# Three Hundred Years - updated 09.02.2003



## carpedavid (Oct 3, 2002)

*Introduction:*

Three Hundred Years is a campaign set during the 300-year war between the Empire of Avengard and the Empire of Terrel on the world of Trinis. The story begins shortly before Avengard invades Terrel and should take the characters (and their descendants) through the most tumultuous years in Trinidic history.

The characters are all Terrelian nationals or are from lands allied with Terrel, and, shortly after the campaign begins, are conscripted into the Terrelian army. They are given officer's ranks due to their skills, and, when the logs begin, have taken over two Avengardan airships.

*Cast (in order of appearance):*

*Nym* - A valley elf fighter/wizard who is eager to find adventure, but not to join the army. 

*Laurel* - A wood elf ranger/rogue from the wood elven territories of the great forest, Thra Fez. She has come to Terrel to find adventure. 

*Erendil* - A valley elf archer who is eager to defend his country from the terrible Avengardan Empire. 

*Danklar* - A human priest of Dominus, the sun god, who initially joined the party to help reclaim an abandoned Dominisian temple from undead. After the war broke out, his priorities changed, and he stayed with the party to help defeat Avengard. 

*Shoji* - A half-elven monk from the oriental country of Fang Yo. He was wandering the world in a quest to improve himself, and saw the war as a great opportunity to practice his martial skills. 

*Taminnyd* - A human wizard whose guild was destroyed by advancing Avengardan forces. He has vowed revenge against those who killed his guildmaster. 

*Scarlet* - A human barbarian from the Nettle Woods who was hired by Taminnyd to defend him. 

*Dew* - An elven Terrelian fighter who enlisted in the Terrelian army in an effort to defend her homeland. 

*Wrayce* - A druid encountered by the party as they adventure through the Nettle Woods. He joins the party initially to help them defend the woodlands, and then decides to keep their company permanently.

*Quara* - A female human archer who has grown up in the Terrelian army. She is assigned to accompany the group on their newest quest.

*The World of Trinis*
You can learn more about the world of Trinis by visiting the campaign website at: http://www.thehumanproject.org/trinis.


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## carpedavid (Oct 3, 2002)

*9.28.02 - Session 1, Part 1*

After having salvaged what they can from the Red Dragon, Laurel, Nym, Erendil, Shoji, and Danklar begin flying the captured Unicorn and Displacer Beast back to New Charleston. Danklar captains the Unicorn with Avengardan prisoners tied up in the keep, and Laurel pilots the Displacer Beast with the remaining Terrelian troops.

As they fly through the dark night, the firestorm on the horizon creeps closer, the sound of thunder rolling through the air. Nym keeps looking though the spyglass at the horrific battle. As far as he can see, Avengardan and Terrelian airships bombard each other with fireballs, lightning bolts, and ballistae. The Avengardans are pushing the unprepared Terrelians back at an alarming rate. Within a week, the front will reach the Nettle Wood. Within two, it could reach the capital. 

As the group solemnly watches the fighting in the distance, a Terrelian command ship appears out of the darkness. "Halt!" booms a voice across the shadowed gap between them, "Stop your ships and prepare to be boarded." Laurel struggles to control the air spirit bound into the Displacer Beast. Before today, she had never piloted an airship, and it takes all of her concentration to bring the ship to a stuttering halt. The command ship nimbly pulls alongside and a heavily armored human man whose insignia identifies him as an admiral, steps off the deck and gracefully floats over. A small squadron of soldiers, who all have their weapons drawn, follows closely behind him. 

"Who is the commander of this ship?" the admiral demands as he lands on the deck of the Displacer Beast. 

Shoji looks around at his companions, hoping that one of them will volunteer. Erendil takes a step backward and looks at his shoes. While technically the captain, Laurel is busy keeping the ship steady. Nym is nowhere to be seen. "I guess I am," Shoji steps forward and salutes. 

"Why are you flying Terrelian flags on an Avengardan ship?" the admiral hisses. 

"Uh, well, we captured them after they attacked our troop transport, the Red Dragon," Shoji offers hesitantly. 

"Really," the admiral's stare drills into Shoji's head, "Then where is the Red Dragon?" 

"Um, well, sir, you see, we had to scuttle it and use its parts to repair these two ships. It wasn't airworthy anymore," Shoji replies. 

"Hmm." The admiral considers this for a moment, and then his countenance relaxes. "You've done well," he says as he looks around at the group of adventurers, "These ships may be very valuable to us in the future." After pausing for a moment to think, he asks, "Do you have any standing orders?" 

"No," replies Shoji 

The admiral nods his head. "Very good, then," he says as he motions to one of his guard. The soldier turns and flies to the command ship, then returns a moment later with a large silver scroll tube. "You'll take these orders to the ground commander at New Charleston," the admiral instructs as the guard hands the tube to Shoji. "We can't trust magical communications not to be intercepted, so you'll save me a great deal of time," he says, looking pleased for the first time. 

"We will do our best, sir," says Shoji. 

"Go with Dominus' grace," the admiral smiles. He turns to his guard, and flies back to the command ship. After a moment, the HMS Intrepid pulls away, and the Displacer Best and the Unicorn resume flying though the inky darkness. 

_More to come..._


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## carpedavid (Oct 8, 2002)

*9.28.02 - Session 1, Part 2*

Taminnyd entered New Charleston under the cover of darkness. The advancing Avengardan forces had attacked the wizard's guild of which he had been a member, killed his guild master, and stole the guild master's spell book. He had barely escaped in the ensuing chaos, and was frightened for his life. After hiding in a barn until daylight, he hitched a ride with a fleeing farmer, and arrived in the frontier town several hours after sundown.

The Terrelian army was busy fortifying the town - digging trenches, building watchtowers, and erecting a defensible wall. The merchants were busy boarding up their shops, and most of the inns had closed down, despite the influx of refugees from the surrounding countryside. After much looking around, Taminnyd finds the only open inn in town - the Golden Centaur.

At the same time that Taminnyd is on his flight to New Charleston, Scarlet notices the firestorm far on the horizon. Having made her home deep in the Nettle Woods, she hears little news from the civilized world, so she sets off toward New Charleston to find out what's going on.

Upon arriving, she sees a town in chaos - the military is fortifying the town, shopkeepers are boarding up, and the residents are in a panic. Finding the only open inn, she asks the barkeep about what is happening in the north.

"The evil Avengardans have invaded us," the obviously frightened man replies, "They caught us with our pants down, and they've been pushing our navy back at an alarming rate. You had to have seen the army fortifying the town - it looks like they're going to try to make a stand here." Scarlet pays the man for a drink, while she tries to decide what this means to her.

Taminnyd noticed the wild looking woman enter the Golden Centaur - she was the only person that looked unworried, and she had a bastard sword strapped to her back. While he considered himself well versed in the magical arts, he knew that his martial skills were sorely lacking. He needed someone who was good with a blade if he was going to find those that killed his guild master, and the wild woman looked like a good choice.

"Excuse me," Taminnyd says as he taps Scarlet on the shoulder, "I was wondering if your services were for sale?"

Scarlet looks at Taminnyd suspiciously, "What kind of services did you have in mind?"

"The Avengardans destroyed my guild, killed my guild master, and stole his spell book. I need a bodyguard, and I saw the blade on your back."

"Oh," Scarlet relaxes, then says with a smile, "what kind of compensation are you offering?"

The Displacer Beast and the Unicorn cause quite a commotion as they fly into New Charleston. The sight of Avengardan ships near the town is compounded by the erratic nature of Laurel's improvisational piloting, though after the party sets the ships down and tosses out mooring ropes, the soldiers manning the airship docks quickly determine that they are not faced with an invading force.

As they disembark, the dock commander meets the party. Shoji holds out the scroll case to him, "We're here to deliver these orders."

"Who are these orders to be delivered to?" the dock commander inquires.

Obviously not you, Shoji thinks as he discretely withdraws the scroll case. "Um, they’re supposed to go to the commander of the troops here."

"Oh!" the dock commander snaps to attention. "I'll show you to General Talvyn right away," he stutters, and, without waiting for a response, begins walking quickly through the dockyard. The stomach flu that Nym has been suffering from begins acting back up and he returns to the ship. Laurel, Erendil, Shoji, and Danklar sprint after the dock commander, dodging horses, carts, and people as they wind their way through the worried throngs of refugees, residents, merchants, and soldiers. He leads them to the town green, where a complex of military command tents has been erected, and, after speaking briefly to a guard, ushers them into a large tent.

Hunched over a large table that is covered by several inches of parchment, papers, and scrolls is a slender but powerful human man clad in chainmail. He looks up at the group entering his tent, irritation evident in his expression.

"General Talvyn, sir," the dock commander says as he salutes.

"Yes, lieutenant?" he sighs, an air of resignation evident in his voice.

"Orders from the front, sir."

"Oh. Very well, bring them here," he sighs again as he resumes studying a map. The dock commander looks over at Shoji excitedly, and, after rolling his eyes, Shoji walks over and hands the scroll to the general. Talvyn takes the scroll tube and opens it without looking up. "Hrmmm. Yes…yes… ah, good," he mumbles whilst reading the scroll. Upon finishing, he looks back up at the party, and finally addresses them directly, "Do you have much magic among you?"

Shoji takes a mental stock of his companions, then replies, "No. Not really."

Talvyn grumbles, and then asks, "Do you need a new pilot?"

Laurel, who up until this point had been content to let Shoji deal with the military commanders, interjects, "Oh, absolutely!"

Talvyn looks slightly surprised, but continues, "Very well, then. I can spare you one pilot. But I cannot spare any wizards. There have been thousands of people fleeing here from the front, I'm sure that you can find a wizard among them. At any rate, your new orders are to find and recruit Brannaugh Proudclaw, the Keeper of the Beasts for the Nettle Woods."

"How do we find him?" Erendil asks.

"Look for bears - lots of bears," replies Talvyn, "Unfortunately, he's very hard to scry, so your best bet is to find someone familiar with his area of the woods." He turns back to studying his maps, and in a dismissive tone, says, "Report back here when you're finished. I'll have more for you to do."

The dock commander turns back to the party, and ushers them out. As they're leaving the tent, he says, "I noticed that your ship, the Unicorn, needs a lot of repairs. I can have some of my men work on it while you're gone, if you want to leave it here. I'm sure that the general will want your ships to be as airworthy as possible." The group agrees that this sounds like a good idea, and they bid farewell to the dock commander as they head into the town to find suitable candidates to join their party.

After having amicably settled matters of compensation, Scarlet and Taminnyd have kicked back and relaxed at the Golden Centaur, resting themselves in preparation for beginning their journey to find the man than destroyed Taminnyd's guild. They are in the middle of a mug of ale when they see a group of adventurers who are all wearing military insignia enter the inn. They watch as the pretty wood elf, the oriental monk, and the human cleric all head to the bar. The elf with the bow on his back begins to look around the room, staring at each person intently. After a moment, he walks up to their table.

"Greetings," Erendil says cheerfully as he looks at Scarlet and Taminnyd. "We're looking for people good with the magical arts."

Taminnyd groans inwardly, and surreptitiously slips a pinch of powdered lotus root out of his bag. As Scarlet replies, "I can assure you that I have no magical abilities," he quickly chants an arcane phrase under his breath. 

Erendil's pupils dilate briefly as he feels an overwhelming sense of love and affection for Taminnyd well up inside his chest, but he shakes off the feeling a second later, and looks unhappily at Taminnyd. "Please don't do that," he says with a frown.

Taminnyd rolls his eyes, inwardly cursing the failed spell, but asks, out of a morbid curiosity, "Why, exactly, are you looking for a wizard?"

"We're seeking to defeat the evil Empire of Avengard, and defend our homeland. We need a wizard to assist us."

The mention of Avengard stirs Taminnyd's stomach. The memories of the massacre and his flight to New Charleston are still fresh in his mind. "Perhaps we could mutually aid each other," he offers.

"What do you have in mind?" asks Erendil.

"The advancing Avengardan forces destroyed my guild and killed my guild master. I wish to track down the man who was responsible for this and bring him to justice."

"I think we could assist you in that endeavor," Erendil replies earnestly.

"What kind of compensation are you offering," asks Scarlet, who is not terribly keen on becoming involved with people who have ties to the military.

"You would certainly be paid normal military wages," Erendil assures, "and anything you would need, we should be able to provide."

Taminnyd turns to Scarlet, and the two converse in whispers for a moment. "Ok," replies Taminnyd, "we'll join with you for now."

"Excellent," Erendil replies happily, "Do you need to retrieve anything before we set sail?"

Taminnyd looks at Scarlet, who shakes her head, "No, we can leave from here."

Erendil introduces the new companions to Laurel, Shoji, and Danklar, and then explains their current mission. Upon hearing the name of Brannaugh Proudclaw, Scarlet mentions that she is familiar with him, and could probably lead the party to the area of the forest that he normally inhabits. All agree that this sounds like their best bet, so they return to the ship to begin their journey as soon as possible.

When they return to the ship, they see two things. One, Nym is hanging over the rail, trying not to get sick on the soldiers hastily repairing the Displacer Beast. Two, a pretty young elven woman in a soldier's uniform is standing by the gangplank. She introduces herself as Dew, and hands over her orders to accompany the party. All readily welcome her, except for Taminnyd, who looks at her suspiciously, and asks, "What good are you to us?"

"I'm very good with a blade," she replies, unfazed.

"Hmm," Taminnyd grumbles, "We'll see."

As the party boards the ship and chooses sleeping quarters, they discover that the new pilot is already on board. Taminnyd asks him about the capabilities of the ship, and the young human man eagerly begins explaining every statistic available on the ship. Taminnyd immediately regrets his question, and walks away after a few minutes.

The mooring ropes are tossed off, and the ship lurches up into the air. The pilot places his hands on the command console and smoothly guides the ship up out of the dockyard and into the early dawn sky.

_More to come..._


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## carpedavid (Oct 9, 2002)

*9.28.02 - Session 1, Part 3*

While most of the party members try to catch a few hours of sleep, Scarlet remains on deck, assisting the pilot in trying to navigate the Nettle Woods from the air. Never having been on board an airship before, Scarlet is a little bit frightened, a little bit excited, and a little bit frustrated. Many of the landmarks that she is familiar with look completely different or are hidden entirely from the air, so she has to rely more than she'd like on her instinct.

After a few hours of sailing east, though, she feels that they've arrived in the right place, and she goes below deck to wake her companions. They emerge rubbing their eyes and yawning, except for Nym, who is wracked with intestinal cramps, and chooses to stay below deck.

"Ok, I think we're here," Scarlet informs them, as the pilot takes the airship down to treetop level. Rope ladders are kicked off the side, and Scarlet, Taminnyd, Laurel, Shoji, Erendil, Danklar, and Dew climb down to the forest floor. The Nettle Woods take their name from the thick bramble and thorn bushes that dominate the underbrush, and the party finds movement in the area to be painful.

"Ok, now what?" asks Shoji.

Scarlet shrugs, "I told you I could get us to the general area he inhabits. I've never actually met him though, so I don't know where exactly to find him."

"Didn't the general say something about looking for bears?" Taminnyd suggests.

"Right," Laurel replies, "I'll look for bear tracks, everybody stay here." The group watches as she begins looking through the underbrush. As she searches, she moves in an ever-widening spiral, and after about an hour, finally finds telltale signs of bear activity. "I found tracks," she says as she returns to the group, "Follow me."

The early morning sun filters through the leaves as the forest wakes up. As the group follows the bear tracks, they see birds foraging for worms and squirrels scampering amongst the oak, maple, and pine trees. After an hour of slow movement through the woods, Laurel finds more tracks joining the first. As they continue, the number of tracks increases, until she finds over thirty different sets of tracks, all heading west. "I think we're getting close," she says quietly.

"What are we going to tell Proudclaw?" Taminnyd asks Shoji.

"What do you mean?" Shoji replies, confused.

"To get him to join the fight," Taminnyd says impatiently.

"Oh. I think we'll tell him that the woods are in danger. If Avengard defeats Terrel, they'll have no problem marching through here."

Taminnyd is less than pleased with Shoji's answer. "This man has no concern for the civilized world. We'll need to do better than that," he says in a dismissive tone, "perhaps you should think before you speak." As he moves away from Shoji to walk next to Scarlet, Shoji decides that he really doesn't like the new wizard.

"Wouldn't it be funny if we end up getting ambushed and eaten by bears?" Shoji quips, as Laurel notices that the tracks suddenly scatter in different directions. She stops, and looks at Shoji with a horrified expression. Around them, thirty very large brown bears suddenly emerge out of the brush and trees.

Taminnyd backs behind Scarlet and fumbles with his bag of spell components as the bears begin to move in closer. Suddenly, a short dwarven man steps out from behind one of the bears. He has a wild look about him, with twigs braided into his fiery red beard, and mud encrusting his brown leather armor and wooden shield, and double-headed battle-axe. Around his neck, though, he wears a braided circle of vines - the symbol for Shara, the goddess of nature.

"What ye be doin' in my woods?" the dwarf demands, eyeing the group suspiciously.

Shoji speaks for the group, "We're looking for Brannaugh Proudclaw."

"That'd be me," he replies, now eyeing the group even more suspiciously, "why're you lookin' fer me?"

As Shoji and Proudclaw speak, Laurel cautiously approaches the nearest bear. She moves slowly and deliberately, trying to demonstrate to the bear that she means no harm. It sniffs at her and then hangs it's head, allowing her to touch it. Laurel scratches it behind the ears, and it flops over contentedly.

Shoji continues, "We've been sent by the Terrelian army. Avengard has invaded Terrel, and the army needs your assistance."

"I got no use fer th' world o' men," he says grumpily, "Why should I be bothered t' go an' help 'em?"

"Well," Shoji thinks for a moment, and then replies sincerely, "The Avengardans want to see Terrel destroyed - all of it. They would have no compunction in burning down the Nettle Woods and killing off all of the animals here. Your bears would be killed off, I'm sure."

Proudclaw considers this before speaking, "Well, I can't have m' bears bein' hurt. When d' they need me?"

"As soon as possible," Shoji replies

"Well, I can't leave now, I got's somethin' I have t' finish 'fore I leave."

"What is it that you need done, perhaps we can help?" Taminnyd interjects.

"There be a group o' kobolds been huntin' my bears. They moved into an ol' forge up a ways. That's where I was headed when I met you."

"Well, we would be happy to help you," Taminnyd replies, "When we're done, we've got an airship that can take you back."

"An airship! I ain't gettin' on one o' them. My feet stay on th' ground." Proudclaw thinks for a moment, then continues, "Tell ya' what. You take 'care of th' kobolds, an' I'll go find your army."

