Part 1: Helix

[ybn1197]

It is a beautiful day on the moors of the Duchy of Valnwall. The sun is shining clear in the sky and is beginning to burn off the haze that creeps in off the moor. You have all come to the little village of Helix in hopes of a chance to enter the fabled Barrowmaze, a series of burial mounds and underground tombs constructed ages ago by an unknown people who had settled in this area. Some of these people were buried in simple alcoves, while others were entombed behind sealed doors and guarded by deadly traps. Time passed and the settlement grew – and the underground passages became maze-like in their complexity.

This continued for centuries until the cult of Nergal, God of the Underworld, appeared. The evil cultists drove the villagers off and occupied the Barrowmaze. Legend has it that Nergal was deposed by his two sons, Orcus and Set. This sparked a war for control of the Underworld. Now leaderless, the cult of Nergal fragmented and abandoned the maze.

In time, a the village of Helix was established north of the moor. The locals are aware of the burial mounds and share folk tales of the dead walking in the mist and riches buried under the ground. The locals refer to the underground labyrinth as Barrowmaze.

You have come here seeking either fortune or fame (or both) and know the maze will provide you with that or your untimely end.

As the road you follow crests, you see the village before you. It is a small village with two roads meeting at the town square. One road travels south from the square while the other travels to the east. Both the Brazen Strumpet Tavern and the Shrine to St. Ygg share the square with a couple of other buildings. Though the Barrowmaze is known far and wide in Valnwall, few are interested in plumbing its depths and so the village has not prospered from its location. Still, the moor provides for those who are willing to work hard and the villagers here scrape out a meager existence.

[Ludanto]

Mortiganto saunters into town and immediately makes for the Brazen Strumpet Tavern, where he orders the cheapest ale he can get. He downs it quickly before heading to the center of the room and boldly calling out,

"Friends! I seek my fortune in the Barrowmaze! What brave souls will join me?"

[RiotInferno]

Pyrric ducks a thrown tankard just in time to be tackled by another patron. Chuckling loudly, he rolls with the man throwing punches, failing to give out as well as he's taking. After thrashing around for a bit, knocking over a few tables and chairs, he finally manages to get most of his torso free from the other man. Posturing up and delivering a few good blows to his foe, the man below him finally relents, and stops fighting.

Pyrric stops, lets out a deep sigh, and slowly gets up to his feet, using a chair as help. He reaches down to the other man, offering his hand to help him up.
"Honestly, I didn't know she was your sister. Don't think that would have changed much, though." He chuckles loudly and surveys the room. "Now did I hear someone say something about the Barrow? Let me get a drink, as my last one wound up on the wall, and I'll be good to go!"

[Ludanto]

"Huzzah!" Mortiganto shouts. "Any others, or do my new companion and I get to keep all of those glittering coins and gems for ourselves?"

[DMStue]

Mortiganto feels a tug at his trouser leg and peering down he sees one of the smallfolk, a curly haired halfling with a splendid moustache who had approached him undetected grinning up at him.

"Said something about gems you did, Dren is here and in need of coin to fix these wretched teeth".

Smiling widely, the Halfling displays an ill-fitting set of wooden teeth that Mortiganto suspects were not made for such a small mouth.

"Is there a small space which Dren can fill?"

[Ludanto]

Mortiganto is briefly taken aback.

"There's plenty of room for you, fine sir," he says, "but we may have to rearrange things to accommodate that impressive mustache! I'm quite surprised that I didn't hear it come up behind me!"

He bangs his mug on a table. "Lucky three! Four if you count the mustache! Who else seeks to become a local legend?"

[RiotInferno]

Pyrric grins widely.
"Dren, a pleasure to meet you. When we're done you'll have enough gold and gems to do whatever you wish, and if you stick with me long enough, I might be able to fashion you some chompers out of silver or gold."

He smashes his empty tankard down on the table, wiping the ale off his mouth with the back of his arm while raising his hand to signal another round.

[rollo]

Sat in a dark and slightly clichéd corner of the Inn a ranger brooded, hidden beneath the hood of his cloak so that his not-quite-human features would be noted, nor his distinct feeling of discomfort with the whole environment. He was of the woods and had barely left them in his lifetime.

Despite his efforts to try and blend in and look as if he knew what he was doing and how to behave in such society, he had a nagging doubt that his naivety was not completely hidden. He looked down at the mug before him on the table that despite his request at the bar for "a mug of terrifyingly strong ale" he was almost, well slightly, sure was a mug of well water. This did not bode well.

