4 Flaurmont - Earth, Wind and Fire

Broneslav found himself in an alcove behind a statue. He stepped round it and into a circular room with alcoves to north and south.

"I'm not going anywhere near those," he thought to himself as he considered how many times he had been teleported around the remains of Elyas' tower.

The room contained four large statues of demonic figures. Each of the statues in front of an alcove had a human-sized handprint carved into its chest. The fourth statue was in the centre of the room and its front part had been carved out to fit an iron throne into it. A bright, pulsing, red light shone from the gems in the eyes of the statue he had just stepped around. Dimmer blue lights shone from the statues to the north and south. A black gem could be seen in the left eye of the central statue, and there was a hollow where a second gem could be placed. It was the right size to fit the gem he had just retrieved. He tried the gem in that eye, but nothing happened, and it fell right out again.

Examining the other statues, he realised that there might be a purpose to the handprints. He placed his hand tentatively into the handprint on the northern statue. His mind was filled with a sense of another person's despair. It was Sylva's! He realised now that the witches must have stolen the bodies of the elvish women, and their spirits were trapped here. Perhaps the clue to freeing them lay in this handprints on the statues. To test this theory he approached the southern statue and tried that one. He felt Merisa's despair. The red eyes on the other statue probably meant something else again. Only two elves had been kidnapped so perhaps the red meant that the witch was still trapped. He decided to forego testing that theory just in case.

There must be something more he needed to do to free the elves and destroy the witches. He needed to explore further. Turning south out of the circular room, he followed the corridor to its end. The wall had crumbled here and a small hole was there. It looked like he could enlarge it enough to get through, but he could see that there was someone there, and he was not sure he wanted to disturb them. He returned to the other end of the corridor which ended in a blank wall. Knowing that there had once been a secret door at the other end helped him, and Broneslav soon found the door, and opened it. It was not well hidden, suggesting that it was intended to stop access from the other side.

As he had seen through the broken wall, the door opened behind an altar. This one was empty but for an altar with red altar cloths. The second he stepped through the door, it slammed shut behind him. Grabbing for it only wrenched his arm. With the door shut, he could see a handprint carved into it. Well, he would check that later. For now he needed to find a way to activate this gem so that it would fit into the statue. Looking around he saw that the walls were decorated with frescoes of leaping flames.

There was only one door out of the temple, so he took it and found himself in a room with a carved idol in its centre. It's hands were placed in front of it  as if to accept an offering. As he entered the room, the hollow began to glow. The glow got stronger as he approached the idol, and noticed three alcoves to the east.

"What is it with all these alcoves?" He muttered to himself.

Suddenly the idol spoke, "Answer me and I'll answer thee in truth, if but to questions three! What is thy name?"
He took a moment to consider whether it was wise, and then answered, "Broneslav."
"What was the first name of the last creature you killed?"
"I don't know, it was a panther."
"What is thy quest?"
"To free Merisa and Sylva."
"Accepted."
"Right, so I now have three questions. Well, I think I only need one. How do I use the Opal to free the maidens?"

The idol began to recite more doggerel:

Beyond the three temples of the elements

The black dragon's eye waits for thee.

Find its secret through nearby magical ways

That have waited for many long years.

Beware the tricks of Old Elyas,

And return here with the Black Opal Eye, to give it power.

Then set it in its place and behold

The end of great sadness; the beginning of life;

The destruction of evil and the end of strife.

Broneslav took the Opal Eye from his pouch and placed it in the idol's hands. After a moment it began to glow from deep in its centre. He waited a while. Nothing more happened so he picked it up and headed west to a door there, reasoning that the door to the south must be to the temple with the broken wall.

The door opened into another temple, decorated with images of clouds racing across the sky and trees bent under the force of a hurricane. Behind the altar there was a handprint in the wall. Right, so, better check the person in the last temple before he returned to that statue ...

He opened the door as carefully as he could and sneaked into the third temple, noticing as he did so that it was decorated with images of mountains and rock formations. At the altar was a slight elvish woman with her back to him. He thought it looked like Merisa, whom he had encountered before. He padded as silently as he could towards her, using the pillars as cover. When he got to ten feet behind her, he gave up on all stealth and dived for the woman. Before she could react, he had pinned her to the ground and placed his hand over her mouth.

"No sleep spells for you witchy woman!" he growled as he trussed her up and gagged her. he was then able to clear the gap behind the altar so that he could get through and drag her behind him. She looked at him with a hate-filled gaze, as though she wished at this time to be a medusa. Once through the gap, it was the work of a moment to place the Opal Eye in the statue. There was a flash of blue light. The eyes on the two statues that had been blue flared red, then the eyes on all three statues went out. All that remained was black burnt-out stones. Merisa jerked and slumped slightly before sitting up looking confused.

Broneslav soon ascertained that she really was now Merisa and that the witch's spirit had been vanquished. He guessed that this had happened to the other possessed and dominated elves too. Given that the alcove to the west had brought him here, he guessed that the alcoves to the north and south might take him away again. Tossing a coin, he headed to the northern alcove with Merisa. The two of them found themselves in a room with dark stone platform. He recognised the layout, and checked the double doors to the west to see if you was back in the room near Sylva's bedroom. It turned out that he had got lucky; the doors opened into the treasury! He filled his bags with all he could carry before checking for a way out. The arch to the south no longer glowed, so he decided that the curse must no longer be in effect.

The pair headed through the arch with no ill effects and found themselves in the corridor with half a dozen groggy looking elves, dwarves, hin and humans. The platinum statues that had once lined the hall were no longer their. A candle lit in Broneslav's mind. The statues were of those that had tried to rob the treasury by going through the arch. The newly animated people seemed to be no threat at the moment, so Broneslav told them how to work the disc as he passed them and headed out of the tower with Merisa.

The journey back to the village was simple, even though they encountered many more people who had been transmuted into statues along the way, but all were too groggy to pose a threat. The pair were greeted on the path to the village by the joyous villagers. Sylva had come to when Broneslav placed the Opal Eye in the statue, and she had explained what had happened. Broneslav was feted as a hero, and was finally able to deliver the package to Merisa and return Rahasia's pendant to her.

With the experience gained here, Broneslav has now gone up a level. He gains +1 Attack Bonus, +4 hit points and 1 trait point. The trait is really difficult to decide. It has to be something related to his adventures since last going up a level. That means it could be travel related, dungeon exploration related or anything else of that ilk. I was tempted to give him something related to resistance to spells because of all the Sleep spells he was hit with, or perhaps to increase his Hunting attribute, but in the end I opted to give him the trait Elf-friend. Rahasia has connections with the merchant Sindar, and with Arnulf Armbruster in Selenica, so I thought she might have connections further afield too. Broneslav may now be able to seek aid among the elves of a place by finding a connection of Rahasia's. I'm not sure how useful it will be, but it seems appropriate.

4 Flaurmont - The Black Opal Eye

Broneslav returned to the tower and quickly made his way back to the lifting disc. He dropped down to the bottom of the shaft and headed back into the depths of Elyas' ruined home. He was pleased that Sylva was now contained if not quite right in the head. Now all he had to do was find Merisa, subdue her, and find a way to sort out whatever was wrong with them.

Retracing his footsteps, Broneslav was soon back in Sylva's bedroom. He cleared the remains of the cushions from in front of the secret door, and opened it using a key he had taken from Sylva. The room beyond contained only a large dark stone platform against one wall and doors in the other. The platform was simple stone, raised and appeared to conceal nothing. The doors looked more interesting.

He pushed the doors open and entered the octagonal chamber beyond. It was mostly empty, as he had seen from the north corridor, but now he could also see that a large black gem was suspended from the arched ceiling 40 feet above his head. The arch leading to the corridor had ancient writing carved around it. Broneslav puzzled the words out, and thanked the gods for his parents giving him a good education (Hard test against intelligence. +1 for Good Education trait made the difference between passing and failing):

"Once the portal is crossed,

Make no mistake,

A part of my treasury you will make."

