Stackman's Adventures (Chapter twelve)

[bsftcs]

And he moaned QUITE a bit

Being the twelfth chapter of Stackman’s adventures

In which the bard deprives a young deserted and bereft vampiress of her sole joy and in which a seemingly venerable old man is exposed as a liar.

At the end of the stairs was a small elevated catwalk. This catwalk was a part of a system of walkways and corridors spanning the basement, thus creating musicians’ balconies from where one could overlook the rooms and halls of the basement floor. The party examined these walkways from which stairs would descend connecting them with the floor level. They came through the room with the stairs that led to the prison cells (room A on the ”Basement & Lower Tower” maps at Xignal’s Site) and the room where the prison guards could overlook the cells from above (room B). Eventually they came upon two musicians’ balconies (point G) above the large basement hall (room F).

On the westernmost balcony they found a crank, the key of the magus, in a chest. They descended into the room that was connected to the kitchen by an elevator (room E). From there they took the east door and came into a hall (room D) with stairs leading to an attic. Inside this hall a hefty battle was raging between the an old man and two ghosts. Helping him to finish off the other two inhabitants of the castle, the party discovered that he was the D’Soto’s old wizard Ardibren. Apparently the old man was in a bit of a hurry, and he instructed the party to meet him outside.

The party then climbed the stairs to the area, where the wizard obviously had his quarters. At the end of a corridor, from which a barred off stairway ascended further up, lay the wizard’s bedroom. In a chest by the side of his bed lay his journal. Placing the crank called the key of the magus in a mechanism in the wall and pulling it made the two bookcases in the room slide apart, thus revealing the way to Ardibren’s boxroom. In the treasure chests there was, among other items, his keepsake, a small idol that could be equipped as a shield, and which Xander had sent them out to retrieve. A gargoyle yank on the wall opened the portcullis in the corridor that had sealed off the entrance to Ardibren’s tower. The party walked back and entered the tower, that is obligatory for any wizard in an old abandoned castle: the octagonal Tower of the Rite (room A on the Rites Tower & Haleabus map). They looted the treasure there and left, knowing they had no other business there at the moment.

They left the castle buildings, and walked through the courtyard. Near the collapsed part of the castle wall, the party crossed the moat and walked to a small clearing in the woods. There stood Ardibren. He had been attacked by a Wolf Beast. A peculiar encounter that seemed to indicate that the old Wizard was a habitual liar. The party had on other occasions managed to kill the legendary Wolf Beast before encountering Ardibren in the first place, and still he would give the same explanation. Anyway, he told them of the Haleabus and of the elements of evil. He also gave the valkyrie another elemant of evil. Now they knew where to look for the rest.

Back in the elevator room (room E), the party entered the hall (room F). Suddenly the doors slammed and the new master of the castle, the Demon Haleabus, set a group of spectres on the party. An accurrence that did not daunt them much. When the last of the spectres was dispersed, the party walked on. Walking through a corridor they came to the castle vault room (room C).

Finishing off the welcoming committee there, the party pulled the gargoyle yanks until they were all in a down position. Pulling the last yank opened the vault, and inside was yet another evil element. (The correct yank pulling procedure is explained by Wyvern on Page one of the Best Tips. One ambiguity, though: one should NOT pull all the yanks in succession first, and then go back as explained, because all the yanks will then be in up position. Instead one should pull go back and pull down each yank again as they go up. One sure order in which to pull them is the following combination: 2, 1, 3, 4, 3, 5, 6, 2, 1, 5, 7, 4, 3, L (Wyvern’s numbers)). From the vault rooms the party entered and explored the guard rooms (rooms A and B). From the first (room A) they descended into the prison below (room A on the ”Sewers & D’Soto’s Tower” map).

Opening the cell doors it soon became apparent, that the inmates might indeed have died here during the Gourk Wars, but something was definitely left to remind of them. Take, for example, the blob of zombie vomit flying out of the door at the party when they opened the first cell. It seems to have been empirically proven that prisoners left to rot for 100 years simply turn green and mean. These wonderfully preserved specimens surely were. Well, anyway they were quickly taken care of, and in the last cell, the party found a hole dug deep into the sewers below (Thus proving the bartender in Ishad N’ha right (as explained on Page eight of the Best Tips (reply named “List of the advice given by town governors and barkeepers”))). They jumped down.

