Um, we raised Trekkert, not the guy that talks like a valley girl.
Search Posts
Betcha 5 coppers the Paladin's dumber than the Cleric!
Captain O'Suggil, We have accomplished the first step in defeating the Wizard of Witchfire Mountain, destroying the lich's physical remains. The second step, destroying its phylactery, faces us. A Commune spell has informed us that it is nearby, small and unguarded. This shouldn't take long.
The Wiard is dead -- now we just gotta find his Phylactery before 1d10 days ;)
I've learned that there's not that much to talk about when we're in the middle of a dungeon. Perfect timing that the mind behind my soul is really busy with his own life and can't much maintain the Thread. But ENOUGH OF THIS!!! Let's go kill us a !
Hey, when we get Aqualung back I'd like to have him meet with the elder Priest in the House of Radiance that let Trekkert know about this old story -- and use Detect Evil. Wasn't there something a few weeks back that raised our eyebrows about Myran's church?
*Rolls nat 20 on Knowledge: Planes for a total of 35. Maybe we can get Odin and Thor to help us destroy Thrym's heart -- or at least let Heimdall know about it. Meanwhile, we'll have to watch out for Baba Yaga and maybe even her daughter Iggwilv -- the old witch has a thing for Kostchtchie. Or, we could just Plane Shift to the 23rd Layer of the Abyss, make an appointment to see Kostchtchie and let him know his work in the Jotens isn't done yet. We could even let him know one of those pesky LE Devils -- a Gelugon no less -- is using one of his old stomping grounds as a base. That'll piss him off. (Of course, even though we wouldn't have to deal with the Azure Prince anymore, we'd instead have to deal with a Demon Lord. So maybe that's a bad idea.)
So, travelling up the Javan River to its source would be the logical way to find this place. That answers how we can find the Azure Prince. But I'd still like to talk to Algorthas and run all this by him. If knowledge of this story is available then the Gelugon could know that other people could find out. And have prepared.
I dunno, at least at this point. That seems like a mouse going up to a person and asking to join forces to exterminate some cats. The person might want to get rid of the feral cats, but sure isn't gonna respect the mouse. We've gotta get cooler than mice before we go to the Wizard of Witchfire Mountain. And when we go west, back near Zaoldyeck Keep, we can see if there's any evidence of this "winter." Maybe even see if it could be a result of The Azure Prince trying to create his own personal Frozen Hell here. (We can rule out, I think, a portal to a Circle of Hell cuz he wants to avoid his old Boss.)
We have the way to meet Ajaradob -- let him hire us! We (I) met a Knight of the Watch snooping around the Far West Emporium the other night; I wonder if he's among the dead. I personally GUARANTEE it wasn't a dragon. Come on, man -- don't tell us that right before breakfast! Blech, I'm not hungry anymore.
The Wizard has sent one of his favored lieutenants to keep track of us, but not too attack us. Why? Well, despite hoping that we can put off "dealing with" The Wizard, I think Grymalkin has made a good point with his rhetorical question. And though we can't answer it, considering it is meet. What we know:
I still think we must put off "dealing with" The Wizard but Grymalkin is ABSOLUTELY right in keeping us on our toes about him.
I was just pulling your chain (only a little bit, though). .
How much time (and for to accomplish which goals) do you think we should remain in Istivin? I don't think we should devote too much tme to N'Tron (and Sasserine Shiloh) cuz I don't think the former will know much and it'll be really long/ hard in finding the halfling. I don't know that we can get more info about your H-Orc brother and his gang here, but you know better than I (Wait, hasn't he already left to our knowledge?) I think Pelman Drudd and his missing women can occupy too much of our time so we should shelve it. I'd still like to put the heat on Ajaradob to see if any devils pop out but we may have to be willing to leave soon after even if we stir a bees' nest of devils with him. I'd like to trade more of our knowledge with Algorthas the Seer. I'd like to get some better magical items before we leave for Zaoldyeck Keep. Anything else??? Must we wait and meet Blackbolt the hard way? What are your opinions, Killua?
