Kori'el's page

NobodysHome wrote: for once there were no priests yelling, "Trig, no running naked around the temple! No bathing in the unholy fountain! That's another 30 lashes!"
Ah, that's one thing I won't miss! The Asmodean's sense of "discipline"! I swear, you violate five or six of their "rules", and they act like the world is coming to an end!"

I've been running Zelhara in a PACG campaign, and I really want to run someone like her in an RPG adventure, so this really struck me. Imagine Adult Wednesday Addams as an Inquisitor for the Church of Zon-Kuthon in a Wrath of the Righteous setting as she saves some goody-two shoes Paladin, "I didn't say you could die... yet."

Hello, old friend! Good to see someone carrying on the tradition. I'll be sure and read these over the next couple of days.

Four a red and baleful eye within a spinning face,
Pirates fierce and jungles dark stand strong along your way.
Bring the stones and place them true, hold fast within your dream,
Forge the shield and weapon to protect you from the foes
A blade of mind and spinning light to shield you from the lies
That fall away between their teeth like spilling sand.

In case anyone is interested, the Wayfinder was pointing to the medalian.

Just so you all have your minds right, a couple of small critical shifts: 1) the big sword on the anvil is actually embedded in the floor next to the pedestal, and 2) there does not seem to be the mineral encrustation in the workshop though the floor underfoot is a little gritty.

Another note to those following along at home: in Sandpoint, the characters discovered a poem inlaid in the Monument to the Fallen, a sestina. So far, they have been able to decode the first two of the seven stanzas.

The first stanza reads in Thassilonian:
Eight heroes fallen at the hands of mighty foes,
The one who fought upon this ground knows where the treasure lies,
And shows the way when sunset's light illuminates his face.
Seven is nearer than you think, within an evil dream,
A temple in dark catacombs, it's power gone like sand,
If power and wealth are your desire, the Arches lead the way.

The second stanza is in Varisian, phonetically transcribed in the Thassilonian alphabet:
Six a lost and mighty forge, an arrow points the way;
A voyage long awaits the brave, with rough and bearded foes,
Upon a far and frozen isle, beneath the blackened sand.
Five is where the Starstone fell, in a palace built on lies,
A long forgotten book that holds a dream
Of a weapon and a shield to stand between the mind and madness' face.

Soon, the key to the third stanza should be in the characters hands.

As a note to our esteemed readers, tonight the group met the Norns on Battlewall, and received the following message:

They have the mark.
She has touched them.
They are the Chosen.
The Forge of the Titans is their goal.
The Weapon is their goal.
The future will tell - their fate is unclear.
They do not know the way.
She will tell them.
The Book will tell them.
In unison: Go where you must. Greed will curse you. Take only what she left for you.

Characters made 3rd level tonight, for those keeping track.

Whoever would have guessed that the new "Monument to the Fallen" in Sandpoint might not be exactly what it seems?

The dwarf constructed monument is a nine-sided figure thirty five feet in diameter, hollow and open on the western side with an arch whose keystone is engraved with a figure 8. The outer perimeter depicts seven of the fallen heroes, engaged in the events that saw their demise, surrounding a plaza inlaid with a great bronze seven pointed star. In the center is a six foot tall, ten foot diameter pedestal, upon which an armored human figure faces a dragon poised to strike; its mighty wings reaching nearly twenty five feet above the street.

Some have noticed that there seems to be some unusual numerology associated with the monument, while others have noticed a faint magical and psychic aura about the dragon's breast. There also seem to be Thassilonian runes inlaid in very fine silver filigree at the seven points of the inlaid bronze star.

Amid the celebration of the Swallowtail Festival, there were also noted two instances of apparent bi-location of members of the local populace, and someone involved in the financing of the monument may know more than she is letting on.

When someone showed the transcribed runes inlaid in the monument to old Brodert Quink, the poor fellow had a fatal heart attack. His final words were, "the Scribbler." The mystery only deepens when the Occultist in the group read the central statue, and heard "pass the test. Find the key where the Devil sleeps."

I don't know if anyone is still watching this thread, but some of you long-time readers might be interested to keep an eye on this one: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tn67?A-Monument-to-the-Fallen-followup-to#1

Our current "Ghoulies and Ghosties" game is going on hiatus for awhile, so I will be running a home brew followup to Useplanb's RotRL game, using ideas and elements from Occult Adventures. You might see some familiar faces in there.

