No matter where you go, there you are.
Times of This Halfling
In the simple rolling hills west of the Silverwood I was born. Not to an Elfish family with speed and grace. Not to a Dwarven family of strength and courage. Not even one of those Humans who seem to be sprouting up everywhere. Not me, I was born into a nice quiet Halfling family, close to the earth and at one with nature. Of all the races of this known world, I believe only the halfling has been successful in living, without destroying the world around them.
Now, I am not complaining about the other races, they all have their purpose in this world. In fact I have been studying them, I am constantly amazed by how different we all seem, yet the same also. My father, Herron, often told me that is why I will never become a good farmer. I guess he was right, after all, at age 16 I left home to see the world.
Now looking back, a 16 year old halfling running away from home to see the world, is not what I would call a good idea. Having never met another race or a dishonest person, I am lucky to be alive. It took me all of one day to find myself tied up in a bag being carried off to be someone’s dinner. As luck would have it, the first member of another race that I met, (thinking him a dwarf), turned out to be a gnoll. Let me tell ya, it is hard to get a conversation going with a creature that wants cook you. As I was making my peace with my god, I heard some screams. When the bag opened up to show me the sky, I found the gnoll dead and a long thin woman looking down at me. Instantly I knew this had to be one of the humans I had been told of. Nope, she introduced herself as Loriana Lightfeather, youngest daughter to Pothar Lightfeather, a lord of the Elven land I was intruding upon.
Loriana was and still is the sweetest woman I have ever met. She took me in to her world, and began teaching me more about life. It is amazing how much them elves learn, did you know they live very long lives? Soon I became smitten by her, yet how could a simple halfling make a wonderful woman like her happy. I was invited to stay in their family home as long as I wanted. Deciding it may be a good idea to learn more of life before going on my own again, I became a common fixture in the Lightfeather home. After a year of learning about the elven society, I decided to become a part of it instead of a guest.
Then began the next chapter of my life, learning to be a soldier. Yes halflings can be soldiers. And after seeing all the paintings and being told of their bravery in battle, I decided to model my fighting style after dwarves. I found that Loriana’s brother, Corthiar, was delighted to teach me. He actually traveled with dwarves for 20 years. Hum..., the axe. This took some time. But determined I was. With a few cuts and a lot of swelling I actually learned to fight ok. I also became good friends with Corthiar, who invited me to become a member of his house guard. He informed me that I may be a respectable fighter for my size, but my size and bravery would benefit his family well. Having no intentions of disappointing my friends, I accepted.
Soon my dreams were coming true. The House of Lightfeather is not an all-powerful family, but it had a decent standing in the elven community, and Pothar’s opinion was often sought when it came to making treaties. I got to travel with him on many a trip, to meet many people. So far I have met humans, kobolds, gnomes, and an ugly creature they called a half-orc. This half-orc went by the name of Doth, and strangely enough we became friends. Doth was what they called a ranger, all I know is that he traveled to many of the same places and was always happy to see me. He would put me on his shoulder and tell me of his travels.
One day a chance to travel far came along, to the dwarven mines to the north. Pother was asked to come north and help settle a argument between these dwarves and a group of elves from a far off place in the East. Pothar took just me and two other guards with him as we headed North. He insisted that he didn’t want to take to many people with him, as to not insult the people he was going to meet. I did not understand this, but I doubt anyone would confuse me with a wise man. As we neared the dwarven lands, we stopped to camp for the night. I was to stand the last watch, yet it never came. During the night they came, we all got up and fought. Even I was impressed with the skill I displayed. They were too many, I killed six of them, and still could not see my comrades though the thick pack of intruders. I heard Pothar scream, then everything went black.
When I awoke, I was chained to a cave wall with an ugly green-skinned creature trying to pull my pants down. I kept my pants, and gained an amazing new collection of bruises to prove it. Even though I survived that encounter, I found myself afraid to go to sleep.
After three days of no food and water I am getting weak. I will try to get his weapon the next time he tries.
It is getting dark now, that seems to be when the scraggly one I now refer to as Stink Face, gets his nerve up enough to attack me. One way or the other I will be free of him tonight. Either he dies or I do.
For the first time I hear other voices, maybe Pothar has survived and is coming to free me. Stink Face is running out of the cave, he looked scared. I hope that Pothar runs him through....
I must be confused, I think I see my brother coming, no, it is not my brother it is a halfling though. Oh bless the gods, I am being saved!
Cause of death: saving the party from the lich Markus cast the lightning bolt at. Captured, and most likely, killed.
Well, today was interesting so far. We left the slave camp, and went towards the outpost. We stood on top of a hill discussing what to do next when Korin decided to go off by himself. Being a fellow halfling and all, I went with him. We checked 3 of the 50 some odd huts, and they were empty and unused, so we decided to try the tower. The door wouldn’t open, and there actually was no lock. The nerve of some people. We tried to get a rope up so we could scale the wall, but before we did several orc zombies came after us. After a lot of fighting Fafnir decided to use his potion and climb up with the rope and tie it off. We all got to the top okay, and decided to look around. I’m still not sure why everyone left me in this room, but I think I found some neat stuff.
Ah thank Yondalla, I have been saved. My new friends very nice, they even have a Dwarf. Ghelt is her name. Fascinating. All that I have imagined and yet more. We going to get the bad lady that may have my friends. He is funny, they call him Trap, he makes sense, but they don’t. When we find the bad place, they want to talk.
So I go see what is there. Did I mention that I found a pry bar. Me and Trap, he is little like me, look in the huts. All empty.
Oohh, big door. If I didn’t know better, I think Ghelt pointed her bow at me. The elf found the orcs, they are different though. Everyone is yelling about undead. I have never seen dead people before, but they are trying to hurt Ghelt.
Back to the pry bar, it is pretty. Me and Trap are trying to get it in a small window, hehe, Trap hit himself in the head. Hehehe.
Wow, I almost hit the magic user. He would have been pissed.
Well anyway, I go save Ghelt now. Ok, maybe we save each other. Then we go up my rope. It seems when a tall person decides to climb, it is ok, when small people ask to do it, we are crazy.
Ouch. That was close, the elf (wish I could remember her name) has healed me. Hehehe, we make them burn. Oh, they stink when they burn. Ghelt says she will help me fight like a Dwarf better. Down the steps we go. Hmm, where did I leave my pry bar.
Hey more bad people. We got them good. Ghelt is angry, wants me and Trap to sit still for a little “while party regains its wind.” I tell you I got plenty of wind.
