[X] My Assistant

[macole]

20221213 The Ayleid Steps & SNUS in Memorial Cave

After a relaxing day in Leyawiin if you can call haggling with the vendors while trading in out accumulated loot or dealing with Mages Guild duties and OVB Leyawiin Chapter business relaxing, we enjoyed dinner and drinks at the Drunkin’ Donkey just outside the western city walls.

The following morning Fiona mentioned that it was time she got back to Shadowcrest Vineyards. The new wine needs Fiona’s special touches before it goes into the aging barrels.

An emergency of the utmost importance! We immediately made preparations to leave Leyawiin. When we were ready, with a wave of the hand I transported us to the Midas Astral Gate.

“Oh, which one is it?” I mumbled to myself.

“Oh no you don’t. Mama warned me not to fall for that “ran out of gas” line.” Fiona chided. Almost blushing she added, “But then, she never said anything about Astral Gates,”

“Ruby,” I answered. “Ruby red, the color of your hair, of course.”

“Oh, pooh. Such a waste of magical moons!” I heard Fiona mutter as I took her by the hand and led her through the gate.

Within an instant we stepped through the Ruby Gateway to the sitting room of Shadowcrest Manor; my second most favorite house.

The next day, after reviewing the current receipts, inspecting the latest harvest, and sampling some of the new wine I left for Benirus Manor. Quick an easy the Take Me Home (actual LAME name is Teleport Home, I just like Take Me Home better) the sound spell deposited me in the upstairs bedroom. Vilja was sound asleep in the bed when I popped in. The near silent pop woke her up.

Yawning and rubbing her eyes didn’t stop her from greeting me loudly. “Where have you been? Do you know how long you’ve been gone? It’s been more than a couple of days!”

Something told me Vilja was not very happy with me. I immediately went into disaster recovery mode and suggested that we take a stroll along the docks to see the ships. That worked. She may still be mad at me but she wasn’t shouting anymore.

As we strolled through the city we stopped at all the shops to lighten the load of loot I was carrying. It’s amazing how little those gold coins weigh. You’d think they were teeny tiny little things.

Sensing that she was feeling better I tried to start up a conversation. That was a mistake. Vilja started off on how I’m always doing what I want to do and that I never ask what she wants to do. Oh, ok. So I asked. “What do you want to do?”

You know what she said? In a whiny little voice she said, “I don’t know. Go out and kill something?

“How about we work on your riddle and investigate Memorial Cave for stepstonea,” I suggested. In a blink of an eye she was, in her fighting clothes and whistling for her pet wolf Wolfgang. Ready to go, there was no stopping us now. A day later we were standing on the outside of Memorial Cave.

I think I'm going down to the well tonight
I'm gonna drink till I get my fill
And I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about it
But I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back, trying to recapture
A little of the glory, yeah
Well time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister
But boring stories of…

“Been awhile since we defeated Seridur here,” I said.

‘Ya, you were just beginning vampire hunting with OVB, back then,” Vilja replied.

Through the door we went. The place hadn’t changed a bit. Blood stains were everywhere; some even appeared to be… fresh! That horrid thought was confirmed when Vilja tentatively asked, “Aren’t you afraid of those vampires?”

So much fun, the memory of the glory, um gory days of years gone by had returned. Many vampires later Memorial Cave is once again pacified. Light of Dawn has absorbed another 6 vampires making a total of 320 and yet the stepstone is nowhere to found. What is wrong?

Searching for the Stepstone, we discovered a vital key sitting in plain view next to a candle. How did I miss this key the first time I was here? Supposedly it opens that amazingly frightening looking crypt we found in the adjoining room.

Unlocking the door to the Memorial Cave Crypt (SNUS) Vilja, Wolfgang, and I descend the winding narrow staircase until we reach a bone filled room.

In the center of the room surrounded by the skeletal remains of countless humans and mer sat a sarcophagus containing a single skeleton. Was this some great lord interned with his servant and wives? We may never know. The sarcophagus was open. instead of a lid, a spiked spring trap covered the skeleton.

With a childlike innocence Vilja ran up to the open sarcophagus.

”Careful!” I warned. “Stay away from the ends. Touch only the sides.”

Approaching from the side I carefully activated the trap. The poisoned spiked grates sprung out and would have impaled anyone standing at the head or the foot of the sarcophagus (don’t ask how I know, it’s too painful to think of). While the spring actuated jaws were open I quickly snatched a satchel filled with treasure.

“Is that Seridur?” Vilja asked.

“I don’t know. I hate to think that it is.” I drove a wooden stake through its ribs just in case.

With the treasure of the crypt in hand we returned to main part of Memorial Cave to ponder our failure to find the stepstone. A review of Ervvin’s journals confirms that the stepstone should be here.

“A portion of the cave seems to have collapsed (SNUS). Bet it’s buried beneath that big stone wall next to the tombstone. Got a pick axe?”

“No,” Vilja answered. “I can’t carry all your stuff. I’m not a pack mule, you know.”

“Hmm, the old Pittfall spell might work. Don’t use it much anymore, most schools don’t even teach Passwall or Pitfall these days but they do have their uses, from time to time.”

It worked. Only took a couple tries before I got the intonation of RidID Disable right, know what I mean? Anyways, with the stone wall out of the way, a natural rock shelf was exposed. Sitting on the shelf was a banded chest (OOO) filled with valuable treasure. Still, there was no sign of the stepstone.

“This dark rock looks out of place,” Vilja said pointing to a dark rock next to a tombstone.

