With the aid of the blind sage Bowgentle, the Runestaff reveals what is threatening Rome.
First, Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders, is behind the orc horde beyond the Black River. They have already slain Crassus' armies, and now they are approaching Spoletum, the residence of the Emperor and Emperor Emeritus. Once they have him, they will put a spider in his ear, and thereafter he will say whatever Lolth wants him to say.
Second, Fabulus Calamus has remade Britannia, or parts of it, into Granbretan, the Dark Empire. Their armies of beast-men are overruning the empire from the West. Calamus is an ally of Lolth, not a slave. But he serves her purpose.
Third, Persia is to be conquered by Chin, a land in the Far East. Chin has tamed the wild horsemen of the steppes, so their army is invincible. Also, several Persian wizards are servants of Lolth, guiding the Persians to ruin.
And fourth, Lolth has perverted the temples of the old gods of Rome, tolerated by the Christians so long as they celebrate folk heritage rather than worship. But she has promoted pontiffs who are secret pagans and suppressed others who are orthodox. Through their prayers, Lolth knows each man's heart and grows wise.
This has worked literally everywhere, in every dimension, except Rome, which worships the real god instead of pagan sprits.
Sigrid Junia, in particular, was a big pull for secret neo-paganism when she was in charge. She's repented now, but if she won't work for Lolth, she can just be murdered.
That is the limit of the threats described, although the Runestaff can also give the exact location of the contending armies. No doubt those present, Romans and otherwise, will have additional questions.
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Castle Brass
Castle Brass is a metallic cube in the marshlands of southern Gaul, patrolled by flamelance-armed knights. After a welcome Mass in his church, Brass hosts a mandatory banquet in his castle, introducing his daughter, Yisselda.
He has just agreed to come to Rome to help use the Runestaff in the aid of the Romans, when another visitor knocks on the door. He is Baron Meladius, Grand Constable of the Order of the Wolf, a nobleman of Granbretan. His armies are consuming the Roman armies, and he wants to see if Count Brass wants to make an alliance with Calamus.
Quite apart from the oath he swore to the Empire, Count Brass has heard terrible things about Granbretan. Meladius grins and says they're all true; he's about to launch into a long, character-defining speech when Bjern and Pouncequick jump him. Meladius is armed with Mournblade, a vampire sword which drinks the blood of its victims. He gets Junius, Brother Aquila, and Retarius, but Rosa comes in behind and heals them so they don't actually die.
Granbretan soldiers on massive, horse-sized wolves burst in to raven and slay! Rosa decoys the lead wolf with the thought that there's a deer running around outside, so the mounts leave, and Retarius and Bjern defeat some of the Granbretans. Pouncequick casts protection from evil on Meladius, in the thought that some evil power is aiding him and will now be cut off. It does seem to slow him down somewhat.
Junius defeats Meladius by breaking Mournblade with the Sword of the Dawn. Then when Meladius charges, he smashes his throat.
Count Brass ignites his flame-dagger and scorches the Wolves, then sets fire to the big tapestry over their heads and lets it fall on them, wiping them out.
With the Wolf soldiers defeated, Decinque bursts in, exclaiming "giant monster!" A huge rock creature has hauled itself out of the soil and is coming for Castle Brass.
As the knights of Count Brass charge on horseback, the monster reaches deep into the earth and pulls the rock out from under them, causing the soil to collapse. They all fall down.
Bjern, using the Axe of St. Michael, and Decinque, driven aggressively mad with fear, assail the rock monster and kill it.
He has just agreed to come to Rome to help use the Runestaff in the aid of the Romans, when another visitor knocks on the door. He is Baron Meladius, Grand Constable of the Order of the Wolf, a nobleman of Granbretan. His armies are consuming the Roman armies, and he wants to see if Count Brass wants to make an alliance with Calamus.
Quite apart from the oath he swore to the Empire, Count Brass has heard terrible things about Granbretan. Meladius grins and says they're all true; he's about to launch into a long, character-defining speech when Bjern and Pouncequick jump him. Meladius is armed with Mournblade, a vampire sword which drinks the blood of its victims. He gets Junius, Brother Aquila, and Retarius, but Rosa comes in behind and heals them so they don't actually die.
