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Story Hour
From the Diary of Doorag Marzipan
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<blockquote data-quote="cthulhu42" data-source="post: 6581731" data-attributes="member: 6792361"><p>Reaping 12 </p><p></p><p> ***After flying through most of the night, Caribdis and Doorag begin to see evidence </p><p>of people again, with streams of obvious refugees streaming toward the capitol city.</p><p>By the end of the day they are nearing Havilah and can easily see that it is already</p><p>crowded with citizens fleeing the evil that nips at their heels. </p><p></p><p> Doorag turns Caribdis invisible so as not to cause a panic when the populace sees</p><p>a red dragon flying into their city, and the pair glide into the Academy to find Yigil</p><p>waiting for them. Happy to see their sponsor, they quickly spill all that they know, </p><p>to which Yigil can merely sigh and respond that he feared as much. </p><p></p><p> It seems that, A) the disappearance of Havilah’s citizens is taking place kingdomwide,</p><p>starting at the outer edges of the kingdom and working inward in an evertightening circle. </p><p></p><p>B) The same thing happened several hundred years ago. The evil</p><p>had reached the very walls of Havilah where it was turned back by a legendary</p><p>warrior named Roland who wielded Everyman’s Blade. Few details remain of that </p><p>battle except that Roland disappeared after its conclusion. </p><p></p><p>C) Only Havilah is in danger of this crisis. Kingdoms outside its borders report no problems. </p><p></p><p>D)Apparently the process of vanishing citizens is a long one. The last time it happened </p><p>it took nearly two years for the threat to reach the capitols walls. The same thing</p><p>appears to be happening in this case, though it looks like it may be progressing</p><p>slightly faster. At any rate, they have a little time. </p><p></p><p> Yigil and the Academy council are already hard at work seeking an answer to this</p><p>dilemma. Several crews have been sent out to find a solution, but none have</p><p>returned. There is little Caribdis and Doorag can do except await the arrival of the </p><p>rest of their crew.*** </p><p> </p><p></p><p> Reaping 18 </p><p></p><p> ***After watching Doorag and Caribdis fly off toward the capitol, Taklinn knows</p><p>that speed is of the essence. Nearly paralyzed with fear, but determined not to slow</p><p>the party down, he mounts up on Don Kay. </p><p></p><p> After a couple of days on the road, they at last begin to see some signs of human</p><p>life. They find themselves at the tail end of a stream of refugees heading toward</p><p>Havilah. There is much suffering and sorrow on the road, and the trio do what they </p><p>can to help, but in the end they must ride hard to catch up with their friends. </p><p></p><p> It is on the 18th that they ride into the city, now crowded to capacity with</p><p>humanity with still more coming every hour. </p><p></p><p> They head for the Academy where Caribdis and Doorag meet them. The pair are </p><p>overjoyed to see their friends, but there is little time for celebration. The late trio are</p><p>quickly filled in on the situation and also on Doorag’s plan. </p><p></p><p> Evidence suggests that the cities of Havilah are being systematically emptied one</p><p>at a time in an ever tightening circle, the center of which is the capitol city itself. It</p><p>would appear that this evil is not so much a wave-like inward ripple, but more a </p><p>town by town invasion by beings that facilitate the mass exodus. Doorag speculates</p><p>that the yuan-ti, with their suggestive abilities, might be behind it, though he also</p><p>suspects that Melisandre is the real evil here, and is somehow enabling the </p><p>disappearance of so many folk at one time. He knows that an interdimensional gate</p><p>would do the trick. </p><p></p><p> He proposes that the crew travel to an outlying city of decent size that has yet to </p><p>be emptied, and await whatever it is that is emptying these cities, and either stop it</p><p>there or at least find out how it is being done that they might better combat it. </p><p></p><p> The rest of the crews initial response to the plan is less than heroic. Caribdis </p><p>believes it madness to leave the safety of the city, and Griff has never been crazy</p><p>about looking for trouble. Speaking of Griff, Caribdis now takes to referring to him</p><p>as The Chosen, since he now wields Everyman’s Blade. Caribdis is convinced that it </p><p>is Griff’s destiny to stand and fight at Havilah’s gates and turn back the evil once it</p><p>arrives. Doorag must admit that it makes sense, but Griff calmly tells them both to</p><p>stick it where the sun don’t shine, that he "Ain’t no chosen nothin’!" But the fact </p><p>remains that he does carry the legendary blade and will not give it up, despite the</p><p>apparent destiny it means. </p><p></p><p> The whole "Chosen" business strikes a chord with Happy as well, and she fears </p><p>for Griff. She does not want him following in the footsteps of Roland, and is</p><p>adamant that he not put himself in any position to do so. </p><p></p><p> Only Taklinn believes that Doorag is on to something. The dwarf agrees to the </p><p>plan, but the vote is far from unanimous. </p><p></p><p> Doorag and Taklinn work on the others for the better part of a week before finally</p><p>convincing Griff and Happy that it is better to take the fight to Melisandre than to </p><p>wait for her. It is the thought of how many they can possibly save that convinces</p><p>Griff, and Happy will follow the stoic warrior anywhere. Caribdis is the last to be</p><p>swayed, for he is nearly paralytic with fear at the thought of the mere five of them </p><p>taking on such an unknown evil, but in the end, as Doorag and Taklinn sadly shake</p><p>their heads and tell him that they will miss him, Caribdis relents. His sense of</p><p>loyalty will not let the crew leave without him. </p><p></p><p> For nearly two weeks they make ready. There are spells to be learned and items to</p><p>be forged. Specifically, Yigil fashions for them a wand of Daylight with which to</p><p>combat the yuan-ti’s maddening ability to plunge them into darkness. He also loans </p><p>Doorag a book full of useful spells, not the least of which is Detect Scrying, which</p><p>Doorag casts at the first available opportunity. </p><p></p><p> Sure enough, at at least two points during the subsequent day he feels the magical </p><p>eye of someone watching him. He warns the rest of the crew, but there is little to be</p><p>done except keep the spell running and do any planning when not being scryed. </p><p></p><p> They decide to make for the city of Candice, a good sized town on the outskirts of </p><p>the disappearances that is due to be hit soon. </p><p></p><p> A couple of notes concerning these two weeks: It appears that at least a few</p><p>people did see Caribdis as a dragon, for many of the citizens have taken to referring </p><p>to him as just that. He is not terribly pleased with being given the nickname,</p><p>Dragon, but there is'nt much he can do. </p><p></p><p> Also, Doorag begins each day by polymorphing himself into a different humanoid </p><p>in order to know what it is like to be an elf, or a dwarf, or a gnome, or a human, or</p><p>what have you. </p><p></p><p> Last, but not least, Yigil loans a wand of Enlarge to Happy, and with it she makes</p><p>herself big enough so that she and Griff may, ah, consummate their friendship. The </p><p>two of them spend their last night in Havilah in each others arms, though this is</p><p>unknown to the rest of the crew.*** </p><p> </p><p></p><p> Richfest 3 </p><p></p><p> ***They depart Havilah.*** </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Richfest 7 </p><p> </p><p> ***They travel to the outskirts of Candice and are immediately attacked by yuan-ti. </p><p>They defeat the snake men and enter the city, only to find it in the process of being</p><p>emptied out. In the village square they witness the last of the townsfolk being led</p><p>like sheep through a large, round, portal by five more yuan-ti. </p><p></p><p> The crew attack the yuan-ti and slaughter all but one of them. This last yuan-ti</p><p>escapes through the portal. Taklinn charges forward to chase him into the unknown.</p><p>Griff tries to stop him, but Taklinn bulls his way onward, taking Griff with him </p><p>through the portal. </p><p></p><p> A horrified Happy follows the two through. Doorag is beside himself. Never in</p><p>his wildest imagination had he dreamed that Taklinn would do such a thing, but </p><p>what’s done is done. With a shrug to Caribdis, the halfling enters the portal, leaving</p><p>the bard behind. </p><p> </p><p> Caribdis, still shouting, "No! No! No!" finds himself with only the horses for </p><p>company and the portal slowly dwindling. At the last minute, he leads the mounts</p><p>through. </p><p></p><p> Once through the portal they find themselves inside a mighty city within a </p><p>magical circle. They are surrounded by dazed and wandering townsfolk and yuan-ti.</p><p>And they also see Melisandre, with Freya still at her side. The witch queen laughs,</p><p>and with a wave of her hand, the crew is sent away, teleported far from the city. </p><p>When next they get their bearings, they find themselves on a barren plain that</p><p>stretches in all directions. Worse, they need only look at the sky to see that they are</p><p>no longer on their home plane.*** </p><p></p><p></p><p> Richfest 7 (con’t) </p><p> </p><p> ***The crew spends several minutes getting their bearings. Happy is none too </p><p>pleased that Caribdis has brought the horses (especially her miniature horse and</p><p>Don Kay) into such danger, but there is nothing to be done about it now. </p><p></p><p> Doorag already has a fly spell cast on him, so he uses it to ascend to a great height </p><p>to try and survey the area. In the distance he spies what might be a ruined city, but</p><p>its too far to tell. However, another sight quickly takes precedence. Less than a mile</p><p>away and moving fast, he sees a large dust cloud approaching them. Quickly flying </p><p>back down to the group to borrow the telescope, he heads back up for a better look.</p><p> </p><p> The dust cloud is a result of a flock of earth bound birds. They appear ostrich-like, </p><p>but bigger, and with gnarly looking beaks that mean business. They are covering the</p><p>ground fast, and will soon be upon them. He shouts down this report, and the rest of</p><p>the crew make ready for battle. </p><p></p><p> The huge birds are upon them all too soon, and the fight commences. Doorag</p><p>stays in the air and manages to immediately polymorph one of them into the most</p><p>benign thing he can think of: a cow. </p><p></p><p> These feathered monsters turn out to be a tougher match than many of the beasts</p><p>the crew has fought thus far, and they give them quite a run for their money. But</p><p>with spell and sword, arrow and dagger, they are brought down one by one until </p><p>only the "cow" is left standing. As it turns out, cows have quite a nasty bite, and this</p><p>one manages to take a chunk out of Taklinn before they turn it into so much beef. </p><p> </p><p> They decide to take a chance on potential civilization and head for the ruins that </p><p>Doorag had spotted.*** </p><p> </p><p></p><p> Reaping 1 </p><p></p><p> ***It takes them nearly two days to reach what had once been a sizable village, now</p><p>left to ruins. There is no sign of life here, but the town had been built at the base of </p><p>a mighty mountain range, and the main road appears to lead straight into a massive</p><p>tunnel cut right into the living rock. With no better prospects in sight, they lead their</p><p>mounts into the darkness of the underground.*** </p><p> </p><p></p><p> Reaping 2 </p><p></p><p> ***After a full days travel, they hear the familiar noises of battle ahead. Investigating, </p><p>they find themselves at the entrance to a large cavern in which a pitched battle is</p><p>taking place between a group of ill equipped humans and a band of the ever present</p><p>yuan-ti. With the yuan-ti is a horrid creature they’ve never seen before. Looking like </p><p>a cross between a giant scorpion and a giant spider, the massive insect is getting the</p><p>better of several humans who are trying vainly to bring it down with clubs and</p><p>spears. </p><p></p><p> Never one to shirk a fight, Taklinn charges. Not to be outdone, Griffin follows</p><p>suit, and the crew joins the fight. </p><p></p><p> They snatch victory from the jaws of defeat that day, and soon the ground is </p><p>littered with dead yuan-ti. Even the spider thing goes down, but not before plunging</p><p>its terrible stinger into Griffin at least twice. By the battles end the stalwart fighter</p><p>can barely stand, so drained of strength is he by the creatures poison. </p><p> </p><p> The leader of the humans approaches them cautiously, and for a moment there</p><p>appears to be a language barrier, but Caribdis has a trick up his sleeve. He casts</p><p>Tongues, and is soon translating for the group. </p><p></p><p> The leader introduces himself as Nanden and, with a few sidelong looks at the</p><p>halflings and Griff’s sword, he fills them in. </p><p></p><p> It turns out that they have landed on a planet called Edik, a place that shares many </p><p>similarities with the crew home planet. On Edik a terrible witch queen named</p><p>Melisandre has enslaved most of the populace under her iron fist with the help of an</p><p>army of yuan-ti. She has captured untold numbers of humans and turned them into </p><p>undead. The capitol city of Anvie is where she rules from. Spell casters are unheard</p><p>of here these days since Melisandre has hunted them to extinction, and Nanden and</p><p>his kind have never seen halflings. What really seems to interest the leader is Griff </p><p>and his sword, though he says nothing about it. He invites them to accompany him</p><p>and the rest of his refugees to their base. </p><p></p><p> They follow the fighters for several hours through a honeycomb of tunnels until </p><p>they reach an underground base filled with human survivors of Melisandre evil.</p><p>Nanden gives them a chamber for their own and tells them that tomorrow he will</p><p>introduce them to someone who not only speaks their language, but will be able to </p><p>tell them more.***</p><p></p><p></p><p> Reaping 3 </p><p></p><p> ***The following morning Nanden brings a young woman to meet the crew and</p><p>introduces her as Adeede, his sister. To their surprise and pleasure, she greets them</p><p>in their own language, albeit heavily accented. Over a morning meal she explains. </p><p></p><p> 475 years ago a great evil fell upon the lands of Edik similar to the one that</p><p>plagues it now. Thousands died, and most major cities were held under its sway.</p><p>From the ashes of almost certain doom rose a hero named Roland wielding a </p><p>strangely glyphed sword that came to be known as Everyman’s Blade. With this</p><p>legendary sword Roland made a final stand against the evil hordes that threatened to</p><p>bury the last good men of Edik, and turned it, breaking its back. The hordes of</p><p>evil were pushed back but Roland disappeared, along with his sword, and was never </p><p>seen again. </p><p></p><p> Most of the details of those times have been lost, but what is sure is that Roland </p><p>had left behind offspring. His bloodline lived on through the centuries, and Adeede</p><p>is his granddaughter with many "greats" before her title. What is also known is that</p><p>Roland spoke a strange language that was also passed on from generation to </p><p>generation, and Adeede still knows enough of it to communicate with the crew. </p><p></p><p> Adeede tells them that Melisandre controls Anvie city and that Nanden has</p><p>gathered many of the surviving tribes of humans together for a final assault on her </p><p>stronghold, though they have little hope as they are severely outnumbered and</p><p>under armed. Still, they have little choice and would rather go on the offensive than</p><p>simply wait to be exterminated one tribe at a time. </p><p></p><p> The tunnel that has brought them here continues on under the mountain range, and</p><p>was once a major trade route to Anvie, but now is blockaded by scores of yuan-ti. </p><p></p><p> Much discussion follows and the crew decides to lead the way and break the </p><p>blockade. They will take the point by a lead of several days which will give Nanden</p><p>time to gather his forces and march them through the mountain. Adeede offers to</p><p>accompany them as their guide. </p><p></p><p> Unfortunately the underground terrain is too rough for the horses. Here on Edik</p><p>the preferred means of travel (especially in these underground caves) are tame</p><p>axebeaks. Axebeaks are the common name of the birds which had attacked the crew </p><p>upon their arrival to Edik's plains. </p><p></p><p> Not willing to leave them behind, the crew waits through the next day so that</p><p>Doorag can put his polymorph spell to good use, transforming their mounts into </p><p>axebeaks.