So named by Brother Brodd, this is the base camp the characters have built out of timbers in the shadow of the stone sandals, which were once the base of a colossus at the top of the cliffs, which lit the pathway into the Swirling Lake far below.

Quite impressed with what had been accomplished in such a short time, Alietra was far to conscious of the impending deadline to not wish that time had been spent delving.

She really assumed that finding the coin was a much easier feat than slaying the dragon. Fleeing seemed easier than either, but that didn't seem to be the way Brother Brodd's mind work, mores the pity.

"Alright, lets head back in. Time is of the essence."

Durek is already following Dwarghar to the entrance, keen to get back below.

In reply to Durek Stoneshield (msg # 3):

Brodd falls in line beside Alietra with his friend Pock.

With a smile, Alietra greets the brother, and Pock as well, when he joins them. "This is going to be exciting. I hope the fire bug thingies are in a good mood. Wish we could brick up their hole."

"Let's go" Travis agreed, following the dwarves to the entrance.

"I'm not getting any younger," Paxton groused.

Lady Starshell's armour shines like quicksilver, as if the gods themselves stayed up all night polishing it for her. When she sees the adventurers she unbuckles her sword warily, but offers a pleasant greeting. "Ho there! Who're you folks? They call me Starshell, with a 'Lady' at the front."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:50, Thu 03 June 2021.

Startled at the new arrival, Alietra glances at the newcomer, winceing at the brightness of the armor, and feels her stomach drop. Who was this, aside from the total opposite of Aleitra, armored, gorgeous and imposing? And a Lady to boot?

Alietra sank behind the broad shoulders of Brother Brodd, doing her best to be even less noticeable that she usually is around this crew.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:09, Thu 03 June 2021.

Starshell's eyes flit to the skulking woman and she makes a small, mental note to keep an eye on her.

"Greetings, lady," says Durek, with a bow of the head. He takes a moment to admire the quality and workmanship of the newcomer's armour. "Durek Stoneshield at your service."

The Lady nods and smiles openly, tossing her blue, braided hair. "What business are you on? You look ready for a fight!"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Thu 03 June 2021.

"We are heading to the dungeon under the Sandals...the remains of an ancient statue," replies Durek. "We are honour-bound to do so for the life of a friend is in the balance. And so we seek the means to pay his ransom...either in treasure or by slaying the dragon that lairs there. A hard quest...and one that would welcome another sword!"

Starshell raises an eyebrow, her interest piqued by this chance to prove her valour. "You can count me in, comrade."

"Hail and well met, Lady," Paxton said, giving a slight bow.  "I'm Paxton, a cleric of the Light."

Lady Starshell nods in acknowledgement. "Oh! My manners. This is my horse, Trixy. She is a faithful stead, but a little bulky for some expeditions. Will we be going underground?" The warhorse gives a deep, rumbling snort.

A hard life had made Travis unsure of how much he trusted any newcomer but his friends offers of support and companionship gave his cause to give the Lady a chance.

"My lady" he offered a soldier's salute, something he had learnt whilst he had been a man at arms for the Earl of Braunstein.

Starshell lowered her head gracefully, but then looked again at Alietra hiding in the back. "Are you going to introduce yourself, madam?"

In reply to Starshell (msg # 16):

ooc - we already know Starshell and Einhard why do this again everytime a new player takes over?

"I'm Brodd, this is Alietra," he points to the girl hiding behind him.

In reply to Brother Brodd (msg # 19):

Having been introduced, Alietra gave a little wave.

OOC I assume she is of the same religious persuasion as Brother Brodd?

In reply to Alietra (msg # 20):

True Unified Faith ;-)

"We're just about to go back down in the dragons lair. Feel free to make yourself comfortable here, m'Lady, we should be back in a few hours."

She gave the good brother a tug on his arm.

In reply to Alietra (msg # 22):

Brodd put his arm around her waist and turned to follow the others.

Alietra fights the urge to stick her tongue out at Starshell as they head towards to entrance.

