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Company of Chaos - All Around Golarion
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<blockquote data-quote="Lwaxy" data-source="post: 5910638" data-attributes="member: 53286"><p>Small weirdness with the "revenge of the kobold king" adventure - why would only the destroyed undead guard have a sword worth taking? I gave the others swords as well. </p><p></p><p>-------------------------------------</p><p></p><p></p><p>Edawon's Diary, 15th of Abadius</p><p></p><p></p><p>We found out from the blue kobolds that the other kobold we took prisoner was indeed the one who had set all the insects on the loose in the camp. Luckily, we found he had only agreed to help his undead former king because him and his apprentices had nowhere else to go. In the end he was happy enough to follow the blue guys to their new leader and take his remaining apprentices with him. </p><p></p><p>Krell came back just after they left, and he brought a surprise. Edgrin Galesong had heard about what had happened, and after the thugs were no longer with us he decided to help us out, after all, his own party had died thanks to that rotting king. It is a welcome addition to our team. The bard said that the half-elf girl Kimi had also wanted to come, but of course Krell had declined that offer. She is too young yet and too inexperienced. </p><p></p><p>Krell also brought news about the lumber consortium's displeasure about the deceased employes. Being good in such manipulations, Krell had explained that they had all put themselves in harm's way instead of listening to us and be careful, and how Teedum had always boasted about knowing the dangers of the wood. </p><p></p><p>We arrived at Cold Marrow a few hours later, as we had some trouble pushing through the snow. It is indeed a grim place. Even the glum lifeless rock there was a dull gray, like the petrified skull of some mountainous god. But the most striking feature of the desolate site was the silence. If silence could have a form I'd say it was thicker than fog and as oppressive as thunder. No bird song or knocking of woodpeckers disturbed the noiseless din. The slightest sound t seemed to echo through the limp rotting trees for miles. If there is such thing as undead land, this would be it. </p><p></p><p>We finally arrived at the side of a giant hill. There we found a mound of earth and clay. Symbols of unknown origin encrusted its entire exterior, although most were eroded by time’s careless caress. Ascending the mound were a series of broken stairs framed by two giant menhirs of white marble. In the middle of those stairs two enormous stone disks, each the size of a giant’s wagon wheel, rested one atop the other, their edges overlapping slightly. The disks were carved with thousands of runes in wild patterns that could make you dizzy if you looked at them for too long. Thew bard thinks it might have been a calendar once, but what exactly it did, we can't say.</p><p></p><p>Several depressions in the disks marked the places where valuable gems or metals one were, but of course treasure hunters had removed them by now. Amazingly, Zaza found and recovered a sapphire left behind, a pleasant surprise. We may have to get it checked out once we meet Zayel again, as Majek guesses it might be magical. </p><p></p><p>Another pair of menhirs framed the entryway to the barrow mound atop the hillside. Once, this entrance was probably smooth stone covered in wards and curses, but now this seal lies was all but blasted shards. Lying crumpled at the entryway were two kobold corpses, twisted and blackened. Their teeth were gone, their eyes hollowed, and horrific grimaces adorn their withered faces. Darkness beckoned beyond this cold welcome and a rasping hollow laughter echoes forth from the broken seal. Yes, only a fool could not notice that there were still some active curses. Thus, we had to shadow walk in with Krell again. Unfortunately, he would not be able to get all of us out by the same method so we hoped that the way out would not be a problem. </p><p></p><p>The stairs down into the tomb were a lot less damaged than those outside, but that was to be expected. Then there was water at the bottom of the stairs. The sound of bubbling water echoed here and the air was dank and warm. By now, we had lit a lantern. In every corner of the room a fountain bubbled and smoked, with wisps of white-hot vapor rising from the carved needle-filled maws of some strange fish-like creatures. The stone effigies of this strange race were rendered in elegant repose, spouting water from their mouths into basins made by their cradled arms. The fountain in the northwest corner was smashed to bits. Rubble now mostly dammed the flow of whatever hot spring feeded it, but warm water pooled around its base, slowly frothing into the center of the room. The damage seemed to have been rather recent. </p><p></p><p>That was all the warning we had before 3 water elementals jumped out of the other fountains and attacked us. I'm not sure what Krell did as I