The weather has changed as you have gotten closer to your destination...now it is cold and foggy, and an incessant drizzle falls steadily...the rain soaking you to the skin no matter what preventative steps you take.
Castle Greyhawk is circular in shape, about 400' in diameter. The wall around it is 25' high, and surrounded by a moat. The drawbridge is down, so you cross it, to be confronted by a crotchety old man: the gatekeeper.
"'Ere, now, ye pay th'toll or I'll set the guard on ye!" he says, eyeing each of you."28gp for the lot o'ye."
You pay him, and he admits you.
You enter the Keep.
Within the Castle walls are two great Towers and a Citadel. A number of people are walking about. All ignore you, as you stroll around the grounds and familiarize yourselves.
You approach first the Tower of Wizardry...at least this is what the sign over the doors reads. It is 75' in diameter and 5 storeys tall.
Next you approach the Citadel Union. This is a large, single storey building, semicircular-shaped. There are two entrances to the place, and upon entering you discover that it is the main business district of the Castle. You also find that it has a second level...underground. A few of the establishments that you note in passing on the ground floor are The Bazaar (apparently a magic seller/buyer), The Merry Memory Moss Tavern, Temple Greyhawk, and an Herbalist's Shop. The lower level is lit only by a few signs from a few businesses, so you pull out lanterns to see your way around. So illuminated is a ballroom, the Former Torture Chamber (now a squash court), a combat training facility, A sage, the Dwarven Pride Armory and Smithy, and a moneychanger.
You head back outside to discover that the fog and drizzle has gone, and it is now a beautiful starlit evening.
You head over to the second tower.
This is the Herzog's Sanctum, and it is three storeys tall.
Outside the door a sign is posted on the wall, reading...
"ADVENTURERS WANTED - APPLY WITHIN"
Lore shakes as if trying to knock a cold chill from him. Seeing the sign he grimaces and decides quickly to enter the building.
Though the starlit evening is very pleasing to Gwenned, we have business to attend to. . . inside.
"Tell me, Lore, and where do your skills lie?"
Lore turns to Gweened, "I am a magic user by trade, though you may have heard of me in other circles. The magical arts can place a person in many unusal circumstances".
Stump says "Shall you knock, or shall I?"
Stump steps foreward and knocks at the door.
After a moment it opens, revealing a pie-shaped room whose area takes up about 1/3 of the floor area of the tower. There is a door at the far end of the room (the apex of the pie, near the centre of the tower).
There are a few comfortable looking chairs in here, but little else. Atop several small tables scattered about are a number of green ceramic frogs, out of whose open mouths come bright illumination (obviously continual light spells).
There is no one to be seen in here. Who opened the door for you remains a mystery.
Looking suspicious Lore cautiously says, "Hello. Anyone here?"
Lore shrugs and goes to sit down at one of the tables, inviting the others to join him.
Relan walks to the other end of the room and examines the other door.
"We saw the sign on the door. We're here because we're interested. You'll find us honorable men." Gwenned sits down warily.
Stump goes and checks out the ceramic frogs to see where they were made.
All of you are in the room, now, either poking about or seated.
Suddenly, you feel invisible hands - or something - tugging at you, loosening your packs, removing your boots, even undressing you!
As you jump up and struggle - half undressed, now - you see your clothes and possessions floating for the far door. Relan makes a leap for them, but trips over his now untied shoelaces and lands flat on his face.
The door opens...apparently of its own accord, and your items go floating outside and around a corner to the right.
Through the doorway you see a flight of stairs, spiraling up the centre of the tower...and hear approaching footsteps.
Two people appear.
One is a man, rather overweight, blond and with a heavy beard. He wears a cloak and has a sword strapped to his belt.
The other is a young girl, a princess if ever there was one. Her black hair sweeps around the classic lines of her face. She is graceful and smiles at you in a most charming fashion. She is dressed tastefully.
"Greetings," says the man. "I am Akitrom, Lord of Castle Greyhawk. You are here in response to my sign?"
The ceramic frogs, BTW, were made in the far off gnome kingdom of Taiwan.
Looking as dignified as possible in the state he is in, Lore bows saying, "Greetings my lord....Yes, we are here in response to your sign."
Relan stands up as gracefully as his large body can accomplish, straightens any clothing he has remaining, and walks to the center of the room where Lore stands. "My lord.", he says as he bows to Akitrom. He then faces girl, and silently bows to her.
Gwenned looks mighty displeased, seeing his possessions and his chainmail most of all float out of sight:
"Is this how you treat your guests Milord?"
"It would seem so..." the Herzog replies, looking marginally abashed.
