Werewolf Families

BJERN fights a big ol' werewolf, whose wounds close as fast as they are inflicted! SIGRID shoots it with a pair of silver arrows, driving it off.

Meanwhile many wolves of the regular type are darting in and biting. CONNEL gets bitten badly, but the wolves are driven off by GNORFANK before they can finish Connel.

The Stag impales a wolf and hurls it with a heave of its heavy head, glaring at all the other wolves. With their werewolf leader fled, they slink away, shamefaced. The elk nods, as if all is as he wishes it, and trots away.

Meanwhile, back at Wulfsgaard, some noises in the basement have prompted POUNCEQUICK, DECINQUE, and BROTHER AQUILA to investigate. The hall sits over an abandoned salt mine, in which is a big snake, a big spider, and several cells in which werewolf women are chained! These, according to Sigrid, are the former brides of Wulf, her grandfather, who never seemed to quite be able to get married, but was always trying.

Brother Aquila discovers that Rebuke Evil can harm the werewolves, and sometimes, but not always, drive the wolf spirit out of the person it possesses. With trial and error, he cures two of the three werewolf brides, but not the third one, Ivanna of Novgorod.

The last door is bigger and thicker, bearing no name. Apparently Wulf himself was locked away by his sons when he got too crazy. And behind the door, thrashing and snarling can be heard over the rattling of chains...

... so OF COURSE, when Bjern and them get back, we open the door!

A VERY LARGE werewolf snarls and twists beyond! So protean is his flesh that new bones form and disappear in seconds, jabbing through his skin in a dozen places. Silver weapons and sharpened holly stakes hurt him, but he's bigger than an ogre and the wounds we're inflicting don't slow him down from ripping Retarius' arm just about all the way off, and biting into Bjern's entire torso in one bite!

Retarius had woven a wicker shield out of holly branches too thin to make good spears. He dropped it when he lost (almost) his arm. Now Rosa uses an invocation of plant growth to make the cut holly flower anew, putting forth new vines which thicken and entangle Wulf, until he cannot move at all!

Then it's just a matter of rebuking and stabbing and stabbing again. And stabbing.

As the world's first human wound, Bjern needs major magic to survive, which is forthcoming courtesy of Rosa and Brother Aquila. Pouncequick's first aid skills don't kill anyone, either.

The redheaded Iceni princess who was to have been Bjern's wife declares she is glad to see a warrior of the Iceni (Bjern), and that she isn't planning to stay another night in this madhouse. She swirls out the door in a flurry of poise, and is shot down by an arrow from the woods!

Bjern charges the shooter -- clearly, he cannot die, so what's a few arrows? Rosa sneaks up on the shooters and determines that they are Jorn and Thalga, children of Hengist, the rival of Rothgar. Hengist's holy man has given them the secret of skinwalking, and as werewolves, they fear no man. But it isnt' nighttime yet, and Thalga's been pierced by one of Sylvia's silver arrows, so they withdraw.

Bjern, meanwhile, has angled his charge toward a new threat, Hengist himself! The bald Dane with long tattooed fangs on his forehead explains that he wants Sigrid. They can smell, he and his pack, that she is bitten, and tonight, when the full moon comes, the Valerians won't want her any more. Let the family be healed, and she shall be princess over his own daugher Thalga, offers Hengist.

Bjern offers that he's going to kill Hengist, by way of counterproposal.

Gnorfank rushes another enemy in the woods, making a distraction. Bjern fights Hengist, who has the biggest axe Bjern has ever seen, but Bjern drops, wounded in the leg, and Hengist flees. Gnorfank's opponent THROWS him through a tree, sees his boss has departed, and flees as well.

So. How was YOUR day?

Into the Snow

Junius, after being elected tribune, takes 300 men from the XX Legion as his personal bodyguard and heads into the wilds, intending to restore ROTHGAR, Sigrid Wulfsdottir's uncle, to the throne usurped by HENGIST, her wicked uncle. Should that occur, Sigrid swears Rothgar will donate his treasure to House Valerius, which could use it.

A sea voyage is intercepted by Rothgar's longship, but when 300 Romans crowd the decks, the longship turns right around and retreats.

A landfall in the land of the Belgae turns ugly when POUNCEQUICK sells a local chieftain some copper for an emerald. The chief immediately regrets his decision, demands his emerald back, and calls out half the townsfolk to pummel Pouncequick.

