Deuce Traveler
Adventurer
It's a solemn journey back to New Dorinth as a depressed Caramip has to help the newly blind Nikolos during the travel. After a few days, the group does reach the outskirts of the new refugee home and are somewhat surprised by the changes that they see. Radnal's Ruffians have continued to keep order and had placed everyone capable on temporary work details in the settlement, until the damaged homes were repaired and several new temporary homes put up. Now more than half the population had decent housing, with the rest looking hopeful for space of their own. Trade has grown too, supported by the halfling merchant family and their peaceful dealings with the nearby dwarves, gnomes, and elves. The orc threat seems to have been much diminished as their society has collapsed since the Lord of the Mountain was set loose, and word has reached you that several orc corpses were found far west of New Dorinth looking starved and diseased. There are disturbing words coming from the occupied Dorinthian lands, however, such as the use of rebellious Dorinthians in labor camps and the scouting of elven lands by Tallione light cavalry. And then the night after you arrive the corpse of an arrow-ridden Imperial soldier was found near New Dorinth floating in the nearby river. An elven delegation has arrived, led by the elf Silas Generwine, and the party has been asked to meet with him as well as Syra and Cal Dorin in order to hear news that the elves bring about this great threat. The meeting will be held within an hour in the administrative building in the center of town.
Dartis
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Nikolos comes to find you, or at least finds his way to the place that you were brooding by using his staff to walk and calling for you. As you welcome the priest, he turns his cloth-covered eye sockets towards you and says, "Well met, Baron Dartis Kalnian," he says, using your full title. "I fell asleep just now and had the strangest dream, you know. My god came to me and said that I had strayed from my path and participated in history rather than stay a scholar and record it. I answered that I could not record history correctly if I was not a part of it, and so therefore must participate for accuracy. As you can imagine, we had the most lengthy discussion of the tenants of my faith and what they mean and should mean. In the end he seemed to forgive me for my lapses and asked if I would still like to continue my work, to which I agreed. In the next instant I found myself watching a rider on a horse who came to two roads, one that led uphill through a path of brambles and loose rock and the other that was flat and tranquil and filled with pleasurable vices such as drink and soft beds. But oddly, at the end of that left road was a field of Dorinthian and Imperial corpses, one of which was the rider's. At the end of the difficult road were also corpses, but there were also many more survivors and they raised their arms in praise of the rider. When the rider, bloodied from the harder road and appearing either lifeless or nearly lifeless, was lifted from his horse by the crowds I saw it was you, Dartis. So now I must ask you, why would I have such a dream?"
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Caramip
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Phly arrived in New Dorinth the day after you, sent in order to continue relations with these humans. His eyes seem distant as he approached you, as if hearing something in the distance. "Hello, Caramip. I'm sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but I'm afraid your the only one who might understand what I'm feeling right now. It's strange, but at first I felt empty and withdrawn when that...thing... took whatever he did from my soul. And yet now it's almost as if he replaced it with something else, and I've begun to feel numb when I think of our own kin, as if the beauty of living with them under the hills has faded from my eyes. I started feeling it when I would daydream, this feeling as if the very water and stone and air held its own sense of life and beauty that I never noticed before. Do you sense that, too, Caramip?"
He asks in an almost pleading voice, afraid of falling into insanity, but you shiver inadvertantly when you close your eyes and feel it, too. The stones underneath you seem to sing, although you cannot quite hear the tune or understand the words. Your greater fear is that you realize that you one day will, and as you look you can see what Phly means. The beauty that you saw in this human town seems diminished to you, despite the recent improvements that were made in your absence. You feel that homes could be made from the earth, air, and water itself. That you could bind these elements and... shuddering you stop your hand from raising further and the feeling of control you had is gone.
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Silas
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Your reunion with your family is more pleasant than you even imagined, but the feelings of happiness fade as your mind once more falls to recent events. As you stare out the window while having a moment to yourself, the weathered hand of your father holds your shoulder firmly for a moment as he asks, "What is it, son? What happened out there that you can't even enjoy this moment with your family?"
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Barok
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When you arrive in New Dorinth one of the first things that you decide to do is see Hector, the so called 'Incredible', and see if he can tell you anything about the changes to your weapons. The man isn't the wizard that Silas is, but the abjurer was infuriatingly busy trying to tend to the gnomes and Nikolos the entire way. On a positive note, he wanted to show off his skill to you, probably out of jealousy for Silas, and did not charge for the identification.
"Hmmm..." Hector says as he examines your blades. Well, they are definitely enchanted so that they will be more accurate and cut easier, but the metal has also been changed. It seems that these weapons are now made of cold iron instead of steel, which is effective against fey. Also, a second layer of enchantment seems to have been placed on them, some kind of conjuration magic made out of the spiritual essence some lifeform but twisted so that it is almost the antithesis of the original. Almost like it is a bane to itself or to its original essence. I can't tell what that essence is, however, but..."
