So, Amara meets Myarra at the cave entrance where the party is located and explains the strange looking Troll ran inside a cave, abandoning 4 other trolls who were arguing with each other near the shaft. She also goes on to explain that there is a trail that goes up to the cave and it might be easier to travel than the dangerous shafts.

It's currently 5pm-ish

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Byron                  76/85
Myarra                 81/95
Aliana                 57/75       Flight
Shannon                47/47
Twiggy                 38/38
Amara                  54/54       Mirror Image 65 rounds
Roenthelm              63/75
Kalliyan               53/53
Raieylan               32/32

Trolls Killed: 10

GAME MAP 0 has been updated

"Well, looks like negotiations are over then? We should watch the shaft in case one of the trolls falls in during the fighting." Roen said as he peeked up the shaft

What are we doing now? If we stay here, they can surround us. Better to move while the boss is gone and these idiots are fighting.

Sister Aliana nodded, once someone conveyed the ghost's words, frowning with reluctance
"Not a bad idea.  Where shall we retreat to?  Just back out whence we came? Or are there other options?"

We got them on the run. We can find a different cave to hide in to rest that they don't know we're hiding in. The diggers camp is just too far away without your horses.

"I had my doubts, Roen, but thank you for at least giving it a shot.

Amara says a small trail out here leads up to the cave above.  I think the obvious thing to do is run up and kill the four trolls.  Then we'll have the leader and any remaining trolls trapped.  We can heal up and decide what to do at that point.  I really don't like the idea of leaving them alive.  No matter where we try to camp, they know the caves far better than us"

She points to outside where Amara had indicated the trail lay.

"Shall we?"

Twiggy will follow Myarra.

As long as we can still bash trolls. I'm good.

Aliana nodded
"I'm game.  Lead the way "

Kali smiled at the enthusiasm of the others and nodded. "Why not."

"They will continue to prey on the innocent - and those not so innocent - unless they are destroyed, at least from their current stance. And we still haven't found the others - dead or alive. Let's kill those we an." Amara agreed. "I can try to either hold them in place with solid fog or entrance them for a while to give you all time to kill them."

"Well, upon seeing both those spells work, I'd say use the one that lasts longer so we'll have time to get up there."

The contingent of Amaras moves forward until she sees the group of trolls. Seeing that the one that appears to be the leader and a mage of some sort is not with them, she decides to use Hypnotic Pattern to fascinate most of them (hopefully) and give her allies time to attack them.

Surprise Round----------

Amara levitates back up to the arguing Trolls and casts a Hypnotic Pattern on them. Two of them are Hypnotized by the colors and the other two are confused as to what is happening. Myarra flies up the side of the Hill with Byron in a Bear-Hug and after dropping him off, flies back down to grab Roenthelm before the Trolls even realize what's happening. Kalliyan also flew up there as a little bird and landed on a small tree as Aliana flew up and dropped Twiggy off on the ledge next to Amara.

Please Roll for initiative and state your Round 1 action.

OOC: Faded RED Squares are the Hypnotized Trolls

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Troll          16      ??/??       Hypnotized
Troll          14      ??/??
Troll          13      ??/??
Troll          11      ??/??       Hypnotized
Byron                  76/85
Myarra                 81/95
Aliana                 57/75       Flight
Shannon                47/47
Twiggy                 38/38
Amara                  54/54       Mirror Image 55 rounds
Roenthelm              63/75
Kalliyan               53/53       Little Bird Form
Raieylan               32/32

Trolls Killed: 10

Main Game Map has been updated
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:32, Thu 05 Jan 2023.

Amara focuses on keeping the two trolls hypnotized.

After delivering Byron, Myarra goes back for Roen.  Depending on what's happening when she gets him to the top, she'll decide whether or not to go back immediately for Shannon, or wait until after the combat.  She doesn't want to leave her baby behind for long, but she can't let Byron take all the risk (or have all the fun).

Byron attacks the nearest non-hypnotized Troll and calls out to Myarra.

Hurry back, you don't want to miss all the fun.

OOC: 23:08, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 20 using 1d20+6.  Initiative.
23:09, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 32 using 1d20+14.  To hit with +1 Long Sword.
23:09, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 13 using 1d8+5.  Damage with +1 Longsword.
23:09, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 25 using 1d20+9.  To hit with +1 Long Sword.
23:09, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 9 using 1d8+5.  Damage with +1 Longsword.

Flying closer, Aliana tossed out a bit of fluff from her bag of tricks, which turned into a wolverine
Then she shot two flaming arrows at the troll that Byron was fighting.

OOC:  13:11, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Initiative




19:25, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 12 using 1d20+9.  Second flame arrow.
19:27, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 10 using 2d6+5.  2nd  arrow damage .
19:27, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 3 using 1d6.  2nd flame damage .

19:24, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 24 using 1d20+14.  First fire arrow .
19:26, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 9 using 2d6+5.  1st arrow damage
19:26, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 3 using 1d6.  1st fire damage

19:23, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 10 using 1d100.  Bag of tricks,  rust

This message was last edited by the player at 22:12, Thu 05 Jan 2023.

Twiggy begins to climb down the ledge and goes towards Byron.

Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 17,8 using 1d20+4,1d20+4.  Initive

There wasn't much Roen could do but wait for a ride up to the melee, so he tried talking to the Lynx while he waited, but it seemed the big cat didn't want anything to do with him.

14:00, Today: Roenthelm rolled 20 using 1d20+2.  Initiative.

the small bird watched as Byron landed, then took flight, and in a flash, wad her petite form at his side, drawing her scimitar. She smiled at him as he strode up beside him and swung her blade. As she did, she tripped over and fell on the ground, regaining her footing with a blush. "I need more practice with the sword" She muttered

---

<OOC: Kalliyan rolled 20 using 1d20+6.  iniative.

Attack with scimitar

Kalliyan rolled 11 using 1d20+10.  attack - scimitar. (Nat 1)

>

Shannon watched her mistress carrying the big metal-clad human up the mountainside, leaving her behind ... again.  Her ability to bite the bad creatures was every bit as good as anything these bipeds could do, and yet her mistress insisted on 'protecting her'.  It was really annoying.

One of the other humans was talking to her, but he didn't speak cat and she didn't speak human.  It was a pity because he seemed a likable enough human.  Mostly quiet, which was a real rarity.

OOC: What's the DC to climb the slope?  Shannon has a 24 on at Take-10.

Still clear over here!

Rounds 1-3 Results----------

Byron took advantage of the cover he had to move to get closer to the Trolls before they noticed him and when they did, they ran around to meet him, while Kalliyan turned back to humanoid form to help Byron in melee. Myarra and Roenthelm have finally arrived up on the ledge, but are well away from doing anything to the Trolls at the moment. Twiggy moved away from Amara to follow Byron, looking here and there for hiding Trolls, as Amara concentrated on the Hypnotized Trolls to keep them busy. Aliana flew in and tossed a fluff of fur on the ground, which transformed into a Wolverine (the animal, not the X-man LOL), while she fired off shots from her magical bow, which hit the oncoming Trolls. When Myarra arrived to pick up Roenthelm, Shannon was already gone, trying to figure out a way up to give her human a piece of her mind for picking her up last.

OOC: Faded RED Squares are the Hypnotized Trolls

Shannon will arrive at HH-39 on Rd 5

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Byron          20      76/85
Roenthelm      20      63/75
Kalliyan       20      53/53       Little Bird Form
Myarra         19      81/95
Twiggy         17      38/38
Troll          16      ??/??       Hypnotized
Troll          14      ??/12
Troll          13      ??/??
Amara          12      54/54       Mirror Image 52 rounds
Troll          11      ??/??       Hypnotized
Aliana         09      57/75       Flight
Wolverine      09      ??/??
Shannon        --      47/47

Trolls Killed: 10

Main Game Map has been updated

Amara continued focusing on the spell to keep the two hypnotized.

Alaina flew closer and kept firing her flaming arrows, while her fuzzy wolverine friend attacked

OOC:
22:15, Today: Secret Roll: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 32 using 1d20+14 with rolls of 18.  Rd4 arrow
22:17, Today: Secret Roll: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 16 using 2d6+5 with rolls of 5,6.  Damage  arrow 1
22:19, Today: Secret Roll: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 3 using 1d6 with rolls of 3.  Flame damage 1

22:16, Today: Secret Roll: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 13 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 4.  Rd4 arrow 2
22:17, Today: Secret Roll: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 14 using 2d6+5 with rolls of 5,4.  Damage arrow 2
22:19, Today: Secret Roll: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 4 using 1d6 with rolls of 4.  Flame damage 2


22:29, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 0 using 1d20-1.  Wolverine bite.

22:29, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 12 using 1d20+4.  Wolverine claw 1.

22:29, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 9 using 1d20+4.  Wolverine claw 2.


The wolverine seems to be having a bad time of it, bit perhaps at least he'll help the others get a flanking bonus

Myarra drops Roen off as soon as they're up on top.  She could keep carrying him, but the monk is capable of moving much faster on his own.  Once freed of her passenger, Myarra moves at full speed toward Byron, Kalli, and the trolls.

Shannon, of course, was already making her way up by herself.

Once on the ground again, Roen gave his thanks to Myarra and immediately started running to help Byron and Kalliyan.

Double Move action.

Twiggy keeps running towards Byron and looking around for any hidden trolls.

Byron continues his effective attacks on the active trolls.  Making sure that he was able to protect Kali if needed.

They wanted a fight I'll give them a fight.

OOC: 05:10, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 27 using 1d20+14.  To hit with +1 Long Sword.
05:10, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 13 using 1d8+5.  Damage with +1 Longsword.
05:10, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 25 using 1d20+9.  To hit with +1 Long Sword.
05:10, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 12 using 1d8+5.  Damage with +1 Longsword.

Round 4 results----------

Byron and the trolls clash first as Byron swings the Flaming Sword with great accuracy on the Troll that already has several arrows in it from Aliana, slicing through Troll flesh that doesn't regenerate from the wounds. His second hit stabs the monster in the heart and it falls to the ground dead. Kalliyan moves in right beside Byron and swings her Scimitar, but trips over her own feet and almost falls to the ground as Roenthelm quickly runs to help in the melee, but still has some distance to cover. Myarra too flies as quickly as she can to get into the melee, as Twiggy tries to follow with his short, child-like legs. The Troll right in front of Kalliyan takes advantage of her oopsie and tears her a new one as it rends her with claws and teeth while she screams in agony. Amara continued to Concentrate on her spell to keep the other two trolls Hypnotized, as Aliana flew in closer and fired off more arrows, one hitting and the other missing, but it was enough for the Troll to drop Kalliyan. The Wolverine was quickly moving to shorten the distance between it and the Troll....

Shannon will arrive at HH-39 on Rd 5

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Byron          20      76/85
Roenthelm      20      63/75
Kalliyan       20      21/53
Myarra         19      81/95
Twiggy         17      38/38
Troll          16      ??/??       Hypnotized
Troll          13      ??/16
Amara          12      54/54       Mirror Image 51 rounds
Troll          11      ??/??       Hypnotized
Aliana         09      57/75       Flight
Wolverine      09      ??/??
Shannon        --      47/47

Trolls Killed: 11

Main Game Map has been updated

Myarra and Shannon continue closing on the trolls as best they can.  It's irritating to watch her friends being in danger and not being able to help.

Amara continues to concentrate on her spell.

Roen was running now to get into the melee after seeing Kali get tore up by the Troll.

OOC: Run Move x3

Aliana's wolverine friend tore into the next troll, while the elven archer fired at it as well


OOC:


19:52, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 34 using 1d20+14.  Flame arrow 1.
19:52, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 30 using 1d20+14.  Possible crit
19:53, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 9 using 2d6+5.  Flame arrow 1 damage
19:54, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 2 using 1d6.  Flame damage 1.

19:52, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 27 using 1d20+9.  Flame arrow2.
19:53, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 13 using 2d6+5.  Flame arrow 2 damage
19:54, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 2 using 1d6.  Flame damage


 .
19:50, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 18 using 1d20-1.  Wolverine bite.
19:51, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 7 using 1d6+1.  Wolverine bite damage,

19:50, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 8 using 1d20+4.  Wolverine claw 2.

19:50, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 20 using 1d20+4.  Wolverine claw 1.
19:51, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 5 using 1d4+4.  Claw 1 damage

Twiggy keeps on pumping his legs to get close to the fight.

Still clear over here!

Round 5 Results----------

Shannon the Lynx makes it up onto the ledge (HH-39) with the party and looks for her winged servant and spots her flying towards more of those ugly, smelly, green 2 legged creatures and watches as the human in metal (Byron) slashes at the Troll who hurt his girl. Both hits sear the skin of the Troll and prevents it from Regenerating. Roenthelm is very quick to make it to the melee after he saw Kalliyan get torn up, to let her (Kalliyan) move away from the fight before she gets killed and to cast a healing spell on herself, if she so wished. Myarra flew in and was next to Kalliyan, so if the Troll was going to go after Kalliyan, it would have to deal with Myarra as well. Twiggy also made it to Kalliyan, to help out the poor girl. She's bleeding pretty good. The Troll turned to Roenthelm, since he wasn't encased in metal, and figured him an easy target. But, the Monk just ducked and weaved the claw attacks from the monster, which annoyed it. Amara continued to Concentrate on her spell to keep the other two Trolls hypnotized, as Aliana continued to shoot fire arrows at the Troll, one hitting its chest and the other hitting it right through the eye, sending it to the ground dead. The Wolverine rips into Troll flesh when the monster fell to the ground.

