I've used my pHarn several times, but until the last year it had sat dormant for years and been little more than an idle reading habit and collection addiction. Then I needed a campaign setting for a FRP campaign for my kids to play in occasionally. Out came Harn. Then our 4-year-old RPG campaign with my adult gamer friends came to a conclusion and I kinda volunteered to GM next. Out came Harn.

We're using Rolemaster 4ed rules, tweaked a little, with the Magician class reworked to be Shek-P'var by reorganizing the available spell lists into the appropriate elemental convocations and adding a few lists from supplemental publications to round out the mix.

Out of that second campaign comes this character background. Player selected to play a Fighter, wanted to be trained as a Knight, and shelled out appropriate background options to do so. Flaws were Chivalrous, Duty, and Secret. Was determined by other means to be starting with improved quality mail armor, an improved quality warhorse, an improved quality riding horse, and more than usual starting cash.

This is the background that we ended up with:



Chivalrous (10): Strictly follows the Laranian code of chivalry as taught by the Lady of Paladins.
Duty (5): Order of the Lady of Paladins
Secret (5): Product of brother-sister incest.

So, here's what I'm wondering from you Harniacs out there:
Does anyone have a coat of arms for either Sir Virin Rawyn or Sir Nibinel Inthen?

So we're several (4) sessions into the new campaign and going to have another session next weekend. We have a regular group of 8 players, and we've never had fewer than 7 players. We use Rolemaster for our game rules, because prior to my taking the reins as GM of this group we have been a Rolemaster and Spacemaster group for at least the last 5 years and I didn't see any reason to make a huge change. We're familiar with the system, and it seemed easier for me to put Harn in Rolemaster terms than to convert Rolemaster players (several whom are dedicated Harniacs anyways) to Harnmaster. It was "hey I'll do a new campaign and let Other Dave have a break", not "hey, lets cut out on Other Dave's old campaign and do a completely different game system".

So I'll open by giving vignettes of the existing characters. Note that in Rolemaster, at least as we're using it, we give PCs a pool of "talent" points to use to spend on various advantages. Plus they can take "flaws" to earn a few more talent points. Use of these points can allow a PC to begin play as something other than the offspring of gong farmer. Also, I'm willing to accept a good background story and do everything I can to help my players craft good background stories for the PCs. Good stories make for good roleplay, which makes for a good game, regardless of the talent/flaw business. I'm also open to inserting individuals into the "canon" family trees as long as doing so doesn't make a mockery of the existing family tree. I don't mandate pure Harn character names, although I strongly prefer them.

Dame Anastasia Verdreth. Insert her in birth order between Anzarn and Elana. Female, Knight, Noble. In working with the player for this character, I also managed to flesh out a lot of the Verdreth household and politics beyond the meager notes in Kaldor and Greatclans. There is a direct family tie-in to Goffin Manor in Nelafayn Hundred. I made Evadia (Quarne) Verdreth the aunt of the current knight of Goffin (see: Will in the Way). Anastasia grew up as a rough-spun tomboy, in sharp contrast to her sisters, but curiously not much different than her mother Evadia (who once took a minimal bodyguard and fended off a Gargun swarm in the Anadels, according to Greatclans). Anastasa trained as a knight, was schooled in Caleme, squired with a cousin of Tulath Kaphin, and at the start of the campaign has been a knight of the High Guard for the past 6 months in Tashal. She is a pious observant Laranian. She has been well trained by a master swordsman as a broadsword duellist. More about her will develop.

Larik "Thorssen" Kymalsen of Clan Stahlin of the Kingdom of Saliom in Harbaal. He is the youngest son of Kymal's chief wife and was beloved of his father, Kymal "the Mad". He soaked up his father's tall tales of Godstones and Other Worlds as his father's preferred cupbearer. He was thus present, and an unwitting accomplice, of his father's death by poison orchestrated by Kymal's brother Bildan and Larik's sister Mjena. Upon Kymal's death, the grieved Bildan took Kymal's chief wife as his own wife, adopting Larik (but not Bjar or Mjena). Bjar, then 15, took to wife the remainder of his father's wives giving him an immediate seat in the thrangaad. Mjena declared herself a woman by virtue of having had her yaelblood. Bildan, who sought the throne of Saliom for himself, was played by Mjena. Bjar was elected by the thrangaad as Kymal's heir. Larik spent several uneasy years in Feredis before being sent as a hostage to the Pendragon. He escaped from his warden by accidentally faking his own death: he intended to elope with his warden's daughter, got in a brutal fight with her brother, killed him, accidentally set the house on fire, and his bride-to-be perished in the same blaze when she went into it to rescue Larik (not knowing him to have escaped her murderous brother). Despite being the son of the former King of Saliom, he is now a fugitive from Harbaal who is presumed dead in his homeland. He is a devout and honor-bound follower of Sarajin. He is trained as a berzerk, but not rabidly bloodthirsty. He temper is a valve that he can usually turn on and off at will, a trick that he learned from Mad Kymal.

Findul is the old guy of the group. The player wanted to play an older man. He is the son of a free farmer from Loban, who was himself descended from the original mercenary band (see Hundred Bushels of Rye). He never married. When his father, who had been woodward, died unexpectedly he took over his father's farm and took care of his mother until her death. At that point he sold out of the family business, leaving the trappings of that life to his relations in Lobarn, and took his militia training to Tashal where he joined the City Watch for a spell. His extraordinarily high affinity for magic attracted the attention of the Shek-P'var of the Guild of Arcane Lore, and he became apprenticed to a Shenava who himself traveled itinerently throughout northern Kaldor. He begins play as a full Satia-Mavari with Odivshe attunement and strong Savoryan spell capacity as well. He is quiet, introspective, and absent-minded. No, he isn't really absent-minded he is easily distracted by minutia, and is quick to break into deep philosophical study of seemingly commonplace items or events giving him a reputation for having a deep grasp of the patently obvious.

Aderyn of Nerma is a Tashal girl, daughter of Erech of Nerma (Baker, E22, Upper East Side). Erech had four sons and one daughter, Aderyn, who was a street peddler who kept getting herself into trouble. She was inquisitive, extremely intelligent, a quick study, and was taken under wing at an early age by a Save-Knorran who saw in her some great academic potential. She nearly never had that chance. As a youth, she discovered that Tashal has an underground - a real beneath-ground tunnel system. This was nearly her undoing. She stumbled unwittingly into a trap in the sewers in an ill-used Navehan section, and found her arm snared in a wire noose trap. She kept her wits, never screamed, and eventually passed out from a combination of dehydration and bloodloss. She woke at home, having been rescued by an unknown savior. Well, mostly rescues. She lost her left arm from mid-ulna on down. Thus she came to be trained initially as a Save-Knorran acolyte, and then as a Shek-P'var. She begins play as a Satia, a junior apprentice, with a strong attunement to Lyahvi. Her master had trained her privately in Tashal, prior to taking a new apprentice (the daughter of a prominent Tashalan apothecary being courted by the Guild of Arcane Lore for membership). Her former master graduated her, terminated her training, took of with his brand new apprentice, and left for Telumar. You'll find him in 720 in Telumar, but because of the mess he left behind in Tashal at the Guild of Arcane Lore by absconding with Lorin of Lorinsen's daughter, Lorin is now cold on the idea of joining the Guild of Arcane Lore.

