The Torture Chamber (Everquest RPG PBP)

Game Master Xenh

Abandon all hope, ye who enter the world of Norrath.


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Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

Nogglegrop (51/56 hit points, 15/70 mana) fully understood the tactical advantage of opening up his spell reserves at a trickle, to ensure that he was prepared for any eventuality. This was not that time, for death was awaiting the first person to blink at an inopportune moment. As such he releases nearly all of his remaining mana in a bolus of healing energy directed at the beastlord.

Quickened Light Healing (Sajeek): 4d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 6, 4) = 13
Light Healing (Sajeek): 4d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 6, 4) = 16
Minor Healing (Sajeek): 1d10 ⇒ 6

The gnome steels his resolve and works to keep his voice from cracking as he yells out, "YOUR MOTHER F&&*ED HAMSTERS, YOU TREE-SUCKING, DOPE-SMOKING, PLODDING, GREASY-HAIRED MOUNTAIN OF APATHY!"

Taunt (move action): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14 (-10 to roll for the giant attacking someone else)

Nogglegrop's words appear to have no affect.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

Sajeek remains the giant's sole target.


Barbarian Shaman (Luminary Gwendalyn Shaughnessy the Giant Slayer)

Amazed by her friends' display of martial might, Gwendalyn realizes that this time, her hammer is perhaps not as needed as her spells. Renewing Sajeek's fading buff, the mystic adds all the healing magic she can muster. It is nowhere near enough to undo the natural results of being struck repeatedly with a tree.

Spoiler:
Fleeting Fury (Sajeek)
Minor Healing (Sajeek): 1d10 ⇒ 2
Light Healing (Sajeek): 4d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 4, 2) = 10

Current Status
18 AC, 63/63 hp, 47/70 mana

Active Buffs
Talisman of the Beast (Bast, Gwendalyn, Kwen, Nogglegrop, Revery, Sajeek): +3 buff Str, indefinitely
Fleeting Fury (Sajeek 3, Kwen 2, Gwendalyn 1): +1 insight AC, +4 Dex & +4 Str, 3 rounds


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

Sajeek feels what it is like to be a well-tenderized steak (4/70 hit points remaining) as he is the recipient of only two blows, but when one is hit by a full-sized tree, being wielded like a great club, it does not take many impacts to make one reconsider their vocation.

Nogglegrop and Gwendalyn work in concert to push off the effects of the attacks leaving the beastlord much better than they found him (51/70 hit points remaining).

Each movement conspires against the behemoth as its voluminous heart pushes out volumes of its life's blood (196 damage taken, -25' to speed), leaving streaks of crimson running pathways to its feet, and coating it chosen weapon with a sheath coagulating fluid.

Time runs slowly when one is fighting for their life, but it is perhaps only an hour away from lunch and the sun hangs cheerfully in the sky, working hard to cast rays down past the oppressive peaks of the Rathe Mountains, which conspire to steal the light and keep you in eternal darkness.

Deeper in the mountain pass, difficult to determine distance-wise due to the reverberations of the rocks, you hear a distant hunting horn.


Vah Shir Beastlord and Bast Kejek Tiger

Sajeek's world explodes in pain as the giant turns, his footstep felt through the ground and swings his tree. The so-called club slammed into the vah shir perfectly, as if his meager defenses weren't even there. Not that they really were against the massive foe. The Beastlord faintly feels his lungs deflate from the savage strike. Breathing suddenly becomes a large problem. A shadow falling draws his eyes upward.

With wide eyes, Sajeek tries to dive out of the way of the second strike. His body has other plans, and more staggers then gracefully leaps like his mind was instructing. The vah shir's world is rapidly dimming, as he staggers, held up by stubborness. And his spear in the ground sort of helped.

Bringing the spell to his bleeding and gasping lips, the young Beastlord is suddenly flooded with warm healing energy. With a gasp of sweet, refreshing air, he glances at Noggy and Gwen, knowing they had just saved him. Or at least extended their chances at living a few more seconds. Firing out the healing spell, Sajeek hopes he is wrong about the sound of hunting horns. He really doubts that he is.

Minor Healing:1d10 ⇒ 2

Bast snarls loudly and bites at the giant. Growling deeply, the reddish-orange beast half turns, almost beginning to walk away. The big tiger manages to look almost bored with the giants existence.

ooc:
Attack and Damage, flanking with Sajeek. Bite:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 141d6 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13. After the bite, he "taunts" the giant to draw it's attention. Taunt:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
HP:78/78
AC:18

Fueled by the rapid infusion of healing energies. Sajeek curses mentally. 'I think I did too good a job getting the giant's attention off of Noggy,' he thinks with a half-mad chuckle.

With a snap of his wrist, Sajeek spins his spear in a blurred circle, point facing out, back in a fighting stance. Both hands tightly gripping the battle scarred haft, now coated with giant's blood, Sajeek attacks once more. The young Beastlord stabs at the giant before it could bring it's freaking tree back around.

ooc:
Attack and Damage, flanking with Bast. #1:1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 281d8 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10. #2:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 131d8 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
HP:53/70
Mana:22/24
AC:16
Active Buffs: Talisman of the Beast, Fleeting Fury.


male Half Elf Rogue /Markus Vardin Human cleric (Giant Slayer Blackguard Kwenilithmor Eridosan)

" WHO WANT'S GIANT STEAK!?" The Rogue calls out then sinks his Kurki into the Giants calf, hoping to start the climbing process into the back of the giants knee.

attacking with one Kurki:

first attack 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14
backstab 1d4 + 5 + 2d6 ⇒ (4) + 5 + (2, 2) = 13
second attack 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
backstab 1d4 + 5 + 2d6 ⇒ (4) + 5 + (6, 4) = 19


HP: 66/63
AC 20

active buff's: Fleeting Fury, Talisman of the beast


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

It is not known if it was Sajeek or Kwen's strike that felled the tower of flesh, but felled it is. A final spurt of arterial blood erupts from its mouth as it attempts to comprehend how such little creatures could work in concert to bring it down. Questions that remain on its face after the muscles set that way for eternity.

The tree falls from nerveless fingers, and the colossus collides with the stone, laying supine and trickling forth an impossible amount of blood.

Each of you can now where the title of "giant slayer."

You find a large sack where the giant stood when it first attacked you, and between that and the items on its body you come up with: 160 pounds in the form of 8000 copper pieces. 8 gemstones that you have no clue what they might be worth, and two magical items: a pair of gloves and a belt.

Treasure (coins): 1d100 ⇒ 17 2d6x1000cp
Copper Pieces: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 6) = 8 8000 cp (50 coins = 1 pound)
Treasure (Goods): 1d100 ⇒ 62
Goods: 1d8 ⇒ 8 Gems
Gems: 1d100 ⇒ 75 2d4x100gp
Gem Value: 16d4 ⇒ (4, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3) = 47 4700gp
Treasure (items): 1d100 ⇒ 59 Minor
Minor: 1d4 ⇒ 2
Random Magic Item Category (Minor): 4d100 ⇒ (32, 84, 69, 5) = 190

"Giant Slayer" Nogglegrop clambers up onto the giant, and adopts an epic pose as he uses the giant's face as a perch to look around the valley.


Revery (Erudite Enchanter) in somnis veritas // Kspress (Iksar Monk) Your pain is the breaking of your shell.

Revery sits down, happy that Noggy and Sajeek had survived the fight, and sad that he had been unable to do anything.

"Congratulations, Giant Slayers! I don't think he was expecting that, was he?"

After a short rest, he gets up and recovers his two javelins. The second one had stuck in the giant briefly, but did not seem to draw blood or even affect it.

Then he goes to look over what the giant had for possessions.

Appraise: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

He recognizes almost all the gems, and, being a jeweler, names them all, with their sizes, rarity, and cuts.

Trade Skill (Jeweler): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (17) + 16 = 33

Perhaps, he thinks, I should give this up and go back to making jewelry.

He looks at the giant and wonders if any part of it - its blood, its bone, its sinews, its skin - are worth anything to spellcasters.

Knowledge (mysticism): 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (3) + 19 = 22


Vah Shir Beastlord and Bast Kejek Tiger

Sajeek leans on his bloodied spear, panting, eyes half closed. Looking over at Rev when he titles them all "Giant Slayers," a grin finds its way to his muzzled face. He looks over the giant, the last of it's lifeblood oozing out. The mighty heart that pumped the fluid had beat it's last.

