Up the beach, and onto the promontory - Dm Ian d20=7 Monday August 18th, 2003 9:10:52 PM
The party marches away from their campsite, to the muted well-wishing of the elves, and a cheeky smile and salute from Vahm.
Passing up the beach, the party climbs a steep slope up to the forested peninsula jutting out into the bay. At the top of the slope, Rond finds a trade road touching the base of the promontory that apparently runs up and down the coast. He also finds traces of the passage of a wagon train perhaps two weeks before. The wagon wheels leave the road at about the point Rond found them, and head towards a nearby copse of trees.
Perhaps the merchanters camped there, but if so, why no tracks outward?
Tratain Monday August 18th, 2003 10:29:38 PM
Tratain will carefully approach the copse of trees if it is decided that the group should investigate them. He says "We should be carefull, there may be ambushes in store for us in order to weaken us for the final confrontation with the hidden master and his mercenaries."
Draax Monday August 18th, 2003 11:25:55 PM
Draax readies his bow and will slowing move toward the trees if that is what the group decides to do.
Setanos d20+7=26 d20+7=8 Tuesday August 19th, 2003 7:32:22 AM
Axe in hand, Setanos moves forward with the group. He looks and listens for anything out of place. (Spot 26, Listen 8)
Rond Tuesday August 19th, 2003 11:31:28 AM
Noting where the wagon wheels turn off and the obvious signs that the wagon did not turn back on to the road. Rond drops back and informs the part of what he finds. "I can step ahead and take a look if you want." Rond looks to Renik to make the decision as to how the group will move.
If directed to move on alone, he'll do his best to move in undetected. (MS and HS. currently not at home, no access to sheet)
Renik d20+10=26 d20+25=42 d20+10=25 d20+10=29 Tuesday August 19th, 2003 2:53:15 PM
"Aye Rond, scout ahead, and keep out of sight. I've got your back. But before we do, I want those long lasting spells in place. Anything that's going to remain in place for an hour or more, let's get it cast now. Cat's Grace for me please, and whatever else will last for everyone else. This could be a diversion, a red herring or a trap. Let's be prepared."
Renik waits for the casters to cast their relevent spells, then follows Rond at a distance of about 30ft, indicating to the others to keep back another 30ft or so as they advance. He too moves as softly as he can (Move Silent 31, Hide 42, Spot 25, Listen 29). His swords are drawn.
Arien (21 AC) Tuesday August 19th, 2003 6:42:42 PM
Arien casts several spells to prepare the group, extended Mage Armor for himself and an Extended greater magic weapon on Feng's Axe as well as a normal greater magic weapon on Draax's arrows.
(Extended Magic Weapon and Mage Armor will both last 18 hours, the non extended will last for 9 hours.)
An unfortunate discovery - Dm Ian Tuesday August 19th, 2003 7:26:14 PM
Rond leads the cautious approach to the copse that stands sentry on your path onward. As he gets within thirty feet of the treeline, the smells of the sea and trees nearby begins to be overwhelmed by the undeniable taint of rotting flesh.
Quietly finding a vantage point to look inward, Rond sees a clearing covered in devastation. A caravan had indeed stopped here, but has been reduced to smoking remains, with two of the wagons tipped on their sides, and one shattered seemingly by fire from within.
Scattered about are dead and bloating bodies. They are probably human, but you would have to get closer to find out.
Feng Tuesday August 19th, 2003 10:20:20 PM
On horseback, Feng concentrates and tries to feel the presence of evil nearby. Whatever evil did this may be waiting.
Draax Tuesday August 19th, 2003 11:09:11 PM
Draax nods his head in thanks to Arien for the magical assistant to his weapon. He stand by with his bow ready waiting to see if any other surprises are waiting for them.
