| DM | From the pages of The
Ansimont Giblet (11th Eirmont 1001AC). |
| Giblet | The
Mysterious Case of Elwyn the Ardent
Some weeks ago an advert was placed for a group willing to gain the eternal
favour of the church of Chardastes by ridding them of a turbulent priest. A
disparate group of young people applied (including a halfling, an elf and an
Alaysian) and they were granted the job. The local minister of the church
explained the predicament. |
| Minister | A few
generations ago our church of Chardastes... |
| Editor | A small church
linked to a bizarre cult in Thyatis. |
| Minister | ...had come
north, escaping persecution and had settled in the far north of Darokin. Our
forefathers brought with them the one true relic of their order. I refer of
course to the Bell of Chardastes. This solid platinum bell had been bestowed
upon them by Chardastes himself and was magical, for even though it had no
clapper it could still ring. Thus the church spread and, a few years ago, we
welcomed into our fold a new acolyte called Elwyn. At first Elwyn settled in
well and seemed destined for great things but over time things started to go
wrong. Other members of the order reported strange behaviour and, after a few
months, the patriarchs felt that it was time to intercede. On arriving at
Elwyn's quarters they found the young cleric had vanished. As they searched
they discovered a far worse thing: the bell was also gone - taken by this
heretic.
We searched high and low but found no trace of Elwyn or the bell, until a few
months ago word reached us that a new power had arisen in the backwoods near
Ansimont. At first we thought nothing of this but then the rumours mentioned
the name of Elwyn and we thought it best to investigate. We want you to go to
the fortress that we have found in the woods and find out if Elwyn is behind
this. If that is the case then we ask you to return to us the sacred bell of
Chardastes... |
| Giblet | And so the
mission was accepted... |
| Editor | After a certain
amount of haggling from the party. |
| Giblet | ...and the six
brave souls left Ansimont and wandered into the woods. The journey from the
town took them three days and soon they found themselves outside the fortress.
It was squat and grey and seemed to be in the shape of a coiled snake. On one
corner the mouth of the snake opened and a doorway could be seen deep inside.
As our brave heroes approached the door they smelled an infernal stink and
were attacked by hideously misshapen creatures. They fought them more or less
bravely and drove away those they did not kill, but they already knew the
dreadful truth. Humanoids near our precious town could only mean that a deadly
threat had settled in our woods.
After a little looking they located the creatures' nest in the nearby woods
and found some helpful maps, although it was not clear what they were maps of.
Having dealt with their wounds they entered the fortress.
As their eyes adjusted to the gloom they heard a strident voice. A woman was
warning them to leave. NOW. They declined the offer and were rewarded by being
plunged into darkness as the door swung shut and locked them in. Now they had
no choice but to head deeper into the stronghold. As they entered a darkened
room they saw a large altar and there on it was a bell. Could this be the
legendary bell? Was their quest over? Was Elwyn behind all this? They pondered
these questions as they crept closer and found that the bell was made only of
iron and yet... it had no clapper. |
| Editor | Cue three exciting
chords. |
| Giblet | Moving onward
they found a group of people praying. Could it be that a new religion was
being practised here, or possibly an old one. After attempting to sneak by
they tried to engage the acolytes in conversation and were attacked for their
trouble. Once the evildoers were felled they noticed another bell on another
altar, this time made of copper. Pausing only to pocket the bell they crept
deeper still. They had just come to a stop in a larger room and were pondering
what to do when the floor swung out from under them dropping them into a deep
pit and plunging them into darkness. As it did so they were surrounded by the
deep laughter of the woman they had heard before.
After a few seconds of blind flailing they managed to re-light a torch and
found themselves in a series of corridors under the fortress. Moving into the
next room they found themselves surrounded by thick-skinned creatures with a
hint of the pig about them. Realising that these must be orcs they girded
themselves up for a major battle. It took some time but they won their
freedom. They continued along the corridors until they eventually found an
exit back into the main section of the fortress near where they had found the
first bell. Now, as they looked at their map they understood one of the maps
from the creatures' nest. It showed a secret door in the area where the floor
had moved. Carefully they went back and opened it, taking the (albeit meagre)
treasure inside.
