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Story Hour
Erkonin (Campaign #1) [Session 46: Making Deals with Devils is Stupid as well as Bad]
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<blockquote data-quote="prabe" data-source="post: 8109231" data-attributes="member: 7016699"><p>Session 15: Leaving Pelsoreen (For Now)</p><p></p><p></p><p>Dramatis Personae:</p><p></p><p>Mo - Goliath Bard (College of Lore)</p><p>Orryk - Forest Gnome Monk (Way of the Four Elements, variant)</p><p>Fiona - Half-Elf Wizard (Evoker)</p><p>Taman - Human (variant) Rogue (Inquisitive)</p><p>Joybell - Forest Gnome Paladin (Oath of the Ancients)</p><p>Imaktis - Tortle Cleric (Nature)/Shadow Sorcerer</p><p></p><p>GM - Everyone Else</p><p></p><p></p><p>25 Sunnin 748 (Campaign day 26) (immediately after)</p><p></p><p>We began where we ended last time with Orryk in the Amber Flame researching elemental magic and how elemental items are created. He also was looking into some theoretical magic about the contagion and the pink eye disease in the city.</p><p></p><p>The rest of the party had just left Urlott’s library with a mission to bring them a fresh Gorgon head as the charge for being allowed to research the kind of magic that might be involved in making the Masks. We spent some time talking about what we know about Gorgons and have the following knowledge among all of us.</p><p></p><p>Gorgons look like bulls but their skin is steel plates and their breath turns people to stone, in a 30’ cone. They live in the mountains (below the treeline) and are, unsurprisingly, immune to petrification. In addition to the petrifying breath they also charge and gore, They live outside and not in caves, They eat their petrified prey -- crushing and chomping on the stone. It is a matter of constitution to save against the petrifying breath. (Note: In game terms, it’s a constitution save vs. the petrification. On a failed save you’re restrained -- then a second failed save leads to petrified.)</p><p></p><p>At the library, Orryk learned that the Contagion spell, which is what we suspect is the underpinning of the pink-eye contagion in Pelsoreen, creates a limited number of possible diseases and none of them are similar to the pink-eye disease. So apparently the Contagion ritual here went pretty well off the rails of the normal spell. The librarians then pointed him back to the Quiet Room -- and told him exactly where in the stacks there to look.</p><p></p><p>Joybell wanted to talk to the cleric of the Joyful who watched the Orcphans about the plague. (His name is Tormaz and he’s a human.)</p><p></p><p>Joybell jumped straight to the point.</p><p></p><p>Joybell: What do you know about the disease that’s causing the pink eyes?</p><p>Tormaz, almost creepily cheerful: I’ve heard about it.</p><p></p><p>Joybell asked if he knew anything about high ritual magic. He’d heard of it but never done any.</p><p></p><p>Joybell: I’m sure there aren’t that many religious officials in the city so you probably know most of them, at least by reputation. Do you know of anyone who would be capable of casting a high level spell and also have knowledge of high ritual magic?</p><p>Tormaz: You want to talk to the people at the temple of the Lightbringers. They’re the knowledge people.</p><p></p><p>The Temple of the Lightbringers is located in the Heights, unsurprisingly near the universities and libraries.</p><p></p><p>Mo: Are there any groups you know of working to upend the social structure here?</p><p>Tormaz: It is not uncommon for people to come in from outside the city and try to do something about it, without having adequately considered the ramifications.</p><p></p><p>Joybell studied her boot tips and focused her attention on Scooby.</p><p></p><p>He went on to say that from time to time one or another of the Corporations in the city gets the idea to change the rules to reduce the prevalence of the debt slavery in the city. It doesn’t usually last long because doing that puts the corporation at a competitive disadvantage.</p><p></p><p>Mo: On an unrelated note, do you have anything we could take with us that would help us deal with getting turned to stone?</p><p>Tormaz: What are you going to be doing?</p><p>Mo: We need information from Urlott’s and they want a Gorgon head.</p><p>Tormaz: That sounds like Urlott’s. I might have something.</p><p></p><p>He stepped into a back room and came back a couple of minutes later with a couple of bottles or vials. They contained a magical oil that protects from petrification -- it takes 10 minutes to apply and renders one immune to petrification for an hour. Mo bought both bottles.</p><p></p><p>Joybell: What does Urlott’s get out of having us do this? Is it just fun for them to send people scurrying around?</p><p>Tormaz: They probably want to examine the head of the gorgon to see what makes the petrifying breath.</p><p></p><p>As we left, Mo filled up the poorbox outside the temple with silver. Unlike the coins he donated that were left out there for people to take if they needed them, Tormaz collected the majority of them and brought them inside the temple. He explained that otherwise people would be tempted just to steal them all. Mo was satisfied with this.</p><p></p><p>We headed off to the Lightbringers. As we entered we were greeted by a novice.</p><p></p><p>Joybell: Hi! I think we’re going to need to talk to one of your superiors.