# Daeron's Journals (the Return)



## Aethan (Mar 1, 2002)

Hello, all. Well, I guess I've been away for a while. Both my name and my story hour seem to have vanished. Ah well. We're rounding into the last third of our campaign, so I think I'll get the Journals going again. Hope people still want to read them.

What Has Gone Before: OOC: In December, 1999, we started playing The Night Below, with my friend Ace as he DM. It was understood that, when 3rd Edition came out, we would convert over as best we could. We've been up and down, and, for a while, we were cursed with a revolving door of players that would join, last two sessions, and then leave. We've had to take hiatuses galore, and the dysfunctional family feel of our game has always made party cooperation a little rocky, but we continue and press on. Right now, the group's a solid one, and I think this group of players is going to be the one that finishes the campaign together. (Well, let's hope.)

What Has Gone Before: IC: A small group of adventurers is hired by the wizard Jeleneth to guard her and a shipment en route to the town of Thurmister. When she disapears in her hometown of Millburne, the adventurers find themselves caught up in something far more sinister. Soon, they learn that wizards, priests, and other spellcasters are vanishing from all over the area, and the culprits are apparently orcs. Along with Lintern Parlfrey, the young son of the local lord, they tracethe orcs to Brokenspire Keep, the former ancestral home of the Parlfrey family, and rout them. Lintern becomes Lord of Brokenspire Keep, and a satunch ally to the party, who now call themselves the Company of the Morning Star.

A tunnel under Brokenspire Keep leads to a section of the Underdark, and the Morning Star enters. After some exploration, they locate the orcish lair and destroy the villains in their homes. After befriending a group of deep gnomes, however, they learn that the orcs are pawns of a more powerful race: the illithid. The Morning star continues its travels below the earth until they come to the City of the Glass Pool. This City of Kuo-Toa is under illithid control, and they lay into it on an extended siege. Ater razing the Temple of Blipdoolpoolp, they break the City, and the way before them opens.

Allying with a mysterious group of underground elves called Rockseers, they learn that the illithids, themselves, are simply pawns of an even more fiendish race, the aboleth. Their city of Great Shabaoth is in the center of a Sunless Sea, and the party pledges to press on and stop them from using the spellcasters to power a mosntrous engine that may allow them to control the world!

Most recently: After some time on the surface, preparing for the trek to the Sunless Sea, the party scouts the now deserted City of the Glass Pool. They press past it and encounter the King of the Kuo-Toa, who fled after the destruction of the Temple. The King is slain, but at a terrible cost: two of the Company are slain as well.


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## Aethan (Mar 1, 2002)

*Dramatis Personae*

Here's Who's Who

Daeron Snowthorn: Elvish Fighter/Wizard/Druid/Spellsword: The writer of the journals and de facto leader of the Company of the Morning Star. He is a formidable power house, and probably the most flexible of the group in terms of abilities, thanks to both his wide array of skills and his many magic-items. His most significant items are his longsword, his robe, and his armor. His sword, Shard, can leave a wedge of ice in a wound and cause it to remain open and bleeding. His Robe, given to him by the mysterious Rockseer elves, allows him to cast variou earth-based magicks, including the power to stoneskin himself. His armor is elven chain mail, found in the lair of a behir, and officially given to him by the High Elven Council of Tauremar when he tried to return it to the family of the fallen elf. Boots of Speed and Wings of Flying make him one of the faster and most mobile of the group. He writes the journals as a series of letters for Aldar, a human boy he considers his nephew and whom he raised from the ages of 3 to 17. 

Heric of Dunwall: Human Wizard: Heric has only concentrated on the wizard class since day one of the adventure, but it has paid off in the sheer firepower he wields. Although he is extremely gifted, his relative inexperience in practical matters sometimes prevents him from making full use of his abilities. Neverthelss, he is one of the most powerful of the Company. Until very recently, he carried a Staf of Frost, but sadly, this powerful item has used all its charges.

Xanthius of Almathia: Human Rogue/Acrobat: Xanthius is an extremely skilled scout and archer, and he supplements these abilities with his incredible physical dexterity and prowess. He possesses a bow that ignites any arrow fired from it and a +3 trident, captured from the kuo-toa. His wears a cloak made from the scales of a Shadow Dragon that the Company vanquished and chain armor of silence, forged by the party's original cleric, Teollor Agvarsson.

Naidaushas: Elven Paladin: Elven paladins are something of a rarity, as the elves tend towards druidism and rarely venerate only a single deity. Neverthelss, Naidaushas follows this path. He wears armor which is sacred to his goddess, Dassiandria, and he carries a magic greatsword.

Father Bluto Baer: Halfling Cleric: Father Baer is a cleric of Thaddio, the halfling god of revels. He is a portly fellow, and more than a little full of himelf. He is always ready to singthe praises of his god, but the Company, especially Xanthius, who defies the gods, often doesn't want to hear it. He wears powerful platemail armor, and he carries a Staff of Curing. He also has a Decenter of Endless Water, which he often turns to wine, and an Eversmoking Bottle, which he sometimes uses to try and give party cover for an escape.

Zerai: Human Psion: A ytraveler from another world, Zerai is a master of the art of psychoportation. He is a master of all manner of transportation based powers, and his magicks have allowed the party to travel to places they mght otherwise have never found. He seems to disdain weapons and armor, preferring to use his powers of the mind to overcome all foes. His shapeshifting powers have also given the party a flexibility it otherwise might have lacked.

Taine: Deep Gnome/Half-Bronze Dragon Fighter (NPC): Taine has been a stalwart ally, but the party has yet to draw him out on many points. He wears a magickal breastplate which allows him to grow dragon wings, and he can spit acid once in a while. He wields a magic pick, and he rides a mighty war lizard to great effect when there is room to do so in battle.

There are also several PCs who are gone, but not forgotten:

Teollor Agvarsson: Dwarven Cleric: Teollor followed Durgan, the Lord of Battles, and he was a great asset to the party. Sadly, he experienced a crisis of faith and was seduced by the dark god, Pyzzar. Ultimately, he betrayed the party, killing several of them before fleeing. This devastated Daeron, for the two had ecome close friends.

Arlen: A strong half-elf whose friend had been slain by the orcs under illithi control. He also fell to Pyzzar's clutches, was slain, and was raised as undead by Teollor in his betayal of the party.

K'rrg: Half-Orc Barbarian: A warrior for whom Daeron developed a deep respect and friendship with. He was slain in battle and chose not to return.

Cajeroth: Elven Cleric: Cajeroth was a servant of Garios, the grim god of death. He was sent by his god to aid the party, but, as we pick up the journals, has just been slain in battle with the kuo-toan king and chosen not to return.


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## Aethan (Mar 1, 2002)

Daeron’s Journals 42

**Notes to follow**

My dearest Aldar,

Not that the time difference will exactly matter to you, but it has been some time since I have written in my journal. I think the deaths of Naidaushas and Cajeroth affected me more than I had realized, for I seemed to lose spirit in our quest for a time and pressed on by sheer stubbornness – the wolf who will not release the bone, perhaps. Now, I find my spirits have risen a bit, so I think I can finally write. *

The morning after our battle with the Kuo-Toan king, Father Baer spoke with the shades of Naidaushas and Cajeroth. I was happy to hear that Naidaushas’ goddess would let him return, but Cajeroth’s shade stayed completely silent. I do not know if Garios has decided to keep Caj with him (as reward or punishment) or if Caj himself decided that he had failed in his mission and that he would not return. I only know I had to go and tell his wife that she is now a widow and inform my people that one of us has gone to Arvandor long before his time. I will not speak of his funeral. He has passed into the west, and I hope he finds the peace that eluded him in life.

With this sad errand behind us, we returned to the Underdark and began our long trek to the Sunless Sea. Our journey was a somber one, and, though it took several days, it was largely uneventful. The long tunnel that we had traveled through opened into a strange, fluorescent cavern, stretching well beyond our sight. There seems to be a glowing mist all about us in the cavern, and it is fairly easy to see long distances. Though the others tell me it is somewhat difficult to see through, Nai and I do not seem to have this problem. It must be related to our elfsight. As we struck directly out from the tunnel’s entrance, we began to hear the sound of water, and, within a couple of hours, we stood on the shores of the Sunless Sea. It is a gloomy place, where no wind blows, and its stillness is quite eerie. I do not look forward to sailing upon it.
Having found the Sea, we began to decide on our various goals. Ultimately, of course, we must destroy the aboleth’s machine, but we all feel that we cannot simply enter Great Shabaoth without some preparation.

