From: Zachary St Lawrence/Southbury/IBM @ IBMUS on 07/14/1999 05:17 PM
To: Arcania Summary cc: Subject: Roleplay: Book Deal (part 3) This summary was written by Wailoon. I did some artistic editing. Journal Entry Day 1 (our plan) I guess this is a good time to start keeping a record of our daily adventures, since we seem to be getting in over our heads. Maybe I will read this to my kids someday, if I have any. Well, today we actually planned what we will be doing. Ghel, Joseph and the guards should take the prisoner back to town and meet up with Gabriel, check on the wagon, and come back here in the morning. Hopefully they won't run into anything they can't handle, but with the guards, they should be fine. As for Karn and I, we will scout out the camp and see what we can learn. We plan to sleep a few hours in the reflecting pool meditation chamber before heading out. Hopefully by barricading the entrance, nothing will try to enter and disturb us. I will try to write more during my watch. Journal Entry Day 1 (my watch) Well its my watch now, Karn took the first watch to meditate and regain some of his powers. I didn't get much sleep because every time there was a noise he would wake me up. All the "intruders" were nothing but animal noises, probably rats and owls and such. We will be heading out to spy on the Lothian camp sometime tonight. Journal Entry Day 2 (journey to camp) Oh god, we barely managed to live through that simple scouting trip. I had the worst luck! Anyway, let me start from the beginning. I woke Karn up around 3am, and we cleared the barricade from the entrance and went outside. The moon was still up but there was a storm not to far away. Karn cast a spell that allowed both of us to see in the dark, but warned me not to look at anything bright. Before leaving we once again blocked the entrance to the reflecting chamber and headed for the camp. We were following the river down to the bridge and at one point, I heard some noises in the bushes, and went to check it out. One of Corbett's dogs had washed up here after the battle and was being drained by a giant tick. The tick seemed to have fed a while because it was very fat and the dog seemed near death. The sight of this held me entranced. Karn said something, but I was looking at the dog and thinking that nothing deserved to die like that. There was a flash of lightning and I turned around to check on Karn, but my leg buckled and I fell down instead. One of the ticks had crawled on my leg and buried its head in my leg. I was horrified as I felt my body going numb from the tick's paralyzing bite. I tried to cut the thing off with my greatsword, but I almost cut off my leg instead. The tick's numbing bite was already affecting my reflexes. I was about to try to spear the tick again when Karn trips and falls on top of me, making me drop my sword. I push him off and suddenly there is another of the ticks on my chest. I grab it and throw it away but more ticks are all around us now. I felt Karn grab me and drag me, but at this point I was too weak to help. After a few yards Karn stops, I was about to ask him to get the tick out of my leg, but I look up to see him struggling with a tick on his back. I pull out my dagger and try to pry the creature out of my leg. I manage to wound it and it lets go enough that I can pull it out. I look up again and I see Karn has managed to get the tick off his head. He quickly stops the bleeding of my leg with a spell but doesn't actually heal me. Karn tells me that he was blinded by the lighting, and he had to drop his night vision spell when he came to my help. That was why he tripped and fell on top of me. We decide to make a run for the trail, not far from where we were, with me guiding him along. After getting on the trail, Karn rests for several minutes while I keep watch. I noticed that someone has cleared all the tracks off the road, but I didn't have time to think much on this because I wanted to go back and get my sword. Karn casts the night vision spell again and we head back. As we near the spot we met the ticks, I light up a torch hoping to discourage any ticks that might want to attack us. I see the dog, now dead, off near the bushes. I approach and suddenly a ticks climbs out of hiding right next to me and rushes me. It climbs my leg, but I was able to grab it and throw it away. So long as one isn't caught unaware, the critters are pretty easy to handle. We circled the area where my sword should be lying. I make a quick dash for the sword and then both of us ran back to the trail. We decide to continue to the camp. We crossed the bridge, and soon found ourselves in a heavily wooded area. We could see an old run down cabin. I approached it and took a better look inside. Peeking through the door we see that the place was an old church or shrine and we see a form huddled on the ground with a blanket. Not wishing to