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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Menexenus" data-source="post: 3485124" data-attributes="member: 8951">Session 30: Conflict between Wee Jas and St. Cuthbert21st of Reaping.  After the shopkeeper returned the Berserker Sword to the party and took most of their spare cash as compensation, the party was at a loss regarding how to unload their cursed items for a profit.  Killick stayed in bed convalescing while Eligos left to make contact with a cleric friend who could be hired to cast Heal on Killick.  Thorash and Alees also left to investigate the possibility of selling their cursed items.  Alexander cast three spells into Katawan's Ring of Spell Storing.    When Eligos returned, he informed the party that an old friend of his had consented to cast the necessary spell at dawn the next morning at a discount - 10% off the usual price.  When Thorash returned, he told the party that he had found a buyer for the cursed items who was willing to pay full market value.  Alexander was unwilling to take this offer at face value and asked some probing questions.  Thorash admitted that the potential buyer was the Church of Wee Jas.  Alexander demanded assurances that the Church of Wee Jas had no intention of using the items for any nefarious purpose.  While Katawan and Alees favored the sale, Tarric supported Alexander in demanding assurances before agreeing to the sale.  Thorash assured the group that he could obtain a signed statement from his superior that would satisfy Alexander.  Conditioned on the acceptability of this letter, Alexander reluctantly acquiesced to the sale.    Thorash left and returned an hour later with the following letter:   "To whom it may concern,    This document certifies that the church of Wee Jas has no intention of using or re-selling the cursed items which we are attempting to purchase from Thorash and Company.  We are purchasing these items with the intent of providing necessary capital to a group of adventurers whose history leads us to expect that the funds we provide will be used in the common fight against the Cult of Kyuss (may His plans be thwarted and His followers consigned to Hell).  However, we recognize that as a matter of commercial law, there is no way to dictate how the funds we provide will actually be used by Thorash and Company.  Once the transaction is concluded, we can have no legally binding expectations regarding the future actions of our transaction partners.    Similarly, although this letter accurately reports our current intentions regarding the use of the property we intend to purchase, we do not consider those intentions (or this document) to place any legally binding constraints on the future disposition of property which is legally ours.    We hope this document allays any concerns you may have and will permit you to accept what we consider to be charity - offering to buy something we don't need in order to help provide funds to those who are fighting a common enemy.With great sincerity and best wishes for future success,Mother Iridni, Prelate of the Church of Wee Jas"    Alexander found this wording to be satisfactory and, even though it was now getting late in the evening, Thorash left once more to complete the sale.  He returned with his Bag of Holding filled with thousands of gold coins.  Although Alexander took his share, he seemed uneasy accepting the money.  He announced that he would be donating all of his share to the Church of St. Cuthbert first thing in the morning in an effort to offset the evil that the cursed items might do in the future.  Tarric admired Alexander's pledge and made a similar pledge to donate 500 gp of his share to the Church of Heironeous and to give the remainder of his share to the party in order to fashion a wand of curative magic.  The other four party members took their shares and retired for the evening, thinking about how best to spend their new wealth.      22nd of Reaping.  Soon after dawn, Eligos's cleric friend, Pentax, arrived.  He and Eligos exchanged some friendly banter, but he got down to business soon enough.  Once he was paid his 600 gp fee, and once Thorash was done casting Remove Curse and Cure Disease, Pentax cast Heal, and Killick was instantly cured of his affliction.  Killick immediately removed the Periapt of Foul Rotting from around his neck and smashed it into pieces in a fit of disgust.      With Killick's curse lifted, the party members fanned out across the city to take care of their own personal business.  Tarric took 500 gp to the church of Heironeous.  Alexander had to cast Tenser's Floating Disk in order to carry his share to the church of St. Cuthbert.  Alees went off to buy some potions, and Killick left to purchase some defensive magic items.  Katawan went to visit the money changers to make his cash easier to transport.  The group reassembled at Eligos's house for the midday meal.  When all the party members were together, Alexander announced that he would leave immediately for Diamond Lake.  Thorash said that he would do the same.  The rest of the party was puzzled by the sudden rush to return to their old hometown, but neither Alexander nor Thorash seemed interested in explaining their motives.  