Killua, I'm gonna do my best not to let your remark get out -- if the small folk -- especially the ones on the Zaoldyeck Lands -- find out you're willing to let three monstrous armies ravage the countyside, killing, pillaging and razing everything in site (their lives and livelihoods), they might not appreciate it. Don't they pay taxes and such so that you'll protect them?! I think we should consider leaving Istivin and get back out there, with the Zaoldyack estate on the top of our list (not that we should leave, necessarily, just that we should consider leaving). I suggest we begin a dialog:
What are the pros and cons of leaving immediately? Should we stay at least to....
*Checks Thread for a reminder of what we're planning on doing next session (and a vicarious read bringing me back into the game).
Welcome back, Trekkert! So, is Fharlanghn's last name "Longshanks," or something? And I never knew He sounded like John Wayne: "Listen here, Pilgrim..."
Okay, so we have named some new enemies: The Ruthless Bastards, led by Killua's Half Orc illegitimate brother, are by now at Zaoldyeck Keep. Whether or not they will fight or join the red-headed lady currently is unknown. Shylo the Halfling from Sasserine is here and will stop, I assume, at nothing to haunt me. Meanwhile, we still didn't make it to the player who gave us those disguises. That's what we'll do asap -- and then we'll pretend to be loan sharks from Mephistopheles leaning on Ajaradob. Then maybe focus on Blackbolt. ----------------------------- But a few things first: We need Aqualung Tull so we gotta get him Raised (with a Gr Restoration). We need to follow Trekkert's wishes, whether or not he wanted to get raised. We need to question N'Tron in jail. I need to try to remember if Shylo had any superiors who will take notice when he contacts them with his Raven for an update -- and maybe send more help (or if Shylo will have to build a new powerbase here). I'm not sure if I'll be able to remember; we'll see.
Okay I checked, .... The werewolf fighter we killed was named Lord Barclay and he was (supposedly) from Aerdy, House Rhola. His weapon was a cool glaive named Felhook. If we go with my plan about trying to trick the sniffer, we can see if FelHook and BlackBolt are "brothers" -- among other stuff. Remember also that The Wizard of Witchfire Mountain has info on Lord Barclay. It could be interesting to see if there's any kind of relationship between the werewolves with named weapons. (Does anyone remember what Lord Barclay looked like? Any resemblance between him and the sniffer?)
It's my guess that BlackBolt is only one of a larger group of werewolves -- I don't think we cleaned them out all that time ago. He's also very likely the leader (did you see his sword? It reminded me of BlackRazor, for Pelor's sake!) I have an idea . . . . what if, after cleansing ourselves of this curse, we somehow fake the werewolf scent and go to him, pretending to still be werewolves; let him give us info on where (and how many of) his werewolves lair. Then kill him, Identify his sword and we'll be able to eliminate the Sterich Werewolves. That is, when we leave Istivin after we take care of the Diabolists and Pelman Drudd. Also -- I want to find the familial connection between BlackBolt and that werewolf noble who we killed, which werewolf beget which.
Grymalkin and I, at least, must have contracted lycanthropy when we fought against those werewolves all that time ago. That's what BlackBolt wants; that's why he's sniffing behind us. Let's go see our good friend Myran of Pelor (He's, like, 20th level by now, right? He can fix us.).
Uh, well, before you try to delete my first post on the Thread, read it over a sec and you'll have all the info I can remember. It seems that when Pelor Resurrected me and I became Ezra, I lost all the specific memories from my life before I used the Darko Nikolaykovic alias.
Quick, everybody go back and delete my first entry on these Boards -- maybe that'll be enough to cover my tracks.
Perhaps the underworld team should pay another visit to that circus fellow, Dardamel. Samhain sensed evil in the heart of his half-orc lackey, indicating that Dardamel, though not evil himself, might have associations with other evil individuals, possibly including members of this devil cult. Perhaps his lackey is even a member. I don't remember this, though I have wanted to get to know this guy and what he's all about. I think I'd still like us to first go to a random "extra-seedy" looking place and just be "the new rogues in town" kinda looking to continue "our careers" without stepping on any "association's" feet. Then go to Dardamel, and especially since the first may take a couple days before we get a contact, whereas Dardamel is easy to contact. (We could contact him while we're waiting to "hear back" from an "extra seedy"-like person.) What do you think, Killua? .
