Episode 41
"What Lies Beneath"
(c)2002 Matt Grossman and J. Sage Schreiner

Nigil, noble from a far-distant land -- Kevin Osborn
Tron, a resourcefull elf -- Matt Grossman
Norel, a big ranger of the Adri forest -- Tom Morin
Laurallie, an unlucky Elf priestess -- Claudia Darcy
All others -- J. Sage Schreiner



The party plans to descend into the sewers and search for ratmen
there.

Nigil: We should wait until after dark. We don't want to attract
attention.
Jainos: I have... research to do.
Tron: There goes our artillery.
Ilde: I have to meet with Dallic Foehammer, the leader of the dwarves.
Laurallie: [snicker]
Ilde: What? What's so funny?

They spend the day wandering around the town and studying the sewer
system. It seems that there are a number of stone manholes which they
can use to gain access to the system. They also meet with Mouse:

Mouse: Someone tried to assassinate Steward Grimm. But he failed. I
saw the assassin myself coming out of Duke Baneax's tent yesterday.
Norel: Do you think this Baneax guy was behind it?
Mouse: No... I think maybe he is being set up. He's not that dumb. I
think. But it's pretty close.

After Mouse leaves, they discuss various ways to get at Gabriel,
but come to no conclusions.

The party waits until after dark, then goes to a nearby manhole, opens
it, and descends. Tron goes ahead with one lantern, then Nigil,
Laurallie (carrying a second lantern), and Norel. The sewers are
arched corridors about five feet high and five feet wide. The elves
are slightly cramped, and the humans are very cramped. The floor is
covered by several inches of slowly moving ooze. The stench is
indescribable.

Tron: Let's find out if these sewers lead up to the citadel. I bet
that the ratmen are planning an attack that way.
Nigil: You can map, right?
Tron: Sure, I'll draw the map.

The party wanders into the sewers. Norel finds many tracks of ratmen
in the sewers. After some exploration they discover that most of the
ratmen tracks do not lead up to the citadel. They find a body which
is so badly decomposed as to make its sex unidentifiable. Several times
they hear distant pattering footsteps.

Tron: Say... do any of you guys have paper?
Nigil: No.
Norel: No.
Laurallie: No.
Tron: Umm, that's bad. I thought I had some, but I don't. Whoops.
Laurallie: I guess it's a good thing that I've been marking the walls
with my dagger every time we come to an intersection.
Tron: Shh! I hear ratmen!
Ratmen: (in the distance) Squee! Squee! [crunch crackle burp]
Tron: I guess it ran into something.
Norel: Maybe we should explore in another direction.

They wander through the tunnels some more. By choosing the passages
that go upwards, they head towards the citadel. At one point they
have to clamber over a ledge and through a space where a grate once
blocked the tunnel.

Nigil: I wonder if the ratmen removed it?
Norel: At least we've proved that there are ratmen down here, and that
there's no security.

Eventually the find themselves in a series of dead end passages under
the citadel. They do not find any secret doors in the tunnels, but
there does not seem to be anything stopping an army sneaking into the
citadel through the sewers. They decide to head back to the sewers
under the lower part of town and try to find some ratmen.

Nigil: I want some action, dammit!

After a while they find an opening knocked in the wall of the sewer.
It opens on a room, apparently a basement of a building. In the
center of the room is a hole in the floor. There is a knotted rope
dangling down the hole. There are also a couple badly decomposed
bodies in the corner.

Norel: There are many ratman tracks going in and out. It looks like
there was a fight here, a month or two ago, between ratmen and those
bodies.

An agonized scream comes out of the hole.

Human: Oh!!! Make it stop!
Norel: Let's go!

The party lowers a lantern down the hole, and sees that it is about
sixty feet deep. They climb down the rope and find themselves in a
corridor. More screams and squeaking noises are coming from one
direction. Tron scouts along the corridor. He goes around a corner
and sees light ahead. He puts out his lantern and sneaks forward, and
soon is looking into a large natural cavern containing nine ratmen and
one human prisoner. Two of the ratmen are torturing the prisoner,
five are playing dice, one is standing guard at a corridor at the
other side of the cavern, and one is asleep. There are two torches
dimly lighting the room. Tron sneaks back and reports.

Nigil: Let's get 'em!