In reply to Alietra (msg # 20):

Think of the Knights Examplar (the Paladin's order) as a subdivision of the Unified Faith. They were almost wiped out by the last Emperor to the extent that the Goddess Valoria started crowning new Paladins herself to replace the ones murdered.

Wait here? I'm coming with you, if you'll have me. I'm good with dragons," she lied.

Alietra's shoulders sagged visibly, but she realized that despite the damage such a gorgeous creature would do to her ego was no significant compared to having someone who was good with dragons along with them, she put a semblance of a smile on her face and turned.

"Awesome! Hurry, we're on a deadline!"

"Emphasis on the word 'dead'," Paxton said dourly, shaking his head.  But he went along nonetheless.

OOC: Being relatively new, and still on Paxton 1.0, I think this is the first time Paxton has met Starshell.

"Well, at least someone is good with dragons here..." Pock mused.

Starshell gapes for a moment and says, "When I said 'good at dragons' maybe I was overreaching a little? I mean, I studied them..." she trails off.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:47, Sat 05 June 2021.

In reply to Starshell (msg # 30):

"If you studied them, you know more than we do," he say to Starshell.

The Lady brightens slightly. "Well. Let's see what light we can shed on the matter. Is everybody ready?"

In reply to Starshell (msg # 32):

"We were on our way when you rode up Lady Starshell."

"Splendid. Well, lead on and I shall follow." She hauls herself up onto Trixy and taps the spurs.

In reply to Starshell (msg # 34):

"We're going up steps and then down into tunnels, I'd suggest leaving your horse here where it will be safe." He turns and takes Alietra's hand in his. He was quite enamored.

Durek is already trying to catch Dwarghar up, eager to return to the catacombs below.

Having given up her position at point to those who can see in the dark, Alietra stays close to Brother Brodd, squeezing his hand back in response. Her feeling of uselessness was pretty strong though, and it made her sad...
This message was last edited by the player at 17:54, Sun 06 June 2021.

"I will send her home with a whisper when we reach the site," Starshell said, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

"With a whisper, eh? I don't think a horse would ever listen to me--maybe it's the height." Pock chuckled to himself, moving along with the group toward their goal.

Manaku welcomes open air and daylight after dank dungeons. Smile on his face he unstrings his bow and quickly checks the weapons condition, then waves a greeting at the people in the camp as they approach it.

"A bit shorter venture than we planned but we'll go back again soon enough."

Bah Dwarghar grunts not happy to return empty handed.
He swings a clear drink and chews on a biscuit.

"No worries, we'll be back in before long, I reckon." Pock shook the nervous tension out of his body.

"I need an ale an' then some hot water to get the grime outa me beards," offers Durek. "We got any of either hereabouts?"

With a shrug he sits down and rubs his damaged area before moving on to sharpen his axes. "Maybe we actually get something valuable next time. Anyway, who coming back down 'the hole' soon?"

"Hey, Durek! Not find much then, haa!" laughs the wild woman, slapping Durek hard on the back. "Need me to come and help you find what you missed then? Sure, I can be coming along. I found enought herbs for fixing poison to last me a long while. When you planning to go back?"

Manaku grins. "I'll come with you, Durek. Me and Pock, we both need your thick beard between ourselves and the dragon once we meet her. Or him...

We'll go back as soon as possible, Amalrik. One night's rest should be enough. Glad to see you coming too."

"Ha! Me beards are indeed real thick but no thicker than Dwarghar's head! Ain't that right, cousin?" calls Durek loudly, addressing Manaku while teasing Dwargar. "So poor news indeed if we got no healing, umm, capability, right, Manaku?" he continues, avoiding words like 'magic' in deferance to the barbarian's antipathy to such.

The old wizard that was Lady Starshell's tutor rings a metal triangle over by the mess tent where he's been cooking.

"Just in time for supper, lads! And yes, rolled in a cask of ale from town!"

