DM Turn 13, Perchance to Rest ...
Circe takes out his blanket, and begins to spread various arcane items across it. Placing the red potion and the newly found ring in front of him, he begins reading an old dusty tome quietly to himself. Dainn and Damien sit cross-legged across from each other. The psionicist places his forefinger and thumb upon the elf’s temples. All is hushed in the room. “Relax,” Dainn says in a low voice. “Feel my power flowing through you ...”
A few moments pass and Dainn suddenly smiles.
“My friend, you have the psychic potential of a piece of wood. That is, to say, none. I’m sorry.”
Dainn then goes and sits across from Cyvara. He senses her timidness, and speaks somewhat sternly. “You must be at peace to allow me to scan you. Try to clear your mind of all conflict”, he says as he places his thumb and forefinger against her temple. After a few moments, Cyvara begins to float gently upwards. Dainn reaches out and pulls her back down to the ground. “Perhaps, this is why you moved away from me when first we met. You knew you had the potential.” He gestures her over to a corner of the room and begins to speak softly to her, explaining her power. She nods excitely, as Dainn goes over to sit with Tyrmar. Again, he reaches out and firmly presses his fingers into Tyrmar’s temple. “There is something there; faint, unlike Cyvara. But you too have the potential.” He speaks quietly to Tyrmar, explaining his new found power.
Meanwhile, Katya has taken the medallion from Khoron. She gasps from its heat as she places it around her neck. “I hope you are not reckless, gnomish one.” She also listens to each of the party’s comments and objections.
The party agrees to rest. The following watches be set: Damien and Malikor, Tyrmar and Cygar, Dainn and Lianya. Kilroy, Cyvara, Khoron, the half-orc and the lions all seek places out in the room for an uninterrupted night’s sleep.
Meanwhile, Circe is continuing what appears to be the casting of a ritual. He grunts at Cyvara’s warning, and continues chanting. Eventually his voice fades and he begins rocking back and forth. The others lose interest after he shows no sign of abating after an hour or so.
The night passess uneventfully. Katya appears to be a restless sleeper. Then, an hour into Dainn and Lianya’s watch, Circe begins to stir again.
A magical aura begins shining forth from him; his ritual has reached some penultimate stage. He picks up the ring and looks at it, almost as if he is seeing within it. He says, “Jump shatter friends”. He pauses and then announces “A ring of spell storing”. He then touches the potion - “Red fire burn”. The aura fades, and Circe slowly and unsteadily stands. “A elixir to ward the effects of fire”, he says and then immediately collapses unconscious to the ground! Lianya rushes over to him. “Sleeping”, she says.
Over the next two hours, the rest of the party awaken and refreshen themselves. Lianya and Khoron make a nice counterpoint, each making supplications to their patrons, while others break fast. The lions prowl about, looking somewhat hungry.
Eventually, all is in readiness. You mill about in front of the door, unsure of the marching order. You remember Katya’s comment from before you rested: "A passageway leading to a junction. From there, you may travel to the Cemetary of Winds or to a tunnel that leads into the temple proper. It would best if we avoid the Cemetary, and travel _quickly_ through the tunnel if it is the Black One you seek."
The door before you is very large and made of oak. In its middle is a very ornate lock, gleaming in the torchlight - its newness a contrast to the rest of the temple you've experienced. Khoron’s magic has detected a trap within it ...
[Responses by Sun 3 pm PST (that’s Mon 9 am Aus). Circe has the ring, Dainn has the gems, and the silver is unclaimed. If I've missed anyone's response, I apologise but will send amendments as neccesary. In that no one used any Keogh’s (though Circe did ask), damage is as before except for:
Dainn: wounded (badly).]
Damien sits near the entrance to the room where he can keep an eye on the passage they came through. He takes four arrows from his quiver and lays them across his knees, places one on the bowstring and watches the corridor, alert for any signs of approaching danger. After a few hours of uneventful watching, Damien moves to Cygar's side and shakes him awake, and then to Tyrmar "Nothing has approached, and the 1/2 orc has been behaving. I am going to get a bit of rest now, if you need me I shall be there for you"
Damien moves off to one side of the room and sits with his back against the wall and allows his mind and body to rest.