They sneak towards the entrance of the cavern...

Ratman: Squee! Squee! (rolls the bones)
Tron: [twang twang]
Ratman: Urk. [thud]
Norel: [twang twang]
Ratmen: Urk? Squee? Squee!
Tron: [twang twang twang]
Ratman: [thud]
Nigil: (charges the ratmen) Yaaaargh! [splorch]
Norel: (also charges the ratmen) Leave some for me! [hack]
Laurallie: Umm, I'll just stand here with the lantern, ok?

Tron tries to shoot down any ratmen who attempt to flee, while the
rest of the party charges into the room and melees with the ratmen.
The combat is swift and decisive. Unfortunately, one of the ratmen
manages to escape. The party quickly searches the room but finds
little treasure on the ratmen. They also cut the prisoner free. He
has been tortured and one of his eyes has been gouged out.

Prisoner: Ohhh... don't kill me... I've told you everything...
Laurallie: Obad-Hai, heal this man! [bink]
Nigil: Who are you? How did the ratmen capture you?
Prisoner: We were going to Nightfang... True path... we were waiting
for the elves... ooohhh...
Laurallie: Elves? You mean Bite and Hunger, the two wood elves?
Prisoner: We didn't know their names...
Nigil: Why were you waiting for them? Where were they going to meet
you?
Prisoner: I am one of the faithful of Ashardalon... they were going to
take us to Nightfang... Eaten moon...
Tron: "Eaten moon?" There was a rumor of a cult like that in Marner.
Laurallie: But where were you going to meet them?
Prisoner: They were going to find us... ohhh...
Laurallie: How did you join the cult of Ashardalon?
Prisoner: My friend told me about it. It all just makes sense.
Nigil: What is the doctrine of Ashardalon?
Prisoner: Ashardalon is the great dragon... He will save the world and
only his faithful followers will survive...
Nigil: And?
Prisoner: That's it. And you have to give them all your money. And
if you resolve all your engrams you can become Clear, which is the
first step to becoming an Operating Thetan. See, Xenu...

Although his wounds have been healed by Laurallie, he is still very
ill.

Nigil: Who or what is Ashardalon?
Laurallie: It's the owner's manual for the human mind... [blink blink]
Sorry. I've heard that there's an ancient cult that worshiped a
dragon called Ashardalon. I thought it had been wiped out centuries
ago.
Tron: Hey, I hear ratmen. Lots of them.
Laurallie: (to prisoner) Here, eat these tw -- elven waybreads. They'll
make you strong.
Prisoner: (tries to unwrap the waybread) Oohhh...

The party quickly takes up positions. Laurallie watches the passage
that the party entered the cavern from, Tron, Norel, and Nigil stand
at the other passage. They can clearly hear the ratmen just around
the corner from where they are standing.

Laurallie: I don't hear anything from this way. (casts Comprehend
Languages on herself so she can understand the ratmen)
Ratman#1: You go!
Ratman#2: No, you go!
Ratmen#3: How about you go! (push)
Tron: (sees Ratman#2 come into view) Oathbow, I swear to kill this
ratman!
Oathbow: A swift death to those who have wronged me! [twang]
Ratman#2: Oww! (jumps back around the corner)
Tron: Dammit! (runs around the corner, nocking another arrow)
Nigil: (sigh) Here we go again.
Norel: You'd think he'd learn...

Ratman#2: An elf shot me in the head!
Ratman#1: Shuddup, you pansy.
Tron: Hi! [twang]
Ratman#2: Urk. [thud]
Ratman#3: An elf! [stab]
Tron: Ow! Poison! (runs back to Norel and Nigil) What are you guys
waiting for? They're wusses!
Nigil: Alright, fine! (charges the ratmen)
Ratman#3: What are you waiting for? They're wusses!
Nigil: (runs around the corner and stabs ratman#3) Who wants some!
Norel: Eat this! [cleave]

Laurallie: Hey, there's ratmen coming this way too!
Tron: Hang on! I'll help!

The two elves face off against ratmen at one corridor, while the
fighter and ranger hold the other corridor.

