Tag Harald

Harald's face twisted up as he tried to recall his actions during the fight with the vampires.  His arm twitched as he replayed, in his mind, his various actions and the reasons for them.

"Tae tell the truth ma friend, Ah cannae answer ye properly.  Ah remember gettin' a kind o' feelin' that ye were goin' tae attack me an' so I decided tae get ma strike in first."

His face cleared and he stuck out a grimy hand.  "A'm terribly sorry for that, Nemmy and Ah offer ye ma hand in friendship.  Ah hope ye'll forgive ma actions and that we can stay friends as long as may be."

"I also had a strange feeling in the last fight. It was also about hitting an ally. I have resisted and overcome the desire to hit a friend." he says.

Then, he takes Harald's friendly hand.

"Don't worry my friend. I have nothing against you, I trust you as I trust the rest of us." he continues.

"This place is dangerous, we have to take care." he adds.

Later, Zog returned to the camp and shared notes with the others.

"I received a very different temptation--my temptation was to abandon you and then come back later when you were dead. It was very odd. I think it must be an aspect of this place."

Epic post alert--this is long.

Harald comes back seeking the seer but finds her unconscious. He ends up forging a rapport with a couple of the other locals who enjoy watching the mighty dwarf getting plastered. They start telling him about themselves, which is a bit of a scary experience. Each of them has done something horrid to earn being here: serial lying to spouses and friends, murder, theft, adultery and so on.

He also finds out that, towards the southern end of the shantytown is a cave entrance that is at once the center of the village and the place most avoided. This matches the location that Kas gave you for Arantor's lair--your destination.

Agon, meanwhile, gets attuned to the plane. He discovers some interesting things about the plane through his meditations.

Arantor's research into Kas and Arantor reveals no additional information about Arantor, who is shrouded in mystery. Kas's nature is also known to him, though his weaknesses and capabilities remain shrouded in mystery for the moment.

Gromley spent time researching a trinket of his, and then hit the jackpot: he found a female halfling who tearfully confessed her hideous, unprintable crime to Gromley's sympathetic ear and fell into his arms. Mind you, she nearly got away with his wallet and possessions afterwards--it is fortunate Gromley has been around the block a couple of times or she would have left him half-naked and without needed items.

Nemeroff, for his part, learns very little from the locals, who clearly don't trust him. He finds out considerably more about the seer.

Zog flits about and learns quite a bit interesting about the Kas' capabilities. Arantor, unfortunately, remains a mystery. He also hears warnings of Arantor's lairs--that people literally get lost within, can be heard crying out. Nobody knows exactly why....

You can discuss among yourselves and share what you like in this thread in parallel to the action in the main thread.

Gromley seeks out his allies, and attempts to gather them in one place.  I should tell you fellows, we need to talk before going through any portals...he mentally sent out to each and every one of them. He made sure they would be set up in a very nice bar however for such a conversation.

"It seems tae me" said Harald gruffly "that we need tae keep oor wits aboot us.  This place is likely tae turn oor thoughts agley."

He realised his last word had meant nothing to the unlettered ones amongst his companions and so he tried to explain.

"Agley is like when ye want tae go wan way and kinda end up kinda goin' anither way.  Dae ye get what A'm sayin'?  It's like when ye dae the apposite o' whit ye acterly want tae dae."

He smiled as he eventually managed to elucidate his thoughts.

Zog sits back and nods. In his head, he says, "What do you want to discuss, Gromley? Can the others hear me when I think this?"

In reply to Zog the Faceless (msg # 8):

Indeed they can, I send your messages to them. Gromley replies-intent on getting as many people in the conversation as possible. He shows the group a golden orb from under his robe.

I was given this device when I was asked to join you. Her name was Lady Bella, and I was sure I was sent to your Patron's realm when I travelled and met her. I was told to prevent you all from entering the portal of Arantor, the dark ruler of the realm of Monadhan. I should throw this into the portal, and we all would safely returned.

She also said you had been 'bewitched' by Tiamat, and would grow violent if I relived this to you. Which became very suspicious indeed after I met you.

My own research and some of the others I have consulted have told me it does indeed close portals. However, it will also betray us somehow-but weather than is an aspect of this place itself or the device I am not certain...

Zog looks surprised and then starts laughing. It takes a moment for him to calm himself. He then leans forward and looks at Gromley, lips unmoving.

"This lady Bella was a liar. We were summoned by and met with Bahamut himself. I do not claim knowledge to the same degree Agon here would, but I know it was him. The thought that we were betwitched by him when we were invited and persuaded in free terms is absurd.

"I can only speak for me, but Tiamat is my sworn enemy. I will do whatever it takes to see her un-done, save the taking of innocent life or the like.

"Now, as for this device, I would advise destroying it right away and not taking it with us anywhere near this dark lord. However, this is where I grow paranoid--surely this lady Bella would know that you would see through this and assume that we would either do away with it or cast it away beforehand. Which means that it must be trapped to prevent such a contingency. Agon, could you perhaps examine it with my assistance to test this theaory?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:17, Tue 29 Oct 2013.

   Agon had listened to the exchange silently, rubbing his short beard as he studied the gnome he had met long ago on another world, and the thousand-faces sorcerer.

   "Someone is definitely lying," he began "trying to mislead us. Our enemies would certainly love to see us trapped in this dimension, after all."

   "Is there anything more you can tell us about this Lady Bella, Gromley ?" the wizard inquired. He also nodded at Zog's suggestion. "We should study this device, yes. I'll work with you. Carefully, though."

"Well Ah know Ah'd rather go wi' what the big fella said" interrupted Harald "but what ever ye decide is good enough Ah suppose."

In reply to Agon (msg # 11):

Well...any other details I could tell you about lady Bella would be...ummm...un-gentlemanly. Gromley grinned at the others.

Oh boy...said the glowing orb floating next to the gnome in a mental voice that broadcast annoyance.

Quiet, Baldrick! Gromley snapped at his familiar.

In any case, all my own research discovered is the fact it does shut down portals, as I said earlier. Maybe it's designed to trap us in this other realm?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:32, Wed 30 Oct 2013.

Feel free to make Arcana rolls to do the research. Agon would be the primary roller and any others would assist him. I would need a total of four Arcana rolls from Agon, plus as many as one assist per PC for each of Agon's roll if you're trained in Arcana.

In reply to EpicOne (msg # 14):

OOC-Good thing I was just assisting!

15:11, Today: Gromley Underhill rolled 25 using 1d20+24 with rolls of 1. Assist Agon in Arcana.

"Ah'd help if Ah could" said Harald regretfully "but Ah dinnae know much aboot yon magic stuff."

   Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Agon pulled a small pouch from his belt and gathered a handful of silvery dust from it. With practiced ease, he traced complicated runes on the floor with the arcane reagent, occasionnally glancing at the open tome balanced on his knee.

   Finally satisfied, he signaled Gromley to place the orb in the center of the runic pattern. The analysis could begin.

Arcana checks : 37*, 38, 41, 41
* : rerolled with a benny