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Byron          20      76/85
Roenthelm      20      63/75
Kalliyan       20      21/53
Myarra         19      81/95
Shannon        19      47/47
Twiggy         17      38/38
Troll          16      ??/??       Hypnotized
Amara          12      54/54       Mirror Image 50 rounds
Troll          11      ??/??       Hypnotized
Aliana         09      57/75       Flight
Wolverine      09      ??/??

Trolls Killed: 12

Main Game Map has been updated

Twiggy runs up to Kali, and nearly trips trying to stop, to place his hands on her gash to give her a small prayer of healing. Out of breath he huffs "Brandobaris, please give your healing blessing on our friend to let her keep on helping me do your work.

18:39, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 2 using 1d8+1.  Cure Light wounds.

Kali smiled as she stood, her hand on the scimitar, she spoke in the old eleven language she used to cast spells. A breeze seemed to come from nowhere….warm and soothing wrapping around the woman as her wounds seemed to close.

---

<OOC: OUCH!

Cast cure moderate wounds on self.

Kalliyan rolled 22 using 2d8+8.  Cure moderate wounds.

Heals 22hp>

Amara continued to concentrate on her spell, but called out, "Myarra! Can your lynx sniff out more?"

She knew these weren't all of them, and they still had not found Aki's coworkers. So there had to be more.

With the two trolls in front of her already dead, Myarra spreads her wings and takes flight again, heading due north and up over the rocks to the upper level and the two fascinated trolls.  She's still somewhat behind Byron, so she hopes the shortcut will bring them both there at the same time.

Shannon crests the rise and sees, yet again, her mistress and all her mistress' hangers-on ahead of her, gathered around a couple of the dead monsters.  And they hadn't waited for her.  She takes off as fast as she can, trying to reach the last of the monsters before they're all dead as well.

And, as an apology, there had better be salmon for dinner or someone was getting all their clothes shed on.

Sister Aliana will head for the last trolls, helpjng her wolverine friend along if needed

Roen stayed behind to make sure that Kalliyan was ok after the savage attack she received from the Troll.

"I've never seen a Troll do that before and I'm sorry it was you it did it to. Are you OK?" Roen asked after she cast her spell

Glancing over at Kali to ensure she's going to be ok Byron continues to wage his one man wrecking crew assault on the trolls.  Attacking the next nearest one with deadly effect.

I'm done talking and negotiating with these creatures today.  Hurt my girlfriend will you.  I've got something to hurt you with.

OOC: 07:05, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 29 using 1d20+14.  To Hit w/ +1 Longsword.
07:06, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 10 using 1d8+5.  Damage with +1 Longsword.
07:05, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 27 using 1d20+9.  To Hit w/ +1 Longsword.
07:06, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 12 using 1d8+5.  Damage with +1 Longsword.

Still clear over here!

Round 6-9 Results----------

The party moves closer to the Hypnotized Trolls to get into the best position to take them out without hurting themselves too much. Kalliyan casts a healing spell on herself and Twiggy aids her. She feels much better as they followed the party in the back, keeping watch of the cave entrance. Aliana and Myarra fly over the rocks to save some time as they watched the rest of the group jog into position while Amara keeps her Concentration going to keep the Trolls Hypnotized. So far, everything seems safe, but then again, you have killed a dozen Trolls so far and there might not be any left to confront you...you hope.

OOC: Byron, you can save your attack rolls if you wish, while everyone was getting into position for the party's advantage. Please look at the map and if you wish to be located somewhere else, please tell me in the OOC thread where you want to be.

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Byron          20      76/85
Roenthelm      20      63/75
Kalliyan       20      45/53
Myarra         19      81/95
Shannon        19      47/47
Twiggy         17      38/38
Troll          16      ??/??       Hypnotized
Amara          12      54/54       Mirror Image 46 rounds
Troll          11      ??/??       Hypnotized
Aliana         09      57/75       Flight
Wolverine      09      ??/??

Trolls Killed: 12

Main Game Map has been updated

Twiggy sees Kali is ok and goes by the hypnotized troll next to Byron "Should we all attack one at a time?" Once ready Twigy will thrust his rapier to do the most damage to the troll.


Att 1. Is 29 to hit flanking, 3 rapier dmg, and 13 sneak dmg

Att 2 is 28 to hit flanking and 3 dmg, and 11 sneak damage

11:25, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 20,27,26,8,3,13,3 using 1d20+12,1d20+12,1d20+7,1d20+7,1d4+1,4d6,1d4+1.  Att 1 advantage, attack 2 advantage, damage 1, sneak dmg, damage 2.
07:49, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 11 using 4d6.  Sneak attack dmg.

This message was last edited by the player at 13:50, Fri 27 Jan 2023.

Myarra carefully moves closer to the trolls so that she and Byron are properly flanking, and motions for Shannon to stay by her side and not to do anything just yet.

Since they're waiting for Twiggy to join them, she casts a protective spell on herself and her cat.  She then lifts her sword, nods at Byron, and attacks with the rest of the group.

OOC: I'm assuming we're waiting for one more round so that Twiggy can join us and get his sneak attack.  If we're not waiting, and instead are attacking this round, I won't bother with the spell.

"Yes, ideally attack all at once, it won't be hypnotized once you attack," Amara replied. "Vernon, can you start scouting around? See if you can find any more trolls?"

Vernon smiles and give Amara a bow and starts floating around to find anything.

Aliana swooped in to attack the troll that Twiggy stabbed



OOC:

16:39, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 12 using 2d6+5.  Arrow damage 2. Flame 5
16:39, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 16 using 2d6+5.  Arrow damage 1. Flame 1
16:38, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 28 using 1d20+9.  Flame arrow 1.
16:38, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 31 using 1d20+14.  Flame arrow 1.



16:37, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 3 using 1d6+1.  Bite damage .
16:37, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 18 using 1d20-1.  Wolverine bite.
16:37, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 6 using 1d20+4.  Wolverine claw 2.
16:37, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  Wolverine claw 1

Kali, still wounded and holding her side, couldn't help but smile at Byron's comment in the face of his anger. She could have helped with the trolls, but stood back and took a breath after the hit

"I can cast another healing spell on you, if you need it?" Roen asked Kali

Either way, Roen was going to stay out of this fight as it looked like the rest of the group had it handled.

Round 13 Results----------

With no resistance coming out of the cave, both Trolls are exterminated with precise timing of weapon attacks that won't let the Trolls regenerate. Vernon floated around to see if he could spot anything, but the coast is clear outside. If there are any Trolls, they are hiding in the caves waiting to ambush somebody.

It's currently pushing 6pm.

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Byron          20      76/85
Roenthelm      20      63/75
Kalliyan       20      45/53
Myarra         19      81/95
Shannon        19      47/47
Twiggy         17      38/38
Amara          12      54/54       Mirror Image 43 rounds
Aliana         09      57/75       Flight
Wolverine      09      ??/??

Trolls Killed: 14

Main Game Map has been updated

"We will need to find a place to camp soon, but I'd like to see what else we can find quickly first. I don't want to be ambushed by trolls in the night." Amara said, walking over to the others. "And we should see if these have anything valuable or that would provide a clue."

"While you do the detective work here, Shannon and I will go check out the cave.  We know there's at least one more troll to deal with, so anyone that wants to come with would be welcome.  Especially someone with keen senses that can help me keep from sprouting any more wounds.  Yes, Twiggy, I'm talking about you."

Smiling, she heads toward the mouth of the cave, not going inside, but just seeing what she can see from the entrance.

Amara nodded, and started searching the bodies.

Kali looked at Roenthelm and smiled. "As much as it hurt, save your magic for when you need it.  if we rest the night i can use my own to heal - if not, then we can discuss it."

She looked at Byron with a playful smile. "Girlfriend?"

She chuckled as she helped Amara start searching

Sister Aliana dismissed her wolverine friend, and helped the others

Byron smiles at Kali and replies in his usual lighthearted tone.

Well it was the best thing I could think of at the moment.

Byron turns to Myarra and replies in a more serious tone.

I'll go with you.  We might as well finish them off while we still have some light to see by.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:09, Thu 02 Feb 2023.

You want me to go inside the cave with you all?
This message was last edited by the player at 13:25, Thu 02 Feb 2023.

Twiggy nods at Myarra then looks at Byron "Wait outside the mouth of the cave and let us check it out first. With Vernon's help we should be able to locate any that we know are waiting in ambush. We can flush them out if it is a couple or ease out and retreat if it is to many.

Kali looked at byron as he moved away with a smile, speaking softly so only she heard. "...i think i liked the sound of that."

Twiggy, Myarra and Vernon slowly make their way into the cave entrance, while the rest of the party stays outside and searches the trolls for anything of value and to make sure they are dead. Byron hands Twiggy Vernon's ring and the Trio make their way inside and immediately notice that the passage is carved out of the rock and is fairly straight and it quickly angles down. With the time of the day and losing daylight, Twiggy doesn't get 40 feet before he needs some type of light source to see. Myarra and Vernon can see just fine, though...

The party outside confirm that the Trolls are dead and the only thing they have on them are loin cloths covering their private areas. They don't have a single piece of treasure on them. No rings, no bracelets, no necklaces or ear rings. Nothing but the loin cloths.

Amara was disappointed that they found absolutely nothing of value on the trolls. Out of curiosity, she took out a knife and slashed one of the trolls, watching to see if it would heal although the troll was dead. She assumed it wouldn't, but figured they might as well see.

Twiggy reaches back and pulls his everburning torch out of his haversack and unwraps the towel around it just enough to give a small sliver of light directly in front of him. Twiggy says lowly "Vernon take the lead as far as you can while I check for any traps. Hopefully you can be further out than the trolls darkvision." he then moves checking the floor, walls, and ceiling with the sliver of light.

10:49, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 12,13 using 1d20+10,1d20+10.  Listen.

10:48, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 22,20 using 1d20+17,1d20+17.  Hide.

10:48, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 22,29 using 1d20+17,1d20+17.  Move Silently.

10:48, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 23,30 using 1d20+17,1d20+17.  Search.

Myarra follows behind Twiggy, giving him a good 30 feet.  She's not extremely loud and she doesn't generate light, but compared to the rogue and the ghost, she's a 28-piece marching band, and she'd prefer not to be the one to alert the trolls to their presence.

Byron remained outside the cave at Myarra's suggestion.  He couldn't see in the dark and he made more noise than the two of them combined.  But if push came to shove he'd shove his way into fight and kick some more troll butt as needed.

Until then he kept a close lookout into the surroundings for trouble to help the rest of the group.

"This is some pretty decent stone work for being in the middle of nowhere." Copper said to Twiggy "I'll bet the Trolls have made their home in one of the old tombs? This whole area is littered with them."

Twiggy pulls out his Everburning torch to light his way, so he could take the time to detect for traps. Once the long hallway is lit up, all of you can see that Copper might be right, with the carved murals on the stone walls depicting somebody from long ago. Aliana would definitely love to see this, but that would have to be later as you enter a large room that you hope isn't a tomb filled with Trolls. The stench of death is lingering a bit then there is a single loud clap and suddenly the room lights up with an eerie light.

Please refer to Main Game Map

The room is definitely part of some tomb, most likely the chamber before entering the tomb itself. But, this room has been modified a bit and it looks like the Trolls have been living here. The room is quite large and you figure you're at least 150 feet below the surface of the ground. To your South are empty cages, but standing to the West up some stairs and in front of a passageway leading into the unknown is the Big Troll that Kalliyan was talking about and a male human figure.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:57, Sun 05 Feb 2023.

The male human figure has long white hair and very pale skin, dressed in a robe and holding a Longsword. The Troll is much larger than your normal Troll and it wears a Chain Shirt and misc. jewelry and carries a Battle Axe.

"I must say that I haven't seen such a force come up here and wipe out my Trolls in a long time. I heard one of your people asking for your friends back, but I'm sorry to tell you that they're already gone. That's what they get for trespassing onto my lands, disturbing the graves and stealing the treasures."

"Hello to you, as well, sir!" Myarra calls out in a loud enough voice to make sure Byron can hear her.  It wouldn't be wise to start a battle here without the rest of the group.

"I apologize for the slaughter of your trolls, but then they did attack us first. I'm really not a violent woman, but self-defense and all that.  In the future, you might want to teach them that attacking heavily armed groups is not conducive to a long life.

And we were unaware of any claim laid to these lands. You might want to put up a sign or two, or at least a rough fence, to let folks know.  It's hard for people not to trespass if the boundaries aren't marked.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to say that one is your fault, sir.

We're not actually here to kill anyone, or take anything.  In fact, we've just been asked to verify some reports.

So, whom might you be, sir? And what is the basis for your claims? I really am sorry, but the paperwork just never seems to end.  Civilization, am I right?  No bloody end to the forms."

Byron tried to listen for his friend's call.  He knew they still weren't alone.

OOC: 14:43, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 14 using 1d20+4.  Listen

Aliana's elven ears were perked as well

OOC: 18:41, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 16 using 1d20+5.  Listen

"Trying to delay until your friends get here isn't going to work, child." the being said "Your party has drained a lot of their power fighting the Trolls, your mounts have been scared away and it's almost night time."

