A Stolen Song (Part I)

Deug the 17th

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
• Gottes Segen, Cleric

After a bit of listening in the pub in Crabaille, Quetgar and Gróin heard of an abandoned ruin in the forest, once the home of a sect of seer-monks, star-gazers who could tell the future. The villagers had avoided the spot for superstitious reasons, and adventures had avoided it because it seemed boring, for the most part. Still, the lumberman's story seemed interesting; while the others shopped around town, Gróin and Quetgar headed out to see what this strange hermitage really was.

Outside a large hill was a door, locked through magical means. After a bit of detective work, Gróin began playing the bagpipes; the "music" was all that was needed to open the door, and in they went. The first thing they saw was a strange coat-closet; instead of hooks, stone hands held the rotting scraps of what were once priestly robes, as well as a magical staff. Experimenting with a 10 foot pole proved that the hands would grab anything offered, but would only release something to the one who first placed it.

Moving on, the explorers found a junction; to the right, they found a room with a well, and a huge stone creature splashing in the water as if searching for something. Gróin and Quetgar entered the room; the creature, spotting them, stomped forward, and with a single blow of his fist, knocked the life out of Gróin! Quetgar dove between the creature's legs, and in one smooth movement leaped to his feet and raked his claws across the stone golem's back! But even his magically-enhanced claws were no match for the golem's stony skin, and resulted only in a shower of sparks. Quetgar, unused to there being any creature he could not backstab, dodged to the side, and followed Gróin as he was dragged down the hallway by his own hench-lizard. Thankfully, a well-timed healing spell restored Gróin to health, without any need for rest. Quetgar, realizing they had not been pursued, crept back into the hall; the golem was once again splashing in the well, searching. It looked as if it would only pursue anyone if they entered the well area.

The passage also continued left; however, the reading and meditation room appeared to be in use! A mummy sat cross-legged on the floor! Wrapped in pages from countless books, the mummy sat on one of many rotting cushions. Gróin tip-toed backward, out of sight of the creature.

Quetgar, meanwhile, carefully studied the large, rotting tapestry hanging at the junction of the hallways; thoughtfully, he pushed on it - with a tearing sound, the tapestry tore in two, revealing a room beyond! Excited, he slipped through - only to realize that the rug was infested with rot grubs! Quickly, he slapped and bit at the worms as they attempted to burrow into his flesh; as he backed into the hall, Gróin set his torch to the grubs, burning them, as did the henchmen. Luckily, all 13 of the grubs were destroyed before they could harm the thrassian. Quetgar torched the tapestry, then moved on to the large room beyond.

Inside was a telescope, with a bell on one end; the telescope seemed to be driven by the gears and chains that ringed the room, as it occasionally spun crazily. As soon as Gróin stepped up for a closer look, he realized that he could hear nothing - not even his own heartbeat in his ears! Stepping back, he found that the bell somehow cast a cone of silence; where the telescope pointed, the bell would ring, causing that area to be silenced until the telescope swung away again. Additionally, two gargoyles blocked the far door. They didn't seem to attack, however, so Quetgar engaged them in conversation - "What are you guarding?"

The gargoyle on the left (Bugsy, as it turned out) replied, after some creaking and coughing, "All we's do is gawd da doe fo' da monks. Dat's da job, an' me an' Mugsy do da job, an' nuthin' else but da job. Capeesh?"

The adventurers learned that the monks had all died off some hundred years ago or so; the gargoyles didn't remember why, however. They did mention that the mummy in the other room was the librarian; a nice enough fellow, as long as you remained quiet, and returned your books on time. "Not dat me an' Mugsy do all dat much readin'."

The only other accessible room was the library; a narrow corridor ran from the telescope room to the reading room, around a deep pit, sunk far into the earth. The pit was lined with shelves, and filled with books, most in various stages of decay. At the top of the pit rested another gargoyle, smaller, and wearing glasses. He looked up as the adventurers entered the room, and asked what book they desired. Gróin asked for a book on repair, hoping to find a way to repair the telescope and bell; the gargoyle returned with a book, but not the one he expected. Instead, he was presented with "Golem Control and Repair: An Owner's Manual". Quetgar turned to the large book, tucked into a nook in the wall; it seemed to be a listing of all the books in the library. After some study, he found a book called "The Ring of Silence". The gargoyle fluttered down into the pit, and after a short wait, returned with a carefully bound book. The book detailed the history of the bell, an item designed to cast a 60 foot cone of silence for a full turn when rung. The final pages of the book contained some handwritten notes, explaining the complicated mechanics that allowed the bell and telescope to move!

It was at this point that Gróin and Quetgar decided to wait for the others: strength in numbers, as well as the insight of the polydoctorate.

• XP from Encounters:
  • 13 rot grubs (5 xp each)
• XP from Treasure:
  • Rare book: "Golem Control and Repair: An Owner's Manual" (1,000 gp) (unsold)
  • Rare book: "Ring of Silence" (50 gp) (unsold)
  • Machinist's diagrams: telescope workings (1,000 gp) (unsold)
• Total XP from experience: 65 XP
• Total XP from (sold) treasure: none
• XP per PC (Gróin and Quetgar): 22
• XP per henchman: 11