The Ruins of Azedoma
| Current Campaign: New Blood For An Old Sword | |
| Episode 2: "The Ruins of Azedoma" | |
| Year: 1763 Summer | |
| Location: Azedoma | |
PCs:
| |
NPCs:
| |
| Previous Episode: "Random Acts" | |
| Next Episode: "Rank Mummery" | |
| Previous Campaign: The Knights of Eaton | |
With a map to legendary lost ruins of Azedoma in their possession, the group makes their way to a great fortune. Their pursuers have other plans for them.
Story
Act One: Dissolution At Old Farm Hill
The following day Eolian, Michael and Carlo bury Kes Alaric in the forest outside Larkos and Eolian charts a course to Darkwood, off-road, where they plan to lay low until the dust settles in Larkos. They stay clear of the road and back paths and make their way slowly through dense forest and patchy terrain. That evening they sleep in an old abandoned farmhouse. The next morning Michael spies movement near a stream and investigates to find two men breaking camp. Jaffer and Ishaq had been contracted as part of Jargos's expedition and were traveling from Balthas to Larkos to meet with him. They left the main road at the first sight of Larkosian horsemen.
Michael relates what has since passed, and the two men express disappointment at the sudden termination of their commitment. They decide to travel as a group to Darkwood and later break for a midday meal. As they sit and rest they see something circling the sky high above them—Jaffer passes his spyglass to Michael who recognizes the shape as a kroa.
The creature sweeps down into the clearing and a fellow knight of Karad dismounts. He removes his helmet and strides to the group, speaking only to Michael in their native language. He introduces himself only to Michael as Garn and says he heard about the death of Kovac and subsequent pursuit of Michael. Garn claims to have arrived solely to take Michael back to the islands of Tor for judgment. Michael defies Garn, asserting his duty to see his companions safely to Darkwood. Ishaq invites Garn to sup with them and he reluctantly joins them.
The group sits and eats as they listen to Michael and Garn argue with each other. Their dispute grows heated and is interrupted when Eolian and the kroa hear a faint sound: the thrum of approaching horses.
The group rises as one and, drawing their weapons, take up defensive positions. Moments later a troop of Larkosian horsemen bursts from the woods into the clearing, led by Cromwell's man Kerrigun. The soldiers dismount and Kerrigun demands Carlo be delivered to them. Eolian asks how the soldiers found them and Kerrigun points to Garn's mount, "he led us right to you."
Carlo, taking stock of the assembled enemy, notices more approaching from the woods behind them. Although they have the high ground, they are completely surrounded by two patrols. Michael shouts defiantly, "Come and get us." The patrols move forward and the skirmish begins. Three of the patrol rush the hill but are killed immediately by Carlo, Michael and Garn.
A young soldier rides to flank the men but his horse is hit by a stray crossbow bolt. The mount collapses upon the boy's leg, pinning him. Michael lifts his sword and leaps astride the boy, who raises his arms and cries "Mercy!" The Torrian knight ignores the boy's plea and severs his uplifted hands. Jaffer, horrified by such a dishonorable deed, levels his crossbow at Michael's back and shoots him. The steel prod hits Michael square in the shoulder blade, staggering him and temporarily rendering his sword arm useless. His arm numbly drops the sword and he tumbles forward down the hill.
Eolian, seeing the deliberate shot, spins and unleashes a potent surge of electricty that strikes Jaffer in the chest. The Malkosti falls, wounded, his breastplate smoking. Ishaq charges at Eolian, but his sword strike passes through the vaporous form of the Voldar mage, who drifts up and away from the skirmish. Garn shouts at the group to fight the enemy instead. Seeing the group cohesion suddenly disintegrate, the Larkosians position themselves for a final push up the hill. Carlo recognizes the tactical formation and, in a desperate bid to stall for time, pulls Mayfn's head from the pouch and holds it aloft. With his other hand he lifts his sword above his head.
"Witness what lies in store for any man who approaches this hill: the great warrior Mayfn laid low by this sword."
Eolian delivers a sudden flash of lightning and earsplitting thunder and the Larkosians falter. Despite Kurrigan's orders, half of them flee back into the woods. He curses, wheels his horse, and gives chase to his own men. Michael rises and approaches Jaffer, shouting at him. Garn yells at Ishaq and Eolian, while Carlo scans the perimeter and notices that the enemy have not completely routed but have fallen back to positions in the trees.
Carlo shouts a warning and the group is beset from all sides by a sudden volley of arrows. Ishaq and Jaffer dive for cover, Michael is hit twice and falls to the ground unconscious. Garn sees a break in the Larkosian line and runs towards it; he flees into the woods and hides. Eolian wildly fires a pulse of electricity but it misses its mark and strikes Michael's prone body.
