# Correl: An Element of Origin



## MarauderX (Jan 17, 2004)

*
Correl: An Element of Origin *   

http://correl.wikispaces.org/

Welcome to the story hour for our group based in the Kingdom of Correl.  If you would like to receive the background of the setting or other material related to this homebrew, post a note and I will get right back to you.  Or you can go to our new dedicated campaign homepage: Correl.
~MX

PCs:
Alex - Human Rogue 11
Jerrin - Halfling Druid 11
Thovaas Stroth - Human Paladin of Heironeous 11
Quentin Blythe - Half-elven Rogue7/Ranger1/Shadowdancer3
Grimnyr - Human Barbarian1/Bard9 (Deceased, Session 37)

ex-PCs:
Varekai - Half-Orc Monk/Rogue (retired?, living at the Foutain Anaphia, session 25)
Arashika - Half-Orc Barbarian Rogue (retired, living in Kargam, ~session 18)
Yaritza - Human Rogue Sorceress (retired, living on the outskirts of Kargam?, ~session 15)
Bratton McConough - Dwarven Fighter (retired, rejoined brother's clan at the town of Kyrill, ~session 13)
Cyprian - Human Ranger (retired, wilderness, ~session 8)
Dian - Eastern Wizard Monk (deceased, ~session 14)
Argan - Human Ranger (Deceased, session 37)
Aerial - Elven wizardess (Deceased, session 37)

Out Of Character page for our game

In-Character page

Maps Page

*News 07-14-05:*
I finally had the chance to update the info on our game, and the effort continues over here: http://correl.wikispaces.org/ 
Since the site is pretty easy to use and improvements look to be on their way, I'm commiting to using it to keep track of our game.  It will be some time before the thing is complete, and I hope to get to add all the bells and whistles that I can't here.  


*News 06-24-05:*
Due to vacations, out of town band shows and weddings, we won't be back at it until 7/12/05.  In this time off the DM will have plenty of time to update the thread with details.  In the meantime, feel free to cook up your 11th level PC sheets and send them to me.   

*News 06-15-05:*
We are good to go for Saturday the 18th for a weekend game.  We start at 1:00 sharp, and I'll be ordering food once we start.  In the meantime, be sure to check your email for the PC changes that have occurred.   

*News 05-04-05:*
It's the day after my birthday, and wow am I am still stuffed from the nine course meal the night before.  Now I know what it's like to eat like a king.  Tomorrow should be a fun Cinco de Mayo too, so that means the last day at my job will be a blast.  Does this mean Dionysis in the upcoming episode?  
I'm still looking into a new spot to run a weekend game, and the date looks like it will be around June.  Though it doesn't align with some of the campaign items I had in mind, it should be very worthwhile nonetheless.   

*News 04-28-05:*
I'm back from my break and delving back into things once again.  I'll see if and when we can get a weekend session going, and I might be able to swing a spooky location if the stars line up just right.   

*News 03-24-05:*
I'm taking about a month off from ALL gaming, socializing, cavorting, goofin' off, etc.  I'm sequestering myself in a local library and at home in order to study for the largest (and hopefully last) test in my life.  So that means there will be no updates or email on the game as of Saturday, March 26 until Sunday, April 17th.  And if interviews go well, I may also have a new job by then too.   

*News 01-03-05:*
Welcome Jabberwocky to the group, as he is playing Grimnyr, a tall warrior-bard with a penchant for adventure.   

*News 12-15-04:*
Well, Tramp4Life has moved across the country, and I am again on the prowl for another player to fill his massive shoes.  We'll miss ya, M, and feel free to come back anytime to growl and seeth at PCs and NPCs alike.   

*News 10-22-04:*
The survey results are in and can be found in the Out of Character page for the campaign.  Thanks for replying and I have responded as well, and will incorporate much of the input to the game.  Also look forward to food being served at the beginning, and some other goodies on the horizon.  
In the meantime, I need to update the story hour with some of the discovered information and get an idea of what the PCs would like to do in between sessions at Kargam to speed things up next time.   

*News 9-24-04:*
We have filled that missing spot, and added a new temporary player as well!  Welcome to both Erik and Mike, as they will be filling out our table with 6 players plus me.  It should work well, and I will plan for such in encounters and capacities.  I still need to add treasure from the tower onto the pages, as well as note who you ran into and what happened to them (mostly death).  Keep in mind that I am running a game at TerpCon on the 2nd, so the updates might be spotty, but I will keep everyone keenly aware with mailbox stuffing emails on my progress.  

*News 8-24-04:*
Well, I'm on the prowl for a player to fill a missing spot or two before the conclusion of the current adventure.  At that time I hope to let the players take the reins on direction and where they decide to go and what they do will be completely up to them.  I hope to fill the void so that the new player(s) will get a good feel of the campaign setting, etiquette and the like.  The world will still keep marching on, and should they decide to take a nap for a few game years, no problem!   

*News 7-30-04:*
Let me officially welcome Chris & Leslie to the group.  Things are heating up now, and I think the focus of the campaign in general will shift to a more PC-driven world, in which the players will choose where to go and what to do next.  In a way this is better, but as the DM I would like some preparation time to set up the next steps the PCs take.  It gives me a chance to make cool full-color maps, flesh out NPCs to help and is easier than improvising.  
I anticipate that it will be another session or two before this will happen, and I will send out a survey to get some feedback on me as a DM and what you expect as a player on different topics. 

*News 5-27-04:*
Ok, I have finally fleshed out a lot of the direction given a solid base of characters and an awesome set of players.  I think I mentioned in person once that I designed most of the beginning part up front for five PCs, and that while having five was not necessary it was advisable for survival.  This remains true, and the more I look back upon my notes the more it will become a test of the components of the group as well as cohesive battle prowess.  Good luck.

*News 1-19-04: *   
I added the Out Of Character page for our game, so check that out if you have a question about rules or want to share tactics and stats with everyone.  
Also I have added the In-Character page for discussions with each other and NPCs "in-character".  It will be used to keep things a bit more organized, and I hope to keep this thread more for the campaign info (maps, storyline, events) and the other thread for discussion. 


About the content:
This is for a new campaign that started up in January, 2004, and I will be posting most session updates here.  My players, let me know if I should edit anything or expound more on subjects I may be too vague about.  I will try to edit this first post often to add links to other pages and keep you well informed of updates to this thread.  

Forgive my poor writing skills as I occasionally fade from 2nd person to 3rd and back to 1st in the span of a sentence, but often I do not have solid blocks of time often enough to complete cohesive thoughts.  Instead I will be posting up a patchwork of the happenings of the characters and their progress per session as more of a record for us and a place to make comments and such.  Add on that I’m an engineer by trade (we are _encouraged_ to write passively), and the whole thing becomes a mess.  Oh, and I tend to drink alcohol, and as it turns out I should have been _on _ drugs all this time when I just said no for years.  Go figure.


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## MarauderX (Jan 17, 2004)

*Prelude*

You have been in Kargam a little while now, and are getting used to the sights, sounds, smells and culture of the city as it keeps surprising you with new sights and people.  Living in the lower southwest quarter has been interesting, as you often get to see many newcomers to the city.  You are starting to recognize some of the more familiar faces now, as you are beginning to establish a routine, and are starting to know of the best places that you like to go.  One of the men you remember and see often is Rollof.

	Rollof is a lieutenant of the city guard, responsible for maintaining accurate numbers, equipment and other record keeping as well as serve to keep the city peaceful.  He was the man who penned your name and profession on a piece of parchment when you first entered the city, and has since not forgotten your name.  You noticed his chain mail shirt beneath an off-white robe, with the golden eagle crest of the Barony of Kargam, which is thinning with wear, and whenever you see him he always has it on.  Although you don’t see him every day, he is a familiar sight at random times of the day or night, waving acknowledgement to nearly everyone throughout the neighborhood.  His popularity and thoughtfulness have earned him many friends in the southwest quarter.  Although you know of the man you are not acquainted with him well, and have never held more than a few passing words to each other, that is until Tuesday.


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## MarauderX (Jan 17, 2004)

*Prelude continued into Session 1 -*

	On Tuesday, Rollof approached you and asked how your work was going.  Not wanting to sound desperate, you turn your head to the side and make a vague comment.  The bowl of cheap stew in your hands has already given you away though, but he says nothing and sits down next to you on the stoop of the inn where you have been staying.  He idly chats with you and mentions that the first boat of spring heading up the Vulir River soon, promising a busier season than the fast-fading winter.  Not saying much, you convey a message that asks what he or the city might need you for.  Rollof reads your face and pauses before asking you to come to the city guard mess hall tomorrow for a better meal, and perhaps better work.  You are thinking that perhaps a better opportunity than being a city guard might come along, but in the meantime you could earn enough to pay for better tools for your trade.  He doesn’t leave until you make a weak promise to come.

	Wednesday is rainy, and arriving at the mess hall across the river was out of your way, but the warm fireplace and the smell of food inside the mess hall welcomes you.  Inside is already a group of twenty or so men at one end of the large open room, and among them is Rollof, greeting them as they approach.  You make your way to him, and he smiles and gives you a hospitable slap on the shoulder.  A group of younger men, probably still serving their year’s time in service to the city, sits to the side playing a game.  They are likely under the direction of Rollof for the time being, and by their tones cannot wait until they have completed their service to the city.  

	Rollof calls everyone to gather, and only the sounds of a few latecomers eating can be heard.  He motions the man standing next to him, who has bright red hair and a green-gray tunic, and without waiting the man introduces himself as Stefan.  He tells you all about a shipment that he will be making, as he and his family will need help with the merchandise.  Stefan has brokered a deal with the elves to the northeast of Kargam, who are interested in his product.  Now all he has to do is deliver.

	One among you braves interrupting Stefan to ask exactly what the ‘merchandise’ is.  ‘Horses’ he says.  Feeling a need to explain further, he adds ‘We capture and break wild horses, then sell them in Kargam.  We chanced to find a large herd of pure white horses and knew the elves would be interested, as a white horse is a symbol of their patron deity.’  Stepping forward with his hands on his waist for showy effect, he finishes 
‘We offer each able-bodied man 100 gold, payable once we reach the elven trading post.’

	There is murmur and nodding of approval at the sum of money offered, as most have figured the trip will be well worth the time.  A few leave, but enough stay to meet Stefan’s request.  Rollof tells you all that he will be leaving on the first riverboat to the lumber camps up the Vulir River and that they should meet him at dawn in three days to go with him.


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## MarauderX (Jan 17, 2004)

*Session 1 continued -*

	Although the past few days have had cool rain, this Saturday morning seems colder than usual.  You meet Rollof at the south docks along the Vulir River, and he introduces the boat captain Kalanos.  Kalanos doesn’t give you a warm welcome as he is busily directing his crew where and how to stow supplies to be carried to the lumber camps.  Soon you are on board with these strangers, and only the quiet lap of water and pulling of oars can be heard.  The day passes and you are starting to learn about a few of your fellow passengers, where they are from and what they do for work.  Rollof tells a few stories of the city and you are starting to know him as a jovial man, enjoying himself on a routine journey.  You spend the night in a village upstream, and set up camp for yourselves on the moist ground.  

	Again the next day you set out at noon, and the rowers pull the boat upstream as Kalanos inspects the river for changes and new embankments.  You realize that Kalanos is probably getting paid well to be the first up the river, as the Vulir is still swollen from melting winter snow.  Occasionally he makes a comment about alligators or troglodytes to keep a few of the unruly passengers in line.  You spend the night at a well-used haven along the river.  

	On the third day, Kalanos says that with some luck you could reach Misha’s Ferry a little after noon, which is where you will be dropped off.  This reminds Rollof, whom you realize has been drinking during the days in the boat, that he should give you direction.  He stammers a little and is corrected by Kalanos often, but tells you to stay on a trail to the southeast along a smaller river that meets the Vulir at Misha’s Ferry.  He cautions you to not leave for Stefan’s home until the next day, as it is a 10-12 hour hike before they get there.  Instead you should stay the night at Misha’s Ferry, as she accommodations for everyone.  Around one of the bends in the river a ferryboat can be seen crossing to the south side of the river after having delivered a passenger to the opposite shore.  You have arrived at Misha’s Ferry.


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## MarauderX (Jan 17, 2004)

*Session 1 continued -*

	Kalanos does a quick introduction of Misha, a squat older woman who seems more interested in her dried herb collection than meeting new faces.  Rollof flips a gold piece to her to pay for your night’s lodging in her spacious hut, and shortly thereafter she bustles off into the nearby woods.  An hour later she emerges with her pet, a very large bear.  It occurs to you now how Misha lives safely alone in the wilderness.

You have been dropped off with a sizeable group, and decide to follow Rollof’s suggestion of waiting until morning before setting out to reach Stefan’s homestead, Sukiskyn.  The night passes quietly.

The next morning you set out for Sukiskyn at about 7:00 AM and travel the day on foot south-southeast to follow the small river as it winds through the forest.  The trail is rather wide and well used, and you pass several signs where other homesteads, camps or outposts branch off from the main path.  The noonday sun comes and goes, and you feel like you have been walking far too long when the sun starts to dip below the trees.  

Suddenly you notice something.  A twilight hush has settled over the forest, and there is no movement amongst the shadowy trees on either side of the trail.  No birds are chirping, the forest is not moving with any of the normal springtime activity.  Just as you all halt on the path, and eerie sensation passes over you.  

Then the silence is broken.  A faint cry drifts on the evening breeze which also brings a whiff of wood-smoke.  Ahead, you catch a glimpse of flames arising beyond the trees.  The sounds grow louder; shouts of men mingle with harsh, guttural warcries and the clash of battle, while all the time the flames grow higher and begin to bath the forest in an orange-pink glow.  

You run forward along the path towards the flames where you see a short pathway end on the bank of a fast-flowing river spanned by a wooden bridge, which leads to the gate of a palisaded homestead.  The buildings are mostly intact, but are lit by flames leaping from a barn to the left of the bridge.  Between you and the homestead, you see a pack of the attackers – goblins, or possibly orcs – as they were hiding in the dark woods preparing an assault.  

You clash with the goblins in the woods while heading for the bridge and gate, when more of them show themselves on the other side of the trail.  A few arrows descend from the nearby tower of the homestead as you join battle with the goblins.

“Look out!” cries a man’s voice from the gatehouse across the bridge further up the path you see a squad of goblins mounted on huge wolves charging wildly along the path towards you.  “Quick, before they cut you off!” the voice continues, and the gate door starts to swing open.  Several of your comrades fall trying to defend your path to the gate as the young man jumps down from a ladder leading to the top of the gatehouse.  He grabs the young woman holding open the gate door by the hand and says “Follow me inside!” before running across the courtyard to an oak door to the main building.   

Just as the wolves bring down one of your fallen companions, two others leap to his aid.  A glowing figure also suddenly emerges, outshining the roaring fire with pristine light.  One of the wolf riding goblins directs his mount over the bridge while the others shy away from the bright light now harrying them.  The mounted wolf becomes trapped in the doorway of the gate and begins trashing about, to finally be silenced by a series of blows.  While several of you removed the wolf’s body from blocking the door, a few jumped back to the open to try to save a few of your fallen comrades.  Dragging one of them inside you discover his throat is beyond repair and leave his body in the courtyard before piling inside.


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## MarauderX (Jan 17, 2004)

*Session 1 interlude -*

	There is a lull in the goblin attack as a woman from the top of the tower shouts an all clear.  A one-armed man shuts and bars the door behind you, and you realize you have entered through the kitchen.  You follow the young couple through to the main hall, where you see a second-floor balcony surrounding above.  On it is a red-bearded man and his eyes and red hair give him away as an older relative of Stefan.  “My name is Pyotr,” he says.  He greets you and explains that he is Stefan’s brother and asks if you have seen him.  He is visually dismayed at your answer, but nonetheless he jokes grimly about the warmth of their welcome.  He then explains your collective predicament:

·	There are two clans of goblins attacking the homestead: the Red-blade (Gnhass-ka) and the Wolfskull (Kloss-lunk), who have the wolves.  

·	There was a third clan, the Vipers (Jaggadesh), but these have run off with the horses from the pens after killing two of the clan (Novannes and Hakos).

·	Although the barn, gatehouse, and the stretch of palisade are on fire, the main building and stables are intact.  

·	With your help, the defenders have a good chance of holding out until dawn, when daylight will force the goblins back into the woods.

·	With so many goblins hidden in the woods it would be suicidal to leave the homestead before dawn.

·	This is only one of several goblin attacks on human homesteads in recent days, as told to you by their elf companion.  


With a cloudless night, the moonlight allows you to see the open clearings and river easily.  You would be able to see any of the attackers once they come out from the shadows of the woods.  The goblins make you fully aware of their presence as they chant and beat drums.  Occasionally you catch fleeting glimpses of figures moving amongst the trees or in front of small fires, as they conceal their true positions in the woods.


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## MarauderX (Jan 17, 2004)

*Session 1 interlude -*

          Before long you have met all of the defenders as they were curious to know who you are, and are led around the homestead to see the armory’s inventory.  As you pass through the lower great hall again, you catch sight of three marvelous tapestries hung against the stone wall.  While the center one is easily twice as large as the others, the two flanking it on either side are the ones that catch your attention.  Realizing they must be Shen-Jin, you can only estimate their worth to be more valuable than any other you have seen.  Not pausing to let you ask about them, Pyotr leads you to the top tower where you look down on the clearings below.


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## MarauderX (Jan 17, 2004)

*Player's map:*


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## Cyronax (Jan 19, 2004)

That's a great recap MarauderX, I enjoyed the first session a lot! I look forward to the next one!

C.I.D.


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## MarauderX (Jan 19, 2004)

*Session 1 Interlude Continued:*

Pyotr leads you down the spiral staircase for the tower to a room filled with an assortment of weapons and crafting tools.  He rubs his rotund midsection and says that it should be enough to last through the night, though everyone will have to keep their wits about them.  


Armory:  (Area 10 on the map)

-	2 short bows
-	2 long bows
-	battle axe
-	2 small wooden shields
-	long sword
-	rusty mace
-	broken crossbow
-	3 slings
-	16 spears
-	120 arrows
-	200 slingstones
-	dwarf-sized plate mail, half-suit


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## MarauderX (Jan 20, 2004)

*Session 1 Interlude Continued:*

"It's been some time since I have seen a fight, and I am a bit rusty," says Pyotr "so please let us know what to do and we will try our best."  He looks each of you in the eye, searching for hope in your faces so that he can pass along your confidence to his family.  
Taras, Pyotr's son-in-law, says "Should we start burning some torches for more light?"  

     Matvey, Pyotr's youngest son immediately starts running to the kitchen to fetch wood for the torches when Pyotr deflects the question to you, and at the same time asking how wise adding more fire would be at this point.  The others speak up as well, putting in their own opinions on what they should do, and within a few moments every one of them is trying to talk over the other, interjecting what each thinks is the best thing to be done.  Masha begins crying loudly again, which directs everyone's attention as what's best to be done for her.  

     A piercing howl fills the valley, and the chaos of raised voices stops abruptly.  Everyone looks outward again and you can see the fear in their faces despite the darkness of the room.  You need to have a plan, and soon.


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## Cyronax (Jan 21, 2004)

MarauderX said:
			
		

> A piercing howl fills the valley, and the chaos of raised voices stops abruptly.  Everyone looks outward again and you can see the fear in their faces despite the darkness of the room.  You need to have a plan, and soon.




"A plan....," Dian calmly meets the gaze of the estate's master, and says "First and most importantly: the fire must be put out. Do you have a well?"

"Once the fire is done, we must maintain our vigil on the outer defenses of this keep. At the very least we can see what's coming against us, and then fall back to where we are now. Waiting in this place though......I feel blind. The goblins will find us easy targets here Lord Pytor."

With that, Dian readies the crossbow he borrowed from Sir Tovas. 

C.I.D.


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## MarauderX (Feb 5, 2004)

*Session 2*


The party and homesteaders huddled together and listened to the discussion of putting out the fire that may eventually threaten the main building.  With Alex leading some members of the homestead to help, the formed a crude line that passed several buckets of water to dump upon the burning gatehouse.  Alex was spotted filling buckets from the river and a volley of rocks from the woods narrowly missed him.  

Retreating to safety, Alex, Thovaas and the rest saw several goblins emerge from the woods along the path in order to fire more stones at any targets.  Several attempts were made with rope to get water from the river, but was abandoned as a few more volleys of rocks clacked against the palisade.  A new figure darted down the path and around the outside of the palisades before coming though the northern opening in the palisade.  Dian and the others fired arrows into the darkness where the goblins had once stood. Thovaas questioned the small figure that was mounted on a large dog, who introduced himself as Jerrin and explained that he was hoping to warn the homesteaders before the goblins attacked.  Eventually everyone retreated inside to watch the gatehouse fall toward the river and the fire burn out over the next hour.  

Everyone worked ferverently to set up some defenses with remnants of the colapsed barn, bales of hay, spears, and some caltrops that Brathas had brought from Kargam.  Suddenly the goblins' war drums and chanting stopped.  A minute passed, then another, then after 10 minutes the goblins screamed as a group of Wolfskulls barreled down the path to cross the bridge and another group of Red-Blades broke out of the woods to cross the south clearing.  

The Wolfskulls were struck by entangling branches and roots from the surrounding forest as Jerrin chuckled, but two mounted on wolves led another four on foot across the bridge.  The Red-Blades streaked across the clearing while arrows rained down on them from the tower, and they took cover under the remains of the barn.  Once there, they loaded their slings and began exchanging fire with the defenders on the tower and through the windows.  Meanwhile, the Wolfskulls went straight for the wooden kitchen door and began hacking at it with axes.  The two on wolves threw spears and throwing axes that managed to connect with Pyotr.  With a combined effort, the Wolfskulls were dropped before breaking through the door, and many of the Red-Blades were slain before making it back to the cover of the woods.  

An hour later silence descended again, but no attack came.  Goblin snipers lobbed stones at the windows and tower from the cover of the near woods, but did not connect with any of the defenders.  At about midnight, a black mass flowed out above the treetops and started towards the homestead.  The closer it got, the larger it looked, and just before it hit the defenders could discern that it was bats, many, many bats.  Among the swarms were two giant bats that each led a swarm a different way.  One group went to the top of the tower and attacked Brathas, Darya and Thovaas while the other went inside through the windows on the second floor.  Aerial calmed the swarm to sleep while the rest of the inhabitants teamed up on the large bat that now flapped about the second floor of the main hall.  At the top of the tower, Brathas and Darya fled to the safety of the spiral staircase, leaving Thovaas to deal with the swarm and the giant bat that were attacking him.  Once he fell, the giant bat and swarm descended to enter the homestead through the second floor windows to attack the homesteaders that had just killed the first giant bat.  Several fell to the swarm, and the large bat kept many of them busy as many rushed to aid Thovaas.  Alex opened the door to the stairway on the second floor and attacked the swarm, only to have the swarm of bats ooze into the stairwell and attack them.  With several pounding blows, the swarm was descimated and Jerrin managed to bring down the second giant bat with a deft throw of a dagger.  

Without pausing, many of the homesteaders began keeping watch immediately to see if any goblins were charging, but luckily none came.  Healing was given out to bring everyone back to conciousness but now there was none left.  And it was only about 1:00 AM, with more than 5 hours left until sunrise.


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## MarauderX (Feb 19, 2004)

*Session 3*

As the party huddles in their respective positions, it is not hard to battle sleep knowing that the goblins are still out there in the night, hidden by the darkness of the woods.  

A woman's muffled screams are heard over the bridge, and soon a figure can be seen to be dragged around across the path to the bridge.  She is wearing a blue dress, and can be heard clearly over the drums and chanting.  Darya streaks down the tower steps to Pyotr, insisting the screams are those of Grisha, her cousin from the Cherkass homestead.  Darya says that only Grisha wears a blue dress like that, and it must be her.  Taras says they can't be certain, but would be willing to cover anyone should they wish to investigate.  

Two of the party members manage to sneak out of the homestead, and begin looking for clues as to who is wearing the blue dress.  Just as they make it to the river, Thovaas sees movement out of the corner of his eye.  From his vantage point in the tower, he spots a group of stealthy goblins crossing the east clearing towards the homestead.  He immediately yells an alert, which brings everyone's attention whirling around to face the new threat.  

The sly Red-Blade goblins run straight for the east side of the homestead as arrows begin descending on them.  A wolf howl pierces the air from across the river, and soon enough a squad of Wolfskull goblins begins to make its way to the bridge.  Once the Red-blades reach the east wall of the homestead, they begin emptying skins full of oil and a few throw oil-filled gourds at the windows on the second floor.  More missle fire is launched into the Red-Blade goblin ranks as they empty more oil onto the homestead wall and ground next to it.  

Dian manages to climb up the other side of the palisade from the goblins and jumps from the top of the palisade through the second floor window just as a goblin throwing axe zips by him.  Thovaas sinks another arrow into the large goblin barking orders at the others as Jerrin throws a torch out of the window to start an eventual fire prematurely.  

The Red-blades step back from the oil-soaked area and a few of them toss a type of clay pot at the second floor, again missing the windows.  The fire spreads down the outer walls of the east wall, and soon the whole wall is engulfed in flame and thin smoke.  Brathas drops to his knees, then slumps to the floor of the balcony as he clutches his chest where a dagger had pierced his lung.  More and more missle fire hails down on the Red-blades, and seeing that they have accomplished what they set out to do, the goblins retreat back to the darkness of the woods.  

Meanwhile, the Wolfskulls had cross the bridge and begin hacking at the kitchen door again, and one of the wolves and it's rider are dropped by the defenders above the door with help from the snipers in the tower.  Aerial falls in the far room on the second floor as one of the goblin's sling stones connected with her head.  The door eventually gives way, and the furniture stacked behind it gives way as the other wolf rider urges his mount through the doorway.  Stellios, who had been bracing the door with is single arm, is buried beneath the door and stacked furniture.  On the other side, Jerrin and his mount were waiting to meet the remaining attackers.  The wolf was felled before long, and the rider was dropped by Jerrin's dagger.

The fire raged on the outside of the east wall, but already it was getting warmer on the inside despite the cool night.  Smoke was beginning to gather, and the defenders began to organize a fire line once the goblin threats were gone.  Alex immediately began by bringing buckets and dumping them out the windows down the wall as Thovaas used soaked blankets to subdue the leaping flames.  Pyotr, Dian, and Taras had to sit down for a while as smoke had overwealmed them briefly.  Many bucket fulls of water later, the fire was merely sizzling and the defenders went back to their keeping vigil on the clearings around them.


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## MarauderX (Feb 19, 2004)

*Session 3 Continued*

The moon began sinking towards the treetop horizon when again the defenders heard what sounded like woman's screams.  Darya cried out in anguish as it was clear now that the woman-like screams were incoherant and were probably made by a goblin shreiking in falsetto.  It left Darya visibly shaken, and Pyotr could not quiet her sobs for another hour.  

The party began to rotate sleeping so they could at least get a few hours before daybreak.  More sling stone cracked and clattered against the building, and the drumming stopped and resumed occassionally.  

The moon had dropped out of sight, and now the clearings were the darkest they had been all night.  Before long it would grow lighter as dawn approached.  Alex woke up Dian and the others as they had suspected something might happen in the final hours of the night.  

The drums fell quiet now for more than half an hour, and the chanting had grown weaker.  Perhaps the goblins' spirit for a fight had broken and they decided to go home.  Those thoughts were flushed away.  The defenders watched wide-eyed as a large pack of goblins emerged from the forest to the east.  Two large goblins led the way, followed by nearly a score of goblins.  A cry went up from the tower, and the defenders noticed a second group of goblins pouring forth from the north forest.  

The Red-blade goblins to the east ran across the open ground as more arrows fell on them, and the defenders could make out something they were carrying.  "Ladders!  Ladders to the east!" Pyotr cried out, and loosed another arrow at them.  To the north, the defenders in the towers concentrated their fire on a prominent goblin with a red cape, a large red battle axe and a red and gold circlet on top of it's head.  

The ladders were propped up by the Red-blades to the east, and the leaders there urged the goblins up the ladders to climb through the windows.  They were met their by a row of defenders on the balcony.  Alex and Thovaas struck down goblin after goblin that came up one of the ladders as Pyotr held off attackers from another.  The cleric of Pelor fell after repeated blows, and soon goblins began hopping onto the balcony from the ladders.  

The goblin leader to the north blurted out some directions while pointing at the newly rigged kitchen door before he ducked for cover from the archers on the tower.  The other Red-blades from the north went straight to the door and brought it down.  Once the way was clear, they piled into the kitchen and storage room, then the goblin leader sprinted across the open courtyard to the cover of the kitchen doorway.  Taras had called out what had happened, and he, Alfana, and Irina ran to the balcony to await them coming into the great hall.  As Pyotr and the others were tied up with their backs to the great hall, the defenders saw the need to prevent them from climbing the stairs. 

Instead, the goblin leader toppled over the great hall dining table and pointed at the tapestries that hung on the wall of the great hall, giving out orders to take them down.  Arrows came down on the goblin intruders from Argan, Taras and others, but still they managed to grab the tapestries.  Pyotr and Darya struggled with the goblins on the ladders, but were assisted by Dian, Alex, Jerrin and Thovaas.  Seeing their predicament, the goblin lord directed his troops to ascend the stairs to try to down the weakened defenders.  Jerrin wisely spotted the maneuver and his companion Tempest ran to counter, tearing open the throat of the large goblin.  

Seeing this, the goblin leader pushed his minions to leave the building with the tapestries while they still could.  The defenders were still resisting the goblin attack via the ladders, and the goblin lord managed to escape across the open field.  One of the goblins also had a tapestry, as Argan and the others had managed to bring down the other tapestry-carrying goblins.  

Recognizing that a majority of their force had been lost the rest of the Red-blades from the east dropped their weapons and ran for the cover of the forest.


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## MarauderX (Feb 19, 2004)

*Post Session 3*

Pyotr looks around the homestead in the dim morning light.  You watch as his eyes slowly gather in the destruction that was wrought during the night, and all of the defenders look to him after gathering in the great hall.  His mother, Kuzma, swaggers over to him and wipes away dried blood from Pyotr's face.  She smiles and hugs him, knowing that no one else in their family has died this night.  He hugs her back, and tears of relief and joy stream down from their faces.

His watery eyes show some joy once again, and embarrassed he says "Well, stop staring at my ugly mug, we have some work to do."

He directs his family of homesteaders to begin clearing away the goblin bodies, rebuilding a temporary kitchen door, binding and relocating the wounded, and picking up all of the supplies and weapons strewn about the building and courtyards.


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## MarauderX (Mar 10, 2004)

*Session 4*

Taras sets about the work with a renewed fervor as everyone's survival through the night made him all the more anxious to hunt down the rest of the goblins.  His wife ties his long hair back into a ponytail while he scraps mud from his boots.  "We should go now," Taras says, "while it is light.  The goblins will be scared, and with any luck will panic at the sight of us.  We could have all of the horses back by nightfall."
Pyotr and the others gather around and discuss the merrits of retrieving the horses now as opposed to waiting a day or more until everyone is well to chase the horse thieves.  Feeling up for the task, Thovaas, Alex, Jerrin and Dian join Taras in following the trail of the horses.  They leave at nearly 8 a.m. riding mounts, and Taras hopes they will be able to locate them before mid-afternoon.  
Argan, though he wishes to aid them with his skills, knows he should stay to defend the homestead should any goblins return before the others.


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## MarauderX (Mar 10, 2004)

*Session 4 Continued*

The morning passes and the sun chases the dew from the new spring leaves of the forest.  Eating rations on horseback, they sees signs that the horses had passed this way - white tufts of horsehair mark some of the tree branches that close in on the path.  Soon they come across a nearby clearing, but something is eeriely wrong from what they could see so far.  A large body of something lies along their path towards the entrance to the clearing.  

Cautiously approaching, Alex and Dian scan the grisly scene before them.  More than a dozen horses were slain, and nearly a score of goblin bodies were interspersed with them.  Most of the dead goblins had the curved markings of the Viper clan; a few others could be identified as Wolfskulls.  An obese Viper goblin was hung upside-down by his feet from a large tree in the clearing.  Clearly a gruesome battle had been fought here, and just recently, as the goblin blood had not had the chance to soak into the soil beneath their feet.  

While taking stock of the bodies, the group stirred up a pack of giant beetles that scurried to attack, evidently preferring live meat to dead!  As they attacked, a lone female goblin leaped from the tree in an attempt to escape, and tried to take one of the horses with her.  The beetles' carapice protected them well from many of the piercing blows, but eventually they were out-flanked and out-gunned as the party brought them down.  Thovaas suffered a grievous blow that kept him down, but soon he was healed and able to question their new prisoner - the female goblin.  

Deciding not to push their luck, the party convinced Taras to turn back to the homestead to heal their wounds and renew their pursuit the next day.  They easily guided their wounded horses slowly along the path back to the homestead before nightfall.


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## MarauderX (Mar 10, 2004)

*Session 4 Continued*

The party saddled up fresh horses and were on their way even earlier the next morning.  They reached the body-strewn clearing and crossed through it without a word as crows pecked at the carrion.  
The group guided their horses through narrower, less-used paths until they saw a weathered sign, with fresh lettering hastily applied, reading:

*Madam L. Fyodorll

Equine . Entrepreneur 

Dealer in Fine Horses*

In a larger clearing three broken-down covered wagons could be seen at the edge of a hastily errected fence.  Within the fence were horses, and many of them were white.  

Dian and Alex went ahead to greet the Entrepeneaur, and soon she emerged from the middle wagon to greet them.  With much fanfare she guides Dian to the horses as Alex made his way back to the others.  After Alex told the others what lay ahead, they proceeded forward to see for themselves.  
Soon Madam Fyodorll greeted the others, and hastily Taras got to the point of reclaiming the horses, a point that Dian and Alex had danced around earlier.  

Backing him up, Thovaas and Jerrin shot questions at her, and managed to extract that she had indeed bought the horses from the goblins as they had suspected.  She also said she paid dearly for them - 50 gold each - and that she had suspected they were stolen but under the circumstances had no other choice.  Madam Fyodorll is also adamant about not letting the horses go unless she gets paid for them - and she would be willing to sell them to the party at the same price she said she bought them for - 50 gold pieces each.  

Taras's face was red with anger now, as he refused to pay anything for them, especially "not to some brigands living in the wild, probably to escape punishment for whatever crimes they have commited!"

The moment is tense and all is balanced on the edge of a knife...


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## MarauderX (Mar 18, 2004)

*Session 5*

The moment lasted forever as they squared off in the deep of the afternoon.  Then everything seemed to happen at once - Thovaas swung his sword in a wide arc over one brigand's head; Alex and Jerrin shouted directions to Taras; Marvey pulled a knife on Dian; Dian lashed out at Marvey; two brigands struck Thovaas with bolts; Fyodorll backed behind the blanketed front of her wagon; and Taras disappeared after Fyodorll.  

Rustling and a voice could be heard in the near woods by everyone, and the battle was joined.  Alex went into Fyodorll's wagon only to be shoved straight back out by Taras, who was now demanding the woman's safety.  Thovaas dismounted and traded attacks with the brigands.  Marvey took a blow to the chest from Dian before Dian went toward the center of the battle.  Before long two of the brigands were dropped and the third retreated behind Fyodorll, who was seen running through the pasture away from the battle.  

Dian gave chase to Fyodorll immediately.  Thovaas followed, as he saw the remaining two brigands follow them into the woods.  Dian caught up to Fyodorll, who seemed to have trouble navigating the woods with her crimson and burgandy cloak.  After Dian gave her several chances to surrender, Fyodorll threatened him and struck at him with a cheaply decorated knife.  Dian quickly batted her weapon from her hand, only to have her unexpectedly leap at him.  With a swift elbow to the side of his head, Dian went unconcious.  However, Thovaas hovered over her and stomped on her shoulder, demanding her surrender.  Still refusing, Thovaas subdued her with a stike to the head with the flat of his blade.   

Alex had intercepted Marvey as he was attempting to help Fyodorll and they swung at each other wildly in the forest brush.  Upon seeing Fyodorll drop, Marvey ran deeper into the forest to escape.  

*****

Taras continued inspecting the horses as the others questioned their new prisoners and rooted through their belongings.  They found a small chest with about 300 gold pieces inside, and the lock was loose after having been broken already.  Several silken scarves were found and packed away by Dian.  Dian also took interest in a worn book of herbal tea mixtures and the loose pages of a would-be spell book of Fyodorll's.  Thovaas packed two hand crossbows with him.  

Then the group turned to the other prisoner they had captured.  It was decided that the goblin female that Thovaas had been overseeing, whose name they learned is Veega, was to be set free.  She stared at them after her bonds were cut and she was handed rations and a gold piece, afraid at first it was a trick.  Deciding to ignore her, they instead focused on preparing to travel back to Sukyskin as soon as they could.  After a few minutes Thovaas turned back toward Veega to see that she was no longer there.  

Guiding the horses back to the homestead was relatively easy with Taras helping to keep the line moving.  As he was once very protective of Fyodorll by enchantment, he had become indifferent to her instead, and was glad to have the remaining horses on their way home.  

*****

Upon arriving back at Sukyskin, the group saw some new faces that had arrived during the day while they were gone.  Gregor, Yuri, Grisha & Grishal had arrived from the lumber camp Ilyakana that had been attacked the night before Sukyskin had been seiged.  After the horses were taken care of, Pyotr checks over his son Taras with Misha to make sure there were no lingering enchantments still affecting his mind. 

Pyotr again thanks the group and invites them inside to hear of the prisoners and the recovery of the horses.  He tells the party that the elven woman had left soon after they did to inform their elven clan the horses were no longer available.  Now he would have to send Taras to either catch up with her or to re-establish the deal with the original buyer.  After the party tells of everything that happened Pyotr grimly asks after any sign of his brother Stephan.  

Gregor tells a familiar story of the attacks at Ilyakana.  Three goblin clans attacked at dusk, setting fire to the palisade and overrunning the camp.  Gregor and his companions escaped, and he says Rollof and his troops of teenagers were probably killed as they didn't meet up with them outside of the camp before leaving to go to Sukyskin.  

Everyone separates at around midnight, and Thovaas and Pyotr check on the prisoners in their make-shift cell when they hear of a newcomer that had arrived.  Climbing the stair, you get a glimpse in the moonlight of a tall standing man in thick green garb.  Pyotr greets him and the man says his name is Golthar.  Almost imperceptible behind Golthar is a halfling, though he is much thinner than Jerrin and not as tall.  

"If you would be so kind, I am only stopping through as I continue my journey.  A drink, and perhaps a place to rest for the remainder of the evening would be most kind of you."  

Inspecting him closer in the torchlight, you see he has what might be arcane or even paganistic runic symbols ascending vertically in two strips of his fine robes.  Thovaas noticeably recoils, and Golthar immediately explains that he is part of a rising group called the Order of Sindacalista, devoted to all of the gods of good.   Pyotr invites the smiling man inside and shares a drink of warm tea with him before retiring for the night.


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## MarauderX (Mar 31, 2004)

*Session 6*

The following morning Golthar has a discussion with the group and trades a horse from them for a gold ring with an opal.  He wishes the party well, and promises to stick around for a few more days to possibly talk with Dian about Eastern etiquette.  Without much delay, the group packs up and sets off to find any survivors of the goblin attacks.  

Not sure of where to start, the group of four headed to the lumber camp of Ilyakana to search for clues.  While the old trail of goblins and prisoners leads off to the south, it is not long into the day before it becomes tough to follow.  Backtracking often and spreading out to look for more clues, Jerrin leads the way through the woods to the south.  After several days of slow tracking, it becomes apparent that the trail may have been lost, and at the end of the day a consensus has been reached to travel south until they reach the trail that led to the horse ‘traders’.  

Seeing the trail, the group headed east to the empty site, and it is not long before Jerrin mutters that he must go and will be back shortly.  He disappears into the woods while the others tether their horses.  Jerrin soon hustles back and says that he will be gone for the night and will return in the morning.  

*****

The dawn arrived with Jerrin bringing a new friend named He’Lander, and elf with shaggy tan hair and muddied clothes.  His bare feet and calves showed that he was used to surviving alone in the woods for long periods.  He’Lander silently motions the way, and Jerrin explains that his mentor, He’Lander, has discovered one of the goblin hideouts and will lead them to it.  Wasting no time He’Lander darts off along the trail, not waiting for the others to pack their horses.  

After two days of traveling, He’Lander leads the group to a fast flowing river.  He takes them downstream for a while until they come to a point where the river is wide and slow, then wades in before inquiring whether Jerrin will be ok to cross.  His shows little concern for the welfare of the others, though he does make sure they all cross before sprinting into the woods again.  

At the end of the day He’Lander explains to Jerrin that he will be headed north soon to alert others to what has befallen the area.  He instructs Jerrin to follow his markings left behind which should lead to the goblin hideout.  He’Lander then heads north briskly as the sun disappears from the sky.  

*****

Jerrin follows the path laid out to him by He’Lander easily, and after a day of travel approximates the distance to the goblins as being 4-6 hours away.  Deciding not to venture on to face their foes in the dark, the group stops to rest for the night to approach the goblin camp during the day.  

Jerrin warns the others that they are getting close and perhaps they could start scanning the area ahead for the goblins.  Four hundred yards from He’Lander’s marking the group spots a small clearing near a hill to the west.  Entering the grove, they spot a hole that goes into the hillside with a door.  Alex nears the door, where he can clearly see it has an intricate depiction of a curved blade painted red several times over.  The door stands ajar, and a breeze makes it swing slightly.  Alex motioned to the others just as he heard a leathery rustling beyond the door.  Craning his neck to see inside, Alex heard the noise again, just as four large insects buzz out to attack!

A fierce battle ensued, with Alex losing much of his blood before nearly passing out.  Nine of the large insects had attacked, trying to clamp on to a victim and suck his blood, and only one of them managed to fly to safety.  Helping Alex, the group backed away from the grove to the safety of the trees to rest.


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## MarauderX (Apr 16, 2004)

*Session 7: Red-blade goblin hideout*

The group was interrupted by He’Lander, as he dragged an emaciated goblin with him to confront them.  He’Lander exchanged words with Jerrin mostly, and left the goblin with them to deal with as they wish, and it was determined she might prove useful to find the Viper goblin lair once they got closer to it.  Thovaas recalled her name as Veega and she refused to acknowledge this, evidently traumatized from being lost in the forest and scared by He’Lander.   

After traveling a day to the west to rest safely, then a day back to the hideout, the group managed to recover much of their lost stamina from the stirges.  Surveying the outside of the cave opening once more, Jerrin possessed a rock with light and handed it to Alex, who tossed the light inside.  The stench of goblins was thick, and the air was stale as they entered.

They could see a room down the rough-hewn corridor, and they proceeded to enter it, looking upward for any more stirges that might be roosting on the arched ceiling.  In the room they could see two doors that loosely hung in front of two tunnels, and Alex maneuvered the rock to see underneath each door to see the tunnels beyond.  

Choosing one, they followed it to a larger cave-like room, with refuse and broken items of all types.  Approaching a door on the other side of the room, Alex stopped to peer into an attached room beyond when he heard something behind the door.  As he was about to move, goblins burst out from behind the door to attack.  Dian darted forward and disarmed one of them several times as Thovaas surged forward to draw the attention of their leader, Ghnass.  Alex and Thovaas struck Ghnass several times as he connected several times with his battle axe.  Jerrin and his companion ventured into the fray to strike down another goblin as Thovaas ended Ghnass’s days.  Several more were dropped, and the rest retreated behind the door they had emerged from.  

Taking a moment to catch their breath, the group formulated a plan to go after them.  Alex examined Ghnass’s body, took his trademark tattered red cape and handed Thovaas the large battle axe.  
Thovaas then swung the door open wide to pursue them and was immediately bombarded as missiles zipped by him.  Pausing to thank Heroneous for not getting hit, Thovaas strode forward to slay them.  Soon the group had piled through, except Jerrin, as they drove down the four remaining goblins.  Turning to the adjacent room, they were met by five female goblins, the tallest of whom wore a gold bracelet.  Leaving them alone for the moment they moved on.  

Alex led the way, senses alert for any swarms of rats, as they were a constant annoyance darting here and there.  Alex saw the tunnel turn, and also a heavy, thick iron-bound door.  Faintly he heard something thud against it, and out squeezed a rat from underneath the door.  Scanning the lock plate Alex could smell an odor worse than the goblins.  With the others positioned behind him, he fumbled and then opened the lock to the door.  Pulling it open, they were all hit by a smell worse than any they had ever experienced, and all winced but none were overcome.  Scanning inside, they saw rotted garbage and all manner of defecation.  Then something at the side moved.  

Two spiked tentacles emerged first, then the large bulbous body crested and filth poured from it to reveal rows of teeth to a mouth nearly as wide as its body.  Seeing the monstrosity struggling forth to get to them, Alex shut the door closed and locked it just as the creature slammed its massive weight against the door.  Dian and the others breathed a sigh of relief.  

They pressed on to discover a few more deserted rooms, and then stumbled upon some large terra cotta vases filled with a mysterious liquid.  Pouring some out, they recognized it as a highly fermented wine, undrinkable to any normal man.  

The group made their way to another locked room, and Alex popped the lock open to reveal a tall, conical shaped room with a fire pit in the middle.  At the top they could see sunlight peaking through a small hole at the top.  On the wall they saw a large tapestry of a red dragon in battle.  Alex took the tapestry down and rolled it up, and the rest checked the room for any other items of value.  Seeing none, they decided to formulate a plan to deal with the creature in the rubbish filled room.  

Thovaas brought a wine-filled terra cotta jar to the door of the garbage filled room to see if the creature would drink the contents and become inebriated.  Pulling the door open, they saw it was again in the murky pool on the other side of the room, and they hurriedly placed the jar inside and closed the door.  Hearing the jar break, they were unsure whether it had drunk the wine or just broken the jar.  Alex locked the door once again as its tendrils scrapped the other side.  Trying again, Thovaas placed the second jar inside the door – only this time the creature was ready and standing close by.  See that the creature was going to pounce on the surprised paladin, Jerrin summoned up a wind to keep it at bay while the jar was placed.  It worked, and Thovaas managed to jump out of the doorway just as the door slammed shut, but the burst of wind knocked the jar over and they could hear the wine as it flushed onto the ground.  

Thovaas went to grab another jar, and while he was in the other room, the creature flung itself at the door – and it flew open, much to everyone’s surprise.  Alex cursed himself for not locked the door again, and the beast filled the doorway while its tentacles launched themselves at Alex.  Dian called for Thovaas to return, and soon battle was joined.  

Jerrin brought forth a bear behind the thing, and it rained down punishing blows to its backside.  Alex stood his ground and took several staggering hits as he guided his rapier to an opening in its armor-like skin.  Thovaas arrived in time to launch an attack as the summoned bear roared and clobbered it again and again.  Soon enough the beast was down, and the group savored their victory.  

Searching the room, they managed to find a small cubby hole near the door where a small yellow chest with copper straps was hidden.  Investigating the hole, Alex saw that there was a crude trap to prevent the unwary from simply seizing the box and dragging it out.  Chipping the trap away, Alex pulled the chest free as the others completed a quick scan of the garbage-strewn room.  Deciding to leave before opening the chest the group emerged to a sunlit day to see that Veega had crawled up into a tree to observe what she could from a safe vantage point.  

Retrieving the horses, the group headed west towards the homestead once more.  They rested the night about a half-day’s journey from the river they crossed, and proceeded to it the next day.  Crossing at the same point they had been with He’Lander, they made their way towards the homestead for one more day.


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## MarauderX (Apr 30, 2004)

*Session 8: Finding Snakes in Their Hole - Viper Lair*

With mixed feelings of victory, the group made their way back to the homestead uneventfully.  There they find another group of four refugees has arrived after they had stopped by the Ilyakana lumber camp just a day or so ago.  Leading them there was a man of few words named Cyprian.  Though he was very competent in the forest, his demeanor was matter of fact when speaking.  Seeing the burning for revenge in his eyes, Alex, Thovaas and Jerrin invited him to join them as they hunted down the remaining two goblin tribes in search of any human prisoners.  Di’an on the other hand, seemed to distance himself from the others.  

Ptyor told them how he had heard the side of the story from the aledged horse traders and how the goblins threatened their lives.  With sympathy in his heart, Pyotr gave them more freedom to eat meals and enjoy their company while they were there.  The others immediately reproved him, reminding him that she and her henchman were still dangerous and should be confined to their room.  Reflecting, Pyotr cursed himself for letting his guard go lax, and followed their advice to lock them securely what used to be the emergency store room.  

When Pyotr returned the others explained the current situation to Cyprian and updated Pyotr on what they had found at the Red-Blade hideout.  Jerrin presented evidence that Pyotr’s brother Stephan might still be alive, and showed a rust-colored hair, nearly the same shade as Pyotr’s, as proof.  His mouth hanging open, the big man clasped the small druid with renewed hope and then asked tentatively if the party was going to continue their search for him.  Reassuring him, the group then ate a full warm meal before falling to sleep.  

The group also learned that Golthar, the rich man from the Order of Sindacalista, had bought the eastern tapestry from Pyotr as well as several horses before he left to go east.  

Di’an then explained that he felt he would find opportunities elsewhere, and that seeking to recover those captured and exacting revenge on the other goblin tribes was not as noble a task as when he first started out.  Needing to fulfill his own destiny, Di’an left the next day before anyone awoke, and did not take a horse with him.  

With Cyprian in the lead, the group left the next morning intent on finding the Wolfskull base, as it was most likely the location of where any prisoners would be found.  Following tracks more than a week old, Cyprian led the group away from the main path to follow the tracks through the forest.  

*****

After traveling for several days through the thick of the forest they rested in the wilderness another night, the forest canopy blocking out most of the star-strewn sky.  Before the night ended, Jerrin heard a terrible crashing through the woods.  He could distinguish that it was a humanoid, and a large one at that, that was headed towards them.  Without hesitation he awoke the others and they all took defensive positions around the horses.  

Being able to make out the location of the hulking man by sound, Alex pursued him closely, following his every move.  Thovaas called out to him, and soon he introduced himself as Martin.  Martin then tried to tie one of the horses to a stake in the ground, then walked placidly over to another horse as he tried to pry how many companions Thovaas had with him.  As Martin grabbed the reins from another of the party’s three horses, Jerrin spoke abruptly and startled Martin from the idea of riding away with it.  Eventually they persuaded the lummox to seek adventure elsewhere without them, and coaxed him to leave peacefully with about a weeks worth of rations.  

The next day Cyprian, with Jerrin’s aid, was able to pick up the trail of the Wolfskulls again, and followed it to a streambed that was running high with the spring thaw, covering their tracks rather well.  Following the stream for days, Cyprian eventually found a tell-tale sign that the Wolfskulls had passed this way, and by mid-day they saw why.  A solid wooden door sunk into the hillside to their right, and sat in a crux of the river and above it by several feet.  In front of the door the water churned and swirled to form a larger pool.  

Alex and Cyprian climbed the hill to the right and descended to the door using rope.  The others watched, and Thovaas tethered the horses a good distance away.  Before he knew it, Veega, their goblin captive, sprinted towards the door.  She crossed through the stream and began clawing at the door just as Alex was to attempt to open it.  Before anyone could react, an arrow zipped from a tree to pierce her calf.  Screaming, Veega beat on the door harder before a second black-feathered arrow found the base of her skull to end her life.  The others had all now located where the arrows were coming from, and Thovaas asked for the archer to show himself.  

Jumping lithely from limb to limb, a silver furred monkey-like man emerged to gain acknowledgement for the goblin’s death.  Standing a mere five and a half feet tall, the monkey-man looked small but an enlightened gleam in his eye told the others not to underestimate him.  Alex popped open the locked door and pushing the door open a bolt zipped over his shoulder to land harmlessly in the stream.  Jerrin lit a rock from the streambed and handed it to Alex, who threw it down the corridor to show a bend in the tunnel ahead.  Alex went in the lead followed by the over-anxious monkey-man, and after they entered halfway to the lighted rock they were doused with flour.  In a minute the dust settled, but both were still tinged gray.  

Moving forward, they saw a locked door and the hallway continued to the left.  Tossing the lit rock down the tunnel, Alex then led the others past another door on the left.  Jerrin lit one of his daggers to provide sight for the others.  The corridor ahead veered sharply to the left and when Alex poked his head around the corner he saw a crudely built barricade with a small gap at the top.  The tunnel sloped downward, and a good amount of water had collected in front of and under the barricade.  Seeing two sets of gleaming eyes, Alex ducked just in time as two small axes spun towards him.  Without hesitation, the monkey-man jumped towards the barricade and charged to get over it.  A clay pot flew over him and exploded after it struck the ceiling and streams of fire dropped to the oil-covered water below.  

Trapped with no way to go but forward, the monkey-man slipped through the gap at the top of the barricade.  Three goblins on the other side gaped at him surprised, and a fight ensued.  Two of the goblins attempted several times to by him, but were knocked back while he laughed.  The tallest of the three was slain with a single blow, and soon the whimpering from the other two ceased.  Turning towards the darkness, the monkey-man used the light from the fire to guide his way through the next tunnel.

The others retreated from the burning barricade to fetch water and listen at the locked doors.  Alex unlocked one of them for Thovaas after he had tried to break it open with his shoulder.  Swinging the door wide, a small crossbow dart landed between Alex’s feet as he saw the trap mechanism to the door an instant too late.  Inspecting the inside of the room revealed that it was stripped of any contents besides the rubbish of garbage and the stink of goblins.  Thovaas sighed as he had hoped to find another avenue around the burning barricade.  

Cyprian and Thovaas then went to the river to soak their blankets and capes to put out the fire.  Thovaas waded into the deeper pool, and just as he was waist-high, his footing slipped and he tumbled forward and down over an edge and his head sunk beneath the water.  Struggling for footing, his foot connected with something sharp below that caused him to recoil.  Swimming back the way he came, Thovaas was lacerated several times beneath the water as he reached the edge of the pit below the water.  Crawling up on land near the open door, Thovaas prayed and received healing to seal his wounds.  Cyprian buffeted the flames with his wet blanket before finally laying it down to put out the flames in front of the barricade.  

Everyone stopped to collectively breathe a sigh of relief and check to see if everyone is alright.  They then realized their new competitive monkey-man friend was no where to be seen, trapped on the other side and possibly in dire need of aid.


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## MarauderX (May 17, 2004)

*Sesson 9: Viper Lair to Sukyskin*

The fire raged on, still separating their new monkey-like comrade from them.  Little did they know, but he was bravely venturing deeper into the goblin compound.  The others began quelling the flames with a dampened blanket, and once the flames were starting to get under control Alex leapt through the smoke and over the fire to the other side.  On the other side he saw three dead goblins, their bodies contorted oddly.  Using the glowing rock Jerrin had handed him earlier, he made his way through to find the monkey-man growling at him to open the door he stood in front of.  Alex decided instead to open the doors to another room that they had passed up, and noticed a weapon trap similar to those he had accidentally set off in the other rooms.  Bypassing the crossbow trap, Alex swung the door open to reveal another room with crude goblin furniture, clothing and scraps of food strewn about.  

Alex finally popped open the door the monkey-man had been originally concerned with, and swinging it inward they were met by a ghastly sight.  Two glowing braziers revealed a host of goblins pointing crossbows their way and snakes seemed to be everywhere in the room!  Just as they were about to get their bearings they were covered in flour once again, and they were in a cloud of dust.  Bolts zoomed by them and several struck their mark but behind Alex the monkey-man charged in.  Several goblins had snakes in their hands and tossed them at the monkey-man as he came forth, and the snakes struck him with their venomous bites.  Summoning forth a wolf, the monkey-man then directed it to attack a larger goblin that had snakes draping from his shoulders.  The goblin was tossed to the dirt floor by the wolf, and then mangled to death by it.  Alex fired several shots before he and the monkey-man pulled the door closed and relocking the door.  Alex watched the monkey-man rip away the two snakes clinging to him and kill them under foot.  

Meanwhile the others had decided to open a door they had passed by earlier.  Cyprian smashed the door down after a few blows, and looking through the splinters revealed an empty space beyond.  Jerrin stepped into the room first and he felt his foot drag against something and an instant later a crossbow bolt zipped over his head.  Inspecting the bolt they saw that it was poisoned like the others.  Searching the room revealed very little, with dung-filled puddles dotting the floor.  Soon they exited and began dousing the tunnel flames and kicking at the pile to suppress the fire.  A few minutes later they would be able to create a relatively safe path around the fire to the other side.  

Once on the other side, Jerrin, Thovaas and Cyprian met up with Alex and the shorter monkey-man.  With a brief description of the room beyond the door they had just shut moments ago, the group formed a plan.  Using Thovaas’s shield, Jerrin stood behind it as Alex opened the door.  Jerrin then summoned several wolves before conjuring a swirling fog to obscure vision within the room.  Goblin cries of astonishment and a few from pain were heard before a barking goblin voice started to take charge.  The monkey-man jumped through the doorway and into the fog.  Cyprian fired into the thickness and it found its mark – in the monkey-man.  

The others poured through as well and they felt through the morass to find goblin targets.  Soon they had dropped several goblins, and several more were heard to be leaving through the tunnel opposite the door.  A few more tried to escape only to be brought down by Thovaas and they moved towards the dark, narrow tunnel leading upward.  

Alex then led the way along the dark tunnel, and just as he turned a corner two snakes blocked his way.  Squeezing past the others, the monkey-man persuaded the snakes to go forward in front of him as they continued.  Rounding another corner, the monkey-man saw a pair of goblin eyes gleaming down the hall and rushed forward to attack.  Midway down the hall something gave way beneath his feet and sent him careening downward into a spike-filled pit.  Weakened even more by the poison covered spikes, he relaxed his body as he groaned a warning to the others.  Alex used his rapier to dispatch the two snakes that were preventing him from continuing down the corridor.  

The others, seeing what had happened, helped the monkey-man out of the pit before one by one they leapt across the pit.  On the other side they emerged from the tunnel to see the stream ten feet below them and a cleverly constructed door made to blend perfectly into the cliff side with several plants helping to conceal the cracks for an opening.  Looking into the conifers beyond the goblin’s escape route, they only saw the movement of a few branches where the escaping goblins had run.  

Turning back inside, the group cautiously waited for the fog to dissipate before searching the main room with the braziers.  In that room the walls were covered with snakes, snake skins, and pictures of snakes.  The entire room glowed in a creepy green-yellow light as the fires from the braziers danced, and the group searched the room as Cyprian took up a scouting position above the main entrance.  They started to find various treasures in each of the mounted snakes along the walls, and soon they had gathered a decent sum which they had piled in the middle of the room.  Centered on the room’s axis was an unfinished goblin-sized throne with flea-infested furs slung over it.  Pitching it forward the group found a box with snake carvings all around the outside.  Suspecting yet another trap, Alex searched the box and found that it was neither locked nor trapped.  Opening it they saw small bottles of various liquids.

Resting for nearly a full day, Jerrin tended to the monkey-man’s weakening wounds as Alex and Thovaas sifted through the rest of the goblin compound for anything they might have missed.  Finding nothing else, they were content to rest and start searching for the Wolfskull tracks the following day.  

Cyprian led the group to where they last saw any signs of the Wolfskull’s passing, and began to realize the trail might have run too cold.  However, listening to the others speak of a Stone Forest, Cyprian had an idea that one of the elders back at the homestead might know where it was located.  

