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Menexenus's Age of Worms Campaign Journal
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<blockquote data-quote="Menexenus" data-source="post: 3655122" data-attributes="member: 8951"><p><strong>Session 37: To Rescue Allustan</strong></p><p></p><p><em>8th of Harvester</em>. After facing the guardian of the portal, the party decided not to press on into the cairn. They returned to Diamond Lake for a day in order to heal and recover spells. Killick left the party to collect medicinal herbs. Alees turned in for a midday nap. The rest of the party struck a deal with Venelle that she would mount the dragon's head for free and would also skin the dragon in preparation to make something useful out of its hide. If the party did not return to commission the creation of an item from the dragon's hide, she would keep it.</p><p> </p><p> <em>9th of Harvester</em>. The party was awakened by shouts of joy coming from outside. They saw commoners outside dancing in the streets. When they opened their door to go outside and find out what the commotion was about, they stumbled over a large bundle just outside their door with something heavy inside. The bundle had a note pinned to the outside that read, "Thank you for killing the dragon." They opened the bundle (which was made of torn clothes) and discovered 500 gold pieces inside! They went outside and found that apparently everyone in town opened up their doors this morning to a similar bundle. However, the commoners in town only received 50 gp in their bundles and their bundles did not come with notes attached. The party discussed the possible origin of the money without coming to any firm conclusions. The common people of Diamond Lake were very grateful for this money which could not have come at a better time. The party asked Alees examine the handwriting on the note, but she did not recognize it. The party then divided up the 500 gp between themselves. However, Alexander refused to accept his share of the money, not wanting to be beholden to (or scryed upon by an) unknown benefector.</p><p></p><p> After spending a little time speculating as to the identity and the motives of the town's benefactor(s), the party returned to the Whispering Cairn to find out what had happened to Allustan. They entered the portal and emerged in a long smokey hallway howling with wind. The noise and the wind seemed to be coming from small whistle-like nodules built into the wall. The smoke that hung in the air quickly coalesced into beings that tried to enter the party members' lungs! Tarric and Alexander were overcome by these strange beings and felt claws ripping into them from the inside. The party responded to the attack. Killick found that his walking stick/quarterstaff had no effect on the smokey creatures. Grimlock was also unable to affect the creatures. So, he dropped his walking stick and cast Magic Fang on his wardog Grimlock. (However, he found that casting in the midst of such a loud noise required a significant amount of concentration.) Meanwhile, Tarric coughed out the smoke-being that had entered his lungs. Alexander was unable to do likewise. The mage doubled over in pain as the creature continued to assault him from the inside. Freed of the vile smoke creature, Tarric brought his magical sword to bear to great effect, cleaving quickly through the enemies.</p><p></p><p> Thorash ran down the hallway and into the next room, guessing that the smoke creatures would not be able to reach him there. But his plan was foiled as one of the smoke creatures followed him into the larger pillared hall with two strange spikey barricades. Thorash fought the smoke creature with Katawan's assistance. However, as he maneuvered to flank the wind creature, he inadvertently activated a trap. A hurricane wind came up suddenly and blew the dwarf onto the barricade, causing him to become impaled on one of the spikes. </p><p></p><p> Alees and Killick were both briefly invaded by the strange smoke creatures, but they exhaled them quickly with some effort. Alexander had much greater difficulty ridding himself of the insidious creature. He did so briefly on two occasions, only to have the smoke re-enter his body. Killick overcame the noise of the windy room to cast a spell on Alexander that allowed him to recover health slowly over time. He also successfully cast more customary healing spells on the wizard to keep him from losing consciousness. When the smoke creature emerged from Alexander the third time, the party was ready for it and cut it down quickly. Some of the smoke creatures took physical form and attacked with wings, claws, and bites when they found themselves unable to enter their target's lungs. But this mode of attack was not very effective. All six of the smoke creatures were soon dispatched, and only Alexander was much the worse for wear. (Thorash had quickly healed the damage the spike had done to him.)