6.06.2005
The Conclusion of “B4: Return to Greyhelm” Part III: Well, That Sure Sucked.
But as it says in the Book of Grisbane, everything only half sucks.
Back to Brogg.
Arvid has a long talk with you. You’ve been out for a while, he cured you when Ralph found you, but Ralph couldn’t drag you back to camp by himself, and then when Ralph got back to camp, he forgot where you were, so Arvid Spoke With Some Animals and found you, took you back, and cured you to full, where you are right now. As mentioned in Part II, it’s been two days since the fight in the barn though.
“Anyway Brogg, there’s a lot I want to say. First off, about your friends. Don’t worry. Your zombie pal is off in the woods about an hour away. I was going to destroy him, but then I remembered your previous visit and thought he might be your friend. He looks pretty shaken up, poor guy, so when you leave here, you should go try to help him out. As for the other priest, Hand of Odin or whoever, he’s alive also, and he’s in town at the Temple of Odin. The other guy? Dunno. Sorry.”
“But hang on, before you go racing after revenge. I just wanted to say that I think you made the right decision regarding the owlbears and stuff. Total support here. I mean, it sucks you had to be put in that decision. That’s the Council of Grisbane for you though. But I sincerely doubt that owlbears really respect Grisbane, much less pray or spend time in quiet repose. Grisbane ain’t about the power, might, and overwhelming dominion over all creatures. Look at Ralph over there. That’s what Grisbane’s about. He’s the god of us who the rest of the world took a big dump on. We’re just trying to get by, make a living, read a book, smoke some weed, contemplate nature and shit. Owlbears, chimeras, golems, all them… basically badass monsters. You and me and Ralph, we’re not monsters, and that’s the point. You might think about that a little when you’re thinking about how to deal with this Potion Guild dork. The Man, he might see a half-orc and say ‘That’s an orc! A monster in a 10x10 room with a chest! Time to die!’ But we know better.”
“Anyway, I know you got a lot going on, so I’m not trying to dump anything else on your lap, but if you ever find yourself around Durth, you might want to meet with some of the Council. In particular, you might want to talk to the Oracle of Gryss up in the mountains there. Get another perspective, do a holy quest, crap like that. Leuco’s a dick, and he’ll be back, like it or not. So you gotta be ready, and the Oracle can help. Here take this scroll.” He hands you a Scroll of Flame Strike. “This is an ancient Grisbane scroll. Very powerful magicks there, lost of most of the Grisbane clergy, so don’t go Flame Striking every damn wearbear or whatever you run into. It’s big guns son. Even so, it might not be all you need to stop Leuco or this Potion Guild guy. It’s 6d8, which sounds like a lot, but you never know. Trolls and fire don’t mix, but Potion Guild guys I have on good authority have a lot of protection from fire stuff because of lab explosions or whatever.”
“Finally, the ancient weather station on Mt. Storm? The mountain is about a week west-northwest of here… just go across the Brushfire Plains until you see one lonely mountain. That’s where it is. Good luck son. Oh yeah, one last thing… you’ve, uh, got some mail?” He hands you a small scroll tube. “Just arrived yesterday, I guess from somebody in Grito. I didn’t read it though, but it’s not trapped so don’t worry.” He smiles and you pocket the strange small package.
With that, he and Ralph send you off.
You make your way through the woods until, sure enough, you find Mike. Actually, Speak With Animals probably helps you do that, because if you’ve ever tried to find a zombie in the woods, you know it’s not easy.
Mike the zombie looks very sad. He’s sitting on the ground in a fetal position, still clutching the head of that little girl! You approach him and try to cheer him up: “Hey, we’re not all dead! I mean, not that being dead is a bad thing” you try and cover your initial faux pas. “Hey I know! Why don’t we make some zombies, go get Dave, save Cinder, and kill Vrill!”
Mike looks up at you and says “Make… zombies. Hmm.” He then looks at his ring, and looks at the dead girl’s head, and says “Make… nice… zombie!” He closes his eyes tight in concentration, grits his teeth, and says louder with more confidence “Make… NICE… ZOMBIE!”
