The Faerie Temple

Time:		14-17 March 1068 (Spring)
Game Master:		David Ternes
Characters:		Marcus Dundee Luke William Ethelbreth Christoph		Magus Companion Companion Grog Companion		Matt Taylor   Larry Bingham   Matt Taylor (for David Ternes)*
*		This character is part of the Game Master's troupe. Campaign rules do not allow a Game Master to run his own character in an adventure. Since the adventure needed at least one more character, another player ran this character.
Scenario:		The Faerie Temple

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A Problem is Announced

It was a fine early afternoon in late spring at the Covenant of Loch Laggan. All but one of the young magi were out on a second expedition to investigate the Monolith to the far east of the covenant. So, things were quiet; too quiet.

A boy, apparently in his mid teens ran into view of the village. Nearing the center, he stopped, both exhausted and confused. Peter, the village headman, came up to him; "What is the matter boy? Why the hurry?".
"Our village was attacked. We need help."

That was all Peter needed to hear. This was something the magi should deal with, not him. Grabbing the boy by the hand, he pulled him to the house of the Primus.

Not at all happy about being taken away from his studies, the Primus listened to the boy's story.
"I am Cathal from the village of Caergonith. This morning, just before dawn, my grandfather and I were out watching over the cattle. Suddenly a scream came from inside the village. When we got back, many of the houses were burning; people were hurt, and some were dead, I think. Giric, our headman, said that we needed wizards to help us, and told me to come here."

The Primus needed more information; "Who attacked your village, boy? Why ask for wizards? Be specific. What did your headman say?"
"He said a large number of small green-skinned men came out of the forest. They burned houses, took people, and attacked anyone who got in their way. Giric said something about faeries."

The boy obviously didn't have much strength left, but the Primus had heard enough. If it was faeries, the covenant was sure to be held responsible somehow. So, something had to be done. Summoning the covenant's Autocrat, William, the Primus ordered the young magi and their friends to handle the problem. Expecting that William could handle the order, the Primus returned to his studies.

Forming a Party

William knew that only one of the new magi was present at the covenant. Marcus Dundee had arrived only a month before, and had not yet finished setting up his laboratory, so he had not gone on the recent expedition. Finding Marcus in his laboratory, William told him of the wishes of the Primus. A quick survey of the covenant showed that, besides Marcus and his companion Luke, there were only three other people available. William and Ethelbreth, friends of the magus Egar were present, along with Cristoph, Domnal's companion, who was doing research in the library. A discussion ensued, as Marcus sought to convince each to come with him. William was quite unhappy, as he considered most of the world outside of Egar's laboratory to be unimportant [He is a non-combatant and a "lab rat".] Ethelbreth was happy at the though of getting out and doing anything. Christoph, once he understood the importance of the situation, agreed to help, although he wasn't certain what he could do.

Marcus also inquired of William about getting help from the grogs in the village. William responded that they were not available. Most were busy with preparing the fields for the spring planting. The rest were readying the cattle for their move to the summer pastures. Marcus would have to make do with what he had.

At Caergonith

Early in the morning, the party set off with Cathal showing them the way. Travel was easy, and they reached Caergonith just after noon. Cathal led them to a tall, thin man saying; "This is Giric, our headman. He's the one who sent me for you."

Marcus told Giric what Cathal had said. Giric noted; "There isn't much I can add to that. We really don't know exactly what happened. However, there are a number of people missing. I don't know if they were burned in their cottages or taken, although I at least know that some people were taken by those green-skins."

Marcus asked; "Where did they go?" Giric pointed to a trail leading to the west. "They went down that trail. It leads to some pastures. Beyond that only some hunters have gone."

The party set off down the indicated trail. Luke, in the lead, had no trouble seeing that a large party had passed this way recently. He also noted that many of the footprints appeared to only have three toes. Marcus and Christoph agreed that this certainly must be faeries.

A Nightly Visitor

In the early evening the party came to a split in the trail. One path led to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead. A quick check showed that both side paths led to common pastures. The footprints went straight. This path also led to a pasture, but unlike the others, a narrow path led around the edge of the pasture and into the woods in the distance. The faeries had followed this route. As it was getting dark, the party decided to camp in the open pasture before entering the woods. Three watches were organized, and the party bedded down.

