4th Day of the Claw of Winter: (February):
At Torleths Treasures, Torleth Mindulspeer,
Ne’er did get a round of beer,
Tight and selfish many did tell,
But he knew how to cast a mighty spell.
Beneath his shop, Torleths Treasures, on Gillian’s Hill,
Many a traveller he would kill.
To steal their wares and valued goods,
He hired a band of crooked hoods.
Torleth, always wicked and vile,
One day did start to lose his smile,
A beholder appeared in the back of his shop,
And pretty sharpish off he’d pop.
Down below all was illusion,
If it was a restaurant you’d call it fusion,
But our heroes, mighty and brave,
Sought to propel him into his grave.
But Torleth was no ordinary nutter,
In his mouth would melt not butter,
Not only was he lightning resistant,
As a decoy he cloned his shop assistant!
Worshipping a god named Talos,
Torleth simply didn’t give a toss!
Who would live and who was killed,
All he cared for? His pockets, filled!
And if things did come on top,
Or if he threw a pouty strop,
Did he need the help of fate?
No! Beneath his shop a magic gate!
So clearly Torleth was no fool,
Among his friends Shadow and Ghoul.
Although sometimes he liked to waffle,
His assistant‘s innards’ smell was offal!
On the floor three strokes of lightning,
To other mortals really frightening:
But not to the Daggerford Fantastic Five,
Against the odds they would survive!
And on this day Torleth’s world was trashed,
His front and back doors completely smashed!
But before he could be killed off,
He claimed he’d captured Thief and Dwarf!
So, my friends, we’ll wait and see,
If his threats can be taken credibly,
Or are they, like so many things,
Just a bat-like sperm, with tiny wings…
Back Under Torleths Treasures:
The Adventurers head forwards towards the large opening at the end of the chamber under Torleths Treasures. Between them and the opening sit the remaining six shop boys, Torleth Mindulspeer’s assistant, Tom Katze, curiously copied into several replica versions. The seventh lies with a hole in his chest revealing charred and smouldering organs. The smell is offal. Really offal.
Mirafir casts ‘Wall of Ice’ to seal off the chamber at the end of the room. Galan and Frimly are now at the furthest left hand archway into the hall.
Frimly stands behind Galan as he take a quick look into the chamber and can see the Symbol of Talos on the floor. Three lightning strokes!
Galan sees the floor is covered with items – Swords, Armour, Rings, Wands, etc. taken from Torleth’s kidnapped victims that were sacrificed here?
Galan: “Best that I not tell Frimly or he will be lost to us in this room of treasures.”
Frimly grabs one of Torleths Treasures shop boys, Tom Katze, to pull him out of the circle. He turns to look at Frimly, smiles and then cuts his own throat! Simultaneously the webbing disappears from the 2 corridors in this chamber!
Frimly: “Put them to sleep Mirafir!”
Sigune notices that the ‘Mist’ engulfing the entrance behind them has disappeared. Mirafir’s casts his ‘Sleep’ spell puts three of the reaming 6 to sleep, leaving 3 still awake. Frimly picks up one of the ‘Sleeping’ boys. Galan moves over to the left hand corridor.
Mirafir: “Torleth has cancelled his ‘Guards and Wards’ Spell, all of you beware, something it about to transpire.”
Sigune smells the familiar scent of Death near to her.
Sigune: “I smell death! Death is near! Undead creatures!”
SUDDENLY SHE IS ATTACKED!
Two Ghouls appear next to her and attempt to hit but miss!
Galan is attacked by two shadows that have appeared from one on the previously ‘Webbed’ corridors! They both miss and he strikes back hitting with two separate attacks!
Sigune and Thora both strike back at the Ghouls, who have all become visible once they had attack, inflicting a large amount of damage!
As Frimly moves away with his burden he can clearly see that the blood, from the copy of Tom Katze, has poured onto the encircled 7 pointed pentagram. The circled 7 pointed pentagram, Frimly can now make out, has been made by using some form of Black Powder and was now beginning to glow with a bright Red hue.
Thora kills a Ghoul with her second attack!
Mirafir also smells the same odour of Undead Death while Frimly brings one of the sleeping shop boys within radius of the ‘Dispel Magic’!
The Tom Katze copy wakes up!
Mirafir jumps, using his ‘Ring of Jumping’ into the centre of the 7 pointed pentagram to escape the Ghouls near him. Suddenly the ‘Wall of Ice’, cast by Mirafir, vanishes and the circle and pentagram magically completes!
Thora finishes off another of the ghouls! And Sigune strikes a second time to dispatch a third Ghoul.
