Chapter 3 : Bad Ambassador

[BigRedRod]

Today is the 16th of Nightal, each member of the group was awoken very early by a messnager who took them to Commander Sacorn's Study

The commander is at at his desk and once again the member's of the special forces team are stood in a row in front of him.

"The first team is till at work finding and exploiting any weaknesses in the Dauthim empire. Soon the invasion will start and Vodalia will slowly bring law and justice to this entire continent. However, there are still potential problems. I'm sure each of you has at least heard of The Mormus or The Jack of Tears, it does not matter what you believe his name to be, we must strike a deal with this force to aid us in our war."

The Commander stands up, walks across his office and points to the Blood Marsh.
"You are to travel here, the you will need to locate the Jack. He is lord of the Marsh and although he technically resides in Vodalia we have never attempted to control his bayou. After making contact with the Jack you are required to ask him to travel here to the academy, where we will discuss the exact details of a deal."
Sacorn Pauses

"This mission may appear to be very simple, but you must be very careful, the Jack is a very strange creature. Try not to anger him if at all possible, all you need do is ensure that he will attend a meeting between our lord and master the Emperor Vodan and himself."
"Failure is not an option, we need to assess the Jack's view on the war. If it is possible that he will side with Dauthim then we must postpone the invasion until a solution is found. Payment for this task is another 1000gp, which you will recieve after you return"
"Good luck men"

The group leaves Sacorn's Office, it was clear that the man is deeply troubled by sending you on this mission.

[ooc: ok, pick up any last minute supplies and set out on your travels]

To reach the Marsh you must first travel to Seran, take the ferry across to Kheel and then proceed to the Marsh. This journey will take about 20 days in total

[WhoNAN]

Tolven makes work while at the academy of talking to the Armorsmith, seeing if it is possible to fit one of the ingots into existing armor, or whether a new suit would be required. He also tkaes a moment to pick up a couple of books from the library on various language studies, as well as a few supplies.

[BigRedRod]

The armour would need to be melted down and reconstructed to incorperate an ingot, so this would remove any other enchantments on the armour

[Beidamon]

The dark figure will get his horse ready for travel and request food supplies for the mission which he will attatch to the his horse. After he has finished that he moves back to his room, gets his equipment, and studies his spellbook, falling into a trance like state as he reads the pages and absorbes them into his brain, finishing just as everyone else is ready to leave.

[Shadow_Monkey]

Collin will pack his horse with all his gear and dry rations after he's prayed at the church. Once his priestly duties are complete, he will saddle up and get ready to move out.

[Beidamon]

Getting a idea before they leave the Unknown figure spends what other time he has quickly heading to the library to look up any information on this jack person that there is, and about the area he lives and any creatures, or strange things that can be expected there. After this he will request a small sum of money from the higher up's in order to "Grease the gears of friendship" with this jack fellow and ensure that he is in a possitive state of mind when asked to acompany them back to the academy, and as a kind of "Token of friendship". He will also ask that the commander write a small letter with his seal confirming their mission in case the jack is suspicious and needs proof of their identity. After this he will do as he was planning on doing before.

[WhoNAN]

Tolven speaks with the Armorsmith... "This is Mithral, I assume you are experienced in working with it. How long would it take you to re-form it to include this Ingot?"

He shows the piece of metal, and his armor to the smith.

"I am in a bit of a hurry, but I do understand perfection takes time, I also understand you are skilled, and have talent beyond most smiths, so I would appreciate if you could expidite the process at all, for I will be leaving soon."

((Diplomacy))

[BigRedRod]

"Ah sir, it truely is rare that anyone notices just how difficult being a smith is. In a hurry you say, well give me 3hours and i will have your suit remade"
The smith accepts the suit of armour and begins work, should Tolven agree with the time. He makes no mention of any payment
----------------------------
The unknown one has his request denied, The Jack is not a creature that will respond at all to bribery.
As for information about the Blood Bayou :
Despite finding many contradictory passages in various tomes, Unknown manages to find a few common trends
The Jack is the Kking of what is known as the "Carnival of Shadows"
From various stories that could be no more than fiction, it seems that despite being somewhat mad, capricious and deadly he has a sense of humour and a compulsion to keep his word. In the past the Mormus has offered his services as advisor or court magician to many kingdoms. The prince's price is so high and his magic so fearsome that he has never been called upon.
There seem to be four organisations in the bayou, each is named a Krewe and each contains different creatures, has a different power structure and a different function.
Descriptions of the Jacks' creatures vary, sometimes it would seem that he is served by Humans and other mundane races, other passages claim that he is guarded by walking alligator men and huge creatures constructed from corpses.

[LeeCHeSSS]

Varidiir does what he does best..., wait. He'll spend his time meditating till all the others are prepared (After having bought new trail rations and shurikens that is).

[Gnarsh]

Lynores stops off and picks up a few days of trail rations, then loads them onto his horse. He then waits for the others to get ready.

[BigRedRod]

After several hours of preperations the group sets off towards the blood marsh
[ooc: Tolven just add the new armour effect to your sheet, Vari and Lynores i've assumed you picked up your items from Crusad]



Today is the 1st of Hammer. The Team has stil lnot yet reached Seran and the weather is rather erratic. Late last night it started to snow but now the sky is clear of cloud and the ground is clear of snow, it is currently early-afternoon
The Team is travelling down a road that seems to have been cut down five feet into the countryside and lined with gravel. Up ahead the Town of Seran can clearly be seen in the mist.

The road leads up to a large bronze gate which is currently open, the entire town is surrounded by a wall at least 12ft tall and constructed from stone
A caravan rolls out of the town and past the team

The first sights in the town are a series of taverns that line the first street. Up ahead the street opens up into a large square. The square is full of groups of people talking and some seem to be either spreading news or relgious views. The noise is such that you cannot tell which.
Continuing towards the waterside the group eventually finds two large buildings, both have very large signs attached to them. One proclaims the first building to be The Kheel Crossing Ferry, the second building is The Seran Ferry Service. Both of the signs contain a guild mark of some kind
The Seran Ferry Service has a large and slightly grander building.

