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Message: <blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 1297566" data-attributes="member: 11">Session #50Beorth decided he did not want to stay at the inn and made his way down to where the dwarves were camped, and Derek joined him.  Jeremy ended up staying with Ratchis.Martin left the room and made his way to the room that had been prepared for him.  He opened the door and sitting there with a glass of wine was a figure in robes of varying shades of red, from deep blood red, to nearly a flaming orange.  He had curly red hair and a well-kept beard.“Richard!” Martin said, coming in and closing the door.“I was hoping I’d run into you,” said Richard smiling and standing.“Well, waiting in my room uninvited is one way to assure that,” retorted Martin.Richard the Red shrugged his shoulders. “I was hoping you had time to discuss a few things.”“Of course,” Martin replied.  “Do you have a room?”“No, but I have a… place I am staying,” Richard said, he gestured towards the door.The two Academy mages left the inn. Richard began to lead the way northward out of town.“Where are we going?” Martin asked.“Oh, I got tired of having to keep a guise up all the time while in town, so when a nearby place opened up I decided to headquarter there for a while,” Richard explained.“The temple of Bast?” Martin asked.“Uh-huh,” Richard replied.  “Now, tell me, what have you been up to?  I hope you have not forgotten our deal to exchange information.”“No, I have not,” Martin said, grudgingly and began to go into a truncated version of what had occurred at the Necropolis.  Richard seemed most interested in the books that had been recovered.“Any enchantments on the books?” he asked.“On two, but we have a rune-thrower with us that should be able to dispel them,” Martin explained.“You still have not gotten that spell?” Condescension entered the older watch-mage’s voice. “You know, as part of our information exchange, if you let me examine the books I would be happy to pen you a scroll with the dispel magic spell on it.”Martin stopped walking.  The woods were dark. There was a nip to the air, and crickets were out in force.  “I remember the talk we had before about the watch-mage oath,” Martin said.“What about it?”“That newly graduated academy wizards are less experienced, and that older…uh, more mature wizards such as yourself are in a better position to regulate magic and know what can be used safely and for what purpose.”“I still believe that,” replied Richard.Martin stepped backward away from Richard and back towards Summit.“What else did you want to talk about?” Martin asked, a hint of nervousness and annoyance entering his voice.“Why are you getting so frazzled, Martin?” Richard asked, stepping towards the younger watch-mage.  He flashed a smile that glowed in the blurry moonlight of Mind’s Eie (1)  “Look, we are each doing our own thing.  We have our own agendas and responsibilities, but obviously these overlap in places, and information you have may help me and vice versa.  Or you may have information you do not understand completely yet, and much like when one puts together a jigsaw puzzle., sometimes you have to turn the pieces around and examine them from all angles to see how they fit with another.  And another set of eyes, so to speak, can really be helpful.  We are both watch-mages of the Academy, both tradition and mandate say we are supposed to aid one another.”“I don’t believe that what you are trying to accomplish is all that helpful and good,” Martin replied.  “And I am not sure I want to provide you with information that you can ‘turn around’.  It is my responsibility as watch-mage to assure that one of our order is not misusing his power and authority. And… and… I get the impression that there is a lot you don’t share with me.”Richard sighed and looked down.  When he looked back up the smile had left his face and his blue eyes burned with derision. “I’ve been nothing but helpful to you, Martin.  Training, spells, information.  If anything you’ve been withholding from me.”He paused and composed himself and then continued.  “I assume you don’t have the books on you, so if you want to turn around and go back and get them before we go any further, let’s do it now.”Martin paused.“I think I’ll be going back…” He finally said.“For the books?”Martin shook his head.  “Our agreement was limited…”“Martin, you are making a mistake,” Richard said.  Now it was his turn to shake his head.“Two great evils released into the world,” Martin said.“Huh?”“Two witches,” Martin explained. (2)“Two?  I released only one,” Richard protested.  And Martin was taken aback.  