BJERN knocks down the biggest Belgae, and the rest think better of their rashness. Also the Roman army lines up on the dock with shields locked, ready to practice Basic Riot Drill. There is no riot.

With plenty of supplies, the Romans take to deeper water, avoiding the kobold-haunted woods under Sigrid's navigation and making landfall quite close to Tor's Hammer, a massive rock sticking into the sea atop which Rothgar's hall, Theorat, is built.

But nothing is visible from the sea. A landing party goes up the back path around the mountain to the site of Theorat, which has been burned down. Odd, small paw-prints litter the ground.

BJERN and POUNCEQUICK, who are evidently linked by fate, go into the snowy woods to investigate. SIGRID and RETARIUS go up over the hill to the vale where the farms are; Retarius think that if the women and children had escaped Theorat's fall, they would have gone there.

A blinded elk rushes past Bjern and Pouncequick. Pouncequick follows to warn the others. Rosa talks to the elk and calms it down, but it's not very coherent just yet.

Shaggy gray wolves follow the elk! They try to detour around Bjern, but he hacks one. The other two come around, one in front of Bjern, one behind.

Meanwhile, Sigrid and Retarius crest the hill, seeing the vale beyond full of hurrying gray forms. And the howl goes up ...

A Busy Year

The year 351 AD ends with the XX Legion not yet assigned. Grandmamma has discovered that Calamus gifted the Magister Militum, Melchettus, with a million sesterces to cancel the assignment to Brittania. Since Melchettus is a moral politician (one who, when bought, STAYS bought), we'll need to come up with 1.1 million to get him to send the XX where we want.

That is, for the mathematically optimistic among us, 11,000 Librum. Which, needless to say, we don't have.

But! All is not lost. For in the distant Isles du Loup, the King, an ally of Rome, has been deposed by his ambitious brother. The King's niece, Sigrid, has appealed to the Emperor to restore her uncle's throne. Among other things, the treasure of the Isles, amassed over centuries of sea-raiding (they call it "brooking", because you sail up brooks), is currently in the usurper's hands. If her uncle could but be restored, surely the treasure would belong by rights to those who helped him.

The Emperor may indeed choose to grant Sigrid's request. Or not. But he is away on an extended dove hunt, and before he returns, Retaria, wife and career counselor of our own gladiator Retarius, has found out about the appeal, and made it clear that if the Valerians get there first, they get the treasure. And all you have to do is kill some barbarians! That's what you do all day anyway, she says. Retaria knows the ins and outs of palace intrigue and plots within schemes, but she doesn't think fighting is terribly interesting or complicated. So she's serenely sure that you'll win.

Can we take the XX Legion? No. But some of the men can be given extended leave from the Army, and why not? They're sitting around Rome not doing anything. So Grandmamma and Retaria agree that the Valerians should send their best agents to the Isles to help King Rothmar against his wicked brother Varian.

And if you need to ask who House Valerius' best agents are, you haven't really been paying attention ...

The Hall of the Water Wizard

Having decided that FABULUS CALAMUS is a likely suspect, the Valerians infiltrate in two ways:

BROTHER AQUILA, POUNCEQUICK, DECINQUE and BJERN OF BRITAIN enter disguised as monks performing a routine blessing.

JUNIUS, RETARIUS, ROSA, and SYLVIA enter through the storm sewers. This means leaving Connel and Gnorfank behind.

The sewer team comes up in a storeroom full of bottles of strange potions. JUNIUS grabs one for later use.

The monk team is led by servants through several rooms, which they pretend to ritually purify.

Then they enter a room from which they can see the owner, Calamus himself. Calamus, after giving orders to a servant, turns and hurries from the room.

Then gladiators emerge from many doorways, moving to block the exit! BJERN fights his way to the door, sees about twenty gladiators pursuing him, gets cut by a spearpoint, and goes berserk. Between that group and the next, he kills sixteen gladiators and sets the survivors to panicked flight.

Meanwhile, JUNIUS is also attacked by gladiators. He hurls his potion bottle at them. It is full of liquid screams, and a quart of screams is enough to deafen everyone in the building.

SYLVIA sees Calamus escaping and shoots him in the leg. But her arrow passes through his flesh, which seals the hole like water.

Calamus summons water elementals to crush Junius' group.

SYLVIA uses the lightning arrow she took from Karinthia the Arrow Mage back in the Temple of the Four Winds. That hurts the elemental pretty badly! It halts, hesitating. RETARIUS ducks his head and plows through it, like bulling through a wave in the sea.

