Walking War Dead
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[edit] Act 1: From Marthix to the Golden Bridge
The party advances from Marthix to the Golden Bridge. Along the way, they meet a number of undead patrols, encounter a few ghosts, and kill a pair of shadow-tainted bulette.
[edit] Act 2: From the Golden Bridge to the Sword Bridge
The party advances along the Treaty Road in the Golden Marsh. They defeat more undead patrols, a few werewolves and wererats, and an entire encampment of undead legionaires.
[edit] Act 3: In the Hills, Part 1
[edit] Wolves in the Night
The adventuring party still finds its primary mission—to open the trade route to the Bloodstar Mine and end the undead infestation—incomplete. So, the party continues its journey to the star-metal mine, believed to be the source of the undead problems. They continue heading west to the sword bridge, at which they turn south towards the star-metal mines. The mine itself is still several days travel away.
While traveling in the direction toward the mines, the party comes upon a travel hut. Cid proceeds to perform a thorough search of the hut and the area around it, while the party remains in the distance in hiding. During his search, Cid finds an area in the corner of the hut, on the floor, that looks to be a once used hiding place. Nothing is found in it. He also finds a rock that also appears to have once ben a hiding place, but nothing is found there, as well.
Finding the hut to be reasonably safe, Cid motions for the party. Preparations are made to rest for the night, and the watch order is set.
During the night, Cid hears the howls of wolves in the distance to the south. With the exception of the wolf howls, the night passes uneventfully.
NOTE: Could this be the second pack of werewolves that the party has been warned about?
[edit] More Werewolves?
Come the next day, the party continues on their journey to the star-metal mines. They are able to travel quite far without any incident, and, as such, make it to the next travel hut along the road. As is standard operating procedure, Cid scout the area inside and around the hut, while the remains hiding in the distance.
Cid finds bare feet track inside the hut and suspects the recent presence of a were-creature, most likely a werewolf. To be safe, Cid performs a 100-yard stealthy search completely circling about the hut. He finds a recent latrine that has been dug out, used, and then filled back in. As best as he is able to estimate, the tracks and the latrine are a week old. Cid reports his findings to the party, and, in response, Xam suggests that double watches be assigned during the night.
That night, a number of howls from various directions are heard, though still to the general south. The party suspects this is the second group of werewolves, potentially multiple packs. However, otherwise, the night passes uneventfully.
The next day, Cid, Xam, and Jung Fei range out from the party, scouting as team sneaky. While they are out forward, a pack of four wolves accost the rear group of the party. The party instantly reacts to engage the wolves in combat, fearing they may be werewolves. George makes the first attack and takes a tremendous chunk out of the lead wolf. From there, the remaining wolves are easily dispatched by the party. While weaker than expected, these are indeed werewolves.
[edit] The Heir Found
During the battle with the werewolves, the heir of Ambassador Colonel Melvina Jin Mikathis, along with the troop of soldiers she is leading, appears to lend assistance to the party. The party is at first suspicious of her sudden appearance, but allows her and her group to approach after they finish dispatching the wolves.
Cid goes into stealth and scouts in the direction that the wolves came. He doesn't find anything special. However, his sudden disappearance does cause some consternation with the Heir and her group.
The Heir reveals that the wolves that attacked were once part of her group. She reveals that she and the few that are with her are all that remained of her troop. They had been hunting the wolves that attacked the party to prevent the wolves from hurting anyone. She also reveals that her mission is the same as the party's, to find the source of the undead infestation and put an end to it. However, her mission is as a special-forces under direct order from only the Xiltari, rather than the coalition of three nations. Unfortunately, she has yet to succeed in her mission. Even further, she tells that a number of her former troop have been turned into lycanthropes.
The story that the Heir tells of her group is that they were sent to find the source of the undead infestation. While they were on their mission, and two weeks after the massive black flash that crossed the sky some time ago, there were several black bolts that struck an area of the ground. She and her troop went to investigate the bolts after they occurred; however, a short time before the bolt, they were attacked by wolves, and several of her soldiers were bitten. After the bolt struck, the ones bitten became lycanthropes(it's unknown if it was the bite or the bolts that triggered the lycanthropy). When they did investigate the area of the bolts, they found nothing there, or so she claimed.
After telling her story, the Heir offers to join with the adventuring party, which the party does accept.