Certainly Richard was a good liar, but it seemed a strange thing to lie about when he readily admitted he was planning to free all three.“One, three, it does not matter,” Martin said, recovering quickly.  “I don’t think I should give you the material to do even more harm.”“You don’t see the whole picture,” Richard said.“I’ve heard that before.”Richard paused again.“The wedge between us may cause you more harm that it will me, Martin,” Richard said, sitting on a stump.  “I know you know more than you’ve told me about the gnomes.  Fine.  I know you know more than you’ve told me about the books.  Fine.  I know you know more than you’ve told me about Rindalith. Fine.  But don’t think you can hold against me some information I may have withheld.  This works both ways.  And I know you have been cautious.  Overly cautious.”Richard stood again.“If you want to end our agreement to share information, fine.  But answer me one last thing.  You owe me at least that much since it is you who are breaking your word.  The monks of Anubis, or whatever they are, that you mentioned, are they looking for a place or a thing?”Again, Martin was surprised.  “What do you want to know about them for?  And, uh… I don’t know what they are looking for anyway.”“Then our agreement is ended,” Richard said with disappointment in his voice.Martin shrugged his shoulders and turned to walk back to town.  “I wish I could wish you farewell and good luck.”‘Well, I can wish you good luck, Martin,” Richard called after him.  “There are far too many watch-mages that do not make it back to the reunions.  Let us hope you are not one of them.”Ralem, 22nd of Prem – 565 H.E.The next day was one of errands and chores.  Belear was able to use the scroll to restore some of Kazrack’s life energy (3) and Ratchis used a gem to pay for the might composite longbow he had ordered the last time the party was in town. (4)Midday found Beorth and Derek in the inn common room sharing a meal.“I’ve been thinking about the people in our little bad,” the paladin said.“Yes?” Derek took a swig of goat’s milk, and then wiped his upper lip.“It seems I don’t know much about anyone in it, and what I did know I have forgotten,” Beorth continued. “So I was wondering if you could tell me a little about what you’ve done before you joined us as a start… It’s just that, well, you seem very young.”“I’m old enough to be conscripted,” Derek said with a laugh.  “I guess that is all that matters.  My dad signed my up with a recruiter to come up to Derome-Delem as a way to avoid the war.  However, my entire group was slaughtered in the Ogre Wood on our way westward from Ettinnos.”“The Ogre Wood?”“It is about two weeks east of here, maybe slightly more, since you have to go south around the undead lands,” Derek explained.Beorth nodded solemnly.“I was left for dead, but was found by a woodsman named Red Arrow.  He was a ranger who helped people on the road and who traveled a lot.  He nursed me back to health and showed me some his craft.  I did not learn until later that he was sick…dying.  He asked that I would bring a message to Martin the Green that he was supposed to deliver; a message from Barnstable the Brown in Ettinos, another academy wizard.”Beorth nodded again.“So, what do you think of the others in our group?” the paladin asked.“Well…” But Derek did not get to answer as Ratchis came walking into the inn and joined them.Martin walked in soon after, having returned from talking with Maxel.  And at the same time Maria came down from her room and sat with them when Ratchis waved her over.“So, where do you plan to go looking for the dragon?” Ratchis asked her.“We’re planning to go into that steamy area.  It’s gotten bigger over the last few months.  They say the dragon breathes fire, maybe it’s the cause,’ she replied.“There are dangerous creatures in there,” Ratchis said. He signaled for one of the barmaids to bring more food to the table.“I didn’t come all the way out her to avoid danger,” Maria said.  “Bad enough I was locked away out of action for so long.”“Well, I don’t think the dragon is among them,’ Ratchis said, his eyes widening at the tray of stew and bread the barmaid brought over.“Well, once we scrounge up two more people to come along with us we’ll be finding out for ourselves,” Maria stood, grabbing a huge chunk of bread and dipped it in Ratchis’ stew and took a big bite.  “I need to get some gear and see who’s around.  Nice talking to ya!”She took off and Martin took the opportunity to tell the others about his conversation with Richard the Red the night before.“Is this the group of monks I fought with?” Beorth asked, trying his hardest to delve into the inky depth of his memory, but only coming up something Jana had recounted to him. (5)“I assume so,” Martin replied.