Broneslav wondered what this meant. Perhaps some transformation, or just being stripped of all your goods, or maybe it just fried you so you remained here forever. He could not fathom out anything but that it would be a bad thing to walk through the archway. He was pleased he had not tried it before. He also wondered why wizards seemed to enjoy writing doggerel. Honestly, could they not employ a decent bard to do the rhyming for them?

Well, that aside, he obviously needed to get that gem. Why else would it be strung up so high and difficult to get to. For all he knew, it might be the Black Opal Eye that Ular-Taman had mentioned. There were carvings up around the ceiling that looked substantial enough to support his weight. Broneslav got his grappling hook from his backpack, spun it a few times experimentally and then let it fly towards the ceiling. It caught immediately on a carving and he was able to shimmy up the rope in a trice. He was then able to stand on a substantial carving and use the grappling hook to snag the chain that the gem was suspended from, draw it to him and undo it.

Safely back on the ground, he examined the gem. It certainly seemed to be the Black Opal Eye, based on the description he had. He pocketed it and headed for the other doors in the chamber. They opened smoothly into a room with a dark stone platform. He checked it out as he had done the other one, and found nothing. But when he stepped on it to check the wall behind him, he suddenly found himself transported once more. He cursed because now he would have to retrace his steps to the actual treasury. He had an idea about how to get in now, but first he must deal with whatever new randomness Elyas had cursed him with ...

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)
Baik Telor (Level 4 human warrior from Ylari. Murdered by Merdiz the wizard)

3 Flaurmont 1000 AC - Treasure!

Broneslav awoke feeling a little better. Sylva was still tied to the grate and no one had tried to get in as he rested. He was still a bit shaky on his feet, but he would manage for now. Testing Sylva's bonds, he hand-fed her some food from his pack which she accepted with ill grace and a look in her eye that said she might try to bite the hand that was feeding her. A bit of water followed and then he tested her bonds again.

"I'm going to scout around," he announced, "If I live, I'll come back for you."

She glared as if her very look could turn him to stone. Moving out into the corridor, he found himself with three choices of direction: double doors at each end of the corridor and a single door straight ahead. He dithered a moment before striding to the right, towards one set of double doors. The light as he opened them caused him to blink repeatedly. He was in a room with archways to north and south and double doors ahead of him. The light came from the two archways. Advancing stealthily forwards he peered through the north arch first. The floor was covered in treasure, enough wealth to start a merchant family of his own. He almost ran over to start packing it up, when he remembered how the illusion of treasure had caused him to keep running head first into a wall. He backed away. To the south, a similarly well-lit room held no treasure, although looking through the arch, he could see something hanging from the ceiling.

Broneslav decided to wait to explore these rooms when his wounds had sufficiently healed. He stalked forward to the double doors on the other side of the room and opened them carefully. The room beyond held three statues and a glowing blue disc with a statue on it.

"Aha, the lifting disc!"

He recognised the disc and its cargo immediately. An idea came to him. He knew his way out from here. He would take Sylva back to the village and get the healers to help him before he returned to deal with Merisa. That would prevent Sylva from attacking him and would keep her safe until he could work out what sort of charm the Rahib had used on her.

As you can see, I have mapped the other rooms in the dungeon but have not filled in the detail on the unexplored ones yet

Broneslav returned to Sylva and untied her from the grille. He lifted it so that he could use the teleporter if he could find the hat and dragged his reluctant prisoner with him to the disc. He then began to retrace his footsteps to the main entrance. As he rounded a corner, he suddenly came face-to-face with 3 Siswa guards. Cursing his carelessness and complacency, he rushed them. The target of his first blows dodged and all three closed on him. He blocked, parried and dodged for all he was worth, and countered with a blow to the gut that felled one of the Siswa, followed by a shield to the face that knocked another out, and a sword pommel to the chin that felled the third. [Phew! That was lucky. He rolled a 1 for his fray die in the first round, and missed with his normal attack. Fortunately they all missed too, and then he rolled maximum damage for both fray die and attack on the second round. Scratch three unconscious elves].

While he had been fighting, Sylva used the distraction to run. Unfortunately for her, her bonds hindered her speed and Broneslav was able to catch her easily. He brought her back to the three unconscious elves and tended their wounds after binding them all properly so that he could manage all four captives. The threat of his sword combined with their bonds kept them sufficiently docile for him to be able to lead them all. The rest of the journey was uneventful, although Broneslav was now on edge the whole way.

Back at the village, he explained the situation to Rahasia, and left the captives in the villagers care. The village healer dealt with his wounds, and Broneslav rested up for the day.

The following day, fully healed, he returned to the tower ...

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)
Baik Telor (Level 4 human warrior from Ylari. Murdered by Merdiz the wizard)

2 Flaurmont 1000 AC - Adventures in the Boudoir!

Broneslav was standing in a small room, obviously teleported there by magic. The hat he had been wearing was probably part of that spell. The space beyond opened up into a large bedroom. A pile of cushions lay near the opening to the small room he was standing in. As he sneaked forward, he saw the corner of a bed. A dainty foot poked out from under the blankets. He peered carefully round the corner. A lever was located on the outside by the bed. Presumably it had something to do with the iron grille located in a slot in the roof by the entrance to the small room.

Broneslav could see an untidy mass of golden hair on the pillow. The sound of delicate snoring arose from near that golden mass. He was not sure what to do. This might be Sylva, one of the elven maidens he was here to rescue. But the other one, Merisa, had attacked Baik and him, and had sicced a panther on them. It went against the grain to attack first though. He put his shield on the floor, and padded over to the bed silently with his sword in his other hand. He leaned over the sleeping person. Once he saw her face, he knew it was Sylva, the other missing elf. He shook her shoulder and quickly clamped his hand over her mouth as her eyes widened in shock.

"I'm here to rescue you," he hissed.

She was more self-controlled than he expected. Upon hearing his words, she calmed quickly and nodded. He took his hand away from her mouth.

"Do you know the way out of here?"

"No. They dragged me in here unconscious, and have kept me here ever since. The door is open but I have no idea which way is out."

"Ok, well, follow me. We're going to have to do this the hard way."

While Sylva got out of bed and dressed quickly, Broneslav searched the rest of the room. He found a secret door in the south wall, but decided to try the obvious door to the north first.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Ok, stay with me, but don't get too close. I may need room to swing a sword."

He moved to the door and opened it. A panther leapt through the newly opened door directly at him. Broneslav dropped flat as the panther sailed over his head. Spinning, he swung his sword at the beast, shaving a whisker off it, but not connecting with his sword. Sylva chanted words and gestured at Broneslav. A wave of sleepiness overcame him and he collapsed to the floor. [Why the heck does every single mage in this dungeon have the Sleep spell? It's really irritating when there is no save versus it!] As he did so, the panther attacked ripping huge gashes in his legs and mauling is arm [4 DAM]. The pain of this assault woke him immediately. He sprang to his feet and drove his sword into the panther [2 DAM]. Sylva ran to the south wall, fumbling at her belt. Triumphantly she drew a key out of her pouch. Still groggy from the spell, Broneslav failed to ward off all the panther's attacks and was clawed and bitten once more [2 DAM]. Diving past the panther, he bodychecked the elf just as she was about to open the secret door he had found. She collapsed to the floor unconscious as her head hit the wall. The panther leapt at Broneslav again and ripped more holes in him [2 DAM]. Weakening from the blood loss already, Broneslav grabbed his sword with both hands and sliced at the panther with a might blow that cut it in two [4 DAM].

