The party was visiting Greyhawk again. Edward was looking for potions and other useful items. Firiona was shopping for scrolls, along with Lou. Arnold was gambling. After spending the day in their various activities, the party paid a visit to a tavern, "The Purple Griffin" (an Enterprise establishment, as the sign of the spider-eater indicated). While drinking and chatting about the day, they noticed someone looking at them from across the room, apparently a youngish woman. Firiona recognized that she was giving them a sign--the recognition sign of a second-level Enterprise member!
Edward invited the young woman to join the party at table. She came over and introduced herself as Vessa. "You must be Edward," she said, looking at the paladin. "And Green Arrow, and Firiona, and Lou, and Arnold. Word of your exploits has spread among our Enterprise. There's a whole new section of Research working on your latest discoveries. Most impressive." She sat down.
"What are your skills?" asked Edward, somewhat abruptly.
"Well, I'm good at spells," Vessa replied.
"And your level?"
"I'm about your level these days," she answered. "I would like to join with you sometime, if the opportunity arises. I'm sure I could learn much from you."
Lou and Green Arrow were favorably impressed with the newcomer. Firiona was more neutral, but didn't really object as long as she had seniority over the spellcasting visitor. Arnold, as ever, was distrustful. So, now, was Edward. He replied to Vessa, "We will let you know."
"Maybe something will come up later," agreed Vessa, who then took her leave.
About a week later, the party had again assembled at The Purple Griffin, when another visitor approached them. Again, it was a young woman, this time a human female, apparently in her mid-twenties, and finely, even nobly, dressed. Edward immediately offered her his seat, as befit a noble lady.
"Thank you, kind sir," the woman said as she sat. She then introduced herself and told her story.
The woman's name was Lula, and she was recently widowed (her husband had died after a sudden illness). She lived in a luxurious estate about a day's ride to the southwest of Greyhawk. One night about a week or so ago, her estate had been broken into, several of her servants had been beaten up, and a valuable family heirloom had been stolen: a jewel-encrusted ceremonial dagger with a large emerald in the pommel. Its appraised value was over 20,000 gold pieces.
The dagger had been passed to her from her husband, who had received it from his father, who received it from his father, and back for three generations.
The invading party appeared humanoid at first glance, but she had caught a final glimpse of the party as they fled from her estate, and she believed they were gaunt humanoid figures cloaked in rich-looking but tattered garments. The invading party fled from her estate and headed toward a heavily forested area to the southwest of the estate knows as the Gnarley Forest.
"And so I have come to you for aid," Lula concluded. "You are reputed to be the best and the bravest. I will reward you most generously if you can recover my property for me."
"But why should we take on what seems to be a mere police matter?" asked Edward. "Aren't we a little too powerful for such a minor mission?"
"It is precisely because you are the best that I sought you out," answered Lula. "For I fear that this was no ordinary robbery. My estate is very well protected, both physically and magically, so whoever stole the dagger must have great powers indeed."
At this point, Arnold presented Lula with her own jeweled necklace, which he had just stolen from under her neck while she was telling her story! "It takes a thief to catch a thief, and I'm the best!" he boasted. Edward, not pleased by Arnold's behavior, admonished him not to repeat it.
Arnold then whispered to Firiona, "Sounds like undead to me." Firiona nodded. Lou, in the meantime, consulted his bardic repertoire of knowledge and recalled learning somewhere of a powerful sorcerer, who had a long and successful adventuring career which ultimately laid the foundation for the future noble house to which Lula's late husband had belonged. The sorcerer, together with his adventuring companions, were reputed to have located and successfully located a long-lost tomb located deep in the Gnarley Forest. Lou whispered this information to Edward.
After some discussion, and an offer of double the market value of the dagger as a reward, the party decided to accept the job. Edward offered to have his cohort Bedevere and his men guard Lula and her estate while the party undertook the recovery mission. She gratefully accepted Edward's offer.