"We actually did it," the vah shir says, looking pretty much stunned. "A giant. That's just.., kick ass! I mean, I know we pretty good in a scrape, but damn." Shaking off his stunned expression, the Beastlord looks at his friends and smiles broadly. "We are getting a lot better at fighting as a group."

As his emerald eyes gaze over the slain giant, Sajeek's heart soared and his stomached rolled. While on the one hand, they, Pravus Mortis had defeated a truly mighty foe. One not wrapped in powerful magics. A true giant. On the other hand, Sajeek's system was in shock. Going from having collapsed lungs and being near death, and then being healed within a few heartbeats was leaving him a little staggered. Not that he was going to complain. It was so much better then being dead.

A short breather later, the fallen giant's bag had been discovered, filled with more pieces of copper then anyone could every need. Unless their life goal was to drink at every dive bar on Norrath. Sajeek preferred slightly better places with stronger booze. The shinies were examined by the enchanter. He handled them with great deal of skill. Not surprising given that Rev had said he had trained as a jeweler.

As the belt and gloves were pulled out of the sack, Sajeek looks up from where he was scratching behind both of Bast's ears. The vah shir looks around for several moments.

"You guys heard the sound of hunting horns too, right?" Sajeek asks his friends, ears twitching as he listens once more.


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

Revery recognizes the jewels as small star rubies, and has a solid idea of the fortune that they represent. All together they weigh a fraction of one of the coins, but their worth is many many times as much. As to the flaying the giant for parts, the enchanter knows nothing.

All spellcasters have an innate grasp for magics, as they can feel the mana flow through the items around them. Because of this all present, save Kwen and Bast, can tell that the gloves and belt are magical simply by looking at them (within 60' range).

Enchanters, magicians, necromancers and wizards all receive the identify spell, and bards can sing Lyssa's Cataloging Libretto to identify an item.

Outside of those spells the group is forced to determine the powers of the item through asking someone more knowledgeable, researching, or even by trial and error.

Nogglegrop nods in answer to Sajeek's question.

There is a space of maybe 40 seconds and then the next horn blast is heard, except this time it is a single blast followed by two others.


male Half Elf Rogue /Markus Vardin Human cleric (Giant Slayer Blackguard Kwenilithmor Eridosan)

" Well that is another large bestie that I can carve into the handle of my Kurki." Kwen says with a grin, the feeling of elation lasts for a few seconds longer. Kwen starts to realize that fighting with two weapons was a lot harder then some made it look, still at the very least, Kwen had a better idea on how he should be moving with two blades in his hands.
Kwen Nods at Sajeek's question, then pauses for a moment upon hearing the next horn blast, that was followed by two others.
" Um perhaps we should find a better spot to hide, I know that hunting horns can have spell good things for us but, I'd rather not have a whole horde of giants on us. Also with a conversion rate, using Freeport as my basis, hauling around 80 gold in the shape of copper coins, not really something I'd agree with. Now I'd say grab maybe at the most a thousand each that way there would be some petty cash for drinks and we shouldn't be weighed down too much, but that is me."
The rogue says while whipping his blades on the giants' clothing wanting to get the blades as clean as he could.


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

Far away and unknown to the party...

A stirring in the air.

Something blacker than the darkness of the shadows of the mountain had appeared, writhing and shuddering with the force of some blow that appeared to strike it. Momentarily, the veil of blackness held firm. Then it split wide, rent by the force from within it. Howls and shrieks of glee spilled forth from the impenetrable darkness beyond, as dozens of clawed limbs ripped and tore at the sudden breach, straining towards the light. Then red fire exploded all about and the hands fell away, twisted and burned.

The Avatar of Fear appeared out of the dark, hissing with rage. Its 4 hands steamed hotly as he brushed aside the impatient ones, and stepped boldly through the opening.

The edges of the rent come together quickly, closing off the blackness and the things that lived within the Plane of Fear. In moments the opening had disappeared entirely, and the being stood alone.

It's faceless visage glances up to "see" the Rathe Mountains.

A clan of giants, coordinating their movements with hunting horns, rush out to meet the monster. Though they are not turned away by its 50' height, they cower in horror as they close close enough to be affected by its aura of death (DC 25 will save fear aura to 20', operates continuously). These majestic beings, as old as the mountains they occupied, avert their gaze, wet themselves and wait for their death.

...and then the Avatar of Fear starts walking, totally ignoring the giants, in search of the prey that its master, Cazic-Thule, had sent it to flay alive.


Barbarian Shaman (Luminary Gwendalyn Shaughnessy the Giant Slayer)

Gwendalyn the Giant Slayer stands stunned in disbelief for a moment, incredulous that they actually felled the monster, before suddenly pulling out two of her waterskins and rapidly emptying them. "I don't know if this is the right kind of giant, but I know that experienced shamans can use some kinds of giant blood for rage potions." She tries to get as much as she can of the grisly component, straight from the source, into each of the half-gallon containers.

Looking around, the mystic can see that Sajeek is still looking a little shabby; with so much mana left, it's an easy decision to heal him some more. Maybe I should bug Noggy and Revery to teach me how to cast spells faster, like they do. Mana won't do any good if people die before I can use it. Then she notices that the brave gnome is still not quite looking his best, so she heals him a little more.

Light Healing (Sajeek): 4d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 5, 3) = 16 (42/70 mana)
Minor Healing (Nogglegrop): 1d10 ⇒ 9 (40/70 mana)

When they find the giant's bag, Gwendalyn looks at Revery examining the gems with an expert's eye. "How about you keep those, someone else carry the magic gloves and belt, and I'll take a quarter of the copper. That way, I'll still be able to run if necessary." If only she knew what was stalking them, she would be running already... (204.7 lbs. medium load)


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

Warm giant's blood encases the shaman's waterskins inside and out, and her hands. It is a disgusting task and one that will later prove to be a waste of time, for the Rageblood potions are made with the blood of hill, frost and fire giants, not mountain giants.

Nogglegrop shrugs his shoulders, "Perhaps it is a belt of giant slaying, and gloves of invisibility. I would hate to die without finding out." The gnome takes a deep breath and then dones both the gloves and the belt separately. Neither causes him discomfort, and he is able to remove both without ill effect. It is a potentially suicidal way to identify items, but they were hours deep in giant territory, and going back was just as dangerous as moving forward. Even if they were able to win their way free of the Rathe Mountains, Sajeek would be no closer to finding his family, and they would have literally months ahead of them of picking their way through landscapes filled with monsters.

- The belt weighs half a pound and the gnome felt that he was able to think clearer with it on.
- The gloves are delicate, nearly gossamer white that fit snugly on the hands, resizing themselves perfectly to the wearer's hands. Once worn they make the wearer feel healthier.

The group is also looking healthier:

  • Sajeek (69/70 hit points, 22/24 mana)
  • Bast (78/78 hit points)
  • Nogglegrop (56/56 hit points, 15/70 mana)
  • Gwendalyn (63/63 hit points, 40/70 mana)
  • Kwen (63/63 hit points)
  • Revery (49/49 hit points, 90/126 mana)

You stand near, and in some cases on top, of a fallen giant. This is possibly the last position you wish to be in should another oversized predator happens this way. Loot can be split as you walk, as long the group determines what they plan to do with the heavy sack of coins.


Vah Shir Beastlord and Bast Kejek Tiger

"Oh, I think I'll just take a few handfuls of copper. Pay for some drinks and whatnot," Sajeek chuckles. He had watched Noggy try on the the gloves and belt in turn. He was wondering why the gnome had looked so tense trying on the two items. It took a few moments, but the vah shir remembers hearing a few night time horror stories told by some of Raji's scouts about cursed magical items. A shudder finds it's way down his spine as he realizes the danger the gnome had once again put himself in.

Once again looking at the majestic and foreboding Rathe Mountains, Sajeek feels conflicted. The smart part of his mind told him to get out of the mountains. The chances that his foster parents were still alive were low. The instinctual part of his mind snarled at the logical part and call it a coward. There was a chance that they were still alive. He was closer to finding them then he had been in two years.

Scooping up a few handfuls of copper, Sajeek adds them to his coin purse. Taking a second or to look at the images stamped into a few of the coins, he shrugs drops his loot sack into his backpack. He does watch Gwen gather up some of the giant's oozing blood. 'Must be some spell component,' he thinks with an arch eyebrow.