They started back immediately and traveled through the thicker woods much of the day as they headed north and west.  That night they were sleeping peacefully when Cyprian heard someone coming through the woods.  Sure enough Martin crashed his way right into their camp once more.  Cyprian expressed pleasantries with him, and Martin talked absently about making plans, finding goblins, and how he supposedly chased the goblins towards the group for them to slay.  He asked Cyprian for some food or gold, as in his mind he had done half the work of scaring the goblins their way and any treasure should be split with him.  Cyprian mentioned that the goblin lair was full of food as well as rich with copper and that he should visit it soon before other robbers claimed his prize.  He was thankful, and kept chattering to Cyprian until it was Alex’s turn to keep watch.  Alex asked Martin questions that kept the half-orc yakking for some time until Alex got bored and went back to sleep.  Cyprian stayed awake to keep an eye on Martin, as it seemed Martin was keeping as much an eye on him to see if he would fall asleep.  Again chatting unremittingly Martin was cursed at and then warned by someone from the trees.  Martin mentioned food and gold a few more times, and soon a gold piece landed in his lap from above.  Surprised, Martin sprang up with joy and looked upward to the dark trees wishing that it might rain more gold so that he could make more money from it.  Instead he received another warning and counting himself fortunate Martin left the group to sleep a few more hours.  

It took the party two more days of quiet traveling to reach the homestead of Sukyskin, and there they were greeted by Pyotr and the others once again.  The homestead was getting quite crowded and several tents had been set up in the clearings near the main building.  Building had progressed to fill the gap in the fence where the barn had burned down, and the pure white horses were still corralled nearby.  Once inside they saw that a small group of merchants had stopped through selling the standard fare of wares from Kargam.  Though they had a good selection of items the prices were extremely high, as the merchants had sensed the homesteaders need for goods.  

Pyotr told them that the two prisoners were becoming difficult to control, and that his son Matvey or others might be susceptible to the smooth tongue of the woman being held.  They were even becoming belligerent at times and he asked the party for any help, guidance or solution they might have.  Next he asks how the hunt of the goblins played out, and lastly, with dismay already in his voice, he asks whether there was any sign of Stephan.  The party explains everything they had seen, and ask whether anyone might know of the Stone Forest.  Pyotr directs them to have Kuzma tell one of her stories, as recalls her mentioning it before in one of her tall tales of old.  

Thovaas then politely asks Kuzma of the Stone Forest and she gives him a wink as they all sit around the great hall.  She takes a prominent spot in the hall as she makes the most of the attention she has for the moment.  Then she regales everyone with her tale.


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## MarauderX (May 28, 2004)

*Session 10:  Journey to the Wolfskulls*

After Kuzma's tale, the group turned in to catch a good night's sleep with a roof over their head.  However, the Homestead was now becoming quite crowded as the three merchants had planned to stay for several days before heading back out, and a few more refugees had arrived to seek safety after hearing of the marauding goblins.  

Jerrin had made a note to send others of the paladin order to escort the two prisoners back to Kargam.  The merchants agreed to deliver the message for a fee, of course.  Thovaas helped to properly word the request and added his signature and a symbol of his family's lineage to add importance.  

The next day the party headed out with four horses and rations for several weeks to find the Wolfskull lair via the Hermit's grove and Hokol, Cyprian's old home.  Traveling was light and quick the first day but turned to rain the next few as they reached the burned out buildings that was once Hokol.  The rain had soaked them to the bone as they waited for any sign of life from the old homestead in the wide valley below.  Finally they approached and Cyprian went upsteam to stand guard and look for signs of travelers that might have been by recently.  The others searched around through the three building husks and found the stacked, dessicated corpses of the victims in the largest ruined building.  Thovaas, with some help, took the afternoon to bury what remained of the mutilated bodies, and Alex sifted through the sickening debris.  Finding nothing of importance they decided to spend the night on the hillside up from Hokol where anyone on watch could keep watch on the homestead below.  

The next day the rain broke, and they pushed eastward several days until Cyprian led them to the Hermit's grove.  They saw it from far off, the brightly decorated oaks standing over the surrounding maples, and as they approached they could see what covered the trees.  Strips of cloth had been tied to most of the branches on each tree, and many more strands had been draped to hang below to sway in the light breeze.  Entering into the grove, they smelled the fresh forest air and rotted autumn leaves as the sun shown through the new leaves in spots.  Seeing no one, the group turned around to leave when Alex thought he heard an odd sound - that of a hooting owl, which he thought was unusual during the day.  Jerrin advised that they might go, and Cyprian seconded as those from Hokol left the simple man alone.  

Turning to the southeast to travel for another day, the group finally picked up solid goblin tracks.  Cyprian led them through the rolling forested hills on trails that switchbacked up and down them for another day.  Jerrin took note that there were no large animals to be found in the forest from the time they approached the Hermit's grove.  The following day as evening approached they saw an open grassy field surrounded by the forest that had plenty of criss-crossing goblin tracks passing through it.  Backing away, the group then spent the night a decent distance away from the clearing, and whomever was on watch was responsible for spotting any passersby.  

The night seemed to pass quietly enough until Alex's watch when he went to spy on the field.  Across the way he saw a goblin head and level with the grasses he saw a the shimmering grey coat of the beast the goblin was riding.  Quickly and quietly Alex made his way back to the camp and woke the others, and they donned their armor and readied their plan.  Stealthfully Alex made his way down toward the clearing and saw a goblin lying in wait to ambush him if he were to come down the path.  Instead Alex had ventured next to the path and moved to flank the unaware goblin.  Just as he was about to leave the forest he spotted a second goblin closer to him that was watching him closely.  The second goblin motioned and pointed at Alex, but the first still didn't see him, so the second goblin sprang back and threw a spear at him.  Following what his fellow had done, the first goblin chucked his spear towards Alex.  

Alex retaliated, and the rest of the party began to surge forth, Thovaas deciding to mount his horse to enter the fray.  The two goblins then retreated as the party approached, and then the grass shook as more goblins sprang forward and to attack, three of them mounted on the evil-looking wolves.  Alex was knocked to the ground as was Jerrin's mount, but not before Jerrin froze one of the worgs in place with a powerful spell.  Thovaas charged forward and struck another worg hard in the side and it yelped before landing an attack on his mount.  Han surged into the battle with his studded club as two goblins harried him at first.  Jerrin managed to slip into a safe spot to cast an enchantment which brought the forest alive to entangle several of the goblins as they looked to outflank the prone defenders.  

The battle seemed to reach a breaking point as each group faced off, then soon the tide turned against the goblins.  Cyprian stood at the rear and launched arrow after arrow, nearly felling a goblin per shot.  Thovaas hacked at the worg time and again before Han felled the beast with a death blow to the skull.  Alex tumbled to the rear of the unmoving beast in front of him and stuck it several times from behind to drop it while helpless.  Jerrin and the others stepped up to thwart the goblins that now flanked them, and before long a single goblin stared in fear at the party before sprinting through the grassy field.  Thovaas gave pursuit and lopped its head up into the early morning sky.  

The group took the day to bind their wounds and assess how badly Thovass's mount had been hurt.  It was decided that they should stay the night there as well and see if any other goblins pass by.  None did.  

The next morning the group decided to follow the heavily traveled path away from the clearing, which led due south.  Cyprian again took the lead and guided them through the forest for more than a day over the gentle hills.  Around mid-day the group spotted what they were looking for: magestic trees rose above the others on the opposite them, only their branches did not sway and their leaves did not flutter.  It was the Stone Forest.  

They made their way to it easily enough and saw the dull grey of the stone and how the deeper they looked into it the darker it became.  Following the tracks of the goblins, the group followed along the outside of the forest.  It was an easy trail to follow, and the way the stone seemed to suck sound from the nearby forest was uncanny.  Though there was more than thirty feet of open area between the living and the stone trees, the darkness seemed to force them to whispers.  Again Jerrin, Han and Cyprian noted that there were no signs large game animals nearby.  

They followed the outside of the Stone Forest for the rest of the day, and found goblin tracks that finally pierced into the gloom.  Deciding not to risk venturing in as dusk approached, they camped a good way into the living forest.  

As morning approached, the group debated leaving or taking the horses into the stone forest.  It was decided that they might be needed for a quick escape or to cart some vast treasure or to carry Stephen's body.  Grimly, they ventured in with Cyprian in the lead with a burning lantern to add more light to the dim forest.  The grey canopy above blocked out nearly all but a few shafts of sunlight that can be seen, and the silence surrounded them as they left the living forest behind.  The clopping of the horses is the only sound as they followed the trail of the wolfskull goblins.  

They all began to realize that the forest itself was very maze-like, with possible deadends and stone undergrowth that acted like walls to hem them in.  At times the forest was open and they could see a fair distance in the gloom; at others it was impossible to see through the thick shrubs and trees.  

Following the trail, Cyprian nearly stumbled upon where it went.  Some yards away he pointed out what they could now all hear - flowing water, and over it a stone bridge made out of a hollow tree.  On the other side a large tree soared into the air and at it's base was a dark opening.  Staring intently into it, they couldn't see any signs of activity.


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## MarauderX (Jun 22, 2004)

*Session 11: Reckoning with the Wolfskulls*

Guiding their skittish horses to a safe haven, Jerrin then joined the others in staring across the winding stream cutting through the harsh grey of the stone forest.  Half of a hollow log had been in place to cross the pitch black stream to the other side.  Before entering into the quiet gloom, Jerrin cast a spell of light on a rock and Alex tossed it through the doorway.  They saw a small chamber that encompassed the base of the tree and beyond that a larger room that seemed deserted.  

Han stepped up onto the log to cross the stream first, intently watching the darkness for any activity.  As he stealthfully climbed across, an alarm began to chime loudly, and it was clear they had lost any chance of surprising the inhabitants.  Han then darted across, followed closely by Alex and the others.  Cyprian stayed to the rear, arrow noched and ready.  

After bounding across the small bridge, they found a group of goblins, dressed in the typical wolfskull grey-furred clothes.  The adventurers poured in to face them, and the battle began.  Several worgs surged forward to face them as well, and soon the adventurers brought them down.  In the next room the party saw half a dozen more worgs barking and wildly tugging at their leashes.  In between the barking and battle cries they heard the shouting of some familiar voices coming from behind a tattered curtain.  

The goblins at the entrance were quelled just as the other worgs were released from their bonds to attack.  The group retreated to the entrance to force the worgs to come at them one at a time.  It worked well with Jerrin, Thovaas and Cyprian holding the line against one worg at a time until the goblin king emerged and whistled, at which the worgs pulled back from the narrow hole.  Each side then waited for the other to make a move.

Cyprian called out in the goblin tongue for the wolfskulls to release any prisoners they had to them and they would go.  The goblin king proudly introduced himself as Kloss and told them that there would only be a deal if the attackers laid down their weapons, to which the other goblins laughed wickedly.  Cyprian then shot one of the goblins in the face, dropping it to the ground and abruptly ending their giggling.  Kloss the goblin king then whisted loudly and the worgs renewed their attack.  

Meanwhile Alex had gone outside to climb over the top of the goblin hideout.  Crawling through the stone thickets he felt some of the weaker branches give away beneath him and had to slow his movement so as not to stumble or fall into them.  He made his way onto the top of the hideout towards where he had heard the voices shouting in the common tongue.  Trying to peer downwards through the planked roof yielded only darkness, and Alex began moving some of the many planks to wriggle his way through to below.  

As the battle raged, Jerrin stepped back from the front lines to summon a ghostly hippogriff to aid them, and the worgs turned their focus to attack it.  The worgs began to fall one by one as the group manuevered into the larger room to force their enemies back.  The goblin king fled down an open corridor and disappeared behind more curtains.  

Alex had managed to open a hole and tied off a rope to lower himself into the room below.  On his descent he saw several grimy figures in make-shift cages.  Making his way towards them he caught something out of the corner of his eye, but was too late.  Four goblins now surrounded him, stabbing furiously at him with their swords.  Tumbling past them to try to escape, Alex then called for help, but was too late as the goblins pursued.  The largest of the four brought his sword down hard upon Alex's chest to drop him to the floor.  

The hippogriff was eventually dispursed by the worgs, but enough of them had been weaked by it that they could no longer hold against the rest of the party.  Pushing towards Alex's cry for help, Thovaas saw the four goblins that had surprised Alex, and they looked ready to add a finishing blow until Thovaas charged them.  Instead of standing to fight him, the cowardly goblins raced towards one of the prison cells to take a hostage.  Cyprian and Thovaas stopped them from getting inside to kill the prisoners while Jerrin healed Alex back to conciousness.

Sensing a lull, the group took a moment to collect their thoughts and assess what the next actions should be.  They met the ex-prisoners and recognized Rollof, one of the sherrifs of Kargam that had accompanied them on the riverboat upstream.  The other two human prisoners had been under Rollof's care when they had last seen them, and they looked even younger and more meak as they were covered with mud and thin from malnourishment.  Rollof tried to stand, but needed Thovaas's help as it became clear he had lost his foot and half of his calf, and he cursed the goblins as he was led out.  It was obvious they had all taken many beatings from the goblins, and the one apprentice revealed a missing thumb, and the remaining gash was badly infected.  The other apprentice had his tendons cut in one arm and one leg to prevent him from fighting or running away.  The fourth and last captive is a wild-eyed halfling, refusing to be touched or examined for any wounds.  

Meanwhile Han and Cyprian had pulled back the curtain where Kloss had fled and mentioned it revealed a large chamber with what looked like a throne at the other end.  Deciding who should go first, the group eased their way into the corridor before pulling back the curtain to reveal the goblin king's main chamber.  Alex decided to stay with the newly freed prisoners and the horses outside.  

The entire room was lined with various tapestries that now hung as curtains.  Each was once probably worth a good sum of gold, but now they were tattered, torn, and stained from abuse.  In the middle of the room were two tables that had been kicked over on their sides, behind which the party could barely make out worgs and their riders.  On the far side of the room several feet above the floor rose a dias with a wide chiseled chair and empty space all around it.  Behind it was a large wolf pelt with the wolfhead symbol that had been seen painted on many of the goblins' belongings.  

The party walked into the room, looking to take on a worg and rider hiding behind one of the tables.  Cyprian and Han attacked, and Jerrin threw a small ball of fire at the other table.  Kloss called something in goblin over his shield and several goblins emerged from behind the curtains near Cyprian and Han.  Han soon to the flanking goblins and worg, leaving Cyprian to finish off the worg and it's rider.

As Thovaas and Jerrin entered the room to help Cyprian, even more goblins poured in from behind the tapestries.  Kloss directed them into the best positions to surround the party, and then launched himself into the fray as well.  Jerrin's mount was tripped to the ground and slipped into unconciousness after many blows from the worgs and goblins, leaving Jerrin with his back against the wall and Thovaas in front of him, flanked by goblins.  The blows were pitched as the goblin numbers were thinned by Thovaas.  Then Kloss strided forward.

Alex pulled across the curtain and shot an arrow into Kloss's side, enraging the large goblin as he turned his mount to attack Thovaas.  Jerrin managed to drop another goblin just as Thovaas lost his footing when Kloss's worg clamped onto one of his legs.  Jerrin and Thovaas struck several blows at them both while Alex shot arrows at the goblins.  From his knees, Thovaas swung his enchanted battleaxe in a wide arc up towards the goblin king.  The axe glided just over Kloss's shield and continued to chip off the top of the goblin king's skull.  In a last look of astonishment, Kloss slid from his mount to the floor, his face trapped in contorted confusion.  The few remaining goblins looked to flee, and only one managed to run by Alex on it's way out.  

Kloss's mount did not give up, however.  It snapped at Thovaas and Jerrin as  Cyprian dealt another crushing blow to the last of the goblins, its spine crumpling beneath the mighty club.  Thovaas again struggled up to his knees and steadied his axe as he waited for an opening on the uninjured beast.  Finding a precise moment to strike, Thovaas dropped his blow, surging forward with all of his weight and momentum, and the axe cleaved deep into the worg's neck.  It collapsed to the ground and let out a last wimper before it exhaled for the last time.  

Searching the room they discovered an empty room with a tower-like tree rising high up.  Also within the room is a hole for a round, hollow tree that leads into darkness.  Surveying the rest, they decided to bring the ex-prisoners in to the throne room to keep everyone safe.  

Han then discovered something that made his face light up.  He had pulled back the stone throne from the floor and his paws worked feverishly to yank something from the hole and place it in his pouch.  Smiling, Han began to gush how pleased he was with everyone and urged for them to leave the forest soon.  

Rollof lurched over to sit on the throne as the sun set.  He asked the party what they thought they should do.  Rollof said he thought they were kinda deep into the stone forest, to which Cyprian concurred.  Alex needed Jerrin to lead the horses inside, as it looked like they were going to spend the night in the throne room.


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## MarauderX (Jul 9, 2004)

*Session 12: Pyotr and Loshad strike a deal*

The group barricaded themselves into the goblin king’s throne room, moving the tables to block the two doorways to the room.  Searching the room revealed no other exits and Alex made a stirring discovery.  He slid aside the throne at the top of the dais to reveal a small pit filled with treasure.  Sacks of gold filled the hole, and on top of them rested an ornate lock box with swirling insignias.  Alex made several attempts to open the box, and one of the former prisoners named Yaritza stepped up to take a closer look at it.  

After scanning the room thoroughly once again the group brought in the horses from outside and decided to settle in for an extended rest.  Jerrin tended the wounded as the others took turns standing watch during the pitch of night.  Time dragged on, and late into the morning Alex and Yaritza had taken up a watch together.  It was then that they heard something from what they thought was the next room.  

Scanning the other rooms with the lantern they saw nothing.  Then Alex scrambled up the make-shift watch tower to the roof level of the goblin stronghold.  He spun the lantern to shine through the doorway and the beam fell on a goblin-like face.  Only it was much bigger, and this face stood much taller, looking eye-to-eye with Alex.  Alex leapt backward and watched the large figure steady a great sword in its hands.  Deciding not to tangle with it, Alex hopped down to the room below and described what he saw to everyone now that they were awake.  Jerrin nodded knowingly, suspecting that this creature was a hobgoblin.  

The group spent the rest of the night sleeping lightly, and it was tough to tell when the sun had risen as the darkness only gave way to the gloom of the stone forest.  Quickly the group formed a plan to ride out of the forest, and Cyprian led the way.  All were eager to leave and after several hours they emerged from the shroud of the forest.  

Taking a small break at the edge of the stone forest, they noticed several jet-black horses emerge from the lush, living forest.  Thinking it strange the group waited to see what would happen.  The horses stayed their distance, so the party moved on, heading north around the stone forest.  Finding a good location to camp for the night, Cyprian and Thovaas entered the woods to hunt for fresh meat to accompany their dwindling rations.  They spotted a group of dear and Cyprian brought a doe down with a single shot.  As they approached their prey, a large figure loomed over it.  

A half-man, half-horse glared at them solemnly, waiting as if for an apology.  Thovaas introduced himself, and the centaur nodded before ignoring him.  Thovaas brought him to the group and some flinched at the horse-man’s tall stature.  The centaur then began questioning the party on the treatment of the four horses in their care after venturing into the stone forest.  The centaur then told, instead of asked, the party would free the remaining pure-white horses that Pyotr had.  It became clear that the centaur valued the lives of the horses over the people he had encountered.  He told the party they would ride the black horses that had been watching them and would let the four they had been riding go free.  Then the group was to bargain or otherwise set the white horses free for safe passage back to the homestead.  The group said that they would arrange for Pyotr to meet him and discuss the matter directly with him.  As part of the deal the party was to release the woman, Fyodorll, they had imprisoned so long ago for ‘buying’ the white horses from the goblins.  The centaur referred to her as a hero for removing the white horses from harm and demanded that she be freed.  In return the centaur would take them to the ruins of Chautauqua.  Finally the centaur and the party agreed and left the party the black horses to carry them the rest of the way to the homestead.  

The days passed as they traveled quickly on the backs of the black horses towards the homestead.  At night the horses stood apart from the group, and often the centaur could be seen keeping watch over the area.  As they approached Sukyskin, the black horses grew uncomfortable and eventually unmanageable, forcing the party to stop a quarter mile away.  They fetched Pyotr, and he brought out his own horses and many unfamiliar faces to help the party back to the homestead.  

Going back to Sukyskin they saw that it had grown considerably.  Tents and other swiftly made structures now dotted the clearings where they had once saw goblins sprinting in the moonlight, and parts of the forest were cleared and small crops were planted.  People meandered in and out of the gate in the new wooden palisade, and Pyotr nodded and introduced many to the heroes who had helped them survive a night’s terror nearly a month ago.  

The group finally let their guard down.  Rollof was aided, and a crutch was prepared for him.  Han claimed the ornate box and Yaritza surrendered it to him and he thanked the others for their aid in recovering what he had been seeking.  Before going he bought several items and explained that he and others had been sent to recover the box after goblins had stolen it by raiding the trade routes between the east and west.  

The party explained that the Wolfskull clan had been routed, and that they still had not recovered Stephan, though they felt they were catching up.  They persuaded Rollof to tell of his meeting with Stephan and others from nearby camps.  The goblins and some larger hobgoblins had decided to take them to a place called Chautauqua, and Rollof, with his missing foot, was left behind since they said he would slow them down.  

The group told of the centaur and the deal they had made with Pyotr, including the idea that he should meet him.  Pyotr initially balked at the idea, and said that he had no money left, and without the horses he would be bankrupt, and still hoped that Taras could re-establish a deal even though his reputation was tarnished for not delivering the horses after he said he would.  Pyotr agreed to sell the horses to the party at a much lower price, if to only cover the debts he owed to merchants and others in the area for providing food and other provisions.  With the agreed price, the party became the owners of the pure-white horses.  

Thovaas then told Pyotr that Fyodorll and her helper they had captured should be freed, and Pyotr agreed willingly, glad to be rid of her silver tongue.  

The next day the party, along with Pyotr and Misha, brought the white-horses out to meet the centaur.  Pyotr looked shaken at the centaur’s size and commanding presence, but was greeted by the centaur as if they had known each other for a long time.  The centaur introduced himself as Loshad, a servant of nature and horses.  Loshad instructed that the shoes be taken off of the white horses before they were set free, and asked whether the woman had been set free.  Pyotr simply nodded.  

Before parting, the centaur held forth a crude, stained backpack full of platinum coins made before the founding of Correl and several gems.  To Jerrin he asked that the contents be given to the woman for saving the lives of the white horses from the terrible goblins.  With that they agreed to meet the following day to leave for the ruins of Chautauqua.  

Going back to Sukyskin, Thovaas found Fyodorll and delivered 500 of the platinum pieces to her.  She looked astonished, not quite understanding why the man who had imprisoned her was now making her rich.  Thovaas told her that if she were smart she would leave soon, and she understood and nodded in agreement.  

Relaxing again, the group made several arrangements with people now living there, and told of how they could go back to their lives once again, now that the third and last of the goblin clans had been defeated.  Soon they would venture to the ruins of Chatauqua to see what awaits them there.


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## MarauderX (Jul 28, 2004)

*Session 13: Chautauqua*

At the homestead, Thovaas made the rounds once again, circling the make-shift tents and shaking hands as he went.  As Jerrin talked with the attentive smithy, Alex helped the handicapped Rollof get some soup.   Towards the outskirts, Thovaas encountered a solid looking dwarf, the only of his kind at Sukyskin.  Thovaas introduced himself as Yaritza tagged along within earshot, curious about the dwarf herself.  The dwarf noticed Thovaas’s monikers of Heroneous and searched his face before responding.  “My name is Bratton,” he said.  

Bratton and Thovaas talked for a good while about the homestead, Pyotr and what each was planning to do.  Yaritza inched in to steel a closer look at the dwarf, and listened as Thovaas invited the adventure-hungry dwarf to join them.  Bratton accepted and asked more of the place called Chautauqua, and soon he was acquainted with Loshad’s name and the adventure thus far.  

The following morning the group set out on foot, with Bratton the dwarf and the unharmed ex-goblin prisoner Yaritza joining the trio that had once saved Sukyskin.  It was mid-afternoon when they spied the clearing where they had agreed to meet Loshad, and he was waiting, nearly invisible lying in the thick weeds.  Without a word, he made several hand motions and a group of black stallions emerged from the forest.  The horses kneeled, and four of the adventurers climbed onto their bare backs.  With a jolt the group was propelled through the forest.

The horses stopped at sunset, and each day they would nudge the party awake at sunrise.  Ten days passed, and the woods began to thin as it gave way to the plains to the south, and soon they saw the open plain through the tree line.  As they crested though it Loshad stood facing across the plain.  Looking where Loshad pointed, they saw a rock wall to a plateau, miles across the plain.  In the middle, on top of the plateau, rose a tower, stabbing into the sky compared with the surrounding flat plains.  

Loshad’s head swiveled to face the party.  “That is the ruins of Chautauqua.  I will guide you half-way across the plains, and from there you will be on your own.  Jerrin will be able to guide you back to your home.”  He led the way across the plain as the morning sun shone down and before long the horses knelt down to allow the riders to slide off as the tower loomed nearer.  

“Have you been to Chautauqua before?” asked Yaritza of the centaur.  
“I have not,” Loshad said.  
“Do you know what’s there?” Yaritza inquired.
“Just the ruins,” Loshad said, “and Pyotr’s red-haired brother.  If he is as noble as Pyotr I wish you the best of luck in dealing the savages there.  May the gods watch over you all.”

Loshad’s jet-black companions halted and lowered their front hooves long enough for the riders to dismount.  Loshad waved as they left, creating a small cloud of dust as they headed west onto the plains.  

The group discussed the tower for a minute before arranging their equipment for walking the rest of the way to the tower.  As they neared they could see wide steps leading up from the base of the plateau to smaller structures near the base of the tower.  Once they reached the base of the steps they gazed again at the tower above.  At its top they saw that it had columns on each of its octagonal corners, and that the columns had an eerie burning white flame dancing on each.  Cautiously they began to ascend the gigantic-sized steps.  

The party shifted formation as some members heard sounds near the top.  Alex began up the steps to scout ahead when they all heard the noise from the top.  They were three-quarters to the top, and the sun shone down brightly to prevent hiding on the crumbling steps.  Again they heard the sound of what Jerrin thought might be screeching monkeys or angry apes.  Instead they saw four baboons crest over the top of the steps, each with a tight leash that extended to a broad hobgoblin behind them.  Seven more hobgoblins stepped up to peer down the steps at the party, each armed with a bow, and as they reached the top the lead hobgoblin dropped the baboons’ leashes to let them crash down the stairs at the party.  

Bratton and Thovaas waited as the baboons raced down the decrepit stone steps, bounding over one another to be the first to attack.  Thovaas sunk an arrow into the baboons’ master as Bratton readied his axe.  Bratton swung as soon as they were close and felled one easily as Yaritza cast a spell to tug at another’s leash.  Jerrin and Alex fired up the steps with ranged weapons, and a hail of return fire came from the hobgoblins.  

Bratton and Thovaas struck down the baboons and Jerrin winced until he realized these baboons had been driven mad with a bloodlust.  Arrows struck the party hard time and again, and eventually Thovaas and Bratton began climbing the steps to face them.  The baboons’ master turned and fled as they exchanged fire.  As Thovaas moved up the steps a glint of light flew from the top of the tower and wounded him beneath his armor.  He slowed his climb up the stairs and secured his shield tighter as more arrows clattered off of it.  Again he saw the gleam of light and felt a searing pain as the bolt of light struck him.  Looking at the others as witnesses, Thovaas might have been the only one to see the lights that had been streaking from the tower to wound him.  A third time the light struck him, just as he and Bratton engaged the hobgoblins in melee.  

The hobgoblins dropped their bows and drew scimitars to reckon with the party, and before long the hobgoblins dropped one by one, but not before Thovaas dropped to his knees, momentarily staggered.  One of the remaining hobgoblins escaped to into the empty streets of the town, and the party dropped back down the steps to hide from any more attacks in the town.  

Catching their breath, the party cautiously made their way into the town.  The houses and buildings were all single-story, and were built out of ravines that wound their way around the tower.  Yaritza climbed to the top of one of the homes and could see the layout of the town below.  The tower’s shadow stretched beside her, spreading a dark unease across the silent town.  

Thovaas and the others began searching through the homes one by one, coming across little in the way of value.  Bratton noticed that the construction was of a much older type, with the stone work much thicker and detailed in many places than much he had seen.  Jerrin persuaded his companion, Tempest, to test for any recent inhabitants by smell.  Sensing none, they moved on closer to the tower.  Eventually they went through one of the buildings that had multiple openings and came out closer to the tower, but still there was no sign of any hobgoblins nearby.  

The group inched their way towards the tower with Yaritza above as a look out.  They spotted a door on the street level that seemed like a back entrance, but it seemed locked.  Alex and Yaritza circled the tower quietly to find other entrances and discovered a main entrance on the opposite side as well as another small entrance.  They looked upward at the tower and noticed that it had no windows or other openings.  Bratton rubbed his hand over the stone base and remarked how tight the joints were assembled.  He was asked to elaborate and told the others that the construction was done long ago, and wasn’t typical of anything he had seen before.  Starting at the top a long, thin crack ran down the side of the tower, and Bratton said that the surface was probably once as smooth as glass and had weathered to be coarse.  

Shaking off an unnatural feeling, they tested the door they had discovered first.  Alex crouched in front of it, and before Thovaas could ask if he could do something Alex popped up a reinforcing bar on the other side and swung the door open.  Peering inside, they lit a torch and saw a narrow, straight corridor.  They walked inside; weapons readied cautiously, and crept down the corridor.  The corridor gave way to reveal rows of sarcophagi on either side, each set back in a niche.  

Yaritza looked closely at a sarcophagus and studied its ornate designs carved from stone.  She could tell that the stone itself might have been worked with magic to achieve the high detail, but that the sarcophagus was not enchanted.  Thovaas used his spider-sense to determine that there was nothing threatening within.  

They began to move through old cob webs that might have been there for years and Thovaas swept them aside as they got thicker when they turned a corner.  Not being able to see that far, Thovaas used his torch to burn away the webs.

Just as he was swinging the torch from side to side, his eyes met 8 others – a monstrous spider clung to the thick webs and lashed out, snapping the air inches from Thovaas’s face.  Bratton moved forward to strike, and the spider climbed upside down on the ceiling before biting Thovaas hard on the shoulder, and poison oozed from its mandibles.  Thovaas felt weaker and weaker as they clashed until finally he collapsed.  Soon the spider was slain and the group aided Thovaas.  Investigating the rest of the area, Bratton discovered a large, ball-like sack hanging by webs from the ceiling.  Jerrin quickly identified it as the spider’s egg sack and they all left well enough alone.  

The party decided to rest in the first corridor near the door they had come through and laid down some defenses by barring the door and using caltrops.  They rested through the rest of the day, taking turns to keep a close watch for anything peculiar.  As the night came on, Thovaas volunteered to stay up while everyone else rested longer.  Around 2 or 3 A.M. Thovaas heard some shuffling and voices in a guttural tongue outside the door.  The creatures on the other side of the door were trying to stay silent, and the door shuddered, startling Thovaas, as they tried to open it.   Thovaas woke the others, and the shuffling and voices faded into the night.  

Alex added the last flask of oil to the lantern and fifteen minutes later the party went to the only other door to their hovel.  Thovaas hugged the wall next to the door with Bratton opposite the door and the rest of the party waited behind him.  As they had suspected, they heard some sounds of movement on the other side of the door and watched as the door peaked open slowly.  Thovaas saw a hobgoblin eye and they all heard clicking, chitterling words come from the small opening.  Thovaas stepped forward out the darkness and slammed the door shut with the butt of his axe, surprising and jarring the hobgoblin on the other side as it cursed loudly.  

The door swung wide with a crash and Bratton saw several hobgoblins at the bottom of a stair landing pushing their way towards him.  Everyone waited as the first burst into the room, and it yelped as its feet were struck several times by the caltrops near the door.  Bratton and Thovaas swung their axes and felled it, the body collapsing in one of the niches.  The second came through and the caltrops also slowed it down, allowing the party to gang up on it, slaying it before it could do serious damage.  The frustrated leader could be heard cursing again as he climbed up the stairs.  Thovaas looked up the stairs at him and an arrow zipped by him as they exchanged shouts, each in their native tongues.  

The party closed the door to the stairs and Bratton and Thovaas, with Yaritza supervising, moved one of the ornate stone sarcophagi in front of the door to block it from opening.  Once in place the group slowly let their guard down to return to sleep with Thovaas keeping watch.  

Jerrin could tell that morning was approaching and woke before the others to see Thovaas completing his morning prayers.  Slowly they all woke and had breakfast as they stretched from a long night on the cold stone floor.


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## MarauderX (Aug 5, 2004)

*Session 14: Entering the Tower of Chautauqua*

Carefully the group searched through the black crypt once more.  Yaritza and Alex split away from group and made their way over to the disturbed sarcophagus.  They both pried at the lid that had been loosened when it was moved, and it cracked open on towards Yaritza, and the wind within moaned as the sarcophagus gasped.  Seeing inside with the meager light in the crypt, she saw a form of a deceased within.  Alex made his way to see, and they both looked on the desiccated form with arms outstretched to the sides of the sarcophagus, its jaw dropped in a look of finality.  Yaritza pushed her lithe hand in, feeling for anything within.  As she felt the sides and bottom, her forearm brushed against the body and the coldness of it startled her.  Finding nothing, she withdrew to let Alex search the inside, and he also found nothing.  

The party decided not to pursue the hobgoblins up the stairs from the crypt, as they would surely be expecting such.  Instead they ventured around to another door Alex had discovered before they entered the crypt.  They ventured over to it, and encountered nothing in the silent town on their way.  Alex pulled at the door, which was locked, before trying to open it.  Easily it snapped open, and Alex peered into a large room with tall stacks of books on well-kept shelves that reached up to nearly touch the roof twenty feet above.  The stacks stretched to the other wall, with a walkway down the center as they marched from the front to the back.  Weak, blue-white light shone from sconces at the end of the bookcases, shrouding the room in crossing shadows.  Alex and Yaritza entered stealthily and peered around.  Yaritza went toward the stairs that led upward to a large set of double doors, and Alex swept to the back of the room.  As Alex reached the last bookcase, he saw something that stirred up fear from the bottom of his stomach.  

Alex froze as he saw a humanoid-like figure pass backward through the bookcase.  The figure glowed, illuminating the bookcase it was examining, and Alex closed his mouth and slunk down the aisle to return to the doorway.  He told them what he saw, and Yaritza overheard and decided to investigate for herself.  

Boldly the rest of the party watched from the doorway to see Yaritza purposefully clattering about, her heels striking on the stone floor echoing in the large room.  Soon enough the glowing form came forth and descended from one of the shelves to glide toward Yaritza.  She spoke to it, and suddenly a low moan could be heard emanating from within the room.  It stretched out long, sinewy fingers towards Yaritza, and a wave of fear threatened to overcome her as its gaunt appearance began to melt backwards away from Yaritza.  The rest looked on as the blue-white amorphous creature’s fine robes fluttered into tatters as it rose above her.  Again Yaritza forced herself to speak to it.  

The low moan became a dull roar that grew louder by the moment.  Yaritza felt oppressive words penetrate her skull, gripping her senses and compelling her to listen with her mind.  Bubbling to the surface, hear ears heard nothing but her mind nearly went deaf: “SHUT UP!” it screamed in her head, and still she stood her ground, awestruck out of fear rather than curiosity.  Yaritza then murmured a few more words to it.

The being stretched out its hands again as the fingers elongated to spiny tusks, and from its distorted skull a fanged jaw dropped in a rage as the stacks began to rumble from the volume of the roar.  Alex called out to Yaritza, but she stood fast and her eyes widened.  The creature swirled in front of her and cold, ethereal claws passed through her, tearing at the core of her being, trying to tug away the life from her.  She froze where she stood, the chill pervading her senses. The beast-like incorporeal thing still hovered over her, poised to assail Yaritza again.  Before it could, Alex jumped out and grabbed her underneath her arms and towed her to the relative safety outside.  Bratton caught her, Thovaas closed the door, and Alex spun around to relock it.  Breathing a sigh of relief, Yaritza pulled herself up, her spirit weakened from the encounter.  

Jerrin mentioned that the hobgoblins probably have superior numbers and it wouldn’t be wise to get caught by them in the open, so the group set about making a plan to enter the main tower.  It was decided that Alex and Yaritza would cause a distraction to lead the hobgoblins outside to allow the others to enter the tower through the crypt stairwell.  Alex and Yaritza went up the main steps outside from the deserted square.  Before them stood two sets of ornate stone doors that recessed into the outer wall, fifteen feet high.  Gently pushing on the handle, positioned at an appropriate height for a human, Alex opened one and felt the weight move easily to reveal a dim vestibule and two more sets of double doors to match the exterior doors.  Entering silently, they felt the outside door close slowly of its own accord, and Yaritza decided to hold it open so they could make a quick escape.  Alex slowly pushed his weight to open one of the inner doors.  

The door opened a sliver to reveal a filthy baboon in the foreground, scrounging in a puddle of slime and trash.  In the middle of the room was a decrepit fountain filled with black slime and waste.  Beyond the fountain a circle of hobgoblins were in a heated debate, drawing something on the floor and then scuffing it out with their feet.  Near what was likely the crypt door, three goblins leaned against the wall lazily.  An open door across the room revealed a spiral staircase leading upward, and on either side of it were red curtains that had been mounted about ten feet high.  The ceiling of the room stretched upward for twenty feet or more, making the space seem overwhelmingly large.  

Alex drew up his bow and took aim on the hobgoblin they had seen leading the baboons on leashes and let the missile fly.  The arrow struck it underneath the arm where there was no armor, and smiled as it howled and yelped across their makeshift battle map.  The others pivoted to see the door closing and they growled and ran towards it.  By the time they had got there and onto the outdoor platform above the square, Alex and Yaritza were no where to be seen.  

Meanwhile, Jerrin, Thovaas and Bratton surged up the crypt steps to the door to the tower lobby.  Finding the door unlocked and not barred, they easily passed into the room with no opposition to be found except for a screaming baboon, which Jerrin dispatched quickly.  Thovaas and Bratton went to the inner double doors to prevent them from entering back through, and Bratton threw down a bag of caltrops on the other side of the doors from him.  Prepped and ready, the three of them waited behind the doors for the hobgoblins to return inside.  

In the square the hobgoblins fanned out to find the sniper.  One started to climb up to get a better view, and Yaritza heard him stumbling up towards her hiding spot next to the tower.  Alex couldn’t let the opening go and fired an arrow at the ascending hobgoblin, and the shot ricocheted off its hip.  Distracted, it jumped down to seek out the source as it pulled out its scimitar and called to his nearby companions.  One of the others began to climb the solid dirt wall, and then Alex struck the first through the heart with his rapier.  The two remaining attacked him viciously, and Yaritza pulled up along the edge to fire a shot into one of them, which immediately turned to see her and began climbing towards her again.  

The other hobgoblins returned back to the vestibule, and one of them stopped and pointed at the caltrops spread across the stone tiles.  The hobgoblins readied themselves, as there were no sounds of the frantic baboon within the lobby, which reassured them that they had been duped.  Moving around the caltrops, they began to open the doors slowly when both Thovaas and Bratton stuck at separate targets.  The doors swung wide and the battle was joined.  

Alex withdrew halfway up the stairs and the hobgoblin kept coming at him.  Yaritza was soon toe-to-toe with the other, and she was dealt a nasty blow by it.  On the inside, Jerrin called forth a grossly oversized badger ally in the midst of the enemy in the vestibule.  Several more hobgoblins poured into the space and they struck the badger relentlessly, but it only got mad and trembled with rage.  The hobgoblin shaman called forth a spiritual ally of his own, and it appeared behind Bratton and attacked.  Tempest, Jerrin and Bratton made it disperse as Thovaas dropped another of the hobgoblins.  The dire badger had also been defeated, and the groups assessed each other.  

The hobgoblins pulled back to the outdoor platform and waited for the party to strike.  Jerrin called forth another dire badger to lead the attack on them.  The badger went straight at the hobgoblin shaman and landed several blows as Thovaas and Bratton charged outside to attack.  Jerrin rode Tempest into the fray and several of the hobgoblins dropped.  Alex and his attacker traded blows on the steps and Yaritza huddled beneath her shield as blows fell against it.  

The hobgoblins fell one by one, and the hobgoblin leader fought to get by the party to escape to the inside, but instead his body slithered down the steps past Alex, distracting his assailant long enough to strike a deadly blow.  The rest of the hobgoblins paused when they saw this and reeled, running down the steps and through the streets of the town.  The group fired arrows at the slowest, ensuring that those hobgoblins would never return.

The group set about searching the corpses, investigating each for gold and other trinkets.  Yaritza took a circle of miniature skulls laced with hemp string and feathers and herbs that she collected from the shaman hobgoblin that was killed.  Casting a spell of identification she quietly found out that it gave off an aura of the necromantic school.  Alex made his way over to the fallen hobgoblin leader and collected a circlet from its forehead.  Yaritza also cast a spell to determine what it might be, and an impression of protection magic shone from it as Alex held it firmly in his hands.  It was determined that it enhanced the wearer’s natural protection, making it tougher to pierce their skin.  Alex wiped it clean and slipped the silver circlet over his head.  

The group talked about magic, items and divided up the gold they had collected.  Meanwhile Alex slipped back inside to investigate the lobby.  Once inside the double doors, Alex felt the temperature drop by twenty degrees.  

“Close the door behind you, intruders, as it is unbearably hot this day.”

The bellowing voice echoed around the room, but it was apparent that it came from behind one of the curtains.  Alex called for the others without letting his eyes leaving the red curtains.   The others crashed in, looking for the new emergency and stopping once they had entered the chill room.  Soon they heard the voice again, deep and smooth, and it seemed to talk to Jerrin.  It said that his connection with the lupine spirits must be much stronger than his.  He admitted using his powers to grant the Wolfskull goblins the worgs they rode into battle, as well as trying to destroy what he called the horse-man which the party recognized as Loshad.  Jerrin kept him talking and the voice revealed that it was a reverent disciple of the canine spirits, and that Jerrin must have been manipulating the spirits to work against the wolves.  As they talked, Alex stealthily moved around the room to arrive at the door to the stairs as Yaritza slinked into a corner towards the curtain.  Alex pushed his shoulder to the door as he tried the handle, but neither budged.  The curtain fluttered and a huge pure-white wolf poked its head out, baring its fangs before exhaling a blast of cold winter chill on Alex.  

Alex ran backward, leaping over the edge of the fountain as he anticipated the white wolf to follow him.  Jerrin brought forth a giant bat that snapped then hovered above the wolf before he cast a spell and launched an orb of flame that struck the wolf in the head.  The winter wolf tossed aside the curtain and streaked across the room, striking out at Tempest.  Jerrin moved to strike the beast with another fiery orb, and Thovaas came in to flank it.  The beast breathed out another wintry chill at Tempest, and its bite clamped down on nothing but air.  Bratton moved in to help, while Alex and Yaritza fired arrows at any openings.  Before much longer the large white wolf slumped to the stone tiles, dead.  Jerrin felt along its flank and noticed it had a collar around its neck.  Slipping it off the dead beast, he tried to read the elvish arcane characters inscribed on it.  Jerrin put the collar on himself and tried to pushing some of the studs before Yaritza came to categorize what abilities it had.  

Searching around the rest of the room, the group pulled back the first curtain to reveal bedding and blankets thick with white fur.  Finding nothing but fleas they moved on to look behind the second.  There they saw a bed, a chair and a table with several notes written in an infernal language.  As Alex was investigating them, Yaritza saw his heel tip one of the floor tiles upward.  Moving the stone tile revealed a hole downward that held a burlap bag.  Just as Yaritza was about to reach into it, Alex grabbed her forearm and pulled it back.  He pointed into the hole and nearly hidden there was a snake, a viper, which could have been a very nasty surprise.  Stabbing the snake, they brought up the partially open bag full of coins.  In it was a mix of gold and silver pieces, some minted from the Kingdom of Correl and a lot more of the silver that was not.  

As they divvied up the coins, the group discussed their next step.  Should they rest and recoup their health?  Or should they press on by getting to the steps?


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## MarauderX (Aug 23, 2004)

*Session 15: Barricade overcome, Discoveries at the Top*

The group paused at the door to the spiral steps to discuss whether they should continue on or rest.  Looking around, the uninjured Thovaas proposed going on which was seconded by nearly everyone.  Alex searched the door for anything out of place before popping the lock open to reveal the steps leading only upward.  Winding their way up, they saw another door at the top.  Listening, they heard whispering voices on the other side and they tried to peer under the door.  Thovaas counted silently to the others then burst through the door into the room.  

Awaiting them on the other side was a semicircular barricade with the stair door at its center.  Behind the various heights of the mixed furniture, barrels and boxes were a group of hobgoblins and four goblins stood and kneeled on one of the tables.  In the gap across from the stairs stood the heavily armored hobgoblin that they had seen in the lobby below.  The hobgoblins pulled back their bows with smiles showing jagged teeth, and the goblins aimed their crossbows just as the party line went decidedly in full reverse.  

Backing down the stairs, everyone jumbled together before heading down the stone steps.  Thovaas stumbled and slid backwards to land on his back at the top of the stair, and several missiles zipped over him to clatter against the stone.  Standing and pulling himself out of the line of fire, Thovaas put his back to the wall of the stairs so as not to provide a target.  The group fired a few shots in, trading arrows with the hobgoblins, and Thovaas took a hit in the arm through his shield as he timed their reloading.  As this occurred the party heard the lumbering sound of shaking armor as the stocky hobgoblin approached the stair door.  

The figure blocked the doorway first then stepped out onto the platform to face Thovaas a few steps below.  He braced his shield in a way to get more leverage with his axe, but before he could strike Thovaas grabbed him around the legs and hauled them both tumbling down the stairs.  They crashed down to Jerrin and his companion Tempest, and tempest snapped at the tangled two and struck Thovaas.  Thovaas felt the hobgoblin struggling to break free and kept rolling down the stairs taking Tempest with them as Jerrin hopped over them and began casting a spell.  They tumbled into Bratton next, but the stout dwarf set his legs firmly and the three bounced against him then continued downward.  

Thovaas controlled their descent and stopped past Bratton, where again the hobgoblin tried to escape Thovaas, but its armor covered body was held fast by him.  The others joined in slashing at the hobgoblin as Thovaas pinned it to the stairs, and Bratton landed a deadly blow to its chest, and Thovaas felt its last breath escape.  

At the top of the stairs a few of the hobgoblins had gathered to see what had become of their comrade when a celestial wolf appeared next to them and attacked the hobgoblin on the landing overlooking the action below.  It mangled the creature’s thigh and Jerrin threw a dagger to pierce its neck and it leaned against the edge of the landing before falling to the stairs below.  A hobgoblin attacked it, startled as he was, and another tried to get by him to attack.  The wolf bit the hobgoblin’s calf causing it to fall backwards as the wolf dragged him to the floor.  Jerrin ascended the stairs and he threw his dagger into its chest as the wolf tore at its other leg when it tried to stand on its good leg.  The hobgoblin went limp just as the other tried to pry him to freedom from the wolf’s assault, and it retreated.  The wolf jumped on one of the tables a hobgoblin had been using for cover and took several blows before being dispersed.  

The Yaritza stood was lifted up by Thovaas and stood on his shoulders where she could see one of the goblins standing in anticipation on the table.  Each took aim at one another but Yaritza shot first and struck the goblin in the forehead, snapping its head backwards before it fell off the table.  Yaritza switched to Bratton’s shoulders to allow Thovaas up the stairs, but it didn’t allow her the height to get a good angle for another crossbow shot.  

Thovaas charged up the stairs and stopped abruptly at the top beyond the line of sight for the hobgoblins in the room.  Peaking out, he acquired the location of one and traded shots as it cowered behind a table.  Jerrin led his wolf-hound companion with his knees and they charged into the room, leaping over the table to snap at the hobgoblin.  It drew a scimitar, but didn’t land a blow before Jerrin and Tempest brought it down.  The others then flooded into the room.  

Thovaas went for the goblins as they stood on the table opposite and Jerrin guided Tempest to the next hobgoblin behind a stack of crates.  Alex made his way into position as Bratton was engaged by a second hobgoblin.  Yaritza moved into a flanking position as it stood higher up on the table, and with a piercing blow Alex brought it down.  Bratton finished off the other.  

A lighter-skinned goblin wielding an axe darted away from Jerrin towards the stair door opposite the one the party had come in.  Thovaas pointed and Jerrin was already chasing the creature down.  Its body lay stretched out reaching for the door, and Tempest spat out the lifeless corpse at Jerrin’s command.  

Looking around, the group paused to search the room.  They saw much of the same refuse as they had below, with most of the beds that had been arranged around the room in disrepair.  They tossed away trash as they gathered the valuables from the room, mostly coins that were found in a few footlockers.  

*****

The group decided to rest, and barricaded themselves into the room.  Rotating long watches they rested until the following morning as they used spare torches in the room to provide constant light.  The next morning Alex opened the door to the stairs and climbed them quietly with Yaritza tagging along silently behind.  He felt cloth covering the door at the top of stairs, sealing it tightly to the frame.  Alex tugged at the black cloth, listening at the door to hear voices talking occasionally, but their casual tone suggested that they did not hear him or didn’t care.  Tearing it all away, Alex could make out that the door was not barricaded, and with Yaritza’s help determined that it might be held fast with magic.  

Taking this news to the others, the group then discussed an alternate plan.  Jerrin would shift his form to that of an eagle to inspect the top of the tower and see if they could enter there.  If so, he would take a rope and secure it to the top for the others to climb.  Once there they would try to enter from the top to catch their foe in a less hardened direction.  From there they hoped to catch the master of the tower by surprise and slay him, then scatter any of his remaining minions before them easily.  

So they set the plan in motion.  Jerrin cast a spell to call forth lightning before the others watched in astonishment as grew feathers and shifted to the form of an eagle.  He swiftly took off from the group and circled upward, watching the empty town below for signs of activity.  Once he saw the top of the tower he was all at once disgusted and angry.  A large symbol that Jerrin did not know still made his bile rise, and he forced himself to focus on the other details at the top.  On four sides of this symbol were wooden racks with manacles at each end to hold fast whatever sacrifice that might be part of the dark rituals performed there.  Jerrin’s keen eyes focused on them and could tell that they might have been used recently.  To the side of them was a pedestal with some parchment strapped or nailed into position.  On the opposite side of the symbol were two human skeletons and one looked as if it had been blasted apart by fire as a large scorch mark was centered on its scattered bones.  Furthermore a grate was there, likely the flue for the fireplaces, as was a hatch – what Jerrin was hoping for.  He swooped down to grab the rope.  

Alex ascended the slick side of the tower first and pulled himself up onto the tower top.  Standing he felt a surge of fear well up in him, a fear that said to be anywhere else but there.  Jerrin called down a bolt of lightening upon the pedestal and watched as splinters flew and the parchment on it burned.  Startled, Alex fought the feeling of doom and moved around to the other side of the column to allow Thovaas up next.  With Thovaas there, Alex felt a little calmer as surely with his knightly training he would know what to do.  The others all made it to the top, and the end of the rope was securely tied in a harness around Tempest before hauling him up, much to his protest.  

At the top they all noticed how from there they could see the entire shallow valley they had crossed through, all along the edge of the crescent-shaped cliff and the whole of the plateau behind them.  The group moved to inspect the pedestal and noted the paper on it might have been a diagram of some sort, with notation and other text to the sides.  Glancing again at the symbol centered on the top of the tower, they saw it was a 6” trough set into the stone, rough in spots and perfectly smooth in others.  The morning sun rose and shone down on the top of the tower to reveal the bottom of the trough was a sickly deep red that looked like dried paint.  

Quickly they pulled their eyes from it and inspected the hatch in the roof that opened upwards.  Alex peered downwards to see an ornate room, empty of anything moving.  The others used the rope to lower him down into the room and he landed on top of the large desk below.  Carefully moving so as not to disturb the papers on the desk Alex dropped to the floor below and took another look around the room as the others started to come down the rope.  

The first thing they noticed was four long tapestries covering one of the walls of the octagonal room.  Along another and behind the desk was a map of the local area, with several positions marked with points and paths.  It was clear that several points were of the goblin lairs, the various homesteads, and several other miscellaneous points.  Sukyskin was circled several times, and several lines protruded from Chautauqua towards it.  Nearby were several smaller cabinets full of notation and other papers.  

Across the room near the only door was a large tub full of steaming water, and across from it were a lavish bench and several fur rugs dyed red with ornate markings.   The rugs shimmered and seemed to warm and sooth those that stood upon it.  The group noticed a patch of fur that had collected towards the fireplace, probably from sleeping in the same spot for some time.  Perfumes and costume jewelry was laid about on a well-made cabinet.  

Alex and the others searched the room for any hidden treasures or secrets and came up with two large locked chests.  Alex ran his hands over the edges slowly searching for anything peculiar.  Not sensing anything he slipped the lock open with a click and pulled the iron-bound lid open with a slight hiss, and Alex reacted to close the lid again but it was too late and an explosion of icy chill froze everything within reach.  Alex pried his frostbitten hands from the top of the chest a kicked the open chest with his foot and noted the pile of frozen coins within.  

Alex took a few minutes to thaw himself before taking a look at the second.  Examining it with great care, he detected three needles bathed with a viscous poison, and they pointed outward from the complicated lock.  Tripping the set switch, Alex disarmed the trap and began working to open the lock.  After a while he finally opened the box with a wary hand, and it revealed an upper tray of potions and empty vials.  Several of them were labeled with crude markings on a leather strap that Alex made out to be a curative potion.  A ring shown at the bottom of the chest, as did a second smaller lock box.  Alex pulled out the box and did the same inspection on it and realized that it was imbued with a magic that was either a trap or was used to seal the box shut.  

Then they all heard voices beyond the stair door.  They waited for more, but none came, and their guard relaxed after several minutes of silence.  Deciding to leave the majority of the treasure behind they looked to open the door and go after whoever resides in the luxurious room.


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## MarauderX (Sep 2, 2004)

*Session 16: Confrontation*

The party watched as Jerrin molded the stone away from the only door out of the room.  The door revealed spiral stairs down and the group paused at the door to consider the merits of who should be first.  Alex volunteered to scout ahead and the others agreed to follow once he was out of sight.  Alex descended the stairs to find a similar door, covered in thick cloth, and began removing it.  He stopped for a moment to allow the others to descend the stairs noisily before continuing.  

Once the cloth was removed Alex strained to see under the gap of the door.  He could only see a few feet, but could tell there was light in the room and nothing in front of the door.  Pushing against it slightly revealed that the door would open, but was unlike the others in that the swing was opposite.  Alex relayed the information to the others and Bratton moved up to the door to open it and see the room.  Pushing it open, he was amazed at what he saw, and the others craned their necks to see while his eyes struggled to take in all that he saw.  

On either side of him he saw two jade statues, each humanoid and seven feet tall with sleek lion-like heads.  Each was flanking a pile of strange green goo that encased humanoid forms within.  In the middle of the room four pillars rose to support a round stone platform above, and the deep blue light in the room seemed to emanate from the top of it and fill the rest of the room.  On the other side of the room, a mirrored pair of statues stood regally over two more blobs of green, each with a figure trapped within.  Next to the far one on Bratton’s left he saw two robed figures and charged straight for them.  

The others piled into the room to see, and Jerrin and the others recognized the familiar eastern face of Di’an, and next to him was another familiar figure, though much different than they had last seen him.  The bands of runes that fell from around his neck were the first clue, but the piercing eyes gave Golthar away.  He turned to them, his face a waterfall of mixed emotions before it settled on menacing indifference.  As he turned, the party saw a shock of red hair that sprouted from the top of the mound of green goo that could only be Stephan.  On the walls hung crisp paintings of more lion-headed humanoids dressed in fine clothing in various poses of standing or sitting.

Alex shouted Di’an’s name, hoping to give Bratton pause as he raced across the room.   The dwarf still swung his axe around the column near Di’an, catching the monk by surprise as the blade slashed a deep scarlet across his robes.  Thovaas stepped into the room and began extracting the figure from the nearest mound of green goo, an elf.  Golthar stepped away and waved his hand twice, and everyone paused to watch as the two far statues crackled to life and their smooth textures frayed to form a jagged dark-green skin.  The stone swords they wielded in both hands were larger than the great sword Thovaas carried, and they strode forth to attack with them.  Di’an called for the fighting to cease, as he was sure they would see the folly of attacking when they knew who Golthar was.  So the party slowed their attack and instead freed the elf completely, as well as a half-orc named Arashika and a dwarf, Gregor.  All the while Golthar went on explaining himself, which to the group sounded more like a justification.  Di’an went on and on, arguing with Thovaas and the others, demanding that his actions were for the greater good of Correl, that Stephan had set them up, and that with the goblin threat behind them they could move forward, together, to seek the same goals.  Thovaas drew his arm back and swung at Di’an’s face with the back of his gauntlet in an attempt to slap some sanity back into him.  

Di’an scowled at him, hurt more that the paladin would not try to figure out what he was saying.  The fighting resumed, and the party split to gang up on each of the stone menaces that resumed their advance.  Arashika immediately darted towards Golthar, tackling the tall man to the floor, keeping him from doing anything else.  Di’an stepped behind one of the stone giants and cast a spell, striking Thovaas in the chest with a gob of acid before going to help out his self-described master, Golthar.  Thovaas went after him again but stopped to assist Bratton with the green stone giant and worked to bring it down quickly, but it was a much larger task than they had realized.  

Alex, Yaritza, Jerrin and Tempest attacked the other green stone giant, chipping away at it regularly.  Tempest wrestled the statue to the floor where it picked itself up again as everyone near it bashed as hard as they could, but still it stood and lashed out towards Alex but missed and a part of the wall gave way under the stone sword.  

Golthar growled strangely under Arashika before he struggled to freedom, stood, and saw as a large crocodile solidified next to him.   He turned to step away, trying to bring the other two statues to life, but was trapped by the crocodile’s gripping bite.  The beast dragged him to the ground in its crushing bite and Arashika heard him grit his teeth under the pain just before she tried to punch him.  

Yaritza took a heavy shot to the body and head and she flew backward to lay in an unmoving heap behind Bratton.  Jerrin brought forth another animal, a wolf, and it appeared and took her place as he swept to the side and healed her.  The others fought on, hacking and slashing bits of green stone from the statues.

Golthar struggled free once more.  He ran to a corner behind one of the statues and stopped to watch as the crocodile and Arashika pursued him.  Golthar then brought the remaining two statues creaking to life, their shimmering jade dulling to green stone before they both attacked the crocodile, landing punishing blows to make it dissipate.  Golthar smiled at Arashika before bolting to escape through the hidden door the party had just come through.  Jerrin spotted him escaping and mounted Tempest just after he brought down one of the green stone giants.  With ranged help from Alex, Thovaas finished off the second with a powerful swing of his greatsword.  

Jerrin pried open the hidden door to the spiral staircase upward.  Bratton began pulling Stephan loose from the green goo he was encased in, and Alex assisted the weakened dwarf to the hidden stairs.  The second pair of statues lumbered forth, swinging their swords with deceiving ease at the summoned wolf Jerrin had brought forth.  Thovaas assisted Bratton as Stephan collapsed over the dwarf’s shoulder, both hands and feet touching the stone tile floor.  Thovaas then stayed between them and the statues as everyone clambered into the stair.  The statues turned and lunged at the door, stabbing inward several times before giving them a chance to pull it shut.  

