LotFP Solo - Part the Seventeenth: „O Trost und Freude! Quell des Heiles! / Laß mich nicht einsam, liebes Licht!“

Lycinia is once again sent to treat with Brother Mundlo. She relates the events of their last sojourn under the monastery and shows him the Artifact. He listens thoughtfully, and then finally makes his pronouncement. "I must go back to report this to the Reverend Father de Molleré at once, and bring him the wand. We should leave at dawn."

"No!" she cries, "We can't leave yet. You need to come with us tomorrow underground and say your holy words over the sacred pool and cleanse it of the corruption and banish the foulness from this place for good!"

"My dear girl," he replies, "that is quite out of the question. Underground is no place for one such as I. You shall take me back to my order with the wand and we shall await the Reverend Father's further instructions."

"Miolla, come over here," calls Lycinia to her friend. "Our cleric doesn't want to cleanse the pool."

"But he has to!" says Miolla, "You have to! Look at our little cemetery. Isn't it full enough? You have to stop the evil before it goes any farther."

"Little elf," replies Brother Mundlo, "you must trust my superior wisdom and experience. The Reverend Fath--"

"Look," interjects Lycinia sternly, "I gave you a chance to cooperate. I'd hoped you'd see reason. Tomorrow morning we're taking you down into the dungeon and throwing you into the pool, whether you've cleansed it first or not. Miolla, tie him up so he doesn't try to slink away during the night. Bind his hands together so he can still pray to his god for the proper spells. If he struggles, break his arms."

The cleric is shocked, but too terrified to resist as Miolla binds him securely with a length of rope.

Later that evening Miolla whispers a question to her friend. "Lycinia... tell me you were just trying to scare him. You wouldn't really have made me break his arms... right?"

Scene 17

Chaos: 5

Setup: 5, Force the cleric into dungeon to purify the sacred pool

Characters: Neldir, the Elders of the Elven Forest, Ranwitha the Pious Merchant, Siorighan MU12,  Tibalt & Barnot, dwarven mercenaries, griffon, Reverend Father Gelnay de Val d'Oine, Reverend Father de Molleré, Brother Mundlo, Zuhal B'thallit, centaur lizard

threads: find Neldir & the book
purify dungeon
remove zuhal's curse

day 51 (continued).

[Upon their exit from the dungeon, Lycinia and Debinvarr were each healed with a cure light wounds spell, as they were the most injured. In a stroke of genuine luck, everyone made their saving throws to resist the festering disease. The conversation above took place that evening, as a result of the following interrogation of the Mythic Fate Chart (which, as you shall see, led to even more questions):

Q: Does Mundlo go quietly? Very unlikely: 33, No, +Event: NPC Action - Reverend Father Gelnay de Val d'Oine - Mistrust Plans. Interpretation: He fears the elves may be too weak to deal with whatever destroyed the monastery. He sends a combined force of clerics & soldiers after them to see what's happening.
Q: Does the Reverend Father come personally? Unlikely: 44: No, +Event: PC Positive - Théscine - Expose magic. Interpretation: Something will happen to revelal the power of her magic elven sword.
Q: Will the soldiers arrive before PCs descend? 50/50: 67, No.

One final note: For as long as the PCs have been camping in the surface ruins, there's been a 1 in 12 chance per day of a random wilderness encounter; the unhealthy atmosphere and sinister reputation combined cause both man and beast to shun the area. Despite checking assiduously at the start of each day, not a single encounter has been indicated.]


day 52.

That morning Lycinia and Miolla dig a hole in which to hide the artifact. Miolla pushes a broken bit of masonry atop it in hopes of concealing it further.

Then it is time to descend into the dungeon. Lycinia is, as usual, in the lead with torch and sword. Debinvarr is well enough to again bear his lantern. Miolla takes charge of the recalcitrant cleric.

As they reach the lower level, they espy the flicker of torchlight coming from the first chamber [room II]. They hear gruff, whispering voices as they approach. Within the chamber they find four dwarves, all having the look of stalwart warriors. The lead dwarf eyes the party suspiciously for a moment then growls out, "friend or foe?"

