Shilsen's Eberron SH (Finished - The Last Word : 9/20/15)

[shilsen]

Written by shilsen - 11/13/05

Session 14 - Mazes and Minotaurs

After having healed their wounds, the adventurers continue on with Menna. They soon enter a section of UnderSharn where the architecture is in better shape than much that they have seen. About five minutes after leaving the cavern with the swarms, Menna brings the group to the top of a set of partly destroyed stairs that end twenty feet down in rubble. Midway up the stairs is an opening in the wall, which she climbs into. The others see that it leads into a tunnel fifteen feet long, with light rubble on the ground and ending in a blank wall. Menna scrabbles at the floor to reveal a tarpaulin, which has rocks holding it down. She says, "This way down to Khyber's Gate. Menna's people try live here long time and find roads in dark, but hungry ones chase us away. But Menna still remember. You go down here and go thataway (she points in one direction). Menna close hole and wait. You go left, left and right at next turns and come to fort where Daask people lives. You fight and come back. When you come, call Menna. You no say Menna, Menna not let you up." She tells Gareth, "You pay Menna now. If you stupid and get killed, Menna get no pay." Gareth demurs for a bit, arguing that they had an agreement and that if they pay now she may abandon them. Finally, Nameless pays her and says that he will give her a bonus of 15 galifars when they return to Sharn. She seems quite pleased and says she will be waiting for them.

The tarp covers a hole wide enough for 1 person at a time to drop down to a ten foot high tunnel that leads in two directions. At Gareth's suggestion Valin reluctantly goes down and checks ahead. He returns after a couple of minutes to say that the tunnel opens up into a network of wider tunnels ahead and that he has seen nobody there. The others descend to join him and Menna covers up the hole behind them. Then the group moves ahead, with Valin scouting ahead. He returns quickly to say that he has found the cavern Menna indicated and that it has a building in it where he can see light from the windows. The others hide their torches and creep up to look into a large cavern, about 20 ft high and some 120 ft wide and deep. Set into the far wall of the cavern is a stone building. The walls of the 80 ft wide building are 12 ft high and it seems to have only one floor. It is set into the side of the cavern, with 30 ft of the walls sticking out of the cavern side. A flickering light is seen from a window in the front and a narrow light near it indicates the presence of a door.

Six and Valin sneak up to the building and discover that the window is barred and there is a set of double doors within 10 feet of it. A plume of smoke appears through the roof of the building from just behind the main doors. The barred window looks into a small square room with a half-open door on the far side, which opens onto a wide hallway, from one side of which the firelight emanates. Valin and Six hear at least two voices, seemingly gnoll, coming from the direction of the fire. They also note that the small room contains a couple of weapons, some junk and a ladder.

Returning to the group, they repeat what they have found. After some discussion, they decide to follow Lalia's suggestion that the bulk of the group (other than the heavily-armored Gareth, Narik and Lothas) move up near the door and try to break through in a surprise attack. The six adventurers move up to the door. Six checks it and finds that it is both closed and has no lock, but even as he is doing so, something starts howling from the other side of the door, followed by a second howl. These are immediately followed by shouts of surprise. Six tries to bash the door open but finds it too strong. Nameless quickly summons a lemure in the hallway that he can see, commanding it to open the door. Even as the shapeless creature oozes forward, a hairy form enters Nameless' limited area of vision. It is a wolf, which bites into the lemure and knocks it to the ground.

Meanwhile, Luna joins Six and their combined efforts break the door open, revealing a twenty foot wide hallway, which contains a small fire off to the side and a pair of armed gnolls (one with a battleaxe and one a bow) standing behind it. A second snarling wolf stands near the door. The hallway runs left and right before turning corners. Another set of double doors stand opposite the one the group just broke open.

The archer immediately shoots at Luna, gashing her shoulder. In response, an arrow flies over the group, shot by Gareth from the rear, hitting the archer and knocking him back. From the same direction, the group can hear Gareth and the other two hurrying closer, with Narik yelling, "Save one for me!" The axe-wielding gnoll engages Lalia, who is quickly into the room, but she deflects his blows and a swing of Six's chain drops it to the ground. The wolf is more effective, snapping at Luna's leg (which reveals the acidic nature of its bite) and bringing her to the ground. Before it can leap on her, Valin tumbles in to engage it. With the door now open, Nameless casts another spell, summoning a tentacled mass that vaguely resembles a bison right next to the archer. As the startled gnoll shouts, the pseudonatural creature surges forward and slams into his side, sending him stumbling backwards.

Corven, meanwhile, has used one of his infusions to make his healing wand twice as effective, and he uses it to partially close Luna's wounds. Six and Valin keep the wolf attacking Luna busy, allowing her to regain her feet, while Lalia quickly dispatches the prone gnoll. The archer takes a couple of shots at the Sentinel Marshal but she quickly dodges aside and drives him back towards the wall.

At this moment, the double doors open, to reveal a hallway with doors to the sides and on the opposite wall, currently occupied by two more axe-wielding gnolls and another two archers. These four wear no armor, presumably having been "off-duty" when the battle began. The gnoll that opens the door is immediately knocked to the ground by Six, and the one next to him has an even bigger surprise. Luna, irritated at the wolves, casts a spell to dominate animals, affecting the unwounded wolf that has been worrying the lemure (which is both unable to damage it and hard to damage due to its fiendish resistances). The wolf immediately accedes to her commands, turns around and attacks the aforementioned gnoll.

The archers have more luck, one putting a pair of arrows into Valin and dropping him, while the other shoots Gareth in the arm. But their luck is temporary, since Nameless quickly casts another spell to enmesh the hallway and them with webs from floor to ceiling, as well as the other two gnolls. The archer in the outer hallway is quickly dispatched by Lalia and the wolf that attacked Lalia goes down to Gareth and the pseudonatural bison.

At this moment, the door on the far wall flies open, revealing a big minotaur. The creature snarls in anger, takes one look into the chamber full of webs and with half a dozen adventurers (as well as the bison and the dominated wolf) visible on the far side, and slams the door shut again. Nameless dismisses his web spell, making it easy for the others to reach the gnolls. The creatures are quickly cut down by Six, Lalia and the irritated Narik, the latter seeming quite frustrated that the others "killed almost everyone" before he got there. Corven and Lothas, meanwhile, heal the wounded and revive Valin.

Moving carefully into the area, the adventurers find that the door to the right leads to what was probably the gnolls' sleeping quarters since some of their equipment is here. There are pallets on the ground, backpacks and knapsacks lying around, a battered dartboard on the wall, a large closet and a door on the far wall. The door to the left is a stable, holding two mules that look at the intruders with mulish boredom and contempt. This feeling is presumably soon replaced by alarm, since Luna makes the dominated wolf enter the stable and closes the door, knowing that the spell will wear off soon.

After preparing themselves, the group open the door the minotaur had opened, revealing another hallway. This one contains four more wolves. Before they can respond, Luna uses a spell to hold one, while Gareth, Lalia, Narik and Six charge into the room. Though the wolves cause a couple of wounds and one even manages to knock Six off his feet, they are quickly cut down.

After some minor healing, the adventurers check the doors emerging from this hallway too. One to the left leads into an uninhabited kitchen, while the half-open one on the right reveals the wolves' lair, an old cellblock, as evidenced by the unoccupied cells in the room. The third door leads to a more interesting discovery. It opens into a huge semi-circular hall, at one end of the curved side, with the flat section to the door's left. There is a door in the flat section and three in the curved section to the right, the furthest of them being ajar. The next is locked and barred. Between the two doors, apparently crucified to the wall, hangs a gnoll. Its legs have been hacked off and bleeding or matted wounds cover its entire body, with a small pool of mostly-dried blood on the ground below it. The remnants of an extinguished fire is on the ground nearby. Amazingly, the gnoll seems to be alive, a dull muttering coming from its battered lips.

Luna gives an involuntary yelp at the sight and some of the others gasp or groan. As the group enters the room, the gnoll gives no sign of having noticed them. Gareth walks up and examines it, noting that no healing they can provide will save it. Walking by with eyes averted to check one of the doors, Luna mutters, "Just put it out of its misery." Instead, Gareth asks the gnoll, "Where is the minotaur?", drawing a couple of comments from the others along the lines of "You're questioning this ...?" Gareth argues, "It is an evil creature - I have no sympathy for it," and goes back to trying to get its attention.

The gnoll doesn't respond to his question, but when he raises his voice and repeats it, the bleary eyes focus for a moment. The gnoll screams, but the scream breaks off into a bubbling cough. A mixture of blood and tears drip from its muzzle as it whines pitifully and its eyes unfocus from Gareth's. It continues to mutter to itself, intermixing speech in gnoll with the common tongue, saying, "Bhorak ... maze ... made me go in maze ... freedom … no freedom … couldn't hide ... couldn't fight ... ripped me ... ripped me ....."

Corven, who has been looking at the fire, turns to the group with a queasy expression and says, "Look!" They see that he is indicating a number of small objects near the fire, and quickly recognize them to be strips of flesh. Some of them look as if they have been chewed on. "I'd prefer it if I wasn't right," says Corven, his voice matching his expression, "But I think whoever's been torturing this gnoll was actually cutting pieces of it, cooking them and making it ... um, eat them."

Luna turns around from looking in the half-open door and yells, "Damn it, Gareth! Just kill the poor thing," and it is accompanied by Narik, who says a little more calmly, "Do what she says." Gareth sighs, says "All right," and stabs the creature. It dies without a sound, leaving only the slowly dripping blood.

The adventurers then check the various exits. The half-open door and the locked and barred door both lead into a set of tunnels which resemble those outside in the Cogs. Six finds signs that something with sharp edges was dragged through the upper door, going by the scrapes on the wooden lintel and the flakes of wood on the ground. The door below the locked one leads into what seems to be an unused barracks. The door on the opposite wall to the three leads into a large bedroom. It contains a large double bed with a bare mattress, which has evidently seen much use by a large creature (and a hairy one, from the coarse hair that litters it). Near the bed on the ground is a large pallet, which also looks like it was recently used. The room also contains a table, chairs and stools, all sized for creatures of at least ogre size. On the far wall is a well-made door with bands of iron, which is ajar, revealing a room (5 ft x 5 ft) that has stone shelves along the walls. In checking it, Six finds more scrapes on the lintel and a couple of gold coins on the floor. A smaller door is in the western wall, and another door in the southern wall. The latter opens into another bedroom. This one seems unused, with a double bed, two chairs and a table, a closet, an open (and empty) chest and a curtained-off area. The last leads to a small alchemist's workshop. The workshop hasn't seen use for a while, but Six finds a few usable vials and flasks.

Nameless helps check the area with the aid of a detect magic spell, and then returns to the earlier chambers with some of the others. After checking all of the area, they return to the entrance hall, where they find that one of the turns leads to a lavatory that opens into the gnolls' room, and the other has two small wagons stored outside a room full of provisions and basic equipment. Nameless finds some minor potions on the dead gnolls, but nothing else that seems to be magical, and they return to the semi-circular hall. With no other route to follow, the group heads into the maze.

They follow the left wall, hoping that this will make the maze easier to pass through. After about ten minutes of travel, some of it taken up by retracing their steps from cul-de-sacs and dead ends, they emerge into a large cavern. This chamber is about 50 ft long and wide and 40 ft high. It has three tunnels opening into it, the most northerly one being the one they emerge from. In the far wall is a large wooden door with the word “Freedom” crudely painted on it in some dark paint that looks like blood. A couple of the adventurers venture the opinion that this is some sort of trap that the tortured gnoll fell afoul of. After carefully looking in the other tunnels to make sure there is nobody there, the group moves up to the door and Six and Luna prepare to try and open it.

As they are about to try it, the door flies open, slamming into Six and knocking Luna off her feet. Revealed beyond it is a chamber about 20 ft by 20 ft, with four large chests stacked against the far wall. A more immediate concern for the group is the large grayish-green creature that stands next to the door. It is at least nine feet tall, with long muscular arms that end in dagger-sized claws. Yells of "Troll!" ring out, even as it roars in fury and beats its chest in challenge.

The adventurers react quickly, Nameless sending a volley of magic missiles slamming into its face, while Narik and Lalia place themselves next to the door and strike at it, landing shallow blows. Behind them, Lothas casts a spell to bless the group, while Valin moves forward, pulling out a flask of alchemist's fire, and Corven hurries to infuse his wand, knowing that significant healing is likely to be necessary quickly. That is especially the case for Six, who the troll focuses on, wounding him with claw and bite. Six quickly backs out of the fight, allowing Gareth to take his position. Even as Corven heals Six of some of his wounds, the warforged tries to send his chain past Narik's shoulder and trip the troll. The creature's brute strength and bulk is too great, however, and Six has to drop the chain to avoid being pulled off his feet.

For the next few seconds, the first line of Narik, Gareth and Lalia engage the creature, preventing it from leaving the room and taking advantage of the fact that it is fighting across the doorway, while those behind try to provide support. An acid arrow from Nameless misses and spatters against the wall, but Valin's flask shatters on the troll's hide and draws a growl of pain. Luna, back on her feet, casts produce flame and hurls it successfully too. Though the troll's natural regeneration closes some of its wounds and render others less effective, the fiery wounds remain unaffected.

The troll is significantly wounded, even though it does not seem about to go down, and the numbers of the group seem likely to prevail handily, when a momentarily forgotten enemy reappears. Nameless, left alone in the back while the others all move in on the enemy, hears a low growl and the rush of air. Spinning around, he barely has time to see the minotaur come charging out of the most southerly of the tunnels, actually flying above the ground. Even as he shouts warning to his companions, the minotaur's horns slam into his chest, sending him to the ground, bloodied and unconscious*. "Fools!" shouts the minotaur, now clearly seen to be armored in a strange harness of bands of iron across its upper body and wielding a falchion taller than any member of the group. "You have entered the maze of Bhorak and now you will never leave!"

The arrival of the minotaur draws a shout of glee from the troll. Even as Lalia lands a series of quick slashes to its chest, it reaches out and sinks its claws into her shoulders. And then it simply pulls in opposite directions**, causing her to scream as blood bursts from the wounds and her mouth, and then to go limp. Gareth shouts in anger and calls on the Silver Flame to smite it (as he already has once), doing significant damage, and Narik lands another blow on it. Luna completes a spell she has been casting for a few seconds, causing three eagles to appear right behind the troll. They swoop down on it, clawing and biting at it, and though their attacks have difficulty penetrating its thick hide and armor, they do affect it somewhat***. Luna quickly begins to cast another spell.

Corven quickly uses his specially infused wand to heal Nameless back to consciousness. Rather than rising to his feet, the groggy wizard simply casts a spell from where he lies. Another pseudonatural bison appears beside the minotaur, slamming its horns into his side and drawing an angered groan. The enraged minotaur turns and slashes at the bison, literally cutting it into three pieces with two swipes of his falchion. Turning its red eyes on Nameless, it grins in triumph and says, "Your puny creations cannot stop me - or save you," and then drives its horns at him. Nameless barely manages to roll aside, but cannot avoid the creature's fanged mouth, which snaps down on his skull and leaves him comatose****.

Corven is about to try to revive him again, but unfortunately the minotaur, which has been having a hard time hitting Narik due to his dwarven skill versus such giants and his large shield, decides to take another tack. It reaches out and simply grabs him by the shield, lifting him off the ground. With one swing, it slams Narik into Corven, knocking the latter off his feet. Luckily for Nameless, Lothas is right next to Nameless, and he reaches down to heal the mage, bringing him back to consciousness for the second time in the battle.

Also luckily for the embattled adventurers, the troll's tactic leaves its defenses down and they take full advantage. Valin drives his shortsword into its side, while Luna's eagles tear into it. Calling desperately on the Silver Flame another time, Gareth smites it again, burying his sword in its spine. The creature screams and drops Narik, before gradually collapsing backwards. As it hits the ground, Luna brings down a bolt of lightning on it, trying to ensure that it will not regenerate soon enough to bother them.

While this focus on the troll ensures that it goes down, this leaves Six, who had tumbled across to join the now-dissipated pseudonatural bison in its attack on the minotaur, alone facing his opponent. Bhorak smiles with glee and strikes out at him. Though the warforged warrior tries to dodge aside, its falchion strikes him, crushing in the entire front of his chest*****. Seeing that the troll has gone down and it is alone facing multiple foes, Bhorak doesn't wait to make more attacks, but flies upwards till it is close to the ceiling.

As the various adventurers quickly heal themselves or others and try to prepare ranged weapons and spells to hurl at it, the minotaur levels its sword downwards at them. Streaks of flame run down the blade and explode outwards, hurtling down at the group. Most of them manage to dodge the worst of the blast, with Valin actually managing to leap completely aside, but all of the group are somewhat burned. Luckily for them, other than the recumbent Nameless (who has meanwhile cast a spell to haste everyone) and unconscious Six and Lalia, that is, their positions putting them just beyond reach of the flames.

Having unleashed the flames, the laughing minotaur looks at the enemies and picks a target. It ignores the three eagles, which charge it at Luna's command, other than to casually backhand one out of the air. Gareth, just as he manages to pour a potion down Lalia's throat to revive her, catches its attention. Bhorak streaks downward, horns forward, and slams into him, driving him into the wall. Gareth collapses immediately. Then it begins to gain altitude, giving Lalia a chance to return the favor and revive Gareth.

As Bhorak tries to fly higher, Nameless (still not bothering to regain his feet) casts a Web spell, entangling it within its strands and holding it in place. The creature roars angrily and then even more so, as Luna's call lightning slams down on it. With no other target in reach, it strikes out at the pair near it. Lalia manages to dodge away but its falchion hits home to almost disembowel the recumbent Gareth ******. It then tries to get further away but succeeds in moving only a few feet due to the spell.

Trying to make sure that it has no further opportunity to target another ally, Nameless casts a stinking cloud in the area, drawing cursing and threats from the now concealed Bhorak. Which quickly turns to more cursing as Luna summons a swarm of bats in the same area. With a few moments to recover, the group quickly does some healing, Lothas tending to the wobbly but now upright Lalia, while Corven hurries across to Six. As soon as he is conscious, Six uses a magical oil to heal himself. As he does so, he says, "I just wish we had a way to make that thing weaker," causing Corven to slap his head and say, "Damn! I should have thought of this!" Six doesn't bother asking what he is referring to, getting to his feet and retreating to the cover of a tunnel, this time with bow in hand. Corven ignores him and begins to infuse a spell into a wand.

While Narik and Valin abortively fire arrows into the cloud, Nameless suggests someone take his potion of fly and prepare to attack the minotaur as it emerges. Lalia takes up the offer and moves up to drink it. As she is doing so, there is the sound of ripping webs and then a frenzied coughing. Bhorak flies out of the cloud, doubled over and coughing. "Son of a cow!" yells Nameless, "The cloud got him!" Even as he speaks, Luna's call lightning slams down on Bhorak. A split second later, Six releases an arrow. Nauseated and disoriented, Bhorak does not even see it coming, and it buries itself fletching deep in his throat*******. Bhorak screams and gurgles up blood, just as Corven levels the wand he has been infusing. A black ray shoots out and hits its chest. Those watching see the minotaur's bulging muscles go slack and limp********

Bhorak staggers in mid-air and lurches downwards towards one of the tunnels. Even as he reaches it, Nameless shouts, "Not this time!" and casts his last spell, sending a volley of magic missiles slamming into him. Bhorak collapses on the ground, seconds before one more blast of lightning from Luna leaves him a smoking heap. Lalia, who seems to have been waiting for something, flies down to the troll and slits its throat. Her sword leaves an acidic trail as she does so, and the wound kills the troll instantly.

Luna revives Gareth and the adventurers take stock of their many wounds and almost completely depleted resources. Limping to the chests, Gareth bashes open their locks and opens them one by one. To his dismay, none of them contains his sword. What they do each contain is a set of ten small but heavy bags. Opening one of them, he pours out a stream of golden coins. Everyone stops dead from what he or she is doing to simultaneously calculate what the chests contain if each of the forty bags is the same. "DAAAAAMN!"

* Took Nameless from 30 pts to -3.
** Two claw hits and a rend, for 60 pts of damage
*** Over the course of the fight, I rolled approx. seven 20s for the eagles, including one 20 confirmed with another.
**** Took him to exactly -10. First 'death' of the fight.
***** Really bad luck. Six's AC was up to 30 and I got a 34 (roll of 18) to threaten and a 32 to confirm, doing 63 pts dmg.
****** 3rd 'death'
******* Critical (albeit needing 2 actions pts for confirmation reroll, since a 20 to hit was followed by 1 to confirm) for 37 pts
******** Natural 20 with a Ray of Enfeeblement infused with Corven's last infusion. 11 pt penalty to Str.

 

[shilsen]

Written by AviLazar - 11/14/05

After fleeing from the battle with the zombies we continue along our path being guided by Menna. We do not have anymore encounters and we then reach the end of the road, where Menna will not lead any further. She gives us directions to where we need to go, and then asks for payment. I tell her I will pay when we return and she seems upset about this. Nameless then takes a jibe at me, as usual, and pays her then tells Menna he will pay her again if she remains. We send Valin in first, who is at first not happy. Lothas jibes at him and tells him that he is the one skilled to do so and should just do it.

