Obegard for the win!

It was a bit refreshing to not have to deal with Hate and his minions for a few days, just relaxing with pure, uncomplicated buttkicking of evil. Rescued our friends, made sure slaves were freed, stopped some evil mining operations... all in a day's good work :)

So it started out with us riding towards where Obegard sensed his marks on Barricade and his belongings. We met Borka there, leaving and laughing at us, on her griffen. I guess she had been waiting for us to show up so she could laugh at us. It turns out she sold our friend to a group of giant slavers who were wanting dwarves for their mining skills. She offered to sell us information of what was inside, but I was not interested in bartering with her. She will be dealt with sometime later though.

Since we didn't know what was going to happen, we sent Borrow in to scout the area. After a few minutes we heard a warning and ran in. We fought some tough giants. I would have used my ring of enlargement, but didn't want to waste it as we could face even more giants in the near future. The terrain worked to our advantage, but it was still a tough battle. We snuck around in the caves, and Obegard had a great plan - he teleported into where Barricade was, invisible, and teleported out with Barricade in tow. We managed to outrun the giants and their boulders and escape to the safety of the dwarven town. We could not manage to defeat the giant colony on our own, so I wanted to go back with a contingent of dwarves, but the dwarven leadership promised they would liberate the slaves. In return, they gave us a stronghold in their keep. Borrow was sour about the whole thing, but I think that it could be a great meetingplace, with a splendid temple to Albrecht, spreading his word to a new area. Perhaps we can even show some deveranian's the error of their ways.

Wizard in a bag

We found the area where Barricade had been taken and Borka saw us as she left the area, offering to trade for information. I kind of like Borka; at least you know where you stand with her. The others don’t seem to trust her, though, so there was no trade.

Instead it was up to me to go scouting again and boy oh boy—giants! I saw two inside the entrance playing cards at a guard post, another near some cells, and I could hear signs of mining so there were bound to be more giants with the slave labour.

This was going to be a tough egg to crack, so I thought I might be able to take some of the pressure off if I could provoke a fight between the two giants playing cards. One of them was already accusing the other of cheating so I figured all it would take would be to sneak some money from one side to the other. Not really my strong suit (pardon the pun)—I'm more into scouting than stealing.

The giants knew something was going on so I magically whispered to the others to come in and help while I stood in a position where I could magically silence the alarm bell, which amusingly meant I was standing on top of the card table right between the two giants.

The tunnels weren’t that wide so they could be taken one at a time and a good thing too because they thumped Ili and Malakar when we had the advantage of numbers. If only we could have put a barrier in front of both of them because the one at the back did absolutely nothing with its javelins.

I stayed well out of the way because I knew it would be a bad idea to get in the thick of things too soon and sure enough not one but two fireballs went off in the area I would have been in had I tried to help.

Not that I didn’t play my part—I just made sure I waited for the area effect spells to clear before I got involved.

With the guards out of the way we moved further into the caves. I knew that the side off to the left was completely empty so we headed straight around to the interesting part of the complex and with the other guys standing by I snuck past the cell guard and confirmed that the cells were empty. One fewer giant to fight is fine by me.

We avoided the mining area and Obegard could tell where Barricade’s belongings were so he used magic to jump in and a couple minutes later he appeared again with Barricade and a bunch of stuff and told us to run for it.

We made it out of the caves before the giants caught up, and then the ground started shaking as the boulders they threw hit the ground around us. One caught Obegard beside me and he went down like a sack of potatoes so I took a potion to turn myself invisible and then poured another down Obegard’s throat so neither of us would be targets, and then bundled him into my storage sack.

Malakar was circling around with a spell of flying so I grabbed hold of him and we high-tailed it off the mountains faster than the giants could chase us and we didn’t really stop until we got back to Golden Axe.

Well, that’s not completely true because the others had some weird hangup about riding Obegard’s summoned horses into the ground. I don’t understand it at all—we thrashed them while we were chasing Borka and even when they all die one day there they are the next, fresh as a daisy again. I mean they’re magical—you can’t kill them.

