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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheBard" data-source="post: 53049" data-attributes="member: 2821">Episode 8: It Ain't Over 'Till it's Over...Time Elapsed: 4/29 — 5/22/495 A.I. Summary The group quickly concocted a division of the spoils that would leave Laria’s men, who’d certainly faced the least risk, with most of the heavy lifting duties. The jewelry and most importantly the magic treasure remained firmly in the hands of those who’d come face to face with the Eagon and Svear’s shade itself. And what treasure it was – masterfully crafted torcs of gold and silver, holy symbols of the Aesir deity Loki, goblets and chargers of beaten copper and silver, a suit of red, dwarf-forged mail, an enchanted sword, arrows, vambraces and other items. Everyone was busy discussing the division of the loot, as well as what should be done about the stone that still, so far as they knew, contained the soul o the Eagon, when suddenly Martaine gave a stifled cry and cast some warding spell on himself.The other members of the group turned to see him drawing his weapon all while looking at the quiescent stone with concern – and just then Nicasia dove for the cursed rock. Martaine tried to reach it himself, but Nicasia reached it first, and seized it in her hand with an odd expression. Once again, all saw the black spirit of the Eagon materialize, this time from within the stone, and it enveloped the human sorceress’ form. For a moment, a struggle of wills seems to take place, and suddenly the spirit returned to the stone. Nicasia, for her part, stood with a stunned expression on her face, still clutching the Eagon’s magic stone. That situation was corrected when Ingolf’s whip cracked her hard across the knuckles and she dropped the stone – only to see Aoelif dive for it with the same strange look on her face. This time the Eagon proved to be of stronger, and all saw his spirit replace that of the alfar warrior!The rest of the group sprang at her as one. Zaccara unthinkingly thrust at her with his newly won spear, but on seeing the horrible, bleeding wound it made he dropped it and moved to tackle her instead. Ingolf lashed out with his whip to deprive Aoelif of the stone, but it was too late, she was already possessed. The other members of the group cuffed the poor elf repeatedly, with fist, sap and whip, disrupting her spell casting and rapidly rendering her unconscious. The cimbri woman Laria proved her worth yet again when she quickly gagged the still struggling fianna (Eagon?) and in short order her unconscious form was bound and blindfolded as well. The group quickly packed up the treasure, informed the four cimbri warriors above that they could collect their share (copper and silver coin, mostly) at their leisure, and set out for Tavia once more. Laria elected to accompany the group as far as the city, concerned with the final disposal of the Eagon’s spirit.Before passing through the city gate once more, Laria and Nicasia concocted a disguise for the still possessed Aoelif and managed to pass her off to the watch as a badly wounded member of the group without revealing that she was bound and gagged as well. Once she was secured in the stables of the Bad Pony, Theodorus and Ingolf made haste to the citadel to summon the Baron’s bard, Brec, in the hopes that she could effect the return of Aoelif’s spirit to her body. After greasing the palms of the Baron’s gourmand of a door warden with gold (and his pallet with sweets) Brec was quickly located practicing archery in the castle yard. She agreed to follow the two footsore travelers back to the inn to learn what could be done.Zaccara and Martaine were all in favor of destroying the stone once Aoelif’s spirit was removed from it, though the human priest expressed his doubts that it was within the group’s power to do so. Brec, however, was more interested in simply securing it somewhere, believing that, if a cult of Balor were truly on the rise, she might one day wish to interrogate the spirit currently possessing Aoelif’s body. This opinion raised considerable debate between those who sought to destroy the stone and those who saw the wisdom in Brec’s plans.Ultimately, a plan was settled on. Brec prepared a cell in the lowermost chambers of the baron’s donjon, a cell she believed sufficiently remote as to prevent the Eagon from exerting the sort of compulsion over anyone that it had been able to exert on Nicasia and Aoelif. In this cell a wooden cask was prepared, as well as a quantity of the strange poured stone, still in it’s liquid state, that the human empire used in some of there construction. The entire group, including Laria, were led into the cell, along with the still bound and gagged Aoelif and the stone itself. It took several attempts, but ultimately Brec was able to dispel the possessing effect long enough to return Aoelif’s spirit to her body and the Eagon’s to it’s stone, which was quickly dropped into the cask via magic and then sealed in poured stone. The door to the cell was locked and Brec secured the key from the gaoler.Brec congratulated the group on there success, and expressed her amazement that the Rod fo Cancellation had failed to destroy the Eagon’s stone. Once the group was refreshed and cleaned, and Aoelif’s wounds were properly tended to, they all gathered with Brec at the Partridge, Tavia’s finest (or most expensive, at any rate) inn. Over a fine meal of fowl and venison, Brec heard most of the details of the tomb that had been withheld earlier, and she made the group an offer of employment. Brec, it seemed, was concerned that the delicate political balance between the Empire, the Cimbri and the Rolgulkans was ripe for an upset, and she feared the possibility of outright war between faerie and humans in Thessela province. She needed operatives, preferably human and fae both, who were willing to help her stave off an open conflict. After some discussion, all agreed to her terms. She provided the key and directions to a private countryside manor the baron had bestowed on her and indicated that she would be in contact with the group in a few weeks time.Laria having departed to return to the Helveti king, all that remained was to divide the spoils. Zaccara had already laid claim to Svear’s spear, and it was counted as his full share of all treasure, being most likely worth everything else combined. The suit of mail went to Martaine, who decided that the addition of faerie-forged steel was no affront to his typical armor of faith. The shortsword proved to be perfectly balanced for throwing, as well as able to burst into flame on command. Aoelif claimed it as her own, along with a silver and obsidian wolfs-head cloak pin. A set of magical bracers of armor went to Nicasia, as well as a valuable golden torc with ruby insets, and an odd amulet carved in the likeness of a turtle went to Theodorus, who also claimed the holy symbol of Loki, intent on studying it. There were also two arrows, carved with alfar symbols, which we retained as property of the entire group should they be needed. Also held as communal property was a beautiful masterwork helm, worked into the likeness of a raven’s head and chased with gold, easily the most valuable piece of non-magical equipment recovered. At Martaine’s suggestion, it was decided to hold this against the need of a masterful gift for some Cimbri king or lord. Finally, Ingolf had uncovered the secret of a small onyx dog statue, causing it come become a fully animate and strangely intelligent hound. As the hound seemed to take a shining to the bard, he claimed that as his share of the magic recovered, as well as a mundane but beautiful and valuable silver torc with stag’s heads worked into the tips.NPCs Encountered Brec — bard and advisor to the baronial courtAnrid — Bodociea's daughter, the wife of Svear and a ghostCorann, Duff, Kelwin, and Quinn — Helvetii warriorsLaria — Agent of Emrys, King of the HelvettiThe Eagon — one of the bodyguards of BalorFronto — The immensly fat gatekeeper for the Baron</blockquote>

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