Category Archives: Story Time

Warning: potential side quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

The Hunted

The next day I spent most of my time hanging around in some of Bravil’s taverns. Unfortunately most of the taverns in the city were more of the inn variety thus most of the relatively few patrons were travelers rather than regular locals. Still, it was only a matter of time before I heard rumor of a woman who was claiming that her husband had been kidnapped. This, naturally, sounded worth investigating.

I found the woman, Ursanne Loche, chatting with several others outside of the city chapel. She was easy to spot as she wore the look a person who had done much grieving in days passed. After I introduced myself she told me that her husband Aleron had manged to get himself into a significant debt thanks to an out of control gambling habit and had been kidnapped by a loan shark named Kurdan. This sounded like absolutely none of my business but I figured it couldn’t hurt to at least go chat with this Kurdan character.

“Since you’re obviously incapable of getting it yourself I guess I’ll accept.”

After asking around a bit I located Kurdan hanging around at The Lonely Suitor Lodge. Kurdan was a large Orc who seemed suspiciously well armed for a loan shark. I was surprised to find him offer me a straight up trade without much discussion at all. Kurdan simply wanted me to travel to a nearby ruin and track down a lost family heirloom of his. While this sounded reasonable the whole setup seemed a bit too casual, and I remained suspicious of his intent even as I agreed – or perhaps that was why I agreed! Once I accepted Kurdan’s offer he seemed eager to have me leave and said he had even provided me a small boat to take me to the ruins. After agreeing he seemed oddly rude and forceful, even for an Orc, insisting that I leave immediately and not dilly-dally. My hand never left my sword’s pommel as I stepped into the boat and made my way down the city canals.

“Looks like a nice place…”

I reached the ruins of Fort Grief, just across the bay from Bravil. The ruins consisted of a large, destroyed tower poking out of a sandy beach. For being so remote the area looked well traveled and used, even having a dock to tie the boat off on to. The only entrance to the ruined tower I found was an archway blocked by a large metal portcullis. A small leaver raised the portcullis and I cautiously stepped inside.

The portcullis fell back down with a loud clanging noise as it slammed against the stone. While I wasn’t too surprised by this my attention quickly shifted to trying to locate a means to reopen it from the inside. Unfortunately I couldn’t locate one near the archway itself though my search was soon interrupted by the shouting of a man. As shouts of “Hello?” and “Is anyone there?” echoed through the ruins I made my way towards their origin. Much to my surprise I saw a Breton man who matched Ursanne’s description of Aleron perfectly.

“Doh!”

After introducing myself Aleron hurriedly told me that he had been lured here by Kurdan in a similar way as I had, and that we were now apparently unwilling participants in some kind of bizarre hunting game run by Kurdan. Unfortunately it seemed that our roles in the game were to serve as prey, and that the only way out was to go into the sub-levels of the ruins where the hunt took place and survive the hunters, one of which would have a key to the outside. I had heard tale of such “man hunts” while in prison though I never bargained I’d ever see one myself, never mind be the one being hunted in one. I told Aleron, who certainly didn’t look like the fighting type, to hide himself nearby on the outside while I searched down below.

Thankfully I still had my equipment and my magic so I didn’t feel like I was at a large disadvantage in this game. I lit a torch, drew my sword, and walked down a stairwell into the enclosed portion of the ruin. The inside seemed to be relatively well kept, with obvious attempts at recent repairs and modifications made to much of the structure. Near the entrance was a locked room containing a leaver – likely the key to our freedom. I attempted to pick the lock for several minutes only to discover that it was an uncommon sort of lock that my picks were not suited to working with and continued on my way.

“Ok, I’m reporting this to the Better Business Bureau.”

The walls were scarred with signs of battle, pocked with arrow hits, and there was even the occasional humanoid skeleton to be seen – obviously Aleron and I were not Kurdan’s first victims. My train of thought was broken by a battle cry as a man wielding a massive poleaxe rushed towards me. I sidestepped his attack and slashed across his belly as I did so, landing a lucky hit on a weak area of his armor. As I turned to continue the fight he was already dying, clutching his wound.

“Shield bash!”