put myself in front of Zaza and thus covered our only light source, but there was a blinding light and heat, and then there was steam, and a lot of it. We didn't exactly get hurt, but it was very uncomfortable and we started to sweat on top of the already existing dampness. All the water in the room was gone. Zaza commented on getting badly sick if we would get out in the cold like this again, and Krell said he would fix this when we were done if he had any magic left. </p><p></p><p>We next came to a chamber serving as crossroads of sorts. It was once an ornate room but time had ravaged it. Half crumbled carvings of cityscapes, some atop clouds and others below the waves, adorned the walls. Wispy cloud-stuff formed a ring of white vapor just below the ceiling. Four corridors branched off of this chamber in each cardinal direction. On the east wall, a cracked and crumbling portrait of a bearded man wearing armor made of coral and some strange glowing metal rested on the archway above the corridor there. More rasping laughter came from the room to the east, as well as the muffled moans of some tormented soul. </p><p></p><p>"Azlanti?" Galesong asked in wonder, as he recognized who build this. Until then, we had simply not given it much thought. At the same time, Krell yelled "hold your breath!" and hurled a lighting spell at the cloud thing, which was now swooping down on us. </p><p></p><p>I had no idea what was going on, so I pushed Zaza through the archway on the right in a full run. I saw the half-orc pulling something from his belt, then there was the stink of something alchemical just as we made it into the other room. I had to breathe, but it didn't seem to matter as that weird smoke creature was not near us. </p><p></p><p>The chamber we entered had suffered a cave-in and now most of it was crushed beneath tons of rock, clay, and earth. One sarcophagus near the entrance, its lid carved with a vaguely feminine form, escaped destruction, although it had mostly crumbled away. It seemed safe enough until a ghostly white form of a beautiful human woman rose from the rubble. </p><p></p><p>Did I mention enough that I dislike undead? I know a wraith when I see one, thanks to enough encounters, alright. Oh, I'm sure Mr. Undead-Bane paladin hasn't seen a single undead since splitting from us. He'll probably wonder why he has bothered to take up that specialization when there are hardly any undead around. I've got news, Bjön. They are stalking us instead! </p><p></p><p>I hope running from something doesn't become my new past time or something, but there was little else Zaza or me could do. We ran back to the crossroad room where the remains of what I later learned was some sort of air elemental were just blown out of the tomb by a gust of wind spell. We must have been shouting like those kobolds yesterday because Krell turned and made this kind of face saying 'can't I leave you alone' and started in on another spell. </p><p></p><p>This was different from his usual spells though. The shadows seemed to draw in on him, take form and then hurl off towards the female wraith. I didn't look to see what would happen, by that time I was tired of the whole adventure. Really, if those kombies move into an old tomb, the least you could expect is for them to clean it all out. Actually, you could expect the darn critters to stay dead to begin with once you killed them square and fair. </p><p></p><p>But of course, we had to finish what we came here for. All I wanted was to make that former king thing fall apart, or rather, watch one of the others do the job as I felt pretty useless compared to an alchemist and fighter's opportunities and a sorcerer's magic. Or even a bard's music. I need to get myself some exploding bolts for my crossbow and train with the sword more. Maybe find some undead bane weapon. </p><p></p><p>Because, to no big surprise, the room to the left had yet more undead guardians, this time they looked to be the former guards of whoever was buried here. Out of the 6 corpses, 5 had fallen to the command of the kobold kombie king (from now on referred to as the KKK), which was done with a sealstone, as we later found out, same way the kombies had gotten in to begin with. Anyway, the 6th corpse had killed... or is that re-killed... itself with his sword upon detecting the treachery. </p><p></p><p>We had some problem turning them to dust, partly because Zaza froze up and partly because Krell seemed to be exhausted from using magic so much and had trouble with his parries and footwork. It had been so much easier had he been able to spell them all into a shadowy existence as well. That's the trouble with magic. Although, I guess, simply being exhausted physically is not all that different. </p><p></p><p>We took their swords with us, as Krell was sure they were magically enhanced. Majek carried them, as he had the most strength out of us. Long swords can be quite heavy, especially if there are several to carry. </p><p></p><p>The room straight on was a little deeper yet. I think I'm beginning to get