City of Orussus, The Red Dragon Inn IX

The door opens, and once again, those who peer into the doorway at a height above four feet get no explanation as to why.

Eventually, a plainly dressed young dwarven girl enters, carrying a small cloth-wrapped package, and a note, which she seems to refer to with every other step into the room.

"Greetings, einkeep and patrons. I am Raanemunde Axebender. My brother, Rurik, has asked me to find a Father Eusebius at this tavern."

Her eyes scan the room until they alight on a particular servant of Hyrag.

"Ah, and you must be him. Rurik was right - it certainly was easy enough to find you!"

Without further delay, she sets the package down at her table.

"Rurik sends his regrets that he cannot meet you personally. He has been called to urgent business of our clan, and will be indisposed for a time. He sent me in his stead, hoping that you would make better sense of my speaking than of his.

That is, of course, for you."

For Eusebius and Judges: [sblock]When Eusebius unwraps the cloth from around, inside he will find a fairly well-crafted wooden box, with a simple clasp. Opening the clasp and lifting the lid of the box will reveal a spiked chain, the central hoop in carefully, perfectly weighted brass - it bears the maker's mark of Clan Axebender, and is very obviously masterwork. Accompanying it is a note, which reads:

"The elder priests of Chennet' in my clan say, 'A weapon is but a tool - the wielder is its truest soul.'

I can think of no better wielder, and no truer soul, for the best weapon I have ever made with mine own hand. You are family to me, and to my Clan. May you remember it well as you serve the cause of Light with this, my gift to you.

-Rurik

PS: I paid the priests to cast an enchantment on the weapon. They were not particularly creative about it.

"[/sblock]

Raanemunde waits for Eusebius to finish reading the note, then smiles, and says, "No, his Common has not gotten any better, I'm afraid. I did translate it for him."

[Judges: Details of this item can be found on my character sheet, linked below.]

dpdx said:

The door opens, and once again, those who peer into the doorway at a height above four feet get no explanation as to why.

Eventually, a plainly dressed young dwarven girl enters, carrying a small cloth-wrapped package, and a note, which she seems to refer to with every other step into the room.

"Greetings, einkeep and patrons. I am Raanemunde Axebender. My brother, Rurik, has asked me to find a Father Eusebius at this tavern."

Her eyes scan the room until they alight on a particular servant of Hyrag.

"Ah, and you must be him. Rurik was right - it certainly was easy enough to find you!"

Without further delay, she sets the package down at her table.

"Rurik sends his regrets that he cannot meet you personally. He has been called to urgent business of our clan, and will be indisposed for a time. He sent me in his stead, hoping that you would make better sense of my speaking than of his.

That is, of course, for you."

For Eusebius and Judges: [sblock]When Eusebius unwraps the cloth from around, inside he will find a fairly well-crafted wooden box, with a simple clasp. Opening the clasp and lifting the lid of the box will reveal a spiked chain, the central hoop in carefully, perfectly weighted brass - it bears the maker's mark of Clan Axebender, and is very obviously masterwork. Accompanying it is a note, which reads:

"The elder priests of Chennet' in my clan say, 'A weapon is but a tool - the wielder is its truest soul.'

I can think of no better wielder, and no truer soul, for the best weapon I have ever made with mine own hand. You are family to me, and to my Clan. May you remember it well as you serve the cause of Light with this, my gift to you.

-Rurik

PS: I paid the priests to cast an enchantment on the weapon. They were not particularly creative about it.[/sblock]

Raanemunde waits for Eusebius to finish reading the note, then smiles, and says, "No, his Common has not gotten any better, I'm afraid. I did translate it for him."

[Judges: Details of this item can be found on my character sheet, linked below.]

Click to expand...

"Greetings, Raanemunde of Clan Axebender! Lux te lucebat! I am glad that I was not too difficult to find."

Eusebius pulls out a chair, and gestures for the dwarven lass to be seated. "Please, take your rest. Can I get you something to drink? Or are you hungry?" He will order such refreshments as Raanemunde desires.

When Raanemunde pushes the package towards him, Eusebius smiles and takes it reverently. "Thank you for bringing this to me. I am greatly touched that Rurik, in the midst of all his duties, still found time to complete it with such alacrity." As he speaks, the monk is unwrapping and opening the box. On seeing what is within, he says, "Ah! And with such skill, such mastery! It is ... beautiful."

Taking the chain in his hands, and shaking out the loops of it, he stands and raises his arms. As he does so, the shining links glitter with a bright, deadly energy. Grinning with delight and wonder he cries out, "Ho, Lord Hyrag! Now let the foul ones come - and I will bring to them your fierce judgement!"