"Okay, we should get moving, those horns don't sound like there going away. And I would rather not meet the giants behind the calls," Sajeek looks around. "Once we make camp for the night, some where well hidden preferably, I'll hunt through Swenj's notes for another other details I might have missed." The dervish robed vah shir scratches his chin.

"I think we should be careful to not let this victory go to our heads," the vah shir nods in the direction of the corpse. "We are a little on the out numbered side," Sajeek grins. "And I still plan on continuing forward. I just don't want to get my friends killed hunting down my folks."

"Alright, let's get our feet moving."


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

The coins are stamped denoting them as the currency of major port city of Qeynos. Nogglegrop follows Sajeek's example and snags 21 of the coins.

Rain starts with the occasional fat droplet, and then slowly evolves into a shower that soaks you from head to toe. The storm comes out of the northeast , and the mid-afternoon skies become heavy and leaden. You continue across the muddied stones with heads bent slightly against the steadily rising wind.

You come to an area five hours later (light physical activity, 2.5x meditation ranks regained rounding down) that had in recent weeks been the site of a rock slide, which offers a number of hiding opportunities amongst the giant bolders and strewn debris. The largest of the rocks looks to be over 20 tonnes, and is well propped up, creating a secure hide too small for a giant to properly get its hand into without paying dearly for blindly reaching into holes.

An exhausted Nogglegrop (56/56 hit points, 52/70 mana) leans against a large rock and works to catch his breath. The gnome removes his helm and tilts his face upward to receive the cleansing deluge of the frigid rain. It washes the sweat from his face and cools him. Your cleric smiles weakly at you, but does not expend any energy by speaking.

Nogglegrop uses his infravision to look into the different hides and nods to show that he sees nothing untoward within.

It is past supper time, forcing the group to dig deep into the food supplies they had purchased from the caravan, foraging in giant territory would be suicide, and fumble around in the dark for the clouds have obliterated the majority of the light.

You have seen no sign of any life in your journey, which seems strange considering Sajeek's first glance had shown the mountains to teem with life. No more horns had been heard, and you are sure that you have traveled far enough to have found the area where they had been blown.

The Rathe Mountains were doing little to help you feel like you were going to survive to see the morning's light.

(please include marching and watch order in your next post)


Barbarian Shaman (Luminary Gwendalyn Shaughnessy the Giant Slayer)

Gwendalyn looks in disgust at the awful mess she made with collecting giant blood that might not even be good for anything. "Okay, you guys take what coins you want out of the bag, then dump out all but about forty pounds worth. Then I'll put these nasty waterskins in there, so they won't get my other stuff dirty." That done, she wipes off her hands on the giant's clothes, and looks at Noggy assessingly. She straps her tent to the sack instead of to her backpack, looks back at the gnome, thinks for a second; and then she tosses her crowbar in the giant's coin purse too, before slinging it over her shoulder. "Okay, ready!"

Hours later, Gwendalyn (63/63 hp, 70/70 mana) is happy for a chance to rub her hands in the rain, not liking blood on them when it's literal. (She doesn't mind the figurative kind so much, when it's clearly just.) When they travel, she likes to keep Nogglegrop and Revery where she can see them, to make sure that they're keeping up -- the one because of his short legs, the other just because she doesn't quite understand him, and can't predict when he'll stop or why. It seems to make the most sense to have Kwen in front underground and Sajeek in front in the wilderness, but she doesn't care about the details beyond that.

"I think we should double up our watches, with giants about. Perhaps me and Kwen, then Noggy and Revery, followed by Bast and Sajeek?" The erudite is even more blind at night than she is, but the half elf and the gnome have superior night vision, and she assumes that the tiger will lend his keen senses to help his pet Vah Shir.


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

None had offered any suggestion for the magical items, so Nogglegrop draws lots and throws them to the ones the fates wished to hold them, for now. The survivors, if there were any, could work out the details of what would happen next.

Kwen finds himself with magical white gloves that fit snugly about his hands. He feels both healthier (+6 hit points, +4 to mana, +3 to fire saves, 12 fire resistance) and a bit weaker (-2 to all resistances). The white satin gloves are so light that they are barely there (0.1 lbs.).

The gnome dons the belt and thinks no more of the items.

Random (by alpha: Gwendalyn, Kwen, Nogglegrop, Revery, Sajeek): 2d5 ⇒ (2, 3) = 5 (Kwen and Nogglegrop)

It is the smell that hits you first. Massive unwashed bodies, sweat, offal, urine. and bloo...well you've been smelling blood since Gwendalyn bathed her waterskins in it, so that might be coming from her. The myriad of stenches must be very close indeed for you to smell them with the rain falling about you and the wind blowing so hard.

Throaty baritone screams echo in the darkness of the stormy evening, and then there are the hunting horns once again. This time they come from many directions. Unless the mountain pass is playing tricks on you, there is a definite sense that the horns are closing on your location.

You have no sense data to support the position, but you feel the presence of an apex predator very close to your positon.

Nogglegrop, very cognizant of the noise his armour made getting into the stony hide, leans against the rocks and stares at the entrance, expecting all manner of evil to suddenly appear and cut him in half.

If only the gnome knew how accurate his fears were, though the death would likely come from being crushed.

Time drifts past, with seconds feeling like days, but no attack comes, and the watch has nothing to report. Perhaps it is only exhaustion speaking.


Vah Shir Beastlord and Bast Kejek Tiger

Clinging to Bast, Sajeek stares at the opening of the hide they were in. At any second, he expected to see the owners of the baritone voices looking in their hiding spot. It would take the giants all of a few heartbeats to tear the rocks apart. The same boulders that had rested against each other to create their hide would vanish. All Sajeek could do was wait and try not to think about the nasty ways that he could be killed by giants.

The night dragged on and on. His watch had been nightmarish, ears twitching at the slightest sound. Bast seemed a bit cooler with the threat of horrible death. 'Show off,' Sajeek thinks, scratching the big tigers ears. How the vah shir had managed to get any sleep was a mystery to Sajeek. His body must have decided that if he was going to be killed, it would either be asleep or well rested.


male Half Elf Rogue /Markus Vardin Human cleric (Giant Slayer Blackguard Kwenilithmor Eridosan)

Kwen gives a shudder, some forgotten primitive genes warning him of danger, it could be due to the hunting horns. Slaying one giant was enough for the half elf today, if there were more trying to track down the party, it was bad enough that the weather had turned so lousy, now it would seem that giants were on the prowl, or perhaps something worse.
Kwen had only snagged about 100 copper coins, not enough to truly weigh him down, just enough to pay for a drink. Looking at the gloves, that only thing that Kwen didn't like was that fact they were white; and they were not finger-less giving a slight shrug and keeps a close eye for trouble. His watch was plagued by feeling of doubt on their course of action, who knew what was lurking on the horizon, his time spent on the streets allowed the half elf to cat nap, for rest was precious and the body would need it for whatever could happen.


Revery (Erudite Enchanter) in somnis veritas // Kspress (Iksar Monk) Your pain is the breaking of your shell.

Revery hoped the horns, if they were giants, would pass them by in their hiding place. In rrsponse to his worries, he meditates to revive his arcane strength before the attack comes, as he's sure it will. They would probably all be crushed as they slept.

He had taken no copper, satisfied with the gems so far. And he didn't wish to carry around a bunch of copper.

Doubling up the watch seems like a good idea, and revery embraces that idea.

He waits in the dark to be crushed by a giant.

(hp: 49/49; mana:?)


Barbarian Shaman (Luminary Gwendalyn Shaughnessy the Giant Slayer)

Gwendalyn can't sleep with the sound and smell of giants hunting all about. Wait. Offal and urine? Were those... screams? Heart pounding and fearing an attack at any moment, she realizes that the giants might be the hunted, not the hunters. What could be worse than giants? Why do I ask myself questions I don't want to know the answers to? As quietly as she can, she starts casting a small buff on Revery, Nogglegrop, Bast, Sajeek, Kwen, and finally herself.

