The note in the mounds

[Dead Greyhawk]

In the mounds and tunnels were found not only the bodies of the militiamen, but also other partially consumed corpses. These latter bodies were also wearing the remains of armor and the like. After casting through their belongings, a variety of coinage, Keoish, Freecoin from the Yeomanry, and a strange, irregular rectangular coinage with crude orc-like runes on the top were found. Winthrop recognizes these coins as similar to a larger version found in the Dreadwood. Two other interesting items were found on these corpses. The first is a silver holy symbol bearing the image of a one-eyed orc, crossed behind by two spears. The second is a note folded in the pocket of one of the corpses. It reads as follows:

Farraus-
I commend you on your initiative but DEMAAND that you retrun to the east of the Javan at once. DO NOT involve the Yeomanry in our activities until it becomes clear that there is greater demand. Pick up your next assignment at the normal place in Kimberton.

-Tenma

Dell reminds the rest that the Javan is the river dividing the Yeomanry and Keoland, while Winthrop identifies Tenma as being associated with the slavery ring the Company has previously encountered.


As a reminder, there is no game next Sunday, due to the SuperBowl. We will play again on February 13.

[Dead Greyhawk]

For those of you keeping track of time, you will arrive back on the outskirts of Loftwick on the 1st of Ready'reat.

[Ginger]

Good, so I guess that we all didn't die while I was out of town.

[Mr. Trommer]

Well, we came close in a new way without being fried by a fireball. Although the fireball did cause the dirt ceiling to collapse and bury us all. We obvioulsy managed to get out with the exception of wolfie. Of course not of that would have happened had Raven not needed to sit on the pot all day. There were two large 3HD mantises and two smaller ones in the mound. They had a very nasty acid spray that hurt a lot. We actually accomplised the mission.

[Dell]

Also, the ranger hit something with his sword. We're all very proud of him. Winthrop is the most dangerous ally you could ask for, though.

[Ginger]

Dell said:

Also, the ranger hit something with his sword. We're all very proud of him.

He's done that before. Did he kill anything with his sword?

[Dell]

ArrowGuy said:

Did he kill anything with his sword?

Well... let's just say that the thing he hit died. Dell tossed a couple of daggers into it to finish it off. The saddest part is that Otto wouldn't have hit at all if it hadn't been for Fairy Fire.

[Ginger]

So we're still no closer to our vacation, eh?

[Mr. Trommer]

Maybe enough of a vacation to get some training. Liato did some scrying. Enough to see Lyyod and Gordon on horses riding in the hills. Liato and Dell need to be trained and I think I should get the training for my next level. We also need to find a cleric. So we should at least start traveling back to take care of the slaver problem associated with Tenma.

[Dell]

ArrowGuy said:

So we're still no closer to our vacation, eh?

Well, we're closer...

First we have to get back to Longspear. If we're going back to the temple as planned, we'll need to hire two clerics. If we're going to bypass the temple, then we can get by with just one.

The general plan remains the same - after we get to Longspear we'll collect our funds and items and sail down the river to Saltmarsh. There, we collect our funds and sail over to Monmorg, and our vacation begins. Liato will probably remain in Keoland and train in the Dreadwood. Winthrop will train Dell at the wizard's guild in Monmorg, and also pick up his extra spellbooks and get other spells scribed. Al will... Al will drink beer, and maybe visit his sick grandmother. Raven will buy a fancy bow.

Sounds like the life, right?

[Mr. Trommer]

Maybe we could negatiate some sort of deal with the unmentionalble spell book and Elmo while in Momurg. That way we could get some nice spell books with a wider variety of spells such that i have something other than fireball. Then maybe we could house our spare spell books at the mage's guild in relative safety while we travel and we can reast easier without the potential of a 20th level mage looking for us and his/her book.

[Dell]

I like it that you think any of our posessions are still there. I find it cute.

[Mr. Trommer]

In a party like ours you got to be positive. I expect that the giants have trashed the place and taken everything. They are just waiting for us to come back. maybe they are scrying us in order to see how soon we will be back.

[Dell]

Winthrop, did you want to see if we could get some new spells in Loftwick while we're here? Here's my current wish list:

2nd: Darkness, 15' radius.
3rd: Fly, Hold Person, Slow, Monster Summoning (I), Lightning Bolt, Item.

[Mr. Trommer]

It is definately worth a try, I don't have anything to write them in. I do have the 15 sheets of vellum we could give them to cut the price a bit.