Sixteen years have passed since Kori'el, Moxie, Zandu and the rest of the Storm Wardens defeated Karzoug the Claimer in the Eye of Avarice, and most of their deeds remain unknown to the world at large. The group swore a solemn oath that the location of Xin-Shalast, and the events that had transpired there, were best kept hidden; and that promise has been kept, despite the efforts of the Pathfinder Society and others to bribe the knowledge from them. They were all rich enough that the offered bribes were meaningless.

Rikert Krupt, known to his friends as the Paladin of Comfort, answered the call to the crusades at the World Wound; Sheldor (the Conqueror) returned north to his people; Friederich moved to Absolom to continue his concoctions; Davok the Ranger headed south to wander the Mwangi Expanse.

Mother Not, Moxie, Zandu, and crazy Kori'el returned to Sandpoint. Moxie and Zandu married and settled down to raise a family, and took over management of the Red Dragon Inn when their friend Ameiko was summoned off to Tien. Mother Not returned to her cabin on the cliffs overlooking the sea north of town, and Kori'el took up residence in a small cottage on the grounds of Habe's Sanatorium. She eventually came back, more or less, but an important part of her was left on the slopes of the Mhar Massif.

Still, the Storm Wardens were famous for saving Turtlback Ferry, fending off the giant's raid on Sandpoint, and stopping an army of giants from invading Varisia. Stories do get around, and eventually even the story of how they began by fending off a goblin raid on Sandpoint became known. As a result, young people of a certain 'incautious' mindset have taken to attending the Swallowtail Festival, hoping to meet others with whom to seek fame and fortune.

This year though, promises to be a little different. This year the town of Sandpoint is unveiling a "Monument to the Fallen" to honor those Heroes of Sandpoint, those Storm Wardens, who gave thier lives in their quest and saved the town as part of the bargain...

Oh my goodness! Am I really witnessing the birth of a mini-Gödel?!?!? Woo hoo! :-P

Well, Emma does have a 33 INT stat at the moment, so I wouldn't be too surprised. Now if we could only get Lint to stick to the Metamagic limits on spell levels...

It actually scans much better if you read it very fast with a lisp.

IIRC, Lugh "the homely one" has a CHA of 14. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Especially with this bunch of pretty boys. I mean, have you looked at them?

Kori'el doesn't really have a closing entry. She's crazy, and Friederich rejected her; she probably went to stay for a time at the sanitarium that Xandu wasted all that money on.

Hmm, I have to wonder whether Simon would have gotten lucky too, had he lived.

Aaaaand 1000!

The Macaulay Culkin summer tragedy flick was "My Girl" not Stand By Me.

Sam is me. I figured the Uther avatar was more appropriate than this one.

Xandu, DRT, RIP.

Rune Giant, DRT, RIP (friendly fire).

Sheldor, DRT, RIP.

Friederich, DRT, RIP.

Meh, it happens. I don't hold it against Useplanb, or even my dice. I'm currently having fun running the initiative chart, and reminding the other players that they can't do certain stuff :D

Encounter outside the golden dome, Lamia cast Destruction, Kori'el failed the save twice. No True Resurrection, Wishes, or Miracles available, so I get to sit out the battle with the BBEG (which is ongoing, btw). Bit of an anti-climax if you ask me.

Kori'el Shalani, RIP, DRT.

The giants are useless, they do not know where or even who Karzoug is. While I'm interrogating them, there seems to be some sort of commotion around the body of the woman who gave me so much trouble. Calypso is screaming at me about the evil sword, and how it shouldn't be touched. Others are saying much the same, but the paladin seems determined to pick it up anyway. Calypso says that would be bad, that he would certainly be dominated by the intelligence in the weapon, that it is of a different order than that of a Black Blade. With a light heart and a small smile, I salute the paladin, and fall into 'en-garde.' "Go ahead and pick it up. I want to know how this turns out," I say. The paladin looks confused, and stops his motion to pick up the golden sword. Others then use magic to move it into a portable hole.

We move on down the corridor the big giant came from, with the orc and the gnome woman out front being sneaky. There is a sound of a bowshot, and I charge around the corner; they have disarmed a magical trap the hard way; I tell them not to break the next one, I wish to examine it.