Cherryh is a Tashal street girl. She was raised in Loban. Her mother, unknown to both Cherryh and Findul, is Findul's sister. Cherryh came to the attention of the knight of Loban's son, the man who is now the current Sir Dezaller, and the two were secretly in love with each other. Their love affair became public, and Cherryh was immediately sent away to Erone to become a priestess to keep her out of the way so Sir Dezaller could talk/beat some sense into his boy and get him properly married BEFORE he starts taking mistresses. Cherryh escaped her escorts and has been living these past several years in Tashal as an entertainer and the companion of a flamboyant minstrel named Morris.

Morris is a flamboyant minstrel and part-time Ilviran lay leader, but uses this visage as a cover for his real job. He's a spy. He's really more of a courier than an actual spy. He is from Chybisa, trained in Melderyn as a Shek-P'var. He is nominally Pelaehn, but he is actually attuned as an Arcane mage making him a low level Rolemaster version of a gray mage. He is tied, whether he knows it or not, to intrigue in the COE due to his master's rank and position. IMPH, the White Hand and the COE do not always agree. They have political agendas which are often in conflict with each other, and the White Hand themselves are not a united front either. The "inquisition" version of the White Hand represents a rigid fundamentalist branch. Morris's master is part of a completely different version of the White Hand which believes in a "gentle shaping" of mankind to accept the eventual dominance and use of magic by all of mankind. Thus, while Morris is an agent of the COE and the White Hand, there are deeper layers of intrigue, schism, and backbitings which make Morris keep his status a secret from even ordinary Shek-P'var such as Findul and Aderyn.

Jordan of Tharda. Nobody knows backstabbings like Jordan knows backstabbings. Jordan's father is a full retired Legionnaire with battle honors and respect. He married late in life, due to his Legion career, and father a son: Jordan. He ran his farm like a well drilled Legion company, and raised his son to strive for greatness and achievement. He cashed in all of his favors, and then some, with his patron who had recently been named Marshal, seeking entrance for Jordan into the Legion as an officer. The ploy worked, and Jordan was properly educated and then inducted into the Legion as a junior officer. IMPH, various "rules" (which are often waived) are supposed to prevent officers and men of the same district from serving directly together, plus the fact of Jordan's less august birth status, conspired to have Jordan posted to the Kom Legion rather than his father's preferred posting. There, Jordan became quickly embroiled in a smuggling ring being supported and protected by the men and NCOs of his own company. He reported the smuggling dutifully but naively to his superiors, who were complicit in the scheme, but because of his publicity and rank they had him arrested on trumped up charges of rape and sentenced to death (rather than just have him killed in a dark alley and be done with it). That was their first mistake. The second mistake was not waiving some other obscure rule which required the execution be performed in another judicial district so as to avoid "prejudicing" the soldiers. Jordan had a good lawyer. His execution sentence was to be carried out in Coranan, but the Agrikan church bought him as a convicted felon to fight in the Pamesani Games. There he became a gladiatorial slave for the next six years, eventually coming to the attention of his father's old patron (who had by now confiscated the family property, sold everyone into debt bondage, etc). His sentence was re-sold again, he was set up in a fight intended to kill him, and when this only left him brutally mutilated across his face he was given his freedom. Manumitted, but technically not legally because he was still under sentence of death, he took his business to Kaldor to try his luck as a caravan guard on the Fur Road.

Tommas of the Fens. Born a Fenlander, an orphan raised by an old herb woman / witch doctor. He left the Fens as part of a trade deal with an Apothecary who needed an apprentice, but said apothecary died of fever in Nenda. Tommas became an apprentice Physician in Nenda, but could never escape his Fenlander background or the taunts. Having picked up some militia training, he set off north seeking to ply his trade on the Silver Way. Attacked by gargun, he barely survived by rescue of an old woodsman who turned out to be one of the Uthriem Rolori rangers. The rangers he lived with made cash income when they needed it by working as caravan guards along the Silver Way part-time with a couple of the mercenary companies. It was in this status that he came to the attention of one Sir Morgal Rintarin, who invited him to join his band of "rangers" in Vemionshire near Minarsas. Tommas is a devout Seimist, a sworn ranger of the Uthriem Rolori, and a trusted member of Morgal's Rangers. He has never been accorded journeyman status as either an apothecary or a physician.

No, but I can create them for you.

Did you have anything specific in mind?

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The Melderyn Campaign

I might want to take you up on that. I have sketches for arms for a number of individuals that at present I just describe to folks.

A few arms that I would like to see fleshed out in fanon/canon somewhere are the arms of the Constables and Sheriffs. Maldan Harabor is detailed in the Olokand module, and Conwan Elendsa is going to bear some variant of the Elendsa arms, but exactly how his arms are differenced isn't specified. Korlis Harabor presumably bears a variant of the Maldan's arms, but perhaps not: Maldan is lord in his own right and clanhead of a Harabor branch in Olokand in which he holds several manors in his own name. I like to think that Korlis has his own unique arms, but IMPH he avoids the issue entirely by ALWAYS appearing in public in Elendsa arms as the Marshal of the Guard.

I couldn't find Kaphin arms described anywhere in fanon. If anyone has a clue where to look, I'll be grateful. In the absence of this, this is what I've come up with (I don't know the proper language for it):

Tulath Kaphin: green field, a sold bar of silver, three hunting horns (two above, one below).

Danyes Bernan likewise desperately needs arms described for him. IMPH he is clanhead of the Bernan clan, which is "big in Kyg" as hedge knights and bailiffs. IMPH they're a landed clan with one manor of their own near Kyg (Fenale), which made them prior to Danyes being named Constable the wealthiest independant landholders subordinate to Kyg. They're a big clan, Danyes has lots of brothers and cousins and several bastard sons.

Danyes Bernan: yellow field, black bear on all fours head turned looking at you, mouth open, claws are red.

The Assassination of Sir Rindan Caldeth

Our opening scene took place at the Garb & Flail in Tashal. It is close to the Ostler's Gate, making it a favorite stop off for Dame Anastasia as she walks her brother-sister pair of wolfhounds in the evenings. She is there this night with her hounds. It is damp, cool, and very foggy outside - mid-Peonu weather for Tashal. The crowd is small, really just the PCs and the staff, giving plenty of time for RP interaction between them and some introductions as appropriate. Findul is on his own and visiting Tashal, visiting an old favorite watering hole, and escorted around Tashal by Aderyn. Morris and Cherryh work the crowd. Jordan and Larik are fresh to Tashal, just having come off of a Fur Road caravan together and are waiting at the G&F for their paymaster to visit them. It is a quiet night.