</p><p></p><p>She was thinking in terms of religious superiors but it was a very awkward moment. She then explained about the contagion spell and the high ritual magic and if the Lightbringers might know who in the city could do that.</p><p></p><p>Novice: Let me take you to someone more senior.</p><p></p><p>He took us to Brinora, a female high elf and a senior cleric in the order in Pelsoreen.</p><p></p><p>Joybell: What do you know about this disease with the pink eyes? What do you think? We’re really concerned, but we’re not from here, Thank goodness.</p><p></p><p>After her second social blunder of the day, Joybell tried to cover for it by explaining about the disease and the contagion spell and the high ritual magic.</p><p></p><p>Brinora: What makes you think it’s a high ritual?</p><p>Fiona: The research I did at the Quiet Room suggests that this scope and size of effect would be consistent with that.</p><p>Brinora: I don’t know of a ritual that would do that.</p><p></p><p>Mo got the sense that she’s not precisely <em>lying</em> but there is more to what’s going on that she’s not talking about.</p><p></p><p>Mo: Can you think of anything similar?</p><p>Brinora: I can think of rituals that would be analogous -- spinning a spell to get a result not normally in its range.</p><p></p><p>She told us that there are a couple of clerics in town who have done high rituals.</p><p></p><p>Joybell: Paladin magic is very straightforward -- it’s all about hitting things better, But I know that when casting a spell you can change things -- tug on the magical energies in different ways, Who would have the knowledge of magic to know how to pluck a thread or change a stitch in a high ritual to change things? And have the ability to cast contagion.</p><p>Brinora: I don’t know of a cleric in the city who would have the motivation to do this.</p><p></p><p>(Mo, Fiona, Taman and Imaktis all got the sense that she was again speaking the literal truth.)</p><p></p><p>Imaktis: No good can come of this.</p><p>Brinora: Maybe someone felt there was a lesson to be taught.</p><p>Joybell: There are terrible injustices being done -- people are in danger of being sold to the genies who have never owed anyone a copper.</p><p>Brinora: I’m pretty sure that the people who did this aren’t in Pelsoreen anymore.</p><p>Mo, Joybell and Fiona (sort of all at once and finishing each other’s thoughts): We just want to know if we should stop it, or help it, or just have an answer for our curiosity.</p><p>Brinora: You don’t work for any of the Corporations?</p><p>All of us: No.</p><p>Brinora: Okay. There are a couple of identical twin rock gnomes in the order who are firm believers in education through trickery.</p><p>Mo: I like these people! They sound great!</p><p>Brinora: Even by gnomish standards they’re kind of giddy and scattered. Irresponsible. No offense.</p><p>Joybell: No, it’s okay.</p><p>Brinora: They were trying to make a statement about the arbitrariness of the system of slavery here.</p><p>Mo: Where does the order stand on it?</p><p>Brinora: We don’t have much political power or venue to share our opinions, but we’re against it. There is nothing to be gained by forcing people to work against their will.</p><p>Mo: I’m inclined to agree.</p><p>Joybell: Me too.</p><p>Mo: Do you know where they’d hole up?</p><p>Brinora: I don’t know where they’d go, but I’m pretty sure they were in Anestri before they came to Pelsoreen. I don’t expect they’d go back there - but I don’t know they wouldn’t. They had some other people with them in their group.</p><p>Joybell: How do you think this is going to play out in the city?</p><p>Brinora: If the Corporations haven’t yet figured out it’s contagious, someone will. Once someone figures it out, they’ll look for a high ritual to fix the disease. At least in Pelsoreen. One or more of the clerics from the Enthroned will take care of it.</p><p>Joybell: What if only one Corporation knows? Would they play it to their benefit?</p><p>Brinora: Probably they’d extract some sort of payment from the others for the service.</p><p>Joybell: So in the interest of fairness, should we make sure that all of them know?</p><p>Brinora: Are you sure that one knows?</p><p>Joybell and Mo: Oh, yes. We’re sure.</p><p>Mo: It was a failed negotiating tactic.</p><p>Joybell: We didn’t come here to disrupt things, Or, well, some of us did. I’m not committing to anything in that regard. But whatever we were thinking about that, it wasn’t this way.</p><p>Brinora: If you want to protect the balance of power, maybe you should tell the rest.</p><p></p><p>We decided that we weren’t that fond of the status quo ante in Pelsoreen and didn’t feel any need to work to re-establish it. Our curiosity satisfied, we decided to leave things to the people of the city to deal with.</p><p></p><p>As we left the temple of the Lightbringers, Joybell got concerned about the Cracked Shield and whether any of them had been turned pink-eyed and taken to the slave pens. So she and Taman headed down there to make sure they were okay and see if they needed any healing. Taman mostly went along to keep Joybell out of trouble.</p><p></p><p>When Joybell knocked at the door to the compound, the priest-hole door opened (at orcish eye-height).</p><p></p><p>Joybell: Hi!</p><p>Cracked Shield: I hear you, gnome.