June 2015
THE COMPANY
Maurice "the Muscle" de Granville, a Dreaman Fighter of Weanople
- Athelwine, a Geating Hunter (Normal Man) of Acworth
Orhan, an Alfarn Spellsword
Osric de Mandeville, a Dreaman Warden
- Urien, a Weallack Oblate (Normal Man) of Carlton
Oswald, a Geating Fighter
- Demoleon, an Ellasene Thief
Zephyros, an Ellasene Mage
- Ansger, a Dreaman Fighter
- Dudda, a Geating Thief
- Guilbert, a Dreaman Fighter
- Xenocrates, a Dreaman Mage
From the Papers of Osric de Mandeville, a Dreaman Warden:
THE STATUE AND PRISON OF THE RATMAN STRONGHOLD
“The rats indeed came back for more!” Osric adds to the journal with a little smile on lips before continuing to write down the events that followed.
“These rat-men really dared to disturb our rest but were spotted just in time. The fight was swift and brutal, and Maurice engaged half a dozen on his own before I joined him in the righteous punishment of these sniveling little beasts. The other front towards the large hall was dominated by our four-armed assistants and Zephyros, but it took a while to get them out of all the little hiding places before silence once again spread through these noisome halls. We decided to pull back into the large room after we made sure there was nothing of value on the recently slain.
While our retainers cleaned up the larger hall to further improve our barricade, we took the chance to examine more closely the large statue. The statue depicts a woman sitting with a staff and pomegranate in hand. From her back, a set of swan wings are visible, and there are also swans at her feet making her look rather regal for a heathen goddess. In front of her was a blackened altar, and behind that we found the remains of a woman. She might have died here fighting, but we cannot say for sure. It didn’t look like a sacrifice of some sort, at least, but closer inspection of her belongings netted us a small vial filled with a magical oil of some sort. After rummaging through the rest of the room, pushing the brazier over, closing all the large doors and removing the solid copper staff from the statue, we eventually found a hidden stash and drainage under the altar. There we found three silver sacrificial weapons: two curvy daggers and a pomegranate-headed mace of wondrous make! Quite a find I have to say; I am sure Maurice will make good use of this weapon. "
And with that Osric put the journal away to prepare for another, hopefully undisturbed, rest.
More follows an hour later when Osric finds some time to write in the journal once more.:
“The rats returned just as we were preparing for another foray. Their ambush was short-lived as the group ran away after the first died by a well-placed arrow in his ugly little face. They were even gracious enough to leave a hostage behind for us to interrogate!
The western door, where we encountered the giant ironback before, leads to a prison of sorts where the enemies of Bigarm are held. Apparently, some of these little cowards were holed up in there as well, so we stormed the narrow tunnels without aid of the large giants. It wasn’t much of a battle, but there was one enemy of note: their witch doctor. This nasty little creature had an aura of doubt and disgust about him with his sickly green glowing eyes, making it hard to face him directly, but the Maker made me see right through his foul magic! The second hit with my mace broke his skull, and he ceased to whisper his sorcerous blasphemy immediately.
There was a range of prisoners: two caravan guards, a canon and his man-servant huntsman, a Dwergar soldier, a weird-looking beastman with a horse’s head, and two widdigmen who say they are enemies of Bigarm. Moreover, there was a plethora of females with their young who apparently tried to seek shelter in the cells.
We swiftly went back into the large hall, and I had a brief talk with Godric the canon before we decided to tackle the eastern doors next."