I propose that we begin (investigating) reports of missing persons. I have thought about the remote possibility of a "miraculous" coincidence that the Devil Cult we Really want to bring down is tied in with the villain we "secondarily" want, Pelman Drudd and his "missing" girls. I don't think it's likely because that would be quite a coincidence. (Like, first finding out that Luke's father is Vader and then finding out that Luke and Leah are siblings -- all cool -- but then, ruining it all, finding out that Vader is ALSO C3PO's dad . . . . I just think Istivin is a big enough place where all these villains don't have to be tied together. But we'll see. .
Perhaps we will detect a pattern missed by the mediocre wits of lesser detectives. Yes, I love your "confidence" and we sure do have so much detective and investigative acumen. Uh huh. .
Another possible line of investigation might involve a survey of local farms. The devil cult was supposed to provide a great quantity of whinnis seeds for the devils to plant. Exactly. This is one of the possible things I'm hoping we can find out about. In conjunction with a time-line connection with other farmsteads, probably also near Istivin, that have recently been taken over. If we can find the paperwork for the Devil Farm and see where that paper trail leads, we may be on to something. Now, if the Devil Cult uses different names for different deeds, it will be more tricky to find. But I don't think we should end with just the farmsteads. Maybe a look at any businesses that have recently changed the nature of their business to do stuff like "refine plants" into food products is good. I don't know how one makes Devil Weed into a product, or even what that product usually is. But if a long-time vintner is all the sudden opening up a cigar chain, we can look at the business closely. Obviously, this will take time. I think you and Trekkert will likely spend your time just getting the raw data and then we can all get together and try to analyze it.
Perhaps the underworld team should pay another visit to that circus fellow, Dardamel. Samhain sensed evil in the heart of his half-orc lackey, indicating that Dardamel, though not evil himself, might have associations with other evil individuals, possibly including members of this devil cult. Perhaps his lackey is even a member. I don't remember this, though I have wanted to get to know this guy and what he's all about. I think I'd still like us to first go to a random "extra-seedy" looking place and just be "the new rogues in town" kinda looking to continue "our careers" without stepping on any "association's" feet. Then go to Dardamel, and especially since the first may take a couple days before we get a contact whereas Dardamel is easy to contact. (We could contact him while we're waiting to "hear back" from an "extra seedy"-like person.) What do you think, Killua? .
I propose that we begin (investigating) reports of missing persons. I have thought about the remote possibility of a "miraculous" coincidence that the Devil Cult we Really want to bring down is tied in with the villain we "secondarily" want, Pelman Drudd and his "missing" girls. I don't think it's likely because that would be quite a coincidence. (Like, finding out that Luke's father is Vader and then finding out that Luke and Leah are siblings -- cool -- and then, ruining it all, finding out that Vader is ALSO C3PO's dad . . . . I just think Istivin is a big enough place where all these villains don't have to be tied together. But we'll see. .
Perhaps we will detect a pattern missed by the mediocre wits of lesser detectives. Yes, I love your "confidence" and we sure do have so much detective and investigative acumen. Uh huh. .
Another possible line of investigation might involve a survey of local farms. The devil cult was supposed to provide a great quantity of whinnis seeds for the devils to plant. Exactly. This is one of the possible things I'm hoping we can find out about. In conjunction with a time-line connection with other farmsteads, probably also near Istivin, that have recently been taken over. If we can find the paperwork for the Devil Farm and see where that paper trail leads, we may be on to something. Now, if the Devil Cult uses different names for different deeds, it will be more tricky to find. But I don't think we should end with just the farmsteads.
Okay, so Killua, Marvin, Aqualung Tull and I will focus on making some underground contacts in Isstivin that will hopefully lead to knowledge of the Devil Cult. . . . Trekkert of Fharlanghn and Grymalkin will spend time looking over recent City Guard reports, Noblemen & Landowner documents and maybe some barrister and solicitor claims to find any kind of paper trails -- they'll report what they find to Killua and together see if anything looks suspiciously diabolical. Regarding the first team, if we're lucky we'll get some good info and leads after just a few days; that'll mean that we can start getting close to a diabolical contact -- which means we'll need disguises and aliases since the Devil Cult knows specifically who we are. I think we all need to purchase a Hat of Disguise (everyone think of an alter ego!)