The Larkosians, emboldened by the turn of events, emerge from the woods and climb the hill. Seeing the desperate situation they're in, Carlo issues a challenge of personal combat with Kerrigun to end the fight; Kerrigun agrees and orders his men to stand down and form a circle at the base of the hill. He and Carlo strip to their breeches and each man chooses a weapon. Carlo picks his gladius and Kerrigun picks his flail. As the two challengers circle each other, Eolian heals Jaffer and Ishaq cuts the arrows out of Mike and bandages his wounds. Garn stays hidden in the forest, peering out from beneath a tree stump.
The combat is brief: Carlo slashes Kerrigun's chest but looses his footing and is brutally smacked in the face with Kerrigun's flail. As Carlo falls to all fours, stunned, Kerrigun clubs him behind the neck with the handle of his flail. As his companions look on, Carlo is dragged away by soldiers and yoked to a pole. Kerrigun mounts Jargo's charger and the soldiers prepare to ride back to Larkos.
Act Two: The Second Duel
Before the Larkosians can ride off, two Voldar walk from the forest and block them. One stands in the center of the road and, despite the urgings of the horsemen, their mounts will not budge. The other Voldar approaches Kurrigan and calls out to Eolian, greeting him their native tongue. Kurrigan sits perplexed as the Voldar speak to each other.
The two introduce themselves as Sem and Rus Pasternus, cartographers out of Darkwood who have been hired by House Amberjoy to locate and map Azedoma; they learned Jargos's fate and tracked the group to the woods and Garn's kroa led them to the hill. Rus offers to pay for the contents of Jargos's saddle bag, which contains the only known modern map of the Ruins.
"Kill these men," Kurrigan growls and draws his sword. Sem taps Kurrigan with his staff and the bodyguard is hauled off his horse by forces unseen and entombed in a tree. Rus waves his staff and the horses bolt and buck, tossing the Larkosians to the ground. The patrols flee in a panic and the group gives chase, cutting almost all of them down. Jaffer corners the group's lieutenant and shoots him in the face, where he collapses in a heap against a tree. Two of the soldeirs surrender and are taken captive. Eolian, meanwhile, frees Carlo and heals him.
Back at the clearing the Voldar pay Carlo for the contents of Jargos's saddlebag.
Ishaq returns with the surviving soldiers and they question them about his orders. The soldiers, Samuel and Willard, admit that they are actually free mercenaries wearing Larkosian kit. Their task was to pose as soldiers in order to capture Carlo and deliver him back to Larkos. Jaffer and Ishaq realize they are not targets of the Larkosian guard and breathe a sigh. The Voldar offer Samuel and Willard twice the amount Kurrigan paid them to be bodyguards. The two men agree and shake on it.
As they are questioning the free mercenaries Garn comes out of hiding and tries to intimidate Samuel with threats. Samuel replies, "I do not fear braggarts who hide from a fray." Insulted, Garn demands satisfaction in a trial by combat. The group assents to this development and both are given space to fight. Garn and Samuel square off and in three successive moves Samuel disarms Garn with a crushing blow to the forearm, pierces him through the armpit beneath his breastplate, and as Garn falls to his knees choking on blood, Samuel decapitates him.
Michael strips Garn of his equipment and prepares him a makeshift scaffold for the traditional Karadoan sky burial. Once he finishes he approaches Garn's kroa, who has been lightly wounded by a few stray arrows, and he untangles the Kroa's reigns from a tree. Michael attempts to bond with the kroa but it is too nervous and so he is unsuccessful; it balks and flies away.
The group loots the gear of the dead soldiers and stalks deeper into the forest.
Act Three: Beneath The Ruins
For three weeks they doggedly advance through deep woods and over uneven terrain. One rainy afternoon Eolian discovers a moss-covered stone marker and wipes it clear to reveal a series of ancient markings etched in the face of the marker. They correspond with a pattern of mysterious glyphs on their map. The group camps that night beneath an ancient oak tree and the three Voldar try to align the map to their current location and match their data with an old text Sem carries with him.
They guess at their location and after a few more days they arrive at an archway concealed beneath a dense thicket of ivy under a roaring waterfall. They set up camp and the Voldar consult their maps and confirm that they have indeed discovered a secret entrance to the ancient city Azedoma. The group unpacks all but their essential items for the venture and Eolian discovers a tattered old robe near the entrance. He inspects it and notes that it has the markings of a heretical sect of Yllion that had been exterminated years ago.
The group, equipped for exploration, enters the seam and climbs through a long narrow tunnel of tumbledown stones. They emerge from the fracture and Eolian casts a light to penetrate the darkness, revealing a broad undercroft with smooth vaulted ceilings. They marvel at the grand symmetry of the lair and Carlo notes that someone has trod upon the ancient floor within the last few years. Burial vaults line the walls on either side, along with metallic plaques bearing an ancient script in relief. Sem retrieves his moleskin and copies the ancient script as Rus lights a lantern and hitches it to his staff.
