Battle for Vulture Point, Act II Scene V

 The streets of Serin unfolded about our heroes in all of its glory. Choosing to go south rather than face the warren of Scornbul, they observed the widening of the lanes, the cobbling of the sidewalks and the growth of land surrounding the houses as they worked their way towards Orchid. From several points along the way the Rheel was visible to their right, sparkling in the westward setting sliver of the sun, the moon already visible and half full towards the east. The street was well peopled with others taking their evening constitutionals, from the various members of the old nobility to the gnomish nuveau riche, the men in their top hats with canes, the women with trailing dresses and corsets. As the trip continued both Hiram and Melas began to detect a slight air of snobbery from those they passed - an attitude that might have been cultivated by the many other young swordsmen who have taken up residence in Serin over the years only to sink into the depths of the warrens or the grave as their funds, fate or luck abandoned them. 

This subtle snubbing was shattered when the quartet passed four young swordsmen of a nature very similar to their own, only to hear afterwards one remark to his companions "did you see that monstrosity with them?" Melas, well accustomed to such comments and the need to clear them with blood, stiffened ever so slightly and turned, clearing his throat to catch the attention of the miscreant. The octet faced each other for a moment or two while it became clear that Melas' antagonist would not retract his unkind statements. Instead that fellow suggested that they retire to a nearby garden often used for the clarification and conclusion of such arguments. 

On their way to the local bower of blades Hiram took some pains to declaim to the passers by lines from a common play of the last decade that made the encounter seem very much like a great duel of the ages - with his side in the heroic role of course. One of the other party seemed to take this poorly, but when he warned Hiram to keep quiet the young actor merely bated him more. 

Once the groups reached the garden - with scattered marble benches, tables, chess stands, and arched lattices containing ivy that would bloom prettily in a few months - the four quickly resolved into pairs of two. It was quickly clear that there was no formal witness present to make the duel legal, and the consensus was for duels to first blood: for their parts Dietrich and his lanky opponent, who introduced himself as Donato de la Ballesteros, saw this more as an opportunity to test their skills rather than avenge any slight; Cybele's chosen opponent, a not unattractive young man named Florian de la Ballesteros, had already suffered a first touch at the sight of the sorceress' eyes, also agreed to first blood only. When Hiram squared off against the target of his japes, whose name he learned was Raul de la Ballesteros - to discuss terms that older fellow growled that the terms of thing between them should be obvious as he drew his heavy longsword. Hiram, with a hopeful quirk of his eyebrow, asked if that mean first blood, only to see his foe give a very thin smile. When Hiram pressed again the man agreed to first blood with a chuckle that indicated his initial opinions of the youth had been well confirmed. Melas and his elven opponent, named Victor d'Berangere, but whose colors indicated that he was a cousin at the least to the de la Ballesteros, were both more desirous of a greater degree of bloodshed but also more concerned about the intrusion of the law after such a lethal battle. Eventually Victor nodded to Melas' imprecise 'first dipping of the wick' into the other and the battles were joined. 

Dietrich's was over the fastest, showing the advantages of the constant drilling for speed and accuracy inherent in the von Eisenwald family style. His opponent had obviously hoped to use reach to his advantage, but Donato had not counted on Dietrich's skill at slipping past a blade, laying down a pinprick on the taller man's side that both agreed would have been a dangerous, perhaps fatal strike had the men been in a less formal duel. Their affair concluded the two shared a companionable silence as they viewed the outcome of the others. 

Hiram's quickness served him in his battle as well, darting his smaller weapon in past Raul's blade. The young actor felt a slight pressure on the blade as it slid past Raul's arm, flicking into or just barely through the older man's leather fencing glove as his canny foe moved to prevent a deeper penetration. This dissuaded Raul not at all as the longsword's progress continued through in its clear arc - instinct brought up Hiram's guard, which was obviously as Raul intended, for the thin weapon was at a bad angle and shattered immediately under the heavy blade. Swinging around for a fatal backstroke Raul checked his swing and, with the air of someone dealing with a mosquito bite, lifted his hand to his sleeve and pressed out the drop of two of blood that Hiram's stroke. "Oh. First blood. It seems you won." He glanced down at the shards of Hiram's blade and, by extension, Hiram's honor before fishing out a small card. "Here's the card for my solicitor, boy. He should be able to make amends for my… miscalculation." 

Melas and Victor, both obviously skilled fencers used to defending their honors, both started with defensive postures, making noncommittal strikes and solid parries to defend their space. During the first few passes Melas eyed his opponent carefully, recognizing the design of the man's armor as the sort that has been braced with metal at vital points for additional protection and adjusted his pattern of attack to accommodate for that. His perceptions didn't aid him much, as his opponent's constant emphasis on defense made him impossible for Melas to hit, but likewise made his attacks too tentative to score on the hunchback - either Victor was not prepared for Melas speed or, more likely, was aiming to tire him out so that first blood would be a fatal blow through the heart. Seeking an advantage Melas leaped onto one of the benches and from that height lay down a flurry of slashes and thrusts with his rapier, only to see his opponent continue to defense them with a fierce expression of tightly held anger. Melas had found a second, more vulnerable, weak spot. 

Using the length of the bench to buy himself a second to think, he dredged up what he knew of the d'Berangere lineage, recalling a few scandals, as well as a distant rumor of chaos taint. As Victor leaped onto an adjoining bench Melas pressed his attack on two fronts, as it were, and while d'Berangere was able to block his steel he could not block out his words. After a few seconds the elf's temper snapped - he abandoned his extreme defense in favor of an aggressive attack, and when that did not score a hit he leaped again to one of the nearby chess tables to claim the height advantage. Prepared for the move, Melas struck, driving his blade through the elf's leading thigh at the moment when it was outside his defense. Caught off-guard the otherwise agile foe felt his leg slide from under him and he made a rapid and painful descent into the dirt. 

Melas casually stepped down from the bench, cleaning his blade as the elven noble cursed into the dirt and composed himself before standing. Once upright the elf called to Donato for healing only to hear that tall man respond "You got yourself into this, cousin. If your life is not at risk I see no reason to aide you in your folly." Instead Raul assisted the elf in standing, and Melas could feel the hatred radiating from his justly defeated foe as he stood next to Hiram. 

"I wonder if they're the sort that holds grudges," the young actor inquired in a whisper. Melas replied "It doesn't matter if they are, because I am." 

Having witnessed these events Cybele turned to her adversary, who smiled with warmth bordering on radiance. "How about a side bet - the winner buys the other drinks?" offered the forward young man, and Cybele smiled in return. Determined to win such a bet and secure an evening with this charming rogue, she uttered a brief enchantment to guide her blade before the battle started. The two fencers moved as one as time seemed to slow in Cybele's mind: she saw his blade approaching, felt the gentle pressure of his practiced move that slid her blade off line, felt the very feather touch of his rapier leave a shallow cut on the back of her hand. This was mere tenths of a second before the enchantment inched her saber back on line, invalidating his parry and squaring the blade with his chest during his lunge. Her heavier blade entered point first between his ribs and with a quiet sigh exited the other side. The pair's first embrace was as he collapsed into her, gasping as blood welled around the saber's edge. Even still the fair Florian smiled at his ill won victory, and then collapsed. 

Both Hiram and Donato moved in an instant, but the young actor was the closer of the two, and with a flourish of silks he drew the wound away as the white kerchief both absorbed and assumed the crimson stain. This earned Hiram a clap on the back from Donato as the lady Floriane assisted Florian, both victors and vanquished, to his feet. As Raul and Victor skulked off into the embrowning night the remaining six decided to travel together to dinner, that Florian might make good the price of his victory and the others might bond over a good meal.

Battle for Vulture Point Act II Scene IV

As the quartet slumbered their worthy coachman pushed the horses onward, further up the trail into the mountains and then down the carefully modulated descent of switchbacks that lead to the city that was both near and far. Eventually Hiram and Dietrich awoke and took in their first sight of the chaotic city, the distance obscuring some of the confusion and lending the whole an aura of planning that it did not deserve. To the south were the interspersed manors and farms that made up the Orchid, linked to the rest of the city by the river, the aqueduct and a trio of broad, flat boulevards and bounded by the simple stone walls of the distant farms or the gated walls of the mansions. Further north along the Rheel were the colored houses, painted roofs, and tall towers of Serin, the lots becoming smaller and the houses more densely packed until they fused with one another - that fusion marking the first boundary with Scornbul. The second boundary was when the architecture went mad, Scornbul growing and twisting upon itself so that it looked as if someone had taught ants carpentry, and this was the mound that resulted. The city became a mass of wood, impossible to distinguish one house from the next or even ascertain what streets might go where. To the west was the swamp - which they felt certain they would never, ever have cause to enter - and to the east, their avenue of approach, lay Ferrantino. 

By the time they approached the gates the others had been roused for their first look at their new home with the sliver of sun still barely past midday (the Dusty Road in being set one day's ride up, rather than down the mountain). That first encounter was of a mix of smells - as the breeze blew in from the sea it was salt and the mass of humanity that was Scornbul, when it blew from inland it was of the more common smell of gardens and cattle. The crowd before them hindered movement, but their worthy coachman pressed on, trusting that the livery of the imperial coach would see them past the busy guards at the gate. 

