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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greyhawk" data-source="post: 3237628" data-attributes="member: 40355">Of Orcs and ScorpionsIt was a harder fought battle than the odds suggested and the orcs did heavy damage to Elinor and Beltain early in the battle.  However ist is soon over with Bibabob downing the last orc....."The sooner we get into an area where magic works and we can heal wounds the happier I will be" says Beltain with a sigh. "I agree" responds Elinor "Let's move on"She looks across at Beltain. "You look a bit worse for wear.  Let's hope we can travel some miles without incident"Beltain returns Elinor's scrutiny and smiles "I could say the same about you too.  Still there is a mission to be completed, I agree that we should be off!"In checking the dead orcs equipment Limara spots the Eye of Gruumsh crossed over by two lightning bolts on their breastplates. She examines the Orcish symbol.  "These orcs are from the Thunder Peaks. In the recent Dragon's War they were scattered all over Cormyr, so it is not unusual that they are in The Stonelands region." she tells the others."The vultures are already starting to circle" Limara cautions "We should not delay. I suggest that Feng and I should lead... we are uninjured.  Bel is right, we are vulnerable at the moment.... and we don't have a wagon for the fallen either.." she pauses.." which also means we cant carry heavy loot either, I think we should leave the armour. In fact we should destroy it, so it cant be reused against us..""OK" she continues "We must assume this is all hostile ground from now on. We should be in formation ready for attack. I suggest a 2 by 3 column in close rank. As we cant heal anyone yet it would be logical to have Feng and myself in the front row, followed by Bel and Elinor in the middle and Rizzit and Bob 3rd row".  If we keep close together we can protect each other...... ""I like to be at the front" chirps in Rizzit and loads up his crossbow ready for action.Belatin dismounts and collect the axes and bows"I agree with Limara" says the paladin "It would be better to destroy the armour and leave the pieces here." Elinor takes her position in the party, ready to move on "Does Beaker want to peck it a bit?" she asks the kobold."Rizzit" calls Limara "Beaker is the fastest mount here, so I am expecting you to come charge into the action as soon as something happens. But, the formation I suggest is safer for the party as a whole... please play your part and guard the back, your keen eyesight is needed there. .. please" she smiles at Rizzit kindly."Ah well if I am needed at the rear in an important roll, that's a different matter" says Rizzit grandly."Let's trample the armour" laughs Elinor "Pas de deux Limara?"  Elinor rides Legend over to, and indeed over, the armour. His hooves are the size of dinner plates, and he seems to enjoy the noise it makes and Limara joins in the fun. Gypsy watches curiously as Limara guides Venomblood back and forth squashing all the armour into weird shapes..."Let's be off then... " says Beltain cheerfully "Magic area (with cures) here we come"The party travel on... they travel for over 3 hours.  Then they spot the stone cairn described to them by Captain Dunman.  They turn off and head for where the ruins are supposed to be, they should arrive soon.  The rocky landscape is bleak and the cold air cuts to the bone.  Suddenly the party spot something... Two large whip scorpions!!... The giant insects raise their pincers and arch their tails."These look fearsome foes, lets hope my magic is working again" say Rizzit flexing his fingers."Hmm, bugs! I do not like bugs." mutters the dwarf. "These might be fine creatures in their place but right here and now they are fish bait!""Hardly creatures to test our mettle" scoffs Feng "Can we outrun them?  It seems stupid to take casualties fighting beasts we can easily best."Elinor grips her sword, ready for action. She bites her lip and plans her next move.  An orc fight is one thing, but she's not sure what Legend will make of a giant scorpion. "Do you really think we can out-run them? We'll need to head right between the two of them, and I can't imagine they here for the grazing."Beltain looks at Feng and then Elinor "I have never seen such creatures before" he says "So I will have to take your word that they are too powerful for the party to face.  We should not attempt to gallop between them as such a move would be inevitably noisy and attack the attention of the bandits, if they are close.  