Lycinia is about to reply 'friend' when the cleric blurts out, "Help me! They're all mad! Save me from this terror!"

[the random encounter produced 4 dwarves: 3x 1st level, 1x 3rd.
reaction roll is 4, so they were quite suspicious to begin with

  CH CN DX IN ST WI HP
a 10 15 12 12 13  8  7 warhammer, leather&shield
b 10  5 10 12 11 17  5 broadsword, plate
c 12 13  9  8 14  9 11 hand axe, leather
d 15 18  9 14 11 10 29 hand axe, plate

Treasure Type U&V: a&b have no treasure. c has 64cp d(the leader) has 4 gems-- Blue Quartz-50 sp, Smoky Quartz-250sp, Onyx-100 sp, Sardonyx-250sp.]

The cleric's cries (and generally wretched appearance of the PCs at this point) are enough to convince the dwarf. He shouts a battle cry and the other dwarves follow his lead.

[round 1. The PCs win initiative]
Miolla has the cleric, so can't fight. Théscine swings her sword at an onrushing dwarf [a]. She hits easily, and much to her surprise, the blade sparks, and the metal rings as if rebounding off stone. And indeed, the dwarf before her has been petrified in her tracks [the sword is +2 vs. dwarves, and on a successful hit they must save vs. petrification or be turned to stone; it can only be wielded by elves, and will refuse to land a hit in the hands of any other]. A sickly looking dwarf with a scraggly beard engages with Aldira. He stabs her viciously with his broadsword [6 damage, leaving her at 3hp].

[round 2]
Lycinia, Théscine, and Debinvarr face off against the three remaining dwarves as Aldira steps back to cast a spell. As Théscine runs one of them through with the magic blade (without turning them to stone), the other two succumb to Aldira's magic and fall to the ground snoring [10HD Sleep]. Lycinia and Debinvarr waste no time in dispatching them.

Brother Mundlo is given a stern warning not to try anything like that again. Debinvarr pockets the dwarven leader's coin purse (which is full of gems), and they continue on their way to the cavern.

Without the artifact glowing in the pool, the cavern is in perfect darkness. The stilled water is brackish and foul. Miolla leads Brother Mundlo right to the edge of the pool. She looks to Lycinia for confirmation before unbinding the cleric's hands. Brother Mundlo is nearly in tears as he gazes down at the water. "Such horrible sacrilege," he whispers.

"Work your magic," orders Lycinia. "Or would you rather we pushed you in before you throw the spell?" The fearful cleric does not protest nor hesitate in slightest. He stretches his hands out over the water, and begins to chant his orisons.

[Q: Does a 2nd level cleric casting Bless cleanse the pool? 50/50: 30, Yes.]

Before everyone's astonished eyes, the foulness dissipates from the pool. A pure, white light begins to shine from within the now limpid pool, illuminating the cavern with its holy radiance. "Through me," beams the cleric, "the Light God has truly accomplished this miracle."

Lycinia walks up behind the cleric. "It looks like you did it," she says, "but just to be sure..." And with this she shoves him in to the water. Aldira, Théscine and Debinvarr are smirking and Miolla is doubled over with laughter when Brother Mundlo stands up in the wait deep water, sputtering and fuming. Lycinia drops her torch on the floor and advises the cleric to come back to the surface before it burns out. The rest of them leave him in the pool, and walk back out of the dungeon, except for the giggling Miolla whom they have to take turns half-carrying.

Once again on the surface, they find their camp has been overrun with monks, nuns and temple soldiers. [C5m, F4f, 5xc1mffff, 5xf0ffmmm; reaction=9] All are armed and armoured for the expedition. They are surprised to see the elves and the young wizard emerge from the dungeon is such high and mirthful spirits. Their leaders, Father Hulner and Dame Lisbeta, are anxious for an interview. After the junior clerics have healed everyone's wounds, they party give a full account of their exploration and conquest of the ruins. During their excited narrative, Brother Mundlo emerges from underground, causing Miolla to dissolve into fresh peals of laughter.

