# Of Sound Mind III



## Jarval (Dec 26, 2002)

Continuation of the Of Sound Mind game.

Last post:

It's early in the morning, around sixish.  The sun has risen over the horizon, but only just.  It seems as if it wasn't just you suffering from bad dreams.  In the common room, a merchant is calming her husband, and the other two guests are also awake, eating breakfast.

And it isn't just affecting humans.  Gato and Lucie are both nervous, either sensing their master and mistress's unease or from dreams of their own.  Jaxen and Virch are both quieter than normal, unusually distracted from their surroundings.

Tokket comes over to those of you in the inn's common room.  "Anything for breakfast folks?"


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## GnomeWorks (Dec 27, 2002)

"No thanks, Tokket," Seraphina says. "I think that we're going to get an early start today."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Dec 27, 2002)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick tweeks his psicrystal, "whats wrong with you, I'm the one having nightmares." 

Then walks over to the bar, scowling "I'll take an ale, Tokket."


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## Zhure (Dec 27, 2002)

*Gholog*

"I'll take a slab of something simple, Tokket. Some cheese or fresh bread, please. I too want to get started so I'll take something to eat on the way."

Turning to Seraphina, "I'm sorry, little one, one of my bulk has to eat more just to have strength." Gholog smiles down at her roguishly.

Once preparations are made, Gholog will eat his snack and try to take point.


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## Other Guy (Dec 27, 2002)

*Jason Master*

Having spent enough time collecting his thoughts, as well as himself, Jason gets up off the bed, dresses, and walks downstairs with his cat following closely at his side. He sits with his companions and asks Tokket for eggs and two orders of milk, one in a bowl.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Dec 28, 2002)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick looks grogily at the rest of his companions, "Were is it we were going?"


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## Zhure (Dec 28, 2002)

*Gholog*

"Let's discuss our destination once we're away from the village....
"


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Dec 28, 2002)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Oh, right." Kerrick half heartedly grins. "Sorry about that."


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## Zhure (Dec 28, 2002)

*Gholog*

"No problem, Kerrick. Methinks something odd is going on and we should concentrate on just trusting each other foremost."


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## GnomeWorks (Dec 28, 2002)

"I agree with that idea wholeheartedly," Seraphina says.

"I've got a wide assortment of magical tricks at my disposal," She says, more quietly, "though few of them are combat-oriented.  My forte is illusions, not destructive magic.  I hope it will be enough."

"As for you taking point, Gholog," She says, her voice returning to normal volume, "I think that will be fine.  I'll take second position, right behind you, then."

Seraphina then thinks for a moment. "Perhaps I should bring Rufus... he might be able to smell anything unusual that we encounter before we are able to see it."


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## Jarval (Dec 28, 2002)

Tokket returns with Jason's eggs and milk, placing one on the floor for Gato.  He hands Gholog a huge slab of cheese, and a still warm loaf of bread.  "An advantage of living two doors down from the baker."  He says with a smile.

"I'm guessing that wishing you folks luck might be in order, from what I've heard you say."  He passes a satchel over to Kerrick.  "More food, should you want it, a gift from me and my daughter, along with your breakfast.  The least we can do, as you're trying to sort things out."


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## GnomeWorks (Dec 28, 2002)

Seraphina smiles warmly at Tokket. "Thank you for your generosity."


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## Zhure (Dec 29, 2002)

*Gholog*

Gholog profusely thanks Tokket for the breakfast.

Once the innkeeper is out of sight, Gholog will examine the food carefully for anything odd, and takes a good hard sniff of it. Then he'll offer a chunk to Rufus before taking a bite himself.

 Gholog's going to take the scent feat eventually, darnit.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Dec 29, 2002)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick nods thanks to Tokket as the party heads out. Once out of site he holds the bag open for Ghologs examination, "Ok, we should be in the clear now, what is the plan exactly?"


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## Zhure (Dec 29, 2002)

*Gholog*

"We found a suspicious mine shaft. With some kind of screaming heads..." Gholog continues to make sure Kerrick gets all the information.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Dec 29, 2002)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Screaming heads, well uh, thats pretty gross. At least we can be comfortable knowing that something odds goin on there."


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## GnomeWorks (Dec 29, 2002)

"That is sick." Seraphina says, thankful that she is not having to look up at her companions so much from her saddle on Rufus. "I just hope that we find whatever is causing these dreams, and destroy it.  I'm surprised the townspeople haven't all gone crazy yet."


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## Zhure (Dec 30, 2002)

*Gholog*

"For all I know," Gholog says as he leads up the hills toward the copper mine, "it could've been an illusion. That's why we decided to wait for back-up. There's some climbing. I hope you're up to it."


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## Jarval (Dec 30, 2002)

Tokket smiles back at Seraphina.  "To be honest, it's not just generosity.  I really want those dreams to stop.  I've seen things their that I never even want to think of again."  He heads back to the kitchen, checking on his other customers as he goes.  

After Tokket is out of sight, Gholog carefully sniffs the food given to the party.  If seems normal enough, and Rufus wolfs down the chunk of bread passed to him, wagging his tail happily.

***

You go out of the Bell and Clapper, up the main street of Bellhold, and back along the path beside the river.  It's warm and clear again this morning, with red clouds to either side of the sun.  You pass few people on your way, most of the townsfolk still asleep.

You make your way into the woods again, the early chorus of bird song quieter than usual.  Adren and Gholog lead the rest of the party back to the entrance of old mine workings, which seems undisturbed from yesterday evening.


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## Zhure (Dec 30, 2002)

*Gholog*

"Ok, this rope is a fairly long climb, then leads down to a rickety platform. I'll lead."

Gholog straps his glaive in a rig across his back, then retests the rope before clambering down.


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## Acmite (Dec 30, 2002)

*Adren awakens from his psionic meditative state....*



			
				Zhure said:
			
		

> *"Ok, this rope is a fairly long climb, then leads down to a rickety platform. I'll lead."
> 
> Gholog straps his glaive in a rig across his back, then retests the rope before clambering down. *




  Aye, and I'll go with you this time, Gholog.  My disturbing dream of distorted and savage animals has left me leery of my abilities to fend off such an attack.  I have failed in this area before.....

_ Adren's eyes briefly become unfocused and the observant can see a quick grimace of remembered pain flash across his face._

  My eyes don't pierce the darkness as well as yours, friend, but my senses are quite acute.  If there is trouble down there, my blade could be of some use. 

Turning to the rest of the group, he will add:    Those of you that decide to remain up here--keep an eye on the surrounding wilds.  When we were here last, I sensed something--I'm not sure how to describe it-- _* wrong *_.  Be wary.


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## Acmite (Dec 30, 2002)

*Adren and Jaxen*

_  Adren will try to calm Jaxen and ease any of the disquiet that may still remain.  Then, he will adjust Jaxen such that he can see behind Adren. _


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## Other Guy (Dec 30, 2002)

*Jason Master*

"My biggest problem is the light in there. Normally I can be very quiet and hidden, but not with a lantern." Jason says, smiling. "If you guys want to go in and not attract a lot of attention, then I should probably stay out here and guard the entrance." He looks through his backpack quickly and finds another scroll of Mage Armor. "So, how does that sound?"


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## Zhure (Dec 30, 2002)

*Gholog*

"I think we should all go, Jason. We may need every hand to man the weapons. A safe fallback is important, too, so I'll let you be the judge."

Gholog will make the climb as swiftly as possible, and without any light.


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## Other Guy (Dec 31, 2002)

*Jason Master*

"Hmm..." Jason thinks for a moment. "Alright, I think I have an idea. I can communicate telepathically with Gato over a pretty long range. He can stay out here by the entrance and tell me if anything happens. We'll have our guard and my cat won't be in as much danger as us. Of course, that also means I'll be tagging along with you guys, which means no stealth."


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## Zhure (Dec 31, 2002)

*Gholog*

"There won't be much stealth with me along either."


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## GnomeWorks (Dec 31, 2002)

Seraphina frowns. "A rope?  We aren't going to be able to bring Rufus up there..."

She then dismounts, and approaches the rope. "Well, might as well get started..."


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## Zhure (Jan 3, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Maybe Rufus can act as our fallback guard, protecting the rope."


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## Jarval (Jan 6, 2003)

Rufus sits by the hole, obviously less than keen on going down there.  At Jason's command, Gato takes up a position in the undergrowth near the hole, hardly visible even to those who know where to look.

After quickly retesting the rope's strength, Gholog takes the lead in the climb down.  Again, the platform creaks slightly under his weight, echoing up to those above.


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## Zhure (Jan 7, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog climbs down as quickly as possible, then makes a stand at the entrance off the platform, waiting for his companions to catch up.


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## Acmite (Jan 7, 2003)

_ Adren will swiftly follow, his "not-as-keen-as-Gholog's" eyes will scan the darkness looking for any signs of danger.  Once he reaches the bottom, he will also step off the platform to make room for the other party members._

OOC:  Is there enough room for my longsword down here?  Or, would it be easier to wield my mace?

_ Adren will then draw an appropriate weapon and stand ready._

_ Jaxen, friend.  Watch for any danger.  This place feels wrong, somehow._


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## Jarval (Jan 10, 2003)

Gholog and Adren both scan around themselves for any sign of danger, but spot nothing.  The only signs of life other than yourselves are the beetles scurrying around the floor.

Jaxen sends back feelings of reassurance and alertness to Adren.  However, the psycrystal seems slightly on edge, not entirely comfortable with its surroundings.

Quickly, the rest of the party climbs down the mine shaft, gathering in the passageway just off the platform.  It's dark down here, and the air is damp.  A steady roar of water can be heard coming from somewhere below the platform.


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## Zhure (Jan 10, 2003)

*Gholog*

As soon as one of the others strikes a light, Gholog will lead the way down the passage, with his glaive readied.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jan 12, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick pulls out his weapon and keeps an eye out for trouble while everyone gets ready to move on.


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## Jarval (Jan 12, 2003)

With the light shed from Adren's tooth, Gholog leads the rest of the group back to the passageway containing the three severed heads.

Again, the heads are moving slightly from the beetles, which scatter away from your light.  You stand about 20 feet away from the heads, which currently show no sign of unlife.


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 13, 2003)

"That's... wierd." Seraphina says. "...I'm going to try to lift one of the heads with a spell."

_Casts_ Mage Hand _on one of the heads._


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## Zhure (Jan 13, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog readies a strike with his glaive should any of the heads animate, "I'll get them if they ... um ... head... toward the us."


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## Jarval (Jan 13, 2003)

Seraphina's spell takes effect, slowly lifting up the elven head.  It floats gently in the air, showing no signs of animating.  A couple of the green beetles drop to the floor, and a nauseating smell of decay drifts over the party.


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## Zhure (Jan 13, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Would it be disprespectful to the dead to chop those things up?" Gholog whispers to his companions.


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 13, 2003)

"That's nasty," Seraphina says. "I think that someone probably put those up so that they wouldn't come down here.  Because, quite frankly, I really don't want to go near those."

"Gholog, in this case... I don't think it would be disrespectful..."


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## Zhure (Jan 14, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog steps forward and chops at the disembodied heads.
+5 modified to hit, 1d10+4 damage


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## Jarval (Jan 14, 2003)

As Gholog steps up to the heads, they again turn to face him and SCREAM.  The sound is hideous, disturbing even Gholog and Jason, both of whom have already heard it.

The half-orc takes a swing at the still floating head, hitting it solidly.  (To hit: 4+5 = 9, damage 8+4 = 12.)  The head ruptures and falls to the ground, silent, the stench emanating from it nearly enough to lose Gholog his breakfast.  The other two heads continue screaming, although the overall force of the sound has diminished.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jan 14, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick gags as the wave of stench hits him,
"URG! That is disgusting. It's offical who ever put those here is evil! Only, Evil, smells that bad."


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## Zhure (Jan 15, 2003)

*Gholog*

Holding his breath as best he can, Gholog flails away at the other two heads.


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## Jarval (Jan 15, 2003)

Moving quickly, Gholog silences the two remaining heads.  He retreats a little way, back from the foul smell of decay.  You all feel the relief of the sound having stopped, to be replaced only by the faint rush of water, and the occasional scuttling noise from the green beetles.

As the half-orc moves back, Adren spots the glint of gold beside the elven head.


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 16, 2003)

Seraphina frowns, as she involuntarily takes a step back. "Wow, that's a _nasty_ smell..."


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## Zhure (Jan 16, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog wipes the filth off his blade, scraping it along the floor. "I have to admit even _I_ am a little disturbed by the stench."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jan 16, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"I'd be shocked if you weren't, Gholog."


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## Acmite (Jan 17, 2003)

That is quite a horrid smell.  I've never experienced the scent of old death before--it's worse than the smell of the town!

Gholog, there's something golden by the elven skull.  Perhaps some relic of the deceased?  You would think it would be covered in filth, though.  Perhaps it's more recent?


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 17, 2003)

"...it might not be a good idea to mess with it, though," Seraphina says, standing up on the ends of her toes and trying to look at the indicated object from a few different angles. "It might be there as a trap-trigger, or something..."


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## Zhure (Jan 17, 2003)

*Gholog*

... pokes the gold object carefully with his glaive.


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## Acmite (Jan 17, 2003)

*Re: Gholog*



			
				Zhure said:
			
		

> *... pokes the gold.... *




OOC:  There is Hong joke there just waiting to be butchered.  But I'm too classy for that, IYKWIM--AITYD!

IC:  Adren will scan around while Gholog is doing this, on guard for any attack.


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## Jarval (Jan 18, 2003)

Gholog gently touches the object with his glave, and that seeming to have no result, picks it up.  On closer inspection, it turns out to be a small, beautifully carved bone trumpet, hanging from a delicate gold earring chain.

Adren moves into the cross of the passageways, and looks along all four paths.  None seem to contain any sign of danger, although he can only see a short distance along each.

The passage to the west continues for around twenty feet, before opening out into (what you assume to be) a cave.  To the east, the passage goes for a short distance, before fading out into another space.  To the north, the passage continues to the edge of the torch and tooth light, while the rest of the party stands to the south.


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## Zhure (Jan 18, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Anyone with a preference? Master Vahrik always said to keep one wall to your left or right when exploring."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jan 18, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Uh, shouldn't we take the earing?" Kerrick looks at his companions and shuggs, with an innocent look on his face and says, "You, know. I n case it's something important."


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## Other Guy (Jan 19, 2003)

*Jason Master*



			
				Sir Osis of Liver said:
			
		

> *"Uh, shouldn't we take the earing?" Kerrick looks at his companions and shuggs, with an innocent look on his face and says, "You, know. I n case it's something important." *



"I thought Gholog already took it," Jason says to Kerrick.


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 19, 2003)

"Back at the halfling caravans," Seraphina says, looking around, "we usually took the road less travelled.  Sometimes, we even made our own paths."

She begins to inspect each of the passage openings, looking for any signs of traversing, traps, or anything unusual.

"Down here, however, it would appear that someone is trying to persuade us from not coming here.  The heads definitely prove that... I don't think that was entirely natural.  I suggest that we try to determine which way that they were trying to make us _not_ go, and head that way."

"I would also recommend being on the lookout for traps and surprises, and such... some things up ahead might not be as... friendly?  As the heads were..."


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## Acmite (Jan 19, 2003)

If the gold is shiny, not dirty, could that not mean it was recently placed there?  Perhaps someone else has crossed this path, and may still be inside.  I'll take a look and see if I can find any signs of their passing.

  OOC:  Track check, s'il vous plait.


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## Zhure (Jan 19, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog holds the earring out for Kerrick. "It's ok, I like carrying the loot. I find my companions are less likely to leave me behind in an emergency. But if you'd rather hang on to it, that's fine as well," he says smiling.


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## Jarval (Jan 19, 2003)

Adren and Seraphina both study the passage entrances.  Seraphina finds no trace of traps or trails, but Adren spots the traces of several humanoids having both entered and exited from the west passage, then having headed along the north corridor, although the trail does not seem to have returned this way.  (Wilderness Lore: 6 + 15 = 21)


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jan 19, 2003)

*Re: Gholog*



			
				Zhure said:
			
		

> *Gholog holds the earring out for Kerrick. "It's ok, I like carrying the loot. I find my companions are less likely to leave me behind in an emergency. But if you'd rather hang on to it, that's fine as well," he says smiling. *




"Sorry, this place is creeping me out. I didn't see you pick it up."

Kerrick waves away the earing, "You can hold the group treasure, that's fine. Besides i already have earings." Kerrick grins and points at the small steel spikes in his ears.


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## Zhure (Jan 19, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Ok, I'll hang on to them," Gholog says, putting them back in his pouch. "I've got no hankering for earrings. I mean ... a nice tooth gem or something, or a tattoo, sure, but nothing somebody can grab in a fight."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jan 19, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Note to self, never get in fight with Gholog." Kerrick jestures down the hall, "Shall we go see what's going on in here?"


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## Other Guy (Jan 20, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Still holding in his hand the scroll of mage armor from earlier, Jason agrees with Kerrick. "The halls all look the same to me, so I see no reason not to start with that one."


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 20, 2003)

"Well," Seraphina says, wiping dust off of her hands, "there aren't any surprises in here.  I checked the passage entrances, no signs of traps or anything that I could find."

"Oh, and if the rest of you don't mind, I'll be taking point." She says. "I'll be careful not to mess up any tracks or whatnot, but I want to be able to sneak around and see if anything lies ahead... and, no offense, but I think that having all of you big people stomping around behind me would give away our position and put us at a severe disadvantage..."

"Just my opinion, of course," Seraphina says, leaning against a wall, "I'm not the leader here."


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## Zhure (Jan 20, 2003)

*Gholog*

"If you want to take point, Seraphina, you're welcome to it." Gholog will move back to the second rank.


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## Jarval (Jan 20, 2003)

*OOC:*  Maybe I'm being dumb, but what direction are you're planing on going?  I'm guessing north, but I'm not sure.


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## Zhure (Jan 20, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog prods Seraphina north.

 I don't think we'd reached a concensus.


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## Acmite (Jan 20, 2003)

_ Adren gestures to the north, and steps out of the way to make room for Seraphina._


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 21, 2003)

Seraphina nods. "Alright then, off I go."

As she heads past Adren, she nods to him. "Don't worry about getting out of my way - I'm so small, I can get by."

Seraphina then heads off into the north passage, moving as silently as possible, watching for anything of interest or anything that would appear out of place...

Move Silent: +9
Search: +4
Spot: +0


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## Zhure (Jan 21, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog lets Seraphina get a short ways ahead of the group, letting her have a margin for stealth.

 Take ten, Move Silent = 11


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## Jarval (Jan 22, 2003)

_Seraphina:_

The passageway seems long, and after only 40' you pass a mining tunnel leading off to the east.  You move stealthily along the passageway, only to stop at a sound from behind you.  Turning, you both spot and smell the two creatures moving out of the passageway behind you.  They seem to have once been lizard-like humanoids of some description, but now their flesh is rotting, hanging loosely off their bones.


_The rest of the party:_

You move forwards as quietly as you can manage, giving Seraphina a slight lead.  After a few moments, you hear shuffling sounds coming from ahead of you, as two rotting lizard-like humanoids slowly move out of the tunnel to the east, now between you and Seraphina!


Actions?


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 23, 2003)

Seraphina begins casting a spell...

Casting _Magic Missile_ at one of the lizard-things.


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## Zhure (Jan 23, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog races forward, slashing at the nearest one with his glaive.

MW Glaive, +5 to hit, 1d10+4, Initiative +2


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## Other Guy (Jan 25, 2003)

*Jason Master*

_Oh well, I guess I'll just have to use this then_, Jason thinks. He casts Mage Armor from the scroll in his hand and looks at the two reptiles in front of him.


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## Jarval (Jan 26, 2003)

Bump.  I still need actions for Adren and Kerrick.


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## Jarval (Jan 28, 2003)

* Initiatives: *
Kerrick: 21
Adren: 19
Seraphina: 16
Aiden: 16
Jason: 12
Gholog: 11
Rotting lizard-creatures: 7

Seraphina chants quickly, and energy flows from her hands into the closest lizard creature.  The magical missile smashes into the creature, ripping away a chunk of rotting flesh from its side (5 points of damage!).  The creature staggers back slightly.

Off balance, it's movement makes it an easy target for Gholog as he rushes forwards (To Hit 5 + 13 = 18).  His blade lunges forwards and hits almost the same spot as Seraphina's magic, severing the remains of the dead lizard's spine (Damage 7 + 4 = 11).  It collapses on the ground at Gholog's feet, twitching slightly.

Jason holds up his scroll, and red light consumes the parchment and briefly covers his body, before fading to an invisible field of force.

The remaining lizard-man swings it's fists at Seraphina, but she ducks under the slow swing.  The creature's fist continues onto the wall, impacting hard, cracking one of the wooden shoring posts.

From behind the halfling, you see two more of these dead creatures stumble forwards.  A musky stench rolls along the passageway, causing you all to choke.  You fight off the wave of nausea, with the exception of Kerrick, who is violently sick.  Eyes watering, he sways slightly on his feet, feeling suddenly weaker (2 points of temporary Strength damage).


*OOC:* I'm going to try to make posts every two days at the least.  I'll give you that long to give me actions for your character in combat, but if I don't have an action, you'll miss your turn.

This doesn't apply if you know you're going to be away and have given me notice.  In these circumstances, I'll switch your character over to NPC mode, or you can give me a list of options for your combat actions, whichever you prefer.


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 29, 2003)

Seraphina slings her light crossbow off of her shoulder, points it at the closest dead-thing, and fires.

"This isn't good!" She calls out to her companions. "Two more coming down the hallway!"

Light Crossbow: atk +4, dmg 1d8+1 (added +1 for target being within 30 ft, otherwise atk +3, dmg 1d8)


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## Zhure (Jan 29, 2003)

Gholog steps back this time, trying to force one into trying to get past him, "The master called this the pole dance...."

MW Glaive, +5 to hit, 1d10+4, Initiative +2, readied action to strike when he threatens one of them, plus hoping to draw an AoO as well.


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## Other Guy (Jan 30, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Seeing the new threats approaching, Jason maneuvers around the original zombie-creature and stands next to Seraphina, ready to help her any second (well, in 6 anyway). "I wish I had thought to prepare a magic missile myself, instead of that useless sleep enchantment," Jason says, laughing a little, to Seraphina.

Since all Jason does is move, I'm pretty sure he doesn't draw an AoO. However, if he does then he'll try to tumble (+4) to avoid it.


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Jan 31, 2003)

(Hello all!  Truly sorry for not posting for a while, but it seems I may of _some_ assistance in this battle, hopefully...)

Assuming Aiden is still with the party, he rises out of his stupor in order to fight the party's current adversaries.  Lifting his golden, holy symbol, the cleric squints towards the shambling creatures.

As Aiden begins to channel his deity's power, he proclaims,  "In the name of Pelor I banish you foul creatures!" with all the will he can muster as the divine energy begins to take effect, the glorious light of Pelor shining forth...

OOC-Turn Undead attempt to affect as many undead as he can: "Aiden can attempt to turn undead creatures. His turning check is 1d20+5. Each attempt, he turns 3d6+5 total HD. Undead with 1 or fewer HD are destroyed instead."  The Glory domain gives him a Turn undead with a +2 bonus on the turning check and +1d6 on the turning damage roll. (I don't think the Glory domain is added in his Turn Undead stats, as I haven't played Aiden for a while)


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## Jarval (Feb 1, 2003)

OOC: Update coming tomorrow morning.


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## Jarval (Feb 1, 2003)

*Initiatives:*
Seraphina 16
Aiden 16
Jason 12
Gholog 11
Rotting lizard-creatures 7
Kerrick 1
Adren 1

Seraphina quickly unslings her crossbow, and looses a bolt at the closest creature.  The shot flies true, and the bolt lodges in the lizard man's shoulder (To Hit 4+15=19, Damage 5).

Aiden holds up his sun-disc, and proclaims the name of Pelor.  His voice takes on an unnatural booming quality, and sunlight seems to stream away from him (Turning Check 5+17=22!).  The light seems to smash into the lizard-creatures, and with one voice they howl in agony, before fleeing up the passageway to the north (Turning Damage 5+14=19 HD).

Jason quickly moves forwards to stand alongside Seraphina, dodging both one of the undead lizards, and a wild slash from Gholog's Glaive, which misses its intended target by some way (To Hit 5+3=8). 

Taking advantage of the undead creature's distraction, Jason punches it hard across the jaw, producing a sharp **snap** (AoO, To Hit 1+11=12, Damage 6).  The lizard seems to barely notice, and continues to dash away along the corridor.


*OOC:* I think you could call that a successful turning attempt 

I've changed my policy on non-posting players slightly:  If you don't post, I'll switch your PC over to NPC mode, but your Initiative drops to 1.  Of course, this penalty doesn't apply if you've informed me that you're going to be AFK for a few days.


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## GnomeWorks (Feb 1, 2003)

"Should we pursue?" Seraphina asks, watching the lizard-things run down the hallway.

She then regards Aiden. "That was quite a trick there, Aiden," She says. "I hope you can do that again if we run into anything else."


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## Zhure (Feb 2, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Gah! We should chase them before they become free of Aiden's effects."

Gholog scampers off after the lizard things.


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## Other Guy (Feb 2, 2003)

*Jason Master*

"I agree with Gholog. We don't want to have to fight them again, after all," Jason says. He switches to his bow and follows the creatures down the passageway with Gholog.


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## Acmite (Feb 2, 2003)

Shrugging away the remnants of his recent lethargy, Adren will add, "_ Aye, I agree with Gholog.  These creatures may not remain frightened for long!_"

Adren will draw his longsword and give chase alongside Jason and Gholog.

OOC:  Sorry about the delay, had a medical problem. 


Longsword  Att: +3 Dmg: 1d8+2 Crit: 19-20/x2 
Masterwork Mighty Composite LongBow (+2) Att: +3* Dmg: 1d8+2* Crit: x3   **does not include Point Blank Shot**
Light Mace Att: +3 Dmg: 1d6+2 Crit x2


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## GnomeWorks (Feb 3, 2003)

"Wait up!"

Seraphina chases after her companions, reloading her crossbow as she runs.


----------



## Sollir Furryfoot (Feb 3, 2003)

Aiden will attempt to follow his companions to the best of his ability, knowing that his armor weighs him down too much to allow him to fight the creatures.

Edit-That's turning check is a bit scary


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## Jarval (Feb 3, 2003)

You jog after the creatures... and catch up with them surprisingly quickly.  Even Seraphina and Aiden, weighted down by his armor, can keep up, breaking into a run.

The lizard men cower back from Aiden, pressing themselves against the large copper door that fills the passageway.  The door is badly corroded, and looks like the metal has been weeping green tears.  The musky stench that weakened Kerrick can again be smelt, although it is far less potent than before.

And like a well oiled machine, the party swings into action...

*Initiatives:*
Seraphina 16
Aiden 16
Jason 12
Gholog 11
Rotting lizard-creatures 7
Kerrick 1
Adren 1

Aiden and Seraphina stop about 20' away from the undead, and pause momentarily to catch their breath.  (Used a Run action to keep up.)

Jason nocks an arrow and looses at the closest lizard creature, the same one whose jaw he broke a moment earlier.  It's a good shot, and the arrow hits solidly into its torso (To Hit 2+17=19, 6 hp damage).

Jason's arrow is quickly followed by Gholog charging forwards.  The half-orc slashes with his glaive, neatly cutting through the lizards chest, forcing it up against the door (To Hit 7+19=24, 13 hp damage).  The now still corpse slides slowly to the ground.

The remaining two lizard-creatures attack, one heading for Gholog, while the other swipes at Adren.  Gholog just misses an opening as the creature lumbers forwards, but blocks the lizard's slow, clumsy swipe.  Adren isn't so lucky, and feels the full force of the creature's fist, his chain shirt doing little to lessen the impact of the blow (Adren takes 5 points of damage).