As for a way to meet the underground: An idea floating around in my head is that we go to a seedy place and pretend that we're new to town and "may need" to purchase some "items" that don't seem to be for sale (read: don't want the gov't to know about, as in, they're blackmarket). Then, when a contact agrees to meet with us "about business" we ask about products like Devil Weed -- though not specifically Devil Weed, necessarily. I feel we should maybe make a few purchases over the next couple of days, turning everything in to the authorities, pay whatever dues to the Isstivin mafia (Thieves' Guild), and then ask for more contacts and specifically Devil Weed . . . . What do you guys think? Any problems you see with this plan? What are some other things we could do instead?... Finally, I'd like us to come up with a protocol of "what we do when we split up" -- as in, where and when we meet back together and, more importantly, what we will do if someone doesn't show up at the right time.
We must concoct some cover story in case we are questioned in the course of our investigation. Hmmm, how 'bout we just tell Cpt O'Suggil what we're hoping to do and see if he can give us some kind of "warrant" to take to city record keepers. You guys can politely ask to see records and such but be ambiguous at the most -- if you have to say anything at all. Pretend it's routine; or pretend you're assigned to find out general info in the aftermath of the Malgoth. What do you think, Killua -- you're the titled noble here, afterall?
So, I will go with Marvin and, er.... who else, to "look into" making Underworld contacts and get on the trail of these Devils ... a melee guy would be nice but who should it be? We can convince cuz he can Detect Evil and also can Sense folks' Motives pretty well -- problem being that then the group would be a bit lopsided -- unless Killua wanted to come, too. Hmmm, maybe he could pretend to be dumb muscle or something (just like our Pally). And we can leave Trekkert and Grymalkin to research stuff "upstairs" to try and find any patterns or "unusual" recent events in Istivan's paperwork (reported criminal activity, one NPC buying lots of land in wierd places, new churches or organizations springing up, that kind of stuff). How does that seem? It makes tons more sense that Killua would be with the "upstairs" team cuz he's actually a titled noble in Sterich and would better know what he's looking at. But then the "downstairs" team would be lopsided, personel-wise. Any thoughts?... . . . . Regarding finding a home base: how should we approach looking? The thing I really want out of a homebase is anonymity -- I don't want anyone to know it's us. Not Cpt O'Suggil or Myran of Pelor or anyone. Who can best pose as a nondescript someone-else to rent a room? Or is it a "room" we're looking for? What are we looking for...?
As we are going to be spending the next chunk of time in Istivin, I think the first thing we need to do is get a base of operations. And I'd rather go to Myran of Pelor for advice on this than Cpt O'Suggil. See, not only do we already have a strong rapport with O'Suggil and need to develop more of one with Myran, but also I think a city Cleric will be better able to help us find a small townhouse or flat than a Captain of the Guard will. Anyway, what do you guys think? And is there anything we need or would like to have in our base of ops?
................................................ Once we get that established I think a two-pronged method of searching out this Devil Cult is called for. We can have one team try to make a connection with the city's "underworld" while the second team can research the City Guard files & paperwork to try to find anything "unusual" recently that can point us in the right direction. Does that sound cool? ....
................................................. What do we want to do about Pellman Drudd?
Not that it matters but we did not spend the night in Istivin; we had a morning messenger come to us and let us know whether nightmares were a post-MALGOTH problem. And I forgot, the two farmer ladies, are they in Istivin's Crossing or back west?
Now that our Silver Raven has returned . . . . weren't we gonna send it to Cpt. O'Suggil to give him an update? I'd like to send it asap so that we can hopefully get it back when we're still in Frogwollow -- he may have a suggestion regarding the 11 guys. (Most likely he'll say we have to decide what to do, but still, ... just in case.) We may even be able to send it out again after we hear back from O'Suggil, this time to Istivin's Crossing to let them know we're on our way to touch base with them and take care of their litle problem.
Um, Killua, who's Zarak? Is there any way to find out if Zarak (sounds male) is with the red-headed lady leading the imposters at Zaoldyeck Keep. It'll be interesting to try to do some info gathering when we get to Istivin on Zarak -- see if he's petitioned the Marchioness about anything. Anyway, with our 11 guys in Frogwollow, the haunting in Istivin's Crossing and then the larger, at least "somewhat" longer-term mission w/ the devil cult in Istivin pressing on our schedule (not to mention Pelman Drudd), we've time to put that on the back burner.
