10th
November, 2015
Chapter 3.01 - Journey To Thraxia (Thracia)
Situation
A band of adventures has cleared out
the first layer down of a ruined monastery, the Monastery of Saint
A'Silvdh.
Now, however, they have been stymied
from descending any further.
They have decided to focus their
treasure-seeking efforts on the nearby Lost City of Thraxia.
This Lost City was in the Caverns
hidden in the forest at the far side of a swamp. But it was nearby
their base in the village of Poggollo.
So, they figured out how to get there
and prepared to set off.
They had left 2 of their number, unwell
with swamp fever, back in the village of Poggollo.
Norm. one of their number, an MU, had
been ill with swamp fever for a while now.
LeggyAss had also gone down with swamp
fever more recently.
Meantime, another band of adventures
had been attemping to fumigate the abandoned Saint A'Silvdh's
Monastery. This had been proving trickier than it sounds.
Prologue
With Norm and LeggyAss in the local
inn, receiving medical help, the rest of the adventurers set off
They had arranged for a local elf
guide, Hywyl the Green to take them through the forest.
So they met up and set off with Hywyl,
who led them through a labyrinth of tracks in the swamp to a forest
at the other side.
Chapter 3.02 - Through the Marsh Maze
Player Class Race Name
Marc Fighter Human SirBaltimore
John Fighter Dwarf Thrilly
Susan Scout Human Locke
Sid MU Human Windy
Sid Cleric Human HermanHink
The instructions were quite clear from
Hywyl:
“Head through
the forest due north for about an hour, till you come to a wide tree
with red bark” he said “The clearing for the Lost City is nearby”
He went on.
“This ring of
birch trees here is our meeting point when you come back” he said.
“Meet me here at our appointed time and I'll take you back through
the swamp. Miss that rendezvous and I'll be here the next day's
evening too. Miss that and you take your chances with me being here”
They settled on meeting up in three
nights hence – that would give them time to clear out the dungeon
and get their booty across the forest.
They set off, due north.
The first part was easy. Soon enough,
they saw a wide tree with red bark and gently approached a clearing
ahead.
They peered into the clearing. They
could see a low pedestal building about 100 feet into the clearing,
partially obscured by trees.
In Indian file they inched into the
clearing and towards the building.
They were just getting the lie of the
land when of a sudden they were under attack.
Out from an opening in the low
structure poured a group of Gnolls, 4 or 5 of them. Behind them a
man-like creature waved his arms, as if casting a spell, At the same
time, behind them, more Gnolls dropped from the trees.
Before they knew it, a spell went off
and washed over them.
It must have been a powerful sleep
spell as it affected them all. Bang. All 5 of them asleep.
They woke up in leg-irons, in a dungeon
someplace. Beside them, another human lay slumped in irons. They
tried their strength against the ironwork manacles. It seemed like
these were stuck fast. Optimistically, they though that if they kept
at it, then they might be able to work an arm loose in a week or so.
Their jailors, two Gnolls, came in,
with a human clearly in charge. They picked out the biggest strongest
fighter in their prisoners – SirBaltimore - and de-manacled him.
SirBaltimore saw his chance and went for it. He smashed at the Gnoll
on his left with his forearm and .....the Gnoll on his right spanked
him a cracker with his club, knocking him to the ground and knocking
him out. He was dragged out.
One by one, over a number of days, they
were all put through a similar process. And that was the last thing
any of them remembered.
Next thing they knew they all woke up
in a small clearing in a forest, stark naked.
They had been captured, stripped and
abandoned someplace in some forest.
Bewildered, they pieced together some
rudimentary clothing and headed south.