Wincing from the blow, Adren stabs with his longsword, the blade sliding into the creature's throat (To Hit 3+14=17, 8 hp damage).  The lizard man stumbles back, clawing wildly at the ranger's blade.

Kerrick's _Finger of Fire_ misses the creature by the slightest margin, leaving a scorch mark on the stone beside its head.  Cursing, the psion readies his mace.


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## Jarval (Feb 3, 2003)

A map of the area you've coved so far.  The X was the location of the screaming heads, and the door at the top is the copper doors you're currently fighting in front of.  Hope this helps.


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## Zhure (Feb 3, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog dances back and tries to down the creature with his glaive.
-edit- what's the scale?


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## GnomeWorks (Feb 4, 2003)

"Next time..." Seraphina says, as she catches her breath, "one of you... bigger people... carry me... only way to... keep up..."

Having voiced her complaint, she then takes aim at the closest lizard-thing, and fires.


----------



## Jarval (Feb 4, 2003)

Acmite said:
			
		

> *OOC:  Sorry about the delay, had a medical problem.*



No problem, glad to have you back.  I hope you're feeling better.



			
				Zhure said:
			
		

> *-edit- what's the scale? *



Oops, missed that.  The scale is one square = 10 feet.


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 4, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Ack, i hate undead..." Kerrick makes a disgusted face as he moves up next to Adren and swings at his opponant.




[OOC: sorry guys the move and getting a new connection took a bit longer then anticapated, but i'm all set now. Thanks for running Kerrick for me Jarvel. I'm glad i didn't slow things up for everyone.]


----------



## Other Guy (Feb 4, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason aims carefully to avoid hitting his comrades who are now in melee with the undead lizards and lets loose another arrow from his bow.

-2 Attack Bonus (BAB +0, dexterity mod +2, shooting into melee -4)


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## Zhure (Feb 5, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Sorry Seraphina," Gholog says, not looking from his foe, "I would've but my hands were full."


----------



## Jarval (Feb 7, 2003)

*Initiatives:*
Seraphina 16
Aiden 16
Jason 12
Gholog 11
Rotting lizard-creatures 7
Kerrick 1
Adren 1

Seraphina reloads her crossbow and shoots another bolt at the lizard-man she hit earlier.  The bolt misses and hits the stone wall beside the door, it's shaft shattering with the impact (To Hit 4+4=8).

Aiden delays his action, ready to take on any undead that survive his companion's attacks.

Jason takes careful aim with his bow, but the jostling combat causes his arrow to miss, zipping narrowly past his target's head (To Hit -2+6=4).

Gholog scrambles back from the creature and again attacks with his glaive.  His blow only just hits the creature, but cuts deep into its leg, causing the lizard to stumble and almost fall (To Hit 5+6=11, 7 hp damage).

Gholog's opponent regains its feet, and slams its fist hard into the side of the half-orc's head (5 hp damage).  Adren's foe attempts the same move, but the ranger dodges at the last second.

Kerrick swings with his mace, but the heavy weapon seems to just bounce off the lizard-man's hide, doing no noticeable damage.

Adren thrust again with his sword, and catches the undead's arm (To Hit 8+3=11, 3 points of damage).  Seizing the opening, Aiden smashes down with his own mace, splintering the ribcage of the creature.  It falls forwards, landing in a heap by Kerrick's feet.


Damage taken so far:
Adren: 5 hp
Gholog: 5 hp
Kerrick: 2 STR
Remaining undead lizard: 7 hp


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## Zhure (Feb 7, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog stifles back a wince of pain at the creature's strike, and steps back to swing again.


----------



## Acmite (Feb 7, 2003)

Adren will grimace through the pain and continue his attack.  If someone in teh group falls, Adren will attempt to stabilize them, even if it means exposing himself to attack.


----------



## GnomeWorks (Feb 7, 2003)

"Let's try that again..." Seraphina says, reloading and aiming, "...but _without_ the miss."


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 7, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Arrrrr!" Kerrick takes a step back and steedies himself,"Alright undea scum let's see if you like this."

Kerrick points at the remaining undead and focusing his will, unleashes a stream of flmae on it.

[OOC: Five foot step back, then finger of fire.]


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## Other Guy (Feb 8, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason silently agrees with Seraphina, reloading his bow and firing once more.


----------



## Jarval (Feb 12, 2003)

Seraphina shoots again, and follows her own advice.  Her bolt hits solidly, lodging in the creature's hip (To Hit 4+13=17, 5 hp damage).  Jason is less lucky, his arrow *pinging* wildly off the stone wall to land a few inches away from him (rolled a 2 ).

Gholog steps back again, and swings hard at the lizard.  His blow is telling, and the last of the undead drops to the ground (To Hit 5+12=17, 10 hp damage).

As you stand and catch your breath back, a voice comes echoing through from the other side of the copper doors.

"You!  You hasss come to finisssh the job, eh?  To killss the ressst of uss off?  Come and killss me too, if you can?  Ssssssssss...."


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## GnomeWorks (Feb 12, 2003)

Seraphina's face becomes one of shock and fear.

"We'll get right on that... after we take a rain check."

Seraphina then proceeds to check the doors, slinging her crossbow back over her shoulder.  She first checks to see if there is a lock, and if it's locked, then she will check for traps.

"I have an odd feeling that, if this thing is locked, we might want to leave it that way before we barge in, to get ourselves all ready and such..." She says as she fiddles with the door.

"Oh, hey, and Gholog," She says absent-mindedly, "don't worry about it.  I'm just whining - though if I'm to be of any use around here, we'll probably have to do that.  I'm no good after a sprint, even a short one like that..."


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 12, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Alright, that was creepy. I don't feal so good...uh, maybe we should go get a couple gallons of holy water or something?"


----------



## Zhure (Feb 12, 2003)

*Gholog*

"We need to get back to the platform and explore this place a little more methodically. We could easily get trapped in here."

Gholog begins backing up, trying to watch in all directions at once.


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## Jarval (Feb 12, 2003)

Seraphina checks over the door.  There's no lock as far as you can tell, but the door has been barred from the inside.  Whatever did this seems to be trying to keep people out, rather than keeping anything in.

The voice laughs at Kerrick's remark.  "Go and find your godwater, much good my it do you.  Firssst the goblinssss came, then the elvesss and the men.  You all kill my people, then you kill them again, and again, but I'll not let you kill me.  No, no, you'll not kill me yet, no... Sssssssss..."


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 12, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"HA HA HA HA! Kill you! Why would we want to kill you? You're not bothering anyone, you miss understand completely. We would never have harmed your people if they had not attacked us. We're down here looking for someone else, we feal horrible about desiterbing you and harming your people." Kerrick ends his speach with a big friendly smile.

[OOC: Bluff +1, untrained.  ]


----------



## GnomeWorks (Feb 12, 2003)

Seraphina, done messing with the door, turns to the rest.

"Well, there's no lock - but it's barred from the other side.  If I had a long, thin stick, I might be able to remove the bar.  However, it would seem that the thing on the other side of the door will come out when it's good and ready, and no sooner..."


----------



## Zhure (Feb 13, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Does anyone have a way to bar these doors?"

Gholog continues to back away from the odd doors.

 Do the doors swing outwards? And which side has the hinges on them?


----------



## Other Guy (Feb 13, 2003)

*Jason Master*

"Hmm," Jason begins, "if we can't get past that door then maybe we should check out the hallways we passed by when we were chasing the lizard-things."

(OOC) I'm going to be away for a little more than a week. I should be back by next Saturday. I look forward to seeing what develops, (/OOC)


----------



## Jarval (Feb 13, 2003)

*Re: Kerrick Jonez*



			
				Sir Osis of Liver said:
			
		

> *"HA HA HA HA! Kill you! Why would we want to kill you? You're not bothering anyone, you miss understand completely. We would never have harmed your people if they had not attacked us. We're down here looking for someone else, we feal horrible about desiterbing you and harming your people." Kerrick ends his speach with a big friendly smile.*




There is silence from behind the door for a moment, before the voice speaks up again.

"Perhapsss you are not the desssecratorssss and killerssss I thought you were.  But I need proof of your intentionssss.  Will you kill the goblinssss that are defiling Hissss domain?  They have no ressspect, no..."

(One Bluff check, one roll of 19 )

*OOC:*  Zhure, the doors would open inwards, and the hinges are on the inside.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 13, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*



> (One Bluff check, one roll of 19 )





[OOC: HA! I Knew i had it in me. Now to see if we can just parley this into getting more info on whats going on down here. ]

Kerricks jaw drops momentarily at his unexpected success. "Goblins? I can't say as i much like Goblins. Maybe..." Kerrick pauses for effect. "Well, never mind. That'd be foolish. We should probably just get out of your domian..."


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## Jarval (Feb 13, 2003)

*Re: Kerrick Jonez*



			
				Sir Osis of Liver said:
			
		

> * He quickly recovers and paints a smile on his face as the doors start to swing open. *




Ok, my bad.  The door opening bit in my above post was OOC, in answer to Zhure/Gholog's query.  You still need to talk this mysterious voice into letting you through the doors.


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 14, 2003)

*Re: Re: Kerrick Jonez*



			
				Jarval said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Ok, my bad.  The door opening bit in my above post was OOC, in answer to Zhure/Gholog's query.  You still need to talk this mysterious voice into letting you through the doors. *




[OOC:whoops, got a little over excited. I'll adjust my responce.]


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## GnomeWorks (Feb 14, 2003)

Seraphina walks back and stands near Kerrick.

"And may we ask whose domain this is?" Seraphina says loudly. "We are strangers in this place, and aren't aware of much of what is here.  If we knew the name and nature of the one whose domain we are in, then perhaps we can better assist you!"

Diplomacy check?  Bluff check?  I don't know either...


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## Zhure (Feb 14, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Guys, I'm not kidding, we're very vulnerable here."


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## Acmite (Feb 14, 2003)

I'm super swamped right now--can you put me on Autopilot for the next couple days?  Thanks, sorry about the bad timing.


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## Jarval (Feb 14, 2003)

"Hmm, no, you can ssstay, for a time."  The voice replies, sounding less angry.  "If you respect Hisss domain."

After Seraphina asks her question, the voice is silent for a moment.  "Whosss domain?  It hasss been a long time, yesss, if He hasss been forgotten.  He isss the god of the landssss, yesss, who now sssleepsss.  Yearsss ago the humansss and elvesss and dwarvesss forced Him into sssleep, and now thessse filthy goblinsss trouble Hisss dreamsss.

"He made thessse tunnelsss, and built the town that the humansss live in.  He found the copper, yesss, and gave it to usss and the humansss, but the humansss killed my people, and forced Him to sssleep."  The voice sounds bitter, with much of its former anger returning. 


*OOC:* Other Guy, Acmite, absences noted, auto-pilots set


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## Zhure (Feb 15, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog moves back as silently as possible to the western dead-end near the door the voice is coming from and begin searching for any signs of another door.

 Take 10 on move silent, Total = 11. I'm assuming that's "west." it's on the left. Take 20 on Search, total = 21

_ At least this way we'll have a secure position..._


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## Jarval (Feb 17, 2003)

Gholog moves down along the western tunnel, checking carefully for hidden doorways.  The sides of the tunnel still bear the pick marks of the miners, but the half-orc can find no signs of any portals.


----------



## Zhure (Feb 18, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog quietly waits at the entryway to the dead-end tunnel entrance until everyone else decides what they're doing about the door.


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 18, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"That's not a very nice thing to do to someone that gives so much. We're travelers, not from around here, you know."

Kerrick pauses, for a second and wipes the bead of sweat from his forehead. "We've actually been hired to do a job, but i was thinking. Maybe if we helped you with the goblins, you might help us with our job."


----------



## Jarval (Feb 19, 2003)

"Perhapsss, if you kill the goblinsss, I will help you.  What isss your tassssk?"  The voice sounds calmer now, and a little curious.


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## Acmite (Feb 21, 2003)

Jarval said:
			
		

> *"Perhapsss, if you kill the goblinsss, I will help you.  What isss your tassssk?"  The voice sounds calmer now, and a little curious. *




  Adren will move towards the door and say, in a quite but clear voice, "I bear no love for goblins, but I also do not crave unnecessary violence.  If these creatures have wronged you, I'm willing to help you--but I would need to know the face of the creature I'm helping.

How long have the goblins been here, harassing you?  Have you done anything to provoke them, even unintentionally?"

Adren will take a short step back and wait for the creature's response while scanning his environs for any sign of attack.

  I'm back!  Thanks for the autopilot, Jarval!


----------



## Jarval (Feb 21, 2003)

No problem Acmite, glad to have you back 


"Three weeksss ago, the goblinsss came.  They crept into our mine, yesss, and killed nearly all that remained of my tribe.  A few of my warriors still lived, but then humansss and elvesss from the town came and killed the ressst, yesss.  I am all that is left."  The voice replies to Adren.

"We did nothing to the goblinsss or the humansss, but still they killed us.  I do not care if you kill the goblinsss, or drive them away, but they killed my people, ssso why sssshould they not try to kill you?"

"You may enter, and ssspeak with me face to face.  But do not attack me, for I have guardian.  Take the passssssage to the right, and follow it, but do not turn from itssss path.  You will find me at itsss end, in Hisss ssshrine."

You hear the sound of something heavy being pulled back from the door, followed by the sound of running feet.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 22, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Well, i guess we may as well meet him. After all you only live once." Kerrick grins and waits for the rest to voice opinions.


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## Acmite (Feb 22, 2003)

I agree, Kerrick.  He's done nothing to suggest he's a threat, so I say we give him a chance.  And, I must say, he's got me quite curious as to what manner of creature he is.


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## Other Guy (Feb 22, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason unstrings his bow and returns the arrow in his hand to his quiver. "I trust him...but then again I tend to trust people too easily," he says, smiling. "Let's go."


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## Zhure (Feb 22, 2003)

*Gholog*

"I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Gholog follows the rest through the door.

_I wonder if those undead lizards or those creepy floating heads were more of his guardians?_


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## Jarval (Feb 25, 2003)

_Assuming you all go through the door..._

You push open the heavy copper doors, and step through into a large square room.  Rock rubble is scattered across the floor, and the walls are covered with carvings showing a lizard or dragon-like god stepping forth from the walls of a temple, taking the gifts offered to him, and disappearing back into the stone.  The lower part of the far wall is also covered with writing in a script unknown to most of you, although Jason and Seraphina recognise it as Draconic.

A strong musky smell lingers in this room, similar to the stench of the zombies that unsettled Kerrick's stomach.  The constant sound of rushing water that has echoed in your ears since entering the mines has faded to the faintest whisper.

Three passageways lead out of this chamber (discounting the doorway to the south from which you entered), heading to the north, east and west.


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## Other Guy (Feb 25, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason's attention is captured by the writings on the wall, and he begins reading them.


----------



## Zhure (Feb 26, 2003)

*Gholog*

"What's it say, Jason?"


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Feb 26, 2003)

"I'm not sure if I can uphold that end of the bargain, but I swear that I will try."  Aiden follows the group past the copper doors, "Although this place doesn't exactly seem more comforting than outside.."  He says in a more hushed tone.


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## GnomeWorks (Feb 26, 2003)

Seraphina creeps through the doors, staying close to the wall and trying to meld with the shadows.

"I agree with Gholog," She says quietly. "I don't have a very good feeling about this... not at all..."

She then notices the writing on the wall, and she dashes toward it.

"Hey, I recognize that!" She cries childishly. "It's draconic!"

She then suddenly remembers where she is, and looks around with a slightly frightened look in her eye.

"I don't like this one bit.  Let's just go in, talk to the... voice, or whatever, and get out of here.  This place gives me the creeps..."


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## Jarval (Feb 26, 2003)

Jason scans over the carvings on the far wall...

The writings speak of a winged god called Choth, and the services and gifts given to him by "His Chosen".  For the most part it's a fairly dry list of items and animals sacrificed to Choth, but once you reach the end of the carvings, both the writing style and the form of the letters change.  

This last part tells of the god having been forced to sleep by a group of humans, and His Chosen trying to reawaken him with successively more precious gifts, ending with the sacrifice of the chieftain's son.  This seemingly had no effect, as the writings end at this point.


----------



## Zhure (Feb 27, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Never heard of him, but religion was my weakest study at the monastery. Why does no one ever ask me questions about climbing?"


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 28, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick chuckles at Ghologs remark, "well let's see if we can't find out what's goin on here. Be careful everyone." Kerrick starts heading further in trying to find who ever they were talking to.


----------



## Zhure (Mar 3, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog tries to get a look at the speaker as he passes through the doors.


----------



## Jarval (Mar 4, 2003)

*OOC:*  Sorry folks, but no update for the next few days.  I've got two assignments due in by next Tuesday, and I'm a bit behind on my work.


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Mar 6, 2003)

Jarval said:
			
		

> *OOC:  Sorry folks, but no update for the next few days.  I've got two assignments due in by next Tuesday, and I'm a bit behind on my work. *




[OOC: I'm heading back to Mass. tomarrow night and i'm going to be with out computer for a couple weeks before all my stuff gets brought back from florida. In the interm i should be able to post once a week, if you need to auto-pilot kerrick between updates.]


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## Jarval (Mar 7, 2003)

Knowledge (religion) checks all round.  Turns out that none of you has heard of Choth.


You follow the voice's instructions, taking the passageway to your right.  The passageway turns one way, then another, but you continue along, ignoring the side passages.  You make a last turn to the right and see a doorway to another room, light issuing forth from inside.  As you look into the room, your eyes are immediately drawn to a huge stone statue of a dragon seated against the east wall.  It rears up, wings spread, staring down at all in the room.  Its eyes appear to be huge faceted blue gems, which catch and throw shimmering images of sapphire firelight across the room.

In front of the statue is a giant copper bowl filled with a leaping fire.  The bowl is raised five feet off the ground on a stone block, and is eight feet high itself; it is untarnished and appears to be of beautiful construction.

Dozens of stone benches, some overturned, are arrayed before the dragon statue.  Eight of them have the skeletal remains of lizard-like humanoids arranged on them.

Standing in front of the statue is a figure similar in shape to the undead lizard creatures you fought earlier.  This figure is obviously alive, althought its scales have worn away in several places, revealing the gray skin beneath.

A skittering noise to your right attracts you attention, and you look round to see a large tangled mass of bones slowly moving towards you.  It seems to be comprised of several of the lizard humanoid skeletons fused together to make a hideous, many legged creature.  Three of the four skulls seated in the center of the fused bones turn to face you with an unpleasant scraping noise.

The lizard-man standing before the statue snaps something to the mass of bones, and it backs away from you slightly, bones grinding across the stone floor of the chamber.

The lizard-man faces you, cold eyes studying you all with interest.

"I am Tamalruk.  I sssspoke with you at the doors to Hissss domain."  The lizard-man speaks to you, his voice clearer now he is no longer speaking through several inches of copper.  "Now we ssssee each other, face to face, assss you wissshed.  We will bargain, yessss, and you will help me with the goblinssss, yesss."

He stares at you intently, waiting for you to speak.


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## Jarval (Mar 7, 2003)

Turns out I finished one assignment quicker than I expected   Sir Osis, absence noted, auto-pilot set.  Hope the move goes smoothly for you.

And lastly, an update of the map.  You're currently standing in the entry way at the top left corner of the room with the big dragon statue in it.


----------



## Zhure (Mar 8, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog tries to hide his distate for the undead creatures, paying close attention to the obviously living Tamalruk. "Where are the goblins and what are they doing?"


----------



## GnomeWorks (Mar 10, 2003)

Knowledge (Religion): 16+3=*19*

"Greetings, Tamalruk!" Seraphina says happily, looking around.  Her previously frightened demeanor has vanished completely. "This is quite a nice place you got here..."

"My name is Mercutio," Seraphina then says, looking Tamalruk in the eyes, "Mercutio Goldfeather.  These are my companions." She gestures behind her with a broad hand gesture.

Bluff check (different name): 11+3=*14*

"Now, on to business.  I believe my friend here has put it most succinctly - we'll need to know where the goblins are, and what their activities have been that they've been so bothering you."

"However," Seraphina's face becomes one of slight disappointment, "free work won't put food on our tables.  Besides, if word got out that we are working for free... we'll never hear the end of it."

"So, I guess I'll come right out and say it... what are you willing to offer us for taking out the goblins for you?" She asks carefully and slowly.

Diplomacy check: 11+6=*17*


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## Jarval (Mar 10, 2003)

"The goblinsss came into our home, yesss, and killed our warriorsss, yesss." Tamalruk hisses as he shifts from one foot to the other.  The animated tangle of bones mirrors his movements, rattling as it shifts its boney limbs around.

"They poked the wallsss for many hoursss, then left the way they came.  But they are ssstill here, in Hisss mountain, Hisss domain.  They trouble Him while he ssssleepsss, yesss, with there nasssty sssorceriesss."  Tamalruk bares his teeth and snaps his jaw shut hard.  His eyes narrow as he sits back at the base of the statue.  

"A group of humanssss and elvesss, and a short-folk like yourself, came through here a week or a tenday later.  The green claimed one of them, yesss, but the otherssss came into Hisss domain.  But they did not die, and they did not leave.  They came to Hisss shrine,"  Tamalruk gestures to the room around him.  "And they vanissshed, asss if the ssstone had claimed them."

He stares hard at Seraphina.  "I will give you sssafe passssage through Hisss domain, and Hisss blesssing ssso you have luck hunting the goblinsss."  He smiles toothily at you.  "But you are not here for pleasssure, no.  You have your own tasssk to come to the minesss, to Hisss domain that your kind sssshun.  You perhapsss ssseek the goblinsss youssselvesss?  What isss your tasssk, Goldfeather?"

He looks at you, leaning his head to one side.  To your right, a grinding sound echoes out as all four skulls mounted in the bone creature mimic his gesture.


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## Zhure (Mar 11, 2003)

*Gholog*

"The 'green'?" Gholog asks quizzically.


----------



## GnomeWorks (Mar 11, 2003)

Seraphina nods. "Your gift of His blessing is gracious, Tamalruk." She says gravely.

"You are correct, Tamalruk - we are not here for pleasure." She says, looking at him. "There have been rumors that this mine is haunted, inhabited by someone or something.  That is the purpose of our visit here."

"I am glad, however, that we have found another task that will be more productive than exploring dark caves." She then says. "We will be glad to remove the pest that the goblins are from His domain."

"However, before we go," Seraphina says, "We do have a few more questions.  In your telling just now, you mentioned a 'green'... could you, perchance, tell us what that is?  And could you explain, in more detail, what happened to those who entered this place?  These are questions that myself, and my companions, would like to have answered... they may help us in hunting down the goblins, and help to provide an understanding between our two groups."


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## Jarval (Mar 11, 2003)

Tamalruk nods, seeming to approve of your questions.

"Yesss, the green."  He nods again to Gholog.  "It hasss taken the largessst mine cave for itsss own.  It eatsss anything, ratsss, beetlesss, bone, wood, metal, and it growsss.  My people avoid itsss cave, and burn it when it triesss to leave.  The little folk wasss eaten before hisss friendsss could sssave him."

"Asss I sssaid, the goblinsss came to and left thessse tunnelsss.  They mussst have climbed the mountain to Hisss abode, asss I can feel them twissst Hisss dreamsss.  The humansss and elvesss came here, to the ssshrine, then,"  Tamalruk holds his hands out, palms up.  "They vanissshed.  Gone.  Only He could do that, he came a left the ssshrine, ssslipping through the ssstone.  If He wasss awake, then I would sssay He had given them audience, but He ssstill ressstsss."  He shrugs.  "I known not where they went."


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## Zhure (Mar 12, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Knowing my luck, the green ate them, too."


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## Jarval (Mar 12, 2003)

Tamalruk shakes his head as Gholog speaks.

"They did not leave thisss chamber to my knowledge, and I am certain that the green issss confined to itsss cave."


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## Zhure (Mar 13, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Then they are still here somewhere, on this side of the door?"


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## GnomeWorks (Mar 13, 2003)

Seraphina thinks for a moment, then looks at Tamalruk. "I think you've told us everything that we will need to find the goblins.  We will exit the mine, and head up the mountain - unless there is a path to the top through the mountain itself."

"As for what you can do for us, in return for our extermination of the goblins... I think that if you could at least find out where the humans and elves are, and give us directions to where you believe they are when we return, that that would be payment enough for our services."

"Is this an agreeable exchange?"


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## Jarval (Mar 13, 2003)

Tamalruk nods.  "I agree to thisss exchange, but I have told you all I know of the humansss.  They entered this chamber, then vanissshed.  They were alone here for perhapsss ten minutessss, asss I had to move carefully.  I sssearched all the passsagewaysss and tunnelssss that lead from thisss sssshrine, but I found no sssign."

He shrugs.  "My eyesss are not what they once where.  Perhapsss I misssed sssome clue, I do not know."


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## Zhure (Mar 14, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Maybe we can find something you missed," Gholog says, looking askance at the ranger.


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## Acmite (Mar 14, 2003)

Seeing the askance look thrown his way by Gholog, Adren will shake the cobwebs from his mind and start looking around a little more intently.

He'll start a methodical search, quickly turning towards the creature, "With your permission, of course?  Friends, my eyes aren't as keen here as they are above ground--I could use some help."

Take 20 on Search:  20+2 racial+2 Int=24 plus any aids.


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## Zhure (Mar 14, 2003)

*Gholog*

Using his keen night senses, Gholog will assist Adren's efforts.  Aid another, Take 10, total = 11, should be good for another +2 circumstance bonus.


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## Acmite (Mar 14, 2003)

OOC:  AFAIK, you can't take 10 on an aid check.


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## Jarval (Mar 14, 2003)

Gholog's Aid Another check: 1 + 16 = 17, so Adren gets the +2 bonus.

"You are free to sssearch."  Tamalruk says.

Adren and Gholog make their way slowly around the room, scouring the floor and walls with their gazes.  After around ten minutes, Adren notices a smooth, uncarved spot on the wall opposite the statue.  Something crunches under Gholog's boot, and looking down he finds that the floor just below the smooth place is covered with hundreds of tiny shards of glass.


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## Zhure (Mar 15, 2003)

Acmite said:
			
		

> *OOC:  AFAIK, you can't take 10 on an aid check. *




 hmm, you're right, but one can take 10 on a skill when unstressed, except knowledge skills. Either way, it worked out ok.


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## Zhure (Mar 15, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Maybe somebody shattered a potion here? Or it's the remains of a trap? I've no idea."


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## Zhure (Mar 19, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog notices the ranger has seen something, but waits for Adren to speak up.


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## Acmite (Mar 19, 2003)

Steeping off the glass as gracefully and delicately he can, Adren will inform the group of what he's found.

"Hmmm...a potion vial might be an option, Gholog.  But where did the glass come from?

OOC:  Is there a reasonable amount of glass for it to have been a potion vial, Jarval?  Or is there too much?  Not enough?  Is the glass coloured?  High quality?  Low quality?

I'd like to inspect the walls, floor, and ceiling around the glass more carefully.


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## Jarval (Mar 19, 2003)

Adren picks up a small fragment of the glass.  There seem too much to be a potion vial, although not by much.  The glass in flat, none of the pieces showing any of the curvature that you would expect from a vial.  The glass seems of high quality, and interestingly, it's silvered on one side, catching the firelight from the bowl.

The floor is made of large square slabs of gray stone.  The walls are made from panels of a similar stone, but are adorned with carvings (apart from the smooth spot you noticed earlier).  The carvings show scenes of mining and forging, overseen in each panel by a draconic figure similar to the statue that towers over the room.


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## Zhure (Mar 21, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Maybe the glass came from that smooth spot," Gholog says, pressing against that portion of the wall.


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## Jarval (Mar 21, 2003)

Gholog presses firmly on the smooth patch of stone, and... nothing happens.  The wall is just as solid at this point as at any other.


