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<blockquote data-quote="Mark Chance" data-source="post: 1882592" data-attributes="member: 2795"><p><strong>Victory is Ours!</strong></p><p></p><p>Praise Garl! This has been a week for victories. We’ve defeated the forces of Nerull. My devotion to Garl, even as meager as it is, has been rewarded. And, most significantly of all, I truly believe I've risen in the esteem of the fair Zara.</p><p></p><p>After our last foray into Nerull’s temple, we were sorely injured and had spent most of our magical resources. So we retreated into the canyons around the temple and camped for two days. Cord was most sullen and withdrawn, apparently sulking over the loss of his hair, but I care little. I doubt my shears hurt his feelings as much as his misfired arrows hurt mine. Between Mupp, Moonshine, and me, our spells were sufficient to heal everyone’s injuries in one day. We then camped for another day to renew of arcane and divine energies. We returned to the temple shortly after sunrise.</p><p></p><p>The upper floor of the ruin was unguarded when we returned, but my keen eye and knowledge of magical traps detected some sort of awful warding glyph on the interior door leading to the chamber in which are the stairs. I managed to disable the glyph, changing the divine symbols from malevolent words to a series of etches meaning "cheese." No one need fear a glyph of cheese!</p><p></p><p>One we entered the stair’s chamber, a skeleton posted there sounded a bell before we could stop it. It then jumped into the stairwell, which, as you may recall, does not have stairs leading all the way down. Instead, after about five feet, the stairs crumble away, leaving a 20-foot drop. Fortunately, this drop destroyed the skeleton. The rope the Nerullites used to ascend and descend had been removed, so I fetched my knotted rope from My Ass. Once it was secure, I climbed down, followed immediately by Zara, Mupp, and Ebon. The rest of the party - Shadra, Moonscape, and Glyth - followed shortly thereafter. Cord stayed at camp to guard our supplies.</p><p></p><p>The first chamber of the dungeon level is a large, square room with three corridors leading away from it. One corridor dead-ends at a cave-in. This is where we fought the crossbow-wielding skeletons on our last foray. While the party stood guard to my rear, I stealthily explored the next corridor in which we had faced the bear skeleton and the Nerullite fanatic. This corridor also proved to lead nowhere. There were a few smallish rooms that were probably once cells. After the T-junction, one passage of the corridor ended in another cave-in. The other branch led to a medium-sized room containing a crude cot and other unremarkable personal effects. Obviously this was the fanatic’s room.</p><p></p><p>This left one corridor unexplored. Again I took the lead, and soon found another chamber nearly twice the size of the first. There were two exits from this room. The entry to the first corridor I moved toward was covered by a blanket hung from the lintel. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to check this crude portal for traps, and I blundered right into some sort of electrical glyph. The shock was quite painful and singed the hairs on both of my arms. On the other side of this "electric blanket" was a hallway about 20 or 30 feet long which also ended in a cave-in. There was a table near its terminus.</p><p></p><p>On the table, I found a stack of papers. Thinking they might be important, I returned to the main party to read them. Fortunately this time my luck and reflexes held good. As I was reading, a sigil from the page came to life and attempted to strike me in the manner of a snake. I was able to dodge its attack, after which the sigil vanished. I left the rest of the papers unread. Later I’ll have to find out what sort of magical defense this sigil was.</p><p></p><p>My next act of carelessness plunged us into a running battle from which we were all lucky to emerge alive. Rather than watch where I was walking as I approached the blind corner, I was gazing at the lovely Zara, and I blundered right into a gang of skeletons. In fact, there was more than just one gang. The blind corner led to a long corridor bisected by a cross-passage. In addition to the four skeletons into which I had blundered, there was another group of five or six skeletons, all armed with crossbows, backed up by two humans also armed with crossbows! All in all, we were outnumbered at least two to one.</p><p></p><p>The skeletons wasted no time. I caught two sword points and a crossbow bolt. Severely wounded, I staggered away from the battle, letting Ebon, Moonbeam, and Zara move to the front. As they did battle, I healed myself. Ebon and Zara had a cursed time fighting in such cramped quarters. Ebon kept trying to tumble past the skeletons, but was blocked every time. Zara found herself bearing the brunt of the crossbow volleys. Moonlight called upon the power of Corellon Larethian to turn the undead, but that dandy of a deity wasn’t up to the task.