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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2172672" data-attributes="member: 1210">Asmodeus is after us!10/26/370 O.L.G., 9:30 a.m., the plains of Wotan (now known as the Tiger Lands)Our heroes clean up their campsite (at Seethe’s insistence) before resuming their wind walk over the eastern section of Dorhaus on the way to Blendorag.  Why are they wind walking rather than simple greater teleporting?  To get a look at the land.  Malford is at war with the Tiger Empress, after all, and he is at least nominally the king of our heroes.  Baron Lillamere certainly owes him alleigance, and the king has traveled with many of the party members before.  So our heroes decided that they’d have a quick look from above on the way.  Sure, the trip will be a couple of days instead of instantaneous, but what kind of life is it if you never see anything but where you’re going?  That’s the worst sort of tunnel vision.Into the air again, then.  Our heroes fly northeast, passing over old Wotanian roads and spotting bits of ruins here and there.  Much of Dorhaus remains uninhabited by anyone; Horbin scowls, wondering why, with so much of the continent empty, there must be fighting over parts of it.By late morning our heroes can see the Swamp of Lithos, and they skirt around it.  “What’s in there?” wonders Horbin.“A dragon named Lithos dwelled in there once,” Lester answers.  “It hasn’t been seen in, like, centuries or maybe even almost a thousand years?  I don’t know, we might have killed it when we reclaimed Var; there was a dragon there.”  He frowns.  “I don’t know, though...”Horbin’s face sets grimly.  We’ve taken care of the pit fiend of Blendorag.  This dragon, if it yet lives, has to go on the list.Half an hour later, as the group whips through the sky above the plains just west of the swamp, they spot a colorful pavillion below.  They circle, then descend, and find a group of fey hanging out.  Being friendly towards Lester from previous interactions with him, the fey invite our heroes to a party in a couple of days.  A fey party!  “We can’t miss that!” exclaims Lester.  The last fey party he went to had some really killer pipeweed at it. “Well, now we’re on a schedule,” Orbius remarks regretfully.  “We’d best take care of whatever we’re going to take care of before the party quickly.”“Let’s go back to Valonia and aid my people,” Gerontius urges.”And give those murdered Galadorians a proper burial!” exclaims the Mace of St. John at Inoke’s belt. “Shut up, stick,” mutters Lillamere.“What are we going to do about whoever is scrystriking us?” asks Horbin.“First we need to find out what’s really happening and who is behind it,” Orbrius replies.***Noon, ValoniaGreater teleporting to Valonia, our heroes warily finish burying the bodies.  While most of the more physical individuals dig, Orbius uses a pair of contact other planes.  He first gets two questions from each of his companions.Who in the Grey Brotherhood should we contact to nullify the contract on the party?  Grandfather.Will diplomacy or force work better?  Hard to say.What’s the best way to get a favorable introduction to this Grandfather?  Contract.Who’s the best person for us to talk to in order to get this contract?  Assassin.When will these assaassins strike again against Horbin?  Morning.Show me a picture of a place where the leaders of the orcws  attacking the halflings nearby are.  (Orbius sees an image of a military camp.)Who hired the Grey Brothers to come after us?  Asmodeus.Whose army attacked the temple on Valonia whose priests we are currently burying?  None.Who destroyed the temple?  Kryzzo.Who is the voice in Gerontius’ head?  Luugi.Show me a picture of the shore of the lake the voice urges Gerontius to go to.  (Orbius sees an image of a lakeshore.)Where is Kryzzo right now?  Shire Plouf.What is the exact location of the orcish encampment?  Many.Do we need to destroy the entire encampment you showed me in order to stop their assault on the halflings, or just the leadership?  Leadership.What is the name of the head of this leadership?  Genereal Mandagore.Will a super-quick strke attack do well for us against General Mandagore?  Yes.Will the King of Faerie aid Alcar in his quest to retrieve his magical backpack?  Yes.Will the faerie dragon in the Plaid Forest aid him?  Don’t know.Show Orbius a picture of where we should go in order to pursue the individual who scrystruck us.  (Orbius sees an infernal burning land, the sky choked with smoke, with devils everywhere.  He winces.)Show me a picture of a place where an item that can prevent itself from being scrystruck is?  (To his surprise, he sees an image of the burned out church they are in.)Show me a picture of where the assassins are striking at us from.  (He sees an image of a shadowy fortress.)What is our best defense against the assassins?  Alertness.He uses a commune to verify his answers- only the location the assassins are striking from proves demonstrably false.  Then, soberly, he turns to the others.”We are in big trouble,” he pronounces.***2 p.m.The party searched the burned out church thoroughly for any sign of the item that could block the scrystrike.  Eventually, they deduced that it must be the Mace of St. John, which could not be scried out itself as it was a relic.*  Now, after considerable discussion, the party decides to go ahead with their strike on the Valonian orcs.  “We’re here,” Gerontius points out.  “We can’t do anything about the scrystrikes.  Let’s do something useful.”The strike goes over well.  None of the orcish leaders even has a prayer against them, as the party greater teleports into a meeting of senior officers, and a few mass destruction spells later the leadership is out of it.  Then a fire storm Horbin invokes destroys a mass of oncoming troops, and in mere moments it’s over.  The party orders the orcs to flee back to their own lands, on pain of death, and takes three orcish pistoleers captive in the hopes King Malford can extract information about manufacturing the mysterious substance called sunpowder that only the orcs of Valonia know how to create.After turning the pistoleers over in faraway Var, the party rests in the Halls of Healing.  That night, Horbin tosses and turned, barely resisting a nightmare sent his way by a deadly adversary.Early the next morning, our heroes greater teleport out of town to avoid civilian casualties in preparation for when the assassin- or assassins- attack(s).Which is bound to be soon.Next Time: Assassin assault!</blockquote>

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