Each building has large doors with a sign next to them. The sign is a price list, passage is 2sp per person, 4sp per pack-animal and 10sp per cart. Both guilds seem to charge the same for a crossing.
There are a fair number of people entering and exiting the guilds, most seem to be traders with carts of goods
The signs claim that crossing is perfectly safe and takes under an hour on an average day

From the Seran Ferry building a guardsman emerges, he is holding a Halfling by the arm and dragging him along.
The halfling is red faced and begging the guard not to take him to the cells, he offers to pay, and apologises for his deception but the guard ignores him and continues to drag him along.

[Xerebost]

"Blast another toll!!"

Is what comes out of Chars mouth when they see the sign posting the ferry charges. This is closely followed by another statement

"Lynores I suppose you should handle this one then."

While the others try to identify whether Char is being serious or whether the half dwarf actually HAS a sense of humor. He waits patiently as they may as well stick together, whether on ferry or bridge.

[WhoNAN]

"Wonder what the halfling DI?" sayis Tolven in a low voice, goosnecking to see what happens.

He returns his attention to the tolls... "If we must we must...and I believe we must."

[LeeCHeSSS]

"The halfling no doubt could not part with his money and tried to pass the water without paying."

Varidiir rummages in his sporran and takes a handful of coins out of it.

"Head or tails?!", he asks his companions while he flicks one coin high up into the air...

[WhoNAN]

"It matters not to me which boat we take as long as we get there.... I say we should go with the Seran Ferry Service... it should be a decent ride I hope, and the toll is minor." Tolven finsihes rubbernecking at the guard, and moves inside the building.

[BigRedRod]

The group move inside the Seran Ferry building and join the queue
After around half an hour the grop are aboard the ferry and heading towards Kheel
There are about 20 other people on this Ferry and one or two carts with animals
Around 10 minutes into the trip the Ferry suddenly shakes. You hear some shouting at the front of the ferry (which is little more than a large floating platform with a small wide tower-like structure towards the back with a sail on top) and then some screams. As the crowd flee from the front of the boat you can see two of the ferry guards fighting a large sea-creature. The creature seems to be a warped octopus of some kind. The guards are fighting a losing battle and the octopus is now fully on the ferry. Both guards wear chain mail and carry longswords and shields.

Initiative

Unknown
Lynores
Char
Tolven
Guard 2
Varidiir (5)
Guard 1
Seamonster(4)
Collin Bantrus (3)

[i]Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s 8 32 6z rs 0 *s 8 33 7m rs 0 *s 8 2n 6z rs 0 *s 8 29 78 rs 0 *s
@8 2o 7o rs 0 *s 8 3j 7n rs 0 *s 8 70 7m rs 0 *s 8 7d 76 rs 0 *s
@8 6w 6x rs 0 *s 8 7g 6m rs 0 *s 8 7t 74 rs 0 *s 8 7m 7o rs 0 *s
@8 7t 60 rs 0 *s 8 3p 6n rs 0 *s 8 30 66 rs 0 *s 8 2f 66 rs 0 *s
@8 2f 5b rs 0 *s 8 35 57 rs 0 *s 8 3v 5r rs 0 *s 8 4q 5i rs 0 *s
@8 5o 5i rs 0 *s -1 40 40 rs 0 9zabk -20 40 40 40 40 -2o -20 -2o *s
@-1 10 40 rs 0 9zabk 10 -2o 10 40 *s -1 30 40 rs 0 9zabk 10 40 10
@20 30 20 30 40 *s 6 5c 24 rs 0 *s -3 7h 55 rs 0 T *s -3 2q 4o rs
@0 *s -3 7j 4h rs 0 L *s -3 67 56 rs 0 V *s -3 65 5s rs 0 CB *s
@-3 6v 5s rs 0 U *s -3 4v 32 rs 0 G1 *s -3 65 2h rs 0 G2 *s -3 6v
@54 rs 0 CT
*END -cr72t7

[Beidamon]

The Unknown figure calmly speaks a few mystic words and gestures at the creature in such a way as to seem like he is dismissing the creature, when a bolt of energy flies from his hand heading straight at the creature. With the bolt gone he careful moves closer to the creature, keeping out of range of its attack and keeping the guard closest to him between him and the creature.

(Cast magic missile at monster, move into position behind guard 1 keeping out of enemy's attack range)

[Gnarsh]

Lynores draws his bow, nocks an arrow, and lets it fly at the creature.

[BigRedRod]

The bolt of energy impacts on one of the creature's tentacles, it clearly causes some damage to the creature but not much.
Unknown slowly walks forwards attempting to keep out of range of the deadly tentacles

From his new position Unknown can see the Over-sided octopus very clearly, It's flesh is a strange mottled crimson, the eyes glow a deep fiery yellow.