Shoji, Erendil, and Taminnyd look at each other for confirmation, then shrug. "OK," they say in unison.

"Now, these ain't no ordinary kobolds," Proudclaw warns, "they's got magic an' a holy man with 'em. Ain't like no kobolds I ever seen."

Scarlet looks at her ward with concern, but Taminnyd responds, "That's fine, we'll have no trouble with them."

"Aright, then, Greatpaw here," he points at the bear whose belly Laurel is currently scratching, "will take you t' th' forge, but no further." He walks over to Greatpaw and scratches its head, then leads his other bears into the woods. As he disappears into the forest, Taminnyd and Scarlet notice the head of a gigantic bear emerge from the top of the trees. Taminnyd looks on in shock as the giant bear begins to head west, toward New Charleston.

He is startled out of his shock as Shoji says to him with mocking glee, "See! I told you it would work."

_More to come..._

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Notes:

1. Brannaugh Proudclaw has several levels in a custom prestiege class, which can be found here: Keeper of the Beasts


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## carpedavid (Oct 15, 2002)

*9.28.02 - Session 1, Part 4*

Laurel finishes petting Greatpaw, who lazily rolls onto his feet, and begins lumbering off into the woods. The party tromps after him, happy that his massive bulk serves to clear a convenient path through the underbrush. They wander for about twenty minutes, and then the bear stops in his tracks and begins to growl. Laurel sees two humanoid figures moving toward them through the trees. She steps in front of Greatpaw as she points out the figures to her companions. 

As they draw their weapons, the party gets a closer look at the creatures. Their leathery skin is pulled taut over emaciated bodies, revealing naught but bone underneath. Their eyes are darkened hollows; their mouths, gaping maws, out of which pour swarms of flying insects. As the creatures move closer through the thorny underbrush, the swarms of insects that infest their bodies fill the air with a horrible buzzing. 

Taminnyd moves behind Scarlet as he pulls a thin golden wand from his belt. Shoji moves up to the first of the creatures and delivers a blow to its midsection. To Shoji's horror, he pulls his hand back covered in flying spiders, which he hurriedly brushes off. Scarlet moves up to the other creature and slashes at it with her bastard sword. Her blade cuts deeply into its weathered flesh, but does not fell the creature. 

Dew moves to flank the abomination of nature that Shoji is fighting, and her own blade deals damage to it. It ignores her attack, and swings at Shoji with a bony fist. The blow itself does little damage, but the swarm of insects infesting the creature's body pours out of its mouth and follows its fist. Shoji screams as he covered in thousands of bites, each of which immediately begins to swell and burn. He immediately feels his muscles seize and constrict as they are eaten away by the poison as it seeps into his body. 

As the swarm returns to its shelter inside the creature, Taminnyd lets loose with a blast from his wand. Three golden bolts of light fly from its tip and slam into the creature Scarlet is fighting. Insects are blown clear from the blast, and the creature lets out an audible groan. It takes revenge by sending forth its own swarm, which engulfs Scarlet. She, too, feels the pain of a thousand burning needles as the spiders sink their fangs into her skin. Her sword drops noticeably as her body is weakened by the poison. 

Scarlet falls back as arrows from Erendil's bow slam into the creature in front of her. Laurel moves up and fells the creature with a blow from the Oakenblade, a sword passed down through her family for over three thousand years. Shoji moves away as Dew continues her attack, narrowly missing as the creature dodges her blade. This time, the creature turns and hits her with its fist. The flying spiders swarm over her body, biting at any exposed skin. Unlike her companions, though, the only effect the poison has on her is to cement her resolve to destroy the unholy creature. 

Dew never gets the chance to fulfill her desire, though, as golden bolts jump from Taminnyd's wand again, and blast the creature off of its feet. The insects inside the creature scatter to the winds, leaving an empty husk behind. A cry from behind startles her as Shoji stumbles, his body weakened further as the poison continues to eat away at him. A second cry from Scarlet follows, and a third as Laurel spots two more creatures lurching toward them. 

This time, however, a man in green robes is slashing at one with his scimitar. "Die, you abominations," he screams, "leave this forest at once!" His blade slashes through the leathery hide of one creature, but is not enough to destroy it. The creature turns and hits him ineffectually, but the flying spiders engulf him, and he yelps as he is bitten. 

Erendil moves through the brush to get a better position, and lets another arrow go, slamming into the creature attacking the stranger. Dew steps forward and slices at the creature just hit by the arrow. Her strike is powerful and slices the creature in twain, but not before she is swarmed by spiders again. Taminnyd uses his wand a third time, and damages the other creature as Laurel steps in and finishes it off. Once again, desiccated husks lie at the party's feet. 

"Thank you for your help," gasps the stranger, fighting the pain of the poison eating away at his body. 

"You're welcome," Laurel replies, "what were those things?" 

"Abominations of nature," he replies, "other than that, I have no idea." Once he catches his breath, he continues, "What are you folks doing out here? And why do you have one of Proudclaw's bears?" 

"We're here to defeat a group of kobolds that are hunting these bears," Taminnyd interjects. "We met with Proudclaw and are taking on this task for him." 

"Oh," he nods his head, "I hadn't heard about that, but I'd be happy to help. I'm Wrayce. Where are you headed?" 

The group introduces themselves to their new companion, and explains that Greatpaw was leading them toward an abandoned dwarven forge that has been adopted by the kobolds as their new stronghold. Wrayce offers to lead them to the forge, and the party accepts, inviting him back to the airship to heal before they assault the forge. 

Laurel sadly scratches Greatpaw behind the ears, and tries to explain to him that he should get as far away from the area as possible. The giant brown bear nuzzles her for a few minutes and then lumbers off, crashing through the underbrush as he goes. 

Now without a bear companion, the group returns to the airship. Nym is still hanging over the railing, and waves weakly to his companions as they climb the rope ladders to the ship. He notes with some amusement that the wizard seems to be having a hard time pulling himself up, and looks especially winded as he reaches the deck of the ship. He is also happy to hear that the bear was left behind. _Bears equal bad_, he thinks to himself while he watches the treetops grow smaller as the airship moves gently into the late afternoon sky.

_More to come..._


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## carpedavid (Oct 23, 2002)

*9.28.2002 - Session 1, Part 5*

After much discussion, the party decides that they are too weak to assault the forge in their current condition, so they return to their quarters to nurse their wounds for the night. As the light of Dominus breaks over the eastern horizon, Wrayce and Danklar call upon the spirits and the gods to help heal their companions. Shoji, Scarlet, and Wrayce all have much of the damage done to their musculature by the spider poison restored.

After the whole of the party is up on deck, Wrayce directs the pilot toward the abandoned forge. The pilot keeps the ship low, coming within a few feet of the treetops as they sail along, until they come within view of the forge. A wooden wall, about twenty feet high, encircles the grounds of the forge, which forms a rectangle about eighty feet long by sixty feet wide. Four watchtowers stand at the cardinal points along the wall, and inside the wall are two small wooden buildings and a set of smokestacks, from which billow black clouds.

_ I wonder if we can use the ballista to take out those buildings_, Taminnyd thinks to himself, but is disappointed to find that the way in which they are mounted prevents them from firing at a steep enough angle.

Erendil directs the pilot to bring the ship in low, just above the northern wall. As the ship gracefully descends, he, Shoji, and Wrayce all prepare to rappel down onto a narrow walkway that runs along the interior of the wooden wall. As soon as the ship pulls into position, the archer, the monk, and the druid/sorcerer jump off the side, their fall only slowed by a slender rope. Laurel, Dew, and Danklar are next to disembark, though they elect to use rope ladders instead. Scarlet and Taminnyd leave Nym on board, and climb down to meet their companions.

As the party surveys the scene, they are surprised as two large ogres poke their heads out of trap doors on the walkway. At the same time, the doors on the two wooden buildings open and four kobolds run out into the open yard. _Great_, Danklar thinks to himself, _we get caught unprepared again._

One of the kobolds that exited the western building unravels a scroll, and begins to chant in a high-pitched, squeaky language that sounds like dogs barking. She finishes quickly and a ball of hellfire erupts in the middle of the ledge where all of the party members happen to be clustered. Laurel manages to dodge most of the blast, though everyone else takes the full brunt of the kobold sorcerer's fireball.

Erendil eyes the ogre closest to him, and becomes very worried when he begins shaking his battleaxe in a furious rage. The ogre's eyes dilate, and spittle flies from his mouth, then he plants his axe blade in Erendil's chest. Laurel is faced with the other raging ogre, but unlike her companion, manages to dodge its blade.

Shoji, Laurel, and Wrayce climb down from the wall to face the oncoming kobolds as Danklar calls upon the power of Dominus to silence the one that loosed the fireball. Scarlet pushes past Erendil as thoughts of blood and battle fill her head. Feeling herself gloriously loose control, she slashes at the ogre with her bastard sword, cutting deep into its mottled flesh.

Erendil climbs down from the wall, pulls out his bow, and sends an arrow into the other kobold from the western building, hitting it just below the bronze symbol of Creos Rex emblazoned on its chest. Dew takes on the other ogre, slashing and cutting it, sending ochre blood everywhere. Still smoking from the fireball, Taminnyd climbs down and sends golden bolts from his wand into the kobold sorceress.

The sorceress begins squeaking in her high-pitched dog language, but is frustrated when she realizes that no sound in being made, and throws up her hands in frustration. The two kobolds from the east building close on Shoji, Laurel, and Wrayce. The first one, wearing plate mail emblazoned with the silver moon and stars of the Church of Nox, and carrying a short sword, attacks Shoji but misses dramatically. The other, wearing studded leather and carrying a hand axe, chops at Laurel, just managing to damage her.

The ogres continue their assault on Scarlet and Dew. Both women are hurt badly, but manage to return the blows. Dew fells the ogre attacking her, and she drops off the ledge to engage the kobolds. Erendil moves to find a better position than directly under a combatant ogre, but misses his shot at the kobold cleric. Taminnyd hits the kobold that Erendil missed with three bolts of energy from his wand, as the kobold sorceress moves out of the silenced area.

Laurel, Shoji, and Wrayce exchange blows with the kobold fighter and paladin, and all end up the worse for wear. Scarlet and the ogre continue their battle, but, in a lucky strike, Scarlet manages to disembowel her foe, ending the exchange once and for all. She climbs down from the wall, and Taminnyd dashes behind her. Erendil unleashes two arrows from his bow: the first misses, but the second strikes the kobold cleric right in the neck, felling him on the spot.

From his hiding place behind Scarlet, Taminnyd targets the kobold sorceress with a fireball of his own. After the blast, all that is left of the spellcaster is a charred and steaming carcass, and Taminnyd grins from ear to ear. Dew steps into the battle with the two remaining kobolds, and she, Shoji, and Laurel finish them off with minimal injury to themselves.

Feeling pleased with his initial fireball, Taminnyd sends one into the eastern outbuilding, blasting it to pieces. He reveals a ten-foot wide staircase that descends into the underground forge, though Laurel and Erendil shake their heads in irritation. Danklar, badly hurt from the fireball, climbs down off of the wall and joins the party in searching the bodies.

"Let's go back to the ship and rest for a few days," Taminnyd suggests as he sifts through the ashes of the dead sorceress.

"I'd rather push on," Erendil replies.

"Yeah," chimes in Shoji, "if we leave and come back, they'll just end up reinforcing themselves."

"I'm all for moving on," Laurel interjects.

"I'm going to need to go back to the ship," Danklar says, wincing as his charred skin crackles as he moves.

"I'll take care of him," Wrayce replies, and he and Dew carry Danklar back to the ship.

Taminnyd watches the only members of the party with access to healing magic walk back toward the ship, and replies bitterly, "All right, let's go."

_Next session: more kobolds, an unexpected foe, character death, and stealing an Avengardan general's airship..._


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## carpedavid (Oct 29, 2002)

*10.12.2002 - Session 2, Part 1*

"Hey guys, wait for me!" shouts Nym, as he climbs down from the airship. "I'm feeling a lot better now," he continues, passing Danklar, Dew, and Wrayce as he runs across the body-strewn battlefield. 

The group welcomes him back, and then turns their attention to the darkened stone staircase. Nym pushes up to the edge and peers down into the inky black depths. "It's hard to see anything," he comments, "there don't appear to be any torches down there. Does anyone have an easily concealable light source?" 

Taminnyd pulls a copper coin out of his belt pouch and grumbles out a _light_ cantrip. "Here," he tosses the coin to Nym, "try this." 

Erendil turns to Taminnyd and asks, "Would _invisibility_ be useful? He could scout around without being detected." 

"What use is a bumbler in the dark?" Taminnyd says with disdain, "I'd much rather save that for myself. With this group, I'm going to need it." 

Ignoring the exchange behind him, Nym begins down the stairs. He notes that the construction is impeccable - it seems as though each of the ten-foot wide stairs is carved out of a solid block of granite, the walls are as smooth as glass, and the ceiling is almost imperceptibly arched. 

Laurel notices Nym set off, and grabs Shoji. They hurry after Nym, and the rest of the group takes notice and follows. At the bottom of the stairs, a corridor leads off to the left, and Nym peaks around the corner only briefly before setting off down it. Laurel and Shoji shake their heads, amazed that Nym survives despite his heedless nature. 

The group follows him, though, and they pass a giant set of iron double doors on their right before the corridor empties out into a small chamber. On the far wall are two standard-sized doors, and Nym pauses only a moment before moving to the one on the left. Laurel, Shoji, and Taminnyd all flinch involuntarily as he throws the door open and marches in. 

Taminnyd and Scarlet follow Nym through the door into a small bedchamber. The floors are covered in refuse and trash, and two small cots have been pushed together into one corner. Nym is already digging through the contents of the room when Taminnyd and his guardian enter behind him. 

"Hey," he calls to Taminnyd. "Take a look at this," he says as he pulls a crumpled piece of parchment from under one of the cots. 

Taminnyd uncrumples the parchment, looks at the morass of squiggles and arcane symbols, and quickly casts _read magic_. The squiggles and symbols re-arrange themselves before his eyes, with a few separating themselves out by emitting a dim blue glow. He sighs disappointedly, "_Unseen servant_ and _floating disk_." He shakes his head even as he stuffs the parchment in his belt pouch, "Nothing special." 

After watching Taminnyd and Scarlet disappear, Laurel decides to explore the other door. She checks around the edges of it for wires or switches, and then closely examines the handle. Deciding that the door is free of unpleasant surprises, she opens it and steps through, finding another bedchamber. 

Unlike the other chamber, this one is impeccably clean. Laurel notes a broom in one corner, neatly tucked away behind a barrel of trash, while two cots sit against opposite sides of the room. Her own search turns up nothing, and she shakes her head in disappointment as she steps back out into the hallway and closes the door behind her. 

"Well, I guess we go through the big doors," says Erendil, who had been covering the hallway with his bow. 

"Great!" exclaims Nym who comes bounding out of the bedchamber and starts walking quickly back down the hallway. He gets almost to the doors before the rest of the party can react. 

"Wait!" Erendil warns, "let Laurel search those doors for traps before you open them." 

Nym pulls his hand away from the door handle and grins sheepishly, "Ok." 

Laurel gently pushes Nym to the side as she begins her examination. The doors themselves are twenty feet tall and made of cast iron. They are intricately decorated with scenes of dwarves working at forges interspersed with the hammer and chain symbol of Arial, the god of the forge. Unfortunately, the intricate metalwork created numerous locations for traps to be hidden, so Laurel takes her time in searching the door. Her examination pays off, though. After a few minutes, she detects a dagger blade carefully hidden near the door handle. A moment later, the dagger trap is expertly disabled, and Laurel steps back, pleased with her work. 

"Now we can go in," Nym decrees happily as he pushes past Laurel. The group cringes again as he opens the doors, swings them open, and steps through. In front of him, they can see a massive chamber, illuminated by a large forge on the right side of the room. Running the length of the left wall are workbenches covered in scrap metal. On the right wall, a large quenching pool sits between the door and the forge. In the middle of the room, right in front of the forge, sit six anvils, arranged in a semicircle. 

Beyond the anvils is a wooden table, where two kobolds appear to be playing cards, and on the floor next to them is a giant bear, hogtied and bound in chains. Nym halts as he spots the kobolds, but the roar of the forge is nearly deafening, and they give no indication that they have noticed the party. Taminnyd pulls his wand from his belt as Nym looses his, and they both unleash bolts of golden energy at the same time. The kobolds are knocked off their seats as the magic missiles hit them, and they begin yelling to each other, their dog-language barely discernable above the noise of the forge. 

Shoji pushes past the two wand-bearers, and dashes further into the room, swinging his sling as he goes. He stops just before the anvils, and lets one stone fly, which arcs across the room, but bounces harmlessly off the table. Laurel moves up to where Shoji is standing, and decides to keep her bow stashed, in favor of her swords. 

Taminnyd lets another three bolts fly, and they all slam into the chest of the kobold nearer to the party. His lifeless form slumps to the ground, his chest charred and smoking. Scarlet moves into the room, positioning herself between the remaining kobold and her ward. Erendil moves into the room as well, and lets and arrow fly, catching the remaining kobold in the shoulder. 

The kobold pulls a bow from his back, and attempts to return the arrow to Erendil, but aims too high, and the arrow flies harmlessly over Erendil's head. Nym unleashes two more bolts from his wand, eliciting a squeal of pain from the kobold archer, then moves into the room. _Why is the floor sticky?_ he wonders as he moves up in front of Scarlet.

Shoji puts his sling away and dashes at the archer, and swings a fist hardened from years of hitting wood, stone, and steel at the kobold's head. Unfortunately, kobold does not get added to the list of things that have hardened Shoji's fist, and Laurel moves into position to attack. 

She takes a mighty swing that just misses slashing open the kobold's belly. The momentum of her swing twists her around so that she can see the area on the far side of the forge. Her jaw drops, and a wave of terror washes through her body as she sees a large, winged, red, reptilian form emerge from the shadows.

"Dragon!" she screams as it opens its jaws and sends a blast of hellfire racing toward her.

_More to come..._


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## carpedavid (Nov 12, 2002)

*10.12.2002 - Session 2, Part 2*

Nym realizes, with chilling horror, why the floor is sticky. "Oh gods, we're all going to die," he screams. As the gout of dragon flame rolls toward the terrified Laurel and Shoji, the thick pitch covering the floor ignites, setting the whole chamber ablaze. 

Shoji spots the dragon fire rolling toward him, and manages to shield himself from the brunt of the flame. Laurel is frozen in terror, and barely flinches when the orange and red cone of flame washes over her. The kobold that they were attacking is incinerated, leaving only a blackened, smoking husk behind. 

