February 23th 217B The party goes back to Lothia to identify the items they have found. Knowing that some of the items were possibly cursed and suspecting the fraternity would have no chance of correctly identifying them Theringil buys materials for a ritual to Analyses Magical Dweomers. ALl goes well but during the ritual one of the items flashes brilliantly and explodes destroying a large part of the party's room and all of the other items. A few guards men were drawn from outside where they had been supervising a construction detail, but when they learn it was just a magical explosion they leave after seeing that the party has already made arrangements to take care of the damages. The hotel manager was very apologetic and offered the party a larger suite while the original room is repaired. The manager's mood was probably a direct result of Herunaro's payment of several hundred gold toward damages. The new room works nicely. Everyone has separate quarters but a large common room. February 24th The night passes peacefully and the group makes plans to head straight to the Lodge of Sleep and investigate the Dreamer with no distractions. After casting morning medley of spells the party teleports back to their room in Sangtha only to hear the sound of someone teleporting out seconds after they arrive. Careful investigation reveals a large serpent was in the room sometime during the previous night. The party heads downstairs and find the imp waiting for them. They go back up to the room to talk but then tell the imp that they do not need his services for today. When in passing they ask about large snakes the imp gets notably alarmed and says that he has no interest in aggravating the Sisters. The Sisters serve the Sultan and the three Maraliths work as a team to destroy individuals whom interfere with the current the status quo. The party agrees to let the Imp leave them for a few days and after he departs they once again head into the city. They have just walked out the door when Berrik starts sniffing the air and looking around in a confused manner. "What is it servant?" asks Herunaro with a sly grin. Berrik points his hand towards a small form in the distance and says, "That be a Dwarven female. Which I have never heard of outside Dwarven lands! I must see what clan she be from. She could be a descendant of the Kin'klannon whom have not been heard of for many years." "You know she is probably just a Maralith in disguise..." A look of anguish crosses Berrik's face and he stares after the retreating form with his fists clenched at his sides. "But an unwed Dwarven lass is a prize worth more than gold to my people. Only one in a dozen dwarves is female, and a single additional female strengthens a clan immeasurably. I must speak with her!" The group lets out a collective sigh and follows Berrik as he rapidly covers the ground between him and the rapidly diminishing figure. She turn a corner and he speeds up so he will not lose her. Ten seconds later he reaches the corner and stops as the Dwarven lady turns towards him and speaks. "Oh, a dwarf, I am so glad to see you!" Berrik smiles and steps forward, but Swiftwind places a hand on Berrik's shoulder and says, "Berrik, her lips weren't moving. That is no dwarf!" Even as Swiftwind makes that pronouncement the dust around the party kicks up in a could and a wall of razors springs into place pulsing and shredding a few other pedestrians. People scream at the obvious signs of magic and the party find themselves facing the Dwarven lass for only a second before the wall behind them shudders and bursts spilling forth a creature with huge horns and giant claws like an unnatural birth from a stone womb. Behind the demon creature two Maraliths shudder in pleasure as psychokinetic forces lash our and entwine Qualental's legs and Theringil's bow. The party recovers quickly but the swirling razors make frontal attacks on anything but the combat demon all but impossible. The horned demon makes things even more difficult by gesturing and reversing gravity in front of it, making charging it even more difficult. Berrik and Swiftwind go flying up into the air. Qualental barely manages to stab his lance into a wall and hold himself down. Theringil flies in the air on a gust of wind and sends several arrows flying towards the Dwarven woman, but they all pass through her harmlessly. Herunaro throws a pea sized ball into the building with the three demons and the blast blows off the building's ceiling scattering rock and adobe around the party. Qualental trips the demon guarding the door then at Theringil warning yell he lets go of the lance to tumble up into the air. Theringil calls upon the miracles of Fharlanghn whom he once followed for succor. And a rumbling sound fills the city. The earth shudders and moves and the buildings all around the party start to collapse. The building the demons were in collapses upon them partially pinning them and the Dwarven woman falls to her knees as if pinned despite being in the middle of a street. A second later she winks out. The battle is turned. Berrik flies down to where the horned demon is pinned and he starts chopping at the creatures skull while cursing. "You got me worked up years before my breeding time... You know what six years of blue balls feels like, do you?" The demon, caught beneath rubble and unable to defend himself, casts a spell to lift himself and the rubble into the air. The dwarf, unwilling to let the target of his rage escape, jumps upon the floating demon and continues his axe work even as the creature bobs up into the sky. Herunaro gets caught by some flying blades but as he steps out of the