Since there had been talk of crafting a healing wand, some thought it might be wiser to craft it in Greyhawk before hitting the road again.  But Alexander and Thorash were both adamant that they must leave immediately.  They pledged to work on the wand together in Diamond Lake (circumstances permitting).  Tarric supported his friend Alexander and agreed to leave with him.  Killick shrugged and said that if he left immediately, he would be able to attend the Bronzewood Lodge's monthly religious service.  With 4 party members in favor of leaving immediately, the decision was made.  The party began packing up for the trip to Diamond Lake.    Later that day, as the group traveled along the road, Killick offered Thorash a 450 gp IOU to cast a Commune spell to try to find out what was causing the seemingly random Kyuss worm infections among party members.  Thorash consented and memorized the appropriate spell at dusk.  After the party had made camp, the two of them both volunteered for first watch and quizzed Wee Jas about the cause of their infections while the rest of the party slept.      23rd of Reaping.  The next morning, Killick announced to the party at breakfast that he and Thorash had learned that the Kyuss worm infections were being caused by potions the party was drinking.  However, he was not sure how to determine which ones were causing the infection.  Alexander surmised that the offending potions may have come from Ilthane's egg chamber in the Mistmarsh.    25th of Reaping.  When the party reached the outskirts of Diamond Lake in the early afternoon, Alexander conferred with the group briefly to inform them that a cold war was being waged in Diamond Lake between the Church of St. Cuthbert and the Church of Wee Jas.  Father Jierian had been preaching opposition to the Church of Wee Jas, and the opinions of the common folk in town had soured accordingly.  Some members of the Church of Wee Jas had suffered insults, threats, and even beatings as a result.  Alexander said that he had been sent as a representative of Matriarch Eritai of the Church of St. Cuthbert to investigate the source of the conflict between the churches and to try to encourage both parties to return to peaceful coexistence.    As the party rode into town, they were surprised to see how many of the common people now wore weapons at their sides as they went about their daily business.  The party rented rooms at the Feral Dog and left word with an acolyte at the temple of St. Cuthbert (just a few yards away, across the town square) that they wished to meet with Father Jierian.  Thorash took his leave of the party to accomplish his own secret mission, the details of which he was reluctant to divulge.  When he returned a couple of hours later, the party informed him that Jierian had agreed to meet with the party as long as Thorash was not present.  So the five party members left Thorash behind and walked across the town square to meet with Jierian.    The group was welcomed warmly by Father Jierian.  He told them that Killian would have been proud of all they had done to combat the forces of evil in Diamond Lake, in Greyhawk, and in the Mistmarsh.  The party thanked him for his praise.  Alexander announced that he had been sent to investigate whether there was any evidence to support Father Jierian's antagonism towards the church of Wee Jas.  Father Jierian explained the joy he had experienced when Holy St. Cuthbert had come to him in a dream telling him that his young acolyte, Killian, was destined to have a crucial role in averting a horrific apocalypse.  Never before or since had Jierian enjoyed such direct contact with his deity.  Jierian felt proud and honored to be in a position to instruct such an important individual in the teachings of St. Cuthbert, so that when the time came, he would be strong enough to carry out his blessed destiny.    But then Killian's life was unexpectedly cut short in the mines beneath Diamond Lake.  Surely this was not the glorious destiny that St. Cuthbert had been referring to in Father Jierian's dream!  Since St. Cuthbert could not have lied and could not have been wrong, the only explanation for Killian's premature death was the active interference of another deity - a deity whose purposes were at odds with those of St. Cuthbert!  Obviously, any deity choosing to thwart the will of St. Cuthbert must be considered an enemy of His Church!  But the question was, which deity?  Jierian meditated on this question for weeks.Finally, he recalled the virtually miraculous coincidence that the party had recounted to him upon emerging from the mines.  As the party had recounted the tale, Killian died in the first foray against the Hextorites and the party had had to leave his body and retreat up an elevator back into a disused mine shaft.  There they sat in the dark, wounded, without a healer, unable to leave the mine, unable to continue the attack, and unable to give up (because Katawan was being held hostage).  Suddenly, out of the darkness, Thorash, the dwarven cleric of Wee Jas emerged, offering his services to the party.  This was the missing piece of the puzzle!  