*** </p><p> </p><p></p><p> Reaping 4 </p><p></p><p> ***In the morning Doorag polymorphs the last of the horses and they head out, with</p><p>some difficulty, it turns out, for only Adeede is competent at riding an axebeak. To</p><p>make matters worse, the transformed horses and donkey are quite uncomfortable </p><p>going from four legs to two. But within a few hours on the road they all settle down</p><p>and progress is made. </p><p></p><p> The wide tunnel cuts through the mountains, mile after mile. They rest that night </p><p>in a spot obviously used as a campsite by travelers for many hundreds of years. But</p><p>it is not to be a restful night, for the yuan-ti patrol this main tunnel heavily and there</p><p>is nowhere to hide. Before they even have dinner they are set upon by two of the </p><p>snake men and another of the kildebraun. </p><p></p><p> The crew, normally so dangerous, find themselves nearly taken down by this evil</p><p>trio! (OOC: This battle was a fumble fest of horrendous proportions. I’ve never seen </p><p>so many natural 1’s being thrown) Griffin and Adeede both fall victim to the</p><p>kildebraun’s poisoned stinger and are sapped of strength. Finally, however, the</p><p>enemy is brought down, though the injuries to the crew are such that they will be </p><p>slowed down considerably to give Taklinn time to help Griff and Adeede with his</p><p>spells. ***</p><p> </p><p></p><p> Reaping 5 </p><p></p><p> ***They decide to rest through the day to give Adeede time to regain her strength.</p><p>Taklinn manages to heal Griff with his spells, but he ends up with none left to help </p><p>their guide, and therefore it must be left to nature, at least for another 24 hours. </p><p></p><p> But they will not have rest! By noon they are attacked yet again, this time by</p><p>another kildebraun and four yuan-ti. Fortunately the fighters manage to keep better </p><p>grips on their swords, and Doorag has access to his more powerful spells. He uses</p><p>Wall of Ice to fine effect, as well as several well placed Bolts of Conjuring. Happy</p><p>manages to land several fine sneak attacks. All of this, combined with Caribdis’</p><p>verse, leads to a victory in fine style. Better yet, this enemy had brought a fine </p><p>cache of loot with them. They not only find a goodly amount of platinum, but a bag</p><p>of holding and two rings of protection, one of them more powerful than any they </p><p>have ever seen. At first Doorag claims the much cherished ring, sighting the fact</p><p>that he has taken very little in the way of magic treasure up until now. But after</p><p>some thought he has a change of heart, realizing that the small bit of extra </p><p>protection would better help one of the fighters. He puts it back into the pool,</p><p>though he states that he thinks it ought to go to Griff, as he seems to always be in</p><p>the thick of things and constantly needs healing. The rest agree and Griff shrugs, </p><p>slipping on his new ring.***</p><p></p><p></p><p> Reaping 6 </p><p></p><p> ***The following morning they set out again. Adeede tells them that they shall soon</p><p>reach the yuan-ti blockade, and she is correct. Drawing near, they decide to leave</p><p>their mounts behind until it is safe to bring them along. They make their way </p><p>cautiously forward and soon enter a large chamber guarded by several yuan-ti and a</p><p>kildebraun. It is a bloody battle, but in the end the crew slay the lot of them save</p><p>one who flees. They delve deeper into the yuan-ti lair and discover the one who had </p><p>run away. He is dead, a strange dagger in his back. </p><p></p><p> Intrigued, they descend down a large shaft with a spiral ramp gracing its interior.</p><p>At the bottom they find a veritable honeycomb of yuan-ti caves. They manage to </p><p>surprise a group of the snake men sitting at a table about to eat dinner. Griffin leaps</p><p>onto the table and lays about with his sword and the battle is on. </p><p></p><p> Kildebraun and yuan-ti come out of the woodwork. There must be at least a dozen </p><p>of them and it takes every bit of skill, strength and magic they can muster to thwart</p><p>them. Not only are the yuan-ti fearsome warriors, their darkness abilities cause</p><p>Doorag to spend much of his time countering them with his wand of Daylight. Also, </p><p>the kildebraun, it turns out, can spout out webbing that hinder them to no end.</p><p>Several times the crew is forced to simply burn the stuff away and deal with the self</p><p>inflicted burns. </p><p></p><p> Toward the end of the battle they find that they have a surprising ally. Doorag</p><p>spots her first. She is a yuan-ti of great stealth, and she manages to bury daggers in</p><p>the backs of several of her fellows even before they know that she is upon them. </p><p>When the last enemy falls, the crew approach her with distrust. They are bloodied</p><p>and battered and low on resources and take no chances. The yuan-ti woman calmly</p><p>introduces herself as Sensesi. She is the one who slew the yuan-ti who had retreated </p><p>from the first battle and stopped him from calling out an alarm to those below. She</p><p>also informs them that she has no love for Melisandre and is more than willing to</p><p>lead them to her.*** </p><p></p><p></p><p> Rping 6</p><p></p><p> ...This Sensesi woman makes my skin crawl. I’ve always tried to believe that there </p><p>can be exceptions in every race that possesses a soul, but she is so cold, so... snake</p><p>like. Still, she has offered her help to us. After the huge battle with the yuan-ti in the</p><p>main living chambers we were ready to lick out wounds. But there would be none </p><p>of that. Sensesi informed us that beyond the next bend in the corridor lay another</p><p>series of rooms that held still more yuan-ti. Less than we had already fought, but</p><p>yuan-ti just the same, not to mention a couple more kildebraun. Thankfully they had </p><p>not appeared to have heard the fight, for they had not come to reinforce their</p><p>brethren. Sensesi assured us that the yuan-ti were split into two groups, one in a</p><p>room to the north, and a smaller group to the south. She told us that we had little </p><p>choice but to take them on now, as they guarded a portal that would take us directly</p><p>into the city of Anvie. Directly into Melesandre's tower, no less! She also pointed out that</p><p>there were prisoners being held; humans who had been treated shoddily already and</p><p>would not last much longer. That was all it took for Taklinn and I, and, despite how </p><p>few spells we had left, we pressed on, hopeful that the element of surprise would</p><p>help to win the day. </p><p></p><p> We followed the tunnel and ended up in a large chamber which looked like a</p><p>dining area. Two doors, one to the north, and one to the south beckoned. We hashed</p><p>out a quick plan and Taklinn flung the northern door open, charging into the room with </p><p>Griff hot on his heels. The rest of us poured in from behind as our two warriors caught a</p><p>knot of yuan-ti sitting at a game of cards. Taklinn buried his axe in the first of them,</p><p>and Griff lopped off a yuan-ti head before they’d even grabbed up their weapons. </p><p></p><p> To the south of the room sat a table, seated at which was a sinister looking yuan-ti.</p><p>He had a look of importance about him, and Sensesi had told us that the leader of the</p><p>group was here. In the north end of the room squatted a kildebraun, hate andmalevolence </p><p>glittering in its many eyes.</p><p></p><p> I flew in quickly and let fly with a Bolt of Conjuring at the leader without</p><p>hesitation. He stumbled backwards from the force of the magical energy, and </p><p>behind him appeared the secondary effect of the spell, my trusty badger. The little</p><p>bugger, as always, snarled and leapt for the well dressed snake man, not managing</p><p>to hit him, but keeping him off balance as Happy suddenly appeared, her </p><p>daggers held low and at the ready. With two quick thrusts she punctured the leader</p><p>in too many important locations for him to bear, and he fell, face first, onto the table</p><p>without an opportunity to even raise his sword to us. </p><p></p><p> Then the room was filled with web, for this is one of the kildebraun's favorite</p><p>tricks. Many of us were hung up in the stuff, but I’d been expecting this and had lit a</p><p>torch earlier. Its flame immediately caught the web on fire. True, the singing of my </p><p>robes and a few painful burns are a high price to pay, but compared to being stuck</p><p>in place and at the kildebraun's mercy, I find it justified. Before long I was able to</p><p>fly out of the morass. </p><p></p><p> Still in the web, Taklinn and Griff worked their way through the remaining yuanti</p><p>with the help of Caribdis, Adeede, and even Sensesi. Imight find her creepy, but she is</p><p>unafraid to mix it up,even though it be against her ownrace.</p><p> </p><p> When the dust cleared they lay around us. Several yuan-ti, faces frozen in snarling</p><p>death, and the kildebraun, it’s head split in twain by Griff. We breathed heavy from</p><p>the exertion, but knew that there was still one more fight to be won. We made our </p><p>way to the southern door.</p><p></p><p> Again, it was Taklinn who opened the door, and before us lay a short corridor.</p><p>Happy set herself up to check for traps, but Taklinn barreled on ahead, rounding the </p><p>corner and running head on at a yuan-ti the likes of which we have learned are</p><p>"abominations". They are far more dangerous than the average snake man, and this</p><p>one put a pretty good hit on our cleric before the rest of us could reach him. I was </p><p>nearly out of spells, but had another trick up my sleeve. I Greased his sword handle,</p><p>and it slipped from his grasp, falling several feet away. Griff and Taklinn renewed</p><p>their efforts against the abomination as the kildebraun behind him scuttled forward </p><p>and cast the room into webbing. Again, the torches licked at the webs, and again we</p><p>took the burns. By the time the flames reached Griff and Taklinn, both the</p><p>abomination and the kildebraun lay dead. </p><p></p><p> Sensesi had been telling the truth about the prisoners. We found half a dozen</p><p>humans, ill treated and malnourished, imprisoned in tiny wooden crates. They were</p><p>pitiful, and Taklinn quickly set about laying them in yuan-ti beds and tending to </p><p>them. Though they could not speak our language, the look in their eyes was thanks</p><p>enough. </p><p></p><p> Searching the bodies and rooms brought us a fine haul indeed! Each of these </p><p>yuan-ti carry at least 60 platinum, and several of them have had items that glow of</p><p>magic under the detection spell. We have found a cloak, a rod, a necklace, several</p><p>vials of fluid, and a couple of very fine scimitars. Best yet, each of the yuan-ti from</p><p>the north room wore a matching ring of magic. Sensesi informed us that they were </p><p>rings of Non-Detection, that these particular yuan-ti had also been plotting against</p><p>Melisandre, and had used the rings to remain unfound. There is a ring for each of us </p><p>with one left over, and we wear them now. I hope that she is telling the truth, for it</p><p>will be fine indeed to not feel her baleful stare upon us at least twice per day!</p><p></p><p> We have decided to rest here for the night and through tomorrow to give me time </p><p>to Identify these items. We hope that they will provide us some assistance in the</p><p>coming battles. Sensesi has shown us the glimmering portal in the north room and</p><p>assures us that it leads directly into Melisandre’s tower, though it is heavily </p><p>guarded. She warns us to go in at our full capacity, and I have to believe that. </p><p> </p><p> I sleep tonight in the leaders bed. He has his own room, and though it is little</p><p>more than a cot, its just a bit nicer than the rest of the cots strewn about the place. I </p><p>would feel guilty, but I am too tired. I have taken a fair amount of wounds today,</p><p>far more than I usually do. I have felt the sting of arrows and the hot caress of flame</p><p>too many times this afternoon, and Taklinn and Caribdis are out of healing. Taklinn </p><p>has tended to me though, and if I know him, he will continue to do so throughout</p><p>the night. I’m sure that tomorrow I’ll be right as rain. </p><p></p><p> And I am quite anxious to see what all these items are! Too bad the only pearls </p><p>we have have been appraised by both Happy and Caribdis at around 500 gold value!</p><p>Such a shame! But, it shall hopefully be worth it. Besides, we are richer now than</p><p>we ever have been. Each of us have already accumulated over 600 platinum pieces! </p><p>With this, I can pay off my debts at last! I only hope we make it back. We have only</p><p>been on Edik for less than a week, but it feels like much longer. My only wish is to</p><p>see my city again. </p><p></p><p></p><p> Rping 7</p><p></p><p> I have spent the last eight hours cloistered in the leader yuan-ti’s chamber, busily </p><p>identifying the items. Caribdis, with his wide array of esoteric knowledge was able</p><p>to shed enough light on some of the items that I did not need to use magic on them,</p><p>but several more of the things were unknown to him, so it fell to me to uncover </p><p>their secrets. We have divvied them up, and in a short while we will pass through</p><p>the portal that will, according to Sensesi, take us into Melisandre’s tower. The crew</p><p>has given me a few hours to rest though, and with this time I find it soothing to jot </p><p>down some notes in my journal.</p><p> </p><p> I was only able to identify nine of the items, so I chose those that looked the most</p><p>interesting. I am now the proud owner of a Cloak of the Arachnid! I have no love </p><p>for spiders, and it’s a bit creepy to wear this thing, but according to my studies this</p><p>cloak will help me to overcome being stuck in webs from here on out, not to</p><p>mention the fact that it will allow me to cast a Web spell once per day, as well as </p><p>giving me the ability to Spider Climb. </p><p></p><p> Griff now wears a scarab much like the one that Taklinn has. It is a Scarab of</p><p>Golem Bane, and while Taklinn’s will help him defeat flesh golems, Griff’s will aid </p><p>him against clay golems. We have yet to confront a golem yet, and I fear the day we</p><p>do! I know little about them except that they are constructs, impervious to magic. I</p><p>can only hope that if we ever do have to deal with one of them it will be made of </p><p>either flesh or clay!</p><p></p><p> There were several other items as well. Happy now wears a Necklace of Fireballs</p><p>about her neck, and I have a Bead of Force in my pocket. There was a magical spoon </p><p>that, when inserted into a bowl, fills itself with a nourishing but bland gruel, and I</p><p>am also the proud owner of a vial of magical glue as well as a vial of it’s solvent.</p><p>But the most peculiar of the items is the one that Caribdis now carries, much to my </p><p>dismay.</p><p></p><p> It is a Rod of Wonder. A very odd and chaotic item which I have to wonder why</p><p>anyone would craft such a thing in the first place. Apparently its effects are too</p><p>numerous to mention, but there is no control over which effect the rod will produce </p><p>at any given time. As far as I can tell the wielder utters the command word, and the</p><p>rod might spout a fireball, or it might fill the room with butterflies, or it might cause </p><p>it to snow, or, or, or... well, you get my point! There are a hundred different things</p><p>the rod might do, none of them controllable! The very last person that should have</p><p>such a thing is, of course, the person who now wields it! Caribdis began drooling </p><p>over the rod as soon as I announced what it was, and he held off on laying claim to</p><p>any of the other items until the rod came up for grabs. I fear that no good can come</p><p>of his having such a thing, for I’m positive that he will begin firing it off at the first </p><p>opportunity, the results of which could be disastrous. </p><p></p><p> Please read a heavy sigh here, for it is not my wish to make Caribdis sound like a</p><p>dolt. I fear my patience with him has grown short of late, and I must remind myself </p><p>to curb my tongue, for despite his impetuous ways he really is coming along. His</p><p>verse and rhyme has reached a new level, for when he recites his battle poetry these</p><p>days we can all truly feel its benefits. Our aim is defiantly truer, and there is no </p><p>doubt that our weapons bite deeper. The fact that he can have this effect on all of us</p><p>is invaluable! He is, of course, still Caribdis, and still has the attention span of a</p><p>ferret, but he is learning. It is a slow process, but it shows. I only pray that he </p><p>doesn’t kill us all with his new toy. Taklinn has already warned him that it will be</p><p>taken away the first time he hurts a crew member with it. </p><p></p><p> Speaking of gaining knowledge and power, I, myself, have had a major </p><p>breakthrough this morning! I have been spreading myself thin as of late, researching</p><p>more spells than I normally could or should, but the understanding has come so</p><p>naturally that I haven’t fought it, and today has brought a fine pay off to this study! </p><p>As I poured over my notes and studied spells this morning, I suddenly realized that</p><p>I now grasp spells of the fifth circle of power! Not only that, but I can understand</p><p>four of them! This is a major breakthrough for me, for these are very powerful and </p><p>useful spells, and usually I can only come to grips with one or two newly</p><p>researched spells at a time. To be able to learn four of them is tremendously</p><p>exciting. </p><p></p><p> The spells I have learned are Wall of Force, Feeble mind, Hold Monster, and Fire</p><p>Bird. The last is a very esoteric and rare spell that I’ve been grappling with for some</p><p>time. It takes a while to cast, but once I do it will summon forth a mount for me that </p><p>will last most of the day. The Fire Bird is a giant eagle formed of solid flame.