Slice of Glaive

Jarlyn yells that there is a rock snake coming up and he backs up and prepares for an attack. He also tells his horse to go back. The rock snake charges up out of the hole a good ten feet.

Segment 12
I tell my horse to go. Other than that I hold for the moment.
Jarlyn strikes the snake and hits.
Perrol strikes the snake and barely hits.
Attack=Oruskormaeli with DCV 3 and miss.
The horses obey the commands and run down the hill.
The snake thwacks Jarlyn and he ends up dazed.
Ghoral can finally attack and he hits the snake for quite a lot of damage.

Segment 3
Attack=Oruskormaeli for a head shot with DCV 1 (including -4 for the head shot) and miss.

Segment 4
Perrol tries for a head shot as well and he kills the snake.

End Combat

Ghoral starts to reel it in when a snake charges out of each of the other two holes.

I move to the other side of the pit so that there is no possibility of the snake attacking me from behind.
Everyone else moves over to this side as well.
Both snakes come out of their holes with the farther away one speeding by and attempting to bit us as it moves by.

Segment 3
Half move to get next to SnakeA.
Attack=Oruskormaeli with DCV 7 but did no damage.

Segment 4
Perrol hits SnakeB, Kross hits SnakeA with also no damage, and Jarlyn does damage on SnakeA.
SnakeB attempts to wrap Kross in its coils, but doesn’t succeed.
SnakeA tries for the same thing with Jarlyn with the same result.
Ghoral smites SnakeB and it falls.

Segment6
Attack=Orushidaila with DCV 7 for 4 body, 12 stun

Segment 8
They guys attack SnakeA, but he does not go down when/if they hit.

Segment 9
Attack=Orunatiya with DCV 13 for 9 body, 27 stun

Segment 12
Attack=Orunatiya with DCV 16 for 9 body, 36 stun
Kross attacks and kills SnakeA.

End Combat

We round up the horses and hobble them in the grassy area on the other side of the stream. Perrol peers down the holes and sees that they appear to be connected to something like a tunnel. Jarlyn would like to go down and explore, which Perrol readily agrees. Perrol also notices that there is something like a table down at the bottom of hole #3. There is also rubble that looks like stone blocks as well as a pick and a pry bar. Jarlyn and Ghoral descend on the platform and see words on the blocks and tell the rest of us to come down. We join them. Working together Jarlyn and Perrol figure out that the words on the blocks are interspersed with runes (those glow magic with magesight) and say “Evil lies within and death awaits those who pass this portal”. There is a cold breeze coming from the tunnel. On the off chance that this is the religious site we’ve been searching for, we place the homing beacon. As we go down the passageway, we see that it is chipped out out flint and is so cold that the floor is covered in ice. After about 20′ it goes down about three steps and then the large cavern opens up to about 20′ wide with two rows of pillars that are separated by about the width of the passage we are in. This space is so cavernous that we cannot see either the ceiling or the opposite wall. Perrol whispers from next to me that something on the ceiling up ahead is magic as well as several somethings straight ahead. Jarlyn softly says that something straight ahead is evil. Also, those in the first row see that the stairs and the floor as far as they can see in the torchlight is covered in a good half inch of ice. As the torchlight starts to illuminate the chamber, we see a humanoid body encased in ice at the place from which the evil and magic was. As we move farther into the area, we see 11 more figures encased in ice, although all are emanating evil and magic. They are not all obviously suspended, some appear to have just fallen over and been encased by frost. The humanoids are not familiar but have black hair, long beards woven in with finger bones, are wearing loincloths, and carry axes or spears. Perrol tells us that he sees beads of water form on the nearest ice encased figure and backs away into the passage. He also tells us that he sees the frost/ice around him in the passage is gone, which Kross coroborates with his torch in the back. Ghoral goes out into the middle of the cavern to use his low light vision. Jarlyn goes partially into the cavern as well. They decide to try and attack one of the frozen figures. Suddenly, we hear a large crack going off like a shot. Jarlyn yells back that Ghoral slipped and the ice over this one body has cracked and the spiderweb of cracks has spread throughout the entire cavern. Also they start to open eyes over the room. Ghoral decapitates the figure in front of him and Jarlyn crushes the skull of another one. Perrol rushes in and manages to pluck out an eye of another one of these. The ice powders and the figures blink out of it and are ready to fight.

