Glumr feels a lot better, but he thinks mostly due to the healing from the cleric's gods more than the liquid he had forced into him. Either way, he's feeling better and hopeful that his cough will soon go away.

Glumr thanks Tibalt and drops two Ferisedan silvers into the collection as a thanks for the healing.  "I appreciate the healing that Harix and you have given me.  I'm sure my friends could use a bit of the same.   But if you would excuse me Tibalt, I believe there is a small fox around here that has been missing me.  I need to find my companions so we can prepare for the next leg of our travels."

Glumr looks about for Talita and spies her hiding in the grasses just outside of this small Farasedan community, watching the return of Glumr and his friends.   Glumr gestures to her and she comes running to him.  He kneels down and the small fox practically climbs on him to give him a quick lick on the nose.  Talita is practically smiling she's so happy to see her people companions again.

Glumr feels a bond with the fox that he might not have noticed if they had not been separated.  The feeling is the same as when Elhonna blesses him with abilities.  Like light or energy coming from inside of him, filled with the energy of his goddess.  "Oh Talita...  I bet you were so worried we would not return from that island.  And honestly, a few times I worried about that myself." Glumr says to her retorically.  He is shocked when she makes a fox sound in reply and he understands her.   Immediatly, he understands this is something Elhonna will grant to him.  But there's a bond between him and the fox that somehow helped him understand how to use this particular gift.  He's seen Holly talk with the animals using her druidic powers from Obad-Hai and realizes that Elhonna has given him the same.

Glumr takes his opportunity to talk to his fox companion as he knows it will only be for a fleeting moment until Elhonna refreshes his abilities with his morning prayers.

After a few minutes, Glumr feels the blessing wear off and Talita's last reply ends with only fox chirps.   It was like talking to someone and having the wind stop you from hearing the last part of the words.  He understood the first part but the last was only fox sounds.  Glumr is puzzled and amazed at how the blessing let him understand the fox sounds like it was triplefang spoken words.

Feeling closer than ever with his fox companion, Glumr is feeling spiritually refreshed even more than the physical refreshment from Tibalt's healing.

He spots Adiel and Sunna and he and Talita walk over to join their conversation."Greetings friends.   I am Glúmr Triplefang, son of Hólmfastr.  It's a pleasure to meet you traveler.  My apologies I was a bit preoccupied with my health when I came back to shore."  He says to Adiel.  Glumr is suspicious of the man that shows up immediately after a treasure hunt, but reserves his judgement until after they have had a chance to talk.

"There's the spirit!  Strengthen the body and the mind and spirit will follow," says Tibalt slapping Adiel on the shoulder in a friendly way.

However, when he hears about Sunna's close brush with a haunted being his manner turns more serious.

"Foul ghastly phantoms drain the very souls from the living.  You're lucky to still be breathing.  If it took a piece o' your soul I don't have near the power to bring it back.  Like I said to that Glumr fella, I'm more of a wound healer."



Before Adiel can reply Jurgen interrupts.

"You sure do have a lot of animals with you," nodding the the fox and bear. "Where exactly did that bear come from?"

"And are you sure it's completely safe to have it around?"

Then there's a loud whistle from back towards the boat.

"HEY!" shouts Farden.

He was with you when you first came over to meet Adiel, but he didn't say anything.  Now he's standing by the boat with two of the Harix followers only a short distance away from him.

"You two get over here right now!"

OOC: Sorry for all the purple, but both Jurgen and Farden use that text color.

Adiel opens his mouth to respond to Glumr, but after the interruption, his eyes move from fox, to bear, to Farden. He starts walking to the ship where some sort of conflict is evidently in process. As he does so, his eyes flicker back to the bear. There was something... different about it. It was probably the same bear he'd heard that Holly summoned from time to time; he could ask her about it later.

As he approaches, he tries to get a sense for what the Harix followers are feeling.

09:41, Today: Adiel rolled 19 using 1d20+11. Sense Motive (Harix followers).
This message was last edited by the player at 15:42, Sat 14 Mar 2015.

Adiel sizes up what's going on with Farden and the two Harix followers as he approaches.




Sorry, this was a little ambiguous.  Farden is shouting to Glumr and Sunna, not the two Harix followers.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:29, Sun 15 Mar 2015.