He slumped against the wall to catch his breath, before checking Sylva to see if she was alright. He was worried that she had cracked her head too hard against the wall. Fortunately, she was just unconscious, although there was a trickle of blood from her forehead. He bound that wound and then her hands and feet.

"No more spells for you, tricksy witch," he muttered, as he gagged her and propped her up near the bed.

Tearing sheets from the bed he bandaged his own wounds and pondered what to do next. He could try to find his way out of here and rest up back at the village. That would give him a chance to recover and return for the other elf. Alternatively, he could rest up in this room, although that carried the risk of being discovered. Not sure of how to get out, he decided to rest up here. He dragged the bed to the main door and used it to block that entrance. Then he got the elf's key and jammed it into the lock of the secret door. That should stop anyone opening that door.

By this point, Sylva had awakened was staring balefully at him as he hobbled around the room sorting things out. Experimentation showed that the lever did, indeed, lower a grille across the opening to the room he had arrived in. He lowered the grille and tied Sylva to it, so that she could not move. Piling cushions in front of the secret door, he hoped that anyone trying to enter that way would trip over them and give him a chance to get up before they got to him. Before settling down to rest, Broneslav searched the room, finding a scroll that appeared to his untutored eyes to have a spell inscribed on it. He stashed it in his bag and lay down on some cushions in the corner furthest from both doors, hoping that things would go right for him.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 3/

9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)
Baik Telor (Level 4 human warrior from Ylari. Murdered by Merdiz the wizard)

2 Flaurmont 1000 AC - Return to the Halls of Grandeur

Wearing a new shirt and trews, healed by the village healer, and having washed properly, Broneslav made his way back to the temple feeling much better. There was still much to do and he needed to solve the riddle of the elven woman who appeared to be aiding the Rahib.

Returning to the corridor near the cells, Broneslav pushed through the door to the south. He was in a small hall with doors to to each side and one ahead of him. Listening at both doors revealed nothing. Both rooms appeared to be silent. Mentally he flipped a coin. Heads, so he headed east. As he stepped through the door, a huge red dragon belched flame at him. Broneslav screamed as fire engulfed him, and collapsed senseless to the floor.

His eyes opened again some time later. The dragon was still there, but it seemed more insubstantial now. Carefully, he stood up. The dragon belched flame again, but this time it washed around him. He realised that the dragon was an illusion and that none of his clothing was indeed burnt. Harrumph!

There was another exit from this room. He listened again and heard nothing. Opening the door, he peered in. It was another empty room, except that one wall of this room was a curtain of coruscating red light. It lent the room and eerie, hellish glow. There was a door in the wall opposite the one he entered by. Broneslav moved up to the glowing wall and pushed at it with his torch. The torch passed through easily. He waved the torch around and felt no resistance. Ok, no time to be a wimp. Closing his eyes despite himself, he stepped into the light and found himself in an identical room from that which he had just left. His back was to the curtain of light. There were two exits here. He opted for the left one.

Entering the new room, he beheld a huge pile of gold against the far wall. He felt an unreasoning desire to dive head-first into the treasure and start loading his backpack up. Giving in to temptation he did just that and cracked his head hard against a hitherto unseen wall [Failed saving roll]. Fortunately his helm protected him from damage but he felt distinctly dizzy after this. Closing his eyes against the onset of a headache, he felt around. It felt like there was a solid wall here. It had the texture of stone. Broneslav surmised that the treasure must be an illusion.

There were two doors in this room, both in the same wall. He entered by the one on the left, the one he had not entered by, and found himself in a short corridor. There was a door to his left and a door ahead of him. Broneslav hrrmed to himself suspiciously. Cautiously he opened the door and was engulfed once more in dragon flame. It did not burn and it did not hurt.

So, he was right. He had walked into the wall of light and come back out into the same room. He returned to the wall of light and tried sticking his head far enough in to see through. Unfortunately, all he could see was light. He would have to enter it to test its effects. He tried running into it, but wound up back in the same room. He tried hopping, skipping and jumping into it, but all to no avail. Then suddenly he thought to try walking backwards.

He stepped through the wall of light into a laboratory. Two tables covered in alchemical equipment occupied the centre of the room. The shelves were filled with dusty jars, and there were two alcoves in the east wall. On a peg between the two alcoves was a large hat with a big pink feather. It looked curiously out of place here which piqued Broneslav's curiosity. He went over and picked the hat up. It looked ordinary enough, so what was it doing here? Maybe the old wizard just liked to be flamboyant. Who knows? On a whim, he put the hat on top of his helm [Oracle says Yes to Broneslav putting the hat on]. He laughed. It was a shame there was no mirror there, but he knew he must look ridiculous. Maybe he could return to Specularum one day and make hats with big pink feathers fashionable. He could corner the market on big pink feathers beforehand, just to ensure that he profited properly from it.

Reining in his thoughts, Broneslav began to search the laboratory. There might be something of use there, he hoped. He found nothing among the alchemical equipment. The alcoves were odd, because they contained nothing, so he thought he had better check for secret doors. There was nothing in the northern alcove, but as he checked the southern alcove he felt the world move around him.

He found himself standing in small room that opened into a bedroom beyond. The hat was no longer on his head ...

The Halls of Grandeur

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)
Baik Telor (Level 4 human warrior from Ylari. Murdered by Merdiz the wizard)

1 Flaurmont 1000 AC - Of Elves and Spiders

Broneslav contemplated the two identical doors and decided to turn northwards first. This area was likely to be contained by the route he had just taken, and thus he could clear it of potential enemies before they headed into the unknown. Beyond the door was a corridor that ended at a wall. There were three doors on each side of the corridor. He took the nearest door on the left side first. The grille in the door suggested it was some kind of cell. The other doors also had grilles in them so he assumed these were all cells. This first room was empty, although fresh straw was piled on the floor as if to make a bed. The door opposite it on the right was the same. The second cell on the left was also empty.

The second cell on the right was occupied. He could hear noises within. Uncertain whether it was a prisoner or something worse, he opened the door carefully.

"Hello?" he asked questioningly.
"LET ME OUT OF HERE OR I'LL BLAST YOUR TINY HEADS TO BITS!" The voice was weak but determined. The cell had a dividing wall and the voice came from round the corner.
Broneslav walked to the corner and looked round it. He saw a middle-aged man chained to the wall by his leg. He was filthy with matted hair.
"COME HERE YOU DAMN WITCH'S SPAWN. LET ME GO BEFORE I IMPLODE YOUR PUNY MIND!"
"Hold up there," said Broneslav, "I'm no witch's spawn. I'm here to rescue two elven maids. If you give me a chance ..."
He got no further. The chained man, seeing Broneslav close enough now, gestured and spoke a mystical syllable. Broneslav collapsed to the floor just as Baik followed round the corner. The wizard had cleary not believed Broneslav. Seeing Broneslav fall, Baik rushed in and belted him with his mace [1 DAM]. He followed it up with another blow [1 DAM] before the wizard could finish the spell he was casting. The wizard cursed and tried again. This time he succeeded. Sticky strands spun out from his hands and half the cell was soon enmeshed in a thick web that held Baik fast no matter how he struggled.

Broneslav awoke to the sense of someone lifting his head. He felt a knife against his throat, and the pain galvanised him to rouse from the magical slumber inflicted on him [Defy death 1 DAM]. He leapt to his feet, tearing his throat away from the encroaching blade, and drew the dagger from his belt. The wizard looked stunned.
"No, wait, you cannot awaken yet."
Broneslav plunged his dagger into the wizard's eye [2 DAM]. The wizard crumpled to the ground. Broneslav was then able to look around. Baik lay in a pile on the floor. His throat had been cut and he was dead. The wizard must have immobilised Baik and cut his throat. Presumably he thought Broneslav would remain asleep long enough for the wizard to cut his throat too. Broneslav had been lucky. He laid his ally out gently, and swore to return for him later to ensure a proper burial.