After several hours when everyone begins to stir, Damien awakens and calls Kala and Arbra over to him. "Well it has been a long time my friends, and you look hungry, I shall send you home now, and I will call you again if you are needed. Take care my friends" Damien rubs each of them and gives them both a hug, and them speaks words of power and they disappear. He places the figurines back in his belt pouch and stands up. "I am ready to continue, Who is this Black One, is he the leader of the slavers?"
Damien will take a handful of silver coins and place them in his backpack.
Circe starts reading from his tome, he vaguely hears all of the conversations around him. He is slowly aware that it seems like not everyone is there anymore. He all of sudden snaps out of it and sees that almost everyone is asleep. Then he casts his spell, as things start coming to him he is aware that he is saying them out loud. Then bang everything goes black!!!!! After two hours he awakens with the others and immediately starts to read his tome again, this time every once in a while he looks up from his book to see what is going on. You notice a nice new shiny brass ring on his left hand, (UNLESS ANYONE OBJECTS) the red potion sits on the floor just off to the side of him. As he sits there reading his attention is constantly pulled to the magic aura coming from the medalion around the half-orc's neck. He seems to remember something, "did I hear right that the medalion creates a bond between the half-orc and our beloved bard. Just a question but what if the half-orc dies does the bard go with her." He sits and awaits a response still reading at the same time. When the question is answered he starts to rub his sides and arm. "So who said they had the ointment????"
Khoron walks over to Circe with a wineskin at his side. "I understand how calling upon the mystic powers can tire you. I'm sure it is not the same as evoking the power of Moradin, but I am sure you are just as tired as I get. Maybe more. Here drink this, it always helps me to recover a bit." Khoron holds out the wineskin for Circe. "I should warn you though, it is Dwarven holy water, and it does have a little kick." (Dwarven holy water usually consists of stout dwarven ale blessed by the priest). "The holy symbol I placed on our prisoner will not endanger Kilroy. What the spell does is bond the life force of our orcish prisoner to Kilroy so that it is necessary for her to be near the gnome in order to survive. If she gets too far away, or if the life source is suddenly gone then she will die. It is a powerful spell and it cost me dearly to call upon the power of Moradin to bind the two together but I think it will set some of the group at ease."
As everybody beds down, Malikor maintains his position in the corner of the room. Throughout the uneventfull watch, his gaze rests on Katya as much as the entrance. Malikor's thoughts turn over the day's events. Remembering his earlier promise to Khoron, the wild-elf sends silent thanks to the dwarven god that did so much for the group that day. Though accustomed to being around druids, Malikor's knowledge of outside deities is limited, and he wonders if Moradin can even hear the prayers of an elf. "How odd," he ponders, "a situation for one of his people to find themselves immersed in." He wonders if ever any grugach before him has had such an experience. When Damien wakens Tyrmar and Cygar, Malikor waits until the two are fully awake, then stretches out along the floor, resting his head against his pack.
As the party begins to stir, Malikor sits up, looks briefly around to see if anything has changed during his sleep, then digs a little food from out of his pack. He watches with keen fascination as Damien dismisses the lions. When finished eating, Malikor rises. The pain and stiffness from his wounds sharply remind him he is not doing so well, and he enquires if there is any healing salve left. Should there be, he applies a portion to his injuries.
Damien reaches into a belt pouch, and pulls out one of the wooden jars "I have this jar still, it has not been used. Do we want to use it now, or should we save it for emergencies when Khoron and Lianya are unable to heal injuries. What do you think Khoron, Are you able to heal the remaining injuries now that you have rested?"
After a somewhat restless sleep, Cyvara wakes at the sounds of the other moving about, and slowly rises to a sitting position. It takes her some time to fully wake, as she stretches the aches from her back, runs her hands through her hair, and carefully picks the sleep from her eyes a long fingernail. Until the group looks ready to continue their trek, Cyvara slowly paces about, chewing on a bit of ration with one hand and holding a finely-bound book in the other, which she studies intently and moves her lips soundlessly to herself.
In her wandering reading, she passes by Damien and lifts her head to give him a smile and say "Good morning!" She also says, "Good morning" to Dainn and, taps her temple and grins a thank you.