Stepping deeper into the silent fortress they found another bell, brass and
clapper-less. They could feel that they must have been getting close. The next
rooms contained more diabolical creatures of the fortress. Our brave
adventurers dispatched each enemy and discovered another bell as they went
(silver this time). As they continued to map the fortress they found the other
location on the scraps of paper they had found and cleared out another horde
of ill-gotten treasure.
As they entered the next room a pit opened in front of them and dropped
Leanna, the beautiful yet deadly warrioress, in. Again the woman's laughter
surrounded them. It was at this juncture, as the silent Alaysian pulled the
beauty from the pit that Dreylin, the sprightly halfling, wondered whether
perhaps the woman's voice was Elwyn. A discussion ensued regarding the
supposed gender of the wayward cleric. As they talked they found another altar
and a golden bell. They were definitely getting closer.
As they moved on they entered a room that seemed empty. Suspicious, they
crept slowly inside. Suddenly a portcullis fell across the doors, trapping
them in. Beyond the further barrier they could see a key sticking out of a
keyhole. Again the woman's voice mocked them as it explained that the
portcullises would open if the key were turned. Although the larger members of
the party tried to prise the bars apart, it took some nifty rope tricks to
snag the key and turn it.
As the party gathered their belongings and moved round the corner the most
terrible sight yet confronted them. There, lying asleep on the ground was a
young dragon - black as midnight and deadly! They tried to sneak past but the
dragon suddenly awoke. Curiously, instead of boiling them with its foul oils
and eating their seared corpses the dragon chose to speak to them. In a
thunderous and evil voice it confronted the party and was persuaded to leave
in exchange for some of the party's treasure. |
| Editor | I must say I'm
deeply suspicious of this whole incident. This doesn't sound like any dragon
I've ever heard of. I suggest we get a Dracologist to look into this case.
|
| Giblet | Rounding the
final corner the intrepid adventurers found themselves at the end of a long
hallway. It was dimly lit with burning torches and the far end was in deep
shadow. Along its edges heavy, red curtains hung limply. Passing down the hall
our heroes pulled back the curtains to find beautifully painted murals. On the
first was a tall, blonde woman with a mace in her hand and a pile of corpses
at her feet. On the second, the same woman stood in front of a troop of armed
men. In the third she was firing a long bow into a spectral being with glowing
eyes. |
| Editor | The standard
representation of Chardastes, according to the high priest. |
| Giblet | In the last she
was entering a dark pit led by a shaggy creature with brown fur. |
| Editor | From that party's
description this seems to be Leptar - an old enemy of Chardastes. |
| Giblet | Suddenly, bright
lights illuminated the darkened end of the hall revealing a massive altar and
a bright, platinum bell. It was the bell of Chardastes and this must be
Elwyn's sanctuary! As they approached the bell the party heard a dreadful
sound behind them and found themselves under attack from four evil beings. Two
were large and ugly with tusks, snouts and wings while two were barely
present, just patches of shadow. Without hesitation the brave adventurers
attacked the creatures. It was a hard fought battle and many injuries were
inflicted on either side. The shadow creatures were difficult to deal with but
eventually our heroes won the day.
Taking the bell with them they started to retrace their steps only to be
confronted by the dreadful Elwyn herself. Tall, blonde and imposing she was
clearly the woman in the murals. With only a little villainous taunting she
attacked the party with no mercy. She used her evil clerical incantations to
cause fear and chaos among our heroes but they fought back valiantly and, with
the aid of some magic, defeated her. Behind her unconscious body they noticed
a secret entrance and entered the darkened passageways. Inside they found the
treasure of Elwyn, including a Staff of Healing from her days as a cleric of
the light. They traced the secret passage all the way back to the fortress's
hidden exit and escaped back into the wilderness taking Elwyn with them. On
returning to Ansimont they were granted a hero's welcome and were well
rewarded by the church of Chardastes who were overwhelmed by the return of
their bell. |
| On to the first section of Palace of the Silver
Princess |
![[Mystara Campaign Journal]](./mystara.gif)