Post by David on Jan 20, 2012 20:22:07 GMT -5
The next morning, as the heroes (Idky, Torr with Zayüß, Yavin, Ichi, Arthur, and Athos) are preparing the cart and getting ready to leave, two invisible stalkers show up. In addition, almost the whole group also feels like they're being watched. Torr dispels the effect with his sword and afterward no one feels the scrying anymore. Ichi then quickly destroys the stalkers. Ichi heard a howling wind rushing off after he killed the last one. The party finishes preparing and heads off to the skies invisible, toward Hsin-to.
As they leave, Torr hears a howling nearby like an invisible stalker waiting out there somewhere. The sound drops behind the group as they leave under cover of invisibility.
After two hours of travel, the heroes all see a shiny, yellowish-gold, wingless dragon accompanied by a whirlwind. It smells them and demands their surrender. Torr and Ichi insist that they cooperate and land to talk to the dragon. Torr turns visible as he slices Zayüß free of the cart. The talks don’t go well, and they end up fighting the dragon. The dragon breathes fire at Torr, Yavin, and Arthur, incinerating the cart.
Torr and Ichi leap to attack. The dragon breath takes out Arthur and stuns Yavin. The whirlwind swoops in and whirlwind attacks Torr and Ichi. Ichi tries to attack the whirlwind but can’t seem to do any damage.
Torr and Ichi are getting badly damaged, and Zayüß swoops into the melee to help. Idky casts protection from law to offer a haven from the creatures. Ichi kills the dragon, and Idky forms a blood stone with its lifeblood. Yavin successfully mind thrusts the whirlwind. Even Torrs sword doesn’t seem to be able to hit the whirlwind. Idky abjures it away.
Yavin and Athos get into a childish altercation over Athos’ dagger as they discuss how to continue their journey. Through, broom-riding, flying, and airwalking, they take off through the air. They arrive by midafternoon at a city by a river that they think is Hsin-to. It is a haunted dead city, mostly ruins and rubble. It’s abandoned with no people.
There is a small part of the city across the river, and they head there. It turns out to be a large cemetery. As they wander, a huddled figure approaches. It’s an old woman, who suggests they look down the well at the edge of the cemetery. She alludes to their “feline friends” and walks off. They drop a light stone down the well and notice something glinting about 30 feet down. Torr airwalks down into it and finds the moldy remains of a body in armor with an ornate headpiece, which has been crushed. Torr finds a leather sack that rots away, revealing a ivory statue in the shape of a man grabbing onto something that seems to be missing.
He touches the statue and has a vision...
The world grows hazy for a moment, as if the paladin had slipped
into a meditative trance. He sees the image of a great black cat-like being, similar to a humanoid leopard, bound with a huge chain made up of links similar to the figure in his hand. A mighty warrior smashes those links, setting the creature free of its oppressors. Much of the chain is recovered and taken elsewhere, but this one piece is taken by another and moved to a shrine in far off peninsula.
A group of ronin, fallen from their once noble standards, raid the shrine and slay all the priests but one, demanding to know the magic of the ivory piece. The old man only states that "a chain is made up of all its links." Puzzled, the ronin and his friends slay the last priest and take the ivory. With his last words, the priest utters an ancient curse on the ronin.
Now the ronin are arguing. The one with the ivory piece is slain by a blow to the head, and stumbles back into a well. As he falls, the other former samurai draw their weapons and attack each other.
The vision fades as quickly as it came. Torr pulls the ivory figure away easily, but as he does, a skeletal hand grasps his wrist. The other hand draws a wakizashi from the muck, and behind the helmet, orange lights dance.
Three ronin rise from the ground to attack the party above.