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## Zhure (Mar 22, 2003)

*Gholog*

 OOC: does the spot look as if it could've contained a piece of glass sufficiently small to be the source of the shards on the ground?/OOC

"Does anyone know of any spells that might use glass shards?"


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## Jarval (Mar 22, 2003)

The smooth spot looks like it could have held the glass object, when it was whole.


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## Zhure (Mar 22, 2003)

*Gholog*

"It looks to destroyed to try to reassemble it like a jigsaw puzzle, but it appears to have come from this blank spot on the wall... maybe something hit it, or reflected off it..."

Gholog looks around for anything that might have come loose from the stones around it, or directly across from it, or slid down from above it to disturb it.


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## Jarval (Mar 25, 2003)

Gholog checks the ceiling, wall and floor, but finds no sign of anything that could have broken the glass object.

Tamalruk wanders over, standing besides Gholog and Adren, peering curiously at the glass on the floor.  The undead bone construct also scuttles closer, swaying menacingly near to Seraphina and Kerrick.

"What isss it?"  The lizard-man asks, picking up a shard of the glass.  He studies his reflection in the fragment with interest.  "It hasss been a long time sssince I lassst ssssaw my face.  The yearsss have not been kind."  He says sadly, a scaled finger tracing the outline of one of the patches of bare skin on his arm.


*OOC:* I've resurrected the OOC thread in Talking the Talk.  It got kind of lost in the transition to the new forum.  You can find it here


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## Zhure (Mar 26, 2003)

*Gholog*

"How long, exactly, Tamalruk?"

Gholog tries to get a closer look as the lizard creature comes nearer.


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## Jarval (Mar 26, 2003)

"Clossse to a ten-year."  Tamalruk sighs heavily.  "My tribe grew lesss and lesss, asss many of the ssstrong moved away from the humansss and their dirty mining.  They took many of the tribesss treasssuresss."


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## Zhure (Mar 28, 2003)

*Gholog*

"I'm sorry the humans raided your treasures, Tamalruk. Has anyone dug any secret passages through here?"


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## Jarval (Mar 28, 2003)

Tamalruk shakes his head firmly.

"No, no passssagesss, I would know of them.  He, yesss, He  may have had sssecret waysss, but even I do not know for sssure.  The humansss would not know of them."


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## Zhure (Mar 29, 2003)

*Gholog*

"I was raised in a monastery and am always fascinated by relgious things, how does He appear, and what are his aspects?"


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## Jarval (Mar 30, 2003)

"You wissssh to know of Him?"  Tamalruk looks surprised, but pleased.  He moves closer to the copper bowl in the center of the room, and sits on the lowest step leading up to it.  You notice that despite the apparent blaze of fire in the bowl, the room is little warmer than the rest of the mines.

"He ruled this valley, gave life to the people, ssshowed ussss and the humansss where to find His metal."  Tamalruk points towards the copper bowl.  "He isss god of thessse landssss, and my people ssserved Him faithfully.  But the humansss did not wissssh to ssshare Hisss wealth, no.  They wanted Hisss landssss, they wanted all Hisss metal.  They hated Him, even after all the giftssss He gave them, yesss."

Tamalruk looks Gholog straight in the eyes.  "You are orc, yesss?  You have known the hate of humansss, yessss?  They feared usss, hated the favour He ssshowed ussss, the part of Hisss aspect we shared."  Tamalruk stands and moves slowly around to the dragon statue dominating the room.  He stares up at the face with love, before turning back to you.

"You can sssee it, yesss?  He granted usss Hisss visssage.  He came here, to this temple, to give usss  and the humansss audience.  He came through the stone, to blesssss usss, and to receive our giftssss."  Tamalruk bares his teeth, a snarl of frustration and years of rage.  "They betrayed Him, YESSSS!  Climbed into Hisss domain, ssstruck Him with sssuch force that He ssssleepsss to thisss day.  And now the goblinsss torment him, yesss.  You sssee why I want them dead, they torture my god!"


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## Zhure (Apr 2, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Yes, his visage is quite imposing. May I examine the statue closer without offending?"

Once given permission, Gholog will look for signs the statue can move, or somehow caused the glass opposite to fall._I suspect there's a tunnel under this thing..._


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## Jarval (Apr 2, 2003)

"Yessss, yessss, you may sssstudy Hisss image."  Tamalruk steps back slightly, to give Gholog better access.

Gholog carefully examines the statue, as well as the floor and walls around it.  The statue seems to show no signs of moving, but one of the carved panels on the wall catches your eye.

Most of the carvings around the room show a draconic god overseeing mining and farming work, and rewarding the people.  The panel that caught Gholog's attention shows _two_ dragons standing in the shrine you're currently in, accepting the offerings that the faithful place in the burning bowl.  

Beneath this panel is a passage carved in Common.  It reads: "Worship and praise Him, for He is a just and true God.  Touch Him only with thine thoughts, for He shall not be sullied by thy earthy hand.  View Him only with thine eyes, if ye wish not to face Him in judgment alone.  His wrath is mighty, and while He descends from the mountaintop to praise, also does He punish the lazy and untrue."

Gholog glances up at the statue, and the reflection of the fire leaps in its faceted eyes, scattering blue light around the room, and seeming to fill the eyes with cold intelligence.  The effect is a little disturbing, almost as if it was designed to play on the guilt of any who viewed it.


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## Zhure (Apr 3, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog digs into his pouch and places ten gold carefully in the bowl.


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## Jarval (Apr 4, 2003)

Gholog places his offering into the bowl.  This seems to produce no result, other than Tamalruk smiling and nodding approvingly at his actions.


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## Zhure (Apr 5, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Ok, I'm stumped. Anyone else have any ideas? Adren, Seraphina?"

 ACK, I haven't learned _Detect Psionics_ yet.


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Apr 6, 2003)

Aiden slightly frowns at Ghologs action, but still remembers that Tamalruk is in the room, and that the lizardman is free to worship whatever deity he chooses, although the cleric would perfer that to be Pelor.  Sighing, he turns to the rest, "Perhaps we should get going, I don't think there's much to learn here,"  To  not insult anyone, he quickly adds, "Although I could be wrong, I suppose."


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## Zhure (Apr 6, 2003)

*Gholog*

"I'm sure Aiden means nothing of a physical nature, not spiritual, Tamalruk.

"But I agree we should look into the goblin problem right now."


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## Zhure (Apr 7, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Tamalruk, can you tell us exactly where the goblins are, or lead us there?"


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## Other Guy (Apr 7, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason turns and looks at Tamalruk, silently agreeing with Gholog's question.


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## Jarval (Apr 7, 2003)

Tamalruk nods to Gholog's question, which sets all the skulls in the bone construct bobbing away.

"Yessss, the goblinssss will be in Hisss lair.  But I can not lead you there, no.  It up in the mountain above usss, and He made sssure that the climb wasss treacherousss."  He walks back over to the shattered glass on the floor, picking at the pieces with interest.  He tastes the silvered back of one fragment with his tongue, before picking up a few of the shards and placing them in the pouch on his belt.

"Perhapsss Pelor could give you wingsss of fire to fly up, yesss?"  Tamalruk smiles nastily at Aiden, his voice dripping with sarcasm, as he uses one of the slivers of glass to reflect the firelight onto the sun disc around Aiden's neck.


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## Zhure (Apr 9, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Then I guess we'll have to climb, unless Pelor intervenes," Gholog says.

 "I hate climbing," he mutters to himself.


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## Other Guy (Apr 10, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Rolling his eyes in disappointment Jason says, "Who ever said anything about needing Pelor?" He removes two scrolls from his backpack and continues, "Remember these from before? I have two scrolls of spider climb right here in my hand and with a little time I can make even more."


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## Zhure (Apr 11, 2003)

*Gholog*

"I'm not sure we have the time to write some scrolls, O Servant of Pelor."

Gholog makes sure everyone is following then makes for the exit of the caverns, with an eye toward anyone trying to ambush them.


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## Jarval (Apr 12, 2003)

*OOC:* Just checking that everyone's heading back to the surface before I update.


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## GnomeWorks (Apr 13, 2003)

Seraphina bows slightly to Tamalruk.

"I thank you for your assistance." She says. "I look forward to doing business with you again in the future, when we are done dealing with the goblins."

She then turns to the rest of the group.

"Well, let's not waste any more of Tamalruk's time.  We have quite a job ahead of us, and I don't want us to take longer than we have to."


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## Jarval (Apr 14, 2003)

Tamalruk bows his head in response to Seraphina.  "I too look forwardssss to our next meeting.  You ssshow ressspect for Hisss waysss, and do not judge me like the humansss of the town."

You all head back out of the mine, accompanied by Tamalruk as far as the copper doors.  "Hisss blessssing goesss with you."  The lizard-man priest calls after the group.

You make your way back to the platform, and climb back out into the sunlit woods.  It's a relief to be above ground again, out of the damp, cool air of the mine's tunnels.  Looking up at the sky, you'd guess you've been underground for close to three hours, the sun now almost at it's noon height.


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## Jarval (Apr 17, 2003)

Cough*bump*cough...


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## Zhure (Apr 18, 2003)

*Gholog*

"So, maybe we can *track* down these goblins?"


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## GnomeWorks (Apr 18, 2003)

"Well," Seraphina says, looking around, "Tamalruk said that the goblins were at the top, or somewhere around there, and that the climb is 'treacherous'.  I somewhat doubt our ability to track something over the side of a mountain or hill or whatever if there's a chance we'll fall to our deaths."

"Let's just head up to the top, then see what we can find."


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Apr 18, 2003)

Aiden quips after being insulted, but stays silent.  Later on, he mumbles, "I perfer Pelor's name not being taken in vain, even with sarcasm."  He sighs, "I understand we have religious, and even racial differences Gholog, but that hasn't put up a barrier for me and I hope that doesn't put one up for you."

After walking a little while out, "Not to sound cowardly, or anything, but since we've heard the climb is treacherous, maybe we can look for a back route?  There might not be one but there must be some other way to go up."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Apr 18, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"We may as well take a look and see if there is an easier path, and if not we can make use of the scrolls and what ever rope we have."


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## Zhure (Apr 19, 2003)

*Gholog*

"My comments about the scrolls weren't intended as a slight, but as homage. No sarcasm was intended," Gholog says. "Our racial differences aren't so great. You could be a relative, as far as I know.

"I only look a savage beast, but oddly my lineage from my orc forebearers is better known to me." Gholog grins toothily.


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## Jarval (Apr 20, 2003)

*OOC:* I've not got any definite course of action yet.  What are you all going to do next?  Try to climb the mountain?  Search the mountainside?  Head back underground?

If you're feeling at a loss about what to do and where to go, try rereading all of the encounter with Tamalruk.  There are a few clues in there.


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## Zhure (Apr 21, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Let's ascend higher, to find the dragon's old lair, now inhabited by goblins."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Apr 22, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick looks up the mountian side and grins,"Everyone ready to give mountian climbing a shot then?"


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## GnomeWorks (Apr 22, 2003)

"Well," Seraphina says, looking around again, "mountain climbing isn't my thing, but I think that we're going to have to to get to wherever the goblins are."

She pauses for a moment. "Oh, by the way, someone remind me to get a new signet ring when we get back into town... Mercutio Goldfeather is a name I might use again."

"But anyway, let's start climbing... the sooner we get up, the sooner we come down."


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## Zhure (Apr 22, 2003)

*Gholog*

As Gholog stretches before the ascent, he talks to Seraphina: "A suitably interesting name, little one."


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## GnomeWorks (Apr 23, 2003)

Seraphina shrugs. "Just one of those things I had to come up with on the spot.  The first name I've had in my head before, but the last name came out of the blue.  It has a nice ring to it... but anyway, I thought that it would be best if I used a false name, and gave a false reason for being there.  That way, if he has spies anywhere else, they won't tie Seraphina Tealeaf to Mercutio Goldfeather."

"At least, that's the way it's supposed to work... and the difficult part is yet to come.  If we have to talk to him again, I've got to remember everything about that personification, and remember everything I told him, or else... well, bad things might happen."

She shakes her head. "I talk too much.  Let's get climbing."


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## Other Guy (Apr 23, 2003)

*Jason Master*

"Alright," Jason says, pulling out two scrolls of _spider climb_, "I have one extra. Who wants?"


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## Jarval (Apr 24, 2003)

*OOC:* Were (as in what starting point at the base of the mountain) and how are you attempting the climb?  What order are you going up in, and are you taking any special precautions?  Are you using ropes or climbing gear?


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## Zhure (Apr 24, 2003)

*Gholog*

"For safety's sake, if someone would lend me a rope and a spider climb, I'll make the first ascent, then lift the next strongest up. That way we'll only be out one spell. Does that sound worthwhile?"


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Apr 24, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Sounds like a darn good plan to me, Gholog. Probably the safest way to do it too. I don't think any of us are great climbers."


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## Other Guy (Apr 26, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“Worthwhile?” Jason exclaims, “that sounds ingenious! I’ll go along with it, absolutely.”


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## Zhure (Apr 26, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Good, then it's settled."

 Not sure where we will begin the climb, since I don't have a good idea of the mountain's layout. Hopefully the ranger will have some clue.


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## Jarval (Apr 26, 2003)

*Re: Gholog*



			
				Zhure said:
			
		

> * Not sure where we will begin the climb, since I don't have a good idea of the mountain's layout. Hopefully the ranger will have some clue. *



*OOC:*I'll assume you begin climbing at the point the goblin tracks stopped on hillside, and you found signs of an assent.

Just one point: I've gone through the character's equipment lists, and you only seem to have 50' of rope between you.  You might want to head back to town to get some more rope and/or a climber's kit.


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## Zhure (Apr 28, 2003)

*Gholog*



			
				Jarval said:
			
		

> *OOC:I'll assume you begin climbing at the point the goblin tracks stopped on hillside, and you found signs of an assent.
> 
> Just one point: I've gone through the character's equipment lists, and you only seem to have 50' of rope between you.  You might want to head back to town to get some more rope and/or a climber's kit. *




 Oopsie

"Well, unless someone has a brilliant trick, we're going to have to go get more rope." Assuming no one speaks up, Gholog will help lead the group back to town tro resupply.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Apr 28, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"@%#@! I guess we don't have much of a choice!"


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## Jarval (Apr 28, 2003)

*OOC:* Slight delay in my next post, update coming tomorrow night.


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## Jarval (Apr 29, 2003)

Turning your backs to the mountain for now, you walk the mile to return to Bellhold.  As you cross the square, someone calls out.

"Back already?"  Turning, you see Tokket busy cleaning the windows of the Bell & Clapper.  He drops his rag into the wooden bucket at his feet, and walks over to you, wiping his hands on his apron.  "So, did you find anything then, lads?"


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## Zhure (Apr 30, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Just getting resupplied, Tokket. Any rope available?"


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 1, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Ha! Some adventurers we are. We left without bringing enough rope."


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## Jarval (May 1, 2003)

"This is a mining town lad.  Other than a fishing port, you'll find few places with more rope handy."  Tokket smiles at Gholog's question.  "I'd try Mitchen's shop, down along Ore Street.  His ropes have a reputation of not breaking.  So, were did you look?"


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## GnomeWorks (May 1, 2003)

Before anyone else can answer, Seraphina quickly begins speaking, though at a leisurely pace once she starts and no-one else interrupts her: "We haven't gotten that far, really... we've been just started our preliminary search and such.  We were going to start heading up the mountain, to see if anything is up there, but then, as Gholog and Kerrick said, we found that we were lacking rope."

She shrugs. "Once we get what we need, we'll head back and start doing some real searching... and hopefully, we won't need to come back because of lack of supplies."


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## Zhure (May 2, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog just smiles and nods at Seraphina's words. _ Time to play the idiot, again,_ he thinks to himself.


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## Jarval (May 2, 2003)

Tokket nods at Seraphina's words.  "Fair enough, lassie, fair enough.  Tell me tales of where you've been when you get back to town.  I'll be interested to know if you go to any of the places my mother mentioned in her journal."  He looks a Gholog almost enviously.  "You know, if I was twenty years younger, I'd be heading off with you."


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## Zhure (May 3, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog nods at Tokket. "Don't decry your abilities because of your age. My teacher is an old, old orc, but he's far more capable than any other man I've met."

At the mention of the journal... "Do you mean Thrommel's journal or a separate one from your mother?"


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## Jarval (May 4, 2003)

"Thanks for your kind words, lad.  It's nice to know that I don't look too past it."  Tokket smiles widely, and claps Gholog on the shoulder.  "As for the journal, I'm talking about me mother's.  It's not what you'd call comprehensive, but she made a few notes about the dragon.  I'll see if I can dig them out, if you'd like?"


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## Zhure (May 4, 2003)

*Gholog*

"That'd be great, Tokket, we sure could use the help."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 5, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"While you're getting the journal we'll go fetch that rope, then stop back here before we head out, Tokket."


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## Jarval (May 5, 2003)

Tokket nods to Gholog and Kerrick.  "Very good.  I'll see you back at the _Bell_ in a few minutes?"  With that, he turns and heads back over to his tavern.


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## Zhure (May 7, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Thanks, Tokket!"

After the man leaves, Gholog will ask, "Whose going to spring for the rope? I'm a near penniless starting adventurer."


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## GnomeWorks (May 7, 2003)

Seraphina suddenly perks up at the mention of money.

"You know," She says, looking up at the others, "we don't really _need_ money to get rope... I know a variety of tricks that could get us rope for... less money that it would normally take, let's say..."


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## Jarval (May 8, 2003)

Buying or, ahem, 'borrowing', either way you've headed for Ore Street.  A few doors up on the left side of the street, a sign of a crossed pick and shovel hangs in front of a small shop.  _Mitchen's Mining Supplies_ is boldly emblazoned in gold lettering above the door.

A small bell rings as you open the door to make your way inside.  The shop's interior is dark and cramped, every available surface covered with miscellaneous mining equipment.  Sat behind the counter is a young gnome, who glances up from her book as you enter.

"Hello, good sirs, and m'lady.  I'm afraid Mitchen is out of town for a few days, but can I help you?"


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## Zhure (May 8, 2003)

*Gholog*

At the mention of "borrowing" the rope, Gholog will cover his ears and start singing until it's obvious no one is going to talk to him about it.

"La la la la la LA," he smiles at Seraphina.

(Gholog will wait patiently outside, hunkered down on the ground.)


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## GnomeWorks (May 8, 2003)

Seraphina slowly walks up to the counter, looking around with wonder. "Hi there... I'm looking for some basic mining equipment.  You know, rope and things like that.  I'm afraid I don't know too much about mining, though, so I'm not sure what I'll need... could you tell me?"


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## Jarval (May 8, 2003)

"What you'll need depends on what you plan on doing."  The gnome states as she walks out from behind the counter.  "We've got several types of rope, each of which is best suited to its own task.  Do you need the rope for hauling, climbing, or something else?"


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 9, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"We need it for climbing and utility porposes. I think something light, and strong would be the best. Although, as the lady said, we're no professionals."


----------



## Jarval (May 9, 2003)

The gnome nods understandingly, and vanishes briefly into the back room of the shop.  She comes out with a large bundle of rope, which she places on one of the few clear spots of floor.

"This is good rope, if you're climbing.  It's Kremish silk, and damn strong for the weight.  It's pricey, mind, but you can feel every gold's worth of value when you use it."  She glances over at Kerrick and Seraphina for a moment, seemingly sizing them up.  "To you, twelve gold for a fifty foot length.  If you buy more, then perhaps we can give you a little discount."


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## GnomeWorks (May 10, 2003)

pcolor=blue]BTW, Jarval, I just went and checked my equipment to see if I had any money... and I found that I do, indeed, have 50 feet of silk rope! [/color]

A thoughtful expression passes Seraphina's face, but is quickly gone.

"Twelve gold." She says, dropping her backpack to the floor.  She then opens it, and starts rummaging through it. "Hmm... Kerrick, it would appear that I did have some rope, afterall." She holds it up for him to see. "However, I think that we could use some more..."

She counts out twelve gold, and hands it to the gnome. "Twelve gold for fifty feet of Kremish silk.  More rope won't hurt." She says, smiling.


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## Zhure (May 10, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog continues to keep "a watch" outside the shop, whistling tunelessly occasionally and smiling amicably at any pedestrians.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 10, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Yup! Never can have enough rope."


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## Jarval (May 12, 2003)

The gnome takes Seraphina's gold, and quickly measures out fifty feet of the rope, cutting, tying and tarring the ends.

"My thanks for your custom."  She nods to Seraphina as she passes her the rope, then again takes her seat behind the counter, returning her attention to her book.


Outside the shop, two passers-by cross the street to avoid the smiling half-orc, and on the opposite pavement, a small child and a dog sit staring at Gholog and Rufus with no little interest.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 13, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Having procured rope, Kerrick heads out the door. Pausing next to Gholog, "Shall we?" as he speaks Kerrick gestures down the road toward Tokket's place.


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## Zhure (May 13, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog stands up, dusts himself off and nods. "Time to get back to work."

Gholog will 'lead' the way back to the cliffside where they had trouble climbing earlier.


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## Acmite (May 13, 2003)

Sorry for my continued absence, folks.  I have my second (of 2) conferences at the end of May, so I should be able to start contributing again come early June (~first week).

Looks like I'll have quite a bit of catching up to do!

Mark/Acmite


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## GnomeWorks (May 18, 2003)

"Let's go," Seraphina says as she exits the shop, and follows behind Gholog as they return to the mountain.

"So," She says, when they arrive, "do we have a plan for how to tackle this beast?"


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## Other Guy (May 19, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Taking out a scroll of spider climb from his backpack, Jason responds, “I believe I was going to cast this climbing spell on Gholog and then he would climb up the cliff with the ropes and find some place to secure them so the rest of us can climb up easier. Or am I wrong? Either way, you should be thankful that I’m casting it from a scroll and not from memory, it saves you from eating a spider.” 

Jason smiles and says to the group, “I hate components.”


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## Zhure (May 19, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog gets ready to make the climb with the ropes wrapped around his waist. Staring at the steep cliff in concentration he says, "Spiders aren't so bad if you fix 'em right."


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## Jarval (May 19, 2003)

*OOC:* Sorry about the delay in updating.  A combination of the boards going off-line at an inconvenient moment, and an overdue assignment have messed up my posting schedule somewhat.  I'll update tomorrow, and then I should return to regular updates.


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## Jarval (May 20, 2003)

*Kerrick:*

Breaking off from the rest of the party, you quickly make your way back to the Bell & Clapper.  You find Tokket inside the tavern, leafing through a box of papers.

"Ah, you're back.  I've found my mother's notes."  He gestures at the box.  "Some interesting reading, although most of it has nothing to do with Bellhold.  She wrote a few things while she was here."

Unlike the dwarven diary Tokket showed you earlier, his mother's journal is a loose collection of many sheets of paper and parchment, tied together with a length of ribbon.  It's far from organised, but Tokket quickly pulls out two sheets and passes them over to you.

"Do you think they'll be any help?"  He asks.  "You can borrow them if you think they'll be useful."


The attached text file is the journal entries Tokket's given Kerrick.  I'll hold off on updating for the rest of the group until I know what Kerrick wants to do next, as your timeline is a bit ahead of Kerrick's.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 22, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"I think the others should see these, they may indeed prove useful. Thank you , Tokket. I'll make sure they get back to you."

After taking leave of the inn, Kerrick hurries to catch up with the rest of the group. _I hope they haven't gone too far ahead. The journal may not tell us everything, but at the very least we need to be careful of echantments, and maybe even the ghost of one not so nice dragon. Can't be sure of course, but no sense not keeping it in mind._


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## Jarval (May 22, 2003)

Jogging quickly towards the mountain, Kerrick catches up with his companions as they make their preparations for the climb.

And bingo!  Everyone's back at the same time


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## Zhure (May 23, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Glad to see you caught up, Kerrick," the half-orc says. "I'm just waiting for a spell before I start climbing."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 25, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Before we head up, you guys might want to look at these." Kerrick offers the journal pages tot he group.


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## Zhure (May 26, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog takes a quick look through the journal.

"Ah-ha! I knew there was a mirror involved. We need a mirror. I bet the statue moves when a mirror is held to it in certain way, like the statue only moves when it sees Copperdeath, and a mirror shone back on it would make it 'think' Copperdeath is there."

Gholog smiles cleverly at himself.


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## Sollir Furryfoot (May 26, 2003)

"Brilliant!"  Aiden clasps Gholog's back, "Excellent idea, Gholog, it seems that we don't have to climb so high afterall...not that I'm scared of heights, or anything."  The cleric smiles.

Thinking to himself, _I really shoudln't underestimate the intellect of anyone, even half-orcs, I'm glad that Gholog is here to show me another point of view._

"Thank you for remembering to get these as well, Kerrick."  The cleric says, feeling more reassured that his deity is looking after them.


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## Zhure (May 26, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Thanks, Aiden. If only I'd been smart enough to bring a mirror."


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## GnomeWorks (May 27, 2003)

Seraphina sighs. "Haven't any of you learned that I always come prepared?" She asks.  She then digs through Rufus' pack, and pulls out a small steel mirror.

"While I don't know what you all are talking about, I do have a mirror if we need it." She hands it to Gholog. "I hope this suits our needs... now, if you all don't mind, I'd like to have a look through that journal so I'm up to speed with everyone else."

Haven't gotten around to looking through the journal yet, I'll do it sometime today.


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## Zhure (May 28, 2003)

*Gholog*

"We'll use a mirror on that dragon statue, Seraphina. Our theory is the statue is triggered to respond to seeing the dragon, of which it is a rendering. Hmmm. We might need two mirrors, to invert the image back to normal, but the shards we found were probably only from one mirror. That's something to keep in mind, anyway."

Gholog will lead the way back to the shaft they climbed down earlier.


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## Jarval (May 28, 2003)

Gholog leads the party back to the mine shaft, and back down into the tunnels themselves.

You return to the copper doors, only to be greeted by Tamalruk's bone construct, blocking your way through.  It emits a vaguely aggressive chattering sound at anyone who tries to advance towards it.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 28, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Uh, guys. Maybe we aught to just go up the mountain and deal with the goblins? We can play with the statue when we come back from that."


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## Other Guy (May 29, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“I agree,” Jason says. “I’m much more interested in Gholog’s idea, but I figure we may as well keep Tamalruk's trust if we can.”


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## Sollir Furryfoot (May 29, 2003)

"If you perfer going up the mountain, that's fine with me...but, I think I can help a little bit more than I did last time against this thing if you give me a chance."  Aiden says.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 29, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Normally, i'd encourge you to blast that thing, but in this case i think we're better surved with diplomacy, at least entill we have no other option."


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## Zhure (May 29, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Ok with me, let's tackle the mountainside."
 Same plan as before.


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## Jarval (May 29, 2003)

*OOC:* Hmm, I guess I jumped ahead a little there.  Sorry about that.  How do you want me to handle this?  Just say that you didn't go back into the mines at all, or have you trek back up?  For that matter, what do the rest of the party want to do?  Don't feel that you have to stick together if you want to go in different directions.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 29, 2003)

[OOC: i say let it play out the way it is. ]


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## Other Guy (May 29, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“Now just watch,” Jason jokes with the party, “we’ll get all the way up the mountain and then, rather than another skeleton-thing, we’ll run into the tarrasque.” He laughs loudly.


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## Zhure (May 30, 2003)

I'd say play it out as if we went to the mines, then backtracked to the climb.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 30, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Back up the mountian then, my friends?" Kerrick chukles quitely, "Lets hope we can solve things here before the town population dies of old age."


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## GnomeWorks (May 30, 2003)

Seraphina nods in approval of the plan to go up the mountainside. "Let's see what's up there first," She says, "then we can return and deal with the dragon statue."


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## Jarval (May 31, 2003)

You make your way back out of the mine workings, followed as far as the wooden platform by Tamalruk's undead servant.  You quickly take the trail around to the point where the goblin tracks disappear, and begin your preparations for the climb.