claustrophobic underground, and it seems to be worse the deeper I am under. Anyway, this wide gallery was filled with dozens of elegantly carved statues, but what they once depicted could now only be guessed. Many were smashed and all were damaged to the point of being unrecognizable. The floor was littered with broken stone and rubble. It seemed that undead kobolds are a lot worse that living ones. Not a real surprise, I guess. Luckily, Krell was feeling a bit better and Zaza was back in the fray, so we disposed off 10 or 12 kombies before it all went quiet. Except for the moaning coming from the next room, that was. </p><p></p><p>Within the next chamber was a single raised dais where a grand sarcophagus of carved coral rested. Around the chamber, the crumbling walls were covered with murals that were now little more than smeared paint and powder. Amazingly, the sarcophagus itself remained closed and undisturbed. But of course, Merlowhatshisname used it as a throne now. </p><p></p><p>Someone had sewn him back together with different materials, and made a bad job out of it, too. He wasn't alone, he had two of his former bodyguards, big red kobolds like himself, standing next to him, rotten to the core in the literal sense. We could also see two lumberjacks behind the sarcophagus, but they were not moving. </p><p></p><p>Krell was suddenly gone, but I had no time to contemplate this as the king thing got up and spoke in a creaky voice, suggesting that we could die quickly if we'd give him back his crown. Duh, well, we didn't have that one anymore, but the guy was already removed from reality when he was still living. I was just about to suggest an all out attack when Zaza spoke up. "We'd love to give back the crown," she said. "That's why we are here. But it was taken from us by who sewed you together." </p><p></p><p>Clever trick, I have to admit. I hadn't thought about how it happened that the king was some sort of intelligent undead now. Well, as far as you could call him intelligent to begin with. Merlowhatever was totally shocked at Zaza's information, and his undead brain visibly struggled with the situation. Finally, he went into some sort of rage, giving conflicting orders to his last two remaining subjects. He mumbled a name we could barely understand. Drassmock, Drazmorg? But supposedly that was the name of whoever raised him as an undead. </p><p></p><p>Before the undead guy could get his meager wits about him again and restore order out of the chaos he had created, Krell appeared behind the sarcophagus out of the shadow plane. The shadow around him spawned tentacles and grabbed the undead kobolds to drag them into the opening Krell stepped out of. From the look on his face, the sorcerer had been running from the thing. I still wonder what's up with that but he didn't want to talk about it. In any case, the tentacle thing succeeded, dragged the screaming and cursing kobolds into the opening and then the opening closed. Zaza screamed about Krell, and when I looked, the man had collapsed right next to the unconscious lumberjacks. Whatever it was he had done had cost him all his remaining power. </p><p></p><p>The bard went to pick up the adamantine axe the former king had dropped as he was dragged and claimed it for himself, as compensation for the death of his comrades, as he growled. He looked somewhat dangerous in that moment. </p><p></p><p>Zaza and Majek managed to wake the lumberjacs and give them the little on healing potions we had. Glad to be rescued, they managed to help Majek carry Krell out into the chamber where the water elementals had been. The room is dry enough now, and seeing how it would be impossible to carry the human any further and most of us are still too damp to go into winter cold, we decided with some apprehension to make camp in there for the night. It gives us a chance to dry our clothes and change into something clean, except for the lumberjacks of course who have no spare clothes. Edgrin entertains us with some music, which puts our minds mostly at ease for the time being. Krell woke up half an hour ago, long enough to get out of his old clothes and into something dry, but he was shaking and not talking and we worry for him. I hope we will have a calm enough night and Krell will wake up tomorrow with no lasting effects. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>At the time the group made camp, a certain bard and a certain paladin were sitting in the office of the new commander of the former baron's residence. One of the Andoran captains had been put in charge, and she seemed to know what she was doing, at least from the view of the dwarf and the human. Captain Melkon had just handed them a piece of paper watching their faces for recognition. On the table in front of her was a simple map showing a fishing village and 3 islands at the coastal region between Cheliax and Andoran. </p><p></p><p>My dear baron,</p><p></p><p>The power to put an end to Andoran is here. Send me six troops, a priest of Norgorber who will take orders and won’t proselytize, a holy symbol of Iomedae, and 30 feet of silver wire, and I will release the terrible treasure. </p><p></p><p> Your servant, Poltur The Accursed</p><p></p><p></p><p>The two heroes of Piren's Bluff, as they were now commonly known, shook their heads and looked back and the white haired woman. "Never seen this before," Bjön said. "If it was found on the baron, we've simply overlooked it." </p><p></p><p>The captain nodded. "It was crumpled in his pockets. Anyway, something is up in this village, Chimera Cove, and we need someone to check it out., someone unsuspicious and with some experience. You seem to fit the profile."