There is a brief scuffle between Jordan and their caravan master's son, after he attempts to pay them off with 1/2 cash and 1/2 IOU. This was supposed to be an adventure hook for them to do a little hustle to get the other half of their pay. Instead, Jordan decides to take it out of the man in a pound of flesh, spilling the money on the floor, and throwing the man out on the street minus one ring from his hand. This happens very quickly, no weapons are used, and Morris quickly calms things down and distracts Anastasia from intervening while Larik cleans up the lion's share of the silver off the floor. Larik ends up being paid in full, and Jordan is still short pay but has this worthless-to-him IOU. And a ring. Again, this should be an adventure hook but it appears that I'm going to have to bring out the clue hammer on these players.

Enter the bar Sir Rindan Caldeth, already semi-drunk, accompanied by Sir Morgal Rintarin and some weasely squirrely fellow who stays by the door and is uncomfortable in the tavern (Huw of Islwyn). They have a few drinks, Anastasia never leaves her spot in the corner to introduce herself. The players are dense. Morris starts to take the bait and tries interacting with Rindan and Morgal. Tommas's player hasn't shown up for this game session, which is unfortunate but I'll improv with what I have. Huw is a "contact" of both Morris and Cherryh, but since he is doing his best to ignore the both of them and pretend they're not here they do the same for him. After a short while, Sir Morgal and Sir Rindan leave, both of them a little wobbly, and by now some of the players are starting to get into the scene and be a little curious.

Morris covertly follows them outside, where a short distance west of the G&F in the dark dank mist, there is a moment of clarity in the fog and Morris sees some unknown assailant slip out of the shadows of a doorway. Before Morris can say anything about this, this unknown assailant has cut Sir Rindan's throat, taken a stab at Sir Morgal, and a Sir Rindan pulls down Sir Morgal (who had been helping him walk in the first place), the assailant slips back into the mist.

Morris gives the hue and cry, runs back into the G&F for help, and the "whole party" pours out to help. Well, almost. Cherryh manages to take Huw aside to talk with him briefly but all she manages to do is sex him up a little in the corner and snare three laden purses from him while he is hormonally distracted. Cherryh is very talented at her work, and Huw doesn't even make it to third base.

Outside: Morris points Anastasia in the right direction. Morris asks Findul for a doctor. Aderyn knows where to find one nearby, so she takes off. Jordan and Larik try to look useful, but both of them complely forget that Anastasia rushed off in "hot pursuit". Her dogs, which are trained better to guard and to fight than to track or hunt, are some small assistance to her. Mostly, they are a terror to the assassin who finds himself "tracked" to an alley where he is hiding. Spooked by the dogs, he tries to first take down Anastasia with a dagger thrown from ambush. It manages to injure her, piss her off, and give away his hiding location. My NPCs aren't stupid, but they're also not omniscient. He figures that the dogs are about to give him up anyways, but that he can deal with the dogs if he can take down the knight first. If he were omniscient, he would have known that THESE dogs were unlikely to be tracking him and he could have hidden a little longer.

Now it is ON, and Anastasia REALLY in hot pursuit. At this point I'm borrowing an adventure from an old MERP module, "Assassins of Dol Amroth", and have defined one of the buildings west of the Tashal granary along the river wall as being an abandoned or non-used private warehouse and grain storage which "happens" to have ancient tunnel access.

There is a chase in the warehouse, where the assassin displays some ninja-like leaping skills, but he is neither omniscient nor omnipotent, so he manages to fall from the rafters of the warehouse down into a deep storage pit (the original floor having rotted away long ago), lands uninjured, and runs to his bolt-hole in the corner which leads him to the tunnels that he knows about. Anastasia assumes him trapped, leaves her dogs to guard, and goes back to get the rest of the party. By this time, the City Watch has shown up and Aderyn has stirred Seperlyne of Kail out of his bed to attend as physician until help from Caer Elend can arrive.

Reinforced with help, Anastasia leads everyone back down into the bolt-hole tunnel to chase down and capture the assassin.

As previously mentioned, the underground of this session is the first adventure in the old MERP module "Assassins of Dol Amroth". If you know it, great. If you don't, well, I'll give some background info on the tunnels and underground hide-out that the PCs eventually discover and explore.

The warehouse itself was once owned by the Baron of Kolorn in his wife's name, but had been sold a few years back to a mercantyler from Azadmere, who has actually never visited his property in Tashal. Long before then, the warehouse had been used for smuggling. There is a smuggler's tunnel that leads from the warehouse's basement and parallels along the inside of the city wall's foundation towards the boat stage. A portion of the underground is ancient dwarven construction. One tunnel is bisected by the old sewer, which terminates here in a cleft of rock which leads directly to the river. The actual connection from these tunnels to the rest of the Tashal underground is never discovered by the PCs at this time. What we have is an old smuggler's entrance to Tashal's underground, and from there to Tashal itself, that was last used as such no earlier than the Baronial Revolts. It was used by smugglers from about the time of the Kaldor Civil War until the Baronial Revolts, at which time the warehouse fell into Bastune ownership and the secrets became forgotten by all except a few Lia Kavair and the Navehans.

In the aftermath of this, the PCs do manage to figure out the Bastune-Azadmere connection for the warehouse. The Assassin is a Navehan, who is taken alive but manages to nearly kill himself by poison after being taken to Caer Elend. Further investigation leads to some theories. The assassin was probably not a really highly ranked Navehan assassin-priest, if only because he made some crucial mistakes in the PCs eyes and was captured rather than taking his own life immediately. Give the guy a break, he's mortal not omniscient. He did the best he could with the information he had. Navehans usually work in pairs, the PCs learn, so what happened to his assistant? Huw of Islwyn is immediately suspected. They also learn of the Navehan practice of drawing "random hits", and that trainee-assassins have to draw a hit and perform it successfully to gain status. Was this a random hit? How "random" are the "random hits"? They don't have a clue. They're just coming up with theories.

Morris stakes out Huw of Islwyn at the Caldeth townhouse, and catches him trying to bolt from Tashal by horse at night. He breaks off pursuit near the Ternua gate, so never actually sees Huw leave. Later they learn about how the gates are closed at night and never opened except by direct order of a few individuals. So they think he spent the night at The Spurs before leaving town, and curse Morris for not following closer. Well, he would have except he attempted a spell to help him hide from Huw and the spell misfired. The spell specifically makes X invisible to Y. The spell misfired, and then Huw disappeared. Do the math.

This would be a longer and more complex project, though certainly worthy.


I have a sense that somene has done the Kaphin arms - I'll take a look. Otherwise, the blazon as described sounds fine.