Segment 12
Half move to the closest figure
Attack=Orushidaila with DCV 7 for a hit in the chest for 7 body, 21 stun. I manage to daze him.
Perrol wounds one. Kross kills one. Jarlyn hits the same one that Perrol hit with a move by attack but doesn’t really do that much. Suddenly it is their turn and four of them swarm Perrol. He is down by what seem to be coordinated attacks.

Segment 3
Half move
Attack=Orunatiya with DCV 10 for a hit to the vitals for 10 body, 28 stun. Basically I cut off his privates in a disabling wound.

Segment 4
Kross attacks and takes a slice out of the closest figure. Jarlyn also hits the figure closest to him. The figures attack Ghoral, the unconscious Perrol, and Jarlyn.

Segment 6
Attack=Orunatiya with DCV 15 in the chest for 6 body, 18 stun and is dazed.

Segment 8
Kross hits his guy again, as does Jarlyn. The fellow who’s been hitting Perrol strikes again and now Perrol is dying. Ghoral also becomes dazed by an attack. Jarlyn also becomes dazed.

Segment 9
Attack=Orunatiya with DCV 8 but I miss.

Segment 12
Attack=Orushidaila with DCV 7 in the legs for 3.5 body.
Kross swings and misses. Jarlyn recovers from being stunned. The figures both stun Kross and knock unconscious. Then they coordinate an attack on Ghoral. The coordinated attack on Jarlyn knocks him unconscious.

Segment 3
Half move to get to the two figures by Kross.
Attack=Orunatiya with DCV 12 in the vitals and kill him

Segment 4
Jarlyn splits and attacks both of the figures near him. He manages to down the first one whom he had hit previously. His second attack also manages to knock the other figure unconscious.
The sole remaining figure attacks me in the stomach and I take 2 stun.

Segment 6
Attack=Orunatiya with DCV 11 in the thighs for 6 body, 12 stun
Attack=Orushidaila with DCV 10 in the legs for 2 body, 4 stun

Segment 8
Kross comes over and takes down that last figure.

End Combat

We force a healing potion down Perrols throat. Jarlyn also heals him. He recovers.

We decide to do the job, but also to stay for the week. Perrol spends the week prowling and getting more knowledge of the area. Jarlyn keeps going to the temple and studying. Ghoral is spending time with his cousin. On day three of our week-long stay, when we were eating dinner Jarlyn relates that he saw “Bob” at the temple healing the poor and downtrodden. He also tells me that “Bob” said that I need to learn my stuff and that he rather agrees. I mention that it will not teach me to heal. I say that should Jarlyn run into him at the temple again he should pass on my willingness to listen. Then Kross joins in that he met this very large man named “Chad”. Coincidentally, Ghoral met a VERY large man name “Chad” as well. Anyway, Kross relates how “Chad” knew his native language with a native accent and that his is more proficient in the martial art than he is. His story sound a lot like when I met “Bob”.

On the fifth day of our week, we are approached by the mages at breakfast. They tell us how there was a recently discovered silver mine in the area to which we are travelling. The mages had made a beacon for the expeditionary group, similar to the one we will be given. However, that group of twenty has not been heard from and they have not activated the beacon. The mages would like us to look into this while we are there. The reason that they thought of us was that they person who convinced the lord to send a group to the supposed mine and who led the group was named Thorin (as is Thorin Somerset and Ilie who were researching the dead religion).