"A piece of my soul? Sunna suddenly feels even more feeble than before. But before she can say anything further Farden yells at her to come over. With an apologetic shrug she turns and heads over to her friend. Now she has a reason to find a high ranking priest, too.

"Is there a problem?" she asks Farden.

"The fox is mine, and the Bear is Holly's" Glumr say's to Adiel "but you'll have to excuse me for a moment" as he walks over toward Farden.

Glumr assumes he's going to be lectured about the need to keep quiet about their adventures to the island and what items the returned with.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:52, Mon 16 Mar 2015.

Holly and Moonlight run back into the village together, Holly flushed from her new found skills, and Moonlight happy to be running with his soul mate again. When Holly sees the others, she runs over to them and nods a greeting to Jurgen and then says, "Sorry for the delay. Moonlight and I had a little bit more to do than I thought. Whats up?"

Farden pulls Sunna and Glumr off to the side a little and speaks in a hushed, but serious tone.   Adiel can just barely hear him.

"There's a problem alright.  These two are nosing around the boat," he tilts his head to the two Harix followers.  "Which means the treasure.  In case you don't remember everyone here are raiders."

Farden lets the word sink in.

"Sunna, I need healing.  Then we need to load the cart and get out of here.  We're outnumbered and we don't know how tough these guys are.  'Pretty tough' is my guess."

"Where the heck is Holly?!?" he adds, agitatedly.

Just then Holly returns and makes her way towards the boat.

"Nevermind."

He looks back to Adiel.

"You're a harper, right.  Can you tell those two about a waterborne epic or something?", he asks a little louder.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Tue 17 Mar 2015.

"Oh, right." Sunna glances over to he two Harix followers, then turns back to Farden. "I guess I could help with the healing. Unless you'd like to ask Tibalt." If Holly and Farden don't object Sunna would play a healing song for Farden.

"I can't wait to return home", Sunna says, just loud enough for the Harix followers to hear if they want to. "Don't know if I can muster enough courage to get back to that island again. Not even to retrieve the statue." After a short pause she adds very quietly with a wink: "Not that I want to get the remains of Augustines statue, but maybe they want to."

OOC: 09:26, Today: Sunna rolled 8 using 1d8+5. CLW.

Holly joins the others and catches up on Farden's concerns. "I think we need to move out as well. Lets pack up the cart and get moving. If nothing else we can make some distance today before nightfall."

Hearing about the circumstances of Glumr healing from Tibalt, Holly has to hide a laugh. Holly does go to him though and say, "Sorry cousin, I was more interested in finding Moonlight than looking after my friends. I hope Tibalt's cure didn't cause you too much pain."

"I think I'll keep Erma and Moonlight out here to entertain the locals whilst you pack up the cart. Hopefully I can keep them focused on me and not what we carry. I will also try and leave a trail of crumbs that might take their interest to the island. If they can deal with the undead, I would say the island would be a great base for raiders."

"I agree Farden.  Let's pack up and get on the road as soon as we can.  We can camp and rest in privacy and probably more safety than with the Farisedan here.

Sunna, do you know Adiel?  Can he be trusted?  If so, he might be a good ally to travel with and help us identify our items....  or so he says."

Glumr's curiosity about the items the recovered is at full bore.  He wants very much to know more about the assorted treasures and magics they returned with.

Adiel thinks Sunna was very wise to heal Farden. He gives no indication of being able to hear the warrior's panic about the Harix followers. Instead, he walks over to the Harix followers and strikes up a soft conversation with them.

"I hope you'll forgive my cousin if he jumped to conclusions about your intentions. As you can see, he is wounded and exhausted after showing his strength against unknown horrors of undead. I imagine that he wants nothing more than to go home with the spoils of his great conquest."

Farden relaxes a little once Sunna heals him.

"Thanks."

The party is all still injured.  Everyone but Glumr could use a full Cure Light Wounds.  In fact, Holly and Farden could probably use two Cures or a Cure Moderate Wounds.

Glumr and Talita go get the draft horse and hook it up to the cart.  Everything looks to still be in its place on the cart, but Glumr notes that there's not much food left.  Together with what you're carrying he estimates today and two more, not counting feeding a bear.




"His knots are tied too tight is what."

The other boatman nods with an arm gesture of agreement.