Galan is busy attempting to parry the attacks of the 2 Shadows, hoping to be aided by his comrades once they had finished off their combatants.
Frimly to Torleths Treasures shop boys:
Frimly “Run! While y’can!”
Sigune misses her Ghoul opponent while Frimly runs back to the circled pentagram to get another of the shop boy replicas.
A bald figure in dull robes suddenly appears next to Mirafir!
Tanar’ri, Lesser, Maurezhi:
A Maurezhi bears a strong resemblance to a common Ghoul. Its posture is hunched and feral, its skin grey and leathery, and its hands filthy talons. The maurezhi’s face slopes into a short, fang-filled muzzle, and its ears are catlike. Maurezhi leap and caper in sudden, unpredictable movements when excited or angered. They can communicate by means of telepathy, but the only sounds their rattling bone-boxes can maker’s gibbering howls, grunts, and shrieks.
Thora strikes thin air and hits another! Sigune is struck by another Ghoul that appears behind her and mages again to resist the creatures paralyzing spittle!
The figure that appears next to Mirafir appears to be a Vampire or Demon? From the Abyss!
Maurezhi: “I have been tasked by Torleth to subdue you!!!”
His mouth is a nightmare of teeth, skin grey and ears cat-like.
Two Ghouls, that had become visible, are attacking Sigune while Galan changes tack and decides to attack the 2 Shadows. Mirafir decide to cast ‘Fly’ and attempts to flies up, but below the level of the clouds and lightning!
Galan kills one of the 2 Shadows and hits the other!
Frimly uses his ‘Ring of the Ram’ against the creature, within the circled and pentagram, which bashes him in the side, but he somehow it stays on his feet.
Galan is hit by the remaining Shadow and loses hit points and one point of Strength for a period of time that we know to be between 20 to 80 minutes.
Sigune and Thora both inflict serious injuries on their respective Ghouls but more keep appearing out of thin air as if they had all been ‘Invisible’!
Frimly, having moved out of the line of sight from the Northern chamber under Torleths Treasures, where the ‘Chain Lightning’ had come from, was in the North-West corner of the main chamber when suddenly, a ‘Web’ appeared in front of the Thief and covering the North-West corner of the main chamber. But there is something that doesn’t seem to be quite right. A torch, at the edge of the ‘Web’ seems to be still burning and not igniting the ‘Web’.
Frimly: “Somethings not right, the ‘Web’ should have caught light.”
Frimly remembers Mirafir’s Card Reading and concluded that the ‘Illusionist’s’ hand is at play here. Frimly concentrates and begins to look beyond the Magic’s that conceal the truth.
Frimly: “The ‘Web’ is real enough but the chamber is not what it appears to be. It is cold and empty, the touches and clean appearance are not real. Could it be that it’s just an ‘Illusion’.”
Torleth: “Under Torleths Treasures, putting me back in all this confusion?”
Mirafir beings to gain height just as the Tanar’ri, Lesser, Maurezhi’s hand darts out and catches Mirafir’s foot.
Maurezhi: “Not so fast Elf.”
Mirafir feels the Icy cold touch of the Maurezhi and has to muster up all his Strength to resist the creatures attempt to of enchantment upon the Wizard.
Sigune hacks down another for the Ghouls that she is in combat with, Thora also!
The Undead Ghouls are now all down and pose no threat under Torleths Treasures!
Thora rushes to attack the last Shadow occupying Galan while Sigune rushes towards the Demonic toothy monster.
Frimly, now having disbelieved the illusion, moves to the edge of the ‘Web’ directly behind the Maurezhi Demon!
Sigune, charges towards the Maurezhi Demon screaming her war cry as she rushes forward:
Sigune “St. Cuthbert!!!!”
Galan parries as Thora, also charging at the Undead creature, attacks the Shadow.
Frimly, meanwhile, takes the knife off one of the remaining Torleths Treasures boys.
Thora instantly cuts down the Shadow that had been attacking Galan!
But there are 2 more of them lurking for a surprise attack, Galan has spotted them moving within the darkness of the corridor and alerts Thora!
Mirafir has barely time to survey the events below before the Wizard is engulfed in ‘Darkness’, Mirafir vanishes from the sight of his comrades but the toothy Demon is now in its own ‘Darkness’!
Mirafir rushes up towards the clouds and lightning some 45’ feet from the ground under the shop called Torleths Treasures.
Sigune rushes into the Darkness and attempts to hit the Demon but misses!
The Shadows attack and Galan hits twice with reduced damage as his Strength has been reduced.
