Previously on Straagor nights.

As we can see Queg had quite the experience, he is now firmly back on the material plane. Through no small expense of his companions including quite a discount from the priests of Pelor, he has rejoined the group and is anxious for action.
The companions make ready to face D'gru uth Dunne. The hunter becoming the hunted. The only question is on whos terms will this battle be on.

Acheron?

The mist began to well up, seemingly from his very feet. Queg knew something wasn't right, his hand flashed to his bastard sword. The very sword wrested from the depths of Khundrukar. Queg's eyes bulged, furiously, he tried to draw breath from a mouth that no longer could and nostrils that had been rendered useless. He was as vaguely aware of the cold metal that had just past under his chin and the life blood that now washed the floor as he was of the melodic voice, bidding him to be quiet, behind him. Queg saw the floor rushing up at him but he never hit it. The blackness that overcame Queg was impenetrable, or was it? A distant voice, a far away voice, yelled unintelligibly. It became clearer and clearer, as if Queg was rushing towards it or it to him. No sooner than Queg could decipher what it was saying, a great flash of white light and a sharp searing pain shot through the half-orc.
"Dwarves and elves, elves and dwarves!" came a scream, an impossible scream, in the deep guttural tongue of the orcs. Again, a crack and the sudden coolness in the stifling air told Queg that he had just lost another swatch of skin. Flayed to the bone, Queg gradually became aware of his surroundings, the iron under his feet and the battles raging all around him could only mean one thing...Acheron. Acheron, the home plane of his deity, Gruumsh. Constant battle was waged here, vast war cubes with infinite armies engaged in constant strife against one another for no other reason than bloodletting. Queg's eyes snapped to their fullest diameter, as a wet splash announced another crack of a flesh rending implement. Daring a glance over his shoulder, Queg saw his god, or his god thing.
Shorter than Queg but twice his bulk and outfitted in black full plate, Gruumsh assailed Queg relentlessly.
"Dwarves, wretched friend of dwarves. Elf lover, stinking elf lover." Gruumsh spit.
His unblinking eye, centered on his cauldron like head, fell on Queg and promised an eternity of pain.
"I will tear out the half of you worth beating and leave the other half for the devils, elf lover!" Gruumsh howled as his blows fell faster and faster.
How many blows fell? Queg could not tell. The pain, or the planar qualities of Acheron caused time to stand still. His ruined flesh lie in piles at his feet. Sweat mingled with tears stung Queg's eyes. The battles raged ever on around him. How he longed to trade places with the warriors, a stand up fight. He saw, to, that the combatants were too busy being ran through by swords or impaled on pole arms to witness Queg's shame and torment at the hands of his god. His god, the one he followed more out of tradition than any faith based calling. The one thing they had in common, the only portion of Gruumsh's dogma that Queg subscribed to, was battle. Queg, loved it. He had tried to take up smithing, to scare away his demons. The war mongering, the blood lust that comes over the half-orc. He had tried, and failed to deny these urges. But no longer, he would walk onto the infernal fields of battle that are Acheron, and he would die a thousand deaths, he would fall a hundred times but would fell ten times that many. If only the torture would end.
"Don't you dare!" the tone of the god thing changed from rage and elation to confusion and trepidation. Gruumsh heard it. A calling, a voice somewhere off plane. The god double his efforts, no longer wishing enduring torment, but to keep the traitorous half-orc here, on his plane.
Queg barely understood, the scourge whistled wildly on and around his shattered form. Each attack landing with gut wrenching pain and skin flaying destruction. The blow, the last one, the first one, Queg couldn't tell anymore, landed with a finality that rocked the warring plane. The hooks of the scourge sank into unprotected meat and bone. Anchoring him to the spot. Queg heard it then, what was obviously a fell voice to Gruumsh was music to him. The barbarian knew that his friends were calling. They needed him and he intended to go.
Reading his thoughts, knowing his every move Gruumsh raged on. "If you go half breed, you only prolong the inevitable. Your suffering will be the thing of songs and nightmares of children." Gruumsh stamped and snorted. He pulled on the scourge which was now more a part of Queg than the god thing's weapon.
It was too late, however, because once called the choice became Queg's. The path back had been laid out before him. A hand of hope had been extended into this unholy place with the sole intention of ripping Queg back from death...and rip it did.
The curses spewed from Gruumsh like lava from an angry volcano. His voice growing more and more distant. Queg's mouth fell open in horror and pain as the scourge finally tore from him, the sinister weapon's reach extending long after the angry god's voice had died away.
Queg's eyes fluttered open, a glowing staring priest of Pelor standing over him. The horror filled visage of Queg Bor a stark contrast to his companions smiling faces.

