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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 864" data-attributes="member: 94">EIGHT SESSION: the vision of gemsKELLAN’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNAL<written by Kellan to his superiors in the Order of Heironeous>TO All whom these Presents come, Greetings:It seems my visions of chaos had a rightful cause. After my uneventful journey from Littleburg to Mirrormere, it took less than an hour for events to coalesce. A valiant band of local heroes had recently rooted out a stronghold of the kobold race, and brought their leader, an unholy amalgam of kobold and dragon, for questioning. He proved uncooperative, but the amulet he used to communicate with others of his creed was swiftly turned to our use; we discovered that we might meet one of the kobold's cohorts at the bridge that fords the river that drains the local area into the lake.It borders on pride to tell you that I stepped into the battle with valor and courage that Heironeous has gifted me, but I will admit this because my boon companions exhibited the same characteristics as well. We battled a hag and two trolls, and while we defeated the hag, the trolls escaped, where they might harass other travelers. (I hope to be able to finish the job soon.) The quality of the battle gave my food for thought: I am not used to engaging in battle with sorcerers and druids by my side, but Jorie the gnome druid and Roderigo, the curiously-mannered sorcerer, stood strong in a manner befitting a paladin. In fact, Jorie lost two animal companions, creatures dear to himself, in the battle; but he, and they, seemed reconciled with the sacrifice. It is interesting to think that even those who are so different from ourselves may yet hold the values we hold so dear. As for my other current companions, comprised of a cleric, ranger, and dwarven fighter, they exhibited the qualities of which I am familiar with in their kind.I do hope we shall track the scourge that threatens this area. The hag we dispatched carried an amulet similar to the one found on the bastard kobold, and I am using it in such a way that I hope to lead us to other evil-doers in the area. Trust that I will use this power for good, and not be corrupted by it.I must close, as we begin out journey towards the next target - I will leave that destination unnamed, in the event this missive is intercepted in transit.In the service of the Great Knight, I remainYour obedient servant,Kellan Evershar-----------------------------------------------------------RODRIGO’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNALI knew that our interrogation of the Half Dragon was not going to go well and it took a turn for the worse when the damn Paladin showed up.  It seems that the bad guys only really tell you their plan when they think they are about to kill you so I knew that no good would come of it-- and I was proven right when it spewed acid on us.  So now we bring in John Wells to help us interrogate it with a charm monster, or so we think.  The interrogation seemed to be going well enough, something called an Archifect pulling the strings and a green dragon bearing down on the village.  Then Wells says, "Something is wrong, he is lying."  So I drop the hammer on this little waste of time and put the bastard out of his misery.  My theory is that Wells realized we were getting useful information from it and tried to cover it up. In any event I was not going to chance an escape with this thing. Wells is in on this somehow, or he is just being duped by (or maybe just banging) Dria.  Join the crowd.Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho off to the bridge we go.  After telling my odd communication amulet that we have destroyed the village, we were directed to “head to the bridge to meet the Lady.”  Once there we hear Dria scream and see her cloak floating down stream, another handy excuse, just as a couple trolls and a Hag jump us.  We manage to dispatch them and find another crystal, which gives us a bit more info on several other ones like it.  Now the speculation arises again.  Some say that the Hag is Dria but my opinion is that it’s time for Dria to pay the piper (not play the piper - she has done that already).-----------------------------------------------------------TANTHRIL’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNALA call to arms has been made by our group for the defense of our humble town and all those capable of fighting the evil that has befallen our home have joined us in our quest.  We now number six valiant souls as Jaag has emerged from the hard labor of Hastur’s forge and a stranger named Kellan has arrived from Littleberg to the north.  I can only hope that our newly combined strength will be enough to repel the forces of evil that encroach upon our good lands.When we last returned to Mirromere, our attempts to gain insight from the captive half-dragon into the source of darkness now amongst us met with acceptable results.  