19 Flamerule, 1368: A Dark and Stormy Knight

12am
The night sky over the camp is rent by lightning. Loud thunderclaps signify that the storm may finally break. For the rest of the night the wind picks up, howling like banshees.

6am
Finally, the storm breaks. Rain pounds the company for 23 minutes. The torrent does seem to wash away the fleas suffered by Selina and Routnuious, however.

7am
Back on the trail, in spite of the weather, which continues to worsen.

1pm
The mud and slippery footing has slowed travel considerably. All the members of the party are soaked through to the bone, tired, and hungry. As they move forward, lightning dances around, hitting closer and closer until... Shazam! Lightning hits Tick-a-Tick and arcs over to also hit Merle, who was standing beside the automaton. Merle is unconscious. The Company has no choice but to stop their forward progress and set up camp so that Elessaria can use the Stone of Recall to take Merle to Shandar's.

Elessaria returns shortly afterwards, saying that Shandar will care for the strange woman from Kara-Tur and that the party should continue on without her.

4pm
Debris flying, clouds racing, visibility decreasing.

5pm
Even though it is still during daylight hours when the party nears the tor, it is dark as night due to the storm clouds above. The rain prohibits the lighting of torches and the cooling effect of the now constant downpour limits infravision to completely ineffective. The only illumination comes from the frequent and blinding flashes of lightning which are followed by deafening peals of thunder. A cold wind blows from the north. As they near the tower, the storm takes a turn for the worse, and while bolts of lightning slam from cloud to ground, pieces of hail begin to pelt the company and the need for shelter becomes both obvious and urgent. Fortunately the Hightower tor seems to be very near now.

Ahead in the distance, the large hill rises in front of the company and the outline of the ruined tower above it is starkly illuminated in the intermittent flashes of lightning. It seems rocky and solid, and though climbing it in this weather would be folly, it appeared as though it might have some outcropping that would provide safety from the storm. The only alternative is to endure the weather.

From the base of the hill can be seen that the massive tor towers above the surrounding country. A few narrow ledges offer scant protection from the elements, but a closer inspection reveals a massive, arched entryway at least 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide, set into the side of the hill.

The ground just outside it slopes away from the doorway, directing the falling water out and away.

Stago, who among the party had the greatest knowledge of stonework and geology, shouted above the storm, "Given the slope and the sturdy nature of the hill, whatever space lies beyond the door should be both dry and safe from lightning and hail. The construction seems quite sturdy, so the likelihood of collapse, even in severe conditions such as these, is remote."

He also noted the broken remains of an immense, round stone scattered across the ground near the entrance. This stone once blocked the doorway, he concluded, but it was blasted apart…apparently by lightning.

The party slowly enters the tomb, neither Selina nor Stago detect any traps.

5:15pm
The entrance room is quite large, though empty it is also quite dry. It measures at least ten paces square. Peeling paint and broken scrollwork suggest that it was once decorated with some care, but now only dust remains.

Three massive stone doors—one each to the left and right, and one directly across from the entrance—lead deeper into the tor.

Routunious casts continual light on his hat. His yellow hat glows and all characters with infravision are now only seeing what is lit by the hat. We look at the frescoes adorning the walls. Typical heroic depictions of feats of valor.

The group moves cautiously to the left door. Thunder echoes in the room. Selina checks for traps, finding none. Routunious sends Tick-a-Tick to open door. It
does and we enter. Stago stakes the door open behind them.

The only objects of interest within this chamber are against the far wall. There stands a suit of armor on a frame and two small racks of weapons to either side. In the rack to the right are a long sword and a jeweled dagger. In the rack to the left hang a bow and quiver full of arrows. The armor and weapons gleam in shining perfection, undamaged by the moisture or passage of time.

Selina feels like the entire room is a trap, but can not determine of what nature or how to disarm it. On the wall, the frescoes picture a knight fighting bugbears and other monsters of the hills.

The party enters the chamber and suddenly the suit of armor becomes animated and grabs the sword from the rack. It advances menacingly.

Elessaria and the rest of the party ready for defense. Stago, however, immediately attacks with his sling, but misses. The armor moves closer to Elessaria, swinging with its sword but misses the elf. Selina cracks her whip, also missing the suit of armor.

Stago moves quickly to the rack of weapons and grabs the jewelled dagger from the the hook on which it hangs. Routunious attempts to turn undead, but to no effect. Elessaria striks again, hitting the suit of armor causing it to stagger under the blow. Selina cracks her whip again, missing the target. The monster brings down its sword, hard, on Elessaria.

Using the dagger he has taken from the rack, Stago attempts to stab the armor in the back, but misses. Elessaria misses her counterblow but is healed by Routunious. The armor misses its next attack, to the momentary relief of all. Selina uses her lasso to attempt to capture the creature, but it slips through the loop.

Routunious commands Tick-a-Tick to attack the suit of armor. Stago misses another backstab attempt. Selina flees the room as the armor strikes Elessaria again with his blade.

Stago, still waving the dagger impotently, backs away. Selina grabs the bow and quiver of arros from the rack--just because there is fighting going on is no reason not to loot!

Elessaria hits the armor wit a battle axe, which almost gets stuck in the plates. She is struck again for her troubles by the creature's sword. Tick-a-Tick hits the armor sqaurely, shattering it. The breastplate, shield, etc. fall onto the floor w/loud clangs and begin immediatly to rust. There is nothing inside the armor.

Curiously, the sword taken by the creature from the rack of weapons stays both shiney and sharp. Before anyone touches the blade, they try to determine whether or not it is Dragonfang Foe Render, but quickly realize it is a longsword, not a claymore. The object of their quest remains to be discovered.

As Elessaria guards the doorway with the automaton, those with the best chance for appraising items examine the weapons they have found.

The jewelled dagger is keen-edged and inscribed in an unknown language. It comes with a jeweled scabbard.

The longsword is of a similar keen edge and expertly balanced. It is a fine weapon, possibly magical. It bears an inscription in Thorass, an ancient language.

The bow and quiver are of excellent quality. They both are inscribed with Elvish runes that Elessaria translates as "Heartseeker".

Many pointed comments are made about how beneficial it would be to the party if Stago had the ability to detect magic or spellcraft as a proficiency instead of, say, cooking or half-assed thieving skills.