The being narrows his eyes and tilts his head, "I really must say that your group continues to impress me. You even have a ghost following you around."

"And I must say, sir, that I'm getting pretty tired of people calling me a liar when they know nothing about me.  How dare you, sir!  Just who do you think you are?"

And just where was everyone else?  That was a really good question she would love to have the answer to.

If you can hear me, then you know that we just want our friends back and then we'll be on our way. These hills are called the Troll Claw Hills and we respect your claim to them.

It didn't take long to search nearly naked bodies. After trying her experiment on cutting the troll's body to see if it might heal, Amara wiped the blade off and re-sheathed it. Then she turned to start heading toward the cave where the rest of the party went.

She'd have been in a hurry if she knew what was happening, but for now, was simply sauntering.

"Who am I?" the being repeats Myarra's question as he walked to the edge of the stairs and raises his hands in the air "Who am I?" he called out to the room and the room answered back,

"You are the Lord and Master." several voices said in unison

----------
Amara tests the flesh of the Trolls with her blade and the flesh doesn't mend back, confirming the Trolls are dead. She and the rest of the party outside are quite disappointed that they didn't find any treasure on the Trolls and they stand around and wait for Myarra, Twiggy and Vernon to return.

(I rolled for Roenthelm's and Kalliyan's Listen checks, but they didn't hear anything. But, even though those outside don't hear anything, Go ahead and roll another Listen check after the Unison voices spoke up.)

Byron is totally not listening for Myarra.

OOC: 20:43, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  Listen

Twiggy groans a bit and wispers to Copper "You have any idea what this person is? Keep it to a wisper." Twiggy isn't sure what Myarra is doing but the halfling stands there looking at the white haired man before chirping up "That is not technically correct, I did come fore treasure but I am not really a tomb raider. Your big guy there ran away and let the others fend for themselves so that is kinda crummy. So it looks like you are very old, what is this place you are the lord and master of., besides the stench it is very interesting." Twiggy is buying time but is trying to get some more information.

20:31, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 9,13 using 1d20+5,1d20+5.  Diplomacy.

"Lord and Master?" Myarra repeats, absolutely stalling for time.

"Mr. Lord and Master? Sir Lord and Master? Lord and Master, Attorneys at Law? You'll have to give me something to go on, because you're clearly not as famous as you think you are.

I mean, you've been a bit rude, but let's just take a breath and start again.  I'll go first.  My name is Cheryl, I'm originally from Sembia, and I'm a Taurus. Everyone says they can tell because I'm kinda bull-headed.  My favorite drink is a Sembian Sunrise and I'm currently employed by the Elturel Chamber of Commerce."

She gestures to Twiggy.  "This is my boss, we call him Boss Moss.  He yells at me a lot but I think he's just projecting his insecurities."

Diplomacy is clearly her dump skill and she's quickly running out bullshit she can shovel.

OOC:  21:47, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 7 using 1d20+5.  Listen

I'm SO sorry, Myarra!!!!

Twiggy pulls out Copper and wispers "Tell her to run buddy." and throws her the coin while taking on a lordly tone "Boss Moss!!! Take you pay and go. We are speaking and you are only complicating the matter. You will remember the day day you slighted Lord Twigester Stoutheart the Fourth,  Cheryl. I should have left you in the slums where I found you. The others services are not needed either, begone wench. I have buisness to attend to that does not involve your prattling and insubordination." Twiggy then turns back to the white haired man "I am not here to rob this place but to resurrect the dark paladin and I am curious if you are he?" Twiggy keeps a straight as he is pulling ideas out of nowhere.

05:03, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 19,21 using 1d20+7,1d20+7.  Bluff.

"C'mon, guys," Amara says to the others. "There's nothing else out here to do. Let's see what the others are doing. Tunnels and caverns can be extensive - we might as well help now that we're done here." She continues walking toward the cavern.

After the Trolls were killed, Roen felt sorry for them and said a prayer. All he wanted to do was rescue Aki's workers and then head on to Elturel. These deaths were meaningless to him.

04:53, Today: Roenthelm rolled 19 using 1d20+7.  Listen.
This message was last updated by the player at 00:22, Wed 08 Feb 2023.

"Of course, your noble bossiness," Myarra says, bowing very slightly to Twiggy while snatching the coin out of the air.

"Oh, goodie, I get paid this week ... for a change.  I'm overwhelmed by your generosity, as always.  Shall I go prepare your evening meal?  I'm not sure how roasted troll tastes, but I guess we'll find out."

She turns back to the bad guy and waves her hand at about waist level.  "Please forgive my boss, he gets a little short when he's hungry."

She then backs slowly into the tunnel behind her, staying out of sight, but still close by in case Twiggy needs her.  Such an egotistical wackadoodle is unlikely to just allow them to leave.

"That, my friend, is a Vampire." Copper whispered back

When Copper is flipped and Myarra caught it, it immediately disappeared and reappeared back in Twiggy's hand...
This message was last edited by the player at 00:33, Wed 08 Feb 2023.

Amara didn't like what she heard, especially the "Lord and Master" of what she heard. That definitely wasn't right and she told the party so as she moved to the cave entrance.

----------

"Oh no, there are no Dark Paladins here. But, you will become part of the darkness like them..."

Then, what you thought was a shadow moves and becomes human-like in its appearance.

Everybody, please roll Initiative and state your actions.

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Myarra         --      81/95
Twiggy         --      38/38
Shannon        --      47/47
Shadow 3       16      ??/??
Shadow 1       15      ??/??
Shadow 6       15      ??/??
Shadow 7       14      ??/??
Shadow 2       14      ??/??
Shadow 5       12      ??/??
Shadow 4       12      ??/??


Byron          --      76/85
Roenthelm      --      63/75
Kalliyan       --      45/53
Amara          --      54/54
Aliana         --      57/75

Main Game Map has been updated

"I'll make hole. Run for it. We need daylight and clerics."

She wills Shannon to leave the shadows alone, the lynx's fangs and claws being of no use against the undead, but rather to make a break for the tunnel and fetch the others.

Her sword, on the other hand, will do nicely.

Amara isn't quite sure what is going on, but she knows it isn't good. "Something's not right, guys. Let's go." She jogs in, pulling out her wand.

She was expecting trolls - something she could do something against - not undead...
This message was last edited by the player at 16:28, Wed 08 Feb 2023.

Hearing Amara's warning, Alaina flew towards the commotion, her wolverine friend right behind her

Twiggy draws his rapier and cast protection from evil on himself.

06:25, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 5 using 1d20+4.  Initive.
12:00, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 13 using 1d20+4.  Initive.


This message was last edited by the player at 18:00, Thu 09 Feb 2023.

Shannon growls at the weird shadowy things she can neither smell nor hear.  She's not happy about leaving, but her mistress seems insistent.

She crouches where she is, snarling, until Myarra cuts down one or more of the shadows, then darts down the tunnel, seeking to find the other worthless bipeds who should already be here.  Why her mistress allows them to hang around is another of life's great mysteries.

OOC:
09:14, Today: Shannon rolled 17 using 1d20+4.  Initiative.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:46, Thu 09 Feb 2023.

Kali was helping in the distance when she heard something - talking. She heard Myarra, but also someone else....someone unknown.  She placed a hand on Roenthelm's shoulder with a look of concern. "Come....i think we are needed."

She began making her way towards the others, a bad feeling welling up inside her as she did.

---

<OOC: Kalliyan rolled 18 using 1d20+6.  listen check.

Kalliyan rolled 11 using 1d20+6.  iniative.>

"Yes, yes, bring your daylight and clerics. I can't wait to spoil their faith in themselves!"

Vernon disappeared and re-appeared next to Amara, the other person who could see Vernon. He told her what was happening so the party outside would know what they were getting themselves into.

While Byron may not have heard the immediate pleas from Twiggy and Myarra when he did catch on to their danger he was quick as ever to react.  He moved as quickly as he could while trying not to sound like a tank rumbling through the forest.

OOC: 07:56, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 22 using 1d20+6.  Initiative.

OOC:
19:00, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 20 using 1d20+3.  initiative.

Amara quickly conveyed the information that Vernon had provided to the others with her.

She considered a moment, and pulled out another wand. "I'm going to cast invisibility sphere, so stay near me if you want to get in undetected."

And so she did.

Sister Aliana scooped up her wolverine and joined Amara

Round 1 Results----------

Shannon hisses and growls at the moving Shadows and bolts down the tunnel towards the exit as the Shadows attack Twiggy and Myarra, their shadowy hands trying to grab at the adventurer's hearts. Myarra avoided the hands from #3 and #2, but #1 touched her skin and it felt really cold. Twiggy cast a spell on himself as he pulled out his Rapier. Shadow 4 tries to grab Myarra, but she avoids the attack, as she counters back with a slash on Shadow 1, "killing" it again. She takes another swing on Shadow 2 next, but her sword just goes right through the Incorporeal creature.

The rest of the party will arrive and be able to act on Round 4

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Shannon        17      47/47
Shadow 3       16      ??/??
Shadow 6       15      ??/??
Shadow 7       14      ??/??
Shadow 2       14      ??/??
Twiggy         13      38/38     Protection from Evil
Shadow 5       12      ??/??
Shadow 4       12      ??/??
Myarra         12      81/95     Shield Spell 

Byron          22      76/85
Aliana         20      57/75
Kalliyan       11      45/53
Amara          08      54/54
Roenthelm      08      63/75

Shadows Killed : 1
Trolls Killed: 14

Main Game Map has been updated

Twiggy stabs out at the shadow (#4) with his rapier as he shakes his torch to get the towel off of it "Here we go Copper, time to fight or die. Let lady luck be with us now."

11:45, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 17,11,3 using 1d20+7,1d20+7,1d4+1.  Att 2.

11:44, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 20,21,2 using 1d20+12,1d20+12,1d4+1.  Att 1.


12:01, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 76,62 using 1d100,1d100.  Percentage roll.


This message was last edited by the player at 18:02, Tue 14 Feb 2023.

Amara continues to move forward to get to the combat where she, and the others, can assist.

Aliana moved as well

Vernon decided to stay with Amara, figuring if he went back and told Myarra and Twiggy, the Vampire would attack with the Troll. It was better if the whole party was there to fight the thing off.

Myarra slashes at the shadows again, even as her sword suddenly grows heavier in her hand.  If the others don't get here soon, she's going to be crawling out ... and that would be the best outcome.

Byron did his best to remain in Amara's area effect spell and to move as quietly as possible.

He suspected he has a good enough weapon in the long sword should they meet anything unexpected before getting to Twiggy and Myarra.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:13, Thu 16 Feb 2023.

Round 2 results----------

While the party outside is quickly making their way inside to Twiggy and Myarra, the Shadows continue to attack, but stay away from Twiggy, who has a Protection from Evil spell cast on himself. Shadow #2 manages to get through Myarra's defenses and she feels that cold touch that is sucking away her strength. Myarra swings back with her sword and if the creature would have been solid, she would have hit both times.

The rest of the party will arrive and be able to act on Round 4.

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Shannon        17      47/47
Shadow 3       16      ??/??
Shadow 6       15      ??/??
Shadow 7       14      ??/??
Shadow 2       14      ??/??
Twiggy         13      38/38     Protection from Evil
Shadow 5       12      ??/??
Shadow 4       12      ??/??
Myarra         12      81/95     Shield Spell 

Byron          22      76/85
Aliana         20      57/75
Kalliyan       11      45/53
Amara          08      54/54
Roenthelm      08      63/75

Shadows Killed : 1
Trolls Killed: 14

Main Game Map has been updated

Invisible Amara continues to jog forward.

Vernon disappeared and reappeared next to Twiggy, who was currently warding off the Shadows, so the ghost moved in front of the incoming shadows, hoping to deter them.

Looking at her friend and feeling helpless Twiggy tries to get the shadows attention as he waits for the others.

Kali, still hearing the sounds of battle, continued forward towards her friends.

...and byron

Hoping Shannon will bring reinforcements soon, Myarra keeps swinging, becoming more irritated as her blade keeps slipping harmlessly through the shadows.  Well, not always, but still.

Round 3 results----------

Shadows 6 and 7 are still repelled by Twiggy's Protection from Evil spell, but Shadows 3 and 2 continue to attack Myarra, but fortunately for her, they're in front of her where she could defend herself easier. There is not much Twiggy can do but concentrate on his spell and wait for the rest of the party to arrive. Shadow 5 is still repelled by Twiggy's barrier and Shadow 4 barely misses Myarra as she got out of the way just in time for her to swing back on Shadow 2, killing it again. Twiggy watches in horror as the "Vampire" grows to double his size and his longsword emits a creepy humming sound. The "weird" Troll is definitely more intelligent than his lower brothers and stronger while carrying that Great Axe.

Good thing the rest of the party has arrived. This isn't going to be nice.
https://youtu.be/U8FczHSlKBo

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Byron          22      76/85     Invisibility Sphere
Aliana         20      57/75     Invisibility Sphere
Shannon        17      47/47     Invisibility Sphere
Shadow 3       16      ??/??
Vampire        15      ??/??     
Shadow 6       15      ??/??
Shadow 7       14      ??/??
Twiggy         13      38/38     Protection from Evil
Big Troll      13      ??/??     
Shadow 5       12      ??/??
Shadow 4       12      ??/??
Myarra         12      81/95     Shield Spell 
Kalliyan       11      45/53     Invisibility Sphere
Amara          08      54/54     Invisibility Sphere
Roenthelm      08      63/75     Invisibility Sphere

Shadows Killed : 2
Trolls Killed: 14

Main Game Map has been updated

Sister Aliana separated from her friends and put forth her holy symbol, calling upon the power of her god
"Get back, foul darkness!!"

