Gabe3e

12 - 16 Nightal, 1357DR
[Game of November 1st, 2003]

*12 Nightal* Evening…

Lyta determines that her “make magic things glowy” spell will last several days.

Using G’Kar’s augury, they ask if they can restore Delenn to life by putting her
ashes in the fountain. Clangeddin answers, “The transfering of souls is tricky
business.”

They decide to try it. Jaran sprinkles some of the ashes into the water. The
water muddies, then clears. Nothing else happens. Ah well.

Gwynnedh drags Hadrian through the water and into the cave, while the others
make camp.

Sometime during the middle of the night, during G’Kar’s watch, Kalcryx wakes up.
G’Kar sees a glowing, translucent figure, an elven woman in white garment,
floating near Jaran. She flies in toward them, fixes G’Kar in her gaze, and
suddenly he feels cold with terror. The figure flies over to the paladin, and
stretches out her wispy hands. There is some sort of force keeping the ghost
from touching her.

Kalcryx’s ward tells him they are being visited by an evil elven spirit. He
tries to wake the others, calling out, “I think this is a spirit,” then casts
recitation.

The elven spirit seems angry, and paws at Gwynnedh again, this time passing
through the barrier. Gwynnedh wakes up feeling as if something icy cold is
clawing out her innards. She thinks of arming herself with the maul, but is
too terrified to do anything but roll away from her attacker.

G’Kar flees the cave. Lyta wakes up. Assessing the situation, she casts
burning hands, catching the elf in a fan of flames. The spirit cringes.

Jaran wakes up and tries to command undead, but fails. Kalcryx crawls toward
G’Kar and dispels the magic-induced fear. G’Kar, realizing what has happened,
recollects his wits quickly

The specter looks around, eventually turning her gaze upward. Her face
contorts, she draws in her arms to her side, and then she lets out a piercing
wail. She turns and flees the cave.

Connor, his swords drawn, finds his feet. Gwynnedh cowers in the corner, her
horse coming to shield her.

Lyta hurls a ball of ice after the specter. It seems unaffected, but the
waterfall behind it freezes solid. Jaran casts sunfire. Again, the creature is
unaffected but the ice of the waterfall evaporates instantly into mist.

The cave is filled with fog.

Kalcryx, hearing Gwynnedh sobbing in the corner, casts silence in the fifteen
feet ahead of him. Connor runs into the fog, seeking out the specter. He
creeps slowly, until it comes into view. He cleaves into the figure with his
Defender twice. It disintegrates and disperses into the surrounding mists.

Gwynnedh is still cowering in the corner when G’Kar comes to aid her.

“Regret not your actions, my lady,” he says. “It is powerful magic and I have
been taken by it many times.”

“Many, many times,” Jaran mumbles.

“Yes, many times, and many more,” Kalcryx agrees.

The rest of the night passes uneventfully.

*13th Nightal*

Morning comes. Gwynnedh takes Hadrian out to potty. Back inside the cave,
Gwynnedh and Jaran hear the sound of footsteps splashing through the water.
Jaran creeps to the waterfall. Gwynnedh and Kalcryx follow her. The splashing
stops and there is the sound of hushing. Kalcryx moves himself through the
waterfall and into the pool below. He sees five pairs of boots in the water.
The boots around Kalcryx shift about, and suddenly a sword is plunged into the
water. The sword glances off his armour, and the boots step back.

Gwynnedh pokes her head through the waterfall. She sees a young man, an elven
woman in chain armour, two tanned men in chain armour who must be brothers,
maybe even twins, and a young blonde man in leather armour. They all seem
surprised. Behind her, a glowing approaches: invisible Connor with swords
drawn.

Jaran pokes through the waterfall as well, attempting to conceal herself on the
other side. Looking in Jaran’s direction, the unarmoured man begins to wave his
hands about. A green acid arrow hits the wall above Jaran.

In the water, the sword comes down again, piercing Kalcryx this time. He
stands and swipes with his claws. There is a shower of blood.

Gwynnedh whistles for her horse, then calls out “Halt! Halt! What is your
business? Why are you attacking us?”

Jaran asks Gwynnedh if the opponants are evil, and readies herself to cast icy
sphere.

Connor runs through the waterfall, and suddenly becoming visible, he swings at
one of the other five, missing with a few swings, hitting with others. His
opponant falls into the water. The elven woman behind him casts healing magic,
curing the fallen man.

The spellcaster calls out “Fall back! The minions of evil often use
mind-trickery!” and retreats. An array of magic missiles flies toward Kalcryx,
“the sea monster”. G’Kar joins them, and Kalcryx falls under attack again. A
sword is plunged into him.

