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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eridanis" data-source="post: 682699" data-attributes="member: 275">Session 38 - In which Drake longs for a sextantThis session introduces Kid Charlamagne's new character, Greymantle. Nicolai's replacement is an half-orc barbarian/ghost walker with many, many ranks in Intimidate.Amazingly, we have journals from every regular member in this update! Goodness knows we had plenty to talk about (we even used some smart tactics), so without further ado...Graymantle's Journal (as dictated to a scribe in Kellan's Temple):Hmm, where do I start?  I am not one to write stories.  In truth, I do not write much at all, the orphanages of the Theocracy of the Pale where I spent my youth having neglected such niceties.  And since then, well, let's just say  that though I've heard the pen is mightier than the sword, this has not been my experience.My masters (for whom I am going to this awful trouble - the writing of reports, that is) sent me to Verbobonc.  Some strange business with new stars appearing, old stars vanishing, and gods becoming weaker.  They sent all of us flunkies.  'Cause that's what I am, really.  Not a planner, or a detective.  Just a strong arm, with a good sword, and a weird way of being in the wrong place at the right time.So they sent me to Verbobonc.  To find a druid named Jorie and a paladin named Kellan.  And a wanker named Rodrigo.  This is what my masters said.I do not know what a wanker is.They had been fighting Giants.  This, at least, I find to be good.  They seemed skeptical of me at first.  This is also good, they should not trust me on my word alone.  Even if I were not part-orc.They had two others with them, a runt named Garrett, and a wizard named Drake. Garrett handles a whip in impressive manner, and Drake, well, Drake has poor aim.We planned on returning to where these Giants lived, to destroy some bees.  Magic bees, I gather.  They say this is important to what is happening.  I think they said that with more hope than with certainty. We were to teleport to the bee house, and kill the bees, and then get out.  I traveled with Rodrigo, Jorie, Jorie's intelligent beast Gizmo, and Garrett. Drake, Kellan, and Kellan's Sphinx mount were to teleport separately.That's where Drake's poor aim came into it.We got there, he didn't.  Rodrigo made impressively short work of the two giants we found, but was nearly undone by a Mind Flayer that showed up.  I was rather beaten up by the Mindflayer and some lava-wurms that attacked. However, we did manage to destroy the bees, even without half our number.The bees swarmed over us, and both Garrett and I found ourselves rather taken aback with the violence with which Rodrigo and Jorie approached this task.  I went to smash the queen bee's crystal honeycomb, but couldn't bear to do it.Jorie took it away.For safe keeping, of course.Jorie’s Journal:With Nik's passing, only Rodrigo and myself remain from the original Mirrormere party.  I miss Tanthril.  My new home, however, is going to remain the valley.  Someone needs to protect it, especially with the powerful gate in the temple basement.  Note to self:  check in with Church of Fharlanghn to see how their recovery efforts are proceeding.  I'm afraid a simple Druid of the Lady isn't going to be up to the task of defending it alone.We continue trying to break the fortress with the giants.  The effects of the tainted magic are growing.  Rod nearly fried Garret when he hallucinated what he claimed was a dozen mind flayers.  Gizmo appears to have mastered his feral rage.  I'm very proud of my friend.  I believe that Polly is interested in studying magic, while Spot is interested in stealth and tracking.  Perhaps he'll put some effort into studying as a ranger, although he will likely pursue some rogue-ish training as well. Rodrigo’s Journal:We managed to find another member for our party.  I am not sure who exactly found him or where but he is a big nasty half orc, just the type we need.  Quite frankly the guy really creeps me out and I am not even sure what his name is.  But if he can split some skulls then he is good enough for me.  Definitely not the type that I would want to take to the pub to hunt lasses.  Upon our return to town I have been wondering what sort of criteria we might need for a fighting man in our group.  I have come up with a few tests that I would like to see a prospective warrior pass. Harvest Some Peasants - Completely encircle the would-be adventurer with a ring of 8 peasants or so.  The contestant gets a single swing to see how many he can get through.  Paladins need not apply.  For the faint of heart I would recommend using pigs instead.  Then you can have a barbecue afterward.  If you use peasants you just get a mess that nobody really wants to have to clean up. Verbabonc Dirt Dive - I have seen this being done by some of our fair city's less educated folk.  We can find a tower, the taller the better.  Then we simply have our candidate jump off.  If he can survive then we know at least he can stand up to a few hits from a giant or two. Make an Omelet - All you halflings out there can settle down.  This really doesn't have anything to do with cooking.  We can take him down to the militia drilling grounds and set up one of the practice dummies in full plate.  Covered in head to toe with the exception of his groin.  If our candidate realizes the opening and puts a well-placed bastard sword in his eggs then at least he is smart enough to work with us.From the Collected Letters of Sir Kellan Evershar:As we made ready to return to the giant fortress, an half-orc by the name of Greymantle offered his services to us. Although he seems “creepy”, as Rodrigo might say, he impressed us with his capabilities with the sword as well as his general trustworthiness, and we have decided to take him along – we can do no worse than we are doing right now. Before leaving, Drake attempted his contact other plane spell – not as reliable and far more dangerous than Nikolai’s resources, but another source of information nonetheless. Knowing that responses might be incorrect, we still asked the following questions:- Is the mind flayer taking orders from someone else? NO- Is there another gate in the valley we should be concerned with? NO- Is another deity involved in the magical interference? An angry NO- Is there an artifact