Vanguard, Season Two/Episode Two
Swift sleds drawn by packs of tireless husky carry the Heroes of Eastening across the snowy plains of Drura. They are joined by an entourage of five elven guardsman, loyal to the late Captain Elanil, now pledged to protect Princess Miazma. To the north, they see the ruins of Jaanalume, fallen capital of the elven homeland, but this is not their destination. Instead, the party make for Windstall, a fortified trade post on the western border of the country, where they have hope to find a wizard powerful enough to break Sir Henry's curse.
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The Heroes;
Sir Henry (Sarge), human knight of Eastening, transformed into a kuo-toa by the slimy caress of an abominable aboleth.
Endon Ettin-Slayer (Garuda), halfling paladin of... I'm not sure. Is there a God of Cabbages in this setting? Also, one randy mofo, by all accounts!
New Setting Lore: All halflings are horny, like, all the time.
Miazma Cunningbitch/Drura'duin (Jim), half-elf rogue, recently revealed to be the runaway princess of Drura. She carries the Algorstone, treasured family heirloom and, as it turns out, key to saving the country from catastrophe.
Poddlebrim (Tom), tortle monk, travelling the wide world in search of new techniques and, hopefully, a protege to whom he can one day pass on his accumulated skills and wisdom.
Darvin Buckwild (AndyB), human warmage, recovering from PTSD. After being struck down by a cursed drow weapon, he is afflicted with a terrible wasting illness that prevents him from recovering HP.
Ezeke Strongtusk (Val), uncouth half-orc cleric. He carries a dead badger (called Bernard) in his trousers, and occasionally talks to it.
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The weather gradually worsens, and soon the sleds are travelling through a fierce blizzard. Flurries of snow make it difficult to see, but Miazma's keen eyes pick out shaggy shapes closing in on the convoy. A pack of five Winter Wolves attack! One of the elven guardsman is dragged off the sleigh, his throat torn out by wolfy jaws. Unfortunately, he was driving - and the directionless sled careens out of control! Ezeke leaps across from the adjacent sled to take the reins. Another elven guard is frozen solid by the wolves cold breath. Poddlebrim leans out to discharge the Staff of Talos at the pursuing beasts, only to be snatched off the side of the sled!
Realising they can't outrun the pack, the party halt the sleds and form up on the snowy ground. The hungry wolves surround their position. Darvin summons a giant hand made of snow, which grabs and crushes the body of a helpless wolf. The rest of the pack attack! Suddenly, a winged shadow swoops down and snatches up the foremost wolf in its claws, carrying it high into the air before flinging it against a rock. The remaining beasts scatter as the flying menace circles round for another pass.
The creature lands nearby. It is an armoured wyvern, ridden by an elven guardsman in a tight-fitting leather flight suit. He introduces himself as Watcher-Captain Eldar Eilsalor and offers them escort to Windstall. Miazma relays the sad news of his sister's death in defence of Port Neverthaw. Watcher-Captain Eldar takes the news as well as can be expected, given the circumstances. Darvin and Ezeke recover the bodies of the two dead elves, so the appropriate funerary rites can be observed.
The Heroes reach Windstall, a town built into the sheer face of an icy ravine that exits in the Mammoth Tundra, a wild land populated by nomadic tribes of gnome barbarians. An elevated platform, powered by run-off from the mountain lakes above, carries the party high above the frozen ground. Ezeke urinates from the edge of the platform, blessing the common folk below with a golden shower of warm piss. Watcher-Captain Eldar leads the group to the tower of Windstall's resident magician. Miazma immediately recognises Archmage Abras Cadabras, her father's chief magical advisor, and one of her many tutors growing up in the palace.
Archmage Cadabras has a lot of info to dump, but before he can really get going, the Heroes insist he reverse Sir Henry's fishy transformation. The archmage thinks there is a scroll of Remove Fish Curse in his basement/storage area and gives Miazma the key to go look for it. Meanwhile, he and his gazer familiar Xip will research sites of elven springs, where Darvin's illness might be cured.
Miazma, Endon and Ezeke head downstairs to find the scroll, while Sir Henry goes for a last swim in an icy mountain lake. The wizard's basement is full of magical junk; Endon finds a Potion of Growth, Ezeke picks up a Potion of Fire Breath and Miazma collects a toy pipe that produces multi-coloured bubbles. Miazma spots the Scroll of Remove Fish Curse on a cluttered desk, beneath a human skull paperweight. A large bell jar full of floating eyeballs watch her curiously. As Miazma reaches for the scroll, the skull burst into flame and casts Fireball. Things quickly deteriorate from this point forward.
Poddlebrim hears the explosion, but thinks nothing of it. He also manages to ignore the smoke rising from the beneath the cellar door. Sir Henry towels himself dry and rushes to investigate. Meanwhile, back in the basement, the jar of eyeballs shatters and the contents form a large oculo swarm. Ezeke is confused by the maddening gaze of a hundred different eyeballs. Endon and Miazma feel a dreadful pressure building in their skulls, as some unseen force attempts to pluck the eyeballs right out of their heads. Endon staggers away, temorarily blinded, but Miazma stands her ground, fails her second save and is permanently blinded as her eyes pop out and join the swarm. The cellar door bursts open and Sir Henry joins the fray. He strikes down the flameskull. Ezeke recovers his wits and destroys the oculo swarm.
Miazma claws at her empty eye sockets. Endon scoops up a handful of intact eyeballs off the floor and tries popping them into her head, with horrifying results. Fortunately, Archmage Abras can craft a new pair of magical eyeballs and sets to work on that immediately, apologising profusely for not warning the party about the dangers they might face in his basement of horrors.
(Slight ret-con there, but I'll e-mail Jim about this shortly)
The wizard uses the scroll of Remove Fish Curse to remove the fish curse on Sir Henry. He is a man again, huzzah! Abras has also located the site of an ancient elf spring, in tbe mountains to the north, but before the party head out, he still has all that sweet info to dump;
When the Algorstone was stolen, the defences of the kingdom were greatly diminished. An army, lead by frost giant warlord Feldryd Frostmane marched south. He left a not-insignificant number of hobgoblins to besiege Fort Icewatch and marched the rest of his army on towards Jaanalume. He was met mid-way by King Tarsus, who fell in combat against the giant. His body - and the Elfblade of Druraduin - still lie upon the field of battle. Feldryd is accompanied by a pair of young white dragons. He seeks the Algorstone, because it is a shard of a greater artifact called an Orb of Dragonkind.
Miazma confesses that she stole the Algorstone. Archmage Abras is dumbstruck by her foolishness, but relieved she has now returned the stone to Drura. Hopefully, she and her companions can remedy some of the harm her actions have wrought. Darvin is incensed that Miazma's selfishness has brought such ruin on her kingdom and storms out of the tower. Will the Heroes forge ahead without their warmage, or can Miazma find the words to reconcile with her troubled friend?
TBC