At the top of the stairs Jerrin opened the door to see Golthar once more.  His hair was disheveled and his robe shimmered iridescent colors where it had been slashed and torn by the many strikes downstairs.  He was gathering papers from the desk, and stepped towards one of the chests when he heard Tempest’s low growl.  Golthar swiveled to face Jerrin on his mount and grimaced before his feet lifted from the floor as he glided to the trapdoor twenty feet above.  Jerrin dismounted and girded Tempest to attack.  The wolfhound leapt onto the desk then soared through the air at Golthar but his jaws only clamped down on the robe, tearing away another strip of fluttering iridescence.  Golthar disappeared through the trapdoor hole, temporarily blocking the afternoon sunlight.  

Jerrin saw the knotted rope dangling from the roof and heard the others coming up the spiral steps, so he waited for them as he watched the opening.  The others arrived slowly, having brought the four captives with them and laying them down on the soft rugs and couch.  Stephan’s eyes rolled in his head as he coughed violently, green goo projecting from his mouth.   The elven prisoner could only raise his head to look at the scene below, while the dwarf struggled to stand firmly.  Alex and the others looked nearly as tired from the fight below, but they all nodded in a silent agreement to climb to the roof.  Quickly, Jerrin went up first and saw how the rooftop had changed.  Arashika gripped the heavy ornate chair behind the desk and smashed it against the wall and pried away a makeshift club from one of the legs.  

On the inset pentacle on the roof, green flames arose, and on the other side a form wearing Golthar’s robes raised and lowered its arms, pulling the flames higher with each gesture.  In the center of the pentacle a head bubbled forth, gleaming bulbous eyes sprouted and a monstrous red form rose to two feet.  The creature that Golthar had become directed the beast, and the eye stalks that lined its back and the attached orbs gazed around and locked on Jerrin as he was about to pull himself onto the roof.  The oblong head pivoted to face him, and Jerrin felt a queasiness overtake him, and he slipped down the rope to the desk below.  As he tried to explain what nastiness he had seen, the group formed a ring around the desk as it clawed at the open air through the opening.  It disappeared for a moment, and then the opening went dark as it dropped its body through the hole, splintering the desk into pieces as it landed.  

The thing clawed at the group, landing a few blows, but the party went to work on it systematically, stabbing in the back as it turned, slicing at every opening it left.  Before long the group had brought the beast to its end, and a bloody mess was layered on top of scattered papers and broken wood.  Again they looked up to the opening, and the impervious Thovaas was the first to climb up this time.  He and Arashika rushed across the roof towards Golthar and raced around another foul demon that emerged from the circle of green flames.  Thovaas and Arashika paused to study their altered opponent, who was now over seven feet tall.  They approached him as he wove a spell, soft strips of his tattered iridescent robe waving around his muscular limbs.  His head was that of a tiger, and he had long flowing hair that coursed over his shoulders and back.  Claws tipped each of his fingers and sharp teeth flashed as he spoke.  Fur covered his entire body and spat the words of tainted magic with a guttural growl.  

Alex, Jerrin and Bratton emerged through the hole and were struck with a spell from the dreadful Golthar.  A moment of confusion struck each of the three then passed for Jerrin and Bratton, but not for Alex.  He wandered about the rooftop in a daze, coming perilously close to the edge.  Jerrin engaged the fiendish beast, and directed Bratton to assist Thovaas with Golthar.  Yaritza inquired about the situation from below, hesitant to climb up the rope in her weakened state.  

Alex’s lucidity came and went, as sometimes he would aim at Jerrin and the next moment he would go for the fiend.  The other three teamed up to surround the beastly Golthar, and Golthar tried to side step his way around them for a better position, all the while slashing Brattons armor and flesh to ribbons.  Jerrin attacked with mitigated strikes, trying to protect himself from the beast more than hurt it.  Alex’s head finally cleared and he worked his way around to fire at Golthar several times, and Jerrin turned to join them in the attack.  The fiendish beast turned its gruesome head towards Alex and leapt at him, only to disappear in a burst of green flames that made Alex flinch.  

Golthar punished Bratton time and again, and the tenacious dwarf slumped to his knees before falling forward unconscious.  Thovaas swung his sword in an arc of fury, and the smiting blow bit deep into the back of Golthar, sending another spray of blood to cover his robes.  Arashika swung her club as Golthar spat out his frustration at the party, how their races were mere infants in the history of the world and at the loss of so much history and knowledge at their bloodthirsty hands.  She swung her club again and connected with the top of his head, and before he could fall Jerrin was stabbing his knife in and out of the defeated Rakshasa.  The group pummeled the body, making sure that it was deep beyond any doubt before Jerrin turned to stop Bratton’s bleeding wounds.  

The group took in a deep sigh of relief and began to laugh with joy over their victory.  The green flames still bellowed from the inscription in the top of the tower, but the oppressive fear that tingled at the backs of their minds had subsided before fading to nothing.  The sun shown down with a different light, and the bright white flames on the tops of the columns had fizzled and vanished.  They had defeated this evil, from whatever time or place he said he was from.


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## Old One (Sep 7, 2004)

MarauderX said:
			
		

> *Session 16: Confrontation*
> 
> 
> Di’an scowled at him, hurt more that the paladin would not try to figure out what he was saying.  The fighting resumed, and the party split to gang up on each of the stone menaces that resumed their advance.  Arashika immediately darted towards Golthar, tackling the tall man to the floor, keeping him from doing anything else.  Di’an stepped behind one of the stone giants and cast a spell, striking Thovaas in the chest with a gob of acid before going to help out his self-described master, Golthar.  Thovaas went after him again but stopped to assist Bratton with the green stone giant and worked to bring it down quickly, but it was a much larger task than they had realized.




Fear Arashika Skar!  The half-orc warrioress and bowling pin extraordinaire !

Now, if only her player could remember a few things noted on her character sheet (like sneak attack +1d6), all would be well !

~ Old One

PS - How many hit points of damage can a raging Arashika do with one punch?  Answer: A lot! (15, IIRC)


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## MarauderX (Sep 23, 2004)

*Session 17: Homeward Bound*

Alex, Thovaas and the others breathed a sigh of relief at the top of the tower.  Tired, Jerrin sank to his knees to check on the fallen dwarf Bratton, and Arashika kept her eye on the unmoving body of Golthar.  Gathering themselves, each bandaged their wounds before descending to back into the tower.  Bratton was lowered down, and the others gave weak congratulations and thanks for defeating Golthar.  Setting up a watch, the group rested for the rest of the day and through the night.

During their rest, Stephan and his friends explained how they were captured over a month ago by hobgoblins on their way to the tower.  The hobgoblins moved them to the goblin lair in the Stone Forest where they saw Rollof, and the two were overjoyed to see each other alive despite their predicament.  Rollof was defiant towards the goblins which resulted in daily beatings.  After a time, Stephan and the others were escorted south through the woods and across the plain by a large hobgoblin mounted on a pure white wolf.  

Once they arrived at the tower they met Golthar, and behind his warm, gentle smile lay wicked manipulation as they were released from their bonds only to be paralyzed in green piles of goo.  Time was frozen as they were woken only to be questioned or to have magic pry at their memories to see what they knew.  In the meantime, each spent plenty of time staring at painting in front of them, a faded glory of ages past, depicting -headed humanoids looking regal with fine clothes and perfect posture.  

Each resisted the questions that Golthar and his assistant Di'an asked, mostly in a dazed reflexive habit, still weakened by the paralyzing green goo.  They asked about the other ruins that they had visited, what they found and questioned thoroughly about what they were after.  It was during one of these sessions that they were interrupted by the party emerging from the door.  

Stephan admits that he has been trying to study the ruins and the things he has found there to uncover more such places.  Though they might have been picked through once already, much seems to have been left behind, and certain words of arcana call the powers forth from mundane devices.  Stephan continues, saying that he was the one who had determined the tapestries at Sukyskin were ancient, and he was also looking for more to gain any knowledge of where other sites might be.  

At the last site, Stephan admits that he found descriptions of a tower with a sunken town at the edge of the plateau, and deciphered a location from vague writings in the texts he found.  Before setting out, he recruited the same three that had accompanied him before - Gregor, a dwarven fighter, Arashika, a fearsome female half-orc, and Myrrin, an elven rogue and sorcerer.  Gregor and Arashika had earned Stephan's trust after guarding his brother Pyotr's horses when moving them to Kargam for sale, and Myrrin came recommended by the dwarf, which Stephan accepted based on the unusual recommendation.

In the meantime, Stephan had needed someone to fill his shoes and escort the horses to Kargam with his brother Pyotr.  He talked to Rollof, a great contact in the city for finding talent, and he came up with a good group that could do the task and leave him free to find the tower and ruins.  It was when they were headed towards Sukyskin that the group was ambushed.  

Large spikes grew up from the earth, striking their horses, and a moment afterward arrows whistled from the trees to strike them.  Disorganized, the group sundered as a large imposing figure, that of an Ogre, came forth from the trees.  Trapped, the group fought against them as best they could but soon they fell one by one.  

They were surprised to wake up alive the next day, though the wounds left painful marks of their defeat as they were marched and dragged to the goblin lair.  

***** 

The next morning Jerrin assisted with healing on some of those whose wounds had not mended.  The party decided to leave the belongings they had found them in the chests, and didn't say anything to Stephan or the others about it.  Gregor and Myrrin stayed close together, and hedged towards Stephan, while Alex and the others went to the stairs.  Alex explored the stairwell thoroughly and found concealed doors on each side of the spiral staircase.  Behind the doors was a corridor that wrapped around the room, and at each one of the locations for a picture Alex could see through it into the room.  In it the two statues had turned back into jade and stood motionless in front of the battered door to the stairs.  

The group ventured into the room and searched for anything else extraordinary.  Alex climbed one of the columns in the room that supports a large slab of stone above.  The stone curved downward in the middle, and Alex pulled himself up to the lip of the slab to see that it is concave and a pool of a blueish liquid acted like a mirror to reflect the ceiling another ten feet above.  Alex balanced himself on the ledge easily, and dunked an empty flask into the blue water and climbed back down, holding the flask out tentatively as if asking for a volunteer.  

Gazing around the room, each looked away in turn until Yaritza stepped forward.  She cast a few incantations of detection on it, gave up, and downed a healthy mouthful.  She replied gleefully that it made her tingle and healed her wounds.  Alex went up again and filled his other empty flasks as well as two waterskins with the liquid before looking to move on.  

The group headed down the next stairs to the last floor left in the tower and Alex opened and pushed it into the room to see what was there.  The room was full of desks and tables, and on any flat surface piles of books and loose parchement were stacked precariously.  Five older sages in robes stood towards the back, wide-eyed, while four human guards stood between them and the spiral stair.  Cautiously eyeing one another with weapons drawn, each side waited for the other to move, and finally Alex spoke up to ask who they were.  

One of the sages explained that they were there to assist Golthar in translating texts that he had recovered, and since Golthar was a rich benefactor, the sages came to Chautauqua at his request.  The party explained that Golthar was not who he seemed and was now dead, and they dragged the body of the fallen creature to prove it.  Finally believing them, the sages thought that they would accompany the group back to Kargam, and would accept the party's company.  

The group made off that day, loading up Thovaas's steed with chests, tapestries and other items.  As they left Chautauqua, the party realized they were being followed.  In the distance they recognized the outlines of more hobgoblins on their trail across the plain.  As night came, they reached the edge of the woods.  The party was looking to use the woods for cover, but the sages and others refused to stay there in case the hobgoblins attacked.  So they made a bonfire and set up a line of sticks hidden in the waist-high grasses near the forest.  With the bonfire still going all night, the older sages slept closest to the woods so they could make it to cover quickly.  Alex and several of the others hid in the darkness just outside of the light of the fire during the watches.  

At about three in the morning, Alex heard the unmistakeable sound of hobgoblins.  He rose and alerted Gregor and soon the others were woken up.  The group stayed behind the line of picketed sticks, and after a few minutes they heard a shout.  With the large group silhoetted by the bonfire, the hobgoblins stood from their hiding in the grasses to take aim and fire.  They reloaded and fired again before charging into melee.  

The large group of warriors met them on the other side of the stick picket, and a large ogre led the way, swinging a huge club with both hands at Thovaas.  The hobgoblins clashed with the rest of the party and sage's bodyguards.  The fight ensued with everyone eventually joining in, and the ogre was finally defeated, sending the remaining hobgoblins running into the darkness.  As they returned and checked on the rest of the camp, they went to wake up the sages, who had apparently slept through the entire fight.  However, two of the sages were already awake from the sounds of battle; the others had been murdered in their sleep.  

Each person began to account for their location, and finally the elf Myrrin came back, blood still fresh on his scimitar.  By the firelight no one could tell whether the blood was human or hobgoblin.  Staring, Thovaas and the others looked Myrrin over for signs of betrayal while Gregor the dwarf stood by him.


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## MarauderX (Sep 24, 2004)

Small version of the Town Map of Chautauqua.  The tower is in the center, and the steps up from the plains to the town is at the bottom.


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## MarauderX (Oct 4, 2004)

*Golthar's Rant at the Tower during Session 16*

Golthar rants loudly, seething with anger as his voice seems to change into a growl as if he was speaking through a mouthful of teeth.  

*“I see that you have discovered what is in my private quarters.  Such is the behavior of disrespectful animals, lacking discipline to leave be what they do not understand and I can see your greedy eyes are still lusting for more.  Such is the way the slave races have always been, but I am starting to understand there is much more to them than I had initially estimated.  For such short lived races it was unlikely they would ever gather the knowledge or power of any of the elders, but indeed it did happen, with the aid of the Creator gods’ children.  

“For the Creator gods made the elder races, granting us dominion over all the lands of Craeloth.  We prospered and ruled over the lands, completely loyal to the Creators and thankful for the gifts they gave us – majestic homes, fertile lands, open skies and powerful magic.  The Creators had Children, furthering our understanding of the Creators as masters.  With their aid we made likenesses of ourselves to do our menial tasks and other labors.  The Creators’ Children granted us the creation of dwarves to mine our mountains, humans and Halflings to sow our fields and raise our livestock.  We had fey to tend our forests, orcs to dig our homes and giants to move our loads.  The slave races were short lived to keep them in check, and they were of great amusement to pit the fiercest of them against one another.  

“Then the Creators’ children, Pelor, Heronious, Hextor, Vecna, and the others, granted the slave races divine powers.  Then the Children gods granted them a new type of magic – arcane is what we labeled it, which meant second-class to us.  While we, the elder races of Elves, Rakshasa, Litorians, Dragons, Illithid and others had perfected the Creators’ magic, the Children bastardized it in a way so the slaves could learn to use facets of it.  It didn’t take us long to realize the threat we had made for ourselves, and how we were betrayed by the Children.  

“The elder races moved to crush the uprisings, but not all were against them.  The elves, which had for the longest time flown the lower skies beneath the high-flying dragons, had joined the cause of the slaves.  For this the Creators’ struck them down from the skies, removing their wings so that they too had to walk amongst the beings they had created.  And they are you.  

"Now I seek out the members of my own kind, those in hiding for over 3000 years, after my own home had been destroyed by uncivilized heathens in the southern deserts.  And now I have followed their clues and I know where they are, I will find them myself, whether or not I have the tapestries to guide me.  And you can try to stand in my way or you can come with me and discover more power and knowledge than any of you can understand.  It is this power that have to weild against you in destruction or this power with which I can aid you.  Now I understand the slave races, and can relate to their plight in a new way.  Now we are all equal, to share the lands together until the rediscovery of the Creators.

Come, will you join me?  Or are you just as dumb and blind as all your ancestors?  Grrr... I see you have made your choice to die, just as you should, like the oblivious savages you are!!"*


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## MarauderX (Oct 7, 2004)

Excerpts from Shamuss’s journal:

_“…Text after text affiliates the elves as an elder race, calling upon them as superior in intelligence as they had ‘invented’ humans.  One of them says the humans could be bred much faster and replaced easier than the dwarfs, and they were still superior to the orcs, which had definitive limits to their learning.  In all, these facts are astonishing to behold if they are proven true by the time frame of the astrological studies…”

“…Golthar has afforded us a most peaceful home, with guards that, although unsettling, are loyal to his money and stay well out of our way.  Since we have taken residence, only occasional visitors are seen headed our way, and some approach as close as they can only to be curbed by the hobgoblins.   One such group was a small squad of centaur that had to flee from the steps of Chautauqua to escape…”

“…Astrological studies seem to be another of the elder races favorite hobbies, as when we asked Golthar if we could verify the authenticity of the texts through astrologic extrapolation, he paused as if reflecting, then took us straight to a set of 11 volumes, each chronicling years of timelines with relation to star locations.  After we leafed through the books we did verify that the texts, according to our detection magic and the astrological charts, were authentic.  Now we must dwell on the implications…”

“…Today we had a discussion on the topics of research and translation with Golthar.  Golthar seems unconcerned with the knowledge that the elves are one of the elder races, as if he knew their history already, and wished us to pursue leads that would bring up other of the elder races and clues as to their last known whereabouts.  We persisted on finding more about our own history and Golthar raised his voice for the first time, acting as though we were children, quelling the idea with an angry fist.”

“…Golthar seems unconcerned about an approaching band of warriors that defeated a hobgoblin patrol sent to deter them.  He seems transfixed on the latest items we had found for him, a reference to a thread that could illuminate a correct path, or if incorrectly used, would forever destroy the magic in the artifact…”

“…We have discussed amongst ourselves how the knowledge of human and elven history, should it be true, impact the rest of the Kingdom.  Though the king and others may tolerate such knowledge, it would certainly inflame a race war against the elves.  At current times, the elves are perhaps the most influential source of magic and knowledge, and their culture permeates through all of human society, from fashionable dress and song to codes of conduct and justice.  What people might do to purge elven influence from human society could be devastating…”

“…The band of mostly humans has infiltrated the tower at the lower levels, and Golthar was still unconcerned, as if he had discovered something that they couldn’t change.  Again he told us to keep translating to find out as much as we could, but we have been too afraid of the attackers to continue accurately…”

“…One of the attackers is a devotee of Heronious, something completely unexpected in these borderlands.  Given that it may be a ruse, we are still suspect and have prepared with magical spells to bind them should they invade our quarters, leaving no time for more translations, much to Golthar’s chagrin…”

“…The invaders have met us, and have killed a tiger-like beast, similar to the Rakshasa of our texts, and claim it is the Golthar that we know.  Their proof was overwhelming, and we have submitted to being duped by the being, and offered our hand in friendship.  The group accepted, and we exchanged awkward looks, and they eyed us as if we would be loyal to the end.  We have agreed to travel with them back to Kargam, as they would make better companions than the hobgoblins living in the south-west.  Though we wish we could stay to research what we really had found, it would be much safer to gain funding for more protection and possibly help from the Red Knights before researching more of the texts at Chautauqua…”_


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## MarauderX (Oct 8, 2004)

*Session 18: Elven Interruption*

The group stared around the fire as the elf approached.  He wiped the viscious blood from his scimitar, and as he did Jerrin approached and couldn't tell whether there was human blood on the blade.  Invoking a means to speak with animals, Jerrin then asked Tempest, his wolfhound companion, what type of blood was on the weapon.  Tempest replied that both hobgoblin and human blood were on the blade, but could not tell when or whether the blood was from Shamuss the Sage.  

As they proceeded with the sages' burial, the group noticed that the packs the sages had brought with them were gone.  Turning, Varekai saw a few papers near the fire, and in the fire the packs were burning slowly.  Varekai grabbed a staff and yanked the charred packs out of the fire one by one.  Searching through and through the pages near the fire, they put together only a few readable pages from Shamuss's journal.  Reading through them they discussed what it could mean and why someone would want to throw them into the fire.  The fire light cast an eerie glow across faces as the groups shuffled to either side to discuss their thoughts with one another. 

Jerrin, Thovaas and Alex grouped and talked about why the elf might want to murder the sages.  Alex strode up to the elf as he and the dwarf, Gregor, went silent.  Alex made some conversation with them, gaining a bit of their trust by badmouthing the paladin.  Gregor seemed irked that the paladin would ever think it was Myrrin or anyone else, and was convinced the hobgoblins probably had an assassin looking for something on the sages.  The elf didn't say to much and Alex gained a bit of trust from the huffy dwarf.  

Jerrin was given the pages for safe keeping, and he and a few others slept away the few hours until dawn.  Once dawn approached the group talked to the sages and Myrrin to see if anything had changed.  Quentin guarded the head sage, Rian, carefully whenever anyone wanted to speak to him.  A few saw a small sparrow fly among them to land on Jerrin's shoulder, and it spoke softly into his ear, then Jerrin whispered something to it before he returned to stride through the thickets with ease.  

The group traveled very slowly during the day as a dull drizzle fell from the overcast sky.  Between travelling through the forest, the weather and the little sleep the sages had, the progress was extremely slow.  The day passed and everyone in the group was cold and soaked to the bone.  The sages were glad to stop early and start a fire to try to stay warm before the night fell.  Everyone agreed to having double watches so that they could keep an eye on one another.  

During Alex and Varekai's watch, Alex saw movement at the edge of the fire light.  It was a familiar face to Alex, though not necessarily friendly, and Varekai sprang from his seat ready to face an attack for the second night in a row.  Instead Alex told him to lower his guard as the elf approached.  Once in the firelight Alex knew it was He'lander, a friend of Jerrin's, and he spoke only to say that he had business with Jerrin.

Jerrin and He'lander spoke for a time, and elf seemed distressed about something that he needed to share with the halfling.  After half an hour the two parted, and He'lander was swallowed by the darkness of the night.  The others took watches and the rest of the night passed without incident, save some verbal sparring with Myrrin.  When the sages woke they immediately noticed their missing packs.  At first they seethed quietly, then their voices crested as they realized someone in the group had thrown their backpacks into the fire and ensured that all their belongings were destroyed.  Rian was livid, tearing into Alex, Quentin and Varekai, then Yaritza before cursing everyone but his fellow sage.  Myrrin pointed out that he was lucky to be alive, unlike three of his comrads, and the sages fell into frustrated silence.  

The next day passed as slowly as the last, the rain and forest slowing down the sages to nearly a crawl.  The night was nearly as miserable, and the campfire was the only thing keeping the sages from catching a sickness.  The day was a little better as the rain had ceased.  As they made their way through the forest they passed through a meadow, and on the other side of it they were hailed by a group of elves.  

Myrrin called back to them, waving his hand at them, and they were just as rain soaked as the party and had a grim look of determination.  There were only four of them, and He'lander was one of their number.  They were still some distance away, and called out for the sages to be released to them under their care.  Thovaas and the others questioned why, and the elves explained that they were afraid the sages knew too much and had to go through a proceedure to erase some of their memories.  The group negotiated with the elves to talk with Rian, and Rian would be accompanied by Quentin.  He'lander and the elf leader, Thamios, met them in the middle of the meadow. 

Thamios insisted that both sages come with them, that the elves wouldn't leave unless the sages were with them.  Thamios slowly reached out for Rian, waving his hand to come as if Rian were a reluctant child.  Rian looked at Quentin, and just as he was about to speak, two flame-tipped arrows sailed through the meadow to attack the party.  Thamios drew two scimitars and struck Rian to the ground with a slashing blow.  The elven wizard cast a spell which webbed in Varekai, Jerrin and his mount Tempest.  Myrrin drew his scimitars and attacked Akashira from behind, and Gregor's mouth fell open in astonishment that transformed into a blind rage as he charged for the elf.  

Quentin stepped back and fired an arrow that connected with He'lander, ruining the spell he was in the middle of casting.  The others reacted to close around Myrrin while Yaritza cast spells at the elven archer.  Flaming arrows descended to strike Quentin before he and Varekai closed to engage Thamios face to face.  Jerrin struggled out of the web before calling forth a wolven spirit nearly at the same time as He'lander sent his to attack the elven wizard.  Alex closed the distance between himself and the elven archer as a rolling ball of flame chased him through the brush.  The wizard cast a spell to mirror himself before casting another to blind He'lander.

Myrrin fell to a Thovaas's sword, saving Akashira from his speedy blades as she struggled to remain concious.  Thovaas stabilized her wounds before she ran to aid Quentin and Varekai, the latter of which had several slash wounds across his unarmored body.  

The archer was tripped to the ground by the large summoned wolf, and the elven wizard's images were disappearing rapidly.  Thamios was knocked to the ground after giving up his last scimitar, his smug face fully expecting leaniancy.  The wizard cast one last spell, her magic arching to center around Thamios in an effort for him to escape by surrounding him with a stinking cloud.  Akashira, Varekai and Jerrin fled the cloud of noxious gas and coughed violently afterward.  Gregor charged straight to Thamios in the center of the cloud as he lay on the ground and his axe could be heard by all as it crunched and splattered the elf's bones and blood in bitter hate.  

The elven archer was skewered by Alex's rapier and the wizard was flipped through the air and battered on the ground by the pair of summoned wolves and her torn body lay still as the first ray of sun in three days split the clouds to beam down on her broken form.  Gregor, coughing, emerged from the cloud of stench with fresh blood covering the entire front of his body.  He stared wildly, and his teeth gritted as he saw the blind elf He'lander stumble towards him.  The dwarf took several steps towards his new target before Jerrin could intervene.  The dwarf cursed them both and sank his axe into the tree next to him in frustration.  

The tension eased from the fight, and one by one they relaxed in the open forest.  In his own defense He'lander explained that when he requested help he didn't expect killers out for their agenda.  The eerie realization of what they had read and saw started to dawn on them as they had over a week left to journey back to Sukyskin, let alone Kargam.


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## MarauderX (Oct 22, 2004)

*Session 19: On to Kargam*

Continuing on towards Sukyskin, the group kept the two dwarves, Gregor and Bratton, away from the blind He'lander.  Jerrin took the disabled elf forward where the talked about the recent events, and He'lander told Jerrin of a recent encounter he and elves had with a squad of insectoid beings that jumped them.  After the elves fled and were split up, He'lander said that he was chased relentlessly by three of the spider people before he fell from exhaustion near a stream bank.  When he awoke there was a carcass of a deer next to him and he saw a large gray hunking form slink into the cover of the woods.  Waking fully, He'lander rested and regained strength for another day, and saw parts of the three insectoid beings strewn about around him.  They looked as though they had been torn asunder, and recently.  He'lander got to examine the creature closely upon it's next visit in the morning, and the hairless, six-eyed beast followed him loosely through the woods as he met up with the other surviving elves.  They had lost five other elves to the spider beings that ambushed them, and now they were off to try to capture those returning from Chautauqua they thought were dangerous.  

Jerrin relayed most of this information to the others, and it was Sir Thovaas that spotted the gray beast early the next morning while he was on the last watch.  It approached as quietly as it could, it's form nearly hidden in the surrounding fog, and Thovaas could see that it had something draped over it's shoulder.  He could see the distinct six eyes and huge maw with rows of teeth and changed his position to get a better angle should it approach too closely.  It heard him, and pivoted to face him for a second before tossing the carcass of a doe toward him, and the body of it skittered along the leaves of the forest floor to stop at Thovaas's feet.  The beast was easily ten feet tall with broad, muscular shoulders that were wider than a horse, and it seemed to move fluidly back into the forest, crunching branches beneath it's heavy weight.  Thovaas breathed a sigh of relief only after five minutes of silence.  

The rest woke the next morning to a freshly prepared breakfast by Thovaas, and the campfire crackled as a pan cooked a side of venison for all.  It was a needed break after eating only leafy plants and bitter tasting berries collected by Jerrin and stale, dry jerky that was running low.  Everyone felt at ease with the new beast as a watchdog to fetch them food, as every morning it brought them a fresh kill.  

The days of travel were faster with the sunny weather, and the heat was mitigated by the dense tree canopy above.  Jerrin chose the most direct path back to Sukyskin and the trails were wide and easily traversed by the slow moving sages.  They ventured to the bandit camp the party had raided months ago, and now everyone could sense they were close to the homestead.  

As they approached Sukyskin, Taras emerged from the woods to greet Jerrin first, then spotted his uncle Stephan and jumped and hooted loudly with glee.  The two of them talked the rest of the way back, and the party asked questions about what had been happening recently there.  Taras gave curt answer, and only noted that a group of elves had arrived expecting to buy the horses but were very disappointed.  Soon they arrived at the homestead and saw for themselves how the place had changed.  They were greeted with much fanfare, as Taras had ridden ahead to shout their return.  

The main building of Sukyskin was still there, and the burnt palisade was replaced and coated with a flame retardant wax to prevent being burned the same way in the future.  Sir Thovaas spotted this and knew that someone with military experience was at the homestead, and sure enough ten of his fellow paladins showed themselves after putting down the tools they had been working with.  Three cabins had been built in a clearing, and stone foundations were being laid for a forth.  The forest had been cleared away to allow for a much larger garden and one field was dedicated to raising corn to support the larger populace at the homestead, and a pack of pigs were housed next to a fence that held a new group of wild horses being trained for riding.  

The entire populace of Sukyskin surrounded the group, and the party estimated that about a hundred now lived at the homestead.  Among them were the ten paladins, survivors from many of the other camps that were attacked, and refugees from smaller camps in the area that came for the protection.  The party and Stephan each told their version of the trip to Chautauqua, and from there how they met.  Included was that Golthar, the man in nice robes with a halfling servant, was actually Stephan's captor, and how they had a long battle that ended in his defeat.  Then the sages were rescued and everyone traveled back to Sukyskin as they fended off hobgoblins.  The group skipped any mention of fighting the elves before returning.  

The night was a riotous affair, and Pyotr was more than a little drunk as he and his brother made toasts and told the stories of the adventurers with much exaggeration.  Jerrin became the role model of adventure for all the children, and the six of them questioned him relentlessly about how big all the challenges were.  Thovaas caught looks from no fewer than three single ladies that were attracted to his ease with words as well as the role of a victorious protector.  The lone elf at the homestead, Ariel, and her constant companion Argan were missing from the festivities as she was weak from the fatigue of travel.  

The next day the party woke up late to the sounds of the smithy Willis working metal, making the final touches to Jerrin's scimitar before presenting it to the curly haired halfling.  The blade was absolutely perfect in every way, proportioned correctly for his size and the balance was perfect to make the blade swish with little effort of the wrist.  The sharpened blade had several markings on it from the crafter that had a small moniker with Jerrin's name embossed into the guard.  

Thovaas also had a present waiting for him, and his bow was carefully hung waiting for him to return for a few final adjustments to the bow string and notch length.  Once positioned, Thovaas spent a good hour practicing with the powerful bow.  Arrows sliced into the tree he used as a target, each time sinking deeper and deeper into the pulpy flesh.  Satisfied, he made his way around the site greeting each person and inquiring about their welfare.  Others also made the rounds, and some, like Arashika, were avoided more than others, but no one showed any ill will towards anyone else.  The dwarves eventually stopped where the paladins were building the new cabins and began reworking and tooling the foundation stones, demanding that the footings were too shallow and the walls weren't straight and that the cabin would have been built as poorly as the three before it, and they were lucky the pair of dwarves had stopped by to correct their work.  

The day passed lazily away as the adventurers took a much earned respite from traveling and action.  The night was spent in a deep rest as others at the homestead took watch.  Then Thovaas was woken as someone with gentle hands shook him.  Darya, Pyotr's wife, stood over him at his bedside and told him to be quiet then she walked to the door.  She motioned for him to follow and he quietly made his way out of room and ascened the stone spiral stairs behind her.  They reached the top and Thovaas smiled meakly, then she shook her head and pointed down from top of the tower to the edge of the clearing.  Through the fog it was too hard to see what she was pointing to, but after hearing the crashing of the woods then the tearing of what could only be a tent, Thovaas knew immediately what it was.  

He sprinted down the steps, his broad shoulders bouncing from side to side on the curved staircase.  He fould He'lander and woke him just as he heard the crushing of wooden barrels and crates.  Thovaas also kicked the feet of anyone he passed, stirring the rest of the party from their deep slumber before he sprinted out into the camp to confront the gray beast as is tore another crate to splinters.  

Jerrin, Varekai, and the others joined them quickly as they watched it violently destroy the contents of the tent.  The other paladins of Thovaas's order clambered to the front, only hastily armed with swords and shields.  Pyotr and the rest of his family formed a semi-circle around the beast as a line against the rest of the inhabitants of Sukyskin.  Jerrin spoke soothing words of the forest to it, and He'lander stood motioning as he tried to lead the beast away from the camp, but it heeded neither of them.  The paladins charged forward, led by Sir Keljin, and the group watched as the first young knight was killed, his arm tugged from its socket before the beast's mouth removed half of his side.  

The inhabitants watched in horror as the group made little headway at first, swords biting into the gray flesh with seemingly no effect.  A second knight was killed, his rib cage splayed open for all to see his innards, and a third had his head bitten off and spat out to bounce in the mud near Thovaas.  Varekai came at the beast from behind to kick it several times between the legs as Jerrin brought forth a celestial wolf as large as a horse.  Sir Keljin wounded the beast next, and it turned to wrench his intestines out, dashing his organs on the ground and swatting his jaw from his face.  He slumped to his knees as he tried in vain to reassemble himself.  

The celestial wolf tore again at the thing's leg, tearing into the calf until it fell backward, sitting on the ground.  Thovaas stabbed the beast and Varekai leapt through the air and brought down his elbow to cave the sloped forehead between the two rows of eyes.  The gray beast twitched several times and Thovaas ran it through several times to make sure it was dead.  The remaining paladins followed his lead and did the same for good measure.  

Surveying the carnage, the others were left to clean up the beast as Thovaas laid his fellow knights to rest in the small area dedicated as a cemetary.  Guilt wracked over the loss of life by all, He'lander bid his farewells and disappeared into the forest.  He told Jerrin that he would relay any talk of the elves to him should there be dire tidings.  Until then, perhaps they would meet in Elarith soon.  

The groups stayed another day to rest and relax before heading to Kargam, and a great many of them were going to head back to the city.  Stephan wanted to sell his comprehensive journal, and the sages and others wanted to return home.  Plans were made to leave the following morning on foot as there were not enough horses to be used.  During the day a Red Knight stopped by with three apprentices, and he asks Pyotr for lodging, hot meals and a chance to bath.  The four of them were tired as they had traveled all night, and when asked why the young apprentice almost answers, then a stern look quiets him into silence.  The Red Knight mentions that they are headed east to the town of Gable Falls, and that they had come from the north.  

Pyotr and Darya were up early, breaking one of the horses, and they bid them all well, and to keep watching over Stephan and Taras as long as they could.  The sages were prepared, along with Quentin, Varekai, Arashika and a few returning paladins.  

The travel was easy along the open path, and they reached Misha’s Ferry a little before nightfall.  There was no sign of Misha, and the paladins had mentioned that she was no where to be seen whenever they had passed the first time on their way to Sukyskin more than a week ago.  They stayed the night in her cabin, and before dawn Thovaas saw a lumbering form making its way up the path slowly.  Thovaas woke Jerrin and he could see it was a huge bear, and was the same they had seen with Misha, and could tell by the feathers that it was definitely her pet.  He called to it softly, and used an enchantment to understand one another’s speech.  It asked about Misha and whether they had seen her recently, and mentioned that it last saw her nearly ten days ago.  Jerrin kept the bear company the rest of the night as it rested on a blanket next to the cabin, and he was the only one that waved goodbye as they crossed on the ferry.  

A few more days brought them to the large town of Velja, a place that had taken advantage of being close enough to trade with Kargam and far enough to warrant stopping for the night.  The sage Rian demanded to pay for everyone for night of rest at an inn there, and the next morning the party came up with the idea of taking a river boat into the city.  Jerrin met some fellow halflings that owned a boat for transporting goods and with them on board they would leave at noon if the group was ready.  Everyone crossed the narrow plank to board the small ship, and before long the short crew had the boat on its way to Kargam.  

Thovaas had bought a bottle of fine wine for the return trip, and the other paladins followed his example and got their own.  As they drank, the halflings suddenly came up with the rule that if you were drinking on their boat you had to share with them.  The boat was filled with loud song as they glided downstream, and the halflings made foul gestures and purposely relieved themselves in the direction of other river boats as they passed one another.  

Night came, and the group slept soundly as they slipped into the city.  They were woken and welcomed by the sounds of the night in the city; occasional yelling, doors slamming, dogs barking, street torches crackling, and the lapping of the water as it hit the docks.  They hopped down to the docks and went to one of the row homes of the Order of Conheci with the sages.  Once they were dropped off, Arashika bid farewell, and Stephan and Taras stayed at an inn with Thovaas and the others.  Varekai stayed at the single monastery in the city.  It was determined that Alex would barter for the best prices he could for each of the gems and other items they were looking to sell, and they would all meet in a few days.  

The next day during their brief time there the group was already hearing about the city.  The favorite topic was that King Gerin was due in the city within the week and that Marquis Hoil was expected to host not only him, but all of the other five barons of the east at the same time.  This was supposed to be some big meeting, and King Gerin’s father and grandfather had done the same in the past when they thought the eastern kingdom was getting out of line.  Now it was said that King Gerin wanted to do the same, and the host, Marquis Hoil, wasn’t even in the city to help prepare!  He was in the elven city of trade, Elarith, trying to secure a common tax rate between them so that Kargam could receive more equitable trade for elven goods in high demand.  Marquis Hoil would have to hurry back and get started on preparations, as the city was already starting to swell with people as they expected a week of holidays and a chance to see the King.  The party realized that they were likely to be in the thick of it all.


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## MarauderX (Oct 25, 2004)

While at Sukyskin, Alex ventured around to a lonely area free from prying eyes.  There he pulled out the small jeweled box that he had taken from one of Golthar's chests.  He examined it thoroughly, and it still seemed to have a sense of magic about it, but wasn't sure if it was related to a trap or keeping the box sealed, so he went ahead and started on the lock.  

From across the camp, Jerrin, Thovaas and Varekai heard a loud explosion and saw a small puff of black smoke mushroom into the sky.  They rushed over to see Alex, his face and chest black, acting as innocent as the day he was born.  He offered a few excuses and they left him alone, each thinking that perhaps he was trying to learn magic.  As soon as they were gone he pulled out the box, the jeweled finish unblemished from the magical explosion.  

It took Alex nearly an hour to finally pop all three locks at the same time, but when he opened it he could certainly tell it was worth it.  Inside was a diamond and two saphires, a golden needle with golden thread attached, and a scroll.  While the saphires might fetch 500 GP each, the diamond was worth much, much more.  Also inside was a scroll of parchment with some ancient writings.  Alex spent the rest of the day deciphering the script and placed his translation below it.  It read:

_“The appliance of the golden needle and the needle’s adjoined never-ending thread to the tapestries will yield results when applied to unique cloths that have been enhanced magically even when the fabric and tool combined were not fashioned in juxtaposition with one another.  Likely it is then that such combinations could be made using codes to reveal writings and more that may have been hidden within the fabrics that were meant to be unlocked.  It is also as likely that messages could have been further scrambled, or worse, given misleading information if a certain combination of the needle, thread and material were combined.  Such magic would only be of deception; there lacks strength in the magic behind such subtle messages to enfold effects of devastation.  It comes as no surprise that the coding and the needle should have a combination of colors as to indicate a truthful response from the target material, and in this we have found through the magic of true seeing and stronger filtering devices.  To this end we know of certain behaviors, but cannot predict one to the next with any certainty as message, needle, thread are different from one to the very next though they come from the same city and source creator.  To this end we cannot clearly decipher the correct messages of the Litorians without the appropriate needle and thread.”_

He showed the scroll to Jerrin and Thovaas to see what they could make of it.


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## MarauderX (Nov 4, 2004)

*Session 20: Threats Unmasked*

After more than a week passed, the party met at one of the favorite taverns in the city to discuss what had been happening in the last week. Hook Tavern appealed to locals and travelers alike, as the main attraction was a sturdy wall that had various size hooks upon it, and from them overly rowdy patrons were hung by their belts for the amusement of the clientele. Stale bread was standard fare, and the large muscular form of the owner helped tend the bar when he wasn’t lifting offenders onto or from the wall. The bard Larsi, once a slim, handsome youth several decades ago, played songs loosely and led the crowd in chiding insults of those hung on the wall. 

At the tavern they heard the gossip that the King had arrived secretly somehow, and was at the castle already along with his entire entourage. Many people didn’t understand this, as they were expecting the King to parade through the city on the day he arrived so that all could see him. Instead, people were showing up in droves at the castle for a glimpse of him when he came out onto various balconies to wave at the crowds below. 

The party discussed how the gems and other items were selling and what they had done in the last week when the sage Rian arrived and was greeted by Quentin. The sage was wearing new robes which matched the colors of the Order of Conhenci, a council of sages devoted to the acquisition of knowledge. He asked if the group would be free to meet with the Order’s leader Marak to discuss what they had experienced at Chautauqua and get their story on how the three sages were murdered. Satisfied that he would see them at Marak’s home tomorrow morning, Rian left the tavern. 

The party showed up in the middle of the morning at Marak’s home in the merchant district and was invited inside. Rian was there and escorted them to the second floor to talk with Marak alone. Marak was dressed in purple robes with golden symbols embroidered seamlessly into the fabric, and as they looked at it the robes seemed to shimmer slightly as he moved to greet them, an unexcited expression across his face. He wore a brimless cap on his head that matched his robes, and his gray beard was neatly trimmed. The room, as much of the row house, seemed to be overflowing with books and parchment. Marak swung his hands with several motions and several stacks of books on the floor glided to empty spaces on the bookcases surrounding the room, and soon there was enough room for the five party members to assemble. 

Marak sat down in his ornate chair before saying, “I understand from Rian that there was a lot more to his adventure in Chautauqua than expected. Though he was reluctant at first, he eventually spoke of the texts in the tower there and I can only assume that his description of the burning of their packs and the deaths of the other sages lends credence to the information contained there. Rian’s account was that there are texts written by an elder race, and they were involved with the creator Gods and somehow the elves were part of it. Rian finally discussed this openly with me alone and said that you might have a better understanding of events and the motivations of Golthar. So truly, what do you believe about such things?”

Varekai was the first to answer and he recounted everything that he knew, including the altercation with the elves in the forest before their return and said that Shamuss and the other two sages were likely murdered by an elf named Myrrin. This was news to Marak and was asked to expound on the ‘elven death squad’ that they defeated in the forest and what they had hoped to do with Rian and Siakam. This information seemed to weigh heavily on the sage, and his face cracked with emotion for the first time. 

The group took the opportunity to change the subject and learned more about the Order and about it’s foundation by a man named Conhenci. Marak revealed that the first time he saw any mention of an elder race or creator gods was mentioned by Conhenci’s fallen protégé, and though his work was studied many of them considered it ravings of a jealous, paranoid madman. The party learned from Marak that the only other occurrence of Rakshasa was far to the south, and he seemed strangely puzzled about the creature lurking in Correl. Marak asked to be excused, as he was to meet with the King’s advisor Nemdori soon and would have to weigh whether he should mention any of these events to him. 

Once outside, the group discussed the meeting and as they did Alex noticed a hobbling old one-eyed woman crossing the busy street and that she was about to be run over by a wagon loaded with barrels that couldn’t stop. The driver yelled at her, and at last moment Alex reached out and yanked her out of the way as the wheels rumbled by within inches of them. 

Realizing what had happened, the crone promised him a vision and she closed her good eye and opened her other, revealing a milky whiteness with an hourglass iris. Her head tilted back and she spoke loudly for all to hear, stuttering as Alex kept her from falling. 
“I can see…there… are swords… two, crossed… above you… and inside… there is much to be revealed…uncertain… risk, but… you should know… you must know… I can see… turning… AHH!… the cloth robes on wood… and the vision dims.” Her bad closes and she peers at Alex with her good eye, thanking him yet again for saving her before she hobbled away. 

The party headed back to the Hook Tavern to divvy up the gold from the gems and jewelry Alex bartered well for. Each took his share as they listened to Larsi ridicule a drunkard that had passed out hanging on the wall. As they sat, an elf that had a drink at the bar strode over to the group confidently and sat down on a stool at the end of their table. 

The elf introduced himself as Fisselle, an aid to Minister Mayrith, the elven ambassador in Kargam. Fisselle apologizes for following them, and then admited that he was in disguise earlier as the old crone to try to fool them into visiting The Crossed Swords. He continues by mentioning that he had been spying on the Order of Conhenci for some time, to keep tabs on them for the elven ambassador, and had followed the head of the Order, Marak, to The Crossed Swords late at night for a few nights in a row. He thought it was peculiar, as it only occurred recently and happened after Marak had learned he was to meet with the King’s advisor Nemdori. 

The elf alluded to knowing about the party and where they had been in the recent past, and because of this he thought they were trustworthy to keep a secret, as otherwise distrust between elves and humans may erupt, possibly during the King’s visit. Fisselle asked that the group visit The Crossed Swords while he maintained a watch on Marak. The party peered at the elf suspiciously and he apologized again, saying that he would like to know what was there before meeting with Minister Mayrith in a few hours. Since the group was still silent, he leaned forward to whisper as Larsi struck up a loud song. He said that he had been using magical means to try to pry into what Marak was thinking, but said that he had changed recently, that he was different somehow, whether is was a magic that affected him or something else. But with the King now in the city, Fisselle decided he couldn’t wait any longer. 

As Fisselle spoke Alex searched his memory about anything dealing with two crossed swords and suddenly it clicked. There used to be an old bar that was called The Crossed Swords, but wasn’t sure if was still around or where it might be. Quentin seemed to be thinking of the same thing, and thought that perhaps Larsi would know, or otherwise he could ask around. 

Alex waited for Larsi to take a break and introduced himself. Larsi welcomed him warmly, saying it was good to see him at Hook Tavern several times in the last week. Alex asked if he knew about a bar called The Crossed Swords, and at first the bard thought Alex was trying to dredge up something on him, but Alex’s innocent question instead fired up tales of ladies and booze. Larsi said he used to be the best bard at The Crossed Swords when he was younger and had more hair on his head, and his voice was so smooth and charming before the late nights of smoke and drink wore it from him. Alex cut to the chase and asked about where it was, and Larsi dropped the reminiscing to tell him it was in the Tower district along the river to the north. With some gold to whet his whistle, Larsi gave Alex a great description of where it was and told him to go around to the back. 

*****

The party took the ferry from the government district across the river to the tower district, and noticed the sharp contrast between the neighborhoods. The tower district seemed to have been almost abandoned a decade ago when nearby swamp gases and other foulness pervaded the entire area. The stench now was from unkempt streets and the filth of the river, and underlying that was the noxious smell of decay. 

The empty streets were easy to traverse, and following a way along the river they saw a decrepit sign with two crossed scimitars from a long way off. The bar looked like it was once at a great location next to a town square that had docks jutting north into the river. Now the docks looked rickety and unsafe, and the bar’s windows were covered with boards and nailed in place from the outside. They saw a city patrol, probably the last of the day for the tower district, make its way back to the ferry. Any calls for help would probably go unheeded, except by those looking for an easy opportunity. 

Alex made his way around to the back of The Crossed Swords, a two-story building with a pitched roof, cautiously examining the backdoor when he noticed the window next to it had the bottom boards smashed through. The opening was large enough to fit Thovaas, and the group piled inside, except for Quentin, who patrolled around the building and down several alleyways looking for any signs of trouble. Alex peered into each of the dark downstairs rooms, sifting through them for anything of note or value. Finding nothing, Jerrin was the first to make his way down the kitchen stair to a landing, then shining the light into the basement he saw something bumpy and green blocking the bottom of the steps. It stood so still that it took Jerrin a moment to discern the bumpy green wall’s face and long nose just underneath the basement joists that held up the first floor. 

Jerrin backed up the steps quickly, and the others drew their weapons in anticipation. Alex and Thovaas flanked either side of the opening, and as they waited nervously until a large groping hand shot up through the floor boards beneath Alex. The hand clawed around for a second before withdrawing to the black basement below. Alex swiveled and shot an arrow down through the opening, not sure if he hit the thing as Jerrin described what it was. Backing off, Jerrin and Alex went towards the window opening they had come through as the green clawed hand split more of the floorboards. Thovaas headed up the stairs and Varekai called for the others to follow. 

They heard the thing in the basement screech and thought that it was ascending the stairs up to the first floor as they saw unsettled dust rise in clouds from the stairway. Varekai kicked open one of the doors along the corridor and found the room behind empty. The others stopped on the landing and looked for the best defensible position. Thovaas strung his powerful new bow and notched an arrow, waiting for the thing to climb the next set of stairs. 

Varekai pushed open the door to the next empty room, then to the room at the end of the hall. There, in the center of the floor, was the crumpled form of a body and the robes looked familiar. Alex strode down the steps and glanced around the corner as his fingers closed on a pouch with something gooey inside. The beast was at the bottom of the steps, and Alex threw the glob down at the beast where it connected with its leg before breaking open to glue the thing to the floor. Alex watched as it screeched and grabbed one leg with both of its sinewy hands and yanked the foot loose, then repeated with the other leg. It came clumsily up the stairs and stopped with one foot on the landing next to Alex. 

Alex drew out a clay flask, ducked and threw it side arm into the thing’s chest where the clay broke easily and fire exploded from it. A portion caught the back of Alex’s hand just before he strode up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Varekai strode closer for a better look at the robed body when he heard Thovaas loose his arrow between the sounds of the heavy footfalls. Varekai turned to see the beast, still on fire, with a druid-weasel clasped on to its side tightly. 

The group traded blows with what Jerrin had described as a troll, a large beast that healed quickly and might be vulnerable to fire. Thovaas took several scrapes by the thing before stepping back to invoke the healing power of Heironious. Jerrin’s wolfhound companion, Tempest bit deeply into the green rubbery skin and Varekai tumbled into the midst of battle. Alex dove between the troll’s legs and slid down the stairs where he failed to gain his footing and tumbled down to the landing without injury. He stood, only a tad disoriented, and thrust his rapier through the creature from behind as the beast clawed at Jerrin’s weasel form, its claws raking down his spine deep enough that the shape changer fell unconscious to the floor. 

Varekai struck the thing hard in the throat and the larynx was crushed to one side, but the thing didn’t flinch at the pain but raised its claws to take a swipe at him. Thovaas wielded his sword in both hands and swiped at the thing, giving a perfect opening for Alex to thrust his thin blade between its vertebrae at the base of the skull. It pitched forward, half on the stairs, and that was when Alex saw the hole he had created in its abdomen was starting to close. 

Quickly Alex stabbed it again and again as the others picked up the recognizable body of Marak, head sage of the Order of Conhenci, and carried it downstairs. Thovaas called down to Quentin who gave the all-clear and inquired about within. Alex emptied a vial of oil on the troll as he could see it was still slowly mending the deep wounds. Varekai gingerly picked up the weasel-shaped druid and carried him downstairs before quickly investigating the basement. Alex sparked a flame to the oil and the body of the troll sizzled. The kindling he had hastily packed around it caught the flame and spread the fire to the adjacent stair walls and railing. 

Alex bounded down the stairs to the basement as Varekai came up. There he discovered the empty room had a trapdoor down to a stagnant pool of filthy water below, perhaps knee or waist deep. The room stank of the troll, and with the smell of smoke permeating the air Alex decided to leave with the others. The group speedily made their way to the ferry and noticed that it was slowly on its way back. They saw thick black smoke start to rise steadily against the darkening sky and heard far cries to help with the fire as it started to gather momentum. Alex strode back to help with the fire for a minute before he headed back to board the ferry back to the government district of Kargam. 

*****

At the opposite side of the river an official looking dock hand took note of their passage and demanded ten gold pieces for bringing a dead body with them through the city. Alex paid and they strode swiftly off of the dock explaining to Jerrin how they got to the ferry and why the place was on fire. Varekai sprinted ahead to meet Fisselle the elf and said he would meet the party back at the castle where Thovaas was going to present the dead body as evidence of a crime. 

Varekai sprinted briskly through the streets to Hook Tavern where he didn’t find the elf. He ventured back to Marak’s home and didn’t see any sign of the elf, but instead saw the old crone sipping tea at a table nearby. He made his way to her and they discussed what Thovaas was now carrying around – Marak’s body, which was anywhere from four days to a week old. The disguised elf was shocked, but not for long as he told Varekai to quickly hide as Marak marched by them. Varekai watched the sage enter the row house before sprinting back to the castle to meet the others. 

Thovaas and the others met a sergeant of the guard at the castle’s main gate, and a line of guards blocked their way from entering. Thovaas explained the predicament to the man and asked to meet with Nemdori, as he and the King might be in danger if someone, or something, was posing as Marak to gain entry. The sergeant shook his head, trying to turn them away as the party saw a flurry of commotion over the sergeant’s shoulder. Several soldiers ran to and fro, and soon the barking voice of a short man brought order to the knights inside the walls. He shouted at the men forming a line at the gate to turn back around and face the city or they’d get a good taste of his boot leather. Thovaas called to him loudly, demanding attention. 

The short portly lieutenant puts his hands on his hips and scrutinized Thovaas and the others before asking what they were about. Thovaas replied that Nemdori and King Gerin may be in trouble as an intruder might have made his way through the security disguised as a renowned sage of Kargam, Marak of the Order of Conhenci. The lieutenant was dressed in ceremonial clothes and crossed his arms at what Thovaas had said. More commotion erupted behind him and he hastily said that something has happened already and that Thovaas should make sure to see him early tomorrow morning after a few things had settled down. With that the lieutenant pivoted on his heel and marched three paces before waving his hands about and barking more orders to a group of young squires that seemed to be gossiping inside the walls.

Varekai returned, out of breath, and relayed to the others that he had seen Marak return to his row home in the merchant district. The group traveled there and stopped across the still-bustling street as venders of all types kept longer hours to accommodate travelers. Alex and Quentin examined the surrounding block, and it was likely the row house block had a courtyard behind it that was shared by all the neighbors and that the easiest course of action was to approach via the front door. 

They were greeted by a younger sage, a boy who was just starting to grow a thin mustache, and he let them in after recognizing Jerrin, Varekai and Alex. Thovaas came in last, still carrying the body, and as soon as he brought it in the smell began to saturate the foyer and adjacent common room where three other sages were bent over books with candlelight and an unnaturally bright fire burned in the fireplace. The young sage went to notify Marak that they were there to see him and he reappeared on the stairway to motion them to follow. Cautiously they ascended the to the second floor and walked down the narrow corridor as bookcases lined the walls and papers, books and parchments of all manner lay on any horizontal surface. Eventually they came to Marak’s quarters, much larger than any of the others, and they walked in one by one. Thovaas propped up the corpse of Marak outside the door as Marak, or whoever it was, slowly sat in a lavish chair and clasped his hands together, fingers folded in front of his face, and he stroked his short cut beard with his index fingers nervously. 

The group asked where he had been, and told him that the King’s advisor Nemdori had likely been attacked. Marak’s blank face merely blinked in acknowledgement and he eventually replied that all men die, perhaps it was his time. The party glanced at each other and asked if he knew anything about it and Marak responded that when he left the castle Nemdori was still alive, and had no ill will against the man, and as a matter of fact hoped his advice was useful to him. The room was thick with tension and the sage answered several more questions but knew they were up to something. Thovaas asked him to explain one more thing, and pulled forth the real Marak’s body from outside the doorway and pointed to it. 

Marak paused for a moment, and that’s when Jerrin and Thovaas noticed a third arm holding a slender wand protruded from Marak’s robes. The wand expelled something with a flash at the paladin, and he had a sudden change of opinion about the sage, that perhaps he had gotten the story completely wrong and whoever this was had used Marak’s name for a good reason, perhaps a better reason than he should ever know, after all he said that Nemdori was still alive when he left. The others took fighting stances and Alex was the first to jump into action, slashing across the side of the three armed mage. 

That was when the image of the sage disintegrated and behind it was a six-armed woman with a serpent’s tail from the waist down. She hissed and growled as all six of her arms waved incantations of magic, drawing forth several spells at the same time.  A wave emanated from her, and Alex and Jerrin watched their size diminish to half of their height while Thovaas pondered a way to stop the fight so they could find out why this interesting being was so evil.  Jerrin’s companion Tempest bit the creature’s tail and swung her to the floor as Varekai struck at her with his fists, but she slithered upright once more and cast yet more spells.  

The room went black and she cast one spell that failed to affect Varekai and another to douse Tempest with acid, and immediately afterward Jerrin brought forth a vicious bat to attack and surrounded her with a pink glow so that Quentin could still shoot at her through the darkness.  Alex swiped at her several times and they heard Thovaas slip and fall on the greased floor that he couldn’t see in the dark room.  He had broken the marilith’s enchantment and was even more livid after falling to the floor.  As he picked himself up and strode to stand between Tempest and Alex, she dispelled the bat Jerrin had called and slashed out with her vile-looking weapons to slash at those near her.  

Jerrin blasted her with a flame that shot from his diminutive hand and brought forth an ape next to her and the creature crushed a small table and overturned bookcases as it beat its massive limbs against the wall.  Thovaas swung his sword in a slashing arc across her chest and watched as she recoiled from the smiting blow.  Alex and Varekai worked to find a weak point as she again cast more spells.  

A wall of stone materialized from the floor to the ceiling, blocking in Jerrin and the summoned ape on one side in darkness as another glob of acid missed the target to eat away at old tomes across the room.  Jerrin responded to her spell by shaping an opening in the stone wall wide enough for the ape with his own magic, and the ape pummeled her with its massive fists.  The other struck out at her as she moved over the piles of books, slithering in a backwards fashion to shatter open a set of hidden shutters to the courtyard at the back of the row house.  She stopped there to cast more spells at the party, and again Varekai overcame whatever charm she sought to place on him.  Afterward she leapt from the window to glide softly to the courtyard below as an eagle manifested itself behind her in time to dig its talons into one of her arms.   

Thovaas and Varekai leapt from the opening in the wall to fall on and next to her respectively.  She cast a spell that formed a stone wall in the window opening above, preventing the Jerrin, now as a panther, Quentin and the shorter Alex from jumping to the courtyard below.  Instead they sprinted down the stairs to the first floor as several other mages of the order cast incantations of protection for themselves and the books that they protected, most notably against fire.  Thovaas’s sword opened a deep gash in one of her arms, and she only used four of them to cast a spell that again failed to affect Varekai before wheeling around to slash Thovaas into unconscious submission.  The eagle Jerrin had summoned still pecked at her as she brought her weapons to bear on Varekai, his slashed robes falling in ribbons to the ground.  Her tail stabbed him in the thigh, excreting thick green venom onto his leg, and that was when his body started to quiver strangely, even to her.  

She watched as Varekai’s form changed, growing hair and height until it stopped expanding and he was just barely recognizable.  Before the marilith stood a hybrid between wolf and man, snarling as her stoic face had changed to one of horror as she cast yet another feeble spell in his direction.  Jerrin and his companion Tempest broke through the back door first, taking a moment to gather in what, and who, the hairy canine beast was and thankful that he was attacking their six-armed foe.  Jerrin reverted to his shrunken Halfling form before running to aid Thovaas and stop his bleeding while commanding tempest to attack to give him cover.  

Varekai unleashed a bellow that shook the whole of the neighborhood and lashed out at the marilith, landing blow after blow until she fell under his punishment and Jerrin turned to witness his hybrid form ravaging the neck of the limp creature, blood flushing in rivulets through the grass of the courtyard.  

Thovaas awoke in time to see Varekai back away from the marilith corpse, and they cautiously sized one another up as the neighbors in the courtyard opened their doors and shown enough lanterns to catch a glimpse of the blood soaked werewolf and its strange fallen prey.  Varekai ran into the darkness of the courtyard, jumping and swinging from footholds until his silhoutte could be seen against the stars of the sky as he made his way onto the roof and out of sight.  Quentin and Alex hustled outside, and soon the sages barged out behind them, each glowing with magical protections.  

