Bane the Barbarian – Session 8

DAY 14 (cont)

While the rest of us bedded down for what was left of the night, Az scoured the tower for secret passages. It seemed that he was convinced that there was more to the tower than met the eye.

“Why build a single tower with nothing in it?” he said.

He had a point.

For a long while it seemed that his search would be fruitless, but then suddenly I heard him cry out in triumph and we all went to see what he had found.

In a small room on the ground floor, under one of the flagstones, there was a hidden trapdoor with a ladder leading down to a secret room. Upon investigation we discovered it was the entrance to a passageway that led downward to who knows where. After a short distance the way was blocked by rubble however, much like the other passages we had seen before.

Reassured that nothing was going to sneak up on us from that direction, we returned to the ground floor of the tower and rested until dawn.

I do not know if anyone slept. I certainly could not. Though there was one of us on watch at all times, I found no peace in that place. The stench of Evil was too near. It was as if the very stone beneath us had been tainted by it somehow. I yearned to be gone from there.

DAY 15

In the morning we packed our belongings and departed. For the time being at least the threat from the temple had been banished, though the sense that it would return remained. Whether the dragon’s occupation had been part of the Dark God’s plan or not I did not know, but there was the feeling that an ancient evil still resided in that place, slumbering somewhere deep beneath the earth, and eventually dark forces would be drawn to it again. I suspected that the path we followed would inevitably lead us back there one day.

As we were leaving I noticed that our horses were acting slightly peculiarly and after further scrutiny observed that they were in unusually good health. It was somewhat of a puzzle, and one to which we found no answer. The beasts seemed to have been inexplicably rejuvenated, but by whom or what we could not tell.

We travelled through the day, passing through the rain soaked village of Nulb at around noon. Once more we hastened along the road and across the rickety bridge, hemmed in on both sides by the rotting husks of its long abandoned dwellings. Of ghosts we saw naught, but the sense of foreboding remained and I was glad to have once again escaped without incident. As I looked back across the river it somehow seemed as though the remnants of the village were hunkered down against the rain, or perhaps it was just that the whole wretched place was slowly sinking into the mud.

We arrived back in Hommlet at about midnight.

That evening I found myself standing vigil over Ichabard’s body once again, though this time his charred remains were wrapped in a blanket and resting on a table in a room at the back of the house. I sat in the shadows in a corner near the open window and tried to ignore the aroma of burned flesh. It was not pleasant but I had smelled worse.

Despite the sobering presence of Ichabard’s corpse, from a personal perspective, I couldn’t help feeling a certain satisfaction about the past couple of days. I had finally proven myself, even if the fight against the dragon had nearly cost me my life. And the result was that I didn’t feel quite so out of my depth here anymore.

I counted my blessings.

Having Az around had helped a lot. I thanked the gods for his fortuitous arrival. Without my old friend to watch my back I might very well have been dead by now. His companionship meant a great deal.

And the sense that not only the stalwart dwarf but also some higher power watched over me had endured. I knew not which or why? There weren’t any obvious candidates. I have never been much of one for worship and have rarely paid the gods any second thought. But at the times I had been in grave peril I felt certain that someone or something had been there. And for that I was eternally grateful.

DAY 16

The next morning Az and I took Ichabard’s body to the Church of St. Cuthbert in the hopes that they could raise him for a second time. Muratis had seemed fairly confident that, for the right amount of money it wouldn’t be too much of a problem, and had provided us with the appropriate donation from the party coffers. I hoped for Ichabard’s sake he was right.

Some time later, after a lengthy ceremony, I carried Ichabard from the church. He was pale and feverish, and seemed far more fragile than before. The second resurrection had obviously taken its toll on him, but at least he was alive.

I took him back to the house and let him rest.

By that time the others were busy dividing up the spoils of our recent conquests and discussing plans to depart northward for the city of Verbobonc. Apparently there were items for sale there that Rae and Muratis required.

Of the current loot I acquired a finely wrought chain mail shirt and a magical amulet that Muratis told me would strengthen the resilience of my armour still further. I also gained another healing potion to replace the one I had consumed in the temple. All in all I was quite satisfied.

Afterward we went over to the “Welcome Wench” Inn and spent some of our gold on a meal. We stayed up drinking late into the night.