Granbretan soldiers on massive, horse-sized wolves burst in to raven and slay! Rosa decoys the lead wolf with the thought that there's a deer running around outside, so the mounts leave, and Retarius and Bjern defeat some of the Granbretans. Pouncequick casts protection from evil on Meladius, in the thought that some evil power is aiding him and will now be cut off. It does seem to slow him down somewhat.
Junius defeats Meladius by breaking Mournblade with the Sword of the Dawn. Then when Meladius charges, he smashes his throat.
Count Brass ignites his flame-dagger and scorches the Wolves, then sets fire to the big tapestry over their heads and lets it fall on them, wiping them out.
With the Wolf soldiers defeated, Decinque bursts in, exclaiming "giant monster!" A huge rock creature has hauled itself out of the soil and is coming for Castle Brass.
As the knights of Count Brass charge on horseback, the monster reaches deep into the earth and pulls the rock out from under them, causing the soil to collapse. They all fall down.
Bjern, using the Axe of St. Michael, and Decinque, driven aggressively mad with fear, assail the rock monster and kill it.
Monday, June 26, 2017
The Dark City of London
Andronicus and Fabulus Calamus have been busy ...
The Runestaff, according to Sylvia's perceptions, is in the Prison of Souls. While everyone else waits for daybreak, Rosa sneaks in and finds only one prisoner who isn't screamingly insane ... Count Brass, a nobleman of Gaul. He says he's here voluntarily, hoping to learn how Calamus turns one metal into another.
He also knows where the Runestaff is. And when the Valerians break him out, he shows them --- he has it! Indeed, Count Brass had the Runestaff all the time, and the madmen of Granbretan -- the empire Calamus is building on the province of Britannia -- never suspected.
The eagles come at Elrond's call and everyone escapes. Count Brass is willing to discuss what to do with the Runestaff, but demurs Pouncequick and Junius' kind suggestion that they take it to Rome and discuss it. Instead, Count Brass prefers to explain the Runestaff at his home of Castle Brass, surrounded by his own philosophical devices and troops.
The Runestaff, according to Sylvia's perceptions, is in the Prison of Souls. While everyone else waits for daybreak, Rosa sneaks in and finds only one prisoner who isn't screamingly insane ... Count Brass, a nobleman of Gaul. He says he's here voluntarily, hoping to learn how Calamus turns one metal into another.
He also knows where the Runestaff is. And when the Valerians break him out, he shows them --- he has it! Indeed, Count Brass had the Runestaff all the time, and the madmen of Granbretan -- the empire Calamus is building on the province of Britannia -- never suspected.
The eagles come at Elrond's call and everyone escapes. Count Brass is willing to discuss what to do with the Runestaff, but demurs Pouncequick and Junius' kind suggestion that they take it to Rome and discuss it. Instead, Count Brass prefers to explain the Runestaff at his home of Castle Brass, surrounded by his own philosophical devices and troops.
Friday, March 31, 2017
There's No Winter in Africa
During the winter of the year, RETARIUS travels to Africa to investigate the rebel Malaros the Corinthian. He gets permission from SEVERUS SECUNDUS to land behind the rebel lines, and discovers an army of zombies hiding in the shadow of a tree. They aren't hiding from the Romans; they are hiding from the sun. Retarius' Belgae kill them one by one, after defeating the mortal who was tasked to convey the army of zombies here.
Apparently they walk all night then lie up under shelter until the next night, each zombie horde being led by a single minion of Malaros. The minion, under questioning, admits that Malaros is Molasar, the undead sorceror we encountered under the Temple of Elemental Evil, and again in the Frozen North. He was last seen eaten by a colossal purple worm, but apparently, someone COULD survive that fate, irrespective of what it seemed at the time.
