The journal of Detheriel (full of spoilers)

[shamrock_uk]

Chapter 15, Part 2.

The day that dawned was a miserable one; a bitter hard slog through the rain-lashed swamps and copses of this grove, assaulted by enemies on all sides. Not far from our campsite we had to battle through more trolls and then a giant elemental creature before stumbling onto some of the inhabitants of the grove who we saved from yet another troll attack.

The gigantic creature lumbers towards us...

The shadow druids proved to be as ungrateful and unfriendly as I'd anticipated and turned on us as soon as the green beats were dead. We left their bodies to fertilise this forsaken swamp.

...to be greeted by acid splashes and flame.

Our trek didn't become easier as we stumbled into the lair of a strange illusionist creature, an Ihtafeer I was later to find, followed by more elemental creatures and some myconids. Finally though we met up with Cernd near the lair of the druids and he went inside to confront the leader of the Shadow Druids, Faldorn.

The party fights a running battle across the bridge.

Cernd challenged Faldorn for supremacy of the druid grove and they tested their mettle together in a pit designed from the purpose. Faldorn drew heavily upon the magicks of the grove to strengthen herself but luckily Cernd seemed equal to the task and morphed into a powerful werewolf form to resist her.

Cernd battles against Faldorn's numerous magical shields.

Thankfully after a titanic duel, Cernd's frantic assaults against Faldorn's shield bore fruit and he broke through to claw her body apart. After saying our farewells and receiving assurances of goodwill from the druids, we left the magically-charged atmosphere of the cave and travelled back to Trademeet.


Our hearts lifted by victory in the grove, together with Keto's tales, we arrived back to a heroes welcome. The ihtafeer's head that I had picked up for the mantelpiece of my new cabin was the key to forcing the genies to leave the village, so we had double the good news to deliver to Lord Coprith.

The Lords and Ladies of Trademeet gather to pay their respects.

After the ceremony was over, we were approached by two rivals, Lord Alibakkar and Lady Lurraxol who saught our aid in resolving some petty dispute involving a lost heirloom. We humoured the Lady and rescued the item before returning it to Lord Coprith to prevent the town from being divided. I'm more than capable of dealing with those two if necessary, but I definitely did not want to see the town riven apart if I was ever going to settle down there!

When the morning came, we all went to admire our statues in the centre of town. I must admit, I was quite taken with the image of me on a plinth; it's nice to have your efforts recognised publicly for once.

The Heroes of Trademeet

It turned out that we had one last piece of unfinished business remaining, namely that accursed hidesman from Athkatla. He had fled from our earlier encounter on a secret underground river but had apparently resurfaced in Trademeet. We first found out about it from Tiris' parents who were worried about the behaviour of their boy. He told us a horrifying tale that quickly led us to the south end of the town where we learned of a 'skin dancer' from Darsidian Moor who claimed to be hunting it.

The party speak to Tiris' frantic family

We followed him to the beasts lair where we slew Darsidian after he turned on us and also ended the foul existence of Reijek Hidesman, who had used Raissa's skin to disguise himself as Tiris' lover. Saerileth was particularly unimpressed and I gather she doesn't think Reijek will be having a pleasant afterlife. Luckily with a little help from the Overgold of the temple, we were able to restore Raissa's skin and it was with bouyant hearts and lovely sunshine that we trekked back to Athkatla. It was time we paid a visit to the famed Cromwell, Master Forgeman, to see if he could service our battle-weary weapons.

The gruff blacksmith casts an experienced eye over our equipment.

[Sillara of the Tamari]

Great job! Glad to see this up again. And if the reinstall causes problems, I will be more than happy to help get the romance kickstarted again.

Sillara

[Kyrvias]

Yayyy! The journey of Detheriel continues!

[shamrock_uk]

Originally posted by Sillara of the Tamari: I will be more than happy to help get the romance kickstarted again.

No need, she still loves me [img]smile.gif[/img]

Edit: Scratch all the stuff about Lord Clarenshide - I just ctrl-y'd my way through Bodhi's mission and it just looks like he was waiting for me to complete that. I get proper dialogue from him afterwards, looks like just his name is mucked up (and funnily enough, the name of every town crier too!).

I've played through the next chapter so should have more up here soon [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 10-07-2006, 05:25 PM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]

[shamrock_uk]

Chapter 16, Part 1.

Cromwell was able to forge a powerful armour from the Shadow Dragon scales we had collected, but we lacked the ingredients for him to create anything else. We therefore headed to the Adventurer's Mart to dispose of our loot but were ambushed by brigands in the night!

Jan responds quickly to the attack.

Fortunately some quick-thinking spells from our casters helped us regain the initiative and we emerged unscathed. Searching around for something to do, we recalled the girl, Nalia, that we met in the slums last time we were there who had been asking for aid. As she was being very coy about what enemies we would face, I thought it likely she would still be waiting for our aid so we set out for the keep.

