Jarlyn’s place

Perrol does detect magic and there is a staff glowing. The dagger Ghoral has now is glowing too. Perrol is also glowing. Jarlyn does detect evil and only sees residuals that are dissipating in the area and there is a small, concentration of evil from the room they came through. We head to the next room and find there is a book that is eminating the evil; Jarlyn recognizes the Dark God symbol on top. There are two backpacks and a chest. Glaive does security systems check on the chest and finds a poison (needle) trap. In the chest is a brazier,  incense, incense block, ceremonial robes, small pouch with 1 diamond, 2 pearls (10 gp each) and 5 gp. We search the rest of the ship. When we get up to the officer’s quarters, we hear snoring (probably from the third mate watching the area), but he’s awake when we get there. Perrol and Jarlyn do our detects and don’t detect anything new. We find 3 pearls and 22 gp among the officer’s quarters. We go back down to get the staff and then go topside; we throw poison needle and incense overboard. Jarlyn does paramedics on Glandslag and sees he’s just exhausted. Kross and Ghoral go to get the maps from the pirate ship. Perrol goes to talk to the captain. Jarlyn goes to burn the evil book in a bucket of sand on top-side; it seems hard to burn but eventually does. As Perrol walks around, one of the prisoners ask to speak to him and basically asks to pay for their freedom. Ghoral suggests a ransom of 300 gp. Perrol and Jarlyn go to talk to the 1st mate of the pirate ship; he mentions necromancer which peaks our interest. We end up negotiationg to get 400 gp ransom and we keep the captain, one officer and one crew member that are truly evil, but we can’t see the ships log. We go back to look at the evil priest and search them; find 2 pearls and a poison tooth. Kross sees a bloody footprint and we track it. We get 3/4ths of the way up and find a crew member on the stairs dead. We find a dagger and a vial. The dagger is more ornate than an ordinary crewman would have. Hidden in the ornateness of it is a symbol of the black god.

