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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EternalNewbie" data-source="post: 3940004" data-attributes="member: 6489">Quiet you!  It's my story hour, and if I want to grossly inflate my own role in the campaign, I'll go right ahead...although, on second thought, considering how that all panned out, you can have the credit.  I'll take it for the ones that work  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> Heh, well anyhow, the story continues....* * * * * * * * *A scream from below sent relief crashing over Khalid.  It evaporated instantly as Shayla screamed again, “Khalid! Gorak!  Help me!”    “Shayla!” Khalid yelled down as he struggled to free himself.  “Ah, are you okay?”“I think my leg's broke! And there's something down here with me!”“We'll get you out of there,” Khalid called back, although he wasn't sure how.“Get back!” Shayla screamed, then began to cast.Khalid glanced at Gorak, but he was in the middle of a spell.  Eyes closed, his powerful voice echoed off the peaks around them as the clouds above began to gather and darken.Feeling helpless, Khalid leaned forward and dug into the snow.  Grabbing the goblin by the scruff of the neck, he dragged him up, gasping and sputtering.  As a crack of thunder split the air, Khalid shook the little goblin frantically, trying break his confusion.  Seeing the goblins eyes focus on him, Khalid pulled him close and hissed into his tufted ear, “Ah, we do not want this.  Your people or mine!  Call for parlay!  Make them talk!”    Nodding in understanding, the goblin began to shout at the top of his lungs.  The two figures on the ridge above them had faded back out of sight and in the eerie silence after the lightening, the goblin's voice carried through the mountains.  Khalid dug for his spell components, desperately hoping the goblins would listen to reason instead of dropping more of the mountain on them.  A few agonizing seconds past before a rasping voice answered back.  Khalid couldn't understand what they were saying, but Gorak lowered his hand slowly.    The goblin exchanged more words with his hidden tribesman.  Fearing to even try to dig himself out, lest it be construed as a hostile action, Khalid waited anxiously.  Finally, the goblin exhaled slowly, “They have agreed to speak with you.  They will join us down here, on equal footing, shortly.”    Gorak pushed himself up on top of the snow with a grunt and leaned over the edge.  “Shayla,” he barked, “are you safe?”    Khalid struggled out of the snow, and dared to look out over the edge.  Shayla was lying, half buried under a mound of snow, about forty feet below them.  Her face was pale from pain and shock, and her fiery red hair looked like a smear up blood upon the white snow.  “I burned whatever was down here, and it ran off I think.  Get me out of here.”    Working quickly, they fashioned a crude harness out of their climbing ropes, and threw it down to her.  Looping it under her shoulders, Shayla gasped in pain as the three of them began to haul her up the side of the cliff.  Even though she was slight, and Gorak did most of the work, Khalid was gasping and sweating by the time her head appeared over the edge of the cliff.  Gorak quickly mended her leg with a few divine words while they waited for the goblins to appear.    About twenty minutes later, two goblins, following an enormous worg came down the path from behind them.  The worg's mottled greyish fur was burned and scorched, from the corner of its right eye all the way down its flank.  It padded up the trail until it was no more than ten feet from Khalid, and sat down on its haunches.  Khalid, having been hastily nominated to deal with the goblins, looked up and prepared to greet them as they approached, when the worg growled in rough western, “Speak to me human.  I speak for chief.”    “Ah, yes, quite,” Khalid muttered, trying to hide his surprise.  He recovered quickly and got straight to the point, ignoring the fact that he was speaking to a large dog.  “Very well then.  You have been misled by one who calls, yes, calls himself your friend.  The gnoll, he has perhaps told you we are thieves, come to take what is yours, or perhaps merely weak and foolish travelers, yes?  Well, I assure you, we are neither.  We counted him as our friend once too and were rewarded by being led into a trap.   Regardless of whether you agreed to help him or not, we would have been sent here, straight into conflict with your tribe.  He sought us out with purpose and knew full well the harm we would inflict upon you.”      The goblins rankled at the subtle threat, but the worg just stared impassively.  Finally, it growled, “What do you want from us?”    “Ah, yes, while the gnoll poses no real threat to us, we would have the name of his master, so there will be no, yes, no mistake when this insult is returned in kind.  Deliver to us the gnoll and we will leave this place and bother your tribe no more.  Yes, quite.”    “Wait,” the worg barked.  “It will be decided.”  It turned and leapt over the two goblins, racing down the path.  The goblins stared hard at their tribesman, who was standing slightly behind Khalid, but when he made no move to follow, they turned away, scowling.    