The Odhirann Adventures
Tale 9
“The Castle of the Baroness”
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Zethar: A Druid
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The Time: Spring, 19 Xaul, 7 VIII
The Place: Odhirran, Dun Luzern (small town; monstrous; AL LG/CE;
50 gp limit (usually 3,000); Assets 20,000; population
1,500 (usually 2,500); authority figures: Lady Gudrun
Talluth, Baroness of Dun Luzern, female human Paladin
2; The Wraith King, male wraith Necromancer 10; Important Characters: Druid
Farold, male human Druid 6, assorted undead, town
watch (missing)).
Zethar did not have time to waste. He needed to put an end to
the evil plaguing Dun Luzern. He briefly checked out The Lady Stones and could
not find anything of interest. They were just large stones, nothing more.
Zethar again looked up to the castle in the center of town. He thought to himself,
“The key has to be in there where the dancing dead originate from.” Zethar
then had a wonderful idea. Zethar called upon the power of nature and cast
Whispering Branches. The wind picked up and the trees told Zethar a
grand tale of Dun Luzern.
The branches told him that long ago, the bastard son of one of
the local nobles sought legitimacy and acknowledgement
of his heritage, hoping to gain a noble title and possibly a parcel of land.
Unfortunately for him, this sort of thing wasn't done. After all, the nobles
thought, noble titles are for the pure born. Led by the charismatic young baron
of Luzern, the other nobles of the area drove the young man from the area, mocking
his attempts to prove his family ties. The experience left the ostracized young
fellow on the edge of sanity. In a moment of weakness, he allied himself with
dark powers, vowing to undo his humiliation, and demand the respect of the nobles
who had so mercilessly ridiculed him. He spent years of his life in seclusion,
researching the perfect means of obtaining his heart's desire. His plans were
not meant to come to pass in his lifetime, however, and the deranged and evil
cleric died before he could find the item he longed for, the Death Dance Gate,
and return to Dun Luzern. His rage and hatred were stronger than death, though,
and he returned as the Undead who still hungered for vengeance. Now a curse
has befallen Dun Luzern, a curse due, in part, to the late baron of Dun Luzern's
actions all those years ago. Having passed away hundreds of years since, his
progeny have followed in his footsteps as paladins and ruled the barony justly.
The most recent baron died ten years ago, and his only child came to rule the
fief and she governed well. The young Baroness, Lady Gudrun
Talluth, has been taken prisoner by the Undead, and
the castle of the baroness is garrisoned by these strange skeletons. The Wraith
King has returned to Dun Luzern to seek his revenge. The baroness awaits rescue
from her grim fate as the bride of the Wraith King. He hopes to legitimize
his claim by marrying the daughter of his hated enemy. That was what the wind
said.
Zethar headed for the castle thankful that it was still morning
and the dancing dead parade would not be starting for quite some time. He would
find Lady Gundrun and save her if it was the last
thing he did!
On the way to the castle, Zethar noted all of the former townspeople
out tending to their “lives”. Zethar circled around the castle to see if there
was a better way in than going in the main gates like he and Bwlch did the last
time they were here. Zethar noticed a slender window on the third story of
the castle and decided to take the sneaky route. He easily scaled the rough
stone walls of the castle and peered into the window.
Zethar saw the former hall where the castle residents would have
gathered to make their last stand in the case of a siege. However, it was now
barren save for two critters with rotting, mottled flesh and sharp fangs. They
immediately smelled Zethar and began moving towards him. Zethar was barely
hanging on and had no choice but to attack the creatures. He lifted himself
completely to the window and leaped over the creatures as they reached the window.
Zethar tucked himself and rolled to the center of the room where he instantly
stood up and drew the new scimitar he had borrowed from Lord Bohort.
“Let us see what this weapon can do.”
The creatures hissed and charged at Zethar. The battle was joined
and it was teeth and claws versus Zethar and the scimitar.
Zethar slashed at the creatures removing their rotten flesh from
their decomposing bodies. Zethar ducked a grab from one creature, but was bit
on the arm by the other. Zethar felt the all too familiar cold of the creatures
touch running into his body. He kicked the creature away from him and spun
around to remove the head of the other. Before he could turn back around the
remaining creature was upon him, clawing at his back and biting him on the shoulder.
Again, the bitter cold tried to take Zethar’s life force from him and render
him motionless, but he shrugged off the effects.
Zethar did not like the feel of the new scimitar. The power it
held was obviously hurting these creatures greatly, but he was not as experienced
with a scimitar as he was with his trusty quarterstaff. However, now was not
the time to stop and switch weapons. Zethar swung
the scimitar up into the creatures arm pit and removed its arm and head in one
fell swoop. Zethar kicked the heads of the creatures to the other side of the
room just to be sure they did not get back up.
Zethar looked around and noticed two doors exiting the room and
two sets of stairs. One stair was spiral and ascended while the other was straight
and descended to the lower levels. Before Zethar could decide which way he
wanted to go, twelve skeletons rushed into the room from the two adjoining rooms
which seemed to be bedrooms of some kind. Zethar quickly counted their number
and sheathed the scimitar. He cast Shillelagh on his quarterstaff and
he brought it in front of him. He was hurting from the other two critters,
but he wouldn’t let a few skeletons stop him now! Zethar stepped forward and
smashed two of them into piles of bone. However, the other ten skeletons rushed
Zethar as one and shoved him toward the straight staircase. Zethar smashed
one as they charges, but lost his balance and instantly knew he was due for
a tumble down those stairs. He decided that if he was going down, some of them
were going with him. He raised his quarterstaff over the head of two of them
and pulled them along with him. They tumbled all the way down to the first
landing between the first and second floors. The two skeletons that Zethar
snared were broken before they went past the second floor landing.