blades' path he is surrounded by Maraliths. One Maralith immediately falls into a crevice that opens beneath her feet. Swiftwind charges the other two Maraliths and distracts them long enough for Herunaro to make his escape, but as the crevice grinds shut and ichor trickles from the earth only Swiftwind is available as a target for the remaining Maraliths' grief. The two remaining sisters scream in outrage for their fallen sister and fall upon Swiftwind in a wave of blades. Swiftwind falls to a million cuts as the outraged Maraliths pour all of their rage onto him. Theringil feathers one Maralith which is quickly brought down but the other manages to slip away on the verge of death. Looking around at the fallen building, bloody smears of pedestrians and the remains of their friend the group decide to take shelter. Berrik and Qualental quickly strip the fallen Maralith of items. Herunaro then disintegrates the creature's remains. Herunaro then conjures a icy dome a few hundred feet away and fills it with the illusion of people conversing. The group then heads elsewhere in the city and settle on sheltered roof where Theringil brings Swiftwind back from the dead. Theringil then divines upon the fleeing Maralith's location. Only to find that she has returned to where her sisters fell. He gets a strong premonition that attacking her now would be a good thing though incredibly risky. Never one to shun risk, the party prepares to attack. Teleporting to the site of battle the group see that the area is filled with the Sultan's private guard. The Maralith is in the center of activity with the towering figure of a Balor! Having the advantage of surprise the group unloads immediately. Herunaro casts Horrid Wilting spell and decimates the house guard dropping almost all of them off the bat. Qualental charges the Balor and does an incredible blow only to see the Balor shrug most of it off. Switching to blessed silver the group attack the demons in force. The Balor opens his mouth and recites the first syllable of a horrendously destructive spell only to have his mouth filled with four silver arrows choking off his spell. While he is staggered Swiftwind darts in and slashes again and again dropping the creature. The Balor glows a iridescent black for a second and explodes in a fashion that makes the earthquake seem paltry by comparison. Buildings are completely blown away, the rest of the guars are vaporized, even party members are staggered by the awesome power of the blast. four blocks of the city are just gone with no traces. Staggering to their feet the group stand only to see that the Maralith has fled once again. Theringil treats every ones wounds while Herunaro states, "We might as finish it. Even if it means going in after the Sultan. We have gotten his guard and his servants, and this town would be the better for it." Tired but willing to go on the others nod. Theringil divines the location of the last of the sisters and the group teleports in behind her and quickly cut her down. She is wandering the halls of the Sultans palace which have been worked in the style of an exotic forest. Exploring onward the party encounters gazelle, birds, and even a hippopotamus. But of the Sultan they see no sign. After about ten minutes of exploring the group sees the first sign of life. One of the nearby birds is actually a imp in disguise. Theringil levels his bow and asks after the imps master. The imp quickly comes clean. He saw the Vizier and the Sultan heading to the Sultan's southern quarters shortly after the big explosion. Theringil mutters something about that probably being the Balor's death and the imp looks impressed. "Hey boss, if you need some directions, I am your man. Are you guys taking over the city? Step this way gentlemen..." Under the imps supervision the party quickly finds the Sultan's quarters. It is a trivial matter to subdue or chase off the servants on the way. The quarters are deserted and careful examination reveal a secret passage out. The party tracks the sultan, but the door opens on a non descript street in the city. Heading back to the bedroom the party looks for some hair and with the imps help find some that looks like it might be from the Sultan and not a concubine. Scrying upon the sultan the party find him entering a large private estate with a manservant of sorts. Teleporting in the group makes short work of both him and his companion and leave a number of delayed explosions for the guards rushing to the scene. The imp even attempts to join in on the attack. When the party teleport away the imp is left behind to explain the corpses of the sultan and all the guards to the approaching reinforcements. The party head back to Lothia to sort through what the Sultan and his companion were carrying. The sultan had 10 rings (roughly 1k each) and a magical periapt. His companion carried 2 bags with miscellaneous small gems, jewelry, and platinum. The bags contained about 13,000 gp worth of easily transferable valuables. Identification later revealed the periapt to be an Periapt of proof against poison. SESSION END Afternoon of February 24th 217B NEXT TIME : Sweet Dreams... DEATHS --------- Swiftwind ITEMS ----- 8 large baatorian scimitars 2 large baatorian glaives 2 large Celestial steel scimitars 2 large iron scimitars 2 large silver scimitars 13k in gems, platinum and jewelry 10 rings of 1k each MAGIC ----- 2 large mithrael shirts designed for 6 armed demons +2 2 large mithrael bucklers +2 2 large girdles of strength +4 Periapt of proof against poison EXPERIENCE TOTALS (Session 61) ----------------- Herunaro Swiftwind Berrik Qualental Theringil 164958 146779 158906 164907 164897