*OOC:* OK, just checking on your plans.  As I understand it, Jason will cast _spider climb_ on Gholog, who will make the initial ascent.  You've got 100' of rope, and Gholog will use this to pull the rest of the party up in stages, avoiding the worst of the climb.  Does this seem right?


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 31, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

[OOC: sounds about right to me.]


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## Other Guy (Jun 1, 2003)

Me too.


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Jun 1, 2003)

[color=sky blue]Works with me[/color]


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 1, 2003)

Sounds right to me, as well.


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## Jarval (Jun 4, 2003)

Jason steps up to Gholog, his spell infusing the half-orc with energy.  Gholog feels his hands and feet take on a peculiar, tense sensation.  He makes his way to the rock face, and, at first tentatively, then with speed and confidence, scales the mountainside.

Upon reaching a height close to a hundred feet, Gholog lowers the rope, hoisting up Seraphina.  Jason's _spider climb_ invocation aids both his footing on the rock, and his grip on the rope, allowing him to quickly lift the halfling and the rest of the group.

After close to twenty minutes of work, Gholog has scaled to a height of seven hundred feet above the ground.  He's sure that the spell is the only way he could have made the climb, as the rock face was smashed and torn for some distance in the middle of the climb, large claw marks scoring the stones.

Above him by perhaps seventy feet, he Gholog spots a large cave opening.  Just as he is lowering the rope down to his companions assembled on a ledge below, he hears a fwwwiiiipppppp... ZING sound.  A crossbow bolt ricochets off a small boulder to his left, and a curse word in some language that sounds very similar to Orc comes to his ears.  Looking up, he can see a goblin trying to quickly reload its crossbow, while shouting something back into the cave.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jun 5, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Our luck is unbelievable!"  Kerrick pulls out a dagger and makes a wild throw up into the cave. 

_Chances are i won't hit anything, but maybe i get close enough to make the bastard back off a little._


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## Zhure (Jun 5, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog looks for a place to tie off the rope, then will scramble as quickly as possible up to where the goblins are, drawing his glaive en route, 'I have to make it before this spell expires!"


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 6, 2003)

"Dirty little bastard..." Seraphina mutters.  She then unslings her crossbow, loads it, and points it at the goblin - and shoots.

Assuming we can see the goblin, that is... it sounds like it's pretty far up, and we might not be able to see it.


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## Jarval (Jun 6, 2003)

OK, just to clarify a few things:  The goblin is about 70 feet above Gholog.  Even with the aid of the _spider climb_ spell, it's going to take him two or three rounds to reach the ledge.

The rest of the group are assembled on a ledge 50 feet below Gholog.  Some of the group can see the goblin (Kerrick and Seraphina), while all the others are only aware of some swearing and a crossbow bolt having just cartwheeled past.

The goblin is directly above the group.  As such, it's going to be pretty hard to hit him with any ranged weapons.  All ranged weapons have their range increment halved when shooting directly upwards.  This puts the goblin well outside the range of a dagger, and gives a -6 penalty to any crossbow shots.


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 7, 2003)

*Seraphina: Initiative: +3, AC: 17, HP: 10/10*

Seraphina pauses for a moment, contemplating the distance between her and the goblin.

"Oh well," She says, shrugging. "If I miss, I'll just try again... at least this'll make him think twice about showing himself..."

Light Crossbow: -3 atk (+3, -6 distance), 1d8 dmg


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## Zhure (Jun 7, 2003)

*Gholog*

 Continuing with the above plan, using Burst if it'll make a difference in shortening the "run" upward.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jun 7, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

After as econd kerrick judges the distance to be too far and instead concentrates on getting up closer.


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## Jarval (Jun 7, 2003)

*Initiatives:*
Seraphina 18
Kerrick 14
Goblin 13
Gholog 5

Seraphina hesitates a moment, but then fires her crossbow.  The bolt flies up the rock face, seeming to ignore such constraints as gravity, and lodges itself in the goblin's neck (To Hit: 19 - 3 = 16, Crit Confirmation: 18 - 3 = 15, Damage: 4 x 2 = 8).  The goblin makes a wet choking sound, before tumbling forwards off the edge of the cave mouth.  There's a rather unpleasant crunch noise as the body hits the rocks at the bottom of the mountain.

Gholog, having now lost his foe, turns back to carry on hoisting his companions up the cliff face.  But then he hears the sound of several more goblin voices approaching from above.  Looking up, he can't yet see any sign of the speakers, but it sounds like they're just about to come out of the cave...


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Jun 8, 2003)

Aiden sighs, but remains ready to heal the injured whenever possible.

OOC-sorry for the short notice, but I will be gone from this sunday to next saturday, until then, Aiden will attempt to simply heal whoever needs healing.


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## Zhure (Jun 8, 2003)

*Gholog*

_Continues tries to tie off the rope, then use the remaining _Spiderclimb_ duration to reach the cave entrance._


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jun 8, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Ah, crap!" Kerrick concetrates for a moment, calling on his storew of psionic power, to boost his speed as he attempts to climb the rope.


[OOC: use  Burst]


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 8, 2003)

Seraphina watches the goblin fall down the mountainside, then reloads her crossbow.

"I can't believe I actually hit it..." She mutters, shaking her head. "The rest of you should go up first.  I'll shoot any more, if there are any..."


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## Jarval (Jun 9, 2003)

Drawing briefly on his mental energy, Gholog bounds up the cliff face at a surprising speed.  He leaps up onto the ledge outside the cave mouth, only to be greeted by six alarmed looking goblins.  (Gholog gets a surprise round before the goblins can act.)

Kerrick starts to scramble up the rope, making good headway despite the poor footing. (Climb check: 15 + 1 = 16)

Seraphina reloads her crossbow and stands ready on the ledge with Jason, Aiden and Adren.

*EDIT:*  Oops, forgot to note Jason's position.  Sorry about that


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## Zhure (Jun 10, 2003)

*Gholog*

_If there's enough room, Gholog will ready his glaive, if he can keep them at bay with the weapon's reach, otherwise he'll use an unarmed strike (improved) on the nearest goblin._


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 10, 2003)

"You two, up!" Seraphina says, nodding to Aiden and Adren. "I'll cover you.  But if there are any more goblins up top, I imagine Gholog will need some help... I'll shoot any that I see while you're climbing."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jun 11, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick continues working his way up. Grunting with effort.


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## Jarval (Jun 12, 2003)

Gholog thrusts his glave at the closest goblin, the weapon's blade biting deep into the left side of his foe's chest (To Hit: 16 + 5 = 21, Damage: 9 + 4 = 13).  The goblin whimpers in pain, and collapses to the floor, sliding free of the glave.

The remaining five goblins look at Gholog with fear, three of them unslinging crossbows, while one other turns to run.  (Surprise round over.)

Kerrick continues to pull himself up the rope, making light work of the last few feet (Climb check: 15 + 1 = 16).  Now standing on the ledge where Gholog tied off the rope, he can hear the sounds of the half-orc fighting above him.

Seraphina urges her other companions up the rope, Jason and Adren both moving into position.  Jason takes the lead, pulling himself rapidly up towards the ledge (Climb check: 19 + 1 = 20).


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 12, 2003)

"Someone else, go!" Seraphina says quickly. "We don't want to screw around, if Gholog has unfriendly company up top."

She continues watching the ledge where the previous goblin had been, prepared to shoot if anything shows up.


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## Zhure (Jun 12, 2003)

*Gholog*

In Orc, Gholog cries out, "Drop your weapons, goblins!" while trying to slide a few feet further away from the edge of the cave entrance. He tries to clear a spot for any other party members to arrive as well as make it harder for the goblins to run.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jun 12, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"How you doin up there Gholog?!" Kerrick looks nervously at the climb up to the battle, _This is going to be bad in so many ways._ Then starts to work his way up the rock.


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## Other Guy (Jun 13, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason continues up the rope and upon reaching the top appraises the current situation.


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## Zhure (Jun 13, 2003)

*Gholog*

"So far, so good, but I could use some backup in case these wankers have some surprises in store."


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## Jarval (Jun 13, 2003)

*Initiatives:*
Gholog 22
Jason 19
Seraphina 16
Kerrick 9
Goblins 4

Gholog calls out the goblins, manoeuvring round to both block the goblin's escape route, and give his companions some space.  He moves nimbly, keeping himself in a defensive stance (Tumble check: 19 + 3).

At Gholog's threat, one of the goblins throws down it's crossbow and flees along the passage back into the cave, it's cries of alarm echoing back.  The remaining four goblins seem made of sterner stuff, however...  The two with crossbows both step back from the half-orc, before shooting their weapons.  One of bolts flies wide, arcing away over the edge of the ledge and down towards the woods below.  The other almost hits Gholog, but is narrowly deflected by his armor.

The two other goblins leap forwards, swinging their morningstars at Gholog.  Gholog swipes at one, but his attack is poorly aimed, slicing only air (AoO, rolled a 1...).  The goblin to his left has no more luck, but the one to the right brings the spiked mace crashing into the side of Gholog's chest.  Gholog feels two of his ribs crack from the impact, and can feel the hot wetness of blood soaking through the padding under his chain shirt.  (Critical hit, Gholog takes 10 points of damage.  Coupled with the 5 point he took in the earlier fight with the undead, he's taken 15 points of damage today, bringing him down to 3 hp...)

Below the battle, the rest of the group continues it's assent.  Jason scrambles the rest of the way up the rope, heaving himself onto the ledge.  Looking up he sees...

Kerrick climbing up the bare rock face.  It's much tougher going without the rope, but he continues his assent regardless (Climb check: 18 + 1 = 19).

Adren attempts to follow after Jason, but makes only a few feet up the rope before sliding back down (Climb check: 5 + 2 = 7).  He scowls at the rope in annoyance, wincing at the rope burn.

Seraphina stands ready with her crossbow, but as yet no goblin has come close enough to the edge for her to get a shot.  Aiden stands beside her, the symbol of Pelor in his hand as he prays that his companions will prevail.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jun 13, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

_Don't look down, don't look down..._ Kerrick continues up.


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 14, 2003)

Seraphina unloads her crossbow, and slings it over her shoulder.

"Out of the way, Adren!" Seraphina says irritably. "Looks like you're having problems getting up there.  Better let someone else go while you let your hands cool."

She then starts heading up the rope.


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## Zhure (Jun 14, 2003)

*Gholog*

"I could use a little *backup* up here," Gholog says, "and maybe a medic, I think that little bugger tagged me good."

_If possible, Gholog will try to find another clear spot to entice them through his threat range and ready an action to hit the first one within his reach._


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## Other Guy (Jun 14, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“Gholog!” Jason yells, charging the goblins attacking him. He attacks the goblin who hit Gholog furiously, using all his strength and anger.

Charging, +2 to hit and –2 to AC, right? He'll use fury of blows after this round. Since he isn’t taking the time to cast mage armor, his AC is only 13. This round it’s 11, since he’s charging, so he’s a pretty easy target, ^_^

AC: 11 this round, 13 the rest
AB: +3 this round, -1/-1 the rest
HP: 12 this round, ?? the rest, ;-)

(edit)
Oops, thanks for the info, Zhure


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## Zhure (Jun 14, 2003)

*Re: Jason Master*



			
				Other Guy said:
			
		

> Charging, +2 to hit and –2 to AC, right? Using furry of blows, so –2 to both attacks, which cancels out the bonus gained from charging. Since he isn’t taking the time to cast mage armor, his AC is only 13. This round it’s 11, since he’s charging, so he’s a pretty easy target, ^_^
> 
> AC: 11 this round, 13 the rest
> AB: +1/+1 this round, -1/-1 the rest
> HP: 12 this round, ?? the rest, ;-) [/B]




 can't flurry and charge as they're both FRA. Oh well, you'll get +2 to hit out of it.


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## Jarval (Jun 15, 2003)

*OOC:*  I'm a bit snowed under with college work for the next few days.  I know this is bad timing on my part, but I'm unlikely to be able to update until Wednesday or Thursday.  Sorry about this


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## Jarval (Jun 21, 2003)

*Initiatives:*
Gholog 22
Jason 19
Seraphina 16
Kerrick 9
Goblins 4

Gholog backs up a little further away from the goblins, his back now against the rock of the mountain face.  He stabs forwards at the goblin who just struck him, his glave cutting across the stomach of his attacker (To Hit: 11 + 5 = 16, Damage: 8 + 4 = 12).  The goblin falls back a few steps, before dropping face first onto the ground.

Jason continues his climb, following the path Kerrick took.  While not easy, he confidently covers some ground upwards.  (Climb check: 16 + 1 = 17) (Jason was standing on the ledge below the cave mouth.  He'll be up on the cave level next round.)

Seraphina starts her own assent, swinging up the rope.  (Climb check: 10 + 1 = 11)

As Kerrick lifts himself onto the ledge, he glances into the cave.  Dashing up the tunnel are five more goblins, one foaming at the mouth as it charges forwards.  He pulls out a dagger and hurls it at the closest goblin, but it clatters off the stones behind it. (To Hit: 4 + 4 = 8)

The three remaining goblins fighting Gholog charge towards the half-orc.  Quickly swinging his glave, he fells one of his attackers (To Hit: 18 + 5 = 23, Damage: 6 + 4 = 10), but the other two throw themselves at him, trying to push him back off the ledge.  They obviously catch Gholog off-balance, as he topples backwards, his feet finding nothing but air... (Opposed Strength check: Gholog: 2 + 3 (STR) = 5; Goblins: 18 - 1 (STR) - 4 (Size) + 2 (Aid another) + 2 (Charge) = 17)

Reaching out, Gholog tries to grab for the rapidly passing mountain-side, his finger-tips just grazing the granite... and his magically enhanced grip holds! (Strength check: 16 + 3 + 2 (_Spider Climb_) = 21)  The sudden stop jolts his arm painfully (1 point of subdual damage), but he's still alive.


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## Other Guy (Jun 21, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Welcome back, Jarval, ! Sorry about that before.

Jason continues his ascent upwards.


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## Zhure (Jun 21, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Oof!"

Gholog scampers back up the incline as fast as he can, "Watch it, they're tricky!"

 Continue as before, attempt to get the goblins to pass through the glaive's reach zone.

-edit- I keep forgetting to close tags today


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 21, 2003)

"Faster, faster...!" Seraphina mutters to herself.

Continuing the climb.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jun 23, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"That's it you nasty buggers!" Kerrick points at the closest goblin and a slream of flame shots out toward it.


[OOC: finger of fire, he'll move first if he need be to get in range.]


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## Jarval (Jun 24, 2003)

*Initiatives:*
Gholog 22
Jason 19
Seraphina 16
Kerrick 9
New goblins 9
Remaining original goblin 4

Gholog pulls himself back onto the ledge, swinging his glave at the remain one of his original attackers.  The blade arcs round, cutting across the terrified goblin's legs, sending the creature tumbling down the mountainside (To Hit: 20 + 5 = 25, Crit confirmation: 4 + 5 = 9, Damage: 8 + 4 = 12).

Jason joins Gholog on the ledge, charging forwards at the goblin with the longsword.  The goblin dodges his fists, turning its furious, insane gaze upon him.

Seraphina makes the top of the rope, and glances up as the body of Gholog's latest attack spirals past.  There's still some distance to go before she'll make it to the fight, however.

Kerrick curses at the goblins, and a ray of flaming astral matter shoots forwards, scorching the skin of the goblin now facing Jason (To Hit: 13 + 4 = 17, Damage: 1).  It seems not to notice the effect, and slices at the monk...

The sword hacks into Jason's side, cutting deeply, and only being stopped from killing him by hitting his hip-bone (Jason takes 11 points of damage).  Jason staggers back a few steps, the agony of the wound clouding his thoughts.

The four other goblins stop at the cave mouth, watching Jason and the foaming-mouthed goblin fight with interest.  One looks up at Gholog, his eyes flashing a saphire-blue for a second, and Gholog quickly throws up a _Thought Shield_.  The psionic barrier blocks some of the force of the attack, but the impact still leaves Gholog feeling slightly off-balance (Will save: 6 + 1 = 7, Gholog takes 1 point of temporary Dexterity damage)


*Damage taken so far:*
Jason: 11 points (1/12 hp remaining)
Gholog: 15 points (3/18 remaining)
Goblin attacking Jason: 1 point.


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 25, 2003)

"Hold on up there!" Seraphina yells. "I'm coming!"

She continues to climb up to where the others are fighting.


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## Zhure (Jun 25, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog points his glaive at the one who mentally attacked him. "That one's got mind powers!" So saying, Gholog will advance forward, trying to strike the one who mentally assaulted him.


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## Other Guy (Jun 30, 2003)

*Jason Master*

In a furious strike of hope and desperation, Jason attacks at the goblin. Blood flows freely down his leg.

Fury of Blows, AB -1/-1


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jun 30, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick pulls out his mace and heads for the nearest goblin, attacking if possible.


----------



## Jarval (Jun 30, 2003)

*Initiatives:*
Gholog 22
Jason 19
Seraphina 16
Kerrick 9
New goblins 9

Gholog moves forwards to attack the goblin that psionically assaulted him, but is unable to get close enough without risk of being struck in turn by the other three goblins that stand around his target.  Instead, he settles for the closest creature, his blade neatly lopping the head off this new foe (To Hit: 14 + 5 = 19, Damage: 10 + 4 = 14).

At this the remaining goblins chitter in panic, and the eyes of the psionic one glow briefly once more.

Jason throws several punches at his opponent, but in his weakened state, none connect... (To Hit: 10 - 1 = 9, And again: 10 - 1 = 9)

Seraphina struggles further up the rock-face, the task seeming to take an immense amount of time as she rushes to aid her companions.

Kerrick rushes forward to aid Jason, his mace smacking firmly into the raging goblin's stomach (To Hit: 19 + 3 = 21, Damage: 6 + 1 = 7).  It lets out a loud "Offfhhh!" before bearing it's teeth and thrusting its sword at Kerrick.

The sword slides into Kerrick's leg, and he cries out in pain as the goblin yanks the blade back out (Kerrick takes 5 points of damage).

The psionic goblin bounds up the mountainside a little way, climbing in a way Gholog and Jason both recognise is only possible with the use of _Spider Climb_ or a similar power.  It's now out of reach of even Gholog's glave, and sits calmly on the rocks above.

The two other goblins jump at Gholog.  He catches one with his weapon, badly wounding it (To Hit: 17 + 5 = 22, Damage: 1 + 4 = 5), but both make enough ground to swing at the half-orc.  The morning star of one misses wildly, but the other connects painfully with Gholog's head, sending him to the ground... (Gholog takes 3 points of damage.)


*Damage taken so far:*
Jason: 11 points (1/12 hp remaining)
Gholog: 18 points (0/18 remaining, unconscious due to the point of subdual damage taken in his fall.)
Kerrick: 5 points (3/8 remaining)
Goblin attacking Jason: 8 points.


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## GnomeWorks (Jul 1, 2003)

Seraphina continues climbing.

That is, if she's not there yet.  If she is...

Seraphina quickly unslings her crossbow, and shoots the nearest goblin.


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## Zhure (Jul 1, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog rests peacefully.


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## Other Guy (Jul 2, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason repeats his action from the previous round, a little more desperately this time.


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## Jarval (Jul 5, 2003)

*OOC:* I'm waiting on an action from Kerrick before I update.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jul 6, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

_This is starting to look bad, very bad._ Without dropping his guard kerrick takes a step back from the goblin he's fighting and then concetrates on closing up his wound.



[OOC: 5 ft step back, lesser body adjustment.]


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Jul 6, 2003)

Aiden waits impatiently at the bottom of the rope, ready to start going up as soon as Seraphina finishes.


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## Jarval (Jul 9, 2003)

*Initiatives:*
Gholog 22
Jason 19
Seraphina 16
Kerrick 9
New goblins 9

Jason throws a punch and kicks at the goblin.  The punch is badly timed, but the kick smacks across the goblin's face (To Hit: 2 - 1 = 1, And again: 15 - 1 = 14, Damage 3 + 1 = 4).  The goblin drag its hand under its nose, looking with anger at the blood Jason's caused to flow.

Seraphina throws herself up onto the ledge, and looses a bolt at the only goblin she has a clear shot at, the psionically talented one clinging to the rock above the cave entrance.  The goblins shouts with in fear as the bolt clips the side of his head, cutting his scalp badly (To Hit: 18 + 3 = 21, Damage 5).  The goblin calls out to its companions, and the two by the cave entrance each grab one of their fallen fellows, and start to drag the limp forms back into the cave.  The psionic goblin calls one last command to the goblin fighting Jason, before he too scurries off back into the cave, moving quickly along the passage ceiling.

Janon's foe scowls at the order given to him, but backs away from the young monk, his blade now held in a defensive grip.  He spits at Jason's feet, a look of utter disdain on his face.

Kerrick steps back from the cave, the air humming with power and the rocks at his feet are briefly coated with evaporating astral matter, as his wounds pull closed (heals 6 hit points).

Aiden grasps hold of the rope, but his armor weighs him down, and he is unable to gain any height as he struggles with the climb (Climb check: 12 - 9 = 3).


Sorry about the delay in this post   I've been really busy with a college assignment.


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## GnomeWorks (Jul 9, 2003)

Seraphina frowns, and reloads her crossbow.  She then quickly looks around.

"Gholog's been dropped." She says quickly. "Someone should take care of him while Aiden gets up here."

Her gaze then turns to the cave. "You all stay here... I'm going to go have a look.  If I get into trouble, you'll know it."

She then tries to recall the general appearance of goblins, as well as the typical garb of the goblins they just fought.

Quick question, Jarval: can you move while concentrating on a spell?  Not concentrating as in casting, but if 'concentration' is the spell's duration.

And don't worry about the delay in posting.  It happens to all of us.


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Jul 9, 2003)

Aiden grimaces in frustration, _My companions are up there, getting hurt while I'm down here unable to help them._  He tries to get up the rope again.


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## Zhure (Jul 10, 2003)

GnomeWorks said:
			
		

> *Quick question, Jarval: can you move while concentrating on a spell?  Not concentrating as in casting, but if 'concentration' is the spell's duration.
> *




 PHB, page 151
"Concentration: The spell lasts as long as you concentrate on it.
Concentrating to maintain a spell is a standard action that doesn’t
provoke attacks of opportunity. Anything that could break your
concentration when casting a spell can also break your
concentration while you’re maintaining one, causing the spell to
end (see Concentration, below). You can’t cast a spell while
concentrating on another one."


Greg


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## GnomeWorks (Jul 10, 2003)

Zhure said:
			
		

> * PHB, page 151
> "Concentration: The spell lasts as long as you concentrate on it.
> Concentrating to maintain a spell is a standard action that doesn’t
> provoke attacks of opportunity. Anything that could break your
> ...




Thanks, but I already read that... and the section that it was pointing to.  Neither said anything about movement breaking concentration, so I don't know if it breaks it or not... well, it specifies certain kinds of movement that break concentration, but not normal movement.  I need to know if just walking around will break concentration.

Thanks for the effort, though.


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## Other Guy (Jul 10, 2003)

*Jason Master*

(OOC)
It looks like you use a standard action to concentrate, which still leaves you with your movement action, so I’d say that you could move your base while concentrating, 
(/OOC)

“I have no problem with staying right here,” Jason laughs as he painfully drops next to Gholog. He works to bind Gholog’s wounds as best he can, hoping to stabilize his fallen companion. He calls out to the cleric, “take all the time you need to climb that rope, Aiden. It looks like the goblins have fled for now, but we could really use a healer; Gholog, Kerrick and I are in quite a lot of pain right now.”

He smiles and corrects himself, “well, maybe just me and Kerrick. Gholog’s just kind of lying there...”


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## Jarval (Jul 10, 2003)

*OOC:* Gnomeworks, I guess your question has already been answered by Zhure and Other Guy, but just so you know, I agree with them.

Oh, and BTW, the OOC thread is over here: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12183


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## GnomeWorks (Jul 10, 2003)

Jarval said:
			
		

> *OOC: Gnomeworks, I guess your question has already been answered by Zhure and Other Guy, but just so you know, I agree with them.*




I figured you would, but I was waiting for your statement of approval.

Seraphina, now (hopefully) having an image of a goblin in her mind, begins casting...

Seraphina casts _silent image_ of a goblin.  The image will conform to her as much as possible, and will match her movements.

"Now if I only spoke goblin." She says, sighing, once the spell is complete. "I'm going in, to do a little scouting.  I'll be back in a few minutes."

With that, she follows the goblins, her _image_ conforming to her movements as best as possible.



> *Oh, and BTW, the OOC thread is over here: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12183 [/color] *




Heh, sorry about that...   I'll make sure to use it in the future.


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## Zhure (Jul 11, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog looks peaceful.  Not bleeding, as some of it is subdual.


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## Jarval (Jul 14, 2003)

Seraphina makes a few small gestures with her hands as she mutters a the phrase to trigger her illusion spell.  The image of a goblin form around her, roughly mimicking her movements.  With a smile, she sets off into the cave mouth.  She creeps a short way along the passage, glimpsing the head of a dragon laying on the cave floor ahead of her.

At that moment, she also spots the berserker goblin that wounded Jason and Kerrick staring straight at her.  He calls out in what Seraphina assumes to be Goblin, and looks at her both expectantly and with some suspicion...

Outside, Jason ties a few rough bandages around Gholog's wounds, stopping the slight flow of blood (Not real game effect, but OTOH, it doesn't do any harm).  Down below, Aiden attempts to the climb once again, gaining even less height that his previous try before sliding down again (Climb check: 2 - 9 = -7).

*OOC:* Just to clarify a point: Aiden might, with both some luck and time, be able to climb the rope, but his armour is just far too heavy for him to attempt the final rock face stage of the climb up.


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## GnomeWorks (Jul 14, 2003)

Seraphina looks at the berserker goblin as though she understands, and nods.  She then makes a thumbing motion back towards the cave's entrance.

If the goblin should start to do anything that looks like it might be trying to alert others to her presence, Seraphina will drop the illusion and shoot the goblin.

_I hope I don't die because of this... I don't want to have to shoot him and ruin my cover.  Not with that dragon over there, anyway... at least this expedition has had some value, assuming I get out of here alive.

I wonder what it was he said?  I'm going to have to learn goblin..._


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Jul 14, 2003)

Aiden sighs, and does his best to try again.

[color=sky blue]Yeah, I know, but there's that chance that he rolls a 20 [/color]


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## Other Guy (Jul 14, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason, finished with Gholog, looks over the edge of the cliff to see his cleric friend struggling with the rope. He laughs slightly and thinks to himself, _well, I do have one more _spider climb_ scroll left, but...I don’t really want to waste it on this. Heh, maybe I should get a wand of it the next time I’m in a city_. “hmm...”

“Aiden!” the young monk-wizard calls out, “why don’t you take your armor off and tie it to the rope. I’ll pull it up and throw the rope back down to you. Then, you can climb up here and put it back on. I could probably pull it up in less than a minute, especially if the others helped me out, and I’ll be optimistic and assume we have a fair amount of time. So, how long does it take you to get out of that stuff? Want some help?”

Thinking of another option, Jason adds, “or, if you don’t think we have the time, then maybe Kerrick and I could just try to pull all of you up at once.”


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Jul 14, 2003)

"I take it that everyone is done fighting up there, then.  I was afraid that it would take too long to take off my armor if I could join the fight sooner."  With that, he begins to undon the metal pieces of his armor, leaving him covered by a sort of padded suit instead.  "I'll take your advice, I could use the help."  He then ties it to the rope before getting ready to be hoisted up.

