Friday, May 30, 2008

Treasure up till now

Ok, long one to get our inventories right! I had a look through the non-magic items and gold we found. We took the stuff from the hamlet on the cart and sold half of it to Grimes (and then got it back by killing him). Here is a list of things we got since I last posted/emailed some money and that hasn't been claimed, yet:

From the hamlet adventure (Everybody but Mendez):
- Cart with 11895gp worth of armour/weapons
- 12 gems
- Hour glass
- 2x Everburning torch
- 2x Tanglefoot bag

From the sky battle:
(Everybody but Bodush)
- 2000gp

From the Grimes battle
(All but Durin/Mendez/Thesis):
- 11937gp worth of armour/weapons
- 6649gp
- 14 gems
- 42 arrows
- 252 crossbow bolts

The gems are:
All the 12 are 'Bloodstones' (BS, 50 each). Ten of the others are 'amethysts' (A, 100 each). One 'Blue Sapphire' (B, 1000gp) and a 'Green Emerald' (G, 1000gp)
= 3600gp

All the other stuff should have been claimed. Stuff we couldn't carry or Shen-Shen took is not counted. Also the magic stuff from the last one is not included.

After selling the stuff to Grimes, this means the following gold directly for everybody (depending on appearance at the time). Gems are distributed directly (as we can't split them) and I took the blue sapphire as i did the maths and Telfis got the other one as he can carry nothing :)

GP + Gems:
Mendez: 333.33gp
Durin: 690.76gp + 2 BS
Kruddo: 2087.23gp + 2 BS + 2 A
Bodush: 2087.23gp + 2 BS + 2 A
Thesis: 319.04gp + 2 BS
Wer: 2087.23gp + 2 BS + 2 A
Eolar: 1520.56gp + B + 2 A
Telfis: 1420.56gp + 2 BS + G + 2 A

Stuff on carts: 23832gp (has to be sold in Seawell)

Eolar took the arrows, the hour glass, tanglefoot bags and a everlasting torch (as no one wanted that).

Thesis, Durin and Telfis, don't forget the 100gp we got from Grimes (not included above).

If anybody already took some of the gp from the sky battle or the camp, please deduct that.

And take a bit more care of money and it's weight (1 coin = .02 lb)! I'm quite sure some of you are overweight ;-)

Everybody who wants bolts, take them and tell me! The rest will go on cart/Meldo.

Ok, enough calculating!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Seventh Voyage of Mendez

Restless to get home, Mendez drives the Hamsters forward, with unfortunately the usual result. The Bungling Hamsters manage to disconnect something vital at an inopportune time, causing them all to cast up on yet another unknown shore.
Mendez curses himself for not making a map of his journey. Despite all of his remarkable survival skills, he’s no seasoned traveller.
Finding a river, Mendez leaves the Hamsters to make repairs. He makes a simple raft and floats along the water. Soon he finds himself at a great city called ‘Mammouth’. As soon as Mendez flashes his purse of precious gems, he’s taken to one of the palaces to see the Chief of the Merchants.
Impressed by Mendez’s innate good looks as well as his obvious wealth, the Merchant chief showers him with fine food, strong wine and beautiful dancing girls.
Once Mendez is suitably drunk, the Merchant chief starts to barter for the gems. Mendez isn’t very interested but eventually agrees to exchange the few gems he has with him for huge quantities of ivory.
Once the gems have changed hands however, the merchant throws back his head and laughs, “Do you not realise that Ivory is common here. I would have traded you for twice as much!”
Mendez looks up lazily from between the dancing girls and smiles, “Ah, but ivory is rare where I come from. I would gladly have paid you double.”
The Merchant chief curses, but a deal’s a deal.
After an immensely enjoyable night, Mendez, escorted by dozens of men and carts, travels back to the now ready Hamsters.
They load up the new supplies and again, float gently upwards.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

An irresistible force and an immovable object cannot exit in the same universe.