A quick rendering of the Orc Mines and Slave Camp, courtesy of Drusilia Silverwood.
View of the Witch Lord’s Tower, 50 undead orc huts and longhouse, courtesy of Drusilia Silverwood.
Godsday, Planting 25, 592 CY
Korin has a pry bar. More on that in a bit.
We left the orc camp early in the day and proceeded in the direction the slaves had indicated would take us to the Witch Lord’s Tower. The slaves often hauled the iron ore that they mined to the tower, so the path over the rocky ground was easy enough to follow. As if to let us know we weren’t lost, we saw many more orcish totems evilly grinning at us on our trek. Though I’m not much of a cartographer, I’m now sketching out the places we’ve been in case we find ourselves fighting back through them.
After several hours of walking in a northerly direction, we came to a tower with approximately 50 orc huts and a longhouse around it. While we were forming a plan to get past all the huts quietly, Korin reminded us that he had a pry bar and quickly dashed off. Trap must feel responsible for the other halfling in some way; with an apologetic shrug, he was off right after him. While Fafnir and I moved The Mule to a safe distance and secured him, Ghelt attempted to keep the two halflings in sight as they darted between the orc huts. They checked three and, finding them empty, determined them all to be abandoned. They then went right up to the front door of the tower. Of course, it wouldn’t open. Not with lock picks (as there apparently was no lock on the outside) and not with Korin’s pry bar. As Ghelt kept a watchful eye out, trying to keep all the huts and the halflings in sight, Fafnir and I walked closer so that he could detect for magic while I attempted to detect evil. Neither of us got very far with that, for just as we started, we heard a loud crash— the halflings were using the pry bar as a grappling hook, but not being able to toss it as high up the tower as needed, it had come sailing back down. Trap’s head somewhat muffled the sound of the pry bar as it landed, but either the muffled thunk! or the subsequent squeal from the stunned halfling caused several door flaps to stir. Orcs began to shamble out of some of the huts around us, but there was obviously something very wrong with the orcs. Their lifeless eyes and overly pale flesh indicated that they were undead. At first, there were only a dozen or so and I was able to keep them turned back, but soon more and more lumbered out of their hovels— too many for me and my comrades to fight off. Of course, Trap and Korin were not getting anywhere with their makeshift grappling hook, but luckily Fafnir had a Potion of Spider Climb with him and he was able to take a rope up the side of the tower and secure it, allowing us to climb to relative safety while the zombie orcs clawed ineffectually at the outer walls.
After getting our bearings on top of the tower, we were able to climb inside through a trapdoor and found ourselves in a maze of small rooms. One room was obviously a bed chamber that looked as though it hadn’t been used for years. As Trap ran from door to door on the top floor flinging open what doors would open and inspecting those that didn’t, Korin ran down the first set of steps he found, with Ghelt hot on his heels. I heard sounds of commotion almost immediately, and Fafnir and I ran down behind them while Trap continued his search of the top floor. More undead orcs had apparently been left inside the tower, and with the last of my divine energy for the day, I turned the few that were in the room beyond the stairs so that my comrades could finish them off.
Having two halflings around is twice the excitement, I guess! I only hope we can survive it.
Our Travels Thus Far, courtesy of Drusilia Silverwood.
Updated Waterday, Flocktime 5, 592 CY
I am making this entry while sitting in the (presumed) tower of the Witch Lord!...
Having rested the night in the Orc Encampment, our part set forth to find the tower of the Witch Lord. We had been given instructions by the slaves we had freed, and after half a day’s travel, we arrived at the top of a ridge that overlooked a valley containing a stone tower surrounded by stone huts.
While we were keeping a low profile, and discussing what our next move would be, our new companion (Korin) decided to head off by himself to the tower. The Trap decided to go along.
(I am starting to think I may have discovered something about halflings.... rather than having a hive mind as some insect or rats seem to, where more individuals = higher intelligence, I think halflings have quite the opposite —- the more halfings you have, the lower their intelligence gets.... thereby leaving us with nothing but half-wit halfings! —- I will certainly have to observe them further to see if this is true... but I digress.)
In any case, Ghelt could not let them go off on their own, so she followed at a safe distance, leaving Drusilia, me, and The Mule behind. Suspecting that something important (or at least funny) might happen, we tied off The Mule to a nearby boulder, and settled in to watch the show. We didn’t have long to wait.
Korin and Trap checked three of the Fifty or so huts that surrounded the tower. Finding them empty, the promptly forgot about the other 47 and proceeded to try and get into the tower. The doors were shut and barred from the inside, so the halfings decided that using a cro-bar as a grappling hook was the wisest choice. They managed to throw it towards the top of the tower twice. The first time, the cro-bar landed with a thud! on Trap’s head. (I laughed so hard, I nearly lost my shoe! ) The second time it came crashing down on the stone stairs. It made a noise loud enough to wake the dead!
No sooner had I thought this than the dead did in fact start appearing! Dead Orcs that is! Fun is fun, but now Drusilia and I had to rush to our companions aid. With Drusilia’s ability to turn back the evil zombies, we were able to hold our own for a while. Many a zombie fell to Ghelt’s axe as well, but eventually we realized that we needed a way to escape... there were just too many of them!
Heading for the tower, I pulled out one of the potions I had made back in Smallville. Drinking it down, I grabbed the rope the 
Dearest Grun,
Well, we had a quiet night at the former slaves’ camp. They gave us all the information they had; namely, the way to the witch lord’s home. They used to drag loads of iron ore there, so the road was easy to follow (more large, ugly totem poles helped, too).
We found a village of about 50 huts, with a watchtower in the middle. As we discussed possible ways to attack, Korin, the new halfling, began to walk right on in. Obviously, he wouldn’t understand how our lack of proper planning ended in disaster at the mine, but it was still a very frustrating moment — because Trap went after him, and Trap ought to know!
I followed them, within distance of a crossbow shot, but I didn’t try to catch up. I was afraid of what I’d say or do if I did. I didn’t ask Drusilia or Fafnir to follow; no need for them to get killed, too.
The halflings checked all of three huts on the way to the watchtower’s door. The huts seemed to be empty, and the halflings were more interested in getting the door open (more of a challenge than the leather flaps to the huts’ entrances, I guess), as they started prying at it with a crowbar rather than check the other huts. I stayed back, trying to watch everything at once, and saw that Drusilia and Fafnir were working on checking the other huts instead, thank Moradin.