On the sixth day, Kross comes back to the inn and tells me that he thought he saw “Bob” going toward the area of the manor house where he sparred with “Chad”. It turns out to be the same manor house. The front gate was unlocked, so we all troop in. We knock on the front door but there is no answer and the house is dark. We head on back to the stable are where Kross sparred with “Chad” and where I, unbeknownst to the rest of them, had sparred with “Bob”. There is no one there. We are discussing magical enchantments on the lock on the gate when a voice emerges from the copse of trees and says, “You have someone who can go and tell.” Then “Bob” emerges from the trees. Kross and I hear a very subtle scraping sound behind us. We are quick enough to see that “Chad” is behind us and that his heel is just now emerging from the stone wall. I turn to “Bob” and say that I am now willing to listen. However, we are to leave shortly on a mission. Kross indicates the same to “Chad”. “Bob” says that is good and that he needs me for three hours sometime after midday tomorrow. Kross will meet with “Chad” in the morning. Perrol finally picks his tongue off the floor and starts to ask them question after question. In answer to his questions “Bob” starts to reply to him in Elvish. After switching back to Common tongue, we find out that they (by the way, they look like they could be brothers) come from a place beyond the edge of the known world. Also, it comes out that “Bob” knew/trained my father, knew Perrol’s father and that “Chad” knew Kross’s grandfather. Jaryln asks to study with “Bob” to learn more healing techniques. They kick us out of the manor yard because it is dinner time. Over dinner we are discussing how odd that all seemed, especially that they knew our families and that we ended up in this group together. We all start to wonder about our ending up in the samae guard unit together. Ghoral remembers how he was sent to see about the creeping menace and join the guard but that it all seemed to happen rather quickly. It almost seems as if we all had unseen patrons. Perrol turns to me and asks about how I ended up in the Guard. I relate, rather embarassedly, that I was given a choice between the Guard and a less favorable option. It did not seem that I had a patron. That I was caught would have happened eventually, but the opportunity that I was offered which resulted in me being caught was a bit odd.

On the seventh day, Jarlyn went to the Skyfather’s temple after failing to learn healing from “Bob”, Kross went to work with “Chad”, Ghoral got to work with him in the afternoon just to learn more martial stuff, and I got to work on the warrior-magic. We mostly just sat in the copse of trees crosslegged and tried to concentrate on random sound/stuff.

On the 8th day we depart on the boat for the weeklong trip to Bridgerton. I have a little bit of problems on the boat being not only a woman, but an Ulronai. We got a pack mule and two weeks worth of rations for everyone once we get off the boat. As we take our horses to get to the area of Fellsburg, another week of travel, that is our destination, we occasionally pass small villages or people who regard us suspiciously. As we approach the area, we notice some carrion birds in the area. We take out weapons but are not really worried because the vultures are few indicating that the decomposing items are not new. We come over a ridge and see human remains in a trashed camp at the bottom of the hill. There is a stream right next to the camp and ridges, some with manmade earthworks, going up from the camp and stream. Half of the party notices that, while there are tons of animal tracks, the majority of them stop 100 yards from the stream. We want to be cautious and check for magic and evil in this area. We tie all of our ropes together so that Perrol can get close enough to the stream to detect magic on it. He comes back with nothing, so we decide to repeat this with Jarlyn for detecting evil. As he is out there Ghoral says to watch out for the rock snakes, but Jarlyn also senses nothing. After much debate we decide to cross the stream. Kross looks at the scat on the ground and says, “Rock Snake”. He also tells us about the rock snakes that can be 30′ long and large enough to carry off/crush people. They are scaled to look like the rock. None of us see any rock snakes in the general area. We decide to ford the stream anyway. We assume that the camp has been this way for a good week. We inspect the camp and find many dead bodies. Using his magesight, Perrol eventually finds the beacon. Jarlyn has been detecting evil and comes across a pamphlet in a collapsed tent that is not ripped apart and contains no bodies. We find a collection of coins that comes out to about 50 silver. Kross points out that the spore of the rock snakes is about 5 days old and that rock snakes to not tend to stay in one area for too long. We have a heated debate about whether or not to stay or explore elsewhere. It is eventually decided that we will head up the ramps/ridges because the rock snakes didn’t necessarily kill the people, just crushed. We walk up the ramps checking for rock snakes, magic and evil at the top and bottom of each ramps. We forge onward and three fourths of the way up the second and final ramp our horses start to get spooked. Perrol’s backs up to the landing, Jarlyn’s refuses to go onward, and Kross, Ghoral, and I see three A-frames with winches at the top of the ramp. Jarlyn eventually gets his warhorse moving. The closer we get to the top, the more spooked our horses get. We all dismount and walk the horses. We peer down the A-frames over holes in the ground with winches leading down into the darkness. Jarlyn throws down a rock and it takes perhaps 20 seconds for the rock to hit bottom. He also looks down and notices a large rock start to uncoil and move.