Retarius reaches Calamus' room, which has a hot bath built into the floor. Retarius demands answers from Calamus, who seems oddly willing to discuss his plans. He, Calamus, has kidnapped the Elvish ambassador in order to win favor with MARCUS LICINIUS CRASSUS, who does not approve of his daughter's love for the Elf. Calamus used Crassus' favor to have the XX Legion reassigned; he doesn't want any Roman legions in Brittania, because he has plans in that province that the Army might interrupt.

At this point Junius arrives and attacks Calamus. Calamus stops telling Retarius his plan (you crafty devil! You got me MONOLOGUING!) and steps into the bath. His body turns into water and starts going down the drain, but Junius grabs the wooden drain plug and stops up Calamus' escape route. Calamus swirls around (he's water, what else is he going to do?) and then summons an enormous purple worm out of the drains, which busts up the bath and attempts to do the same to Junius and Retarius. But Retarius shovels a shieldfull of hot coals into the worm's mouth, and that takes care of it for a while.

When the worm recovers its wits and lurches out into the hallway after the retreating Romans, it runs into several angry water elementals. With Calamus controlling them all would be harmony, but without him, the very different, very upset monsters fall upon each other. Which actually seems to happen rather often when the Elemental Evil guys go up against the House of Valerius.

ROSA and PETER follow the advice of some rats (rats know everything) and locate BOWENN IVORYBOW in the frigidarium. He's chained down in icy water, dying of hypothermia. Rosa invokes an ancient rune and fills the room with roaring flames, which warm Bowenn right up. After apologizing in verse for not using verse during this crisis, Bowenn illusionizes the wall of the villa and walks right through it as though it did not exist. Peter and Rosa follow.

Bowenn has also taken up his bow, made from a pair of huge tusks, and his cloak, which makes him look like a piece of a dirty Roman alley. So he's pretty hard to see, since they're in a dirty Roman alley which looks exactly like a dirty Roman alley. He leaves Rosa with a teardrop-shaped red stone and hurries off into the night, perhaps to seek his beloved.

BJERN eventually calms down, mostly by passing out from his injuries. But he doesn't die, although if he did, he'd have a dozen escorts to the Underworld.

Moments after he collapses, the Cardinal and the Rebukers, along with four Knights of St. Michael, break down the door and dispell all the evil within, one monster at a time. The Cardinal even invokes a Sunspear, a shaft of pure golden light that banishes the water elementals back to the nonsense from which they were formed.

Participants earn 3 xp for the defeat of Calamus, as well as earning the Cardinal's trust. Perhaps one of us will be appointed Witchsmeller Pursuivant ...

One Night in Rome

January 351 AD:

RETARIUS and JUNIUS consult the Cardinal about the mysterious footprints at the scene of the XX Legion camp fire. Ravens who saw the scene describe a "window man," as deceptively transparent as a window, who appeared, fought another window man, and burst into flames. All this happened in full view of the Wall Streets, the expensive northern neighborhood.

The Cardinal dispatches all his best ghost-hunters and exorcists to the scene.

SYLVIA, BROTHER AQUILA, ROSA, and DECINQUE go back to House Valerius to take up the search for CLERICUS. Using CONNEL's excellent sense of smell, and an address written in the margins of an incomplete criticism of Summa Elvetica, they trail Clericus to an apartment in the Capitoline district. Clericus is hiding out, planning to leave Rome and apply for holy orders somewhere far away, such as Gaul.

When told Clericus is evading the marriage because he wishes to become a priest, Brother Aquila agrees to help him attain his calling. Clericus prepares to move to another hideout, while Aquila pleads his case with the Cardinal.

POUNCEQUICK, meanwhile, takes GNORFANK and goes to the Court of Miracles, where dead men walk and purses fly away. There, in the moneychanging bourse of Dareosh the Knife, he interviews Garikus, a simple tailor who meets a great many interesting people in the course of his day. Garikus explains that Marcus Licinius Crassus, the Richest Man in Rome, wanted the XX Legion out of the way, and Britain is the end of the earth. But someone else changed those orders. Crassus was furious -- he'd paid good money for the XX Legion to be banished! But that someone else met Crassus and traded him a secret -- his daughter, Licinia Artemesia, was secretly in love with someone else, and did not plan to go through with her marriage to Clericus! Crassus, in gratitude (and to avoid a public scandal) allowed the change in the XX Legion's orders to go through.