</p><p>Taman: :<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" />oints down::</p><p>Joybell: Hi! I just wanted to make sure you’re okay, There was this disease going around and it turned people’s eyes pink.</p><p>Cracked Shield: Yeah, It started as a cold, And we’re a small, tight-knit community, Everyone got it. We’re not taking visitors.</p><p>Joybell: Oh, no! Is anyone in the slave pens?</p><p>Cracked Shield: No! But we’re staying holed up. We have supplies here.</p><p>Joybell: It is our understanding that it will be dealt with in the course of things. So just stay holed up, If your clerics can cure diseases with magic, that will take care of it.</p><p></p><p>After asking after the Orcphans (they all had the cold and now have pink eyes, but they’re settling in well), Joybell and Taman left and joined up with the others, including Orryk.</p><p></p><p>We caught him up on what we’d learned. He was on board with the idea that the pink eye contagion was none of our problem.</p><p></p><p>So we started planning the Great Gorgon Hunt.</p><p></p><p>We did some shopping for supplies. Mostly trail rations. A rope. And a cart with two horses.</p><p></p><p>Orryk: One horse will get petrified and one will be eaten.</p><p>Joybell: We could get another horse and use it … Oh, no! That would be horrible!</p><p>Orryk: Did you just suggest getting a horse to bait the Gorgon?</p><p>Joybell: I started to, but that would be horrible!</p><p></p><p>We also got a map of the southern end of the mountains east of Pelsoreen. And some grain and a bag of horse treats.</p><p></p><p>The Ovverway causeway will be up in the morning for two hours starting an hour after sunrise.</p><p></p><p>We went back to the Iron Steed to rest, still being tailed of course. Joybell, excited, was bouncing all evening. After dinner she went outside to talk to the horses, using a speak with animals spell. She reassured them that we’ll do our best to take care of them and keep them safe, She also reassured them that Scooby is a well-behaved wolf and wouldn’t do them any harm. They weren’t entirely convinced. But they were also not very bright, so they may not remember any part of the conversation later.</p><p></p><p>We then went to bed and set up our usual precautions and the night passed.</p><p></p><p></p><p>26 Sunnin 748 (Campaign day 27)</p><p></p><p>We woke up early and headed toward the Ovverway causeway. Joybell paid the fee for everyone in the party to cross and get out of Pelsoreen. The operatives who were tailing us stopped following us when we got on the causeway.</p><p></p><p>Joybell noted that it was sloppy of them because we could have crossed and crossed back into the city without them knowing.</p><p></p><p>Once across the river, we look at our map and decided that the best way to get to where the Gorgons are at the southern end of the mountains was to go along the coast to the mountains. There are several mountain villages out there where we can talk to people and get information to guide us on our Gorgon Hunt. It seems certain that villagers would know if there was a Gorgon in the vicinity.</p><p></p><p>So we followed the road in that direction. According to the map, there are small waysides and travelers’ rests at about half-day intervals.</p><p></p><p>Before we left the small landing wayside at the other end of the causeway, Imaktis cast animal friendship on the horses to make them a bit more tractable and trusting when it comes to animal handling checks.</p><p></p><p>We proceeded with Joybell riding Scooby well in front of the horses pulling the covered wagon -- for their peace of mind. Imaktis was driving the cart with Taman riding shotgun. Fiona and Orryk were in the back of the wagon exchanging notes and discussing ideas based on their library work. Mo was sort of zoning out on their voices.</p><p></p><p>We traveled for about half a day and, as expected, arrived at a small wayside called Ivvereen. It’s kind of like a truck stop -- traveling supplies for sale, food and lodging available. Most likely the only permanent residents are people who work at the shop and inn.</p><p></p><p>We stopped to stretch our legs. Joybell asked one of the workers how far the road went into the mountains. She was told that it goes another couple of days into the mountains and then the road ends at a town called Rodzun, though smaller tracks continue into the mountains connecting settlements and villages. There are smaller roads branching off the main road along the way as well.</p><p></p><p>Joybell: We’ve heard there are Gorgons.</p><p>Barkeep: There are many things in the mountains.</p><p></p><p>We resumed our trip for the next half-day trek to a slightly larger village called Tummeleen. There we confirmed with the innkeeper and the map that there are two more small villages and then Rodzun, the end of the main road.</p><p></p><p>The inn in Tummeleen, the Sterling Scythe, was comfortable enough and seemed like it would be a better night’s rest than sleeping on the ground in the Leomund’s Tiny Hut. Mo offered to play in the inn for our stay for the night -- he got us a reduced rate for the night’s stay. And made some tips for himself.</p><p></p><p>Joybell and Fiona got the money they’d stashed in the bag of holding back out (since we were out of Pelsoreen).</p><p></p><p>With our usual precautions, the night passed without incident.