More fighting. All but one of the five retreat. Connor entangles the two in
the lead. Lyta casts colorspray on the one remaining, instructing Gwynnedh to
catch him if he falls. “Don’t go… stay and talk for a while.”

“Stop casting Melf’s at me. That’s irritating,” Jaran calls out, and casts a
spell to protect the party from minor spells.

The opposing mage spellcrafts, then mutters a surprised oath. There is a
general detente.

The entangling weeds are dispelled.

The bowman introduces himself as Simon. The armoured men are Androll & Eroth.
There is also “The Seeker.” At this introduction, the elven woman snickers.
“They call me Orchid. And his name is Sep, not The Seeker.” Bickering breaks
out. Gwynnedh starts to chuckle. She asks them their business here.

“I have come to rightfully set up a shrine to Astitia at the waters of
Rejuvenation,” the elf answers.

Kalcryx excuses himself and wanders back into the cavern. He conjures a
beholder.

“My mage friend says you cast some pretty powerful magic there. We were
wondering if you could identify some items for us. We picked them off some
Banites and we don’t know what they do. And also, if you have clerics… there
are some items that won’t come off. And you can pen some scrolls and brew some
potions, right?”

The mage holds up a dagger and points at a ring. “This ring won’t come off, and
I don’t know what this dagger does.”

The leader holds up his shield, his brother holds up his sword, the cleric tugs
on her armour, and the archer runs his finger along his bow and taps his armour.
“This is the only one he managed to identify.”

Jaran enters negotiations with them. She agrees to identify the items. They
are all +1. The ring appears to be a ring of protection.

After much discussion about teleporting to Velen so G’Kar can pen a scroll of
remove fear to give to Kalcryx, G’Kar suddenly remembers he has an extra scroll
in his pack. Lyta is pissed.

The kiddies chat with Kalcryx about the beholder, and stuff. “Umm, why do you
have claws?” one asks. Kalcryx thinks for a moment in awkward silence.

“Why do you have round ears? Some people are just born different,” Lyta
answers.

“Yeah, round ears are creepy…” Jaran shudders a little. The elven cleric
mumbles in quiet agreement.

Gossip. The spirit of an evil elf will haunt the area where it died, not unlike
vampires. They usually kill with their keening wail, but are generally not very
powerful.

Gwynnedh talks to “The Seeker” about what he has learned about the fountain. He
tells them nothing new.

The night passes uneventfully…

*14th Nightal*

In the morning, Kalcryx sets about getting the ring off the boy’s finger. He
casts “remove curse” and it pops off. Jaran trades it for a true ring of
protection.

They part company with the kidsters and ride out. They ride for about five or
ten minutes, then realize they don’t know where they are. They decide to
teleport back to the campsite they shared with the gypsies.

They arrive at the muddy path. It is again raining. They continue on.

Night falls, and they do not catch up with the gypsies before it is time to make
camp. Jaran miraculously starts a fire in the rain.

During the second watch, Connor and Lyta hear the faintest sound of whispering.
Suddenly, the party is encased in a ball of ice. Ouchie burr. Everyone wakes
up, some stand, arm themselves.

There is more whispering in the distance. G’Kar, Kalcryx, and Gwynnedh are
engulfed in a billowing mass of acidic vapors. Ack.

The party continues to prepare themselves and seek out their attacker.

Kalcryx pulls out his gem of seeing and looks around the trees. He sees
something. He points to a specific tree and informs everyone that there is a
man climbing down it.

Kalcryx suddenly jerks repeatedly as if he’s being attacked, though no attacker
can be seen. He falls.

G’Kar advances and casts faerie fire on Kalcryx’s general area. A figure is
illuminated.

Lyta, having summoned a vortex, urges it on toward the newly visible opponant.
It does not comply. Connor advances on the opponant and smacks him around a bit
with his swords. His swords scrape across hard skin. Connor is in return
attacked, and swiped at with claws.

Jaran advances, putting her hand to Kalcryx and teleporting them both to safety.
She arrives, as intended, near their campfire.

Gwynnedh, now with a clear target, twice jabs at it viciously with her
longspear. It turns to vapor. Huh. G’Kar tries to smack the mist around.
Connor swings his swords around as well. The cloud swirls around with their
blows, then seeps into the ground and disappears.

Jaran checks Kalcryx. He has stabilized, but is in poor condition. Jaran
sticks the Lifebringer in his hand, and he is healed. The party recollects
around the campfire.