Zethar picked himself up and channeled the healing power of nature
into himself, he was still hurting badly. When he looked up, he
saw the nine remaining skeletons charging down towards him. Zethar moved up
the stairs to meet the skeletons. He shoved his quarterstaff into the mid-section
of the first one running down the stairs and flipped it over his head and it
shattered against the wall of the stairwell. Zethar then backed up to the wall
so they could not flank him. Zethar tried to parry the stabs from their swords
as best he could while he continued to smash them to pieces with his enchanted
quarterstaff. Zethar finally finished them off, but he was bleeding badly from
all of the pricks and slices he had on his body. Zethar had exhausted his healing
powers, but he still had one incantation he could use. He cast Cure Minor
Wounds on himself. It helped, but not much. He had to continue, he would
not rest until Lady Gundrun was safe!
Zethar looked down the stairs to see what was down below just as
three skeletons in chainmail and wielding longswords
started to run up the stairs. He knew he could not take them in his current
condition so he turned and bolted up the stairs looking for someplace to hide
or a fortified position to fight them from. The staircase was not such a place.
He arrived back at the second floor landing and noticed a door that
he had not had the opportunity to see as he fell down through here the first
time. He decided to try this door in case there were more skeletons in the
third floor room. Zethar quickly ducked into the room and shut the door behind
him and slid the locking bolt across. When he turned around, he realized that
this room was a barracks. The room was evidently several smaller rooms, but
all of the doors and walls had been removed to make one large room. He quickly
counted twenty skeletons lounging around in the room. Three of the skeletons
were already lumbering towards him.
He quickly destroyed two of the three with two lightning jabs from
his quarterstaff. The third one swung at Zethar with its sword and Zethar twisted
out of the way. As he twisted around that deadly blow, he noticed a door around
a corner and he saw four more of the skeletons stand up and lumber towards him.
Zethar bolted for the door as more of the skeletons began to rise from the rotten
cots they were laying on.
When he got to the door, it was locked. “No time for a key!” he
thought. He reared back with his quarterstaff and jabbed it hard into the area
where the keyhole was and smashed the door in. He quickly went in and slammed
the door shut. Luckily, on the other side of the door was a place where a block
of wood could be placed to bar the door from the inside. Zethar jammed his
quarterstaff into the brackets to bar the door. He turned around and put his
back to the door as the skeletons started to claw and pound at the door.
That is when he noticed he was not alone. The room was poorly
furnished with a stool and a bed made of straw and rags. An ancient, moth eaten
wedding gown hung limply on a wooden hook on the far wall. The wedding gown
was apparently meant for the woman coolly regarding Zethar from the far side
of the room.
Dressed in a simple white robe that had seen better days, she said,
“So, has the vile creature that would claim my hand has now gained the services
of the living as well?”
Zethar was awestruck. She was incredibly beautiful despite the
dirty clothing she wore and the dirt on her face. All Zethar could muster was,
“Lady Gundrun?”
She spoke up, “Yes, that is I.” Then, she noticed the scimitar
stuck in Zethar’s belt. “Where did you get that?”
“You could say that Lord Bohort loaned
it to me. I am here to save you, but there is a room full of skeletons on the
other side of this door and they are not happy I am here. Here, take the scimitar."
Zethar pulled out the scimitar and shoved it across the floor to Lady Gundrun.
Lady Gundrun picked up the scimitar and it immediately began to
glow with a powerful light.
"It did not glow for me," said Zethar, who was surprised
the weapon was glowing.
“I am a paladin. It is a holy weapon, and belonged to my ancestors,
and was lost.”
“You must be the worthy one then, from Tollerath's
poem.”
“Tollerath left a poem?”
“Aye.”
Zethar quoted Tollerath’s poem for Lady Gundrun.
“'To find the arm he had us hide, you must go to the hall of the lady blessed.
There, under that which never lied, he found a place of rest. By the place
where the fair nymph pointed, a place of honor was decreed. There behind the
stone anointed, you will find the work you need. Only then one worthy shall,
cast away the spirits foul. The storm will wash away the lie; May you have
better luck than I.’ Perhaps, together, we will ‘wash away the lie’.”
“Thank you,
Druid, for your help. Let's go kick some undead butt.”
Zethar smiled, “That is why I am here.”
Just then, the brackets on the door began to give way.
Current Adventures in Inzeladun | Chronology of the Write Ups | The Lady Stones | Inzeladun Updates
Lady Gudrun Talluth, Baroness of Dun Luzern,
Female Human Paladin 3: CR -; Medium size Humanoid (5 ft 9 inches tall); HD
3d10+3; hp 28, Init +2; Spd 30 ft; AC 12 (touch 12, flat-footed 10); Attack +4
melee (1d3+1 subdual, unarmed strike); SA Smite Evil, Turn Undead; SQ Detect
Evil, Divine Grace, Lay on Hands, Divine Health, Aura of Courage, Remove
Disease; AL LG; SV Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +8; Str 12, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 14, Wis
15, Cha 16
Skills:
Heal +8, Diplomacy +8, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +4, Knowledge (religion)
+5, Ride +8
Feats:
Blind Fight, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (scimitar)