Or . . . . Should we just leave them in Frogwollow (assuming they're still there waiting for us, anyway)? The reason I don't like completely ignoring them is that it is, afterall, a pretty large group of potential raiders. And who knows how much it would take for the non-evil ones to turn. Killua, you have a vested interest in these lands; your family lands are only a couple days further west. If we only took Team A with us to Istivin's Crossing -- under the pretence that we only can hire 1 team -- would you be okay that there are 1/2 dozen potential raiders left to their own desires? It's an interesting little problem we seem to have.
Well, Frogwollow is a town so there will be plenty of buldings -- no problem finding one suited for us. I'm not sure how much they'll be willing to be split up for what we call "interviews"; I know if it were me as one of those 11 I'd be suspicious. Remember -- they think we're evil. But I do like the plan. If they won't consent to be "interviewed" individually we can just have Trekkert and myself ask questions while Samhain Aqualung stands in the background using his ability to Detect Evil. He can focus on individuals and just go down the line. This way we may be able to split them into two groups -- that's less suspicious. Say we want to divide them into two teams. We can even have them pick a team leader maybe and get an idea which of them are more respected amongst themselves. ............................ However it works out, about the ones who detect as being evil, we can't just arrest them for being evil. As far as we know the only thing they did was sign on for a job with a nobleman; they didn't know he was a werewolf. And for the others -- I'm not really convinced they're much different from "Evil" despite not radiating it. I'd like to try to rehabilitate all of them even though we may be less successful with Team B than with Team A.
I was just thinking about those 11 mercenaries that are presumably staying in Frogwollow for the moment waiting for a job from us, 1/2 Evil, 1/2 probably Neutral. Now, I'm certainly not thinking we're responsible for them if they decide, after we effectively tell them we can't use them for a long while, to go raiding the western frontier, but what should we tell them? I'd like to convince the non-evil ones to come with us as far as Istivin's Crossing -- and maybe the evil ones, too, under some pretence -- and we'll just hand them to O'Suggil or something (we'd have to separate them from the non-evil ones first, somehow.). Anyway,.... ideas?
Grymalkin -- if you continue to help us with those impressive Arcane powers of yours we will take on the Wizard of Witchfire Mountain when the time is right. That's a promise. The devils -- both in Istivin and the Gelugon-in-the-Glacier need to come first. But when the time is right we will get you access to Witchfire Mountain. Either as infiltrators or attackers. You could leave us, of course, if you get too impatient, but consider: we seem to work well together as a group and we've shown plenty of times that you can trust us. ... So, are your chances of getting to the Wizard without us better than WITH us?... Consider also, The Wizard of Witchfire Mountain sees The Azure Prince to be his main enemy (most likely). WE are the ones who are going after that Gelugon. Once we reclaim Zaoldyeck Keep to use as a base against the Gelugon we can begin to discuss how we want to attack the Azure Prince -- including possibly contacting The Wizard's followers -- if it seems a smart option.
Oh yeah, hey Marvin, tell us more about who you are -- all the rest of us gave a bio on this Journal when we first started.
And I thought Grymalkin was suppose to be clever. You should be smart enough to come up with a cleverer way to try and trick us into going after the Wizard of Witchfire Mountain: Who can say how deep the roots of this devil cult are? . . . . leave these devil worshippers to Captain O'Suggill, A deeper rooted cult of devil-worshippers would mean we are needed EVEN MORE. Plus, Cpt O'Suggil seems to be too busy running his guards and soldiers with basic city problems to effectively deal with this. That's why Captains-of-the-City-Guard hire Bad-Asses like us for freelance work. Besides, he's been tainted by those shadowy nightmares just like everyone else -- he was unable or unwilling to take that time off from Istivin (going to Polgar's Keep) to clear his head. And Myran of Pelor ain't gonna be able to do any better. .... Going to Istivin now seems best. And yes, of course we'll stop at Istivin's Crossing to take care of the Haunting for Balthasar. (And before that Frogwallow to briefly talk to those 12 mercs.) We'll still have some time left before the Devil Worshippers go back out to that Farmstead (does it have a name??) where we obliterated the Imps. The question is, do we want to impersonate the Imps and try to get intell on the cult or just follow the cultists back to the city when they see the devastated farmstead? Also, I'd like to try to find time to investigate FULLY into Pelman Drudd and BEFORE anything else, to briefly meet with the adventurers Marvin was telling us about that have been working in Istivin.
