"Hmmmm? Oh, that's his pet and it's used to send messages quietly to others. I tend to keep him around just in case."
"Hmmmm? Oh, that's his pet and it's used to send messages quietly to others. I tend to keep him around just in case."
"That was my initial thought, I thought perhaps there was more to it." Sparel shrugs, "I suppose not."
As Akor attempted to talk sense into the refugees; Malak's hands hovered near his blades and his eyes swept the crowd for dissenters.
Perception -
Thad was impressed, this was the first time he had seen Akor talk down a dragon. Now that he had even killed two birds with one stone by getting the dragon to be a benevolent dictator to the refugees, this situation seemed much more in hand than it used to be. The old archer would have patted himself on the back for finding and making such a friend, but it was pretty much the other way around. Akor had sought him out and made friends with him.
Although upon reflection he probably wasn't as cordial as the dragon had been. He shouldn't have been that surprised at his friends prowess.
The people all seem nervous, even the orcs. Most of them are looking straight at the dragon, probably remembering what happened in Numeria.mthe humans look stunned, caught between two frightening colors of green creature.
The presence of Akor and the calm of the rest of the Daggers seems to keep order and no one draws weapons for now.
The two guards the group knocked out take a look at each other and the rest of the group and then nod. The both start talking to their own groups.
The human says, "They had to chance to kill us earlier and didn't. Let's hear what they have to say."
Those who can speak Orc realize he is saying much the same thing.
Sparel waits patiently and tries to look powerful and wise.
Akor nods his thanks to the human "I know you are all confused as to why you're here, in these woods, with a powerful dragon and my companions all around you. The dragon saved you all from the devestation of Starfall, and though perhaps his methods weren't what I would have used, kept you all from attacking and possibly killing each other." He pauses to let that sink in.
"Now however, at my urging he is willing to not only let you live here, but any of your surviving family as well. He has also agreed to protect you, and help you establish a safe haven here in the Echo Woods, and all he asks in return is for you to help protect his beloved forest and tend to plants and animals found within. He also wishes that all of you, Orc, Human, Elf and otherwise put aside your differences, and cease fighting. You sixty may be all the remains alive."
Akor's words seem to calm the crowd. Many continue to steal glances at the still dragon as they discuss the inquisitor's offer among themselves.
The group at first splits into two parties, the orcs and a few goblins and all the other less monstrous races. After a few minutes, the two men the Daggers first met seek each other out and start to talk together. None of you are exactly sure why, but these two seem to have formed a bond. It occurs to you that facing the Daggers, a group much more powerful than themselves, might have reinforced any trust the two formed while enspelled.
After about a half-hour of talking, the group seems to be ready to make a decision. The man the Daggers spoke with before steps forward.
"My name is Carius. Krag and I have spoken with everyone here. We have no problem living here in peace. But we won't do so as thralls again. We recognize this is Great Wyrm Dimithkarjic's forest, but we must be free to govern ourselves."
The green dragon eyes them but does not seem angry or offended by their words. Then he speaks.
"The pugwampis already call this place home. They must remain welcome here as well. And the Technic League will have no place in my forest, regardless."
The Daggers see several of the humans and even some of the orcs nodding in agreement. There seems to be no love for the Technic League here.
Both sides begin negotiating an arrangement on how they will live together. After an hour, it's obvious to Akor this will take days to make a permanent arrangement, But all the parties involved seem to be making a goof-faith effort to come to an agreement. Even some of the pugwampis seem to be participating in the talks, but keeping their distance.
Sparel and Akor know why this is. The pugwampis's unlock aura affects everyone except themselves and gnolls, unless that person is under the effects of some sort of luck spell. Their close presence would hurt negotiations. It reassuring to seem them hanging back for now.
*cries* So many rolls, and no 20s at all!
Sparel thinks to the group
::They seem to have things well in hand and we have other priorities. We should get going. Perhaps stop by home base and check back on the dragon in a few days. ::
Malak looked on in wonder at the very different poples gettng along. All due in large part to Akor's silver tongue and tactful ways. The Daggers were well balanced as daggers should be.
::Sounds good cousin. Lets be off then, shall we?::
"I believe my work here is done. I am glad to see you all willing to live and work together peacefully. Carius, Krag, my friends and I must depart for some time. We have reason to believe Starfall was left more vulnerable to the invasion than it should have been. We seek to find out why. Know that we shall check back when able, perhaps by then you can have hammered out this agreement. Also, if you believe there to be any other survivors, compile a list for us and we'll see if we can find them" He clasps forearms with each wishing them luck.
Turning to the dragon "Dimithkarjic, thank you for everything. I get the feeling we have started something special here today and I look forward to seeing where it goes. We'll be back soon, and perhaps we can aid in the creation of a safe haven for these people." He says in Draconic.