</p><p></p><p>"You want us to go down there and check things out?" Teltz asked just to be sure. "All by ourselves? If you want us to post as the baron's men, we are at least short a priest and 4 more men." </p><p></p><p>He might have said it with a bit too much force. The captain looked at him, with understanding in her eyes. "I know you just lost a comrade, and you are eager to travel on to meet other comrades. But this needs to be done, and likely before spring time comes. News travel fast, and if we wait any longer, the news of the baron's death will reach the village and it will be harder to find out what is going on or do anything about it. And it is not like we won't pay you for your services."</p><p></p><p>"She has a point," the paladin admitted. </p><p></p><p>"And no, you would not go alone. There is another half group of adventurers here, as they call themselves. They are eager to work with you two, as your deeds have already been noticed in the area. And then there is Pojali." </p><p></p><p>She waved towards the back of the room and a beautiful young woman appeared. Not the type with almost no meat or slim as a rake in danger to topple over from the weight of their bosom, but with all "the meat in the right places" as Bjön's teacher would have said. Her skin was of a light brown, and her onyx eyes seemed to look right though them. Both men were immediately taken by the woman, and for the Varisian, something seemed to click immediately. </p><p></p><p>"Pojali is a Vudrani priest of the Void," Melkon explained. "And as such, she can pass for a priest of Norgober at any time. She will be a great asset to you."</p><p></p><p>"Of the void?" Bjön frowned. "I have never heard of such a faith."</p><p></p><p>"You have probably not heard of any of our gods." Pojali's voice flowed like a river, or maybe a song in a summer night. Teltz had trouble not to stare. She did not seem to notice. "We have so many gods that some of our own people do not know them all, and no doubt some of them are just different versions of the ones you worship. I can tell you more about it on our journey." Her smile definitely brightened the room. </p><p></p><p>If there had been any doubt in the two heroes' minds about going, it was all washed away. "When do we leave?" the bard asked</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lwaxy, post: 5910638, member: 53286"] Small weirdness with the "revenge of the kobold king" adventure - why would only the destroyed undead guard have a sword worth taking? I gave the others swords as well. ------------------------------------- Edawon's Diary, 15th of Abadius We found out from the blue kobolds that the other kobold we took prisoner was indeed the one who had set all the insects on the loose in the camp. Luckily, we found he had only agreed to help his undead former king because him and his apprentices had nowhere else to go. In the end he was happy enough to follow the blue guys to their new leader and take his remaining apprentices with him. Krell came back just after they left, and he brought a surprise. Edgrin Galesong had heard about what had happened, and after the thugs were no longer with us he decided to help us out, after all, his own party had died thanks to that rotting king. It is a welcome addition to our team. The bard said that the half-elf girl Kimi had also wanted to come, but of course Krell had declined that offer. She is too young yet and too inexperienced. Krell also brought news about the lumber consortium's displeasure about the deceased employes. Being good in such manipulations, Krell had explained that they had all put themselves in harm's way instead of listening to us and be careful, and how Teedum had always boasted about knowing the dangers of the wood. We arrived at Cold Marrow a few hours later, as we had some trouble pushing through the snow. It is indeed a grim place. Even the glum lifeless rock there was a dull gray, like the petrified skull of some mountainous god. But the most striking feature of the desolate site was the silence. If silence could have a form I'd say it was thicker than fog and as oppressive as thunder. No bird song or knocking of woodpeckers disturbed the noiseless din. The slightest sound t seemed to echo through the limp rotting trees for miles. If there is such thing as undead land, this would be it. We finally arrived at the side of a giant hill. There we found a mound of earth and clay. Symbols