or magical talisman involved? YES- Who possesses this artifact? THE LADY“The Lady” caused some speculation that the Lady in the jungle valley might be to blame, but part of me is skeptical about jumping to that conclusion.Jorie consulted several of his druidic associates, and they were of the opinion that the bee colony should be destroyed, as they offered no peaceful benefit by themselves, and instead posed a hazard if in the wrong hands (as has been demonstrated). With a course of action before us, we tried to teleport into the bee cavern – and were thwarted by a forbiddance spell placed on hat area, as well as others. With our spells replenished the next day, Rodrigo hit upon the idea of teleporting in 60 feet ABOVE the floor – out of the range of the forbiddance spell. With feather fall spells on all of us, we should all be safe enough to not take damage from the fall. Nahktibastet and I would travel with Drake, while Jorie, Garrett, Greymantle, and Gizmo would travel with Rodrigo. Nahktibastet’s clairvoyance showed that there were several giants in the cavern, along with humans and trolls carting off bee honey, so forewarned, we teleported.Then the unthinkable happened. Somehow, Drake’s spell did not go off properly, and we were deposited far from our destination. Quickly, Drake readied his second teleport, and off we went – arriving even further away than before.Nahktibastet followed the course of the battle and saw that the others were able to kill the giants and others without loss of life on our side. They discovered a giant crystal that seemed to have some connection to the bees’ power, and Jorie changed into griffon form, flew up, and brought it down, presumably to take it back for study. When Drake can prepare more teleports in the morning, we can return to Verbobonc, hopefully to learn good news.  Garret’s Journal:Upon arriving into Verbobonc, Rodrigo suggested that we use part of the loot that has been attained to further enchant my magical whip. While waiting for my whip we met up with a very scary half orc named Greymantle. He offered his assistance, and I admit he definitely seemed quite frightening. After six days I got my new and improved whip back and I was itching to try it out. We formulated a plan to teleport into the fire giant's keep into two main parties. Strike team one consisted of Rodrigo, Jorie, Greymantle and myself. Strike team two consisted of Drake and Kellan (I guess Kellan needs to go on a diet since he needed his own private teleporter). We decided to enter into the big cavern containing all the bees and use a nifty spell called "Feather Fall". Supposedly it would prevent us from damage since we were teleporting sixty feet above the cave! I guess I'm starting to get adjusted to all this magical travel as I was only slightly disoriented when we appeared into the cavern. We dropped right into the middle of the garden with only two Fire giant sentries blocking the door. Rodrigo quickly killed the first fire giant and I raced off to kill the second. That is when things got pretty fuzzy. I heard Rodrigo scream and a quick look back saw him running for the end of the cavern, I continued on as quick as my halfling legs would take me, and I guess Greymantle finally got the giants attention as he began charged past me straight for Greymantle. I turned to chase after the giant just in time to see Rodrigo lob multiple fireballs at the doors. My catlike reflexes failed me as I slipped on the rocks and took a face full of fireball. Not being one to wait to see why, I raced off towards the Fire giant that was engaged with Greymantle. We quickly dispatched the remaining sentry as Jorie managed to talk some sense into Rodrigo. Fearing the giant had gotten a warning off. I raced back to the now-destroyed doors and hid in the shadows. Rodrigo began to summarily destroy the bee hives while Jorie, and Greymantle stood guard. Luck turned out to be on my side as the mind flayer, hidden until now, summoned forth a storm of unholy fire that rained down upon the rest of the group. Rodrigo managed to get a single spell off, just before the Mind flayer unleashed a mental blast, stunning Greymantle, and Rodrigo. Gizmo, Jorie and I converged on the mind flayer, and after a fiercebattle we managed to knock the beast unconscious. I was moving forward to finish the job, when the four lava worms burst up from the ground and began to attack us. Again I was shocked that the beasts could see through my invisibility but I was very confident in my abilities. I quickly killed the first lava worm, and I had almost finished the second, when the beast dived at the mind flayer’s corpse and retreated into the ground with the corpse! Fearing the other two worms would escape Gizmo, Jorie and I ganged up to defeat the remaining worms. During this time the bees managed to swarm me but I suddenly became very friendly with them. Once we were able to awaken Rodrigo and Greymantle we decided to take leave of this place. Just then Jorie noticed a huge glowing crystal attached to the ceiling. After a quick discussion Jorie changed shape into a griffon and went to get the magical crystal. Midway up, I realized that the crystal was the home of my friend the queen bee! Fearing that Jorie would harm our friends, Greymantle, who also seemed to be friendly with the bees, and I started yelling at the griffon asking not to hurt our new friend. Carefully though, he picked up the coffin and brought it back down to Rodrigo so we could leave the fiery remains of the cavern.Once everything was said and done I realized that we were missing the other half of our party. That gave me something to think about as we teleported back to the druid grove with my new found friends. . . the Bees.Drake’s Journal:It is with some regret that I make this entry into my diary tonight. You see, it was my task to transport Kellan and myself into the chamber of hives at the fire giant fortress.  Not only did I fail in my first attempt, but using my second and final preparation of the spell that I was saving for our hasty escape, I had failed again to reach our destination. I can only hope our companions still succeeded in our mission to slay the hive and their mind influencing mead.  Kellan and I shall return to Verbobonc in the morning.  With any luck, our companions will be safely there to greet us.</blockquote>

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