And sure enough, holy shit, it’s wrong on at least a couple different levels, but the head’s eyes slowly open and the mouth opens too, intoning “DAAA-DEEE”. Both Mike and the head of Abby look at you. The black jewel in Mike’s zombie ring turns to dust. I guess that’s it for the zombies. Mike stands, and fuckin’ A, the head floats up beside him. You shrug, turn to go, Mike walks alongside you and the head floats along too.
Well, there you go.
Brogg, you and your two dead friends head back to Greyhelm. You decide to wait a couple hours until it gets dark to enter town, just to be on the safe side. Mike walking around was one thing, but a floating head? Might raise the eyebrows of a rent-a-guard or two. Anyway, you get to the Temple of Odin.
Back to Dave. Well Dave, try as you might, the temple guards won’t let you leave. So for the first day, it’s just you, some rather mute guards (think Ultima IV), and Lord Bjorn who’s still passed out. You find some cards and play solitaire, summon a bobcat or two and play some angry fetch.
On the second day, Winnifred, Maid of Mead, shows up. She looks a little harried, but smiles when she sees you. “Hey Dave, sorry about all this. I’ve been over at the Temple of Isaac of the Jug all day trying to sort this situation out. Here’s the deal.”
She sits down, pours herself a tall one, and continues. “First off, don’t worry about the whole ransoming thing. Happens all the time. I gotta give you credit, going up against those fuckwads,” and yes, she uses the word fuckwads, “those fuckwads OF THE JUG” she says sarcastically. “That was Lord and Lady Rupert and Sarah DeVaunet. They’re married, and totally Of The Jug, and not in a good way” she says, toasting you, indicating her flagon.
“Anyway, you don’t have to stay here all week. Just give it one more day, let the shit cool down, then you can take off. Those Of The Jug and that Potion Guild guy, they just left town like ten minutes ago from what I can tell. Headed to some mountain or something, I don’t know the details? But they stopped off at the Guild, then went to the Blacksmiths Guild for a while, then they split. They still have your friend, that human, took him with them for some reason.”
“As for the Geas, well, I can’t do anything about that. But,” she says, leaning closer, “you can. You know that jug thing Lady Sarah has? All her Geases go in there. So if you can get that and destroy it, bam, no more Geas, and you’re free to inflict bodily harm as Odin commands. Of course, you yourself can’t directly get the jug away from her, so you’ll have to figure something out. But that’s also as Odin commands, because he’s the God of Getting Shit Done For Yourself Or Failing That Making Your Friends Do It For You.”
“Failing that, though, you still got options. Ever hear of The Hall of Grunna? Grunna’s this Valkyrie chick who lives up in the mountains around Durth somewhere. If you can’t get the jug, so find Grunna and she might be able to help you. Hell,” she shrugs, taking a long drink, “you might want to go look her up just cuz. Odin’s got a lot of shit going on and Grunna might tell you what you can do to help.”
“Finally, I couldn’t get your mace or flask back or anything. Sorry, like I said, Those Of The Jug are serious dicks. But here’s some stuff, it’s what I could get at the last moment. Chain mail, shield, mace, sling and 20 bullets if you’re into that, 3 flasks of oil, 1 week rations, Potion of Healing, Potion of Heroic Rage, and a Prayer Bead of Summoning Doubling. I know you’ve got a thing about the Potion Guild, so don’t worry, these potions are all home-brewed. And the Bead does just what you might think it does, times two across the board so use it wisely. It’s some pretty hefty Wotan Magic, brother Dave. So let’s chill out for a few hours, and then you can get out of here. Oh yeah, here’s 500 gp. Took up a collection at the bar. You play mah-jong?”
After a couple hours of mah-jong, Brogg, Mike, and the Head of Abby walk/stumble/float up to the temple. There’s some handshakes and discussion about what to do. You guys might want to go around town to buy some stuff, let me know in your replies, but I’m assuming the final verdict is fuck yeah, go after Vrill, the Priests, and Cinder. Hey, you’ve got one of the keys, some new gear, and a big chip on your shoulder. Except Abby, who doesn’t really have shoulders.
Do what you want around town- except, unfortunately, train, because there’s no time! (One week/level training.) By the way, you get 1000 xp apiece. That includes you Cinder.
