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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ZosKia" data-source="post: 671558" data-attributes="member: 8574">AOS’s DiaryCelia has gone to evening prayers, she still asks me to join her and accept Thrin as my patron. I have told her any number of times; I place my faith in only three things, my wits, my blade and my love for her. The gods have chosen this day to demonstrate that they do at least have a sense of humour. For a day that ends with us hunting a demoness began with the arrival of one!Actually I jest. I have never had a problem with Maryse despite her reputation. But what is she doing here? Gaxmoor is not the place for a woman of her undoubted talents. She did not seem surprised to see me so perhaps she has come for the bounty Carluchi has placed upon me, some 10,000GP or so I hear. But I very much doubt that she intends to try and kill me. Maryse is feared for her words rather than her blade. Even if thoughts of the bounty did occur to her I believe that the skills I demonstrated today will have proved the folly of such an attempt.Of more note was Maryse’s companion, a priest of Girru named Galak. Maryse, like most Imarrans is not known for her piety. Perhaps they met en-route to Gaxmore?Galak seems terribly keen to ‘cleanse Gaxmoor with holy fire’ so not surprisingly Sigurd welcomed him like a brother. The soldiers have cleared much of the centre of the city but have encountered a couple of ‘hotspots’ so we were asked to deal with them.Our first job was clear out the guest palace which had been occupied by some demons. As usual we charged straight in and were met by a horde of minor demons, which I’m told are called Dretches and some Gnolls. Xyzzy fireballed them, Sigurd cleaved some more and the rest fell to my rapier. Galak keen to be involved summoned a fire elemental, a nice idea but not terribly useful against demons which have fire resistance (although not enough to cope with Xyzzy’s fireballs)! The Gnolls had come from upstairs so Sigurd and I led the way up. Upstairs were yet more Dretches and two much larger demons who were immediately engaged by Sigurd and I. The beasts possessed a foul stench and it was difficult to fight them without retching. I was able to run mine through quite quickly with the aid of some magical bolts from Galak but while doing so I was hit by a fireball. Damn demons I thought before I heard Xyzzy’s mumbled apology. It was hard to resist a smile as Xyzzy succumbed to the beast’s stench and fell to floor retching. Fortunately he was near the door and Lilliana dragged him out and down the stairs. The thunk, thunk of his head on the steps was particularly pleasing!   Sigurd was having rather more trouble with his demon which did seem slightly tougher than the one I had slain; however with help from Galak, who had already tried and failed, thanks to it’s spell resistance, to dispel the beast and Maryse, who was able to sneak in and fire some crossbow bolts at it before collapsing from the stench, Sigurd and I were able to finish it. Xyzzy’s fireball, apart from singeing Sigurd and I, had seen off the Dretch and so the palace was clear. We took some powerful items from the demons including a great sword, a mace with a ruby head and some bracers of health which I shall use. In addition on our way out the palace I spotted a loose board which concealed a large chest full of coins and gems. So a profitable trip!Spurning rest we moved on to the former Gaxmore prison. Apparently three squads of soldiers had entered the building but none had left! I was expecting undead but what we found was actually much stranger. There was no sign of life on the ground floor of the building and so we pushed on into the basement. In one of the cells I found a small viper which attacked me and took quite a bit of killing. When I had killed it I found my blade sticking not in a viper but in a man! Maryse had heard of such men and said they were called Yuan-Ti. While I finished off the snake-man, the rest of the party went on into the torture chamber Galak in the lead. Suddenly our lights were extinguished and a net fell upon Galak. More Yuan-Ti dropped from the ceiling and began casting spells. Suddenly Xyzzy turned into a Rabbit! Fortunately Lilliana quickly restored his humanity and his revenge was swift. As Maryse dragged the unfortunate Galak back into the corridor Xyzzy stopped Siguurd and I from entering the room and unleashed a cone of cold, quickly followed by a fireball and some magic missiles. Not surprisingly the Yuan-Ti quickly fell to this assault. One happy side effect of the spells was that they split open the iron maiden revealing the Yuan-Ti’s treasure horde. Quickly gathering the horde we left the now safe prison.It seemed the last major obstacle left in Gaxmore was Heracules’s mother, some form of demoness. She had last been seen in the house of the High Priest of Gaxmore. We decided to scout the house in preparation for an assault on the demoness once we were rested. Sigurd and I climbed into the house and met the others, who walked in through the unlocked door, in the entrance hall. Suddenly the ghost of the High Priest appeared and demanded to know what we were doing in his home.  Sigurd and I persuaded him, that our intentions were honourable and he revealed what he knew of the demoness including the fact that she had tricked him into returning Gaxmore to this plane and that she was searching for the staff which had given him the power to do so. He said the staff was hidden in a labyrinth under the royal palace and that was were we should look for her. I asked if he could help us in any way and he revealed to me a secret chest containing his magical flying armour and a staff containing powerful healing magic. We thanked him and vowed to find the demoness and free him to pass on.Once we have rested and recovered our spells we shall journey into the labyrinth and free Gaxmore once and for all!I do hope Leo returns before we set out. I miss his castings of cats grace and keen edge!AOS</blockquote>

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