... let it be against the darkness, then ...
Our band continues to be...
Kalik, halfling initiate of Avoreen;
Vesper, (NPC) human fighter, henchman of Kalik;
Milik, halfling sorcerer;
Kendradell, female half-elf bard & initiate of Lydia <absent
this week>;
Marcus, half-elf acolyte of Hieroneous;
Tarqualan, high elf mystic;
Nubo, gnome thief-psionicist <absent this week>;
Piotr, suloise human mercenary;
and finally;
Talon, dwur initiate of Clangeddin.
[15th of Planting, 579]
Kalik took the first ship leaving Critwall for Leukish, needing to hurry home for the coming holidays, leaving the rest of the group to train and take stock of their current position. News from the north indicated that Capt. Elias' forces had been crushed by those of Ka'antos, and that it was believed that stragglers from that army could still be found roaming the northern marches. By the time the rest of the group set sail for Leukish themselves, Elias was still known to be on the loose, but his power was broken, and the gems he'd held were now in the party's hands.
After two weeks of sailing, the group arrived in Leukish, and began studying the gems they'd taken from Vastan Keep in earnest, especially with an eye towards the means of their possible destruction. The churches of both Lendor and Hieroneous offered to take the stones off the party's hands, but the group decided that they would keep control of them for the moment. While waiting for Kalik to return, the more religiously inclined members of the party retired to their respective temples and sought visions to help in deciding in what to do next.
Once Kalik had rejoined them, those who had been thus rewarded shared their visions with the others. Kalik's visions involved a creature of viscid inky blackness making a report to a man whose hands he recognized from prior visions as having a lair somewhere south of Veluna; Marcus saw a battlefield where Hieroneous lay wounded, supported by Clangeddin & Corellon - as he watched, Hieroneous' axe slowly seemed to be changing into a sword, but a spreading darkness to the south west eventually froze the scene; Talon saw a dwurin stronghold that was furiously making swords to sell to human merchants, while craftsmen chiseled the face off of Moradin's statue in his own temple...
Communications with Nikolai primarily concerned a book that his superiors had let him peruse briefly - it seemed to be a history of the future, one in which Ka'antos and his followers were successful in bringing their dark god to Oerth; after nearly fifteen years of war most of the Flanaess lay under the heel of either the Great Kingdom, Ka'antos, or the Scarlet Sign, and Mabelrode was an accepted part of the divine tapestry of Oerth. Of the gems, no mention was made, but it was considered likely that they were barely necessary to whatever Ka'antos intended, if needed at all...
While comparing notes all this information, Talon remembered a battle that had been fought in the hills south of Veluna that his brother had a part in, and the mention of Emridy Meadows caught Kalik's attention as well (as his most prized magic sword had been wielded by a hobniz who also took part in that battle). As the discussion turned, more and more interest was expressed in this opponent whose name they didn't even know, rather than one whose position seemed assured.
And so plans were made to sail west, for Dyvers and Veluna, to see if
they could learn more about their unknown enemy. On the trip west, however,
they became acquainted with two fellow passengers, the foppish Nevan and
his radiant companion, Lianne. No sooner had Milik begun to learn the more
mundane uses that the gems could be put to (like locating the other gems,
for example) than did Lianne make a play for Piotr (in whose cabin most
of these experiments took place). After discovering
that she'd apparently dropped her handkerchief inside his door, Piotr
picked it up, and was quickly poisoned by the contact poison impregnating
it.
As Piotr dropped to the floor, Milik cried out for help as he gathered up the gems and moved to assist Piotr. Just as he reached his friend, however, the door burst open and Nevan stepped in, clearly intent on stealing the gems for himself. As Kendradell and Talon were closest, they responded to Milik's call the quickest, and a furious melee ensued. Amidst it all, an invisible Lianne attempted to steal the gems from Milik, but was quickly dispatched. In death, Lianne revealed herself to be an erinyes, and Nevan was eventually identified as a servant of Nisroch the Poisoner, an greater devil of some repute. Marcus, who arrived too late to join in the fight made himself useful by dumping the bodies over the side into the lake...
[13th of Flocktime, 579]