recentcoin
Explorer
And.....
*waiting with baited breath*
*waiting with baited breath*
Causality and Condemnation (Planescape) [Updated 9/19]
ThirdWizard
First Post
Sorry I havne't updated recently, I just started a PbP (which has kept me very busy) and I'm waiting for my Players to get back to me with their approval of the story, as I always make sure they agree with how their characters are portrayed. I have several pages written and waiting to be posted as soon as they get back to me with their approval. 
recentcoin
Explorer
*pokes the DM impatiently*
Hurry up!
*thinks to self - prolly going to regret poking the DM later*
*sigh*
*bows before the mighty DM*
Please forgive my impertinence.....
ThirdWizard
First Post
"I know what I’m doing… mostly"
-Malbi, opening a planar breach
Session 7/8/06 - In Search Of (continued)
The small room already smelled of mold and wet hair when they arrived, and all four of them sitting in the cramped space didn’t make it any more pleasant. Grum dozed in a corner, having fallen asleep after his shift on watch. Stock and Malbi sat in silence, wondering if this was all for naught. Jackal was by the window, keeping lookout on the graveyard across the street, watching for anyone coming near the mausoleum where they had fought the mummies.
As it got dark, it became harder to see across the street, his gem of darkvision barely making it to the first few grave stones arranged haphazardly. At least they knew anyone approaching would do so from this side. Finally, as antipeak approached, Jackal noticed two figures making their way down the street that called stark attention to themselves over the beggars, thugs, and few fiends who made their way by him earlier.
One of them was a bauriaur, and he was definitely the guy they were looking for. This bauriaur stood out even in the depravity of the Hive, his body fur all shaven off, his skin tattooed with various symbols from his head down to his hooves. He carried a very large and very long backpack, and he carried an ogre sized great axe, covered with symbols as thickly as his own skin. It was effeminately the guy they were looking for, Delita.
Beside him walked a goblin, even smaller than most, his feet plodding along beside Delita quickly as they silently walked. He wore simple rags and carried nothing much himself, but he also had tattoos on his body and some kind of amulet or medallion hanging from his neck.
As soon as they entered the graveyard and began to head toward the middle mausoleum, it was time to make their move. Notifying the others and waking Grum, they headed out of the abandoned building and across the street into the graveyard, stopping just outside of the stone structure.
Malbi pulled out his Staff of Frost, pointing it toward the door, ready to spring his trap. The others backed away from the door, Jackal standing beside it and pushed it open quickly ducking back. As soon as the doorway was open, Malbi called out the command word, activating the staff, and a blast of cold erupted from the staff, freezing the moisture in the air as it filled the room in front of him.
As soon as he did that, the others sprung into action, rushing into the room in ambush, but it appeared their attack wasn’t so anticipated as the enemy was hiding behind caskets. What had given them away? That would have to wait until later. Now, they had to fight.
Delita wasn’t looking to go down easily, however. He stood, showing a full suit of plate barding and demonic metal braces over his horns. “Come forth!” He called out. Nothing happened. He looked around from casket to casket in a frenzy.
“They aren’t coming.” Jackal smiled at him.
Growling, Delita bellowed out “Fools! I will teach you your place!” Turning from Jackal and gazing down at Stock, who was in the front and closest to him, and leapt over the casket he had been hiding behind previously, dropping his axe upon him, the axe head bursting into black flames as it came down on the bugbear. Stock screamed out in pain as the dark blade cut into his flesh, the wound smoking for a few seconds after it had passed through.
Jackal had his crossbow ready and fired a shot at the bauriaur which bounced off of his armor, and Stock swung his double axe, one end flaming and one end cold as ice, as quickly as he could, several hits striking true on the enemy. The bauriaur grimaced against the pain of the blows, but none were fatal. The two combatants faced off against each other.
The goblin was also hiding behind a sarcophagus and peeked above the top as the others fought. Pointing, he shot out two rays of fire from his fingertips straight at Grum, striking him and burning his leg and arm. Turning, Grum moved toward the goblin, axe in hand.
Malbi peered into the room in order to aid with his magic. He noted Grum facing off against the goblin, not a very fair fight, he thought, and decided to focus on the crazed bauriaur with the axe as big as himself. Letting fly two rays of fire from his own fingertips, he tried to hit Delita without striking the others, but missed completely.
Jackal decided the crossbows weren’t going to cut it for this fight, so he pulled out his two short swords, electricity buzzing from one of them, and began to work his way around to the other side of the room to strike from behind.
