DM Kent d6=5 Friday July 7th, 2000 7:54:43 AM
As Bill chatters on, Arien finds that the bag does indeed hold the speargun aparently with room to spare. As Bill looks at the etchings on the wand he sees the Crab chief watching his every move with eyes going from Bill's face to the wand and back again. As all of the other things, except for the purported cash chest, are packed up and the group follows K'isst, you all reenter the water and head for home. As you progress towards shore there are many more signs of battles and death with even a second partially submerged dead dragon just about a quarter mile from shore. The water is murky but much lighter due to the shallower nature and the sunlight streaming down. It is now about 8 AM and you are several hundred feet from shore.
Bill Troublefinder Friday July 7th, 2000 1:31:33 PM
[Parenthetical step back:] When the chieftain signals his interest, Bill looks around at his companions for approval of giving the wand to him. If none object, Bill, holding it in both hands, palms up, solemnly presents the wand.
[Forward now:] Bill loads his speargun. He is too small to be of much help in the pushing of the Sentinel Head, so leaves that to his friends. On the trip back home, Bill reviews in his mind the events of the past few days -- or weeks. His mind sometimes lucid, and sometimes dreamily drifting, he wonders how it was that time passed by so quickly for others. What caused that? Who caused that? Did Sekola? Another god with goals nefarious or benign? A powerful dealer in temporal magics? The Sons of Dread? Or some other odd quirk? Bill thinks about time. Is it malleable? Could he on his own try to move faster than others through time? And where is that rainbow trout? As the members of the crew approach the shore, Bill shakes his head to clear it of such ponderings, and, with his hands, signals he is swimming to the surface to take a look. When he does, he allows only his eyes and top of his head to gently break the surface, still breathing the water. He looks first shoreward, then in a 360 degree panorama.
Ahkum Friday July 7th, 2000 2:00:15 PM
The ray trails after the group scanning the murky water and the death filled watery graveyard. As the group approaches the beach he prepares for the change swimming in a tight circle to cover the rear flank of the group against any resistance that may have followed.
Arrisa Friday July 7th, 2000 2:34:44 PM
(OOC: Sorry about the delay, slight problems in accessing a working computer and i'm not at college now) Arrisa looks over all of the items. She notices the staff and waits to see if anyone else takes it. If not, she picks it up herself and places it across her back. She then follows the others with her original staff still in hand...
K'isst Friday July 7th, 2000 2:34:45 PM
K'isst nods her appreciation to everyone for their thrifty use of time. She bubbles, "Be ready for anything. Combat formation as we emerge. Bill I suggest Arrien our resident rogue and sneaky guy go up to the surface now while we're aways out and take a look for dragons. We don't want to emerge with that Black Dragon still on the shore. Although I'd think he would have moved on in 6 weeks time. Holy Donyra! I hope they haven't moved on to ransack and pillage the larger cities like The Big Float and Plateau City. That would be horrible! But I do hope they moved on to leave Windhorn alone. They've suffered enough already I'm sure....sorry I'm running off at the mouth. I'll shut up now and focus." She pushes the head towards the shore but waits on a report from Arien before emerging.
Sedar Friday July 7th, 2000 7:24:34 PM
"Sure thing Bill ... here you go ... give them a try" Then ponders a few moments about the possibility of the rings and dagger. "I wonder ...." As he waits for the others the Mage will take a closer look at those items. As to the cheiftain request for the wand "its the least we can do for your help ... "
Arien Saturday July 8th, 2000 12:12:21 AM
A little reluctantly Arien agrees to do a scouting. When he breaks surface he lays there a moment scouting out the terrain before making a break for the biggest, densest foliage in the area. Moving from clump to clum or through the brush as the situation allows, or when none is offered, wriggling on the road on his belly, Arien slowly makes his way towards town to see what sights there are to see.
Draax Saturday July 8th, 2000 2:02:43 AM
Draax resumes the pushing of the head toward the town.
Rond Sunday July 9th, 2000 9:20:56 AM
Rond also grabs the arrows?! He then assists with pushing the head, and getting ready for the reception party at the beach. ( :) )
DM Kent Sunday July 9th, 2000 11:21:48 AM
As Arien and Bill poke their heads up out of the surf and take a peek at the beach, everything appears to be extremely quiet.And with the exception of many narrow pieces of bleached-white drift wood, the beach is empty of life. As Arien leaves Bill and comes ashore, he finds that the pieces of drift wood are in reality, bones of all sizes. As he tops the beach and looks toward the ceremony field and the hill that the black dragon had occupied, he sees that the ceremony field is empty and the head's cradle is sitting where it should. Arien also sees there is a large moving black mass still atop the hill.
DM Kent Sunday July 9th, 2000 11:25:00 AM
As Arien gets to the top of the beach the rest of the party with Bill, Draxx and the head, in the lead come ashore.