Genrally ok, but the bear as described violates the rules of heraldry. I would render it as a bear, sable, statant regardant.

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The Melderyn Campaign

Hmmm...something like:

Vert, a fess argent between three hunting horns proper?

My assumption would be that these would be the arms of Erila Kaphin (Tulath's moth), thus Tulath's might have a cadence symbol (a crescent)? And, since he's the illegitimate and unacknowledged son of King Miginath, shouldn't he be allowed to marshal his arms with the king's, and add a bar sinister?

Mind you, allowing him to marshal his arms with the king's might be read as a tacit acknowledgement (or could be argued after as such after the king's demise), so it probably wouldn't be politically wise to do so. The college of heralds might have a word or two to say about it, too!


According to my sources: "An animal guardant faces dexter with its head turned to face the viewer." I'd argue that the description of the bear is allowed. Perhaps
"Or, a bear statant sable guardant, armed gules."

Another option:
"Or, a growling black bear proper statant guardant, armed gules."

I have to admit the open mouth kinda has me scrabbling on how to best describe it, so "growling" is the best I can come up with.

To decode the description (assuming 'growling' is fine to describe an open mouth); a black bear proper would indicate a black coat and pale muzzle, statant for standing, guardant for facing the viewer, and armed gules for the red claws (although it may indicate the teeth in the open mouth as well).

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True, the armed aspect may be permitted - it was the color on color to which I was objecting. Of course, one could argue it isn't.

As to the Kaphin arms being marshaled with the Elendsa, this would only be possible for an acknowledged bastard. If he is so viewed, then the arms you describe Peter are perfectly plausible. Not to mention seriously provocative.

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The Melderyn Campaign

IMPH, a bastard might marshal the arms of his alleged father but this is serious provocation. On the other hand, a father might give tacit (but not official) acknowledgement of a bastard by not contesting this display. It is no less provocative. Perhaps MORE. The unacknowledged bastard can expect some fallout from this decision from the other legitimate sons of the clan as well as from other clans. But legal fallout? Well, technically the "aggrieved party" is the clanhead of the clan that the bastard is claiming. If the clanhead declines to press the claim, then the case is difficult to press.

I would not have Tulath Kaphin marshal the Elendsa arms, because that would be a political bombshell. Even though it may be "common knowledge", by marshaling the Elendsa arms he is rubbing it in everyone's face.

I actually have plans IMPH to have Tulath Kaphin show up in Miginath's court some day and do exactly this. It would light a storm of publicity. Perhaps he shows up as such after Miginath dies, claiming bastardy as right to sit on the Succession Council, and then skulk malevolently when his succssion claim is shot down.

I really appreciate getting legit descriptions of the Kaphin and Bernan arms as I'm using them IMPH. I didn't think that the red claws on the bear was illegal, as I've seen blue claws on a lion in European heraldry. Can't remember where.

I think growling is sufficient to describe the Bernan bear. I'm going with this:
"Or, a growling bear sable (statant) guardant, armed gules"

If it does turn out that someone has already documented Kaphin arms, perhaps in a Chybisa fanon module, thats fine with me. I can just fly with the idea that Tulath was granted his own arms, irrespective of any other Kaphin arms out there.

I'm also fine with the idea that people in Harn sometimes fly fast and loose with cadency marks. IMPH, the strict codification of cadency marks hasn't happened. Yes, potentially this is a little confusing, but this also has the net effect of throwing my PCs off my trail from time to time. I can have them ID a Bernan pennant and not have a clue who they're spying. Not that there are many "good Bernans" in the eyes of my PCs.

Before I break into attempting to describe the second game session, which was spent entirely running around Tashal and running down clues, I'll just say up front that I am incredibly indebted to the enormous wealth of fanon material for Harn and especially Kaldor. If I have to start somewhere, and I suppose I do have to start somewhere, I'd have to bow and grovel before the feet of Kerry Mould for the Earl's Progress module. The campaign as it is flowing thus far is all prelude to Earl's Progress, and I haven't even figured out if they're actually going to be PART of it, or if that is just something that will be happening in the background while the PCs go on about their business.

As I'm envisioning Earl's Progress, the following options are in play:
#1: Yes, but it isn't true. Thilisa has been lied to by Sir Andro.
#2: Yes, but Tulath is too weak to actually "pull the trigger". He's being played and set up.
#3: Yes, and it is mostly all true.
#4: Yes, but the real situation is much much worse than this.

I also love the various Hundreds projects that have been developed, some in incredible detail. While I may not ever have these PCs spend considerable time in some of those hundreds, I can make Harn look incredibly detailed and myself incredibly prepared by "lifting" material from one hundred to another as I need to. For example, as of the current date the PCs are in Nubeth just in time for their spring fair, which by canon includes a horse auction. Where else do we find a horse auction at a spring fair? Jedes. Cut, paste, print, Nubeth now looks suspiciously like Jedes right down to the goose girl and the oubliette. Do any of the PCs care? They'd better not.

I don't dispute Peter's interpretation of the blazons - indeed they are quite correct in historical heraldry. They do, however, push the boundaries of Harnic heraldry.

But they don't cross them. I shall render these two blazons (once I've checked the Kaphins), and let you know.

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The Melderyn Campaign

The Introduction of Sir Morgal Rintarin

Even though he was present in the first scene, Sir Morgal isn't really introduced until this scene. Celebrating the capture of the assassin and the heroic efforts of the PCs to save the life of his liege's brother, Sir Rindan Caldeth, Sir Morgal takes the opportunity to host a large lunch for the entire party at the Iron Bell. There we're also introduced to Tommas, who is one of Morgal's Rangers.

Morgal, you see, had received a disturbing report from a source in Tashal regarding Sir Rindan and came with all haste and a small force of Rangers that he could muster up on extremely short notice - all on horseback. They took spare mounts, traded out spent mounts at various manors along the way, and basically busted ass to get to Tashal. Morgal left his escort behind somewhere between Ledyne and Ternua, proceeded on alone, and made Tashal a full half day ahead of his escort arriving last night, while his Rangers don't arrive until mid-morning.

Prior to the big meal, Dame Anastasia has put Aderyn and Findul on retainer as researchers and sent them off to find out what they can about this warehouse property. Which they do, Aderyn knowing her way around polite society and research while Findul has some meager guild credentials he can bluff with. They're free with the "fees" to grease the wheels of commerce, since its Dame Anastasia's money, and find out from the Mercantylers and Litigants guilds the current and previous ownership of the property, tracing it from Baron Bastune's hands to his wife's hands and then through sale to a mercantyler clan from Azadmere, and there no further.