Once in the city, the street was temporarily blocked by a crowd of halfling and gnomish members of the mercantile class arguing about the disposition of a rolling wooden construction bearing dozens of plucked ducks, the purchasing gnome insisting that he had also paid for the ducks feather's while the halfling, brandishing a contract, pointing to a total lack of clause indicating the same (having no doubt already made a profit selling the down to a different vendor). Shortly thereafter they were stopped again by another such construction laden with raw fabrics wheeled through the street, followed by one bearing finished clothes. 

The coachman took this time to warn them about the street vendors, and if any leaped onto the running boards with offers they didn't want to consider to simply let him know and he would take the whip to them. This made the good man appear oracular as mere seconds later one young man did just that, informing them of the best prices for rooms in the immediate surroundings if they would just follow his direction… the pitch was cut short by the sound of the crop and the good nobles lowered the shades somewhat to avoid attracting as much attention. 

Even still it was a lost battle, with merchants, venders, hucksters and buskers of all sorts running up to the coach and leaping on to make offers of all kids - fabrics, foods, frolicsome companions - to those wealthy and well positioned enough to afford the nobleman's transit. The most ambitious and well prepared of these was a young man offering directions to the best hotel in Ferrantino who had possessed the foresight to bring a large metal expanding shield with which to fend off the coachman's crop. Melas was able to dissuade the man with a shove.

Still, his presence had raised a question of where to stay. This is when Lord von Eisenwald revealed to his companions that he was coming to the city to claim a family estate, a house in Serin, which ought to have space enough to house the four of them in some comfort. This was quickly agreed upon, so that when inquired as to a destination other than the Ferrantino yards they were able to provide an address with such certainty that the issue could scarcely ever have been in doubt. 

A destination now determined and the crush of the crowd soon past them they were able to take in more of the view. The sound of a large crash caught their attention, and they could see that clever merchants who had warehouses by the Ferrantino gate - a less desirable position now that more of the goods came in through the docks than the road - had found a way to make use of the viaduct, carrying their goods in narrow, long boats along that elevated river and then hiring apprentices wizards to make such goods temporarily weightless with a common alteration magic so that they might float down to the ground with the gentleness of a duck's feather near the aforementioned warehouses. As evidenced by the crash, sometimes the apprentices' timing is poor. Dietrich suggested that if perhaps the apprentices were made to ride the boats down they would be more certain of their timing. 

Cybele pointed out to the south the massive, intimidating construction that was the Ferrantino library - like all of Ferrnatino it was stone, but in this case a pure white marble with the classic 110 steps and 11 pillars later adopted by the old Imperial Court as being the proper design for structure of high social merit (some scholars will argue that the design originated the greensward and was mimicked from there, the age of the library, rebuilt as it was by the d'Ferranntino family with dwarvish laborers almost immediately after the city was reclaimed, stand stalwart against this theory). Hiram reminded all that the steps were made famous on the stage in the initial play of the 'Petros the Pugilist' sextet. All agreed that it was indeed a classic but felt that the middle pieces were weak (the one with Petros fighting a bare-knuckled match against a chaos beast bull man was, while a crowd pleaser, had little artistic merit), and the later ones with the aged Petros were attempting to bring pathos to a character too well defined as a glorious youth in the earlier works.

And with that erudite discussion of the arts, they moved from Ferrantino to Serin, and once in Serin the roads opened to their carriage, and they made good time to the von Eisenwald house. 

The house at which the coach stopped was a tastefully apportioned two- and one-half story wooden construction of the sort commonly built during the reign of Emperor Segundo 'the moderator', the 22nd, and second to last, ruler of the empire. The front yard was just the size enough for a formal duel and well kept, and the house itself appeared to be in excellent shape despite having been uninhabited since the death of Archibald Von Eisenwald some three years previous. Dietrich approached and knocked once, and after a moment the door was opened by a smartly dressed halfling in a bowler hat and waistcoat. 

"Good evening, sirs, lady. I am Rudolph Eisenwald, local solicitor to the von Eisenwalds. Your appearance suggests to me that you are Dietrich von Eisenwald, but I trust you will not take it amiss if the formalities of the situation necessitate my asking for your identifications," the small man said as he ushered the four noblemen into the house. Upon seeing that all was in order he proceeded to explain the arrangements his firm had made for the new von Eisenwald arrival. To wit: all of the rooms had been cleaned and aired all of the bedrooms had been set with fresh linens; the larder had been stocked with sufficient food for a day or two, including some cured ham; the inventory of the wine cellar had been confirmed; a local day servant had been arranged and would begin work the following day. There were no night servants employed as yet, given the expense and contract obligations of hiring the dwarves for the evening work, and since there had been no set date for the new lord's arrival the firm felt that erring towards practicality in expenses was in the lord's best interest. 

(Melas: I look the halfling over to see if he is concealing anything. Is he? GM: No Melas: Then I ignore him.)

Dietrich spent a few moments going over most of the papers as presented - all save a sealed letter - that confirmed the arrangements and quickly tabulating that the money the few small halfling farms outside the city still attached to this house would serve to cover the cost of taxes, salary for a servant (if the servant were full time and provided lodgings) or two (if they lived off site and worked only during the day), a stipend for an acceptable food supply that would be stretched with his companions present and a very small amount left over. That was when Rudolph presented his card and stated that if the new Lord von Eisenwald found the arrangements to date acceptable that the firm of Eisenwald, Eisenwald and Altmann would be most pleased to continue the professional relationship and could promise to provide a four hour response time to any inquiry from the Von Eisenwald estate. Seeing that the cost of the solicitor's monthly retainer would bring his income balance to a net zero Dietrich shrugged, replied that thing were indeed acceptable and presented the halfling with Lord Ambleer's letters to the four governors for delivery. The small man accepted them with precision, bowed sharply and then, with permission, took his leave. 

Dietrich then slit open and read the letter; it was from Portia d'Ferrantino, head loremistress of the Ferrantino Library and scion of the line from which that quarter took its name. With both brevity and precision the letter laid out how the library had been in negotiations with the previous lord von Eisenwald concerning the donation of his library; negotiations that were not yet complete at the time of his unfortunate demise. The lady d'Ferrantino wished to introduce herself to the von Eisenwald heir with the admitted goal of re-starting those negotiations at a later date. To that end he was invited to visit the library at his convenience and arrange a time to dine with her as soon as his schedule permitted.  

Melas and Cybele took it upon themselves to explore the house without delay, (Cybele: Is there a wine cellar? Melas: You beat me to it!) while Hiram watched their worthy coachman unload their luggage and deliver it - lacking any other indication of who would be lodging in which room - in the front hall before he, Hiram, glanced through the other rooms in the first floor, a task which Dietrich also undertook once he had concluded affairs with his solicitor.

The house was in excellent order, the wine cellar somewhat thinly stocked but serviceable, the veranda off of the dining room overlooking a back yard that could do with some thorough refurbishing, with a bird bath and fountain centrally located and rose bower to the right that was overgrown with the thorny stalks. The second floor held bedrooms enough for the four of them - the frontward facing bedroom with direct access to the second story porch and a tower space reachable only by a tightly wound circular stair. The backmost bedroom had a small balcony as well, and a closet that contained a concealed space for the caching of weapons, which was quickly made home to their various treasures, magical artifacts and the rescued remains. The remainder of the frontward half-story, other than the tower, naturally, held a widow's walk (from which one could, with the craning of the neck and a sufficiently advanced imagination to see through the multi-storied wooden warren that was Scornbul, make out the ocean) and long space lined with bookshelves and books, a comfortable chair and the evidence on the worn floorboards of fencing training of the von Eisenwald style. 

All in all it was deemed quite acceptable by its new owner and his friends. Rather than face cooking for themselves just yet they decided to briefly explore their new neighborhood and see what sort of entertainment it might offer

The Battle for Vulture Point Act II Scene III

The foursome reached Lord Ambleer's manor is good time considering their condition, and were greeted at the door by servants who took their horses, stowed their bags and handed them warm brandy, much to everyone's relief. Lord Ambleer was most gracious as he accepted the return of his medicinal herbs, and indicated that the heroes of the hour should refresh themselves as he had given orders for a banquet this evening with local musicians and rare wines. 

Covered in much as they were the quartet was quick to comply - Melas and Cybele first given the state of their wounds and dress, followed by the others. All were happy to discover that Lord Ambleer, once an adventurer himself, had constructed his bathing chambers with a separate area where one might disrobe and sluice off the worst of the filth (say, incrusted blood, vulture dander, dust and grit from a collapsed ceiling, spider webbing and venomous ichor in Melas' case) so as to not contaminate the heated, rejuvenating waters of the tub. 

