Cold Embraces

[at]

Ka'lion prepares his horse and supplies believing he can reach his home by nightfall, while Vadania and Brennen head inside. As they do Orns makes a muted wave goodbye and moves towards the caravans likely hoping that his partner in trade is still here.

Isolde herself greets Vadania and her new companions, sharing news of what had occurred in the days they had been away. She seems to have some confidence that Eldon and the others having taken up the mantle of fighting the demon and her attentions are now focused on protecting the flame as it regains its power and what she believes to be impending conflict between the cabal and forces from Woldegard.


(Vadania/Brennen to choose if they travelled with Ka'lion to check on the progress of his house building. The priests here will also do what they can to answer any questions.)

May 5, 2016 1:10:17 GMT -5 sageaqua said:

When Ka'lion was created he designed as an end game character - he was never designed to encounter the deomon before 15th level

Nor was the game - the idea was that you would chase the demon fighting various underlings and gaining levels, but not catching him before you were ready.

Change of direction though - new quest line, sans demons.

[sageaqua]

Ka'lion has almost died in a few of those fights. So if he's carefully trying to be an informed fighter - I don't think he's being unreasonable. He sees being led around as the demons studying the party. He already knows a shapeshifting imp got away in the first encounter. We never killed it. He already knows an invisible assassin whipped out a village by themselves. Ka'lion and no one else in the party can do that. So no the party has consistently lost most of the fights. Or at least that's how I see it. Ka'lion is not crazy, but he is always looking for a smart way to fight and that doesn't doesn't mean just running in to hit it. If thats how this party is going to fight - you don't need Ka'lion you just need a bunch of priests or barbarains. But thats not what this party is.

[at]

Does Ka'lion intend to wait for the party or does he want to head out straight to his new home in order to get there before nightfall?
(doesn't affect encounters, just how the introduction to the new game is played out)

May 5, 2016 7:15:09 GMT -5 sageaqua said:

He already knows an invisible assassin whipped out a village by themselves. Ka'lion and no one else in the party can do that.

4th level conjurer/binder using Summon swarm and an amber amulet. The party almost got him (he had to jump out the window at the back of the inn) but Ka'lion was busy throwing axes at a tied up horse

[harknail]

Vadania will stay with Tink and Brennen, if they go with Ka'lion she'll go too. But I thought Ka'lion's home was much more than a day away from the Monastery.

Vadania will tell Isolde that their attempt to recover the sword from the lizardman valley was only partially successful. They recovered the sword, but it was only part of the sword, encased in a lead replica. She will NOT mention their new alliance.

OOC: Is the landmark tree the same one that Vadania used to charge up her wooden sword?

[at]

"It would seem the hilt was taken as a trophy, or by an opportunist" notes Isolde, "but it is also possible that it resides within the vault or the mausoleum of the central temple of Clearwater. There should be a record in our library of the relics taken from fallen warriors at the battle of stars pass".


1) The journey from the monastery to Burr via the sunken ship (a slightly round-about route) was estimated at three days. The group spotted smoke from the goblin camp during their first night, and were travelling on foot after a delayed morning start.
Conditions and sense of direction permitting Ka'lion and his horse should be able to reach it by moving at a brisk pace.

2) It was the same tree. Not chosen by Berith for any magic it possesses but rather for its unique appearance and proximity to the monastery.

[harknail]

Vadania answers, "We've looked at the vault before, and considered trying to open it. But we didn't have a pressing reason to do so, we thought there might be things there best kept out of circulation, and the vault was likely to be trapped. Besides, we didn't have any way to open it. Garrot might have been able to disable the traps and open the vault, but he never got the chance."

[sageaqua]

Vedanta was scared to open the vault. Ka'lion had no such reservations - he's always thought the answers where there. Ka'lionn will wait for the party - they will need horses.

[Jasmine]

Brennen is actually mildly curious how Ka'lion's new house is coming along, so he'll go with. Jade finds the idea a little boring, but secretly plans to amuse herself by playing pranks on the other party members during the journey.

[at]

As the party has mentioned heading towards Burr town Isolde hands Vadania a wand to return to Melwyn, the mage had left it behind to help move caravans and supplies that had been left behind during the original attack and it was capable of summoning a magical horse for 12 hours, twice per day.