"Or are we just a motley bunch of idiots that you can make sport with us like this? Now that you have embarassed and humiliated us, in front of the lady no less, I suppose you will simply tell us what to do. In all due respect Milord."
Gwenned tries to maintain his dignity in front of the two of them, but he is fuming a bit, though trying to hold it in.
"Oh, daddy, he's so cute when he's angry!" the princess exclaims, clapping her hands. "Can you keep him angry all of the time?"
"That looks as if it could be easily arranged, dear daughter," Akitrom replies.
Darian bows at the waist. "Please, forgive my companion. He has most likely not been schooled in such magical feats. I am Darian, a member of this ragtag group."
"Yes, please forgive us." Relan says quickly. "I am sure our companion would understand that posting such a sign on the door and sending out word for "adventurers" is potentialy inviting danger into your chambers. One can not be certain of the character of people responding to such an call. Any means necessary to protect the young lady", he bows again, "must certainly be understood. Perhaps it is because we come here for an honerable cause that caused such a misunderstanding."
"Well, actually it's these damned unseen servants," the Herzog replies. "We just can't seem to get them to work right. They're just supposed to remove your coats and make sure you're comfortable, but they seem to get carried away... I'll call the wizards in the morning to fix them."
Stump goes over to Akitrom and the lady, keeping his eyes on her, and says "Sir. who is this lovely maiden that accompnies you. She sure has me at a disadvantage. I do not know her name." He bends down one on knee, taking her hand and kisses it. He says "please allow me to introduce myself. I am Stump, warrior of Greyhawk."
"This is my daughter, Risotta."
"Oh, you're such a sweet darling! I've never seen a man stripped down to his undies before!" she exclaims.
"Well, now you've seen several, my dear," he turns back to you. "We are having a problem here at Castle Greyhawk. Not only am I having - ah - diplomatic difficulties with the Druids of the Golden Bough, but we are also suffering from an infestation of monsters down in the dungeons below the keep. I am capable of - negotiating - with the druids, but I need help in clearing the dungeons. Hence the sign.
"Perhaps you would like to stay the night, here? We could discuss it further over dinner."
"Oh, please say you'll stay!" claps Risotta.
"If I was somewhat cross before, good lord, it was because there are certain things I possess whose value goes far beyond their monetary or magical worth. I would dishonor the memory of those who gifted to me if I were simply to let them float away. Now then, this "companion", as my level-headed friends called me, is named Gwenned; and I am honored to sit at your table and sorry for any offense."
Putting his clothes and things back on, Gwenned smiles and bows to the lady, "And you are the fairest jewel in all a Greyhawk."
"I know," replies Risotta.
Gwenned pauses for a moment, surprised, then has a good laugh, ". . . and been told that many, many times I see! By your leave, I should like to go and clean both myself and my clothes before dinner."
Standing tall once again, Lore says, "If we could but have our clothes and items returned, it would be an honor my Lord. I assume that your lovely daughter will accompany us?"
"Of course."
Relan responds, "An invitation so...enthusiastic, could not be turned down. I would be honered to accept your hospitality. Tell me, Lord, surely we are not the only ones to respond to your call. Have there been others? The town is filled with would be heros in search of treasure and fame. I would be quite surprised if we were the first and last to come to investigate the situation."
"Yes, there are others...in fact I am afraid that you will have to room with one of these groups. Perhaps you could work with them...they only arrived here a short time ago." Akitrom claps his hands, and you see your clothes and equipment come floating towards you.
He turns and leads you out into the stairwell. You and your possessions follow. He climbs the spiral staircase to the 4th door, and opens it.
Beyond is another pie-shaped room. There are many bunks and washbasins, but otherwise the place is spartan. Also in here are five others...three human males, a human female, and a male dwarf...like you, in various stages of undress.
These are the people from the Whitehorse Inn.
"May I introduce Mort, Tammy, Tricky, Doug, and Vs Spy," Akitrom says, then hesitates. "Forgive me," he says to you, "But I never got your names. Whatever. Dinner is served in five minutes...one door down."
Darian begins to get back into his clothing and armor, reclaiming his possessions as he comes across them. "My name is Darian. Pleasure to meet all of you."
Your introductions are cut short by the sound of the dinner gong.
The ten of you head down to the dining room.
The room is tastefully decorated with wood-paneled walls upon which are hung portraits of the Herzogs ancestors. The long table is set with fine china. A large candelabra, lit, is in the centre.
In here already are Akitrom, Risotta, and four others. Motioning to these others, the herzog says -
"This is the other party I mentioned. Hopefully you can work together."
