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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 3942929" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>“I think we should go back to Bellhold and rest first,” Ari suggests abruptly.* “I feel on the verge of an epiphany. I just need to sleep on it.”</p><p></p><p>“Um, okay,” sighs Queffe. “Just tell me that you’ll cast <em>wind walk</em> again tomorrow,” she says to Erasmuz.</p><p></p><p>“Sure, buddy!” he replies cheerfully.** </p><p></p><p>The party <em>wind walks</em> back to Bellhold and secures lodging at the Bell and Clapper. They raise quite a stir yet again in the little town, but retire before it grows too late. </p><p></p><p>In the morning, they find Ari dead.</p><p></p><p>His room is a bloody mess. Both he and his dire wolf companion have been assassinated in their sleep. Even the keen senses of the wolf were insufficient to save them.</p><p></p><p>“That’s horrible!” cries Nara.</p><p></p><p>“Is- is there anything you can do?” Queffe chokes out. </p><p></p><p>“Yes,” Nara and Erasmuz reply simultaneously. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>It is expensive to accumulate the diamonds for a <em>raise dead,</em> but our heroes do it. Ari’s eyes flutter and his pale lips twitch. Suddenly the corpse draws in a shuddering breath and its eyes snap open.</p><p></p><p>Ari groans, “What happened?” He sits up. His head is spinning. </p><p></p><p>“You were assassinated,” Nara tells him grimly.</p><p></p><p>“What?” the druid explodes. His eyes take in the slaughtered form of his animal companion. “NO! Who did this?” he demands.</p><p></p><p>“We don’t know yet,” Erasmuz pipes up. </p><p></p><p>“Let’s find out,” Ari says angrily. Nara begins the process of healing him.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>After Ari recuperates enough to fight the party begins tracking his assailant. For someone as skilled at tracking as the druid is, it is child’s play to find the trail and follow it- especially since he can employ the sharp nose of a bloodhound, the magical divining abilities of his friend Nara (who is, after all, a prophet) and the reputation of his friend Federico and the Flapjacks clan. The combination means that, slightly after noon, our heroes approach a two-storey home. They approach; Ari moves to the window, while Nara and the others go to the front door. She tries the door, but it’s locked. She is about to tell the others this when she hears a wild cry from within the building and the sound of the window shattering as someone inside charges Ari, stabbing him with a rapier to deadly effect and breaking his collarbone. </p><p></p><p>“You again!” cries the rapier-wielder.</p><p></p><p>Ari can see the person behind the pointy thing currently lodged in the white-hot pain part of his shoulder. It’s an elf, with his teeth filed to sharp points. He is dressed somewhat savagely. He wears no armor, but bears a hide-covered wooden shield. Several amulets dangle from around his neck; most are primitive-looking, with bits of bone, rock, horn and such on simply leather thongs. One is more noteworthy, being bronze edged with jet. <em>He looks like a cannabix!</em> Ari realizes with a shiver.*** Then there’s another flash of pain as the rapier withdraws from his bone. The druid grits his teeth against the pain and casts <em>baleful polymorph,</em> but the assassin resists his spell, gnashing his teeth at Ari.</p><p></p><p>Theevis Stingblade (our assassin’s name) casts a spell that clinches it, as far as Ari is concerned. Called <em>foul cloud,</em> it is unique to cannabix. The air is tainted by a strange, foul brown mist. Queffe begins to cough and wheeze as the vapors surround her, instantly becoming fatigued. Quickly, Ari backs away and casts <em>cure moderate wounds</em> on his shoulder. <em>I don’t think I want to get caught in that cloud,</em> he thinks.</p><p></p><p>Nara and Erasmuz try to disable the assassin, using <em>impeding permission</em> and <em>hold person</em> respectively, but Theevis seems to have a formidable will. He grins ferociously as he throws off their attempts to lay mental chains on him. He leans forward and pricks Erasmuz with his rapier, then laughs maliciously.