Hadrian is radiating a distinct aura of displeasure. He is hurting, and has
been ridden hard. There is healing all around.

Kalcryx explains what he saw with the gem. It was an undead creature from a
previous adventure. The party decides to teleport back to the healing fountain.
They arrive safely, scaring the bejeezus out of the kiddies. Before anyone can
blink, G’Kar is skewered with an arrow. He growls at them.

Jaran turns to the kid and mumbles, “I’ve often wanted to shoot him, too.”

G’Kar asks Clangeddin if either Kalcryx or the fountain would be damaged by
sticking him in the fountain. Clangeddin answers, “No.” Kalcryx climbs in, the
blood washes off him and flows away, but nothing else happens. One time use.

Jaran informs the cleric of Astitia about the performance of the fountain.

The night passes uneventfully.

*15th Nightal*

To restore Kalcryx’s lost strength, the party teleports to Velen. They seek out
Gaellon.

“What happened to you?” he asks.

“Vampire, bork bork, black sword, hasted, bork…”

Gaellon agrees to try to set up an appointment with the high priest. They agree
to meet again in the morning.

They teleport back to the original campsite from the night before. It is still
raining. They ride at a somewhat faster pace, trying to catch up with the
gypsies. After some time, they see the forest ahead thins, and the path
continues onward, but the wagon marks veer off. The forest around is scorched,
the remnants of a battle. Connor inspects the battlefield, finding a number of
looted human bodies, and the impressions of smaller humanoid shapes, probably
dwarves. Jaran joins him, noticing larger foot prints in the mud. Connor notes
that the larger prints seem to be fresher.

Jaran sends a message to Ash, explaining the battle scene, and asking if they
veered off into the woods.

His answer comes back, “Approached battle. Could be more down the path.
Veered off into wilderness. Will track another suitable path. Don’t know about
giant footprints. See you soon.”

They discuss plans for the next day. Gwynnedh suggests they just teleport to
the gypsy caravan, ditch the sword, and get on with their caravan business.
Jaran agrees.

Jaran flies high above to scout a bit. She sees deforestation and fires in the
east. She sees a flaming catapult shot arc into the trees. She lands and
discusses her findings with the others.

There is long discussion about what to do. With misgivings, Gwynnedh decides to
continue on the path to stop the caravans, to complete their mission, and hope
that the battle to the east is under control.

The night passes uneventfully.

*16 Nightal*

In the morning, they teleport to Velen again. Gwynnedh seeks out Lady Zaranda
to report the disturbing news. She leaves a note, and receives a small box,
inside of which is a necklace and a note: “Sorry, I couldn’t see you.”

Meanwhile, Kalcryx gathers breakfast from the inn, and then rendezvous with
Gaellon. They meet with the high priest and Kalcryx is restored in exchange for
10,000gp and an elixir of youth. As they leave, the high priest appears to be
even younger than he was when they first met. He is happy. =)

Meanwhile, Jaran scries on Ash. He is packing up the gypsy campsite. She
teleports him a note warning them of the danger that lies eastward. She tries
to scry on the vampire, but fails. Next she seeks out Zonas, who appears to be
in a campsite. Next, she peeks in on Kouraf. He is in an icy cave.

Meanwhile, Connor walks around, trying not to get mugged. On his way to the
zoo, he runs across a marketplace. A man is yelling, “Anyone brave enough?
Anyone? Anyone! Let’s have a show of skill at arms. I’ll bet anyone 100gp
that my friend can beat them at non-lethal combat!” Connor wanders close. He
assesses his opponant and takes the challenge.

“The fabulous, the handsome, the brave… My good friend, Falderian! Now what
shall the rules of this combat be? First blood? Unconsciousness? Surrender?”
Connor defers to his opponant’s preference.

“I like the thrill of first blood, but that would be too easy. How about, I
stick my swords in the ground, I let you take the first shot at me, then we go
to unconsciousness.”

Lyta watches the transaction carefully, trying to see any signs of a scam.

“Do you have any last words for your family?” Falderian asks. “How can I
contact your father? Is he married to your mother?” He reaches for his swords
and comes in to attack. Connor hits and misses and misses and hits. Falderian
strikes back, cutting a deep gash into Connor’s arm. It bleeds more than usual.

“You see this sword here, it’s quite special.”

More swordplay. Connor swings, and Falderian drops. The crowd gasps, then
disperses. Connor sheaths his swords, then goes to his opponant’s side and
discovers Falderian is entirely dead. There are shorts of “Guards! Guards!”
He takes the two swords, and sticks them in the ground, waiting to claim them
until the guards arrive.