The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 028

Gameplay Date 11-25-07

Players present: Mordek, Taneus, Brynn

It's good to be home

When we could at last see the buildings that comprised Bumfor, I began telling my companions that Bumfor was primarily a mining town made up of dwarves, but also humans, gnomes and halflings, and that the buildings were mainly for their benefit, as we dwarves lived in the tunnels and warrens that we had carved into the mountains. There are some half-orcs here too, as I point toward their encampment on the north end of town as we are approaching. I turned to Arda and said that I would take my friends to the Inn and get them settled, and then I would come to the temple to explain things. Arda & his group continued south toward Penneck's Stables while I led the way to The Brimstone Inn. It's a three story tall building, with a tavern on the main level and 6 rooms per floor above. Inside there are about fifteen, very thick and sturdy, square tables and a very low bar, that comes up to my waist. It's quiet in here at the moment... it's usually a riot of drinking and laughter and a few games of chance... Goblin Bones and The Three Maidens being a couple of the more popular dice games. Behind the bar are a couple of doors that lead to a storage room and to the kitchen. Falaan, a female halfling and owner of The Brimstone Inn, comes out from the kitchen when she heard the noise of us entering. Her eyes lit up at the sight of my companions as she tells us how ecstatic she is to see cultured elves to share a drink with, and she quickly goes to one of her locked cupboards and pulls out a bottle of fairy wine. As she's insisting that we share a quick drink, and rummaging to find some glasses, I can't help but think to myself that fairy wine is made by wringing fairies of their juices just like you'd wring out a wet dishcloth... HA!!! When I tried the wine though, it was much too fruity for my tastes, so I asked Falaan for a mug of Dwarf Spirits instead to quench my thirst. Falaan looked at my elven companions and muttered "You see what I'm dealing with around here!"

We inquired about getting rooms during our stay here in Bumfor. Falaan says she's still got 8 rooms vacant and that it'll be 2 gold pieces per night. I dig into my coin purse and pull out enough coin to cover my drink and a room for myself. The others did the same, as Falaan handed out keys to each of us. My companions decided to turn in early to get some rest, while I told them I had to pay a visit to the Temple of Moradin and clear up a few things. As I was heading out the door, Falaan was leading the others up to their rooms. Walking across the short distance between the Inn and the temple, I marveled again at the craftsmanship of it's construction... carved right into the side of the mountain itself. Stopping in the open doorway, I gave a curt bow before entering into the Great Hall. There isn't a single column in here, the ceiling being supported instead by a giant stone arch reaching from the middle of the wall to my left, to the middle of the wall to my right. There are doorways carved into each base of the arch... the left door leads the rooms where the priests are housed, while the right door leads to a banquet hall, a school for dwarven children, a sparring chamber and several training rooms. Ahead of me on the far side of the Great Hall is a raised dais with 3 steps leading up to an ornately carved stone seat. Arda and the group he had been leading to Nerom are in here waiting for me, as are several dwarven priests, and presiding over all of them is a very old dwarf... Scale Sledgemore, the High Priest of Moradin here in the temple. They gesture me forward before them and appear to settle in to hear what I have to say. It was a few hours later when I had finished explaining everything that had transpired in Nerom and had finished answering their questions about those events. I had mentioned that the town did in fact seem receptive to having a temple to Moradin joining their ranks, at which I handed over the plans I had drawn up, and suggested that they continue pursuing the matter. They told me they would look into it, and that for now, they were content with my explanation of events. They appeared to be finished with me, so I bid them all a good evening and made my way back to the Brimstone Inn to get a decent night's sleep.

