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...
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