But there is worse to be found above for our fleeing Wizard, a Giant Winged Demon hovers in the air right before him! Just like in Ravenloft. With Blazing Sword in its right hand and a Flaming Whip in the other.
The Demon reaches out for Mirafir and casts ‘Fireball’ inflicting 20 points of damage! Some of the damage is absorbed by one of the Wizards ‘Ioun Stones’ (Pale Lavender), which then burns out and turns to dull grey, falling to the ground forever useless.
Mirafir knows that the Demon is a figment of his imagination, as it is a Spell called ‘Phantasmal Killer’ and the Wizard tries to ‘Fly’ into the ‘Dispel Magic’, drawing the Winged Demon behind him!
It works and the ‘Phantasmal Killer’ vanishes! To everyone else, this ingenious plan looks less impressive. Unable to see the demonic phantasm, Mirafir simply appears to ‘Fly’ backwards over-dramatically onto the floor as his Spell of ‘Fly’ is also ended due to the ‘Dispel Magic’ effect.
Meanwhile Galan kills another shadow and Thora takes the other one on in combat!
Sigune swings wildly in the Magical ‘Darkness’ again, failing to connect. She fortunately remembers that she has Galan’s Dagger with ‘Continual Light’ still cast upon it!
Beyond the Darkness in the chamber beyond there stands a dais and upon the dais a ‘Magical Portal’, usually hidden, whose shimmering celestial vista entices the viewer to look closer.
Suddenly a ‘Magical Gate’ appears, unlike the ‘Magical Portal’ that stands upon the dais, and pouring out of it appear a group of creatures with pot bellies! These Demon Spawn are known to the Adventures as they encountered their kind in Ravenloft.
Frimly: “F*&k ME! Manes, those creatures from Ravenloft.”
The Maurezhi Demon is also now at the back of the room! There is also another figure behind the gate and in front of the Dais Portal.
Mirafir calls to his allies:
Mirafir: “All hold your ground!”
As the monstrosities pour forward.
He casts ‘Lightning Bolt’ and it suddenly becomes even more powerful as four of the Manes are instantly cut down, but more monsters emerge from the ‘Magical Gate’, which pop splattering Acidic Vapours everywhere emitting an acrid stench.
Killing a manes simply dissipates it into a noxious, stinking vapour. Anyone within 10’ feet of a Manes when it dies must save vs. poison or sustain damage from the Vapours.
Torleth emerges from out behind the Manes Gate and absorbs the ‘Lightning Bolt’ before it strikes the Maurezhi Demon at the back of this Northern chamber. His robes are slightly singed by the ‘Lightning bolt’ but his chest is shining as it absorbs the lightning bolt. Below his garment can be seen ‘Blue Gleaming Scales’, could they be Dragon scale?
Torleth: “Hahahahahahaha, you try to use the very thing I worship against me, you fools, how didi you make it this far in life?”
He laughs as the clouds above him start to crackle. Sigune and Thora steam into the fray.
Battle under Torleths Treasures commences and Thora, Frimly, Sigune and Galan are all in the thick of things! Galan is hit by some of the acrid vapours. Meanwhile Mirafir moves into the tomb on the South-Western side of the main chamber. Within, there is a large Sarcophagus in the centre of the chamber, its lid is off, with and other 6 smaller one on the North and South of the Crypt.
Thora has to make a save and is unaffected by a spell – probably an ‘Illusion’.
Mirafir casts then casts ‘Detect Magic’ in the Crypt to try and find the Artefact intimated in the divination gained from Mirafir’s Card Reading before entering Torleths Treasures. Unfortunately, more Ghouls start to appear from out of the coffins in the chamber.
Sigune strikes another of the Manes while Thora tries to attack Torleth by striking his ‘Minor Globe of Invulnerability’, which Is known to Mirafir but not the other Adventures, in an attempt to penetrate it!
Meanwhile Mirafir, steps out of the area of ‘Dispel Magic’ and opts to cast ‘Web’ across the tomb while Sigune unimaginatively decides to do the same across the Portal room, in an attempt to trap both Torleth and the Maurezhi Demon!
Mirafir’s spell is successful and ensnares 4 of the 5 of the Ghouls and trapping the last behind the wall of ‘Web’.
Sigune however, is unsuccessful in her task as the ‘Web’ cast from her ‘Cloak of Arachnid’ is unable to maintain cohesion due to the ‘Minor Globe of Invulnerability’, which ‘Dispelled’ the ‘Web’ which was conjured in its area of effect.