About half way through the night, while Marcus and William were on watch, they both noticed the loud snap of a branch in the woods nearby. Unwilling to take a chance, Marcus began to wake the rest of the party. William stared into the woods. A few moments later, William had the distinct feeling that someone was standing to his right. Turning, he saw, at the edge of the limited firelight, a short (about four feet tall), stocky green-skinned "person" wearing a long tunic and dragging a large club behind it.
It spoke; "You go away. Go home." William, astounded, stared at it.

"Who are you? What do you want?" said Marcus.
"You go away. Not follow. Not belong here."
Marcus said; "We are looking for some people. We can't go away until we find them."
"Ours now. Not yours. Go away."
Marcus; "No, we must have the people back."

It scowled menacingly. At this point William noticed, once he shut his mouth, that, whatever it was, it didn't seem as short as it had a bit ago. When it came into camp he was looking down at it. Now he had to look up a bit. And the club no longer looked so large.

Marcus also noted the apparent size change. Luke, Christoph, and Ethelbreth were grabbing their weapons. "You go away!" it shouted. Marcus began to chant. Moments later an Incantation of Lightning was completed, and hit whatever it was squarely in the chest. It stumbled backwards out of the light with a loud grunt.

Marcus looked quite pleased with himself, especially when he noted that he had just barely missed William, who was between himself and the "target". The look went away as a crashing was heard retreating through the woods and its voice called out; "Gizella won't like this!".

On to the Objective

The party tried to get some more rest, but didn't succeed too well. Still, in the morning they were ready to go. Setting off into the woods they noticed where something had smashed its way from the side of the camp back to the trail. That trail quickly disappeared as they moved away from the pasture. Fortunately, the passage of a large number of people through the undergrowth was evident to even those without tracking experience.

The party continued quickly through the forest. Soon a large hill could be seen ahead through the trees. Luke signaled for a stop. There was a clearing ahead. He moved to its edge. Peering out, he saw that the clearing extended well up the side of the hill, which they were now near. By the hill was an odd structure. A ring of large standing stones formed a partial circle with its base at the edge of the hill. Between the large stones smaller ones were placed to form a solid wall. Between the center stones was a wooden door. To the right side [from Luke's point of view] of the structure a trail zigzagged its way up the hill.

Carefully checking to see that no one was in sight, the party approached the door. It was made of heavy wood, and had large fastenings made of bronze. Luke tested it, and found that it was secured from the inside. William looked at the smaller stones in the wall. Quietly pulling one of the smallest out, he looked in to see that there were more stones behind [No easy way in there.] Ethelbreth noted that the trail from the woods behind them was obviously not commonly used by whoever was inside the structure, although well worn paths went from the door to the woods on either side, and to the trail up the hill.

Marcus led the party around the structure to the trail up the hill. It was a steep climb, but done carefully they reached the top of the hill in about an hour. From here they saw that the clearing extended in a rough circle around the structure. Marcus also noticed that the large stones which formed a roof on the structure were not so solidly set together as were the walls.

Climbing slowly down, the party made it to the roof safely, having caught William in the one stumble which occurred. There they found that two of the stones had a large hole between them. Looking down they could see a dirt floor. Luke, by far the largest in the party, attempted to slide down the hole. His armor caught on the edges. After removing his equipment he was barely able to slide through. Ethelbreth then dropped Luke's armor and weapons down to him. In turn each other member of the party slipped down. Marcus, last, tied a rope to a couple of stout bushes on the hill side, and dropped it through the opening, and then followed it down.

Inside, the party found an empty semi-circular area about fifteen feet in radius. An approximately seven foot wide tunnel in the center of the base of the semi-circle went into the rock of the hill. Marcus, looking down the tunnel, could make out an indistinct glow in the distance. Meanwhile, William checked the door, finding it barred from the inside. He asked Ethelbreth to remove the bar in case they needed a quick exit.