Meanwhile, after no luck prying, and no sign of a lock to pick, the halflings wanted me to come and work on the door. I refused — waiting for the all clear on the rest of the huts. Korin started hollering instead — like I couldn’t understand their waving! Frustrated, I admit I did sight in on him with my crossbow.. for heavens’ sake, why wasn’t he more worried that there was no sign of life here, to be making so much noise?
Trap tied a rope to the bar and began flinging it upwards at the windows of the tower. This made a fair amount of noise.. as did the hollering and laughter when he managed to bash himself in the head. I guess that was enough noise for the place. The flap of the hut next to me was swept aside as a large, undead orc came shuffling into the light. Ugh! And many more appeared at the same time. So much for getting to check on the huts..
I shot off a bolt and managed to miss, then pulled out Mother’s holy symbol. I called on Moradin to no avail, and pulled out my axe. That, of course, always works well! Drusilia turned many orcs away, as I fought off several more. Fafnir and Trap were shooting them from the steps of the tower, and suddenly Korin was fighting at my side. He isn’t bad.. I just wish he were more sensible of danger before!
Fafnir, unexpectedly, grabbed the rope, swallowed something, and began to climb right up the wall! I knew he’d been working on some potions, and got my first look at how useful they could be. Meanwhile, the undead orcs continued to arrive — there were too many to fight, so I was really hoping Fafnir found a safe place in the tower! There were so many, in fact, that I was inspired to try to turn them away again — and this time, it worked! It gave us enough space to make a run for the tower steps; a good thing, as I had to drag poor Korin - he’d taken one too many hits.
As I reached the bottom of the stairs I was forced to turn and fight again. Trap came down and dragged Korin up the stairs, and Drusilia began to climb the rope (so Fafnir was successful, and upstairs was better off than here!). I turned the zombies away one more time, and gained just enough time to start climbing the rope with Trap close behind. The zombies thumped against the door below, but had no more success at getting in than our halflings before..
The roof was empty except for some broken down equipment, and a trap door in the middle. Trap opened this and entered, while Korin decided to get back at the zombies by lighting the old balista on fire and pushing it onto the undead below. I really didn’t get it, so I climbed down the ladder and left him to his own devices for the time being.
We found some old unused rooms and bedrooms, which Trap just had to search. I took a quick look around and decided to check out the staircase. It didn’t make sense to me, to search bedrooms when the witch lord could be anywhere in the place, waiting for us! Korin appeared from nowhere and came with me. Again, I can’t figure out if he’s more of a benefit or a drawback! Maybe he doesn’t know yet, either.
We walked into a stench that proved to be a roomful of undead orcs, again. Of course we attacked, and the sounds of our fighting brought Drusilia and Fafnir to help, which made it easy to pick them off. We are back to the upstairs, resting a moment, and hopefully on our way to finish off the evil in this place.
If we can keep everyone (ie. the halflings) on the same page, that is..
With love;
Ghelt
Coldeven 27, 592 CY
The others have moved the timeframe up again. Damn them all to the Nine Hells! How do they expect me to keep up with their demands? I will have to conscript more workers for the mines. Fortunately, there is a tribe of kobolds that just recently moved into the area. Durll says he is looking for weaknesses in the defenses of Mordorzack. The dwarves there will serve nicely as will their mines.
Planting 9, 592 CY
Durll has returned. He has found the entrance to Arun-tosa, the fabled Lost City of the Dead. He swears that the Heart is there. With its power I will wrest power from Kragas. I need to learn patience— it wouldn’t do to move too quickly lest the others discover my plans. I still don’t entirely trust the gray dwarf, but he has proven useful.
Planting 16, 592 CY
My minions continue to bring me ore from the mines. It is amazing how easy these simple creatures are to control. However, production is still behind. If I am to meet my quota we will need more slaves for the mine. The residents of Bissel should prove useful in the future. I will attend to that matter after my ascension.
Planting 20, 592 CY
At last my phylactery is nearly complete. Tonight I will be prepared to complete the final ritual. Once the ritual is finished, nothing will stop me from reaching Arun-tosa. I will need to thank Belial for his assistance once this is over.
So there I was, doing what I was told.
Hmm.... It is cold. I will start a fire to warm everyone up. I wonder what they are doing, maybe they need my help. Well that was the last of the fire wood.
I wonder how furniture burns?
Where is my pry bar? I remember once when I was a kid when I was swimming in the old fishin’ hole. Ahh, good times, good times.
Claw or hand, ahhh, bad thing. “I didn’t touch it,” “I did’t do it.” Hey, I know him. It is Rondal, “Hey Rondal that looks like it hurts, what happended?”
Then I wake up, they say Rondal is dead, I hope the others made it out ok. I feel weak for some reason. Why does Fafnir keep staring at me? I bet Ghelt saved me. It sure is nice having Ghelt around. I will tie a rope from me to Ghelt, hmm... yea, to keep her safe. We take a break, oh the boredom. I think Fafnir is angry with me. Well, Ghelt doesn’t look happy either.
Yes, we are moving. I will stay in the back with my bow, to stay safe for a little bit. Well, not a real well, water. Trap is going to open a door, he still looks burnt from the last thing he opened. “I will help him.” When Trap opened the door, I saw a bright light, have to save him, I toss the water on him.
Did I mention that Ghelt taught me to be a healer? “Not too tight,” she says, “it could cut off their circulation.”
I bandage Trap’s leg.
Lots of screaming, should I look in the room they went into? I get another bucket of water, in case Trap needs me again. Trap would be lost without me.
Hey it’s my friends, “Hey Pother!”
Ouch, ouch, ouch. Very weak now, I hide.
Did I mention Fafnir is trying to keep me away from Ghelt? I think he likes her.
Drusilia drags me, by the rope. Doorways hurt, make a mental note to self. Drusilia heals me some, I throw water on her to remind her I am not on a leash, I am tied to Ghelt, ahh, to protect her. Yea to protect her.
Ghelt is angry again, I bandage Trap’s other leg. He gets hurt a lot. I hope Ghelt’s not angry that I not help kill my friends.
Modge, I name it Modge.
Where is that pry bar? Oh........so sad. Bodies need burried. Ghelt and me take care of the poor person and what is left of my friends. We go free others now. My pack feels heavy. Drusilia gave me an ugly ring, told me it will be magical. I think she got hit in the head by one of the Orcs or something. I take it to make her happy. I offer her my magic dagger, hmm, she not want it. Must have been hit in the head. I know I put bandage on it. Ouch, Ghelt slapped me. Ohh, we don’t bandage friends’ heads unless she tells me. Ok,... I guess she knows what she is talking about.
