LongestRoad Run16
5 Blessing Moon, 1372
- Michael's date is attacked by BANDITS!!!1!!
- He pwns them easily, but they try to kidnap Annette
- He Intimidates, they declare they aren't getting paid enough for this, and run off
- He brings her home and she's 100% In Love Forever (Omg)
- The group transfers Zahn to an inn suite. Nula and Michael are first watch, Vin stays as well
- He wakes up halfway through, has some drinks, listens to Nula's flute, goes back to bed
- Vin tries to stay up all night like the grown ups but fails
- Ezel gets a call while studying confirming the meeting
- He will bring Struuquin
- In AM, (6 Blessing Moon) Struu and Aezma head out to sub in for Nula and Michael
- Aezma brings cards and they have a good social time
- Ellowyn seeks a scroll of discern location (?) or whatever
- Humorous scroll-selling-to-a-blind-man dismay
- Oraine and Sil swap in to guard Zahn, Struu and Ezel head to temple
- Temple is creepy as fuck, with dudes staring and stuff
- The man they meet is totally the nicest guy ever... and Struu is his best friend forever
- He offer to trade like for like after not getting anywhere
- Resolution: we'll have a video call via orb in 1 hour and then exchange in a room at the Grey Thrush in 4 hours
- Ezel and Struu leave, Ezel dispels the charm, Struu runs off to sell his house
- Regroup, confer with Tamara Group, who are hesitantly for it
- The Call: the dude is in some cavern with blood splattered everywhere, holding the copper orb
- Head over and explain to Sil and Oraine and the gang
- Plan: Sil, Aezma, and Vin will hide on the roof as backup; Ezel, Ellowyn, Michael, Querca, and Struuquin will meet him (with rings of prot evil)
- What actually happens:
- He meets them, the orb is showed, and he jumps them
- Drops a crazy weakening effect that paralyzes most of the group and grabs the orb
- Vin dimdoors Aezma and Sil in, Sil tries to jump him
- He notices there are other orbs in the room and tries to grab Sil's stuff and TP her- she squeaks away
- Struu tries to grab the orb, Vin also tries- Vin grabs the copper
- Michael summons Sventukothar
- Ellowyn dimdoors away, tells Vin to do the same; he grabs Sil and does so (roof)
- He tries to plane shift away, Ezel counterspells (!!!!!)
- He drops a crazy firestorm
- Sventukothar and Aezma attack like crazy, Ezel grabs Querca and Michael and TPs away- but leaves Aezma because she can take care of her self
- Aezma smites some more, he grabs her, and they both disappear
- Struu makes a totally wicked smooth exit, Michael dismisses Sven, and all regroup at the inn
- "Where's Aezma? Oh shit, that was Pazuzu."
- Marcus and co. want to go after her ASAP, but will need Church backup- so they really want those names
- No way to trust Zahn
- Zahn concedes that one of the three names is trivially verifiable...
- How about you tell us that one, we verify, then if it checks out you give us the other two and get the hell out, and if we cross paths again we kill you
- Sil: Hey!
- Zahn: I want all my stuff back, plz.
- All: Maybe.
WHEN CAN WE RUN AGAIN OMG
Also, +4k XPs.
Chapter 16: Date or Don't
- Objective: Protect Annette and Rout Enemy!
- Army:1 Player, 4 Bandit, 1 Other
- Enemy Phase: Bandit 1 Captures Annette, Bandit 3 hits Michael, deals No Damage!
- Player Phase: Michael uses intimidate skill, Critical Hit! Bandits morale drops below wimpy level
- Enemy Phase: Bandits release Annette, Bandits flee the map
- MISSION COMPLETE!
- Bonus Reward: Annette's affection is now 90! Michael may use "mutual polite kiss" skill!
Ezel's Journal
Part 1
Demon lords. Not fun.
Well, I don't like demons in general. Celestials aren't high on my list either, but for different reasons. Too many miscalculations on my part, a too-powerful foe and a missing Aezma mean I'm not in a good mood- wait, I mean I'm in a worse mood.
You see, the mysterious dealer who contacted me through the orb. Yes, he tried again to call me. Locked in a battle of wits I tried to discern his identity. He knows who I am, he has a dragon orb (how else could he contact me?) and he wants to meet me in...that temple. Clearly dedicated to Demons and other "more evil than you" riffraf.
My first mistake was thinking I would need backup. I figured I would be attacked the moment I stepped inside the temple, so I asked our guide, Struuquin to join me. First mistake.
To prepare the orb for transfer, I cast several misdirections on the black dragon orb, then hid it in my secret chest then cast that to the Ethereal Plane. It pays to be prepared.