We take our time, keeping our lights low or completely off but finally come to an area that opens up into a huge cavern, where a stone building is located. I ask Valin to go scout ahead, and Six then volunteers to go also – which I was a bit surprised about. They go and spy a room and hear some voices inside, though they are not sure how many and what type though they believe it is gnollish in origin.

We then formulate a plan, using Lalia’s suggestion, having those who are stealthier go up and wait to go in. After the group advances for a while I hear some howling and then followed by a casting of a spell. I had an arrow knocked and ready to shoot at any target that appears inside the room. Luna and Six work together to break the door and then two gnolls and a wolf appear. I cannot get a good shot at the wolf, so I target the one gnoll with a longbow and launch an arrow into his chest. I run towards the battle. Narik charging by my side, eager to enter the fray screams battle cry after battle cry.

A battle ensues, which seems to go in our favor and then a door opens with four gnolls waiting, just like before, two with axes and behind them two with longbows. Nameless was ready for this and launches a web spell at them which hinders them. Luna was able to dominate one of the wolves who help us dispatch the gnolls. I enter the fray, finally after catching up; I am able to take care of the remaining wolf – assisted with some disgusting bison which I can only assume that Nameless has summoned. Note: Nameless was grinning from ear to ear, and especially smiling at me. All I can say is I am glad it is not a fiendish bison, though what that thing is well its pretty disgusting. We dispatch the monsters, and finish off our dominated wolf and search the rooms very quickly. We enter a large room and I see a gnoll staked to the wall and gutted. It is barely alive and I start to question it. Luna tries to kill it and I quickly block her. The first thought in her head is to always kill and I wish she and the rest of the group would halt on those notions. Sometimes we need to question our opponents. The gnoll, however, in his state of delirium provides no information and I end up gutting him in the throat with my sword.

We search the side rooms, seeing some bed’s and one sized for a minotaur – though no Kizmet. We prepare to head into a maze, following the left wall, and then come to huge chamber. There are three tunnels and on one of the tunnels is written “Freedom” in blood. We figure this is a trap, but I figure this is where we want to go anyhow – as our adversary is probably there. Six and Luna go to the door to inspect it and then it is slammed crashed open knocking Luna on her back.
I first see four large chests and standing above them was a very…very…large “TROLL” screams everyone. I quickly yell “Form in a semi circle, let him come to us and we can surround him” but Narik does not listen and he runs up. Committing us to a bad position we all follow up to support Narik. Lalia runs up to stand beside him, and I yell to Six “Step back so I can have your spot” which Six does after the Troll works him over a bit. I run up, standing to the right of Lalia, getting some cover from the door. Six is then healed, slightly, by Corven. Then Six tries to trip the troll, but is unsuccessful. We do a lot of damage to it, some from fire and acid, the rest from our weapons which it regenerates.

Just as the battle seems to be going our way, I hear a loud thud as Nameless’ body is flung to the ground and I notice his assailant is the minotaur who yells at us “Fools! You have entered the maze of Bhorak and now you will never leave!” This does not look good. With Nameless, and thusly his haste spell, gone we are in big trouble. The troll, in its happiness, lands some significant hits on Lalia, rending her and knocking her unconscious. In a fit of anger, and with all my might I summon a smite and a divine might and deeply cut into the troll. Nameless summons a bison and places it between him and the minotaur. This serves as nothing more then a small distraction as the minotaur destroys the Bison and then works on Nameless. After Nameless is brought back to consciousness, I shout “The haste spell, use the haste spell” and Nameless does so speeding us up. The troll then grabs Narik and uses him as a club to hit Corven. Seeing this disastrous event I summon all my strength, summon divine might and smite the troll, embedding my sword deeply into its body. The troll drops to the ground and then Luna drops a lightning bolt on it to ensure it stays down. Realizing that I have time for one more quick attack, I again drive my sword into the troll, as it’s wounds are regenerating. I get a shout from Lothas “It will not regenerate for a while, concentrate on the minotaur”.

The next chance I get I pull Lalia from the fray and give her a potion to wake her up. The battle proceeds and I stand atop Lalia, guarding her from any would-be attackers. Then the minotaur charges into me and I drop from consciousness.

After the battle I awake, startled by the hairy sight of Luna, only to tilt my head slightly to the left, I smile as I see Lalia. I am related the rest of the battle, and grumble as I find out that Luna decided to kill the minotaur instead of questioning it. Again, with the killing before we get everything we need. Can’t people wait a few minutes before slaughtering? We search the chests, and I eagerly wait and hope to find Kizmet. While we find a great deal of money, the payroll of Daask, Kizmet is not there.

Six starts to compose a letter “Stay out of our area, and we will stay out of ours. We are now even. Boromar”. This letter gets a few chuckles out of everyone.

I comment to everyone, “This battle was the hardest we have ever encountered – ever, and at one point most of us were dying. We survived because we worked as a team, nobody seeking the glory all to themselves, and everyone working hard to keep everyone else up. I was able to revive Lalia, and a few rounds later I went down, but at least she was up to take my place. I think with this valuable lesson, we can defeat any opponent we encounter.” Thinking for a second, “Though I did take down that Troll, pretty damn well if I say so myself.”

 

[shilsen]

Session 15 - The Return of Kizmet

After the momentary pause while everybody visualizes a small mountain of gold, the adventurers quickly check the four chests. All of them contain the ten sacks holding 1,000 galifars each, but the last also includes a javelin and a flat metal chest, about 2 ft long and broad and 6 inches high. Luna detects a number of magical auras from within the box, as well as one of abjuration on the box itself. Presuming there is a trap, Corven checks it and finds a glyph of some kind. With Valin's aid, he disarms it and opens the box, to reveal a sealed letter, a smaller wooden box, and a scroll tube.

The wooden box has three magical rings within it and the scroll tube has three scrolls. While Nameless deciphers the scrolls (one has two divine sending spells, another has two cure critical, and the third has two fly and two gaseous form), Luna detects weak auras of illusion and transmutation on the letter. Corven recognizes the single word on the letter to be 'Cavallah', written in the giant tongue, and when he goes to open it, a pair of lips appear on the envelope and say, "Greetings, members of the Guardian Angels. Do not be alarmed. Please touch the page and say 'Thrakel' to receive a message." The magic mouth then fades away.

After exchanging a couple of looks with the others and explaining to a curious Lalia that no, they did not know anyone was expecting them, Corven opens the letter to extract a sheet. It seems to be a list, reading: 'Cavallah - 6,000, spell ring and scroll 1; Harash - 4,000 and scrolls 2 & 3; Cazha - 3,000 and ring of protection; Torarg - 3,000 and javelin; Keshta - 2,000 and ranger ring; Elite - 6,000; Ranks - 3,000; Supplies - 10,000; Miscellaneous - 3,000.' Corven says, "Looks like details for the payroll," and then says the word 'Thrakel' (giantish for 'warning'). Immediately, the writing fades away and is replaced by a letter, causing both Corven and Nameless to identify the spell as a secret page.

Corven then reads the letter aloud to the others:

20 Sar, Dravago

To the Guardian Angels:

You do not know me, but I have been expecting you. I mean you no harm and will take no actions against you, whatever your response to this letter. You are, however, probably in possession of money and items belonging to the leaders of Daask, and they may be a danger to you in ways I cannot prevent, so it may behove you to not take these - or be very careful if you do.

But these petty material matters are not why I am writing this. Be warned. There are eyes upon you that you do not know of. You are in danger and will be in greater peril soon. Prophecy bends around you. You shall stand where present and future spark, where light is turned to dark and choose to make or mar. You will know when you are there. Once you have taken up your burden, think of Droaam and my message. I may be able to provide guidance and aid, if you come to me. And again, I promise to bring no harm to you or yours. Think upon it. The choice is yours alone, but the repercussions will be felt by many.

And lastly, Daask does not have the sword. Make sure to find it. You will need it.

If you come to Droaam, and if you come ...

Sora Teraza

Some of the Angels realize immediately that the letter (if genuine, as Corven points out) is dated nearly two weeks before Luna coined the name for the group while talking to the KC reporter. Both Luna and Six realize that some of the phrases used sound very similar to those spoken by the sphinx Flamewind during her vision. And lastly, Nameless and Corven both recognize Sora Teraza as the third and least known of the three hag Daughters of Sora Kell (in contrast to her sisters Sora Katra and Sora Maenya, who are legendary terrors), who now rule Droaam. The two tell the others that all they know about her is that she is supposed to be a seeress of some sort. "Apparently a bloody good one," comments Lalia, "If she's leaving letters for you guys."

After a quick discussion of what to do, where Nameless' half-joking suggestion that they leave the money behind ("because Killian's expecting us to remove it and mess up Daask") is quickly rejected, the group breaks up and go about various tasks. Some check out the rest of the maze, finding it to be smaller than originally seemed to be the case. Others move through the complex, smashing the skulls of each of their slain enemies, so as to make it difficult for anyone to use speak with dead or other spells to learn who they were. After some discussion, they do however decapitate the crucified gnoll and take the head with them, hoping to use speak with dead on it themselves. Others re-check the various rooms for anything that was missed (and especially Gareth's sword, as he keeps reminding them), but their search is abortive. They set fire to the bodies of the minotaur and the troll. Finally, Six leaves a note stuck to the door of the room where the chests had originally been kept, reading, "Thank you very much. Boromar."

Once they are done, the group hurries back to the tunnel above which Menna is waiting. Six hangs back and covers up their tracks as best he can, though he points out that a good tracker will find it easily enough. As they enter the tunnel, some of them hear the sound of multiple feet in the distance, but nobody stops to investigate. When they have quietly called "Menna" a couple of times, she opens the tarpaulin and looks down suspiciously, to say, "Menna sleeping. You done?" They throw a rope up, which she secures, and soon everyone is up in the tunnel above. Menna closes the tarp, loads it down with stones and leads them back.

The return trip is uneventful until they enter the cavern where they had fought the zombies and swarms. Menna warns them that the swarms may still be around, and soon enough, Narik and she see them advancing on the group. She suggests that they back up and she "lead you new way," and the group hurriedly agrees. Even as they do so and are moving back, another swarm falls off the ceiling above, some of them landing on Menna and Luna. The hasty retreat is accompanied by pained yelling and cursing, as the insects bite into the two, but the combination of some healing from Lothas and a flask of acid from Nameless takes care of the problem long enough to let them make their escape.

Menna leads the group to the wall of the cavern, where a couple of rough openings lead into darkness. Taking one, she leads on, while warning the group that this area is relatively new to her. As they follow her through the tunnels and chambers, the adventurers see more evidence of ancient Dhakaani architecture. Passing through a large chamber with a fresco showing hobgoblin warriors battling some foe that has now faded away, they hear the soft sounds of weapons and armor from behind the fresco. As they hurry their pace, four spectral hobgoblins charge forth from the fresco, wearing armor and wielding weapons. They scream soundlessly as they charge the adventurers, most of whom put themselves in a posture of defence. Gareth unleashes a blast of positive energy, hoping to affect the creatures, but they seem impervious. As they sweep into the group, some swing at them, to no evident effect. The hobgoblins, however, seem to have no physical affect on the group, simply sweeping through them (a momentary coldness envelops those they touch in passing) and into the wall beyond. Nobody stops to see what happens next, hurrying into the exit tunnel and away.

A few moments later, some of the group begin to feel that they are being watched. Again, nobody stops to investigate, simply hurrying on as soon as the feeling appears. As Corven points out, it's not as if they think they're ever not being observed. The feeling fades away after a minute or two.

The next encounter is not as easy to avoid. The adventurers find themselves walking through smoke or fog that covers the ground to a height of a couple of inches, and seems to be rising. More such fog is seeping in through holes in the walls. Gareth quickly detects evil around him and picks up a couple of auras in the fog, but they are evidently moving around, since he cannot focus on one long enough to learn more. This information makes the group move even faster. Since they had swung back a few minutes ago to areas they'd passed on their trip towards the Cogs, Menna knows this area well and leads them at a quick pace, but the fog doesn't seem to fade. Entering the next tunnel, they find the fog still around them (and both behind and ahead as far as they can see) and rising.

They next emerge into a large chamber and are midway through it when parts of the fog (now close to waist-deep and feeling quite clammy) some twenty feet away shoot up into columns to a height of about six feet. They coalesce instantly into four humanoid figures, two on either side of the group. There are two human males, a human female, and an elven male. All wear cloaks with raised hoods, above rich, but somewhat old-looking clothing. Each individual is very pale, and the sight of pairs of long canines protruding from each face makes it clear that they are vampires.

After one worried look, everyone comes to a halt, many backing up towards the others. Seeing the vampires make no overtly offensive actions, Nameless addresses them politely and asks, "Is there anything you want with us, or are you simply planning to kill us?" The elven vampire, who looks substantially older than the others says, "Please, don't worry. We were just wondering who was passing through this area and came to check." Nameless explains that they were just passing through, at which the vampire says that their lady wanted to speak to the group. as he says this, another column of mist rises, this one in front of the group, to coalesce into a tall female human, dressed like the others (except that her uncloaked hair hangs free to her waist behind her), other than for a gold chain bearing a glowing blue gem at her throat.

The other four vampires (who Gareth has, unsurprisingly, detected as moderately evil) bow to her, and Nameless does the same. He then addresses her as he did the others. She walks forward and greets the group, introducing herself as Mina. She says that they get few people passing through the area and would like to chat with them a bit. Especially since they are evidently adventurers and such people usually have interesting stories. Figuring that they really don't have a choice in the matter - or at least not one that doesn't involve pain, substantial blood loss and undeath - the adventurers agree. One of the first four vampires opens a hidden door in the wall and leads the group down a set of stairs to a very well appointed sitting room.

Mina offers the group some drinks ("though that's probably in really bad taste, coming from a vampire"), which another vampire turns gaseous and floats through a hole in the wall to fetch. She then asks the group to tell her "some gossip about Sharn", since she doesn't get out much, not having been above ground in the last two or three months ("you lose track of time down here"). She complains that unfortunately, people tend to scream and run when they meet vampires. Nameless asks whether she's tried the Karrnathis, since they tend to be less opposed to undead, but Mina says that's primarily the case with their own undead. She says that she's "technically Brelish, though it's not like I've paid taxes in a while." The adventurers tell her about the drug den and some other things, which seem to interest and amuse her.

Eventually Gareth, who has remained standing and looking significantly uncomfortable all this time, blurts out, "Since you are evil, and you know that many of us are good, why aren't you trying to kill us?" Mina spends a little time guffawing before proceeding to give Gareth a short lecture about the fact that being evil doesn't mean that one needs to run around "killing babies and eviscerating puppies all the time, however much fun that may be," and that she has no problem with him just because he's "good in some cosmic sense." She also points out that many worshippers of the Flame tend to see things in simplistic black and white terms.

Mina finishes by saying she wants to give Gareth a little demonstration that everything isn't how he may expect, and walks up to him. After reassuring him that she means no harm, she picks up his holy symbol and handles it with no evident discomfort. Then she asks him for a flask of holy water, says "bottoms up!" and chugs the entire thing. When she does so, she does seem slightly pained, and a moment later two wisps of smoke emerge from her nostrils, but seems otherwise unaffected. After apologizing to the group for "showing off" and admitting that it's "fun to do that at parties", Mina bids them farewell. Before they leave, she checks where they are staying, since some of the group (who have been growing steadily more amused during the interview with the vampire) invite her to stop by if she is ever in town.

One of the other vampires shows the group back up the stairs. Continuing onwards, they soon reach the entrance to the sewers. Menna leads them through the sewers with no untoward incidents and eventually they emerge into the abandoned building through which they entered the sewers. Nameless thanks Menna for her work and pays her 50 galifars, twice what he'd promised, sending the filthy dwarf into ecstasies. He also points out that she needs to be discreet about this job, which she agrees to once Gareth translates what 'discreet' means. Luna then offers to use a spell to wash and clean her if she wants, causing Menna to gasp in horror and dive back into the sewers.

At this point, Lalia takes her leave. She tells the group that she won't take a share of what they have recovered, since "it was quite a lot of fun, except when I thought I was dying, and the House pays my bills anyway." Gareth thanks her for all her help, gives her a kiss on the cheek, and she leaves. The remaining eight adventurers head up to the Clifftop Adventurer's Guild. Once there, they identify the unknown magic items, dispose of whatever they plan to sell, and divide up the proceeds. The Angels emerge with a number of magic items and with 5,000 galifars each. After all have agreed to be as discreet about the events of the day as possible, they say goodbye to Narik, Lothas and Valin.

Heading back to the inn, they get cleaned up, grab a quick dinner, and all pass out, other than Six.

***
Early the next morning, Six heads for Deathsgate and Karr'Aashta's establishment. When Karr'Aashta arrives and speaks to Six, he tells Six that his inquiries into Gareth's sword have given him some positive prospects and he hopes to have good news the next day. Six points out that Gareth is likely to come running at the news, but Karr'Aashta suggest he tell Gareth to hold off till the next day. Six also talks to Karr'Aashta about having someone assigned to keep an eye on the group and let them know if any of his underworld connections hear about anyone, especially Daask, planning hostilities towards them. Karr'Aashta promises to do so and says that he will charge three galifars a day, plus expenses. Six thanks him and leaves.

The others, meanwhile, awake to find a note from Six explaining where he is. They are met after breakfast by Flim Turen, returning as he had promised to get the details of the drug den raid. This time the Angels do give him the complete story. Gareth tries to keep from revealing Killian as a source, but Nameless asking, "Why shouldn't we tell him about Killian?" and Corven following with, "Well, Killian isn't even his name," quickly puts paid to that plan. Still, Flim doesn't learn much about Killian from the group. He comments that there will probably be an article about the drug den in the Sharn Inquisitive the next day, saying that he isn't surprised that nobody from "that rag" has tried to speak to them yet.

Flim also asks about what they were doing the previous day, but the Angels give him no information. Instead, they tell him about the encounter with the vampires. He seems quite interested, though he grumbles a bit that it would be really hard to work in an article on them and that they don't really fit in the regular society columns. He promises to drop off a couple copies of the Korranberg Chronicle when it comes out, and says that he will stop by in a few days to check on the Angels.

Six rejoins the group shortly after Flim leaves. After he arrives, they use a speak with dead spell created by Corven to question the gnoll's head they brought with them. They ask three questions before the spell ends:

Q: Where does the highest-ranking member of Daask you know of dwell?
A: Cavallah lives at the Temple of the Six.
Q: Where are the other payrolls of Daask?
A: Payrolls divided among Daask members.
Q: Where do the payrolls come from?
A: Droaam.

After this, following their plan of doing as little traveling alone as possible, the group heads up to Clifftop together, where they meet Flan and set up a meeting with Killian for that evening. Then they drop Corven off at the Esoteric Order to continue work on his wand, and head for the University district to talk to Dala Arand and Kidro Osanak about the expedition to Xen'drik that Luna and Six had checked on.

After picking Dala up from her lodgings, they head to Kidro's antiquities store, where they find him alone. The old gnome is happy to meet the members of the group that he had not and says that he was planning to contact them soon. Dala comments that she checked on their credentials at the Clifftop Adventurer's Guild and some other places, and got very positive responses. Kidro says that as a result of Dala's checking, he's definitely interested in having them along and asks if they are still interested in the expedition. Gareth promptly says, "No!", leading to a little confusion until Six and the others say that he has some other stuff keeping him busy, but they are very interested.

Kidro then goes into some details about the expedition, saying that things are going very well. He has got Morgrave University to agree to join in the costs. Though he is still in the process of planning, he is looking at a departure between the 16th and the 20th, if all goes as planned. He comments that there were problems with the local sahuagin recently which was affecting shipping options, but apparently the Royal Navy captured some rogue sahuagin and has been able to minimize the problem. He then suggests that they work out the terms under which the group will be joining the expedition. Kidro will obtain letters of marque for the group, as well as taking care of food, accommodation, and basic equipment. He will also arrange for transportation, which will probably be in a Lyrandar sailing ship, which will take 10-12 days for the trip. Gareth asks about quicker transportation, and Kidro says that the only other option would be a Lyrandar elemental galleon (since airships currently do not fly to Xen'drik), which could shave a week off the trip, but since that is much more expensive, the group would have to foot the extra bills themselves, which would be anywhere from 300 to 500 galifars each. Most of the Angels demur at the idea, and Nameless tells Kidro that the current arrangement seems fine, but he should just check about the elemental galleon option. Gareth asks how long the expedition is expected to take and is displeased to learn that it would be anywhere from a month and a half to two months. The others argues however, that the more time they spend away from Sharn, the more things may be different when they return. Gareth also asks about the area that is the intended aim for the expedition, which is a giant ruin. Nameless asks about information that Kidro may have about what they might encounter, but the gnome has few specifics. Kidro does say, however, that they might learn more from his contact in Stormreach (he comments that his second main contact was killed by a giant).

Kidro goes on to talk about payment, offering the group a guarantee of 3,000 galifars each or whatever recovered items they choose to claim, whichever is costlier. The Angels agree to the payment without haggling, which seems to make Kidro quite happy. Kidro then says that in return, he will have the right to claim any items obtained by the expedition and the adventurers can choose whatever they want from what remains. Nobody disagrees, other than Gareth, who says that this is unfair since Kidro can just choose the "most powerful" or costly items, causing Six to comment that Gareth tends "to get a little greedy at times." Kidro points out that he is taking on the burden of organizing this expedition and running considerable financial risk by doing so. He is also primarily interested in historical artifacts and not the kinds of things that adventurers usually want, unlike someone he calls "that damned thieving Haga Wissel", apparently another antiquarian in the area. Gareth continues to argue, saying that Kidro could easily claim something that the Angels might want by saying that it is of historical value. After some argument, the final agreement is that the adventurers may choose a single item each (even from among those that Kidro chooses, if they want), but he gets first choice of two items found by the expedition, which nobody else can choose.