Jarlyn, Ghoral, and Perrol start to search the Pirate ship. Jarlyn detects evil and sees the captain and 2-3 other on the crew, 5 on the boarding party, 2 below deck, and 5 entities that appear to be in the water going between the pirate ship and our ship; we see reeds bobbing. Kross fires exploding area into the water. Three reeds shatter and there are bubbles. One human comes up looking around and seems to be confused. Another one comes up and starts to go back under. Kross fires an arrow and kills one and then the second one he hit’s by 11 in the hand for 9 body. One of the other guys hits the same guy in the back. Jarlyn does detect evil and he can see that there are three entities still moving towards the ship. Perrol does detect magic and sees they are carrying something like a magic dagger and a talisman. Jarlyn, Perrol, and Ghoral take their gillyweed and jump into the water; Perrol and Ghoral take off their armor first. Jarlyn notices the guy that is carrying the talisman is struggling with something in his belt and he has strange fingernails. The guy with the dagger seems to have fluid movement. Ghoral moves to attack the guy with the dagger; Perrol and Jarlyn attack the other guy. Ghoral is attacked but the dagger guy misses. The third guy attacks Perrol and hits him for 2 body and 1 stun in the chest. We see the guy with the object pull out a potion. Jarlyn hits him in the him in the head for 7 body in the head, he’s dead. Ghoral attacks and hits for 10 body in the right shoulder, his guy drops the dagger and starts to struggle. Perrol notices that he’s not feeling well and goes to the surface and says he thinks he’s poisoned. Kross jumps in and grabs Perrol and brings them onboard. Glandslag goes over to heal Perrol. Ghoral grabs the dagger. The third guy attacks Jarlyn and hits DCV 10 (by 5) but no body. Jarlyn attacks and misses. The guy attacks Jarlyn again and hits DCV 10 (by 5) but no body. Ghoral can suddenly move with normal movement and is by the guy I’m fighting. Ghoral hits for 11 body in the vitals, he’s dead. Ghoral grabs the potion and Jarlyn grabs the guy that is almost dead so we can see if anyone knows what the fingernails mean. Once on board we determine that they look like sharpened fingernails. Perrol thinks they are the Silver Branch of Talarshand (a country) because he has a necklace too. They are considered by many to be the most deadly assassins in the world; a step above of the Red Daggers. One of their favorite killing tools is their hardened fingernails that are poisoned and the necklace is a garrote. Perrol and Ghoral go below to interrogate the pirate captain. Captain said he was hired to attack this ship (by an intermediary in Arn) and make sure the five people get on board. The two entities down below freaked him out, severly. We start over to “take care” of them. Jarlyn activates his shield of the faithful. Glaive pulls out something and starts chanting, puff and nothing happens. Glaive pulls out another, chants and then she goes invisible. We progress on at a slow pace. As we get 1/2 through the hold, I feel a wave of evil and Perrol sees a wave of magic that dissipates about 5 m in front of us, but Jarlyn says he thinks they know we are here. Jarlyn activates his Steadfastness. We head towards the door. Perrol notices that they seem to have something activated around them. We get another “ping” of evil/magic. The door swings open and a guy with a huge sword is about 5 m back from the door; the other guy is behind the door. He steps up just through the doorway. Ghoral and Perrol move up to move them. Glaive moves in from the side. Jarlyn moves up. The guy swings at Ghoral but misses. Glaive closes in misses. Ghoral misses. The guy chants and everything goes dark. The other guy comes out and stands in front of Jarlyn. He reaches out touch Jarlyn but misses. Jarlyn does Ophel’s Holy Light and then attacks the guy with the staff, hits DCV 7 which misses. Perrol moves to beside Jarlyn and attacks the one with the staff, hits DCV 12 for 4 body in the shoulder; it flashes and bounces off. Glaive attacks and hits DCV 10, misses. Perrol attacks and hits DCV 7 for 7 body in the chest; doesn’t seem to get through but he grunts. Ghoral attacks and misses. Sword guy swings at Ghoral twice but misses both times.  Staff guy hits Perrol, looses 14 str, 7 con, 14 int and 7 ego; he is barely standing. Glaive recovers. Ghoral attacks the wizard and hits DCV 13 (by 5) for 11 body and 33 stun in the chest; he’s dazed. Jarlyn notices that the staff guy has a holy symbol representing the Black God. Jarlyn attacks the staff guy; hits DCV 13 for 11 body in the stomach and DCV 8 in the vitals for 19 body; he’s dead. The sword guy hits Jarlyn with DCV 13 for 12 body and 36 stun in the chest; I’m dazed. The second hit’s Jarlyn with DCV 13 for 6 body and 24 stun in the vitals. Glaive attacks and hits DCV 14 in chest for 7 body; second misses DCV 12. Ghoral hits DCV 10 and misses. Jarlyn is hit for 2 body in the foot. Jarlyn recovers from being dazed and is defensive. Glaive hits sword guy for DCV 17  for 5 body in the vitals. Ghoral hits DCV 12 for (spends hero point to hit) for 9 body in the chest. Sword guy attacks Ghoral DCV 8 for 2 body and 13 stun; second attack misses. Jarlyn attack twice but misses. Glaive recovers. Ghoral misses DCV 11. Sword guy attacks Jarlyn and misses; his second attack is a whiff and his sword goes flying. Glaive attacks, hits DCV 11 in chest for 4 body; hits DCV 14 in thigh for 8 body. Perrol runs over and picks up the sword and then he immediately drops it. (On the regular ship, Glandslag yells something and runs towards the Pirate ship; Kross takes off after him). Ghoral hits DCV 16 for 14 body in the shoulder. Perrol picks up the sword again and drops it again. We see ‘evil’ glee on his face. Grandslag and Kross arrive. Perrol picks up the sword again; discomforting. Glaive uses her boon and calls upon the Skyfather to help save her friend; she starts glowing. Glaive walks up to Perrol, grabs the sword, throws it towards the other entrance and give him a hug. Perrol feels some sizzling. Grandslag continues chanting over the sword; he’s trying to destroy it. It heats up but does not catch the floor on fires; it gets in a crackly state and cools down. Jarlyn does detect evil and there is none.

