[Runequestprax] Chapter Ten: Muriah's Revenge

[Lev Lafayette]

Dramatis personae

Storyteller, (Lev)
Phoebe, Grantlands Initiate of Zola Fel and Seven Mothers (Michael)
Red Mouse, Zebra Tribe Initiate of Zola Fel (Sean)
Honest John, Pavis Initiate of Eurmal and Zola Fel (Rick)
Zammon, Rhino Tribe Initiate of Storm Bull (Gawain)
Praxilites, Sun County Initiate of Yelmalio (Jay)
Mountain Strides, Agimori Initiate of Lodril (Karl)
Antonia, Antelope Tribe and Lunar Lancer, Initiate of Daka Fal and Seven
Mothers (Scott)

1617 Solar Time, Fire Season

In the name of Yelm the Sun, and Yelmalio, Son of the Sun God.

Once again I have been called to the fort of Duke Rauss of the Lunar
grantlands, and once again I find that there is mutual interests which
requires our intervention. Plague has struck both the southern lands of
Sun County and those of the Lunar Grantlands and despite the best
efforts of both administrations, the number of dead and dying are
mounting. Once again my great farmlands of Black Rock and Rabbit Hat had
proven unproductive due to wicked spirits in the land. Now at least we
have some idea what struck down the Duke's wife.

The Duke met us in his audience chamber, and spoke of a colony of broo
that had been sighted near the source of the Vilinar River, east of the
Agimori Lands. My protector, Mountain Strides, of course expressed
concern of his people and the Duke betrayed both his ignorance and what
appeared to be hitherto a lack of concern. Neverthless, it was clear
that this was a cause of some concern in the area. Daine, his faithful
second, had prepared linen gloves and blankets for handling any broo
material prior to burning; it was obvious that he do was suffering from
a disease but was refusing to let it interfere with his duties.

The Duke's newtling mercenaries took us upriver to the village of Weis,
which had suffered a great deal. There was a number of miserable huts
consisting of both riverfolk and new Lunar settlers and the level of
activity did not seem to equate with the number of buildings. Upon
approaching the village, Zammon the Storm Bull sniffed the air and
declared the presence of chaos at a nearby tree. Charging forth before
any could prevent him, a disease spirit formed and grappled with him.
Eventually he broke away, but his arms and legs were shaking from the
encounter. Carefully we went around the tree and into the village.

We soon encountered a man who called himself Cavry; he knew of the
spirit at the tree which had taken two lives already. The villagers all
knew of it and avoided it, but that did little for strangers. As we were
talking to him his mother exited a hut claiming in a loud voice that all
this was Muriah's fault. Muriah apparently was the daughter of a pair of
thieves who lived in the village some twenty years ago; when her parents
both fell very sick one night, nobody would help her and her parents
died. She left the village cursing that she would destroy it. "And now
she's come back", the old woman screeched.

Zammon investigated the village in detail, as Phoebe set up a stall for
first aid and treatment of any diseases, which included a number of
hazia addicts. As Zammon was engaging in his explorations, he sensed
chaos at the bottom of the village well. Climbing down, he eventually
found a broo corpse polluting the waters, waterlogged and rotten, which
proved most difficult to remove as parts kept falling off. Eventually
however, and with the aid of Phoebe, the broo carcass was removed from
the well, dried under the watchful eyes of Yelm, and burnt.

Red Mouse and Zammon scouted the riverside and located what appeared to
be broo tracks. Following them upstream, the eventually made their way
to the source of the Vilinar River, which was a cave in the cliffs, and
scanned a figure at the entrance. Entering we discovered broo
immediately and engaged in combat, although with some difficulty as they
cast Sneeze spirits our way. One escaped further into the cavern and
Zammon gave chase, only to fall into a pit trap. Rescuing our Storm Bull
we burned the bodies and continued in the cavern with greater caution.

Our next encounter with the broo was on a natural bridge crossing; here
they fought with arrows and spells and we found it difficult at least to
engage directly. Antonia was felled by one arrow, but returned fire from
her knees, such was her bravery. Strides was struck down with what
turned out to be a wicked poison that would take him weeks to recover
from, and Zammon was infected with Brain Fever. Finally, we gained the
upper hand as two escaped. Once again the brave Zammon gave chase, and
almost managed to catch one, the only female we sighted, however she
escaped down a river current after a rope bridge was cut.

After some misadventures Honest John made it across the to the other
side of the underground river and was about to re-establish the bridge,
when he was struck from behind. Even more broo were attacking us! Again
we fought them for a while, but as our people made their way across they
retreated even deeper into the caverns.

Healing our number as best we could, and low on Power we advanced in
formation. A lesser Shade came forth and wrapped itself around Zammon
but it was felled quickly. Finally we came across the goal of our quarry
- five broo led by one with a shaman's spear and an iron mask. Their
leader threw disease after disease at us as only a Rune Priest could. A
frustrated Zammon charged the first line of broo, only to be felled by
three arrows. Fortunately Befuddle spirits send by our party confused
the chaos beasts, and Zammon was able to swing his mighty axe and felled
three in quick succession. One pleaded to Red Mouse, claiming that he
had fought alongside the Nomads Tribes when the Lunars invaded at
Moonbroth, but Zammon did not care (indeed this may have been true; a
contingent of broos did fight with the nomad tribes against their
ill-fated resistance at Moonbroth). The leader attempted to make a
getaway up a chimney shaft and although I charged him, he was protected
by one of his underlings. The last message I heard in my mind was that
Muriah would have her revenge.

We burned the bodies of the broo and returned to the village, where
Zammon was considered most heroic by the locals and with one lass taking
more than a modest fancy to him, despite his damaged intellect. The
following day we returned to the Duke's fort, where he expressed his
thanks. He provided a quick riding beast to take Zammon and Strides to
the Chalana Arroy temple at Horn Gate. Stride's recovery took some four
weeks, such was his constitution. Zammon on the other hand was cured
within two weeks, but only due the Priestess sacrificing her own Power
for the necessary magics. Zammon found himself in debt to the tune of
2,000 pennies which he had to spend twenty weeks working off, providing
guard duty along some of the most dangerous routes. In the meantime, I
had to dismiss him as manager of Black Rock and re-employ the Duck. I
have my suspicions that he was not entirely engaging in proper
crop-raising, but investigations shall have to wait.

Praxelites, Initiate of Yelmalio, Lord Rabbit Hat and Lord Black Rock