Taminnyd moves into the chamber, avoiding the flaming floor, and lets loose with three bolts from his wand. They dart across the room, and slam into the side of the dragon. Scarlet moves up to shield Taminnyd, and Erendil moves to get a better line of sight, but narrowly misses. Nym pulls out his own wand and lets loose with two golden bolts, which hit the dragon squarely in the side of the head. 

Shoji feels the flames lick at his body as he dashes out of the burning area and dives for cover behind the captive bear. Laurel follows right behind Shoji, dives for cover as well, and winces as her charred skin crackles like wax paper when she hits the ground. She looks at the chains holding the bear captive, digs out her lock picks, and starts trying to free the bear. 

The dragon shakes off the effects of the magic missiles to the head, and charges Nym. As it crosses the chamber, the wind from its wings causes the fire to spread, engulfing Nym at the same time that it clamps its jaws down on his shoulder. 

Taminnyd, horrified by the blood that spurts between the dragon's jaws, turns and runs out of the chamber. Now safely hidden behind the large iron doors, he takes a deep breath and casts _mage armor_ on himself. Scarlet runs directly into the flames, screaming incoherently at the top of her lungs as she flanks the dragon and takes a large chunk out of its tail. 

Erendil thinks about moving into the flames, but decides that doing so would be very unpleasant, so he fires off two arrows at the dragon. The first finds a chink between the dragon's scales, but the second bounces off harmlessly. Nym rips his shoulder from the dragon's grasp, and slashes at the dragon's snout. With his weakened arm, though, he barely manages to miss slashing himself. 

Shoji sees Nym in danger, and braves the flames as well. His light footing allows him to get to the dragon, but his attack fails, and he suddenly becomes very worried. The dragon bites deeply into Nym's midsection, drawing a huge gout of blood, and Nym goes limp. It turns its attention to the barbarian behind it, and swipes at Scarlet with its spiked tail, catching her firmly in the chest. 

Even above the roar of the bellows, Taminnyd hears the impact of the dragon's tail on Scarlet as he steps back into the room. From the safety of the doorway, he lets loose with his wand yet again, sending three golden bolts into the dragon's hide. Scarlet, having just had the breath knocked out of her, tries to slash at the dragon, but misses. 

Erendil sends an arrow flying directly at the dragon's neck, and his aim holds true. The arrow slices through muscle and sinew, burying itself deep within the dragon's artery. Shoji, still dancing around in the flames, pounds his fist against the dragon's hide, but feels nothing give. Laurel finally picks the locks holding the bear captive, and she struggles to help it free from its chains. 

The dragon, now severely wounded, turns and begins to move toward the doors. Both Scarlet and Shoji manage to get in blows as it turns its back on them, but then it limps over to Taminnyd, and, with a look of desperate determination in its eyes, grabs him in its jaws and crushes his rib cage; Taminnyd drops, unconscious, to the ground. Scarlet follows the dragon, and with her mighty sword, cleaves its tail nearly in twain. Erendil, now only a few feet away from the dragon, buries an arrow right between its eyes. The dragon collapses, blood pouring from its wounds, as the fires around it slowly die out.

_More to come..._


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## carpedavid (Nov 19, 2002)

*10.12.2002 - Session 2, Part 3*

Shoji, covered in soot, stumbles out of the fading fires, pulling Nym's mangled corpse behind him. He begins to shake as the adrenaline of the fight wears off, and the realization of what happened sinks in. He bends down, and, with trembling hands, closes Nym's eyes. "May the spirits welcome and comfort you," he whispers.

Erendil takes a small vial filled with a red liquid from his backpack, and, realizing that he can do nothing for Nym, pours its cinnamon-flavored contents down Taminnyd's throat. Taminnyd opens his eyes, groans, and groggily stands up.

Laurel emerges from the smoke and flame leading the bear that she had freed. "It's Greatpaw," she announces to the group as she gently scratches it behind the ears. She stops short when she sees Nym. "Oh dear gods," she says, turning away in horror. She squeezes her eyes shut and makes a silent prayer to Ehryssa for Nym's soul.

Taminnyd looks at Nym's corpse, shrugs, and dashes over to the area behind the forge from where the dragon had emerged. He grins in anticipation as he eyes the dragon's horde, but, after digging through the pile of rusted chain mail, broken swords, and bent plowshares, and finding only a few gems, he turns away in frustration. "There's nothing good here," he announces, the disappointment evident in his voice, "let's go."

Erendil wonders if it would be possible to lodge as many arrows in Taminnyd's head as he did in the dragon's, but keeps the thought to himself. He and Shoji carry Nym's body back out of the forge and up to the ship while Laurel leads Greatpaw to freedom.

The flight back to New Charleston is quiet and solemn. Laurel spends the time bandaging Greatpaw's wounds, while Erendil and Shoji discuss what to do for Nym. By the time they land, the front has moved to within a few hours of town, and the city is in chaos. Erendil arranges to bury Nym's body, an acolyte of Proudclaw arrives to claim Greatpaw, and Laurel is summoned to General Talvyn's command tent.

"You did well in recruiting Proudclaw," Talvyn congratulates Laurel.

"We lost one of our party in the process," Laurel says angrily, "we ended up having to fight off a dragon."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Talvyn replies. His face wrinkles and his shoulders sag slightly as the emotional burden he is under becomes evident. Laurel frowns, but her anger subsides somewhat, so she motions to him to continue. "There is a prison in Avengard where the Emperor sends those that he personally hates. It's a dark pit, carved into the Serpent's Knot mountains. They call it 'Áit ar Chúl Éaga', which, in their old language, means, 'the place behind death.'" He rubs his forehead, the stress visible on his face, "It's the most horrific place on the planet, I'm told.

"At any rate, we had a spy in prison in Redburne. We were negotiating with the Avengardan government to trade him for one of their spies, but then they decided to invade us. The latest information we have is that he was transferred to Áit ar Chúl Éaga." He hands Laurel a set of papers, "We need you to break into the prison, retrieve our man, and return him here. His name is Edmon of Willoughby, and a description of him is in the papers I gave you. If you need a cover story, there are forged orders directing you to deliver a prisoner. Use one of your crew as a stand in, if need be."

"Why can't we just forge papers that order his release?" Laurel questions.

Talvyn stares at her for a second, "Maybe I didn't explain well enough. Nobody gets released from that prison. Ever. Even after they've been slowly tortured to death."

"Oh," Laurel says quietly.

"We'll be providing you with a small squad of soldiers who are trained in close quarters combat. They are not," he says gravely, "expendable." He motions to one of the guards at the tent entrance, and, after a few seconds, six young soldiers march in. They salute the general and Laurel, then present themselves for inspection.

"Hagamus of Arios," the squad leader, a young dwarven man in plate mail, introduces himself.

"Millicent of Blackrock," says the second in command - a young human female who wears a breastplate.

"Don't you mind what they say about the people from Blackrock," Talvyn interrupts, "Millicent is a good soldier. Quite stable and dependable."

"Thank you, sir," Millicent replies, blushing slightly.

The general motions for them to continue, and the next solder, a human male in plate armor, steps forward, "Ian of Brownfield."

A male lizardman and a human male, both wearing plate armor, introduce themselves as Lethlas Miller and Randolph Thatcher, respectively. The last to present himself is an elven male in studded leather armor. "Sebastian of Illya," he says with a lazy grin.

"Very well, Sebastian," the general says brusquely, and the elf steps back into line. "Take both of your ships," he continues, addressing Laurel, "You have permission to fly Avengardan flags once you're behind the front."

"One last thing," he says as he goes back to studying battle plans, "You leave immediately."

_More to come..._


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## carpedavid (Dec 10, 2002)

*10.12.2002 - Session 2, Part 4*

Laurel walks back to the ship in a daze, her new squadron of soldiers in tow. So much had happened recently that she hasn't had the chance to absorb it all. Within the space of a week, she had watched the two greatest nations on Trinis go to war, had become captain of an airship, had fought a dragon, and had watched her friend, Nym, die. Now she and her companions have to sneak into Avengard and stage a prison break. She shakes her head, trying to fight the fuzzy feeling filling her skull, and realizes that she needs some sleep.

As she reaches the ship, she sees a young, athletically built, redheaded, human woman standing at the base of the gangplank. She holds a longbow by her side, and snaps to attention when Laurel approaches.

"Um, at ease?" Laurel offers, hesitantly.

"Thank you, sir," the woman replies, as her posture relaxes almost imperceptibly. "I've been assigned to your ship, sir," she says as she holds out a scroll tube, "here are my orders."

Laurel gives a cursory glance at the papers, and then hands them back. "Welcome aboard," she says, motioning the archer to follow her. _We're going to need a bigger ship at this rate_, Laurel thinks to herself. "Everybody," she says when they step on deck, "this is Quara." She turns to the archer, "Quara, this is Erendil, Shoji, Taminnyd, Wrayce, Danklar, Scarlet, and Dew."

"Oh! Right," she turns to the soldiers who have lined up behind her, "Everybody, this is Hagamus, Millicent, Ian, Lethlas, Randolph, and Sebastian."

Quara stares at the assembled party, then looks for designation of rank among them. Dew, she notices, ranks below her own sergeant status, as does the new squad of soldiers, but she gets a bit confused when she sees that both Shoji and Erendil also bear the rank of captain. _Ok, so whom do I report to_, she wonders as she looks around. _By Chironex's blade_, she sighs to herself, _this is going to be confusing_.

"We've got new orders," Laurel explains to the party. She relates all that the general had told her, and then asks for reactions.

"How are we going to get through the front?" Erendil asks.

"I don't know," she answers, "But I really hope that they've got something planned."

Each of the group looks at each other nervously before they split up to prepare. Taminnyd looks over his spell book, Shoji meditates, Erendil preps the crew, and Laurel prays to Ehryssa to give her guidance. After a few minutes, a messenger boards the ship and notifies them that they are to lift off. He gives the pilot a map of their route, and informs them that several ships will be accompanying them to provide cover while they force their way through the front.

"I'll take command of the Unicorn," Erendil offers.
Shoji shrugs, "That's fine with me."

"Ok. Who else goes with me?" Erendil asks. Danklar, Dew, and Wrayce accompany Erendil to the Unicorn, and the ships prepare to leave.

As the mooring ropes are cast off, the ships lurch upward, eager to be back in flight. The pilots bring the ships back under control, and turn them to the north in a steep climb. They are met at the apex of their ascent by three other ships, which fall into formation behind them. Erendil and Laurel order the Avengardan flags to be raised, and the five airships begin sailing toward the front.

Laurel peers over the edge, watching the soldiers in the dockyard grow steadily smaller. The mid afternoon sun makes her squint, and she can barely make out the town below. After only a few minutes in the air, the ships pass over the forest, and the front becomes clearly visible in front of them. Everyone aboard both ships holds their breath as they near the storm of ships, ballistae, fireballs, and lightning bolts. Every few seconds, another broken hull falls out of the sky. The sound of the battle is deafening, the flashes of magic blinding - each of them can feel the shockwaves pounding against their bodies.

A few seconds before they plunge into the maelstrom of ships, their escorts begin firing shots that just barely miss them. Laurel can feel her hair singe from the heat of fireballs exploding in the air beside the ship. Then, a giant bear rises out of the forest below them. Towering over the treetops, the bear begins swatting at Avengardan ships with a colossal paw. Its claws, the size of trees themselves, tear through the hulls of the ships in front of them.

A second later they enter the storm. The pilots push the maneuverability of their ships to the limit as they dodge other ships, falling debris, fireball blasts, ballistae bolts, and the paws of a giant bear. Their escorts break off, and join the larger battle as they push through the cloud of ships, and then finally emerge on the other side.

Everybody breathes a sigh of relief, followed by a wave of nausea, as they realize that they are now in Avengardan territory, and separated from the country that they are trying to save. They are now on their own - with no hope of rescue if their luck turns against them. Laurel shudders inwardly at the thought, and then offers a silent prayer to Ehryssa.

As the front gradually fades into the distance, the group begins to see masses of Avengardan ground troops below them: tens of thousands of soldiers setting fire to farms and razing villages. After about an hour in the air, an Avengardan flagship approaches them. It signals to them to stop, and Laurel nervously orders the pilot to bring the Displacer Beast to a halt.

The HMS Darklorne pulls alongside the Displacer Beast and tosses out grappling hooks to secure the two ships together. Laurel, Shoji, and Quara look at each other nervously. Taminnyd fumbles in his belt pouch for a pinch of bat guano. Archers line up at the rail of the Darklorne, bows at the ready, while a group of plate-mail clad soldiers gracefully fly over to the deck of the Displacer Beast.

Following the soldiers is a middle-aged human man who wears the insignia of an Avengardan general. Standing over six feet tall, powerfully built, with sandy-blond hair and ice-blue eyes, he exudes a commanding aura. "General on deck!" one of the soldiers announces.

"Well, well, well," the general says in a thick Avengardan brogue. As he steps forward, his soldiers form a semicircle behind him.

Everyone on deck freezes, unsure of what to do. Shoji inwardly asks the spirits to give him guidance; Tamminyd stares at the general, sure that he's seen him before; Quara tries to stay out of sight, sure that if she has to talk, she'll blow their cover.

Realizing that she's the only one who could possibly affect an Avengardan accent, Laurel steps forward and salutes the general. He examines her intently, for a moment, then emits a small "hmph." He narrows his eyes, glares at her, and says, "It occurs to me that the battle is that way," he points to the south, "and your ship appears to be heading that way," he points to the north with a flourish. "Would ye care to explain that?"

Laurel takes a deep breath, then, in a brogue that's almost too perfect, replies, "Aye, we've been ordered to transport a prisoner, sir."

"Is that so," he continues, "Let me see your orders and the prisoner, then."

"Aye, that," Laurel continues as she turns to Quara, "Be a good lass and fetch the papers from me quarters and the prisoner from the hold."

Quara nods and hurriedly scurries below deck. She grabs the papers from Laurel's quarters, irons from the hold, and then searches frantically for someone to play the part of prisoner. She stumbles into the galley where she finds the squad of young soldiers.

"What's going on?" Hagamus questions.

"No time to explain," Quara responds, "We need someone to act like a prisoner. You'll do."

Hagamus looks startled, but nods to his superior officer, and removes his sword belt and shield. "Well, then, you'd better make it look good," he says, then closes his eyes in preparation.

Quara takes a deep breath, then punches Hagamus square in the face, collapsing his nose. He falls to his knees as blood pours down the front of his battle-scarred uniform, and then Quara delivers several more blows. Pulling him to his feet, Quara whispers, "I'm sorry."

"It's for the best," Hagamus mumbles through rapidly swelling lips, while Quara locks the manacles around his legs and wrists. She half-carries, half-pulls the beaten dwarf up to the deck, whereupon the general looks at her impatiently. Quara shudders inwardly as she drops the "prisoner" at his feet. She solutes, then hands him the written orders.

Everyone winces as the general kicks Hagamus in the ribs before stooping over to examine him. The normally stoic dwarf manages to rile himself enough to spit in the general's face, and gets a gauntlet to the jaw in response, which sends him sprawling.

The general turns his attention to the papers, reads through them thoroughly, and then hands them to Laurel. "Well, your prisoner is very convincing," he smiles, "but your papers are an obvious forgery." His smile fades as he turns to his guards, "arrest them."

_Woo! Only two months behind. I've nearly got the final part of session 2 done, and am hoping to have the remaining sessions caught up by the beginning of January, since we're not playing in the interim._


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## carpedavid (Dec 12, 2002)

*10.12.2002 - Session 2, Part 5*

Before the soldiers get a chance to unsheathe their swords, Laurel draws her short sword and, in one smooth motion, opens a deep gash across the face of the guard standing closest to her. Immediately after her blow lands, Taminnyd looses the fireball he had been preparing, and it engulfs the general and three of the guards. Quara follows up by drawing her bow and firing an arrow that passes within an inch of the general's ear. He barely flinches, affording the arrow as much notice as he would a gnat.

Shoji moves up to one of the now smoking guards and collapses him with a kick to the midsection. The river of rage inside Scarlet breaks its levy and, screaming unintelligibly, she nearly decapitates the guard standing nearest her. Though wounded, the man manages to return the blow, but Scarlet neither feels the blow, nor cares.

The guard who was slashed by Laurel wipes the blood from his brow, snarls angrily, and retaliates with his own blade. Another guard moves to flank her, then sinks his long sword deep into her side, eliciting a yelp of pain. The two remaining guards flank and attack Shoji, and the one facing him looks deeply pleased as a long red line appears across Shoji's chest.

The general rolls his eyes and sighs heavily, then yells, "I'm needed on the ground, I don't have time for this! Fine! Kill them all!" He points at Taminnyd, "Especially him," then gives Laurel a leering look, "Try to make sure the elf woman is still warm when you bring her to me, though." He then pushes past his guards, and jumps head first over the railing of the ship, plunging toward the masses of ground troops over a thousand feet below. Taminnyd suddenly realizes where he's seen the man before: he's the man responsible for destroying his guild and slaughtering his master. He rushes to the railing, spouting every profanity he can think of, and sends another burst of fire at the fleeing general.

From his position on the Unicorn, Danklar sees the general leave the Displacer Beast, and suggests to Erendil that they should move to trap the flagship. Erendil agrees, and orders the pilot to bring them alongside the Darklorne. Wrayce grins mischievously, as the ship begins its maneuver, and thinks to himself, this'll be fun.

Back on the deck of the Displacer Beast, melee continues. Shoji and Laurel both take significant damage from the guards flanking them, but Scarlet manages to smash the brainpan of the guard she is fighting. Feeling her strength ebb, Laurel draws her long sword, calls upon the strength of all the Oakenblades who had gone before her, and runs her ancestral blade through the heart of the guard in front of her. A crimson spray coats her face, and stains the golden leaves that form the Oakenblade's hilt.

Taminnyd turns his attention back to the guards threatening his companions, and looses three golden bolts from his wand, which streak across the deck of the ship and slam into the back of the guard flanking Shoji. Quara sends arrows of her own into the neck of the other guard attacking Shoji, and they hit with such force that they nearly send his now-lifeless body over the railing of the ship. Scarlet sees nothing but red as she finishes off the guard who was flanking Laurel

As the Unicorn moves into position on the other side of the Darklorne, Erendil launches two arrows in a high arc. His expert marksmanship is evident as both arrows sail past the riggings and sails of the Darklorne and loge themselves in the head of the remaining guard, who collapses with a very surprised look on his face. With the immediate threat taken care of, the group looks up to see the Unicorn tossing out grappling hooks to reign in the Avengardan flagship.