Back at Golden Axe our “reward” was that we’ll be given a stronghold in a keep the dwarves are going to build outside the caverns with the temple of Kor. You should have heard the others carrying on about temples, and towers, and barracks, and guest rooms, and dining halls, ... Wassamadda—eating with the dwarves not good enough for you?

Me, I’ll just be making a nice little room or two underground. Maybe with a couple of dozen traps set up to keep any guests out of my business.

Splat!

I've never run so hard in my life, and I've never felt so much pain (but the time with the fire elemental was close). My impulsive jaunt to save Barricade went more smoothly than I anticipated, right up to the point where two boulders crashed into my back in rapid succession. When I regained consciousness, we were miles away and riding hard for safety; they tell me that I was near death, and Borrow stuffed me into his bag of holding to save me. I am again amazed by Malakar's healing magic -- my continued life and my mobility are testimony to his skill.

Back to the beginning: the cave wasn't at all what I'd expected. I thought we'd find a repeat of the Temple of the Undying Flame, with Borka working for another of Nassiral Hate's thugs to question Barricade and regain the artifact. But this time around her crew was tougher, and her employers weren't after the artifact, just slave labor.

We met Borka just as she was leaving, riding a Griffon into the sunset (everybody around here seems to have flying mounts, except us). She shared her usual sardonic taunts, told us that Barricade was inside a nearby, and offered to trade for information. Nobody was terribly interested in taking her up on it. Mostly I was glad she didn't choose to attack; we weren't prepared for an aerial assault, and we never planned to meet her force head-on in the open.

We approached the cave cautiously as Borka flew off, and then sent Borrow in, under invisibility, to investigate. After waiting tensely for four or five minutes, I suddenly heard his whispered alarm "you guys better get in here". Rushing in, we found ourselves face to face with two angry frost giants. Fortunately, only one could fit into the entry tunnel to swing at us, and the other threw javelins from behind to little effect. Even with that tactical advantage, Malakar and Ili took a beating from the resiliant giants in a long battle of attrition, before we finally defeat them with fire and steel.

Borrow never told us how he raised the alarm; I'm surprised, given his invisibility and his natural stealthiness. At least he was able to silence the alarm bell; there's no way we could have faced the rest of the giants at the same time.

Continuing to investigate, it became more and more apparent that this was some kind of mining operation, controlled by front giants using slave labor. Defeating the giants didn't appear to be an option, given our difficulty in getting past the two at the front gate. Impulsively, I decided to attempt an invisible dimension door directly to the location of Barricade's posessions. I found myself in an unusual chamber, noisy with the brutality of a frost giant leader trying to whip Barricade into submission. I quickly scouted around, grabbed Barricade's possessions (and a couple of extras) off the giant desk, and got into position for the key maneuver. I tried to time my movement between the lashes, but as I reached for Barricade I got swiped too. Fortunately, he didn't struggle and I was able to dimension door us back to the others. From there, it turned into a hectic chase.

We made it outside, and spent what spells we could to accelerate Malakar and Barricade, so Borrow and I were bringing up the rear. When the frost giants reached the entrance, they started to pelt us with a hail of boulders, and that's when I went down.

On the whole, I think we were successful: we saved Barricade, we retrieved the artifact, and we delivered them safely to New Goldenaxe a few days later. Malakar and Ili were insistent that we couldn't let the slavery continue, but fortunately Gnorrow Yar assured us that a dwarven force would take care of it without the need for our involvement. Our long journey seemed to be at an end, but then Yar asked us to accompany a column of dwarves back to the cavern where we fought the dragon to assist in establishing their stronghold there. From the sounds of things, Dragon Keep will be a large fortification enclosing the entrance to Kor's cavern, and give the dwarves a vitally-needed presence outside Deverenia. Yar has hinted that he might grant us space within Dragon Keep to establish a keep of our own, and that suggestion has caught my imagination: Malakar and I have stayed up late into the night debating the possibilities. Borrow is demonstrating his typical lack of enthusiasm for organized group activity, but even that can't temper my enjoyment of our current success and status.

