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Rel's Faded Glory Campaign (Thank You Old One!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 1003" data-attributes="member: 99"><p><strong>Who iiiiis it?</strong></p><p></p><p>As the party waits expectantly, Speaks with Stone can't help but notice that something is wiggling in his pocket and it isn't his hand. He reaches in and withdraws the tiny struggling form of the stirge he put in there a couple of days ago. He manages to keep a hold on the creature in such a way that it cannot bite him (in effect he "pinned" it - stirges have a 3 strength). Ilrath offered to stomp it to death if Speaks would hurl it to the ground. Speaks declined and instead attempted to communicate his good intentions via Animal Empathy. His efforts seemed fairly ineffective and he excused himself to release the stirge back in the caverns to the north.</p><p></p><p>By the time he returned, nobody had answered their knock and Ilrath offered to knock more loudly. The party agreed and Ilrath gave the door three firm thumps with the butt of his great axe. They waited some more.</p><p></p><p>After half a minute, they heard the rattling of a key and as dwarf opened the door, muttering in orcish, "What is it now?" as he did so. His eyes went wide with shock when he saw the party standing there and he attempted to slam the door shut, even as Krase gave a warm traditional dwarven welcome. Ilrath managed to put his shoulder into the door and stick the blade of his axe in the doorway to prevent it's closure. The dwarf beat a hasty retreat (provoking attacks of opportunity that the party decided not to take advantage of) while the party stood at the door.</p><p></p><p>"He's probably going to find someone with the authority to negotiate," said Rhys.</p><p></p><p>(??!)</p><p></p><p>The party again patiently waited as Krase warned them not to cross the threshold because it would be a violation of dwarven custom to enter without being welcomed (Someday I've got to put together a list of these made up "facts" his character spouts.). Minutes went by as the party waited and became more and more uneasy about the whole situation.</p><p></p><p>Ilrath, who was standing a good ten feet back from the door, heard a noise behind him and whirled around, noticing a mushroom being flattened under an invisible boot. "Foul trickery!" he yelled as he swung his great axe at the ambusher. His axe glanced off something invisible as another voice called out, "Now!" in dwarven.</p><p></p><p>In less than a moment, a huge dwarf appeared next to Ilrath having fired a bolt from a crossbow at point blank range. One after another these "giant" dwarves became visible until four of them had either fired crossbows or attacked with axes. Totally taken off guard by this attack, the party withstood several wounds in the process, especially Ilrath.</p><p></p><p>The party launched a series of counterattacks at the dwarves - all of which missed. As they did so, they could hear the sounds of even more dwarves moving amidst them invisibly. The dwarves that were visible moved expertly into flanking positions around Ilrath and Krase and unleashed even more brutal strokes with their battle axes (These would have included a terrible critical hit on Krase but he decided to spend a Hero Point for a reroll and I rolled a miss the second time.).</p><p></p><p>Ilrath and Krase did manage to land some minor blows against the dwarves but things were looking very very bad for the party. As Rhys stepped to the attack, he shouted, "I can't believe we killed half the orcish army trying to free these bastards!" His attack also failed to find its mark.</p><p></p><p>Above the din of battle, Krase heard a female voice call out in dwarven from the passage beyond the iron door. "Hold your attacks until I give further commands!" Then in common, the same voice commanded, "Drop your weapons and step back and we can talk!" Krase urged the party to accept the offer. Nobody in the party dropped their weapons. But except for Ilrath, they did step back. Ilrath held his attack and then, after a few more moments, moved away to where the rest of the party stood.</p><p></p><p>A lengthy dialogue then ensued between Rhys and the invisible female who identified herself as Nimira. Much was revealed and much was concealed during these discussions. Rhys asked why the dwarves had allied with their traditional enemies, the orcs. Nimira indicated that they had been suffering hard times and needed help in guarding the mountain. The orcs were willing to do so in exchange for weapons to aid them against the barbarians.</p><p></p><p>Nimira was under the impression that the orcs must have misrepresented themselves because they had told her that they were certain to defeat the barbarians whom they vastly outnumbered. She assumed that the barbarians had an army outside that had defeated the orcs at the mountain door and that the orcish army had been defeated. How else could these barbarians be standing before her.