Dame Anastasia does some digging about the assassin, and learns enough to confirm her suspicions of Navehan involvement, but doesn't yet pick up on the fact that Sir Korlis (Marshal of the Guard) has a big hate-on for Navehans. She does some other business, offers a handsome (and grossly excessive) reward to a young City Watch soldier who was of particular assistance the night before, and he gushes about how his home village has fallen on hard times and plans to put the entire reward into purchasing food to personally deliver to his home village. His home village is some nowhere a few leagues north of Tashal, a watering hole halfway to Olokand called "Airth", and our heroic City Watch soldier is the 20 year old son of an Airth yeoman who goes by name of Tagin. See also: Fanon's Vale.

Morris spends some time at The Spurs and tracks down a prostitute who saw Huw the night before, beds said prostitute, and is threatened with contracting a communicable disease from said prostitute. But he does confirm that Huw left town this very morning on foot, and was flat broke (Cherryh having robbed him pretty well blind the night before). Other inquiry discerns that Huw left on the same horse that Sir Morgal rode into town on (a horse which he swapped out at Ternua for one belonging to Sir Anzarn Verdreth, Dame Anastasia's brother).

At lunch they put their heads together and figure out a plan to leave the next day, as soon as the disposition of the assassin can be determined (aka "execution"). Tommas is sent south immediately to track the horse. Good luck with that, its a busy road, but maybe someone has seen it. He eventually finds the horse at Erone Abbey, safely sheltered at the guest house where Huw ditched it. Of course he ditched it, not daring to risk crossing the Neph at Ternua with a horse known to the Verdreths and a saddle marked obviously with Sir Anzarn''s arms. He crosses south into Thelshire instead on foot.

As it happens, Dame Anastasia is also secretly the lover of Dame Erila Kaphin. Yes, we sometimes brush against mature subject matter.

From Erila: These juicy rumors always have in them some tiny nugget of truth that makes them sound believable. I would think that if there were any immediate plans to invade Chybisa, I would know about them. This is false, like last month's rumor that I'm the King's secret spymaster or that there is a secret tunnel connecting the castle to the old sewer tunnels. My favorite rumors are always about me. Once they were saying that I'm secretly a spy for Chybisa, and another time that King Miginath was going to name me as his heir. The nuggest of truth in this one might have to do with the personal relations of one of the scribes, mine or Princess Meliam's or Sir Hirnan's or Lord Dariune's. That might bear some investigation. Thank you.

After a very late night discussing matters with Dame Erila, Dame Anastasia is heading back to her own bed when she spies a light from yonder doorway, the office and quarters of Sir Korlis Harabor.

If you take the stairwell in the southeast tower, you avoid Sir Korlis's room but this is the "Low Guard" stairwell as the Captain of the Low Guard is in a room right outside this stairwell and downstairs you will pass by the Low Guard barrack rooms to get to your own.

If you take the stairwell in the sourthwest tower, you must walk right past Sir Korlis's wide open door to the "High Guard" stairwell, but it will take you directly where you want to go.
If you go left, down the Low Guard stairs, turn to page 117
If you go right, past Sir Korlis's door, turn to page 66

“Sir Korlis, I beg your pardon. I did not mean to disturb you.”

Sir Korlis looks tired and disheveled, dressed not in castle clothes but rather in rougher working clothes, but his eyes are focussed and intense. He looks a bit surprised to see you, as if he had expected someone else entirely. There are papers on his desk, not official looking documents with seals but rather a variety of handwritten notes and pages that appear to have been torn from books. Two volumes are open and prominent on his desk, one appears to be an illustrated volume of Laranian scripture and the other might be a book of history except that a skull mask like he assassin wore appears on one page. He kicks an open chest by his feet, and it slams closed. "Dame Anastasia, what a surprise. I was just considering your prisoner. Please come in and tell me about him."

“I am not sure how much I can tell, Sir Korlis. I chased him down a street and into a neighborhood with some old warehouses. He had gone into the shadows and might have escaped but he took the opportunity to throw a dagger at me. It missed but I was able to see where he had fled to and followed him. He went into one of the warehouses and jumped to the rafters. I chased him from below, going out onto a catwalk over what appeared to be an old grain storage pit. The assassin leapt to the floor of the pit and I threw my dagger in an attempt to slow him down. I managed to inflict a serious would to the man and he staggered into the far corner of the pit. I scrambled down, only to find that he had disappeared through a tunnel that had been cut from the back of the pit. There was a great deal of blood so it was easy to track him into the tunnel. I went a short distance and determined that the tunnel was more extensive than it had the right to be. At that time I returned to the entrance of the tunnel and left my dogs to guard it. I went back to the scene of the attack on Sir Rindan to seek assistance from the City Guard so we could continue the pursuit. As it happened, a couple of mercenaries volunteered to accompany me and two of the guardsmen. Additionally, two arcanists who had been instrumental in preserving Sir Rindan’s life until a physician arrived agreed to come along in case further first aid was required. We returned to the warehouse where I determined that the assassin had not tried to escape that way. The group of us made our way through the tunnel and discovered some strange rooms of worked stone. At some point the assassin broke from cover and tried to escape. We subdued him and brought him to the surface. He was wearing one of those masks.”

I will point at the exposed page at the last point.

“What else do you need to know about him, Sir Korlis? I will tell you what I can.”

Sir Korlis is very interested in the assassin.

He interrogates you, without really meaning to be an inquisitor, its just that he is animated and energetic about this.

Did he fight right-handed or left-handed?
What weapons did he use?
Did he show any unnatural skills or abilities?
Did he use magic? What magic did your arcanists use? How did they save Sir Rindan's life? Did they counteract a poison? What poison? What do they know about the assassin?
Did you recover the knife used on Sir Rindan? Did you recover the weapons he used against you?
Please recount again how you came to capture the assassin alive.
Did he use any poisons? If so, why do you think they were so ineffective? If no, why do you suppose he did not?
Please describe, in detail, the size and shape of the tunnels and worked stone.
Did you encounter an traps? If so, please describe them. Can you draw them? Did you recover them?
Where did the tunnels lead? Did they connect with anything?
Did you find recover anything of value or of esoteric interest?
Did you encounter any strange or monsterous creatures?
Did the assassin have any accomplices that you know of? If so, what became of them?
Why do you think Sir Rindan was targetted? Why do you think the assassination failed? Was this a warning? To who?

He asks questions faster than you can answer them, sometimes rapid-firing multiple questions back to back and other times backtracking to a question he had previously asked to ask it again or to remind you that you hadn't answered it. Other times he might ask a question before you can reply to a previous question, and not go back or seem to remember he had asked something.

He intersperses his questions with lectures on Naveh faith and practice, on the worship of their "evil one", and on their traditions. He appears to be quite knowledgable on the subject of Naveh worship, although he never calls it a church or refers to Naveh as a "god".

He says, at one point, that he is determined to burn this Guild of Assassins out root and branch, every leaf, every twig, every acorn, and even the very water it draws nourishment from if that is required to end this menace.