We were able to confirm with the aid of Jon Well’s magicks that a green dragon lies in wait for us beneath the lake and will need to be dealt with in the near future.  We also discovered the source of the evil to be an entity simply known as the “archeffect”.  Unfortunately, not much more clear insight was to be gained from the wicked beast, and Rodrigo performed the necessary mercy killing.  It was quick and relatively painless, unlike that of the miller and Jesper’s family whose lives the beast had indirectly taken from us.  Luckily, there are still murderers left to exact rightful vengeance upon.With the aid of Nikolai’s god’s clairvoyance, we were able to determine a way to seemingly trick the half-dragon’s sister into not attacking the town in the immediate future.  With large pyres of wood set ablaze billowing smoke into the air and with the promise of fresh meat delivery, we were told that one of the ten had returned and directed to meet “the woman at the bridge.”Like little mice drawn to cheese, we marched north out of town towards the Littleberg Bridge knowing that battle was imminent.  When we arrived at the bridge, we cautiously approached it.  It appeared at first that we had arrived before the woman so we began to prepare an ambush.  Moments later, we heard a familiar voice crying for help from under the bridge.  A cloak lay floating on top of the water as the cries for help continued.  There was no mistaking the voice; it belonged to Dria, Jon Well’s drow cleric “houseguest”.  Immediately, Kellan boldly jumped into the river and was soon waist-high in water, his heavy armor visibly slowing him down.  Jorie was not far behind him on the other side of the bridge, only slightly delayed as he cast an enchantment on himself.  The gnome soon disappeared under the slow current of the water.  I stood back on the bank next to Rodrigo, my long bow knocked with an arrow in anticipation.  Suddenly, Kellan jumped back towards the river’s bank as a large, green creature emerged from underneath the bridge.  I quickly moved to get a better angle on the beast as the side of the bridge blocked much of my line of sight to the creature.  I was only able to fire one quick shot before Kellan met its charge and began hurriedly slashing at the monstrosity.  Without hesitation, I dropped my bow to the ground and charged into combat with my longsword to aid the stranger from Littleberg.  As we attempted to fight off the beast and draw it out of the water, I heard the distinct sounds of combat from the other side of the bridge.  I had faith that my comrades Jorie, Rodrigo, and Jaag would be able to hold our flank against whatever evil opposed them, so continued pressing the fight with both longsword and shortsword viciously hacking away at the green creature in front of me.  The creature quickly singled me out and began punishing me with claw and tooth.  The strength of the monster was inhuman, and his wicked claws tore right through my chain shirt causing much damage.  I quickly verified that my internal organs were still intact, and decided it tactically advantageous to use my speed and agility to strike from a distance.  I withdrew to the river bank where my mighty bow lay and began supporting Kellan’s attacks with long-ranged vengeance.  I saw out of the corner of my eye all three of Jorie’s badger companions fall to the punishing attacks of the green troll on the other side of the bridge as well as our new companion Jaag.  Just as things were looking grim, the troll attacking Kellan retreated into the water, and a ghastly hag began running across the bridge.  Between Rodrigo’s fiery magical contempt, Kellan’s blade, and my bow, the vile woman was laid low and crumpled onto the bridge.  With the loss of their leader, the two trolls seemed to lose the will to fight and both retreated to the safety of the river’s waters.  With temporary calm restored, we quickly mended the wounds of Jaag and Jorie’s two badgers, but the dire badger known as Ripper was not going to make it.  As a party, we said farewell to the loyal animal and buried him at the base of the Littleberg Bridge, close to where he fell on the field of battle.  It appears that the party is now done searching the hag and is beginning to discuss our next course of action so I must take my leave from this writing endeavor.  I shall hope to relate more answers to our continuing saga soon. -----------------------------------------------------------NIKOLAI’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNALWell, bringing the half-dragon back to town didn’t help much.  Ended up not getting any info at all from him.  Finally we used the creature’s amulet to try and lure our enemies into revealing themselves.  We indicated that the town had been destroyed, no need to send the dragon, thank you very much, we’re all fine down here, how are you?The message came back:  Meet the Lady at the Littleberg Bridge. Alrighty.We headed down there, a single small bridge crossing the river where it emptied into the Mirrormere.  Jorie’s Dire Badger dug a hole for us to hide in.  As it turned out, it dug its own grave.From the river came two trolls and a hag.  