</p><p></p><p> As the party moved into the adjoining hall, Thorash took care to warn his companions about the wind trap that he had succumbed to. This room was larger than the first, containing two rows of pillars, two spikey barricades, three sets of double doors, and bas-relief sculptures on the walls near each set of doors depicting the same tall, thin, bald, robe-clad figures that they had first seen in the Whispering Cairn. Alees moved to the far set of doors to check it for traps. However, as she approached the door, she triggered a device which released smoke from the wall. The smoke played across the bas-relief, causing it to simulate motion. It showed an armored, apparently high-ranking Wind Duke fighting and defeating many twisted creatures of Chaos. At the end of the display, the gas showed the Wind Duke holding out a square seal in one hand and a long rod or staff in the other, as if presenting them to those watching the spectacle. However, as interesting as the smoke performance may have been, it caused Alees to cough. When she was done coughing, she stumbled around and had trouble catching her balance. She mentioned to the rest of the party that she felt weird. Killick came up to her and cast Delay Poison, just in case. Alees continued with her search of the door and found it to be untrapped. In fact, in the middle of her careful search, she discovered that they were in fact false doors. There was nothing behind them but stone. </p><p></p><p> Alees was now much more cautious about where she walked. She found that the next set of double doors was similarly trapped, but the third set of double doors was untrapped. Katawan volunteered to set off the known trap in order to see whether it would give them any new information. However, the smokey display was identical to the first. Katawan seemed unaffected by the smoke. Killick moved to the third set of double doors (which Alees had certified to be untrapped) and set off another gas trap which produced another identical display. Although caught slightly off guard, Killick was not otherwise harmed by the gas. </p><p></p><p> Killick opened the double doors and the party filed quickly into the adjoining hallway, before the gas trap could reset itself. However, as Grimlock stepped on a stone in the floor, a loud arcane word was spoken to him and he was paralyzed. The party waited for a short time, but Killick's faithful canine did not recover. Ahead was a large statue of a Wind Duke holding an ornate greatsword. Killick determined using his tracking skills that Allustan had come through this hall and taken a right turn, entering another set of closed double doors just ahead. Since his dog was still paralyzed, he dragged it over to the far side of the statue, away from the double doors that they would soon be opening. As he dragged Grimlock, Killick heard the same arcane word being spoken to him, but there was no effect. </p><p></p><p> When Alees certifed that the door was untrapped, the party opened it, revealing a large room with double doors on the far side. From the ceiling hung 4 chandeliers shining with a purple light as well as a black sphere hanging between them. Alexander immediately recognized the symbol on the black sphere as that of Bwimb, a cruel general from the para-elemental plane of ooze who had allied with the Queen of Chaos at the Battle of Pesh. He also recognized that the chandeliers were crafted from loops of metal that resembled his Talisman of the Sphere (which he had obtained from Zosiel's tomb in the Whispering Cairn). Sound in the room was very muted, as if it were being absorbed by the black tile floor. Just beyond the entrance were two staircases rising to a second level gallery that traversed the room's perimeter. The walls on the lower level seemed to contain detailed frescoes that were difficult to see from the entrance. Alees investigated the stairs carefully and found them to be untrapped. Killick ascended the stairs and found that there were two sets of double doors on the second balcony level as well, one set on each opposing side. Killick called for Alees to continue checking for traps leading up to the doors on the second level.