"Unfriendly is what, too.  They come to us for help and we lend a hand.  The first people ever to return from that freaky-as-all-Hell island, with a bear and a boat full of mysteries.  We just want to see 'em."

"A little taste would be neighborly.  Something, right?  Unfriendly and Ungrateful."


Holly presents Moonlight and Erma for an impromptu bear and pony show.
OOC: Two Harpers, and it's the Druid who ends up entertaining the crowd.  :-)
Jurgen is pleased that Erma is not a threat and even pats her on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

"I'm still fuzzy on where she came from.  I know you didn't have a bear when we sailed out there," says the Vanguard, puzzled.


Glumr brings the cart down to the beach so he, Farden, and Sunna can start loading items from the boat.

"I am a little fuzzy about her appearance as well, Jurgen. She came to us as we were leaving the island, and I assume she had just woken from hibernation. With all of the other unusual events on that island, like the undead, I can see how it could happen. She seems harmless, and has not harmed anyone." Holly checks on the others progress, and adds, "So, now we have returned from the island, are you and your raiders likely to want to investigate? We left by a decent dock, although it would need attention. Clear out the undead, and you'll be able to check out all of the rooms and buildings we couldn't on our visit. I'm not saying it wouldn't be dangerous. As you can see we came back - just! If you go there, take lots of holy water and strong men and women. I reckon it might make a secure location to raid from as well."

"Honestly Miss," says Jurgen.  "We don't want a thing to do with that damned place."

"I'm sure there will be others who come along without the wisdom to avoid it."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:53, Wed 18 Mar 2015.

You pack up quickly, say some terse good-byes, and head south for Kammarra.  You find you're slowed a little by Erma.  She's quick, but can't keep up with the horses over the long haul.  You make camp when the sun begins to set.

Farden insists that you keep watch tonight, worried that the Ferisedan raiders might've followed you to attack during the night.  He also invites Adiel to take last watch with him for now.

Once everyone is asleep Farden (who was only faking slumber) has a short conversation with Sunna, who is on first watch.

"I want you to take this stuff," he says quietly. "Three scrolls we found on Brother Howe."

He opens up the scroll case and shows them to Sunna.  She remembers seeing them when you rested in the tower, but she was shaken by her near-death experience at the time.

"I think we can safely ignore the map scroll for now, but the other two are important.  One is Brother Howe's notes on the staff, and the other looks to be magic.  Show them to Holly when you wake her for her watch.  You two should be able to figure it out.  If not, maybe our new magic item 'expert' can help."

"But I don't really trust that guy."


Sunna looks over Brother Howe's notes:

There's a sketch of the staff on it.  It's is pointed at one end and the other end is blurred and left black.  The following notes are scribbled on the page:

  creates dread undead creatures
  wielded by the necromancer
  neither divine nor unholy

  aligned with the moon

  fetishes to control the undead
  can be created by an enchantress
  do not show The Tooth to Cordelia or Genessa

  activation word?

  shorter than previous thought
  headpiece missing?
  about the length of a man's arm
  made of silver?  quicksilver?  Mithril?

If anyone wants to have done anything on the ride south or before going to sleep such as casting spells or examining items, let me know.

Sunna is glad to be on the way, away from the haunted tower. At the camp she plays a few songs, rather quietly, one of them to heal Glumr, the others just for fun and practice. Just in case, should Fardens concerns prove true.

When Farden gives her the scrolls and notes she glances at them and puts them away into her pack. "Alright, I'll take a closer look at the magic scroll with Holly tomorrow", she says quietly, "though I guess we could trust Adiel. I would have suggested him to Tora, to command a band just as hers down south, but somehow I haven't found the time for that, yet." She shrugs, then smiles at Farden. "But you should get some sleep now, friend."

OOC: Sunna rolled 11 using 1d8+5. CLW.

During the trip Sunna would talk with Adiel, mostly about history, especially the Sowells. If none of the others object she'd like to take a closer look at the supposedly magical items with Holly and Adiel, otherwise just with Holly, to find out what they are. The only exception is the Needle, this thing will be kept hidden as good as possible for now.

Also it would be interesting to talk with Erma. She's a speaking bear after all!
This message was last edited by the player at 07:30, Sat 21 Mar 2015.