</p><p></p><p>We were stuck in a bottleneck, unable to advance. Our front three were taking a horrible beating between the sword-wielding skeletons and the crossbows farther down the hall. Fortunately, once I was healed somewhat, I pushed my way as close to the front as possible. Shadra also slipped past the first rank of skeletons, narrowly avoiding a skewering in the process. By this time, Mupp’s inspirational verses had fired our spirits as well.</p><p></p><p>Shadra manifested psionic fire and thinned out the ranks of crossbow skeletons. I boldly presented the symbol of Garl and blasted a few of the other skeletons out of existence. After a quick quip to Moonpie that he might want to convert to my faith, we all pushed forward. With the bottleneck broken and the skeletons falling like a house of cards in a strong wind, the two humans turned tail and raced down the corridor away from us.</p><p></p><p>Ebon, he of fleet feet and iron hands, tried to catch them, but their lead was too great. They rushed into another room, slamming the door behind them. We knew better than to give them time to mount a defense, and so we all charged the portal. Mupp kicked the door open. Ebon, Zara, and I rushed into the room, which, as fate would have it, turned out to be the black heart of the temple. We know faced four human crossbowmen, each behind a barricade, six ghouls, many small animal skeletons, and a cleric of Nerull!</p><p></p><p>As Mupp and Zara engaged the ghouls in combat, I again channeled the holy might of Garl. There was resistance from the desecrated Nerullite altar, but even still all of the small animal skeletons retreated to the far end of the room. Mupp and Zara took some damage from the ghouls’ claws and fangs, but thank Garl they were not paralyzed by the monsters' horrid touch. Then the Nerullite cleric sounded a gong, and from the bisecting passage behind us poured at least eight wolf skeletons!</p><p></p><p>O, the cursed luck! We were now trapped between two groups of deadly foes. Ebon and Moonrock rushed back down the corridor to cut off the wolf skeletons’ charge. Glyth, our archer extraordinaire, fired at one of the crossbowmen, but could not bypass his cover. The crossbowmen returned fire to better effect, and Zara and Mupp took more damage. Shadra pushed her way into the altar room. Her psionic fire blackened ghoulish flesh, but none of the monsters were destroyed. Then, a little bit, the battle turned in our favor. I pierced a ghoul’s throat and, with a twist and a wrench, nearly severed its ghastly head. Mupp emulated my example and destroyed another ghoul.</p><p></p><p>Behind us, Ebon and Moonglow fought a desperate battle against the wolf skeletons. Glyth moved closer to the altar room, firing again at the crossbowmen, but still to no avail. I killed another ghoul, proving the deadly skill of my swordarm. Zara was struck by claw and bolt, and I could tell she was weakening rapidly. Mupp and I switched positions, pivoting back to back, and Mupp applied some bardic healing magic to Zara. This is when the Nerullite cleric left cover to enter battle, one of his hands crackling with unholy energy. Zara managed to evade this dangerous touch for the first time.</p><p></p><p>Behind us, two other Nerullite clerics entered the scene, backing up the wolf skeletons. Ebon and Moonrise, no matter how gallant, could not have won against such odds, and so I retreated from the altar room toward their position. I would later learn that Zara again evaded the cleric’s evil touch, and that Shadra managed to gain mental control over one of the crossbowmen, making an enemy a temporary ally.</p><p></p><p>For the third time that day, I channeled Garl’s holy might, this time toward the wolf skeletons. Again Garl proved worthy to the task. All but two of the undead monsters retreated from my presence. About this time, the two Nerrulite clerics began casting. Moondoggy leapt over the snapping jaws of one skeletal wolf and slammed his mace into the shoulder of one of the clerics, disrupting his spell. As impressive as this was, Ebon was awe-inspiring. He snapped a kick into the other wolf skeleton’s skull, destroying the monster. Then, with great fluidity of motion, he pulled a javelin from his quiver, hurled it down range, and struck the other cleric a glancing blow across his forehead, disrupting that spell as well! I think I actually yelled, "Huzzah!"</p><p></p><p>With my timely intervention having turned the tide of battle in the corridor, I raced back to the altar room. The Nerullite with the deadly hand stepped into view as I approached, but this time Zara could not evade his touch. My love screamed in agony and dropped to the floor! By Garl, I swear I certain she was dead, especially when almost immediately thereafter my brother Mupp was paralyzed by the one remaining ghoul! Rage gripped my heart, and I charged the Nerullite, piercing his chainshirt as well as his black heart. Glyth, taking advantage of the opening the the Nerullite’s death caused, rushed behind me in time to stop the flow of Zara’s precious blood. Thank Garl! Who knew our ranger was a field medic as well? I owe him a debt of gratitude that I must soon repay.