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<blockquote data-quote="Pacio49" data-source="post: 2089248" data-attributes="member: 28472"><p><strong>To the rescue!</strong></p><p></p><p>The party watched for a moment longer to make sure that only a few of the baddies were left down below. When they were more or less certain that the main group was not going to be back, they began their assault. The bards tell of awesome battles and great feats of valor, and this battle was not one. The ogres were unprepared for an attack to come from above, and the fully-rested party was able to unleash several spells to buff and to open the volley upon the group below. Of note was Laeka's first real use of offensive spellcasting in battle, utilizing her <em>knife spray</em> to soften an ogre which she then slashed to pieces with her spiked chain. Yovaire managed to draw most of the melee attention away from the imprisoned ant man, and Arien used the distraction to deliver some <em>cure</em> energy into the ant man while Valar helped to extricate the ant man, still bound by the strange manacles, from around the treetrunk they had used to carry him in. The battle did not last very long, and it wasn't particularly noteworthy. The kobolds, true to their word, used their crossbow bolts on the party, but intentionally missed.</p><p></p><p>Once the fight was done, the ant man had awakened, and the party gathered around to decide what to do next. Yovaire and Arien led the questioning session with the ant man, which was just fine from the ant man's point of view. He revealed to the party that he was a Formian Myrmarch, and he was quite thankful that such orderly folks as Yovaire (LG) and Arien (now LN) had rescued him from the chaotic monsters. He had been careless, it seems, focusing so much on his own task that he had allowed the monsters to get the jump on him. If not for the strange manacles, he would have been able to use his spell-like abilities to <em>teleport</em> himself away. If the party would be so kind as to remove the manacles, he would now be on his way...</p><p></p><p>Arien and Yovaire debated with each other for a moment while the rest of the party grumbled, then they decided to ask the Myrmarch for his word. Not knowing much about him, but liking the fact that he seemed to respect order, Arien thought it would be for the best if they bound him only by his word. The Myrmarch agreed, and asked the party's names, as well as telling his own (a rather unintelligible sound, but said he could be referred to by the slave races as 'Mikkilik'). While Valar tried to puzzle out how to remove the manacles without damaqing the large formian, Marcus questioned Mikkilik about his people.</p><p></p><p>"I am from very far away," Mikkilik responded. "My Queen has requested that I investigate the disappearance of an ally she once had on this plane. A powerful mage known as Karral. She has not seen or heard from him in many ages, and wished to help him. I had klugkinock --, erm, the slave word for it on this plane would be 'mind-seeing-memory-from-time-ago' of his Colony here, but much has changed since my Queen's okrinntoknikok reported such memory-mind-seeing to her, and the okrinntoknikok has been in error on several details, or else time has been allowed to alter much. I had just discovered where Karral was, and was on my way back to report to my Queen when I was jumped. Ahhh... thank you, slave-human-Valar."</p><p></p><p>"Eh, no problem, Ant-thing Mikkilik."</p><p></p><p>"Why do you refer to him as a slave?" Skalar asked.</p><p></p><p>"The People have always utilized the Lesser Beings as slave labor. It is our Way. We have no other words for those not of the People. I am in your debt."</p><p></p><p>"You can pay us off later," Laeka said.</p><p></p><p>Mikkilik shook his head and clicked his mandibles. "It is not the Way. The People cannot remain in debt. I must repay you and remove the stain upon the honor of my Queen to have one of her Colony in debt to you. It is enough for my own honor that I do not take you back to the Colony with me to serve in my household, but my Queen's Colony's honor requires further repayment. Is this your Colony?"</p><p></p><p>"No, we're from Tol Vehara," Marcus said. "We can't live here."</p><p></p><p>Mikkilik thought for a moment, then said, "If you wish it, I will bring you to the abandoned Colony of Karral. It is in disrepair, but for orderly industrious worker-slave-types as yourselves, you may make a domicile fit for your own kind's Queen, and you might make a Colony-place of honor to allow you to be reborn in the next life as one of the People."</p><p></p><p>"How far away is this 'Colony' of Karral's?" Arien asked.</p><p></p><p>"Oh, it is not far. I can bring you there with my abilities before I go."</p><p></p><p>"But Mikkilik, as kind as your offer is, you don't seem to understand. We cannot stay for long in this place because of the Taint. There's something in the Blasted Lands which makes it so that we will sicken and die if we remain outside of a haven for too long," Arien said.