Half an adventure
Waking up, She'dra found that he was being shaken and spoken to. He also realized that he was wet... what had happened? Then the memories came flooding (no pun intended) back to the elven wizard. Thus it was no surprise when he opened his eyes and saw a merman attempting to wake him.
Apologizing for their actions, the mermen explained that it was their law to respond to agression against their people by summoning their giant master. They also realized that it wasn't the smaller ship's fault that it was attacked. As such they had gathered who they could, and took them to the place where they knew of the largest concentration of surface dwellers... Ocan Cite.
She'dra inquired about the whereabouts of anyone they hadn't saved, but the merman didn't know. In fact, they figured that anyone they hadn't helped was likely dead. Realizing that there was nothing else to be done, She'dra bid the merman farewell and began to take stock of his current situation... He and whoever was with him were now well out of the way...
Speaking of which...
She'dra noticed the bodies of Emerys, Lunk, Zerin and Vri'Nar... each of them was beginning to stir. Once everyone was awake, they began to speak. Figuring out where they were, they decided to take a trip to Ocan Cite, rest up, and then see about making the long trip to Yobyalp.
She'dra decided to scry for Sir Damas, never believing that the others were dead. As he did, however, Lunk silently began to walk towards the city, his eyes heavy with sadness. Emerys ran to catch up with him and did his best to make conversation, but it was mostly ignored. Despite Emerys' best efforts and heartfelt statements, he never got so much as a peep out of Lunk. After wearing him down for a while, he managed to get a half-hearted grumble to the effect of "I need a drink..."
She'dra spied upon Sir Damas, and found him to be in the company of Ambrose, Edge and Ryo... All party members were accounted for! With that issue taken care of, She'dra and the two guardians headed after Lunk and Emerys into the wild port town known as Ocan Cite!
After doing some searching, the group managed to find a high class place (for Ocan Cite), a real 2 1/2 star establishment! (In terms of Ocan Cite, this is like the Ritz). Heading in, Lunk found the bar, and She'dra found the bartender. Trying his best to get a room on the credit of Ridgeshire, he found that people in this town understand gold and gold alone. Emerys tossed She'dra a pouch, full of about 30 gold. Thanking the woodsman, She'dra handed it to the bartender and requested room and board.
Peering in the pouch and seeing the small fortune he was just handed, the bartender suggested that they each could have thier own individual room, and all the food and drink they desired! Lunk took him up on the latter.
So while the guardians relaxed and spoke about the situation, She'dra retired to his room to study his spells. Meanwhile, Lunk drank himself into a stupor. Emerys stayed with him all the while trying to keep him calm and comfort the brute as best he could. Eventually Lunk came to two conclusions... 1, with Edwin gone, this group was the only family he had. 2, He wanted to pick a fight.
Deciding that it was easier to contain this fire than put it out, Emerys lead the expidition down closer to the docks. Picking the seediest looking bar he could find (and in Ocan Cite, that's pretty damned seedy), the two men entered. Telling Lunk to wait by the door a minute, Emerys sat himself down at a table with three rough customers playing Three Dragon Ante. Rudely interjecting himself into the game and then acting indignantly when the men responded poorly, Emerys got the fight rolling! One of the men flipped the table, and suddenly they heard a loud bellow!
Lunk came charging in, fists-a-blazing! With one might blow after another, Lunk sent each of the men flying. (For what it's worth, Emerys did his part in the fight too, getting in a few solid blows.) As the men flew off and spilled people drinks and knocked over people's tables, the fight grew larger in scale until it was a full blown pier six brawl. Fortunately they were used to that type of thing happening nightly. After all, this was pier six.
Having blownoff some steam, Lunk and Emerys headed back to their inn to rest. On the way Lunk thanked Emerys for being there for him. Then to keep it from being too gay a moment, he gave Emerys a punch in the arm. The bruise was massive.