OOC:
18:57, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 16 using 1d6+10.  Turn undead damage .

18:55, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 8 using 1d20+3.  Turn undead .

Amara say that there was melee joined and two giant baddies. She quickly spooled up a solid fog, casting it centered on the Vampire and Troll. It should slow them down enough so that the others could worry about their current combatants before needing to worry about the biggies.

"Keep up the good work, Twiggy!" Myarra calls encouragingly.  The halfling's spell was keeping them from getting swarmed, and she was truly very appreciative.

She can see the others have almost reached them and swings on one of the two shadows between them, trying to open a safe place for the clerics to do their work.

"Careful, we have shadows here.  I'm getting weaker by the second."

Twiggy pivots with Myarra staying back to back doing his best "I have your back Myarra, the calvary has arrived."

Byron tried to remain as quiet as possible as he looked for openings to make any attack he can as effective as possible.  He does hold his actions until Aliana attempts to destroy or drive away the undead first.

When he does strike his first attack is effective, but the second isn't as effective.

Time for you foul creatures to be destroyed.

OOC: 05:50, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 32 using 1d20+14.  To Hit w/ +1 Longsword.
05:51, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 10 using 1d8+5.  Damage with +1 Longsword.
05:50, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 11 using 1d20+9.  To Hit w/ +1 Longsword.
05:51, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 10 using 1d8+5.  Damage with +1 Longsword.
07:34, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 79 using 1d100.  % to cause actual damage.

Edit:  Added % Roll.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:35, Fri 24 Feb 2023.

Roen felt pity for the Shadows at what they've become and figured the best thing to do for them was to destroy them to free their souls. The Vampire looked very intimidating with his size and Roen didn't like the sound his sword was making. He heard Myarra say that her strength was being sapped, so Roen concentrated and he was surrounded but a glowing radiance and moved to Myarra to cure her ailments.

"Stay where you are, Myarra. I will fix your strength."

Once Roen is next to Myarra, he will cast Lesser Restoration.

15:34, Today: Roenthelm rolled 4 using 1d4.  Lesser Restoration.

Holy Radiance: Undead within 10 feet of you take 1d4 points of damage per round they remain within your halo.

Being a ghost, there wasn't much Vernon could do except for spying, so he disappeared and reappeared closer to where the vampire came from. It looked like a doorway with skulls on it. Perhaps Vernon could find out a deep secret the vampire didn't want getting out?

Round 4 Results----------

Byron remained in the Invisibility Sphere, waiting on Aliana as she pulled out her Holy Symbol and approached the Shadows to turn them. Her Holy symbol glowed and several eerie screeches could be heard as the shadows were destroyed. Byron became visible as he stepped out to protect his friends with the Flametongue in his hands.

"Go after the little one there, my pet. Gobble him up." the vampire pointed to Twiggy

The Vampire is at least 12 feet tall as he looks at Myarra with a smile on his face. He's witnessed her power and she seemed pretty interesting.

"You will be a nice addition to my followers."

When Myarra doesn't react, the Vampire gets upset. Twiggy, now that the Shadows have been destroyed and he sees the Troll coming for him, decides that his little rapier is no match for the Troll's Battle Axe and quickly moves back to Byron. Good thing too, as the Troll moves in and swings his axe on Myarra and delivers a terrible blow which makes her scream. Myarra swings back and connects with the Troll and delivers a good solid blow of her own as Kalliyan casts a Daylight spell, hoping it will affect the Vampire. It only improves the light around the area like you were outside, but does nothing to the vampire. The Vampire just laughs.

Amara casts a spell and becomes visible as a Solid Fog materializes around the Troll and Vampire, entrapping them. Roenthelm quickly moves to aid Myarra, casting a spell that returns her strength. Vernon disappears and reappears close to the stairs leading up to the doorway.

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Aliana         20      57/75
Byron          22      76/85
Shannon        17      47/47
Vampire        15      ??/??     Solid Fog 
Twiggy         13      38/38     Protection from Evil
Big Troll      13      ??/16     Solid Fog 
Myarra         12      60/95     Shield Spell
Kalliyan       11      45/53
Amara          08      54/54
Roenthelm      08      63/75

Shadows Killed : 7
Trolls Killed: 14

Main Game Map has been updated

"I couldn't cast it with them deep enough in it to hold them long - so get ready to do something."

She knew the vampire was going to be able to get out of it anyway, and she looked at the others, trying to determine who was best able to fight him. Byron or Myarra? Well, he was focused on Myarra, so that would be a good distraction that should give Byron openings.

She touched Byron's shoulder, casting Freedom of Movement on the warrior. "You can go get them," she said.

Sister Aliana cast  Flying spell upon herself, using her divine power to do so.

OOC:  Cast Flying

Kali, having cast the daylight spell, winced at the vampire's reaction - she had hoped it would have hurt it at least. But she had other options....she began casting a spell, a summoning spell she had used many times, but she poured more energy into it, more will.

Within seconds, a small portal opened, and a fiery shape appeared. The druid smiled as she looked at them. "Burn" she uttered.

---

<OOC: Casts Summon nature's ally IV (To summon a medium fire elemental) to attack the vampire


Kalliyan rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  attack - fire elemental.
Kalliyan rolled 6 using 1d6+1.  damage - fire elemental.
Kalliyan rolled 2 using 1d6.  fire damage.>

Roen has seen Amara use the Solid Fog spell enough to determine what the Troll was going to do, so he took the opportunity to heal Myarra of her wounds.

"Stay here and let me heal you."

04:14, Today: Roenthelm rolled 21 using 3d8+9.  CSW on Myarra.

Vernon moved further away from the party to see what was in the next chamber.

Twiggy starts taunting the troll and trying to  intimidate it to distract him "Come on my little pet, come after me. Do my bidding because you are to stupid to think for yourself. Look at me I am a big troll whose friends all died and I ran back to my master to be safe, you pansy."

06:59, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 18,8 using 1d20+4,1d10+4.  Intimidate.

Myarra nods thanks to Roen but keeps her attention on the enemies in front of her.

"Somebody deal with the bloodsucker, trolls are just big idiots."

Pissed off from the wounds she just took and Roen just healed, she slashes brutally at the big troll, scoring one really good hit, and one excellent.

"My magic isn't going to anything against undead," Amara said to Myarra, wishing the warrior would focus on the vampire.

"I understand.  But I need to finish the troll first.  Can't get to the bloodsucker from here.

Yeah, I'm talking about you, you fashion failure.  I've seen cantaloupes with better complexions.  Somebody drive a Porkchop through his groin.  I remember hearing that somewhere. Bast knows how you sharpen a porkchop."

Round 5 results----------

Now that the whole chamber is lit up from the Daylight spell, you can see that the ceiling is about 20 feet tall as Aliana casts a spell and is able to fly again. But, with the Vampire being 12 feet tall and carrying that sword, she begins to wonder if her spell was a waste of time. Byron, seeing that Kalliyan wasn't covered now that Aliana was hovering above the ground, stepped forward and waited for whomever to come out of the Fog first to draw the attention away from her. And the monstrous Vampire came out first, the Solid Fog not doing anything to him as he materializes again into "Human" form.

"I am the mist, I am the fog. I'm the ever powerful winds of the storm. Your pathetic spells will not harm me!"

The Vampire swings his sword on Byron and connects a nasty hit on his shoulder and Byron screams in pain as the Vampire seemed to glow with some kind of unholy energy. Twiggy mocked and teased the Troll, which pissed the thing off as it struggled to get out of the Fog. Copper just chuckles at Twiggy's antics, but they probably saved Myarra since the Troll didn't attack her and moved closer to getting out of the fog and are now face to face with each other! Myarra took advantage of that as she swung her sword and cleanly chopped off the Troll's arm trying to grab her and then slashed open its chest with the other attack. The Troll is still standing and quite upset now. Kalliyan summoned a Fire Elemental, which attacked the vampire, but wasn't successful.

Amara moved in and touched Byron after she cast a spell as Roenthelm casts a healing spell on Myarra, narrowly moving out of the way (of the Troll's Attack of Opportunity)

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Aliana         20      57/75
Byron          22      58/85     Freedom of Movement 
Shannon        17      47/47
Vampire        15      ??/??     Solid Fog 
Twiggy         13      38/38     Protection from Evil
Big Troll      13      ??/85     Solid Fog 
Myarra         12      81/95     Shield Spell
Kalliyan       11      45/53
Fire Elemental 11      ??/??     Little white square
Amara          08      54/54
Roenthelm      08      63/75

Shadows Killed : 7
Trolls Killed: 14

Main Game Map has been updated

Twiggy isn't done yet, he will do all he can to keep the trolls attention "Myarra, look you disarmed him. Raise your hands in the air if you don't care, oops.

Hey big ugly, why don't you give that stump on the floor to your master for a backscratcher as a token to remember you by. It doesn't look like he cares about his pet anymore and his one troll arm-y.

Myarra, cut his other arm off so he looks like a giant sprinkler. He wont come out of the fog to let us see him cry. Twiggy moves in closer to Myarra to keep his voice loud. Absently Twiggy has grasped Copper in his fist at some time as his good luck charm.

Aliana knew that her flying spell wouldn't necessarily give her significant advantages in the relatively small cavern, but thr mobility made her feel less trapped.
She tried to cast a fiery spell on the vampire

OOC:  16:35, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 30 using 9d6.  Searing light.

16:35, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 14 using 1d20+10.  Ranged Touch attack

Vernon looked through the doorway to see what was there, then turned to the group,

Why don't you guys use that mace you bought? You paid enough for it!

Roen attacked the Troll with a flurry of kicks and punches, each hit leaving a Golden Ice bruise.

16:35, Today: Roenthelm rolled 6,4 using 1d6,1d6.  Touch of Golden ice.
16:32, Today: Roenthelm rolled 6,12,3,2 using 1d8+4,1d8+4,1d4,1d4.  Damage.
16:30, Today: Roenthelm rolled 24,19 using 1d20+11,1d20+11.  Flurry of blows on Troll with Iron Fist.

Amara grimaced as she took a step backward, away from the troll. She knew there was little she could do against the vampire. She could potentially handle, or at least significantly slow down, the troll, but the others were likely to kill it very quickly, so she took a moment to decide what to do.

She began to cast a spell...

"I can handle the troll," Myarra calls, "But the bloodsucker is going to be tough.  Anyone with combat magic, clerical magic, or a freaking anti-undead weapon ... hit the damn thing!"

Byron cried out in extreme pain from the hit by the Vampire.  However, that did not hurt his ability to think on his feet in a fight.  He pulled out the Hammer and attacked with it in hopes of atleast driving the Vampire away.

OOC:
20:14, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 29 using 1d20+12.  To hit w/ Hammer.
20:15, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 6 using 1d4+5.  Damage w/ Hammer.
20:14, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 14 using 1d20+7.  To hit w/ Hammer.
20:16, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 7 using 1d4+5.  Damage w/ Hammer.

Round 6 Results----------

Aliana cast a Searing Light, which the Vampire didn't like at all as it gave her a nasty, evil look. That's when Byron dropped his sword and pulled out the Hammer that had been in Amos' shop for years. One swing square on the stomach and the surprised Vampire screamed a screeching scream you all have never heard before as it disintegrated right in front of the party's eyes! His Sword and a pair of Bracers fall to the floor.

Twiggy is surprised at what just happened, but that doesn't stop him from antagonizing the Troll, who is still upset at being made fun of and losing his arm. The Troll, in return swings his battle axe on Myarra, striking her once on her leg and the other attack being foiled by the Fog. Myarra returns the favor, swinging her sword twice with the first strike slashing the regenerating chest and the troll blocking the second strike with his axe. Kalliyan smiles with glee at getting revenge on the Troll by sending her Fire Elemental to burn it, the Solid Fog steaming when in contact with the fire. It encounters a magical barrier on the troll.

Amara casts a spell on the Troll and it starts moving around like it might fall as Roenthelm hits the Troll with a flurry of kicks and punches, leaving golden bruises on the Troll's skin.


The Vampire doesn't look like this, but this is what happened when Byron hit it with the Hammer...
https://youtu.be/KTFERlYGQHE

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Aliana         20      57/75
Byron          22      58/85     Freedom of Movement 
Shannon        17      47/47
Twiggy         13      38/38     Protection from Evil
Big Troll      13      ??/103     Solid Fog, Vertigo*, -6 Dex 
Myarra         12      63/95     Shield Spell
Kalliyan       11      45/53
Fire Elemental 11      ??/??     Little Red Square
Amara          08      54/54
Roenthelm      08      63/75

*Vertigo: Takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls and saving throws.

The Vampire of Troll Claw Hill: 1
Shadows Killed : 7
Trolls Killed: 14

Main Game Map has been updated
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:18, Wed 01 Mar 2023.

"Way to hammer home the point, Byron.  I'm not one to talk smack, but it's a good thing you're not bash-ful.  That hammer is going to be a major disruption to the industry.  It just blows the competition away."

