Date: 14 March 2012
PCs: "Lord Z", Hanna Darrowkin, Pritchard Hood, Ja'Tubis, Roland Zanzibar
Henchmen: Roland the Bandit (deceased)
DM: Charlatan
Attack of the Flying Fighting-Man!!
Though the Company of Crossed Swords had more than ample incentive to march straight back to the Chateau d'Ambreville, some administrative business required urgent attention. In between selling displacer beast hides to Pynthalion the Fleshcrafter and having the mighty High Cavalier of the Ouestmarche, Roland Wolfric, Lord Zanzibar dispelled of his war-doggery, the Company had the matter of a duel to the death involving one of their "henchmen" to deal with!
Remanding the canine cavalier into the custody of the Thelchineaus, noted animal lovers, for the purpose of a promised Dispel Magic, Pritchard Hood and the assembled Company turned to deal with the blood duel slated to occur between Virart Thelchineau and Clarembaut d'Erewan — the two imprisoned combatants from G114: Cats and Dogs' mirror of life trapping. Virart Thelchineau, a haughty knave, turned away Pritchard's request to parley with a sharp rebuke of the entire Company of Crossed Swords — something about boots and 'Black Swordsmen'. Clarembaut d'Erewan was much more willing to treat with his former companions at arms, and Pritchard laid it on thick! He appealed to Clarembaut's reason, his mercy, his loyalty, even his sense of style and good taste! To no avail. Clarembaut simply replied that he was pleased with Master Hood's concern, but that the Thelchineau varlet must be dealt with. Shrugging, Pritchard and Ja'Tubis offered to have a drink with the naive d'Erewan on the eve of the duel. Clarembaut accepted, and the two Company-men proceeded to make him blind with drink, trussed him, hit him over the head, and chucked him into the bed of an ox-cart on its way to the front. And thus was the Company of Crossed Swords once again able to make enemies from friends, while leaving their already pre-existing enemies at large. Huzzah!
With some of the Company otherwise unable to perform a forced march to the Chateau, and the Thelchineau patriarch exhulting them to delve further and engage a group of bandits in the Manor, our heroes acquiesed and headed in five strong. Entering the Manor's dungeon from a previously untraveled entrance, the CCoS shortly came upon the outer guard rooms of the bandits' lair. The mysterious Lord Zee, whom everyone thought was with Pritchard (and whom Pritchard thought was with everyone else), ensorcelled the preponderance of the host to sleep, with the last, Roland the brigand, being charmed. Though Roland didn't know much about the Manor other than the location of his bunk, the Company took him along, in the hopes that he would somehow be useful.
Striking further into the donjon, the Company discovered a large, sloping cavern with a small ledge set in the north wall. A strange dwarf was spotted and hailed, but the offers of friendship fell upon deaf ears, and soon the cavern began to fill with zombies. These "wombies" however, seemed impervious to Turning and the Company decided to retreat to the relative safety of the ledge, by use of a grapple and rope provided by Hanna. It was then that all hell broke loose.
A door in the far wall burst open, and a plate-clad fighting man swinging a shining greatsword flew through the air toward the party! Surprised by this turn of events, the Company failed to notice a cadre of spellcasters who also entered with ill intent. Lord Zee was paralyzed with a Hold Person, and Lord Zanzibar escaped the same fate only through the ministrations of his Ioun stone of spell absorbtion. Missles flew, and spells were cast, whilst the angry flying fighter wielded his blade with murderous accuracy.
Pritchard webbed a handful of the mindless wombies and damned the offending casters to a vomit-y fate with a Stinking Cloud, buying his swordmates precious moments to rally. Ja'Tubis, after Holding the dwarf, failed to cast Light into the eyes of the flying Fighting-Man. But where the light spell failed, Ja's hammer succeeded in knocking the flier out of the air and onto the ground.
Dashing Roland, Lord Zanzibar, saw his opportunity. With a cry, he raised Yakutz the Bloody and leapt from the ledge into the fray, pinning the flier between the wall and the edge of Yakutz' blade, preventing his escape through the air. The Fighting-Man gritted his teeth with determination and delivered a vicious clout to the cavalier, buckling Roland's knees from the force as he achieved the floor of the cavern. The ring of steel on steel sounded as the two warriors drove towards the other with grim determination. Finally, spinning his eldritch partisan in a deadly arc, Roland fought back the encroaching darkness at the edges of his vision and answered his foe with a tremendous blow, rendering him unconscious.
Just then, the wombies reached the Company members en masse, and our heroes blanched at the reality of the overwhelming odds they faced. "Not so!" cried Pritchard Hood, and he weaved a spell which entrapped the monsters in a dome of stone, allowing Hanna, Roland, and Ja'Tubis to escape. At this, the tide of the battle turned. The enemy wizard sought to escape through use of an invisibility spell, and the cleric through fleet feet, but both were laid low by the blades and determination of the Company of Crossed Swords, who showed a modicum of mercy to the vanquished.
You're welcome, vanquished.
Losses and Loot
Enemies defeated
- a group of bandits (5) and their captain (F2)
- xp: 70
- treasure : 82 copper coins, sundry equipment worth 28g
- another group of bandits (8) and their captain (F2)
- xp: 100
- treasure : no coin, sundry equipment worth 72g
- the lawless adventurers running the operation (F4,D4,T5,C5,M5), and their zomboid slaves (8)
- xp: 835
- treasure : Human-sized chain mail*, an inscribed Greatsword * with a hexagonal pommel, a phial of cloudy grey liquid*, a hastily rolled and tied scroll*, a mace* with a rough crystal head that remains covered with some kind of brine. A set of dwarf-sized plate mail, a set of chain mail, and a set of leather armor. 2 crossbows. 2 daggers. A hand axe and a short sword. A book of spells1, and notes for a spell to control fungoid zombies. A pouch with 2 uncut red gemstones, streaked with white.
*: Appears to be enchanted under the effect of detect magic
1: Containing read magic, magic missile, detect evil, knock, invisibility 10' radius
Total XP from Enemies Defeated: 1,005
Additional Treasures Recovered
- Copper Basin, etched and engraved with decorative vines and robed figures among flowers and animals. Smudged with soot.
- 3 Silver Benches, ornately wrought in the shape of leaves supporting a butterfly- each leg is a chrysalis with butterflies in various stages of emergence.
- 2 chests of silver coin (9000 coins)
Total coin: 100g (if all mundane equipment is sold), 9000s, 82c
XP from use of benches/brazier: 1,480