RC Karyst: The Ghostly Knight of the Hall

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After resting in the chill, hard stones of the room, the party ventured forth, through the recently unlocked door. The long tunnel, with a noticeable incline, led to a heavy iron door on which was affixed a gold-embossed shield with the five-part emblem of the wolf, the stag, the star, the two-headed dragon, and the heart. With some effort, the door was pushed inwards, revealing a large chamber with vaulted ceilings.

At the western end of the vast chamber, it's walls lined with some 30 small stone boxes, stood five stone chairs, a lectern, and a large stone block. While several party members searched through the stone containers, blackened by fire and their contents long destroyed, Ratheof and Juhn found an old parchment, miraculously still intact and readable. Reading it, they learned the legend of Desendre, and her attempts to unite the humans, the elves, the dwarves and the Rygar. It was then they discovered the chamber was also home to a nest of Stirges.

With the last of the Stirges was destroyed, the party turned its attention to the large stone block, and the five carved panels. Upon closer examination, Mr. Devious found that hidden with each panel was a small, empty drawer. After several trials, Ratheof suggested trying to remove the carved symbols from the chair-backs. Mr. Devious found that each of the small stone circles could be removed from the chairs, and Juhn placed each of them into the drawer with the matching panel, leaving the fifth drawer, the panel of the heart, empty.

As the last symbol was placed within its drawer, the ghost of a human knight appeared, challenging their presence within the hall. the party informed the ghost that they were summoned by five knights and charged to return the 'Heart'. Apparently satisfied, the ghostly knight removed his helm, revealing the ghost of a young human male.

"My name is - was, I suppose - Sir Andolyn," he says in a sullen, hollow tone. "I was slain here in this hall as I knelt to swear my vows to the Seekers. In my eternal afterlife I have been charged with the Guardianship of this Hall...and in that, it would seem, I have also failed."

[This message has been edited by Gnolyn Lochbreaker (edited January 27, 2002).]

 

"Well, you are dead, so what can you expect? So, do you have any idea where the heart ornament went? I assume someone came in through the hole in the roof and swiped it. Probably those stupid kids back in the village."

 

"Of this village I know naught, although much of what you say rings true. Indeed, the thieves did steal through the opening. A tremor, some weeks back caused the ceiling here to give way. Shortly after that, two young men broke into this chamber and removed the Heart. It has been ages since this hall had been disturbed, and I was deep in slumber. When I awoke, the thieves had made their escape, and the Heart had been stolen. Had I been watchful, had I maintained my vigil, the Heart would never have been taken from our hallowed hall. But of this village..." His voice fades some, and his face takes on a piteous expression. "Were there many people in this village?", he asks.

 

(Devious semi humbley)
My lord it is a large village almost a town really, so indeed there are a good many decent and honest folk there. Or should that be 'were' many people there. For I fear that there is something more sinister to all this than we have been told of by your brother Knights who set us on this quest. I am sorry if my manner is less respectful than one of your standing deserves but it seems that our mission has taken on a new level of importance. Therefore I must ask you: why were you 'slain' as you took your vows, why is this heart symbol so important, why are you apperantly so concerned that is has been taken to a village and is there any connection with all this to a young man we found who had died horribly from hundreds of small injuries all over his body. If you need us to help repair the damage from your slight but unfortunate lack of vigilence, I beg that you tell us anything that might help us.

(OOC just for good measure as I think we're being slightly conned here, a quick 'sense motive' Sense Motive (6+6=12) )

 

(DM: Mr. Devious remains unsure as to whether Sir Andolyn's ghost is being truthful, nor can he say for sure that the ghost is being deceptive either. In short, it's a coin toss.)

The ghost of Sir Andolyn looks down at Mr. Devious with a considering gaze. After a few moments, he nods, and then speaks in a resigned tone. "Of this young man, I cannot say. This shell of a being you see before you is bound to this hall, so I can tell you little of what occurs beyond it. If the young man of whom you speak was one of the thieves, then I would say he met his doom at the hands of the spirits of this place. Unfortunate perhaps, but most likely true. While most of my mortal self, my awareness, or soul if you prefer, remains intact within this shell, the same cannot be said for the other spirits that dwell within these forgotten walls. The theft has angered them - I can feel the hatred within them - and they will seek vengeance until the Heart is returned."

He pauses, as if gathering his thoughts. "If the village remains, then they have stayed their hand for the moment - but not for long. They will grow restless, and their anger and hatred will eventually win over, to the misfortune of these people. You ask what makes the Heart so important, so valuable? To understand that, you must understand what we are - or were. If you have time for it, I would tell you the tale...from our conversation so far, you would seem to know something of Desendre...shall I tell you the rest? Of what came in the centuries after Desendre, and of how this place came to be?"

 

"Why, no, I am quite sure that we would much rather act from total ignorance than actually listen to a neat tale of adventure and doom. What, does being dead make you ask such stupid questions? I hope not, cuz I don't have a master plan for immortality yet. So, speak on. I hope you are good storyteller."