As Jackal slunk around the room, Delita took another swing at Stock, this time crushing his left shoulder in and slamming his axe head into his leg so hard that it almost knocked him off of his feet with pain. Stock wasn’t just taking it, however, and cut deep into Delita’s goat side with one of his swings. Malbi thought that at this rate, they would both kill each other and moved into the room to better direct his spells.
Grum squeezed into the back of the room, and the goblin looked straight up at him, baring his teeth. If nothing, Grum could say the little guy had guts. The goblin cast some kind of spell, and Grum felt like something was trying to keep his mind from working. Concentrating, he threw off the mental attack, and continued bearing down on the goblin, who now didn’t look so confident.
Jackal made it around and sliced into Delita’s flank, striking him unprepared. The cut was deep, and one of his rear legs spasmed at the cut. Delita growled back and lowered his axe for a long swing back at Jackal. Stock, one shoulder barely moving and a deep cut in his side, took this opportunity to limp back to try and regain his bearings, moving to stand between Malbi and Delita.
While that was going on, Grum had squeezed his way in to the corner where the goblin was situated and swung his axe down at the small creature, who was cleaved almost in two and flew across the room, his body splattering on the black alter, blood oozing down its surface and into a pool below. Grum turned back, saw that Stock was injured, and began to squeeze his way back to help his comrade.
The fight between Delita and Jackal was heating up as Malbi let loose the same spell again, this time burning into Delita’s legs, causing him to limp to the side as he swung his axe at Jackal, the flames on the greataxe flaring up more than before and burning deeply into his chest as the axe ripped through his armor, Jackal staggering back. But they could see that Delita was almost to his breaking point as well.
Grum chanted to himself and touched his hand on Stock’s shoulder, the bone knitting itself as his hand lay there and the pain going away. Stock hefted his double axe again, swinging his arm a bit, and moved carefully back into combat with the bauriaur, engaging him once again. With Delita surrounded, Jackal took advantage of his newly distracted state and with two quick stabs cut through an artery in his neck, blood spraying out as his heart pumped his blood onto the floor in front of him. Delita slumped to the ground dead.
-Malbi, opening a planar breach
Session 7/8/06 - In Search Of (continued)
The small room already smelled of mold and wet hair when they arrived, and all four of them sitting in the cramped space didn’t make it any more pleasant. Grum dozed in a corner, having fallen asleep after his shift on watch. Stock and Malbi sat in silence, wondering if this was all for naught. Jackal was by the window, keeping lookout on the graveyard across the street, watching for anyone coming near the mausoleum where they had fought the mummies.
As it got dark, it became harder to see across the street, his gem of darkvision barely making it to the first few grave stones arranged haphazardly. At least they knew anyone approaching would do so from this side. Finally, as antipeak approached, Jackal noticed two figures making their way down the street that called stark attention to themselves over the beggars, thugs, and few fiends who made their way by him earlier.
One of them was a bauriaur, and he was definitely the guy they were looking for. This bauriaur stood out even in the depravity of the Hive, his body fur all shaven off, his skin tattooed with various symbols from his head down to his hooves. He carried a very large and very long backpack, and he carried an ogre sized great axe, covered with symbols as thickly as his own skin. It was effeminately the guy they were looking for, Delita.
Beside him walked a goblin, even smaller than most, his feet plodding along beside Delita quickly as they silently walked. He wore simple rags and carried nothing much himself, but he also had tattoos on his body and some kind of amulet or medallion hanging from his neck.
As soon as they entered the graveyard and began to head toward the middle mausoleum, it was time to make their move. Notifying the others and waking Grum, they headed out of the abandoned building and across the street into the graveyard, stopping just outside of the stone structure.
Malbi pulled out his Staff of Frost, pointing it toward the door, ready to spring his trap. The others backed away from the door, Jackal standing beside it and pushed it open quickly ducking back. As soon as the doorway was open, Malbi called out the command word, activating the staff, and a blast of cold erupted from the staff, freezing the moisture in the air as it filled the room in front of him.
As soon as he did that, the others sprung into action, rushing into the room in ambush, but it appeared their attack wasn’t so anticipated as the enemy was hiding behind caskets. What had given them away? That would have to wait until later. Now, they had to fight.
Delita wasn’t looking to go down easily, however. He stood, showing a full suit of plate barding and demonic metal braces over his horns. “Come forth!” He called out. Nothing happened. He looked around from casket to casket in a frenzy.
“They aren’t coming.” Jackal smiled at him.
