Session 47 (April 9, 2022)
1 Chund
They report to the Dogaressa’s palace first thing in the morning. They are quickly passed through to the Dogaressa.
“We are here to talk about something different from our holdings. We may have found a city inside the Shadow that is not controlled in the Shadow that we can teleport to.”
“So you have been exploring the network.”
“Yes, the city was made by the Firstcomer elves, and they still worship Eru and Morgroth. That seems to protect their city from Shadow, though their population is dwindling—apparently that happens among humans who follow Eru and Morgroth.”
“Most unusual.”
“They told us that there is a crystal that if we could recover would allow them to extend their protection to the coast, which would allow us to resupply them and provide them with reinforcements.”
“Yes, that would certainly distract the enemy, at least. But the swamp is very dangerous. The great oblex are there. They are the cast off spawnings of the chaos lords and a demon prince. They are not pleasant to happen by. If you are heading to that lake in the Palood from the north… you shouldn’t run into anything more dangerous than a great oblex, unless you happen to run into a greater demon. I want the Bishop to bless you first, and to supply you with holy water.”
The Bishop brings them a bandolier of twelve vials of holy water. He calls them the bravest men and women he knows, and blesses them (though the blessing, while powerful, will only last for three days).
“With the oblex, the most dangerous thing is fire. It will either cause them to flee, or make them attack with even more viciousness. The odds are slightly in favor of causing them to flee. The lycanthropes we know of in the Palood are best met with silver or silvered weapons. There are also ghouls and ghasts, some of which have been bolstered. The great frogs can be harmed with normal weapons, but they are enormous. There are some black dragons within the swamp, though as far as we know all of them sleep. A few demons dwell there. And last but not least, shambling mounds are quite common. I’m sure there are minor demons wandering about as well.
“It has been said that on rare occasions the Worm that Bores Beneath has entered the Palood, but it is mostly ignored by the great lords of Shadow. There are some truebloods living in the swamp, likely degenerate. There are some trolls, or were at one time. I have heard of no major leadership, though, although I might not know of it.”
The Dogaressa says, “Take what you need from the provisioners, and the royal smith can silver weapons for you. I have a royal smith now.”
They decide to gather supplies, recruit some people to build a stockade and begin trade with The City, silver their weapons, and the like. They also begin looking for gnomes who follow Whimsey. They gather 40 eager volunteers, with minimal military experience, but better than nothing. They are competent with bows, but at best know which end of the sword to hit things with. But they are reasonably well equipped—mostly with leather, some with scale, armor. Some of them plan to bring family out later, while others have no family yet. Merreep and Runor review them carefully, and conclude that they’re good but green. Runor also begins drilling them hard.
They also buy 500 sp worth of spices to trade to The City.
Merreep gets 20 silvered arrows and a silvered sword. Ulgorio has a silvered rapier, and also gets 10 silvered arrows. Ashaltir gets a silvered sword and 20 silvered arrows. Runor gets his hammer silvered.
They bring a mule with about 30 gallons of water, 2 weeks of emergency rations (planning on using create food and water for most days), rope, oil, and other camping supplies.
[cont'd]
1 Chund
They report to the Dogaressa’s palace first thing in the morning. They are quickly passed through to the Dogaressa.
“We are here to talk about something different from our holdings. We may have found a city inside the Shadow that is not controlled in the Shadow that we can teleport to.”
“So you have been exploring the network.”
“Yes, the city was made by the Firstcomer elves, and they still worship Eru and Morgroth. That seems to protect their city from Shadow, though their population is dwindling—apparently that happens among humans who follow Eru and Morgroth.”
“Most unusual.”
“They told us that there is a crystal that if we could recover would allow them to extend their protection to the coast, which would allow us to resupply them and provide them with reinforcements.”
“Yes, that would certainly distract the enemy, at least. But the swamp is very dangerous. The great oblex are there. They are the cast off spawnings of the chaos lords and a demon prince. They are not pleasant to happen by. If you are heading to that lake in the Palood from the north… you shouldn’t run into anything more dangerous than a great oblex, unless you happen to run into a greater demon. I want the Bishop to bless you first, and to supply you with holy water.”
The Bishop brings them a bandolier of twelve vials of holy water. He calls them the bravest men and women he knows, and blesses them (though the blessing, while powerful, will only last for three days).
“With the oblex, the most dangerous thing is fire. It will either cause them to flee, or make them attack with even more viciousness. The odds are slightly in favor of causing them to flee. The lycanthropes we know of in the Palood are best met with silver or silvered weapons. There are also ghouls and ghasts, some of which have been bolstered. The great frogs can be harmed with normal weapons, but they are enormous. There are some black dragons within the swamp, though as far as we know all of them sleep. A few demons dwell there. And last but not least, shambling mounds are quite common. I’m sure there are minor demons wandering about as well.
“It has been said that on rare occasions the Worm that Bores Beneath has entered the Palood, but it is mostly ignored by the great lords of Shadow. There are some truebloods living in the swamp, likely degenerate. There are some trolls, or were at one time. I have heard of no major leadership, though, although I might not know of it.”
The Dogaressa says, “Take what you need from the provisioners, and the royal smith can silver weapons for you. I have a royal smith now.”
They decide to gather supplies, recruit some people to build a stockade and begin trade with The City, silver their weapons, and the like. They also begin looking for gnomes who follow Whimsey. They gather 40 eager volunteers, with minimal military experience, but better than nothing. They are competent with bows, but at best know which end of the sword to hit things with. But they are reasonably well equipped—mostly with leather, some with scale, armor. Some of them plan to bring family out later, while others have no family yet. Merreep and Runor review them carefully, and conclude that they’re good but green. Runor also begins drilling them hard.
They also buy 500 sp worth of spices to trade to The City.
Merreep gets 20 silvered arrows and a silvered sword. Ulgorio has a silvered rapier, and also gets 10 silvered arrows. Ashaltir gets a silvered sword and 20 silvered arrows. Runor gets his hammer silvered.
They bring a mule with about 30 gallons of water, 2 weeks of emergency rations (planning on using create food and water for most days), rope, oil, and other camping supplies.
[cont'd]