2/25/2006

Chris: DM
Kathi: Tanji & Krys
JC: Neysa & Ana

[Rumors - Underdark Drow have uncovered an artifact that can negate and destroy magic. The "Crater of Tilverton", once the thriving center of the town of Tilverton, now a blasted black crater that is a Dead Magic Zone, is said to be the result of the artifact's use. Supposedly no one that goes there ever returns including investagors sent from Waterdeep.]

We find Illandar's message one day shortly after noon following an uneventful early morning scouting mission. After the regular patrol cycles of the past months, the word that sage is finally ready for us is both welcome and unwelcome news. Over the course of the past year the number and intensity of the raids from Underdark had waned and patrol duty, at least to Ana's way of thinking, was in danger of becoming routine. Rumors abounded as to the cause but the elf had privately decided it was, as many said, simply the tail end of an occasional Underdark purge. A purge was something Ana understood well. What he didn't understand was why his companions were all that interested in helping a man pursue magical knowledge, as if a man with his short lifetime had even a chance of learning the true subtleties of the art, but as always he'd follow Neysa knowing her guidance would never be wrong.

Neysa hands Ana the thick parchment, stained and grimy, to read for himself.

Tanji and Company:

I need to see you immediately, the job is finally ready. Come at once for the details.

Illandar

"Well at least it will be a change." Neysa says with a smile to Ana's resigned look.

"Yea. C'mon it'll be fun." Tanji says with her usual exuberance. "And profitable too if I know the old man. Besides it's what we've been waiting for."

Unable to argue the point, not that he really wants to, Ana hands the parchment back to Tanji and looks over to Krys who nods adding the final approval.

Illandar lives across the river from where we are renting a private cottage near the All Faiths Altar. The short journey through town is uneventful but we nearly have a full fledged encounter with Illandar's doorman, an irritating little gnome, and it is only after the Sage hears this from within his home, and issues a loud order for us to be let in, that we are shown up to the study.

"I need you to find me a scroll from the Artificer which I've just learned probably still exists." The sage tells us. He digs around for a moment and when his search seemingly comes up empty he shouts for Freud, his doorman. Between the two of them they locate a map and an old letter which tells and shows the location of a temple in a valley in the Grey Cloak Mountains. When asked, Illandar produces a larger map and Tanji and Krys try to compare the two to determine an exact location.

"Looks like it's right in here." Krys says to her diminutive companion pointing to a particular group of peaks.

Tanji looks back and forth between the two maps again and nods in agreement. "I think you're right."

When Freud insists on a location somewhat further southeast, and gets downright nasty about it, we ask him why he seems to know so much about this particular location. When he tries to deflect the question by appealing to Illandar as a character witness Neysa becomes suspicious and studies the gnome intently trying to sense his underlying motives. Getting nothing definitive she backs another step away from the map table, just as Ana is coming up to look, and uses the distraction of the shouting match to cover the casting of Detect Evil.

The gnome himself radiates a deep intense evil and Neysa is suddenly sure his intentions are black and that the argued location has something sinister attached with it, something he means for us. The vehemence of the feeling is so intense that the cleric almost involuntarily takes another step back and draws her sword, an action which brings the shouting to an abrupt halt. As Neysa begins casting another spell Ana's dagger appears with amazing speed in his hand and he too steps away from the map table.

"What? But.... What's going on? What's the meaning of this?" is all Illandar can sputter before Neysa's spell, Hold Person, completes and Freud freezes into immobility.

"Search him!" Neysa commands. "The creature has a black heart filled with evil intent. He means us harm." She looks directly at Illandar. "He means you harm!"

The sage looks dumfounded and tries to protest until Ana tells him he must trust Neysa's ability to see such things when others can not. Their search certainly substantiates the fact he is something other than a doorman as we find a Wand, a Tanglefoot Bag, and an obvious pouch of spell components. We tie the gnomes hand securely behind his back and stuff a gag in his mouth.  When he comes out of the effects of the hold spell, Tanji begins questioning him. For every answer she doesn't like (or doesn't get) she bops him right on the nose until at last the subdual damage is too great and he passes out.

Neysa, because his intention was to lead us into evil, casts Blind on him so he will be unable to lead anyone else down that same path again.

Turning back to the business at hand Tanji negotiates the terms of the agreement. Illandar will finance the expedition for 500 GP each plus whatever treasure we find along the way. He wants first opportunity to Identify magic items but agrees that the only deliverable is the Artificer scroll which supposedly holds the secret to the making of adamantite.

With that set we take Freud deep into the wilderness that surrounds Loudwater. When he revives it is obvious to Neysa that he is not blind. The gnome puts on a false bravado daring us to kill him, saying that his dark masters (the drow) warned him it would be so. Neysa looks to Ana and nods, something unspoken passing between them.

"So you wish for us to kill you." Ana says fingering the blade of his dagger as he starts to walk in circles around the wild eyed gnome. "You wish for the release of a quick blade? Don't you know it would only send you back to torment at your masters hand? You're pathetic!"

Again Neysa has used Ana's distraction to cast a spell and again it is Blind. This time however it works.

"Hey! What'd you do?!? Take off the blindfold!" Freud screams. "I'll kill you all I swear it!"

Ana continues to walk around him in circles and motions to the others to quietly move away. "What fate do you hold for yourself now? Where is your master to guide you through the dark journey ahead? It looks to me like there's nobody but you and me and my dagger." Walking quietly up to the gnome Ana presses it to Freuds chest as emphasis but draws away after a moment resuming his circular march.

When the others are a good distance away Ana simply stops and silently waits to see what Freud will do. At first the gnome calls out spinning wildly around for us to free him. Then he starts to curse swearing to kill us all in a slow painful manner as fitting to all of elf kind. Then after perhaps 20 minutes or so Freud staggers to his feet after several aborted attempts and slowly begins to move away in a direction that will take him even further away from Loudwater and the rest of civilization.

Ana watches him go and returns to the others a short distance away. After some discussion we wait together while Tanji sneaks back up behind him to see if he's finally ready to tell us what we want to know. He isn't and swears again to kill us all at his earliest opportunity. Tanji allows his rant to cover her return and we head back to Loudwater to complete preparations for the impending journey.

We spend the late afternoon and early evening hours arranging for and purchasing supplies and equipment. We get sturdy mountaineering geer just in case, some climbing accessories, an extra large blanket and three sturdy horses all of which are paid for by Illandar.  The horses are a delight and Ana strokes his, a magnificent black male named Charger, in encouragement. There is also a reddish-brown mare, Magelica, for Neysa and another male, a doppled white and brown named Hugh for Krys and Tanji.

That night our dinner at the fest hall is interrupted by a sloppy drunk half-orc who insists that we're sitting at his table. Ana gets up to confront the disgusting filth saying that the ladies are enjoying their dinner and that he should find another table. Fortunately the scene does not turn any uglier than it already is as Ana is able to help the half-orc forcefully to the floor when it tries to lean on him. Apologizing to Neysa and Krys for the interruption when the creature starts to snore Ana drags it out to the street where the fest hall doorman relieves it of its weapons. The rest of the dinner is uneventful even if the mood is somewhat broken.

We return to Illandar's in the morning and Tanji insists that the reluctant man give us 100 GP each in good faith as we start the journey for him. According to our estimates it's roughly 200 miles to the Grey Cloak valley and we tell him if all goes well we should return in about four weeks. He searches for and gives us a scroll with a Message spell in case of emergency but then realizes the distance would be too great and takes it back.

Now fully packed we retrieve the horses and begin our journey.

Next Session: 4/8/2006