They set up their magical camp on the other side of the avalanche, on a clear, broad stretch of trail, and waited.  Gorak, protected from the cold and not particularly fond of the otherworldly expanse of shelter, offered to spend as much time outside on watch as possible.  After the first day went by, Khalid began to get concerned.  Considering the travel time, they could have arrived at any time if the answer had been immediately decided.    All his worrying was for naught as the next day, four goblins, carrying the trussed up gnoll on a spit between them appeared on the path, led by the huge worg.  It's burns had been completely healed and were only visible as lighter patches of fur along that side.  As the goblins dropped the gnoll roughly on the ground the worg growled, “There's answer.  One condition.  That one,” he twitched his snout towards the renegade goblin. “You take that one too.”    “Yes, quite.” Khalid nodded.    Without another word, the goblins dropped the gnoll's belongings on the ground and left.  After waiting to ensure they were well down the path.  They advanced on the gnoll.  Gorak had a broad grin on his face, and clapped Khalid on the arm as he walked past.  Shayla was watching their captive intently, muttering angrily under her breath.  Waving the goblin away, out of earshot, Khalid inspected the gnoll.  The reason for the delay became apparent from the number of wounds on the gnoll.  It had been beaten severly.  It's upper lip was in tatters, and several of its top fangs were broken.  Its right eye was gone, and what was left of its ruined clothing was stained with blood.  It was barely conscious, and shied away from Khalid more out of instinct than recognition.    “Ah, Gorak, he's no use like this.”    “Right,” Gorak grunted.  “Seems like a waste though.”  He cast a spell on the helpless gnoll and slowly some of the more garish wounds began to mend.    While Khalid waited for the gnoll to regain consciousness, he idly walked over to where Shayla was sifting through the gnolls belongings.  She muttered a quick cantrip and then squealed in delight.  “Finally!  What do we have here?” She fished a long, wickedly curved dagger out of a tattered rucksack and sighed slightly.  “Give this to Gorak,” she said as she tossed the dagger aside.  As she dropped the bag on the ground, a small vial rolled out of a fold in the lining and bumped against Khalid's foot.    He bent over and picked it up, studying it carefully.  Some sort of white powder, one of a hundred possibilities.  He worked the stopper free, and took a whiff on the contents.  His eyes widened as he recognized the acrid smell, and he wet his finger and dipped into the vial, placing the tiniest bit on his tongue.  Spitting into the snow, he nodded to himself and put the vial in his pocket.      Khalid returned to Gorak's side as he was slapping the gnoll awake.  The gnoll shook its head, and its one remaining eye focused on them.  As recognition dawned, its upper lip curled back in a snarl.    “Ah, yes, now that you're awake, we can get this whole mess sorted out,” Khalid began.  “Who sent you after us?”    “I not talk,” the gnoll muttered.  Gorak growled deep in his throat and stepped forward threateningly.  “You beat me, I not talk!” the gnoll rasped hastily.  “You let me go, I leave note, never come back.”    “Ah, no, I'm sorry my friend,” Khalid said as he shook his head sadly.  “I'm afraid we can't let you report back to your master with an assessment of our abilities.  Even were you to honor your word, you would be found, yes, found sooner or later.  Yes, quite.”     “No,” he repeated again, “you will meet your final end in this place, and these mountains will mark your grave.  There is no question of that.  The true question you need to ask yourself, my friend, is how that end will come.”    Khalid leaned in close to the gnoll, inches away from his face.  “Gorak wants to break your wrists and ankles, and leave you here.  Shayla, yes, well the things she would do to you are best left unspoken.  Is that what you wish, my friend?  That your last hours be filled with pain and suffering?  Undoubtedly your will is strong and it will take time to break you, but eventually, after Gorak has revived you a few times, you will talk.”  Again Khalid shook his head.  “I have no wish to see you suffer, and so I offer you this choice.”  He pulled out the tiny vial of powder.  “Speak now.  Answer our questions truthfully and you will be rewarded.  A long peaceful sleep after a pleasant dream.  Yes, quite.  Think carefully my friend.   This offer will not, yes, not be made again.    Khalid stood up as the the gnoll regarded him carefully.  Its eyes darted to the vial in Khalid's hand and it began to speak in a low growl.  “Malakai.  Malakai sent me.”    Khalid hid his surprise, having already concluded that it was Halaal.  “Yes, quite.  Where is his base of operations?”    “In mountains, northeast of Gem-Sharad.  North of Knolton.”    “Indeed.  How did you infiltrate Arbaq's network?”    “Malakai tell me Arbaq want big secret real bad.  He tell me where big secret is, give me good story to tell.  Name of guy who knows another guy.  Arbaq want big secret so bad he take big risks.”    “Ah, yes, and your reward?”    “Malakai smart.  You wreck old business, he start new one.” The gnoll gestured at the vial in Khalid's hand with his snout.  “He spending lots of money, making big promises to get you.”    “Obviously not big enough.”    “Not yet,” the gnoll agreed with a vicious grin.  “But ten thousand sultana's?  There lots of hunters want to catch that prey.”    “Ah, yes, quite,” Khalid muttered.  He stepped back to confer with Gorak and Shayla.  “I sensed no falsehood in his voice.”    “Yeah, it's a pretty good story if it ain't true.  It fits.” Gorak agreed.    “So is there anything else we need from this thing, or can we get moving?” Shayla asked pointedly.    “Ah, I doubt he'll know anything more significant than he's already told us.  I can't see a drug addled lapdog being deep within Malakai's council.  Yes quite.”    Uncorking the vial, Khalid walked over to the captive gnoll, and up ended the contents into his mouth without a word.  The gnoll swallowed, coughing as the bitter powder went down.  After a few minutes, its eyes rolled back and the bonds went slack.  Being over cautious, they waited for the end, and after an hour or so, the gnoll twitched violently, arching his back and straining at the ropes that bound him.  Then he went limp and moved no more.    Gorak checked the gnoll quickly, then nudged the body off the edge of the cliff into the valley below.  “Let's go,” he growled.  “We're done here.” A day and a half later, and they still had not reached the boundry of the goblins territory.  The path had been difficult and in several places, completely blocked by snow.   Khalid was anxious to leave the goblin tribe behind, despite the fact that their presence was undoubtedly responsible for driving away any number of unpleasant predators.  When they stopped for the evening, Khalid opened a portal, but stayed outside as Shayla and the goblin vanished up the rope.  Pulling out his spellbook, he flipped it open, well aware of Gorak's curious gaze.   Running over the words one last time, he selected a point, thirty yards down the path, and began to focus his will.    “Whut're ya doing?” Gorak grumbled.    Khalid sighed and relaxed, letting the magick slip away.  “Ah, just trying out a new set of formulae.”    “So wut's gonna happen?”    “Ah, well, if everything works as I've planned, a portal will open.  But don't worry, whatever comes out of it will be fully under my control.  Yes, quite.”    “Now wait a minute, what do you mean, whatever...”Khalid closed his eyes and began to chant, visualizing the formula in his mind.  Weaving through the complex motions that directed the energy, he opened his eyes and focused on a spot, some fifty feet down the path.  Khalid felt the magic surge through him as a thin disc opened parallel to the ground, right where he visualized it.  For a moment, nothing happened, then a thick fog, the colour of old rust, began to pour out.   Gorak walked up behind him and stared at the mist slowly spilling over the edge of the path.  “Izzat doing what it's supposed to?”“Ah, yes, ah, I'm not quite sure.” Khalid said, somewhat crestfallen.  “It was sort of a gamble.  I was hoping, yes, hoping to snare something useful, that had no particular, ah, agenda, shall we say.  It appears as though I've opened a gateway to a dead world, however.  Still, it may yet, yes, yet prove to be of some value.”“Some of that stuff is getting pretty close.” Gorak grunted.“Ah, it's probably not toxic,” Khalid assured him, watching the portal carefully as the magic weaves began to unravel and fade.  “And besides, the portal is failing, it will close shortly.”“Yeah, but it's pretty windy up here, maybe you should step back some,” Gorak rumbled as he moved away.Khalid turned to respond just as a gust of wind sheered through the peaks and wafted the leading edge of the smoke cloud over him.  Instantly his eyes watered and his throat seized up.  His lungs and sinsus felt as though he'd inhaled red hot embers.  “Back,” he gasped to Gorak as he staggered away from the cloud.  “Into the refuge.”Gorak, seeing the look of horror on Khalid'd face, turned and leapt into the magical shelter.  Khalid was only a step behind, and clawed at the rope as the wind blew the mist closer.  Gorak's strong hands grabbed him as he crossed the barrier and hauled him inside.  Shayla grabbed the rope and tugged it inside, as the smoke swirled and billowed below.Collapsing to his knees, Khalid wrapped his arms around around his chest and shuddered violently.  “Ah, that's dreadful!” he gasped when he could finally speak again.  “That's absolutely the worst, yes, worst stench I've ever encountered.”    “Really?” Shayla scoffed.  “What about the goblin jakes in Malakai's mine?”“Lilacs, yes, lilacs and roses compared to that horror.”  Khalid's eyes crossed slightly and he snatched his hat off, just in time to be noisily sick in it.  While Gorak, Shayla and the goblin watched with thinly veiled amusement, Khalid continued to wheeze and sweat for several minutes.  Finally, still shivering slightly, he regained his composure.  Looking up with a somewhat sickly grin, he said, “Ah, I think perhaps that might, yes, might be a useful spell after all.  Describe to me again the beast's lair?”  He leaned back and as the goblin began to recite once more what he knew of their foes lair, the smile only grew larger.</blockquote>

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