Growling, Delita bellowed out “Fools! I will teach you your place!” Turning from Jackal and gazing down at Stock, who was in the front and closest to him, and leapt over the casket he had been hiding behind previously, dropping his axe upon him, the axe head bursting into black flames as it came down on the bugbear. Stock screamed out in pain as the dark blade cut into his flesh, the wound smoking for a few seconds after it had passed through.
Jackal had his crossbow ready and fired a shot at the bauriaur which bounced off of his armor, and Stock swung his double axe, one end flaming and one end cold as ice, as quickly as he could, several hits striking true on the enemy. The bauriaur grimaced against the pain of the blows, but none were fatal. The two combatants faced off against each other.
The goblin was also hiding behind a sarcophagus and peeked above the top as the others fought. Pointing, he shot out two rays of fire from his fingertips straight at Grum, striking him and burning his leg and arm. Turning, Grum moved toward the goblin, axe in hand.
Malbi peered into the room in order to aid with his magic. He noted Grum facing off against the goblin, not a very fair fight, he thought, and decided to focus on the crazed bauriaur with the axe as big as himself. Letting fly two rays of fire from his own fingertips, he tried to hit Delita without striking the others, but missed completely.
Jackal decided the crossbows weren’t going to cut it for this fight, so he pulled out his two short swords, electricity buzzing from one of them, and began to work his way around to the other side of the room to strike from behind.
As Jackal slunk around the room, Delita took another swing at Stock, this time crushing his left shoulder in and slamming his axe head into his leg so hard that it almost knocked him off of his feet with pain. Stock wasn’t just taking it, however, and cut deep into Delita’s goat side with one of his swings. Malbi thought that at this rate, they would both kill each other and moved into the room to better direct his spells.
Grum squeezed into the back of the room, and the goblin looked straight up at him, baring his teeth. If nothing, Grum could say the little guy had guts. The goblin cast some kind of spell, and Grum felt like something was trying to keep his mind from working. Concentrating, he threw off the mental attack, and continued bearing down on the goblin, who now didn’t look so confident.
Jackal made it around and sliced into Delita’s flank, striking him unprepared. The cut was deep, and one of his rear legs spasmed at the cut. Delita growled back and lowered his axe for a long swing back at Jackal. Stock, one shoulder barely moving and a deep cut in his side, took this opportunity to limp back to try and regain his bearings, moving to stand between Malbi and Delita.
While that was going on, Grum had squeezed his way in to the corner where the goblin was situated and swung his axe down at the small creature, who was cleaved almost in two and flew across the room, his body splattering on the black alter, blood oozing down its surface and into a pool below. Grum turned back, saw that Stock was injured, and began to squeeze his way back to help his comrade.
The fight between Delita and Jackal was heating up as Malbi let loose the same spell again, this time burning into Delita’s legs, causing him to limp to the side as he swung his axe at Jackal, the flames on the greataxe flaring up more than before and burning deeply into his chest as the axe ripped through his armor, Jackal staggering back. But they could see that Delita was almost to his breaking point as well.
Grum chanted to himself and touched his hand on Stock’s shoulder, the bone knitting itself as his hand lay there and the pain going away. Stock hefted his double axe again, swinging his arm a bit, and moved carefully back into combat with the bauriaur, engaging him once again. With Delita surrounded, Jackal took advantage of his newly distracted state and with two quick stabs cut through an artery in his neck, blood spraying out as his heart pumped his blood onto the floor in front of him. Delita slumped to the ground dead.
ThirdWizard
First Post
Action filled post, that one. The combat was actually longer, but I think that summed up the action very nicely. Also, there's a bit of controversy over the Players as to who exactly it was that killed Delita. We'll just have to say I took some poetic license and made a DM call on the story version.
You are absconded.
Now, go poke the players so that they get the next part read over quickly.
recentcoin said:
You are absconded.
Now, go poke the players so that they get the next part read over quickly.
ThirdWizard
First Post
“Even non dimensional spaces can get stunk up by corpses.”
-Planar Proverb
Session 7/8/06 - In Search Of (continued)
“Weren’t we going to try to take them alive?” This was Stock, seeing as how the rest of them had forgotten this minor detail. “Something about questioning them?”
The others paused for only a moment before resuming cleaning their weapons and riffling through the pockets of their now deceased enemies. Malbi carefully stowed the large greataxe in his bag of holding, and Jackal held his amulet while examining the goblin’s things closely. Stock sighed and wiped blood off of his armor.
Finally, with all the requisite looting out of the way, they returned to the matter at hand, that of finding out where Caradver was.
“I can question them tomorrow,” Grum said, finally speaking up.
“Good good. All is well.” Jackal was in a rare good mood thanks to the spoils. He even forgot to wryly comment about this being a wild goose chase.