This coincidence was just too good to be true.  Wee Jas must have been the deity interfering with the will of St. Cuthbert.  Apparently, She wished to insert her own servant in Killian's place.  Perhaps Wee Jas wanted her servant to enjoy the glory and the honor that would otherwise have gone to St. Cuthbert.  Or perhaps her designs were even more nefarious.  Either way, though, if Wee Jas was acting to thwart the will of St. Cuthbert, then She must be considered His enemy.  Father Jierian pledged to use all of his influence to combat this newly discovered enemy in Diamond Lake.  He began spreading the word to his parrishoners that Wee Jas is an enemy of St. Cuthbert and Wee Jas should not be allowed to continue gaining followers and exerting power in Diamond Lake.    The party was very skeptical of Father Jierian's conclusions.  They suggested to him that it was more reasonable to conclude that Killian's death was caused by the influence of Hextor, Erythnul, or Vecna - or all three together - rather than by Wee Jas.  Jierian replied that that hypothesis would not explain the sudden appearance of Thorash at exactly the right moment.  Jierian refused to believe that Thorash's appearance was mere coincidence.      The party pointed out that preaching violence against those who are not evil is in violation of the tenets of St. Cuthbert.  Father Jierian agreed and told the party that he had privately spoken to those parrishoners of his whom he thought might have been responsible for the attacks on Wee Jas worshippers, telling them that their actions were not pleasing in the sight of St. Cuthbert.  However, Jierian did not deny that he wanted the followers of Wee Jas to feel unwelcome in Diamond Lake.    The party asked if he had performed any divinations to support his claim that Wee Jas was the one thwarting the will of St. Cuthbert.  Father Jierian said that he had indeed tried divining the source of the interference, but the responses he had received had been unclear.  He said that it felt almost as if the responses he was getting from St. Cuthbert on this issue were muffled.  The party renewed their assertion that it must be some other deity trying to foster enmity between the two churches.  Killick insisted that conflict between two churches who had previously been working together to fight the Cult of Kyuss only served the forces of evil.  However, Jierian was unswayed.  He said that no evidence could sway him more than the direct Revelation he had received from his deity.  He said that, to a man of St. Cuthbert, nothing could convey greater certainty.  He wished aloud that he could convey the same certainty that he felt to the party members.    At this point, Alexander decreed that he had heard Jierian's evidence and found it lacking.  He instructed Father Jierian that Matriarch Eritai had ordained that there should be peace between the Churches of St. Cuthbert and Wee Jas and that, accordingly, Father Jierian must cease preaching against the Church of Wee Jas in his sermons.  Jierian asked if Alexander had any documentation supporting his assertions of the Matriarch's will in this matter.  Alexander admitted that he did not, but he promised that he would request it and that it would be sent with all haste.  Since that day was a Godsday, Alexander assured him that the Matriarch's orders would arrive before his next sermon.  Father Jierian stated that if such an order came, he would have to consider whether his primary loyalty was to the hierarchy of his church or to the direct revelations he had received from St. Cuthbert.  At this point, Father Jierian thanked the party for meeting with him, and the party was ushered out.    The party returned to their rooms at the Feral Dog and conferred with Thorash.  Alexander admitted that he thought Father Jierian was acting unreasonably and he revealed that the Matriarch had ordered that all hostilities cease.  He asked Thorash if he could set up a meeting with Sister Amariss, the leader of the church of Wee Jas in Diamond Lake.  Thorash said he was sure he could.  He left again and returned near dinner time, saying that Amariss had agreed to meet with the party in the boneyard at noon the next day.    After dinner, Killick left for the Bronzewood Lodge.  He returned early the next morning.    26th of Reaping.  At noon the party met openly with Sister Amariss in the Diamond Lake boneyard, where they had first encountered her just a few months earlier.  However, this time her green robes looked bulkier, as if they were worn over some kind of armor, and she wore a heavy mace on her belt that had not been there before.  Alexander communicated to Amariss that the Matriarch of the Church of St. Cuthbert had ordered the violence against her parrishoners to stop.  Amariss seemed grateful to receive this news.  She thanked Alexander for his fair-mindedness in reaching a judgment that was at odds with his former priest.  And she expressed sympathy for Father Jierian, despite the hardship that his preaching had caused her and her church.  She could only imagine how hard it must be to hear the words of one's god and then see them contradicted.    