Road to Kebnegard, Chapter Five
Goodbye Cat, Hello Tower
Saturday, January 7th, 988 AD
When we awoke from our midday slumber, we found that Catarina had gone and had left the spellbook that Reynaldo had stolen from Sister Angela, and a note detailing why she had left.
Dear Party,
You guys suck. You burned down Venice, my home town, and didn't say a word? What a bunch of dicks. I know Wong had been saying things, but I thought she was just retarded, you know. But then your French buddy shows up and he's all, "Hey, remember when we burned down Venice? Wasn't that fun?" I knew never to trust Reynaldo, but I thought the rest of you were okay. But now... I left you the book that Reynaldo stole because I know stuff is more important than friends to you guys, and I didn't want you coming after me. I'm going back to Venice. If you guys ever come near my town again, i will sic the guard on you.
Love,
Catarina
P.S. You guys suck a lot.
Reynaldo took the book and crumpled up the letter, saying, "I didn't steal anything; the Sister gave it to me when she realized I'd make better use of it."
Edward then spoke with God to see if hacking the Black Tower was a worthwhile endeavor, and also if there were any undead within the Tower because Wong is a big 'fraidy cat. After communing with his Lord, Edward tells us that not only is there no undead to really be frightened of, God has also said that there will be great rewards inside. Everyone agrees to hack the Tower and Jean-Claude and Reynaldo go to check it out first.
They fly towards it as owls and see that the front door is forty feet off the ground. JC turns into an imp and looks through his Gem of True Seeing. He sees misty windows up near the top of the building and goes to get a closer look. he tries throwing a dart through them, but the dart bounces off like it had hit a wall. Reynaldo and JC come back and we all rest for the night.
A Wolverine and a Man
Sunday, January 8th, 988 AD
In the morning, Jean-Claude and Reynaldo go to inspect the tower again. JC casts Detect Magic and sees that the whole Tower is in some kind of magic sheath. Reynaldo's Detect Undead and Jean-Claude's Clairvoyance can't penetrate the magic. They come and we rest again. During second watch, however, a wolverine with eight legs and a golden hide attacks the camp. We easily kill it with some well placed Lightning Bolts and some hacking. We move camp and rest again. During second watch, Wong notices a man skulking about. She wakes up Nicolae, who quietly sleeps the man. Wong ties him up and everyone sleeps again, electing to deal with the fellow in the morning.
She's the Man, He's the Woman and the Black Tower, part I
Monday, January 9th, 988 AD
The captive's name is Stefan and he's from Novgorod. He claims to be out looking for help for his town. Jean-Claude looks through his Gem and sees the red-headed woman that fought the duel with Wong, and alongside the tailed people in Kiev. Before he beheads him, however, Reynaldo takes a look through the Gem and just sees the peasant. Wong starts to feel him up to see if the organs are in the correct place and finds breasts instead. It turns out Stefan is actually Stepanova. She claims to dress like a boy because she thinks it'll be easier to get help if they think she's a man. She also gives us a little history lesson on Novgorod: apparently, it was founded by Baba Ikulu on the spot that it was because the soil has the property to preserve the dead. We thank her and offer her fifty silver pieces after telling her we can't help Novgorod. She then turns to Edward and says, "Why not make it thirty and be done with it." Edward is taken aback by the verbal body blow.
We head towards the Tower and Nicolae tries to Knock the not-windows near the top of the tower, but it doesn't work. We are forced to take the door forty feet off the ground. Once inside, we decide to go up first. The fourth and fifth floors are empty, but the sixth contains a bunch of shadows. They fear Jean-Claude who runs away really fast. They also sap strength every time they hit a party member. The biggest shadow in the room possesses Reynaldo and Lightning Bolts the party. When his spells run out, the shadow, still inside Reynaldo, uses Tenser's Transformation, the last spell on the Mage Ring, and Reynaldo has to be put down hard by the party. The rest of the shadows are disposed of. We decide to continue upwards and on the seventh level, we encounter a creature that can only be hurt by magic weapons more powerful than the Swords of Concord, but less powerful than the Spear with the Elven Ribbon. We quickly run out of the tower and rest twice whilst planning a mode of attack on the very tough creature.
The Black Tower, part II
Tuesday, January 10th, 988 AD
We go back to the tower and head up again. Those shadows attack us again, but we have an easier time of it because the large shadow creature doesn't possess anyone this time. On the seventh floor, Ivan with Spear (sans Ribbon) and Edward with St. Afinagan's Hammer (with Ribbon) attack the monster. The plan is that if one of them falls, someone behind them picks up the weapon and continues attacking. This plan is not needed because the monster is quickly felled and then disappears. This leads Edward to believe it was an extraplanar creature. We rest for five hours so that the clerics can heal us up some. The eight floor has two trap doors on the ceiling. The one on the east leads to a room with a trap that will squish anyone trying to open the trap door in it. The western door leads to a room with no such trap, or really, any trap at all, except for the large Basilisk on the ninth floor. It turns Ivan to stone, but the rest of the party kills the beast. Upon its death, the creature disappears and Ivan reverts to normal. This leads Reynaldo to believe all the creatures are illusions. We go into the door that bisects the ninth floor in two and see a way up to the tenth floor. When we get up there, we see that three-quarters of the floor lie behind a wizard-locked door that we can't get past by Knocking, picking, turning Ethereal or Wraith-like. We decide to hack the bottom half of the tower after resting the night outside.
End Chapter Five
Previous: Road to Kebnegard, Chapter Four
Next: Road to Kegnegard, Chapter Six