Two notes.  Due to nightmares and lack of sleep, Sunna was only able to cast one 1st level and one 0th level spell.  Since she's used a CLW on Farden she's down to just a Cure Minor Wounds.  That brings us to the second note.  Glumr is only very lightly injured, so a CLW would've been mostly wasted on him.  I'll assume you cast a cure minor on him.  He now has just one point of damage.  You can cast more spells in the morning if you'd like.

Right now the only things from the tower that your sure are magical are the painting and the staff.  You also strongly suspect that the two wooden boxes contain magical wands, and that there are two magical potions.  If only there was some way to look over a big pile of loot and detect which items were magical.  ;-)  Sunna has exhausted her spells for the day, but the other two are welcome to review the loot.

Sunna has already given the painting a good scrutinizing.  She can share her findings with the others.  Of the two wooden boxes, one is broken enough to open, while the other remains securely locked.  You've seen Farden open a lock before with small tools he carries.  You could also try forcing it open.  The broken box is padded and contains two ornate shafts of wood each about a foot and a half long.  The shafts are not twins of each other and look to be made of different types of wood.  One way you've heard of for identifying potions is to taste them.  You know what healing potions taste like, but have limited experience with others.  Holly has experience with growth and shrinking potions too.  They craft potions at Goldenpoint, so there must be an alchemist there.  Eldress Elana, Coal, and Cordelia are all alchemists too.  Any one of them might be able to recognize a potion by taste.  It remains to be seen how much Adiel knows about potions.

Feel free to start up the conversation with Adiel and the conversation with Erma either in PM or on the side conversation posting.

Adiel seems to enjoy the relative peace of travel. He gives the others the privacy to talk about him behind his back, completely confident that he will be able to prove his usefulness soon enough.

As soon as Sunna and the others show their spoils to Adiel, his eyes light up. "Let's see what secrets the Sowells left in their dread tower, shall we?" he asks. He sings a few rising notes and strums a chord on his lyre that is somehow both mysterious and joyful. For those familiar with the magic of a Bard, he is casting Detect Magic.

Adiel scans the pile carefully, as if seeing something that others cannot. It is almost as if he is studying not just the items, but the very air around them.

OOC: I'm not sure how many Spellcraft checks Adiel will need, but hopefully this will identify the school of magic for the first three auras he sees.
21:39, Today: Adiel rolled 30 using 1d20+14. Spellcraft.
21:39, Today: Adiel rolled 27 using 1d20+14. Spellcraft 2.
21:39, Today: Adiel rolled 33 using 1d20+14. Spellcraft 3.

Adiel plays his magical song while gazing intently down at the collected pile of treasure in the cart.  The song has a short, catchy refrain that cycles through over and over.  Sunna knows that you rarely need to play this detect magic song for very long, but Adiel's song goes on and on.  He changes up the chords and shifts the refrain into minor notes occasionally to keep the tune fresh and even goes into a lengthy bridge before wrapping up with the standard refrain repeated 5 times varying only slightly each time.  In all the song lasts 5 minutes.  Sunna is impressed.  She's never played it at such length.  This is a challenge she'll have to attempt when she's good and rested some day.

Adiel draws out a number of items and sorts them into five piles.

The first pile is the smallest, a single buckler. "This has some sort of protective magic on it," Adiel explains.

In the second pile, Adiel gathers two maces and a flail. "These look like magical weapons," says the harper. "The easiest way to figure out what they do is usually just to fight with them. The flail is the strongest of the three."

The third pile includes the creepy painting, a broken case with two wands in it, and a belt. "These all have something to do with necromancy," says Adiel. "I'd be very careful with them. It's easy to make the gods angry with that sort of thing, and you may not survive long enough for the gods to do anything about it."

The fourth pile includes a locked case with two more wands in it, a leather coat,  and two potions. "These ones do all sorts of things," Adiel explains to the group. "Although I'm not sure exactly what yet. One wand casts a summoning spell, like the kind I think Holly uses to summon her bear friend, and the other casts some kind of enchantment over the mind. The leather coat is fairly powerful, and it has the power to transform people in some way. Maybe it makes the wearer stronger or more skillful. One of the potions will transform the user, and I think the other one will enchant them."

The fifth pile consists entirely of a blue dress and a purple dress. "I'm not sure about either of these," Adiel admits. "But the purple one has a compulsion on it. I wouldn't suggest trying it on until I know more."

