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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 9403090" data-attributes="member: 16069">Dark Squad in the Secrets of SaltmarshSession #141: Out of the Mere of the Dead Men Part 1.Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).Daktari/Dak (played by Haggis) Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 9Fellowyn Silverstream (played by George) Male Eladrin Wizard Bladesinger Lvl 9New Tricks/Newt (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 9Ramshambo/Ram (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue/Fighter Lvl 7/2Vincenzo/Vinnie (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 9DEAD PCs<s>Nicholai Barbaros Kostyiev/Nicky (played by George) Male Dhampir Cleric of Twilight Lvl 8 </s>RIPNPCs<s>Inverna Nightbreeze (played by George) Female Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 8 (Sidekick) </s>RETIRED<s>Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5 </s>RIP*<s>Tarbin Tul (played by goonalan) Male Human Bard </s>RETIRED<s>Ubmo (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 1</s> EXPLODEDUbdug (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 2 (When we remember)*Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors.Servants/FamiliarsGerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New TricksOwly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiarArchimedes (very scruffy & old, Owl) Fellowyn’s familiar.The Dark Squad’s to-do list-<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Find the other four Symbols of Ub, one was left in Deepbridge (Duergar fortress in the Underdark). The others need to be found, they belonged to- Rambles 'Shambles' Bowspirit (halfling killer from Lowhill), Antonio De La Crane (posh kid druid alchemist) & Giggles (crazy wood elf). All of these folk lived in the Saltmarsh region, the Dark Squad have found the De La Crane Manse (in the Dreadwood) and the De La Crane Crypt (in Saltmarsh Cemetery).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Nightshade is in the Deep Dreadwood- except she's not there anymore, but a big red dragon is?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Blackedge and the Goblin Stair?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame prepare the Witch's Tor for the coming of the starfall, the Witch's Tor is in the Drowned Forest, in the Mere of the Dead Men.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame track down the last member of the Pact, a wild elf adventurer called Giggles- and finally put her spirit to rest, and also recover her maze button. Location unknown. SEE 2. ABOVE.</li> </ol>This is session 141, and I said at the end of the last write up-So, there’ll be fighting a little more at the start of the next one.Well, we spun it out to about ninety more minutes of fighting.Before the French lesson began.But we’ll get to that.[ATTACH=full]372337[/ATTACH]Newt, just off the top of the screen, zooming around and blasting; Fellowyn- Master of Blade & Spell (apaz, not much in the way of evidence to date- according to Daktari); the Moonboar just off the bottom of the screen, readying himself to deliver a charge- tusking to the Chimera; Ram, or rather- Were Ram sneaking out to stab and then scurrying back behind that Damn Hairy Ape- bonjour, Monsieur Daktari.The Dark Squad are all accounted for.The enemies, a sneak attacking, (poisoned) crossbow bolt firing, damage avoiding (evasion etc.) and with incredible saving throws (I know- I made them up) Rega Swarn. She’s out to kill (even just one of them), and with a big bag of hit points too (200+).Ashbreath, the Chimera, only a souped-up version as above (and with maybe 350 HP), and yet…Without the chaos that the archers were bringing earlier to the Dark Squad, this one’s a bust.[ATTACH=full]372338[/ATTACH]Daki Kong’s eyes. They follow you around the room.And it takes about another hour-and-a-half of attrition- with a lot of missing and rolling low damage, keep in mind both enemies have ACs above 20, but…[ATTACH=full]372339[/ATTACH]Daki Kong (after missing both attacks last turn) connects with a Crit, and its good night Ashbreath.For flavour-flave I let the big ape use the Chimera’s corpse in place of a boulder- bring on the fling attack- seconds later (and 7d6+ damage) and Rega is just about down too.The sensible members of the group (Vinnie and maybe Fellowyn, although he’s a lot bloodier than you think, but in a good way) are calling for Rega Swarn to be taken alive.Alas the pleas for (temporary) clemency go unheard- as Newt keeps on blasting, and then Were-Ram guts the last enemy.That’s right- Were-Ram isn’t nice like Ram.And Ram, when the occasion suits, is not nice at all.So, the fight is over, and none of the PCs are much the wiser.Who were them guys?&, of course- the old favourite-Where are we?& it’s bedfellow-What’s going on?The PCs are about to get a few answers.The PCs are all however pretty badly beaten.It is therefore a blessing that suddenly…[ATTACH=full]372340[/ATTACH]They find themselves back in the forest, or else in a large clearing in an even larger forest- and the ruins are still here. It’s the same clearing in fact- from all the way back to the bird attack.And the whispering voice is back, the same voice that has been bothering them for the last three nights in the Mere.Only this time it’s saying things in French.Why French?Because if I just said them in English well, that’d be way too easy- so cryptic, and in French.The language actually being employed is an ancient form of Elven, Fellowyn had to roll high to even understand it- several of the PCs had to try and repeat what they heard (when they heard the whispers in the Mere) back to Fellowyn, so that he could try to translate.Ancient Elven = French, why not.