We decided that the first order of business would be to secure the flux point, in order to provide for an expeditious retreat if necessary. We decided that then, we would investigate the illithid city to the north, to see if we could somehow strike a bargain with the wretched creatures in order to have their aid in assaulting their aboleth masters. After this, we remained undecided. There is some interest in exploring the Sunken City which is marked on our map, as apparently elves lived their once (perhaps Rockseers?), but I am uncertain of this course of action. We shall have to see.

We returned to the tunnel we had entered by and began to travel along the cavern of the Sea, following the wall in order to avoid becoming lost in the mists. We discovered the next tunnel which was marked on our map, and we decided to see if it was useful as a place to hole up and camp, in case we needed a retreat point. To our surprise, it turned out to be some kind of tomb, and, after avoiding its traps, found the central chamber. A hideous undead monster rose from the grave, and we prepared to do battle, when, suddenly, it was revealed as an illusion. The caster of the illusion was a young woman hidden behind the tomb itself, and we attempted to calm her. We thought she might have been one of the mages that the aboleth had captured, but who had escaped. It was indeed, for it was no less than Jeleneth! **

This revelation absolutely stunned me. Here, after all the months of questing, was she in whose name we had started out. My mind reeled back to the day when five of us had set forth as her guardians, preparing to make a routine delivery to Thurmister. She seemed not to know us, but we slowly helped her to recall the time when she had not been under the ground. I felt a pang of shame, for I had loathed every step in the dark, and mourned the lack of sun and wind, and now I stood before she we had set out for, and she had had the same for far longer, with no choice in the matter. 

Once we got her calmed down, clothed, and fed, she told us a bit of her ordeal. She had escaped some time previously, and she had been living by her wits and by the few spells she had memorized. I told her how pleased Aldrin would be to see her, and her face clouded. She barely remembered him, and, in that moment, I felt great sorrow for Aldrin. How long they had loved, I could not say, but it seemed these months in the dark had all but pared that love away. Worse, Jeleneth expressed little desire to return to the surface, but, rather, expressed desire to go with us on our quest, to gain vengeance for what had happened to her. I felt more pain, for had not Arlen walked that path? There is too much darkness along it.
We took Jeleneth back to Millburne, for I hoped that being on the surface and seeing Aldrin might ease her heart. My hoping was in vain, though, for it only seemed to steel her resolve. She felt she could not remain in comfort while others quested beneath the earth against those who would enslave it. She told us that, while she had not gained any more power for magic, she had learned many skills at remaining stealthy and still. We purchased her what she needed to work the magicks she knew, and we purchased her the best arms and armor we could. I prayed to the spirits that this would be enough to protect her. It grieved me greatly to find the woman we had worked so hard and sacrificed so much to rescue, only to have her join us in mortal danger. Still, I felt I could not deny her road, as much as I wished I could. Ultimately, she had to choose the road she would walk.

We returned to the cavern of the Sunless Sea and continued on our trek to the Flux Point on our map. I sent Palantirion off to scout, and he returned with warnings of giant men. As we knew the Flux Point rested in a fissure that was sacred to Surtr, the demon god of the fire giants, this was not surprising. Upon scouting, however, we found that they had a prisoner. We decided to intercept the giants and free their prisoner, in order to find out who he was and whether the giants were bound up in the slaving plot of the aboleths. I cast a spell of invisibility upon myself, and along with Xanthius, who is almost as stealthy as an elf, I moved ahead of where the giants were reported to be, using the cloak of flying. Xanthius and I hid amongst some boulders, preparing to attack the giants while the rest of the party came up behind them. Sadly, the party is not very stealthy, on the whole, and they were heard. The giants prepared to attack them, and Xanthius and I were forced to make our move prematurely.

I have never fought a giant before, except for the trolls we’ve met. They are amongst the most terrifying combatants I ever hope to meet. These were skinned black as coal, with flaming red hair and beards, and their swords were as long as I am tall, if not bigger. Xanthius fired arrows at them to attract their attention, but the fire from them seemed to have little effect. I darted in and freed the prisoner, who turned out to be a tall half-orc with dusky skin and silver hair. I was startled by this, guessing almost at once what it meant, but there was no time for talk, and I decided that any ally at that moment was better than death. As the rest of the party ran to meet us, Xanthius traded his bow for the Kuo-Toan trident and attacked. I am not certain what got into our brave scout, but it proved a costly mistake. As I began attacking two of the giants, the third ended Xanthius’ life. As all three turned to me, and their blows began hammering through my stoneskin, I began to wonder if giants weren’t more than we could handle. Luckily, with the whole party, and with the help of the half-orc, we were able to overcome the giants without further casualty.

To the surprise of all of us, the half-orc knew almost all of us by name. He is called Silvermane, and it seems that he has been following our legend for some time. He is somewhat brusque in his tone, but he seems to have a keen tactical mind, and he has been proving invaluable as a warrior. He explained that the giants were preparing some kind of ritual to Surtr which would involve sacrificing large numbers of magical items to the dark god, including his own equipment. We agreed to help him and a rather cunning plan was devised. 

The next day, while Father Baer was returning Xanthius to life, Zerai turned into a fly. Using some of his psionic magic, he traveled into the giants’ lair through the Ethereal plane (an option not open to us in the past) and scouted.  Zerai spotted over a dozen giants, including their Priest, their King, and the King’s son, a group of trolls, and some hound-like creatures which I can only guess are fire breathing hellhounds, fitting pets for fire giants. HE also spotted huge chests, which were assumed to contain the items to be sacrificed. After some quick discussion, he headed back in, and using his power to become Ethereal, actually went into the huge chests where the magic items were being held. He then began teleprompting out pieces of Silvermane’s equipment, recovering a suit of armor and a large scythe. Since we wanted to drive the giants off in order to gain control of the flux point, it was decided that we had to disrupt the ritual. We discussed our options, which have grown as the party has gained in might. Another cunning plan was devised, and we prepared to go into action to stop the ritual, which was to be cast the next morning.

I can only imagine what the giants must have thought as Silvermane, Xanthius, and Heric attacked the entrance to their lair. Perhaps they were impressed by the blasts of ice magic Heric sent against them, or perhaps they thought it folly that such a small group was attacking them. In any case, it was all a diversion to keep the guards busy. As that was occurring, Father Baer, Zerai, and I were traveling through the Ethereal plane, into the giants’ lair. Once we were in position around the priest, we launched into action. In a matter of instants, Father Baer struck the priest with a spell of harming – the same one which had brought Cajeroth low. I then struck a tremendous blow with my sword, charged with the power of an icy grasp. Zerai then touched us both, and we all three teleported away. And that was that. Their priest was dead, and the ritual was ended. We had made a precise strike with a strong plan, and we had been victorious. I am not certain how Naidaushas felt about our plan. I know that it tasted a bit like assassination to me, but it seemed like a plan that would end the threat with a minimum of damage to our party, and I feel it was justified. ***

The main problem came not from without but from within. Before we went in, Father Baer made some comment about his desire for glory, and it enraged Xanthius greatly. He announced he was returning to the surface and leaving the group. I was able to calm him down, but he remains uncertain of what he will do. I know he is frustrated and wishes to return home. In truth, I do not know how my sanity would survive here without him. No sooner had we returned to the group than Father Baer then enraged Silvermane by stating that the half-orc had not earned any respect yet. To my surprise, Xanthius now stepped in to play peacemaker. I took Baer aside and got him to agree to watch how he spoke to others. We are all equals down here, after all. **** 

Our intention was then to wait, for we hoped the giants might leave, or split their forces. Scouting, however, showed that only a few giants and some trolls left, presumably to go and fetch another priest. We noticed, however, that the King and his son seemed to stay apart from the others, with only a small Honor Guard. We began to discuss attacking this smaller group and seeing if we could destroy the giants’ leadership. Once again, we prepared a plan, loaded ourselves with spells to protect and enhance us, and made sure we had an escape route, either through teleports or through the Ethereal plane. Thus prepared, we launched our assault. When we arrived, however, we found the King was trying to conduct the ritual, and so we hastily finished our preparations and emerged from the Ethereal plane.