</p><p></p><p>“Oh yeah?” Erasmuz sneers. He reaches out with his ur-priest powers, stealing divine energy from the gods, and casts <em>inflict critical wounds</em>. He thrusts his hand forward and touches Theevis, but the assassin resists the worst of the spell. </p><p></p><p>Theevis Stingblade continues whirling from one enemy to another, thrusting and parrying. Suddenly, the bronze amulet that he is wearing flashes and cracks and a strange, centipede-like being with a disturbingly human face appears. It leaps and tumbles over the top of Queffe and Erasmuz. It cartwheels over and attempts to invoke some kind of magical ability, but the presence of Queffe nearby apparently disconcerts it, for the monster fails to manifest its power.</p><p></p><p>Ari shifts into eagle form to heal some more, then <em>calls lightning</em> down on the enemy as Erasmuz begins to summon some aid of his own. Nara curses as the assassin shrugs off a <em>charm monster.</em> “We can’t get his mind,” she laments.</p><p></p><p>“That’s right!” Theevis sneers, and stabs Nara twice, hitting her so hard that she’s staggered! Meanwhile, the centipede-monster exudes some sort of nasty, oily substance onto the ground and into the air around it. It slithers around, looking for a target to bite, but ends up biting itself by accident. Which is good, since our heroes have not hurt it yet.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Erasmuz finishes his summons. Three large air elementals whir into existence! Immediately, they move to attack the assassin. Erasmuz cackles gleefully at the cannabix’ sudden distress. But then Theevis turns invisible, vanishing even more quickly than Erasmuz’ grin. The ur-priest’s eyes go left, then right, then left, looking for any sign of the assassin. </p><p></p><p>Suddenly, the centipede-like thing appears right next to Erasmuz, rearing up before him! “Oh,” Erasmuz says, “surely, great demon, you will spare me, for we share the same moral perspective! I surrender to you,” he lies.</p><p></p><p>Queffe tumbles towards the centipede, but the invisible assassin suddenly reappears as his rapier jabs into Queffe! Then Theevis quickly spins and begins jabbing at Erasmuz.</p><p></p><p>“Hey, I surrendered!” the ur-priest cries out. The elf laughs, and Erasmuz frowns. “Fine!” he says angrily. “If you’re going to be that way about it...” He concentrates, casting a deadly spell indeed: <em>slay living.</em> He reaches out and touches Theevis on the arm. </p><p></p><p>The assassin’s eyes widen in horror. He gasps. “No,” he croaks, and falls over dead.</p><p></p><p>The centipede grins with its human-like face. Then it laughs- and then it <em>teleports</em> away.</p><p></p><p>“Where’d it go?” cries Nara.</p><p></p><p>“If it was summoned, it won’t last long,” Ari answers. “It probably doesn’t matter.”</p><p></p><p>“What if it wasn’t summoned? What if it was called?” Erasmuz sighs. “It could stick around for a while, in that case.”</p><p></p><p>Our heroes mull this over for a few minutes. “Well, in any event, it doesn’t seem to be coming back right now,” Queffe comments. “So let’s continue on with our mission here.”</p><p></p><p>“Well, he’s dead,” Ari states. “It’ll be kind of hard to question him now.”</p><p></p><p>“Not really,” Erasmuz smirks. Nara nods agreement.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>A search of the assassin with <em>detect magic</em> running turns up a few magic items: his bracers, cloak, rapier, shield and ring. The amulet no longer radiates magic, and it has turned a foul brown color and partially melted. The party hypothesizes that it may have been a single-use item of some kind, or one that the assassin had just expended the last charge from. Since the centipede monster still hasn’t returned, the group stops to think about things for a few moments, and Ari decides to remain in the house for a while, using his <em>one thousand faces</em> ability to impersonate the assassin.</p><p></p><p>“Why?” asks Nara.</p><p></p><p>“To find out who hired him.”</p><p></p><p>“We already know,” Erasmuz says, “don’t we? The Peachtrees?”