</p><p></p><p>Shadra and her charmed crossbowmen were making short work of the other two crossbowmen left standing. I slew the last of the ghouls. Ebon and Moonraker killed the remaining skeletal wolf and the other two Nerullite clerics. The battle drew to a close. We destroyed the undead I had turned at range so as to avoid further injury, and then began the laborious process of looting our fallen enemies. From the leader of the Nerullites we recovered a potion of delay poison, a magical heavy mace, and suit of magical chainmail. What rich spoils for us victors!</p><p></p><p>We also had three problems. First, what to do with the crossbowmen, whose name we learned was Robert. We could not simply let this miscreant go free. Transporting him back to Gyrax would require three or four days on the trail with an enemy in our midst. We discussed simply killing Robert, but the thought of cold-blooded murder did not sit well with most of us. It was Ebon who suggested a sporting alternative.</p><p></p><p>Robert had fired upon and injured my beloved Zara. This insult could not go unanswered, and Ebon suggested I challenge Robert to a duel. We armed Robert with leather armor and a rapier, the same as me (although, to be honest, his rapier was human-sized as opposed to my gnome-sized one). Should Robert defeat me, he would go free. Otherwise, he would perish. My skill as a fencer proved far superior to Robert’s. He scored a couple of hits, made some impressive parries, but, once all was said and done, died with his rapier in his hand.</p><p></p><p>This left us with two problems: What to do with Nerull’s altar, and what to do with the temple complex itself? We moved to the first of the dungeon level’s chambers, thinking it would be easiest to defend should enemies arrive, and made our camp there. While on guard duty, I stealthily took a length of twine and measured the circumference of Zara’s ring finger. The next day, we healed each other as best as we could, and then made a more thorough search of the temple.</p><p></p><p>Behind the altar, we found a stash of monies and several documents. We also found a half dozen carrier pigeons. The documents were the lead Nerullite’s journal. In it, he wrote that he had sent a request for aid after our first assault to someone called Thorak, but that Thorak responded no help would be forthcoming. This Thorak must be relatively close to the area, for we camped only two days after our initial foray into the temple. How far could a carrier pigeon fly and return in those two days? This is a question we must answer. The Nerullite’s journal also chronicled their unsuccessful attempts to locate the tomb of High Priest Victor, which handily explained the excavations and many digging tools.</p><p></p><p>Mupp has a wide but not terribly deep knowledge of many forgotten matters, and he recalled that there was a Nerullite High Priest Victor who lived some five centuries ago before he was imprisoned somewhere by the "forces of good." Why the forces of good didn’t simply kill Victor is a mystery, but not one we felt like solving. Instead, we began preparations to collapse the corridors in the dungeon level and torch the temple aboveground. If Victor is imprisoned at that site, who are we to try to free him?</p><p></p><p>Moonbeam decided to consecrate the altar and then destroy it. When he whacked it with the magical heavy mace we had found, some sort of protective enchantment summoned a horrible demon! The hellspawn was armed with a fearsome glaive, had a beard of spikes, and was covered with wicked barbs. As Moonbeam and Ebon rushed to do battle with it, it did its level best to kill our elfish cleric. I cast magic weapon and protection from evil on Ebon. Zara too entered the fray, and I followed shortly thereafter. By Garl! What a fearsome foe! It nearly killed Moonface and Ebon before Zara dispatched it with a most skillful rapier thrust up through its lower jaw and soft palate into its seething brain. We left the altar alone after this. Our plan to collapse the dungeon level succeeded. The aboveground structure burned mightily and collapsed, further sealing what is supposedly Victor of Nerull’s prison. After this, we returned to Gyrax with our wagon loaded with the spoils of our conquest.</p><p></p><p>In town, I purchased a matched set of platinum rings, and presented one to Zara. I also gifted her with a carved cedar symbol of her patron deity, filigreed with platinum. I could tell she was greatly pleased with both gifts, although she did her best to hide her pleasure, as is only fitting. Zara is a priceless prize, and I cannot win her so easily.</p><p></p><p>I am uncertain about our next course of action. Florin’s brother still languishes in captivity. We should make an effort to free him. But the question of the Nerullites’ allies also nags at me. If we can devise some way to track the carrier pigeons after releasing them, we could ferret out more forces of evil. Should word of our example spread, perhaps even the lax rulers of Gyrax may decide to take the offensive against the growing threat from the Pomarj.