Week 54
TL;DR - More deals made, entry to Tor Dranil, and secrets
The reverse gravity effect continues, affecting everyone except Tenser who is running toward Tor Dranil at full speed. The alarms from the caravans continue, as they connect together into what might be a Golem.
— COMBAT BEGINS — Initiative: Iliqua (20), Jaxzon (16), Tailee (14), Zer0 (12), Golem (10), Shebrum (6)
— ROUND ONE —
Iliqua tries to converse with the Golem, but no response can be heard. A small door starts to open near the head though.
Jaxzon also tries to converse, with no effect. The door continues to open. He casts Stoneskin.
Tailee being the only one to escape the reverse gravity effect looks back at the madness, steps a little closer and asks if she should continue after Tenser - Zer0 and Shebrum confirm and she sprints off.
Zer0 cannot do anything except wait.
The door on the Golem finishes opening and an elderly gnome is seen. “What do you want thieves?”
Shebrum also can do nothing and waits for potential doom.
— ROUND TWO —
Iliqua responds “I am not a thief, I will pay for the items.”, and the two converse about payment and how much he owes, which comes to a hefty 32,000 gold pieces.
Jaxzon asks why the gnomes created the Golem. The gnome responds “This was in response to your thievery. I do not care about your problems, you stole from us, you deal with the consequences.”
(With no-one able to do anything, time passes until the effect wears off)
Iliqua and Jaxzon are saved with featherfall, Shebrum and Zer0 take full damage (44). The Golem also survives the fall.
Another door at the bottom, and a female gnome in brass coloured full plate appears. She waves a hand and some chairs and a table appear.
Iliqua asks for time to consult with the party, explaining his plan and how much he owes. Sacrificing magic items, convince them that Tenser has the money and allowing us to retrieve it, threatening a lawsuit around being injured and duped, or running for it and hoping for the best.
Offering the gift from the Autumn Court is considered, the Black Book of Nagash as well, or summon a Genie and trade it for a wish.
Shebrum has PetalStorm, a soul item, possibly the only one on the continent would be an option. Zer0 also has plenty of ancient memories that would be very useful to the right or wrong people.
Conversations among the party lead to Jaxzon stepping forward to try and haggle the fee down to a lower amount or a payment plan. The gnome asks what Tenser has stolen, which the party describe in mostly good detail.
The gnome clicks her fingers and an image of an orb appears - within the orb the party can see Tailee laying on the ground, covered in blood. Jaxzon tries to convince them, using an oath, to allow the party to chase down Tenser. Because time wasn’t included in the oath, the gnomes ask for 3 days and the wearing of collars that explode if the party fail to return.
Iliqua tries another tack, asking the gnome what she wants “Eternal life would be nice, I’ve obtained everything else.”
The party huddle and discuss, with everyone against wearing the collars unless the party can be teleported to Tenser. Further threats of lawsuits are attempted, Jaxzon talks up the effect of his oath on his person if he breaks hit. The gnomes agree if the party can return with Tenser alive.
The agreement is as follows - the party goes after Tenser, not needing to wear the collars, but still having a 3 day time limit, and needing to return him alive.
The party are released and immediately rush off to save Tailee. It takes the better part of an hour to get to her, finding her unconcious but stable. A greater healing potion is administered and she awakens.
“I caught up to Tenser, but I was them abushed by many more on a magical craft, a floating disc.”
Iliqua and Zer0 eventually catch up and discuss how to track down Tenser and his friends, how quickly to move, and which direction to go.
Tailee describes how fast the disk was travelling, expecting that Tenser’s crew would have been able to make it to Tor Dranil before sunset. The suggested course is to follow and figure out what to do when they get there.
The party make camp, heal wounds, discuss plans and prepare. Iliqua spends some time with his sword, as does Zer0. Just before Zer0 descends into “sleep” he receives a ping from the resting place of Adeptus Prime, seemingly a distress beacon coming from just north of Tor Dranil.
Iliqua inspects his sword, noting the colour changes, and a circular design on the hilt with several slots that can improve or change the damage. He feels a pull from inside himself and his mind is presented with a vision of his spell abilities as whirlpools. He understands that he can use the sword to change the damage type of any spell to force damage and use lower level spells to cast higher level ones.
Zer0’s attempt to convene with his sword. His connection isn’t as strong as it was before, but some useful information is gained - he needs to find a way or a being that can make use of the gift given by the guy they met in the weird place to solidify his path.
Dawn arrives with the party well rested and back to full health. They have breakfast and head off toward Tor Dranil, arriving at the outskirts around mid morning.
Tor Dranil still has the look of an elven city, however, it’s been left to ruin, and turned into something like a shanty town.
Up ahead at the gates, a small line of people waiting to be granted entrance, with some guards at the gate. Most of the people are farmer types fleeing the new badlands of the outside world.
Iliqua explains that they need to be assholes, and to join the shorter line populated by richer looking people. Shebrum looks around for a less than reputable way in, but can’t find anything.
The party moves to the front of the line, getitng a few grumbling comments from some. At the front are a large minotaur and a larger version of a satyr blocking further progress. Shebrum decides to try and stab the minotaur in a private spot, but misses, eliciting laughter and a hefty punch that drops Shebrum to the ground.
The party slip into the line just after the two and wait. The satyr looks to Shebrum and asks via magic what kind of being he is, he replies that he doesn’t really know.
Eventually the party are first in line, the minotaur/satyr show an amulet that grants them entry. The guards ask for payment to enter, 500gp per person, or items in exchange. Shebrum offers drugs which are declined, Iliqua asks how to get one of the amulets and is told that they need to be part of one of the major businesses within.
Tailee gets in with an amulet of her own, the rest of the party pay the toll, with Shebrum slipping one of the silver scales to the fun guard in the process.
The inside of the city is the same as the outside with a very shanty like buildings and several food vendors hawking their wares. Shebrum is tasked with finding information from perhaps the less reputable parts of the city. Iliqua leads the hunt and finds several brothels as they’re likely the best source of information. He looks for something higher in quality, finding one with the equivalent of a neon sign.
Shebrum knocks on the door, and the guard asks if he’s part of the Hand, or 50gp to enter, per person. As the party enters, a small pebble hits Iliqua in the back. He looks at it and notes that it has a slight blue glow.
Iliqua picks it up and notices someone nearby that he didn’t see before. He offers it to the person, who reveals that he’s part of the Shadow Walkers and asks if Iliqua has completed more of his quest. “Meet me here after you’ve had your fun”.