The journey was particularly pleasant since I was able to converse with Saerileth on the way. She had been silent for some time and I had been worrying that she was unwell or that I had offended her in some way. Our conversations ranged from her brother to her background and it was nice simply to spend time in her company.

We encountered yet another ambush in the wilderness and Jan rose to the occasion once more, confounding our attackers before they could strike.

Jan reminds us all that he's not just silver-tongued.

We proceeded to get stuck into the bandits with gusto as we were heartily sick of being attacked by this point, but Tsujatha disdainfully slew them all with what appears to be rapidly becoming his favourite spell.

We arrived at Nalia's keep to be greeted by a gruesome sight - the imposing approach to the great castle gates were lined with the impaled rotting corpses of its former occupants. The breeze, rather than carrying the odour away from us, interspersed moments of fresh air with sickening gusts of corpse, ensuring that we did not become used to the stench.

A grisly welcome awaits the party as they arrive.

Looking surprisingly squeamish and pale and clasping a hand over her mouth, Saerileth pointed us towards a hastily erected wooded stockade that was situated in the grounds of the castle. Within, we found Nalia who berated us for our late arrival. Now that we'd arrived, she informed us that the castle had been taken over by trolls, of all the creatures I didn't want to see again!

She directed us to a secret entrance to the keep and told us to contact Daleson for advice on the number of enemies within. Not long after entering we came upon our first troll, who was attacking a servant from the castle. Although Saerileth rushed to protect him, the Troll struck the servant so hard that his frail body shattered.

The party is too late.

After speaking with Daleson and detouring outside on his advice, We then proceeded to fight our way upstairs, encountering the dreaded spirit trolls we first met in the druid grove. These shockingly powerful beasts appear and disappear as if from thin air and appear to be powerful casters as well as fearsome melee fighters. Keto, Jan, Tsujatha and Kelsey have all settled on a volley of small fireballs as the best way to destroy these fiends and thankfully our casualties from these beasts have been reduced as a result.

After clearing the upper floor of the vermin we succeeded in rescuing Lady De'Arnise who had been taken into hiding by one of her long-suffering guards. Gods, but that woman needs taken down a peg or two! It was all I could do to keep my temper, but Saerileth seemed to know how to handle her so I kept quiet. During the course of their conversation I was also introduced to Saerileth's full title which was certainly a surprise - "Lady Saerileth of Everspring, daughter of Arioch, twelfth Lord of Everspring". She is obviously not quite the waif abandoned to the temple of Tyr that I thought her to be! I really must get to know her past better...

Following Daleson's advice to hunt for pieces of Lord De'Arnise's Flail of Ages, we decided to explore thoroughly as we travelled. This led us into a huge room with large stone arches that was guarded by some golems, magical constructs just like those we had seen in Irenicus' dungeon. The smaller ones were easily dispatched, but the largest of them all proved extremely hardy, shrugging off our best attacks whilst swatting us aside like flies.

The party desperately throws everything at the iron creature.

In the end we were victorious and were handsomely rewarded for our struggles. I lifted a wonderfully-crafted bow of Elven design from its hiding place along with a couple of other weapons that we had no immediate use for. I've been drawing it and testing its feel all evening and can't wait to put it to good use tomorrow.

We decided that we were in need of rest before continuing onwards and Keto had the good idea of barricading ourselves into Lady De'Arnise's vacated hiding place so we've been holed up in here for the past hour or so. Luckily the large golem room has provided us with enough air to create a fire for some hot food. Jan is busy pottering around, cooking us his latest culinary masterpiece which will no doubt be turnip-based. Still, to his credit, he normally has enough herbs and spices to at least vary the taste somewhat!

Tsujatha has taken himself off to a corner as he is fond of doing, whilst Kelsey and Keto appear to be deep in a discussion about how their spell knowledge developed. Saerileth and I are just sat down on the floor with our backs against the opulent bed, letting the conversation flow around us.

I must admit that it sounds like Keto has been pretty resourceful in her gathering of arcane knowledge, especially given her limited wealth and connections. She may not be the strongest or most intelligent among us, but I'm sure that my gut feelings about her will be well-founded and she will benefit the group handsomely in the long-run.

Their conversation moved on to families and I was slightly relieved to see Keto put Kelsey in his place a little about his family. After all, his Uncle may be frittering away their savings, but his mother is still in good health and it's not as if he'll be a pauper after travelling with me for a while.

I would never have the heart nor the tact to do it, but Keto is very good at gently cutting through his self-pity, reminding him that she'd give anything to be in his situation and simply have a family. Judging from the pain in her voice I suspect that the absence of parents in Keto's life is something that weighs heavily upon her, despite the carefree image she projects to the world. Still, she isn't the first person to experience loss and she certainly won't be the last.

Saerileth hasn't said much this evening and she seems quite content to sit and watch me scribble away. After I'd gently planted a kiss on her brow, her eyes revealed everything that her mouth was embarrassed to speak of.