Retarius and company travel by boat to the origin of the zombie trail, where they discover an ancient, ruined temple in the desert, guarded by many zombies. Fortunately, as the zombies attack, a Roman legion arrives! Yes, JUNIUS received a letter from SEVERUS SECUNDUS, and brought the entire Legio XX to Africa, and just in the nick of time!
The boss here, we're told, is LAZLO, a wight from Molasar's homeland of Dacia. VESUVIUS takes Lazlo on face-to-face, and does all right, but Lazlo has a whole acre of skeletons and Frankensteinian abominations to throw at him. Eventually Vesuvius has to retreat.
The army defeats the zombies. ROSA flies over the temple, distributing holy salt, and seeing Lazlo, takes him out with a sun-bead arrow in the face. But inside the temple, a deeper darkness is stirring, rising like an ashy fume to cover the temple's interior.
As BJERN is transformed into a fire bear, RETARIUS and EDELWEISS rush the temple from the other side. They enter, where Edelweiss' glowing sword reveals a winged man in leather coat, armed with a cast-iron skull and a book of dead names -- Molasar himself!
"We meet again, play-soldier!" Molasar ought to have said.
"Yes, for the last time, dead man," Retarius should have responded.
And then the blades are flying! Molasar cuts Retarius, a little, but Edelweiss shield-slams him back over an ancient altar. Retarius pins Molasar's bat-wing to the stone, and even Molasar's eruption of black doom magic doesn't stop his nemeses.
Molasar rolls, ripping his own wing off, and faces his foes, now with a sword in each hand. Edelweiss and Retarius have each cut him seriously, but he seems not to mind.
And all around the temple, the ground shudders, collapsing into sinkholes from which purple worms snake hungrily into the world above!
"The worm did not kill me ... but I did learn a few things," Molasar says.
Apparently they walk all night then lie up under shelter until the next night, each zombie horde being led by a single minion of Malaros. The minion, under questioning, admits that Malaros is Molasar, the undead sorceror we encountered under the Temple of Elemental Evil, and again in the Frozen North. He was last seen eaten by a colossal purple worm, but apparently, someone COULD survive that fate, irrespective of what it seemed at the time.
Retarius and company travel by boat to the origin of the zombie trail, where they discover an ancient, ruined temple in the desert, guarded by many zombies. Fortunately, as the zombies attack, a Roman legion arrives! Yes, JUNIUS received a letter from SEVERUS SECUNDUS, and brought the entire Legio XX to Africa, and just in the nick of time!
The boss here, we're told, is LAZLO, a wight from Molasar's homeland of Dacia. VESUVIUS takes Lazlo on face-to-face, and does all right, but Lazlo has a whole acre of skeletons and Frankensteinian abominations to throw at him. Eventually Vesuvius has to retreat.
The army defeats the zombies. ROSA flies over the temple, distributing holy salt, and seeing Lazlo, takes him out with a sun-bead arrow in the face. But inside the temple, a deeper darkness is stirring, rising like an ashy fume to cover the temple's interior.
As BJERN is transformed into a fire bear, RETARIUS and EDELWEISS rush the temple from the other side. They enter, where Edelweiss' glowing sword reveals a winged man in leather coat, armed with a cast-iron skull and a book of dead names -- Molasar himself!
"We meet again, play-soldier!" Molasar ought to have said.
"Yes, for the last time, dead man," Retarius should have responded.
And then the blades are flying! Molasar cuts Retarius, a little, but Edelweiss shield-slams him back over an ancient altar. Retarius pins Molasar's bat-wing to the stone, and even Molasar's eruption of black doom magic doesn't stop his nemeses.
Molasar rolls, ripping his own wing off, and faces his foes, now with a sword in each hand. Edelweiss and Retarius have each cut him seriously, but he seems not to mind.
And all around the temple, the ground shudders, collapsing into sinkholes from which purple worms snake hungrily into the world above!
"The worm did not kill me ... but I did learn a few things," Molasar says.
Thursday, March 9, 2017
The Eternal Kingdom of Perfect Harmony
Trying to walk back to Rome, our heroes instead encounter Elebrion, castle of the Elves. Which is strange, as Elebrion is 500 miles in another direction.