As the first pair bathed Hiram wandered through Lord Ambleer's library, finding books on the fire religion, a multitude of atlases the history of the area and his family, and a surprisingly complete collection of the high romances of Lady de la Rosa, starting with "Her Passionate Heart"; alas, there were no plays or other high poetry, so Hiram sniffed derisively at their host's tastes. The young actor might be forgiven for his ego, covering as it was the quaking in his heart over spending another night in the haunted room. Dietrich meandered the grounds and held discourse with Lord Ambleer about the state of the military in the area and their shared agreement that something needed to be done. Ambleer volunteered to write letters anew to the four governors of Emirikol if Lord von Eisenwald would consent to see them to the Chaotic City. Said von Eisenwald agreed. 

Naturally both men had some restorative food during this as well; Dietrich confined himself to some small morsels while Hiram, quite appropriately, had the chicken (GM: OK, that was mean. Sorry.) As he ate Hiram questioned the servants about the ghost, learning that her name was Lorell, Roland's twice great grandmother, who was murdered by a kinsman when it appeared that the then Lord Ambleer had died on his second campaign in the southern mountains. The servant added - with no trace of irony - that the ghost appeared only to those with a musical or dramatic soul, and that if someone were to re-create the seeming of the events that killed her than she might be freed (Hiram totally flubbed his Sense Motive check here so he has no reason to suspect that the servants are yanking his chain).

When they dragged themselves from the bath the Lady Floriane amused herself by claiming some food and additional drink - sandwiches which might work for wandering the library - while Melas joined Roland in the wine cellar to make selections for the evening. While his misshapen face and malformed limbs might have made him appear uncouth, Lord Beliseca possessed a finely honed political mind: as they searched for wines and discussed the nature of technology on the winemaking process (printing on corks and suchlike) Melas hunted out a quality wine that was laid down in a year that had favorable connotations to Lord Ambleer's family. Roland smiled when he saw it, naturally recounting the events of his twice great grandfather's first campaign in the southern mountains and how his victory brought the family a new title and estates inside the Greensward. He also added this observation "Men and history are much like wine, you know. Thy are shaped by the years of their maturation, their roots, their environment and their time in the sun, but their value is not set until they have been laid in the ground for a decade or a century." And with those words the two nobles picked a dozen other lesser bottles for the evening’s repast and went up to join the others.

Feeling mightily refreshed our heroes and their host gathered in Lord Ambleer's study to make an investigation of what was found in Vulture Point. In their previous conversation Dietrich and the lord of the manor determined which of the saddlebags were already Ambleer's property, but that left the one containing what were obviously a pair of magical potions and the ominous lead box to consider. 

Before the conversation began Cybele grimaced at the pain of her injury and Roland, unaware that any of his guests still suffered from such serious wounds, intoned a prayer to the maiden of the flames, laying two fingers on the Lady Floriane's forehead. The beautiful young noblewoman was briefly immolated with a fire that burned away her wounds. Thanking him for his kindness, Cybele couldn't help but wonder why a priest of the fire goddess would be suffering from a disease such as the one that apparently so debilitated their host but kept her tongue. 

The investigation started with the vial of viscous, honey colored liquid. Lord Ambleer was able to identify this for them as a concoction of veinleaves (an ivy whose broad, flat leaves took on the appearance of tanned human skin in the autumn) and the honey of blood-bees (very dangerous insects whose stings thickened the blood of the target, but whose reddish honey, when heated, flowed in a way that resembled blood). By the doctrine of signatures such a mixture would knit skin without scars and ensure the proper clotting or flow of blood, greatly accelerating healing. If consumed at once its properties border on the miraculous, but it also works as an additive to food, speeding the healing of all who consume the dish. 

Seeing the value in keeping such a thing the quartet set it aside for safekeeping. Next they explored the multi-hued liquid in the lead-stoppered bottle. While it radiated a faint conjuration magic and possessed the strange quality of shifting color between red and green as it was jostled, none of them could discern its purpose or origin. [I later told the players it's Green Dragon Blood. Even the players aren't sure what to do with that.] 

Finally the lead box was pulled from the saddlebag, and an inspection in the light found a shallow indention that might be an owner's mark - some sort of flower or dancing man - but said owner's mark was unfamiliar to the gathered quintet. The box was still firmly locked with a complex mechanism, so with his guests permission Lord Ambleer called for one of his servants to get a hammer and small chisel that they might disable to the lock [Bec: Let someone else do it this time. Tom: It's probably just full of darts anyway.] After a few moments the dwarf had opened the lock with a single firm rap, stepping back to give his betters the right of first viewing of the contents. Inside was a carved stone indentation holding am 18" long feather, 3" across at its widest point, of bright red mixed with more autumnal colors. Hiram was easily able to recognize this, as mock Cockatrice Feathers were used in masquerades and opera costumes with disturbing regularity. Based on the alteration magic radiating from the plumage, however, this one was what gnome fences would call 'the real deal'. 

[They began riffing on what to do with the feather somehow ending with Hiram ticking his throat with it to throw up stone on his critics at the theater - it's a Bulimic Breath Weapon. How we got to that I'd rather not speculate at this remove.]

With that task complete Lord Ambleer thanked them again for their aid and insisted that they spend the next week with him before continuing to Emirkol. Melas, Dietrich and Cybele were quite taken with the invitation but Hiram reminded them again and again that they would be remiss in their duty to the republic if they didn't bear word of the chaos beasts they had encountered back to the Paladins of the city. In fact, they should really get on the road this very minute. Unsure why their young comrade in arms had developed such patriotic fervor as the evening approached but unwilling to insult Lord Ambleer by turning down the banquet already prepared for the evening, the group settled on leaving in the morning. . . forcing Hiram to contemplate another night in the company of the shade of Lorell Ambleer. 

It turned out he needn't have worried himself: the repast was delightfully balanced and quite restorative (Melas felt the last of the lethargy brought on by the spider venom lift during his second bottle); the music provided by some local artisans - aided by Hiram's magnificent hurdy-gurdy - was rollicking and joyous, the dancing was subtle and fine (with the Lady Floriane taking turns standing with all of her new friends), and driven on by Hiram's manic energy the party lasted quite through to the dawn. The sliver of the sun cleared the horizon to see Melas & Cybele finishing up the last of a rather amusing Bordeaux on the patio, snacking on breakfast muffins fresh from the oven, watching the night servants load their luggage back onto the coach and listening to the tired, coffee-fueled musicians attempting to exit without waking Dietrich (who stretched out into a chair shortly after midnight and fell asleep to the pleasant sounds of the musicians) and Hiram (who passed out from exhaustion an few hours later). 

[GM: "So, how late are you partying?" Hiram, forcefully: "All Night." Cybele & Melas: "Oh, what the hell. Why not?"]

Eventually the two woke their companions and staggered to the coach. Loran Albleer, who had retired well before they, thanked them again and handed over to lord Von Eisenwald four letters addressed to the governors of the city. The quartet then slept the rest of the way to Emirikol, recuperating from their well-earned entertainment. 

The Battle for Vulture Point, Act II Scene II

 In the aftermath of the life or death struggle the less bloodied of our four nobles investigated the further chamber that had disgorged their foes, finding nearly a dozen female and young dog-men trying to avoid detection. Young Hiram was unable to bring himself to do the deed that needed to be done, (Dietrich: "you keep saying 'women and children' as if that somehow ameliorated 'chaos beast'. They're breeders and future threats") so Dietrich, schooled as he was in the nature of the republic's enemies, took it on himself to dispatch them while Hiram tended to their allies. Once again calling on the arts of Dramaturgy the actor was able to wipe away the wounds that had so debilitated Melas by the battle's end, restoring that fearsome swordsman to nearly his full strength. He then climbed into the Vulture beast's alcove but declared it devoid of anything of value after a quick glance at its slovenly state. 

With an exasperated sigh the wounded Cybele clambered up after him and shoved her hands through the beast's bedding-come-nest, revealing a handful of gold coins and a pair of gems of unknown value. "I can't believe you were willing wear the armor pulled off a corpse and you won't get your hands dirty," she chided him.

"That was out of desperation!" he insisted as the pair returned to aid Melas in looking through the saddlebags that had made up the giant vulture's nest. Inside one they found a collection of household goods; in the next were several packages of herbs labeled for Lord Ambleer. The third produced some curiosities - a vial of honey colored liquid carefully packed to avoid breakage, a second, equally fragile glass tube containing a liquid that changed colors from green to red based on the light and a flat, locked lead case - that the lady Floriane's sorceress-sight revealed as being either magical or, in the lead box, so distinctly non-magical that it must be magic inside. Not wanting to risk anything now they repacked and shouldered the saddle bags. 

There were three exits from the room - the way they came, the path that the dog-men had charged down (which the map showed led back to the vulture's nesting area) and a path that might be nothing more than a waste disposal tube (Tom: Oh good, we needed a place for the Otyough. Brian: No, it's a Neo-Otyough. Different political philosophy. Jim: A Neo Otyough is an Otyough with a stronger interest in foreign policy. Tom: as in 'what's in the midden next door?') Indeed, the passage had been carved to include gutters down the sides so that the rainwater that washed through the caves might carry out wastes without the soldiers’ feet getting wet - not that the dog men had bothered to maintain them. Halfway between the vulture-man's chamber and the opening onto the cliff was a guard room - or what might once have been were it not also covered with detritus. 