Jackal wrapped up the body of the bauriaur in extra cloaks they had. “Okay, now put this in your bag of holding and…”
“Wait a minute!” Malbi didn’t like where this was going. “I don’t want that nasty thing in my bag.”
“You kept dead dragons in there…”
“That was different. Put it in your bag.”
Jackal grumbled and pulled his bag of holding’s mouth as far as it would stretch, squeezing the limp bauriaur body into the opening. The others looked on with disgust as he did so. “There. I hope you’re happy.”
Malbi nodded his approval. “What about the goblin?”
“Meh, just leave it.”
“Where is the assassin?!” Jackal fumed as he emerged from their basement where he had left the captured assassin the night before. “He’s gone! Did one of you let him out? So help me, I’ll…” he trailed off as he confronted Stock in the hallway.
Stock only shrugged. “I didn’t see nothing.”
“Well he didn’t just disappear!” Jackal headed up the stairs to Malbi’s rooms. “Where’s Malbi?”
Stock quietly slithered away to question the guard to see if they noticed anything.
“Well?” Jackal paced back and forth in front of the cell, the sounds of the grumbling bulette constantly emanating from behind them.
“Nope. No magical auras, no invisible assassin, nothing. He’s not in there.”
Jackal had hoped in vain that it was some kind of magic trick to get them to open the cell door and let him free himself that way, but no such luck. The dark elf was really gone.
Malbi walked into the Hall of Speakers, looking for Factor Dhoren. A dispatch had been sent for him earlier that day, arriving soon after they had discovered their captive was missing. The message didn’t say why he was being called in, but he was a loyal member of the Sign of the One, and if a Factor was calling him in, it must be important.
Looking about the Hall he finally found the Factor’s office, and knocked on the door.
“Come in, come in!” the voice was loud and unhesitatingly self assured.
Malbi walked into the office, looking around it. It was full of books and a few strange devices he didn’t recognize. A man in his late thirties or early forties greeted him as he walked inside.
“Sit! I have to talk to you about this whole infiltrator business you seem to know about.”
That explained that. Malbi and company had found out a plot to put spies in each of Sigil’s Factions recently. They had tracked down the ones responsible to the Plane of Fire and dealt with their outpost there, but they weren’t sure if any survived. If they had, then the Factions, and most importantly his own, were still in danger.
When he had tried to expose the spy within the Sign of the One, however, his superior had not believed a word of it, and had in fact told him out right that if he were wrong that Malbi would no longer be welcome in the Faction. Then, he had promptly, to the best of Malbi’s knowledge at least, not done anything about it. It looks like the situation had taken a slight turn.
“So you found out that the Red Haired Man is a spy!”
“Yes. We had word from our allies, the Sensates, that they discovered a spy in their Faction. They didn’t know it was part of something larger, though, and they exposed and… dealt with him.” He leaned back in his chair. “We checked up on this Tylaric Stormwing, as he calls himself. His story is a lie. We kept him around, not as to arouse suspicion. It has come to our attention that this was part of a larger plot. And, that you know something about it.”
“Yes sir.”
“Well, lets hear it!’
Malbi recounted everything that had happened to them. Discovering the Red Haired Man, scrying on him, and eventually traveling to the Plane of Fire when they discovered where the whole thing was going down. Dhoren listened intently, not missing a thing. When he finally finished, he nodded and leaned back again, having leaned forward more and more as the tale progressed.
“We just have to find Green Marvent. He’s the one behind everything, if he’s still alive. We destroyed the entire outpost on the Plane of Fire.”
A few minutes went by without Dhoren saying anything, and Malbi was thinking about to saying something when the Factor began to speak, “I’ve heard… not so great things about you. Factotum Sylsas, who you previously answered to had many colorful things to say about you, playing with dead bodies as if they were dolls, making outrageous claims about spies, which by the way turned out to be correct. But, you seem to be quite a capable individual.”
“I can explain that body thing.”
Dhoren looked up, an eyebrow raised.
“I was just showing him that Grum had died, and that he needed to be raised…”
“I… see… in the future I think you can handle that with Signer priests…” By the look on Dhoren’s face it looked like he was starting to reconsider Malbi, but he shook it off for the moment.
“We’ve reassigned Sylsas. His office is now operating out of the Beastlands. You’ll answer directly to me about this matter. We want you to work on finding out who and where this Green Marvent is. To that end, we have opened up the Faction’s resources to you. I’ve got a member who will cast contact other plane for you, so figure out your questions. And good luck. I expect this to be handled swiftly and efficiently.”
