... I'll do anything for love ...
Kalik, halfling initiate of Avoreen;
Milik, halfling sorcerer;
Kendradell, female half-elf bard & initiate of Lydia;
Nikolai, suloise human acolyte of Lendor;
Marcus, half-elf acolyte of Hieroneous;
Tarqualan, high elf mystic;
Naazi, centaur mystic and initiate of Tritherion;
and finally;
Demios, dwur initiate of Clangeddin.
[15th of Reaping, 578]
Picking up where we left off last session, Marcus had taken off in pursuit
of the leader of the second force, while Demios searched the body of the
sorcerer he'd beheaded (while the ball of energy sat above him, trapped
between two instants of Time). While Marcus was busy downstream capturing
the aforementioned leader (and discovering that he was none other than
Nitan, now Duke of Makantar (thanks to Kalik)), Kalik and others rushed
to heal his man Vesper's wounds (a plight which
Demios was either ignorant of, or unmoved by).
After a thorough search of the sorcerer's body, Demios came away with several rings, necklaces, amulets, papers, and even a staff that proved to be magical. One intrigued him so much that he placed it on his finger, heedless of whatever hidden risks that might entail. As he was making his way down the slope of the hill, Nikolai commanded his spirit to return to it's binding, and even though Tarqualan had tried to banish the spirit while held, the crackling sphere made a beeline for Demios and lashed out at him with a tendril of energy. Though several members of the group sent missiles flying at the sphere, nothing seemed to damage it so much as it's own attacks (the sphere grew smaller and dimmer with each attack it launched at Demios).
By the time the sphere had been reduced by half it's prior size, Demios
finally collapsed beneath it, and as Milik's spells impacted upon it, it
could be seen to drop directly towards Demios' form, apparently possessing
him! Though later examination revealed that the spirit had not, in fact,
possessed Demios but had instead returned to a binding within the staff
he held, those seeking to aid Demios noted the ring upon his finger, and
their attempts to remove it were less than gentle; when Tarqualan gave
a particularly energetic tug, he actually managed to dislocate the finger
the ring adorned! Eventually, however, magic was
used to aid in the removal of the ring, and that and all the other
items taken from the sorcerer's body were removed for safekeeping.
Once Marcus and his prisoner rejoined the group, Nitan suggested that they free one of his marines so that he might return to the city and bring help to search for the "bandits" who committed the ambush against his brother, and further suggested that they accompany him to his manor house to refresh themselves before leaving the following day; besides, he and Kendradell had much to ay to one another, now that he was Duke.
Once ensconced within the manor, the party set about resting and whatnot in preparation for dinner, bu the peace was shattered by the cries of Ravaan's widow, when she learned of the death of her husband. Kalik, who went down to investigate, was mistaken for a child by the widow, and the two of them (widow and killer) cried on one another's shoulders until dinner time. Needless to say, Kalik never disabused the widow of her belief that he was yet another of the servant's children!
After dinner, Nitan and Kendradell finally had a moment alone together; Nitan seemed quite uncomfortable with the role he'd had to play, first in spiriting her away, and then in managing her return, but he felt that with his brother gone, there was yet hope for salvaging their relationship. Kendradell agreed in spirit, but said that she had many things to accomplish that had been left undone, and that any hopes for rekindling their romance would have to wait until such matters were settled. Seeming to yield to her wishes, Nitan turned and unleashed a bound passion spirit on his former fiancee, hoping that if she fell beneath it's influence that she would forswear other matters to remain with him. In the end, however, Kendradell and the spirit both fell unconscious in a tie, and the next morning Nitan was obviously absent for farewells.
On the voyage back to Greyhawk, Kendradell revealed that the papers the masked mage had been carrying were an offer of alliance between a sorcerer named Ka'antos and Ivid, stating that Ka'antos had secured a base of operations near the Riftcanyon in the Bandit Kingdoms, and that within the next few years, that they could be of great service to one another. The party arrived back in Greyhawk after several weeks of travel, docking on the 20th of Goodmonth.
Once back in the center of things, Demios was asked to leave the group, it having been determined that he knew of Vesper's injuries, but had not helped the man because of his former status as one of the bandits who had imprisoned him at Kaverknoll. Since such behavior rubbed most of the group the wrong way, Demios was given a share of the wealth they recovered and sent on his way. The rest of the party searched out their temples, sharing news of their exploits and catching up on events that had transpired while they were away.
After turning in numerous holy symbols of Hextor to his temple, Marcus' High Priest bade him return in one week's time so that he might introduce him to a 'friend'. The 'friend' in question turned out to be none other than Sir Fendassin of Quirby, a Knight of the Order of Holy Shielding. After hearing Marcus retell the deeds thus accomplished, he was invited to join the order as a novitiate, an offer which Marcus accepted.
Meanwhile, Kendradell returned to her own temple, and after a week of fasting and prayer, was allowed to retake her vows and function once more as an initiate. Other members of the party accomplished similar missions, but all came to visit Nikolai at the Temple of Lendor when he called a meeting. After much discussion and the sharing of the results of various dreams, visions, and whatnot, many facts were revealed.
Kalik, who had been meditating over the Sword of Nogre, had twice received
visions of a crystal skull playing chess with an unknown human, but in
the most recent vision the pawns had begun to subtly take on the outlines
of his compatriots.
Nikolai had had dreams of battles fought in the Clatspur Gap and at
Delvenbrass, which seemed to indicate that their enemies had been gaining
strength while they'd been away, and he also revealed a letter he'd received
from his uncle, which portrayed the following vision:
"On the one hand, there is
a figure that appears in my visions as a
rook with horns, who sits astride the Azak-zil mountains, while a woman
cloaked in darkness burrows towards five sparkling jewels that shine
like the sun. The nature of the jewels is uncertain, but the dark
woman's recovery of them is certain to lead to strife.
In another field, a faceless
knight stands alone in a field of broken
swords, calling to others outside the circle to help him forge the
broken blades into a weapon greater than any other. Lendor has shown
me
two outcomes of this call; if he fails in his quest, he and all that
he
stands for will perish. If he succeeds, then darkness will reign...
he
will lend his new strength to those lands that need it least... Iuz
first, and then Ivid (of the Great Kingdom).
In the third quarter, a black
prince stands ready to reclaim his
kingdom. At his feet lies a broken hourglass, but to his obvious
pleasure he has just been handed a wondrous mechanical clock. Of the
four visions I received, this one I think I understand the best, now.
The fourth vision is the
strangest of all. A young-old man sits in a
pleasant study, attended by servants too loathsome to describe. Somehow,
he is involved with each of the others, either past or future. His
location seems closed to me... but underground, I am sure of that much."
As we closed for the evening, Milik received a summons while researching at the University library, a summons from someone very high in the University's structure...
[26th of Harvester, 578]