Thorash and Alexander retired to Allustan's house to begin working together to craft a Wand of Cure Serious Wounds.  Allustan welcomed his former pupil with open arms.  He reported that he had been spending a lot of time in the Whispering Cairn trying to discover more of the Wind Dukes' secrets.  He mentioned that he had been working to clear out a collapsed passage, and that he couldn't wait to find out what might lie on the other side.  Alexander asked Allustan if he knew of any magical effect that might cause divinations to become muffled.  Allustan said that he didn't.    1st of Goodmonth.  Thorash and Alexander had been working together for 4 days to craft the wand.  On this day, a courier arrived and delivered a letter to Alexander.  It contained a short message as well as another sealed letter.  The message instructed Alexander to deliver the sealed message to Father Jierian.  The message also informed him that Father Jierian was being ordered to stop making any reference to Wee Jas, the church of Wee Jas, or any followers of Wee Jas in his sermons until further notice.  Alexander assembled the rest of the party (except Thorash) and delivered the letter to Father Jierian.  He read it in front of them with a look of consternation, but he did not offer a verbal reaction.  He thanked the party for delivering it and ushered the party out, insisting that he had important matters to attend to.    4th of Goodmonth.  This was the next Godsday since the party's arrival in town.  Most of the members of the party were prepared to attend Father Jierian's sermon to discover whether he would abide by the Matriarch's orders.  However, at dawn, before the service started, there was a hubbub as people went to the boneyard to see something.  The party followed the crowd and found a small group of common folk celebrating around a large wooden sign planted in the ground.  The sign read, "Because of your foolish actions, Diamond Lake no longer enjoys the protection of Wee Jas.  May She have mercy upon your souls!"  Killick investigated the boneyard, and found that the sign was made from wood torn from the back of a utility shed.  When the party returned to the town square, they learned that all of the known worshippers of Wee Jas had gathered up their belongings and left town in the middle of the night.  Although the party found these events somewhat ominous, the townsfolk seemed relieved that the conflict was over and happy that their side had won.  Father Jierian's sermon later that morning expressed similar pleasure at what he considered to be an important victory over an enemy of St. Cuthbert (which he was careful not to name).    9th of Goodmonth.  Thorash and Alexander completed their Wand of Cure Serious Wounds, and the party departed for the town of Rosewater, home of the Rainbow Mage.    15th of Goodmonth.  About halfway to their destination, along what the residents of Greyhawk call the Urnst Trail, as it winds around the northern foothills of the Abbor Alz mountain chain, the party was ambushed by a tribe of marauding ogres.  The ogres blocked the road on both sides with felled trees and then ran down the hills from all directions, quickly surrounding the party.  The ogres were all clad in hide armor and wielded giant clubs.  Two of the 11 ogres seemed to be wearing slightly fancier armor and wielding slightly nicer clubs.  These two barked orders to their comrades.  The ogres did tremendous amounts of damage with their clubs.  After suffering one such blow, Alexander cast Fly and then rose out of the ogres' reach.  From the air, he pelted the ogres with lightning bolts, shouts, and magic missiles.  Meanwhile, the rest of the party became completely surrounded and flanked.  The party members dropped like flies beneath the ogres' furious blows.  One of the first to drop was Thorash, who was carrying the new healing wand in some unknown location.  Then Grimlock II (Killick's wonderdog) fell.  Then Katawan fell.  Then Tarric fell.  Although the ranks of the ogres were thinning as well, things looked grim for the heroes.  Alees tumbled to Thorash's body and rifled through his Bag of Holding until she found the Wand (wondering all the while why he didn't keep it in a more accessible location).  She was able to use it to revive Katawan and Tarric before being felled herself.  Having just awoken, Tarric nobly stood up to face the few remaining ogres, but he was in no shape to fight.  He was struck with a vicious blow that nearly took his head off just before the last ogre was killed.  His soul was almost ready to depart the Material Plane (yet again) when Killick administered a very timely charge from the new wand.  He then did the same for Thorash, who reclaimed the wand and restored consciousness to all the other party members.    The party looted the ogres' bodies and found very little of value.  Only the 2 ogre leaders had magical items - magical hide armor and magical greatclubs.  Although these items were big and bulky, and although it might be hard to find a buyer for such items, the party found a way to stow them for sale at a future date and continued along the road south towards their destination.</blockquote>

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