Malbi was excused from the office and walked the Hall of Speakers to the exit, nodding to other Signers as he went. A high priority? He couldn’t very well say no to a Factor in his own Faction, especially, it seemed, this one. Now he had two top priorities. Caradver had a contract out on their lives and might bring them closer to putting an end to the whole conflict with the Dustmen that they had going on.
But, finding Green Marvent was also important. He had to regain face with his Faction, and a plot of this magnitude wasn’t going to just sit and wait for him to finish. However, had needed time to figure out what questions he was going to ask for that spell. He decided that they would go after Caradver and return as soon as possible. Jackal wouldn’t have it any other way anyway.
-Planar Proverb
Session 7/8/06 - In Search Of (continued)
“Weren’t we going to try to take them alive?” This was Stock, seeing as how the rest of them had forgotten this minor detail. “Something about questioning them?”
The others paused for only a moment before resuming cleaning their weapons and riffling through the pockets of their now deceased enemies. Malbi carefully stowed the large greataxe in his bag of holding, and Jackal held his amulet while examining the goblin’s things closely. Stock sighed and wiped blood off of his armor.
Finally, with all the requisite looting out of the way, they returned to the matter at hand, that of finding out where Caradver was.
“I can question them tomorrow,” Grum said, finally speaking up.
“Good good. All is well.” Jackal was in a rare good mood thanks to the spoils. He even forgot to wryly comment about this being a wild goose chase.
Jackal wrapped up the body of the bauriaur in extra cloaks they had. “Okay, now put this in your bag of holding and…”
“Wait a minute!” Malbi didn’t like where this was going. “I don’t want that nasty thing in my bag.”
“You kept dead dragons in there…”
“That was different. Put it in your bag.”
Jackal grumbled and pulled his bag of holding’s mouth as far as it would stretch, squeezing the limp bauriaur body into the opening. The others looked on with disgust as he did so. “There. I hope you’re happy.”
Malbi nodded his approval. “What about the goblin?”
“Meh, just leave it.”
“Where is the assassin?!” Jackal fumed as he emerged from their basement where he had left the captured assassin the night before. “He’s gone! Did one of you let him out? So help me, I’ll…” he trailed off as he confronted Stock in the hallway.
Stock only shrugged. “I didn’t see nothing.”
“Well he didn’t just disappear!” Jackal headed up the stairs to Malbi’s rooms. “Where’s Malbi?”
Stock quietly slithered away to question the guard to see if they noticed anything.
“Well?” Jackal paced back and forth in front of the cell, the sounds of the grumbling bulette constantly emanating from behind them.
“Nope. No magical auras, no invisible assassin, nothing. He’s not in there.”
Jackal had hoped in vain that it was some kind of magic trick to get them to open the cell door and let him free himself that way, but no such luck. The dark elf was really gone.
Malbi walked into the Hall of Speakers, looking for Factor Dhoren. A dispatch had been sent for him earlier that day, arriving soon after they had discovered their captive was missing. The message didn’t say why he was being called in, but he was a loyal member of the Sign of the One, and if a Factor was calling him in, it must be important.
Looking about the Hall he finally found the Factor’s office, and knocked on the door.
“Come in, come in!” the voice was loud and unhesitatingly self assured.
Malbi walked into the office, looking around it. It was full of books and a few strange devices he didn’t recognize. A man in his late thirties or early forties greeted him as he walked inside.
“Sit! I have to talk to you about this whole infiltrator business you seem to know about.”
That explained that. Malbi and company had found out a plot to put spies in each of Sigil’s Factions recently. They had tracked down the ones responsible to the Plane of Fire and dealt with their outpost there, but they weren’t sure if any survived. If they had, then the Factions, and most importantly his own, were still in danger.
When he had tried to expose the spy within the Sign of the One, however, his superior had not believed a word of it, and had in fact told him out right that if he were wrong that Malbi would no longer be welcome in the Faction. Then, he had promptly, to the best of Malbi’s knowledge at least, not done anything about it. It looks like the situation had taken a slight turn.
“So you found out that the Red Haired Man is a spy!”
“Yes. We had word from our allies, the Sensates, that they discovered a spy in their Faction. They didn’t know it was part of something larger, though, and they exposed and… dealt with him.” He leaned back in his chair. “We checked up on this Tylaric Stormwing, as he calls himself. His story is a lie. We kept him around, not as to arouse suspicion. It has come to our attention that this was part of a larger plot. And, that you know something about it.”
“Yes sir.”
“Well, lets hear it!’