As he approached the final door on the left, he heard piteous weeping. Investigating further, Broneslav found a young elven woman chained to the wall. She was slumped on the floor sniffling and whimpering half-heartedly. Panic crossed her face as she saw the bloody, tattered person before her.
"Don't worry," said Broneslav, "I am here to rescue you. What's your name?"
"Miryala. Are you really here to rescue me? How can I be sure?"
"You can't," he said brutally, "but you'll have to trust me."
He freed her from the chains and told her to wait there while he checked the final cell. He needed to see if Sylva were in it.

He could see that the cell was full of cobwebs when he opened the door. Held in the webs were the remains of a person. Suddenly a large spider leapt at him from the web. Broneslav spun to face it and tried to skewer it as it did so. He missed but the spider managed to land its fangs in his shoulder. Luckily it was just a scratch [1 DAM]. He swung again. The spider nimbly dodged and sank its fangs into his arm [1 DAM]. Broneslav could feel his body reacting as it fought off the spider's venom. Desperately he thrust at the spider's head. His sword cut through the spider's mouth and into it's brain, the top emerging gore encrusted from the top of the spider's head [4 DAM]. He slumped to the floor, breathing hard. Miryala ran up to him.
"Are you ok? Here, let me bandage your wounds."
With his wounds tended, Broneslav applied his torch to the spider's webs and burnt them out. The remains in the web clattered to the floor and Broneslav helped himself to the gold in the dead adventurer's pouch. Well, they would not need it now, and he really was going to need some new clothes after this was over.
"Come on," he said to Miryala, "I need to get you to safety so that I can carry on the search for Merisa and Sylva."

It would be dark soon anyway and he needed rest. Carrying Baik's body, he led Miryala outside to the waiting Rahasia and returned once more to the village. There he arranged for Baik to be buried according to the customs of Ylaruam. On the way he was able to tell Rahasia that Merisa seemed to be working with the Rahib now. Rahasia was shocked but still adamant that Broneslav must bring both elven women back alive. There was probably more to this than either of them were aware of.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 6/9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)
Baik Telor (Level 4 human warrior from Ylari. Murdered by Merdiz the wizard)

1 Flaurmont 1000 AC - A Wine Conundrum

"So, Baik, we going to try that, or are we going to check out the rest of this area?"
"I don't like to leave possible enemies behind us. Let's check the rest first. We can use the statues to bar the doors to this room, just in case anyone comes up the shaft there."
They did that and headed west. The western corridor had doors to north and south, and double doors at the end. Broneslav also noticed an irregularity in the north wall and soon found yet another secret door. Through the door he found stairs leading down. He tested them gingerly, remembering his slide down to the gelatinous cube. The stairs held. At their bottom was a small room mirroring the one he had slid into, again with a ladder against one wall. He was now used to the way the tower had been built, and the search for secret doors in this room was quick and easy. The central vault was empty and there was a door to the west. He now realised that the ladder in the other room must have led up to a secret door, as this one did. Climbing up the ladder to the door, he found himself back at the platform with the sarcophagi on it.

After this, Baik and Broneslav headed west through the secret door there. Their route led to stairs upwards which ended in a wall. Wiping cobwebs from his face, Broneslav stared at the blank wall ahead of him. There must be a secret door here. He knew that but it took him a while to find this one and get it open. Pushing through it, he entered an elegant room with a large table in the middle of the floor. The walls were lined with shelves on which were leather cases. He and Baik began to investigate the cases. The first case each of them opened contained a map of somewhere unfamiliar to either of them. They checked several more cases to confirm that they all contained maps, and found a bottle of wine stashed in one: Wizard of Wines Winery Purple Grapemash No.3. Again it had the peculiar serial number on the label: 14321341-S. Broneslav wondered if it were a code rather than a serial number. But a code to what? He was perplexed. The numbers on each bottle were the same for each type of wine. Could it be a batch number? Why did they not have a uniform format though?

The only other exit from this room was a door on the opposite side of the room from which they had entered. They opened it and found themselves in a room full of the charred remains of books and bookcases. This was obviously once a library, but had suffered terribly in the destruction of the tower. Double doors led from this room into the corridor beyond. Broneslav and Baik were back in the corridor to the octagonal room. They had two choices now: the door to the north, or the door to the south ...

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 4, ATK +5, DAM 1d8+1)
Stats include Mace+1

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

1 Flaurmont 1000AC - That sinking feeling

Leaving the kitchen with full bellies, Broneslav and Baik headed northwards. They passed the large bronze double doors on their right and returned to a short corridor that ran northwards from the main passage. There were four doors off this passage, two on each side. Broneslav checked the first door on the right, opening it carefully. He recognised the room he entered because a huge explosion had taken place in it, and there was a hole in the wall leading through to the stairs they had climbed.

"Hey, Baik," he exclaimed, "looks like the floors here must be sloping or something, because we climbed those stairs but we're still on the same floor."

Returning to the corridor, he opened the first door on the left. Shelves filled with dusty jars and bottles lined the walls of this room. A strong smell permeated the place and left the heroes feeling queasy and red eyes glittered from the back of the room. Suddenly the owners of the red eyes chittered forwards. Giant rats! Broneslav stumbled backwards swinging wildly, but failed to hurt any of them. In doing so, he knocked Baik off balance, making him smash jars on the walls instead of rats. Although his armour fended most of them off, one rat managed to bite him hard in the leg [1 DAM]. Baik too managed to fend off most of the rats, but still received a vicious bite on the hand [1 DAM]. [Can't believe Broneslav rolled so badly on both attack and Fray Die!] Recovering slightly, Broneslav crushed a rat under foot, but that did not stop him getting bitten again [1 DAM]. Baik smashed a rat with his mace, but got bitten again for his troubles [1 DAM]. Now fully recovered from his initial discomfiture, Broneslav laid into the rats, slicing two in half with one blow and crushing a third. Determined not to be outdone, Baik crushed two more rats. The remaining rat ran for it before either Broneslav or Baik could do anything about it. Retreating into the blasted room opposite, they shut the door and bandaged their newest wounds [Both recovered 2hp]. Bandaged up once more they opened the last door up the corridor to find an empty room.

Returning to the bronze double doors, they pushed open one side and slipped into a corridor lined with incredibly life-like statues in running positions with their hands outstretched. They are made of what appears to be platinum. Moving past these statues, Broneslav pushed through a pair of bronze doors, and led the way into a circular room at the end of the corridor. Statues stood in it on three sides around a well in the centre of the room. Faint murmurings and moanings could be heard like the quiet susuration of a gentle wind among the pines. Looking down the well, Broneslav could see something glowing and blue. On the wall of the room, were written the words 'PAH' and 'NWAD'. Nonsense words, but he decided to try something.

"Pah," he said out loud.

Baik looked at him oddly. Then a glowing blue disc was visible at the top of the well. Broneslav nodded to himself.

"Nwad," he declared.

The disc floated downwards out of sight once more. Looking down the well, it could be seen floating in the distance below.

"Pah," he said again, and soon the disc was once more floating in the room.

"Come on," he said to Baik, and led the way to the smallest of the statues in the corridor.
Together they picked it up, surprised that it weighed little more than a normal person, despite apparently being made of precious metal.

"We'll have to come back for these once we've rescued Merisa and Sylva. I bet they're worth a fortune."

He and Baik lifted the statue onto the blue disc which supported its weight easily.

"Nwad,"

The disc floated down. The statue could be seen still on it when the disc had stopped descending.

"So, Baik. We going to try that, or are are we going to check out the rest of this area first?"