On board the Unicorn, Danklar surveys the groups of archers visible on the deck of the Darklorne. He sees three squads of four, one at the bow, one at the stern, and one at mid ship, with half of each squad facing him and half facing the Displacer Beast. He thanks Dominus that they decided to cluster themselves together, and thanks him again as he calls upon the sacred light inside himself, and directs a burst of pure sonic energy to explode in the middle of the group at the bow. He thanks Dominus yet again as he watches another of Taminnyd's fireballs explode in the middle of the squad at the stern.

Laurel figures that she can't do much where she is, so she moves up to the railing of the Displacer Beast, to determine whether she can safely jump to the Darklorne. Quara eyes the Displacer Beast's ballista of lightning, and wonders if she can use it effectively at the short range between the ships. She smiles broadly when a crackling bolt of electricity through the squad of archers at mid ship.

Erendil plunks away at the archers with his own bow, while Wrayce follows Quara's lead, and uses the Unicorn's ballista to send lightning across the deck of the Darklorne. Scarlet, still blind to fear and reason, takes a running jump and lands squarely on the deck of the flagship. Shoji follows, but catches himself on the railing of the Darklorne, and has to spend a moment awkwardly freeing himself.

Unfazed by the arrows and ballista bolts being fired at them, the remaining archers target the two visible spellcasters. Both Taminnyd and Danklar are hit with multiple arrows, though Danklar is more severely damaged. Danklar reacts by sending a second sound blast at the squad at the bow of the ship. The sonic energy rips through their already injured bodies, shattering bone and tearing flesh; it leaves none standing.

Laurel decides to make the jump and takes a running leap over the railing of the Displacer Beast. As her feet leave the deck, though, she realizes that she has misjudged the distance, and begins to fall much sooner than she should. At the last possible second, she reaches out and manages to grab the bottom of the railing on the Darklorne. Trapped between the two giant ships, hanging by her fingers over a thousand feet above the ground, with arrows flying through the air above her head, Laurel feels a moment of panic.

The combined missile weapons of Quara, Erendil, and Wrayce manage to knock out the squad at mid ship, as Scarlet and Shoji lend a hand to Laurel and pull her up on deck. The remaining squad of archers, at the rear of the ship, all target Danklar. His body jerks as it is filled with arrows, and he slumps to the ground in a rapidly forming puddle of blood.

Now on the deck of the Darklorne, Laurel, Shoji, and Scarlet advance on the remaining archers. With magic missiles from Taminnyd and Wrayce, and arrows from Quara and Erendil, the archers fall with no more damage to the party. Wrayce runs over to Danklar and finds him still alive. He closed his eyes and places his hands on Danklar's brutally battered frame, and a soft golden glow fills the air. When the glow fades, Danklar opens his eyes.

"Damn," Danklar remarks with sly grin, "I was almost about to meet Dominus."

On the deck of the flagship, Scarlet slumps against the railing as the adrenaline flowing through her system wears off. _Ugh, I always forget how much this sucks_, she thinks to herself as she begins to feel pain again. Laurel and Shoji easily convince the rest of the crew to surrender to them, though the pilot refuses to cooperate.

While Laurel and Shoji try to decide what to do with the pilot, Taminnyd carefully climbs over to the Darklorne. He walks up to the pilot and says, "You're my new friend," while making subtle arcane gestures with his hands.

"Oh, hi!" the pilot replies, smiling.

"How'd you like to pilot this ship for us?" Taminnyd asks, while smiling smugly at Laurel and Shoji.

"Oh sure. Where'd you like to go," the pilot responds.

"Oh, I don't know, we'll let them decide that," he smirks, and points to the two captains.

Laurel shakes her head in disgust, but can't dismiss Taminnyd's implication. Laurel waits for the other members of the group to congregate on the Darklorne before asking a very pointed question, "So, we've just attacked an Avengardan general and taken over his flagship, on the wrong side of the front! By Ehryssa's grace, what do we do now?"


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## carpedavid (Dec 20, 2002)

*Session 3, Part 1 - 11.9.2002*

After a hasty discussion, the group decides to split into three: Taminnyd, Danklar, Dew, Scarlet, and Wrayce take the Darklorne; the six soldiers take the Unicorn; and Erendil, Shoji, Quara, and Laurel take the Displacer Beast. They decide the following: the two attack ships will sail north toward the prison, taking separate routes, while the stolen flagship will head northwest in an attempt to divert any potential pursuers. They all hope to meet up in a week back in New Charleston.

Goodbyes are said, and then the three ships set sail in different directions. After an hour, the crew of the Displacer Beast looses sight of the other ships, and begins to feel very alone. The next two days are nerve-wrackingly uneventful. They pass ship after ship, holding their breath each time, preparing themselves to be stopped, but end up encountering no resistance. As Dominus begins to set over the western horizon on the second day, Erendil, Shoji, Quara, and Laurel are all nervous wrecks.

Twilight fades, and as Dominus disappears, the rest of the gods appear in the night sky. Tyn, the third child of Nox, hovers over the horizon, casting a pale light on the mountains below. The weather that the crew of the Displacer Beast left behind was typical for a Terrelian spring - mild and somewhat rainy. The farther north they traveled, however, the farther the temperature dropped. By now, the pine forests that cover the mountains below them are covered in a soft, wintry blanket. Snow tumbles through the air, sliding and skittering across the deck of the ship, and catching in Laurel's hair. She pulls her cloak tightly around herself and shivers.

The pilot brings the ship in low over the treetops and the four adventurers gather to plan their course of action. They know that the prison is about an hour's walk along the only road in the region from the tiny village of Beannacht, the only populated area in the region. The village's primary industry is providing support for the prison in the form of food, goods, and labor; and very few people that aren't destined for the prison ever pass through.

"We could try to gather information in the village," Laurel suggests.

"I think that'd be too suspicious," Shoji replies, "What about bluffing our way inside?"

"Too risky," Erendil concludes, "Which means that fighting our way in is probably out."

"Captain…" Quara begins, but then stops short as Laurel, Shoji, and Erendil all turn to look at her. _Oh, this is way too confusing,_ she thinks. After a deep breath, she continues, "I think we should stake out the prison and see that their patterns are: who comes and goes, what their guard detail looks like, that kind of stuff. Maybe they're vulnerable at some point."

"Yeah," says Laurel, happily.

"Ok," Erendil says.

"Sounds good," Shoji comments.

With their plan in place, the three captains direct the pilot to stop over the forest midway between the village and the prison. He holds the ship in a hover as the group climbs down into the Avengardan wilderness. Laurel uses her highly developed sense of direction to lead them through the woods toward the prison, stopping periodically to check whether they are being followed. After half an hour of trudging through knee-deep snow, Laurel stops when she hears a noise coming from behind a tree to her left.

Suddenly, a cone of ice and frost tears through the air and catches Quara and Erendil. The shards shred skin and clothing, leaving bloody red welts in their wake. Following the ice cone is a giant white wolf, over eight feet from snout to tail. Three other wolves appear, and Laurel curses herself for letting them ambush her.

Shoji, directly to the right of Laurel, steps forward and slams his fist into the snout of the winter wolf threatening him. He feels cartilage snap, and blood sprays from the wolf's nose, staining the white snow beneath. Erendil, standing directly behind Laurel, lets out a cry, takes a step back, and fires an arrow at the wolf that used its breath weapon.

Laurel steps left, and then slashes at the wolf that appeared in front of her. The Oakenblade bursts into an orange-red flame as it slices through the wolf's flesh. The scent of burning fur assaults Laurel's nose, but she smiles as she realizes that the legends about her ancestral sword are true.

The bright flame from Laurel's blade casts an eerie glow on the snow covered trees surrounding the group, and Quara, to the right of Erendil, can't help but notice its orange reflection in the eyes of the wolf in front of her. She decides against drawing her bow, and instead steps back and draws her sword. Her gaze is drawn from its eyes to its jaw, however, as it lunges at her. She twists, and the wolf's ivory fangs pass inches from her face.

The wolf in front of Erendil closes, and misses with its own bite, but succeeds in blasting the two archers with another cone of ice. Laurel winces as the wolf in front of her retaliates, and clamps its jaws down on her arm. With its fangs firmly embedded, it yanks its head to the right, and Laurel is pulled off her feet. She lands hard in the snow, and screams as the pain of tearing flesh runs up her arm and through her shoulder.

Shoji deftly avoids both the jaws and breath weapon of the wolf attacking him, and throws a roundhouse kick into its side. Erendil fires again at his wolf, but the arrow glances off of its thick hide. Laurel jumps to her feet, and in the same motion, pulls out her short sword. With the short sword in her off hand, and the flaming Oakenblade in the other, she lunges forward. Both swords slice through wolf flesh, and the smell of burning fur now hangs thick in the air.

Quara swings at the wolf that narrowly missed her, and succeeds in opening a large red gash along its side. It attempts to retaliate, but is slowed by its new wound. Erendil, weakened by the two cones of ice, succumbs to the wolf in front of him as it pounces upon him and sinks its fangs into his neck. He crumples into the snow, unconscious and bleeding.

The burned wolf snaps at Laurel, and manages to catch her on the leg, while the one in front of Shoji misses with its own bite attack. Shoji is more accurate though, as he catches the wolf with a palm heel to its already bruised ribs, hearing a satisfying crunch as his blow lands. Laurel's dual blades cut deeply into the winter wolf in front of her. Blood pours out of multiple wounds, and it stumbles as it turns toward her.

Quara gets another good hit in on the wolf attacking her, but it deals as good as it gets, and Quara thinks she feels something snap as it clamps its massive jaws around her midsection. The wolf that felled Erendil quickly flanks Quara, and she feels yet more pain as it too takes a bite out of her.

With a feral look in its eye, the burned and battered wolf grabs Laurel's already damaged arm in its jaws and yanks, rending flesh from bone. Both wolf and woman are covered in her blood, and she nearly passes out from the pain. With an inhuman scream, Laurel brings the Oakenblade down on the wolf's head with full force, cracking its skull, and sending its massive bulk straight into the snow. She turns and stumbles through the bloody snow toward the wolf that felled Erendil.

Shoji again deftly avoids the wolf in front of him, dodging from side to side as dagger-like fangs slice through the air around him. He lands a one-two punch on the side of the massive wolf's skull, and its eyes visibly gloss over, dazed from the blows.

_Chironex, guide my blade,_ Quara thinks to herself as she uses the last of her strength to slash the wolf in front of her across its muzzle. The wolf, however, simply growls at her, and grabs her once again in its jaws. The pain causes her to pass out immediately, and she is quite unconscious before she hits the ground.

The wolf flanking the now disabled Quara turns to attack Laurel, but misses, as does the wolf desperately trying to get a grip on Shoji. Shoji, in turn, dispatches a flurry of high kicks straight into his wolf's front legs, drawing a howl of pain. Laurel takes comfort in making the wolf in front of her howl as well, but she becomes very worried about Quara when she looks at the condition of her unconscious body. She knows she doesn't have much time before the girl passes into the realm of the gods.

The wolf that felled Quara moves to flank Shoji, but misses the fast-moving monk. The wolf that had been trying to attack Shoji finally hits, and tosses the Tanayaran half-elf into the bloodstained snow. He jumps back to his feet, lashing out with a powerful kick, but loses his footing in the slippery slush. The two wolves surrounding him take advantage of his misstep, and both tear at his flesh with angry jaws.

Laurel's blades flash through the air, and the flame of the Oakenblade finishes off the second wolf of the day. She turns, and, before the wolf in front of Shoji can react to her presence, slides the Oakenblade deep into its ribcage. It turns to snap at her, but misses wildly.

The wolf flanking Shoji does not miss, though, as it sinks its teeth into the monk's side. The shock of the bite knocks Shoji into unconsciousness, and he falls to the ground in a crumpled heap. Laurel panics for a moment as the two battered wolves turn to look at her. Blood drips from their jaws in long strands, but she isn't sure how much belongs to them, and how much belongs to her friends.

She grits her teeth, makes sure that she has a good grip on her blades, and plunges forward. Fiery steel meets bloodied fangs in a whirling confrontation. Laurel twists to her left, narrowly avoiding having her neck ripped out by powerful jaws, as she slices upward with the Oakenblade. Even as she feels her swords end the life of one wolf, she feels white-hot pain as the other clamps its jaws down around her head from behind.

She twists, wrenching herself from its grasp, and swings her swords wildly, screaming at the top of her lungs. Adrenaline and desperation propel her forward, and every blow that lands reverberates throughout her entire body. Each of her nerves scream along with her, and the only thing she can feel as she cuts down her foe is pain.

_More to come..._


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## carpedavid (Dec 27, 2002)

*11.9.2002 - Session 3, Part 2*

With four dead winter wolves and three rapidly dying companions lying in the snow around her, Laurel wonders how much worse the day will get. She wipes blood from her eyes, sheathes her swords, and fumbles in her backpack for healing potions. The warm, red, cinnamon-flavored liquid revives Quara, Shoji, and Erendil, and keeps her own wounds from overcoming her.

"Ow. Everything hurts," comments Shoji, who fishes a Tanayaran balm out of his pack and begins rubbing it into his bruises.

"I think we need to find shelter," Quara says through gritted teeth. "We'll never survive the night out here in our current condition. Maybe there's a cave somewhere."

Laurel nods in agreement, then sets out to look for shelter, thinking to herself, please let there be no more wolves. After a few minutes of searching, she finds a small cave opening in the side of the hill, and then directs the battered party inside.

"How deep is this cave?" asks Quara, "I don't want anything sneaking up behind us in the middle of the night."

Without responding, Laurel lights a torch and begins looking around. Shoji helps her search, and they find a tunnel in the back, hidden behind a large stalagmite.

"I'm not happy about that tunnel," Quara muses, "I think we should check to see where this leads."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, in our current condition," Laurel replies.

"I know we're pretty hurt, but I'd still rather see what's down there," says Quara.

"I think I would too," says Erendil.

"Ok. Let's go," Laurel says as she walks into the tunnel entrance. With the rest of the group following, Laurel leads them through the cave system. After a minute or two of winding through cave passages and small chambers, the tunnel empties out into a larger cavern. Laurel begins cautiously moving forward, her torchlight gradually revealing the features of the chamber. The bumpy, limestone floor is littered with small, broken bones that crunch and snap underfoot as the party moves forward.

"Oh crap," Laurel exclaims as two giant scorpions are suddenly revealed. Their glossy, black carapaces glow an unholy red in the torchlight as they turn, stingers raised, and begin skittering toward the group.

Arrows fly from Erendil and Quara's bows and pierce the thick exoskeleton of the lead scorpion. Its eight legs twist beneath it as it crumples, crushing piles of rat skulls and bat carcasses. Laurel drops her torch and hits the other scorpion with an arrow from her own bow, while Shoji pelts it with a stone from his sling. Laurel's arrow penetrates deep into the scorpion's flesh, while Shoji's stone bounces off relatively harmlessly. It does, however, draw the scorpion's attention to him.

_Oh great, now I made it mad,_ Shoji thinks to himself as the scorpion snaps at him with its claw. Fortunately, additional arrows from Erendil and Quara drop the giant arachnid before it can do any more damage to the monk.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Erendil says happily.

"I wouldn't say that yet," Laurel flashes her torch around the chamber to see if anything else is waiting to eat them. She notes that the tunnel continues on the other side of the chamber, but, seeing nothing of immediate threat, begins a more thorough search of the cavern. Quara also searches with her own torch, and stumbles upon a small spring at the far end of the chamber.  As she peers down into it, she can see a small iron ring, glistening in the bottom of the spring.

_Hmmmm, I've heard legends about this sort of thing,_ she thinks to herself. _I wonder if I should pick it up?_ She looks at the ring for another moment, decides that it looks an awful lot like the one on her right hand that provides her a magical shield of force, and then reaches down and picks it up out of the water. She waits for a second to see if an overwhelming urge to don the ring comes over her, and sighs in relief when it doesn’t. "Hey, I found this ring," she says as she turns back to her companions, "Do you think it's magical?"

Erendil mumbles a few words under his breath and looks intently at the ring, which begins to glow a soft blue. "Yes, it looks magical," he says, looking more closely, "some sort of protective magic, I think."

Quara looks at Erendil suspiciously. "I didn't know you could do that." Erendil just shrugs, and smiles mysteriously at her. "Hmmm," she grumbles, "I'll hang on to that until we can get examined more closely."

Laurel finishes her investigation and points out two items of interest to her companions: a pile of bones that are obviously humanoid, and a large hole in the western wall of the chamber, about five feet above the ground. The humanoid bones make the group nervous, but the hole in the wall makes them more nervous.

"What do you think is in the hole?" Quara asks.

"It's probably the scorpion nest," Laurel replies, "But I can't tell from down here."

"Ok," Quara sighs, "I'll go in and check." She drops her backpack and bow and lifts herself up into the small opening. Squeezing in head first, she waves her torch around the small chamber. It does indeed appear to be a nest, as she can see a large egg sack stuck to one wall, and the remains of another humanoid unceremoniously dumped against another. She punctures the egg sack with her sword, grabs a belt pouch she sees near the remains, and quickly evacuates the nest.

"Well, we've got one tunnel left," Laurel says, gesturing to the chamber exit.

"I'll go first this time," Quara volunteers. Everyone nods, and she begins leading the party down the tunnel. Laurel follows immediately behind Quara, with Shoji behind her, and Erendil bringing up the rear. They carefully make their way deeper and deeper underground, following the tunnel as it twists and turns. After what seems an eternity, the tunnel opens into a small chamber, and then continues on the other side.

Quara stops them before entering the chamber. Two large stalagmites on either side of the tunnel entrance make it impossible to see the entirety of the chamber, so she cautiously moves out into the center of the chamber. "Oh gods, what's that stench?" she exclaims as a blast of rotten air hits her in the face. The rest of the group reacts with similar disgust as the overwhelming scent of mildew and rotten meat invades their noses. 

The source of the stench is quickly revealed as four emaciated figures emerge from behind the stalagmites and advance toward Quara. The figures look like they might have once been human, but have since been twisted by something dark and terrible: mottled blue-gray skin pulled tight over skeletal frames; fingers ending in long black claws; unblinking eyes black as pitch; and faces frozen in a terrible, maniacal rictus.

Realizing that Quara is now surrounded, Laurel drops to one knee, pulls out her bow, and fires at the closest ghoul. The arrow pierces its leathery flesh, but doesn't stop it. Instead, it turns and rushes her, raking her across the face with its claws. She gasps audibly as the breath rushes from her lungs. All of her muscles seize up, and she feels a wave of cold wash through her body, like ice water running through her veins. She collapses, unable to move, but aware of the goings on around her.