With that agreement, the deal is wrapped up and the adventurers take their leave. Luna suggests that they talk to Flamewind again, in case she can cast any light on the letter from Sora Teraza and the planned expedition. Gareth and Six agree, but Nameless seems very reticent about meeting the sphinx. Finally, he says that he needs to do something else and leaves, heading for Deathsgate and Trillia's home. The others continue on to the university with Dala, who is apparently going to accompany the expedition and seems quite excited about it, chattering on about Xen'drik (which she has been to twice, though not far beyond the port of Stormreach) and the expedition. When Luna asks about Flamewind, Dala says that the gynosphinx is very popular at the university and loves interacting with people. Her visions are legendary, though they happen more rarely than the uninformed believe.

Once they reach Morgrave University, Dala takes her leave and the other three ask around for Flamewind. They eventually find her in her home, a set of chambers in the highest levels of the university tower. Historical artifacts of various kinds hang on the walls and the place is very well decorated, seemingly occupied by a human being until one notices the few seats that are evidently for someone of a large leonine shape. Flamewind recognizes Luna and Six from their previous meeting and is happy to see them again. Luna says that they wished to ask her about a particular letter and is about to hand the one from Sora Teraza to her, when Gareth grabs it, drawing an amused look from Flamewind. He quickly explains that it contains some information that is private and then proceeds to read it out, omitting the references to Daask.

After listening carefully, Flamewind says that there is little she can say about the matter, since she has had no visions about the subject other than the previous one in front of Luna and Six. She says that she knows a little about Sora Teraza, who is (as far as she knows) actually physically blind. The hag does, however, possess remarkable strong oracular powers. Flamewind says that they are probably stronger than her own, though even harder to control. As far as she knows, Sora Teraza tends to follow her own aims and devices, which are not always those of her sisters. Flamewind suggests that the Angels take the warnings seriously. As for taking Sora Teraza's aid, she says that is something they have to decide for themselves, but if they do, they should be careful.

Luna also asks Flamewind about the planned expedition to Xen'drik, but she reiterates that she has had no other visions regarding them. She does say that Xen'drik is a very interesting place and expects that the group will find it as fascinating as it is deadly. Gareth also asks her if she knows anything about his sword, but apparently she does not. The adventurers thank her for her time and let her know where they are staying. Flamewind says that it was a pleasure and asks them to let her know what happens to them, since she is quite curious to see what their future holds. She says, "My visions may not be under my control, but they do invariably turn out to be right, and the repercussions are usually important." Before they leave, she tells them that when she had the vision, a sensation she felt, even though it did not manifest itself in the words of the vision, was one of something attempting to escape. With that, she bids them goodbye. On the way back to the inn from the university, Gareth picks up a big bouquet (with Luna's help) and leaves it at the Deneith enclave for Lalia.

Nameless, meanwhile, travels to the Deathsgate district and meets Trillia at her home. He tells her everything about their excursion to the Cogs. Trillia is quite intrigued by the letter from Sora Teraza, but can shed no real light on it. The pair spend some time discussing magic, arcana and subjects that make more normal people have nightmares. Nameless then heads to the Guild and begins scribing the fly spell into his spellbook.

Corven spends eight hours working at the Order and then travels to High Walls to meet Cala. The ex-military scout tells him that she was planning to come see him, since she has been getting a little impatient. She and her friends have been watching Kielsten, and even though there have been no overtly criminal acts, there seem to be more people visiting Kielsten than would make sense for a hardware store, especially since some of them return multiple times but don't seem to be buying anything. She has a short list of the most regular visitors. She also mentions that her friend Toras said that late one evening, he saw three or four floating flames appear behind a curtained window. They seemed to be floating and moving around in the air, but with the curtain in place he was unable to identify them. Corven agrees about her suspicions but persuades her that simply kicking in the door and shaking Kielsten till he talks would not be a good idea. He suggests that they try to detect if Kielsten or others have magical tattoos as Neb had, and agrees to return the next morning with his companions to do the needful.

After they all return to the inn, the Guardian Angels share their findings with each other. Around eight, they visit the Lucky Nines Casino, to find Killian (now in his real form, or at least the one he revealed when accosted by Kylyman) at his usual table. Gareth immediately asks him, "Where's my sword?" and berates him for giving them the wrong information. Killian, as usual, claims complete innocence and that he is completely horrified at the error. After promising to do some more searching for the sword, he spends the next few minutes alternately teasing, cajoling or mocking the group as usual, all under a very thin veneer of urbanity. He also drops in what could easily be a threat of revealing to Daask that it was the Angels that raided their payroll. Gareth responds with the same, saying that he's sure Daask wouldn't be to happy to know Killian's the one who got them to launch the attack, but the gnome doesn't seem perturbed. Some of the group do notice that he seems much less well informed about their activities at the Daask emplacement than he did about the drug den, and he tries abortively a few times to pump some information out of them. He does, however, have some information about their activities once they returned, commenting on the fact that they must have made some money in order to be shopping for magical items and telling Luna that her new periapt (which she bought that morning) looks very attractive. Once the Angels have quickly had their fill of him, they take their leave from the grinning gnome, and head back to the inn.

***
The next morning, when the others emerge from their room, they find Six waiting with a broadsheet newspaper for them. He hands it over, saying, "Sharn Inquisitive. I guess Flim left it for us. Third page." Opening it, the others find a lurid article about the attack on the drug den, entitled "Adventurers Join Gang War." Other than getting their names correct and the fact that they did attack a Daask drug den, literally everything else in the article is pure fabrication. Not only were the Guardian Angels (a name that the article doesn't use) apparently accompanied by four people besides Deemin and Finch, but they supposedly fought twenty gnolls, four ogres and two trolls, and the battle was eventually joined by a dozen halflings, some on dinosaurs from the Talenta plains. The description of the battle stops just short of stating that it destroyed the entire tower. After some very broad speculations about the interests and allegiances of the adventurers, the article ends in a rant about how this obvious lack of law and order in Sharn is a direct result of the misguided policies of King Boranel and the ruling family of Breland. The Angels' response to the article is an understandable mix of amusement and agreement with Flim's opinion of the Sharn Inquisitive. Gareth wonders aloud why nobody from the newspaper contacted them, and Corven theorizes that it is due to "plausible deniability", so that they cannot be accused of misrepresenting information from them.

After breakfast, the Angels head to Karr'Aashta's Investigations. They are evidently expected and quickly shown up to Karr'Aashta's office, where he greets them with a smile and says that he has good news about Gareth's sword. Reaching down behind his desk, he pulls out the sword. Gareth almost jumps over the desk and grabs it. As he does so, he feels the sword throb warmly in his hands, but he notices something different about it. Even though it looks exactly the same and feels like his sword, something is missing or different. Gareth points that out to Karr'Aashta and then cuts his own arm, seeking to heal himself with the sword, but it has no effect.

Karr'Aashta seems confused, asking Gareth whether it was a flaming sword or not. When Gareth says "No," he takes the sword back and activates it with the word "Aagun", causing flames to run up and down the blade. Experimentation reveals that it does not happen when Gareth tries it, nor when Corven does so with the command word, though the latter can activate it using his artificer abilities.

Gareth asks exactly how Karr'Aashta found the sword and the latter explains that the goblin fence Maarkra had lied about handing it over to Daask and had been trying to sell it. Karr'Aashta's contacts in the underworld let him know and he purchased it, figuring that it would be the easiest way to get it. He says that it's funny that the goblin was selling it as just a fine flametouched weapon when it's actually a magical flaming sword, since Maarkra would have checked it. Karr'Aashta himself has actually had it for just about two days, but he had wanted to wait and have it identified by a reliable spellcaster (which is how he learned that it was a flaming sword and how to activate it) before turning it over to Gareth.

Gareth's first reaction at the news is to search out Maarkra an decapitate him, but Karr'Aashta suggests they not do so, since it would just cause problems in the middle of Malleon's Gate, which is a notoriously dangerous area. Plus Maarkra trying to sell the sword on the sly means that Daask did not know Gareth had lost it or was acting against them, and killing their fence would draw their attention. Gareth agrees grudgingly and then Karr'Aashta asks what the problem is with the sword. Gareth explains that firstly the sword now seems to have different abilities, which apparently he cannot activate, and secondly, that as far as he knew the sword would infuse the essence of its owner into itself and bond with him, only doing so with members of his family. Gareth asks Karr'Aashta if anyone else has spent a lot of time with the sword, which he answers in the negative, and also detects evil on the sword, which has no effect.

Puzzled, Gareth asks Karr'Aashta if he can arrange for Gareth to speak to the spellcaster who identified the sword, and Karr'Aashta says he can do that the next day. Gareth also asks how much he owes Karr'Aashta. He tells Gareth that he had to pay out 1,500 galifars for it, as well as some more for information and the identification. Considering the time and effort, he should ask for more, but he asks for a payment of 2,000 galifars. As Gareth pays him, he points out that it's a steal for recovering such a fine weapon, but he's doing it as a show of good faith, since perhaps they'll do more business in the future.

With that, the adventurers leave, Gareth still looking puzzled and worried, and the others just looking relieved that the sword is finally back. From there, they head down to the High Walls area and meet Cala. She leads everyone to a building opposite Kielsten's shop (which is part of his house), from the first floor of which they can watch the place. About fifteen minutes after they arrive, a person who Cala says is on her list of suspects enters the shop. Luna heads downstairs, and when he emerges a few minutes later, casts a detect magic and steps out of the building. Following him along the street, she scans for magic and picks up a couple of auras from the man's shoulder. Heading back to meet the others, she explains what she detected, causing a couple to theorize that he has one of those tattoos.

While they are discussing this, the group notices the person returning, along with two more individuals. The three of them are walking very close to each other, and as they reach and squeeze through the doorway to the hardware shop, a couple of the Angels notice that the central person's (who wears a heavy cloak that hides his features) feet are hanging a few inches above the ground. Realizing that he is being carried by the others and is presumably a captive, they hurry down, some casting preparatory spells on the way.

Cala's friend Toras and another man are below, and she tells them to watch the one side door to Kielsten's house and grab whoever emerges. The group hurries through the entrance the three men passed through. It opens into the hardware store itself, which takes up the entire front of the building and is now empty. A staircase behind the counter at the back wall leads up to the attic area above, and a single curtained doorway stands beside it. As the group enters and heads towards the doorway, a portly dwarf steps through, whom Cala and Corven recognize as Kielsten. Though he looks a little alarmed at the sight of the six armed individuals, he says, "Greetings - how may I help you?"

Luna, evidently not wanting to waste any time with negotiations, immediately charges forward*. The dwarf tries to dodge aside, but her club lands heavily on his chest. A metallic jingle reveals the presence of armor under his robe. The others are just as surprised as Kielsten, and as he shouts, "Help! Murder!", only Nameless manages to react fast enough to cast a sleep spell. The agitated dwarf manages to shake off the effects but cannot avoid another blow from a snarling Luna, only his armor keeping him upright.

Kielsten shouts again, interspersing his cries for help with a "Zokar aid me!", which immediately tells everyone that they are in the right place. If any other evidence were needed, the two men who entered earlier come leaping out of the curtained room, wielding shortswords with which they lash out at Luna. She blocks one, but the other moves to flank her and cuts a shallow gash in her side.

As her allies move to help, another dwarf (resembling Kielsten but younger) twitches the curtain aside, revealing a large storage room beyond. This one raises a hand and casts a spell, causing a web to fill half the room, either snaring or impeding Cala and all the Guardian Angels besides Luna. Kielsten takes the opportunity to stumble past the younger dwarf and around the doorway.

While Nameless tries abortively to dispel the web, Six and Gareth manage to push their way out of it. Six moves up to join Luna, but Gareth stays on the periphery so that he is not a target. Cala remains snared and Corven, realizing he is too, simply infuses his crossbow magically to make it do nonlethal damage and takes a shot that goes nowhere near his targets**. Luna snaps, "Gareth, get in here!" and moves up to clout the spellcasting dwarf with her club, sending him reeling back too. One of the swordsmen takes the opportunity to stab at her again. The other tries to do the same, but Six trips him and smacks him in the head with his spiked chain. Still, they provide enough distraction for the dwarf to step back and cast another spell. With a muttered, "Eat fire!", he casts produce flame and hits Luna with a handful of fire that burns her. He then yells, "Father - send the fliers!"

The call is answered instantly as three small creatures come flying around the corner, taking up position in the doorway between the dwarf and Luna. Each looks like a miniature devil wreathed in flame, and some of the group recognize them as fire mephits. the creatures cackle in glee, echoing the dwarf's speech in accented Common, and hurl scorching rays at Luna. All of them hit home, badly burning the druid and almost taking her off her feet, only the vitality granted by her shifter heritage and her attendant beast spirit, not to mention a timely bear's endurance cast before entering, keeping her on her feet.***

As she stumbles back from the fight, desperately pulling out a potion and drinking it, Nameless provides a very good - and bovine - distraction. He summons a pseudonatural bison in the next room, which butts a very surprised mephit. Six dispatches the man he had tripped and Gareth moves up and smites the other swordsman. As he does so, he feels his sword throb again and realizes that it has regained some of its magical power. The blow badly wounds the swordsman, who tries to flee, only to be cut down by Gareth's return swing. Corven fires again and, of course, misses. Perhaps he is distracted by the still entangled Cala beside him.

The dwarf, startled by the appearance of the bison, makes the error of hurling a handful of flame at it. While this does burn the creature, it also draws its attention, and it promptly butts him in turn. The mephits, evidently too foolish to flee, take their time to breathe gouts of flame at their enemies, which does little more than scorch them and burn away the webs holding Corven. A few seconds later, they are all dead or unconscious, one going down to Nameless' magic missiles and a really pissed-off Luna's club, and the others to Six's chain and Gareth's sword. The dwarf, realizing too late that he should have fled when he had the chance, tries to do so now and is rewarded with a spiked chain to the head that lands him flat on his face.

The Angels wait for a moment to see whether more enemies appear, and hear the sound of a startled yell in Kielsten's voice from the side of the building, followed by the sound of someone being hit. As they dispose of the web and check to see which enemies are alive, Toras and his friend enter through the main door, dragging an unconscious Kielsten between them. Toras grins and says, "Ran out the side door right into us!" Then his smile disappears and he says with a jerk of his head at the door, "There's a crowd gathering out there."

Even as he speaks, a fat dwarven woman comes barreling down the stairs, shrieking, "Help! Thieves! Murder!" at the top of her lungs. A simultaneous "Oh, shut up!" from Corven, who is checking to make sure the wounded don't bleed to death, apparently doesn't mollify her. Cala just throws her an exasperated look and heads for the door, saying, "Keep as many alive as you can. I'd like as many options for questioning as possible. I'll deal with the crowd." With that, she exits the room followed by Toras, leaving the Guardian Angels with the dead and unconscious, and the hysterical woman.

* Surprise round, since all the PCs were just as surprised as Kielsten was.
** Another of Mike's now patent 1s.
*** At the start of the fight, Luna had 74 hit pts, a clear 26 pts more than anyone else in the group. In 2.5 rds, she went to 3 hp! 16d6+7 dmg will do that to you.

 

[shilsen]

Written by AviLazar:

Session 15 - December 3, 2005

After a few minutes of recovering our health we begin to search the piles of treasure. While this is the most amount of money I have ever seen at one given spot, I am actively searching for Kizmet. We find, in addition to the gold, many magical items. I claim a cloak of resistance for myself, a minor one, but the rest of the group gets some other items. This is the second magical item I found due to the group. It will help! Alas, Kizmet is not to be found, and I find myself very upset. Killian gave us bad information. With the items we find a strange letter. Strange, not because it is magically guarded, but because it is addressed to us and is dated one month ago. The information on it also is strange as some of it is information that very few know of. It warns of danger from Daask, especially if we take the treasure – which we ignore since we know Daask will come after us anyhow. The person who wrote the letter, Sora Teraza invites us to join him/her so we can receive aid. Sora says that I need to find my sword – as it will be needed. The group seems interested in this Sora, and at the very least Sora suggested to the group to help me find my sword first. We leave the dead bodies, first smashing their faces in so a Speak with Dead spell could not be used.

On our way up we pick up Menna and head out. We hear the zombies up ahead, the ones we encountered before, and Menna decides to take a different route. We start to encounter more undead, gnoll ghosts, and decide to run as we are ill-equipped to handle such a situation. After a while, more mists arise and we try to outrun them only to be stopped by five vampires! We should have been dead, but instead they invite us to speak with them and we do so. They ask us for information of the top world, and inform us of their plights. They seem lonely and only want non-harmful contact with others. After the meeting we continue along our path and get topside. Lalia heads back home, giving her share of the treasure to the rest of the party. I kiss her on the cheek and tell her I will see her later.

We head back to the inn, and immediately go to sleep.

The next morning we wake up to find Six left to see Karr’Aashta. We start to break fast and then Flim from the newspaper shows up. I ask him to excuse us for a minute as I want to speak with the party first in private. I explain to the party we should continue to keep most things a secret – we don’t Flim anything – and that everyone blurting out will come of no good. We agree on a story, and make sure we do not mention our encounter with Daask. The group then blurts out Killian’s name – which they apparently do not care about. I tell Flim if anyone’s name comes out in the paper without authorization he can forget about ever getting a story. Flim says he will respect the privacy of our sources. I then start to argue with the group that they should not start throwing out names without a damn good reason. Nameless and I begin to argue and I inform him that our sources can burn us just as easily as we can burn them. I don’t know why this group has such a hard time with the word “discretion”. And they call me noisy. We tell Flim about the drug den raid and the vampires. We make sure to mention that Boromor were the ones who came in and stole Daasks drugs.

After the meeting we take Corven to his mages guild so he can continue his work. I then follow the group to Kidro’s store. Kidro is a gnome who likes to collect rare objects of historical value. The group has been negotiating an expedition and I flat out state that I will not go anywhere until Kizmet is back in my hands.
After the meeting with Kidro, we head to see Flamewind, who is a sphinx. Nameless refuses to go and seems a bit uncomfortable at the thought of being there. He goes to his guild while the rest of us head to the library. We meet with Flamewind and Luna almost hands her the letter as I snatch it away. We keep cycling on this issue, but apparently it is impossible for the group to grasp the thought of discretion. I read the key passages to Flamewind…those that we need information from. Flamewind is curious about the rest, but lets it slide. Once we are finished, we head back to the inn for dinner and we meet up with the rest of the group. We head down to visit Killian.

Once we got to the Lucky Nines Casino, we meet with Killian and I get into an argument with him. Killian casually fends my statements citing that sometimes bad information happens. Killian promises to work harder to find the truth, and I am having a hard time of telling if he is lying and hiding it very well or he is actually telling the truth. At one point Killian slips in a threat saying that it would be a shame of Daask were told who robbed their payroll…I inform him that it would be a shame if Daask finds out who sent us there. Killian may think he has the upper hand, but he forgets that he is just as cozy in bed with us as we are with him. Killian does mention his interest in our spending habits. Though the people who are spending a considerable amount of wealth are those who had the money for a while – up until now Luna has not really been a big shopper.

We head back to the inn and go to sleep. The following morning, very quickly after I get up, I head over to Karr’Aashta’s office. He reveals my sword and I leap past every and over the table to grab it. It feels different, however. It looks exactly – every single inscription, and symbol – but it just feels different. Karr’Aashta says the sword is a flaming sword, and this is confusing – it never did that for me. Karr’Aashta activates the swords power, which is even more concerning. I try and activate it and nothing happens. I then take my dagger and slash my arm, and attempt to activate the swords healing powers. Nothing happens. Something is strange. I cannot see the people who stole the sword making a replica – not in such a short time – not to mention why would they bother? This sword, however, seems different. I pay Karr’Aashta for his services – money which I plan to take out of the person who sold him the sword --- the drug fence. He owes me a lot of money, about 3000 gold, and I will have it from him. It will also be time for him to die; we do not need another drug fence. One thing that interests me is that Karr’Aashta says he should have charged me more for the sword. While I agreed with him to pay for any expenses; this isn’t buying an item at a store- his job is to recover things. This puzzles me – but it is a good thing he did not try and sell it to me for tens of thousands – he would not have liked my answer.

After our talks are complete we head down to Kielstons shop to continue our Zokar mission. We enter the room, well armed and prepared, and then a dwarf walks in. The dwarf is very surprised at the sight of us. Luna then flies into attack – without any provocation. I scathe her for it later. While she was correct our target was evil – she had no evidence and could have easily attacked someone innocent. The battle ensues and a mephit on their side casts a web spell. I finally manage to break free of it, but Luna yells at me for not coming up soon enough – as if I could! She did what the group always yells at me for – charging in blindly, and I got there as fast as humanly possible.

When I can finally swing my sword, I summon the power of the Silver Flame and smite my target, using as much of my strength as my skill allows. I do considerable damage to the swordsman and then continue into the fray. The battle continues with Luna, Six and I heading in and dispatching everyone. Corven and Nameless are in the back providing excellent support.