2 xp

I missed last week…

On the 15th day of the voyage back, we see a ship approaching us from the distance. As they approach, we notice they have pirate flag. When the ship is about 600m away, a lightning streaks towards our ship.  It lands 20 m to the left of the ship. Jarlyn enacts his shield of the faithful. Ghoral goes to man the arbalast. The pirate ship gains on us by 50 m. Another lightning bolt shoots out from a figure standing at the front of the boat and hits the tiller of the boat. They gain 25m more. Another ligthning bolt shoots out and hits the tiller again; there is cursing from our ship. The ship is at 500 m. Perrol hears something from the ship about sails. Another lightning bolt comes out and hits one of the smaller masts. Another lightning bolt lands about 10 m to the right in the water. The ship gets to within 475m. Kross holds to sync with Jarlyn. Another lightning bolt comes out and hits 5m behind the ship in the water. Kross shoots and hits DCV 17 (hit by 10) hits in the vitals for 9 body; second shot hits DCV 9 in the left arm for 5 body. The ship gets within 455m of the ship. Perrol hears someone say the location of Kross and Jarlyn. Glaive hears the boswain say to drop the sails and prepare for boarding. Another lightning bolt misses the ship. Kross fires again and hits DCV 13 (by 5 ) in the left arm for 7 body; hits DCV 9 in the left arm for 2 body. Another lightning bolt hits one of the small masts and knocks part of it down. Kross fires and hits DCV 16 in left hand for 9 body; second shot misses. Another lightning bolt streaks past the right side of the boat. The boat is gaining fast. Perrol estimates that the boat is 300m-350m away. Kross fires hits DCV 13 (by 5)  in the shoulder for 8 body; second shot hits DCV 11 (by 5) in the head for 6 body. Perrol says they are ~300m away. Ghoral fires the arbalest at the wizard and misses. Perrol hears someone yell Ghoral’s location and he also explains to the mage what we doing. Another lightning bolt shoots out and shoots over Ghoral’s head. Kross shoots and hits DCV 13 (by 5) in the vitals for 3 body; second shot hits DCV 12 (by 5) in the chest for 6 body. A lightning bolt hits the upper deck and we hear a scream. Kross yells that they are 200m-250m away. Kross shoots hits DCV 16 (by 10) for 7 body; second hits DCV 7 for 7 body; the shield drops. Ghoral fires again and misses. Glaive says they are 100m-150m away. Kross fires and hits DCV 13 (by 5) for 5 body; second shot hits DCV 16 (by 10) for 7 body. A lightning bolt hits close to Ghoral’s head. Kross hits DCV 10 for 7 body; second shot hits DCV 8 for 7 body; the shield drops again. The ship is within 100m. Ghoral hits DCV 9 in the vitals for 7 body, the mage drops. Kross fires at two people near the helm, first hits DCV 13 for 7 body, one figure drops; the second misses, DCV 8. Glaive can tell that one of the people he hit was giving orders, she also sees another person in robes walk out onto the deck. Ship appears to be about 60m away. The mage puts up a shield. Ghoral fires at the shield and hits for 8 body; looks like a chunk of the wall came out. Kross fires an exploding arrow and hits DCV 13 for 21 stun and 5 body; second hits DCV 15 for 20 stun and 5 body. Glaive and Perrol hear “second mage down, return fire quickly”. Ship is within 30m. Kross takes out one of the guys in their crows nest. Ship is within 10m. Ghoral fires at one of the boarding party leaders and hits in the chest for max damage, he drops. Boats move together. Kross sees that the mage that put up the wall starting to get up again. Kross fires and hits DCV 11 (by 5) in the chest for 6 body; he goes back down. Perrol is hit by random arrow (spends 2 hero points) hits in the thigh for 4 body and 8 stun. Kross fires and hits one DCV 16 (by 10) in the stomach; he drops. Ghoral fires the arbalest and hits another leader for 8 body to the vitals, he drops. Jarlyn moves in and smashes a fighters head in. Glaive hits one for 5 body in the shoulder and he drops his weapon. We do teamwork to push them back. Glaive hits DCV 9 for 2 body in the head, second hits DCV 13 (by 5) for 7 body in he arm; he drops. Perrol hits DCV 12 in vitals for 2 body, he drops for one of the ones that Glaive had hit. Kross fires and hits DCV 12 in the left for 7 body (he drops), second on hits DCV 10 in the right arm for 5 body. Ghoral hits and drops one. Jarlyn misses both. Kross hits DCV 9 for 5 body and DCV 15 (by 10) for 6 body; both drop. Glaive hits DCV10 for 2 body. Ghoral hits DCV 12 for 9 body, another drops. Perrol hits DCV 8 for 7 body (dead) and second misses. Ghoral, Jarlyn & Perrol kill 3 more. Glaive and Kross injure two more. A whistle blows and the ropes get cut. We are on the boat though. We start heading for the captain. Perrol does a presence attack and the party surrenders. We rush the captain and he surrenders the ship. We get the boats back together.

We get 2 xp.