[Sillara of the Tamari]

Very fun! I doubt you've run out of Saerileth's lovetalks yet, though. [img]tongue.gif[/img] She should start to talk again soon.

(And even if you HAVE run out, there are at least two set only to occur after Spellhold, so you should have a couple left to enjoy.)

Thanks again, and be sure to keep it up!

Sillara

[Kyrvias]

It gets even better and better as it goes on.
Keep up the good work

[shamrock_uk]

Originally posted by Sillara of the Tamari: Very fun! I doubt you've run out of Saerileth's lovetalks yet, though. [img]tongue.gif[/img] She should start to talk again soon.

Oh no, she hasn't run out, that was the lovetalk where she starts to say something, forgets and you can kiss her on the brow. "This I will never forget" or something. I suspect I'm still relatively early on in the romance.

Sat together enjoying each others company seemed the best way to portray the "close without needing to say anything" feeling.

Thanks Kyrvias, glad you're still enjoying [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Sillara of the Tamari]

Any more installments? And, yes, that is an early LoveTalk. You have a good many left! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Sillara

[shamrock_uk]

Chapter 16, Part 2.

It emerged as we were breaking camp in the morning that poor Keto doesn't like castles! Personally I think there's something quite majestic about them, but I spared her a sympathetic thought as we readied ourselves for the dungeons below.

It was a bitter slog through the dank rooms of the dungeon, but we made it through to the final door without any serious casualties. The servant, Daleson, had mentioned that nothing keeps the creatures within from their meals and also told us that kennels were kept for this purpose. This had necessitated trying to catch the cursed canines for over ten minutes in order to use them as a distraction.

I therefore gathered up the rather smelly carcasses we had been carrying and crept through the room and planted them in a cell filled with other dog bones. Unfortunately, the creatures proved to be utterly indifferent to the meal and continued to remain in our path. Luckily a quick spell from Tsujatha made up for the bad advice.

Tsujatha is becoming quite expert in slaying these particular monsters.

We crept cautiously into the main throne room and could hear guttural noises and shapes moving in the gloom at the far end. Our mages gathered themselves to launch a ranged assault, but before we could gain the advantage, TorGal, the leader of these beasts called out to me.

Enraged by my replies, he ran towards us, leaving his minions behind. Seeing how tall and strong he was, we decided to flee from the main hall and face him in a small area.

Unfortunately, our attemps to hold him at the door failed, as he brushed Saerileth aside with almost no effort at all. He then attacked me and I was forced to discard my bow and defend for my life using a sword.

Any wounds that the rest of the party inflicted closed up almost instantly, whilst he appeared to be partially invisible making it impossible to cast spells on him. It quickly became clear that we could not prevail like this, but fortunately Jan's knack with illusions came to our aid and he was able to reveal TorGal fully.

The plucky little halfling reveals my attacker.

Now that he was visible, our casters could get to work, managing to slow the rate at which he could heal himself as well as hurling spell after spell at him. In the end, they had weakened his magical resistances so much that he fell to Tsujatha's signature attack, right as I frantically gulped my last healing potion!

We then proceeded to fight the remaining creatures in the throne room and found this to be a greater challenge than even TorGal had been. We tried to disable them from range but we were simply overrun, to the point where Kelsey was forced to use his staff more than his spells to fight!

The party tries to gain the initiative against the hordes in the throne room.

We found Lord De'Arnise's body lying at the foot of the throne where he had apparently been trying to assemble his powerful flail. We decided to continue his good work and complete the weapon and then took the bad news to Lady De'Arnise. I sent Keto to do the talking as I just couldn't face that impossible woman any further. We turned down Nalia's offer to join our party and then headed back to Athkatla, heavily burdened with loot.

As we passed through the gate district, we rescued a merchant who was being threatened by a ruffian. The merchant kindly offered to give us a discount for his wares, but unfortunately we found little to interest us.

After selling our excess treasures to Ribald, we decided to proceed to the Five Flagons in the bridge district on Keto's recommendation that the beds and hospitality were second-to-none. Once we arrived however, the real reason became apparent - Keto was a semi-regular here and the patrons were ready for one of her tales.

She told a sorrowful story of two brothers, Orwain and Aric torn apart by rivalry. Eventually each raised armies against the other, only to fall defending their lands against a common foe. Even in the moment of his death, Keto told a mostly attentive audience, Aric could still find it within himself to forgive his brother.

Keto holds the tavern in thrall with her tragic tale.

Whilst she was entertaining the clientele, I sidled up to the bar and introduced myself to Samuel Thunderburp, the larger-than-life proprietor of the inn. He claimed to have every wine in his cellar. I didn't believe him for an instant of course, but felt it would be rude not to try and prove him wrong.

Needless to say, it was a rather merry and satisfied party that made its way to bed that evening.

[ 11-20-2006, 06:33 PM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]