Durek looks at Dwarghar and says, "Race you there, cousin! Last one there's an elf!" He laughs, enjoying the air, the company and the immediate prospect of ale and warm food.

Dwarghar scowled at Durek as if such things were beneath him. Then looks off at the bounty hunter’s camp, What’s he got now? When Durek looks, Dwarghar turns and moves quickly to get the first pint of ale, laughing in spite of himself.

Come on then, Wizard, have you learned any new magic tricks ? He asks Catweazel

"Of course, Mister Dwarghar!"

He dips his ladle into the cauldron.

"I've been practicing polymorph venison into stew."

He fills the wooden bowl and passes it to him.

"With much help from our resident hunter!"

He gestures towards Amalrik, then fills a bowl for the next adventurer.
This message was last updated by the player at 17:37, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

At the mention of 'Polymorph' Amalrik stiffens and frown lines form crevaces in her forehead. Then she looks at Catweazae, "Fine. You got me. Again. Don't you get tired of that? Or maybe you like wearing your stew?" but makes no aggressive motion and her body relaxes. Accepting a bowl of stew, with a gesture for it to be topped up, she sits near those who obviously use weapons and away from any that don't, "So when are we heading off? First thing in the morning?"

Edit - OOC: Personal pronouns corrected
This message was last edited by the player at 09:28, Fri 06 Aug 2021.

"As long as it's on a full belly, I don't care much when we go back," Paxton commented, hungry.

Dwarghar pulls out his wand of Magic missilery and tries shooting one at a tree in the general direction of the bounty hunter.

I’m not sure I’ll ever get this thing to work.

Amalrik stand bolt upright to face Dwarghar, her stew bowl and contents summersault to spill across the dwarf, "What? Foul sorcery! Here?"

Edit - OOC: Personal pronoun corrected
This message was last edited by the player at 09:29, Fri 06 Aug 2021.

Bah
Laugh if you want but I should be able to figure this out. I’ve seen fools manage it many times and I mean to get to the underlying mechanics.

"No laughing here," responds Amalrik. "But I'm happy to end your dilemma." She holds out a hand for the wand. "If you want me to."

Her other hand is fussing around her bladed club..

Edit - OOC: Personal pronouns corrected.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:30, Fri 06 Aug 2021.

Naw friend. I’ll suffer my own tortures.

So is Amalrik Dude looks like a lady or what?

"Yes, I'm sure you'll get it eventually. I don't have the trick of tools like that, myself--that's why I handed it over to the rest of you, after all. Oh, I can conjure the tricks right, that's for certain. But hurting magic is beyond me." Pock, having calmed himself down, was enjoying his food.

Glad to be further away from the dragon Travis sat by the fire to enjoy food with his companions. Another day had passed and he wasn't dead yet. It was a good day. He drank ale and smiled at Dwarghar's antics with the wand.

Manaku looks at Dwarghar trying to use his magic wand. The elf pulls his own wand and flips a bolt of arcane energy at the very same tree. Arcane bolt whizzes through air and hits the trunk sending small splinters at every direction.

"This one works - maybe your's is broken? Do you want me, Pog or master Catweazel have a look of it?"

The elf smiles and winks at Pog. This is obviously friendly banter.

Amalrik retrieves her bowl, refills it with what remains of the stew and moves away to a distance where she's less uncomfortable.

Brother Brodd and Alietra wait in line for their bowls of stew, then sit down at the crude bench that's been built.

"Looks like we're halfway to building our own inn!"

He folds his hands as he says grace for their food, then looks back ALietra a bit nervously.

Durek catches Dwarghar's eye, flicks a glance across at Amalrik, and says in dwarven, "Drama queen!"
Finishing his stew the robust fellow inspects his beards in case he missed anything.

The stew was good. Pock grinned back at Manaku, enjoying the joke.

Seeing he can't use the wand Dwarghar puts it away. He will go to Catweasel and try to learn what he can about how these things work and what to recognize in the different magics.