The Pitfall spell went a little easier this time. The dark rock disintegrated leaving a gleaming Ayleid Stepstone behind. Now, with everything cleared away we were ready to travel to wherever the stepstone will take us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Arena spells Passwall and Pittfall originally were used to create temporary holes in walls and floors allowing the player to bypass dangerous areas. Here they are the spell names are used as place holder for console commands. In this chapter Passwall (TFC2 and TCL) is used to walk through walls and floors to locate the hidden stepstone. Pittfall (Disable) is used pretty much as in Arena to remove sections of rock in order to expose the buried stepstone.

This post has been edited by macole: Dec 14 2022, 06:11 AM

[Acadian]

Vilja surely is good about complaining. Good thing the Jandaga didn't ask her if she wanted to lead. I'm sure they'd still be aimlessly wandering the hills and dales of the West Weald.

Another stepstone. This one didn't give up its secret easily.

[macole]

20221220 The Ayleid Steps – Lost Rillim, Rumple IC - Office

Leaving Memorial Cave by the Ayleid Step we just uncovered took us to Nibenay Basin somewhere N.E. of Fort Cedrian. Here we encountered our first Step Traveler.

We had just stepped off the stepstone to take a look at our surroundings when a Step Traveler appeared. Friendly enough, though Solomon Geonette didn’t have much to say other than hello, How he managed to figure out how to use Ayleid Steps he would not say. One thing is for certain, we are not the only ones travelling the steps. The demand for welkynd stones is going to explode.

The Nibenay Basin step sends us high up in the Valus Mountains. We can see Hame down below us.

Finally, the Valus Mountain stepstone takes us to Lost Rillim.

Rillim consisted of three large rooms. Out pacing Vilja I found the entrance to the largest room. Enticed by the glow of a dozen or so welkynd stones I eagerly ran into the room only to find myself surrounded by trolls. From the outset the trolls weren’t very friendly and their disposition only got worse after I set the Ancient Azhklan Matron ablaze.

The already perilous situation took a turn for the worse when troll mother’s smoldering husk hit the floor. The troll’s sons and daughters rushed me, pinning me against a wall. I was barely holding my own when Vilja finally arrived. Say what you will about Vilja’s constant complaining and random chatter, she is a force to reckon with when she has a big weapon in her hands. She is one heck of a fighter.

Together Vilja and I rid Lost Rillim of 11 Azhklan Trolls, an Ogre, and a Lich. With Lost Rillim cleared of enemies and welkynd stones we used the stepstone to leave Lost Rillim to find ourselves standing wooded southern part of the Valus Mountains.

Vilja has decided that she wants to retire from pirating, take her booty to Aleswell Cottage, and live the gentile life of a Lady of the Manor. Well until the treasury runs dry, at least. I offered to escort her to Aleswell to ensure she arrived safely.

Passing by the Imperial City, on an impulse Vilja decided that she wanted to go to the Waterfront and see the ships. That’s alright by me; while she counts sails I’ll stop by some shops and lighten the load.

Strolling along the dock on the way to Gudrun’s new office, much to our surprise we ran into Pym coming out of the Goddess Store. Dressed in her finest, standing next to a pallet stacked high with large” packages, Pym was dancing with excitement when she saw us. She latched on to my arm and gave me the biggest warmest hug that it was easy to get the wrong impression. Um, I quickly realized that all she really wanted was for me to carry her packages in the Midas Astral Chest.

That’s ok. Pym will just have to tag along as I escort Vilja to Aleswell. And I don’t mind that at all.

While we’re here we should pay a visit to the new Bear Riders Imperial City Office and find out how Gudrun is doing. The office is open for business and actually looks pretty good. Gudrun isn’t too excited though. Apparently there’s not been a rush of applicants; suitable or not.

“I've had several men come in,” Gudrun complained. ”And say that they'd like to join me, but I don't think they meant Legion work!”

“Yeah, I could understand that,” I thought.

“But no girls,” She continued. “Not even unsuitable ones. There's probably no point being here all the time, so I'll come down from Bruma once a month for a few days.”

With that Gudrun left for Bruma. I was tempted to watch as she walked down the waterfront just to make sure she got along safely but with Vilja and Pym nearby I decided it was best not to.

Left alone in the office, naturally we looked around the place. We found a book on a shelf near a teddy bear (these Riders do like their stuffed teddy bears) BEARS for the LEGION.

It’s a manual; a training guide and reference for the Imperial Legion. Interesting read gives a better understanding for the rider’s choice in armor. We howled with laughter when we read why most, if not all, riders forgo wearing a helmet while on patrol. Of all things, they think their armor feels overly top-heavy with a helmet on! There’s hardly anything there to begin with.

As we were leaving the Imperial City Office of the Mountain Bear Patrol, Vilja was handed a letter. It was from Heneri in Cheydinhal. Heneri feels indebted to us for returning her husband to her. She wants to repay the favor next time we are in Cheydinhal.

Hmm, how fortunate it is that we have some business to attend to Cheydinhal. Now we can kill two birds with one stone. Retiring to Aleswell can wait Vilja is more than eager to go see Heneri. A trip to Cheydinhal before going to Aleswell it is then. As soon as the shopping is done, that is.

[Acadian]

Wow, so there are others using the steps as well!

Uh oh, Ashcan trolls - a matron no less. Vilja to the rescue.

Back to the IC and joined by Pym. Vilja retire? Methinks there'll always be 'one more thing' she wants to do first. Starting with going to see Heneri I guess.