Unfortunately, Cid gets a funny feeling about the Heir and her story. He thinks something is fishy about the whole thing. He pulls Giovanne aside to voice his concerns privately. He and Giovanne attempt to stealthily scan the Heir and group for shadow. Unfortunately, the Heir notices Giovanne's attempted scan and becomes absolutely furious at the attempted scan. She and the rest of her group engage the party in combat. However, Giovanne is able to determine that the Heir and all of her group are, in fact, all werewolves. He alerts the party to this fact by shouting, "WEREWOLVES!"
[edit] Unexpected Deal
The party and the Heir's group ready to engage in deadly combat. However, Giovanne intercedes with a skillful act of diplomacy to avert hostilities. The Heir puts away her sword and tells the rest of her group to stand down. At this point, the Heir tells the truth of what has happened on her mission.
It is true that she and her party were sent to investigate the undead infestation and put an end to it. However, along the way, they were attacked by werewolves and were all bitten. There was indeed several black bolts that struck the ground, but they never did go to investigate. She could not bare the shame of being turned a werewolf; so, she decided to never return to the main army. She would rather have the Ambassador think her dead than to return ,or have it revealed that she is still alive but a werewolf. In fact, she begged the party to just kill her and get it over with.
Giovanne offers an alternative option for the Heir and her group. He states that it may be possible from them to be cured of their lycanthropy; however, it would require a very powerful psionic to administer the cure. To find such powerful psionics, they would have to venture either to the University of Heget or to the Valley of Enlightenment. Naturally, the Heir is incredulous, but Giovanne succeeds in convincing her of the possibility, and the Heir commits to making the journey.
Unfortunately, Giovanne's offered hope creates a dilemma within the party. The party is split on whether they trust werewolves, even former soldiers of Xiltari, to make such a long journey on their own without incident, or if they should keep the werewolves with them as they continue their own journey to the star-metal mines. Considerable discussion and argument ensues among the party, but a rather interesting solution is developed. The party offers that they may be willing to help the Heir and her group journey to the University of Heget or to the Valley of Enlightenment, but only after they have finished the immediate mission regarding the undead infestation and the star-metal mine. The deal is that the Heir and her group will wait three weeks for the party to return from their mission, at which time, further discussion and negotiation will be made regarding whether the party will help the Heir on her journey. If the party does not return by that time, then the Heir and her group will journey on their own without the party. She does admit that she would prefer the party's help, as she does not feel she and her group can easily make such a long journey on their own. George does agree that he will journey with the Heir upon completing the current mission, regardless of the decision of the rest of the party. The party and the Heir agree to this deal(there is a convenient travel hut nearby at which the Heir and her group will wait for the party), and with that, the party continues on its immediate mission to rid the land of the undead infestation and open the trade route to the star-metal mines.
[edit] Red Land Dragon
The party continues along its journey to the star-metal mines.
Scouting ahead, as usual, Cid comes upon a large red land dragon. The land dragon makes an impressive running slide up to Cid, sending dust and rocks flying in a flashy cloud. Cid is completely struck with dragon fear and runs off screaming like a little girl; he even runs past the party waiting some distance away. The rest of the party, being further away is unaffected by the dragon fear.
The dragon, from his current vantage point, demands of the party who they are and why are they in his lands. The party, at least those who have it, show the dragon the dragon scales they obtained long ago on the Vanishing Isle. The dragon, seeing the scales and recognizing them, becomes much more friendly toward the party, having heard of the party's feat of rescuing the land dragon on the Vanishing Isle. The dragon reveals that he feels the party may be the ones that could save the land from the shadow plane(shadow plane!! omg!!). He tells the party where to find the shadow plane in the land:
South past the high bridge, which is a half day's travel from the current location, and then another half day's travel to the east lies a grove. In that grove, you will find the shadow plane. Beware the marsh, and the high bridge is still guarded.
The star-metal mine is not within the dragon's land, so it knows nothing about that particular area. After providing the party directions, the dragon blinks off into the distance.
[edit] Battle in the Marsh
Dragon not withstanding, the party's journey continues, unabated.
Cresting over the hill at which the dragon first appeared, the party comes to another travel hut. The land, being much higher up, is covered in snow, and the air is cold and crisp. Off in the distance, the party can see a mountain that can only be described as Mount Everest. The party is able to tell that they are approaching the marsh, as the smell has become noticeable.
Cid, in standard operation, thoroughly searches the travel hut and the area around it. He notices that, despite all the snow, the area around the hut itself is cleared of snow. This causes immediate worry. Cid notices that the edges of the clearing have large claw marks in the snow, large as in dragon size large. The party breathes a sigh of relief, realizing that it is likely the land dragon that cleared the area for them.
