IC III

[Luis]

Saul will retrieve the mounts. As soon as he and Castanha return he will help feed the elves with the provisions placed on her satchels.



Saul will keep an eye out for any food he can hunt or gather. "If someone leads the horses back we should hunt for food or at least find some herbs or mushrooms. Dry meat and bread are enough for us that can find fresh food but I think these people need something healthier if they are to recover.

Whoever takes the horses back should be safe between us and those left at the village."

[frobozz]

Lanny the elf

Lanny turns to Quinthos.

"Do not think upon past words, for they seem trivial in the face of what your village has suffered... Your kinsmen will need you to be strong to help them through this. We will help you find food and water and start the rebuilding process. The only help we might need would be some assistance with identifying some of these possibly magical items that we have found. But, of course, such things can wait..."

Lanny returns with Bregalad and the others to assist with retrieving the mounts and clearing the village of the ogre presence. In particular, Lanny removes the stakes containing the impaled heads and adds them to the lot needing a proper funeral pyre. On his way back to the caves, Lanny picks up the tiny mechanical spider from the ogre's skull that had been left behind by the party and places it into a sack until he can find a proper glass vial for it.

"Perhaps, in analyzing this tiny creature, a great mystery will be solved..."

Later in the evening, Lanny will help out in any way he can at the caves, including assisting with first aid. He mentions that he is particularly good at hunting game and can assist the party with hunting once the storm clears.

[rremedio]

Meagnor the elf will also help retrieving the horses. If needed, he will also help waking up the elves and bringing them to the caves.

He will spend the rest of the time with the elves, talking to them about the great heroes who saved them (and himself) of the evil charm, trying to raise the elves morale a little bit. "I believe Thordin means 'he who loves elves' in dwarvish language".

Meagnor has 13 days of rations left, if I'm not wrong (having made meals at the inns of the two villages in the way to Quinthos village) and he is ready to hunt once the storm is over.

[Bouv]

Tratiln will continue assisting in anyway he can, including piling the ogres and setting them ablaze if need be. He'll also inspect the tendrils to see if what they might be. "Perhaps we should take a couple pieces of this stuff to see if Fr. Varis could help us identify what this stuff might be. Once we are done with these caves, we should suggest to the elves do something to demolish this cave system. I am also still curious what the ogres were originally looking for in the village. Perhaps in the clean-up we will discover more. I know we found that vial but I think there has to be more to it than that."

[zebediah]

Drudsa the dabbler can also help with first aid.

[Finglas]

Bregalad presses his ear to the great tree and is barely able to make out a harmonious thrum, deep and low and long, as the oak slowly, glacially, breathes. It is likely it will survive.

Bregalad the elf

All fear and strain departed the elf's body, upon sensing the great tree's breath, and in its place dwelt hope that this village would one day flourish again.

[thirdkingdom]

The rest of the day passes in a blur. The outer cave is cleared of ogre corpses and remnants of the Cube's control. Drudsa notices that the ends of the tendrils resemble the spider-like devices found inside the two other ogres, and posits that it is some manner of artifact that enabled the Cube to have greater control of the beasts outside its lair. The ends of the tendrils do indeed seem to be detachable, to some degree, and remind the mage of a newts tail, that is easily broken off and just as easily regrown.

The surviving elves are brought, exhausted and starving, back to the cave and warmed as much as possible by the fire while the adventurers share what food they have brought. The horses are recovered successfully, and the corpses and partial corpses of the dead elves are laid into more respectful positions.

When I said the devices resembled spiders I meant in the loosest, most general terms. They resemble spiders in the same way a computer mouse resembles a rodent. Consider everyone healed.

Thaumont 16, AC 1000

The following day the rain has slackened a bit by morning, and Quinthos opines it should be over by noon, or thereabouts. He and several of the adventurers spend the morning hunting while the elves recover, and manage to bring down a brace of dear, several turkeys, and half-a-dozen plump rabbits.

Elyenya turns out to be the most senior elf remaining in the village. The adventurers are thanked profusely and sincerely by all, who relate tales of what they gleaned from their master's mind while in captivity. All agree the Cube was not native to this world, and possibly not even this reality, but that it had been trapped in the cave for countless millennia, for longer than there had been elves in the area, or perhaps even elves in the world! "Perhaps it was not even evil, to start with," Elyenya muses, "Who knows what an imprisonment of millennia would do to someone, alone, in the dark. Be that as it may, the devil is responsible for the slaughter of half my tribe. We shall rebuild the village, and raise a memorial to our fallen friends and family, as well as to the heroics of your brave band."

She goes on. "The gems were the ogres to begin with -- we believe, incidentally, that they simply wandered into the cave, looking for shelter, and somehow managed to discover the passage leading deeper in, to their doom. The chainmail and sword are both heirlooms of our people, but we give them to you freely, since we have little to pay you with. The blades name is Dannedd Blaidd in our tongue, which translates roughly to "Tooth of the Wolf". We also would like to make you a gift of these," she hands Bregalad a bundle of perhaps a score of branches, "deadwood from our Mother Tree. In the right hands can be crafted into the most puissant of arrows."

Sword is +3, chain mail is +2 and has an encumbrance half normal. She gives you a bundle of branches that can be made into twenty magical arrows. Let me know who is studying what this second day. There are three plot hooks in the area, as of now: the tower, the orcs with the shield and the fountain of giant strength.

[Bouv]

Tratiln offers his most profound thanks to the elders, "Such genorsisty, we thank you deeply for the gifts you have given us. I can only speak for myself, but I would be willing to leave some of my personal gold here with you in an effort to help rebuild your village."

Tratiln will then sit down with Lanny and the rest of the party and look over the maps they have. "So we are here" pointing at the map. Where was that tower located in relation to us? How about those orcs that blacksmith had been talking about as well?