</p><p></p><p>Ari stops and sighs. “Of course, you’re right.”</p><p></p><p>“But maybe we can find out more when we question his head,” Nara adds.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The prophet Nara lets her mind settle into a profound equilibrium. There is nothing within; there is nothing without. Her mind is empty. And then it reaches out through the cosmic void- and touches her goddess’ mind.</p><p></p><p>Nara <em>communes:</em></p><p></p><p><em>Who hired the assassin?</em> Yes or no.</p><p><em>Did Benjy Peachtree hire the assassin?</em> Yes.</p><p><em>Is Benjy Peachtree in Steeple Mountain?</em> Yes.</p><p><em>Does the assassin have more loot?</em> Yes.</p><p><em>Does Benjy know where he left it?</em> No.</p><p><em>Is this guy a member of the Assassins’ Guild?</em> Yes.</p><p><em>Does our innkeeper know how to get in touch with them?</em> No.</p><p><em>Will Benjy wield magic against us should we encounter him?</em> No.</p><p><em>How about mind powers?</em> No. (Nara gets the sense that this is not the whole story.)</p><p><em>Is Benjy Peachtree under the direct influence of another creature or entity?</em> No.</p><p><em>Is there anyone else hired to assassinate us?</em> Not presently.</p><p><em>Show me an image of Benjy’s contract?</em> Yes or no.</p><p></p><p>When she comes out of her trance, Nara relates what she has learned. She then attempts a <em>speak with dead,</em> but even with the assassin dead, his will is too strong to interrogate. Nara frowns, but then shrugs. “We’ll just have to do this the hard way,” she sighs.</p><p></p><p>Erasmuz casts <em>wind walk</em> and our heroes return to the entrance to the old mine.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Into the mines! No, really! I mean it this time!</p><p></p><p></p><p>*I’d just given xps, and Ari had leveled to 13th. However, I generally rule that you have to rest before you get all your level up stuff.</p><p></p><p>**I’d just like to remind everyone that Erasmuz basically looks like a halfling Anton LaVey. (Which is who the picture of the ur-priest in Complete Divine is modeled after, I am convinced.) <em>“Sure, buddy!” he replies cheerfully,</em> indeed.</p><p></p><p>***The Cannabix are a savage religion that fears nature; a cannabix makes sacrifices to the Sea, Sky and Land to propitiate them in order to avoid various disasters. The sacrifices are living things, and the cannabix eats their hearts in order to gain a portion of their power (in the form of ability score increases). Cannabix are a homebrewed Cydran base class, based on a Cydran 2e specialty priest type.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 3942929, member: 1210"] “I think we should go back to Bellhold and rest first,” Ari suggests abruptly.* “I feel on the verge of an epiphany. I just need to sleep on it.” “Um, okay,” sighs Queffe. “Just tell me that you’ll cast [i]wind walk[/i] again tomorrow,” she says to Erasmuz. “Sure, buddy!” he replies cheerfully.** The party [i]wind walks[/i] back to Bellhold and secures lodging at the Bell and Clapper. They raise quite a stir yet again in the little town, but retire before it grows too late. In the morning, they find Ari dead. His room is a bloody mess. Both he and his dire wolf companion have been assassinated in their sleep. Even the keen senses of the wolf were insufficient to save them. “That’s horrible!” cries Nara. “Is- is there anything you can do?” Queffe chokes out. “Yes,” Nara and Erasmuz reply simultaneously. *** It is expensive to accumulate the diamonds for a [i]raise dead,[/i] but our heroes do it. Ari’s eyes flutter and his pale lips twitch. Suddenly the corpse draws in a shuddering breath and its eyes snap open. Ari groans, “What happened?” He sits up. His head is spinning. “You were assassinated,” Nara tells him grimly. “What?” the druid explodes. His eyes take in the slaughtered form of his animal companion. “NO! Who did this?” he demands. “We don’t know yet,” Erasmuz pipes up. “Let’s find out,” Ari says angrily. Nara begins the process of healing him. *** After Ari recuperates enough to fight the party begins tracking his assailant. For someone as skilled at tracking as the druid is, it is child’s play