The next day, the party continues down the road and into the marsh—they would rather avoid the marsh, but part of their mission includes clearing the road, which goes through the marsh. The party becomes paranoid of the area, likely with good reason. As a result, the ferret, Amustela, is loaded with a power bolt and given to Cid as he scouts ahead. Very soon, the party is attacked by a group of three large swamp-thing like creatures. They are apparently vulnerable to fire, but seems to absorb lightning power. The party is able to defeat the monsters, but not without Xam and George taking significant damage in the process(also Jung Fei seemed to be off his normal level of skill as he was doing far less damage than normal, probably due to the stink of the swamp). The swamp creatures are capable of regenerating, and the party quickly set fire to the creatures to kill them permanently.
Khoulwhip 07:07, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Act 3: In the Hills, Part 2
[edit] Out of the Marsh: Captain Brashear
The party is successful in defeating the swamp creatures and is now able to continue the journey to the star-metal mines. However, immediately following the battle with the swamp creatures, both Cid and Shimmer fade into the gray nothing; this sort of thing has happened from time to time to each of the members of the party. No one knows why or how it happens, only that it happens.
Be that as it may, the party continues its journey. Because Cid is lost in the gray nothing, it is up to Xam to be the one scouting ahead for the party. With an hour left to the day before needing to make camp for the night, the party realizes that it has traversed most of the marsh and can see the end of it just ahead. Despite it being late, it is decided that traveling just a bit further to exit the marsh would be quite profitable. Unfortunately, leaving the marsh without further incident is simply not in the party's destiny.
Xam makes it to near the edge of the marsh, but the rest of the party is stopped by a sudden attack from the marsh. With a sudden crash of fetid water, a large, horrifying figure of what was once a male goliath rises from the depths of the marsh. It's clad in articulated plate armor and brandishing a long sword, both of remarkable quality despite their long submersion in the waters of the marsh. The face of the zombie is permanently etched with fear and pain, and it constantly made blood curdling wails and gurgles like a man doom to suffer eternal drowning. As it rises, the party hears it wail, "COWARDICE!! I have deserted my men! They are coming for me-e-e!!"
George is the first to attack the horrible figure. Unfortunately, George's swing is wide and misses. The figure counters by punching George. The punch lands, and George can feel an icy, soul chilling cold that permeates the entire fabric of his being. George is successful in shrugging off the effects of the figure's touch, but he is none to happy about what it means that he is fighting. It's a wight, a soul draining wight, of all things.
Giovanne comes up next to make an attack on the goliath wight. He unleashes with a devastating energy blast that hits the wight, severely damaging it. But, the wight obviously intends to fight on.
Xam is next to make an attack. She makes two strikes at the wight. Unfortunately, the wight is able to deflect both attacks with his sword. Xam, surprised and angered with the wight's fortunate blocks, vents her anger with some colorful insults directed at the wight.
Jung Fei takes three rapid shots at the wight. Two bounce off the wight's armor. The third connects doing only a minimal amount of damage.
The wight, seeing Jung Fei, Xam, and George as being of little consequence, moves after Giovanne in retaliation for the massive damage that it suffered from Giovanne's last attack. However, this proves a fatal miscalculation as George takes an opportune attack on the wight while it focuses on Giovanne. George lands a killer blow with his behemoth sword, shocking the wight into awareness of George's presence. Consequently, the wight refocuses his attention back to George, but this gives Giovanne time to launch a final tremendous blast against the wight, completely destroying it.
Upon inspection, the party finds the wight was using a star-metal long sword of masterwork quality. It is extra sharp, allowing it to inflict more damage, and extremely well balanced, lending it better accuracy to the wielder. They also find that the wight's armor is of superior quality compared to most armor, and that is extra thick to resist damage. Both are still in serviceable condition, despite the obvious many years subjected to the corrosive waters of the marsh. It is unanimously decided that George should be given both the sword and the armor from the wight, for which George is quite grateful and makes immediate use of the armor.
There is a scabbard with the sword, and the scabbard is inscribed in goliath with the words "Presented to Captain Brashear Monett for coming to the aid of his Lord and Commander Baron Clayde of Full Gate". Unfortunately, the scabbard is not in as good a condition as the sword and armor and, as such, is unusable. George leaves the scabbard as party treasure; perhaps it will prove to be of historical value.