Melas's keen elven sight revealed a rope hanging from the shadowed ceiling to a spot further down the corridor that someone had tried to make match the color of the room. He stepped cautiously into the room, keeping an eye both on the rope and on his feet to make sure he didn't somehow trigger whatever trap the rope was attached to. It was then that he heard someone around the bend in the passage pull the rope taut, and glanced up to see the shadow-hidden cross hatching of supports slip as hundreds of pounds of stone groaned and shifted before its descent to bury him in the uncaring earth!

Seeing that the trap was a manually trigged way to bring the ceiling down on the chamber Melas hurled himself back the way he came, sending himself and Cybele into a tangle of limbs in the passage. "Ha! Missed!" he yelled, and the answering bark of the dog people along the passage gave Hiram and Dietrich a target as the dust cleared. Lord Von Eisenwald's training in maintaining his footing let him all but dance across the now uneven floor, reaching their two dog men assailants far faster than the creatures had expected, quickly dispatching one. Hiram's arrival seconds after that let the pair double-team the chaos beast, making short work of it. 

Melas had tried to recover and charge in to assist but the rubble proved more of an impediment to his unbalanced limbs, so he and Cybele more cautiously worked their way across the room to join their companions. The passage continued, as predicted, to a balcony that overlooked the road to Emirikol, and all of them lamented the loss of the army garrison at this obviously strategic point. This overlook had a second passage that worked back into the cliff, and this our heroes took. 

The passage was steep, but with less evidence of effluvia flow down the gutters. This was revealed to be in part because of a second, parallel passage leading out to the cliff and in part because the large chamber deeper in, which must have once been the soldier's dining area, is again cluttered with detritus, some of which had blocked the flow of water, creating a stagnant pool on in part of the floor. The difference between the chaos beasts and civilized men were on stark display in the room - the rank pool and slimy rubble on the floor countered by the carvings on the ceiling. The soldiers, obviously having had some time on their hands, had gone to work on the ceiling with hammer and chisel, creating arches, buttresses, patterns and gargoyles in the living rock. 

Beautiful as it might have been in the light, in the shadows of their lantern the shapes were more than mildly ominous, and the nobles were equally concerned that the pool might be home of some future threat. With Dietrich keeping his eyes turned upward Cybele and Hiram inched forward to explore the pool and the passage beyond it with weapons at the ready. A tossed rock created a sucking sound as the stone passed through the thick water, but no immediate threat. Meanwhile, Melas said he would examine the other exit, which led back to the vulture's nesting room. With everyone so concerned with other potential threats, Melas sudden disappearance went unnoticed . . . until the screaming began!

Melas, his eyes trained towards the passage rather than the floor, was caught unawares when the debris fell out from underneath him, another cunning trap! The drop was an indeterminate distance, but rather than a hard rock surface he was caught by a springy net before being pelted by the rubble his fall had unbalanced. Glancing under him from his supine position he was grateful for being caught rather than hitting the spikes below, but that feeling was short lived as eight glittering points of light detached themselves from the wall and approached him, envenomed mandibles clattering in arachnid hunger.

Melas struggled for position as the enormous spider approached, but realized quickly that his swords were trapped under his weight and his crossbow had discharged in the fall and was useless. Lacking any other clear option he let the creature come closer, and closer still, until its bulk was occluding the dim light from above, and then unleashed a mighty yell and a devastating punch into the creatures eyes. The silent killer's own attack was thrown off and it retreated quickly, turning its back on the distressed noble. 

To Melas' relief he could make out his companion's faces looking down from the top of the pit, but before they could act the spider moved, its spinneret creating a mass of webs that bound the malformed noble into its web before again starting its deadly dance. Melas was unable to move this time as the creature approached, and he felt its weight rest against him in a trio of points as its thin legs further pinned him down. The envenomed mouth was inches from his face when a second stinger sprouted from it - one of Dietrich's well aimed crossbow bolts, transfixing the beast's head!

Fighting down his disgust at having the beast's bulk across him Melas managed to carefully extricate himself from his predicament, and Cybele and Hiram lowered a rope to pull him back to the surface. "I think I need to find someone a little rougher, perhaps a keen eyed street urchin, to bring with me and keep watch for these sorts of things" Melas stated, again showing his grace in his willingness to offer employment to the disenfranchised and putting their natural talents to work. 

This pearl of wisdom proved the last treasure of value located in Vulture Point, and after quickly checking the giant vulture's nesting space the wounded, wearied and in some cases befouled quarter made their way back to past the vultures - which, while angry, did not possess the animal nature to attack such vigorous foes - and to their horses. As expected, it was not yet mid day and their task was complete! Now back to Lord Ambleer's manor and hospitality that they might return to their host his stolen belongings and recuperate from their myriad wounds. 

The Battle for Vulture Point Act II Scene I

The strength of their sinews, the courage in their blood, the quickness of their limbs and the puissance of their enchantments having cleared the immediate field of battle our four noble travelers quickly entered the passage that had disgorged their dog-man foes, closing it behind them lest a vultures follow. A quick checking of the map provided by Lord Ambleer confirmed that they were on a suitable path and so they pressed on, little concerned by the wounds wrought by Vulture points aptly chosen avian guards. 

The passage was ill kept but showed signs of the imperial garrison that once stayed here in the carved steps, smoothed floor, widened tunnel and occasional buttressing. They quickly passed by the point where the dog men guards had been sequestered, and Cybele took that opportunity to summon forth the serpentine aspect of her soul, Renee, and send that enchanted beast scouting ahead. The quartet, with Hiram in the lead, followed at a discrete distance. Hiram's sharp senses spotted signs of stagecraft, and after a moment he was able to locate a tripwire somehow connected to holes in the wall. He gingerly triggered the trap while hopefully out of the line of fire, and was rewarded with the clatter of darts striking either side of the corridor. 

"Darts again." Dietrich muttered. "I'd like to corner the dart concession in this area." 

"Step where I step," Hiram warned his companions before cautiously moving forward. He spotted two more trip wires in the dust and avoided both, but directly behind him Cybele tripped the second, again feeling darts strike her magical protections. "What part of 'step were I step' did you miss?" Hiram hissed as Cybele looked suitably chagrined at her error. The young actor simply bent and triggered the last set to clear the path. Ahead Renee sent back a sense of something like alarm, allowing Lady Floriane to warn her companions. 

Barely moving and with minimal light from the shuttered lantern Hiram salvaged in the Tor they ended the passage, which opened to an unremarkable chamber – ceiling twice the height of a man with rough hewn walls, a finished floor with a large rock at its center, and the southern third raised up some six feet to make an alcove. To the north all of them could hear the sound of dog men in a panic, no doubt preparing the search for the ones who killed their vultures. They were about to confidently move to attack them when Renee indicated with a hiss that the dog men were not the threat…which was when the boulder shifted, revealing itself as another vulture, this one the size of a pony and slowly wakening. But before even that threat could be assessed a figure loomed in the alcove, backlit and sending an enormous shadow across the room - hooked beak, feathered wings, clawed hands and feet - part man, part dog, part vulture, a spawn of chaos the likes of which they had never conceived!

Reactions were swift; before the dog-vulture-man could but utter a single cry a volley of crossbow bolts and darts flew in his direction. Both Melas and Cybele fired wide, their shots misplaced either by fear or by the chaos beast's unseen magical protections, but when Hiram's dart struck its wing to no apparent effect Melas barked "it's immune to our bolts!" Assessing the scene in a flash the quick witted von Eisenwald adopted a new plan: Dietrich smoothly jumped onto the back of the quickening vulture and from there into the alcove, once again drawing his rapier mid leap and landing in full thrust, skewering the dog-vulture abomination in a single action! 

Taken through the lungs the creature fell without a sound, and before the vulture could stir Melas dropped his crossbow, drew his greatsword from the sheath balanced beside his hunch and laid waste to the monstrous bird with a single stroke! The nobles slipped into the room around the felled beast as Dietrich cast a quick eye over the alcove, but there was no time for a more thorough search - the dog men who had been preparing to raid the outside had recognized at last that their enemy had flanked them and were preparing a charge!

Dietrich stepped down, alighting beside Melas and held his sword in a quick salute. Melas, followed, then Hiram and finally the Lady Floriane, her hand dancing with arcane fire, her body limned by an eldritch glow - four of the finest of the old empire, facing a charge of three to one odds with no fear and no regrets.

It is said that a brave man is merely one who is brave for but a few moments longer than the one who runs, but how does that explain the next act of Hiram Desaud, who met the dog men's charge with one of his own, forcing their warriors to break around him, disrupted their momentum and found himself battling three of the abominations with no allies in sight? Perhaps he felt his nerve start to slip and decided to act before he could flee? Perhaps it is the foolhardiness of youth? Or perhaps, just perhaps, a nobleman's courage is cut from a finer cloth than other men. Whatever his reason, the young actor found himself beset on three sides by chaos beasts and only the dash and flare drilled into him on the stage kept his opponents at bay. 

