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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kenobi65" data-source="post: 58897" data-attributes="member: 1515">Session #14 - 1/18/02The party agrees to meet with the elves on board the Telende.  A small boat is sent ashore to pick them up.  Upon boarding the ship, the party can see that all of these southern elves are fair-haired, and tend to wear brightly-colored clothes.Arathrel leads the party below decks, where they meet with Alcirion, the captain, as well as Imrilleth, the ship’s chaplain and a cleric of Corellon.  The party briefly explains the war situation; Alcirion tells them that this would explain the barges of unfriendly reptiles that his people have encountered.  The elven captain also shows the Wraiths a map of the region, indicating that Irmion (his homeland) is to the southwest of the Dracos’ base island.  Imrilleth briefly speaks with Phadian – Imrilleth says that he and his peers still have contact with their deities, and he asks Phadian about the circumstances surrounding the rift between the northern elves and the deities.Alcirion wants party to come with him back to Talassar, their home port, to share their information with his people’s leaders.  The party is conflicted; they want to learn more about the southern elves, but they also need to complete their mission (destroying the stockade), and reporting back to Winterhawk.It is decided to have Ian use the Gate Key to head back to Marington, accompanied by Arathrel (the first mate / wizard).  Meanwhile, the rest of the Wraiths will set sail on the Telende for the cove and the stockade.  Ian hopes to make it back to the cove by the time the party arrives there.Ian and Arathrel go back to shore (there was some discussion as to whether or not the Gateway would open on the deck of a ship, but Ian is unwilling to experiment at this point, and Arathrel’s Fly spell is still active), and Ian opens the Gateway.  Ian quickly locates Winterhawk, and Ian and Arathrel fill the former general in on the mission.  Winterhawk considers the party’s proposal to go to Talassar, and determines that she cannot make the decision on her own.  She opens the Gateway (asking Ian to cover his ears so he cannot hear the specific command word she uses), and sends Ian through the Gateway to King Kenton’s chambers.  There, Ian finds himself in a darkened room.  Following Winterhawk’s orders, he stamps his foot several times on the floor.  After the last “stamp,” Ian can hear a distant chime ringing.  Several minutes later, a door opens, and King Kenton hurries in.  Ian then brings the king to Wraith Base.Kenton and Winterhawk meet with Arathrel in private for about a half hour, while Ian cools his heels outside.  Finally, the three emerge from their conference.  Winterhawk Gates the king back to the palace, then tells Ian that the Wraiths’ mission is now to:- Go to Irmion- Inform the Irmian elves of the situation with the Dracos- See what can be learned about the situation with the northern elves and their gods- Entreat the Irmian elves to assist in the warWinterhawk also gives Ian several curing potions to bring back to his comrades.Ian and Arathrel Gate to the cove, appearing just as the Telende is docking.  The rest of the Wraiths disembark, and meet Ian and Arathrel on the beach.  Just as Ian begins to tell his teammates about his visit with Winterhawk, the party is attacked by a Fireball, followed a moment later by a Lightning Bolt.  The Wraiths quickly realize that their attackers are up in the trees outside of the stockade.The party spreads out, in order to avoid the missile spells.  Several more Lightning Bolts and Fireballs assault the party, before the Dracos are flushed from their trees.  The Wraiths manage to finish off these last stragglers from the Draco base, but not before their sorcerers do some serious damage to the party. The elves help the party torch the remaining buildings in the stockade, then sink or scatter the rafts in the cove.  By the time this is finished, it is near the end of the day, and Alcirion announces that they will not set sail until the morning.8/26The Telende pulls away from Beta Base; Alcirion estimates that it will be a five-day journey to Talassar.  Once the ship is underway, it reaches a surprisingly high speed.  Several party members notice this, and also notice that there is some manner of strange turbulence in the water behind the ship.  Alcirion sees the Wraiths looking over the stern of the ship, and tells them that his people have developed a way to make their ships go faster than the wind alone would provide.  Despite prodding from the now-curious Wraiths, the captain refuses to elaborate, so the party spends their day speculating on the exact nature of this phenomenon.Meanwhile, Zeebee catches the eye of Gwithalos, a particularly muscular, bald-headed elven soldier / sailor, and Ming-Jeh spends much of his day talking with Arathrel.8/27The weather is fair, and the Telende is making good time.  Several of the Wraiths continue to look at the turbulence behind the ship, and one of them notices a strange reflection in the water behind the ship.  A few moments later, a massive shape begins to rise from the sea, in pursuit of the elven ship – a dragon turtle.  The Wraiths, and the crew of the ship, begin to pepper the gigantic creature with spells and missiles, but it continues towards the ship unimpeded.  As it nears the stern of the ship, it breathes a cloud of scalding steam across the back of the ship – many of the Wraiths are injured by this cloud, and several of the elven sailors are killed instantly by it.The dragon turtle moves even closer to the Telende, seemingly unfazed by the ship’s defenses, and bites and claws at several of the Wraiths who were standing on the aft deck.  Fortunately, a final, powerful flurry of attacks and spells from the Wraiths manages to kill the enormous predator.8/29After several days of fair weather, the sky is now gray, and a storm approaches.  Once the crew realizes that it will likely be a powerful storm, they furl the sails and prepare for rough seas.  The party also makes preparations, with some deciding to ride the storm out below decks (where it might be safer), while others deciding to stay above decks (where the air may not feel as close).The ship is buffeted by high winds, and several large waves crash over the railings.  Although none of the Wraiths are imperiled, several sailors do get swept overboard, and the party assists in rescuing them.After several hours of rough seas and queasy stomachs, the storm blows itself out.9/1Late in the morning, the Telende’s lookout indicates that he can see land.  By early afternoon, the ship is pulling into the large harbor at Talassar.  The party can see that this elven city is built on the side of a hill that leads down to the sea.  The architecture of Talassar is primarily stone, and features many tall, graceful towers.</blockquote>

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