The other ghouls swarm Quara, covering her with deep gashes and tearing hungrily at her flesh with their fangs. She, too, feels the numbing cold wash over her, and she finds herself unable to even scream as she collapses, unmoving, to the ground.

Shoji leaps over Laurel and attempts to knock one of the ghouls off of Quara. He does not succeed in knowing the ghoul anywhere, but he does succeed in drawing their attention. The three ghouls that swarmed Quara now swarm him, and their bites succeed in paralyzing him as well. Erendil hits the ghoul that attacked Laurel with two arrows from his bow, and manages to disable it, but the other three move off of Shoji and begin down the tunnel toward him.

He starts backing down the tunnel, trying to suppress the ghouls with his bow. They ignore the impact of his arrows, though, and charge him. The lead ghoul pounces on him, pulling him to the ground, even as its teeth sink into his flesh. He tries to yell, tries to pull himself from its grasp, but the paralyzing wave washes over him as well. _Oh gods, help us,_ he thinks, as the rest of the ghouls stand over him, salivating.

_More to come..._


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## carpedavid (Jan 1, 2003)

*Brannaugh Proudclaw*

I thought I'd post the stats on Brannaugh Proudclaw, who featured prominantly in Session 1, Part 3.

*Proudclaw, Brannaugh* 
Male Terrelian Dwarf Barbarian 9/Keeper of the Beasts 10; CR 21; Medium Humanoid; HD 19; hp 217; Init +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Improved Init); Spd 30; AC 24 (+5 Leather +3, +6 Lg. Wooden Shield +3, +3 Dex); Att +26/+21/+26/+11 melee (1d8+10 Battle Axe +5); SQ Uncanny Dodge; AL NG; SV Fort 18, Ref 9, Will 12; Str 20, Dex 16, Con 20, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 16

Age: 150 (389 6C - Present)

Current Location: Devonshire, Terrel

Skills, Feats, and Languages: Animal Empathy +16, Climb +9, Handle Animal +16, Hide +8, Intimidate +3, Intuit Direction +8, Jump +9, Knowledge (nature) +8, Knowledge (religion) +12, Listen +13, Ride +7, Sense Motive +7, Spot +7, Swim +11, Wilderness Lore +14, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical, Improved Initiative, Leadership, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Track

Possessions: Battle Axe +5, Leather Armor +3, Lg. Wooden Shield +4


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## carpedavid (Jan 29, 2003)

*Session 4, Part 1 - In which the characters do not get eaten by ghouls...*

Erendil is rather surprised when the ghouls do not, in fact, eat him, but begin dragging him and the rest of the group deeper underground. They emerge into a chamber over a hundred feet across that is filled with dozens of ghouls. Erendil begins to panic as the ghouls strip him of both his equipment and his clothes, and then bind his arms and legs. Though the paralysis prevents him from looking around under his own power, he catches glimpses of his companions suffering a similar fate as the ghouls jostle him around.

Now paralyzed, bound, weaponless, and completely exposed, the group is hung upside down by their feet on a rope strung between two stalagmites. The blood rushes to Erendil's head, blurring his vision, creating an audible ringing in his ears, and inducing an extreme headache. After a minute or so, he notices that the numbness in his body wears off, and he whispers to his companions, "Hey, are you guys still paralyzed?"

"No, but I've got a really awful headache," Laurel replies.

Now able to look around under his own power, Erendil watches the ghouls move around upside down - the blurry vision and inverted perspective create a surreal atmosphere.

"You know, the Tanayarans actually hang people upside down as a method of execution," Quara volunteers, "They'd actually bind them up, a lot like we are, and then hang them upside down in a covered well. They'd die all alone in the dark, when the buildup of blood in the head causes a massive stroke. The only problem is that it's too effective. People would die too quickly. So they slit the veins behind their ears to relieve the pressure."

Laurel gives Quara a horrified look.

"Oh yeah, it's awful. The blood drains slowly enough that it clots, but as the pressure builds up, the clot bursts and the bleeding begins again. That happens over and over again until the person dies," Quara says excitedly.

"Why do you know this?" Laurel exclaims.
Erendil ignores his companions' discussion and eavesdrops on the conversations of the ghouls around them.

"What does the master want with them?"

"I don't know, but I hope he makes it quick. I haven't seen meat this juicy in years."

"I'm not particularly fond of elf flesh, myself, it's too gamy."

"That human girl looks plenty tasty."

"Have they gone to fetch the master?"

"I hope he makes it quick, I hunger so."
Erendil groans inwardly - hanging upside down, naked, in preparation for being eaten by ghouls was not how he wanted to end his adventuring career. A commotion near one group of ghouls attracts his attention, and he spots a translucent figure emerge from behind a stalagmite and begin to glide toward them. Erendil shakes his head, trying to clear his vision, for he is certain that he can see right through the middle-aged human male dressed in aristocratic clothing. As the man approaches, Erendil sees that every visible area of skin is covered in bruises, welts, and cuts. Suddenly, the man's translucent status makes sense.

"What have we here," the man muses as he examines the four naked, upside-down adventurers. "Tell me, son," his Avengardan brogue is light and barely noticeable as he addresses Erendil, "why is it that you and your companions are trying to work your way into the most horrific prison on the planet? Most people I know would rather go in the opposite direction."

"Well," Erendil says hopefully, "we're actually here to try and break someone out of the prison."

"Really?" the man smiles wryly, then turns to his ghoul companions, "Cut them down." The ghouls look at each other in confusion for a moment, then sullenly begin to cut the adventurers down. The ghost continues, "I am Lord Willem Armitage, twenty-fifth Earl of Caelenburgh. Or, at least I was until the Emperor's men came in the middle of the night and dragged me from my bed because I wouldn't bow down to his bitch-goddess."

"Oh. Well...pleased to meet you," Erendil manages as the blood that had built up in his head suddenly empties as he is righted, leaving him even more disoriented than before. The groans of Laurel, Quara, and Shoji echo his own discomfort as he slumps ungracefully to the floor. After a few seconds, his vision returns, and he regains his feet.

"I'll assume you want your equipment returned," Erendil hears Armitage say as his ears stop ringing. As he is handed his clothing and equipment by a ghoul, he notices a glimmer of resentment in its unblinking eyes. _Good_, he reasons, _as long as they resent us, they aren't eating us._

Once the party is dressed, Armitage continues, "I can offer you free passage into the prison. These caverns lead right under the central shaft."

"Can you tell us what kind of opposition we'll be facing?" Quara asks.

"Well, the warden of the prison is a priestess of Dominique who has six or so acolytes under her command. There is also a prison guard, which consists of six men plus a captain, and a kennel."

"That seems like a very small number to guard such a large prison," Quara says questioningly.

Armitage sighs and frowns, then says softly, "Most of the people who are brought here are in no condition to cause trouble." He pauses for a moment, "And no one ever lasts long enough to improve their condition."

"Oh," Quara looks at her feet for a second, then, "Is there any chance you can lend us... um... some of your... uh... men?"

"No, I can't do that. As much as I despise this place, my men," Armitage motions to the ghouls surrounding him, "depend on the prison for food." He notices the horrified expressions on the adventurers' faces, and then says firmly, "We do what we need to survive."

The group looks at each other, then back at Armitage. "Thank you for your help," Erendil says finally, "I think we should attempt to continue our mission now." The aristocrat ghost nods, and instructs two of his ghouls to lead the adventurers through the caverns. The group moves out, and after a few minutes of climbing over boulders and squeezing past stalagmites, they spot a light filtering through a crack in the wall. The ghouls point them toward the light, and then head back.

The group files into a single line, with Shoji in the lead. As they creep closer to the light, a horrific stench begins to overwhelm them. Rotting flesh, mildew, bodily waste, and death all mingle to create an odor that is far fouler than each of them taken separately. Shoji pokes his head through the crack in the cavern wall and sees a thirty-foot wide pit filled with humanoid bodies... and body parts.

Meanwhile, on the deck of the HMS Darklorne, Wrayce, Tamminyd, Danklar, and their companions are having fun flying their stolen flagship around the northern territories of Avengard, provoking warships, and then outrunning them. Wrayce is standing at the railing trying to spot more ships to spook, when a small bird lands on the railing in front of him.

"Peep!" it peeps. He looks down at the bird and notices that it has a small scroll of paper wound around one leg.

"C'mere," he says gently, holding out his hand. The bird looks at him, then at his hand, then back at him, then back at his hand, and jumps into his palm. The bird holds very still as Wrayce gently unwraps the scroll and unrolls it with one hand. It reads:

_To those who stole my airship,

I'm a bit busy at the moment, but when your emperor's head is on a pike outside your castle walls, I'm going to hunt you down, torture you, kill you, and then defile your bodies.

Ta for now,

D_

Wrayce looks at the message, looks at the bird, looks at the message again, and then looks back at the bird, which promptly explodes in a puff of feathers. A bright silver light fills his vision, and the world disappears.

_More to come..._


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## carpedavid (Feb 12, 2003)

*Session 4, Part 2 - in which the characters invade the prison*

As Shoji moves in through the crack and peers up the central shaft, he sees a bright flash of silver light about thirty feet up, then watches Wrayce plummet head first into the charnel pit. The impact sends debris flying, and awakens something within the pit. Shoji snaps to attention and motions to his companions as four large tentacles erupt from underneath the rotting bodies.

Wrayce scrambles to his feet as the creatures attached to the tentacles emerge. _Aw, crap...otyughs_, he thinks to himself as he dodges one otyugh's tentacles. The other catches him on the side of the head, leaving a red welt on his cheek.

Laurel draws her bow and fires an arrow past Erendil and Shoji's heads, hitting the otyugh that missed Wrayce. It grumbles in pain and shambles toward the group, even as Wrayce backs away from it. Shoji steps through the crack in the wall onto a small ledge that runs the perimeter of the charnel pit, pulling out his sling as he goes. Erendil lets loose two arrows of his own, which hit the shambling creature at the same time as Shoji's sling bullet.

The otyugh turns its attention to Erendil, and tries to sneak its tentacles through the crack in the wall, but misses with both. The other otyugh continues its assault on Wrayce, and grabs the druidic wizard with the massive paddles on the ends of its tentacles.

Quara draws her own bow, and sends an arrow past Laurel and Erendil, which strikes the otyugh grappling Wrayce and explodes in a burst of flame. Laurel follows with another volley from her own bow, which distracts the creature long enough for Wrayce to wrap his arms around its tentacles and pin it. Wrayce smiles to himself as an expression that can only be described as utter surprise crosses the otyugh's ugly maw.

Erendil fells the shambling monster with two arrows from his bow, while Shoji moves up to the pinned otyugh and dispatches it with a devastating punch to the creature's skull. Wrayce drops the now-lifeless creature into the other dead bodies covering the ground, then looks around as Erendil, Laurel, and Quara join Shoji inside the pit. "Wow," he says in disgust, "I feel dirty."

Shoji speaks for the rest of the group when he looks at Wrayce and asks, "How'd you get here?"

"I'm not sure," he replies, and then proceeds to explain about the exploding bird and the message from the general. "...And then I fell into this pile of..." he looks down, and finally realizes what he's standing in, "of... oh dear. Does anyone have a rag I can use?"

"No, but this might help you feel better," Laurel says as she pulls out a slim wand made of white ash.

"Very nice," Wrayce nods in approval, "You mind if I use this on everybody?"

"That's what I have it."

"Great," Wrayce smiles, "So, who needs to be healed?"

After liberal use of Laurel's wand of _cure moderate wounds_, the party turns their focus to climbing out the pile of steaming, stinking, rotting body parts that they're currently standing in. The rough-hewn walls of the pit rise thirty feet above them, at which point an iron catwalk rings the shaft.

"I guess we go up," Laurel says to Shoji as she looks up at the catwalk.

"Yep. Got rope?"

"Yep."

"Ok, then. Let's go," he says as he walks to the wall and begins climbing. The rogue and the monk scamper up the walls of the pit, then climb hand over hand to the edge of the catwalk. They pull themselves up, and, after checking that no one is about to put a sword through their backs, tie off a rope so that the others may climb up.

Once the rest of the party is out of the pit, they examine their surroundings. Four large steel doors radiate from the central shaft in the cardinal directions. Between the north and east doors is a stone stairway that leads up to the next level, where another iron catwalk hangs above them. Above that, more catwalks mark each of the twenty stories of Áit ar Chúl Éaga.

"Ok, needle in a haystack time," Shoji quips.

Laurel nods in agreement, shrugs, and quietly moves to the east door, which she finds locked. After a minute with her picks, the door swings open, revealing a dimly lit corridor lined with iron doors. She shakes her head in frustration, "This is going to take forever."

"Let's start looking," says Quara, as she pushes past Laurel. She quickly spots a small view port located on each of the forty doors in the corridor, which enables her to quickly check each room. "It doesn't look like anybody is in any of these cells," she observes as she moves down the hall. The rest of the party joins her in the search, and they finish checking the entire hall in a matter of minutes.

With shrugs all around, the group continues their search through the southern, western, and northern corridors, each time finding nothing but empty cells. As they emerge from the northern door, Laurel and Shoji both spot a guard walking along the catwalk three floors above them. They quickly motion for silence, and then watch as the guard unlocks a door, goes through, and shuts it behind him.

"We need to take him out," Quara whispers.

"I agree," Erendil replies, "we can't risk capture this early on."

Laurel and Shoji nod to each other, dash up the stairs without making a sound, and flank the door. After a quick listen at the door, Laurel motions to the others to join them. Once up the stairs, Wrayce and Erendil join Laurel on the left side of the door, and Quara joins Shoji on the right.

With everyone doing their best to stay out of sight, Laurel crouches down and listens at the door again. When she hears the guard walking back toward the door, she signals the group and draws her longsword. As the iron door opens and the guard steps out, Laurel steps forward and swings her sword at his midsection. Unfortunately for her, he turns to close the door and narrowly sidesteps the blow. As the sword passes by the guard's torso, he suddenly notices the presence of the five adventurers, and a look of alarm crosses his face.

Wrayce points at the guard and a golden bolt jumps from his fingertip and strikes the man in the chest. Shoji tries to harness his chi to perform a stunning blow, but loses focus at the last moment and ends up tripping on his own robe. Laurel draws her short sword and swings at the guard with both blades. He is aware of her now, though, and actively dodges his her blows.

Quara tries to shoot past Shoji, but her aim is off, and the wooden arrow smashes into the stone wall, sending splinters everywhere. The guard pulls a large silver whistle from around his neck and blows. Everyone stops for a moment as the sound of the whistle echoes up the central shaft. The adventurers glance at each other uneasily as they realize that reinforcements are only moments away.

Then the guard breaks the silence with a bestial scream as he draws his sword and lunges at Laurel. His face twisted in rage, the guard slices into the shoulder of the beautiful elven ranger, who mouths a curse as the pain shoots through her body. Then, in the space of a heartbeat, the guard is hit with another _magic missile_ from Wrayce, an arrow from Erendil, and a crushing fist in the kidney from Shoji. Laurel slides her Oakenblade through the stunned guard's armor, piercing his heart. He collapses in a heap at her feet.

"Mother f-----!" Wrayce exclaims as he grabs the dead guard's body and hurls it over the side of the catwalk into the charnel pit fifty feet below. He turns to his companions, "We need to hide." They all nod in agreement as the sound of iron doors slamming shut and hastily barked orders echoes down from above.

The group hastily moves up the stairs and, after Laurel picks the lock, down the east corridor. At the end of the corridor, Laurel picks the lock to one of the cells, and the five adventurers pile inside. Each tries to blend into the available shadows when he or she hears the door at the end of the corridor open. The sound of footsteps slowly makes its way down the corridor, punctuated by the sound of view ports being opened, then slammed shut. A collective breath is held as the view port of their cell is opened.

Quara realizes too late that she hid directly in the line of sight of the view port. The small sliver of light that pierces the darkness reflects brightly off of her silver armor. Before the guard can react to her presence, though, she lifts her bow and fires an arrow directly into the man's eye. He screams in pain as he steps back, and the rest of the group bursts through the door to silence him as quickly as possible.

A golden bolt from Wrayce's finger starts the melee, with a stunning palm from Shoji quickly following. Laurel tumbles through the open space, which allows her to flank the guard and shove her longsword deep into his midsection. An arrow from Erendil later, and the guard collapses.

The damage has already been done, though, and the five adventurers turn to look down the corridor. The iron door is slightly ajar, and from behind it, they hear a multitude of footsteps, and the sound of swords being drawn.

_Stay tuned for session five..._


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## carpedavid (May 5, 2003)

*Interlude*

Oil and wick's child, lamplight, skips across sheets of parchment, splashing in puddles of shadow and scattering droplets of darkness over graphite-covered battle plans. General Talvyn of Arios, Commander of the Northern Armies, rubs his eyes and yawns; sleep was a comfort he had been able to enjoy little as of late. He stands and stretches, eliciting cracks and pops from his joints, and groans and creaks from his tendons. Red-hot bursts of pain shoot through his lower back, protesting the hours spent hunched over parchment covered tables, moving little wooden troops from one end to the other.

A movement at the flap of the tent distracts him, and he turns to see his favorite guard, a former salamander wrangler from Arial's Forge, enter the tent. "My Lord General" she begins, bowing deeply, "I present His Grace the Duke of Gryphalia."

"My Lord Duke," Talvyn says, dropping to one knee, as an elderly lizardman hobbles past the guard, supporting himself with a wooden cane.

"Get up," the lizardman says in a voice faded with age, "You know I hate it when you do that."

Talvyn smiles at his boyhood friend as he stands back up. "Of course, why do you think I insist on doing it?" he replies with a laugh.

The lizardman smiles back, "Care to offer me a chair? I am not as good as standing as I used to be."

"Oh, of course," Talvyn says, abashed, then tosses a fur over the back of an otherwise-uncomfortable wooden chair. He watches his friend unsteadily lower himself into the chair, and is struck with a wave of melancholy.  Forty years ago, they played soldier in the courtyard of his father's estate, whacking each other with sticks, trying to emulate the motions that they saw the soldiers of Gryphalia practice on a daily basis.

Nature's cruel trick, though, was to make lizardmen age faster than humans, and while Talvyn's back ached when it rained too much, his friend was nearing the end of his life. He knew that, in less time than it would take to end this war, his friend would be strolling through verdant, celestial fields, basking in the warmth of Dominus' glorious light.

"How's the family, Qatsaketh?" he asks as he sits down across from his friend.

"Mirielle is quite well. She is still as spry as the day I met her. She has been quiet, lately. I think she knows how little time I have left."