Oh no, we are camping again. Ghelt told me to stay right here, so I will stay right... hey I wonder what’s over there?
I got a new toy today. We started off with a big fight, I was busy looking for something and missed all the fun, but I found a cool book. It went boom when I opened it. I wasn’t hurt though. We decided to sleep for a day, and then finished searching the top floor. One door hit me with lightening, so I knew there had to be something in there, but all I saw was trash. After searching through the room I found this short sword with a symbol of Pelor on it. The ground floor was empty, so we went to the basement. In one room, we found 2 undead things. I raised my new toy, and yelled, “Die Fiend!” and attacked. Others came in after to help fight the things. The sword did lots of damage, I like it.
We then found a scepter, got Mule, and went back to the slaves to free them. Ghelt threw the bands in the lake. We’re spending the night here. Then it’s off to the Heart of Nerull.
Earthday, Planting 27, 592 CY
While we were fighting the undead downstairs, Trap had actually found something quite valuable— the Journal of the Witch Lord. Reading that provided us with valuable clues about our adversary, who, oddly enough, was also working with the same duergar Durll that the last crazy undead we’d encountered were mixed up with. And apparently, we had arrived just days after the Witch Lord had decided to become a Lich Lord, to help him in his quest for the Heart of Nerull.
As those of us upstairs (Fafnir, Trap, Ghelt and I) discussed this, we heard Korin, still downstairs, screaming “I didn’t touch it!” We all ran back downstairs, in time to see him being clawed at by an elven wight. I had no more divine power for the day, so we had to fight the undead with our weapons. By the time we dispatched the creature, Korin looked to be near death himself— he was so weak, and looked somewhat desiccated. We gave him what healing we could, and opted to wall ourselves into an upstairs room for a full 24 hours in the hopes that we could pull him through this crisis. Apparently, the wight took him by surprise while he was not-so-quietly destroying wooden furniture to make a fire (for warmth). Worse still, this was one of the three elves he had traveled to this region with.
Perhaps the most amazing thing is that Korin survived longer than an elven warrior did. I think it has unhinged his mind though.
After a full day’s rest, we began to somewhat-more-methodically search the rest of the tower, starting with the rest of the top floor. The first room-sized closet was full of old clothes and finery long past wearability. There was another closet across from the clothes closet. Unfortunately, we weren’t all standing far enough back from Trap when he mis-disarmed its trapped lock. A bolt of energy surged out of it, passing through Trap and hitting Ghelt and I before hitting a metal ladder behind us. Painful though this was, a closer inspection of what looked like refuse in the closet yielding a wondrous find: a finely wrought short sword with the symbol of Pelor etched into its blade. Now, I realize logic would dictate that a follower of Pelor carry the blade, but Trap fell in love with it instantly. If Pelor gains another follower, even in this most unorthodox method, then it is worth it to me that Trap wields it. We also managed to find some enchanted arrows and a dagger, all of which were quickly snapped up by the other party members. Going down to the next level we found more miscellaneous “loot” as Fafnir calls it— including some gold and a dagger with a serpentine hilt. It’s not magical, but Fafnir assured Korin it was “special” since he was so taken with it.
At least, we made it to the cellar of the tower. After passing a well (which Korin was very interested in), We opened a door and were bathed in a blue light. Trap walked into the room, an arcane lab, and was confronted with two more undead— one was definitely an elf like the one we’d encountered upstairs, and one looked wrong (even more wrong than undead already do)— he had to keep “straightening” his very loose face, which kept flapping about his skull as he moved. Of course, I didn’t know any of this until Trap pulled out his new sword and engaged them in combat. I quickly followed him in (as did everyone except Korin, who after peeking into the room and recognizing the two in there, went back out to play in the water), and with Pelor’s divine blessing was able to turn the one undead elf into a pile of harmless dust. I wanted to attack the source of the blue light— a crystal suspended in the middle of the room (which Fafnir and I obviously both thought was the phylactery of the Witch Lord). Luckily, Fafnir cast a magic missile at it and it exploded. I was worried at first, because the Witch Lord roared “Freedom!” as soon as the crystal was shattered, but it did him no good. I was able to turn the pathetic creature with Pelor’s wrath, and Trap, Ghelt and Fafnir then slew it outright. In addition to this clearly disturbed, now dead, lich and the pile of former elf wight, we found lots of notes scattered about the lab in the same handwriting as the journal we’d read earlier. We found several rings, a potion of Detect Thoughts, an ash wand and some charred, but still serviceable bracers (one of the few types of armor an arcane magic user can wear). They all radiated magic, but since we had no way to magically identify the items, we are using trial and error. One ring was clearly to help an arcane magic user store additional spells— Fafnir is definitely keeping that one! The wand shoots acid arrows. One ring, forged of iron, seems to offer protection magic— I suggested that Korin wear it as he seems somewhat accident prone. Fafnir decided the one of the other rings had something to do with jumping. We all went to the top of the tower to confirm his suspicions. Thankfully, Ghelt was able to catch Fafnir on his 38’ decent and he came screaming back down from his test jump. We notice while we were up on top of the tower that all the undead orcs were now simply dead orcs.
Returning one last time to the downstairs, where a few rooms where left unexplored, we found a lot of unpleasant things. One room contained a horrible surprise that sent Trap screaming through the cellar— some metal tables and sharp instruments, and what I suspect to be the remains of a skinned elf— probably the third from the party Korin had traveled with (and the source of the loose skin that the lich was wearing). Another room contained an altar with unknown but demonic-looking markings on it— and a silver scepter topped by a star ruby. This is what would free the slaves! Ghelt took care of the remains of Korin’s previous party, Trap went and retrieved The Mule (thankfully still waiting for us, though thirsty) and we hiked back to the mines. The scepter, thankfully, worked by touching it to each of the slaves’ collars.
Since most of these slaves were captured in or around these mountains, I’m hoping there is someone among them that could provide us with a guide or a better set of instructions to where we are headed— I now suspect time is of the essence.
As per the “House Rules” article by Andy Collins in Dragon #305, page 16, metamagic feats can be used “on the fly” without extended casting time or preparation. The feat can be used one time daily. These spells use up the same level slot they would have if they had been cast normally, though the spellcaster is limited to using spells of a maximum level equal to the highest level spell that the caster can cast minus the spell difference given in the feat’s description. The Heighten Spell feat is treated differently— it can be used to maximize the spell to the highest level spell the spellcaster can cast.