Deep under the Derro halls, Thesis, Kruddo and the assorted bag of amputees huddle in the oasis of light coming from the single lantern.
From floor level comes Ortos’ gruff voice, “Well, what are you going to do?”
Thesis looks down at the truncated human and sighs. The injured Humans and Orcs won’t survive wading through the acid, but if they go back up, he and Kruddo might be killed… or worse!
Despite his warrior upbringing, Thesis has never felt comfortable with the whole ‘Dying in battle is glorious’ philosophy.
His thoughts are interrupted however by a dirty and hairy figure bursting through the doorway at the bottom of the stairwell.
“Durin!” bellows Kruddo. “Why are you here?”
Much to Thesis’ annoyance, the Dwarves chatter in Dwarvish and after a few minutes, Kruddo starts the long slog up the stairs.
“Where’s he going?” Thesis asks Durrin.
“It’s his turn.” Is Durrin’s blank faced reply.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Rewards for Grimes and Misdemeanors

Sifting through the camp, you recover all your original goods plus a great deal more.

You strip the Orc bodies to recover:
4 x Chain shirt armour
16 x Studded leather armour
20 x Falchions
48 x Javalins
4 x MWKs Heavy Cross Bows
320gp

Orc Warriors:
3 x MWKS Falchions
3 x MWKS Light Crossbows
3 x MWKS ChainArmour
24 Crossbow Bolts
597gp
3 x Gems

Ogres:
3 x MWKS Large Chain Shirt Armour
3 x MWKS Great club
9 x Javalins
Potion bottle
Potion bottle
636gp
3 x Gems

Grimes:
A warped Giant MWKS Heavy Mace
Giant Chain Shirt Armour
Giant Large Steel Shield
2688gp
8 Gems
Potion bottle
An Ornate Headband
Large wooden Spoon
12 x nice rocks.

6 x Cart horses
4 x Carts
8 x Cows
17 x Goats
33 x Chickens

Fresh food and wine for about two weeks.. for about 60 mouths.

A stash of gold in Grimes’ house.
2408gp

Plus
6 x MWKs Studded leather armour.
6 x MWKs Longswords.
2 x MWKs Shortswords.
6 x MWKs Shortbows
42 x Arrows
228 x Crossbow bolts.

Shen-Shen demands her MWKs Studded leather armour,2 x MWKs Shortswords, MWKs Shortbow and 20 arrows.

Geno-cider with Grimesy

Shen-shen goes from fallen Orc to fallen Orc, driving the point of one of her swords into each one. All the while whispering curses under her breath.
There are bodies everywhere and the river is red with blood, but the sounds of battle have ended now. The screams of the women and children recede as they run blindly from their homes with what little they can carry.
The world is a hard place for Orc women anyway, and now... homeless with dependent children... in a hostile environment! What chance do these women have?
Eolar looks around him. It’s hard to believe that just hours before, they were sharing alcohol and jokes with these tattered corpses.
Kruddo checks the massive, fleshy body of the Golem. Telfis’ crossbow bolt has pushed out its eye and the face itself is coming away at the seams. It’s beyond help or repair.
Bodush kicks at the Giant inside it’s smouldering home. It groans its last and dies from its wounds. Grimes final words are for his beautiful golem, ‘So little time…’
Wer watches the slightly built Shen-shen turn her attention to the Dead or Dying Worgs and Ogres.
No one pursues the fleeing women and children and instead the victorious group set to pillaging the ruined Orc village. It’s peculiar, thinking of it as that.
Orcs are a nomadic people. They never settle anywhere for long and that’s why treaties and boundaries mean so little to them.
Would this permanent settlement have lasted?
Could Grimes have maintained his control?
Could Orcs really change so profoundly?

Grimes:0/Adventurers:59 (A whitewash!)

Avoiding all combat with the (Frankly asking for it) Derro and then slaughtering the (Completely friendly) Orcs?!

Kruddo: 15,782 xp (6th Level: Fighter:6?) Goes up a level!
Wer: 28,579xp (8th Level: Druid:8?) Goes up a level!
Eolar: 33,029 xp (8th Level: Cleric:5/Ranger:3)
Elogyn: 12,723 xp (5th Level: Cleric:5)
Telfis: 32,449xp (8th Level Rogue:6/Bard:2)
Bodush: 30,640 xp (8th Level: Sorcerer:8)
Durin: 25,219 xp (7th Level!: Barbarian:7)
Thesis: 28,707 xp (8th Level!: Fighter:6/Cleric:1/Barbarian:1)
Mendez: 36,224 xp (9th Level: Ranger:3/Barbarian:2/Fighter:4)

As Kruddo and Wer look around at the cleaved bodies, they feel that familiar 'ping' as they both go up a level.
Wer's level '8' means an additional attribute point!
Kruddo's level '6' Fighter means two additional Feats. (Get weapon specialisation!)
Send me your revised character sheets.

