The Terrible Tome

  
 

After a day of shopping around Mortigny, and getting horses, the group decides its best to wait until morning the next day before starting out for Port-A-Lucine. As the party makes it was up the stairs of the Green Griffin the doors of the place are suddenly thrown open and a man stumbles in bleeding and rambling and muttering to himself. As he stumbles across the inn a bit the people in the tavern quickly get out of his way. Sik continues on to bed, while the rest of the party go up to the guy at the bar where the bartender has given him a glass of water.

When the members of the party ask what is going on the guy, starts to mutter about dogs. The Dogs are out there and they are close to getting him. Tallorn and Rimo both walk over to the windows to take a look outside for dogs, but neither sees anything. Daimonion, Dera and Dario continue to talk to the guy, but he still mutters more about the dogs, and only gets more agitated. Tallorn meanwhile wonders why the bar keep only gave the guy a glass of water as opposed to something stiffer.

Dario decides to go outside and see what is going on for himself, while the rest of the party stays inside. At first Dario doesn't see anything out of the unusual in the evening peering from behind the door. Its not until Dario actually walks outside that he sees a wavy almost transparent form of a greyhound on the outskirts of town. Before Dario can blink the dog suddenly disappears. Dario quickly looks around and sees the dog reappear a few steps ahead of where it was and it disappears once again. Dario decides to run back inside and let the rest know about this.

Rimo quickly runs upstairs and gets Sik, while the man laughs a bit and says he told us about them, but no one would believe him. He needs to get to the enclave fast in order to stop the dogs from getting him. Once at the enclave the dogs will stop their pursuit of him, and all will be safe from the dogs. With Dario telling us the dog isn't that far from the inn, we all decide to mount up our horses and make a dash for the enclave.

After a really short discussion about why we should flee instead of staying in the Inn ends with the fact that the dogs could probably go right through the walls, the party dashes out in to the evening air and mounts their horses and rides off out of town. The guy rides with Daimonion, and points us in the direction of his enclave, and insists we must keep going at the fastest possible speed so that the dogs do not catch up. Sik meanwhile keeps complaining about how much she hates to ride a horse, and seems to almost want to fall off her horse during the rapid journey.

Three hours later, we let the horses slow down to a trot, in order not to wear them out from too hard of a riding. The guy insists that the party continue on at best speed, but the horses can only manage a slow trot. Not wanting to stop and make camp in the middle of the night, we figure it would be best to remain on horseback until daybreak. That way if the dogs catch up to us in the night we can try to spur the horses into making a dash.

As we ride slowly along, Daimonion asks the guy what the guy is running from. The guy mumbles a bit and then tells the party that he took something that the dogs want returned. He has been running from the dogs for a long time now, but that is all he says before he begins to tell the party that they need to be making better time. The party mindful of the horses just keeps going at a slow trot.

At daybreak, the party stops and while Rimo wanders off into the woods to hunt up some food, the rest make camp. Rimo returns with a deer and Dera makes a stew of it, which the party at first is a little weary of eating, considering the last time they had stew. While eating stew the party asks the guy some more questions.

The guy's name is Edgar Tindalos, and he has been running from the dogs for quite sometime. Reluctant at first, Edgar pulls out the object he took, at Dario's constant insistence. The object happens to be a book made of some kind of leather, which a few of the party gasp at as they recognize it as human flesh. Edgar says the book contains knowledge that is forbidden because it is very powerful knowledge. He then offers the party a chance to read it, but Daimonion and Tallorn decide to refuse while the others gather around the small fire and start reading the book.

While the group reads the book, Daimonion and Tallorn notice that they twitch in odd manners, except for Edgar who seems to be calm during the whole reading. Rimo seems to be the most affected by the contents of the book though. By mid-day the group has made it about a third of the way through the book, but before they continue any farther, Edgar suddenly stands up screaming and pointing down the road.

Where the road meets the horizon, two wavy greyhounds are standing. Before the party can react one of the two disappears and reappears next to Edgar and with its nearly transparent tongue lashes out at Edgar, and pierces him. The dog retracts its tongue from Edgar's body leaving a hole that doesn't bleed, nor does it fill in with parts, it just clear through Edgar. Seeing this Rimo screams, and almost bolts.