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mark Chance, post: 1882592, member: 2795"] [b]Victory is Ours![/b] Praise Garl! This has been a week for victories. We’ve defeated the forces of Nerull. My devotion to Garl, even as meager as it is, has been rewarded. And, most significantly of all, I truly believe I've risen in the esteem of the fair Zara. After our last foray into Nerull’s temple, we were sorely injured and had spent most of our magical resources. So we retreated into the canyons around the temple and camped for two days. Cord was most sullen and withdrawn, apparently sulking over the loss of his hair, but I care little. I doubt my shears hurt his feelings as much as his misfired arrows hurt mine. Between Mupp, Moonshine, and me, our spells were sufficient to heal everyone’s injuries in one day. We then camped for another day to renew of arcane and divine energies. We returned to the temple shortly after sunrise. The upper floor of the ruin was unguarded when we returned, but my keen eye and knowledge of magical traps detected some sort of awful warding glyph on the interior door leading to the chamber in which are the stairs. I managed to disable the glyph, changing the divine symbols from malevolent words to a series of etches meaning "cheese." No one need fear a glyph of cheese! One we entered the stair’s chamber, a skeleton posted there sounded a bell before we could stop it. It then jumped into the stairwell, which, as you may recall, does not have stairs leading all the way down. Instead, after about five feet, the stairs crumble away, leaving a 20-foot drop. Fortunately, this drop destroyed the skeleton. The rope the Nerullites used to ascend and descend had been removed, so I fetched my knotted rope from My Ass. Once it was secure, I climbed down, followed immediately by Zara, Mupp, and Ebon. The rest of the party - Shadra, Moonscape, and Glyth - followed shortly thereafter. Cord stayed at camp to guard our supplies. The first chamber of the dungeon level is a large, square room with three corridors leading away from it. One corridor dead-ends at a cave-in. This is where we fought the crossbow-wielding skeletons on our last foray. While the party stood guard to my rear, I stealthily explored the next corridor in which we had faced the bear skeleton and the Nerullite fanatic. This corridor also proved to lead nowhere. There were a few smallish rooms that were probably once cells. After the T-junction, one passage of the corridor ended in another cave-in. The other branch led to a medium-sized room containing a crude cot and other unremarkable personal effects. Obviously this was the fanatic’s room. This left one corridor unexplored. Again I took the lead, and soon found another chamber nearly twice the size of the first. There were two exits from this room. The entry to the first corridor I moved toward was covered by a blanket hung from the lintel. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to check this crude portal for traps, and I blundered right into some sort of electrical glyph. The shock was quite painful and singed the hairs on both of my arms. On the other side of this "electric blanket" was a hallway about 20 or 30 feet long which also ended in a cave-in. There was a table near its terminus. On the table, I found a stack of papers. Thinking they might be important, I returned to the main party to read them. Fortunately this time my luck and reflexes held good. As I was reading, a sigil from the page came to life and attempted to strike me in the manner of a snake. I was able to dodge its attack, after which the sigil vanished. I left the rest of the papers unread. Later I’ll have to find out what sort of magical defense this sigil was. My next act of carelessness plunged us into a running battle from which we were all lucky to emerge alive. Rather than watch where I was walking as I approached the blind corner, I was gazing at the lovely Zara, and I blundered right into a gang of skeletons. In fact, there was more than just one gang. The blind corner led to a long corridor bisected by a cross-passage. In addition to the four skeletons into which I had blundered, there was another group of five or six skeletons, all armed with crossbows, backed up by two humans also armed with crossbows! All in all, we were outnumbered at least two to one. The skeletons wasted no time. I caught two sword points and a crossbow bolt. Severely wounded, I staggered away from the battle, letting Ebon, Moonbeam, and Zara move to the front. As they did battle, I healed myself. Ebon and Zara had a cursed time fighting in such cramped quarters. Ebon kept trying to tumble past the skeletons, but was blocked every time. Zara found herself bearing the brunt of the crossbow volleys. Moonlight called upon the power of Corellon Larethian to turn the undead, but that dandy of a deity wasn’t up to the task. We were stuck in a bottleneck, unable to advance. Our front