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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Galfridus" data-source="post: 42086" data-attributes="member: 119">Episode 16: "Me and My Shadow"Leston, February 23, LE 654The cold wind that filled the room dissipates quickly. The invisible stalker is slain; it's apparent target, Mystarion, lies unconscious. The Medallion of Twilight has stabilized his wounds, but no one in the party is able to heal him further. Elbryn makes sure he is truly stable, and bandages his wounds just in case."What's going on up there?" calls the innkeeper from the bottom of the stairs. Magnimiliar descends and gives him an abridged version: something invisible attacked the party, it's dead, no danger now. The innkeeper does not seem reassured, and hurries into the street where he rings an alarm bell. Footsteps can be heard approaching. "Of course, we will take care of the damaged door and shutter and any other repairs that need to be made. Three platinum should cover that, don't you think," Magnimiliar asks, dropping the coins into the man's hand.The innkeeper looks back at Magnimiliar blankly."Four, then."Another blank stare."Five - and another for a new room."A trio of city guards rounds the corner and approaches swiftly. "What's the problem?" their leader asks, giving Magnimiliar a stern look."Ah...nothing the matter any longer, it would seem." He recaps the tale, then summons an underling to show Magnimiliar to the party's new room. (They decide to abandon the second room they had rented, just in case.) As quickly as possible, everyone moves all their stuff into the new room. Across town, Jonetello and Sara are startled when someone begins knocking urgently on Sara's door. It's her friend Louis."Sara, I was down by the Icicle and I just heard-oh, you again." Louis' verbal avalanche ceases as he catches sight of Jonetello, and a small sneer crosses his face before he continues almost as breathlessly as before. "I heard the alarm bell and walked over to the Icicle. Some sort of creature attacked a room there-by the time the guards came it was all over, but I saw where one of the shutters was bashed in. As a matter of fact," he adds, staring at Jonetello, "I think it was your friend's room..."Jonetello bids Sara a hasty farewell and dashes to the Icicle. As he gets there, Elbryn and Ravenfield are checking their previous rooms for any signs of shadow creatures. Sure enough, as Elbryn holds up a lantern, a dog's head turns away, the shadow actually pulling away from the wall before slinking into a dark corner and disappearing. It soon becomes clear that both rooms, and perhaps their new room, are being watched - but the creatures flee when faced with bright light. The party decides to seek out a priest who might be able to heal Mystarion. They travel to the temple of St. Cuthbert, where the night sentry greets them and quickly agrees to return and help. He applies two curing spells, but while Mystarion's wounds close more fully, he does not awaken. "If that doesn't wake him, none of my spells will," he concludes. "I can wake my superior - he might have more luck." His voice is doubtful, however, and the party does not seem eager to follow this suggestion. "I'll just be downstairs then if you need me." The priest goes down the stairs to the common room, casting a worried look at the blood-stained room where the battle took place.Mystarion's condition does not seem to be changing. The Medallion of Twilight, resting on his chest, is cold to the touch; in fact, Mystarion himself seems a bit cool. Thorald's Detect Magic reveals an aura of illusion, in particular shadow magic, over Mystarion. Dispel Magic has no effect. Jonetello removes Mystarion's belongings from him, including the medallion, but there is no apparent effect.The party talks at length about what may have happened and what they can do. The consensus is that Mystarion is somehow trapped in the shadow realm, but there aren't many ideas on how he might be rescued. One obvious possibility presents itself: someone else can use the Medallion to enter the shadow realm and investigate. The item must be worn by an arcane spellcaster to function, but as both Ravenfield and Magnimiliar possess sorcerous abilities, that is not a problem. What is a problem is activating the medallion; as far as anyone knows, being close to death is the only way to make it work. The command word, "Obilon", only serves to return the wearer from the shadow realm. Finally, Ravenfield takes the medallion and declares he is ready to try it out. Returning to Mystarion's old room (where there's already blood on the floor), he draws his scimitar and begins cutting himself to the point of death. No one tries to stop him, although there are several suggestions that this is not the wisest course of action. Eventually, Ravenfield recants and removes the medallion.