[ATTACH=full]372341[/ATTACH]In the chat window on the left.The Whisperer... and in translation-Souviens-toiRememberTrouver le centreFind the CentreDu bord au milieuFrom the Edge to the MiddleLe voyage de la vieThe journey of lifeÀ travers le labyrinthe de l'expérienceThrough the maze of experienceSouviens-toiRememberI’ll not say how long it took for the Dark Squad to get to the answer.I will write it- fifteen minutes.Back to the story, seemless-A few moments later the Moonboar grabs out his Maze Button/Coin/Symbol of Ub, and traces the maze etched into the ancient artefact with his finger.Which he has done at many other (important) times before.Remember.The Moonboar turns into a statue.By which I mean, and as discovered by his colleagues, he becomes an object- like a statue. Unmoving- very life-like, but- solid as a rock.Then the Moonboar’s voice (because the Squad are still using Rary’s Mobile Phone, or whatever it’s called).Gruff, and in a cod-French.“I can zee zer Castle, it iz wonderful, n’est pas. Come on sroooo…”Now, what happens next is a little hazy.I’m honestly not very sure why it took so long.It was a long night- at times, this session.Anyway, the only other member of the Dark Squad with a Maze Button/Coin/Symbol of Ub is Ram, and so he does likewise (eventually- another 5 to 10 minutes are spent prevaricating) and seconds later and Ram is a statue to.Then there’s five minutes in which the remainder of Dark Squad can’t fathom how they’re going to get through to wherever Vinnie and Ram are… the Castle!The genius of the group, well…Daki Kong scratches out a very rough maze in the dirt and walks his finger to the center- hey presto, there’s a big monkey statue of Daki Kong.I think Fellowyn and Newt (in the end) traced their fingers (or eyes) through the mazes (still perfectly visible) on the statue Maze Buttons being held by the statue Moonboar and the statue Ram.We get to here.Falling through the door, rather than flying…[ATTACH=full]372342[/ATTACH]Which probably wasn’t what they/you expected.The whispering voice tells the Dark Squad- even as they investigate the strange spectral echo, -C'est difficile... la première fois.It is difficult... the first time.Vous êtes proche... Je vous entends.You are close... I can hear you.And then goes on to repeat the same instructions as the first time.Repeatedly.Basically, the Dark Squad need to do the maze-thing again, only better- all at the same time.The castle is investigated, it’s like an overlay to reality, the picture is here- but not the substance. The walls can be walked through and flown through- Newt tries.There’s nothing however to interact with.Ten minutes later, after all manner of other investigations, the Dark Squad work it out (again) and do the maze thing again- but all together, and-[ATTACH=full]372343[/ATTACH]We, at last, get to here.And a little later still, to here-[ATTACH=full]372344[/ATTACH]The chateau/castle is beautifully (but not luxuriously) appointed, the beds are comfy, the fires are warm- food, just appears- very good food, and wine, and when Fellowyn opens a box looking for… I can’t remember what he was looking for but, he finds it. In fact, within boundaries, when one of the PC wishes for a thing- but only simple/mundane things (food, light, heat, simple objects etc.) it happens, or else just appears- as if it were always just there.There are books here also. Books that the PCs find interesting or have (earlier) expressed a desire to read and/or to study.There’s also a voice.The whispering voice in fact.It has this to say, and with translations, and the speech begins the moment the PCs first arrive, and goes on as they slowly explored the place-Bienvenue à Argentriver.Welcome to Argentriver.Ma maison.My home.Ta maison.Your home.Je suis... Argentriver, bien sûr.I am... Argentriver, of course.J'espère que ce message vous trouvera bien.I hope this message finds you well.Vous êtes vraiment rare.You are rare indeed.D'être arrivé jusqu'ici.To have made it this far.Le Château n’a plus reçu de visiteur depuis sept millénaires.The Castle has not had a visitor for seven millennia.Rare en effet.Rare indeed.Vous pouvez vous détendre ici.You can relax here.Vous pouvez vous reposer ici.You can rest here.Le courant argenté du temps ne règne pas ici.The silver stream of time does not rule here.Argentriver est éternel car il ne vieillit jamais.Argentriver is forever because it never ages.Ses habitants ne marquent pas non plus le cours du temps.It's inhabitants also do not mark the stream of time.Détendez-vous, reposez-vous et explorez le château.Relax, rest- explore the Castle.Revenez ensuite ici pour la suite de ce message.Then return here for the rest of this message.So, that’s nice.From which the Dark Squad (quickly and cleverly) figure out that they are in a place beyond time, and that when they step out of the castle and back into the Mere (providing they learn/figure out how) then no time will have passed at all.Here’s the prophecy the PCs are working on atm-“I am Kolven, and I am forever.Seek the witch’s tor,In the lair of the drowned ones,But beware the demon’s spore.Find the time.Return again with the star fall,To reclaim the power.”Well, and this is for the players, you’ve found the time.That’s all I’ll say for now.Next week we are doing some Downtime activities with the Dark Squad, which is also what this stop-over is about.Then, well… there may be some strange.Stay safe and well you lovely people.Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan.</blockquote>

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