We come to a large storage room, and spread out a bit. A voice berates us in Thassalonian, and several of us are caught in a fireball; Karzoug is attacking from our left, though it seems obvious that this is another of his traps. I move closer to engage and investigate it, but the gnome woman shoots and destroys it. "What part of 'don't destroy the next one' did you not understand?" I'm not really angry, it was hurting us after all.

We find a portal/gate arrangement, but decide to continue exploring before investigating it. At the far end of the warehouse, a demon emerges from a pagoda and rips into me; I don't have time for defensive spells...

I'm awake again, about thirty feet away, as the paladin finishes the demon. There is an awful lot of blood (most of it mine, apparently) splashing an empty-handed statue of Karzoug across from the pagoda entrance. The pagoda and contents are empty and uninteresting, but there is a doorway covered by a force wall to the left. The orc says that the force wall continues within the wall to either side of the door; I let the others know that I can drop it when they are ready. They take their places and I cast disintegrate...

...and then I'm picking myself up from the floor and the cleric heals me again. Someone has opened the door, and more giants (and a giant of a Lamia) wait within...

...True Strike, and another disarm; this time it is PERFECT, she is completely open and unprepared but Calypso doesn't make contact with her golden blade, she seems to have some sort of displacement effect. My follow ups hit, but the damage is minor and now I'm REALLY ANGRY. As she is amusing herself cutting up my images, I cast Piercing Vampiric Touch and attack again. My attack strikes home, but my spell fails to affect her. AARRRRGGGHH! Calypso is a black blur, hitting her easily (all I really have to do is touch her at this point, Accurate Strike FTW! Backed up by Prescient Defense, Koriel's AC is 52 at this time, still with multiple images), but I am becoming frustrated with her defenses against my spells. Still, I can tell that I am wearing her down; she is about to fall when Friederich hits her with some of his bombs and she drops. The big giant in charge also falls at about this time, and the remaining giants suddenly shake their heads and surrender. "Where is Karzoug?"

See, Nobody, you didn't get it. Go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkxCHybM6Ek and you'll get the idea. What they did NOT say in the video linked above, is anything about "party pooping," which line was in the 20th anniversary reunion of Monty Python in a command performance at the Royal Albert Hall, where Graham (who had just died of AIDS) was accused of being the biggest party-pooper of all time.

Jokes are never as funny when you have to explain them, darnit.

Lint got it.

I truly think this is the biggest case of party-pooping since Graham Chapman died. Go watch his eulogy on youtube if you don't get that.

I'm thinking that a Spellslinger with a dip into Gunslinger for the grit feats could work well. I might just try that out in our next AP...

Kori'el is Bladebound Magus, 16th (no dervish dancing in sight, still a total bada$$).

Freiderich is Alchemist, 16th

Moxie is a Thief/Gunslinger, she'll have to detail the split since I have no clue.

Mother Not is a Witch, 16th

Sheldor is a Druid, 16th

Davok is a Ranger, 16th

Xandu is a Travel Cleric of Desna, 16th

Rikert is a Paladin of Iomedae, 16th.

I'm actually kind of amazed, now that I think about it, that we have only the one multi-class character; especially since Mother Not's player usually tries to cover every possible base with his characters.

The inside of this building is shaped like a corkscrew, and we are climbing up the screw part. It takes a long time. At the top, a large voice shouts in giant, "they're here," (why do I think of ghosts?) and we are once again being pelted by boulders as a wall of mist obscures the cloud giant throwers. A gust of wind blows the the mist away, and we advance. I'm ready, I want to kill them all, but the Paladin keeps stepping in front of me and the giants fall. I'm once again becoming angry with him. I get in a couple of good blows at the last giant, and the cleric moves through a huge set of doors (giant-sized), and turns pale just before he is narrowly missed by a spear as big as a medium-sized tree. I grin, and step in front of him to see another squad of cloud giants escorting... something else, the biggest giant I have ever seen. Then, more giants emerge around a corner to our left, and lightning arcs among us. With them is a normal-sized woman, lazily brandishing a golden scimitar. Our eyes lock, and I am suffused with glee. She steps forward, and I feint at her, then attempt a disarm which she shrugs off almost casually, then she begins cutting down my images. The paladin can't come close to hitting her; finally a worthy opponent! The cleric touches me, and we are suddenly 30 yards away. I scream my frustration, but restrain myself from striking him in his garish clothes. The big giant rounds the corner, and lightning and flame bursts from his armor...