[edit] Battle on the High Bridge: The Sword Master
Continuing their journey for a half hour after battling the wight, the party is finally able to exit the marsh(and there is much rejoicing). The road can be seen continuing much further ahead, following the top ridge of the line of mountains. The sun is near to setting, and the party is now in need of camping for the night. Fortunately, there is another travel hut not too far past where the party exited the marsh lands. They make in the hut, and the night passes uneventfully.
The party wakes the next day to a cold, crisp morning. While George feels quite comfortable in this weather, the rest of the party are not so at home with it and bundle up appropriately. The party is now very high up in altitude, hence the reason for the cold. They are high enough that Xam is able to Marthix far, far, far off in the distance; although the rest of the party thinks she is just imagining it, because they aren't able to see it. The party has been climbing a ridge of mountains that eventually lead up to the highest peak that has the star-metal mines. The peak can be seen ahead, looming in the distance. Several mountain ridges can be seen converging to the same peak. Also looming in the distance, a large band of dark, heavy clouds can be seen. George, upon seeing these clouds, predicts that snow will be coming within the next day or two.
The party is able to continue their journey through the day without incident and arrive at the next travel hut. They camp for the night.
The next morning is overcast and bitterly cold. The wind has increased significantly, and even George, despite being from colder climates, finds the day uncomfortably cold. The wind reduces by mid-morning, but the day still remains extremely cold.
The mountain ridges continue in the distance to the high peak ahead. Along the way, the party comes to a bridge spanning a gorge in the mountain ridge, hundreds of feet deep. Far below the bridge at the bottom of the gorge, a river can be seen flowing through the gorge. A waterfall can be heard ahead and to the left of the party. Judging from the flow of the water, the waterfall is the source of the river.
The bridge itself is large and very sturdy, having been built long ago by goliaths. It's built from a series of arches, and a narrower support bridge can be seen just below it. This can be none other than the high bridge the party had heard about from both George and the land dragon.
Xam continues scouting in front but ranges much closer to the party, now that they have come to this most dangerous venue.
Giovanne makes a scan of the bridge for shadows and taints. He is able to see streamers of shadow enveloping and flowing all over and around the bridge in pulsing waves. He can see the river below enshrouded in a mist of shadow streamers that flow in and out of the water and down the river. This is obviously not a good place to be, but it is the party's mission to clear the path to the mines and destroy the source of the taint creating undead throughout the land.
Seeing that a battle is likely imminent, and soon, the party makes preparations, invoking psionic powers and positioning themselves for a fight. The party proves prescient in their decision to prepare, as they are attacked immediately after their finishing preparations.
At the other end of the bridge appears two wraiths and a specter. On the same side with the wraiths and the specter, the ghostly apparition of a sword-master appears, coalescing into existing from an infalling fog. The sword-master's voice is hollow and colder than the frigid air of the high mountains.
"So, you seek the heart of the darkness, and I am here to stop you."
Battle ensues immediately upon the sword-master completing his words. One of the wraiths closes instantly on Xam, while the other races over to Shimmer, who has suddenly appeared from the gray nothing. Xam opens with a stunningly beautiful attack on the wraith in front of her, destroying it instantly. The specter floats over to attack Jung Fei. Unfortunately for it, Jung Fei is able to dodge the undead creature's attack. The sword-master, completely unperturbed by the events around him, casually walks the span of the bridge toward the side where the party fights the wraiths and specter.
Jung Fei retaliates against the specter with three close ranged shots using his star-metal arrows. He is able to significantly damage the specter but not destroy it. However, the specter is clearly hanging to its existence by a mere thread.
Giovanne follows up next with two energy blast attacks, one directed at the wraith attacking Shimmer and the other to the specter on Jung Fei. The attack to the wraith rips through the wraith and severely damages it—it's wishing it had stayed in the grave. The other attack completely annihilates the specter, delivering power far above and beyond what is necessary. Shimmer follows on Giovanne's lead by blasting the final wraith into nonexistence with an energy bolt.
Xam tries to shoot an energy ray at the sword-master. Unfortunately, it misses.
Jung Fei is up next with three rapid powerful shots to the sword-master, dealing a huge amount of damage to the sword-master. However, the sword-master is only encourage by the display of power from the party.
"Ah, at last! Worthy foes!" it chimes in its dead, hollow voice.
George runs up to engage the sword-master. Unfortunately, the sword-master is ready for this assault and is able to strike first at George. However, the sword-master's attack is just repelled by George's new armor. Had he been wearing his old armor, George would surely have taken a significant amount of damage from the blow. As it is, he only stung a little by the impact. Unfortunately, with the contact of the below, George can feel the same familiar soul draining cold penetrate his body. He feels his strength reduced as the shadow power penetrates his body and spirit.
