Friday, August 15th, 2003

This week, no dice were rolled in combat. Everything that happened was narrative and role-played. This entry may be a bit more narrative and less a play-by-play of the events.

Sekhet and Allan, the Captain of the Guard, are in the Manor House, looking over plans of Orthanc and Aman Sul, the province in which Orthanc stands. Allan thinks too many skilled craftsmen and artisans have come to Hoddenhill and there won't be jobs for them all. We're planning to take a caravan accompanied by a garrison of troops to Orthanc, and basically start a town there. Most of the town's core shops will be in the underground complex below the tower.

Anya comes in and asks to speak with me.

"Allan, will you excuse us?"

"Certainly my lord! I'll be outside preparing the caravan if you need me."

Allan leaves. Sekhet looks to Anya.

"There's a problem," Anya says.

Sekhet frowns. "There's always a problem."

"It's Alia," Anya says. "There's been an incident."

Sekhet offers Anya a chair, and sits down.

"Begin," Sekhet says.

Anya takes a deep breath. "As you know, Alia is nocturnal. She cannot stand direct sunlight. She was out last night with my wolf. This is not unusual. The two of them came back, the wolf wounded. Alia wouldn't say what happened, but my wolf described "bad-two legs" who attacked them with "grey sharpie-sticks."

"The Elves?" Sekhet interrupts.

Anya shakes her head. "I took them in, and they slept through the rest of the night. I fell asleep, planning on bringing the matter to you in the morning. When I awoke, I found Alia covered in blood. She was huddled in the corner of my room, shaking. I wiped away the blood, fearing some harm had come to her, but she didn't have a scratch on her. She seemed physically fine, but she wouldn't talk to me. I took my wolf and we went in search of whatever happened.

"Just to the north of town, I found the bodies of 4 bandits. Humans. They were dead."

Sekhet has a terrible feeling about this.

"They were completely drained of blood," Anya concludes.

It feels like someone's punched Sekhet and driven all the air from his lungs. This is the kind of thing that can destroy the party, the town's goodwill. 

"She's an nymph and a vampire," Anya explains. "A vampiric nymph. Something happened to her, she was bitten by a vampire, but her fey nature is so...magical, the vampire's curse couldn't corrupt her completely."

In truth, we learned this last week, but I'd forgotten it. Moragu knew what she was, a Vampire Fey. Mechanically, a Nymph with the Vampire template applied to it. I'd just forgotten that when I was writing the log.

"Take me to the bodies," Sekhet says.

Anya nods. "I'll summon the rest of the Company."

Sekhet, Anya, Gilmarra, Glim, and Kaylin walk out to the forest surrounding Hoddenhill. We examine they bodies. Men, lightly armored, with no livery we can distinguish, have all been brutally slain. Something ferocious killed them, and then sucked the blood from their warm bodies.

"You're sure Alia did this?" Gilmarra asks.

Anya nods.

"We must be sure," Kaylin interjects. "For a nymph to be among us is one thing, but a vampire nymph. This cannot be tolerated."

Sekhet sees the first crack appear in the wall. This cannot end well.

"I'll talk to her," Glim volunteers. "See if she's recovered from whatever happened last night.

Glim goes to Anya's room while the rest of us retire to counsel chambers.

"Sekhet, I cannot permit a undead to move among  the people freely."

"Cannot permit..." Sekhet says, thinking.

"It must be destroyed."

"She is not evil," Sekhet says. 

"It is undead. Evil or not, it is an abomination and an affront to all life!"

"I understand," Sekhet says.

"What if we took her somewhere else?" Gilmarra proposes. "Out of Hoddenhill."

"Then I would follow," Kaylin proclaims. "I have devoted my life to stamping out the walking dead wherever I find them. It's what brought me here! It's why I joined you!"

Everyone knows this. There's not much we can say.

"If you..." Sekhet is thinking, even though he suspects he knows the answer. "What do you wish? What is your plan?"

Kaylin takes a deep breath. "I'm giving you a choice. Either the undead is destroyed, or I leave your service."

Sekhet shakes his head. "I will make no such choice. I do not accept your alternatives. I will work to find another way."

"There is no other way."

"Then you must make a choice. It is your convictions that drive you thus."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Manor House, Glim talks with Alia. They're in Anya's chambers, the wolf is there sleeping.

