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A quick note about Game Master (GM) notes for campaigns. These notes are the GMs
has made about running his campaign, and thus can continue information not known
to the in-game characters.
(As usual, GM's notes follow the script) (1)
Rain fell with heavy drops upon the weary travelers, Rosalyn and This One.
Making their way, on foot, from Invidia to Pont-a-Museau (2)
was not usually a difficult task, but with the cold downpour trickling down their backs,
the journey was swiftly becoming less and less pleasant. After a few hours of walking
through the deluge, the pair simply decided to rest for the evening. While Rosalyn
attempted to get some sleep, This One huddled in his cloak and kept a silent vigil.
Slowly, a fog bank started to roll in…
This One quickly attempted to wake his comrade. Just as swiftly as it came
through their camp, though, the mysterious fog dissipated, leaving the pair in a precarious
situation. The road, just recently beneath their feet, was gone. A veritable wall of trees
surrounded them, as they struggled to look through the dense copses. Even more
disconcerting, a pair of figures stood within the swiftly receding mists—figures that had
not been there moments ago. Worriedly, Rosalyn drew steel.
Acting cautiously, the pair announced a greeting and peaceful remarks. One man,
bore a broad-brimmed hat and a thin steel rapier, while the other bore the trappings of an
established woodsman and held a scimitar and a dagger in his hands, which glinted silver
in the hazy starlight. Somewhat confused, the dashing gentleman introduced himself as
Charles, while the woodsman referred to himself as Ash.
Once the introductions were concluded, the quartet quickly began sizing up the
situation. None of the four had any idea where they could be, which left the entire group
notably disturbed. Suddenly, a peal of howling erupted from the woods around them.
(3)
Wolves, Ash noted, cried their pain to the world with a single, horrific voice. It did not
take long for the warriors to realize the terrible other-worldliness of this event, as they
readied their weapons and began to make haste in the opposite direction.
Peering through the trees as they hurried along, Charles began to see shapes,
flitting between the trees, half-hidden by the pouring rain. A low chant began
developing, and the group sped up. The shapes, now recognizable as a near-legion of
humanoids, were singing. Almost immediately, Rosalyn and Charles recognized the
song—an old children's rhyme in Patterna, the enigmatic language of the Vistani.
Shouting to their comrades of the horrors of this situation, the group bolted towards a
nearby clearing.
The clearing, however, did not hold their freedom. As the quartet arrived, a
hideous sight immediately confronted them. Seven young children, all reeking of death
and bearing hideous smiles, had linked their hands in the center of the clearing. Without
a moment's warning, they charged the four, hungry for violence.
(4) Charles moved swiftly, putting his skill with a rapier to good use,
while Rosalyn and Ash simply tried to hold their own. The flailing fists and feet of This One,
though, proved to be most effective in beating back this undead scourge. Desperately swinging
his sword and dagger, Ash felt his ribs begin to give way under the relentless pounding of the undead's
hellish claws.
At long last, the valiant warriors began to beat back their opponents and swiftly
resumed their flight through the darkened wood. Finally, they found their way into a
small hamlet, where lights still burned and smoke still rose from the chimneys. Slowing
their breakneck pace, the four gazed upon the stillness of the four buildings and decided
upon entering the largest. All was still as Charles led the way into the hall. Light still
glinted off of polished hardwood tables, but no human life remained. Quickly, Rosalyn
noticed a grizzled old man, beard long with age, sitting facedown at a writing desk.
Dead, yet not moving, his hand still clutched a quill poised at the end of a parchment.
Examining that paper, the group was mystified by some strange words:
Such are the final words of Hyskosa, seer of time…
A town shall be razed, then rebuilt in a day
The One Who is Many shall raise them from clay.
The circle of slayer and prey will be sundered.
Yet death brings no rest for the world-weary hunter.
The four pillars of alabaster will fall,
But a demon's sheer will shall use three as his thrall.
Five that once stood shall splinter and quake,
As the hordes of the Pike-Lord leave death in their wake.
A house built on pain will tumble and fade
And a realm will still scream though the Black Knight has paid.
Truth be shown through eyes, though the Black Mists will rise.
Eth radk amn liwl noos igna shi izrep.
Sitting down to rest, Rosalyn and Charles began to hypothesize what these strange words
could mean. While little made sense to either, Rosalyn was aware that alabaster was one
of the symbols of the goddess Ezra, while Charles remembered his background in Borca,
where he studied with one of the brothers in the Home Faith of Levkarest.
(5) Taking these mysterious words as a warning, the pair began
to wonder how soon they could make it to Borca.
Starving and sleep-deprived, the quartet began to search the house for some type
of foodstuffs to fill their empty bellies. In a small kitchen upstairs, Rosalyn started
gathering some old vegetables, a bit of dried meat and some water, in the hopes of
making a stew. However, when she lit a fire, the flames leapt too high, and began
singing the walls and ceiling. The others attempted to act quickly, but to no avail.
Flames started spreading throughout the hall, and little could be done but beat a hasty
retreat. (6)
Weary and desiring only to rest, the quartet left the smoldering ash of the largest
building behind and attempted to seek refuge in one of the smaller buildings. Wary,
Charles peered into a window, only to have the window-glass burst forth in front of him.
Leaping through the window, a lank and lean figure bearing that same hideous grin
accosted the rogue. Charles swiftly drew his rapier and squared off, as the door to the
building swung open. A massive bald man, with flesh peeling off, stood in the doorway
brandishing a hefty metal hammer. This One and Ash quickly flanked the creature, and
beneath This One's lightning fists, it fell. Charles, however, had little luck against the
loping monstrosity he faced. While neither foe had scored a hit, Charles felt luck slowly
turning against him. It may have been so, if not for Ash's quick motions. With swift
strikes from his scimitar and dagger, he felled the creature. (7)
Even more exhausted now than previously, the quartet quickly examined the other
two buildings and, finding nothing out of the ordinary, settled down for an uneasy rest.
(8)
Lost in foreign land, injured and alone, all they could do is hope that the whole
episode was only a dream. (9)
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