The good news, Killua, is that at least some of the farmers and ranchers on your lands are unconvinced that the red-haired lady tyrant isn't really a Zaoldyeck at all. That means it will be easier to reestablish your good name when we get to take back your Keep. . . . . But taking it back now is premature. We would be too far out (cut off) from Cpt O'Suggil and our allies in Istivin if we liberated your Family Keep now. Let's go back to Istivin, get a real handle on the goings-on there and, MORE IMPORTANTLY, uncover and destroy the cult of devil-worshippers there. Then, with things (both enemies and politics) smoother in Istivin we can go back west and reclaim your family lands. (Plus, I have a feeling that if we get some work done against the evils on the Marcioness's front door, she'll be more apt to pay us better -- and we'll be better equipped to handle the redhead masquerading as a Zaoldyeck.
As I recall -- at least one of the farmers was somewhat unconvinced that the new "Zaoldyeck" Baron was not rightfully there, perhaps as if she were an imposter. Though she hadn't personally come to raid the peasant farmers & ranchers, the actions of her soldiers were much more like those of raiders than noble protectors and were NOTHING at all alike to his memories of the Zaoldyeck Baron from years ago.
We've learned that the Azure Prince is a Gelugon. I'm actually much more relieved now about the whole thing. As an unkown, nebulous villain there was much more fear. Now that we know not only that he's a Gelugon but also a bit of his Infernal background, we can research Ice Devils in general and hopefully this one in particular. ...We're on the trail west now to track down the Priest of Vecna and then take back the Zaoldyeck Keep from whatever squatters have infested it, reestablishing Killua's rightful place. I hope that we can use the keep as a base of operations to eventually plan a strike against the Ice Devil. But that seems distant considering what we now know. Of more pressing concern -- a priority as soon as we've eliminated the Priest of Vecna and retaken Zaoldyeck's Keep -- awaits us back east in Istivin (we've less than 2 weeks to spare out west!). As much as I had hoped to avoid the shrouded town, we now have knowledge that an infernal cult has taken residence there. We have no choice, then, but to stay in Istivin for a while, tracking these diabolists down and sending them to the Hells where they belong. I will recommend to my heroic companions that as we track the Priest of Vecna we pay attention to our direction -- and if we veer too off the course of the Zaoldyeck Estate, we choose which is more pressing, the Vecnaite or the Zaoldyeck Keep. If we find the Priest of Vecna's lair we should appraise its strength and then return to Istivin earlier than we would like -- and unfortunately, we'll have to spend time there. Our days of avoiding staying in Istivin more than half a day are over. I seriously doubt we can find the Vecna Cleric in time -- or at least find his lair and deal with his undead. My prediction is that we will search west untill we reach Killua's Estate, appraise the strength of the forces there, and either eliminate them quickly or have to return to Istivin with only knowledge. It will become difficult, very soon, to prioritize.
*doing some house-cleaning Hmmm, what's this hiding in the bottom of my bag -- it's the non-magical, locked book we found in The Red Mummy's tomb. I'd forgotten all about it. Hopefully we'll get a moment for me to look through it.
Hey Trekkert, you ready to go find that Cleric of Vecna? I am. I have to personally thank him for "encouraging" me to become Ezra. Think he'll be surprised to see me after our last encounter? ;)
I awoke this morning in Istivin -- in Pelor’s Temple, Myran above me smiling with the radiance of one who has seen a great miracle from his god. With all humility, I know I am that miracle. A new man. I am alive not merely because Pelor is Powerful. Not because Pelor stands for the Light of the Sun and the Life it provides. I have been raised because my friends, both my adventuring comrades and Myran of Pelor, have spoken on my behalf to Pelor. Something more profound even than standing back-to-back in battle against enemies.
Whatever names I used in Veluna during my exile, whatever names I used during my flight from Sasserine – whatever name my father gave me at birth – they have no meaning. I am .
|