[Dell]

Winthrop said:

It is definately worth a try, I don't have anything to write them in.

Oh, we can just get them written in my spellbook for now, and then when we get to Monmorg we can transfer them to yours. They have a weird barter system here, but we can probably trade potions and cash for new spells.

[Ginger]

Dell said:

2nd: Darkness, 15' radius.
3rd: Fly, Hold Person, Slow, Monster Summoning (I), Lightning Bolt, Item.

Darkness doesn't seem all that useful, since we can't see into darkness, and it's such a short area that they can just run through it. Fly and Item look cool. Slow seems to be an excellent choice. Hold Person seems less useful than Slow, but still helpful. Lightning bolt obviously is good.

Monster Summoning seems kind of silly since Liato will have Animal Summoning, which gets more powerful creatures who will stay with us for a long period of time.

[Dell]

ArrowGuy said:

Darkness doesn't seem all that useful, since we can't see into darkness, and it's such a short area that they can just run through it. Fly and Item look cool. Slow seems to be an excellent choice. Hold Person seems less useful than Slow, but still helpful. Lightning bolt obviously is good.

Monster Summoning seems kind of silly since Liato will have Animal Summoning, which gets more powerful creatures who will stay with us for a long period of time.

Darkness, you're probably right on. It's useful defensively, but not useful enough to pay for.

Hold is very useful, but limited in its targets, so Slow is more flexible, but it doesn't eliminate the targets from combat. It's really good for running away, though.

And Monster Summoning is better than Animal Summoning for a couple reasons - one, the "Monsters" summoned at that level will generally be humanoids - orcs, goblins, etc - so those of us that speak their language can tell them to go open doors, or chests, or run down the hallway with a lightstone so we can see what's ahead. They're a little more flexible, and it doesn't really matter if they die. Druids are supposed to care for animals, and not use them as Polish mine detectors, so Liato probably wouldn't approve of us using animals as bait.

Also, with Animal Summoning, the animal actually has to be within a certain radius - so if there are no animals of the desired type around, then the spell is wasted. But most importantly, which spell would you rather see him memorize: Animal Summoning or Cure Serious Wounds?

[Mr. Trommer]

Ah, I see that Dell has found a way to come up with a UXB party to clear a way with monster Summoning. I will have to look at the spell list to see what would be good to have. I don't have a list handy at the moment.

I was thinking about getting some caltrops. They might be helpful when we pull one of our tactical retreats. Of course the grease spell might work too but that takes up a slot.

[Ginger]

As much as it will depress Winthrop to hear it, I think we need a Fireball replacement. Back in the day, it was really crucial to be able to wipe out a group of enemies quickly. Now, our characters do a ton more damage. Instead of using mages primarily as damage-dealing characters, we can use them to disrupt the enemy while the fighters and animals do the killing. Instead of fireballing a group of guys, we can slow or hold a bigger group of guys so Otto and I can get to work killing them without worrying about getting burned in the process.

[Mr. Trommer]

What, no more with burning and the sizzling? The smell of burnt flesh. Ah, just the thought gives a warm feeling...

Well I'll willing to try some other spells. Now that Lightning Bolt the evil mage hit us with looks like it can be as fun as a fireball. escpecially with that bouncing back off of walls thing. That Stinking Cloud spell that Dell has talked about also sounds like fun. Lets go shopping!

[Dell]

I think the "Slow" spell should be our first priority to get - it affects more enemies as your level goes up, and there's no saving throw. It reduces the attacks we take, and also keeps the enemy from running away. Sound good?

[Mr. Trommer]

I suppose so. Not as fun though. Maybe we should get haste and caste that on the party at the same time.

[Dell]

Winthrop said:

I suppose so. Not as fun though. Maybe we should get haste and caste that on the party at the same time.

Casting a haste spell on any of the fighters in the party has at least a 12% chance of killing them instantly. Casting it on Liato and his animals would be the best option, since the animals he's looking at befriending have lots of attacks in their routine, and will have high Con scores in general.

[Mr. Trommer]

That's a pretty good cost-benefit ratio. Probably better odds than some of my fireballs. Just think how many extra arrows Raven could shoot.

[Dell]

I can't risk Raven dying, he's my second in command. Although seeing 6 arrows per round would be a lovely thing, wouldn't it?

[Ginger]

I don't much go for spells that have a chance of instant-death. I think I'll stick to 3 arrows of death per round.