*****


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## Tramp4life (Nov 23, 2004)

Bump...


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## MarauderX (Nov 24, 2004)

*Session 21: Lorleena's Cutter*

Quentin watched the beastial form of Varekai jump up to a nearby balcony, and Alex stopped in the doorway to see the were-creature’s silhouette against the starry sky as it leapt over the rooftop.  They turned to the others in the group and saw the diminutive form of Jerrin trying to assist Thovaas to his feet.  They inspected the six-armed snake woman, stabbing her several more times in reaction to her tail twitching.  

The voices of neighbors could be heard as they looked into the courtyard.  Three sages stumbled into the courtyard, and Thovaas told one to fetch the city guard.  The group investigated the creature’s weapons, Jerrin staring at them to detect if they were magically enhanced.  The only thing he came across was the wand that she had used on Thovaas.  

The group watched as the guards poked around, and the sergeant sent a runner to bring the lieutenant and captain after hearing the party explain what had happened.  It took them a few times to get it right with the many questions the guards had, so Thovaas borrowed some parchment and began writing what he had just witnessed.  Alex searched vigorously through Marak’s quarters and came up with several tomes that he had recently used.  The books were of ancient days, and there were a few pages where the corners had been folded and passages underlined.  In each occasion it seemed to reference a six-armed being, or mentioned an elder race.  

Alex also discovered Marak’s journal.  In it were the last notes of tasks and research notes, and also included a timeline of his latest meetings and appointments.  Alex read through the final entries and discovered that the day after the party had arrived and talked with him, he had asked for a book to be delivered from Suln, the Kingdom’s capital.  A return message stated that the book would be on its way with the next riverboat to go upstream to Kargam, a ship called Lorleena’s Cutter.  By the schedule the ship would likely be arrive in Kargam within the next few days.  The group decided to intercept the ship in order to collect the book on Marak’s behalf.  


The party stayed a while at the row house of the Order of Conhenci, and Rian and Siakam showed up to direct events as the night finally settled down.  Rian gave the group an open invitation to stay the night, to stay any night they wished as long as they were in town.  The guards took the body of the six-armed woman-beast away to the castle, and the guard lieutenant asked that the party visit the castle in the morning to discuss their events with investigators there.  Thovaas went to spend the night at a nicer inn, and discovered that there not many empty places to be had.  The night was alive with people and merriment; entertainers seemed to be in their glory as a makeshift theater held a play despite the hour.  Eventually he found a room he could share and wrote everything he could remember from the night before down on parchment.  

Quentin informed them that the large river ship might arrive a bit early, since it may try to unload some extra supplies at the south docks.  He and Alex made their way through the city gathering rumors of the ship, but the main topic was the assassination attempt on the King, and who was behind it.  Rumors ran wild –
•	Dark elves called drow were responsible, and had tried to kill the king, the marquis and all the barons in one blow.  I’d heard that they tried to kill the King in Suln and that’s why he fled to Kargam so suddenly.  The poor King, I hope he and the Marquis find them and take care of the wretched cretins once and for all.  
•	The king had summoned the barons to meet to find out which one of them was really a dark elf in disguise, and I heard it was that strange mage Volare from Deepmoor.  After all he is the only foreigner to rule a barony in the entire Kingdom.  
•	I was at the castle crypt and saw that it was really elves that tried to kill the king, and they had painted their skin to look like drow.  Ok, it wasn’t me, but my sisters-brothers-cousins-uncle says so.  What?
•	There was no assassination attempt; the king is still safe inside the castle because the Marquis and other Barons smelled the plot from a mile away.  The way my servant wench tells it, she pegs one of the nobles for being the mastermind.  
•	The barons, led by the marquis, left the castle stealthily to track down the assassin at a lord’s house in the merchant district.  They were spotted by my boy and his pals as they played.  He says they tossed him a gold coin to stay where they were, but I ain’t seen it.  
•	The assassin was chased down by the Marquis’s dogs, and they tracked him back to the castle where the king himself dispatched the murderer.  The man had twelve heads and was said to be a necromancer.  
•	The king’s chief advisor, Nemdori, was killed in cold blood in his quarters by the assassin and the king was left unharmed.  The assassin wasn’t after the King at all but Nemdori.  
•	Nemdori saved the king’s life by jumping heroically between the assassin’s blade and the king’s throat.  Then Nemdori valiantly fought the attacker to his dying breath, and the Marquis revenged him.  
•	I saw the barons together in the streets headed to the artisan district in the middle of the day, possibly following a lead on the assassination attempt.  They stopped to take two of my clay jugs and asked to borrow my staff.  I never got my staff back, and they didn’t pay for anything either!  Cheapskates!
•	Ogmund was the assassin and had tried to kill the king just to show that he could and get away with it.  It was to prove how powerless Marquis Hoil was against him.  That showoff Ogmund will be the death of him someday.  
•	The assassin escaped because one of the barons let him, and he ran out the front gate of the castle after killing several of the guards.  He was probably hired by one of the Barons just to show off.  
•	The assassin wasn’t a man, but a woman, and had silver eyelashes to match her silver tongue, and any man meeting her eye would be entranced to do her bidding.  I wish I’d met her, I’d show her!
•	The assassin wasn’t a human, but drow intent on starting a war just to mess with the trade guilds.
After a long night of listening to everyone’s sob story, both Quentin and Alex turned in at a hideout Quentin took them to.  


Everyone woke to a new day and strolled over to meet the others at the castle in the late morning.  There the captain of the guard questioned them and what they knew of an assassination attempt on the King and the death of his advisor.  In the middle of the discussion, horns are sounded and a large amount of knights poured out of the main gates.  They were followed by an entourage of the Marquis and the five Barons of the surrounding lands, and everyone on the grounds of the castle could see them as they walked downhill from the castle and straight into the noble quarter.  Marquis Hoil, each of the Barons, and all of their assistants seemed to be ready for something, as if readying for war.  Alex, like the wise merchants, watched everyone else, keeping his valuables safe from wandering hands.  After the war parade disappeared down the main street of the noble district everything seemed to resume.  The captain explained that the sages, Marak included, never got to see the King’s advisor, Nemdori, and that they had been detained as the attack unfolded.  Though he was sure Marak and the others had never seen Nemdori, the party was not.  They explained how the six-armed snake woman they had killed was a master of magic and disguise, possibly eluding the guards with ease.  The captain said anything supposedly anything was possible with magic, so why not.  He signed the statement of witness prepared by Thovaas and thanked the party for their good work.  

As the group exited through the outer castle gates, a loud explosion erupted in the direction of the noble district.  Thick black smoke bellowed into the sky, and the party rushed toward it, fighting a sea of fleeing people.  They saw one building on fire and watched as another burst into flame.  From the fire itself they made out the form of a huge bird, and it swiped at Baron Thord Sulisen of Threshwindwith its fiery claw.  The party saw the bright colors of the Baron of Osscourt, Tragris Lunsater, as he leapt into the air and his blade connected with the fire bird's wing.  Argus Vaugn, the Baron of Marncourt, floated down from a window as the building behind him burned and shot a well-aimed arrow into one of the bird's flaming eyes.  Jerrin fought his way close to the scene and doused the flames burning one building.  

Baron of Velja, Yurich Silverflame brought forth a devastating blast of fire which blew the bird to ashen pieces.  The foreign wizard Baron Volare Comnia of Deepmoor sifted the ashes with his feet and found a small flame, itself shaped like a bird, starting to grow from the fuel of the ashes.  Baron Volare took two egg shell halves in his hands and clamped them together with the tiny fire bird inside.  He sealed the egg closed with several words of magic and held it up for all to see.  Marquis Hoil led the Barons back into the mansion and fighting could be heard echoing from within.  City guards poured in to assist and after several minutes the Marquis was at the balcony, waving to those below.  Thovaas watched at the front as the guards carried the bodies of elves from the building and carried them toward the castle.  He noted that all of them seemed dead, and several of them were charred and had deep gashes across their bodies.  The group discussed later that some of them had painted themselves dark to appear as drow but were obviously elves, and were probably wood elves like those from Elarith.  

The party decided to make their way around the town to shop in the unique markets and to see a few free performances at the castle.  They headed down to the south docks district and strolled along the water’s edge as the sun set slowly.  As they did they spotted a large ship anchored and a stream of workers unloading crates, barrels, chests and sacks from it.  As they got closer they could see the name on the bow: Lorleena’s Cutter.  

The group moved in closer as they watched the laborers hustle along the docks.  They turned the corner to look down the street where they were taking the contents and saw a huge man, twelve feet tall with long hair and full beard, watching over the men as they moved the supplies.  This giant towered over them, and next to his head was a window in which a greasy man rested his folded arms on the sill.  Thovaas hailed him, and the greasy man sneered, telling the party to keep moving.  Thovaas mentioned that he was looking for a book that Marak was expecting, and the man nodded as if he knew Marak and the book.  The giant grumbled.

Quentin peeked his head around the corner and asked about picking up the book and perhaps having a look around for a few more things.  The man at the window nodded and told Quentin he could have whatever he wanted if he got rid of the paladin.  Thovaas took a few steps forward into the street and the giant leveled his huge halberd to chest level.  Slowly Thovaas slid his had to his sword.  Thovaas estimated it would take him six or more paces to reach the giant, all the while open to its long reach.  Jerrin, following the paladin's reaction, reigned back his mount and stayed around the corner.  He cast a quick spell of protection and watched the muscle on the ship take notice of what was happening.  

Alex darted through the line of workers and made his way around the small building.  He saw a line of closed windows on the second floor and crawled his way up the side of the structure to brace himself in the window frame.  He eased one of the window shutters open after easily releasing a latch and slipped into the dark room.  His footsteps were soft across the wooden floor and he could see the greasy man in front of him, telling Thovaas again to pester someone else.  A floorboard creaked beneath him, but the man was listening to a possible bargain.  

Thovaas again mentioned the authority of the law and confiscating the book.  The giant jumped into action, slashing and stabbing at Thovaas.  The greasy man yelled down from the window that any of the workers who helped fight off the party would be paid double for their efforts.  Thovaas paused for an opening and the giant stabbed again with its halberd to draw blood.  Quentin shot the giant and it charged after him, drawing a colossal sword from a sheath on his back.  

Quentin had ducked out of sight then popped up to place a well aimed arrow into the greasy man's side.  At that moment Alex leapt upon the greasy man as he recoiled from the window.  Alex's rapier drove deep and the surprised man spun to face him, his face distorting from shock to pure rage as he dropped his crossbow and drew his own scimitar, a gleaming blade that shimmered as the tip danced near Alex's face.  

Jerrin saw the guards on the ship clambor to a plank to cross onto the dock.  He cast a spell and threw a ball of fire at the dock where it burst into flames.  Thovaas drew his sword and slashed at the giant repeatedly, opening gashes on its unprotected thighs.  Alex struck blows against the greasy man as he stabbed wildly toward him.  Quentin shot the giant from close range, an arrow driving deep into his arm.  The giant chased after Quentin as he retreated and several of the laborers stabbed meekly toward him.  First the giant's sword crashed into the building above Quentin's head then the rogue ducked as the sword again thundered into the structure.  Alex and his opponent wondered who was knocking but neither allowed the other an opening to see outside.  

The guards from the ship swarmed on Jerrin and his ally Tempest.  They struck several blows before one of them fell, and Thovaas and Quentin worked in conjunction to drop the giant.  Alex pierced his adversary's throat, twisted the blade to slice through vital veins, and watched as he crumpled to the floor at his feet.  Seeing the gathering group of laborers from the window, Alex tossed out a magic stick that burst into smoke when it hit the street.  The laborers stepped further back from the fight, and when the smoke cleared less than half were brave enough to remain.  Alex picked up the greasy man's crossbow, fired it at one of the guards then leapt down into the street, drawing his rapier from his teeth.  

The guards from the ship rained down blows on Thovaas, felling him, and Quentin retained a safe avenue of escape as he repeatedly attacked then withdrew.  Jerrin manuvered patiently, commanding Tempest to attack his same foe.  An angry guard, with no one else to attack, struck down one of the laborers and pushed him aside.  One of the other laborers dived beneath an outdoor table while the others quickly fled.  The guards screamed at them but continued to assault the party.  

Jerrin made his way to Thovaas and healed him to consciousness.  The paladin stood wearily, but shook off the drowsiness as he saw the guards had pushed the others back.  Retrieving his sword, Thovaas stepped into a solid line with Jerrin, Alex and Quentin to drop many of the guards.  Three of them retreated to the ship and stopped where they surrendered by the plank to the ship.

The party clambored on board and Quentin and Alex searched as Jerrin watched the few remaining laborers and three guard prisoners.  Thovaas sift through the captain's quarters and found the ship's log and read over the last entries, mostly of materials to be delivered from Suln and other parts.  Thovaas then took the time to again write down everything that had occured and met the city guard as they came to investigate the fight.  Alex found the book Marak had sent for, the writings of Simleer, the great sage Conhenci's insane protege.  Along with it were several parchments of notes pointing out useful passages and other excepts.  A letter was also attached, and in it the head sage of the Order in Suln questioned why Marak had demanded the book and that he would await a reply, but there was no hurry as the book had been studied time and time again.  Below decks, fresh flowers fulled the cargo hold and the whole of it was kept cool somehow.  The smell was thick on the whole of the boat, and the ship's log indicated that the flowers were to be delivered to the Artisan District where they were to be part of the final games and ceremonial parade when King Gerin left Kargam.  

The group explained what had happened to the city watch, and Thovaas headed across the river and to the Government District later that night.  He asked around and got the name of Barister Sigrid, whose butler promised would handle the issue of the ship as property in the morning.  Pleased with the answer Thovaas headed back to the ship with the others.  When he arrived he saw Varekai gracefully ease his way on to the dock towards the boat.


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## MarauderX (Dec 3, 2004)

*Session 22: Parades & Parties in Kargam*

Alex hopped from the ship and headed to the rickety house where he had faced the greasy man.  He searched through the house and found a small chest with three locks on the front.  Alex spent some time with them and easily overcame them, as they were similar to those he had seen in his childhood.  Inside he found some gold and a few pieces of jewelry that looked to be worth a small fortune.  

The city patrol carted the bodies of the fallen away on several wagons and flushed the blood from the stone-laid street.  On the ship Lorleena’s Cutter, the rest of the party set up watches after letting the three guards they had fought go.  They fled into the dark alleys of the South Docks District.  The city patrols came by to talk to the party members that were on watch, and mentioned the valiant Sir Thovaas and how he slew the giant.  

In the morning the group read through the ship’s log which had been kept by a Captain Yuri up to now.  They realized he was the greasy man they had killed the night before, and as dawn broke a half dozen men were gathered on the dock to help with the ship tasks.  They recalled Alex’s offer from the night before, and as the group all woke a score of them had gathered.  After a time the crew lieutenants and foremen took charge, directing the younger workers.  They unloaded the rest of the food stuffs from the ship, much more than the ship would need to travel.  

As they worked, Jerrin investigated the disgraced protégé Simleer’s journal.  A swift feeling of nausea overtook him and he closed the book, sitting down until color returned to his cheeks.  After exercising, Varekai then took the book and read through it steadily, eating an apple from one of the food baskets that one of the deck hands had brought at the direction of Thovaas.  

After the crew had unloaded all of the supplies, the lieutenants guided the ship across the river to the best port to the Artisan District.  Once there and settled they made contact with the flower shop owner and asked him about the delivery.  The owner asked that they keep the flowers safely on board until noon the next day, as they were getting the last of the supplies out of the warehouse where they were to be delivered.  The deck hands were paid, released for the rest of the day, and told that they would be paid the same rate if they showed up tomorrow to unload the flowers.  They all smiled at this and each took the gold piece they were given and disappeared into the city.  

Thovaas and Quentin went to see Barister Sigrid and the barrister didn't seem upset in the least that they were late.  They discussed price, and settled on 100 gold if they lost the case or 10% of the ship's value if they got it.  After a quick meeting to review the ship's log and a few questions about the ship they went to see the property official.  His office wasn't far, and the staff was sparse probably due to the festivities.  Barrister Sigrid nodded at various guards and others who seemed to know him well, and it was apparent to both party members that Sigrid was well connected.  After being waved through the outer and inner secretary's offices the three entered the property official's office.  At the desk was a old balding man who stoicly listened as the Barrister explained why they were there.  The man thoroughly reviewed the account of the fight and the ship's log, and slowly the afternoon passed as he read.  Commenting that they were moving pretty fast on staking their claim of ownership, the dusty old man told them to make all of the deliveries that were noted in the ledger.  Once all deliveries were complete, they would return here and if no suitable heir could be found the ship would be theirs for the keeping.  For the time being he wrote down Quentin and Thovaas's names as the current co-captains of the ship.  Upon leaving the Barrister told them to be swift and rubbed his hands together in anticipation of the easy reward.

The next shipment the ship was scheduled for was for transport of many of those who had come to Kargam to see the King.  The scheduled trip was to Wilheim, just to the North-NorthWest of Elarith.  Most of the passengers were probably from Elarith or parts thereof, and would be on the ship all the way to Wilheim.  

In the evening Quentin and Alex ventured to see Mortis, an obese man who Quentin had many dealings with.  At his makeshift quarters Mortis ran a number of scams, including thievery, smuggling and robbery, and he was always a good source for turning a quick profit on stolen goods.  They gave Mortis the run-down on the ship, and how they had acquired it and where they were likely to be going with it – towards Elarith.  Mortis chortled and mentioned that he had the perfect passenger for them to smuggle out of Kargam.  He described the fellow as quiet, wearing a mask and dressed in fine clothing.  He wouldn’t bother anyone and no one must discover that he was on board the ship.  Once in Wilheim, the closest river port to Elarith, he only needed a safe cover to leave the ship.  When they got back, Mortis said he would pay them the rest of the agreed price.  Alex and Quentin were hesitant and told Mortis to learn more about this passenger before they would take him.  Mortis, seeming to be under pressure to get this man out of the city, agreed to try.

Lastly, Quentin and Alex asked Mortis if he knew any captains.  The large man had quite a laugh at this, and mentioned there were a few.  There was a captain named Galadin that was amenable to doing what he was told and could probably be found easily enough at one of the local bars.  The two left Mortis to see him.

Galadin was a homely man that always seemed to be seeking approval from those around him.  Since he had no ship of his own, having lost it to improper dealings, he was eager to take the job.  Setting down his drink he set out with them to examine Lorleena's Cutter.  He smiled as he stood on the deck and thought of Yuri being dead.  He explained that there was some bad blood between the two captains and seemed gratified that he was standing at the helm of the greasy Yuri's ship.  The party questioned him extensively and since he seemed competant enough they assigned him as pilot of the ship.  They also asked whether he knew anyone that could be co-pilot and he said he would find his old first mate.  

Jerrin ventured to the temple of Elhonna and met a man with the same wild-born background.  He invited Jerrin to visit the nearest druidic grove to the city, and explained that he stationed himself in the city to learn of the local temperment and politics concerned with nature and the forests.  Jerrin took the day and met the druids in the area as they conversed and welcomed him to their home.  The leader, if there were one, was a frog that shifted to his born elven form for a time to reveal his long life span before changing back again.  He and Jerrin exchanged some information on the elder races and what they had encountered thus far.  The shaman frog croaked what he knew, and of the development of humans since he was young.  He recalled his elders giving men bronze weapons, and it brought about a new age for men who quickly developed and utilized the tools in a way that the elves never did - construction & war.  

*****

A day of parades and partying was had, and the Lorleena's Cutter sat lazily in the river next to the Artisan District.  Galadin worked to outfit the ship, and listed out a number of problems and needed equipment that was needed.  The crew was introduced to Galadin then let out into the city for one last day of festivities.  

Varekai read Simleer's journal the rest of the day and into evening, and he was certain the man's brain was corrupted, but lacked a definitive time when it occured.  Jerrin introduced Alex to a dozen halflings at the halfling ambassador's estate.  With cheery greetings, Alex explained that he was interested in a business venture.  Four halflings, good friends to one another, had a plan to make a trip to the dwarves in the shadows of the Oton peaks to gather minerals and crafts to rival those made by elven hands.  All they needed was the cash to pay for guards and mules, as they had nearly everything else taken care of.  A 50-50 arrangement was struck and with their new funding the halflings looked to start out immediately before the weather struck the Oton peaks.  

After the day had passed a dozen temporary open theaters hosted various plays and perfomances in a large circle around the castle.  The King, Marquis and the other Barons could be seen waving to the crowds below at different towers each hour, and exceptional performers were welcomed inside to entertain the King.  The castle hosted the city's noteables, among them most of the city's nobles and some from the capital Suln as well.  The castle grounds were open to all those that were worthy of entry, and the party was granted entrance to the great hall for their noteable deeds.  

Once inside the party members split to find different social groups.  Thovaas, dressed in his finest, delivered the sketches of the Lorleena's Cutter he had requested and dropped them off at one of the grand tables of gifts for the King.  He then made conversation with a noblewoman from Suln and her cousin for the evening, fetching them drinks to earn favor and modestly answering their questions about his latest deeds.  Rollof stumbled to visit each member, and he struggled to steady himself on this wooden foot as the alcohol complicated the matter.  He hugged Alex several times and despite the man's state, Alex was unable to lift his purse for examination.  Quentin took the new title of captain for all it was worth, and attracted quite a crowd of socialites as they drank through the night.  Varekai sipped slowly at his drink as a complete day immersing himself into the book of the madman Simleer had exhausted him more than he knew.  Jerrin partied with several of his brethen inside the great hall of the castle before joining a large contingent of dwarves outside.  They seemed to be watching a tragic play with plenty of subtle interworkings, but to them the play was much more of a comedy as they added their own drunken dialogue.  Jerrin asked a priest of Moradin some pretty heavy questions on the creation of the world and the dwarf answered as best he could, as he had perhaps overestimated his own tolerance of the mead they were drinking.  

The night wore on, and Quentin left the castle with an entourage of his own, seven women in exquisite dresses accompanying him and at their heels another three men.  Thovaas was seen leaving the castle in the company of two women, walking lazily toward the ship.  Once there Thovaas gave them a quick tour and escorted them home.  Jerrin, Alex and Varekai boarded the ship and the partiers woke up Galadin, who had passed out on his own, and continued to party until the sky started to light with the coming dawn.  

Sleeping into the early afternoon the next day, Quentin woke up with two of the women that had joined him in the captain's quarters.  The door was barred and he heard the light tapping on the door echo in his skull.  He answered grogily and he and the rest of the party discussed that they would spend the rest of the day preparing the ship and would leave the next morning.  

*****

Thovaas collected the sketches and paintings he had commissioned from the artists and paid them well for their time.  He then found a romantic poem from one of the poets and rewrote the poem on the back of the painting and delivered it to the lady he had escorted the night before.  

Alex and Quentin went to see Mortis once again.  They didn't get a firm feeling about this mysterious passenger, but at least they negotiated a hefty fee for his secret travel.  They agreed to meet him at midnight and told the other members of the party that they the first mate's cabin was to be off limits as that's where they would keep their treasure.  The two of them met the mysterious stranger and his two servants after midnight.  The stranger had a silver mask, and upon a cursory inspection they could tell the brown hood was held in place by two tiny silver horns on the top of the mask to prevent it from being pulled down.  Two servants flanked him, each dressed in fine servants clothing that was typical of those in the Servant District.  Ice blue eyes dazzled from the angled slits in the mask, and they walked silently to the ship together.  Once on board Alex set up a crossbow trap and Quentin made provisions for sleeping in the same room with them to redirect anyone who became 'lost'.  

*****

On the morning the set to leave, passengers and crew trickled in until noon.  The last among the passengers was a beautiful young elven lady named Karyssa who demanded that she occupy the captain's quarters once they it was made hospitable.  She had several servants and maids with her that adjusted her dress and removed any dust from her silken robes with minor magic.  The party didn't see a problem with letting her have the captain's quarters, but they would have to put their charts, instruments and personal wear somewhere else.  Currently they didn't know where that was.


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## MarauderX (Dec 13, 2004)

*Session 23: River of Tribulation*

With all of the passengers safely on board, the Lorleena’s Cutter left the castle docks of Kargam.  Karyssa took the longest to settle down as she found something new to complain about every minute.  Her maids ran about the deck of the ship making requests for absurd things that she needed, and soon enough the party and the entire crew was ignoring them.  

The party watched Galadin and his assistant Enus as they guided the large ship slowly up the river.  Galadin pontificated about the number of hazards in a river, that the ship had such a deep draft that there was bound to be things they would hit on the bottom.  Ships this large could usually go upstream as far as the town of Wilheim, but many did not as they feared becoming stuck on sandbars and other hidden dangers below the surface of the river.  

Galadin seemed to be sipping some liquor during the day and he became increasingly worse as the afternoon waned into evening.  They stopped the large ship for the night, and one lieutenant and his crew silently checked over the ship as the party members joined them in a rotating shift.  They passed through the Kargam marshes and the next day it was found that there were several problems with the ship and that they would likely need to stop at Jennum, the first town outside of Kargam, for rope, nails and a few other extras for the ship.  

Varekai found that many of the young members of the crew lacked the knowledge of knot tying and that the lieutenants weren’t checking over their work.  He quickly changed that, teaching different groups of the crew how to use knots and which to use for tying up prisoners and the like.  The stop at Jennum was to be short, but already many of the passengers were eager to spend time away from the ship.  An hour visit turned into two before they could leave.  

The next day the ship ran too close to a shoal that turned out to be covering a rocky bank beneath.  The ship shuddered then jolted to the side.  Galadin, Enus, the crew and the party all bustled to the bottom of the ship and pushed each other aside to see the broken wood of the hull pushed inward and water gushing in to fill the ship.  Jerrin pushed the gawking passengers and crew aside and began casting an incantation while standing ankle-deep in water.  The experienced crew members were hastily hammering nails into boards over the gap to stop the water, but still it flowed.  Jerrin used his magic to meld the wood to seal the wooden hull closed.  Galadin clapped the Halfling on the back and cheerfully told him he would do more than simple mending from now on.  

The party agreed with Galadin and Enus that they should stop at the next town, Mestar.  They arrived late just as many of the open merchants were closing, but they reopened as they saw the large ship full of passengers stop to unload them.  The party, minus Alex, eased their way into the small grouping of buildings and noted that many of the trade caravans that had been in Kargam were headed upstream following the more difficult trail that followed the river.  A theatrical group started setting up props for a small show when a lumbering man approached them.  

He had the look and dress of a man from the northern barbarian tribes, and he spoke slowly while looking at his feet.  After a few tries, the party finally understood that he was asking about the Lorleena’s Cutter and that he wanted to talk to Yuri.  When he heard that Yuri was dead he seemed confused.  He turned and lumbered away between a few buildings and Quentin shadowed him as he joined circle of others with the same look and dress.  The barbarian talked to the obvious leader of the group, a tall strapping man with long flowing blond hair.  The man was handsome and two strong barbarian women flanked him as escorts.  Quentin listened to the lumbering man explain that Yuri was dead and watched the blond man’s expression change from indifferent to agitated.  He shushed the stuttering man and with a motion the group fell in step behind him as he led the way to meet Thovaas.

The large blond man towered over Thovaas and buffed his chest out.  His arrogance was backed up by the crowd of other barbarians that closed in behind him to form a muscled wall.  The blond man asked where Yuri was, and seemed skeptical that Yuri wasn’t on the ship.  The man demanded payment for the ships protection as they traveled to Kargam, and no matter who commanded the ship they would have to pay for them for their services even though there was no trouble – one ruby each.  Thovaas had no idea what he was talking about.  

The man’s voice grew louder and his face redder.  Thovaas stood his ground just as Quentin struck the blond barbarian from behind and darted behind the nearby building.  From the roof a spike bore deeply into the shoulder of one of the barbarians and Varekai stood triumphantly at the edge of the building.  The barbarians attacked Thovaas at the blond man’s direction.  Then the barbarian leader struck out after Quentin, followed closely by one of the women who cast a spell to close his new wound.  

The barbarians closed around Thovaas and struck him several times with heavy blows as one of them targeted Varekai.  Jerrin began casting and brought forth a lion which promptly sprinted to pounce on the nearest barbarian.  Varekai leapt through the air at the barbarian archer, his foot leading to try to strike him down, but missing he landed on his feet and squared off with him as he drew a sword.  Alex jumped from the Lorleena’s Cutter and sprinted down the dock to see the battle begin to unfold.  

Quentin circled the small square building on short stilts with the barbarian leader swinging his sword in furious arcs.  The woman was close behind, and Quentin saw the large man become even stronger as she invoked the strength of a bull using Kord’s name.  The other barbarians had concentrated on Thovaas and many of their blows glanced off of his armor.  Alex fired at them with his bow before maneuvering closer for an opening from the rear.  Jerrin’s form grew to that of a leopard before charging in to attack the other female healer.  Thovaas gave up some ground, swinging his sword as he stepped away from the barbarian axes.  

Varekai pushed his way into the barbarian crowd, drawing their attention from the paladin.  He was struck time and time again with wicked blows as he struck back with his painful fists.  As they wore him down, Varekai’s eyes suddenly flickered red, then his fingers elongated into sharp claws and fur sprang up all over his body.  He, Alex and Quentin dealt out damaging blows by surrounding and flanking their opponents.  First one, then another and another of the barbarians fell, but the fight wasn’t through. 

A crowd of onlookers in the village watched the fight, and at first a few shouted for them to stop.  At the beastly changes and other creatures forming around the battle, no one dared approach to break it up.  Karyssa watched from the bridge of the Lorleena’s Cutter with Fisselle at her side.   

Jerrin changed back to his Halfling form to heal Thovaas as he and the blond barbarian leader cut devastating gouges into each other.  The enraged man’s sword found two openings in Thovaas’s armor, and shock of pain and loss of blood knocked the paladin into unconsciousness.  Tempest, at Jerrin’s command, jumped at the barbarian and drug him to the ground as the woman healed him again, and Jerrin summoned forth a hippogriff to attack.  Alex and Quentin moved in to continually flank the remaining barbarians.  The hippogriff sunk both of claws into the woman and flung her aside to get at the barbarian leader, tearing apart her spine in the process.  

At the loss of his men and the healers, the barbarian leader surrendered, and the remaining follower dropped his axe and backed away from the party.  Tempest, Varekai, Thovaas, Alex, and the hippogriff gazed down at the prone barbarian leader and watched him squirm.  The villagers and travelers watched in a hushed semi-circle around the battleground, and after a minute one of the elders meekly spoke up.  

Thovaas ordered the barbarians to be held as prisoners in the village’s makeshift cell, a 15’ deep mud pit several hundred yards away from the village.  They were dragged there by the only two village lawmen and Thovaas sentenced them to be held in the pit for ten days time.  Alex searched over the bodies and found a collection of gold and took a valuable emerald from beneath the leader’s belt.  Jerrin spotted a simple silver necklace on one of the women, soiled with her blood, and detected the barbarian leader’s sword to be infused with an arcane magic.  Thovaas wiped the blade on the tatters of barbarian furs before sheathing it and slinging it over his back.  

Varekai waited until later to question the barbarians, throwing a bottle of wine into the pit as a peace offering.  The bitter barbarian leader was suspicious but answered Varekai’s questions honestly and promised again not to seek revenge on them.  As they spoke, the leader’s eyes opened wide and Varekai whirled to see a figure behind and to his left.  The man smiled and introduced himself as Captain Askar, and that he had interest in the Lorleena’s Cutter.  He claimed the ship was half his as he patted a piece of parchment close to his chest, and that he had been hoping the ship would come this way as Captain Yuri owed him much.  Upon hearing that Yuri was dead he grinned and said that the ship would be all his.  With nothing more to say Askar strolled away silently into the darkness.  Varekai, spooked a little, made his way back to the others and told them of the encounter.   

The group drank and ate with the townsfolk and ship passengers around the well, and new torches were sparked as a theatrical troupe put on a fine performance.  The group retired to sleep on the ship and Galadin, as usual, was the first to wake and inspect the vessel before leaving.  In the afternoon Karyssa asked the captains to join her and questioned them about the fight, adding her own wispy adjectives as Fisselle wrote everything on a long roll of parchment.  Galadin’s demeanor had changed, and he said that they could change up shifts to travel at night, as the river was narrower but deeper.  He and Enus traded six hour shifts and Galadin no longer smelled of wine or whiskey.  The ship made good speed and they stopped briefly in the next town Fordham for a rest.  

* * * * *

Again they traveled day and night between Fordham and Desteel, and clouds darkened the sky.  A drizzle turned into a hard rain as the sun set and lightning began to draw arcs from the sky to the ground.  In the flashing brightness several crew members saw something on the river behind them and called for others to confirm what they saw.  A minute passed before the next streak of electricity flashed, and the silhouette stunned them all.  

Headed straight toward them, only a few hundred yards away, was another ship.  But this ship was a ghastly dark grey, with ripped sails and broken planks.  No crew was visible, and the way it quickly closed on them was unnatural.  The crew shuddered and headed inside, away from the sight and the storm.  The party made their way to the deck and watched as the next flash of lightning revealed the other ship was only fifty yards away and was pulling alongside the Lorleena’s Cutter.  Jerrin called upon the power of the lightning as the ghostly ship closed from the side and a lightning burst pounded the grey hull of the ship.  Instead of splintering wood and the gushing of water into the other vessel, the hull disbursed in a cloud-like fashion, and that was when Varekai and the others noticed that the ship was not rippling the water like the Lorleena’s Cutter, but seemingly floating on the water.  

At the helm of the ship a cackling figure materialized.  Alex winced at the sight of it, a rotting ghostly form that matched the description Varekai had given them of Captain Askar.  As they pulled closer and closer, Jerrin struck the ghost with a bolt of lightning before it soared through the open air between the ships to attack.  A crew of skeletons sprang up from the ghostly deck and began chattering and rattling their bones to invoke fear.  Thovaas invoked the power of Heironious to send many fleeing to the ghostly lower decks before the ships met.  Galadin watched them approach, dumbstruck as they boarded.  

Jerrin brought down lightning twice more on the ghost, and the strikes smashed through the deck of the ship.  The ghostly Askar flew down and descended to try to assume control of Thovaas’s body.  The paladin fought off the ghost several times before succumbing to its will.  Alex struck Thovaas with a bag of gooey tanglefoot, locking him in place on the deck.  Quentin and Varekai struck at the skeletons, drawing attacks away from the downed Galadin.  

The skeletons tore away at Varekai’s form, and even though one had snapped its rusted blade at the hilt, it still hit Varekai with surprising force.  Quentin charged one of the skeletons, hoping to knock it overboard, but ran into its shield and bounced backward.  Tempest chewed first one leg then another from another of the skeletons as the others worked in tandem to deal with Askar’s ghost.  A final smiting blow dispersed the ghost, and it diffused into the rainy night.  

The skeletons continued their assault as the ghost ship pulled away from the Lorleena’s Cutter.  Galadin was healed as the last of the skeletons was torn apart by the party.  A quick fix was applied to one of the holes in the ship’s deck as fearful passengers watched from below.  Galadin was taken inside where he carried on about his near-death experience, and Enus directed the crew to continue with the other repairs.  Quentin returned to the quiet quarters where the mysterious guest passenger still sat quietly, and at his entrance the hooded head turned slowly to inspect him.  The two servants in the room huddled together in fear on the floor, and Quentin tried to reassure them with a soft voice.

The night was long after facing the ghost ship, mostly to quell the passengers and crew.  The next days passed resting from the fight and repairing the ship.  Galadin advised only proceeding during the once again, as the river was becoming more difficult to navigate with the deep draft of the Lorleena’s Cutter.  Soon they reached Desteel and stopped to outfit the ship as well as let the passengers and crew have some time to venture on land.  

The ship left the next morning and after several days they reached Malton, a small village that had sprung up around a popular inn.  Parting from there the ship made its way toward their goal, Wilheim, as the moon waxed overhead at night.  

Two nights out from Malton a commotion was heard below decks.  Several party members sprinted to the deck below his normal resting corner and heard a growling behind the door of a locked cabin, followed by the pleading voice of an elven woman and the commanding bark of an elven man.  The growl turned into a barking wail as whatever it was inside the cabin began thrashing and throwing itself against the wall hard enough to crack the wood.  If nothing was done soon it would escape, whatever it was.

Varekai raced to fetch the others, bringing Alex and Quentin as Jerrin and Thovaas were woken and gathered their things in case there was trouble.  Again in the cabin the thrashing could be heard and now all the passengers and crew nearby were awake with fear.  Alex picked the lock and gingerly cracked the door open to allow Jerrin to enter.  Inside the party saw the huge hybrid form of a werewolf.  It thrashed about more as the man and woman in the room began to argue.  Jerrin calmed the beastly lycanthrope just as the man exclaimed that he had spread the disease on purpose, changed shape and moved into the hallway.  Once there he howled loudly and passengers gawked in fear, but then some began a transformation of their own.  

Many more werewolves appeared in the crowded hold, shedding their human fears and began attacking any others next to them, and mayhem erupted on the rest of the deck.  Some passengers didn’t know where to go as their only exit was blocked by the party as they fought the werewolf man.  The woman who had been arguing shifted form to attack him as well, and soon after Varekai transformed into his alternate shape.  As the fighting continued many passengers were wounded and killed by the werewolves that now struck at anything that moved with a vicious frenzy.  Alex used a smoke stick, and the confused targets stepped out of the cloud to face one another again.  

A crocodile materialized on the open deck and bit on the head of a werewolf before spinning to pry it loose from the body.  Varekai howled and struck down one of the werewolves as he launched himself into the fray, flexing and commanding respect from the other werewolves as he toppled one of the foes.  The crocodile struck again to grapple and kill another.  The werewolf man fell to the combined attacks of the party and the werewolf woman and soon after the others were subdued.  

Varekai and the female werewolf then stared each other down, vying to be the leader of this new pack of wolves.  After several tense moments Varekai controlled his anger and shifted slowly back to his human self.  The elven woman did the same and inspected the dead elven man she was arguing with.  Jerrin and Thovaas healed several of the passengers that had been attacked and they forced the remaining werewolves into a corner.


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## MarauderX (Dec 30, 2004)

*Session 24:  Fountain of Anaphia*

The Lorleena's Cutter glided along the river slowly as the lookouts on the bow scouted for rock outcroppings, shallows, and newly formed sandbars.  They had left Melton in the early morning, before the fog had lifted from the river, and the ship crawled up the river all day.  Galadin estimated that they should reach Wilheim, their final stop, by sundown.  

The group had tied up those passengers that had been thrashing about the night before, and they didn't remember any of it as Varekai told them what had happened.  The elven woman introduced herself as Aldyth, and that she and her lover, with their son, were headed towards Elarith and to a legendary fountain that might provide a cure for their condition.  Now that her lover was dead after succumbing to the evil of the disease, Aldyth explained that hope for her son was fading.  

In the waning daylight everyone on the ship was told that Wilheim was close as smoke was visible, wafting upward from cooking fires.  The town came into view after rounding a sharp bend, and upstream they could see rolling waterfalls and rapids that would prevent their ship from going further.  Wilheim looked to be a large town on the rise, as merchant shops were plentiful and the forest receded to allow new buildings to be constructed.  The main street passed through the town straight from the river and disappeared into the distance toward Elarith, from which the town gained the lion's share of its commerce.  

The ship pulled into the opposite shore north of town, as the south shore was too shallow for the boat.  The passengers bustled down the plank from the ship and began loading onto the small ferry so they could find lodging for the night.  After several ferry trips Karyssa made her graceful appearance at the bow of the ship so that she could wave to all of the elven passengers as they cheered her beauty.  

Aldyth and Thovaas met two paladins, Buri and Thorgils, and Saylith, a Red Knight, on the shore as they gave the ship a cursory inspection.  After a hearty greeting Aldyth burst into the circle of men and pleaded that they help her son, but would ask that they speak in private.  They led her, with her son, to their semi-permanent quarters at the nearby inn and quickly she relayed what had happened on the ship, with Thovaas interjecting pertinent facts.  In silence the three looked at one another then said that they knew of the healing fountain that she thought was legend and promised to take them there.  Thovaas mentioned there were others and it was decided to keep them tied up on the ship for the night.  The knights decided to spend the night guarding the afflicted to be certain they did not escape.  

Meanwhile, Alex alerted Quentin that all of the other passengers had left the ship and it was time to move their quiet passenger.  He crossed the ferry and walked through the town smoothly, headed towards Elarith along the Main street of Wilheim.  As he passed out of sight, both Quentin and Alex sighed in relief.  Alex then made his way to the large town's sheriff and reported that there was a stow-away on board the Lorleena's Cutter, and that he was likely a man of ill-will and those in Elarith should be wary of the silver mask.  The sheriff took a few notes and promised that a runner would be sent in the morning to delivery the message.  

Alex and Quentin then went about collecting passengers for the return journey and soon he had met Grimnyr, a stout barbarian with a dimpled grin that likely caught the eye of many a lady.  He introduced himself and a price for the trip to Kargam was arranged between them.  Grimnyr walked with Alex and Quentin, asking about their trip up the river to Wilheim, and before long they found themselves in the overcrowded ale house with many of the ships passengers and crew.  

Jerrin took flight and joined the birds as an eagle soaring high over the forest canopy below.  He pushed himself and arrived there around midnight, deciding to rest at the edge of the nearby druid grove.  As dawn broke through the quilted clouds above Jerrin found that he had been joined by a half dozen brothers of the druidic order.  They held a quick indoctrination for Jerrin in the same informal style as that near Kargam, and they stayed to discuss matters of the forest.  Jerrin brought up the elder races and a possibility of a war between the elves and men.  One of the druids, seeming to be comfortable in the form of a mouse, told that he had heard such speculation before.  He was not aware of the political dealings of the elves and men and felt the druids had little place with which to try to sway either or both sides of the affair when the immense forest beckoned for care.  Such things, he had said, will likely take care of themselves as they usually do.   

For the night Thovaas took the paladins to the ship to guard those stricken with the disease and explained Varekai's condition.  In the morning Thovaas and the other knights found a horse trader and talked the price of the horses down.  They were also asked to deliver a message to Elarith, if they were going that way, about a man with a silver mask.  Ignoring the request as they were not headed to Elarith, Thovaas, the knights, Varekai and their new companion Grimnyr mounted their horses and headed to the ruins of the fountain of Anaphia.  

Lastly Jerrin learned about the Fountain of Anaphia, a deep pool of water that had been a sacred place of healing for the elves long ago.  A disaster had scattered the sturdy rocks that had formed a domed structure over the well, and now it was as likely to harm those seeking help as it was to heal.  Jerrin took flight again to make his way quickly back to the Lorleena's Cutter at Wilheim to meet with Alex and Quentin.  Once there he told the two that he would try to be back within a day or two and not to leave on the Lorleena's cutter without him.  The two rogues looked sidelong at one another and nodded.  Jerrin transformed again into an eagle and rolled his eyes at the two before launching into the air to catch up with Thovaas and the troupe of lycanthropes.  

They weren't hard to find, as the Red Knight Saylith led them through tall stands of birch trees.  Before Jerrin landed he spotted the ruins and noted how far they were away.  They would reach them before nightfall, but not by much, and he knew that tonight would be the last of three nights of a full moon.  

At the ruins the group noticed two concentric circles of weather worn rock ruins in various heights and stages of decay.  Moss grew over much of the site where a deep pink light pulsed slowly away from a pool of water at the center.  The pool itself was ordinary, a solid rock ring a foot high which held in the moving waters in the bowl-like pool.  Four metal statues of strange beasts, perhaps a cross between a mountain lion and a hound dog, stood surrounding the fountain with their mouths open.  An old man sat cross-legged on a pile of stacked rocks watching the party approach.  The group dismounted from the skittish horses and tenuously stepped into the outer circle near the fountain.  

The old man stood and gathered his robes and his pet, a wolf mix breed, stood to stand at his side.  The knights explained that when they had done this before the old man helped them to deal with any of those who were not cured.  Aldyth ventured forth with her son and the old man covered both of their faces in a salve before crushing herbal leaves and rubbing them on their cheeks.  The man looked ancient and spoke tersely, explaining that each of the stricken was to enter the pool and let the waters take them.  

Aldyth volunteered to be the first to be brave for her son.  She stepped in and within moments the waters stirred.  The four statues suddenly spat forth jets of water that streamed steadily into the pool and slowly the water swirled downward into a whirlpool.  Resisting Aldyth clutched the stone lip of the fountain as the water pulled at her.  The old man struggled to kick Aldyth's fingers on the side where she clung as he muttered a few derisions before she willingly let go.  Down she went, and soon she was sucked out of sight into the darkness of the water below.  Just as quickly as it had started the fountain stopped and the water resumed its gentle rippling at the surface.  The old man asked who would be next and the others with the disease stepped back nervously.  Thovaas inquired as to how successful they were the last time, and the knights looked at one another before replying that as of yet they weren't.

Aldyth's son went next, and he was very brave for a so young an elf.  Again the statues spat water forth and the waters churned downward as the boy was sucked down.  The others cowered and a few gave excuses or denied being a lycanthrope.  Thovaas gathered them and said a prayer before blessing them to provide them the courage they seemed to need.  One by one they entered the fountain.  

After half had gone down to the watery void below, one of them entered the water when the disease took over.  Dark fur sprang forth and the werewolf spun around and slashed at the old bald man, digging deep gashes into his wrinkled flesh.  All of the party responded and went into motion to defeat the bestial creature.  Grimnyr spun a tale of poetical limericks with his powerful voice before he struck several pounding blows.  Thovaas slashed deeply into the thing as the knights also closed to kill the beast.  Soon the battle was over and the body of the elf floated face down in the pool, blood sullying the otherwise pristine waters.  

The last two with the disease tried to saunter away quietly when they were met by Thorgils single good eye.  He and Buri explained that they had lost one of their paladin friends to this disease, and had been forced to kill him themselves.  Thorgils received his wicked scare as he had refused to fight at first, instead trying to placate his werewolf friend.  His old friend had nearly taken his life because of it.  The two were coaxed into entering the fountain, and they too were flushed downward.    

Varekai asked what was next.  The old man turned to him and said there was one more - him.  The salve and herbs were applied before Varekai stepped into the fountain, where he first fought the whirlpool before relaxing to let the water cleanse him.  

Afterward Thovaas asked the old man how long it took to realize a cure.  The old man's beady eyes revealed nothing as he sat down and said that now they must wait for the results.  He slipped into meditation as the others made a camp outside the ruins and took watch.  

The morning light crept in slowly and still the pool was silent.  Breakfast was dolled out to each as the old monk crept around the stone ruins gathering nuts and sweeping away leaves and dirt to reveal stone beneath.  As they ate they heard water flowing over the lip of the fountain.  The water began to froth and the group surrounded the fountain in expectation but keeping a safe distance away.  The old monk sat stoicly on his pile of rocks as the party looked to him for any indication of what may happen.  

The elven boy spilled over the side, naked and shivering.  He was taken to the small campfire by Thorgils, wrapped in a blanket and given a warm meal before falling asleep.  The boy looked to be alright, and Thovaas questioned him about what had happened, drilling him five times and getting five different stories about blacking out each time.  

An hour later, water again washed over the lip of the fountain and they took the same positions.  Then the water exploded from the fountain, showering them all as a figure leapt up from the middle depths.  It stood in the shallow waters, a grotesque version of a werewolf with fiendish red scales, distorted fangs and dire claws larger than Buri's head.  The knights and Thovaas strode forward to engage it, trying to flank it from the sides as it raged forth.  Grimnyr shouted forth a song over the raspy barks it gurgled out.  Jerrin summoned forth an ape that slammed down on the beast before bringing forth a crocodile to tear at its legs in the water.  

Blow after blow was traded, and the ape was defeated as the screaming beast raged forth without halting.  Jerrin brought forth a wolf to assist as Buri had his sheild rended from his arm before it bit deeply into his shoulder.  Buri fell after several more ferocious blows came from it as its innards were spilled from a slashing blow by Grimnyr.  Thovaas smote the beast time and again, and eventually it fell from their repeated blows as the pool filled with its blood, guts, sinew and other matter that had been cleaved from it after a long assault.  

The party reeled back from the devastation wrought by the beast and surveyed the damage.  The old man had helped seal Buri's wounds earlier, and Jerrin and Thovaas helped to heal him remove all of his wounds.  It dawned on Jerrin and the others that if there were more of these they would have to change their tactics or fall to the next one.


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## MarauderX (Jan 6, 2005)

*Session 25: A Fount of Surprises*

The group relaxed more as the day went on, and the fire was rekindled to serve a warm meal before the sun made its arc into the afternoon.  Saylith, the Red Knight stood from his perch near the fountain and drew his sword.  The others noticed and were on their way into positions around the fountain as it bubbled over.  Suddenly a tentacle curled up from the water to lap over the side.  A second tentacle came over the side and the suckers gripped the rough stone.  

Buri launched himself at one of the tentacles, nearly chopping the limb from whatever body lay in the fountain.  Jerrin whipped a ball of flame at the second, and the member sizzled with the impact.  Before the others could close, the thing rose to break the surface of the water with its revolting head.  It had the features of one of the elves, but somehow the side of its head was bulbous and hung over the side of its eye.  It pulled itself out of the fountain with two more tentacles and began a slow sprint away from the fountain as it cried out for mercy from the gods.  

Thovaas spurred his mount to trample the hideous creature and he pulled alongside to slash a deep gouge across its back.  Blue blood sprayed from where his sword had cut deep into it, and an elven voice cried out to end the suffering.  Buri strode forward, flipping his sword to stab downward, and ended the things misery.  The half-elven half-monstrosity quivered for several moments before the others relaxed their guard enough to sheath their weapons.  

The bodies of the slain were piled under the open sky and lit on fire.  Thovaas said a prayer and recorded everything that had transpired including descriptions of the vile creatures.  Grimnyr listened as the others told of their encounters at Sukyskin, Chautauqua, and Kargam.  Jerrin ventured into the wild and procured food for them all from the small game and fruit-bearing plants.  Settling in for the night, a double watch was established.

During the first watch Jerrin answered Grimnyr’s many questions about Elarith.  Engrossed, they almost didn’t notice water again rising ever so slightly.  They woke the others and moved into position as the fountain slowly overflowed.  A female figure swam to the surface and floated there, eyes glowing, and Grimnyr and the others looked closely to notice that it was indeed Aldyth, but her features had changed dramatically.  Thovaas strode forth and offered his hand to assist her from the fountain as she spoke prophetically in elven.  Jerrin asked her several questions and each time he received a visionary response.  The elven boy was told that although she looked like his mother Aldyth, she was different.  He nodded and bravely met his mother as she was guided to the fire where they met once more.  

Jerrin recorded many of her prophetic statements and translated them for the others.

•	A new line will come to the elves where an old once was… a foundation of their own upon which was built the traditions of their ancestors.  
•	Each soul is the result of a union between pure good and pure evil, in the form of Sin. Each soul is charged to liberate itself from evil influence. The gods do not treat the created as children, without free will.  Instead, they are held responsible for their choices and, through a cycle of lifetimes, reap the rewards or punishments for its actions.
•	Danger… and a new hope approach Elarith in the form of a prince denied his birthright and shall have the full measure of his blood tested.  The deepest dark he is and the untainted light.  From the blackest of realms he will ascend to the purest of white.  
•	The Winnower has renewed his vigor to halt the evolution that must come… must come for all, and he shall either follow or be destroyed in its wake.  
•	Tampering with the lizard king shall bring death to the seekers.  
•	Sparks of the Divine Light were scattered and trapped in creation, awaiting redemption. Until all the fallen sparks of divinity are restored to their source, the world remains in a broken state. This is the very purpose of our existence and each of us has a role in its fulfillment.
•	Calling upon those untainted may save us all… if they survive.
•	Imperfection is inescapable since it is woven into the very fabric of creation. Each of us is given some broken piece we will have to work with in our lives and it is our job to illuminate these “dark” places within our being so that our seeming “defects” or imperfections ultimately become the cracks or openings through which our inner light can shine forth into this world.
•	A vileness exists… to change the face of all who grace the surface of the world.
•	As soon as something is created, its dissolution is already at hand. The shattering is an inevitable outcome of creating an embodied universe, much as error is an inevitable part of living. It seems Avasara intentionally created a flawed universe in order to give every creature a role in its restoration, and so that perfection might be reached through imperfection and wholeness through brokenness.
•	Through prayer and action, a person can liberate and raise these sparks and repair our unity. That process is known as Repair--repair of the light, repair of the world, repair of the universe, repair of the multiverse.
•	The goal of the created is to seek perfect dominance over evil’s influence on their essence: liberation from gluttonous desires, arrogance, and selfishness. Upon attaining perfect dominance over evil influences, a process generally regarded as the work of numerous lifetimes, creation is Liberated and gains permanent access to the Realm of Infinite Light.


The rest of the night passed without incident as each group kept vigilant watch on the fountain.  In the morning a hot repast was prepared, and Aldyth seemed to have moments of lucidity the more her son and Jerrin talked to her.  Jerrin spent the day within earshot, gathering food for everyone as their supplies for a one day trip vanished at breakfast.  The old monk was content to feast the same way, as he had been doing such for a long time.  

In the evening watches were set up again.  As Thovaas adjusted his armor he heard the fountain begin to spill over once again.  Hurriedly the group assembled around the fountain and waited until it exploded outward, soaking all near the fountain.  Within it stood a large figure of an elf, much stronger and pulsing with energy.  The elf looked as though it had its skin peeled from its body as its red muscles and veins were exposed as it stood at the fountain’s edge.  

Quickly the crowd of defenders moved in as it spouted vile predictions before it began chanting a spell.  It took blow after blow before the spell ended, bringing forth a spiny dog looking demon, whose piercing howl made the vile elf bellow his vile insights that much louder.  It brought forth more magic and a swirling hammer appeared before it before the hammer exploded, injuring and slowing the paladins and the red knight.  It giggled gleefully at the destruction it had wrought before Grimnyr, unaffected from the blast, stepped up to slash at the vile elf.  

Thovaas splashed into the fountain to attack the elf again as Saylith fought off the howling beast.  Jerrin brought forth a beautiful white horse with a horn atop its head, and it promptly attacked the bloody looking elf to block its exit.  Jerrin brought forth a spell to enchant his claws before morphing into a black bear and moving in beside the unicorn.  

The blood elf swung to the side at struck Jerrin with a poisonous blow, and only a little of the poison seeped through the thick fur to damage his stamina.  The other knights worked in conjunction with Grimnyr to fell the spiny howling beast.  Saylith plucked one of the spines from his thigh, wounding himself ripping it free.  Thovaas chased the blood elf in the fountain, swinging his sword at him from behind as Grimnyr swung an enchanted axe that dug deeply into its flesh.  Eventually it fell from the many blows after having closed several of the wounds with its magic.  

Jerrin assumed his Halfling form and the unicorn bowed its horn to touch his shoulder where he had been poisoned.  The unicorn healed the others as well as it could, especially Thorgils after he had removed several spines that bled profusely.  Jerrin healed several times, and the paladins cured themselves of the last of their wounds.  Thovaas began recording some of the blood elf’s diatribe into his journal:

•	Jealous of all creation, evil, through personal exaltation (worship) will bring power so near that of all being that dominance can be asserted.
•	Bowing to the Creators is the only assurance of becoming a survivor of the world to come.  Join all of the others that have fallen before you in your own hell!
•	A new line will come to the elves where an old once was, to ascend where he shall bring a new order to pass.  
•	The hidden will be revealed to all, and reclaim that which was his at the lamentation of an entire people, his people, whom had cast him aside to be raised by their ancient ancestors in the old ways.
•	Purity by fire shall befit all those from the slave races, while the defiled shall be drowned in their own blood to purge their impure half.  
•	The traitors of the world shall be the last to perish after eons of torment and an infinite number of memories of their own betrayal.  
•	Gozer the Traveler will come in one of the pre-chosen forms. During the rectification of the Vuldrini, the traveler came as a large and moving Torg! Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor! Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!


Jerrin was explaining part of what the blood elf had been saying about elder races to Grimnyr just as he noticed a figure swimming upward from the dark depths.  Alerting the others he stood back as the figure broke the surface.  It was a werewolf.  

The beast began to tread the water toward the edge but was met by Thovaas, who swing his sword with both hands.  The blow crashed into the water and struck heavily into the beasts shoulder.  The others moved in as it lashed back at Thovaas, striking him twice with its claws.  Grimnyr brought his powerful axe down on the beast and watched as it barked viciously at them.  Jerrin transformed into a panther and leapt into the pool to strike, landing several swiping blows with his paws.  Buri and the others charged in to surround the werewolf.  Grimnyr chopped into the water again and the body of beast came floating to the surface, where Thovaas stabbed the thing one last time just as it reverted back to its original form – Varekai.  

Pulling his blade back, Thovaas and the others pulled Varekai’s body from the pool of water.  The old monk walked to the edge of the fountain and, after stirring the water with his staff, said that the water had reached equilibrium once again.  Jerrin told the others that he would be willing to bring Varekai back from death and into another form once he had the proper materials.  They agreed that he should.  

The red knight Saylith decided that he would guide Aldyth and her son to Elarith and took four of the horses with him.  The others would head back to Wilheim to meet Alex, Quentin and the others to take the Lorleena’s Cutter back to Kargam.  Jerrin decided to fly to Elarith then back to Wilheim to meet the others there.  

At Elarith, Jerrin met his family and friends and quickly told them of his travels.  Though abbreviated they seemed much impressed, and asked much about what he saw and heard.  Hearing that he would be leaving with a few hours, headed to the immense city of Kargam, his family and friends wished him to return for the fall celebrations.  Turning into an eagle in front of them, they gasped and pointed in amazement as he soared away through the tall trees.  

Alex and Quentin had eaten heartily and were enjoying another brew when they saw an eagle glide above the town to land on the Lorleena’s Cutter.  Quentin pulled his feet from their perch on the table as Tempest began barking a hello to Jerrin.  

Grimnyr eventually led the paladins through the woods as they seemed to be taking a longer time than necessary.  They arrived in Wilheim as Alex, Quentin and Jerrin relaxed at the tavern with the crew.  Grimnyr relieved the minstrel who had told his last tale about a woman named Jill he once knew.  After his performance the crew was glad that the barbarian poet would be joining them on the travel down the river to Kargam.  

Jerrin joined his Halfling breathen at the half-sized tavern where they welcomed him as family and were glad to hear about any news from the city.  A few wily Halflings attempted to persuade Jerrin to take a package with him to Kargam to be delivered to the Halfling Ambassador’s home there.  Politely refusing, Jerrin welcomed every free drink as they kept coming.  

The next morning Galadin had the crew bustling about the ship as fifty or so passengers boarded.  Jerrin brought forth a magic to resurrect Varekai in another form, if his soul still wished to have a vessel.  The form molded into that of a half-orc, and a surprised Varekai sat up.  He strode across the deck, tentatively at first, then confidently as he became comfortable with his new form.  Varekai hovered over Thovaas as the half-orc first asked for pants, which Alex promptly brought, then blamed Thovaas for his murder.  Thovaas explained the situation with the others before a fight broke out, and it was clear Varekai would not be joining them on the trip to Kargam but instead joining the old man at the Fountain of Anaphia.  He took the bag of gold from the passengers’ fees, minus some for his resurrection expenses, and left the ship.  