of unknown origin encrusted its entire exterior, although most were eroded by time’s careless caress. Ascending the mound were a series of broken stairs framed by two giant menhirs of white marble. In the middle of those stairs two enormous stone disks, each the size of a giant’s wagon wheel, rested one atop the other, their edges overlapping slightly. The disks were carved with thousands of runes in wild patterns that could make you dizzy if you looked at them for too long. Thew bard thinks it might have been a calendar once, but what exactly it did, we can't say. Several depressions in the disks marked the places where valuable gems or metals one were, but of course treasure hunters had removed them by now. Amazingly, Zaza found and recovered a sapphire left behind, a pleasant surprise. We may have to get it checked out once we meet Zayel again, as Majek guesses it might be magical. Another pair of menhirs framed the entryway to the barrow mound atop the hillside. Once, this entrance was probably smooth stone covered in wards and curses, but now this seal lies was all but blasted shards. Lying crumpled at the entryway were two kobold corpses, twisted and blackened. Their teeth were gone, their eyes hollowed, and horrific grimaces adorn their withered faces. Darkness beckoned beyond this cold welcome and a rasping hollow laughter echoes forth from the broken seal. Yes, only a fool could not notice that there were still some active curses. Thus, we had to shadow walk in with Krell again. Unfortunately, he would not be able to get all of us out by the same method so we hoped that the way out would not be a problem. The stairs down into the tomb were a lot less damaged than those outside, but that was to be expected. Then there was water at the bottom of the stairs. The sound of bubbling water echoed here and the air was dank and warm. By now, we had lit a lantern. In every corner of the room a fountain bubbled and smoked, with wisps of white-hot vapor rising from the carved needle-filled maws of some strange fish-like creatures. The stone effigies of this strange race were rendered in elegant repose, spouting water from their mouths into basins made by their cradled arms. The fountain in the northwest corner was smashed to bits. Rubble now mostly dammed the flow of whatever hot spring feeded it, but warm water pooled around its base, slowly frothing into the center of the room. The damage seemed to have been rather recent. That was all the warning we had before 3 water elementals jumped out of the other fountains and attacked us. I'm not sure what Krell did as I put myself in front of Zaza and thus covered our only light source, but there was a blinding light and heat, and then there was steam, and a lot of it. We didn't exactly get hurt, but it was very uncomfortable and we started to sweat on top of the already existing dampness. All the water in the room was gone. Zaza commented on getting badly sick if we would get out in the cold like this again, and Krell said he would fix this when we were done if he had any magic left. We next came to a chamber serving as crossroads of sorts. It was once an ornate room but time had ravaged it. Half crumbled carvings of cityscapes, some atop clouds and others below the waves, adorned the walls. Wispy cloud-stuff formed a ring of white vapor just below the ceiling. Four corridors branched off of this chamber in each cardinal direction. On the east wall, a cracked and crumbling portrait of a bearded man wearing armor made of coral and some strange glowing metal rested on the archway above the corridor there. More rasping laughter came from the room to the east, as well as the muffled moans of some tormented soul. "Azlanti?" Galesong asked in wonder, as he recognized who build this. Until then, we had simply not given it much thought. At the same time, Krell yelled "hold your breath!" and hurled a lighting spell at the cloud thing, which was now swooping down on us. I had no idea what was going on, so I pushed Zaza through the archway on the right in a full run. I saw the half-orc pulling something from his belt, then there was the stink of something alchemical just as we made it into the other room. I had to breathe, but it didn't seem to matter as that weird smoke creature was not near us. The chamber we entered had suffered a cave-in and now most of it was crushed beneath tons of rock, clay, and earth. One sarcophagus near the entrance, its lid carved with a vaguely feminine form, escaped destruction, although it had mostly crumbled away. It seemed safe enough until a ghostly white form of a beautiful human woman rose from the rubble. Did I mention enough that I dislike undead? I know a wraith when I see one, thanks to enough encounters, alright. Oh, I'm sure Mr. Undead-Bane paladin hasn't seen a single undead since splitting from us. He'll probably wonder why he has bothered to take up that specialization when there are hardly any undead around. I've got news, Bjön. They are stalking us instead! I hope running from something doesn't become my