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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1268910" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 31, “Robbing the Place Blind”, September 13th, 1019, 9:30 P.M.“Out of the way, let me see” Mojo comments, sliding around Narg and peering down into the opening made by the missing board.   His holy armor is still activated, giving True Sight through its visor, and he states, “There are no flames down there.  It’s an illusion.”   Both Narg and Cassie try to disbelieve, but they still see it.   Narg holds his hand out above, feeling no heat, and says, “I think he’s right.”  “I agree, there’s no smoke,” she replies.   Mojo ties a rope to the bar and slides down into the chamber.   The other two have a hard time seeing him through the illusionary flames blending in with the light cast from his armor.   He opens a trapdoor in the floor of the chamber and drops the remainder of the rope down then sides further down.   Narg follows, sliding all the way down to the lowest room.   The room is filled with multiple chest and the walls are lined with shelves of treasure.    Narg yells up “Cassie, it’s full of treasure.  We’re going to need the Bags of Holding.”   She yells back down “They’re full of people.”  Mojo yells up “Well, get rid of them.  I’d rather have this stuff than Mark or Purge.”    She decides that’s actually is a pretty good idea, flying down to the ground to let the people out of the bags.    The two middle-aged humans are happy to finally be free.   The gnoll Lieutenant is still unconscious and Mark and Purge are instructed to turn it over to the local authorities.   She decides that it might be too dangerous to drop off the druid Nahmi, as some of locals might try to kill him, so leaves him in the bag.  She then flies back up, pulls up the rope, then lowers it back down with the bags.During the time that she was away Mojo and Narg have had an opportunity to check everything in the room.    They fill the first bag with scroll cases, jewelry, and other items from the shelves.  All of the chests are opened up; most being filled with silver coins that they conclude aren’t worth lugging around.  One has gold and platinum coins, and those are emptied into the bag.  One bag is filled. Also in the room is an ornate statue with a water clock inside that is too big to fit into the bag.   Cassie wants it, so they secure it to the rope and she flies it up, then lowers it to the ground.   “Anything else” she yells.  “Just chests of silver.  Hardly worth it,” Mojo yells.  Cassie yells back “The townspeople could probably use it.  Tie one onto the rope.”   She flies up one-at-a-time with each silver chest, making the best use of the time by releasing each once they are clear of the Kadtanach, the chests falling some 150 feet to the ground.   Most chests split open on contact, spilling the coins on the ground.   Once the place is emptied she pulls Mojo and Narg  back up.  Mojo reminds them “Hey, what about that other treasure room beneath the jail room?”  “Good idea,” Narg replies, having Cassie fly the two of them over to it.   The fire in the two adjacent howdahs has now spread to the upper level of the howdah, but the bottom is still clear, so the two fighters head in the door with the second bag.    The treasure in this room is less elaborate than the other room, comprised mostly of copper and silver coins and various items made of silver and gold.   They fill up the bag.  The room then shakes and they notice the Kadtanach is moving again.     Cassie yells in to the guys “I’ll be right back,” and flies over the creature’s head to pick up Alton.   “What happened?” she asks.   The chimp climbs onto the dragon and says, “The spell ran out and the creature decided to get going.”    She flies back over to pick up the other two.  Narg very reluctantly gets back into the bag with the gnoll druid as there is not enough room on her back for both him and Mojo, Alton hanging on a little further forward.  She then starts to fly away.    Alton spots the four draft horses used to haul up the steel basket with the winch along the lower deck.  He says, “I’d feel bad if we just let them get killed.”  Cassie replies, “Yeah, and the farms back on the island could probably use them.”    As they fly close a gnoll holding a whip charges out from beside the horses.   “Better check with Nahmi about this guy,” Cassie states.   Mojo opens the bag and asks about this gnoll.  Nahmi states, “That is the whip-master.  He controls the horses.”   “Friend of yours?” Mojo asks.  Nahmi replies, “Absolutely not.  He is cruel to the animals.”   “That’s all I need to know,” Mojo states, letting his hammer fly.”   The whip-master is hit hard, knocking him down onto the deck.   He then staggers to his feet and limps back to where the horses are between the upper and lower deck.   Mojo has Cassie drop him off on the deck and he approaches that area.   The wounded whip-master stands up and starts to raise his whip.  Mojo yells over in gnollish “I’m not after you.  We just want the horses.”   “You won’t hurt me?” the gnoll replies.  Mojo answers, “Not at all, you can stay right there.  Just send out the horses.”  The gnoll ushers the horses out, the animals walking over to their usual places along the winch.   The Kadtanach is now a lot closer to the hill now, and Alton asks, “How are we going to get them down?”   Cassie says, “I still have four reduce spells!”   She has Mojo hold the horses steady so that her dragon form does not spook them, but they are so accustomed to the wyverns that they are not fazed by her.   She lands on the deck and casts Reduce on horses, making each  small enough that Mojo can fit them into a large pocket on his tunic.    Mojo climbs onto her back and she takes off from the deck.  Mojo comments “I didn’t have the heart to tell the whip-master that he’s going to die a rather violent death in around twenty minutes.”  Cassie tells Mojo that her reduce spell will last for around an hour-and-a-half.   He says, “Well, please remember to remind me before we get to that point.  I’d hate for them to grow while still in my pocket.”  They land a short distance away from the hill.    The massive beast moves up to the cliffside and leans to the side, starting to scrape the buildings off.  The burning structures are the first ones to disintegrate and the other ones then start to splinter and split.   The straps take a considerably longer time to get off, but once they begin to snap it creates a domino effect. Mark and Purge soon join them and Nahmi is let out of the Bag of Holding.    None of the town’s residents venture any closer, although General Teakas from the Dragonstalkers flies in to join them in the vigil of watching the creature.   She talks to Cassie and confirms that her teammate Grelmak has perished.  Cassie does not volunteer any information about having taken his magical possessions and Alton was quick to hide the ring and amulet at the first sight of Teakas approaching   Teakas express concern about what the creature will do next, as it is still very close to the town.    Mojo remembers to take the horses out of his pocket.   Nearly two hours pass from the time that the creature began scraping until all evidence of the gnoll habitat is removed.   The party realizes that searching through the debris for any other treasure will be a monumental task, as the scraping also brought down several tons of rocks and dirt from the hillside.  Shortly before midnight the Kadtanach walks away from the hillside.   There are several noticeable wounds on its back from where it injured itself during the scraping.    It also appears to now be rather tired, walking a few hundred feet and then stopping and sitting down in a field.   It lowers its head to the ground.    Alton approaches the beast from the side and casts his remaining healing spells on to it, with negligible effect.   It remains unmoving, although its breathing is still noticeable, and the party concludes that it is asleep even though the eyes are still open.Later edit:  Tonight's game just got canned due to another blizzard (2nd week in a row).  Looks like I may never get to finish this module!    The "Story Hour" is now up to date so don't expect any more chapters for another week, although reader comments and questions are always welcomed.</blockquote>

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