three were taking a horrible beating between the sword-wielding skeletons and the crossbows farther down the hall. Fortunately, once I was healed somewhat, I pushed my way as close to the front as possible. Shadra also slipped past the first rank of skeletons, narrowly avoiding a skewering in the process. By this time, Mupp’s inspirational verses had fired our spirits as well. Shadra manifested psionic fire and thinned out the ranks of crossbow skeletons. I boldly presented the symbol of Garl and blasted a few of the other skeletons out of existence. After a quick quip to Moonpie that he might want to convert to my faith, we all pushed forward. With the bottleneck broken and the skeletons falling like a house of cards in a strong wind, the two humans turned tail and raced down the corridor away from us. Ebon, he of fleet feet and iron hands, tried to catch them, but their lead was too great. They rushed into another room, slamming the door behind them. We knew better than to give them time to mount a defense, and so we all charged the portal. Mupp kicked the door open. Ebon, Zara, and I rushed into the room, which, as fate would have it, turned out to be the black heart of the temple. We know faced four human crossbowmen, each behind a barricade, six ghouls, many small animal skeletons, and a cleric of Nerull! As Mupp and Zara engaged the ghouls in combat, I again channeled the holy might of Garl. There was resistance from the desecrated Nerullite altar, but even still all of the small animal skeletons retreated to the far end of the room. Mupp and Zara took some damage from the ghouls’ claws and fangs, but thank Garl they were not paralyzed by the monsters' horrid touch. Then the Nerullite cleric sounded a gong, and from the bisecting passage behind us poured at least eight wolf skeletons! O, the cursed luck! We were now trapped between two groups of deadly foes. Ebon and Moonrock rushed back down the corridor to cut off the wolf skeletons’ charge. Glyth, our archer extraordinaire, fired at one of the crossbowmen, but could not bypass his cover. The crossbowmen returned fire to better effect, and Zara and Mupp took more damage. Shadra pushed her way into the altar room. Her psionic fire blackened ghoulish flesh, but none of the monsters were destroyed. Then, a little bit, the battle turned in our favor. I pierced a ghoul’s throat and, with a twist and a wrench, nearly severed its ghastly head. Mupp emulated my example and destroyed another ghoul. Behind us, Ebon and Moonglow fought a desperate battle against the wolf skeletons. Glyth moved closer to the altar room, firing again at the crossbowmen, but still to no avail. I killed another ghoul, proving the deadly skill of my swordarm. Zara was struck by claw and bolt, and I could tell she was weakening rapidly. Mupp and I switched positions, pivoting back to back, and Mupp applied some bardic healing magic to Zara. This is when the Nerullite cleric left cover to enter battle, one of his hands crackling with unholy energy. Zara managed to evade this dangerous touch for the first time. Behind us, two other Nerullite clerics entered the scene, backing up the wolf skeletons. Ebon and Moonrise, no matter how gallant, could not have won against such odds, and so I retreated from the altar room toward their position. I would later learn that Zara again evaded the cleric’s evil touch, and that Shadra managed to gain mental control over one of the crossbowmen, making an enemy a temporary ally. For the third time that day, I channeled Garl’s holy might, this time toward the wolf skeletons. Again Garl proved worthy to the task. All but two of the undead monsters retreated from my presence. About this time, the two Nerrulite clerics began casting. Moondoggy leapt over the snapping jaws of one skeletal wolf and slammed his mace into the shoulder of one of the clerics, disrupting his spell. As impressive as this was, Ebon was awe-inspiring. He snapped a kick into the other wolf skeleton’s skull, destroying the monster. Then, with great fluidity of motion, he pulled a javelin from his quiver, hurled it down range, and struck the other cleric a glancing blow across his forehead, disrupting that spell as well! I think I actually yelled, "Huzzah!" With my timely intervention having turned the tide of battle in the corridor, I raced back to the altar room. The Nerullite with the deadly hand stepped into view as I approached, but this time Zara could not evade his touch. My love screamed in agony and dropped to the floor! By Garl, I swear I certain she was dead, especially when almost immediately thereafter my brother Mupp was paralyzed by the one remaining ghoul! Rage gripped my heart, and I charged the Nerullite, piercing his chainshirt as well as his black heart. Glyth, taking advantage of the opening the the Nerullite’s death caused, rushed behind me in time to stop the flow of Zara’s precious blood. Thank Garl! Who knew our ranger was a field medic as well? I owe him a debt of gratitude that I must soon repay. Shadra and her charmed crossbowmen were making short work of the