"Dwarfums!"

"Hello Alia."

"Did Dwarfums come to play with me?"

"No, Alia. I have something very important to ask you."

Alia sits down, one hand on the wolf, and looks solemnly at Glim.

"Alia, do you remember what happened last night?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"Some men came out of the forest and tried to hurt me and wolfie."

"And what did you do?"

"We ran."

"And came back here?"

"Uh-huh," she nods.

"Then what?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"So you went looking for the men."

She nods. "And I found them. In the forest, in the darkness. It was easy."

"And what did you do?"

"I killed them all."

"Why?"

"They hurt me. Hurt wolfie," she pets the wolf.

"Did you enjoy killing them?"

She frowns, as though suddenly sad. "No."

"Then why did you do it?"

"I don't know. They hurt wolfie."

"Why do you want to protect...wolfie?"

"I love wolfie!"

"Would you hurt us? Sekhet and Anya and the rest?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"I love you! You're my friends!"

"What about the townspeople? Would you hurt them?"

She thinks about this for a moment and, seriously, says "Only if they were very bad."

Glim thinks about this.

"You drank all the blood from the men who hurt you."

She seems ashamed of this. "Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know!" She's kinda afraid of what she did, it seems. "I was angry and they tried to hurt me and wolfie and I was going to stop them!"

"Did you enjoy drinking their blood?"

She shrugs.

"Would you like some more blood?"

She shrugs.

"Are you hungry?"

She shakes her head.

"When was the last time you ate?"

She thinks for a second and shakes her head. "I dunno."

"Have you ever been hungry?"

"Mmmm...I don't think so."

Glim thinks for a while and gets up. He pats her on the head and says "Alright. I've got to go now. Be a good girl."

"I will!"

Glim joins the council.

Kaylin continues. "Very well. I have no choice. The thing is a vampire. It drinks the blood of its victims and is the walking dead. I will destroy it if I can. What does the council say?"

"I don't think she needs blood," Glim says. "Or food. I think she did what she did out of instinct and self defense. But we can't be sure that instinct wouldn't grow into something...horrible. I don't think she should stay in town. But I don't think she needs to be destroyed."

"I don't see any reason why she needs to be taken from town," Anya says. "She did what any of us would have done."

"Indeed," Gilmarra interjects, "She did what the townspeople expect us to do. It seems to me she has good instincts."

Everyone thinks for a moment. Erendill isn't there because Dave Jesch is absent.

Sekhet speaks. "Kaylin, I respect your commitment and conviction. You are a proud and worthy servant of your God. I'm not entirely certain what Alia will grow into, but I believe, as of now, she is essentially a small child, with the mind of a child. She cares for the things she loves, and returns affection with affection. She gives every appearance of being a moral creature, though still very young. She is an innocent. You have your convictions and I have mine. I will not stand by and let you slaughter what I believe to be an innocent, intelligent, being. It would be contrary to my beliefs, the beliefs of my people, and the tradition of Law in this land."

"Very well," Kaylin says, "Then it is two in favor of..."

"This council," Sekhet interjects, "exists to advise me and guide my decisions. I am the law of Hoddenhill. There will be no vote in this matter. I have made my decision."

Kaylin and Sekhet are looking solemnly at each other. "And I have made mine," she says. "Come the 'morrow, I will seek out the creature, and attempt to destroy it."

Sekhet nods. "I understand and respect your decision. Come the 'morrow, I will attempt to stop you."

Kaylin nods. We both knew it was going to come to this as soon as those men died. "Then I must officially resign my commission. I cannot sit on this council. Though I will continue to serve the people of Hoddenhill, as I have lo these many weeks, until tomorrow morning."

"I accept your resignation. The hospitality of Hoddenhill is yours, and if you need anything from me, or this council, you need only ask."

"Thank you," Kaylin curtseys and exits. Glim follows her.

The three of us left in the chamber take a deep breath. "That could have gone better," Gilmarra says.

"I doubt it," Sekhet replies. "I think we've been moving to this, the only outcome, ever since we found that girl in the Tomb of Dunatis. Anya?"

"Yes?"

"When Kaylin comes to your chambers for the girl tomorrow morning...will you try and protect her?"

