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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WayneLigon" data-source="post: 1277341" data-attributes="member: 3649">Episode 5: The Mark of Kahz-Hadath The party consists of…Vorz, male Litorian Totem Warrior (Wolf)1/Litorian1Sellik, male Verrik Mage Blade2Kyran, female Verrik Iron Witch2Mont Nuyen, male Human Unbound Unfettered2Alayah, female Loresong Faen Greenbond2Na-Vilarus, male Giant Giant1, Champion of Magic1Rizz, male kobold Expert1 And introducing Theryn, male Human Warmain Thirdmonth 8-9 After the terrible battles of the past day, the group needs to heal and rest, plus Vorz is about to get his commissioned dire greatsword from the Giant smith Tel-Morn. So the party holes up in the Three Candles, feasting and drinking and generally having a good time. Mont and Eana go out a few times, and Mont winds up playing in small markets in the better part of town as he listens for information they may need later. The group decides that Alayah could make best use of the +1 dagger they found in the statue, and various other weapons are purchased. Mont’s listening and questioning finally pays off as he finds out what the symbol on the weapons they sold means: the White Falcon mercenaries used to own the weapons, before they were slain to a man. Or as it turns out, not quite… a young man by the name of Theryn Winterthorn proves to be the last White Falcon; he was laid up with a broken leg from a training accident and had not enough money to afford a healer. So he didn’t move north with them when the time came. He’s the one who answers Mont’s questions, so they go back to the Three Candles, where Alayah proceeds to fawn all over the handsome merc after healing him; braiding his hair, hinting very broadly, etc. Theryn appears oblivious to her charms, though he treats her very politely. Sellik goes to talk to Mellen, the Akashic scholar who was working on some things for them. Mellen is all excited at the things he’s found. He rolls out illustrations that show the hideous bug-headed creatures they encountered in the sub-temple, and points out that they are made things; they are alchemical creations meant to be mindless guards and killing machines simply called Terrible Beasts. Sellick also notes that the weird symbol from the ogre pendants is also shown in conjunction with the Terrible Beast, and finds that it is Demonic in nature. Both Verricks also commission fine blades from Tel-Morn. Thirdmonth 9 – That evening. The party goes with Vorz to pick up his greatsword; Tel-Morn and Vorz perform the Ceremony of Presentation, and a very fine masterwork dire greatsword is revealed to all. More braiding and hinting by Alayah to Theryn produces no results; the party then goes to Iaska to check on the poor woman they rescued. Good news! She will live, and perhaps prosper. Iaska has done what she can to blur the already-repressed memories of the event so that hopefully the woman can return to a normal life. Thirdmonth 10 Once more the party descends into the depths of the ruined temple in the undercity (deciding to take Theryn with them), looking to push on further down the ogre passageway. They find a crude set of alarm traps, then they manage to interrupt a meeting of some kind between a human nobleman and his bodyguards, with some kind of insect/human fusion and it’s ogre body guards. A fight ensues (Rizz once more manages to not only do the killing blow on another ogre, but critical hit another one, blinding him), and the insect thing proves to be a spellcaster, since it creates an energy blade to defend itself. After it’s death, and the butcher of the nobleman, the party offers quarter to the two mercs. The mercs (Caelyn and Teiryn are their names) present their ransom; they are from the Black Oak company, which has a good reputation in general; they were stuck in town for another week or so while another contract was being lined up and decided to hire out as bodyguards (by the cloaked and disguised insect-thing) to make extra cash. The nobleman’s body yields a goodly count of coin, trade bars of gold with which he was apparently making or receiving a payment, plus a small silver version of the spiral demonic symbol found on the ogres. The mercs also tell of more monsters below, so the party moves quickly to the named place before someone comes to check on the meeting. The mercs say that also two faen scouts are with the other group. The other group consists of more ogre guards and a half-ogre who appears to be the leader. Quietly the group moves into position on the unsuspecting monsters, who are much more concerned with eating and dicing to pay much attention. Mont moves like a shadow clear on over to where the half-ogre is, and manages to stab him to death before the man can even react. A terrible fight with the ogres ensues, with Mont almost being killed after being double-teamed by flail-wielding ogres. Vorz sees his friend go down and charges across the chamber with a terrible screaming yell, actually knocking both ogres off their feet. The last ogre standing surrenders and they take his bond, having him tell them about what else is here. Apparently, they are the last group hired by the yaun-ti. All save the half-ogre bear the weird spiral symbol; Sellick takes the one from this ogre to use magic on later. The ogre proceeds to tell them about the terrible thing the yaun-ti served, his mate Kahz-Hadath. The party gets very worried when the ogre describes her not as a typical yaun-ti, but as a serpent woman having multiple arms. Unsure what this might be, but knowing it can be nothing good, the party retreats to the surface to store their gain and also deliver the head of the presumed traitor to Ia-Ka. She is quite disturbed to see it, and will see what the Steward wishes to do on the matter. Mellen is also able to tell them at the insect-creature is a half-aranea, not a natural thing at all. Aranea are neutral to humans and rarely even meet with them, much less interact with them on a regular basis. Fearing possible reprisals by either the Steward or the family of the presumed nobleman, the party moves outside the gates. They return the human and faen mercs to their company and meet with the captain, a woman named Salora Dun about their ransom and also to sell the ogre’s service to her. She agrees and binds Goraz into the company. The party then moves on and camps in an abandoned farm several miles from town. There, Sellick starts casting object loresight on the ogre pendant. He learns it’s age is three years old, the name of the last creature to touch it is Goraz the Butcher (the ogre). The next day he recasts it, skipping over Goraz’ race (ogre), finding that the name of the creator is Kahz-Hadath, and that she is a marilith. This news disturbs them greatly.  Thirdmonth 11 Having no word, the party goes back to the Three Candles after Sellick casts his spell. No word has been left there, so the group goes back to seek out another way into the underground. Rizz is able to tell them about the river entrance; a recent tunnel leads to the much older and more broken areas they are familiar with. They encounter a pack of insanely snarling dog-things that attack without mercy or provocation. A hard-won fight in the narrow tunnel soon deals with them, but now they continue to move downwards towards a lighted area….</blockquote>

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