D&D Journal #20, #21& 22#

A lot of time was spent on character mods/character creation (including Natalie’s new character -Grenada and Alexey’s new character – Ringold), but you did accomplish a few things in spite of that:
You talked a bit to Brienth, cleric to Lathander. He didn’t seem to want to talk about his experiences in the labyrinth, so you didn’t gather too much information from that chat. You still owe him 5,000 gp worth of diamond dust.
You met some strange, bug-like creatures, led by a grey-skinned, mad looking humanoid, and had a bit of a skirmish with them. As soon as their foreman/boss the strange humanoid died (and with you no longer threatening them)- the bug like creatures dropped their weapons and resumed their digging work, carving a large room out of hard rock at a dizzying pace. Kudos to Verena for finding a none violent solution to the encounter!
Seamore had a close brush with death when he entered a white marble room filled with spiraling obsidian columns, only to have the stone door close with a clang behind his back and the columns begin to spiral slowly – bringing the ceiling down with them! Some frantic attacks on the door on both sides were needed before Seamore found his way out, safe and sound. Somewhere in the middle of the mayhem Verena remembered your bug-like digging friends, and rushed out to ask them to help you save Seamore. Good idea there, even though you did use their help in the end.
The next room you visited had a summoning circle in it, and a nice little Vrock to go with it. Magic circle against evil, supplied by Seamore, put the creature in its place – but it was no fool, so after a few rounds when it only took damage and didn’t dish out any, it took off. Pity, ‘aint it?
The room next to that contained a mysterious threat that send chills up your spine and raised the hairs on the back of your neck – without any apparent explanation. The room, built of shining black obsidian, polished to look like a dark mirror, was empty save the body of a dead rogue (a member of the ‘Silent Slayers’ – the group that entered the maze before you), and a fist sized diamond, only an inch away from the dead rogue’s grasp. Verena used an unseen servant spell to try and check the room, but the moment the thing entered the room, the room’s metal door shut with a clang, and when it opened a few seconds later – only a diamond was left there.
You decided to leave the place as fast as you can.
The next part of the labyrinth you entered was a maze made of shining, mirror like walls, floors and ceilings. You bashed your heads a few times against these barriers, and Verena’s marks of chalk on the walls were mysteriously wiped out by hands that burst out of the wall – looking as they were made out of mercury. The dim, wavering light in this area created shadows of movement that made it very hard (combined with the reflective walls) to see where those hands came from, and as soon as the began to attack you (two slams was all that it took), you fled the place as fast as you could (you did do a lot of running that session, didn’t you?)
You decided to take a different direction all together, and after about half an hour of walking through corridors, you reached several interesting rooms:
A room full of all the treasure you can dream of – a perfect Aladin’s cave of wonders – which you decided to leave alone.
A room filled to the brim with life-like statues of adventurers that also contained you first judge (and first riddle). You passed that with flying colors.
A room with a large statue of a fat, smiling man, with two topaz eyes – guarded by two samurai suits of armor. After you wasted a lot of valuble time there, Lorin pried out one of the stones, got a harmless (this time) spray of poison for his efforts, and you continued on your way. Seamore‘s detect magic came quite in handy there, too.
You then reached a pastoral garden – one that made Ivillious feel quite at home. After spending a few minutes there, you walked into the next room – only to find that it belongs to a rather unpleasant mage – who promptly orders you out.
Seamore, later on, in search for a pool of water for his scrying spell, goes to the garden – only to find out that it belongs to your friend, the half-elf spellcaster. Bowing his apologies he waddles away in search for another pool…
You then go to sleep in one of the empty rooms you explored – only to be awakened three hours later by an attack from two angry minotaurs. A short and brutal fight later, you move to the room next door and continue your sleep/trance without further interruptions throughout the night (midday actually, but nevermind). When you wake up early in the evening, you continue your journey with a half an hour’s walk, before opening a double door (with a graffiti carved into it – “Beware of the eyes!”) to find a beholder in a large hall – filled with columns, statues etc.
You quickly closed the door and decide to tackle the beholder later on.
Grenada then found a secret door that appears to be a shortcut to another hallway. You walk down the secret passage and open the first door you see – and enter a huge, long hall, filled with somewhat faded wall paintings of heroes and gods – all very beautiful and awe inspiring. However, a few seconds after you enter the room, the door closes with a clang and a hurricane springs from nowhere – almost killing all of you in the process. Well beaten after the hurricane is over, you quickly leave the room – but you run of bad luck isn’t over yet. The next door you opened fired flour and tripped poor Ringold straight into the center of a largish room containing what’s left of the Silent Slayers. They apparently were resting when you disturbed their peace, and they hardly seem to appreciate your company.
You pick Ringold up, and quickly leave the room – only to crash into an angry giant centipede, who wrecks havoc in the group before finally dying ungracefully (Ringold does quite a lot of damage there, and Ivillious gives him a hand in the process).
Ivillious doesn’t wait long and in a matter of minutes has the creature’s belly wide open and the remnants of it last meals carefully searched for loot. Quite a bit of it was found actually – but the highlight of it all is an old and well-used diary, written by Triel the Half-Elf Bard (RIP). The little book contains quite a bit of useful information about the labyrinth and it’s inhabitants – let’s hope it serves you well.
The next room you enter in half finished, and contains the chewed up remnants of three of your bug-like friends and a grey humanoid – apparently surprised and killed while building the room. You avenge their death by killing the two dire bears responsible for this atrocity – and then, as a finishing touch – you loot their bodies.
You then enter four rooms, identical in build, which contain:
1. A noble salamander (that you killed and looted).
2. A sphinx that asked you three questions and gave you a key in return. (Good thinking Seamore and Verena!)
3. A room with a forcecage and a barabed devil [that almost killed Ringold, and did make him panic and cower] in it (that you killed and looted). Verena’s familiar appeared from thin air during the battle, only to crash into the forcecage, the poor thing. You also decided to use the forcecage to your own benefit, and slept in this room (without interruption) through the morning.
4. Mold (which you bravely killed, but didn’t loot).