Dietrich von Eisenwald stood his ground, making ready to face his charging opponents. When the first of the lot arrived he neatly parried its attack but saw his counter-thrust dodged by the nimble dog man. He then fell to fighting two on one, back to the wall, the flicking speed of his blade holding the things back but the heat of the fight preventing a clean thrust that would get through their leather armor and matted fur. 

Melas Mejas Belisca found himself encumbered by is greatsword in his battle against two more of the chaos beasts; the creatures too agile to hit with a swing and the sword too large for effective thrusting against the diminutive foes. He felt himself hit by their spears once, twice, three times, and while none of the wounds were deep Melas' hunched back and malformed limbs worked best in quick contests of skill rather than endurance. He knew it would not be long before his breath would begin to grow ragged in the fetid air. 

Cybele Floriane, like Hiram, faced three of the opposition, and while her magical protections turned away the first two of her attackers the third struck home. She was saved from falling to a supine position only by the wall behind her. Still, the shock and stumble were not enough to break her concentration, and with her sword weaving a six-point pattern of defense she unleashed a hellish bolt of energy from her free hand, blowing a hole clean through the beast that struck her. The other two found themselves engaged not just by a fierce noble but the venomous viper linked to her very soul as Renee slipped between them, his hissing and darting throwing the dog-men off stride, preventing them from gaining any advantage until the sorceress regained her footing. 

With first blood to the defenders of the realm the tide shifted: Hiram held his ground, occupying a mass of the enemy while declaiming a great battle oratory from a work of Armado Caltrava – who’s epic octology of the battles of Sybade Mountains never fails to bring the audience to its collective feet – to strengthen their resolve. Melas engaged in a complex beat-thrust to drive both of his opponents back far enough to bring his blade's edge into play, sundering one of the creatures in twain with an arcing swing. One of Dietrich's foes was forced to duck to avoid the great weapon's backswing and never lived to regret the error of lowering his defense, as von Eisenwald's blade flicked through the exposed gap between the creature's doublet and collar, dropping it instantly with a severed spine. Dietrich pressed his advantage with the other, scoring hits in rapid succession that alas did not draw blood through the baying beast's armor. 

Three blades against one is a dance that leaves little room for counterstroke and none for error and so it says much for Hiram's skill that it took so long for one of the beasts flanking him to get through his defenses. Even with the shallow bleeding cut, followed by a second, the young actor never thought to not press his attack, and finally worked his way past the spear of his front most adversary and ended that conflict with a thrust and kill whose flourish would be appreciated by even those in the farthest gallery. 

Cybele, never doubting victory in the overall battle but concerned about not having sufficient arcane energy for later, relied on her blade for a few seconds, holding off both her surviving adversaries and hoping that Renee might bring one down with his venom, but the dog men had quick feet and thick boots. She suffered another hit, and saw Dietrich take one at the same time, leaving all the nobles bloodied, with Melas obviously suffering from his many wounds. While Hiram's voice never faltered the young actor would be forgiven if doubted for a second. 

As second would be all he had time for, as lord von Eisenwald redoubled his attack, taking down his opponent and with a forward run and leap engaged one of the beasts flanking Hiram. Lord Belisca was likewise able to turn to the tables with a thrust that at last got his strength behind it, leaving the beast man impaled on his great blade. With a single stride and swing he flicked the corpse at Cybele's second opponent, then on the backstroke forced the creature off balance, making him short work for the Lady Floriane's saber. Her remaining opponent attempted to flee down a side corridor, but unwilling to let it summon help and no longer harried by combat she neatly removed its head from its body with a blast of magic that snaked across the room. 

Dietrich, while fatigued, was still too much for the dog man who had spent his force against Hiram's near impenetrable defense, dropping the creature with a thrust. This left Hiram alone with the beast who had plagued him from the first, and the young noble, at last able to focus on offense, forced the dog man back with a deft recreation of the balcony battle from Valentin and Esperanza, disarming his foe with a flick of the wrist and placing his rapier directly through the beast's heart, launching the thrust at the exact end of Caltrava's oration.

The four nobles, bloodied but unbowed, surveyed the scene and wondered what might come next. 

The Battle For Vulture Point Act I Scene V

Hiram's evening was disturbed by different demons. He had been escorted to a more distant room and, at midnight, a ghostly figure materialized before his banked fire, singing a plaintive song. Again, Hiram's nerve failed him in the presence of the supernatural and the young man screamed and pulled the covers over his head rather than meet eyes with the ghost (which in all the stories bears dire consequences). Soon one of Ambleer's dwarvish servants opened the door and, when pressed by the discomfited nobleman, explained that the manor house did have a ghost, a musician who was reputedly murdered here some centuries back. She must have been attracted by his lordship's own musical talent. Hiram was not flattered by the compliment and spent the remainder of the evening downstairs in the hall, with the night servants bustling about in their efforts to clean the house and prepare things for the birding party.

In the morning lord Ambleer saw his guests off with horses, crossbows (the servants having repaired Melas' ancestral weapon), provender (including coffee in insulated containers) and a map of Vulture Point. As they were leaving Dietrich commented that since Vulture Point was such a prime strategic position there should be a permanent encampment of the guard present there, only to learn that a century ago that had been the case, but with the growth of sea travel and the diminution of road traffic to Emirikol the senate had deemed it an unnecessary expense, and it was outside Lord Ambleer's lands so he lacked the right to station a force there himself. This cast a new light on Hiram's oft heard tales of how the bumbling northerners could not take obvious steps to defend themselves, even before the sliver of the sun cast new light on the terrain. The nobles set out, intent on clearing away the gnomish bandits and their vulture pets before noontime.

In the pre-dawn light, our four noble heroes made their way along the cobbled road till Vulture Point was in sight, then took a side path to avoid detection while they compared map to reality in an attempt to find the best path of ascent. The cliff face did indeed resemble a vulture whose open beak formed a declivity which once housed an imperial garrison and has since been home to an endless cycle of bandits. While there was a hewn path that approached the 'mouth' from the northeast, the foursome did not dare take that lest they rouse sentries or trigger traps on so obvious a route. Instead, they stuck to the western slope, moving up one of the gentler parts of the incline with Cybele's strong arms and sure feet picking out a path when the incline approached the vertical.

The group was roped together, which proved a boon at points, and despite one brief slip no harm was done and little sound was made. They passed under the vulture's beak, eschewing entry through any of the waste holes that carried water, detritus and offal out of the vulture's maw, opting to circle out of sight to the head of the hewn path, where they might enter with safe footing having circumvented all obstacles. The lack of any organized resistance to their arrival was taken as proof that this had worked, but passage through the maw into the caverns below was blocked by dozens of vulture nests.

Melas again raised his argument about the improbability of Vulture Point both looking like a vulture and being infested with them, to which Cybele replied "I don't know… my aunt Bunny's land is just infested with rabbits. . ."

They conferred quickly in the brightening day before Hiram's plan to light some of the nests with thrown oil was adopted. The hope was that this would startle and scatter the beasts and throw any defenders into disarray and with the young actor's strong pitching arm this was achieved - oil spattered and caught over 4 of the nests, sending a flock of panicked animals into the sky. Before our heroes could press their advantage a quartet of giant vultures, each the size of a pony, emerged from one of the deeper tunnels and, in a trained fashion, took to the sky bearing stones!

Rocks rained down on our heroes as they retaliated with crossbow bolts and magical attacks, with damage on both sides. Two of the giant vultures dropped their rocks and landed to press the attack. While they drew blood on Dietrich and Melas, they fell to those warriors' deft rapier and tremendous greatsword as Hiram and Cybele accounted for the two remaining fliers. Once Melas removed the neck of the enormous carrion beast with a single swipe of his greatsword both he and Hiram spotted someone preparing to attack their position - not Gnomes, but Dog Men! Melas charged forward and engaged the agile creatures, finding them harder to strike than the vultures. Still, between his skill, Hiram's support and a timely spell from the Lady Floriane the beast men guards were dispatched.

But as the panicked normal vultures began to reassess the situation or heroes are left with few options but to seek shelter inside the caves, now know as home to more beast men, and therefore more threats to themselves and the stability of the Republic.

********

And this is where we ended the first session: the advantage of being in our 30’s and able to dedicate entire days to gaming, I figure this took us about 6 hours. Some notes

·       The PCs acquired enough XP to go from 1^st to 2^nd level, not that it mattered given out strange start.

·       The 3E is more formulaic then 1E/2E when it comes to cash gained, which actually worked for me here. But more importantly the magical headband on the skull, and the magical pearl, were very small treasures GP wise that I was able to imbue with cultural significance well beyond their worth. Plus the clever rules tweaks – the belt increases Strength for just carrying capacity, the ring gave you extra languages (in Hiram’s case the languages of ghosts and devils) – etc. are just fun minor things that are rewards without breaking the game.

·       I love the ability loss rules for 3E because they give low level PCs other resource pools to threaten – the spider venom can sap Melas Strength without it being save or die or HP loss – for more tension levers.     

