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Post by AxeMental on Jun 10, 2008 7:30:42 GMT -5
Fenken sends a messanger to the Church of Khaash. In three hours time the messanger returns with a sealed envelope. Fenken opens it and reads, looking very angry. "A scroll or service of raise dead will cost us 30,000 GPS (no questions asked)!" Apparently the Khaashuts have no shame. Wait to see if they ever recieve my sympathy, that is 3 times the price the arch-bishop should be asking! Since the Grand Council it is now law for anyone raising dead or any other extremely powerful spell must first get permission from the full group of 12, who will either agree or decline the request. If they agree the fees are astronomical. For that reason we bishops must be very secretive in our work. As for the cost, I am sorry my friends, but our church has no such funds to give you. And I'm afraid even the princess won't be able to touch the royal funds for weeks until she can be sworn in as acting governess in her fathers steed. By then the Grand Council may have completely raided the treasurey. " I assume the group agrees to take the 30,000 GPs from the group treasure and pay for it themselves. Subdolus digs threw his bag of holding for some of the choicest pieces until he is certain the value has been reached. Then an emissary is called for to bring the scroll to Fenken. WIthin an hour a white haired squat fellow and a tall monk in crimson robes carrying a case arrive, escorted by four men in plate and heavily armed. The Squat fellow examines the treasure offered through a jewelers lense. He then takes out some tools and chemicals. After another hour he approves of Subdolus's choice and the tall monk hands Fenken the scroll of Raise Dead, wishing him luck and reminding him that this visit will be denied if it ever is revealed. Fenken nods in agreement and the visitors leave. Fenken and Sogathan dress in cerimonial robes weaved of silver and gold thread. The scroll is read and in an hour the group discovers their friend Zargon is awake and doing well. He will need 5 days of rest before he gets up. The group visit him for a moment only, the princess lingering the longest before exiting his bed chamber. The princess now demands to be brought to her castle and orders Fenten to summon her royal guard. No amount of argueing will deter her, she has made up her mind. A sworn alley of the king the elderly priest does as she comands. Another messanger is sent and in 20 minutes 30 of the most powerful fighters in the realm enter the sacred garden walk and then the church itself. Among the powerful fighters is Razzeldor the dwarf in purple boots you met on your first day in Grime. He was the one that hired each of you (that were present at the time) to rescue the princess and prince. The huge weatherd dwarf is estatic speaking with disbelief and unfathomable happyness. He pumps the hands of the party members and tells them they shall all be rich!" Suddenly surprise crosses his face, "you are all supposedly dead, Smythus told us he was the only survivor of a dragon attack. " HIs face turns red with anger at the sudden realization. "He also said the princess and prince were to be found on one of the many islands at sea. That is were our fleet is now!" "These are retched times. The military is now under the control of the Grand Council, only the royal guard are still firmly loyal to the king. And with General Krymus placed in charge by the Grand Council, the cities defenses are at their weakest I've ever seen. While the cities guards go about sleeping or worse yet drinking on duty our good General Krymus attends the opera house, balls or other social events...Blahhh!" "And worse still, the bulk of are army is at sea with the fleet combing the islands. Now that we have the princess safe and know the wear abouts of the Prince, our first order of business will be recalling the fleet to grime. " The others in the royal guard, most in their mid 40s, seem to know the princess wll, many of them having played with her when she wandered the castle as a child. Fenten casts a few spells as in certain none are assassins or bewitched. By 4AM the Royal Guard offer to escort the princess to the castle along with the rest of the party. She looks back to see if you will come along. Do the party members wish to go with her or stay? In any event the dwarf tells the group they can't be payed for another week or so, as the king is too ill to act, and the princess must be sworn in. The Grand Council won't acknowledge the agreement as it was not with them. (OOC: Jeffery, remember to lower Zargons con 1 point, oh, and he just barely made his petrification by like 4 pts! )
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Post by trp2fan on Jun 10, 2008 8:56:10 GMT -5
The princess' return should quickly get Smythus' attention, and possibly bring him, or more likely, an assassin, to the palace. We could go to the palace, with our presence kept secret, and wait for the inevitable, or we could go to Smythus' current hidey-hole and just kill him there.
