After some time in Fort Whitevault (5/26 – 6/5), the Ranger made its way out of the harbor and turned west once again to return to the Naked Isle. In the churning waves of the open sea, they spotted Saul astride his pet orca. The sea elf who had not been seen for several months shared no explanation nor any tales of his time away. He just seemed content to spend time again with his companions.
The second day out (6/7), a storm drove them northeastward, farther away from their destination. The next day (6/8), the storm turned to fog, but they were able to reorient and head west again. A shiver of bull sharks approached the whale, mouths agape, displaying razor-sharp teeth. Saul began a chant that befriended half of them. Ghevont magically calmed the other half. One of the nine were eaten by the orca as revenge for the few bites he suffered. Ghevont made the best of speaking with the charmed sharks before the enchantment wore off, but gained little useful information.
The wind gave up on them the following day (6/9). The caravel bobbed uselessly in the swells, as the ship traveled only by power of her sails, not being outfitted with oars. As the day dragged on, Saul made the best of the time by scouting for sunken ships in the area. Of these he found none, but he did spot an island. When the winds returned the next day (6/10), the Ranger was steered towards a desert islet, only 3.3 by 1.3 miles in size. It only rose about ten feet above the waves, and was a barren, featureless rock except for the black tower rising perhaps 70 in the sky, situated near the center of the islet.
Despite the aim to return to the Naked Isle, some of the party wished to investigate the tower. Jerker, Elaria and Hocuspo remained on the ship with the crew and the additional fighting men. Tienarth agreed to transform into a dragon and patrol the skies, but he advised against investigating the tower. He explained that past experience proved that strange towers were often built by wizards who added deadly protections against intrusion.
Saul and his whale guided the small rowboat around the dangerous reefs, and the boat was hauled up on the rocky shore. Going ashore were Aderian, Ghevont, Ollie and Saul. They trudged over the featureless plain to the foot of the tower, about three quarters of a mile in distance. The tower was had but one entrance, a door at ground level. There were no windows, and the top of the tower was round and smooth.
The oversize, leering face of a vampire carved in the same black stone served as a decoration and a warning as it wrapped around what was assumed the entrance. The open mouth of the vampire was large enough for a man to walk through, but the back of was sold stone rather than an obvious door. When Aderian stepped into the mouth, a voice demanded it be fed. They reasoned it wanted blood, and Aderian cut his palm, then smeared blood over one of the fangs. The back of the mouth slid down to allow entrance to a circular chamber sixty feet across.
Across the room was an ordinary tapestry depicting a castle under attack. In it, warriors stood ready to fire an unusual siege engine. The very air of the tower hummed with ancient, unholy energies and whispered of inevitable doom, a monument to an isolation that chilled the soul. A spiral stair led up to the next level. They all made their way up, relying on ever-lit stones to work against the dark interior.
They found a pile of loose parts, which Ollie recognized as parts to a mechanical device. As they puzzled out how to possible assemble it, the floor sealed up, removing the only way in or out of the chamber. There was little else in the room, though Ghevont was aware of a high level of magic everywhere. Before long, Ollie had reassembled the device, which turned out to be an unusual engine that could hurl stones vertically. The pieces included one stone about two feet wide. It fit perfecting in the engine. By way of a crank, some mechanical force was wound up, dropping the stone down into the cone-shaped structure. Ollie explained how a foot pedal would release the force into the rock, launching it upwards.
The dwarf positioned the siege engine just off center and released the stone. It slammed into the ceiling of the room. On impact, the large boulder broke into many small pieces that all disappeared before they could hit the floor. The blow to the ceiling partially dislodged a door, and released a rope ladder that stretched to the floor. The broken doorway was just big enough for each of them to squeeze through.
Aderian climbed the ladder. He found a room filled with huge mushrooms that released spores into the stale air. From behind the fungus came five disgusting figures. They attacked from all angled, though they failed to harm him. Before long, they were all cut up and lifeless thanks to Ollie and Aderian.
