Spriggy let out a sigh of relief as he removed the scythe and nothing bad happened. He had no reason to believe it would, but he was still a novice when it came to ritual magics such as this, so he had still been nervous. But judging by the dark elf's flinch, moving the scythe had been the correct choice.

He swung the weapon around slowly a couple of times out of curiosity, then placed it with the rest of their "loot." "Should we go collect the villagers from the cave and then head back toward the inn?" he suggested. He would let Gorrid take care of the prisoner's final moments.

---

We should now have:
Scythe worth 60 coin
Elven leg brace worth 120 coin
140 coin
Gold chain necklace of fear negation

Kharla's face contorted in a quizzical look and then relaxed as enlightenment dawned, "Oh right, I'd forgotten about them.  Yes let's leave this place."

Sir Gorrid lugged the elven sorcerer out of the complex.  He didn't want to spill any further blood in that evil room.  Once outside, he dragged the man into a pleasant looking glade.  He didn't know Elvish, so he relied on his visitor to translate for him.

"Your people was born to relish and enjoy life and beauty.  I am sorry that you lost your way.  When your spirit returns to the hallowed halls, think on what you have done and how you might have done better."

He cut cleanly, then knelt and prayed for the man's soul before removing the blood from his blade and re-sheathing it.  He returned into the temple and retrieved the urn, then joined his companions.

"Let's get back to the villagers.  If we move quickly, we should make it before dark."

How heavy is the urn?

OOC: The urn is light enough to not hinder you.

With the elf dead, you quickly make your way back to the farmers you've liberated. They're glad to see you again, as they're seen some trolls moving between the trees. Thankfully, the trolls didn't spot them, but they're quite eager to return home.

The trip is rather peaceful, and you soon return to the main road, then to Old Crick's. The farmers eagerly pay for your stay and drinks (many of them come often enough to have a tab here), before returning home the next morning. You do the same, reaching the Pheonix's Nest the next day.


"So you're haunted by the spirit of one of the original members of the Ghostwalk?" Mortimer asks.

"That should be worth a few brownie points with the church." Della says with a grin.

Clarence Battler, the guild's priest and healer, pauses his prayer to look at them. "Would you show a bit of respect!?" He turns back to Gorrid. "My apologies, my lady. I'm almost done..." He finishes his spell, causing a shimmering form to appear between Gorrid and him.

"Thank you. It will be easier to speak this way." The spirit turns to Della. "And thank you for your offer of assistance, lady Quake."

Della offers her a toast. "My pleasure. But are you sure you wouldn't prefer to return to your church? I'm sure they'd jump all over each other to help you."

Irene shakes her head. "I'm sure they would like to help, but they have their own duties. Not only that, but their presence may be aggravating to any cultist I encounter. If I am able to accompany the members of your guild during their travels, I will have more occasions to discovers clues on the Ancient Ones."

OOC: You've had time to fully rest, gained 3 xp (plus any bonds you feel is complete), and can level up now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:03, Mon 01 Nov 2021.

Sir Gorrid bowed slightly to the floating lady.  To a certain extent it was a relief to no longer have her as part of him, but it was discomforting to see her translucent form floating before him.  "Am I to understand that it is your will to accompany us, but not to direct our travels?  If that is the case, it would be my preference that we return to the forest to deal with the necromancer whose minion we encountered on our last trip."

He looked first to the ghost, then to his companions to see their reaction.

"Yes, I think that would be smart. We can't just leave a hidden necromancer to his own whims. Especially when he has already attempted to harvest villagers." He looked toward their guild leaders. "Unless you have a more immediate and dire need for our skills. In which case, I would strongly encourage you to send another capable group of guild members to go deal with that necromancer as soon as possible."

Spriggy was doing his best to seem cool and collected at the moment. Although on the inside he was both ecstatic a bit concerned that he was standing next to the literal ghost of THE Irene. One of the original members of the Ghostwalk!