I awoke in the morning to the lively sounds of lots of dwarves downstairs having breakfast. After getting dressed, I met Taneus in the hallway... the women though, were taking their time getting ready... something about finally having a hot bath... and said they'd meet us downstairs. As we came down the stairs, the appearance of an elf garnered a lot of laughter from the dwarves, as well as several not-so-whispered snide comments about my being back in town too. We grabbed an empty table and ordered up some breakfast, and while we were waiting, the door to the Inn opened. In walked Tilik, the owner of the general store in Bumfor. He looked around for a moment, taking in everyone... until he spotted me! Then he made his way through the busy tables with his gray hair and beard all in a huff. He came right up to our table, pointed his walking stick into my face and said "I've got something for you!" Whoa there... easy Tilik! He went on to say that a message arrived for me just last night, carried here by a hawk no less. As he didn't know I was back in town, he didn't have the message on him, but rather that it was back at his shop. I still didn't see what had gotten Tilik's ire up until he told me that the hawk killed & began eating one of his carrier pigeons before it left. And as the message is for me, he wants me to pay to replace his bird. Fair enough I suppose... not sure who would be sending me a message here though... maybe Fazu... he's got all of them animal friends. I dug into a pouch and tossed Tilik a gold piece, saying that I'd swing by later to pick up the message. He took the money and seemed a little less angry as he turned and headed off to get his own breakfast. As I turned back to Taneus to resume our conversation, I noticed that everyone seems to be keeping an eye on us... that is, until Brynn & Kiri came down the stairs. There are other humans in Bumfor, so Kiri wouldn't be too out of place, but when everyone saw another elf, someone yelled out "Well, there goes the neighborhood!!" and another round of riotous laughter filled the Inn.

Brynn & Kiri joined us at our table, ordering breakfasts of their own. Taneus though, had caught some talk by other patrons, and when Falaan came to our table again, he asked her if she could tell him more about the gryphon attacks he'd overheard. Falaan mentioned that right now it is hatching season for the gryphons, up among the various peaks of the Jagged Mountains. That people go in search of the eggs because they go for about 3,500 gold pieces on the right market, and that some animal trainers are offering double that for a live, young gryphon that they can train. Taneus's eyes seemed to glint when she mention how much they were worth. Falaan mention that Tinker, he's kinda the local guide for travelers, a jack of all trades, had just left yesterday leading 3 humans up into the mountains. She thought they were just another group of people hoping to score big by finding a gryphon nest, but she had overheard something that had her a little worried. One of the humans had said "Hag," and though it was too loud in the bar to have heard the rest of their conversation, and they could've been talking about anyone, there where rumors of a Night Hag living up in the mountains somewhere. She warned us to stay away, and was praying that Tinker's group wasn't going anywhere near her either. Falaan went off to tend to her other customers, and we started talking amongst ourselves. 3,500 gold... for an egg! Gotta admit... it'd put a nice heft to our coin purses if we could find a few ourselves. We talked it over for a bit and decided that we were gonna go for it. I told them that we'd need to go to Tilik's store to equip ourselves for some mountain climbing, and that we'd need to find "Skunk." I tell them that Skunk is... well... he's... he's kinda like Tinker... does a lot of everything, and while not as good as Tinker, is still a capable guide. The thing is though, if the group runs into trouble, you're on your own as he's already long gone.