And speaking of Cinder…
Back to Brogg.
Arvid has a long talk with you. You’ve been out for a while, he cured you when Ralph found you, but Ralph couldn’t drag you back to camp by himself, and then when Ralph got back to camp, he forgot where you were, so Arvid Spoke With Some Animals and found you, took you back, and cured you to full, where you are right now. As mentioned in Part II, it’s been two days since the fight in the barn though.
“Anyway Brogg, there’s a lot I want to say. First off, about your friends. Don’t worry. Your zombie pal is off in the woods about an hour away. I was going to destroy him, but then I remembered your previous visit and thought he might be your friend. He looks pretty shaken up, poor guy, so when you leave here, you should go try to help him out. As for the other priest, Hand of Odin or whoever, he’s alive also, and he’s in town at the Temple of Odin. The other guy? Dunno. Sorry.”
“But hang on, before you go racing after revenge. I just wanted to say that I think you made the right decision regarding the owlbears and stuff. Total support here. I mean, it sucks you had to be put in that decision. That’s the Council of Grisbane for you though. But I sincerely doubt that owlbears really respect Grisbane, much less pray or spend time in quiet repose. Grisbane ain’t about the power, might, and overwhelming dominion over all creatures. Look at Ralph over there. That’s what Grisbane’s about. He’s the god of us who the rest of the world took a big dump on. We’re just trying to get by, make a living, read a book, smoke some weed, contemplate nature and shit. Owlbears, chimeras, golems, all them… basically badass monsters. You and me and Ralph, we’re not monsters, and that’s the point. You might think about that a little when you’re thinking about how to deal with this Potion Guild dork. The Man, he might see a half-orc and say ‘That’s an orc! A monster in a 10x10 room with a chest! Time to die!’ But we know better.”
“Anyway, I know you got a lot going on, so I’m not trying to dump anything else on your lap, but if you ever find yourself around Durth, you might want to meet with some of the Council. In particular, you might want to talk to the Oracle of Gryss up in the mountains there. Get another perspective, do a holy quest, crap like that. Leuco’s a dick, and he’ll be back, like it or not. So you gotta be ready, and the Oracle can help. Here take this scroll.” He hands you a Scroll of Flame Strike. “This is an ancient Grisbane scroll. Very powerful magicks there, lost of most of the Grisbane clergy, so don’t go Flame Striking every damn wearbear or whatever you run into. It’s big guns son. Even so, it might not be all you need to stop Leuco or this Potion Guild guy. It’s 6d8, which sounds like a lot, but you never know. Trolls and fire don’t mix, but Potion Guild guys I have on good authority have a lot of protection from fire stuff because of lab explosions or whatever.”
“Finally, the ancient weather station on Mt. Storm? The mountain is about a week west-northwest of here… just go across the Brushfire Plains until you see one lonely mountain. That’s where it is. Good luck son. Oh yeah, one last thing… you’ve, uh, got some mail?” He hands you a small scroll tube. “Just arrived yesterday, I guess from somebody in Grito. I didn’t read it though, but it’s not trapped so don’t worry.” He smiles and you pocket the strange small package.
With that, he and Ralph send you off.
You make your way through the woods until, sure enough, you find Mike. Actually, Speak With Animals probably helps you do that, because if you’ve ever tried to find a zombie in the woods, you know it’s not easy.
Mike the zombie looks very sad. He’s sitting on the ground in a fetal position, still clutching the head of that little girl! You approach him and try to cheer him up: “Hey, we’re not all dead! I mean, not that being dead is a bad thing” you try and cover your initial faux pas. “Hey I know! Why don’t we make some zombies, go get Dave, save Cinder, and kill Vrill!”
Mike looks up at you and says “Make… zombies. Hmm.” He then looks at his ring, and looks at the dead girl’s head, and says “Make… nice… zombie!” He closes his eyes tight in concentration, grits his teeth, and says louder with more confidence “Make… NICE… ZOMBIE!”