Before we can take the swords, Perrol notices that these swords have the Tietha city guard crest on them. He also remembers that about a week ago a guard armory was raided and two guardsmen killed. With Jarlyn’s approval, Perrol would like to take these swords to the magistrate. Also, since we have opponents who’ve surrendered, Ghoral, Kross and I will stay and guard them. They are tied up, but we keep watch anyway. I move into the front room to keep watch out the door. After about ten minutes I see Jarlyn and Perrol return. Perrol tells me how once he got out of the range of the mirror his magesight noticed the pin was emanating a homing beacon. He asks me to watch over it while he goes to the magistrate. After Jarlyn does a detect evil on it and it comes out mostly clean. I agree to watch over it. They leave again. I go over to the door and tell the others that J&P forgot something but are back on their way to the magistrate. Suddenly I hear “They’re making a run for it” followed by thwacks and bloodcurdling screams. I check in on them and see Ghoral standing over a body with a mangled leg and Kross pulling another body in from outside. I ask them if they need any help and when they reply in the negative I return to the front. Then I see Perrol and Jarlyn leading back five guardsmen including one rather fancily dressed (stupid l. I let them in and say that we had a bit of trouble but they guys in the back took care of it. In the back they see all of the bodies. After Jarlyn heals the leader whose leg was smashed in the escape attempt, he is asked to confirm the truth of what Kross told on the way here. He does. They have all of the guard look at the faces to see if any are known; three are petty crooks but no one knows the leader. The Sargent and Leftenant retreat to the other sides of the door. I can lipread and get half of the conversation in which it appears they mostly believe us, but have no wish to lock up a paladin of the Azur order. Also, while they know that there is more to us than appears they feel no need to arrest us. Suddenly Ghoral pipes up and asks if there is a reward. We will get a runner sent to the inn with our six silver. They confiscate the guard swords from us and send us on our way.

We go back to the Black Boar. After a small detour Jarlyn and Perrol join us. Perrol asks me again about what happened to me after I left with ‘Bob’ from the market. Since I am completely calm now, I’m able to say that he was not young like he appears for he knew my father and I remember him from my childhood. He gave me this pendant and I remember him and it. Glancing at the pendant Perrol says that while it is not magic, it has echoes of being around quite a lot magic. Jarlyn asks to examine the pendant and I sit next to him as he prays over it. Eventually, he comes to the conclusion that the person who wore this was not evil but may have come up against it from time to time.

Perrol, Kross, and Ghoral head over to the mages with the pin, using the mirror to obfuscate it. They want it looked at. Jarlyn and I are in the room playing dice when the door opens and ‘Bob’ pops his head in and asks if I’ve changed my mind. I say that I need to ask him some questions. I learn that he was taught for services rendered but that it was before my father’s time. I ask if there was anyone who could vouch that he learned in a legitimate fashion. He responded that no one alive could vouch for his authenticity. I then asked if there was anyone who could vouch for him, and he says that the only person who could vouch for him who is alive was last seen in Velkara. He comments that I’m more difficult to convince that my father. To which I reply that he hadn’t lived the life I’ve lived. Very cheerfully ‘Bob’ says that he’ll ask me again later. Kross, Ghoral, and Pererol come back, without the pin, and tell us how there was a spying spell on the pin, which was not stopped by the mirror just hidden from sensing. They paid to leave the pin with the mages for the moment. Also, the mages will figure out who set the spells on the pin if we go and investigate this church site they found in the research about the sigils. Also, they tell us how a father son pair, Ilie Somerson and Thorn, had recently been doing historical research that led to the discovery of this possible church site. I remember how the necromancer in Wickshine was named Ilie. Also, where that Ilie said his son died was on the way to this site in Fellburg. We are trying to decide whether to stay and extra week before the job or not.