·       Dave failing his saves against both the Lesser Vargoulle head and the ghost set up a nice running gag for the game; there’s another one coming next session for Deitrich.

·       The complex backstory for the 2E adventures is actually useful for Hiram’s Bardic Lore ability, since I have the framework of history on hand to work from. It wasn’t useful in 1E at all because no one was using Legend Lore to learn about this nonsense that I knew of, but when it’s a minor class power with no resource loss this is useful!

So far, 3E was doing exactly what I needed it to, and the outcomes weren’t significantly different than what a 1E party would have encountered.

The Battle For Vulture Point Act I Scene IV

Shortly after the noon hour, with the waxing sliver of the sun providing limited illumination on the roads, our four nobles reached the Blue Stone in. There, in no particular order they bathed in the inn's famous hot springs (the act of which the Lady Floriane deemed 'Heavenly'), had a restorative meal and wine to aid the healing of the wounded among their number, listened to Hiram recount one of the many "Pedro and Pierre Go Crypt Robbing" farces performed in the cities that are apparently more true to the dungeoneering life than he had thought (Brian: Imagine Harold and Kumar got to Undermountain and you have the right idea), counted out the treasure from the Tor (which, by imperial law, is considered both free for the taking and tax free as a means of denying funding to the chaos cults who might use the crypt), and were separated from some of that 800 silver and 75 gold by the 2.5 gold a person fee charged to them by the Blue Stone's gnomish proprietors. (Tom: lovely place, but we're being bent over a barrel by the uppity peasants. Brian: You could always. . . Haggle. [Shocked looks around table] Melas: Haggle? Don't be absurd. It's bad enough we have to handle our own coin!)

They also found some time to further explore their magical items - the quill pen ring, the leather belt, the pearl from the spider's room and the officer's circlet on the skull they found in the stone chest - and discuss what they should do with them. Of them only the belt's function is known: it marginally enhances the wearer's strength, and is as such given for the moment to Melas as he recovers from the spider's enervating venom. They decide to further investigate the first three items in the city, but to offer the circlet to the Paladins when they hand over the rescued skulls and offer an accounting of recent events to those bastions of the imperial justice. While they might have the legal right to claim the circlet, that is a far distance from the honorable right to wear such a badge of office. Which of these items, if any, might be the key to the beast men's return mentioned in the wall carvings is unclear - perhaps that masked tomb robber had made off with something?

Or perhaps it was someone else? The shaft into the Tor appears to have been dug some months previous, so either the beast men have been slipping in there since well before winter or they just made use of the concealed entry. Puzzles upon puzzles to be explored once they reach the Chaotic City. By this time in the conversation the Blue Stone was well behind them and they were approaching both mid afternoon and the next day's in, their path made smoother by the dwarf-fitted stones of the road. The age of their next inn was made obvious by the shingle proclaiming it to be the Dusty Road Tavern, when this road had not been dusty even in the heat of summer for nearly two centuries.

The four retired inside and accepted the tavern keepers bottle of wine, with Melas checking both the label and the cork (with a brief discourse on the origins of cork checking as a defense against inferior wines being placed in better bottles; oh, and the times that poisons were placed in superior wines in such bottles as well, and the technological revolutions of the last century that make such cork marking possible). Dietrich, ever practical, kept the innkeeper from making the same 'mistake' as their previous house in laying out an elaborate, but unnecessary and repast which might added to their tab, and Hiram offered to entertain the room with a song on his magnificent hurdy-gurdy.

Before the music could begin, Melas and Cybele's half-elven ears picked up the sound of a horse approaching at a gallop. Looking out the window to see what was the concern Cybele spied someone near collapsing in the saddle and raised the alarm. The innkeeper and his wife escorted the exhausted and concussed man into the common room, identifying him as a servant of the Lord Ambleer, whose manor was not a hour away - indeed they had passed his drive in their carriage. Hiram and Melas looked the man over and the young actor, not liking the looks of the servant's head wound, performed a complex bit of dramaturgy in which the wound was drawn from the man's flesh into a handkerchief, shifting the cotton from bleached white to blood red.

The servant awoke with a start and graciously thanked them for their assistance. He then informed them that he must return to his Lord Ambleer with all speed. Our four nobles of course understood, and Dietrich asked that the servant also convey their best wishes to his noble lord. Given what both Melas and Hiram recalled of the Lord Roland Ambleer it was more than likely that they would be dining with him this evening, so Dietrich took a moment before retiring and making ready to speak again with the innkeeper about their meal for the evening - common enough courtesy, but what was uncommon was him offering to cover an upgrade to their worthy coachman's room and board for the evening, so that neither that fellow nor the Dusty Road Inn's proprietors would feel financial sting from the events Dietrich felt sure would soon overtake them.

As expected, the Lord Ambleer invited our four nobles to his manor house for dinner that evening. The house was large and tastefully appointed, with parts rebuilt by dwarvish labor in the last century. The quartet entered via mahogany doors and handed their blades over to one of the servants, as per the custom of not wearing ones’ weapon inside a nobleman's house without freely given permission. They were soon escorted into the presence of Roland Ambleer, who looked the worse for his years. The lord invited all of them to sit and enjoy some coffee (a new experience for Hiram and Cybele, who did their best to hide their shock at the bitter taste), but Roland did not drink from the same pot - Melas surreptitiously craned his neck to see that their host was drinking a tisane of reddish herbs instead of the potent cafe. As the quartet introduced themselves Roland took their measure, with the encyclopedic memory behind his keen yes placing names to families. At Hiram's introduction he gave an almost imperceptible nod and the briefest of thin smiles, but the young actor thought the moment wrong to press the issue, so he merely nodded in the affirmative when their host asked if he was a musician.

The Lord Ambleer thanked them again for their assistance with his servant and after some small talk explained his circumstances: beset with a persistent condition he has developed a mixture of herbs that offers him some relief, but his servants were attacked on their trip back from Emirikol with his latest shipment. The account from his servant was lucid enough thanks to Hiram's curing of the man's concussion, but it seems clear that bandits have again invested Vulture Point. This time they have somehow trained the place's eponymous avians to attack, as the riders were ambushed by vultures that dropped stones on them from a great height while the gnomes kept their diminutive forms half hidden in the rock. Three of the four men, two of the horses and both mules were lost, and the surviving servant, Murthas, barely escaped with his life. Hiram manages to stifle the anecdote that came to mind: how the repeated infestations of gnomish and halfling bandits at Vulture Point are often used as a satirical device in the south to mock the ill-organized northerners, and instead forced down some more coffee with a look he hoped indicated great experience with the noble brew. While he could arrange a party to attack the place, Ambleer continued, his own condition prevents him from participating. In any event it would take several days to prepare, and his supply of the herbs runs short....

Melas fills the hanging silence quickly enough, exulting "A birding party? Capital! We can leave before first light I expect." The rest of the evening is spent in pleasant conversation, dining and making plans over Rolland's maps of Vulture Point, which does indeed resemble a vulture head. "What sort of force causes a mountain shaped like a vulture to be named after a vulture and populated by vultures?" Melas wondered aloud, and while Dietrich argued that it was the presence of the vultures that makes us see the oddly shaped rock in a certain light and name it for their presence, the Lord Ambleer supported the doctrine of signatures - that such a mountain would have to have vultures, summoned by its very shape and the order of the universe. Amidst the rustling of maps and the clatter of weapons and armor being laid out for those who lacked them for the morning a fine time was had by all, but given their early start even the full vigor of youth would be taxed by too late an hour, and Melas limited himself to splitting a bottle of wine with the Lady Floriane (who on her own then finished off some rather nice port, and woke the worse for it).

The Battle For Vulture Point Act I Scene III

As they exit the room Dietrich discussed the carvings the beast men left on the walls "it said that the key to the beast men's return was buried safely in here, and the best men seemed happy with that. Strange, yes?" Melas, apparently not listening, was focused on the damage the masked man had done to his weapon. "It's an excuse to buy a new one?" Hiram suggested.

"This is an heirloom; it has family bloodstains on it." Melas retorted as the hunchbacked man took point down the narrow passage, rapier out, with Hiram a few paces behind bearing a dramaturgically generated illuminant. Dietrich, still sore troubled by his earlier injury, took the rear, behind the Lady Floriane. The mystical glow revealed a trio of shadowed, silvery gray figures hovering menacingly in the corridor, and Melas halted to consider

Fortunate for him that he did, for it gave his half elven vision a chance to detect the nigh-invisible strands of spider-silk that stretched across the passage before blundering into them, and with a few moments of shuffling the quartet was able to light the webbing, which went up like dry lace and sent the bodies of our heroes unfortunate predecessors crashing to the ground. Thump, thump, thump...THUMP. That last was the falling of a most irate arachnid whose central body held the dimensions of a hunting hound. A second after landing the thing leaped again, alighting on Melas' torso and digging its mandibles into his neck!