After the battle we try and save as many as possible for future questioning.

 

[shilsen]

Session 16 - Kneel Before Zokar!

The Angels check the bodies and find that Kielsten, the younger dwarf (whom the crying woman identifies as her son Daerk), one of the mephits, and one swordsman, are still alive. Gareth suggests they use no magic, in case they activate the tattoos, and they bandage their wounds to prevent them dying. The woman seems confused about their intentions, even though Gareth tries to explain to her that her husband and son were "worshipping a dark, evil god", since she keeps crying and asking them not to kill them and to take whatever they want. In exasperation, Nameless casts a sleep spell upon her.

After tying and gagging everyone, the Angels begin to search the building. Besides the large storeroom-cum-antechamber from which the cultists emerged, the bottom level of the house contains a master bedroom, a smaller single bedroom, a kitchen-cum-dining room, a small living room, a workroom-cum-office, and a privy. The stairs lead up to a large attic, partly used for storage. The woman's appearance from there is explained by the rocking chair, with a dropped pair of knitting needles and a half-completed woolen cap next to it. There is one more room at the back, with the door left ajar. Within is a meeting room with a dozen chairs and two tables. The room smells vaguely of smoke. A young man lies unconscious on the floor here, with bruises on his face, his clothes identifying him as the one who was carried in a few moments ago. The walls have curtains covering them, one of which has been moved away to reveal a door about 3 ft high, set two feet up the wall. Investigation reveals a small chamber that smells of smoke and fire, with four shallow pits in the bottom, each containing smoldering coal. Corven opines that this is where the mephits stayed. Checking behind the other curtains reveals the same stylized flame symbol on the walls, and also a shaft that leads down 20 ft to what seems to be a horizontal tunnel.

Corven suggests they check the shaft, and Luna casts a spell allowing Six to spider climb along the walls. He checks and finds that the shaft rises fifty feet above the doorway and ends, with no apparent exits. Descending to the bottom, he enters the tunnel and finds that it resembles those in the Cogs. As he is looking around, a mephit sticks its head around a corner some distance away and shoots a scorching ray at him (which misses). Six rushes towards it, followed by Luna, who simply jumps down the shaft after him, and then Corven, who goes down the rope. The mephit flies quickly down the tunnel and disappears, and some investigation reveals a number of splits in the tunnels ahead. Rather than risking getting lost on a wild mephit chase, the three return.

Cala joins the group at this point, telling them that she has taken care of the people outside and is having her friend Toras search the other rooms. Corven revives the unconscious man with some magical healing. While originally quite startled and scared, he recovers a little, though he is not much reassured by Gareth's and Corven's explanation to him that he had been kidnapped by a group of cultists, probably to be sacrificed by burning. He is Ohtar, an apprentice locksmith, who knows Maenoth and Levan (apparently the two swordsmen). He was invited to Maenoth's house and attacked by the two, which is the last thing he remembers. He has absolutely no idea about the cult's existence, and Cala theorizes that he was just an easy target (especially since he lives alone and has no family in Sharn). The group sends Ohtar to wait in the main room with the others.

They then move on to reviving and questioning the mephit. After some momentary confusion and a few words in a language that they do not understand but Nameless identifies as Ignan, the creature switches to poor Common and is quite talkative, if a little dim. It says that it was brought here by Zokar and was sent with the others to Kielsten, the head of the cult, as messengers and guards. It identifies Zokar as an angel, causing Nameless to say that fits what he had learned of radiant idols. It describes him as a large humanoid, twice as tall as Gareth, with red skin. It also mentions that Zokar is incapable of flight and nothing can fly near him. When asked what Zokar wants, it mimics him, putting on a presumably forbidding expression, and saying, "Me Zokar yah yah god of fire yah yah worship me yah yah fear me yah yah", sending some of the Angels into splits. It says that he has nine guards, or more precisely, "Many many one." When asked if it is willing to lead them to Zokar, it quickly agrees, as long as the group promises to let it go afterwards. Gareth demurs, but Corven promises to do so, and it immediately agrees. Checking to see if it is evil, Gareth finds that it isn't, and asks its name. The answer run on for a few seconds, causing Gareth to pick the first syllable and call it "Zeke".

Toras interrupts at this point to say that he has found a safe in the office. After opening it with a key found on Kielsten, the group finds that it contains a ledger and other business papers. While removing these, they find a secret compartment, which contains a small sack of gold pieces and four documents. One is a list of people, with the title Radiant Fire above, with a little over thirty names. A couple of them have lines drawn through them, including the two above Kielsten's (which is third). It does have the names of Maenoth and Levan on it, as well as that of Neb (with a line through his). Cala identifies some of the names with lines as those of missing people, including a couple that went missing months ago and were only retroactively considered as possibly linked to the later ones. Another document has six names, three of which are Drass, Vendig and Hestia. The third is a short list of days (including the two which were on the papers found at Hestia's and Drass' homes), with the last one being the 10th, two days later. The fourth is a map, showing the route from an entrance into Blackbones to a location marked with the stylized flame.

The group spends a little time discussing these and then moves on with the interrogations. At this point they check the unconscious people for magical equipment. They find a few things, including a potion that Gareth wants to take. This draws a dirty look from Cala, followed by a "What do you think you're doing?" When Gareth begins to explain that he's just taking something he could use, Cala explains that they aren't here looking for loot. These items may quite easily belong to dead Cyrans and are all going to the embassy so that they can try to work out whom they belonged to. She collects the various items and puts them in a sack that she gives Toras.

After that, the Angels move on to Maenoth. When revived, he seems quite fatalistic about having been captured, and apparently honestly admits to being a member of the cult for over a month. He says that Zokar promised to give Cyre back to his followers and destroy their enemies when he has enough worshippers, but Maenoth has his suspicions about both. Still, being a member made him some money, so he went along with it. He too asks for clemency for helping with information, but Gareth is less willing in this case, pointing out that he has been a murderer and helped others to be so. Still, the Angels suggest that they might be able to save him from execution. He also shares some information about Zokar, describing him as Zeke did, but adding that Zokar has stumps on his shoulders, which the Angels assume are the remains of his wings. When Gareth, trying to ascertain what kind of angel he might be, asks if Zokar is handsome, Maenoth dryly says, "Zokar really isn't my type, but yes, you could say he's handsome." Maenoth also touches on the issue of the tattoo, which is apparently created during a ritual with Zokar and allows him to watch, hurt and kill his followers at a distance.

Luna suggest that they might be able to cut off the tattoo, which horrifies Maenoth until Gareth points out that the other option is to burst into flame and die at some point. With Maenoth's reluctant agreement, Corven knocks him out and Gareth slices off the tattoo (his is on the shoulder) with the skin around it, Luna healing Maenoth as he does so to prevent death. Gareth presents the skin to Nameless, saying, "You'll probably enjoy it." Seconds after they remove it, however, the tattoo fades off the removed skin and reappears on Maenoth in the original position. Nameless theorizes that it may be like a dragonmark in being a manifestation of some internal quality, so that it will simply reappear if removed. He tries to dispel it and fails. When Corven tries and succeeds, the red lines that make it up turn dull black, but they return to the original color in twenty seconds.

With this not having worked, the group moves on to Kielsten. The dwarf proves much more obdurate than the others, refusing to say anything about Zokar other than that he will save Kielsten even if he dies. While the others are threatening him, Nameless notices a scrying sensor pop into existence near Kielsten. He quickly points it out to the others, causing Luna to suggest blocking its view with a blanket. As they are about to try this, Kielsten bursts into flame just as Neb had done. The flames, however, seem weaker and though he screams and goes limp, the flames quickly die away to leave him burned but alive. They hasten to heal him and prevent death, and then Gareth suggests that they take him to the Archierophant and ask for her help. Cala says, "Are you sure? No offense, but the Silver Flame has shown little interest in the plight of Cyrans in Sharn." Gareth angrily points out that he is helping, and Cala explains that she means the existing Silver Flame hierarchy in Sharn. While they are discussing this, the group hear more screams from outside and discover that Maenoth has combusted too. He, however, is dead. And seconds later, screams ring out from the street too.

Rushing out, they see someone aflame on the ground across the street, with two people trying to beat out the flames. By the time they reach him he is dead. Cala recognizes him as one of the people on the longer list, and the group realizes that Zokar is probably eliminating the cultists, since they are a lead to him. After a quick check of the list, Cala, Toras and Leton run off to try and save people if possible, and the group grab the unconscious Kielsten and hurry off towards the Cathedral. Zeke, with Gareth's manacles used as a collar and chain, is in tow. As they go, they hear more screams and commotion from various points of High Walls.

As they make their way up to Middle Tavick's to catch a skycoach, two members of the Watch stop the motley group. Gareth attempts to persuade them that Kielsten, carried between two of them, is drunk, but a suspicious guard checks. One look at the burned and unconscious dwarf later, the guards are pointing crossbows at the group and asking for an explanation. Corven gives them an honest account, and a combination of some diplomacy and the fact that they're getting close to a lunch break has the guards agree to put them on a skycoach and send them off.

Along the way, Gareth chats with the mephit, who now seems quite friendly (except for his unfortunate tendency to enjoy frightening people they encounter by yelling "BURN!" and cackling). He offers to let Zeke accompany them, which the mephit agrees to as long as they will let him leave if he wants and give him things to burn. Perhaps it has nothing to do with this discussion, but the skycoach driver gets them to the Sovereign Towers district as soon as possible.

A few minutes later, the group gets to meet the Archierophant Ythana Morr. After a quick explanation of what they have experienced and seen, she explains that she cannot really help much with information regarding Zokar, since that is not one of her areas of expertise. She does, however, say that their cause seems worthy and she is always happy to help "a paladin" (Gareth) and any other "true worshipper" (Corven) of the Flame. When Gareth asks about buying scrolls or potions that help resist fire, she says she will provide them the next morning gratis. Ythana also says that she will keep Kielsten in custody and study whether they can prevent any further control of him by Zokar.

She also asks about Gareth's sword and is pleased to hear that he has recovered it. Gareth asks if she can explain some of the strange things that have happened regarding it and its powers. One example manifests immediately, since he actually feels the sword 're-develop' the powers it already had. Ythana is intrigued and suggests that she might be able to find out more if he leaves it with her. Gareth diplomatically suggests that he wishes to study it himself for now, causing her to smile and say that she understands that he doesn't want to let it out of his grasp right now.

After thanking her, the Angels depart. Corven heads to the Esoteric Order to work on his wand, which he finally finishes. Nameless heads to the Guild, where he finishes scribing the fly spell. Luna and Six do some shopping for equipment, while Gareth stops by the Deneith enclave to meet Lalia.

Meeting back at the inn (where Gareth has to do some significant persuasion before Palk lets Zeke in too), the Angels are met in the evening by Cala, who says that everyone on that list was affected by the flames. Four survived the initial effect, of who two died of their injuries later. The two survivors are at the embassy under watch. She thanks the group for their help, especially since two of them are not Cyran and this doesn't involve their countrymen. Gareth says that the Silver Flame serves the cause of goodness and does not discriminate among those who need its aid, whatever their country. Luna looks like she might say something about the lycanthropic purge but doesn’t, and though Cala looks a little skeptical, she simply says that it good to know. Cala says that Toras and she would like to accompany the Angels in their trip into Blackbones to destroy Zokar, and they agree to meet at the inn the next morning.

Bodo also returns late in the evening. He seems quite happy with being at school and tells Gareth that he has made a lot of friends there. Bodo seems quite fascinated with Zeke, who seems to reciprocate, and when the Angels wrap up for the night, the mephit is curled up next to Bodo's bed.

***
Next morning, Six meets the group with another set of newspapers. This time it's the Korranberg Chronicle, Flim apparently having had a copy dropped off for each of them. They contain the article he promised:

Guardian Angels Destroy Daask Drug Den
By Flim Turen

A group of foreign adventurers are trying to make a dent in the criminal activities of the Sharn underworld. During the afternoon of Mol 2nd of Nymm, the self-styled Guardian Angels raided a drug den in the Middle Dura district of Tumbledown, apparently run by the Daask gang. During the raid, the Guardian Angels slew a number of gnoll guards and an ogre. When on the verge of victory, the adventurers were engaged by a squad of human soldiers led by two halflings, who claimed to be Boromar gang-members. They held the wounded Angels at crossbow-point and took all the drugs (apparently dreamlily) at the location. Despite this setback, the Guardian Angels remain confident in their mission to "clean up Sharn," as the shifter druid Luna, their spokesperson and the only Brelander, told the KC. In an exclusive interview, Luna denied that the Angels were working for any patron and said, "Our only aim was to do the right thing and keep drugs off the street." In view of the loss of the drugs to the Boromars, one may consider the sentiments somewhat naive, but the KC applauds this group's commitment and wishes them the best of luck. Other members of the Angels are Gareth Byron Deneith (a Karrnathi paladin of the Silver Flame) and three Cyrans - Corven ir'Lanya Deneith (an artificer affiliated with the embassy in Sharn), a mage known as Nameless, and the warforged warrior Six. The Angels were accompanied in their raid by Deemin and Finch, members of the Clifftop Adventurers Guild (as are the Angels), who preferred to not speak to the KC.
Our correspondent spoke to various individuals regarding their responses to this incident. "I appreciate the sentiment behind the Angels' actions," said Commander Lian Halamar of the Dura branch of the Watch, "But I would prefer if such well-meaning individuals tried to work through official channels. Vigilante actions can backfire, and when they do, it is the Watch that has to clean up the mess." Captain Toras Cant of the Royal Guard angrily denied that any of his men were involved in this operation (a witness claimed that some of the men accompanying the halfling duo were members of the Royal Guard out of uniform) and threatened to lock up our correspondent if he persisted in such claims. Ilyra Boromar, city councilor from Lower Dura and daughter of Saidan Boromar, said, "Claims that the Boromars were involved in this raid, or have a hand in crime in Sharn, are totally unfounded. My father is simply a successful businessman, and it is unfortunate that envious people accuse him of criminal acts."
The KC will follow and report on any future developments in this matter, and hopefully, on the further deeds of Sharn's new Guardian Angels.

Cala and Toras arrive while the Angels are wrapping up breakfast, and the expanded group heads to the Cathedral. Ythana meets them with the news that Kielsten is alive and currently sleeping, and she provides a set of scrolls for them. After thanking her, the group heads to Lower Tavick's Landing and down into Blackbones.

This area of the Cogs is much like Ashblack, except that it seems to have a larger warforged population, in fact the largest that the group has seen anywhere in Sharn. They quickly head along the route laid out by the map and after about twenty minutes, find themselves entering an emptier area of Blackbones. After a few minutes, they find themselves in a deserted set of tunnels, and Zeke soon says that they are very near Zokar's lair, which is only a minute or two ahead.

The adventurers quickly cast the resist energy spells from the Archierophant's scrolls and other protective ones, before continuing on. Less than a minute later, the tunnel they are in curves around a corner and emerges into a large cavern. A large stone door stands on the far side of the cavern and it is dotted with large and small pools of water, all of them bubbling as if they were boiling. Steam hangs in the air and the cavern is significantly warmer than the surrounding area.

As the adventurers look into the cavern, multiple enemies engage them. Four mephits resembling Zeke (who is hanging back behind the group) swoop down from the ceiling, hurling scorching rays at Luna and Gareth, who are in the lead. Four more creatures (which some of the adventurers recognize as thoqqua), which look like huge segmented earthworms, except that they glow with heat, leap forward from their position besides the closest pools, hurling themselves at Luna and Gareth. Behind them, a creature resembling a human above the waist, except for the glowing spines on its back, and a snake below the waist, emerges from one of the pools waving a spear.

While the heat-based attacks of the creatures have little or no effect, the rock-hard bodies of the thoqquas do hurt. While Corven infuses his new wand with some infusions to make it hurl freezing rays, Cala and Toras shoot over their companions, wounding a mephit. Six slashes a thoqqua almost in half and Nameless completes the job with a volley of magic missiles, while Luna and Gareth dispatch another. As Gareth and Six advance into the room, however, the salamander slithers forward, smashing the paladin painfully across the chest with its tail.

Even as the salamander bellows a challenge (again sadly not understood by the group), Corven triggers his wand. Two rays of ice* streak into its chest, wounding it badly, especially in view of its fiery nature. The creature roars in pain and presses the attack with the aid of the remaining two thoqqua (the mephits are totally ineffectual against the group's protections against fire), striking both Six and Gareth with a combination of spear blows and tail-swipes. A protective infusion from Corven has rendered Six's metallic exterior as strong as stone, however, and he shrugs off the blows. Gareth, however, is severely wounded and takes the chance to retreat and heal himself as Luna joins the fight.

The salamander, of course, does not have the option, and the combination of another icy blast from Corven and an acid arrow from Nameless sends it down. The thoqqua are quickly dispatched, and the mephits, unable to flee past the large group, dive down into the steaming pools and huddle at the bottom.

Sure that they don't have time to waste, Six runs to the doors and calls the others to join him. After taking a few seconds for healing and increased protection, they do so. Finding himself left in the rear again, Nameless says, "Hell, no - not again!", casts his fly spell and takes to the air. Corven quickly says, "You know that won't work around Zokar, right?", to which he replies, "Don't worry. I'm not getting anywhere close to Zokar."

Six shoves the doors open to reveal a large hall within. Three large pillars on each side hold up a ceiling twenty feet above. A stylized drawing of the so-called Radiant Fire is on each side-wall and one on the far wall. Beneath the last stands a crude altar, about chest-high on a tall man. Behind it and extending out on each side is another pool of boiling water. Standing beside the altar is a ten foot tall humanoid with red skin and hair, holding a large flail in its hands. Zokar's features are chiseled with inhuman perfection, as is his body, which is only concealed by a red loincloth. His entire form glows dimly, as if there were banked fires beneath his skin. The only thing that spoils the perfect beauty of the creature are the stumps covered in dried blood that jut awkwardly above his shoulder-blades.

Zokar's expression is an expectant one and he smiles with anticipation as the doors enter. "Fools!" he roars loudly, "Now you will fall before Zokar!" As the adventurers begin to enter, he moves forward smoothly towards the middle of the chamber, hefting the flail in his hands. As he moves forward, he furrows his brow in momentary concentration, and each of the adventurers feels one of the protections on him fade away. Nameless, floating ten feet above the others, is most immediately affected, his fly spell disappearing and sending him dropping to a painful landing.

After an "Ow!", the alienist says, "Let's see how you like this," and promptly summons a pseudonatural bison behind Zokar. The fallen angel spins around with a startled expression, only for the bison to butt him right in his chest - with no apparent effect*. Zokar laughs and turns around, just in time to take an arrow from Cala right in the neck, which bounces off. "See?" he shouts in triumph, "I am beyond your power."

"We'll see," mutters Corven, who has moved behind a pillar, as he triggers his wand. Two streaks of cold leap out. One is absorbed by Zokar's resistance to magic, but the other strikes right in the middle of his chest* and bites deep, burying shards of ice in his chest. Zokar screams in pain and shock, recovering to glare at Corven, who says to himself, "Oh yeah - I'm dead!"

Luckily for Corven, his allies take a hand. Emboldened by the artificer's success, Gareth charges forward. A blow from the flail bruises his entire side, but he reaches Zokar's side and swings. The paladin calls on the Silver Flame for aid and swings with all his might, putting all the magic and physical force that he can*** into the blow. The sword strikes exactly where Corven's magic did, its flametouched nature overriding the radiant idol's resistance. The blow literally splits Zokar's chest open**** like a blow from a pick against stone, cracks appearing all his torso from which fiery light leaks forth.

Zokar's scream this time is even louder, as his knees buckle beneath the blow. And it's not as if the not-as-fallen Angels are done. Luna moves in behind Gareth, calling forth lightning to smite Zokar. But even before she can complete the spell, Six tumbles past her, spiked chain lashing out and hitting with perfect precision right on the wound Gareth left.

This one is evidently the last straw, since Zokar staggers back another foot and then falls to his knees. The cracks run all over his body now, splitting wider and wider. He cries out, "No, this can..." and then literally falls apart, his body (strangely, complete with loincloth and flail) collapsing into a rain of little flames that hit the ground and stay there, burning on the bare stone.

From behind the Angels, Cala says a heartfelt, "Damn! You guys ARE good!"*****

Even as she speaks, they feel a rumble in the ground around them. A second later, ten feet behind the piles of flames that was Zokar, the air itself splits to reveal a five foot high oval window. It looks out onto a cloudless expanse of clear blue sky, in the center of which floats a city full of crystalline towers. Tiny winged shapes move around it, too far away to identify. As the window opens, a light wind springs up, ruffling the adventurers' hair. The flames on the ground, however, are affected differently. At incredible speed, each is swept up and through the window. As it passes through, it puffs out. And as the last one goes through, the window disappears. The entire process takes perhaps five seconds.

The only thing that remains in the chamber are the adventurers. That is, until the thin cracks appear at the point where the 'mirror' had been, radiating out at extreme speed around the room and up the pillars and walls.