"Yes, well, we can't all have the lifespan of elves, can we?" Talvyn says with a forced laugh. Qatsaketh's marriage to an elven chanteuse came as a surprise to nearly everyone who knew him, especially Talvyn and his family. The lizardman's family had held the Duchy of Gryphalia for hundreds of years, and Talvyn's family had led the Duke's armies for just as long. Qatsaketh's marriage to an elf meant that no heirs could be produced, and since he was the only child of an only child, any ties the families had would be forever severed.

The only thing that distressed Talvyn more was his eldest daughter's choice to enlist in the Duke's army instead of accepting the officer's commission that was her birthright. Quara's decision meant that his family's dynasty would end as well.

Qatseketh breaks Talvyn's reverie after a moment, "I have brought the bow, as you have asked. I hope this does not mean that you will be going back out into the field."

"No," he shakes his head sadly, "I've become too old for that sort of thing. It's to be a gift for Quara. She's proven herself, my friend. I just wish her path to doing so had been different."

The lizardman pats his friend on the shoulder, "We must all make our own choices in this life. It is too short to do otherwise." Talvyn gives a grudging smile, and continues, "I have another gift for your soldiers, assuming that they return. Dominus knows that I wouldn't want to be where they are right now."

_It's been a while since I've updated - I blame that on the new d20 magic system I've been working on. However, I've finished the first draft of the new system, so I now have time to update. I've got a lot of ground to cover, so you should see fairly regular updates. Session 5 is coming soon..._


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## carpedavid (May 6, 2003)

*Session 5, Part 1 - In which the characters all very nearly die. Again.*

"Well," Erendil says solemnly, "I guess they know we're here."

"We need to move before they trap us in here," Quara says as she starts toward the door.

"Right," Shoji sighs, "I'll go first.  You guys cover me." With his companions holding swords, bows, and wands behind him, Shoji takes a deep breath, then kicks the iron door open. As soon as he is revealed, four archers, who were waiting in ambush, fire. Two arrows splinter on the stone near his head, but the other two find their mark, puncturing his right shoulder and left bicep. He barely has time to survey the scene before another volley of arrows streaks toward him.

Two archers peek out from the doors to the north and south, while two others kneel in front of the door to the west on the level above. Directly in front of him, floating in the middle of the central shaft, is a devastatingly beautiful woman. Her long ginger hair floats lazily over her shoulders, her ice blue eyes twinkle with malicious glee, and her lightly freckled, milk-white skin provides sharp contrast to her black leather boots, skirt, and bustier.

As Shoji dodges the second volley of arrows, the woman screams at the top of her lungs, "What in the sea of fire are you doing in my prison?" She follows her outburst with a lash of the whip that she holds in her left hand, flooding Shoji's body with intense, blinding pain. A thousand needles tear at his skin while fire floods through his veins, and he immediately begins to repeat a meditative mantra in his head. The pain fades, but his skin burns where the whip touched him. _Mental note_, he thinks to himself as he rushes the guard to his right, _avoid the flying bitch's whip_.

Wrayce pushes past Quara, draws the wand that he had picked up in New Charleston, and sends a golden bolt hurtling toward the flying woman. Quara fires her bow through the door, past Wrayce, and hits one of the archers on the upper level. A yelp of pain that echoes up and down the central shaft brings a smile to her face. Laurel follows Wrayce's lead in pushing past Quara, then charges the archer to her left, cutting deeply into his side with her ancestral longsword. Erendil decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and remains hidden, waiting until he can get a better shot.

The guard hit by Laurel recoils from the blow. He staggers backward until he is out of sword range, then lets loose another arrow, managing to graze her leg. The guard who was rushed by Shoji drops his bow and pulls a longsword from his belt, but can't find an opening in the monk's defenses that will allow him to press the attack. 

"By Chironex's bow", Quara quietly curses to herself as she sees the archer that she hit quaff a potion, "that's going to make things more difficult." She winces as two arrows from the other archer on the upper level splinter themselves on the breastplate of her armor, and then looks up to see the flying woman swing her whip at her. She just manages to sidestep the blow, feeling the air rushing past as the whip cracks an inch from her face. _Right, I'll get to her in a minute_, she thinks as she watches another of Wrayce's magic missiles slam into the woman's side, _first, though, I've got to take out these archers_. Summoning all of her training, she blocks out the chaos going on around her and shoots three arrows at the potion-quaffing guard in the time it takes a quickling to blink. She is rewarded with a gurgle and a thud as the man collapses. "Oh, well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be," she says under her breath.

Her delight is short-lived, though, as a man in black plate mail gently floats down the central shaft and positions himself right in front of her. He has the same ginger hair and ice blue eyes as the flying woman, but stands over six and a half feet tall, and holds a very sharp looking longsword. "That was my soldier you just killed, you whore," he snarls in a nearly unintelligible Avengardan brogue, as he brings his longsword up over his head and buries it in Quara's shoulder, drawing a spray of blood.

While the plate mail clad man slices into Quara, Erendil fires two arrows into the flying warden. She giggles in delight as the arrowheads pierce her flesh, and winks at him as an arrow flies over her shoulder and embeds itself in his sternum.

Laurel, meanwhile, swings at the guard in front of her and misses, ending up with an arrow in the gut for her trouble. Shoji is more successful with his guard, and lands a punch squarely on the man's jaw. The guard responds viciously, though, and nearly slices off the hand that the monk had used to hit him. Shoji immediately hears his old sensei's voice in his head, scolding him. "Don't leave your strikes extended," the old man would say, "It looks flashy, but you'll get a hand lopped off by doing that."

Wrayce, for his part, continues to lob golden bolts of force at the flying woman. He watches her pull out a potion and quaff it, so he sends two more bolts in response. She winces, and then gives him a look that makes him hope that he has enough missiles left to finish the job.

With Erendil behind her, Quara can't retreat from the man in the plate mail, so she simply lets loose with her bow, knowing that doing so will open her up to attack. Three arrows bury themselves in the man's chest, and he lets loose a string of curses as he takes advantage of the opening. Quara winces in pain as his longsword slices into her ribs, but manages a smile when three of Erendil's arrows streak past her shoulder and join the ones already in the man's chest.

"Seamus!" the flying woman screams as the man in front of Quara staggers. She dashes through the air to her wounded brother, and places her hands upon his back. "Great Mistress," she intones, "I beg you to heal this man and share his pain!" A silver light spreads out over Seamus' body, and Quara can see his wounds visibly heal.

Laurel, meanwhile, is inflicting wounds, not healing them. She takes an arrow in the thigh, but ignores the pain and cuts the archer down with a mighty blow from her flaming sword. She steps over the dead man's crumpled body and dashes toward the guard entangled with Shoji.

Shoji dodges the guard's sword as he sees Laurel point to the warden, who is now hovering over the catwalk. Nodding his assent, he breaks off from the guard and moves to engage the woman.

"Now, Great Mistress," the woman intones as she pushes past Seamus, "return the pain tenfold!" Her hand erupts into black flames, and she reaches out to touch Quara's shoulder. As the negative energy pours into the archer's body, the woman cackles with glee. She withdraws her hand just in time for two more arrows to penetrate Quara's already injured torso. Quara attempts to draw back her bowstring, but is so weakened by the warden's magic that she can barely nock an arrow.

Wrayce sees an opportunity open up, so he draws his scimitar and steps between the warden and her brother. He tries to bury his scimitar in the woman's back, but ends up impaled on Seamus' sword. "Ow!" cries the druidic wizard as he stumbles back, blood pouring from his stomach. _Ok. Fine_, he thinks, _back to using magic_.

Laurel closes the gap to the guard that Shoji broke away from, and begins trading sword blows with him. She finds this guard much harder to hit than the other, and curses in frustration as her sword repeatedly glances off the man's armor. His sword, on the other hand, finds much better purchase. Though he does little damage with each blow, he manages to find the gaps in her armor each time he strikes.

The warden, too, finds easy purchase in the lightly armored Quara. After drawing a short sword, she steps in and pierces the already weakened archer's torso. The trauma is enough to send Quara into shock, and she crumples into a pool of her own blood. Shoji, seeing his companion in trouble, tries to lodge his fist into the warden's kidney, but slides on the blood-slicked catwalk, and ends up facing a snarling Seamus.

"Get your filthy hands off my sister," he growls as he swings his sword in an upward arc, catching the monk in the center of his torso. Shoji is lifted off his feet by the force, and lands on the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.

Erendil looks at both the warden and her brother, and decides that the man looks to be more of a threat, so he sends two arrows into the fighter's side. Wrayce follows up Erendil's arrows with two golden bolts of his own, and the man visibly shudders. The warden takes advantage of Erendil's choice in targets by healing herself with magic, but screams when one last set of magic missiles slams into her brother, sending him hurtling, dead, into the charnel pit at the bottom of the shaft.

"You son of a bitch!" she screams, charging Wrayce, slashing him furiously with her short sword. Wrayce takes the full force of her blows, feeling the white hot pain of his flesh being torn open, but staggers back and unleashes more magic missiles from his wand. Erendil steps over Quara's crumpled form and sends an arrow into the warden's back.

Realizing her precarious position, trapped between the archer and the mage, the warden retreats by flying up the central shaft. Wrayce pulls out the healing wand that Laurel had loaned him earlier and points it at himself. A soft blue glow envelops his wiry frame, and he no longer feels like he is in danger of collapsing from blood loss.

"Guys, a little help here!" Laurel yells, still trying to defeat the guard in front of her. Erendil sends two arrows into the guard's side while Wrayce stumbles over to Quara's crumpled frame. A touch of the healing wand revives the archer, who immediately rises to her feet and shoots three flaming arrows into the back of the remaining guard, felling him.

"Shoji!" Quara yells, pointing to the fallen monk. Wrayce turns and uses the wand once again, and Shoji opens his eyes, groaning with pain. Laurel leaps the now dead guard and dashes back to her companions. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the ghouls in the charnel pit, tearing apart the body of the warden's brother.

"Oh, dear gods, we're in trouble," Laurel says as Wrayce uses the wand on each of them. She looks at her companions, each battered and bloodied, covered in cuts and welts.

"Yes, but we still have a mission to accomplish," Quara manages between gasps for air as she leans forward, hands on her knees.

"Well, then, we'd better make it quick," Erendil says seriously, "because I guarantee that woman's going to be back with reinforcements."

_Session 5, part 2 to come soon..._


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## carpedavid (May 20, 2003)

*Takeshi's Fury*

_In lieu of updating this week, I present the background story for Shoji's magical, leveled kama, Takeshi's Fury._

In the second century after the Fourth Conjunction, the warlords of Fang Yo ruled the country in relative peace. Occasionally, a greedy warlord would feud with another over land or honor, but most remained content with their own lands and station. Takeshi was not one of the content warlords.

The peasants who worked his fertile valley farmland provided him with plenty of money to buy wine and concubines, but he coveted the jade mines that dotted the neighboring Matsuhari clan's mountain estate. Every morning he would watch the sun rise over Matsuhari's lands, and he would fume that those lands were not his. "Why," he would think to himself, "should Matsuhari have those lands and not me? I have seen his concubines, and they do not deserve to wear jade fineries. Those lands should be mine!"

Takeshi resolved to take Matsuhari's lands one way or another. He consulted with his most trusted samurai generals, and they developed a simple plan to assault Matsuhari's stronghold: a surprise frontal assault. Since the Takeshi and Matsuhari clans had been at peace for decades, the generals reasoned that Matsuhari would be caught off guard and easily overrun.

"Brilliant," Takeshi exclaimed, pleased with himself for recruiting such clever generals. "Tomorrow, I will visit the Temple of Thunder and Lightning and ask the spirits for their blessing. Then, our victory will be assured!"

The next morning, Takeshi rode off to the Temple of Thunder and Lightning, accompanied by four of his bodyguards. The peasants who farmed his fields bowed and prostrated themselves as he rode past, and Takeshi felt proud that he would soon have even more lands for his people to work. He rode through groves of cherry trees in full bloom, crossed fields of poppies, and followed the mighty White Swallow river, finally arriving at the temple just as the sun began to set over the mountain peaks to the west.

The Temple of Thunder and Lightning was built on the summit of a very large cliff. The only method of access was a small, steep staircase that wound its way back and forth up the granite cliff to the large red iron doors of the temple. With the White Swallow river rumbling like thunder in the far distance, Takeshi began climbing the three thousand stairs to the temple.

The weather on the first leg of his journey had been pleasant - a typical sunny Fang summer day. As he climbed the stairs, however, the sky began to cloud over, and the air grew cool as a breeze picked up. As he reached the summit, the clouds unleashed their fury and a torrential rain began to fall, which pleased Takeshi, for he was certain that the spirits had noticed his arrival and were announcing their presence.

He banged on the iron doors with his iron gauntlet, and the sound of metal on metal resonated within the bowels of the temple, emanating as a deep, sonorous rumble. The doors swung open, and an elderly monk in white robes and a yellow sash greeted him. "Welcome," his voice wavered as he bowed deeply, "the spirits informed us that you would be arriving. Please come in out of the rain."

Takeshi strode into the temple, quickly stepping past prostrating acolytes. "Show me to the Shrine of the Spirits," he commanded.

"Certainly my lord," the elderly monk bowed again, and then began shuffling toward the rear of the temple. He stopped in front of a great golden door, intricately engraved with clouds and lightning bolts. "The Shrine of the Spirits is through these doors," he gestured.

"Well, then open them!" Takeshi bellowed. A group of young monks stepped forward and pulled on a set of chains that hung from the ceiling. The doors parted just enough for Takeshi to squeeze through.

He entered a small, circular, stone chamber with a standing stone at the far end. Two torches on either side of the standing stone provided a dim light that, combined with the smooth circular walls, made the edges of the chamber difficult to perceive. They seemed to stretch away into the distance even though Takeshi knew that they were less than an arm's length away.

As he approached the standing stone, he noticed that the sounds of the monks chanting outside faded away, and the air became very still. He kneeled in front of the stone, bowed his head, and began to pray. "Great spirits, give me strength in battle," he implored, "lend me your power so that I may be victorious over my enemies."

"Takeshi," a thousand voices swirled around his head, as the spirits answered in chorus. He startled, and looked around in confusion. "Takeshi," the spirits continued, "the power we have to offer is both awesome and terrible. It is potent and can assure you of victory, but it is also dangerous and difficult to control. Only those of a clear mind and a strong will can wield it successfully." Takeshi felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as the air crackled with blue sparks, "Are you worthy to wield this power?"

"Absolutely," he replied, "there is no one who is more worthy than I."

The spirits did not answer this time, but the crackling and sparkling in the air increased, and then a white hot flash filled the room. The light and the heat overwhelmed Takeshi, and he lost consciousness for a moment. When he regained his senses, the room was once again dimly light by torchlight, and the energy in the air had disappeared. On the ground in front of him, however, was an ornately decorated sickle.

The handle was carved from ebony, and engraved with patterns of lightning. The blade was forged from a silvery metal that Takeshi did not recognize. When he peered closely at it, he felt like he was looking through a window into the heart of a powerful thunderstorm. He could see flashes of light in the distance, and the entire surface rolled and shifted like a dark and ominous thunderhead.

Takeshi greedily hid the sickle in his robes, and pounded on the golden door. After a few seconds, the door swung open and he pushed his way out. The old monk bowed to him again, but Takeshi hurriedly brushed past him and strode to the front of the temple. Young monks rushed to open the doors, and he bounded outside into bright sunlight. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the natural light, and he almost stumbled several times as he ran down the three thousand stairs in excitement. He returned home from the temple in less than half the time it took him to get there.

Gathering his samurai together, Takeshi announced that the spirits had blessed their plan. They agreed to move on the Matsuhari stronghold in the middle of the night, and attack before dawn broke.

While the samurai spent time sharpening their swords and preparing their horses, Takeshi drank several goblets of wine to calm his nerves. He studied the sickle with great interest, turning it over and over in his hands, feeling its perfectly balanced weight, peering into the storm cloud encased inside its blade. He felt certain that before dawn, Matsuhari's soldiers would fall like stalks of wheat to his new weapon.

At the darkest point of night, Takeshi led his noble warriors up the narrow trails that wound through the mountain to the Matsuhari stronghold. The journey was easy at first, but the trails became rocky and difficult to traverse, and Takeshi began to worry that they would take too long to arrive. As they pressed on, the sky began to cloud over, and rain began to turn the steep trails to mud. Takeshi's countenance brightened, though, when he heard the sound of thunder in the distance, and he pushed his samurai even harder.

When Takeshi finally reached the summit of the mountain, the rain had thoroughly soaked his men. Lightning flashed through the sky, however, and a deafening thunderclap roused their spirits. He lined up his samurai and prepared to charge the sleeping stronghold, then pulled out his gift from the Spirits of Thunder and Lightning, and sounded a charge.

Of the one hundred men that climbed the mountain, only nine survived to climb back down. Arrows from hidden archers sliced through the air and punctured the samurai that charged through the sheets of rain. Men spun around like tops as steel arrowheads pierced their armor. Spurts of blood mixed with the torrents of water, painting the whole scene bright crimson. Takeshi looked around in horror and then ordered a retreat.

The eight surviving warriors shielded their leader from the continuing arrow attacks as they began the long trek down the steep mountain. The rain and the blood turned the whole mountainside into a vermilion waterfall, soaking the survivors in the lifeblood of their fellow soldiers as they slid down the slick, muddy trail.

When they reached the bottom of the trail, Takeshi knew that his reign as warlord was over. If the Matsuhari followed them, they would easily overrun his stronghold and slay his remaining soldiers. "The spirits have betrayed us," he spat angrily, "they assured us of victory, and led us into an ambush." His remaining soldiers began to patch their wounds as they listened to their master. "We must avenge our brothers, we must teach the spirits that our lives are not to be trifled with," he raged, "we will ride on the Temple of Thunder and Lightning, and we will show them that Takeshi's fury knows no bounds."

What was once a hundred proud samurai was now a weak and wounded nine. In the pouring rain, they rode their remaining horses through groves of cherry trees, crossed fields of poppies, and followed the mighty White Swallow river, finally arriving at the temple just as the rain began to slow, and the clouds began to part.

Takeshi and his men dashed up the three thousands stairs to the temple. He ordered his men to bash open the doors, and he pulled the sickle from his robes, fully intending to slaughter the monks with their own weapon. From out of the clouds, a bolt of white-hot lightning sliced through the air and struck Takeshi, entering through his helmet and exiting through his boots in less time than it takes a hummingbird to blink.

The sound of a thousand galloping horses filled his ears as he felt the flesh burned from his bones. A great rush of air flew from his chest as his breath was stolen away, and he could see the crackling blue spirits arc into his men and seize their hearts with their white hot talons. Takeshi fell to the ground, and the air was still.