</p><p></p><p></p><p>27 Sunnin 748 (Campaign day 28)</p><p></p><p>The next morning, we headed out on our way for another full day of traveling. After a couple of hours, the terrain was getting more hilly and terrain-y. Over one of the hills ahead of us, Taman heard a crunching sound. He signaled Joybell and she circled around to parallel the cart.</p><p></p><p>Taman snuck ahead to look over the hill and see what was going on. When he came back he told us that there were 4 ogres menacing a merchant cart,</p><p></p><p>Joybell: Are the merchants in danger?</p><p></p><p>At that moment, we heard screaming.</p><p></p><p>Joybell urged Scooby into a run immediately, without waiting for the others.</p><p></p><p>Over the hill, there was a single cart with a dead horse. There was a halfling on the cart screaming and another one was sheltering under it. A few feet away from the cart there was another halfling lying still on the ground. Unfortunately, one of the ogres was holding a dead halfling by the leg and chewing.</p><p></p><p>Taman kept pace with Joybell as she ran up, with Orryk just a bit behind them. Imaktis stayed with them, for the most part. Fiona and Mo were hanging back.</p><p></p><p>Taman moved up to just inside shortbow range and fired at the nearest one with a shortbow -- hitting, Orryk took two shots with his shortbow at the same one and did a great deal of damage (21 points).</p><p></p><p>Joybell moved on Scooby to about 10 feet away, then dismounted and attacked the one who was eating the halfling (the same target as the others), taking two swings and hitting.</p><p></p><p>Imaktis took a shot with a fire bolt. After all of that it was looking a little rough.</p><p></p><p>Mo used 4 charges from the wand of magic missiles, One of the darts went to the same one everyone else had been targeting and three went to the one near the unmoving halfling on the ground. Unfortunately, ogres are tough and the one missile wasn’t enough to drop the one that was previously injured.</p><p></p><p>The very damaged ogre that everyone had been hitting on, who was holding the halfling corpse and eating it, disengaged and moved away down the road past the cart, The one near the body on the ground stepped on the body as it walked to Joybell and attacked her - hitting her. The two that had been threatening the cart both moved up on Joybell and attacked, doing rather a lot of damage.</p><p></p><p>Fiona dropped a fireball that hit the three ogres that hadn’t fled and missed the halflings and Joybell and Scooby. One of them (the one Mo hit with 3 magic missiles) saved and the others did not -- but Ogres are big bags of hit points.</p><p></p><p>Taman took a shot at one of the ogres engaged with Joybell, which could have been a sneak attack except he missed. Orryk took a shot at one of the three on Joybell and did a lot of damage.</p><p></p><p>Joybell swung at one of the other ones, missing with her first swing but smiting with her second - destroying its pelvis and dropping it.</p><p></p><p>Imaktis picked off the one fleeing with a fire bolt - it fell in the road smoldering.</p><p></p><p>Mo cast a shatter spell, placing it so that it hit the two remaining ones and missed Joybell and the halfling on the ground. One saved and one didn’t.</p><p></p><p>The two remaining ogres, not being very bright, didn’t flee but instead attacked Joybell -- both missing.</p><p></p><p>Fiona moved up a bit and cast Melf’s Acid Arrow -- hitting and doing some damage now and more in the future. Taman dropped that one before the additional damage could come to pass -- sneak attacking it with his shortbow.</p><p></p><p>Orryk moved right up on the last remaining one and did a stunning strike, leaving it incapacitated. Then he followed up with a flurry of blows, disassembling the ogre’s knee. Joybell then dropped it with her first swing.</p><p></p><p>She immediately went to the halfling on the ground -- he was still alive so she laid hands on him to heal him up.</p><p></p><p>His eyes immediately flew open in terror and he saw Joybell smiling over him.</p><p></p><p>Joybell: Hi! I’m Joybell. They’re all dead now,</p><p></p><p>His scream died as soon as it started.</p><p></p><p>We looted the ogres’ bodies, but found that all of their loot came from the halflings and their wagon, so we gave it back to them.</p><p></p><p>It turned out that the halflings were a group of siblings, two brothers and a sister surviving, now grieving and in shock from the loss of the brother the ogre had been eating (beyond saving by the party). Joybell asked where they were heading and they said they were on the way to Tummeleen.</p><p></p><p>We hooked their cart to one of our horses and went with them back a couple of hours to Tummeleen, with the remains of their brother. In the village, they’d be able to get a new horse and find someone to either properly and appropriately handle the corpse, or perhaps get their brother raised or resurrected.</p><p></p><p>They were traveling artisans with a variety of skills, who went from village to village in the mountains repairing small items of all sorts. Their cart was filled with many kinds of artisan’s tools, They made their living traveling between these little towns and villages doing repairs and small jobs, then moving on.</p><p></p><p>Since they had a lot of contact with the various villages in the mountains, Joybell (perhaps a bit insensitively since they’d just lost their brother) asked if they’d heard anything about Gorgons in their travels. They said they’d heard some stuff in Rodzun about homesteaders who’d had their homesteads torn apart by something apparently very tough and nasty.