I'm standing up, helped by the cleric. I hear the big giant roar from around the curve of the building, "kill that one!", he can only mean the druid, standing alone as the other giants advance. Lightning arcs around him and mace-blows slam into him. He falls, and the woman steps over his body. Our eyes lock again, and once again I grin. I have a spell for just this occasion...

Actually, we now have the spells in place so that the characters are no longer suffering from the altitude. Kori'el just hasn't twigged to the fact that she's gone completely off the deep end.

...the cleric healed me. As we were fighting the spiders, an Ice devil and then two bone devils appeared and we fought them too. Eventually we beat them all, and made our way through the maze of the building interior. It was infested with more of the spiders, they seemed to be everywhere. I think we came to a room where there was treasure, and a ring and a note. We fought more spiders coming back out.

There was a large building in the distance with big bird-like things flying around it; we decided to avoid that. We did search a structure with many chimneys. It held furnaces and not much else, a huge crematorium. One of the ovens lit, and giant shadowy forms came out. They were ripping pieces of souls from my companions; the little gnome woman was reeling, and the cleric and orc were not in much better shape. I touched the gnome and dimension doored away, in order to gain the time to do some spells, then I returned down the hallway to the fighting. As I approached, the cleric touched me and I brushed him aside, intent on the apparition ahead; only to see it destroyed by the paladin. I was so angry that I nearly struck at him, but I was able to keep my rage in check-- barely. I seem to remember that these people have names, but in my state I cannot think of them.

After leaving the crematorium before more ovens could start, we rested and headed on into the city, moving in a dream. An enormous blue dragon sailed overhead, and settled into a ruined fortress; we headed that way. It was big and powerful, but we drove it away and plundered its hoard before mounting the stairs on up the mountain. It quickly became apparent that the wind would rip us off the road, so we scouted the ledges above and then teleported as a group to what seemed to be some sort of upper city...

I should have just said that the last encounter was a TPK, and left it at that. Damn, hindsight is golden.

Yeah, we're still here and still playing. Useplanb is extraordinarily busy right now, too busy to update regularly. He did give us permission to go ahead and post our journals if he hasn't updated by Monday, so expect to see more then.

Rest assured that Xandu, Friederich, Krazy Kori'el, the Paladin of Comfort and the rest are still kicking around Xin-Shalast. Just made it to the upper city, in fact...

From the diary of Kori’el Shalani:

Something is wrong with my mind, and I don’t think it’s just the altitude.

These others carry on as if nothing is different, but for me everything has changed. They chatter on and on about things that happened hours or days ago of which I have no memory at all. Merely speaking to them enough to keep up a façade is becoming more and more tedious to me. Even Calypso seems to be holding his tongue, so to speak.

Yesterday, I came to myself as we were slogging through a dense forest. Devok called a halt because he had seen something, and the witch said something like “maybe it isn’t hungry,” just as the thing attacked us. We couldn’t see more than a few meters, but it became apparent that we were surrounded by big carnivorous plants. The cleric (Zandoo?) asked me where I wanted to be, and I pointed with Calypso; and we were there, along with the little gnome sniper. My head in a whirl, I began casting protective spells…

Suddenly the tangle of forest was gone, and for a large circle around us there was nothing but short shrubbery. A lamia bolted past headed for parts unknown, her pursuers stepping into the clearing—more carnivorous plants. REALLY big ones. Ranged spells started going off, the alchemist threw some bombs, and I managed to catch three of the things with a Cone of Cold, and the fight was over. It was decided that this forest was an unhealthy place to be, and we moved off after the lamia to return to the causeway where at least we could see enemies coming.

I think we spent another night in the witch’s special place, but I don’t really remember it.