With everything in place they sailed downstream toward Kargam at Galadin’s command.  The party debated the elder races, the books at Chautauqua, the tapestries, and other matters at length.  It was concluded that Grimnyr would attempt to use the needle Alex had found to connect it to the tapestries that Thovaas had carried on his mount for so long.  Grimnyr took his time to think about any type of tapestries, magic or not, and since nothing came to mind, he decided to take his best guess with the needle on the tapestry. 

As soon as Grimnyr touched the needle to the tapestry map at where Kargam now resides, it flew from his hand and began spinning furiously.  It carved out Kargam at first, outlining it with pulsing golden thread, before thickly lining the Vulir River upstream to the Oton Peaks before encircling one of the mountains there and stopping.  The needle popped from the tapestry back into Grimnyr’s hand, and the group marveled as the thread pulsed, from Kargam to the place in the Oton Peaks.  

Over the rest of the trip the group discussed the tapestries even more.  Thovaas shot several of his autographed arrows into the woods as Jerrin retreated below decks to finish constructed a few wands.  

The Lorleena’s Cutter picked up plenty of wine and other supplies to keep the crew happy on their voyage home, and each night they spent in a town on the way back.  The ship hosted visitors from each of the towns as Alex charged a silver piece for as much watered-down wine as they could drink.  It went very well, and as they approached Jennum the crew was sad to have the days of partying almost over.  

Through the swamp lands on the last leg to Kargam, Grimnyr heard something hit the hull of the ship.  Alex had heard it too and called for everyone to gather on the deck to see what they could find.  Quentin spotted a heavy chain on land, thicker than a man’s leg, as it rose from the water to the shore.  Pointing, the party quickly understood that the slack of the chain was being taken up and soon the ship would come to a shuddering halt.  The crew scurried around the ship securing anything that might move upon the sudden stop.  The party examined the shore and Alex heard a high-pitched alarm above the din of activity on the ship.  Jerrin relaxed and chanted, and soon the water beneath the ship swelled upward, carrying the Lorleena’s Cutter with it.  The water rose to propel the ship over the thick chain and downstream away from anyone on shore.  As they moved away angry shouts from between swamp trees could be heard and a lone figure was seen waving a fist in their direction.  

In a few more hours they were safe as they glided into Kargam.  They were told by the shouting dock hands to proceed to the South Docks before anchoring.


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## MarauderX (Jan 19, 2005)

*Session 26:  Riverside Negotiations*

With their tensions of returning the ship into the city safely, the party relaxed as the ship was secured in the South Docks.  The crew offloaded after being paid, and many were glad to be safely returned to the city they knew.  Galadin and half a dozen others stayed on board, still overseeing many of the duties to ensure the ship’s wellbeing.  The party went into the city, splitting up to each take care of some personal business.  

Quentin and Alex saw the obese Mortis just as he was sitting down to eat a stuffed quail, and it became apparent what the large man spent most of his money on – chefs to bring him rich food equal to that of the Marquis.  He made them watch as he ate before wrapping up the business of the silver-masked man.  Once they were paid handsomely, Mortis grinned with pleasure that their delivery went well.  

Grimnyr roamed into the city and was welcomed at a fine establishment that seemed much too quiet and empty.  With a few tales of the northern men and their heroic exploits, Grimnyr pulled in the attention of the bar patrons and got the beer flowing freely.  Within an hour he had earned a full stay at the bar with meals and free mead.  

Jerrin ventured back out of the city to visit the closest druid grove, and once there he heard many of the same concerns that others had – assisting the forest to recover from its receding line as more people expanded their holds, helping woodland creatures, and holding a funeral for an ancient dying oak.  

Thovaas was regaled at the barracks in which he had housed his belongings.  He heard much about the crimes of the last several weeks, whether petty or vial, as there was usually an unreasonable villain with which to be dealt.    

In the morning, Thovaas went to see Barrister Sigrid, but he was not at home since he went down to see a man about a ship.  Thovaas then hustled back to the ship and met Grimnyr and Alex on board just as they saw an entourage coming along the docks.  A man dressed in the finest clothes was striding haughtily and with him Barrister Sigrid kept pace.  Sigrid had his scribe with him, and this rich man had at least ten attendants of various sorts walking with him.  They approached the ship and Sigrid was heard loudly explaining that the ship was for sale by the ship’s new owners, Captain Thovaas and Captain Quentin.  Sigrid talked mostly to the well-dressed man, but it was clear he was explaining the circumstance to the party as well.  

Two inspectors were given permission to board the Lorleena’s Cutter and quickly they started to note every last thing that seemed to be wrong with the ship, from incorrectly sized rope to poor rigging and several loose boards that might cause leaks.  Galadin sprang to his feet in defense of the ship’s condition and began a running debate with the finely dressed inspectors as they perused the ship.  Galadin stopped arguing when they entered the captain’s quarters to discover disheveled piles of paper, cloth and tools.  In the middle of mess Quentin stirred awake and asked Galadin who the men were.  Upon explanation Quentin quickly pulled on his trousers and emerged a few minutes later to help discuss the matters of selling the ship.  

The rich man was introduced as Ibeli, a noble who already had over a dozen ships working under him.  Ibeli, under the direction of the inspectors, made his first offer of 12,000 gold.  Not pleased with the first offer, the party waited patiently for him to raise the amount.  After much debate the party lowered their price to 16,500, but Ibeli remained firm at 14,000.  The party looked at Sigrid, who seemed to be indicating to raise the price, so the party stayed at 16,500.  In a huff Ibeli spun away from them and left the ship.  

Barrister Sigrid returned an hour later and was upset that the party had misinterpreted his signal to take the offer of 14,000, not try to raise it.  He said he would try to talk Ibeli into revisiting the ship the next day if the party would lower the price even more, to which they agreed.  Jerrin inspected the ship and did what he could magically while Galadin directed the others to properly fix even the untidiest of items.  Jerrin also found an inspector of his own to review the ship and provide another professional opinion on the value of the vessel.  

The party agreed that they would settle for 15,000 gold for the ship.  The day passed into evening and the party set up a double watch to look out for anything suspicious.  While Alex and Quentin were discussing a few techniques for crossbow traps, they noticed the glow of torches reflecting from the water.  Several hundred yards down the docks a mob of almost a dozen men walked towards them, and each of them bore a torch.  In the front were two men dressed in robes that Alex recognized as belonging to a mercenary guild in the city.  They approached the ship as Quentin woke the others.

Just as the rest of the party was grabbing arms they heard a loud bang that resounded throughout the ship.  On the deck they saw Alex holding his ringing ears as the men on the pier called out again and again to negotiate with the temporarily deaf Alex.  The party drew their weapons as the already hostile discussions deteriorated, and Jerrin cast a commanding spell to give him control over lightning.  

The Halfling strode forth to stand on the edge of the gangplank, ready to call forth the lightning, when a volley of acid soared over his head to land in the river.  The other burly torchbearers scrambled up the gangplank towards them and swung at the Halfling.  Two crossbowmen fired at Quentin while two archers fired at Thovaas.  Alex, Quentin and Thovaas quickly pelted the acid-throwing mage with deadly arrows, and Thovaas struck him last with an arrow that went through his left eye to emerge with a splatter from the other side of his skull.  

The raiding mercenaries continued their attack, and Jerrin’s companion Tempest pulled one from his feet, knocking him sideways on the plank before he lost his grip and fell into the river.  Another launched himself onto the boat and was dragged to his knees by the large dog.  His attention affixed on Tempest, the man began to stand only to have his head separated from his body by Thovaas.  The other raiders looked more determined and swung their swords violently to dig at the paladin.  Grimnyr called for several sound bursts on the archers and remaining mage as he pulled his sword.

Quentin maneuvered around the battle after being hit several times by crossbow bolts.  Suddenly one of the mercenaries appeared carrying a clay pot in each massive hand, and with a grunt he tossed them both onto the ship.  Then he pulled two flasks of oil from a pouch and grinned.  

Grimnyr, whose melodic voice was usually so southing, let out a crazed bellow as he ran straight through the flames to charge one of the boarders.  He and Thovaas slashed at the man several times, carving deep gouges in his flesh before he fell.  Jerrin then raced forward and stood at the top of the gangplank and called down another devastating blast of lightning on the man with the flasks of oil.  The flasks erupted, exploding in his palm to spray him with burning oil, and the party watched as the lit oil cascaded down the man’s arm as he howled in pain.  

Repeatedly the archers and crossbowmen pelted Alex with their missiles while the remaining mage sank bolts of blue light into Thovaas, Jerrin and Alex.  Grimnyr frothed as they brought down another boarder and the last was knocked into the water between the ship and the docks.  Grimnyr launched himself down the gangplank, charging wildly toward the archers.  They stepped back and fired at him before dropping their longbows to draw short swords.  The mage was terrified as he cast yet another spell, but it wasn’t enough as Grimnyr swung his sword deep into the mage’s side to drop him to the ground.  

The four mercenaries stepped back and called for a truce, or at the least mercy, pleading for sympathy from the approaching paladin.  It was of no use to Grimnyr, whose berserker bloodlust made him deaf to their pleas.  He struck one of the archers solidly in the chest, burying his sword deep into his lungs after slashing through his weak leather armor.  Jerrin told the other three to play dead if they wanted to survive, but it was of no use; the remaining men dropped their weapons and fled as fast as they could.  

Meanwhile, Alex stepped over another of the fallen men to see if he was carrying anything of value.  Again he came up short, as they all had likely left whatever valuables they owned somewhere safe, but the biggest of the attackers wore a fine looking belt of some type.  

Jerrin, mounted on Tempest, pursued one of the panicked men down the docks and stabbed him several times before he jumped into the river between two boats.  Jerrin leapt from Tempest in mid-stride and before he hit the river his form had changed to that of a crocodile.  Swimming downward Jerrin realized the man was unconscious and sinking fast toward the bottom.  Climbing out of the river, Jerrin swapped forms several more times to help close his wounds.  

On the docks, the rest of the party had determined that one of the archers had a magical quiver that could hold up to four times as many arrows or bolts or other long thing items such as wands.  Grimnyr, having caught his breath, replied that the cloak the first mage had worn was also enhanced, his smooth voice run ragged from the fight.  The belt was determined to provide aid in protection, and later the cloak was learned to grant the wearer with resistive powers.  

Afterward, the group set the bodies of the attackers in a line along the dock before returning to their watch.  During the last watch with Thovaas and Grimnyr, a voice startled them as they scanned the river.  On the dock below them was a man dressed in grey stood straight and smiled politely.  He asked if the ship was still for sale, as said he had heard an offer of 14,000 was refused.  He offered 15,000, and could only give 5,00 cash at the moment, but offered to pay as much as 500 per month until the debt was settled.  After some discussion the man was politely rejected and he melted into the darkness.  

At dawn Jerrin busily masked the evidence of the fight from the night before, and Galadin and the other ship hands scrubbed the blood from the deck.  Jerrin swam around the underside of the ship to examine the hull for hidden weaknesses, growth or other abnormalities but found none of any significance.  Barrister Sigrid bustled down the dock to tell them that Ibeli would be visiting again, and to consider lowering their offer.  When they told him they would sell at 15,000, he was pleased and left.  Soon afterward Ibeli strode down the edge of the river towards them.  

Ibeli sauntered around the deck of the ship looking for damages that may have occurred during the night, and his face was red when he saw that there were none.  Jerrin’s personal advisor, the shipbuilder, arrived shortly after and gave his credentials to which Ibeli could no longer refute.  When Ibeli’s advisors mentioned that there might be serious damage to the hull Jerrin offered to take them all on a walk along the river bottom.  It took some encouragement, but Ibeli decided to try it, as breathing underwater held most of his curiosity.  Once in the river, Jerrin pointed out the fine lines of the Lorleena’s Cutter for some time before they came back to the docks.  

Once on the docks, Ibeli began stripping his clothing and cursing the Halfling for trying to kill him with a cold.  Two of his servants bustled around him to hide his exposed legs as he walked back onto the ship.  Ibeli mentioned his offer of 14,000 again, and seemed steadfast at first.  Then, when Quentin, Grimnyr and the others told of the adventuring tales that he would also claim when he owned the ship, he seemed very pleased.  The party told him they wanted 15,000, and after pausing for several minutes he agreed.  Immediately afterward, Ibeli started ordering that everything on the ship be removed, and that the painters and craftsmen were to be sent the following day.  The party quickly grabbed their things and a giggling Sigrid shook their hands and told them he would see them the next morning.  

Grimnyr took the party to the inn at which he had been performing, and when they learned he would be back they upgraded his room to fit them all comfortably.  In the morning the group headed to Barrister Sigrid’s home, where his butler instructed them to enter.  The butler asked if they would prefer gold or gems, and the party choose gold, figuring that Alex and Quentin could find gems at a better rate than those given.  

The group left and went back to the inn where they divvied the gold.  For the next few nights the group talked about their future plans, where they should visit and when.  It was decided unanimously to go in the direction of the mountains once spring arrived, as they all could easily wait until then.  One by one they headed their separate ways and agreed to meet after the spring thaw in Kargam.


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## MarauderX (Jan 26, 2005)

*Session 26 Interlude:  Waiting for Spring*

This is the news from the fall, winter and spring's onset that stands out from the ordinary, and is known by nearly everyone in the Kingdom of Correl.  


*Elarith & Kargam news*

The matriarch of Elarith, Lady Emmoeve, stepped aside as the proven rightful heir to the sacred Wooded Throne had returned.  This new elven ruler returned from places unknown after he was informed that he was of the noble blood line.  He is known as Lord Dor’baun, and his motives are not yet clear.  His hair has turned pure white and he wears it over the scarred right side of his face.  His black robes are layered deep and his sinuous arms protrude to starkly contrast his milky skin against the dark cloth.  He wears a face full of tension and bellows questions as though they were commands.  To the elves he is a spitting image of the last royal ruler of the elves, Litaniliri, who had died fifty years ago.  

The old elven ambassador, Minister Mayrith, had many a story to tell about Elarith, but it was a rare occasion such as this that he did.  Mayrith’s eyes seemed dark and hollowed, and his face was of resigned duty and sadness.  His shoulders drooped and he often leaned on his staff.  Crowds had gathered around the castle to hear him speak.  

“I remember it as if it were only a ten-day ago.  The elven queen Litaseania gave birth to twins, fairly common for our people, but a grave omen of division by any seer’s account.  For fear of the elven nation’s future she divided them shortly after their birth.  Knowing that if the lost twin was to ever return and the truth would be known the consequences would be severe, she spoiled the right side of the baby’s face with fire, scarring him forever.  With a face so marred she had hoped he would never be recognized as an heir to the Wooded Throne.  She was so afraid of him that she had also refused to give him a name.  I dubbed him castaway, or Sa’maw.    

“I was the one who was responsible for hiding him far away from the world, far from any who might see through his marred face to his inner destiny.  For it I gave up my home of Elarith for a languid lifestyle in Kargam, a city full of vibrant humans.  I got exactly what I wanted, to get away from the twisted Queen and her corrupting influence, and to live my days in carefree joy.  

“Where would I send him, you might ask.  I sought out our brethren beneath the earth, those in the everlasting dark of caves and tunnels.  An agent of mine found them locked in their own affairs far beneath the surface.  And so to them I had Sa’maw delivered.  I received a gesture that the deed had been done, and that they knew he was of the royal bloodline.  And then I tried to forget what I had done.  For five centuries I had begged for my memory of it to fade while I immersed myself in the affairs of men and their strife with the world and each other.  

“Queen Litaseania died two centuries after I left and her remaining son, Litaniliri, ascended to replace her.  After a century he was joined with Lady Emmoeve and they lived for a long time together before starting to part after no heir was had.  It was then that he became ill with a wasting disease, nothing which the high priests could cure.  Litaniliri’s body decayed in front of all to see, though he tried to remain strong by appearing daily in Elarith for all to see.  Finally he could no longer stand as his skin turned yellow and red and he spent his last few months behind white veils.  

Fifty years ago he died, with no heir, and Lady Emmoeve was given the title of matriarch for the elven realm.  Strong magical ceremonies were used to seek out the next heir, but it was determined that although there were many bloodlines, none were sufficient to be appointed the next heir.  I knew why the magic failed, that there was another still alive that still had claim to the Wooded Throne.  And he was stowed far beneath the earth.  

“Under Lady Emmoeve the elves lived peacefully for fifty years as they had little concern for a centralized governorship.  None of the royal descendants challenged her rule, and every year or so the same ritual was performed to see if a new successor would be named.  Nothing changed and many were content with Lady Emmoeve’s soft rule.  Trade negotiations and dealings with other races were often postponed repeatedly as she had never felt responsible to make decisions that should be left to the royal bloodline.  

“Lord Dor’baun hid his face from all under a silver mask, and he had returned to find his ancestry.  Allegedly he came through Kargam on his way to Elarith.  He revealed himself in the elven city as seeking out why magic wracked his body annually for the last fifty years.  He had traced the source to Elarith and now demanded that his condition be cured.  Dor’baun was recognized by some before the magical ceremony was performed once again.  Magic light surrounded his body, and he was immediately declared the rightful heir, much to everyone’s surprise.  Loyal to ancient magic, Lady Emmoeve rose from the Wooded Throne and granted Dor’baun his rightful place.  

“Now, what morals does this new King Dor’baun have after centuries in the dark?  Who raised this elf from an infant child to become the man he is today?  It is our dark brethren, the Drow.  And there is none more responsible for this than me.  I had given up on my people long ago, turning one wicked deed to another, and now we will see what our sins have sown.”

Minister Mayrith then slumped out of sight and the noise of the crowd rose slowly with speculation.  

In the days following, many in the whole of Kargam took a paranoid stance, thinking that the elves would finally unveil their secrets of war and magic.  Marquis Hoil gave several speeches on the matter, exclaiming that he and the other barons did not hold sway over a people who govern themselves.  He openly admitted that he did not know what was happening or what would come of it, but that he would be patient until the new Lord Dor’baun was ready to talk.  

Since then it has been over four months and the elves continue to trade with Kargam and other human towns freely.  Elarith is still a peaceful place as many of the dark rumors about Dor’baun had dried up.  Many of the nomadic elven tribes settled through the winter and it seems as though Lord Dor’baun was learning much about his own people.  His mentality was much different from the rest of the elves, as his hunger for knowledge seemed to be insatiable.  The elven lord hasn’t revealed anything about future plans or political dealings with the barons, and it doesn’t seem as though he will for some time to come.  


*News from Suln*

The Kingdom’s Capital increased shipping trade again as a new shipyard was completed on the north side of the city.  The nearby high elves assisted with several new ships to create vessels with sleeker lines to assist with speed.  Halfling crews have turned out to be more profitable as savvy entrepreneurs and small crews to load a ship with more materials since piracy has been dormant along the coast.  Suln and many of the other trade cities along the coast have been shipping steadily to many islands in the southwest.  

The King has finally decided to wed, and the woman is outside of the nobility of Suln which has caused a stir.  In the coming spring a celebration is planned to be held in Suln, though the exact date has yet to be made official.  His bride-to-be is called a barbarian by some, as she was raised by her father in the northlands.  The church of Pelor and Heironious have grumbled about wedding the King with such a 'heathen' though they still vie to perform the ceremony.  


*Shen Jin & Beyond*

The Empire of Shen Jin, east of the Oton Peaks, has remained constant, and it is heard that they are attempting to purge many of the monstrous threats that are in the shadow of the mountains.  Their trade with the dwarves of silk and hops for gems and metals continues to slightly increase.


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## MarauderX (Feb 2, 2005)

*Session 27: Journey through the Borderlands*

The winter snows receded and the group gathered in Kargam to celebrate the Festival of Spring during the second week of April.  The party caught up on many of the affairs they each had during the winter and each relayed what they had separately investigated during the break.  

The halflings that Alex had struck a deal with in the summer were planning to leave soon for their first trip back to the trading town of Kyrill.  The party decided to accompany them on their journey east along the river, as this was along the way to their next objective - to investigate the area where tapestry map had led.  Thovaas managed to find a faithful squire to accompany the group on their travels, and also decided to find a professional cook that was willing to prepare all their meals in exchange for his travel expenses.  

The journey took some time as they travelled with three wagons, stopping at each town or country outpost to make repairs to broken wagon wheels and the like.  The group pondered going to visit the Tower of Chautauqua, but decided against it in order to stay with the halflings.  

At the town of Numera the halflings conducted their first trades in order to get fresh food and get the group their first taste of fresh dwarven ale that had brewed over the winter.  In the next days the halflings traded only a portion of their goods, anticipating that they would get more money once in Kyrill.  

The trip to Kyrill was the first taste of the hills to the east of Kargam, and they steadily rolled up and down, forest covering much of them.  The hills became steadily steeper as they went, and the horses had a greater trouble dragging the wagons up the hills in the deep ruts.  Snow still covered much of the bare ground and trees, and in the places where it had melted made muddy patches in the road.  By the time they arrived at Kyrill they were ready to relax after getting a hot bath.  

Kyrill was a near-lawless town, run by gangs and shady merchants.  There are five gangs in the town, each responsible for certain commodities and each has their own signature methods of conducting business.  For the Blue Sash gang, it was shear ferocity and violence that they became the largest, toughest gang in town.  When the party stepped inside the gate they were greeted by Durkil, a dwarf that Alex's business partners had done dealings with.  With quick introductions and synopsis of the town, the party made their way toward the town square.  

When they came down the largest market street, word began buzzing in the locals' ears about the new meat.  The looks they garnered told them that they wouldn't make fast friends or survive long without being associated with a gang.  At the edge of the town square the group halted, and two of the halflings took in the view with the party.  

The town crier was half-shouting the news to a few dozen onlookers, most of them groups of dwarves that lounged on the steps in front of several of the buildings.  A halfling dressed in black with a blue bandana tied to each of his ankles stood and strode towards the group with two dwarves at his flank.  The halfling asked if the group had paid the toll to get into Kyrill, and if they had paid their merchant guild dues recently.  The party responded innocently all at once, causing a bit of confusion as more dwarves with blue pants gathered in a semi-circle around them.  

Grimnyr began speaking to the halfling, telling him a fascinating tale about the exploits of the party from last summer as they repeled an attack on the Lorleena's Cutter.  The halfling followed the story intently, fixed on Grimnyr.  Then Grimnyr asked that the halfling simply leave them alone, accidently insinuating that the same would happen to them if they didn't.  A dwarf nudged the halfling and he snapped out of his stupor to tell his fellow Blue Sash thugs to charge.  

Quentin tried to dodge through several of the dwarves but was struck several times as he pulled up his bow to shoot at the halfling.  The shot went wide as the halfling read a scroll.  The scroll began to immolate, then the fire washed over the halfling's arms and seemed to consume him, but still he stood, now wreathed in burning flames.  Jerrin commanded Tempest into battle with the dwarves as Thovaas and Alex worked against the other side to drop a dwarf to the muddy ground.  One of the halflings took a severe blow before the other ran to hide and watch from behind the horses.  Grimnyr strode forward chanting a poem of war and triumph to enhance the others.  Jerrin assumed the form of a dire ape to help deal with the dwarves as he pulled the severly wounded Tempest to run from the fight.  

Quentin was about to dodge out away from a dwarven attack but the short dwarf's reach was misleading and he caught an axe in the abdomen.  His life flashed before his eyes, and surely he thought he was dead, beyond any type of healing no matter how much he repented.  He crumpled into the mud, counting away the seconds as he looked at the beautiful sky above.  

The halfling held out his hands to shoot flames at Alex who dodged them entirely as he swung to flank another dwarf.  Thovaas stood his ground and hacked away at their chainmail armor.  Jerrin was making steady progress through the dwarves, grabbing one by the head to twist him out of the way, but with his unbridled strength Jerrin tore his head free of the dwarf's body.  Several more fell as they each tried to sink a blow into his thick hide.  

The halfling had enlarged himself somehow to stand at Thovaas's height before launching a burst of flame at the paladin.  The dwarves around Thovaas were defeated, and so he stepped up to striked the halfling.  When he hit him, a streak of flame errupted along Thovaas's arm, searing him as he recoiled.  Alex poured a potion of healing down the throat of his bleeding halfling partner as Grimnyr made his way over to aid Quentin.  Jerrin made quick work of the last of the dwarves as Thovaas healed himself as he was struck by the halfling's flaming morning star.  

Grimnyr gritted his teeth and went berserk, swinging wildly at the flaming halfling as the others moved around him strategically.  Quentin blinked, glad to be alive and grabbed his rapier.  He saw the flames licking around the halfling and still he attacked, feeling the magical burning as his blade sunk deeply into the enlarged halfling to make him fall.  

After the fight Grimnyr came out of his rage to hear clapping.  Several dwarves that had watched from the stoop of their building applauded the party's success, and offered them a brew if they'd like.  Grimnyr then approached the town crier, whose face went suddenly pale.  Thovaas walked around the bodies with his sword half-drawn to identify the magical armor and weapon the flaming halfling had carried while Alex looted the rest of the bodies.  The group gazed around to see if there would be anyone else to challenge them today, to which no one looked them in the eyes.  

Some of the party went to hang out with the Red Rooster gang, a loose cartel that relied heavily on stealth and diplomacy to earn their share of the market.  They also had strong ties to two of the five town council members and were one of the few gangs that could stand up to the Blue Sash gang.  

The next week flew by as the party helped keep a good watch on the halflings' sales as they bought up large amounts of ore, most of it refined, in order to bring back to Kargam to sell.   The halflings had made an extra three hundred gold that they offered Alex, but Alex decided that the money should be used to pay for their protection, as the party was looking to go further north-east.  They parted ways, and the group kept one wagon for the cook and squire as well as haul a decent amount of food and ale from there to the next stop: Rodya.  

The thirty-foot tall walls of Rodya could be seen a good distance away as the hills seemed to suddenedly grow into the mountains of the Oton Peaks right were the town lay.  Rodya was a mostly dwarven town, and it was not as lawless as the dwarves respected their actions as a reflection on their clan.  In this town, humans were considered vagrants and treated with much suspicion.  They paid the single gold piece toll to enter into the town and quietly they made their way to the two-level hostel made for travelers.  The place was poorly kept compared to many of the other solidly built homes in the town, but at least it was warm.  

The town had no inns per se, but instead the people had to be invited to stay at a dwarven home.  Given they had no dwarven friends and no one recognized them, Quentin and Grimnyr were invited to only the lowest of homes to share ale for a price.  They found out much about the mountain of Thermoleth, where it was so cold at the top that not even snow fell there, and how many dwarven expeditions had never returned.  Meanwhile Thovaas and his hired hands groomed the horses and prepared to leave early the next morning.  

Quentin and Grimnyr woke up outside the home where they last remembered anything, and Thovaas was standing over them kicking the bottoms of their feet to wake them up.  A light snow had fallen over them, dusting their clothes, and it was clear that they looked like the lowest of the low as they groggily stood.  A dwarf that they vaguely recalled awoke when they did, and hopped to his feet sober and unaffected by the hearty amount of ale they all had consumed.  

It was noon before the group left Rodya out the east gate then turned north.  A guard from on top of the wall called down to them not to go north, as that way was cursed.  Ignoring him, they pressed onward after inspecting the tapestry map.  Grimnyr and Quentin began to remember that the way north had two human keeps at one time, the Keep of Yatu and the Keep of Nemirka.  They were assumed to be abandoned, but then they heard a dwarf say that his old uncle went up to Yatu once and was turned away.  This is also the same dwarf that claimed he had outran a dragon on his donkey and mined two tons of silver with his left hand in one day.  Or it could have something to do with how sober the two were at the time.  

The group proceeded on, leaving behind the cook and squire to look after the wagon.  They pressed on through the snow, and sometimes their horses sank so far in the snow it was up the rider's knees.  Clearly this path had not been blazed for a long time.  The day wore on, and they set up camp without a fire.  The group shivered through the night, and the horses looked haggard as morning came.  Thovaas and Jerrin decided to cast enchantments to protect everyone, including the horses and Tempest, from the nasty weather sure to come.  

They traveled three more days north before they saw a faint wisp of smoke in the clear mountain air, and it was another two days before they rounded a wide bend to see where it was coming from.  Ahead of them where the path was straight, they could see a shack along the steadily climbing glacier path.  Blocking the way in the middle of the snowy path was a figure clad in heavy armor with symbols of Fharlanghn.  When the group approached within earshot he told them they had come far enough, and now they had to go back down the mountain.  

The group was adament about continuing, but he was just as stubborn, telling them that they would go no further.  He said that for their own good the group should travel back from where they had come, marry a fat wench and raise piglet children.  Two knights emerged from the cabin, summoned horses and mounted up.  Three others came out to stand in front of the cabin while an older man in robes walked up a ladder to stand on top of the cabin next to a man with a crossbow.  Grimnyr spoke up, engaging the first man in conversation about needing to explore further beyond to Mount Thermoleth.  They scoffed, then Grimnyr followed up with a charm that befriended the first guard.  The mage, clearly witnessing what had occurred, shouted that the party was attacking.  

The group went into action, Alex and Thovaas heaving forth through the snow while Jerrin transformed into a lion to hold his ground with Tempest.  The mounted knights galloped forward and soon they clashed with Thovaas and Alex as the robed mage called forth a storm of sleet to descend upon those in the back of the group.  Grimnyr chanted a limerick of righteousness as he continued to occupy the first man in the heavy armor.  

Thovaas charged forward and stabbed the mage with his lance, nearly pulling the man off of his feet with the blow.  The three footmen strode forward to wait for anyone to emerge from the sleet storm as their mounted comrades turned to charge Thovaas.  Alex walked out from the other side and the crossbowman shot him as soon as he emerged.  Grimnyr could be heard still talking to the man to keep him from attacking.  Quentin emerged to fire an arrow at the mage, which struck but seemed not to harm him.  

Tempest took several hard blows and Jerrin motioned him to withdraw so he could pounce upon them one at a time.  The mage conjured forth a rolling ball of flame to strike the enlarged Jerrin as he mauled another of the footmen.  Thovaas and the other knights traded blows, and Thovaas's mount struck heavily with its hooves.  Quentin and Alex helped to bring down the footmen as Grimnyr pledged peace and asked that everyone put down their weapons.  The mage stepped up to blast Jerrin with a bolt of lightning, wounding him.  The crossbowman shot at Thovaas several times while he was distracted with the other knights.  

Then the mage cast an enchantment to prevent Thovaas from moving, holding him fast to his mount and unable to act.  Soon the other mounted knights would be able to close and strike a final blow.  Jerrin sprang into action, jumping over a prone footman to pounce on one of the knights.  Grimnyr silenced the area near the mage, preventing him from casting any further spells while on top of the cabin, and Thovaas's mount backed carefully out of the line of fire from the other knight.  

Shaking himself free of the possession, Thovaas turned to see that the wizard had jumped down from the top of the cabin.  He turned his mount and strode forth, slicing the wizard down with a single blow.  The crossbowman, who had dropped his weapon to the ground below, leapt upon Thovaas from the top of the cabin, dragging them both into a snowy drift.  

The first guardian Grimnyr had charmed broke free once Grimnyr had stopped talking to him, and he turned and charged.  The others ganged up on him, striking blow after blow until he fell.  They turned to see Thovaas and Grimnyr standing over a patch of red snow, in the middle of which was the body of the crossbowman.  Relieved, the group began to search the bodies and around the cabin.


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## MarauderX (Feb 19, 2005)

*Session 28:  The Keeps of Yatu and Nemirka*

Investigating the aftermath of the battle, the group poured over the bodies of the fallen Fharlanghn knights.  Finding several items of value that they would no longer use, the group removed them and buried the bodies deep within the snow, chizeling into the ice beneath their feet to find a proper place for them.  

The small hut that they had inhabited had animal skins strapped to the rickety walls, and a hole in one corner was used to pull small fish from the river below.  Instead of staying the party used the last few hours of daylight to set out travelling once more.  

The trail narrowed even more, and the mountains towered above them on either side.  Wildlife and foliage had nearly disappeared, something that Jerrin had thought strange.  They continued for another four days, steadily ascending along the trail next to where the frozen river lay.  Enchantments shielded the group and their mounts from the elements, and progress was steady through the snow-bound trail.  

On the fourth day they turned around the edge of a mountain to see a keep high up along where a rivulet split from the small river.  It loomed over the trail at the base of the intersection and a quick scan revealed there were no tracks along the path to the keep.  Slow movement caught their eye, as a slender metal spear tip protruded over the wall and glided from one side of the gate to the other.  Alex scampered up to the wall quietly, and quickly he circled around the keep investigating for any other entrances.  The party moved up the steep path to the keep and as they reached the flat grade a voice boomed out, calling for them to halt.

The party saw a man peeking over the battlements.  He was thin and had visible yellow spots on his cheeks.  After a quick introduction the gate opened and one by one the group entered.  Alex crept up to his horse to grab his grappling hook and rope, but as he went to pull them off without anyone watching the whole saddlebag slumped loudly to the ground.  The dozen or so men inside watched as the group entered, and Alex decided to go in with the others after the guards had seen him.  

Inside the gates the group felt a stench settle into their clothing and Grimnyr coughed for several minutes as he breathed in the vile air.  The men inside were thin and haggard, and all of them had a yellowish tinge to their skin with off-color patches on their faces.  The guards sized them up and seemed to be eyeing the horses and the packs on them.  Thovaas spoke to them and asked to see their leader or whoever was in charge.  The lead guard scoffed and replied that it would be a few days before they could see him, as he was likely indisposed at the moment.  Alex gave away ten days' worth of rations to the hungry guards, most of which devoured the dry food in a few minutes.  The leader of the guards told them they would probably be sorry, that the Lord would see to a fit punishment for them.  

The group was led to a guardhouse and again they asked to see the Lord of the keep promptly.  Again the guards exchanged glances and finally led the party to the large central inner keep.  The horses were taken to the stables and most of the famished guards went with them to ensure their... safety.  As they approached Thovaas called forth the power to cure the illness that had settled into Grimnyr's chest.  

The party entered the main doors and walked into a carpeted lobby.  The deep red carpet had seen wear, but was still very clean by most standards.  A robed man greeted them there and told them to come back in a few days to make an appointment.  The party grumbled and he finally looked up from his ledger to scan them over, then said that he could schedule the appointment now if they wished.  Again the party told the thin man that waiting would not do, that they needed to see his lord now.  The man explained that the lord, not just his, would not see them now, but he would check to see if there was an opening tomorrow.  His head disappeared behind a curtain and he was heard asking about the Lord's schedule.  He turned to the party and smiled, saying that they could meet with their Lord at dawn tomorrow.  The party again told him that their schedule indicated now was a good time.  Again the man's head disappeared behind the curtain and returned to say that there would be a few rules they should obey when visiting the Lord.  

First, they were to look him in the eye at all times, as the Lord did not trust those who could not do this.  Second, everyone was to refer to the Lord as Lord and nothing else.  Third, they were to remove their shoes to keep the inner chambers sacred and clean.  And last, there were to be no mongrels, pets, or other shaggy or feathered beasts allowed to intrude into the inner sanctum.  

The party paused.  They reflected what they were doing at the keep, why they had come this far, and why they were even insisting to see the Lord.  They knew that they couldn't wait around in the keep to catch a disease or be ambushed by the inhabitants.  Eventually they decided to see if they could help the inhabitants there by finding out if the Lord was indeed keeping the people captive at the keep.  It was determined that they would not take off their shoes, nor would Jerrin comply to keep Tempest outside.  The robed man attempted to stop them, but a quick look made him wimper.  

The party sauntered into a gallery, fully carpeted with tapestries along the walls.  At the other side was a wide corridor and a set of doors that likely led to see the Lord.  Grimnyr gazed at some of the tapestries and recognized a few house symbols relating to the baronies of ages past.  The tapestries were worn but still retained much of their original color.  Two more robed men stood on either side of the hall to the door with stoic faces as they saw the defiant party stride in.  A voice boomed out to open the doors and the robed men complied.

As soon as the doors swung open, the party and the being inside took battle stances.  Before them a dried husk of a man stood on a raised platform with a decorated throne.  The floor and walls were mosaic works of art that would have taken centuries to construct, and large, round purple tiles covered the floor.  In the center a small pool of water reflected the light of the mummy's hand as a magical flame sprouted from it.  

Alex was the first to react, and he washed off a wave of fear that threatened to overwealm him.  An arrow zipped by the mummy just before it threw the ball of flame to explode on the party, throwing the robed servants to the floor in a burning masses.  Jerrin summoned forth an arrowhawk and it swept forward to strike the mummy with lightning.  Grimnyr noticed that Quentin was frozen with fright and he cast an enchantment to counteract the effect, then cast an enchantment to enhance everyone's focus.

The mummy cast a spell that called upon dark powers and he stepped upward into the air of the 30' room.  The rest of the group entered the room to bring their attacks to bear, and Jerrin enhanced Thovaas with the same spell the mummy had so he could walk upward on thin air to challenge it.  Grimnyr circled out of an area of silence that the mummy had put in place and leapt upward into the air to strike him heavily across its back, bringing its focus from the airwalking Thovaas.  

Jerrin commanded a rolling ball of flame to bounce up at the mummy several times and it finally connected as Thovaas was struck with a heavy blow.  Instead of striking back again Thovaas reached out and grabbed the thing's skull before calling for the healing power of Heironious.  A blue flash and a searing flame left the paladin's hand print on the skull before the mummy dived downward to take advantage of Grimnyr below him.  Thovaas followed him downward as both Alex and Quentin circled firing arrows into the fray.  

Tempest gripped a leg of the mummy dangling in the air and thought to drag him prone, but the magic keeping him suspended in the air held him fast.  Jerrin had morphed into a huge dire ape, strutting his way into the room after ducking his head in the corridor, something he was very unaccustomed to doing.  The mummy struck out several times, and the group traded blows with him as he tried to walk upward out of range of those on the ground.  Thovaas smote him once again, creating another streak of black across the dry bandages.  

Before he could learch upward out of reach, Jerrin grabbed a leg with one heavy arm and the mummy's rib cage with the other and began to tear.  His mouth locked around its neck and wrenched the skull free of the body just as the other limbs gave way and were torn from the trunk.  The skull fell toward the corner of the room and stopped to rest facing the party, the black hand print boldly visable.  

Alex investigated the throne and Quentin assisted to scan over the room for the next half an hour.  They saw much of the mosaics were firmly in place and likely worth a good amount in the artisans market, but here in the mountains they would be nearly impossible to uproot and move.

Thovaas took the skull from the corner and walked down the hallway three feet from the carpeted floor and through to the lobby.  The greeter had been watching the fight and cowered as Thovaas parted the curtains he had hid behind.  The paladin then walked out to the front of the small building to address the inhabitants as they gathered, still standing three feet above the ground.  Murmurs could be heard, and it wasn't clear to those looking at him what had happened.  A few were heard to say that Thovaas had stolen the Lord's power, that he had taken it in some vile manner.  All of the people were emaciated and brownish spots were scattered across their yellow tinged skin.  Clearly they were all striken with whatever disease the mummy had given them.  

Once they had gathered it was clear the keep housed around ninety men and women.  Thovaas noticed that there were no elderly or young children.  He told them that he had defeated their evil master and were free to go.  Talking ensued again and a bold man asked why they should trust the paladin that the loard was dead.  Thovaas showed them the skull and they seemed dumbfounded.  He explained what had happened inside, and the small crowd seemed to shake their heads and talk again.  Someone asked Thovaas where he was from and who he paid homage to.  He responded that he was first a servant of Heironious and a knight of the Kingdom of Correl.  They stared, as if expecting an explanation.  Thovaas continued that he had come from Kargam, that he had passed through many towns on his way there and was now on a task for the Kingdom.  They again stared, not knowing what the Kingdom of Correl was, and a few asked which Baron he really served.  Instead Thovaas asked how long they had been there and how long they had lived with the Lord.  The crowd exchanged glances and words once again, each of them trying to recall the last time they had seen their Lord, which phase the moon was in, and how many seasons had passed.  They were at a loss.  

Meanwhile Alex had discovered that there was a mostly hidden entrance to a room behind the throne, as it appeared to have undergone constant traffic by the mummy.  A closer inspection revealed that the door was trapped somehow and that there was likely a means to disable it.  With Quentin's aid they discovered that the throne itself, when turned, deactivated whatever trap was in place.  Pushing the door open, the two were washed in a golden light from the room they had discovered.  

Grimnyr and Jerrin appeared at the entrance to join Thovaas.  Grimnyr was certain from what he heard and the tapestries inside that they had lived in these mountains for over five hundred years.  One of the men in the crowd told the party that they had moved here with their Lord Fistandantilus when he wanted to get away from the tyranny of the other Barons.  He said the that the mountains were his domain, that the only one who shared them was the Lord of Keep Nemirka.  Further questions revealed that the children and elderly who were the most suseptable to illness had died long ago, and that Lord Fistandantilus had sustained them up to this point.  As he got a tingling from his spiritual mount, Thovaas decided to check on the horses and bring them back.  

Jerrin and Grimnyr returned inside to see Alex and Quentin gazing at a gold-filled room.  Inside the room were many gold crafted items, and many parts of the wall were lined with a thin layer of gold foil to make the room glow that much brighter.  A large golden pitcher sat on a stone pedistal in the center, and a few gems were inlaid into other items in the room.  Alex picked up the pitcher to assess it's value and felt a thin, clear substance coating it.  He could feel the illness that pervaded the keep try to wrack his health once more but managed to drop the pitcher and cover his mouth to ward it off.  Grimnyr examined a pile of gold pieces on the floor and recognized that they predated the Kingdom of Correl, most likely by several hundred years.  It suddenly struck him that perhaps the man pictured on the pieces was supposed to be this mummy creature, as each barony used to manufacture their own gold piece standard.  It also seemed as though each gold piece in the piles had a thin film of clear slime on it.  

Thovaas returned and the group began discussing the fate of those in the keep as well as a possible solution to cleansing the gold of the diseased slime left behind by the mummy.  Thovaas mentioned that he had expended his ability to relieve disease on Grimnyr, and Jerrin said it would be a long time for him to lift the disease from the inhabitants.  The people of the keep also asked how they would be provided food, and Jerrin decided to investigate a solution.  

As the group moved their things to the outside of the keep walls, they were again thankful for the enchantment that protected them from the weather as the wind whipped about the mountains.  Jerrin took flight as an eagle and scanned the mountainsides for food and trees that could be used for warmth.  Further and further he glided west until he saw the forest begin abruptly at the bottom of a sixty foot cliff.  Investigating a bit more, Jerrin realized that the forest and wildlife within a two-day radius was eradicated and only snow covered barren rock.  Returning to the keep he learned that the people of keep had already scoured the land for as much lumber and food as they could, eventually falling shorter year after year until Lord Fistandantilus was their sole provider and they were beholden to him.  Jerrin offered the location of lumber at the bottom of a cliff to the west and an outspoken leader mentioned two men getting killed trying to drag the logs up to the keep.  

The group mentioned trekking down the slopes to the dwarven town they had stopped in, saying that it was about ten days travel.  Jerrin found a bird messenger and sent a quick message to the squire Thovaas had left behind in the dwarven town.  The message was brief and relayed the situation that the inhabitants of the Keep of Yatu were in.  It was then decided that they should fend for themselves and that the party needed to keep going on to the Keep of Nemirka.  

The party could see occasionally see the Keep of Nemirka from two days away, as it was situated in a highly visable location on the top of a lower mountain.  As they approached the party could see no smoke rising nor see any movement.  When they did get to the base of the Keep, Quentin noticed that the door was ajar.  The other squinted to see what he did and it wasn't until they started up the path to the keep that they saw he was right.  Cautiously they approached.  

Scanning the area inside and out the party saw that the place was indeed empty.  Inside the ground was terraced upward towards the largest house, large to the others in the keep by comparison but still small to most from where the party had seen.  Inspecting the entire keep yielded a common thread: whoever had lived here had packed up and left abruptly.  As Grimnyr pulled out a chair to rest, the party saw something just outside the open door.  A tiger was watching them from outside.  

Turning with his bow in hand, Quentin launched first one, then another arrow at the beast outside the door.  Thovaas could hardly believe that it was there as his mount had given no indication of an intruder.  The tiger leapt into the air, recoiling from the arrow wounds, and sprinted towards the gate of the keep.  Grimnyr and the others began to give chase, but soon the last they saw of it was its striped tail as it darted beyond the walls of the keep.  Jerrin shuddered as he realized how intelligent those eyes seemed.  To him, this was no ordinary tiger.  The others trusted the small druid's instincts and discussed what it could possibly be.


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## MarauderX (Mar 14, 2005)

*Session 29:  A Door Into the Unknown*

The group scouted the Keep of Nemirka and realized it was completely empty.  There were no bones or signs of struggle.  It was as though the place was abandoned long ago and the inhabitants had taken everything they could carry with them.  There were overturned chairs and tables, shutters were torn from windows, and wind-blown snow stacked up on walls.   

The tracks of the tiger they had seen were investigated again by Quentin and Jerrin, the latter in the form of a wolf.  Again they found nothing, as the tracks simply stopped soon after they left the keep, and there was no scent on the air.  The party stayed the night in the keep, free from the cold wind that had whipped around them on the trail there.  In the morning they left.

The trail was more apparent as a solid stone walkway ten feet wide, and it wound around several turns toward the mountain of Thermoleth.  Snow had been blown away by the constant wind, and the spell-wrapped group made their way a little faster than before.  Several days stretched out, and with each they could see the mountain hovering over them, its black peak soaking in the spring sun.  At long last Jerrin stopped the group and they realized the mountain was now before them.  

The hour was late and the sun was about to set when they made another cold camp.  In the morning they found that the trail wound to the side of the mountain as it gradually split from the stream beside it.  Grimnyr chiseled into the ice of the stream as water could be heard under it.  Quentin scrounged among several plants looking for game and Alex kept a vigilant watch with Thovaas.  Jerrin morphed into an eagle and cruised around the mountain, fighting to stay aloft and towards the direction he chose as the wind buffeted him.  It was then that he noticed that the trail continued beyond the mountain and around a bend to stone-carved entrance in a mountain.  He returned to tell the others what he had found.

The group walked the trail to where Jerrin had seen from above.  They could see the bridge high above spanning the frozen waterfall, and Jerrin told them that the small gatehouse in the middle was empty and abandoned.  Alex passed through the wide stone entrance, keeping an eye out for anything peculiar as Grimnyr inspected the construction.  Cautiously they entered and Jerrin brought forth a light for Alex to guide them up the spiral ramp inside.  

The group pondered that the ramp might be wide to allow for horses with carts to come up the path, but the radius of the turn was sharp and the path perhaps too steep.  As they walked up the ramp Quentin told the others to halt for a moment, as he thought he distinctly heard something.  Thovaas scoffed, telling him it was the wind as it whistled by the entrance below.  Or perhaps it was the three horses they had left to graze on the mountainside until they returned.  Jerrin cast a charm to enhance his medium and high-pitched hearing and they continued.

Then again, Quentin heard it, and this time so did Alex, but it was Jerrin that shook his head in disbelief.  They waited for a moment and in a minute a low rumble could clearly be heard by all.  Alex and Quentin ventured further up the slope to peer around the middle column that much further, and Jerrin pulled forth a wand to help boost their nimbleness.  

Alex was the first to see a large, perfectly spherical stone ball rolling down the ramp.  It came into the light quickly and Alex sprang to climb and cling to the outer wall.  Alex felt the squeeze of the stone ball rolling over the backs of his calves.  Quentin dove to the ground to avoid the ball which filled the ramp.  Grimnyr and Jerrin had pressed themselves to the inner wall as Thovaas dismissed his mount and did the same.  Thovaas sucked in his breath to avoid the ball, but his armor pressed hard into him as the ball dragged him as it passed.  They were all quiet, listening as the ball descended the ramp and perhaps for another ball.  They heard the crushing of ice and the low rumbling stopped.   

Ascending up the ramp further, Alex and Quentin steadfastly inspected the perfectly hewn walls for anything that might be out of the ordinary.  They reached the top and saw the bridge over the waterfall.  The empty stone gatehouse rested in the middle and they inspected it as Alex discovered where the rolling stone ball had dropped from.  He saw there that more large stone balls awaited on a ramp, and that it was likely if the trap were triggered again the next stone ball in the line would begin its descent.  

The group pressed on, following the trail as it ascended above the small river.  At ninety feet above it they walked along the gorge path as the shear walls of the mountain funneled the wind into their faces.  Occasionally they felt the bite of the cold wind as it pushed beyond the limits of their magical protection.  In an hour they saw the path ahead was blocked by what looked like a landslide.  Inspecting the rocks, it was believed that the rocks had fallen recently as there was no snow on them.  Alex volunteered to be the first to cross, and he had Thovaas tie a safety line around both their waists just in case something happened.  It was an idea that likely saved his life, as his feet gave beneath him on loose gravel and he slide over the edge.  Thovaas anchored himself before the rest helped to pull Alex back to the ledge.  

He tried again and this time scaled over taking a route much further from the edge.  Quentin climbed across next, and he and Alex anchored the one side for Thovaas, and Jerrin and Grimnyr held the other side.  Thovaas made his way over rather easily, and Grimnyr followed him closely.  Jerrin decided to ride his mount Tempest over the rocks.   Halfway over Tempest shuddered beneath Jerrin and skittered to the edge.  Jerrin gripped the edge of the cliff with his one hand and strapped his arm under Tempest’s barding with the other just as they were about to go over.  The others sprang into action, Thovaas Quentin and Grimnyr pulling as Alex climbed over the edge to assist Jerrin with Tempest’s weight.  The group strained to pull the wolfhound up to the ledge, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.  They pushed on once more.  

Ahead the group saw a missing section of the path ahead, as if the path itself had collapsed.  There was a narrow ledge about six inches wide, and the gap was twenty feet long.  Grimnyr, Quentin and Alex got a running start and leapt across.  Jerrin did the same while mounted on Tempest.  Lastly Thovaas took off his armor and, with Grimnyr’s assistance to take his armor, Thovaas made it over the gap.  It took him some time again, but he finally strapped his armor back on.  

In another hour the group saw a bridge ahead that crossed a chasm perpendicular to the gorge the trail followed.  The bridge had several sections missing and quickly the group’s trained eye saw ledges for them to step down to the bottom and back up the other side.  At the bottom they saw a natural cave and decided to approach it.  They heard growling echo out of the cave, and Alex dove to hide in a flanking snow bank as an enormous bear strode forth.  It galloped forth just as they party slashed and stabbed it.  Its large paws swung at them, but as soon as the fight had begun it was over.  

The party huddled to make a small fire and cooked the bear meat, the first filling meal in many days.  Grimnyr entertained them with a compelling story of restless men venturing into the world and their wild encounters in foreign lands.  

The next day the group ascended to continue north along the gorge path.  In an hour they saw that there was another bridge a quarter mile ahead that crossed the gorge.  However, this bridge also had sections missing.  On the other side there was clearly a doorway in the middle of a stone wall.  Jerrin decided to cast a spell to allow him to walk on air, then he transformed into a massive wolf.  One by one he ferried the others across.  When it came to Tempest, Grimnyr stroked the beast and spoke lulling lines from a famous wolf named White Fang many years ago.  The wolfhound lay quietly across Jerrin’s back while Grimnyr stroked behind his ears as they crossed the gorge walking on air as the wind whipped around them.  

On the other side the group saw a malevolent door.  Detailed carvings of vile figures dancing, praying, and fighting surrounded the door.  A depiction of a demon hung over the archway, and symmetrical serpentine shapes wound their way over the doors.  Thovaas and the others felt their skin crawl for a moment, then a voice boomed, but not in their ears.  It was in their minds, and though the words were foreign to them, the rhyme was still very clear.  

*“Approach me as you would to pass,
You are of the bastard races, alas,
To find a secret you wish to unmask, 
A parade of five en masse

“Servants of the elders you all five be,
Seeking to see the other side of me,
But in only one way will you pass for free, 
Name for me the elders, three.  

“First place your palm on my face,
Let my grip with yours enlace,
Cast a spell of your divine’s grace,
And solve the riddle of the race.”*

Thovaas tentatively held forth him hand, palm out, and pressed it to the door.  As he did, tendrils parted from the door and wound around his wrist and forearm.  They felt cold to him, yet soothing.  Relaxing, Thovaas loudly called upon the healing power Heironeous and felt the tendrils clasp tightly to him as the healing magic pulsed through him and into the door.  

The voice boomed in their heads again, and Tempest lowered his head and hid behind Jerrin.  


_*“One race should you know for your group is a tenth,
Though none of which are here to represent
Their choice has guided their descent
From the skies, though many repent

“What race are they?”*_

The group agreed on an answer, though their voices were strangely surreal compared to the words in their head.  Thovaas spoke.  “Elves.”  he said.  The voice boomed again.  

*“Another your path has found,
Not once but twice before he was downed,
Of this race, he searched for a common ground,
But his logic you five did confound.

“What race are they?”*

The party agreed with a nod, and this time Thovaas said “Rakshasa.”   The voice loudly erupted again.   

_*“After a trail of deceiving tricks, 
A surprise was found in a home of bricks,
The death followed a dangerous conflict,
Of a member of this race whose arms number six.

“What race are they?”  * _ 

The group glanced at each other and agreed quickly.  “Marilith.”  Thovaas said.  The door gave way under Thovaas’s pressure, but the tendrils did not yet let go of his hand.  As they looked beyond the door the voice boomed once more. 

_*“Behind me lies a path of grief,
For all those of strong or weak belief,
Shall meet the beyond with no relief, 
As for every soul there lies a thief.”*_

Looking at each other, the group memorized the vague warning as if they had heard it all their lives.  The tendrils released their grasp on Thovaas, and he rubbed his formerly constricted hand to get the blood flowing again.  Good thing he had used his shield hand just in case they run into any trouble beyond the door.  

They walked in what seemed a deep chasm, and dark threads and streaks could be seen moving against the blackness beyond.  In front of them a doorway of white light marked the exit, and in a moment they were through it.  

Differently colored walls lay beyond.  They walled in the pathway that began to open up for the party.  Soon they saw what lay ahead, and several of them stopped in their tracks in disbelief.  

A jungle stretched out as far as they could see.  Palm trees soared above their heads and exotic fruit hung from strange plants that they had never seen.  Grottos extended from the overgrown path, and a steamy mist hung over them, obscuring their vision to only see a few hundred yards.

The group went forth into the jungle, gazing at all of the strange things around them.  To the sides of the path they saw more bizarre animals, and just as they were striding slowly through the jungle, something stirred.  The group looked over to see tall ferns rustling and just as they stopped an enormous head pulled up to spot them.  The huge lizard-beast blinked once before it sprang towards them, and the party scrambled to pull weapons and prepare.  

In a moment the beast was upon them, and it snapped its terrible jaws at Tempest.    The wolfhound felt the knife-like teeth dig at his flesh, trying to grasp him in its massive mandibles.  Only the magic Jerrin had used protected him from being swallowed whole.  

A wave of surreal fear fell on the group, but Thovaas helped to slough it off.  Only Alex was impressed with the size of the huge lizard before them and thought the others were crazy for standing their ground against it.  The group surrounded the beast, slashing and stabbing through its thick hide.  Thovaas rode forth on his mount beside the bestial Jerrin.  Quentin stabbed and retreated several times while Alex maneuvered to flank the massive creature.  Grimnyr recited an epic from the barbarian vocal history before striking deeply into the giant lizard’s leg.  

Again the beast could not swallow Tempest, and the canine howled as the long teeth ripped his hide deeper and deeper.  The group continued their onslaught, and the beast snapped at Tempest again, and this time he went limp from blood loss.  He hung from the great lizard’s jaws, and just as it was about to make a meal out of the wolfhound, the group managed to drag down the beast.  Tempest slumped out of the jaws of the thing, and was soon healed.  Tempest whined painfully in gratitude as his wounds were closed.  

The party stopped to appraise their foe.  Next time they said they would have to try something different.  They carved a few pieces of the giant lizard’s flesh to cook and eat, and most took several teeth from the beast to prove that such large things do exist.  Alex’s hands stopped shaking and told them how brave and unwise the others were while laughing.  The group tore open the great beast’s innards and found only a few items of any worth.   Before long they decided to prop up the massive head of beast along the trail to ward off anyone who came their way.  

They traveled for another couple of hours, and the sun seemed to be in the place it should according to when they entered.  The jungle was thick, and Jerrin led the way through the thickening plants.  Hacking his way through, he led the group more swiftly along the path for several miles into the late afternoon.  As he was making his way, the group heard echoes of voices around the valley.

Soon Jerrin caught a glimpse of a clearing ahead in the jungle and decided to venture towards it.  As they made their way, loud shouting could be heard, loud enough to echo in the valley.  It was these voices that they had heard earlier, and now Jerrin saw a few flashes of movement through the thick jungle.  He led the group forward a little more then stopped them silently when he could see more. 

Ahead, in the large clearing, Jerrin saw two groups.  The first group looked like a cross between humans and cats, some thick and tough looking while most were gangly.  All carried long, recurve bows and had brightly colored fletchings on tapered arrows.  They were surrounded by the other group, and were poised to fire in a flash.  

The second group was composed of dwarf-like men, only with pitch black skin and white beards.  Grimnyr recalled legends of old that told of nasty dark dwarves called Duergar and whispered that these dwarves reminded him of such tales.  There were about a score and a half of them, though many had different looks to them.  The tops of all their heads were bald, and the hides they wore for armor came from no animal the group recognized.  There were many that had no beards at all, but they had thick, pronounced jaws.  The leader of the group was mounted on a salamander as large as a horse, and the long toes ended with suction-cup pads that rested nimbly on the ground.  

Thovaas peered through the jungle to inspect the duegar dwarves.  By his power could tell that blood-soaked armor was done so in a ritual that was likely more disturbing than he would care to imagine.  The group heard the dwarves shouting loudly in a tongue none of them could recognize, and heard the cat-like people in the middle announcing commands to one another that sounded vaguely elven.  The duegar taunted the catfolk for a few minutes, several of them laughing fiendishly.  

A wicked smile was across the leader’s face as Alex and Quentin crept closer to get in a position to strike.  The leader had seen the leaves in jungle moving, and he directed a half dozen of the closest to investigate.  That was when Quentin and Alex struck.  

The two of them leapt out of the jungle and stabbed two of the closest to them just as they swung around to face them.  Thovaas charged through the thick jungle on his mount and struck another with his lance.  Jerrin used a wand to cause plants to grab hold and inhibit an area to one side of the duergar.  Grimnyr charged forth on the other side to slash at another.  The cat-folk saw the opportunity and opened fire on the duergar, felling several of the beardless ones.  The duergar then went into action to strike back.  The majority charged the cat-folk, dropping several of the weaker ones as they drew twin scimitars to defend themselves.  

Several of the duergar struggled against the entangling branches Jerrin had brought forth, and one of the beardless stood before Grimnyr.  The barrel-chested dwarf dropped his massive jaw and Grimnyr saw that there wasn’t a tooth in the dwarf’s mouth.  It was then that the duergar blasted Grimnyr with such a violent sound to jar his insides and nearly made him dizzy with illness.  At once to him the sound was magical as it was brutal.

Quentin and Thovaas worked in tandem to strike several of them and finally bring one down.  On the other side Grimnyr and Alex worked to strike down another.  More cat-folk fell as beardless duergar shouted into their closed-in group, then brought forth bursts of sounds to wrack them even more.  The leader guided his mount in to kill attack the cat-folk as he directed others to deal with the party.  Jerrin summoned forth a lion that struck the leader and slashed deep gouges into his dark flesh.  The leader then commanded several of the beardless to cast enchantments to silence Jerrin as he tried to summon another ally, then to dispel the mystical lion.  