intrude, we head along the trail. After a mile or so we approached a hilly region. In the hills we smelled something sweat and pleasant, but I detected a whiff of something dead. After our encounter with the ticks we decide to quickly walk past. Even so, the narcotic properties of air made us dizzy. After recovering from the narcotic fumes. We continued on the trail until close to the camp. There it seemed wise to leave the trail and sneak through the trees. Soon after departing the trail my unwounded leg got caught in a bear trap. Karn was able to get my leg out and I was able to bandage it, but I wasn't going to be able to do any running in the near future. Since we were so close to the camp, there was no point in not continuing. We reached the valley and Karn noticed an abundance of wolvesbane in the area around the lake. Who ever set up the camp in the lake must have spent a long time preparing the area, or have some arrangement with some plant mystics. We circle the lake and tried to watch the camp on the island. By this time is was dark and cloudy. Despite our night vision, we could see little, and lightning frequently blinded us. As we had suspected, the camp was run with an eerie precision. Lights cast little illumination, and nothing could be heard from our vantage a few hundred feet away from the camp. At one point we did see a heavily cloaked man walk from the big tent in center of the camp to the edge of the island and disappear. We originally thought he might have slipped into the water, but it seems that he hid behind some kind of magical obfuscation. A little later an elf with golden hair arrived at the camp. Raerick and another guy greeted him and they all disappeared into the big tent. Al little bit later they reappeared and walked to where the cloaked fellow had disappeared. The cloaked fellow appeared and two tents materialized on the edge of the island closest to us. We guessed that the cloaked fellow was a mage and he must have powers of illusion or invisibility. The group entered the tents and after a few moments the elf comes out shakes hands with the others and leaves the camp by running across the water. The elf might be a mage or have magical boots, or maybe all elves can walk on water, I don't know. I guess that is just another question to ask Elga if we ever see her again. Anyway, the leader says something to Raerick and the mage. Seconds later everyone in the camp is preparing to leave. Karn and I depart to hide somewhere along the trail to watch as they pass. We find a really good hiding spot some distance from the trail and wait. Within minutes the first scout appears from nowhere and passes right in front of us. Slipping from shadow to shadow hardly a leaf is turned by his passage. Luckily it seemed as if he had not seen us. Unfortunately he was much better than I had thought. Not only did he see us, he didn't react to our presence. What he did do was loop back and sit behind us with a bow pointed at our back the entire time. We would have never known, but he stepped on a branch when he was leaving. I wonder why he didn't kill us or warn the others about us. Perhaps he did warn the others. They were good. If I meet him again I hope it will be as an ally or friend. He seemed good at watching our backs. <GM: groan> All in all we counted about 2 dozen Lothians on horses with Eagle and a few others riding in the back of the wagon. we didn't see the cloak guy but we thought he might have made himself invisible. We stayed still once the group had passed, and a few more scouts passed a minute later. None of them were quite as good as the first scout we saw, but they were still good. After they passed was when we heard the guy behind us move. We chased him but he was just too good. We had no idea where he had gone. Suddenly Karn grabbed me and hauled me into a pile of leaves. Thinking there were more scouts, I lay very still. We were only a few feet from the trail so I neither of us dared to breath. To our surprise we see 8 elves walk by. One had blonde hair and he was smiling I believe he was the one we saw talking with Raerick. He was laughing about something but the others were all pretty serious. They didn't seem to be sneaking, but still I heard nothing as they passed. I could have imagined them they were so quiet. The sound of my blood rushing through my veins made more noise than they did. After a few more minutes, felt it was safe to head for the reflecting pool. Suddenly we hear a horse behind us. Unfortunately we had no where to hide this time. We lay behind a tree and hoped that we weren't seen. It was the cloaked mage riding a jet black stallion and carrying a rod, probably magical. I would have jumped him if not for that rod. His attention obviously lay elsewhere, Karn thought maybe he had created an illusion of elves to accompany the blonde elf. Maybe that was why the elf was giggling? This