Bill Troublefinder Sunday July 9th, 2000 4:30:11 PM
Bill, quietly whispering to his companions one or two at a time, says, "Should we do the ceremony now, what do you say? Most of us here have done it every year. Best thing to drive the dragons out. Or should we hide the head in the water with a guard, and the rest of us try to get rid of the black dragon, first?" [OOC: Is the hill the moving black mass moves on in line of sight of the Sentinel statue, or is vision to it somehow obscured?] He adds, "Doncha think the Sentinel could keep the dragon away once we start the ceremony? That's its job, y'know."
Draax Monday July 10th, 2000 5:04:10 AM
Noticing the large moving black mass, Draax stops pushing the head and keeps it just below the surface of the water. Pointing towards the large Black mass. "If that is what I think it is; I don't feel comfortable trying to get the head in place with that thing still about, but we did not come all this way to stop now. I say lets do the ceremony."
K'isst Monday July 10th, 2000 8:45:17 AM
"It's hard to tell what it is from this distance. Arien, would you be good enough, my rogue friend, to swim toward it a bit and poke your head above water to see if it is that blasted black dragon?" K'isst keeps with the head below the water never having gone to the beach. "Everyone stay below please until we have figured some things out."
Arien Monday July 10th, 2000 9:16:15 PM
Arien tries to get a better look at the black mass while staying under cover as much as possible. When he determines whether or not it is the black dragon he will return to the others and inform them of what he saw.
Sedar Monday July 10th, 2000 9:16:16 PM
Wetly awaits the the rogues return
Ahkum Monday July 10th, 2000 10:13:58 PM
The mage stands by and waits for the rogue to return as well. He leans against his staff and says a trio of prayers over and over in his mind.
Rond Monday July 10th, 2000 10:18:15 PM
"Yes check it out. But I think in the end we should all move at once. One person pushing the head, everyone else defending"
Bill Troublefinder Monday July 10th, 2000 10:26:00 PM
If the dark object on the hill IS in line of sight to the base of the Sentinel statue, Bill swims underwater until the base is directly between him and the hill, and crawls up on to the beach, using the platform to block the line of sight, and his hobbit skills to move quietly and unobtrusively (he hopes). He looks around the immediate vicinity, careful to mentally mark anything out of the ordinary ...
Bill Troublefinder Monday July 10th, 2000 10:41:04 PM
If not thwarted, Bill will retreat after his look about, and report back what he saw at the shrine, as the party awaits Arien's report on what is on the hill.
DM Kent Tuesday July 11th, 2000 9:33:58 AM
As Arien gets close enough to tell what the moving black mass is a grin breaks out on his face as you have never seen before as he realizes that the black mass is hundreds, no thousands of carrion birds feasting on a very large carcass.
As Bill gets up to the sentinel base he sees the ceremony field is empty... of life that is. There are several bodies lying about, all in militia uniform, and from what you can tell there are no wounds on them, at least not visible ones. On the horizon, now that Bill has crested the beachhead, there are several columns of smoke to be seen emanating from the direction of the township.
Bill Troublefinder Tuesday July 11th, 2000 10:03:14 AM
Bill chokes up on seeing the fallen militia, the smoke in the distance. "We ... we failed," he whispers to himself. The dismal halfling turns to report back to his friends what he has seen. But as he swims back, a germ of hope enters his tired noggin. He remembers how some of his friends, who lay perhaps dead by the hands of the Sahuagin in the chamber where they found the Sentinel head, were returned to life by the power of the Head. His hope is tempered by the recollection that his cousin, Borbo, was not similarly brought back to life. But, he reasons, they've got to try. He waits to hear what Arien reports before telling his friends his idea.
Arien Tuesday July 11th, 2000 3:15:26 PM
Returning to the others Arien explains about the carrion birds and the large corpse. He then offers to be a lookout while the rest move the head.
Draax Tuesday July 11th, 2000 4:03:36 PM
Hearing that the big mass is actually birds, Draax relaxes and begins to push the head out of the water. "Lets get this thing in place."
Ahkum d20=20 Tuesday July 11th, 2000 6:46:25 PM
Ahkum follows as the Head is being pushed towards the dais and keeps a vigil for any approaching ambushers or enemy forces. [[Voluntary Perception Check: and I lost a bloody eye!]]
Arrisa Tuesday July 11th, 2000 9:39:50 PM
Arrisa follows behind the others. She doesn't know what she has to do, but she will do whatever is asked...
K'isst Tuesday July 11th, 2000 10:58:38 PM
K'isst, who is very weary, asks Arissa to push the head while she takes a point position. When everyone is ready, she breaks the surface and leads the group ashore. 'Oh holy gods, let everyone be ok. I really couldn't take it if everyone wasn't ok,' she thinks.
