The Improbable Adventures of Corvella Greyrose: Day Three



(Continued from part two, upthread!)




DAY THREE:

Oddly enough, and in sharp contrast to the previous night, I awoke this morning after sleeping deeply and without dreams. I think that finding The Watcher's Guide (the true name of the enchanted spear that I found yesterday, revealed through magical identification) set my troubled mind at ease. I feel no different, physically, and cannot find any strangements in my face or body. I think that I was right, this whole "ceremorphosis" thing that the Angry Green Lady and Mister Fancy Gale spoke so vigorously about is just an irrational fear brought on by stress and trauma suffered on the horrible "nautiloid" ship. I must have dreamed or imagined that disgusting little thing being put in my eye, for if it was real, surely I would be feeling signs of it?

After morning repast and ablutions, I immediately returned to the ruin from yesterday, eager to further plumb its depths and, hopefully, find even more magical treasures. The next chamber I entered was mostly open and empty, a bright shaft of sunlight piercing the darkness from an opening above. I did find a few strangely unlocked chests scattered about, with a few valuable odds and ends for the taking. From there I slipped through another door, smaller than the massive double doors I'd come through before.

I found myself in a small, dark room, filled with unlit candles and little else. I could hear voices through another door on the other end of the room, but they were too muffled for me to make out. Carefully, I searched for a way to open this next door, but it seemed to have no ordinary lock or handle. On a lark, I decided to light the two ensconced candles flanking the mysterious door, and to my satisfaction, the door clicked open. This turned out to be problematic, however, as I heard immediate yelling from someone on the other side, a female voice calling out for help, and the sound of running boots on the stone floor. I hastily fled back the way that I'd come from, into the shadows behind a pillar in the large room I'd been in before, where I hid myself as well as I could.

Some time passed, and no one followed me through the door I'd closed behind me. When I thought it was safe to scout things out, I went stealthily back into the adjoining room to see what was happening. The smaller room I'd been in was still empty, but the door at the other end stood open, and I could see a group of armed people, five in all, standing ready in the hallway just through the doorway. They looked like a band of adventurers or ruffians of some sort, and they were tensed for battle, watching the shadows for any sign of whatever danger they imagined I represented. I considered hailing them, and trying to resolve things peacefully, but I could see grim purpose and cruel anticipation written large across their faces, and thought better of the idea.

Behind them, I could spy just the hint of a vast, pillared hall. A room which they were guarding. I guessed that it must contain something of great value, and I wanted to see it! But all five of them were arrayed in combat formation in front of the next doorway, attentively eyeing the entire hall in front of them. There was no way to sneak past. Backing away into the previous room, I first tried to call forth a Familiar spirit to aid me, this time in the form of a cat. Ordinarily I prefer to summon a raven, but I felt the feline would be more useful here. I sent the Familiar ahead, through the guarded doorway and down the hall, hoping that it could distract them, cause them to give chase perhaps, allowing me to slip by them. Unfortunately, they merely killed the cat right away with no loss of vigilance.

Consulting my spellbook, I drew a Fog Cloud enchantment into my mind next. Lurking in the darkened chamber adjoining their guarded hall, I cast the spell, cloaking the entire area where they were posted in a thick, impenetrable fog. Unfortunately, one of them noticed me performing my incantation in just the brief moment before the cloud manifested. As they stumbled about blindly in confusion, I darted through the middle of them and into the chamber beyond, hiding around the corner. I thought that I had done it, that I would be safe now. But no. The one who'd caught a glimpse of me stumbled through the fog into the room, spotted me crouching along the wall, and once again, I felt the strange sensation of watching my own death as his massive studded club caved in my skull. And then, as before with the elf outside, it just un-happened (I have no better way of explaining it), and I found myself back in the safe chamber, having not yet cast my spells. I don't know what is happening here, if I'm being protected by some divine force or perhaps just going mad, but I find it both disturbing and, to be honest, a little bit exciting.

But I still wanted to get into that hall! Undaunted, I tried again. This time I summoned the cat Familiar, studied the Fog Cloud spell, and got into position. I kept the cat close to me. From as far away as I could do it, I filled the corridor with fog again, then hid in the room I was in. This time, none had seen me. But one of them, again that brute with his greatclub, came wandering out of the fog and into my room. I was crouched in shadow just inches away from him, but he did not see me. Yet. I knew that in mere seconds, he would turn and see me, and that would be my end. So I sent the cat spirit forth once again, into the corridor, meowing loudly and darting away. It worked! The vicious man who was a hair's breadth from finding me chased after the cat, his partners still trying to navigate the fog.

Now, very quietly and very carefully, I crept through the fog myself, weaving around the disorderly tomb robbers (not legitimate archaeologists like me, big difference) and making my way into a good hiding spot inside the larger pillared chamber. I held my breath, waiting to see if I would be pursued and discovered. But this time my plan had succeeded! None of them knew where I was, I'd managed to get past them cleanly. While they continued to flail about in confusion out in the hall, I began carefully searching the room, which was filled with bookshelves and contained a huge statue of a robed man. Quiet as a mouse I crept about the room, unseen. One of them did take a few steps into the room, a woman with a bow, looking around suspiciously. But, I noted with some relish, she was a human, and she could barely see anything in front of her in this darkness. I might as well have been invisible to her! Thank you again for these keen eyes, my elven mother or father.

I scanned the various shelves for anything of interest, but sadly I found nothing of note among all of those worthless volumes. There were a couple of more unique-looking books laying out that I might find interesting to peruse, so I took them, but I doubt they're worth anything. There were two different chests in the room, which I opened eagerly (and carefully), but to my disappointment one only contained some shoddy tableware, and the other held a mere two candles! I did pocket the candles, but my disappointment was deep and bitter. So much work to get in here, so much risk, and nothing of any value to be found. Now I had to get away.