</p><p></p><p>"Was this Karral a formian, too?" Marcus asked on top of his sister's question. Mikkilik regarded the mage for a moment and shook his head.</p><p></p><p>"Such disorder. I understand your problem, slave-being-Arien-female. I can ... smell ... the change upon the air with my antennae. But you misunderstand. Karral's Colony exists in many places and no places at once. It is joined to this place of being by a gate, but it is not truly here. As for you, impudent-slave-being-Marcus, Karral was not one of the People, though my Queen's Queen had declared him to have a Soul." The Myrmarch paused a moment and bowed his head. "It was a high honor. There have only been seven hundred of the slave races who have been found to have a Soul by my Queen's lineage to the First Egg. Karral was a champion of Order, and assisted our Colony, and many others. He was not human-slave-beings like you, but he was human-slave-being-shaped, for the most part. His powers were very strong, and he specialized in Conjuring beings from other planes of existence to fight on the side of Cosmic Order. He was a worthy ally and a formiddable opponent, but I believe he has been called back to the Egg once more, for I find no trace of him here, and this was his Colony of choice."</p><p></p><p>"Do we need to decide immediately?" Skalar asked. Mikkilik shook his head.</p><p></p><p>Marcus and the group began to discuss the prospect of leaving Dorecan Manor to investigate this 'colony' of Karral's. Marcus was strongly in favor of it, especially since followup questions of the Myrmarch Formian revealed that it was essentially a ruined Mage's Tower about a week away from Tol Vehara, down what has been called by the humanoids in the region the 'River of Stars', since the source of the river carries volcanic silt in it of black hue with quartz crystal flecks that sparkle like stars in the black-soil deposits along the banks. Since they had their folding boats and Karral's Tower was essentially on the river itself, they decided that it would be worth the risks of not finding intermediate havens to sail down the river (which flows northwards) until it joined with the Gold River, bringing them out of the Blasted Lands and into Tol Vehara should they need to make their way home quickly.</p><p></p><p>Marcus was especially in favor of the enterprise, for he had advanced and was close to not having enough spells to make a decent selection. He hoped that Karral's Tower still might have some manner of scrolls or grimoires to help him out in that pursuit of arcane knowledge. Eventually, the party decided that they would indeed take Mikkilik up on his offer.</p><p></p><p>"We'll do it," Valar said. The party felt a moment's disorientation and found themselves standing in a cool, vaulted stone chamber with a well of some kind in the center and rough-hewn passageways leading off from the glow of continual light torches in the walls. Arien and Laeka both felt the change immediately, announcing to the group that whereever they were it was either a haven or no longer in the Blasted Lands.</p><p></p><p>Mikkilik gave a bow and said, "So, we are repaid, yes?"</p><p></p><p>"No!" called out Laeka. "We have to retrieve our equipment from the, uh... campsite we were staying at. We need our basic resources."</p><p></p><p>"Ah. You know where this is? Mind share with me." Mikkilik did something, and Laeka felt suddenly very, very dizzy as she suddenly was looking at herself through faceted eyes with stereoscopic panoramic vision, all while she looked at the Myrmarch through her own eyes. It was an alien mind, and she narrowly avoided vomiting up her breakfast. (Lucky Fort save). The Myrmarch was not so upset by it, and plucked the description of the location from her mind, and... <em>folded</em> space around them again, and the party found themselves standing on the edge of the farmhouse haven.</p><p></p><p>More than that, they were looking at a very perplexed gnome adventurer who had come exploring into the haven. (Enter TYBOK, Tanin's new character.) The party had the requisite new-member-introduction scene and they decided that they wouldn't mind having Tybok around, Gnome Illusionists being a rather interesting mix, and besides, he offered to share spells with Marcus.</p><p></p><p>They got their mounts and equipment, told the Chef they might not be back for a while but to hold down the haven (which left a perplexed goblin chef looking for a place to get a good grip on the haven so he could literally hold it down) until they returned. The group prepared themselves, and Mikkilik <em>teleported</em> them once again, back to the room with the well in it.</p><p></p><p>"Now, we are settled, yes?" he asked.</p><p></p><p>Arien nodded as Yovaire said, "Yes, and thank you."</p><p></p><p>Mikkilik bowed. "If you are caught by the People, ask for Mikkilik and I will take you as my personal slaves. Some of you, anyway." And with a blink and a flash, he was gone.