Tron: [twang twang twang] That's my last arrow. [shing]
Laurallie: You shall not pass! [stab]
Nigil: Trithereon! Trithereon and merry Keoland! [hack slay]
Norel: For the forest! [chop kill]

Norel and Nigil are able to hold their passage, harvesting ratmen like
standing wheat. However, the ratmen start to overrun Tron and
Laurallie. The rogue and the priestess are not able to kill them fast
enough.

Ratman: Out of the way, pansy elf! [shove]
Tron: I don't think so, fleabag! (shoves the ratman back into the corridor)

Suddenly two huge ratmen charge towards the elves. Foam flies from
their lips and their eyes blaze with berserk frenzy.

Laurallie: Obad-Hai, confuse these monsters! [bzort]
Tron: Hey, we need some help over here!
Nigil: I'm on my way! (runs across the cavern)
Berserk#1: Squee! (stabs Berserk#2 in the back)
Berserk#2: Squee? (stabs Berserk#1)

By the time the berserkers sort themselves out, Nigil has arrived.
One berserker attacks Nigil directly, while the other one tries to
flank him.

Nigil: Take that! [stab]
Berserk#1: Squeee! [hack]
Nigil: Ouch!
Tron: (stabs Berserk#1, with little effect)
Berserk#2: (starts to flank the fighter)
Laurallie: Obad-Hai, hold this ratman in place! [bzort]
Berserk#2: (paralyzed)
Nigil: Awesome! [stab]
Berserk#1: Urk. [thud]

Laurallie heals Nigil and dispatches the paralyzed ratman.

Tron: Hey, what about Norel?
Norel: (emerges from his tunnel, covered from head to toe in gore)
Hoody hoo!
Laurallie: Wow. He's like a one man killing machine.
Prisoner: What... happened... oohhh...

They search the bodies and find some items of jewelry. One is
especially interesting; an amulet carved with a spiral symbol.

Laurallie: I don't recognize this.
Tron: If we wanted to find any worshipers of this dude, we could just
sell this thing, and then kill whoever bought it. Heh heh heh.

They also find a paper with writing on it.

Tron: What does it say? What does it say?
Laurallie: It says: "Hairless V. has not crown. Gave to hairless
other."
Nigil: That's not very helpful. I guess Vodius gave the crown to
someone else.
Norel: Hopefully not Gabriel

Suddenly they hear the sound of drums beating the alarm.

Norel: Drums! Drums in the deep!
Nigil: Let's get out of here.
Prisoner: Don't leave me behind! Ohhh...
Nigil: All right. (picks him up)

They return to the sewers without difficulty, and go up the first
manhole they find.

Norel: Oof. [lift]
Tron: Hey, this is no good. This is in the inner city. We want to be
on the other side of that wall.
Norel: Fine. [thump]

They find another manhole which opens up into the outer city, and go
to their inn. They wash off somewhat in a horse trough and go to
sleep.

After they have slept for a few hours...

Jainos: Psst! Hey, wake up!
Nigil: Huh, what?
Jainos: (Whispering) Gods, you smell almost as bad as Danic. I must be quick,
but I should start at the begining. Vodius the Ahlissan has made many enemies
in his time. One of those enemies is my family the Torquanns. I have
been watching him here in Ratik for the last year or so. I bargained
wtih an... ally of my family, in a distant place. He... it... said that
Vodius has given the crown to a friend of his, a friend who he "de-pegged",
whatever that means. That's the directly translation, anyway. This
"friend" of Vodius is connected with an ancient cult.
Nigil: Our prisoner is connected with a cult that he calls, "the eaten moon"
which worships an ancient dragon called Ashardalon. We think Bite and Hunger
might be connected as well. Maybe this is the same cult?
Jainos: It could be. Vodius wants something from Gabriel, and knows that
if he keeps the crown, his life won't be worth two coppers at tax time.
Norel: Well, the crown is safely out of Gabriel's hands. We can just
leave it there.
Jainos: I don't think so. If Vodius gets what he wants from Gabriel, he will
give up the crown... and both will likely be greatly strengthened. Now, I have
a debt  to repay. (leaves)
Nigil: That was weird.

In the morning:

Olaf: What's that smell?
Frank: I don't smell anything. [braaap]
Ilde: Wow, that sewage is pretty foul.
Laurallie: Hey, innkeeper! We need baths!
Innkeeper: What? We don't do baths here. I don't hold with this
newfangled water treatment.
Laurallie: Where can we get baths?
Innkeeper: Nowhere. It's Sotillion's day, everybody is taking a
holiday.

