Game summary for January 5, 2012, In Search of Adventure campaign, Keep on the Borderlands adventure; present characters included Dinendel Telemnar (elf swordmaster-conjurer), Meriwen Arnatule (elf swordmaster-conjurer), Nicholae Dragos (cleric priest), and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf swordmaster).
After leaving their allies in the clutches of the orcs and wicked high priests, the team regrouped with Dinendel “Legend” Telemnar and tracked down Meriwen. She agreed to accompany them back to the keep where she kept trying to get a few minutes alone. Paranoid Nicholae wouldn’t allow it, and finally the elf broke into a rush down the street. The party ran after her, with Legend cloaking himself in invisibility, Theobald diving into the dirt trying to catch her, and Nicholae shouting for assistance from the watch. Meriwen put some distance between them and slipped away under the cover of her own invisibility spell.
The group was unsure what to do but sent their tracker, Legend, after the elf using his folding horse, Myth. Myth and Legend came upon Meriwen heading for the river, and Legend tried to coax his fellow elf back to the keep. When that failed, he snared her with a lasso and tied her up.
Once back at the keep, Nicholae and Theobald tried to pry the helm off Meriwen’s head, but it wouldn’t come off. In fact, they caused her some damage in their efforts. Legend uttered “munchings and crunchings” to activate his magical wallet of healing food and repaired the harm. The group then decided to seek out some divine assistance.
The team asked around and discovered a visiting priest of Nicholae’s faith, a cleric of the church of Traladara named Silvestru Ristani. Nicholae talked to the three men, one of whom sneezed several times which seemed to bother him. Nicholae grew uneasy around the mean and noticed their robes and symbols were not properly arranged and oriented. He talked his way out of the room and bolted, much to their surprise. Not trusting them, he gathered up the party and sought out Didymus Mavroudis, cleric of the church of Karameikos.
Didymus was able to determine Meriwen’s helm was cursed, and for a small (substantial) donation in gold agreed to remove it. Once the curse was broken, Nicholae and Theobald smashed the helm to pieces. Unfortunately, this did not seem to break the compulsion affecting the elf. Further investigation revealed a demonic spell had possessed Meriwen and was drawing her back to the cult of chaos! After many more rituals, that had only a chance of success, Didymus freed Meriwen of this evil spell as well.
Afterward, they agreed to destroy the relics that had caused Meriwen’s possession. However, they realize doing so puts the lives of all their retainers at risk. After talking to Didymus about the scores of undead as well as dozens of orcs massing in the caves, the priest agreed to get them an audience with the castellan.
Now, the soldiers of the keep are assembling and preparing to eradicate the scourge of evil from the caves. Once again, the party will stand in the ravine of the caves in the melee of war! Who will survive, and what will be left of them?
The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.