to find the trail and follow it- especially since he can employ the sharp nose of a bloodhound, the magical divining abilities of his friend Nara (who is, after all, a prophet) and the reputation of his friend Federico and the Flapjacks clan. The combination means that, slightly after noon, our heroes approach a two-storey home. They approach; Ari moves to the window, while Nara and the others go to the front door. She tries the door, but it’s locked. She is about to tell the others this when she hears a wild cry from within the building and the sound of the window shattering as someone inside charges Ari, stabbing him with a rapier to deadly effect and breaking his collarbone. “You again!” cries the rapier-wielder. Ari can see the person behind the pointy thing currently lodged in the white-hot pain part of his shoulder. It’s an elf, with his teeth filed to sharp points. He is dressed somewhat savagely. He wears no armor, but bears a hide-covered wooden shield. Several amulets dangle from around his neck; most are primitive-looking, with bits of bone, rock, horn and such on simply leather thongs. One is more noteworthy, being bronze edged with jet. [i]He looks like a cannabix![/i] Ari realizes with a shiver.*** Then there’s another flash of pain as the rapier withdraws from his bone. The druid grits his teeth against the pain and casts [i]baleful polymorph,[/i] but the assassin resists his spell, gnashing his teeth at Ari. Theevis Stingblade (our assassin’s name) casts a spell that clinches it, as far as Ari is concerned. Called [i]foul cloud,[/i] it is unique to cannabix. The air is tainted by a strange, foul brown mist. Queffe begins to cough and wheeze as the vapors surround her, instantly becoming fatigued. Quickly, Ari backs away and casts [i]cure moderate wounds[/i] on his shoulder. [i]I don’t think I want to get caught in that cloud,[/i] he thinks. Nara and Erasmuz try to disable the assassin, using [i]impeding permission[/i] and [i]hold person[/i] respectively, but Theevis seems to have a formidable will. He grins ferociously as he throws off their attempts to lay mental chains on him. He leans forward and pricks Erasmuz with his rapier, then laughs maliciously. “Oh yeah?” Erasmuz sneers. He reaches out with his ur-priest powers, stealing divine energy from the gods, and casts [i]inflict critical wounds[/i]. He thrusts his hand forward and touches Theevis, but the assassin resists the worst of the spell. Theevis Stingblade continues whirling from one enemy to another, thrusting and parrying. Suddenly, the bronze amulet that he is wearing flashes and cracks and a strange, centipede-like being with a disturbingly human face appears. It leaps and tumbles over the top of Queffe and Erasmuz. It cartwheels over and attempts to invoke some kind of magical ability, but the presence of Queffe nearby apparently disconcerts it, for the monster fails to manifest its power. Ari shifts into eagle form to heal some more, then [i]calls lightning[/i] down on the enemy as Erasmuz begins to summon some aid of his own. Nara curses as the assassin shrugs off a [i]charm monster.[/i] “We can’t get his mind,” she laments. “That’s right!” Theevis sneers, and stabs Nara twice, hitting her so hard that she’s staggered! Meanwhile, the centipede-monster exudes some sort of nasty, oily substance onto the ground and into the air around it. It slithers around, looking for a target to bite, but ends up biting itself by accident. Which is good, since our heroes have not hurt it yet. Meanwhile, Erasmuz finishes his summons. Three large air elementals whir into existence! Immediately, they move to attack the assassin. Erasmuz cackles gleefully at the cannabix’ sudden distress. But then Theevis turns invisible, vanishing even more quickly than Erasmuz’ grin. The ur-priest’s eyes go left, then right, then left, looking for any sign of the assassin. Suddenly, the centipede-like thing appears right next to Erasmuz, rearing up before him! “Oh,” Erasmuz says, “surely, great demon, you will spare me, for we share the same moral perspective! I surrender to you,” he lies. Queffe tumbles towards the centipede, but the invisible assassin suddenly reappears as his rapier jabs into Queffe! Then Theevis quickly spins and begins jabbing at Erasmuz. “Hey, I surrendered!” the ur-priest cries out. The elf laughs, and Erasmuz frowns. “Fine!” he says angrily. “If you’re going to be that way about it...” He concentrates, casting a deadly spell indeed: [i]slay living.