It was agreed that the party would take quarters in the noble inn where Lula and her entourage were staying. At the inn, Edward advised Lula to beware, as he thought she might be in danger herself. Afterwards, Edward and Arnold speculated on the nature of the mission they had taken on, and the motives of their client. Was there a murder plot afoot? wondered Arnold. And why did she seek our help in particular? thought Edward. And then there was the matter of the double-market-value reward for the dagger. Was there some hidden significance to the dagger, beyond sentimental value?
Each of the party members took their own room in the inn. As Edward was sitting in his room, pondering the matter, he heard a knock on the door. He answered.
At the door was Vessa!
Edward invited her in. She entered, and told Edward, "I couldn't help hearing about Lula and her need. I really think I could be of use to you, and I would like to join you, if you will have me." Edward, after some thought, said that she could do so, provided that she recognized his authority in the party. Vessa readily agreed. She did not, however, agree to Edward's subsequent attempt to persuade her to remain with him that night. "While I appreciate the offer, I must regretfully decline. We have a mission to prepare for, after all." Rebuffed, Edward desisted, and advised the rest of the party that Vessa would be joining them. All agreed, and all finally retired for the night.
In the morning the party escorted Lula and her retinue to her estate. When they finally arrived at the estate that evening, Edward and Arnold asked to inspect the area where the dagger was displayed prior to being stolen. Lula took the party to a small but richly decorated and furnished room. Arnold examined the niche in which the dagger had been stored, but found only disturbed dust. Vessa, in the meantime, asked Firiona if she knew any divination spells that might provide information.
Edward then took Lula and Vessa aside and cast his zone of truth spell. "Is your sole purpose in hiring us the retrieval of the stolen dagger? he asked Lula. "Yes," she replied. "And you know nothing about the tomb?" "Only what I told you," answered Lula. Turning to Vessa, he asked if she knew anything that would assist the party in their mission. Vessa replied that she had no such knowledge. Edward apologized for the interrogation; both women said that they understood. Firiona, meanwhile, had moved to another room and had cast vision. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the question: "Where is the tomb in the Gnarley Forest from which the dagger Lula possessed was taken?" Gradually, she became aware of billowing mists, and then a deep voice intoned a verse:
"A brooding and blasphemous presence,
A frigid and fleshless physique,
A village depleted of peasants,
A forest of frightful mystique,
A passage root-filled and tree-covered,
A crypt marble-lined and profaned,
A key to a stronghold recovered,
A tow'r demiplane'd."
She shared the strange verse with the rest of the party. Arnold suggested looking for an abandoned village in the Gnarley Forest, and Lou, consulting his bardic knowledge once again, recalled a tale of a ruined village across the Selintan River, southwest from Greyhawk and deep in the Gnarley Forest. The party promptly decided to seek for this village. Edward put his cohort Bedevere in charge of security at Lula's estate, and the party promptly headed for the nearby Selintan River.
On the far side of the river, a cluster of houses and a small tavern stood next to the dock where the party landed. Edward, Lou and Arnold entered the tavern and spoke with two elderly men who were drinking within. It seemed that the men knew about both the ancient village and the tomb, which was reputed to be generally south of the village. According to the men, few had ventured into the Gnarley Forest in search of the tomb, and none had ever returned . . . .
Undeterred, the party proceeded into the forest, and after about three hours arrived at a clearing in the forest. There it was as described--the ruined village. Few of the twenty structures were at all intact; most were partially or totally destroyed and held nothing of value. From the clearing, the party followed a path to the south. The path curved south and bent west after about two hours. An hour later, the party noticed another, smaller, more overgrown path bearing almost due south. Tall trees arched over the path, shutting out almost all light. After several hours and an attack by two large dire wolves (easily driven off by the party), the party noticed lights behind them on the path. The party scattered to either side of the path and took defensive positions. The lights disappeared. Then, the party heard sounds like voices coming from east of the path, and focused their attention on the source of the sounds.
A thin, nasal voice sneered, "You shouldn't be here! You're in trouble!"
Suddenly, Firiona and Lou, positioned on the west side of the path but looking east, detected the scent of chlorine, just as they felt a horrible burning sensation! Both of them were severely burned. A huge, old green dragon had silently moved into position and breathed at the party, striking the two from behind!