Malbi recounted everything that had happened to them. Discovering the Red Haired Man, scrying on him, and eventually traveling to the Plane of Fire when they discovered where the whole thing was going down. Dhoren listened intently, not missing a thing. When he finally finished, he nodded and leaned back again, having leaned forward more and more as the tale progressed.
“We just have to find Green Marvent. He’s the one behind everything, if he’s still alive. We destroyed the entire outpost on the Plane of Fire.”
A few minutes went by without Dhoren saying anything, and Malbi was thinking about to saying something when the Factor began to speak, “I’ve heard… not so great things about you. Factotum Sylsas, who you previously answered to had many colorful things to say about you, playing with dead bodies as if they were dolls, making outrageous claims about spies, which by the way turned out to be correct. But, you seem to be quite a capable individual.”
“I can explain that body thing.”
Dhoren looked up, an eyebrow raised.
“I was just showing him that Grum had died, and that he needed to be raised…”
“I… see… in the future I think you can handle that with Signer priests…” By the look on Dhoren’s face it looked like he was starting to reconsider Malbi, but he shook it off for the moment.
“We’ve reassigned Sylsas. His office is now operating out of the Beastlands. You’ll answer directly to me about this matter. We want you to work on finding out who and where this Green Marvent is. To that end, we have opened up the Faction’s resources to you. I’ve got a member who will cast contact other plane for you, so figure out your questions. And good luck. I expect this to be handled swiftly and efficiently.”
Malbi was excused from the office and walked the Hall of Speakers to the exit, nodding to other Signers as he went. A high priority? He couldn’t very well say no to a Factor in his own Faction, especially, it seemed, this one. Now he had two top priorities. Caradver had a contract out on their lives and might bring them closer to putting an end to the whole conflict with the Dustmen that they had going on.
But, finding Green Marvent was also important. He had to regain face with his Faction, and a plot of this magnitude wasn’t going to just sit and wait for him to finish. However, had needed time to figure out what questions he was going to ask for that spell. He decided that they would go after Caradver and return as soon as possible. Jackal wouldn’t have it any other way anyway.
Last edited:
ThirdWizard
First Post
“As a general rule, I don't trust dead people.”
-Stock, on speak with dead.
Session 7/8/06 - In Search Of (continued)
By evening their searches had turned up nothing. They decided there was nothing they could do, since they were pressed for time with other matters. Hopefully their problems would be solved if they found Caradver, and they wouldn’t have to worry about the escaped assassin. That made two of the three who attacked them that had gotten away. But, again, they had more pressing matters.
Grum had prepared his speak with dead spell, and they had worked out a few questions in advance. He sat over the body, incanting and holding his axe aloft above the body. Finally, he opened his eyes, a faraway look in them for a moment, then focused on the others. “I’m ready. First question?”
“Where is Caradver,” Jackal answered. “And, he’d better have known.”
Grum looked down at the body of the bauriaur, laid out on their living room floor. “Where is Caradver?” He closed his eyes and concentrated on making the corpse act.
The voice came out of its mouth cold and without inflection or emotion. “In the Lost City near the Spire, recently discovered.”
“Damn cryptic answers,” muttered Jackal.
“How do we get there?” interjected Malbi. Jackal gave him a cold look, but nodded his approval.
Grum repeated his questioning of the corpse, repeating the question.
“Travel Spireward from the Mountain of the Dwarves.”
“Mountain of the Dwarves? What kind of crap is that? How many dwarf mountains must there be on the Outlands? This-“
“I know what he’s talking about,” Malbi interrupted worried that Jackal would decide to start hacking away at the corpse.
“Oh really?”
“Yes. The Dwarven Mountain is the Realm of several members of the dwarven pantheon, located on the Outlands. It lies within the second to outermost ring of the Outlands layers. Spireward means that we should head toward the Spire to get to whatever city this is.
“Okay, but that could be anywhere. That’s a big place and-“
Malbi shook his head and cut him off again, “Not really. On the Outlands, if you want to go somewhere you just have to think about it and walk. Eventually you’ll get there. Now that we know that the city exists, its just a matter of overland travel to get there. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Jackal narrowed his eyes at Malbi for a second, then turned to Grum. “How many questions left?”
“Two more.”
“Fine then. Lets see if he knows anything about Darius. Ask him where Darius is.”
Grum did so.
“In the Temple on the Mountain of Flame.”
Jackal looked over at Malbi for clarification. “A Temple. Of the Temples? And which one is that?”
“I’m not sure… ask what the Mountain of Flame is…” Malbi thought he knew, but he had to be sure.
“This is our last question,” warned Grum.
“Go ahead,” said Jackal.
