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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aust Thale" data-source="post: 7453687" data-attributes="member: 6804768">A Good Ten Months...~ Clangeddin help me, enchant this armor ~Vale prayed patiently, as divine energy pulsed from his hands through the elven chainmail.  Vale worked quietly, admiring the elven handiwork.  Light and nimble, the armor wasn't designed for dwarves.  He was doing this particular bit for the group.  The chainmail was from the treasure captured from the Ogre and Giant patrol on the road to the Steading.  Whoever these folks were, they had as expensive tastes as their judgment was poor.  They should have known better.  He was not completely convinced the leftover hill giants sent to Moresby Hall were able to be reformed.  He fully expected to return to Dyvers and find them having crapped everywhere except the Lou.  He had worked nearly two months on the chainmail.  He had completed three of them, and he was working on the last one.  The last nine and half months had given him much time in front of a forge.  He had forgotten how much he enjoyed it, and he prayed daily for guidance in building tools, weapons, and enchanting items, weapons, and armor for his friends.  Friend: underrated word.  It did his heart, mind, and soul good to get to know these people and to provide for them in the ways he had learned to do so.  He very much liked the four newcomers.  The bronze blade brothers were especially entertaining.  They had discovered a latent draconic heritage, and they were supremely tickled with it.  And he was tickled with them.  Duncan seemed a most precise person, not the least bit trivial, but not disposed to spectacle.  His lady Ebony was simultaneously tough but kind.  And hopeful.  Supremely hopeful.  She and Nel seemed to get along well, and even Abigail seemed to enjoy female companionship.  He supposed that being a woman was something universal to most species.  He had gotten to know the dwarven lass from the Steading as she recuperated.  He kept his distance, as she was clearly grieving the loss of her mate to the giants.  Early on, she stood off, healing from her own wounds.  After awhile, she would visit him in the forge, and he wound listen as he worked, as he had done so many times before with his own legion as their quartermaster.  His mission was to supply, resupply, and seek out resources.  As a practical matter, he was an effective sounding board to dwarves who spent so much time fighting, they often forgot why they fought. Contrary to popular opinion, dwarven warriors were not two-dimensional.  Looking death in the eye routinely required a particular touch.Early in their stay, he had Respen ask Laramon to inform his order that he was delayed once again, and to relay the same to the Dyvers temple who had lent him the magic undead-killing mace.Laramon took it upon himself to seek and receive dispensation on behalf of Vale.  The Order would need to fulfill the appointment in Greyhawk (which disappointed him), but they would be willing to appoint him a special envoy at-large.  Effectively, any compensation he would have received from the military or clerical order would be suspended, but he would receive an increase in rank (Envoy), and continue to have access to resources at temples and outposts.  Vale sensed that his place in the order would be made or broken by his current and future adventures.  He was melancholy for several weeks, but Duncan, Respen, and Dewydd had taken the time individually and together to wrench Vale's thoughts to more pleasant pursuits.  Vale loved being in front of the forge, especially during the colder months, and he aimed to do what he could to return the favor the best way he knew how.When Respen's twins were born, he even prayed the birth prayer of the dwarves, a special honor to non-dwarves, and even respected by the evil Duergar.  Nel was profoundly moved, as she had never seen it before.  Even Abigail was struck by his act of respect, having been the only person in their company who had ever seen it before.  Vale had kept his distance from her.  He wasn't sure what to make of the dragon, and he was intimidated by her presence.  Dwarves and dragons were a curious, and often combustible combination, and dwarves were typically the ones combusted.  He was polite, but he made no small-talk, and he did not ask her for anything except a single encounter where he asked her leave to use her forge, located in a large building adjacent to the tower, accessible by underground tunnel and whose interior was not unlike a cave.  The forges were advanced; high-end.  Multi-faceted, easy to fire, and with very flexible temperature controls.  Vale could smith tools, molds, and weapons, the latter at Masterwork quality with any number of materials.  And the forges were so sophisticated, he could cook meat pies to perfection in minutes.  