Aliana blinked in surprise as the vampire vanished.  Shrugging, she turned on the troll.  She fired two flame arrows, using her Heart seeking Amulet on the other one.

OOC:  19:10, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 14 using 2d6+5.  Fire arrow 2 with heart seeker Amulet damage .

19:09, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 15 using 2d6+5.  Flame arrow 1 damage .

19:08, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 29 using 1d20+14.  Fire arrow 2 with heart seeker Amulet .

19:08, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 26 using 1d20+14.  Fire  arrow 1.

Roen continued his Flurry of Blows on the Troll.

17:56, Today: Roenthelm rolled 3,5 using 1d6,1d6.  Touch of Golden ice.
17:56, Today: Roenthelm rolled 12,11,3,3 using 1d8+4,1d8+4,1d4,1d4.  Damage.
17:55, Today: Roenthelm rolled 17,18 using 1d20+11,1d20+11.  Flurry of blows on Troll with Iron Fist.

Amara breathed a sigh of relief. She had been really worried about the vampire - she could do nothing about it. But the troll... She began casting another spell on the beast. "Timete me et dubitant!"

Kali couldn't help but smile as Byron dispatched the vampire with the hammer, her focus on the troll, she mentally sent the fire elemental in as she swiped with the magical sword.

...in vain

---

<OOC: Attacks with scimitar two times

Kalliyan rolled 14 using 1d20+7.  attack - scimitar.
Kalliyan rolled 4 using 1d20+3.  attack - scimitar (second attack).

Fire elemental attacks

Kalliyan rolled 6 using 1d20+3.  attack - fire elemental.


DAMN!!!>

Byron still in some pain and now in awe of the effect of the Hammer, turns his attention to the troll recovers his sword and moves to help his friends out.  Byron calls out to the troll to try and further annoy him into doing stupid things.

I've had enough of you and the others.

OOC:  If I'm not in range to hit the troll then disregard for this round.
05:45, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 15 using 1d20+12.  To Hit w/ +1 Longsword.
05:45, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 12 using 1d8+5.  Damage with +1 Longsword.
05:45, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 26 using 1d20+7.  To Hit w/ +1 Longsword.
05:45, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 7 using 1d8+5.  Damage with +1 Longsword.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:41, Wed 01 Mar 2023.

Twiggy is suprised at the vampire dissentigrating but recovers andgoes to the back of the troll as he uses it as a pincushion stabbing it with his rapier, dropping his protection spell "There goes your master, you missed your chance to give him your backscratcher. I guess you will meet him in Hades as his new puppy."

12:10, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 5,16,4 using 1d4+1,4d6,2d4+1.  Att 1, sneak dmg, att 2 with crit.

12:09, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 28,26 using 1d20+9,1d20+9.  Attack 2.

12:09, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 22,22 using 1d20+14,1d20+14.  Attack 1.

Round 7 to End Results----------

Aliana pulled out her bow and shot 2 flaming arrows at the Troll. Both of them hit, but they passed through some sort of barrier that extinguished the fire before the arrows penetrated the rubbery skin of the Troll. Byron dropped the mace and picked up his sword again and swung on the Troll. His first attack missed and the second one encountered that barrier and did no damage to the Troll. Twiggy hurried into the melee, talking trash to the Troll and plunged himself into the Solid Fog to stab the Troll with his rapier. He connected both times and green Troll blood poured out freely. The Troll is still dizzy and tries to move, but falls backward...very slowly because of the Solid Fog as it continues to Regenerate. Myarra swung twice on the slowly falling, dizzy Troll and connected twice, slashing open nasty wounds on the Troll's legs as the Elemental just burns away more of the Magical Barrier surrounding the Troll. Kalliyan was going to attack the Troll with her Scimitar, but figured the party had this. Amara cast another spell on the Troll, but she's not sure if it worked. She can't see the Troll's face. Roenthelm sends a flurry of punches and kicks to the Troll and damages the wounded Troll even further.

The Troll is then overwhelmed by the party as it can't regenerate fast enough to do anything to the party, who keeps hitting the monster until it stops moving. Kalliyan did warn the party that the Troll could absorb fire damage, but eventually the barrier expires and Byron plunges his Flametongue sword again and the Troll collapsed forever.

Battle is over.

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Aliana         20      57/75
Byron          22      58/85     Freedom of Movement 
Shannon        17      47/47
Twiggy         13      38/38
Myarra         12      63/95     Shield Spell
Kalliyan       11      45/53
Fire Elemental 11      ??/??     Little Red Square
Amara          08      54/54
Roenthelm      08      63/75

The Vampire of Troll Claw Hill: 1
Boss Troll: 1
Shadows Killed : 7
Trolls Killed: 14

Main Game Map has been updated

"Is everyone okay?  That was far closer than I feel comfortable with.  Shall we check out that last tunnel?  Who knows, we might find enough treasure to buy a couple more of those disruption gizmos. Otherwise, I'll sell my ... Byron's body to the high priest of Pelor if that's what's necessary."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:18, Sat 04 Mar 2023.

Twiggy goes to Myarra "Are you ok? You had me scared there when those shadows kept going through you. I didn't know what else to do but get the troll mad at me, but hey we got a great new back scratcher. Twiggy then pokes the trolls body a few more times with his rapier "I thought the vampire would have given us more trouble, I wonder if it is true they sleep in old coffins like the bards sang of. Let's go find it and burn it"

Thanks a lot for the encouragement.  I just wonder if the effects of that hit by the Vampire are going to be long lasting.

Byron pokes the troll again with his longsword.

I told you not to mess with my girlfriend.

Byron then goes to pick up the stuff the Vampire dropped after its destruction.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:30, Sat 04 Mar 2023.

"I did notice that the Vampire's sword emitted a strange noise after it hit you. Why don't we make sure this place is secure and then you can take your armor off so I can get a better look at the wound? I'm pretty sure between me and Aliana, we'll figure out how to heal you."

10:29, Today: Roenthelm rolled 27 using 1d20+18.  Heal check.

Sister Aliana took a deep breath, trying to relax after the terrifying combat.
"We got very lucky there, I'll admit.  Having not just one but two incredibly intimidating foes was one of the toughest battles we've had since we fought dragons."

She looked at Byron and nodded with enthusiasm.
"Yes, please tell us what you need, my friend.  Your valient victory against the vampire so quickly means I've actually got some magical strength left to heal you."

OOC:
14:41, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 26 using 1d20+10.  healing.

14:41, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 25 using 1d20+10.  knowledge arcana.

14:41, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 17 using 1d20+10.  knowledge religion.

Myarra grins down at Twiggy.  "Apparently, we're just bystanders, my friend.  But I do have to admit that disintegrating that vampire was pretty cool.  I'll let him have the spotlight this time.

The shadows were really nasty, but I think we worked well together.  And, fortunately, Roen was able to deal with the damage.

How about we head down that tunnel while everyone fawns all over Prince Byron?  After all, what could possibly go wrong?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:53, Sat 04 Mar 2023.

In reply to Myarra (msg # 157):

Sister Aliana smiled sheepishly at her winged friend.
"Well, he IS a very dramatic figure, isn't he?"

Byron explains the feeling of being hit by the life drinker weapon as best he can.  He doesn't know that it is a life drinker as he's never encountered one before.

He also removes his armor to examine the wound as best he can and let Roen and Aliana work to the best of their abilities.

Byron replies back to Myarra in his fun loving teasing voice.

Well Myarra when you have your ship all fixed up we will have to call you Myarra, Queen of the Skies.

"Myarra, Pirate Queen of the Skies, if it's all the same to you, My Liege,"  Myarra replies, also with a smile.  They're all alive, and that's something to be happy about.  "I promise not to engage in actual piracy, but I want the title."

Byron chuckles at Myarra's reply then teases her back some more.

Ok, Pirate Queen of the Skies, but I'm holding you to your promise of no actual piracy.

Aliana grinned.

"Well, you could always start singing famous bard songs without permission?  My mentor at the Ogman Library claims that that's a form of piracy?"

"It's a thought," Myarra agrees. "I do love great operas.  But it's really sad to learn that Byron hates booty. You'd never guess just looking at him.  Makes one want to put the back of one's hand to one's forehead and sigh melodramatically."

So, Twiggy, Myarra and Vernon head on into the next room where Vernon explains what he saw.

Game Map 1 has been updated.

It looks like an old tomb that has been looted long ago. Old pictures carved into the walls depict the life of somebody and when he died, there was a huge funeral and he was buried here with his two wives. There are bones on the floor, but it's unknown if they belong to the tomb or not. Twiggy looks for traps, but finds nothing. All three of you are surprised at the large hole in the ground that goes deep deep down....

-----------

Aliana and Roenthelm look over Byron's wound and collectively determine that a Restoration spell(s) will help Byron's wounds.

Twiggy chuckles at everyone fawning over Byron, including Roen "Everyone wants you naked vampire slayer, be careful or Kali may get jealous."  Twiggy then taps Myarra "Come on Mistress Myrra Pirate Queen of the Skies, I was never good at learning lessons so let's go check out the tunnel. We have a vampire lair to explore so we can fix your skyship to rescue the enslaved miners from the dracolich." Twiggy stops and thinks of the string of words he just said and chuckles "Copper, we are going to have to compose a song about our exploits one day, come on Myarra, race you there." Twiggy then starts skipping towards the tunnel Vernon was at letting the others fawn over Byron.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:43, Sat 04 Mar 2023.

Myarra picks up a small rock, thinking of dropping it into the hole, then has second thoughts.

"Twiggy, I think we should leave this alone until the group has a chance to rest.  Maybe the revered ancestor can take a look.  Can he see in the dark?  In any case, we should camp out in the other room, post some guards, and come back in the morning.

What do you think?"

Aliana prays to Oghma and channels a spell of Restoration for Byron

Twiggy stops skipping and frowns but then shrugs "Weird you being the voice of logic but ok. Aliana, what do you know of vampires? Do you think it is really dead or will it come back? Twiggy then tries to recall the bards songs and anything he read about if vampires can be brought baUndead the undead.

16:47, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 17,8 using 1d20+2,1d20+2.  Religion check.

"I don't know what you mean.  I'm always the voice of reason. Let's check with the others first."

She heads back to the main room where they're STILL fawning all over Byron.

"I don't know much about vampires, but I have heard that they're hard to kill. I'm pretty sure the hammer destroyed it. That is its purpose.  But am I totally sure?  No.

Aliana? Kalli? Other smart people?  What do you all know?"

Sister Aliana ruminated over her studies and lectures back at The Library, about undead and weapons of disruption.

OOC:
17:16, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 28 using 1d20+10.  knowledge religion.

17:16, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 25 using 1d20+10.  knowledge arcana.

Aliana is definitely sure that the Hammer destroyed the Vampire, which gives you all hope about the "Dracolich". She casts a Restoration spell on Byron and some of the bruising goes away, but not all of it. She thinks another spell is required. The area seems to be secure...for the moment.

Myarra is very happy to hear that the vampire was destroyed and would not be coming back looking for revenge. She kneels down on the floor and takes Shannon's head in her hands, scratching and rubbing the lynx around the jowls and behind the ears.

"So, how about we camp out here, keep a guard for anything coming from either way, and then, in the morning, we can check out that deep dark hole of nothingness and despair?

Unless anyone is concerned about the mural in the other room that shows someone, probably the vampire, as having two wives that were buried with him?  I don't want to go down that hole tonight, but I'm probably going to having bad dreams.  Just saying."

Shannon stoically accepts the manhandling forced on her by her biped. She's not sure who's purring, but it's not her.

"That's all I can do today, I'm afraid. 

Byron replies to Aliana with a friendly smile and an understanding tone.

Aliana, I can't thank you enough for what you have been able to do so far.

Byron turns toward Myarra.

Well tomorrow it is then.  Amara, I don't think Aki is going to welcome the news we have for him.

"At least he'll know.  And at least we're alive to be able to tell him.  Not many groups could have survived this. Hell, without that hammer, we wouldn't have survived it.  We absolutely need to thank Aki for the loan."

Sighing at the state of her troll-torn clothing, Myarra uses up her limited stores of magic mending the various rips and tears.

Amara took a long moment to look around and ensure there were no additional enemies that might come out of the shadows. Then she cast detect magic to see if anything on the troll, or otherwise in the room, radiates magic.

She nodded to Byron as she looked around, "No, but he will understand. Let us see what we can find here."

Kali comes over to Byron, concern on her face as she kneels beside him. "I still have magic - let me help Byron dear." She smiled as she closed her eyes, and when she opened them, her eyes were a bright glowing green color.

She placed her hands on either side of his face, and kissed him. As she did, he felt the healing energy transfer to him from the druid.

She pulled away with a smile and small cough. "Anyone else need some healing?"

---

<OOC: Casts cure moderate wounds.

Kalliyan rolled 15 using 2d8+8.  cure moderate wounds.

Healed 15 hp>

Byron smiles back at Kali and puts his armor back on and then carefully packs up the Vampire's sword and bracers for Nolan to identify once we get back to the tower.

Thank you.

Byron takes a closer look at the surrounding cave.

"If anyone has some healing magic left, I wouldn't mind a little.""

Twiggy goes back by the others "Do you think he had two wives that are in hiding? Should we camp in here or outside?

