VII 417/4/9

So we decided to try the door in the wall. With some caution we opened the door and entered. Entry was pretty uneventful but shortly after that we encountered some more of those beasties that seem to carry bugs with them. A couple of us now have bugs crawling all over us, but the others simply will not believe us.

Kalon used his tentacle magic to hold them to their spots while the rest of us easily dispatched them.

Next came a blob of some sort that really wasn’t very interesting or challenging.

The other dog got all excited and ran away a couple times. We found him barking in front of a door. The door had a sign but as we were trying to figure out what it said, the dog disappeared and then started complaining from the other side of the door.

This forced us to open the door before we were ready to only to release….

MORE BUGS

I hate bugs. These were tough, but at least everyone agreed they were there. Funny that.

So we dealt with the bugs and then returned to the sign on the door. Ominously, it read “Remember, ration cards are in effect”. OK, maybe not so ominous, but not really useful either. At least not compared to the build up of trying to figure it out.

The xp report

that’s a total of [4125|2400] XP, among six of yuz, for 688XP (level 11) and 400XP (level 12). enjoy. if my records are correct, that means level-ups for Ash and Camus, with Drentsch in sneezing distance.

So we managed to find the dam which is hopefully going to lead us to Delphinnes family. As we got closer we noticed what looked like large moth things. Now I dont know too much about what happened next because as it turns out Camus and I was mesmerized my these moth creatures, but once we finally snapped out of it it turns out the Moths were scrapping with our group as well as a couple of these monkeys demons we were facing earlier that day as well.

Once we joined the fray I let loose with some celestial eagles (which unfortunately fell victim to the same paralysis we just shrugged off), Camus & Mareko did their usual thing and soon we all finished off the remaining demons. We looked around after the encounter and we saw more of those demon monkeys falling and tele-porting up again, falling and tele-porting up again. They seemed to have no interest in attacking. We had talked about engaging them but since the welfare of Delphinnes family is paramount we continued on to the dam.

Once we got there we searched for a door. Unfortunately we couldn’t find one. So we had Kalon scout on up above to see if there was anything waiting for us. Apparently there was a mosquito like creature there but like so many other things it disappeared. So unphased we continued on to go up onto the dam we discovered a door and a small cave. We investigated the cave first and found a Chaos beast, Its been a long time since me and Camus faced one of them, But me and him quickly finished it just like old times. There was really nothing else in there execpt small pit with nothing it, kind of dissapointing.

So with nothing else to do we turned our attention to the door.

The xp report

that’s a total of 5225 XP among six PCs, or 871 XP each. suma and kalon are now at 12th level, various other people are in sneezing distance of it.

We made it into Mahabala and found Tante Katyah’s place. She was keeping a low profile, so it took some extra efforts to make contact. Camus had the unenviable task of breaking the news about Delphiine. I took a look around in TK’s garden while we were waiting. Some interesting herbs growing there – I’d like to discuss horticulture weith her at some point (assumign we can get this mess sorted out). While I was in the garden, something grabbed me from behind… (yeah, I know – “What, is it Friday already?” ) I wild-shaped into a polar bear, which made it easier to break the grapple. A bit of faerie fire showed the outline of some kind of nasty ape.

Kalon was able to get TK to talk with us. After that, we were doing some night security. I woke up while Camus was on watch. We found Camus being grappled by a couple of those apes. Camus was eventually released – unfortunately it seems that the boy disappeared at some point. I was able to scry the missing boy (thanks to Shego for shedding some light on the situation) – he’s in a cylindrical prison, hard to say exactly where. I listened to what the trees were saying about the surrounding area (nature has quite a bit to tell – you just need to know how to listen). There was apparently quite a bit of activity by a wall about 7 miles out of the village.

We found the wall (perhaps a dam?), with some large butterflies standing guard. Some of our party seem quite impressed these critters, but I’m not so sure they will be friendly. Arrgh – I wish I had more sleep last night.

We found it 7 miles out of the village

The xp report

that’s a total of 8250XP amongst the six of yuz, or 1375 XP each. no level-ups this session, but several seem almost certain next time if you survive.

It seems that RnR does not last too long for the New Invincibles. We just got back from dropping off stuff, and negotiating with Vincent to come across a plea for help from Delphine’s Aunt (This is one of the relatives of Camus’ “X-Cohort”).

Camus wanted to go and help out the small village in the Brandiss Valley. It sounds like a nice thing to do given they seem to be periodically missing people and then finding them with no minds. It sounds a little gruesome. I hope we make it back and in time to meet with Dalong and Satibah. Hopefully, some questions may be answered with these meetings.

At any rate, we are now in the Brandis Valley – nice place, but not as nice as Rupert’s Hollow. We met the local Bastion guard. They are nice enough – a little rigid, but, again, that is the Bastion. It seems Camus was transfered from this post because he got ‘too close to the locals’.

We left the outpost. (Many complained of poor dreams that night). On our way to the village, we met up with Delphine’s brother. He took the news of his sister’s death quite deeply. I fear the impact this will have on others.