After giving the group a tour of what he has learned, Adiel uncorks both potions and sniffs them, checking for any familiar scent. "I know a spell to get more details about what an item does, but the magic burns up a gemstone every single time. I want to be careful before deciding to do that, especially since you're planning to sell much of this for the Tome of Legends."

OOC:
15:31, Today: Adiel rolled 26 using 1d20+14. Identify Potion (Transmutation Aura).
15:31, Today: Adiel rolled 30 using 1d20+14. Identify Potion (Enchantment Aura).

Adiel sniffs and tastes the potions.

I have updated the cart item to reflect your new knowledge about which items are magical.

"That explains why the stuff was in such a good shape, compared to much of the rest", Sunna states and glances at the piles Adiel made, still impressed by his song.
"What kind of gemstone does the spell need? Not that we have any gemstones to burn, I'm just curious.

The painting is... interesting in a way. I just hope it's just odd and not dangerous. But it feels like there's a story behind it."


During the trip Sunna would also like to look at the other four books they took from the tower. Maybe one of them contains some history or interesting stories?

Holly has already looked over 2 of the books, so Sunna starts on the 3rd.  It is not encouraging.  The formatting shifts and changes several times a page and words are thrown together in sometimes non-sensical ways.  From time to time Sunna comes across a short passage that could border on profound were it not surrounded by so much gobbledygook.  You don't hold out much hope of this book being valuable.

The next book is written in mysterious magical writing, similar to a scroll.  The first 13 pages of the book are used while the rest of the pages are blank.

Ah ha!  Now we're getting somewhere.  The fifth book is a long work of entertaining fiction.  The epic begins with a young lady taking a solo journey into a magic forest to make good on a wish.  Meanwhile a young man plagued by nightmares in which he commits violent acts wakes up to find the rest of his warparty has either abandoned him or mysteriously disappeared.  As the story shifts back to the magical forest you set the book aside.  It's good reading, but you do have one more book to look at.

The last book is full of short children's fairytales and colorful illustrations.  You read about a servant who brings the king a covered silver platter every day.  He grows very curious and one day takes a peek to find an albino snake coiled under the dome.  The servant takes a small bite and discovers he can now speak to and understand the animals.  The servant travels the countryside helping animals in need. Each time the grateful animal says "I will remember and return the favor".  When the king's gorgeous daughter is to be married, he requires suitors to complete three life or death tasks.  With various animals' help the servant completes all three and marries the beautiful princess.  In the end the princess is unhappy being married to a lowly servant and the servant is unhappy because he can no longer bring himself to eat his favorite dishes and must subsist on a bland vegetarian diet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:40, Mon 23 Mar 2015.

In the morning you press on south to Kammarra.  Glumr's cough is getting worse.  He was coughing during the night, but not so much as to keep people from sleeping.  You are all (except Adiel and Erma) pretty exhausted.  As you ride along Glumr reports that his joints are aching and swelling and he complains about the taste of the grit he coughs up.  The coughing expels barely visible clouds with a vague greenish tint.

21:51, Today: Fritzholm, on behalf of Glumr, rolled 1 using 1d4. CON damage.
21:51, Today: Fritzholm, on behalf of Glumr, rolled 1 using 1d4. DEX damage.

It's mid afternoon when you ride into the Ferisedan fishing village on Loch Grmikel.  You're running dangerously low on food, especially since Erma has been sampling what's left of your rations.  It would be wise to buy food here.  This is a great time of year for fresh fruit.  Local orchards tenders are also just drying the walnuts and black walnuts.  There's as much of the those treats as you care to buy.  Kammarra also has a year round selection of fresh, salted, or smoked fish available.  The late summer batch of Pete's Tremendous (beer) is available, and they can sell you as much hard, unremarkable bread as you'd like.

You can all feast and drink for the night for 50sp.  Staying in the common hall is free.  Bears are not allowed in town or near the stables (but you can bring food out to her unless you want a grumpy bear tomorrow.)

Basic food for the road will run you 5sp per pound,
or you could splurg on the fresh goodies for 12sp per pound.

Your party goes through about 7 pounds of food a day now, and the trip to Crim will take about 3 days even with some delays built in.  You'll be able to get food provisioned to you free once in Crim.