As I mentioned before, we were just preparing to rest. Before we did, we decided to examine the book that Trap had found. It turned out to be the Journal of the Witch Lord. We began reading it, but were disrupted by the screams of Korin from the room below! When we ran to his aid, we found him being attacked by an undead elf! (Apparently he had been making quite a racket, and attracted the thing’s attention.)
We were able to dispatch the horror, but not before it had drained much life from Korin.... Knowing that he would need treatment, we locked ourselves in one of the other rooms and rested for a day, while Drusilia and Ghelt looked after the half-wit. He is looking a little better now, but is not back to his normal self.
After resting, we explored the rest of the tower. Trap was zapped as a lightning bolt came flying from a door he had decided was NOT trapped, and the rest of the party went diving for cover. (That lightning bolt would be a useful spell to know... I may have to look into that further.) Behind the door, buried in a pile of garbage, Trap found a sword with the symbol of Pelor on it. Drusilia looks a little concerned about letting him use it, but so far it is working out OK.
Continuing below, we eventually came to the lab of the Witch Lord! In the center of the room was a glowing blue crystal. Standing nearby was another undead elf, and off in the corner was the Witch Lord himself. The Witch Lord looked awful, as if his skin had all been sewn onto his body!!! Some pieces kept falling off! As Trap and Ghelt rushed into combat, Drusilia began praying for her God to smite the undead fiends. She was able to turn the Undead Elf to dust, but the Witch Lord was unaffected!
Thinking this might have something to do with the glowing crystal, I cast a Magic Missile at the crystal and shattered it! At first I was excited, but then a voice shouted “At Last! I am free!” and I began to worry.
It seems that my worry was misplaced however, as with a Flaming Sphere, Trap and Ghelt’s Fighting, and Drusilia’s turning power, we were soon able to dispatch the Witch Lord. Further examination of his journals showed that he had failed in his attempt to become a Lich, and that had left him trapped in his current Undead state. It had also caused the tower and everything around it to age drastically... thus explaining all of the undead orcs!
After searching the the Witch Lord’s lab (in which we found lots of loot — some rings, a potion, a wand, and more!), we explored the rest of the tower and found the scepter we had been told about. We soon headed out to free the slaves.
Once we arrived back at the mine, Drusilia was able to release the collars using the Witch Lord’s Scepter. Now the slaves are free, and we must move on towards the Heart of Nerull. It is obvious that other forces are still seeking the evil Relic and we must find (and destroy) it before they succeed!.
~=Fafnir Flamebrewer=~
Planting 27, 592CY
P.S. - One of the rings allows me to cast more spells, and another is a Ring of Jumping! The wand casts a spell which I believe is Melf’s Acid Arrow. I gave the other ring (which had a protection magic of some type on it) to Drusilia, but she didn’t want it and gave it to Korin... Its now sitting unworn in his backpack, I believe. Oh well — maybe when he does something dimwitted enough to get killed, his backpack will survive. I guess I am most surprised he didn’t put the thing on his cro-bar to protect it!
~FF~
Dearest Grun,
Well, it’s been an eventful couple of days!
We finished resting for a moment, and returned to searching the upstairs. Witch-lord or no, Trap wasn’t going to be happy until he found something. He finally discovered a spellbook-looking tome, and we headed downstairs while he worked out how to open it. We found Korin had stayed down in the formerly orc-infested room, lit a fire, and was cooking rations over it. At least he was using the fireplace, but he was also using the furniture for fuel. Ah, well..
There was a large boom from upstairs and a singed smell — we ran up to find Trap, miraculously unhurt, with the book open before him. I can’t say as much for the state of the rest of the room but at least he’s learning to duck better! Apparently the book was more of a journal — yet another person is/was looking for the Heart of Nerull. It also sounds like we’re only a few days behind them..
As we talked abut the contents of the book, we were accompanied by the sounds of crashing from downstairs, as Korin broke up more furniture. I was about to head down to tell him to stop making so much noise — again! — when there came a sudden shout of “I didn’t touch it!”.. then silence.. and then Trap and Fafnir heard the sounds of a fight. We ran down yet again — getting plenty of exercise, eh? — to see Korin being attacked by an undead elf. This thing was apparently more powerful than the previous orcs, as it hit Korin twice and weakened him terribly. We killed it, but he looked so pale and awful I actually picked him up for a closer look to be sure he wasn’t turning undead himself!
He was OK, but we decided to barricade ourselves in a room for a day to give him a chance to recover. I haven’t the heart to chew him out, even; he’s paid dearly for his mistake this time!
The next day, Korin seemed better, although Drusilia says it will take time for him to really recover fully. We went on downstairs, although Korin surprised me by actually offering me the other end of a rope that he’d tied to himself. An unusual way of trying to stay out of trouble, but I didn’t object; at least I’ll know he’s within 50 feet of me! Trap looked miffed — but I remember he was offended when I tied him to a line, before — and Fafnir is now convinced we’re a tripping hazard. I’ve had to retie the line a couple of times after it was “accidentally” cut.
On a nice side note — Trap checked the last couple of rooms quickly, finding old clothes and such, but one door he checked shot a lightning bolt through the room (and several of us. And the metal ladder to the roof.).. yet the room itself was full of garbage. Drusilia healed Trap up, and he searched that room like a halfling possessed, and wouldn’t you know — he came up with a very nice little sword? It may be holy, it has a symbol of Pelor on it, and Drusilia’s promised to tell him all about her god later. In the meantime, he adopted it for his very own.
The next floor down had one dead ogre (with one odd-looking dagger, Trap gave it to Korin) and a very rotten-smelling kitchen, so we went on to the ground floor and finally reached the other side of the main door to the place! We discussed going to get Mule, who must be pretty thirsty by now, but decided to finish checking the tower before dealing with the remainder of the undead orcs shuffling outside.
The cellar had several closed doors and a well in the middle of the floor. Korin liked the well a lot (I was glad we still had the rope line!).. and then Trap began to open doors. He opened one to a glowing blue light, and walked right in! As we hesitated outside, we heard him holler something like, “Death, you foul thing!” and off he charged. We ran into a large laboratory full of odd things, especially a spinning, glowing blue crystal in the middle of the room! Trap was attacking two undead elves with his new sword (which did an amazing amount of damage. He’s got a very nice new toy!), and Drusilia turned one to dust even as the other let off a spell that hit Trap pretty hard.