Into the Hill

Obviously, there was no way to go except down the tunnel. They did so, moving carefully in the dark, and approaching the glow slowly. The "glow" turned out to be light coming from around a bend in the tunnel. Peeking around the bend, Luke saw a dimly lit room. It was circular with three other tunnels entering it, roughly evenly spaced around the room. Between each of the tunnels was a statue, with another statue on a pedestal in the center of the room.

The party moved slowly into the room. Examining the ceiling, Marcus concluded that it had to have some kind of magical spell to cause it to glow as it did, giving off a level of light roughly equivalent to that at dusk. The stone statues appeared to be rather crude carvings of what looked like short men equipped with ancient armor and weapons. The statue on the pedestal was totally different. It was in metal, probably bronze, about three feet tall, and depicted a slim and quite beautiful woman standing and holding some unidentifiable object in her hands. Looking down each tunnel, Christoph could only see that they all curved within twenty feet, blocking any further view.

Marcus pointed the party down the right hand tunnel, with Luke in the lead. Around the curve the tunnel widened slightly. The tunnel ran off into the dim light, but about twenty feet after the curve was a side opening, from which slightly brighter light came.

Quietly approaching the side tunnel, Luke peered around the corner. The ceiling here was brighter, and illuminated a large dark stone set in the back of a roughly cut circular room. In front of the stone was a number of wooden planks in the floor. And, on the planks sat a small woman with her back to the party, obviously intently looking at the stone. She had long brown hair, and wore a dark green dress with a pure white shawl over her shoulders.

As Luke and Marcus stepped into the entrance to the room, the woman looked slowly over her right shoulder. She seemed more curious than surprised. "Why are you here?" she asked.
"Looking for our people." said Marcus.
"Only our people are her." she said.
"We followed a trail from a village. We know our people are here. We want them back." responded Marcus.
"They belong here now. You do not belong here. You should go." she insisted.
"Not without the people. Are you in charge here?" Marcus asked.
"This is Gizella's place." she said.
"Will you take us to Gizella?" asked Marcus.
"Here is my place. That would not be my place." she responded.
"How can we find Gizella?" Marcus queried.
"You cannot. This is not your place." she replied. And now she was obviously getting a bit perturbed.
"We must see Gizella. Take us to Gizella." Marcus demanded.
"Very well." she sighed. "Follow me." She then walked into a narrow crack in the wall at the back of the room.

Marcus, followed by William, rushed to the back of the room. "Where'd she go?" asked William, feeling for the outline of a door. "Into the wall." said Marcus. Looking at the wall, William saw a long thin crack which ran from the top of the room to the floor. No where was it over four inches wide. Reaching in, he found that it narrowed and turned within a foot behind the wall.

Turning from the crack, they looked over the room. In front of the large stone was a small brown bag. Looking inside, Marcus saw four leaves, which no one could identify. It got tucked away for later. The front of the stone was covered by odd writing which, again, no one could recognize. William showed particular interest in the wood on the floor. Four planks were set into a neatly cut rectangular indent. The individual planks were extremely smooth, with no tool marks which could be seen.

Coming out of the room the party turned left, and continued down the tunnel. About fifty feet farther they came to an intersection with a tunnel branching to the left. Down this dimly illuminated path could be seen two close and two farther cross tunnels. The side passage off each side appeared somewhat darker than the main tunnel. Marcus decided to avoid this, and continued along the original tunnel.

The tunnel went on for another fifty feet and then turned to the left. Just around the bend they came to a wooden door with bronze hinges. After carefully listening at and checking the door, they opened it. Stepping past the door they entered a roughly twenty foot circular room. Therein they saw two small (about 1-1/2 foot long by 1 foot wide, and 1 foot high) chests and a piece of cloth covering a pile of something. Each chest was made of wood, and was bound with bronze fittings. Neither appeared to be locked. Opening the first chest they saw lumps of gold just a bit smaller than a person's fist. The second chest, when opened, revealed similar lumps of what appeared to be silver. Going over to the cloth, William uncovered a pile of beautiful yellow flowers. None of the party members were able to identify the flowers, and none could remember ever seeing such. Marcus then said that; "We'll come back for this."

Moving down the tunnel they came to another, similar, door. Opening it they saw a similar room. Inside was a stack of large bronze knives, two bronze tipped spears, two small clubs, and one very large club. Looking closely, Marcus checked to see if there was any wear on the large club, as if it had been drug along the round. It appeared to be unused. He decided that this must be some sort of armory. Nothing was taken.