When he gets to the top, "Sorry for dragging everyone behind, I'll try to help with my powers now."  He takes a look at the wounded, and heals Jason then Gholog once each (sacraficing a Bless and Endure Fire spell for CLW)


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## Jarval (Jul 16, 2003)

The goblin seems a little placated by Seraphina's charade of understanding, but still watches her warily.  (Bluff check: 17 + 3 = 20)

After divesting himself of his armor, Aiden is hoisted up the mountain-side by Jason and Kerrick.  It takes longer than the _spider climb_ enhanced Gholog, but between them, they manage to get the priest to the level of the cave with only a couple of slight bruises...

Calling forth Pelor's power, sunlight infuses the wounds of first Gholog, then Jason (Gholog heals 8 points, Jason heals 6).  Gholog's eye's open, and he looks blearily around himself.


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## Zhure (Jul 16, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Did we get them?" Gholog asks, looking around to make sure everyone is accounted for.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jul 16, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Sorry big guy, but i think we got more then we gave."


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## GnomeWorks (Jul 16, 2003)

_Well, he doesn't look happy... oh well.  He hasn't raised an alarm or anything, so he must be fine._

She then proceeds deeper into the cave, paying careful attention to the dragon head (especially if there is a live dragon attached to it).

_Don't mind me, just another goblin coming through... hmm... I wish I could speak goblin... this would be so much easier then..._


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## Jarval (Jul 19, 2003)

The goblin looks annoyed as Seraphina continues her way towards him along the passageway.  He says something else to her in Goblin, slowly reaching out to pick up the spear leaning against the wall beside him.


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## Zhure (Jul 19, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Well, if we didn't get all of them... I guess what I'm asking, is where's Seraphina?"


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## GnomeWorks (Jul 19, 2003)

_Oh crap._

Seraphina looks at him, raising an eyebrow.  She then returns to her walking, rolling her eyes and shaking her head slightly as she goes.

_Take that as a good response to whatever you just said... don't blow my cover, you little bastard, I don't want to have to shoot you..._

She isn't ignoring the goblin, though.  If he starts to yell, or to make like he's about to attack, then Seraphina will drop the illusion and shoot him with her hand crossbow, then dash for the entrance.


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## Other Guy (Jul 21, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“Don’t worry too much about her, Gholog,” Jason says, “she cast an illusion to make herself look like a goblin and went in there to scout out the place. I’m sure she’s fine.”


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## Jarval (Jul 21, 2003)

The goblin makes a faint growling sound, walking towards Seraphina as she continues along the passageway.  He barks something else at her, gesturing vigorously back towards the cave entrance with the spear.


*OOC:* I'm going on holiday for just over a week, starting tomorrow.  See this thread for full details, but it basically means I'm not going to be posting much (if at all) until after the 31st or later.


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## GnomeWorks (Jul 22, 2003)

_Alright, you little crap, you asked for it... as much as I hate to do this..._

Seraphina shoots the goblin with her hand crossbow.  If she can, she keeps up the illusion.  Once she shoots him, she dashes out to where everyone else is, unless the goblin is downed by her attack.


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## Jarval (Aug 11, 2003)

_Twang... spthud._ (To Hit: 9 + 3 = 12, Damage 1) The goblin looks down in surprise at his leg, now sporting a small crossbow bolt, then back up to Seraphina.  Snarling incoherently with rage, he throws his spear at the now-fleeing halfling, the weapon grazing her arm as the illusion disintegrates around her.  (Seraphina takes 2 points of damage.)


And, at last, I'm back.  A few days got added onto my trip, and combined with a hectic week at work, I've not been on-line much.  Sorry about the delay, but things should be back to normal now.


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## GnomeWorks (Aug 12, 2003)

Seraphina dashes down the hallway, heading for the exit.


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## Zhure (Aug 12, 2003)

*Gholog*

"I think we can make a stand here, if we've got more healing from Pelor, otherwise we better fall back and get patched up. What's the status on our cleric, and has anyone seen Seraphina?" Gholog asks again.


----------



## Other Guy (Aug 13, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“I don’t think we could take those Goblins if they attacked us again,” Jason says. “Although, we do have our cleric with us now, so if you really wanted to try to fight them again we may have a chance, but I’d rather not take it. I think the best thing to do would be to go back to town, heal, and plan this out.”


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## Jarval (Aug 13, 2003)

Seraphina clears the end of the passageway, rolling clear of any potential attacks.  She hears muttered grumbling from inside the passage as the goblin guard retrieves his spear, and the sound of footsteps moving back down the passage.


(*OOC:* IIRC, Aiden's only got the potential for one more CLW spell left, having just used two of his three 1st level spells healing Gholog and Jason.  On another note, check the OOC thread, as I'm debating on making the switch to 3.5.)


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## GnomeWorks (Aug 13, 2003)

Seraphina shakes her head a little, stands up, and brushes herself off.

"Well... that was fun and educational." She says. "As soon as I have the time, I'm going to learn goblin."

"I didn't get to see much, if that's what you're wondering.  I saw the head of a dragon in there, but I'm not too sure if there was a live dragon attached to it.  Not much else... their guard was a little too suspicious, so I had to shoot him with my crossbow."

She shrugs. "So, what's the plan now?"


----------



## Zhure (Aug 14, 2003)

*Gholog*

"The plan is we fall back and we rest. Once everyone is refreshed, we hit this place again - hard and with stealth.

"I don't particularly like the feel of the townsfolk; I'm tempted to say we hide in the woods and avoid them. There's something creepy going on and rather than investigate it straight up, I say we avoid it."


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## GnomeWorks (Aug 14, 2003)

"Hanging back and recovering for awhile sounds good." Seraphina says. "But I don't know if staying out of town is such a good idea.  I mean, the townsfolk are kinda creepy... but not nearly as much as what we've seen in this mountain so far."

She shrugs. "But whatever... if we go to town, we go to town, and if we don't, we don't.  Doesn't really bother me either way."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Aug 15, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"It was damn hard getting up here. I hate to run now, but if we do i think we should camp in the woods as close to here as seems safe."


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## Zhure (Aug 16, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Agreed. Scamper down as fast as possible. If we hurry, this _Spiderclimb_ will still be in effect and I can bring the rope with us."


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## Jarval (Aug 17, 2003)

The return journey down the mountainside take less time than the ascent, even with Gholog's _spider climb_ spell running out half-way down.  With your feet now firmly back on solid earth, you survey your choices: To camp in the woods, seek shelter in the old mine, or return to the comfort of the town.


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## Other Guy (Aug 18, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“You know,” Jason says, “in all honesty, I don’t really have any problem with the townspeople. The tavern owner even offered us free food, remember?” The young scholar-monk smiles. “Still, there is the convenience of being right here when we wake up, but even if our safety in the town is questionable, there is no doubt of the danger we’d be in out here.”

Jason grins and looks embarrassingly at the ground beneath his feat, adding, “but whatever we do, remind me to prepare some spells for tomorrow. I, uh...’kinda forgot to do that this morning.”


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## GnomeWorks (Aug 18, 2003)

Seraphina shrugs. "I don't really get any kind of bad vibes from the townspeople... they think we're odd, but I don't think they're really out to get us, or anything.  If we stay out here, we are right next to where we need to be... but then the goblins might try to attack us in the middle of the night.  But if we go all the way to town, then we have to come back.  Either way there's advantages and disadvantages."

"By the way, is anybody else slightly perturbed by the fact that I saw a dragon head?  That may or may not have been attached to a living dragon?  Either way, that doesn't bode well for us..."


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## Zhure (Aug 18, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Maybe I'm getting bad vibes because I'm part orc. It happens. I'd still feel safer in the woods, monsters and all. There's something too pacific about the people of the village, like their minds are controlled by a hidden evil force."


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## Jarval (Aug 19, 2003)

*OOC* So, the forest or the town?  Once you've decided (which you may have already done, and I've just not noticed) I'll update.

I'll be away from the 21st until the 29th.  Annoying, I know, not least since this game's had a few interruptions over the last couple of months, but after this I'll be trying to pick up the pace again.  I've got plans for this campaign beyond just the Of Sound Mind adventure...


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## GnomeWorks (Aug 20, 2003)

"Well, we're here, so why don't we just rest here?" Seraphina asks. "I think that pretty much solves our problem."


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## Zhure (Aug 20, 2003)

*Gholog*

"I think avoiding the town, just to not have to explain why we haven't located the missing children yet is reason enough to stay in the woods."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Aug 20, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"So were staying here? Good. There's something bad happening in town and who knows how long before it comes to a head. Have any of you had any strange dreams or nightmares?"


----------



## Zhure (Aug 22, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Frankly, it's been so long since I've slept, I don't remember if I had any dreams or not."


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## GnomeWorks (Aug 22, 2003)

"Actually... um..." Seraphina says, obviously hesitant. "Yeah... I think I have... though I'd rather not talk about it... it was _really_... disturbing..."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Aug 23, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"So was mine. I think it has something to do with what's happening here though. Whatever the deal is, i am sure it's way beyond missing children."


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## GnomeWorks (Aug 23, 2003)

Seraphina nods, but says nothing.


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## Other Guy (Aug 24, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“All I know is I don’t want another one,” Jason says, recalling the painful nightmare.


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## Zhure (Aug 25, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Makes me wish I'd brought some extra ale to aid in sleeping. But since I didn't, we'll have to make do with what we've got. Cold camp tonight, people, we don't want to call out our position with a fire."


----------



## Jarval (Aug 31, 2003)

*OOC:* I'm back, and I'll update tomorrow.  After that, I'm hoping I'll be able to get things moving at a good pace again.


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## Jarval (Sep 1, 2003)

You swiftly move further into the woods, finding a well concealed clearing to make camp in.  The woods stay eerily quiet, the sounds of the birds coming into roost and the occasional rustling in the undergrowth all strangely muted.  The warmth of the spring day quickly fades into the slight chill of night as you settle down to sleep...

You leap awake at first light, cries of pain and panic coming as you look anxiously around you.  The dreams of the previous night repeated for each of you, but move vividly, and the pain almost crippling as you break from your fitful rest.  Again, those of you with familiars or psicrystals sense the fright of your companion, the night's events seeming to not just restricted to humanoids...


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Sep 2, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"That does it! We need to clear this up and quick, before these dreams become worse." Kerrick hurriedly gets up and begins his preperations for the new day.


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## Zhure (Sep 2, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Agreed. Either that or we get out of this accursed valley, and I'm not ready to be that callous quite yet."

Gholog will meditate briefly before armoring up and preparing to remake the ascent.


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## Sollir Furryfoot (Sep 3, 2003)

Aiden breathes in deeply, waking up in a sweat.  _Pelor, what is there that needs to be done to clean the town, to clean us of these nightmares?_

Restless, he kneels and begins praying, his body facing the rising sun.

(OOC-Could you email me a copy of Aiden's dream again, I'm afraid I've lost it since the last time our characters had them.  Also, I wasn't sure if the sun rised east in this campaign world )


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## Jarval (Sep 3, 2003)

Sollir Furryfoot said:
			
		

> (OOC-Could you email me a copy of Aiden's dream again, I'm afraid I've lost it since the last time our characters had them.  Also, I wasn't sure if the sun rised east in this campaign world )



*OOC:* Dream re-e-mailed to your Yahoo addy.  And yes, the sun does rise in the east, but thanks for asking


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## Other Guy (Sep 3, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“Ungh...” Jason mumbles, “just tell me who we have to kill. I swear, I’d rather face that lousy goblin again than go to sleep.” He sits up, takes his spell book from his backpack and begins memorizing his spells.

(OOC)
Same 0th-level as last time and two sleep spells for 1st level.
(/OOC)


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## Jarval (Sep 5, 2003)

*OOC:*  So, what's the plan for this morning?  And Gnomeworks, which spells is Seraphina preparing?


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## Zhure (Sep 5, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Let's try to sneak back to the same spot where we had the fracas with the goblins. I'm sure they'll be ready for us, so maybe we can come in from above this time? Climbing down using rope has to be faster and we don't have to run the risk of them dropping large stones on our heads that way."


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## GnomeWorks (Sep 6, 2003)

Seraphina jolts awake.

"Damn it... we really need to get rid of whatever is causing those dreams." She says quietly. "I don't like them at all."



> _Gholog_
> *"Let's try to sneak back to the same spot where we had the fracas with the goblins. I'm sure they'll be ready for us, so maybe we can come in from above this time? Climbing down using rope has to be faster and we don't have to run the risk of them dropping large stones on our heads that way."*




"Hmm..." Seraphina says, her brow furrowed. "Well, that could work.  I'll climb up the way we did last time, and cover everybody else as they come down.  I've got my crossbows, so I could pick off any incoming goblins."

She then sits down and pulls out her spellbooks, going over her spells and humming a tuneless tune.

Preparing...
*0th:* _Ghost Sound_ x2, _Mage Hand_ x2
*1st:* _Silent Image_, _Magic Missile_ x2


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## Jarval (Sep 7, 2003)

*OOC:* How do you intend to do this downwards assault?  The easiest place to climb the mountainside is without doubt the route you took yesterday, with any other paths up being significantly more difficult.  BTW, I'm not trying to push you into any specific course of action, but Gholog's done enough climbing to note that the other routes are tricky to say the least.


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## Zhure (Sep 8, 2003)

:cough: Somebody with Spiderclimb want to speak up?


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## Other Guy (Sep 8, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason looks up from his spellbook for a moment. “Sounds like a good idea to me. I’ve only got one more scroll of _spider climb_ left,” he says. “I wish I had known they’d be this useful. Oh well, I’ll have to scribe a bunch the next day I’m not preoccupied with things haunting my dreams and trying to kill me. Anyway, If you don’t think the one scroll will be enough then tell me now so that I can prepare another one instead of a second _sleep_ spell.”


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## GnomeWorks (Sep 9, 2003)

"Hmm..." Seraphina muses, sitting up from her studies. "Jason, I don't suppose you could show me your notes for that spell, could you?  I really am a good student when it comes to that kind of thing... I'd let you copy one of my spells into your book, too, if you'd like.  Of course, it's too bad we can't do that now... it would take a couple of days.  But it's a thought."

She pauses, flipping the page in her spellbook. "Well... hmm.  We've got two lengths of fifty feet of silk rope.  If we tie them together, then put knots every five feet or so, you could all climb down it easier, right?  And you don't have to worry about me climbing down it, so the knots can be far apart.  That will help.  Hmm... if Gholog goes up the cliff first, using that spider climb spell, and then lowers the rope, if he could find something to attach it to, that could work, I think."

She shrugs, then returns to reading her spellbook.


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## Zhure (Sep 10, 2003)

*Gholog*

"I'm game to make the initial climb, but that cliff is treacherous enough it'll be too difficult for me without the spell. Having a second one as back-up, or in case we need to retreat sounds like a really good idea."


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## Other Guy (Sep 10, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“Alright then, I’ll do it,” Jason says. (OOC) preparing _spider climb_ and _sleep_, instead of two _sleep_ spells.

“Oh, and Seraphina,” he adds, smiling, “my spellbook is open to your eyes anytime you want.”


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## Jarval (Sep 11, 2003)

*OOC:* So, no update just yet.  For more detail about why see this thread, but the short, to the point version is that it'll be Friday before I update.  I'm sorry about this, but I've got a rather overdue assignment that I've been struggling with all week.  It's got to be handed in tomorrow (Thursday) by midnight, hence the Friday morning update...


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## Jarval (Sep 12, 2003)

Packing up your gear, you all make your way back towards the mountainside.  Gholog scouts around the base of the face, finding a suitable route up, that seems to be out of sight of the goblin's cave.

Jason quickly invokes his _spider climb_ spell, and Gholog starts upwards...

**********

Fifteen minutes later, you're all standing on a small shelf of rock about seventy feet above the cave mouth.  As far as you can tell, the goblins are unaware to your presence, as you can hear no sounds of activity from below. 


*Current Hit Points:*

After the night's rest, everyone's back up to full hit points, except for Gholog and Jason:

Jason: 8/12 hp
Gholog: 10/18 hp


*OOC:*  I've moved forwards quite a bit here.  If anyone wanted to do anything before making the assent, just mention it in your next post and we'll count it as having happened earlier.


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## Zhure (Sep 13, 2003)

*Gholog*

For the descent back toward the goblin caves, Gholog will take the last position, as anchor on the ropes.


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## Jarval (Sep 19, 2003)

Umm, bump?


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## Piratecat (Sep 19, 2003)

OOC: Is this the part where the half-dragon mindflayer troll comes out?


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Sep 19, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> OOC: Is this the part where the half-dragon mindflayer troll comes out?





OOC: GURK!


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## Jarval (Sep 20, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> OOC: Is this the part where the half-dragon mindflayer troll comes out?



Yarr matey!  Don't ye be a'telling them o' their doom jus' yet.  If they keeps their deadlights fore, it may be years a'fore they make the passage to Davy Jones’s locker.


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## GnomeWorks (Sep 20, 2003)

"I'll head down first." Seraphina says, grabbing the rope. "I'll do what I said I was going to do before - pick off any goblins that show up while the rest of you come down."

With that, she starts descending the rope.


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## Other Guy (Sep 20, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason takes out a scroll of _mage armor_ and casts the spell on himself in preparation for the expected battles ahead.


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## Jarval (Sep 24, 2003)

As Jason starts to invoke his magic, Seraphina quickly scrambles down the rope, dropping off beside the cave mouth... to come face to face with two surprised looking crossbow welding goblins standing just inside the cave.  All three of you start in surprise, but Seraphina recovers first...

*Initiatives:*
Seraphina: 7
Goblins: 4


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## GnomeWorks (Sep 24, 2003)

"Gah!" She cries. "Pair of goblins!  Hurry down!"

She takes a quick step back, and casts a spell.

5 foot step away from the goblins, then casting _magic missile_ at either of the two.


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## Zhure (Sep 26, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Hurry down the ropes! I'll follow as quick as I can."

_Gholog delays until everyone else is down, then will run down using the spiderclimb effect._


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Sep 30, 2003)

(OOC: sorry for the delays guys. I've been having problems using the boards. I'll try and get my action up sometime tomarrow.)


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## Jarval (Oct 2, 2003)

*OOC:* I'm waiting on Kerrick and Jason for their actions, but I'll update tomorrow evening, auto-piloting them if they haven't posted by then.


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## Other Guy (Oct 2, 2003)

*Jason Master*

(Edit) On second thought, I suppose none of the following actually happened: (/Edit)

“No need to waste time climbing,” Jason says, readying his longbow and firing a shot at one of the two goblins.


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## GnomeWorks (Oct 2, 2003)

*OoC:* From the description, Other Guy, it sounds like the goblins are inside the cave mouth... so I don't think you can shoot them from above.


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## Jarval (Oct 2, 2003)

*OoC:* Nope, Jason can't see them from his position.  The goblins were apparently trying to conceal themselves, although Seraphina's pretty sure they didn't expect you to come at them from above


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Oct 3, 2003)

{OOC: how high up are we from the area in front of the cave opening?]


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## Other Guy (Oct 3, 2003)

*Jason Master, redone*

(OoC)Oops, ^_^. Alright then, scratch that.(/OoC)

_Hang on, Seraphina, we’re coming,_ Jason thinks to himself, grabbing the rope and hurrying down as quickly as he can.


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## Jarval (Oct 6, 2003)

Seraphina's magic missile strikes the goblin to her left, the bolt of force staggering it backwards.  (3 points of damage.)

Panicked, both goblins shoot their crossbows at Seraphina, but both miss by some distance as the halfling ducks under the shots.  Seraphina's target shouts loudly down the tunnel, struggling to reload his weapon.

Bracing himself, Gholog grunts slightly as he strains against the weight on the rope as Jason and Aiden start to climb down, hurrying to join Seraphina below.


			
				Sir Osis of Liver said:
			
		

> {OOC: how high up are we from the area in front of the cave opening?]



Oops, missed this question.  You're about 70' above the cave mouth.  I'm holding out on your action for this round for now, and I'll edit in when you've decided.


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## Zhure (Oct 6, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog continues straining to make sure everyone gets down safely before joining his companions.


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## GnomeWorks (Oct 6, 2003)

"Keep quiet, you little bastard." Seraphina mutters, before she begins casting again.

Casting _magic missile_ at the same one again.

Once she is done casting, she pulls out her light crossbow.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Oct 6, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Unable to come up with a quicker method to get down kerrick climbs onto the rope after Jason and Aiden.


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## Jarval (Oct 11, 2003)

Seraphina launches another invocation at the wounded goblin, sending him slumping back against the tunnel wall (another 3 points of damage).

As his companion slides to the floor, the other goblin throws aside his crossbow and grabs at Seraphina.  She shoves him backwards, easily avoiding his clumsy grapple attempt (Goblin rolled a 4, Seraphina rolled 20...).

Gholog struggles to maintain his footing as Kerrick joins Jason and Aiden on the rope.  They all climb and slide down the rope as quickly as possible, nearing the ledge.


(Those on the rope will be down on the ledge next round, with a standard action to spare.)


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## GnomeWorks (Oct 11, 2003)

Seraphina backs off a little, loading her crossbow.  She then quickly shoots the remaining goblin.

5 ft. step back, load crossbow, shoot crossbow.


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## Jarval (Oct 11, 2003)

Seraphina steps backwards from the flailing arms of the goblin, shoving a bolt into place in her crossbow.  A combination of her haste and the goblin's seemingly random motion spoils her shot, the bolt whipping past her target, catching on the mountainside behind.  (To Hit: 3 + 4 = 7)

The goblin pulls a knife from his belt and stabs at Seraphina, his blade nicking her leather armor but leaving her skin unbroken.

Kerrick, Jason and Aiden pile down off the rope, leaving Gholog free to climb down.  Moving down the rock face head first, he closes in on the ledge below.


*OOC:* Everyone apart from Gholog is now on the rock ledge.  Gholog will be down at the end of next round.


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## GnomeWorks (Oct 12, 2003)

"Stupid little... back off!" Seraphina cries, continuing to take small steps back.  Once again she quickly loads a bolt and fires.

5 ft. step back, load crossbow, shoot crossbow.

*OoC:* How far is Seraphina from the ledge?


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## Other Guy (Oct 12, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason looks over the situation and readies his longbow.


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## Zhure (Oct 13, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog will hurry down with his glaive readied.


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## Jarval (Oct 20, 2003)

*Initiative:*
Seraphina: 7
Goblin: 4
Jason: Delaying action.

Hurriedly moving back, Seraphina shoots another bolt at the knife-wielding goblin.  This time her aim is true, and the bolt takes the goblin in the stomach.  He drops to his knees, his dagger dropping from his grasp and skittering towards the edge of the stone shelf as he topples over sideways, clutching at the wound.

Jason stands ready, arrow nocked, as Gholog bounds down beside him.  The party stands assembled at the cave mouth, with not a sound to be heard from inside.


*OOC:*  Seraphina has got just under 10' behind her before she runs out of rock, but I'm guessing that's now kind of a moot point.  Sorry again for the delay in posting, but I had my final exam for the year on Friday, and I've been celebrating a little...  Anyway, we should be back to regular updates now, and hopefully we can get things moving a bit faster.


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## GnomeWorks (Oct 20, 2003)

"One of them shouted down the tunnel." Seraphina says quickly. "I don't know if the others heard it or not, though... I don't know too much about the layout of the place, I didn't get too far in last time."


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Oct 20, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"No choice, we got to go in even if it's a fight every step of the way."

Kerrick take a test swing with his mace, "Everyone ready?"


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## Zhure (Oct 20, 2003)

*Gholog*

"I'll take point." Gholog waits for everyone to form up and then begins his trek down the goblin corridor.


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## Other Guy (Oct 20, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“Alright,” Jason says. “I’ll shoot every goblin we see before they get within thirty feet of us, especially if it’s that barbarian that nearly killed me last time.”


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## Jarval (Oct 20, 2003)

*OOC:* Update coming tomorrow.  I've got to get my scanner working so I can post up a map.


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## Jarval (Oct 23, 2003)

Gholog taking the lead, you make your way cautiously along the passageway.  The light from the cave mouth quickly dims as you progress along.  After about seventy feet, the passageway comes to an abrupt twenty foot drop, and opens out into a large chamber.  Unlike the rough hewn passage, this chamber has been made by skilled craftsmen, the walls polished smooth.  You don't linger long on the craftsmanship, however, as there's a far more arresting sight in front of you.  A dead dragon, to be exact...

It is huge, even shrunken in death, and its mummified body is sprawled across the room as if still trying to crawl towards the tunnel out.  It's scales glint a dulled saphire-blue in the faint light, where they still hold to the corpse.

But you spend little time examining even this singular sight, as your focus is turned to something rather more pressing: the rain of javelins coming towards you from the eight goblins taking cover behind one of the dragon's limbs...

Most whip past you and along the passage, or strike the stone walls to either side, but two draw blood.  One nicks Gholog's ear, while the other tears the sleeve of Kerrick's shirt, marking a red line along his arm.  (Both javelins deal 1 point of damage each.)


The goblins just got a surprise round.  Initiatives are as follows:

Jason: 15
Kerrick: 14
Goblins: 12
Gholog: 8
Seraphina: 6

Oh, and sorry about the map.  Couldn't get the scanner to work, and the graphic program I'm using decided to play up.  I'll try to produce something a little better looking next time.  Anyway, each square on the map = 10 feet.


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## GnomeWorks (Oct 23, 2003)

"Ah!" Seraphina cries out as she dodges the oncoming javelins.  It takes her a small moment longer than her companions to recover and assess the situation.

*OoC:* If it is possible for Seraphina to jump down the cliff face _without_ falling...
Seraphina jumps nimbly down the small cliff, crouching low to the ground and trying to make herself as small a target as possible, while pulling out her light crossbow.

*OoC:* If it isn't possible to hop down the small cliff...
Seraphina takes out her light crossbow and loads it, while trying to press herself as flat as possible against the closest side of the cavern.


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## Zhure (Oct 23, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Ack," the half-orc says, "it's a trap!"

Gholog stabs his glaive into the cavern floor (or leans it against the wall, if the floor is impractical), and readies his sling and a bullet.


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## Other Guy (Oct 23, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason kneels close to the edge and fires an arrow at one of the goblins.


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## Jarval (Oct 25, 2003)

*OOC:*  Need an action from Kerrick.  If I've not got one by tomorrow morning, I'll just assume a ranged attack against the closest goblin and post the update.  It's a 20' drop down from where you're standing, so no way of getting down other than climbing or taking 2d6 damage.  Gholog's going to be propping up his glave, as the tunnel floor is rough-hewn rock.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Oct 25, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick activates his vigor tatoo, and pulls out his mace.


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## Jarval (Oct 25, 2003)

*Initiative:*
Jason: 15
Kerrick: 14
Goblins: 12
Gholog: 8
Seraphina: 6


Jason drops to one knee and looses an arrow at one of the goblins clustered behind the dragon.  Despite the cover offered by the dragon's limb, his arrow strikes the goblin, dropping the creature.  (To Hit: 16 + 2 = 18, Damage 5.)

Energy flows through Kerrick, and he feels his body reinforced by his power.  Readying his mace, he presses himself against the tunnel wall.  (6 temporary hit points gained from _Vigor_, and has 1/4 cover.)

Stung by the fall of their companion, six of the goblins hurl javelins the group, while one tends to his fallen friend.  Of the six missiles, four go wide and two find their targets.  One catches Jason on the hip (dealing 2 damage), while the other just catches Gholog's shoulder (dealing 1 damage).  

Seemingly unflustered by this second close call, Gholog rests his glave against the tunnel wall and drops a bullet into his sling.  Twirling the weapon quickly, he whips the ball of lead towards his foes.  It narrowly misses and chips the stone floor behind his target.  (To Hit: 13 + 4 = 17)

On the opposite side of the passage to Kerrick, Seraphina again loads her crossbow.  Briefly leaning away from the wall, she shoots a bolt from the bow.  The bolt whirls across the chamber and through the chest of the closest goblin, lodging itself in the hard skin of the draconic corpse behind.  (To Hit: 20 + 3 = 23, Damage 8 + 7 = 15...)  The goblin looks down at the spreading red stain in alarm, then wordlessly falls.


