Game Date: March 21, 2008
Huddled in a small cave in the Alps, the Flame of Death was alone, hoardless, wounded, and miserable. A cloaked figure entered and threw the King's confessor to the hungry dragon to sate his hunger. They sat down and made a bargain.
Meanwhile, in the Unseelie Realm, the Company found itself stranded in the room of the six broken cradles. Alton, sensing the wood of the broken cradles is valuable, collected it.
Durn took the abandoned goblin infants to the Duke of Naught, hoping he'll take them back to the Unseelie Court. The chains that once held the unicorns captive now stretched upward to an invisible hole in the ceiling. The Dragon tried to fly through the hole, but there was none. After further trial and error, they determined that one had to climb the ropes in order to access the invisible portal.
After a mistep by Alton (who experienced a painful fall) the Company climbed out of the hole and found themselves in an enclosed wooded area. Dead infants in baskets hung from trees, wailing. Durn vowed that she was *not* going to kill undead infants and turned around, only to discover the exit had vanished. She cursed in the goblin tongue.
The infants' magic screams were being absorbed by a huge bloated greenhag who was lying on a rock in the center of the room. Durn prepared to question her, but before she could do so, the Company wss attacked by harpie archers who emerged from the trees. Alton was gravely wounded, Quentin was badly hurt as well, and Durn and Dominic were briefly enthralled by their song. However, with perserverance, the Company managed to down two of them, and the other two fled up a spiral staircase that was located in the hag's mouth.
The others were annoyed by their impetuous comrade. The Dragon grabbed the hag, flipped her upside down, and shook her. Magical water comes gushing out of her mouth. Those who viewed their reflection in the puddles could see themselves at various stages in their lives: boyhood, early manhood, adulthood, in various settings and clothing; the images changed as the puddles rippled, so it was impossible to follow them. Durn, not really enthusiastic about travelling through a hag's mouth, searched the chamber for another passage, but there seemed to be none to find. Eventually, Quentin and Durn entered the passage and climbed to the next level. The Dragon, the last member left behind, attempted to dispel the magic on the hag. He succeeded only in removing its ability to feed on the ghostly cries. Disgusted, he joined the rest of the Company in climbing the stairs.
They were ascending a spiral staircase, surrounded on all sides by a cascade of cool white water. The waterfall shimmered as it foamed downward toward some unseen destination; once again, the reflections of the Company at various stages in their lives could be seen. One story was clear to them, a day, six years earlier, when they visited the castle of Sir Robert of Brittany. He was a patron of an order called the Militas Rouge, sometimes called the Rogue Knights, who were holding an exclusive tournament. The Raven Knight mocked them, and Alton used his magicks and familiar to put the Knights' horses asleep as they galloped, except for the one knight they used as a whipping boy. They didn't even have enough horses to hold a grand melee (where they planned to shut up the Raven Knight by ganging up on them). In the end, the Raven Knight's jibes got so brutally sarcastic that they were refused hospitality; when word of that refusal got out, it destroyed the Rogue Knights' reputation.
The Company emerged out of a pool of water. Again, they were in a room of six cradles, which swung in time to the gentle rocking of a spectre maiden, who sang a sweet song. Within each cradle was a goblin babe and a human babe, but the infants were conjoined, and each rocking of the cradle seemed to merge them. As their features blurred and the two infants became one, the half-orc Durn thought she could see an eerie resemblance.
The Company attacked. Alton grabbed the gem that they had found in the dragon's lair and tried to touch the spectre. When he failed, Dominic grabbed the gem and completed the task. As soon as she made contact with the holy relic, the spectress vanished as if exposed to sunlight. However, her work was done — she had merged the infants, and created a new family of half-orcs. Durn realized in horror that she had been produced by the same process. Someone suggested killing them, but Durn objected wildly.
The Company agreed not to press the issue. Alton tried to open a door to the next level of the tower, but tripped a trap, nearly electrocuting him. Durn managed to disable the device, and the Company strode up to the next level, where the Prince's cradle awaited.
Return to:
1166 Home Page
Session Notes