Torleth raises his hand and the area immediately surrounding him, and his ‘Minor Globe of Invulnerability’, is plunged into utter ‘Darkness’.
Thora rushes in and attempts to swing at Torleth in the ’Darkness’ enveloping him. Unfortunately, she also misses the Mage.
Galan hits another of the Manes and hacks it down – luckily he saves against its Acidic Vapour.
The bald headed Maurezhi Demon’s voice can be heard from within the ‘Darkness’ and says:
Maurezhi: “I have met ones like you before and all you understand is force and so I will dually oblige!”
Suddenly he steps out of the ‘Darkness’, now in the form of a Noble looking Knight with Plate-Mail Armour of the finest quality and a Two-Handed Sword that appears like those of Legend!
Galan attempts to fight him and gets on the wrong end of a hefty blow from its Two-Handed Sword!
Meanwhile, Mirafir turns from his ‘Web’ work within the Crypt to find himself face to face with Torleth Mindulspeer, Mage of Talos.
Torleth Mindulspeer: “What is it exactly that you looking for, you comrades seem to need you particular skills in aid, you are losing the battle I’m afraid?”
Mirafir: “I was just looking for a suitable coffin for you.”
Sigune: “Vot is zis trickery!”
The mighty, and stunningly boatful, Paladin charges towards the Knight.
Thora and Frimly have passed out of the sight of the others and their fate is unknown to all, save The Norns of Fate (Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld)!
Galan strikes the Knight! Sigune also strikes at him!
The Knight tries to strike Sigune and hits! 10 points of damage are handed out!
Meanwhile Mirafir faces off with Torleth Mindulspeer. While doing so Mirafir can now clearly see that he is NOT wearing ‘Blue Gleaming Scales’ to resist lightning, they have been grafted on to his very skin with the Magic of the Dark Arts?
Mirafir casts ‘Dimension Door’, is quicker than Torleth Mindulspeer and appears next to the ‘Manes Gate’ – Torleth Mindulspeer joins him instantly.
Torleth Mindulspeer: “Your thoughts are too loud and obvious novice!”
Mirafir: “At least I have thoughts!”
Sigune delivers a crushing blow on the Knight and demolishes him. The body collapses returning in form to the bald toothy Maurezhi Demon before imploding as a swirling wind blasts all around.
Sigune: “How did it come to pass that the Demon was able to take on the form of what appeared to be a Nobel Holy Warrior which should not be possible?”
Torleth Mindulspeer: “You would lay your hands on me? You base fool. I have your friends: Follow if you dare but your fate is as doomed as theirs. Chaos and Lightning take you all!”
He clicks his fingers and vanishes from under Torleth’ Treasures before Mirafir, Sigune and Galan can attack.
In the Celestial Gallery of the Norns of Fate:
Three hags, their hands hopelessly entangled in white silken thread sit in a triangular formation, connected to each other by the thin lines of material. They look not at each other, but only with apparently enthralled fascination at the twisted mass of subtly luminous fibres they weave from beneath their shadowy hoods.
Urðr: “Look my sisters! I see them now! They have fallen again into the trap! His Lordship will not be pleased!”
Verðandi (cackling hysterically with laughter): “Haha! Hast thou forgotten so quickly, dearest sister, what came to pass with the last wager He lost with Talos?”
Urðr: “How could I possibly forget, dearest sister of mine! The image of His naked dance, with full cudgel regalia, is alas indelibly burnt into my memory!”
Skuld (In a scolding tone): “Sisters! Neglect not thy spinning duties! We must weave lest the Fates be denied! This fabric both binds and protects the Earthly order of All Things! Do not pull so hard, my sisters! Let not thy aimless tittle-tattle distract thee from such delicate work!”
Verðandi: “Such cudgel regalia is seldom seen! Even in the depths of Hades I would wager!”
Urðr: “But what of those who seek to do His bidding? What have the Fates decreed? Are they too, now doomed to perish in this labyrinthine trap of death and illusion?”
Verðandi: “The threads will reveal all! Weave faster, my sister! Only we can read what Fate has in store for these hapless pawns!”
Urðr: “Thou doth speak true, sister mine! Our Lord cannot lose another wager! Zagyg’s laughter will fill these halls for eternity! The threads are twisting! I see now the Portal! But whither does it lead? I must see!”
Skuld: “Stop! Enough! My sisters! I beg thee! Stop this folly before – !!!”
Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld: “Torn!!! The Threads of Fate are torn!”
Their heads slowly rise from the now lightless and lifeless tangled mess of torn threads. In a single movement, the sisters draw back their hoods to reveal their eyeless faces.