Vanomir was confused by this exchange. What could it mean? Elves ate only what they required and littke else, and were often polite in manner and so happy to let those more needy have first serving.

Ah, wait...perhaps this waas Dwarven humour in action (for better or worse)! Now it made sense. The elf waited his turn before taking a bowl of stew and a cup of ale, while nodding to the wizardly fellow who served him. And then he saw a most curious thing - a dwarf with a wand! And not only that, but a wand he seemed unable to operate.

Vanomir sat down, close but not too close, to Dwarghar.

"May I examine that wand of yours? I am versed in magics, and perhaps I can determine how it functions?"

Dwarghar Grimaces at the Elf - Of course you can make it function Elves can do it as if born to it. What I want to know is ... different ...
he says...

then after a bit of looking at his wand Dwarghar stops and talks to the Elf.

Look I recognize that there are different magics and only certain kinds can use some of them. I want to know more about the different magics, how they work how to spot them and how to interrupt them here you can have the wand - but take a moment and teach me what you know of the magic..
This message was last edited by the player at 05:24, Mon 09 Aug 2021.

The pale moon elf acknowledges various reactions to his prank smiling mischievously. He takes a food bowl as well and sits to eat with the others. First mouthful makes him realize how hungry he actually is.

Durek, having eaten his fill, licks the bowl then scrapes the inside with his handaxe. "All clean!" He plonks the bowl next to the cooking pot, clearly seriously believing the bowl's cleanliness is fine.

"Right, unless there's owt else I'm off to wash me crevises and tend to me other bodily functions and then get some shut eye and we can head out when the sun comes up. Right after breakfast! Any problems with this as a plan?" He stands, legs wide, hands on hips, almost theatrically challenging for dissent. "Oh an' I'l take middle watch, when the night's at its darkest!"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:34, Mon 09 Aug 2021.

Alietra grimaces at Durek's graphic description of his itinerary for the evening, but shakes it off.

"Um...Brother Brodd and I have something to tell you..."

"What's up, Alieetra?" asks Durek with a huge smile. "Don't tell me:  got soup lumps in me beard again?" He pulls out two of his three beards and goes cross-eyed trying to inspect them at the same time.

Paxton narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he regarded Alietra and then Brodd.  He had a feeling he knew what this announcement would be.  His gaze lingered on his fellow priest.

His belly full of soup and ale Travis was drowsy and ready for sleep when Alietra began her annoucement. Travis nodded his head and awaited the news.

Amalrik, not really knowing what to expect, sighs as she clears up the dishes properly.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:02, Tue 10 Aug 2021.

Pock nodded on at Alietra, awaiting the news eagerly and with what onlookers might describe as a childlike wonder on his face (although this was really just a regular expression of totally normal satisfaction, which for some reason always registered as childlike wonder to tall folks).

Manaku enjoys his soup slowly and tilts his head slightly - as his habit is when he is curious - in expectation of Alietra's breaking news...

"Nope. Nothing there that shouldn't be," announces Durek as he pats down his third beard plait. "Well, Alieetra, what it is it, then? Out with it, if you please. Or you, Brodd, Brother Brodd, your pardon. Will one of the pair of you stop prancing about and say whetever it is that's troublin' ya and then we can fix it. Right?" His smile is intended to be inviting, but might be alarming to some folk.

The cleric gave one last look to Alietra, then stood up slowly.

"My brothers and sisters in arms, both old and new...those of us who remember, the Baron sent us on a quest to save Lady Starshell from the minotaur that destroyed the castle of her betrothed's family."

He nods sadly to the paladin in memory of the family she's lost.

"We were lucky to intercept her before we encountered the minotaur. Surely, it was divine guidance. Having completed our intended mission...I..."

He struggles for a moment, finding the words.

Alietra pops up to interrupt.

"What he's trying to say is...Brodd and I are in love now. And after what happened in the catacombs we realize that it's gonna create a sticky lock for all of us if we stay in this merry band. So..."