</p><p></p><p>A place to get started asking around.</p><p></p><p>After we took them to Tummeleen, we turned around and went back on the road toward the next town -- Orlimmun. Our net travel for the day was one town (a half day’s worth).</p><p></p><p>We found an inn in the town called the Talking Tree and stayed there. Taman and Joybell noticed that the art on the walls depicted treants. Joybell was very excited about that. Mo played for our supper again -- or at least for his supper and for half price lodgings for us,</p><p></p><p>WIth our usual precautions, the night passed without incident.</p><p></p><p>Or at least with the only incident being that we all went up to level 6.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="prabe, post: 8109231, member: 7016699"] Session 15: Leaving Pelsoreen (For Now) Dramatis Personae: Mo - Goliath Bard (College of Lore) Orryk - Forest Gnome Monk (Way of the Four Elements, variant) Fiona - Half-Elf Wizard (Evoker) Taman - Human (variant) Rogue (Inquisitive) Joybell - Forest Gnome Paladin (Oath of the Ancients) Imaktis - Tortle Cleric (Nature)/Shadow Sorcerer GM - Everyone Else 25 Sunnin 748 (Campaign day 26) (immediately after) We began where we ended last time with Orryk in the Amber Flame researching elemental magic and how elemental items are created. He also was looking into some theoretical magic about the contagion and the pink eye disease in the city. The rest of the party had just left Urlott’s library with a mission to bring them a fresh Gorgon head as the charge for being allowed to research the kind of magic that might be involved in making the Masks. We spent some time talking about what we know about Gorgons and have the following knowledge among all of us. Gorgons look like bulls but their skin is steel plates and their breath turns people to stone, in a 30’ cone. They live in the mountains (below the treeline) and are, unsurprisingly, immune to petrification. In addition to the petrifying breath they also charge and gore, They live outside and not in caves, They eat their petrified prey -- crushing and chomping on the stone. It is a matter of constitution to save against the petrifying breath. (Note: In game terms, it’s a constitution save vs. the petrification. On a failed save you’re restrained -- then a second failed save leads to petrified.) At the library, Orryk learned that the Contagion spell, which is what we suspect is the underpinning of the pink-eye contagion in Pelsoreen, creates a limited number of possible diseases and none of them are similar to the pink-eye disease. So apparently the Contagion ritual here went pretty well off the rails of the normal spell. The librarians then pointed him back to the Quiet Room -- and told him exactly where in the stacks there to look. Joybell wanted to talk to the cleric of the Joyful who watched the Orcphans about the plague. (His name is Tormaz and he’s a human.) Joybell jumped straight to the point. Joybell: What do you know about the disease that’s causing the pink eyes? Tormaz, almost creepily cheerful: I’ve heard about it. Joybell asked if he knew anything about high ritual magic. He’d heard of it but never done any. Joybell: I’m sure there aren’t that many religious officials in the city so you probably know most of them, at least by reputation. Do you know of anyone who would be capable of casting a high level spell and also have knowledge of high ritual magic? Tormaz: You want to talk to the people at the temple of the Lightbringers. They’re the knowledge people. The Temple of the Lightbringers is located in the Heights, unsurprisingly near the universities and libraries. Mo: Are there any groups you know of working to upend the social structure here? Tormaz: It is not uncommon for people to come in from outside the city and try to do something about it, without having adequately considered the ramifications. Joybell studied her boot tips and focused her attention on Scooby. He went on to say that from time to time one or another of the Corporations in the city gets the idea to change the rules to reduce the prevalence of the debt slavery in the city. It doesn’t usually last long because doing that puts the corporation at a competitive disadvantage. Mo: On an unrelated note, do you have anything we could take with us that would help us deal with getting turned to stone? Tormaz: What are you going to be doing? Mo: We need information from Urlott’s and they want a Gorgon head. Tormaz: That sounds like Urlott’s. I might have something. He stepped into a back room and came back a couple of minutes later with a couple of bottles or vials. They contained a magical oil that protects from petrification -- it takes 10 minutes to apply and renders one immune to petrification for an hour. Mo bought both bottles. Joybell: What does Urlott’s get out of having us do this? Is it just fun for them to send people scurrying around? Tormaz: They probably want to examine the head of the gorgon to see what makes the petrifying breath. As we left, Mo filled up the poorbox outside the temple with silver. Unlike the coins he donated that were left out there for people to take if they needed them, Tormaz collected the majority of them and brought them inside the temple. He