Upon their return to Kuldahar from Dragon’s Eye, Victor and his band discovered the village under attack! They stormed into town to rout the invading Orogs.
Jim took particular exception to this. Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!? And *don’t mess with the hat*!But when they routed the Orogs and rushed in to report to Arundel, they found the ArchDruid dying in his cottage! He had been slain by an imposter wearing his own face! His injuries were too great – they were beyond Maura’s ability to heal. With his last words he directed them to seek the Elven Mage “Larrel” in the old elven fortress, the Severed Hand. But Maura swore she would find the evil responsible for his death.The Severed Hand turned out to be swarming with semi-ghostly orcs, goblins, and ogres seemingly stuck reliving the fall of the fortress. They had to wade through hordes to explore the lower levels and make their way through the collapsed accessed routes to the main level of the fortress.In what had been the primary living area for the old elves, they discovered elven spirits going about their lives unaware that anything had changed and oblivious to their presence. In one room Basil found the spirit of a young elven girl, and was able to establish communication with her.He established a close rapport with her, and she offered her quarters as a safe home base where they could rest and regroup. Basil did what he could for the girl, and discovered her needs were simple. The occasional round of catch or hide-and-seek made her happy.On the upper levels they met many elves stuck in the same half-dead stuck-in-time state. A few of them were still sane, but most were at best delusional and at worst outright hostile. Basil was able to make contact with the former commander, and they agreed to help put her soldiers to rest.Once the unsettled spirits had been defeated, Marua was able to help many of them find their way to permanent rest. She and Basil were able to identify many of the needs for others who could not yet move on, and they promised to bring back supplies when they could be found to restore the Severed Hand’s former Temple and Atrium.When they found the old Elven Library in the Wizard’s tower they could barely tear Rose away. So much lost knowledge. Victor had to swear on his honor to make several return excursions in the future to get her to continue..When they finally made their way to the top of the Wizard’s tower, they discovered an ancient broken Astrolabe and an elven Lich who was completely barking mad. Basil attempted to calm him and establish communication, but his mind was completely detached. Basil was, however, able to contact an unliving elven mechanic. The mechanic explained what had happened to Larrel in the fortress’s final days when he attempted to cast a Mythal to save the Severed Hand… and instead doomed it to its current state. In order to sensibly communicate with Larrel, they would have to repair the Astrolabe to which his mind was now connected.When they finally made their way to the top of the Wizard’s tower, they discovered an ancient broken Astrolabe and an elven Lich speaking complete nonsense. Basil was able to make contact with another elven spirit, who informed them that Larrel’s mind was linked to the Astrolabe, and that it must be repaired to restore the wizard’s mind. Big Jim, Angus, and Rose got right to work using the various pieces they had discovered while exploring the fortress.Once the Astrolabe was repaired, Larrel’s mind returned to him. Victor convinced the unliving elven mage to help them by peering into the Hearstone Gem. Upon doing so, Larrel informed them that the source of the Evil plaguing Kuldahar could be found in Dorn’s Deep – the very Dwarven settlement which had betrayed his own people long ago! The vehemence with which he denounced the Dwarves for their treachery made Angus – not normally one to hide from anything – step discretely out-of-sight behind Jim. No sense antagonising a theoretical ally. So now it was off to Dorn’s Deep, to follow the trail one step further.
2 responses to “Victorians on Ice: The Severed Hand”
atcDave
very nicely done! I particularly like Basil and the little girl. Rose and the library made me laugh.
Yeah. Basil and the girl turned out much better than expected extremely quickly. I’ve got a whole folder full of them playing hide-and-seek and such. It just really brought out a fun side of him.
Rose and the library. Could see that coming a mile away. 😉
I went through an entire day’s worth of takes on two accounts to get that “repairing the Astrolabe” scene. Just about gave up when that one popped out. No pointy ears on Rose. No extra helpers. No steampunk arms on Jim. Only complaint is that Rose’s shirt is the wrong color. And that’s a pretty minor quibble all things considered,.
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