Here endeth the journal…

D&D Journal #10

You started at Murkham, shortly after Bras died.
While Bras’s men were busy taking care of their master’s body and possessions, Forint took the opportunity and paid his respect to the dead by robbing him blind. After he discovered the not so small fortune Bras was traveling with, he started regretting not having a larger carrying capacity… He ran off with the loot, and buried it (did you remember to draw out a map with “X marks the spot”, to make treasure-hunters’ lives easier?)
The rest of the group (except Forint, who chose to sleep on his treasure and Ivillious who chose to sleep on the ground), meanwhile, went to the local tavern (completely ignoring Mystra’s warning). You were all saved by being finicky misers, for when you found out the outrageous prices the tavern owner wanted for the dirty and run down abode she offered you, you decided to sleep in the tents Waldik offered you for free.
After a good night’s sleep, and just before you set out with the caravans on your way to Blackdeath, Seamore had a short little chat with Bras’s cleric to Lathander (good god of the sun). The only thing of interest the bloke said was that he was ordered by Bras to become a cleric, as Bras though it would come in handy in his travels, and healing is so hard to find in the city.

You traveled two days with the caravans (Forint tried another thieving attempt, but the wagons were too heavily guarded this time), and at the afternoon of the second day reached the outskirts of Blackdeath and entered the area known as “The Stormy Plane“; the storms referring to the magic storms that begin from this area. All the magic wielders of the group (i.e. everybody), felt the drain and change of magic in the plane, although the divine magic casters felt it less than the arcane casters in the group. As you walked through the plane, there were some areas where you felt no magic at all, some where you felt extra strong surges of magic, some where you felt as usual, some where you felt the existence of magic – but not as strong as you usually feel it, and some where you felt magic behave in a totally different way than you’ve ever felt before.

Theodrid decided to try and cast detect magic. What he saw was a psychedelic storm of magic auras, forever changing – sometimes extraordinarily powerful, sometimes weaker than usual, sometimes changing into wild or dead magic zones. The strange thing was that the auras did not remain in place, but kept constantly moving over the desert plane – a terrifying storm of uncontrolled and seemingly unpredictable magic. These effects also extended themselves to the shadow weave, but to a lesser extent.

As you neared the city gates, you began to see the effect the city has on the people that call it home. All the guards checked their weapons, tensed their bodies and kept a close eye on what was happening around them and all conversation stopped as you walked through the scorched and dead plane. And speaking of dead, half buried skeletons started appearing on the ground around you.

A short while after that you encountered the first of Blackdeath’s city guard, in the shape of two well equipped ogres, standing before the gates. The gates themselves were heavily guarded and patrolled; the city wall was formidable, and the guards’ weapons and armor of the best possible kind. Near the gates you saw one of the most famous placards in Alanasia – the source of many jokes and sayings:
“Welcome to Blackdeath.
Thieves are not allowed!”

The two ogres, standing a few dozen feet from the gates, have a unique and important role in filling Lord Accor’s coffers: they are “Flarers”, and as such their job is to provoke all that enter the city, in hope that they, in return, will say or do something that will compromise them – opening an opportunity for blackmail, eventually. These guards are trained to insult more than to attack or defend, and the result of their presence at the gate costs many a traveler his money and merchant his merchandise.

Waldik took the ogres’ abuse as coolly as he could (surprisingly, the guards already knew of Bras’s death, and so did other people in the city. Hmm…), paying his way through the gates, while Waldo took the opportunity to confess to the guards that he is a murder suspect. The guards (Buzik and Gruum) were delighted to hear that and demanded an outrageous sum (5,000 gp) so they would “forget” what they just heard.
Theodrid used intimidate and suggestion to influence the guards into letting you all in for free. He succeeded in influencing Buzik, who told his friend Gruum to let this one slip, just for once. Gruum in return, very kindly bashed him on the head, and while the two were busy rolling around on the floor, biting, kicking and scratching each other, you slipped in. Not exactly what Theodrid had in mind, but good enough, and perhaps a hint for future times…
Waldik met you after the gates and congratulated you on your success in bypassing the guards. He told you where Bras’s house is, and asked that you did not drop by until noon the next day – to allow the family some time to mourn alone and accept the news. He told you to find yourself a nice inn to sleep in, suggesting the “Dragon’s Teeth” or “The New Inn“, before leaving you and repairing to his late master’s home.
Meanwhile, Loran is busy doing helpful work for the guild – like finding out if the rumors of Bras’s death is true. As shortly after Bras’s caravan arrives his house is hung with grass green hangings and flags (green, as all with knowledge(local) know, is the color of mourning in Blackdeath. Those with knowledge(history) know why…), it appears that it is. Loran then disposes of his followers, and follows you all into the “Dragon’s Teeth” tavern, where you meet up with Halim Trumbar, your contact in the city. He suggests that you all go to a more quiet place (and a much more expensive one, at that) – the “King’s Fingers” hotel and restaurant.
You all went there, with Loran following you, and Forint playing “catch as catch can” with him (and catching him too!). While you all sat down and had a nice long chat with Halim, and and excellent meal, Loran and Forint had a “romantic” evening out – at a separate table. And while you learned many interesting facts about the city and about Bras, Forint managed to cleverly con(vince) Loran into organizing a meeting between him and the guild’s leaders.
Little did both know that while they were talking, the guild was busy falling apart from inside…