What time is it outside? Is it still daylight?

"I will do what I can for everyone that was hurt."

Roen will start casting healing spells on anyone who was hurt until he runs out of spells. He casts another Restoration on Byron to start, then finishes with Cure spells.

SPELLS PER DAY  0: 5  1: 6  2: 5  3: 3

Cure Minor Wounds x5 = 5 hp healed each
Cure Light Wounds x6 = 17 hp healed each
Cure Moderate Wounds x5 = 25 hp healed each
Cure Serious Wounds x2 = 33 hp healed each
Restoration x1
This message was last edited by the player at 18:52, Sun 05 Mar 2023.

Aliana had used many spells in combat so far, so she'll wait until her fellow healer was finished to help finish up with any stragglers.

It's currently pushing 7pm-ish

Byron gets another Restoration spell cast on him and doesn't feel sick anymore as his bruise goes away from the sword strike. Roenthelm uses his spells to heal the rest of the party of their wounds and even has some spells left to spare, just in case this place isn't so safe.

Name      Initiative   Health      Misc
Aliana         --      75/75
Byron          --      85/85
Shannon        --      47/47
Twiggy         --      38/38
Myarra         --      95/95
Kalliyan       --      53/53
Amara          --      54/54
Roenthelm      --      75/75

Amara casts a Detect Magic and points to the Sword, Bracers, the Troll's Chainmail and his Battle axe...which is a Great Axe in human-sized hands. Nothing else in the room radiates magic except for what the party brought in on themselves.

Longsword: Strong Necromancy
Bracers: Moderate Conjuration
Chainmail: Minor Enchantment
Great Axe: Minor Enchantment

Thank you Roen.  I feel 100% now.

Byron moves about the cave to help the others with anything they might need.

Amara consider the magical items, "The longsword radiates strong necromancy, which makes sense, as it seemed to draw some life energy. The bracers radiate moderate conjuration while the chainmail and great axe both have minor enchantment.

Some weapons with necromancy are evil. Can anyone detect evil?"

Sister Aliana stepped forward and prayed to her god of knowledge.  A spell to give information was right up her alleyway.


OOC:  cast Detect Evil

Twiggy takes a seat and watches the area where the vampire was and the cave while the others do their investigations on the magic items. Twiggy slowly rolls Copper over his fingers absentmidedly as he keeps watch.

"I honestly thought you guys were goners and that I'd be stuck down here for a long time. Glad that didn't happen."

Aliana casts Detect Evil and looks around. The aura of the area reeks of it and she finds it strange that it's not going away with the death of the vampire. She looks at the sword and even though the wielder was pure evil, the sword is moderately evil because of the strong Necromancy it was made with. The Bracers, Great Axe and the Chainmail don't radiate evil.

Aliana made a face as she looked around.
"The sword has an aura of evil, unsurprisingly, though not as much as I'd expect, considering its previous owner.  The real shock was that the very walls of this place seem to radiate evil like stones in a campfire radiate heat.  It's disturbing.  I'm  not sure if there's something else evil here, or if it's just a lingering enchantment.   Perhaps this was why I was having trouble turning the vampire before, I'm not sure."
She tried to analyze the evil aura, but it was too distracting.
OOC:
20:48, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 11 using 1d20+10.  knowledge arcana.

Twiggy stops rolling Copper "I was worried too. I guess you are my lucky charm. This doesn't make you dizzy does it?"  Once hearing about the lingering evil Twiggy continues to talk to copper "I know you have went through many holders, have you ever run in into a vampire before? You must have loads of information that I never get to talk to you about."

You guys want to stand next to that hole and I'll go down and see what's down there? I honestly think this might be that tomb Twiggy and Copper were talking about. Not that we should become tomb raiders, but with this place being violated already, it would be a shame to let things just sit there knowing they be stolen from people traveling the trails for years.

Twiggy stands up and walks over by Vernon "You think we should wait and rest first? If he did have wives they will be tough too and I don't know if all of us will make it through another fight. But I am never turning down the chance to raid somewhere new. I wonder if the wives can see you like the vampire did?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:21, Mon 06 Mar 2023.

"No, the spinning doesn't bother me and this is my first Vampire, believe it or not. As for any information about them, I know the basics like trying to Turn them like Sister Aliana did, spraying them with Holy Water or Powdered Silver and destroying their coffin so that can't return to it. Also, I'm sure Priests cast some kind of spell to bless an unholy area to make it good again, which I think this place desperately needs. That and a good cleaning."

"I still have a reasonable number of spells, though not the most complicated. I think we can at least let you explore, Vernon, and back you up if needed. Then we should find a place to camp. Do we think this might be a good place? After all, if a known lair, lesser monsters are not going to be coming here."

"Amara makes a good point that we're probably safe from normal monsters here.  It's the non-normal ones that I'm worried about.

And I'm not sure if there is any additional threat here, just that the mural shows two wives.  Are the bones on the floor them?  Are they down the hole? Should we destroy the coffins? Are these just decoys and the real ones are below?  Or is the mural totally unconnected?  I have no idea.

We're all healed now, but I'm not sure that would be enough if we get jumped in the night by more undead.  I'm not terribly effective against shadows, never mind vampires.

If we're going to stay here, whoever is on guard should be carrying that hammer at all times. And if we don't stay here, are we any safer out on the mountainside?"

Aliana nodded in agreement
"We can make more plans after Vernon's scouting, certainly.   I'll admit that I'm in favor of finishing off any last undead, rather than letting them find us.  But this still might be better than camping on the open mountain side "

The party heads for the crypt room and you can see the bones scattered among the debris. The coffins are empty, looted long ago. It's unknown what made the hole, but Twiggy (Or whomever is wearing Vernon's Ring) stands close to the edge, so Vernon can move his 250 feet distance. He's gone maybe 5 minutes and comes back to report that there is a cavern down there with the Vampire's coffin (He's assuming), treasure spread around here and there, more bones of possible victims and a Ghost. A friendly one.

The hole is 130 feet deep and the cavern is lit with Everburning Torches.

Sister Aliana smiled in confusion.
"Lit with magical torches?  That's very accomodating."

"Most ghosts are around for a reason. Is the ghost protecting something? Or is there something we an do for it?" Amara asked Vernon.

Then she looked to the others, "Any reason we shouldn't grab the magic items first? I can levitate down and grab anything."

Byron had the hammer in his hand as he followed the others.  He didn't say anything as he didn't what to think of Vernon's report.

Kali, at Byron's side, listens to the others as they report what was below. The woman looked nervous - it was well known she didn't do too well in enclosed spaces, and the cave, though natural, felt like that now the distraction of battle was gone.

She stayed close to Byron, looking around. "If there are two more, we have to be ready." She looked at them.

The ghost wants to go home. I think it's body is chained to the wall. I didn't ask because there are bodies and skeletons all over the place. There are dozens of places to enter and exit from in that cavern, but who knows where they lead? There is one coffin and there is treasure all over. I think the Vampire and Trolls have been raiding the trails for years and the trolls got their share and the vampire got his and stored it down there.

"I think we're pushing our luck, but if you want to zip down, grab some stuff, and get out, it's up to you.

If we're worried about the treasure, Vernon can keep guard down there and let us know if anything changes.  That treasure may be exactly what we need, but it's not worth any of our lives because we rushed.

I really think it would be best for us to rest, and then go down in force."

Twiggy looks down the hole "Anyone have a rope long enough or some more flying spells. We need to help that poor soul and burn the coffin. The loot won't be bad either. But, Myraa is right we should wait now that we think there is no direct threat."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:45, Fri 10 Mar 2023.

"I've got time left on my flying spell"

"I can still levitate today. Aliana, Twiggy, how about the three of us go down today, grab anything magical, and bring it back up to divvy out today." Amara suggests. "The rest, including - no offense - the ghost - can wait until we have rested and been able to regain our strength. But magical items may help us if anything does come to fight us."

Aliana nodded.
"Sounds good"

"You want to ride with Aliana or me?" Amara asks Twiggy.

The druid smiled at Amara. ""...and i can change into a bird."

Twiggy grins at Amara "You trying to make me choose between you two, I will go down you and back up with Aliana. Whoever doesn't drop me mean you care" Twiggy couldn't help but tease them and goes over to Amara to be floated down.

Aliana grinned
"Very well.  We'll just have to flil a coin over who gets to drop you"

Amara nodded to Kalliyan, although she wasn't sure how much a bird would be able to carry up, and this was only to be a quick trip. But she trusted the druid to know her own abilities and what was best for her to do.

She smiled and shook her head at Twiggy's teasing, and Aliana's rebuttal. For all her time on the surface, she found teasing and joking like this odd, and found it challenging to join in, but she had grown enough of a sense of humor to at least find it amusing.

At a tad below four and a half feet, Amara wasn't that much bigger than Twiggy, at least compared to most of those in the party. She wrapped an arm around Twiggy and leapt over the edge, activating her ability to levitate to gently float down. As she did, she cast detect magic and looked at the times below to see which gave off auras.

Sister Aliana floated down, bow drawn and ready to defend her friends, as she descended

Twiggy grabs hold of Amara and casts detect magic as they float down.

"Be as quick as you can. Grab and go. Do not get distracted.  Do not investigate anything.

I still think this is a bad idea.  If you run into shadows, vampires, or trolls, half the fighting strength of the party is stuck up here, unable to help.  Having Amara pop down, grab some stuff, and come back is one thing.  But having half the party down there is a needless risk."

Aye, I would have to agree with Pirate Princess here. Twiggy, can you please give my ring to Byron. I don't want to be stuck in a hole if you all get killed down there.

Byron is staying up as he has no way to get down there now.  He will take Vernon's ring if that is what the others agree to.

Aliana is sympathetic to the ghost

Kali turns into a small bird and flutters through the entrance, staying in flight and looking around foe any movement

Once down, Amara intends to:
1. Point out the items that are magical
2. Let Twiggy search for traps
3. Stick anything that is magical (or otherwise obviously valuable) and does not appear cursed or trapped and stick it in her haversack (obviously being sensitive to the weight limit, and letting others grab anything too), and
4. Levitate back up.

She does not want to have the party separated for another battle, so faster is better.

Twiggy tosses Vernon's ring to Byron before concentrating on anything magical "We can make it quick, if nothing of interest then we can float back up."

Aliana flies down the hole, Kalliyan changes into a small bird and flies down and Amara, holding on to Twiggy, Levitates down to the bottom.

Game Map 7 has been updated

Red Square is the hole
White sprinkles are bodies/bones
Black rectangle is the coffin
White Square East of Red Square is the chained up body with the ghost

There are boxes, bags, chests filled with money and all sorts of stuff lying around all over the place. The vampire and his Trolls must have been raiding caravans along the trail for a long time. He didn't need to search for food. The food came to him and he got rewarded for his efforts as well. He just never expected a party of adventurers to destroy him with a Mace of Disruption.

So, with Twiggy and Amara looking for Magical stuff after casting Detect Magic, they point out various items that Aliana and Kalliyan help pick out so you can bring it back with you up the hole. The various items were here and there, but the last one was in the cavern/cave waaay in the back, buried by bones and dirt. It took you most of your time to dig it out, but when you do, a beautiful Mantle is uncovered with the holy symbol of Helm on it.

2 potions
2 scrolls
2 wands
1 set of Horse shoes
1 Rusty Gauntlet
1 Mantle (Helm)

As soon as the magic items and other valuable items easily visible from the bottom of the whole were gathered, Amara stated, "Alright. Time to go." As her ability had no real time limit, or rather, she could use it again, she let the others go first, then levitated up herself.

Once with the others, she lays out the items. "Let's see what we can use for as we look. But there were no obvious signs of anything living."

Sister Aliana nodded and joined them

The small bird form of Kali flew around, and when the items were found she started bringing the small items up to the top

Vernon looked to Byron with concern in his voice,

Do you think we're doing the right thing? This is very dangerous.

Everything we do has some danger involved.  I agree with you that this is very dangerous, at the same time we have to balance that risk with the potential to find things that will help us in our fight with the dragon cult.

Byron replied to Vernon, then after a moment's thought continued.

I think this splitting up borders on reckless, but I can only voice my opinion and hope the others take the time to consider my point of view before making such rash decisions.  Even as I'm prone to making rash decisions myself as time has proven.

Before going up Twiggy goes to the coffin and gives it an in depth search then goes with Aliana to the top and smiles at her "You didn't drop me. Guess you do like me a little."

Going over by the others "It was a calculated risk, Vernon said it was clear and I trust him. There is enough coins down there to really further our cause and we rid the land of bandits. We still need to search the trolls areas because I am sure they had stuff too. We can rest then bring everything up to the top. Once we are done, I want to burn the coffin to the ground and hopefully help the restless soul."

10:36, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 21,30 using 1d20+17,1d20+17.  Search.

Myarra shakes her head as the 'snatch and grab' takes far too long.

"I have no problem going down and searching.  I have no problem taking coin and items to help us out.  I just want to wait until the morning when we won't all die if we get jumped.  There is absolutely no reason to be doing this right now.  But everyone has the right to do as their own conscience dictates.  The last thing in the world I want is to be in charge."

Aliana scooped up the items in question and flew topside with her friends

Aliana came back first as her Flying spell was starting to expire, followed by Kalliyan and a couple minutes later Amara, who was holding on to Twiggy, who seemed to be highly disappointed that he didn't find anything in the Vampire's coffin. You all move out of the tomb and back into the main chamber. Nothing has changed.