Some have speculated the Hag might be Dria.  That thought caused Rodrigo to pause and scratch imaginary itchings from his nether regions.We fell into combat, and it is a good thing that we had added the Paladin of Pelor and the Dwarf from Hastur’s smithy (Hastur?  Did you say Hastur?  Never mind.)  They helped out heroically and bled copious amounts of blood that otherwise would have had to come from our veins.  For a moment it looked touch-and-go, which is a condition we are becoming intimately familiar with.   Jorie’s animals took the brunt of the fight, and suffered for it.  All went down in a heap.  We looked ready to join them, but finally we drove the trolls off, and slew the hag.  Kellan, the paladin, took an amulet from her, and set it around his neck.It seems to be a kind of locating device, that gives a mental picture of where various allies of the wearer are.  Now, it gives us an idea of where to track down the villains plaguing our home.-----------------------------------------------------------JORIE’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNALWell, we weren't able to get much information from the half-dragon.  We were able to learn that there's something called an "archeffect" that is pulling all of the strings, including his sister's.  With the help of Fharlanghn's advice, we were also able to determine that we could send a message to the "sister" and buy a little more time for the village.  The dragon told us that one has returned, and that we should meet the "lady" at the bridge.You know what else lives under bridges, too, right?  Yeah.  Them.We thought we might have gotten there before the "lady" so Ripper dug a small hole for three of the guys (I didn't mention that a Paladin named Kellan joined us, or that Jaag finally decided to leave the safety of Hastur's forge to join us?)  When Ripper and I got to the top of the bridge, we heard Dria's voice calling for help.  Our first thought was that she must be the dragon's "lady" and is actually a bad guy.  We couldn't actually see her, but we did see her cloak floating on the water.  I cast an Animal Infusion  to take on the waterbreathing quality of the fish in the river and jumped in.  One of the others also jumped in.  We were both ambushed by trolls in the river.I faked that I was drowning in the troll's grasp, so the foolish thing let go of me and attacked Ripper who was now on the shore and Jaag, who fights quite bravely and well.  After escaping from the troll, and suffering an attack from the real "lady" who turns out to be a Hag (!), I made it back to the side of the river with everyone else.Ripper was hurting badly, but so was Jaag, so I gave Jaag a burst of healing from the wand.  My next chance, I cast Flaming Weapon to have Ripper burst into flame, in hopes of taking out the troll that was attacking him.  Unfortunately, the troll survived the massive attacks the next round and felled my noble friend.  At almost this time, however, Kellan was able to fell the Hag, and the trolls retreated into the water.I looked grimly from Ripper to Jaag, feeling in my heart that if I'd healed my friend that he would still be with us.  Jaag, however, is an old friend from the village, also, and I couldn't simply let him die.  In my grief, I buried Ripper in the burrow beneath the bridge and sealed the opening.  No scavengers should get to the remains of my friend.I have some difficult choices to make here, also.  It seems that the landscape is becoming too dangerous for simple badgers, and even the largest of our allies.  Instead, now, I believe I must seek out one of the massive wolverines that live in the area as a mount.  I haven't decided yet, whether to release both Slasher and Dodger and gain the service of one of the wolves in the area, or keep the badgers' friendship and let them stay at home with Aunt Mel where they're safe.  Oddly, I don't think Aunt Mel needs the protection.-----------------------------------------------------------JAAG’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNALBefore the interrogation of the kobold-dragon could begin, it struck down three of our members, including myself, with its noxious breath weapon.  It was a sobering way to begin my day, before I had even had my first ale no less, but I was quick enough to knock it down with the flat of my axe before it could act again.  The acrid taste of its breath continued to burn in my lungs for the rest of the day.With the aid of some magic spells we learned only minor information.  Our prisoner must have then provoked Rodrigo somehow that I had not seen -- next thing I knew the kobold-dragon lay dead and we were expecting its "sister" dragon to pay us a visit later today.  Maybe now would be a good time to expand the cellar under my home.But, lucky for us Rodrigo possessed a crystal charm taken from the prisoner that allowed us to communicate with his "sister."  We convinced her that the town was already razed and that her visit was unnecessary, with that, she bid us to meet "the lady" at the bridge -- I wonder if Rodrigo was capable of sufficiently imitating the kobold-dragon during his communication?  