Next, we were approaching a big seven-sided building, with alternating human- and giant-sized staircases leading to entrances under the overhanging roof. I’m not sure how we got here. Everyone is scowling at me; the knight Rakert hates me, I know it. The elf druid, too. Did I do something wrong? Big red spidery things drop from hiding in the overhang as we draw near, and a sharp tentacle slashes at me. I’m covered in blood, and so is the Orc archer. Others cry out as a second one uses some sort of gaze attack on them; the witch shrivels back into a crone as I watch. I’m bleeding really badly…

From the Diary of Kori'el Shalani:

The kuchrima didn't want to engage, seeming content to fire at us with their large bows. Rikert was the first of us to fly up, and many of them concentrated on him; I was grateful for the distraction. Several others seemed to be making their way down our right flank, so I flew up to cut them off (even my ranged spells today have a shorter range than their bows). In the end, the aurochs broke out of their corral shortly before we defeated the herders. From the pounding that Rikert had taken, I expected him to be more than half-dead, but he seemed none the worse for wear. Everyone else was pretty well intact, too.

We skulked along entering the city, and soon came to an encampment of giants; several frost giants were apparently bullying a stone giant, while many other stone giants watched from their huts. One of the frost giants spotted us and they all turned to attack, as the leader shoved the stone giant to the ground. Behind me, I could sense Davok grinning from ear to ear. The fight didn't take long, and afterwards the stone giant (named Gyukack?) spoke with us and gave us much valuable intelligence. I don't recall exactly what as my mind was wandering from the lack of air, and we soon took our leave, heading to a place where we could start up the causeway.

Just as we were approaching, a strange fellow seemed to step out of the stone...

From the diary of Kori’el Shalani:

It’s like walking through a nightmare. I’m gasping and gulping trying to draw some sustenance from air so thin it doesn’t deserve the name. Just breathing is a monumental task, just as simply putting one foot in from of the other is an exercise of will.

I think we fought some giants. A really big one got a surprise when he attacked and tried to break Calypso. Others were hiding in mist in a cave, and we went in after them. It all seems surreal, and I can only really focus my thoughts when I’m inside Mother Not’s extra-dimensional space, or when one of the others casts a life-bubble around me.

There was a vista when the path ended overlooking a glacial valley filled with a huge city, spanned by a cyclopean roadway arching up and up to a citadel in the clouds. I know he’s up there, we have to keep on going up. Will e be able to live up there at all? But there’s a corral in our way full of really big cows and some kind of winged guardians flying out to attack us…

No worries, Mother Not's player seldom reads the thread. Witches are kinda like bards, only less useful.

"Life Bubble" is the only spell I've been able to find that would help us for a significant period of time, and no, no one in the party has access to it. Maybe I should have brought my Professor Farnsworth character instead of Kori'el...

…it’s big and its swiping claws at Xandu and his blood splashes the room and its mouth my god its mouth gapes open and it bites me and picks me up in its jaws and shakes me like a rag doll as it backs out of the cabin…

I’m blindfolded and doing a handstand while my sensei is hitting me across the stomach and back with a staff. “Do it again,” he shouts. “Do you expect your enemies to wait for you to cast your spells before they attack you? Concentrate!” At that moment, I hated him more than I hated my father (he left us alone, mother and me, left us alone to fend for ourselves or die). But I learned to cast a spell through nearly any distraction.

…I close my eyes as the Wendigo’s fangs grind against my ribs and I stab at its face with Calypso and FOCUS on being upright at the back of the room and I’m there. Thank you, Sensei, at this moment I love you more than anything in my life. I call Calypso to battle in earnest then, and yell, “moving out into the open is probably contra-indicated!” Too late, I realize that I might as well be speaking Aklo as Rikert charges out into the snow after the monster. Davok is already out there, and Sheldor, Mother Not and Xandu quickly follow. Friederich’s eyes meet mine briefly and he shrugs eloquently, and I (stupid, stupid) charge out after them. Sheldor is nowhere in evidence, and I hear a tremendous crash of splintering wood from around the south side of the cabin. Davok is over there shooting arrows, and Rikert has become an angel again and flown up to look for the thing. He sees it, just as it flashes over my head and attacks him and keeps right on going around the north side. A wash of healing energy thrums through me (thank you Xandu!) and I follow to see Rikert and the Wendigo smashing at each other near the cliff edge, but twenty feet up in the air. I cast a Piercing Slow spell (planars are almost always hard to affect), and suddenly the Wendigo is moving like it’s encased in taffy. HA! It starts to fade into vapor, just as Xandu jumps off the porch and shouts something and it looks briefly panicked and it’s gone.