The dragon then attacked Arnold, trying to bite him, but amazingly, the nimble rogue avoided the jaws of the monster! Green Arrow prepared and fired an arrow of death, but to no avail! He, along with Firiona, Lou and Arnold, shook with fear in the presence of the dragon. Edward, however, was immune to the aura of the dragon, and smote it repeatedly with his sword, which he had enchanted as a holy sword, highly potent against evil creatures such as a green dragon. Vessa prepared to dispel any spells the dragon might cast. And Lou, finding some courage after all, managed to partially heal himself.
Lou next healed Firiona of much of the damage from the dragon's breath. Green Arrow continued to rain arrows on the dragon, which breathed again, doing heavy damage to Edward and Arnold. But finally, Edward's holy sword proved the undoing of the monster.
The party despoiled the carcass of claws, scales and other trophies, then proceeded to search for the dragon's hoard, which they were certain must be nearby. After several hours of backtracking, the party eventually located the monster's hidden lair, and helped themselves to a rich booty. But while they were in the midst of their raid on the dragon's hoard, Vessa shouted a warning. A huge, incorporeal being with glowing red eyes had rushed into the lair and was heading straight for Green Arrow!
The huge dread wraith struck Green Arrow, who reeled, suddenly severely weakened. But again, Edward proved superior to the monster, and drove it off with the power of his faith in Hieroneus. Having driven off the undead horror, the party rested for the night secure in the dragon's lair.
Next morning, the party woke up with headaches due to the residual chlorine in the dragon’s lair, but were otherwise undamaged. They divided up the treasure and packed it all into the portable hole, then returned back into the forest to continue their mission. Back on the overgrown path that evening, the party encountered a spectral presence: the ghost of Hargorm, the "Duke of the Wood." Edward was initially hostile to the ghost, but Lou then spoke to it, and with Vessa persuaded it to tell its story. Hargorm had died centuries ago and been buried in a crypt deep in the woods of his former duchy, but his crypt had later been occupied by a powerful lich, which had driven him from the crypt. The ghost lacked the power to drive the lich from his tomb, which was the only way he could find rest. Lou realized, from his bardic knowledge, that such an eviction could have driven a ghost insane and caused it to become evil.
The ghost then offered to lead the party to its tomb, although it refused to enter or approach it.
That evening, the party reached a hidden entrance, and located a tunnel. The tunnel was filled with debris, and roots dangled from cracks in its ceiling. The party cleared the tunnel of some of the debris, and proceeded far into the hillside until they came to a stone door. The door was stuck, but yielded to Edward and Green Arrow’s forcing. Beyond the door, the party found itself in a large, dusty room, with tattered wall hangings and a few lamps suspended from a ceiling supported by two rows of columns. Statues, urns and other artworks, mostly damaged but relatively intact, were placed at various locations. At the far end of the room, a small chapel dedicated to an obscure and largely forgotten local god was located in an alcove. In the far right corner of the room, Arnold located a staircase leading downward.
The party headed down the stairs, which led to another stone door. Although locked, the door yielded to Arnold’s lock-picking skill. Beyond the door was a short corridor which ended at another door, this one unlocked and easily opened. Inside, the party found the crypt of Hargorm.
The sarcophagus of Hargorm was in the center of the room, and was flanked by two other caskets on either side. The room was decadently decorated, with gaudy, if tattered, tapestries, fine, well-upholstered furniture, golden drinking vessels and dinner service, beautiful artworks, musical instruments, books, scrolls, quills and ink bottles, candelabra with lighted candles, silk carpets, skulls, skeletons, chests of drawers, other chests filled with coins, gems and jewelry, and even a small pipe organ (!)
Inside the crypt, two humanoid figures, apparently a young human female and a half-elf male, welcomed the party with smiles! The young woman was lounging languidly on a fine sofa, dressed in a sexy outfit that left little to the imagination. The male was dressed in fine, almost formal attire, and was sitting at the pipe organ.
"Look at all the people!" the young woman said. "Are they nice people?"