</p><p></p><p>Rhys let her go on believing the majority of these falsehoods but did mention that most of the party members hailed from Glynden. This seemed to convince Nimira even more that the orcs were defeated. Her reasoning was that the orcs hadn't counted on involvement from the Northern Provinces of the Empire.</p><p></p><p>In response to the reason the party had come, Rhys told her that they had hoped the contact the dwarves to enlist their aid against the orcs and that when they found them "besieged" by orcs, they slew the orcs to release the dwarves. Additionally, they were hoping to acquire some orc-slaying weapons to use to "finish driving the orcs back into the Blackpeaks".</p><p></p><p>To this, Nimira responded that she did not have enough men to spare in attacking the orcs but that she would make the same offer as she had to the orcs: If the barbarians would guard the upper layers of the mountain, the dwarves could focus on mining and forging weapons to aid them.</p><p></p><p>Rhys said that he would have to send a message to the leaders of their "army" (cough cough) to determine if they would agree to such an arrangement. He asked if, in the mean time, they might bargain for some of the orc-slaying weapons as a show of good faith on the part of the dwarves.</p><p></p><p>Nimira responded by saying that she gladly would if only she could. But alas, the weapons they sought were out of reach for the moment. She further explained that the majority of the weapons had been given as tribute to a dragon that dwelled in the caverns below their forges. It seems that this dragon had moved in when she was but a whelp and the dwarves saw no problem with her staying since her presence tended to deter other creatures from the "Underdark" (to which there were passages connecting in the lower levels) from attacking the dwarves. However, as time has gone on, the dragon has demanded more and more tribute to keep her satisfied.</p><p></p><p>Nimira knew of one other likely location for an orc-slaying weapon. She told the party that long ago, one of their priests went mad and raised a number of their fallen warriors from the dead (an abomination to their faith, she said). He was attacked by a number of the other dwarves but his undead minions struck them down. The other dwarves had no choice but to barricade them into the chamber they occupied. The undead still existed on the other side of that barricade and at least one of the dwarves who fought against the priest was thought to have an orc-slaying weapon.</p><p></p><p>Lastly, Nimira mentioned that she had struck a bargain with the dragon that her folk would not attack her if she left them alone. That being the case, she offered that if the party could slay the dragon or destroy the undead that plagued her people, they could recover one or more of the orc-slaying weapons and aid her people in the process.</p><p></p><p>Taking all of this into consideration, Rhys and the party withdrew to consider their options. None of them relished the thought of fighting a dragon or a bunch of undead. However, they were committed to trying to retrieve the orc-slaying weapons and ultimately decided that they would tackle the undead first and then make a try for the dragon.</p><p></p><p>They conveyed this to Nimira who seemed pleased that she would likely soon be relieved of one of her problems: The Undead, the Dragon or the Party. Rhys asked her if they had anything else in their possession that might aid them against the dragon or the undead. She responded that she would not lend them any aid against the dragon as that was a violation of her oath but she would check and see if they had something that might prove effective against the undead. She then asked if the party needed further time to prepare. They said they did.</p><p></p><p>Before the party departs the negotiations, Nimira inquires if any of them are skilled at arcane magic. Rhys replies that he is and Nimira gives him a scroll that one of her advisors has indicated might be helpful against the undead. Unfortunately, after Rhys takes the scroll, he once again gets lost in conversation with Nimira and forgets to look at it until much, much later (after the fight with the undead).</p><p></p><p>The party spent the next couple days healing and brewing potions (Speaks was rapidly using up the ingredients given to him by Orthula). Speaks also released the owl from his <em>Animal Friendship</em> spell but asked that he perform a service and act as an <em>Animal Messenger</em> to carry a note back to Rilaga. The note indicated that the dwarves would not be coming to the aid of the barbarians but that they were making a try for the orc-slaying weapons.