</p><p></p><p> Thorash grew impatient with the care being taken by Alees and Killick and walked into the lower level to investigate the frescoes more closely. However, as soon as he walked under one of the chandeliers, the floor seemed to come alive. As it assembled itself into a lumpy black mass, it knocked Thorash off his feet. The black ooze occupied almost the entire room. Thorash immediately stood up and cast Flame Strike into the center of the room (singeing the black sphere and tarnishing the chandeliers on the ceiling). It wriggled with pain. Alees shot it with a bolt of force from the Rainbow Crossbow. The bolt seemed to hurt the creature, but it immediately divided into two smaller oozes. Killick cast his trusty flame spell and hurled orbs of flame at the oozes. Katawan leaped forward striking and damaging one of the large fluid masses. The two oozes formed pseudopods that lunged forward to strike out at Thorash and Alees. Thorash was missed, but Alees was struck. The ooze's body followed its pseudopod, completely engulfing the screaming rogue (to the horror of her party-mates)! Tarric rushed forward and slashed at the ooze to free Alees. His slash damaged the ooze, but it also split again into two smaller oozes. Tarric noticed some smoke rising from his weapon. He looked down to discover that his sword was dissolving in acid before his eyes. If the creature was able to do such horrific damage to his weapon, imagine what it was doing to Alees! Alexander refrained from casting Magic Missile at the creatures for fear of causing them to split even further, so he tossed his last Fireball at the creatures. However, the one that contained Alees seemed to avoid some of the damage. Katawan moved up to the ooze that contained Alees and pummeled it furiously with his fists. After the assault, the ooze shriveled up dead revealing an unconscious Alees with some of her equipment still in the process of dissolving. Killick tumbled down the stairs, dropping his walking stick along the way, and stood over Alees's prone body holding out a potion. His magical petrified quarterstaff also appeared suddenly in his gloved hand. Tarric grabbed the potion and forced it into Alees's mouth.</p><p></p><p> Now there were two oozes left, a smaller one and a larger one. The larger one attacked Thorash again. This time it struck him and engulfed him. Tarric dropped his shield and attacked the ooze with Killick's walking stick. It damaged the ooze, which did not split in two this time. However, Tarric found that the walking stick was also dissolving in his hands. He dropped the stick just before the ooze's powerful acid completely vaporized it. Alexander was still fearful of using his Magic Missiles, and Tarric was fearful of losing his last magical bastard sword. So it was up to Katawan to use his fists to do most of the damage against the oozes while Killick threw orbs of fire at them. The smaller ooze struck Killick. As it engulfed his body, Killick released his petrified quarterstaff. Just before the black fluid closed around his face, he implored Tarric to use the quarterstaff. After dropping his shield, Tarric followed used Killick's weapon (made out of petrified wood) to good effect.</p><p></p><p> A few moments later, both oozes were destroyed by the combined assault of Tarric and Katawan. When the smaller one died and shriveled, it revealed a still conscious Killick. None of his belongings had been ravaged by the creature's acid because he had cast a spell moments earlier that protected him from the harmful effects of acid. However, as the larger ooze shriveled in death, it revealed Thorash's skeleton with only his Bag of Holding remaining. The party was shocked: Thorash was dead and most of his belongings were gone! Since Thorash was the party's cleric, they were unable to raise him without outside assistance. It was clear that the party needed to withdraw from the cairn. Killick offered to reincarnate the dwarf. Many in the party found the idea appealing, hoping that Thorash's new body might come with a more pleasant disposition. However, Alexander suggested that the party take Thorash back to his church to see whether they would revive him at their expense.</p><p> </p><p> Since he was out of healing spells, Killick removed Alees's Necklace of Prayer Beads in order to use it to bring her back to consciousness. As he did so, he noticed that Alees also wore a ring around her neck on a thin leather cord. Killick was surprised by this, but did not immediately say anything to Alees. The party had more important things to do. Alees used her remaining healing spells on the other party members. The party then collected Thorash's remains and the still-paralyzed Grimlock and withdrew from the cairn.</p><p> </p><p> <em>10th of Harvester</em>. After rememorizing spells, the party teleported back to Greyhawk. However, after Alexander's last encounter with Eligos, the party did not return to his house immediately. They spent most of the day tracking down Mother Iridni, the Prelate of Wee Jas. The party discovered that Wee Jas did not have a dedicated temple in the Free City. So they were forced to track down Iridni's residence. When they finally found it, it was well-appointed, as befitting the residence of an official ambassador. When the party mentioned their business was related to Thorash, they were granted an audience with Her Excellency. Mother Iridni greeted the party in a sitting room dressed in her ceremonial finest. She was a tall but wrinkled and dour-looking woman with a prominent aquiline nose and hair