They ascend a stone spiral stair that empties into a musty vestibule. Here shafts of light penetrate the veil of ivy outside and shine in from clerestory windows. Eolian sees markings made in the thick dust and dirt of the floor—perhaps made by a staff—and Michael inspects it further. He drags his foot along the floor, clearing the dirt away to reveal a mosaic tile floor. The floor depicts several scenes, of which none present are familiar, and one particular design catches his eye: a mosaic of a captivating crimson dragon slumbering at the threshold of the archway.
Ishaq and Jaffer share a nervous glance and both of them move to the opposite side of the room. Michael, convinced that he saw movement, draws his sword and squats low to the ground. "Look!" shouts Eolian.
The tiles faintly shift and the dragon's eye opens and fixes its gaze on Michael. Before Carlo can shout a warning Michael stabs at the eye, chipping the tile. The dragon rears its head and Mike is suddenly engulfed in a pillar of flames made brightly colored tiles. Everyone shouts in alarm as the pillar darkens and diminishes until all that remains is a pile of charred black tiles and Michael's sword. Rus kicks at the sword and as it clatters across the room it sweeps away some of the charred tiles to reveal a tile mosaic rendering of Michael within the floor.
The group panics and flees into another chamber and Carlo slams the door shut behind them. Eolian casts a spell to detect magic and discovers that a series of magical traps has been triggered. The other Voldar take a moment to confirm Eolian's findings: they surmise that whoever came before them has peppered the ruins with magical lures and snares.
Act Four: Escape From Azedoma
The grandeur of the great chamber is lost on them. They pace about, distraught by their predicament, and Samuel curses their luck. He stalks across the chamber and tries to pry open one of three doors. Carlo orders him to stand away from the door but Samuel ignores him. Ishaq, hearing something on the other side of the door, crosses the room and reaches out to grab Samuel just as the door gives way. The ancient wood buckles and collapses as a heavy cloud of metallic silver debris streams out of the archway, consuming Samuel as he screams in anguish. The group shouts in alarm and flees from the deadly cloud.
Eolian races across the room and helps Mike pry open one of the two remaining doors. Rus stumbles and breaks his ankle among the debris. The cloud swirls upon itself like a school of fish and changes direction towards the fallen Voldar; in its wake Carlo briefly sees the flayed remains of Samuel lying on the ground. Sem races towards his brother and shields him and both are engulfed in the deadly swarm. Their deaths buy enough time for the others to exit the great chamber and close the door shut behind them.
The room is a ceremonial bath with an elaborate fountain centerpiece filled with clear water. Jaffer orders everyone to be quiet and they all hear the distant rush of wind or water coming from beneath the floor. Eolian, intrigued by the fountain, approaches it and stares into the crystal clear water. Ishaq warns him away, but the Voldar mage dips his finger into the fountain and tastes it. The others look at him, stunned.
Eolian chokes out a few words and then staggers against fountain. He coughs a spray of blood into the water and it immediately activates a blood magic snare. The room trembles and the fountain blasts a geyser of water at the ceiling; it rains down on the group as Eolian collapses and loses consciousness.
Within minutes the room fills almost to the ceiling; the survivors tread water and try to chip away at the ceiling with their blades. Carlo notices a glimmer of metal in one corner of the room and swims to it. He pries at a latch mechanism with his blade and it snaps, swinging a trap door open. The hole flushes the water from the room, pulling them all into its vortex. They slide down a smooth stone pipe and are ejected onto an iron grate above a lightless chasm. They collect themselves and realize that Eolian is missing—the group assumes he perished in the room above. Jaffer unpacks their last kit of survival gear and, with flint and tinder, lights an oil lamp.
After walking for a few hours the distant roar grows louder and Jaffer guesses they're near the river. He scouts an escape to the world above in a large crack in the roof of the cavern, but it's on the other side of a huge chasm cut by the underground river. Narrow, natural limestone bridges span the chasm and Jaffer picks the widest one and crosses it. Ishaq helps Willard across but the young soldier slips and falls screaming into the abyss; Ishaq crawls the rest of the way and waves Carlo on. Carlo makes it halfway and stumbles and falls. Ishaq and Jaffer crawl to the other side of the abyss and follow a narrow path alongside the river, walking for what seems hours. They eventually spy sunlight far ahead of them and what appears to be a rope ladder. They wade into the river and let its current carry them towards the rope and shaft of light…
Meta
Game Notes
- Garn had Broadsword-12
- Carlo fell approximately 100 feet and slammed into the icy river (doing only 1 point of damage!)
- Jaffer critically failed a First Aid roll to help an enemy, killing him, then said "I finished him off."