It's up to you if you want to me to DM the journey home. I'm happy to do it but it'll probably only be a couple of hours. Perhaps I could do the 'pre tea' session and Moritz can start his adventure afterwards?

Also Sprach Bodush

Bodush paused for a second, lowering himself down on the ground near the smoldering remains of the bonfire. All around him were the charred remains of the orcish warriors, women and children he had killed by his treachery. He felt slightly less satisfied with himself than he thought he would. After all, the massacre had been wonderfully, planned, prepared and executed. Apart from the contractual issues related to the Flesh Golem and Grimes(which had to be enforced due to the influence of the St. Cuthbertian contingent of the party), the camp had offered no real resistance.

Still, did the orcs deserve this fate? In time, these children would have grown up to be orc raiders and mercenaries and cause countless tragedies amongst humans and elves, slaughter entire towns and enslave the survivors, but the small orcish faces staring up at the lights he had conjured with such wonder, had not yet committed any crime. What right did Bodush have to be their judge, jury and executioner?

Bodush shrugged and looked over at the pile of flesh which were all that remained of the golem. He remembered the horrors of the of the derro chambers. He remembered the agony that the derro caused to fulfill Grimes' perverse lusts. He also remembered the crucified elves. Shenshen would never be the same again. Like Bodush, both body and mind would forever be scarred by her tormentors.

Bodush looked at the dead and dying, all thoughts of guilt wiped from his mind, realising that the only thing he felt at the sight was a slight sense of disgust, as if he was watching a rotting animal carcass being picket at by carrion birds.

Guilt was meaningless. Every second of his time in orc captivity, Bodush had survived by telling himself we was destined for greater things, destined for the power to destroy those who tormented him without having to give it a second thought. Somewhere deep inside him was a force of unimagined intensity. He was closer to his goals than he had ever been.

Bodush watched a dying female orc as puss drooled out of her mouth, her tough orcish lungs burnt beyond their capacity to sustain her. He had been injured too, had he not? For all his thoughts about power and destiny, he was still undeniably just a mere human.

Bodush knelt down beside the orc and gently wiped the bloody puss from her face. He whispered the Grummshian litany of the Warrior's passage in her ear as he pulled out his dagger and pressed its hilt against her throat, crushing her windpipe, giving her the mercy of a quick death.

Strangely comforted, Bodush stood up and joined his companions. There would be more time to consider his destiny later.

Somewhere on the Celestial Plane

*pop*
"You won't believe who I just met on the mortal plane!"
"Who? Our old friend the necromancer?"
"No, no, can you remember the young cleric we showed around a short while ago?" "Elogyn?"
"Yes, exactly! I answered a summoning call and there I was as a celestial black bear fighting alongside her!"
"How's she doing?"
"She was fighting a ... a ... kind of golem ... female ... pretty ugly in what looked like an orc camp"
"Is she still with these funny people? With the female lawn ornament and the crazy sorcerer?"
"Yes, but the sorcerer is a pretty useful weapon from what I saw!"
"Did she realize it was you who answered her call?"
"Don't think so! I would have killed the abnomination but she commanded me to deal with some worgs first! After I returned, I had a short look from the celestial plane and she was unconscious. Almost sacrificed herself to help the group! She is going to become a great fighter for the cause one day! Definitely paladin material!"
"I agree, we definitely have to check on her from time to time. Ok, let's get back to out own fight! I can feel a portal coming up!"
*pop*

