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Aphonion: Journals of a Licensed Diabolist (Sat. and Wed. updates, last 9/3, 9/10)
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<blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 4227246" data-attributes="member: 3448"><p>The following morning, we concluded our recruitment efforts for human mercenaries. Two bands of mercenaries were eager to fight against the Shadow, and we agreed to pay them with a share of the loot that we would take. A third band was more hesitant and negotiated heavily on price, although they became more interested once we told them that we would be traveling with a group of approximately 500 women. We ultimately agreed on pay of one silver piece per day per mercenary, to be supplemented by combat bonuses. All told, we ended up with about 120 human mercenaries.</p><p></p><p>We mobilize all of our troops and followers and headed across the Shadowline. We had some 600 combat-ready troops out of more than 1000 total.</p><p></p><p>“Hail and well met,” said the quasi-lich. “It is interesting creatures you bring, a powerful garrison I’m sure.”</p><p></p><p>Buzz replied, “It is in everyone’s interest for a strong garrison to replace Lord Bastion’s.”</p><p></p><p>“Indeed.” The quasi-lich summoned a nightmare. “Let us go. My lord is well on his way towards the enemy.”</p><p></p><p>We traveled peacefully for three days. By the time we arrived, the aftermath of a massive battle was under way. The manor had been taken. Eum troops were busily dismembering their former enemies and storing the meat. The eums had also impaled several people or things-- we inferred that they had been Lord Bastion’s favored servants.</p><p></p><p>The attack caught the manor by complete surprise. Approximately 300 of the eum also died-- an added benefit of reducing our foe’s strength. The surviving eum dismembered their dead fellows as well, but more ritually. They spoke to the dead and explained what their flesh would do to sustain others. The whole approach was surprisingly orderly for creatures of chaos.</p><p></p><p>The quasi-lich gestured at the manor. “The property is yours. Inspect it.”</p><p></p><p>The damage to the manor was largely restricted to the battlements and towers. The outlying towers were not in very good shape-- they looked like something large had landed on them and stuck in its claws. As we walked towards the manor, a eum commander approached. I recognized him from Dragonhold Ripgut as Commander Zolt. He looked us over carefully for a chaos champion, then for any sort of leader. After a moment, he approached me. He had noted the “succubus” I had as a follower, for that was how Alveera had disguised herself.</p><p></p><p>The eum saluted. “The grounds are secured. We are still mucking the tunnels. Lord Bastion has been destroyed. The Master awaits you.”</p><p></p><p>“Are you confident that Lord Bastion has been completely destroyed and not just forced to retreat?”</p><p></p><p>“My lord Drakhl himself has eliminated Lord Bastion. The destruction was total.”</p><p></p><p>Twang stepped forward. “Give us grand tour.”</p><p></p><p>“You wish to see everything? Very well, we will start with the nightmare stables, then the abyssal dog kennel, and work our way up through all of the rooms.” He took us through the manor, pointing out the libraries, the kitchens, and the other chambers as we passed. </p><p></p><p>“Are there surviving minions?” I asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, we corralled those who surrendered in the courtyard. Obviously, they are weak, so you may wish to destroy them, but that is your decision.”</p><p></p><p>“They will likely make adequate slaves,” I replied.</p><p></p><p>The eum nodded. “As slaves, weakness is all that one can expect.” He gestured at a heavy door as we walked past. “We have not breached the treasury. Frankly, since they are to be yours, I did not want to waste men breaching the traps.” He led us past the armory, the solarium, which obviously had not been used recently, the summoning chamber, the private chambers, the slave chambers, and the private torture chamber. In the torture chamber, Twang petted the instruments, drawing a grim nod from Zolt. Commander Zolt also pointed out several secret passages that they had forced open. “The tunnels are almost clear. We will finish that task before we depart.”</p><p></p><p>“Do they connect to the Underdark?”</p><p></p><p>“No, they are local surface tunnels. They exit about three miles away from the manor.”</p><p></p><p>As we finished our tour, I made a decision to try for a further advantage. I reached out with my mind to Alveera and had her relay a telepathic message to the eum commander. <<You should know, Commander Zolt, that Lord Drakhl and the undead of your garrison were responsible for Lord Ripgut’s death.>></p><p></p><p>Commander Zolt blinked slightly but showed no other sign of recognition. As he finished the tour of the manor, he bowed to me with more respect. “There is the remains of what used to be the village when this was human, down the ridge. There are wells that draw non-poisoned water, which is useful for an encampment. Not that it will remain non-poisonous for long, with that number of half-demons among your garrison.” He nodded towards the Rapa, clearly believing them to be half-vrocks.