</p><p>Riding it will grant me immunity to most fire, as well as a flying mount that is even</p><p>faster than a standard Fly spell! True, maneuverability will be a factor, but I am </p><p>excited at the prospect just the same. I haven’t been able to test it yet, but I have it</p><p>memorized for the coming day. </p><p></p><p> They are calling for me. Seems that it is time to move on. We know only what </p><p>Sensesi has told us of what lies beyond the portal, and I hate diving blindly into the</p><p>unknown, especially on the word of a yuan-ti. But it is our only option. Melisandre</p><p>has brought down the tunnel from this point on, so there is no way to physically </p><p>traverse the mountain. We must enter the portal.</p><p></p><p> We are leaving our mounts here in the care of the resting humans we freed</p><p>yesterday. They look much better today, thanks to Taklinn’s attentions. We have </p><p>told them to fill Nanden in on the situation when he arrives, and hopefully our</p><p>trusty steeds will be taken good care of. Happy is nearly in tears at the prospect of</p><p>leaving Don Kay and her horse behind. But she agrees that they will be safer here. </p><p></p><p> Very well, with any luck I shall continue this entry later today.</p><p></p><p></p><p> Rping 7 (Con’t) </p><p></p><p> As I’d hoped I would be able to do, I am now updating my journal from the</p><p>relative safety of a chamber within Melisandre’s tower. It is not the best place to</p><p>rest, but we don't have much choice, for the day has brought many perils. With any </p><p>luck our new rings of non-detection will shield us from the witch queens unwanted gaze </p><p>and we will be able to stay here, unmolested, until we are ready to move on. I fear</p><p>that we will lose whatever advantage of surprise we might have had, but, as I said, </p><p>our choices are few. </p><p></p><p> But I get ahead of myself. </p><p></p><p> After completing my identification tasks and resting a bit from the strain, we </p><p>decided to brave the portal. There was much discussion as to how we would enter</p><p>the thing, and what we would do afterward. Too much discussion, I fear. The crux</p><p>of the argument was how Taklinn would behave once we’d entered Melisandre’s </p><p>tower. Sensesi cautioned us against a headlong approach, assuring us that there</p><p>were far too many of the enemy within the tower to take on all at once. We all</p><p>nodded, but some of us seemed sure that Taklinn would charge through doors at </p><p>every opportunity and attempt a one dwarf siege of the tower. I think we’re a little</p><p>unsure as to the cool headedness of our cleric after his impetuous move of hurling</p><p>himself through the portal that brought us from Havilah to here in the first place. I </p><p>admit that I hadn’t seen that one coming, though in hindsight I suppose I should</p><p>have. Taklinn’s view of the world is quite black and white, as is appropriate for a</p><p>dwarf, I suppose, and for him discretion was simply not an option when faced with </p><p>evil such as that. So, Griff and Happy wondered aloud about whether or not he</p><p>could control himself once in the belly of the beast, as it were. </p><p></p><p> The argument swelled and continued for what seemed a long time, and I fear that </p><p>I grew a bit snippy with the whole thing. Still, we have come this far with Taklinn,</p><p>and sometimes we’ve needed his straight forward tendencies to give us the kick in</p><p>the pants in the right direction. I dare say I probably could not have convinced </p><p>Griff, Happy and Caribdis to have undertaken our current adventure by myself. And</p><p>as far as impetuousness goes, Taklinn is a study in strategic planning compared to</p><p>Caribdis! So from my point of view it seemed that we would do what had to be </p><p>done. We would enter the portal and deal with whatever lay on the other side, and</p><p>so long as blatant wrongs were not being committed under his very nose, Taklinn</p><p>would conduct himself in the manner he always has. In other words, he will deal </p><p>with trouble where he finds it, and where it is best dealt with rather than look for it</p><p>in obscure places. </p><p></p><p> All of this led me to take the reigns. Interrupting their heated discussion, I simply </p><p>said, "Well, I’m off then!" and stepped through the portal, sure that they would</p><p>follow. </p><p></p><p> Stepping into the unknown without vital preparatory spells and without my </p><p>companions was not, I’m sad to say, my finest move. Fortunately my friends are as</p><p>stalwart as I believed them to be, and within seconds they stood beside me, though</p><p>not before I caught the full view of what we had to deal with. </p><p> </p><p> The portal exited into a large entry chamber with three doors. Along each wall</p><p>three yuan-ti sentries, and at the back of the room a yuan-ti captain and lieutenant</p><p>hovered over a simple desk. All eight of them looked at me as I popped through the </p><p>portal, and their scimitars were swiftly drawn. </p><p></p><p> I had never cast Fireball before that day. In most circumstances it is a poor spell</p><p>choice, for in nearly all cases my party is well embroiled in hand to hand combat </p><p>with our foes before I can use it, thereby putting them within the area of effect.</p><p>Rather than subject them to damage I usually stick with spells that target only one</p><p>or two enemies. But this morning I’d had the feeling that I may finally get the </p><p>chance to use this nifty spell, and lo, that chance had come! Before the yuan-ti</p><p>could get their bearings, I unloaded a Fireball on the trio to my left. The one nearest</p><p>to me managed to leap clear of the blast, but the other two took the full brunt. One </p><p>of the snake men went down in a heap of burning flesh, while the second managed</p><p>to put himself out. He’d been sorely injured though and I hopped he’d be easy to</p><p>finish off. </p><p></p><p> By this time my friends had joined me, and they raced forward to meet the enemy. </p><p> </p><p> Have I described the clang of swords too many times? Has the description of </p><p>Caribdis and his bow lost its impact? There have been so many fights that I fear any</p><p>reader must surely grow tired of their constant relation. Perhaps I simply cannot do</p><p>them justice. Whatever the case, I can only assure the reader that this was a brutal </p><p>and bloody fight. Griff, Taklinn, Hap, Adeede and Sensesi waded into battle,</p><p>hacking away at yuan-ti while doing their best to avoid retaliatory blows. Caribdis</p><p>stood at my side firing off arrow after arrow and reciting his verse. As for me, I </p><p>feared that this would not be our only battle this day, and I vowed to conserve my</p><p>spells, using less powerful magic’s to harrie and distract our foes. </p><p></p><p> Speaking of magic’s, I have related many times that the yuan-ti have plenty of </p><p>their own innate magical abilities that we’ve had to contend with, but it appeared</p><p>that at least one of the yuan-ti commanders knew a little about spell casting himself,</p><p>for I later learned that Taklinn had been Cursed, making it far more difficult to hit </p><p>with his axe. Our cleric suffered through this during the fight and still suffers with it</p><p>now. He tells us that upon the morning he will be able to free himself from it, but I</p><p>can tell that it’s slowed him down considerably. </p><p></p><p> Griff and Taklinn carved a path through the sentries and charged to deal with the</p><p>commanders. Caribdis, Adeede and Sensesi mopped up the remaining sentries</p><p>while Happy and I made our way through the fray to help the fighters. I cast a Wall </p><p>of Ice across the corner of the room to block the three doors and ensure that none</p><p>could escape or call for help, but the spell casting yuan-ti Levitated himself to at</p><p>least try to stay out of our reach. It was not to be, however, for Taklinn leapt up and </p><p>grabbed hold of him. The two hovered there, each grappling with the other. I can</p><p>tell you that it is not a pleasant experience to wrestle with a yuan-ti, for the</p><p>creatures can excrete an acidic substance that can melt flesh. It is quite painful, and </p><p>I could tell that Taklinn was feeling its effects. But he refused to let go. Meanwhile,</p><p>Griff was doing his best to hammer away at the yuan-ti without hitting Taklinn. </p><p></p><p> The second commander still had to be dealt with, and I chose to put myself in </p><p>harms way to facilitate Happy’s strike. I snuck around behind the yuan-ti in an</p><p>attempt to distract him. It worked, for he turned to face me just as Happy reached</p><p>him. She swiftly sank two daggers into his vitals, and he yelled in pain. As for me, I </p><p>figured my job had been done. I scurried beneath the desk and came up on its far</p><p>side, casting Magic Missile as fast as I could. The magical bolts struck him, and it</p><p>was enough. Down he went. </p><p></p><p> Suddenly we were cast into darkness! Now, I have no real reason to believe that</p><p>this darkness was not yuan-ti induced. It is, after all, a favorite tactic of theirs. But</p><p>Ambros did spot Caribdis as the bard raced forward and pointed his new rod at the </p><p>fray and mouthed its command word. So, was it yuan-ti darkness, or was it</p><p>Caribdis’ new toy? Likely, we shall never know, and as it turns out, its a moot point</p><p>and we shan’t be bothered by the rod again. But I’m getting ahead of myself. </p><p></p><p> By the time I’d found my way out of the darkness, Griff and Taklinn had</p><p>pummeled the yuan-ti to death. We were left with a roomful of dead snake men and</p><p>three doors to contend with. </p><p></p><p> From where I was I could make out the entirety of the room. It was fashioned in</p><p>nearly seamless stone the color of alabaster. The architecture was unfamiliar to me,</p><p>and for the first time since I’ve been on Edik I was acutely aware that we are truly </p><p>not in Havilah anymore. There is a foreignness about the wall carvings and accenting</p><p>that makes me feel quite out of place.</p><p> </p><p> I could see Griff and Taklinn standing over the dead yuan-ti commander, their </p><p>chests heaving from the exertion of battle. Happy, as always, was quick to make</p><p>sure Griff was not too badly injured. I have an odd feeling about those two, but if</p><p>there is anything going on other than stalwart friendship, they are good at masking</p><p>it. Besides, the size difference would be a major difficulty to overcome. </p><p></p><p> Still...</p><p></p><p> Ah well, none of my business anyway! </p><p></p><p> Caribdis let his voice fall and his verse end as he quickly put his rod away </p><p> and strode forward to retrieve his arrows. Adeede did the same, and Sensesi </p><p>quietly wiped her scimitar off on one of her dead brethren. </p><p></p><p> The woman gives me the screaming creeps!</p><p></p><p> We collected ourselves and Taklinn and Caribdis healed those that needed it. I</p><p>decided that I’d had enough of being land bound, and began the rather laborious </p><p>process of casting Fire Bird. </p><p></p><p> Now I had only know about this spell in theory. That is to say, I had never seen it</p><p>cast. It’s a rather rare spell that I’ve been working on for some time, and I thought </p><p>that I’d had it pretty well figured out. But the creature I summoned as my steed was</p><p>far more than I had counted on! The Fire Bird is just that, a massive eagle-like bird</p><p>made entirely of fire, much like a fire elemental, which, I suppose it must have </p><p>some relation to. The thing is nearly as big as a horse, and when it suddenly</p><p>appeared in the room with an accompanying roar of flames, my startled companions</p><p>nearly fell all over themselves pulling weapons, ready to take it on! </p><p></p><p> I pondered my new servant, as did Ambros, now perched on my left shoulder,</p><p>stroking his chin thoughtfully at the eagle shaped inferno before us. I looked at him,</p><p>and he at me. How in the world was this thing going to travel indoors with us? Yet </p><p>it had a saddle upon its back, and it seemed a shame to just dispel it when it would</p><p>last for nine hours. I decided to try and use it anyway. There must be SOME use for</p><p>a fireball that walks clumsily and preens itself. </p><p></p><p> As it turned out, it DID have an immediate use. My wall of ice still separated us</p><p>from the three exits from this chamber. Gingerly, I touched the bird, and to my</p><p>great relief I felt no warmth, just the wing of a very real feeling bird. I had known </p><p>that the spell grants its caster virtual immunity to fire, but I never get over the</p><p>nervousness at trying a new spell out for the first time. One misspoken word in the</p><p>casting, and I could have suffered a nasty burn! </p><p></p><p> Ambros scuttled under my hat as I finally got a foot into the stirrup and mounted</p><p>the bird. I’m sure I was quite a sight, wreathed in fire and all. Soon I was</p><p>commanding the bird to peck away at the wall, and I saw that it is capable of </p><p>inflicting a goodly amount of damage. The wall was breached.</p><p> </p><p> We looked at the three doors, one on the east wall and two on the north. "Well,</p><p>Sensesi," I asked, "Where to now?" </p><p></p><p> The yuan-ti woman flicked her tongue at me and motioned to the eastern door and</p><p>the far door to the north. "Those will be quarters and temple." She nodded to the</p><p>final door. "That," she said, "Is where we need to go." </p><p></p><p> She walked forward, her body fairly slithering in it’s skin, and addressed us. "I</p><p>don’t know exactly where Melisandre is, but she has a helper, an assistant of sorts,</p><p>from your world. He’s a mealy little runt named Albert. He may have valuable </p><p>information, or even know where she is. He’s her book keeper, an accountant, you</p><p>might say, and getting to him is a swift step toward Melisandre." She smiled her</p><p>unsettling smile. "And I know where to find him." </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Rping 7 (Con’t)</p><p></p><p> With only one door leading to anywhere of significance, we hadn't much option but </p><p>to take Sensesi’s lead and follow her to Albert. </p><p></p><p> We did, of course, search the other two rooms, and, as she had said, they were</p><p>quarters for the yuan-ti and a temple to a god I had never heard of. Sensesi called </p><p>him Illugi and said that Melisandre and all who follow him are worshipers of this</p><p>most vile deity. Within the temple was a visage of Illugi sculpted from deep, black,</p><p>stone. It hurt my head to stare at it too long. </p><p></p><p> We did find a few trinkets and coin, as well as the ever present gems and pearls</p><p>these yuan-ti all seem to carry. We also found a set of unique and beautiful clothing </p><p>that Caribdis immediately took a liking to. Hap said that the cloths could be sold for</p><p>quite a pretty piece of coin, but Caribdis begged to have them for his own. I balked</p><p>a bit at this at first, since any find of real value is considered party treasure, but then </p><p>he made a surprising offer. Pulling out the rod of wonder, he offered to give it to me</p><p>if I let him keep the cloths. How could I refuse a chance to get the cursed thing</p><p>away from him? No one else had a problem with the deal either, so now it is I who </p><p>posses the rod, never to be used again, and thankfully so.</p><p></p><p> We breached the last door and beheld a stone hallway leading north. I rode the</p><p>fire bird, painfully aware of how much space I was taking up in the corridor, but </p><p>still refusing to let it go. At the very least it would protect me from any potential</p><p>fire damage.