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 4, ATK +5, DAM 1d8+1)
Stats include Mace+1

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

1 Flaurmont 1000AC - Getting Catty

"Where now?" Asked Baik.
"Let's try through that door to the south," said Broneslav, opening the door and stepping out into a corridor.
The pair scouted the corridor quickly and saw that it joined up with the octagonal room they had previously entered through. The corridor ended to the south at some stairs whose upper level had been destroyed when the mountain fell on the temple. Retracing their steps, the two heroes pushed open the first door they came to. Inside was a well-stocked kitchen.
"No point wasting good food," announced Broneslav whose stomach rumbled at the prospect of something other than the preserved foods he had in his pack. Very soon, he and Baik were tucking into a cheese, ham and bread, following the soldier's dictum that you should eat whenever you get the chance. Or was that sleep? Broneslav was not sure, but eating when you had the chance certainly sounded right to him.

As he stuffed his mouth with more cheese, he heard a noise at the door. He grabbed his sword and shield as it swung open. An Elven woman entered, a black panther at her side. Broneslav recognised her from the descriptions he had been given. This was Merisa, one of the missing Elven maids.
"Ho there, Merisa. I am Broneslav. I am here to rescue you."
The woman yelled a command to her panther, which attacked immediately. It's claws raked Broneslav's arm, tearing bloody gashes down it and his already tattered shirt [2 DAM]. Baik stepped in and hammered the panther hard in the side with his new mace [2 DAM]. Merisa gestured at the two men and spoke a mystical word. Broneslav slumped to the floor where he stood, but Baik remained standing. The panther turned on him and clawed his leg [1 DAM]. In return, Baik crushed its skull with his mace [2 DAM]. On seeing this Merisa fled. Baik was torn. To pursue the woman or to take care of his rescuer. He turned to Broneslav and shook him. Broneslav awoke from the sleep spell quickly.

"Follow me," said Baik, "She ran away."
They raced to the door, but found it locked tight. By the time the pair had smashed the door down, she was long gone. They stopped and returned the kitchen, where they bandaged their wounds, and got ready to continue their quest.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 4, ATK +5, DAM 1d8+1)
Stats include Mace+1

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

1 Flaurmont 1000AC - Blasted Rooms and Orcs

Broneslav took the lead. He levered the door open and looked through. A corridor extended a short distance ahead of him and then turned to the right. There the intrepid duo saw a wooden door to one side and stairs rising gently to the east. Listening at the door, he heard nothing. He slammed it open and beheld in the flickering light of his torch a room lined with racks containing bottles. Upon examination, they were all from the Wizard of Wines Winery. These were called Red Dragon Crush, and had a serial number on the bottom of the label, just like the last lot of wine he had found. This one read 331422-W. Broneslav thought it odd that the numbers on this label and the previous label did not match. His experience growing up in a merchant family told him that they should follow the same format. However, the reason why did not escaped him.

I've decided to only show the part of the map traversed in this session because it's easier for me to edit. The whole map will appear later. See the previous session for the adjoining map.

On, up the stairs. At the corner, the stairs rose to the south but they were covered in blackened rubble. A hole gaped in the wall to one side and he could see into a room beyond. Climbing through, he stood in a room whose contents had been destroyed in a massive blast, the same one, he presumed, that had made the hole in the wall. Doors led out of the room, but Broneslav decided to check the end of the stairs first. It ended in a blank wall with a poorly disguised secret door. He pushed it open and emerged into a small room. Five humanoid creatures spun round as he opened the door. Orcs! He yelled, and charged. His sword cleaved one orc's head from its shoulders, before thrusting through the heart of a second. A third was laid low by a swipe of his shield. Meanwhile Baik struggled to attack a fourth one. As the last two orcs gathered their wits, Broneslav slammed one in its face with his shield and sliced wildly with his sword at the other. Both crumpled to the floor.
"What was that, Baik? I thought you were a warrior," he grumbled as he cleaned his blade.
Baik had the good grace to look shamefaced at his pitiful performance. He muttered something unintelligible that managed to sound both apologetic and obscene at the same time.
"Come on, let's see what they were up to," he said aloud, "There's a chest over there."
The chest contained three bottles of the Red Dragon Crush wine, some coins and a mace.
"Hey," said Broneslav, "This mace feels nicely balanced. Maybe you'll do better with this."
Baik gave him a sour look, but took it anyway and declared himself satisfied with its balance and weight.
"So, which way now, oh mighty leader?"

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 4, ATK +5, DAM 1d8+1)
Stats include Mace+1

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

1 Flaurmont AC - Deeper into the tower

Note: This is a continuation of my solo adventures using Scarlet Heroes and the Basic D&D modules. The plan is to work my way through one of the paths of  B1-9 In Search of Adventure and see if my character can survive to the end. I have a couple of friends back home who have been playing this module with me using Scarlet Heroes. They are following a different path through it. Sadly I'm not home enough to run adventures for them at the moment, but they are still ahead of my character Broneslav in the timeline. It will be interesting to see if I can get both in sync, so that they can hear about Broneslav's exploits, and perhaps one group's actions will have an effect on who and what the other group can do or meets. There are three paths through this adventure, with sidetracks and plenty of room to just mess everything up for the DM. I think it would be awesome to be running the adventure  for three groups and actually make the world seem like it were more alive and less focused on the PCs.

For rules, I'm using Scarlet Heroes as the core engine, but cannibalising the Basic D&D rule book for spells and experience system. I've nothing against the Scarlet Heroes spells but they do not fit the background of my game. The Scarlet Heroes experience system is too deterministic for my liking. Scenarios are likely to take a fair while to complete, and I want to see my character inching towards new levels as the game plays out.

So, it's been over a year since I last posted anything from this, and it is likely that this series will continue to be irregular, although hopefully not that irregular. I've added a full character sheet for Broneslav as a page now and I have the modules and rules as pdfs, because I am travelling a lot and want to keep the amount of paperwork I need to a minimum. If you want to catch up on Broneslav's adventures or see what went before this post, click HERE.

The doors creaked open, revealing a huge chamber with alcoves set in the east and west walls. The chamber was empty but rotting, red curtains hung across it part way down. Beyond the curtains was a room lit by a brazier that burned with a blue light. On a platform across the top end of the room was a throne with a lectern beside it and three stone coffins arranged in a triangular pattern.

The book on the lectern was in very good condition. It must have had a preservation spell cast on it. When he opened it, the book suddenly spoke, "Receive the tale of years." Inside, though, the pages were blank. Then the book spoke again. It recited some bad poetry about the mage Elyas imprisoning the three witches, but being killed in the process. The poem mentioned a black opal, like the one now in Broneslav's possession, and said that it was the key to vanquishing the witches forever. In the meantime, their souls and bodies were kept imprisoned by Elyas' magic, until they can take over the bodies of young maidens and walk once more in the world. So, that explained the need to kidnap the maidens, but only two had been taken. "Well," thought Broneslav, "I'll not give them time to get a third". Perhaps the coffins contained a key to it. There were three coffins and two were sealed by lead, so they might relate to the witches.

Broneslav and Baik lifted the lid from the coffin nearest the lectern. As the lid tumbled to the floor, a skeleton clad in rusting mail armour and and rotting furs leapt from it, sword in hand. His sword did nothing to it, but a blow from Broneslav's shield shattered its bones and it crumpled to dust, while Baik just stood and gawped, too surprised to move.

The next coffin was tougher to open, but the pair were better prepared. Nothing leapt out and they beheld a skeleton dressed in a deep blue robe within this one. Broneslav smashed its skull just in case, and found a small compartment under the skull containing 100gp. The third coffin was the resting place of a skeleton in a red dress. He smashed its skull too, just in case. None of the coffins contained any clues about what to do next, meaning that Broneslav would just have to guess where to go next. He presumed that these were the coffins of the witches, although it seemed a bit strange that they could have been buried here by the wizard, if they had also killed him. Perhaps something was not quite right about the story.