They go outside the city and bathe. Nigil tells what Jainos told
him. They release the prisoner.

Laurallie: Watch out for ratmen.
Prisoner: I will follow the true path. Ashardalon's eye be on you. (wanders off)
Norel: Now what?

Ilde updates the party on her meeting with Dallic the night before.
Apparently the dwarf leader is friendly towards her and willing to
keep her existence a secret. Dallic also thinks that the orcs will not
attack until the autumn, which gives the party time to train. They
decide to do so. In addition, Ilde will tell Dallic about the ratmen
in the sewers, and he can use his remaining dwarves (which number
about a hundred) to secure the sewers and block any ratman
infiltration. Finally, Ilde will show the holy symbol with the spiral
to Dallic.

Nigil: This is that "delegating" thing I was talking about.

Nigil, Norel, and Tron train with the mercenaries and improve their
fighting skills. Meanwhile, Laurallie decides to study priestcraft
from Nisha. She goes to the citadel:

Laurallie: Excuse me, sir, could you...
Guard: Don't call me sir! I work for a living!
Laurallie: Umm, ok, sergeant, could you let me in? I'm here to speak
to Nisha.
Guard: What makes you think she wants to talk to you?
Laurallie: I'm a healer and I've come to help her!
Guard: Ok, you can go in. That's her over there. (points) With
Gabriel.

Laurallie goes in and sees a dippy-looking woman and a tall, blond,
handsome man walking across the courtyard. She introduces herself.

Laurallie: I've reached a stage in my career as a priestess where I
need to train. I was hoping that you could train me, and in return I
could help you with your duties.
Nisha: Gosh... ok, sure.
Gabriel: Always good to have another healer around. (his teeth gleam
as he smiles)
Laurallie: (thinks) Must... keep... thoughts... blank...

In order to keep her connection with the party secret, Laurallie moves
out of the inn and takes a room in the inner city (paying an
exorbitant fee to do so). The guards soon come to like her, as she
frequently brings them treats and is always nice to them. She learns
the identities and habits of the leading nobles of the realm.

King Oleg is a small and unimpressive man who does not display any
aptitude for leadership or strategy. Duke Eijner, of the North Coast
Duchy, is the man she saw riding a horse with a nude woman the first
day she was in town. He is a quiet and reasonably competent leader
who every now and then goes on a tremendous drinking binge, during
which he acts like a complete madman. Duke Baynax of the Hill Duchy
is a fat and stupid man, a total incompetent. Duke Tuathal, of the
Highland Duchy, is a big, strong man who apparently hates everybody.
He is a harsh disciplinarian and his troops follow him out of fear
rather than love. He worships Hextor and is married to Shalister's
cousin.

She also comes to know the important, non-noble people in the
citadel. Steward Grimm, the king's steward, is a brooding, unhappy man
who nonetheless seems to be fairly popular. There are rumors that he
is a pedophile, but nothing has been proved and she sees no evidence
of this. Nisha, the high priestess of Pelor, seems to be a complete ditz
and is totally smitten with Gabriel. Dallic, the dwarf leader, is a stolid 
and short spoken dwarvish cleric or Morradin. He sees the betrayal of the
humans and the silence of Morradin to merely be tests against his
courage and willingness to smite evil. He leads the small band of dwarves
that did not leave after the dwarves were hanged for sedition.

Laurallie attempts to find out more about Gabriel with her magic. She
discovers is that his moral aura is the same as that of Gaspar, while
his magical aura is blindingly powerful, as if he were imbued with
magic by a divine source. Laurallie attempts to discover if Nisha is
really a good priestess by cutting herself unexpectedly. Nisha heals
the wound magically, but this does not tell Laurallie anything about
her clerical affinity. Her moral aura indicates that she is strongly
aligned with good.

With Dallic's aid, the party gets the mace they took from the hag
identified. It turns out to be an enchanted weapon particularly
blessed to destroy undead.