With the strength-draining toxin coursing through him the sybaritic son of the empire felt his knees but not his will buckle as he fruitlessly tried to bring his sword into play. Hiram, forced to move back from Melas' collapse, was likewise hindered, and Dietrich's attempts to leap closer were blocked by both the narrow passage and Cybele's shoulders in a clumsy collision. Amidst the confusion that lady sorceress did manage to unleash both her serpentine soul and a blast of energy arcane, but neither Renee's venom nor the mystical burst prevented the spider from biting again, pumping more of the enervating venom into Cybele's newfound friend. In the end Melas was saved by his own hand, as he finally worked his rapier into a position where a thrust might avail him, and the spider, already reeling from Cybele's attack, was skewered. There were several minutes of confusion as Melas was set aright and pronounced himself well enough to stand as long as he had a wall for support.

They moved him into the small chamber past the spider's webs, which contained the bodies of still more fallen tomb raiders, all months if not years dead. Hiram was able to locate a pouch of pre-invasion gold coins, while Dietrich's keen eyes spied a pearl of some quality under the dirt. Once it was freed from the dust of the earth Hiram's sight, heightened at this moment by the power of dramaturgy, declared to be enchanted. Hiram, his youthful courage at last coming under some stress, stripped one of the corpses of its leather doublet that he might have additional protections from the threats that had nearly claimed two of his companions. Even with that he recommended that they rest for the remainder of the evening, and as one voice the group agreed to put this plan into action.

As they returned to the entrance Hiram saw the glow of magic coming from one of the cat-men's belts, so this too was secured to be researched by Cybele over the coming evening. In the long hall back to their campsite sounds echoes from ahead - the snufflings of large beasts and the sound of metal striking stone....

Undeterred by the noises ahead of them our four stalwart heroes pressed on, knowing that doing so would mean spending the evening in the company of the coach horses, which their coachman had brought into the room to get them out of the storm. Still, such hardships must be taken with good grace, and the quartet bedded down for the night, with Cybele, Hiram and their coachman taking turns watching the entrances and tending the fire. The only sign come morning of the room's earlier verminous intruders is the contented sensation in the belly of Renee, the lady Floriane's reptilian familiar.

With the morning the storm had lessened to the traditional north winter rain, and the coachman said that he should be able to get the carriage back on the road in minimal time. Dietrich spoke for them all when he told that worthy to not declare the repairs finished until he was certain, and the companions took the additional time to explore the other passages out of their campsite quarters. The coachman watched them head to the north with the surety that comes from noble upbringing and valorous hearts, and a few moments later heard a scream wrenched from the very puts of hell. The animals went wild, defying his best attempts to calm them, and to the coachman was most relieved when Hiram returned to assist him; the young gentleman was able to sing a calming song, accompanying himself on his hurdy-gurdy (the very paragon of instruments) that quickly restored the sense of equine equilibrium.

When the coachman plucked up the courage to ask what had occurred, Hiram informed him that a sarcophagus in the northern room was topped by a flying demon head, but that Dietrich had been able to skewer the thing through the eye as it charged and pin it to the wall with his rapier, that the others might make short work of it. If Hiram failed to mention how the demon's scream had incapacitated him in unnatural terror, well, vanity is a fault not know only in youth. Within a few moments the others had returned, informing Hiram that the stone casket did indeed have hinges (a point of some debate earlier) and that inside were both ashes and a ring of magical nature and extraordinary craftsmanship, its circle depicting a hand wielding a quill pen.

With that the nobles headed down the southern passage, and a few moments later Cybele emerged, asking in passing of the coachman were familiar with a symbol of a face with two bleeding closed fists in place of eyes. At his stammering certainty that no, he had never seen such a horrific thing she headed deeper into the Tor, returning bearing a small sledge, crow and spike recovered from the beast men's excavating equipment. Within a few moments the sound Hiram singing again, the sorts of songs that dwarves and men used when breaking up the stones for construction. Overlaid on that was the sound of a hammer striking a spike and the spike striking of stone, followed almost immediately by a loud exhalation of air and a yelp.

Whack - pffft! Ugh!         Whack - pffft! Ugh!         "Lay some cloaks down over it..." came Detrich's voice.

Whack - pffft! Ugh!         Then a brief pause, followed by Floriane exclaiming "that's it, someone else can try."

Whack - pffft! Ugh!         "That's broken it. Who puts that many needles in a chest trap?" muttered Hiram.

"Inside there's just a huge supply of needles and springs I expect..." came Melas' unmistakable baritone.

"No, it's another skull... and its circlet is magical," came Cybele's whisper, carried through the stone of the Tor to the coachman's sharp ears. With that the coachman figured the rest were things he ought not hear, and he returned outside to finish repairs...

After a few seconds the noblemen returned, with Cybele bearing a written description of the stone chest's lock, Hiram and Dietrich carrying the chest's contents (not just the skull, with pearl eyes and an enchanted generals circlet) and Melas looking only slightly the worse for wear from the venom still in his system. Within short order the items of interest were packed and made ready for their coachman to strap to the roof of his vehicle that the noblemen might return to the road to Emirikol, bearing some treasure and much mystery.

The Battle For Vulture Point Act I Scene II

Dietrich and Melas stepped forward into the torch lit room, with Hiram and Cybele directly behind them. The quartet quickly took in the scene: the altar-with-chains in the room's center, a large crate to the right, two smaller ones to the left, a large hole in the ceiling apparently excavated to the surface, the monotonous clatter or rain on the altar rolling away in the blood grooves across the floor, the four ropes - two loose, two taught - hanging extending down from the hole, the torches braced on the floor out of the rain. "So, not the wine cellar then? I'd had hopes" Melas muttered.

Only Dietrich was able to make out the shadowy shapes behind the altar and larger crate, and yelled out, "Come out! Those are not very good hiding places."

The hiders apparently took umbrage at this, rising and throwing javelins with practiced motions; Melas was able to dodge the one aimed at him but Dietrich was momentarily shocked by the felinoid nature of their assailants' faces - cat-man! The javelin pierced his clothing and scraped across a rib, opening a long gash in his side. Less than a finger's breadth in either direction and the wound would most assuredly have been fatal! Hiram wasted no time in providing a counter-stroke, flicking his hand up and letting fly a palmed throwing dart that took Dietrich's assailant in the throat; the beast-man fell with a gurgle and his blood joined the rain washing away in the gutter. Melas fired his crossbow at his attacker, but his aim was low and it merely splintered the wood on the crate.

At this moment Dietrich proved his mettle, for wounded as he was, he nonetheless sprinted, drew and leapt, landing atop the crate and piercing the cat-man's shoulder with an expert thrust. The beast was reaching for his blade when the lady Floriane ended the encounter with a word - an arcane syllable that sparked a bolt of light from her hand to the furred brow between slit eyes, laying the cat man out stone dead.

A quick exploration of the room followed. It seemed obvious to all that the beast men were looting the tomb, but for how long had they been doing so? The shaft extended at least thirty feet into the ruins of the tower, and so could not have been dug overnight. Cybele lowered her head into her blouse and queries "are you well in there?" Causing the men to wonder what madness was this (Tom: she has a chaos armpit with a mouth in it? The inquisition will notice that!; Jim: It's not often you see a woman talking to her own breasts like that) before her familiar, a viper named Renee, emerged with a hiss. The ophidian part of the Lady Floriane slithered up one of the ropes, confirming that this was indeed a night not fit for man or beast - at least not in the tower above.

Hiram, meanwhile, recalled his awareness of the stage to glance down the room's other passage and see it extend at least another 40 paces, with an all but obscured side corridor to the south at about two thirds of that length. With Melas assistance he then opened the largest of the three crates, with the hunchbacked man chucking and saying "likely a pile of skulls!" Instead it contained loose packed dirt to act as a cushion for five urns. Hiram produced yet another anecdote, informing his friends that the chaos beasts practiced fire burial (rather than giving their dead to the sea, as is proper) and identifying the pictographs around the urn as being the life highlights of those whose ashes they contained. With a kick he opened one of the smaller chests - that one contained the skulls! - and while Melas had only been joking Hiram was serious indeed, as these were the skulls of the beast men's most worthy foes, taken to insure that they would not be revived or even reborn.

Certain that something foul was afoot here, the nobles decided to travel further in; Melas bound Dietrich's wound and then followed Hiram - a young actor taking the lead in his most challenging role yet.

Eschewing the cramped passage to his right, and lamenting the loss of an option to his left, where a falling block of stone had closed a separate passage some months ago at the least, Hiram continued straight down the passage until it opened into a room much like the one they left - same size, same central stone altar - but lacking any other exits and containing the ursine body of a bear-man lying motionless on the altar. Unable to tell if the figure was alive or dead from the entry Hiram took several cautious steps forward and focused his senses. It was clear that the bear man was dead from the wounds on his body, and the young actor's ears filtered out the sound of his own heartbeat and breath to find the breathing of Melas (slightly labored), Dietrich (disciplined and steady), Cybele (light and unaffected)... and one other person, nervous and shallow.