We are eating dinner and the bartender calls out to Glandslag as he walks in. Perrol notices that something is not right with the exchange between Glandslag and the bartender. The bartender seems to be overreacting and “Glandslag” seems to have more the walk of a warrior. He walks up to the bar and sits down to get a beer. Perrol will hear “blah, blah” how’s the weather “blah, blah”. Jarlyn asks if we should go talk to him and Perrol let’s the group know that something is fishy here. Jarlyn does detect evil and there are several people in the bar that are slightly evil, but ”Glandslag” is not. Perrol hears “Grandslag” ask, “Are they moving?” The he asks is anyone lookging for me. Perrol and I decide to go up. Perrol says, “We were sent to meet you.” Glandslag asks, “And you are?”. Perrol calms down and then responds asking him to confirm he’s Glandslag. He’s “Yes I am, and who would send me such errand boys?” Perrol can tell he’s not Glandslag and he appears to be a conversational idiot, basically he’s an ass. Perrol says, “Glandslag knows who sent us, who might you be?”. The bartender looks shocked. Jarlyn gives the bartender a disappointed look. A table over, we hear someone start clapping. A youngish looking Orc stands up and there are two other Men at Arms types. Perrol will turn and say, “Glandslag I presume. I should of known an Orc would pull something like this.” He says, “If you were told by your uncle that you were going to be met by Orcs and taken half way around the world, what would you do”? Perrol asks who his uncle is and he says is the patriarch, i.e. king, of his clan. Perrol asks if he can speak Illurian as it would be helpful to the rest of the group; he can. Perrol asks if we can all sit down and talk. Glandslag asks if we are talking responsibility for his protection, we agree. We let him know we have a boat lined up. We all decide to stay on the boat for the night. Glandslag, Jarlyn, Perrol and Ghora run out to ask the other Orcs that were protecting him to tell the boat that we will stay there. We start to go into the inn and then we are surprised. Perrol hears a swish and a crossbow bolt hits Glandslag in the kidney and then one hits him in the back; he drops. Perrol yells “Help Glandslag”.

Segment 12, we grab Glandslag and rush him into the inn. Perrol yells at the inn keeper that Glandslag has been hit and he needs help. The bolt in his back falls out. Glaive, jumps and pulls her sword. Perrol draws his sword and moves to the door and looks out; he sees the soldiers turning the horses around. Kross strings his bow and moves to cover the doorway and sees people starting to run outside. Ghoral  takes his weapon out. Jarlyn checks Glandslag but can’t tell anything. Ghoral drops his weapon and performs paramedics and sees that he’s unconcious, plus he appears to be poisoned; he lets Jarlyn know. Ghoral goes to back up Perrol at the door. Jarlyn gives Glandslag a cure poison potion. Glaive notices an Orc at another table standing up and pulling a weapon and there are two other Orcs at the table; she moves over to be by Kross. Kross looks that way, one is up with weapon pulled, another is in the midst of pulling one out, and the third is still setting; he points his bow at him and says “no” in trade tongue. Kross can tell that the guy that is getting up, does not look right does not look right- probably not an Orc. Kross says something doesn’t appear right about these guys. Jarlyn looks up and can tell that these are three people that he identified as evil. Perrol does mage sight and the guy that is still sitting is totally enveloped in magic; he tells Glaive to get the magic person. Glaive holds. Kross fires an arrow at the “magic guy”, hits DCV 9 for 5 body in the thigh. Ghoral crosses over and attacks one of the standing guy; hits DCV 8 for 8 body in the left shoulder. The two orcs coming in are arguing, one guys is saying it is their fault and the other one says I don’t care, our first job is to secure Glandslag; they rush to the table. The Orc in front of Ghoral becomes undazed and the other attacks Ghoral; hits DCV 13 for 6 body (all absorbed) and 15 stun in the vitals. The guy sitting down, stands up and a fire arrow flings towards Kross but misses him and hits a patron behind him which collapses. Glaive moves to the mage; hits DCV 6 for 4 body in the chest - ting; second roll hits DCV 9 for 7 body in the left leg. The “good” orcs ask Jarly what is going on and Perrol translates. Glaive attacks the mage; hits DCV 7 and misses, the second attack hits DCV 6 and misses. Perrol looks out and sees that the Orc outside backing towards the door. Perrol moves to the mage; hits DCV 10 for 8 body in the right arm. Kross fires two arrows at the mage; hits DCV 7 - miss, hits DCV 13 (by 5) in the right shoulder for 6 body. Ghoral attacks the other standing orc; hits DCV 10 for 9 body in the chest - he’s dazed. Jarlyn does Hands of the Healer on Glandslag for 6 body. One orc attacks Ghoral; hits DCV 10 in left hand for 7 body, bounces off. The other orc recovers from being dazed. One guard at the bar says, “see he’s doing his evil magic”. The other one pulls up the shirt and sees that he’s healed, so he tells the other guy to “turn his ass around and look for external threats”. The mage bolts and runs through the guard at the door. Post segment 12 recoveries. Glaive holds. Perrol uses a presence attack on the remaining two “orcs” and basically tells them to drop their weapons, they waiver. Kross fires at the wizard; hits DCV 10 (by 5) in the head for 5 body, hits DCV 12 (by 5) in the chest for 4 body and he collapses. Perrol yells at the guard to grab the mage; he said he planned to. Glaive attacks the orc that was hit in the shoulder; hits DCV 10 in the chest for 7 body and he drops. Perrol attacks the other orc; hits DCV of 6 - misses. Ghoral attacks the other guy and hits DCV 10 for 7 body in the chest, he drops. The guard at the door “finishes off” the mage, by accident. Jarlyn performs paramedics on the orc that Ghoral and Glaive hit and he’s bleeding to death. Ghoral performs paramedics on the other Orc and he’s in bad shape, but not as bad as the first. Jarlyn checks the bystander Orc and sees that he’s barely alive. The guard drags the mage back to the door. Perrol crosses to the doorway and looks out; he’s sees one crossbowman getting ready to fire, he tells the guard to take cover, and he hears someone berating the crossbowman to be quiet. Kross moves up to the doorway and looks out to find the bowmen. Ghoral attempts to stabilize the orc, but doesn’t work. The crossbowman shoots the mage in the foot. A crossbow whizzes by Perrol’s arm. Kross fires at one of the crossbowman; hits DCV 12 (by 5) in the chest for 4 body. The crossbowman backs into the roof. Jarlyn heals the bystander orc for 3 body. Jarlyn performs paramedics on the mage and he’s still alive. Jarlyn heals him for 7 body and binds and gags him. Jarlyn notes that the mage has two bracers, we remove them. Perrol doesn’t find anything of interest, except 2 gp, 3 sp, and 5 cp and a couple of copper small arrows engravend with arcane runes, piece of flint and steel tied together with small gold wire - spell componenets; the mage has a red dagger tatoo. The other assassins have the red dagger tatoo too. Perrol does detect magic on the bracers and they are magical. Jarlyn performs paramedics on the assissin orc that is more stable. The two other assassin orcs have 1 gp, 5 sp and 7 cp.  The mage dies due to the poison; Glandslag will be out for a couple days. The city guard shows up after about 10 minutes.