time we waited a very long time before we moved. There were no more surprises though. We headed back to meet Ghel and Joseph. By now the sun was up and it was drizzling. On the way I decided to check on the sleeping form in the cabin. I tell Karn to wait outside while I enter the cabin since I was injured and it would be easier for Karn to run back to camp to get Ghel and Joseph to help if anything happened. I enter and see a middle aged man. He is poorly dressed but well spoken and very charming. He calls himself Jerrod and I instantly took a liking to the guy. We talk a bit and he mentions having met Ghel and Joseph last night. It seems that they helped him fix up his wagon on their way to town. He offered us the sanctuary of his shrine if we came back tonight. Anyway, to finish this, Karn and I got back with no more encounters and seeing the others were not here we made breakfast for ourselves. Journal Entry Day 2 (ride to Woodhaven) Well Ghel and Joseph finally came back and they were in good health. It might be hard to explain what happened after they came back. Right now I'm sitting in the wagon and we are heading towards Woodhaven with Terramill. Our departure was hurried by the arrival of the Lothians. Let me elaborate. When Ghel and Joseph came back, we told each other everything that happened, it seems that Corbett captured our messenger so Gabriel didn't get our message. They convinced Sgt. Gorden to try and capture Corbett and his associates. Other than that, it seems nothing much happened. When I was telling them about the meeting with Jerrod, Joseph touches me and asked why Karn had two spells on me. Karn looked surprised and dropped his night vision spells. Joseph touched me again and says that there is still a spell on me. I can't think of how someone could have cast a spell on me and not Karn. Joseph checked everyone else, and when he checked Ghel he found another mystery spell. Ghel and I both feel fine, but Joseph insisted that we were charmed by Jerrod. Now why would he want to do that. Jerrod seemed to be a good natured woodsman? Ghel and I thought it best to ask Jerrod before allowing anyone to make more accusations. Karn and Joseph insisted that we should avoid Jerrod for a while, just in case. I don't understand why, but we decide not to push it. It seems that Ghel and Joseph just missed the Lothians on their way up. We find the tracks heading towards town. Karn casts some disguise spells and changes our identities. Once we reach town, Karn and Ghel head for Corbett's house while Joseph and I head for the inn. Well, the guards waiting for Corbett decided that Ghel and Karn, were associates of Corbett and almost arrested them. Karn finally had to drop his disguise to show Sgt. Gorden we were back in town. At the same time, Joseph and I convinced Terramill who we were without dropping our disguises. He told us that the Lothians had entered town with Eagle as prisoner. The Lothians claim that Eagle made the elves hate him and burn his house down. He apparently has confessed and the Magistrate should be arriving from the capital to confirm what they say. (GM Note: Magistrates are judge & jury with the ability to detect truth) He was supposed to arrive soon. The Lothians claimed to be in the area to form a trading alliance with the elves. They had caught rumor of a Merchant causing the Elves trouble and found that Eagle was pretending to be a Lothian agent. The Lothians tricked him into revealing himself and made a deal with the elves. The Lothians are going to turn over Eagle to the Elves after a public trial to determine his guilt. The Lothians were also interested in making their trading post with the Elves here in Havenford. The town would become a center of trade with the elves if the town accepted the offer. That being their story, the Lothians were already setting up camp in an open field near the edge of town. There was no sign of the elves or the mage. When Ghel and Karn met us at the inn and we exchanged stories, Karn restored his disguise spell. While we were discussing what to do the magistrate shows up riding a black stallion and holding a rod of truth. Joseph tries to check the Magistrate for magic to see if it might be the cloaked mage. Meanwhile the rest of us move away. Joseph comes running back towards us saying he couldn't get within a hundred feet before he felt the magistrate scanning the crowd around him for someone. It seemed that we were outclassed and decided to get out of town before we got in too deep. Terramill was sent to get the wagon and meet up with us. When he left, we noticed that a couple of Lothian guards had been sent towards us. We nonchalantly moved on, but they followed us. Finally we broke and ran. We ran up to a house and banged on the door to ask for shelter. A lady answered and I tried to charm our way in. Joseph, brusque as always, tossed the lady some talons