But who was the mystery patron who wanted the transfer halted? Why, Fabulus Calamus, the tinkerer who invented the new firefighting standpipes installed throughout Rome. Why would an inventor care where the XX Legion goes? That, Garikus does not know.

Sylvia's group goes to the Cathedral to see the Cardinal. Alas, he's away investigating a demon sighting. But they're free to wait and rest, which they do for about an hour until Matins begins. Fortunately, the Cardinal sends for his morning clothes, and Brother Aquila is invited to accompany the messenger to the Cardinal's side.

Brother Aquila puts Clericus' case. The Cardinal promises to take the young man in, irrespective of his father's wishes, if Clericus is worthy. Junius smiles, for he and the Cardinal have already arranged for Clericus to be released from his engagement, and for Junius to marry Artemisia instead.

Pater, also, is delighted with the arrangement, and says so loudly. He's puzzled by Pouncequick's report -- who is this upstart Calamus, to interfere with a family as proud as the Valerians? Pater will have to have him crushed, financially or socially, as soon as the wedding is safely completed.

Meanwhile, Rosa and Peter encounter a pair of invisible men on the Wall Streets, who fight and cause a small fire. Peter thinks one looked elflike, but he did not believe elves could project themselves from their bodies as mortal sorcerors can. This seems similar to what the ravens reported earlier this same night, in about the same place, and may therefore be a clue.

As dawn arrives, Retarius congratulates Junius, saying,

"Of course, you know Artemisia is in love with someone else."

Junius is speechless. His clever knot is slipping already! And never mind Clericus ... he's promised his father AND the Cardinal that this is going to happen!

Suddenly kicking in a door in a dungeon doesn't seem so bad anymore ...

Safe In Rome

Over the winter, various of the Valerians try various pastimes.

JUNIUS finds out his legion, the XX, isn't going to Britannia after all. New orders have sent the V Aludae in his place, while the XX hangs around Rome until someone decides what to do with them! He recruits new men, but Marcus Licinius Crassus, the richest man in Rome, is also raising a legion, and paying extra. So Junius doesn't get very good men. Boys and drunks, mostly.

BROTHER AQUILA hands over the Soul Jar with the demon-smoke in it to the Cardinal, who accepts with thanks. He will get Top Men working on it right away. Brother Aquila writes a treatise on the events of the summer, and is acclaimed as having fresh insights.

POUNCEQUICK starts a business which fails. He loses his investment, but has a feeling, and buys up stocks of pearls in anticipation of a rise in price.

SYLVIA starts a bowmaking shop which prospers, thanks to the public patronage of Severa Artemisia, youngest and most outdoorsy of the Severan clan.

DECINQUE cuts quite the smart figure in his new upper-class clothes, bought with Temple money. He also gambles at knucklebones with Pater, putting up five perfect rubies, and wins.

Severa Iverria, now Severa Iverria Retaria

RETARIUS rescues a lady who was kidnapped by thieves, and she impetuously agrees to marry him. She turns out to be SEVERA IVERRIA, the finest lady of the land and trend-setter in fashion and art. Iverria immediately plots to win Retarius' freedom, get him a previously undiscovered noble lineage, and run him for office. She suggests running for Quaestor of the Tombs neighborhood, as there are few voters but much crime.

ROSA essays musical composition, but LICINIA MAJORA declares her tunes to have "too many notes." Licinia. apparently, cherished musical hopes but wasn't any good, and is now jealous of successful performers.

PATER, head of the household, agrees to wager Retarius' freedom on his next gladiator match. Retarius arranges to fight Loricus, the most famous of the house's gladiators. They put on a thrilling show, Retarius wins, and he is to be freed! But not until a huge celebration, to be held Friday.

Iverria schemes to get Retarius the free man adopted by a noble house. Not hers, of course; that would make this a cousin-marriage, which is impious. Perhaps the Valerians will make him one of their own? That could come in handy.

PATER bellows at breakfast that he is now immune from the caprice of Fate, because he has three sons! One of them is surely a spare.

Clericus

When CLERICUS asks to be allowed not to marry Severa Artemisia as Pater had arranged, Pater is furious. The family needs to ally with the Severans, since there is no way they will ever be able to ally with the Licinians. So Clericus must do his duty.

Of course, he can't exactly become a priest if he's married, not with the Bishop of Rome's attitude on the subject. But Clericus doesn't push it.

Not publically, anyway. Pouncequick follows Clericus the next day and finds he's contracted a marriage-breaker to sabotage the nuptials! But Clericus doesn't want to make himself an impossible matrimonial prospect by doing something ignoble, and he doesn't want Artemesia's reputation ruined, either. The marriage-breaker is disgusted, but promises to work out something.