Inner Fire isn't much, but it's all she has... for now. The mystic silently vows that if they survive this trip, the first thing she's going to do is buy a better protection spell. Or one for running away faster. Or both. She gets a sense of déjà vu, rather certain that she's made similar vows before. And look where it got me: hiding under rocks, surrounded by stinking, screaming giants. Feeling the pressure start to get to her, she forces herself to go through meditation exercises to keep her mind clear and ready to act. (66/66 hp, 58/70 mana)

Active Buffs:

Talisman of the Beast (Bast, Gwendalyn, Kwen, Nogglegrop, Revery, Sajeek): +3 buff Str, indefinitely
Inner Fire (Bast, Gwendalyn, Kwen, Nogglegrop, Revery, Sajeek): +1 insight AC & +3 buff hp, 70 minutes


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

Inner fire requires a spoken incantation with a clear voice, which is something that will get the shaman tackled if she tries to actually cast spells while the rest of the group clamps their hands over their mouths, since their breathing is a storm and their hearts are like the cracks of thunder to their sensitive ears.

It is two hours later when everything comes to a head.

Heavy footfalls move about the area directly around you, displacing man-sized boulders with the ease any of you would cast aside handfuls of dry leaves. The smells of earlie are only amplified, making you wonder what you smelled when you first got here.

You all are wide awake, and have pressed yourselves against the back of the makeshift shelter, hoping that the storm of angry giant flesh will pass. From the sound of the horn, as long as there is only one giant per horn, then 3 giants are coming to this area, where there are already 2 homicidal walls of muscle waiting.

From your fearful glimpses you track the movements of hard-eyed giants, and these creatures are kitted out for war. One holds up the lifeless body of a mountain giant. Your horrified eyes sweep the field of wet stones and locate two more giant corpses, limbs twisted grotesquely, bones shattered and crushed. The grisly scene begs the question of what sort of creature could do this to monsters as powerful as the Kromdek.

You remember Swenj’s words about how defiling Cazic-Thule’s altar would lead to your deaths, an unwelcome revelation since he had lead you to the act, and your blood freezes in your very veins as you become aware of another predator circling these waters.

Though impossibly massive it is little more than a shadow in the pale moon's light that has worked its way past the clouds that encircle Rathe Mountain peaks. The Avatar of Fear is a mirror image of The Faceless One, Cazic-Thule. It is an enormous hulking shape - a walking mountain, with a bulbous projection where a head should be. There is no face, no sign of any sensory organs. It has two muscular, outsized arms and two smaller, yet still powerful arms. Massive clawed feet support the bulk.

The Avatar of Fear is a shard of fading night hunched down against the pale grey of the stone. Killing is the sole function of its existence. It is a massive creature, heavily muscled, standing 50’ tall when it rose to its full height. Yet its size is misleading, for it was by no means ponderous. It moved with the ease and grace of the best elven hunter - smooth, fluid, quick, but not noiseless. Once it had begun a hunt, it never gave up. Nothing it went after ever escaped for it was a monster who cared nothing for life, even its own. It did not even kill because it enjoyed killing. It killed because it was instinctive. It killed because its master Cazic-Thule found killing necessary.

A message was to be delivered on Norrath, and it was addressed to the Pravus Mortis.

The creature stood impassively, its hard gaze fixed upon you, if "gaze" was the right word for a monster that perfectly sensed its surroundings, but had no eyes. An eviscerated giant was cradled loosely in 3 of its arms. The harsh sound of its claws sliding down the stones cut sharply through the deep silence, but it makes no movement at first. The Avatar of Fear simply stands there, studying carefully the group it had come to destroy.

The noise was perceived by the closest duo of mountain giants, and they scream for the others to hie to their location. Descending from the mountains are the giants, their savage screams are filled with madness, as they launch themselves at the creature from legend.

There is a moment of calm before the explosion of movement from the monster meets the giants as you seek out any exit from this nightmare.

The time of hiding is over.

The time of running is upon you for no matter which side wins the day, you will not be looked kindly upon by them.

Nogglegrop runs as fast as his little legs can carry him, but it will slow you all down to a crawl (45' movement per round compared to 120' for all save Bast, who can run 160' per round).


Revery (Erudite Enchanter) in somnis veritas // Kspress (Iksar Monk) Your pain is the breaking of your shell.

Revery's (HP: 49/49, Mana: 126/126) fear has him thinking as quickly as possible, but there is little he comes up with. The Dark Thing had seen them, but the giants had not. If if the Dark Thing decided it would rather chase us than slay more giants, it would be better if the giant thought that the Dark Thing was running away, as it may give them reason to pursue it.

"Wait!" he says to Noggy, who is running away. He casts Invisibility (5 mana) on him and says, "The Dark Thing will no doubt see you, but perhaps the Giants will miss you."

Then he starts to run. But which way? And for how long? He is certain the Dark Thing will kill the giants, and then come and kill his friends and him. He could leave, but he could not do it without his friends. He looks for the route that provides the fastest running.

(HP: 49/49, Mana: 121/126)


Vah Shir Beastlord and Bast Kejek Tiger

Sajeek grabs Noggy and puts him on Bast's back, telling him to cling to the scruff of the tiger's neck.

"Run!!!" Sajeek and Bast bolt, glancing around for any kind of path that lead them away from the horrid, faceless, four armed thing and a hoard of raging giants. An actual horde of giants. Part of his mind bursts into mad laughter.

Fear coursed through his veins, hitching a ride with his blood. All he could do was run, and try to get away. The giants were bad enough, but having Swenj's ramblings be actual predictions be correct, was even worse.

Sajeek tries to not think about how fast either the giant, or the Monster. The vah shir knew it waw after them. He had seen something like the 50 foot tall nightmare. Back at the exit of Swenj's caves. The altar of the Iskar's god. Cazic-Thule.


male Half Elf Rogue /Markus Vardin Human cleric (Giant Slayer Blackguard Kwenilithmor Eridosan)

" Meep!" Kwen says, then follows Sajeek and Bast out the cave " Come on little sister, this isn't a good spot to fall asleep." The rogue calls out, scrambling as quickly as he could, trying to avoid the giants and whatever the h3!! that... evil thing was and who it was coming after.
The rogue, has a sinking feeling that whatever this thing was, it was after the party.


Barbarian Shaman (Luminary Gwendalyn Shaughnessy the Giant Slayer)

Gwendalyn is shocked to see the Avatar of Fear, a legend made flesh. When the giants attack it, she leaves behind the big sack of copper without a second thought -- and her crowbar, tent, and bloody waterskins with it -- since she had anticipated maybe having to carry Nogglegrop; but she hadn't expected him to ride Bast.

Finding herself the one slowing down the group, the mystic casts Fleeting Fury on herself (68/70 mana) so that she can run full out while discarding a few more things. Her bedroll, winter blanket, the ritual vestments that she never wore, and even two pints of oil find their way to the ground behind her before she can keep up without magic.


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

The Avatar tracks the gnome's progress, as the giants do not, and in that moment there is a great deal of information conveyed. Sajeek is able to grab the back of the invisible cleric's armour just as he disappears from sight.

Stone shatters like glass as the titanic melee is met in the bosom of the Rathe Mountains. Giants continue to pour atop of the legend made flesh, drawing blood and being blooded themselves. You feel the reverberations, of the monster's impacts, in your chests long after the battle is out of sight.

It is a decision made out of desperation, but sometimes those are the best decisions. A wide-eyed and invisible Nogglegrop brings a yelp of pain from Bast, as he holds on far too tightly.

Kind eyes track the movements of the giants from a distant ridge. The feline duo had been lured to this place by the hunting horns and wanted answers. They drift down from on high to interrogate the runners.

You run for an hour, long after the noises of the battle have been left behind you.

Stopping for a moment, to catch your breath, you become aware of the presence a split second before it leaps atop the shaman (marching order: Gwendalyn, Kwen, Nogglegrop, Revery, Bast, Sajeek) and puts a wicked spear against her throat.

The words purr out in the Combine tongue, and Sajeek looks up to see a very familiar and bedraggled duo in the fighter Raji and the High One's daughter Lithia. Their mouths drop agape as if they had seen a ghost.

Finally the words leave their mouths, and the words are statements and not questions, "But you are dead!"

Nogglegrop looks at the scene, cocks his head a bit, then looks behind them, "Family reunions are best had on the run I find, oh and if you could please remove the spear from my friends neck."

Lithia's spear is retracted, and Raji offers his hand to help the barbarian shaman to her feet.