Haldir Stormchandler greets his elder cousin. Pejorative the dragon greets him in reply. The DRAGON is welcome in the elves' home, but the rest of us ...
Elrond Halfelven comes and talks to us. He's a half-elf, so not as worried about polluting his spirit by conversing with mortals. He explains that Lolth has put a spell on us so that, no matter where we go, we end up here.
Actually, the spell was supposed to lead us to the fires of Mt. Etna on Sicily. But the elves stepped in and tangled it up so it led here instead.
They want the Sword of the Dawn so they can find the Runestaff. Vesuvius and Junius swear by sunwine that they will give the Runestaff to the Elves, once they and their people no longer need the Runestaff. And should 4002 AD come, and they be still alive, they have to hand it over then.
The Elves want the Runestaff because the universe is ending. In 4004 BC, the world was made. And it gradually became stronger, richer and more complex until the Year of Our Lord, when it began to decline. In 4004 AD, existence will end. They don't want to die; Brother Aquila tries to get them to see the inevitable rightness of death, but they don't want to hear it. But with the Runestaff, which tells the destiny of men, they might be able to find a way out.
In exchange, Elrond will accompany us on our quest for the Runestaff. He also consents to advise Junius on swordsmanship (although not with Junius' old iron sword, it being IRON) and Vesuvius on sorcery. He has a conversation about the souls of dwarves with Brother Aquila.
Meanwhile, Rosa asks an elf named Farstriker for archery tips, and shoots a fire giant from a mile away.
Fire giant? Yes, for Vartox and his gang are still following us, and the spell leads them inevitably to Elebrion. A fight erupts between Elf and Giant, evenly matched, but for the Romans who are on the Elves's side.
DECINQUE challenges the giants (actually, he's just trying to get a set of Elven garb, but the Elves are playing a joke on him) and survives, fighting three fire giants along with RETARIUS and JUNIUS. They kill Vartox, which isn't as hard as it might be, since he and half his gang are all struck by lightning from the sky!
Elrond gives Retarius a green cloak as light as the wind, for Retaria.
VESUVIUS discovers that when he casts spells in Elfland, the energy he expends is instantly restored! This leads him to use a whole lot of spells, destroying two fire giants. His Reverse Missiles spell takes out three archers, who run away, get toyed with by Bowenn's illusions, and eventually die.
Haldir Stormchandler greets his elder cousin. Pejorative the dragon greets him in reply. The DRAGON is welcome in the elves' home, but the rest of us ...
Elrond Halfelven comes and talks to us. He's a half-elf, so not as worried about polluting his spirit by conversing with mortals. He explains that Lolth has put a spell on us so that, no matter where we go, we end up here.
Actually, the spell was supposed to lead us to the fires of Mt. Etna on Sicily. But the elves stepped in and tangled it up so it led here instead.
They want the Sword of the Dawn so they can find the Runestaff. Vesuvius and Junius swear by sunwine that they will give the Runestaff to the Elves, once they and their people no longer need the Runestaff. And should 4002 AD come, and they be still alive, they have to hand it over then.
The Elves want the Runestaff because the universe is ending. In 4004 BC, the world was made. And it gradually became stronger, richer and more complex until the Year of Our Lord, when it began to decline. In 4004 AD, existence will end. They don't want to die; Brother Aquila tries to get them to see the inevitable rightness of death, but they don't want to hear it. But with the Runestaff, which tells the destiny of men, they might be able to find a way out.
In exchange, Elrond will accompany us on our quest for the Runestaff. He also consents to advise Junius on swordsmanship (although not with Junius' old iron sword, it being IRON) and Vesuvius on sorcery. He has a conversation about the souls of dwarves with Brother Aquila.
Meanwhile, Rosa asks an elf named Farstriker for archery tips, and shoots a fire giant from a mile away.
Fire giant? Yes, for Vartox and his gang are still following us, and the spell leads them inevitably to Elebrion. A fight erupts between Elf and Giant, evenly matched, but for the Romans who are on the Elves's side.