explained that otherwise people would be tempted just to steal them all. Mo was satisfied with this. We headed off to the Lightbringers. As we entered we were greeted by a novice. Joybell: Hi! I think we’re going to need to talk to one of your superiors. She was thinking in terms of religious superiors but it was a very awkward moment. She then explained about the contagion spell and the high ritual magic and if the Lightbringers might know who in the city could do that. Novice: Let me take you to someone more senior. He took us to Brinora, a female high elf and a senior cleric in the order in Pelsoreen. Joybell: What do you know about this disease with the pink eyes? What do you think? We’re really concerned, but we’re not from here, Thank goodness. After her second social blunder of the day, Joybell tried to cover for it by explaining about the disease and the contagion spell and the high ritual magic. Brinora: What makes you think it’s a high ritual? Fiona: The research I did at the Quiet Room suggests that this scope and size of effect would be consistent with that. Brinora: I don’t know of a ritual that would do that. Mo got the sense that she’s not precisely [I]lying[/I] but there is more to what’s going on that she’s not talking about. Mo: Can you think of anything similar? Brinora: I can think of rituals that would be analogous -- spinning a spell to get a result not normally in its range. She told us that there are a couple of clerics in town who have done high rituals. Joybell: Paladin magic is very straightforward -- it’s all about hitting things better, But I know that when casting a spell you can change things -- tug on the magical energies in different ways, Who would have the knowledge of magic to know how to pluck a thread or change a stitch in a high ritual to change things? And have the ability to cast contagion. Brinora: I don’t know of a cleric in the city who would have the motivation to do this. (Mo, Fiona, Taman and Imaktis all got the sense that she was again speaking the literal truth.) Imaktis: No good can come of this. Brinora: Maybe someone felt there was a lesson to be taught. Joybell: There are terrible injustices being done -- people are in danger of being sold to the genies who have never owed anyone a copper. Brinora: I’m pretty sure that the people who did this aren’t in Pelsoreen anymore. Mo, Joybell and Fiona (sort of all at once and finishing each other’s thoughts): We just want to know if we should stop it, or help it, or just have an answer for our curiosity. Brinora: You don’t work for any of the Corporations? All of us: No. Brinora: Okay. There are a couple of identical twin rock gnomes in the order who are firm believers in education through trickery. Mo: I like these people! They sound great! Brinora: Even by gnomish standards they’re kind of giddy and scattered. Irresponsible. No offense. Joybell: No, it’s okay. Brinora: They were trying to make a statement about the arbitrariness of the system of slavery here. Mo: Where does the order stand on it? Brinora: We don’t have much political power or venue to share our opinions, but we’re against it. There is nothing to be gained by forcing people to work against their will. Mo: I’m inclined to agree. Joybell: Me too. Mo: Do you know where they’d hole up? Brinora: I don’t know where they’d go, but I’m pretty sure they were in Anestri before they came to Pelsoreen. I don’t expect they’d go back there - but I don’t know they wouldn’t. They had some other people with them in their group. Joybell: How do you think this is going to play out in the city? Brinora: If the Corporations haven’t yet figured out it’s contagious, someone will. Once someone figures it out, they’ll look for a high ritual to fix the disease. At least in Pelsoreen. One or more of the clerics from the Enthroned will take care of it. Joybell: What if only one Corporation knows? Would they play it to their benefit? Brinora: Probably they’d extract some sort of payment from the others for the service. Joybell: So in the interest of fairness, should we make sure that all of them know? Brinora: Are you sure that one knows? Joybell and Mo: Oh, yes. We’re sure. Mo: It was a failed negotiating tactic. Joybell: We didn’t come here to disrupt things, Or, well, some of us did. I’m not committing to anything in that regard. But whatever we were thinking about that, it wasn’t this way. Brinora: If you want to protect the balance of power, maybe you should tell the rest. We decided that we weren’t that fond of the status quo ante in Pelsoreen and didn’t feel any need to work to re-establish it. Our curiosity satisfied, we decided to leave things to the people of the city to deal with. As we left the temple of the Lightbringers, Joybell got concerned about the Cracked Shield and whether any of them had been turned pink-eyed and taken to the slave pens. So she and Taman headed down there to make sure they were okay and see if they needed any healing. Taman mostly went along to keep Joybell out of trouble. When Joybell knocked at the door to the compound, the priest-hole door opened (at orcish eye-height). Joybell: Hi! Cracked Shield: I hear you, gnome. Taman: ::points down:: Joybell: Hi! I just wanted to make sure you’re okay, There was this disease going around and it turned people’s eyes pink. Cracked Shield: Yeah, It started as a cold, And we’re a small, tight-knit