(Varg then leans against the wall and prepares to listen).

 

Seeing as the ghost means no harm, Juhn allows himself a moment to grin at Varg, then turns towards the ghost once again, intently listening.

 

Sir Andolyn glowers at the half-orc. "My hall has been violated", he says, his voice booming throughout the hall. "My eternal rest is disturbed, and my patience grows thin, orcling." He raises his hand, open fisted towards the half-orc warrior. Although nothing can be seen to touch him, Varg is pushed flat against the wall, gently but firmly, as if a giant hand simply moved him aside (DM: Varg's saving throw failed). "A tale was asked, and a tale you shall have then."

"In the last years of the Alliance, Desendre grew to be quite powerful, and highly influencial. While never truly a queen, she nevertheless ruled over the four united races. Had she pressed, had she appealed to her people, they would have thrown down their lords, and taken her as their Queen - but she never did. Still, many of the lords feared she would. They plotted against her in secret, seeking a way to remove her.

At the same time, a handful of lords became aware of these plots, but their enemies were too many, and far too powerful. They attempted to warn Desendre, but she would her nothing of it. For two years, they worked in the shadows to protect her, and for two years they kept her alive. But, in the end, it was not enough: Desendre was slain, the blame laid at the feet of the northern wolf-men, and her killers free to rule the realm.

With Desendre dead, her would-be protectors realised that the alliance would soon crumble, and no effort on their part would save it. They formed a secret society, dedicated to truth and justice. As the society grew, so did their influence, much to the dismay of many a plotting soul. However, the Seekers of Truth, as they came to call themselves, always remained hidden, and few people outside of the circles of power knew of their existence.


The Seekers of Truth evolved into an underground Order, whose ultimate goal was to desiminate knowledge and truth, which they saw as the two cornerstones of Desendre's alliance. They valued knowledge and learning, which they believed could only benefit others and, more important to some members, further their own goals. Subterfuge and innuendo became their methods, and secrets their trade. The Seekers earned themselves many enemies over the centuries, which eventually began to take its toll on the Order. The Order dwindled in numbers, and when I knelt to take my vows, near 400 years past, there were but a dozen of us.

I was preparing to take my vows, to fully join the Seekers of Truth, when I was slain; cut down by assasins who had infiltrated the Order. Every last one of us was killed that day, our stores of knowledge burned, and our Order erased. But the true treasures remained hidden, here within this hall. The Heart, that which was lost, is one of the keys to that treasure, as Desendre was the heart of the Alliance, and the key to its survival."

[This message has been edited by Gnolyn Lochbreaker (edited February 02, 2002).]

 

"Oh-kay, then. So now some of your band of dead sneaks are out murdering villagers over this stuff? I mean, does it really matter that you don't have the key? It doesn't look like you were planning on going anywhere with the stuff anyway, right? Or did you leave out the part with the secret master plan to come back from the dead, avenge your deaths, and save the world for whatever you think is nifty?"

 

I am sorry but I must agree with my Orcish friend. We have heard many fine words from you and your fellow knights, we have been inspired by the story of Desendre and have faced mush evil and danger to help this cause. However, wading through all the rhetoric of the fine speeches the situation appears to be thus:

- Desendre was a great nearly Queen whose time was long gone by the time this particular story starts.
- this story starts with a highly secret and sucpisiously acting sect.
- the sect served no apperent purpose other than the acumulation of knowledge; for good or bad who can tell.
- some kids mucking about stole an, according to you, 'harmless' symbol, while all your defences stood idle.
- and now your 'good' fellows from the order have risen up in spirit form to wreck vengence.

I am sorrow Sir Knight, I am an honest fellow and I have served your cause so far as it seeed to be a worthy one but now I fear that in continuing I might actually be serving some greater evil. Nothing you have said has suggested that by helping you I will be serving any good and why would memebers of a 'good' secret order slaughter innocent villagers.

My friends, I suggest we bury this abandoned tomb properly so no more can disturb it, help this knight to find his final peace, if that is what he wants, then leave swiftley.

 

The ghost looks to the faces of the party members, an expression of dismay on his face. "Perhaps you miss understand...I do not control the spirits of this place. I can no more call them to heel than I can force these thieves to return that which they stole. The essence of what they once were - their conscience, self awareness, and morality - no longer exist. Those facets of their being died with them. Now they are little more than shades of their former selves, formed of the anger at being betrayed, an anger that has been fuelled by this theft. If there has only been one death so far, it is most like that some fraction of their former selves remained, enough to restrain these spirits. But I hold little hope of this lasting. Their anger is great. As to your assessment of our Order, well, you have experienced none of the good that we attempted to achieve, and so I cannot expect you to view us in any good light. A pity really..."