Damien reaches into a belt pouch, and pulls out one of the wooden jars "I have this jar still, it has not been used. Do we want to use it now, or should we save it for emergencies when Khoron and Lianya are unable to heal injuries. What do you think Khoron, Are you able to heal the remaining injuries now that you have rested?"
Khoron, sitting in the corner eating some dried fruit and bread, waits until he is finished his mouthful before replying, "Yes, I could heal some of the group but I don't think my power is great enough to heal the whole group. I could get all of us into travelling condition but it probably would deplete a great deal of my strength. But I am willing." The dwarven priest stands up and walks over to Dainn. "You are the worst of all, I think I'll start with you." Khoron lets out a light chuckle, "Now try not to make a habit out of this. Your mind is powerful but it won't help you much in a hand-to-hand fight."
The dwarf contentrates on Dainn's wounds for a few minutes before he finally takes his hands away. "I'm not sure if that does it, but I hope you are feeling better now." (Khoron casts two cure lights) The dwarf then walks over to Circe. "Now just hold still, it won't take as long as it did with Dainn because you aren't as injured. Now just relax," the dwarf says calmly as he places his hands on Circe's wounds. He chants for about a minute before he takes his hands away (one cure light). You all notice that his face is getting red and sweat is forming on his forehead. Khoron pulls a small cloth from one of his belt pouches and wipes his brow. He walks over to his pack and takes a quick swig of his holy water before walking over to Malikor. "Now hold still and relax," and the dwarf repeats his spell of healing on Malikor. Khoron, unsteadily, walks over to his pack and sits back down and sips some water and continues to eat his rations as the colour returns to his face. "Now are all of you ready to travel or is more healing necessary? I could possibly help one more person but I don't think I can do more than that."
Lianya nods approvingly as the dwarf cures members of the party. "I think it may be wise to hold off on that last spell if we are all able to continue from here. Your one spell, my healing granted from Celestian and my mundane knowledge of healing could prepares see us through one more battle if we encounter anything lethal today. I hate starting the day off with so little security, but its important we can all survive any encounters."
Cyvara volunteers her opinion, "Maybe you should save yourself for later, for if we get into another encounter and one of us badly needs Moradin's grace."
"Speaking of it,"she asks the group, "where are we headed?"
Kilroy looks up from what he is doing and states "You know, those ointments of Keoghtom each have _5_ applications in them. So of the four jars we found, we should still have another 12-15 applications. I can't remember who has the jars, but I think it was Cygar, Damien, Dainn, and Khoron". He goes back to tuning his lute (or was that counting his loot?)
"I am ready to continue, Who is this Black One, is he the leader of the slavers?"
Katya looks up from she is devouring the rations Kilroy has given her. "The Black One commands the orcs of the temple. I don't know whether _she_ is a slave lord or not, elgwez."
Before settling down to rest, Dainn takes out the gems that had been found earlier. He picks each gem up in turn and seems to stare in deep concentration for a few minutes at each. When he is done, he puts them his belt pouch. Before drifting off to sleep, Dainn hears Circe's castings, and he briefly wonders how long that he will be at that.
As he wakes up for his watch, he notices that Circe is still at it. Looking over to Lianya, he says, "He must not need that much sleep." Dainn watches as the spell is completed, and Circe reveals what the items are. He makes a mental note as to what has been discovered.
Deciding to try to make things less boring, Dainn tries to start some small talk with Lianya. "Thank you again for saving my life earlier. That is quite amazing to heal someone without using magic or psionics. How did you come by such knowledge?"
[later that morning]
Dainn gives Khoron a slight smile at the dwarf's comments. "I guess that I'll just have to learn not to take the world on all by myself - at least next time." Feeling better after the healing, he says to Khoron, "Thank you for the healing. I'm doing much better than I was." [OOC: should Dainn still need a fair amount of healing, he will search out one who has one of the jars of ointment]
Suddenly very hungry after the healing, Dainn takes out some food and starts eating. As Cyvara come by, Dainn smiles, "And good morning to you Cyvara. If we have time later on, I'll start teaching you how to harness your new powers."