Shimmer looks to take a shot at the sword-master, but George is too close to him on the bridge. She is forced to spend time repositioning herself for a better shot that won't hit George at the same time.
Xam, also not having a good line on the sword-master and feeling the fatigue of having used her psionic abilities, takes a moment to concentrate to regain her abilities.
The sword-master begins concentrating and invokes a power upon himself. Suddenly his movements are much faster than before. He attacks George and lands a blow doing damage to George. When the sword-master's sword lands on George, it lights up with pulses of energy moving from the tip to the hilt. George feels his lifeforce being drained, a sicking feeling of dying but unable to die. The sword-master then pulls back after its attack, which George sees as an opening to attack. George is able to do more damage to the sword-master.
The sword-master retreats under the bridge into hiding in the dark recesses under the bridge. George rides to the other side of the bridge to try to find the sword-master, but he has no luck in finding the sword-master. Giovanne also flies to the other side of the bridge and prepares for the sword-master to reappear. Shimmer also readies herself for the sword master's reappearance. She looks to see if she can spot where the sword-master is hiding but has no luck.
Xam tries to spot the sword-master and is just barely successful. She spots the sword-master ducking into a cave underneath the bridge. It's obvious at this point that the sword-master retreated into hiding, possibly to heal his wounds before assaulting the party again. The party moves to the other side of the bridge and prepares to climb down the gorge in pursuit of the sword-master.
[edit] Into the Cave
The party makes preparations to climb down the side of the gorge to the cave where the sword-master is hiding. But, just as they are doing so, Giovanne is suddenly lost to the gray nothing. Having long since become accustomed to this recurring event, the party continues its preparations. Fortunately, Giovanne's disappearance into the gray is short, as he returns just as the party is climbing down to the cave.
The cave is dark, very dark. Xam is capable of seeing thanks to her dark-vision, and Giovanne is able to navigate his way through the cave due to his shadow scanning abilities. However, the rest of the party is forced to use torches.
The cave is filled with strange crystals that pulse with ominous dark energy. A cold fear seems to permeate the air within the cave, or maybe it's just the anticipation of the battle with the sword-master. The party steels itself against the intensity of the situation.
The party travels deep into the cave, taking note of the strange crystal formations. Xam and Giovanne, being the two who can best see in the darkness of the cave, are scouting in front. Eventually, the party comes to an open area where the cave forks into three different directions. Xam and Giovanne decide to carefully check each of the forks while the rest of the party remains waiting in the open area. The first two paths lead to quick dead ends, with nothing special within them. But, it is down the third path that they discover the sword-master hiding.
The sword-master is found hiding in a large open chamber at the end of the third pathway. The chamber is filled with strange mutated looking mushrooms, and there are more of the dark crystal formations scattered about the floor. Near the back of the chamber is the sword-master himself. He is looking considerably healthier than when he fled from the bridge. He's obviously been healing himself. Giovanne and Xam quickly find out how he accomplished this. The sword-master reaches up to the cave wall and grabs one of the mushrooms and pulls it free from the wall. Long, gooey streamers of shadow energy follow with the mushroom as the sword-master puts the mushroom in his mouth and eats it, becoming even more healthy looking in the process.
The sword-master has not yet noticed Giovanne and Xam in the chamber with him. Xam sneaks forward into the chamber. Giovanne signals the party to come forward to where he and Xam are sneaking but to be careful not to cause a sudden alert to the sword-master; he then follows Xam into the chamber.
Just as Giovanne is coming into the room to join Xam, the sword-master finally notices Xam's presence in the room. His hollow voice echos about the chamber.
"Brave! But bravery will not help you here!"
Shadows fill the entirety of the chamber and surround the sword-master. The shadows hide the sword-masters body, making it difficult to pinpoint his exact location. Giovanne opens with an attack on the sword-master using an energy blast, but the shadows surrounding the sword-master cause him to misjudge the shot and miss.
Xam follows Giovanne with an attack on the sword-master, but she also fails due to the streams of shadow masking the sword-master's exact location. Giovanne tries concentrating to get a better fix on the sword-master's location, but he is unsuccessful.
The sword-master returns the attack, "I invoke the powers!" The sword-master cleaves one of the crystal formations with his sword. A blast wave of electric shadow fills the cave chamber and bounces around before traveling out the opening to the rest of the cave. Everyone in the party is hit by the power of the blast wave. As the power bounces about, Giovanne notices that the chamber, and indeed the entire cave, is oddly carved. It seems to reflect and concentrate shadow power from its walls.
