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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ltclnlbrain" data-source="post: 1679659" data-attributes="member: 12882">Chapter 24Autumn came to the Silver Marches as a month passed by. A chill wind blew through the city almost daily now, and the leaves on the trees had turned brilliant hues of red, yellow, and gold. Terenon spent the majority of his time in the laboratory at the wizard's guild with Serrila, working on a unique magical item guaranteed to be the subject of some discussion later on. Jelani worked on some items of his own while Rhys brewed up a few potions that may come in handy later. The priest also checked in on Philosten, who had by now regained his wits and recovered from his ordeal in the prison. He was well on the road to recovery and was able to head back to his home within a few days. Rhys also spendt a lot of time around the Temple of Torm, contemplating his deity's teachings and conducting services every so often.For his part, Rumar spent a tenday in ritual with his sword Pergium, reflecting upon the battles they had fought together and awakening the celestial spirit within to even greater potential. Once this was completed, he lingered about the lab with Serrila and Terenon, supervising their activities and making sure no funny stuff happened under his watchful eyes. Allanon spent time with Deirdriel perfecting the new spells he had discovered, as well as helping Lisa LaBurton with her wizard training. It went quite well, and by the end of the month, Lisa had mastered all of the basic cantrips as well as a few fledgling dweomers.Grundar spent the month enjoying the copious amounts of treasure he had acquired. Stories spread through Silverymoon about the elf being seen swimming through enormous piles of coins, though these were written off as merely tall tales.As the month came to a close, Allanon and Deirdriel invited everybody to the half-elf’s tower to catch up on the past month and to plan for the coming excursion to the Spine of the World. All of the adventurers, including Deirdriel, Serrila, and Lisa, gathered in a large, comfortable seating room. Several magical effects kept the room at a comfortably warm temperature, and numerous unseen servants moved about the room bringing food and drink to the group and tidying up after themselves.Terenon entered Deirdriel's tower with Serrila on his arm. He sported the new magic item he had been diligently working on the past few tendays: a cloak that looked to be made of leathery mottled red skin. It appeared to be the skin of Bazim-Gorag. It billowed as he walked and stretched to the heels of his feet. A gold and silver chain with two small gold skulls as clasps anchored the cloak to him. He strode in and sat with Serrila next to him. He absentmindedly placed his hand on her knee. Taking some wine offered by one of the invisible servants, he gave his salutations to the others.“Nice cloak, Terenon,” said Rhys approvingly, looking over the mage’s new duds. “What does it do?”“That, my friend, you will see very soon,” Terenon replied cryptically. He shared a smile with Serrila, then turned back to the others. “So, what’s are next step, friends? I think the first thing we should do is deal with the beholder mage Orichalxos. That floating ball might cause trouble for us and others down the line if we don't deal with him now. The scepter of the ar-magus is still a powerful magic item, and I'm not sure we can leave it with him. Besides, he still owes us a reward for dealing with the Acolytes. We still haven't collected."Rumar’s face twisted up in disapproval. "I find it hard to believe that he will simply give us our reward and then send us on our way. If we do choose to go speak with Oriichalxos, we had best plan for a confrontation.""You guys probably won't be able to just barge into the observatory like you did last time," said Serrila, stroking Terenon's hand. "Orichalxos probably learned his lesson last time, so he will be more prepared to deal with adventurers. I also doubt he has been idle this past month, so he will probably have gathered more guardians and servants to him. You should be careful."Terenon smiled at Serrila. "I knew there was a reason I'm smitten with you," he said teasingly. "The thing is nothing but head, so assuming it would fortify itself with protective measures would be a safe bet. Still, I can't help but wonder what it needs with the scepter. A vote seems in order. Do we forget about it, and concentrate on the dragon? Or do we deal with the beholder now?"Lisa LaBurton sat slumped in a chair, looking bored. Several new pouches lined her belt, and a small embroidered satchel rested on her hip. The satchel had an interesting rune on it, basically a stylized lowercase "l" next to a stylized uppercase "B." She let out a small sigh, then wiggles her fingers and muttered a short incantation. Three small glowing red balls appeared in the air over her hands. She moved them through the air in intricate patterns; then, she grabbed one and rolls it back and forth across her knuckles, causing it to emit small tinkling noises."It would make the most sense to take out the most immediate threat first," Lisa said idly, her eyes on the floating balls. "On the streets of Baldur's Gate, we learned to deal with local rivals before setting our sights on the other side of town. By looking far away, you blind yourself to your immediate surroundings, and it only takes a small opening for one of those blighters to stab ya in the back or take your marks."Jelani shrugged. “If we’re presuming that the creature knows something more about the dragon, then we should find out what we can. But otherwise there’s no need to deal with the thing now. Of course, I’d like to get rid of it so I can start paying people to clean up that fort, but sometimes the big things are more important than the little ones. Did anyone get a chance to do some divinations to see if we’d just be wasting our time?”"Slaying a force of evil like the beholder mage is hardly a waste of time, Jelani," Rumar responded dryly, doing his best to avoid thinking about Terenon’s and Serrila’s activites off to the side of his view. "If the thought of permanently removing Orichalxos from his position of power in this web of vile deeds does not interest you, focus instead on it's treasure or spellbooks or some other pointless folly."