The journal of Detheriel (full of spoilers)

[Sillara of the Tamari]

Very interesting! I wonder how long you will manage to keep Tsujatha in the group? [img]tongue.gif[/img]


Sillara

[Sillara of the Tamari]

*BUMP*

I read in another thread about progress with your game. Have you got a journal entry ready?

Sillara

[shamrock_uk]

Hehe, I saw you in that thread and knew I was in for a pestering!

I've played and have notes for about two and a half journal entries, about half-way through writing the next full installment.

Won't be long now [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Sillara of the Tamari]

Very good! I am looking forward to it!


Sillara

[Kyrvias]

Aren't we all?

[Marty4]

I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment, and I'm especially interested to find how you finally take down Kalabaxin. I eventually beat it, but it was mostly due to lucky shots with Jan's crossbow, lucky hits with my dragonslayer, and magic missle.

[shamrock_uk]

Aw thanks you guys, always nice to know people still follow!

Khalabaxin was killed pretty simply in the end, just grit and determination by the party - there's not much more to it than I put in my reply to your thread Marty.

Unfortunately I managed to delete the work I had done so far but I have been typing like a busy bee this afternoon to make up for it so it will probably be done by tomorrow.

[Sillara of the Tamari]

*BUMP*


Just bumping. Nothing to see here.

(Shamrock? Shamrock?)


Sillara

[shamrock_uk]

7th Kythorn 1369

Well, it's been 'all-change' in the party this past few days, but I think
it's for the best. Still a loose end or two yet of course, namely Tsujatha.
I had hoped that his display of coldness over the death of Valygar was
merely a temporary lapse in his judgement but there have been several more
incidents recently that make me wonder about his suitability for my group.

There's a somewhat bizarre incident in the promenade that springs to mind
for example. We were simply strolling along, browsing, enjoying the sunshine
when a man confronted us. He proceeded to make comments about breeding elves
with giants, presumably a reference to Tsujatha's large size. Sure, he was
quite insulting but I'm not sure I would have reacted in quite the same way
that Tsujatha did - positively menacing! Needless to say, the man wasn't
impressed and attacked the party wildly. Such a shame when people die
unnecessarily.

It seemed to be one of those days for strange encounters - as we were
leaving the Coronet we were completely overwhelmed by them! Firstly we were
approached by a woman called Valen who asked us to come to the graveyard and
speak to her Mistress. She had the stench of the grave on her too but I
managed to keep my hatred under control and fobbed her off with some small
talk. Probably the wisest thing to do under the circumstances; a fight when
we are unprepared wouldn't have been such a sensible move.

A bit shaken up by her appearance, the party cast a few strengthening spells
in case she returned and were promptly visited by the Cowled Wizards who
reminded us in no uncertain terms that the use of magic was forbidden. Talk
about forgetful... The wizard ignored our protestations and suggested filing
a complaint in the government district.

A sinister Cowled Wizard appears from behind the doorframe

I decided I would, especially as I'd
seen many others using magic, but first it was time to exchange Yoshimo for
someone who might be more competent.

Before we could set about this we were accosted yet again by unwelcome
visitors - this time Brus, the little urchin associated with Gaelan Bayle.
Apparently we have been under surveillance all this time - a fact that I am
not happy with - and Gaelan is so anxious at the competition that he's
lowering his prices. I think I'll let him stew for a while, but I wish there
was another option - I cannot stand dealing with such nefarious
folk!

The party is accosted by an army of Brus'...

Remembering my encounter with the rascal Jan the last time I was in the
government district I decided to track him down at his home in the slums. We
located it without much difficulty and, after navigating our way around his
rather uniquely-designed home, recruited him into the party. He took a
little persuading but once he realised that I empathised with him over the
eternal compromise an adventuring turnip-merchant must make he gladly came
on board. It was with some sadness that I parted with Yoshi - I haven't
forgotten how much in his debt I am. I gave him the sum of a thousand pieces
of gold in exchange for his loyal services - a handsome amount by any
standards and one that should hopefully ensure his well-being for the
future.

The party enters the wonderfully different home of the Jansen family.

Jan seemed to have a good effect on Tsujatha, really broken him out of his
shell. He'd never seen a gnome before apparently and made the mistake of
striking up a conversation about the subject. Watching his face at the
twists and turns the conversation took was highly amusing!

Jan seemed to have opened the floodgates as Tsujatha quickly turned to
questioning Mazzy, asking why I kept a little girl in the party! That seemed
a little odd, despite his origins, because it must have appeared a bit
bizarre when a 'little girl' was so competent. She handled the situation
with remarkable restraint however and forgave him because of his ignorance.

What made this episode so amusing was that barely five minutes later
he was praising her! "Truly a noble woman" apparently, not that I disagree
with him particularly of course...

We eventually made it back to the (official) seat of government power in
Athkatla and after bribing a pompous civil servant (and with some timely
help from Illumina, Elfbane and friends (thanks everyone!) we obtained a license to cast magic. That was costly
though!

On our way back out of the district we ran into our latest companion -
Kelsey, a sorcerer. To be frank I find his manner slightly trying but his
heart is in the right place and his talents are undoubtedly of benefit to
the group. Plus if Tsujatha oversteps the mark and gets kicked out, the
party will no longer be left magically defenseless. Sometimes I like
surprising myself with little bursts of forethought.