that was dyed bright red. She interacted with the party in a very formal manner. Overall, the party found her to be a little creepy. When they explained the circumstances of Thorash's death and asked if the church would be interested in raising him, Mother Iridni replied that Thorash's service to the church of Wee Jas had been exemplary and she was certain that his service to the Ruby Sorceress was not yet complete. She was sure that the Death Goddess would consent to return her servant to the land of the living. She asked for Thorash's remains and took them with her to a private chamber. About 30 minutes later, she emerged with Thorash. Thorash asked the party for his equipment and was disappointed to learn that only the contents of his Bag of Holding were left to him.</p><p> </p><p> The party decided to stay that night at a common inn that they had never been to before, in the hope that they would not be recognized. Alees left the group to keep watch on Eligos's residence.</p><p> </p><p> <em>11th of Harvester</em>. After breakfast, Alees returned and informed the group that she had seen a very burly man whom she did not recognize leaving Eligos's house the previous night. He went to the local bar and had some drinks, but kept to himself. She followed the man back to Eligos's house when he was done. He entered the house without knocking or being announced by the elven manservant. She returned to the bar and asked the barmaid about him, and she told Alees that the man had been coming to the bar for about a week now. One time he had come with a smaller man, but they had acted secretively whenever she or anyone else had approached them. The smaller man was very non-descript, but definitely did not fit Eligos's discription. Alees had continued watching the house until the morning. Soon after dawn, someone resembling a door-to-door salesman carrying a satchel arrived at the house. He was shown in by Pollard and left again about half an hour later. His satchel seemed to be about as full when he left as it had been when he arrived. She had been unable to peer into any windows because all of the curtains had been drawn. She had not tried to open any windows from the outside, for fear of setting of arcane alarms.</p><p></p><p> After breakfast, the party went together to sell some of the items that they had not had a chance to sell previously and split the proceeds between themselves. Then the party members split up, resolving to conduct any business that needed conducting during the remainder of the day. They pledged to meet outside Eligos's house for a potential joint confrontation at around 5 pm.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Menexenus, post: 3655122, member: 8951"] [b]Session 37: To Rescue Allustan[/b] [I]8th of Harvester[/I]. After facing the guardian of the portal, the party decided not to press on into the cairn. They returned to Diamond Lake for a day in order to heal and recover spells. Killick left the party to collect medicinal herbs. Alees turned in for a midday nap. The rest of the party struck a deal with Venelle that she would mount the dragon's head for free and would also skin the dragon in preparation to make something useful out of its hide. If the party did not return to commission the creation of an item from the dragon's hide, she would keep it. [I]9th of Harvester[/I]. The party was awakened by shouts of joy coming from outside. They saw commoners outside dancing in the streets. When they opened their door to go outside and find out what the commotion was about, they stumbled over a large bundle just outside their door with something heavy inside. The bundle had a note pinned to the outside that read, "Thank you for killing the dragon." They opened the bundle (which was made of torn clothes) and discovered 500 gold pieces inside! They went outside and found that apparently everyone in town opened up their doors this morning to a similar bundle. However, the commoners in town only received 50 gp in their bundles and their bundles did not come with notes attached. The party discussed the possible origin of the money without coming to any firm conclusions. The common people of Diamond Lake were very grateful for this money which could not have come at a better time. The party asked Alees examine the handwriting on the note, but she did not recognize it. The party then divided up the 500 gp between themselves. However, Alexander refused to accept his share of the money, not wanting to be beholden to (or scryed upon by an) unknown benefector. After spending a little time speculating as to the identity and the motives of the town's benefactor(s), the party returned to the Whispering Cairn to find out what had happened to Allustan. They entered the portal and emerged in a long smokey hallway howling with wind. The noise and the wind seemed to be coming from small whistle-like nodules built into the