The next morning everyone was prepared to leave, but they needed some horses! Realizing that they'd given the bulk of their remaining money to the barkeep, they attempted to get some of it back... with little success. Assuming that the extra was a tip, the bartender was unwilling to part with some of it to pay for horses.
A quick charm person spell altered his outlook.
Having secured the horses at the edge of town, She'dra and Emerys made thier way back to the inn where they found Vri'Nar leaning against the wall. When they asked him where Lunk and Zerin had gotten off to, he nodded across the street. Lunk, it seemed, was mesmerized by a man dressed in a blue robe with a few small mechanical creatures putting on a show. A pretty fancy puppet show, it would seem.
Zerin tried to pry Lunk away, explaining that they had little time... especially for such mindless diversions. Well, the puppeteer had a bit of a problem with that... the two men bagan to argue. "We are on an important mission, and haven't the time for such mindless distractions!" exclaimed Zerin. "Well," the man said, "that's an awfully snooty opinion coming from a rabbit!" Zerin looked at him strangely "What are you talking about? I'm not a..."
A few magic words later and Zerin was polymorphed into a tiny white, fluffy bunny rabbit. Lunk, not realizing the danger, found this part of the show especially charming. The rest of the group less so. Seeing that there was an angry mob about to intervene, the man in the robes grabbed Zerin the bunny and disappeared!
She'dra, realizing that he hadn't actually disappeared, but simply gone invisible, began to track the man. It lead the group all the way to a small tower out of the way to the north of town. Breaking down the magically sealed door, the men entered in search of their transformed friend. Along the way they found various scrolls, items and journal entries. The journal entries told the story of a man named Baldric of the Blue Tome who had slowly gone mad after having locked horns with a Necromancer named Calin. With each successive entry, the thoughts became less and less clear, and he slipped further and further into madness.
One of the things that this Baldric was famous for was his mechanical creatures... effigies they were called. Almost every bit as capable (or dangerous) as their real life counterparts. The group encountered one such creation in the form of a man sized black dragon! Utilizing some teamwork, Lunk distracted the creature while She'dra and Emerys blasted him from a distance. Although a formidible foe, he proved no match for the group's combined might and was soon reduced to slag.
Venturing deeper into Baldric's tower, they came across some tricks and traps... doors that would cave in when opened, a field of poisonous mushrooms, and a sealed door with a floor full of runes in front. Deciphering the script, She'dra recognized it as draconian. Most of the runes symbolized battle, doom, or death... and the two mechanical gargoyles on either side of the door seemed to indicate that that was possible. However, She'dra saw the three proper runes that when combined created a symbol of opening. Quickly hopping between them, the gate slid open and exposed Baldric's laboratory! The entire room was covered in drawings (of varying levels of detail from photorealistic to stick figure) of a man assumed to be Calin being killed in various ways.
He was working feverishly on a small metal creation as the group entered and attacked! Thinking that this was Calin come to finish him off, he called to him his shiled guardian for protection. It was no use though... the maddened wizard simply couldn't overcome the might of the party. Having a lucid moment, he apologized for anything he may have done, and restored Zerin to normal. (At first he didn't even believe that he had done the polymorphing.) Quickly slipping back to madness, he began to construct an effigy to defeat calin (A half spider-half raccoon.)
She'dra let him be, but made sure to take his spell book, limiting his danger to the surrounding area. He also made a vow to contact the conclave and let them know where Baldric was so that they may take care of him.
Upon exiting the tower, Vri'nar bid the group farewell and left to meet with the other guardians like Malik. She'dra sorted through what he had found in the tower... A spellbook, several scrolls, a potion, a ring for She'dra (found to be an invisibility ring), a belt of enlarge for whoever claimed it, and a surcoat made for a knight. (later given to Damas)
With all that packed away, the four adventurers got on their horses and rode hard on to Yobyalp. Upon reaching the town, it seemed that they were having some sort of celebration... Asking around for other men the group was pointed inside a local tavern. Upon entering they found Ryo, Edge and the knights had already been here for a day or so and were in the midst of celebrating. Each side related their tale to the other as they enjoyed the feeling of being reunited...