“Did I ever say why I fought with them?” Beorth asked.“No, I don’t think so,” Martin replied.  “But I guess you felt they were in the wrong about the dire ram they had captured.”“I think that ‘door’ beneath the temple is a more immediate problem than the monks,” Ratchis said.“Well, now that your deal is off with Richard,” Beorth asked the watch-mage.  “Do you think that he will allow us to examine the door peacefully since he is now holed up in the temple of Bast?”“The chances do not seem very high,” Martin sighed.“Perhaps a message to Barnstable the Brown can help you decide if this Richard the Red person is worth trusting,” Derek suggested.The feasibility of getting a message to the distant watch-mage (and getting a reply) was then discussed in detail.Kazrack soon entered the inn and made the suggestion that the party hire Finn Fisher and his crew to deliver the message for them.“Don’t you think their preparations for traveling to Ettinos will look like their preparations for deserting?” Ratchis asked.“Anyway, it might be important for them to stay here,” Martin suggested. “From what Maxel says the aldermen of all the alder-villages of Gothanius have been called to Twelve Trolls to discuss the matter of the gnomes and the dead mercenaries (6), and that the last time this happened it led to what people around here call ‘the orc skirmishes’, that is the gathering of the militia. I don’t think they want to be caught wandering too far abroad when all these militia men start wandering in this direction.”As everyone but Kazrack thought this put an end to the idea of sending a message by means of the group of dragon-hunters that had come to be known as ‘the Shepherds’, the discussion was put to rest and it was decided that they would gather their things and leave immediately to Garvan to find out what was happening to their gnomish friends and see what could be done about averting war between the peaceful earth people and the people of the Gothanius.----------------------------The Fearless Manticore Killers and their dwarven companions marched down into Greenreed Valley and then northward to the tunnel leading back out of it and to the woods beyond it where the gnome community was somewhere to be found. (7)  It was suggested to Martin that since Thomas knew the way he might be sent ahead and see how safe it was since he might be able to communicate with a gnome if he found a friendly one. (8) Martin sent Thomas off to scout ahead with a reminder to be careful.“I’m doing this on one condition,” Thomas said mentally to his master, leaping to a tree.“What’s that?” Martin asked.“That when we get to gnomes you’ll take that ring off so I can enjoy some nuts for a change,” the squirrel admonished. (9) Martin agreed.  “I already told you I would.”The group marched past the burnt out safehouse where they had first encountered the gnomes and where they had seen the projected image of Mozek what seemed like a million years before.  It was hard to believe that one was just months ago, and the later just barely two weeks before.  They headed towards where they had fought the undead Gothanian mercenaries and the fiendish gnomes brothers of Mozek. It was not far past here when Martin called mentally to Thomas to find out if he had seen or heard anything, that Ratchis called for everyone to stop.  He could see a wolverine climbing head first down a tree towards them, growling and its fur bristling.“I think…” he began.“The gnome are here,!” Martin cried mentally to Martin.“Everyone hold where you are!” A high-pitched voice called from the brush surrounding them. -----------------------Notes(1) Mind’s Eie is the name of Aquerra’s moon.  It gives a hazy gray light like a dirty pearl.  (2) The party first met Richard the Red when he was trying to go through with a plan to free three powerful drow witches from captivity in order to sow more chaos and dissention in the dark elf ranks and delay the war on the surface they were planning.  (See Session #21)(3) DM’s Note: Kazrack had one level restored, bringing him to a level 2 priest / level 3 fighter.(4) DM’s Note: Despite his 18 strength, Ratchis was only able to afford to get a strength bow that allowed for bonuses to damage up to a 16 strength.(5) The fight in question occurred in Session #31.(6) The party came across the aftermath of this battle in session #39.(7) Remember, When the party was first brought there they were blindfolded and led around a while so as to not be able to determine where Garvan actually was.(8) Some gnomes learn the ability to speak with small burrowing animals.(9) Thomas has beeen ‘suffering’ from the effects of Lacan’s Demise as well (the Ring of Sustenance).</blockquote>

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