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Post by subdolus on Jun 10, 2008 9:07:16 GMT -5
"If we were to dress as the royal guard and travel in the middle of their ranks we should be able to make it to the palace undetected."
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Post by AxeMental on Jun 10, 2008 9:09:46 GMT -5
Stranger wrote: "OOC: Isn't Smythus hanging out with the undead?"
OOC: Stranger, there was a gate that was left opened when your group entered the vampire cave (it was blocked open or would have automatically sealed in 90 seconds). The group never got a chance to unblock it due to fleeing the vampire and zombies. After you escaped through a door on the opposite side of the cave, the vampire took his new prize (Smythus) and left through the open gate. Here's the qoute:
"The gate is raised (and I'll assume blocked open, correct me if I'm wrong, otherwise the gate automatically closes in 90 seconds) and the group enters, fighters directly behind scouts this time. Lights reveal a vast caveran, huge 30 foot boulders cover the ground, dropped eons ago from the cavern cieling perhaps in massive earthquakes. Huge stalagtites and stalagmites as well as other bizzare and twisted formations cover the walls floors and cielings. Not pleasant as you might find in a normal sort of cave, but somehow sinister and twisted. As you move foward 30 feet in you hear what sounds like a scraping noise on top of one of the flat boulders 20 feet up."
Oh, BTW Cadellin was poisoned by giant spider familiars that were clinging to the vampire during that battle (rather then the ones that came out of the chimney). The reason it couldn't be nuetralized was because Smythus had already been grabbed by the vampire and carried away.
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Post by AxeMental on Jun 10, 2008 9:48:05 GMT -5
The group go along with this advice and put on the cloths of the guard. The dwarf hands the princess a hooded cloak to put on "this was your fathers and then your brothers, wear it and you will be safe from harm of most spells". The princess goes to visit Zargon once again and then departs with the rest of the group, surrounded first by her new friends. Tiberious follows invisible watching for trouble, but non befall the group. Once at the castle (reached by going up yet another cliff) the party crosses a draw bridge over a ravine and then enter into a vast chamber where scores of squares and knights walk about. Wagons and war horses are seen being prepared for the morning activities. The plan seems to work, and nobody notices the group of adventurers or princess. The group goes down several long wide passages and then finally into a grand chamber. Several very old scribes are summoned as is the bulk of the court. The princess takes to the thrown and puts on her crown while everyone that enters the chamber bows down, some with obvious happyness, others with blank faces hiding who knows what. The royal guard search anyone that enters taking any sort of weapons found. After a wonderful introduction by the dwarf, the princess talks of her ordeal and the rescue from the dungeon by your group. You are all haled as warriors and made special guests of the court, given access to all but the most secure locations in the castle.
After a grand feast, and some sleeping in the great hall, the Grand Council show up. They walk in as one and go close to the princess to speak in low tones. You are at a distance, do you wish to get closer to listen.
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Post by subdolus on Jun 10, 2008 11:58:16 GMT -5
Sub gets as close as he can to pick up a little info.
If for some reason the council exits together at some point Subdolus will follow behind them, keeping his distance.
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Post by Ska on Jun 10, 2008 12:26:02 GMT -5
The monk will stay close invisibly and use his ability to listen to try to hear what the 12 council members say to the princess.
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Post by cadellin on Jun 10, 2008 14:10:31 GMT -5
Cadellin casts ESP.
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Post by trp2fan on Jun 10, 2008 16:18:36 GMT -5
Calhagn waits diligently to kill them all. Anyone reading his thoughts may be shocked by the violence he intends to inflict upon Smythus, and anyone doing Smythus' bidding. As far as the fighter's concerned, Smythus is no different as an undead then when he was alive. Outwardly, Calhagn appears cool and disinterested. OOC: Sorry, but I've got too much free time this afternoon, thus the musings.
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Post by AxeMental on Jun 10, 2008 23:00:54 GMT -5
Tiberious finds his ring does not turn him invisible in this chamber, nor does Cadellins ESP work. It seems some powerful magic prevents spells such as these from going into effect in this hall (you half expected this, being the royal meeting chamber).
