Book Three, Chapter Four, �The Party is innocent, OK!�

��������������� Hermicon 17/11/97

((This session was written on paper for some reason, and then transcribed later.))

The Erana Sir Martyn Yanyez De Barbudo, Zytsi of Orinane, Aruth Hempstead, and Daniel Fichelscher, with Sir Martyn�s manservant Aliester Crawlie and the Party�s loyal henchmen Grimes, Louie and Caleb are at Araka-Kalai. We are going to the Earthmaster site on Anisha on our way to Trobridge. Sir Martyn gets out his map and plots the route. It should take about 6 days to get there. Then after Trobridge on to Evael for a chat about the Demon (you remember which one this refers to I hope) and then to the Isle of Gyzem and the Sunken City of Ridow.

Sir Martyn, having lost his familiar is at -25% for a week. Ilvir gave it and Ilvir took it away. In addition he is at -50% reducing by 5% per day, from illness. So we set off for our week�s journey to Anisha.

We set off the next morning, first thing, down the road. Past a bunch of pilgrims. After about an hour we will have to fly. So we stop and make camp, spend the day and night - uneventfully. The next day we fly skimming the ground for an hour. Camp for a day and a night, uneventfully again. The next day we see 6 knights, just as we are about to land. Oops it�s the Order of the Cohorts of Gashang, which is sponsored the Order of the Eight Demons. That�s the Church of Agrik.

Sir Martyn puts his armour on. Actually there are 7 riders. Sir Martyn gets on his horse, but doesn�t display any symbols.

Verbal sparing ensures and they go off and wait while the wagon is moved. It in their way (only if they go out of their way to pass it), on the path (what path), it just a wind up. Sir Martyn offers them wine, they advance for hospitality. Six knights heavily armoured and be-weaponed and one very beautiful blond woman with clerical insignia. Their spokesman is being deliberately obstreperous. OK so the wine has a sleeping draught in it. Stupid bastard. Sussed by the woman, who detected poison. 4 of the knights drank the poisoned wine.

Sir Martyn gets into the wagon and melee ensues. They are six Agrik Paladins and a Cleric. They are tough, this is going to be nasty. Oh look the �Larani give me ears� aura has gone up. They do a Flaming aura spell. Aruth and Daniel leave the wagon (and the flaming aura).

Another ear falls off. They all back off and patch themselves up. Aruth gets back into the wagon. Zytsi fell asleep, bloody Evil Clerics. It all got very nasty. Complete with an Exploding Paladin - of the Agrik variety - that knocked the bard over, what a surprise.

5 dead knights of Agrik. One, the mouthy one, and the woman escaped before the end of the battle on horse back. 880d, four +15 (none magical) two-handed swords and four suits of Agrik armour.

Nothing happens the next day, or the day after. On the 6th day (11th Kelen) we are into a wooded mountains area. Movements were seen about 10 minutes before landing, nothing happens for the rest of the day. That night we were attacked by a Troll of the non-Ilvir type. �I�m going to eat you little fishy� it said as it attacked the Khuzdul. Martyn calmed it down. It wanted to go away with the fish. It bent over the fishy so Zytsi (the fish) hit it and killed it. Mountain troll, immune to stuns.

There then followed a long wind up about regeneration. After about 20 minutes there was mass paranoia and it was hit again. Then its head started talking, so it was burnt. So Harnic Trolls regenerate.

12th Kelen - Find trail and can travel along it. It must be here. The trail goes up past some truncated pyramids and pillars. On the approach there are ruins to the left and a stockaded village to the right.

((There is a sketch map of this area.)) This is an ancient Earthmaster site. There are 100 ft tall obelisks of whether limestone blocks. The truncated pyramids are about 50 ft high. Limestone with granite facing. The whole area has been kept up, not overgrown. Apparently Lothrim spent some time here looking for something.

Barbarians in village stockade are waiting for the return of Tondran, a man from another plane they took in and revered as one of their own tribe.

Best part of 1,000 years ago there was a small secular state ruled by Lewel Ankadis. It was a civilised oasis in a barbarian desert. Set out to civilise Harn. The first ones he met were the Chelni barbarians. They killed him and his friends took his body back. They used the Earthmaster site as his tomb.

600 years ago Lothrim the Foulspawner came here looking for his personal grail, the Penultimate Tomb. The villagers wouldn�t let him in so he set his Gargun of then, and massacred the lot.

�

Let�s talk and be friendly. It is forbidden to visit the site, but we are allowed to camp within the village walls. We�ll be friendly and talk to them.

Lesela, old seer who lives in the ruins, told them about us with about 90% accuracy.

Mendar-Haruchi is who they are. Taken to see the chief. The Khuzdul visited here once, they were confused at the time and left. Years ago this was. Diplomacy with tribesmen.

Visit the mad seer in ruined old building, for Daniel�s lute. With a tribesman as a guide.