The quickness of the dog catches Tallorn off-guard causing him to drop his long- sword, but he still manages to get the dog with his short sword. Daimonion also caught off guard also manages to hit the dog with his rapier. Sik puts on the pair of goggles she picked up earlier, and then tries to stare down one of the dogs, but nothing happens. Dera meanwhile casts a spell that streaks off down the road hitting the dog there.

Edgar though, screams some more and stumbles back from the dog that struck him. Suddenly a black wavy ray reaches out from his hand and strikes the dog near him, causing it to bleed and shrivel up. The second dog disappears and reappears next to Dera striking her with its claw, and then sticking its tongue into her as well. This leaves a hole similar to the one on Edgar, which is bloodless and clear through. Rimo calms down enough to fire from his longbow two arrows into the side of the dog that hit Dera. The arrows manage to pierce the side of the dog, but suddenly fizzle and fall to the ground. Dario meanwhile tries to get a strike in but manages only to miss the dog. Tallorn, on the other hand, quickly picks up his long-sword and turns and slices into the dog.

The first dogs wounds seem to heal a bit, as it turns and claws Daimonion, but isn't able to get its tongue on him. Daimonion is a little shaken by the hit, and misses the dog with his rapier. Sik though still wearing her goggles just seems to watch the battle indifferently.

Suddenly the dog that was attacking Dera, gives a little yelp as it falls to the ground and dissolves into a slime that seeps into the earth. Seeing as how the dog on her is no longer there Dera turns and fires a spell off at the remaining dog that manages to hit it. Edgar screams some more, which distracts Rimo enough to make his shots go wild and miss the party. Dario though manages to puncture the side of the dog with his short sword. But before the group can do any more to hurt the dog, it steps back and disappears.

Dario walks over to Edgar, and as he tries to calm Edgar down attempts to pick his pockets. Edgar though suddenly calms down enough to catch Dario, and gives Dario a mean look. Dario though manages to talk his way out of any trouble though, and Edgar tells us that we should get some sleep, as the dogs will probably not return for a while after we defeated them. As the party settles down to get some sleep Tallorn pats Daimonion on the back for a job well done, and Daimonion does feel better after that.

Tallorn decides to take the watch while the party rests up. The rest of the day goes by without incident and as night falls Tallorn wakes the party up and prepares the horses for the ride. Edgar insists we must make good time tonight, and if we do we should be to the enclave by nightfall the next day.

As the party rides on at a slight gallop, in order to not wear the horses out too much, Edgar gives up some more information about his flight from the dogs. While poking the hole in his chest, he mentions that the enclave we are heading to is a place where a sect held sacred rights. The sect held the scared rights at this particular enclave, because it was the resting place of the Liber Dibon. The Liber Dibon is the book of forbidden knowledge he currently possesses. He stole it from the enclave to learn of the powerful knowledge contained in it. The sect had of course protected the book by guarding it with phase dogs, which are the dogs currently chasing him and the ones we've done battle with. Thus he must return the book to stop the phase dogs from chasing him.

Suddenly for some reason Dera's horse bolts and charges ahead of the party. The whole party gets a little chuckle out of this, not because of Dera's face when the horse bolted but because there is a shrill whistling sound too. The whistling sound came from the small hole in Dera's shoulder that was made when the phase dog stuck its tongue into her. Dera not too pleased with the laughter turns and fires a spell off at Rimo, who gets a frosty chill, which quickly shuts him up.

After a night of riding the morning dawns and the party stops the horses and makes camp. Tallorn takes the first watch while the party sleeps. Daimonion is awoken by Tallorn to take the next watch, and both notice that Edgar actually has not gone to sleep, and that Dera is sleeping away from the rest of the group. Not thinking much of this Tallorn goes to sleep letting Daimonion take the watch.

A short while later, Edgar starts to become a bit agitated, and Daimonion noticing this decides that it can't be good news, starts to wake the rest of the party. As Daimonion starts to head over to Dera to wake her up, three phase dogs suddenly appear just outside the camp. So close in fact that one of them takes a swipe at Edgar, but misses with its claws, but manages to stab him with its tongue, leaving another bloodless hole in him.

