The journal of Detheriel (full of spoilers)

[Lord Michael]

Shamrock, just wanted to let you know, the dog stew worked for me. Yoshimo delivered it with surgical precision. I went back after the big fight and smoked those Umber Hulks, though (on principle of course, the keep is mine now [img]smile.gif[/img] ).
I know it's maybe too deep into the story, but did you vanquish any of the Golems at the De'Arnise Keep? Sorry, just curious.

[shamrock_uk]

Yup, scroll up my friend. There's a nice picture of us fighting the golems in part 1 of that chapter.

[Lord Michael]

Duh! Nice pic. Man, you must have some secrets that I am not aware of, because I killed 3 of the small brown ones (stone I think) by leading them out & ambushing them. Looks like you just all-out attacked the lot! I left a couple, including that big bugger, for later. Maybe your gang is higher level, having done some other quests before the Keep. It's my first thing besides several missions in town. Or maybe you know something I don't about killing Golems. Hmmmmm..... [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Lord Michael]

*bump*

-an anxious reader

[shamrock_uk]

Chapter 17

The next afternoon we ventured downstairs to the hustle and bustle of the tavern, having had a meal in our rooms earlier. Keto suggested we went to watch an afternoon performance in the theatre below, so we headed downstairs to watch the actors at work.

Unfortunately the performance was less than inspiring, largely due to the beleagured Understudy, stepping in to replace a missing actor. As the crowd grew increasingly restless, Raelis Shai, the head of the troupe appeared and requested adventurers to locate him.

A worried troupe explains their situation to the party

It turns out that this actor, Haer'Dalis, had been captured by a wizard who had taken a precious gem from the group and she was desperate for someone to locate both items. Keto was less than charitable, proclaiming that he had probably 'fallen down a well' - there must be some rivalry between these performers!

We set out immediately for the lair of this wizard which involved delving deep into the bowels of the city and passing through the dank sewers. Poor Saerileth was unaccustomed to the stench and filth and appeared to be suffering from a rare moment of weakness, but we pressed on regardless.

A band of foul kobolds had made their home in this miserable place, but we were able to clean out most of the immediate area without too much difficulty. We did run into a very competent-looking gang of ruffians but luckily I had been scouting ahead so we did not encounter them unprepared. The fight was difficult, but an initial barrage of spells seemed to prevent most of them from closing with us, apart from a fearsome dwarf who threw himself at our mages.

The enemy party reels under a barrage of spells whilst our casters try and fight back their hairy axe-wielding fighter.

When the dust had settled, we helped ourselves rather gleefully to their loot which contained many powerful magical items. Jan's keen eyes soon located the wizard's lair close by and we hesitantly entered. We were immediately set upon by magical imps that created a surprising amount of havoc; burning us and casting irritating dust in our eyes to blind us. Eventually they were all destroyed and Haer 'Dalis appeared to us, apparently unharmed.

He immediately began to ingratiate himself with Saerileth who was completely taken over by emotion as he described visiting the slopes of Mount Celestia and how their beauty was reflected in her 'cobalt eyes'. I decided that this would be a very good time for the party to move on so I silenced him whilst I scouted ahead in the shadows to locate the wizard himself.

Detheriel creeps up behind the arrogant wizard

With the element of surprise on our side, the mage was quickly slain by our party and the gem retrieved from a heavily trapped room. We couldn't resist exploring the mage's lair some more and came upon a balcony with a grand view across the city. Looking out over the bridge district and the bustle of the market below, it was easy to forget for a moment the responsibilities laid upon us all.

After a brief moment of enjoying the view, we returned triumphant to Raelis and her troupe. They use this mysterious gem to travel between worlds, but this attempt was sent awry by some highly dubious individuals sent by 'the Duke', who appeared and promptly kidnapped the actors. Saerileth had heard of this fellow and I hadn't liked his tone, so took little convincing to follow them into the portal before it shut.

We arrived in some sort of prison and were promptly attacked by the guards and slaves in a long-lasting battle. The end was never really in doubt however; in time we stood over the fallen corpses of our enemies.

The party defends themselves vigorously.

We found one helpful inmate who was willing to offer us suggestions on how to escape in order to win his freedom. Together, we hatched a plan to wrest control from the 'Master of Thralls' in order to weaken the much more powerful Warden of the prison by releasing the inmates. The Master of Thralls was heavily protected however, magical gates to prison cells lurked like numerous traps on the floor and it was all we could do to avoid crossing them, whilst fighting off numerous attacks.

We eventually faced the Master and his pet wyvern. Luckily we were able to separate the wyvern from its master, but the warden appeared to us as a powerful demon. It was with considerable difficulty that we ended his life and even Tsujatha appeared to have met his match in this powerful foe.

The demon casts his baleful gaze over the party.

After releasing the prisoners, we rolled on and confronted the Warden as soon as possible in order to capitalise on the confusion. Unfortunately, he seemed sufficiently powerful to swat the escapees aside fairly easily, but we threw ourselves into the fray nontheless.

The party charges forward.

With all this done, we freed the troupe and Raelis was able to return us to Athkatla once again. After firmly rejecting Haer 'Dalis' offer to join our party, we wished them well and watched them vanish once more into the portal.

We lingered in the theatre for a while as we licked our collective wounds and sorted our loot. During this period, Saerileth decided to broach a somewhat delicate subject to me, asking why people threw accusing glances in my direction when we were together. I can't say I had noticed particularly; I tended to see adoring glances from the general populace, but I could guess what she was referring to.

I had just started to explain about her age when the most astonishing and horrifying thing happened - a demon materialised next to us and whisked Saerileth away before our very eyes!

The party stands astonished at the disappearance of Saerileth.

[Kyrvias]

And thus, the real romantic conflict begins!

Will Detheriel save Saerileth? Or will the Demon keep her forever in his grasp? Tune in next time!

This journal is absolutely an amazing thing to behold, to tell the truth. I commend your efforts.

[shamrock_uk]

Thanks kryvias: the trouble is, I keep playing more rather than writing more

Lord Michael, I'm not a super golem killer by any means. I basically could either have hasted it in to grab the items and trapped the golems behind the door or attack them before they attack me which I decided to do.

I think I killed the smaller ones in 2s or 3s but had a really tough fight with the giant one, cost me a lot of healing potions.

[ 01-03-2007, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]

[Lord Michael]

Cheers!

Thanks. Nice work (as usual).

[chickenhed]

A fabulous tale indeed! I love this! Thank you shamrock.

[Lord Michael]

*bump*

Just an avid reader hoping for an update....