</p><p></p><p>As instructed, the party then returned and, once again, knocked on the door to the dwarven chambers where they would do battle with untold creatures of the unlife.</p><p></p><p><strong>NEXT: Battle for the Shrine of Moradin</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rel, post: 1003, member: 99"] [B]Who iiiiis it?[/B] As the party waits expectantly, Speaks with Stone can't help but notice that something is wiggling in his pocket and it isn't his hand. He reaches in and withdraws the tiny struggling form of the stirge he put in there a couple of days ago. He manages to keep a hold on the creature in such a way that it cannot bite him (in effect he "pinned" it - stirges have a 3 strength). Ilrath offered to stomp it to death if Speaks would hurl it to the ground. Speaks declined and instead attempted to communicate his good intentions via Animal Empathy. His efforts seemed fairly ineffective and he excused himself to release the stirge back in the caverns to the north. By the time he returned, nobody had answered their knock and Ilrath offered to knock more loudly. The party agreed and Ilrath gave the door three firm thumps with the butt of his great axe. They waited some more. After half a minute, they heard the rattling of a key and as dwarf opened the door, muttering in orcish, "What is it now?" as he did so. His eyes went wide with shock when he saw the party standing there and he attempted to slam the door shut, even as Krase gave a warm traditional dwarven welcome. Ilrath managed to put his shoulder into the door and stick the blade of his axe in the doorway to prevent it's closure. The dwarf beat a hasty retreat (provoking attacks of opportunity that the party decided not to take advantage of) while the party stood at the door. "He's probably going to find someone with the authority to negotiate," said Rhys. (??!) The party again patiently waited as Krase warned them not to cross the threshold because it would be a violation of dwarven custom to enter without being welcomed (Someday I've got to put together a list of these made up "facts" his character spouts.). Minutes went by as the party waited and became more and more uneasy about the whole situation. Ilrath, who was standing a good ten feet back from the door, heard a noise behind him and whirled around, noticing a mushroom being flattened under an invisible boot. "Foul trickery!" he yelled as he swung his great axe at the ambusher. His axe glanced off something invisible as another voice called out, "Now!" in dwarven. In less than a moment, a huge dwarf appeared next to Ilrath having fired a bolt from a crossbow at point blank range. One after another these "giant" dwarves became visible until four of them had either fired crossbows or attacked with axes. Totally taken off guard by this attack, the party withstood several wounds in the process, especially Ilrath. The party launched a series of counterattacks at the dwarves - all of which missed. As they did so, they could hear the sounds of even more dwarves moving amidst them invisibly. The dwarves that were visible moved expertly into flanking positions around Ilrath and Krase and unleashed even more brutal strokes with their battle axes (These would have included a terrible critical hit on Krase but he decided to spend a Hero Point for a reroll and I rolled a miss the second time.). Ilrath and Krase did manage to land some minor blows against the dwarves but things were looking very very bad for the party. As Rhys stepped to the attack, he shouted, "I can't believe we killed half the orcish army trying to free these bastards!" His attack also failed to find its mark. Above the din of battle, Krase heard a female voice call out in dwarven from the passage beyond the iron door. "Hold your attacks until I give further commands!" Then in common, the same voice commanded, "Drop your weapons and step back and we can talk!" Krase urged the party to accept the offer. Nobody in the party dropped their weapons. But except for Ilrath, they did step back. Ilrath held his attack and then, after a few more moments, moved away to where the rest of the party stood. A lengthy dialogue then ensued between Rhys and the invisible female who identified herself as Nimira. Much was revealed and much was concealed during these discussions. Rhys asked why the dwarves had allied with their traditional enemies, the orcs. Nimira indicated that they had been suffering hard times and needed help in guarding the mountain. The orcs were willing to do so in exchange for weapons to aid them against the barbarians. Nimira was under the impression that the orcs must have misrepresented themselves because they had told her that they were certain to defeat the barbarians whom they vastly outnumbered. She assumed that the barbarians had an army outside that had defeated the orcs at the mountain door and that the orcish army had been defeated. How