We decided to take the boy back to the village. On route, we were attacked by some wretched beasts – including some of those demons that we met up in the Eshenag mines. I think the boy and our new Bastion “dog friend” are feeling the bugs – I shudder of that thought as it reminds me of an unpleasant experience of the past.

Anyways . . . something is happening here . . . on to the village . . .

The xp report

that’s a total of 6180 XP amongst the six of you, for 1030 XP each. share and enjoy.

Damn, but my shoulder still hurts from where that thing’s tail knocked me over. What a trip this has been! Our Drummer hosts woke us up for breakfast (nice spread, by the way – those Drummers set a mean table. Comes from knowing how to party, no doubt….), well. not all of us. Ash and Kalon were nowhere to be seen. We were, however, intoduced to an obvious Overlord representative, and a short, sturdy looking human woman. I had a bad feeling right from the moment that that Overlord showed his face. Turned out that half of the stuff we’d been transporting was to be sold to each of these factions, the overlords and the Family (we later found out that the woman was a ‘legitimate businesswoman’). Since we only had half the shipment with us, there was a problem, as neither side was willing to wait for us to go and fetch the rest.. As luck would have it, each was willing to take custody of a person of interest in lieu of the goods – our missing party members. Nothing doing. I’d never turn anyone over to the Overlords {Shego spits on the ground in disgust} and I couldn’t bring myself to turn a battle companion over to an enemy for mere expedience in any case. Both Ash and Kalon have proved their worth many times over.

Fortunately, Camus has recently developed the ability to teleport himself and thus could ferry the rest quickly in a number of such jaunts. I offered to put up most of my remaining cash in order to grease the wheels with the fire giants that were holding the goods, if the Drummers would kick in as well. Fortunately, our host Vincent seemed amenable to the suggestion. However, just as he was off getting some cash to front us, one of his underlings returned, yelling about some ‘bad shit’ going down. It seems that our incarcerated companions, unaware of our negotiations, decided to stage a jailbreak. During the escape, a hidden thug of the family got involved and killed one of Vincent’s people. Luckily, this brought Vincent into the fight (don’t ever tick off that guy, let me tell you….) and turned our host against the Family’s claim on Ash. This allowed us to deliver the goods to the Overlords and got our guys off the hook.

We then agreed to accompany Vincent back to the Fire Giant’s lair to negotiate a trade route. Unfortunately, we also passed the body of the Ogre-that-changed-into-a-freaking-big-carnivorous-lizard that we killed. Turned out that he had been one of Vincent’s advance sentries on that road. It came out that Camus had started the fight and that kind of soured our good relations with Vincent. We did get through the negotiations and back to Vincent’s HQ without further incident. We then exchanged info with our host on Kalon’s brothers and decided that the best step in picking up their trail from here would be to head back to the ‘Peace and try to get from there to the Talon-controlled shard where the now defunct portals had led.

On making camp on the way to the nearest portal back to the ‘Peace, I took first watch, as I had seen no action in a couple or three days. I don’t know where the hell that thing came from, but it hit me hard. Twice. I managed to get in a good lick, disappeared and backed off, yelling to alert my comrades. Camus charged in but missed. Kalon and Ash got some good shots off, as did I from range. Then the beast started pounding on Camus and knocked him down. I then got the bright idea to D-hop in, hit the thing and try to D-hop it away from the pup. Nice idea in principle, unfortunately, it resisted my spell. Camus managed to disappear and the critter then proceeded to beat the snot out of me. I only just managed to get away before collapsing. Fortunately, the guys brought it down shortly thereafter, and I had my wounds tended. The shoulder still hurts a bit though.

Hopefully, we’ll be back at the ‘Peace tomorrow.

The xp report

(oh, and i’d like to point out that those two diplomatic encounters would likely have been worth fewer XP if you’d dealt with them in combat.) that’s a total of 29500 (level 10) or 21726 (level 11) amongst six PCs, thus 4917 XP (level 10) or 3621 XP (level 11). shego, welcome to the 11th level. isn’t the view from here nice?

VII 417/3/59

So, that hard part was over. We made it through the impassible mountains. All that was left was to cruise to the camp, finish brokering the deal, and collect the items we had waiting there. One time it might that easy. As we came upon a clearing in the trees, we spotted an Ogre mumbling to himself. Camus started to communicate with it {I swear one of ‘em said something about onions} and the Ogre went crazy, and not just crazy. He turned into about the toughest lizard we have fought to date, a frenzied T-Rex. It couldn’t quite manage to swallow Shego whole, but it did manage to force Drentch down. Drentch cut his way out of it’s belly only to have it swallow him whole again. If I hadn’t been so busy throwing most of my spells at it, I would have laughed. We finally managed to take the thing down, and Drentch cut is way out a second time. He was looking rather soggy. We took a few moments to heal up and continued on our way. We’ve met with Vincent and are staying the night. The wolves that help to guard camp are impressive.

The xp report

amongst six of yuz, that’s 1750 XP for the level 10, and 1283 XP for the 11ths.

VII 417/3/59

Needing to rest, we first investigated the room we were in to ensure it was safe. Checking the other door, we unleashed a hound and an orc. I had to dispatch the orc and the hound was also killed.

