Orhan 5 Day 15 (Continued)

When last we saw our heroes, they were lost in the labyrinth of evil portals, looking for a way out that didn't involve fighting wights. So, they went to sleep in the bedroom of the necromancer. Of course, a wight showed up.

Having only gotten one hour of sleep, we put up a pretty pathetic show of it. Eventually, D. kills the wight. Everyone else is decimated. So we draw a big circle around the bed and stuff. It heals most people, but Imre is still out of power points so we can't fix the more esoteric healing stuff.

We fret about stuff some more. We get three hours of sleep. We argue some and then get three more hours of sleep.

Orhan 5 Day 16

Vallandra consults the fates. We need to search the east wall of the labyrinth. Oathar uses his compass skill and we are off. We come across a skeleton and zombie in a death clinch with a gold magic scepter. We kick the scepter away and the skeleton and zombie stand up and start fighting each other. Kyrik and Jack wager on the outcome. Jack wins because Haeraan kills the zombie. The skeleton immediately surrenders. Haeraan wants to kill it anyway, but the rest of us find it odd that it surrendered. It tells us (pantomime) that it is a cursed soul and needs remove curse cast upon it. It also says the scepter is good and useful and we should take it with us. Imre attunes to the scepter. It casts Repel Undead V twice a day and Sustain Self once a day.

Jack talks to it in its mind and it tells of its sad tale of being cursed by the grandfather to reenact that last battle again and again. (It was killed by the zombie originally.)

We head east and come to a corridor with a long wall on the east side. It seems to be the far east, so Haeraan and D. start tracking like mad. But they suck, so the look for traps and hidden stuff instead.

We escape!! We try to take the gold, but it turns out to be gold painted iron bars, and gold painted copper pieces. We curse her name and ascend into the sun. We wait until morning.

Orhan 5 Day 17

Haeraan, Kyrik, and Vallandra go to Norek to get a priest. H. gets the priest, Imre gets a pastry for D., V. gets some booze for Jack. The temple sends back a paladin and a priest with the scouting party.

When they get back, they cast remove curse, and poof the guy dies. A ghostly outline pulls away from the skeleton and departs. It whispers "Thank you" and goes away. We explain a lot about the downstairs.

We go to the temple and get all healed, but have to give them the money we got from the treasure hoard in the dungeon. So we broke even essentially. The temple says they will forward all this stuff to the temple of Cay and the council. (Especially the stuff about the prophesy of a coming hero of Cay.)

Orhan 5 Day 18

We sleep. And rest. Imre gives the terrible chime of demon stuff to the temple of Issa.

Orhan 5 Day 19

We sleep. And rest.

Orhan 5 Day 20

The council of Norek summons us. They want us to talk to them. We go to the council chambers. The council (all five of them), are there. Humar Winnoy (military), Duna Revon (magic), Guthran (commerce), Mazba Olinher (diplomacy-wood elf), Nusmoi (she's the chairman and high cleric of Issa). There's also a sixth empty seat with a scepter in it.

We are greeted and thanked. They've received the reports on the prophesy. They think perhaps the necromancer wasn't the only one try to raise the hero early and turn him against everyone. They hate that. It also has to stay a big secret. Innlotu Pohal, the great hal-elven paladin hero, needs be protected and they decided that we should recover it. They know from the temple of Cay where the hero is buried. We ask what exactly we are supposed to do. We are to go recover his body and return it to Norek. They say they'll supply us with the ritual to disinter him properly, and will provide a magical litter.

In return for this service, they are prepared to cover expenses and pay 200 gold each. We think that's cool, but makes it sound more dangerous. The ruined temple is to the southeast between the shore and the forest.

They send for someone from the temple of Cay. Anton, the monk, who helped us find Oathar when he was kidnapped shows up. Back in the end of the second era, were the Wars of Dominion. Then, there was a large temple of Cay in the place we know about. Innlohu Pohal was killed and buried in the temple. From that point on it has been abandoned as the Unlife overran it then.

When the seal on his tomb is broken he's supposed to come back to life, some believe. Others think that he'll need to be resurrected. He's supposed to come in Norek's time of need. There is limitless treasure hidden in the temple, lost in the temple too.

We ask for things like scrolls, potions, and other such stuff. Jack takes a 30 gold advance on his 200 to get a +5 two-handed sword. They say they'll put together the stuff.

Orhan 5 Day 21

Orhan 5 Day 22

Orhan 5 Day 23

We get a package: 10 vials of holy water, 5 sharpened wooden stakes, 20 +5 arrows, 5 healing potions (1-10), 3 (3-30), 1 (5-50), rations, horses, a magic litter (makes bodies in it weightless), ritual scroll and instruction and components, 3 scrolls of Cut Repair III,

As we get ready to leave, Anton (monk of Cay) shows up and motions for us to come talk to him. He was told not to say anything in public, but he's had foreboding thoughts about our mission. The official policy of the temple is that we should go retrieve the hero. But he thinks not all is as it appears. His temple is blinded by their chance to gain influence. He doesn't have anything definite to say.

He gives us a holy symbol (of Cay), it may help us. Those dedicated to Cay will recognize this and lend us aid. Or so he says.

Orhan 5 Day 33

We travel to the temple site and nothing happens!!!

We get near there. People get an uneasy feeling that something is wrong. Imre and Oathar think they are crazy. D. hears something coming. We scatter and prepare for ambush. D. hears voices in a language she doesn't understand. Four Lugraki come into view and notice us and charge.

We lure them into our encirclement. D. takes one out with an exquisitely placed shot on her first arrow. (Why are the rest of us here again?) Vallandra does the same. Kyrik gets mauled by a Lugraki. Oathar water bolts the lugraki and stuns one. Jack stuns the other, and fighters chop them to pieces.

We search them. They are carrying junk. Jack pelts Oathar with copper pieces. They have a little enamel badge identifying them as the red skull tribe.

We travel some more and get that creepy feeling again. (At least Imre does.) He notices a Lugraki camp up ahead. We hide off the trail. We send D. to scout. The Lugraki are playing stupid luragki drinking games.

We discuss trying to lure them into an ambush. They come forward into the ambush and the mages unload on them. Then the fighters and archers unload. It's not a good day to be a lugraki. Vallandra hacks off limbs left and right, it's pretty harsh.

Jack charms one and gets him to fight with us instead of against us. Meanwhile people are still smooshing lugraki. Eventually, they all go down. We search the leader, he's got a ring.

Meanwhile Jack interrogates our friendly Lugraki. He's tribe bloody claw, the rest of his tribe is in the mountains. They were ordered out here by the big man. They were supposed to come out here and kill things. It's a great job. They're not even allowed to fight other tribes of lugraki. How unfair is that? The big man is not a lugraki and glows read. That's pretty bad. He has wings. He seems to match a couple of demon descriptions we are aware of.

We decide he doesn't have any more information. Then Haeraan tells him it is feeding time. He looks happy briefly, and then gets clubbed to death by Haeraan. We find some bloody claw tokens and find that he has some anti-elf poison. It seems to be a stimulant, probably not poisonous to lugraki. Could even be a human stimulant.

We go set up camp. Imre attunes to the ring. It's an Animist +1 adder. The staff is "Produce Food and Water for six people" twice a day.