</p><p></p><p> We walked only a short distance to where the hall emptied into another chamber, </p><p>and it was there that we first faced drider. Sensesi had told us that many drider</p><p>served the witch queen, and my studies had prepared me a bit for them, but</p><p>actually seeing one of the half-spider, half-humanoid horrors was a ghastly </p><p>experience still. There were three of them on guard, and they skittered forward to</p><p>engage us. </p><p></p><p> I’m afraid I wasn't of much use in this fight, for being atop the fire bird made it </p><p>impossible to maneuver or move fast enough to even enter the room without fear of</p><p>knocking down my friends. It’s a good thing my friends can look out for themselves</p><p>most of the time, for they hurled themselves at the drider, weapons glinting. Again </p><p>and again Griff and Taklinn drew their blades away covered in black drider blood</p><p>while Hap and Caribdis let fly with dagger and arrow. Sensesi and Adeede fell upon</p><p>the driders as well, and within a moment all three of the things lay dead on the </p><p>floor, curled up in death in that strange way that spiders have. </p><p></p><p> We took the rooms exit and proceeded onward and up a flight of stairs. At the top</p><p>we found a room with a couple of doors, but Sensesi assured us that one of them led </p><p>only to more yuan-ti clerics of Illugi. She nodded at the other door, and Happy</p><p>quickly scanned it for traps. When she gave the all clear, Griff pushed it open,</p><p>stepped through with his guard up, and was attacked immediately by driders. The </p><p>rest of the crew plunged in to help, but as I was about to wobble the fire bird into</p><p>the room so I could see what was going on and possibly lend a hand, Caribdis</p><p>stepped in front of me and stopped to fire arrows, effectively blocking my way. </p><p>Again, my part in the battle was sitting atop the bird, cursing. </p><p></p><p> But our fighters were having a good day, and they made short work of the two</p><p>driders, leaving us free to enter a northern door. The hall beyond cornered sharply </p><p>after about twenty feet, and continued on to yet another drider filled room, only</p><p>these drider could cast spells! Fireball, to be precise, and Griff, Taklinn and Adeede</p><p>felt that burn. Happy was caught in it too, but she is so fast that she was able to </p><p>dodge away at the last second and escaped without a scorch. </p><p></p><p> Four of the spider things held us off here for long, combat filled, seconds.</p><p>Another fireball went off, as well as a couple of web spells. It was an inferno in the </p><p>room for a brief time, but our fighters pressed forward, taking down one drider, then</p><p>another, then a third, and finally backing the fourth against the wall where it died</p><p>with a piercing shriek. </p><p></p><p> Injured, but unwilling to stop, we pressed on into the next room, which was a</p><p>round affair with a massive wooden portcullis on its east side that Sensesi</p><p>told us led outside to the city. But that is not where we needed to go. She pointed to </p><p>one of several doors with her scimitar and said that Albert was not too far beyond it.</p><p>She did warn us that the hall beyond was heavily trapped, and that’s where Happy</p><p>was able to put her expertise to use. </p><p></p><p> After opening the door to find a wide, plushy carpeted hall, lit with odd and</p><p>fragile glowing orbs set in wall sconces, our plucky friend was crawling gently </p><p>forward on hands and knees, scouring every inch for suspect trip wires, pressure</p><p>plates, and what have you. She found several too, and was able to disarm them, and</p><p>a good thing, for they were nasty traps indeed, most of them pits that only led to a </p><p>long drop and certain death by spikes set into the stone below. All the while she</p><p>searched, Griff looked on worriedly. We all had concern for her, but I think it</p><p>especially troubled Griffin to see her in harms way and not be able to do anything to </p><p>help her.</p><p></p><p> The hall turned a corner, and we followed gingerly in Happy’s footsteps. She</p><p>continued on until she reached a door flanked by two statues of leering, winged, </p><p>creatures that crouched on pedestals and bared stone teeth at us. Happy looked at</p><p>them uncertainly as she began to comb the door for more traps. Even as she touched</p><p>the door, the statues sprang to life, leaping to attack her. I knew immediately that </p><p>they were gargoyles. </p><p> </p><p> Gargoyles can be tough and destructive creatures, but with Griff there to defend</p><p>Happy, they had little chance. Even as they scored a painful hit on her, Griff was </p><p>bringing down his vengeful steel to split one open with a great gout of gray blood.</p><p>Taklinn followed this with an axe blow to the second, and before long we had </p><p>overwhelmed it. It fought to the bitter end, but at last it lay dead. </p><p></p><p> A little shaken, Happy went back in to check the door, disarming still another trap</p><p>before announcing an all clear. Griff led the way, and we found a square room</p><p>beyond with a door on each wall and a spiral staircase shaft dominating its center. </p><p>Happy went back to work, checking first the door to the north. She found no traps,</p><p>and what looked like a plush waiting area was revealed. Another door led east from</p><p>that room, but we decided to check the staircase room first. Happy proceeded to the </p><p>eastern door (of the first room), and found another trap, only this time she found it</p><p>the hard way, and as quick as she is, she could not avoid inhaling some of the</p><p>poisonous gas that was expelled from the door lock. She staggered back, turning </p><p>quite green. I feared that she would be sick, but she straightened up, assuring us that</p><p>she was ok, even though it was obvious that she wasn’t. I saw the frown of concern</p><p>on Griff’s face, but she would not be deterred, and at last announced that the door </p><p>was safe. </p><p> </p><p> Griff opened it to see a large and officious looking room hosting several</p><p>bookshelves and desks. He and Happy took a few steps into the room, and whistled </p><p>low in their throats as they looked to their right. We couldn’t see it, but we could</p><p>hear it. The heavy footsteps vibrated through the stone floors, and I heard Happy</p><p>wonder aloud, "Is that a golem?" </p><p></p><p> And then there were more gargoyles. They came leaping and chattering forward,</p><p>slashing away at Hap and Griff before Taklinn could lend his aid. And by the time</p><p>he did, he had his hands full, for the golem plodded into view, swinging its long and </p><p>heavy arms like twin hammers. One fist thudded off of Taklinn’s mail, leaving a</p><p>melon sized dent. Taklinn was wearing the Flesh Golem Scarab, so he turned to</p><p>face the thing as we tried to get the gargoyles off of Happy. </p><p></p><p> Our rogue was in a bad way, for a gargoyle had knocked her to the ground and</p><p>stood over her, ready to maul her with it’s terrible claws. But Griff closed the</p><p>distance with cat-like speed, and with one long swipe of his blade, sent the </p><p>gargoyles head sailing, end over end, across the room. He cleaved into another,</p><p>bringing it down as Sensesi and Adeede teamed up on the third. </p><p> </p><p> It was then that I had a not so bright idea. My research had told me that golems </p><p>could not be effected by magic’s, but that fire effects slowed them down</p><p>considerably. Hoping that the third door in the staircase room might mirror the first</p><p>we’d checked, and would lead to a room with a door that might lead into the golem</p><p>room, I raced for it. </p><p></p><p> And of course it was trapped. I got a snoot full of the same gas that Happy had</p><p>inhaled, and immediately felt ill, as if my stomach were going to try to escape from </p><p>my body by any means necessary. But I pressed on, throwing open the door, and to</p><p>my pleasant surprise, it opened up directly into the golem chambers. To my left I</p><p>could see it locked in battle with Griff and Taklinn. I swiftly judged distance and </p><p>cast my remaining fireball in the room, careful to only get the gargoyle in the edge</p><p>of its blast and spare my friends from the flame. It worked, and the golem seemed</p><p>to fight from then on in slow motion. Taklinn and Griff hacked away at it, and soon </p><p>it fell heavily to the floor. </p><p></p><p> As I walked around the corner to step over the body, I heard Happy. She had</p><p>already begun to search the chambers and had opened a cabinet door. There, curled </p><p>up in a frightened ball, was an old man. "And you," Happy said, "Must be Albert!"</p><p></p><p></p><p> Rping 7 (con’t) </p><p></p><p> The old man looked up from his protective fetal position and blinked warily at us.</p><p>I’m sure we presented a fearsome sight, but it was the sound of Happy’s voice, or</p><p>rather the language in which it was spoken that drew his attention. His fear turned </p><p>to a toothless smile of relief. "You...you speak my language!" He gasped, crawling</p><p>stiffly from the cabinet with Happy’s help. He was so thin and frail that even she</p><p>could support him as he straightened up with an audible creak. </p><p></p><p> His eyes found our rings and he grew even more excited. "Your from Havilah!"</p><p>he exclaimed, "Crew members of Havilah! Bless my soul, I never thought I’d see</p><p>the day! Welcome! Welcome all of you! And yes, my name is indeed Albert. How </p><p>did you find me?"</p><p></p><p> Needless to say, it was Q&A time for Albert. We had much to ask, and the old</p><p>man was quite forthcoming with his answers. He had, he told us, been brought here </p><p>from Havilah some ten years ago in the same way that so many Havahlians have</p><p>been brought to this place. He confirmed what we’d already suspected, that most</p><p>people who are kidnapped by Melisandre are transformed into mindless walking </p><p>undead to be used as cannon fodder in her unrelenting quest for power and</p><p>domination. Why Albert was not thusly transformed, he did not know. He surmised</p><p>that it may have been because of his record keeping background and mental </p><p>dexterity with facts and figures. Whatever the case, she put him to work keeping</p><p>track of her armies and their supplies, and so forth. At first he had resisted, but, with</p><p>downcast eyes, he admitted to finally giving in under threat of painful death. </p><p> </p><p> One very interesting fact that he was able to give us was that time here on Edik</p><p>flows much faster than our own world. His ten years here match only a single year</p><p>in Havilah, which means that we have not been gone from our home world for a </p><p>very great length of time at all. This gives me hope that we will be able to make it</p><p>back in time to stop Melisandre.</p><p> </p><p> He also told us that we are not the first crew to have come here. He told us that </p><p>one other had arrived, but had failed to complete their mission. However, there</p><p>were survivors of that crew that were in contact with a small resistance group</p><p>within the city. Better yet, he assured us that one of these surviving crew members </p><p>was in hiding right here, deep within the secret recesses of the tower! It is good to</p><p>know that there are still a few secrets that escape the witch queen. </p><p> </p><p> Albert was quite excited at the prospect of rescue, and offered to take us to the </p><p>surviving crew member. He warned us, however, that she was badly injured, and</p><p>had been for some time. He feared that she was slowly dying. With this news we</p><p>resolved to make haste to find her, in spite of our thinning spells and injuries. </p><p></p><p> Albert led us back into the trap littered hallway and revealed to us a very well</p><p>hidden door behind a tapestry. He explained to us that Melisandre had taken over</p><p>this tower when she conquered the city, and that she had not yet learned all of the </p><p>secretes of the place which was how he had been able to hide a crew member right</p><p>under her nose. </p><p> </p><p> He closed the door behind us and led us down a narrow spiral staircase that</p><p>penetrated deep below the streets of Anvie. At the bottom we followed a hallway</p><p>that looked like it had seen little use for some time. At last we came to a door on </p><p>our right side, and Albert gingerly opened it, as if trying not to disturb whoever was</p><p>inside. We were on our guard, still fearful of treachery, but caution quickly turned</p><p>to wonder and concern at the sight of the rooms occupant. </p><p></p><p> It was Lotte Spangler! </p><p> </p><p> The ranger who had once thought so ill of us for Caribdis’ actions during our</p><p>Academy trials now lay gasping and pale upon a dirty pallet in a tiny cell, empty </p><p>save for evidence of meals past and a chamber pot. She looked up weakly as we</p><p>entered, and I read disbelief in her eyes. It was obvious that she had long since</p><p>given up hope of rescue. She was able to rally a grin as we closed the door behind </p><p>us and rushed to her aid. </p><p></p><p> Taklinn checked her wound as we tried not to all talk at once. Her belly was an</p><p>open mass of brackish blood and smelled of rotting meat. It was immediately </p><p>apparent to Taklinn that she was barely clinging to life. When asked if she’d been</p><p>treated with clerical magic already, she could only shake her head and tell us that</p><p>there were no clerics to be had in Anvie. Taklinn cast healing spells upon her that </p><p>did nothing to close the wound, but they did give her a bit of comfort and strength.</p><p>Caribdis was beside himself at the sight of her. This was the woman, you may</p><p>recall, upon whom he had spent a small fortune trying to placate in the interest of </p><p>goodwill between our crews, and he tapped her several times with his wand of</p><p>healing before it was obvious to all that the spells were being wasted. Stronger</p><p>magic’s were needed, and Taklinn vowed to pray for just that as soon as night fell. </p><p>In the meantime, she was able to speak with us. The story she told was a sad one</p><p>indeed.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> Rping 7 (con’t)</p><p></p><p> Lotte grimaced through the strain of talking, but she told her story.</p><p> </p><p> She and the rest of her crew, Finch, Lotte’s halfling lover, Kester, the dwarven </p><p>cleric of Moradin, Ryton, the human warrior, and his brother, Teppo, the wizard</p><p>with whom I had come to befriend after our crossing of swords during the Academy</p><p>trials, came to Edik on Planting 21, which, as I look back, is the same day Taklinn </p><p>got his arm chopped off. They came in much the same fashion that we did, by</p><p>following yuan-ti kidnappers through their portal. Instead of being teleported away,</p><p>they were able to fight a path through the ranks of yuan-ti and transformed </p><p>townsfolk, and make good their escape into the depths of Anvie. They hid, with the</p><p>whole city looking for them, but eventually they were able to make contact with</p><p>Albert and to find out some vital information from what was left of the scattered </p><p>resistance in Anvie. </p><p></p><p> According to them Melisandre possessed two orbs given to her by her terrible</p><p>god, Illugi. The orbs are quite powerful, and somehow allow her to move vast </p><p>armies from Edik to Havilah and back as needed. She carries one of them at all</p><p>times while the other stays in Edik, guarded by minions of the hellish realms. At</p><p>least that is what Teppo was able to piece together. Teppo had a theory, via his </p><p>research on the matter, that the orbs are powered by both divine and arcane magic,</p><p>and that between himself and Kester they should be able to control or destroy the</p><p>orb should they be able to get it. </p><p></p><p> But they would never get to put that plan into action.</p><p></p><p> Several days before their proposed raid on the tower, where the orb is kept, Kester</p><p>went out to gather some needed supplies and components. He returned a monster.</p><p>When the cleric of Moradin came back to their hideout, he reeked of death, wore a </p><p>crown upon his head, and attacked his fellow crew members without warning. With</p><p>a single blow he decapitated Finch. Lotte’s tears ran unchecked when she related </p><p>this part of the tale.</p><p></p><p> Kester managed to score a hit on Teppo and Ryton as well before Lotte ran him</p><p>through with her sword. But Kester hammered at her with his last breath, and </p><p>delivered to her side a gash that felled her. Teppo and Ryton thought her dead, and</p><p>they fled, fearing that more of Melisandre’s troops must be close behind.</p><p> </p><p> Lotte awoke shortly thereafter with Albert trying his best to save her life. She has </p><p>been on the brink of death ever since.</p><p></p><p> Lotte fell back, exhausted at the effort of telling the story, and Caribdis did his</p><p>best to ease her pain, tapping her again with his wand and shooing the rest of us </p><p>away, except for Taklinn, whom he begged to change her wounds dressing. </p><p> </p><p> I felt as tired as Lotte looked, and lay down for some rest, knowing that I would</p><p>need it to regain my spells. That is where we sit now, here in Lotte’s room. Albert </p><p>assures us that he can take us to the orb chamber, and we will make our assault at</p><p>first opportunity. Taklinn is waiting only for the sun to go down so that he can pray</p><p>for spells that will finally bring relief to Lotte. I send my warmest regards to </p><p>Clangeden in this matter. The woman has been through too much, and I hope</p><p>against hope that our cleric will undo the damage that hers did.