wall. The smoke that hung in the air quickly coalesced into beings that tried to enter the party members' lungs! Tarric and Alexander were overcome by these strange beings and felt claws ripping into them from the inside. The party responded to the attack. Killick found that his walking stick/quarterstaff had no effect on the smokey creatures. Grimlock was also unable to affect the creatures. So, he dropped his walking stick and cast Magic Fang on his wardog Grimlock. (However, he found that casting in the midst of such a loud noise required a significant amount of concentration.) Meanwhile, Tarric coughed out the smoke-being that had entered his lungs. Alexander was unable to do likewise. The mage doubled over in pain as the creature continued to assault him from the inside. Freed of the vile smoke creature, Tarric brought his magical sword to bear to great effect, cleaving quickly through the enemies. Thorash ran down the hallway and into the next room, guessing that the smoke creatures would not be able to reach him there. But his plan was foiled as one of the smoke creatures followed him into the larger pillared hall with two strange spikey barricades. Thorash fought the smoke creature with Katawan's assistance. However, as he maneuvered to flank the wind creature, he inadvertently activated a trap. A hurricane wind came up suddenly and blew the dwarf onto the barricade, causing him to become impaled on one of the spikes. Alees and Killick were both briefly invaded by the strange smoke creatures, but they exhaled them quickly with some effort. Alexander had much greater difficulty ridding himself of the insidious creature. He did so briefly on two occasions, only to have the smoke re-enter his body. Killick overcame the noise of the windy room to cast a spell on Alexander that allowed him to recover health slowly over time. He also successfully cast more customary healing spells on the wizard to keep him from losing consciousness. When the smoke creature emerged from Alexander the third time, the party was ready for it and cut it down quickly. Some of the smoke creatures took physical form and attacked with wings, claws, and bites when they found themselves unable to enter their target's lungs. But this mode of attack was not very effective. All six of the smoke creatures were soon dispatched, and only Alexander was much the worse for wear. (Thorash had quickly healed the damage the spike had done to him.) As the party moved into the adjoining hall, Thorash took care to warn his companions about the wind trap that he had succumbed to. This room was larger than the first, containing two rows of pillars, two spikey barricades, three sets of double doors, and bas-relief sculptures on the walls near each set of doors depicting the same tall, thin, bald, robe-clad figures that they had first seen in the Whispering Cairn. Alees moved to the far set of doors to check it for traps. However, as she approached the door, she triggered a device which released smoke from the wall. The smoke played across the bas-relief, causing it to simulate motion. It showed an armored, apparently high-ranking Wind Duke fighting and defeating many twisted creatures of Chaos. At the end of the display, the gas showed the Wind Duke holding out a square seal in one hand and a long rod or staff in the other, as if presenting them to those watching the spectacle. However, as interesting as the smoke performance may have been, it caused Alees to cough. When she was done coughing, she stumbled around and had trouble catching her balance. She mentioned to the rest of the party that she felt weird. Killick came up to her and cast Delay Poison, just in case. Alees continued with her search of the door and found it to be untrapped. In fact, in the middle of her careful search, she discovered that they were in fact false doors. There was nothing behind them but stone. Alees was now much more cautious about where she walked. She found that the next set of double doors was similarly trapped, but the third set of double doors was untrapped. Katawan volunteered to set off the known trap in order to see whether it would give them any new information. However, the smokey display was identical to the first. Katawan seemed unaffected by the smoke. Killick moved to the third set of double doors (which Alees had certified to be untrapped) and set off another gas trap which produced another identical display. Although caught slightly off guard, Killick was not otherwise harmed by the gas. Killick opened the double doors and the party filed quickly into the adjoining hallway, before the gas trap could reset itself. However, as Grimlock stepped on a stone in the floor, a loud arcane word was spoken to him and he was paralyzed. The party waited for a short time, but Killick's faithful canine did not recover. Ahead was a large statue of a Wind Duke holding an ornate greatsword. Killick