We would then be faced with bandits to our front with these beasts falling upon our rear.  Indeed" he sweeps his arm around, indicating the rocky terrain "In broken ground such as this a gallop could well result in a broken leg for our mounts.  I suggest that if flee we must, we do so back the way we came, and then work our way around avoiding this place and trusting that other ways are free of such foes.  In any event, in fleeing the one on the slowest mount will be at the greatest risk" and he looks significantly at the short-legged fell pony."Bunch of poofs, lets be at them" says Rizzit disgusted at the suggestion that the party avoid the monsters. "I cant believe you lot have lost your spines.  I shall be riding forward to get a good shot with my mighty magic""Well what's it to be fellows, cut & run or fight?" say Beltain and his eyes twinkle with amusement.Belatin pauses "If I might speak plainly, both of you counselled to tarry longer at the knight's camp despite Lord Hawklin's urging us to haste.  Perhaps you share my concern about the motives of this noble?  Certainly the Dunman, the captain of knights knew more about this situation than she revealed and such lack of openness about the bandits and the threat to Cormyr must raise questions in all our minds.  When we started I thought that the generous pay was because Hawklin was hiring us for a dangerous mission, now I am wondering if he was only being so munificent because he thought that he would never have to pay our fee…?""You are so full of crap Beltain" Rizzit tells him undiplomatically "The noble Lord Hawklin raises our friends from the dead, offers us a huge sack of cash to kill a few bandits and all you do is winge""Bel.. the purple knights are not going to give out information they are not asked to reveal, they are soldiers. As for Lord Hawklin, I have seen nothing in his actions that gives me reason to distrust him.... "You are probably right about Lord Hawklin, Princess.  As Rizzit says he did have our friends raised and has been generous on the reward.  Perhaps he has his reasons which we will discover by and by"Limara continues "I am getting the general impression that certain people have not been reading the local papers, rumours... or Cormyrs recent history chronicles in the churches... does anyone here have an idea what the big black hole is ?, you know where Tilverton was...""I haven't read anything in papers that might give a clue, Princess" says Beltain with a shrug "I would have guessed at some trans-dimensional rift but that wouldn't explain the anti-magic field, or would it?  I also can't see the point of stationing a whole load of Purple Knights to watch it, or guard it…""Well the latest rumour in the church was that the Netheril City that was sighted in Auroch earlier this year had something to do with it. The City of Shade has returned from the plane of shadows were the Netheril ran to all those centuries ago. Who know what populates the cities streets up there now, but the Netherise were immensely powerful mages. The hole that was left after the attack on Tilverton is a breach in the weave... specifically the shadow weave.. it is now a gateway to the plane of shadows . Anyone who enters is lost forever. I is told in history that the most powerful spell ever cast by a Netherise was 12th level.... apparently it was the last spell he ever cast too !! " she smiles"And we are heading into Netherise ruins, it fair makes my blood run cold." Beltain replies "You know my god is one of magic as well as war, perhaps I should spend some time in study of the arcane arts too..." he muses "I'm not sure I remember much about the Netherise people from my history learning...""Whats a Netherise?" asks RizzitRizzit rides forward and a scorching ray springs from his hand severely wounding one of the scorpions. Beltain turns his gaze back to Rizzit. charge "Well done that kobold" he exclaims in admiration "He is nothing if he is not fearless"Elinor kicks Legend into a canter and heads towards the frazzled scorpion slaying it with a blow from her longsword."Nice work Rizzit" she smilesThe other scorpion moves quickly towards Limara, as it gets near it releases a spray of noxious vapours and Limara is enveloped by the spray but she and Venonblood resist its effects.Beltain casts Spiritual Weapon but it misses the second scorpion.Feng's horse misses the second scorpion too but his axe strikes true and damages it. "Wow!" he exclaims "Good armour these things have!  