the Jester
Legend
Fandral's Errand
A little scrying shows Orbius right where to go, and the party teleports in to attack the fire giants under the influence of a mass haste. It's not even close to a contest. Between Orbius' paired cones of cold and the devestating blows of the warrior types, the chief and most of his guards are down in seconds.
But one of the giants is more than he seems.
He casts a spell- recognized by Zeebo as a summon monster VIII- and then plane shifts away.
And a horrible creature full of writhing tentacles, with a deadly-looking mouth and a horribly unnatural, writhing form appears. Even so, it's no match for our heroes, as first a lance of disruption from Orbius, then a pair of lightning bolts from the Mayor, then a series of blows from Lester and Sheva destroys it before it has a chance to act. It swiftly melts into frothy pink goo.
Meanwhile, Thrush knocks the last giant unconscious. The party searches the corpses, then wakes and interrogates the giant.
"Where's the coal steel?" Angelfire demands.
The giant looks frightened. He just saw our heroes rip through his chief and four more giants in all of ten seconds. But still, he sees an opportunity and he takes it, trying to negotiate.
"How about this," Angelfire interrupts. "Tell us what we want to know and we won't kill you."
The giant can see the wisdom of cooperation, and seconds later our heroes burst into the giant smith's room. It takes only seconds to drop him and his pet bear; then the coal steel is in their hands, a collection of half-forged weapons and metal scraps. Only minutes later they teleport back to Fandral's cave.
"That was quick," the dwarf smith says with surprise. "Did ye have trouble?"
Sheva scoffs.
The party turns the coal steel over to Fandral- it's kind of weird, like steel but with black speckles all over it. The dwarf crows in satisfaction over it, tasting it, dinging it with a hammer, then setting it down with a satisfied smile. "Well, friends, ye've earned yer weapons! Now let me get to work. Come back in fifty days for the first one."
"FIFTY DAYS??" Sybele says. "We can't wait fifty days!"
Fandral squints at her. "These things take time," he says with finality.
It quickly becomes apparent that he's not negotiating about this; fifty days for each weapon, and not only that- he'll decide what enchantments he'll lay on each one. "But they'll be incomparable weapons," he says to mollify the party. "Ye'll be satisfied- I guarantee that!"
The party teleports to Pesh City; they have a number of items on their plate there. A few days are devoted to learning spells and such; during this time the L keeps trying to talk the party into attacking the Temple of Elemental Evil.
"You said you'd help find Sybele's daughter next," Sheva accuses.
Lester grumbles, but eventually gives in. "So how do we do this?"
"Well, so far our clues point to Darkhold, and this Zelman sounds like our best bet to track it down. I'm going to have my imp commune tonight to see if we can figure out how to find him without having Orbius get blinded or killed." Lester nods, agreeing that this is a good plan.
Meanwhile, Zeebo visits Souliass, his attorney/mistress. He wants both to check in and make sure that the case against Cluma's heirs is going well, and to get some nookie. Unfortunately, she's all business- and in fact is rather frosty. "Your friend Lester missed his court date," she tells the Mayor. "There's been a fine levied on him. He should visit a magistrate as soon as possible to try to straighten things out. And they're countersuing over the loss of Lawtablet, Cluma's sword. Worse yet, they raised him from the dead- watch yourself."
Sensing something wrong from her icy demeanor, Zeebo takes Souliass out to dinner. Soon the problem becomes apparent.
"What's the deal with your children?" she asks angrily.
"I didn't know I had any," he answers.
"I thought I was special!"
"You are special," he sooths, thinking, Every woman is special... and I have needs.
They spend hours talking, but in the end Zeebo is consigned to a discrete visit to a house of ill repute (invisibility and nondetection in effect until he gets to the brothel). He purchases the services of a tall redheaded human, and while in the grip of passion he calls her Sheva.
Horbin, meanwhile, meets with representatives of the local church of Dexter and tells them that their faith is persecuted on Tirchond. "We know," a deacon tells him grimly. "Unfortunately, right now there's nothing we can do about it. But once the Empire suppresses their little revolt, it'll all be taken care of.*" Horbin the Holy leaves dissatisfied; he doesn't want a war to spread the faith, that kills innocents. But he also doesn't want his faith persecuted. Upset, he walks the streets of Pesh for hours until dark falls.
About then, Sheva slaps Habiskis around and tells him to commune. The imp obeys, asking the questions that she demanded answers to.
What would be the best way to find Zelman? A properly-worded sending.
Is there a protocol? Do not offend; make him interested.
What would interest Zelman? Darkhold.
What is Darkhold? Another plane...?
What is the tuning fork frequency for Darkhold? Unknown.
Who was the fire giant wizard that summoned the psuedonatural creature? Unknown- identity concealed.
"A sending," Sheva muses. She prays each night at midnight; that's very soon.
*The Forinthian Empire is the home of the faith of the Light, which encompasses Dexter and Galador, as well as worship of the missing God-Emperor Prayzose. Many people think of Galadorianism and Forinthia as interchangable, but it's really a bit more complex than that.
Next Time: Trying to contact Zelman, God of Illusions! A surprise and a blessing for Sybele! And not one, but TWO Gods!