Jerrin then transformed into a large ape and strode forward with Tempest at his side.  He struck down several of the duergar as more cat-folk fell.  The cat people were routed, and the survivors darted behind the gorilla-like Jerrin.  In a flash the duergar leader pursued them, as many of the duergar paused to heal wounds and cast enhancing spells to increase their size to match Jerrin’s.  

Thovaas kept four duergar busy as they struck his mount repeatedly.  His mount struck back, but the proud horse was dropped under a hail of blows.  Thovaas then stood against them and his armor deflected many blows as they came at him, but was still injured several times as they came at him.  Quentin worked around him to help drop more of them.  

The rest of the party decided to attack the lizard mounted leader at once.  Jerrin struck and bit him, Alex stabbed him through his thick hide armor and the cat-folk peppered him with arrows.  Everyone attacked him repeatedly as he dropped several more cat-folk.  Hammering him time and again, the group finally dragged him, lifeless, from his mount.  Grimnyr defeated another of the duergar and the group then turned to see the rest of the duergar headed their way.  

Grimnyr charged straight at them, screaming madly as he swung his sword over his head and struck one of them.  They stopped to retaliate, staggering him in place.  The other duergar rushed forward to engage the party, but all the while kept their eyes on the cat-folk.  

BATTLE TO BE CONTINUED…


----------



## MarauderX (Mar 23, 2005)

*Session 30:  Ancient Discoveries *

The air was quiet for an instant, and in that instant the group became self aware of their own mortality.  The clearing next to the jungle was soaked with blood of the fallen cat-folk and duergar.  The area was littered with the fallen, and their weapons gleamed in the beams of the dim afternoon sun.  

Grimnyr broke the silence as he slashed upward at the duergar hovering over him.  His blow landed solidly against the dark dwarf.  The dwarf staggered his way over to receive healing by the nearest enlarged vocal duergar.  Grimnyr passed out on the ground, his mouth still clenched in grim determination.  

Thovaas went into motion and struck the duergar sergeant in front of him with a smiting blow.  The shock of the strike woke everyone around him as his sword bit deeply beyond the dark-skinned dwarf’s armor.  The duergar sergeant grunted and dropped to his knees as the life poured out of him, a foreshadowing of what was to come.  Quentin saw an opening on another and lunged forward to stab the duergar before stepping back to form a solid line with Thovaas.  

Alex tumbled his way over to the fallen Grimnyr, pulling out his water skin with the magic water from the Tower of Chautauqua.  The cat-folk that had maneuvered themselves behind Jerrin suddenly split up to prevent the duergar from advancing around the party to get to them.  One of the cat-folk touched the enlarged, ape-shaped Jerrin and a healing wave surged over him.  Another touched Thovaas on his back and the same happened.  The other two went to either side of the battle in hopes to hide in the jungle and flank the duergar.  

The duergar struck out at Jerrin and his wolfhound, Tempest.  Several of their axes drew blood as they slid around them in hopes to flank the large Jerrin.  Two of the vocal duergar strode forward to blast Quentin, Thovaas and the cat-folk behind them with deafening shouts.  They were also pursued by two of the duergar foot soldiers that struck out at them, and Quentin and Thovaas responded with attacks of their own.  

Alex rushed to pry Grimnyr’s mouth open and dump a pint of the water down his throat.  His eyes snapped open long enough for him to see Alex over him now.  Grimnyr smiled and relaxed as his body let go of the fury it had had moments before and went limp again.  Alex shouted his name trying to wake him, and then poured another pint of the water into his fallen comrade’s mouth.  

Meanwhile, the battle raged around them.  Jerrin picked up one of the injured duergar and ripped his chest wide open, painting a dark red splash across the lush grasses.   With another he tore the arm from it after securing it in his gory mouth.  

Thovaas stood fast as Quentin dove through the gap between the two enlarged vocal duergar.  Thovaas slashed one powerfully and Quentin took advantage and pierced it in the throat.  It slumped into a jungle tree and was still.  The other attacked Thovaas and as he did, Quentin managed to pierce through their powerful armor as he grabbed it by the shoulder and felt it convulse as he twisted and stirred his blade between its vertebrae.  It slumped forward and Quentin pulled out his blade and jumped to the side of another as it swung at him.  

Tempest harried one of the duergar soldiers with his bite, and finally ripped the bowels out of it as it yelled out in pain.  Jerrin slammed his large fist against another and bones could be heard snapping from the bludgeoning.  The other vocal duergar behind him could be heard gasping for its final breaths, its massive lungs pierced with multiple arrows.  

After Alex had played medic he made his way behind one of the duergar that had stuck Jerrin and attacked.  Grimnyr stood up and gripped his axe.  Though he was winded, he still walked toward the nearest duergar and swung his axe.  

Soon there was only one lone duergar left.  He was facing off against Thovaas and Grimnyr, and he decided with a vengeful scream that he would fight to the end.  Thovaas struck him again then Jerrin’s massive form lumbered over to let both arms fall like trees onto its head.  The skull could be heard cracking at its head dropped to be even with its shoulders.  


The group surveyed the damage, and Thovaas re-scanned the cat-folk to see if they could be determined to be evil in the least.  Seeing no deception, he sheathed his sword, but only partly as he scanned the fallen for magically enhanced items.  He was taken aback when every one of the bodies in the field glowed with magical armor, and each of their weapons shown with an aura of enhancement.  After seeing Thovaas’s face, Alex quickly went to work collecting the armor and checking the dead for treasure.  

Quentin was about to join them, but suddenly he heard Jerrin and the cat-folk talking in elven and decided that perhaps he should help.  They began speaking to Quentin directly, saying that they were glad to have his help along with that of his servants.    Their accent when speaking many of the elven words was unique, as if they wanted to enunciate each word perfectly.  Already Jerrin had asked them who they were, and they seemed just as curious about the party.  Quentin corrected them about the other party members’ status, saying that all in the party was equals and their eyes blinked several times in apparent astonishment.

The cat-folk referred to themselves as Litorians.  Their leader, Felvonni, inspected Quentin closely and remarked that the elves had changed much since she last saw them.  Quentin told her that he was half-elven, that his father was human and his mother elven and had died in child birth.  The Litorians snickered at first then were strangely fascinated with the concept.  

Felvonni explained that their expedition was on their way to meet two Rakshasa that had spoken to them in dreams.  The large group had been attacked by an army of duergar, who was once their slaves.  The Litorians used their escorts to fend them off while they escaped, but the remnants of the army pursued them across the valley.  They were hoping to escape into the jungle as they had in the past, but the duergar had cut them off and surrounded them just as the party showed up.  

Alex uncovered small sacks of gems and it started to dawn on him and Grimnyr that the duergar had been trying to travel light even though they had worn chain shirts and scale mail.  But when they began stacking it, they realized how light it was.  Grimnyr inspected the scale mail and determined that though it was similar to many dwarven makes; it was of no shape of any clan that he had seen.  

Jerrin and Quentin did their best smooth talking, landing casual compliments in order to earn their trust.  It was clear the Litorians owed them their lives, and graciously complimented the party in turn.  The Litorians asked if the party had seen the Rakshasa, to which they replied they had not.  They complimented Jerrin for being brethren of the wild, and asked about their journey there.  Quickly they began to pick up several of the words in common that Thovaas, Grimnyr and Alex had said in the infrequent silences of their conversation.  

Quentin and Jerrin asked and listened as Felvonni told them about the Litorians retreating to this hidden valley toward the end of the Great War.  Seeing both of them shaking their heads, she explained that the Litorians went there to avoid being attacked by elders or other slave races.  They took with them two slave races; the duergar to build their homes and tend their farms, and the canids to raise and tend their cattle as well as scout their lands.   Pitting the two slave races against one another, the Litorians kept a balance between them for fifteen hundred years, having each vie for Litorian favor.  

Eventually the duergar learned to hide their actual numbers deep within unmapped caves, and were secretive to even the Litorians.  The duergar descended deeper into vile means to achieve what they wished.  They began a war of attrition against the canids, wiping out the young of entire villages at a time.  It became harder and harder to breed enough of them to match the duergar, and then the balance was undone.  The canids were hunted to extinction.  

Following this the Litorians were able to keep the duergar in check with a relative peace over the next five hundred years.  Then the duergar were granted powers by a strange 6-faced god and were no longer afraid of the Litorians.  They made threats and started to reject any authority the Litorians tried to maintain.  Suddenly war broke out and the duergar made weapons of war to try to match the magical capacity of the Litorians.  The Litorians, who had once roamed the valley freely, now were forced to retreat behind the stone battlements the duergar had labored to create. 

The war has been ongoing for over five hundred years, and in that time the duergar have been steadily increasing their numbers while being able to exploit the knowledge of their own constructions.  The Litorians have been on a steady retreat, and the thought of impending doom has given birth to three factions within the Litorians as to how to ensure their survival.  

Felvonni says that she is one of the Greenbonds, one of the three Litorian factions.  The faction is dedicated to finding a peaceful resolution and is open to guidance from the spirits of the world.  They also appreciated help from outside sources, as they recognize the duergar for the fiends they have become.  

The group gathered the equipment they had collected and hid it within the jungle, including the gear Thovaas’s mount had been carrying.  They planned to come back for it, but the Litorians told them that the duergar had likely used their vocal communications to relay their position.  The group set out to reach a nearby outpost the Litorians told them about, and they were on their way before long.  

Talking along the way, the Felvonni asked about the elves and the outside world.  Quentin and Jerrin told her about the new prince that had ascended to the throne in the forest of Elarith.  She had raised an eyebrow with interest and Quentin asked what she knew of the elves of old and the Great War.  

Felvonni said it all started with the elves.  They had seen the powers that the humans had been granted, and most had sided with their creations, for better or worse.  Most thought it was their foolish pride in their own work that had made them so attached to the humans, but they were willing to fight the gods.  For this they were stricken from the skies, their wings ripped from the backs of all that had sympathized with the humans.  

The elves that did not side with the humans were also banished from the skies.  They were doomed to spend their days below the earth, never to soar under the sun again.  One race was more pleased with this result than any other – the dragons.  

The great serpents were now rulers of the realms over the ground.  They used their own slaves to wage this war, breeding larger, nastier creatures to fill the ranks of their armies.  Orcs made up the vast majority as they were quick to reproduce.  Ogre captains led death squads to decimate the humans in their homes, and they rode large foul beasts with many horns.  Goblin sappers made ruin of dwarven fortifications and foiled Halfling traps.  

But even the reptile lords were divided in their interests.  

The division was split as scholarly dragons sought to find the root of the cause, to find enlightened humans and test them for their worthiness.  Eventually the scholar dragons found the slave races to be of noble quality, and that they should share this world with them.  Others would never give up their newfound power of the skies, and the line was drawn between their race as well.  

We were set in our ways, as we had become lazy and complacent.  We were content to live as we had, having the slave races fill the duties they had been assigned by our design.  We Litorians had developed the canids and duergar to assist us with mining and herding long before the Great War started.  We tried to remain neutral, to settle matters by way of judicious decision after much thought.  It was our eastern cousins, the Rakshasa, who dragged us away from center.  

The Rakshasa had ruled that the old laws of war no longer applied to the slave races, as they were creations that they owned, and were to live and die at their whim.  They employed diseases, manipulation and treachery that had not been seen in a very long time.  The Rakshasa made the convincing argument that no matter how they tried the slave races were doomed to extinction if they wished.  The Litorians joined them, if only half-heartedly, in an effort to quell the rebellion and let the elves descend to join them.  

Then the gods had their say.  The humans, Halflings, dwarves and other folk were granted powers from these new gods.  The tide turned, and the slaves won battle after battle with the aid of the crippled elves and the dragon scholars.  So we created a home to retreat to, bringing the savanna and jungle from the south with us.   We Litorians populated it with many of our familiar cattle-like creatures, and set about worshipping the gods as we always had.  Only they seemed to stop listening as intently, and it was clear to us then that we had been abandoned by most of them.  

The grey god of death, Incabulos, was one of those to remain, and it is to one of their operating temples that Felvonni led the group toward.  Felvonni explained that the Litorians, now that they were under threat of extinct themselves, had divided opinions on how to ensure their own survival.  From it came the three factions, and Felvonni led a large group of the Greenbonds to try to meet with the Rakshasa to deal with the duergar threat, or in the least, provide another home in which to settle.  

Felvonni warned that although they were headed to a Litorian outpost, the inhabitants were of the Incabulos faction.  The last faction was of those that thought they should seek out Thermoleth and bring her to help.  The party recognized the name Thermoleth, and Grimnyr explained that the only place he had heard of it was that the black-peaked mountain they had passed was called Thermoleth.  When they arrived at the outpost they saw what looked like catapults on top of thick stone walls.  The tall walls had several smears of soot where the fires of war had scarred them.  

The party was greeted lukewarmly, and the thirty Litorian inhabitants scanned over the group snootily with their eyes.  All were devotees of Incabulos and wore black, grey, red and white to signify their status.  Their leader stopped to greet them with two followers behind him.  Nodding, they greeted the party with a glance and spoke with Felvonni in the strange Litorian tongue.  

Felvonni replied in elven for the benefit of Quentin and Jerrin.  She introduced them as equals to one another, and explained Quentin’s half-elven heritage to him.  Then she explained that they had helped defeat an army of duergar that had harried them across the valley.  She introduced the Litorian as Mezimi, high priest of Incabulos and leader of the outpost.   

Jerrin then mentioned that they had come upon the Greenbond Litorians as they were venturing to the gate they had come through to meet the Rakshasa.  From that Felvonni gave Jerrin a stunned look while Mezimi smiled crookedly.  Mezimi then replied that he understood the need to meet the Rakshasa, and such an ally would certainly help with repressing the duergar.  With that he glided away, expecting them all to follow him to the main stone temple at the center of the outpost.  

The group walked in tentatively.  They saw the broken-arch vaulting thirty feet above them, and scanned the dark grey stone that had various relief carvings painted with white and deep shades of red.  In front of them was a ring of seven worshipping Litorians that surrounded a square stone slab that was raised a foot or so from the floor.  It was stained red with blood from use, and piled in the center were corpses and bones.  The chanting figures were led by another high priest of Incabulos.  

Behind this two channels carved into the floor led past three metallic creatures that stood unmoving on ten-foot square raised tiles.  Beyond them the channels, filled with a red substance that looked like blood, ended in churning blackness.  Above these two swirling masses the blackness changed to a greenish, and two stunning figures could be seen trapped within.  What was between them made most of the party gasp.  

A Rakshasa stood on the middle raised tile, blue light shimmering around it from below.  Female, the Rakshasa had her strange palms turned outwards, and from them a greenish blue light extended to envelope the angelic beings.  The Rakshasa looked strained, as if it was taking all of her effort to maintain what she was doing while the chanters in the foreground raised the pitch of the throng.  

Jerrin pulled out the wand of curing and tapped Tempest, who sat by him whining with concern.  Then he tapped himself several times as Mezimi blathered on about how a Rakshasa indeed makes an almost perfect ally.  Quentin stepped to his side just as Grimnyr spotted something stirring on the red slab.  Grimnyr wasted no time, and plucked one of the orange spheres from the belt around his waist and threw it in the middle of the room.  It exploded, blasting six Litorian onlookers into the wall behind them and incinerating two of the priests.  

Quentin slashed through Mezimi’s thick black robes as he tried to strike him, and Jerrin mounted Tempest and streaked across the room toward one of the entrapped figures.  Alex leapt into action, streaking to the nearest priest and lodging his blade into the Litorian’s back deep enough to make him fall.  Thovaas strode up to Mezimi, who swirled around in time to meet his blade.  Quentin saw that the Litorian was still stammering from surprise and his rapier ended his days.  Just after Jerrin ran across the room, Grimnyr hurled another of the orange spheres, this time striking the other side and leveling the other Litorian priests surrounding the red slab.  

Suddenly the group saw the wide metal figures move toward them with thundering steps that echoed about the great hall.  Quentin dropped another of the priests as the skeleton they had summoned stood and wielded a scimitar against him.  Alex tossed a tangle-foot bag and the glob inside quickly hardened around the skeleton’s feet.  The Greenbond Litorians fired arrows at one of the priests and then at the immobile skeleton as they moved in tandem with one another.  The Litorian onlookers dashed for cover after the two fiery explosions and they huddled in a corner.  

Jerrin dug his small hands into the green goop and the radiant green light from the Rakshasa suddenly ceased.  Jerrin looked over his shoulder to see the female Rakshasa had dropped to one knee, and then she looked up and made several motions with her awkward-looking hand.  Across the room one of the jade statues stepped forward as centuries of dust stirred.  Jerrin asked if she was alright in elven, and she replied that she was.  They exchanged names, she called herself Arilthar, before she wiped her brow and stood.  

The metal statues lumbered forward and one of them struck Quentin heavily.  Another slammed Thovaas with its metal fist.  Quentin, feeling the bruise that was sure to form, backed away from the metal monster.  Thovaas stood toe-to-toe with his and he hit the thing with his longsword as hard as he could.  His blade struck it heavily in the side twice, and with the second blow the blade remained lodged in it.  Thovaas watched as its strange metal flesh wrapped around the blade while he tugged on it before deciding to let go.  

Grimnyr and Alex made their way to assist Thovaas, and together they worked against the metal construct.  Jerrin tapped his wand of healing on the head of the beautiful winged creature trapped in the green goo, and it stirred slightly.  He reached up and tried to pull her free, and in an instant he was enraptured with her stunning magnificence.  Quentin made his way around the metal statues and came alongside Jerrin to assist in freeing the being within the gel.  

Grimnyr lost his temper after the metal statue slugged him in the chest, and he swung his sword into it with all his might.  It stuck, but he pulled it free after tugging on it several times.  Again he swung, and again it stuck before he pulled it free.  The next time his blow landed heavily on its shoulder, and this time his sword stayed wedged in its flesh.  Alex also stabbed it with his rapier and when it pierced its flesh he felt the tip stick.  He pulled and pulled, and the weapon was slowly consumed by the metal monster.  As he saw his favorite weapon disappear he noticed that the wounds that it had sustained were closing.  

Jerrin saw that Quentin had attracted one of the metal constructs and he summoned an ape to help deal with it.  He also enhanced the ape’s claws with magic, and it struck the metal figure heavily several times just as it struck the ape.  

Thovaas pulled a duergar axe from his belt and used it to strike the metal beast, and hit several times before it stuck and was swallowed into the thing.  Two jade statues engaged the third metal figure and they traded many blows before the metal monster seemed to simply seize up and fall over.  Another of the jade statues came to the protection of the Rakshasa.  The last assisted Thovaas, Alex and Grimnyr with their metal figure.  

Jerrin’s summoned ape beat against the metal construct but was slammed roughly again and disappeared.  The jade statue that was near Arilthar the Rakshasa stepped forward to strike it several times before it froze in place after a hard blow.  The huddling Litorians, threatened by Quentin to help him or die, scurried toward the entrance in a pile.  One of the jade statues spun and lopped the head from a Litorian, and Quentin pulled his bow and shot another.  Not seeing it drop, he gave chase and brought it down with another arrow.  The remaining shed their robes and dropped to the ground, huddling in fear for their lives.  Their cries were in Litorian and they seemed to be cowing to Felvonni as she notched another arrow.  

Grimnyr finally felled the last of the metal constructs and Alex kicked at it, hoping to retrieve his rapier, but had no luck.  Quentin returned to where Jerrin was digging at the base of the green gel and her angelic body slid free.  Quentin gripped her by the shoulders and instantly felt a wave of pure joy sweep his body.  A smile sprang to his face as he and Jerrin helped her to carefully stand.  After she was stable she leaned on the proud Jerrin as Quentin, his chest puffed, crossed to free her twin on the opposite side.  Thovaas, ever wary of danger, detected nothing vile about either of the angelic women.  

Arilthar stepped around the group with the four jade statues surrounding her for protection.  She nodded at Jerrin and said in common so the Litorians could not understand.  Sneering, she focused on the party as they showed little surprise at her stripped fur, and she realized this was not the first Rakshasa they had seen.  She said that the next time that they shall meet they will no longer be allies, but will welcome the day that she can snuff the life out of the halfling, choke the knight of Heironeous to death, and flay the flesh from the cunning sneak.  Arilthar moved to leave with the jade statues flanking her, and Jerrin bid her a less-than-fond farewell.  The Greenbond Litorians, guarding the few remaining Litorian priests that had surrendered, asked Quentin what had been said.  

In a few words, Quentin summed it up as a misunderstanding, that the group had had poor experiences with Rakshasa in the past.  Felvonni shrugged and also let Arilthar disappear without pursuit, saying that now that the party was here there would be no need of her.  Glancing sidelong at one another, Quentin and Jerrin cleared their throats and mentioned it might be difficult if their comrades lacked the proper tools of war.  Felvonni said something to one of the other Litorians, then responded saying that the outpost still maintained a decent armory and that they were welcome to take whatever they wished.

The group tentatively exited, and outside the dozen remaining Incabulos devotees stepped back from them.  Felvonni motioned to them, and at once they removed their robes and held their paws outward to them in a sign of submission.  Felvonni told the group in elven that they would likely need the priests as they could use the extra numbers if the duergar assaulted the outpost.  Felvonni herded the cat-folk into the temple and explained what had happened.  

Alex searched thoroughly over the bodies of the charred Litorians before moving on to investigate the head priest leading the ceremony and Mezimi.  He found that Mezimi had a staff with a green glass sphere on the end, and the black wood was very cold to the touch.  The skeletons on the red slab had a collection of chipped scimitars and axes, none of which seemed to be of much value.  Taking a look at the metal statues once more he wondered if they could be dismembered for shipping, as the dwarves would likely pay a hefty price for even one of their arms.  

Felvonni took the group to the outpost armory at their request.  Inside they were astonished to see an array of weapons gleaming as they were displayed on specialy made supports to show them in the best light.  Many of them had etchings on them with strange symbols, and upon inspection they were neither arcane nor divine in nature.  In the center of the room a work table sat unused, and in the center of it a gem was mounted.  The group was told to to choose a weapon and touch gem to feel the abilities of each.  Nodding, the group poised to investigate the array of weapons presented to them.


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## MarauderX (Apr 27, 2005)

*Session 31:  Guiding Angels   *

The group stood stunned at the collection of weapons and armor that was available to them.  One by one they reviewed them, discussed, and decided that they were taking them all, but only had to decide who would take which item.  Taking several hours, Jerrin and Quentin each watched the celestials as they occasionally spoke to each other and watched the party.  

Jerrin asked about the magic that the Litorians used and if they could help him find someone.  Certainly was the reply from Felvonni, as she began searching her memory for the rituals to be done.  She swatted one of the Incabulos Litorians and told him to bring her specific herbs before the ritual tomorrow at about noon.  

The group rested the night in a large stone room built along the outer wall.  Quentin took second watch and spent the vast majority of it staring blatantly at the two celestials as they stood quietly.  Jerrin awoke for the next watch and repeated what Quentin had done.  Both had found it difficult to close their eyes for fear of something happening to them.  

In the morning Grimnyr used an enchantment to allow him, Thovaas and Jerrin to speak freely with the celestials.  They asked the celestials where they were from and how they arrived here.  The two angelic figures sang a greeting to them and said that they were pulled here by force.  They said they resided in another world, one much different than this one, and that it was forbidden for them to be here.  Going on, they said that they were restricted from this world after they were first made, as supposedly the brood gods claimed that the likeness to elves and humans had crossed the line of creation and were banished.  

Their interest piqued, the group asked more of who had created them.  Sheepishly the two heavenly bodies responded that the gods of old had fashioned them in such a way to appease their children, combining the splendor of the elves with the industrious nature of humans entwined and polished to a exquisiteness that was undeniable.  The celestials’ pacifist nature ensured that they would not fight amongst themselves or with others, and their sheer magnificence would protect them from being victims.  This was not to last.  

Before the celestials were banished, the elders made several attempts to mollify their children.   These new beings were antithesis of the celestials, and found their saintly innocence to be absolutely repulsive.  The holocaust that ensued was tragic, and the celestials learned that simply existing was not enough to save them.  Some of the children of the gods came to their aid and taught some to resist, and to fight as a means of protection.  

Eventually, being an attempt at a surrogate for humans and the disloyal elves, the celestials were treated with disdain from the elder god’s offspring.   The elder gods, not pleased with the reaction, made to destroy the celestials, as their allure had failed to appease the children gods enough to replace the existing humans and demi-humans.  Instead the children of the gods intervened and had the celestials banished to the once tumultuous realm of the Abyss.  Since then it had been many millennia of study, work and dedication to form a pocket of stability and hope in the vastness of the Abyss.  It had expanded to encompass a portion of the realm, but still there was much to be done.  

Grimnyr asked how they had come and who had brought them.  It was soon understood that a Rakshasa had yanked them from their world to use them in a vile ceremony.  They communicated that they were pulled through a waterfall that resided on a floating island on a lake and dragged here with the Litorians wearing the insignia of Incabulos.  

The group asked more questions on the details of their world, its composition, whether they had seen the gods themselves, and if they could fly with the wings they had.  The celestials answered that they could indeed fly, that their realm was one of beauty and peace, and the gods of old or new had yet to grace them with their presence as they did not reside with them in this heavenly realm.  When the spell ended Jerrin found more affection for them than he had before he could speak with them.  Quentin begged him to relay every word that they had spoken and asked Grimnyr if he could speak with them too.  Grimnyr replied that although the celestials were striking they simply weren’t his type and that his energies were better spent elsewhere.   

* * * * *

Thovaas and Jerrin left to fetch the things that were on the celestial warhorse before it had been defeated by the duergar.  They found the pack easily enough and reloaded the revived warhorse with the tapestries among their other collectibles.  They traveled back to the keep unmolested as Jerrin guided their way.  

Back at the keep Felvonni prepared a ritual circle, carving mystical letters into the air with a curved dagger and tossing herbs onto the ground in a symmetrical fashion.  She continued all morning while Quentin, Alex and Grimnyr watched.  Her two remaining assistants bustled to and fro, fetching various components and pouring thick liquid in certain spots on the ground.  When the viscous fluid contacted the herbs it began to form into solid symbols that glowed and pulsed as they burned away the ground in an arc around them.  Thovaas and Jerrin returned just in time as Felvonni explained what was to happen.  

Jerrin was to relax, to let his guard down if he could, and let Felvonni enter his mind.  Once this happened he was to recall the memories of He’lander and try to guide Felvonni to those thoughts.  The rest of the party was told to stand back more than fifty feet away while the ceremony occurred and not to interfere.  

Felvonni took the Halfling in her arms and guided him to a half-sleep.  He twitched at first, his brow furrowing in discomfort.  The ritual circle flared and grew, scorching the earth and the walls of two nearby stone homes.  The Litorian gripped Jerrin by the face to hold him steady as he jerked violently in her grasp.  Trickles of blood flowed from his forehead as he was held in place.  

Jerrin felt Felvonni push her way into his mind and it was as if a horse were trying to push its way into a rabbit hole.  His mind screamed in agony at first, then the horror subsided and he stayed conscious with a dull ache.  Jerrin had trouble focusing as Felvonni prodded his thoughts, seeing more than he may have liked, but he was too overwhelmed to care, let alone resist.  Felvonni must have felt Jerrin slipping away and released some of the tension as she withdrew into the deepest recesses of his mind.  He thought of He’lander, of his training with him and the last time they had parted.  She seemed to sense this and focused on it which was like a white-hot spike into Jerrin’s mind.  

Several hours passed for the ritual before Felvonni released the Halfling.  Jerrin blinked several times, and he stretched as though waking from a stiff night’s sleep.  Felvonni said that his friend He’lander was indeed in a dark place, somewhere that he could not escape.  His soul must be troubled, she said, as it was difficult to locate him since his body may have proceeded with out his soul.  Jerrin scowled and asked what she meant.  She replied that he may not be in full command of his faculties at the moment, as his soul may perhaps be misplaced.  Felvonni then added that the magic might be wrong as he was after all an elf and resistant to such measures of detection.  

* * * * *

Quentin asked Felvonni about a lake with a fountain so that they could return the celestials to their home.  Felvonni told them that the lake was not far, less than a half day from the keep.  The party told her that they were going to go there immediately to see if they could return them.  Felvonni begged off as she was clearly exhausted from the ritual and claimed she had much to do.  Quickly sketching a path with several landmarks, Felvonni told them to be wary of the walking dead after dark.  

The group left shortly and proceeded toward the lake and saw a number of unusual creatures along the way.  Jerrin and Quentin escorted the celestials closely as Thovaas led the way.  The light waned and they saw the lake to their west.  Along the northern shore was a small island anchored to the shore by a metal bridge.  Jerrin morphed into and eagle and soared over the lake to investigate more closely.  He saw a solid vertical wall on the square island, and the whole island looked as it if was floating.  The bridge was made to expand and contract yet still keep the island firmly moored to land.  The wall was easily thirty feet high and fifty feet long.  Along the north side a waterfall spouted from the middle of the wall and fell into a pool with beveled edges.  At the center of the pool was a hole, and from above Jerrin could see that the fountain fed into the lake from below the pool.  Since this lake had no other water sources, Jerrin determined that this was a magically made lake.  

Taking another pass, Jerrin saw a figure lying down on the top of the wall.  It was a duergar, and it seemed to be bored as it lay on its back and stared at the open sky.  Jerrin made his way back to the others who slowly proceeded along the path that took them to the north side of the lake, and would eventually intersect where the bridge met the path.  Relaying what he had seen, the group decided to see if they could negotiate or otherwise talk their way into using the fountain.  

The group stopped before crossing the bridge, and Quentin stayed toward the rear to guard the celestials from anything unexpected.  Jerrin rode onto the bridge and watched as the duergar lazily first sat up then stood.  Jerrin tried several languages, including the common tongues of several elements.  The duergar looked like he was trying to understand and began saying something back that no one could understand.  Jerrin then tried elven while the duergar seemed to banter on, repeating gestures.  Grimnyr, attempting to translate the hand signals thought that the duergar might be pregnant and had a strange craving for pickles.  Instead the winding sinews of magic could suddenly be seen, and an instant later a burst of fire erupted around them.  

Thovaas led the way over the bridge, followed by Alex and Grimnyr as Jerrin placed an enchantment of protection from fire on the celestials that happened to encompass many of the group as well.  Suddenly an deafening roar pounded those on the bridge.  Appearing in front of them a barrel-chested duergar stood with enormous maw wide open to let the sonic attack hit them.  As they focused on this new adversary, an ear-splitting scream passed next to Alex’s head.  The source was a crossbow bolt that could have rattled the confidence of the most battle-hardened warrior, but Alex glanced over his shoulder at the calm Thovaas and shrugged off the fear.  Alex looked at the duergar who had fired the bolt, and the scantly clad evil dwarf sneered wickedly at him.  

Grimnyr moved in to engage the new duergar targets as Jerrin set his sites on the mage high on the wall.  As Jerrin approached the pool by the fountain he felt the whoosh of a weapon swinging very close to him.  Standing next to him was another duergar, and this one was heavily armed and armored.  Quentin and the celestials were far enough away not to be harmed so he stayed near them and fired arrows with his bow.  Several of his missiles found their mark and he saw sparks of electricity sear his targets.  He grinned with glee.  

The duergar sorcerer cast another spell from atop the wall, this time showering Quentin and the celestials with a storm of ice and hail.  Grimnyr, hearing the celestials cry and Quentin’s pleading to help them, surrounded the duergar caster with an area of absolute quiet to thwart his spells.  Alex and Thovaas assisted Jerrin as he stepped back from the armored duergar to begin casting his own spell.  

The duergar on top of the wall ran its length and hopped off of the end, and a grotesque crunch could be heard as he howled in pain and grasped his ankle.  Thovaas guided his mount to run him down as he leveled his sword.  In a clean strike, Thovaas sent the duergar’s head sailing through the air and into the water of the lake.  

The vocal duergar had yelled twice more, punishing Alex as a screaming crossbow bolt struck him in the arm.  The vocal was attacked by Jerrin and his animal companion Tempest who knocked him to the ground with a forceful snap of his jaws.  The vocal rolled into the water to escape the wolfhound, and Quentin fired an arrow into the duergar’s shoulder.  Tempest reached out and clamped the duergar’s face in his jaws, crushing the rest of the life out of him.  

Grimnyr ran and jumped through the air, aiming to defeat the crossbow wielding duergar in one blow.  His attack went wide, and the duergar then struck him with three kicks in quick succession while he reloaded his crossbow then took a step back.  Alex went toe to toe with the armored duergar and felt the hand axe dive into his flesh again and again.  Alex stayed with him though, but was soon overcome from loss of blood.  Thovaas charged the duergar but he and his mount missed the chance to overrun him.  The duergar fighter then swiveled to see Grimnyr precariously close to the edge of the island and charged him.  Grimnyr tried to resist but was instead shoved into the water.  The crossbow wielding duergar smiled as he considered a point-blank shot at Grimnyr’s head, but was soon dealing with an angry paladin and irate druid.  In moments the beleaguered duergar fell before them.  

Jerrin rushed to aid Alex while Thovaas pulled Grimnyr from the lake.  Quentin’s gaze turned immediately from the fight to the celestials that had huddled together on the ground.  They watched him with some fear in their eyes, as apparently they had never witnessed violence and the ferocity of killing before.  With open arms Quentin smiled and spoke soothing words though he was sure they had no idea what he said.  He led them over the bridge and onto the island, and they looked at the fountain and nodded.  

The group paused as Quentin and Jerrin led the celestials to the edge of the pool.  They continued to the waterfall until it cascaded over them.  In a moment of panic of losing them, Quentin rushed into the pool announcing his undying love and devotion to them.  Tears welled in Jerrin’s eyes as the group watch the celestial angels fade from view.  Then they were gone.  

Quentin despaired and lay in a heap, his heart in agony.  Grimnyr felt words to a new larger-than-life elegy bubble forth as he witnessed the shadowdancer’s emotional anguish.  He was about to comfort Quentin when he recalled the primal sonic energy the vocal had used.  Grimnyr reflected for a moment while the others pulled the duergar bodies together and recovered several valuables from them.  The vocal duergar had not just been using his ability to attack, but was also likely trying to communicate.  The shouts were deafeningly loud and must have been heard across the vast valley; there was no way other duergar could not have heard it when they were trained to do just that.  He warned the others.  

It was well after dark and the group left promptly for the keep.  It took them several hours to get there, and when they did an arrow greeted them.  A few shouts in elven cleared up the misunderstanding and Felvonni welcomed them back.  The group stretched from the fast pace they took before settling down for the night.  

* * * * *

Felvonni greeted them in the morning and asked to meet with them.  The party agreed and they sat outside the temple.  She told them that she received a communiqué from the other Greenbonds in the valley that had troublesome news.  It was apparent that the Incabulos faction had become powerful enough to unleash darker forces against the duergar and had done so without consent.  Doing so was not just dangerous for the duergar but also the Litorians.  Now the night was no longer a safe time for anyone.  The Greenbonds had also decided to redouble their effort to seek aid, as they Felvonni had told of contact with exceptional humans, a halfling and a half-elf.  

Felvonni then relayed that the Litorian high priest, Jolenta, had asked for their help with either matter.  Would they help to end the new plague that had been released by their race and protect them from the duergar?  Or could they instead take on Felvonni’s task and seek out Thermoleth and ask the powerful dragon for aid in person if she was alive?


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## MarauderX (May 4, 2005)

*Session 32:  Leaving Paradise *

Felvonni relayed that the Litorian high priest, Jolenta, had asked for their help with either matter.  Would they help to end the new plague that had been released by their race and protect them from the duergar?  Or could they instead take on Felvonni’s task and seek out Thermoleth and ask the powerful dragon for aid in person if she was alive?  

The group pondered Felvonni’s dilemma and agreed to assist her.  They asked to talk amongst themselves in private to determine which task they might be more effective with.  Felvonni agreed and stepped outside to give orders with subtle hand gestures that likely were more admonishing than her loudest yell could ever be.  

They dismissed the idea of tracking down the evil the Incabulos Litorians had unleashed in lieu of finding an actual dragon, which to them was mere myth until now.  The party pondered the wisdom of waking up a dragon that had been sleeping for millennia to assist the Litorians, another elder race, to defeat a slave race.  Thovaas mentioned that the duergar were undoubtedly evil and deserved swift justice, whether by his hand or another.  Jerrin wondered what they should say when they met this dragon and wanted to ask Felvonni more.  

Felvonni stepped back into the magically lit stone house.  The group told her that they would venture to the mountain where Thermoleth was alleged to reside.  Curious, they asked what dragons were like and what they were capable of.  Felvonni sat with her legs folded and began her recollection of dragons during the War of Abandonment.

_“Gigantic titans, they loomed over a field of battle with humans and scatter them with every breath they unleashed upon them.  They would strike without warning in the night, using magic to send the humans into panicked disarray.  They would assault armies as they mustered in the spring or when they were about to disband in the fall as a means to demoralize the army, laying waste to legions in less than an hour.  The war was a concern for all, and as it began, sides were drawn more sharply, leaving no room for neutrality as we were to find out.  

The war naturally garnered the attention of Bahamut, the deity director of the dragons, who had decided to aid the slaves in seeking their independence.  Indrisideous had led an establishment against Bahamut’s wishes, as Indrisideous had garnered the unexplained power to ascend to the throne as deity of the dragons.  To do so, Indrisideous forced four other dragons to merge with her in a dreadful occurrence that could be felt throughout the world.  All magic ceased on this day when Indrisideous became the deity Tiamat, the dread lord of dragons.  That day dragons were struck with a life-changing force that painted them with either bold colors or that of glistening metal.  This defined who they were and would worship from that day forth.  The two deity-lords would now oversee a split domain and have been at odds ever since.  

The dragons fought as loners; they each raised and supplied their own armies of orcs and other foul creations.  When one dragon moved to engage the elf-led armies the others stayed their hand to see the outcome.  Many of us think the dragons viewed this as an experiment and didn’t take the war seriously as a threat.  They used the war to let their political rivals crumble as they used their resources in battles they thought might be pointless.  The hoards of treasure and diplomatic favors that they had saved up began to be cashed out as events unfolded.  

The dragons never led their forces into battle, as it was a relative sign of weakness to the other races that this particular dragon required the assistance of its minions.  Instead, the dragons urged their forces to decimate human settlements and lay siege to elven strongholds while the dragon would personally engage an entire army by themselves.  This haughty approach proved dangerous soon enough as the humans came in droves to wear down the enormous creature.   

The dragons considered their size and strength to be the least useful of their assets.  Their great and expanding knowledge of the arcane became ever more prevalent as they introduced vile magic that caused diseases.  Their human subjects, though few, were more useful for testing these hideous malignancies.  Perhaps they thought that these plagues would annihilate the slave-folk, or at least thin them out to a point where they were again safely contained.  However the elves, even though they had lost the skies to the dragons, worked diligently to counter these damaging contrivances.  

The elves became more of a factor as they intertwined themselves with halflings and humans.  Weapons became harder to trace, something we had always focused on, and with the sabotage of our libraries we lost the catalogs of most of the things imbued with magic by the elders.  We were winning a war of attrition waged by the humans and elves in our lands when dragons intervened.  

It was the silver dragon Herria-Delatitus that invaded first with her armies.  Many of her followers had already infiltrated our ranks as our mindset was most closely aligned with the world in which we all dwell.   We had even sponsored foul pixies and other of the faen to remain in our lands unharmed.  We were betrayed, and the fey were among the first to poison our shared lands with their bitter magic.  The fey and the armies of Herria-Delatitus were also the first to feel the wrath of the forest under our tempered control.  She came alone soaring over our holdings, just a dragon always does.  The sun winked out as clouds collapsed around her, and in a moment she was fleeing for refuge from the very sky she thought she owned!  Ah, the sight was beyond belief as many a head snapped up to see the mighty dragon grounded, weakened for her own army to see!  And there she died, a most wretched death for a dragon, as the forces of the earth itself impaled her, holding her fast, while our own meager army swarmed over her like ants.  And such was her end, and not a piece of her flesh did we spare.

Bahamut had likely witnessed this shameful event.  Wrath would be the reply, and in the course of the coming years the metallic dragons lay waste to our borders and mounted a magical blockade to render us ineffectual.  We pleaded to remain beyond the scope of the war, replying that Bahamut had already taken on an impossible task and that we would take issue with new policies once a victor had been declared.  Instead the dragons changed their tactics and a scorched earth policy began.  They laid waste to our beautiful gardens, our lush jungles, and exterminated the sentient trees that had inspired us for eons.  Our lands were once where you now have nothing but desert sands.  But that was a long time ago.  Sniff.

My high-priestess Jolenta had a profound urgency in her voice when last we spoke.  Tomorrow I leave to aid in breaking the siege that they are under in the center of the valley.  She said the duergar have managed to piece together machinations to thwart our own magical constructs, and that these things never tire.  The Incabulos had been cast out only a week before, and their exodus had left the walls with scanty defenses.  Before they withdrew the Incabulos had also unleashed an elusive creature that has claimed duergar and Litorian alike.  Although both sides have sustained substantial casualties, it is unlikely the duergar will break off their attack as long as they have their new walking devices to press their advantage.  

It is our hope that it would be in Thermoleth’s interest to aid us as we once had common foes.  If you meet her, be sure to humble yourselves in her presence as a lord of magic.  She can and will see through any disguises, so show yourselves plainly for what you are.  Tell her that you have come on behalf of the Litorians who now fight against their servants known as the duergar.  And be sure to mention the inventions the duergar have manufactured, as Thermoleth may have interest in them for her own devices.  Lastly she may doubt your word, rebuffing everything that you may tell her as she would rather remain undisturbed with her comfortable hoard.  That is when you must show her this.”_

An exquisite locket rested in the middle of Felvonni’s open palm.  It glimmered as she held it still, and it seemed as though light slowly pulsed over its surface.  Within the locket was a mystical message that would only show itself once when opened, and she insisted that the locket be shown only to Thermoleth.  A mithril chain from the single loop on the locket dangled below her hand as the group looked at each other nervously.  Felvonni did not look surprised, as she knew it was a leap of trust to accept the locket as a package for delivery.  Thovaas stretched out his hand and collected the chain and locket then placed it around his neck.  

Jerrin and the others asked what they should do when meeting the dragon and what to expect.  Felvonni told them to be truthful as it was likely Thermoleth would not be fooled by magic or other means.  They might expect several tests meant to prohibit the foolish from attempting to visit, but it had been some time and her ways may have evolved as much as the Litorians.  

The group also asked about tapestries that had been woven by the elders and in particular a tapestry that brought them there.  They mentioned Chautauqua, Kargam, and other sites indicated on the map, and asked whether there was something about the others as well.  Felvonni asked if the group had the tapestries and Jerrin fibbed at first.  His face was flush then he nervously sank his fingers into his curly hair.  He corrected himself, saying that he didn’t personally have the tapestries.  As if she expected it, Felvonni nodded and inquired no further, merely saying that she wished she could have a look at them.  

The night had stretched into the early hours of the morning and the group decided to rest fully before leaving.  As they tried to slow their quickened pulse and struggled to find sleep, Quentin sketched what the dragon might look like as Grimnyr let words compose themselves around a meter for a new poem.   

* * * * *

In the morning the party left with Thovaas leading, the Armor of Incabulos shining brilliantly in the late morning sun.  They retraced their trek into the valley and as they walked they kept a wary eye out for any sign of trouble.  As they passed along open fields with thinning trees, a sign of trouble found them.  

An arching arrow descended from the sky, and was heard whistling over Thovaas’s head before it landed to his left.  At once the group looked to their right, scanning for movement out to the horizon.  Grimnyr hoisted his axe and swiftly sprinted outward to where the sniping arrow had come from.  A hushed warning came from Quentin not to advance just before he disappeared from view.  Alex pointed when he saw a large head raise itself above the grasses and into view.  Then it stood upright and Alex knew they had seen this type of beast before.

The T-rex lumbered slowly, walking parallel to the party.  The group moved closer across the open field between them and the T-rex, cautiously casting spells to enhance their abilities and speed.  That was when Alex whispered for the group to stop advancing.  A second tail curled up into view and a moment later the head of a second T-rex emerged.  The party paused as the two T-rexs turned in their direction.  Another arrow came out of the sky and clacked on Thovaas’s armor, breaking the intensity of the moment.  With the sound one of the heads twitched and the nostrils flared; it had heard and had now picked up a scent, and likely the closest thing to them was the party.  

Quentin and Alex fired several arrows into the first beast as it strode forward.  Jerrin completed his call for aid, and a celestial crocodile sallied forth towards the two large lizards.  Thovaas readied his lance once more and prepared to charge as he and Grimnyr moved forward.  The humongous lizards ran to them, closing the distance between them and the party in seconds as their muscular legs covered fifteen feet per stride.  The T-rex’s heads bobbled side to side as their eyes locked in on their target, and their jaws clicked as they drooled with anticipation.  

More arrows sank deeply into the dinosaurs’ hides as they towered over the group.  Grimnyr ran and leapt through the air, descending with a tremendous blow as Thovaas drew the Sword of Zurn, a blade made to defeat reptiles.  Grimnyr then unleashed his full fury and might, his axe diving into the taught flesh of the dinosaur time and again with ease.  

Working quickly the party slashed, stabbed, shot, clawed and bit the T-rexs.  Jerrin, now assuming the form of a massive ape, tore the first beast’s mandible from its head and slung it aside, letting the beast writhe violently in the grass before it died.  The second beast snapped its jaws into the celestial crocodile.

The group brought down the second enormous reptile quickly before it got to choose another target.  Immediately the party began scanning the grasses and trees for wherever an archer may be hidden.  Quentin darted from shadow to shadow, coming to the crest of a gentle hill three hundred yards away.  His eyes continuously searched his surroundings for any signs of a humanoid that might have fired the long, heavy arrows at Thovaas.  Finding nothing he returned to the site of the fight.  

The others compared the teeth of the two T-rexs with those they had taken from the first they had defeated, noting that they were about the same size.  They saw the T-rexs had been pawing through an old carcass of another strange beast, one with three horns sprouting from a hard carapace.  Satisfied that there was nothing left for them there, they decided to move on.  

* * * * *

Traveling back through the crevasse that had led them to the valley, Quentin was the first to see that the way back was now guarded.  Slapping Thovaas’s mount to wake the leading paladin, Quentin called for a halt.  It was clear there were more than half a dozen tall, dark humanoids over the exit from the valley.  Each had gangly legs that carried massive upper bodies, and one of them noched an arrow in a thickly wound recurve bow.  Another held onto four leashes that held back two hyenas and two skeletal recreations of themselves.  

The group burst into action.  Alex maneuvered to the edge of the jungle growth where he fired an arrow as Quentin sank into the shadows after doing the same.  Thovaas spurred his steed forth to close the distance to them and Jerrin, still in ape form, walked with his knuckles around the pond on his right.  Grimnyr then made his way up the trail and launched a spell that burst with a shimmer as the smell of spices filled the air.  Several of those on top of the wall were suddenly dazed and the one with the leashes dropped them to babble and murmur in a language none understood.  

Arrows came down from the wall, many of them clanking against the armor Thovaas had donned.  A spell was cast at Jerrin and at a few others but each resisted in turn.  Two of the dog-like beasts dropped their bows in order to engage Thovaas.  One of them wrapped its flail around his leg and dragged him from his saddle then the other attacked with a morningstar that glanced off of the knight’s armored chest.   Thovaas stood as more blows were driven aside by the armor then attacked the beast with the heavy flail until he fell.  The morningstar-weilding creature knocked Thovaas down in order to try to pummel him into the ground, but suddenly his steed landed its hooves on the dog-beast’s shoulders to snap bones.  Thovaas slashed the beast one last time before pulling himself onto his mount once again.  

On the other side Grimnyr met one of the hyenas halfway, leaping through the air to split its skull as he landed.  Jerrin summoned forth a cloud of fog to obscure the site of the caster on the wall before guiding Tempest forward with him.  They and Grimnyr met another of the massive dog-like beasts, knocking it to the ground with a surprising strike.  They moved closer to the stair on their left to chase after the caster as one of the skeletal creatures raced to engage Alex as he shot arrows at open targets.  The other skeletal creature pursued Quentin as he had come forward, just as the prone beast rolled off of the ground to give chase.  

Grimnyr saw the spell-slinging beast at the top of the stairs, and as their eyes locked Grimnyr felt a spell effect wrap around his body, holding him in place.  Quentin raced to find a shadowed corner near the stair and breathed as sigh of relief.  Jerrin moved in to intercept one of the beasts as it came towards Grimnyr just before it ran away, still confused.  The spell casting creature then darted into the fog bank, hoping to hide from Quentin and Jerrin as they raced after him.  It jumped clumsily from the wall to hit the ground below before attempting to limp away.  Quentin leapt after him, rolling with the fall and tumbling to his feet to catch the fleeing creature.  Grimnyr shook loose from the spell that had befallen him and whirled to also give chase to the spell caster.  

Thovaas reared his steed to kick at the archer beast before he swung a final blow across its chest to topple it from the wall.  Galloping down the steps, he raced across the open ground to where Alex was giving ground to the skeleton that had bloodied his arm.  Alex wielded his rapier in one hand and a dagger in the other, but his blows were not nearly as effective since the creature had no flesh for him to pierce.  Thovaas called forth the power of Heironeous, which only got its attention at first, then with a second calling blasted the skeleton with fiery might turning its bones to ash.  

Grimnyr growled at the spell casting creature as it begged for its life.  Grimnyr turned his axe blade to the side and hit the caster as hard as he could in the face, knocking it unconscious.  Jerrin grasped onto the remaining skeleton and tackled it under his large girth.  Soon a skull popped away from the spine and the rest of the bony thing fell apart in his arms.  Quentin stabbed one of the beasts that had clawed Jerrin and the creature slumped forward.  

The last dog-like beast stood on the stairs and unwrapped first one whip, then a second, and lashed Quentin across his back with the knife-like tips.  Jerrin and Quentin worked in tandem against the thing, and Grimnyr suddenly descended from the sky to fell the creature. Squeals and yips were heard before the few living beasts ceased breathing.  Surveying the battle field they began collecting the weapons as Thovaas bound and gagged the spell caster.


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## MarauderX (May 23, 2005)

*Session 33: Uphill Battle*

The group looked over the stairs and ground they had claimed in battle.  The gnoll sorcerer woke and cowered again before Thovaas.  The group gathered around the prisoner as Alex swiftly collected what he could from the fallen gnolls.  Jerrin asked the surviving gnoll several questions in his many languages, but it yipped and laid its ear flat against its head.  Grimnyr cast a spell to allow Quentin to speak to it and understand what it said.  When Quentin spoke it took a second look at him then understood magic was involved.  

Quentin asked the gnoll sorcerer what it was doing here and why it had tried to stop them.  It replied that they had suspected the party was working for the litorians and were either hunting down the last of the gnolls or were going to find reinforcements.  Quentin explained that the latter was true, that they were seeking reinforcements for the litorians to aid them against the duergar.  Quentin tried to explain that since they have the same enemy, the duergar, they were actually on the same side.  The gnoll then asked why they didn’t use their magic to try to communicate first, as it would have saved these brave warriors from a pointless death.  Quentin stammered and replied that the gnolls started first by instigating the attack with arrows that were fired at Thovaas that led them to fight the Tyrannosaurus Rexes.  Then the gnoll stammered, frustrated with his words and losing to the only humans he had ever met.  

Quentin asked the gnoll some questions about the litorians and how they were faring in the war against the duergar.  The gnoll replied that only a few litorians even knew the gnolls were alive and had many tribes hidden in the jungles, and that the duergar haven’t pursued them since they are concentrating on defeating the litorians.  He also explained that their tactics in battle used to be much more honorable, but since the duergar were not as honorable the gnolls had to resort to similar vile tactics.  The gnoll asked a few questions in return, asking him pointedly if they were going for reinforcements.  Quentin nodded, and the gnoll then said that if the party were to spare his life he would tell his people to allow them safe passage through the gate should they return.  Quentin explained this to the party and they accepted.  As a token of trust the gnoll asked that the weapons and armor that were being collected be returned to his people as well, to let them know that the party was indeed honorable in victory and worthy of their trust.  Again the party agreed to this and untied him.  He bowed deeply, gathered several items in his arms and began walking away.  

The party paused to heal their wounds with magic before deciding to go forward through the door.  As they passed through it one by one, the sensation of magic poured over them, making each shiver with the tingle of magic.  Once through they proceeded on the stone bridge toward the only other opening.  Black tendrils slowly twisted on either side, made barely visible by the light from the other doorway.  Then suddenly the light from the doorway dimmed, and Quentin saw a figure in the doorway ahead.  He took a fighting stance and the others noticed him readying his bow when they too saw the figure.  They approached closer and saw the figure step backward in a cautious manner.  Quentin and the others emerged from the gateway to see a female Rakshasa standing before them.  

It spoke in common to them, asking where the group was going.  Quentin responded that they were going home, back to Kargam to get a warm meal and a soft bed.  The Rakshasa rolled her eyes and asked if any of the others would be honest with her.  Alex noticed the shadows of something overhead and glanced up to see four jade statues watching from thirty feet up.  Cautiously the group spread out across the wide platform.  The Rakshasa stepped backward from the edge and stood away from the ledge by ten feet, standing on the air itself.  

Grimnyr then spoke up, telling her that the group was going to visit Thermoleth on behalf of the litorians.  The Rakshasa turned to Grimnyr and introduced herself as Arilthar.  She ignored Jerrin, Thovaas and Alex as she requested that the group take something with them on their journey.  She pulled a locket from her robe and held it from her hand.  She asked that the group also show it to Thermoleth to add more clout to the request the litorians had made.  She explained that if two of the elder races were requesting assistance, surely the need would be impressed upon the great dragon.  A quick discussion revealed that the rakshasa had been seeking out the valley as a refuge, but it had turned out to be a paradise at war.  Grimnyr smiled as best he could as he received the amulet from her.  The rakshasa then began walking away, heading upward to the statues as she walked on the chilly air.  

With a quick discussion the group decided to head down the windy valley.  Jerrin glanced to his side and a nearby shrub stole his attention.  His brow furrowed, he explained that the plant was an oakleaf hydrangea and that its flowers came out in the summer and faded to a pinkish brown in the fall.  The group looked at the small plant and saw that its pink-brown flowers were beginning to fall to the ground.  Apparently time passed in the valley in relation to the rest of the world they knew.  

The group made their way down the empty valley and took their time traversing the obstructions that had hindered their way before.  The river below was flowing beneath them.  At the top of the falls they peered at Mount Thermoleth as it towered over them.  They walked slowly down the spiral ramp and saw the bodies of the two horses they had left behind.  Their desiccated skin was wrapped tightly around their bones and the packs had disappeared.  Alex took the time to search the smooth walls of the spiral ramp and found nothing.  They decided they should start climbing the mountain, and spent the rest of the day preparing.  

Jerrin knelt on the ground and gathered some of the rocky earth in his small hands.  He began chanting a divination with his eyes closed and in a minute he had whipped his voice into frenzy as he called the attention of the spirits of the wild to listen to his request.  In almost a pleading manner he requested the spirits and living rock itself to answer what it could about the mountain of Thermoleth.  Several minutes went by where the air around the druid was swirling with pebbles, dirt and nearby debris, and the sinews of magic flowed into and out of his small form.  The pace continued to increase for five more minutes then it began to subside.  Afterward the druid opened his eyes and told the others what he had heard.  

Jerrin had learned that the interior of the mountain was unnatural, and that the way in was toward the top.  His inquiry into other locations was unanswered, and he also learned that much of the oppressive weather that had plagued the area for centuries may have been forced.  With this news the group made the decision to scale the mountain.  

The next morning the group began the ascent of the mountain.  Grimnyr led the way up, with a rope end tied to his belt.  The other end of the rope Alex secured to his waist, and between them Thovaas and Quentin climbed very slowly with their aid.  Jerrin began the climb without his faithful wolfhound companion, but then returned and changed Tempest into a spider monkey for an easy climb.  Jerrin, in the form of a dire ape, calmed Tempest enough for him to clamber onto his back.  They caught up to the others as they found a good sized niche for them to rest for the night.  

Again in the morning the party worked their way up the mountain.  Thovaas and Quentin both stumbled at times, but Grimnyr and Alex managed to catch them.  Thovaas had packed away his armor and graciously accepted a chain shirt from Grimnyr for an easier climb.  As they worked their way up through the ice and snow laden portions they could see that in another day they would be beyond the ice.  The climb became steeper and more difficult as they went.  The plethora of handholds had thinned to be few and far between.  Grimnyr led the path up the mountain with aid from Jerrin, and several times they doubled back in order to make the climb easier.  

They saw the snow thin and end as they climbed over it.  Oily black soot took the place of the snow, and soon the group was covered with it.  Jerrin used his powers to mold a ledge from the hard rock and there they slept during the third night on the mountain.  The air was thinning and the group realized the climb would only get harder.  The next morning they set out again, climbing above the clouds that had blocked their view before.  

Then Jerrin felt a shadow cross over his back.  The sun shown in his eyes and he couldn’t see what it was exactly, but he sensed something was in the sky.  A few minutes later the shadow passed over him again, and suddenly the clatter of darts hitting the mountain wall were heard.  Thovaas cringed as he was hit by one of them, as did Alex, but it was Thovaas who started to slide down the mountain.  Grimnyr pulled the rope taught but Thovaas had lost his grip on it.  Alex braced his feet against the side and relied on Grimnyr’s pull with one hand as he reached out for the sliding paladin with the other.  Gripping his chain shirt, Alex pinned the large man to the mountain and showed him a foothold to gain stability.  Jerrin cast a spell to walk on air, and Quentin carefully hopped on the dire ape’s shoulders to gain stability.  Using his knees to keep steady on while riding Jerrin, Quentin pulled out his bow and fired a quick return shot at the beast.

The thing was a massive winged beast, and it was keeping its distance as it glided parallel to the mountain face.  The thing turned its head to show a humanoid face that spat draconic curses at them, then the whip-like tail snapped and another volley of spikes struck the group.    Jerrin cautiously stepped out away from the mountain wall and stood on thin air.  Tempest, as a spider monkey, screamed with fear as he scampered over Jerrin.  Quentin froze and then his heart caught in his throat as suddenly Jerrin charged away from the mountain towards the flying beast.

Thovaas clung to the wall as Alex looped the rope through the back of his belt and climbed ahead of the paladin.  Alex looked for a ledge of some type on which to guide Thovaas to safety.  Thovaas clung to the wall, not moving, and peeked over his shoulder.  Quentin stabbed the thing in the rear haunch and blood spurted onto Jerrin’s shaggy fur.  He saw the winged beast peel away from the monstrous Jerrin and it loosed another volley of spikes at the pursuing druid.  Quentin struggled to remain on Jerrin’s shoulders as he strode forward, still walking on thin air.  The shadowdancer steadied then lashed out with another set of blows just as Jerrin punched the beast.  The blow landed at the side of its head and the tentacle-like neck recoiled oddly as its wings suddenly folded and it tumbled downward out of the sky.  

The wind whipped against Quentin and he hugged the top of Jerrin’s massive head as Tempest clung to the druid beneath his warm armpit.  They walked toward the mountain once more and Jerrin decided to make the most of the moment and hauled the rest of the group up by towing them on a rope.  As Jerrin walked on the air next to the mountain his breaths became more labored.  He stopped and formed a ledge from the mountainside, dropped everyone off, then fell fast asleep.  The others kept watch over the mountainside as they slept in turn, not disturbing the Halfling druid.  