</p><p></p><p>"Well, <em>that</em> was a cheerful thought," Valar said as he looked around the room, eyes fixing on the well of water. "Anyone for a drink?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Pacio49, post: 2089248, member: 28472"] [b]To the rescue![/b] The party watched for a moment longer to make sure that only a few of the baddies were left down below. When they were more or less certain that the main group was not going to be back, they began their assault. The bards tell of awesome battles and great feats of valor, and this battle was not one. The ogres were unprepared for an attack to come from above, and the fully-rested party was able to unleash several spells to buff and to open the volley upon the group below. Of note was Laeka's first real use of offensive spellcasting in battle, utilizing her [i]knife spray[/i] to soften an ogre which she then slashed to pieces with her spiked chain. Yovaire managed to draw most of the melee attention away from the imprisoned ant man, and Arien used the distraction to deliver some [i]cure[/i] energy into the ant man while Valar helped to extricate the ant man, still bound by the strange manacles, from around the treetrunk they had used to carry him in. The battle did not last very long, and it wasn't particularly noteworthy. The kobolds, true to their word, used their crossbow bolts on the party, but intentionally missed. Once the fight was done, the ant man had awakened, and the party gathered around to decide what to do next. Yovaire and Arien led the questioning session with the ant man, which was just fine from the ant man's point of view. He revealed to the party that he was a Formian Myrmarch, and he was quite thankful that such orderly folks as Yovaire (LG) and Arien (now LN) had rescued him from the chaotic monsters. He had been careless, it seems, focusing so much on his own task that he had allowed the monsters to get the jump on him. If not for the strange manacles, he would have been able to use his spell-like abilities to [i]teleport[/i] himself away. If the party would be so kind as to remove the manacles, he would now be on his way... Arien and Yovaire debated with each other for a moment while the rest of the party grumbled, then they decided to ask the Myrmarch for his word. Not knowing much about him, but liking the fact that he seemed to respect order, Arien thought it would be for the best if they bound him only by his word. The Myrmarch agreed, and asked the party's names, as well as telling his own (a rather unintelligible sound, but said he could be referred to by the slave races as 'Mikkilik'). While Valar tried to puzzle out how to remove the manacles without damaqing the large formian, Marcus questioned Mikkilik about his people. "I am from very far away," Mikkilik responded. "My Queen has requested that I investigate the disappearance of an ally she once had on this plane. A powerful mage known as Karral. She has not seen or heard from him in many ages, and wished to help him. I had klugkinock --, erm, the slave word for it on this plane would be 'mind-seeing-memory-from-time-ago' of his Colony here, but much has changed since my Queen's okrinntoknikok reported such memory-mind-seeing to her, and the okrinntoknikok has been in error on several details, or else time has been allowed to alter much. I had just discovered where Karral was, and was on my way back to report to my Queen when I was jumped. Ahhh... thank you, slave-human-Valar." "Eh, no problem, Ant-thing Mikkilik." "Why do you refer to him as a slave?" Skalar asked. "The People have always utilized the Lesser Beings as slave labor. It is our Way. We have no other words for those not of the People. I am in your debt." "You can pay us off later," Laeka said. Mikkilik shook his head and clicked his mandibles. "It is not the Way. The People cannot remain in debt. I must repay you and remove the stain upon the honor of my Queen to have one of her Colony in debt to you. It is enough for my own honor that I do not take you back to the Colony with me to serve in my household, but my Queen's Colony's honor requires further repayment. Is this your Colony?" "No, we're from Tol Vehara," Marcus said. "We can't live here." Mikkilik thought for a moment, then said, "If you wish it, I will bring you to the abandoned Colony of Karral. It is in disrepair, but for orderly industrious worker-slave-types as yourselves, you may make a domicile fit for your own kind's Queen, and you might make a Colony-place of honor to allow you to be reborn in the next life as one of the People." "How far away is this 'Colony' of Karral's?" Arien asked. "Oh, it is not far. I can bring you there with my abilities before I go." "But Mikkilik, as kind as your offer is, you don't seem to understand. We cannot stay for long in this place because of the Taint. There's something in the Blasted Lands which makes it so that we will sicken and die if we remain outside of a haven for too