Fafnir cast a flaming sphere at the remaining elf, as I charged by Trap (who was just standing a moment, ignoring the pain, yelling at the top of his lungs about the wonderful properties of his new sword), Drusilia set up for more holy magic, and Korin looked in the door, recognized some former friends of his, and walked back to the well for a bucket of water. Must be shock of some kind. The undead elf was pretty creepy — his face kept falling off — but he sent out a nasty black wave of magic that slammed us all pretty hard!
Fafnir let his fireball drift a moment while he smashed the crystal — which for some reason actually made the evil elf happy! I stepped around the sphere and let him have it for all I was worth, concerned that if he was pleased by the crystal’s destruction, we were all in real trouble! While it was distracted by me, Drusilia turned it well, and it cowered in a corner long enough for us all to finish it off. What a relief! For after finding some disturbing notes in the place, we found out the “elf” was a human, the witch-lord himself, whose magic had gone very wrong, and trapped him in the room and driven him mad. He was actually wearing the skin of one of Korin’s former elf friends! The magic users also found some new toys, but I wasn’t too interested in that, as I realized Korin was missing, yet again.
Up the steps I went, Trap helping me search, but we found no sign of him until the top floor when we heard him on the roof. We managed to make it up the twisted ladder, and found to our relief that all the undead orcs had collapsed outside! We could also see Mule wandering around, so Trap went to get him while Korin and I covered him with our bows drawn. I thought Fafnir and Drusilia were still downstairs playing with their new magic items, when the gnome suddenly leapt through the open trap door. And I mean leapt — to my surprise, he shot thirty or more feet into the air, and fell screaming down on top of me! I actually caught him in time, or that might have been his only trial of his new magic ring. I’d have swatted him more but I was laughing too hard.
Trap having returned with Mule, we went downstairs for one last search; although the place already felt cleansed of its evil, Korin had told me he wanted to see his friends buried decently. Trap tired a new door in the cellar and fled screaming away, which worried me that we’d missed something after all, so I carefully went into the room.. it was very sad. He’d found the remains of the elf who’d lost his skin to the witchlord’s madness. Carefully, I closed the door and went upstairs to get some blankets to wrap him in, along with the dust and other remains of Korin’s elf companions. When I returned, I found he’d wandered in. I held my breath, for fear he’d put two and two together, but thank Moradin! He didn’t get it. I wrapped the bodies up and told him I was going to bury them outside, so we went and did so, and said a prayer over them.
Korin wanted to check out a longhouse in the village while we were out there, so we walked over. (By the way, he’s found himself a battleaxe almost as big as he is, and named it Modge. I’m supposed to help him learn to wield it better!). We found a crudely-built forge, and old half-finished weaponry. It didn’t look to have been worked in years, which makes me wonder where all the mined ore was going. I fear we’ll find out, from the way things are going!
Finally, the party decided to return to the mine, hoping that one of the magic items they’d discovered would release the slaves from their collars. Fafnir now has on a pair of gauntlets that make him harder to hit — he tested them out by sparring with me, and I’m impressed! It’s a very useful thing for him, and more practical than his new ring (at least until he learns how to land!). They gave Korin an iron ring; I don’t know what it does but I hope it helps him stay out of trouble! Trap’s looking positively cautious and careful by comparison, at this point.
We were blessed by luck — a scepter with a ruby in it caused the collars to open and freed the slaves. I promptly snapped the collars shut and threw them in the lake, much to Fafnir’s disgust, but although we might have sold them or made good use of them I found them too evil to be used again, for any reason. Hope he understands.
And so, we’re resting in the village, and all will move on tomorrow. The slaves are already planning how to get home, and we are preparing the follow our map again to the Heart of Nerull!
I hope you’re praying for me, Grun — I don’t like these goings-on being so close to our home. I hope you never learn about these evils until after we succeed and you read these notes!
Walking with Moradin,
Ghelt
Well, we found a shortcut. Some of the kobolds we rescued told us they could show us a faster way, so we escorted them to their home. After a rest, the king gave us a helm, and took us to a river under ground. They told us to get in the barrels, and I did. After an eternity, and a free fall, Korin helped me out. I was exhausted, so I went to sleep. We had a strange creature attack us at night, but it didn’t last long. Fafnir was extremely angry about something.
Starday, Flocktime 3, 592 CY
How many kobolds does it take to put a gnome in a barrel? None, it turns out, if you have a determined dwarf working on it. Let me back up a bit though.
We were able to convince a common-speaking kobold named Nizek to allow us to walk with the freed kobold slaves, 20 in number, back to their home cave a ways past the Witch Lord’s tower. They took their last cart of mined ore with them (they had mined it, after all!) and Korin happily perched in the kobold-pulled cart, animatedly talking to them the whole trip. Nizek was the only one that could really communicate with us, but Korin didn’t seem to mind.
I discovered just how much gnomes dislike kobolds on this trip. We had walked a good ways past the tower when the kobolds all started to yip and act scared, excitedly pointing to the sky and talking about Red Death. I was able to determine from Nizek and what few words of kobold I could make out from the others, that this Red Death was a red dragon that terrorized these parts, and had killed many kobolds. As they were giving me a description of how big Red Death was, the sky above us was suddenly filled with the flapping wings of a huge red reptile. As the kobolds, The Mule (and Ghelt and Korin, after The Mule) scattered, I noticed that Fafnir had a odd look of triumph and concentration on his face, and that the “Red Death” above us didn’t make any noise whatsoever. A gnomish illusion, nothing more! It took me a few moments after the image of the dragon winked away to convince the kobolds that it was safe to come out, and luckily The Mule was caught and brought back to us unharmed.
Before nightfall, we arrived at some cave entrances. It became obvious that we had arrived at the kobolds’ home when some poured out of the openings, excitedly yipping that Prince Nizek and the slaves were returned home. We were the honored guests of the kobolds that evening, being offered nice (by kobold standards) caves of our own to rest up in, and clean water and food. In the morning, Nizek came by and told us that his father the King wanted to meet with us. Nizek was the translator for us again, and when the King thanked us for rescuing his son and the others I did my best to sound gracious. I was handed a beautifully engraved silver helm as a gift, which I quickly handed to Ghelt— she and I were the only ones who could wear it, and a quick look at the helm’s engraving showed it was decorated with dwarven soldiers on horses in front of a keep. I don’t know if the helm has any significance other than its obviously exquisite craftsmanship, but it clearly deserves to be worn by a dwarf.