This, he shows you the smaller book with the skull symbol on one page, this is a true copy of a book penned by Saint Ambrathas. This is "Punishing the Wicked". These assassins are wicked. This Guild of Assassins must be punished, their heresies expunged, their treasons revealed, their seditions uprooted, and their rebellions crushed. "I will not rest until this work is done," his hands now open on the larger volume of Laranian scripture, "of this I swear to the great Lady herself in the name of Saint Ambrathas and Saint Perelyne and by Saint Orthas himself, Knight-Commander of Tirith, and by her mighty sword Avarkiel, the Oathbinder."

You have witnessed my oath. Will you swear to it?

I will swear an oath as a witness to Sir Korlis’s oath then also swear my own oath before Larani to root out the evil that is the Cult of Naveh wherever I find it. I will ask him if he will witness my oath. I will open my heart to Larani and hope to receive her blessing in this matter.

So when you kneel for your oath he brings the two volumes from his desk, closed, and sets them before you so that you can swear on either or both of the volume of Laranian holy scriptures and St Ambrathas's sacred "Punishing the Wicked". Laranian oaths are often sworn on a drawn sword, kneeling on something sacred (if available), or on something sacred (if available and handy). He swore his oath impromptu, with his hands on both books. You have a moment to be a little more prepared and formal. He stands over you as you kneel and swear your oath, his hands on your head, exactly how the priest stood over you when your swore your oath of chivalry and knighthood on the day you were knighted. He even speaks the words you've heard, as if he were the priest himself.

This is all a side of Sir Korlis that you may not have ever suspected existed. Now you know.

I am serious in my oath. Kneel on the holy books as appropriate and swear the oath with all my heart. This is as important to me as taking my vows as a knight. Larani guide and protect me.

There is a Laranian chapel in the castle, and a large Laranian temple near the Ternua gate. Also, Caleme is not far from Tashal (only a couple miles) although it is a little out of the way from where you're going.

He does not have a deep interest in the answers about the assassins weapons, but is much more interested in the assassin's leaping and jumping skills. He would investigate this line by wondering if this seemed within the range of a man's natural faculties, or if this might be evidence of some esoteric ability or super-natural endowment.

He presumes that your arcanists must have had some alchemical means at their disposal to deflect poison and save Sir Rindan's life from a "grave mortal wound". and by Larani's grace they were disposed to be of assistance and the assassin was sloppy. He quotes a passage, from memory, from "Punishing the Wicked" about the wicked punishing themselves.

He is very interested in the tunnel description and takes careful notes in a dense fine script. He draws a sketch based on your description of the dimensions and supports of both the cruder and better worked passages and compares this with notes he has elsewhere, opening the chest under his desk and pulling out more papers, including other sketch drawings of tunnels. The few sparse labellings on his drawings are in his dense small handwriting and are illegible from more than a few feet away, so for all you know he could be looking at drawings of a mine.

He finds the foggy room as evidence of ensorcelment, and the wire-trapped room evidence that the assassin was familiar with this lair. He takes the assassin's blunder in his attempted escape, being caught in the foggy room trying to exit, as further evidence of Larani's hand in punishing the wicked by turning their own ploys against them.
(I note that you deflected the riddle-door by saying that it was "a rigged door and guessed at the proper means to open it")
(You might recall that while you did open the door, the assassin had hidden in the barracks behind you and did not pass through that door.)

He hopes to bring the existence of these tunnels to the attention of the Royal Inspector of Public Works, Master Erdar of Orinain, but he is not in residence right now. He is making inspections elsewhere. Sidebar: Clan Orinain masons have held this office for a couple generations. They're a Khuzdul clan from Azadmere. Erdar's uncle before him was the previous Royal Inspector, back in the days of the Baronial Revolts.

He is very interested in this Caldeth steward and believes that his actions are suspicious and evidence again of Larani's hand in bringing the deeds of the wicked to punishment. He will have issued a writ for the man's arrest. He wants you to bring this man in.

His theory is that either Sir Rindan was targetted at random, or was deliberately targetted due to some nefarious business - perhaps nefarious business on the part of this suspicious steward. Yes, this is superficial: it was random or it wasn't. He expounds on Navehan tradition, which involves assassins advancing in grade in their guild by performing a hit against a target that is selected for them at random from names of individuals which the guild would like to see dead. I think I mentioned before that Sir Korlis seems quite well educated on both Laranian and Navehan religions, and it might be apparant that he is quite devout in his Laranian faith. Then he talks about this suspicious steward seeming to be an accomplice, which he would not have expected had this been a truly random killing (he uses some other word, a foriegn word, perhaps a Navehan word, to describe this).

Stone isn't going anywhere, but flesh is, and where flesh leads you must follow. The flesh is weak, and the wicked must be punished. This steward must be followed, for where he goes may lead to information about why Sir Rindan was targetted. The stone, on the other hand, will still be here when Master Erdar returns from his rounds.

The pace of the proceedings is what it is, because the assassin is not expected to live much longer. He managed to swallow some poison, presumably something secreted on his person, and has been of no use to anyone for questioning. He has been kept alive by Larani's will and by the intervention of the Royal Alchemist, who forced some draught down the wretch's throat. Otherwise, he would be dead by his own hand.

Your preference in execution style is commendable. It is much the same as my own. Alas, the King would not permit such a display of blood and gore. Stakings and impalements are grotesque, and a drawing and quartering is something that he would reserve for a nobleman in rebellion. Unfortunately, this one will simply be hung by the neck with a spear through his gut for good measure, his body and head given to a gibbet in Orbael Wood north of the city as food for the crows.

A short prayer in the chancery leaves you time to freshen up, break fast, and pack your things.

You need to select your clothes, get a squire to clean your hauberk, check on the horses, warn the ostlers that you'll need them both today, check on the dogs and deliver the same warning, spend some time with the dogs, get a squire to help you get your things from your room so your horses can be loaded for you, get the chest, get the silver in the chest, reward Ulf and Tagin (which takes time, as Tagin has his epiphany and needs to rush off to get ready to leave town also), get the money to everyone else, get the mule ready to go, get your horses to the Iron Bell so that you can leave directly from there instead of pushing horses through city streets at mid-day, get back to the castle, get changed into a fresh surcoat, attend the execution, and then change into travelling clothes (perhaps pre-positioned for you at the Iron Bell).

Somewhere in all that you wanted to corner Dame Lesyle and have a girl-to-girl conversation with her, but you find that time has just flown by!

So remember, everything I'm doing in Act One is a prelude to the Earl's Progress. So I'm building lots of background for PCs and NPCs alike. For example, Sir Korlis. I wanted a little dichotomy between Korlis and Maldan. I wanted there to be a good story behind the fact that Korlis has been content to not clamor for a Sheriff posting and does what he does (Marshal) because its what he wants to do. IMPH, Sir Korlis is a Laranian priest who left the Order to return to civilian life and take the post of Marshal, but that doesn't strip him of his 3-4 circles of Larani Ritual nor does that strip him of his Laranian priesthood investiture. In his Laranian life, he developed his inquisitorial hate-on for the Navehans, and has taken that to new heights as Marshal. Dame Anastasia's anti-Naveh oath is therefore witnessed by a Laranian priest, sworn on holy writ, etc, etc, and Korlis has piety points out the wazoo. I'm setting up for something to happen later in Act One.