The Cities

Aerie
Large town: Conventional; AL LN; 3,000 gp limit; Assets 1,480,000 gp; Population 4,936; Mixed (98% human). Authority Figures: General Gondorus; Nicodemus (Master Warden)

Merrick
Large City: Nonconventional (oligarchy); AL CN; 40,000 gp; Assests 40,000,000 gp; Population 20,000; Integrated (43% human, 30% deverenian, 5% nothrog, 2% elf). Authority Figures:

New Golden Axe
Small City:Nonconventional (martial occupation); AL LG; 15,000 gp; Assests 4,125,000 gp; Population 5,500; Mixed (95% dwarf, 5% deverenian). Authority Figures: Gnorrow Yaw (High Vicor of Kor)

Stony Vale
Hamlet: Conventional; AL NG; 100 gp; Assests 1,800 gp; Population 361; Isolated (human 96%, elf exiles 1%, half-elf 3%). Authority Figures:

Starting City	Ending City	Distance	Terrian	Days (20 ft)
Aerie	New Golden Axe	31 miles	80%P/20%Mt	4
Aerie	Stony Vale	92 miles	83%Mo/17%Mt	6
Dragon Keep	Aerie	96 miles	50%Mt/50%Mo	6
Dragon Keep	Stony Vale	56 miles	50%Mt/50%Mo	4
Dragon Keep	Merrick	93 miles	70%Mo/30%Mo	6.3
Stony Vale	Merrick	37 miles	100%Mo	2.3

Terrian Legend F: Forest, H: Hills, Mo: Moors, Mt: Mountain, P:Plains, S: Swamp

No Dwarf Left Behind

We finally caught up with Borka, but Barricade was nowhere to be found. Instead, she and her cronies were all riding flying mounts. No wonder they were able to make such good time. She didn't seem to be in a mood to fight, and tried to sell us information about where they had taken Barricade. We weren't in a mood to parley, knowing her reputation, and we sent Borrow in to scout.

Borrow seemed to have gotten into a bit of trouble while scouting the caves, and we had to go rushing in without much preparation time. We were intercepted by a pair of blue-hued giants. They stood twice as tall as us, and didn't seem happy to see us. Fortunately, the narrow cave entrance played in our favor, and they were only able to attack us one at a time. It was a hard fight, but we took care of them and continued forward.

Borrow said that he wasn't able to find Barricade, so we had Obegard discern the direction to Barricade's belongings. He cast a spell of invisibility on himself, and he whisked himself over to Barricade magically. After a few tense moments he returned with Barricade at his side, and told us to get running. We high-tailed it outside of the cave, with Obegard casting a web to slow down our pursuers. Obegard cast a spell of flying on myself, and I carried Barricade toward our horses. However, the giants weren't far behind us, and I saw them throw a pair of boulders that sent Obegard tumbling down. I turned around and saw that Borrow had poured a potion of invisibility into Obegard's mouth and drank one himself. I kept moving and eventually, I felt Borrow take hold, and I picked him up and flew back to our horses whilst dodging dozens of boulders flying at us. (Actually, given that I'm not very agile, dozens of boulders slammed into me, but my full plate was able to protect me from harm)

After we were a safe distance away, I healed Obegard back to his feet and we headed to the Dwarven settlement. On the way, we encountered Borka again, and she seemed quite surprised that we had rescued Barricade. Undoubted not wanting to draw our wrath for long, she returned Borrow's small magical shortsword. I guess she didn't really have much use for it either. We reached New Goldenaxe without further incident. There, the Dwarven commander informed us that a new Dwarven Stronghold was to be built back at the Dwarven temple in the mountains. As people who helped to clear our the temple and rescue Barricade we were awarded with a keep inside the stronghold, in order to further Human-Dwarf relations.

I was intrigued by the prospect. With charge of a small temple of Albercht, I could perhaps start anew, away from the prejudiced elders, and create a new arm of the Church that's more tolerant and free of corruption.

Victory and Defeat

We appeared near the giant eye. We took advantage of the surprise and concentrated our attacks on the aberration. I missed twice, but my efforts weren't entirely futile. The power of my attacks seemed to have attracted its attention, and it turned and cast several spells out of its eyestalks. The rays hit me square, but I was able to shrug off most of the effects. My companions kept attacking and brought the beast down quickly.