We paid Falaan in advance, to hold our rooms for us for a few more days, then we made our way to Tilik's store, where it just so happened that Skunk was inside having a discussion with Tilik. There conversation died down as we came in, so we approached Skunk first to see if he'd be willing to guide us up into the mountains in search of gryphon nests. He said as long as he's getting paid, he'll do it. He asks when we'd like to leave and we tell him as soon as we get some things here at Tilik's. He excuses himself to go and get his own gear, saying he'll meet us at the base of the mountain path. Tilik asks what he can help us with, and we start asking for the basic camping supplies & rations, along with lots of rope and a grappling hook. I added a hammer and several pitons to our list, and a spear that I saw leaning up against one of the walls. Before he started gathering up all the items we were requesting, Tilik handed me the message he had told me about. I opened it and started reading as Tilik went back to work. I glanced at the bottom to see if it was indeed from Fazu... nope... Degarren. Oh this ought to be interesting!

"Mordek...

First I must commend you on your skillful ruse. Gaining poor Aglum's trust, playing to his hubris, and taking advantage of his desire to help the good peoples of Nerom. All under the guise of collaboration and prosperity... truly masterful. I applaud you.

But enough commending. Let's get on with the condemning. That's right, I condemn you Mordek to a life of fear and pain.

Undoubtedly, with the aid of that insolent Tyrellian elf, you managed to destroy a mutually beneficial endeavor. Robbing the people of Nerom, the temples of Erythnul, and the wizard Vexx of desperately needed tools of fulfillment and advancement. For this blasphemy, I will make you famous. No, I will make you infamous.

From this day forward, every priest of my Order, every assassin, every dark, sinister, wicked thing will spit your name like bitter poison from their lips. Just as Aglum's name will be spoken with reverence, your name will be spoken in hushed tones in dark places. As a plague, your name will spread over the face of Caldor. Like a Stygian black stain, those of the foulest pits will striveto cleanse the world of your wretchedness.

However, I do hope you survive this curse. For I fully intend to fall on you with the full weight of Erythnul's might. I will do everything in my considerable power to see to it that you and I meet again. Then, will begin the slow torturous end to your unnaturally long dwarven life.

Aglum's name will ring with the sounds of martyrdom. The laments and cries to one, who in the midst of his holy and humanitarian deeds, was struck down by the murderous Mordek.

Your name, however, will become synonymous with pain and despair. I vow to you that your suffering will be legendary.

Till we meet again,

Degarren"

When I finished reading, I gave a snort and asked Taneus to come over, handing him the message so he could read it as well. "Looks like we made somebody mad!" Brynn & Kiri also read through the message. When they were done, I turned to Brynn and said "don't know why he's got it in for me so bad... you're the one that killed his buddy Aglim!" Guess we're gonna have to keep on our toes.

Once we had finished gathering supplies for our trip up into the mountains, we headed over to the Temple of Moradin. The priests greeted us as we came through the doors, asking how they could be of service. We inquired if they had any healing potions that could sell us, in case we ran into some serious trouble on our little excursion. They came back with 6 Cure Light Wound potions, which we happily paid for and thanked them as we went back outside. I handed two to Kiri, two to Brynn, and was going to give one to Taneus, but he declined, so I kept the other two myself. I then led my companions through town to the base of the paths that led up into the mountains. Along the way, we passed some ore carts as they were brought down from the mines and taken to the smelters. Taneus overheard them talking about "Dark Iron" and asked me what it was. I just told him that it was an iron ore that the gnomes had discovered, and that it had a high carbon content. We found Skunk waiting at the foot of the mountain path. He tells us it'll be about a twelve hour climb before we'd reach the top, then turned and started leading the way. We fell in behind him and got ourselves a good workout as we made our way uphill, hour after hour. We finally decided to stop for the night and make camp at a point near to where we would have to start using ropes to make further progress. The watches went by without a problem, but just after first light, we could see a gryphon heading in our general direction. It flew past, taking us in before heading off again. Brynn asked if we might encounter Tinker's group, but Skunk replied that they had taken a different path, heading left while we had gone to the right. Skunk thought they were in search of something else, to have taken that route, but as we were after gryphon eggs, this was the direction we needed to go. We had some rations for breakfast, then readied ourselves for another day of climbing. We broke out the ropes, knotting them for easier climbing, and attached the grappling hook. We had a 200 foot climb to make and it was slow going for a while as the elves were obviously not used to such rugged terrain. When we reached the top, we paused to take in the sights. Skunk said that there were gryphon nests on the next peak over, but first we'd have to climb back down the other side about 250 feet to a ridge that connected the two peaks. Problem was, we only had 200 feet of rope with us. Fortunately, we spotted a good sized ledge about halfway down, so we could take it in stages. Once we reached the jagged & rocky ridge, it was about 300 feet across to the next section of mountain we'd have to climb.

