The way east

[sageaqua]

"I think the we saw a brave man at the entrance to the temple that was brave enough to be a flame but he fell before we got to the temple. We saw nearly no one after we got out. Rake should know more then we do as to what happened during that missing time frame." said Ka'lion

[at]

"A knight from our order came here with others, a girl, an old woman, and a barbarian. They brought with the that of which you speak and travelled beyond this land into the desert with such power that the walls of our sanctuary were breached before we knew the true threat." . The woman looks pained, "Fire and demons and dark magic forced us back, some vile power that siezed the priestesses who remained within the walls and turned them against brother and sister alike. Even now far from the temple we feel it's pull and can step no closer, and of those who could return there has been no sight."

"The way east is now blocked and the demon gone, but I fear your escape is too - the goblins allow travellers to reach the camp but attack any who seek to leave, they know our supplies will not last"

[sageaqua]

"I told you they'd need supplies and we should bring our own." said Ka'lion, "We may be able to live on goodberries and create water spells but these people can't. Sound's to me like the people here need the goblins dead or gone. So caption how are we going to make a living?"

[harknail]

OOC: sorry for the long absence. The bookmark on this thread didn't work and I wasn't getting emails to notify me of new posts. That and between work and some minor but time-consuming personal issues I wasn't checking manually for new messages. This isn't the only game I was falling behind on :-(

[harknail]

Vadania speaks up, "It appears that the demon was actually imprisoned beneath where the Temple in Clearwater was built. The demon had been contained within walls of holy water. And this was directly underneath where the priests were getting the water for Clearwater. I fear that the town has slowly been draining the wall of holy water as drinking water until it could no longer hold the demon. Below we found some relics left by those who had contained the demon. We did not loot or desecrate the temple above, although it had burned while we were below and losing a month of time. As far as we know the Temple relics are still in the Temple vault."

She continued, "We had heard that the surviving priests had come this way. If they did not make it this far, then I suppose Aelos here is the only surviving priest of that order."

"We do have a book that describes how the demon was contained. It is one of the relics we found below the temple, the glowing book that Ka'lion mentioned. Perhaps it could be of some use in fighting this demon."

[sageaqua]

"We are not skilled enough to fight a demon! That takes someone nearly epically trained!" insists Ka'lion

[at]

The older woman reaches out, "may I see the book?"1

[sageaqua]

"We should go inside first." said Ka'lion looking around for somewhere out of sight. He does not completely trust these people they after all encircled our group and threatened to fill him with arrows. And as far as Ka'lion's concerned the book is his. He cut it free of it's shackles. It could of been trapped and he took the risk. Once inside with just a handful of others in a dark room he'll pull it out and let the lady look at it but only if she gives her word of honor to translate it if she can.

[at]

The only structures in the camp are wagons, tents, and a makeshift forge. The priestess leads the group to a tent covering several tables of books, scrolls, vials and assorted writing material, "what little we could salvage" says the older woman ruefully as she entered.

Looking at the first page of the book she observes, "I don't know this language, though it seems familiar ... old - it will take time to translate."[rand=77525008201949521224934010126845898827191899613467471085096954996]

[harknail]

Vadania commented, "I think the demon was captured a very long time ago. There seemed to be an entire city underneath Clearwater."

[sageaqua]

"You'd need an army with silver weapons or better before entering that underground cities territory or they are not coming back. But more importantly you need as much light as possible and speed as you can get. The place is full of ambush sites and shadow creatures use them effectively.

As far as the goblin's what do you know about them?

I'd like to see the barbarian, the girl, the old women and knight." said Ka'lion

[at]

"I know little of what happened within the temple once the fighting started, there was a great fire and the four that came from the west passed through it as others were forced back. The knights face was hooded but some thought they knew him, the others were unknown to us."

Looking to Vadania, "this land was said to once be populated, long ago, but the records of such things are faded and known to only a few. Our sages are dead or scattered and our records destroyed or captured, I fear there may only be a few men left who would know what it is that you found and hope that this book will reveal more"

Turning back to Ka'lion, "as for the goblins, Isolde will be able to tell you more but I ask that you not press on her hospitality, it has been a troubled time for us all. What I do know of them is little more than common knowledge, they live amongst the caves and caverns beneath this land and have been kept there by the knights for centuries, but to burn them entirely from their warrens would have taken great magic and scarred the lands for many generations."[rand=134037017266165351513414519975475682106882313487342338141438978275]

[sageaqua]

"So your problems with the goblin's is your orders own fault. It's a good bet your fault was provoked but this is not our war. If the little girl had a flying cat we know them and they can fight. They helped us try to rescue the temple in Clearwater. Aelo can you speak with the dead? If you can perhaps we can get the dead to translate the book for us?" asked Ka'lion

[at]

The womans eyes narrow, "If you disturb the rest of the dead here I assure you that the goblins will be the least of your concerns. But you are right, this is not your war and you may consider yourself free to leave this camp and take your chances."

Turning towards Aelos and Vadania, "if you mean to leave wait until the rain drives the goblins to cover and then run for your lives, I would advise you not let them take you alive."[rand=8364963655489889233620634221202273461236442968727919828038771356]

[harknail]

Vadania looks at Ka'lion like what he said made no sense. How could goblins and other evils coming out of hiding have anything to do with these people? It was because the demon was loose, and it sounded to her like these priests were the best home the world had to contain it again. She also couldn't figure out why he was mentioning someone they had met in town. As for him wanting to get someone dead to translate, that just wasn't possible.

Vadania spoke up, "I think this book may give you valuable clues to how the demon was dealt with before. As for going back home, I don't think my cabin would provide much protection against all the forces the demon seems to have stirred up. But I'm at a loss as to how to put things right again."

[sageaqua]

Joe if you read the interaction before you posted, the people we met where mentioned as passing being here. That's one of the things you missed. The GM made a note of it before Ka'lion did. It's at the top of this page. As far as pointing out that the goblins may of been provoked by the flame - remember Ka'lion is a true neutral - he honestly cares but tends to not want to get involved. Where I the player know a speak with dead spell requires a 5th level or higher level caster he's asking Aelos because he doesn't know what a priest can do. Unlike most barbarians he is not physically very strong. He knows without at least 14 levels we can't kill the demon and to go after the demon before we are ready is a death sentience. Also remember the Flame put him in front of a circle of archers and he has good reason not to trust them. That doesn't mean he is their enemy and with a high intelligence with an average wisdom and no diplomacy skills he tends to be critical.

[at]

Aelos speaks up, "go if you must, but I will remain here. Whatever has caused this devastation must be opposed and it is clear some part of its power still lingers here"

"If you can slip past the goblins then seek aid from Merebas", handing Vadania the amulet they found earlier.[rand=559443763846244208146547244466629515501094855962812783162951842664]

[sageaqua]

"I don't think we are going to slip passed the goblins unless we are all wolves. Then we can out run them but not their missile weapons. Who's Merebas? And where do we find her?" asked Ka'lion, "In any case we can most likely find additional supplies for you if your not to picky as to where they come from. Captain - what do you want to do?"

[at]

Sept 6, 2013 5:30:12 GMT -5 sageaqua said:

Who's Merebas? And where do we find her?

(Ka'lion will be aware that Merebas is a country that borders the fell, as is Woldegard. The lands of the fell are a relatively uncontested no-mans land between them)

[harknail]

Vadania answered, "Leaving the fens seems much more desirable than it was a short time ago. But I fear that I would not be good to elicit aid from anyone and that Ka'lion would be even worse. Both of us were raised in isolation with little contact with others."