He looked up at the bawdy goings-on and the colourful pantomime of adventurers and their brave talk. He had been sent from the woods expressly to enter this Barrowmaze and now, most fortunately, a group was forming before his very eyes, yet all he could manage in response to this expansive request for others to join this loud band was a rather unconvincing "Ummm.....excuse me...."

[Ludanto]

"Yes! Mysterious fellow, lurking in the corner!" Mortiganto calls out, excitedly, to the mysterious fellow. "Do you, too, seek to brave the nearly-as-mysterious ruins of the Barrowmaze?"

[Saxinis]

Uto looks upon the scene with amusement. "Fortune!? If youse wish to live long enough to enjoy youse fortune, you may wish to have me, Uto Keitel, Priest of Wotan, a member of youse band."

[Ludanto]

"Priest of Wotan?" Mortiganto asks incredulously. "Do you mean son of Wotan? Look at you! If you're a wise as you are strong, and hale as you are handsome, it will be our good fortune to have you."

[MrHemlocks]

***Marcus, Entering Helix***

With a belly for a fresh caught fish and mead to quince his thirst, Marcus makes his way into Helix. Stopping to watch the man in the center of town, as he calls out for others to join with him in the Barrowmaze. All this time, on the road, Marcus had questioned his concerns about going into the maze. Now, entering Helix and noticing a party forming, around the man, in the town square, confirms his convection...he must also go. For something beckons him to enter its darkness. Be it riches, danger, adventure, death wish or plain stupidity...he answers the call.

"Hello! I hear you seek others for the Barrowmaze. I am good with bow and fast with a knife. These, along with my other skills should be useful to your party. I would like to venture forth within the maze. But be forewarned. I do not take orders from any man without just cause, and that includes you."

Holding out his hand as an act of agreement, Marcus awaits the man's response.

[Ludanto]

Mortiganto grips Marcus' hand and forearm and shakes them firmly in greeting.

"I see," he says, "that you're a man who obviously plays well with others. But fear not, for I don't seek mere retainers and hirelings, but brave adventurers like yourself as comrades in arms. I think we're filling up nicely, though. If only we had an wizard, and maybe a wheelbarrow."

[ybn1197]

Sitting at a small table outside the tavern, two elderly men point at the assembled group of would-be adventurers. One mutters something to the other and together they have a hearty laugh. Passerbys on the street note the growling group and quicken their step to pass or place as much possible room between themselves and you as if they feared something striking the vicinity from the clear sky.

On the opposite side of the street, sitting on the steps to the Shrine of St. Ygg, a man seemingly of his mid-20's stares at the lot of you, a stern expression on his face.

[Ludanto]

"Well, then. That looks like trouble," Mortiganto says, indicating the man across the street. "I'm going to poke at it. I'll be right back."

He then trots across the road to the temple and says to the stern-faced fellow, "Good day, sir! You seem somewhat grumpy. Is there anything I can do to lighten your mood?"

[ybn1197]

"Mmmm, not grumpy," the man says shaking his head. "Bemused. Another group of fortune seekers come to town. Another group of wishful tomb robbers intent on making their fortunes. But like all the others who have come before you, you will find yourself content to walk away with your lives. The maze holds more bodies than just the ones buried there."

[RiotInferno]

Pyrric comes outside to join the group after retrieving his possessions from his room at the inn. He watches Mortiganto talk with the stranger, keeping an eye out for thieves and other potential trouble.

[Ludanto]

"Whu... um. Well, now I'm just sad," Mortiganto replies, sullenly. "You've thrown a cloud over my good mood. I hope you're happy."

He is about to sulk away, and then stops. "You know, though. You seem to be familiar with the Barrowmaze, in a morbid fashion, at least. Might you offer us some rumors or advice (besides not going) that could aid us in sticking a thumb in the eye of the Fates and avoiding our untimely deaths?"

[ybn1197]

The man snorts some phlegm, turns his head away from you and spits it out onto the muddy road. He looks you up and down then tilts his body to the side so as to look the others up and down. His visual inventory of everyone complete, he turns back to Mortiganto. "Not one of you is prepared." He smirks. "I don't mean that in a harsh way. You are about to go poking and prodding in a place where the dead where interred. You know... in the ground or behind a wall. Not one of you has a sledge hammer or a spade. How do you think you are even going to get in there?
"And the maze is a half day's walk from here. You staying out there or planning on returning here if you can? You're going to need provisions for either one."

[Ludanto]

"Oh-ho!" Mortiganto laughs. "That's my Grumpy! You know I can't stay mad at you! Don't worry, I'll bring you back a skull or something."

He turns to the rest of the assembled party.

"Grumpy says we need spades and sledgehammers and provisions, and I agree! To the market!"

Then he stops short and turns to Marcus, with a grin and a wink.

"...and that's an order!"