* 1 pt of damage after DR
** Natural 20 and confirmed, which went through SR 25 (with an action pt), for 42 pts of damage
*** Also known as a Smite with Divine Might and full Power Attack, using a sword with Bane (evil outsiders) on it.
**** An attack roll of 19, confirmed with a natural 20, for 60+ pts of damage.
***** And the DM's lousy. We were in a hurry and I forgot to check all Zokar's immunities. He has total cold immunity. And a couple of other effects I forgot. Ah well, for the purposes of this story, he turns into a creature with the fire subtype, fire immunity and cold vulnerability.

 

[shilsen]

Session 17 - Goblinoids and Good Sports

Nameless yells to the others to get out before the place collapses and turns to head in the opposite direction. As they follow him, they are met by a bloodied Zeke, who comes rocketing at them and wraps himself around Nameless' head, jabbering, "Them bastards tried to kill me!" Nameless disgustedly peels him off and Gareth heals him while they are running, during which Zeke explains that the fleeing mephits ran into and attacked him in the tunnel. He seems quite pleased at Zokar's death and a little surprised at the fact that he remained behind, since Zokar apparently "fetched me from out there."

The fleeing adventurers quickly realize that the results of Zokar's death are very localized, with the reverberations not even being felt in the tunnel, though they hear the sound of collapsing stone behind them. Not stopping to investigate, they hurry on until they reach Blackbones, and then make their way to the surface.

Once they are outside, Cala thanks the Angels for all that they have done, and also asks them not to speak to anyone about what had occurred, explaining that it will only lead to more suspicion, and mistreatment, of Cyrans in Sharn. Corven backs her up and the others agree. Since it is certain that the multiple deaths will have drawn a lot of attention, and it is quite likely that their presence in High Walls was noted, they decide to simply explain that a fallen angel was harming people and they eliminated it. Cala also says that she will speak to Tyrala and they will take Kielsten into custody. Gareth reminds her that he wants to know what happened with the magical items found at Kielsten's house, causing Cala to say that she will check and comment amusedly that he really is quite greedy.

Cala and Toras take their leave, and the others head to the Cathedral. When they eventually get to meet Ythana Morr and tell her of their success, she is quite pleased. She explains that Kielsten's demeanor has apparently changed (probably since the slaying of Zokar) and the tattoo on him is now non-magical. At Gareth's request, she agrees to temporarily keep him in custody. Gareth also asks again about the sword, and - since he is unwilling to leave it behind - she suggests that he return later in the evening with it.

The group then splits up, with Corven going to the Esoteric Order to work on a homunculus he is constructing to aid in his crafting work, Gareth visiting the Deneith enclave, and the others returning to the inn. Later in the evening, Gareth returns to the Cathedral, where he spends some time researching his sword and helping (or mostly watching) Ythana Morr cast a couple of divinations on the sword. He learns a little about weapons that adapt themselves to, or grow in power along with, their owner, but little about Kizmet specifically.

***
The next day, the group meets with Karr'Aashta, who is quite amused to see the mephit they have along. He says that he has heard nothing about anyone searching for or putting out a contract on them. He mentions that Daask forces have apparently launched a number of brutal attacks against Boromar holdings in areas such as Callestan and Cogsgate. They have also stepped up the number of robberies, and Karr'Aashta surmises that this may be a result of the Angels' attack on them.

Since Gareth wants to pay a visit to the goblin fence Maarkra and recover his money, Nameless asks Karr'Aashta about that. Karr'Aashta suggests that they not do so, not because Maarkra is dangerous but because the Malleon's Gate area is. He also provides the information that as far as he knows Maarkra has two guards at the shop as his only security.

Lastly, Karr'Aashta gives the group a note for Piet, the mage who did the magical work identifying Gareth's sword. Piet is a member of the Guild of Starlight and Shadows, and Karr'Aashta says that the group could probably find him there.

After leaving him, the group heads to the Guild. Nameless' status as member gets them in very quickly and they soon locate Piet, who is a young half-elven wizard. He talks with the group about the sword and seems surprised about the strange effects that Gareth has encountered. Piet suggests that he could do more tests on the sword but Gareth doesn't wish to leave it behind and asks him to do some research instead. He agrees and the Angels take their leave.

They then, as usual, have a somewhat protracted argument about whether to go to Malleon's Gate or not. Also as usual, they argue at cross-purposes, with Nameless and Six arguing about the risks of drawing attention (especially Daask's) by doing so, and Gareth arguing that they shouldn't be scared of Maarkra. Eventually they decide to go, and head down to Malleon's Gate, trying to keep as low a profile as possible. Since it is drizzling, as usual in Sharn, they have an excuse to travel heavily cloaked and hooded, and Six uses a recently purchased hat of disguise to make himself look like a hobgoblin.

Malleon's Gate looks the same as ever, seeming like an extended slum overrun by goblinoids. Reaching the shop, they enter to find Maarkra leaning over his counter and talking to a man and another goblin, both in fairly ratty-looking clothes. Nameless promptly casts a web spell to entangle the group, drawing screams of fear and surprise. Zeke, who has been ordered by Gareth to shoot at people and not set things on fire, promptly hits the human with a scorching ray, dropping him unconscious. Maarkra, wounded by a volley of magic missiles from Nameless, drops behind the counter and yells for help.

The yell is answered by the opening of a door in the rear, which reveals two armed and armored goblins. The first takes an arrow from Six in the shoulder, causing the other to curse and slam the door shut. Since the web is preventing the others from reaching Maarkra, Nameless then dismisses it, which allows the other goblin (already wounded by a produce flame from Luna) to dive into the junk in the shop and try to hide. Not well enough, unfortunately for him, since another set of magic missiles from Nameless kills him.

Six and Luna give chase to the two armed goblins, and find that the area behind the door is a room with multiple doors leading out. One is open and leading into a dark corridor, down which the goblins are apparently fleeing. Luna wounds the rearmost one with another hurled gout of flame but they keep going. They are, however, not fast enough to evade Zeke and Nameless, who fly after them. Nameless launches a fireball down the corridor to incinerate one goblin and Six races after the other. The corridor ends at a door and the goblin, realizing that it cannot open it before Six reaches it, turns and charges him. Six promptly bludgeons it into unconsciousness and drags it back, along with the dead one.

Corven, who has stabilized the unconscious man and confirmed that the other goblin is dead, and Gareth, who has Maarkra groveling on the ground with a sword at his throat, see a goblin open the door to the shop (Six had pulled across the curtain as soon as they entered), take a startled look at them and slam it shut. Gareth questions Maarkra about his money and learns that the goblin only keeps a thousand galifars in the shop since any more would be dangerous. Maarkra quickly gives them directions to his home, where more money is, promising to give them all the money if he is spared.

The others, who have checked behind the other doors to find a storeroom and a makeshift bedroom, return with the goblin guards. Hearing that somebody has spotted them, Nameless suggests they get out of there immediately. Luna checks through the door and says that there are still goblins and some humans outside, with no evidence of them being alarmed. Gareth wants to take Maarkra along to find his home, but the others refuse, saying that it's much too dangerous. Nameless tells him to just dispatch Maarkra and Gareth agrees to do so. Amusingly, as he swings at the goblin, Maarkra screams and dodges away, causing him to miss. As the goblin leaps desperately to his feet and makes a run for the door, Gareth swings - and misses again*. Disgustedly, Nameless fires an acid arrow that hits the goblin in the back and drops him unconscious to the ground, where the acid gradually eats into and kills him. Nameless then pulls out his crossbow and shoots the unconscious man (whom Gareth had detected to be non-evil) in the head, doing so before Gareth can stop him. Six, at Nameless' order, kills the unconscious goblin.

The group first checks the tunnel and finds that the door on the other side has no evident way of opening it from the inside. Rather than waste time investigating, they leave the shop. The group quickly heads for the closest route to the upper levels, but they are only a few hundred feet from the shop when a voice yells, "Stop!" in goblin. They see that it comes from a muscular hobgoblin, wearing a breastplate and with another four hobgoblins, all with armor and shields, standing behind it. A small crowd of goblinoids are standing around or peering around corners at the scene.

None of the Angels respond, but simply quicken their pace. The hobgoblin draws a greatsword and shouts again, this time in Common, saying, "I said 'Stop!' What are you doing here?" Seeing the Angels continue on their way, he yells, "Stop them!" and charges at Gareth, catching him a nasty swipe with the weapon. He is immediately followed by two bugbears, which have been standing among the goblinoids on the other side of the group, who charge forth with longspears, wounding Luna and Six.

Nameless, whose fly spell is still active, takes to the air immediately and hurls a fireball that badly scorches the four hobgoblins. They scream in pain and anger and charge into the fight too, focusing on those they can reach rather than the mage in the air. For a few seconds the battle goes badly, with the goblinoids working intelligently to flank their enemies and focus their attacks. Though Gareth strikes the hobgoblin leader (whom he attempts to smite and learns is not evil), he is wounded again. Luna too wounds her enemy and is hurt in turn. Corven manages to pull out his wand and trigger it, sending a scorching ray right through one of the already burned hobgoblins and killing it instantly, but another strikes him painfully. Zeke attempts to affect the leader with a heat metal and fails. Six, attempting to trip the leader, has his spiked chain pulled from his grasp and has to draw another.

Then Nameless changes the odds significantly with his next spell, casting a glitterdust that blinds the leader (identified as "Margaash" by what the goblinoids say while fighting) and two other hobgoblins. This buys Gareth time to back out and heal himself, and buys everyone a little breathing space. Not much, however, since Corven, having wounded the bugbear fighting Luna with another scorching ray, is badly hurt by a hobgoblin and on the point of collapse. Luna too is badly hurt. Of course, most of the goblinoids are in poor shape too.

At this point, a hitherto unnoticed figure (hooded and cloaked), who has been steadily moving through the crowd that has assembled to see the action, steps forth and shouts, "Stop! Lower your weapons!" Apparently the goblinoids recognize him, since one bugbear says, "Oh, me - it's Gasslak!" and quickly backs away, careful keeping its spear at the ready but not trying to attack. The others also cease their attacks, though a couple stumble back and forth due to the blindness and/or a stinking cloud spell Nameless has just cast.

The figure raises his hands and removes his hood, to show a face wreathed by hissing snakes and reveal himself by a medusa. He calls to the group to lower their weapons again and then walks forward. Nameless, knowing that his spell is ending soon and apparently having reached his breaking point, promptly flies towards the higher levels as quick as he can. Though he has asked Zeke to accompany him, the mephit decides to stick with Gareth. Six too considers flight but sees there are too many onlookers and simply retreats away from the medusa.

With the fight now halted, most of the combatants busy themselves trying to heal their wounds, while Gareth and Margaash find themselves face to face with the medusa, evidently called Gasslak. Margaash says that he and his soldiers (who apparently belong to a group called the Ja'khor - or Blackbloods, in goblin) were told that the adventurers had murdered a number of people and come to apprehend them. Gareth denies the charge and admits that they have executed a fence and drug dealer who had stolen from him. Gasslak points out that he is not part of the City Watch and has no right to execute anybody and that it is murder. He, however, doesn't seem too concerned, and says that he has taken it upon himself to keep peace in Malleon's Gate when it seems like a good deal of bloodshed might happen. Gasslak is somewhat displeased when told of the others killed at Maarkra's shop (Gareth hastens to point out that they were killed by Nameless), and when Gareth says that Maarkra had stolen some of Gareth's money and had it at his lodgings, says that he will dispose of it to any dependents of those who were killed (including the Ja'khor member slain in the fight). He warns Gareth and the others that they should never return to Malleon's Gate (to which Six says he has no intention of ever doing so) and tells them to leave.

The Angels quickly leave (Gareth stopping for a few seconds to ascertain that Gasslak isn't evil either) and head for the inn. Nameless, meanwhile, has decided that they need to lay low and not to wait for the others. Returning to the inn, he grabs his possessions, pays his part of the tab, and leaves. Heading to Middle Tavick's and the Guild of Starlight and Shadows, he gets himself a room there and settles in, planning to check on the others soon. He begins work on scribing one of the gaseous form scrolls into his spellbook.

The others, meanwhile, reach the inn and discover that Nameless has left. This gives Six an idea and he says that he is getting out of town for at least a couple of days or till the expedition to Xen'drik is ready to leave. Luna agrees to accompany him and the two leave. Rather than continuing to stay at the inn, the others decide to leave and head for the Cathedral. Temporary accommodations are soon arranged for them (and for Bodo and Zeke) there.

While they are doing this, Luna and Six make their way to Lower Tavick's Landing. Passing by the Terminus district, where the Orien lightning rail enters Sharn, they come to Wroann's Gate. They depart along the Old Road with the local traffic leaving Sharn, seeing farmers leaving after a day of selling their produce, merchant caravans, the odd noble's coach, and no end of messengers and travelers. Once the road has descended from the crags and cliffs that Sharn stands upon to the lowlands, they break off the road some distance before it reaches First Tower, the first real village after Sharn. Finding a small wood nearby, they set up camp and settle down to relax.

***
The next morning, a Sivis messenger drops off a letter from Gareth's family, requiring him to pay a few sovereigns for the added trouble. Shortly afterwards, Flim Turen comes looking for the group as planned, also having stopped at the inn and been directed to the Cathedral. He is a little surprised at the news that they aren't staying together right now, and inquires whether they are splitting up. Corven and Gareth reply in the negative and Flim changes the topic, discussing the article on them that appeared in the Chronicle.

He also asks about the events in High Walls, apparently having heard about them and about the Angels' presence there. Gareth presents exactly the story that they had decided to, focusing on the issue of a fallen angel in the Cogs that they slew. Gareth also throws in a few references to the Cyran embassy helping a lot with their inquiries and being the ones who set them on the case. When Flim asks why the angel was focused on the Cyrans, Gareth says that it was apparently interested in those who lived alone and were in a weakened condition, so taking advantage of the Cyran refugees makes sense. After making some notes and asking a few more questions, Flim leaves, thanking the pair for the story and promising to drop by once before they leave for Xen'drik.

While Corven goes off to continue with his artificing work, Gareth remains at the Cathedral, attending services and reading in the library, except for a visit to Piet at the Guild of Starlight and Shadows (where he learns little besides what he already knows). Deciding that they need to know more about the laws of Sharn in particular, Gareth spends some time checking on the subject among the Cathedral's documents. Late in the day, after Corven returns, Dala Arand stops by to say that the plans for the expedition are progressing as planned. Corven suggests that the might even be ready to leave earlier than planned, and Dala says that might be possible, though she cannot promise anything. Gareth suggests that they stick with the original plan, and if there is an earlier departure possible, then Dala and Kidro contact the group with at least a day's advance notice. Dala agrees and leaves, promising to stop by in a couple of days.

Nameless spends the day at the Guild, either working on scribing the spell or sitting in his room, meditating on various philosophical questions and having arcane disputations (if slightly one-sided ones) with his pet rock. Outside the city, Six and Luna enjoy the sensations of being in natural surroundings as well as on solid ground, not to mention having less worries about people spying on them or planning to stab them in the back. Six spends much of his time practicing his craftsmanship, while Luna spends some time flying as an eagle over the Brelish countryside.

***
The group, other than Nameless, reconvenes at the Cathedral the next morning. It is 12th Nymm, the festival of Brightblade, dedicated to Dol Dorn, sovereign deity of strength at arms. By the time the others reach the Cathedral, the streets are bustling with people heading to the early services and preparing for the sporting competitions that take up most of the day. Gareth has no interest in the worship of a member of the Sovereign Host, and none of the others are much interested either, so they have a leisurely breakfast and head over to meet Karr'Aashta again.

Karr’Aashta asks about their trip to Malleon’s Gate and says that since he was checking on them, he has heard a little about the encounter. He says that apparently Gasslak does dwell in Malleon’s Gate and help keep the peace there, and he identifies the Ja’khor as a mercenary troop from Darguun, who are among those brokered by House Deneith. Karr’Aashta also says that he has still not heard anything about Daask expressing any interest in the Angels. He theorizes that this is because of the results of the recent Daask attacks. Boromar forces have evidently struck back strongly, and both gangs are involved in a more aggressive gang war than they have been in many months. Six tells him that he should continue with the surveillance until they leave for Xen’drik, and he says that he will do so.

Leaving Karr’Aashta, the Angels head to the training grounds of Daggerwatch, where the competitions in the Dura area will occur. There, they find that there are five official categories - archery, boxing, jousting, weapons competition and wrestling. Checking on the rules, they find that no magic may be used during the competitions. Priests of Aureon and trained adepts use wands and other items to keep an eye on things. Competitors are allowed to use their own equipment as long as it is not magical. Replacements are provided for those who do not have any. Anyone detected as using magic is disqualified and fined on the spot for fraud. With the large crowds and potential for criminal behavior, numerous guards move around the area constantly. Scores of competitors move around the area, representing not only the more common races, but including warforged, goblinoids, and a couple of gnolls.

Gareth and Six decide to take part in the weapons competition, and Six enters the boxing too. The latter occurs first, and Six has an easy time with his first couple of opponents, knocking out one unfortunate man with a single punch. He eventually ends up in the district final, where he finds himself facing another warforged**, this one much larger, with spikes sticking out of his shoulders (now padded to avoid any accidents). The first couple of punches let Six know that his opponent is effectively immune to the blows from the padded gloves they use, and he quickly realizes that the other is much stronger and hits harder. Deciding to try to last the 3-minute round, Six switches to defensive fighting and putting on a show for the spectators. Unfortunately for him, the other warforged, after a few seconds of swinging and missing, connects perfectly with a haymaker that puts Six down and out.

In the weapons competition, both Gareth and Six end up in the same draw (there are two for the weapons competition, since it has the most entrants), but at least in different halves. Both of them progress well, albeit with some difficulties, a Valenar elf wielding a double-bladed scimitar landing three of the needed five hits before Gareth manages to knock him out. Six uses his tripping ability with the spiked chain to good use, keeping enemies off-balance most of the time. In the semis, Gareth ends up fighting a half-elven priestess of Dol Dorn*** wielding a longsword two-handed. Though he lands a number of solid blows and has her rocking with his third, she hits more often and manages to land the fifth and win. Six, having defeated a tough half-orc, faces her in the finals. He manages to land a couple of good hits and eventually trip her, but the priestess is up four hits to three at this point, and though he lands another hit as she regains her feet, she lands the winning blow. Six congratulates her and asks her if she wants to go to Xen'drik. The startled woman replies that she is busy right now, but thanks him for the offer and compliments him on his skills.

The Angels also watch the other competitions, seeing the shifter Redtooth from Callestan win the wrestling competition, a human warrior**** (who is apparently a friend of the priestess and the big warforged, who wins the second half of the weapons competition) win the archery competition, and the priestess win the jousting.

After taking a break, during which Corven decides he has had enough and leaves for the Esoteric Order, the Angels head off to the Cornerstone arena of Tavick's Landing for the Contest of Champions. Arriving there, they find the arena crammed full of thousands of spectators, with a small number of aristocrats present in a special area. The lord mayor of Sharn, Cathan ir'Demell, is also on hand to open the competitions.

The first competition is the jousting, where a Valenar knight knocks the priestess tail over tip on the first pass itself. In the boxing, the big warforged ends up fighting another one in the final and beats him handily, which also wins Six some money since he has placed bets on his erstwhile opponent. A shifter from the Tavick's Landing competitions wins the archery, beating the human who won in Dura to second place. In the wrestling competition, an ogre hugs the breath out of a raging Redtooth. The weapons competition ends strangely, with a masked dwarf defeating the big warforged with ease and being on the verge of doing the same to the priestess in the final, before he suddenly concedes and quickly leaves (apparently leaving her fuming).

During the day, the Angels hear people in the crowds around them discuss various pieces of news around town, some involving them. Some talk about rumors that Cyrans have been rioting and setting fire to non-Cyrans, that Cyrans were calling demons (Zeke gets dirty looks from those saying this) to burn others, and so on. They also hear of a ship from Xen'drik having been attacked by sahuagin, but getting through safely. Someone argues that this is somehow connected with an apparent lack of fish in Sharn harbor and nearby. A popular topic seems to House Cannith and their recent offer to all warforged in Sharn to be employed by the House, which has promised to employ warforged of any ability, and offered to try to buy off any contracts they may have. A few people seem to find this a charitable act, saving many of the warforged in the Cogs from the equivalent of indentured servitude that they signed themselves into after the War. More people are suspicious of this offer, saying that Baron Merrix is trying to get control of the warforged the way House Cannith originally had, during the War.

After the prizes are awarded, the Angels depart along with the thousands of other spectators. After some discussion, Luna and Six decide to spend the night at the Cathedral too, rather than returning outside Sharn. When they return to the Cathedral, an acolyte delivers a note from Nameless saying that he'll be joining the others at the ship on the 16th.

* Needed a 5 to hit and missed twice!
** A PC from my other group
*** A second PC
**** And a third

 

[shilsen]

Writen by AviLazar:

Session 17 - December 17, 2005

The cavern starts to collapse and we charge out of there. As we go, Zeke zooms in and grabs Nameless. Some of the other mephitis were attacking Zeke. After we get to a safe area, I go to Zeke and lay on hands, healing him for most of his wounds.

Cala then thanks us for her help, and is about to leave when I remind her of the magical items. She makes a quip about me being greedy, but I think she has no place saying that since she is keeping the items herself. We break apart and then head to the Cathedral where we speak with the archierophant about the mission. Kielsten has changed his attitude and the tattoo became non-magical…Zokar had him under some influence, but Kielsten is not fully guilt-free of his actions. I speak privately with the archierophant and we arrange a time for me to come back and research the issues with my sword.