At least your quest has been finished. Something you will take to your grave.


male Half Elf Rogue /Markus Vardin Human cleric (Giant Slayer Blackguard Kwenilithmor Eridosan)

“That’s.... great... let’s....go...." The half-elf manages to get out; his hands on his knees, bent over slightly; his lungs screaming for air Kwen stops talking. Catching his breath wasn't too difficult; it was more the fact that Kwen still felt spooked from the Avatar of Fear. Kwen hadn't been paying attention about what it was called, his brain just kept telling him to flee.
Trying to squash that survival indistinct was hard, but living to tell the tale was proffered as just being turned into a bloody pile of tissue wasn't something that the rogue wanted to have happen to him anytime soon. Finally able to straighten himself from his hunched over stance, he marvels slightly as the light that everyone was giving off from their body.
I'd rather not stand here and talk at the moment. I have a sneaky suspicion that whatever that thing was; the giants are not going to stand up against it. May’haps the giants will get lucky and kill that thing." Kwen says now that he is no longer breathing so hard, he manages to give a slight smile but it seems fake rather than sardonic; as the humor was forced and the smile Kwen had was hollow indeed.


Revery (Erudite Enchanter) in somnis veritas // Kspress (Iksar Monk) Your pain is the breaking of your shell.

"That would be us being lucky, and I doubt that luck very much. This new luck, though, may be fruitful." Revery says, still breathing heavily. From the look on Sajeek's face, Revery guesses he had found his parents.

He looks at the two Vah Shir, and says, "Do you speak common? For your son and his friends are in danger, from an angry god's minion."


Vah Shir Beastlord and Bast Kejek Tiger

Sajeek stares at his foster parents, mouth opening and closing as his mind tries to sort everything out. Shaking off the fog of fear that had wrapped itself around his thoughts, the vah shir looks at the two and blinks a few more times. Sudden elation floods through his veins. He had found Lithia and Raji after two years and the spirits knew how many trails.

"I found you!," Sajeek grabs the two vah shir in a hug as a smile peels apart his muzzle. "Wait, what do you mean you thought I was dead? Nevermind, you can tell me later. Like after we have hidden," Sajeek says, the rich Combine tongue almost purring out of his mouth. The Beastlord looks back over his shoulder, as if afraid that the horrible giant nightmare had crept up on them while they had stopped to catch their breath.

Turning his gaze back to his "lost" foster parents Sajeek takes a moment to look at them. His warm emerald eyes focus on his foster mother. She looked tired, her rich calico fur was dulled by dirt and dust. Lithia's warm blue eyes held shock at the sight of Sajeek. Raji's yellow gaze held a similar look of shock. The big, tawny furred warrior shared the same tired, yet driven look.

"We need to keep running," Sajeek switches back to common. He mentally grins at Rev's question about them being able to speak commom. Raji had taught Sajeek common at Lithia's insistence, hoping it help to bring the two closer. It didn't. "Aside from the giant's we are sorta being chased by the God of Fear's personal minion. We might have, sorta, destroyed one of it's altars." Sajeek toes the ground, looking like a kitten caught stealing a jar of cream. "It has to do with the Shissar coming back."

"But, uh, here is not really a good place to try and explain it," Sajeek pauses for a second as if remembering something. The vah shir grins before looking at his friends. "Oh yeah, this is Bast, Noggy, Gwen, Rev, and Kwen," he says pointing them out in turn. "They are my friends. Ohm and great news! That weapon that was supposed to wipe out Luclin doesn't exist. It was a trick to get the two of you to Norrath, so that I would follow." He holds up his hands. "I will explains as soon as we are out of the very open."


male Half Elf Rogue /Markus Vardin Human cleric (Giant Slayer Blackguard Kwenilithmor Eridosan)

" Oh! So that's what chasing us! Maybe we can find another altar to another god, smite that one, have an avatar from another god chase us. Then have the two avatars fight it out." Kwen says with a grin, as even while getting ready to run, and being so scared his sense of humor managed to catch up with him.
" Soooo everyone ready lets start running again." Kwen says glancing behind him; expecting the Avatar to show any second. Kwen wonders if there is anyway to keep moving fast enough to hide from this relentless being, it seemed to know the location where the party was hiding at. Kwen pushes this question to the back of his mind for now, knowing that he would need to focus on running for a hours tonight.


Revery (Erudite Enchanter) in somnis veritas // Kspress (Iksar Monk) Your pain is the breaking of your shell.

"Swenj predicted our deaths, and I hoped it would be later rather than sooner. His prediction have proved accurate so far, including one of his own death. I don't know that we can stop it, but perhaps we can delay it?" says Revery.


Barbarian Shaman (Luminary Gwendalyn Shaughnessy the Giant Slayer)

Stunned by the speed with which she was on the ground with a spear at her throat, Gwendalyn warily accepts the strange Vah Shir's hand up. She half-smiles at Kwen's suggestion. "You know things are bad when you miss Cazel, and wish he were here. Short of that, I don't know what we can do but keep on running."


male Half Elf Rogue /Markus Vardin Human cleric (Giant Slayer Blackguard Kwenilithmor Eridosan)

" Aye death, but what about bring one back from the dead huh? Or how about an afterlife? Oh Please too meet both of you." Kwen says to Sajeek's foster parents " Next time you two find an altar to an evil god, lets not mess with it unless we have too, I don't want to have to do this again." Kwen says with sigh.


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

Slave's Information:
"Revery's question is answered, "We dig to uncover the ancient ruins that lies beneath the ground. It is a complex hidden for ages, and is reputed to hold the secrets to immortality."

Gophers standing in eagle territory are not as skittish as these two women appear to be. These are young women that breathe air made foul by the putrescence of their husbands, brothers and fathers rotting not far away. "We 17 remaining are all but simple travellers, farmers and gypsies that were taken from our beds, or tricked to help a stranger in distress." There is bitterness in the exhausted slave's voice. "The 'master' has slaughtered all of the men, enslaved the women, and uses our 22 children as leverage against us. A small den of 8 gnolls are paid with all the gemstones that are found, to watch over us as cruel slavers, for the 'master' cares not for wealth. He is too strong, you cannot defeat him, and will join the piles of dead if you try. We will understand if you run..."

You hear one of the children screaming as if tortured. The master is at "play" far from your position, west and south. The women's eyes harden, and silently beg you to help.

Swenj is the "master", and may not be human, or simply is a brilliant manipulator that is devoid of morality. Considering how you saw him in peasant's garb, the comment on him not caring about wealth appears to be an understatement."

Justis' Information:
"She was always treated well, and kept in the cage for some reason that is unknown at this time, but she tells you that she is wearing another girl's clothes: a little girl named Rahn."

--

"Justis is the first one that referred to the group as "Pravus Mortis." When asked, by Kwen in elvish, since she continues to look at him with dreamy eyes, she reveals confusion in learning that the group did not refer to themselves that way. Apparently Swenj called the group that name for months before their arrival, for their arrival was foreseen, expected and sought after."

Swenj's Journal:

"The ink was still wet on the top page, suggesting that Swenj had been aware of everything before it had happened. He never says who told him of the future, only saying "she" when he refers to the one that told him.

Swenj fully expected to die after bringing the group to his lair, if truth be told he brought them there to kill him, but the knowledge didn't stop him from fighting to his last breath. He died with a smile on his lips, likely bemused by the strangest reinforcements the very gods had summoned to bring him down. He wondered if the troop of evil forces knew they were nothing more than pawns in a cosmic chess game.

These were the fated ones, there could be no doubt.

His last words are written quickly, likely as he prepared to cut and drink the children's blood and engage the combined party in combat, "She will walk again with the sun on her innocent face."

It will take a great deal to fully sort through this man's ravings, but Sajeek sees something that catches his eye: his foster parents had been lead to the Karanas on a wild goose chase, with threats of a weapon that would destroy Luclin, simply to lure him to take part in events that were foreseen. They had been sent far south to die among the giants in the mountains."

--

“To the five that will invariably slay me: Pravus Mortis,
Please ensure that my daughter is cared for: this is all for her.”

--

“I am not, nor have I ever been, a good man. My means were always selfish as I sought out angles that would best benefit me, and I never truly mourned those that I crushed under heel to achieve my ends.

Then she was born and everything changed.

My past had long before caught up to me. My arrogance had long before resulted in the gods turning their backs on me. Power ran through my fingertips, but it was derived from another source.