He has proven to be very talkative so far, regaling me with his life story
before we'd even reached the Promenade district to re-stock our equipment!
Some twenty minutes after he'd joined he asked had he ever told me how he
became an adventurer. Well, it was pretty obvious he hadn't, but what could
I say? The brief story is that he was 'eased out' of his family business by
an unscrupulous uncle and has wandered the roads ever since.

Before visiting the famous Adventurer's Mart again we visited the Spell
Store beside our inn, having noticed a nice item there earlier - an ornately
embroidered leather scroll case. I was getting really sick of trying to
distribute our vast quantity of scrolls among the party without damaging or
ripping them - this has already proven its worth, if only by delaying the
onset of grey hairs for another few years.

My second foray to the Mart was a proper little reunion! Turns out that
Mazzy and Ribald go way back although the same can't be said of Kelsey - you
could almost cut the atmosphere with a knife when they caught sight of each
other!

Speaking of which, our latest recruit is proving extremely eager to offer
advice which is almost annoying at times. He certainly doesn't seem to be
too concerned about my nerves - suggesting that we get to Imoen promptly as
he's heard tales of unsavoury treatment by the Cowled Wizard's abduction
squads. Thanks for that - I'll really sleep easier at night now... Don't get
me wrong, it's nice to have someone to talk to, but there's just something
about his manner that irritates. He's just so....chirpy!

Now that our party had been bolstered with some powerful spellcasters I
decided we were ready to return and have another crack at that dragon. Upon
our arrival in Imnesvale though we were confronted by Mairyn, a spirit of
the forest, who had come for our aid. It turned out that nature was once
again suffering through the blundering of inconsiderate humans, this time in
the form of humans digging in the forests, some of whom actually threatened
her! Resolving ourselves to dealing with these intruders, we first sought
out the lair of the dragon.

The party does battle with the scourge of Imnesvale for the second time

Unsurprisingly we didn't have to look too far for the party's favourite wyrm
- we found him in the sky hunting in the hills to the north of the town. He
didn't take long to spot us on the ground and quickly descended to do
battle.

It wasn't easy but eventually we stood victorious over the corpse of the
dragon. The party proved much more effective after my reorganisation:
Saerileth and Mazzy did a great job distracting the beasts whilst Tsujatha
and Kelsey chipped away slowly and steadily at its armour with spells.
Happily though, the killing blow was mine - apparently it was just one arrow
too many for the beast and he collapsed quite suddenly. I'm quite short of
magical arrows now though, so I'll try and stock up some time in the near
future. Mazzy and Saerileth were gravely wounded by the vicious attacks of
the dragon but some healing potions later and a little work with a hammer at
the dints in their armour we were ready to go.

The dragon rears in agony before its lifeblood ebbs on the ground

We now had the need to trail all the way back to Athkatla to bring the good
news to the Order, but first we had to see to the spirit. We headed off to
the ruins in the forest and ran into Lord Igen Tombethlen who was searching
for a hidden cache of mithril. I was quite tempted to simply dispose of this
group when they agreed to call of the destruction if I find it for them - as
if nature is something that should be bargained over! Everyone was dog-tired
and complaining by this stage - even Jan was wishing for his cup of turnip
tea which he presumably has before his bedtime!

The party negotiates with Lord Tombethlen and his men.

Speaking of Jan, he does seem to be shaping up to be the jester of the
group. He did have a hilarious conversation with Kelsey asking how we coped
with the oat counting that was apparently an essential part of a sorcerer's
training. It's so hard to keep a straight face sometimes!

After thankfully not too long searching we stumbled across a group of
skeletons who were guarding the treasure. Somewhat to my satisfaction I must
admit, rumours of a mithril cache appear to have been greatly exaggerated.
Trying (successfully) to hide my amusement at his expense, I returned the
medallion and note that the skeletons guarded. True to his word, he called
the expedition off and even gave me a thousand gold pieces for my troubles.
Very nice!

A weary party arrives home...

Resisting the urge to fall asleep in the forest, we trekked back to
Imnesvale and informed the spirit that her home was now safe from intrusion.
Barely a minute after she had teleported back we had camped down on the
floor of my cabin and were sleeping like logs.

...to inform the Spirit of the good news.

Sorry once again for the wait. The days were simply flying by with no time to work on this, then I had an unexpected holiday which is where I'm posting this from. If there's another gap don't worry - I have no plans to stop this - it just takes a few hours to write it all up which is time I can't find sometimes!

Unfortunately my game is getting steadily more crippled as you can see from the Brus screenshot and my problems obtaining a magic license. There's also a whole section of dialogue in the next installment with a modded NPC that I couldn't see. I'm going to try reinstalling when I get home as I think there's a difference of one mod between my initial and current installations - hopefully installing it will stop the problems from getting any worse. Hope you enjoy...

[ 08-17-2005, 08:40 AM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]

[Marty4]

Great installment, good work on Khally! Too bad with your buggy game. I hope you can continue.

As a minor suggestion, I am currently running through ToB, and I've found Saerileth to be very effective dual wielding bastard swords and hammers... and I'm sure you can think of an effective bastard sword+hammer combo. Of course, shields work too

Good luck!