Perhaps not such a cheap victory after all!""Nah" retorts Rizzit These critters are no match for my magic"Both Venomblood and Limara miss on their attacks "Damn.." she exclaims mildly.Bibabob rides into position and fires his shortbow at the remaining attacking scorpion but misses.Rizzit rides Beaker over to the last Scorpion, growling and squarking as they goand eager to taste some scorpion but strikes only air, Beaker frowns in disgustRizzit fires his crossbow but misses the last fighting scorpion.Elinor turns Legend and canters over to the second scorpion.More poison is spayed and Limara, Venomblood, Salix, Beaker, Rizzit and Legend are all find their dexterity has reduced, fortunately the poison was not that strong but the beast follows through wounding Feng.Belatin and Salix attack the monsters raining blows on it until is sinks to the floor, dead. Beltain leads Salix out of the acid area.  "How are you Princess?" he calls over to Limara in a worried voice."Nice little fight, at least it cleared away some of the boredom associated with Cormyr." says Feng looking around for more targets "I'm just getting into my stride, and the action finishes. Just like a brothel with only a dozen girls in it.  Hey, look! No one dies! Not even the Dwarf! It thought it was kinda a rule or something. On come the hostiles and stumpy gets rigid. and not in a nice way.  Weapon Practice with Feng must agree with him." and grins at his own wit, oblivious as to the effect on anyone else"I agree we should set off now, but it is 5:30 already and not many hours of daylight left.  Perhaps it would be better to find a place to rest so that the poisoned can recover their dexterity and then set off, when we humans are able to see, on the morrow, with a full complement of spells?""Well done everyone," says Rizzit "Let's not delay we need to push on"Elinor leans across and rests her hand on Rizzit's scaley brow, then on Beaker's feathery shoulder. She frowns and then sits back, pulling her hand away.  "I'm sorry, I don't think I can treat this poison. Let's hope it wears off soon.  Let's move on to the Ruins. We can make a start with our investigations, and perhaps we'll find some shelter there""Thank you for your kind concern m'lady," says Rizzit pleased at the attention "I shall be fine, it should wear off in time""I'll lead. Nightvision is the only other worthwhile thing apart from my toughness that my father gave me."Limara heals the wounded Barbarian then addresses the rest of the party "OK, I agree with Elinor... we should move on to the ruins if we can make it... keep the same formation until it gets dark, then I will swap places with Rizzit.  His darkvision will be needed at the front.  That way we dont need to stop until we are weary".  She gets a cigar out: lights it with a tindertwig and .... after a moment .... blows smoke from her pouting lips.  "Anyone else want a cigar?" she asks, offering them around."Thanks for the healing Limara" says Feng, now fighting fit again, "I still think your wisdom is doubtful if you want to led into the dark by Rizzit. I have Darkvision too.  I won't lead you into a Red Dragon's lair just to look at the pretty fireworks.  Just so we are clear. I intend to collect my reward from his lordship. I can't do that if I die. So lets start gettin a little smarter." and he  grins in the darkness, "I think a real extended period of violence is called for. And I'm the one to deal it out!"Mesmerised by Limara's pouting lips, Beltain unthinkingly accepts a cigar and starts to smoke.  He quickly realises his mistake and, coughing and spluttering hands the cigar to Rizzit "S-s-moke it or e-e-eat it" he stutters, his eyes streaming.Rizzit moves to the front once its dark and keep a careful eye out for more troubleBeltain wipes his eyes and stands up in the saddle,  scanning the area land looking for more scorpions waiting to attack the party.but sees no further enemies...the party carry on toward the ruins.."I'll second that Mighty Feng." agrees Beltain, his eyes still smarting "Let cut the talk  and be on our way again""Now that is wisdom. Come then." smiles Feng"Keep your wits about you Feng, the others are relying on our eyesight this night" Rizzit tells the warrior "So watch the way ahead and stop fondling that axe""We has better advance with caution and in silence" whispers Beltain "We are, I think, close to the bandit lair, but skulls on strings do not seem to be conventional behaviour for brigands, they are normally secretive about their hideouts...".And sure enough the skeletal ruins of a once proud city start to loom from the darkness.</blockquote>

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