The group then splits up, and I head to the Deneith enclave looking for Lalia. Unfortunately, she is not around so I head to the Cathedral and research Kizmet with the Archierophant. We find out some interesting information. Kizmet is a weapon of legacy, and it is “truly” bonded to me. It can develop powers in a number of different ways. It develops powers based on its user and what the user does. The Arc Hierophant suggests that the more evil outsiders I kill, and the more I specialize in my exorcism, then the more it will develop powers against them and evil. Kizmet can also gain more power as I invest more prayer and time into it, as well as allow it to absorb other magical items. Once we capture some spare magical items, this will be interesting to see. We do not find much about this swords particular history, and hopefully, with my letters to my family I will be able to receive some of fathers and grandfathers notes.

The next day we meet at Karr’Aashta and speak with him about our endeavors. He lets us know that Daask and Boromar are fighting each other even more now. Again I suggest we head to Maarkra and destroy the fence. Karraashta recommends we do not, and again Nameless refuses to offer any help. We get in another argument, and he finally agrees. Maarkra gives me a note to pass to a mage by the name of Piet. He is the person who worked on my sword when Karr’Aashta found it.

We head down to Malleon’s Gate, and go inside of the store. Immediately Nameless casts a spell of web, which holds our enemies fast…but also prevents us from getting to them. Then Zeke shoots at a human in the store, dropping him. Nameless then shoots a magic missile at Maarkra.

OOC: I told Zeke to wait to shoot who we shoot.

After the first few seconds we see two goblin guards open a door. Six shoots one of them, and then the guard closes the door. Nameless then drops the web and we charge forward. I stand fast over Maarkra and tell him not to move or else. Nameless then maliciously shoots one of the humans who was begging for mercy. He kills him before I can scream for him to not do so. Nameless, Six, Zeke, and Luna go past the door and try to catch up with the running goblin guards. I am not able to make it fast enough so I stand over Maarkra. Corven then heals one of the injured men on the floor. We then see the door open and close, and we know this may present us with problems.

Once the fight is complete I start to grill Maarkra and he directs me to a safe. We open this up and there is a thousand galifars which I pocket. He then tells me there is more money in his home, but Nameless and Six are adamant against going. Nameless tells me that Maarkra needs to die, and I try to do so but he keeps dodging my blows. The rest of the group manage to take out Maarkra. Nameless then pulls out his crossbow and kills the unconscious man before I can stop him. I yell at Nameless, since the person who was killed was not evil and did nothing against us.

We leave the shop and start making our way back when a hobgoblin yells at us to halt. We continue walking, but then we are engaged by him and his allies. Another battle ensues, and the group disperses. This does not go well since we are individually ganged up on. As the battle starts to get better, a medusa by the name of Gasslak comes around and orders the fighting to stop. Finally the fighting stops, and Nameless takes off. I know Nameless does not like me, but I never expected him to ditch his allies. He tries to take Zeke with him by calling Zeke by his full name. Zeke ignores Nameless and stays with me. I do not think utilizing an outsiders full name has any particular powers over it unless a specific spell accompanies it.

After the fighting stops, I use my best diplomacy, and explain to Gasslak what happens. He is not happy about the situation, but believes what I say. Gasslak lets us go, and I am glad, I do not think we could take him with the other goblins around. The goblins who attacked us are called Ja’khor and are the self-made guards of this area.

We head back to the inn, and find that Nameless is not there. I guess this is good, because I am not in a mood for another argument. Six and Luna pay their tab and say they are leaving town and will be back in the future. Corven, Zeke and myself head to the Cathedral to get some lodging.

The next day I receive some letters from my family and write to them of the events that happened. Then Flim Turen arrives and starts asking us some questions about Zokar. We tell him about the events that happened, and I spin it to give a positive light to the Cyran embassy. Actually, it wasn’t much of a spin but really emphasizing the truth. The Cyran embassy did come to us, and if they did not, we would never have known about Zokar…or at least not for a long time.

After Flim leaves, Corven goes to work on his magic. I stay at the Cathedral, attending services and reading more material about Kizmet. I then visit Piet and work with him about my sword. He gives me information similar to that from the Arc Hierophant. After this, I head to the Cathedral and begin some studies about Sharns laws. This will be very helpful to us, to ensure we are not doing anything that is criminally negligent.

That night, we briefly meet with Dala Arand and tell him we should be ready on time. On the day of the 12th, the festival of Brightblade begins and Six and Luna show up. We walk around the celebration, and Six and I compete in a few competitions. I do fairly well, but eventually get beaten in a competition where speed counts for more then power.

We also meet with Karr’Aashta and we discuss what happened in Malleon’s Gate.

 

[shilsen]

Session 18 - What Dreams May Come

Corven ir’Lanya Deneith - Human Art7
Gareth Byron Deneith - Human Pal3/Clr2/Exorcist of the Silver Flame2
Luna - Shifter Drd7
Mithral 6 of 6 - Warforged Ftr2/Scout4/Extreme Explorer1
Nameless - Human Wiz6/Alienist1

(Handled over email):
The next morning, Narik comes by the Cathedral with someone they haven't met before. From his appearance and clothing, he's a Riedran merchant. Narik says, "This is Hamatash. He was asking at the guild if anyone is going to Xen'drik soon, so I thought of you guys, since you're the only members leaving this month, far as I know." Then he looks around and grumbles, "I didn't know you had moved here. Next time you shift, let the guild know. Makes it easier to find you and it would have saved me some time. Anyway, I gotta go. Be seeing you." Gareth replies, "Our move here was a bit impromptu, and we did not think about the guild. We will let you know once we find a more permanent residence."

As Narik leaves, Hamatash bows and says, "If it is not an imposition, perhaps I could speak to you all privately? I need some help and have a small business proposition which I believe would benefit you." Gareth leads him to Corven's and his room. Once seated there, Hamatash says, "My brother Helkatash has been in Stormreach in Xen'drik, organizing an expedition, for the last few weeks. I was supposed to send him some money and magical equipment, but the person who was supposed to transport it is unable to go. I really need my brother to receive the shipment, especially the money. I was given good references for your group from the Clifftop Adventurers Guild and told that you are traveling to Xen'drik early next week. If you are willing to transport the shipment to my brother, we will both be very grateful."

He pauses and says, sounding a little hesitant, "I do not have much money that I can spare, since I have spent most of what I have on these magical items and the rest goes to my brother. But I can pay you a little and maybe loan you some of the magical items for temporary use. Of course, you would need to eventually turn them over to Helkatash, but he will not need them immediately as you reach Stormreach, so you will have some use of them there, as well as here in Sharn and on the voyage, which I'm told can be dangerous."

Gareth, who has already detected evil on Hamatash and found nothing, considers the proposition and says, "Would you be able to give us a little bit more information, as to the specific location the shipment needs to go? While I have no problem in agreeing to this, we are working for someone on this expedition to Xen'drik. As such, we would need to confer with him, to make sure it is OK with him, and that we are not far out of the way. I do not think our employer would have a problem with us taking a slight detour, but again, the decision is also his to make."

Luna, meanwhile, comments, "I hope none of these items are … of questionable ownership."

Hamatash is about to respond to Gareth when Luna makes her comment. He looks a little confused for a moment, and says, "What do you mean b...", before stopping. Comprehension clearly dawns on his face and he turns a little red. He almost rises to his feet and begins loudly, "I..", before visibly catching himself and continuing more calmly, "...I can assure you that these items are mine. I have bills of sale because I had them constructed here in Sharn." He pats a scroll case attached to his belt for emphasis.

Hearing Luna make her comment, but not able to react in time to stop her Gareth gives her a look and then faces Hamatash. "My apologies for Luna. Adventuring has caused her to see evil plots in every corner. Please sit, and continue."

Hamatash continues, "They need to be taken to Stormreach, so you will not be going out of your way. I am sure you will be spending at least some time in Stormreach. My brother should be easy to find. He is staying at the ..." He pauses to open a pouch and pull out a letter, which he scans and says, "...Bloody Giant inn. Helkatash says that it is popular for adventurers and easy to find, so hopefully you should be able to."

Gareth replies, "I have no problem delivering these items to your brother, but I must reemphasize, we are employed by someone for this trip and if this will cause any delay it could very well take a back seat to our previous obligations. If Helkatash is not at the inn, is there a contingency place we can leave the items? If you are all right with this we are leaving on the 16th. You can drop the items off on that day, or the night before."

Hamatash smiles, though it looks slightly forced, and says, "There is no need to apologize. You do not know me and I am sure adventurers have enough reasons to be careful. Especially those like you who are engaged in quite risky affairs, as I read in the Korranberg Chronicle. But, to answer your question, I am quite sure that Helkatash will be there. He is staying there while making plans and expecting the money and things from me. Still, on the off chance you do not find him there, you can leave them with the branch of the Kundarak Bank in Stormreach. I believe he has an account there."

He looks around at the group. "So you would prefer me to give you the items just before you leave? I had brought them along," he says, indicating a satchel at his side, "To show them to you and hand them over if you agreed, since I thought you might want to use them as partial payment. Also, I was hoping that we could have a signed contract for this agreement." He smiles and quickly adds, "After all, I do not know you either - though I have got very good references. And while adventurers such as yourself must be quite rich and used to handling very valuable items, these are close to the sum of my available wealth now."

Gareth replies, "We only ask to receive the items before we go so if something happens in the meantime, we do not lose them. Being that we do have a budding reputation here, we also have enemies. Let me see this contract to make sure it is within reasonable terms."

Hamatash says, "Very well - if you think that is the best thing. As for a contract, here is what I came up with." He puts the satchel on the table and opens it, taking out a large package, a scroll and a folded sheet of paper. Opening the sheet of paper, he shows it to the group. It says that the signees (there is space for a number of names) are entering into a contract with Hamatash to deliver the following set of items to Helkatash in Stormreach. In return, they are accepting a payment of ... (this space is empty). The list of items is as follows: a Ring of Protection of the 3rd power, two Amulets of Natural Armor of the 3rd power, two Vests of Resistance of the 4th power, and a letter of credit drawn on Kundarak Bank for 2,000 galifars.

While the others are passing around the contract, he opens the scroll and shows it to be the letter of credit mentioned in the list, which is made out to Hamatash and Helkatash. Then he opens the package to reveal the magical items. While doing so, he says, "My brother wanted the best protective items we could afford. He is setting up an expedition which he says will return our investment threefold." He smiles, looking slightly worried, and says, "I sincerely hope he is right, since we had to take out very significant loans for this." The contract looks quite well designed and is the kind that House Sivis and House Kundarak work together to produce. The magical items are artistically constructed, with small Siberys shards embedded in them.

After having examined the contract to see that there are no obvious loopholes or problems, Gareth says, "Please seal your items in a container that will bear your personal seal. We will keep the items in there and your brother will receive the package knowing that it has not been opened. As for the price, what did you have in mind?"

Hamatash replies, sounding a little unsure, "Well, I can offer only five hundred galifars, which is why I suggested that you could make temporary use of the items to make up the rest. I was told that sometimes adventurers accept temporary use of magic items as payment from patrons. I thought you might find them useful here and on the way, since I am told that the sea voyage can be dangerous." He scratches his chin and says, "If you would prefer not to use them and want more payment, I can probably find another five hundred galifars for you."

After a little discussion, the Angels agree to the proposition. Hamatash smiles, looking and sounding relieved. "Thank you all very much. This has been a concern for me. For the money I could have had the items transported as cargo on a ship, but I would not feel safe about such valuables being transported without personal carriers, even on a Lyrandar ship." He produces a bag of coins from the satchel and places it on the table. "Here are the five hundred galifars."

Hamatash then has them sign the contract and its copy, and does so himself. He leaves the copy with them and takes his leave, saying, "Thank you again. Please tell Helkatash to send me a message via the Sivis station once he receives the items and credit note from you. I will come by again on the 15th evening or early on the 16th to make sure that everything is all right."

A little while after Hamatash leaves, while they are still discussing the various items and who should be using what, they are disturbed by another visitor. One of the acolytes brings in a well-dressed man who says he has come to meet the Guardian Angels. Although they've never seen him before, the blue stone in the ring on his finger identifies Flan immediately.

Once the acolyte has left and Flan is seated, he says companionably, "I hear you've been keeping busy, and I see that you've got the sword back, Gareth. Killian sent me to ask if you'd be free to meet with him this evening. Or maybe tomorrow, if you're not free today." He spreads his hands and adds, "And before you ask, I don't know why he wants to meet you." He grins and adds, "Maybe he just wants to say goodbye before you're off to Xen'drik."

Despite his distaste at seeing Flan in the Cathedral, Gareth says, "We can see Killian."

"Excellent," says Flan. "I will let Killian know. Let's say 8 o'clock?" He looks around the group and says, "So where's your mage friend Nameless? And I see you've picked up a new member. A flying, flaming one to boot!"

Zeke, to whom the last comment clearly refers, fixes the changeling with his beady flaming eyes and says with some excitement, "Me not like!", before zooming towards Flan suddenly and yelling "BURN!!" As Flan gives a startled yell and almost topples over in his seat, Zeke laughs and zooms upwards, coming to a stop some feet above Flan. Looking at Gareth, he asks hopefully, "Burn him, boss?"

Luna laughs at the little exchange, and Gareth, suppressing a smile, says, "No, Zeke. We don't need to burn Flan. Come on over here." He gives Zeke a piece of food and pats him on the head, adding "But you are learning well." Looking at Flan, he says, "Nameless is doing some errands but is around."

Flan recovers his composure but throws Zeke a dirty look, before continuing, "Doing errands? I'd gathered that Nameless wasn't staying with the rest of you any more. Or am I wrong? If I am, that's good for me, since I won't have to send him a message to come join the rest of you when you meet Killian."

"You make it sound like Nameless decided to leave us permanently." Gareth thinks for a moment, and says, "Feel free to contact him on your own. That would save us time trekking to him. I cannot guarantee that he will show up, however, since he is busy doing his wizardly things." He stands up to indicate that the meeting is over. "If we are finished, Flan, we have our own things to tend to."

Flan shrugs and rises to his feet. "Yeah, we're done. I'll see that Killian gets the message and I'll let Nameless know too. Best of luck, just in case I don't see you again before you leave for Xen'drik."

After Flan leaves, Gareth says, "I guess that was slightly less cordial then what he was accustomed to." Picking up Kizmet, he adds, "Kizmet and myself need to go pray. If you need anything you can find me in the chapel." (End of email section)

Corven stops him and reminds the paladin that he needs to accompany Corven to the Esoteric Order, so that they can work on the magical cloak he wanted. After a quick breakfast, the two leave, and spend their time till the evening working on the cloak. Or rather, the homunculus works on the cloak, while Corven begins constructing an item to help him use more of his infusions each day. While the two are off crafting, Luna and Six spend their time relaxing and then wandering around town.

Nameless, meanwhile, is disturbed early in the morning by one of the young apprentices who works at the Guild. He comes to Nameless and says. "Excuse me, master Nameless," he says, "But there is a man here to see you. Looks like a merchant." Nameless asks the apprentice if the merchant is one of the Kalashtar, but is told that he's human.

Nameless sends back a reply that he is unavailable. The apprentice returns a few minutes later with a note, and says, "The man said that he understands and asked for a sheet of paper. He left this note for you and left." The note says, 'Dear Nameless - Your companions will be meeting with Killian this evening at 8, at the usual location. Killian would appreciate the pleasure of your company too. F.'

Nameless promptly decides to ignore the invitation, not being in the mood for playing games with Killian. He spends the rest of the day working on crafting more scrolls and further arcane study.

In the evening, the other Angels head down to Firelight to meet Killian. They find him at his usual table and are greeted with the usual joviality. He compliments Gareth on having his sword back and apologizes for being unable to find it for him. He brings up the fact that the Angels' attack on the Daask payroll seems to have precipitated a gang war. Killian also apparently knows about the Angels' upcoming departure, and asks about the expedition. Though Gareth tells him when they are leaving and how long they expect to be gone, the paladin fobs off more questions by saying that they don't have permission from their employer to discuss it. Killian then asks if they are interested in a job, but when Gareth starts saying that it's only possible if it occurs before they leave, Six quickly inserts a clear "NO!", a sentiment echoed by Luna and Corven. Killian then asks about the possibility of investing in the expedition, and is just as quickly refused.

Seeing that the Angels are not really interested in prolonging the conversation, Killian then asks if they have met Kylyman since he was at the casino, and when told that they have not, then wishes them the best of luck and takes his leave of them. The Angels quickly depart.

When they have traveled back to Central Plateau and are near the Cathedral, Luna and Six notice half a dozen children following them at a distance. Six quickly alerts the others that they are "being followed by a small band of small rogues." He then turns and indicates to the children (who try to hide in an alley at being spotted) that they should approach, which they do. One of them excitedly asks if they are speaking to the Guardian Angels, and some questioning soon elicits the information that they are classmates of Bodo's and he charged them 2 copper crowns each to tell them of a place where they could see the Angels and follow them (apparently in hopes of seeing them get in a fight). Luna and Six find Bodo's 'enterprise' amusing, but Gareth sends the children away, his attempt to give them a short speech on the importance of studying serving to make them hurry away.

Back at the Cathedral, Gareth corners Bodo before they bed down for the night and makes him promise not to repeat the action. Bodo reluctantly agrees, with the expression on his face indicating that he might have to be returning some money the next day.

***
The next day, the 14th, Dala stops by in the morning to tell the Angels that the expedition will be leaving as planned, early on the 16th. They should reach Grayflood at or by 8 am, where they will find the Lyrandar sailing ship Wave's Bounty at dock 3. She also gives them an advance of 1,000 galifars each, so that they can buy any equipment that they need before they leave.

After she takes her leave, the adventurers spend the day much as they had the one before. That night, while they are sleeping, Gareth, Luna and Corven have exactly the same dream. They find themselves standing in a meadow, with Nameless and Six, which is surrounded by a high wall of mist. As they are examining their surroundings, four strange creatures appear around them. They have headless torsos covered with eyes and twitching limbs. Two massive arms protrude from the torso, each tipped with a powerful pincer. The body is covered with black chitin, and the serpentine tail has a large stinger at the top.

The creatures, which Gareth and Nameless identify as one of the quori, the creatures that rule Dal Quor, the plane of dreams, promptly attack the group. The battle is an extensive one, since two more quori join the fight once a couple are cut down. Gareth, after doing substantial damage to one, is cut down (but remains aware of everything going on, since it is a dream), but his allies manage to defeat them, aided by the appearance of Havakhad and Selkatari. The two kalashtar join the battle, Havakhad using psionic abilities to damage the quori, while Selkatari uses her martial prowess.

Once the quori are dead, the Angels find themselves and their surroundings fading away, but not before Havakhad can tell them, "Come speak to me at the Shrine of Il'Yannah in Overlook tomorrow as early as you can. Ask for me - Havakhad. Prepare your spells and weapons. But tell nobody else. There is great danger."

The three then awake simultaneously. Then, since it is the middle of the night, they all roll over and go back to sleep.

***
The next morning, they discuss the dream and discover they all shared it, down to the last detail. Six, since he cannot sleep or dream, obviously did not experience it, and is interested to know that he was in the dream. When told that in the dream he couldn't trip a single enemy until his sixth try*, he opines that it must have been since it wasn't him.

After preparing themselves, the curious adventurers travel to the Overlook district, which they find to contain a substantial kalashtar population. The first person Gareth asks is able to direct them to the Shrine of Il'Yannah (a name Gareth recognizes as the name of the formless universal force the Kalashtar revere). The building is at the top of its own tower and a pair of unarmed kalashtar stand as sentries outside it. When told by Gareth that Havakhad is expecting them, they look surprised but lead the group in.

After passing meditation rooms and small classrooms, all set up in the Riedran style and decorated with the crystals they tend to use, the group is led into a larger meditation chamber, where Havakhad and Selkatari are talking. The old man seems first surprised and then pleased to see them, and says that though he did not expect them now, he was expecting to see them sometime. He thanks the guards and tells them they can leave. Selkatari too does so, though she throws the group a suspicious look on the way.

The Angels begin to talk to Havakhad and quickly learn a few things. He knows Nameless, has been trying to divine information about them, and has absolutely no knowledge of this dream and the message he supposedly gave them. Havakhad is especially interested in the appearance of quori in their dreams and begins to ask about it. As he is doing so, each of the four Angels present feels a huge pressure inside their individual heads, almost as if one's brain was being squeezed by a strong fist. Gareth manages to shake off the feeling, though it leaves him momentarily disoriented. Corven, Six and Luna, however, feel their consciousness being shoved away by a malign force that takes control of their bodies. Watching helplessly through their own eyes, they are only aware of intense hate towards Havakhad and a sense of satisfaction at having seized their body.

Gareth, having seen the others totter momentarily in place as he did, begins to ask what is going on. But as he does so, Corven (or so it seems to him) draws his wand and triggers it, striking Havakhad full in the chest with a scorching ray. As the old sage shouts in pain and staggers backwards, his wound closes up**, but he has no time to recover. Six strikes out with his spiked chain, tripping him and knocking him to the floor, where the warforged strikes him heavily in the head. Luna changes shape into a dire badger and moves forward to attack too.