Jung Fei, recovering from the shadow blast wave, moves forward and uses his psionic powers to boost himself. Shimmer also steps forward and uses her vigor powers. Jung Fei shouts for either Xam or Giovanne to tell him where the sword-master is located; he is planning to use his trick shot power to attack the sword-master from around the corner.
Giovanne, responding to Jung Fei's request, move further into the chamber and shouts a description of the route to the sword-master. He is followed by George, who moves into the chamber to engage the sword-master.
The sword-master, seeing George come forward before him, immediately attacks George. George is able to deflect the first strike, but the second strike lands, do damage and causing more soul drain to George.
Jung Fei, now knowing where the sword-master is located, launches three rapid shots at the sword-master, loading the first shot with psionic power to deal extra damage. The shots fly through the air and turn the corners like guided missiles. All three hit the sword-master and do a severe amount of total damage.
Shimmer, seeing George is reeling with the amount of damage he has taken so far, heals him with her psionic powers.
Feeling much better, George makes and attack on the sword-master. The attack hits without question, but does only a modicum of damage. However, Giovanne follows up after George and destroys the sword-master with an energy blast.
After the combat, Giovanne goes to examine the sword-master's sword. The sword is incredibly tainted with evil and made of undead blood wood. Looking around the area of the chamber, Giovanne can see that the cave is built to be a collector and channeler of shadow energy, and that the crystals in the cave are filled with shadow power.
Not wanting to leave the sword behind, for fear that the sword-master might be able to re-materialize or some other nasty may get hold of the sword, the party builds an ad hoc set of tools from sticks and twigs to carry the sword without having to touch it directly themselves. They intend to burn the sword to destroy it permanently.
When the party finally exits from the cave, they notice that it's colder and dark than it should be for the current time of the day. The wind has also picked up significantly. The common thought running through everyone's mind is that a blizzard must be coming. The party remembers seeing another travel hut about 200 yards from the bridge. They hurry to make their way to the travel hut, seeing the wall of darkness and white that is the approaching blizzard.
Xam, before heading off the to travel hut, decides she wants to try sundering the evil sword using one of her throwing blades. However, with a bit of reconsideration after a couple of missed tries, she realizes that she doesn't have time before the blizzard hits. The sword is gathered up and taken with the party to be dealt with once the blizzard is over.
The party makes it to the travel hut just in time. The blizzard hits and buffets the travel hut with all its fury. At one moment, a barrage of lightning could be seen furiously attacking a hill in the distance, the same hill that was described to the party as being hit by black lightning bolts some weeks earlier. The lightning only happens that one instance, but it is enough to make the party extremely suspicious of the hill itself as containing some sort of secret power or something, possibly being the source of the undead contamination.
The wind howls, driving the snow against the travel hut. The party can hear snow and sleet pound upon the walls, windows, and roof of the hut, grinding and clawing against the like a hungering animal that is being frustrated by a meal it can see and smell but not reach. But, the walls of the travel hut have been built strong to withstand the onslaught of the vicious weather, and so, the party feels secure to prepare themselves for rest for the night.
During the night, Shimmer heals George of the copious damage he has sustained in all the fighting. Unfortunately, there is nothing she can do about the syphoning of his spirit by all the undead that has been fought.
[edit] Discovery of the Energy Crystals
The next day, the blizzard has abated, having vented its fury throughout the night. The party wakes to find themselves blocked in the hut by a solid wall of snow at the front. A couple of the party members start trying to clear the door, but it's obvious that the work is going to be long and difficult. However, one of the party members notices that there is a hatchway built into the roof of the hut; obviously this has happened enough that someone thought to build an escape out of the hut. The party climbs out of the hut through the hatch.
The world around them is completely white. Snow is drifted up around the hut in a mountainous pile. They climb down from the roof and start looking for the fire pit that they spied when they first got to the hut.
They successfully find the fire pit, despite all the snow, and clear and ready it to burn the tainted sword from the sword-master. The sword burns with an eerie light. Black, choking smoke that gives off a rancid, decaying smell billows up from the burning blade. Suddenly the sword makes a loud crack, and a huge black lightning bolt shoots up into the sky. As the bolt goes up, it starts curving toward the southeast, towards the same hill that was assaulting by lightning from the blizzard last night and by the black lightning from weeks ago. There is definitely something about that particular hill.
