Post by David on Oct 14, 2011 14:05:17 GMT -5
The heroes (Idky, Torr with Zayüß, Yavin, Ichi, and Arthur) set off for Lenachi by airwalking (on Zayüß) and flying (on Ichi's broom, Vedma), and with Idky itemized. They make the trip in only about two and a half days. There, the group enters the town and asks a merchant woman about the local temple. She directs them to the temple of Shang Ti but en route, the heroes encounter ten monks bearing the robes of the Floating Cloud but bearing hooked swords. The monks, indeed, Dragon Claws, surround the heroes and attack!
Ichi starts disarming while Yavin casts heat metal to keep them from retrieving the blades. Torr and Zayüß quickly clear their opponents using lethal force and then help their friends. They manage to knock two unconscious and free another by destroying his swords. They destroy the rest of the swords, but the freed monk warns them that they need to leave. The city guard will be along to arrest them. Indeed, the entire structure of the Imperial Bureaucracy is now aware of the heroes and actively seeking them out! As a result, no god worshiped in that city will assist them.
The heroes leave and decide to start heading to the Library of I'asa, a three-day journey. On the morning of the 3rd day, as they are passing over a mountain, they see six farmers huddled up heading in their direction and they motion for them. Yavin contacts them telepathically and discovers they are kenku. The group flies on leaving the frustrated pranksters behind.
That night, they are camping on the border of I’ama, the library town. They are all meditating rather than sleeping, but they still set up watch. They are now out of time, as the Celestial Bureaucracy is definitely aware of them as well! A leopard-headed man in a black cloak suddenly appears in their midst. Yavin attempt telepathic contact with no response. Ichi notices that he has the aura of a spirit, and he shares that with Torr. The being reveals that he is not a member of the bureaucracy. He hints that he may be there to help. He reveals that they need to get to the temple of Bastet but he seems irritated that their wizard isn’t able to teleport. So he asks for a magic item to use as a bribe for someone to come fetch them, insisting the party remain in this location until he returns. Accordingly the heroes wait for him.
As the sun rises, three large horse-headed oni appear and demand the heroes' surrender. They attack. Ichi takes out the one that goes for Arthur. Unfortunately, the monk seems to forget that the oni regenerate. It rises again. After Ichi takes out the one on Idky, he removes their heads. The final oni kills Zayüß, even admitting as it does that it knows it is no match for the party, but will strike where the paladin is weakest. Torr kills the monster with his next hit while Idky crawls over, with Yavin’s and Arthur’s help, and heals Zayüß jsut in time to bring him back to life.
About 1pm, a dimensional fold opens up. Yavin identifies the effect as a dimensional fold and the party all rushes through and makes it in time. They end up in a large temple complex. Arthur recognizes is as Nereganti (Egyptian) but with strong Medegian (Greek) elements. A beautiful dirty-blonde priestess of Isis greets them, surrounded by her beefy Nubian guards. Another dark-haired and beautiful priestess of Bastet (Tabet), flanked by a pair of leopards, then greets them and says that they apparently have a mutual friend who made arrangements to bring them there to get assistance from the forces of Good. The priestess of Isis figures out from his holy symbols that Torr worships Bahamut, but she doesn’t recognize any of the other gods the heroes serve.
After payment has been arranged, the priestesses cast regenerate on Torr and Idky and then send them back. Each spell requires the high-priestess of Isis (Anath) to work with another priestess for twelve hours before casting the spell and thus it takes two days for the heroes to be cured. During this time, several of the characters shop in the nearby city while the rest lounge about as guests of the Temples of Isis and Bastet. Arthur notes that this culture is definitely related to that of Neregan, but there are very strong Medegian elements. The language script even appears to be based on a form of heiratic script with a few Medegian glyphs.
Once Torr's leg is mended, Tabet almost immediately takes the paladin aside for some passionate, uh, worship. Yavin also manages to score with multiple temple women, though Idky doesn't get the time of day and must be content hanging out with Zayüß.
Yavin mentions to the group that it appears that possessing psionic abilities appears to be a capital offense on Terrax, although the priestess of the Temples aren't interested in turning the cleric of Celestian over. But they certainly warn Yavin that the operatives of the World Emperor will gleefully execute him if they find out.
Meanwhile, when Torr finally "comes up for air" after over 24 hours alone with Tabet, the high-priestess appears smitten with the red-headed, freckled young paladin. She asks him to stay and he demures. She seems upset and he offers her a lock of his hair so she can remember him, but it might as well as been a diamond ring from her reaction...! She loads Torr up with protective spells before the heroes depart...