Reaching the temple a standard issue cloaked figure greets us and leads us to the chamber where we meet the man behind the voice. Interesting. He is well dressed, and a nice chair. Conjuring artificial shadow over his face (to make himself look more attractive? I dunno.) Oh, a nice chair as well. He offered us wine and was very, VERY interested in offering us the Black Dragon Orb.
I was busy trying to get his name. The normal person he sent was "busy" and couldn't make it (why not send another underling? Right, it was too important. Or maybe we met this person before...hmm.) He has a lot of contacts and a lot of information. I asked about Itessa, in passing mind you. Just wanted to see if he was bluffing or not. Oh, and of course however she manages to evade my scrying attempts. He knew the name, said he hadn't kept touch in the last few months. Second mistake, I think he might try to contact her.
Back to my first mistake: Bringing backup. You see, Struuquin began talking very nicely to him. A lot. And then kept interrupting me. And...well he was Charmed. Great. He even gave away his home address. Nice, now I can't even bow out of this meeting and try to hide. On the plus side, he made an interesting offer: The Copper Dragon Orb. I said I would consider it and hightailed it out of there. Then I broke off the charm. Struuquin realized the blunder he made and went to sell his house.
Part 2
sigh I have no one else to blame but myself.
I expressed the proposed trade to my allies; I concluded if worst came to worst they would simply murder the dealer and we'd get two orbs. I won't call that my third mistake. Marcus seemed hesitant, but we were going to receive an update from the dealer showing he had the Copper Dragon Orb. Aezma was preoccupied (stupid carnal "pleasures", ugh) but she would be here soon.
As promised, we ran visual feeds through the orb to show we, indeed, had the items in question. Our dealer likes to hide in shadows, and I can't actually see the orb. So I asked him to light the area. He did. He was in the church of Tiamat, blood splattered across the walls. His dress was clean and he held the Copper Orb in his hands. Interesting that he was that powerful. But he, indeed had the orb. At worst I figured he would offer a fair trade of the orbs. Why go through all this trouble of orchestrating this otherwise?
Strewquin chose The Grey Thrush for a meeting place. Sil, Vin and Aezma would stay on the rooftop, ready to join the fray if the deal went sour. Michael, Ellowyn, Querca and Struuqin would join me in the meeting room to verify and protect.
The dealer was already seated when we arrived. We traded some banal pleasantries and finally got to the trade. He wanted us to give it to him first. Ha, no. So we instead revealed our orbs simultaneously. He smiled, satisfied with our orb. Then things got bad.
Part 3
- A Blasphemy is not good.
- A Quickened Blasphemy is really not good.
- A Quickened Blasphemy followed by snatching the Black Orb out of my hands before I could react is a catastrophe.
Back to Blasphemy. Those with good little hearts, who think puppies and kittens can relieve the greatest fears and any villain can be converted with LOVE AND PEACE! Should stay far, far away from Blasphemy. If you're lucky it just fazes you. If you're unlucky you are paralyzed for about ten minutes. There goes my guards. I dispelled any magical effects and leapt behind the exit. He wasn't leaving with both orbs.
One good thing, he got greedy once he sensed Ellowyn's gold and Michael's silver orbs. Instead of running away he decided to steal them. Vin, Sil and Aezma appeared (Dimension Door, I suppose) while Michael summoned his overly bright dragon familiar. Struuqin managed to break free rather quickly, so he and Vim stole what they could while Aezma and Sil attacked. Sil couldn't scratch him, his armor was too...he wasn't wearing armor. Aezma's blessed strike did land but all it did was nick him. At least Vin managed to snatch the Copper orb.
Really, really not good. We weren't just beat, we were out of our league.
On the plus side, careful study did reveal an attempt to Plane Shift. Which I effortlessly countered. I should have used that time to put the clues together, but I instead prepared for his next assault. Fire Storm. Oh goody. By then most of the paralyzed crew had been transported to safety but still, he had enough to cast Fire Storm?
I decided to leave at that point, we were clearly not going to win this. I grabbed Querca and Michael and began a teleportation. NOW for my third mistake: I should have forced Aezma along. I thought she could handle it. And unlike the rest, she and Struuqin would simply leave once the coast was clear.
According to Struuqin, she stayed and fought and fought and fought until the dealer grabbed her and they both disappeared...
Damned Pazuzu. He wanted the Black Dragon Orb back and simply took it from us. This entire deal was just a game and he took AEZMA. I don't know where she is and what he's doing to her and what if Mother finds out and interferes and what if they set up another stupid deal to trade her back or they try to expose her identity or convert her and--
torn page
Part 4
.
.
.
.
We'll scry and set up a rescue attempt of some kind. Maybe.
Zahn might have something useful: the name of one of the double agents inside the Church of Tamara. Once we verify that person he can give us the other two in exchange for his freedom. I don't want anything interfering with her rescue.
I need to stay focused here.
