Bane the Barbarian – Session 11

THE NEXT FEW DAYS

My heart was heavy as we made the three-day return trip to Brindinford. There is little that I can recall of that time. A member of our fellowship had fallen, Azannyrovar Drukarabatov of the Metalhaft clan had fought bravely at my side, he had saved my life on more than one occasion and now having done so again, one last time, he had died. I had lost a trusted companion and a valued friend. Of which I had few. He would be sorely missed. More than ever I felt alone.

Not long after our arrival in Brindinford we found a Dwarf of the Metalhaft clan who agreed to take Az’s body and possessions back to his family. I should have liked to honour my friend by escorting him all the way back to his clan-hold but Muratis pointed out that it was many leagues distant and that we could not afford the time. He was right, but it didn’t sit any easier with me. Instead I wrote a letter to Az’s mother expressing as best I could the sorrow I felt at his passing.

To the Mother of Drukardwarovar Azannyrovar Drukarabatov of the Metalhaft clan

I have sad tidings to tell. Azannyrovar, your son, has fallen in battle. He died with honour, fighting against a great Evil in the mines near Rastor. Think of him proudly for he was noble and true till the end.

In the caverns, at the foot of the Lortmil Mountains, facing the followers of the Elder Elemental Eye, we encountered a dire Howler. A terrible and ferocious creature. At the time we were hard pressed on all sides and it would surely have finished us if it had not been for the actions of your son.

During the battle he saved Muratis’s life, by pushing him out of the Howler’s path, and in so doing received a vicious swipe of the creature’s claws. Then, as I stood battered and bloody, facing the beast in what would have been my final stand, he deflected its fury and took the brunt of its attack upon himself. Trading his own life for mine. I tried to save him, but though I finished the beast, I was not in time.

With a heavy heart I return his body and possessions to you so that you may lay him to rest in the manner of your people.

I shall miss him.

I am Bane of Kalinstren in the Kingdom of Furyondy, Azannyrovar Drukarabatov was my friend.

That night I continued my watch over Az’s body, and the next day I paid my final respects by riding out of town with him one last time. After an hour it was time to turn back so I halted and watched the cart bearing his remains trundle onward until it was but a speck in the distance.

“Farewell, my friend. Rest in peace” I whispered into the wind.

It was some hours later, back in Brindinford, when we were approached by a follower of the god Vulcanus. He said that his name was Halgar and that he had been sent to investigate a disturbance of the elemental forces in this region. Power was being drawn away from the elemental planes, and it was upsetting the cosmic balance. During his investigation he had made contact with the Med-Jai in Verbobonc, and because it was believed that priests of the Elder Elemental Eye were responsible, the Med-Jai had suggested that he might find useful allies amongst our group.

In fact, his arrival could not have been more opportune. Our fellowship was seriously depleted. Only myself, Rae and Muratis remained, and we had need of new blood. Krallovar had begged his leave after our aborted assault on the mines, claiming that the power with which he was imbued was directing him to follow a different path. I suspected the truth was that he had thought better of our association. However he had been a queer companion and to be honest I was not sad to see him go.

Halgar, on the other hand, seemed a decent sort. I had not heard of the followers of Vulcanus before but it did not appear that he was an evil god. At first meeting, Halgar seemed a pleasant enough chap, and as he, Muratis and Rae discussed plans for a return to the mines I got the impression he was also quite astute. I hoped that he would prove to be a worthy ally in the days to come.

Together they formulated a plan…

DAY 43

And so it was, that a week later, Rae, Muratis, Halgar and I, trundled up the canyon toward the mine entrance, disguised as mercenaries with a wagon load of supplies. Though I say so myself, we had done a pretty good job of altering our appearance so that we would not be recognised as the group who had assaulted the mine some two weeks before. For a start, neither of the dwarves were present. They had been replaced by Halgar who had not been with us the previous time. And as far as any onlookers were concerned Rae, the most obvious amongst us, was also missing, as she was invisible and riding on the back of the cart. Muratis had also used magic to completely change his appearance to that of a burly looking fighter, and I had donned new clothing and painted my face with woad to disguise my features. Even if the guards on the gate had seen the earlier attack, the three men who now approached the mine entrance bore no similarity to those who had come before.