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Sixth Voyage of Mendez

The closer he gets, the more Mendez’s soul yearns for home. Vowing that nothing further will get between him and his family, Mendez happily returns to his bunk.
Again though, through a combination of misfortune and the Hamsters poor steering, the helms hamster fails to avoid a huge obstacle and violently crashes the Sky ship into a tall, inland cliff.
The Sky ship, with the majority of its balloons ruptured, grinds noisily down the rock face.
They settle with a crunching jolt at the foot of the cliff. Amazingly no one is seriously injured. They disembark from what’s left of the Sky ship and explore the immediate area, only to discover that the island is completely barren with no food to be had anywhere. After a couple of days, despite Mendez’s sharply honed survival skills, they all begin to starve.
A few of the Hamsters, lead by Mendez, journey inland to look for food and materials to repair the Sky ship. A few days later they discover a river running into a cavern beneath the cliffs. With no other option, they build a raft and follow the stream down into the mountain.
Eventually they clear the underground river and find themselves above ground again, in the Kingdom of ‘Serenity’, where pearls fill the rivers and diamonds cover the valleys. As strangers are unheard of here, they are taken immediately before the King. The aged King marvels at what Mendez tells him of their adventures.
As a reward, he summons forth workers to help repair the Sky ship, timber, tools and food as fit for royalty. He also gives Mendez a special gift of a goblet carved from a single ruby. Also with a wink, he presents and a beautiful slave-girl to keep his spirits high on lonely nights. This in addition to all the ‘worthless’ diamonds and pearls requested by the canny Mendez.
With the help of the citizens of Serenity, the Sky ship is soon repaired and airborne again.

Monday, May 19, 2008

In which Bodush resolves a moral dilemma

It was not fair. Then again, as far as Bodush could recall, it was never fair, was it? First there was that whole impending death by goblin horde, followed by his compatriots overly heroic intervention. Then, without his guidance, they managed to cut a deal with an insane Hill Giant to facilitate some sort of unsavoury deal between it and some sort of psychotic dwarflike creatures. In fact, the more Bodush found out about this deal, the more he wanted to throw up.

The Derro were getting to him. There were not many things that Bodush hated with anything resembling passion. Orcs, on general principle, but Bodush had great practice in suppressing this hatred, and could easily put it aside when needed. The Derro, however, were just offensive, it was as if by their very being they offended his view of the world. Ever since they found the prisoners, Bodush had felt shaken to his very core by these creatures, his senses completely unbalanced. Bodush suspected that his idiotic foolhardyness in the arena, trying to take on the Savant, must have been caused by this momentary mental instability.

Bodush grumbled to himself, mulling over this. How could it be? How could he, who prided himself on his amoral, non-judgemental attitude to life, be possessed by this thing resembling righteous anger? Next, he would be preaching the virtues of universal law and retribution.

Bodush scratched his beard as he cast a resentful glance in Eolar's direction.

That must be it! It must be the exposure to the sanctimonious ravings of the cleric! Obviously, he had almost fallen into a trap of looking at the world as a place where things happen for a reason, where the role of mortals is to serve this reason, and where there is such a thing as right or wrong.

The Derro were not an abomination after all. They were merely another source of insight and power. Bodush took a deep breath and gathered himself. Still, the power that these stunted humanoid horrors had over his mind should not be ignored. If such a strongwilled superior being as himself could so easily be knocked off-balance by mere exposure to these, wicked, yet mundane horrors, what about those with less powerful minds?

Perhaps there was a way of replicating or transmitting this horror in others. That would be a very useful thing indeed. Bodush smiled to himself, his mind unlocking patterns of magic as he continued walking down the corridor.

Under his breath, he whispered a prayer to the only god he deemed worthy of notice. Some sort of thanks to Boccob was needed for this lesson. Slowly reciting the Litany of Manipulation, he continued on his way.....

"Naught that is, is right or wrong. All that is, is in flux. All in flux, is bent by will. Will is always justified."

*-*-*-*-*-*

And in case you are wondering, Bodush did not take a level in Cleric....

Just Desserts

With a flamboyant gesture, Savant Freud gives a command to a handful of his underlings; “Release the prisoners!”
A few muttered responses and Savant Freud is forced to elaborate.
“No, of course not ‘all’ the prisoners. Give them the amputees who‘ve resisted the mind-altering process. They’re worthless to us now.”
More muttering.
“What do you mean ‘They’ve escaped’? How can a bunch of limbless cripples escape? Why didn’t the Derro on guard stop them?”
A trembling Derro edges forward. “Er… The strangers killed the guard.”
Savant Freud pulls himself to his full height of nearly four and a half feet.
“They killed a Derro?”
The squirming Derro coughs and mentions the two Derro crossbowmen and Pandit Beck.
Savant Freud’s voice squeaks, “They’ve killed four of us?”
His face darkens and he remains silent for a few moments.
“For the good of our people, let’s give them what they’ve asked for.”

