the Jester
Legend
Well, here's _some_ of the group, anyhow!
Well, here we go- a partial reunion, a fight barely worth mentioning, and the setup for a fight _definitely_ worth mentioning...
That damned infernal chain! When Stone tries to pick it up he feels his life force ebbing. Clearly it doesn’t like his philosophy on life. Krunkshank picks it up as well, but the results are the same. “We could leave it,” suggests Stone, but his dwarven nature asserts itself as he finishes, “but then we couldn’t sell it.” Since Krunkshank, too, is a dwarf- and therefore greedy- er, appreciative of money- they wrap it in a tatter of Sith’s clothes and stuff it in the elementalist’s cloak. Krunkshank seems moody; he’s traveled with Sith long enough to know the orcish necromancer’s value, especially in a place a wrought with danger as the Isles of Gloom. Without him... without any of their companions... can the two dwarves escape?
In the morning they finish looting Sith’s gear and move on. Then, Stone and Krunkshank almost immediately discover to their chagrin just how close they were to their allies when they stumble upon the feathered Spukoni putting out a campfire. Next to him is a troll (actually a polymorphed Vito) and Clambake. It’s the fire the three slept by, and it’s probably less than a hundred yards from Sith’s death site. A joyful reunion provides the adventurers with a respite from the despair of the mist, and then turns sad when the dwarves tell of Sith’s untimely end. Spukoni is especially saddened, since he and Sith have long been allies in the “don’t touch me in my no-no place” club. But since leaving Valonia, there’ve been few violations of that nature; maybe it’s an orcish thing? Oh well; the chaotic neutral Spukoni moves on, much quicker than he did when his twin brother died (back when he was called Milosh).
“My friends,” Vito says solemnly, “I suggest we do the only honorable thing here.” He pulls out a pair of dice- not even loaded- and they begin dividing up Sith’s gear. He didn’t have a lot, but he had the chain taken from the mistress of chains, the spiked chain he’d enchanted himself, the hat from the githyanki and a few other items. In a few minutes the group has split everything up, not without a touch of melancholy, but they’re adventurers. They all know the risks.
The infernal spiked chain is an interesting item in the mix. Nobody in the party can use it; they debate leaving it behind, but finally Spukoni takes it as one of his picks. Grabbing it up, he feels his vitality ebb, but he has no intention of using it. Maybe, he thinks, I can sell it or something. And Sith had revealed that it could communicate to some extent, so the chaos-touched eldritch master whispers to it, “I don’t want to use you, I just want to carry you away from here!”
To his surprise, the chain answers him telepathically. “You are not suited to hold me.”
Mentally, Spukoni responds, “What do you want done with you?”
A few moments of mental bargaining later, Spukoni agrees to carry it to a new wielder that it approves of and the chain- now revealed as Senotyfe- agrees not to harm him or his companions in the interim, as long as none of the disorderly scum try to touch it. So the feathered eldritch master puts it in his special pocket, along with the githyanki silver sword. His butt is rapidly becoming the resting place of all the items that are too dangerous for the party to carry otherwise. Good idea? He isn’t so sure, but hey, he’s chaotic neutral. Lots of his ideas aren’t so good.
After dividing their dead companion’s gear the group moves on down the beach. Almost immediately, some strange, smoky creatures rush at them from the ocean. The battle, however, is never truly in doubt. Afraid for a moment that these are more of the crimson bloodsuckers that gave them so much trouble before, they find to their relief that the monsters are much less formidable. Spukoni’s lightning bolts and Vito’s trollish attacks finish the monsters off in seconds, the party’s first easy victory since arriving. Could the tide be turning their way?
Indeed, as they move down the beach, the group finds a steep rise paralleling the water. They continue below it until the beach butts up against it and they have no choice but to climb it, then turn and retreat to where the rise started. And then they hear voices. Could it be more of their missing companions? Anvar, Horbin, Turk, Bolfol- perhaps even the clockwork master Titus? But no- the voices are guttural, speaking the orcish tongue.
Pirates? The party exchanges looks and makes a hurried whispered plan. Spukoni puts on the ring that cloaks him with the illusion of an orc and starts up the slope to talk to them, Vito following. He’ll claim to be shipwrecked and looking for a ship to sign on with, and having Vito (as a troll) to back him up makes him seem more formidable and valuable as a crewman; the rest of the party will be ready to back him up- or to scoop up some of the sacred sand they need to fulfill the giant’s mission if he can keep them distracted long enough. They’ll stay just out of sight in the mist, following at a distance.
“Why don’t we just take the ship?” asks Clambake.
“Does anyone know how to sail?” retorts Krunkshank.
Well, since that’s a no, the group decides to get on with their plan...
Next update: pirates, another hat, a weird ship- and Captain Clambake!