In addition to the helm, we were offered a shortcut to our destination, one that would cut nearly a week off of our travels. After departing from the King, Nizek and a few others led us to a part of their caves where we could hear a thundering rumble. We were taken down to the shore of an underground river lined with empty barrels. One of the kobolds took a lid off a barrel, jumped in, back out, and then pointed that we were to climb in them. As we tried to figure out what to do, Korin and Trap were plunked in barrels, the lids were shut, and they were dropped into the river, whisked away before we could do anything about it. Unthinkingly, we tied The Mule between two barrels, believing we could allow him to keep his head above water for what we assumed was a brief journey.
Fafnir wouldn’t get in a barrel. Ghelt did her best to stuff him in one, and I even attempted to help her at one point. We got him safely tucked in one (we thought) and with a sudden explosion, there he sat among the fragments of his barrel on the shore, one less lightning spell in his inventory. As I was trying to assure him that this was safe or the kobolds wouldn’t ride in them for transport, Nizek mentioned that kobolds don’t ride in them, they just use them to ship things to traders that live at the other end of a waterfall. This was upsetting news, of course, since half of our party had already started out. Fafnir was rightfully worried about The Mule now, too, as it turned out the trip was a full 24-hour ride, all but the last few feet of it underground. However, the walk around the mountains to the same destination would be a full seven days though the territory of “Red Death” which was also unacceptable. I decided then that I’d better cast an Augury to see if the trip was better done in the barrels. Not having cast this spell before, I didn’t have the necessary tokens for the divination, but thankfully Nizek was able to quickly provide me with the tools needed. As I worked on this, apparently, Ghelt was determined to get the rest of us in the river to catch up with our companions, and Fafnir was equally determined to take a different route. After what I’m told was a knockdown drag-out fight that somehow caused the deaths of several kobolds standing too close to a lightning spell, Fafnir was brought back hogtied and placed in a barrel. Prince Nizek told me at that point that the gnome had worn out his welcome and he was going into the river barrel or no, so we opted for barrels for him and the rest of us. I whispered to Fafnir that his weasel familiar would be able to chew through his ropes during the trip down the river. At least my augury had indicated that this was the path we must take.
The river ride was long and deafening, and made it impossible to sleep or pray or anything! At long last I felt a clunk as the barrel briefly bumped off of something, and then a soaring feeling followed by a splash. Not quite knowing what to do, I was grateful to hear Korin’s voice outside the wooden container, assuring me that we could have a long conversation on the way to shore. Korin did all the talking— I was busy letting my ears and other senses adjust to the lack of rushing water.
Realizing none of my companions could see what I was up to, I used what Fafnir would call an “Elf-Fu” kick to open my barrel. I was relieved to see all my humanoid comrades had made it to shore. Sadly The Mule had not survived the trip, and Korin was absolutely exhausted from pulling each one of us to shore. Fafnir was still quite miffed and made his own campfire several feet away from ours.
We set up shifts to sleep/meditate for the night, and were interrupted soon after settling down by the sounds of an angry creature, half owl, half bear, attacking. We all pitched in and dispatched the “owlbear” and after healing everyone up, I settled back down in my bedroll. I could hear Korin checking the insides of the monster for “treasure.” Thankfully, he either gutted the thing quietly, or there were simply no other creatures about, for the rest of the night passed uneventfully. I will attempt to update our map so that we can compare it to our map to the Heart of Nerull and start out again, hopefully much closer to our goal.
Everston Estate:
Mithril Dwarven Waraxe, masterwork, Ghelt
Pair of gold candlesticks (25 gp)
3 moonstones (80 gp, 40 gp, 20 gp)
Rod of Undeath (destroyed)
Map to Heart of Nerull, Drusilia [view map]
Journal of Abd al-Azrad, Drusilia [read excerpt]
116 silver coins
134 gold coins
2 bloodstones (70 gp, 50 gp)
2 Potions of Cure Light Wounds
Dreadwood, Temple of Ehlonna:
Sword of Illiven (Longsword +2, Sure Striking, Chaotic), Valon [read description]
Spider Goblins:
Scroll of Summon Monster I, Fafnir
Scroll of Misdirection, Fafnir
Oil of Slipperiness
2 Potions of Remove Curse
1 amethyst (110 gp)
700 gold coins
1500 silver coins
Cloak of Elvenkind, Ghelt
Wand of Color Spray
Goblin Caves:
4 blue quartz (10 gp each), traded to stone giants
152 gold coins
Orc Slave Mines:
1 azurite (10 gp), traded to stone giants
456 gold coins
47 platinum coins
312 copper coins (dropped)
Witch Lord’s Tower:
Healing Short Sword of Pelor +1, given to the avoral Yasmin
Dagger +1 of Returning, Fafnir
Serpent Dagger, masterwork, given to kobold king
Witch Lord’s Journal, Drusilia [read excerpt]
27 gold pieces
Ring of Protection +1, Korin
Ring of Jumping, Fafnir
Ring of Wizardry I, Fafnir
Bracers of Armor +1, Korin
Potion of Detect Thoughts, given to seeress Zorlla
Wand of Acid Arrows, Pockets
Star Ruby Scepter (removes specific collars only)
Kobolds:
Ornate Silver Helm, Key to Barraktor, Ghelt
Hill Giant:
1 black pearl (500 gp)
1 banded eye agate (11 gp)
1 azurite (7 gp)
Potion of Blur
Potion of Levitate, Pockets
Harpy Lair:
400 gold coins
1 deep green spinel (140 gp)
1 jade (110 gp)
Keen Elven Longsword +1, Drusilia
Ettin Lair:
250 gold coins
Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Fafnir
iron box with 8 bars of jade (50 gp each)
Short Spear +1, Markus
Midrock:
Mithril Chain Shirt, Valon
Barraktor:
2 Javelins of Lightning
6 Crossbow Bolts +1, Pockets
Urgrosh +1, Ghelt
Dwarven Half-Plate +1, eaten by rust monsters
Ring of Protection +2, Ghelt
Boots of Speed, Korin
Heavy Crossbow +1
Dwarven Waraxe, Improved Initiative, magical
Arun-tosa:
60 gold pieces
Gold & Moonstone Ring (75 gp), Pockets
Silver & Sapphire Necklace (250 gp), Pockets
5 amethysts (100 gp each)
Aramis’ Silver Greatsword, returned to Aramis
2 Arrows of Detonation, 4 Arrows of Lightning, Drusilia