(Out of character, this was a very amusing scene. We had Ravenfield's player yelling "Attack me! Attack me!" while everyone else was asking him what the heck he thought he was doing. "It's OK - if you kill me, you can divide up my stuff," Ravenfield finally said. All the other players stopped what they were doing, looked at each other in silence, then all pantomimed beating the crap out of Ravenfield. Ah, nothing like good old party unity <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />) The party decides to call it a night. Jonetello leaves his rapier unsheathed, so that its light will keep the room relatively shadow-free. A watch is posted to make sure no more shadows or wind creatures sneak up on them (no problem!).Leston, February 24, LE 654Shortly after dawn, a messenger arrives with a sack for Magnimiliar: inside are two notes (one for Magnimiliar, one for Mystarion) and a pouch of gold with Mystarion's name on it. Mystarion opens the note addressed to him. "It's for all of us," he says, and proceeds to read it aloud:Gentlemen,It is with a heavy heart that I must make this hasty departure. I have received an opportunity that I cannot refuse. I am not at liberty at this point to discuss it. I could not leave without saying goodbye. First, to my Closest Friend, Mags. We have traveled far together, my friend. Your humor and your wit have gotten us into and through many situations. You are all that I have known as family and you know if you need me I will always be there. Jonatello, the mad minstrel, your honor and commitment, and musical ability have been an inspiration. Mysterion, master of the mystical, your talents surely will carry you far. I just hope your wisdom lets them. HAHA! Patience and caution are 2 traits I value highly and I hope you learn to value them as dearly as I do. Even though we both practice the art, never trust it. It serves its own purpose. Boccob sees to that. Stick close to Mags. You both will need each other, I foresee. Elbryn, your sword and bow are extensions of your soul, and what a strong soul that is. Your valor in combat is an example for us all. May you always follow the right path. Thorald, I regret us not being able to discuss more about the order of Ardinor. From what you have told me it is an amazing legend. I would have liked to help you research it more. Your particular talents are like none that I have seen before. I would have liked to find out more about them but time was not kind enough for that. If there is anything I come across in my own research that can assist you I will be in touch. Ravenfield, I have not known you long, but I wish you well in whatever it is you seek. I hope you find the path that you are looking for and may this group be of as great a service to you as they have been to me. A couple of things before I go. Mystarion, the pouch is for you. Hopefully you will learn a little more about how the world works. This, of course, you can learn from Magnimiliar. Two other things. First I believe that White and Rose are somehow connected. I am not sure of the nature of the connection. Rose hates elves, White was an elf, and both have the same auras on them. Coincidence? Who knows.... Second, my gut tells me that Rose had something to do with Thorald's visitor the other night. I believe he is aware of the Order of Ardinor and was not being forthcoming with information pertaining to them. He was SCARED when Thorald mentioned it, then suddenly Thorald gets a visitor. I would press Rose about this. I mean PRESS HIM! I don't like him, and would not feel comfortable just leaving him here with all these kind people. They have enough to worry about with Malefice; they don't need this guy around. Keep a watchful eye, gentlemen, these are troubling times we are in. I will be keeping a watchful eye on you.                          LeilenAs Magnimiliar nears the end of the letter, Jonetello silences him rather forcefully. "There's no need to say this stuff out loud, in case-you know," he whispers, gesturing toward a shadowy corner. As Mystarion is still unconscious, Thorald opens the pouch, which contains fifty gold pieces, and then the note. He reads quickly, chuckles, and shows it to the rest of the group:BOOM!You're dead. Did you check for traps? Lesson number one: TRUST NOTHING! Your friend, LeilenJonetello announces loudly that he is going to fetch a priest of St. Cuthbert, and asks Magnimiliar and Thorald to come along. The trio head out into the town - but instead of heading toward Temple Square, they have a quiet conversation. They have plans for where they would like to go (which were not shared with the DM!), but will only say aloud that they are "heading to southern Rellenor". They return to the inn and make a point of saying this in their room.In order to bring Mystarion along, however, some arrangements need to be made. Jonetello makes a quick trip to the market to purchase a wagon and other supplies. Magnimiliar goes shopping for healing potions, and along the way listens for whatever gossip is on the wind. He overhears a very interesting bit of news: early this morning, Rose left town, after hiring a squad of men to act as escorts. Apparently, he is making a tour of Wassan, looking for more trade agreements with local craftsmen. Nip did not go with him; from what Magnimiliar hears, Nip left the Icicle and hasn't been seen since. When Magnimiliar conveys this information to the party, they decide that pursuing Rose might be the best course of action.Wagon in tow, the party leaves Leston by the southern Market Gate, giving their names to the bored soldiers on duty. As soon as they have traversed the causeway over Leston Bog, however, they turn west, taking an old trail that Jonetello knows will take them