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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neverwinter Knight" data-source="post: 430495" data-attributes="member: 596">[The following text is NOT as session review - it is a summary of all previous sessions made up to the point where I started making session reviews. Looking back, I really should have started to make reviews fromthe beginning, but that cannot be helped now.] This is the story of a bunch of heros, who banded together to fight evil, have fun and explore the world…PreludeSitting on his wagon and steering it towards Homlet, Ike looked over to his companions and tried to remember how it all started. Lying sick on his king-sized bed, was the slender half-elf woman Percifona, who, despite her small size, had a blood-lust that exceeded that of an Eye of Gruumsh. Watching over her was the fighting monk Kruskar, a half-orc like Ike himself, who had a big fable for law and order, but was otherwise OK. Sitting next to him were his two fellow Kord worshipers. Merlos, to his right, was not a typical Kord follower at all. The slim sorcerer had not much physical strength - his talents were of magical nature. But he disliked being called a mage, for he believed that his talents came from within himself; and then there were the dreams. At Ike's left side, was the very special Maria, a cleric of "the Brawler". She was honest to the point of rudeness and very pretty, but she could arm-wrestle with the strongest of them. She had tried to keep her secrets to herself, but eventually they had found out.But how had it all started? They seemed to be friends forever, although they only knew each other for little over a year. They had all come to Papaya, the City of Magic, the eastern capital of the known world, all for their own reasons. He himself had come here, because his father had told him to go out into the world and learn what he could. Filthy Ike had been taught the art of "Wegebelagern", that is to relieve passing folk of some unnecessary stuff. He planned to gather a great loot, like his father and his men. There was turmoil in Papaya. It seemed that important people were turned into hybrid forms of animals and humans, and there were rumours that the Academy had something to do with it. The headquarters of the Mage Guild were besieged by an angry mob of commoners. Walking past it, he noticed a young woman who was chased by the mob. He decided to help her, as did some other people. They barely managed to get inside the Academy, where the girl introduced herself as Bulma, daughter of Dr. Briefs, one of the Guild Heads. The people who did not know each other introduced themselves: Kruskar, Percifona and Ike were among them. The other was a dwarf named Darix; the blade he carried was almost as large as himself!They were ushered into a laboratory and there thanked by Dr. Briefs for saving his daughter. It seemed that the Guild had nothing to do with the strange events and wanted to find the real guilty party. Dr. Briefs asked the four strangers to accompany his daughter on a trip to the southern continent, where Bulma would pay an oracle to reveal what information she could about the strange events, for the Guild's own divination magic was somehow blocked. After offering them a huge salary, all agreed.They had to drug Darix in order to get him onto a ship. The long journey took them to Nulp (not to be confused with Nulb), a small coastal village. They rented a coach and set off to the oracle. The coach was ambushed by bandits, and it seemed that their leader was the wagon driver and renter, one Lareth the Beautiful. He took the 50.000 gold pieces that Bulma was carrying, and drove away with the coach, wishing them a good day. Having come so far, the group decided to continue to the oracle anyway. Maybe there was something that could be done. On their way, they met a small boy who carried a huge brown bear; he explained to them that it was his breakfast. They convinced him to accompany them. His name was Son-Goku.At the oracle, it was actually a witch called Uranai Baba, they were told to either pay the money of 50.000 gold or they would have to defeat the witch's five chosen warriors. Without the money, they chose the fight. It went well, until they came upon the mummy. The last one standing was Son-Goku, and he defeated not only the mummy but also the man in the devil's garb.Uranai Baba told them that a mage by the name of Dr. Gero was responsible for the transformation of the people in Papaya. With that information they had to return to Papaya. Also, they wanted to get the money from Lareth, since they thought they could keep it, now that they had their information. On their way back, Son-Goku found a sea turtle and carried it back to the sea. There he was met by a funny little man, who introduced himself as the Master of Turtles and rewarded the boy with a flying cloud. Son-Goku said good-bye to the group and took off. They should hear from him again.The group attacked Lareth's headquarters, but only managed to get their butts kicked; they had to flee the host of the remaining bandits. Returning to Papaya, they delivered the information to the Guild Heads. Bulma decided to research some ancient relics called the "Dragonballs", but the group only had one motive: Take revenge on Lareth and get the money back! They equipped themselves and chartered a ship back to Nulp. On that journey they met Maria. Her family was from Nulp, but only her brother Otis was left now; he was a famous blacksmith. She had also heard that bandits were about in her home village and had decided to investigate. Since she was a cleric of Kord and the party liked her, they decided to team up. In Nulp, they found that the coaching operation was now run by Junker, Lareth's lieutenant. They defeated him, but were able to extract the information that Lareth had bought himself a place in the mafia of the southern capital, Santhar. Santhar was a city run by knights of three different orders. However, they eventually found that corruption and evil existed in the knighthoods and from the evil spies, they learned that Lareth the Beautiful lived was in the organization behind it and where he lived. Together with Lord Dexter Fastblade from the order of St. Cuthbert, they managed to breach the defences of Lareth's mansion and kill his demon guardians. Lareth, however, managed to flee, though in disgrace. He would be hunted by the mafia, as well as the knights. During their time in Santhar, Percifona also managed to make contact with an assassin master called Tao Bai Bai. He promised to train her in the arts when she was ready.After delivering a parcel to a mage in the Kron Hills for Fastblade, they learned that Lareth the Beautiful had taken refuge in the vicinity of Homlet, a small village with interesting history. It seemed that an evil temple had been built in the area a long time ago, but was destroyed in a united effort of the knights and the Mage Guild. Bandits, it seemed, had again begun to plague the area. They found their nemesis beneath the remnants of an old temple outpost, but again, Lareth was able to flee in the last moment. Sadly, Darix, the dwarf, died an honourable death in the battle. Later on, a sorcerer with the name of Merlos joined with the group, though. The group decided to make the Moathouse their home - only bad thing about it was that the dungeon seemed to generate ghouls and other undead. Although they searched the place for a source, they found none. From there, they turned their attention towards the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil. They killed the bandits at the Tower in a grand battle and found notes leading to a certain personality called Smigmal Redhand. During this fight, Maria showed her secret: She was a shape-changer, a werebear. Her family had carried that burden for centuries, but now only she and her brother were left. They also discovered that the first level of the temple ruins was not empty, but populated by undead and monsters like bugbears and ogres. By then, though, they really needed to train to increase their skills. Percifona went to Santhar, Kruskar stayed in the Homlet area and the rest had decided to return to Nulp and train at the temple of Kord. On their travels, they met a caravan that offered Ike some kord pants. They vendor told him they were 'Pants of Kord - once worn by the avatar of Kord himself'. As a true believer, Ike sold all he had to get them. Little did he know (as did the vendor), that that rumor was indeed true. In Nulp they found that Otis had been murdered by an assassin that left a token showing a red hand and that a valuable Samurai sword he had crafted was missing. Enraged, they had finished their training and made their way back to Homlet."So is that really all we have experienced", Kruskar asked himself. The answer was of course: No, it wasn't. He could remember all of the little details that had forged the group into what it was: the best of friends. "Some day", he told himself, "I will have to write a book".Let the real chronicles begin... </blockquote>

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