"Let's not forget his ward against the living," Kharla cautions, "To defeat it and reach his stronghold will require knowledge we do not currently try possess."

It seems like a breaking and entering kind of thing, would her Spout Lore apply to describe some great thief who might know how to defeat the wards?

"I think Gianam will be able to assist us with that."

One of my boons from a quest is an unwavering sense of direction to a location of my choice

"We also know that the other necromancers sent the hidden necromancer a message via an undead bat. And we happen to have an undead ally at the moment..." He gestured at the nearby ghost. "Still, Kharla, even if we can find the place, I am certain you will be essential for getting us past the protections that are in place with our heads still intact. I am sure the place is warded against us finding it, as well as warded against us reaching it."

"Stocking up on some holy water might not be a bad idea either..."

Istvan shrugs. "Makes sense to me..."

"As much as I wish to repay you, it would be better if I could travel with any member of your guild. That would allow me to follow any leads I discover, so long as one of your companions heads close to it."

"Hmm... I could manage that, I believe." Mortimer pulls out his guild medallion. "All of us have a medallion like this, each sharing the same enchantment. One that is linked to it's owner's spirit. I think I could link you to that enchantment, effectively binding you to all of the Pheonix Blades' medallion at the same time. You'll be able to travel with anyone from our guild that way."

"Wait... what would happen if the medallion's owner dies?" Clarence asks. "The medallion looses it's power when that happens, so what would happen to Lady Seraph if that happened?"

"She would probably be forced back to the Wasteland, and not be able to return."

Seraph just nods. "Something any adventurer must face. When can you complete the ritual?"

Mortimer thinks for a moment. "It would probably take a week."

Irene turns to Gorrid. "Can your hunt of the necromancer wait that long, paladin?"

OOC: As best as Kharla can suppose, it must be some form of area confusion. She heard of such effects used in very high security bank vaults, where a small maze would be built with that effect to keep thieves away from it. There's a few ways around it, but the most efficient is to have someone immune guiding the rest of the group. So Seraph probably could lead you through it.

"It must wait, I think, the redhead grimaces, "as I belive only with your aid will we be able to traverse the enchantment and reach the necromancer's lair."

She shrugs to her companions, in her mind there was little option.

To Mortimer and those assembled she asks, "There are greater number of Dark Elves about than I had anticipated.   We've managed well enough against them so far but now we will go to face one of greater strength, it seems.  Is there any boon or charm in the guild which might help against their ill might?"

She considered the wealth from the group's adventures to date and what could be spent on such protections.

What's the guild got in stocks?  Hopefully they're familiar with opposing necromancers
This message was last edited by the player at 20:52, Tue 02 Nov 2021.

"Good question, Kharla. I was wondering the same thing. Perhaps we could even trade the anti-fear chain for something more relevant to our current mission?" He looked to the guild leaders to see if such an exchange might be possible. He had no intention of wearing a necklace that removed his fear entirely. A small amount of fear was necessary for survival, in his opinion.

The barman, Garth Jerico, speaks up. "I wouldn't say 'relevant', but we got a few trinkets other teams left behind." He ducks behind the bar and shuffles about for a moment.

When he comes back up, he puts two wood statuettes, a ring with an engraved eye, and an umbrella on the counter. "Right now, we got two Penguin Tokens, a Circlet of Seeing, and a Poppin Parachute. One will break your fall, if you open it in time, the other will let you pop-out your eye to see around. And the last one..." He tosses one of the statuettes on the floor, where it creates a cloud of smoke, and leaves behind an 80 lbs penguin. "It'll last a minute. Unless something hits it."

The penguin looks back at your group. "Honk."

Istvan is delighted: "--I want at least one penguin if not both penguins and the umbrella please!"

Noric was technically kind of god of birds, because Sky and Freedom. Flightless birds officially would be extremely low on Noric's list, but who cares? Istvan just sensed that an instant 80-pound bird could have all kinds of uses! And as god of the sky and Freedom, "don't take damage when falling through the air" sort of had Noric written all over it.