We earn a hero point

We are in a choke point, 6 orcs in front and 9 behind. Glaive can tell they are a street gang. One of them hocks a luggy on Ghoral; got involved in work…….

earned 1 xp

The ships from Thun continue straight for us, there is no port of call behind us; they are gaining fast. We estimate they will overtake us in 45 minutes. The captain is turning towards land, but it’s at least a day away. Ghoral goes to get familiar with the balista. Jarlyn activates his Shield of the Faithful and Steadfastness spells. We hear the boswain say, “we are lucky today, these seem to be normal pirates”. Kross notices that one person on each ship that looks mage like. The right most ship appears to lag (900-1000m), but the left ship gains ground, now within 600 m, so it slows down. They both get close to 600 m. The sails seem to be fuller on the pirate ships, appear to be mage help. They are now 400 m, it’s segment 12. Kross fires at the mage on the left ship; hits DCV 5 for 5 body in the thigh and DCV 6 for 3 body in the stomach; he drops and we notice the sails start to deflate some. Everyone but Jarlyn notices that the sail decreases on both and that the standing mage now has an opaque look about him. The ships are now within 350 m. Kross fires two ghost arrow; hits DCV 13 (hits by 5) in the head and DCV 13 (hits by five) in the chest but it appears to not do any damage. A lightning bolt comes out of the mist and hits Kross in the right hand for 2 body and 1 stun. Kross fires normal arrow; hits DCV 10 (hits by 5) for 8 body and hits DCV 10 (hits by 5) for 8 body in the the chest. First arrow hits the barrier and drops. The second arrow pierces the barrier and it drops; the mage is standing with a stunned look. The cloudy globe forms around the wizard again. Jarlyn says this is like a barrier, not a personal shield, so after so much damage it falls. Kross fires two more normal arrows; hits DCV 6 for 4 body (bounces off barrier) and DCV 12 for 7 body. Perrol attempts a dispel magic, but doesn’t work - too far. Kross fires two armor piercing arrows again; hits DCV 7 for 7 body and DCV 10 for 8 body in the stomach; the barrier drops and enters the mage’s stomach. The mage fires another bolt of lightning at Kross in the chest for 11 body and 39 stun.; the blast knock him back 5 m and he’s down. Post segment 12 recoveries. The ships are now 270 m away. Glaive forces a healing potion down Kross’ throat for 3 body and 12 stun. Ghoral fires the balista and hits the mage in the leg and his leg is gone (hit DCV 15); he’s down. Jarlyn heals Kross for 10 body; Kross is dazed but fully healed. Glaive activates her deflection shield. Ghoral reloads balista. Perrol hears shotting from the other ship, sounds angry. Kross gets up and repositions. Ghoral fires the at the tiller wheel for the right ship and hits DCV 11 for 8 body. Ghoral tells them to tell the captain to change course to see if they are able to follow. Kross fires two arrows at the captain on the left; hits DCV 10 in left leg for 4 body (bounces off) and DCV 8 in the left foot for 3 body (bounces off). Ghoral is reloading. Kross fires again at left captain; hits DCV 8 and DCV 8, which both miss. He spends on hero point and the firs arrow relocates to shoulder for 6 body. I seems to stick in and drop. Ghoral fires at the left ship till and does 6 body. At the end of segment 12, the sails drop on both ships. The ships start to fall behind rapidly.

