'Neath a Crimson Throne, Session III

 September 28^th, 2021/Raccoons 27th-29^th, 749

Heroes present:
•Anathar the Craven, level 1 magic-user, played by T

•Joan, level 1 cleric, played by A

•Pendor, level 1 fighter, played by R

•Sigurd, level 1 dwarf, played by J

Their entourage:

•Beornraed ap Oroko, level 1 fighter

•Sheornraed ap Oroko, level 1 fighter

•Tryglia ap Oroko, level 2 fighter

•A donkey

•Four horses

Beornraed and Sheornraed got the party into Oroko Town without paying the usual visitors' tax. They took the heroes to meet their father in his castle, which stood on a hill in the center of the town.

Count Beornwine was overjoyed to see the return of his children. He ordered Tryglia into the castle dungeon, and invited the heroes to feast with him that night.

At the feast, Beornraed told this story:

County Oroko had once been ruled by the wise and beneficent Countess Tryng. Her heir, Tryglia, was known to be craven and dishonest. So, on her deathbed, the countess had bequeathed her titles and possessions to her nephew, Lord Beornwine. Tryglia was furious at this, and sent assassins to kill Beornwine before he could accept the mantle of Count Oroko.

The assassination attempt was thwarted by Beornwine's knights, but Tryglia escaped justice. She and a band of men loyal to her (including Countess Tryng's court mage, Talon) rode west into exile, where they could plot another way to take over Oroko.

Beornwine's twin children, Beornraed and Sheornraed, young and eager to prove themselves in battle, went after the exiles. The twins tracked Tryglia's band to the ancient Castle Dreadmory, and there did battle with them.

They were badly outnumbered, and the fight went poorly for them. Sheornraed was knocked unconscious, while Beornraed lost his right arm. He managed to escape capture, and stumbled into the nearby village of Dunnage, where he begged a group of tough-looking strangers to help. This was Anathar, Joan, Pendor*, and Sigurd.

These four* heroes assaulted Castle Dreadmory themselves, defeated Lady Tryglia and her followers, and rescued Sheornraed.

*Pendor was not there, of course, but Beornraed was being nice when he told this story.

After he finished telling his tale, Beornraed expressed embarrassment at having run from a fight. He commended his sister for her bravery. And, he pointed out that he was no longer able to wield a sword. Because of these factors, he asked his father permission to join the clergy, and allow Sheornraed to be the sole heir to County Oroko.

Count Beornwine advised his son to take a few days and consider his decision. He also congratulated the heroes for their deeds, and offered them whatever gifts they desired.

Joan asked only for money, and that is what she received.

Pendor and Sigurd requested new weapons and armor. Count Beornwine told them to speak to his armory-master the next day, and they would receive their rewards.

Anathar said he would like to speak about his reward privately, later. Beornwine agreed to meet him in the morning.

Beornraed had one more piece of news to deliver: “The fires of Mount Skullfyre have been lit.” This information greatly unsettled Count Beornwine. The heroes asked what it meant, and Beornwine explained:

The skull-shaped mountain they had seen on their adventure had been Mount Skullfyre. It was actually a fortress, which in ancient times had belonged to fire giants. In those days, Omnikar was ruled by elves, and the fire giants were at war with them. The fire giants were said to be powerful and evil. The war had ended with a truce between the fire giants and the elves, and soon thereafter the war-forges which burned within Mount Skullfyre went dark. No-one had heard from the fire giants for many centuries.

The heroes volunteered to go and investigate what was happening in Mount Skullfyre. Count Beornwine accepted the help, and promised to pay them if they returned with useful information. He emphasized that this should only be a mission of reconnaissance; the last thing Omnikar needed right now was a war against giants.

The heroes were permitted to stay the night as guests of the Count. However, Pendor proved unable to hold his liquor. He drunkenly propositioned the Count's wife, and was kicked out of the castle. He learned about this when he woke up the next morning at a run-down inn.

That morning, Anathar went to the castellan of Castle Oroko, and sold him the honey he had purchased in Nordale.

He then had his private meeting with Beornwine. First, asked permission to visit Talon's quarters and library at Castle Oroko. This, Count Beornwine granted. Anathar also plead for mercy on behalf of Tryglia, that she not be put to death. Anathar had not come to know Tryglia well, but he had come to realize that she was a brave warrior and sensed that she was being unfairly maligned. The Count was adamant that he could not allow a traitor to live. However, he agreed to make Tryglia's execution a private and dignified one, by poison, rather than a public one by the headsman's sword.