Once again, we did extremely well with a well-organized plan. Our warriors held back as Heric and I launched a volley of spells of lightning and frost and Zerai aimed a number of psionic pain upon the King. Then we pressed our attack, our warriors working together well with our spellcasters. The King began to enter a terrible rage, such as I used to see K’rrg do, and the stones he threw at me hurt badly, but I leapt in and delivered grievous blows to him, thanks to Shard’s being enhanced by a spell of keenness. As Zerai blasted him one more time and Heric launched a spell of lightning from the side of the battle, the King fell dead. Several other giants quickly followed. The King’s son surveyed the battle and yelled something in giantish which Silvermane later told me means “Surtr, destroy our enemies.” With this, the giant sacrificed himself by falling into the lava fissure. We quickly dispatched the remaining members of the honor guard (I saw Xanthius stab one twice in vital places with his trident), but, by then, we noticed the lava beginning to rise. I realized, with a start, that the statue of Surtr was, itself, the Flux Point, but we had no time to explore this concept. I used a detect magic spell to figure out which pieces were the most valuable from the pile of magic items, and we grabbed them, then teleported away from the rising lava.

Back at camp, we examined the booty. There was a mirror, which created an evil duplicate of Xanthius when he looked into it, but this doppelganger was dispatched, and I shattered the mirror. Too late the others suggested some possible good uses for It against our enemies. Ah well. Sometimes Wolf is too strong on me for my own good. There were some other useful items, including a necklace which creates a bubble of air around its wearer’s neck (very useful for exploring underwater, if we decide to seek the Sunken City), a Rod which apparently can disrupt the powers of magic-items, and a huge potion bottle with strength enhancing magic.

The most surprising find was a longsword called Finslayer. We know this to be its name, for it told us! It is intelligent, and it speaks into one’s mind,  much as Zerai does. Apparently it is a weapon designed for slaying the Kuo-Toa, but it also says that it is fairly useful against drow and aboleth. We are, as yet, undecided as to who would wield it. I, for my own part, am satisfied with Shard, and I hope one of the others can wield Fin just as efficaciously. @

So that is our tale, to date, we are most likely going to wait and see what happens with the giants now, or if they all perished in the rising of the lava. Thereafter, we shall find out if we can ally with the illithids and convince them to rise against the aboleth. Let us hope so. We need help if we are to be victorious. Thankfully, we at last seem to have some measure of teamwork, something that we have been sorely lacking in. Pray for us, nephew. This next leg of the journey seems very dark to me.

Your loving uncle,

Daeron




* When we ended the session with the Kuo-Toan king battle, neither Naidaushas’ nor Cajeroth’s players were planning on playing their characters again, but they hadn’t full decided.  Since neither of their players were able to make t to the next session, we roleplayed it as if they’d both decided not to return, so we did the whole return to the Tauremar and the funerals, and we figured we’d simply ret-con if one of them did decide to come back.  As it is, Nai’s player decided to keep playing Nai, so we ret-conned that. But that was why I originally didn’t write a journal for that session. And then I just fell out of the habit.

** And you have never seen a more surprised party, let me tell you. It caused all kinds of discussion, and Daeron did a lot of reflecting and we had much telling of war stories from the campaign. Fun session, actually.

*** Justified? It was beautiful! Worked like a charm!

****  Keeping the party from killing itself is much harder than fighting giants, believe me. We are a very, very dysfunctional family.

@ Though if no one else CAN wield Fin (due to alignment), I may take a level of ranger at 15th level and suck up the experience bonus, since I could then fight with a longsword in either hand and cast a keen edge on each one before battle. Hmmmmm…


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## Broccli_Head (Mar 5, 2002)

Uncle Daeron, 

I so enjoy receiving your journals.  Someday, I hope I can follow in your footsteps.

Aldar 


So glad you're back!
-BH


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## Aethan (Mar 7, 2002)

Broccli_Head said:
			
		

> *Uncle Daeron,
> 
> I so enjoy receiving your journals.  Someday, I hope I can follow in your footsteps.
> 
> ...




Gah! Daeron's worst nightmare! He wants his human nephew to stay safe and happy. 



> *
> 
> So glad you're back!
> -BH *




Glad to be back! I was wondering if you'd comment when I showed up again. 

 -Andy


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## Aethan (Mar 7, 2002)

Daeron’s Journals 43

**Notes to follow**

My dearest Aldar,

	As I sit here, writing to you, I am thinking on you and Katherine.  I certainly hope you are well. I do not know how many more times we will be able to send word to the surface before we make our actual assault on Great Shaboath. I must report what’s been happening the last couple of days, though. Our Company is really starting to show the wear and strain of a group of people forced to live and work together so closely for so long. At this point, I firmly believe that many of us will go our separate way when this quest is over and never talk to one another again.

	The evening that Heric cast his _analyze dweomer_ spell on the rod, we agreed to have the hammer we’d found analyzed as well. In an effort to save time, we sent the hammer back to the Academy at Dunwall for study, and Zerai suggested hat he go and do some research as well. A perusal of our map showed our next goal to be too close to consider approaching without Zerai, who is our expert on the illithid, so we simply relaxed.  I finally took the chance to scribe the _magic missile_ spell into my spellbook.

Baer, as I’d mentioned at the end of our last journal, has indeed expressed a desire to wield Finslayer, and we’ve given the sword to him.  I now question the wisdom of such an action. With a magic sword in his hands, he seems to feel he’s invulnerable, and he is constantly prodding at everyone’s nerves again. He has as much as threatened to use Finslayer on Silvermane, due to the sword’s desire to slay Drow. And when he made some off comment about defeating me in combat, I replied that the sword was not called Elfslayer. When he started to bring up the fact that it could be, due to its powers against Drow, the wolf in me was loosed. I warned him to hold his tongue. Nai, trying to play peacemaker, unwisely tried to say that Baer was technically correct, and I had some choice words for him as well. Baer is ignorant, but I really thought better of one of our own kin. I calmed a bit and apologized to Baer…Nai, though…he should really know better. Whatever the avathari were, they are no kin to elesi now. But, even this point I felt mitigated a bit. I hold no ill towards Silvermane, though in his blood runs two of the elesi’s most hated enemies. Maybe I am truly learning to accept each person on their own and not hate a race as a whole. We shall see if that holds up if I ever meet a trueblooded avathari.

	When Heric and Zerai returned, they had little to offer. Zerai had found some glyphs that the aboleth use, and I realized that the glyph for domination was the same as the glyph which Zerai had told us meant control on the illithid medallions.  The school had determined that the hammer was of strong enchantment but would be even more powerful in the hands of a dwarf. Damn Teollor for deserting us. Even if Pyzzar is not the most pleasant of gods, we might have been able to work something out. All this research done, we decided to approach the illithid and see what could be made of an alliance with them.

	We decided to be very straightforward with them. From the little I was allowed to be a part of, I gather the illithid that serve the aboleth do so willingly. The illithid are willing to aid us in the assault on the dire machine, and they want a very specific contract worked out ahead of times. We also learned something of what their machine does, but I shall not get into that here. * Suffice to say, it must be destroyed for the good of all. For some reason, they decided that Zerai, Naidaushas, and Heric were the most trustworthy and agreed only to deal with them. This suited Silvermane and I fine, for neither of us wished to speak with the squidlings. Silvermane’s family was wiped out by them, and I hate them still for Arlen and for almost turning me against the others. We decided to amuse ourselves through games and songs in the private room we were assigned, while Taine and Jeleneth caught up on their sleep, Xanthius caught up on his drinking, and Baer mumbled back and forth with Finslayer. Silvermane reminds me much of K’rrg, but there is neither the raw fury nor the innocence in him that K’rrg possessed. I miss my predator-eyed brother.

	After a goodly time, the others appeared. The illithid were willing to help.  They agreed that all the slaves we freed would be free to return to their homes.  We both agreed, on either side, to support and not betray each other after the battle with the aboleth.  This caused Silvermane some apoplexy, but I think we came to a mutually satisfactory agreement. A formal contract is being drawn up, and we will sign it tomorrow. I cannot wait until this quest is done and I need never step foot in a cave again. IT cannot be too soon for my tastes.