community, Everyone got it. We’re not taking visitors. Joybell: Oh, no! Is anyone in the slave pens? Cracked Shield: No! But we’re staying holed up. We have supplies here. Joybell: It is our understanding that it will be dealt with in the course of things. So just stay holed up, If your clerics can cure diseases with magic, that will take care of it. After asking after the Orcphans (they all had the cold and now have pink eyes, but they’re settling in well), Joybell and Taman left and joined up with the others, including Orryk. We caught him up on what we’d learned. He was on board with the idea that the pink eye contagion was none of our problem. So we started planning the Great Gorgon Hunt. We did some shopping for supplies. Mostly trail rations. A rope. And a cart with two horses. Orryk: One horse will get petrified and one will be eaten. Joybell: We could get another horse and use it … Oh, no! That would be horrible! Orryk: Did you just suggest getting a horse to bait the Gorgon? Joybell: I started to, but that would be horrible! We also got a map of the southern end of the mountains east of Pelsoreen. And some grain and a bag of horse treats. The Ovverway causeway will be up in the morning for two hours starting an hour after sunrise. We went back to the Iron Steed to rest, still being tailed of course. Joybell, excited, was bouncing all evening. After dinner she went outside to talk to the horses, using a speak with animals spell. She reassured them that we’ll do our best to take care of them and keep them safe, She also reassured them that Scooby is a well-behaved wolf and wouldn’t do them any harm. They weren’t entirely convinced. But they were also not very bright, so they may not remember any part of the conversation later. We then went to bed and set up our usual precautions and the night passed. 26 Sunnin 748 (Campaign day 27) We woke up early and headed toward the Ovverway causeway. Joybell paid the fee for everyone in the party to cross and get out of Pelsoreen. The operatives who were tailing us stopped following us when we got on the causeway. Joybell noted that it was sloppy of them because we could have crossed and crossed back into the city without them knowing. Once across the river, we look at our map and decided that the best way to get to where the Gorgons are at the southern end of the mountains was to go along the coast to the mountains. There are several mountain villages out there where we can talk to people and get information to guide us on our Gorgon Hunt. It seems certain that villagers would know if there was a Gorgon in the vicinity. So we followed the road in that direction. According to the map, there are small waysides and travelers’ rests at about half-day intervals. Before we left the small landing wayside at the other end of the causeway, Imaktis cast animal friendship on the horses to make them a bit more tractable and trusting when it comes to animal handling checks. We proceeded with Joybell riding Scooby well in front of the horses pulling the covered wagon -- for their peace of mind. Imaktis was driving the cart with Taman riding shotgun. Fiona and Orryk were in the back of the wagon exchanging notes and discussing ideas based on their library work. Mo was sort of zoning out on their voices. We traveled for about half a day and, as expected, arrived at a small wayside called Ivvereen. It’s kind of like a truck stop -- traveling supplies for sale, food and lodging available. Most likely the only permanent residents are people who work at the shop and inn. We stopped to stretch our legs. Joybell asked one of the workers how far the road went into the mountains. She was told that it goes another couple of days into the mountains and then the road ends at a town called Rodzun, though smaller tracks continue into the mountains connecting settlements and villages. There are smaller roads branching off the main road along the way as well. Joybell: We’ve heard there are Gorgons. Barkeep: There are many things in the mountains. We resumed our trip for the next half-day trek to a slightly larger village called Tummeleen. There we confirmed with the innkeeper and the map that there are two more small villages and then Rodzun, the end of the main road. The inn in Tummeleen, the Sterling Scythe, was comfortable enough and seemed like it would be a better night’s rest than sleeping on the ground in the Leomund’s Tiny Hut. Mo offered to play in the inn for our stay for the night -- he got us a reduced rate for the night’s stay. And made some tips for himself. Joybell and Fiona got the money they’d stashed in the bag of holding back out (since we were out of Pelsoreen). With our usual precautions, the night passed without incident. 