as if she were a serving maid. The trick got us in though, and we instantly made for the back door. Outside we used the house for cover as we dashed towards the cover of the woods. The others made it easily, but my leg wounds were acting up and I suspect the guards could have caught me, but luckily they decided to just watch instead. Once in the forest we circled around the town to within sight of the stables where Terramill was getting our wagon. Dropping our disguises, we met up and headed for Woodhaven to continue with our trip to Haven. Journal Entry Day 2 (bath at Lord Falash's manor) Well once we reach Woodhaven the guards recognized us and rushed us to meet Lord Winsworth. I was agreeable since I needed to have his priest heal me again. Once we met up with him, I immediately asked for heal, and he agreed without any questions. The priest came quickly and not only did he heal me, he removed the charm spell from me as well. (GM Note: It took several blessings to heal Lando) Once we noticed that the mystery spell was gone, we had the priest remove Ghel's spell as well. I still feel that Jerrod was a good man, but now I ask myself if that was from the spell or whether that is what I truly remember. How disturbing these spells are. Once the priest finished, Lord Winsworth invited us to an 'Adventurer's Party' <GM: groan> that a foreign lord was hosting. Unable to refuse since he was trying to make up for his previous disaster we agree. Or perhaps I should say Terramill agreed for us. We were hoping to slip quietly from town, but Terramill loudly and graciously thanked the Lord. I think he did it so that he could perform in front of nobles. Ghel, decided to walk instead of taking a carriage. He gets stranger and stranger everyday, maybe he still has some kind of spell on him the Joseph couldn't detect. The Lord, unable to ride while one of his guests was walking decreed that everyone should walk to the party to enjoy the fine spring air. <GM Note: The fine spring air was still a bit overcast> Anyway, we arrived to Lord Falash's place without any problems. It was a pretty steep hike up to his place as this guy's place is on a mountain surrounded by a deep with one well guarded entrance. The place was immense and made in a hybrid gothic Arabic style. The Arabian design made me think of onions on rooftops. Inside we were introduces as Winsworth's guests. We were introduced to all the notables. The following are those that I remember. The count and countess, he was a perverted old fool and she was an ice queen, Lady something, a intelligent beautiful women in her 50's. I believe she mentioned trading partnerships and pirates near Haven. Lord Armthrower, a large man with a powerful grip. I believe he was the mayor of one of the farming communities. A priest of some sort. His name was Acolyte Herald and he was quite disturbing. He drank heavily and seemed to alternate between joy and sorrow. There was a fellow named Maedik, who really didn't seem to belong. Lord Falash obviously dislikes him, and Terramill seems to know him from somewhere. There did not appear to be any love lost between the two of them. There were some others, the steward, the waitstaff, and perhaps a few more dignitaries, but they all blurred together. They all used formal names and made polite talk while wishing they could kill one another. Lord I would have preferred a dinner party with the Lothians. With the introductions done, Lord Falash and Lord Winsworth left to conduct some private business while the party began. The count and countess bickered. Armthrre were indeed ghost haunting this place, but they only came out when it was raining outside. And the lightning seemed to aggof him. Somehow we manage to roll awd back to were we had seen Armthower and found him hung by his entrank we should continue our hunt, others think guarding the others should be our pruation was very good. Hopefully we can maintain this level of play. Even Joseph was played well for a change <grin> Awards Lando: +300 for a terrific summary. This was one I really didn't want to write. and he wrote it FAST! Great job... I would have given him even more experience If I felt I could. The maximum I give for summaries is 250 experience. I boosted it a bit for the fast turnaround time. Favorite Moment of the Night: Lando and Karn'calore realizing somone had been sitting behind them watching them the entire time they had been watching the Lothians. GM Notes: I am about to make some significant changes to the combat system. Basically most the rules for stun and criticals are going to become optional. Instead I am going to simplify combat by saying being hit causes one to lose an action point. Being hit for more points than one has body points will stun. If a hit is more than twice a characters bodypoints the character will be unconcious and possible maimed. This should simplify combat a lot