As soon as this happened, the others in the chamber seemed to have regained their senses. We quickly explained what had happened, and told them at they'd be returning to the aerie. We took an eyestalk as evidence that the attacks on both sides of the border were perpatrated by this beast. Unfortunately, Barrin did not survive the battle, but such is nature of war.

We returned to the fortress, but we still needed a way to contact Ygraine, the commander of the Devoranian forces. Fortunately, someone had a spell that would allow one of us to contact her in her dreams. Ili volunteered to deliver the message. Though Ygraine didn't appear to appreciate us contacting her, she still agreed to hear us out. We met her the next day, and though the situation was tense, the evidence we presented in addition to the Devoranian nobles' tale was enough to convince her. Her forces pulled out the next day, and there was cause for celebration back at the keep. We were all well rewarded and we took some time to rest and recuperate, as well as take the time to get several magical items crafted.

We were soon off with just Barricade to find the Dwarven town. I suggested to Obegard and the others that perhaps, we should invest in a spell of Rope Trick. Though uncomfortable, it would still ensure our safety as we rested each evening. Unfortunately, they laughed at my ascetic but pragmatic suggestion, and insisted upon sleeping where it was more spacious. My worries were proven correct as we were ambushed on night. Barricade cried out in warning as about ten men emerged from the forest with nets. By the time I was able to assess the situation, it was already too late; they had already trapped everyone in nets. I knew that I probably stood the best chance of escaping and subsequently helping to rescue them, so thinking quickly, I pulled out a potion of invisibility and drank it. I then cast a spell that allowed me to slip free of my bindings and I retreated into the forest. I was in earshot but out of sight by potentially magical means.

I heard a familiar voice: it was that of Borka. It appeared as if after her previous defeat, he had hired better help. She took the weapons of the others and also grabbed Barricade. I was glad that I wasn't there, since all of the others but Borrow did not really rely on weapons. Borka knocked the others unconscious and took our mounts as well.

I healed the others and discussed the next plans. Obegard had cast a Dragoneye Rune on some of Barricade's equipment, and we could track them. He next conjured some steeds and we rode in pursuit, but they were quite swift as well. We nearly pushed our summoned horses to death in order to catch up with Barricade. Obegard reported this morning that he sensed that Barricade seemed to have stopped moving, so the next move was ours...

An Eye for an Eye

"The Heroes of Condor Pass"! I liked the sound of that. At least, I liked it coming from General Gondorus and Headwarden Nicodemus -- the sarcasm of Borka's taunt drew most of the majesty from it.

Our fight against the eye was mercifully brief. The potent combination of luck and planning held the day, and casualties were lighter than expected, with one sad exception: Barrin, the noble and patient dwarf who has accompanied these last weeks, was killed during the assault. It's the first death within our party; I suppose the amazing thing is that we've made it this far unscathed.

Ili dared to contact Ygraine in a dream, and we arranged a tense meeting on neutral ground. The obvious contempt she showed for us may be all that saved our life (though I note that she, too, had no idea what kind of beast we had faced).

Relief at the end of the battle was brief but intense, as we celebrated with the Denskans. We stayed for a little over a week as the defenses were repaired, and resupplied. I spent more time in Nicodemus's library, and started to decode the monster's spellbook (unsurprisingly filled with offensive rays, some quite creative). I'm going to keep the Nothrog-hide volume at the bottom of my new haversack, lest I offend any Nothrog we encounter which fail to be as hostile as usual (or as subsequently-dead as usual).

Back on the open road, we were only a few days from Condor Pass when disaster struck again. Borka, the mercenary leader responsible for Barrin's capture, ambushed us at night with a new crew of highly-trained fighters. They ensnared us in nets even as we awoke (note to self: enact better magical defenses at night!). Malakar escaped for a moment, and Borka took Barricade, our weapons, and our mounts, leaving us rudely unconscious.

Fortunately, Barricade had previously asked me to mark the artifact and his other key possessions with my Dragoneye Rune, so I was able to track them. However, Borka's party moved extremely quickly through the mountains, and we couldn't keep up on foot. I was able to summon mounts for us all, but even so we couldn't keep up except by pushing the summoned creatures past the point of exhaustion. I feel bad about treating the creatures this way. Although their pain is temporary as summoned creatures, it is no less real than ours. With Barricade's life at stake, and the metal-melting artifact possibly headed back to Nassiral Hate, we had no choice.