27 Sunnin 748 (Campaign day 28) The next morning, we headed out on our way for another full day of traveling. After a couple of hours, the terrain was getting more hilly and terrain-y. Over one of the hills ahead of us, Taman heard a crunching sound. He signaled Joybell and she circled around to parallel the cart. Taman snuck ahead to look over the hill and see what was going on. When he came back he told us that there were 4 ogres menacing a merchant cart, Joybell: Are the merchants in danger? At that moment, we heard screaming. Joybell urged Scooby into a run immediately, without waiting for the others. Over the hill, there was a single cart with a dead horse. There was a halfling on the cart screaming and another one was sheltering under it. A few feet away from the cart there was another halfling lying still on the ground. Unfortunately, one of the ogres was holding a dead halfling by the leg and chewing. Taman kept pace with Joybell as she ran up, with Orryk just a bit behind them. Imaktis stayed with them, for the most part. Fiona and Mo were hanging back. Taman moved up to just inside shortbow range and fired at the nearest one with a shortbow -- hitting, Orryk took two shots with his shortbow at the same one and did a great deal of damage (21 points). Joybell moved on Scooby to about 10 feet away, then dismounted and attacked the one who was eating the halfling (the same target as the others), taking two swings and hitting. Imaktis took a shot with a fire bolt. After all of that it was looking a little rough. Mo used 4 charges from the wand of magic missiles, One of the darts went to the same one everyone else had been targeting and three went to the one near the unmoving halfling on the ground. Unfortunately, ogres are tough and the one missile wasn’t enough to drop the one that was previously injured. The very damaged ogre that everyone had been hitting on, who was holding the halfling corpse and eating it, disengaged and moved away down the road past the cart, The one near the body on the ground stepped on the body as it walked to Joybell and attacked her - hitting her. The two that had been threatening the cart both moved up on Joybell and attacked, doing rather a lot of damage. Fiona dropped a fireball that hit the three ogres that hadn’t fled and missed the halflings and Joybell and Scooby. One of them (the one Mo hit with 3 magic missiles) saved and the others did not -- but Ogres are big bags of hit points. Taman took a shot at one of the ogres engaged with Joybell, which could have been a sneak attack except he missed. Orryk took a shot at one of the three on Joybell and did a lot of damage. Joybell swung at one of the other ones, missing with her first swing but smiting with her second - destroying its pelvis and dropping it. Imaktis picked off the one fleeing with a fire bolt - it fell in the road smoldering. Mo cast a shatter spell, placing it so that it hit the two remaining ones and missed Joybell and the halfling on the ground. One saved and one didn’t. The two remaining ogres, not being very bright, didn’t flee but instead attacked Joybell -- both missing. Fiona moved up a bit and cast Melf’s Acid Arrow -- hitting and doing some damage now and more in the future. Taman dropped that one before the additional damage could come to pass -- sneak attacking it with his shortbow. Orryk moved right up on the last remaining one and did a stunning strike, leaving it incapacitated. Then he followed up with a flurry of blows, disassembling the ogre’s knee. Joybell then dropped it with her first swing. She immediately went to the halfling on the ground -- he was still alive so she laid hands on him to heal him up. His eyes immediately flew open in terror and he saw Joybell smiling over him. Joybell: Hi! I’m Joybell. They’re all dead now, His scream died as soon as it started. We looted the ogres’ bodies, but found that all of their loot came from the halflings and their wagon, so we gave it back to them. It turned out that the halflings were a group of siblings, two brothers and a sister surviving, now grieving and in shock from the loss of the brother the ogre had been eating (beyond saving by the party). Joybell asked where they were heading and they said they were on the way to Tummeleen. We hooked their cart to one of our horses and went with them back a couple of hours to Tummeleen, with the remains of their brother. In the village, they’d be able to get a new horse and find someone to either properly and appropriately handle the corpse, or perhaps get their brother raised or resurrected. They were traveling artisans with a variety of skills, who went from village to village in the mountains repairing small items of all sorts. Their cart was filled with many kinds of artisan’s tools, They made their living traveling between these little towns and villages doing repairs and small jobs, then moving on. Since they had a lot of contact with the various villages in the mountains, Joybell (perhaps a bit insensitively since they’d just lost their brother) asked if they’d heard anything about Gorgons in their travels. They said they’d heard some stuff in Rodzun about homesteaders who’d had their homesteads torn apart by something apparently very tough and nasty. A place to get started asking around. After we took them to Tummeleen, we turned around and went back on the road toward the next town -- Orlimmun. Our net travel for the day was one town (a half day’s worth). We found an inn in the town called the Talking Tree and stayed there. Taman and Joybell noticed that the art on the walls depicted treants. Joybell was very excited about that. Mo played for our supper again -- or at least for his supper and for half price lodgings for us, WIth our usual precautions, the night passed without incident. Or at least with the only incident being that we all went up to level 6. [/QUOTE]
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Erkonin (Campaign #1) [Session 46: Making Deals with Devils is Stupid as well as Bad]
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