[/i] He reaches out and touches Theevis on the arm. The assassin’s eyes widen in horror. He gasps. “No,” he croaks, and falls over dead. The centipede grins with its human-like face. Then it laughs- and then it [i]teleports[/i] away. “Where’d it go?” cries Nara. “If it was summoned, it won’t last long,” Ari answers. “It probably doesn’t matter.” “What if it wasn’t summoned? What if it was called?” Erasmuz sighs. “It could stick around for a while, in that case.” Our heroes mull this over for a few minutes. “Well, in any event, it doesn’t seem to be coming back right now,” Queffe comments. “So let’s continue on with our mission here.” “Well, he’s dead,” Ari states. “It’ll be kind of hard to question him now.” “Not really,” Erasmuz smirks. Nara nods agreement. *** A search of the assassin with [i]detect magic[/i] running turns up a few magic items: his bracers, cloak, rapier, shield and ring. The amulet no longer radiates magic, and it has turned a foul brown color and partially melted. The party hypothesizes that it may have been a single-use item of some kind, or one that the assassin had just expended the last charge from. Since the centipede monster still hasn’t returned, the group stops to think about things for a few moments, and Ari decides to remain in the house for a while, using his [i]one thousand faces[/i] ability to impersonate the assassin. “Why?” asks Nara. “To find out who hired him.” “We already know,” Erasmuz says, “don’t we? The Peachtrees?” Ari stops and sighs. “Of course, you’re right.” “But maybe we can find out more when we question his head,” Nara adds. *** The prophet Nara lets her mind settle into a profound equilibrium. There is nothing within; there is nothing without. Her mind is empty. And then it reaches out through the cosmic void- and touches her goddess’ mind. Nara [i]communes:[/i] [i]Who hired the assassin?[/i] Yes or no. [i]Did Benjy Peachtree hire the assassin?[/i] Yes. [i]Is Benjy Peachtree in Steeple Mountain?[/i] Yes. [i]Does the assassin have more loot?[/i] Yes. [i]Does Benjy know where he left it?[/i] No. [i]Is this guy a member of the Assassins’ Guild?[/i] Yes. [i]Does our innkeeper know how to get in touch with them?[/i] No. [i]Will Benjy wield magic against us should we encounter him?[/i] No. [i]How about mind powers?[/i] No. (Nara gets the sense that this is not the whole story.) [i]Is Benjy Peachtree under the direct influence of another creature or entity?[/i] No. [i]Is there anyone else hired to assassinate us?[/i] Not presently. [i]Show me an image of Benjy’s contract?[/i] Yes or no. When she comes out of her trance, Nara relates what she has learned. She then attempts a [i]speak with dead,[/i] but even with the assassin dead, his will is too strong to interrogate. Nara frowns, but then shrugs. “We’ll just have to do this the hard way,” she sighs. Erasmuz casts [i]wind walk[/i] and our heroes return to the entrance to the old mine. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Into the mines! No, really! I mean it this time! *I’d just given xps, and Ari had leveled to 13th. However, I generally rule that you have to rest before you get all your level up stuff. **I’d just like to remind everyone that Erasmuz basically looks like a halfling Anton LaVey. (Which is who the picture of the ur-priest in Complete Divine is modeled after, I am convinced.) [i]“Sure, buddy!” he replies cheerfully,[/i] indeed. ***The Cannabix are a savage religion that fears nature; a cannabix makes sacrifices to the Sea, Sky and Land to propitiate them in order to avoid various disasters. The sacrifices are living things, and the cannabix eats their hearts in order to gain a portion of their power (in the form of ability score increases). Cannabix are a homebrewed Cydran base class, based on a Cydran 2e specialty priest type. [/QUOTE]
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