As I evaded the human archer, her dull senses not detecting me even as I slipped right past her, I found my way back into the comforting embrace of my cloud of fog. The ruffians had spread out some, and were looking in all directions for me. I noticed then that there was yet another closed door out of this hallway, and none of them seemed to be looking at it. Maybe THAT was the room with the treasure! Against any sort of better judgment or wisdom, I crept, ever so carefully, over to that other door, out of the safety of the fog. I passed right behind the bruiser with the mighty club, mere inches away from him for the second time. Somehow, I cracked the door open silently, shimmied through, and closed it again behind me with nary a peep. None of them noticed me do it.

Another small room, also disappointingly bare of valuable or useful goods. I did pick up a couple of ink pots, and some extra quills, so I suppose those will come in handy as I keep this journal. But still, rather disappointing. As I was grumbling to myself about the poor pickings in these heavily-guarded rooms, I must have made some noise, because suddenly I heard one of the adventurers at the door. I dashed into the corner and pressed myself up against the dusty stone wall, praying to whatever power might have been listening that I wouldn't be seen. A moment later, a robed elven woman with a staff, most likely their mage, burst into the room and ran right past me, looking around everywhere on the OTHER side of the room. She never turned toward me, and I thanked Tymora, Sehanine, Mystra, and a dozen other gods as I took the opportunity to sneak back out into the hall and, once again, into my ever-useful fog cloud.

I was almost safe. I just needed to get past one more of them, a stout-looking grey-skinned dwarf. The trouble was, she was blocking the doorway I needed to get through in order to go back the way I'd come in. I knew I'd need to make a desperate move, calling on all of the athletic prowess that I HOPED I possessed. I sidled up behind her, not daring to breathe, completely exposed should she happen to turn around. Taking a deep breath and marshalling all of my energy, I suddenly jumped up, vaulted over her shoulder, and sprinted for all I was worth through the room, through the other doorway, and on and on until I was once again outside and certain that they were not giving chase. I laughed maniacally, flush with a sense of delicious exhilaration as I reveled in the fact that I was still breathing.

It was an epic heist, for all the skill it required and danger it involved. But it was also a total bust, as I came away from ALL of that with only a few nearly-valueless items. So disappointing, and yet I felt so alive both during and after the insane caper. So many times, they nearly saw me, nearly caught me, but I got out clean. Somehow. And yet I feel as if there is some alternate reality, some other plane like this one, with another me in it, where I did die, my head crushed by a wicked club. Is it possible that that would have been my true fate, but for the intervention of a benevolent deity? I'm really not sure. All I know is, I made it. Now that's what I call archaeology!

I was, once again, exhausted. Even though I hadn't spent much time in the ruin today, and had very little to show for my expedition, I felt like I'd had plenty of action for one day. So I used the rune to return to my nice little camp (I think of it as "my" camp now, and I sure hope no one else comes back to claim it), and settled down to record my tale in this journal. At least now I have some proper, quality ink to write with, instead of the dodgy stuff I was making myself. Tomorrow, I don't think I'll be able to resist taking ONE more look in that ruin. Maybe the robbers will be gone! And even if not, there was another huge set of double doors that I didn't go through. I can't leave that stone unturned, now CAN I?

Let's see what I've accumulated now:

- 1 old robe, 1 suit of fancy half-plate, 2 pairs of boots.
- 1 Master Archaeologist's Toolkit.
- 2 daggers, 1 quarterstaff, 3 shortbows, 2 longswords, 1 handaxe, 1 halberd, 1 crappy scimitar, 1 leather helm, and 1 shield.
- 2 backpacks and 3 collapsible-yet-sturdy crates (picked up another one in there).
- 11 sketchy bulb-things: 3 "Caustic", 5 "Void", and 3 "Spiked".
- 12 Potions of Healing, 2 Potions of Speed, 1 Potion of Poison Resistance, and 1 Potion of Fire Resistance.
- 2 bottles of water, 3 apples, 1 loaf of sourdough bread, and 1 wheel of cheese.
- 2 Scrolls of Revivify, 1 Scroll of False Life, 1 Scroll of Inflict Wounds, 1 Scroll of Mage Armor, and 1 Scroll of Fire Bolt, 1 Scroll of Protection From Evil and Good, and 1 Scroll of Guiding Bolt (at least I got a couple new scrolls).
- 1 copper ring, 1 onyx ring, 1 burnished necklace, 1 malachite gem, 1 onyx gem, 1 huge honking ruby, 2 shiny clamshells, and a pretty ruby ring (probably the best thing I found today).
- 1 Alchemist's Fire, 3 Grease Bottles, and 1 Vial of Poison.
- 3 bundles of Mugwort, 1 of Mergrass, and 1 of Autumncrocus.
- 1 Soul Coin (apparently that's what it's called, according to Identify).
- 1 thrilling journal that will one day be a legendary document.
- 4 quills, 2 ink pots, and 2 candles (worth it?).
- 1 spellbook of FOG SUPREMACY.
- The Watcher's Guide (it glooooows)!
- 138 gold coins (I suppose I'm making more per day than a chambermaid, so there's that).





OOC Part:


DEATH COUNT: 2

I am having a lot of fun with this! I pulled very little meaningful loot this session, but learned a lot about Fog Cloud-assisted stealth tactics. Had my second death while experimenting, but it felt great when I managed to get past that group of NPCs not once, but twice.

I actually played the next day, and have written the next journal entry already, but I'm not gonna post it just yet. I don't want to give folks too much to read at once.

I hope a few people are still enjoying this!



Stay tuned for the next part, coming further down the thread soon!


Part four is now up: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=733581#Post733581


Last edited by Firesnakearies; 13/11/20 11:10 AM.