The arrow from Lynore's bow flies true and strikes the octopus firmly at the base of a tentacle

Charir looses a bolt from his crossbow, the bolt strikes the octopus on the head, and Char steps forwards

Following the lead of the others Tolven aims his bow and unleashes an arrow, however he slips slightly and the arrow flies out over the water past the sea monster

One of the guards stabs with his sword towards the beast but the blow is deflected by the unnaturally hard skin of the creature

Varidiir nimbly avoids the tentacles that thrash towards him as he closes with the beast. Varidiir lands a solid blow on the creature

The remaining guard drives his sword towards one of the eyes of the creature but the Ocotpus shifts and the guard misses the creature completely

The sea monster brings a tentacle down towards one of the guards, the tentacle strikes him and proceeds to wrap around him. After a brief struggle the guard slumps dead and is released from the grip of the monster
A Bite and a rake from a tentacle make short work of the remaining ferry guard
Varidiir is raked it with two other tentacles. The first catches Variidiir fully bt the Dwarf manages to break free of the coiling tentacle. The second misses but is brought down with such force that it puts a hole in the bottom of the boat and becomes lodged there [ooc: the blue line on the map shows the hole made by the octopus]
[ooc: damn critical misses there go its other attacks]

Collin says a short prayer to Tempus. Small blue sparks drop from the sky on each of the group
[ooc: bless, +1 to attack rolls/ fear rolls]


Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s 8 32 6z rs 0 *s 8 33 7m rs 0 *s 8 2n 6z rs 0 *s 8 29 78 rs 0 *s
@8 2o 7o rs 0 *s 8 3j 7n rs 0 *s 8 70 7m rs 0 *s 8 7d 76 rs 0 *s
@8 6w 6x rs 0 *s 8 7g 6m rs 0 *s 8 7t 74 rs 0 *s 8 7m 7o rs 0 *s
@8 7t 60 rs 0 *s 8 3p 6n rs 0 *s 8 30 66 rs 0 *s 8 2f 66 rs 0 *s
@8 2f 5b rs 0 *s 8 35 57 rs 0 *s 8 3v 5r rs 0 *s 8 4q 5i rs 0 *s
@8 5o 5i rs 0 *s -1 40 40 rs 0 9zabk -20 40 40 40 40 -2o -20 -2o *s
@-1 10 40 rs 0 9zabk 10 -2o 10 40 *s -1 30 40 rs 0 9zabk 10 40 10
@20 30 20 30 40 *s 6 5c 24 rs 0 *s -3 6v 54 rs 0 T *s -3 2q 4o rs
@0 *s -3 7j 4h rs 0 L *s -3 67 1u rs 0 V *s -3 65 5s rs 0 CB *s
@-3 4w 4g rs 0 U *s -3 6t 3s rs 0 CT *s -1 38 18 rs 0 73 30 10 38
@18

[WhoNAN]

Tolven continues his assault via Bow and Arrow, seeing as it is the most useful option available. Although not relieving focus from his attacks he does grow ever more aware of his increasing presence in the eyes of the passangers.

Way not to draw attention to yourself...

[Gnarsh]

Lynores looses another arrow from his bow.

[Beidamon]

If the dark figure can get in range of the creature to use his whip while keeping out of its range he will, drawing his whip and lashing out with blinding speed at the creatures face. If he can not then he will simply cast anouther magic missile at it.

[LeeCHeSSS]

I'm guessing a stunning blow is useless against this one, so I doubt there's anything else than punching/kicking/headbutting for Varidiir to do...

[BigRedRod]

The Unknown one unleashes another bolt of force with a flick of the wrist, it impacts on the creatures head causing minor damage

Lynores takes aim and fires but the thick skin of the creature ignores the impact of the arrow

Charir reloads his crossbow as quickly as possible while still still trying to keep one eye on he battle

Tolven unleashes an arrow, the creature gives a strange unnatural howl as the arrow penetrates it's trapped tentacle

The fallen tentacle gives the flaming monk a very easy target and he gives the tentacle a swift kick

The Seamonster tears it's tentacle from the deck of the ferry, there is a hole in the bottom of the ferry now
The creature becomes perfectly still for a second a strange violet light covers the creature for a second and then dissapears.

Collin takes careful aim with his crossbow and fires, the bolt misses the creature and lands somewhere in the water around the ferry

[BigRedRod]

For the third time the Unknown one launches a bolt of pure force towards the creature. It strikes and the octopus flinches.
[ooc: no more magic missles from you]

Lynores once again fires an arrow at the monster, it hits the creature's body/head.

His crossbow now reloaded Charir takes aim and fires, the bolt snaps in the crossbow and the mechanism is jammed
[ooc: fumbled so its two rounds to reload for the next shot]

Tolven easily penetrates the hide of the warped beast with using his bow. The creature screams in agony

Despite making a solid impact on the octopus Varidiir fails to cause any real damageto the sea monster

The seamonster shifts slightly and rains down its tentacles onto the flaming dwarf. The first catches the azer easily and Varidiir feels a surge of energy that causes further pain despite the increased pain he manages to fend off the attempt of the tentacle to constrict him. The next tentacle narrowly misses.
The third tentable is brought down with terrific force and the azer falls into the blue-black world of the unconcious.
With blood pouring from many of its wounds the octopus scrambles off the back of the ferry and into the water

[WhoNAN]

Tolven makes a quick dash to peer over the edge of the boat in n attempt to get another shot in at the beast.

[BigRedRod]

Tolven runs to the edge of the ferry only to see a patch of black water and no sign of the octopus.

As he scans the water the rest of the group notice that the amount of water covering the deck of the ferry is very slowly rising, it looks like the ferry is going to sink.

[WhoNAN]

Tolven makes quick work of disposing the guards body's and armor overboard (not before locating their coin purse).... he then directs all non-living cargo overboard.

If the boat continues to sink he will attempt to Charm Person on the fatest of the Passangers... and convince them that swimming away from the boat as to not get cought in the "downward current" when it sinks would be a good idea.


((Lets milk the neutral alignment as far evil as possible... yeah baby!!!))

[BigRedRod]

The coin purse contains 12sp, the passengers begin to look worried as the guards body is thrown to the water

Looking for cargo Tolven sees a collection of 8 or 9 wooden crates and two carts (one belongs to Charir) by the tower (on the bottom right of the ferry if you look at the map).
Tolven quickly persuades the other passengers to aid him in lightening the load, the owner of the cargo attempts to reason with the crowd but a large women with several young children near here explains, through the art of pointing and shouting, that the only way for people to survive is to reduce the weightload of the ferry.
The captain and other crew members are nowhere to be seen, as far as anyone can tell they must be in the tower.