"We'll help the ghost down there tomorrow, when we can all be in this area together in a case of a problem. It's too dangerous to stay in an area like this split up for long." Amara said to Twiggy as she looked at the magical items arrayed out now for all the party to see.

She pointed to the items in turn, "That potion conjuration - likely healing. That one abjuration. That scroll divination and abjuration. That scroll abjuration. That wand evocation and the other transmutation. The set of horse shoes faint transmutation. The gauntlet transmutation - likely a Gauntlet of Rust. And the mantle of Helm, strong abjuration. There is something about it that makes me quite uncomfortable - I'd rather never touch it again."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:56, Wed 15 Mar 2023.

"Would it help if I took a look at it?"

The bird again shifted back into the druid's form, shaking herself, a few stray feathers flying. "Liitle cramped to truely fly well." She muttered

"Please, feel free," Amara said to Aliana. "I make no claims to anything - I was simply one who went down to grab. Although I think I might be best suited to use the scrolls, they both feel arcane rather than divine. No offense, Myarra, you could probably use them as well, but I don't think scrolls would be your first, second, or third thought if there was danger in the area."

Aliana cast her own spell to detect magical dweomers, and used her knowledge to help.

OOC:

21:29, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 26 using 1d20+12.  Spellcraft .

21:29, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 14 using 1d20+10.
Knowledge Arcana

This message was last edited by the player at 02:35, Wed 15 Mar 2023.

With Aliana being a Priestess, after she cast her Detect Magic and coming up with the same results, she determines that since the mantle is Dedicated to Helm, it must have been blessed for a Paladin who obviously lost his life down here fighting the Vampire at some unknown time. Aliana herself doesn't feel worthy enough to touch the Mantle, so she understands why Amara is having problems with it and knows why the Vampire buried it.

So, now that you have collected some of the treasures and you explored the cavern down below, the party sees that the main chamber is the same. The Big Troll's body is still there and nothing has come through the entrance. It's pushing 8pm-ish now and it's dark outside.

Yeah, I'm not getting anywhere near that thing. You should give it to Lord Dhelt in Elturel. Came from his Temple anyways. Might get a reward out of it for returning a lost treasure.

Twiggy looks at the mantle "If it was for a paladin, I bet only Lawful goodies two shoes better than thou people can use it. I can copy alignments to use magical devices or we can let Nolan see what it does. Either way I say we keep it close in case any spirits are near, it should ward them off with its holyness. So what watch are we setting up to get some rest?"

Myarra is also not a big fan of anything to do with paladins, and none of the rest of the items are of much interest either. Vernon's suggestion (once someone tells her about it) seems like a pretty good idea.  But for now, she'll be more interested in the coin they can collect when they go back down in the morning.

As far as watches, she reminds Twiggy of her earlier suggestion.

Aliana set the helmet aside reverently.   She also found Paladins a bit tiresome, she had to admit,  even Oghman Paladins,  joking called the Librarian Horde, could be a bit much at times.   But she respected their dedication and service to their gods.

"Well, then, ill head to sleep if this shall be pur campsite.   Does anyone need any last healing before then?"

Amara shares Vernon's idea, "I think that's a good idea, Vernon, especially if none of us can - or at least wants to - use it."

She considered the items, "Well, it sounds like we can't really use the helm or the horseshoes.

May I suggest that Twiggy, who often goes alone, take the potion of likely healing?

And that Byron or Myarra, who tend to take the front line, take the potion of abjuration? And the other one should likely take the Gauntlet, which is probably a Gauntlet of Rust.

The scrolls both seem arcane, so I think only Myarra or I could likely use them. I suggest me, as I don't think Myarra is likely to consider scrolls during a combat.

Then perhaps one of the wands for Aliana and one for Kalliyan?

Roenthelm and Vernon, I'm not leaving you out. I'm assuming you don't want anything, Roenthelm, and I'm assuming you can't use anything, Vernon."

Aliana nodded
"That sounds perfect."

"It would be best for you to keep the scroll.  You're right.  I'm not likely to even think about using one.  Using the spells Mystra has granted me feels strange enough.  I also think that Byron should carry the gauntlet.  I wouldn't mind having it, but Nolan made me these gauntlets to increase my strength.  I'll take the potion, though, if Byron's okay with that."

Twiggy listens to them talk "I have been practicing and think I can use the scrolls and wands. If they are support items they will be especially useful in a fight because obviously I am not so I am trying new ways to help the group. I could take a Potion of Healing but I also have my divine spells in a pinch." Twiggy then starts getting ready for bed.

Byron looks over the items as he replies to his friends.

Go ahead and keep it Myarra.  I think will wait until we have Nolan identify the other items first.

After Aliana handled the mantle and put it down, Roen touched it to wipe some of the dirt off.

"Whatever share that I would normally be getting can be divided among the party. I think the Mantle should be returned to Lord Dhelt. I'm sure he would be truly grateful that such a holy item was recovered."

In reply to Roenthelm (msg # 249):

Aliana nodded.
"That seems like a good idea"

The party makes camp in the main chamber of the Vampire and sets up watch.

Beginning watch: Amara, Kalliyan, Vernon
Middle watch: Twiggy, Roenthelm, Vernon
Last watch: Byron, Myarra, Aliana, Vernon

Amara, Kalliyan and Vernon have the first watch and wander around the room and periodically look back up the tunnel. Vernon goes to the max distance the bond between him and his ring will allow him up the tunnel to see if anything is outside. Their watch goes by quietly and Twiggy, Roenthelm and Vernon take over on second watch with Vernon repeating the process. Second watch goes by quietly and Byron, Myarra, Aliana and Vernon take over for the last watch of the night and Vernon repeats the same process of scouting ahead, but all is quiet.

The new day is here. You all eventually wake up, say your morning prayers, memorize spells, eat nom noms and are ready for the new day.

Myarra spends her normal few minutes (while the spellcasters are doing their stuff) making sure her armor and weapons are ready to go, and limbering up.  It's embarrassing as all hell to pull a muscle while trying to chop a dragon's head off.

Once everyone is ready, she joins them at the hole.

"NOW let's get down there and clean up.  Do we have enough rope?"

Sister Aliana finished her prayers
"I have 50 feet "

Right after her shift, Amara went to just beyond the edge of normal vision toward the entrance of the tunnel to dance bare-skin in worship of Eilistrae for a few minutes.

Amara nodded, pulling out a cablespool commonly used by some underground dwelling species. "And I have 100 feet of cable, so between the two that should be enough." she said, heading to the side of the pit and looking for a good place to anchor the cable.

Byron studies the hole and the area around it for a safe passage down.

OOC: 05:29, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 15 using 1d20+13.  Dungeoneering w/ take 10.

Aliana, holding her rope, helps Byron, drawing upon her book knowledge

OOC:  05:08, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 23 using 1d20+17.  Take 10 knowledge Dungeoneering .

There is nothing safe about this hole and no easy way down but dropping down there to your possible death. The tomb has plenty of stone and some pillars to tie your rope or secure the cable like Amara provided, but you still have to be careful climbing down.

Climb Check DC 15 with the rope/cable's aid.

Game Map 6 has been updated
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:25, Mon 20 Mar 2023.

Not trusting herself to climb down, Aliana cast a Flying spell upon herself.
She is definitely more athletic than she was back in her librarian days, but this was moee extreme

OOC:  cast Flying

"I think it would be much safer if anyone going down there can fly, like Lady Aliana there." Copper said to Twiggy "I'd hate for anyone to die from a simple fall after all you've been through."

"Let's still set up the rope so that anyone can get out as needed. I can certainly levitate some people, like Twiggy down, but I don't believe I'd be strong enough for everyone," Amara suggested. "I can also cast a solid fog if people want to try to climb down, that would at least reduce the fall damage if someone slipped. But it is a high level spell, so I'd rather not use it if not needed."

"We should also bundle up anything heavy and lower it down by itself.  That will make climbing easier."

So saying, she strips off her armor.

"Twiggy, how about I bring you down first and you can start scouting or checking for traps. Then I can start bringing down other people and things," Amara suggested.

Twiggy takes the rope and ties it around himself and gives the other end to Byron "If anything weird happens pull me up quick, Copper is right but you are the next best thing. Once I check the area we can start sending things up." With the rope tied around him Twiggy levitate down with Amara.

"No one move around to much until I check everything." the halfling then slowly starts searching the area for anything unusual or traps.


08:13, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 23,26 using 1d20+17,1d20+17.  Search, luck reroll.

08:09, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 27,26 using 1d20+17,1d20+17.  Search.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:13, Mon 20 Mar 2023.

Byron holds on to the end of the rope given to him by Twiggy.

I'll only go down there if you guys really want or need me to go down there with you.  The cats aren't going to be able to go down there easily.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:17, Mon 20 Mar 2023.

"I can carry Shannon," Amara said. "But I think Raieylan is too big for me to carry."

"I'm going to stay up here and make sure nobody cuts the line or steals it. If you tie stuff to the end down there, Byron and I can haul it up."

"I can always levitate up if the line is cut," Amara argues. "I strongly believe we should not split up."

"I'd appreciate it if you'd carry her down," Myarra tells Amara.  "She can climb better than I can, but ropes aren't something she has much use for. If we make a sling, I'm sure we can lower Raie as well.

And I agree that we should all go down.  It looks like there's a lot of stuff down there, and a lot of tunnels. Never split the party unless you have no choice.

But whatever we do, we need to do it quickly so that we can get out of here before anything finds out the status of power has shifted."

Roen wasn't much of a climber, but at least he was skilled enough not to get himself killed.

"OK then."

OOC: If I can take 10, I will have a 16

I don't like this either, Roen. I've already been buried once this month and I don't plan on it being two. Let's just hurry up with this and be on our way.

Twiggy nods at Byron "Let me check things out first and then we can all go down. lIf I scream to pull me up you an Roen can run with the rope and I don't care if you bounce me off the side. Vernon, you want to come with me to your limit while I search."

I'm hoping we can help the ghost get home. I'm assuming he'll point out his bones and we'll take him out of here.

"Agreed. Perhaps we should do that first while Twiggy looks around," Amara agreed with Vernon. Then she goes up to bring Shannon down. Then anyone else who isn't too heavy.

Once her armor has been sent down, Myarra easily uses the rope to join it.  A minute later, she's ready to take up guard duty and protect the others.

With time and careful effort, along with nobody trying to kill you.....yet, the party eventually makes it down to the cave below without anyone falling. The place is the same as when you last visited the place. The cavern is lit with dozens of Everburning Torches and there are bones/bodies all over the place. Amara shows the rest of the party where the Mantle was found, way in the back of the cave. The holes that you see are small enough for Twiggy to squeeze himself through, but none of them are big enough for medium sized folk to get through. It appears the Vampire and the Trolls have been busy for quite some time, as there is a king's ransom of treasures down here stolen over the years from travelers traveling to/from Baldur's Gate to the West.

There are boxes, crates, bags and chests filled with supplies, along with money (Tons of silver pieces) and small gem stones. With so much silver around, Aliana would assume the Vampire probably built up some sort of immunity towards it.

You also meet Stanley Hobbs, a Merchant who fell victim to the Vampire 9 years ago, who wants to go home....which happens to be in Triel.

Sister Aliana looked around in wonder.
"A vampire building up an immunity to silver like a human from Ten Towns getting used to a cold winter? Remarkable!"


She goes to talk to Stanley, and get his proper story

"I'm just happy he didn't build up a resistance to holy weapons.

Now, what do we have that we can fill?  Gems and jewels first.  If we have to leave anything behind, it should be the silver."

Keeping an eye on the tunnels, even if they are small, she patrols around the cavern looking for anything particularly valuable, or particularly dangerous.

Shannon patrols alongside Myarra, doing her best to keep the idiot biped from getting herself killed.

Amara considered the bones, "So all we have to do is bring these bones to Triel?" Amara confirms with Vernon."We can do that, but it may take a bit of time. Is there anything else that we need to do?" She takes out her winter blanket to put the bones into to place into her handy haversack. "Magic first. That's even more important than raw value."

If she holds Vernon's ring, Vernon will translate the story to her.

"True, but didn't we already get all the magic?

I don't have any magical bags, so if there's anything big and heavy that won't fit, let me know and I'll pretend to be a camel."

Twiggy pulls two sacks out of his haversack "I have these. I guess we can bring everything up and we can burn the coffin. I guess we need to go find our horses too. I know Fitz is below by the big rocks and we can fill his carry bags. This will go a long ways to stopping the dracolich."

Twiggy starts with the gems and expensive items first before going to the coins. "Does anyone have the knowledge to open a dimensional door to the tower or is that only Nolan?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:03, Thu 23 Mar 2023.

Byron stood guard over his friends while they picked out what we needed to take and could take.

I don't think Charger ran off too far.  Hopefully, he's working his way back towards us.  I'd really hate to lose him.  However, things do happen in battle.

In reply to Twiggy Flinch (msg # 282):

Aliana looked at Twiggy and shrugged.

"I can teleport a few of us to Daak, but that's about it."

The party starts gathering what they think is the more expensive of things to take, which includes Platinum, Gold, gems and jewelry. It's spread out all over the place and will take a considerable amount of time to collect/sort through to get what you want/looking for. Most of the coin you see is Silver, since Silver is the main trading coin of Merchants.