The morning came early to them, as they saw it break through the clouds below.  This time Jerrin decided to take the form of something with more stamina – that of a rhinoceros.  Grimnyr and Quentin tied a rope around his massive girth for the others to hand on, and before long Jerrin was hauling them upward, calling upon the nature spirits to guide him as he walked on air.  With repeated calls the group made their way up without the risk of climbing the treacherous terrain.  Again they spent the night and the fatigued druid slept past dawn for the first time in months.  

The next day the group proceeded in the same fashion, with Jerrin walking them ever upward as the air made it cumbersome to breath.  Quentin happened to look down the mountain as they gazed at its inky blackness and noticed that there was a very slight reddish tint in an area.  Jerrin stepped downward toward it and they saw it was an opening in the mountainside, deep and dark.  A glow came from the interior walls, illuminating the way for only a dozen or so feet.  

Quentin stepped onto the ledge from Jerrin’s back and peered inward with his exceptional vision.  Waving to the others, they joined him on the ledge before he moved forward into the murky cave.  The first cave was expansive and had rough hewn walls.  The top was easily twenty feet or more, and there were two rough corridors that led away from the room.  Quentin stepped forward on the dry, uneven floor and looked first one way then another.  Suddenly he heard the roar of fire.

The others watched Quentin melt into the darkness and they held their breath as he quietly disappeared.  In an instant he was gone, then suddenly the whole room was aflame, and Quentin’s face was aglow with surprise as flames erupted from the closest wall to him.  Just as the flames waned, flaming arrows streaked from each of the corridors, several striking Quentin and others targeting Grimnyr.  A burst of flames exploded in the middle of the room, catching them all within its radius and singeing them through the soot that covered them.  

Immediately the group sprang into action; Grimnyr imbued everyone with speed and swiftness just as Alex made his way down one of the corridors.  Jerrin followed up with a protection spell to prevent fire from hurting them as severely.  Quentin dashed to another wall out of the line of site from either corridor, pulled out the wand of healing and managed to seal one of his blackened wounds.  Thovaas summoned forth his trusted warhorse and used him as cover before swinging himself into the saddle.  

Alex discovered the archers further down the corridor as they were reloading.  He had drawn his rapier and he pulled the Sword of Light loose from its sheath with his other hand.  The light revealed the creatures in front of him – they were snake-like humanoids with wide flaring necks and gangly limbs.  They stood at seven feet tall with their long serpentine necks, and their tails wound in coils behind them.  Alex saw another behind the two archers as it began chanting an arcane spell, and the archers stepped backward to fire arrows just as the spell was complete.  The shorter serpent creature extended its clawed finger to point at Alex’s chest and a purple beam struck him, sapping his strength.   

A wall of flames roiled out in a circle to enclose the rest of the group in the first room.  Just outside of the circle, Quentin pulled up his bow and fired twice at the shorter robed creature.  Thovaas took his horse through the wall of flames and saw the Sword of Light gleaming in the darkness.  He guided his mount toward it until he could see his target in front of him.  Seeing an easy opening, Thovaas struck the casting lizard-like thing with his sword, causing a deep gash down its arm.  

Jerrin stayed within the circle, protected from the flames, and called forth a genie while the wall of flames illuminated the area.  

Grimnyr stepped through the wall of fire and was soon in darkness as he made his way down the opposite hall.  The snake-creature archers came into view as he stepped forward, then another robed creature to the side.  Grimnyr pulled his weapon as he stepped towards the thing, and it lowered its gaping maw…

TO BE CONTINUED!


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## MarauderX (Jun 1, 2005)

*Session 34: Brutal Mercy*

The dimly glowing walls barely reflected the snake-man before Grimnyr, and he made out its face and its lowered jaw in time to see flames spew forth from its maw. Arrows from the nearby archers pelted him, and rage wrested his actions away from rational thought. Grimnyr heard Jerrin’s quick call for how many stand in front of him. In a misconstrued blurt he shouted the number three at the top of his powerful voice before heaving his axe down on the fire-breathing beast in front of him. 

Thovaas watched as the lizard-like creature spat flames at him and his mount a moment before he swung his large sword at it. His mount reared upward and slapped the beast with its hooves, knocking it to the ground with its skull caved in. Alex slinked closer to the two snake-archers and slashed one of them repeatedly. Quentin followed closely, using the shadows for cover before striking out with arrows. 

Meanwhile, Jerrin heard a thump of something that had landed at the entrance they had come through. Though he couldn’t see beyond the wall of fire that had been erected, his ears told him something was there over the roar of the fire. His spell ended and five dire wolves now leapt through the wall of fire to aid the others. Jerrin followed two of them toward the brilliant sword Alex wielded and barked for two others to attack any lizards down the other passageway. 

Grimnyr swung around and split the bow of one of the archer snake-men before turning to attack the caster. That was when two flaming arrows sailed down the hall, one striking the barbarian in the shoulder. The wolves loped down the roughly hewn corridor to aid in the attack, and they downed the archer nearest Grimnyr. They moved in the tight area as the caster tried to place a curse on the raging bard. The other archer retreated all the way back, but the wolves chased him there, relentlessly attacking. 

The other side pressed their advantage against the two archers as they gave ground, as an explosion ripped through the middle of them. The fiery blast failed to caution the party, and Quentin led the way down the hall, surging forward in the darkness to fire several arrows at the second archer. With his bowstring still humming, Quentin saw two figures standing in the murky darkness behind him. 

The archer didn’t seem to take notice of him as he fired into the crowd down the hall, striking one of the other archers as well as a summoned wolf. The other snake-figure completed a spell that projected a ray from its clawed hand. The ray found Quentin in the darkness and drained his strength from him instantly. 

Alex struck down one of the archers and moved to gain advantage by slipping around the other. Thovaas had dismounted to push the archers back down the hall, and he struck out down the hall just as Alex motioned him into a flanking position. The blow he landed struck down the remaining archer with such force that the lanky creature was sliced in two. 

Quentin lunged at new archer with his rapier then spun out of the way in one swift motion. Alex set off in pursuit of the new targets, his sword of light revealing the two new figures in a nearby room. Jerrin’s collar blazed when he told the wolves in their language to attack the caster, and they recognized him as the pack leader, not to be questioned. The wolves brought the caster to the ground as the archer fired on Alex. The snake-man caster suddenly conjured an area of grease beneath the summoned wolves, and they fell to the ground. Thovaas ran down the hallway, armor clacking around him, and tried to use the one summoned wolf as a bridge over the area of grease. The wolf pitched, and Thovaas felt his weight go forward uncontrollably. He slid down next to the caster and for an instant they looked each other in the eye before a spell and a smile followed. The caster slapped the paladin on the arm and Thovaas felt his endurance weaken. 

Jerrin sprinted back toward the entrance and popped his head through the wall of fire. There a manticore took a swipe at the small Halfling as he ran toward the other corridor where Grimnyr had disappeared. The wolves struck out again to knock over the caster near Grimnyr, and Jerrin commanded them to then attack the manticore that had followed him down the hall. They traded blows and the manticore was finally brought down. 

Grimnyr, with no nearby foes and seeing the sword of light, ran toward the archer that was firing on Alex. In a quick blow by Grimnyr and Quentin the archer brought down, and Grimnyr leapt through the air to land a devastating hit on the prone caster near Thovaas. Quentin fired his last two arrows and with a lucky shot struck the snake-caster in the side of the head. It went limp instantly. 

Jerrin summoned forth a unicorn that promptly healed Grimnyr and Quentin. Thovaas helped with the healing as well, and after a few minutes everyone had their wounds sealed. The strength that had been sapped from Alex and Quentin returned, the wall of fire burnt out, but Thovaas’s cursed health remained. They gathered the light metallic arrows, bows, and swords from the defeated reptile-men and stripped them of the armor as well. After Grimnyr and Jerrin had examined the strange layered armor, Thovaas systematically slashed the hide-like protective covering up the middle, cut the straps and poked a plethora of holes in each of the three suits. He broke the three swords at the hilt and also destroyed the bows. 

Quentin kept watch at the stair entry and a strong, hot breeze forced him to squint as it pushed his hair back. The group readied themselves and proceeded down the steps, always forty feet behind Quentin, and Grimnyr held the ever-burning torch aloft above his head for everyone. After progressing for three or four hundred feet down the crudely crafted steps Quentin saw an opening to a room ahead. Motioning for the others to remain behind, he and Alex crept toward the room to investigate. Quentin sensed a trap of some sort, something that would go off if he took another step. A whispered debate ensued about who should try to disarm it, and Quentin impatiently gave up and decided to take a chance. A moment later the group saw a vortex of flame shoot forth from near the wall where Quentin was, but he had ducked in time to avoid the severe burns. Alex just shook his head as Quentin shrugged. 

Quentin used his darkvision to scan the room. He saw a table, some bookcases and a few cabinets. The only thing moving was a piece of paper fluttering around the room, repeating a circular pattern. Quentin stepped in and saw that on the other side of the room were more stairs leading down. 

The group was motioned in and Alex began searching the blackened walls for anything suspicious, as it seemed the hotter air was leaking from the room in more than one place. Alex followed the direction of black sooty streaks along the wall and moved a cabinet out of the way to see that there was indeed an outline of a door, black on black. In a few minutes Alex popped the door open and it swung out from the room. It was only four feet tall and two feet wide and pitch black beyond. 

Quentin moved into the enclosed space and walked twenty feet before he saw an opening ahead. From the widening corridor he could see the room was cylindrical with a slightly bowl-shaped floor. In the middle of the floor was a grate. A liquid seemed to be draining to the grate after dripping from a location above near the surrounding walls. Quentin peered upward and his breathe caught in his throat at what he saw. 

Hanging nearly twenty feet from the floor were bodies. The bodies had been stripped of their skin, completely, even between their toes and fingers, and no hair could be seen. The exposed organs glistened but the bodies did not seem to bleed from a lack of skin. The bodies that were hanging there had been slashed, stabbed and mutilated - recently. Blood poured from the wounds, pooled on the floor, and then ran into the drain at the center of the room. Quentin turned away in disgust and he nearly dry heaved into his hands. Sensing trouble the others made their way forward to observe the room.

The group examined the bodies that hung there. They discerned the bodies had elven bone structure and features, but were missing many of the signature features that designate the race, such as pointed ears. The wrists were tied together and the bodies hung down from them with the feet tied together at the bottom ten feet above the floor. 

The round room had four exits, and Quentin peered down each to see another cylindrical room of the same type. He ventured into the next as the party stood in silence with the sundered bodies. Quentin stopped and called back, saying that they have some ‘live’ ones. By living he had meant undamaged; they were still bodies without skin, but they had not been destroyed in the same way as the others. Thovaas detected no evil on them but Grimnyr could tell there was a strong presence of necromantic magic. 

Alex found and opened a second secret door in the room with the stairs, in a mirrored location to the other secret door. Quentin began the task of exploring the other side to find more cylindrical rooms in a symmetrical pattern with skinned bodies hanging in each. Quentin became jitterier as he explored room after room of the same, finding that none of the elven bodies in the rooms were damaged on this side. On each side there were twenty-four rooms with the hanging bodies for forty eight total, and three of them had freshly bloodied bodies. 

It was when Quentin returned that Thovaas made a realization. The bodies that had been mutilated showed wounds very similar to the armor that he had destroyed, with the same gashes running up the middle and holes poked through the armor at the same points. The others concurred that this was likely true, and Grimnyr surmised that it was the reason his axe did not sink so deeply in the reptile-men casters. Thovaas murmured a prayer for them and himself as he did not know what he had done.  Grimacing, the group decided to cut down and behead all of the hanging bodies to put them at peace as well as undermine the magic to the armor the humanoid snakes wore. 

The group got underway immediately. They began with Thovaas cutting them down, Grimnyr swinging his axe and the paladin blessing them while the others kept watch. After several rooms Thovaas felt his muscles aching, but they decided to keep going despite the slower pace. They made their way through more rooms and the paladin was exhausted from his efforts as Jerrin informed them night had come. They rested. 

The next day they began again, only this time Thovaas called upon the power of Heironeous to turn away the necromantic hold on the bodies. It worked, and the bodies were charred from the holy blast Thovaas shot forth. Jerrin undid his own magic he had used to transform Tempest, his wolfhound companion, into a monkey. He then took the form of a giant ape and began ripping the bodies apart, leaving arms hanging downward by the wrists. He stacked the bodies in first one room, then another as they piled up. Jerrin was hoping to plug the drains with the bodies to prevent the blood from spilling into it. He couldn’t help but calculate that there were five-hundred-seventy-six elven bodies that they were removing from the walls. That could encompass five or six elven families, and he shuddered as his imagination raced with how the elves might have been caught and strung up.  

While the others worked, Quentin decided to explore. In a wink he was down the steps, and the party didn’t notice that he was gone until he reappeared an hour later asking for some rope and a grappling hook. He went back down the steps, and the stairs progressed deeper and deeper into the mountain. They kept sloping downward the further he went until the steps seemed to be more of a climb than anything else. Quentin fastened the grappling hook to a nearby crevasse and lowered himself the full length of the rope – fifty feet. From there he could see downward with his darkvision that the steps evened out once more. He returned back to the party to report. 

Later, while the party worked, Quentin had been keeping watch at the top of the steep drop when he saw what he thought was a piece of paper fluttering upward on the hot air. Instead it was something tiny with wings, and it was using the updraft to easily glide upward. The scaly thing was much smaller than even Jerrin and as it was about to whisk by, Quentin lunged at it. He had struck it with his rapier, jabbing it in the side and it spun about to look at Quentin with a face of alien surprise. It then let go of the ceiling which it clung to, folded its wings tightly to its side and dropped like a rock down the shaft. Quentin looked down but didn’t hear it hit the bottom – it had likely slowed its decent before it hit. 

The group still worked to bring down the bodies from the walls and completed the task on the third day – just as Quentin returned in a hurry from the stairs. He told them what had happened and the heavily breathing Jerrin, Thovaas and Grimnyr thanked him and said they could only hope for enough rest if something was going to come after them. 

Wheezing from the hot, dry air, Jerrin cast a spell that brought forth a being who presented an exquisite meal for them all. Meats, cheeses, and most importantly water was available to them immediately. The group ate and drank before setting up three watches for the night. 

In the morning the group decided to continue down the stairs several hundred to the drop Quentin had mentioned. Jerrin cast a spell to walk on air again, and holding the rope the others rappelled down the chase. They continued onward again, the hot air blasting against their faces. Four or five hundred feet downward they descended until Quentin made out a soft glow ahead. The glow became stronger and they heard a dull roaring sound fill the stairs. Quentin could see something beyond the archway and pressed himself against the wall as he neared the reddish-orange opening. 

Before him was a lake of magma and in the center a stone peak rose from it. Quentin saw that there was a floating tiled path that led from the landing to an opening in the solid black rock. Several rock islands seemed to be floating on the lava as well, and on them several reptile-men were stooped, and some of them were enormous. Smaller winged creatures, like the one Quentin had stabbed, circled in the vast cavern. Looking around the ring of magma Quentin saw something that had only been described in legends and fairytales like some of those Grimnyr told. It must be a dragon. The shear size of it made Quentin’s mouth drop and he couldn’t turn away from it. A colossal head was supported by an S-shaped neck, and the broad torso had mammoth wings extend behind it. Sinewy arms were outstretched, and one clawed hand blazed with magic that held a massive orb aloft. 

Then, without moving its neck, the head swiveled about to show a black eye that seemed to peer straight at Quentin.


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## MarauderX (Jun 15, 2005)

*Session 35: Thermoleth*

Quentin hugged the wall.  He waited for a moment before slowly pulling a wand from his belt and tapped himself.  The others watched him carefully, his actions a silhouette against the glowing lava in front of him.  As they watched the bridge path toward the spire at the center of the lava moat began to recede downward into the lava.  Quentin heard the four lizardmen calling magical energy forth as he saw the large form of what had to be a dragon vanish from the corner of his eye.  

Grimnyr strode into position and cast a spell to quicken everyone should something happen.  Hastened, Alex ran to the bottom of the stairs, jumped over the lava gap and landed on the last sinking slab.  His feet began burning through his sizzling boots and he danced in place to avoid scorching blisters.  Jerrin placed an enchantment to mitigate the extreme heat on the rest of the group after he had morphed into a large lion.  He guided Tempest to charge forward with him to avoid the huge sword-wielding serpent to engage one of the casting lizard-like men.  

Suddenly a wall of fire sprang up, sealing off Alex and Jerrin from the others as flames flooded outward in waves.  Grimnyr shouted a battle hymn about the lineage of the barbarian people as he strode forward through the wall, and the others followed.  

The rest of the group stopped at the base of the stair to look for the dragon.  Thovaas handed Quentin the locket that had been given by Felvonni and the shadowdancer held it aloft while hailing the dragon-like creatures before them in draconic.  After firing several arrows into one of the casters, Quentin told the creatures that they would yield to them if they would disengage their attack and take them to Thermoleth.  Some listened intently, fixed on the half-elf’s words, the first they had heard by an outsider in centuries.  Others did not stop, however, and a wispy hand slammed into Quentin to deliver a magical curse that sapped his strength.  Several more times the spectral hand tried to quiet him, but Quentin persisted with pleading to meet Thermoleth.  

A fiery Halfling-sized lizardman sneered at Quentin and struck him with his hammer.  Thovaas swung his sword in retaliation, felling the short being as fire shot up the paladin’s arm.  The protective magic managed to prevent the small eruption from singeing his arm.  Alex leapt backwards from the sinking tile onto a group of smoldering rocks floating on the lava.  The red-hot rocks burned through the soles of his soft-bound boots and nearly caused him to fall to avoid his feet from burning more, but then he dove to the safety of the stair landing behind Thovaas.  

Jerrin withdrew through the wall of fire as the stone walkway across the lava moat slowly sank; another ten-foot section was now below the surface.  Transforming back to Halfling form, Jerrin called out for the others to fall back and regroup.  One by one they passed through the wall and tendrils of smoke came up from Alex’s clothes after he came through the wall.  Jerrin cast a protective spell on Alex as they discussed the tactics they should use when they went back through the wall.  Just as suddenly as the wall had appeared, it was now gone.  
Two of the reptilian casters launched more spells and fire exploded in the hallway several times.  The magical protection helped to absorb much of the damage.  Just as the group noched arrows and turned to face them another wall of fire formed to block their sight, this time with the waves of fire flowing into the corridor.  

Jerrin summoned an air elemental and spoke to it in its native tongue, telling it to form a whirlwind and consume the small creatures.  The strange creature whisked through the wall of fire and spun into one of the small flying dragon-like creatures.  Sweeping it up, it then plowed through the four reptilian casters, pulling one from his feet into the air.  In a moment the reptilian humanoids countered with spells, firing enchantments that broke the bond that the elemental had with their plane.

Quentin gestured his wand at the others to boost their reactions and Grimnyr healed Alex as he drank the enchanted water he had brought from Chautauqua.  Jerrin summoned a covey of dire bats then enchanted them with a spell to enlarge them.  Thovaas stepped through the wall and discovered the sword-wielding serpent was waiting for him and slashed downward across his arm.  With forceful instruction the druid persuaded the bats to venture through the wall of fire.  Following them through, Jerrin and Tempest surrounded the huge sword-wielding serpent.  

Alex ventured through the wall of fire and immediately a flash of bright sparks spewed up from the lava in front of him. Blinded, he and Thovaas steadied themselves on the platform.  Thovaas slowly moved upward, walking on the air itself knowing that Jerrin’s magic would prevent him from falling into the lava.  

The enlarged bats were blasted with a ball of fire, dismissing two of them before they attacked a massive clawed draconian.  Grimnyr and Quentin stepped through the wall of fire to see the action, and Grimnyr felled the serpent in front of Jerrin with an axe that cleaved its skull in two.  Jerrin and Tempest turned to charge the massive draconian, airwalking over the lava below them.  Jerrin, in the form of a gigantic rhino, pierced the draconian through the shoulder before Tempest managed to drop it down to its knees.  

Another flash of light blazed upward from the lava to blind Grimnyr and Quentin.  Grimnyr gauged the edge of the platform, backed up until he could feel the warmth of the wall of fire, and then made a running leap.  He launched himself blindly into the air and fell awkwardly to land on his hands and knees on the nearest floating island.  Picking himself up he listened to see if anything was near him.  Quentin retreated behind the wall of fire and hoped that the spots that blocked his delicate vision would soon pass.  

Jerrin watched as the bats defeated the massive draconian in front of him, its face being torn from its screaming head.  He plowed over it to slam into one of the four lizard-like casters, knocking its chest in with his immense horn.  The bats moved forward to engage another of the casters as Tempest closed in on another, crushing its throat.  

When Alex and Thovaas could finally see, they looked around at the empty area and saw dark figures swimming away from them just under the surface of the burning lava.  The pathway from the stair landing to the opening in the spire had completely sunk, but Thovaas and Jerrin glided on the air to carry the others.  They picked up Grimnyr last as he stood statuesque on a small rock as the lava lapped against it near his feet.  With everyone together, the group passed through the dark entry.

They passed into an area of complete darkness as the light had been dampened with magic.  The party stopped as they felt the smooth rock beneath their feet and knew they had entered a larger room.  The light began to return and they could see they were in a large cavernous room that was much taller than wide.  At the center a circular pool of lava bubbled.  On the opposite side of the oval cavern a solid platform was raised high from the floor.  A gargantuan darkened husk rested on top of the golden platform, and suddenly it moved.  The light glinted off of the tattooed skin of the husk, and soon they realized they were wings unwrapping themselves.  The wings parted to reveal the rest of the dragon beneath, and the glowing orb in its clawed hands illuminated its broad chest.  The light shed a ghastly shadow on the wall, casting each of its pointed barbs as a deathly cowl on the walls behind it.  One by one the tingle of fear made them shudder as they looked far up at it.  

The reptilian eyes blinked as it swung its head down to examine them then turned its gaze back into the swirling orb.  Quentin cleared his throat and stammered through a greeting in draconic to recognize the great Thermoleth.  The dragon turned to him and Quentin’s voice trailed off to stop after a brief introduction.  The large jaws opened slightly and the dragon turned to them before speaking.  

Thermoleth’s voice boomed although it seemed she was speaking quietly in the vast vault.  All the while she clung to the orb with both clawed hands and stopped to examine it on occasion.  

*“I have witnessed your movements since I sensed your motives to come to the mountain, my mountain.  Your movements have been aided by your magic, of which I have learned to adapt to defeat in order to survive.  Your magic protected you from the harsh cold of the driving winds; perhaps you think I am responsible for the steady growth of the glaciers to the north.  The snows and ice that surround my mountain were not made by my power, but of another to the north.  This rival may seek to court me in some fashion or perhaps to test my boundaries.  I have not stopped him, as through the last millennia he has encroached up to my doorstep.  Though he is irksome, such a playful gesture may eventually be matched by my own.  Perhaps your interest in me is sparked by aiding me in thwarting his advances?  It would be a rare find to witness a group that should find concern with the affairs of a pair of dragons.  So what is the path that brought you here?”*

With a nod, Grimnyr began the story of the party’s formation, how they defended the homestead of Sukyskin from the goblin tribes organized by Golthar, and how they discovered Chautauqua in order to defeat the Rakshasa.  He continued with stories of Kargam and their river journey, how the tapestry had led them to the hidden valley and ended with the Litorian request for assistance from the visionary Thermoleth.  

Afterward Thermoleth continued.  
*“Your race is young, and not of an age where you would have recorded the last skirmish had made its trek from here to the sea.  No, you are too new to this world and will have barely learned enough to command your own faculties before you begin to wither.  Such was your race constructed so as never to excel before time dragged you back to the dust from which you were created.

Time is our equalizer, an assurance that we can outlast the fickleness of our betrothed lords, the gods that likely have been lost to you.  They are not gone.  They rest while their children patrol our universe on the prime material plane, fighting insignificant battles to achieve marginal victories for worthless goals.  

Some of these children are not even as old as I.  The cunning Vecna belongs to your treasured host of gods, yes?  It ascended to such a pedestal with the aid of others while I sparred with Nerull, the child god fathered by Incabulos.  My worshippers were many and my realm stretched far, even in the time of men, but never beyond my sight, as nothing is beyond my sight.  

Vecna had used every path available to defeat the ravages of time that were to claim his life despite his search for immortality.  And he found a way, giving his flesh and soul as a sacrifice.  Was it worth it?  You are short lived, would the attractiveness of immortality be enough to lure you to accept undeath as a means to continue your existence?  Do not answer now; ponder the question and the lure of immortality.  

Cuthbert… another to ascend.  Do you know of him?  I did not.  Did he know what awaited him?  Perhaps his ascension was not on purpose as his loose code of ethics led him inevitably closer to it.  He fought during your war for freedom, defying even the elves who had called for strict adherence to codes and ethics as a model for the freed slaves.  In a wink he had traversed the boundary from mortal to immortal while I slept after your war and waited for my followers to revive me once more.  

And now you are here.  Why?  Do not answer, I already know.  To preserve all that you know and hold dear to your hearts… to save your lands, your cities, your homes… your countrymen, your families, yourselves… to save your efforts, your knowledge, your dreams…and to grant yourself fame and fortune along the way… as saviors.  

For what?  To keep dying breeds alive?  To extend the lives of its institutions that are doomed to failure?  To uphold races that have glimpsed the greatness of establishments before them but lack the vision and focus to see beyond their own time?  There is much that I know of this world, and examining it while it is underutilized by the once-slave races must leave the gods wonting.  I should know, it leaves me wonting, and I am a divine mortal.  

The time of the slaves has thus far been squandered quarreling amongst themselves and using their efforts to merely facilitate their own laziness.  They have failed to unite long enough to take advantage of the vast resources that were handed to them.  The potential has been wasted.  Our time will come again and the children of the gods and their chosen people shall fade to the past, but not completely.  So powerful is my vision, I have seen this as an absolute.  But that is of modest consequence.  Tell me of the Litorians.”*

Thermoleth gestures for Grimnyr to tell the tale in a fantastic style, and improvises to have Quentin as an interpretive dancer to represent the Litorian plight.  The dragon seemed uncomfortable with the dancing half-elf as she licked her lips several times.  She motioned for the nimble shadowdancer to stop prancing and for Grimnyr to proceed.  Grimnyr’s performance was mesmerizing, and the dragon looked less and less into the orb, instead watching and listening to the bard as he spun his account using magic cantrips to add flash and flavor to invoke the mood.  At the end of the performance the party resisted clapping in approval as the dragon looked at Grimnyr as if waiting for more.  

*“Now I see you have come, not as worshippers, but as messengers.  You bring me these gifts as a bribe from a people you do not even know, and that speaks loudest of all.  Do you know what you have said to me?  That you want a chance, to survive to fulfill your remaining days chasing the dream you seek to preserve.  That is honorable.

But beyond this you… desire… oh yes, I sense it, an aura that surrounds each of you with a need to continue to risk your life to satiate that desire.  Your yearning swells larger than your hearts; it crowds out your feelings of contentment, love, and fear and pushes you… here… to me.

You must realize that by sending you the Litorians have guaranteed that I cannot refuse these gifts, thereby forcing me to accept their proposal.  And as would-be loyal servants your lives would be part of that understanding.  The remains of Miruka-Tabuset are returned to me.  And the rest are here as well, all of which I have once controlled and expended to sway events to my advantage.  Everything you once owned belongs now to me.  And the lockets, open the Litorian one first.*

* * * * *

Litorian Locket, showing Felvonni:
“Thank you for accepting these valuable gifts from us.  Bearing them are those from the freed races; I hope they have survived long enough to deliver this message themselves.  Our leader, Jolenta sends her greetings and I speak on her behalf.  

We seek your aid.  We are locked in a struggle of survival against the very creations we had prized – the duergar.  They have driven us from our open plain homes and chased us into the stone cities that they created.  We know of their ways, as dishonorable and malicious as they are, and our people are divided in our strategy to deal with them.  Thus we have not been able to unify under a single leader, and this division has come to fruition as distrust amongst the Litorians.  

What do we expect of you?  Solely your renowned vision, to show us what the duergar have been hiding, how they breed so quickly and details of what they plan to do next.  This is all we can hope for.  We do not wish to disturb you beyond this, as we cannot repay resources expended on our behalf.  

Again, please accept these gifts as our meager payment for your vastly powerful services, and I await your contact at your leisure.”   

* * * * *

_*That is a wonder.  I have never seen such a blatant request from the Litorians, they must truly be desperate.  Now show me the other locket.   * _ 

* * * * *

The Rakshasa Locket glows before an image showing Arilthar in exquisite robes:
*“Your majesty, I am humbled that you may one day hear my voice and gaze down on me once more.  

I have found the Litorians and grasp that their plight is true.  They are divided in their goals, and currently have limited aptitude to deal with the hazardous duergar.  The other slave race that they had taken to their dale has been exterminated, leaving the aggressive duergar with only the Litorians to vent their fury.  And such an angry race cannot be easily quelled.  

Many Litorians have bowed to the teachings of Incabulos and to these followers I have shared much of what I know of his son, Nerull.  They have retained an extent of their former power but I fear they lack any control over the entities they fashion or beckon.  However, this may play to the Litorian’s advantage.  

The lifestyles of the Litorians has been switched with the duergar - since the fighting began, the Litorians have taken defensible positions in and around many of the massive stone cities the duergar once occupied.  The duergar now roam the valley, using their vocal exchanges to follow Litorian movements.  The Litorians have broken every coded message the duergar sent, so they have stopped using coded communication and rely on their booming tones for alerts and simple messages.  Because of this, the Litorians remain behind enclosed walls at night and have restricted patrols during the day.  The Litorian followers of Incabulos have called forth beings that patrol the long valley floor at night, weakening the duergar hold.  Though it is new, some of the duergar have already learned to control such elements for a limited time.  While droves of duergar have been found massacred by whatever beings the Litorians have brought, that number his being hedged quickly by them, a little too quickly.  

Another group of Litorians has been magically forging metal guardians with magic to wield against the duergar.  These constructs are tough opponents, but are too few to be useful for more than a skirmish.  The duergar have used their ingenuity to manufacturer similar guardians of their own, and have supposedly begun production of a mammoth automaton that would end the war.  I have only heard about his thing but have yet to witness it.  Should you observe it, I implore you to share all that you can about the process in which it was created.  

Another concern of the Litorians is the rapid rise of the duergar population.  They have found that the amount of duergar in the valley has more than tripled in the time since the war began, and their reproduction capabilities are slower than that of dwarves.  With that in mind the Litorian spies have turned up nothing revealing, and they are stumped as they have introduced various diseases to sabotage the duergar efforts to have young.  

I would also call your attention to those who have delivered this message to you.  Bold they are, and practical, but their days should end early before they become as dangerous as some in the past.  Though they are an anomaly of power, bending them to meet your needs may prove to be a mistake.  The choice is yours, of course, but take heed in allowing them to live out their days.  Of particular note are the fearless rogue, the knight of Heironeous and the shapeshifter Halfling.  The others are ancillary.  

I look forward to one day being in the grace of your presence, and Golthar sends his warmest regards from the beyond.”*

* * * * *

*Warmest regards indeed.  How rare an opportunity.  I have been more popular, but you likely don’t appreciate the enormity of the situation.  They spent considerable effort in preparing these messages, and for Arilthar to mention you must mean you scare her in some manner.  Now that you have entrusted yourselves with me, I should take care that you, as my tools, should be honed to face her should the need arise.  Abide my wishes and you shall witness what I see and learn of ancient days.  

You should know, if only to preserve your hope, the Litorians were among the first advocates for fair treatment of your races.  Yes, I recall that many Litorians vied for political position in order to sway the other races.  The elves were reluctant to join them, if only because the leader of their dictatorial regime refused.  In a way your races owe them as much as the elves for their freedom.   

Your use to me could prove valuable, although short term.  My use to you is to preserve the status quo of the world you know, and to that I am aligned, at least for the length of your lives.  Then again, the Litorians sought to preserve their world, and you have witnessed how it has changed.  So to you I should ask to aid in the preservation of the Litorians.  Let us investigate the duergar and their methodology."*


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## MarauderX (Jul 9, 2005)

*Session 36: Out of the Frying Pan*

Thermoleth’s lair was sparse. She sat on her pedestal-like throne and stared into the orb in her hands for hours at a stretch. In the center of the large room was a circle that extended downward into the molten lava, and with the archway sealed this became the only way out. The walls and floor were smooth and polished rock, mostly black with sparkles of the strange grey metal littering the surface. There were no furnishings per se, but hemispherical niches in the floor and a few ledges along the walls provided a place to sit and relax. Later the group was to find out that these niches were carved for the strange creatures with long tails to coil themselves comfortably and nap.

The dragon started to conjure images over several hours and managed to spy on the duergar as they worked. The image then refocused and the image of a human woman came into view. Her smile accented her beauty, and she seemed to look straight at them as if she knew they were watching. Behind her stood a metal behemoth twice her height. The thing looked like a hunchback man with a round torso and metal skin. Unlike the Litorians’ metal creations, this construct had no gentle curves or sleek skin. Instead it looked clunky, as if plates of metal were strung together to make this humanoid-like beast. The woman kept her smile and winked.

The dragon asked if the party recognized the woman. They shook their heads, and then Thermoleth told them to look again and said it was Arilthar in disguise. She had already infiltrated the duergar and was waiting to show the dragon the duergar secrets she had found. She gestured for them to follow her and Thermoleth guided the image to look over the woman’s shoulder along several corridors. After turning into a large hallway the woman pointed to a massive metal wall that ran from the ground to the high arched ceiling above. It was slightly curved and was easily a hundred feet long. The woman tapped it, swept her hand over it, and then indicated a portion on her arm a few inches long. They then understood that his huge metal piece was that section in the behemoth that was under construction. After a while the dragon stopped showing the images as she drew the orb closer to her face.

Hours passed by, and the group took turns sleeping fitfully as they guessed at what time it was. When they had surmised a few days had gone they kindly asked Thermoleth if they might be allowed to leave, for they were hungry and tired. The dragon insisted Grimnyr ask appropriately and with that she informed the party they were to be guests for the winter. Politely trying to refuse, the dragon turned her focus from the orb and explained one more time that they were guests for the winter, thinly veiling anger by reasoning that the group wouldn’t survive the trek back in the vicious cold.

Thermoleth showed the group as much hospitality as she was able, and she asked them question after question about their language, rituals, habits and behaviors. She told them that she was comparing against how the races have changed their living habits through the ages. Thermoleth remarked that Grimnyr’s people, the barbarians, seemed to be the most closely following the traditions of their ancestors. She said that though cities were not a new invention, their population had never been as high as in just the last millennium.

The dragon revealed images of far distant lands and showed them immense temples that the elders had built that were now being used to worship another god. Tall spires stabbed upwards into the sky in a place that Thermoleth said was far to the south, where winter was summer and summer was winter. The spires had been erected by collaboration between the Rakshasa, Marilith and Aranea. The golden towers started with a single building, and then one after another they worked to build higher into the sky to oversee the nearby island chains and the seas in between.

More images came as the dragon scanned people, places and magically imbued items. Days became a week, then two, and Thermoleth asked about certain people within the kingdom. She scried over a man dressed in red robes and Thovaas recognized him as the King’s advisor, Rekkin, as he peered into another orb similar to the one Thermoleth clasped. Another image of a woman came into view as she stirred a cauldron before she detected someone was magically spying. No one in the party knew who she was, but Thermoleth was certain that she would somehow be important in the upcoming decades.

After a few more weeks an image of another dragon was presented, however this one had white scales that helped it blend with the snowy white background in which it lay. Beside this dragon was a similar orb, but of much greater size. In a flash the image was cut short and Thermoleth explained that this dragon had stopped her from scrying further. Thermoleth explained that this other dragon was Eiskonig, and that his concern with territory was far out of bounds with his own judgment to defend it.

After a time, Jerrin grew comfortable enough to ask the all-seeing dragon about his old mentor, He’lander. The dragon had seen him before and churned up a few memories before finally locating him. He was holding a spear as if hunting, but as he turned it was clear that he was on the defensive, waiting to detect something that was near. Thermoleth scanned the area, and they watched for an hour as the wild elf held his posture, never dropping his guard. The dragon, bored with the loner elf, moved on to scan through the elven lands.

She scryied over the Fountain of Anaphia to see the half-orc monk Varekai piling rocks to recreate the wall over the fountain. Nearby a grave marker held comforting words etched crudely into its surface. The display was guided beyond this to visit Elarith, and Jerrin’s heart drummed when he saw the roof of his family home. Thermoleth guided the image to show them through the elven high court and through the chambers below the trees. They managed to see several elves with black spines or perverse markings on their skin. These elves practiced wicked magic in side chambers of a stone building built into the ground. In an inner courtyard a well had been revitalized. Light glowed from the well and wisps of ghostly faces stirred in and around it. A figure in the foreground uttered words of magic before turning to peer straight at them. It was the new elven prince. His white hair flowed down over his shoulders and he gripped a staff in his hands as it pulsed with magic. With a smirk he waved his hand and the image went black.

Thermoleth did not seem to sleep in the time the party was there. She constantly peered into the orb, and sometimes the sinews of magic were pushed into it. The pool of lava at the center of the room bubbled, and slowly the creatures that the party had fought pulled themselves through and cowered behind Thermoleth’s throne. Eventually they crept closer when the party was inactive, and before long the two groups began to trust one another. The reptilian-like creatures performed simple skits and jokes in draconian, and the party felt more at ease with them around as time went by. They were not as curious enough to pry through the party’s things, nor did they wake or toy with them in any manner. More than once Thovaas pushed them back with a wave of his sword. Quentin told them to maintain their distance if they wished to keep all of their limbs. They complied.

Several more months passed and the party had begun to get restless. Making use of what he could, Jerrin still had to appeal for several materials to be brought to him so that he could construct another wand. Thermoleth heard the request and took a keen interest in the materials and methods the small druid was using to create the item. The dragon watched every action as if Jerrin were an experienced teacher and she was a dazzled pupil. Suddenly the immense form of the dragon had disappeared and was replaced by the slender figure of a human woman. The dragon had tried to morph into a human, but she still retained a red-scaled tail, horns and wings. While the change disconcerted Jerrin at first he gulped and retained his focus to finish creating the wand. Once done, Thermoleth twirled the wand in her fingers and marveled at how the new races could change three simple arrows into a magical device. She tossed him the wand and Jerrin watched as the normal sized woman grew into the dragon as she walked back to sit on her throne.

Two creatures that came through the lava circle were female and looked like muscular elves with bat wings. Fire-red hair billowed upward from the heat, and they stepped out of the lava naked to stand with their hands on hips. They waited. Finally Grimnyr and Quentin gathered the courage to approach them, and as they neared the women respectively gathered them in. From then on the two men were barely seen far from the winged women, as the creatures followed each unless told to keep their distance.

Occasionally Thermoleth would peer into the dreams of the party and put the results on display for everyone to see. Many of the dreams were a blended mesh of Kargam and childhood memories, with the occasional image of Thermoleth, the Litorians or the duergar. In these dreams Thermoleth was seen to prod with magic and she pulled forth memories of Golthar and Chautauqua. She had each of them relive all of their battles up to the moment they arrived outside the spire they were now in.


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Thovaas was the first to notice that a patch under his skin on each arm was turning dark. Grimnyr mentioned that he too was getting similar markings on his forearms. With a quick inspection of one another they found the same was happening to Alex’s back, Quentin’s neck, and Jerrin’s head. They tried a number of methods to remove the marks but to no avail. Finally they asked the dragon. Thermoleth didn’t respond right away, and when she did it was with one word: gifts. A week later the patches had formed into black tattoos of jagged markings to form a pattern. By rubbing over the symbol each was able to activate a new power. Quentin ran his hand down his neck and he felt his tongue change. Opening his mouth, out slithered a snake head that extended easily ten feet. Alex patted his shoulder blades and wings sprang from his back and lifted him into the air. Jerrin rubbed his temples and in a moment a third eye opened on his forehead, blinking and giving him new insight. Thovaas watched as thick, golden, snake-like scales rippled to cover his skin. Grimnyr watched his forearms and calves become freakishly strong and pulsing red, blue and purple as his heart pounded. These effects lasted about half and hour if they needed it and could be dismissed earlier as they wished.


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Thermoleth showed the broken lands and the division of knights that were stationed at the sturdy keep there. She then had the image fly over the broken lands to reveal tribe upon tribe of orcs, hobgoblins, ogres, and the like. Easily the orcs outnumbered the knights by a hundred to one in the short distance Thermoleth had shown. It also looked as though the orcs were mustering under the common banner showing a red dragon head on a black field. Thovaas asked why the dragon had so much interest in them if she already had considerable forces under her command. She replied that a paladin of Heronious under her direction was unique in and of itself, that the group was indeed a wonderful asset with which to learn from and to bond with humans and Halflings. Thermoleth said that since their causes were aligned, they should accept her direction for the preservation of the new races in the greater scheme of the world. And to have them do so and still maintain their individualism was important, especially to have as a tool should Arilthar be of concern.


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The dragon waited for the Halfling druid to wake before showing images of the dark forest. Jerrin knew of the forest through druidic stories and was told not to venture there for the wilds had been tainted with foul magic. It was said that the woods were set against druids and the creatures there had turned into cannibals and the trees themselves would turn a druid’s senses around. There were other legends why the woods behaved in this fashion, from a powerful deranged fairy to an evil tree army that could tear an elephant apart.

Thermoleth guided the orb’s image over the snow covered treetops before descending to the forest floor. It was strewn with pine needles and evergreen shrubs and bushes gave way to a more lush area with tropical plants and steamy air. Through this they could see light emanating from a central point from behind tall ivory trees. Between the cracks of the trees the group saw a beautiful woman wreathed in soft leaves and branches, and the pulse of woodland magic seemed to flow effortlessly from her. Looking at her more closely, her head was bowed with eyes closed as if sadly sleeping while she stood. Grimnyr recalled a legend of the Queen of Mist, and Jerrin confirmed that he also had heard the tale.

The Mist Queen, according to the fairy tale, was a source of holy magic straight from the goddess Ehlonna that kept a peaceful balance for the good of the forest. Her pacifist outlook made her a target for many that sought to use her power for themselves, but such schemes only succeeded in causing chaos in the forest. She went missing long ago, and the elves two generations ago sought her out to return the Mist Queen to her throne. It was assumed, at that time, that she had run away after being saddened when she witnessed a nearby battle for the first time.

Thermoleth had focused on another image, one of an angry looking man who scowled as he crept over a log. He whittled a stick to a point then threw it to connect with a rabbit. Instead of stopping to claim his prize he kept walking, cutting another branch down without breaking stride as he mumbled to himself. The dragon whirled the image around and it almost made them sick as they were engrossed with what they saw. She spoke something quietly and the orb whisked them to see an orc riding on top of a huge bear. The orc seemed to be fiddling with something, and after seeing the background Jerrin could see that he was trying to track something through the dark woods. The image moved again and refocused on a short figure, another Halfling, as it rode on the back of a dire rat. The dragon said that these are important figures in this forest, and to negotiate a safe passage through the forest would be very useful to her.


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The dragon stirred the image around Kargam for a time then reeled east over the swamp. In the swamp the group saw a new lizard-like beast, massive and hiding beneath the rotting water. The image got closer then suddenly the form erupted toward them as if it was chasing them down. It was another dragon with jet-black scales and massive horns on its head. Thermoleth stopped the image and told them that this was the estranged dragon Winnower, the one that claimed to be the Lizard King. She waited several hours before showing another image of the dragon, and this time it revealed a thinner beast as it lorded over its hoard of gold. Thermoleth explained that Winnower was a clever trickster, ever changing appearances and locations to confuse any who might watch over instead of outright blocking them from scrying.


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Pushing the images into the ground, Thermoleth showed them the subterranean world of the Illithid and Drow. The dragon told of the time when the elves had divided after being stricken from the skies. There were those who had never wished to side with the slave races in hopes of being restored. The Illithid made a pact with these new dark elves and together they have been working in conjunction to rebuild their underground empire and to restore the old gods.


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Sometimes the party members had fitful dreams in which they found themselves struggling against unseen chains. Two options were unfolded before them, and they were held captive until they chose between them. A devilish woman guided them to see all that they could have and offered still more should they be ambitious. Vast treasures of gold and luxury were presented, along with power and control over both the physical and metaphysical world. Strange women and twisted beings danced upon command, while food, wine and gold fell like rain. The other option was presented as purity in white, and a chaste woman showed them the treasures they already possessed inside themselves. In fields of colorful flowers she projected freedom from the bonding chains of servitude to a corrupt, competitive life. She presented a different path, one of hope and mutual respect of all things, living or dead, and a love of life so strong it could not be twisted by the temptation of power. From this dream each of the party members chose. Quentin was the only one to choose the path of dark power.

When they woke the group saw a wide, shallow bowl hovering in the air above the lava. It moved to them and Thermoleth called out Quentin. He moved forward, half scared, half eager to receive more power. The dragon told him to hold out his arms above the bowl and to slit his wrists. Second thoughts made the shadowdancer hesitate, but those warnings were overpowered as thoughts of gifts, gold and women filled his mind. In a flash he had done it, and his own lifeblood poured from his arms. He felt suddenly weak and cold and thought he could stand no longer as his blood had saturated the fluid in the bowl. His blood had turned it from yellow to a deep mauve. As he watched with glossy eyes, the viscous fluid leapt up of its own accord and covered the wounds. Like molasses with a mind of its own, it pushed back into his bloodstream through the wounds. His hands pulsed and stung as if plunged in boiling water, and Quentin crumpled to the floor. He twisted in agony and his cries of pain reverberated in the large chamber. Several minutes later his tears had stopped and he picked himself up from the floor. Examining his hands, Quentin turned to the others. Alex backed away as if expecting the shadowdancer to confront him while Thovaas stood his ground as he had witnessed little of the revolting ceremony. Then Quentin smiled and a small giggle escaped him as he looked at each of them.

As winter began to subside across the lands of Correl, Thermoleth zoomed in to investigate Suln, Kargam and the leaders and barons surrounding each. Grimnyr swelled with pride when he saw the image of Thord Sulisen come into view as he led a contingent of his army east across the open steppes. The elves were staying closer to home instead of beginning their nomadic trek through the forests. She scanned over many of the images they had already seen until they landed on a group of humanoids walking among the peaks of the mountains. With each step snow crests broke away and cascaded down the mountain. As the image came closer to them it was apparent that these humanoids were far taller than any man. They were giants, and were headed south.

Thermoleth gazed at the giants for a long time, looking at details of their large metal maces and the clasps that held their cloaks around their necks. She spoke as she watched, telling the story that the giants were made in the form of large men as humans were versatile enough at a smaller scale, giants could be used for a wider range of tasks and better entertainment. Dragons had purged many giants from the world simply because their size threatened them. Giants alone had been the cause for the death of some dragons in wars past, and they were never taken lightly when a dragon confronted them, no matter how dumb or clumsy they might be. These giants were moving south for a reason, she said, and she was it. She drew several hypotheses such as their arrival being a test by Eiskonig whether she was still alive. She also guessed they might be patrolling south to prevent trade between Correl and Shen Jin, a strategy of isolation Eiskonig had practiced before.

As spring came to the mountains she showed the party how the dwarves of Kryll were quarreling amongst themselves and the dwarven mountain fortresses had just opened to new trade. Thermoleth remarked that it was about this time a year ago that the party had ventured to the mountain and perhaps it was time that she let others know she was less of a myth and more a reality.

Another week passed as she thought of how she would reveal herself to the world once more. In this time she laid out a list of options for her newest of recruits, the five party members that had stayed the winter with her.

Revisit the Litorians and Jolenta. Inform them of what the party had witnessed. Tell them that Thermoleth is looking to aid them against the duergar. 
Assist the Litorians with the fight against the duergar and put an end to their vile practices. 
Tell Eiskonig that Thermoleth has awoken and will be reclaiming her lands. Thank him for watching over her lands and that this is not an act of aggression. Tell him that Thermoleth will force the glaciers that have encroached upon her territory to recede. Lastly, tell him that it takes two to flirt. 
Smite the giants headed southward. 
Seek out the Winnower and tell him to renounce the title of Lizard King. Show him the proof that Thermoleth is alive and will need to know the black dragon’s intentions soon. 
Venture to Elarith to usurp the elven prince once he marries. Without him, Eve’lyn may claim the throne and force the elves to join Thermoleth and the Litorians. 
Find and aid the witch who has come to spread the teachings of the old gods to mankind. 
Raise, organize and lead the orc armies in the broken lands to march against those of the under-earth. 
Find the mad druid in the dark wood. Ask him to name a price for passage through his lands. Seek out the other druids to ensure they will not interfere. 
Ask the human leaders, barons and king for command of an army to march eastward to face against those of the under-earth. 
Contact the Aranea in the under-earth and tell them Thermoleth is the last dragon alive, the Wood Elves are defeated and in ruins, and the Litorians march the surface prowling through every crevasse in the earth. 
Visit the Drow high court and inform them that Thermoleth seeks relations with their current queen. 
Be the first humans to visit the Illithid and live to tell the tale. 
Once Thermoleth conveyed these items, the group decided to first inform the Litorians that Thermoleth was watching their actions and attempting to perceive how the duergar were increasing their numbers and skills. After that they decided that they should help defeat the duergar and put an end to their threat.

A week later the mountain began to grumble. Thermoleth still peered into the orb, ever fascinated by whatever she was viewing. The mountain grew louder and the inner spire began to shake. The dragon showed them the image of what was happening. The lava had filled up the inside of the mountain and was now pouring down the side, creating instant steam when it touched the snow. They watched all afternoon as lava leaked out melt away all the snow on the surrounding mountains as well.

The next day the party was told to go. They left the same way they came in and were soon down the mountain with the aid of Jerrin’s magic. At the base of the mountain they could see the roadway had been destroyed and they had to pick their way over the hardening lava carefully as it was still hot in many places. They reached the spiral ramp and made their way up to the top where they reflected upon their stay with the dragon in the smoking mountain.

The group made their way to the entrance to the hidden valley and was granted permission by the door without any riddles. Walking through the valley, they easily retraced their steps to find Felvonni still in charge of the keep. She saw from their markings that the party had seen Thermoleth, and from this the Litorian told them she must take them to see Jolenta.

They only traveled in the day. Felvonni told them that something iniquitous now stalks the night using hidden passages and portals to move unseen. At each town they received a quick greeting and Felvonni cut off questions that dealt with the flind, or gnolls as the party knew them. Many also remarked that the symbols on their skin were very much like those other elders used, and that was Felvonni’s cue to usher them to leave.

Through the dark Jerrin led them toward the south where Jolenta was supposed to be staying. As they ventured through the night they saw a few of the walking dead as they stumbled. They saw the glint of light where the mountain formed a wall along the south. As the group closed in on the light they could see the fifty foot high walls and stone fortifications. A single arrow greeted them, letting them know to identify themselves. When they did another voice called to welcome them. The smaller gate beside the massive one opened and the party was welcomed in.

Jolenta clasped each of them and was gregarious in welcoming them. Once alone with them, however, she was somber. The group told her why they were there and all that they knew of Thermoleth. The party had thought perhaps the news of the dragon coming to their aid would be good, the Litorian offered a weak smile and told them they will need to visit with the Litorians under the worship of Incabulos. The group stayed the night and left at dawn to seek out and speak with Berra, the spiritual leader of the Litorians that follow Incabulos.

As they traveled Quentin spotted a small group of duergar huddled in place. Two continued to work feverishly on something that glinted like metal while the others kept watch. Alex, Quentin and Jerrin moved into position while Grimnyr and Thovaas kept their distance. Seeing that they were working on one of their mechanical constructs they struck. Quentin fired at one of the duergar and it jumped into the air and whirled around to face him, but already the shadowdancer had vanished. Jerrin brought forth a bolt of lightening down to strike another, and Alex moved in to get a better position to strike. Again both Jerrin and Quentin attacked, but this time the duergar saw where the thief was hiding and struck him. Grimnyr and Thovaas ran toward the fight at top speed, but it was to be some time before they would arrive.

Alex stepped up to wound another duergar and Jerrin pounded another with lightening. Quentin disappeared into the shadows of the tall grasses for a moment only to reappear and let several arrows fly. The two duergar working on the metal thing on the ground worked with more fervor as the rest defended. Jerrin pegged another with lightening just before Thovaas arrived to plow his lance into another to bring it down. Quentin and Alex each maneuvered to flank separate duergar, and Grimnyr arrived to strike another. Before long the duergar began to fall, and Alex stabbed the last one just as he turned to fight after being struck while working on the metal thing.

The group examined the metal construct and saw that there were strange devices and metal wheels attached to rods and pins. Alex took a while to rip apart the metal thing while Thovaas worked to remove a huge sword from the metal gauntlet-like hand. After spreading the parts and pieces through the grass they buried the chassis so the duergar could not relocate it again. When they left the sun was beginning to set.

They kept going through the night’s darkness and as they neared a walled city they could see a few bodies of the walking dead saunter forth. The zombies came into the light of the heatless torches and were soon littered with arrows as the Litorians practiced their aim. Quentin hailed them from just beyond the torchlight and the Litorians told them they were welcome to enter.

Inside they could see many of the buildings had the markings of Incabulos etched on them, as well as the signs of Nerull scattered between them. A unit of guards escorted the group through a few streets of the town and toward the shear face of the mountain that rose up behind it. In a massive temple a single figure stood at the center and looked down upon them. Dressed in the same black robes as typical for the Litorian worshippers of Incabulos, this figure also had a silver medallion that hung from a chain around its neck. The group was about to go up the steps to greet him when the guards stood in front of them. After a minute the figure introduced himself as Berra and said that he had seen them enter Jolenta’s home. He wanted to know why, and with little detail told him. Taking his time he descended the steps to get a better look at the party.

The group explained that they had been to see Thermoleth and that the great dragon was going to aid them in the fight against the duergar. Berra scoffed at first, saying that the Litorians would need no aid if they could complete their work there. Quentin said that even the littlest of help may be the tipping point. Berra inspected the shadowdancer once again, this time examining Quentin’s hands. The Litorian smiled and clasped him on the shoulders, then said the word for ‘dearest brother’ in elven.

Berra guided the group to dine with him, but instead the party wished to be on their way as quickly as they could. Berra accepted this without slight and ushered them through dark hallways beneath the temple. They walked by a ceremony with Litorians bowing down before a large green stone set high in the wall. The halls were smoothly hewn from the rock but still twisted and turned before ending at a small cavern. Berra guided them further still until she stopped at another cavern. He gave them each an item that could hide their mixed identities from others who could scan them as he did, and told them it could also be used to shape their appearance to fool others, but only once. Berra told them that misbegotten things now roamed the caverns and they should make haste instead of attempting to deal with every perceived threat. He warned of traps that had been set by the Litorians at this end, and that the duergar would likely have something similar. Lastly he added that they should never speak of what they saw with anyone.

The group disappeared into the darkness. Quentin led the way with his enhanced vision while Alex partly unsheathed the sword of light to allow the rest to follow the half-elf. The rough tunnel walls meandered in the darkness, sloping up and down. They realized the tunnels were a vast network as many connectors intersected the tunnel they followed. With Jerrin’s aid they were able to take a course south and west, and many times they ran into dead ends and had to backtrack to take another path. Pools of water littered the floors in many places, and the smell of mold and other fungi filled the air. More than once the group got the feeling they were not alone in these dark depths.

The group took a break to eat some of the stale wheat-mix the Litorians had provided them, which tasted like soggy bread. It was then that they heard the sounds of something ghastly slithering through the tunnels. A screech echoed in the distance and the party was on their feet and moving through the tunnels once again.

Miles of tunnels were traversed and the group decided to get some sleep in a widened tunnel while they had the chance. During Jerrin’s watch he heard the unmistakable sound of something coming down the winding corridor towards them. He woke the others and they had time to grab their gear. Alex drew the sword of light and though they couldn’t see anything, the flow air had been restricted by something in the tunnel just outside of the light. Alex stepped forward. Greasy tentacles wound their way into the torchlight and Alex backed against the wall, unsure how to strike the faceless tentacles. The others saw the tentacles encroach into their area and they moved to attack them. There were eight in all, and one of them wrapped around Alex and drew him toward the center. The others watched as a gibbering mound of flesh came into view from Alex’s sword. At the center of the tentacles, each twice as thick as Thovaas’s leg, rows of teeth surrounded the black void of a mouth. Alex was drawn to it and was about to loose one of his limbs when suddenly it recoiled. Thovaas had severed one of the other tentacles to get its attention, and Quentin rolled along the slime-covered floor to arrive behind it. Grimnyr jumped into the midst of its tentacles and Jerrin rode Tempest forward just beyond its reach. Grimnyr and the others cleaved through the beast’s tough skin and finally it stopped moving, the bloated form sagging in defeat. Alex squirmed free of the tentacle that had grasped him and regained the use of his limbs. The group inspected the gross blob as the tentacles twitched in death, and they decided to continue moving once again.

The group took the tunnels headed more west and after several more miles of walking and climbing they came across an etching in the stone. It was at an intersection and it clearly indicated which path to take with a colored code surrounding each exit. Quentin had to wait until the yellow light of Alex’s sword to shine on it before he could discern the colors. After a quick investigation they found traps and figured out how the colors could guide them through and they proceeded onward through the darkness. Quentin scouted out each intersection and soon the group wound their way by following the color code for each section. Occasionally they saw detailed carvings that indicated caverns ahead or an underground stream that had to be crossed.

The group kept their guard up as they entered a different section of tunnels. These had been finished a little more to even out rough spots to form arched tunnels that were much easier to traverse. The group still followed the etched maps and color coding, and now they saw there were large rooms and many branches, each with chamber after chamber. The path they were led on was likely the longest, but it was still safe from traps and alarms as far as Quentin and Alex could tell. They walked through a vast hall with a vaulted, cathedral-like ceiling, and after that they zigzagged through various antechambers and walked up many flights of stairs of various sizes. Finally they entered a round room with a map of the surrounding areas, but this time there was no color coding. Quentin shushed the paladin, but still Thovaas’s armor rustled as he breathed. Down the corridor Quentin, then Alex and Grimnyr, swore they heard a low murmur of voices, as if a choir of twenty men with deep bass voices was humming continuously.


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## MarauderX (Jul 26, 2005)

*Session 37: Temple of Destruction*

Quentin proceeded forward cautiously along the side of the dark corridor. Alex sheathed his sword of light to allow the shadowdancer to use his vision. Then it seemed as though Quentin was no longer moving forward. Alex asked what was wrong and Quentin whispered that his leg had pushed a switch of some sort. Alex examined the lever and found the fulcrum point, at which he wedged a small piece of wood to prevent the lever from moving further forward or back. Alex motioned for Quentin to back off and the lever remained locked in the same position.

Quentin pushed forward further down the wide corridor and he noticed that the rooms to the side did indeed look exactly like the map on the wall. Quentin moved to the first one on the right and ducked into the room as the motion of a duergar caught his attention. Alex continued to search for triggers that could sound an alarm or worse. The rest of the party waited patiently.

Quentin watched the duergar stop at the edge of his vision, then another stood next to him. He watched as they held their crossbows in both hands and faced down the hall. Then a voice boomed down the corridor and the two duergar Quentin could see around the corner snapped into a pose to aim their weapons. Another command echoed out, and both duergar fired their crossbows down the dark corridor together, then they each swirled to the side chamber arches where they began reloading. Just as they moved out of the way, another command came down the hall, and Quentin saw another pair of duergar fire and spin to the side. Another bark came and two more bolts whistled by just as they moved out of the way. One more time it happened then a series of other orders, in the gravelly duergar language, echoed out.

