I always feel like... somebody's watching me.

[Dell]

We're being scryed upon by someone - at least that's what the Confused One says. Odds favor it being the wizard we just encountered who swore revenge on us. Now there's not much we can do about this. It's doubtful that he'd take us on all by himself again, so we're probably looking at him hiring thugs or assassins to try to kill us.

In any case, everyone try to stick together as much as possible, as it seems this guy just doesn't know when to quit.

[liato]

Maybe I can scry on him.

We need to not go back to our headquarters.

Did anything of note actually happen last week or did we just split treasure and head to town with Al?

[Dell]

Here's a quick summary of what happened last week.

We split up the treasure as listed, and left the Pelorites to their business of sanctifying the temple. Winthrop and Dell cast the Mount spell repeatedly, giving us sufficient hauling capacity to carry all the loot except for the furniture. This requires 6 castings of the mount spell. The observant us will note that this leaves the mages with no first level spells at all.

First, we found Orc tracks not too far from the temple. They were crossing the path we had made, not following it, so we ignored them. I mean, it's just orcs, right? That night we heard loud thumping sounds in the distance.
The second night we saw a bright flash of light to the north of us, which is the direction we were coming from. It could have been the spell on the evil gate being dispelled, it could have been the gate disgorging hordes of bat-winged demons conjured soley to destroy us. Or it could be something completely unrelated to us. I'm rooting for the bat-winged demons. The third night, more indistinct thumping.

On day four or five, or something, we start heading out of the mountains in what is apparently a trap. I mean, a narrow, deep canyon with no way out. Inevitably, we are shaken down by a giant. A giant that wants to shake us down for like, 2000 gold (200 per person, 100 for each mule). So as usual, we discuss the matter until Winthrop gets bored and throws a fireball at it. It nails Winthrop with a spear, and then flies away.

We stop for a while, do some limited recon, and then continue. Later down the canyon, We are ambushed by some creepy creature up above - he charms Frank and has him try to kill the mages. So we're trying to Hold Frank so we can stop him, this guy up above is dropping boulders on us, and Dell is invisibly running away. No, actually, Dell is climbing the canyon wall to get to the bad guy - but not too close, because he knows that Winthrop still has a fireball left. Never approach the enemy if Winthrop still has a fireball left.

Anyway, after Winthrop uses his last fireball, and Dell is in position to stabbity-stab the guy in the back... he flies away.

We found a cave that says the best fighter in the mountain range lives there, but we didn't have time to kick his ass just then, so we passed it by. We found another toll gate, and once we passed that we were back into semi-civilized lands.

Dell is officially the leader of the group, at least that's what the locals in the mining town think. He's trying to spread as much misinformation as possible. Which reminds me - guys, let's not go into town saying "We destroyed a temple of Nerull in the mountains. Yes, it was us, we did it, and we're staying at this inn, and evil wizard that got away, please kill us."

Anyway, we made it to Loftwick without too much trouble. Frank got his potions broken in his backpack - either in the rockfall, or the beating that Raven gave him after he got held. Either way, it's another reason why we should split up the treasure as soon as possible. It you own it and it breaks, that's your tough luck.

[liato]

So 2 fights, 0 kills, more escaped enemies.

It doesn't sound like vacation time.

Why do people keep hunting us down? Can't they just take an ass whooping and move on? Revenge is totally over rated. There's not much profit in it.

[Ginger]

liato said:

So 2 fights, 0 kills, more escaped enemies.

It doesn't sound like vacation time.

Why do people keep hunting us down? Can't they just take an ass whooping and move on? Revenge is totally over rated. There's not much profit in it.

Well, we plan to go to back to the temple to get the rest of the loot, so we'll probably get another chance to rumble with those guys when they try to shake us down again.

[liato]

I need time and assets to learn my 4th level spells. That way I'll have a little surprise for the wizard when he lightning bolts us. Like it won't work.

[Dell]

liato said:

I need time and assets to learn my 4th level spells. That way I'll have a little surprise for the wizard when he lightning bolts us. Like it won't work.

I don't think we should stay here that long - we have all sorts of crap to deal with in Longspear, we should get back there as soon as possible. Al's dying has delayed us enough.

[Ginger]

We have a house and an established network of contacts in Longspear. Getting back there will also let us follow up with the Pelorites to see how they fared once we left.

[Dell]

ArrowGuy said:

We have a house and an established network of contacts in Longspear. Getting back there will also let us follow up with the Pelorites to see how they fared once we left.

The Pelorites left us a note - or at least they were supposed to. It's in a helmet, in that first pit that you come across when entering the temple complex.

[Ginger]

Dell said:

The Pelorites left us a note - or at least they were supposed to. It's in a helmet, in that first pit that you come across when entering the temple complex.

That's true. It will also let us tithe to their church, which will make them all very, very happy.

[liato]

I thought the title of this thread was why we aren't heading back to longspear. There's someone looking for us with magic and if we go back to our HQ he'll know where that is.

[Dell]

The idea is, if we leave this guy alone, maybe he'll leave us alone, you know? I mean, look at all the sworn enemies we have that we never get around to attacking.

While we're in his turf, though, we need to keep an eye out for him. Maybe we can track him down, and kick his ass before he can plan some elaborate revenge upon us.

[Ginger]

Dell said:

The idea is, if we leave this guy alone, maybe he'll leave us alone, you know? I mean, look at all the sworn enemies we have that we never get around to attacking.

While we're in his turf, though, we need to keep an eye out for him. Maybe we can track him down, and kick his ass before he can plan some elaborate revenge upon us.

Remember, the wizard ran away from us. For all we know, he's scrying for us to see if we're actively hunting him down and if he needs to run away even farther.

[Dell]

Hey, maybe this guy knows Rocoba... that would be pretty cool, to have two 10th level wizards on our trail at the same time. And by cool, I mean that would be the most terrifying thing I can think of.

We'll ask around for him in town - Dell is totally willing to offer him a truce, let bygones be bygones and all that... I don't think he'll take us up on it, though. Come to think of it, hiring people in this town might be a bad idea, depending on how influential this guy might be.

[Ginger]

Dell said:

Hey, maybe this guy knows Rocoba... that would be pretty cool, to have two 10th level wizards on our trail at the same time. And by cool, I mean that would be the most terrifying thing I can think of.

Cheer up, there could be a wizard out there who wants his super-powerful spell book back. A 20th level wizard on our trail is definitely worse than two 10th level wizards on our trail.