	I miss you my nephew. I hope that you and Katherine bide safely and well.

Your loving Uncle,

Daeron


* oh boy it’s bad. The machine is supposed to be powered up when the right amount of life force is sacrificed to it. At that point, the aboleths will be able to dominate everything for hundreds if not thousands of miles around. Very bad. Must be stopped!


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## Broccli_Head (Mar 7, 2002)

*Oh yes!*

I was wondering when you guys were going to mee the 'rogue' illithids. 

Are you guys still in the middle of the campaign?


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## Aethan (Mar 8, 2002)

*Re: Oh yes!*



			
				Broccli_Head said:
			
		

> *I was wondering when you guys were going to mee the 'rogue' illithids.
> 
> Are you guys still in the middle of the campaign? *




Hey, BH. I think we're over 2/3rds of the way done. Ace has told us that we're into Chapter 3 of 3. It has been a long haul, so I think we're all happy to be in the home stretch. Personally, I'm ready for some exploration in the wilderness or city adventures. 

- Andy


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## Aethan (Mar 20, 2002)

Daeron’s Journals 44 ((take 2))

**Notes to follow**

My dear Aldar,

Quite a frustrating turn of events. I am beginning to think there is no end to the wondrous variety of dangers to find down here, not least from one's companions. I am, however, getting ahead of myself. I shall begin at the beginning.  *

You’ll recall that we had agreed to write up a contract with the illithid.  We had a great deal of debate as to exactly how to word this contract, but we were satisfied that the final form we came up with was the best choice. We returned to the illithid with our contract, and they seemed to find the terms acceptable. With signatures affixed on either side, our pact was sealed. The illithids provided us with what Zerai calls a dorje. It looks like a wand, made out of crystal, and he says it will allow us to communicate with the illithid when we are ready to make the assault.

After this, we retreated to our encampment and spent some time debating our next move.  It seems that most of us are interested in exploring the sunken elven city, and it has been suggested that we can travel through the Ethereal Plane to get there, as we will then not require the ability to breathe or move through water. We can investigate via the ethereal and then, if we find ought of interest, cast magicks and enter the real world.

We decided, however, to postpone this and explore an island which is shown on our map but not marked with any legend.  We assumed it would be a good chance to practice our seamanship close to the main shore. We traveled to the shore, and, as weariness stole on us, we could see the island off through the mists. We encamped, and I tried some fishing, but to no avail. The next day, I cast a spell to seek fish, but there are apparently none in the Sunless Sea.

With Heric controlling the weather and Zerai and Xanthius as our guides, we actually seem to be a fairly able ship’s crew.  I’m still not ready to trust our fates on the open ocean, but we made it to the island without incident. After a number of maneuvers to try and find a way to land on the jagged rocks, I used a power from my Robe to create a bridge to the shore. We then folded up our boat and went ashore. On the island, there were ruins of buildings, but very few clues as to whom the inhabitants might have been. When I discovered a trapdoor in one of the foundations, we opened it and descended the stairway it revealed.

It quickly became clear that this was not just some farmer’s root cellar. As we entered the first chamber, a _magic mouth_ spell was activated. It cried out “Intruder!” and then spikes started flying at us from the far wall. Naidaushas and I, who were leading the party, dodged into a side corridor…and then something invisible started attacking me! I was buffeted by powerful blows, and I quickly put up the warding protection of my Robe. Although it was difficult to fight the beast, we finally slew it, and then we proceeded, cautiously.

Sometime back, Heric created a permanent _detect magic_ on himself. Today, I was very glad he had, for he warned us that the corridor ahead was magickal. After a moment, he announced it was illusion type magick. We paused, and stared at it, and several people thought they saw a pit. I tossed a coin down the corridor, for it still seemed normal to me, and then I saw it drop through the floor. In order to protect us, I used another _wall of stone_ from my Robe to seal it. I confidently walked forward…and ran facefirst into the far end of the corridor, which was spiked and covered with some manner of residue. I believe the residue was poisonous, but I don’t think I got any in my wounds. The spikes didn’t penetrate my stoneskin, in any case. We stepped back, and Zerai used the power of his mind to forcethe door open. As he did so, we saw a study, and, within it, a figure in robes, who began to cast magic at us.

Zerai cannily stepped to my side and we teleported next to this mage. I was loathe to attack, but, as she seemed intent on throwing offensive magicks at us, I decided to protect my friends first and administer healing afterwards. I slashed my blade...right through the figure. It was merely an illusion! I called out a warning to my friends and turned my head...and froze, as syllables of magick erupted from the empty air nearby. I was held paralyzed by some manner of spell, and there was nothing to do to aid my companions. Worse, I could not even see how they fared.

Realizing how dangerous my position was, I invoked a power of my robe, which responds to my will, rather than my words, and sank into the stone to wait out the spell's grip. I heard shouting, and strange foul voices, and many fireballs erupting. What I did not hear, however, was the scream of the mage who had imprisoned me. Finally, the grip of the spell passed. I took a moment to cast several magicks of magick and enhancement upon myself and then rose back out of the stone. My friends informed me that some manner of fiends had been summoned, and that, while they had been dispatched, the mage had fled. Worse, Silvermane and Zerai were missing. Zerai had, apparently, been struck by some magickal fear and fled using his powers of transportive magick. Silvermane, however, had been struck by a spoell from the invisible mage, and his fate was unknown. After Zerai did not return, we surmised that he must have run out of energy for the day and that he would return the next morning. Baer very reluctantly agreed to cast a spell to find out where Silvermane had gone. Several of the group exchanged glances with me. His dislike of Silvermane was getting out of hand. Little did I know what else would be said in the next day or so. **

The next day, Zerai did not return immediately. Concerned, Heric cast a spell of scrying. He saw Zerai in the form of a falcon, flying near the shores of the Sunless Sea. We knew then that he was safely returning. Sadly, his scrying of Silvermane did not paint so rosy a picture. Silvermane is, apparently, in Hell...quite literally. He is under some kind of magick which saps his intelligence, and he is leashed by an insect-headed demon on a throne. Heric explained this to the rest of us...and all chaos broke loose.

While this was sinking in for the rest of us, Baer rather haughtily replied that this silent, drooling state was a pleasant change from Silvermane's usual haranging. Xanthius became so furious that he literally drew his bow and shot Baer with a fiery arrow. Nai sprang to Baer's protection and wrestled with Xanthius a moment. Xanthius broke off, caled Baer some rather choice words and announced he had made his decision...that he was leaving at once.

And I? I did nothing. I watched Xanthius attack Baer. I folded my arms. I watched Nai attack Xanthius. Still I did not move. Only when Xanthius announced his decision to leave did I do anything.

I quietly told him that I envied him.

My spirit is not, of late, what it has been, my nephew. I hope you are not ashamed of your Uncle for this. For one moment, I considered going with him. I thought of the sun on the trees, and I knew that not one member of the party could stop me if  I chose to leave.

But I stayed. I wished Xanthius farewell. I gave him one of the first treasures I'd found on this quest, and he gave me his hip flask. It is a strong gesture. He gave items of magick to the others. I wonder if they think I feel slighted. I do not. I am honored. Further so because he did not pull away when I embraced him, and he told me that Heric and I were the closest he had to kin. Baer tried to apologize, but Xanthius simply told him to keep well. Zerai appeared as he was getting ready to go, and I know farewells were said al laround, but I could not bear it any longer. I waited until Heric took Xanthius away to Almathia, and then I went and spent a few hours within the stone. I am finding there is a deep quiet in the stone that I am learning to love. ***

When Heric returned, he had a strange companion with him - a blue skinned person named Aman-Jafar. Jafar is a bard, and, apprently, the child of a union beteen an aquatic elf and some kind of water genie. I was not in a good mood for introductions, but he seems an affable sort, and actually rather excited about the idea of traveling to Hell. Strange fellow.

We then split up to do some research. Jafar, Heric, and I went to the library of Dunwall's Academy of Magicks, while Nai, Baer, and Zerai went to the Temple of Solinaria. Our group learned little, save that the type of fiend we were facing is something called a gelugon, and that they are normally foot-soliders. This one appears to have risen somewhat in their hierarchy. We returned, as did the others, but something bad had transpired.