[Q: Does Brother Mundlo poison them against PCs?50/50: 65, No.
Q: Are the PCs allowed to go off, leaving the artifact, tithe, and cleric behind? Likely: 66, Yes +event: Move toward a thread: find Neldir]

Father Hulner and Dame Lisbeta seem almost as amused by Brother Mundlo's appearance as does Miolla. The priest makes a shallow pretence of reprimanding some of the aspirants who could not conceal their laughter, but the knight does not even deign to silence her troops. They are anxious to hear the whole story, and, at its conclusion, to see the dreadful Artifact and descend to view the pool.

The party feel secure in leaving the clerics and knight in charge of the ruins. They make their preparations to leave the following morning. Dame Lisbeta gives them a scroll, telling them to give it to the head priestess at the church in Casterby [this is from the Mythic random event; they will get an actual clue to move them towards the Thread once they're there].

They spend the rest of the day talking with the members of relief force, who are all too eager to hear the stories of their travels. Before retiring for the night, the PCs spread a clean blanket out on the ground and count out all their treasure in the sight of all. Father Hulner orders a chest brought round to hold the promised tithe (for the restoration of the Monastery), and the junior clerics are given the religious items (patens, candlesticks, monstrances &c &c) to reconsecrate.


dividing the treasure

The total value of the recovered treasure is 9530sp, 15% of which amounts to 1430sp. Coincidentally, the value of the coinage recovered (1350sp + 800cp) amounts to 1430sp exactly. The PCs thus leave all the coins for their agreed tithe, and keep the sparkly items for themselves.

Aldira takes the gold fibula in the shape of a wild boar's head (400 sp) and pins it to her cloak

Debinvarr already has 16 cheap silver rings, and wants a nice one this time, so he gets the simple gold ring set with lapis lazuli studs (300 sp).

Miolla quite fancies the long amber Necklace (300 sp), and puts it on.  She already has a copper brooch (100sp) and thin gold tiara (100sp). She borrows Lycinia's mirror to admire herself.

Everyone wants the carved black jade bracelet depicting storm dragons playing in thunderclouds (1800 sp). But it really goes best with Théscine's colouration (white skin, black hair) so she gets to keep it.

Lycinia doesn't like any of the other jewellery, so gets the mysterious potion as a consolation prize. (She does have a fine silver necklace (200sp) from earlier.)

The rest of the jewellery and the gems get divided up amongst them all as trade goods: about 3300sp worth.

Scene 18

Chaos: 4

Setup: Travel to Casterby

Characters: Neldir, the Elders of the Elven Forest, Ranwitha the Pious Merchant, Siorighan MU12,  Tibalt & Barnot, dwarven mercenaries, griffon, Reverend Father Gelnay de Val d'Oine, Reverend Father de Molleré, Brother Mundlo, Zuhal B'thallit, centaur lizard

threads: find Neldir & the book
remove zuhal's curse


day 53.

In the morning the party bid farewell to the clerics and soldiers, and set off towards Finsover. The ride is uneventful, but the town itself is much changed. It is still looking nice and clean and pleasant after the religious festival two weeks prior (day 38) which was presided over by the King and Queen personally.

The party take the opportunity to resupply, and whilst conducting business they manage to pick up an interesting rumour from a passerby.

[random encounter in Finsover: Acolyte
Q: What do they want? Carelessness/Rumour. Interpretation: they let on something they shouldn't about the current church crisis.

Bibliomancy: hinc Rutulus premit et murum circumsonat armis.
Vergil Aeneid VIII.474
(Here press the Rutulians and surround our wall with clashing arms)
Interpretation: de Molleré is besieged]


day 54.

The next morning they ride east. About seven miles down the road from Finsover, they encounter a group of four [0-level] bandits armed with swords and heavy crossbows.

The lead bandit, a swaggering, uncouth sort of fellow, shouts, "Hand over all your valuables, or we'll take them by force!"

"Are you serious?" says Lycinia. "You're out numbered and everything..."

The bandit leader fires his crossbow at her. The bolt pierces her armour, inflicting a nasty injury [5 damage, she is down to 7hp]. The other bandits fire as well. Two miss their targets, but Aldira is shot in the stomach [8 damage, she has 5hp remaining]. Swords are then drawn, but Miolla waves her hand and speaks a potent charm. The bandits sink to the ground asleep.