"Oh yes, love. They’re here to see you. And me," replied the man. At that, he began to play a melody, bright but with dark undertones.
On entry into the room, Green Arrow had quaffed a potion of hide from undead, but nothing appeared to result from the use of the potion. When the man began to play at the organ, Lou, ever suspicious, began to use his bardic countersong ability, just in case. Firiona cast true seeing, and found that the two appeared to be very pale. Edward cast dispel evil and death ward on himself. The two looked at each other, then at the party, as if they felt disrespected.
Vessa, however, asked the two who they were. They introduced themselves as Sissy and Lirien, and continued to engage the party in friendly conversation. Edward, direct as usual, asked the two about the dagger that they had been sent to retrieve. "I’m afraid I can’t help you with that," replied Lirien, seeming to snicker somewhat under his breath. Firiona then asked about the ghost and his former home, but the two again denied all knowledge. Edward attepted to detect lies, but didn’t detect anything amiss. Nevertheless, he persisted, repeating his query about the dagger.
"Oh, OK," said Sissy, "it’s under the statue." She pointed to a small golden statue of a beautiful nude girl resting on a low bookcase against a wall of the room. "It’s our good luck charm," she said, in reply to Firiona’s inquiry.
Edward looked at the statue, and felt a strange feeling of antipathy toward it. It was as if the statue was telling him to stay away and not touch it.
Finally losing patience, Edward cast daylight in the room. Put off by this rude act, Sissy and Lirien asked the party to leave. Green Arrow quickly nocked an arrow, aiming at the two. Suddenly, both Sissy and Lirien turned gaseous and fled from the crypt, passing through a crack in the wall at the back of the room!
Firiona cast greater dispel magic on the golden statue, with no noticeable effect. Lou also attempted to dispel, and this time succeeded. Edward slammed the statue with his sword, then slashed at the pipe organ (an uncharacteristic display of temper!), when suddenly a secret door opened in the place where the gaseous pair had last been seen. A tall, gaunt figure, apparently a man of late middle age, dressed in fine, albeit tattered, clothes, appeared in the doorway. Sissy and Lirien were standing behind him. "I see you’ve met Sissy and Lirien," the man said. "I’m sorry to see that fine organ so unkindly damaged. I expected better from a paladin."
Again, Edward went straight to the point. "Where’s the dagger?" he demanded. Vessa, more diplomatically, inquired, "Who might you be, and why are you here?" Both she and Firiona noticed the hat that the man was wearing. Firiona remembered the vision she had had, and immediately realized it must be a hat of disguise, and that the being standing before them must be the lich alluded to in the vision and spoken of directly by Hargorm!
The lich, responding to Edward, answered, "I’m afraid I must disappoint you. The dagger is my property, and I have simply reclaimed what is my own." He went on to introduce himself and tell his story.
His name was Issus, and, as Firiona had perceived, he admitted to being a lich. He had begun his career in life as a wizard with a great interest in the planes and their inhabitants. As time passed, he became more and more obsessed with learning all the secrets of the planes. This obsession eventually grew into a desire to learn how to control outsiders, then how to control creatures (and intelligent beings) of the Prime Material plane and learn their secrets. "Despite what you may think, I did not put my knowledge to what you would consider "evil" uses. But, if I may ask, what is "evil", really? Doesn’t it depend, in the end, on your point of view and on how you use the knowledge you obtain?" Edward seemed unconvinced, but Issus continued. "Eventually I discovered how to create my own personal demiplane. I used this knowledge to create a private space in which to continue my research undisturbed by unwelcome visitors, such as overly zealous paladins like yourself."
The party pondered this revelation, wondering if it might be true. Firiona again connected the lich’s statements with her vision, and realized that the dagger was the key to activating the portal to Issus’ demiplane!
"You took it from our sponsor by force and violence," Edward accused the lich. "I repossessed stolen property," replied the lich. "And if you will recall, I did so with minimum violence. No one was killed, and only a few servants were, shall we say, roughly treated. Is that not so?" The party had to admit the truth of Issus’ statement.