other two crossbowmen left standing. I slew the last of the ghouls. Ebon and Moonraker killed the remaining skeletal wolf and the other two Nerullite clerics. The battle drew to a close. We destroyed the undead I had turned at range so as to avoid further injury, and then began the laborious process of looting our fallen enemies. From the leader of the Nerullites we recovered a potion of delay poison, a magical heavy mace, and suit of magical chainmail. What rich spoils for us victors! We also had three problems. First, what to do with the crossbowmen, whose name we learned was Robert. We could not simply let this miscreant go free. Transporting him back to Gyrax would require three or four days on the trail with an enemy in our midst. We discussed simply killing Robert, but the thought of cold-blooded murder did not sit well with most of us. It was Ebon who suggested a sporting alternative. Robert had fired upon and injured my beloved Zara. This insult could not go unanswered, and Ebon suggested I challenge Robert to a duel. We armed Robert with leather armor and a rapier, the same as me (although, to be honest, his rapier was human-sized as opposed to my gnome-sized one). Should Robert defeat me, he would go free. Otherwise, he would perish. My skill as a fencer proved far superior to Robert’s. He scored a couple of hits, made some impressive parries, but, once all was said and done, died with his rapier in his hand. This left us with two problems: What to do with Nerull’s altar, and what to do with the temple complex itself? We moved to the first of the dungeon level’s chambers, thinking it would be easiest to defend should enemies arrive, and made our camp there. While on guard duty, I stealthily took a length of twine and measured the circumference of Zara’s ring finger. The next day, we healed each other as best as we could, and then made a more thorough search of the temple. Behind the altar, we found a stash of monies and several documents. We also found a half dozen carrier pigeons. The documents were the lead Nerullite’s journal. In it, he wrote that he had sent a request for aid after our first assault to someone called Thorak, but that Thorak responded no help would be forthcoming. This Thorak must be relatively close to the area, for we camped only two days after our initial foray into the temple. How far could a carrier pigeon fly and return in those two days? This is a question we must answer. The Nerullite’s journal also chronicled their unsuccessful attempts to locate the tomb of High Priest Victor, which handily explained the excavations and many digging tools. Mupp has a wide but not terribly deep knowledge of many forgotten matters, and he recalled that there was a Nerullite High Priest Victor who lived some five centuries ago before he was imprisoned somewhere by the "forces of good." Why the forces of good didn’t simply kill Victor is a mystery, but not one we felt like solving. Instead, we began preparations to collapse the corridors in the dungeon level and torch the temple aboveground. If Victor is imprisoned at that site, who are we to try to free him? Moonbeam decided to consecrate the altar and then destroy it. When he whacked it with the magical heavy mace we had found, some sort of protective enchantment summoned a horrible demon! The hellspawn was armed with a fearsome glaive, had a beard of spikes, and was covered with wicked barbs. As Moonbeam and Ebon rushed to do battle with it, it did its level best to kill our elfish cleric. I cast magic weapon and protection from evil on Ebon. Zara too entered the fray, and I followed shortly thereafter. By Garl! What a fearsome foe! It nearly killed Moonface and Ebon before Zara dispatched it with a most skillful rapier thrust up through its lower jaw and soft palate into its seething brain. We left the altar alone after this. Our plan to collapse the dungeon level succeeded. The aboveground structure burned mightily and collapsed, further sealing what is supposedly Victor of Nerull’s prison. After this, we returned to Gyrax with our wagon loaded with the spoils of our conquest. In town, I purchased a matched set of platinum rings, and presented one to Zara. I also gifted her with a carved cedar symbol of her patron deity, filigreed with platinum. I could tell she was greatly pleased with both gifts, although she did her best to hide her pleasure, as is only fitting. Zara is a priceless prize, and I cannot win her so easily. I am uncertain about our next course of action. Florin’s brother still languishes in captivity. We should make an effort to free him. But the question of the Nerullites’ allies also nags at me. If we can devise some way to track the carrier pigeons after releasing them, we could ferret out more forces of evil. Should word of our example spread, perhaps even the lax rulers of Gyrax may decide to take the offensive against the growing threat from the Pomarj. [/QUOTE]
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Zerubbabel Jangle's Journal (as of 25 April)
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