DECINQUE challenges the giants (actually, he's just trying to get a set of Elven garb, but the Elves are playing a joke on him) and survives, fighting three fire giants along with RETARIUS and JUNIUS. They kill Vartox, which isn't as hard as it might be, since he and half his gang are all struck by lightning from the sky!
Elrond gives Retarius a green cloak as light as the wind, for Retaria.
VESUVIUS discovers that when he casts spells in Elfland, the energy he expends is instantly restored! This leads him to use a whole lot of spells, destroying two fire giants. His Reverse Missiles spell takes out three archers, who run away, get toyed with by Bowenn's illusions, and eventually die.
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Fire Giants and Brass Dragon
The Legion of the Cross defeats the Machine Beast, making so much noise and light that Verity and Aristocles are dazzled and incapacitated.
Meanwhile, the other group is fighting Frost Giants. Most of the Valerians rush over there and help, along with the wind-up Dwarf King statues wielding truly enormous stone weapons! The giants lose, although Bjern gets quite severely crushed and has to be healed. Brother Aquila also gets mangled, which is less commonplace.
With the healers out of energy and the Sword of the Dawn safe in hand, it's obviously time to venture deeper into the Dwarven halls, though perhaps not into the room labelled "Sudden Death." Bjern finds a brass dragon, which is willing to follow him in exchange for treats. What do brass dragons like to eat? Gold, mostly. Silver is nice too.
However, Retarius and Adelweiss have gone down another hallway, leading to a lower level full of Fire Giants! They agree to fight for first blood, to see if they will treat the humans like warriors or like vermin. Retarius' flashing sword cuts Chroxilar the Smallish Fire Giant, and he acknowledges defeat, but when called upon to "yield", he gets all upset and appeals to his boss, King Vartox.
"Vartox the Valiant! Vartox the Vanquisher! VARTOX the VOLCANO-SPLITTER!" he introduces himself.
"Wow, that's a pretty cool name," says some human. "Which volcano did you split?"
"THIS ONE!" he says, and strikes the stone with his axe.
The stone splits apart, vomiting steam and smoke and ash and lava. During the eruption, Retarius and Adelweiss leave.
Unfortunately, the commotion has brought the attention of some cave trolls, who attack. Vesuviius gets one to peer closely at his ring, then Dazzles him. The Troll, blaming his eyes, strikes his face repeatedly with a massive iron mace, while Vesuvius skirts around him.
Everyone makes it to the exit chamber, but before they can crawl into the dwarf tunnels leading out, the floor cracks open and flames shoot forth! Clearly King Vartox is coming after them, and he's not bothering to walk through the tunnels to do it!
Vesuvius summons a wall, but horizontally, to bridge the volcanic gap. Everyone hastens out.
Everyone, that is, except Bjern and his dragon, Thorgibar Pejorative. They're still there when Vartox arrives. Bjern uses the box the mordite came it to hurl it at Vartox! It hits his armor, which is not alive, and therefore bounces off, uselessly.
Bjern retreats. The giants, being way to big to fit into the tunnels, cannot pursue.
In the tunnels, Rosa warns of an enchantment. She cannot call out to her spider friend. Retarius thinks it may be Bowenn Ivorybow's doing, and says his name three times. Bowenn, indeed, replies.
Bowenn is invisible, but the dragon can smell him out, wearing, as he does, many pounds of gold and jewelry.
Bowenn demands the Sword of the Dawn. Retarius refuses; he plans to give it to the Cardinal. But once he establishes that the Cardinal is a mortal man, Bowenn is satisfied. The doom which threatens all that lives can wait a lifetime or two before the Sword is needed. He gives everyone leave to depart.
Before that, however, Rosa's spider friend suggests an alternative way out. He appeals to Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders, to show them to safety, and indeed, she does. Brother Aquila confronts Lolth, endures her terror-attack without panicking, and throws holy salt on her. Lolth withdraws. This causes Rosa's spider friend, halfway to safety, to fall out of the air and get stabbed by Brother A. Rosa finds him, heals him, and carries him to safety. Yes, the spider.
One xp is awarded.