Apparently Zerai's teleportation had misfired, and he had placed the party on an island with a stone obelisk surrounded by kuo-toa. Before Zerai could teleport them al away, Finslayer had gleefully atempted to force Baer to attack them, but he had resisted. Upon his return, however, there was clearly agitation. Finslayer began berating him, and I again did nothing. Baer has, apprently, been promising the blade that they will kill kuo-toa very soon, and the sword has tired of his lies. It was screaming in all of our heads until I managed to get it just to talk to Baer. In Baer's mutterings, however, Nai heard words suggesting that Baer was offering Finslayer a chance to attack Silvermane after his rescue. Our normally placcid paladin reached hte end of his patience. He struck Baer and spoke out against him furiously. Baer sulked away, and Heric and I, who had briefly talked about the need to talk to the others about Baer, decided that we could wait no longer. ****

I will not go into details on the talk that followed, but we reached three conclusions.

1. We needed a captain. Although I have never wanted to be such, I am now, at least temporarily, the Captain of the Company of the Morning Star.

2. Finslayer needed to be put away for now. The sword was not particularly happy, but I think it understood some of what I was trying to explain to it: that we needed to be able to focus on goals other than killing kuo-toa, and that we would no longer waste its time on lesser foes.

3. Baer needed a good talking to, followed by the understanding that he was being given one last chance. Words against our fellow questers could not be tolerated, for they are driving a wedge between us. We have already lost Xanthius. We explained to Baer that, although we did not wish to, if he did not clean up his act, we would be asking him to leave. I felt almost bad for Baer...he was so shocked by this, but he agreed, and he sees more than eager to prove his loyalty, even to the point of volunteering to rescue Silvermane on his own.

We then began the most difficult part of the discussion...the decision whether or not to attempt to rescue Silvermane. I am saddened to admit that, give nour current resources, I am not at all certain we can do it. We have voted, and it seems that we shall have to beg Silvermane's forgiveness. We are still considering some options, however, so I pray that we may yet figure out a way it may be done. Heric now seems to believe that he could learn a teleport spell to allow us all to travel together. If he can do this, then we may have a chance. Zerai is more in favor of a small team going in to do this, while Nai is adamant that we should go in force or not at all. *****

We must talk on it more, and I have to think strongly as to what path we will choose. Pray for us, nephew. We need whatever aid the gods can spare if we are going to Hell.

Your loving Uncle,

Daeron



* Now, if you read this a week or two ago, you will notice that this entry is not quite the same. It now refers to three game sessions. Session 1 starts at the beginning and goes up to the point where we get the door open and see the illusory sorceress. Session 2 was that fight. Session 3 began with Heric's scrying and ran to the end of the entry. When I wrote the original entry, I wasn't sure what would happen with the sorceress, so I wrote a sort of vague entry. Now, however, the full story can be told. 

** So, this was the battle where NOTHING went right. We almost lost several party members to fireballs the devils were casting right inthe middle of combat (due to their immunity to fire). Naidaushas and I both mised our saving throws and were paralyzed. Baer got hit with an Otto's Irresistable Dance. Silvermane got febleminded and then hit by a purple ray from a Prismatic Spray, so he was planeshifted. Zerai was hit with _fear_, and he _teleported_ away. When the spell ended, he tried to come back...and rolled a teleport mishap. And Jason decided to end it there. We had no idea where Zerai or Silvermane was. Very bad scene. A low point for the group, on some levels.

*** Poor Daeron keeps losing all the people he likes and respects most. At least Heric has stuck with the group through thick and thin. And, yes, Xanthius' player did all this quite willingly and brought in his new character, Aman-Jafar, almost immediately.

**** Ah, swords with an ego. I think Baer's player finally understood what we'd been warning him about. And his roleplaying of the whole thing was pretty entertaining. Sort of like Bilbo with the Ring. He loves Finslayer, but he's angry with the sword, too. He reluctantly agreed that Finslayer taking a time-out in the bag of holding was good.

***** My heart goes out to Silvermane's player, who would be making character #4 if he made a new character to join us. I guess we need to decide what we're gonna do soon. If Heric can get mass eleport on a scroll or something, then I think we're gonna go for it, with or without Zerai, who doesn't like the idea of going into Hell in force at all.

Ah well, that's it for now. More next week, I hope.

- Andy


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## Aethan (Mar 29, 2002)

*Hmm...*

Well, I have updated with what's happened the last couple of sessions, but, as I chose to do it as an edit, apparently the messageboards don't put it back up at the top to show people there's something new. So...ahem...there's something new. Reread Journal entry #44 

- Andy


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## MasterOfHeaven (Mar 30, 2002)

Nice story hour.  Don't be afraid, go and save Silvermane!  Nothing is more fun than a trip to the Abyss, anyways.


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## Aethan (Apr 4, 2002)

*Daeron*

Daeron’s Journals 45

** Notes to follow **

My dear Aldar,


I am weak. I am battered. There is a numbing cold which keeps trying to settle into my veins. I cannot seem to get the foul reek of swamp out of my nose…but I am exultant with victory.

We were on the verge of retiring to bed with no certain way to help Silvermane, when an idea struck me. With the help of Father Baer’s _wind walk_ spell and Zerai’s powers of _polymorph_, we could make our entire group, including Taine’s great lizard mount, Ekki, light enough for Heric to be able to _teleport_ us from place to place. The realization that we might be able to get in and rescue Silvermane began to settle over us, although Zerai was very reticent. We allowed that he was not required to come with us, but he agreed that he would, if someone would stay behind to go for other warriors to defeat the aboleth if we did not soon return. Jeleneth reluctantly agreed to remain behind, and Zerai allowed that he would join us. *

In the morning, we prepared for battle. Many protective spells were woven, especially on Father Baer, who had to be able to use his magicks to _dismiss_ Silvermane from Hell as well as to _plane shift_ us home afterwards. Naidaushas offered to bless my weapon, and I decided to accept…a tactic which I will distinctly recall for future fiend-fighting purposes. As it was, that may have been what made the difference between our victory and our failure.

Father Baer used his magicks to bring us into Hell, and, after a moment to orient ourselves and cast the appropriate spells, we then _teleported_ into the devil’s throne chamber. Silvermane was there, as Heric had described, but he had failed to mention the awesome, infernal majesty of the devil we now faced. It was as tall as a young tree, nearly 25 feet in height, and its insect-like head filled me with revulsion. Though many of us were invisible, the devil could see those that were not, and he seized up a monstrous spear, far too large for any of us to wield. We sped into battle, preparing to take the creature by surprise as best we could.

I will reconstruct the battle as best I can, for much of what I recall of it is a very narrow, red focus, and many of my friends were invisible. I have, however, spoken at some length with the others about what happened, and this is what I understand.

I flew to the side of the room, hoping to take the monster from its side while simultaneously allowing Heric the chance to discharge an offensive spell or two at it. Nai, true to his very direct nature, charged right at the beast. Aman’Jafar followed my basic route, hoping to bolster his allies with his magicks. Zerai, who was still wearing the form of a bird, flew through the air and attempted to use his pisonics. Heric moved in relatively close and used his own magicks. Meanwhile, Silvermane, still under the beast’s sway, was attempting to kill Baer. Luckily, Baer was usingthe powers of his god to _mislead_ Silvermane, while simultaneously trying to _dismiss_ him to the Prime Material Plane. Taine, riding Ekki, galloped to the devil’s side and attempted to strike with his pick.

The spells used against the devil were met, for the most part, by its remarkable resistance to magicks. A few spells made it throughand injured it, but these wounds were closing almost as quickly as they were inflicted. I stopped trying to use spells almost at once and flew to the attack. The devil, however, formed some sort of darkness around itself, and, as I struck it, I felt my strength ebbing. Each blow was sapping more and more of my strength.  I realized, however, that the wounds Nai and I were inflicting were not healing. This in mind, I redoubled my attacks.

The creature, for its part, was fast enough to strike over and over with its spear, its teeth, and its tail, sometimes all at once. Every time it id, I felt that a killing frost was trying to seep into my veins, but I was able to hold off its attacks. I felt tendrils of Jafar’s song reaching me, and I felt inspired with great hope that we might slay this beast. Bolstered by ancient legends of elesi demon-slayers, I pressed my attacks further, striking the devil for many ghastly wounds. Nai, meanwhile, was doing the same, and I offered a silent prayer to Dssiandria for her help in this battle. 