A path with skulls on spiked sticks. A strange barren mound with a strange maze-like pattern on the side. We have to go here to get it (90% accurate). But don�t know where it is. Inhabited.

Look this is very strange - she answered questions with answer to the next question asked. But this is what we found out - Sir Martyn is going to be unpopular with the tribesman guide. He is strongly advised to take three small nails. It looks like a milky glowing orb, but what was that the answer to?

This isn�t very important at all - see Zytsi for details.

�No I�m not������������������������������������������� - are you mad?

�No I haven�t got one������������������������� - can I see your salamander?

�Never heard of the woman� ����������� - Do you know Matilda in Burzyn

So when Zytsi is unhappy, and its raining and lightning and seas and we will say shouldn�t have asked the woman.

How do we get into the City of Ridow - we need a milky white orb to get to the city.

Where is the milky white orb? I told you were going to upset the guide. Who accidentally died.

(Dinner Break)

A dark grey chamber, that�s where the milky orb is.

We go back to the village. Just as the seer�s message reaches the dead guide�s wife. Ermine was his name.

Hitched up the wagon, camp is broken, Sir Martyn writes a note. Get in wagon. Note left with small bag of coins. Flies out of village. That�s the theory. However three small nails were needed for horseshoes so Sir Martyn and horse don�t fly out.

He rides for the gate as it is being pushed shut. He jumped over the man shutting the gate. Dropped the note and coins, and left the village. Wagon flies east and Sir Martyn rides south.

Note: make notes for code for signalling horns. We all have one, apparently.

Horn blowing co-ordination. This leads 40 or 50 tribesmen and a tied up Sir Martyn to us. Oh all right we negotiate and surrender. Taken back to village. Locked up in a stone hut with bars. Aruth taken back for wagon the next day. 4 days locked up. 17th Kelen is trial day.

Sir Martyn tells guard about his dream his dream of death, destruction, rape, murder, pillage, burning - which starts agitation.

The next night�s vision is of an army of people with red scimitars.

The charges:

1) Murder of Ermine the Hunter - sentence is wergild 750d or death

2) Attempted assault of guard - sentence is 200d wergild

3) Conspiring to invade a holy shrine - sentence is death

4) Membership of banded order (the Knights of Agrik) - sentence is death (They found the captured suits of armour we had off the Knights of Agrik)

It seems to be a version of vendetta law here.

The defence is going to be the truth.

1) We came here because we were curious. We asked you if we could. You said no, so we didn�t. We had no intention of going to your site. However Lesela said that we should, to avoid drowning at sea. She told Ermine to flee and he tripped up, fell over and died.

2) Don�t be silly. If he was going to hurt him he would have. In fact Sir Martyn did his best to avoid hurting him.

3) We weren�t conspiring to go there we were going to ask you if we could go there.

4) The suits of Agrik armour are knightly spoils of war from knights of the Order of the Cohorts of Gashang. Two escaped, regrettably. They must have passed this way, perhaps you saw them. Originally there were six knights and a woman. Now they are one knight and the woman, and they may be passing through here.

The result

1) Charges dismissed.

2) Bit of a set up, 200d gone.

3) Long discussion, side order of trial by combat.

Unfortunately �They�re here, they�re here�. Rush out and we are to be handed over to a dozen men in armour, with one knight and one priestess. We are to be given over with hands tied behind back - but definitely innocent of the 4th charge.

In Gateway. We are going to be handed over. Sir Martyn causes the gates to be closed and then made Agrik�s lot charge. Then he fell over as a spell hit him. He is out a couple of rounds.

Meanwhile we legged it behind a hut and cut ourselves free. Sir Martyn woke up and legged it to the nearest hut. Much fracas by the gates.

We re-unite and check wagon. Get out gear from the chief�s hut. We kit ourselves up, and find certain things have gone.

Tribesmen on the ramparts, with Agrik outside. Sir Martyn was a loud mouth and wound up chief. They more or less ignore us.

The seer must have our gear. She legged it down ancient sewer system. A crawl for a long way in the dark, not nice. Along and north and to the area of the seer�s hut? Following tracks. We reach some stairs to a trap door. Bared. Warpwood on part of the trapdoor, by Aruth. Dagger leavers out bar, by Daniel.

In ruins, it is the old woman�s hut. There is a bag with our gear and a note �If you�ve got this far then here�s your gear back. Otherwise I�ll see this tomorrow�. We get our gear back and return to the village.

Row going on in village. On the walls they look nervous. Also argument in the village hall. Go to village hall. Demand money back to leave. They give us it all back.

So we have all our gear and cash back. They want us to go and never come back. We�ll go and never return to the village.

End of session.

Day calculations are out by six days after we left. The time was lost between the fight with the Agrik Paladin and now. In captivity? Our bodies experienced the time but our minds didn�t. We think it happened before we got to the village. The only thing that happened was the troll.

Dream about it �Sleeping in a flowery glade. Peaceful�. Sounds Elvish to be says Zytsi.