This time the plan was to talk our way in, which Halgar succeeded in doing with relative ease. Whether his verbal prowess was his own or down to the potion of glibness he had quaffed I could not be certain, but either way I was impressed. For a while it seemed as though he could have convinced the guards of almost anything.

After the exchange, one of them escorted us into the mine, leading us along a short tunnel across a crossroads and into a large room where he indicated we should unload the cart. He stayed there for a while, watching us, and Halgar took the opportunity to engage him in conversation. Then a half-elf, who was obviously the guard’s superior, ordered him back to his post and we were left alone.

The time to act was upon us.

We readied ourselves.

Halgar had elicited a surprising amount of information from the guard during their short chat. Not the least of which was that two of the doors from the room we were in led to bunk rooms for the other guards. We quickly decided that these would have to be our first targets. Halgar observed that the best way to neutralise the guards without raising the alarm would be to cast silence spells in the rooms and then go in and kill the sleeping occupants before they woke. He did not appear to be too keen on doing the deed himself however. I had the impression that it was assumed by the others that Rae would be the one to perform the less savoury aspects of the plan. After all with her background she should have no qualms about it. I’m not sure how Rae felt about this but I was not very happy about it. Though I didn’t like the idea of murdering the guards in their sleep, I didn’t think that it was fair to expect Rae to bear the burden of the act alone. If we chose this course of action we chose it together, and though I had no taste for it, if it came to it I would do my share of the killing.

The matter was resolved however when one of the gnoll guards surprised us by opening the door while Halgar was working his magic. Suddenly it had turned into a stand-up fight. I was relieved. It was better that way.

Halgar reacted fastest, forcing the gnoll back into the room, and Rae and I followed him in. Between us we made short work of the half-dozen occupants.

Next we turned our attention to the second room. We had heard sounds of movement in there and our suspicion that they had been alerted and were ready for us was proved correct when Rae opened the door and was met with a hail of arrows. Fortunately all of them glanced off her armour. The dozen human occupants had hastily erected a barricade of upturned beds across the middle of the room and were marshalled behind it. Rae seemed unconcerned by the ad-hoc defences; she leapt over the barricade and started bashing the guards remorselessly with her flail. I’d never seen her move that fast before, must be those new boots.

Until then I hadn’t been that impressed with Rae’s performance in combat. I mean, she had done well enough, but considering her attitude, her ostentatiously spiked armour and the crackling electricity arcing from her flail, she hadn’t done much of note… other than killing Tangrel that is. In fact it had always been Az and I who had taken on our more ferocious opponents, aided by Muratis’s magic of course. However, it appeared that here in this confined space, against the grunts, she was in her element. It was frightening to watch the carnage that she dished out. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she pulverised three or four men for every one that I killed. It certainly seemed that way.

Near the end of the massacre, Muratis, who had been guarding the doors into the room where the cart was, signalled that something was up by tossing a sun-rod into the room where we were. Halgar immediately went to investigate, while Rae and I finished off the guards.

When we were through, we hurried to join them back in the cart room.

There was something evil there. The doors remained closed but a dark shadow had entered the room. The light had dimmed and there was a noticeable chill in the air. Muratis and Halgar were edging back away from it as it rose up before them. Not knowing what else to do I picked up the sun-rod that was lying nearby and hurled it into the heart of the entity. I thought that its light would drive away the darkness. However, to my dismay, the sun-rod passed through the inky black shadow and clattered against the doors with no obvious effect.

Even the barrage of magic missiles that Muratis hurled at it immediately afterward seemed to have little impact on the thing.

I didn’t like it. You could be sure there was some dark sorcery afoot.

It was only when Halgar’s voice rose in cadence, calling upon the power of his god for protection, that the shadow withdrew from the room.

Suddenly the situation didn’t look so good. It appeared that we had been rumbled, and fighting our way out was the only real option, but there was no telling what might be waiting for us outside the room.

Looking around my comrades I could tell that each of them knew what must be done.