About an hour later, the captain approaches our group and thanks us. He promises to pass along what we did to his employer when he gets back and he gives back the money that people paid for training on the boat. He also says if there is a reward, he will have it given to anyone we wish; we say the Regent Mother’s lady in waiting, Julienne. He mentions that having two wizards with the powers they have are not common; they seem to be far from home. Glaive has less problems with the crew the rest of the journey and the dwarf and half elf are not growled at as much by the crew. Over the next bit of time, Perrol does detect magic and finds smatterings here and there. Jarlyn notices that 4 crew members are evil. The last 10 days are uneventful and we pull in to Brelg. We have to “checkin” first, kinda of like customs. We get questioned and let them know we are here to escort one on a pilgrimage. He gives us something that, if we get lost, they should be able to direct us. Perrol asks for directions. We head back to the boat to get our things and I ask the captain how long they will be here. He says two days and we ask if we plus one other passenger can get a ride back; he agrees. We head to the Speared Boar Inn to meet Glandslag, leading our horses. As we go, we notice “choke points” set up for protection of city. We walk into the inn. The inn keeper asks if he can help us. We ask if Glandslag is here, but told he is not here right now. He comes in one day a weeks and stays for one night; last time was four days ago. We ask prices of room and boarding for horses. Two rooms is 5 sp/night; no meals. The war leader suite is 7 sp/night. Horses are 5 cp/night. Meals are 1 sp each. We get the suite and then go back to the boat to see if the captain can wait an extra two days. We talk to the first mate, to see if they can delay 2 days. He will talk to the captain. Jarlyn also agrees to screen potential shipmates before they accepted into the crew. We head back towards the inn.

We earn 1 xp.

We go to the docks to try to find a boat for our trip. We eventually get pointed to some offices just off the docks that deal in trade with the area we want to travel to Kumasia; some do occasionally take passengers. First guys didn’t have anything leaving for a month. The second guy has something, but says we won’t to go since he’s going to Thordar. We say that we want to go, which takes him by surprise. We negotiate a price of 170 GP (34 GP each) for officer food, carrying our horses, and feeding them. He says he will send someone with 24 hours notice before we leave. Perrol thinks the castle is the best place to look for a book on tactics and there is one store that may have books.  We enter the store but most likely we will need to be waited on. Jarlyn recognizes that the book the guy is reading is about magic, so he asks what it is. He says he is reading a book on enchantmet, specifically potion making. Perrol asks if he has books on magic for instruments, but there is none; however he does have one on sorcery. It’s an introductory book on sensory spells and the theories behind them, detecting illusions, detect invisibility, and mind seeking. The price is 30 gp. He then goes to Jarlyn and Jarlyn gives him a list. The first is on Religious doctrine, but the books he has is ones that Jarlyn had already read. He has a set of books on Tactics, three volume set, which is like that art of war; price is 35 gp. He does not have any more books on Arcane and Occult Lore; got wiped out before classes. He does have another book on sorcery that covers two defensive sorcery spells called many selves and mind shield; price is 40 gp and the sorcery the primer is free. Perrol buys two books on language for Kumasia and Umbr (language is Umbrian) for 25 gp. Perrol also buys a book on Sea Shanties.

I start studying the tactics books while waiting. Julienne shows up and asks our plans and we tell her. After four days the runner comes and lets us know we leave the next day. We pack up and head to the ship. When we arrive the person looks sheepish and says he forgot to ask how many cabins we needed. We opt for 2-person and 3-person cabins. We get blinders for the horses, but Kross and Glaive still have trouble getting their horses on, so Ghoral has to help get them on. A few people seem to be perplexed that Ghoral is doing the horse handling. We start to settle in with Kross and Glaive in one cabin and Perrol, Jarlyn, and Ghoral in the other. There is a knock on our door frame and someone says there is a miffed looking woman wanting to speak with Perrol; it’s Heather. He talks to her and then comes back to the boat.