While a confused Gareth calls to his allies to stop (and quickly tells an also-confused Zeke not to attack anyone), Havakhad shouts, "They are possessed by quori. You must fight it!" Trying to avoid Six's blows and Luna's claws, he manages to manifest a couple of powers (accompanied by unusual noises and lights) that heal him again and protect him from their blows.

Gareth calls upon his powers as an exorcist to momentarily stun Six (who drops his chain) and Luna, but is then wounded badly by Corven's wand. Zeke, trying to protect Gareth, responds by shooting Corven - or his body - with a scorching ray as well. Luckily for Gareth and Havakhad, the door flies open at this moment and Nameless hurries through, followed by the two kalashtar guards. While the guards rush to Havakhad's aid, Nameless (to whom Gareth yells a warning of the others' situation) casts a spell to web his possessed allies.

While the web hinders Six, it doesn't do so for Corven, who uses the wand to wound Gareth again. The badly shaken paladin tries again to affect the quori and fails. Havakhad, who actually apologizes before using a psionic blast to try to stun the three, also fails to affect Six or Luna***, but stuns Corven (and an unfortunate Zeke, who dangles in the web). Luna promptly uses one of her newly gained spells to flame strike not only Havakhad and the two kalashtar, but herself and Six too, burning away part of the web and freeing them. Six, pulling out his second spiked chain, wounds Havakhad (who has barely been healing himself before being wounded every time****) again.

Nameless manages to web the three again, just as Gareth succeeds in another attempt to stun the creatures. Only Six remains unaffected, but Havakhad (whom his badly burned guards have literally dragged away) apologizes again and uses another power, which attacks Six's body and the possessing quori's psyche and renders him instantly unconscious, deep wounds covering his metallic head.

Nameless, Gareth and Havakhad quickly secure the three unconscious Angels and the latter two manage to drive the possessing spirits from their bodies. Once they are revived, Six, Luna and Corven are all fine, except for having a lot of questions about what just happened. Havakhad is especially puzzled since, as he explains, quori are incapable of possessing any species besides human beings, and even humans must be willing hosts. After some questions and examination of the group, Havakhad determines that the items that the group received from Hamatash were used to house the quori. He examines them and concludes that the Siberys crystals they were set with were psionically treated to allow the quori to possess the bearers, whether they were unwilling or nonhuman.

By this point, Selkatari has been warned and returned to join the gathering, and Havakhad has to quickly reassure her that he is fine and that the Angels mean him no harm, to stop her instantly attacking them. She seems just as surprised as Havakhad at the news of the possession and the items. Havakhad tells her that this may be a job for the atavists, to which she agrees. To the Angels, Havakhad explains that the kalashtar have opposed the quori for over a millennium, and this is the first time the quori have exhibited such powers. To their disappointment, he also explains that the magic items were not truly magical. Quori, and certain other creatures, can possess an item and manifest a certain degree of magic power through them, making the item function as a magical one while they possess it. With the quori now gone, the items are non-magical, though they possess psionic qualities that he needs to study to learn more about exactly what happened.

Havakhad invites the Angels to join him for lunch, over which he tells them more about the quori and about what they have encountered. He explains that with Dal Quor having been sundered from Eberron millennia ago by the giant civilization of Xen'drik, people can only visit Dal Quor in their dreams and the quori can only reach Eberron through people who are willing to let quori possess them. The quori dwell in the heart of Dal Quor, and when people sleep (which is why elves, warforged, and other creatures that never sleep never touch Dal Quor), they create little dreamscapes at the edges of the plane.

Nameless theorizes at this point that his earlier dreams about Selkatari may have been created by the quori, and Havakhad agrees. He says that evidently the quori had become aware of Nameless and the other Angels at an earlier time and decided to use them as tools against Havakhad. The dreams were a way to make them contact him. He explains that the building is warded against intrusion by quori and their Riedran supporters, but since the quori were hidden in the bodies of the Angels, they could pass through the wards. Havakhad says that even though there are thousands of quori and time flows ten times as fast on Dal Quor, finding the dreams of a particular dreamer is difficult, which is why Nameless only had the two dreams in a period of two months. The items from Hamatash made it easy for the possessing quori to locate and affect the dreams of the three Angels, which is why Nameless never had any.

Gareth asks Havakhad why the quori wanted him dead and he explains that as the most powerful psion in Sharn, he keeps the kalashtar community there (which may be the largest in Khorvaire) in communication with others around the continent. Killing him would cut off this connection and make them much easier to eliminate. Nameless suggests that this may also mean such attacks will occur elsewhere and Havakhad says that he plans to contact his allies across the continent soon. He seems calm but concerned about this new development, saying that this may significantly shift the balance of power in the kalashtar war against the quori. When Gareth says that the Angels need to find Hamatash and give him his comeuppance, Havakhad asks them not to do so, saying that this is between his people and the Riedrans. The Angels agree and give Havakhad the banknote and the contract Hamatash gave them, in case they help him locate the man.

Nameless also mentions that the reason he was so fortuitously there was because he received a message that morning. One of the Guild apprentices brought him a note that said, "Your comrades are in great danger. You will find them at Havakhad's. Go there immediately, if you wish to save them and yourself. Be prepared for battle." The apprentice said only that it was left by a nondescript, clean-shaven middle-aged man, whom he hasn't seen before. Obviously someone knew about this attack. Havakhad has no idea who that could be, but says he will look into it.

The Angels then take their leave, with Havakhad telling them that their involvement in this affair may not be completely coincidental. He asks them to contact him when they return to Sharn, and they say they will do so.

For the remainder of the day, the group makes their last preparations before leaving. Corven purchases two portable artificer's labs from the Esoteric Order so that he and his new homunculus can spend some time crafting items on the ship. Nameless heads back to the Guild to do so. Gareth visits the Deneith enclave and learns Lalia has returned, and joins her for dinner.

***
The next morning, the Angels find copies of the Korranberg Chronicle and the Sharn Inquisitive left for them at the Cathedral. The former has an article about Zokar and the attacks on Cyrans, written by Flim. It follows what the Angels told him quite closely, down to praising the Cyran embassy for their aid in the matter. The Inquisitive article, however, is not as complimentary. Without ever explicitly saying so, it very strongly implies that Cyran practitioners of dark magic were killing non-Cyrans, and ends the article with a rant about the Brelish policy of giving refuge to the Cyrans.

After reading the papers and having a quick breakfast, the Angels head down to Grayflood and the docks. They find a lot of bustle there already, ships that came in during the night being unloaded, and others preparing to leave. The group passes by a Lyrandar wind galleon in a special dock designed to hold the giant tower at its rear that holds the air elemental propulsion system. Nearby, they find the Wave's Bounty, a trim sailing ship flying Lyrandar colors. Crates are stacked on the quayside nearby, being carried on as they arrive.

The group finds Dala sitting on a low crate, wearing one of her omnipresent hats and making some notes on a pad. She greets them and seems quite excited about the upcoming voyage. The group is joined within moments of arrival by Nameless and they head onto the ship with Dala.

Heading up the gangplank, they find a tall half-elven woman and a changeling in his natural form giving orders to the sailors. The changeling, who introduces himself as Bly, shows them to their cabins. Six gets a workroom to himself, which Corven's homunculus and portable artificer labs also end up in. Nameless also ends up in his own room, while Corven and Gareth share one (with Zeke having a nook to himself), and Luna gets a room with Dala. There are four more people from Sharn who will be on the expedition, who get their own two rooms.

A little over an hour after they get on board, the ship embarks. The Angels are on deck to see the departure, and they notice that as the captain (the half-elven woman) takes the helm, an area of gusty wind appears around the ship, propelling it in the direction that she wants. As they pull away into the Dagger River, Six (who has dressed like a sailor) jokes that they might be able to see Bodo throwing his books off the dock. The ship moves out gradually into the Hilt, the area where the Dagger River ends before opening out into the Straits of Shargon.

Passing by the fortresses that guard the entrance to the Hilt, Wave's Bounty emerges into the Straits and then gradually, but quickly, comes to a halt. Moments after it does so, a number of sahuagin heads pop out of the water around it. The captain and Bly go to the bow, where a pair of soldiers throw a rope overboard, allowing two sahuagin to climb to the deck. After they speak for a couple of minutes, the captain hands over a small bag and the sahuagin jump overboard. While returning to the helm, she comments to those gathered that these are friendly sahuagin whom she gets information from. They said that the local tribes are generally peaceful right now and there should be no trouble - or at least not in the first few days of the voyage. She also mentions that they said something is wrong in the area with the fish, since there are much fewer than should be, but that isn't something that involves her.

She takes the helm again and the ship moves on, heading southwest into the Straits of Shargon, where it proceeds for the rest of the day. In the evening, the Angels receive an invitation from the captain to the common dining room. Once there, they find themselves joined by all the passengers on the ship, which consists of a dozen people besides those involved with their expedition. A few crewmembers are also present, as are two of the six warriors the ship carries for security. They are soon joined by the captain, Bly and a cloaked and hooded figure, who go to the head table. Gareth scans the room while they do so, discovering that two of the other passengers, as well as a couple of the crew, have a faint aura of evil.

The captain addresses the room, introducing herself as Syrina d'Lyrandar. She welcomes them abroad and introduces them to her First Mate Bly and the hooded figure, who she says is the ship's mage, Daelan. The figure raises his head, revealing himself to be an elf. He also looks as if he is dead, apparently mummified skin stretched tight across his skull, and his voice rasps eerily as he puts in only, "Artificer." Gareth and Nameless identify him as one of the Aereni elves who not only worship their ancestors but aspire to resemble the undead in appearance. From the reactions, some of their fellow passengers are not as unperturbed by Daelan's appearance.

Syrina goes on to warn the passengers that a trip to Xen'drik is not a joy ride. While she hopes that it passes without incident, it quite likely will not do so, and if there is trouble, she can't afford to have passengers be a hindrance to her and her crew. As she explains, if she isn't present then Bly is in charge, and if he isn't, then any crewmember who's present is.

After that bit of sternness, she smiles at the assembled group and says that she hopes the voyage will be pleasant enough to belie her warning, wishes them an enjoyable dinner and takes her leave. Daelan departs too, but Bly remains behind for a while, to regale those who remain with some very good music from the harp he always seems to carry.

* Five rounds for Six consisted of the same thing - a failure to trip and success at the counter-trip
** Psionic Contingency
*** Not only did Six and Luna make some really good saves during this fight, but they rolled the same number to save four times in a row.
**** As a 12th lvl psion with all of 37 hit pts, almost every hit took him below 50% hp instantly.

 

[shilsen]

Written by AviLazar:

Session 18 - December 31, 2005

Waking up the next morning, I went to the Cathedral – pre-dawn – and began my prayers to the Silver Flame. I have to admit, staying in the Cathedral is very nice. I am able to pray with other members of the Flame, and even have a chance to speak with the Archierophant when she is not busy.

After prayers are finished, Narik stopped by and introduced us to a merchant by the name of Hamatash. Hamatash is a Riedran merchant who needs some powerful magic items delivered to his brother in Xen’drik. I inform Hamatash that we are employed by someone and this might present some conflict. After a lengthy discussion Hamatash’s plan – to have us deliver the goods to his brother in Stormreach – sounds as if it will cause little to no inconvenience to our employer. Hamatash also suggests that we utilize the equipment ourselves, and although I am reluctant at first, he persists and we finally agree. Hamatash did not radiate evil, and he sounded sincere, and while this is not always accurate – it is better then nothing. Hamatash also pays us 500 galifars, each. I think this is a very fair amount considering the mission is very simple.

We start discussing on who could best use what items, and I lay claim to an amulet of natural armor. The other items would not work with the magics I can cast. Then Flan comes into the Cathedral to meet us. I am not happy to see him, especially not in this holy place, but I greet him. He asks us to meet with Killian and we agree. Then Flan makes a mistake of mocking Zeke, and I swear Zeke sensed my dislike for Flan. Zeke yells “BURN!” and flies toward Flan. He does not burn him, but turns to me and asks if he should burn him. I suppress a chuckle and tell him not to burn Flan. I then give Zeke some food and a pat on the head. I have to note, Zeke is as unlikely a companion as I would ever expect, but he is amusing, and darn useful. Flan then asks us about Nameless, implying that Nameless is not longer with the group. I inform him otherwise, though truth be told I am not quite sure what Nameless’ intentions are – though I am still upset that he left us in the middle of battle. After Flan leaves, I head to the Cathedral to pray a while longer, but I am stopped by Corven who needs me to go with him to the Esoteric Order to work on the cloak of charisma I would like to have. I work with the homunculus Corven created while Corven works on creating another item.

After a long day of work, we head back to the Cathedral, where I take in some early evening prayers and then Corven gets me as we go to Firelight, to meet Killian. Killian, in his usual manner, talks to us about things – taking a jibe here and there when he can. He asks us of our plans in Xen’Drik and I inform him that we cannot discuss it as it is someone else's expedition. Killian offers us a job and I let him know that as long as it is not very intensive we would consider it. Six jumps in with a loud “No” and Luna and Corven agree. Killian persists with other offers, but the group refuses him, which is fine by me. On a side note: the group is totally discounting Killian, and while I do not trust him – just as much as the group – he has yet to be proven to do anything wrong against us. Being sleazy is a lot different from being a criminal. Maybe, one day, we can dispel the magic in the room and see if Killian has any protections – that say protect his alignment from detection.

We walk back home and are accosted by several children, who were sent by Bodo. Bodo, apparently charged them money for our location. I try and use this time to educate the children a bit, emphasizing that good grades in school will allow them to become adventurers. They quickly run off. Bodo will need a strict talking to. We head off to sleep.

The next day we wake up in the morning and Dala comes by the cathedral to give us some more information about the trip to Xen’drik. She pays us 1000 gold so we can buy more supplies. We spend the rest of the day doing various tasks, but nothing exciting happens. Bodo is still attending classes, and I am working on the new cloak. Zeke is floating around me all the time, and he makes things more amusing.

In the middle of the night, I had a strange dream. I was standing in a meadow with the entire group, minus Zeke. Four creatures – which I was able to guess as Dal Quor – creatures of dreams – arrived and began to attack us. We started fighting them, as more appeared. After a few seconds, I am ganged up on by two of these Dol Quor and taken down. Then, more Dal Quor appear, and two other people appear. They help us defeat the Dal Quor and inform us to meet them at the Shrine of Il’Yannah the next day.

I wake up in the middle of the night, with the rest of the group. We all had the same dream. Seeing that it is three in the morning, we all head back to sleep and will discuss the issue later. In the morning we discuss the dream, though Six says he had no such dream. That would make sense, since Six does not sleep and thusly cannot dream. We head to the Shrine to speak with Havakhad. We arrive and Havakhad is surprised to see us. Havakhad dismisses his guards, and close companion – Selkatari – who does not seem happy about leaving Havakhad alone here with us.

I start to speak with Havakhad explaining what happened, but he is not aware of any such dream. All of a sudden, a strange feeling enters my head – almost as if something is trying to squeeze my brain…it is a brief pain, but a minor distraction – all of a sudden I see the rest of the group act weird, and they follow up with an attack at Havakhad. I quickly yell to the group to stop, and I tell Zeke to not attack anyone. Havakhad yells they are possessed by the Quori. I immediately summon the powers of the Silver Flame and stun Six and Luna in their tracks. Unfortunately, for these Quori, they did not realize I am an Exorcist of the Silver Flame. Corven then shoots me with his wand of scorching ray. Zeke follows up by blasting Corven. I stagger for a bit, and Nameless enters the area with two guards. The guards rush in to help Havakhad, and Nameless casts a web on the rest of the group. Corven, again, blasts me with his wand and I attempt to stun the group again – but due to the pains of the fire, I fail to do so. Luna, then casts a powerful flame strike spell and hits herself, Havakhad, and Six. This melts the web, but then Nameless casts another web spell as I manage to stun the group again. Havakhad then uses some power and draws deep wounds into Six, knocking him unconscious – such raw power…it seems almost impossible, and he did nothing.

After this happens, I realize that I can suppress the possession by casting a Magic Circle Against Evil – and I do such, walking in between the group and giving them a chance to be free of these Quori. I then perform my exorcist rituals and remove the Quori – which causes immense amount of pain to my comrades.

Once the group is free of their possession, we speak with Havakhad who is confused why a Quori can possess a humanoid who is not willing. Havakhad realizes it is the magical items we received from Hamatash. These items were created, in an attempt to possess us so we could kill Havakhad. We speak with Havakhad for a while and learn a lot about the Dal Quor and how Havakhad and those of his order have been fighting them for a long time. Havakhad, apparently, is a powerful psionicist. I have vaguely heard of them, only knowing people with this gift can manifest powers using their minds – similar in many ways to magic, but completely different. We give, the now spent magic items, to Havakhad who says he will study them. We find out that Nameless knew to show up to the Shrine because he received a note from some stranger (which Nameless did not meet) that we would be in danger. Interestingly enough, the language in the note sounds very close the language “Havakhad” used in the dream. Also, Havakhad asks us to not go looking for Hamatask that he will deal with this. I find this strange – I would think Havakhad would want as much help as possible.

We promise him that we will stop by when we return from Xen’drik and then leave. After the meeting I head to the Deneith enclave to see Lalia.

As I get to the enclave, the person at the desk recognizes me and just sends me up without confirming with Lalia. I find this amusing…I wonder what would happen if Lord Sadran see’s me strolling on my own in the enclave…while I am of Deneith blood, I am more of an outsider then anything else. I walk up to Lalia’s office, and see her working. Her feet are kicked up on her desk, reading some papers. Lalia looks beautiful and every time I see her I cannot help but smile. I lightly knock on the door and she jumps up in surprise, but then once she realizes it is me she smiles. Lalia tells me she was planning on stopping by the Cathedral later, to pay me a visit. We talk for a little bit about the past few days and she shows concern and offers some sage wisdom. I then ask her if she would like to go out to dinner and she agrees. We go to a nice little restaurant where we eat and talk about various topics, and this eventually leads to her asking me about joining House Deneith. She made a few very valid points: My father, Byron was a member of the house and still managed to keep to his paladin vows. The house also understands of peoples personal obligations and I would not be forced to take on any assignments. Lalia suggests that I could, and probably should, start with the Blademarks and maybe one day become a Sentinel Marshall. I agree to her suggestion and Lalia tells me she will inquire about what I need to do – plus to gauge people’s reactions to me joining. Luckily, I will not have to go through basic training. As I walk Lalia back home, I hand her my signet ring and ask her to hold onto this for me – while I am away. She smiles and takes it and then kisses me. I walk back to the Cathedral, humming to myself, happy – which is not something I have been able to feel in quite a few months.

The following day, we wake up to have a copy of the Korranberg Chronicle and Sharn Inquisitive left for us at the Cathedral. They both speak about the Zokar incident, but the Sharn Inquisitive is very bent in its interpretation of the story. While the Inquisitive is flashier, the Chronicle has the benefit of our first-hand account. I have to say, Flim has kept his word and I do not mind helping him out.

We finish breakfast, and then head down to the docks. I instruct Bodo to behave himself, and ask one of the acolytes to keep an extra eye on him. Zeke comes with us – as I do not think the Cathedral would let us leave him there – plus Zeke is good to have along. Once on the ship, we are assigned rooms – Corven, Zeke and myself share a room. We are then given instructions by the captain of the ship and set sail on our voyage. This is the second time we have left Sharn since we arrived, and I do look forward to the change of pace. I believe, if it is possible at all, to see a look of relief on the face of Six as we leave our problems – real and imagined – back in Sharn.

 

[shilsen]

Session 19 - Tentacles and Trolls

The first two days of the voyage are uneventful. Corven and Gareth spend a lot of their time working on more magical items, with Luna helping some of the time, when she isn't busy turning into a bird and flying around the ship. Six spends some time getting to know the other passengers, especially the four people who are part of the expedition. These consist of Collus, a professor on sabbatical from Morgrave University who is an expert on ancient languages and the history of Xen'drik, his student and scribe Maura, the gnome cartographer Niff, and the dwarf Imre, an expert on precious gems and historical artifacts. Nameless spends some time talking to the Aereni Daelan, learning that he left Aerenal decades ago to see something of the world beyond, has been Syrina's shipboard artificer for three years, and is even less adept at social intercourse than the worst of the Angels. All of the Angels get to spend some time with Dala, who seems singularly excited about being on the way to Xen'drik and about the expedition in general.

As for the crew of the Wave's Bounty, the Angels soon know them fairly well. Syrina interacts a bit with the passengers, or at least those who are near her when at the wheel, a position she seems to be at whenever awake (since without her the ship loses its following wind and travels at a significantly reduced speed). She is happy to answer questions and says that she has been sailing for six years and between Sharn and Xen'drik for three. Her first mate Bly is very friendly, interacting often with the passengers and regularly providing music of varied kinds on his harp. Daelan, on the other hand, never speaks to passengers unless spoken to, and almost nobody besides Nameless does. He appears on the deck only rarely, and when he does, stands in an unoccupied part of the deck for a little while, gazing out at the ocean. Some of the six shipboard warriors are always present, since they have three shifts of eight hours each that two are on duty. The crew of thirty usually has at least six on duty at any given time. With all of these people and the other passengers, the Angels always seem to have a number of people around.