Tratain Tuesday August 19th, 2003 11:58:07 PM
Tratain says "I think only Feng and I should approach the bodies, there is always the chance that there is some form of disease present on the dead bodies. If it is ok Renik, I will approach the bodies with Feng to attempt to determine what happened. I would appreciate you and the others being ready to come to our aid if this is some sort of trick. I would like to gather up the bodies either now or after we have confronted our enemies and dispose of them properly, either bury them or burn them."
He turns to Setanos and hands him two scrolls saying "I bought these at the catacombs, they are See Invisibility Scrolls, I will need you to cast them when the time comes."
If Renik Ok's it Tratain Draws his Greatsword, Activates his Shield and goes to investigate the wreckage.
Setanos (Ac 22, HP 88. Ex BullStr 5, ExCatGr 4, ExEnd 5, ExMageAr) d4+1=5 d4+1=5 d4+1=4 d4+1=5 Wednesday August 20th, 2003 8:08:05 AM
Setanos takes the two scrolls, nodding to Tratain. He then begins casting a few spells on the party.
He casts Cats Grace on Renik (5 Dex,6 hours), Extended Bulls Strength, Cats Grace and Endurance on himself (5 Str, 4 Dex, 5 Con, 12 hours), as well as an Extended Mage Armor.
He then turns to the group. "I've an Endurance and a Cats grace left, dont be shy."
Renik d20+10=13 Wednesday August 20th, 2003 12:19:03 PM
The rogue nods at Tratain's words. "Good thinking my friend. Take great care, though. Our foe has demonstrated a liking for explosives and warding glyphs before; we don't want you setting off any traps."
He draws his bow to cover Feng and Tratain, peering nervously into the trees (Spot 13). He wonders to himself if this scene of carnage could have been the spot where Marcus was captured. But if so, why had the cart left the road? What had they been doing in this copse when they were so brutally struck down?
As ever, the rogue finds himself with far more questions than answers.
Rond Wednesday August 20th, 2003 4:33:42 PM
Seeing the devastation before him, Rond decides he'd better let the group know about this before they get too antsy about his return. But before he returns to the others, he'll take one last look to make sure that there is noone left to ambush the party, hopefully.
Inspection from afar - Dm Ian Wednesday August 20th, 2003 6:47:57 PM
Circling around the slaughter, Rond, Tratain and Feng determine that this was a caravan who had pulled off the road to camp. There is the scattered remnants of a firepit and cooking pots in the midst of a blast crater, and the even the horses tethered to nearby trees lie dead, riddled with spearlike pierce wounds.
Feng does not detect any evil emanations.
Also laying about the clearing are a number of crates, some smashed, some opened, and some intact. Each bears the sigil of the Catacombs.
Back on the trail, spellcasting continues apace. As you do so, Setanos notices that Abram is shaking again.
Feng Wednesday August 20th, 2003 9:48:45 PM
"Whatever does this appears to be gone. The caravan seemed to be carrying Catacombs goods. It's possible that's the reason they were attacked."
Tratain AC 24 d20+7=20 d20+7=12 Thursday August 21st, 2003 12:09:25 AM
Tratain approaches the caravan to get a closer look at the devistation and see what he can learn. He looks around at all the wagons to see if there is some clue as to what was taken or if the attackers left any clue's behind. Tratain is careful at all times trying to keep an eye out for anything that could be dangerous. (Spot 20, Listen 12)
Setanos (Ac 22, HP 88. Ex BullStr 5, ExCatGr 4, ExEnd 5, ExMageAr) Thursday August 21st, 2003 8:24:03 AM
Setanos continues his casting, looking over to Abram with a questioning face.
"Whats the shaking for there? Sense something?"
Rond Thursday August 21st, 2003 9:15:29 AM
Seeing as how Rond doesn't have to go back to the party to report, since they all magically appeared.
Rond looks around the crates to see if there's a bill of lading (sp?) or any dates on the crates.
Renik d20+10=12 d20+10=29 d20+25=36 Thursday August 21st, 2003 10:09:36 AM
Keeping an eye on the searchers, Renik scans the road and trees for signs of danger (Spot 12, Listen 29). Almost as a reflex action he slips into the shadow of a tree, pulling his grey cloak about him (Hide 36). This deathly scene makes him nervous.