new past time or something, but there was little else Zaza or me could do. We ran back to the crossroad room where the remains of what I later learned was some sort of air elemental were just blown out of the tomb by a gust of wind spell. We must have been shouting like those kobolds yesterday because Krell turned and made this kind of face saying 'can't I leave you alone' and started in on another spell. This was different from his usual spells though. The shadows seemed to draw in on him, take form and then hurl off towards the female wraith. I didn't look to see what would happen, by that time I was tired of the whole adventure. Really, if those kombies move into an old tomb, the least you could expect is for them to clean it all out. Actually, you could expect the darn critters to stay dead to begin with once you killed them square and fair. But of course, we had to finish what we came here for. All I wanted was to make that former king thing fall apart, or rather, watch one of the others do the job as I felt pretty useless compared to an alchemist and fighter's opportunities and a sorcerer's magic. Or even a bard's music. I need to get myself some exploding bolts for my crossbow and train with the sword more. Maybe find some undead bane weapon. Because, to no big surprise, the room to the left had yet more undead guardians, this time they looked to be the former guards of whoever was buried here. Out of the 6 corpses, 5 had fallen to the command of the kobold kombie king (from now on referred to as the KKK), which was done with a sealstone, as we later found out, same way the kombies had gotten in to begin with. Anyway, the 6th corpse had killed... or is that re-killed... itself with his sword upon detecting the treachery. We had some problem turning them to dust, partly because Zaza froze up and partly because Krell seemed to be exhausted from using magic so much and had trouble with his parries and footwork. It had been so much easier had he been able to spell them all into a shadowy existence as well. That's the trouble with magic. Although, I guess, simply being exhausted physically is not all that different. We took their swords with us, as Krell was sure they were magically enhanced. Majek carried them, as he had the most strength out of us. Long swords can be quite heavy, especially if there are several to carry. The room straight on was a little deeper yet. I think I'm beginning to get claustrophobic underground, and it seems to be worse the deeper I am under. Anyway, this wide gallery was filled with dozens of elegantly carved statues, but what they once depicted could now only be guessed. Many were smashed and all were damaged to the point of being unrecognizable. The floor was littered with broken stone and rubble. It seemed that undead kobolds are a lot worse that living ones. Not a real surprise, I guess. Luckily, Krell was feeling a bit better and Zaza was back in the fray, so we disposed off 10 or 12 kombies before it all went quiet. Except for the moaning coming from the next room, that was. Within the next chamber was a single raised dais where a grand sarcophagus of carved coral rested. Around the chamber, the crumbling walls were covered with murals that were now little more than smeared paint and powder. Amazingly, the sarcophagus itself remained closed and undisturbed. But of course, Merlowhatshisname used it as a throne now. Someone had sewn him back together with different materials, and made a bad job out of it, too. He wasn't alone, he had two of his former bodyguards, big red kobolds like himself, standing next to him, rotten to the core in the literal sense. We could also see two lumberjacks behind the sarcophagus, but they were not moving. Krell was suddenly gone, but I had no time to contemplate this as the king thing got up and spoke in a creaky voice, suggesting that we could die quickly if we'd give him back his crown. Duh, well, we didn't have that one anymore, but the guy was already removed from reality when he was still living. I was just about to suggest an all out attack when Zaza spoke up. "We'd love to give back the crown," she said. "That's why we are here. But it was taken from us by who sewed you together." Clever trick, I have to admit. I hadn't thought about how it happened that the king was some sort of intelligent undead now. Well, as far as you could call him intelligent to begin with. Merlowhatever was totally shocked at Zaza's information, and his undead brain visibly struggled with the situation. Finally, he went into some sort of rage, giving conflicting orders to his last two remaining subjects. He mumbled a name we could barely understand. Drassmock, Drazmorg? But supposedly that was the name of whoever raised him as an undead. Before the undead guy could get his meager wits about him again and restore order out of the chaos he had created, Krell appeared behind the sarcophagus out of the shadow plane. The shadow around him spawned tentacles and grabbed the undead kobolds to drag them into the opening Krell stepped out of. From