</p><p></p><p>We thanked Zolt and dismissed him before turning our attention to defending the manor. We ordered the Pachak to begin repairing the towers. Buzz and Twang joined them as they mortared the towers back together. Twang began installing traps and casting <em>mending</em>. Buzz slowly learned a few words of the Pachak language, all having to do with masonry. They also noted that there appeared to be no rogues among the Pachak-- they recognize traps, but do not seem to have any use for them.</p><p></p><p>I spent my time examining the summoning chamber and the library with a few Rapa as guards. The summoning chamber was extremely elaborate and very well stocked, although many of the supplies were things I have never heard of using for summoning. I verified that there would be nothing improper about using the chamber to summon devils, despite the fact that it had supplies specific to summoning demons and was missing some of the standard implements for devils. It would take me some time to fully adjust it back to proper diabolist standards, but when that task is complete, it will be a useful resource.</p><p></p><p>My examination of the library was more eventful. The third book I looked at attacked me. It stunned me somehow and tried to pierce my skin with a proboscis. I struck the book with a magic missile, and one of the Rapa grabbed it and tried to slam it against the wall unsuccessfully. The book had some holes in it by this point that were oozing a black liquid. It attacked the Rapa, extending a long thick tendril towards its neck. The Rapa slammed it twice into the wall, squawking at it authoritatively. I cast <em>Detect Thoughts</em> and sensed a snarling and snapping mind in the book with a great sense of hatred toward me, based upon my devotion to the Law. The Rapa finally finished the book off. It went limp and then changed to look even more like a book. Using my spell, I was able to locate several other books with minds. I had the Rapa grab and bind all of the intelligent books. One of the books stood out with complex thoughts and lots of knowledge. It was also chained to its shelf. Once we secured all of the thinking books, I examined the one that had attacked.</p><p></p><p>The dead book was a description of the six courts of the dreaded Lords of the Council of Borsh’tro-- not exactly a religious book but not exactly a book of conjuration either. It listed the hierarchy of the people under the Council, their positions, and what favors the truly foolish could bargain for from them. Even without its mind, it was a dangerous book, although we did not destroy it because it might be useful in gaining intelligence against our enemies. The other most notable books were a couple of major works on demonic conjuration. Lord Bastion’s spellbooks were not present-- tracking them down would be an important task in finding the hidden treasures of the manor.</p><p></p><p>We posted the Pachak on watches that night so the rest of us could all sleep.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cerebral Paladin, post: 4227246, member: 3448"] The following morning, we concluded our recruitment efforts for human mercenaries. Two bands of mercenaries were eager to fight against the Shadow, and we agreed to pay them with a share of the loot that we would take. A third band was more hesitant and negotiated heavily on price, although they became more interested once we told them that we would be traveling with a group of approximately 500 women. We ultimately agreed on pay of one silver piece per day per mercenary, to be supplemented by combat bonuses. All told, we ended up with about 120 human mercenaries. We mobilize all of our troops and followers and headed across the Shadowline. We had some 600 combat-ready troops out of more than 1000 total. “Hail and well met,” said the quasi-lich. “It is interesting creatures you bring, a powerful garrison I’m sure.” Buzz replied, “It is in everyone’s interest for a strong garrison to replace Lord Bastion’s.” “Indeed.” The quasi-lich summoned a nightmare. “Let us go. My lord is well on his way towards the enemy.” We traveled peacefully for three days. By the time we arrived, the aftermath of a massive battle was under way. The manor had been taken. Eum troops were busily dismembering their former enemies and storing the meat. The eums had also impaled several people or things-- we inferred that they had been Lord Bastion’s favored servants. The attack caught the manor by complete surprise. Approximately 300 of the eum also died-- an added benefit of reducing our foe’s strength. The surviving eum dismembered their dead fellows as well, but more ritually. They spoke to the dead and explained what their flesh would do to sustain others. The whole approach was surprisingly orderly for creatures of chaos. The quasi-lich gestured at the manor. “The property is yours. Inspect it.” The damage to the manor was largely restricted to the battlements and towers. The outlying towers were not in very good shape-- they looked like something large had landed on them and stuck in its claws. As we walked towards the manor, a eum commander approached. I recognized him from Dragonhold Ripgut as Commander Zolt. He looked us over carefully for a chaos champion, then for any sort of leader. After a moment, he approached me. He had noted the “succubus” I had as a follower, for that was how Alveera had disguised herself. The eum saluted. “The