Sir Korlis might be a good hook for me to use to work the Argent Order in to this.

The Wolves in Sheep Clothing

Tommas had previously learned, and reported back, that Huw of Islwyn had fled south and ditched his horse at Erone. Tommas recovered the horse, brought it back to Tashal, and from there the party set off again this time with blessing of Sir Korlis and Sir Morgal. From Sir Korlis, the commission to hunt down and bring for questioning the suspicious personage of Huw of Islwyn. From Sir Morgal, essentially the same job. Sir Morgal would be taking the bulk of the Rangers (minus Tommas) on a route south to Qualdris and then meeting back up at Nubeth some time during the Nubeth Spring Fair. The hope is to catch Huw before the fair, if not then find him at the fair, and if not then at least set a net on the road to Athelren so that he doesn't escape that direction.

They find that Huw had indeed crossed the Neph at Ternua and was remembered by a guard collecting tolls at the bridge. Remembered, because he let the man through on a sob story and didn't collect his toll. He was remembered in Ledyne, where Huw stopped to sell off all of his clothes, right down to his smallclothes, and exchange them for peasant dress. Especially he needed to get rid of his boots, good riding boots, as they had blistered his feet something fierce and Huw could not wear them. Knowing how to work a deal, Huw got a favorable trade and even ended up with some spare cash for purchasing food. Not being particularly worldly, he didn't really suspect to be followed closely but nevertheless attempted to throw off pursuit by going cross-country for a while.

This did indeed throw off the pursuers, who were unable to guess which way Huw had gone, so they picked a sensible choice and attempted to make to Wendern by way of Pointasn and Mansard. Huw had at least a day's head start on them and had cut due east from Pointasn across wood and field to Nebrem, sleeping in a copse of wood along the way, and had made his bed from a heap of leaves from the previous fall. Unfortunately, they were poison oak leaves. Poor Huw!

The PCs made a wild guess and cut east from Wendern and finally caught Huw's trail in the little hamlet of Vonel. This they sniffed out because by this time our poor Huw was taking time at every village and hamlet he might pass by to attempt to find some cure for this insufferable rash that had afflicted him. In Vonel he bought a "cure" which turned out to be worse than worthless, and by the time the PCs made it to Edeme they'd figured out the right cure AND purchased it for him. They confirmed the trail in Edeme, and in Helstru they made the acquaintance of a trio of Laranian knights from Staxer with their squires.

The squires took Jordan for a tidy purse of farthings and, his self-discipline failed him, he doubled-down Palin-style, and then found himself indebted to the squires. While Jordan attempted to raise the funds from the rest of the party, the squires kept Jordan's boots. By the time he'd raised the funds to pay the debt, the boots had been sold to to the squire's knight, who then insisted on an even greater sum. Finally, Dame Anastasia had seen enough of this amusement and she stepped in to aid Jordan in repurchasing his boots for the original sum agreed.

On the road to Nubeth the next day, they encountered a runaway serf they'd been warned to keep a lookout for. This serf, one Joal from Endale, had a terrible tale of woe to tell about his cursed village and his murdered parents and his imprisoned friends and a pack of ruthless bandits. Oh, and while you're asking about it as a matter of fact he did see a short pudgy balding puffy red-faced man come through here yesterday and I think he might be hiding around here somewhere. If you help me, I'll help you.

Thus it came to pass that the lowly hamlet of Endale came to be the site for the Wolves in Sheeps Clothing adventure from Harn Pottage III.

The party first sent Morris and Cherryh disguised as peddlers to scout the hamlet. After reporting back what they had learned, Morris went in on his own to attempt to scout the ruined manorhouse himself but did not plan to report back any time soon. The party split into three groups, the one circled east and arrived to cut the trail between the hamlet and the manor hill. The other advanced through the woods to cut the trail between the hamlet and the outer houses. The third drew the bandits in the outer houses into a battle, whereupon Findul promptly put them all to sleep with magic so that Larik could tie them up.

The third group then combined with the second group and set an ambush on the trail to the hamlet itself before sending one of the hamlet men to raise the alarm and draw out a response from the hamlet. Hein went willingly, and the bandits in the hamlet came rushing out into the party's ambush along the trail where they met a quick slaughter. A few ran back to the manor to raise the alarm, but Dame Anastasia stood astride the trail with her two wolfhounds, and made short work of them. Morris heard the beginnings of battle from the manor hill, and immediately engaged the guards in a shouted conversation to keep them distracted enough to delay their response. The battles all ended quickly, leaving only the manorhouse itself to be dealt with and that still relatively ignorant of the threat.

I might add that some of this was made a little easier than it might have been because Jordan had made an outstanding Tactics roll and had participated in the pre-planning for the attack. I presumed that he imparted some of his edge, making surprise along the way just a little easier at each encounter.

Joal then took Findul and Jordan to find the "secret entrance" while Anastasia marched up to treat with the remaining bandit diplomatically. The hope here was that the offer of a diplomatic solution might buy Findul and Jordan some time, but neither of them were expecting the bandit guarding the "secret entrance" to be a dead-eye marksman with a light crossbow. This minor oversight nearly cost Findul his life, but that bought Jordan the opportunity to scamper off with his own bow to take down the crossbowman while he was reloading for his third or fourth shot at Findul. That out of the way, they tried to make their way up the tunnel to rescue the children behind the backs of the distracted bandits.

Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out that well. The bandits seemed wise to the false diplomacy, so Dame Anastasia and Larik rushed the manor. Would that the manor had been enclosed somehow, or had so much as a door that could close, but alas it did not and in a rushed assault Dame Anastasia and Larik. With a little help from Morris and Aderyn they managed to sweep the defenders and drive them into the basement where they died or surrendered (most surrendered) before the prisoners could be executed and just about the same time as Findul was climbing out of the well. In all, the raid came off nearly perfectly executed with a total of six bandits captured alive (four at the manor itself) and no children lost. The only wounded: Findul, with a bolt to his right hip, and one of the dogs with a cracked scapula.

Act One, Scene Four: The Beauty and the Beast

You haven't forgotten about Huw, have you? I didn't think so! The aftermath of the slaughter and capture of the bandits is that there is a big messy village council for Endale with everyone having something to say. The village council broke down roughly along clan lines. Roughly, but not perfectly. The largest two clans, the Relesses and the Kurcarases, basically blamed each other for the predations of the last 2 years but Eredarn of Reless bore the brunt of the blame and the shame for it was in his house that the worst of the bandits had lived and it was his wife who had seemingly never become pregnant during this period of time and allegedly had never been raped by any of the bandits (in contrast with all of the other women in the hamlet). This managed to turn the Valesens against the Relesses and might have sparked a lynching, except that Horten of Kurcaras stepped in and was elected Reeve, with Uldan to serve as Woodward, and these appointments to be verified in Tarial by the Serolan as soon as possible.