the look on his face, the sorcerer had been running from the thing. I still wonder what's up with that but he didn't want to talk about it. In any case, the tentacle thing succeeded, dragged the screaming and cursing kobolds into the opening and then the opening closed. Zaza screamed about Krell, and when I looked, the man had collapsed right next to the unconscious lumberjacks. Whatever it was he had done had cost him all his remaining power. The bard went to pick up the adamantine axe the former king had dropped as he was dragged and claimed it for himself, as compensation for the death of his comrades, as he growled. He looked somewhat dangerous in that moment. Zaza and Majek managed to wake the lumberjacs and give them the little on healing potions we had. Glad to be rescued, they managed to help Majek carry Krell out into the chamber where the water elementals had been. The room is dry enough now, and seeing how it would be impossible to carry the human any further and most of us are still too damp to go into winter cold, we decided with some apprehension to make camp in there for the night. It gives us a chance to dry our clothes and change into something clean, except for the lumberjacks of course who have no spare clothes. Edgrin entertains us with some music, which puts our minds mostly at ease for the time being. Krell woke up half an hour ago, long enough to get out of his old clothes and into something dry, but he was shaking and not talking and we worry for him. I hope we will have a calm enough night and Krell will wake up tomorrow with no lasting effects. At the time the group made camp, a certain bard and a certain paladin were sitting in the office of the new commander of the former baron's residence. One of the Andoran captains had been put in charge, and she seemed to know what she was doing, at least from the view of the dwarf and the human. Captain Melkon had just handed them a piece of paper watching their faces for recognition. On the table in front of her was a simple map showing a fishing village and 3 islands at the coastal region between Cheliax and Andoran. My dear baron, The power to put an end to Andoran is here. Send me six troops, a priest of Norgorber who will take orders and won’t proselytize, a holy symbol of Iomedae, and 30 feet of silver wire, and I will release the terrible treasure. Your servant, Poltur The Accursed The two heroes of Piren's Bluff, as they were now commonly known, shook their heads and looked back and the white haired woman. "Never seen this before," Bjön said. "If it was found on the baron, we've simply overlooked it." The captain nodded. "It was crumpled in his pockets. Anyway, something is up in this village, Chimera Cove, and we need someone to check it out., someone unsuspicious and with some experience. You seem to fit the profile." "You want us to go down there and check things out?" Teltz asked just to be sure. "All by ourselves? If you want us to post as the baron's men, we are at least short a priest and 4 more men." He might have said it with a bit too much force. The captain looked at him, with understanding in her eyes. "I know you just lost a comrade, and you are eager to travel on to meet other comrades. But this needs to be done, and likely before spring time comes. News travel fast, and if we wait any longer, the news of the baron's death will reach the village and it will be harder to find out what is going on or do anything about it. And it is not like we won't pay you for your services." "She has a point," the paladin admitted. "And no, you would not go alone. There is another half group of adventurers here, as they call themselves. They are eager to work with you two, as your deeds have already been noticed in the area. And then there is Pojali." She waved towards the back of the room and a beautiful young woman appeared. Not the type with almost no meat or slim as a rake in danger to topple over from the weight of their bosom, but with all "the meat in the right places" as Bjön's teacher would have said. Her skin was of a light brown, and her onyx eyes seemed to look right though them. Both men were immediately taken by the woman, and for the Varisian, something seemed to click immediately. "Pojali is a Vudrani priest of the Void," Melkon explained. "And as such, she can pass for a priest of Norgober at any time. She will be a great asset to you." "Of the void?" Bjön frowned. "I have never heard of such a faith." "You have probably not heard of any of our gods." Pojali's voice flowed like a river, or maybe a song in a summer night. Teltz had trouble not to stare. She did not seem to notice. "We have so many gods that some of our own people do not know them all, and no doubt some of them are just different versions of the ones you worship. I can tell you more about it on our journey." Her smile definitely brightened the room. If there had been any doubt in the two heroes' minds about going, it was all washed away. "When do we leave?" the bard asked [/QUOTE]
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