Xandu banished it. I vote he leads with that spell next time.

The ghosts were still fighting. Eventually the “house spirit” won and said something meant to be discouraging, but the pages from the journal materialized. North along the river nearly 200 miles to a frozen fen, and fast and wait for the full moon and the path would be revealed. 15 days. Xandu cast Wind Walk, and we went looking for the fen.

Found it inhabited by a nymph. After we materialized in the frozen waste, with nearly no air to breathe, Rikert started whining. “Why can’t we go back and wait in Magnimar? It’s warm in Magnimar and there are Inns there.” Blah blah blah, he just wouldn’t shut up. Eventually my patience snapped, and I called him the biggest wuss of a paladin in all of Golarion. Maybe he should ask Iomedae; I don’t think She would have a problem with him enduring a few days of hardship. Did he maybe need some of my feminine hygiene products, since he was obviously starting his period? Even that didn’t stop him. “I don’t know why we have to camp out here in the cold for two weeks…” Even Mother Not was rolling her eyes, when eventually Xandu said something to shut him up. I wish that I had heard what he said, it might be useful for the future.

Not long after Xandu finished conversing with the nymph, Mother Not went into respiratory distress, and we decided to adjourn to a somewhat lower altitude to wait out the next two weeks. Back to the cabin we went (I still hate this place, but Rikert cast the lone vote to teleport back to Magnimar. When did he become such a baby about this stuff? It’s not like we don’t have access to Endure Elements!) Friederich and I pointed out that the longer we spend at a significant altitude, the better off we would be in the long run if it turned out that Xin Shalast was at or near the level of the fens. I’m still not looking forward to two weeks of Rikert’s pouting…

Yeah, a rested paladin and a crazed (and highly P.O.'d) Magus. IIRC, it's literally right next to Kori'el. I need a '20' for initiative...

As the player, I have a feeling that Kori'el is coming to the conclusion (or will soon, if the stressors continue) that she wants to die; unfortunately for her, Xandu and the rest of the group (as well as Calypso's purpose) can't let her. She feels like she's the weak link, while in reality her insecurity is what drives her to be right up there with Rikert and Freiderich as the top damage dealer (and she's WAY harder to hit than either of them).

My image of Xandu is less Liberace, and much more the outrageous gypsy clothes-horse -- everything colorful, everything clashing. Tons of junk jewelry, but all the valuable stuff tucked out of sight.

From the diary of Kori’el Shalani:

I can’t… I just… I’M SORRY!

I don’t know what happened to me. I was looking over the ledger, and had realized that the pages that likely described the location of Xin-Shalast were missing, when everyone else left. I desperately searched the desk in an effort to locate them to no avail, so I stepped out of the little secret “office” to see where the others had gone. The cabin was silent, except for a pounding knock coming from downstairs, so I cast “Fly”, and descended the shaft just as the whole world started shaking violently. I flew to the outside door just as it was flung open, and we saw that the storm had become stronger, but there was no one who could have been knocking. Fearing that the entire structure would collapse on us, we all headed out as best we could. It occurred to me that the previous haunt that I had been told about had been due to something awful underground at the Foxglove Manor, and I thought that a likely place for a hidden chamber was somewhere in the cliff face, probably within the shaft itself. I had seen some apparitions out the corners of my eyes as we were exiting the building, but hadn’t thought much about them; as the previous haunts had gone, these seemed harmless. But I thought I noticed another one, and glancing up saw an emaciated dwarf (who seemed to be mostly open mouth and teeth) falling at me through the storm; I flinched as he struck me and a wave of cold washed over me and my belly cramped with sudden hunger. I’ve never felt that cold; maybe it had done something like disenchant my Winterland Boots. I flew down to Moxie, and told her about my surmise, and she agreed to help me look; she even cast a small warming spell on me, for which I was very grateful. But as we flew back into the structure, all I could think of was the fire that Davok had started in the cabin above and how I could warm myself… and then the building stopped shaking and Calypso was screaming at me, and I was warm and wet with something salty in my mouth and I looked at Moxie, and oh my god Moxie what’s wrong what happened I can’t I spit a piece of her out and started screaming oh god all the blood and Rikert is shouting at me, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” Stay away from me don’t touch her she’s going to be okay “XANDU HELP ME!!” Moxie I’m sorry, oh god I’m so sorry DON’T TOUCH ME!