Anya thinks for a while. "She and my wolf share a special bond. My wolf thinks she's odd, but not dangerous or evil. Yes, I would defend her, if it came to that."

"I'm glad to hear that. I'll be there as well. And we shall see what we shall see."

We leave. "You know," Gilmarra observes, "It's entirely possible we could leave the girl to Kaylin. I mean, who knows what will happen if Kaylin tries to turn Alia. Alia might just laugh. The problem might solve itself."

"I cannot take that chance. And besides, what then? If Alia is more powerful than Kaylin, what will she do once attacked? And worse that that, by a friend. She may never trust any of us again. No, I must stop Kaylin tomorrow morning."

"I thought you'd say that," GIlmarra responds.

Meanwhile, Glim and Kaylin talk. Ogsbod is sick, very ill. Looks like he's going to die. He's very old, but Moragu the Consort gave him something to drink, a small vial of liquid that he currently wears around his neck. Glim asks Kaylin to help Ogsbod, but Kaylin can do nothing for the aging giant.

That evening, as Kaylin is meditating and praying and girding her loins for the coming conflict, Sekhet knocks at her door.

"Come in," she says.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," Sekhet begins. "But I wanted to tell you that, no matter what happens tomorrow morning, I respect your decision. Your service to the company and the people of Hoddenhill was freely given, and I personally am in your debt. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, you're a valiant servant of your God, and I hope you find success and happiness."

"Thank you," she says. "You're an honorable man, Sekhet. I'm sorry this had to happen. May Taiia grant you peace and prosperity in your future endeavors."

"Thank you," Sekhet says, bows, and leaves.

Meanwhile Craig (Gilmarra) and John (Anya) are passing notes back and forth to each other, and to the GM. I'm passing notes to Jim, but they're mostly getting my ducks in a line, spellwise, before I have to fight Kaylin.

I wake just before dawn, armor up, and go to Anya's room. I knock. No answer. I try the door. It's unlocked. I open it.

No-one there.

Hm.

I go to Gilmarra's room. Knock. Open door.

No-one there.

Hm.

I think for a second, shrug, go back to my room and go back to sleep.

This same process repeats, but when Kaylin wakes up.

Later that day, I'm talking with Allan again, and Kaylin comes to me.

"The girl is gone."

,,,

"Anya and Gilmarra are gone too."

,,,

"Do you know where they went?" she asks Sekhet.

"No," Sekhet says. Kaylin wasn't expecting this. With all the note passing, it kinda looked like we were all conspiring. This wasn't the case, however. THEY were conspiring to keep me ignorant of what was happening, so I'd not have to lie to Kaylin. They knew I wouldn't lie to her.

"Do you know where Alia is?"

"I presume she's with Anya and Gilmarra."

Kaylin thinks about this, and goes back to her quarters. For the next few days, all is normal, but there's no Anya or Gilmarra. When they return, we meet and start planning a journey to the Capital, Dun Hammel, there to meet with Harn and figure out what's going on up there.

Kaylin comes in and says she'll be leaving. "I know you had nothing to do with it, Sekhet, but others in your company conspired to thwart me, and preserve that which I believe to be wrong. As I resigned from the council, I now take my leave from Hoddenhill. I wish you luck in all your plans, Sekhet. May Taiia watch over you."

"May the Eye of Horus watch over you, Kaylin."

And she leaves. No more Kaylin. This leaves Big D without a character. He'll have to make a new one. Mark had similarly been trying to find a way to retire Glim, who he felt didn't have much to contribute to the storyline. He wanted to find a way to let Glim stand with Kaylin against Sekhet on the matter of Alia, but there wasn't the opportunity. So he quietly retires Glim. Glim is now an NPC, still helping Ogsbod work on the tower. Ogsbod is not well, however, and may die soon. Don't be surprised if you find the party journeying to the land of the Giants soon.

A few days pass, and another caravan comes up from Curwyllan, the land of Gnomes and Dwarves to the west. We've had strong trade with the Gnomes since we visited them and helped rid them of their Chimera problem. The caravan members generally stay in town for a few days at a time, before leaving for other cities in the area.