[ooc: if you want to dump the carts let me know, but as you own one of them i was unsure as to whether you wnated to let them go]

The deck of the ferry has about half an inch of water covering it, its difficult to tell if the ontake of water has stoped but it has slowed.

[Beidamon]

The Unknown figure takes to the air and circles the barge while the others try to figure out how to keep it afloat. Seeing the depretate look on the people as they begin deciding to throw crates overboard the Unknown one begins to wonder if his horse is to heavy for him to carry. If it isnt then he will swoop down and fly his horse to safety before the mob does something that he would have to kill them for. If he can't then he will stay prepared, and if anyone tries to even touch his horse he will warn them not to, and if they persist he will take violent action in nessisary

(OOC: Dont mess with my horse ;))

[Gnarsh]

Lynores runs to the tower, to alert the captain and crew that the ship is taking on water, and that we should head back to the dock as quickly as possible.

[BigRedRod]

The Unknown one attempts to lift his steed but after a few attempts he quickly realises that he has no chance of lifting the poor beast for more than a few seconds

Lynores runs to the door in the front of the tower, the door is securely locked from the inside. After banging on it for a few seconds a man leand out from the roof of the tower,
"What do you want?"
Lynores quickly explains the situation
"I know full well that the ferry is taking on water but there is nothing me and my men can do with that mob out there. We have made very good time on this crossing, we need to stay afloat for ten more minutes and we will arrive at Kheel. Now i'm going back down before that mob start scaling the tower and throwing me and my men overboard"
The man dissapears

It would seem that the boat is still taking on water at a reduced rate, it is difficult to say whether the ferry will stay afloat for long enough though

[WhoNAN]

Tolven points out that their Azyr friend is not feeling too well, and leaves the cleric to his work... to go pursuade some of the more Boyant people to go for a refreshing swim, in the exotic water.

((Charm Person on fat people))

[BigRedRod]

With a few spells from Collin the Azer is awakened

Tolven, meanwhile, appreoaches a rather portly couple and begins to weave his magic. After a few minutes of conversation the couple still don't seem very eager to go overboard without a raft or some floatation device (besides their own blubber)

[BigRedRod]

As the minutes slowly grind past the water becomes deeper and deeper on the deck. At one point a young man becomes convinced that the ferry is sinking and jumps overboard, a variety of warped sea creatures make quick work of him but remain a good fifteen feet from the side of the ferry
As land draws closer these creatures slowly dissapear

The ferry manages to reach Kheel, but by this time there are at least two inches of water of the deck. Most of the people hurry off the ferry at their first chance.
...
The group is stood at the Seran Ferry Docks in Kheel. A number of angry passengers are complaining to a small cluster of guild officials.
After a few minutes the captain of the damaged ferry makes a short appearance, almost running from his ship towards the interior of the building.


Today is the first of Hammer, the Blood Bayou, and the Jack and only a five day march away from Kheel

[WhoNAN]

Tolven moves past the crowd not bothering to even attempt a refund... it would be more prudent to dissappear and not be noticed, so that is what he attempts to do. Taking the quickest route to get them to their goal.

[BigRedRod]

The groups exits the Ferry building and leaves the town of Kheel rather quickly.
After a few uneventful days of marching the group reach a split in the road. A sign stands by the main road, it simply says "The Blood Marsh", a rough trail leads off the main road i nthe direction the sign indicates.
Today is the 6th of Hammer. It is mid afternoon and very foggy, there is a little light rain falling from the cloudy sky. The marsh itself can't be far from your current position

[WhoNAN]

Tolven, preps all his gear, and secures what he needs to before entering the small pathway... a little anxious about a meeting with someone that he knows so little about.

[LeeCHeSSS]

Varidiir stretches himself - his magical flames increase for just a few seconds - and walks up to Tolven: "So there, my man! Have you made up which route we take? I'm beginning to think we are a bit of a sloppy team, we should've done a bit more research on the directions towards our goal."

The azer laughs, although the situation hardly qualifies as humoristic.

[WhoNAN]

Tolven points at the sign, and the path.

"I'd assume this is the only route.... we're walking into his front door step... but thats most likely the best approach."

[BigRedRod]

The group slowly follows the trail that claims to lead towards the swamp
After ten minutes or so of walking the ground surrounding the trail has become a marsh. A deep fog surrounds the group as they progress further following the path. A deep unsettling laugh echos from arond the team, slowly fading but as it does a number of shapes emerge from the fog
Three or four of the shapes slowly take on form, revealing themselves to be very tall humanoid creatures with the features of alligators. They walk towards the grop and stop about 35ft from the nearest member. They say nothing but stand expectantly waiting

[Gnarsh]

"What in the hells..." Lynores mutters as the creatures approach. He then yells to the creatures, "Greetings! Would any of you happen to know the way to the dwelling of a man named Jack?"

[BigRedRod]

The three alligator men draw their weapons and advance, they are armed with various weapons and all wear the same leather/bone armour

Initiative

Alligator 1 (armed with a handaxe)
Collin [npc]
Tolven
Unknown
Charir
Alligator 2 (armed with a shortsword)
Alligator 3 (armed with a shortsword)
Varidiir
Lynores


Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 30 5c rs 0 9zl6o 30 5c 30 -20 *s -1 3o 5c rs 0 9zl6o 3o 5c
@3o -20 *s -1 6o 5c rs 0 1edc 1c 5c 6o 3c *s -1 78 4c rs 0 1edc
@64 4c 78 24 78 -1g *s -1 4c 74 rs 0 1edc 3o 3k 4c 74 *s -1 2o 74
@rs 0 1edc 2o 74 2o 3s 1k 20 -w g -o -2g 0 -5c -8 -74 *s -1 78 1g
@rs 0 1edc 78 1g 58 -1g *s -1 30 1o rs 0 9zl6o 30 1o 30 -1o *s -1
@30 70 rs 0 9zl6o 30 3o 30 70 *s -1 3o 70 rs 0 9zl6o 3o 3o 3o 70 *s
@-1 3o 1o rs 0 9zl6o 3o 1o 3o -1o *s -3 68 7t rs 0 V *s -3 6v 7v
@rs 0 U *s -3 69 8h rs 0 L *s -3 6t 8i rs 0 CB *s -3 65 95 rs 0
@CT *s -3 6w 96 rs 0 T *s 5 5p 5n rs 0 *s 5 70 4y rs 0 *s 5 8d 6b
@rs 0 *s -3 6f r rs 0 Path *s -3 28 7d rs 0 Stable ground *s -3 a
@97 rs 0 Wet swamp/ water *s -3 h v rs 0 *s -3 5j 5a rs 0 1 *s
@-3 6v 4j rs 0 2 *s -3 88 5w rs 0 3
*END -e2p2o7

[WhoNAN]

oh shit... we have no clue who these people/things are and we're already bantering about names of the Jack... why don't we just say we're from Vodalia, and are in special forces, perhaps there's other sensitive information we'd like to disclose......

Tolven releases his frustrations silently... calming himself, realizing Lynores' approach is no worse than his own... he makes a note to himself to not let his temper be so hasty.

"We seek counsel, and come in peace. Might I ask the names of those who greet us?"

Tolven follows up Lynores' comments.

If the Ali-people continue to threaten, he will wait until the last possible safe instant to draw his weapon.

EDITED: BRR posted while i was posting... oops.

[BigRedRod]

The First alligator creature charges towards Varidiir and strikes him with the axe. It strikes the azer on the arm leaving a deep cut

Collin calls upon the power of Tempus and infuses Varidiir with strength
[ooc: bulls strength on vari]

Tolven attempts to reason with the creatures but as they charge towards him and the others He realises that he will have to fight. As the alligator charges towards the flaming monk he carefully moves around to its back, as he closes it's tail swings out just missing the Dark Elf. With its attention split between tem both Tolven easily hits the creature in a critical location somewhere along the spine with both his daggers. The creature howls as Tolven removes his daggers from deep within it

The Unknown one manages to strike at one of the other alligator creatures using his whip dagger but the attack is deflected by te armour of the monster

Moving off the path slighlty the Half-Dragon strikes the Alligator warrior that both the monk and the Drow are fighting. The chain rakes across the chest of the strange creature.

One of the warriors armed with a shortsword leaps towards the flaming monk. It unleahses te full amount of attacks, the sword is deflected by the monk and clatters to the ground [ooc: damn natural 1s], it's tail however strikes the dwarf as does its powerful bite

The third alligator closes with the nameless one, as it draws nearer it is struck by the mighty whip dagger that the half-fiend carries. The slighlt damage does not deter the creature however and it connects with both its sword and its bite

Varidiir puts the first alligator warrior on te recieving end of a sharp kick and elbow combination. The alligatoe is clearly in immense pain

Lynores sees an opportnity to strike the creature with its attention being split between three others. However his rapier is deflected by the tough hide of the beast

Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 30 5c rs 0 9zl6o 30 5c 30 -20 *s -1 3o 5c rs 0 9zl6o 3o 5c
@3o -20 *s -1 6o 5c rs 0 1edc 1c 5c 6o 3c *s -1 78 4c rs 0 1edc
@64 4c 78 24 78 -1g *s -1 4c 74 rs 0 1edc 3o 3k 4c 74 *s -1 2o 74
@rs 0 1edc 2o 74 2o 3s 1k 20 -w g -o -2g 0 -5c -8 -74 *s -1 78 1g
@rs 0 1edc 78 1g 58 -1g *s -1 30 1o rs 0 9zl6o 30 1o 30 -1o *s -1
@30 70 rs 0 9zl6o 30 3o 30 70 *s -1 3o 70 rs 0 9zl6o 3o 3o 3o 70 *s
@-1 3o 1o rs 0 9zl6o 3o 1o 3o -1o *s -3 68 7t rs 0 V *s -3 89 7s
@rs 0 U *s -3 69 8h rs 0 L *s -3 6t 8i rs 0 CB *s -3 5g 95 rs 0
@CT *s -3 4v 7t rs 0 T *s 5 5q 7o rs 0 *s 5 6e 6y rs 0 *s 5 8e 6y
@rs 0 *s -3 6f r rs 0 Path *s -3 28 7d rs 0 Stable ground *s -3 a
@97 rs 0 Wet swamp/ water *s -3 h v rs 0 *s -3 5k 74 rs 0 1 *s
@-3 69 6h rs 0 2 *s -3 88 6h rs 0 3
*END m8btj2

EDIT : forgot to include the new map :P

[WhoNAN]

"Fine, don't listen to reason..." Tolven curses at the Gatorfrreak.

He unleashes another furry of blows with his daggers.

[BigRedRod]

A Javelin flies from the south and strikes Charir, the sudden attack diverts some attention from te group who see another two alligator warriors stood behind them, One is armed with a fine blade that appears to be cyrstaline(4) the other has a fair number of javelins(5)

The Alligator with the handaxre decides he has fought enough and attempts to move away from the trio attacking him.