Apologizing for their actions, the mermen explained that it was their law to respond to agression against their people by summoning their giant master. They also realized that it wasn't the smaller ship's fault that it was attacked. As such they had gathered who they could, and took them to the place where they knew of the largest concentration of surface dwellers... Ocan Cite.
She'dra inquired about the whereabouts of anyone they hadn't saved, but the merman didn't know. In fact, they figured that anyone they hadn't helped was likely dead. Realizing that there was nothing else to be done, She'dra bid the merman farewell and began to take stock of his current situation... He and whoever was with him were now well out of the way...
Speaking of which...
She'dra noticed the bodies of Emerys, Lunk, Zerin and Vri'Nar... each of them was beginning to stir. Once everyone was awake, they began to speak. Figuring out where they were, they decided to take a trip to Ocan Cite, rest up, and then see about making the long trip to Yobyalp.
She'dra decided to scry for Sir Damas, never believing that the others were dead. As he did, however, Lunk silently began to walk towards the city, his eyes heavy with sadness. Emerys ran to catch up with him and did his best to make conversation, but it was mostly ignored. Despite Emerys' best efforts and heartfelt statements, he never got so much as a peep out of Lunk. After wearing him down for a while, he managed to get a half-hearted grumble to the effect of "I need a drink..."
She'dra spied upon Sir Damas, and found him to be in the company of Ambrose, Edge and Ryo... All party members were accounted for! With that issue taken care of, She'dra and the two guardians headed after Lunk and Emerys into the wild port town known as Ocan Cite!
After doing some searching, the group managed to find a high class place (for Ocan Cite), a real 2 1/2 star establishment! (In terms of Ocan Cite, this is like the Ritz). Heading in, Lunk found the bar, and She'dra found the bartender. Trying his best to get a room on the credit of Ridgeshire, he found that people in this town understand gold and gold alone. Emerys tossed She'dra a pouch, full of about 30 gold. Thanking the woodsman, She'dra handed it to the bartender and requested room and board.
Peering in the pouch and seeing the small fortune he was just handed, the bartender suggested that they each could have thier own individual room, and all the food and drink they desired! Lunk took him up on the latter.
So while the guardians relaxed and spoke about the situation, She'dra retired to his room to study his spells. Meanwhile, Lunk drank himself into a stupor. Emerys stayed with him all the while trying to keep him calm and comfort the brute as best he could. Eventually Lunk came to two conclusions... 1, with Edwin gone, this group was the only family he had. 2, He wanted to pick a fight.
Deciding that it was easier to contain this fire than put it out, Emerys lead the expidition down closer to the docks. Picking the seediest looking bar he could find (and in Ocan Cite, that's pretty damned seedy), the two men entered. Telling Lunk to wait by the door a minute, Emerys sat himself down at a table with three rough customers playing Three Dragon Ante. Rudely interjecting himself into the game and then acting indignantly when the men responded poorly, Emerys got the fight rolling! One of the men flipped the table, and suddenly they heard a loud bellow!
Lunk came charging in, fists-a-blazing! With one might blow after another, Lunk sent each of the men flying. (For what it's worth, Emerys did his part in the fight too, getting in a few solid blows.) As the men flew off and spilled people drinks and knocked over people's tables, the fight grew larger in scale until it was a full blown pier six brawl. Fortunately they were used to that type of thing happening nightly. After all, this was pier six.
Having blownoff some steam, Lunk and Emerys headed back to their inn to rest. On the way Lunk thanked Emerys for being there for him. Then to keep it from being too gay a moment, he gave Emerys a punch in the arm. The bruise was massive.
The next morning everyone was prepared to leave, but they needed some horses! Realizing that they'd given the bulk of their remaining money to the barkeep, they attempted to get some of it back... with little success. Assuming that the extra was a tip, the bartender was unwilling to part with some of it to pay for horses.