*Damage taken so far:*
Gholog: 2 points
Jason: 2 points
Kerrick: 1 point.

The goblins have 1/4 cover from the dragon leg they're standing behind.


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## GnomeWorks (Oct 25, 2003)

"Nice." Seraphina says as she reloads her crossbow. "Let's do it again." She quickly aims at the next closest goblin and fires.

Reload, fire.


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## Other Guy (Oct 26, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“Well, this feels much better than yesterday,” Jason says, pained by the javelin but pleased with the group’s luck so far. He reloads and fires a second shot.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Oct 26, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick grins wildly as he readies himself for his next move. Trying to stay low as he moves forward kerrick jumps off the ledge to the floor of the cave, as he falls he activates catfall to take some of the edge off the impact. then moves to make sure the dragon corpse gives some cover.


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## Other Guy (Oct 26, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“Um...wow,” Jason says to himself, seeing this. “Hey Gholog, if that _spider climb_ is still in effect, maybe you could go down there and help him out?”


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## Zhure (Oct 27, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Uh, sure. Anybody coming down with me?"

Gholog will grab his glaive and any one volunteer, and hurry down the side of the precipice, trying to use the dragon's corpse as cover.


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## GnomeWorks (Oct 28, 2003)

"No, I'm staying up here." Seraphina says, leaning against the wall.


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## Jarval (Oct 28, 2003)

*Initiative:*
Jason: 15
Kerrick: 14
Goblins: 12
Gholog: 8
Seraphina: 6

Another arrow flies from Jason's bow, and another goblin falls.  (To Hit: 17 + 2 = 19, Damage: 5.)  The one tending to the wounded pitches forward, the shaft of Jason's arrow protruding from his back.

In a move that startles both his companions and foes, Kerrick launches himself off the edge of the drop.  A moment of focus and he lands squarely on his feet, taking most of the sting out of the fall.  (Kerrick takes 2 damage from the drop.)  Running forwards, he crouches down alongside the dragon's body, out of view of the goblins.

The goblins start to panic at this sudden ground assault and the rate at which their companions are being felled.  Two of them pick up morningstars and circle around the gigantic corpse, looking for the insane psion who just dropped from above.  The three other hurl another volley of javelins at the group gathered above.  Two miss, but one squarely strike Seraphina, thudding hard into her leg.  (Seraphina takes 4 damage.)

Gholog bounds down the rocks, joining Kerrick beside the dragon.

Seraphina loads and shoots again, but the shot goes wide, bouncing off the dead dragon's snout.  (To Hit: 5 + 3 = 8.)

A bellowing cry of rage comes from the north, Kerrick and Gholog both turning their heads to see the raging goblin from yesterday coming charging down a ramp from an archway just beyond the dragon's tail.  He's making straight for them, sword in hand and frothing at the mouth...


*Damage taken so far:*
Gholog: 2 points (not at 6/12 hp).
Jason: 2 points (not at 8/18 hp).
Kerrick: 3 points (now at 5/8 hp).
Seraphina: 4 points (now at 6/10 hp).

Three goblins taken down so far, five more to go.  And the barbarian, of course...


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## Zhure (Oct 28, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Ever think we bit off more than we can chew?"

Gholog readies an action to attack the raging goblin.


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## GnomeWorks (Oct 28, 2003)

Seraphina's brow furrows as she grasps the javelin in her leg. "Ah, bastards." She mutters, reloading and aiming for a goblin.

Reload, shoot.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Oct 28, 2003)

Zhure said:
			
		

> "Ever think we bit off more than we can chew?"
> 
> Gholog readies an action to attack the raging goblin.





"Nope, i just decided to stop holding back. If these damn goblins want a fight, i'm givin then one." Kerrick says this as he points at the frothing goblin, and with a little concentration activates his concussion tatoo. "there's a present for ya, little fella!"


{OOC; shouldn't my HP's be higher then that? Using vigor supplied some temp hp's by my count i should still be at least at full hp.]


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## Other Guy (Oct 29, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason’s eyes burn with a lust for the blood of the one who brought him so close to death.

“By all the gods of all the lands under the sun and moon,” he swears, removing an arrow from his quiver and taking aim, “by all that is sacred, and all that is sin, I vow to send this creature to the shadows beyond the blackest night, to a world of nightmares and pain.”

He’s getting really into it as hatred sets into his eyes. Never had Jason been as scared as he had been the other day. Low curses continue to escape from his lips and do not stop until the creature is either fleeing or dead.

He fires.


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## Jarval (Oct 30, 2003)

*OOC:* Update coming tomorrow morning.  And Sir Osis, you're right, Kerrick should be at 11/8 hp, I'd entirely forgotten about the _vigor_.


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## Jarval (Oct 31, 2003)

*Initiative:*
Jason: 15
Kerrick: 14
Goblins: 12
Gholog: 8
Seraphina: 6

Sent with a curse, Jason's arrow hits solidly, lodging through the barbarian's forearm.  (To Hit: 20 + 2 = 22, Crit confirmation: 9 + 2 = 11, Damage: 6)  The goblin seem almost not to notice, and continues his charge down towards Gholog and Kerrick.

Which suits Kerrick's plan just fine.  His tattoo slithers off his arm, and scuttles up the ramp, it's amorphous form lunging at the goblin's ankle.  The tattoo vanishes with a rolling BOOM tearing at the goblin's leg, and sending small splinters of rock flying.  (Deals 9 points of damage)

The wild, frothing goblin screams in pain and pure fury, then hurls himself at Kerrick.  His longsword arcs in a two-handed blow, and would have taken Kerrick's head had it not been for the mind-armor than surrounds the psion.  As it is, the blade suddenly stops dead in mid-air, less than an inch away from Kerrick's neck.  The goblin howls in frustration, and snaps his blade back to a guard position.

Another three javelins fly upwards, one striking the wall beside Seraphina, one wildly sailing away down the tunnel.  The last grazes Jason's cheek just below the eye, causing the monk to stagger back a step.

The two other goblins slide down the side of the dragon's corpse, sending a shower of scales down on Gholog.  They land either side of the half-orc, and both swing their morningstars.  Gholog weaves first right, then left, easily avoiding the ill-aimed attacks.

Taking this chance, Gholog lunges at the raging goblin, hitting him in the leg already injured by Kerrick.  (To Hit: 12 + 5 = 17, Damage: 8)  Blood pours onto the floor, and the wild goblin almost slips, his leg starting to buckle under his weight.

Seraphina shoot again, and strikes the goblin who threw the javelin at her.  (To Hit: 18 + 3 = 21, Damage: 6)  It's a good shot to the chest, and he slumps forwards.


*Damage taken so far:*
Gholog: 2 points (now at 8/18 hp).
Jason: 4 points (now at 4/12 hp).
Kerrick: 3 points (now at 11/8 hp, including temp hp from _vigor_).
Seraphina: 4 points (now at 6/10 hp).

Goblin barbarian: 23 points (now at ?/? hp).


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## GnomeWorks (Oct 31, 2003)

"All these people getting into hand-to-hand, it's going to make shooting them difficult." Seraphina observes to herself as she reloads her crossbow.  She takes aim at a goblin not in hand-to-hand, and fires.

Reload, shoot.

*OoC:* Where are all the remaining goblins?  I don't want to shoot into melee, so it's important.


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## Zhure (Oct 31, 2003)

*Gholog*

Gholog makes sure he keeps his distance, taking advantage of his reach weapon.  As before, attacking the 'barbarian.'


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## Jarval (Nov 5, 2003)

Need actions for Jason and Kerrick.  Oh, and there'll be a new (and slightly prettier) map with the next update.


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## Other Guy (Nov 5, 2003)

*Jason Master*

(OOC)
Sorry, I thought I had already posted his action.
(/OOC)

Jason removes another arrow from his quiver and fires once more on the barbarian.


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Nov 6, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick will attempt to move to the flank of the barbarian if possible. (OOC: ie no AOO.) then takes a swing with his mace.


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## Jarval (Nov 8, 2003)

*Initiative:*
Jason: 15
Kerrick: 14
Goblins: 12
Gholog: 8
Seraphina: 6

Jason nocks another arrow, and takes careful aim into the melee.  His concentration pays off as his arrow thunks into the raging goblin's lower back.  (To Hit: 14 + 2 - 4 = 12, Damage: 5)  The goblin gives Kerrick a puzzled look before toppling forwards.

His original foe now downed, Kerrick turns on the other two goblins attacking Gholog.  His mace swishes over the head of one, failing to make contact, but greatly unnerves it.  (To Hit: 7 + 3 = 10)

With a clatter, Kerrick's target, a goblin wearing a bright red shirt, throws down his weapon and backs away, crying out in Common.  "Mercy!  I ask for mercy!"

Two of the remaining three goblins follow their companions lead, and toss down their weapons, all looking nervously at Kerrick and Gholog.  One other keeps a firm hold on his javelin, but makes no move to use it.

"We do not want to fight anymore."  The red shirted goblin continues.  "You are better, much better than us in a fight, and we will not die for nothing."

"Traitor!  Prince Akratt will have your head for this."  The still-armed goblin spits at red shirt, scowling at all of his comrades.  However, he still makes no move to continue the skirmish.


*Damage taken:*
Gholog: 2 points (now at 8/18 hp).
Jason: 4 points (now at 4/12 hp).
Kerrick: 3 points (now at 11/8 hp, including temp hp from _vigor_).
Seraphina: 4 points (now at 6/10 hp).


Break in the round.  Everyone maintains their initiative for further actions, but you may want to choose new actions based on the events of this rounds so far.

Key for the map: *A* = Armed goblin.  *G* = Gholog.  *g* = goblin.  *J* = Jason.  *K* = Kerrick. *R* = goblin with red shirt.  *S* = Seraphina.


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## GnomeWorks (Nov 9, 2003)

"Well, what do we do now?" Seraphina asks, loading her crossbow. "Listen to them, or kill them?"

She doesn't take aim, but keeps her hands on her crossbow just in case one of them starts to run or do something.

Load, ready an action to shoot any goblin that moves or takes any action other than speaking.


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## Other Guy (Nov 9, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason stops cursing the goblin, very pleased with himself for being the one to deliver the final blow. He places his bow on the ground and rests for now against the wall. “If they wish to surrender, then we must let them. I think we should listen, Seraphina.”


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## Zhure (Nov 10, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Truce then, goblins," Gholog says, backing up a little to increase the distance between him and the diminutive humanoids. "Our quarrel is not necessarily with you. We're looking for some missing children - that's our real priority.

"We'd appreciate anything you know of them."


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## Jarval (Nov 11, 2003)

"A truce, good."  The goblin in the red shirt nods his head, now in perfect, accentless Common.  "And you're the ones searching for the children?  Took your time in getting here, didn't you?"

"Prukk, you will not betray the Prince!"  The goblin with the javelin strides round towards red shirt, anger burning bright in his eyes.

"I am betraying no-one.  I've never served Akratt, and Prince Huatuz has little desire for his brother to have any glory."  Prukk sneers.

The goblin with the javelin lunges forwards, but Prukk dodges to one side, and wraps an arm tightly around the neck of his attacker.  A knife has appeared in his free hand, which he holds against the cheek of his foe.

"If you value your looks, hold still."  He says venomously, then looks to Kerrick.  "Have you any rope?  Bind this one, and keep an eye on him.  He's not got the brains to cut a deal when needed."


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## GnomeWorks (Nov 11, 2003)

"What did we do with the rope we used to get down here?" Seraphina asks, unloading her crossbow. "We could use that."


----------



## Zhure (Nov 12, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Still tied up outside. I wasn't prepared to take prisoners, if you catch my meaning."


----------



## GnomeWorks (Nov 12, 2003)

"Hmm... I'll go get it." Seraphina says, heading back outside.  She takes down the rope, and returns, handing it to Kerrick.

"There you go." She says as she hands it to him.


----------



## Zhure (Nov 18, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Well then, Prukk is it? What do you know of the missing children?"


----------



## Jarval (Nov 19, 2003)

Prukk nods acknowledgement of his name, and quickly answers Gholog's question.

"Are you looking for three children, all humans?  If so, I know where they are.  Just up that ramp is another chamber, somewhat larger than this.  We think that it was the dragon's living quarters, and perhaps a workshop of some kind.

"The children are being kept in there, but I should warn you: They may be a little more vicious that you would expect from human young.  Thimdrul, the true leader of our little expedition, has been experimenting with them.  

"Also, there are others, four more soldiers, a mind-mage, and the Prince.  You should not underestimate Thimdrul, and keep a close eye on the snake that is Prince Akratt.  He's a coward, and a dirty fighter."


----------



## Zhure (Nov 19, 2003)

*Gholog*

"These people you name, all goblins?" Gholog asks. "Thimdrul is the mind-mage? Why do you call the Prince a snake, because he's a dirty fighter?"


----------



## Jarval (Nov 23, 2003)

"All goblins.  Thimdrul is a mind-mage, as is his apprentice.  They have plenty of tricks, I'm sure, but neither trusted me enough to find out just what they could do.  Smart, really."  Prukk grins widely.

"And yes, the Prince is a snake, both in a fight, and in his words.  And from his mother, if you're trying to annoy him.  Trust none of them any further than you can throw them."  He looks at Gholog thoughtfully.  "Or in your case, perhaps not even to that distance."


----------



## Zhure (Nov 25, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Hmmm... anyone want to volunteer to sneak in to scout? And I could use some healing before we assualt this place."


----------



## GnomeWorks (Nov 25, 2003)

Seraphina raises her hand. "Sure, I'll head on in.  Some healing before I go in, though, would be nice... just in case."


----------



## Other Guy (Nov 26, 2003)

*Jason Master*

“Yeah, I think we could all use some healing before we move on...except Kerrick,” Jason says. “How powerful are Thimdrul and his apprentice, would you say?” he asks Prukk.


----------



## Jarval (Nov 26, 2003)

Aiden steps forwards, and touches first Seraphina, then Gholog, and finally Jason.  Each of you is bathed in comfortingly warm faint golden light, and you feel your wounds kit closed.  (Three spontaneous _cure light wounds_ cast, restoring 5, 10 and 7 hp respectively.  I think that takes everyone back up to full HP, but I could be wrong...)

Prukk shrugs at Jason's inquiry.  "I'm not sure.  Mind-magic isn't really something I know much about, but you lot seem to have made pretty short work of what you've run up against so far.  I'd guess you will beat them, but as I said, I'm certain Thimdrul hasn't let me in on all he can do."


----------



## Zhure (Nov 29, 2003)

*Gholog*

 +5 hit points puts Gholog at 18/18, I believe.

"My thanks, Holy One," Gholog bows with his weapon in the crook of his arm. 

"Then our plan is to let Seraphina scout in first, if she's not back in a short time, we'll rush in and hope for the best. If we hear combat, we'll rush in. Otherwise we wait for her to return."

Gholog moves toward the passage that leads to where he has been told the children are being held and tries his best to hide outside the entryway.


----------



## GnomeWorks (Dec 1, 2003)

Seraphina nods. "Be back in a bit."

Making sure her hand crossbow is within easy reach, Seraphina heads for the entryway, then cautiously and quietly walks in, keeping to the shadows and trying to keep an eye out for anything.


----------



## Zhure (Dec 5, 2003)

*Gholog*

"She's been gone too long - something's gone wrong," the half-orc whispers worriedly.


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Dec 7, 2003)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Don't worry so much Gholog, sneaking about takes longer then just running up and down hall ways. She knows what she's doing, i'm sure there's no reason to worry. yet."


----------



## Jarval (Dec 8, 2003)

Cautiously moving up the ramp, Seraphina creeps into the next room.  Her eyes adapt slowly to the near darkness, the only light being shed by a fire pit in the far eastern corner of the chamber.  Heavy breathing comes from in front of her and to the right, along with the strong smell of animal dung.  Glancing towards the sound, she spots a small pen holding four cows and two horses.

Peering further into the large room, she observes several points of interest.  Firstly, Prukk's summation of the goblin forces seems to have been entirely accurate.  Seven goblins are in the far half of the room.  Four wear armour similar to the prisoners you now hold, and are armed with javelins and knives.  Close to the fire pit, three goblins are arguing heatedly.  One wears a thin gold circlet on his head, and a fur lined cloak.  Standing opposite him are two goblins clothed in green robes.  The elder of the two is odd in appearance, his skin sapphire blue and head strangely swollen.  The younger goblin could almost pass as an ordinary example of his species, were it not for the faintest tint of blue to his skin.

Secondly, there are several unusual items of furnishing in the chamber.  To Seraphina's left stand several huge work benches covered in tools, surrounding a large chunk of crystal.  Each bench stands close to fifteen feet in height, and the tools match this scale.  To the right of the bench is a cage, dwarfed by the table beside it.  Moving a little further into the room, Seraphina looks closely into the cage, and spots three small forms.  The forms of three sleeping human children...


(*OOC:*  Sorry about the delay.  The boards have been playing up for me over the last few days, refusing to let me post anything over about 50-100 words in length.  But it all seems to be working now, so here we go...)

*Key to the map:*
A = Goblin wearing circlet.
T = Sapphire-blue goblin.
S = Blue-skined goblin.
g = Goblin guard.
S = Seraphina.
G = Gholog.
A = Aiden.
K = Kerrick.
J = Jason.


----------



## GnomeWorks (Dec 9, 2003)

Taking note of everything in the room as quickly as possible, Seraphina then heads back the way she came.  She then relays the layout of the room and its occupants to the rest of the group.

"So, now what?" She asks.


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## Other Guy (Dec 9, 2003)

*Jason Master*

_What the heck am I still doing up here?_ Jason thinks to himself. He climbs down and joins the conversation, asking the captives if they have any idea what the three goblins could be arguing about.


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## Zhure (Dec 10, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Is there any way Seraphina can sneak back in and get that cage unlocked? If we can get the children free and fallback to here, we can form a chokepoint. Hopefully that'll force them to disengage.

"The other option I like is getting the information back to the town that we've located the missing children. Maybe a hundred townsfolk would serve as a deterrent."


----------



## Jarval (Dec 10, 2003)

Other Guy said:
			
		

> _What the heck am I still doing up here?_ Jason thinks to himself. He climbs down and joins the conversation, asking the captives if they have any idea what the three goblins could be arguing about.



"You, in all likelihood.  Between us we made quite a cacophony with that little skirmish."  Prukk says.  "Do none of you speak the language of my people?"


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## GnomeWorks (Dec 11, 2003)

> Gholog
> _"Is there any way Seraphina can sneak back in and get that cage unlocked? If we can get the children free and fallback to here, we can form a chokepoint. Hopefully that'll force them to disengage."_




"Of course I can." Seraphina says quickly. "I might need some cover fire if I have problems with the lock, but I don't see any problem with doing that."



> Prukk
> _"Do none of you speak the language of my people?"_




"No, but it's on my to-do list." Seraphina says.

She then looks to Gholog. "Want me to head on in?  I'd really rather not get the villagers involved, they'd just be more of a hassle... besides, what good would they do up here, other than get in the way?  We can do this, here and now.  We might not get another chance."


----------



## Zhure (Dec 12, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Okay, then we'll wait by the doorway, out of sight of the goblins. If you have trouble, make noise and we'll start with missile fire. Seraphina keep on the lock and grabbing the kids. Our priority is getting them free and outside.

"We fall back to the doorway and try to hold it, using the dragon carcass as cover. Hopefully they'll give up before things get too bad...

"If anyone has magical preparations, now is the time."

Gholog frees his sling and loads a bullet, keeping his glaive in the crook of his arm.


----------



## Other Guy (Dec 15, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason readies his bow and stands by Gholog


----------



## GnomeWorks (Dec 15, 2003)

"Right, off I go." Seraphina says before heading back into the room.

She sneaks quietly and carefully to the cage, sticking to the shadows as best she can.  If any of the children notice her, she tries to indicate for them to remain silent.

Once she's at the door, she begins carefully picking the lock (assuming there is one).


----------



## Jarval (Dec 15, 2003)

Gholog and Jason take positions on either side of the doorway as Seraphina creeps back up the ramp.  Picking her way cautiously across the chamber, she moves past the livestock pen soundlessly, almost unnoticed by the animals within.  (Hide: 12 + 4 = 16, Move Silently: 10 + 20 = 30)

Arriving at the cage, she carefully contemplates the lock.  There are doors to the cage on both the north and south sides, each held fast with a large padlock.  The one on the southern side is specked with rust, apparently unused some time.  The children sleep quietly, and the goblin guard on the northern side of the cage seems entirely unaware of Seraphina's presence.

The three goblins around the fire pit continue to argue, with increasingly vigorous hand gestures from all three.  Two of the guards move to stand either side of the goblin man wearing the golden circlet, both scowling at their blue-skinned kin.


----------



## Jarval (Dec 17, 2003)

Seraphina starts to work on the lock.  Rust has eroded some parts of the mechanism, but she makes steady progress.  That is, until one of her picks snaps in the lock with a loud metallic 'Ping!'.  The guard on the far side of the cage stiffens, and turns to face the halfling, the other goblins continuing their argument behind him.  His look of surprise would be almost comical if it were not for the danger Seraphina now found herself in...


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## GnomeWorks (Dec 17, 2003)

"Trouble!" Seraphina cries. "Not good!"

She pulls out her light crossbow and loads it quickly.


----------



## Zhure (Dec 17, 2003)

*Gholog*

 -edit- Didn't see Gnome's reply. Since Seraphina has sounded the alarm already, change Gholog's actions to....

Gholog scoops up his glaive and rushes for the guard that has spotted Seraphina....

 Charge, +7 modified to hit w/charge bonus. 1d10+4 damage, 20/x3 crit. Using _Burst_ if necessary.


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## Other Guy (Dec 18, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason rushes in with Gholog and fires an arrow at the guard (or not if it would endanger the children in any way).


----------



## Jarval (Dec 20, 2003)

*Initiative:*
Seraphina: 21
Gholog, Jason: 3
Goblins: 2

*Surprise Round:*

Sliding her crossbow from her shoulder, Seraphina loads a bolt into place, her movements practiced and smooth.

Gholog begins his charge across the chamber, his movement unnaturally fast.

Jason looses an arrow which strikes the edge of the cage.


*Round 1:*

Raising the now-readied crossbow, Seraphina looses the bolt.  It sails clearly through the bars of the cage, only to miss her target by the barest fraction of an inch.

Gholog canons into the cage's guard, the half-orc's glave instantly ending the goblin's life.

Jason nocks another arrow, and shoots.  His shot goes high, missing one of the goblins flanking the prince by some distance... and apparently continues on through the stone wall behind...

The goblin force breaks from it's startled pause.  The Prince moves swiftly, opening the door in the eastern wall and slamming it shut behind him.  The two goblins who were guarding him take up positions on either side of the doorway, one hurling a javelin at Gholog.  The weapon falls low, just scratching his ankle as it hits the copper floor.  The goblin standing beside the fire-pit grabs a ladle from the cauldron over the fire, and bounds towards Seraphina with a mad gleam in his eyes.

The swollen-headed goblin fixes his gaze on Jason.  Bright light glows from behind the goblin's eyes, and Jason feels an intense weight of will pressing down on his own mind.  Gritting his teeth, he focuses every ounce of mental fortitude he has to fight the pressure, and after a moment it is gone.

Meanwhile, the blue runs.  Giving Gholog a wide birth, he makes for the ramp down into the room containing the draconic corpse.



(*OOC:* And yes, that was an unbelievable three 1s rolled in a row for initiative...  Gholog deals an impressive 12 points of damage to the cage guard, and takes 1 damage from the javelin.  Jason made his Will save against whatever the goblin psion tried to manifest.


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## Other Guy (Dec 20, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Jason looks at the psychic goblin and smiles, “that was a mistake.” He removes an arrow from his quiver and takes aim at his new enemy, “I hold grudges.”

He releases his grip on the string, letting the arrow fly.


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## Zhure (Dec 20, 2003)

*Gholog*

"Hnnh," Gholog grunts noncommittaly as the guard falls. 

"I notice the arrow penetrated the rock wall quite nicely; I suspect an illusion," he remarks casually to Seraphina. "I'll put pressure on the manifester...."

Gholog moves up directly adjacent to the swell-headed goblin and readies an attack, his glaive held high like a scorpion's stinger.

 Manifest Burst again if necessary, tumbling if necessary (tumble total = +30). Gholog also has IUS, and will spend a power point for Psionic Fist, for an extra 1d4 of unarmed damage if he has to strike an adjacent hex. The goal is to be adjacent, so even a 5'-step won't let the manifester be in the clear.


----------



## GnomeWorks (Dec 21, 2003)

Seraphina loads her crossbow. "You do that, Gholog." She says, nodding.  She then fires at the goblin armed with ladle.


----------



## Jarval (Dec 22, 2003)

Load and shoot.  And miss.  The ladle-wielding goblin seems unaware of Seraphina's attempt to take him down as he continues his charge towards her.

Gholog nimbly rolls forwards, bounding back to his feet beside the swollen-headed goblin.  He lashes out with his free hand, his fist glowing brightly with light as it strikes the psion.  He reels back slightly, and Jason's arrow passes through the spot previously occupied by his head.

Recovering from the blow, the goblin psion focuses his will again.  Taking advantage of this momentary distraction, Gholog tries to land another strike, but his fist is deflected by a field of force surrounding the goblin's body.  The psion's eyes glow with inner fire, and an arc of electricity leaps first to Gholog, then on to strike Seraphina.

With a cry of rage, the goblin cook swings wildly at Seraphina, the ladle hitting the side of her head.  She sways slightly, the blow combined with the electrical arc disorientating her for a brief moment.

The blue sprints past Jason, clearly in a hurry to be somewhere else.  He starts to make his way down the ramp, moving at top speed.

Two javelins strike rock beside Jason, thrown from the guards at the door.  They each snatch another weapon from the quivers on their backs, ready to fight again.


(*OOC:*  Gholog deals 6 damage to the psion thanks to his Psionic Fist feat.  He takes 3 points of damage from the electrical arc, as does Seraphina.  Seraphina takes an additional 3 points from the ladle strike.  Jason comes unscathed from the round.

*Damage taken so far:*
Gholog: 3 points (now at 15/18 hp).
Jason: 0 points (now at 12/12 hp).
Seraphina: 6 points (now at 4/10 hp).


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## Zhure (Dec 22, 2003)

*Gholog*

 Horrible typo. The tumble modifier should've been '+3' not '+30'. My apologies, give me an AoO if the result comes up under the necessary 15 DC. Stupid fingers.

Gholog doesn't even wince against the electrical discharge. "That all ya got, geezer?" 

The half-orc steps back a half-step and lashes out with his glaive, trying to disrupt the manifester's concentration.


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## GnomeWorks (Dec 23, 2003)

"Some help!" Seraphina says, backing away from the goblin.  She then reloads her crossbow, and tries her best to look threatening.

Backing off 20 feet from the goblin in the direction of the entrance, if possible, then loading light crossbow.


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## Other Guy (Dec 24, 2003)

*Jason Master*

Hoping to disrupt the psion's concentration, Jason fires a second arrow at it.


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## Jarval (Jan 3, 2004)

*Initiative:*
Seraphina: 21
Gholog, Jason: 3
Goblins: 2

Seraphina dodges, trying to stay clear of the goblin with the ladel.  She hurriedly loads another bolt into her crossbow, hoping that she has time to use it.

Gholog takes a step back from the psion, energy still crackling around him.  He swings his glave up, only a shallow cut, but directly across the psion's jugular vein.  He chokes violently, staggering over to try and support himself on the leg of one of the towering workbenches.  He drops to his knees as the other goblins look on in horror.  Jason arrow hits the psion in the chest, sending him sprawling to the floor, quite dead.  The arc of electricity winks out, much to Gholog and Seraphina's relief.