“Let’s do it”, I said reaching for the bindings that Muratis had used to hold the doors.

“Wait” said Rae “Let’s take the wagon. If there are more guards out there I’ll drive it into them. We may gain some advantage from the confusion.”

And so, a few moments later, I flung the doors open, throwing myself to one side as Rae, at the reigns of the empty cart, clattered through into the short stretch of corridor. Drawn by four frightened horses, the cart picked up speed quite rapidly and careered toward the waiting opposition.

At the crossroads there was a mysterious hooded figure garbed in black robes. Arggh! he was a sorcerer for sure! Beside him was the shadow creature we had encountered before, or another one, I knew not which. And with them were the half-elf and two gnoll guards. I could see no one else, but the tunnel was not well lit and there could be more lurking in the darkness.

We could not be sure of the strength of the forces arrayed against us at that point, but it mattered little. We were already committed to battle. There was nowhere else to go. So as soon as the cart had gone past me and through the doors I charged after it, intending to both back up Rae and close with the enemy as quickly as possible. It was probably going to get nasty out there. I had the impression that there might be a lot of magic flying around, but all I could do was plunge in and hope that whichever god or goddess had been watching over me recently would be kind enough to continue doing so.

Just ahead of me the cart clattered along, veering wildly from side to side. At the last minute Rae abandoned it, leaping off and somersaulting back toward the doors. Without her at the reigns the vehicle was completely out-of-control and swung sideways, crashing into the tunnel wall. It flipped over hitting one of the gnolls and as he fell he was trampled under the horses hooves as they went by.

It suddenly dawned on me that Rae’s spectacular manoeuvre had taken her back over my head and left me leading the charge alone. How does she do that? I was beginning to wonder if it really was just a coincidence that she always managed to be at the front against the grunts and behind me when we were up against anything else.

Still there was no time to dwell on it. Quickly assessing my options I decided to take on the half-elf, hoping that would mean a stand-up fight. At least that way I wouldn’t get caught in the magical crossfire that I anticipated between Muratis and the dark sorcerer. And I didn’t think I would have much effect against the shadow anyhow.

I charged in and we exchanged blows. My chosen opponent was fast but I had cut him deeply, my own wound was more superficial. I had expected more from him. I did not over-commit too soon though, in case it was a ruse.

Meanwhile, as expected, Muratis had unleashed a frightening barrage of magic against the dark sorcerer and his shade. The sorcerer, who beneath his robes appeared to be a reptilian troglodyte, was visibly shaken and the shadow had vaporised under an onslaught of magic missiles. I was not certain whether Halgar had also been involved.

As I seized an opening and wounded the half-elf again it became apparent that he was no match for me. His fighting style became more defensive, and his eyes were wild and desperate as he realised that for him the battle would soon be over.

Nearby, the battle continued to go equally badly for his colleagues. Rae had charged the robed troglodyte and struck him a hefty blow, although he had not fallen. In fact he had responded with a gesture and verbal command that sent her to her knees, but he had only used the opportunity to flee.

Rae was obviously in distress, and I knew only too well what evil can be done to one’s mind, but I could see that she was in no immediate danger.

The battle was effectively won and as Muratis and Halgar pursued the troglodyte out of sight around the corner, I struck the half-elf again and he went down.

Afterward, to my relief, Rae recovered fairly rapidly and she and I mopped up the few remaining gnolls in the surrounding area until Muratis and Halgar returned.

Unfortunately the troglodyte sorcerer had escaped from them and disappeared into the darkness, but the good news was the immediate vicinity seemed relatively secure, for the time being anyhow.

We checked the remaining rooms and discovered in one signs of worship of He Who Shall Not Be Named. Once again the presence of His servants amongst the priesthood of the Elder Elemental Eye was confirmed. We also ventured some way down the passage to the right of the mine entrance, which led in the opposite direction to the way the troglodyte had gone. It was soon apparent that this passage followed the course of the original mine workings, but had been long abandoned. The only tracks that I found there belonged to giant spiders, so we withdrew and returned to the crossroads.

From there we needed to decide what to do next…