"I find violence, well, distasteful in general," Issus continued. "It is usually, ah, bad for business. So I would suggest that we reach an arrangement." He pointed to several small treasure chests in the room, and offered to redeem the dagger in exchange for payment of a substantial sum. Edward, speaking for the party, refused. Issus then offered to throw in a substantial share of his accumulated knowledge of the various planes which he had explored in the course of his career, both living and undead.
Edward was skeptical. Firiona thought, "Should we ask Lula about this?" Edward then asked Vessa to teleport back to Lula and ask if she was amenable to making a deal. Vessa did so, and after almost an hour she returned to the party with Lula’s answer: she would accept 50,000 gold pieces for the dagger.
"Let’s ask for 100,000! Then we can keep half and still pay off Lula! And tell him to leave and never come back, too," said Arnold. Edward favored seizing the dagger and dispatching the lich, both being too dangerous, not to mention evil, to be allowed to continue existing. Lou agreed with Arnold; Firiona was indecisive but inclined not to fight; Green Arrow was not indecisive and favored a fight. Firiona then asked Vessa, "What to do? Should we ask the Enterprise?" Vessa responded, "We are the Enterprise here."
Edward maintained that the Enterprise would want the dagger itself. Vessa observed that the lich looked very powerful. "What about Arnold’s idea?" she asked. Firiona recommended giving Issus Arnold’s proposal: pay us 100,000 gold, give up the information, and leave the crypt forever, and he could keep the dagger. At last, Edward reluctantly agreed. Lou then made the proposal.
Issus agreed. He offered the party two treasure chests, then went back into the back room and returned with two thick volumes of lore. Handing the books over to Firiona, he wished her success in her future activities. Then he gave Vessa a long look, as if studying someone who was much more powerful than she appeared, but said nothing. He turned back into the back room without further discussion.
The party watched him leave, along with Sissy and Lirien, then left the tomb themselves. On their way out, Green Arrow took the statue and put it into the portable hole. As they departed from the upper level of the tomb, the party looked up at the ceiling and noticed a number of what could only be vampire spawn hanging from the ceiling and looking back at them--beings the party had not noticed previously.
Once back in the forest, they met the ghost of Hargorm again, and told him that the lich would soon be vacating the premises. The ghost shrieked with joy at the news before fading away. When the party returned to Lula’s estate, they paid her the 50,000 gold which she had demanded of the lich. Lula then paid the party the 20,000 she had originally offered them. A tidy profit!
As the party correctly surmised, the information Issus had to offer was of great interest to the Enterprise. The lich had vast knowledge of many planes, their features and inhabitants, both inner planes and outer planes as well as other dimensions rarely encountered if not completely unknown. The books told of his explorations of the many inner planes, not only including the Elemental Planes of Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, and the Positive and Negative Energy Planes, but also strange "border" planes, the "para-elemental" and "quasi-elemental" planes, which existed between pairs of elemental planes (Magma, between Fire and Earth; Ooze, between Earth and Water; Ice, between Water and Air; and Smoke, between Air and Fire) or between elemental planes and the Positive Energy Plane (Radiance, Minerals, Steam and Lightning, respectively) or the Negative Energy Plane (Ash, Dust, Salt and Vacuum, respectively). Issus had surveyed towers extending into the Positive Energy Plane on thin peninsulas of quasi-elemental material, and mysterious domed citadels similarly extending into the Negative Energy Plane. He had traveled far into the Astral Plane, where he had located a sealed crypt containing an entity of great power, which he left strictly alone! He had journeyed into the Ethereal Plane, as well as into the Plane of Shadow, by which he had accessed a vast number of alternate material planes. He was well familiar with the Outer Planes, especially (naturally) the lower planes of Acheron, the Nine Hells, Gehenna, Hades, Tartarus (also known as Carceri to some), the Abyss and Pandemonium. He had mapped countless of the Infinite Portals of Pazunia, the first layer of the Abyss, and found passages to the home layers of such powers as Orcus, Graz’zt, Demogorgon, Juiblex, and the Demonweb Pits of Lolth. He had found the lair of Tiamat on the first of the Nine Hells, and had been smart enough to leave her undisturbed. He had explored some of the upper planes in detail as well, particularly those that were not strictly good-aligned, such as Ysgard, where he had encountered the realm of Svartalfheim, populated by a goodly number of non-evil drow (!), and Sigil, the City of Doors. He had even ventured into such mysterious regions as the Infinite Staircase, the Temporal Energy Plane, and a dimension of utter madness known as "the Far Realm." As well as the planes themselves, Issus’ books of lore described many of the inhabitants of the planes, including such beings as the enigmatic energons, the terrifying astral dreadnoughts, the various kindreds of the gith, and the mercanes in their city of Union.