"Are the Penguin tokens re-usable? I mean can I pick the wooden tokens up after the penguin disappears and then do it again?"

"Oh! It speaks!" Spriggy said in surprise. He hadn't expected it to be a "real" animal. He began honking back at it. "Honk. Honk honk. Honk-onk. Honkedy honk honk honk."

Then, to the group he said, "Yeah, the penguins and umbrella seem like good choices. I think I would be too squeamish to pop out my eye though... Is it ok if we bring the penguins and umbrella along? I am fine with leaving the anti-fear chain here too."

"Ask if it knows anything about Noric. ...Also ask if it was magically teleported here from somewhere else, or if it's just a magical being. Maybe it's something from the elemental plane of water, and this is just its mortal guise...?"



"I definitely agree!" No eye-popping for Spriggy nor Istvan: confirmed.



"We must!"

Spriggy translated Istvan's questions to the penguin.

"I...I am actually interested in the chain," Kharla admits, "Fear seems like a focus Dark Elves might try to employ.  Having extra protection from magical influence could prove useful."

To date there appeared to have been little the redhead was actually afraid of, often charging in where others would naturally have paused in consideration.  While wearing such an item she might be considered...relentless

[Language unknown: "Be, utain! Ek haic ulmoteil k som wasavesom ent cknc ess icek'roiv ndil, tr earsa ri comhatugh io outi pohiwe ictric k se! Tihotrul, sacom ard il ble ne e ardderkor e menro pe iveve, foic pabe naou rotatrnd ek conin paard mi etdi ad lanana vorthuwil ch wepang!

Oumiio? Taanon it, esnce cemoll entprewhi ugh esek reaentith noaiwe hashising stioutartour, hat o manwi aiset he fortioandiou k thudayant'ouless? Cetaplan, ul wernteint Ess ai man ro rom hatou ever ticforiou Vor ardanture korconthi ver es achoca erilce u ectiiomi!"]

The bird waves it's short wings as it honks and warks, before exploding into a cloud of dust, leaving the figurine behind. "It'll be ready to be used again in a day. Just be careful, these bird have a good memory. Last group to used them looked like they tangled with an entire murder of crows."

"They'll mess with your head if they get the chance, all right..." Istvan affirmed...




"Ah, once-a-day usage. Fine, got it... But... so... are they real birds? Teleported in from somewhere? I wouldn't want to risk one getting killed...!"

Spriggy went wide-eyed when the penguin responded to his questions. Not because the answers were so shocking, but because he had not expected so much attitude to be condensed into the little 80 lb bird.

After it disappeared again, he reported, "It sounds like this same bird gets summoned every time. At least by this token. It lives in an ice flow, but once made a deal with an angel to avoid being eaten by an orca. It sounds like it has been summoned repeatedly in the past to be "the bait," and has a huge chip on his shoulder because of it. Understandably so. Maybe we should buy him some treats?" Spriggy shrugged. He looked forward to meeting the sassy little bird again.

"Oh, and he has no idea who Noric is, Istvan. He asked, and I quote: "Who's that, some other nutcase who goes around teasing hungry monsters, only to toss them some waterfowl as distraction?" On the plus side, he might let me bond my soul to his to gain his shape! Not really sure if he was being serious or sarcastic about that one though..."

"Be careful," Kharla smiles to Spriggy, "you bind yourself too tightly and you may end up getting summoned by a token too."

With a cheerful grin she admits, "The penguin is fantastic, I hope the other is equally as interesting.  And I agree with Istvan, we should be as careful with them as we are with one another.   We'll take it as a challenge to come up with interesting reasons to summon them other than as distractions."

She pursed her lips in thought, pondering alternative uses for an insta-penguin.

"Just be sure to bring back something to help others when you return."

With that, Mortimer discusses his ritual with Spriggy and Gorrid, while you plan ahead for you next quest.

OOC: To be continued in Ring of Death.