The second phase dog leaps at Daimonion and only manages to sink its tongue into him, leaving him with a hole in his shoulder. Sik puts on her goggles again and tries to start down the first phase dog, but only causes it to quiver a bit. Rimo still a bit groggy from waking up quickly fires an arrow from his long bow that goes astray, but he manages to hit the second phase dog with his other shot. Once again the arrow fizzles and falls to the ground. Tallorn, also groggy from the sudden awakening swings with his two swords at the second phase dog, but doesn't connect. Dario though sneaks around the first phase dog, and with a strong swing of his short sword slices a serious wound into its side. Daimonion still startled from the strike by the second phase dogs tongue, only manages to swing his rapier and miss.

Edgar steps back from the first phase dog, and suddenly the dog gags for a second and then chokes up a lot of water. The phase dog then slumps on to its side and it dissipates into the ground. The third phase dog leaps at Rimo, but only manages to get one claw on him, before it realizes it has leapt too much and crashes into the woods behind him.

The second phase dog still not done with Daimonion, slashes him with both its claws, and slobbers what appears to be acid over him as well. Sik once again stares through her goggles at the second phase dog, only causing it to shake a little bit. Rimo turns around and lets loose two arrows from his long bow, at the phase dog that crashed into the trees behind him, and hits with both. Tallorn also manages to hit twice with both his swords on the second phase dog. While Dario gets around behind the second phase dog and strikes it as well with his short sword. Daimonion reeling from taking more damage can only swing his rapier around and miss.

Edgar faces the phase dog in the woods, and in the middle of the air with his finger, draws a red sign of some sort. The phase dog, noticing the red sign, suddenly whimpers and runs off down the road. The second phase dog, noticing the other flee suddenly disappears from the middle of the battle.

With the battle over the party sits back down around the fire to rest and heal up their wounds. Dera and Rimo decide to take the last watch before nightfall, but nothing comes forth. Just as night begins to fall Rimo hunts down another deer for dinner, and the party prepares for another night of riding. After a quick meal the party mounts up and begins heading off towards the enclave, with directions from Edgar.

As they ride along Dera, Dario and Rimo talk about the book a bit. Sik still seems to be trying to fall of her horse, but manages to stay on anyway. Sik fortunately or unfortunately doesn't need much of reason to stay on her horse after a short while, as four phase dogs appear on the road ahead of the party.

As the part quickly dismounts for battle, Rimo lets loose with two arrows, only managing to hit the third phase dog with his second shot. The lead phase dog leaps at Dario, but as it misses Dario and leaps past him, landing behind the party. Dera quickly mutters some words and becomes festooned in magical armor. Then the second phase dog claws at Rimo, but missing with its claws, stick him with its tongue instead, leaving a nice bloodless hole in him. Daimonion manages to slice into the third phase dog with his rapier, leaving a nice wound on its side. While Sik with her goggles, tries to start down the wounded phase dog. The fourth, and last phase dog, charges at Edgar, but Edgar steps back and fires three magic missiles at it. Meanwhile Dario tries to sneak around behind the third phase dog.

Tallorn with his sword actually manages to hit the second phase dog three times leaving it with some deep bleeding wounds. Dario then sneaks around behind the phase dog and stabs it, causing it to slump to the ground and dissipate into the earth.

Rimo pulls out his special dagger and charges at the third phase dog, burying the dagger into it. The phase dog then turns on Rimo and staggered by the dagger hit, can only swipe blindly at him, and misses.

Dera fires a crossbow bolt at the first phase dog hitting it for a bit of damage. Daimonion then slices in it with his rapier leaving it with some wounds. The phase dog suddenly disappears and then reappears beside Dario, where it claws him and then sticks him with its tongue, leaving Dario with a bloodless hole.

Sik meanwhile continues to stare through her goggles at the phase dogs, but beyond that does not do anything.

The last phase dog still continues its attack on Edgar. Edgar screams as the phase dog sticks its tongue into him leaving another bloodless hole. Edgar is able, through his screams, to cast another magic missile at the phase dog, seriously wounding it.

Tallorn a bit distracted by Edgar's scream only manages to bring his long-sword down on the third phase dog, doing it some minor damage. Dario also distracted by the scream misses the phase dog all together. Rimo stabs at the phase dog with his dagger and misses, but notices that some of its wounds have healed a bit.

Dera tries to fire another crossbow bolt at the first phase dog, but in the heat of the battle snaps the string on her weapon. In the instant Dera takes to look at how badly broken her crossbow is, the first phase dog is upon her. It then strikes at her with its claws, slicing right through her neck, lopping her head off completely.