Hector's eyes grow wide as both blades begin to glow slightly and vibrate into an almost angry buzz. Both of you watch as Silas Generwine, leader of the elven delegation, passes near Hector's window and goes to his meeting inside the administrative building. The wizard gasps and begins to back away from you and your newly enchanted weapons. "Get rid of those things, Barok!"
OOC: Cold Iron Rapier +1, Elf Bane and Cold Iron Dagger +1, Elf Bane
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Dartis
[sblock]
Nikolos comes to find you, or at least finds his way to the place that you were brooding by using his staff to walk and calling for you. As you welcome the priest, he turns his cloth-covered eye sockets towards you and says, "Well met, Baron Dartis Kalnian," he says, using your full title. "I fell asleep just now and had the strangest dream, you know. My god came to me and said that I had strayed from my path and participated in history rather than stay a scholar and record it. I answered that I could not record history correctly if I was not a part of it, and so therefore must participate for accuracy. As you can imagine, we had the most lengthy discussion of the tenants of my faith and what they mean and should mean. In the end he seemed to forgive me for my lapses and asked if I would still like to continue my work, to which I agreed. In the next instant I found myself watching a rider on a horse who came to two roads, one that led uphill through a path of brambles and loose rock and the other that was flat and tranquil and filled with pleasurable vices such as drink and soft beds. But oddly, at the end of that left road was a field of Dorinthian and Imperial corpses, one of which was the rider's. At the end of the difficult road were also corpses, but there were also many more survivors and they raised their arms in praise of the rider. When the rider, bloodied from the harder road and appearing either lifeless or nearly lifeless, was lifted from his horse by the crowds I saw it was you, Dartis. So now I must ask you, why would I have such a dream?"
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Caramip
[sblock]
Phly arrived in New Dorinth the day after you, sent in order to continue relations with these humans. His eyes seem distant as he approached you, as if hearing something in the distance. "Hello, Caramip. I'm sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but I'm afraid your the only one who might understand what I'm feeling right now. It's strange, but at first I felt empty and withdrawn when that...thing... took whatever he did from my soul. And yet now it's almost as if he replaced it with something else, and I've begun to feel numb when I think of our own kin, as if the beauty of living with them under the hills has faded from my eyes. I started feeling it when I would daydream, this feeling as if the very water and stone and air held its own sense of life and beauty that I never noticed before. Do you sense that, too, Caramip?"
He asks in an almost pleading voice, afraid of falling into insanity, but you shiver inadvertantly when you close your eyes and feel it, too. The stones underneath you seem to sing, although you cannot quite hear the tune or understand the words. Your greater fear is that you realize that you one day will, and as you look you can see what Phly means. The beauty that you saw in this human town seems diminished to you, despite the recent improvements that were made in your absence. You feel that homes could be made from the earth, air, and water itself. That you could bind these elements and... shuddering you stop your hand from raising further and the feeling of control you had is gone.
[/sblock]
Silas
[sblock]
Your reunion with your family is more pleasant than you even imagined, but the feelings of happiness fade as your mind once more falls to recent events. As you stare out the window while having a moment to yourself, the weathered hand of your father holds your shoulder firmly for a moment as he asks, "What is it, son? What happened out there that you can't even enjoy this moment with your family?"
[/sblock]
Barok
[sblock]
When you arrive in New Dorinth one of the first things that you decide to do is see Hector, the so called 'Incredible', and see if he can tell you anything about the changes to your weapons. The man isn't the wizard that Silas is, but the abjurer was infuriatingly busy trying to tend to the gnomes and Nikolos the entire way. On a positive note, he wanted to show off his skill to you, probably out of jealousy for Silas, and did not charge for the identification.
"Hmmm..." Hector says as he examines your blades. Well, they are definitely enchanted so that they will be more accurate and cut easier, but the metal has also been changed. It seems that these weapons are now made of cold iron instead of steel, which is effective against fey. Also, a second layer of enchantment seems to have been placed on them, some kind of conjuration magic made out of the spiritual essence some lifeform but twisted so that it is almost the antithesis of the original. Almost like it is a bane to itself or to its original essence. I can't tell what that essence is, however, but..."
Hector's eyes grow wide as both blades begin to glow slightly and vibrate into an almost angry buzz. Both of you watch as Silas Generwine, leader of the elven delegation, passes near Hector's window and goes to his meeting inside the administrative building. The wizard gasps and begins to back away from you and your newly enchanted weapons. "Get rid of those things, Barok!"
OOC: Cold Iron Rapier +1, Elf Bane and Cold Iron Dagger +1, Elf Bane
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