Rond Tuesday July 11th, 2000 11:58:10 PM
Rond continues to help with head.
DM Kent (the town awaits) Wednesday July 12th, 2000 9:45:32 AM
After Bill and Arien report their findings the party comes ashore and eventually gets the head mounted back in its rightful place. Those of you from the hamlett know that the ceremony will only be effective if all the people of the town are present due to the energies that are exchanged and needed. With the exception of the noise from the feeding birds the air is suprisingly still and quiet. You have noticed that not all of the guards that died in the field have wounds.
Arrisa Wednesday July 12th, 2000 1:36:45 PM
Arrisa nods. She slings her quarterstaff over her back, into it's holder and then takes Kisst's place pushing the head
Bill Troublefinder Wednesday July 12th, 2000 1:53:48 PM
"Remember where we found the head? Some of you had been taken down by the Sahuagin." He looks at Rond, Sedar, Draax and Arien. "But the Head revived you." He looks at the fallen militia members. Bill's countenance is grim. "Let us gather all that we can ... alive, or dying, or dead ... and then we will begin the ceremony. Let's go out in groups of three, or two. Use carts or wheelbarrows if necessary. See who is still around. Bring all. Bring all of our village here. Bring all."
Ahkum d20=4 Wednesday July 12th, 2000 1:59:28 PM
Ahkum's face screws up in confusion and he makes his way to one of the unmarred bodies. He leans down and checks the body over for any wounds whatsoever. [[I made a healing check but I don't know if i have the profficiency. So if I don't have it disregard and just tell me what he sees. Kent could u send me my sheet again?]]
Draax Wednesday July 12th, 2000 6:31:19 PM
Draax begins to gather the bodies that are close to the spot where the head is resting. He does not go far from the head and continues to keep an eye on the head as he gets the bodies.
K'isst Wednesday July 12th, 2000 8:09:13 PM
We should head to town, perhaps, and see who is there. These dead have no life force to give. However, it's odd that some have no wounds." She goes to one of those bodies and examines it. "I'm sure that the locals have given up on us. We should go tell them of our success."
Sedar Wednesday July 12th, 2000 8:09:14 PM
As the others begin to place the head, Sedar begins to head towards town. "Who is coming with me ..... to find what we can of any surviviors" slowly continues to town . Looking back to see who joins him.
Arrisa Wednesday July 12th, 2000 10:08:09 PM
Arrisa helps place the head. She then turns to Sedar. "I'll walk down....but i'll wait outside the village....."
Arien Thursday July 13th, 2000 2:11:26 AM
"Well I'll go after all it is a good cause." Adding under his breath, "Plus if no one's left it'll give me chance to...redistribute the wealth." As he walks he flexes his fingers in anticipation.
Rond Thursday July 13th, 2000 2:46:10 AM
Rond will help gather bodies.
DM Kent Thursday July 13th, 2000 10:45:43 AM
As those of you who gather and check bodies around the ceremony grounds and field do your work, you notice several things about the unwounded bodies. First off their eyes, all of which are open and totally milky-white. Secondly their lips and what tongues you can see are pitch-black. Bill, Sedar, Arien, and Arissa head toward the town and come across quite a few bodies that appear to have been headed toward the Sentinel Field when they died. As you come to the town, devastation greets you. Only one out of every five buildings is still standing, and of those most are missing walls or roofs. Most of those that are fallen are just piles of barely smouldering ash and coals. Everywhere you look you see dead bodies. A lot of them are laying in front of storm-cellar doors, as if they all tried to exit at the same time. Most of the bodies you see are aflicted with the same symptoms as those you saw at the Sentinel Fields; black tongue and lips, milky-white eyes and now that you think of it all the finger nails are black as well.
Bill Troublefinder Thursday July 13th, 2000 5:18:52 PM
Bill's eyes begin to appear bloodshot, as he struggles to keep the tears back. "It's a plague. A dark plague. We dare not touch the bodies of those with black lips." Bill continues the search for anyone alive with his friends... "If we find none alive within the hour, then we should gather ourselves, small though the ceremony be. What do you think?" He asks Sedar, Arien and Arrisa.
Arien d20=5 Thursday July 13th, 2000 6:59:01 PM
"Hmm, plague it might be, or it could be the work of some foul weilder of magic. Perhaps this could be what killed the dragons...(voluntary spellcraft check to see if it could have been caused by a spell, made roll by 10) In anycase, I agree with Bill there is not much time to spare. So we must search quickly and finish the ceremony as soon as possible."
Sedar Thursday July 13th, 2000 6:59:02 PM
Right Bill, be back in an hour. If we find no one, we'll do the ceremony. 1 hour, ..see ya"
Draax Thursday July 13th, 2000 10:29:24 PM
Draax gathers what bodies he can and place them near the head. He then stands guarding the head until the others return.
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