Xandu did something (to me), and then went to work on Moxie. I’m COVERED in her blood, it’s splashed on the walls… how can someone that small have so much blood in them? I cast Prestidigitation, and cleaned her up and then myself as Xandu was working. He kept whispering her name, and soon her wounds closed, her color came back (so pale she was so pale and small and she was just GRAY and Calypso cautions me to keep it together) and her eyelids fluttered and she was back. And then there was a dwarf talking about a city of greed and he would tell us how to get there if we brought his brother’s body to him and I want to go NOW! I want to be out in the storm in the clean and cold where there is no memory of being covered (bathed) in her blood and no salty taste of her blood in my mouth. I hate this place and I don’t want to stay here another second.

We stayed overnight, Davok said the storm was too dangerous.

There was a map in the ledger that matched with the haunt’s description, and we slogged off through the snow to get the body. I can’t bear their eyes on me; Rikert is sternly accusing me without saying a word, and Moxie is as far away from me as she can get, and Mother Not looks at me and smirks and cackles to herself; even Friederich won’t talk to me good I don’t want to talk anyway and I HAD A PIECE OF HER IN MY MOUTH…

I’m happy when the Worm erupts from the ice and it breathes cold on us but I don’t even get to stab it once before Freiderich throws his bombs and the dwarf’s ghost is moaning at us and the Worm explodes and I’m bathed in viscera again and it hurts I think I’m dying but it’s cold this time and MOXIE says, “the body’s over here” and we gather beside it and the Wendigo screams just as Xandu teleports us back to the cabin and the two ghosts are fighting and the side is ripped off the building and it’s here…

WHAT HAVE I DONE?!

From the diary of Kori’el Shalani:

We slowly approached a wooden(?) structure built out from the cliff. It was so encrusted with lichen and ice that it might well have been some rock formation, but the pile of mine tailings and the regular structure gave the lie to that. A single dead tree leaned drunkenly against the cliff near the refuse pile. I must confess that I was a bit distracted; Friederich had mentioned that there was a howl of an extraplanar creature like the scream of a dying elk, and I was wracking my brain as to what it might be and coming up blank. Xandu took Davok and Moxie away on a scouting mission, presumably to the cliff-top as Sheldor mumbled something about poison, and then the “tree” straightened, stepped forward and smashed Sheldor into next week.

I had just finished casting Stoneskin, and had been feeling a little paranoid; now I felt quite a bit better about my precautionary casting. Friederich took a step back and tossed a fire-bomb; since the “tree” was right up in my face at this point, I wasn’t very happy with him for it. The tree responded by making Sheldor (just to my right and a step behind) into a tent-peg, and then attempting the same with Friederich. I cast Mirror Image and powered Calypso (+5, Defending, Flaming Burst), and went full defensive; as hard as this thing was hitting, I wanted no part of it, Stoneskin notwithstanding!

Rikert stepped forward, and shouted that we could all smite it now, and I felt a surge of unaccustomed power course through me. The tree clobbered Friederich again, and then Rikert (Sheldor being little more than a red smear on the snow at this point), and I cast Force Punch and switched to offense; we (Calypso and I) hit the tree harder than we had ever hit anything before (crit and confirmed, near max damage with the sword and flaming burst, about average on the Force Punch, so about 120 points done in all); I didn’t REALLY expect such a large creature to go flying, but was still a little disappointed when it didn’t. Rikert stepped forward to engage, and laid it low, just as Sheldor sat back up. It seems that Xandu had rejoined us invisibly, and had been on the job the whole time.

The mine refuse turned out to be arsenic; no wonder the tree had died. Rikert, Sheldor, Friederich and I elected to explore the lower portion of the building, and the others went through the top. Mining equipment, wheelbarrows, a cot—there was nothing really remarkable until we met the dwarf wolfing gold dust. He offered it to us, and Friederich stepped forward and ate some, the fool! It’s certainly a good thing that as an alchemist he is immune to poison, because the “gold” turned out to be more arsenic. The dwarf then sunk in on himself and imploded; I had just experienced my first Haunt.

