Along came Shangor

So, when we left off, our party of adventurers (Hawk, an Amazon warrior, Katrina, an archer, Sul’khaz, a Cairnlander that fights with two swords and occasionally summons wolves and Sylph, a temptress of almost magical beauty) successfully defeated the Cairnlander marauders that slaughtered their caravan and had descended their way down a narrow path that ran along the side of the cliff to a rusty and algae covered door.  At this point, the party was joined by another survivor of the caravan, Shangor, a northern barbarian who was also fleeing the horde of marauders.

Sul’khaz attempted to pick the lock but couldn’t quite get it to open.  Why he was examining the door, he found ancient Cairnlander runes that stated the following “Beware things unaged! Beware the gifts not refused” After Sul’khaz’s failed attempt to pick the ancient and rusted lock (he was almost successful), the mighty Shangor flexed his muscles and managed to pull the door off of its hinges.  Behind the door, the party found a dark and dank tunnel that continued into the darkness.  On the floor was a still dry torch.  With Sul’khaz and Shangor in the lead and Hawk guarding the rear, the group managed to light the torch and then continued down into the dark tunnel.

After a few hundred feet, the party was greeted by the soft sound of a harp playing.  The further and further that the party went, the louder the ethereal harp music became.   As the party came closer and closer to the music, they could also see light ahead as well.  Sul’khaz and Shangor managed to sneak a head and discovered a spectacularly beautiful grotto. In the grotto was a feast and in attendance where a number of very beautiful women.  The most beautiful of the women was playing a harp on ledge overlooking the grotto.   

Although the beautiful woman did not immediately spot Sul’khaz and Shangor, she did spot Sylph and Katrina.  She introduced herself as Seablossom and welcomed them to join the feast.  Not long after that, Sul’khaz and Shangor were also spotted.  The two men were enthusiastically invited to join the feast.  Enthusiastically, the two men accepted.

Shangor and Sul’khaz were seated at the front of the table where Seablossom and her courtesans showered them with attention.  Neither man seemed to mind at all as they partook of the excellent food and wine.  Sylph, on the other hand, was fuming……

Sylph could not abide that Seablossom was more beautiful than she was.  That wasn’t true of course…but then why were Shangor and Sul’khaz ignoring her in favor of Seablossom and her…whores?  None of the women touched the food as all three of them were weary of the whole setup.  Their paranoia was, of course, completely justified. 

One of the serving women, a Cairnlander named Winna managed to warn Sylph, Katrina and Hawk that they all were in great danger.  Needing no more incentive than that, Sylph quickly went into action. 

Sylph called on her powers of seduction to break the spell that was had been cast over Shangor and Sul’khaz.  However, the harp began to play on its own and any affect that Sylph had mustered was crushed by the harp’s foul sorcery. 

Seablossom then declared that it was time to dance and insisted that the adventurers join them.  Shangor and Sul’khaz had no choice after eating the food and drinking the wine but to join the dance.  Sylph, Katrina and Hawk, having skipped the feast, resisted the urge and Katrina jumped up on to the stone dinner table and shot Seablossom with an arrow in answer to invitation to dance.   Seablossom and her courtesans took on demonic characteristics as their fingers turned to claws and the teeth into fangs.  The fight was on! 

Katrina fought bravely, shooting Seablossom several times with her arrows but she was eventually surrounded and brought down by the demonic courtesans and left in heap upon the dinner table.  Using Katrina and Hawk as a distraction, Sylph made her way to the harp and desperately tried to push it off of the cliff while Seablossom closed in for the kill.  Despite being wounded several times, Hawk managed to fight her way to the harp where she managed to finally push the dread harp off of the ledge and down to the ground where it shattered, freeing the men from the spell that had compelled them to dance.  Not long after that, Hawk also managed to land a telling blow that finally ended Seablossom’s long and magically prolonged life.  Despite the death of their leader, the courtesans continued to fight on.

 

With Shangor and Sul’khaz now in the battle, the last of the courtesans fell to the blades of the heroes.  As soon as the last courtesan fell, the grotto began to shake and rubble began to fall from the ceiling.  Winna emerged from hiding and declared that the whole complex would now collapse.  She told the heroes that Seablossom had a key around her neck that would open the door to the way out.  Shangor grabbed Katrina’s near dead body (I wasn’t going to kill off Brandi when she wasn’t there.  Where would be the fun in that?) and the party made a break for it, even passing on raiding a treasure room that they passed.

Following Winna, the party found their way to a locked iron door.  Using the Seablossom’s key, they opened the door and found themselves in the ruins of watchtower, further down the coast and safely away from the Cairnlander marauders that sought their blood.  With the collapsing of the Seablossom’s kingdom, Winna aged rapidly before the eyes of the party.  Before dying, Winna explained that she had been force to serve Seablossom for over a century and that she was well aware of her fate is ever she were to leave the grotto.  She told the heroes not to mourn for her because she was finally free.  With that, she died and turned to dust.  (Sadly, the only party member that seemed to mourn her was Hawk.  Sylph didn’t because supposedly Winna was prettier that her.  I am going to say that Katrina did too since Brandi wasn’t there to play her.  There.  I feel a little better. )

Anyway, that concluded our first adventure in my Savage Worlds: Beasts and Barbarian campaign.  We should start our second adventure in two to three weeks, depending on how long it takes to wrap up Grant’s Dresden File game.