Grum nodded and proceeded to ask the question, focusing his thought into the task.
“Yugoloth controlled Gehenna.”
“Wonderful. Just wonderful.” said Jackal.
Malbi had a defeatist look in his eyes. “We can’t go there. Not right now.”
“I know that,” Jackal shot back.
“But, why is he with the Yugoloth?”
“We’ll have to wait to find out. First, we’re headed to the Outlands.”
-Stock, on speak with dead.
Session 7/8/06 - In Search Of (continued)
By evening their searches had turned up nothing. They decided there was nothing they could do, since they were pressed for time with other matters. Hopefully their problems would be solved if they found Caradver, and they wouldn’t have to worry about the escaped assassin. That made two of the three who attacked them that had gotten away. But, again, they had more pressing matters.
Grum had prepared his speak with dead spell, and they had worked out a few questions in advance. He sat over the body, incanting and holding his axe aloft above the body. Finally, he opened his eyes, a faraway look in them for a moment, then focused on the others. “I’m ready. First question?”
“Where is Caradver,” Jackal answered. “And, he’d better have known.”
Grum looked down at the body of the bauriaur, laid out on their living room floor. “Where is Caradver?” He closed his eyes and concentrated on making the corpse act.
The voice came out of its mouth cold and without inflection or emotion. “In the Lost City near the Spire, recently discovered.”
“Damn cryptic answers,” muttered Jackal.
“How do we get there?” interjected Malbi. Jackal gave him a cold look, but nodded his approval.
Grum repeated his questioning of the corpse, repeating the question.
“Travel Spireward from the Mountain of the Dwarves.”
“Mountain of the Dwarves? What kind of crap is that? How many dwarf mountains must there be on the Outlands? This-“
“I know what he’s talking about,” Malbi interrupted worried that Jackal would decide to start hacking away at the corpse.
“Oh really?”
“Yes. The Dwarven Mountain is the Realm of several members of the dwarven pantheon, located on the Outlands. It lies within the second to outermost ring of the Outlands layers. Spireward means that we should head toward the Spire to get to whatever city this is.
“Okay, but that could be anywhere. That’s a big place and-“
Malbi shook his head and cut him off again, “Not really. On the Outlands, if you want to go somewhere you just have to think about it and walk. Eventually you’ll get there. Now that we know that the city exists, its just a matter of overland travel to get there. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Jackal narrowed his eyes at Malbi for a second, then turned to Grum. “How many questions left?”
“Two more.”
“Fine then. Lets see if he knows anything about Darius. Ask him where Darius is.”
Grum did so.
“In the Temple on the Mountain of Flame.”
Jackal looked over at Malbi for clarification. “A Temple. Of the Temples? And which one is that?”
“I’m not sure… ask what the Mountain of Flame is…” Malbi thought he knew, but he had to be sure.
“This is our last question,” warned Grum.
“Go ahead,” said Jackal.
Grum nodded and proceeded to ask the question, focusing his thought into the task.
“Yugoloth controlled Gehenna.”
“Wonderful. Just wonderful.” said Jackal.
Malbi had a defeatist look in his eyes. “We can’t go there. Not right now.”
“I know that,” Jackal shot back.
“But, why is he with the Yugoloth?”
“We’ll have to wait to find out. First, we’re headed to the Outlands.”
ThirdWizard
First Post
“Doesn’t he look a little… gray… to you?”
- anonymous dwarf talking about The Jackal
Session 8/5/06 - The Lost City
Jackal liked to drink, but for the past few days, he had consumed possibly more dwarven ale (the real stuff) than he had drunk since coming to Sigil all those years ago. This wasn’t by choice, either, exactly. They needed a way to the Dwarven Mountain on the Outlands, and who better to find that out from than dwarves.
It took days, however, for him to find some dwarves that were from there and were willing to talk to an outsider. The dwarven bars weren’t exactly made for people his size, Jackal stood a foot over them after all. It wasn’t until the third night frequenting dwarven bars and testing his stamina that he was challenged to a drinking contest.
Cheers ran through the bar and beer mugs were raised. Some were trying to make bets, but no one would take odds on the human interloper into their establishment, the Everfull Mug, a bar on the outskirts of the Lady’s Ward near the Market Ward. One dwarf slapped Jackal on the back hard as he sat down at the table, looking his opponent in the eyes. This would be his proving ground.
The dwarven ale was poured and he took his first gulp, barely feeling the effects. The dwarf across from him, a middle aged man with his beard braided in loops back into itself, took a drink as well, and they stared at each other. The next mugs came and they drank again. It was on the third draught that he started feeling dizzy.