::"We need to go visit our benefactor and get our payment as well as informing him of what was acomplished here. Spare, if you be so kind as to teleport us out?"::
Turning to the dragon, "Dimithkarjic, things seem to be well in hand here. I'd like to offer you a small gift if I may. A meeting place made of stone stylized in the way of the elves. With your premission I will create it in a location of your choosing."
If he agrees SParel reaches down to pick up a small stone. He tosses it in the location the dragon indicates. He then says a word and makes a gesture. Over the course of six seconds the stone bends and twists and grows at impossible angles. Long curved spikes reach to the sky as their tips flatten and stretch to create a stone roof. When all is done what remains is a outdoor stone gazebo of obvious elven make with plant filligree along every edge. The gazebo has seven openings with humanoid sized stone chairs in 6 of them. In the seventh is a platform (stylized as a tree with one oversized branch as the ramp) with a long curved ramp that trails off and into the area beside. In the center is a low table that one could put refreshments on.
Pointing Sparel says, "A chair didn't seem appropriate, but you have a place to put your head if you wish. Also, I wasn't sure of the number of parties involved, but I thought an odd number would be best. You can always use fewer chairs as needed."
"For now we must go, but we will be happy to help with other logistical needs when an accord is reached. You may call on me if you desire." Sparel says with a small bow.
When everyone is ready the Daggers link hands and are teleported back to home base.
As they arrive back at Sparel's mansion, Akor looks at the archmage in confusion ::"Why did we come here? We need to be paid, which can not be accomplished fom here. Spare, are you drunk?"::
Thad smirks and does his best Sparel imitation, which may not be recognizable. "If anyone needs to change their pants after meeting the dragon, now is the time. Ill favored smells won't help our reputation when we collect our reward."
As they arrive back at Sparel's mansion, Akor looks at the archmage in confusion ::"Why did we come here? We need to be paid, which can not be accomplished fom here. Spare, are you drunk?"::
Thad smirks and does his best Sparel imitation, which may not be recognizable. "If anyone needs to change their pants after meeting the dragon, now is the time. Ill favored smells won't help our reputation when we collect our reward."
With a voice completely devoid of humor,
"Was that supposed to be Akor?" Sparel asks genuinely? "You shouldn't mock him. I thougth he did a rather good job. I didn't even have to resurrect anyone. "
"I'm sorry, which one of us not only prevented a fight with a great wyrm, but turned him into an ally, and then found a home for the refugees??"
"I'm sorry, which one of us not only prevented a fight with a great wyrm, but turned him into an ally, and then found a home for the refugees??"
while walking toward the entrance to the Baron's building
"Your silver tongue is a marvel for the ages. Bards will sing tales of it for a thousand elven lifetimes. " Said with no inflection whatsoever. "Now to business."
"Well, I won't be singing anything. It's very obvious I am no bard."
Thad walked along with them hoping for a demonic attack so he might regain some face. No more jokes, not when you aren't feeling well. Pretending you are something you aren't is hardly your forte.
"Well, I won't be singing anything. It's very obvious I am no bard."
::"And I thank the gods for that, old man.":: Darnak smiles wryly.
The old archer looked over at Darnak and smiled. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it, smiled again, and gave the dwarf a pat on the back as they walked toward the mansion that was used for the headquarters in town.
Akor clasps hands with Krag and Carius as he bids everyone goodbye.
Sparel offers to craft a meeting place, and the dragon says the clearing they are in is large enough for such a thing. The mystic crafts an elven monument to the peace agreement all sides have brokered today.
"Thank you for this gift, young spellcaster," Dimithkarjic says. "And thank you all for your trust. This whole endeavor should keep me busy for decades to come."
The Daggers teleport out to the welcome mat outside their home base in Kenabres. It's a short walk to the storehouse that contains the office of Baron Gregory Brougham of the Exchequer.
The entire building is swarming with activity as bloody weapons and treasure are being brought in and cleaned. The tithe from the surprise demonic attack has begun to come in. A number of squires are making notes about what is coming in and others are taking requisition orders for new supplies from representatives of the different volunteer armies.
The Daggers present their orders to one of the squires, who immediately points them over to the baron at his raised table. A brilliantly white horse, obviously celestial, stands beside his desk. You remember one said had a ramp so visitors could talk to the baron face to face at his raised desk. Now it's obvious why his seat is so high: It's the perfect height to allow him to slide into his divine companion's saddle. This must be how he gets around despite the loss of his legs.
He waves to the Daggers as soon as he sees you.