He allows the front men time to search the wagons and boxes before geting ready to move out.
Draax Thursday August 21st, 2003 5:41:25 PM
Draax continues to keep his bow ready as he scans the area. He takes Setanos' offer for the Cat's Grace spell. "Setanos, if no one else needs it I would like to take your Cat's grace spell.
The details of destruction - Dm Ian d20+12=24 Thursday August 21st, 2003 7:10:06 PM
Looking over the wreckage, Rond spies several tracks of sahuagin feet, and three pairs of booted feet that are most likely the two doppelgangers and Urtag.
No other threats can be seen around the area by the vigilant eyes of the watchers.
Searching about, Rond finds that only three three foot by three foot by four foot crates have not been emptied, and still remain sealed. Further investigation shows that one of the crates appears to have been resealed with a thick iron lock.
Back on the road, Abram turns to Setanos and says, "I've seen this place in my dreams... see the things that were done here. I saw the fireball that exploded within that shattered wagon, and I saw... open the locked crate!"
Feng Thursday August 21st, 2003 11:24:01 PM
"Then I suggest we all step back. If these crates are left then they must be traps for us or other that stumble upon them. The numbers that did this could break the locks or carry them away if magically sealed."
Draax Thursday August 21st, 2003 11:41:54 PM
Draax looks over at Abram and does not like what he hears in the ex-paly's voice. Turning his attention to the crate his knows he will not like what they will find within it.
He stays away from the crate, giving someone the chance to check it for traps.
Tratain d20+12=14 d20+12=16 d20+7=17 2d6(6+3)+6=15 2d6(2+6)+6=14 Thursday August 21st, 2003 11:55:47 PM
Tratain begins examining the crates but when Abram gets insistent that one of the crates needs to be opened immedietly he runs over to it, if no one is able to open the lock or trys to open it he smashes the lock with his greatsword attempting to break it open. (Rolls to strike the lock Hit ac 14 and 17, for 15 and 14 damage)
Setanos (Ac 22, HP 88. Ex BullStr 5, ExCatGr 4, ExEnd 5, ExMageAr) Friday August 22nd, 2003 7:50:09 AM
Setanos turns to Abram. "What did ya see in the crates Abram?"
He then calls out to Tratain to be careful, not liking this situation one bit.
Rond Friday August 22nd, 2003 8:03:27 AM
Looking towards Renik, Rond waits for a second to see if he is going to be able to help. If there is no help coming, then Rond will help Tratain with opening the indicated crate.
Renik Friday August 22nd, 2003 11:38:01 AM
Seeing that Tratain is about to try the brute force approach, Renik emerges from the shadows and hurries over. "Hang on, let me see if I can..." mumbles the rogue, fishing out a set of rarely used thieves' tools from one of his pockets.
Sticking his tongue out he sets to work on the big lock, his brow furrowed in concentration.
(OOC: Sorry, can't access my sheet at the moment: I'll try to finish this later, if not please roll for me)
A gruesome discovery - Dm Ian d20=7 Friday August 22nd, 2003 6:52:21 PM
As Tratain gathers himself to apply 'Domi's own lockpick', Renik steps forward, and suggests a more subtle form of action. A few minutes later, the lock is opened, and the lid raised, causing a hideous stench to assault all those nearby.
Once the breeze has a chance to clear the smell, Tratain and Renik find that the lid of the chest has been scratched from the inside horribly. Looking down into the chest, they immediately see why. A human woman in a Catacombs tabard lies dead in the crate, apparently sealed in.
All around the crate words are scrawled in blood, apparently by the woman. Also, in her flailings she appears to have broken open a secret compartment at the bottom of the crate. A sheaf of papers can be seen therein.
The lookouts see no additional sign of danger.
