Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Evil Green Rock prologue: Professor Pendrake and the Widower's Wood

Ian is shopping for houses with Boomtongue and Braydon "helping." Braydon displays a surprising depth of knowledge about houses he's never had a reason to be inside. Islene, meanwhile, is caught in the machinations of her parents as her birthday nears. After all, they've never gotten to celebrate for both twins before.

Returning from heroically aiding Ian in his housing dilemma, Braydon and Boomtongue come upon Captain Hellstrom talking to Cyrus about recent disappearances in the Widower's Woods. In the past three weeks an unaccountable number of people have vanished, including a military troop, from even the main roads. This piques the interest of the Scharde and the Trollkin, who both get bored easily.

Grigori, meanwhile, is accosted by Pendrake about coming along on a class outing to the Widower's Woods. Considering Pendrake's penchant for finding trouble, Grigori hunts down Ian and Braydon to ask them along as well. Braydon tells him about the people who've been vanishing, which naturally leads to Grigori offering his opinion on the Orgoth: namely, that 'they're coming back, you know.' "There's no one standing watch on the western sea," Grigori points out when Braydon laughs at him.

"Of course there is," Braydon tells him. "Not that it's an improvement."

Braydon visits Pendrake's little squirrel-monster from the Bloodstone Marches, which now lives in a big glass case with its own habitat. "It's a burrowing animal," Pendrake explains enthusiastically. "It's much happier now that it can try to dig its way out." "I think it wants to kill me," Braydon says, amused. "Oh, nonsense! He's just not acclimated to you, is all." Pendrake leans over to tap on the case, which sends the little beastie into a frothing, scrabbling rage. "See?" he tells the Scharde happily.

The three men gather supplies for the field trip, laying on some extra rope and other useful items in case of (inevitable) emergency. The next morning, they set out with three students and Pendrake. The journey out is engaging. Pendrake is in the habit of chasing leaping on things and capturing them to describe the various fascinating features of flora and fauna. That night around the camp fire, Pendrake decides to share some ghost stories. Grigori tells their adventure in the haunted asylum, and then Pendrake prods Braydon into telling some Cryxian folktales. He has the decency to tone it down to only some mildly horrific ones. The poor students are terrified.

The night passes quietly, and they wake up to discover that Pendrake is a very good campfire cook. Grigori keeps frightening Casey Bannister, the most nervous of the three students. Braydon finally gives the poor kid a few reassuring words after the young man's constant yelping starts to get on his nerves.

Pouncing on an unusual herb, Pendrake demonstrates the properties of a paralytic root that grows in the woods. Grigori and Braydon soak it up, fascinated, and as they turn to leave, Casey falls into the ground. Braydon, who after Hellstrom's descriptions had been betting on something underground eating the vanished travelers, is entirely unsurprised.

Pendrake kicks at the dirt till he opens a hole. Casey is unharmed below, in a tunnel. The professor immediately decides that of course, what's needed is to explore this cavern system.

They come across one of the dead soldiers, who was killed by a sword. Grigori takes his dog tags for the poor man's family. Casey breathes deeply, trying not to hyperventilate, and notes, "It smells terrible." Grigori, Braydon, and Ian share a look while they all repress the urge to tell him, "That's the smell of death."

Pendrake doesn't repress the urge. Poor Casey looks horrified.

They explore further until they come to a room that contains two drudges--Cephalyx slaves--and four prisoners. Grigori darts between the drudges and the prisoners. While he and Pendrake lay out one of the monsters, one of the prisoners--another soldier--leaps on the other to strangle it while Ian and Braydon finish it off. The prisoners say they're alright. They were treated fairly well, for reasons it's better not to dwell on. The soldier tells them that there are six or seven Cephalyx down here, and another creature he didn't get a good look at. Two net-launchers in the room get handed to the two unarmed students so they can defend themselves.

Leading the captives out, the group spots another drudge watching them, so they head back the way they came. Sure enough, they shortly pick up an entourage of four Cephalyx and several drudges. With a startled look on his face, Casey suddenly spins about to fire his net at Grigori. Pendrake leaps on him, shouting, "Mind control!" Grigori gets out of the net, handing it to Braydon and Ian to tangle beasties in. They catch three, and Braydon shivs one. "You want to light up the Cephalyx," he tells Grigori, "I got three flasks of oil in my bag."

The drudges rush to the attack. One of the Cephalyx looks backward down the tunnel at something coming toward them. Ian levels another with Flame Strike. Pendrake floors a drudge
just as the Black Ogrun arrives: a black-skinned behemoth with glowing, malevolently intelligent red eyes that are almost hypnotically frightening.

"That explains everything!" Pendrake exclaims, getting a good look at the thing. The Ogrun waves off two Cephalyx, who glide quickly back down the way they came. "Coward!" Grigori shouts at them.

"Very funny, little human," the Ogrun growls at him tolerantly, turning to leave.

Grigori kills the final Cephalyx with his chakram before it can escape and they mop up the rest of the drudges. Pendrake wants to follow the Ogrun, so the soldier and Godwin, the most self-possessed of the students, lead the captives out of the tunnels.

On the way down the tunnel, Pendrake explains that Black Ogrun are a sub-race of the Ogrun. They're entirely evil, he tells them, well known as both slavers and incomparable smiths.
And indeed, they come upon a smithy, where a black greatsword lies across an anvil. Pendrake warns them away. "Masterful smiths, but they're known to create weapons that cause madness." Bloodsteel, that black metal is called. No one is certain how it's created, but Pendrake suspects the name is a clue. While Grigori throws the sword back into the forge, Pendrake unearths some papers from a desk that are covered in Rhulic writing. Noting that some tools in the smithy are Dwarven make, he tells them that the papers are letters mentioning the Ironhead Station Conclave.

Grigori wants to give chase, but Braydon and Pendrake both point out the danger of that. They have enemies unaccounted for and undefended prisoners, and the Black Ogrun looked entirely too calm and in control of the situation. Instead, they decide to head back, give Cyrus the story, and perhaps pursue this on to Ironhead Station.

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