Xam becomes keenly interested in the crystals they found in the cave yesterday. She decides she wants to try testing the crystals by first using her throwing her energy blades at them. Standing outside the cave, so as to avoid any energy blast wave like when they fought the sword-master, Xam throws one of her energy blades at a crystal inside the cave. The blade scores a direct hit on the crystal. However, it doesn't do enough damage to affect the crystal.
Giovanne becomes intrigued by Xam's experiment and decides to assist. He fires a blast at one of the crystals, but, again, not enough damage is done to the crystal to affect it. Giovanne can see that unless a critical amount of damage is done to the crystal, it absorbs the energy of the impact.
Xam and Giovanne make several more unsuccessful attempts to each strike at the crystals and cause an effect. They decide to combine their power to make a synchronized strike on the crystal, but first, Giovanne wants to give one more single try at one of the crystals. He unleashes a massive power blast at the crystal. Energy slams into the face of the crystal and is absorbed into it. However, this time something different happens. Rather than being simply absorbed, as all the other attacks were, the energy blast sinks into the crystal and starts to bounce and resonate within the crystal's structure. Xam and Giovanne can see the energy bouncing around inside the crystal. The crystal starts vibrating and pulsing with power. There is the sudden appearance of the light around the crystal being pulled into it, and then it suddenly explodes.
The crystal explodes violently into thousands of shards that tear through the cave at blinding speed and smash into the other crystals. The force of the impacts is enough the cause the other crystals to start resonating in the same manner as the first and, like the first, to suddenly exploded in a thousand high speed shards. What follows is a chain reaction of exploding crystals, and as each crystal explodes, there is a release of the shadow power that they held. The entire cave is filled completely with that power, as it comes blasting out of the cave in wave after wave. Xam and Giovanne stand off to the side of the entrance, safely out of the way of the many surges that flood from the cave entrance.
At the end of the eruption of shadow, a mist of white powder and crystalline motes drifts from the cave entrance. Giovanne and Xam go to examine the cave's interior. All of the crystals are completely shattered; their remaining shards completely litter the floor of the cave, all through out the cave. Scanning about for shadows, Giovanne does not detect any more shadow taint within any of the crystal fragments. In fact, all the crystalline remains are now white, whereas before, the crystals had a dark, smoky appearance. As far as Giovanne can tell, all the crystals have been completely cleared of their shadow taint.
Xam and Giovanne venture to another cave on the other side of the gorge that is directly opposite the one where they fought the sword-master—the rest of the party joins them, curious about the nature and results of the experiment being conducted. This cave is shallow, extending only about 10 feet into the side of the gorge, but, like the other cave, it is filled with shadow tainted crystals. However, the crystals in this cave are not as tainted as the crystals in the other cave. Giovanne grabs one of the smaller crystals and breaks it off. He then brings it into the sunlight. As he is looking at it in the sunlight, he notices the crystal absorbing the sunlight, and, as it does so, the crystal gradually loses its slight smoky appearance until, in time, it becomes completely white again. An amazing discovery that the crystals can be purified by sunlight alone.
Giovanne decides to make further experiments with the crystal. It is obvious that it is capable of absorbing the negative energy of the shadows, but what about positive energy? Giovanne tries pouring positive energy into the crystal. After a little while, the tip of the crystal starts to glow with a subtle golden-white light. Sure enough, the crystal absorbs both positive and negative energy. Giovanne tries channeling an energy blast through the crystal. The crystal is completely drained in the effort, but, Giovanne is unable to determine if the crystal provided any boost to his power.
Seeing that the crystals may prove to be of further use in the future, the party collects several intact shards of crystals of varying sizes.
It is mid-afternoon by the time the party finishes experimenting with the crystal shards. Seeing as much of the day has already worn on, the party decides to rest an additional day at the travel hut, rather than risk getting to any tainted or hazardous area at night or late evening. Giovanne continues some of his experimentation into the night. He takes one of the smaller shards that the party collected earlier and tries charging it over time with energy. Unfortunately, Giovanne, misjudging the capacity of the shard, overcharges the shard. The shard explodes in front of Giovanne. Regardless, it appears the shards can be used as a sort of power battery. How effective it is as a battery and energy source remains to be determine, as well as just how much energy a given crystal can hold.