"Not likely," says the only human in the group. "You guys look like a bunch of wimps."
"Errrr, yes," says Akitrom, and introduces them:
LeDurt (the man) is a druid, and carries a staff with him at all times.
Nesselrode (a badger) is a magic user...supposedly.
Kashahr (a pixie) is a paladin. He looks to be quite unhappy.
Brabu (a centaur) is a thief.
Before LeDurt can make any more snotty comments at you, the door opens and several serving maids enter with dinner. You seat yourselves before platters of racks of lamb, smothered in a delicious peppercorn sauce and trimmed with all manner of delectable vegetables.
Vs Spy takes a mouthful of his dinner, belches, and abruptly vanishes.
Akitrom looks at the now vacant spot at the table for a moment, before speaking.
"Does he do that often?"
Mort Downey tells Akitrom "Not usually. He's more like his brother Spy, Hecate rest his soul."
"Perhaps the sauce has too much pepper in it, daddy," suggests Risotta.
"Well, he did say he had business to attend to."
"Damned rude if you ask me," snorts LeDurt.
"Typical behaviour for this mob, I'll bet," says Nesselrode, nuzzling the veggies with his snout.
"Regardless," says Akitrom, forgetting about Vs Spy and turning to the matter at hand. "Do any of you have questions about the dungeons?"
GWenned glares for a moment at the other party, then thinks the better of it. "Yes, milord. First of all, do you have any idea of the sort of creatures we are likely to meet down there? Are there any groups or gangs that have taken over any of the areas?"
"That is hard to say," the herzog replies, trying to look thoughtful. "There seem to be all sorts of creatures of every shape and size imaginable running around down there...and now they're spilling over into the castle and grounds proper. But there seems to be no organization to it at all. It's as if someone down there is merely rolling dice."
"I have a question," Brabu the (female) centaur says, glaring at ranger to shut up. "What's in it for us?"
"Yeah. We ain't going to do this for free, y'know," adds Nesselrode.
"As is usual, you get to keep any loot you find down there," replies Akitrom. "In addition, I will pay each of you 1000gp for each dungeon level entirely mapped. That is all I can afford to offer you."
Stump asks Akitrom "How do you know if a level is entirely mapped or not?"
"Gee, that's a good question," he replies, and concentrates on eating his dinner.
A small glimmer seems to appear in Lore's eyes...."I'm in", he says.
"Your offer is very generous. I would be pleased to accept, as long as I am confident that we are not aiding the forces of evil in this world in any way."
"Oh please," sighs Princess Risotta, her breasts rising and falling in a most hypnotic fashion, "Say you'll do it!"
Tammy snuggles up to Relan and quietly asks "What does she (the princess) have that I don't have?"
Gwenned is starting to get used to this.
Lore sits back in his chair, eating and listening carefully, as the discussion roars around him.
"Also" says Relan, anything to avoid meeting the glance of the female fighter Tammy, lest he turn red as a beet again, "you had said that they have been coming out of the dungeon. Would you feel this would imply overcrowding down there, or a lack of resources causing them to search outside?"
"Probably both, I should think."
"Any information of their actions outside the dungeon may be helpful."
"They eat. People, mostly."
"That's enough for me. I accept!"
Relan looks towards the door as if he would begin now.
The members of the other group look at each other in silence.
"We're in, too," says LeDurt at last. "May the best group win!"
"That means us," says the pixie.
Stump yells out "LET'S DO IT FOR THE PRINCESS".
"Win?", Relan says increadulously. "I didn't realize this would be a compition of some kind. It would seem to me the only victor in such an endevor being undertaken by two such noble parties would be the cause of good! I am surprised that some of you would think otherwise!" It is quite apparent that he is looking directly at the Palidin pixie
"Noble parties?" replies the pixie with as much dignity as she can muster, which isn't much. "There is only one noble party here, and that is ours."
"The other victor in this 'competition', as you call it," says LeDurt, "Is going to be my wallet."
"You guys won't give us much competition, anyway," snorts the centaur. "Hey Akitrom, d'you have any hay or clover? This food doesn't appeal to me for some reason."
"It seems as if I have seriuosly misjudged your sorry and miserable group. If honor and justice have an influence at all upon the outcome of each of our endeavors, the the lot of you shall come running from the dungeon with your tails between your legs...the centaur at least...leaving to us the glory of vanquishing the evil of this place in the name of St. Cuthburt and all that is good!" Relan stands.
"Pardon me, my Lord, but I can tolerate such company no longer. Is there a place where I can go to prepare myself for our upcoming plight?"