Back on the road, Abram slowly forces himself to speak.
"I've had this dream more than once. I was looking through the eyes of the thing that trapped that woman in the crate, and locked her inside. I took it as a sign of what I was capable of away from Domi's grace, but this... this is monstrous."
Turning to Setanos, he continues, "The information Tratain forced out of the dead doppelganger makes sense now. The four armed sahuagin is unspeakably evil. He is a blackguard knight of their people."
"Please, sir protector, tell me why I am having visions of the purest opposite to one of Domi's paladins!"
Draax Saturday August 23rd, 2003 3:37:27 PM
After seeing the woman's body and listening Abram's explanation about his dream, Draax looks around for a soft spot in the earth. He lets the others check out the sheaf of papers as he begins to dig a shallow grave for the unfortunate woman and the other dead. He knows that they do not have enough time to grave them a proper burial, but figures that one mass grave just low enough to cover them will have to do.
Renik (Cats Grace +5 Dex) AC 25, HP 62 d20+8=27 d20+7=21 d20+7=24 d20+8=18 Sunday August 24th, 2003 7:59:12 AM
Renik chokes back a gag reflex. "Sweet Alemi, you dreamed of this Abram? No wonder you were terrified! What twisted madman's mind concieved of such a fate for this poor woman?"
The rogue peers carefully into the crate, fighting down his revulsion at the sight within. First he examines the crate for any signs of traps (Search 27), and then assuming all is clear he examines the bloody writing scratched into the inside of the crate. If the woman's body blocks his view he asks Feng and Tratain to pull it clear. He does his best to make out a meaning behind the bloody scrawl (Decipher Script 21).
He makes absolutely certain that anything he touches he touches with gloved hands only.
Then he pulls free the loose papers at the base of the crate, and examines those also (Decipher Script 24 if in another language).
Finally he peers into the cavity at the base of the crate, checking to see that nothing else remains hidden (Search 18).
Feng Sunday August 24th, 2003 10:05:57 PM
"Perhaps Abram, the gods were giving you a warning? Letting you know this would happen ahead of time. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to watch this happen, but you must pull yourself together. Like it or not you seem to have a connection to this evil. We will need your help if we want to stop these people."
Tratain Monday August 25th, 2003 12:53:28 AM
Tratain says to Abram "When you first told us about the dreams, I feared that our enemies were sending them to you, in order to keep you weak, or eventually break you. Now I am begining to believe differently. I believe the dreams, regardless of who is sending them offer you a lessen that you seem to have completely missed. When you recieve the dreams, do not see yourself as the one committing these terrible acts, see who really is doing them, the blackguard mutant. You are not the one doing it, and I believe you never will. I don't know exactly what happened to you when Domi died. My guess is you were inflicted with the madness that struck so many of us and did things you regret. I see the way you shake. You are afraid of doing those things again and becoming an evil man? I say you have nothing to fear, the fact that what you did pains you so much shows me that you are a good man."
Tratain pauses for a moment to let what he is saying sink in, then continues "The Blackguard is truely evil, the visions have shown you that. You may think what you did during the time you were inflicted with the madness was evil, but you would never have acted the way you did for any other reason. The blackguard helped kill all of these people and then sealed that poor woman in there so she would die slowly. He did this because he is cruel, and would destroy all those we have sworn to protect if he could. The greatest evil you committed was not done during the time of madness, but rather as a result of it, when you put down your sword and stopped defending those who needed it. There are far to few who would stand up for those weaker than themselves against the truely evil. You were once one of those and must take up your sword and become one again. If we who can defend against the evil don't then who will? One day it may be that one of the children you cherished so much must stand unprepared against the darkness like those in this caravan, how would you feel knowing you could have spared them that but chose not to out of fear."
Rond Monday August 25th, 2003 7:15:26 AM
Not wanting to interfere in either the site search or with the conversation with Abram. Rond checks the area out one more time. Keeping quiet to himself for the time being.