To be continued...

Map of Bumfor, on the Island of Wolfguard

I'm not sure how big the map will actually display, so you may not be able to make out all of the numbers. In any event, here is the list of prominent buildings in Bumfor.

Population: 400

Scale: 1 square equals 15 feet

1. The Brimstone Inn (later to be renamed The Slagstone Inn, later renamed again The Clanging Anvil Inn)

2. The High Temple of Moradin

3. Togan's Smelting

4. Tug Tanay's Office

5. Meger Lorentz's Mining Office

6. Queg Bor's Smithy (a large pile of raw ore sits outside his shop)

7. Penneck's Stables (houses all of the horses, ponies & dogs of the village)

8. Unger's Monuments (as an artisan, he's considered a laughing stock by the dwarves)

9. Headquarters for The Shovels (a group of dwarves who clear out new tunnels of monsters)

10. Tilik's General Store & Supply

There is a half-orc encampment on the northern edge of town.

Human homes make up the majority of the town, as the dwarves live in caverns and warrens carved into the mountains. There are also Gnomes and Halflings in the town.

Two winding paths lead up the mountain. One to the summit and the other to the Gnomish Mines.

The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 027

Gameplay Date 11-04-07

Players present: Mordek, Taneus, Brynn

The road to Bumfor

I woke up with one hell of a headache, still lying on the ground with one foot caught up in the cords I had tripped over last night. I disentangled myself, then took a minute to get my bearings. Then I slowly got to my feet and started heading to the Inn. Taneus, Brynn, Kiri and Corny were all gathered at a table having breakfast, though Corny still looked like he was suffering from last night's drinking binge. "'Bout time you turned up! Where have you been? You never came back last night." Oh, whoa... not so loud. I told them I was holding a prayer meeting at the Temple of Moradin and that it ran long. Taneus told me I better eat some breakfast quick and get my gear together, as they were all ready, and waiting on me so we could stop by the Temple of Pelor before leaving town. I ordered some food from Kaela, then ran upstairs to grab my stuff and brought it back down to the table with me. I quickly cleaned off my plate and washed it down with a mug of water. Then we paid Kaela for our meals, returned our room keys and bid her well, thanking her for her hospitality.

Once we were outside, we started heading for Briar's Stable to retrieve our horse and load it up with our supplies. I suddenly remembered that I had left something behind. I told the others I'd catch up with them at the Stable, then headed over to the "Temple" of Moradin. I started winding up all of the string and put it into my pack, then pulled up the stakes to return them to Kelper's shop, and finally grabbed the shield I had put out as a marker. On the way to Briar's, I quickly stopped at Kelper's and dropped off all of the stakes. The others were finishing up as they tied our extra gear to the horse's saddle and saddle bags. Adding my own extra gear to the horse, we settled up our bill with Briar, then led the horse across town to the Temple of Pelor. The priests were waiting for us when we arrived, and they motioned me forward so they could complete the spell. A few words of prayer to their deity... and it's over? ... they say I'm cured. Don't know why, but I was expecting something more... like when they exorcise demons outta people. We paid them for their services, thanked them and then went back outside. We'd said our goodbyes to Luvana yesterday, so now we wished Corny well and made our way out of town to start heading for Bumfor.