We settle in and the boat takes off. Over the next few days we study our various areas. Glaive tries to get one of the officers to allow her to learn some sailing techniques from the crew. The captains name is Nathan and the first mates name is Johnny. Every 10 days or so we stop for supplies. Glaive is able to study sailing along the way; 3 gp. Kross studies cartography and navigation along the way; costs 4 gp. Johnny checks on us occaisionally, to make sure we are doing ok. About 4/5 of the way in to the trip, ~50 days, we see two ships approaching from the area of Thun, the second most evil place in the world (sorceress headhunters). The alarm is sounded.

We earn one XP.

We sleep through the night with no issues and after breakfast in the morning, we head to see Aldus Manus. As we approach the temple, Perrol hears raised voices and notices the guards seem nervous (like he’s never seen before). We also notice that guards at all entrances are doubled up. We also notice that some priests and acolytes are nervous and somewhat bummed. We are approached by Methius and he asks us to follow him to wait as Aldus is in a meeting. Perrol hears 3 voices in conversation from Aldus’ room, which is near Methius’ office. He hears Aldus Manu, Bob, and the bard, Tiffany Lan, talking; Bob sounds pissed off. Perrol hears Bob saying he doesn’t like it, then it goes silent, and then ther is harp music. We suspect that they know we hear. We start to talk to Methius and then Perrol hears Tiffany say “you can come in.” We go over. As we enter we can see that Aldus looks calm, Bob looks angry, and Tiffany looks controlled and relaxed. Ghoral asks what the hell is going on? This gets a look from Bob, Tiffany laughs, and Alsdus Manus says that he is going to hid the stone. We ask who all is going to take it and he says the mostly the large contingent that met us. Aldus asks me for my holy symbol because it appears to be the last thing touched by Kilbern. I decide to give it to them since it will help take care of the stone. Methius will give him a replacement. Perrol asks Tiffanywhat she is doing here and she responds “Giving Bob trouble”. He also asks to get some tips from her and she accepts. Aldus says he is glad we came in to see him and it worked out well because others wanted to talk to us. At this point, Bob says he is calling in the favor we owe him. He says he has a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend who needs an escort to the captial city of the high church. He plans to leave soon and we would need to meet him in Brelg, the capital of Thordar. He will be waiting for us at the Speared Boar Inn; his name is Glandslag and he’s an orc. Perrol, Kross and Ghoral grim. Bob tells us Grandslag is on a pilgrimage. Bob says toodle-loo. Tiffany walks up to Bob and tell him he’s still an evil bastard, kisses him on the check and tells him to run along. The Tiffany says she volunteered to deliver some things to us. Jarlyn asks who is sending us stuff? She says its for our valor and good deeds. She reaches into her cloak. To the Paladin, she says Jarlyn must wait a day. To your archer, she gives him something that looks like his magical quiver for the bolts of blasting; the arrows look ghostly, i.e. insubstantial, and she says these will pass through most armor, i.e. ignore armor.  To the outcast of the group, she says she does not know if it’s helpful or harmful and holds out a necklace. For a limited time, ~5 hours, you will not be known as Ulrani but afterwards her curse doubles for 2 days. For my fan, she holds out a jewelry box with a ring and says may this help you in your use, study and learning of the magic of music. It’s a +2 to his music magic. For my funny, skillful and industrial little dwarf, my cousin and I give you this and then kisses him on the forehead. Both he and her start glowing and it gets brighter and brighter and hard to look at. Ghoral feels no threat and when know one can see and when it fades she is gone. At that point the veil will lift and Jarlyn, Perrol and Ghoral will realize that they were visited by  Lantiphone, the Lady of the Arts, Goddess of arts, craft, and skill. Ghoral is allowed to break one of the worlds rules and he’s allowed a +1 to all skills. Perrol asks what Bob is mad about and Aldus Manus says he’s known Bob for a long time and would rather not say. As we leave, I pay my respects and tithe on GP and I get a holy symbol from Methius.

