Trouble in Iona
An Adventure using Tales of Blades and Heroes.
Dramatis Personae
Celesain Silvertree- A cynical elf.
Eshelius the Ardent- A fanatic warrior of Dannos the Seeker.
Falstaff- A curious ranger.
Ivan Katsokov- A proud, stubborn mage and his companion badger.
Martin- Former first mate of the ship Locust.
Owen McDuff- A professional soldier with a mysterious past.
Yaka Jinzako- A ninja from the Droplet Isles.
Session Two- The Manor
After ridding the Laughing Jester of ratmen, the bold adventurers tend to wounds and equipment while a grateful Marcel lavishes them with food and drink. Word of their deed has been sent to the Count, who seeks them out and hires the party to further investigate the ratmen menace. Without haste they venture back to the lost Dwarven halls and to the ladder that leads to the unknown.....
They emerge in a cellar, not unlike that of the Inn. Glancing about Falstaff discovers a crate that has been pried open. Inside looks to be a hollowed out area in the packaging materials large enough for a small man to fit. A trail of packaging material leads up the stairs to ground level.
At the top of the stairs the party finds a lavish hall with a central fountain, the room is filled with valuable furnishings, wall tapestry and curios. Owen spies the body of a man on the floor near the fountain and advances to investigate. As he and others fan out into the room vicious ratmen leap out of the shadows in ambush.
Owen reacts by tossing a javelin that skewers the nearest ratman. At the same time Ivan, the mage, calls forth his power with a few spoken words and sets a distant ratman ablaze. The combat floods across the hall as the party charges out to meet the ratmen threat. Ivan is dazed by a sling stone and falls.
Eshelius takes a hard blow from a flail, slips on a pool of blood and falls. Still, the ratmen are easily dispatched with the heroes none the worse for wear. Owen, Ivan and Yaka search the hall learning that the manor belongs to Sir Achille, a local Champion. The crate from the basement supposedly contained spoils taken from bandits that the Knights dispatched. The dead man on the floor seems to have been a guard or footman. Meanwhile Falstaff and
Eshelius venture up the stairs.
The two peer into a bed chamber at the top of the stairs. Several ratmen lounge unawares on the furnishings so the two warriors take the initiative to surprise the vermin.
Eshelius rushes the bed, his dual blades flashing as he dispatches two rats before they know he is there.
Falstaff kills one just as readily then pulls out his bow to cover Eshelius' advance. The Ranger is momentarily befuddled when one ratman slashes about wildly with a dagger, but taking a step back he easily puts an arrow into it's eye.
Eshelius victim forgoes fighting and tries to rush out another door. When Eshelius advances in a frenzy wishing to spill more blood for his god, the terrified ratman lashes out with it's spear as if it were a broom.
Meanwhile the rest of the party responds to the din of battle and rushes up the stair to help. Ivan casts a spell to make Yaka invisible, and the nimble ninja rushes across the room to dispatch Eschelius' foe.
The door denied the fleeing ratman reveals yet another bed chamber, filled with more ratmen, this time alerted to the fighting. The bed in the room is infested with a swarm of rats that ooze over and under the covers as if the bed were made of water. Falstaff, Yaka and Eschelius rush into the room and commence slaying.
Eschelius leaps upon a table and fights side by side with Yaka.
Owen, Ivan and Martin let loose with missile weapons and spells. A ratman charges Owen, but he nimbly sidesteps so that he flanks the dim beast. Ivan sets another ratman ablaze with his magics, and the party's missiles prevent the ratman mage from loosing his spells. After the battle the party discovers Sir Achille and his squire Sir Christopher hidden in a cabinet. Sir Achille was gravely wounded and unresponsive. Eschelius accuses Sir Christopher of cowardice, and the two exchange words before Martin helps the Squire remove his Lord to a healer.
The door from the bed chamber leads the party to a vast storeroom, complete with a home shrine. Dominating the room is a viscous rat ogre, who roars and snarls as he awaits someone to pass through the door way. Yaka, invisible again, rushes past the large beast and attacks one of the numerous ratmen in the chamber.
Falstaff, undaunted by the immense beast, steps into the room and puts an arrow in it's chest. The beast roars and thrashes as blood oozes from it's wound. Owen follows in a rush, throwing javelins as he enters. His first throw takes the rat ogre in the throat and the viscous beast falls twitching to the floor. But Owen continues moving into the room and dispatches two more ratmen with well aimed throws.
Yaka faces off with the ratman mage and the large orc the beast summoned with it's magics. When the mage destroys a stone statue, dust covers the invisible ninja allowing the orc to knock him senseless. Ivan enters the room and begins preparing magics, exchanging spells with the ratman mage.
Eschelius does a diving leap over a ratman's head, wounding the beast, but fails to dispatch it until Falstaff charges and the beast involuntarily backs away right into Eschelius's sword. The ratman mage casts a spell to control Eschelius and forces the holy warrior to attack Falstaff. The Ranger bats his friends twin blades away and renders him unconscious with a single blow. When the ratman mage falls, and others are killed trying to flee, the heroes catch their breath and assess their wounds.