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> Rping 7 (con’t)</p><p></p><p> My, but this has been a long day! One thing after another! </p><p> </p><p> I had only been asleep a few hours when Ambros suddenly forced me awake by </p><p>intruding into my dreams in that way he has. I sat bolt upright, immediately aware</p><p>that something was wrong. </p><p> </p><p> The sight that greeted me was that of Sensesi, backed into a corner, her hand on </p><p>her scimitar. The rest of the crew stood on the opposite side of the room, looking</p><p>from her to Taklinn, who had his axe out and ready for use.</p><p></p><p> "I’ll ask you just one last time," he was saying, "Drop your weapons and surrender </p><p>or face my steel!" </p><p> </p><p> "What the devil is going on?" I cried, rolling from my blankets and shaking my</p><p>head to clear it. </p><p> </p><p> "She’s a spy!" Taklinn growled. Sensesi laughed at him.</p><p></p><p> "Your crazy!" she hissed, "Haven’t I brought you this far? What would tell you that</p><p>I’m a spy? Where’s your proof?" </p><p> </p><p> Happy, Griff and I looked from Taklinn to Sensesi in confusion. All Taklinn</p><p>would say was, "She’s a spy. I’ll explain how I know later, just believe me, she’s a</p><p>spy!" He took a step forward. </p><p> </p><p> I made a fast decision. Taklinn had no proof, and this was out of the clear blue</p><p>sky, but if it came down to his word versus hers, there was simply no argument. I</p><p>cast my remaining fifth circle spell, a Wall of Force, to block the door. Sensesi felt </p><p>it behind her when she stepped back, and knew that there would be no escape. Her</p><p>eyes flashed and she flicked out her tongue at Griff, then at Happy. "I should have</p><p>killed you when I had the chance!" she shrieked, and drew her blades, rushing at </p><p>Happy!</p><p></p><p> Griff and Taklinn were there to meet her, and Adeede tried to get in a swing as</p><p>well. But before she could be brought down I cast again, and lo and behold, it </p><p>worked! I polymorphed her into a turtle!</p><p> </p><p> In a flash she used her yuan-ti abilities and shape changed into a snake, and</p><p>crawled beneath Lotte’s pallet. Caribdis swept up Lotte while Griff hauled up the </p><p>mattress. There Sensesi was, in snake form, trying to squeeze through a crack in the</p><p>wall. Taklinn reached down and grabbed her. She did her best to bite him, but her</p><p>fangs were no match for his armor, and in a flash she was in the bag I quickly held</p><p>out. I gave her back to Taklinn with a shudder, and sat down heavily. There was </p><p>much to discuss. How has she been communicating with Melesandre? Will</p><p>Melesandre still be able to get reports from her while she was our snake/turtle </p><p>prisoner? </p><p> </p><p> Taklinn tells us that he had cast a powerful spell that would allow him to</p><p>communicate directly with Clangeden. All of his question had been used to </p><p>ascertain what spells he could use to aid Lotte and the order in which they had to be</p><p>cast, save one. His final question had simply been, "Is Sensesi a spy for</p><p>Melesandre?" Clangeden had said, "Yes." That was that. </p><p> </p><p> We fear that this hideout is not safe, but we have little choice. I am going back to</p><p>bed now, for I must get some rest. My spells are exhausted.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="cthulhu42, post: 6581731, member: 6792361"] Reaping 12 ***After flying through most of the night, Caribdis and Doorag begin to see evidence of people again, with streams of obvious refugees streaming toward the capitol city. By the end of the day they are nearing Havilah and can easily see that it is already crowded with citizens fleeing the evil that nips at their heels. Doorag turns Caribdis invisible so as not to cause a panic when the populace sees a red dragon flying into their city, and the pair glide into the Academy to find Yigil waiting for them. Happy to see their sponsor, they quickly spill all that they know, to which Yigil can merely sigh and respond that he feared as much. It seems that, A) the disappearance of Havilah’s citizens is taking place kingdomwide, starting at the outer edges of the kingdom and working inward in an evertightening circle. B) The same thing happened several hundred years ago. The evil had reached the very walls of Havilah where it was turned back by a legendary warrior named Roland who wielded Everyman’s Blade. Few details remain of that battle except that Roland disappeared after its conclusion. C) Only Havilah is in danger of this crisis. Kingdoms outside its borders report no problems. D)Apparently the process of vanishing citizens is a long one. The last time it happened it took nearly two years for the threat to reach the capitols walls. The same thing appears to be happening in this case, though it looks like it may be progressing slightly faster. At any rate, they have a little time. Yigil and the Academy council are already hard at work seeking an answer to this dilemma. Several crews have been sent out to find a solution, but none have returned. There is little Caribdis and Doorag can do except await the arrival of the rest of their crew.*** Reaping 18 ***After watching Doorag and Caribdis fly off toward the capitol, Taklinn knows that speed is of the essence. Nearly paralyzed with fear, but determined not to slow the party down, he mounts up on Don Kay. After a couple of days on the road, they at last begin to see some signs of human life. They find themselves at the tail end of a stream of refugees heading toward Havilah. There is much suffering and sorrow on the road, and the trio do what they can to help, but in the end they must ride hard to catch up with their friends. It is on the 18th that they ride into the city, now crowded to capacity with humanity with still more coming every hour. They head for the Academy where Caribdis and Doorag meet them. The pair are overjoyed to see their friends, but there is little time for celebration. The late trio are quickly filled in on the situation and also on Doorag’s plan. Evidence suggests that the cities of Havilah are being systematically emptied one at a time in an ever tightening circle, the center of which is the capitol city itself. It would appear that this evil is not so much a wave-like inward ripple, but more a town by town invasion by beings that facilitate the mass exodus. Doorag speculates that the yuan-ti, with their suggestive abilities, might be behind it, though he also suspects that Melisandre is the real evil here, and is somehow enabling the disappearance of so many folk at one time. He knows that an interdimensional gate would do the trick. He proposes that the crew travel to an outlying city of decent size that has yet to be emptied, and await whatever it is that is emptying these cities, and either stop it there or at least find out how it is being done that they might better combat it. The rest of the crews initial response to the plan is less than heroic. Caribdis believes it madness to leave the safety of the city, and Griff has never been crazy about looking for trouble. Speaking of Griff, Caribdis now takes to referring to him as The Chosen, since he now wields Everyman’s Blade. Caribdis is convinced that it is Griff’s destiny to stand and fight at Havilah’s gates and turn back the evil once it arrives. Doorag must admit that it makes sense, but Griff calmly tells them both to stick it where the sun don’t shine, that he "Ain’t no chosen nothin’!" But the fact remains that he does carry the legendary blade and will not give it up, despite the apparent destiny it means. The whole "Chosen" business strikes a chord with Happy as well, and she fears for Griff. She does not want him following in the footsteps of Roland, and is adamant that he not put himself in any position to do so. Only Taklinn believes that Doorag is on to something. The dwarf agrees to the plan, but the vote is far from unanimous. Doorag and Taklinn work on the others for the better part of a week before finally convincing Griff and Happy that it is better to take the fight to Melisandre than to wait for her. It is the thought of how many they can possibly save that convinces Griff, and Happy will follow the stoic warrior anywhere. Caribdis is the last to be swayed, for he is nearly paralytic with fear at the thought of the mere five of them taking on such an unknown evil, but in the end, as Doorag and Taklinn sadly shake their heads and tell him that they will miss him, Caribdis relents. His sense of loyalty will not let the crew leave without him. For nearly two weeks they make ready. There are spells to be learned and items to be forged. Specifically, Yigil fashions for them a wand of Daylight with which to combat the yuan-ti’s maddening ability to plunge them into darkness. He also loans Doorag a book full of useful spells, not the least of which is Detect Scrying, which Doorag casts at the first available opportunity. Sure enough, at at least two points during the subsequent day he feels the magical eye of someone watching him. He warns the rest of the crew, but there is little to be done except keep the spell running and do any planning when not being scryed. They decide to make for the city of Candice, a good sized town on the outskirts of the disappearances that is due to be hit soon. A couple of notes concerning these two weeks: It appears that at least a few people did see Caribdis as a dragon, for many of the citizens have taken to referring to him as just that. He is not terribly pleased with being given the nickname, Dragon, but there is'nt much he can do. Also, Doorag begins each day by polymorphing himself into a different humanoid in order to know what it is like to be an elf, or a dwarf, or a gnome, or a human, or what have you. Last, but not least, Yigil loans a wand of Enlarge to Happy, and with it she makes herself big enough so that she and Griff may, ah, consummate their friendship. The two of them spend their last night in Havilah in each others arms, though this is unknown to the rest of the crew.*** Richfest 3 ***They depart Havilah.*** Richfest 7 ***They travel to the outskirts of Candice and are immediately attacked by yuan-ti. They defeat the snake men and enter the city, only to find it in the process of being emptied out. In the village square they witness the last of the townsfolk being led like sheep through a large, round, portal by five more yuan-ti. The crew attack the yuan-ti and slaughter all but one of them. This last yuan-ti escapes through the portal. Taklinn charges forward to chase him into the unknown. Griff tries to stop him, but Taklinn bulls his way onward, taking Griff with him through the portal. A horrified Happy follows the two through. Doorag is beside himself. Never in his wildest imagination had he dreamed that Taklinn would do such a thing, but what’s done is done. With a shrug to Caribdis, the halfling enters the portal, leaving the bard behind. Caribdis, still shouting, "No! No! No!" finds himself with only the horses for company and the portal slowly dwindling. At the last minute, he leads the mounts through. Once through the portal they find themselves inside a mighty city within a magical circle. They are surrounded by dazed and wandering townsfolk and yuan-ti. And they also see Melisandre, with Freya still at her side. The witch queen laughs, and with a wave of her hand, the crew is sent away, teleported far from the city. When next they get their bearings, they find themselves on a barren plain that stretches in all directions. Worse, they need only look at the sky to see that they are no longer on their home plane.*** Richfest 7 (con’t) ***The crew spends several minutes getting their bearings. Happy is none too pleased that Caribdis has brought the horses (especially her miniature horse and Don Kay) into such danger, but there is nothing to be done about it now. Doorag already has a fly spell cast on him, so he uses it to ascend to a great height to try and survey the area. In the distance he spies what might be a ruined city, but its too far to tell. However, another sight quickly takes precedence. Less than a mile away and moving fast, he sees a large dust cloud approaching them. Quickly flying back down to the group to borrow the telescope, he heads back up for a better look. The dust cloud is a result of a flock of earth bound birds. They appear ostrich-like, but bigger, and with gnarly looking beaks that mean business. They are covering the ground fast, and will soon be upon them. He shouts down this report, and the rest of the crew make ready for battle. The huge birds are upon them all too soon, and the fight commences. Doorag stays in the air and manages to immediately polymorph one of them into the most benign thing he can think of: a cow. These feathered monsters turn out to be a tougher match than many of the beasts the crew has fought thus far, and they give them quite a run for their money. But with spell and sword, arrow and dagger, they are brought down one by one until only the "cow" is left standing. As it turns out, cows have quite a nasty bite, and this one manages to take a chunk out of Taklinn before they turn it into so much beef. They decide to take a chance on potential civilization and head for the ruins that Doorag had spotted.*** Reaping 1 ***It takes them nearly two days to reach what had once been a sizable village, now left to ruins. There is no sign of life here, but the town had been built at the base of a mighty mountain range, and the main road appears to lead straight into a massive tunnel cut right into the living rock. With no better prospects in sight, they lead their mounts into the darkness of the underground.*** Reaping 2 ***After a full days travel, they hear the familiar noises of battle ahead. Investigating, they find themselves at the entrance to a large cavern in which a pitched battle is taking place between a group of ill equipped humans and a band of the ever present yuan-ti. With the yuan-ti is a horrid creature they’ve never seen before. Looking like a cross between a giant scorpion and a giant spider, the massive insect is getting the better of several humans who are trying vainly to bring it down with clubs and spears. Never one to shirk a fight, Taklinn charges. Not to be outdone, Griffin follows suit, and the crew joins the fight. They snatch victory from the jaws of defeat that day, and soon the ground is littered with dead yuan-ti. Even the spider thing goes down, but not before plunging its terrible stinger into Griffin at least twice. By the battles end the stalwart fighter can barely stand, so drained of strength is he by the creatures poison. The leader of the humans approaches them cautiously, and for a moment there appears to be a language barrier, but Caribdis has a trick up his sleeve. He casts Tongues, and is soon translating for the group. The leader introduces himself as Nanden and, with a few sidelong looks at the halflings and Griff’s sword, he fills them in. It turns out that they have landed on a planet called Edik, a place that shares many similarities with the crew home planet. On Edik a terrible witch queen named Melisandre has enslaved most of the populace under her iron fist with the help of an army of yuan-ti. She has captured untold numbers of humans and turned them into undead. The capitol city of Anvie is where she rules from. Spell casters are unheard of here these days since Melisandre has hunted them to extinction, and Nanden and his kind have never seen halflings. What really seems to interest the leader is Griff and his sword, though he says nothing about it. He invites them to accompany him and the rest of his refugees to their base. They follow the fighters for several hours through a honeycomb of tunnels until they reach an underground base filled with human survivors of Melisandre evil. Nanden gives them a chamber for their own and tells them that tomorrow he will introduce them to someone who not only speaks their language, but will be able to tell them more.*** Reaping 3 ***The following morning Nanden brings a young woman to meet the crew and introduces her as Adeede, his sister. To their surprise and pleasure, she greets them in their own language, albeit heavily accented. Over a morning meal she explains. 