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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sagiro" data-source="post: 5970056" data-attributes="member: 726">Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 343Knowledge“Will you be staying, Ernest, or do you feel like you still have more to do?”Dolly bustles about the Inn Between, and talks to Ernie over her shoulder.  She seems more businesslike than Ernie remembers her, a trifle less warm.“I like staying here,” admits Ernie, reaching down to pet one of the resident cats, “but there’s so much more left on our plate.  There’s still that world-saving thing.”“Well, stay as long as you’d like,” Dolly shrugs.  “Ah, don’t be so hard on the kid,” calls Barnabas from his customary table at the back.  “Ernie, come and sit with me until your friends call you back.  I want to see that fancy sword of yours…”/*/In the land of the living, Aravis removes Azhant’s head by disintegrating the neck; the party figures it will serve as proof that they’ve finished the job.  But more importantly, the Company discovers Azhant’s true hoard hidden behind an illusionary wall at the far side of the cavern.  Unsurprisingly, a majority of the loot seems to have once been the property of the dwarven Empire of Gurund -- non-magical weapons and armor of dwarvish design and size, coins and bars stamped with dwarven likenesses and symbols, and many pieces of jewelry obviously of dwarf-make.  Mixed in with the dwarven plunder is plenty of stuff from other parts of Kivia -- Azhant the Ancient has been building his hoard for centuries. Morningstar casts a sending to High Priestess Rhiavonne in Kallor, requesting that the temple there be readied for a true resurrection. Then the rest of the day and evening are spent shoveling as much of the dragon’s treasure as possible into the Lucent Tower, which seems like the fastest way to transport such vast quantities.  There are a number of highly-magical objects mixed in, the identification of which will be first on the agenda after Ernie’s resurrection, though one in particular inspires particular reverent interest.  It is a closed and sealed book that they discover resting at the very apex of the largest hill of treasure.  The book is thin but weighty, made of dark grey leather and embossed with a fancy “L” on the front cover, overlaying the symbol of Leantha, one-time Kivian Goddess of Knowledge. /*/This time around, with souls moving properly between this world and the next, Morningstar’s true resurrection runs properly from midnight to dawn.  The ceremony has been fast-tracked, and the chapel is only half-full.  The Priestess Anhaya Sunblossom, leader of the church of Yondalla on Charagan, is in attendance with two under-priests; they watch attentively as their faith’s greatest living hero is brought back to life.  If Morningstar hears some murmurs from the crowd wondering why Rhiavonne herself isn’t performing the ritual, and that perhaps Morningstar is likely to be Rhiavonne’s successor, she pretends to take no notice.  As the muted sun crests the horizon beyond the eternal twilight of Kallor, Ernie’s eyes flutter open.  His last memory of the Inn Between is of Dolly, hands on her hips, telling him that as much as she enjoys his company, she’d rather not see him quite so often./*/Having taken care of that order of business, the Company moves on to the more enjoyable fallout from the battle with Azhant – combing through the loot.  They open the Lucent Tower in the yard behind the Greenhouse and coins spill out onto the grass.  Given many hours to sift through the monetary and artistic pieces, Flicker estimates that the coinage, bars, gems, jewelry and objects d'art are worth in total about 200,000 GP.   There are also dozens of minor magical items (rings of protection, weapons, armor, shields and ability-boosters of the +1 and +2 varieties, and misc. stuff of minimal use to near-epic adventurers like the Company), worth an additional 70,000 GP.  After dinner, they set about divvying up the best of the magic items.  Two are set aside immediately – a war-hammer and suit of plate-mail both heavily enchanted for dwarven fighters. None in the party can make good use of them, but surely they can find a dwarven hero who can.  The remainder of the most potent items are distributed among the Company. Kibi gets the Pulse of Abernia, a deep purple gem infused with Earth Magic. Kibi has seen similar gems in the work-shops of his grandfather Cranchus.  This one, according to their divinations, was made by an earth mage named Golquan, who long ago served the First Dwarf of Gurund as his court wizard.  He was killed by Azhant’s sire in the midst of the ogre war. When held by an Earth Mage, the Pulse of Abernia has a chance of augmenting every spell he casts, in a variety of possible ways.  It also increases Kibi’s natural armor bonus.Dranko claims Alazar's Tongue, a black leather weighted whip.  It is a +5 weapon once used by the infamous mercenary Alazar, killed by Azhant about 150 years ago.  It can cast dimensional anchor or dismissal on a creature struck, each once per day.  Also once per day, it can inflict a -4 penalty to saving throws to a creature struck, with the effect lasting until the end of the encounter.  Finally, on a critical hit, the victim moves at half speed on its next turn.  Dranko also takes the Unshakable Boots, the wearer of which cannot be knocked down, gains a bonus to grapple checks, and will never run in fear from compulsory magic.In addition to taking a +5 ring of protection, Grey Wolf is the natural claimant to the Sheath of Blessed Honor, a sword sheath inscribed with prayers to Palamir, Kivian God of loyalty, duty and honor.   When identified, the result is that it "bestows blessings upon blades of Palamir."  Its effect upon Bostock, one-time paladin of that God and current longsword in Grey Wolf's possession, is that it allows it to lay on hands.  