Stop hitting yourself
General Summary
We sat on the curb and caught our breath, the guard mostly disbursed except for the sergeant and one other. “Would you care to explain what that was?” the sergeant asked.
“Well, that’s a mighty good question,” I replied. “We were returning from visiting the Duke and giving him a bit of news we’d learned when the man attacked us with those things. As you can see, it was a nasty fight,” I hastily added, “Sir.”
His head cocked like a dog looking for a missing bone, “As you say,” he turned to the man standing next to him, “I’m going to leave Thor here with you, and you take him to the man who started this attack once you’ve got your breath back. I can see you’re all quite shaken by these events. I know I would be.”
I looked at the man standing next to him. He wore a nice set of plate mail, well-used with a few ding marks on it, but taken care of. A man who knew how to take care of his armor. That’s a good sign.
“Where are we going?” he asked eventually.
“The man we’re talking about is staying with Franz Aldeberg. I don’t know if he’s a willing guest or if he’s taking advantage of the man,” Lili said as we started walking down the road towards the house I’d spied last time.
“Show me the way to go home, boom boom boom,” Cap started singing.
I glanced at our new companion, “Walk faster,” I urged. “The sooner we get there, the sooner he’ll stop singing.” Cap’s voice got more cheerful as we walked. I think he thought his music was encouraging us.
After a few blocks, we got to Franz Aldeberg’s shop and banged on the door. A few moments later it was answered by a young woman who welcomed us in.
“What can I do for you,” Franz paused and looked at our disheveled state, “people tonight? It’s been a long day, and I had pretty much closed up the shop for the night.”
“Earlier today a potion was stolen from us by a companion of yours, Russ, and we would like it back,” Lili said.
“Oh dear, oh dear,” Franz fussed, “That doesn’t sound like Russ at all, give me a moment, and we’ll call him up here to tell us what’s going on.”
“This doesn’t feel right,” Cap mutters and he starts to cast a spell.
“Excuse me,” Franz commanded. “I need you to step outside if you’re going to do that, delicate objects and all that.” Cap nods and steps through the door to cast his spell, and the doors shut and lock!
“Oh my,” Franz complained walking slowly towards the door, “It does that from time to time. I’m so sorry, let me get them open.” He starts rattling the door, but it doesn’t move. I can hear it rattling but nothing moves.
“Argh!” screamed Thor, “what was that?” as he turned I saw a glimpse of Russ before he turned invisible. Franz threw a potion at him and Lili responded hitting him with a spell.
That’s when it all went to pot.
The statue stepped off the pedestal and walked towards Thor and Lili by the door, shoving forward with his trident embossed shield.
“That’s it,” I yelled and thrust my hands forward shoving the ground beneath the figures up in the air and back down. A hole appeared in the floor as Russ, the statue, and Franz all fell into the hole. “I screamed in pain as a pain shot through my head keeping me from moving or acting for the next few seconds.
“I’ve got you covered,” Lili roared over the collapsing rubble. “You can safely jump now!” As she said that I felt lighter, and I saw chains erupt out of the floor pulling at the poor souls who fell into the basement. “I think I’ll go walk into my chains,” Lili started walking forward like a puppet, maybe she needs a broken chains potion herself. It’s a shame we gave it to Russ. Then she proceeded to damage herself with those silly chains. She really should stop hitting herself like that.
The wall melted away and Cap stepped through and angelic spirits attacked all those around him, including the shadows near Lili. Sarthas screamed in pain and disappears.
Thor jumped down into the hole and floated down, hitting Franz with a backhanded blow. Franz falls to the hit and Russ hurries over and throws a healing potion down his throat.
That is when the 20-foot tall tentacled creature appeared. It grabbed Milli and threw her about before sucking the life out of her. I watch as she grows older. Thor rushes in hitting Russ, felling him, and is hit by the creature and we are shocked to notice he too is aged. He swings on and the giant statue is down.
I put a fireball onto Franz and shift into a wolf and attack Franz again, and he is down again. I dash across the room and bite the giant creature, who disappears. Milli falls ot the ground, but the attacks continue.
I cast fairy fire and in the air about fifteen feet up hovers a figure sitting cross-legged with tentacles coming out of its mouth. “Up in the air, concentrate on it!”
Cap throws spell after spell at the creature and Milli shoots arrow after arrow into the thing, and it glances about at us and tears a hole in the world, and floats through it.
“I’ll stabilize the men,” Cap shouts. “They might have been mind-controlled.” I nod and watch as the fire continues to burn on Franz. He’s already gotten up twice, there’s no need to let him trick us again.
The guy I’d mistaken for a statue was a legionnaire messenger with a courier pouch on him. Milli looks over Russ and discovers several sheathed throwing daggers that are coated in poison. I dismiss the burning sphere and all that’s left of Franz is a broken charred mess.
Upstairs on his desk, we see several notes and a diary that reveals what he’s been up to.
Thor went to check the corner but is scared away from it by something. Milli found a large black chest that as she carries it out scares the rest of us away from it. She picks the lock and finds five potions and leather satchel with money in it, and a large crystal ball. Milli starts to gaze into the ball and is enraptured by it. I’m a bit too scared of the thing to walk over and stop her, but I get the distinct feeling this is not going to go well for us.
“Over here,” Cap called, and he pulled a lever in the basement that opens down to the sewers. “Oh, that is not good,” as his eyes fall upon several bodies that have been fed to some foul being.
“Hey guys,” I call from the desk as I read the diary. “Franz may not have been the evil mastermind we thought. It looks like he was keeping a diary and the last entry is two weeks ago where he mentioned meeting someone. Prior to that, he’d written every day. Something is off.
Report Date
21 Dec 2021