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Arms for an Ex Amputee

Kruddo lowers the legless soldier to the ground and wanders off to examine the large cavern. Stepping over the ruined bodies of the dead Huloms, he searches the walls. Perhaps there’s another way out?
Thesis however sighs, gently places the tragic truncated warrior on the floor and sits down next to him. Their armless companion joins them, as do the two one-armed Orcs.
“What now?” growls the slightly smaller of the two Orcs.
Thesis is quiet but the limbless man speaks up from his prone position. “This cavern seems to be directly under the Derro’s commune. They are far too paranoid to leave it unguarded if there was any possibility of an attack. Therefore there is no possibility for escape this way. Perhaps your compatriots have been successful and we can rejoin them to freedom?” Even as he says the words, Thesis can tell he’s not optimistic.
The larger Orc speaks, “Better to die fighting than be cut down limb by limb.
The group take this time to introduce themselves properly.
The crippled leader of the Humans is called ‘Ortos’; his remaining sergeants are called ‘Selmars’ and ‘Gelless’. The young woman, though she won’t speak is titled ‘Princess Lyseu’. Unfortunately the two Orcs have names Thesis has difficulty pronouncing. They laugh at his efforts and suggest he call them ‘Righty’ and Lefty’. Easy to remember considering their specific amputations.
The Orcs wander off to examine the armour on the Huloms and the weapons lying around.
Selmars and Gelless ask Thesis for his backpack and upon receiving it, move away to see if they can jerry-rig some sort of harness that would be mutually beneficial.
Ortos beckons Thesis over. “Did I hear that Halfling Druid correctly? Did she say that she could somehow grant me a new body? Is that possible?” His face is pained and his eyes well with tears. “Any creature would do. Anything with arms that could wield a sword. Anything with legs to pursue an enemy!”
Thesis is silent for a moment. Is little Wer really that powerful?

Monday, May 12, 2008

The Chamber of Victoria's Secrets

Eolar takes in the current situation.
They have just formed an uneasy truce with the Derro. This is fortunate as (Aside from Telfis) most everyone is injured and spells. arrows and bolts are in short supply.
They're being chaperoned by Pandit Jung; one of the Derro leaders and two of the more powerful Huloms.
Kruddo and Thesis have worryingly not been seen since the amputee cell room.
The chamber they've been taken to, is about the same size as the cell they'd previously sheltered in but has no barred divisions.
Instead there’s an immense women. She is chained to the back wall and if she stood up straight, she’d be over nine feet tall. She’s mostly naked and her ineffectual undergarments fail to disguise the multitude of scars and varying flesh tones. Her impressiveness though is due more from the ‘robustness’ of her figure. She is ‘sturdy’ throughout, but her bossom and bottom are massively exaggerated. Everyone in the room just stares in silence as she shuffles forward, ape like, until she comes into the light to reveal a face as beautiful as an angel's. Her long and many hued hair cascades around her fine features.
“The problem Savant Freud has” interrupts Pandit Jung, “Is that despite his ability to recreate the, admittedly complicated mechanical aspects of a humanoid, he can’t get 'beyond the pleasure principle'. Left to it's own devices the creature might pursue food and sex but would possess no real memories and be incapable of logic or reason. It doesn’t even exhibit a reasonable fear of death!”
Pandit Jung shuffles closer and whispers to Bodush. “Between you and me, I think the old fool's lost it."