Norel: Ooo ooo! I call dibs!
Ilde: And the silver amulet with the swirling symbol is from Tharizdun.
That's the one you called the devourer. There is an ancient legend that three
items used to lock Tharizdun away can be used unlock him as well.
Laurallie: So does Gabriel follow Tharizdun?
Tron: More likely, Erishkagl -- the demon goddess of fallen paladins.
Nigil: Erishkagl and Nerull are allies...
Ilde: If the Devourer is powerful enough to anhilate gods, when Gabriel only
has the cup... Is that why Jainos said he was concerned leaving this crown
with Vodius' "friend"? Maybe if we can retreive this crown we can use
it against Gabriel.

Meanwhile, parties of dwarves have been heading down into the sewers.
They fight several skirmishes with the ratmen and succeed in driving them
out of the sewers and blocking up the entrances that they were using.
They also find an otyugh in the sewers. They pen it in a room and
keep it as a pet/garbage disposal. By the time the party is done
training, they can be confident that there will be no infiltration
through the sewers.

They also find out what they can about Nightfang. Dallic tells them
that it is a ruined tower on the south side of the mountains that form
the boundary between Ratik and the Bone March. Apparently nobody
dares to go near it, as it is believed to be the lair of a dragon.
The dwarves are willing to guide the party through their realm to the
tower. The party decides to do this once their training is over.
Ilde, Gaspar, Tika, and Ian stay behind. The party also leaves their
horses behind, since they will be traveling through the dwarf
tunnels.

Norel: Longspear, check. Battleax, check. Shortsword, check. Mace,
check. Longbow, check. Arrows, check. Dagger, check. Chain mail, check.
Tron: How can you move?

With their guide, a surly dwarf named Thori Rocksplitter, the party
leaves Ratikhill on the fifth of Harvester. The last, hot days of summer
are on them. The days are getting shorter, but the leaves have
not yet turned. They march hard for the first day, climbing high up
into the mountains. As night is falling, Thori opens a secret door in
a rockface and leads them into the dwarf realm. They are led up a
long flight of stairs and into a cavernous hall, where they are
greeted with the best dwarven hospitality. Ale, heavy bread, and mutton
are the food of choice. Detailed frescoes of ancient battles cover
the stone walls.

Tron: Thish ale ish really good. Shing the shong about the thing
again, that wash funny.
Laurallie: I'm really sorry about those dwarves who were hanged. I
didn't mean to hurt your feelings.
Thori: Have a drink.
Laurallie: No, really, I didn't imagine that the humans would do that
to you guys and... [thump] Zzzz...
Thori: Heh. Lightweight.

They march hard on the dwarf-ways for the next three days, and drink
themselves into a stupor every night.

Laurallie: I'm used to drinking white wine, actually. Ohhh my head...

Although the dwarf tunnels are vast, impressive architectually, brilliantly
lit and display great wealth, there do not seem to be many dwarves. The
dwarves have been working on their underground halls for thousands of years.
They see Soren, working at a forge:

Soren: [clang] Gotta [clang] do [clang] penance. [clang]

After two and a half days they come into a place of darkness. The dwarf
highways narrow and begin to wind and fork. Thori warns them to silence, and the
march quietly through the opressive darkness. Twice they turn back to
try another way. After many hours, they come to an exit. Thori opens the door 
and they see the evening light of the sun falling across a bleak land of
rolling moors, falling towards the south. Three dwarves guard the
door, watching for orcs. After almost two years, the party is back in
the Bone March.

Norel: I swear, I will have my revenge! (shakes his fist towards the
south)
Tron: (grits his teeth and glares to the south)

The party travels down from the door and camps for the night. They
keep watch and do not light a fire. In the morning Thori guides them
through the mountains. Although they keep a wary lookout they see no
living things other than birds and small animals. As night is falling
they come to a great crevasse several miles long and half a mile wide.
It is so deep that it is already almost dark inside. They see a great
spire of stone, in the middle of the crevasse, rising out of this
shadow. It seems to be almost 400 feet tall. Its surface is carved
with strange designs such as gargoyles, screaming faces, and windows
that open onto blank stone; the spire appears to have no true windows.
At the base of the spire is a small stone structure with a single
doorway. It looks as if the spire may be hollow and open at the top.
As they watch shadows fall across the crevasse hiding the fortress.

Thori: (points) Darkness lies over Nightfang Spire.

TO BE CONTINUED...