There appeared to be no way out of this room, so they retraced their steps back to the octagonal room and headed eastwards. There was something odd about the wall to his left as they entered the passageway (Average task check with bonus for Keen Vision). Checking the wall, he soon opened a secret door. Beyond the door were stairs going down. A secret door probably meant something worth checking out, so the pair decided to see where the stairs led before returning to investigate the passages and doors that they could see ahead of them.

Broneslav led the way. As soon as he stepped onto the stairs, they suddenly slid together and he found himself tumbling down them, unable to stop. Baik, at the top of the stairs, had stopped just in time. Broneslav landed in a room at the bottom with a large pillar in its centre. Just ahead of him was a large gelatinous cube. The remains of some hapless creature were visible within it. As it oozed towards Broneslav, he yelled for Baik to join him and sliced quickly  at it, shearing off a substantial chunk. Dodging backwards as the creature oozed quickly towards him, he sliced again and the creature suddenly collapsed as if deflated. At that point Baik joined him.

The stairs remained resolutely slippery and in a slide form, so the pair could not climb back up. There were no obvious doors out of this room. But, the creature must have got in somehow, and there must be a way for anyone entering this room to leave it, so he searched carefully for secret doors. Between them Broneslav and Baik found two doors. One in the central pillar and one in the east wall. They opened the central one first.

The secret door opened into a small vault. A chest sat at the far side away from the door. Broneslav stepped carefully into the room and only narrowly avoided getting his skull split by an axe blade that scythed down from the ceiling and began to swing from above the chest to the door. Timing his next move carefully, Broneslav dived into the vault and along the wall. He got to the chest without further harm. Seeing nothing amiss, he dragged the chest carefully to the door while keeping low to avoid the swinging axe blade. The chest was light enough that he was able to shove it to Baik outside, but then he misjudged his dive out, and the axe took a chunk out of his shoulder. He was really going to need some new clothes after this rescue was over. His clothes were looking tattered and torn. They were certainly beyond repair now.

With the chest safely outside the range of the axe blade, Baik and Broneslav were able to open it and gaze upon a pile of copper and gold, and three bottles labeled Wizard of Wines Winery Superb Wine. Each label had the same serial number (3132-N) listed on it. Broneslav knew nothing about wine, so this meant nothing to him. With these treasures divided between them and packed away, Baik and Broneslav were ready to open the secret door to the east.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 1332

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 4, ATK +4, DAM 1d8)

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

1 Flaurmont 1000 AC - Elyas' Tower

Broneslav led Baik down to Ular-Taman's room, where he showed the snake creature the pendant and the ring.

"I have both pendant and ring," he announced, "How do I make them work?"
Ular-Taman hissed a reply, "With both ring and pendant joined, as I see they are, you must speak the word on the back of the pendant, and it will create a circle of power that prevents all evil magic from working. In this way you will be able to defeat the witches."

Broneslav grinned. He had read Rahasia's name on the back of the pendant. Now he knew its significance.

"Come, Baik, we must enter the wizard's tower and defeat a great evil. Riches and glory will be ours for the taking."

He led the way through the treasure room and into the corridor leading down to the tower that lay encased beneath the mountain. As he did so, he wondered if it really counted as a tower now.

The rough-hewn corridor they followed opened into a dark, dry cavern. In the wall opposite was an opening leading to another rough-hewn corridor, presumably that used by the Rahib. The walls of Elyas' tower blocked the cavern off, rising up some 60 feet to its roof. Rubble was strewn everywhere as the tower's upper levels were destroyed by the spell that encased the rest of it in the mountain. Dark, stained doors with curious engravings were visible in the middle of the wall. It took the combined might of Broneslav and Baik to open them. Beyond the doors, a corridor stretched off into the distance. The only light here was the torch carried by Baik. The torch cast eerie shadows in the vast, vaulted corridor. Seeing no danger they advanced slowly forwards.

Suddenly two men leapt out of the shadows with chilling battle cries. One sliced through a gap in Broneslav's armour (2 DAM). The other cut a wicked slash to Baik's head (1 DAM). Put off by the sudden attack, Broneslav fluffed his sword thrust, but the boot that followed it laid the man out cold. The other man missed Baik, but was not so lucky in return. A quick search of the corpses, after bandaging their own wounds, turned up two bottles of wine labeled: Wizard of Wines Winery, Purple Grapemash No.3, 14231241-S. Both men also had full purses which found their way onto Broneslav and Baik's belts. The heroes left the men's short swords, shields and armour behind. They were obviously of poor quality and well-used.

The corridor ended in a large octagonal room that had obviously been tidied up. The roof in here had collapsed but now all the rubble and debris was gathered in its centre. A quick search showed the room to be empty. Corridors led off to either side and double doors lay in the northern wall. When they checked the corridor to the east, Broneslav and Baik could see double doors at its end, as well as branches heading north and south. This was a big room, so it seemed likely that it was an antechamber to another important room. For this reason they decided to try the double doors to the north first. Neither Broneslav nor Baik could hear anything through the doors, so they pushed them open ...

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 1028

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 4, ATK +4, DAM 1d8)

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

1 Flaurmont 1000 AC - Return to the temple

After a good night's rest, Broneslav felt much better. The Elven healer's work had been good and we was ready to return to the temple and finish the job he had started. Baik Telor agreed to accompany him on condition that he was given a full share of any treasure they found. Baik Telor had seen the treasure that Broneslav had already accrued and liked the colour of it. He equipped himself with a shield and the pair set out once mor, clad in robes previously worn by the Siswa. The journey to the temple was quick. Broneslav returned to the statue with the pendant on it and managed to work out that he needed to insert the black jade ring into the pendant to release it. Armed with the tools necessary to destroy the evil, although unsure how they worked, he and Baik headed through the portal to the middle temple level. He had not fully explored it before and explained this to Baik, as well as his reasons for not doing so. Together they decided that it would be best to clear it of enemies before moving deeper into the mountain.

Scouting the corridors soon showed that the ends of each of them was a portal just like on the temple's outer level. South of the Great Temple, where he had first seen the Rahib, Broneslav found double doors in the wall. This led to a corridor with open alcoves off it. The alcoves contained primitive cots for sleeping on and little else. As the pair approached one cell, they heard chanting coming from it. Approaching completely unnoticed, the pair found three Siswa chanting around a candle. Their chant meant little to the two heroes who used their stealthy approach to soundlessly overpower the Siswa. They tied and gagged them before moving on.

As they rounded the corner of the corridor, they could see stairs rising into a room to the south-west and two guards ahead by a double door. The two Siswa guards stood patiently watching as the heroes approached. Suddenly one of them yelled something and both leapt to the attack. As they did so, Broneslav wondered why he bothered with the disguise when everyone seemed to see right through it. The guard parried his blow and countered with a thrust that cut Broneslav's arm badly (2 DAM). Beside him, Baik also missed but fended off the guard's blow. As Broneslav and the guard countered each others' blows, Baik cursed when his opponent slipped a blow through his guard (1 DAM). Suddenly the corridor was alive with Siswa as ten more came storming out of the dark alcoves along the corridor. Broneslav and Baik swung wild blows at the nearest enemies, felling two of the new arrivals as they retreated to get their backs to a wall. Side by side and backed into a corner, no more than four of the Siswa could attack them at once. The plan seemed to work. The guards followed up, aided by the new arrivals but could not get their weapons past the heroes' shields. Broneslav knocked one guard unconscious with the flat of his blade, as Baik slew the other, and a wild swipe of Broneslav's shield left two more Siswa on the floor. The six remaining Siswa pressed the attack but the heroes were able to hold them off as Broneslav knocked out four more of them. Of the remaining two, one turned to run while the other attacked Baik. Baik blocked his blow and counter-attacked but failed to hit the Elf. Broneslav launched himself at the fleeing Siswa and brought him to the ground. A swift punch to the side of the head left the Elf snoring as Baik cursed once more at being hit. Fortunately his armour held and the blow did not cut him. With two heroes versus one Siswa, the end was not in doubt and soon eleven Siswa had been captured and tied up, while only one lay dead on the floor. Broneslav was not happy about this, but it was too late now. He had briefed Baik, but Baik was more concerned with surviving himself than with looking out for the Siswa. With Baik's wounds bandaged, they carried on.