[edit] Battle of Shadow Breach
Following the additional night of sleep, the party heads onward towards their goal. Much to their chegrin, they find the deep snow left behind by the storm, a significant impediment to their movement. After only getting halfway from the hut to where they believe the center of the taint is, they find the day waning. The party decides to camp for the night and they try to help Jung Fe set up a suitable shelter. The night is cold and damp and although most of the party gets enough rest, shimmer and Jung Fe are tired from a lack of sleep. The party moves onward toward their goal and after making some more progress and the sky high in the sky, Xam suggests they head back to the cabin. <p style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 25pt;">She reasons it would allow the party to get a good nights rest and reduce the risks of the whole party ending up tired or exhausted after two nights in a row of sleeping in the snow. Besides, the trail they left means the snow was more packed down and movement would be easier.
The party does as suggested and on the third day they make enough progress that while sleeping outside one night, they can reach their goal in the morning and have a good amount of daylight to face the danger.
For the party, engaging in daylight was important. The shadow would be weaker and some potential enemies might be nullified.
Team Sneaky and Shimmer's Ferret creeps off to perform recon on the area and find a sphere of darkness surrounded by six trees. Two lightning-like black tendrils reach out from the sphere to each of the trees. Around the sphere is a 50 foot wide circle without snow and with divits which the party believes may be the result of other tendrils from the dark sphere.
From a great distance away, Jung fee shoots a leaf off one of the trees so Cid can show it to Giovanne. Bravely cid moves close to the tree and grabs the twig, a tendril flies out to hit him but he dodges and runs away with his prize.
[edit] Bloodstar Town & The Return Home
The party came across two dilapidated 20' tall guard towers. The towers handed been repaired since the last war. The support beams were made of Bloodwood.
After an exhaustive search by Cid, the party continued towards Bloodstar Mine. As the party traveled, the cliffs on either side became higher relative to the trail.
The town itself had guard towers on the ridge 300 feet above. Bloodwood trees were planted in groves.
The buildings themselves were made of stone with carved Bloodwood trim on the more important ones.
Inside the main office building, they found the building well lit and well adorned. Xam took a seat of import in the waiting area as they waited to be announced.
The party was escorted into the main office where there were three desks in the corners and one long administrator's table in the middle. The windows were made of crystal lattice. The desks were for the representatives of each of the three surrounding countries. Each had a large and ornate Seal behind them.
In the center was a Female Goliath Captain in a highly decorated battle harness. In her late 20s or early 30s, she was of a minor noble house.
To the right was a former companion of the group, Aryeh, a Mir of the Xalar Empire.
In the Center was a cousin of Xametira from house Chedena. She detected as psionic but not the same as Xam.
The nobles stationed in the town are assigned as a test to prove themselves before they are promoted to greater things.
The town was unaware that undead had cut them off from the surrounding area.
A month and a half ago, at the time the south saw the black flash, strange things started to happen in the mine. They lost a number of miners to monsters and strange energies. They sent in garrison forces but they were unable to eliminate the threat. Since then the mines have been sealed.
The troops and miners had seen rocks moving, stone men and dark lightning. They have heard pounding on the mine door since it was sealed.
Giovanne led a stunning negotiation to get the team to open up the mine.
Giovanne purified the shadow tainted crystal. The team then faced an ooze containing corpses, starmetal and stone. After dividing it a few times, the party was able to destroy it. At last they faced an elemental, a clay golem, and a stone golem.
When the party headed home, they found themselves escorted by two 'junior' Landwyrms who traveled until the party reached Grolick's grove.
The Wife and daughter of Morrick have recovered.
The party then traveled on to Birthalis where they were greeted at the gate by Eulji and her family. Also present was the captain of the town guard.
[edit] Birthan's Diplomacy
Lord Birthan in a private meeting addressed the need to 'reward' the PCs for their service to the Xalar Empire.
Cid was knighted and given grants of land, the location not specified. The reason for the land grant was his request to have the lands of his former employer. The Lordd was unsure if his d was the baron who died and had been replaced or if it was the current baron.
Shimmer was made a citizen of the Xalar Empire and granted the title of Mir. She was given the rights to a plot of land near Birthalis suitable for constructing a building (ie Alchemist Lab, School, Chapel, etc.)
Jung Fe also swore allegience to the Xalar Empire and received the title of Mir. He was allowed to construct a Dojo in the city with the stipulation his first class would be Xalar soldiers.
Xametira Jin Chedena would not change her allegiance but became a Friend of the Court. In addition, she was offered and accepted a business arrangement with Lord Berthan. They would jointly purchase a ship and the children of the crew on her old ship would serve as the crew on the new one.
Giovane also became a friend of the court, and received a land grant of 4 acres, outside the city.
Each team member also received an additional 500 GP. Khoulwhip 07:08, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