Friday, May 9, 2008

Good Intentions, Bad Directions

The lowly Derro mould farmer, escorts the seven adventurers out the cell and into the dark corridor.
Thesis hesitates however and looks back at the mutilated prisoners. Grabbing Kruddo as he passes, he whispers in his ear.
Kruddo nods and they allow their friends to leave.
“Quick, those who can walk follow me.” Thesis lifts the grizzled quadruple amputee while Kruddo carries the legless man.
The Princess-without-a-face and the armless man timidly follow, but the two one-armed Orcs are instantly by Thesis’ side.
“Which way’s out?” the larger Orc growls.
Kruddo leads them through the darkness back to the stairwell down. They encounter no resistance. All the Derros seem to be distracted somewhere else.
Smiling at his good fortune, Thesis urges them all onward.
The door at the top of the stairwell is shut and bolted but not trapped. Sliding back the bolt, Kruddo leads on again.
Down, down, down they go in tight spirals.
Movement is slow as the prisoners, weak from their brutal surgery, stumble and wheeze with the exertion.
They finally get to the bottom and unbolt the door leading to the cavern where they faced the ‘Lesser Huloms’.
They continue walking until they get to the end of the cavern and come to a large and ornate stone archway. Acid pours from the top, running down into a long canal of unavoidable liquid pain.
Thesis looks down at Kruddo. Could they survive the five journeys through that it would take to get all their charges to the other side?

Derro:0/Adventurers:0 (A draw!)

Less party members and tougher opponents means; Lots of experience!

Eolar: 31,246 xp (8th Level: Cleric:5/Ranger:3) Goes up a level!
Elogyn: 11,608 xp (5th Level: Cleric:5) Goes up a level!
Telfis: 30,766xp (8th Level Rogue:6/Bard:2) Goes up a level!
Bodush: 28,757 xp (8th Level: Sorcerer:8) Goes up a level!
Wer: 26,896xp (7th Level: Druid:7)
Durin: 25,219 xp (7th Level!: Barbarian:7)
Kruddo: 14,099 xp (5th Level: Fighter:5)
Thesis: 28,707 xp (8th Level!: Fighter:6/Cleric:1/Barbarian:1)
Mendez: 34,306 xp (8th Level: Ranger:3/Barbarian:2/Fighter:3)

Eolar, Elogyn,Telfis and Bodush all go up a level.
They feel that familiar 'ping' while gazing at the near naked Flesh golemess.
Level '8' means an additional attribute point!
Send me your revised character sheets. (YOU TOO WER!)

We’ll play the fourth part in two weeks time.
(Pretty please sort out Assif with Skype.)

Current Hit Points and Constitution Loss

I wrongly guessed the existing damage at the beginning of yesterday's session so this is the actual current situation.

Telfis: HPs: 54 -0!
Bodush: HPs: 35 -22
Garjarpan: HPs: 17
Eolar: HPs: 67 -31
Elogyn: HPs: 42 -6 (-3 Con)
Meldo: HPs: 31
Thesis: HPs: 83 -7
Kruddo: HPs: 64 -11 (-3 Con)
Chicken: HPs: 1
Durin: HPs: 76 -63( -3 Con?)
Wer: HPs: 47 -23 (SEND CHARACTER SHEET!)
Masienta: HPs: 45 -14 (SEND CHARACTER SHEET!)

Lot's of spells/bolts/arrows/stones were used.
Let me know what you have left. (If any!)

You are currently in a large cell with Pandit Jung and two Greater Huloms looking at a huge, Rubenesque Flesh golem with a stunningly beautiful face.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

About Face

Bodush looks at the heavily bolted and reinforced door. No-one’s getting through that in a hurry.
He then examines the room. It’s a simple but effective prison cell. A prison cell that they have just… locked themselves inside.
Thinking things through, Bodush realises that by placing themselves in here, they have managed to incarcerate themselves.
The only way out is now certain to be trapped or guarded.
Cursed Derros!
At least you knew where you stood with the dull witted Orcs.
Kruddo on the other hand is more concerned with who’s inside the cell with them. Talking to the grizzled, quadruple amputee, he discovers that the girl-without-a-face is in fact, minor royalty. A Princess of a small overseas Kingdom. The three male Humans are all that are left of her personal guard.
They were escorting her to ‘Febril’, the main city of Furnace coast. Pointless now though, as her journey was to marry a non-titled but rich young man.
Despite all that has happened to him, he whispers in the Dwarf’s ear; “Save her if you can.”