determined using his tracking skills that Allustan had come through this hall and taken a right turn, entering another set of closed double doors just ahead. Since his dog was still paralyzed, he dragged it over to the far side of the statue, away from the double doors that they would soon be opening. As he dragged Grimlock, Killick heard the same arcane word being spoken to him, but there was no effect. When Alees certifed that the door was untrapped, the party opened it, revealing a large room with double doors on the far side. From the ceiling hung 4 chandeliers shining with a purple light as well as a black sphere hanging between them. Alexander immediately recognized the symbol on the black sphere as that of Bwimb, a cruel general from the para-elemental plane of ooze who had allied with the Queen of Chaos at the Battle of Pesh. He also recognized that the chandeliers were crafted from loops of metal that resembled his Talisman of the Sphere (which he had obtained from Zosiel's tomb in the Whispering Cairn). Sound in the room was very muted, as if it were being absorbed by the black tile floor. Just beyond the entrance were two staircases rising to a second level gallery that traversed the room's perimeter. The walls on the lower level seemed to contain detailed frescoes that were difficult to see from the entrance. Alees investigated the stairs carefully and found them to be untrapped. Killick ascended the stairs and found that there were two sets of double doors on the second balcony level as well, one set on each opposing side. Killick called for Alees to continue checking for traps leading up to the doors on the second level. Thorash grew impatient with the care being taken by Alees and Killick and walked into the lower level to investigate the frescoes more closely. However, as soon as he walked under one of the chandeliers, the floor seemed to come alive. As it assembled itself into a lumpy black mass, it knocked Thorash off his feet. The black ooze occupied almost the entire room. Thorash immediately stood up and cast Flame Strike into the center of the room (singeing the black sphere and tarnishing the chandeliers on the ceiling). It wriggled with pain. Alees shot it with a bolt of force from the Rainbow Crossbow. The bolt seemed to hurt the creature, but it immediately divided into two smaller oozes. Killick cast his trusty flame spell and hurled orbs of flame at the oozes. Katawan leaped forward striking and damaging one of the large fluid masses. The two oozes formed pseudopods that lunged forward to strike out at Thorash and Alees. Thorash was missed, but Alees was struck. The ooze's body followed its pseudopod, completely engulfing the screaming rogue (to the horror of her party-mates)! Tarric rushed forward and slashed at the ooze to free Alees. His slash damaged the ooze, but it also split again into two smaller oozes. Tarric noticed some smoke rising from his weapon. He looked down to discover that his sword was dissolving in acid before his eyes. If the creature was able to do such horrific damage to his weapon, imagine what it was doing to Alees! Alexander refrained from casting Magic Missile at the creatures for fear of causing them to split even further, so he tossed his last Fireball at the creatures. However, the one that contained Alees seemed to avoid some of the damage. Katawan moved up to the ooze that contained Alees and pummeled it furiously with his fists. After the assault, the ooze shriveled up dead revealing an unconscious Alees with some of her equipment still in the process of dissolving. Killick tumbled down the stairs, dropping his walking stick along the way, and stood over Alees's prone body holding out a potion. His magical petrified quarterstaff also appeared suddenly in his gloved hand. Tarric grabbed the potion and forced it into Alees's mouth. Now there were two oozes left, a smaller one and a larger one. The larger one attacked Thorash again. This time it struck him and engulfed him. Tarric dropped his shield and attacked the ooze with Killick's walking stick. It damaged the ooze, which did not split in two this time. However, Tarric found that the walking stick was also dissolving in his hands. He dropped the stick just before the ooze's powerful acid completely vaporized it. Alexander was still fearful of using his Magic Missiles, and Tarric was fearful of losing his last magical bastard sword. So it was up to Katawan to use his fists to do most of the damage against the oozes while Killick threw orbs of fire at them. The smaller ooze struck Killick. As it engulfed his body, Killick released his petrified quarterstaff. Just before the black fluid closed around his face, he implored Tarric to use the quarterstaff. After dropping his shield, Tarric followed used Killick's weapon (made out of petrified wood) to good effect. A few moments later, both oozes were destroyed by the