Status:
Idky: 62 (full). cast CLWx3, bless / LL / invisx2 / CSW, abj, prot 10'r / CCW
Arthur: 25 of 38, cast / invisx3, levx2 / fly, item / stone, STONESKIN
Idky: 63 (full), cast / read lang / / tongues
Ichi: 53 of 82, used blur, speed
Torr: 65 of 93, cast CLWx2
Zayüß: 48 (full)
Yavin: 47 of 52, 53 of 98 PSPs, psi25, cast CLWx5, used fly
Athos: 50 (full)
As they leave, Torr hears a howling nearby like an invisible stalker waiting out there somewhere. The sound drops behind the group as they leave under cover of invisibility.
After two hours of travel, the heroes all see a shiny, yellowish-gold, wingless dragon accompanied by a whirlwind. It smells them and demands their surrender. Torr and Ichi insist that they cooperate and land to talk to the dragon. Torr turns visible as he slices Zayüß free of the cart. The talks don’t go well, and they end up fighting the dragon. The dragon breathes fire at Torr, Yavin, and Arthur, incinerating the cart.
Torr and Ichi leap to attack. The dragon breath takes out Arthur and stuns Yavin. The whirlwind swoops in and whirlwind attacks Torr and Ichi. Ichi tries to attack the whirlwind but can’t seem to do any damage.
Torr and Ichi are getting badly damaged, and Zayüß swoops into the melee to help. Idky casts protection from law to offer a haven from the creatures. Ichi kills the dragon, and Idky forms a blood stone with its lifeblood. Yavin successfully mind thrusts the whirlwind. Even Torrs sword doesn’t seem to be able to hit the whirlwind. Idky abjures it away.
Yavin and Athos get into a childish altercation over Athos’ dagger as they discuss how to continue their journey. Through, broom-riding, flying, and airwalking, they take off through the air. They arrive by midafternoon at a city by a river that they think is Hsin-to. It is a haunted dead city, mostly ruins and rubble. It’s abandoned with no people.
There is a small part of the city across the river, and they head there. It turns out to be a large cemetery. As they wander, a huddled figure approaches. It’s an old woman, who suggests they look down the well at the edge of the cemetery. She alludes to their “feline friends” and walks off. They drop a light stone down the well and notice something glinting about 30 feet down. Torr airwalks down into it and finds the moldy remains of a body in armor with an ornate headpiece, which has been crushed. Torr finds a leather sack that rots away, revealing a ivory statue in the shape of a man grabbing onto something that seems to be missing.
He touches the statue and has a vision...
The world grows hazy for a moment, as if the paladin had slipped
into a meditative trance. He sees the image of a great black cat-like being, similar to a humanoid leopard, bound with a huge chain made up of links similar to the figure in his hand. A mighty warrior smashes those links, setting the creature free of its oppressors. Much of the chain is recovered and taken elsewhere, but this one piece is taken by another and moved to a shrine in far off peninsula.
A group of ronin, fallen from their once noble standards, raid the shrine and slay all the priests but one, demanding to know the magic of the ivory piece. The old man only states that "a chain is made up of all its links." Puzzled, the ronin and his friends slay the last priest and take the ivory. With his last words, the priest utters an ancient curse on the ronin.
Now the ronin are arguing. The one with the ivory piece is slain by a blow to the head, and stumbles back into a well. As he falls, the other former samurai draw their weapons and attack each other.
The vision fades as quickly as it came. Torr pulls the ivory figure away easily, but as he does, a skeletal hand grasps his wrist. The other hand draws a wakizashi from the muck, and behind the helmet, orange lights dance.
Three ronin rise from the ground to attack the party above.
Status:
Idky: 62 (full). cast CLWx3, bless / LL / invisx2 / CSW, abj, prot 10'r / CCW
Arthur: 25 of 38, cast / invisx3, levx2 / fly, item / stone, STONESKIN
Idky: 63 (full), cast / read lang / / tongues
Ichi: 53 of 82, used blur, speed
Torr: 65 of 93, cast CLWx2
Zayüß: 48 (full)
Yavin: 47 of 52, 53 of 98 PSPs, psi25, cast CLWx5, used fly
Athos: 50 (full)