Wooden planks affixed to the inner wall of the tower spiraled up to the next level. An opening allowed access to the landing, and from the landing were steps down into the floor of the forth level. A shallow liquid spread out over the whole floor except where twenty pillars rose up ten feet above the floor. On each pillar was a fire salamander, those fearsome creatures last fought in the lava caves below Beoll-Dur.
Aderian used his magic ring to leap up to face one of the salamanders. The creature whipped its powerful tail around him. The heat was intense, singing his skin under his armor. Ollie stepped into the room. A foot of slick oil came up to his knees. He stood ready to fight. Another of the salamanders dropped a flame to the floor, and it ignited. As the flames leaped up, Ollie feigned death, throwing himself down into the oil, but he was unhurt due to Ghevont’s protection from fire. Saul and Ghevont stayed down on the plank stair, unsure whether they could be effective in this battle.
As the fire raged, the pillars began to fall, dropping salamanders down to the floor. They converged on Ollie. The dwarf sprung up from the oil to defend himself, through the ruse didn’t end up providing any perceived advantage. Meanwhile, Aderian found himself unable to break free of his salamander opponent who was content to stab him repeatedly with a spear. Ghevont blinded this salamander, but while he held Aderian with his tail, the blindness wasn’t much of a hindrance. When Aderian finally broke free, he leapt down from the pillar again. All four of them retreated back past the fungus room and down the rope ladder.
The salamanders were too large to make it through the partially broken door. They could only taunt the party. Ghevont attempted parlay with them and learned they were guardians who would be content to drive off the intruders. This aligned with the party’s wish to leave, though they saw no immediate way to accomplish this task. So, they did their best to sleep and pray for new spells. Just as Ghevont stirred from his mediation, a new face was seen at the broken door, that of an old man. He called down to them.
“Who invades my tower? I am Hoodoo.” They really had no convincing argument for having breaking in, offering a feeble explanation that they were merely exploring. They just wanted to leave at this point, perhaps hoping they wouldn’t have to face the twenty salamanders in battle again. Hoodoo was satisfied to let them out without harming them further. They went directly to the boat and rowed for the ship.
The next two days (6/11 – 6/12) were spent sailing towards the Naked Isle without incident. By best estimates, this left them 60 miles northwest of Fort Whitevault. This implied Hoodoo’s tower was 60 miles directly north of the fort.
End Notes
- Days
- 5/26 – 6/5 Tienarth and crew at Fort Whitevault
- 6/6 The Ranger leaves Fort Whitevault
- 6/10 Hoodoo’s Tower discovered
- 6/11 – 6/12 The Ranger sails towards the Naked Isle
- Treasure: none
- Combat: 5 Fungal Ghasts 125 xp/each
- Characters (4 shares of 156 xp)
- Aderian (human, fight, lead) 175 xp
- Ghevont (human, heal) 173 xp
- Hocuspo (no combat)
- Ollie (fight) 158 xp
- Saul (underwater, wilderness) 159 xp
- Tienarth (no combat)
- The Ranger (Caravel)
- HP 75/75 hardness 8
- Crew (10)/Passengers: 10/3
- 10 elven sailors
- Jonja
- Dwarf youth
- Urgesh
- Cargo: 18 of 75 tons *
- Food: 54 man/weeks
- Water: 880 gallons
- The Garlic Frog (Caravel)
- Hit Points: 75/75 hardness 8
- Crew (10)/Passengers: 10/ 13
- 10 human sailors
- 7 extra human sailors
- Aderian, Jerker, Elaria, Ghevont, Hocuspo, Ollie, Tienarth
- Cargo: 57.5 of 75 tons *
- Food: 10 man/weeks
- Water: 5000 gallons
- 22 tons of sugar, 5 tons of cocoa, 5 tons of cotton
* See Ship Cargo for figuring cargo needed for goods and people