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

A Quick Good-Bye

The pub was quite small and dirty. A lot of dwarfs were sitting at the long tables quaffing beer. Elogyn still had problems to get her vision to separate between normal and celestial plane when she was in the space where both are overlapping. One moment she saw the limited space with only a few dwarfs, the next she saw the somewhat unlimited space of the celestial plane within the same room. It was really confusing. The only difference was the faint glow everything celestial seemed to have. She also had to be careful to order from the dwarf that could see her, not the one that the pub belonged to in the normal plane of existence.

She tried to remember everything she did the last days. Training thought-jumps, meeting a huge part of her ancestry, learning about the different celestial levels and learning not to get crazy when traveling the normal plane as invisible, celestial creature. She even once accidentally answered a summoning call from the normal plane and had to fight as a celestial giant bee for a few seconds. She didn't even know how much time passed, as it didn't seem to matter here.

Ozul and Toaden had tried to teach her as much as possible until they left again. They said they have to go back, briefly said good-bye and vanished. Suddenly she felt alone and although everybody was nice around here, she thought about Eolar and her new companions. She wondered why she wasn't raised all that time. They clearly must have had the time to get her body to a temple or something similar. She remembered what Ozul had taught her. She could jump to every point she could think of, as long as it was a clearly defined point in space - and theoretically - time. For her, "space" seemed to be limited to the points she'd already seen as she was only strong enough to do direct jumps. She knew that higher level celestial creatures were able to travel through space and time in their thoughts as they wanted.

She started to think about Eolar and jumped. She materialized in the middle of a battle! She tried to dodge arrows, bolts and blows till she remembered that this all happened in another plane and couldn't affect her. Looking around she saw Thesis and the dwarf fighting trolls in a small corridor. She moved a bit out of the battle zone as she still felt the urge to dodge everything. She saw Bodush standing there and Eolar kneeling next to him over.....HER body! She was confused. As it seemed, only minutes had passed since she died. She moved along the corridor and found the cave she died in. Within a blink of an eye she was next to Eolar again. He was reading a scroll and with all the knowledge she had on this plane she could easily read it and identify it as a raise dead spell. He wanted to get her back!
What did she have to do? Just wait? Trying to teleport into her body? She tried, but it only led to her lying within her body on the ground. And it didn't feel good, as if the body tried to repel her. She looked around. Perhaps she had nothing to do than wait till the spell was over.

She thought about the time she experienced. Time seemed to run in a normal speed here, but she clearly had been doing stuff for several days within the last few minutes. Suddenly she had an idea. If she still had time left, she could gather some intelligence for the group about their enemies. She left her friends and explored the underground city. The ability to move through walls made things a lot easier. Within a short time, she knew all the traps, positions of derros and all the other creatures. She found the best way to the leader and knew all the heavily guarded areas and how to avoid them. She somehow also knew all the secrets and plans the derros had. *pop* Toalden was standing next to her. "What are you doing here, girl?". "Trying to get as much information as possible before being raised!". "I thought we taught you that it doesn't work that way! At least not for you, unexperienced as you are!". "Why not? I know everything now and just have to wait till Eolar raises me!"

"Silly girl, time and space are not what they are on the normal plane. The more you do here, the longer it seems. You can fit an infinity between now and the time they raise you!". "But how can I get back then??". "Go back to your body". *pop* *pop* She looked at the scroll. Almost no time had passed since she left to gather information. She gave Toalden a confused look. "Try to follow the flow of time now. This makes it easier to find the point in time where you can leave this plane. The spell only opens the door, but you have to step through yourself. I can only show you the door. You have to be willing to return." "But I am!". "Good, so let's wait." A few moments passed before Eolar finished the spell. Suddenly she felt a tickle. She looked to Toalden. "Can you feel something?" he asked. "Yes, it feels strange. Like something is pulling at me!" "That is the force of the spell, it opened the door and pulls you towards it. You have to step through, or it will close again soon!". "Thank you for everything!" "No problem. See you soon on this plane or another" and while she vanished: "Unfortunately your mortal body won't remember anything you learned or experienced here!". She was gone. He saw her opening her eyes on the other plane. "Only your celestial soul remembers...and you are not experienced enough to access this wisdom from there. See you soon, Elogyn from Seawell!". *pop*