A little scrying shows Orbius right where to go, and the party teleports in to attack the fire giants under the influence of a mass haste. It's not even close to a contest. Between Orbius' paired cones of cold and the devestating blows of the warrior types, the chief and most of his guards are down in seconds.
But one of the giants is more than he seems.
He casts a spell- recognized by Zeebo as a summon monster VIII- and then plane shifts away.
And a horrible creature full of writhing tentacles, with a deadly-looking mouth and a horribly unnatural, writhing form appears. Even so, it's no match for our heroes, as first a lance of disruption from Orbius, then a pair of lightning bolts from the Mayor, then a series of blows from Lester and Sheva destroys it before it has a chance to act. It swiftly melts into frothy pink goo.
Meanwhile, Thrush knocks the last giant unconscious. The party searches the corpses, then wakes and interrogates the giant.
"Where's the coal steel?" Angelfire demands.
The giant looks frightened. He just saw our heroes rip through his chief and four more giants in all of ten seconds. But still, he sees an opportunity and he takes it, trying to negotiate.
"How about this," Angelfire interrupts. "Tell us what we want to know and we won't kill you."
The giant can see the wisdom of cooperation, and seconds later our heroes burst into the giant smith's room. It takes only seconds to drop him and his pet bear; then the coal steel is in their hands, a collection of half-forged weapons and metal scraps. Only minutes later they teleport back to Fandral's cave.
"That was quick," the dwarf smith says with surprise. "Did ye have trouble?"
Sheva scoffs.
The party turns the coal steel over to Fandral- it's kind of weird, like steel but with black speckles all over it. The dwarf crows in satisfaction over it, tasting it, dinging it with a hammer, then setting it down with a satisfied smile. "Well, friends, ye've earned yer weapons! Now let me get to work. Come back in fifty days for the first one."
"FIFTY DAYS??" Sybele says. "We can't wait fifty days!"
Fandral squints at her. "These things take time," he says with finality.
It quickly becomes apparent that he's not negotiating about this; fifty days for each weapon, and not only that- he'll decide what enchantments he'll lay on each one. "But they'll be incomparable weapons," he says to mollify the party. "Ye'll be satisfied- I guarantee that!"
The party teleports to Pesh City; they have a number of items on their plate there. A few days are devoted to learning spells and such; during this time the L keeps trying to talk the party into attacking the Temple of Elemental Evil.
"You said you'd help find Sybele's daughter next," Sheva accuses.
Lester grumbles, but eventually gives in. "So how do we do this?"
"Well, so far our clues point to Darkhold, and this Zelman sounds like our best bet to track it down. I'm going to have my imp commune tonight to see if we can figure out how to find him without having Orbius get blinded or killed." Lester nods, agreeing that this is a good plan.
Meanwhile, Zeebo visits Souliass, his attorney/mistress. He wants both to check in and make sure that the case against Cluma's heirs is going well, and to get some nookie. Unfortunately, she's all business- and in fact is rather frosty. "Your friend Lester missed his court date," she tells the Mayor. "There's been a fine levied on him. He should visit a magistrate as soon as possible to try to straighten things out. And they're countersuing over the loss of Lawtablet, Cluma's sword. Worse yet, they raised him from the dead- watch yourself."
Sensing something wrong from her icy demeanor, Zeebo takes Souliass out to dinner. Soon the problem becomes apparent.
"What's the deal with your children?" she asks angrily.
"I didn't know I had any," he answers.
"I thought I was special!"
"You are special," he sooths, thinking, Every woman is special... and I have needs.
They spend hours talking, but in the end Zeebo is consigned to a discrete visit to a house of ill repute (invisibility and nondetection in effect until he gets to the brothel). He purchases the services of a tall redheaded human, and while in the grip of passion he calls her Sheva.
Horbin, meanwhile, meets with representatives of the local church of Dexter and tells them that their faith is persecuted on Tirchond. "We know," a deacon tells him grimly. "Unfortunately, right now there's nothing we can do about it. But once the Empire suppresses their little revolt, it'll all be taken care of.*" Horbin the Holy leaves dissatisfied; he doesn't want a war to spread the faith, that kills innocents. But he also doesn't want his faith persecuted. Upset, he walks the streets of Pesh for hours until dark falls.
About then, Sheva slaps Habiskis around and tells him to commune. The imp obeys, asking the questions that she demanded answers to.
What would be the best way to find Zelman? A properly-worded sending.
Is there a protocol? Do not offend; make him interested.
What would interest Zelman? Darkhold.
What is Darkhold? Another plane...?
What is the tuning fork frequency for Darkhold? Unknown.
Who was the fire giant wizard that summoned the psuedonatural creature? Unknown- identity concealed.
"A sending," Sheva muses. She prays each night at midnight; that's very soon.
*The Forinthian Empire is the home of the faith of the Light, which encompasses Dexter and Galador, as well as worship of the missing God-Emperor Prayzose. Many people think of Galadorianism and Forinthia as interchangable, but it's really a bit more complex than that.
Next Time: Trying to contact Zelman, God of Illusions! A surprise and a blessing for Sybele! And not one, but TWO Gods!
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