The remaining alcoves were empty, and the two corner rooms had stairs leading up to the surface. Light could be seen at the top of the stairs. Broneslav chose not to sortie up the stairs but to continue on. In one alcove they found a chest next to one of the crude cots. The two warriors clustered round the chest and opened the lid, only to have several darts fly out at them. As the dart struck him, Broneslav collapsed to the floor. Baik remained standing. When Broneslav came to twenty minutes later, Baik informed him that he appeared to have been hit by a sleep dart, and that the chest had contained 50 silver coins and a bottle of wine. He shared these coins with Broneslav and they packed the wine in their packs.

N.B. Baik is Lawful and will usually act that way. I consulted the oracle to see if greed got the better of him, and it did! The chest actually contained 100 silver coins and 75 electrum coins. Baik chose to keep most of the treasure and share a bit because a trapped chest with no treasure would have been odd.

The two warriors then entered the central room in this part of the temple. It appeared to be a dining room with a long table down the middle and benches on either side. It had alcoves at each end, one with the work KESINI carved in the wall above it and the other with KESANA. The alcoves were empty and encouraged no further investigation there.With this part of the temple cleared and the enemy captured, Broneslav led the way down to the temple's lower level.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 968

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 4, ATK +4, DAM 1d8)

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

28 Thaumont 1000 AC - Rescuing Hasan

Feeling slightly better, but still stiff and sore, Broneslav awoke on the floor of Ular-Taman's room (+1 HP). He had not brought much food with him, so he knew that he would have to return to the village to collect supplies if he could not complete his mission today. Well, he would see to what he could and move on. His first task, he decided, would be to rescue Hasan. He could then lead him back to the village and collect the pendant on the way, if only he could work out how to remove it from the statue. This would give him the opportunity to get some more supplies and to store the treasure. While he was going about rescuing Hasan, he would search the rest of the temple before descending into Elyas' tower. That should prevent nasty surprises approaching from behind. Then he remembered the Siswa he had captured. They would need to be fed and given water, so he needed to sort that. He did not want them to die of thirst or starvation, if he could help it. So, he said farewell to Ular-Taman and set off back into the temple.

Broneslav first checked the door opposite Ular-Taman's room. It was open and he eased into the room and saw piles of crates and sacks stacked against the far wall. It was clearly a store room. He went to examine the boxes for anything useful. Suddenly a pack of rats burst from a sack and attacked, catching him by surprise (3 DAM). He responded by slamming two rats against the wall, stamping on one and slicing a fourth in two with his sword. Two of the rats ran chittering into the pile of sacks while the other two continued to attack Bronslav. Aware of them now, he was better able to fend off their bites and killed them quickly. He then left the room hastily and bandaged his wounds (+2 HP) before returning to the room. This time he was aware of the rats so he carefully rummaged through the sacks until he found them and quickly slew them. The sacks and crates contained food, much of which had been gnawed on by the rats. One crate contained brown Siswa robes, so Broneslav swapped the torn and bloodied robe he was wearing for a fresh one. He planned to rescue Hasan next.

He went along the corridor to where he had seen Rahasia's father's ghost and went to the door in the south wall. Listening at the door, he could hear voices beyond. He decided to try his luck and disguise, and marched boldly through the door. One of the four Siswa guards in this room yelled something in what Broneslav took to be Elvish and the all drew swords. Broneslav leapt to the attack, mindful that these Siswa were still enslaved to the evil below the temple, he used only the flat of his blade and quickly knocked one guard to the floor, unconscious. Fending off the blows of the other three with his shield he found himself too busy to land another blow for the moment but took a slice to the leg (1 DAM). He backed off. They followed anticipating an easy victory, then Broneslav leapt forward and knocked one of the Siswa to the floor in a boneless heap with his shield. That left two. But, he had got cocky and both landed blows on him, although one of those blows was saved by his armour. Another swipe with his sword connected with the side of the head of one of the Siswa, who collapsed. The remaining guard was now on the defensive and failed to attack effectively. Broneslav soon had him knocked to the floor too. He tied all the guards up and stacked them in the corner of the room before bandaging his newest wound (+1 HP). No one had come to investigate the noise, so he assumed that these were all the guards. Searching them, he found a set of keys on one of the guards.

Through the next set of doors, he found a cell block. An Ylaruami human was locked in one cell. He introduced himself as Baik Telor and promised to aid Broneslav in return for his freedom. Hasan was locked in another cell. He too offered to help Broneslav but he lacked arms and armour. This lack was easily remedied. Soon both  prisoners were wearing the chain armour of the Siswa and carrying a sword each. Thus armed they were ready to aid Broneslav who had them wake the unconscious Siswa and help him escort them through to the upper levels of the temple, where they gathered the other captured Siswa. The three heroes escorted the Siswa from the temple in short order and left Hasan and Rahasia to guard them. Broneslav was mindful of the need to protect Hasan and did not want him returning to the temple. Needless to say, one Hasan was with Rahasia once more, he was less eager to venture deeper into the temple anyway. The group returned to the village with their captives, where Broneslav was able to rest and be healed by the village healer.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 882

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva, Merisa and Hasan
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 5, ATK +4, DAM 1d8)
Hasan (HD 2, AC 5, ATK +1, DAM 1d8)

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

27 Thaumont 1000 AC - Finding the dragon guard

Knowing that there were probably guards through the door to his left, Broneslav moved across the octagonal room to the doors opposite him. He pushed them open carefully. A short corridor lay before him, opening into an octagonal room with alcoves on three of the walls. Iron bars blocked the way into the alcoves. These gates were locked and had words carved above them: KESINI to his right and KESANA above the other two. A large gong hung on the wall opposite the corridor. He wondered what the words and the gong might mean. Broneslav had no means of opening the gates, barring finding a key or breaking them if he could. This gave him an idea. He tried the keys he had found in the Rahib's library and soon had all three gates open. The alcoves were obviously empty, so he had no further need to enter or search them, but at least he knew that the keys he had were for the gates and doors in the temple.

Returning to the corridor, he tried the door to the north because the dragon guard and the gold were supposed to be in that direction. It swung open and he found himself in a plain room with no decoration or furniture. A single reptilian creature stood in the centre of the room. Warily Broneslav raised his sword and shield. The creature did not move but merely looked at him.

"Umm, hello," he said, "Are you the dragon guard Rahasia's father told me about?"
As opening lines went, there were better, but Broneslav was not a character in a story after all.

"I am Ular-Taman," the creature hissed, "I serve Elyas and I guard his treasure. So, yes, I may well be the dragon guard."
"Uh, great. I was told that you knew what I needed to do to defeat the evil that was behind the Rahib."
"Indeed, I have lived through the time since Elyas fought the three witches and perished. I have endured my duty for his sake and I shall help you, for I see that you seek to crush this evil too. I guard the way to Elyas' tower, although I fear that the Rahib has found another. The evil is the witches. You must destroy them. You will need the ring that I guard and the pendant that goes with it."