Fathr Baer kept the charmed Silvermane busy, and made several attempts to send him back to our home plane. Each time, however, Silvermane resisted, and, finally, Baer turned his attentions to breaking the devil’s charm. He finally did so, but, to all our consternation, Silvermane turned and jumped on the devil, striking him over and over with his fists. Father Baer then decided to concentrate on helping keep the rest of us alive, and he used several powers on me to help Nai and I regain our strength, as did Jafar.

Heric and Zerai kept attempting to hinder the creature with their magicks, but they seemed to have but little effect. No blame to them for this. The devil’s resistance was formidable, and there have been many fights they have won for us almost single-handedly. On this day, however, it was left to the warriors, aided by the blessings of Dassiandri, the mercies granted by Thaddio, and the bolstering songs of Jafar that won the day.

After hard battle, in which I fell once, unable to even support my own weight due to my lack of strength, the devil finally fell. Father Baer aided me to my feet by _restoring_ some of my strength, and I clambered to my feet. Nai and I struck the fallen creature several blows that should have been lethal, but it kept climbing to its feet. Ultimately, though, the creature yielded to the blessed blades we wielded, and its evil was extinguished forever. Would that this could be said for all the devils of Hell.

We made only a cursory search for treasure, ultimately taking away only the bracers that the devil wore. Zerai again tried to dissuade us from this course of action, but the will of the group won out. We took them, and we located Silvermane’s gear. I placed the headband he wore which he had claimed gave him clearer thinking. It seemed to ease the worst effects of the _feeblemind_ spell, but we must find a way to cure him of this. 

At my instruction, Father Baer used his _dismissal_ spell on Heric, who still had a _teleport_ left. Once back on our home plane, he is going to return to where Jeleneth is. In the morning, the rest of us shall repeat our tactic of using _wind walk_ and _teleport_ to get back to camp. In the meantime, I must ask Zerai if he can use that crystal wand of the illithids to contact Heric and Jeleneth and make sure they are both alright. In the meantime, we have _plane shifted_ back to our home plane, but we are I nthe middle of nowhere, and there’s nothing obvious or familiar around. Apparently _plane shift_ is not very accurate I nterms of whereyou end up. Ah well. We’ll deal with that in the morning. For now, I am simply glad to be back. I will write more to you soon. Personally, I cannot wait to learn the spell of _teleport_ soon, for then I will come home a great deal more often to visit.

For now, however, I remain your loving Uncle,

Daeron


* Memo to self. When other party members tell you that they have new spells, insist on reading the spell descriptions yourself rather than taking their words for it. I norder to try and not metagame, I have been letting the others tell me what their spells do and only looking up my own. At the end of the last session, however, I decided to loo kthe spell over to try and come up with some plan to help us. And...well...DUH!

Firstly, Heric's player has been insisting that his own weight must be included in the weight allowance the teleport spells can move. Not quite. The spell indicates it moves him PLUS 50 lbs/level. That's a big difference right there. We had already used _polymorph_ to some effect in lightening our load, but the revelation of _wind walk/i]... Oy! IT makes you into vapor. Vapor is weightless. Ergo...

As an amusing note, Nai's player tried to argue that since the spell did not specifically indicate that it altered your weight, it would not work. You would all have been very proud of me. I didn't kill him or call him an idiot. 

Beyond that, this was a very straight-forward session. One Hell of a fight! It was a total blast, and very harrowing at times. I honestly was not sure we were going to win. Oh, and for those of you curious, it was a gelugon, but Ace had advanced it via Hit Dice, and it had hit points in excess of 300. Oy!

More fun next time.

- Andy_


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## Broccli_Head (Apr 6, 2002)

Whew! Great fight! 
I knew that you would make it back alive since you had written to your nephew...
what happens if Daeron Dies?

will the letter begin by saying...
"If you recieve this message, you will know that I have passed on..."


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## Aethan (Apr 11, 2002)

Broccli_Head said:
			
		

> *Whew! Great fight!
> I knew that you would make it back alive since you had written to your nephew...
> what happens if Daeron Dies?
> 
> ...




Hi, BH. Actually, if Daeron dies, thanks to _raise dead_ spells and such, hs letter will probably begin, "Dear nephew...now, I don't want you to worry overmuch, but I died the other day..."

Actually, you might recall from the old journals that Daeron did actually die in battle against the King of the Grells. The party was really unsure of what do do, but, finally, Teollor took over the reins and guided them back to Karmenerin, who performed the first _raise dead_ spell of the campaign.

Glad you're still enjoying Daeron's adventures.

- Andy

- Andy


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## Aethan (Apr 11, 2002)

*Daeron's Journals 46*

Daeron's Journals 46

** Notes to Follow **

My dear Aldar,

It was so good to see you and visit with you today. I really must recall that the _teleport_ spells make this possible and come to visit more often. Soon, however, I do not know if I will be able to dare. I feel we are nearing the end of our quests, however, and I look forward to coming home and just being a common leather-worker for a while.

In some ways, little has occurred since my last journal. In other ways, much has. I will try to record it all. *

I mentioned that Baer had brought us back to our own world, but I did not fully mention the place he brought us to. We found ourselves in the middle of a desert, with nothing around for miles. While Zerai used his crystal wand to communicate with Heric and Jeleneth and make certain they were both well, I helped get some makeshift shelter built, and I made several head-wraps of the type the desert-folk call kefiyahs. Baer used the geyser from his enchanter pitcher to keep us all wet and cool, which helped greatly. Silvermane, still under the spell of intelligence-draining, suffered from the heat, and Taine, as a creature of the Underdark, was badly off from the brightness of the sun. Still we muddled through, with only Nai suffering a touch of heatstroke (due to his stubborn insistance on wearing his plate armor) and Baer suffering a touch of sunburn. Only Aman-Jafar seemed largely unaffected.

The next day, Baer prayed for a spell of wind walking, and, between that and Zerai's mind-powers, we were soon back on the witch's island. Heric had warned us he had to do something before rejoining us, so we did not worry about his absence. Instead, as we had to wait for Father Baer to restore Silvermane's wits with a healing spell the next morning, we spent the day in relative eas. Baer was able to heal Nai and I of the evil magic that had drained our strength, and we saw to the healing of our whole Company. Aman-Jafar proved himself a first-rate entertainer and kept all of our minds off of the grim times before and behind.

The next day, after Silvermane's mind was healed, we gathered to discuss several important matters. The first was the status of our company's captaincy. I was not shocked when the group as a whole nodded to me in that role. So I am now officially the Capatin of the Company of the Morning Star. I wonder if the rest of the Company know what they're in for.

The second order of business was to consider what to do about the sorceress. We decided...sorry...I decided...(that may take some getting used to)...that it was of but little value to pursue a vendetta against her, especially as we had been the invaders. Although Nai and Baer wanted to get her, the others seemed in agreement with me.

Third on the agenda was where to head next, and we appear to be heading towards the other unmarked area of our map. Let's hope it goes better than the first.

Finally, we discussed the disposition of some magic items we had found. We determined to travel to the University of Dunwall in order to trade the dwarven hammer we found for items that would be of more use to us. That, of course, is where we saw you again, my nephew. **

To make a long story short, we decided to trade the hammer, Silvermane's magic sickle, and pretty much all of our cash for a pair of potently charmed weapons and a brooch of protection. One weapon, a scimitar, went to Silvermane. The other, a longsword, went to Baer, for which he gave up Finslayer. The brooch has not been 100% decided on, but I think it will likely go to Baer as well.

Nai, meanwhile, is the chosen bearer of the bracers we found in the devil's lair. They enhance the wearer's health to a great degree, and I hope they will help him take more blows in combat.

You may notice, oh my astute nephew, that, while Father Baer gave up Finslayer, I do not say we traded the blade away. In fact, he shall remain in the holding bag, and he will come out if his enemies are close. If he betrays us ever again, though, he will be sold to the University. Zerai disagres vehemently with my decision to keep Fin, and Father Baer is not entirely pleased the sword is still around. Nevertheless, he stays for two reasons: from a group standpoint, he may be a powerful weapon against the aboleth and kuo-toa we encounter. From a personal standpoint, I gave my word that Finslayer would fight kuo-toa again. Zerai cannot comprehend why I would feel then eed to keep a promise to a sword, but, in truth, I am keeping the promise for myself.