A quick charm person spell altered his outlook.
Having secured the horses at the edge of town, She'dra and Emerys made thier way back to the inn where they found Vri'Nar leaning against the wall. When they asked him where Lunk and Zerin had gotten off to, he nodded across the street. Lunk, it seemed, was mesmerized by a man dressed in a blue robe with a few small mechanical creatures putting on a show. A pretty fancy puppet show, it would seem.
Zerin tried to pry Lunk away, explaining that they had little time... especially for such mindless diversions. Well, the puppeteer had a bit of a problem with that... the two men bagan to argue. "We are on an important mission, and haven't the time for such mindless distractions!" exclaimed Zerin. "Well," the man said, "that's an awfully snooty opinion coming from a rabbit!" Zerin looked at him strangely "What are you talking about? I'm not a..."
A few magic words later and Zerin was polymorphed into a tiny white, fluffy bunny rabbit. Lunk, not realizing the danger, found this part of the show especially charming. The rest of the group less so. Seeing that there was an angry mob about to intervene, the man in the robes grabbed Zerin the bunny and disappeared!
She'dra, realizing that he hadn't actually disappeared, but simply gone invisible, began to track the man. It lead the group all the way to a small tower out of the way to the north of town. Breaking down the magically sealed door, the men entered in search of their transformed friend. Along the way they found various scrolls, items and journal entries. The journal entries told the story of a man named Baldric of the Blue Tome who had slowly gone mad after having locked horns with a Necromancer named Calin. With each successive entry, the thoughts became less and less clear, and he slipped further and further into madness.
One of the things that this Baldric was famous for was his mechanical creatures... effigies they were called. Almost every bit as capable (or dangerous) as their real life counterparts. The group encountered one such creation in the form of a man sized black dragon! Utilizing some teamwork, Lunk distracted the creature while She'dra and Emerys blasted him from a distance. Although a formidible foe, he proved no match for the group's combined might and was soon reduced to slag.
Venturing deeper into Baldric's tower, they came across some tricks and traps... doors that would cave in when opened, a field of poisonous mushrooms, and a sealed door with a floor full of runes in front. Deciphering the script, She'dra recognized it as draconian. Most of the runes symbolized battle, doom, or death... and the two mechanical gargoyles on either side of the door seemed to indicate that that was possible. However, She'dra saw the three proper runes that when combined created a symbol of opening. Quickly hopping between them, the gate slid open and exposed Baldric's laboratory! The entire room was covered in drawings (of varying levels of detail from photorealistic to stick figure) of a man assumed to be Calin being killed in various ways.
He was working feverishly on a small metal creation as the group entered and attacked! Thinking that this was Calin come to finish him off, he called to him his shiled guardian for protection. It was no use though... the maddened wizard simply couldn't overcome the might of the party. Having a lucid moment, he apologized for anything he may have done, and restored Zerin to normal. (At first he didn't even believe that he had done the polymorphing.) Quickly slipping back to madness, he began to construct an effigy to defeat calin (A half spider-half raccoon.)
She'dra let him be, but made sure to take his spell book, limiting his danger to the surrounding area. He also made a vow to contact the conclave and let them know where Baldric was so that they may take care of him.
Upon exiting the tower, Vri'nar bid the group farewell and left to meet with the other guardians like Malik. She'dra sorted through what he had found in the tower... A spellbook, several scrolls, a potion, a ring for She'dra (found to be an invisibility ring), a belt of enlarge for whoever claimed it, and a surcoat made for a knight. (later given to Damas)
With all that packed away, the four adventurers got on their horses and rode hard on to Yobyalp. Upon reaching the town, it seemed that they were having some sort of celebration... Asking around for other men the group was pointed inside a local tavern. Upon entering they found Ryo, Edge and the knights had already been here for a day or so and were in the midst of celebrating. Each side related their tale to the other as they enjoyed the feeling of being reunited...
posted by Ryan Vaughn | 9:44 AM
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