She also comments on Vadanias new appearance - with access to mirrors the elf can see that while the glow is muted in good light her eyes in particular look quite different.

--------------------

The ride through the forest is relatively uneventful, though darkness falls earlier than expected as heavy clouds gather overhead. A cold, light rain has started by the time the group spots the fires of the workers in the distance and they find that the ground around the buried building has been largely cleared and a path through the trees wide enough for a cart has been started in the direction of the south road.

There are around two dozen workers here in total, huddled around the fires and somewhat surprised to see the group emerge from the trees.

[sageaqua]

Kaolin asks them whose in charge and finds out where they are.

[at]

The foreman is woken and does his best to give a sleepy account of progress in the past few days. Most of the work has been to clear the site and determine how solid the original structure is as there is a limit to what materials they can bring to the site until a path for carts had been cleared.

He has not received word of masons or other artists from Merebas but the workforce here have cleared all of the entryways and placed temporary covers over the damaged roof to prevent more rainwater from leaking through.

[harknail]

May 6, 2016 4:42:58 GMT -5 at said:

As the party has mentioned heading towards Burr town Isolde hands Vadania a wand to return to Melwyn, the mage had left it behind to help move caravans and supplies that had been left behind during the original attack and it was capable of summoning a magical horse for 12 hours, twice per day.

She also comments on Vadanias new appearance - with access to mirrors the elf can see that while the glow is muted in good light her eyes in particular look quite different.

Vadania accepts the wand and promises to return it to Melwyn. She'll also explain to Isolde about the exploration of the old Dwarven ruins and the king's treasure that they found there. Vadania will mention that she isn't sure if the ring is a blessing or curse, but either way she can't remove it.

She would be interested in purchasing another Wand of Vigor, but she doesn't have much in the way of cash, nor did she keep anything from the recent adventures that could be used for trade.

[sageaqua]

Ka’lion doesn't want the roof repaired at this tome but wants the whole place cleaned -up - pointing out the fire walk is being converted into a kitchen, the hidden pit trap is being converted into a flat for himself and guests with a library and the old treasure vault in being converted into a garden and having a leaky roof should not be a problem for that. He does ask if the blocked tunnel has been cleared yet and if the pits (studio) been cleaned up yet? The other thing that needs to be done is the goblins tunnels need to be filled and their pit traps need to be filled and dismantled. He also need to know how much has been spent so far and why do they need 24 guards on the site?

[harknail]

The post above said 2 dozen workers, not two dozen guards.

[at]

There are only a few men with any real combat experience here, enough to deal with wolves and stray goblins.

The pit traps outside have been filled in and the blocked entryways cleared out revealing stairs down to the arena. They have yet to figure out how to safely clear the slimes from the pit or how to convert the flaming death trap into a kitchen but have been working to clear rubble and scrap from the arena area.

The foreman states that the gate to the vault remains sealed and he did not want to force a way in without consulting Ka'lion first.

[sageaqua]

Kaolin asks the party if they want to go to Clearwater and break into the Vaults or kill slimes before heading back to the tree. Then it's off to the dessert sands. Kaolin will give the former 100 gold for the work completed so far. with the assignment to clean the slime pits next.

[at]

The group settle down for an unseasonably cold night, though sheltered within the old arena and warmed by the fires lit by the workers.

The foreman speculates on the use of oil or alchemical fire to burn out the slimes, and takes a little of Ka'lions time to mark out where new walls, stairways and other changes should be made - particularly for any above ground structures.


At sunrise on a chilly but clear morning the workers set about their work. There is little nearby that the group can reach within the day and still return to the tree in time to meet Berith - the portal tower, the farmstead Vadania found destroyed by ogres, and the waterlogged ruins not far from the monastery.

Berith said he would leave the sending stone behind if the group were late though so a destination further afield was still a possibility.

[harknail]

Also, Vadania has borrowed a wand that must be returned to Melwyn near Burr town. At the very least she'll need to return it to the Silver Flame Monastery.

[sageaqua]

Ka'lion at this time doesn't want any new outside construction. He just wants the outside safe for wildlife - including wolves and the area suitable for living and as a message stop for people in need of help.

[at]

Everything seems to be in order here. It has only been a handful of days since Ka'lion commissioned the work - building and repairs will take much longer.


Where does the party wish to travel to ?