So, there it is. Wish me luck, nephew. Something tells me facing devils will seem as nothing after a short time of true leadership.

Your loving uncle,

Daeron

* Strangely straightforward event, considering nothing happened, really. 

** One of the suppositions of Ace's game is that elves are extremely rare outside their homeland. While Zerai headed for a "Bath house" (wink, wink; nudge, nudge!!!!), Nai and Daeron went shopping, and, at one point, I commented on how odd it probably looks to humans to see two warrior elves in the first place...let alone two warrior elves that are checking fruit for freshness.


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## Broccli_Head (Apr 11, 2002)

Nice to see an update. So what are the 'potently charmed' weapons?

Any chance of seeing statblocks for other PCs? What level are they now?


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## Aethan (Apr 12, 2002)

Broccli_Head said:
			
		

> *Nice to see an update. So what are the 'potently charmed' weapons?
> 
> Any chance of seeing statblocks for other PCs? What level are they now? *




The potently charmed weapons are both +4.  There was a +5 flaming greatclub that we drooled over for a while before deciding that it was out of our price range.

Stat blocks for the others? Hmmm...I can try. I can certainly do Daeron's again. He just bopped up to 15th level. Mmmm...channeling a magic missile through my sword as a Spellsword. On a crit, I'd be doing 2d8+14+4d4+4. Hee, hee. 

I believe that our average level has probably just bopped up to 13th. Daeron sort of throws the curve a bit. Heric has always been right behind that,  but his player missed his past session and will miss the next one as well. I know Zerai is creeping up to 13th level as a result of the last session.

I will try to get stat blocks for everyone, or, at least, classes, levels, etc.

- Andy


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## Aethan (May 1, 2002)

*Daeron's Journals 47*

Daeron's Journals #47

**Notes to follow**

My dear Aldar,

Things are progressing slowly but surely as we slowly prepare to deal with the aboleth city. *

I began my day by having a large contract placed in my hands. It seems that Amahd Jaffar (now I have the spelling correct, I believe) wanted to be crystal clear in his dealings with us.  Principle to his contract, as I saw it, were some worrying clauses about how his loyalty to us ended at the ties to his family. After some reassurance from him as to what this meant, I was able to agree to his terms, after having him read the contract to the rest of the Morning Star… And this nearly precipitated a brawl of sorts.

It would appear that almost everyone in the Morning Star has their own idea of what my being Captain means. Silvermane and Naidaushas both seem to want me to be almost an iron-fisted tyrant, while Zerai and Heric are concerned for that very thing. Baer seems a tad confused; I think he’s still trying to figure out how he ended up giving up Finslayer.

I finally explained in no certain terms that I would be what I considered a captain. I will balance the party’s needs against the needs of its individual members. In some instances, I would want quick and absolute action from the group, while at other, more leisurely times, it would always be my intention to give everyone a say. This seemed to go over well, thus ending my first real trial as Captain…well, second, if you count the rescue of Silvermane. **

This nonsense out of the way, we began practicing with our ship more, and, with Amahd steering and Heric creating wind with his magicks, it seems rather possible for us to make our way on the placid waters of the Sunless Sea. Amahd s a capable captain, and he brooks no insolence or backtalk from his rather ragtag “crew.” I am glad he has joined us. ***

We sailed to the southern coast, mostly to practice, but partly to fill in the blank spots on our map. Although we all felt a sense of foreboding, we met no foe there. Instead, a mist on the water concealed an island of great beauty, with geysers and fountains such as I have never seen. I am sad that only Zerai, taking the shape of a young dragon, and myself, who rode him, got to see this. Someday, I will return with the others, and I will show them there is beauty here as well as fear.

When Amahd complained that we had no flag, I returned home with Heric and Zerai very briefly. I took some leather hide and stains and returned. I have made it my project to create a “flag” of leather for us, showing a nine-pointed star for the Morning Star company. I am also making a leather covering for my shield, which will show a snarling wolf. If it is slashed in battle, I can always fix it with a spell of mending.

With the island explored and camp struck, we decided that we’d explored enough ,and it was time to investigate some of the places on our map. We have agreed to scout out the location of the sunken elven city marked on our map. As we prepared to sail in its direction, Father Baer cast a spell which he says points paths out to him, and, to my amazement, it did, in fact, point diagonally down, into the Sunless Sea, when asked to show the way to the “sunken elven city.” I exhaled when he said this, and I realized I had been holding my breath. Although I have been fascinated by the idea,  I suppose I did not really believe the city was there until now. We are now sailing towards the location that Baer indicates, preparing to descend by magickal mans and explore this possible homeplace of the elesi. What will we find there? I cannot say. I have my hopes, and I have my fears. We shall soon see. ****

Until then, my nephew, I remain your loving Uncle,

Daeron


* Hey, all. Well, we didn't play, week before last, so I didn't post, and then I couldn't get into the Messageboards because of the limit. So, anyway, here's the latest info. No stat blocks, yet. I will try to get those.

** This may have been one of the sharpest and most intense sequences of roleplaying in the game in ages. I was letting everyone read the contract (that Amahd's player had really written out), and Silvermane's player just raised an eyebrow and said, in his deep voice, "If the Captain says it is acceptable, then it is acceptable." And then all Hell broke loose. It didn't help matters when Silvermane's player said, "If the Captain gives an order, and you disagree, then maybe you should leave the group." THAT wasn't very popular.  Finally, I got everyone calmed down with Daeron's usual tactful speaking, and I think everyone's satisfied that I will be enough of a leaderwithout being too much of a leader. Oy. Like I need this. 

*** This was pretty funny stuff. Once the Folding Boat was open, Amahd's player assumed command, and explained the concept of swabbing and such. There's also a rather comic bit around the fact that Amahd is aghast at this tiny little boat we're making him capatin of. I think he was hoping for something larger.

**** I was sure there'd be SOMETHING. The fact that Baer's spell is pointing the ay to an actual sunken elven city is a surprise to me. I'm excited. Hope we can find something there to use against the aboleth.

- Andy


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## Broccli_Head (May 1, 2002)

good to see you again. great idea to go sailing on the sunless sea.


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## Aethan (May 7, 2002)

Broccli_Head said:
			
		

> *good to see you again. great idea to go sailing on the sunless sea. *




Heya, BH. Well, we got to the point where the coinage was no longer being kept track of, but simply written as "Obscene Amount of Wealth" under the description of the Bag of Holding. Knowing that we needed to be able to travel around on the Sunless Sea, we traded in a chunk of our obscene wealth for a folding boat, and then Heric got the idea of controlling hte weather to propel it around. When Xanthius's player retired Xanthius and brought in Amahd, he made him a water gensai/acquatic elf who was a ship's captain. Made things easier for us, and tied him into the group nicely, bcause we'd been advertising for an experienced sailor who'd be willing to travel in the Underdark.

- Andy


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## Aethan (May 7, 2002)

*Daeron's Journal 48*

Daeron's Journals #48

**Notes to follow**

My dearest Aldar,

Lost and sunken cities have been a part of folklore for millennia. Given my people’s history and beliefs about our origins, I’m sure you can guess how excited I was when Father Baer’s magics told us there was, indeed, a sunken elven city under the Sunless Sea. We set sail, and I tried not to show just how excited I was, for I had fears about it as well.

Father Baer had somehow cast his spell so that Amahd was the one actually receiving the benefit of its knowledge. Since he has knowledge of mathematics and triangulation for purposes of navigating, as our trip continued, he was able to judge the distance to the city by calculating how far we were traveling vs how much the angle of the line down to the city sharpened. A neat bit of thinking, that, if I do say so myself. My only regret is that, since we will be out on the water for a bit of time, Taine and Ekki have remained back on shore, promising to keep themselves safe.

As we were approaching Amahd’s approximation of where the city would be, about half a day after we set out, he suddenly cried out to us to hit the oars and backstroke. We did so, and he explained that he could tell the water was becoming shallow. We noticed after a time that it was warm and bubbling here and there, too. There must be activity under the water similar to what we have encountered back on the island we explored to the south. We asked Jeleneth to guard the ship and give us some kind of signal if anything went wrong, and we prepared to explore.

