Okay, beginning of chapter 1 is out. A fair number of choices at the end since I want an idea of the sort of strategy Derryth will pursue going forward, so enjoy and read all the options.
Chapter 1: The Guardhouse
Three days in...
The expedition winds its way down through the ruins of the current city and into the old bones of ancient Muirthemne. As you descend, the history of the place is written upon every stone and passage. You move past the cellars and sewers of the current city and past the rough hewn caves of the ghôls, now mostly empty save for a few stragglers that are easily dispatched.
After days of travel in near silence, weaving from one tunnel to another and always heading downward, the tunnel you are following opens to reveal a great cavern. In the darkness you can not make out just how large it is but even from the mouth of the tunnel you can see the walls of the old city of Muirthemne.
You turn to Thaïs, "Well at least we are in the right place."
"So, any idea of where exactly we can find the stone?" she replies casually.
Gareth cuts in before you can answer her question.
"If I may make a suggestion we should find a place to camp first before we start planning anything. I am sure Miosguinn and his apprentice could use a rest and most of us have been walking for hours."
A fair assessment and you think you know of the perfect place, if it is still standing. Each district should have a guardhouse which should be fairly defensible and could serve to hide your presence. The expedition passes through the old gates without any difficulty and follows your instructions to reach the local guard post.
"Yes, this should do nicely," Gareth turns to Tyrvard and Brigit and gives them their orders, the three of them get to work searching the compound for any hostile inhabitants. Seems you just have to stay with the wagons and wait for them to finish. Not exactly exciting but that is what they are here for.
The warriors finish searching the building, they open the gate to the inner courtyard and you drive your wagon in. It seems the guardhouse has not seen actual use for decades if not centuries. With everyone safely inside you lay out the next phase of the plan.
You begin, "We have to reach the secondary vaults located across the city, it is the most likely location of the stone. They are sufficiently well protected to discourage monsters and adventurers while unimportant enough to spare them from Alric's immediate attention."
"And if it is not there?" asks Gareth.
You nod and respond, "Well it is still the best place from which to expand our search, it is easy to defend and located close enough to the rest of the old palace complex that we will have easy access to the other potential locations of the stone. At any rate we will deal with that situation if the stone is in fact missing."
You decide that you need a better idea of what routes are still open to get to the secondary vault, and so you ask for volunteers. Tyrvard, as always, is ready to go; Brigit also volunteers as it is what she is best at. Finally Doctor Miosguinn volunteers to do some scouting as well, his sudden willingness to help surprises you for a moment but with no real reason to refuse his request you quickly agree.
It seems that you, Thaïs, Gareth and the unnamed apprentice as the least stealthy members of the expedition will remain at camp to get everything ready and reinforce the scouts should they encounter anything. Your time is mostly spent fighting boredom, you offer to help the apprentice but she damn near bites you so you leave her to her master's things. With the tents set up Gareth begins preparing dinner and you and Thaïs offer to help, it is simple food with little odour to avoid attracting the locals. It actually tastes fairly good to be honest and the time you spend helping the man reveals just a little of his character.
"I fought with the Legion, you see. Spend enough time around camp and you pick up a little of everything;" he tests the broth he is working on, "half the time we were operating without a baggage train, just living off the land and running from or chasing after Soulblighter's armies. The dead don't eat and out in the field those rations only last so long."
The slightest smile appears on Gareth's face as he continues, lost in his memories and addressing no one in particular, "I remember this one guy used to claim he knew forty two different ways to cook rat... can you believe that, forty two... good guy too... he, ah... he took a Soulless' javelin in the chest one morning north of Scales, bled out in a ditch. We barely had time to stop and cut off his head. So they couldn't raise him, you understand, a damn shame really..." Gareth just sort of trails off, the smile fading from his face as the camp gives way to silence.
Thankfully your scouts return moments later, seems there are three different avenues you can pursue.
Tyrvard headed to the left of the guardhouse following the old walls and found a passage big enough for the wagon, there were a lot of bones about though and he thought he could hear howling.