Back in the tunnel, the party went around another left turn. About one hundred feet along they came to a "T" intersection. Looking down the new tunnel they saw the cross corridor they had previously seen. Marcus and Luke went to the first crossing. To either side they saw thick curtains across the openings. On the left they heard soft thumping sounds. To the right all was quiet. Luke stuck his head around the curtain on the right. The chamber was about thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide. In it were ten beds. Near some of the beds were small items, but Luke was too far away to identify them.

Preferring quiet to looting, Marcus directed the party farther down the corridor to the next crossing. There they found a curtain to their left, and a wooden door to the right. From behind the curtain came the sound of snoring. Approaching the door, Luke noticed that the smell was ... extremely unpleasant. The party turned back to go as they had come.

As they moved back, two small green-skinned goblins [It took a while for the party to figure that out.] walked out of the curtained room in front of them. Each was wearing a dark green loin cloth, a brown leather belt, and a large bronze knife. One looked past the other, saw the party and ran back past the curtain. Seconds later, before the party could react, a third goblin emerged. This one appeared the same as the first two, but had a set of brown baldrics. [i.e., leather straps from the belt up over each shoulder.] The first goblin pointed to the party saying; "Dongor, look!"

Discovered!

The leader goblin [that is what the party concluded], looked at the party saying, "Who you?"
Christoph, in the lead, answered; "Christoph".
"What you doing here?" asked the goblin.
"Talking to you." responded Christoph, in an accurate if not helpful manner.
"You human. You not belong here." shouted the goblin, becoming clearly agitated.
"Oh, really?" noted Christoph unhelpfully. [The creating player never knew Christoph was such a smart ass. This may require a reassessment of his character description.]

Obviously getting angry, Dongor turned to the first goblin and shouted, "Go get Dorg!" The goblin started down the corridor toward the party. Approaching Christoph, he squeezed up against the wall, trying to stay as far away as possible from his iron. The leader, pointing down the tunnel from which the party had come, shouted; "Moron ... that way!" Obviously thankful, the goblin ran down the tunnel.

"Why you here?" asked Dongor in a slightly more controlled voice.
"We were following the lady at the stone. Where is she?" asked Marcus from the other end of the party.
"You met Onneria? She say this ok?" asked the goblin, now confused.
"We want our people back." responded Marcus.
"Your people not here. Only our people here." shot back the goblin.

The patter of feet came from the other end of the corridor. A goblin, ran around the corner and pushed the wooden door open. Indistinct but loud voices came from the room. As the party turned to look, the goblin stepped out or the room, pointed at them shouting; "Dorg, see." The goblin was followed by a short (about four feet tall), stocky green-skinned "person" wearing a long tunic and dragging a large club behind it. Not only did he look familiar, but there was a large scorch mark in the center of his tunic.

Dorg, looking at the party spotted Marcus. He began to growl, loudly, and visibly increased in height and width. Marcus didn't wait. He began a spell. Once again an Incantation of Lightning struck out. Once again, Marcus looked quite pleased with himself, especially when he noted that he had just barely missed Luke, who was between himself and the "target". Once again, Marcus was a bit disappointed to realize that Dorg did not go down to his most powerful spell. Instead, Dorg growled louder, and continued to grow larger. He advanced toward Marcus, trying to push past Luke. Luke, taking exception to this, swung his sword at Dorg. Dorg barely parried the blow with his club.

Things looked bad. Marcus was beginning another spell. Luke was preparing another blow. Dorg was preparing to respond. But, before anyone could move, a slight figure stepped out of a crack at the other end of the corridor.
"Too much noise! Everyone be quiet!" shouted Onneria. As she did, her small fist struck the stone three times. Each time the stone range like a gong.

Things got very quiet, very quickly. Everyone froze in place.

Pointing at the party she said, "You humans. Humans belong in servants' quarters."
Pointing at the goblin leader she said, "Take them."
Dongor nodded.
Turning, a scowling Onneria stepped back into the crack in the wall.
Looking at the party Dongor said, "Follow me."