grounds are secured. We are still mucking the tunnels. Lord Bastion has been destroyed. The Master awaits you.” “Are you confident that Lord Bastion has been completely destroyed and not just forced to retreat?” “My lord Drakhl himself has eliminated Lord Bastion. The destruction was total.” Twang stepped forward. “Give us grand tour.” “You wish to see everything? Very well, we will start with the nightmare stables, then the abyssal dog kennel, and work our way up through all of the rooms.” He took us through the manor, pointing out the libraries, the kitchens, and the other chambers as we passed. “Are there surviving minions?” I asked. “Yes, we corralled those who surrendered in the courtyard. Obviously, they are weak, so you may wish to destroy them, but that is your decision.” “They will likely make adequate slaves,” I replied. The eum nodded. “As slaves, weakness is all that one can expect.” He gestured at a heavy door as we walked past. “We have not breached the treasury. Frankly, since they are to be yours, I did not want to waste men breaching the traps.” He led us past the armory, the solarium, which obviously had not been used recently, the summoning chamber, the private chambers, the slave chambers, and the private torture chamber. In the torture chamber, Twang petted the instruments, drawing a grim nod from Zolt. Commander Zolt also pointed out several secret passages that they had forced open. “The tunnels are almost clear. We will finish that task before we depart.” “Do they connect to the Underdark?” “No, they are local surface tunnels. They exit about three miles away from the manor.” As we finished our tour, I made a decision to try for a further advantage. I reached out with my mind to Alveera and had her relay a telepathic message to the eum commander. <<You should know, Commander Zolt, that Lord Drakhl and the undead of your garrison were responsible for Lord Ripgut’s death.>> Commander Zolt blinked slightly but showed no other sign of recognition. As he finished the tour of the manor, he bowed to me with more respect. “There is the remains of what used to be the village when this was human, down the ridge. There are wells that draw non-poisoned water, which is useful for an encampment. Not that it will remain non-poisonous for long, with that number of half-demons among your garrison.” He nodded towards the Rapa, clearly believing them to be half-vrocks. We thanked Zolt and dismissed him before turning our attention to defending the manor. We ordered the Pachak to begin repairing the towers. Buzz and Twang joined them as they mortared the towers back together. Twang began installing traps and casting [i]mending[/i]. Buzz slowly learned a few words of the Pachak language, all having to do with masonry. They also noted that there appeared to be no rogues among the Pachak-- they recognize traps, but do not seem to have any use for them. I spent my time examining the summoning chamber and the library with a few Rapa as guards. The summoning chamber was extremely elaborate and very well stocked, although many of the supplies were things I have never heard of using for summoning. I verified that there would be nothing improper about using the chamber to summon devils, despite the fact that it had supplies specific to summoning demons and was missing some of the standard implements for devils. It would take me some time to fully adjust it back to proper diabolist standards, but when that task is complete, it will be a useful resource. My examination of the library was more eventful. The third book I looked at attacked me. It stunned me somehow and tried to pierce my skin with a proboscis. I struck the book with a magic missile, and one of the Rapa grabbed it and tried to slam it against the wall unsuccessfully. The book had some holes in it by this point that were oozing a black liquid. It attacked the Rapa, extending a long thick tendril towards its neck. The Rapa slammed it twice into the wall, squawking at it authoritatively. I cast [i]Detect Thoughts[/i] and sensed a snarling and snapping mind in the book with a great sense of hatred toward me, based upon my devotion to the Law. The Rapa finally finished the book off. It went limp and then changed to look even more like a book. Using my spell, I was able to locate several other books with minds. I had the Rapa grab and bind all of the intelligent books. One of the books stood out with complex thoughts and lots of knowledge. It was also chained to its shelf. Once we secured all of the thinking books, I examined the one that had attacked. The dead book was a description of the six courts of the dreaded Lords of the Council of Borsh’tro-- not exactly a religious book but not exactly a book of conjuration either. It listed the hierarchy of the people under the Council, their positions, and what favors the truly foolish could bargain for from them. Even without its mind, it was a dangerous book, although we did not destroy it because it might be useful in gaining intelligence against our enemies. The other most notable books were a couple of major works on demonic conjuration. Lord Bastion’s spellbooks were not present-- tracking them down would be an important task in finding the hidden treasures of the manor. We posted the Pachak on watches that night so the rest of us could all sleep. [/QUOTE]
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