Collin sees that the nameless one is critically wounded, a shining blue ligt covers the half-fiend and eals some of is injuries

With the warrior before him fleeing Tolven focuses on the next target and charges towards the alligator fighting Varidiir. Both daggers strike the alligator and penetrate both it's armor and thick skin

The Unknown one takes a short step backwards and swings is whip-dagger towards the warrior in front of him. The dagger catches the alligator in his left-eye

Charir turns to attack the creature with the crystal blade. His spiked chain is harmlessly deflected by the warrior and it makes a noise that Charir guesses is a laugh

The Alligator which is being attacked by both Tolven and Varidiir bites Tolven causing severe damage, it's tail misses Tolven however who manages to duck slightly to avoid the sweep

The alligator fighting the nameless one decides it has taken enough damage and withdraws

Varidiir strikes the closest warrior and hits it, his increased strength allows massive damage to be caused

The Alligator armed with Javelins directs one towards Collin, it hits him in the shoulder

Lynores charges the alligator armed only with javelins, his rapier manages just to penetrate te hide of the warrior but causes minimal damage

Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 30 5c rs 0 9zl6o 30 5c 30 -20 *s -1 3o 5c rs 0 9zl6o 3o 5c
@3o -20 *s -1 6o 5c rs 0 1edc 1c 5c 6o 3c *s -1 78 4c rs 0 1edc
@64 4c 78 24 78 -1g *s -1 4c 74 rs 0 1edc 3o 3k 4c 74 *s -1 2o 74
@rs 0 1edc 2o 74 2o 3s 1k 20 -w g -o -2g 0 -5c -8 -74 *s -1 78 1g
@rs 0 1edc 78 1g 58 -1g *s -1 30 1o rs 0 9zl6o 30 1o 30 -1o *s -1
@30 70 rs 0 9zl6o 30 3o 30 70 *s -1 3o 70 rs 0 9zl6o 3o 3o 3o 70 *s
@-1 3o 1o rs 0 9zl6o 3o 1o 3o -1o *s -3 68 7t rs 0 V *s -3 88 8i
@rs 0 U *s -3 6y bs rs 0 L *s -3 6t 8i rs 0 CB *s -3 5h b5 rs 0
@CT *s -3 5n 74 rs 0 T *s 5 5q 2z rs 0 *s 5 6e 6y rs 0 *s 5 8f 1n
@rs 0 *s -3 6f r rs 0 Path *s -3 28 7d rs 0 Stable ground *s -3 a
@97 rs 0 Wet swamp/ water *s -3 h v rs 0 *s -3 5l 2g rs 0 1 *s
@-3 69 6h rs 0 2 *s -3 8a 16 rs 0 3 *s 5 5q c9 rs 0 *s 5 7r bn rs
@0 *s -3 5l bt rs 0 4 *s -3 7m b6 rs 0 5
*END -kqupi4

[BigRedRod]

[ooc: Sorry it took so long, i've had a fair bit on. Should clear out by the weekend though]

The alligator warrior fighting the half-dragon brings his sword around in an arc that buries itself deeply in the dwarf

The first fleeing warrior dissapears into the mist

Once again Collin channels his divine energies to heal. This time the heavily wounded Tolven is his target

Tolven attempts to strike the nearest alligator but his blows are ineffective

The nameless one walks towards the Javelin throwing Warrior and swings at him with his whip-dagger. It bounces harmlessly off the alligator's armour, which, upon closer inspection, seems to consist of the skin of some creature decorated and studded with human bones

Charir manages to inflict some damage upon the warrior nearest but it seems rather superficial

The creature fighting both Tolven and Varidiir decides to back away

The other fleeing alligator warrior also dissapears into the mist

Varidiir charges towards the alligator armed withthe crystal blade but is attacks are easily deflected by the creature

The Javelin bearing warrior draws a long knife and stabs towards Lynores, the blow strikes deeply and blood pours from Lynores' chest

Staggered by te blow from the warrior Lynores trusts with is rapier and inflicts a powerful blow


edit: i keep forgetting the maps :P
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 30 5c rs 0 9zl6o 30 5c 30 -20 *s -1 3o 5c rs 0 9zl6o 3o 5c
@3o -20 *s -1 6o 5c rs 0 1edc 1c 5c 6o 3c *s -1 78 4c rs 0 1edc
@64 4c 78 24 78 -1g *s -1 4c 74 rs 0 1edc 3o 3k 4c 74 *s -1 2o 74
@rs 0 1edc 2o 74 2o 3s 1k 20 -w g -o -2g 0 -5c -8 -74 *s -1 78 1g
@rs 0 1edc 78 1g 58 -1g *s -1 30 1o rs 0 9zl6o 30 1o 30 -1o *s -1
@30 70 rs 0 9zl6o 30 3o 30 70 *s -1 3o 70 rs 0 9zl6o 3o 3o 3o 70 *s
@-1 3o 1o rs 0 9zl6o 3o 1o 3o -1o *s -3 67 bs rs 0 V *s -3 86 a5
@rs 0 U *s -3 70 b5 rs 0 L *s -3 6t 8i rs 0 CB *s -3 5e af rs 0
@CT *s -3 5n 74 rs 0 T *s 5 6g 2d rs 0 *s -3 6f r rs 0 Path *s -3
@28 7d rs 0 Stable ground *s -3 a 97 rs 0 Wet swamp/ water *s -3
@h v rs 0 *s -3 6b 1r rs 0 2 *s 5 5p bl rs 0 *s 5 7s aw rs 0 *s
@-3 7n ae rs 0 4 *s -3 5m b2 rs 0 5
*END y37unj

[BigRedRod]

The alligator warrior that Varidiir charged turns it's attention towards him. He moves his blade with amazing speed that prevents Varidiir from blocking the incoming weapon. The weapon strikes him critically and he falls to the ground

Collin again attempts to heal the injured azer, his divine energies help a little but he remains in a crumpled heap on the floor

Tolven draws his bow and fires at the escaping alligator-man, his arrows flies over the left shoulder of the creature and dissaepars into the mist

The nameless one lashes at the nearest warrior once again but his blow is easily deflected

Charir steps backwards from the aligator warrior and attempts to strike him with his chain. The alligator catches the chain tugs it free from the dwarf's grip and drops it [ooc: natural 1].