As I continued on I came across many traps – some of which were probably part of the original structure while others, such as crude pit traps, were obviously recent creations meant to spice up the hunt. Some of these traps were hidden quite well as the second hunter who attempted to ambush me discovered. A large boulder smashed into the hunter, sending him flying off of a ledge and to his death before I was even aware of his approach. Finally I reached the end of the accessible part of the ruin, and the last hunter – an Orc who fiercely charged me as I entered the chamber. I struggled to keep the Orc at bay with fireballs while continuously moving away from him before we finally clashed and I finished him off. I claimed my key from his corpse and started to backtrack.

“Look out behind you!”

I was quite surprised to find that the key that I had found on the Orc hunter didn’t fit the locked door to the gate room either but I had little time to contemplate the situation as I heard screams coming from the outside. I rushed back up the steps to find Kurdan himself standing over Aleron’s body. He turned to me and smiled before lifting his sword and approaching me. I didn’t hesitate to engage him. Kurdan was a strong warrior but I quickly found that his brutal, overbearing attacks were of little match for my sword skill and I finished him as a brief but violent sword fight. Upon searching his body I found the actual key to the gate room – Kurdan obviously never intended to let us leave the hunt alive regardless of the outcome.

“Leaving Bravil…”

I loaded Aleron’s body onto one of the small boats still tied off near the ruins and rowed back into Bravil. I sent for Ursanne immediately upon seeing the first city guard and by the time I had tied off a small group had gathered around at the docks. I told her that Kurdan had double crossed us and that her husband had been brave despite the circumstances. I left the somber scene quickly and headed off to the stables to purchase a steed. This job hadn’t gone at all as I had hoped and I wasn’t very pleased at failing to bring Aleron back alive. It was time to continue on to the Imperial City where I was hopeful that better fortune awaited me.

Warning: potential side quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

Nightmares

Practically as soon as I stepped foot back into Bravil I was approached by a young messenger who told me that my assistance was needed at the Mage’s Guild. I was slightly annoyed to have been harassed before even recovering from my last task but also rather happy that my reputation had been spreading so quickly. After a quick stop at my inn room to unload and clean up a little I made my way to the Bravil Mage’s Guild.

As I entered the guildhall an Argonian woman immediately took notice of me and discretely waved me over to her. She introduced herself as Kud-Ei and told me that her friend, Henantier, was missing and that there was a reward for helping locate him. As we walked and Kud-Ei and I reached a more secluded section of the hall, however, her story changed. She explained that Henantier was in fact trapped somewhere and that she could lead me to him when I was ready. Very odd indeed. Still, I didn’t think the Argonian was attempting to manipulate me for any ill reasons and agreed to accompany her.

“It’s too bad he didn’t build in an exit.”

Kud-Ei lead me to none other than Henantier’s house. As we climbed the stairs Kud-Ei explained to me that Henantier had been experimenting with a magic that gave him control over dreams and had enchanted an amulet to let him enter and explore his own dreamworld at will. Sure enough, there he was sound asleep on a bed. Somehow though, she explainied, Henantier had become trapped in his dreams. He and Kud-Ei had apparently taken various safety measures and Kud-Ei knew what must be done to rescue him – the amulet could be used by someone else so that they could join Henantier in his dreams and attempt to help free him. Unfortunately, this person had to be someone Henantier had never met before, a complete stranger, which is where I came in.

“But he looks so peaceful.”

Truthfully I wasn’t very keen on the idea of entering someone else’s subconscious. This seemed like a powerful and potentially very dangerous magic which was probably why Kud-Ei didn’t want to discuss it openly at the Mage’s Guild earlier. Even so, still being quite keen on learning and experiencing new things, and perhaps secretly hoping to learn a bit of my past self from my own subconscious, I agreed. I sat on a bed across from the one where Henantier slept and looked up at Kud-Ei as she slipped the amulet around my neck. Almost instantly the world went black…

I found myself standing in a strange, twisted version of the Henantier’s house wearing only the enchanted amulet. Before I had completely gained my senses Henantier himself approached and spoke to me. He didn’t seem to know where he was or how he got there but he did tell me that he had lost a few things and wanted help looking for them. This was a vague statement and I was quite conscious that this world wasn’t reality and he could be referring to literally anything.

“I’m pretty sure my dreamworld would be a lot more interesting than this.”