The creature told the story of how Elyas had fought three witches. The witches had cast a spell to crush Elyas' tower under a mountain, but the wizard had managed to trap them in his tower even as it was encased in the mountain. He died doing so, but their evil was contained. Ular-Taman directed Broneslav to a loose stone in the centre of the room, where he found a ring with a black jade stone set in it.

"You will need to find the pendant too, but I do not know where that is."
"So, if I am to destroy these witches, how do I find them?"
"There is a door hidden in the north wall of this room. It leads to the treasure room. There is a hidden door in the north wall of the treasure room. It leads to a tunnel that will take you to Elyas' tower."

Now I wondered if Broneslav would remember the pendant in the upper level and make the connection with the ring. Time to consult the oracle. The answer came back 'Yes, but'. The complication was that a fact was actually incorrect that Broneslav thought he knew. So, what mistaken assumption had he made? I shall address that somewhere along the way, I think. First, Broneslav was more interested in the treasure.

Broneslav listened carefully to Ular-Taman's tale and assured the creature that he would do all he could to control or destroy the evil.

"I believe I know where the pendant is, but first I shall check the secret ways that you mention. He headed through the secret door that Ular-Taman had shown him and was soon standing in the treasure room. The first thing he grabbed was a well-crafted sword that lay in its scabbard on a pile of gold coins. It was better balanced than his own, and the blade seemed to hold a sharper edge. Broneslav quickly strapped it on, before gathering up as much of the treasure as he could. He also found a Potion of Healing which he recognised because his family was wealthy enough to buy them from wizards when occasion demanded. He swallowed the glowing blue liquid and some of his wounds began to heal (+1 HP). It was not enough. Broneslav decided that he needed to rest and recover before he went further. He did not have time to rest until fully healed, but it had already been a long day, and he needed to rest anyway. Ular-Taman agreed to guard Broneslav as he slept, so he made up his bed on the guard's floor and slept (+1 HP).

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 5/9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 858

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva, Merisa and Hasan
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

27 Thaumont 1000 AC - The search for the dragon guard

Broneslav turned to the door opposite him. It was an ordinary-looking door. He pushed it open angrily. This room mirrored the one he had just left. The walls were covered in paper with maps of the village and drawings of Merisa, Sylva and Rahasia. A quick perusal of the paperwork showed that the Rahib had been planning things for some time. No time for reading. Now is the time for action. Broneslav stalked to the double doors at the end of the corridor and slammed them open. The room beyond had a thick, red carpet and a large bed with a matching red cover. As Broneslav took in the room, two black panthers leapt from the bed and sprinted silently towards him. Broneslav moved eagerly towards them, his anger driving him forward. As one panther sprang towards him, he cut with his sword gashing its side. He then ducked under the leaping panther and rolled aside avoiding one claw but being cut by the other (1 DAM).

Rolling to his feet, Broneslav struck the floor near a panther as it attacked him once more, this time catching his arm with its teeth (1 DAM). The other panther clawed him in the leg once more (1 DAM). The blood inspired the panthers to a frenzy of attacks (2 DAM) and Broneslav was hard-put to defend himself. As the panthers paused briefly, he thrust his sword from behind his shield, skewering a panther just as it was about to attack him again (4 DAM). It collapsed in a limp and bloody pile. Its mate whimpered and backed off in the face of this demonstration of Broneslav's power (failed morale check), then it sprinted round him for the still-open door. Unfortunately there was nowhere further to run. The doors in the corridor were shut and the panther was cornered at the end. Broneslav stalked after it and sought to end the threat it might pose once its nerve recovered. He missed and suffered a clawing to the leg as it slipped by him to seek refuge in the room once more. Broneslav unslung his bow and put an arrow into the panther as it cowered in the room (3 DAM). The panther turned, a beast at bay. It leapt towards him and savaged his shoulder with its teeth (1 DAM). Broneslav leapt away and drew his sword once more, dropping his bow in the process. He rolled through the door and slammed it shut behind him. He could hear the panther scratching at the door. It was nearly fatally injured, but Broneslav was bleeding from many wounds too. He needed time to rest but he could not leave the panther as it was. He felt bad about attacking it as it ran away, but there was nowhere for it to go where it would not remain a threat. He paused to bandage his wounds (+2 HP) and to prepare himself to enter the room again. With his sword in one hand, and his shield in the other he opened to door and was almost bowled over by the panther leaping swiftly through it towards him. He slashed wildly at the creature and cut a gaping hole in its chest that finished it off (1 DAM). Breathing heavily, he took time to rest once more before exploring the room. He found nothing of use or interest here.

Although bloodied and hurting, Broneslav decided to continue to explore. His mission was one of urgency and he could not pause unless absolutely forced to by his injuries.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 3/9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 558

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva, Merisa and Hasan
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

27 Thaumont 1000 AC - The Rahib

The trapdoor was heavy but Broneslav still lifted it easily. He and Alki followed a narrow winding stair down to a metal door. He tried its handle but it would not open. His strength was not equal to forcing the door either, so they two heroes had to backtrack to the other room and try an alternative route. The narrow stairs to the metal door gave no clue about which direction to take, so they must just try to scout the way, hopefully without encountering any Siswa. Would Hasan know which way to go? Broneslav doubted it, and he thought that any cells would be guarded. So, time to toss a coin. It came up dragons. He would try the door to his left as he entered the octagonal room.

The door opened easily onto a short corridor with doors at the end and on either side. Broneslav listened at all the doors and heard nothing. The double doors at the end were probably important, so he decided to scout the two to the side first. Better to clear the way as he went, he thought. He pushed the door open quickly and stepped into the room on his left. It was full of shelves covered in books and scrolls. A desk occupied the centre of the room and standing at it, scrabbling among the paperwork for something was the dark figure that Broneslav has seen before.

"It's the Rahib!" yelled Alki.

Broneslav lunged forward at the dark-robed figure. His sword sliced through the Rahib's arm nearly cutting it cleanly off (4 Dam). Blood spurted everywhere. (Blimey, a 20 to hit followed by maximum damage. That was most fortunate!) The Rahib howled with rage and raised his other arm to point at Alki and Broneslav. He shouted out a prayer to his unholy god. Suddenly Bronslav could no longer move and Alki was frozen beside him (Both characters failed to save versus the Hold Person spell). The Rahib grinned slyly.

"I have frozen your bodies but not your minds. Now, I shall kill you both. You, warrior, will have to watch your friend die, before watching your own doom approach. Then I shall leave your bodies as a warning to others who might try to stop me."

He lifted his mace and swung hard at Alki's skull, crushing it before Broneslav could do anything. Then he approached Broneslav and raised the mace once more. Broneslav mentally urged his body to move. All too slowly it responded as his anger at his new friend's death drove his will to beat that of the Rahib. Then suddenly he was moving at full speed once more as the mace fell not on his head but on his shoulder. (Broneslav would have been dead but I used Defy Death to escape the effects of the spell. I consulted the oracle first. It told me that Broneslav would not be able to move before Alki was dead. Broneslav took 1 Dam from the Defy Death)

His sword swung in a massive backhand blow. The Rahib was too surprised even to respond. He had thought that Broneslav would be dead seconds ago. Then the Rahib's headless body was falling to the floor, lifeless.

Broneslav checked Alki, but there was nothing he could do. Then he bound his own wound and checked the room. The books were all histories related to the temple, as far as he could tell. They were bulky and of little value to him. The Rahib's armour and mace were good quality though. Broneslav took them with him and a set of keys that he found among the paperwork on the desk. He could always ditch the armour and mace if he found better and lighter treasure. Now he had to find the Elf maids Sylva and Merisa and rescue Hasan. He should probably look into this dragon guard still too. He turned to leave the room. He now owed Alki a debt of honour to finish what they had started. He was determined to see that debt paid.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 8/9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 408

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva, Merisa and Hasan
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)