Circe listens to Koron's explaination of his spell on the medalion. Whenoffered the wineskin he reaches up, "though I don't really need the drink, thank you." He puts the wineskin to his lips and tilts his head back. The rolling flames of hell trickle down his throat, as he hands back the wineskins he tries unsuccessfully not to cough. In a deeper voice he says, "thanks again for the drink." He goes back to reading till Koron comes back over and casts a healing on him. He looks to Koron, "thanks again, next time I think we should conserve your great gift." Shortly after he closes his book and puts it away, as well as the other things he had out, rolls up his blanket and tosses it over his shoulder. He looks around the room at everyone, then looks down to the potion, he picks it up from the floor and says, "would anyone like to carry the potion it could be a great boon if fire is near, if no one wants it right now I can hold onto it til it is needed." He then looks to the door, "by the way what or where to next?"
As Khoron kneels over Dainn he replies, "Yes I know we have the ointments but I would rather save those for later. The ointments are more useful because they do not command my presence, anyone can use them. So if the party is divided, like we were when the orcs fired on us, then there will be someone else who can heal if I'm not there. That is why I am going to give Dainn here the portion that I have because I have other means to heal people. If you are all worried about me using my power with Moradin then I will only heal Dainn and the others can be healed by the ointment."
OOC: Sorry for jumping ahead like that. I didn't realize that the ointments had so many coatings on them. So if it is OK Simon I will just cast two cure lights on Dainn and the others can heal with the ointments.
Damien stands up after dismissing the lions "Good morning to you as well, Slept soundly I hope. Did Dainn find good potential within your mind. He said that I had the potential of a piece of wood. Which I guess for a ranger is not so bad" Damien smiles at his little joke, and rummages through his pack looking for a little something to eat.
Damien thinks for a moment "What do the rest of you think, This information puts me past the point I had planned on. I thought we would be able to find a quick way into the city and from there find the information we need. But if this black one is one of the slave lords, or at least someone in the chain of command, perhaps a confrontation would give us the information we need. Of course it could also alert the rest of the enemy if we are not careful."
Damien kneels by the silver coins pile and takes a handful and drops them into his pack "This may come in handy, I do not think trail rations will keep me going for too much longer, I need fresh food, and there is nothing to hunt in here"
Cygar sleeps soundly until he feels Damien approach. When shook he opens his eyes and listens to what Damien has to say about the first watch. Then getting to his feet he stretches out his sore muscles and groans slightly, "I wonder if I should use some of that ointment? No I think I shall wait till later when I need it more."
Turning to Tymar "You know I have always wondered what my life would have been like if I had been able to continue my studies as a Ranger. I miss the life of the woods and the animals. Unfortunately things didn't work out for me in that sense and I guess I have to deal with the hand that has been dealt me." Looking over at Katya he adds, "I noticed how angry you got when she was brought here, and I can sense that you have no love for the Ocrs. I too blame them for things in my life and indirectly for my father's death. You see it was fighting the Orcs that he was injured and forced to retire from the army. He couldn't handle life well after that and the booze eventually got him killed." Cygar takes a long swig of water from his wineskin and then offers it to Tymar. Cygar then walks over to the door and places his ear upon it listening for any sounds of approaching foe. Hearing done he returns to sit with Tymar. "How did you end up coming to join this band of 'heroes'? Have you traveled much from your homeland?" After listening to Tymar's explanation and story cygar adds, "I guess it was lucky for me that you guys came along when you did. I should have gotten out of the company of Delgath the Dread after our failure to locate the relic Star of Princess Jehnna for our last employer. After that fiasco I should have known he was bad luck. Oh well, live and learn." Realizing that it is time to awaken the next watch Cygar proceeds to do so and then returns to his blanket where he tries to go back to sleep.
Waking up in the morning to the sounds of others moving around Cygar get up and shakes out his bedroll. Rolling it back up he replaces it in it's position on his pack and removes some rations for breakfast. After some small talk he moves over to the door and again listens for any noise to indicate that someone may be on the other side. Then he removes from a pouch on his belt a small leather roll and places it on the ground next to the door. Untying the string he unrolls it to reveal several metal 'picks' of various sizes and shapes. "Whenever you all are ready to move on let me know and I will get this door open. I would recommend that you stand back though as it is trapped and I don't know what would happen if I slip and set it off. Things do happen you know." he says with a shrug of his shoulders and a slight grin. Once every one is ready he will go to work on disarming the trap and opening the lock if necessary. Once done he will signal for Kilroy to join him up front. Seeing that as Kilroy comes to join him so does Katya he wonders to himself how the gnome is going to scout if she needs to be with him at all times. He is not going to be so quiet anymore. Opening the door slightly he peers through looking for any guards that may be on the other side. Seeing none he slips quietly through and scouts ahead approximately one hundred yards before returning to the party.