I sense now that Barricade's possessions have stopped moving, so in all likelihood Borka's group is encamped ahead. Perhaps they wait for a rendezvous with representatives of her employer (Hate again, I'd presume, but we can't be certain). We have only a few more hours to ride, and then we must needs assemble another plan for rescue.

I favor a stealthy, rapid approach. If we can gain sufficient intelligence on the place where Barricade is being held, I might be able to get close enough to invisibly port in, grab Barricade, and port out again in a matter of seconds. The risk of detection is substantial, and other complications could arise, such as the artifact being held far away from Barricade, or magic-aware guards. However, a frontal assault seems even more unwise, given the extent and martial prowess of Borka's force.

Trouble seems to be brewing within our group, too, as Borrow's conflict with Ili has emerged into the open. I wish I knew what to do about it. Maybe the loss of dwarven company has been harder on Borrow than he has let on? I was hoping that Malakar might be able to help forge unity, but he's been strangely silent lately; I wonder what's on his mind. (No, not quite curious enough to cast detect thoughts, but close.)

Be the first on your block to own a dwarf

There’s love, and then there’s obsession. It seems the Northrog don’t know where one ends and the other begins. Perhaps that’s why I don’t like them.

The giant floating eye thing was no real challenge, particularly with my sexy new thunderclap ring. Ili beat into it as well, and I think Obegard singed it with his fireball, but I laid on the big licks and finished it off with the thunderclap from the ring.

We were back in the Aerie in no time, and then we used some weird magic to create a dream to let the besieging Deverenians know that we nod the answers needed to stop the bloodshed.

I have to say that after all our efforts the Aerie folk were extremely underwhelming in their gratitude—the extent of our reward was permission to buy magic items at market value. Pffft. That’s the problem with helping the military—they just assume everyone is willing to lay down their lives in the name of duty.

We spent days in the Aerie getting some items crafted, and Obegard was copying some spells too.

It probably wasn’t a good idea to rush into Deverenia anyway as it took some time for their army to withdraw, but I itched to get out of here. After all, Barren had died in the fight against the eye monster but Barricade now had the relic we were trying to take underground for safe keeping.

I wasn’t very happy to be woken in the middle of the night by a surprise visit from a bunch of humans with nets. It was that girl we’d beaten up to get Barren and the relic in the first place, and apparently she’d worked out that she needed better help.

We pretty much had to surrender and hope for an opportunity to escape. Unfortunately they didn’t want everyone; they just wanted a dwarf. They didn’t even seem to care which one they got. And Ili was more than willing to turn me over, bitch.

Then she started yapping about how I had some chance to escape and then of course they decided to take Barricade instead. So either Ili is a master strategist and that was her plan, or she’s just stupid and tipped her hand.

It’s not like it’s hard to guess which, so I’ll have to think of a suitable “reward.”

We’ve trailed them back over the mountains but we weren’t making up any ground until they stopped moving, so I have no idea what sort of fortress we’ll have to break into to get Barricade back. And Borka stole my sword so now I’m stuck with this bow. It’s almost like Malakar planned this, given how obsessed he seems to be with me using missiles.

Good folk, lock up your son and daughter

All the pieces are falling into place, and yesterday's incomprehension has given way to today's certainty and determined planning. "Seek the eye" turned out to be more literal than expected (though "seek the big floaty eye/mouth thingy" would have been even more accurate). The bandit attacks have been coordinated by a monster with the ability to dominate or charm people into its service.

Borrow's well-conceived deception brought the "bandits" to us, and from thence we located their controller's lair not a moment too soon! Fortunately, we encountered a pair of unbearably haughty Deverenians trapped at the foul-smelling cave, and the wardens should be able to stay Ygraine's fell hand with their testimony. However, the monster and its army now threaten the Aerie directly, and we must soon join battle with them.

(Asdie: I am beginning to wonder if this crossbow is aligned properly. Since our journey from Ghostwood, I have yet to find my mark with it. I admit I felt some relief when Malakar shouted for a fireball from the midst of the cavern melee. Though I feared for Ili I went ahead with the spell, and she weaved out of the way just as the edge of the blast reached her.)