It was going to be a couple of days of walking before we'd get there, and thankfully, the fresh sea air was helping pass the effects of last night's drinking binge. By late afternoon, it started to get much darker, as the sun was setting behind the mountains and casting us into shadows much sooner than normal. Out to sea, there were storm clouds closing in on us, so we found an overhang under which we could make camp for the night. We huddled there as the rains started coming down, until we heard a really strange sound. "Wharrgarble! Wharrglblaarglflrrrngnaarble!" A few flashes of lightning revealed a writhing mass of grey flesh covered with dozens of randomly placed eyes and mouths, all of different sizes and shapes, sliding down the mountainside toward us. What the hell is that thing?!? It continued making it's way closer into the light of our campfire, gibbering incessantly from all of it's mouths, as Taneus, Brynn & Kiri started slinging spells and shuriken at it from beneath our overhang. It got close enough to loose a stream of spittle that ignited on contact with the air. It flashed brightly, but we managed to avert our eyes enough to keep from being blinded. One of it's mouths even lashed out and attached itself to Kiri. I started swinging at the tentacle to sever it as Taneus & Brynn fired off a few more well placed spells and finally that thing fell silent. Kiri had some acid damage where it had latched on to her, but other than that, she seemed fine. We pushed the mass over the cliff edge so as not to draw any more predators to us, then went back to our campfire to heal Kiri's wounds and eat some rations before turning in for the night. We set a watch order for the night, and fortunately, nothing else came calling.

The next morning, it was still dark, cold and windy as we gathered up our camp and got back on the road. We walked until it was nearing noon, when we spotted a few pebbles and stones fall down a nearby slope. A big cat-like creature came into sight... and man is it ugly! It's four or five feet long, has a shaggy, spotted coat, a bristling mane along its spine and a long bushy tail. It also has a long narrow head, but it's like all the fur on it's face was pulled back to it's ears revealing the muscles and bony structure underneath. It cut loose with a loud screech, which made us all start heading away from it. It hopped down from it's rocky perch to give chase as we headed back along the way we had come only to find 3 more of the creatures as they jumped out in front of us. What happened next was all a blur as the 3 new ones surrounded me, sinking their teeth and claws into me. I was a bloody mess when my friends finally managed to kill off the last of them. Brynn came over to heal some of my wounds with her magic, and wrapped up the rest saying I'd heal better with some rest. She even thanked me for keeping those things... Krenshars, she called them... busy and off the rest of the group. I quipped back, "Well of course they were gonna go for me! You three are too scrawny... no meat on your bones!" To which Brynn replied, "Yes, but we taste sweeter! We're a delicacy!" and I couldn't keep the smirk off my face, shaking my head in amusement.

We continued on until it got late again, and we found a decent spot to make camp. After eating some more rations, the others let me turn in without having to take a watch so that I could try and heal up by morning. When I finally woke, all of my injuries had healed up nicely. We ate some more rations for breakfast, then packed up and got back on the road again. After about an hour, we met a group of 7 dwarven riders on ponies as they were heading from Bumfor to Nerom. They came to a stop as their leader recognized me. He got down from his pony, came over to me, pulling out a piece of parchment from his coat, and asked me what in the blazes this was about. I took the note from him... the one I had sent by courier pigeon... and turned to my companions to introduce them to Arda Sparkburst, a cleric of the Temple of Moradin in Bumfor. I then told him about the trouble that had been going on in Nerom, and how I had concocted plans for a Temple of Moradin to be built in Nerom, as a way to get close to the troublemakers, and had sent the message in order to make it look legitimate, in case they were watching me... but now that the problems in Nerom had been dealt with, I was on my way to Bumfor to explain all of that to the Temple elders, and clear up any confusion. Arda just looked at me with a "not another wild scheme" look on his face, then said I'll have a lot of explaining to do once we got back to Bumfor. He then remounted his pony, turned his group around and escorted our little group the rest of the way back to Bumfor.

To be continued...