“I’m afraid you missed the point,” the mystic theurge replied, turning to the paladin. “I was trying to give us some options. I’d be happy to see the creature cleared out, but you have to look at the whole picture rather than just one battle if you want to wage an effective war.”"We're going to confront and likely kill both of these creatures, correct?" Rumar asked rhetorically, leaning forward on his knees. "So why bother to waste time debating the options? I simply fail to see why the order we seek them out would have a large affect on things. If you insist we consider things though, I vote we go after the beholder mage first; I imagine it will simply hide itself if we slay its companion. The dragon, on the other hand, should be less inclined to leave behind its hoard at the first sign of trouble.""I vote we go after the beholder,” said Grundar, “since we already know he has the staff of the ar-magus. Although the Firebringer is already dead, we should not let an evil creature like that have his time with it. I wonder what else the staff does. Anyway, I'd like to poke the rest of his eyes out. I don't like beholders. They’re freaky."“I tried scrying on the beholder before I came,” said Terenon. “All I saw were hazy gray clouds. Either the creature resisted my spell, or he has put up defenses against scrying. Either way, we have no way of knowing what he might have waiting for us in the observatory. We should teleport outside in the Vale and make our way from there.”The discussion was interrupted by a knock on Deirdriel's door. She excused herself as she moved to answer the door. After a minute or two, she returned. Standing beside her was an unexpected visitor and an old friend: none other than Gillian Lightfoot. The halfling lass' face was solemn as she bowed formally before you. "I heard you had a party a while a back. I am thoroughly shocked and disappointed that I was not invited. The manner in which you treat your former allies is appalling to say the least."The halfling maintained her scowl for a few moments before a smile slowly spread across her features. The smile soon turned to laughter, and she chuckled heartily at the adventurers’ expressions of disbelief. "I had you for a second there," she said, grinning.“Gillian!” cried Rhys, rushing over to embrace the halfling in a crushing hug. “Whoa, easy there,” she said uncomfortably, as the priest set her down.“It’s great to see you, Gill,” said Grundar enthusiastically. “I guess you heard that the Firebringer is dead? Rumar there really laid the smackdown on him at the end. I trust your people are well?”The halfling resumed a serious expression as she addressed the group at large. “Word recently reached Rivermoot and the other nearby halfling communities of your accomplishments in your battle against the Acolytes. It seems you were able to bring an end to their tyranny, and from what Grundar said, their chaos lord as well. My people are grateful for your assistance, and I am grateful that it did not come to us having to defend our lands from a rampaging slaad lord."“Have you come to rejoin us?” asked Terenon. “We could realy use your skills and expertise.”"Unfortunately, no. I have not come to rejoin the party. My job in this area of Faerun is done, and I am soon bound for Calimshan to aid the local halflings there with some problems they have been facing. I wanted to stop by and give my regards before I left, though, for we may not cross paths again. You have done well for yourselves, all of you, and I wish you nothing but the best of luck in all your future endeavors. May Yondalla always smile down upon you."“We were concerned for you, Gillian,” said Rhys, “and we thank you for your visit. We wish you could stay longer, but you must do what you must do. Torm be with you.”Gillian smiled again, perhaps wistfully, and bowed low. She then nodded to Deirdriel, who got up and escorted the halfling out.“Alright,” said Terenon, once everybody was ready. “Let’s go poke out some eyes.”----------------------------------------------------------------------------------With a flash of light and the now-familiar pulling sensation, the adventurers were transported back to the Selskar Vale. It was a sea of gold and red, as the green leaves that adorned the forest last time they were here were beginning to fall out for the winter. Birds chirped merrily in the trees and several small animals scurried about.As they began to get their bearings and determine their next move, the sounds of the forest suddenly fell silent. A loud roar attracted their attention to the sky, where they saw something they were not expected.An enormous red dragon flapped through the air on leathery wings.And it was heading straight for them.</blockquote>

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