long," Arien said. "Was this Karral a formian, too?" Marcus asked on top of his sister's question. Mikkilik regarded the mage for a moment and shook his head. "Such disorder. I understand your problem, slave-being-Arien-female. I can ... smell ... the change upon the air with my antennae. But you misunderstand. Karral's Colony exists in many places and no places at once. It is joined to this place of being by a gate, but it is not truly here. As for you, impudent-slave-being-Marcus, Karral was not one of the People, though my Queen's Queen had declared him to have a Soul." The Myrmarch paused a moment and bowed his head. "It was a high honor. There have only been seven hundred of the slave races who have been found to have a Soul by my Queen's lineage to the First Egg. Karral was a champion of Order, and assisted our Colony, and many others. He was not human-slave-beings like you, but he was human-slave-being-shaped, for the most part. His powers were very strong, and he specialized in Conjuring beings from other planes of existence to fight on the side of Cosmic Order. He was a worthy ally and a formiddable opponent, but I believe he has been called back to the Egg once more, for I find no trace of him here, and this was his Colony of choice." "Do we need to decide immediately?" Skalar asked. Mikkilik shook his head. Marcus and the group began to discuss the prospect of leaving Dorecan Manor to investigate this 'colony' of Karral's. Marcus was strongly in favor of it, especially since followup questions of the Myrmarch Formian revealed that it was essentially a ruined Mage's Tower about a week away from Tol Vehara, down what has been called by the humanoids in the region the 'River of Stars', since the source of the river carries volcanic silt in it of black hue with quartz crystal flecks that sparkle like stars in the black-soil deposits along the banks. Since they had their folding boats and Karral's Tower was essentially on the river itself, they decided that it would be worth the risks of not finding intermediate havens to sail down the river (which flows northwards) until it joined with the Gold River, bringing them out of the Blasted Lands and into Tol Vehara should they need to make their way home quickly. Marcus was especially in favor of the enterprise, for he had advanced and was close to not having enough spells to make a decent selection. He hoped that Karral's Tower still might have some manner of scrolls or grimoires to help him out in that pursuit of arcane knowledge. Eventually, the party decided that they would indeed take Mikkilik up on his offer. "We'll do it," Valar said. The party felt a moment's disorientation and found themselves standing in a cool, vaulted stone chamber with a well of some kind in the center and rough-hewn passageways leading off from the glow of continual light torches in the walls. Arien and Laeka both felt the change immediately, announcing to the group that whereever they were it was either a haven or no longer in the Blasted Lands. Mikkilik gave a bow and said, "So, we are repaid, yes?" "No!" called out Laeka. "We have to retrieve our equipment from the, uh... campsite we were staying at. We need our basic resources." "Ah. You know where this is? Mind share with me." Mikkilik did something, and Laeka felt suddenly very, very dizzy as she suddenly was looking at herself through faceted eyes with stereoscopic panoramic vision, all while she looked at the Myrmarch through her own eyes. It was an alien mind, and she narrowly avoided vomiting up her breakfast. (Lucky Fort save). The Myrmarch was not so upset by it, and plucked the description of the location from her mind, and... [i]folded[/i] space around them again, and the party found themselves standing on the edge of the farmhouse haven. More than that, they were looking at a very perplexed gnome adventurer who had come exploring into the haven. (Enter TYBOK, Tanin's new character.) The party had the requisite new-member-introduction scene and they decided that they wouldn't mind having Tybok around, Gnome Illusionists being a rather interesting mix, and besides, he offered to share spells with Marcus. They got their mounts and equipment, told the Chef they might not be back for a while but to hold down the haven (which left a perplexed goblin chef looking for a place to get a good grip on the haven so he could literally hold it down) until they returned. The group prepared themselves, and Mikkilik [i]teleported[/i] them once again, back to the room with the well in it. "Now, we are settled, yes?" he asked. Arien nodded as Yovaire said, "Yes, and thank you." Mikkilik bowed. "If you are caught by the People, ask for Mikkilik and I will take you as my personal slaves. Some of you, anyway." And with a blink and a flash, he was gone. "Well, [i]that[/i] was a cheerful thought," Valar said as he looked around the room, eyes fixing on the well of water. "Anyone for a drink?" [/QUOTE]
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