That night we go to dinner at a tavern and Perrol tries to perform to test out his new ring. Perrol performs swimmingly and we see that he does well. At the end, he asks the tavern personnel “What’s new?”. One guy jumps and says, “I got a new mistress!!!”. Someone else says they are planning on rebuilding Norm the Gnomes property. A few other people shout inane things. Time will go by and the next day near the evening, there is a knock on the door. When the door is answered and someone is in the library waiting for us. When we enter, it’s Methius. He says the expedetion has left with the stone and he was sent to give Jarlyn something. It’s a rectangular case with a holy symbol of Kilbern in it. The chain is ornate. I give back the old holy symbol. He says it was Aldus Manus’ symbol. I ask him to thank Aldus and he says he does not expect him to return. He does not expect to survive trying to destroy the tablet. This catches us off guard. We decide to rest and head to Brelg in the morning. We’ll ask Methius if there is any recommendations on a boat to charter, but he’s not aware of any.

No experience this week

We take a coach to the ball and we notice it has a crescent that is close to the royal crescent. We end up bypassing the main line of coaches into the castle grounds and get the “special guest” entrance. However, we do not want to be announced, so we walk around to the main entrance to go in. As we enter we notice that some people are looking at us. We notice several people we recognize. We notice a young man approaching the group and he addresses Perrol. He asks Perrol, “Would you mind dancing with my sister?”; Perrol accepts and follows him. He’s introduced into a woman who’s average looking and looks like she’s from the merchant class. They talk about happenings sine we last left. She’s seems to know his last name. Perrol figures out that she appears to be lying about things, e.g. things being calm, etc.

The music stops and the paiges start bringing up chairs. Paiges start leading people to chairs and then we are approached and we are put behind the priests in the 4th row; there are 8 rows with 10 seats per row. The reagent mother’s contingent comes out and everyone stands. They sit in the front row, Julienne is there. Then a lady with a small harp walks out, Tiffany Lan. She starts playing and plays beautifully. She starts singing and about the origins of the world and the battle of the Gods. Everyone but Kross notices that the song is being sung in their native language. This freaks everyone out a little. We are all drug through a range of emotions as she sings. She plays for about 15 minutes. Ghoral starts applause and more people join him, including Jarlyn. She picks up her harp and exits the stage; it takes a while for the applause to die down. A crier announces that there will be a 20 minute intermission before the next set. We realize that everyone was hearing in their own language and Perrol is extremely intrigued. Perrol says she appears to be a prodigy, kind of the Bethoven. After 20 minutes, she comes out again. This time she sings about the fall of the Lord of the Graven Spear; it lasts ~30 minutes. More applause after she finishes; she bows and leaves. Perrol can hear that the band doesn’t want to follow that act. The crier will eventually say there is a 20 minute recess while it is discussed how to proceed with the ball. Perrol asks a guard that was in the battle in the Queen’s office if there is a possibility to meet the performer. He grabs a paige and asks him to get ‘Brad’. An older paige comes out, one that we noticed had come out of the private wing. The paige runs off and Julienne comes back. We think her, Perrol does so exuberantly. He repeats that we want to meet her, but she looks uncomfortable. Evidently they aren’t able to find her. After a while, some people start leaving. Glaive also notices that she isn’t feeling the normal type of anymosity she does. Heather walks over to Perrol and says they are leaving; Perrol asks if he can see her again. After a while we end up going home.

GM reneges on the “Aldus asks us what we want”. Instead, Aldus Manus asks what lodging we need, as things will be hectic for a couple days, due to what we brought back. He wants to meet with us in two days. Julienne is left with us and we ask for news since we left. She sets us up in a house (that has staff to help us) in a nice neighborhood. Julienne says the locksmith shop blew up a couple days after we left, which we knew Mr. Miggins was going to do. She says there have been two attempts on the mother reagants life; magical in nature. The wards of the castle have protected her. She asks us if we can attend an up and coming bard (Tiffany Lan) performing in the castle tomorrow. We have the staff sell the magic components for 2gp and have them use the money to replenish our provisions and other needs.

We go to the store with the potions to buy some, but when the merchant sees us he tells us to leave. He says that he will not do business with anyone that is unhonorable and his friends; he notes Kross as the unhonorable one. We ask if there is another place to get potions and he directs us to a place that was two doors down from the explosion was for Norm’s shop. Ghoral is impressed by the size of hole and the little damage to the surrounding area. We go to the merchant and ask for various items. We end up buying three smoke sticks, one dust of imprisonment, three seaweed for underwater breathing (gillyweed), one healing potion (Glaive), and one Lavoisier’s Useful Electuary. The total cost is 14 gp; 28 sp each. Kross takes the smoke sticks; Glaive takes the dust of imprionment and healing potion; Perol, Jarlyn, Kross and take the gillyweed; Jarlyn takes the Lavoisier’s Useful Electuary.