The fourth drink was a bit harder to down, they’d pulled out the really strong stuff, not that dwarven ale is every anything but strong, of course. Jackal wasn’t sure what he had been drinking the past few days, but this was different. Across the table, though, he could see that his opponent was feeling the effects as well.
The cheers throughout the room turned to murmurs, then again returned to cheers of amazement. They hadn’t expected him to last through two drinks after they pulled out the hard vintage. Few non-dwarves could last through three let alone four pints. He was pulling his own in the contest, and they were loving it.
The fifth drink came, and he downed it, this time more slowly, keeping his balance on the chair, the world growing fuzzy in front of him. He tried to lock eyes with his opponent and failed to see more than an outline. But, he didn’t miss the sixth ale being placed in his open hand. Slowly, he moved it toward his mouth and started to drink, but before he could finish, he heard a loud thump in front of him and the loudest assortment of voices he had ever heard in his life. Suddenly, finding himself floating, he wondered if he had passed out and was now dreaming.
What happened after that he wasn’t quite sure. He had vague memories of dwarven women coming onto him and that he was welcome back there or to any of the fine dwarven establishments in the city. He remembered lots of laughing, lots of singing, and at one point he could have sword he had a beard.
When he woke up the next day he had a headache that couldn’t be expressed in words, but no beard. Somewhere in the back of his mind something jumped out to him, however. The location of a portal to the Dwarven Mountain! All that drinking had paid off. He walked to the main room to find Malbi there, who had news about Green Marvent.
- anonymous dwarf talking about The Jackal
Session 8/5/06 - The Lost City
Jackal liked to drink, but for the past few days, he had consumed possibly more dwarven ale (the real stuff) than he had drunk since coming to Sigil all those years ago. This wasn’t by choice, either, exactly. They needed a way to the Dwarven Mountain on the Outlands, and who better to find that out from than dwarves.
It took days, however, for him to find some dwarves that were from there and were willing to talk to an outsider. The dwarven bars weren’t exactly made for people his size, Jackal stood a foot over them after all. It wasn’t until the third night frequenting dwarven bars and testing his stamina that he was challenged to a drinking contest.
Cheers ran through the bar and beer mugs were raised. Some were trying to make bets, but no one would take odds on the human interloper into their establishment, the Everfull Mug, a bar on the outskirts of the Lady’s Ward near the Market Ward. One dwarf slapped Jackal on the back hard as he sat down at the table, looking his opponent in the eyes. This would be his proving ground.
The dwarven ale was poured and he took his first gulp, barely feeling the effects. The dwarf across from him, a middle aged man with his beard braided in loops back into itself, took a drink as well, and they stared at each other. The next mugs came and they drank again. It was on the third draught that he started feeling dizzy.
The fourth drink was a bit harder to down, they’d pulled out the really strong stuff, not that dwarven ale is every anything but strong, of course. Jackal wasn’t sure what he had been drinking the past few days, but this was different. Across the table, though, he could see that his opponent was feeling the effects as well.
The cheers throughout the room turned to murmurs, then again returned to cheers of amazement. They hadn’t expected him to last through two drinks after they pulled out the hard vintage. Few non-dwarves could last through three let alone four pints. He was pulling his own in the contest, and they were loving it.
The fifth drink came, and he downed it, this time more slowly, keeping his balance on the chair, the world growing fuzzy in front of him. He tried to lock eyes with his opponent and failed to see more than an outline. But, he didn’t miss the sixth ale being placed in his open hand. Slowly, he moved it toward his mouth and started to drink, but before he could finish, he heard a loud thump in front of him and the loudest assortment of voices he had ever heard in his life. Suddenly, finding himself floating, he wondered if he had passed out and was now dreaming.
What happened after that he wasn’t quite sure. He had vague memories of dwarven women coming onto him and that he was welcome back there or to any of the fine dwarven establishments in the city. He remembered lots of laughing, lots of singing, and at one point he could have sword he had a beard.
When he woke up the next day he had a headache that couldn’t be expressed in words, but no beard. Somewhere in the back of his mind something jumped out to him, however. The location of a portal to the Dwarven Mountain! All that drinking had paid off. He walked to the main room to find Malbi there, who had news about Green Marvent.
recentcoin
Explorer
The Green Marvent?
Hmmm....me thinks the DM has been reading those old comic books again...
RC
Hmmm....me thinks the DM has been reading those old comic books again...
RC
ThirdWizard
First Post
Heh, Green Marvent is an NPC BBEG briefly mentioned in the PS Adventure "The Eternal Boundary." My Players make constant fun of the name.