The party duly provided copies of the books of Issus to the Enterprise, receiving ample compensation for the tomes. Vessa declined a share of this reward, as she had declined a share of the booty recovered during the dagger recovery mission. At this point, Vessa took her leave of the party, thanking them for the opportunity to adventure with them. "I hope that we will have the opportunity to meet again," she said to Edward. "I have learned much from our work together."
Edward couldn’t help wondering if there wasn’t a double meaning to Vessa’s parting words, and if there weren’t more to Vessa than met the eye.
Time went by, and the party engaged in various activities in Darksea and beyond. Darksea itself was booming, having grown to over 5000 residents. The town of Eastgate likewise had grown into a substantial town of about 400 souls. Edward accumulated income from various sources, saving for a future construction project. Green Arrow and Lou likewise hoarded their gold. Firiona continued to develop the Darksea Magic Academy. Arnold, however, took advantage of several opportunities to invest in additional trading missions from Darksea to Greyhawk, making a large return on each inventment.During this time, the party made numerous visits to Greyhawk for supplies and entertainment as well. On one such visit, Edward visited a quality inn and tavern (operated by the Enterprise, as it happened), seeking a fine pint of ale and news from abroad. One particularly interesting item came to his attention. It seemed that a village, a considerable distance to the southwest, had come under attack from an invading force of drow, emerging from hidden entrances to the Underdark in nearby mountains. Amazingly, the drow had been dealt a severe defeat by an unknown force that arrived to do battle with them. After crushing the drow incursion, the victors had disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared.
Before his return to Darksea, Edward again visited the inn for one last round. As he sipped a well-aged brew, he saw someone approach. He instantly recognized a fellow paladin of Hieroneous! The two exchanged greetings, and the visitor introduced himself as Sombrus. "I’ve heard songs about you!" Sombrus told Edward. "It’s been quite a few years since we trained under Sir Ludovic," he observed, referring to the elder paladin who had trained them both, when they were young recruits (Sombrus had been the elder by a few years). Sombrus had gone on to a more conventional, less adventuresome career as a paladin than had Edward, and now resided in the nearby Duchy of Urnst. He was presently on a mission for the Church of Hieroneous which took him to Greyhawk for a time.
Sombrus asked Edward about his adventures over the last several years, and Edward confirmed some of the tales the bards apparently had sung of throughout much of the civilized world. Sombrus then told Edward that he was contemplating retirement from active duty and settling down to start a family. "Yes, I’m engaged!" he told Edward. "Her name is Tera, and she’s a wonderful girl. I am truly blessed by Hieroneous to have met her." Edward congratulated Sombrus and wished him a happy life with his beloved. Sombrus did express some doubts, however, about whether this was actually the right path for him, doubts which Edward attributed to pre-nuptial jitters. "What if she changes her mind? What if some villain comes along and steals her from me?" Sombrus asked, anxiously and somewhat jealously. "I’m sure nothing of the kind will happen. How could she prefer anyone else to you?" Edward assured Sombrus. "Yes, you’re right," Sombrus agreed. "And I left her in the care of my brother Idaeus until I return, so nothing should happen in any event. And my good friend and patroness Lady Rufilla will be there to keep Tera company." Sombrus then asked Edward to attend the wedding, which was presently scheduled for about a year from now. Edward graciously accepted. Sombrus then took his leave, wishing Edward the blessings of Hieroneous.
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