We next entered the tower structure, and began making our way laboriously to the top. When we were nearly there, a chain and bucket hanging down the center of the shaft came alive and attacked Friederich. I thought to run to the top and wind the chain up on whatever winch or windlass had to be there but Rikert and Friederich destroyed it before I could implement my plan. Men. Nothing much of interest at the top, and we soon met the others exploring the cabin; they had news of other haunts; Xandu was nearly killed by one, and Davok seemed intent on starting a fire in the fireplace, while looking at Moxie with a strange gleam in his eyes.

Moxie soon discovered a hidden office with a considerable amount of gold and a ledger book; she inventoried the gold while I perused the ledger. It was mostly accounts and a listing of mining locations and assays; I thought to look for references to Xin-Shalast, but there were pages missing. Damn it all, had Mocmurian been here too?

No we won't, we're more environmentally conscious than that.

From the diary of Kori’el Shalani, 30 Abadius:

…both Xandu and Moxie looked at me as if I’d grown a second head when I asked if they thought the group would let me keep hanging around. Then Xandu joked about some sort of “initiation”, and Moxie told me that anyone who was willing to bleed alongside her was welcome to stay. That made me feel pretty good, and backs up what Calypso has been telling me. Coupled with them handing me a gigantic pile of treasure (I chose coin and Spellbooks as my share, having an idea that Prof. Farnsworth in Magnimar would buy them for the college. I also found out that Moxie is very fond of antique jewelry), and letting me keep the items I’d picked up in the Runeforge, I believe that we will be allowed to see this through.

I spent most of the last three weeks transcribing spells; both Mother Not and I added extensively to our respective repertoirs. After completing that substantial task, I spent a day shopping to prepare for the next phase of the quest, and then Xandu took Friederich and I to a vast underground library at a place they called Jorgenfist. Three days of research turned up the fact that a previous patron had carefully excised any references to the location and nature of Xin-Shalast. Our last hope was an antiquarian in Sandpoint named Bodert Quink, whom Freiderich seemed to be acquainted with. The man was quite hospitable, and we were able to enlist his aid by allowing him access to some of the material we had accumulated in the Runeforge. He showed us a copy of a book with a personal inscription from the author which referred to a pair of Dwarvish brothers who had claimed to have found Xin-Shalast, built a base on the Kazaron river, and then absconded with their investors’ money. Our map clearly showed the river in question flowing from the most remote section of the Kodar Mountains (which we knew to hold the Mhar Massif where Xin-Shalast once stood), so we told the others that we had a likely area to search.

We gathered up our gear (equipped now for an extended stay in the wintry mountains), and set out the next morning via Shadow Walk courtesy of Mother Not. We camped well short of the foothills in a grove that Sheldor summoned for us; the next morning we tempted fate by proceeding via Wind Walk at a low altitude and fairly slow speed, searching for signs that might indicate the dwarf brothers’ base. Xandu and Davok spotted a structure at about the same time, and we descended and coalesced to investigate closer…

It wasn't on her list that day, and we all had brand new clothes! What is so difficult about this?

From the diary of Kori'el Shalani:

...I felt so useless. I couldn't affect these things, whatever they were; they wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a decent look at them, and our gaseous form from Wind Walk wasn't helping matters. I asked where Davok was, and someone shouted that he was at the end of the room near the levers. I spent the last few seconds before the spell ended getting there, and found Davok's remains in a horrific state; gathering up what I could, I Dimension Doored to the Runewell to drop him off and ran back toward the Halls of Sloth.

Back at the first chamber, I met Xandu once again. He told me that the rest were still in the main chamber, and I told him about Davok and we split up again. I did some protective spells (I did NOT want to get hit by the sludge monsters) and flew back to help however I could. Before I got to the main chamber, I found a dazed and nearly dead Mother Not at the edge of a stinking cloud, gathered her up and retreated back to the Runewell. Davok was just sitting up when we all arrived, and decided to cut our losses. Now it's back to Sandpoint to consolidate and try to locate Xin-Shalast before Karzoug completes his plan and ends our world.

Note- for the record, there was a slight error in description of the Halls of Sloth; indeed, we didn't want to get in the "poo", but we also thought that the cages at the walkway intersections blocked our path. But yes, we were almost completely hosed by our choice of transport spells.