaller. The streets were tightly packed and seemed grimy, and there appeared to be no distinction between the homes of the peasants and the homes of the gentry.
They found an inn - the Double Bridge Inn - which was located on a small island in the middle of the river which cut the city in two. There were two bridges leading from the island, one to the north bank and one to the south bank of the river giving the inn its unusual name. It was soon clear that the party's coinage was not acceptable in this place, so they headed off to find someone who would let them weigh in the gold from their post-disaster coins. The exchange rate was not good, however.
A nights rest was followed by a day searching the town. They found a Magicians Guild; Randy needed training, and after asking many questions about Charles Derren, he found that there were no facilities for Sorcerers here - they didn't even know what a sorcerer was. Randy ended up working with them for two weeks to muddle through a change of spells and a the learning of his new techniques.
While Randy was there, the others sought out the church in the town. They met Father Gregory, the senior priest, and had little trouble convincing him of their true origins. His own Detect Magic spell exposed the light aura of wish magic that still surrounded each of the party members. He was a good man, and tried to help where he could; particularly with Insorce. the Catholic church in this town was very different to the church of Danethrae, but there were significant parallels. Enough to convince the priest that Insorce could be attuned to the local religion and conditions enough to cast some spells, Father Gregory was sure that Danethrae and the Catholic church were in sympathy with each other. He agreed to work with Insorce Hammererssonsson for a few days, some careful prayer and fasting was all it would take to get him his power back.
By the time Randy finished his training, the party have found out a little about the land they were now in, and about the man they were chasing. The land was called Logres, which seemed to be slowly preparing for a war with Gaul, their historic enemies. Gaul was located across a short stretch of water to the east. The war seemed, oddly, to be caused by petty religious arguments, to do with the seat of the church's ultimate leader, the Pope, which had been located in Gaul since the fall of the Paercinnian Empire who, it seemed, had conquered and occupied both Gaul and Logres many centuries ago, but were now long gone. These events related to a land far overseas; it seemed that the people of this land didn't even have control of their own religions.
They also found out that Charles Derren had been there in the city; that he was a mortal at this time, but even now was very skilled in the use of magic. He'd recently set out to the north-east across the mountains, and was rumoured to be paying a visit to Petorus the Lich-King of Slovania, beyond the land of the Saxons. Slovania's borders were supposed to be closed; there were many undead in that land, and it was rumoured that some had taken positions of power among the nobles. The party seemed to be going no further with their investigation in Hollingham, so they choose to head off to the capital, Kennington, which they hoped might provide better sources of information.
A Meeting with Legends
The journey northwards to the capital was pretty uneventful. As they passed through, it was clear that the peasants were being prepared for war, with archery and fighting techniques being taught to groups of peasants in several villages. Kennington was something of a disappointment to the party. It is far smaller than Cellam, and probably slightly smaller than Eversham. Inside the streets were grimy and scattered with rubbish, just as the party had found in Hollingham.
A visit to the Magicians Guild was revealing to Randy. This Guild were not associated with their equivalent organisation in Hollingham, and so know very little about Charles Derren. They also had no library, the guild recommended that they seek out private libraries to study from. They chose to make a visit to the largest home of a noble in the region - the castle of the King. Here they were met by a venerable knight named Sir Sigram. During the party's journey north to Kennington, they had discussed what course of action they could take to try to move their quest forward. They had decided during those discussions that seeking elvish help might be a good idea, and so they asked the knight if he knew of any elves living in the area. After smiling knowingly, he said he did, and invited them to dine with he and his spouse that evening. The party accepted the gracious invitation.
That night the party met Seldaha Eshost, half-elf and leader of The Mystics Wizardry group; she was married to the human Sir Sigram, and they had been together for more than thirty years. As the evening passed, the knight and his elfish wife related tales of their deeds and in return heard tales of the party's adventures. They also discussed the political situation here in Logres, the problems that Gaul were causing, the uprising among the people of Pyrdain (the Celtic lands to the north west of Logres). Sir Sigram was certain that uprising was being backed by Gaul, but he couldn't prove anything. They knew little of Charles Derren, but they did know where Seldaha's own people were; they had an elfish settlement at the far end of the mountains that separated Mercia and Wessex from Lindsey. The party were also interested in finding out more about pagan religions, particularly 'the four' with whom Derren was associated. Seldaha told them of the Pyrdain religions, of their reliance on the Druids and The Four for their spiritual well-being. If they needed to know anything about the elemental gods, then talking to the Celtic people would be a good place to start.