The northmost alligator runs and dissapears into the mist

The alligator fighting Lynores and the Unknown one runs for safety, Lynores cataches his arm with his rapier as he turns to flee, the unknown ones whip dagger narrowly misses and before anyone can react further the creature has dissapeared into the water and into the mists beyond

Lynores charges the one remaining alligator but his blow is deflected

edit: map :P
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 30 5c rs 0 9zl6o 30 5c 30 -20 *s -1 3o 5c rs 0 9zl6o 3o 5c
@3o -20 *s -1 6o 5c rs 0 1edc 1c 5c 6o 3c *s -1 78 4c rs 0 1edc
@64 4c 78 24 78 -1g *s -1 4c 74 rs 0 1edc 3o 3k 4c 74 *s -1 2o 74
@rs 0 1edc 2o 74 2o 3s 1k 20 -w g -o -2g 0 -5c -8 -74 *s -1 78 1g
@rs 0 1edc 78 1g 58 -1g *s -1 30 1o rs 0 9zl6o 30 1o 30 -1o *s -1
@30 70 rs 0 9zl6o 30 3o 30 70 *s -1 3o 70 rs 0 9zl6o 3o 3o 3o 70 *s
@-1 3o 1o rs 0 9zl6o 3o 1o 3o -1o *s -3 67 bs rs 0 V *s -3 86 a5
@rs 0 U *s -3 67 b4 rs 0 L *s -3 6t 8i rs 0 CB *s -3 5e af rs 0
@CT *s -3 5n 74 rs 0 T *s -3 6f r rs 0 Path *s -3 28 7d rs 0
@Stable ground *s -3 a 97 rs 0 Wet swamp/ water *s -3 h v rs 0 *s
@5 5p bl rs 0 *s -3 5m b2 rs 0 5
*END ef8e43

[BigRedRod]

The remaining alligator warrior sees that his allies have deserted him and leaps into the water beside him, Lynores attempts to stop him and his rapier penetrates the beasts leg but it still enters the water and escapes

The sound of something clapping can clearly be heard from all sides, then a man's voice with a slight twinge of amusement speaks,
"Oh I am so very impressed, as I'm sure the master of the Bayou is, continue to follow the path you aren't far now"
and then the clapping subsides, the swamp is rather quiet now.

Collin stabilises the dying Azer and helps him to his feet

[WhoNAN]

"So we're being watched, are we." The Dark Elf seems indifferent, and continues forward on the path... unshaken by the encounter.

[Gnarsh]

"Well, that was interesting," Lynores says as the alligator people head into the marsh. He gets out his wand of cure light wounds and tosses it to Collin. "Here's a present," He says, "I think you can use it better than I."

[BigRedRod]

Collin catches the wand.
He uses a few charges and gives a slight grin
"I think that should do us for now"

[BigRedRod]

The group follows the path and te day slowly turns to night
Up ahead in the mist there is a warm coloured glow and the vague noise of merrymaking, as the team continues forward the mist dissapears and the group finds themselves in the centre of a town of some description

The houses are supported on stilts and they are joined by ropes from which hang coloured lanterns. A large number of creatures are present in the open area, some are dancing, some play instruments, others sit at tables eating. In the very centre there is a large throne that is decorated in a way that fits perfectly with the carnival theme of the town. The throne is on the second tier of a wooden structure. The first level is a large square (the sides are around 20ft long), in the centre of this wooden square there is a slighlty smaller square (te sides are about 10ft long), this is the their that contains the throne

The creatures themsevles differ, some would seem to be ordinary elves, men and other common races but they are outnumbered by the odd balls. Some were costumes, others are fairly familiar (the area contains a very large number of the alligator people), others seem to have died long ago but continued the carnival
The Throne has several men dressed as court jesters stood in front of it on the lower tier. The creature in the thone starts to laugh,
"Well done. You passed the first test, but before all that let's introduce ourselves and then you can explain what it is that has brought you into MY swamp"
"I, as you should have guessed, am the Mormus. Or as some call me the Jack of Tears"
The Jack looks much like a man, he is dressed in very outlandish and expensive looking clothes that are purple, red and gold, his face is covered by a white mask that is locked in a smile which seems slightly sinister. He holds a scepter with one black end and one white end.
He looks expectantly at the group as do the Jesters. Arond you however the Party continues and most of the participants seem not to notice the group.

[WhoNAN]

"Tolven, and this is Collin, Varidiir, Lynores, Charir, and him... we haven't quite figured oujt what to call him yet. Now that we are introduced, and it is indeed a pleasure for your reputation does proceed you, would you like to discuss our venure?"

Tolven stands patient for a response.

[Beidamon]

The dark figure turns to tolven "You are lucky you dont know what to call me, if you did then I would have to kill you" The dark figure says with a slight smile on his lips that emphasizes the point that he might just do that. The dark figure then turns to Mormus. "I would be pleased to introduce myself Mormus, but I have no name, at least not one for the ears of others. One as mighty as you must know that there is power in names. We are not here however to talk about philosophical beliefs, as Tolven was saying we are on a mission of grave importance. We have journeyed here to request that you come to a meeting with the Emperor Vodan himself."

[BigRedRod]

The Jack laughs
"I knew it wouldn't be long before one of the leaders came crawling to me for help. Well if your master chose you to send this message you must be very special. You did pass the first test but there is a second. Answer me this

In a Contest of Magical Prowess, there are three mages : Jarot, Quina and Magrat. Each of them wears a different colour : red, black or green. And each of them uses a different kind of Magic : Transmutation, Necromancy or Evocation

Jarot doesn't wear Red. The Black mage will not use Transmutation magic. And Evocation is not used by Jarot or the Green Mage.


The question is simple. At the end of the day the Red mage triumphs but what is their robe colour and school of magic?"