"It's good of you all to come. I've already had some people interested in the items we set aside for you. If any of the magic items in your reward don't suit you, or serve little purpose, then you can exchange them now for full price. However, if you leave with them and come back later, I can only offer you half their value. So take all the time you need to decide."
The baron tells a pair of the squires to go fetch your rewards. They bring out a crate that contains the following:
50,000 gold pieces
35,000 gold worth of gems and jewelry
15,000 gold worth of diamonds (which can be turned into diamond dust easily)
Crystal ball with See Invisibility (worth 50,000 gold) Link
Instant fortress (worth 50,000 gold) Link
There also is a parchment, very ornate, which formally gives the Divine Daggers the right and privilege to purchase items and treasure worth up to 150,000 gold pieces. This effectively means that any item that costs that much or less can be found with little hassle through the Exchequer. Items worth more than that will have to be found the hard way. But more successes should increase the group's gold limit on items.
The group also can sell any magical item worth 150,000 or less to the Exchequer for half price, which means virtually any item the group finds that it cannot use can quickly be turned into cash. This is not required, however. It is just an option the group now enjoys.
While the Divine Daggers look over their own treasure haul, the squires continue to open boxes of treasure, catalogue what is inside and take an inventory of the entire warehouse to make sure everything is accounted for.
Many of them are too young to be fighting on the front lines yet, usually around the age of 13 to 15. A few of them are older but seem to have serious physical injuries that would make fighting on the front lines impractical.
Still, there is a massive amount of weapons, armor, gems, jewelry and glittery coins that are being counted.
Malak had been stifling a yawn when the reward was brought out. But his eyes lit up and he forgot all about sleep when he saw the gems glitter. Looked like a good haul.
::War is a very profitable business brothers.::
::The diamonds have obvious use for restoration and resurrection spells. Godess forbid either be needed. We should take those. The rest I have little use for. The crystal ball, though interesting isn't as useful as my scrying pool. My portable mansion is effectively an instant fortress, but far more subtle and far less goche (spelling?). We should use the Gold value to see if anything more directly useful is available. So that leaves us with 135K. We should take the GP value and go on an extradimensional shopping excursion. I could use another spellbook and other trinkets. We can offer to pick somethings up for teh Baron if he so desires.::
::Might I recommend fllying carpets.:: Sparel says sardonically.
Size Capacity Speed Weight Market Price
5 ft. by 5 ft. 200 lbs. 40 ft. 8 lbs. 20,000 gp
5 ft. by 10 ft. 400 lbs. 40 ft. 10 lbs. 35,000 gp
10 ft. by 10 ft. 800 lbs. 40 ft. 15 lbs. 60,000 gp
Edit: ::There are also wings, boots, and brooms with varying costs and effectiveness' if that's your preference.::
::I had an idea, but it requires the use of 15K worth of diamond dust which would leave the party 'diamond dust fund' at 32K. I was considering animating a large number of small or a few larger statues to act as workers and servants for various projects, such as the constant building required because of the war. They could also help with mundane tasks such as guard duty, etc.::
Sparel continues to explain
::I can make 17 halfling sized, 8 human with one halfling sized, four horse/ogre sized with one halfling sized or one (gargantuan) sized with a halfling sized. ::
::"How long do these 'workers' exist, Sparel?:: Darnak asks, intrigued at the idea.
::"How long do these 'workers' exist, Sparel?:: Darnak asks, intrigued at the idea.
::They are permanent animated objects. Statues I think would be best for mechanical and logistic reasons, but frankly I could to it with any objects.
::"Hm. Good idea then. Sounds useful."::
While the Daggers silently debate what to do with their newfound treasure, the squires continue their work cataloguing all the items coming into the warehouse. The work has been going on for hours, and the backlog is fairly large.
Malak can see that many of the youths are quickly opening boxes to see if the contents match the manifests. A quick shake of the armor or a swing of a sword is enough to satisfy most of them. One young lad seems to like picking up the coins inside one of the boxes and listening to them fall back into the boxed crate.
The youth looks up and sees Malak looking his way. The squire gives a quick wave. It's Squire Jacob, the young man who delivered the message about the Demon Tree to the Divine Daggers not that long ago.
The noticeable thing, however, is that the gold coins in the crate that Jacob is examining appear to be moving on their own.
Perception -
::Brothers, you know I love coins as much as the next guy and am quite familiar with them.::
The elf will direct their attention to where squire Jacob is working.
::And never have I seen coins move on their own. Most strange indeed.::
Baron, where did you get those moving coins? I simply must have some for my collection.
Thad's warning bells went off as he saw the treasure moving on its own. He had no idea what it was, he just knew that it wasn't good. "There's a trap in there!", he shouted knowing even if he didn't know what it was, that would at least cause those who were watching to not immediately shoot or attack him for what he was about to do.