Lycinia is about to dismount from her horse and put the sleeping bandits to the sword when Aldira stops her. "I know these idiots attacked us," she says, wincing in pain, "but we're getting close to civilisation here. Perhaps murdering people on the road isn't the best plan of action."

Lycinia mumbles something under her breath, but stays on her horse. The party rides away, leaving the bandits sleeping in the cold. After a few miles, Miolla is sorely distressed at her friend's moping, and endeavours to cheer her up. "Dearest Lycinia, maybe you just needed to explain to Aldira about how they'd do the same to us!"

A few more miles down the road, the party catch a glimpse of a small roc flying in circles over the forested hills to the south. They pause on the road to admire the majestic beast until it flies out of sight. By midday they have arrived at the fort called Huntsman's Gate.

[Q: Do they have any problems passing Huntsman's Gate? Unlikely: 15, Yes. Work hard / the intellectual. Interpretation: (see below)
Q: Can the PCs get healing here? Somewhat likely: 41, Yes.]

The fort soldiers allow them warily into the courtyard. Most of them have never seen an elf before, and the state of their equipment, not to mention the recent wounds on two of the party, are a bit unsettling. One of the guards runs off, and returns shortly with the fort's commander, who approaches the party officiously, then suddenly stops short, wide-eyed. "By all the Gods!" he exclaims, "Aldira, is that really you?"

"Leofstan? How many years has it been?"

"A dozen or more at least!"

Commander Leofstan orders the fort's chaplain to see to the injured, and then invites the party to lunch in his quarters. He and Aldira spend a lot of time discussing people they knew from their childhood in Alder's Well. She gives him a brief summation of her life since leaving: her apprenticeship in a (mysteriously unnamed) wizard's tower, her travels, her adventures with the elves. He has much less of a tale, having joined the King's army when he came of age and spent most of his time attached to this fort.

At length there is a pause in the conversation, and Commander Leofstan decides he must get down to business. "Such adventures!" he says, "Nanny Gartiner always said the village was too small for you. Look, I'm going to be blunt. There's a crisis in Orlsdorf involving this crazy witch and a couple of really nasty mercenary types. The mayor of Orlsdorf has applied to me for aid, but, in truth, this is well outside the ability of me and my troops to handle. You and your magical friends here could do us -- and the good people of Orlsdorf -- a great service by taking care of this matter. I don't want to pull rank and have to order you to do this in the name of the King or anything like that, but... if you don't help us, I'll tell your parents you're around!"

---

XP: Technically the XP would have been counted when the PCs reached Finnsover, but as I left it until here the total will include 20 whole XP from the bandit encounter on the road.

Combat XP is divided into two sections, before and after Firdeth's demise.

6x Skinklings
3x chattering bones
4x skeletons
7x Homunculi
2x Centaur Lizards
1x Charnel Carpet
3x 1st level clerics
1x 3rd level cleric
1x Bounding Horror
--------------------
1525/6=254xp each


7x  1st level clerics
1x  3rd level cleric
7x  Suckerlings
13x Homunculi
12x Festering Ones
3x  1st level dwarves
1x  3rd level dwarf
4x  bandits (0-level fighters)
------------------------------
1260/5=252xp each


treasure recovered: 8100/5=1620xp each


Total XP: 2126xp each

Lycinia gets 50XP extra for her 'defeat' of Brother Mundlo (2nd level Cleric).

Aldira, who started her life as a (just) 3rd level NPC, does not have enough XP for 4th level yet. But all the elves' levels increase: Lycinia and Miolla to 3rd, Debinvarr and Théscine to 2nd. I managed to roll either a 3 or a 5 for everyone's hit point increase, so with CON bonuses

Miolla +5hp to 13
Lycinia +4hp to 16
Debinvarr +4hp to 9
Théscine +5hp to 9

So they should survive combats a little better now. I mean I love first level characters and all, but it's nice when they grow a little and can have longer adventures without needing so much time to recuperate between encounters. Sadly, they will have to wait to gain any new spells as there is no time for research. But this will be taken care of soonish; or rather, it has been taken care of, but I need to type the notes up into a proper form.