That source was the Shissar.”

--

"Rahn begged me to stop as I fell deep into the control of the Shissar.

I thought I knew better. I thought I was the smarter.

I was wrong.

The Shissar wield ancient magics, crafted when Norrath was in its infancy, magics unknown even to the gods themselves, which is why they have ever refused to kneel to any god. These magics give them a powerful precognition. This is the power that is how many avoided Cazic Thule's Greenmist.

As they provided me with a fraction of their power they also gave me a portion of their precognition, which is how I saw the death of all living things on the face of Norrath.

This I could not allow and I acted to stop them.

I failed.

They saw it coming, something so obvious considering their precognition.

As a punishment my Rahn was struck down by a brutal pestilence. I watched helplessly while the plague ravaged her tiny body, begging to gods that had long since turned their backs on me. The gods either did not heed my cries, or simply ignored them.

I held my daughter while she died screaming in agony inflicted with the very same Greenmist that destroyed the Shissar on Norrath."

--

"- had learned the rituals necessary to hide himself and his writings from the distant Shissar's precognition.
- he had continued to try to mend the disconnect between him and Cazic-Thule, but the Faceless One would not listen.
- he had looked into the future and knew that Pravus Mortis would be the turning point in the destruction of the world.
- Pravus Mortis must therefore be protected before the Shissar learned of their importance.
- The ritual required blood to be spilled from all to be protected, a task he was grateful to take on himself. If he was to die, then at least he would do so burning and freezing them with his magics.
- He had lead them to anger the God of Fear, but defiling the altar and dousing the source of the Greenmist.
- This defiling would weaken the magics that had banished the Shissar from Antonica, but it would also draw the gods attention to the Shissar's activities.
- He asks only that you beg for Rahn's release when Cazic Thule turns his eyes from the war his people, the iksar, are embroiled in, and sends his avatar to destroy you.
- He promises that Rahn has a message for how to stop the Shissar from destroying the world. - - Once you are successful in begging Cazic-Thule to release her from the god's torment she will be reborn in Justis.
- One elven innocent must die, so that another innocent can be born anew.
- Justis is dead either way, either as part of the ritual, or dead when Norrath burns.
- You can speak with Rahn after you travel to the continent of Faydwer."


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

Each of you had learned that you had been guided by unseen forces to stand in this place. Your movements were both foretold and callously moved about like pawns on a cosmic chess set.

(all but Sajeek, please include what malfactors worked behind the scenes to get you to this place)

Weeks prior...
Nogglegrop was an exile that no one had bothered to care to evict from Ak'anon, which was the answer to the question of what was worse than exile: being beneath contempt to even work up the effort to evict. This mistreatment was fuelled by these forces. Tears had spattered atop the page, smudging some of the ink, as he considers what could have been, rather than what was. Ever the pragmatist he nods and swallows his grief for the damage had already been done, and no amount of work to the contrary would bring back his innocence. Nogglegrop would help to found a new city where all goodly creatures were welcome.

The others would agree that he should be king, of that he was sure.


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

The two vah shir assure the party that the speak the common tongue of the lands. It was only in their shock to see their foster child that the old words had fallen from their tongues. They are taken completely by surprise that they were duped in coming to this place, and relay to Sajeek that word had come down that he had been slain, which had them redouble their efforts. They feel foolish indeed to have fallen for such obvious lies.

Lithia provides a boon to the party, recognizing the fear in their eyes as they look back towards the titanic battle behind them, and does not argue with the frenzied insistence that they continue to flee.

A spell is cast and all of the party feels a deep connection to the feral instincts that have long ago buried. Each runs much faster (50% speed increase), which causes Nogglegrop to hang on harder and Bast to protest more. The kejek tiger is going to have bald patches at the end of this run.

Spellcraft DC 25:
Spirit of Bih'li - 50% speed increase and +2 attack bonus for up to 6 targets

When exhaustion takes you it is the vah shir shaman's spells that tear it away (invigour).

You run all night, and in the morning you find a decent enough hide to make a stand, if necessary. The two vah shir ask for you to explain everything, so they might best help.

(please include your default marching/watch order in your next post)


Vah Shir Beastlord and Bast Kejek Tiger

Nodding, Sajeek stretches and looks around, not feeling close to safe, but better that they were out of direct sight. Although, if the nightmare was exactly like the altar, it didn't have eyes. The vah shir thinks back and remembers it moving it's head to "look" at Noggy. That probably didn't bode well for them in anyway shape or form.

"Uh, well, were to start. When I came to Norrath, I ended up picking up your trail at the Gypsy camp. I searched the plains for the better part of year for your trail, when I was captured by slavers," the young Beastlord pauses for a few moments. "I woke up from what I think was some type of drug induced waking sleep on a sinking slaver ship. The ship had been attacked by a dragon, who was called.., I forget. A massive storm followed in it's wake along with a giant squid thing."

Sajeek continues telling Lithia and Raji about how the lot of them made it to the island on a piece of the decking that hadn't sunk. The relentless nature of the the sharks was given voice. The young Beastlord tells them of what happened on the island. He speaks of the twgrowno that had fallen by the spell of the goblin sorcereress. Getting to where they had met Khae and Syn, Sajeek smiles fondly remembering the two. It doesn't take him much longer to the meeting with the old elf and his short companion. The two elder casters had found Noggy almost dead and mostly frozen. Sajeek leaves out any mention of the spirit he had made a deal with and the weapons he sought.

Looking at little guilty, Sajeek gets to their misadventures in Freeport and the trekking in the desert. Not to mention the tasks that they had to complete to get Noggy out of prison. With a shudder, he speaks about Veis her slaughtering of the orcs. He does bring up the women they had saved from the orc camp before the giant had killed and eaten them. When Sajeek gets the their part in what most surely ended up in sparking a civil city war, he looks at the ground for a few moments before continuing. He doesn't feel it needed to mention the time spent learning the iskar language. Or where they learned it.

With pride in his voice, Sajeek tells the two of his trails to find Bast, his warder. He also talks about Rev's wedding and the general times that were spent in the Erudite homeland. Well, he spoke a bit more about the Isle where the Kerrin lived.

Sajeek goes over what had happened once the group had gotten onto the plains and found Swenj's caves. He goes over what had happened, the fights with the gnolls, and the caster whom used hearts and fresh children's blood to give him extra power. He shows them the pages and the hidden message that Rev had found.

"And that's been about it, aside from the impending doom, things have been looking better," Sajeek grins once again. He rubs the white clawprint wrapped around his right bicep as he let's his foster parents absorb what he had just told them.

ooc:
Marching 2nd, and Watch, I believe he has been on the 3rd


male Half Elf Rogue /Markus Vardin Human cleric (Giant Slayer Blackguard Kwenilithmor Eridosan)

Kwen shuffles his feet for a second trying to think of everything that had happened to him before he meet up with Sajeek and the others. Once Sajeek has completed his tale Kwen starts with his, keeping more to highlights.
"So to start things off I watched my parents get slain, sadly I can't recall there names, just their faces and they way they smelled. I think that my mother had a way with nature, perhaps a druid I'm not to sure, she was a full blooded elf, and father was a human, he was a cleric of some kind, I think Bristlebane, because I wear his old holy symbol." Kwen stops absently fingering his necklace.
" The group that took me in was known as the Crimson Rose, as far as I know they no longer exist. They trained me in the ways of a Rogue and how to kill others, one of the marks of the order was to brand it's members with a rose on their body. When killing their targets they left behind a rose on their victims' chest. Needless to say that I found out the truth of the order and what they did, burnt the keep down to escape, using a few tricks for poison, and fled to another continent. I've spent years moving to different cities, finding people who needed locks to be open." Kwen says with a smile, as tired as the rogue was he still managed to find some humor in life.
" I 'bumped' into these fine folks in Freeport, not in the best diplomatic situation but money was perhaps tighter then I liked and owned some people a little bit of coin. I made a deal with Gwendalyn here, to help get our friend Noggy out of a bit of trouble, and we went off to the dessert. Not the best place to be, all though we could have a bestest buddy who is chasing us go into the dessert and take care of a few foes." Kwen says waggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manor, obviously not serious in the slightest.
" Other than that, we might have started a little tiny bit of a civil war in Freeport, hopefully things will be better if we ever go back there. Not what I had intended to have happen but hey there is a punchline somewhere in there. We traveled thanks to some spells, went to Revery's wedding, teleported here, fought a madman, some gnolls, set off some traps, saved a bunch of women's lives and their children. Oh we also bumped into some of the people that were on a slave ship that were their captures as well. Regretfully we had to make a deal with them to fight off Swenj, the madman. Also we killed a giant, thanks to some luck and a bit of skill, and in the process of saving innocent lives, some of us put out a green fire on an altar." Kwen finishes not sure of what else had brought the rogue to the group.
Slightly upset, knowing that his path was chosen for him and that there was no real way to avoid the end result. The lack of options, galled Kwen but he wouldn't go down with a fight, if that was one thing that the rogue had in spades besides having hope. It was the fact that he would go down swinging what ever he had.