Suddenly aware of the spectacle he is making of himself, and noticing Joe getting ready to admonish him for brandishing a weapon in the Inn, he lowers his arms and sits down again. The metal, smooth and cool in his hands, clinks as he wraps the links together and returns the beautiful, deadly thing to its box.

Reading Rurik's note, he smiles to himself, and shakes his head in wonder at Rurik's incredible generosity - not only for the gift of the chain but even more for the gift of Clan. To one bereft of family, that is beyond price.

With eyes shining with tears, Eusebius turns again to Raanemunde and says, "I am beyond words. Please tell Rurik that I shall bear this weapon in all my battles for the light, and that it shall be always a reminder to me of my friend and boon companion. If ever my heart quavers, I will see its light and recall his fiery courage. Tell him, too, that anytime my family needs me, they need only call and I shall come"

"And what of you, my sister? Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Come - let us feast tonight, and celebrate all that is good and bright and courageous in the world!"

Dpdx and Boddynock

OOG: [sblock] Unfortunately, in order to be able to have a flaming enchant on an item it has to be at least a +1 beforehand. At least, this is by my reading. Other, more rules-savvy, judges might've grasped the meaning better than I did.

relevant SRD text: [sblock]In addition to an enhancement bonus, weapons may have special abilities. Special abilities count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of the item, but do not modify attack or damage bonuses (except where specifically noted). A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10. A weapon with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus. [/sblock]
[/sblock]

nimisgod said:

Dpdx and Boddynock

OOG: [sblock] Unfortunately, in order to be able to have a flaming enchant on an item it has to be at least a +1 beforehand. At least, this is by my reading. Other, more rules-savvy, judges might've grasped the meaning better than I did.

relevant SRD text: [sblock]In addition to an enhancement bonus, weapons may have special abilities. Special abilities count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of the item, but do not modify attack or damage bonuses (except where specifically noted). A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10. A weapon with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus. [/sblock]
[/sblock]

Click to expand...

[SBLOCK=dpdx & nimisgod]That's my reading of it, too. I'm not very clear on the fine detail of the CRAFT rules but it also looks to me as if you have to have a feat - Craft Magic Arms & Armor - to make a magical weapon, and I didn't see that feat on Rurik's list (requires caster level 5, anyway, so it wouldn't be available to him).

dpdx, the gift is a very generous one - both from Rurik in character, and from you as a player. I was wondering if Eusebius could contribute craft points and cash to the process - but since a +1 flaming weapon would be the equivalent of a +2 weapon, which costs 8000 gp for the magical component, I guess it's actually beyond our resources.

I'll leave the final decision with you - it's yours to make, after all - but just know that Eusebius (and I) would be absolutely thrilled with a MW spiked chain, with no further enhancement.

By the way, I hope that his adoption into the clan means that Eusebius can look forward to seeing more of Rurik in the future!

'Nock[/SBLOCK]

OOG: [sblock]actually, the way that I read it, Rurik made the MW weapon and had Chennet priests enchant it. I did something similar with one of my LEW characters[/sblock]

nimisgod said:

OOG: [sblock]actually, the way that I read it, Rurik made the MW weapon and had Chennet priests enchant it. I did something similar with one of my LEW characters[/sblock]

Click to expand...

[sblock=nimisgod & dpdx]Great! That simplifies things a lot. [/sblock]

Eskon looks at the excited Eusebius and his gift. He smiles and drinks deeply from his cup.

"There must be some story behind that, I imagine. You seem like a true adventurer. All I've gotten in my brief experience is a few potions, some tomato sauce stains, and a good amount of burns from scalding hot cheese."

[sblock=OOC]Yes, you need a +1 enchantment before you can put something else on it like flaming.[/sblock]

Boddynock said:

[sblock=nimisgod & dpdx]Great! That simplifies things a lot. [/sblock]

Click to expand...

[sblock=nimisgod & Boddynock]I tried my best, but I guess I missed a detail. How much is Rurik short, then? Is it 2000? or 6000?

Any amount Rurik has is not a problem - I can set that right as soon as it takes to update Rurik's sheet.

But if it truly is beyond Rurik's resources, then, I'll leave it at +1 and edit my previous post to reflect that.[/sblock]

Raanemunde smiles at Eusebius.

"Thank you, Father Eusebius, that is very kind of you. I believe I could use something to eat and a dwarven ale.

Rurik has stood in the Great Hall of Our Clan at evening meal and recounted your bravery, Father Eusebius. I look forward to a time when you can visit our Hall and meet the rest of the Clan."

Raanemunde signals to one of the servers, and relates her food order.

OOG: [sblock]Rurik would need 6000gp more (for a total of 8000gp) to make the spiked chain a +1 flaming spiked chain. [/sblock]