DAY 17

In the morning, after a good nights rest and a meal, Ichabard’s health seemed greatly improved. It was a relief to see him something more like his old self, though there was still a gaunt and haggard look about his eyes. I could not help but worry about him and what would happen if he remained with us. In a little over two weeks he had been reduced to a shadow of his former self, and I felt certain that if he continued that his brief visits with his ancestors in the Afterworld would soon be on a more permanent basis. I did not want him to die. And yet I could not bring myself to tell him he should leave us, for in some ways that was an admission that I, like Rae, did not believe he had the mettle for this fight. If I were in his place I would not consider backing down, not even when I have given every breath and every last drop of my blood will I lay down and die. So I remained silent.

In the end it did not matter, because when Ichabard learned of the group’s travel plans, he told us that he would only be accompanying us for a short while longer, and that when we left Verbobonc he would be staying there. I could see the defeated look in his eyes.

Though it was the wisest course it saddened me greatly to see Ichabard give up. It was another small victory that the Enemy had won.

THE NEXT FEW DAYS

The next few days we spent travelling to Verbobonc. The trip was uneventful.

DAY 21

We arrived at Verbobonc late on the morning of the fifth day… or was it the fourth? … It was hard to keep track after a few days travel. They all seemed the same.

The city hadn’t changed much since I had been there last, almost a month before. It was still a hive of bustling activity. There were crowds of people, traders and market stalls. It wasn’t a bad place as cities go but personally I prefer the wilds. There also wasn’t much for me to do there except hang around waiting while the others went shopping.

After saying goodbye to Ichabard, I decided to take the opportunity to pay the Med-Jai a visit and see if there was any news. After all it was they who had suggested Ichabard and I go to Hommlet and seek out Tangrel in the first place. I went through the normal lengthy, drawn-out process of clandestine rendezvous and being passed from one contact to another. The Med-Jai, being very secretive, are not easy to find unless you know how. Each link in the chain led me through a maze of secret paths and winding alleys, taking me deeper and deeper into the city, until eventually I arrived at somewhere that didn’t look that much different from anywhere else. And there the Med-Jai were waiting.

After all the rigmarole the meeting was somewhat of a let down however.

Yes, they weren’t all that happy about the fact that Tangrel had been slain but they wouldn’t be taking any action against Rae because of a non-aggression pact that existed between the Med-Jai and the Hu-Ren Dai.

“Presumably that’s supposed to work both ways”, I observed.

There followed some debate amongst them as to whether it really counted if Tangrel might have been under the influence of the Enemy at the time. After a while I found the conversation was becoming tiresome.

“What about the cultists around Hommlet then?” I added in an attempt to change the subject.

“I don’t think that’s really our concern”, declared one of the Med-Jai, somewhat dismissively. “From what you’ve said they’re mostly worshippers of the Elder Elemental Eye and not of Thu… Er… Cough… The One Who Must Not Be Named at all.”

“But doesn’t the fact that they’re working together suggest an even greater evil?” I asked.

“I really don’t think there’s enough evidence to substantiate that. Besides there hasn’t been any serious threat in these parts for a few decades now. It’s probably just a few stragglers. More than likely nothing to worry about.”

“Aren’t you even going to send somebody else to take a look?”

“Maybe later, when we can spare someone, but for the time being you seem to be dealing with it quite well enough.”

“Is that all?”

Apparently it was.

I left the Med-Jai with my opinion of them significantly reduced. Over the short time I had spent watching Tangrel doggedly pursuing the Enemy’s minions, I had gained a high regard for the organisation of which he was a part. It had seemed that the Med-Jai were indeed a powerful force. But now it appeared that they were somewhat insular and reluctant to get involved. In fact they had considered Tangrel a maverick and he had been left to operate very much on his own. I could not be sure I could count on them in the struggle to come.

To put an end to a rather unsatisfactory day, when I returned to the inn that evening the others had been joined by a rather mysterious and unsettling character. A dwarf cleric of Wee-Jas named Krallovar, who had returned with Rae from the temple. Apparently he had his own reasons for wanting to join us and had asked if he could travel with our group. I got the impression that no one was particularly taken with the strange fellow but Rae said that the priestess at the temple had vouched for him and so the decision was made that he would be allowed to come along. I confess that I did not like the idea. There was something about him that gave me the creeps. Maybe it was the way his crazed, bloodshot eyes bored into you, or the fact that he never showed his face, but I sensed there was something evil about him and knew that I would be sleeping with one eye open while he was around…