From the sewer crossroads, where the party had landed, four paths diverged. The south path was completely blocked by rubble. The east way was blocked by a portcullis. The west way led to another small room high above which hang a suspended gangway. They took the north path. There they climbed a flight of stairs, constantly fighting off packs of bats. Passing another flight of stairs leading to a secret exit to the hall, where they had first encountered Ardibren, the party came to the suspended walkway. However, the walkway was guarded by Haleabus’s minion, Azgorax. Refusing to step out of the way, the little imp was SENT out of the way. At the other end of the walkway was a gargoyle yank opening the portcullis below, that had barred their way. Jumping from the gangway, the party went through the opened gate.

On a platform above the cold sewer waters a lone figure stood. With the damp walls of the sewer as her home – cut off from the rest of the castle by Haleabus – the young vampiress Lysandra of Yur lived down here with her coffin and something else. Something with which she was quite loth to part. An evil element. She gave the an ultimatum to the party: Either a party member agreed to let him- or herself be bitten by the vampire or they would not get the element. This was one of the big questions in the Gael Serran: To be or not to be a vampire. (The pros and cons are discussed by legendary Wyvern on Page six of the Best Tips). Having years of experience in circumventing ultimatums such as this the bard easily pickpocketed the evil element from her.

The party walked on and came to another room where they played another game of “Spot the Lever”. In an adjacent hallway they came upon an elevator taking them up into the tower. In the first tower the castle chapel was situated. Here they opened a grille allowing access between the tower and the castle wall. (Another way of entering and leaving the tower is explained by Radek on Page two of the Best Tips). Walking over a suspension bridge spanning the gorge between the two tower parts the party came to D’Soto’s quarters. Here his restless spirit still roamed proving the truth in Lysandra’s words: “He moans quite a bit”. In a treasure chest there the party found the last evil element.

NPCs encountered:

Ardibren reacts to following words:

Serpent Temple, Mavin, Help, Ruins, Serpent’s Lair, D’Soto, Spirit, Masque, Worshippers, Dragon, Shurugeon Castle, Erathsmedor, Shurugeon Ruins, Circle, Ardibren, Demon, Haleabus, Beast, Evil Masque, Ritual, Tower, Elements, Portal, Gateway, Locations, Armory, Catacombs, Treasure Vault, Sewer, Lysandra, Castle, Element, Fiend.

With ”locations” being the word that triggers the important action (the handing over of the evil element).

Lysandra of Yur reacts to following words:

Ruins, D’Soto, Familiar, Shurugeon Castle, Shurugeon Ruins, Ardibren, Demon, Haleabus, Lysandra, Castle, Element.

With ”element” being the word that triggers the important action (the exchange).

[whiteknight]

another good one bsftcs I have just got zonked,zaped,killed,slaugtered by the moving salad bars...TWICE!!!!!! and lost once running all over gael serran lol
keep it up..

whiteknight

[Radek]

The Dispel Undead spell. The spell can be cast on locations where another spells cannot be cast: through the bars or grates, almost behind the corner and so on. The spell can be cast (and it will not fail, providing your victim is an undead not immune to it) every time you see at least a piece of your victim, no matter what obstacles are between you and the victim.

For example, you can get rid of the zombies in the dungeon by casting the spell on them through the grates from the room above [img]smile.gif[/img] This little improvement allows you not to be attacked after opening the cells in the dungeon.
The spell can also be used in the "I am faster, Ardibren" match (killing all three Unholy Wraits at Ardibren without getting an assistance).

[Wyvern]

Great chapter!!!!

There is a theory that Ardibren has his very own "reset adventures" button so it matters not that you may have offed the wolf beast in your reset adventures. The real mystery is why Ardibren uses his button when his life would obviously be so much better without resetting! [img]smile.gif[/img]


Wyv