Sir Andolyn gives a hollow, mirthless laugh. "Ah, what should I expect? We kept ourselves hidden, stealing through the shadows, avoiding open conflict. We used our knowledge, our secrets, to keep the various powers in check, all for the greater good...or so we thought. In the end, what was it worth? Four hundred years has past, the world doubtless has changed, and we go unmourned. Perhaps it is best that the Seekers of Truth be lost from this world..."

The ghostly knight seems lost in reverie for a moment before returning his gaze to the group. "Then at the least, can you help this village? Find the Heart, before the spirits do, and return it here. Once it has been restored, the spirits will return here, and trouble the world no more. If it remains outside of this hall, then they will remain free to molest the living. I have little love for thieves, but doubtless they had no concept of the doom that would befall them, nor the horrors that would be released upon their home."

 

Is there no other way to prevent these spirits from continuing to prey upon the living? It's not that I object to returning the Heart- oh dear me, no!- but what if it has been sold outside the village and cannot be found, or has been destroyed? And for that matter, what guarantees can you give us that these spirits will not continue to wreak vengeance?

 

"And what's to stop it from happening again? This place wasn't too secure even when no one knew about it. Its not too likely that people will forget it now that you've gone and murdered a bunch of folks."

 

Devious uses the cover of his companions questions to try and assess the Knight's motives. Something just doesn't feel right about the 'secret' order and its 'hidden' knowledge. He fears there are very powerful forces that might be unleashed by the heart and that these might be evil. As such he feels it might be best to be as far away as possible. As to the villagers, this really plays on his conscience. On one hand he believes they have brought the problems down upon themselves. However, his entire stock and trusty ass are back in the village and it doesn't look like this trip will cover the cost of losing that.

He thinks back over what the knight has said and, more importantly, what he hasn't said and searches again for a motive:

Sense Motive D20+6 = 8+6= 14

And then it hit him, the Knight had said "But the true treasures remained hidden, here within this hall. The Heart, that which was lost, is one of the keys to that treasure, as Desendre was the heart of the Alliance, and the key to its survival."

But what are these treasures, how does the heart work and are there more keys that would be needed. Of course what the ghost considers to be a treasure might also be some further unspeakable evil. Damn, what to do.......

 

(DM: Devious can discern no deception from the ghost. While Sir Andolyn may not be telling you all there is to know, Devious does not believe that he is being untruthful.)

Sir Andolyn gives an expaserated sigh. "What an untrusting group you are! While you sit and ask for guarantees and search for hidden motives, this village of yours continues to be in peril...mayhaps you would rather be paid for you services, then? Shall I offer you gold, or platinum? Of that I can offer you plenty, it is of little use to me." He gives a tired laugh and continues. "Find the Heart, return it here to me, and together we shall ensure that it cannot be used again. The sooner you do so, the less the chance of it being sold, or further removed from our reach. And the sooner you will receive your payment. Of course, you may stay to haggle and bargain as long as you wish - I am at your disposal for all eternity, as long as you wish...but I wonder if the villagers feel the same?"

 

Ratheof notices the greed in MrDevious and the others eyes at mentioning of gold and gets a little worried.

"Come on comrades! snap out of it! People are in danger and we stand here and squabble. Lets go and save them I say. Life is much more important than some petty gold"

Ratheof watches the opening in the roof evaluating if it is at all possible to reach from where they are or if they have to backtrack all the way.

 

Varg looks over at Ratheof:

"The only one who has mentioned gold or treasure is the spook. A typical ploy to distract from the weaknesses of his story, I'd say.

But you are right that nothing much is left to do here. Let us leave this evil place and decide what needs to be done on our way to the village."

 

Devious joins Ratheof below the hole in the ceiling. Turning back to the knight he says loundly, "very well Knight I will do as you say".

Then whispering to Ratheof "well at least lets get out of here while we can, we can discuss our next move on the way to the village as Varg suggests."

In more normal tone - "Ratheof, couldn't Varg throw you up to that hole? then you could drop a rope down for the rest of us. If anyone has a rope that is."

(OOC - sorry I couldn't remember which of us had the idea about throwing you up to the hole Zorac but it seems the quickest way - we discussed on IRC)

 

Varg stared incredulously at Devious.

"Throw the man 50 feet straight up? I'm quite strong, but not that strong. Even if I were, I doubt Ratheof would be in much condition to help out after landing. I have looked at the walls and they don't seem easily climbable. Also, I don't know that Rhwydd would like to free climb a rope that length anyway. Its not very far to retrace our steps through this complex. Let us set about it."

 

In a sombre tone, Sir Andolyn says to the group as a whole: "I shall await your return. May the gods speed your journey, and grant you good luck in your task." With an earnest voice, he continues, "I sincerely hope that my fellow spirits have not caused these people more grief.." The ghost then fades from view, and the hall feels somewhat emptier.

(DM: Varg and Devious 20 xp; Ratheof, Rhwydd and Juhn 10 xp).