Eeps for monks: 14,000 each (all but Idky)
Eeps for oni: 8220 each (everyone)
One additional note (which I glossed over too much, though I did mention) -- Anath does ask the party if they are interested in a SHORT mission to serve the forces of Good and undermine the forces of Evil. She would be happy to offer further services to the heroes as a result and maybe even give them back some of their offerings to the Temple in exchange, though having a high-priestess with access to 7th lvl spells is DEFINITELY a good thing to have in one's back pocket...! For her part, Tabet bats her eyes sensually at Torr (her boy-toy)
Ichi starts disarming while Yavin casts heat metal to keep them from retrieving the blades. Torr and Zayüß quickly clear their opponents using lethal force and then help their friends. They manage to knock two unconscious and free another by destroying his swords. They destroy the rest of the swords, but the freed monk warns them that they need to leave. The city guard will be along to arrest them. Indeed, the entire structure of the Imperial Bureaucracy is now aware of the heroes and actively seeking them out! As a result, no god worshiped in that city will assist them.
The heroes leave and decide to start heading to the Library of I'asa, a three-day journey. On the morning of the 3rd day, as they are passing over a mountain, they see six farmers huddled up heading in their direction and they motion for them. Yavin contacts them telepathically and discovers they are kenku. The group flies on leaving the frustrated pranksters behind.
That night, they are camping on the border of I’ama, the library town. They are all meditating rather than sleeping, but they still set up watch. They are now out of time, as the Celestial Bureaucracy is definitely aware of them as well! A leopard-headed man in a black cloak suddenly appears in their midst. Yavin attempt telepathic contact with no response. Ichi notices that he has the aura of a spirit, and he shares that with Torr. The being reveals that he is not a member of the bureaucracy. He hints that he may be there to help. He reveals that they need to get to the temple of Bastet but he seems irritated that their wizard isn’t able to teleport. So he asks for a magic item to use as a bribe for someone to come fetch them, insisting the party remain in this location until he returns. Accordingly the heroes wait for him.
As the sun rises, three large horse-headed oni appear and demand the heroes' surrender. They attack. Ichi takes out the one that goes for Arthur. Unfortunately, the monk seems to forget that the oni regenerate. It rises again. After Ichi takes out the one on Idky, he removes their heads. The final oni kills Zayüß, even admitting as it does that it knows it is no match for the party, but will strike where the paladin is weakest. Torr kills the monster with his next hit while Idky crawls over, with Yavin’s and Arthur’s help, and heals Zayüß jsut in time to bring him back to life.
About 1pm, a dimensional fold opens up. Yavin identifies the effect as a dimensional fold and the party all rushes through and makes it in time. They end up in a large temple complex. Arthur recognizes is as Nereganti (Egyptian) but with strong Medegian (Greek) elements. A beautiful dirty-blonde priestess of Isis greets them, surrounded by her beefy Nubian guards. Another dark-haired and beautiful priestess of Bastet (Tabet), flanked by a pair of leopards, then greets them and says that they apparently have a mutual friend who made arrangements to bring them there to get assistance from the forces of Good. The priestess of Isis figures out from his holy symbols that Torr worships Bahamut, but she doesn’t recognize any of the other gods the heroes serve.
After payment has been arranged, the priestesses cast regenerate on Torr and Idky and then send them back. Each spell requires the high-priestess of Isis (Anath) to work with another priestess for twelve hours before casting the spell and thus it takes two days for the heroes to be cured. During this time, several of the characters shop in the nearby city while the rest lounge about as guests of the Temples of Isis and Bastet. Arthur notes that this culture is definitely related to that of Neregan, but there are very strong Medegian elements. The language script even appears to be based on a form of heiratic script with a few Medegian glyphs.
Once Torr's leg is mended, Tabet almost immediately takes the paladin aside for some passionate, uh, worship. Yavin also manages to score with multiple temple women, though Idky doesn't get the time of day and must be content hanging out with Zayüß.
Yavin mentions to the group that it appears that possessing psionic abilities appears to be a capital offense on Terrax, although the priestess of the Temples aren't interested in turning the cleric of Celestian over. But they certainly warn Yavin that the operatives of the World Emperor will gleefully execute him if they find out.
Meanwhile, when Torr finally "comes up for air" after over 24 hours alone with Tabet, the high-priestess appears smitten with the red-headed, freckled young paladin. She asks him to stay and he demures. She seems upset and he offers her a lock of his hair so she can remember him, but it might as well as been a diamond ring from her reaction...! She loads Torr up with protective spells before the heroes depart...
Eeps for monks: 14,000 each (all but Idky)
Eeps for oni: 8220 each (everyone)
One additional note (which I glossed over too much, though I did mention) -- Anath does ask the party if they are interested in a SHORT mission to serve the forces of Good and undermine the forces of Evil. She would be happy to offer further services to the heroes as a result and maybe even give them back some of their offerings to the Temple in exchange, though having a high-priestess with access to 7th lvl spells is DEFINITELY a good thing to have in one's back pocket...! For her part, Tabet bats her eyes sensually at Torr (her boy-toy)