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
62 copper pieces (dropped)
35 silver pieces
2 rubies (50 gp each), Pockets
4 moonstones (50 gp each)
Silver Earring “Cirsus” Lockpicks/Protection +2, Pockets
3 Crossbow Bolts of Lightning, Pockets
Greater Holy Symbol of Pelor, Drusilia
+2 Mace of Disruption, Drusilia
Urkel’s Remains, taken to Arborea by Aramis
Map of Catacombs below Arun-tosa, Valon [view dungeon]
3 1 Potions of Cure Moderate Wounds, Valon
2 Potions of Cure Light Wounds, Ghelt
1 Potion of Cure Light Wounds
3 Scrolls of Restoration, Drusilia
Plate Mail +1
Large Steel Shield +1
Bastard Sword +1
Mighty Composite Longbow +3, Aramil (Destroyed by fire elementals)
23 5 Arrows +1, Aramil
Cloak of Resistance +1, Pockets
6” Jade Disk with Nerull’s Symbol (Key to Heart Chamber)
Vampire Spawn’s Spellbook, Fafnir [read excerpt]
Band of Intellect +6, Fafnir
Ring of Protection +2, Valon
Ring of Wizardry +1, Aramil
Scroll of Cloudkill, Sequester, Telekinesis, Fafnir
Staff of Frost, Fafnir
Rod of Absorbtion, Valon
Potion of Gaseous Form, Pockets
Bracers of Armor +6, Aramil
Wand of Cure Critical Wounds, Ghelt
Scroll of Firestorm, Blade Barrier, Flamestrike, Drusilia
Heart of Nerull (destroyed)
2 banded agate (11 gp each)
3 obsidian (8 gp each)
2 moss agate (9 gp each)
3 blue quartz (12 gp each)
4 freshwater (irregular) pearls (10 gp each)
5 bloodstones (30 gp each)
5 moonstones (50 gp each)
2 white pearls (110 gp each)
2 deep green spinels (120 gp each)
1 amber (80 gp)
3 black pearls (600 gp each)
2 aquamarines (400 gp each)
2 violet garnets (500 gp each)
2 golden yellow topaz (250 gp each)
1 deep blue spinel (800 gp)
2 emeralds (1100 gp each)
1 fire opal (1200 gp)
1 blue sapphire (1000 gp)
2 fiery yellow corundrum (850 gp each)
1 blue diamond (6000 gp)
Catacombs below Everston Estate:
2 bloodstones (50 gp each)
1 letter from Durll, Drusilia [read excerpt]
+2 Frost Greatsword, Ghelt
800 gold coins
Hellfurnaces:
1 jade octopoidal illithid idol (600 gp)
4000 gold pieces
200 platinum pieces
+1 Slick Banded Mail
Ring of Swimming, Ghelt
Potion of Levitate
Potion of Hiding
Potion of Intelligence
Scroll of Silent Image, Blindness/Deafness, Aramil, Fafnir
Wand of Charm Person
Wand of Darkness
Ceremonial Electrum Dagger with Star Ruby (1056 gp)
Electrum Bracer with Citrine Gems (140 gp)
Silver Talisman with Black Star Sapphire (4762 gp)
Gold Medallion with Ruby (1629 gp)
12” Marble Statuette of Warrior with Golden Armor (5412 gp)
Platinum Medallion with Blue Star Sapphire (1617 gp)
Thin Silver Bracelet with Azurite Charms (115 gp)
Redcastle:
64 silver coins
70 lbs. of melted gold and platinum coins
Scroll of Protection from Arrows, Arcane Lock, Change Self
+2 composite short bow, magical, Pockets
Spear, magical
*stuff in this color has already been used or divided up for funds
**stuff in italics hasn’t quite been identified....
Map of Smallville (population 417) in the March of Bissel.
Ghelt Killed The Mule. Poor “The Mule.” He never knew what hit him. One minute he’s standing there, surrounded by friends, the next minute, he’s floating to his death. Poor Mule.
It all started after we freed the slaves. Someone had the not so bright idea to ask the Kobold slaves for help. Despite my insistance that kobolds should not be trusted, the rest of the party seemed to think it was a good idea, so I went along with it... for a while.
When we arrived at the kobolds’ cave, they proceeded to show us the “shortcut” they had told us would take us to the Heart of Nerull. The “shortcut” turned out to be riding in a sealed barrel down an underground river! As I was starting to state that there was no way in the Nine Hells that I was going to ride in a barrel down the river, the two dimwits (Trap and Korin) jumped into barrels, were thrown into the river, and floated away!
This was enough for me! I was ready to take The Mule, and head back out of the caves — either to take the overland route, or to go back to Smallville. The normally sane Ghelt decided at this point that I would NOT be leaving, but instead me and The Mule would be going down the river! Before I knew what she was doing, she had tied two barrels to the poor beast and heaved him into the water! With a pathetic moan, the poor beast was swept away. Then she turned to me with a crazed look in her eyes... She was a little too quick for me, and quickly stuffed me into a barrel! Certain that this would lead to my death, I did the only thing I could — I let a lightning bolt fly, destroying the barrel and wounding some bystanders.
This gave me the element of surprise, and I began running towards the exit. Ghelt rounded up a bunch of the kobolds and began giving chase. I turned invisible, and I thought for a minute I would get away, but there were too many kobolds, and eventually they were able to find me. As a last ditch effort to keep myself from what I believed to be a watery grave, I tried another Lightning Bolt, but to no avail. Ghelt was able to get a hold of me and soon had me tied up.
Before long, they had thrown me in a barrel and I was tossed into the river. There were many bumps and scrapes during the journey, the most painful of which was a very large WATERFALL that the barrel went over! I was quite sore when someone (it turned out to be Korin) began steering my barrel towards shore. The halfing had decided to pop the lid on his barrel after going over the waterfall — and it’s a good thing! Had he waited any longer, all of our barrels would have fallen over another waterfall, to our certain death!
As it is, we are all safe on the shore of a small lake, between the two waterfalls. All of us except “The Mule” that is. Thanks to Ghelt’s insistance that we travel underwater instead of overland, he is dead.
I am glad the party is OK, but I am still angered at Ghelt’s actions. There is no reason that I should not have been allowed to make my own decision about how to travel! I am after all, a fully grown Gnome, not a child!
Once we were out of the barrels, I considered just packing up and heading back to Smallville. If this is how things are going to be, I am not sure I still want to be part of this group! The only thing stopping me is the feeling that something must be done to prevent the Heart of Nerull from falling into evil hands. I would not feel right abandoning my quest at this point.
So, I will travel onward with the group. But I will be keeping an eye on Ghelt. I no longer feel I can really trust her with the party’s safety.
~=Fafnir Flamebrewer=~
Flocktime 3, 592 CY