Well, here we go- a partial reunion, a fight barely worth mentioning, and the setup for a fight _definitely_ worth mentioning...
That damned infernal chain! When Stone tries to pick it up he feels his life force ebbing. Clearly it doesn’t like his philosophy on life. Krunkshank picks it up as well, but the results are the same. “We could leave it,” suggests Stone, but his dwarven nature asserts itself as he finishes, “but then we couldn’t sell it.” Since Krunkshank, too, is a dwarf- and therefore greedy- er, appreciative of money- they wrap it in a tatter of Sith’s clothes and stuff it in the elementalist’s cloak. Krunkshank seems moody; he’s traveled with Sith long enough to know the orcish necromancer’s value, especially in a place a wrought with danger as the Isles of Gloom. Without him... without any of their companions... can the two dwarves escape?
In the morning they finish looting Sith’s gear and move on. Then, Stone and Krunkshank almost immediately discover to their chagrin just how close they were to their allies when they stumble upon the feathered Spukoni putting out a campfire. Next to him is a troll (actually a polymorphed Vito) and Clambake. It’s the fire the three slept by, and it’s probably less than a hundred yards from Sith’s death site. A joyful reunion provides the adventurers with a respite from the despair of the mist, and then turns sad when the dwarves tell of Sith’s untimely end. Spukoni is especially saddened, since he and Sith have long been allies in the “don’t touch me in my no-no place” club. But since leaving Valonia, there’ve been few violations of that nature; maybe it’s an orcish thing? Oh well; the chaotic neutral Spukoni moves on, much quicker than he did when his twin brother died (back when he was called Milosh).
“My friends,” Vito says solemnly, “I suggest we do the only honorable thing here.” He pulls out a pair of dice- not even loaded- and they begin dividing up Sith’s gear. He didn’t have a lot, but he had the chain taken from the mistress of chains, the spiked chain he’d enchanted himself, the hat from the githyanki and a few other items. In a few minutes the group has split everything up, not without a touch of melancholy, but they’re adventurers. They all know the risks.
The infernal spiked chain is an interesting item in the mix. Nobody in the party can use it; they debate leaving it behind, but finally Spukoni takes it as one of his picks. Grabbing it up, he feels his vitality ebb, but he has no intention of using it. Maybe, he thinks, I can sell it or something. And Sith had revealed that it could communicate to some extent, so the chaos-touched eldritch master whispers to it, “I don’t want to use you, I just want to carry you away from here!”
To his surprise, the chain answers him telepathically. “You are not suited to hold me.”
Mentally, Spukoni responds, “What do you want done with you?”
A few moments of mental bargaining later, Spukoni agrees to carry it to a new wielder that it approves of and the chain- now revealed as Senotyfe- agrees not to harm him or his companions in the interim, as long as none of the disorderly scum try to touch it. So the feathered eldritch master puts it in his special pocket, along with the githyanki silver sword. His butt is rapidly becoming the resting place of all the items that are too dangerous for the party to carry otherwise. Good idea? He isn’t so sure, but hey, he’s chaotic neutral. Lots of his ideas aren’t so good.
After dividing their dead companion’s gear the group moves on down the beach. Almost immediately, some strange, smoky creatures rush at them from the ocean. The battle, however, is never truly in doubt. Afraid for a moment that these are more of the crimson bloodsuckers that gave them so much trouble before, they find to their relief that the monsters are much less formidable. Spukoni’s lightning bolts and Vito’s trollish attacks finish the monsters off in seconds, the party’s first easy victory since arriving. Could the tide be turning their way?
Indeed, as they move down the beach, the group finds a steep rise paralleling the water. They continue below it until the beach butts up against it and they have no choice but to climb it, then turn and retreat to where the rise started. And then they hear voices. Could it be more of their missing companions? Anvar, Horbin, Turk, Bolfol- perhaps even the clockwork master Titus? But no- the voices are guttural, speaking the orcish tongue.
Pirates? The party exchanges looks and makes a hurried whispered plan. Spukoni puts on the ring that cloaks him with the illusion of an orc and starts up the slope to talk to them, Vito following. He’ll claim to be shipwrecked and looking for a ship to sign on with, and having Vito (as a troll) to back him up makes him seem more formidable and valuable as a crewman; the rest of the party will be ready to back him up- or to scoop up some of the sacred sand they need to fulfill the giant’s mission if he can keep them distracted long enough. They’ll stay just out of sight in the mist, following at a distance.
“Why don’t we just take the ship?” asks Clambake.
“Does anyone know how to sail?” retorts Krunkshank.
Well, since that’s a no, the group decides to get on with their plan...
Next update: pirates, another hat, a weird ship- and Captain Clambake!
YOINK!