Not seeing Dera's head being knocked off her body, Daimonion manages to stab his rapier into the side of the fourth phase dog. Sik on the other hand, seemingly motivated by the death of Dera, sneaks up to the first phase dog, and stabs it to death.

Edgar screams out loud, and the fourth phase dog disappears. As soon as the phase dog disappears Edgar runs screaming and tries to climb onto one of the horses.

Tallorn quickly turns his attention to the last remaining phase dog, and brings just his long-sword down upon it, causing it to fall to the ground in pain. Dario then comes up to it and slams his short sword into the side of the phase dog killing it.

With the battle over Daimonion rushes over to Edgar and manages to catch him before he rides off. Tallorn and Daimonion try to calm Edgar down, while Dario and Rimo bury Dera's body. While helping Rimo bury the body Dario searches her remains for anything useful, which prompts Rimo to help him with the search.

Once Edgar is calmed down, and Dera's body has been laid to rest, the party quickly mounts up and rides on, since Edgar tells the party that they are close to the mountains where the enclave is. The sooner the party gets to the enclave the sooner the phase dogs will stop attacking.

The mountains cause a bit of a problem for the horse, which slows the party down, but towards midnight they come across the enclave that Edgar was talking about. Before entering the enclave, Edgar offers the group a chance to finish reading the Liber Dibon, which Sik, Dario and Rimo eagerly accept. While the group settles down to read Daimonion and Tallorn keep a watch out for any more phase dogs.

About two hours later the group finishes reading the book, and all three of the party members seem to be more confident and healthier looking than before. With renewed vigor the group decides to head into the enclave in order to return the book to its rightful place with in it. Daimonion and Tallorn decide to spend the time keeping an eye out for any trouble, and stay outside the enclave.

After a while, and a few "discussions" about leaving if the party does not return by daybreak, Daimonion and Tallorn hear some noises coming from inside the enclave. Before they can consider the idea of entering the enclave, the noises stop. From the enclave steps forth Sik who is very anxious to leave the enclave, followed by Rimo and Dario. Rimo grins widely and proudly pulls up his tunic to show off the runes he has cut into his flesh. The rest of the group declines his offer of getting similar items drawn on their bodies.

Not wanting to know what has gone on inside the enclave, and seeing as how the book is no longer with the party, Daimonion and Tallorn suggest mounting up on their horses and making their way out of the mountains. As the group makes it way down the mountain range, Rimo sings a really wretched song that causes the party to wince and moan about how bad it is.

Once at the bottom of the mountain range, the group decides to stop and get some sleep. As Rimo falls asleep, Sik and Dario tie him up and gag him to prevent him from singing anymore, and then they go to sleep. But in the middle of the night a wolf sneaks into camp and chews Rimo's bonds freeing him, and then rests its head on Rimo's sleeping body and falls asleep as well.

 

One of the interesting problems in this campaign is that Tallorn is not very literate in many languages. In fact he only knows, Darkonian, Tepesti and Vaashi. This causes some problems because our of the rest of the group only Rimo knows Darkonian, and later we find out that so does Dario, but the rest of the party tend to only speak Mordentish or other langauges Tallorn has no understanding in. As a result Tallorn is reduced to hand gestures or drawing on peices of parchment when Rimo is not around to translate for him. Here are the scribblings Tallorn has used through out this adventure to "talk" to other members of the party.


This was Tallorn telling Daimonion about how the group is interested in the book and the fact that Rimo seems to be losing his mind. The character at the bottom left is Daimonion's doing, but not sure what it is meant to be.


Left: The first bit on the left, is Tallorn pointing out that Edgar, the one with the book, is not sleeping.
Right: The middle one is Daimonion talking about how frigthened Edgar is of the dogs (yes that is a dog not a cat).


This Tallorn saying that at sun up we should take the horses and head off for Port-A-Lucine. (This is while Tallorn and Daimonion were waiting for the group to return from the Enclave.)


This Daimonion asking what about the party members in the enclave, and maybe we Should give them more time before we just leave them.


Tallorn replies that if they are not back by sun up they are prolly dead and it would be best to leave.


Top Daimonion then asks about sleep.
Bottom Tallorn says that we can sleep once we get out of the mountains, away from the enclave.


Left: This is Tallorn telling Daimonion that Rimo's singing is hurting his ears, and maybe we should gag him.
Right: Here Daimonion is offering up some rope he has to help gag Rimo