It takes a sharper mind than his to outwit a dragon I think.  Nevertheless, we were obliged to meet "the lady" and put down any ally of those who would endanger our lives and our homes.We cautiously approached the bridge that lay a few miles up river.  We looked for "the lady," but all seemed vacant.  The six of us were surely incapable of looking like a lone kobold-dragon, but we had no opportunity or means of stealth since the landscape left little place to hide.  Suddenly, we heard a cry of help that sounded like Dria.  She was under the bridge!  Was she "the lady?"  As one of our group approached the water by the bridge, wicked claws reached up and tried to drown Kellan, and another one grabbed Jorie.  Two trolls were upon us!  Though I was quick to charge one of the trolls and tried valiantly to kill it, it struck quicker and harder than I, and next I knew, I thought I saw the darkness of Moradin's anvil about to crash down upon me and end my life.  But, the light of Heironious was upon me, and I was spared an early end thanks to Nikolai's divine powers.  By now, the trolls were withdrawing back into the safety of the water, and Jorie's badger companions were seriously injured as well.  Meanwhile, a despicable hag had approached from the other side of the bridge and was fighting with Kellan--- our new paladin friend.  She was proving resilient to several of Rodrigo's flaming sphere spells, when one finally succeeded.  The stench from her burning flesh was almost as bad as the kobold-dragon's breath!  Still wounded, but safely away from the hag, I nocked an arrow and struck the hag deep into her side.  An excellent shot!  Though it was not enough to end her life, it gave Kellan the brief moment needed to strike the final blow, and thus the hag lay dead at his feet.  A fitting end for "the lady."I wonder how safe we are from the trolls returning from the water, or if the hag has other friends nearby?  We lost Jorie's dire badger companion in the fight with the trolls -- had I been slightly more conscious, perhaps I could have made the difference.  We gave it a proper burial (in a hole it had dug quite conveniently for itself) and took inventory of our wounds.  It seems we have all seen better days.We have little time to waste.  It seems the hag possessed a crystal similar to the one the kobold-dragon had, though a bit smaller, and with it we can sense the nearness of several other crystals.  We can only hope they are as tired and weary as we are or it may be our end should they converge on us before we are ready.DM’s SESSION EIGHT SUMMARYWells proved himself surprisingly cooperative, and at the party’s request he used a Charm Monster spell on the kobold leader to get some information out of him. Even so, the creature grew wily towards the end; and as it takes a liar to know a liar, Wells informed the party that the creature was being evasive. Rodrigo had a Magic Missile cooking for just such an occasion and wasted no time in killing Maldrak once and for all.The party now knew that someone called “The Arxephext” was ultimately behind it all. The smooth grey stone that Maldrak carried was a communication device. The stone didn’t open “live” communication, but it seemed to be able to store and project thoughts. Rodrigo noted that the “voice” on the other end was inhuman, alien, soul-less and sexless—and the party decided that this must be the green dragon. Rodrigo sent a message that the town was destroyed; and a message came back sending them to the bridge to meet the Lady.The hag did a wonderful impersonation of Dria, leading the party to stumble to the conclusion that the cloak floating on the water was Dria’s—though ultimately incorrect, it was a natural assumption and there was little time to inspect the cloak to verify it. Kellan, who didn’t know Dria and had only the best of intentions, was the first into the water to attempt to save her—yes, despite the fact that he was lumbering through knee-deep mud in his chainmail. This was but the first of his consistently (and, to some, annoyingly) paladin-like behavior.One hag and two trolls—too much for six 4th / 5th level adventures? Very nearly—but not completely.The party recovered another, smaller stone from the hag—a deep blue sapphire. Kellan had landed the fatal blow, and it was Kellan who first touched the stone.Just as Rodrigo had experienced before, as soon as the gem touched Kellan's flesh, the gem seemed to intrude into his mind.Like burning stars in the sky, Kellan became aware of a multitude of colored lights:A dull, but powerfully pulsing grey light, very close; Two lights, green and jade, nearly due east, and still quite close;Two cool pastels of pink and blue, where the kobolds' lake would lie;Amber and gold, revolving around a pinpoint of deepest black, north towards his home of Littleberg;Bone white and deep blood red, far north into the Creeping Wood-- moving slowly but resolutely towards the lake;and suffusing over all, like an afterthought, a deep blue glow.</blockquote>

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