Marching order 3rd in forest, first in caves, tombs, and other places that needed a good rogue to go first. Second watch


Revery (Erudite Enchanter) in somnis veritas // Kspress (Iksar Monk) Your pain is the breaking of your shell.

Revery is on first watch and second last in marching order.


Revery (Erudite Enchanter) in somnis veritas // Kspress (Iksar Monk) Your pain is the breaking of your shell.

It came quickly and lightly, but it was an unforgettable vignette, like a small yellow warbler appearing suddenly and landing on his shoulder. It was a hint. A hint of a memory.

Most memories might be ignored, especially in this dire time, as he was, quite literally, being chased by a fifty foot shadow that would not stop until he was dead. But this one chirped at him, and again, soon, chirped at him once more. This memory was there, but he couldn’t see it. He could feel it there, a locked box. Only his training, and his experience using his magicks under duress, he realized, had made it possible to detect that invisible box. And he was sure it was his training, his knowledge of enchantery, which would be the key to that box.

Running, running. Magically enhanced lungs pumped more air than they should be allowed. He had been focusing on the ground in front of him, on his companions, to ensure they did not pause, or trip up.

But that part of his brain that continued despite the pumping, despite the sore muscles, despite the chafing heels in too-old boots, that part of his brain puzzled over this locked box of a memory. It also asked why it was there in the first place. Why had it come now? Why had he not noticed it before ever, ever, since... Since what? Why, since its creation event. The questions helped his brain to unfold this puzzle. Asking “when?” brought it back to a time, when he had been young. Yes, that was the first clue. His fifteenth year, before he had even started his studies in earnest. There was someone forgotten. An old woman, who he had spoken to and then forgotten, completely.

What had she said to him? What had she done? There was a box, a different box. This was a box he could see. Composed of colored edges only, the box constantly changed, collapsed in on itself, impossibly, and around and out again. She had had him stare at it, watch it, until... Sleep. No, not sleep. It was a kind of unconsciousness other than sleep.

Revery’s head began to ache with the memories, the box and the woman rushing back in after having been gone so long. So long. She had made him forget. She and her box. Revery kept running, unable to stop the unravelling, to stop the pain. He wondered if this was what childbirth was like... Pushing, uncontrollable, unstoppable. It was emerging, come hell or high water.

The memories streamed in. She had made him forget all since she had known him, which was but a short time, perhaps an hour. What had happened in that transcendent hour? The box. He had stared at the box, and then he had become a four-year old child. And he had told the old woman a story, a fanciful story about a trapdoor in the lowest room of the house, and how he had heard something, and a giant snake had come up. The snake had wrapped itself around him briefly, patted him on the head, and had then gone upstairs and eaten his mother.

But that was just a dream. A four-year-old’s night terror. Forgotten, since his mother had been there when he awoke. And his father? Or was that the same morning when his father had left? Why had the old woman asked him to remember that nightmare? Was it not best forgotten?

Memories of memories. How could one rely on such things? Better to assume the clouds’ shapes were real, that the dragons and faces could affect your everyday life. Wasn’t it?

He had not become four years old - he had gone back to his four-year-old’s memories, to that one nightmare, and she had dredged it up and out of him, asking him repeatedly for more details, especially about the giant snake. And he had remembered more and more. Why was this dream so important to her? He had wondered that then, at fourteen, and he wondered it again, now, while he ran for his life.

Suddenly reality intervened, just as the stream, the flood, had started subsiding. He let them trickle in, all the while listening and watching around him. Sajeek was talking. He had, earlier, spoken of the Shissar. His knowledge of them was cloudy, but he had been told they were powerful snakelike beings.

It had reached out and touched his head. It had had arms, two of them.

It was not a dream!

Now Revery stumbles, the shock apparent on his face to anyone looking. He falls on the ground and immediately gets back up, as he sees one or two of the others slow down for him. “I’m fine,” he says, not believing it.

As he runs, now his mind quickly reviewing his life, from what he remembered at age four, to that turning point in school when his mother had died. His mother. She had been a Shissar. Everything she had done had been to further her own ends -- no, the Shissars’ ends. His sister had not had a chance - she had been so young when it had happened. Now, she was lost to him, and to her own people. And he himself must have known, deep inside, mustn’t he? Why else would he have...

He recalls bits of conversation, things his mother had said, done. Things others had said about her. She had avoided going outside as much as possible. She had not known some things every Erudite mother should have; and Revery had not noticed until later, much later, because he’d had no other mother to compare her to.

When his mother had died, the Shissar would not have died, only returned to wherever it had come from. Perhaps it had not come back because it had been too risky.

And now, as he runs, tears flowing down his face, he comes up with so many more questions. How had the mother-Shissar influenced him and his sister; and why? Were there others like that one? Who was the old lady whom he had forgotten?


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

As words flow forth, and it becomes more obvious that your course has been guided, you come to a realization: all that were foreordained were on the slaver ships. It was no accident that you were captured; you were each targeted with purposeful precision.

Lithia watches as Sajeek rubs a scar unknown to her, and not explained by his story. She knew him well, and understood that there was a reason that the story was not being relayed, and she was patient enough to give the once feral vah shir his space. They had all done well, amazingly so considering the foes that had been arrayed against them.

(Kwen please include what Shissar malefactors working behind the scenes to get you to this place)

It is Raji's eyes that widen when he hears that the group had killed a giant, though he tries to hide it. Giant's bane, at their ages, it was unheard of.

Nogglegrop looks up and smiles when Kwen mentions his deity. He was enthralled by the stories being exchanged, because it brought a sense of normality to their rather insane lives. The gnome waits his turn and adds his pieces to the tale being woven by the others.

Revery unlocks memories and delves deeper into his past. His mother had worn the flesh of an erudite, but had been a puppet of the Shissar, for the snake beings could not step onto Norrath due to the Greenmist, but their influence could still be felt.

Lithia and Raji tell tales, which seem foolish considering that they had fallen for a ruse. They had searched and searched in vain for a weapon that wasn't. It is amazing that they had not fallen to the giants. They look momentarily lost, wondering what their next move was, and ask the group how they can help.

Lithia's wise words are disconcerting, "You are slated to die, and also to make a difference. It sounds like you will run until you are cut down. You can fight to the last against impossible foes, try to avoid your fate by eternally running, or face it and be cut down to see what happens. 'Pravus Mortis', your wickedness appears to be that you matter to both sides, and appear to be the key to both."


Revery (Erudite Enchanter) in somnis veritas // Kspress (Iksar Monk) Your pain is the breaking of your shell.

"I think we need to get to Faydwer," says Revery, simply, "If we want to stop the destruction of Norrath."

It seems ridiculous to speak in such terms. Then again, a minion of the most terrible god of the planet is chasing them down.


Barbarian Shaman (Luminary Gwendalyn Shaughnessy the Giant Slayer)

As Gwendalyn thought back on how she came to be here, she realized that at every turn where she might've avoided this fate by going left instead of right, her best friend Brianna had been there to nudge her in this direction. "You don't want to be a seamstress and fishwife like your mother, do you? Always pinpricked, eyes failing from working so late by candlelight, spending half your life alone in a market stall while your man is on the water chasing the next catch?"

Bri had similar words to steer Tudan away from becoming a fisherman, then encouraged Gwen to follow Tudan in learning how to fight: "Why should boys get all the fun?" When the shamans took an interest in her, Brianna expressed envy, and flattered her potential; when she and Tudan had become close from fighting together, the devious girl broke them apart by making her see his care as overprotective, even disrespectful. That was how she came to have a fight with him, and lied to him so that she could drink alone, which led to her kidnapping.