Early on the evening of the 18th, the lookout says that there are the lights of a ship in the distance, moving very fast and about to pass a few miles to starboard. Syrina says that it is probably a Lyrandar win galleon, but asks everyone to be ready for an attack, just in case. While the marines take up positions, with a couple manning the ship's two light ballistas, she comments that a few Lyrandar wind galleons have been stolen and used for piracy, but it is rare enough to make it unlikely to be the case here.

The lookout soon confirms that the lights are that of a wind galleon, which changes tack to come closer to the Wave's Bounty. It eventually pulls up nearby and both ships stop to exchange news. The captain of the wind galleon says that they left Stormreach two days ago. He also says that they expected to pass a smaller cargo ship (the Merry Celestial*) out of Stormreach that left five days ago, but never saw it on the way. There was bad weather near Stormreach recently, so that may have had something to do with it, especially since it would have caught the smaller ship when it was passing through Shargon's Teeth. After the wind galleon heads on its way, Bly mentions that Stormreach has a history of bad weather, with a ship lost every couple of months or so. The fact that the route to/from Stormreach leads through the volcanic and dangerous archipalego of Shargon's Teeth adds to the danger.

***
The voyage continues without trouble for another day and a half. Six, Nameless and Luna are on the deck after the noon meal on the 20th, along with a couple of the passengers. Suddenly, the ship lurches as if it hit a large, solid object, which is followed by the sound of rending timber on the starboard side. One of the passengers, who is on the starboard side, looks overboard and screams, a moment before a tentacle the size of his waist rises over the side and encircles him, plucking him into the air.

"Damn!" shouts Syrina, "Kraken!", even as a couple more tentacles rise over the side and grab onto the gunwales. The ship rocks slightly, the starboard side sinking a few inches below the port side, to reveal the huge bulk of a giant squid next to the ship, a pair of its tentacles buried within the sides of the Wave's Bounty.

While Dala and the other passengers scream and run for the port side, the three adventurers all take prompt action. Nameless immediately summons a pair of pseudonatural crocodiles into the water besides the kraken, which attack it with powerful tail slaps, though they seem to bother it very little. Luna begins to cast a summoning of her own, while Six sends an arrow into the creature. One of the two marines begins shooting too, while the other tries to wrestle a ballista into position to shoot down at the creature. Bly begins to chant a song that gives magical strength to those who hear.

Below-decks, Gareth and Corven have just risen to take a break from their crafting and stretch their legs, when they are rocked by the impact and hear the screaming. Gareth rushes out to fling open a door across the passage and hurry into the room of a screaming passenger. For once, the screaming isn't because of the armed and armored paladin bursting into the room, but because of the kraken that he can see outside the porthole. Catching a glimpse of it over Gareth's shoulder, Corven rushes for the stairs that lead to the deck. Zeke, who has been keeping the two company, flies out the porthole of the room they were in (on the port side) and up to the deck above.

The kraken is evidently smart enough to know who the dangers are, since it lashes out at the three adventurers, their movement to be able to see it and cast spells or shoot having put them within easy reach. Large arms grab Six and Nameless, squeezing painfully. Luna is even more unfortunate, being grabbed by a much longer arm, that sinks painful barbs into her flesh as it constricts her**. Six barely manages to slip out of the arm grasping him***, but his companions are not as lucky, and he learns that humanoids have their eyeballs bulge when squeezed hard enough. Though Luna is unable to concentrate on her spell and Nameless almost rendered unconscious from the pressure, they are luckier than the marine at the ballista. Even as he is about to fire, the other long arm snaps shut around his head and upper torso, killing him instantly and pulling the corpse overboard. The already grabbed passenger suffers a similar fate, being simply squeezed into two. The last unoccupied arm grabs onto one of the summoned crocodiles, crushing it too.

Luckily, unlike the passenger and marine, the trapped adventurers have magical means of escape. Nameless manages to pronounce the words of a dimension door, disappearing from within the tentacle to reappear above in the crow's nest, further scaring the poor lookout who is crouched down in his perch and apparently not enjoying his bird's-eye view of the action. Luna wildshapes into an eagle, and the sudden reduction in size lets her fly out at the expense of a few feathers. She heads up to join Nameless, wanting to put as much distance between her and the beast as possible. Deciding that being able to fly would be significantly helpful here, Six backs up to the port side and pulls out a potion.

While the other marine (and Gareth, from the porthole) keep shooting with limited effect, Bly rushes across to the already placed ballista and fires it, burying the large dart into the kraken's side. While Nameless' summoned crocodiles do some more damage, Zeke has less effectiveness. He flies across to the starboard side and unleashes a scorching ray. It hits the kraken right in the side with no effect, indicating that it actually has some significant resistance to fire. Zeke's luck is quickly worse, as a tentacle whips up to grab the little mephit. Though his magical nature protects him slightly, he is grievously wounded.

Now safe and beyond the kraken's reach, Nameless summons another three crocodiles, which swarm around the kraken, inflicting significant damage before it can rip some of them apart. Luna unleashes a flame strike, which does only minimal damage, only the fact that the flame is infused with holiness letting it have any effect at all. Corven, who has just reached the deck, has a similar effect with his wand of scorching ray. He curses and tries to infuse it so as to create other elemental effects. Luckily for him, though he is within range, Nameless' creatures keep the kraken busy, letting it only bat at Bly with a tentacle, which the changeling avoids by falling prone on the deck.

Zeke, on the other hand, is already within its grasp, and far too weak to be able to break out. Gareth staring out the porthole, sees the mephit whip by. Zeke spots him at the same time and just has time to scream, "Boss! Hel...", before the tentacle tightens, causing him to explode into a splatter of gore. With a shout of anger, Gareth unleashes another shot, but the turmoil in the water makes him miss, his arrow instead hitting one of the mortally wounded crocodiles and dispatching it. Realizing that archery will not help here, he rushes out and heads for the bottom level, hoping to find the tentacles that have punched through the ship's side.

For the next few seconds, the battle continues, with Nameless summoning more crocodiles and Luna doing the same for a large shark. Six, having swigged his potion and flown up to join them, shoots down at the kraken with his bow. Two more of the marines have also emerged to join the remaining one, and one helps Bly use the ballista again, while another also shoots at the creature. Even though the kraken is quickly dispatching Nameless' creatures, the sheer number of attacks begins to overpower even its great vitality, and it evidently decides that it has had enough. It slowly sinks back under the water, even as Nameless hits it with an acid arrow. As a parting gesture, one of the long tentacles lashes out, ripping a marine in half.

It leaves behind a huge pool of blood in the water, more blood on the deck, and a significantly holed ship. Though the Wave's Bounty is too well made to risk sinking because of the attack, the next couple of hours are spent by the crewmembers repairing the ship. The Angels, meanwhile, tend to their wounds, with Gareth mourning Zeke's death***.

After having organized the repair parties, Syrina comes to the Angels. She says, "Dala had told me that you were all skilled warriors, but I had not realized how much. Thank you. Without you we'd have been in serious trouble. I've only fought a kraken once before, and that time it took three ships to drive it away. Again, thank you." After that, she leaves to go yell at Daelan, who was apparently meditating so soundly in his cabin that he only made it to the deck as the kraken fled.

After a couple of hours, the ship resumes its voyage.

***
The next day passes peacefully, and on the morning of the 22nd, the lookout warns of Shargon's Teeth ahead. Soon, those on the deck can see a multitude of small islands and rocks that dot the sea ahead. As they approach, they can see that the archipalego stretches away to east and west as far as they can see. Steam hangs above many of them and the area is warmer, indicating the volcanic nature of the place.

Syrina very carefully guides the Wave's Bounty into it, with Bly standing at the stern to note the shoals and coral reefs that fill the area. After about an hour, she brings the ship to a stop. She tells those assembled that they will wait here for a local sahuagin tribe that she uses as guides. Bly signals the sahuagin by producing a strange-looking shell and blows on it. None appear, however, and gradually three hours pass, with Bly blowing the shell every half an hour or so. Syrina begins to seem a little concerned, saying that this is very unusual, and if they have to proceed through Shargon's Teeth they will do so, though it will be risky.

Nameless suggests that perhaps Luna could take on an aquatic form and guide the ship. Syrina agrees that this would help, but says she would prefer not to risk it if she could, since the dangers of Shargon's Teeth include not just shoals and reefs but also dangerous creatures and the sahuagin tribes that are not as friendly. While they are discussing this, the lookout calls out that there are sahuagin approaching and they see a dozen in the water nearby. They seem very well armed, which Syrina says is unusual. A rope is thrown overboard, which lets two sahuagin climb up to the deck. One is a large warrior with four arms, while the other is a smaller and older-looking one, with charms and knickknacks strung across its chest. They speak to Syrina for some time before jumping overboard, and she returns to let the assembled people know that they will be waiting here for a while. Then she asks the Angels and Dala to join her in her cabin.

Once they are inside, Syrina explains that there is a problem. The sahuagin have recently been attacked by a small group of scrags (or marine trolls), which slew many of their tribe. They want the "surface-folk" to help destroy the trolls, in return for which they will guide the ship. Normally, Syrina says, she would not even consider aiding in such an enterprise, but having seen the adventurers in action, she thinks they are capable of doing so and asks if they will. She offers to provide them with whatever resources she can to help. The sahuagin have said they'll help them breathe and see underwater if needed, and will send a number of warriors with them. Syrina tells Dala that in return she will refund some of the group's fare, if they want. She also mentions that the sahuagin said the scrags are lairing in a nearby ship that sunk in a storm a couple days ago, which may be the Merry Celestial, in which case there would certainly be a reward for information and the return of anything they can find.

Nameless is the first to agree to help and the others quickly follow suit. Syrina thanks them and goes to fetch Daelan, saying that they have certain magical items on board for emergency situations. She returns soon with the Aereni, and he says that he can cast spells of water breathing on the group, as well as providing them with elixirs of swimming. He says that he could also provide spells to see in the dark, which will help to some degree underwater, but the sahuagin shaman can probably provide better magic in that area. The group discusses the possibilities and Nameless suggests that they wait until the next day, so that they can be as well prepared as possible. Luna agrees, saying that she can then prepare spells that will aid the others better underwater, as does Corven. Syrina admits that she'd have preferred to take care of this as soon as possible, but says that the adventurers should take whatever time they need.

Bly and Syrina let the sahuagin know about the plan and they agree. They leave to head back to their camp, leaving a couple of them behind to warn the ship if the scrags happen to come near it. The rest of the day is spent in making preparations and fending off questions from the other passengers, who have only been told that the adventurers need to help the sahuagin in a certain task.

***
The next morning, the sahuagin return, and after making some preparations the Angels enter a large boat with Daelan and two sailors, who ferry them to a small island nearby where the sahuagin await. Before they leave, Dala wishes them luck, joking weakly that she'd hate to have to explain to Kidro that they got eaten en route to Xen'drik. Once they reach the sahuagin, the shaman greets them in broken Common and tells them a little about the scrag attack. Apparently six scrags and four sharks attacked their camp. The sahuagin slew one scrag and a shark, but suffered heavy losses. The scrags have arrived in the area very recently and moved into the wreck of the ship the day before. Two sahuagin are keeping watch on them right now.

Having learned that they are now able to breathe underwater, the shaman says that he will provide them with a way to see underwater. He produces a coral bowl, which another sahuagin half-fills with seawater. The shaman breaks off two of the charms he wears and drops them in the bowl, and then begins to chant, rocking back and forth. After a couple of minutes, he takes a deep breath, makes a gurgling sound in his throat, and leans over and spits a huge green wad of saliva into the bowl. The water promptly turns green and the charms dissolve into it. He then hands the bowl to Gareth and says, "Drink - but little!"

With differing expressions of distaste, the Angels do so, discovering that the concoction tastes just about as one would expect sea water laced with sahuagin spit for flavor. The liquid has no evident effect, but the shaman seems satisfied. He suggests they leave, which they do, traveling in the boat with eight sahuagin (two of which can speak poor Common) swimming ahead, sometimes dropping back to give them directions. Luna changes shape into a six foot long shark and does the same.

About forty minutes after leaving the ship, the sahuagin indicate that the adventurers should enter the water. Daelan casts a last couple of infusions to aid them and then he and the sailors head back to the nearest island to wait. The Angels enter the water and find that they are able to see almost as well as in open air, though the clear vision extends only to 120 ft. Gareth and Six, both of whom Luna has used a freedom of movement on, move through the water almost as smoothly as they move on land, while Corven and Nameless swim reasonably well due to the elixirs they drank. The eight sahuagin take up formation around them.

The group soon reaches a low underwater hill, which the sahuagin indicate they should hide behind and look over the crest. Doing so, they see the wreck about 200 ft away, lying near the bottom of a rocky slope that is probably the bottom of one of the small islands. A couple of jagged holes indicate what happened, and in sinking it has split almost in two. At a distance of about 120 ft, a scrag floats in the water, munching on something. A pair of sharks, about the same size as Luna's current form, swim in wide circles around the scrag.

Nameless suggests that a sahuagin show itself as if it had failed to hide, so as to draw the scrag closer. A sahuagin complies and a second later, the scrag gives a bellow and charges forward, the two sharks arrowing in too. Which sets them up perfectly for Nameless. He releases a fireball as precisely as if he'd been casting spells underwater all his life, which catches all three targets in the blast. The sharks succumb to the unexpected attack, both rolling over, and the scrag screams in surprise and pain. Which it gets to do even more shortly, as the sahuagin charge it, along with Six and Gareth (whom Nameless has enlarged so that he is actually taller than the scrag). The sahuagin land some blows with their tridents, but it is Six and Gareth (both of whom have weapons infused by Corven to damage giants like the scrags more easily) who do the most damage. The direly wounded scrag fights back, but it is quickly cut down, allowing the sahuagin to gleefully begin dismembering it.

While this is happening, more enemies appear, another three scrags and four sharks swimming out of holes in the wreck and heading towards the Angels and sahuagin. The latter quickly move forward to engage them. Nameless and Six now find themselves at a bit of a disadvantage, their limited swimming speed leaving them far behind their allies. Still, it allows them to dispatch the unconscious scrag magically before its regenerative powers can revive it. They then proceed to slowly move towards the others.

Luna and the bulk of the sahuagin engage the sharks, leaving Gareth, Six and two sahuagin to face the scrags. Gareth smites one, ripping it almost in two, while Six does significant damage too. Nameless, from behind them, uses another fireball to wound two of the scrags, before following up with another spell to haste most of his allies. The fireball slays the scrag Gareth wounded, but another one wounds him grievously. The Angels' sahuagin allies also acquit themselves well, having managed to dispatch all the sharks and help wound the scrags, though two of the sahuagin are killed as well. Luna is the only one who has luck not going her way. Trying to use a flame strike on the scrags, she finds the combination of her shark form and the watery conditions too problematic and the spell fizzles.

Her luck then infects Corven, as two new enemies emerge from the hull. One is a large shark, fully fifteen feet in length, but the other is more singular. This seems to be an old woman, her flesh sickly and yellow, covered with warts and oozing sores. The fact that she's completely naked except for a belt and a couple of straps (as are all the scrags) doesn't add to her attractiveness. Some of the adventurers immediately identify her as a sea hag. One of her magical abilities is immediately made clear, as those seeing her feel a wave of weakness wash over them. All of the adventurers manage to fight it off, except for Corven, who feels his strength drain away until he is unable to move*****. Swearing in frustration, he drifts downwards till he hits the ground some thirty feet below. Three of the sahuagin seem similarly affected, though they remain able to swim, weakly backing away from the fight.

Gareth smites the scrag that wounded him, striking it with a series of blows that leave it almost unconscious. Six takes the opportunity to use his hasted reflexes and slices its throat open with his spiked chain, using the backswing to drop the remaining wounded scrag.

This leaves only the large shark and the hag, the first of whom zooms forward at great speed. Its jaws slam down on the biggest target, namely Gareth, almost ripping him apart******. The paladin blacks out instantly, missing the next interesting development, which is when the shark drops him and transforms, changing into a large and muscular scrag.

Alone facing the large scrag, Six swings and wounds it, but quickly discovers that his weapon does less damage than it should. Nameless explains why, shouting from the rear, "It's a lycanthrope - you need silver weapons!" Nameless also summons a pair of large pseudonatural sharks to keep the scrag busy, which immediately rip into it. The two sahuagin unaffected by the hag's appearance also boldly charge in, one having its head ripped off instantly for its pains. Nevertheless, they buy Six enough time to back out of the fight. Remembering the vial of silversheen he found so long ago, he pulls it out and begins to use it on his chain's barbs (which, in these conditions, consists mainly of opening it and hurriedly swinging the chain back and forth in the cloud of silversheen that forms in the water).

The hag is evidently a spellcaster too, since it swims closer and pronounces the words of a hideous laughter spell. Six manages to shake off the effect and continues trying to enhance his weapon. Luna, having just dispatched one of the unconscious scrags permanently with a produce flame (amusingly delivered with the shark's snout), notices that the hag has no enemies and zooms forward. Her teeth slam shut on the hag's arm, causing it to scream in anger.

Unnoticed on the ground below, Corven painfully uses an infusion of bull's strength to give him the strength to stand, though he still cannot swim, and starts slowly trudging towards the others. Above him, Nameless begins to swim closer to the unconscious Gareth, casting a spell on the way to summon another shark to bother the large scrag. While the scrag continues to shred its multiple enemies, slaying the sahuagin fighting it and going on to wound one of the pseudonatural sharks, the hag uses less physical methods. It gazes deep into Luna's eye, and she feels a strange weakness overtake her. Unable to resist********, she rolls over, floating motionless near it. The hag grins in triumph and swims closer, until another pseudonatural shark appears before it and wipes the grin off its face, as well as a significant amount of flesh off her body.

Having laced his weapon with silversheen, Six rejoins the fight, and for the next few seconds the battle consists of Six and the summoned sharks against the scrag and the hag, with Nameless slowly nearing Gareth and Corven doing so on the ground below. The scrag has trouble dispatching its multiple enemies due to the pseudonatural creatures' resistance to non-magical damage and the infusion Corven had placed on Six earlier, making his form as resistant as granite. Though Six suffers significant damage, he is able to keep fighting, and causes wounds that even the scrag's regeneration cannot fully overcome. The hag tries to use her evil eye on the shark fighting it and is surprised to fail*********. By the time she manages to affect it, she is badly wounded.

Nameless finally reaches Gareth and uses an item that Corven had crafted on the voyage, which allows him to heal the paladin. A groggy Gareth regains his balance, and (realizing that his locked gauntlet has kept Kizmet in his hand) then steps in and smites the scrag with everything that he has. The badly wounded creature cannot resist and collapses. Corven, who has finally got close enough to use his wand on it, gives a disgusted sigh and then triggers the wand anyway, blasting two holes in its chest and slaying it for good. The hag, now alone, decides to risk flight, but the most recently summoned shark bites into it as it passes by, knocking it unconscious. The shark promptly proceeds to chew some large holes in it.

With the enemies all dead, the Angels heal themselves and proceed to check on the enemies. They discover that they cannot revive Luna, who is unwounded but completely unresponsive. Nameless says that he has read something about a hag's evil eye affecting its target for days on end, but that a spell to remove curses should work on her. Leaving the three sahuagin to guard her, the others proceed into the wreck.

They discover that it is the Merry Celestial and was almost certainly sunk in a storm, as the sahuagin had said. There are a few smaller holes that seem to have been ripped by the scrags trying to make lairs for themselves. Some bodies litter the wreck, though most have been stuck in a makeshift larder with a couple of sahuagin corpses, some of them partly eaten already. After checking what was probably the captain's cabin, they find a bag of galifars and a pouch of gems. Six also locates and takes whatever papers have survived. In checking the bodies, they discover one of a man in armor, who has a magical buckler and a well-made longsword. They take these along, as well as the similarly well-made spear of the hag, and the magical ring it wore. The ship has little cargo that would be salvageable, and even that would take serious time and effort, so they do not take any of it.

After finishing their search, the group heads back. Nameless suggests they take the corpses along, so they do so, after wrapping them in tarpaulin and tying them together. The sahuagin seem a little confused at this, one suggesting that if they need snacks they can find fresher fare. With the corpses and the still-dazed Luna-shark in tow, they head back. Once they reach the boat, the trip back is quite simple.

When they reach the Wave's Bounty, the sahuagin leave them, and the adventurers re-embark. They are greeted with cheers and Syrina thanks them profusely for their efforts once she hears what happened. She also thanks them for the papers that they recovered, and takes the money and gems to return them to their owners. She suggests that they retain and make use of the longsword and buckler, saying that she will tell them if anyone ever asks about it.

While the others are already healed, Daelan takes care of Corven's drained strength. Unfortunately, neither he nor Corven can heal Luna yet, so sailors have to take shifts keeping her afloat and in the water. As well as quickly pull her out of the water when she turns back into her normal form. Then she is quickly dried and taken to her bunk, to remain there till she can be cured the next day.

The sahuagin who are supposed to guide the ship arrive shortly after the adventurers return, and once Luna has been taken care of, the Wave's Bounty heads into Shargon's Teeth.

* Yes, that is a reference, and yes, I know it's a sickness on my part.
** Took 54 pts of damage in one rd
*** Rolled a 19, which exactly matched the 4 the kraken rolled, and only because it took a -20 with Improved Grab
**** And swearing at the DM
***** Went down to Str 1
*******Took him exactly to -10. Yay for action points!
******** Natural 1
*********Shark got a natural 20