Brigit headed in the opposite direction from Tyrvard and came across a wide road shrouded in darkness, she did not hear anything but it was almost like the very darkness was radiating malice.
Miosguinn headed further into the old city, using his magic to hide him, he found a direct way though the city. However it runs close to an entire colony of strange hunchbacked monsters, he thinks they are completely blind and so should not be a huge problem but they seemed to be worshipping something else, something powerful, though he could not get close enough to find out what.
None of the options are particularly appealing and you all agree to leave the final decision until morning.
As you sit at one of the tables in the guardhouse, Thaïs approaches you, seems she has been pursuing that Circle idea from earlier, Serpent seems open to it and she has even convinced Brigit to join so she can show everyone how she does that thing with the arrows. She wants to know if you still want to go through with it, as the most skilled mage in this new circle a lot of the direction would have to come from you.
It is something to consider at least, however before you can give an answer Gareth calls for help from the courtyard. Fearing an attack the two of you rush out to find Tyrvard and Serpent quarrelling, seems Tyrvard has been drinking, again.
You walk up to Gareth, "Now how the hell did he get alcohol again? I though we found the last of it two days ago?"
"Beats me, I keep searching him and he keeps producing more. Can't for the life of me think of where he is getting it from. Must have a hidden still somewhere in the camp. He gets drunk and then I have to nurse him back to health, but it is kind of entertaining," the Veteran replies with equal parts confusion and admiration.
Suppressing a slight smile, something occurs to you, "Why are you looking after him when we have a doctor on hand?"
"Well-" Garth begins before Serpent cuts in...
"I do not want to get fleas Derryth that is why I refuse to treat this barbarian."
"Ai don't ha fleas ya feeble exhus fer a Gowerman, ya all soft fro Gower I knew it in ma bones..." the drunken Berserk replies.
You think he is trying to insult Serpent but between the accent and the slurred speech who really knows. Thankfully Thaïs defuses the situation by "accidently" collapsing one of the tents, the chivalrous drunk steps in to fix it and with a lot of help from Thaïs and Gareth he even succeeds. Something will have to be done about this situation though, before it goes too far.
You head towards your tent and spot the Children staring at you. That apprentice is just plain creepy and her master is not much better. Oh well another thing to deal with in the morning, you climb into your tent and sleep comes as a gentle release.
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You wake up and greet the new day with a curse on your lips.
Quite possibly your least favourite part of dungeon diving is the lack of comfortable, safe, beds. You give Thaïs a little shove so that she may join in your misery. You dress and head out to meet the... well the darkness, but this is a new day with new challenges and a variety of choices for you to make:
1) Which path to take?
a)Tyrvard's path: sure the howling is a bit off-putting but you will be fine... probably.
b)Brigit's path: it is only darkness, not like there are evil monsters out there or anything
c)Miosguinn's path: now colony of monsters does sound bad but it is also the quickest route
2) Do you want to form a Circle of mages with Thaïs, Serpent and Brigit ?
a) Yes
b) No
3)Something has to be done about Tyrvard and Serpent and you need to start with one of them:
a) Try to convince Serpent to stop antagonizing Tyrvard and give him a chance. Thaïs will try and help you with this.
b) Try and convince Tyrvard to give Serpent space and stop arguing with him. Gareth could possibly help you with this.
c) If you have a plan to reconcile the two then go ahead, freeform option.
4) Since you are surrounded by skilled individuals you can try to get one of them to help you improve your skills:
a) Learn combat skills with Gareth
b) Try and improve your drinking skills with Tyrvard (your intuition tells you this may not be the best idea in a dungeon though)
c) Learn to be more sneaky with Brigit
d) Work on your medical and herbal knowledge with Serpent
e) Become more charming and social with Thaïs
f) See if the Children will share any historical knowledge or obscure facts with you
g) Serpent and Thaïs both seem to easily grasp new knowledge, you could get them to show you how they do it.
h) Have an idea feel free to suggest it...
5) Will you respect the privacy of the Children?
a) Yes, they are allies.
b) No, they are up to something and you intend to find out.