The Jack waits, looking down at the group to see their reaction and solution

[WhoNAN]

Tolven always with the logical mind blows through the riddle in about the same time it takes the Jack to pose it.

"Well you see, Jarot the Necromancer is clothed in Black, The Green clad Mage who's identity cannot be determined with the information posed, favor evocation, and our winner, who you stated wears Red Robes is a weilder of Transmutation Magics.... but which color robe Quina or Magrat wear, we will never know...... that is the only answer that can be arrived at from your question."

Tolven speaks confidently, and charmingly (especially for his monotone drone).

[Gnarsh]

"hmmm... a worthy riddle. I'm not sure of all of it, but I know that Jarot is the black mage that uses Necromancy, the red mage uses Evocation, and the green mage uses Evocation." Lynores says to the Jack.

[BigRedRod]

The Jack ignores Lynores listening only to Tolven
"So then Tolven you believe my question cannot be answered with only the details I have provided?"
The voice contains perhaps a little more amusement than it did before

EDIT [ooc: whoops, looks like me and gnarsh posted at the same time. So i'll edit a bit ]

[WhoNAN]

"Your question as you put it can be answered... and I gave you the answer... Red Robe is Transmutation, Green is Evocation and Black is Necromancy... however Jarot's Identity is the only one which is known, for you mentioned no distignuishing reference between either the Green and Red Robed persons actual names... so The Red Robed person may either be Quina or Magrat, and same for the Green Robed person, either Quina or Magrat.... unless I missed something, which I believe I haven't."

Tolven then proceeds to explain the intricacies of his logic trail, and how the information was not provided as to match the last two names with the corresponding robe colors.

"An entertaining question, and I am sure the battle would have been very amusing also."

Tolven lets out the slightest bit of a smile, he rather enjoys challenges of the mind.

[BigRedRod]

"Very well then. I see you are indeed a brave group, you stand before me in the centre of my lands and tell me you have answered a question you have not."
The Jack gives a fairly long pause
"However, no actual answer could be given without another clue. But that is not important. You have passed both tests, you have the bravery to fight and the bravery to tell the Lord and Master of the Blood Bayou that his question could not be answered."
"I will meet with the Emperor Vodan, I will send one of my servants and some of his pets back with you to arrange the exact date and time for the meeting between myself and Vodan"

One of the Jesters stood around the throne steps down towards the group
The Jester is a gaunt figure clad in dark motley and red foolscaps, it's face is painted as a laughing clown. In one of it's hands it carries a wand of many different colours with a laughing jester head on the top.
He nods to the group
Four small creatures dance towards the Jester, each one seems to constantly gibber. They look much like the taller jester but tey are smaller and rather misshapen, their faces are not painted and look like they are made from shadow

The Jack speaks to the group once more
"You may leave my swamp now, I will make sure you leave without incident, just follow the apth that brought you here. Don't worry about my Dark Harlequin and his pets, they can looks after themselves"

[WhoNAN]

Tolvn presents a salute in respect, and turns on the spot to head out of the swamp.

"Gentlemen... " he addresses the party. "Shall we head home?" He states more so than asks... but still waits for a response, pondering the Jack for a moment in between.

((Sense Motive on the Jack to see if any lies can be acertained.))

[BigRedRod]

The Jack did not seem to lie at any point dring your conversations

[ooc: i'll let you set off in a little later on, i'll give a small chance for someone else to chip in if they want to]

[BigRedRod]

The group turns from the Jack and begins their journey out of the swamp. The Jester and his "pets" follow at a fair distance. The swamp seems devoid of life. As the group move further from the Jack's throne night gives way to day, this puzzles the group as the night seemed rather short.
After several days the group arrive in Kheel. During the journey the new additions to the group travel behind the main body and camp alone a few hundred feet from the others. Over the course of the journey the group saw very little animal life and nothing obstructed their passage

Today is the 11th of Hammer.
The group stands before the enterance to the two Ferry Guild Crossing buildings. The Jester approaches the Group and speaks,
"You may have noticed that the ferry's have been rather unreliable as of late. Do not worry, the Jack has guarrenteed your safe passage across the channel. The Krewe of waves will also ensure that there are no incidents for the next week, you shold appreiciate the generosity of the Jack."

The Jester sets off towards the Seran ferry building, a few minutes later he returns to the group
"Don't worry about paying for your passage today. The Ferry-aster is more than willing to provide a free trip for would-be allies of the Jack after he has seen the Krewe of waves protecting the ferries from the creatures that stray to the crossings."

The Jester, his "pets" and the group are alone on the ferry that crosses. The water seems calm and still, no evidence of the krewe of waves can be seen

The group resumes its journey on the other side of the crossing. After an eventless tenday and a half the group arrive at the academy
Today is the 26th of Hammer, the group once again stands before the academy...

[ooc: i'll finish up here later, if you want to do anything before seeing Sacron just post. Otherwise i'll continue to his office]

[BigRedRod]

....
After a brief trek through the winding passages and staircases of the academy the group, the jester and the small jester-creatures stand before Sacorn's Office.
Shortly after knocking a familiar voice says in a flat voice,
"Enter"
As the group opens the large door and steps into the room, the Commander looks up. A brief puzzled expression flashes across his face then he smiles briefly. He stands up , looking at the Jester
"Ah, you must be here to arrange for the Jack or Tears to meet with my Emperor, Vodan..."
The commander briefly looks at the team
"You have until the 5th of Alturiak as leave. I will debrief you then. You are dismissed"
The commander returns to talking to the Jester
"Please, take a seat. I'm sure your ...erm... associates can ..."

[ooc: chapter ended. I'll do exp soon and start the next chapter]

[BigRedRod]

Tolven 5,891
Lynores 5,520
Unknown 5,462
Charir 5,201

Vardiir 5,631
collin 5,421
tese two have dropped out so i'll try and get some replacements in to liven things up as its been a little dead recently