Duncan had expressed the Mayor's appreciation for their efforts in the Steading, and Dewydd had shared Abigail's request to find a Druidic staff.  At the end of the day, Vale pulled Respen and Nel aside while each held one of the twins. " Pardon me m'lady, could I have a word with Respen?  Daddy Elf, can ah ask a favor of ye?  Can ye bring Gus to us here in Hochoch? I miss my dog. "   Respen nodded.  "  Laramon wants an audience with me.  Perhaps he can bring Augustus to us.  I shall send a message to him tomorrow morning."Vale keeps the heads of Nosnra, Kraven, and Delliak in a constant suspended state w/ Gentle Repose every nine days for the entirety of their time in Abigail's tower.  He had put the heads in their leather sacks and then into a wooden crate in the building with the forge.  Once every month to six weeks, Vale would question each of the heads, each time asking five questions.  At Dewydd's sharing of Abigail's, Vale repeated the exercise.[ooc] DM NOTE: Between the three heads, and multiple castings of the spells, Vale obtains the answers he seeks.Questions:1) Who compensated the orc army? I did (Nosnra.)2) How was the orc army compensated? With the signing of an alliance.3) How many levels of dungeon are under the steading? Just the cellar, although there are deeper natural caves.4) Who will replace you now that you are dead? Nosnra's Daughter will become the new Hill Giant Queen.5) If you had to leave the Steading in retreat, where would you go? Southwest, into the Crystalmysts, to the Glacial Rift.6) What is the least defended entrance to the steading? The rear entrance.7) Who are the spellcasters in or near the steading? Vulka, Darris, Quinnlan, Varnella, Vlagg, Cyndalla, Morienne, and Lorella. 8) What is Glimval's most significant weakness? I do not know who Glimval is.9) Where is the treasure room under the steading? Near the bottom of the stairs, behind a secret door.10) What traps are set to protect the treasure room? There is a pit trap.11) What will the other giants and orcs do now that you are dead? Continue the war to reclaim our ancestral lands.12) How much treasure is in the treasure room? A fortune in gold and magic.13) What will the trolls do if the underground is invaded? They will fight to the bitter end, and savagely kill any invaders.14) What will draw the trolls out of the underground? The Trolls go where Brunk commands them to go.15) Who is in command of the red orcs? Lieutenant Gozer of Brahnn.16) What will happen if Steading is attacked from the outside? It will be defended.17) What different ways exist to enter the steading? Front, back, and side.18) Who are the giants' allies? The Drow, The Jarl, The Fire King, The Pomarj Orcs, The Skull Seekers, The  Arm Breakers, and their master, Myth.19) Who are the giants' enemies? The Humans, Dwarves, Halflings, Elves, and Gnomes of Geoff.20) Where are the giants' allies? The Drow are below, The Jarl is in the Rift, The King is deep within, The Orcs are on the move, the Bugbears and Trolls are with us. We do not know where the master is.21) Where are the giant's enemies? Everywhere.22) What is the plan for the steading? Expansion and reinforced fortifications.23) Do you have spies? Yes.24) Who are your spies? The Drow.25) Where are your spies? Everywhere.26) How did you obtain the Helm of Veldomar? It was Kraven's reward, for serving the Drow mistress.27) Will anyone attempt to locate the Helm of Veldomar? I don't know.28) How did you obtain the Staff of Krigala? Queen Vulka ripped it from a dead Druid's hands.29) Where is the Staff of Krigala? In the cold bowels of the Rift.30) Who has the Staff of Krigala? The Great Jarl of the Rift.[/ooc][sblock=Vale Monthly Activities]Outset:  Purchase Warhammer +2 for Dwarf/Goldbeard Clan(8312 gp); Ring of Protection +4 (32,000 gp); Potion of Hill Giant Control (600gp)Month 1 Craft (w/ Respen Blessed Book (10 days);Message to Laramon for Gus' through Respen; Visits Hochoch's Dwarven Temple;Prayer; Speak w/ Dead; Craft w/ RespenMonth 2 Craft Dwarven Mithril Full Plate Armor +5 (14 days); Craft w/ RespenMonth 3  Craft Dwarven Mithril Full Plate Armor +5 (22days(of 36)); Speak w/ DeadMonth 4  Prayer; Research into Planes, Planets, &Powers; Architecture; Speak w/ Dead; Craft w/ Lathir & RespenMonth 5  Prayer; Research into Planes, Planets, &Powers; Architecture; Speak w/ Dead; Craft w/ Party as requiredMonth 6  Craft Potions, Wondrous Items, and Arms/Armoras needed by party & Abigail & Collin; Speak w/ DeadMonth 7  Craft Potions, Wondrous Items, and Arms/Armoras needed by party & Abigail & CollinMonth 8  Craft Magic Elven Chainmail +3 (x2) 29 days; Month 9  Craft Magic Elven Chainmail +3 (x2) 29 days; Speakw/ Dead Month 10 Craft Potions,Wondrous Items, and Arms/Armor as needed by party & Abigail & Collin[/sblock]</blockquote>

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