475 years ago a great evil fell upon the lands of Edik similar to the one that plagues it now. Thousands died, and most major cities were held under its sway. From the ashes of almost certain doom rose a hero named Roland wielding a strangely glyphed sword that came to be known as Everyman’s Blade. With this legendary sword Roland made a final stand against the evil hordes that threatened to bury the last good men of Edik, and turned it, breaking its back. The hordes of evil were pushed back but Roland disappeared, along with his sword, and was never seen again. Most of the details of those times have been lost, but what is sure is that Roland had left behind offspring. His bloodline lived on through the centuries, and Adeede is his granddaughter with many "greats" before her title. What is also known is that Roland spoke a strange language that was also passed on from generation to generation, and Adeede still knows enough of it to communicate with the crew. Adeede tells them that Melisandre controls Anvie city and that Nanden has gathered many of the surviving tribes of humans together for a final assault on her stronghold, though they have little hope as they are severely outnumbered and under armed. Still, they have little choice and would rather go on the offensive than simply wait to be exterminated one tribe at a time. The tunnel that has brought them here continues on under the mountain range, and was once a major trade route to Anvie, but now is blockaded by scores of yuan-ti. Much discussion follows and the crew decides to lead the way and break the blockade. They will take the point by a lead of several days which will give Nanden time to gather his forces and march them through the mountain. Adeede offers to accompany them as their guide. Unfortunately the underground terrain is too rough for the horses. Here on Edik the preferred means of travel (especially in these underground caves) are tame axebeaks. Axebeaks are the common name of the birds which had attacked the crew upon their arrival to Edik's plains. Not willing to leave them behind, the crew waits through the next day so that Doorag can put his polymorph spell to good use, transforming their mounts into axebeaks.*** Reaping 4 ***In the morning Doorag polymorphs the last of the horses and they head out, with some difficulty, it turns out, for only Adeede is competent at riding an axebeak. To make matters worse, the transformed horses and donkey are quite uncomfortable going from four legs to two. But within a few hours on the road they all settle down and progress is made. The wide tunnel cuts through the mountains, mile after mile. They rest that night in a spot obviously used as a campsite by travelers for many hundreds of years. But it is not to be a restful night, for the yuan-ti patrol this main tunnel heavily and there is nowhere to hide. Before they even have dinner they are set upon by two of the snake men and another of the kildebraun. The crew, normally so dangerous, find themselves nearly taken down by this evil trio! (OOC: This battle was a fumble fest of horrendous proportions. I’ve never seen so many natural 1’s being thrown) Griffin and Adeede both fall victim to the kildebraun’s poisoned stinger and are sapped of strength. Finally, however, the enemy is brought down, though the injuries to the crew are such that they will be slowed down considerably to give Taklinn time to help Griff and Adeede with his spells. *** Reaping 5 ***They decide to rest through the day to give Adeede time to regain her strength. Taklinn manages to heal Griff with his spells, but he ends up with none left to help their guide, and therefore it must be left to nature, at least for another 24 hours. But they will not have rest! By noon they are attacked yet again, this time by another kildebraun and four yuan-ti. Fortunately the fighters manage to keep better grips on their swords, and Doorag has access to his more powerful spells. He uses Wall of Ice to fine effect, as well as several well placed Bolts of Conjuring. Happy manages to land several fine sneak attacks. All of this, combined with Caribdis’ verse, leads to a victory in fine style. Better yet, this enemy had brought a fine cache of loot with them. They not only find a goodly amount of platinum, but a bag of holding and two rings of protection, one of them more powerful than any they have ever seen. At first Doorag claims the much cherished ring, sighting the fact that he has taken very little in the way of magic treasure up until now. But after some thought he has a change of heart, realizing that the small bit of extra protection would better help one of the fighters. He puts it back into the pool, though he states that he thinks it ought to go to Griff, as he seems to always be in the thick of things and constantly needs healing. The rest agree and Griff shrugs, slipping on his new ring.*** Reaping 6 ***The following morning they set out again. Adeede tells them that they shall soon reach the yuan-ti blockade, and she is correct. Drawing near, they decide to leave their mounts behind until it is safe to bring them along. They make their way cautiously forward and soon enter a large chamber guarded by several yuan-ti and a kildebraun. It is a bloody battle, but in the end the crew slay the lot of them save one who flees. They delve deeper into the yuan-ti lair and discover the one who had run away. He is dead, a strange dagger in his back. Intrigued, they descend down a large shaft with a spiral ramp gracing its interior. At the bottom they find a veritable honeycomb of yuan-ti caves. They manage to surprise a group of the snake men sitting at a table about to eat dinner. Griffin leaps onto the table and lays about with his sword and the battle is on. Kildebraun and yuan-ti come out of the woodwork. There must be at least a dozen of them and it takes every bit of skill, strength and magic they can muster to thwart them. Not only are the yuan-ti fearsome warriors, their darkness abilities cause Doorag to spend much of his time countering them with his wand of Daylight. Also, the kildebraun, it turns out, can spout out webbing that hinder them to no end. Several times the crew is forced to simply burn the stuff away and deal with the self inflicted burns. Toward the end of the battle they find that they have a surprising ally. Doorag spots her first. She is a yuan-ti of great stealth, and she manages to bury daggers in the backs of several of her fellows even before they know that she is upon them. When the last enemy falls, the crew approach her with distrust. They are bloodied and battered and low on resources and take no chances. The yuan-ti woman calmly introduces herself as Sensesi. She is the one who slew the yuan-ti who had retreated from the first battle and stopped him from calling out an alarm to those below. She also informs them that she has no love for Melisandre and is more than willing to lead them to her.*** Rping 6 ...This Sensesi woman makes my skin crawl. I’ve always tried to believe that there can be exceptions in every race that possesses a soul, but she is so cold, so... snake like. Still, she has offered her help to us. After the huge battle with the yuan-ti in the main living chambers we were ready to lick out wounds. But there would be none of that. Sensesi informed us that beyond the next bend in the corridor lay another series of rooms that held still more yuan-ti. Less than we had already fought, but yuan-ti just the same, not to mention a couple more kildebraun. Thankfully they had not appeared to have heard the fight, for they had not come to reinforce their brethren. Sensesi assured us that the yuan-ti were split into two groups, one in a room to the north, and a smaller group to the south. She told us that we had little choice but to take them on now, as they guarded a portal that would take us directly into the city of Anvie. Directly into Melesandre's tower, no less! She also pointed out that there were prisoners being held; humans who had been treated shoddily already and would not last much longer. That was all it took for Taklinn and I, and, despite how few spells we had left, we pressed on, hopeful that the element of surprise would help to win the day. We followed the tunnel and ended up in a large chamber which looked like a dining area. Two doors, one to the north, and one to the south beckoned. We hashed out a quick plan and Taklinn flung the northern door open, charging into the room with Griff hot on his heels. The rest of us poured in from behind as our two warriors caught a knot of yuan-ti sitting at a game of cards. Taklinn buried his axe in the first of them, and Griff lopped off a yuan-ti head before they’d even grabbed up their weapons. To the south of the room sat a table, seated at which was a sinister looking yuan-ti. He had a look of importance about him, and Sensesi had told us that the leader of the group was here. In the north end of the room squatted a kildebraun, hate andmalevolence glittering in its many eyes. I flew in quickly and let fly with a Bolt of Conjuring at the leader without hesitation. He stumbled backwards from the force of the magical energy, and behind him appeared the secondary effect of the spell, my trusty badger. The little bugger, as always, snarled and leapt for the well dressed snake man, not managing to hit him, but keeping him off balance as Happy suddenly appeared, her daggers held low and at the ready. With two quick thrusts she punctured the leader in too many important locations for him to bear, and he fell, face first, onto the table without an opportunity to even raise his sword to us. Then the room was filled with web, for this is one of the kildebraun's favorite tricks. Many of us were hung up in the stuff, but I’d been expecting this and had lit a torch earlier. Its flame immediately caught the web on fire. True, the singing of my robes and a few painful burns are a high price to pay, but compared to being stuck in place and at the kildebraun's mercy, I find it justified. Before long I was able to fly out of the morass. Still in the web, Taklinn and Griff worked their way through the remaining yuanti with the help of Caribdis, Adeede, and even Sensesi. Imight find her creepy, but she is unafraid to mix it up,even though it be against her ownrace. When the dust cleared they lay around us. Several yuan-ti, faces frozen in snarling death, and the kildebraun, it’s head split in twain by Griff. We breathed heavy from the exertion, but knew that there was still one more fight to be won. We made our way to the southern door. Again, it was Taklinn who opened the door, and before us lay a short corridor. Happy set herself up to check for traps, but Taklinn barreled on ahead, rounding the corner and running head on at a yuan-ti the likes of which we have learned are "abominations". They are far more dangerous than the average snake man, and this one put a pretty good hit on our cleric before the rest of us could reach him. I was nearly out of spells, but had another trick up my sleeve. I Greased his sword handle, and it slipped from his grasp, falling several feet away. Griff and Taklinn renewed their efforts against the abomination as the kildebraun behind him scuttled forward and cast the room into webbing. Again, the torches licked at the webs, and again we took the burns. By the time the flames reached Griff and Taklinn, both the abomination and the kildebraun lay dead. Sensesi had been telling the truth about the prisoners. We found half a dozen humans, ill treated and malnourished, imprisoned in tiny wooden crates. They were pitiful, and Taklinn quickly set about laying them in yuan-ti beds and tending to them. Though they could not speak our language, the look in their eyes was thanks enough. Searching the bodies and rooms brought us a fine haul indeed! Each of these yuan-ti carry at least 60 platinum, and several of them have had items that glow of magic under the detection spell. We have found a cloak, a rod, a necklace, several vials of fluid, and a couple of very fine scimitars. Best yet, each of the yuan-ti from the north room wore a matching ring of magic. Sensesi informed us that they were rings of Non-Detection, that these particular yuan-ti had also been plotting against Melisandre, and had used the rings to remain unfound. There is a ring for each of us with one left over, and we wear them now. I hope that she is telling the truth, for it will be fine indeed to not feel her baleful stare upon us at least twice per day! We have decided to rest here for the night and through tomorrow to give me time to Identify these items. We hope that they will provide us some assistance in the coming battles. Sensesi has shown us the glimmering portal in the north room and assures us that it leads directly into Melisandre’s tower, though it is heavily guarded. She warns us to go in at our full capacity, and I have to believe that. I sleep tonight in the leaders bed. He has his own room, and though it is little more than a cot, its just a bit nicer than the rest of the cots strewn about the place. I would feel guilty, but I am too tired. I have taken a fair amount of wounds today, far more than I usually do. I have felt the sting of arrows and the hot caress of flame too many times this afternoon, and Taklinn and Caribdis are out of healing. Taklinn has tended to me though, and if I know him, he will continue to do so throughout the night. I’m sure that tomorrow I’ll be right as rain. And I am quite anxious to see what all these items are! Too bad the only pearls we have have been appraised by both Happy and Caribdis at around 500 gold value! Such a shame! But, it shall hopefully be worth it. Besides, we are richer now than we ever have been. Each of us have already accumulated over 600 platinum pieces! With this, I can pay off my debts at last! I only hope we make it back. We have only been on Edik for less than a week, but it feels like much longer. My only wish is to see my city again. Rping 7 I have spent the last eight hours cloistered in the leader yuan-ti’s chamber, busily identifying the items. Caribdis, with his wide array of esoteric knowledge was able to shed enough light on some of the items that I did not need to use magic on them, but several more of the things were unknown to him, so it fell to me to uncover their secrets. We have divvied them up, and in a short while we will pass through the portal that will, according to Sensesi, take us into Melisandre’s tower. The crew has given me a few hours to rest though, and with this time I find it soothing to jot down some notes in my journal. I was only able to identify nine of the items, so I chose those that looked the most interesting. I am now the proud owner of a Cloak of the Arachnid! I have no love for spiders, and it’s a bit creepy to wear this thing, but according to my studies this cloak will help me to overcome being stuck in webs from here on out, not to mention the fact that it will allow me to cast a Web spell once per day, as well as giving me the ability to Spider Climb. Griff now wears a scarab much like the one that Taklinn has. It is a Scarab of Golem Bane, and while Taklinn’s will help him defeat flesh golems, Griff’s will aid him against clay golems. We have yet to confront a golem yet, and I fear the day we do! I know little about them except that they are constructs, impervious to magic. I can only hope that if we ever do have to deal with one of them it will be made of either flesh or clay! There were several other items as well. Happy now wears a Necklace of Fireballs about her neck, and I have a Bead of Force in my pocket. There was a magical spoon that, when inserted into a bowl, fills itself with a nourishing but bland gruel, and I am also the proud owner of a vial of magical glue as well as a vial of it’s solvent. But the most peculiar of the items is the one that Caribdis now carries, much to my dismay. It is a Rod of Wonder. A very odd and chaotic item which I have to wonder why anyone would craft such a thing in the first place. Apparently its effects are too numerous to mention, but there is no control over which effect the rod will produce at any given time. As far as I can tell the wielder utters the command word, and the rod might spout a fireball, or it might fill the room with butterflies, or it might cause it to snow, or, or, or... well, you get my point! There are a hundred different things the rod might do, none of them controllable! The very last person that should have such a thing is, of course, the person who now wields it! Caribdis began drooling over the rod as soon as I announced what it was, and he held off on laying claim to any of the other items until the rod came up for grabs. I fear that no good can come of his having such a thing, for I’m positive that he will begin firing it off at the first opportunity, the results of which could be disastrous. Please read a heavy sigh here, for it is not my wish to make Caribdis sound like a dolt. I fear my patience with him has grown short of late, and I must remind myself to curb my tongue, for despite his impetuous ways he really is coming along. His verse and rhyme has reached a new level, for when he recites his battle poetry these days we can all truly feel its benefits. Our aim is defiantly truer, and there is no doubt that our weapons bite deeper. The fact that he can have this effect on all of us is invaluable! He is, of course, still Caribdis, and still has the attention span of a ferret, but he is learning. It is a slow process, but it shows. I only pray that he doesn’t kill us all with his new toy. Taklinn has already warned him that it will be taken away the first time he hurts a crew member with it. Speaking of