Amahd went first and came back with tales of crumbling ruins under the water, as well as albino fish swimming nearby. I was surprised; these were the first fish we’d seen in the Sunless Sea. Heric used his air-bubble necklace and his ring of free movement to be able to breathe and cast underwater, while Zerai took the form of a kuo-toa. Amahd, of course, was not inconvenienced in any way. Father Baer cast spells of water breathing on Silvermane, Naidaushas, himself, and myself, as well as a spell of free action on Naidaushas to make sure he could fight easily. I did not mind being unable to cast spells, for my items mostly work by will, and I was able to fight, albeit awkwardly.

As we explored the city, we came to a dark realization that confirmed my fears. A spider motif became obvious, and it was clear we were in a city that had once been ruled by the avathari.* I cannot say what Silvermane or Naidaushas were thinking, but I felt that we should explore. If nothing else, it would be a chance to put an end to any that remained.

We found a large temple-like building and prepared to enter it. As we approached, however, a translucent figure emerged, black of skin and female. At once,  I recognized it from our legends – a baione sidhe, known to humans as a banshee. She let out a terrible wail, biut our stalwart party fell prey to neither the fear of her nor the legendary death magic it unleashes. Silvermane and I were on her in an instant, hacking at her with our weapons. She retreated, and Father Baer swam after her, preparing to try and turn her…when everything went wrong.

Two massive tentacles came out of the darkness of the temple and ensnared myself and Silvermane. I was able to wrench free after a moment, but Silvermane was still bound. I began to penetrate the temple, hoping to find whatever was at the center of these tentacles and put an end to it. The monster within was truly huge, like a nightmare squid, and later, Amahd told us a tale of these creatures, called Kraken. For that moment, I saw it only as an enemy. My companions were soon near me, but its many smaller tentacles seemed determined to squeeze the life out of us. I was dimly aware of Zerai and Hric both blasting it with beams, but then I was entangled again and could not get free! Suddenly, I was atop its central body.  I realized that Zerai had somehow teleported me close to the creature, and I struck it several telling blows. More rays from Heric struck it, and then it had me entangled again. And then a simple magic missile from Heric ended its foul life. **

After recovering, we decided to alter our procedure a bit. Heric took on the form of a kuo-toa and gave me his necklace to allow me to talk and cast underwater, and then he transformed Father Baer into one for the same reason. We must make an odd sight, but, still, we pressed on. The monster had a treasure trove which we’ve not yet had a chance to count, but which looks like it will refill our coffers nicely. Through exploring the various chambers of the temple, we found little else of value except a magickal helm which Amahd says can help someone see and breathe underwater. Silvermane confirmed that it was helping him see better, but he could not figure out how to invoke its water breathing powers. We will rectify that soon.

We tried several other buildings, but there seemed little else, until we found what must have been the city’s docks before it sank. There, in a closed building, we found a strange golden cylinder. Once we were able to open it, slow experimentation from Zerai and Heric determined that it was, apparently, some kind of machine that imitates a lobster, allowing for underwater travel, combat, and exploration. Even as I pen this on the boat, they are experimenting with making it dive and rise, as well as moving about. It appears to be faster backwards than forwards…which is interesting, if not terribly useful. ***

Well, they are telling me they are ready to continue exploring, so I shall sign off. Sorry for the water stains. Wish us luck.

Your loving uncle,

Daeron

* The avathari, if it needs to be said, are the dark elves. Given that Silvermane is 1/4 drow, we knew there'd be no happy welcome for him, either.

** Ace says a lot of things like, "The kraken is looking really badly wounded," or "The kaken is on its last legs." When we heard that, given that everyone but Heric and Zerai were entangled, I said to Heric's player, "Nail him with a magic missile!" When it worked, however, it still got a big laugh from everyone. The mighty kraken, slain with the lowliest of spells. 

*** The funny thing was that we'd been discussing the possible appearance of an Apparatus of Kwalish in my own campaign. 

- Andy


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## Broccli_Head (May 9, 2002)

*Re: Daeron's Journal 48*



			
				Aethan said:
			
		

> *
> *** The funny thing was that we'd been discussing the possible appearance of an Apparatus of Kwalish in my own campaign.
> 
> - Andy *




See, that's one of those goofy magic items that I just could not have in a serious campaign. It's like the Swiss Army _rod of Lordly Might_.

Aethan, is this an ongoing campaign or is it already finished? 
Are  you going to hit the city soon? Or is the plan to explore the whole sea?

Can't wait.


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## Aethan (May 9, 2002)

*Re: Re: Daeron's Journal 48*



			
				Broccli_Head said:
			
		

> *
> 
> See, that's one of those goofy magic items that I just could not have in a serious campaign. It's like the Swiss Army rod of Lordly Might.
> 
> ...




I love those goofy, old-school magic-items. Got a big soft spot for them.

This campaign is on-going, which is why there are occasionally delays when we don't play.

We are currently (as of 5/8) exploring the Isle of Shadows. We're trying to go up another level or two before going up against Great Shaboath.

- Andy


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## Aethan (May 13, 2002)

*Daeron's Journals #49*

Daeron's Journals #49

**Notes to follow**

My dear Aldar,

Not much to report. Much time seems to be passing, but little seems to be getting accomplished, which is frustrating.

We explored the rest of the sunken city, and nothing else of great interest was found, so we set forth once again. After sailing south to pick up Taine and Ekki, we sailed along the coast, seeking a place marked on our map as The Isle of Shadows.

I am not keen on this visit, but it's clear that several of the others are very anxious to do so. Our map indicates that undead are here...servants of some dark and forgotten god. The others seem to suspect that we will run into hordes of minor undead. I am fearful from the fact that our map describes them as "laid to rest" that there will only be a few, and they will be very powerful. Still, there's a possibility of items having been laid to rest with them that may aid us against the aboleth, and, of course, Nai is anxious to destroy their evil, so off we went. *

We found the island by following the slow dimming of our lights. Even Silvermane's darkvision, the powers of the underwater helm, and my own low-light vision will not let us see any farther than five feet away. If one of us walks into the darkness holding a light source, he is invisible after only fifteen feet or so. I dislike this place intensely.

With Zerai and Amahd in the lobster-machine and Heric riding atop it, we began to move onto the island. The others tell me there is a terrible chill, but I seem strangely immune to it. My affinity for ice magicks seem to be protecting me, in some strange way. ** We made our way slowly uphill, until we came across a strange statue. Nai's ability to detect radiations of evil is useless here, for there is a pervasive evil all around us, now. We made our way further up the hill, past other statues, until we found some sort of large building.

It appears to be a cylinder, some twenty feet high, and, after some exploring, we found a gatehouse-like area with double doors. We had to leave our lobster-machine outside, as it is too narrow for it. We entered on foot, tentative and fearful. A trap involving portculli and barbs made us more cautious, and Silvermane now checks the floors and walls for traps, making our going even slower.

Annoyingly, we have not been stymied by a monster or trap, but simply a magical curtain. It is incredibly heavy and dense, resisting most forms of energy and magic. When touched with item or hand, it sends out corruscating blue energy which saps one's strength. After some experimentation, I realized that pursuing this, as tired as we were, and with our warriors losing their strength, is simply an invitation to disaster. We retreated from the building to think and rest, returning to our boat. ***

We are sleeping, now, as best we can, and watching. It is hard not to be daunted by the darkness and the sense of evil, but I am confident that we can best this curtain and move on with our explorations. Wish us luck.

Your loving Uncle,

Daeron

* Dern paladins. I would really rather move on with the adventure, but...

** After some thought, and because we hadn't yet played with me as 15th level, yet, I decided NOT to take Blind-fighting as my 15th level feat. Instead, I took Resistance to Energy: Cold, from *Masters of the Wild*. Love it.

*** For some reason, we all felt tired tonight, plsu we were missing Father Baer and Zerai's players, so two of our spellcasters were not there to suggest things we could try. We decided to retreat and wait til we were all together to take on the derned necromantic curtain.

Peace for now.

- Andy


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## Broccli_Head (May 26, 2002)

Nasty curtain that! But what lies behind it...hmmmm?


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