And then, once she had finally won her way home, Bri was there flirting with Tudan, taking up his time, so that Gwendalyn ended up alone with her studies in the church. Alone with no reason to stay; no reason not to go with Sajeek to meet the others after a year.

So, her childhood best friend -- and possible future sister-in-law -- might very well be an agent of the Shissar; and the result was history of the sort that might even find its way into a book, if those with the knowing of it survived to tell it.

Spoiler:
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19 Failure

Last watch, I guess. First in the marching order outdoors, third when Kwen is first. (I think that leaves Nogglegrop with fourth watch and last in the marching order.)


Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

Marching Order: (Outdoors)

  • Gwendalyn
  • Sajeek
  • Kwen
  • Revery
  • Nogglegrop

    Marching Order: (Indoors)

  • Kwen
  • Sajeek
  • Gwendalyn
  • Revery
  • Nogglegrop

    Watch Order:

  • Revery
  • Kwen
  • Sajeek
  • Nogglegrop
  • Gwendalyn


  • Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

    There are two considerations in terms of the Avatar of Fear's dogged pursuit of the group:

    - On one hand there is the group's longevity. They wish to escape the supernatural being's means of tracking them, something that is unlikely since they have no idea where it came from or how it is doing so, and run far from its clawed grasp.

    - The other consideration is the collateral damage. Giants have fallen in this things path and have been torn apart as a result. You find it likely that the same will happen to any small towns, or innocent travellers, that happen across its path.


    male Half Elf Rogue /Markus Vardin Human cleric (Giant Slayer Blackguard Kwenilithmor Eridosan)

    Kwen ponders; trying to find a specific event that had the Shissar had started him down the path that they had laid out to burn Norrath; which sounded completely and utter impossible to the half elf. With a cold chill the answer hit him, like a spear had run through him: Karmithdor; that was the other half elf in the order.

    Karmithdor had been a number of years older than Kwen, the two had quickly become friends, but Karmithdor was always asking Kwen questions, the kind of questions that eroded the indoctrination that the order had been trying. Karmithdor was always at the surface the prefect student, never asking the questions, it always fell to Kwen, some of the questions were innocent sounding until Kwen asked them.

    Karmithdor had always pushed Kwen into talking about what he could remember from his parents, until he had broken the wall of denial. The picture had been so clear at the moment, the order coming through the underbrush slaying his mother before she had a chance to call out a warning.

    His father, holding off most of them, until the master had shown up, in a guise that was familiar to his father, his ‘uncle’ who also just happened to be the leader of the order.

    Kwen stopped asking the questions and seemed to work hard at his training and later his jobs, all the while reading reports, finding out who had paid for the deed. Karmithdor had been pushing for Kwen to get revenge, reminding Kwen everyday about what had happened in the past finally; Kwen had tracked down who had paid for the murder, Karmithdor.

    Kwen decided that it was time to leave; at the moment he had gathered enough to make good his escape, until Kwen bumped into Karmithdor waiting for Kwen in his room. While Karmithdor was talking, Kwen notice that his movement were much too fluid; Karmithdor eyes were also a different color, black instead of blue. While Karmithdor’s back was turned Kwen sunk his blade into Karmithdor back, severing his spine, but Karmithdor was still walking and talking.

    The smile on his face was what had frightened the rogue, who kept stabbing Karm until he expired, the entire time, Karm had a smile on his face and his last words were “You can never escape us.”

    Kwen used an airborne poison that was added to the smoke from the fire he set, rushing out of the keep hadn’t been too difficult; it seemed as if no one had been looking for the rogue. Kwen’s first year in some city that he could barely remember, almost as if it was a haze. The moment he felt clarity was when he ‘bumped’ into someone who could have been Karmithdor’s twin, Kwen fled the city as quickly as he could.

    On the road to the next city, he was ambushed by Karmithdor’s twin; who had taken the tip of his ear and giggled about it. Kwen killed him, the same words were uttered again by Karm.

    The next city Kwen was only in it long enough to pay for passage; however when Kwen reached the next continent the same familiar rogue was waiting for him.

    It seemed that as soon as Kwen spent time in one spot, starting to settle into a city; Karm would show up again and Kwen would either kill him, or flee before Karm saw him. Freeport had been a bit of safe haven or so the rogue had thought, it was almost like he had been herded to Freeport, as if that had been the Shissar’s goal for the rogue to get him to the others. It had taken years for the rogue to travel; most of it had felt like a blur, or even one long nightmare that Kwen was wide awake for.

    That made the sort of sense that would normally be the fevered dreams that only a paranoid madman would make a claim to, perhaps even enjoy making that claim. If this were any other situation and were Kwen not with the party being chased by the Avatar of Fear, he would have discounted it as a mere delusional fantasy.


    Vah Shir Beastlord and Bast Kejek Tiger

    Finding his foster mother, (and to a much lesser extent Raji), had made Sajeek happier then he could remember. He was surrounded my friends and his family. Bast sat next to the vah shir, eyes half closed as he rested, leaning a bit on Sajeek. He wanted this little bit of time to last forever. The Beastlord knew that was never going to happen.

    "So.., I have an idea. Not really a plan. More of a thing," Sajeek pauses, "respect the thing." The young Beastlord had been mulling over his foster mothers words. He had a pretty good idea that the avatar would track them down where they went. And destroy anyone near them in the process. The giants had simply been unlucky.

    "Us Walking Dead head back towards where the giant nightmare was killing giants. Bast stays here with you two. I didn't come here just to get somebody else I love killed," Sajeek stops, swallowing a lump in his throat. "And we do what we are going to do anyway. Running seems a bit pointless. I won't give it the satisfaction of hunting us down like prey," the vah shir says with distainful sniff, his head held high.

    "Unless somebody happens to be holding on to an avatar killing weapon," Sajeek unconsciously rubbing the white clawprint wrapped around his right bicep. He glances around, a crooked grin finding it's way across his dark grey furred muzzle. "Nope, didn't think so."

    "Any other plans or ideas?" Sajeek tries not to look hopeful that someone can come up with something vaguely saner then what he proposes they do.


    Revery (Erudite Enchanter) in somnis veritas // Kspress (Iksar Monk) Your pain is the breaking of your shell.

    "I left my avatar killing weapon back in the laboratory," jokes Revery. "I have been mulling over that thought too. I suppose we could beg the avatar to free Rahn. Swenj wanted us to do it now, when the avatar is chasing us. And he believed she held, no, holds the key to saving the planet. It seems it was the only thing he cared about. Still, it might have just been a ruse. 'If you don't save my daughter the whole planet will be destroyed.' But he did seem to have a clear grasp of the future, didn't he?"

    Revery doesn't mention Justis. That is a sacrifice some of the others may not want to make, at least not consciously.


    Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress

    Raji and Lithia stare at Sajeek, and then the others in turn, for several long moments. You can see that they are obviously torn between protection and fostering independence. Lithia starts to speak, but the words are drowned out as Raji speaks over her, "Leave the kejek tiger with us, we will wait for you here for a tenday should you need us again. After that time we will return to our home." Lithia looks like she is undergoing torture, but she finally nods in agreement and remains silent.

    Nogglegrop raises his hand with pointer finger extended, and does his best impression of Lithia. The gnome looks like he has something to offer, but realizes he has nothing to say. After a moment he does say something, "Let's have the clowder move along this path as we remain here for the Avatar to come kill us. That way we can die rested, and not get anywhere near any surviving giants."

    Your cleric whispers to Kwen, "If we were fated to come together on the boat, then I know not if you are meant to live on past this meeting. You will need to decide if you will risk it or not. If I am able, I will resurrect you as quickly as possible."

    Lithia speaks, "We will depart immediately." She takes a moment with each person and then leaves with tears in her eyes after giving a few words of encouragement to her adopted son.

    Raji ignores everyone, though Sajeek notices a confusing emotion in the older vah shir, which he would call pride in any other of his people, but it is gone as quickly as it arrives.

    Bast and the two vah shir continue off into the distance, leaving directions on where to find them should they require assistance.

    Nogglegrop resurrects Sajeek's conversation about their future holdings, seeking the input of the others, though it is difficult to be breezy with death approaching. "Let's talk about the details of the town we were thinking about. I could use something to distract me now more than ever."

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