Gnomes in Albion are intelligent and crafty and form the nobility of their culture, while Dwarves are strong and skilled, forming the worker class. We notice a gnome and a dwarf in town who both seem as though they're not here to trade goods. They check out the town, make discreet inquiries, and eventually Allan comes into Sekhet's council chambers with a formal request from the Gnome, Jaina Brookshore and the Dwarf, Endrin.

Sekhet's been wondering when King Urskin Deepdelver would send some emissaries and is glad to see diplomatic relations with the Gnomes and Dwarves are moving forward. He accepts the gnome and the dwarf into his council chamber, and summons the rest of the Company.

Endrin is a tough, bad-ass ranger dude who's clearly capable of sneaking through 20 miles of enemy infested forest and silently killing anyone he's sent to kill. He's pretty nasty and not really very well-spoken. But he offers his service willingly to Sekhet, on behalf of King Urskin, and asks for nothing in return. Sekhet assures Endrin that if he shares in the danger, he will reap an equal share of the reward. This has so far not been a problem, even with Mercenary characters like STEIN. Our coffers currently hold something like 50,000 gold pieces, mostly taken from the Tomb of Dunatis The White, and the Temple to Anubis.

Endrin gruffly pledges his loyalty to Hoddenhill and awaits orders.

The gnome who stands with him appears to be a little orphan girl. Possibly human. When introduced, she curtseys and flourishes her cap, and says "Greeting Sir Sekhet, Lord Protector of Hoddenhill, from the court of King Urskin. I am likewise sent from the King, and would also pledge myself into the service of Hoddenhill."

She's clearly not what she seems. No young girl or waif, but an adult gnome, though very small even for the little folk. She's keenly intelligent and insightful and sees all. Sekhet questions her and asks her profession. She's a courtesan and cultural attache. Sekhet understands. They have such things in Atlantis. She's a spy. Though capable of subterfuge and skilled at gathering information, she is entirely frank with Sekhet and answers all his questions honestly. She sees a real need to gather intelligence, both in Hoddenhill and elsewhere. She's also keen on employing her peoples' knowledge of civic engineering, and notes that our town has no waste disposal system.

She rapidly becomes Sekhet's new favorite gnome. Her technique relies on appearing as a small human girl, and maneuvering herself into situations where people will speak freely without noticing or caring that a little girl is playing nearby. When this fails, she has...other methods she can employ to learn people's secrets.

Sekhet accepts the two into the Company, and begins debriefing everyone on the new mission.

STEIN brought Sekhet a letter from Harn saying the Capital was not safe, the Prince was not the real power in the area, and someone was pulling strings behind the scenes. He was then captured by Ratmen (Ratlings, Skaven, pick your setting) and taken beneath the city. We've since heard he was rescued, but haven't heard from him.

We formulate a plan. Given that the Prince is essentially our enemy, though he'd make no open move against us, we want to get into Dun Hammil without him or his men knowing it, contact Harn, and find out what's going on. We decide to disguise ourselves as merchants, part of the caravan from Curwyllan, enter the city, get lodgings and contact Harn. We all consider how good our Disguise skills are, Anya's not bad, when Jaina makes it known that she's highly skilled at disguising herself and others. All part of the job for her.

She disguises us, which mostly consists of making Gilmarra look human and Sekhet look white. Sekhet is dusky, coppery colored. She gives us disguises and we join the caravan.

After two days' journey, about a day from the capital, Thet, my familiar, lets me know we're being followed. He doesn't travel in the caravan, he flits from tree to tree alongside us without being seen. Anya breaks off from the group and shadows the people following us. They're men. Bandits, apparently. We decide to ignore them, and press on to Dun Hammil, arriving at the capital in the middle of the night.

Thet, Sekhet's Owl, watches for us in the woods.

The guards at the gate of the great city are initially unwilling to let us in. We note heads spitted upon pikes along the wall, and a small village of gypsies have parked outside the gate, waiting to get in. Anya and Jaina try to get us in, pretending to be mother and daughter. They play on the guard's sympathies and bribe them with wine and we manage to get in through the side gate. The town is a pit. It's dirty, and while there are some very fine, rich people, richer than any in Hoddenhill, there are also very, very poor people here. Poorer and more diseased than any back home. We pass the tower of Sean the Rhymer, the Prince's mage, but it's all boarded up and has been for months. 