Falderian’s buddy runs away with the money, Lyta following shortly after him.
“You’ll need that money to heal your ‘friend’!” she yells at him. She casts
color spray, drops him, then gathers him and returns to the spectacle.

The guards arrive, a small company of armoured men. They inquire briefly into
what has happened. Learning that Connor freely admits to killing the man, they
arrest him.

There is some pointing and whispering, and a random peasant woman yells out, “I
saw her casting a spell at some guy! She assaulted him!” As a result, Lyta is
also arrested. The guards also arrest the sleeped thief. They are hauled to
the jail

Connor suddenly thinks to ask if dueling is legal. “No, of course not.
Neither is magical assault.”

Kalcryx, G’Kar, Gwynnedh and Jaran return and wait for a while. Connor and Lyta
are nowhere to be found. After some time, Jaran decides to scry on them. She
sees them in jail cells. Lyta, sensing the scry, waves to the watching
nothingness.

–

Back in the jail…

An official comes to Lyta’s cell, informing her that her offense was minor, and
that she will be fined only ten gold pieces, and shall spend the night in jail,
since no one was hurt by her ’stunt’. Connor, on the other hand, will spend a
few days in jail, and he will be fined a few hundred gold pieces, “since it
seems it was in fact a duel.”

The party wanders to the jail, and learn what has happened. G’Kar and Kalcryx
pay the one gold to see the prisoners, heal Connor, and chat for a bit. Lyta is
pissed off. Fumes are venting from her ears. =) The party decides to let
Connor and Lyta serve their time, and continue on with their various errands in
the meantime.

–

They teleport to the gypsy camp. Jaran presents to Ash the sword and carven
holy symbol. “It might stop glowing in a couple of days…”

Ash thanks them.

They consider new plans. They decide to spend the day investigating the fiery
battle after all, since the situation has changed. They ride until the end of
the day, then make camp in a meadow near a little stream.

Sometime in the evening, while they are eating their evening meal, they hear
tremors, as if there is a group of very large creatures moving about in the
woods. G’Kar suspects they are giants. He gathers Kalcryx and Gwynnedh and
casts strength of one. Jaran casts fly on the dwarf. The trees part, and G’Kar
sees the foot of a storm giant.

“Are they evil?” Jaran asks.
“I cannot tell… they are too far away,” Gwynnedh answers.

The party trails the giants, getting within range. Gwynnedh does not sense any
evil coming from them.

“Hey, giants! Where are you going?” G’Kar asks.

The giant stops and turns around. “Who wants to know?”

G’Kar introduces himself. Twenty minutes later, the giant responds, “A dwarf?
I am going to go kill some dwarves!”

That’s enough for G’Kar. He springs into battle, throwing his hammer at the
storm giant, twice. On closer inspection, he sees that the storm giant is in
bronze platemail. One of the rear guard giants pulls a boulder from his pack,
and chucks it at G’Kar.

Jaran surveys the scene, and calls out, “So, are you fighting on the side of
Tethyr?”

“I have no quarrel with you that I know of,” Gwynnedh announces. She and
Kalcryx also wait to see who they are against.

A giant screams, “We fight on no man’s side!” and charges G’Kar. Kalcryx and
Jaran see no reason not to step in. Gwynnedh is not so sure.

Further fighting ensues. G’Kar and Kalcryx are walled in by three giants.
Jaran uses a lance of disruption, striking the three facing her comrades. One
of the three falls.

Gwynnedh holsters her lance and slowly approaches the stone giant. “I do not
see any reason to fight you. Please tell me where you are headed, and what your
task is…”

“Then why did you attack us?!” the giant roars. He passes between Jaran and
Gwynnedh and casts a lightning bolt through G’Kar and Kalcryx. Kalcryx, as
usual, is unaffected. The lightning bolt rips through G’Kar, hurting him
terribly. G’Kar takes a step, is swung at, but not hit, then throws his hammer
at the stone giant twice, doing a goodly amount of damage with each blow.

One of the three mutters something in his native tongue, then flees the scene.
Jaran moves back, then conjures a fireball, centered on the storm giant’s head.

The remaining two giants also flee. “Maybe another day, little man,” the storm
giant calls out as he retreats. G’Kar flies after him, but cannot get within
range to attack.

Jaran begins to loot the remaining corpse, asking G’Kar what he knows about
them.

G’Kar confronts Gwynnedh, demanding to know why she didn’t fight with them.
Gywnnedh responds coolly, “Do you attack everything you meet on the road?”
They argue for sometime, neither budging from their respective positions. G’Kar
finally stomps away to sulk.