Setanos (Ac 22, HP 88. Ex BullStr 5, ExCatGr 4, ExEnd 5, ExMageAr) Monday August 25th, 2003 8:20:50 AM
Setanos ponders all this, taking it in slowly and somberly. Something churns behind his normally carefree face, but he remains quiet.
More searching - Dm Ian Monday August 25th, 2003 6:57:22 PM
Draax digs a large grave for the fallen, placing the dead bodies of the caravan guards within gingerly.
Renik first deciphers the bloody scrawl.
"The sea devils temple broken. Revenge! Four armed darkness comes to revenge the Temple!"
The papers below the unfortunate woman are a manifest describes a trade caravan up the coast intended to deliver goods to a Catacombs outpost. The goods appear to have consisted of bolts of fine silk suitable for the creation of magical clothing.
Inimicus walks the guarding circle with Rond for some time, and then perks up, saying, "I'll scout from the air." Before much response can be made, he shapeshifts into a small bird and takes wing, disappearing over the nearby trees.
Abram meets Tratains gaze steadily.
"If you are right, then there is only one real choice. I will go with you, on one condition. If you feel evil in me down there, you will swear by... the name of courage... to kill me before I can be used to do you any harm."
"Agreed?"
Arien (AC 21) Monday August 25th, 2003 8:28:48 PM
Arien kneels by the dead woman and touching her forehead, murmers a blessing to her in elvish. Standing up Arien turns to the rest of the group, his eyes showing the outrage he did not speak. Then white fisted the elven mage strides from the copse where he waits for the rest of the party with his back to the trees.
Feng Monday August 25th, 2003 9:55:46 PM
Feng nods. "I would expect no less if I was in your position. If evil begins to rise in you I will do what I must to make sure it does not consume you whole."
Tratain Monday August 25th, 2003 11:19:13 PM
Tratain frowns and looks to be thinking hard on what Abram has just said. "I will give you my word of Honor, upon Domi's name that I will do as you ask, but I would also extract a promise from you as well. I want your word, that you will fight the evil with all the strength you have in you and then some if that is what it takes to overcome it. I will not allow you to only try half heartedly because we have given our oath's to stop you if something goes wrong. The Road to redeming yourself is a hard one, I'll not let you take the easy way out."
Setanos (Ac 22, HP 88. Ex BullStr 5, ExCatGr 4, ExEnd 5, ExMageAr) Tuesday August 26th, 2003 7:21:24 AM
Setanos when he can do so privately, speaks to Tratain quietly. He whispers: "I do not wanna be the nay sayer, but there is much trickery here. I wanna think the best of Abram, and help him as you do. But in the back of me head I cant help thinkin that he's seems just a bit too eager to show how weak and fallen he is. I'm tellin ya cause I have no spells that tell things about people, and you might."
After that he continues to prepare for this final showdown.
Renik (Cats Grace +5 Dex) AC 25, HP 62 d20+8=28 Tuesday August 26th, 2003 10:34:59 AM
Renik stares at the shipping manifests in some confusion for a few moments, then hands them to Rond. "Curious; simply more questions. Why visit such destruction upon a caravan for the sake of a few bolts of cloth? Does this make any sense to you my friend? I can only guess that either this was simply some random attack, or that silk was not the attackers' true target. Perhaps the boxes contained something else, or maybe Marcus travelled with the caravan. Either way, there seems little more to be learned here."
He looks up at Inimicus fluttering overhead, then sees Arien walking away in silent fury. As he waits for the woman to be buried he checks the area one last time (Search 28), then prepares to resume their journey.
Rond Tuesday August 26th, 2003 11:15:00 AM
"Yes it is a might curious. But knowing this is the work of the Sea Devils doesn't make this any easier. We had a bad time with the sea devils, back when we first got to the city. I expect that this might be something similar to that, somehow."
Draax Tuesday August 26th, 2003 12:06:10 PM
After the bodies have been laid to rest Draax bows his head in a moment of silence before saying a few words, "May you find a place of peace with whichever god you followed."