I looked around the room a bit searching for clues and soon opened the door into the next chamber. The area inside contained a massive, black void filled with all kinds of strange looking objects, with a series of narrow paths winding their way throughout. I grabbed a nearby torch and began following a path. I immediately started noticing the subtle but telltale signs of various common dungeon traps sprinkled alongside a few much more bizarre ones. I carefully continued, avoiding pressure plates and tripwires while being as observant of my surroundings as possible. Finally, upon reaching the end of the path I found a shining jewel perched upon a stone pedestal. Despite all of the traps I had just carefully avoided I was compelled to pick it up. As I lifted it up it started to glow brightly and then disappeared, right from my hands! Suddenly I was standing back where I had started next to Henantier. I questioned him a bit more about what he was missing and although his answers weren’t helpful it was clear that his mental state was more sound than it was the first time we spoke – had I somehow help restored a portion of Henantier’s sanity? Is that what he had lost?

Perhaps I had to face more of these challenges to further restore Henantier’s mind so that he could guide us out of his dream world. As I entered the second chamber it appeared similar to the last – a large, open black void on which only the ground I stood upon seemed to be consistent with the normal laws of reality, and even it seemed to be floating unsupported in the ether. In front of me sat a small chest in which I found a scroll. The scroll contained a cryptic series of diagrams which made little sense to me at the time. As I walked forward I approached what appeared to be some kind of strange maze of tiny platforms. When I stepped forward I realized that each platform was in fact a kind of pressure plate, and thanks to my keen reactions just narrowly missed being perforated by a barrage of poison darts. I quickly jumped back off of the platform and took another look at both my surroundings and the scroll.

“Studying the maze.”

After studying the scroll for a while I finally noticed a pattern which I hoped would indicate the correct path to take through the deadly maze. Sweat no doubt rolled down my brow as I set foot back on the first of these plates, yet no trap was sprung. I stepped upon the second a little less fearful, and before I knew it I had conquered the puzzle and the next element of Henantier’s sanity had been returned.

“All dressed up with nowhere to go…”

The next puzzle I faced was quite different indeed. As I entered the chamber I found myself in a small stone room containing a series of chests and a large, armored door. The chests contained a selection of weapons and armor which, still being quite nude, I was quick to don. Opening the door I found myself standing in the center of a small ruined arena. As I turned to survey the place the door I had entered from simply vanished – I was trapped. Spinning back around and drawing my newly claimed sword I was startled to see two large minotaurs, possibly minotaur lords judging by their massive size, standing on the other side of the arena. They had noticed me as well and wasted no time charging directly towards me.

“Well they certainly don’t look happy to see me.”

I attempted to cast a fireblast at one of the beasts but found that my magic had no power in this place. I raised by sword and prepared for impact. In a matter of seconds one of the huge beasts had slammed his massive axe down upon me but deflecting its blow I turned into my parry and slashed at the minotaur, cutting it deeply. I continued this tactic of dodging and parrying the huge beasts and landing my own strikes when I had opportunity until I finally stood victorious over both of them. After taking some time to recover I located another one of Henantier’s elements and was yet again whisked away.

“The prize!”

The fourth area led down to a small, rocky, well-like chamber, leading down still further to a water filled tunnel. A chest contained what seemed to be a water breathing potion and I guessed that my challenge was to swim through the tunnel. Unsure of what lay ahead of me I drank the entire potion and dove in. The murky tunnel seemed to be leading me down further and further. As I continued to swim I began to worry about the longevity of my potion as I was already quite far beyond the normal capacity of my lungs. Finally, at the end of the long, dangerous swim I found myself in a damp, but somehow mostly dry cave containing another of Henantier’s missing elements.

Once again I stood in the twisted, dreamworld rendition of Henantier’s house and was again approached by Henantier. Thankfully he seemed to finally have his wits about him. He told me that he now understood where he was and, better yet, why I was there with him. I said that we should leave immediately. Before I could reply and ask him how we should accomplish this I was waking upon the bed in Henantier’s house – Henantier’s real house. Kud-Ei, who had been patiently watching over us, rushed to Henantier’s side as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Later after we had both gathered ourselves Henantier thanked me for the assistance over a warm glass of cider and offered me a selection of picks from his spell scroll collection as a reward. Some of these scrolls would be useful for my own arcane studies and the others I could surely trade for a tidy sum when I returned the Imperial City. Another job well done, even if it was only a dream.