Anathar then went to Talon's tower, which was attached to the castle. In the mage's quarters, he found what appeared to be a spellbook, but it was locked. He took it with him.

He also visited the Count's library. There, he found a book entitled The Lay of Iranon. It was an epic saga which told of Iranon, an elvish prince, and his heroic struggles against the invading fire giants, and their army of “brass men,” during the Skullfyre War. Eventually, Iranon and Surtan (the elder son of the fire giant king, Sotor) killed each other in a duel. This finally convinced their grieving fathers, who were the leaders of the giants and elves, to arrange a truce. To seal the peace-deal, the elvish princess Marion was wed to King Sotor's surving son (Prince Midbög). Soon after, the fire giants and Princess Marion departed this world and went to live in the fire giants' home plane of Muspelsheim.

The elves had survived, but suffered terribly. Their kingdom had been so weakened by the Skullfyre War that they were unable to resist when humans arrived in their country, driving them out and founding the modern kingdom of Omnikar.

Pendor and Sigurd went to speak with the armory-master. They received new weapons (not much different from their old ones, but newer and more ornate) and chain armor.

The heroes all met up in the afternoon. At Anathar's suggestion, they went to the local locksmith to see if he could open Talon's spellbook. As it turned out, the locksmith was Pendor's uncle, Lockdor! He easily unlocked the clasp of the spellbook, and opened it. As soon as Lockdor's eyes laid upon the book's pages, however, he was sucked inside the tome and disappeared.

Anathar snatched up the book and closed it, careful not to look inside. The party left the locksmith's shop, and decided to test the device further. They found a chicken coop, and Anathar opened the book in such a way that it faced one of the chickens. It, too, was sucked in. The chicken protested loudly at being pulled through dimensions in such a manner, and her owners came out their house to investigate the commotion. The heroes apologized, and paid to replace the chicken.

The heroes also visited an apothecary's shop. She sold them “essense of aelta-leaf,” which she claimed to have healing properties; and “murder-tree sap,” which she claimed granted endurance in battle.

They decided it was time to visit Mount Skullfyre. They did not know a way through the mountains directly from Oroko, so they decided to first travel back through Shortfellow's Pass and to Dunnage. Just before they came to the pass that afternoon, they were waylaid by robber-dwarves. Anathar tricked one of them into looking in Talon's cursed book, and thus sucked him into its pages. The heroes did battle with the rest. During the fight, Sigurd decided to try some murder-tree sap. Remarkably, the potion made him immune to pain! They slew all but one of the robber-dwarves. This last cretin surrendered and introduced himself as Horst Gabensen of Durganura. In order to secure Horst's cooperation, Anathar cast a charm spell on him.

Horst described Durganura as a large dwarven city just north of Shortfellow's Pass. The Gabensens were a clan of gangsters who dwelt there.

The sun was going down, so Horst led the party to a secluded cave near the entrance to Shortfellow's Pass. At the back of the cave, there was a sealed gate which Horst claimed led into the Underdark. He assured the party that the gate was quite secure, and that this would be a safe place to rest for the night. When they all woke up in the morning, Sigurd found himself in pain from the minor injuries he sustained during the previous day's fight. The effect of the murder-tree sap had worn off in his sleep.

Horst traveled with the heroes as they entered Shortfellow's Pass. About halfway through the pass, Horst pointed out a winding mountain trail leading north. This, he explained, led to the gates of Durganura. He invited the party to come with him to his home, and enjoy the hospitality of his family. (In Horst's charmed state, it did not occur to him that his kinfolk might not welcome strangers who had killed his companions.) The heroes declined this request, and the thief parted ways with them.

The party arrived in Dunnage that evening, and rested at the Gray Moth Inn. The next morning, they went up into the Black Mountains.

They followed a trackless route that they knew would lead them to Castle Dreadmory. From there, they could find their way to Mount Skullfyre. As they traveled, they were ambushed by a pack of three banshee-birds! The heroes just barely managed to kill the creatures, and sustained injuries in the process. So, they returned to Dunnage to recouperate.