And sure enough, holy shit, it’s wrong on at least a couple different levels, but the head’s eyes slowly open and the mouth opens too, intoning “DAAA-DEEE”. Both Mike and the head of Abby look at you. The black jewel in Mike’s zombie ring turns to dust. I guess that’s it for the zombies. Mike stands, and fuckin’ A, the head floats up beside him. You shrug, turn to go, Mike walks alongside you and the head floats along too.
Well, there you go.
Brogg, you and your two dead friends head back to Greyhelm. You decide to wait a couple hours until it gets dark to enter town, just to be on the safe side. Mike walking around was one thing, but a floating head? Might raise the eyebrows of a rent-a-guard or two. Anyway, you get to the Temple of Odin.
Back to Dave. Well Dave, try as you might, the temple guards won’t let you leave. So for the first day, it’s just you, some rather mute guards (think Ultima IV), and Lord Bjorn who’s still passed out. You find some cards and play solitaire, summon a bobcat or two and play some angry fetch.
On the second day, Winnifred, Maid of Mead, shows up. She looks a little harried, but smiles when she sees you. “Hey Dave, sorry about all this. I’ve been over at the Temple of Isaac of the Jug all day trying to sort this situation out. Here’s the deal.”
She sits down, pours herself a tall one, and continues. “First off, don’t worry about the whole ransoming thing. Happens all the time. I gotta give you credit, going up against those fuckwads,” and yes, she uses the word fuckwads, “those fuckwads OF THE JUG” she says sarcastically. “That was Lord and Lady Rupert and Sarah DeVaunet. They’re married, and totally Of The Jug, and not in a good way” she says, toasting you, indicating her flagon.
“Anyway, you don’t have to stay here all week. Just give it one more day, let the shit cool down, then you can take off. Those Of The Jug and that Potion Guild guy, they just left town like ten minutes ago from what I can tell. Headed to some mountain or something, I don’t know the details? But they stopped off at the Guild, then went to the Blacksmiths Guild for a while, then they split. They still have your friend, that human, took him with them for some reason.”
“As for the Geas, well, I can’t do anything about that. But,” she says, leaning closer, “you can. You know that jug thing Lady Sarah has? All her Geases go in there. So if you can get that and destroy it, bam, no more Geas, and you’re free to inflict bodily harm as Odin commands. Of course, you yourself can’t directly get the jug away from her, so you’ll have to figure something out. But that’s also as Odin commands, because he’s the God of Getting Shit Done For Yourself Or Failing That Making Your Friends Do It For You.”
“Failing that, though, you still got options. Ever hear of The Hall of Grunna? Grunna’s this Valkyrie chick who lives up in the mountains around Durth somewhere. If you can’t get the jug, so find Grunna and she might be able to help you. Hell,” she shrugs, taking a long drink, “you might want to go look her up just cuz. Odin’s got a lot of shit going on and Grunna might tell you what you can do to help.”
“Finally, I couldn’t get your mace or flask back or anything. Sorry, like I said, Those Of The Jug are serious dicks. But here’s some stuff, it’s what I could get at the last moment. Chain mail, shield, mace, sling and 20 bullets if you’re into that, 3 flasks of oil, 1 week rations, Potion of Healing, Potion of Heroic Rage, and a Prayer Bead of Summoning Doubling. I know you’ve got a thing about the Potion Guild, so don’t worry, these potions are all home-brewed. And the Bead does just what you might think it does, times two across the board so use it wisely. It’s some pretty hefty Wotan Magic, brother Dave. So let’s chill out for a few hours, and then you can get out of here. Oh yeah, here’s 500 gp. Took up a collection at the bar. You play mah-jong?”
After a couple hours of mah-jong, Brogg, Mike, and the Head of Abby walk/stumble/float up to the temple. There’s some handshakes and discussion about what to do. You guys might want to go around town to buy some stuff, let me know in your replies, but I’m assuming the final verdict is fuck yeah, go after Vrill, the Priests, and Cinder. Hey, you’ve got one of the keys, some new gear, and a big chip on your shoulder. Except Abby, who doesn’t really have shoulders.
Do what you want around town- except, unfortunately, train, because there’s no time! (One week/level training.) By the way, you get 1000 xp apiece. That includes you Cinder.
And speaking of Cinder…