We find a room at the nearest tavern. Sekhet does his best impression of a local merchant. "Ho there! Landlord! We wish! Rooms! For the night! And. Food?" Sekhet's really not good at subterfuge and this prompts some laughs from the players. We get rooms and sack out. People look at me funny, but no-one sees through my disguise. Jaina does her thing and by pretending to be a little girl hears all about what's going on in town. Robert Dubanic is considered a traitor now, though we're not certain why. We know he's a good guy, so presumably the Prince is getting the people ready for a war against him because he won't support the Prince. Jaina learns the townspeople are being hired in gangs to go into the sewers and kill the ratmen.

The next morning we leave the inn and walk through the city's streets, looking for the Church of Odin. As we do, we're followed discreetly by some street urchins. Anya shoos them off. "Don't even think about it," she says, and they scramble to get away.

The Church of Odin is big, the doors are open, and the worshippers are lying on the floor, groaning, hung over. As we step in and amongst the waking bodies, an acolyte approaches us, and asks what he can do for us. We ask to see the high priest. He's not available. Perhaps we could come back later? We're from Curwyllan and have an important message for the church. He goes and gets the "vice-cleric" who asks who we are and gets no answer he likes. He tries to set up a meeting between us and Harn for later in the day. Anya starts playing the recently un-glamered Harp of the Elven Kings, and the Vice-cleric says "Come with me, we'll see if we can't wake Harn up. Can't be too careful these days, what with all the plots against the Prince and that traitorous Robert Dubanic trying to start a rebellion."

The Vice-Cleric and an Acolyte welcome us.

Uh-huh. Right.  We make a note of the Robert Dubanic thing, knowing it to be propaganda, and follow Mr. Vice-cleric. We pass a boarded over bit of floor that is probably where the Ratmen came up from.

Harn eventually answers the pounding at his door. There's a young, female 'supplicant' in with him, naked under the covers of his bed, and he's not interested in talking to us. He doesn't recognize us. I ask to speak with him in private. He says "no, bugger off." I wipe away a tiny bit of my makeup and ask again. He's confused, but allows us in. He asks the girl to leave, but won't close the door and allow us privacy.

Harn, with the 'supplicant' enjoying the benefits of being the High Priest.

He says strange things like "Oh, you're from Hoddenhill" and "How are things there?" And talks about how the Prince is much maligned and isn't it too bad about Robert Dubanic. And though it takes awhile, we figure out this is not Harn. Or it's Harn, and he's been mind controlled somehow. We try to leave, but he wants to arrange a meeting with the Prince, and we can't really refuse. He asks us to stay at the church instead of the inn. We talk in code and decide to stay at the church, since we'll be nearest to the possessed/fake Harn. We excuse ourselves saying we need to get our things from the Inn, and split.

The fake Harn.

The real Harn. They look nothing alike! What a transparent ruse!

At this point, we're on the clock. The False Harn is going to have men following us, he's going to report to the Prince, and we won't be safe in town in about 20 minutes. We hurry to the Inn, collect our things, and go to Plan B.

The town is hiring teams of men to go into the sewers and kill the Ratmen. We hope that down there, somewhere, is either the real Harn or the creatures that mind controlled Harn. If we can get down there, find the leader of the Ratmen, or Harn, we might be able to release the real Harn and get the fuck outta here. It's a difficult proposition, and depends on many things going our way, but none of us can think of any better plan.

We don't want to officially join a team going into the sewers because then the Prince's men will know we're about. Jaina says she'll take care of getting us into the sewers, and we let her work her magic.

She finds the men hiring gangs for the sewers and tries to steal a map. No dice. She pretends to be a little girl and fails to charm the thick, thug-like men responsible for clearing out the Ratwarrens. Left with no option, she threatens the men, who laugh and try to smack her. One of them cuffs her, but she tumbles past them, leaps onto the table, and snatches the map to the city's sewers, complete with marking of which manholes lead where in the warrens. Grinning, she flamboyantly waves the map at the men, and disappears into the crowd. She returns to us avec le map, and we're ready to go. Into the sewers beneath Dun Hammil, into the Ratwarrens where we hope we'll find the true Harn, and maybe come face to face with the power behind the throne of the Weald.

Continued next week!