Listening to the word-play between Damien and the half-orc, Malikor picks up on Katya's stressing of the word "she." Dark tales from his peoples' eldest memories come briefly to mind. The grugach is unsure if the half-orc was merely correcting Damien's assumption that the Black One is male, or if she was hinting at something else.
Knowing that Katya is unlikely to be responsive to his own questions, Malikor says to Damien, "The orcish one seems ready to answer your questions, my friend, even if you are just an elgwez. Ask her what this 'Black One' looks like."
Kilroy moves to the front of the troup with Cygar. As he passes Dainn he whispers
"You can have a go at scanning me later today, if you like. It looks like fun."
He makes sure that Katya is with him and offers the half-orc some trail rations.
Damien turns back to the 1/2 orc "Have you seen the Black one, what does she look like, how will we know her?"
When discussions of "The Black One" start, Cyvara quickly finishes the part she was reading, closes up the book, and tucks it away. Coming close to Damien's shoulder, she says to him but loud enough for Katya to hear, "Is the Black One known by any other name? What race is she?"
Smiling, Dainn says, "My thanks Khoron. Hopefully, we won't have to use these ointments too much." [OOC: Yea right! As if this is going to be easy! :)]
Dainn watches as the others pump the half-orc for information. He briefly thinks of adding some of his own questions, but changing his mind after deciding that there only needs to be one main interrogator.
Dainn smiles at the gnome, "Of course I'll check if you have latent psionic powers Kilroy! Maybe I'll do it when we rest next."
After hearing their two direction possibilities, he says, "It sounds like we may want to check out this Black One."
With a click, Cygar disarms the doortrap. Silently, it swings open. Up ahead you see the juncture - straight on leading to the Cemetary of Winds, to the right to the tunnel leading into the temple.
[At this point, I'm presuming the party have acquiesed into going into the tunnel.]
[Damien: "Have you seen the Black one, what does she look like, how will we know her?"]
Katya looks straight at Damien. Smiling, she says "Yes, I have seen the Black One. And I can introduce you if you wish." Kilroy prods her in the ribs. [Cyvara: "Is the Black One known by any other name?"] "Not to me, youngling," Katya says and begins picking something out of her teeth with a long fingernail. "How am I expected to protect myself, gnomish one?" she asks resignedly.
"I wish I could help you, my dear, but the only weapons that I currently have are these"
Kilroy holds up his gnomish sized rapier and main-gaunche. "Perhaps when we come across some other weaponry and armour you can outfit yourself. Any preferences?"
Lianya looks a bit confused. "All this talk about the Black One -- some of you seem to recognize the name. Just who is this Black One suppose to be?"
Damien: "Cygar, your skills with locks are pretty good. I can see that you will make this trip a bit easier on the members of this group. Especially our ribs... hehe"
(OOC - I dont know if she answered this one yet)
Damien does not smile at the 1/2 orcs response "Yes you will introduce us, you will point real quietly, and I will pin her to the nearest wall with a hail of arrows so that we can question her."
(OOC -If she has already answered this then disregard the next question if not then)
"Now what race is she, and give me a physical description"
Damien takes the bow from his shoulders, and places an arrow on the string and prepares to move into the corridor.. waiting to take position in the marching order
Getting back into his normal position in regards to marching order. Dainn asks, "So what did we decide on where Katya is going to be in this little procession down the tunnel? Personally, I have mixed feelings. In a way, I think that she should be up front with Kilroy and Cygar to help lead them, but on the other hand, I don't entirely trust her. I guess that I would have to place my vote on having her up front. What say the rest of you?"
Damien: "That is true, I do not think we will find anything more comfortable than stone floors for a day or two, I do nor know what we will find in the city itself, but there at least we could get a room at an inn. I wonder what the city is like, we have so little information on it."
Damien: "I am sure you will be able to do it, I have confidence in you, and you have confidence in yourself, what else do you need in life, but a strong will to succeed."