Once per round, as a move-equivalent action by its wielder, it can heal someone within 5', up to 80 points per day.Ernie doesn’t feel as entitled to the best loot as some of the others, having recently acquired an epic blade, but he is still pleased to don Laramon’s Favored Shirt.  (Laramon is the Kivian Demigod of Luck.)  It’s a silver and green silk shirt, emblazoned on the front with Laramon's coin-and-bolt symbol. When the wearer is at half of his maximum hit points (or lower), it grants a +4 luck bonus to AC.Flicker takes a matching pair of straight silver daggers; they are returning daggers, +5, and there is no penalty for throwing them up to 100’ distant.  They also return to the thrower after each attack.Morningstar gets Tokma’s Radiant Barrier, an iridescent breastplate that reflects subtle rainbow hues in any light. It had been worn for years by Tokma, a female paladin of the Kivian goddess Heros, until she was slain by Azhant's breath weapon.  It is a breastplate +6, and grants the wearer Resistance 10 vs. all five energy types.  She also pockets Laramon’s Jade Clover, a small four-leaf clover carved from jade, with each leaf etched with the coin-and-bolt symbol of Laramon.  While the Clover is in her possession, once per day, Morningstar can decide to roll 3 times on a d20 and then take the most desired result.  Lastly, Morningstar takes a +6 belt of strength, more appropriate for her now that she wields Ell’s Will.Aravis takes the Gloves of the Displaced Source, which allows any spell shaped as a line, cone, or burst, and that normally originates at the caster, to instead originate from any square within 10’ of the caster, and to which the caster has line of effect.  He also claims the Battlestone of St. Jenniver, a smooth, flat gray oval stone.  Once per day the user can trade away damage dice on any area-of-effect spell and heal all allies in the area by the number of dice removed.  Any allies so healed do not take any damage from the spell.  When used, at least one and no more than half the spell's damage dice can be traded off. But all of those things, while useful and powerful, are sidelights to the main attraction of the dragon hoard.  While in Naslund, Aravis asked Leantha for the answer to his most pressing question:  “How do we defeat the Adversary?”  Now he holds the gray leather book, which only he can open, and hopes to find his answer.Inside are a series of beautiful child's drawings – as if an artistic genius had been tasked to create the works in the style of a toddler. Slowly Aravis turns each page, committing each drawing to memory.The first page shows a map of the known world, with Charagan at the western edge, Kivia at the eastern edge, and the Uncrossable Sea between them. Not far from the center, but somewhat to the north, is a small island.On the second page there is a great castle.  In the doorway of the castle, a huge, dark male figure is being stabbed in the back by a smaller female figure with a long golden sword. The sword is shattering from the blow. Outside the castle seven others are fleeing, as are hundreds of tiny figures at their feet.The third page pictures a fissure in the side of an immense cliff. Two stones with embedded Divination Sinks, like the ones the party found at Het Branoi, sit on the ground outside of the fissure.Across the next two pages is a drawing of a Sharshun woman, her face a hidden shadow, holding aloft a long, serrated golden dagger.  It is clear from the coloring and artistic style that this golden dagger and the shattering golden sword are, at very least, made from the same metal.The sixth page shows a dwarf with a well-groomed beard, and a pile of rocks at his feet. The dwarf holds aloft that same golden dagger. He is smiling.On the seventh page is drawn an ambiguous humanoid figure, wearing the distinctive uniform of the Spire Guard, lying dead, the golden dagger clutched in one hand.Drawn large on the eighth page is an image of a Ward of Drosh, hanging from its necklace.The ninth page shows a scarred man with protruding tusks and white priestly robes. He is shouting as if in great pain, while blood runs from his eyes.And on the tenth and final page is shown a silver coin emblazoned with a lightning bolt – Laramon’s holy symbol./*/The party talks at great length about the pictures in Leantha’s book.   They all agree that the dark figure being stabbed with the golden sword is the Adversary, and that the stabber is Uthol Inga.  The other seven figures must be the remaining Travelers:  Brechen, Delioch, Ell, Werthis and Corilayna, as well as the deceased Caba and Aranod.The fissure with the divination sinks is a mystery, though the most popular theory is that it’s the entrance to the Sharshun headquarters hidden in the Greatwood.  They’re more certain that the Sharshun woman holding the golden dagger is Darkeye, and Farazil confirms that Darkeye is rumored to possess a powerful dagger known as the Watcher’s Kiss.The exultant dwarf holding the dagger is obviously Kibi, and the half-orc bleeding from the eyes is clearly Dranko. (“Ugh,” Dranko grumbles. “Kibi gets to smile, and I get to scream while my head explodes.  Great.”)As for the dead figure wearing the raiment of the Spire Guard – who knows?  It could be one of the Company, though Dranko is inclined (with no real evidence, admittedly) to think it’s Rosetta.The picture of the Ward of Drosh is a dead-on match for the one given to the party by Viersk in Naslund.  As for the silver coin, it’s the symbol of Laramon, Kivian Demigod of Luck.  With Corilayna having fled with the coming of the Adversary, it makes sense that Laramon may be extending his influence throughout the world. As for its meaning, the Company agrees that Leantha is telling them that to defeat the Adversary, they’re going to need good luck, and lots of it.…to be continued…</blockquote>

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