combined assault of Tarric and Katawan. When the smaller one died and shriveled, it revealed a still conscious Killick. None of his belongings had been ravaged by the creature's acid because he had cast a spell moments earlier that protected him from the harmful effects of acid. However, as the larger ooze shriveled in death, it revealed Thorash's skeleton with only his Bag of Holding remaining. The party was shocked: Thorash was dead and most of his belongings were gone! Since Thorash was the party's cleric, they were unable to raise him without outside assistance. It was clear that the party needed to withdraw from the cairn. Killick offered to reincarnate the dwarf. Many in the party found the idea appealing, hoping that Thorash's new body might come with a more pleasant disposition. However, Alexander suggested that the party take Thorash back to his church to see whether they would revive him at their expense. Since he was out of healing spells, Killick removed Alees's Necklace of Prayer Beads in order to use it to bring her back to consciousness. As he did so, he noticed that Alees also wore a ring around her neck on a thin leather cord. Killick was surprised by this, but did not immediately say anything to Alees. The party had more important things to do. Alees used her remaining healing spells on the other party members. The party then collected Thorash's remains and the still-paralyzed Grimlock and withdrew from the cairn. [I]10th of Harvester[/I]. After rememorizing spells, the party teleported back to Greyhawk. However, after Alexander's last encounter with Eligos, the party did not return to his house immediately. They spent most of the day tracking down Mother Iridni, the Prelate of Wee Jas. The party discovered that Wee Jas did not have a dedicated temple in the Free City. So they were forced to track down Iridni's residence. When they finally found it, it was well-appointed, as befitting the residence of an official ambassador. When the party mentioned their business was related to Thorash, they were granted an audience with Her Excellency. Mother Iridni greeted the party in a sitting room dressed in her ceremonial finest. She was a tall but wrinkled and dour-looking woman with a prominent aquiline nose and hair that was dyed bright red. She interacted with the party in a very formal manner. Overall, the party found her to be a little creepy. When they explained the circumstances of Thorash's death and asked if the church would be interested in raising him, Mother Iridni replied that Thorash's service to the church of Wee Jas had been exemplary and she was certain that his service to the Ruby Sorceress was not yet complete. She was sure that the Death Goddess would consent to return her servant to the land of the living. She asked for Thorash's remains and took them with her to a private chamber. About 30 minutes later, she emerged with Thorash. Thorash asked the party for his equipment and was disappointed to learn that only the contents of his Bag of Holding were left to him. The party decided to stay that night at a common inn that they had never been to before, in the hope that they would not be recognized. Alees left the group to keep watch on Eligos's residence. [I]11th of Harvester[/I]. After breakfast, Alees returned and informed the group that she had seen a very burly man whom she did not recognize leaving Eligos's house the previous night. He went to the local bar and had some drinks, but kept to himself. She followed the man back to Eligos's house when he was done. He entered the house without knocking or being announced by the elven manservant. She returned to the bar and asked the barmaid about him, and she told Alees that the man had been coming to the bar for about a week now. One time he had come with a smaller man, but they had acted secretively whenever she or anyone else had approached them. The smaller man was very non-descript, but definitely did not fit Eligos's discription. Alees had continued watching the house until the morning. Soon after dawn, someone resembling a door-to-door salesman carrying a satchel arrived at the house. He was shown in by Pollard and left again about half an hour later. His satchel seemed to be about as full when he left as it had been when he arrived. She had been unable to peer into any windows because all of the curtains had been drawn. She had not tried to open any windows from the outside, for fear of setting of arcane alarms. After breakfast, the party went together to sell some of the items that they had not had a chance to sell previously and split the proceeds between themselves. Then the party members split up, resolving to conduct any business that needed conducting during the remainder of the day. They pledged to meet outside Eligos's house for a potential joint confrontation at around 5 pm. [/QUOTE]
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