Meanwhile, the other group is fighting Frost Giants. Most of the Valerians rush over there and help, along with the wind-up Dwarf King statues wielding truly enormous stone weapons! The giants lose, although Bjern gets quite severely crushed and has to be healed. Brother Aquila also gets mangled, which is less commonplace.
With the healers out of energy and the Sword of the Dawn safe in hand, it's obviously time to venture deeper into the Dwarven halls, though perhaps not into the room labelled "Sudden Death." Bjern finds a brass dragon, which is willing to follow him in exchange for treats. What do brass dragons like to eat? Gold, mostly. Silver is nice too.
However, Retarius and Adelweiss have gone down another hallway, leading to a lower level full of Fire Giants! They agree to fight for first blood, to see if they will treat the humans like warriors or like vermin. Retarius' flashing sword cuts Chroxilar the Smallish Fire Giant, and he acknowledges defeat, but when called upon to "yield", he gets all upset and appeals to his boss, King Vartox.
"Vartox the Valiant! Vartox the Vanquisher! VARTOX the VOLCANO-SPLITTER!" he introduces himself.
"Wow, that's a pretty cool name," says some human. "Which volcano did you split?"
"THIS ONE!" he says, and strikes the stone with his axe.
The stone splits apart, vomiting steam and smoke and ash and lava. During the eruption, Retarius and Adelweiss leave.
Unfortunately, the commotion has brought the attention of some cave trolls, who attack. Vesuviius gets one to peer closely at his ring, then Dazzles him. The Troll, blaming his eyes, strikes his face repeatedly with a massive iron mace, while Vesuvius skirts around him.
Everyone makes it to the exit chamber, but before they can crawl into the dwarf tunnels leading out, the floor cracks open and flames shoot forth! Clearly King Vartox is coming after them, and he's not bothering to walk through the tunnels to do it!
Vesuvius summons a wall, but horizontally, to bridge the volcanic gap. Everyone hastens out.
Everyone, that is, except Bjern and his dragon, Thorgibar Pejorative. They're still there when Vartox arrives. Bjern uses the box the mordite came it to hurl it at Vartox! It hits his armor, which is not alive, and therefore bounces off, uselessly.
Bjern retreats. The giants, being way to big to fit into the tunnels, cannot pursue.
In the tunnels, Rosa warns of an enchantment. She cannot call out to her spider friend. Retarius thinks it may be Bowenn Ivorybow's doing, and says his name three times. Bowenn, indeed, replies.
Bowenn is invisible, but the dragon can smell him out, wearing, as he does, many pounds of gold and jewelry.
Bowenn demands the Sword of the Dawn. Retarius refuses; he plans to give it to the Cardinal. But once he establishes that the Cardinal is a mortal man, Bowenn is satisfied. The doom which threatens all that lives can wait a lifetime or two before the Sword is needed. He gives everyone leave to depart.
Before that, however, Rosa's spider friend suggests an alternative way out. He appeals to Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders, to show them to safety, and indeed, she does. Brother Aquila confronts Lolth, endures her terror-attack without panicking, and throws holy salt on her. Lolth withdraws. This causes Rosa's spider friend, halfway to safety, to fall out of the air and get stabbed by Brother A. Rosa finds him, heals him, and carries him to safety. Yes, the spider.
One xp is awarded.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Vault of the Dwarves
ROCKY and IVAR, natural-born dwarves, explain the Dwarven Deeps to the Valerians. They have a map of their domain, which has been entirely overrun by monsters from deeper down. Frost Giants, mostly, but also some other horrors.
VESUVIUS the magician sneaks into the room where the Frost Giants lair. BJERN rolls a sphere of mordite, concentrated essence of death, which he stole from Fabulus Calamus' country estate. One of the giants picks it up, and poof, he's dead.
The others are scared, and one fires a ten-foot arrow into the darkness where the Romans are hiding. Retarius blocks it with his shield, which shatters, but saves everyone else.
The skeleton of the dead giant gets up, shedding his skin, and attacks the other giants. The skeleton has turned solid black, as though it had become solid mordite itself. Another giant dies, and his skeleton comes out, too. It's getting bad.