Tratiln will begin studying in his spare time, Levitate. And how much xp are the deer and turkey worth!?!

[sulldawga]

Marodin the Cleric will look longingly at the blade, running his thumb along the edge. If everyone else in the party passes on the armor, he'll suggest Semele as a worthy owner.

Marodin will train with his warhammer while he waits for the party to make ready to move on, showing Semele a few tips he's learned.

Marodin would like to conquer the orcs and win the shield but he's ok with the tower if that's what everyone else wants.

[Finglas]

Bregalad the elf

Bregalad is heartened by the villagers' resilience and Elyenya's optimism, accepting the gift of bundled branches from her. "Thank you, my lady."

"Like Tratiln, I would see your village restored." Bregalad gives to Elyenya his share of the coin found in the caves.

I believe that comes to 454 gold pieces.

Bregalad passes on the village heirlooms (sword and armor). However, he is still interested in the chain mail found in the troll's lair!

If it is alright with everyone, he will hold onto the bundle, until it can be fashioned into arrows, at which time they can be distributed among the group!

Tratiln, Bregalad is interested both fighting the orcs (1st choice) and exploring the tower (second choice)!

[Finglas]

Bregalad the elf

Towards the end of the feast, Bregalad will find a quiet moment to speak to Quinthos, and to give him his bow (the one fashioned with displacer beast string). "Quinthos, you are a great scout. And I know that the people will need your protection now, more than ever. Please accept this bow, for it will help you in this task."

Bregalad still has his original bow, and will go back to using that one.

[Luis]

Saul is curious about the tower they passed and asks around about it.

While doing so he will try to find an elf who can shoot and who can teach him something. He will not learn anything from Quinthos so if he is the only one available he will try to improve his knife skills.

Can I train with a current weapon or just when I get a new weapon feat? Unclear on that bit.

[thirdkingdom]

Just when you gain a new Feat.

[Finglas]

Bregalad the elf

Before leaving the elven village, Bregalad will ask Quinthos if there is a spare shield that he may have.

His rowan shield was splintered in the battle with the ogres. (He is willing to pay 12GP for one.)

[rremedio]

Meagnor the Elf is not in a good mood for feasts. When not hunting nor helping the elves with their preparations and recovery, he spends all his available time studying the new spell.

He asks the elves about their leaders, warriors and mages, and about the living in that village before the coming of the ogres: "Are there other elvish villages in these lands? Do you have business with Karameikos and Darokin? Do you know anything about that abandoned tower and its former mad owner?" These and other questions, and the small talk allow Meagnor in avoiding thinking about the enchantment cast on him the day before.

He will also talk to Bregalad: "My friend, please accept your shield back. I know how dear it is to you and you can handle it in a much more skilled way than me."

Meagnor would study for four hours the least, but his priority is making the elves day easier.

Also, Meagnor would be very happy giving the shield back to Bregalad. Meagnor barely uses the shield. It would be much more useful to Bragalad and Meagnor knows that it is very dear to his friend.

[zebediah]

Drudsa the dabbler will also ask around about the abandoned tower and he will check if there are any elves capable of identifying the contentsof the 2 glass flasks and of the metal flask the group have found with the ogres.

Other than that most of his time will be dedicated to spell study.

[Finglas]

Meagnor the Elf

.....He will also talk to Bregalad: "My friend, please accept your shield back. I know how dear it is to you and you can handle it in a much more skilled way than me."

Bregalad the elf

Bregalad accepts his shield back. "Thank you, Meagnor!"

[frobozz]

Lanny the elf

Lanny spends the day assisting the elves with their recovery as well as finishing his training with Bregalad and Meagnor on Magic Missile. At the end of the day, he speaks quietly to Elyenya:

"I see that you lead a kind and peaceful people... But you will need to rebuild your village in such a way as to be prepared to defend yourselves if this great evil resurfaces in the future. In Karameikos, Duke Stefan maintains an Elvenguard that is an elite fighting force, trained in bowmanship and swordsmanship, with combat spells as supplements. It is my intention to join this elite unit one day... Now, I shall speak to my companions about it, but I myself shall not leave this village until I have given you some financial means by which you can purchase weapons, armor, and suitable trainers to learn to defend yourselves. It is my passion to fund the creation and improvement of town guards, and your village is no exception. You have suffered much, and if I have anything to say about it, you shall suffer no more..."

Lanny is prepared to give 500 gp to the elves before he leaves town (I will count it towards my XP Reserve).

[Bouv]

Tratiln thinks for a moment when the party is down together. Perhaps we should head to the tower then back to Threshold. We did promise those people we would hunt down Bargle and Elwyn. Plus, some of us need to stock up on a few items, like a new shield he says, looking at his arm where his shield used to be. I do want to explore that tower first though, since it only makes sense to do so now.

[thirdkingdom]

The companions spend much of the afternoon practicing their skills and honing their abilities. The rescued elves seem to be recovering quite nicely, if slowly, and the food and water is doing much to restore their physical health. Stories are told of the five or so elves that simply collapsed and died, driven as they were by the compulsion placed upon them by the mysterious Cube.

Drudsa is quick to unravel with secrets of the Invisibility spell, and Meagnor, under Lanny's tutelage, masters the arcane arrow spell with ease. Bregalad is unable to wrap his head around the irksome incantations needed to cast the spell. Perhaps he is pre-occupied with the enslavement of his distant kinsman and the destruction of their village.

Both Drudsa and Meagnor need only two hours to master their respective spells. Do you guys want to spend the remaining two hours of the day studying another spell? Also, how about the 17th, when Marodin and Thordin are practicing their warcraft?