The rest of the group heard the orders, but not knowing what they were stood their ground and examined the dark corridor. The crossbow bolts flew out of the darkness in pairs at them, several hitting the group. Thovaas had the chance to step to the side and Jerrin began casting enchantments. The group began moving their way up to the duergar, and Grimnyr sprinted in to engage them. Alex crept along examining the worked rock as he went. Quentin helped to fell one of the duergar as more crossbow bolts came soaring down the corridor. Jerrin stepped into view of the corridor and cast a spell to fill the area with a thick fog.

Still the crossbow bolts flew blindly down the corridor in hopes of finding a target, but the group had other ideas as they all crammed into the first small room on their right. Each in turn saw the ghastly figure strung up in the middle of the room. It reminded them of the mummy they had faced in the mountains, but instead of being a dry husk, this figure was wet with oozing pus. It was strung up with wrists held by a strong metal cord tied to a hook anchored into the ceiling, and the ankles were tied similarly with a cable lashed around a hook in the floor. Overcoming their fear of it they went to work.

Jerrin kept watch and cast several spells to enhance his hearing that would prove to be invaluable. Quentin aided Alex as he scoured the room for anything strang, hidden, or even better - shiny. He found a nich in the wall that held scalples, small hooks, and rolls of bandages and not much else. Grimnyr studied the thing as it hung and wondered how a necromancer might find use for such a thing, then realized that it might be more handy to an alchemist looking to extract fluid from the juicy mummy. Thovaas examined it warily as he thought it another vile trap to be ignored.

Jerrin thought of the layout of the place they were in and decided to summon a creature to aid them in taking a different route. A thoqqua appeared and began burrowing through the solid rock upon the druid's instruction. The others prepared spells and made other protective measures. Grimnyr's chanting about his forefathers and the riches given them by Kord could be heard over the din the thoqqua was generating. At the last measure of space to be burrowed through, Jerrin nodded at the others as it burst through to the other side of the rock.

Without warning, a surge of lightning blasted them all, sending electricity up and down their spines. The thoqqua had vaporized from the blast, and it showed a clear hole to the other side where a packed audience watched the searing hot walls cool. Jerrin pushed forward with his massive bulk forward, as he was now in the form of a bear, and the red-hot rock was only slightly warm through his thick fur, hide, and magical protection. An instant later the group was pummeled by rocks falling from the ceiling, and a wave of mud threatened to bury them in the small room.

Jerrin squeezed into the temple area at the end where he seemed to be interrupting a particularly dark ceremony. The head priest waved his arms and a symbol of a black skull dangling from his neck jostled from side to side. Suddenly Jerrin was struck blind, but fortunately his magically enhanced senses allowed him to use his ears to sense what was near. Wading into the alter area, Jerrin heard the cathedral-like area was full with worshippers now poised to follow the dark priest's orders.

Grimnyr pushed his way to try to follow after Jerrin and his wolfhound Tempest, but his hand pressed against an unseen barrier. The wall of force blocked his way into the temple, sealing off the druid from the rest of the party as they wallowed in the chest-deep mud. Looking in, Grimnyr saw the followers begin to rise from their knees and he projected his thoughts though the barrier. A score of the followers were dumbstruck as to what to do at first, then they fled away from alter area as quickly as they could. Grimnyr instructed the others to follow Quentin to go the long way around in order to save the druid from peril.

Quentin had made his way down the corridor where he managed to sneak into a good position using the cover of darkness. Alex kept his sword out and when he reentered the fog cloud Quentin saw their attention turn towards it. Quentin struck out, then vanished into the inky blackness, unseen by even their keen eyesight. Alex made his way slowly down the corridor after sheathing his sword to provide cover for himself. Thovaas and Grimnyr soon emerged into the corridor just as Alex drew his sword to strike at one of the duergar, and with him as a focal point, Grimnyr and Thovaas charged into battle.

Meanwhile, Jerrin took several slashes from the ranger in front of him as his hearing was being inundated with cries of confusion. He cast airwalk and ascended to the highest reaches of the ceiling, flattening himself along an upper alcove where the echoes from below were weakest. The head priest and the elven wizardess flung spells at the blind druid, and Jerrin decided to even the odds a bit by calling on his own powers of magic to create a storm of sleet in the large room. He smiled inwardly as he heard the confusion below, knowing that the wicked congregation was now almost as blind as he. Jerrin guided Tempest to the ground where he protected his master as he summoned aid. An air elemental whisked forth, and Jerrin instructed it to create a whirlwind to devestate those in the temple. It got to work and pummeled the vast majority of the dark worshippers, flinging them about the room into the walls and against the stone ceiling. The druid release the sleet storm and noticed that he elf wizardess, the dark priest and the ranger were not among the defeated in the room. With the room mostly clear, Jerrin walked out of the room several feet above the floor.

The others worked their way through the duergar as they charged forth, and Quentin stood hidden in the shadows to dispatch them as they came. With the way clear, they moved forward to see the intersection they had been expecting. Quentin met Jerrin half way down the corridor and grinned when he looked at the destruction in the temple. Quentin passed through another side chamber with four statues standing in niches along the one wall. Getting an eerie feeling, he left the room to report not to go back in there.

Alex strode forward as word from the druid revealed that the three at the alter were likely still alive. Just as Alex reached the corner to the next side passage, the flash of a blade gleamed from the light of Alex's sword. Too late, and a line of crimson splashed onto the stone floor. Alex recoiled and the others charged in to find the attacker. Jerrin waived his small hand over Thovaas's sword, and from seemingly inside the weapon a bright glow pierced the darkness. Quentin objected to using such a fierce light, but the others all agreed that it would allow them all to see anyone trying to hide in the darkness.

The group glanced down the wide passage and saw only darkness. Alex moved forward and soon found he was sliding in a pool of grease beneath his feet. To his left the cleric stood, but now he was twice his height. His warhammer cracked against the stone near Alex and the others came down the hall to join in the fray.

Grimnyr bounded over the grease spot easily enough to launch a striking blow against the elf wizardess. She gasped as surely the wound Grimnyr left would cause a scar and more, and she backhanded the tall bard. The blow nearly knocked him off of his feet, and surely it would have knocked any normal man's head off, but Grimnyr stood firm. Again Grimnyr swung his axe into her, and this time it bit deeply into her heart. The barbarian-bard watched the gleam of life dull in her eyes before looking at the dark cleric to vent his fury.

Jerrin summoned a massive earth elemental that filled what was left of the room. The dark priest took a heavy blow from the rock abomination, but still he stood and with both hands he swung his warhammer into Grimnyr's chest. Everyone heard the crackling of ribs, the sound of spurting blood coming from the man's mouth and hitting the wall, and Grimnyr's gasp for air as his lungs filled with blood after being punctured by his own ribs. Miraculously still standing, the tall man stared into the evil priest's eyes, defiant to the last. On the back swing the priest smashed his hammer into Grimnyr's back, further driving the broken ribs to pierce the man's heart. Though the spirit fought ever on, the tall man's flesh finally yielded.

In a newfound rage Grimnyr would have been proud to write a poem about, the party found themselves re-energized with a hate for their opponents. The ranger tried several times to stop Jerrin in his tracks, and even attempted to charm the druid's companion away from him, but each to no avail. Thovaas slashed and struck down the ranger with Alex's aid, while Jerrin dealt with the dark priest to avenge Grimnyr.

Quentin kept busy something nasty the elf wizardess had summoned, and he was soon aided by them all. It lashed out wildly as it screached, and the group worked in tandem to strike it down, Thovaas finally sending it back from where it came with a smiting blow.

The group surveyed the damage and the costly victory as they gathered around Grimnyr's broken body.


<<Holy crap have I been slammed at work.  I'll be finishing up this week, but it depends whether I play my cards right to get the 2 interns and/or 2 junior peeps to help me.  It's time to burn more skill points on Appraise Coworker, Office Diplomacy, and Project Intimidation.  Where's the dang office bard when you need one to attend management meetings.>>


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## MarauderX (Aug 11, 2005)

*Session 38: Spin Room*

The group made a quick search of the area with Alex scouring the room. They saw a religious preparation equipment in the room, from fine cloth with miniature symbols to leathery tidbits of a creature stewing in a bitter smelling liquid. Ceremic tiling covered the entire wall facing them. It depicted an elven woman on a massive throne with wisps of fog surrounding.

Alex tapped on several of the tiles and found that most of them might crack if he applied more pressure. His search for a secret door or hidden alcove came up empty. Also in the room he saw a metal lever protruding from the wall, and it was in the down position. While the party discussed the wisdom of throwing the switch, Alex made his way into several of the other rooms they had already come through. In the catherdral area he saw several saucers with blood that was coagulating. He recalled several dots on the elf woman's wrists, and surmised that it was her blood in the saucers. Also on the alter were several jars filled with spices, preservatives, and dyes to use as paint.

The group decided to withdraw from the area without searching the circular side rooms or disturbing the dust on the statues in the nearby room. Jerrin morphed in a much larger shape in order to carry all the bodies out of the area.

The party found a safe, defensible area, and after scouting it out they made camp among the dank rock. Tired, they decided to rest. Thovaas polished his armor and weapons while keeping guard for the first watch. Jerrin woke them all after the last watch, and during that time he studied Grimnyr's body. After a cold meal Jerrin began pouring through his pouches to find ingredients for a particular spell. He found much of what he needed from materials on the cleric and his unholy alter, and after inspecting them thoroughly he carefully applied them to Grimnyr's body. The dead barbarian lay cold and stiff on the floor of the cave, and after several hours of preparation he was ready to perform the spell.

The others stood guard and also watched the small druid as he began the incantations. With one hand placed on Grimnyr's head, he began repeating the same phrase they all remembered from when Jerrin had reconstructed Varekai's body. The halfling's other hand shook, then something began to grow in his palm. In a minute the formation of a human head appeared and began growing more the rest of the way down the new body. As Grimnyr's body was being reconstructed, his old one began to whither and eventually became dust. Before them was a naked, hairless barbarian man. He lay unmoving on the stone floor until Jerrin finished the incantation, and suddenly he gasped his first breath.

Though the man looked like Grimnyr, the group could tell that it was physically not him. His facial features seemed changed slightly, as his nose had straightened and his scars were gone. The black marks that had formed while being with Thermoleth were gone, and the tall man was even missing a belly button.

The group congratulated him as they provided him with his things and adjusted to his new body. He had a little trouble with motor control at first, but after the group fed him some warm soup he was swinging his axe while reciting the measures of his songs. Clearly he was ready to venture forth once again, even if his spirit had taken a blow.

As they rested for the night, Grimnyr recounted what he could of the afterlife. He told of the strong arms of Kord nestling him close while telling Grimnyr he had heard his voice before, bravely chanting and singing over the din of battle, and what a glorious thing it was. Then, the god Olidamara came to visit. The god of chance wished, on behalf of a request from Ehlonna, to send Grimnyr back into the world. Kord knew the god of luck would wish to skew Grimnyr upon his return, but Kord would not refuse Ehlonna's call, and he yeilded to chance. With a grin, Olidamara rolled his great dice into the air and when they stopped a human face appeared. A smirk of resignation crossed Olidimara's face, and the god of strength nodded approval. Olidamara snatched his dice to possibly roll again, to change the flavor of life that had been assigned the barbarian-bard, but Kord stopped him. The god of luck pouted and Kord released Grimnyr to be taken to Ehlonna.


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In what Jerrin guessed had been a full day of recovery, the group ventured forth. Quentin led the way, guiding Alex through the darkness as they moved to ambush a party of Duergar. Two of the duergar were wrestling on the stone floor while the others watched and cheered, oblivious of everything else around them. The party moved into position and waited for Alex to draw his sword of light, the signal that they should attack. Quentin first stabbed one of the Duergar in the back and as he collapsed Alex struck the next. The dueger, stunned and partly blinded by the suddenly bright weapon attacking them, retreated toward the great double doors behind them.

The party lurched forward, striking down several of the duergar as two of them darted to the side rooms. Soon they returned and their numbers had been halved as the massive doors opened. Jerrin whipped several balls of fire at the apparent leader of the duergar, as only he and one other slipped through into the room beyond. The group braced for what lay beyond, not sure what to expect. When Alex waved his sword of light into the room, they could see the two duergar frantically pushing on something like a pedestal in the center.

The party strode in and dispatched the two remaining duergar, then investigated the strange round room. There were no other exits other than the one they had come through, and the only thing of interest was the pedestal with weird ceramic tiles in the center. Alex searched the room thoroughly and reported that it didn't have anything of interest, except that it didn't have any holes whatsoever, and every surface had a glass-like feel to it. The group filtered in, and Thovaas decided to give the strange button tiles on the pedestal a try. He pressed his palm into a scad of the buttons, and with a shudder the room shook and unexpectedly began slowly turning. The surprise had caught most of them off guard and after nearly falling they stared at the doorway they had just come from, expecting something else to appear.

The room turned perhaps all the way around and stopped facing a dark opening. They heard the trampling and clicking of bare, clawed feet against stone and the party drew their weapons and braced themselves for whatever lay in the room. Suddenly five orb-like beasts with many limbs clambored from out of the darkness. Their skin was a festering pale pink, and a gaping maw opened in the middle of their bodies, from which protruded a hose-like tongue. Three of them came along the floor of the opening. The other two scampered along the sides, clinging to the walls with what looked like suckers in the middle of their feet. The abominations paused after seeing the party and one by one they sprayed acid in an arc to cover many of them at a time. The only one who was safe was Thovaas who stood in the rear to launch arrows at the creatures.

Grimnyr stood his ground as Alex and Quentin moved in to stab with their rapiers. The creatures snapped their jaws at them, and in moments they began to drop from the party's fierce fighting. The last scrambled along the ceiling to stop overtop the paladin and let another spat of acid loose. It was soon brought down by Quentin after his hands called forth his bow with a snap.

The party found that the glass-like tiles in the circular spin room match those of the room adjacent that held the acid-spewing creatures. They ventured into the dark room and found it was easily thirty feet tall. Along the top ten feet on the opposite side from them, metallic bars vertically split the room they were in with an area above. Alex climbed the wall to take a look at the other area through the bars and saw a mostly empty room beyond. In the center three poles from the ceiling dropped into three hemispherical bowls at the bottom. From the bowls a channel was carved in the stone from the bowls to the edge of the room the party was in. The three channels stopped at the edge of the wall to form a small scupper from which slowly dripped a thin yellow liquid. The group considered this room to be a trap from the spinning room if you pressed the wrong button, and that the room beyond the bars was a feeding chamber of sorts.

The group tossed the foul smelling bodies of the acid-spitting beasts back into their disgusting lair, then went about trying to figure out how to activate the buttons on the pedestal to make the room spin once more.

The room shook and turned once again, this time it stopped on a set of double doors. Alex went to work opening them, and eventually he found a latch on one side that he managed to unfasten. He worked on the other door and did the same before sliding the crossbar to open the doors. They stared into the gloom and Alex could shone the light from the Short Sword of Light further into the room. In it were columns that marched systematically down and across, with one positioned every ten feet. As they moved forward, movement caught their eye.

A slow moving grey tendril floated into the spinning room. It was followed by five more, and they each had a feather-like tip that seemed to measure the air by waving back and forth. The party backed up, giving ground to the smooth tendrils that were no thicker than a man's finger. However when they reached halfway across the room Thovaas stood his ground. A tendril slinked near him, and he held out his sword to it. The feather-like probiscus danced along the edge of it. With a flick of his wrist Thovaas severed the tendril. The remainder of it retreated into the darkness and the others moved in toward the paladin.

Suddenly a wall of fire sparked to life, blocking the double door entrance and searing the tendrils, cutting them all off with the flames. Jerrin stood in silent concentration, hands outstretched to maintain the wall. Grimnyr picked up on the cue and soon the rest of the party was mashing buttons on the pedestal to make the room spin again. After a few tenious minutes the room shuddered and turned. Jerrin let his concentration on his wall of fire slip and he huffed to catch his breath from the effort. After it dispersed they saw the opening faced a solid grey wall.

The group took the next several hours trying to figure out the pedestal and how to operate it, but often they gave up in frustration as it refused to move. The room lurched a few times, and finally they managed to get it to face an alternate direction. They heard voices down a lit corridor that went forty feet before turning left. One voice quieted them, then told them in draconic to ensure 'they' didn't survive. The party manuevered into a better position and began casting enhancement spells just as the light from the corridor went dim. They could see what was blocking it - a massive lumbering lizard-like hulk. It shoved Alex out of the way before it stopped in the middle of the party and flexed and roared. It was quieted first by a heavy blow from Grimnyr, then another from the barbarian-bard as he dug deep into its flesh with his axe. Alex and Quentin dealt successive quick blows, finding ample targets along its back. Jerrin, in the form of a bear, swiped the thing with his claws and Thovaas carved deep wounds in the massive lizard's hide. It staggered and fell face down never to rise again.

The other lizard men moved in. Four of them weilded heavy axes that they swung over their heads to strike Alex, Quentin and Grimnyr. The others, including their apparent leader, fired arrows at them with deadly accuracy. The arrows were tipped with a poison but also tore at the flesh with the passion of a god of death. Grimnyr, for the first time, cringed after one of the arrows struck him. Jerrin cast a spell to first cause a cave in on the short lizard archers, then he put up a wall of wind to prevent their arrows from getting through. The party worked to dispatch the rest of the axe-wielding draconians, and they fought to the last as the archers retreated out of the mud.

Jerrin then cast a spell to airwalk over the mud and the rest of the party joined him on the other side, around the corner of the corridor. There a room opened up to them, all lit with an eerie green fluid that seemed to course through parts of the ceiling thirty feet above. In the center, twenty feet from the floor, an oval opening swirled with darkness. On either side of the room stairs climbed to seemingly nowhere in the empty space. On the top of each of the stairs two of the reptilians loosed their arrows at the party.

TO BE CONTINUED...


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## MarauderX (Aug 26, 2005)

*Session 39: Dragon Forshadowed*
The party surveyed the room once more. On the top of each set of steps were two of the lizard-like men with bows. They were reloading just after unleashing a flurry of shots at the party. Immediately the party went into action.

Jerrin cast a spell that created an obscuring mist between the reptilian archers and the party, and it was large enough to temporarily block their sight. Thovaas and Grimnyr crossed each others' path as they each made their way to a stair. Jerrin walked back across the mud he had created to fetch Quentin, and the shadowdancer materialized on his back. Alex clung to the wall above the mud, slipping along it's length until he was on the other side.

Arrows descended on the paladin as he strode up the stair. The leader of the reptilian men shoved his shorter lackey forward to deal with Thovaas. It swung a curved blade that clacked across the thick armor and the paladin swung in turn at the little beast that yelped and ducked to one side.

Grimnyr bounded up the other stairs and gouged a deep wound in the first. It jumped from the stair to the floor below. It was surprised as a rhinocerous burst from the cloud cover to ram with its horn. Quentin rode atop Jerrin and he launched arrows back at the remaining lizardman on the stair near Grimnyr.

Alex twirled his grappling hook before letting it fly over the head of the reptilian leader. The leader ignored him at first, then a sudden yank took him off of his feet, and he gripped the stairs with all his might to stay on the stairs. Quentin dismounted from the massive Jerrin and the shape-changed halfling walked steadily on the air to face the lizard-like leader. Quentin called upon a newfound ability, and his shadow sprang to life and drifted towards the reptilian leader. The shadowdancer's shadow companion materialized behind the leader and with a pass of its arms it sapped the leader's strength. Thovaas dropped the reptile man in front of him and stepped forward to strike at the leader.

Grimnyr slashed into the other lizard archer and it dropped lifelessly from the stair. The barbarian rubbed his hands together and watched Quentin's shadow drain the last of the lizard leader's strength from his body.

The party gathered the lizard bodies in the room with the dual stairs and questioned the leader as it struggled to breath with its leather vest anchoring it to the stone floor. Alex shone his light around the room and noticed two identical panels, one on each side near the stairs. The rogue kept one eye on the swirling dark cavity twenty feet from the floor as he explored the rest of the room. Thovaas and Quentin spoke with the lizard-like leader while Jerrin and Grimnyr used their powers to heal wounds.

Quentin first asked it who it was working for and where it got the poison for the arrows. It hissed a slow reply that was vague, but that indicated it knew it could bargain such information for its life. The paladin detected the stench of evil on the creature and asked who it worked for. It replied that it's father was very close, and that he would be upset the party wasn't dead yet. They asked it about the vile damage the arrows had done, and whether it was curable and by what means. The creature hissed an arrogant retort and the shadowdancer had his shadow drain even more strength from him, enough that it couldn't stand let alone walk. It said that it would help the party through the void. They agreed, and they hefted the lizard leader's body over to the first panel.

The lizard-like man had Quentin guide his arm that he couldn't lift to mash his hand against the tiles on the panel in a sophisticated order. Then they heard the stairs behind them grumble and slide into a position just below the black void on the wall. The lizard-like leader told the party he would tell them the code only after they took him to the circular room that they had come from. He told them to sling his body over the pedestal and from there he was able to press several of the tiles on the panel there. He relayed the code to Quentin, who told Jerrin who told Thovaas, and Thovaas pressed the color tiles in the order the reptilian creature gave.

Suddenly the round room began to slowly turn. Quentin asked what the next colors were and he relayed them while holding his rapier to the leader's throat. It flicked its tongue and Thovaas heard the second stairway grumble and turn into position to face the other. Satisified, Quentin leapt from the circular room at the last moment.

In the stair room, the group watched the void by the two stairs solidify. Inky blackness poured from the hole and became a solid looking platform that spanned the two stairs and led back into the black hole, which had become an archway into the stone. Thovaas made his way up to the black carpet-like platform, and he noticed wisps of darkness rising from it like steam from a large bowl of soup, but it was cool to his tenuous touch. He looked up to see Quentin standing in the middle of the new black platform scanning the black void. Finding the blackness beyond a comfortable hiding place, Quentin Blythe stepped in. One by one the rest followed.


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The blackness surrounded them, and was at first robbing them of air and wrenching itself into their clothes and things to fill every space that it could consume. Direction seemed to disappear and walking became pointless as they seemed to sometimes be spinning or falling, then stopped suddenly. The nauseating effect was negated by the soft blackness, and a moment later a glimmer of light could be seen.

Quentin stepped into a vast room. He was at one end of it, and a trio of steps led up to a pool of dark water. Behind it more stone steps led the way to a platform above the pool, and behind this another marble platform supported a glossy black alter. On the alter viles were full of strange liquids, and the glimmer from a gem on a golden goblet caught Quentin's eye as Thovaas came through the portal behind him. Beyond the alter something massive moved and the glint of gold was apparent as a dragon donned a helmet that fit snuggly over its head.

Thovaas steadied the others as they came through the portal and the dragon waited patiently as several priests drew their robes around themselves and consolidated around the steps. Four elves lumbered forward, their normally lith movements were now stunted and clumsy, and for the party it was cumbersome to watch them as they waved their arms about and dragged weapons along the marble platform. Clearly they were not of their own mind, and Thovaas noted their eyes were milky white as drool soaked the fronts of their tunics.

The dragon introduced itself as Kakuko, and that he was a student and master of the old ways of dragons. He asked what they were doing in his house, and why they would attempt to interrupt a ceremonial sacrifice the great goddess Syn'nestra. Pausing to look at one another, Jerrin cast a spell of protection upon himself. With that, suddenly they realized the dragon had taken a defensive stance. Jerrin released another spell to hide the party from a clear line of sight to the dragon.

The party moved in and struck down several of the robed men surrounding the elevated platforms after seeking them out in the dense fog. The loping elves swung wildly at them as they moved in closer to deal with the dragon. Jerrin summoned forth three dire bats, then used his powers to increase both their size and his. Tempest also increased in size, and together they stormed the top platform where the dragon hid in the grey cloud of mist.

Quentin stayed behind to see if he could find a target for his arrows, and directed his shadow Umbra to fly behind the dragon and attack it. Thovaas slashed at one of the elves time and again, but it amazingly did not fall. Grimnyr bounded past them as they fought and discovered a thick black book on the six-foot tall alter. Jerrin and his entourage struck the dragon several times, but missed more than hit due to the fog. Alex launched his grappling hook to use the dragon as an anchor, and he pulled himself up the line. Jerrin felt the dragon's acidic breath as a cloud of acid billowed forth, nearly hidden. Quentin's shadow struck the huge dragon several times as it bypassed the beast's scaled hide to suck strength from it repeatedly.

Grimnyr hopped onto the altar and without bothering to examine the words on pages, he paused his chant as he brought down his axe with the mightiest blow he could muster. In a flash of brilliant light the barbarian was hurled from the altar. The book was still there, now with a slender cut through several pages. Quentin had ventured up to the altar to see if he could drag it down, but it was too heavy and cumbersome to get it without being seen.

The dragon, seeing what was going on, dove from the platform and glided to the pool of water. Alex caught on that it was soon going to dive into the pool, and he let go of the rope as he rode it from the platform. He landed on the edge of the pool of water, swinging his arms in circles so that he didn't fall in. The dragon splashed into the water and began going downward, and water sloshed up over the edge of the pool, soaking the rogue's boots.

Quentin heard what was happening and guided his shadow to follow and attack the weakened dragon. When Umbra struck, the dragon let out its last breath before disappearing into the murky depths of the water below. The shadow returned to tell Quentin the dragon was dead.

A few moments later, the group petered out of the fog cloud. Grimnyr clasped the Book of Syn'nestra to his chest. The tall man scanned the cover of the book and when Thovaas asked what it was, Grimnyr began spouting about the great teachings of the book, its uses, of the inevitability of sacrifice, and the mysterious workings of the beloved Syn'nestra. Jerrin saw that Grimnyr had used his ability to entrance people with words, and snapped them all out of his considerable sway. Quentin then asked if the markings on the book were arcane or divine in nature. Again Grimnyr began a speach, but this time no one stopped him and he continued for nearly half an hour.


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Grimnyr set the book down on the stone floor. The group healed their wounds and decided they would rest in the room after making sure it was secure. Alex didn't need the hint as he was already examining the jewel studded goblet on the black alter. Jerrin shook his head to clear his thoughts then said he was going to see if he could find the dragon's body in the pool. He transformed into a crocodile and dove into the water.

Jerrin explored downward for several miles before feeling a queasy change in the water. He pressed on in the darkness and felt that the circular tunnel of water wasn't going to end. A few miles more and he could feel the water pressure lessening just before he could see the blackness fade to a gloomy gray. A few hundred yards later he could see the surface of the water and beyond that he could see movement. Without hesitation the druid swam back down into the darkness toward the others. Along the way he felt his scaled claws scrape against something metallic. He felt coins and scooped up some in his mouth. As he was going through the queasy spot, his snout slammed into the softer underside of the dead dragon. It floated in stasis and Jerrin found that gravity was up in both directions from that point. He swam back to the group and reported what he had found after spitting out the coins from his mouth.

The group delighted in finding the dragon's treasure, but using caution they decided to dress their wounds and restore their spells.


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## MarauderX (Sep 16, 2005)

*Session 40: Knight Fall at Duergar Mountain*

The group gathered in a circle around the Book of Syn'nestra and debated about what to do next. Jerrin had told the group that the water tunnel had gold halfway down it's length, and the group agreed they should bring it up into the large chamber. Together they worked out a plan and ignored the book as it rested on the stone floor.

The three remaining elves in the room thanked the party and immediately went to sleep when the party decided to rest. The elves then told the party that they were party of an emissary that had come to the mountain to begin diplomacy between the elves and the duergar. When the elves revealed their intentions of reuniting with the drow, the King of the duergar smirked. Several of their group first tried to appease the King, then one made boostful promises, then another, a barrel-chested human made an empty threat to behead the King. After a minute of silent pondering by the King, the court then errupted into violence. Their entourage split up and the four elves had wandered into a trap set by the dragon. The next thing they knew they were waking up from a terrible nightmare.

Then the group turned their attention back to the underwater treasure. Jerrin cast an enchantment to allow the others the ability to breath water, with the exception of Alex. One by one they dropped into the dark water and fell slowly downward. Alex stayed behind and searched the large chamber while keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. The rogue managed to work his way around the room and noted that there was no exit, not even a secret door. The only ways out seemed to be down through the water or up into the darkness above where there was no ceiling.

Thovaas, Grimnyr, Jerrin and Quentin stopped falling and Jerrin summoned forth light on a coin he felt floating in front of him. The watery tunnel glowed with the brilliance of the vast hoard of treasure they had found. Quentin blinked and counted a rough estimate of 35,000 gold in mixed coins. Behind them the bloated corpse of the green dragon they had killed was suspended in the water. The group immediately got to work and even began skinning the dragon to use its hide to gather coins. Casting a spell to detect magic, Grimnyr focused on four items; a spear, a warhammer, a scroll case, and Kakuko's helmet. As they sifted through the floating coins, scattering them about, Jerrin saw several coins drop from the tunnel on the other side. The copper pieces clacked against the other coins and thoughts of payment to the dragon went through the druid's head. With their bags full the group began the task of ascending to the chamber once more.

Jerrin shifted into the form of a crocodile and took many of the bags to lessen the load on the others. At the top he handed the bags over to Alex, and the smiling rogue began shoveling piles of coins onto the floor to be organized. The group went down several more times and came back up, until finally they had grabbed nearly every last copper. Alex had split the piles up according to value, and though the platinum pile was the smallest, it was still as valuable as the pile of gold. The group split the platinum to take with them. Jerrin carried his share of the gold pieces, adn the rest of the gold was loaded into the saddlbags of Thovaas' celestial mount. Then the group began discussing where they should go next, and what was to be done.

The next day the group set out to explore to the end of the water tunnel. Again protected by Jerrin's water breathing spell, the party dropped one by one into the water and fell slowly until they landed near the mutilated dragon. Then they began the climb up the other side. The going was slow, but after several hours they managed to see light above them. Jerrin could tell that this was not daylight, nor the moon, nor any other natural source of light - he knew they were still underground.

Alex and Quentin were the first to come up. They felt the pull of a current and they found they had come up on the bottom of a small river. Above them was a metallic bridge with slats that allowed the duergar guard standing on it to see down into the hole they were emerging from. Thankfully the guard above them was lax in his duty and he didn't see the two men as they crept out of the water on either side of him. Just as Quentin had Umbra move into position, the duergar noticed Jerrin's head as it caused the surface of the river to ripple.

Jerrin then swam quickly to the side of the river, his wolfhound close behind. Grimnyr and Thovaas followed, and Quentin moved in to attack the duergar. Alex noticed a second duergar guard standing along the river in the barrel-domed cavern and then saw it sprint towards a mammoth metal automaton standing silently along the wall. Jerrin summoned a massive wolf, and its celestial form appeared on the metal bridge. With a lunge it mangled the dark-skinned dwarf until he fell limp onto the metal bridge.

Seeing the other duegar pressing tiles and pulling levers behind the massive automaton, Grimnyr darted to it and stabbed with the Spear of Dancing. The end of the spear caught the duergar in the chest, piercing his armor, and the barbarian catapulted next to the automaton.

Thovaas looked upstream with his back to the bridge. Further up he saw the deep stream of water end at a shimmering glass-like wall. Through it's slow and steady ripple he could see a gap of five feet splitting the large arched cavern. On the other side he saw more duergar, armored in full plate mail and armed with their signature axes, hammers, and crossbows. Something about them was different;they moved far more swiftly than they should on the other side of this vertical glass wall. One by one they began forming a line on the other side, and before Thovaas could take a single step forward they had organized, readied and loaded their crossbows. Before Thovaas took another step forward their crossbows snapped up with blazing speed. As the paladin's foot touched the ground, they released a volley of bolts at him. The missles snapped toward the glass-like wall and struck it, where they slowed to match the slower speed on the party's side of the wall. Thovaas raised his shield and the clacking of the bolts could be heard reverberating in the cavern. When the paladin looked over his shield again, he saw that the duergar on the other side had already reloaded and were firing again. He had not gone four paces compared to their faster movement.

The party saw as other duergar and humans appeared on the other side of the barrier in the blink of an eye. Thovaas charged as fast as he could at the wall, and still the duergar crossbowmen managed to fire four more volleys at him. When the paladin hit the barrier he felt it tug to press him backward but his strength and shear weight pushed him through. Holding his breath, Thovaas felt the effects of a vaccuum hit him with punishing force. He hit another vertical barrier similar to the other and pushed through with ease before landing, twisting his ankle from the leap.

The rest of the party watched as the paladin now moved just as fast as the duergar and swung his sword with blazing speed. Seeing the difference in speed, the others looked to follow. Grimnyr broke through, and unprepared for the vacuum, exhaled blood when he landed on the other side. Quentin was repelled backward by the wall, as was Alex. Jerrin summoned a celestial bear to aid in the attack, and guided both it and the previously summoned wolf to jump through the rippling wall. The wolf made it through, however the bear was dispelled when it tried.

Thovaas watched as the duergar broke their line and surrounded him. Blows glanced off of his armor all around him, and an occasional strike managed to bruise the large man beneath the metal skin. Then in the back of his mind, the paladine heard a voice speak to him. It was the book, the one he carried with him to protect others from its evil. The book had recognized the knight's plight, that he was surrounded and now several duergar clerics and human sorcerers were slinging spells at him. Thovaas wondered if using the book would mean his doom, and if he could use the evil book against other evil. In his care, the others would still be safe from the book, and using it to quash another threat was for the greater good, no matter his sacrifice. The paladin removed the book from his pack and opened it.

The rest of the group couldn't see what the paladin was doing in the middle of the armored duergar, but suddenly they heard. From atop the wall he had leapt upon, Grimnyr turned away from the sorcerers he faced to look down at Thovaas. Sure enough the barbarian heard the paladin chanting vile words of death and sacrifice. A moment later, as Grimnyr cut down another sorcerer, a massive horned beast appeared next to the duergar. Thovaas somehow instructed the hairy beast to leap upon a cleric who threatened him.

Distracted by the spectacle of the summoned demon, Grimnyr was unable to dodge a swirling ball of utter darkness hurled by one of the sorcerors. As it struck him, he felt an icy blast grip his chest and necromatic magic sapped his life-force from him. The barbarian pulled out his magical rod to absorb any further attacks, and surely enough they came. Each time he waved the rod to soak up the magic that sought to harm him. With his other hand Grimnyr sliced down his foes while starting a warrior chant to Kord. In front of him he watched the demon Thovaas had summoned be dispelled by the duergar cleric, and he saw Thovaas reading more out of the book. Suddenly the evil cleric's eyes exploded in a spray of blood, and he crumpled to the floor screaming. Grimnyr saw the look on Thovaas's face when this happened, and the paladin's smile was frightening. The erstwhile paladin seemed to have lost all trace of his previous purity, and descended completely into the book's clutches.

One of the duergar laid down in the small stream of water that fed the river the group had found themselves entering from. The duergar, propelled by the water, shot through the gap between the vertical rippling barriers and arrived on the other side at the bottom of the river. Seeing this, Quentin ignored the dark dwarf and swam upstream to reach the other side. Alex soon followed, and Jerrin transformed into a massive ape and cast a spell to increase his stature yet further. The single duergar looked over the edge of the water, eyeing the huge unmoving construct, and calculating his chances of reaching it. Whatever his plans, the duergar had no chance to execute them, as he was was suddenly hefted bodily from the water by Jerrin and slammed to the ground where the enlarged wolfhound Tempest ripped him apart.

On the other side of the barrier Jerrin saw that action was happening fast. Thovaas, reading from the book, cast a spell that inflicted wounds on all that surrounded him. Grimnyr leapt across the gap for the steam and landed on the wall on the other side to face another duergar cleric. The cleric motioned to Thovaas, as if expecting the barbarian to understand, and began casting a spell. Grimnyr sucked in his breath and using frictional tones of sound caused the air itself to erupt in a cone of blazing flame at the cleric, dark dwarves, and Thovaas. The lyrical barbarian watched as the duergar recoiled. Thovaas did not. Instead Grimnyr and the others watched the fiery attack blast the flesh from his face to reveal the bones beneath.

Thovaas Stroth, a blackened skeleton sheathed in armor, kept reading from the book.

The rest of the group looked on in horror. Quentin regained his composure and saw that the duergar were in as much shock, but they stood their ground nonetheless. The last of the duergar fell from around Thovaas and the skeletal ex-paladin strode forth over the bodies as he continued reading aloud from the book. Jerrin summoned a massive beast that began wreaking havoc from atop the wall, then as suddenly as it had appeared it was gone. The last human sorcerer smirked at Jerrin's large form just before he was clobbered by the giant halfling.

Grimnyr looked beyond the wall from where he was and saw an immense underground cavern. The oval cavern was at least five hundred feet wide and well over a thousand long. The height soared for hundreds of feet above the thirty foot ledge they fought on, and for hundreds of feet below as well. Other ledges ringed the cavern and duergar started to mass on each of them, watching the fight. Then the group heard the sound of feet marching in unison. Grimnyr saw a phalanx of duergar troops marching along the wall and he cast a spell that threw them into a confused mass of metal.

Thovaas summoned another demonic beast similar to the first, and it first attacked the duergar cleric before turning its attention to Jerrin. Thovaas sat cross-legged on the wide ledge and began a dark summoning chant. With a shudder the weight of two huge tyrannosaurus rexes slammed onto the ledge to intercept the remaining duergar from the first phalanx. A second phalanx of armored duergar troops were marching from the other side as Quentin, Alex and Grimnyr dealt with the duergar cleric. This group was fronted by two constructs, and with a look, a word and a gesture from Thovaas one began melting.

The other duergar pushed in and surrounded the ex-paladin and others attempted to flank Grimnyr and the others. The two tyrannosaurs gobbled up several of the armor clad duergar at Thovaas's direction. One by one the duergar fell, and Grimnyr saw a chance to push the undead paladin off the ledge. He scrambled forward and slammed into the skeletal form, shoving him toward the edge. Thovaas, however, regained his balance and stepped away from the edge to launch a counterattack at Grimnyr. Quentin, seeing what the bard was attempting to do, raced forward and slammed as hard as he could into the undead paladin's side, pushing him squarely in front of the bard and dangerously close to the cliff edge. Grimnyr bull-rushed Thovaas with all his might, and their former companion was knocked back over the abyss.

To Quentin and Grimnyr's astonishment, instead of plummeting from the cliff-like edge, Thovaas stood on the open air with his skull facing the black Book of Synnestra. Grimnyr and Quentin saw the red gleaming beads of light where the knight's eyes once were, and they read sentence after sentence aloud from the book. Then the two men heard the pounding of a massive construct coming their way.

Jerrin and Alex struggled against the wooly horned demon that had been summoned, then against the duergar as they pressed their advantage. Grimnyr fled through the gap along the stream when he saw a another cadre of duergar and metallic constructs plodding their way. Jerrin reached over the wall and grabbed one of the previous human sized constructs with spikes all over it and crushed it with his tremendous strength. It exploded, surprising Jerrin and his wolfhound Tempest, and tiny spiked pieces of shrapnel tore through their skin.

Quentin teetered by the edge and looked down into the bottom of the huge cavern. At the bottom he saw something lying at the bottom that was shaped like a half-dwarf, half-man. It was all metal, and was easily a thousand feet tall. Duergar scrambled over it like ants and the shadowdancer saw the whole cavern was watching him. Quentin pulled himself back from the edge and his mind digested what he saw. Just then the huge metal construct began to pick up speed along the ledge, and it swung a massive blow down at the thief. On the other side, Thovaas had walked back onto the ledge and with a hand wave he commanded the two tyrannosaurs to attack the huge metal construct. They thrashed into melee, and a clawed foot trampled the awestruck Quentin. He ducked and rolled, then sprang away from the three huge combatants to see Jerrin and the others using the wall for cover as a few ballistas and crossbows fired stray shots toward them.

Grimnyr was the first to lay down, head first, in the high-pressure stream of water, and he shot straight through the vertical vacuum barrier to the slower side once more. Jerrin healed himself and wildshaped once more before resuming his natural form and shooting through the water to the other side. Alex and Quentin, seeing that Thovaas was keeping the duergar busy, decided to loot as much as they could from the bodies of the fallen. When Quentin strode on the wall, several blistering balls of flame errupted near the hidden shadowdancer. Grabbing only what he could carry, the pair of rogues dropped into the water and were flushed to the other side.

From the slower side the group glanced back to see the pair of tyrannosaurs clamp down on the metal construct, only to have their teeth splinter and break. The construct spun its mechanical arm around three times before releasing the momentum in an axe swing that decapitated one of them. Several more blasts of fire errupted, and the figure of Thovaas could no longer be seen.


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## MarauderX (Sep 22, 2005)

*41*

*Session 41: Duergar Mountain*
The party retreated from the chaos that ensued behind them. Occassionally as the group healing their wounds they glanced back to see the skeletal figure of Thovaas Stroth cradling the vile Book of Synnestra before he walked out of sight.

The group turned and continued down the massive tunnel next to the river. Darkness eventually surrounded them and Alex pulled out his sword of light to guide their way. After a short bit Jerrin tells the others that he saw a glint of metal up ahead. The rest think the short druid is seeing things, but the halfling insisted that Quentin go ahead to scout. Quentin Blythe returned and said that he didn't see anything, and assured the others that nothing strange lay ahead. Before he could close his mouth he heard a clink like the armor Thovaas wore. With looks from the others Quentin shrugged and blamed rats when he knew it couldn't be.

Jerrin cast a spell that mimiced bright daylight on a sling stone and propelled it down the tunnel. It landed and brightly lit a section that had a dark seal that ran like an arch over the tunnel. The group heard a faint female voice and again there was more sound of shifting armor against metal and stone. Grimnyr rushed to the overlap of stone and found a black leather flap covered with lichen that allowed a smooth bond between it and the stone. Yanking it aside, the tall bard saw a grinning elven face staring back at him. Several other elven faces were stuffed in behind his, and each had a weapon in their hands that they couldn't possibly use in the cramped crevasse.

The first elf smiled and foppishly introduced himself as Qua'jere, and with a nod Grimnyr insinuated that he should step out into the open tunnel. The elf skittishly poked his head into the tunnel and after looking left and right he extended a leg and lithely stretched into the open, his one hand supporting his long bow and the other on his hip. With a new confidence he introduced the others as they emerged from the crack in the wall. First stepped a hulking human barbarian named Yenmeer, followed by the elven missionary Olyver. An elven wizard named Zegree came next, followed by a pair of elegantly dressed elves, Urnst and Avaya, that looked to have been invited for their accomplished skills in either diplomacy or for other talents.

The groups scanned each other over and made pleasant conversation for a minute before the fidgeting Qua'jere insisted they continue their stories elsewhere. The party admitted they were looking for a safe avenue to temporarily escape, and the new group said they knew of a place to rest for a while. Qua'jere led them to an open area and upward onto a wet ledge that was hidden in darkness from the dim glow of the tunnel crossroads below. As they rested the party assisted in keeping watch with the others, and through a series of whispered conversations the party learned what the elven group was doing in the Duergar Mountain.


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The group of elves had come as a diplomatic envoy to establish a relationship with the strange new race of dwarves. Qua'jere was an accomplished speaker and was given permission to be the first to contact the duergar. He assembled a team of elves to best represent them, which included Urnst for his fantastic and believeable promises and Avaya for her feminine wiles. Zegree was added for his analytical insights into the duergar culture and Olyver to represent the elven gods and possibly to enlighten the duergar. To the elves, Yenmeer made the perfect human representative - strong and tall yet simple and dim-witted. They set out to first meet the duergar and succeeded after passing through the wintry north. A dozen other elves, mostly of Qua'jere's family, accompanied them to bring food, fine clothing, spices, gifts, and provide protection.

At first the duergar were aggressive and attacked them on numerous occassions. Qua'jere then played to their more curious side and left them a number of gifts near an underground barracks. The elven trinkets did the trick; within a week Qua'jere was learning their tongue and had received several gifts in return. The elf managed to get across to their superiors that he wished to talk to whomever was in charge of the duergar, and soon enough the entourage was being led through the dark corridors of Duergar Mountain.

The entourage found themselves in front of the duergar king after an exhausting journey through the dirty mines of the mountain. The king was silent as they stood before him, and they took a moment to tidy themselves before presenting the first of several gifts to him. He was given a dove made of pure gold which had gems for eyes and outstretched platinum tipped wings. Qua'jere explained that to the elves the dove was a symbol of peace and unity among all beings. The king murmured that they did not have doves underground, just bats. Without being phased, Qua'jere rolled into the next gift of a magical wooden staff that could take the form of a snake, and told the king the command word. The king said that wood was nearly useless to them underground. Qua'jere, now stammering, presented his last gift. Two of the elves brought out a large gilded chest and rested it on the floor. After quelling the guards' fears of a trap, they opened it away from the king. Out sprang reems of cloth that danced and swayed as music came from the chest. This magical performance lasted an uncomfortable fifteen minutes before the chest spun on its own and tipped over to fill the floor with an array of embroidered cloth, any one reem of which was worth as much gold as the chest could hold. The king said that they had little use for such delicate clothing given the riggors of the stone around them. The king held the court was silent for several long minutes as he sat motionless on his throne.

Finally the king stood and walked forward, scuffing the expensive cloth out his way. He asked what the elves wanted from him. Qua'jere pointedly said that they wished to build an alliance of trade to help each nation prosper and become stronger together. The king jeered at the elf then pushed by him and walked out of the court. With a look over his shoulder, the guards pushed the elven entourage to follow the king.

They were led through curved corridors and everywhere they went the duergar would pause and inspect them as they passed. Then the group saw a tall group of... humans. A dozen men were lined up alongside a company of duergar and all were clad in full plate mail. The men watched the elves with wary eyes as they passed. The elves began talking excitedly, but Qua'jere hushed them to continue in silence.

The king led the elves to a room with a crevasse down the middle and a round pool of water on either side. Without hesitating the duergar king jumped in. One of the room's guards activated a console next to the pool, and the king was drawn downward into the water. The whirlpool stopped and the group watched the pool on the other side of the crevasse exploded slowly upward. Out came the duergar king, and he was propelled out of the pool and landed on his feet. On the other side the group saw the king moving very slowly compared to those on their side of the crevasse. The duergar guards also jumped through and then it was time for the entourage. One by one the elves went through the oily water and emerged on the other side more covered in filth than when they had gone in. It seemed as though the duergar never cleaned the pool and the sweat and dirt of thousands of uses for the duergar had built up in the pool. Disgusted, the elves didn't have time to clean off using magic as the duergar king had again walked off through a set of double doors. They looked back to see the guards on the other side of the crevasse were moving very quickly, and the mechanics of the time-shift slowly worked into their thoughts as they walked.

The king of the duergar led them through many twisted tunnels and eventually they stopped at a bare-stone room. On the far side the wall was completely missing, forming a balcony over the scene below. What they saw stunned them. They deduced that this massive mountain must be hollow as a vast cavern stretched for hundreds and hundreds of feet wide, and twice as long. The height in the center was probably a thousand feet, and from the glow from below there must have been great furnaces working. At the bottom of the cavern they saw at first what looked like a metal ship. Then Avaya scanned it and said it was an immense construct, of a size no one had ever seen. The others gasped as they knew she was right.

Before them lay the incomplete Meganaut, the largest construct ever. It would stand a thousand feet tall once completed, and would be home to a duergar army inside that operated it. On the immense construct duergar moved with lightning speed; they were on the other side of the time-wave. The group had stood gawking at the edge, taking in the size of the cavern, the Meganaut, and the amount of effort it would have required to concieve and build this thing.

The group turned from the edge realizing their gifts and offerings were rather meager to the duergar king. Behind them the king sat in a high throne and to his right a beautiful blond human stood smiling with her hands on her hips. Qua'jere cleared his throat before smiling broadly as he imagined aloud of what the Meganaut could accomplish. The picture of destruction and violence brought a grin to the king's face, and Qua'jere offered to take it one step futher. He offered his services, and that of the other Arcane Archers, to help rain down arrows while riding the massive construct. He said that only their arrows would be accurate enough from the shoulders of Meganaut, and together they would be unbeatable. The king's smile slid from his face.

The king summoned a team of crossbowmen, and they appeared clad in full plate like the all of the warrior duergar. With a snap their captain lined them up and they fired a volley at rough stone bust of a strange looking duergar. The bust ruptured from the number of metal arrows rattling against it, and it fell into crumb-like rock fell on the stone floor. In an effort to equal this, Qua'jere fired an arrow at each of the crossbowmen, and each arrow struck the very top of their helms. The duergar king visably gritted his teeth. Qua'jere realized he had insulted the king and his well-trained men, and tried to talk his way into good graces, but the king's silence continued.

Qua'jere then introduced Urnst, and the wily elf made great promises of wealth and glory once they were able to serve each other in a united alliance. The duergar king gave no intention of sharing a victory with the elves, and from the elven gifts thus far, he had no wish to see more. Urnst bowed and said they would return with jewels and crafted weapons suitable to scare any dragon or giant away from the mountains. The king said that he already quelled the giants and that he also had a huge dragon as his slave. The duergar king snorted and spit on the elf. Then Yenmeer stood from his kneeling postion.

The barbarian strode forward with each sentence, claiming the human armies and elven arrows would strike down any foe, no matter how tall or what they were made of. He continued to say that the combined efforts of this army would march over all lands, skys, and seas, and they would rule the fires under the earth, the ice on the mountaintops, and the hearts of all beasts. The duergar king smiled as the barbarian approached him up the dias. When the barbarian reached the king's eye level, the king stood. With a clap duergar guards on either side of the entourage stamped their feet into line and drew their weapons. Yenmeer looked behind him and when he looked back at the duergar king, the head of a flail was coming at his face.

The barbarian tried to swivel but the spiked head of the flail smacked Yenmeer in the face and he recoiled backward. Another blow slammed into his head, followed by two more to the man's defensively raised arms. He staggered backward as the duergar guards closed in on the entourage. Avaya, looking at the odds, yelled for the group to break a hole in their ranks. Qua'jere spotted the doorway they had come in from and dropped several duergar as Yenmeer charged at several more, bowling them out of the way with his girth. The duergar saw what was happening and quickly closed ranks to block the hole, cutting off the rest of the entourage. The king, cackling with glee, descended on the rest of the entourage, dealing a death blow with every swing of his axe. The others saw that it was too late for them and fled into the labrynth of tunnels and caves in the mountain. Zegree, Olyver and Avaya helped to hide them with magic, and after what seemed like an eternity the buzz of their escape died down.

They wandered the halls and dark tunnels with Urnst scouting for traps that sound alarms, and they wandered for perhaps four days before they encountered the party.


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With the party rested, the two groups decided to get moving once again. With Jerrin and Quentin helping, they tracked the criss-crossing paths the elves had taken back through the mountain. They found guard stations where they used magic to bypass, and along the way they ambushed a duergar patrol sent throught the tunnels. Many of the tunnels were empty, and once in a while they stopped after hearing a series of shouts pass back and forth in the tunnels. After hours of walking they found a set of closed doors that seemed familar to the other group. Cautiously they approached the door and Alex noticed it had been hastily shut and that there was something behind the door blocking it from opening. He wouldn't be able to move it without making a lot of noise.

Jerrin cast several spells to enhance their powers, as did Zegree and Olyver. Quentin Blythe blended with the shadows and suddenly he was on the other side. He looked around the gloomy room and saw bags of coins around a pool filled with mucky water. All of the doors had been locked and most had a something heavy in their way to prevent simply walking into the room. Dividing the room Quentin saw a crevasse about five feet wide separating his side from the other where another cess pool lay in the center. Just as he was about to take a step forward, the sting of an arrow hitting his arm stopped him.

Quentin tracked the source of the arrow and saw the bump of a scaly head and a reptilian eye gazing down the length of another arrow. Quentin kicked the metal chest in front of the door aside and called his bow to his hand. As Alex and the others came through Quentin fired two arrows at the lizard-like man.

Suddenly the reptilian man tossed his bow onto the sacks of coins and said he surrendered. He talked smoothly, offering the bags full of money to the large group, and said that he was glad they were still alive. He then offered to send them through the pool-portal to the other side, and claimed that only he knew how to operate the device on the pedestal next to the pool.

The party listened skeptically, but the other group nodded in agreement, and soon the snake-man was pressing the single button on the pedestal while saying a random word and making lavish gestures. One by one they were flushed to the other side, and there they saw a half dozen more bags of coins spilling over around the pool. Yenmeer grabbed several of the bags with silver in them. Once they were all on the other side, they looked back to the slower moving side and saw the reptilian man moving impossibly slow on the other side. Grimnyr fired a warning arrow through the time shifting-crevasse, and he flinched and changed direction. Quentin, growing impatient, launched four more arrows at him, and the slow fleeing lizard-man was pinned to the opposite door by arrows, and there died.

Hearing Quentin mumbling about poison arrows, Urnst hit the button on the pedestal and dove into the pool. On the other side he scoured over the body and grabbed the arrows as well as something that was rolled up in the creature's vest. He quickly returned after going back through the pool connection.

Urnst unrolled the parchment, which felt like stiff leathery skin, and looked at it under the light from Alex's sword. Both groups gathered around it. Avaya and Zegree began to make sense of it and how it was a map of the mountain itself. Avaya pointed to one of a pair of blue dots on the left and said that that's where they were now standing.



As they inspected the map, Grimnyr and Jerrin heard footsteps descending on stairs behind the door they faced. Unblocking the door to have easier access to whoever was coming, they were all quiet as the door opened with a creak. In poked the head of a duergar, and he asked what they were doing there. Avaya, one of the few to speak the dark dwarf language, told the duergar guard that they were on their way to meet with the king, to discuss important financial matters. The duergar gave a confused look then relayed what Avaya had said up the stairs. Soon more boots could be heard scuffing against the stone stairs.

A half dozen duergar joined them in the room, which now suddenly seemed crowded. The leader of the duergar said he would be glad to take the group to the king, once they said they said the king's name. Avaya stammered for a second, repeating the quiz to the others. The duergar snapped at her, and then broke a warning grin, saying that he was only kidding and to follow him.

He led them deeper into the mountain, and at each guard station they came across he spoke a different word to set the guards stationed there at ease. Two hours passed as they went through the mountain, and finally they were escorted along a narrow corridor and told to enter a small chamber. In it sat a darkly cowled figure whose face they couldn't see, but Avaya noticed the hands grasping the sides of the throne were the same as the duergar king's. He spoke softly at first, asking why they were there. Qua'jere and several others explained that they were part of the entourage, and that they were very sorry for what had happened earlier. The elf then tried to make amends by saying he would be glad to give the king his very finely crafted rapier, should it please him. The king was silent.

Then finally he spoke, and asked who the extra members of the group were. Quentin offered that they were also part of an entourage, but came on behalf of the fabled dragon Thermoleth. The duergar king said that he'd already had a dragon working for him instead of working for one instead, but he did take note of the dragon markings on Quentin, Alex and Jerrin. He had them step to one side, then cursed at the rest of them, saying that they should pay for their dishonorable behavior, then again he sat in silence.

It was a long couple of minutes before the king spoke again, and asked the party if they were their to sabotage the Meganaut by drowning the mountain before completion. Everyone looked at him blankly. He then told the guards to guide them to dinner - he would attend in due course. The king suddenly flickered and disappeared; he had been a magically concocted image the entire time. The guards escorted the large group of humans and elves up steps and stairs that became increasingly wider. Finally they came to a tall, vaulted hall, and it was littered with all sorts of tables and chairs. Several long tables were put end to end and the party was made to sit at them. The sat and talked in a low murmur as the hall began to fill with duergar. Only about half of the tables were full when the king sauntered up to the only exquisite table placed at the opposite end of the hall. The same duergar guards watched over the group as battered metal plates with food spilling over the edges clanked down in front of them. Yenmeer tore into the meal with a savage hunger while the others watched for any ill effects to overtake him. When nothing happened everyone ate their servings with much less delight.

The king ate and soon afterwards he started giving instructions to groups of duergar in the great hall. After each command the group would cheer then run out of the hall. When he pointed to the party he told the duergar guarding them to take them to be registered. Then he spoke to the group and said for them to go back to the great dragon Thermoleth and accept her assistance in cornering the Litorians. He left shortly afterward, and soon the rest of the duergar began to filter out. The duergar guards guided the party down the hall and out through a set of tall double doors, away from where the king had exited. They were led down a wide hall and eventually they saw a massive gap ahead in the tunnel. Beyond this a giant wheel lay at the end of the tunnel with many doors branching away from it.

In the gap the group could see branches that protruded from each side to the other, as two huge cogs might meet in a great contraption. The cog teeth provided bridges over the black gap, and each side also disappeared into darkness. The other side was busy with several groups of worker duergar huddled in each corner. Immediately on the other side of the gap were several tables with parchment and books stacked in front of a very sombre looking duergar with pure white hair. The duergar scratched down the number of party members and began recording details on each; what they were carrying, what they looked like, height and approximate weight.

The group milled around the big wheel with the duergar guards trying to keep track of what the party was doing. Quentin used this confusion to suddenly disappear. Grimnyr slowed down the duergar secretary by asking a series of questions about the construct in the middle of the wheel, each deeper and more inquizitive than the last. The duergar told Grimnyr everything he could to impress the tall man, saying that the construct, when inactive, acted as a locking pin to prevent the wheel from turning. He showed the locked drawer where a wand was kept that controlled the huge metal construct, then even made it move to show off to the bard. Then the bard hummed an enchantment that drew in the duergar's fascination with him, and swept over an enchantment to get him to give over the wand. The duergar snapped out back into reality as he heard several of his comrades shouting at him to stop. But it was too late; Alex snatched the wand and with a flick of his wrist he tossed it to Quentin. Quentin's hands called the short, metal, many-buttoned wand to him, and his thumb worked to active the construct. Meanwhile chaos had broken out around them.

Qua'jere shot two of the farthest worker duergar with arrows as Zegree slammed two more with magical missles. Jerrin cast several enchantments and suddenly shifted to become a massive mound of shambling plant debris. Avaya was slashed across her arm but retaliated with a bolt of lightning against the guards. Grimnyr ran and jumped at another frightened worker across the room, felling him with his axe. Alex and Urnst worked with Yenmeer to bring down three more of the duergar guards. Only a few of the duergar workers managed to flee safely out of the room; the rest where soon defeated by the party and their new allies.

The group pulled out the map once more to find out where they were. They saw the cog room and the circular curve of the mountain where they were. They saw the massive area for water and the streams that went from it to the Meganaut Cavern. Perhaps the king meant that the mountain can be moved - spun on an axis with the great cogs like the one in the room they were in. They decided to try.

Quentin pushed the silvery wand with his thumb several more times and it began walking in a circle with the cog. It slammed it's waist into one of the eight pushbars and strained against it. Jerrin then threw his weight behind the wheel and began pushing, his leafy branches straining against the metal pushbar. Them Yenmeer and more joined in. With a lurch it gave way and the wheel was moving.

They spun it around once, and they could see they had moved the tunnel they had come from the dining hall by about twenty five feet. The wheel stuck there, but soon they got it moving again. They kept rotating it with brief pauses when it caught or when someone became tired. When the effort was beginning to affect several of them they had turned the wheel thirty eight times - almost a thousand feet of the entire circumference. Avaya, doing the math quickly in her head, advised that they should continue until they reach one-hundred and eighty turns - that would turn the mountain around completely. Avaya then checked the cliff-like opening and saw that another tunnel would be coming up shortly, and that it had duergar waiting to see them as well. She pulled a flask from her pouch and began emptying it on the stone floor to create a slick greased area next to the precarious edge. Let them come then, she said to herself.


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