"Thank you Alie. So we are going to retire from adventuring. We'll stay in the town nearby for a while. It seems they don't have any clerics at all. All they have is the trappings of this shattered idol we stand in the shadows of!"

"I mean we can't really go back to Masondain, can we? Brodd would probably get demoted or something and I might get in trouble with the constables again..."

She rubs her wrists pondering unpleasant memories.

"But before we go? Brother Paxton, we ask one favor of you..."

He hold Alietra's hand tightly and looks to him with a nod.

The Dwarf nods and watches waiting for the request.

"I had a feeling," Paxton nodded.  He sighed and said, "I've had way more practice with funerals than weddings.  But I'll give the blessings of the Light to you both."

"Well, gonna miss you fer sure. Make sure you lok after 'im, Aletra, cos 'e sure can't do it fer himself," gruffs  Durek, smiling at the cleric to ensure he sees it's humour.

Aye friends, thank ye for all the support in hard times.

Dwarghar says

And congratulations. Now stay happy somehow.

Carefully taking the wand from Dwarghar, Vanorin turned it over in his hands, running his fingers across the mystical sigils inscribed upon it and determining just what it was and how it operated. He felt sure he could use it, but did not wish to be disrespectful.

"Invocation magic, a seemingly minor enchantment but one with considerable power, depending upon the strength of the wizard wielding it. Other folk can use it too, of course, but wands were made for magic wielders, as I'm sure you know.

On the other hand, it may just be a stick."

He handed the wand back to Dwarghar as Brother Brodd spoke. This would have been something of a revelation, if Vanorin had actually become acquainted with the pair, but it was hard to miss people you had met only in passing. The rest certainly appeared sorry to see them go, so the elf wished them both well in their wedded bliss.

Naaah, you keep it.
Dwarghar tells the elf. I’ll find other curiosities as we go. I was hoping to understand it but I think it best to focus on what I know.

Pock was definitely crying, although he tried to hide it. He walked up to Brodd, and said: "You're not so bad for a tall one." The gnome reached out a hand to shake, as he knew tall people enjoyed doing this.

Thinking 'but that's what people do', Amalrik shows little reaction but just watches the goings on.

"Congratulations" Travis offered his well wishes to the newly married pair "may your love bring you happiness" for Travis there was no choices in life, he must strive to be free of fate. Perhaps one day he would retire too, but death was more likely.

"Right, goodnight, you pair," says Durek. "I gota go; me crevices are getting scratchy an' they won't wait." His rolling gait takes him off to be about his ablutions.

Manaku carefully places an unfinished bowl of soup on the ground and stands up. He smiles to Brodd and Alietra: "I wish both of you all the best in life, may Mother Moon shine of your path where ever you go together. Thanks you both, for all what you have done for this company."

The elf finishes his meal and retires to meditate in solitude for the rest of the day (evening?).

After a whileAlmarik goes off to sharpen a sick, possibly for a rat, and soon after says, "Who's taking what watches?"

In reply to Amalrik (msg # 94):

"I'll take second watch, my eyes are good for the dark."

In reply to Pock Oneshoe (msg # 95):

"You folks have travelled today and some will be tired. I'll take first watch while there is still a little light," offers Amalrik

"I'm not fussy," Paxton said.  He'd stand whatever watch needed.

"Neither am I, I shall take whichever watch is required to be filled."

Vanomir was eager to please, if only to prove his value.

"Any watch" Travis offered, willing to aid the others whenever possible.

The watch goes without incident. In the morning, the adventurers first gather in a circle as Paxton officiates the vows of matrimony between Brother Brodd and Alietra. The two stay to watch and wave goodbye as the chosen party members ascend the steps of the ruin to descend back into the catacombs below.

Amalrik asks, "Anyone got a picture map of this place? Where you've already explored I mean."

[DM]

"I think I can draft one up. Give me a parchment and ink and I can sketch it out in an hour or two."