A Turn for the Better?

The goblin turned, and walked down the as yet unexplored part of the tunnel, followed by two other goblins. Marcus quietly said to the party; "The servants' quarters ... let's go." They also followed. Behind them came a goblin and Dorg, holding his chest. At the crack, Dorg stopped and spoke into it.

Following Dongor the party passed a "T" intersection which went off to the right. It was notably brighter, but a curve prevented anyone seeing very far. A bit later another "T" intersection went off to the left. Marcus and Luke agreed that this probably led back to the circular room.

Finally, Dongor turned at another left "T" junction. Here the party entered a large room, about one hundred feet by thirty feet. It contained a number of round tables. At a couple of tables were more goblins. At one table sat five notably different individuals. They were short, but much more stout than the goblins. Each wore heavy leather armor, had a round shield slung over his shoulder, and carried a sword at his side.

Passing through this room, Dongor led them to a door at the other side. He opened the door and pointed inside. Led by Marcus, the party passed through the door.

The Captives

The room they entered was about forty feet long by twenty feet wide. It contained a number of tables, some chests, a large cooking fire, and seven women. Noticing the women [No fool he!] Marcus asked if they were from the village of Caergonith. One woman, later identified as Eta, said yes. She described their abduction and trek through the forest. Now they were required to cook and serve for the faeries here.

While this discussion was going on, William went on through a curtain to another room in which there were sleeping pallets, and five more women; one old, two in their teens, and two even younger. He brought them out into the kitchen.

Looking around, Marcus spotted a small door at the far end of the kitchen. Luke tested the door and found it to be barred.

A moment later Dongor came into the kitchen and shouted for food to be served. Eta looked to Marcus for guidance. He instructed her to go ahead and serve the food to stall for time. She and the other women did so. As they did, more goblins came into the large room.

The Escape

Marcus called for the women to be ready to run from the kitchen. Looking out the door, he began a spell. A Rampart of Protecting Earth rose from the edge of the door next to him across to the edge of the other door, sealing off most of the large room and the faeries in it. Dongor, standing in the other part of the room stared at this sudden development. Marcus repeated the spell, sealing off the other part of the room, and creating an empty corridor to the door at the tunnel.

"Christoph, Ethelbreth, William take the lead. You women follow them." shouted Marcus. The column ran from the kitchen, through the eating area, and turned right back down the tunnel by which they had come. As the whole party got into the tunnel, the leaders slid to a halt. At the next intersection they saw Dorg and two goblins approaching. Marcus called them back, reversed the order of the column and told them to go down the unexplored portion of the tunnel saying; "Let's hope this leads out."

As the women passed, Marcus and Luke followed. Looking into the eating area, Luke noted that a hole had appeared in one of the walls of earth. Marcus now sealed the tunnel behind him with another Rampart of Protecting Earth.

The party and women ran down the curving tunnel. It seemed to be going in the right directions. They passed a narrow side passage which William stepped into. He noticed a barred door at its far end. The group ran on. Then the tunnel widened and entered the original circular room with statues. Recognizing it, Christoph turned right into what he expected was the tunnel out. Fortunately, he was correct.

Christoph and Ethelbreth led the way into the temple, and threw the door open. Everyone except Marcus and Luke ran for the woods. Marcus and Luke waited until everyone appeared to be safe before leaving. As Marcus reached the door, a slim figure stepped out of a crack in the rock. "Gizella will not forget this." warned Onneria.

Going Back

Outside the temple the party and women did not slow. They traveled as quickly as the women were able. As darkness fell, they reached the pasture and the previous night's camp. Marcus call for a halt, and a rest for the night. William wasn't sure this was a good idea and asked Eta. She said; "I want to get as far away from that place as possible." Marcus eventually agreed. The party lit torches and marched on steadily through the night.

Just before dawn, the group arrived at Caergonith. Eta talked with Giric [the headman ... remember] who was also her husband. After he spoke quickly to the villagers they all rushed off; the women to the houses, and the men to the pastures. Giric explained that they could no longer live here, and they wanted to be taken to some place safe. Marcus offered to take them to the covenant and let them settle near there. Giric seemed satisfied. The people of the village departed before noon.