around to the north, along the route that Rose must be taking. They travel this path for a hour or so while they discuss their options. Rose has several hours lead on them and is mounted with no wagon to slow him down. He is likely to halt at the village of Seldon - which the party would not reach until midnight after a lengthy forced march. Gradually, the party begins to think that their original plan of returning Mystarion to Thelden makes more sense. As the winter sun reaches its zenith, they turn the wagon around and backtrack, traveling south toward Sygwerdan's land and the long road to Thelden. By sunset, they have reached the main road leading south from Leston. They pass by several villages, but decide to spend the night in the wild in case they are being watched. Jonetello and Elbryn take first watch."Dara?" Without warning, a strange figure emerges from the shadows, walking slowly toward Mystarion's unconscious figure. He is wearing a black cloak which seems to blend into the darkness around him. As he comes more fully into the firelight, Jonetello and Elbryn see that his face is blurred and indistinct, as if the light had been formed into a white shadow. They scramble to their feet and awaken the others. Jonetello interposes himself between the man and Mystarion. Several of the others attempt spells, but they all seem to fail, and the man takes no notice; however, several shadowy beasts can be heard growling from the darkness around the campfire. Thorald attempts Control Shadow and receives a mental impression of whirling darkness that leaves him stunned for several minutes. The man introduces himself as Rasilar, and claims to be a lord of the shadow realm. "I am looking for someone, a woman named Dara, who often crosses into my domain. My agents had been seeking her. Instead, it seems they found your friend here." He peers more closely at Mystarion. "Ah, it must be the amulet." He reaches for it, but Jonetello stands in the way. "May I see it?" the man requests. Jonetello takes the medallion from Mystarion and holds it up. Rasilar reaches for it, but Jonetello tosses a flask of alchemist's fire at his feet. "See...not touch." The man seems to smile (despite the "white shadow" which obscures his face, his amusement is evident), and a tendril of shadow reaches toward the medallion. After a brief struggle, it overpowers Jonetello, and delivers the medallion to Rasilar's outstretched hand. He considers it briefly."I think we have started poorly," he says, slowly. He reaches inside his cloak and produces a large sack, which jingles as he tosses it at Jonetello's feet. "Perhaps this will correct things. This woman, Dara, she is somewhere in your lands. I would be very appreciative if you could find her.""What about our friend?" asks most of the group. "The elf? There is a gate opened into the shadow realm, and his soul is trapped there.""Where is this gate? Can we travel it to rescue him?""The gate is inside him; place yourselves there and perhaps you can follow him."The party seems a bit confused. "Will he be back to normal when the gate closes?"Rasilar considers. "He will - his corpse will be just like any other. His soul will be trapped in the shadow realm, unless someone of great power can retrieve it.""Someone like you?""Indeed. In fact, if you locate Dara for me, I will promise to investigate the matter further." He raises a hand. Across the fire, a column of shadows rises, spinning round and round like a tiny whirlwind. They part to reveal a tall woman, black-haired, dressed in armor of dark metal and holding a glaive with a black blade. She is regal, stern, and beautiful. Then the shadows close in again and the image dissolves. "That is Dara." He gives the party a brooch: a black metal disk, engraved with a tower, inset silver wire outlining the profile of a face. "Use that should you wish to contact me. Best of luck." He steps back and the shadows rise; when they subside, he is gone.Thorald looks inside the bag and finds two thousand pieces of gold, all engraved with inscrutable writing on one side, and an unfamiliar face on the other.As dawn approaches, Mystarion's breathing becomes irregular and he begins to stir. The party gathers around him, but he remains unaware of his surroundings. Suddenly, his eyes fly open and he sits up and breathes a single world: "Obilon."Then, he lies back down, and dies.Leston, February 25, LE 654 Their mission to Thelden now pointless, the party reverses direction yet again and heads to Leston. They arrive mid-afternoon, giving their names to the soldiers at the gate, and head directly for the temple of Pelor."Slain by shadow creatures?" says the priest there with a frown. "That won't do at all! What can the Light of Pelor do to help you?" The party makes advance payments to keep Mystarion's body hale for four weeks, in the hope that Dara can be found in that time. Magnimiliar heads into the town to pawn the wagon and pick up rumors - and almost immediately hears that a group of heavily armed Blaumeres arrived yesterday, looking for them. "Yikes!" Acting as one, the party heads for the north gate as quickly as they can. They give fake names at the gate and take the northern road toward Carinth, where they believe Rose was last headed.</blockquote>

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