Paul game:
Kalmisj, a week before the end of the rainy season: four new companions met in the famed Wooden Skull inn, a tavern close to the road north to Ahyf, to seek respite from the rain and plan adventures in the city. As the rain abated for a short time, Edvard Smeck - owner of the establishment (and rumoured source of the legendary 'cleanest alehouse in all the Ghinarian Hills') spoke to our intrepid quartet and asked if they would like to participate in some 'games of chance and skill' against select members of the village, to herald the end of the
previous six months' worth of rain.
Erin (Halfling Rogue), Coama (Human Barbarian), Hound (Halfling Barbarian) and Rake Calous (Human Paladin) accepted in the name of good-natured contest, and sought to be the champions of Kalmisj!
Stepping outside and seeing some gaudy decorations had been erected to mark the joyous occasion, Hound volunteered for the first challenge: a red-hot coal swallowing contest,
with Zotley (the apprentice blacksmith). Undeterred by Zotley's extremely hoarse voice, and by his ability to pluck a small lump of coal directly from the bazier and swallow it whole
(and even more nonplussed by his screams of agony), Hound met the challenge head on! The damage was, fortunately, relatively minimal.
But with Zotley only enduring two more coals, and the Halfling's rage increasing by the moment, Hound won the first possible Gold Crown with a score of 4-3. Much cheering was had!
The noble Rake stepped up next, to a racous cheer of 'KISS! KISS! KISS!' from the gathered crowd. This contest was a simple one: kiss old Maisie on the lips three times. When Ed
pointed towards a dairy cow, Rake was still blase - until Maisie turned around and revealed a legion of festering sores covering her face. In one swift action, our hero managed three
kisses (the cloth he used was to wipe his face was, curiously, thrown into the brazier using tongs by a villager holding it at arm's length) - and the second Gold Crown was won.
Finally, it was Erin's turn, and this time it was the traditional Kalmisj past-time of 'Axe Chin'. The rules of the game are simple: balance an axe on one's chin for longer than
your opponent. Undaunted by Crasiff's scarred face, she managed to hold on for just a second longer than her illustrious opponent and emerged bloodied, but with the third Crown.
Just as Edvard was dealing out the very generous prize of a tankard of mead each, a sudden commotion impinged upon the festivities. A sheep, complete with a scroll in its mouth,
dashed through the crowd with a look of curiously human intelligence. It ran, panicked, straight at rake, and seemed to plead with him to take the scroll.
Following in his trail, was a rather fearsome sight: an enlarged Half-Orc warrior, two wolves and a strangely human-like bear (the latter three would turn later to be human soldiers
who had willingly submitted to a permanent True Polymorph each). Guz, the Half-Orc, demanded both the sheep and the scroll be returned to him as they were property of his master, Almaj Noke. Rake's attempy at diplomacy sadly failed, and when Edina read the scroll - which transpired to be a modified form of the Speak with Animals spell), it emerged that the sheep was in fact Finethir Shinebright, the self-proclained 'greatest Master Transmuter in the land'. The Elven mage had been betrayed by his apprentice, Noke, who had stolen his Wand of True Polymorph and used it to imprison him as a sheep in his own home for the past two years.
Refusing to give up the sheep, and the promise of great treasure of they restored Shinebright to human form, battle commenced. The rumours that Edvard, despite being almost as wide as he is high, was once a powerful Monk and an accomplished adventurer, held true as he fought side
-by-side with his new comrades to protect the village.
Ed was grieviously wounded by Guz in the battle, and only survived by Erin's timely intervention with a potion of healing (two failed death saves!), but the tide had turned and Guz was slain. Knocking one of the wolves unconscious and receiving information from both him and the sheep, the group formed a plan. Sadly, in an attack of what is now called 'Halorc Mania', Rake decided to behead the tied-up wolf 'in the name of good'. Perhaps it was Maisie's lingering influence?
Heading off with Shinebright to his old home, the group found a remarkable dwelling, created from True Polymorphing several large oak trees. Shinebright informed his rescuers that the only hope would be to retrieve the wand from Noke and use it on Finethir himself, despite the party not having any arcane skills at all. Clearly, two years of grazing on buttercups was more than enough for our transmuter!
Upon entering parley with Noke's polymorphed guards, the usurper mage himself appeared, levitating high out of the party's reach. The use of the wand and the desperation to reach even greater heights of magic power than his former master had imbalanced Noke, and the party were unable to negotiate with him.
Likely the fact that Hound 'mined one of the Ape's faces before ripping out his beating heart and eating it before the corpse had hit the floor' had not assisted in the diplomatic mission.
Locking himself in his tower, Noke burst forth riding a large bed that he had just True Polymorphed in to a dragon! A keen shot from Rake then broke Noke's concentration, whilst Coama dispatched the remaining guards. The bed dragon returned to a mere bed, and a stand off ensued, as the Halflings managed to get struggle with Noke for control of the wand, whilst Rake and Coama made their way up the stairs to help.
In one final act of complete desperation, Noke turned the wand on himself, presumably with the intent to True Polymorph in to a fearsome beast - but disaster struck, as the spell fizzled and, to everyone's horror, he became a gibbering mouther.
Thinking quickly, Hound lit a torch and threw it on the bed, attempting to defeat the dreadful creature at the cost of burning the dwelling down. Undeterred, Coama ran to engage
the creature, being blinded and badly injured (again) in the process.
Meanwhile, climbing back down and running with the wand to Shinebright, Erin used every last scrap of her legendary Halfling luck - and became one of the few of her people to cast a 9th-level spell as a first level adventurer. As the wand splintered and crumbled to dust, it's incredible power spent, Finethir Shinebright was returned to Elven form.
Polymorphing the air to create a raincloud to put the fire out, and with Erin's direction and the rest of the heroes 'distracting' the creature by cleverly supplying targets for it to bite, Shinebright used all of his power to polymorph the wooden toilet outside his home into a box in which what-was-once Almaj Noke was trapped.
Admitting that the dreadful fate his former apprentice had suffered would lead him to be a kinder and more patient mentor in future, and with the hope that the Elven College of
Transmuters may be able to restore Noke in time, the party gained the favour of a 12th level Mage - as well as all of the remaining valuables in his property. Even the revelation that
Rake had actually caught what appeared to be Cackle Fever from his encounter with Maisie (DC 11 after one successful save), could not dent the party's gladness at righting such
a wrong as the captivity of Shinebright.
Coama remained at level 3, whilst Hound, Erin and Rake all reached level 2.
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