Do you want to stay down here until everything has been searched and sorted through?

In reply to Big Boss (msg # 285):

OOC:  I'd say we can stick around for a bit, and see how much we can get done in a day or so.

Tw8ggy seems frustrated as he is sorting through everything "What about this can you teleport this back? Seeing all this silver only makes me think of the Dragon cult holding the townsfolk hostige and it is messing with me. We agreed to free them and kill the dracolich but this is the first real amount of funds we have found to do this.  It aggravates me knowing that we mainly have silver and the townsfolk are working to death in a silver mine. I just want us to search this area and bring out every Copper we can find to stop the Dragon Cult.  Twiggy continues to sift through everything and each hole in the bottom of the pit that he can fit in.

"Aliana, why don't you and some of the others take as much of this back to the tower using the teleport as you can.

Twiggy and I are quite good at searching - we can continue to do that - with whomever else remains behind to protect us in case monsters appear. And we need to keep that weapon of disruption here in case something undead comes. And I can cast a spell to help detect secret doors, which I think makes sense at least in this area. I agree with Twiggy that we need to get what we can out of here - though I'm not so sure the copper is necessarily worth it. But we need the funds to help our continued fight.

I think it would be best for me to keep my haversack in case we find something." She finishes wrapping up the bones carefully. "And another question is, do we keep the bones here or send them to the tower? I think here is the better place, yes?"

"While I understand Hobbs' desire, we have to remember that we're all wanted on sight in Triel.  We will lay him to rest, but it might take a couple of weeks.  We'll either have to deal with Centauri and the cult, or else have someone sneak in to take care of it.  Maybe we can just hire someone to go to Triel and get him buried.  Someone the Centauri won't kill on sight.

And I agree with teleporting as much of this to Daak as possible. Just load up everyone Aliana can take until they can barely move and zap on over.  As the strongest person here, I'll be one of them.  And I'll talk to Nolan about teleporting back ... if I can drag him from his research.  That will give us two people capable of teleporting, which should be enough to get the rest of this back to Daak.

Afterward, Byron and I, and anyone else that wants to stay, can go round up the horses and ride for Daak as fast as we can."

"Perhaps, Aliana, you should take one less than possible back to Daak, that way you can bring Nolan back yourself. That is safer, as teleport has a higher error rate if someone isn't familiar with a location." Amara suggested.

In reply to Amara (msg # 290):

"I can do that, certainly."

There are very few places I can go inside the tower by myself as I have no magical ability.  So I will stay here to protect the others who stay.

Mr Hobbs understands that you can't go into Triel without attracting trouble, but at least take his bones out of here to start. As for staying, I will stay with Twiggy and Amara and I'll meld into the walls to look for whatever might be there.

Twiggy smiles and nods a thanks to everyone with their understanding and looks at the bones "We can hire someone to do this, or when we return the mantle ask them if a priest can do the honors and lay the soul to rest. I will keep searching here then go find Fitz and Charger.  We still need to find the trolls lair because I am sure they kept some goods too."

"No one should go alone in this hostile territory. Even if to search for the mounts," Amara responded to Twiggy.

She cast Detect Secret Doors and started carefully walking around the edges to see if she could find anything.

With 7 of you grabbing chests, boxes, and bags and putting everything in one area for easy access, that takes you 2 hours. Nothing bothers you during that time. The boxes are filled with cloth and clothes, some of it valuable and some of it common, but it will take time to sort through it. More boxes are filled with leathers, some of it masterworked armor, but again, it will take time to sort through it. There are 11 chests filled with money, most of it silver mixed with copper, gold and platinum and various gems and jewelry.

If you fill the chests to maximum capacity, there will be 8 chests left that weigh 150 pounds each that are filled with mixed coins, gems and jewelry. There are various rules stating how many coins is equal to a pound, so my ruling will be 50 coins to a pound. Sorting the coins for the Gold and Platinum and Gems and Jewelry will take several hours.

Amara casts Detect Secret Doors and walks around the cavern, while Vernon floats through the walls. He determines the various holes might be escape routes for rats? But, he doesn't find anything interesting, nor does Amara with her spell. During this time, Stanley Hobbs' bones are carefully removed from the chains on the wall and wrapped up in Amara's blanket.

Amara turned to look at Vernon, "Does Stanley perhaps know of any other caches of riches? Anything would help if we are to fight the Dracolich and free the people enslaved."

"We're already getting rewarded for defeating the evil here, but if you really want riches, we should bury all these bones and give all these poor souls a proper burial, instead of some cavern in the middle of nowhere. That will make your soul feel so much better knowing you did something really good."

"If it puts a trapped soul to rest, that makes me feel good. If it doesn't, then there's not point, at least to me. They're just bones at this point. If that makes you feel good, you are welcome to do that." Amara responded to Roenthelm. "What will make me feel good is getting the equipment we need to have a chance of succeeding in a fight against the Dracolich and freeing the dozens, perhaps hundreds, of living people in slavery."

Twiggy helps load up items and just pulls the copper pieces out. "Once we sort through this Roen, I will help you with burying the remains. Once we resue the enslaved miners they will need all the help they can get, and this can help them too. "

"No, Cassius kept his treasure here and when he needed something, some of his human servants took care of it for him. They came here every 30 days to check up on him and receive new orders. I know they are renovating a cottage in Elturel so Cassius can rest there as well, but you foiled his plans. The world is a better place without him, but he does have offspring, if you want to call them that. They will come here and once they see he is gone and his coffin destroyed, they will search the lands to find out what happened. I suggest spending all this money to buy another one of those Magical Maces. You're going to need it." Stanley said to Vernon, who told Amara and whoever is currently wearing Vernon's ring

In reply to Big Boss (msg # 301):

Sister Aliana, when she heard this news, nodded grimly.
"I have access to a powerful magic spell that can temporarily make a weapon like that, but you're right that a permanent one is a better idea."

"Does he know how long since the humans were last here? And how many vampire spawn he has?" Amara asked Vernon.

"They won't be back for at least 10 days and Cassius had 3 spawns that I know of. Nester lives in Baldur's Gate, Ramona lives in Waterdeep and Victor lives in Athkatla. All 3 of them are just as dangerous as Cassius and hate each other to the core. But, upon hearing that Cassius is dead, they might put aside their differences, hence the need for another Mace. You found that Mantle that belonged to Sir Gregor. Perhaps trade the Mantle to Lord Dhelt for another Mace?" Stanley said to Vernon, who told Amara and whoever is currently wearing Vernon's ring

"Thank you. Having that information is useful," Amara replied.

Sister Aliana also thanked the ghost for his good advice

Roen will carefully wrap up Stanley's bones, vowing to handle the situation personally. He will also help separate the treasure by going through the rolls of cloth to keep the more valuable to sell and the common stuff, along with any sacks, to wrap piles of bones in, hoping that Nolan will help with a Teleport.

The party stacks up the chests and ties them up so Myarra, Kalliyan and Aliana can Teleport back to Daak. Kalliyan has the lightest load, but all three of them had enough strength between them to lift all the chests to meet the prerequisites Aliana needed to Teleport away.

That left Byron, Twiggy, Amara, Roenthelm, Vernon and Stanley back in the cavern, looking through various boxes of stuff, while Roenthelm carefully collected the bones of the dead. You guys finish late in the day and Roenthelm has 26 bundled piles of bones. You also collected Fitz, who apparently tracked you all down and was barking down the hole. That was a surprise as Amara Levitated up and grabbed him and lowered back down. You managed to sort through all the stuff and found some things that are fairly valuable and useful:

1 case (10 Bottles) of fine wine- Basilisk Blue from Baldur's Gate 5 gp each bottle
7 vials of Ink
3 Average, 2 Good Pad Locks with keys
7 pairs of Manacles
1 pair master work manacles
4 small steel mirrors
187 sheets of parchment
4 coils Hemp rope
2 coils silk rope
1 Spyglass
3 tents
10 sets Noble Outfits
5 sets Royal Outfits

The only encounter that startled the party was Fitz barking down the hole. The rest of the day and your watch during the night was uneventful. You wake up the next morning refreshed and wanting to leave this place. Is there anything else you wish to do?
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:24, Sun 26 Mar 2023.

Aliana is relieved that she made it to Daak right where she envisioned herself to be; right in from of the Tower double doors. A couple of village-folk are startled at the three of you suddenly appearing out of nowhere. You drop the chests to to the ground and bring them inside the tower for safe keeping. Looking around, everything seems to be normal around here: Farmers working on crops, villagers rebuilding some of the burnt down homes, Rufus and Lorrik practicing their archery skills off in the distance...

What are the three of you doing now?

OOC, Kalliyan is a bit worried that she had to leave Raieylan behind, so she stays pretty close to the tower, so she could transport back as soon as possible. She still stays outside, though.

Amara had hoped they would discover more, but was glad for what they had discovered. "I've been thinking. We should leave signs that suggest that it was the Dracolich's minions who attacked here. Then if the vampire spawn comes perhaps instead of doing a lot of research immediately goes there, perhaps they will head right to the Dracolich and attack it. If we can turn our enemies against each other, perhaps we will have less work to do ourselves."

"We can deal with a full inventory later.  The first thing we need to do is get ahold of Nolan and fill him.  We'll head back to the lair first thing in the morning."

Roen was pleased with himself for collecting all the bones, but also sad that all of these people died just to make a living. He had plans on burying them near the forest in Daak, figuring nobody would mind. He listened to Amara,

"That might fool them for awhile, but then we'd have two enemies who know about us. I have no doubt there are more Trolls around here hiding, waiting for us to leave. I'm sure these Vampire spawns will come here one day and ask what happened and the Trolls will describe us. Myarra and her wings will be hard to forget. I'd rather face them knowing we both know each other and get on with it, than put anyone else in harm's way when the Vampires come looking."

Roen walks to the Vampire's coffin and just looks at it as he begins to glow the radiance the party has come used to seeing, hoping the coffin will be destroyed.

"Stanley, if you can hear me, how would you like to go on one last trip to Elturel and point out any of these human servants building Cassius's residence? I'm sure Lord Dhelt would love to hear about it."

"Then perhaps while we wait, we should do some scouting and see if we can take out more trolls. We know there has been much death there, but we still don't know for certain if anyone might still be alive but captured by trolls.

And I'm much better against trolls - they are far more susceptible to magic that affects the mind."

Aliana nodded in agreement,  but frowned in confusion
"I can get us back there tonight, if we want to"

"That would be even better.  I'm just a bit surprised you'd have two teleports memorized for the same day.  Still, we need Nolan.  Nobody can reach him if he's up in the labs, but I'm hoping to grab him when he comes down to eat.  If we absolutely can't get a hold of him, you and I can teleport back without him.  I'll be staying behind to help Byron, so you can rescue Raie, Amara, Roen, and Twiggy.  Oh, I forgot about Fitz.  Well, if we don't have Nolan then somebody else will have to stay with us.  Probably Roen.  That's the kind of thing he'd do."

As that's her plan, Myarra makes her way to the dining hall to ask if anybody has seen Nolan today.

Twiggy is glad to see Fitz and gives him plenty of treats. The halfling has no issues about tak8ng a bottle of wine and enjoying it, passing it to whomever would like some. He rests for the night and helps Roen load up some of the bones onto Fitz to help bury "Whatever we do that coffin will be burned. I am fine mak8ng it look like the cult but I aagree that they will see through it. After we deal with the dracolich we could go hunt these offspring vampires down.

Twiggy then picks up the spyglass "This will be great for the airship and Captain Myrra, these things cost alot of money."

And Myarra catches him on a rare occasion of getting something to eat in the dining hall with Ashara. He looks up and sees you and Aliana,

You're back already? How was the trip?

In reply to Nolan (msg # 317):
Sister Aliana smiled at Myarra.
"The power of Oghma allows me to convert my use of positive energy, that I might use to rebuke undead, into spell power.   I can use that for traveling magic.  I can't do it often yet, at least for the powerful spells, but I'm working on it."


She smiles at Nolan.
"It was a very dramatic and somewhat scary confrontation with a troll warlord and a vampire lord.   Luckily Byron got a good hit with a disrupting weapon, and the rest of the group did well against the troll.
We have brought a fair amount of the treasure back by means of magical teleportation, but I could only bring three of us, so I was wondering if you were able to join us in a return trip, so we don't leave our fellows along overnight."

Myarra grabs a sandwich and joins Nolan at the table.

"Yeah, it's been a wild couple of days."

She goes on to explain about the bounty hunters (and how it affects Amara), trading (temporarily) the reflecting shield for the hammer of disruption, the mission Aki had sent them on, the attack by the trolls, the final battle with the vampire, and a summary of the treasure they'd discovered.

"So, if we can drag you away from your work for one evening, we'd like you to come back with us tonight.  That way, between you and Aliana, you should be able to bring everyone and everything back in the morning."

In reply to Myarra (msg # 319):

Aliana nodded enthusiastically in agreement with her winged friend, smiling at the wizard.
"Yes, and it'll do you good to get out of the tower and get some fresh air......"
She hesitated, as her mind followed that train of thought.
".....Um....in the dank cave where we just burned a giant troll...."

She shrugged, pushing that logical conclusion aside.
"Well, in any event, it would be lovely to have you back with us, my friend."