Warning: potential side quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

The Ghost Ship

After selling off a few of the odds and ends I had gathered during my recent adventures I packed up the rest of my belongings and set off for the long hike up north, from Leyawiin to Bravil. The path between the two cities, known as the Green Road, was well traveled and much less dangerous than the one I took to get to Leyawiin originally, and the walk was relatively uneventful as far as I recall. Bravil was a city that I had conducted a fair amount of business in since my liberation months ago and its muddy, run down streets were somewhat comforting to see again. I didn’t think there would be much in the way of adventuring to be had in and around Bravil but poking around had become so routine by now it would require very little effort. I started with the city guard.

“Scenic, not so beautiful Bravil.”

One particular guardsman I was casually chatting with mentioned a local superstition, only one that he claimed had been verified as true by practically everyone who travels around the city at night, including most of the guard. The claim was that the ghost of a what appeared to be a sailor would appear on an island in Niben Bay nightly and walk the shore before finally gazing out onto the water for quite some time. So regularly does this spirit appear in fact that some of the guard joked about telling the time by its appearance. The apparition seemed harmless so the locals who were familiar with it simply chose to ignore it. They called it “The Forlorn Watchman”. I must admit that while at first this seemed like a pretty uninteresting story I had learned over those past weeks of steady, purposeful adventuring that almost anything abnormal one sees or hears of usually leads to something bigger when checked into and I was betting that there was more to this situation than a wandering spirit. I decided to investigate myself.

“No, ghosts don’t have a lot of interesting hobbies.”

Following the advice of several different citizens I made my way to Bawnwatch Camp to wait for the spirit to appear. As predicted, the ghost appeared right on time and began its lonely trek across the shore. As it was staring longingly out into the bay I made my move and approached it, sword drawn. The spirit slowly turned to face me and began to speak. It identified itself as spirit of Grantham Blakely and stated, rather cryptically, that he was stuck in the mouth of the panther and needed someone to help release him. The spirit gave little else in the way of details before vanishing. Later that night after walking back to the city I spoke to the innkeeper and the patrons of Silverhome on the Water about what the ghost had told me. A couple of them were quite familiar with the Mouth of the Panther, telling me that it wasn’t quite as cryptic as it sounded, and was actually the nickname the inlet of the Panther River off of the bay, so called because of the jagged rocks that line it.

“What do we have here then…”

The next day was rainy and dreary which made the long trip across the bay even more unpleasant. On the way I imagined what scenario might have brought Grantham to his end but when I reached the Mouth of the Panther it became clear as I almost immediately spotted the damaged carcass of a small ship smashed up against the shore. I poked around the outside of the vessel to learn that it was called the Emma May. It was very heavily damaged and I could only easily make my way below deck by crawling into a giant hole that had been ripped below the waterline. As I crept through the soggy, smashed remnants of the vessel I was suddenly ambushed by several spirits. I struggled against them and eventually defeated them, but they struck with a vicious, desperate hatred which took me by surprise. I thought it odd that I was attacked in such a way until I stumbled upon one of the ship’s log books. The last entry in the book detailed a mutiny aboard the vessel against the captain and his lone supporter, one Grantham Blakely. It appears that Grantham was tied up in the bottom of the ship. It also detailed how the remaining crew sailed the ship into an inlet to escape a storm. The log ended abruptly after that.

“Hot wraith on wraith action.”

As I ventured further into the bowels of the ship I fought off more and more of these malevolent spirits until I finally reached what I had guessed to be the long decayed body of Blakely, secured to a pillar. As I unshackled his remains the spirit of the Forlorn Watchman appeared to me and thanked me for releasing him. Before disappearing once more he motioned to a small pile of cargo and miscellaneous debris in the hold. I sifted through this junk eventually discovering a small scroll that contained some sort of treasure map.

“We meet again, Blakely.”

I left the ship wreck, thankful to return to the light of day, as obscured by clouds as it might have been, and attempted to decipher the map. It appeared to lead up the Panther River. I carefully walked the banks of the river attempting to avoid detection until I reached the approximate location marked on the map. Already rather wet from the steady rain fall I didn’t hesitate to dive into the river to begin my search. After a great deal of toil I located an old wooden chest wedged soundly between two rocks. Once I was able to free the chest and bring it to the surface I was delighted to find that it contained a generous amount of gold and jewels as well as some other artifacts. I don’t know if this was Blakely’s personal stash, or if it perhaps belonged to the captain or one of the mutinous crew members, but in any case it was a just reward for my short adventure and a welcome start to my quest for work in Bravil.