The goblin with the ladel seems to snap out of his frezy at the sight of the blood, dropping his culinary weapon with a metalic clatter and skampering back to hide under the table in the kitchen.  The two guards at the door glance quickly to one another, then throw the door open before flinging themselves through and slaming it shut behind them.  This is followed by the sound of bolts running home, and something wooden being dragged into place behind the door.


(Gholog deals 13 damage to the psion.  Combined with Jason's 5 from the arrow, that's a very dead goblin.

*Damage taken so far:*
Gholog: 3 points (now at 15/18 hp).
Jason: 0 points (now at 12/12 hp).
Seraphina: 6 points (now at 4/10 hp).


(*OOC:* First off, sorry about the delay in the game.  A busy Christmas combined with a last minute trip across country means I've only just got back to EN World.  I'm back now, and hopefully we can get things back up to speed.)


----------



## GnomeWorks (Jan 4, 2004)

"Now what?" Seraphina asks, keeping her crossbow trained on the goblin who ran from her. "Do we want to shoot them all, or should we just take the kids and get out?"

Regardless of the answer, if the goblin she's aiming at moves, Seraphina shoots it.

Readying a shot at the goblin if it moves.


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## Zhure (Jan 5, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog tries to smash the lock. "We get the children out and go. We can always come back later."


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## Other Guy (Jan 7, 2004)

*Jason Master*

“Gholog’s right. The kids are our top concern. I do want to come back later and find out more about what’s going on, though,” Jason says, smiling. “I think we’ve done a great job, guys.”


----------



## Jarval (Jan 8, 2004)

Gholog throws his weight against the wooden door, but it resolutely refuses to give.  As he steps back, a voice calls out faintly to you all, heard not by your ears but rather your minds...

_Help me...  he's trying to take me away...  he's hurting me, just like the other one..._


----------



## Zhure (Jan 8, 2004)

*Gholog*

"We missing a kid?" Gholog asks, scratching his head to get the sound out.


----------



## Other Guy (Jan 9, 2004)

*Jason Master*

"Fine, we'll help you," Jason tells the voice, hoping it can hear him, "just tell us where you are."


----------



## GnomeWorks (Jan 9, 2004)

"As if the weird things downstairs weren't enough." Seraphina says, shaking her head.

*OoC:* Can I try to pick the lock again?  It doesn't say anything about retrying it in the 3e PH.


----------



## Jarval (Jan 10, 2004)

Looking back to the cage, Gholog does a quick head count.  _One, two, three._  The children are all still there, two now away and cowering against the back wall, while the other lies still on the floor.

_I'm in the dragon.  The bad man has come in, and he's hurting me..._  The voice continues, echoing around your heads pitifully.


(*OoC:* There's no lock on your side of the door.  You'd guess it's held closed by bolts on the other side.)


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 11, 2004)

"There was a dragon corpse in the other room, right?" Seraphina asks quickly. "Could that be what the voice means...?"


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## Other Guy (Jan 11, 2004)

*Jason Master*

"Maybe. Let's go!" Jason says, running quickly to the door. "Gholog, Seraphina, help me out," he says as he begins violently kicking it.


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Jan 11, 2004)

*Kerrick Jonez*

[OOC: Sorry for fallin behind guys, real life has been sucking big time lately.  Cripes! You guys sure picked up the pace a bit while i wasn't looking.  ]

While Seraphina was off checking ahead, Kerrick had decided to examine the mummified dragon. He was so intent on this that he failed to even notice the halflings call for help, and by the time he caught up with the others the battle had ended and the group was attempting to free the children. 

Even as he approaches the group he seems a bit lost in thought.
"Errrr, sorry guys! Didn't mean to leave you all hanging, but i've never seen anything like that...that corpse back there. It really creeps me out. Why would these goblins keep that thing around? Seems more like something you'd expect of Kobold's or something."

Finally bringing his full attention to the here and now, Kerrick takes a quick look at the room, "The kids alright?"


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## Jarval (Jan 13, 2004)

While Kerrick intently examined the draconic corpse, he witnessed a remarkable sight.  A blue skinned goblin came running full pelt down the ramp, dodged past him, and dived feet first into the dragon's mouth.  From inside, very faint sounds of movement can be heard...


(*OoC:* Good to have you back with us Sir Osis   Sorry to hear you've been having RL problems, I hope they're getting better.)


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## Zhure (Jan 14, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog continues trying to free the children. "Once these kids are out, we can concentrate on other things, but this takes priority," the half-orc says.


----------



## Piratecat (Jan 14, 2004)

_OOC:  Settles in to watch the fun.  _


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## Other Guy (Jan 18, 2004)

*Jason Master*

"Why am I wasting my time on this door?" Jason asks himself. "You can help the children in the cage, Gholog, but I'd really like to check out that dragon before I do anything else." He exits to the other room of the dragon's corpse.


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 18, 2004)

"Keep working at the door, Gholog." Seraphina says, following Jason. "I'm going to go help him, just in case."


----------



## Jarval (Jan 18, 2004)

Having been given contradicting instructions from his friends, Gholog follows his own idea and heads over to the cage.  One of the children snarls aggressively as he approaches, another cowers in fear at the back of the cage, while the third remains slumped unmoving on the cage's floor.  Examining the padlock holding the cage shut, Gholog finds it rusted and weak.  It shouldn't be hard to smash...

Jason and Seraphina join Kerrick beside the dead dragon.  A slight scuffling sound comes from inside the corpse, and as they watch, one of the ribs moves almost imperceptibly.

_HELP MEEEE!_  The voice screams in agony, the words echoing painfully within the confines of your heads.


			
				Piratecat said:
			
		

> _OOC:  Settles in to watch the fun.  _



Shhh, we don't want to scare them, now do we?  ... Actually, that's not entirely true...


----------



## Zhure (Jan 18, 2004)

*Gholog*

"Looks like one of the human whelps is a little -eyed," Gholog exclaims loudly.

"Ok, tyke. If you give me trouble I'll thwack you silly when the door is open," the half-orc threatens the feral-acting child. Gholog then pops the door open, ready to tackle the young human unarmed as soon as the door is no longer locked.


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 19, 2004)

"Damn it." Seraphina curses as she watches one of the ribs move.  She looks to Jason. "Silly me, I don't carry around anything sharp... we'll either have to go in through the mouth, or if you have anything that can cut through that hide..."


----------



## Other Guy (Jan 19, 2004)

*Jason Master*

"Hmmm...cut through the hide of a dragon..." Jason grins, "nope, can't say I do." He rushes into the mouth of the beast.


----------



## GnomeWorks (Jan 19, 2004)

"Through the mouth we go, then." Seraphina says, chasing after Jason.


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## Jarval (Jan 19, 2004)

Gholog's threat seems enough to cow the feral child, and he shuffles back from the cage door.  Taking firm hold of the padlock, Gholog pulls hard, wrenching the lock apart.  The door swings open, creaking loudly on its hinges.

**********

On closer inspection of the dragon's body, you realize that someone at some point had wrenched open its jaw and actually burrowed down into its stomach.  Its huge mouth is propped open with long spears, and there is a narrow crawl space down through its throat.  A dusty smell of death and reptile wafts up the dragon's windpipe, and with a shudder you spot a piece of someone's armor still stuck in the sword-length teeth.

Jason runs into the mouth, but has to slow his pace once standing inside.  The crawlway into the dragon is narrow, a tight fit even for the relatively unencumbered monk.  While less of a squeeze for Seraphina, there would be little room to use her crossbow once confined by the walls of the dragon's mummified innards.


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Jan 21, 2004)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Are you guys sure this is a good idea?" Kerrick looks dubiously at the dead dragons mouth as his friends dissapear into it.Pausing for moment he yells into the other room, "We're going to climb into the dragon! Be right back!" then,  Kerrick, pulls out one of his daggers and cletches it tightly in his teeth as he attempts to follow his companions.


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 21, 2004)

Muttering something about small areas, Seraphina agitatedly pulls out her hand crossbow.

"This is going to be bad." She says, loading it.  She then enters the dragon.


----------



## Zhure (Jan 22, 2004)

*Gholog*

"C'mon little humans, this way," Gholog points with his chin toward the chamber with the dragon.

"There'll be some climbing to do, but we're going to get you back to your homes." Gholog will get behind the children and try to herd them toward where the rope and the climb out is.


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## Jarval (Jan 22, 2004)

(*OoC:* I take it Jason's first into the dragon's mouth?)


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## Other Guy (Jan 22, 2004)

*Jason Master*

(*OoC:* Yup, )

Jason cracks his knuckles as he enters the mouth.


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## Jarval (Jan 25, 2004)

One of the boys gladly runs out of the cage, hugging one of Gholog's legs tightly, now convinced that the burly half-orc means him no harm.  The feral child carefully follows, but keeps his distance from Gholog.  The girl still doesn't move however, lying curled in an awkward ball on the floor.

**********

With Jason leading the way, you start the crawl into the dragon.  The flesh of the dead dragon's throat is cold, hard, and vaguely greasy.  This combines with a faint but pervading smell of decay to make a experience that will be remembered in the dark of the night for many, many years to come.

The initial darkness starts to give way to a faint blue light coming from somewhere further inside the dragon.  Your heads start to ache as you move deeper into the corpse, a wave of force pounding at your brains.

Despite what you feel, you know it can be no more that a few minutes of crawling before the blue light has increased to a level at which you can clearly see.  Jason struggles along, emerging into the chamber that was once the dragon's belly, only to nearly have his own guts impaled as the blue-skinned goblin lunges at him with a spear.  The cramped and low roofed chamber gives Jason little room to manoeuvre, and he fails to dodge entirely clear of the weapon's point.  It grazes his side, before rebounding off the tough flesh of the dragon.


(Jason looses his Dexterity bonus to AC due to the cramped conditions.  He takes 2 damage from the goblin's attack, and is free to act this round.  Seraphina and Kerrick will be into the dragon's belly next round.)


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## Other Guy (Jan 25, 2004)

*Jason Master*

"Look out, guys!" Jason yells. Angered, he throws his fist into the goblin's face.


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 26, 2004)

"Agh!" Seraphina cries. "There's no way I'm going to be able to use my crossbow in here... Kerrick, get up there!" She hugs the inside of the dragon as closely as possible to allow the human to pass her by.


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## Zhure (Jan 26, 2004)

*Gholog*

"C'mon, children*, I'm missing out on a perfectly good fight..."

Gholog wedges the door open with his glaive and goes in to retrieve the catatonic child.

 *I feel like Chef from South Park.


----------



## Sir Osis of Liver (Jan 26, 2004)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"I TULLL OOO IS WAS UH BAAAD IIA!" Kerrick yells around the dagger clenched in his teethas he struggles to getup behind Jason. Focusing his will into a coil of mental energy he lashes it outward at the Blue.

(OOC: Ego whip the goblin, DC= d20+3+mod IFIRC.)


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## Jarval (Jan 27, 2004)

*Initiative:*
Kerrick 15
Goblin 9
Jason 7

Kerrick's mental lash smashes through the goblin's hastily constructed mental defence, tearing deeply across the goblin's control.  It staggers back clumsily, then the spear thrusts towards Jason again.  He knocks the shaft of the spear aside, then steps forward.  His fist slams into the goblin's face, and the goblin goes limp, hitting the floor of dragon's stomach and rolling over to one side.

Seraphina shuffles out of the dragon's throat, joining her companions in the stomach.  As you look around, you spot the source of the blue light.  A chunk of jagged and uneven sapphire blue crystal the size of a melon sits on to of a lump of congealed flesh.  It pulses slightly as you 'hear' the voice in your head again.

_Thankyou, thank you...  You saved me from the bad man.  You have saved me._  The voice echoes gratefully.  With each pulse of the light, another wave of force rolls painfully across your brains.

**********

Gholog steps into the cage and picks up the girl.  She twitches slightly as he moves her, but remains unconscious.  Stepping back out of the cage, Gholog feels a hand tugging at his trouser leg.  Followed by what feels like a hammer blow to his head.  Looking down, Gholog sees the feral child smiling at him, the ground around it covered in rapidly evaporating ectoplasm.  Then he spots something, the tip of a fragment of crystal imbedded in the middle of the boy's forehead...


(Gholog takes 5 points of subdual damage from whatever the child did.  Kerrick did 3 DEX damaged with his _ego whip_ and Jason followed with a solid 7 hp damage, taking the goblin out of the fight.)


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## GnomeWorks (Jan 28, 2004)

"There's something there." Seraphina says, pointing to the crystal. "Anybody got any ideas?"


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## Zhure (Jan 28, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog boots the feral child in the head then steps out of the cage. "Little help out here, human children problem," the half-orc yells aloud.

 IUS, might've drawn an AoO on the kid? Just asking."


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## Other Guy (Jan 28, 2004)

*Jason Master*

“None,” Jason replies, “If it were magical I may have been able to help, but I’m afraid I know very little about psionics. What do you think, Kerrick?"

(OOC)
Can any of us in the dragon hear Gholog?
(/OOC)


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jan 29, 2004)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"I'm not sure, but i wish the damn thing would stop pinging my brain. It hurts like hell." Kerrick moves around to were he can get  a closer look at the crystal.

[OOC: Psicraft and Knowledge psionics both +7]


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## Jarval (Feb 1, 2004)

Kerrick looks closer, trying to determine just what the chunk of crystal is.  After some thought, he recalls that it is said to be possible to transfer a mind from its body to a crystal repository, although such a process carries both a very high risk of failure, and takes an enormous amount of power to achieve.

_Who are you?_  The crystal's voice asks, a little more 'quietly' than before.  _Is mummy here?  The bad men took me away, and I want to see her._

Jason pauses a moment, sure that he heard something being called from outside the dragon a moment ago...

**********

Gholog brings his knee up sharply, smacking the feral boy on the side of the head and sending him sprawling to the floor in a daze.  The other boy screams at the sudden renewal of violence, and runs to hide behind the leg of the oversized workbench.  The girl remains unconscious, a dead weight in Gholog's arms.


(*OoC:* Jason can hear that something is happening outside, although he's only knows that someone shouted something.  Several inches of dead dragon where enough to muffle any meaning in the words...)


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## Zhure (Feb 1, 2004)

*Gholog*

"Sorry kiddo," Gholog says, more directed to the frightened child than the feral one. If the aggressive child is still acting angrily, Gholog will regrettably hit him again. Once cowed or knocked out, Gholog will try to carry all of the children, rounding up the frightened girl last.


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## Other Guy (Feb 1, 2004)

*Jason Master*

“Oh, so it’s kind of like a _Magic Jar_ spell?” Jason says, then continues, “hey, I think I hear somebody shouting outside. I’m gonna’ go check on Gholog while you guys figure this out.”


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## Jarval (Feb 6, 2004)

Bump...


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## GnomeWorks (Feb 6, 2004)

"I have no idea what it is..." Seraphina says, with a shrug. "Kerrick, you got any ideas?"


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## Jarval (Feb 16, 2004)

Gholog grabs hold of the feral boy by the shoulder, and leads the dazed young human into the room with the dragon corpse.  He's met by the strange sight of Jason crawling out of the dragon's mouth...

**********

_Why isn't anyone talking to me?_  The crystal's 'voice' takes on a petulant tone.  _I want to go home.  I want to go now!_  The last is said 'loudly', the mental voice again pounding painfully against your brains.


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## GnomeWorks (Feb 16, 2004)

"Gah!" Seraphina cries as the mental speech resonates through her mind. "What is 'home'?  What is it talking about?"


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## Zhure (Feb 16, 2004)

*Gholog*

"Little help here, Jason? I've got three kids to round up. I really want to explore the rest of this place, but getting the kids back to town has to take priority."


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## Other Guy (Feb 17, 2004)

*Jason Master*

"There's something you should see before that, Gholog," Jason says. "We've...uh...found the soul of one of the kids..." He leads the half orc back into the dragon's mouth. "It's this way."


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## Zhure (Feb 19, 2004)

*Gholog*

"Great, but at least grab one of the kids from me?" Gholog pleads.


----------



## Other Guy (Feb 19, 2004)

*Jason Master*

"Oh, right," Jason says, grabbing one of the children, "Sorry about that,  "


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## Zhure (Feb 23, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog follows Jason into the interior of the dragon's body, while tightly holding on to the feral child.


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## Jarval (Feb 24, 2004)

_Home?  The village, that's my home.  Take me home._  The crystal's voice continues incessantly to Seraphina.  The light brightens as Gholog and the feral child enter the dragon's hollow stomach.

_Who's this?  He's green..._  The voice says thoughtfully.  Gholog could almost swear the crystal is staring at him, a tricky proposition given its lack of eyes...

_Is he one of the bad men?  He's taller than the bad man you stopped._  The crystal asks Seraphina.


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## GnomeWorks (Feb 24, 2004)

"He says the village is his home." Seraphina says, looking to Gholog as the half-orc enters. "He says he wants to go home..."

She looks to the crystal as it questions Gholog's position. "No, he isn't a 'bad man'.  He's with us."


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## Zhure (Mar 2, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog comically rollls his eyes at the 'bad man' talk and tries to look harmless, assuming a toothy grin. In his gentlest voice he says, "Yes, I'm not like these others; you've nothing to worry about from me."


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## GnomeWorks (Mar 3, 2004)

Seraphina considers the crystal. "We're going to have to take it with us, back to the village... we can't really do anything here.  And I'd _really_ like to get out of this dragon... the first thing I'm doing when we get to town is to get a bath.  We're going to reek for weeks..."


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## Jarval (Mar 11, 2004)

Reassured by Seraphina, and by Gholog's own words, the 'voice' settles back down to a more relaxed tone.

_If you take me home, my mummy would let you use our bath.  You're smelly._  The crystal sounds delighted with this idea, and laughs quietly.


(I've waited, but it doesn't seem like Other Guy's going to post.  Looks like we're down to just two players... :/  What do you guys want to do?  We're not far from the end of this adventure, so recruiting new players might be a bit tricky.  If you're OK with me running the rest of the group as NPCs, we can finish off Of Sound Mind, or if you'd like to do something different, I could start up a new game.  I'm happy to do either, so it's up to whatever you'd prefer.)


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## GnomeWorks (Mar 11, 2004)

I think that we're fine as Seraphina and Gholog, so long as we do things intelligently.   Of course, if it gets more difficult from here on out, we might need one or two of the others NPC'd.

I think that we should try to finish it, at least.  We're too far into this to leave it now. 

Seraphina looks to Gholog. "Well, shall we?  If we wait around here any longer, something bad might happen - and I'm out of useful spells."


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## Zhure (Mar 11, 2004)

*Gholog*

"Ready? It was my idea to beat a retreat right away." Gholog will gladly lead the way out, with one child in tow.

 I recommend we keep the others around as NPCs until we get out, then try to recruit one or two fill-in players to play new characters for another assault into this deathtrap.


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## Jarval (Mar 12, 2004)

You make your way back out of the dragon, Gholog now laden down with the blue crystal, to rejoin your companions on the outside.  Aided by Jason's last remaining _spider climb_ spell, you make quick progress down the mountainside, and start for town.

The two conscious children are subdued as you walk through the forest, Aiden having used a minor healing spell to dissolve the crystalline shard in the feral boy's forehead.  As you break the edge of the woods, you can see Bellhold below you, a pleasant sight under the spring sunshine.

As you pass through the fields around the town, the farm workers stop to watch you pass, a few cheering your return.  Several down tools and follow you from a respectful distance, the sight of returning heroes a rare one even in the most metropolitan of cities.

On reaching the town's outskirts, as if to herald your arrival, the  Wyrmcall starts to ring the noon chime, and the crystal in Gholog's arms glows brightly.

_Ahhhhh!_  It screams in pain at the sound of the bell.  _That must STOP!_  The voice echoes, now lacking any childish quality.  An intense flare of sapphire light floods out from the crystal, spreading away from you at high speed.  The bell's call fades as the light reaches the town sqare.

*"Good, at last I have presence again!"*  The voice says gleefully.  It no longer 'speaks' to your minds, but rather from many voices behind you.  Turning, you see your honour guard of farm workers speaking simultaneously, each one talking with the crystal's voice.  The effect is disturbing, to say the least.   Looking closer, Seraphina notices another detail: each of the labourer's eyes has gone blank, and is now starting to glow with a faint blue radiance...


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## Zhure (Mar 13, 2004)

*Gholog*

"Uh. Dang it."

Gholog drops the child he's carrying, grabs Seraphina and breaks into a dead run. He's going to try to cut cross-country at first, hoping to lose most of the villagers as quickly as possible, then make for the central belltower at top speed.


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## Other Guy (Mar 13, 2004)

I had been waiting for things to pick up again and didn’t think you guys were waiting for me to post, but obviously I was mistaken, I’m very sorry. I’ll make more of an effort to write responses, if only to avoid that from happening again. I don’t want to go ghost, especially not so close to the end of our adventure, 

“Hey, stop fleeing without me!” Jason calls out to Gholog, chasing after they two as the dash towards the belltower.


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## GnomeWorks (Mar 14, 2004)

"Their eyes are glowing!" Seraphina cries as Gholog picks her up. "Maybe we should get to the belltower, it doesn't seem to like the bell ringing!"

She considers the crystal for a moment.

"Wait!  Maybe we should break the crystal!"


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## Jarval (Mar 14, 2004)

Dumping the unconscious girl on the ground, Gholog grabs Seraphina and takes off across the fields, quickly followed by Jason.  The farm workers start to chase after you but their movements are lurching and awkward, as if they were not in full control of their bodies.  You easily put some distance between yourselves and your pursuers, before turning and starting into the town.

*"They are making for the belltower!  Stop them at all costs!"* Voices ring from the buildings and streets around you.  The crystal glows again, and Gholog feels a pressing weight on his mind.

_Put me down and leave Bellhold._  The crystal's voice suggests.  _There's nothing for you here now._  Gholog's grip on the crystal start to loosen, then he feels the crystal's will slide harmlessly over his own mental defences.

*"Damn it!"*  An angry cry comes from all around.  Rounding the corner into the next street, you're confronted by four townspeople lumbering towards you.  A glance behind reveals another six slowly making their way down the street after you, blocking the way you just came.


(Gholog only barely made his save against the crystal's _suggestion_, but managed to fight off the influence.

*Initiatives:*
Jason 20
Gholog 14
Seraphina 6
Townspeople 2.)




			
				Other Guy said:
			
		

> I had been waiting for things to pick up again and didn’t think you guys were waiting for me to post, but obviously I was mistaken, I’m very sorry. I’ll make more of an effort to write responses, if only to avoid that from happening again. I don’t want to go ghost, especially not so close to the end of our adventure,




*OoC:* Hey, no problem.  Glad you're still with us


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## GnomeWorks (Mar 15, 2004)

"Gah!  Put me down!" Seraphina cries, grabbing for her light crossbow.

Once set down (assuming she is), she pulls out her light crossbow, and loads it.

Draw crossbow, load crossbow.


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## Zhure (Mar 17, 2004)

*Gholog*

Sensing Seraphina wants free, Gholog will drop her without breaking stride.

"I think the answer is the bell. Ring it at all costs." Gholog continues running.


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## Other Guy (Mar 18, 2004)

*Jason Master*

Jason cracks his knuckles, “agreed.” He continues running alongside Gholog and punches anyone who gets too close for his comfort.


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## Jarval (Mar 19, 2004)

*Round 1*

Releasing Seraphina without a pause, Gholog charges towards the townsfolk.  Dropping one shoulder, he slams into one of the townsfolk, shoving the man back a good ten feet as he runs with him, clearing a gap in the street.

Jason follows after, dodging around two of the townsfolk to take a position behind Gholog.  He stands ready to deal with anyone who tries to get to the half-orc.

Seraphina springs to her feet, pulling her crossbow free and loading it.

The townsfolk move as one, racing after Gholog, ignoring Seraphina entirely.  Jason lashes out, his hand catching a young man across the side of his head, sending him to the ground, unconscious before he hits the street's cobbles.

Gholog balls his free hand into a fist, punching one of the two townspeople who throw themselves at him.  The woman's eyes start to glaze as Gholog's fist hits her jaw, her teeth meeting with a loud click.

The other man grabs Gholog around the waist, trying to wrestle him to the ground.  Gholog's greater strength wins out however, and he shakes off who he guesses to be the town's butcher by his blood-stained apron.

Expecting trouble from the crowd of people running towards her along the street, Seraphina is rather surprised when they all sprint past her...


(Gholog successfully bull-rushed the first Bellhold resident (#1 on the map), moving with him to send him 11 feet back down the street.  Jason made the Tumble roll to avoid any AoO, and readied an action to attack anyone who tried to get to Gholog and the crystal.  Seraphina's actions are pretty self evident 

The three remaining townsfolk at Gholog and Jason's end of the street attacked.  Jason and Gholog both took advantage of the presented AoO, both rendering their opponents unconscious (#2 and #3).  The butcher (#4) tried to grapple Gholog, making the touch attack to start the grapple, but failing the grapple check itself.

The remaining townsfolk are running down from the other end of the street, ignoring Seraphina.)


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## GnomeWorks (Mar 19, 2004)

_They're ignoring me... I wonder..._

Seraphina waits for the townsfolk to run past her.  Once they do so, she dashes off, heading for the belltower, but avoiding the townsfolk.

If the townsfolk start coming after her, she shoots one, and runs off as quickly as possible.

Delaying until the townsfolk go for Gholog and Jason, then double-move away and heads toward the belltower, avoiding townsfolk if possible.  If townsfolk attack her or head for her instead, she shoots one and runs off.


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## Other Guy (Mar 20, 2004)

*Jason Master*

His opponent unconscious beneath his feat, Jason leaves the two behind him to Gholog and turns his eyes to the six approaching. _I can do a lot more than just hit things_, he thinks to himself.

The young fighter-mage steps unafraid towards the small crowd and waits for them to get away from Seraphina. When they do, Jason speaks as only a wizard can, invoking his powers to cast _sleep_ on everyone he is able to affect.


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## Zhure (Mar 20, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog grunts. While tempted to return violence in kind, he knows he has more important issues to deal with. Gholog runs toward the belltower.

_Double move, tumble if necessary. Using a Burst._


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## Jarval (Mar 23, 2004)

Sprinting away around the corner, Gholog leaves the shambling townsfolk standing.  The crystal glows again, but Gholog barely needs focus to brush off the comparatively weak attempt to subdue his mind.

Jason waits for the charging townsfolk to rush past Seraphina, then says three lulling words, tracing a complex pattern in the air as the pinch of sand vanishes from his hand.  Almost invisibly faint motes of light fall around the townspeople, and to a man they drop into a deep sleep.  Taking that as his cue to depart, Jason turns and runs after Gholog.

The two remaining awake townsfolk turn and limpingly jog after the monk and psychic warrior, leaving Seraphina alone in the street.  Taking her chance, she slips into a side street, and dashes for the plaza and the belltower...

Two minutes of sprinting later, you all emerge into the town square to be confronted by an unwelcome sight.  The tower has been surrounded by the villagers not currently stumbling along the streets after Gholog and Jason (a number that has now swelled to a good forty people), forming a one man deep cordon running around the entire marketplace.  All turn to face Gholog as he comes into view... or to be more precise, they turn to face the crystal.

*"Now will you give me up?"*  The crystal's voice sounds from all around you, the sight and sound of the townsfolk speaking in unison raising the hairs on the back of your necks.  *"I am Copperdeath, and I reclaim what is mine!"*

With all eyes focused on the crystal, no one seems to have yet noticed Seraphina, she having emerged from an alley some twenty yards to the north of Jason and Gholog.


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## GnomeWorks (Mar 23, 2004)

_Break it, you fools!  It's our only chance!_

Without hesitation, Seraphina dashes to the belltower, then heads for the bell.  The instant she reaches it, she starts sounding it with all her might.

_Work, work, work, work!_


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## Zhure (Mar 25, 2004)

*Gholog*

"Yeah, I'll let you go..." Gholog takes a deep breath... "dragon."