else could these barbarians be standing before her. Rhys let her go on believing the majority of these falsehoods but did mention that most of the party members hailed from Glynden. This seemed to convince Nimira even more that the orcs were defeated. Her reasoning was that the orcs hadn't counted on involvement from the Northern Provinces of the Empire. In response to the reason the party had come, Rhys told her that they had hoped the contact the dwarves to enlist their aid against the orcs and that when they found them "besieged" by orcs, they slew the orcs to release the dwarves. Additionally, they were hoping to acquire some orc-slaying weapons to use to "finish driving the orcs back into the Blackpeaks". To this, Nimira responded that she did not have enough men to spare in attacking the orcs but that she would make the same offer as she had to the orcs: If the barbarians would guard the upper layers of the mountain, the dwarves could focus on mining and forging weapons to aid them. Rhys said that he would have to send a message to the leaders of their "army" (cough cough) to determine if they would agree to such an arrangement. He asked if, in the mean time, they might bargain for some of the orc-slaying weapons as a show of good faith on the part of the dwarves. Nimira responded by saying that she gladly would if only she could. But alas, the weapons they sought were out of reach for the moment. She further explained that the majority of the weapons had been given as tribute to a dragon that dwelled in the caverns below their forges. It seems that this dragon had moved in when she was but a whelp and the dwarves saw no problem with her staying since her presence tended to deter other creatures from the "Underdark" (to which there were passages connecting in the lower levels) from attacking the dwarves. However, as time has gone on, the dragon has demanded more and more tribute to keep her satisfied. Nimira knew of one other likely location for an orc-slaying weapon. She told the party that long ago, one of their priests went mad and raised a number of their fallen warriors from the dead (an abomination to their faith, she said). He was attacked by a number of the other dwarves but his undead minions struck them down. The other dwarves had no choice but to barricade them into the chamber they occupied. The undead still existed on the other side of that barricade and at least one of the dwarves who fought against the priest was thought to have an orc-slaying weapon. Lastly, Nimira mentioned that she had struck a bargain with the dragon that her folk would not attack her if she left them alone. That being the case, she offered that if the party could slay the dragon or destroy the undead that plagued her people, they could recover one or more of the orc-slaying weapons and aid her people in the process. Taking all of this into consideration, Rhys and the party withdrew to consider their options. None of them relished the thought of fighting a dragon or a bunch of undead. However, they were committed to trying to retrieve the orc-slaying weapons and ultimately decided that they would tackle the undead first and then make a try for the dragon. They conveyed this to Nimira who seemed pleased that she would likely soon be relieved of one of her problems: The Undead, the Dragon or the Party. Rhys asked her if they had anything else in their possession that might aid them against the dragon or the undead. She responded that she would not lend them any aid against the dragon as that was a violation of her oath but she would check and see if they had something that might prove effective against the undead. She then asked if the party needed further time to prepare. They said they did. Before the party departs the negotiations, Nimira inquires if any of them are skilled at arcane magic. Rhys replies that he is and Nimira gives him a scroll that one of her advisors has indicated might be helpful against the undead. Unfortunately, after Rhys takes the scroll, he once again gets lost in conversation with Nimira and forgets to look at it until much, much later (after the fight with the undead). The party spent the next couple days healing and brewing potions (Speaks was rapidly using up the ingredients given to him by Orthula). Speaks also released the owl from his [I]Animal Friendship[/I] spell but asked that he perform a service and act as an [I]Animal Messenger[/I] to carry a note back to Rilaga. The note indicated that the dwarves would not be coming to the aid of the barbarians but that they were making a try for the orc-slaying weapons. As instructed, the party then returned and, once again, knocked on the door to the dwarven chambers where they would do battle with untold creatures of the unlife. [B]NEXT: Battle for the Shrine of Moradin[/B] [/QUOTE]
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