Draax takes the event and puts it in the back of his mind as he listen to the others.
Passing away - Dm Ian d20=6 Tuesday August 26th, 2003 9:00:35 PM
The mass grave is filled, and closed, with each of the group acknowledging the tradgedy in their own way.
As the group reforms and begins to move up the promontory, Rond suddenly remembers... wasn't the doppelganger's purchase in the Catacombs funded with bolts of silk?
Moving up the rocky hill slope towards the point, Rond, Arien, and Draax all take turns performing scouting manuevers to see at a different angle into the various patches of scattered shubbery. No foes, or traps are found.
As you come to the end of the promontory after about fifteen minutes of walking, you see that the landscape ends in a large hill, and amidst the boulders at the base, there is a cave entrance leading in and down.
The group is now about two hundred feet away.
Tratain AC 21 (Bull's Strength 19str) d4+1=3 Tuesday August 26th, 2003 10:04:31 PM
Upon reaching the end of the promontory Tratain casts Bull's Strength on himself, he also draws his greatsword from its scabard on his back.
He says "I wonder how long it will take us to run into them, I have several more spells to cast but some last only minutes, some around an hour. I don't want them to run out before the battle or during."
Draax Wednesday August 27th, 2003 12:16:25 AM
Seeing the cave entrance Draax suddenly remembers the saying about the spider and the fly. He smiles as he thinks that once in his life he would like to play the role of the spider.
Draax readies his bow and prepares himself to walk into what is obviously a trap. He looks over towards Renik waiting to see if they will approaching the cave as a group or if someone being scouting ahead.
Renik d20+15=32 d20+25=34 d20+10=17 d20+10=14 Wednesday August 27th, 2003 10:40:02 AM
The rogue frowns as they appraoch the cave entrance. When to cast their spells? How close are their opponents?
Deciding that there will be precious little time to cast once an ambush is sprung, and that there is a fair likelihood of encountering their foes in the next few minutes he quietly indicates that shorter term spells be cast now (Including Improved Invisibilty on himself), and that they move into the cave together as a group. Before they move out he whispers "OK, let's go over our targets one last time: I'll go for Malachi, the sahuagin high priestess. Arien, you hit her from range. She's the leader, so let's get her down fast. Rond, you're on Urtag the scarred, seven foot tall koalinth. Feng: Xaal, that four armed, blackhearted blackguard. Kill him god, Feng. Draax you take Usshas the malenti wizard. Tratain has Ibble the Doppelganger (Don't forget, if he's not invisible he fidgets when in disguise). And Setanos, you're on support magics. Now, where did Inimicus get to? Last I saw he few off overhead..."
He peers about, but cannot see their companion. "Hmm, that bodes ill... well, there's nothing to be done about it now. OK, Abram, I'll leave this up to you. You can provide support with these healing potions" (he hands Abram three potions: CCW, CMW, CLW +5) "or if you feel you can, help Feng in battle against that monster Xaal. Abram, I know you can do this. The horrors you have seen, the terrors you have experienced, they are for a purpose, Abram. Tratain spoke true when he said that it was time to face your fear, to protect rather than lay down and let evil flourish.
OK, watch each others' backs, and good luck my friends! Let's be careful in there!"
As they advance he floats silently into the air, his twin shortswords drawn. He moves up to the cave roof, and attempts to float forward completely silently (Move Silent 32 + bonus for flying?), and keeping to the shadowy crags in the cavern roof (Hide 34, in addition to Invisible).
He keeps a wary eye out for enemies (Spot 17, Listen 14).
Setanos (Ac 22, HP 88. Ex BullStr 5, ExCatGr 4, ExEnd 5, ExMageAr) Wednesday August 27th, 2003 12:39:17 PM
Setanos tenses as well, sensing a possible trap. He stays close to the group, and focuses his attention forward into the dark cave.
LOG ON