Taking a flying leap, Thad started sprinting across the room, charging at Squire Jacob pulling his bow out on the way. When he reached him, he put a shoulder into him to knock him away from the box. He fumbled for his bow while holding his gaze intently at the treasure.
Bull Rush:
Acrobatics: (if necessary to clear difficult terrain)
Initiative -
Thad's warning registered that perhaps those moving coins werent some sort of fancy trinkets but indeed a trap as the archer suggested.
He swiftly disappeared from sight and moved closer to the box.
Perception
Knowledge Arcana
Knowledge Dungeoneering
Knowledge Engineer
Knowledge Geography
Knowledge History
Knowledge Local
Knowledge Nature
Knowledge Nobility
Knowledge Planes
Knowledge Religion
Spellcraft
Initiative
Would a well placed wall of force be able to separate the moving piles from everyone else, specifically the innocents? If so I do that. If not I'll think of something else.
Width+height of the wall is up to 170 square feet. Width isn't an issue as it's effectively 2 dimensional.
Wall of Force
School evocation [force]; Level sorcerer/wizard 5
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (powdered quartz)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect wall whose area is up to one 10-ft. square/level
Duration 1 round /level (D)
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
A wall of force creates an invisible wall of pure force. The wall
cannot move and is not easily destroyed. A wall of force is immune
to dispel magic, although a mage’s disjunction can still dispel it.
A wall of force can be damaged by spells as normal, except for
disintegrate, which automatically destroys it. It can be damaged
by weapons and supernatural abilities, but a wall of force has
hardness 30 and a number of hit points equal to 20 per caster
level. Contact with a sphere of annihilation or rod of cancellation
instantly destroys a wall of force.
Breath weapons and spells cannot pass through a wall of force
in either direction, although dimension door, teleport, and similar
effects can bypass the barrier. It blocks ethereal creatures as well as
material ones (though ethereal creatures can usually circumvent the
wall by going around it, through material floors and ceilings). Gaze
attacks can operate through a wall of force.
The caster can form the wall into a flat, vertical plane whose area
is up to one 10-foot square per level. The wall must be continuous
and unbroken when formed. If its surface is broken by any object or
creature, the spell fails.
Wall of force can be made permanent with a permanency spell.
As soon as the combat ends Sparel will mention the refugees to the baron.
::"It's possible this is a Demilich, they often rise to attack those who disturb their treasure."::
"Lads, back away from the chests, something is causing them to move, something most likely unpleasant"
Akor then says a prayer to Iomedae to enhance his defenses
Malak asks the baron about the coins, causing the man to turn in confusion toward the boxes of treasure.
Akor realizes something is wrong and immediately girds himself with a protective spell.
Thaddicus already is running toward Squire Jacob. The archer is spry for his age, easily clearing a stack of crates with a running jump. His shoulder is low as he rams his body into the squire, knocking him back away from all the moving crates.
Sparel knows that whatever happens next won't be pleasant for the youngsters working in the warehouse. He creates a magical wall of force that goes all the way to the ceiling. The three suspicious boxes of treasure are now on the same side of the wall as the Divine Daggers. All the other warehouse worker, except for the baron and the two squires who brought the group's loot, are on the other side of the magical barricade.
Malak vanishes from sight and starts to work his way toward the boxes.
Darnak remains his normal stoic self.
The boxes continue to shake and move as the creatures inside finally are able to pull free. Two human skulls with 10 gems embedded inside them are now floating over the crates at the edge of the wall. The gold, platinum, copper and silver coins that Jacob was examining have risen up in a roughly humanoid shape, eager to bring all that heavy weight down on anyone and anything nearby.
Initiative for golem
Initiative for demiliches
Does the wall completely block us off or can the squires get out? The answer will control what I do in the next round.
Headed to bed soon, but
Sparel cast's Haste on everyone including the squires, looks at the squires and says,
"Run, you fools."
WIth their newly enhanced speed they should be able to double move haul ass to get out of the fight.
Rd 1) Run to the squires and grab them by the neck (move), Dimension door max distance away
Rd 2) Greater teleport back into the fight.
Rd 3) Cast Haste on everyone
::"Nice. Coin that wants ta kill us. Now I've seen a bit o' everythin'. Time ta go ta work."::
Darnak readies himself by turning his hat around then moving up next to the "expensive" creature.
"You won't pull a fast one on us. Your reign of terror is at an end!" The old archer took careful aim after pulling his bow, smashing the golem from point blank range, staying rooted to allow Jacob a chance to escape.
Upon seeing the demiliches, Akor draws Demonwrack and tries to recall some weaknesses about them"Begone foul beings of undeath, ye have no place here!!" He then strikes at the closest demilich.