Then three more dogs appeared at the base of the stairs. Kalon revealed a new trick which caused tentacles to come from the floor and grab two of the three dogs. All three seemed to be in discomfort around the tentacles. With this to deter them, we easily dealt with the dogs.

Then came a rather tense situation. We heard yelling coming from the other side of the door. Camus was able to interpret and revealed it was the giants and they wanted us to come out and talk. Not exactly a situation I wanted to be in.

Eventually, we did come out to face 5 giants. A bit more than we could handle. Turns out we’ve been stomping in their playground. The hydra was their guard dog. The salamanders were either friends, pets or slaves. I’m not sure which. We agreed to undergo a trial of justice rather than face immediate death.

The giants put us in a cell for the night (ah blessed rest, feels like I’ve been on the go for days). In the morning we were lead to the “trial”. I had a chance to speak to one of the orcs. Turns out some are happy in their slavery while others are not. It makes me hot thinking of orcs under the rule of these giants.

We were put to the test. Turns out the trial of justice was combat with some sort of swarm of burning creatures. The trial was difficult, but not as difficult as I feared. We defeated the swarm in the end, with Suma delivering the killing blow. He seemed disappointed that the combat was over. I think our diminutive drummer is getting a true taste for battle.

After the trial, the giants forgave us and a fine swine roast was had. We opened up discussions about a possible trade route through their domain.

I still burn over the subjugation of orcs by non-orcs. I will not forget them and will free them somehow, but this was not the time.

The xp report

for a total of 21125 (level 10) or 15725 (level 11). amongst six of yuz, that’s 3521 XP (level 10), 2621 XP (level 11). that means 11th level for everyone except shego. congrats to the pig, the dog, and the respectable businessman.

Well thats just great, Im dead. And things were looking up too, I met up with Camus and we were together again. My death wasn’t even dramatic or romantic or anything.

We got up found our way around the magma pit avoided that annoying fire giant. Unfortunately there was this ugly horned thing behind the door there to greet us. Camus was looking pretty haggard so I tried to get in there and give him some healing but I failed to notice that my Sanctuary spell had dissipated and as soon as I got to an open area the putrid horned thing got me with his sword and then … that was it for me.

So yeah … Im dead. My spirit did stick around to watch them kill the bastard and say my goodbyes even though they prob’ly couldn’t hear me. It was so hard watching Camus clutch my body to his breast and cry with me not being able to comfort him. I wish him all the best of luck in the future, given the life he chooses to live. I just hope he doesn’t let my death tear him up on the inside. I just hope no one from Brandiss valley tries to kill him when they find out what happened.

Good bye invincibles

The XP report

that’s a total of 7500 XP amongst 6 PCs, for 1250 XP each. enjoy. Suma and Kalon, welcome to 11th level. Ash, welcome to sneezing-distance-from 11th level.

Mostly combat so far today. We fought a couple of slithery critters guarding the entry to a passage through the volcano… not sure if talking to them first would have made any difference.

The passage took us past a magma pit. From this pit emerged various creatures – something was throwing hot stones (which subsequently seems to have disappeared). We subsequently fought some oozy monsters. A fair bit of spider climbing involved. Two of our party fell off the cliff – Camus survived, but the Orc bard Grün did not (she was some sort of ‘friend’ of Drentch). Oh well, Drentch didn’t seem too upset about her departure.

Apparently, there is an Orc colony in the mountain somewhere – not the nicest place to live, but these are Orcs we’re talking about. How the orcs relate to the magma menagerie remains a mystery.

the XP report

that’s a total of 4200XP amongst six of yuz, which is 700XP each. enjoy. no level-ups this time, sorry.

We continued to make our way to find a trade route between Gatin and Gita Hills. Drentch informed us that the Estik Mountains means “impassable” mountains in Orcish. I wonder what that is all about, and am quite certain this will be found out. I also wonder why this shard is important for Nirgali to disrupt. This too, I hope will become clear. We need to find some kind of pattern to his attacks.

On route, we ran into some rather large lizards (T-Rex’s I think). Shego is indeed proving himself to be useful. A few of us almost became digested by the beasts, but we eventually got everyone out of their guts. (We lost a donkey, but had a pretty impressive introduction to a unicorn).

We continued to follow the path and got to the base of the mountain. Slept. Awoke (Stupid Birds). I scouted ahead up the mountain and found that there were no other clear paths through the mountain and that the path that existed led into one of the mountains. There was an unknown skeleton at the door.

We proceeded up the mountain. Figured out that the skeleton was an orc. I could feel Drentch’s concern about this quest (quite understandably) increase ten fold if not more. We entered the cavern to find yet another dead orc and a hydra. We killed off the hydra and then followed a pathway into the mountain. Found a door and a couple of pretty concerned orcs behind it. They were guarding yet another door and were afraid of “someone sending them to it”. I am certain we will end up finding out what they are talking about. I just hope we all make it out to tell the tale.

At any rate . . . into the unknown we go . . .

the XP report

that’s a total of 6000XP, among 6 PCs, which strangely enough ends up being 1000 XP each.