After a moment, the temple doors creaked open, and the elderly monk in white robes and a yellow sash stepped out. He surveyed the charred corpses and shook his head sadly. Stepping over the still twitching samurai, he approached Takeshi's steaming body. He bent down, picked up the ebony-handled sickle with the storm cloud in its blade, and tucked it into his robes. The air crackled with blue sparks, and a deep rumble rolled through the sky as he stepped back into the temple and the iron doors shut behind him.

_Session 5, Part 2 coming soon..._


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## carpedavid (Jun 13, 2003)

*Session 5, Part 2*

"She's got to be pretty hurt," Shoji says while he wipes blood off of his arms with the hem of his robes.

"Let's finish her off then," Laurel suggests.

"That's a good idea," Erendil replies, "But where did she go?"

"Up," deadpans Shoji. The rest of the group groans, but takes Shoji's pun as their cue to move on. Laurel takes the lead as they move up the stone stairs. They ignore the floors with cells, hoping to catch the warden in flight. After a few floors, though, the layout changes. The central shaft is still open, but they emerge from the stairs into a large, open, circular room, dimly lit by sconces on the walls.

The room is a summation of all that is wrong with the world. The five heroes stand in shocked silence, struck dumb by the scope and scale of the cruelty that lay before them. The three hundred foot diameter chamber contains examples of every type of torture conceived by mortal minds - and then some that could only have been conceived by immortal ones.

Laurel cautiously approaches a large, frosted, glass tank, in which the figure of a male humanoid can be seen submerged under an orange liquid. Only his hands, which are manacled to the sides of the tank, emerge above the level of the liquid. Laurel hears a faint sizzling as she approaches the tank, and, as she peers over the top of the glass, her fears are confirmed: the man seems to be suspended in acid.

The prisoner's skin is in flux - being dissolved by the acid, but continuously regenerated by some unknown force. His eyes and tongue have been long dissolved, but he seems to be capable of breathing in the liquid, which Laurel fears means that his throat and lungs are in the same shape as his exterior. She looks around and notices that that a dull bronze ring graces one of the man's hands, while a silver-blue ring graces the other.

"Can anyone tell if these are magical?" she asks with a pained expression on her face.

Erendil looks visibly disturbed, but whispers an arcane phrase and looks at the man's hands. "Yes," he manages, "they seem to be."

Laurel takes a deep breath and removes both rings. The prisoner shakes and spasms as the magic that was keeping him alive fails. After half a minute, he stops. With tears in her eyes, she whispers to her companions, "It was the kindest thing to do."

Quara covers her mouth with a trembling hand, "Those inhuman bastards." She looks to Wrayce, "Will healing magic help these people?"

"There isn't enough to go around," he replies sadly. "I've got to conserve what we have to make sure that we make it out of here alive."

Laurel looks around, then says, "The ghost said that there was a kennel in here. I have to make sure that those animals are ok." 

"We still need to find the prisoner," Quara says firmly, "That should be our first priority."

"I say we kill that bitch and search later," Erendil interjects.

Shoji and Wrayce both chime in, and the discussion quickly turns into an argument. As the argument becomes heated, voices get raised, and the five heroes begin yelling at each other. After nearly ten minutes of argument, Laurel turns and walks away in a huff. She sits down next to a pile of large wooden crates, and tries to shut out the group, when she hears a groan coming from the crate next to her.

"Shut up! Shut up!" she screams, and the rest of the party turns to look at her. She stands up and points to the crates, "I think there's something in these."

"Well, they are designed to hold things," says Shoji.

"No, I mean, I think there's something alive in these. I thought I heard a moan." The party is suddenly silent as they remember where they are. Laurel looks to her companions, then back at the crates, and decides to see what is inside. Using her sword, she pries the top off of one of the boxes, and then recoils in horror.

"What, what's in there?" her companions all seem to ask in unison as they rush to see what is in the crate. What they see almost disturbs them more than the victims of torture around them. Inside the crate is a woman who is so emaciated that she very nearly looks like a skeleton: her flesh is pale and hangs from her bones, and all of her muscles are obviously atrophied from being confined to such a small space.

"Dear gods!" Laurel exclaims, nearly hysterical, "How can anybody be so cruel?"

Shoji places a comforting arm around her shoulders, as he shakes his head in disbelief. In all of his adventures, he has never seen anything like this. "We need to go, or we'll end up in those boxes, too," he says quietly. The rest of the party nods their heads in agreement, and continues up the stairs.

As she ascends, she hears the barking of dogs coming from above her. "The kennel!" she exclaims, and dashes ahead of her companions. Wrayce is right behind her, though, as they emerge into the kennel. Laurel is relieved to see that the animals are treated far better then the residents of this prison. Each animal is held in a separate stall, and all look to be well fed and watered. She quickly walks through the aisles to check on the condition of each animal, and stops in front of one stall.

"Wrayce, come look at this," she says with a smile on her face.

The druid stops short as he sees what Laurel is smiling about. In the stall in front of her is a large black dog with two heads. "Is that what I think it is?" Wrayce asks.

"It's an argus!" Laurel exclaims happily, "Aren't they so cute?" She opens the stall door and bends down to pet the two-headed creature, making sure to give each head plenty of attention. "Who's such a cute doggie?" she says in baby talk. The argus seems happy for the attention and flops over on its side. Laurel smiles again, "I think this one is pregnant!"

"This is probably her mate," Wrayce says, from the stall next to her, where he is scratching a male argus behind both sets of ears.

"We could take them with us and have little argus puppies!" Laurel suggests excitedly.

After a moment of consideration, Wrayce decides that he likes the idea, and casts _animal friendship_ on both animals. The two dogs look at him with four sets of deep brown eyes, tails wagging wildly, waiting for their new master to lead them.

Quara appears around the corner of the aisle and quickly raises her bow. "What on Trinis are those?" she exclaims, targeting the male dog.

"No, no, no," Wrayce quickly moves to protect the dogs, "they're friendly, and they're coming with us."

Quara lowers her bow and shakes her head in frustration, "We’re here to find a prisoner, not to shop for pets."

"Yeah, yeah," says Laurel dismissively as she walks back toward the stairs, "We know."

The party ascends once again, emerging into a narrow hallway lined with wooden doors. They communicate to each other with nods and gestures, and Laurel checks the first door for traps. Finding none, she nods to her companions and kicks the door in. The occupants of the room, a middle-aged human man and a middle-aged human woman both shriek in terror and dive to the floor, sending a book, some yarn, and a pair of knitting needles flying across the room.

"Don't move!" Quara barks as she storms into the room, "Who are you? State your names!"

Cowering, the man looks at the imposing archer, and stammers, "I'm Seamus, and this is my wife, Mary."

"What do you do here?"

"I'm the janitor and she's the cook. Please don't kill us!"

"You cook people?" Quara says incredulously, pointing the bow at the woman.

"No!" the woman exclaims, "I cook for the guards and the warden."

"Oh, right," Quara says as she lowers her bow. After a moment of thought, she points her bow back at the man, "Where is the warden?"

"I don't know," he manages, unconvincingly.

"Well, then you're no use to us," Wrayce interjects. He looks at Quara, "Is there any place we could lock them up?"

"Yeah, in the crates downstairs," she responds, glaring at the man.

"The warden's on the third floor!" the man exclaims.

"Great!" Quara says as she grabs the man by his collar and drags him to his feet, "You just got promoted to tour guide."

_Part 3 of session 5 to follow soon..._


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## carpedavid (Jun 16, 2003)

*Session 5, Part 3*

Pushing the frightened janitor in front of her, Quara leads the party to the stairs. "Take us to the warden," she commands, "Now!"

Sean the janitor tries not to wet himself as he forces himself to place one foot in front of the other. With every step, he hopes for an arrow in the back from the intruders, because he is truly scared of what the warden will do if they don't kill her.

The next floor is comprised of cellblocks, like the floors far below: four long corridors radiating from the central shaft, with an iron catwalk connecting them. Quara looks for signs of activity, and seeing none, urges the janitor to continue up. Just as they begin moving again, Shoji hears the sounds of hurried footsteps coming from above. He taps Quara on the shoulder, and points upward, "Movement up ahead."

Quara lets go of the janitor who promptly collapses against the wall. She draws her bow, and says, "Let's meet them halfway." Erendil and Laurel fall in behind her, while Shoji takes the lead. They move about ten feet up the stairs when several robe-clad figures appear in front of them. Quara looses an arrow over Shoji's shoulder, and strikes the lead figure square in the chest.

Shoji attempts to follow up Quara's attack with a punch to the chest, but the arrow's impact knocks the man back far enough that Shoji's fist only makes contact with the hem of his robe. Erendil already has his bow drawn by the time that Shoji's strike misses, and as the monk's body moves with the momentum of his punch, he sees an opening. His arrow flies over Quara's shoulder, past Shoji's ear, missing by a fraction of an inch, over the head of the first robed figure, under the upraised arm of the second, and hits the third robed figure in the stomach.

Laurel nocks an arrow in her seldom-used bow, and manages an expert shot of her own. She fires past her three companions and hits the second robed figure.

"Hello!" quips Wrayce as he pokes his head around the corner and fires his wand of _magic missiles_ at the same figure that Laurel hit.

The man that Shoji missed recovers from the impact of Quara's arrow, pulls a mace from under his robes, and slams the flanged metal head into Shoji's ribs. He smiles smugly as the cracking sound of bones being broken echoes up the stairs.
The second figure pulls a silver amulet in the shape of a coiled whip from beneath his _magic-missile_-charred robes, holds it aloft, and invokes the power of his goddess. "Lady of Pain, grant my prayer and _hold_ him fast!" he says while pointing at Erendil. The elven archer feels his muscles begin to go numb, and struggles to free himself of the magic. He manages to shake off the effects, and the cleric of Dominique looks crestfallen.

The third cleric, who was the victim of Erendil's marksmanship attempts to take advantage of the archer's distraction and pulls a crossbow from under his robes. A sharp pain distracts him as he lifts his arms, though, and he fires wildly, the bolt splintering against a wall.

"Oh s---!" exclaims Wrayce as he sees, from his vantage point at the bottom of the stairs, two more clerics walk out onto the catwalk above. "There are more out here!" he yells to his companions.

Erendil hears Wrayce's warning and fires one last arrow into the crossbow-wielding cleric before moving back down the stairs and out onto the catwalk. Wrayce fires two more golden bolts at the second cleric, and smiles in satisfaction as the man clutches his chest and drops. He then joins Erendil on the catwalk. With her original target out of the way, Laurel drops the third cleric with a well placed arrow, and then moves out onto the catwalk as well.

Shoji takes another blow from the remaining cleric's mace, which distracts him enough that he misses with a counter punch. "I'm on it," Quara says to Shoji as she fires three arrows over his shoulder in rapid succession, piercing the cleric's abdomen.

On the catwalk, Erendil is too busy trying to figure out what the two other clerics are doing to notice the warden fly down from above. She lashes at Erendil with her whip as she flies to the center of the shaft, where she can reach anyone on the catwalk. "You will all die here!" she exclaims, as Erendil's shoulder in filled with a burning pain.

He growls and fires three arrows in retaliation, each landing with deadly accuracy. Wrayce follows suit with more golden bolts from his wand, and is pleased to see the warden wince in pain.

Meanwhile, Shoji blocks another attack from the cleric and tries to land a kick to his head. He slips, though, and stumbles back into Quara as she fires, knocking her shot wide.

"When I kill you, I'm going to resurrect you, just so I can torture you and kill you again!" the warden screams as she sends the end of her black leather whip flying through the air, bridging the gap between villain and hero, and hits Laurel in the face. All consuming pain wracks Laurel's body; she feels like her nerves have caught fire and her blood has turned to acid. It takes all of her concentration just to keep herself breathing, and she collapses on the catwalk, convulsing.

_Uh-oh,_ Erendil thinks as he watches Laurel collapse. He turns his attention back to the flying warden and lets loose three arrows. She screams in frustration and swings her whip in retaliation. This time, it connects with his bare flesh, and he feels the full pain that the whip in capable of inflicting as he, too, falls prone, spasms wracking his body. Wrayce pats his trusty wand and sends more missiles at the flying warden, raising bright red welts where they hit her milky-white skin.

Shoji and the cleric continue to exchange ineffectual blows, so Quara decides to aid her friends on the catwalk. As soon as she turns away, Shoji finally lands a punch, which hits with enough force to break the cleric's sternum. He stumbles back and collapses on the corpses of his fellow clerics.

Quara emerges from the stairway just as Wrayce points his wand at the bruised and battered warden. He lets loose with another volley of missiles, and his target slumps over. Now unconscious, the warden looses control of the magic that she was relying on to keep her aloft, and begins to fall. Quara steps up to the edge of the catwalk and places three more arrows in her as she falls fifteen stories. "Just to make sure," she tells Wrayce, as a sickening wet thud echoes up from below.

Quara and Wrayce help Laurel and Erendil up, and they rejoin Shoji. "There are more on the next floor up," Erendil reminds them, and they turn their attention to the two acolytes who had been, until now, quietly trying not to get killed. "Don’t hurt us," they both say in unison.

The five heroes ascend to the next level and confront the two priests, who have raised their hands and are trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. "We'll do anything you want," one says, "just please don't kill us."

"We're here to find a prisoner," Quara says menacingly, "You're going to help us find him."

The two clerics lead the heroes to the remaining living prisoners, where they find the Terrelian spy, Edmon of Willoughby. He is naked, emaciated, bruised and beaten, bound and gagged, and lying in a pool of refuse, but he is alive.

"We're here to rescue you," Wrayce says to the man as he mentally negotiates with the spirits of nature, and then, striking a deal, cures his wounds.

"Thank the gods," Willoughby croaks hoarsely as Wrayce and Quara help him up.

"We need to get going before reinforcements show up," Shoji says.

"What about the other prisoners?" Laurel questions.

"What do you mean, what about the other prisoners?" Quara responds.

"I mean that we can't just let them stay here and die."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not right!"

"We could leave them for the ghouls," Erendil suggests, drawing a shudder from the rest of his companions.

"They're here for a reason," Quara says shaking her head.

"Yes, the reason is that they're enemies of Avengard," Laurel says emphatically.

"That's true," Wrayce says, "they could have information valuable to the war."

Quara considers this for a moment, and then nods her assent. "Where are we going to put them?" she asks.

"They're probably going to have to go in the cargo hold," says Shoji.

"That's not very humane," says Laurel.

"Yes, but it's better then where they are now," Shoji retorts.

"True."

"We're going to need to go back through the ghoul caves to get to our ship," Erendil reminds his companions.

"Well, we'll go get the ship, and then bring it around to the front door," Laurel suggests.

The rest of the group agrees to the plan, and within twenty minutes, the five heroes, their bounty, all of the gold in the prison's treasury, and as many prisoners as they could fit are aboard the Displacer Beast and sailing back toward Terrel.

Now back on board the ship, the group relaxes somewhat. Erendil pulls out a large sack and removes what is obviously the gear of the warden and her brother, sorting it out on the deck.

"How did you get that?" Laurel asks.

"From the ghouls," he replies, matter-of-factly, "I told them that if they gave us this stuff, they could have whoever we left behind."

_Edit: I forgot they grabbed the gold as well as the prisoners. Oops._

_Session 6 coming soon... including a knighting, roughing up merchants, and a wild goose chase._


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## carpedavid (Jun 30, 2003)

*Session 6, Part 1*

Despite having just broken into the most feared prison in Avengard, killing all of the guards, and releasing all of the prisoners, the heroes encounter little resistance on their return trip. The five heroes spend most of the return trip tending to and conversing with the rescued prisoners. Edmon of Willoughby, the spy they were sent to retrieve, says little, spending most of the journey being sick over the railing of the airship.

"It reminds me of Nym," Laurel remarks to Wrayce.

"Yeah, poor Nym," he says sadly.

"Let's try not to get eaten by any more dragons, ok?"

"Yeah. Ok."

When they get within a few hours of the front, though, they begin to get nervous, speculating on what they'll find. What if the front has moved? What if Avengard has broken through? Will they even have a country to return to?

Fortunately, the front is more or less where they left it, though more airships have joined the line on both sides. They all hold their breath and hang on to something stable as the pilot plunges them back into the middle of the maelstrom. Ballistae bolts fly over their heads and fireballs explode in the air around them, as the Displacer Beast dodges broken and blackened hulls. Everyone is nearly knocked off of his or her feet as the pilot makes a hard left to avoid ramming an Avengardan flagship, but no one is lost overboard.

As they approach the Terrelian side of the front, the crew gets ready to change flags. The five heroes all look at each other, waiting for another to make a decision. After a few minutes of inaction, someone yells, "Now!" and the Avengardan standard is quickly lowered and the Terrelian flag is raised.

A few Terrelian ships break off from their own battles and dive after the Displacer Beast. "I don't think they're buying it," Shoji says as a lightning bolt flies over the deck of the ship.

"They're only firing warning shots," Quara says as she checks her hair to see if it's been singed.

"Yeah, well, can we get them to stop that?" Laurel asks as she ducks a second bolt.

Quara grabs a white sheet and begins waving it in the air. The other ships seem to recognize the international sign of "please don't shoot," and no more shots are fired. They do, however, accompany the Displacer Beast to the airship docks in New Charleston, and only break off after the heroes have landed and moored the ship.

The gangplanks are lowered and the five heroes emerge, looking far more grizzled than when they left. A contingent of soldiers greets them, relieves them of the spy, and informs them that they're needed in the general's tent at once.

As the group hurries through the crowded and chaotic streets of New Charleston, Laurel notices that Quara looks quite nervous. She starts to say something, but thinks better of it and holds her tongue.

When they reach the command tent, they are quickly escorted in. Waiting for them are the general, who is hunched over his battle plans, and an elderly lizardman, who is draped in noble's robes. "Welcome back," the general says wearily as he looks up from his plans. "I heard that you were successful in your mission. Congratulations," he says, smiling, "You have done the empire a great favor."

"Allow me to introduce Qatsaketh, Grand Duke of Gryphalia," he says, motioning to the lizardman.

"Kneel," the noble lizardman commands. The heroes looks at each other with uncertainty, but each kneels before the Duke. He motions to Gen. Talvyn, who hands him his sword, and then approaches Shoji, who winces inwardly, sure that his head's about to be cut off. "State your name," the Duke commands.

"Shoji," the monk replies nervously. The Duke unsteadily taps him on both shoulders with the sword, then moves to Erendil.

"State your name."

"Erendil, your Grace," he says nervously, fearing for the safety of his ears. He inwardly sighs in relief when the Duke moves to Laurel.