The Fifth Voyage of Mendez

Despite avoiding further deaths and increasing his profits from the last island, Mendez vows not to land again until safely home.
Mendez is happily sleeping when the Hamster captain comes across a small atoll.
It’s effectively just an undersized, dormant volcano rising out of the water. It has no flora or fauna. The only odd thing is a huge white sphere nestled in the crater at the top.
The Hamsters are very excited and their curiosity overcomes them. They hover above it and a few of them clamber down to examine it more closely.
Mendez wakes up disturbed by the timbre change of the Sky-ships inner workings. He rushes up to the deck just in time to see one of of the Hamsters fall directly onto the white shape. Too late Mendez recognises it as an egg belonging to a monstrous giant bird. The Roc that had inadvertently saved him just a few days ago.
The shell breaks upon impact, killing the chick inside.
Mendez immediately realises the folly of their behaviour and orders everyone back aboard ship and they head off at top speed.
Unfortunately, their speed is inferior to the infuriated parent Roc. It soon catches up with the vessel and though unable to destroy it, forces them to crash land on yet another island.
After tending to the myriad of minor injuries, Mendez, with a dozen of the Hamsters, boldly sets out to explore.
After about a day they come to a small town with it’s back to the sea and a tall and sturdy wall surrounding the perimeter. It has only one entrance, blocked with a single wooden gate, studded and strengthened with iron nails.
After gaining entry, the gaunt looking locals explain that this place is called ‘Ape town’. Every night the city is attacked by monstrous apes and if the guards ever fail in their duty, the apes will scale the walls and kill them all. Worse, food is now in short supply. Despite nut bushes and fruit trees being just outside the town walls, the apes attack anyone who enters the jungle.
Mendez smiles and quickly comes up with a plan.
Calling the entire population, he instructs them to find bags and to fill them with pebbles from the beach.
The town’s people, as well as the Hamsters, look at him bemusedly but do as bidden.
That evening Mendez orders everyone to line the wall and wait for the apes. It isn’t long before they arrive.
When they’re about thirty feet away Mendez gives the order to pelt the apes with pebbles. Most miss, but enough hit to enrage the great apes. They are so enraged that rather than just charge the wall as normal, they cast around for something to throw back. All they can find is coconuts and fruits. Barrage after barrage fly both ways until both the apes and the supply of pebbles are exhausted.
At dawn, the apes retreat.
Not only had the townspeople driven the apes off, but also they had gained enough fruit and nuts to last weeks!
After being rewarded with gold and food, Mendez and the Hamsters head back to the now repaired Sky-ship.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Thought Jumps

Light. Everywhere. Just a post with some arrows nailed to it. *pop* A paladin appears out of nowhere. He waits, looking around. For a few seconds, nothing happens. *pop* A second paladin appears next to the first one. "Where is she??". "She still can't get the hang of it!". "Let's go find her!". *pop* *pop* Only light again.

The two paladins appear next to a random sign post in some mountains. Elogyn is standing next to it, impatiently. "What happened? Where did you go??". "We went to the signpost we said we are going!". "But I thought about the signpost and then I was here! And I know it's the wrong one!!". "You have to focus more on details. Thought-travel is easy, but you have to know *exactly* where you want to go and imagine it. You just thought about *a* signpost and this one must have matched the signpost you imagined. You even managed to leave the celestial plane!"
They look around. "We seem to be near Gollor...nice area, but a lot of mad wizards around. Got killed by one last year." "How do you know we are near Gollor? And where in the world is Gollor?? Can you sense where you are?". "No, but I can read the signs on this post! Let's go back and try again with easier targets. Think about the pub we met with your grand-grand-dad. It's unique, you can't go wrong."
*pop *pop* *pop*

Beyond Disbelief

Savant Freud looks down at the underling grovelling at his feet.
“How many of them died fighting the Trolls?”
The trembling Derro mumbles into his tangled beard; “One my Potentate, but she got better.”
“I see. Well how many fell against the lesser Huloms?”
“Er…none.”
“What? Tell me they lost a few when facing our Derro archers?”
“Actually no.”
The leader of the Derro stands up and whispers to himself; “Who are these guys?”.

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