The half-orc unlimbers his sling from around his wrist. "Like this."

Assuming he sees Seraphina there...
Aiming for the belltower, Gholog loads the crystal like it's a lead bullet into his masterwork sling and lets it fly.


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## Other Guy (Mar 25, 2004)

*Jason Master*

Jason stands next to Gholog and prays to a nameless god that the crystal shatters and sends its inhabitant to a nameless hell.

I’m going to be leaving tomorrow around noon and won’t return until sometime late Tuesday, so feel free to put Jason on autopilot until then. Sorry for the short notice, I’ll be looking forward to reading what happens,


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## Jarval (Mar 26, 2004)

Dodging under the arms of the distracted townsfolk, Seraphina dashes across the square and into the belltower.  No one makes a move to stop her, at least for now.

*"Good, you've seen sense at las..."*  The crystal's many voices tail off as Gholog places the large stone into his sling and starts to spin it.

*"NO!  I will kill you all if you do this!"*  The chorus cries out, then Gholog lets go.  The townsfolk look up as one to watch the crystal's arcing progress...

The crystal flies a disappointingly short distance, coming to rest about twenty feet from the bell towers.  There's a breathless moment after it hits the cobbles, then the townsfolk start towards the seemingly undamaged stone... just as Seraphina brings the first resounding peal from the Wyrmcall.  Every townsperson presses their hands to their ears to block out the sound, all wincing in apparent pain at the sound.

*"Kill... that... damn halfling..."*  The crystal's voice forces its way from the assembled townsfolk.


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## Zhure (Mar 27, 2004)

*Gholog*

"#$%%," Gholog says at his short toss. Scooping his glaive up, he tries to run an interecept between any of the townsfolk and Seraphina, counting on the villagers to be too distracted by the bell's sound to attack him.

 That and a tumble check if he can't avoid it.


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## GnomeWorks (Mar 28, 2004)

_That didn't sound friendly..._

She continues sounding the bell for all she's worth.


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## Jarval (Mar 30, 2004)

(Just to clarify, most of the townsfolk are still standing dazed by the bell, but one or two have started to move.  They're all still heading for the crystal.)


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## Other Guy (Apr 3, 2004)

*Jason Master*

Jason rushes to stop the few moving townsfolk from reaching the crystal, attacking as necessary. "I won't let you win," he growls angrily at the dark force possessing the village.


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## Jarval (Apr 3, 2004)

Moving in between the townsfolk and the crystal, Gholog and Jason shove back the few townsfolk starting to recover from the bell toll.  Glancing back at the crystal, Jason spots cracks forming then healing again all over the crystal's surface, in time with the Wyrmcall's chime...


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## Other Guy (Apr 4, 2004)

“Seraphina, keep it up!” Jason calls to his companion in the tower. “Gholog, the sound is hurting the crystal, we have to get it as close to the bell as we can.” _If only I had some sort of spell to amplify the sound, or perhaps a_ Far Hand _prepared_, he thinks to himself.


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## Zhure (Apr 6, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog attempts to use his glaive to knock the crystal closer toward the belltower as he passes by the small evil entity.


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## GnomeWorks (Apr 7, 2004)

Seraphina only nods, keeping her breath for the tiring task of ringing the bell - which she tries to do faster.

_Keep it up, keep it up..._


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## Jarval (Apr 8, 2004)

Delivering a resounding smack to the crystal with the flat of his glave, Gholog sends it skittering across the cobbles of the plaza and through the belltower's doorway.

It bumps into Seraphina's legs, almost causing her to loose her footing.  This isn't helped by the fact that whoever designed the bell must have intended it to be rung by someone a little taller and heavier than a halfling.  Looking down at the sapphire stone, she sees the cracks forming and healing on its surface.  The healing is now only barely keeping pace with the damaged inflicted by the booming ringing of the Wyrmcall.

While many of the townsfolk are starting to recover from the initial shock of the Wyrmcall, the crystal seems to be quickly reasserting its control.  Three of the townsfolk stumble towards Jason.  who lands a stinging blow to the side of one man's head, toppling him to the ground.  The two others close in on him, both flailing wildly with their arms.  Jason drops to one knee to avoid one swing, but the other catches him painfully in the throat.  Breathless from the intense pain, he stumbles back a few steps towards Gholog.


(Gholog got a very respectable 18 on his attack roll, hence the pin-point accuracy of his shot.  Jason took 4 points of damage from a townsman who rolled high, but managed to floor another of the horde of villagers.  One down, a hundred more to go...)


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## GnomeWorks (Apr 9, 2004)

*OoC:* So has Seraphina reached the limit of how fast she can ring the bell yet? 

Seraphina continues ringing the bell, edging the crystal with her foot to try to get it under the bell to get the full effect of the ringing.


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## Zhure (Apr 10, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog will move around the townspeople and toward the bell. _Maybe my larger weight will cause a louder sound..._


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## Other Guy (Apr 11, 2004)

*Jason Master*

Jason follows alongside Gholog and tries as best he can to protect the half-orc from the townspeople.


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## Jarval (Apr 11, 2004)

Gholog and Jason fall back into the belltower, slamming the heavy oak door shut behind them.  Jason heaves the iron bar into place to hold the door closed, while Gholog joins Seraphina at the Wyrmcall's rope.  His added weight increases the volume of each sounding of the bell, and the crystal (now directly under the bell) is having to work without pause to keep it's surface unbroken.

*"If you stop this madness now, I will let you all go unharmed."*  The stone's voice echoes into the tower from the assembled townsfolk outside.  *"I will make you all rich, if you will give me back to my people."*


_(*OoC:* A bit more detail on the construction of the belltower, now you're all inside it.  It's about fifty feet height, and has at least three stories to it (going by the locations of windows on the outside).  It's twenty feet square at it's base, and there's a flight of stairs leading up beside the door Jason's just barred.

Speaking of which, I hope nobody minds me acting for their character.  I thought barring the tower door was implicit from the general theme of your actions.)_


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## GnomeWorks (Apr 12, 2004)

Seraphina looks at Gholog as the people outside the tower speak in unison.

"I don't think it would actually do that..." She says, shaking her head as she and the half-orc sound the bell. "Better just to destroy the damn thing... hope they don't come through the door, that would be very bad..."


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## Other Guy (Apr 12, 2004)

*Jason Master*

“I agree,” Jason says to Seraphina, walking towards the crystal. He picks it up and speaks to it, “I’ve had just about enough of you.” The young man looks up at the bell 50 feet above his head and considers what to do.


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## Jarval (Apr 13, 2004)

_(*OoC:* Quick map time:  G = Gholog, J = Jason, S = Seraphina, T = Townspeople (or some of them...).  The grey square is some of the surrounding plaza, the white square is the bell tower.  You're currently on the ground floor of the belltower, with the bell about 50' (and at least two floors) above you.  The bellrope hangs down through a slot cut into the floor above.)_


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## Jarval (Apr 13, 2004)

_(*OoC:* I'm going to be away from EN World until the 23rd.  Sorry about any problems this might cause, but I've got quite a build up of RL stuff to deal with :\

I know this isn't the greatest timing on my part, what with the whole surrounded by possessed peasants situation you're currently in, but once I'm the other side of these problems, I should be able to get back to posting more often.  I know my posting has been a bit erratic over the last few months, but I do really enjoy running this game and look forwards to getting it back onto a more regular posting schedule.

Anyway, see you in week's time, and sorry about yet another delay.)_


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## Zhure (Apr 24, 2004)

BUMP!


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## Jarval (Apr 25, 2004)

_(*OoC:*  I'm back   Once I've got final actions from everyone this round, I'll update.)_


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## GnomeWorks (Apr 26, 2004)

"If we can wait, I could climb up the rope with the crystal, and get it closer to the bell so that the sound is louder." Seraphina says. "But we'd have to not ring the bell while I was doing that, and I don't know how long it will take me to get up there... Gholog, could you hold the door that long?"


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## Zhure (Apr 27, 2004)

*Gholog*

"I shall do my best."

Gholog closes the distance to the door leaving his weapon at the base of the bellrope. "Should I fall, see that this is returned to my monastery," he says.

"Townspeople! I shall not slay you this day, but long will you nurse the bruises I shall heap upon the forms this ancient evil has usurped."

He drops into a low crouch, arms coiled close to his body, obviously a practiced martial move.


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## Jarval (Apr 29, 2004)

_(*OoC:* Just giving Other Guy a chance to change his action if he wants.  I'll update some time tomorrow.)_


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## Other Guy (Apr 30, 2004)

*Jason Master*

(OOC)Noted and corrected, thanks, (/OOC)

Jason places the crystal in the hands of his halfling companion. “Ok. Make haste, I think I could be much more helpful to Gholog I than could to you right now. We’ll make sure nobody touches you, I promise.” He hurries behind Gholog.


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## Jarval (May 2, 2004)

Letting go of the bellrope, Seraphina grabs the crystal and shoves it into her backpack.  Taking hold of the bellrope again, she starts the slow climb up.

Gholog and Jason take a guarding position close to the belltower's barred door.  Once the ringing of the Wyrmcall has faded, the sounds of the townsfolk pounding on the door more than doubles in intensity.  Despite this effort, it seems to be holding, at least for now...

After nearly two minutes of climbing, and several near falls, Seraphina squeezes herself through the slot for the rope and up into the belfry.  Dumping her backpack on the wooden floor, she looks back down to the ground floor of the belltower, just in time to see the sturdy door burst off it's hinges with a shower of wooden splinters.  Bellhold's blacksmith stands in the doorway, a sledgehammer in his hands...


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## GnomeWorks (May 3, 2004)

Seraphina jerks the crystal from her pack, not caring if the pack falls but ensuring that she keeps a firm grip on the crystal.  Once firmly in hand, she begins banging the bell with it, trying to make as much noise as possible without knocking the crystal from her hands.


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## Other Guy (May 4, 2004)

*Jason Master*

“Uh oh,” Jason says, looking at their new enemy. He pauses for a moment, channeling his ki, then releases it in a strike against the blacksmith, hoping to subdue him long enough for Seraphina to break the crystal.

(OOC)
Stunning Fist against the blacksmith.
DC if it hits = 12
Also, will be doing nonlethal damage to all mind-controlled people.
(/OOC)


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## Zhure (May 5, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog will try to fill the hole made by the blacksmith, pummeling the man with his bare fists.


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## Jarval (May 8, 2004)

*Initiative:*
Seraphina 15
Gholog 15
Blacksmith 14
Jason 12

Seraphina strikes the crystal on the bell several times, but makes little impression.  The ringing is far quieter that when she was tolling the bell with its rope, and the crystal seems unaffected by the physical impact.

Gholog pummels the blacksmith's torso, nearly winding the man.  The smith swings his hammer, Gholog crouching low to avoid the strike, and the hammer goes on to smash into the wall.  Little shards of stone scatter across the floor from the impact, the blacksmith trying to regain his balance.

Jason spots his chance, and delivers a single resounding kick to the blacksmith's head.  The heavy hammer slips from the man's grip, and he staggers back a step, his hand going up to gingerly touch the spot Jason hit.

The press of Bellhold's townsfolk try to surge through the doorway, but the smith stands firm, his eyes unfocused.  For now, at least, you're protected from the hundreds of people outside...


(Both Gholog and Jason's attacks dealt 5 points of damage each, so the smith has taken 10 points so far (all non-lethal).  Jason's stunning fist (or foot, as the case may be) succeeded.)


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## GnomeWorks (May 8, 2004)

"Damn it!" Seraphina curses quietly, and sets the crystal down as close to the bell as possible while ensuring that it won't fall down the hole.

She grabs the rope, and begins tolling the bell once more.


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## Zhure (May 12, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog waits until the smith looks like he's rousing, then strikes him again.

 readied action - might as well keep the smith in the door as long as possible.


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## Other Guy (May 12, 2004)

*Jason Master*

Jason quickly grabs the hammer from the floor and throws it to the other side of the room. “How’re you coming up there, Seraphina?” he shouts.


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## Jarval (May 12, 2004)

Taking hold of the bellrope, Seraphina tolls the bell again.  This close to, the sound is physically painful, not just to her ears but to her entire body, feeling almost like the blow from a fist.  She staggers, but keeps hold of the rope.

The crystal seems to have faired worse, however.  The cracks on it's surface are deeper than you've seen them before, and take much longer to start healing over.  The crystal glows brightly again, and this time Seraphina feels a mental blow strike her mind, enough to make her release her grip on the rope.

Jason hurls the hammer across the room as the blacksmith slowly starts to recover from his strike.  Gholog takes note of this, and lands a heavy punch to the man's jaw.  He staggers back drunkenly, before returning the favour to the half-orc, hitting him hard in the stomach.


(Seraphina takes 2 points of subdual damage from the bell, and has been _dazed_ by the crystal[/i].  Gholog dealt another 5 points of subdual damage to the blacksmith, and took 4.)


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## Zhure (May 15, 2004)

*Gholog*

Gholog wonders why Seraphina has stopped ringing the bell. _If she doesn't start up again, I'll go ring the bell myself..._

Still he continues hammering with his fists at the blacksmith.

 Since Gholog has IUS, does the blacksmith's attack provoke?


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## Jarval (May 16, 2004)

Zhure said:
			
		

> Since Gholog has IUS, does the blacksmith's attack provoke?



(Not in this case.  Gholog might not be the only one in town to have IUS...)


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## Other Guy (May 16, 2004)

*Jason Master*

Jason begins attacking the blacksmith furiously.

(OOC)Flurry of Blows: attack bonus –1/–1(/OOC)


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## Jarval (May 18, 2004)

Kerrick slowly forces his way through the mass to townsfolk around the Wyrmcall's tower, mimicking their fixed blank stare.  Now he's no longer part of the group with the crystal, he's being ignored by the townspeople around him.

With one final shove, he forces himself into the tower doorway, only to find in blocked by the back of an exceptionally burly man in a blacksmith's leather apron.  Around this mountainous man, he can see Gholog and Jason...

**********

Jason forsakes accuracy in favour of speed, an approach that seems to pay off.  He catches the blacksmith on the temple with one of his many swings, sending the man toppling back towards the crowd trying to push their way into the belltower.  Unfortunately, Jason also steps forwards just in time for the smith's leg to knock his own from under him, sprawling him on the floor beside the now unconscious man.  Looking up from the ground, he sees Derrick standing in the doorway, his eyes oddly unfocused...

Gholog grabs Jason by the back of his tunic, pulling him back up to his feet.  The crowd outside pushes as one, forcing Kerrick into the tower and towards his companions.

Seraphina shakes off the mind-clouding effect manifested by the crystal.  Looking around, she sees everything is as it was, with the crystal slowly healing the still-deep cracks on its surface.


(Jason rolls a 16 and a... 1 on his flurry of blows, hence the embarrassing fall.  Still, he deal 5 more points of subdual damage to the smith, enough to knock him out and take him out of the fight.

On another note, Kerrick's back!  He can start making actions from the beginning of next round, and comes after Jason and Gholog, but before Seraphina in the initiative count.)


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## GnomeWorks (May 18, 2004)

"Damn it..." Seraphina curses.  Ripping off two small pieces off of her tunic, she stuffs them in her ears, then begins tugging on the rope once again.


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## Zhure (May 18, 2004)

*Gholog*

During the brief respite, Gholog glances to see if there are any stairs or ladders leading up into the belltower. If there are none, he will pick his glaive from the floor and jump, slicing the rope as high as possible to prevent anyone else climbing to where the stone is.

Otherwise, he will continue using his bare hands and feet to stop the advance of the crowd.


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## Other Guy (May 19, 2004)

*Jason*

“Kerrick!” Jason exclaims, “oh, is it good to see you again. We have to keep the townspeople from getting in here. Here,” he steps aside to allow Kerrick to enter.


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## Jarval (May 20, 2004)

Zhure said:
			
		

> During the brief respite, Gholog glances to see if there are any stairs or ladders leading up into the belltower.



(*OoC:*  Hmm, looking back on it, the map I posted earlier isn't as clear as it could have been...  The bordered area running around the inside of the tower is the narrow stairway leading up the floor above.  The bottom of the stairs is to the left of the door into the tower.

Update coming once Sir Osis has posted.)


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 20, 2004)

*Kerrick Jonez*

"Townsfolk are all off thier carts!" Kerrick exclaims as he rushes in. Attempting to keep any of the townsfolk from pushing past into the tower as he does so.


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## Jarval (May 22, 2004)

Gritting her teeth, Seraphina rings the bell again.  Her makeshift earplugs muffle the sound somewhat, lessening the impact of the bell's resonant call.  The crystal fractures again, more deeply than before, and it glows brightly.  Another cloud of distraction briefly touches Seraphina's mind, but this time she shakes it off.

As Kerrick pushes into the tower, Jason and Gholog move forwards to block the incoming townsfolk.  Jason delivers an open-handed chopping strike to one man (you'd guess a farmer by his garb), staggering but not dropping the man.  Gholog's approach involves much less finesse: grabbing a rather foppishly dressed young man by the lapels, he delivers a ringing headbutt to the bridge of the man's nose.  The fop's eyes cross, and he tumbles into a gaudily-coloured heap on the floor beside the blacksmith.

Unphased by this, the farmer lunges at Jason.  The monk flinches to one side, bringing up an arm to stop the clumsy attack.  A woman wearing an apron covered in a dusting of flour steps forwards to take the place of the fop, a rolling pin in her hands as she advances menacingly towards Gholog...


(Seraphina takes 1 more point of subdual damage from the bell, but the rags seem to be taking the worst sting out of being so close to the Wyrmcall.  Jason deals 2 points subdual to the farmer, while Gholog dishes out a painful 5 points.

*Damage taken so far (remaining HP/max HP):*
Gholog 4 (14/18)
Jason 4 (8/12)
Seraphina 3 subdual (10/10)
Kerrick 0 (8/8)
Farmer 2 (?/?))


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## GnomeWorks (May 26, 2004)

_Ring, ring, ring, ring!_

"Somebody answer the door already!" Seraphina cries jokingly as she rings the bell with more desperation.


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## Other Guy (May 27, 2004)

*Jason Master*

“Happily,” Jason calls out to Seraphina, throwing his fist into the farmer’s stomach.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (May 30, 2004)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Not seeing any room to get into the fight with the townsfolk, kerrick rushes over to aid in the ringing of the bell, ripping pieces off his shirt to plug his ears as he goes.


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## Jarval (May 31, 2004)

Ugh, I'm going to have to make myself unpopular again... :\ 

Due to some time consuming RL issues with my university study and having a job landed on me, I'm going to be away from EN World until the 12th of June.  I'm really sorry about this folks, I know me taking another leave of absence only just a month after the last one is must be _really_ annoying


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## Jarval (Jun 22, 2004)

*Initiative:*
Seraphina 15
Gholog 15
Jason 12
Townsfolk 11
Kerrick 7

Seraphina continues ringing the bell, watching more and more cracks craze the surface of the crystal.  Another mental assault slams across her thoughts, but again she pushes it aside.

Gholog waits for the rolling pin wielding woman to close before moving.  She takes a wild swing at the half-orc, but Gholog catches the improvised weapon and forces her arms back, striking her on the right temple.  She falls, adding to the growing pile of unconscious forms filling the doorway.

With a swift punch, Jason drops the farmer to the same heap, taking a ready stance.

A familiar form strides into the belltower.  Captain Haldik makes directly for Gholog, lunging forwards with his sword.  The blade slides into Gholog's torso, just under the half-orc's ribcage, and Gholog slides back off the longsword and onto the floor.  Two townsfolk rush past Captain Haldik and through the gap made by Gholog's fall, running up the stairs towards the upper floor and Seraphina.

Kerrick jumps and grabs the hanging bellrope, sending another booming chime through the belltower.  Up above, Seraphina sees a sizeable chunk fall free from the crystal, but everyone feels the psychic scream of pain that the stone emits.  The crystal half-rolls towards the fragmented chunk, perhaps trying to reclaim all the parts of itself, and from behind Seraphina comes the sound of people pounding on the (apparently locked) door blocking the stairway onto the upper floor...


(Seraphina takes another 3 points of subdual damage from the bell, but it looks like the crystal is taking more from her and Kerrick's combined efforts.  There were two critical hits this round, one from Gholog and the other from Captain Haldik.  Gholog rolled a 20, to deal 6 points of subdual to the baker, while Captain Haldik took advantage of the longsword's improved critical range and rolled a 19, followed by a 17 to confirm.  Then he dished out 16 points of damage, enough to drop Gholog down to -2.  Jason did a solid but less dramatic 4 subdual, KOing the farmer.

*Damage taken so far (remaining HP/max HP):*
Gholog 20 (-2/18)
Jason 4 (8/12)
Seraphina 6 subdual (10/10)
Kerrick 0 (8/8))


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 22, 2004)

_I hope that lock holds..._

"No you don't!" Seraphina cries.

As she rings the bell, she reaches out with her foot and tries to kick the smaller chunk of crystal through the hole in the floor.


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## Other Guy (Jun 22, 2004)

*Jason Master*

”Gholog? You bastard!” Jason screams and growls at the possessed Haldik, charges him and strikes furiously.

(OOC)Flurry of Blows: attack bonus –1/–1(/OOC)


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jun 23, 2004)

*Kerrick Jonez*

_Arrg, we got to end this quick!_  Kerick despertly yanks on the rope with everything he's got, hoping to end things before the townsfolk can stop the group.


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## Jarval (Jun 24, 2004)

Seraphina hooks the smaller lump of crystal with her foot, and kicks it down through the hole.  It misses Kerrick by inches, shattering on the floor.

Jason leaps forwards, pure anger clear in his eyes.  With a whirlwind of kicks and punches, he quickly renders Haldik senseless, the guard captains defence insufficient to fend off the ball of fury that faced him.

The townsfolk continue to rush into the tower, blocking the stairway with a a press of bodies.  The hammering on the door behind Seraphina increases in volume, the frame of the door starting to produce alarming creaking sounds.

Kerrick gives the bellrope another tug with all his strength, and produces the loudest chime so far.  It echoes around the tower, and the crystal makes several loud snapping sounds.  Seraphina throws herself back from it as it explodes in a burst of brilliant sapphire light.  Sharp fragments of crystal fly around the room, one nicking Seraphina's arm as it whistles past.

Then, all is silent.  A slow, confused murmuring starts outside the tower and quickly spreads inside as the townsfolk regain their senses...


(Jason does well in his attack, getting a critical and dealing 19 points of damage.  I think my dice must like rolling high this week   Seraphina takes another 2 points of subdual damage from the bell, and a point of damage from the crystal shard.  The crystal itself is no more.)


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## Other Guy (Jun 24, 2004)

*Jason Master*

Jason breathes heavily and calms himself as he looks around at the freed men and women around him. He sighs and wipes the sweat from his forehead before speaking, “Alright, allow me to clear up some of the confusion. You were all possessed by a powerful psychic. It looks like we’ve managed to kill him—or her, I’m not really sure—but you’ve all managed to hurt us a little bit. My friend needs a healer, so at the very least somebody please help me bandage his wounds.”

He smiles. “I’m guessing you should all be safe now, so go through that door and thank the ones who saved you.”


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jun 25, 2004)

*Kerrick Jonez*

With a sigh of releif KJerrick lets the rope go, "Is everyone alright? Sure is a good thing i got here when i did, you guys would be in big trouble without me."


[OOC:     ]


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## Jarval (Jun 29, 2004)

At Jason's explanation, the confusion seems to die down at little, but the murmuring of the townsfolk grows in both volume and amount as everyone starts discussing the monk's words.  A man pushes his way up the stairs to the door, and runs his hand along the top of the door frame, taking down a small key.

Seraphina hears a *click* from behind her, and the door swings open to reveal several (rather more sane-looking) townspeople standing there.  A small cheer goes up as they spot Seraphina, and a few make their way over to examine the shards of crystal littering the room.

Back on the ground floor, the call for a healer goes out, and a few moments later Thorlenn steps into the tower.  Picking her way past the various senseless townspeople, she utters a brief prayer to Pelor, and some of Gholog's wounds heal over.  He's still unconscious, but his breathing has evened and he's no longer losing blood.

"How did this happen?"  She asks Jason, her gesture including Gholog, the slowly recovering townsfolk and the shattered crystal fragment.


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## GnomeWorks (Jun 29, 2004)

_What the-!  Oh, they're alright..._

Seraphina gives a sigh of relief as she sees that the entering townspeople appear sane.

"Don't touch that!" She says as they approach the crystal, however. "I don't know what it is, or if it still works, but... don't touch it.  Not yet.  Just leave it alone, for now."


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## Jarval (Jul 3, 2004)

_(*OoC:*  Bump...

Don't let the fact that Thorlenn's question was directed towards Jason stop anyone else from answering her.)_


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jul 5, 2004)

*Kerrick Jonez*

Kerrick walks over to the gathered villagers and responds tot he question, "Well to put it bluntly, you under the domination of that thrice damned crystal we just destroyed."


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## Jarval (Jul 7, 2004)

The townspeople seems to heed Seraphina's warning, backing away from the crystal shards.  There's a general flow of people back down the stairs and out into the square, leaving the way clear for Seraphina  to rejoin the rest of the party.

"How in God's names could this have happened?"  Thorlenn starts, then turns as she hears something called from outside.  "No, never mind, we can find out later.  Follow me."  She briskly makes her way into the plaza, the crowds parting to let her and the party pass.

Outside, Mayor Waterman and Lucius Krekket wait.  A handful of the town guard stand beside them, most still dressed in their civilian clothes.

"Ah, gentlemen.  And lady."  The Mayor address the group as they approach.  "We've been told we have you to thank for breaking whatever spell lay over our village."  He approaches closer, dropping his voice a little.

"I'm not entirely clear on the detail, or just what's been going on here for the last half-hour or so.  If you'd be so good as to accompany me to the town hall, I'd greatly appreciate an explanation..."  He gives you all a small worried smile.


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## Jarval (Jul 12, 2004)

_(Bump.  If you folks want, I can skip the meeting with the Mayor and move onto something else?)_


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## GnomeWorks (Jul 15, 2004)

Seraphina nods. "Sure, we can tell you what happened.  Though I think we're a little shaky on the details ourselves..."

I think we're at something of an awkward pause...


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## Jarval (Jul 18, 2004)

You accompany the Mayor, Lucius Krekket and half-a-dozen of Bellhold's guards to the town hall.  Between the three of you, you detail the events of the last few days.  Captian Haldik joins you after a few minutes, his face still bruised from Jason's attack.  He reassures you that Gholog will recover, and apologises for his part in the siege on the belltower.

While perhaps not happy with the explanation, all present are obviously relieved that the danger now apparently past.  Mayor Waterman asks that you stay in town for the next couple of days, to both give time for Gholog to be healed and to help to town guard keep the peace while everyone settles down after the "excitement" of the afternoon.

The rest of the day passes either helping to patrol the busy town streets or in the Bell and Clapper having round after round of drinks bought for you.  Tokket has switched you to the finest rooms available in the tavern, and has made it clear that you'll not be paying for anything in his establishment for the duration of your stay.

"T'was Copperdeath, without a doubt."  Tokket asserts firmly on the nature of the crystal.  "Who'd have thought it?  Just goes to show, you can't kill a dragon easy.  And near fifty years to the day since my ma did him in the first time..."

The celebrations look to go on long into the night, the tale of your battle with the goblins and the crystal being told and retold.  The fact that you did nothing worse than dent a few heads in your dealings with the possessed townsfolk is held in very high regard, and you find yourselves being called the Heroes of Bellhold time and time again...


_(*OoC:*  If you've got any actions you'd like to take or questions you want to ask during the rest of the day, feel free.  If not, I'll update again and move on to the next day on Monday or Tuesday.)_


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## Jarval (Jul 22, 2004)

_(*OoC:*  Could everyone drop by the OoC thread please?  Thanks )_


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