Hiram rotated quickly, drawing his blade and stepping back to the altar, hoping that if the figure were behind him his allies would spot him, but knowing only he could search the other corners of the room. At this motion Melas raised his crossbow to fire where Hiram might indicate, and Hiram spotted a figure pressed against the wall to Melas' left. His yell and throw were simultaneous, as were the figure's dodge and upward swipe with his long sword that snapping the string of Melas' crossbow and expending the bolt harmlessly into the room.

The figure continued his motion, moving to face Melas, Cybele and Dietrich outside of sword reach, leaving his back to Hiram. Dietrich leapt to the right, leaving the figure blocked on three sides. Melas considered swinging the crossbow as a club (Tom: his ancestors would understand - the purpose of heirloom weapons is to kill people), but reconsidered: the man had not attacked when he might, and moved with surety to a weaker position... indicating some gentility and great confidence. His mismatched eyes took in the man before him; a half elf by the eyebrows, piercing green eyes and tanned skin, and while the rest was hidden by a scarf, large hat and night black clothing Melas was certain he would know him, mask or no, when they next met.

Cybele prepared a spell of offense, leaving it hanging in the air, and queried the figure as to his name. "I'm afraid I cannot oblige at this time; please stand aside, gentle folk so that I might leave in peace." Hiram was still considering what to do when the figure leapt forward, forcing Melas to either crash into him or step aside and taking the brunt of the Lady Floriane's arcane attack (which went off by instinct rather than intent) with a grimace. Melas chose to let the man depart, and they heard him flee down the tunnel, then the sound of rope and counterweight working - the man must have grabbed one of the taught ropes, sliced it and rode to the roof as the weight fell. (Tom: That probably would have looked really impressive if any of us had been watching.)

Coming up with little of certainty about the masked man they scouted out the room, finding the story of the trapped beast-men leaders carved in pictograms on the walls, and the body having been already stripped of valuables, including its heart. There had been several items cut loose from the bear-mans belt, rings removed from his fingers, an amulet snapped from his neck and so on. "I took him for a gentleman, but it seems he was a common tomb robber. Is there any treasure left?" Melas asked. The only item of value remaining was a greatsword strapped under the body, barely visible beneath the bear-man's bulk.

Ultimately deciding that it could be a valuable clue... and valuable... Cybele strained her highly trained muscles and pulled it free, revealing a very fine blade indeed. "This ought to be worth enough to keep me alive for a few months more," the Lady Floriane mutters, hissing "damnable halflings." "You're being threatened by halflings? Melas gapes. "How embarrassing." There is another effort to roll the body off the altar and reclaim the sword's sheath, and both Hiram and Dietrich take a moment to check over the altar to see if there is any more evidence of what was occurring here. Alas, there was not, and so the quartet of nobles exits, deciding the take the cramped southerly passage in hopes of finding out more...

The Battle For Vulture Point Act I Scene I

On a dark afternoon, with just a sliver of sun waxing in the sky, the Eastern Road to Emirikol is lashed with rain - the perpetual winter rain had grown over the last four or five hours into an outright tempest that even a skilled coachman of Imperial Service would have problems navigating. Indeed, did have problems, as the coachman was forced to slow the horses and, with much professional chagrin, inform his four noble passengers that they would not be making the Bluestone Inn as scheduled, but he would continue to drive through the night if need be to reach their destination. That stalwart worthy then indicated to is charges that beneath the left rear seat were provisions laid in against such an eventuality so that their lordships might not miss dinner.

With a gesture of apology to the one lady in the coach - the fair Cybele Floriane, whose rough clothing was outshined by her gracious manner and gave evidence that to be noble means more than simply being with funds - Melas Belisca shifted his overlong arms and hunched back with unexpected dexterity to extricate the provender, and then turned his eye to the contents: cold chicken and wine. His epicurean experience was most immediately evident with the speed and grace of the corks' extraction and the pouring of the contents to his road company of the last several days - the lady first, of course, and then to Hiram Desaud - a man of few years but many an anecdote - then Dietrich von Eisenwald, whose dancing smile and eyes display a wit as dry as any wine - before pouring for himself. "I've drunk from this vineyard before; the Bordeaux is pleasing, but don't expect too much."

Before the elixir can be sampled, however, there is a horrendous lurch and crash that Dietrich correctly surmises is the axel, (Tom: The finest in German Wine and French Engineering) and Cybele is just able to discern their left rear wheel bounding off into the darkness. "Well, that's spilled the wine then," bemoans a now doused Hiram - a statement made without reckoning on Dietrich's unparalleled reflexes and balance that kept both his and the lady's glasses upright (with just a hint of their hands touching), nor on the vast experience Melas has on protecting his spirits. With a quirk of a smile at his ill luck Hiram is doused again as the now-angled widow cover gives way, exposing all in the carriage to the elements. The door opens an instant later as their coachman bows to them in the darkness.

"My lordships and lady, I regret to inform you that we shall make no further distance this evening. Yonder hill his Hightower Tor, and with your permission I shall scout about it to locate a space in the lee where you might seek more effective shelter." Permission is of course given, and Cybele took the opportunity to show her athletic nature by exiting the coach unattended to search, fruitlessly, for the missing wheel. (For the reader's knowledge, the wheel rolled some twenty yards away before come to a halt in a deep puddle, so her inability to locate it should not be seen as a failing in the keenness of Lady Floriane's vision, which was quite keen indeed.)

Inside the carriage Hiram produced yet another anecdote to enlighten and edify his friends: "Hightower Tor is one of the main road marks to Emirikol; we are but a few days away. The tower and crypts itself predates the Chaos invasion, but it was defiled by those forces upon their arrival and ultimately became their site of their last stand against the forces of the Empire. Indeed, in act five, scene three of the Marquis of Order the Imperial General ordered a boulder rolled into place before the entrance, preferring to seal in the chaos beasts rather than lose more men fighting them. The author took some liberties with the final scenes of the chaos beats slaughtering each other, locked in the dark. According to that work there is also a headless demon locked within."

Melas took this information into careful consideration with a sip of wine. "So our plan is to shelter in the ruins of a haunted tower in the middle of winter storm miles from civilization? Capital!"

With that their coachman returned, and that worthy informed them that he had found a cave that would do for a shelter, and he would get their luggage. Dietrich and Melas both, with the air of true gentleman and pragmatists, said that the luggage could wait, and the coachman should instead bring along the carriages tarp that he might secure it across the cave to produce a more secure shelter. Melas also collected his heavy crossbow, leaving his greatsword secured to the carriage. After all, what could happen?

Our four stalwart (and now rather damp and cold) nobles worked their way up the hill to the cave located by their coachman; when they arrived both Dietrich and Melas noticed the rubble strewn around the entrance, as if a large boulder had just recently been sundered by lightning. The coachman had raced ahead of them and thus the tarp was already in place, allowing them to step into the relative comfort of the 'cave' - in fact a rectangular room with a finished floor and doors on all walls. Dietrich eyed the coachman as that worthy added wood to the fire and inquired "City boy, are you?"

Intrigued, Cybele took a brand from the fire and circumnavigated the room. Hiram took a different route, drawing upon the secret arts of draumaturgy to make himself 'aware of the stage'. He was able to confirm the lady Floriane's assessment that the doors were stout and locked but not warped by the elements, but he kept to himself the absence of any concealed passages, trap doors or other obscurements. (Brian: we are giving Detect Secret Doors a formidable power boost). Comfortable in their security they rejoined Melas, who was securing his comfort with the wine and the fire. Being a gentleman, he had saved enough for the others, and the bottle was passed around as assessments of their situation were made. The storm grew more insistent outside, with flashes visible around the edge of the tarp followed by blasts of thunder that loosed dust from the ceiling. Finally, the flash and the sound struck simultaneously followed by the crash of wood on stone as all three doorways fell in! Worse still, from the north came a gush of water and a flood of small, wet vermin - Rats!

"Well, I certainly shan't be tipping our coachman if he lacks the sense to clear the cave of vermin beforehand," muttered Melas as the panicked creatures advanced. Not wanting contact with the plague bearing and generally foul beasts the nobles moved clear of the rodents rush; the creatures broke for the outside, and when faced with the storm ran back into the room and through the door to south. Once the excitement had died down - and once Dietrich, ever the pragmatist, had confirmed that the water flow would not endanger their fire - the quartet examined the passage to the east, which had at least the advantage of not previously or currently containing vermin. Dietrich's sharp ears caught the sound of movement some distance down the long passage.

"Who's there? Announce Yourselves!" he yelled, knowing that with the passages width, length and their torch taking the individuals by surprise would be nigh impossible as well as ill mannered. In the echo of his cry, the aforementioned keen ears picked up another sound he was well familiar with... that of a sword being drawn from its scabbard.

He communicated this to his comrades, and Melas readied his heavy crossbow before he and Dietrich started down the passage, Hiram and Cybele directly behind.

"Why did you think to pack a crossbow?" Hiram asked as he prepared and concealed his own weapon.

"It's a family heirloom. My Aunt Matilda committed suicide with it." Melas responded with hushed tones as they neared the end of the passage and the torch lit room beyond...