Vesuvius ducks into the next room along with ARISTOCLES the magician and VERITY the cleric. They meet a Rock Worm whose skin is harder than stone; they can't kill it, so Aristocles puts it to sleep and it falls into a pool of clarifying acid.
Then they encounter a hallway with statues of ancient Dwarven heroes. They come alive and menace the Romans, until Vesuvius gets them reminiscing about the good old days. They're happy to talk to him endlessly, especially when he asks leading questions. Problem solved. As long as the nice young man seems interested in their stories, they don't even mind if his friends go deeper into the dungeon.
Meanwhile, DECINQUE and BJERN jump the remaining panicked giants. Decinque almost kills one with a massive surprise attack, and BJERN tries to knock him over, which fails completely.
Then they pursue the fleeing giants into the tunnels. A rat bites BROTHER AQUILA, causing chills and fever, but he doesn't drop in his tracks, so it must be okay.
Back in the Hall of Heroes, our heroes encounter the Machine Beast, a robotic steam-powered dinosaur with a flamethrower and rock-breaking drill. Aristocles distracts it with an illusion, and they dart through, finding a room with a giant stone box. Breaking it open reveals a mirror-bright sword blade with no handle. Verity uses her cross as a handle and it lights up, revealing eight white-clad fighting men surrounding her.
One of them, who speaks a stilted form of literary Latin, says they are the Legion of the Cross, Christian warriors drawn from throughout time to defend the Faith. Verity sics them on the Machine Beast, and Shiro, a spacesuited jump trooper from the 22nd century, shoots it out with him. Only his plasma charges only hit armor, and the Machine Beast stabs through his armor with its rockbreaker!
One experience point is awarded.
VESUVIUS the magician sneaks into the room where the Frost Giants lair. BJERN rolls a sphere of mordite, concentrated essence of death, which he stole from Fabulus Calamus' country estate. One of the giants picks it up, and poof, he's dead.
The others are scared, and one fires a ten-foot arrow into the darkness where the Romans are hiding. Retarius blocks it with his shield, which shatters, but saves everyone else.
The skeleton of the dead giant gets up, shedding his skin, and attacks the other giants. The skeleton has turned solid black, as though it had become solid mordite itself. Another giant dies, and his skeleton comes out, too. It's getting bad.
Vesuvius ducks into the next room along with ARISTOCLES the magician and VERITY the cleric. They meet a Rock Worm whose skin is harder than stone; they can't kill it, so Aristocles puts it to sleep and it falls into a pool of clarifying acid.
Then they encounter a hallway with statues of ancient Dwarven heroes. They come alive and menace the Romans, until Vesuvius gets them reminiscing about the good old days. They're happy to talk to him endlessly, especially when he asks leading questions. Problem solved. As long as the nice young man seems interested in their stories, they don't even mind if his friends go deeper into the dungeon.
Meanwhile, DECINQUE and BJERN jump the remaining panicked giants. Decinque almost kills one with a massive surprise attack, and BJERN tries to knock him over, which fails completely.
Then they pursue the fleeing giants into the tunnels. A rat bites BROTHER AQUILA, causing chills and fever, but he doesn't drop in his tracks, so it must be okay.
Back in the Hall of Heroes, our heroes encounter the Machine Beast, a robotic steam-powered dinosaur with a flamethrower and rock-breaking drill. Aristocles distracts it with an illusion, and they dart through, finding a room with a giant stone box. Breaking it open reveals a mirror-bright sword blade with no handle. Verity uses her cross as a handle and it lights up, revealing eight white-clad fighting men surrounding her.
One of them, who speaks a stilted form of literary Latin, says they are the Legion of the Cross, Christian warriors drawn from throughout time to defend the Faith. Verity sics them on the Machine Beast, and Shiro, a spacesuited jump trooper from the 22nd century, shoots it out with him. Only his plasma charges only hit armor, and the Machine Beast stabs through his armor with its rockbreaker!
One experience point is awarded.
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