That evening, Joal divulged what little he knew about the traveler who had come by the day previous and where he thought the traveler might be. South of Endale, between Endale and Doldas and between Werdel and Staxer, is a wood. In that wood, is an old rocky hill with a ruined fort at the top of it. In short, an old kyg. Kaldor is littered with old kygs. In ancient time, the khuzdul had a hill fort here, carved into hard rock. In the thousand-plus years since it was abandoned, woods have engulfed it. Local legend has it that it is inhabited by dark elves and fae folk, who venture out at night to steal children from their mothers. Children were warned to stay clear of it and that it is a place of evil. Nevertheless, kids would still go out there to play and even old Agor knew about an old cave near the base of it. Joal too knew of the place, and had hidden out there after escaping from the bandits and before his parents were burned alive. There was even talk that a couple years ago, the summer before the bandits took over the hamlet, there was a band of Night People with their gaily dressed wagons who had come by Endale and had been rushed along with a poor welcome. Talk is that those Night People might have later camped at the old kyg.

During the course of this investigation, they also learned that infant mortality in Endale had been 100% for almost 2 years despite the best efforts of the women to keep the babies alive. So now the PCs had this picture of Endale, a hamlet ravaged by bandits, where babies never survive a month, where the bandits raped the women, and to top it all off there was some sort of secret ritual that the bandits had been doing out by the old kyg and they would take women from the hamlet out there every new moon.

I still didn't have ALL of the PCs convinced at this point to go check out the kyg, but they went regardless. Off the party went to find the old kyg.

It didn't take long for them to find the kyg, a bare mile away to the south of Endale. Much further, and it would be at the outskirts of Doldas. Incidentally, I didn't think that the "Beast" in this scenario could do well off of just one hamlet so I liked sticking him in a location where he could draw upon three or four villages at once. Unfortunately, the PCs only learned about Endale's connection. It was enough.

They dutifully scouted around the kyg. Larik and Findul investigated a small stream coming out of the side of the kyg, finding a cave entrance that had been buried in an old slide long ago. They also found remnants of old ruins at the top, but declined to make a closer investigation in lieu of grouping all together to investigate a cave at the bottom where fresh tracks could be found nearby.

Inside they found a crude fertility statue, as described by old Agor, and a stockpile of looted supplies cached by the bandits. A pretty sizable cache. This would have made a great treasure trove for a party in search of a wagon load of common equipment, but there was no Huw. At the back of the cave, they did find a secret door which swung out.

I had decided to overlap two adventures from Harn Pottage III: Hawk Whistle w/ Beauty and the Beast. So the ground floor complex was from Hawk Whistle, with a basement tunnel system for the Gobs, and stairs leading up into the Kyg itself for Beauty and the Beast. Inside also was Huw. The Gobs I'd left down in the under tunnels.

Rather than deal with a bunch of adventure spoilers from the AWESOME work in Harn Pottage III, I'll just skip to the finale upstairs. They managed to stick to the worked stone khuzan passages and never once went downstairs. Heck, aside from the secret entrance (which I practically gave to them, or rather Huw practically gave to them) they really managed to stumble through ignorant of any secret doors. Upstairs, however, they did find Beauty and the Beast.

Now, in translating the Beast into Rolemaster stats I really did expect that the PCs were going to have a rough time on their hands. I know better than to expect my PCs to offer a straight up fight, but I really thought that they'd get bashed around a bit. I did modify the Beast a bit, taking my cue from the HRT Naveh stuff. Instead of just being a generic Lesser Gytevsha, I made him one of the Maldrahides. Thus, the first guise that they encountered him in was as a weary man in a faded old hooded cloak which covered and disguised his features. In actuality the Beast was one of the Oron, a giant warped and twisted man-like animal, but he possessed the ability to assume different forms and in his semi-exile had adopted the form of a Maldrahide.

Negotiations with the hooded old man quickly failed, because the PCs were only interested in ultimatums. Without further ado: Larik, Anastasia, and Jordan all rushed in with Aderyn and Findul short behind and preparing spells. Anastasia and Larik rushed the Beast as he was changing from Maldrahide to Oron form, and Jordan dropped into a dead sprint to get around behind the big bad boy to check out what he suspected was another bad guy on the far side of the chamber. Jordan, therefore, was the first to encounter the "Beauty".

Now in full Oron form, the Beast had a choice: fight the warriors in front of him, or secure his prize (the Beauty). Really, it was no choice at all. He rushed back to drive Jordan away from Beauty. This left him exposed a little to Anastasia's next move, which was to rush forward with her sword and attack the Beast in what she saw as a moment of its weakness.

Anastasia clearly bore Larani's full blessing. Her attack was a resounding CS, with a ridiculous crit wound that would result, should I let it go through, in her sword stabbing clean through its heart and death in 7 rounds of agony. Or, if I shifted the result to the Holy Arms chart it was the same stabby action and instant death. The dice had truly blessed Anastasia, and I took that as an opening to impose a little GM-induced creativity.

What Anastasia saw:
As you charge forward, the room dims red around you and your foe burns brilliant in front of you. A bright light casts off of the blade of your sword as you plunge it into the demonic creature before you. Your sword drives clear through the beast, piercing through the center of its chest where its heart ought to be if it has a heart at all. White fire engulfs the beast, spreading from your sword, out through its chest, and throughout its body like cracks in a crystal goblet. Your vision fades, you blink, and when your vision returns the beast is reduced to a heap of fine coal-black ash on the floor. Your sword is suddenly heavy again.

What everyone else saw:
As Anastasia rushes forward, bellowing a battle cry in Larani's name, her form subtle shifts in appearance. The woman you know, armored and dressed in Verdreth colors, shifts to that of a robed woman in flowing red garments. Her shield becomes larger, her sword seems to take on new dimension but the blade is of such brightness and intensity that it pains you to look at it. This woman before you now, where Anastasia once stood, drives her battlesword one-handed through the beast's chest and it fractures with white light from within. In seconds, the demon is reduced to a heap of fine coal-black ash on the floor. The brightness fades as quick as it arrived. You blink, and it is just Anastasia after all.

Findul packed a couple of sacks full of the demon ash. I described it as an extremely fine bone dry black powder, as slippery as oil and just as messy on the hands. The Gytevsha had been, essentially, reduced to nothing but pure carbon. I have no idea what he plans to do with it, but I had previously let him stumble across an alchemical text that described the manufacture of a healing crystals out of Nolah blood. I expect that he plans to sell Gytevsha ash, or perhaps use it as an axle lubricant like graphite.