gaining knowledge and power, I, myself, have had a major breakthrough this morning! I have been spreading myself thin as of late, researching more spells than I normally could or should, but the understanding has come so naturally that I haven’t fought it, and today has brought a fine pay off to this study! As I poured over my notes and studied spells this morning, I suddenly realized that I now grasp spells of the fifth circle of power! Not only that, but I can understand four of them! This is a major breakthrough for me, for these are very powerful and useful spells, and usually I can only come to grips with one or two newly researched spells at a time. To be able to learn four of them is tremendously exciting. The spells I have learned are Wall of Force, Feeble mind, Hold Monster, and Fire Bird. The last is a very esoteric and rare spell that I’ve been grappling with for some time. It takes a while to cast, but once I do it will summon forth a mount for me that will last most of the day. The Fire Bird is a giant eagle formed of solid flame. Riding it will grant me immunity to most fire, as well as a flying mount that is even faster than a standard Fly spell! True, maneuverability will be a factor, but I am excited at the prospect just the same. I haven’t been able to test it yet, but I have it memorized for the coming day. They are calling for me. Seems that it is time to move on. We know only what Sensesi has told us of what lies beyond the portal, and I hate diving blindly into the unknown, especially on the word of a yuan-ti. But it is our only option. Melisandre has brought down the tunnel from this point on, so there is no way to physically traverse the mountain. We must enter the portal. We are leaving our mounts here in the care of the resting humans we freed yesterday. They look much better today, thanks to Taklinn’s attentions. We have told them to fill Nanden in on the situation when he arrives, and hopefully our trusty steeds will be taken good care of. Happy is nearly in tears at the prospect of leaving Don Kay and her horse behind. But she agrees that they will be safer here. Very well, with any luck I shall continue this entry later today. Rping 7 (Con’t) As I’d hoped I would be able to do, I am now updating my journal from the relative safety of a chamber within Melisandre’s tower. It is not the best place to rest, but we don't have much choice, for the day has brought many perils. With any luck our new rings of non-detection will shield us from the witch queens unwanted gaze and we will be able to stay here, unmolested, until we are ready to move on. I fear that we will lose whatever advantage of surprise we might have had, but, as I said, our choices are few. But I get ahead of myself. After completing my identification tasks and resting a bit from the strain, we decided to brave the portal. There was much discussion as to how we would enter the thing, and what we would do afterward. Too much discussion, I fear. The crux of the argument was how Taklinn would behave once we’d entered Melisandre’s tower. Sensesi cautioned us against a headlong approach, assuring us that there were far too many of the enemy within the tower to take on all at once. We all nodded, but some of us seemed sure that Taklinn would charge through doors at every opportunity and attempt a one dwarf siege of the tower. I think we’re a little unsure as to the cool headedness of our cleric after his impetuous move of hurling himself through the portal that brought us from Havilah to here in the first place. I admit that I hadn’t seen that one coming, though in hindsight I suppose I should have. Taklinn’s view of the world is quite black and white, as is appropriate for a dwarf, I suppose, and for him discretion was simply not an option when faced with evil such as that. So, Griff and Happy wondered aloud about whether or not he could control himself once in the belly of the beast, as it were. The argument swelled and continued for what seemed a long time, and I fear that I grew a bit snippy with the whole thing. Still, we have come this far with Taklinn, and sometimes we’ve needed his straight forward tendencies to give us the kick in the pants in the right direction. I dare say I probably could not have convinced Griff, Happy and Caribdis to have undertaken our current adventure by myself. And as far as impetuousness goes, Taklinn is a study in strategic planning compared to Caribdis! So from my point of view it seemed that we would do what had to be done. We would enter the portal and deal with whatever lay on the other side, and so long as blatant wrongs were not being committed under his very nose, Taklinn would conduct himself in the manner he always has. In other words, he will deal with trouble where he finds it, and where it is best dealt with rather than look for it in obscure places. All of this led me to take the reigns. Interrupting their heated discussion, I simply said, "Well, I’m off then!" and stepped through the portal, sure that they would follow. Stepping into the unknown without vital preparatory spells and without my companions was not, I’m sad to say, my finest move. Fortunately my friends are as stalwart as I believed them to be, and within seconds they stood beside me, though not before I caught the full view of what we had to deal with. The portal exited into a large entry chamber with three doors. Along each wall three yuan-ti sentries, and at the back of the room a yuan-ti captain and lieutenant hovered over a simple desk. All eight of them looked at me as I popped through the portal, and their scimitars were swiftly drawn. I had never cast Fireball before that day. In most circumstances it is a poor spell choice, for in nearly all cases my party is well embroiled in hand to hand combat with our foes before I can use it, thereby putting them within the area of effect. Rather than subject them to damage I usually stick with spells that target only one or two enemies. But this morning I’d had the feeling that I may finally get the chance to use this nifty spell, and lo, that chance had come! Before the yuan-ti could get their bearings, I unloaded a Fireball on the trio to my left. The one nearest to me managed to leap clear of the blast, but the other two took the full brunt. One of the snake men went down in a heap of burning flesh, while the second managed to put himself out. He’d been sorely injured though and I hopped he’d be easy to finish off. By this time my friends had joined me, and they raced forward to meet the enemy. Have I described the clang of swords too many times? Has the description of Caribdis and his bow lost its impact? There have been so many fights that I fear any reader must surely grow tired of their constant relation. Perhaps I simply cannot do them justice. Whatever the case, I can only assure the reader that this was a brutal and bloody fight. Griff, Taklinn, Hap, Adeede and Sensesi waded into battle, hacking away at yuan-ti while doing their best to avoid retaliatory blows. Caribdis stood at my side firing off arrow after arrow and reciting his verse. As for me, I feared that this would not be our only battle this day, and I vowed to conserve my spells, using less powerful magic’s to harrie and distract our foes. Speaking of magic’s, I have related many times that the yuan-ti have plenty of their own innate magical abilities that we’ve had to contend with, but it appeared that at least one of the yuan-ti commanders knew a little about spell casting himself, for I later learned that Taklinn had been Cursed, making it far more difficult to hit with his axe. Our cleric suffered through this during the fight and still suffers with it now. He tells us that upon the morning he will be able to free himself from it, but I can tell that it’s slowed him down considerably. Griff and Taklinn carved a path through the sentries and charged to deal with the commanders. Caribdis, Adeede and Sensesi mopped up the remaining sentries while Happy and I made our way through the fray to help the fighters. I cast a Wall of Ice across the corner of the room to block the three doors and ensure that none could escape or call for help, but the spell casting yuan-ti Levitated himself to at least try to stay out of our reach. It was not to be, however, for Taklinn leapt up and grabbed hold of him. The two hovered there, each grappling with the other. I can tell you that it is not a pleasant experience to wrestle with a yuan-ti, for the creatures can excrete an acidic substance that can melt flesh. It is quite painful, and I could tell that Taklinn was feeling its effects. But he refused to let go. Meanwhile, Griff was doing his best to hammer away at the yuan-ti without hitting Taklinn. The second commander still had to be dealt with, and I chose to put myself in harms way to facilitate Happy’s strike. I snuck around behind the yuan-ti in an attempt to distract him. It worked, for he turned to face me just as Happy reached him. She swiftly sank two daggers into his vitals, and he yelled in pain. As for me, I figured my job had been done. I scurried beneath the desk and came up on its far side, casting Magic Missile as fast as I could. The magical bolts struck him, and it was enough. Down he went. Suddenly we were cast into darkness! Now, I have no real reason to believe that this darkness was not yuan-ti induced. It is, after all, a favorite tactic of theirs. But Ambros did spot Caribdis as the bard raced forward and pointed his new rod at the fray and mouthed its command word. So, was it yuan-ti darkness, or was it Caribdis’ new toy? Likely, we shall never know, and as it turns out, its a moot point and we shan’t be bothered by the rod again. But I’m getting ahead of myself. By the time I’d found my way out of the darkness, Griff and Taklinn had pummeled the yuan-ti to death. We were left with a roomful of dead snake men and three doors to contend with. From where I was I could make out the entirety of the room. It was fashioned in nearly seamless stone the color of alabaster. The architecture was unfamiliar to me, and for the first time since I’ve been on Edik I was acutely aware that we are truly not in Havilah anymore. There is a foreignness about the wall carvings and accenting that makes me feel quite out of place. I could see Griff and Taklinn standing over the dead yuan-ti commander, their chests heaving from the exertion of battle. Happy, as always, was quick to make sure Griff was not too badly injured. I have an odd feeling about those two, but if there is anything going on other than stalwart friendship, they are good at masking it. Besides, the size difference would be a major difficulty to overcome. Still... Ah well, none of my business anyway! Caribdis let his voice fall and his verse end as he quickly put his rod away and strode forward to retrieve his arrows. Adeede did the same, and Sensesi quietly wiped her scimitar off on one of her dead brethren. The woman gives me the screaming creeps! We collected ourselves and Taklinn and Caribdis healed those that needed it. I decided that I’d had enough of being land bound, and began the rather laborious process of casting Fire Bird. Now I had only know about this spell in theory. That is to say, I had never seen it cast. It’s a rather rare spell that I’ve been working on for some time, and I thought that I’d had it pretty well figured out. But the creature I summoned as my steed was far more than I had counted on! The Fire Bird is just that, a massive eagle-like bird made entirely of fire, much like a fire elemental, which, I suppose it must have some relation to. The thing is nearly as big as a horse, and when it suddenly appeared in the room with an accompanying roar of flames, my startled companions nearly fell all over themselves pulling weapons, ready to take it on! I pondered my new servant, as did Ambros, now perched on my left shoulder, stroking his chin thoughtfully at the eagle shaped inferno before us. I looked at him, and he at me. How in the world was this thing going to travel indoors with us? Yet it had a saddle upon its back, and it seemed a shame to just dispel it when it would last for nine hours. I decided to try and use it anyway. There must be SOME use for a fireball that walks clumsily and preens itself. As it turned out, it DID have an immediate use. My wall of ice still separated us from the three exits from this chamber. Gingerly, I touched the bird, and to my great relief I felt no warmth, just the wing of a very real feeling bird. I had known that the spell grants its caster virtual immunity to fire, but I never get over the nervousness at trying a new spell out for the first time. One misspoken word in the casting, and I could have suffered a nasty burn! Ambros scuttled under my hat as I finally got a foot into the stirrup and mounted the bird. I’m sure I was quite a sight, wreathed in fire and all. Soon I was commanding the bird to peck away at the wall, and I saw that it is capable of inflicting a goodly amount of damage. The wall was breached. We looked at the three doors, one on the east wall and two on the north. "Well, Sensesi," I asked, "Where to now?" The yuan-ti woman flicked her tongue at me and motioned to the eastern door and the far door to the north. "Those will be quarters and temple." She nodded to the final door. "That," she said, "Is where we need to go." She walked forward, her body fairly slithering in it’s skin, and addressed us. "I don’t know exactly where Melisandre is, but she has a helper, an assistant of sorts, from your world. He’s a mealy little runt named Albert. He may have valuable information, or even know where she is. He’s her book keeper, an accountant, you might say, and getting to him is a swift step toward Melisandre." She smiled her unsettling smile. "And I know where to find him." Rping 7 (Con’t) With only one door leading to anywhere of significance, we hadn't much option but to take Sensesi’s lead and follow her to Albert. We did, of course, search the other two rooms, and, as she had said, they were quarters for the yuan-ti and a temple to a god I had never heard of. Sensesi called him Illugi and said that Melisandre and all who follow him are worshipers of this most vile deity. Within the temple was a visage of Illugi sculpted from deep, black, stone. It hurt my head to stare at it too long. We did find a few trinkets and coin, as well as the ever present gems and pearls these yuan-ti all seem to carry. We also found a set of unique and beautiful clothing that Caribdis immediately took a liking to. Hap said that the cloths could be sold for quite a pretty piece of coin, but Caribdis begged to have them for his own. I balked a bit at this at first, since any find of real value is considered party treasure, but then he made a surprising offer. Pulling out the rod of wonder, he offered to give it to me if I let him keep the cloths. How could I refuse a chance to get the cursed thing away from him? No one else had a problem with the deal either, so now it is I who posses the rod, never to be used again, and thankfully so. We breached the last door and beheld a stone hallway leading north. I rode the fire bird, painfully aware of how much space I was taking up in the corridor, but still refusing to let it go. At the very least it would protect me from any potential fire damage. We walked only a short distance to where the hall emptied into another chamber, and it was there that we first faced drider. Sensesi had told us that many drider served the witch queen, and my studies had prepared me a bit for them, but actually seeing one of the half-spider, half-humanoid horrors was a ghastly experience still. There were three of them on guard, and they skittered forward to engage us. I’m afraid I wasn't of much use in this fight, for being atop the fire bird made it impossible to maneuver or move fast enough to even enter the room without fear of knocking down my friends. It’s a good thing my friends can look out for themselves most of the time, for they hurled themselves at the drider, weapons glinting. Again and again Griff and Taklinn drew their blades away covered in black drider blood while Hap and Caribdis let fly with dagger and arrow. Sensesi and Adeede fell upon the driders as well, and within a moment all three of the things lay dead on the floor, curled up in death in that strange way that spiders have. We took the rooms exit and proceeded onward and up a flight of stairs. At the top we found a room with a couple of doors, but Sensesi assured us that one of them led only to more yuan-ti clerics of Illugi. She nodded at the other door, and Happy quickly scanned it for traps. When she gave the all clear, Griff pushed it open, stepped through with his guard up, and was attacked immediately by driders. The rest of the crew plunged in to help, but as I was about to wobble the fire bird into the room so I could see what was going on and possibly lend a hand, Caribdis stepped in front of me and stopped to fire arrows, effectively blocking my way. Again, my part in the battle was sitting atop the bird, cursing. But our fighters were having a good day, and they made short work of the two driders, leaving us free to enter a northern door. The hall beyond