"Name."

"Laurel Sylvan Oakenblade," she says as the sword lightly touches her shoulders.

"Name."

"Wrayce," he replies, and receives the same treatment as the other heroes. Everyone expects a repeat of the procedure with Quara, but the lizardman stops and smiles at her.

"Ah, Quara, my dear. Your father told me about the bravery of you and your companions," he says, casting a glance back at the general. The other four heroes look at Quara in confusion, and she blushes. "By the sovereign power granted me by our glorious Emperor and by Dominus himself, I hereby dub thee Masters of the Most Noble and Sacred Order of the Griffin," he says as he touches Quara's shoulders with the sword. "You may all rise." He turns back to the general and hands back the sword.

The group rises. Each of them has heard of the Order of the Griffin through legend and reputation: it is the most prestigious knightly order in Terrel, the Grand Master of which is the Emperor himself. Each of the newly dubbed Griffiners feels a warm sensation on his or her chest. When they look down, they see that they are now wearing small golden brooches in the shape of griffins.

"Ooh, shiny!" thinks Laurel.

The Duke continues before the heroes have much time to comprehend their new knighthood, "I'll be leaving for Devonshire in three days time. The Emperor has summoned all the nobles to court, and since I'm leaving all of my troops here, the Lord General has been kind enough to assign you to accompany me." He hobbles back to his chair, and then eases himself down as he grimaces in pain.

General Talvyn waits until Qatsaketh has settled himself, and then says, "In the meantime, I've got an assignment for you. A large number of our supplies have gone missing. We think that some of the hijacked goods are being sold to the refugees on the black market, and perhaps even to the town merchants, who are short on supplies themselves." He picks up a sheaf of parchment off of his desk, and hands it to Shoji. "Additionally, the merchants are using the war as an excuse to raise their prices to unfair levels. The Emperor has drawn up a list of customary prices," he points to the sheaf of parchment, "on many essential goods, and the merchants are to be made to understand that they are to abide by the Emperor's prices."

"What if they refuse to comply?" Quara asks.

"They are to be _made_ to understand," he says.  The heroes look at each other, trying to suppress smiles. They'll finally have a chance to rough up someone who won't fight back.

"Can we take a few soldiers as backups?" she asks.

"Certainly, choose who you wish," he nods to the group, "You're dismissed."

The five heroes salute the general, and then turn to leave the tent. "Quara," the general says, just before they exit, "I need a word with you."

The archer turns to look at her father as the rest of the group exits, "Yes sir?"

"I have something for you," he says as he points to a large, cloth-wrapped package on a table.

"What is this?" she asks as she walks over to the table. Her father simply motions to her to unwrap it. After a few seconds, she reveals a beautifully carved compound bow.

"It was originally your great grandfather's," Talvyn says, "he used when he defended Arios from an orcish army. Then it passed to your grandfather, and then I used it during my days in the field. Now it's yours."

"Why are you giving this to me?" Quara asks, her confusion evident by the expression on her face.

"Well," Talvyn begins, sternly, "I'm sure you must know that I've never been happy with your decision to enlist, instead of accepting an officer's commission, which is your birthright, and the legacy of your family." Quara sighs inwardly, having heard this sentiment expressed hundreds of times in various ways. The general stops himself, takes a deep breath, and his countenance softens, "But you've proven your dedication to the Empire. You've done very well, and I'm proud of you."

Quara looks at her feet. This is the first time in years that her father has expressed any approval of her actions, and she isn't quite sure how to feel about it. "Thank you, sir," she finally says after a moment.

An uncomfortable silence settles between them as they look at each other, uncertain of what to say. Finally, after a minute of silence, her father manages, "Err, yes. Dismissed."

Quara salutes the Lord General, takes her new ancestral bow, and leaves the tent to find her companions.

_Session 6, Part 2 coming soon..._


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## carpedavid (Aug 29, 2003)

*Session 6, Part 2*

Laurel, Shoji, Erendil, and Wrayce all give Quara funny looks when she exits the tent. "Would it have made any difference if I had told you?" she asks.

The other four Griffiners exchange glances for a moment, then, "No."

"I guess not."

"Not really."

"I suppose it wouldn't have."

"Ok, then," Quara says as she motions toward the town, "Let's go kick some ass."

The five heroes make two stops on the way to the merchant quarter. First, they select the five most intimidating soldiers they can find to accompany them. Second, they stop to visit the Avengardan prisoners that they brought back to enlist their services in watching out for black marketeers. All of the prisoners are more than happy to assist their rescuers, and promise to send word if they ever have contact with them.

"Ok, so where do we go first?" Quara asks eagerly.

Shoji looks at the sheaf of parchment he was given earlier, and notices that some pages have names written in across the top. "Huh. Looks like..." he struggles to read the faint and nearly illegible writing, "...Redfern Talltrees. Sounds elven."

Laurel winces at the implication that all names related to plants must be elven, then thinks about her own name, and realizes that he's probably right. They wander through the crowded streets for a few minutes until they spot a sign above a door that reads "Talltrees' Sundries."

Shoji reaches for the door handle, but Quara stops him. "Wait," she says eagerly, "let me go first." Shoji looks at Laurel and rolls his eyes, but steps back to let the young archer move past. She puffs her chest, lifts her head up, and then tosses open the door and barges into the store.

"Redfern Talltrees?" she bellows.

A slight, middle-aged wood elf stands behind the counter. He looks around in bewilderment, then hesitantly answers, "Yes?"

"You have been accused of exploiting the war by raising your prices on essential items to unreasonable levels."

"Well," he clears his throat and looks around nervously, "I realize that some of my prices may seem rather high, but items are in very short supply." He points to a wicker basket on the counter that is nearly empty, save three white, waxy lumps, "As you can see, I only have three lumps of soap left."

"That may be, but the Emperor himself has set price limits on certain items," she pulls out the sheaf of parchment with his name on it, "Let me go over this price list with you."

While Quara chastises the merchant, Shoji takes the opportunity to look around the store. He sifts through a basket of hardtack, jiggles a box full of nails, and pokes at a stuffed badger that sits on one shelf. When he lifts a woolen blanket to see what is stacked underneath, he smiles, and clears his throat.

Quara pauses in her chastisement and both she and the merchant turn to look at Shoji. "Only three lumps of soap left, huh?" Shoji says, holding up a large basket filled to the brim with soap.

Talltrees looks stricken, "I...uh..."

Quara doesn't give him time to explain. She takes a deep breath, leans forward over the counter until her face is inches from his, and yells, as loudly as she possibly can, "You. Are. In. Deep. Trouble! What else do you have a surplus of that you're overcharging for? Show me your storeroom right this instant!"

Too frightened to do anything but comply, the merchant points toward a heavy wooden door next to the counter. Quara thinks about kicking the door in for effect, but decides to open it in a more conventional manner. Shoji follows her inside and both spend a few minutes poking around. Again, it is Shoji that finds something interesting - a wooden crate with the phrase "Property of the Northern Army" stamped on the lid. Quara takes one look and storms back toward Talltrees.

Shoji listens as Quara berates, threatens, and harangues the merchant into telling her where he got the crate (of razorblades, as Shoji discovers when he peers inside). He fingers a Randall Weaver, and points them in the right direction. On the way out of the shop, Quara grabs one of the hammers that happen to be for sale, some nails from a basket next to it, and nails the price list to Talltrees' front door.

"Traitor," she mutters as the party walks down the dusty dirt street, "he should be hung."

After a few minutes, they stop in front of a row of buildings, each of which has a weaver's sign hanging above its door. Laurel sighs inwardly and decides that she's annoyed by being relegated to handing out fliers, and would like to be done as soon as possible. "Well," she says curtly, "let's try door number one."

The jingling of a bell signals the opening of the door, and a young human man sitting next to a weaver's loom looks up at the party. "Welcome," he says brightly, "how can I help you?"

"Are you Randall?" Shoji inquires.

"That's my name," he says with a smile.

"Randal Weaver, we have a few questions to ask you," Quara says menacingly, as she cracks her knuckles.

The man's smile drops fades slightly, but his tone is still light as he replies, "Ah, no. I'm Randall Thatcher. My wife is the weaver. There is a Randall Weaver, though. His shop is next door."

Quara eyes the man suspiciously, but decides that he's telling the truth. "Sorry to bother you," she says as they turn to leave, but then gives the man a stern look just before she walks out the door, "If we can't find him, though, we'll be back."

Laurel rolls her eyes, but opens the next door. An older human man is piling bolts of cloth upon a table "I'll be with you in just a minute," he says distractedly as he juggles multiple bolts. About thirty seconds later, the precariously constructed pile collapses, and the man swears in frustration. He turns to the party and grumbles, "What can I do for you?"

"Are you Randall Weaver?" Laurel asks.

"Nope, I'm Ben Weaver. Randall's my brother," he says curtly.

Quara sighs in frustration, "Can we talk to him?"

"Nope, he's not here." Upon hearing this, an audible groan emerges from the group.

"Well, where did he go?" she says, the urge to pound her fist into his face growing exponentially with each word out of his mouth.

Ben looks at her quizzically, but then replies, "I think he went down to Ben-Ben the Tobacconist's shop."

Quara decides to look at her feet, since looking at the man makes her want to draw her bow and start firing. "And where is Ben-Ben's?"

"Well, you go down the street until you get to Old Ma Baker's. Then you turn right and go past Myrtle the Apothecary. His shop's on the left, and if you pass Kargan the Stonecutter, you've gone too far."

"Right. Good. Thank you." Quara snaps as she pushes her way past the other heroes and out of the store. Shoji and Laurel share another eye roll, and Erendil simply shakes his head. _Humans are always in such a hurry_, he thinks.

The weaver's directions prove to be accurate, and within a few minutes, Laurel, Erendil, Wrayce, and the troops have taken up positions outside the tobacconist's shop, while Quara and Shoji begin questioning Ben-Ben inside.

"Do you know the whereabouts of Randall Weaver?" Quara asks the stocky, dwarven tobacconist.

"No, ah 'aven't seen 'im in more than a week," he answers in a thick Avengardan brogue.

Quara stares at Ben-Ben intently, trying to sense whether he's being deceptive. Shoji, meanwhile, takes a look around the store. An oddly placed pedestal table catches his eye, and he takes a closer look at the small rug that it's sitting on.

_He's lying_, she decides. She places her hands on the tobacconist's counter and leans in menacingly close. "Tell me where he is," she growls.

Ben-Ben fixes Quara with a steely dwarven gaze and growls back, "Ah told ya. Ah 'aven't seen 'im."

Shoji surreptitiously brushes aside the rug with his foot and recognizes the outline of a trap door. "Really? He wouldn't happen to be down here, would he?" he asks as he moves the table and rug to reveal the door.

"Open the trap door," Quara commands Ben-Ben.

"No. Ah don' think ah will," he says firmly.

"I said, open the door!" she yells as she draws her bow and nocks an arrow.

"Ah said no!" the dwarf yells back.

While Quara and Ben-Ben yell at each other inside the store, Erendil notices a group of four Terrelian soldiers pulling a cart toward the store. As he looks up, he notices that they give him a sidelong glance and immediately change direction.

"Laurel, Wrayce," he whispers, motioning toward the soldiers, "these soldiers look fishy."

Wrayce nods, then steps out in front of the cart. Adjusting his cloak so that his Order of the Griffin crest is obviously visible, he orders them to stop. Stop they do, but then immediately draw their swords and attack Wrayce and Laurel.

Wrayce manages to dodge two of the men, and Laurel almost manages to dodge both of her attackers. As she backs away, though, one of the men manages to catch her arm with the edge of his blade, sending blood splattering into the dirt.

"I don't think so," Wrayce says in annoyance as he steps back and casts _web_. All four of the attacking soldiers become entangled in the giant mass of sticky webbing that now blocks off the road. The soldier that caught Laurel is near enough to the edge of the webbing that he is able to hang out and slash at her. He catches her once with a desperate lunge, but Laurel uses her flaming sword, Oakenblade, to cut him down.

After a barrage of _magic missiles_ from Wrayce, the rest of the attackers surrender and are put into shackles after the web is dispelled. The three heroes turn their attention to what's going on inside the store, and enter to find Quara standing over Ben-Ben the tobacconist, bow drawn, holding the tip of the arrow inches from the dwarf's eye.

"You are under arrest," she spits, and orders the troops to shackle the dwarf.

"Take his haggis-eating ass to jail," Shoji says in annoyance as he throws open the trap door. "I'm going to see what's down here." He climbs down the ladder and finds himself in a large basement, where he is immediately assaulted with missile fire.

Seeing their friend under attack, the other four Griffiners descend the ladder and begin a counterattack. Quara quickly spots one of the culprits hiding behind a stack of grain sacks and launches three arrows into the man's head and neck, causing him to slump forward over the sacks, his lifeblood pooling on the floor around him.

Erendil targets a second archer with missile fire of his own, and Laurel follows up by jumping over the crate that the man was using as cover and plunging her sword into his chest. _Magic missiles_ from Wrayce find a third archer, and Shoji follows with blows from his kama. The combination of attacks is quick and lethal - both archers join their companion in the afterlife.

Quara, who is always in a hurry, tosses open a door on the west wall, and dashes down the hallway, narrowly avoiding a fall as a section of the hallway collapses under her feet. "Trap!" she yells behind her, as she tosses open the door at the end of the hallway and steps through.

"I wish she'd wait for us," Erendil comments to the others.

Upon seeing what awaits her in the passageway on the other side of the door, Quara, too, wishes that she had waited. Two men in leather armor are attempting to hold back massive beasts at the ends of iron chains. The creatures look like the enlarged result of some mad wizard's attempt to cross a rottweiler with a shark: a large, powerful, canine body supports a thick head that is dominated by a gigantic maw of razor sharp teeth.

The creatures growl and gnash their fangs, drooling greedily as they eye Quara. The two men holding back the beasts grin at her, and then release the chains.

_Up next: Session 6, Part 3 - in which Quara finds out just how sharp those teeth are._


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## carpedavid (Sep 2, 2003)

*Session 6, Part 3*

_Oh no_, is all she can manage to think before the two beasts slam into her, knocking her to the ground. All she can see are teeth everywhere - and then that's all she can feel, too, as one of the creatures locks it's jaws around her leg and shakes its head violently. _That's odd_, she thinks as her flesh is literally shredded_, it doesn't hurt at all_. A second later the pain hits her at all at once, and she screams in terror.

Erendil and Shoji vault the pit trap and emerge into the corridor. Quickly sizing up the situation, Erendil sends an arrow into one of the men, while Shoji jumps on top of the beast that has Quara in its jaws and slams his fist into its ribs.

Laurel and Wrayce emerge from the doorway as Erendil sends another volley of arrows into the man he hit previously, dropping him where he stands. Shoji continues his assault while Laurel and Wrayce team up on the other creature.

Quara struggles to keep the beast's jaws from closing around her head while Shoji continues to break the creature's bones. The five Griffiners manage to dispatch both creatures and the remaining beast handler, but not before Quara takes a significant amount of additional damage.

Blood covers the floor around her, but she manages to struggle up to her feet once the beast on top of her is finally dispatched. "I'm ok, really," she says between gasps for air, then takes a few unsteady steps down the hallway before the sounds of clapping echoes out from the darkness ahead.

"Well done," a handsome young elven man says as he steps from the shadows. He chuckles quietly to himself as he walks toward the group, "I've never seen anyone take a bite from a mauler and survive." He looks directly at Quara and smiles, "Well done. Too bad I still have to kill you."

Before anyone can react, he pulls a blue steel rapier from his belt and slides the tip between Quara's ribs. She gasps, gurgles briefly, and collapses.

"F---!" Laurel yells, and then lunges toward the elf, slicing him across the chest with the Oakenblade. Wrayce follows up with several _magic missiles_, while both Erendil and Shoji miss with attacks of their own. The elf frowns and steps back, pulling what appears to be a potion out of a pouch on his belt. He quickly gulps down the contents then smiles again, "There, that's much better."

Shoji senses movement behind him and dodges to the side just as the tip of another rapier flashes by. He can feel the heat being drawn from his skin as the steel blade passes less than an inch from his ribs, and he turns to see a severe-looking half-elven woman standing behind him. _Where in the sea of fire did she come from?_ he wonders.

Laurel, Erendil, and Wrayce press their attack on the man, leaving cuts, scorch marks, and puncture wounds in his armor, while Shoji advances on the newly arrived woman, landing a powerful roundhouse kick to her jaw.

The elven man tumbles past Laurel to flank Shoji, and the monk feels the painful bite of frozen steel as it punctures his torso. The pain is so severe that Shoji's legs buckle, sending him toppling forward, directly into the thrusting rapier of the half-elven woman.

Erendil, Laurel, and Wrayce stare in horror as the tip of the rapier emerges from Shoji's back. He continues to slide forward until his chest reaches the hilt of the sword, at which point the woman lowers the blade and Shoji falls, silent and lifeless, to the ground.

Upon seeing his companion fall, Erendil lets out an uncharacteristic yell and shoots a single arrow into the male rogue's chest, knocking him off of his feet. The man lands on the back of his neck and goes limp. With a look of shock on her face, the half-elven woman reaches into a belt pouch and pulls out a vial of liquid. She drops to one knee next to her fallen friend's body and takes a brutal blow from Laurel's sword just as she dumps the liquid into his mouth. The woman rolls forward over the man's body and he springs to his feet - bloodied, bruised, and battered, but alive.

Wrayce takes advantage of the lack of offense from the two rogues to pull out the wand of _cure wounds_ that Laurel had given to him in the prison and use it on Quara, who rolls up to one knee, spots the female rogue guarding the man who attacked her, and sends three arrows into the half-elf's chest. It's the male rogue's turn to gasp as his companion slumps to the ground in front of him.

"B----!" he screams and lunges forward, tumbling past Laurel and Wrayce. He uses his momentum to summersault to his feet, and then jabs at Quara. Unfortunately, he misjudges the distance, and ends his thrust with the point of his rapier a foot from her already drawn bow.

"Crap," he says in resignation an instant before Quara releases the bowstring. The arrow penetrates his leather armor, the padding beneath, his flesh, a layer of muscle, and the viscera inside before perforating his aorta. An overwhelming feeling of cold sweeps through his body as his blood escapes its bonds, and once again he falls into an overwhelming darkness.

"Shoji!" Quara screams, leaping to her feet and dashing over to the fallen monk. She drops to her knees beside him and looks at his lifeless frame. Wrayce looks at her sadly and shakes his head, and Laurel simply puts her hand on the young archer's shoulder. Quara closes her eyes and quietly sobs.


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