Pouncequick tells Pater about the marriage-breaker. Pater erupts in a rage and demands Clericus to be brought before him. Fortunately, the boy's out.

A fire erupts in the XX Legion's camp! Everyone rushes to fight the blaze. Retarius discovers small bare footprints near the place it started. Was it a woman, or perhaps an elf?

Also, BRITA secretly shoots a message into SYLVIA's window. But Sylvia cannot read, so she enlists Brother Aquila's help. They meet Brita under the aqueduct. Brita is a nom de guerre; her real name is Severa Artemisia. She is betrothed to Clericus, but her heart belongs to Bowenn Ivorybow, the Elvish ambassador, who has suddenly gone missing! Artemisia cannot search for him without being seen and recognized, but Sylvia can. The fire prevents Sylvia from following up immediately.

So as the year 851 AUC (351 AD) opens, there are three outstanding mysteries:

1. Where is Bowenn Ivorybow, and did anyone make him disappear?
2. Who set the fire at the XX Legion camp?
3. Why was the XX Legion suddenly recalled from Britain, and who caused it?

Stay tuned!

Temple of Elemental Evil, Week Three

Our heroes corner the dark-cloaked man in the fine jacket. His name is Radu Molasar, and he claims to very old, from the time of Hyperborea, and Atlantis.

When Brother Aquila demands the gold, and specifies the gold from the caravan, Molasar's tone changes. He doesn't want that gold! That gold was stolen by the Temple. He didn't ask the Temple to build its central cathedral right on top of his tomb! In exchange for us leaving, and not saying the name of the Lord in the meantime, he offers to lead us to the gold.

So in the absolute unrelenting darkness, Molasar takes the end of Brother Aquila's staff and leads him to a set of big brass doors. Like the others, they say CONFOUND, CONTAIN, CONFINE in ruby script. Molasar does not approach the doors.

The doors have a spell on them which creates dread, but stronger than any of the others. Pouncequick still manages to overcome the dread, and opens the doors.

A rush of dry, musty grave-wind blasts out of the doors, knocking everyone down. Molasar laughs victoriously and departs.

Inside the doors is a single room, with a purple cloud roiling in it. It's the same as the one in the Temple of the Four Winds, complete with three sets of red eyes.

The being in the cloud tells Pouncequick to open the chest in the corner and take what is inside. When he asks why he should do it, the cloud says, "Because I wish you harm," which is at least refreshingly honest.

There is also a large black stone sarcophagus. Brother Aquila finds a sword blade inside, very large and fine, with no hilt but a slot where a hilt could be inserted.

A hallway nearby contains the gold from the caravan, and four HUNDRED soul-jars. Junius and Rosa start opening them as fast as they can. They don't smash them, for Peter has indicated that would be very unpleasant for the inmates.

"The Temple of Elemental Evil was always a chancy effort," the voice explained. "But I have so much time to waste ... I will start over again, somewhere else. And I will learn from my mistakes."

Then someone annoys the Cloud Voice, so it asks,

"Do you know how to make the clay sit up and talk? I DO ..."

And the stones of floor, wall and ceiling become living flesh!

Everyone runs out, breaking the hold of sudden tentacles and newborn fingers. But it's close. Brother Junius passes his empty Soul Jar throught the cloud, trapping some of the demon's essence, and runs away.

On the way up. they find that Molasar has torn through everyone in his way, biting them and drinking their blood before bursting up into the night and gliding away over the mountains. Vesuvius almost stopped him with a fire bear, which is apparently some new spell he invented in extremis.

The survivors load up Junius' carts with gold and haul out before the Army of Elemental Evil returns. On the way, they meet Scottius the engineer, who sprang the trap as Junius told him to. They shot quite a few of the troops with arrows, but all at once most of the rest shouted in joy and ran away. All the Temple has left is the hard-core fanatics, and they got away.

On the way to Civula, Molasar comes and whispers to Pouncequick. Pouncequick recites the Lord's Prayer, and Molasar reacts as though slapped, overtuning a wagon with two tons of gold in the bed. Then he flees.

Junius' brother CLERICUS shows up with the archers, and the team makes it safely back to Rome, presenting the money to Grandmama in time for her to redeem her jewels. Pater will never know! And all ends happily.

2 experience are awarded for destroying the Temple and rescuing the Valerian family.