cornered sharply after about twenty feet, and continued on to yet another drider filled room, only these drider could cast spells! Fireball, to be precise, and Griff, Taklinn and Adeede felt that burn. Happy was caught in it too, but she is so fast that she was able to dodge away at the last second and escaped without a scorch. Four of the spider things held us off here for long, combat filled, seconds. Another fireball went off, as well as a couple of web spells. It was an inferno in the room for a brief time, but our fighters pressed forward, taking down one drider, then another, then a third, and finally backing the fourth against the wall where it died with a piercing shriek. Injured, but unwilling to stop, we pressed on into the next room, which was a round affair with a massive wooden portcullis on its east side that Sensesi told us led outside to the city. But that is not where we needed to go. She pointed to one of several doors with her scimitar and said that Albert was not too far beyond it. She did warn us that the hall beyond was heavily trapped, and that’s where Happy was able to put her expertise to use. After opening the door to find a wide, plushy carpeted hall, lit with odd and fragile glowing orbs set in wall sconces, our plucky friend was crawling gently forward on hands and knees, scouring every inch for suspect trip wires, pressure plates, and what have you. She found several too, and was able to disarm them, and a good thing, for they were nasty traps indeed, most of them pits that only led to a long drop and certain death by spikes set into the stone below. All the while she searched, Griff looked on worriedly. We all had concern for her, but I think it especially troubled Griffin to see her in harms way and not be able to do anything to help her. The hall turned a corner, and we followed gingerly in Happy’s footsteps. She continued on until she reached a door flanked by two statues of leering, winged, creatures that crouched on pedestals and bared stone teeth at us. Happy looked at them uncertainly as she began to comb the door for more traps. Even as she touched the door, the statues sprang to life, leaping to attack her. I knew immediately that they were gargoyles. Gargoyles can be tough and destructive creatures, but with Griff there to defend Happy, they had little chance. Even as they scored a painful hit on her, Griff was bringing down his vengeful steel to split one open with a great gout of gray blood. Taklinn followed this with an axe blow to the second, and before long we had overwhelmed it. It fought to the bitter end, but at last it lay dead. A little shaken, Happy went back in to check the door, disarming still another trap before announcing an all clear. Griff led the way, and we found a square room beyond with a door on each wall and a spiral staircase shaft dominating its center. Happy went back to work, checking first the door to the north. She found no traps, and what looked like a plush waiting area was revealed. Another door led east from that room, but we decided to check the staircase room first. Happy proceeded to the eastern door (of the first room), and found another trap, only this time she found it the hard way, and as quick as she is, she could not avoid inhaling some of the poisonous gas that was expelled from the door lock. She staggered back, turning quite green. I feared that she would be sick, but she straightened up, assuring us that she was ok, even though it was obvious that she wasn’t. I saw the frown of concern on Griff’s face, but she would not be deterred, and at last announced that the door was safe. Griff opened it to see a large and officious looking room hosting several bookshelves and desks. He and Happy took a few steps into the room, and whistled low in their throats as they looked to their right. We couldn’t see it, but we could hear it. The heavy footsteps vibrated through the stone floors, and I heard Happy wonder aloud, "Is that a golem?" And then there were more gargoyles. They came leaping and chattering forward, slashing away at Hap and Griff before Taklinn could lend his aid. And by the time he did, he had his hands full, for the golem plodded into view, swinging its long and heavy arms like twin hammers. One fist thudded off of Taklinn’s mail, leaving a melon sized dent. Taklinn was wearing the Flesh Golem Scarab, so he turned to face the thing as we tried to get the gargoyles off of Happy. Our rogue was in a bad way, for a gargoyle had knocked her to the ground and stood over her, ready to maul her with it’s terrible claws. But Griff closed the distance with cat-like speed, and with one long swipe of his blade, sent the gargoyles head sailing, end over end, across the room. He cleaved into another, bringing it down as Sensesi and Adeede teamed up on the third. It was then that I had a not so bright idea. My research had told me that golems could not be effected by magic’s, but that fire effects slowed them down considerably. Hoping that the third door in the staircase room might mirror the first we’d checked, and would lead to a room with a door that might lead into the golem room, I raced for it. And of course it was trapped. I got a snoot full of the same gas that Happy had inhaled, and immediately felt ill, as if my stomach were going to try to escape from my body by any means necessary. But I pressed on, throwing open the door, and to my pleasant surprise, it opened up directly into the golem chambers. To my left I could see it locked in battle with Griff and Taklinn. I swiftly judged distance and cast my remaining fireball in the room, careful to only get the gargoyle in the edge of its blast and spare my friends from the flame. It worked, and the golem seemed to fight from then on in slow motion. Taklinn and Griff hacked away at it, and soon it fell heavily to the floor. As I walked around the corner to step over the body, I heard Happy. She had already begun to search the chambers and had opened a cabinet door. There, curled up in a frightened ball, was an old man. "And you," Happy said, "Must be Albert!" Rping 7 (con’t) The old man looked up from his protective fetal position and blinked warily at us. I’m sure we presented a fearsome sight, but it was the sound of Happy’s voice, or rather the language in which it was spoken that drew his attention. His fear turned to a toothless smile of relief. "You...you speak my language!" He gasped, crawling stiffly from the cabinet with Happy’s help. He was so thin and frail that even she could support him as he straightened up with an audible creak. His eyes found our rings and he grew even more excited. "Your from Havilah!" he exclaimed, "Crew members of Havilah! Bless my soul, I never thought I’d see the day! Welcome! Welcome all of you! And yes, my name is indeed Albert. How did you find me?" Needless to say, it was Q&A time for Albert. We had much to ask, and the old man was quite forthcoming with his answers. He had, he told us, been brought here from Havilah some ten years ago in the same way that so many Havahlians have been brought to this place. He confirmed what we’d already suspected, that most people who are kidnapped by Melisandre are transformed into mindless walking undead to be used as cannon fodder in her unrelenting quest for power and domination. Why Albert was not thusly transformed, he did not know. He surmised that it may have been because of his record keeping background and mental dexterity with facts and figures. Whatever the case, she put him to work keeping track of her armies and their supplies, and so forth. At first he had resisted, but, with downcast eyes, he admitted to finally giving in under threat of painful death. One very interesting fact that he was able to give us was that time here on Edik flows much faster than our own world. His ten years here match only a single year in Havilah, which means that we have not been gone from our home world for a very great length of time at all. This gives me hope that we will be able to make it back in time to stop Melisandre. He also told us that we are not the first crew to have come here. He told us that one other had arrived, but had failed to complete their mission. However, there were survivors of that crew that were in contact with a small resistance group within the city. Better yet, he assured us that one of these surviving crew members was in hiding right here, deep within the secret recesses of the tower! It is good to know that there are still a few secrets that escape the witch queen. Albert was quite excited at the prospect of rescue, and offered to take us to the surviving crew member. He warned us, however, that she was badly injured, and had been for some time. He feared that she was slowly dying. With this news we resolved to make haste to find her, in spite of our thinning spells and injuries. Albert led us back into the trap littered hallway and revealed to us a very well hidden door behind a tapestry. He explained to us that Melisandre had taken over this tower when she conquered the city, and that she had not yet learned all of the secretes of the place which was how he had been able to hide a crew member right under her nose. He closed the door behind us and led us down a narrow spiral staircase that penetrated deep below the streets of Anvie. At the bottom we followed a hallway that looked like it had seen little use for some time. At last we came to a door on our right side, and Albert gingerly opened it, as if trying not to disturb whoever was inside. We were on our guard, still fearful of treachery, but caution quickly turned to wonder and concern at the sight of the rooms occupant. It was Lotte Spangler! The ranger who had once thought so ill of us for Caribdis’ actions during our Academy trials now lay gasping and pale upon a dirty pallet in a tiny cell, empty save for evidence of meals past and a chamber pot. She looked up weakly as we entered, and I read disbelief in her eyes. It was obvious that she had long since given up hope of rescue. She was able to rally a grin as we closed the door behind us and rushed to her aid. Taklinn checked her wound as we tried not to all talk at once. Her belly was an open mass of brackish blood and smelled of rotting meat. It was immediately apparent to Taklinn that she was barely clinging to life. When asked if she’d been treated with clerical magic already, she could only shake her head and tell us that there were no clerics to be had in Anvie. Taklinn cast healing spells upon her that did nothing to close the wound, but they did give her a bit of comfort and strength. Caribdis was beside himself at the sight of her. This was the woman, you may recall, upon whom he had spent a small fortune trying to placate in the interest of goodwill between our crews, and he tapped her several times with his wand of healing before it was obvious to all that the spells were being wasted. Stronger magic’s were needed, and Taklinn vowed to pray for just that as soon as night fell. In the meantime, she was able to speak with us. The story she told was a sad one indeed. Rping 7 (con’t) Lotte grimaced through the strain of talking, but she told her story. She and the rest of her crew, Finch, Lotte’s halfling lover, Kester, the dwarven cleric of Moradin, Ryton, the human warrior, and his brother, Teppo, the wizard with whom I had come to befriend after our crossing of swords during the Academy trials, came to Edik on Planting 21, which, as I look back, is the same day Taklinn got his arm chopped off. They came in much the same fashion that we did, by following yuan-ti kidnappers through their portal. Instead of being teleported away, they were able to fight a path through the ranks of yuan-ti and transformed townsfolk, and make good their escape into the depths of Anvie. They hid, with the whole city looking for them, but eventually they were able to make contact with Albert and to find out some vital information from what was left of the scattered resistance in Anvie. According to them Melisandre possessed two orbs given to her by her terrible god, Illugi. The orbs are quite powerful, and somehow allow her to move vast armies from Edik to Havilah and back as needed. She carries one of them at all times while the other stays in Edik, guarded by minions of the hellish realms. At least that is what Teppo was able to piece together. Teppo had a theory, via his research on the matter, that the orbs are powered by both divine and arcane magic, and that between himself and Kester they should be able to control or destroy the orb should they be able to get it. But they would never get to put that plan into action. Several days before their proposed raid on the tower, where the orb is kept, Kester went out to gather some needed supplies and components. He returned a monster. When the cleric of Moradin came back to their hideout, he reeked of death, wore a crown upon his head, and attacked his fellow crew members without warning. With a single blow he decapitated Finch. Lotte’s tears ran unchecked when she related this part of the tale. Kester managed to score a hit on Teppo and Ryton as well before Lotte ran him through with her sword. But Kester hammered at her with his last breath, and delivered to her side a gash that felled her. Teppo and Ryton thought her dead, and they fled, fearing that more of Melisandre’s troops must be close behind. Lotte awoke shortly thereafter with Albert trying his best to save her life. She has been on the brink of death ever since. Lotte fell back, exhausted at the effort of telling the story, and Caribdis did his best to ease her pain, tapping her again with his wand and shooing the rest of us away, except for Taklinn, whom he begged to change her wounds dressing. I felt as tired as Lotte looked, and lay down for some rest, knowing that I would need it to regain my spells. That is where we sit now, here in Lotte’s room. Albert assures us that he can take us to the orb chamber, and we will make our assault at first opportunity. Taklinn is waiting only for the sun to go down so that he can pray for spells that will finally bring relief to Lotte. I send my warmest regards to Clangeden in this matter. The woman has been through too much, and I hope against hope that our cleric will undo the damage that hers did. Rping 7 (con’t) My, but this has been a long day! One thing after another! I had only been asleep a few hours when Ambros suddenly forced me awake by intruding into my dreams in that way he has. I sat bolt upright, immediately aware that something was wrong. The sight that greeted me was that of Sensesi, backed into a corner, her hand on her scimitar. The rest of the crew stood on the opposite side of the room, looking from her to Taklinn, who had his axe out and ready for use. "I’ll ask you just one last time," he was saying, "Drop your weapons and surrender or face my steel!" "What the devil is going on?" I cried, rolling from my blankets and shaking my head to clear it. "She’s a spy!" Taklinn growled. Sensesi laughed at him. "Your crazy!" she hissed, "Haven’t I brought you this far? What would tell you that I’m a spy? Where’s your proof?" Happy, Griff and I looked from Taklinn to Sensesi in confusion. All Taklinn would say was, "She’s a spy. I’ll explain how I know later, just believe me, she’s a spy!" He took a step forward. I made a fast decision. Taklinn had no proof, and this was out of the clear blue sky, but if it came down to his word versus hers, there was simply no argument. I cast my remaining fifth circle spell, a Wall of Force, to block the door. Sensesi felt it behind her when she stepped back, and knew that there would be no escape. Her eyes flashed and she flicked out her tongue at Griff, then at Happy. "I should have killed you when I had the chance!" she shrieked, and drew her blades, rushing at Happy! Griff and Taklinn were there to meet her, and Adeede tried to get in a swing as well. But before she could be brought down I cast again, and lo and behold, it worked! I polymorphed her into a turtle! In a flash she used her yuan-ti abilities and shape changed into a snake, and crawled beneath Lotte’s pallet. Caribdis swept up Lotte while Griff hauled up the mattress. There Sensesi was, in snake form, trying to squeeze through a crack in the wall. Taklinn reached down and grabbed her. She did her best to bite him, but her fangs were no match for his armor, and in a flash she was in the bag I quickly held out. I gave her back to Taklinn with a shudder, and sat down heavily. There was much to discuss. How has she been communicating with Melesandre? Will Melesandre still be able to get reports from her while she was our snake/turtle prisoner? Taklinn tells us that he had cast a powerful spell that would allow him to communicate directly with Clangeden. All of his question had been used to ascertain what spells he could use to aid Lotte and the order in which they had to be cast, save one. His final question had simply been, "Is Sensesi a spy for Melesandre?" Clangeden had said, "Yes." That was that. We fear that this hideout is not safe, but we have little choice. I am going back to bed now, for I must get some rest. My spells are exhausted. [/QUOTE]
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