Now, after a tense and monotonous journey down through the bowels of the mountain range, Borrow has spotted the monster's and its enthralled century encamped ahead in a huge cavern. The humanoid forces are divided into three groups, with four guarding the monstrous eye. Additionally, a huge earth elemental waits; the Dwarves speculate that the monster used the elemental to dig these tunnels, and further that we might be almost atop the Aerie now. If these forces are permitted to enter the Aerie uncontested from above, the Denskans will be totally unprepared and vulnerable to rout.

We have hurriedly formulated a battle plan: after enhancing the fighters for mobility and protection (and Borrow for invisibility), we will proceed simultaneously with the element of surprise. Barren and Barricade will attempt to free the elemental and enjoin it to distract the dominated masses, while the Warden and I simultaneously teleport the rest of the fighters into position on either side of the eye. Our job as spellcasters will be to disable the eye's movement, so that the fighters can kill it swiftly before its dominated army reaches us. Even moreso than many of our plans, this one appears to be do-or-die; we'll have a very limited window of opportunity to disable the monster before its thralls overwhelm us or it converts us to its service.

I wonder what the monster hopes to gain from this attack. It seems uncharacteristic for an abberant beast to meddle in the wider affairs of the nations; surely some remnant of the Deverenian or Denskan forces would remain after their battle, sufficient to prevent the monster from gaining permanent control of the Aerie. And what would a monster want with the pass anyway? Perhaps there are deeper forces at work here. As before, it may not be for us to know, merely for us to meddle and hope -- the monster is far too dangerous for us to keep it alive for questioning.

Finding the Eye

The next day, we received word that a caravan had just been attacked on its way to the keep, and that there were a pair of survivors from the ambush. We questioned the two, and they said that the attackers were a fairly large group comprised of Nothrogs, Dwarves, and humans. I thought it to be quite strange, because you'd normally never encounter such a mixed group working together. I surmised that the attackers were perhaps under a form of magical compulsion, which would explain the missing soldiers, and why the Deveranians had thought that they had been attacked by the Lyrans.

Borrow suggested that we disguise ourselves as a group of merchants, and head off as bait. It was a fine idea, and as we left the towards, we were caught in an ambush by four humans and four Dwarves. I quickly cast a spell that I had prepared to suppress magical compulsions, and it worked like a charm. The Dwarves snapped out of it, and we knocked the human attackers unconscious. We questioned the Dwarves, one of whom remembered that the last thing he saw was a large floating sphere with six eyestalks. How strange I thought again, but unfortunately, no one knew what that thing was, but it had to be the "eye" that was in my vision. We took the captives to the nearest tower, and one of the Wardens there was kind enough to give us a ride on one of the great condors, dropping us near where the Dwarf remembered last.

There was a large cave in the area, and Borrow scouted forth and reported that six Nothrogs were waiting inside, seemingly on alert. We went with the straightforward plan and attacked head-on. It did not take long before we had eliminated them and we scouted the cave further. We came across what appeared to be a group of captives, among them several foul-mannered Devoranians who were not too grateful at being saved by us. We got what information we could and continued forth. As far as we could tell, whatever it is that had entranced the others had also planned on launching a surprise attack on the keep. We didn't have much time to waste, and we figured that the group must have been traveling underground in order to escape detection. In one of the caverns, we found a large tunnel that sloped downward. The tunnel seemed to have been bored recently, and it was easy to follow down.

After several miles of travel, we came to what was close to the base of the mountain, except underground, of course. We saw flickering lights in the tunnel ahead, and Borrow reported that it appeared as if there was a large force camped out in the cavern, in addition to an Earth Elemental that must have been the one who created the tunnel. There was nearly one hundred humanoids standing in the cavern--too many for direct confrontation. However, we suspected that if we killed the eye-thing that was leading them, then the rest would come to their senses. We formulated a quick plan in which Barron and Barricade would distract the main force by breaking the Earth Elemental of any magical compulsions, while the rest of us would travel via magic next to the eye and try to take it out as quickly as possible. We cast what magics we could before we teleported in...