Luckily, Subdolus is able to hear the conversation utilizing his hear noise ability while pretending to be studying the archetecture (only 30 feet away). In hushed voices he hears the Grand council members argueing amongst themselves and the princess. It seems about half support the immediate return to power of the princess, while the other half, lead by Master Scangara head of the Yellow Tounge Order of Monks, insist that the princess has no power outside of her castle (other then a vote as a Grand Council member herself) until after her corination, which will not be for 14 days (according to tradition a princess must wait this amount of time to prepare, while a prince would be ready in a single day).
Subdolus gets the impression that many of the Grand Council are at odds with each other, and consequently chaos is presently reigning outside in the city. They also seem to be suggesting that the recently reformed Grand Council should stay in existance even after the recovery of the king, something the princess totally opposes. As they leave Subdolus hears one of the Grand Council members, a fat and powerful merchant of 65 ir so, tell the Master Scangara "we must hurry if we mean to..." "Shssssshhh" signals the venerable monk, "not here fool".
The princess seems very distressed by what just happened. As the most trusted guard and your party approach she says to know one in particular, "I feel there is something afoot, but I don't know what." She then asks the party to escort her while she goes to see her father. Sog and Cadellin are given special broaches which will allow them to cast spells anywhere within the castle. The acting court wizard Fugumbus Forkubore comes along as well. He came out of retirement after the previous court wizard disappeared with the children, and seems to have been of little use save for scrying with his crystal ball. He seems to sleep alot and enjoys creating magical devises more then actually serving the functions of adviser or defender of the kingdom. From the sound of him (babbling to himself now and then), you get the impression he's somewhat senial. Still Cadellin has heard of Fugumbus and knows he could likely destroy a good deal if he put his mind to it. While walking the two talk. Fugumbus seems like a nice ancient fellow, and offers to train Cadellin once he is ready. He also agrees to charge his wand of lightning for him. But later, once this is all settled with the princess.
Does the party wish to accompany her up the stairs to the personal living area of the king. There the Royal clerics tend to her father. The royal guard, and everyone in court seems shocked she offered such rough strangers this privilage, but non dare question her wisdom.
EDIT: To keep things moving I'll assume the group all choose to go along with her.
After another hour of signing official papers brought by a line of scribes, she and her sage (a very tall tan fellow also of great age) head up the grand stairs to the 3rd floor of the castle past all sorts of guards (some invisible). The group is asked to wait outside the wing where the royal bed chambers are, while 6 of the royal guard (most of the oldest ones) escort her through a large stone door into a large empty room of white marble decorated with frescos. Just before the door is closed Fletcher gets a glimpse of this room and sees threw his magical gem eye (cursed on him when he touched it when trying to pry it from the frost giant kings eye socket) an advanced illusion, in actuallity the room continues past with more 5 more guards in plate blocking 3 passageways all with particulases closed. The center one starts to raise before the door is closed (only Fletcher sees this).
The room you wait in is wall papered in gold and silver 1/16 inch thick, with massive chandeliers and huge statues of 4 different ocean gods carved from coastal marble that seem to hold the 30 foot cieling in place. The walls are lined with 50 or so huge portraits of kings and nobility, many dressed in clothing indicating a nautical theme, while a huge mural covers the guilded domed cieling of this 100 foot long chamber.
The mural obviously predates the other paintings (suggesting to you this castle was built before the present king and only added to). Within this mural you see the center figure is a blond curely headed human king wearing what appears to be a huge lobster crown. He is holding court with dwaves and elves of obvious importance, and gifts are being offered to the king of all sorts, including boxes of gold coins, jewelery and gem stones, fine furniture, exotic birds, elf wines, and much more . Among the 30 other human nobels depicted in the painting Cadellin recognizes one...."BY ALL THE DEVILS" he mumbles...the memory still strong in his mind, it was the last thing he saw before he went unconscious from the spider bites in the cave, "Look" he points to the others, "it is the exact likeness of the vampire we fought in the cave".
In the mural the vampire is slightly younger, but just as unpleasant. He is dressed in the clothing and finerys of a diplomat for that time (likely well over a 1000 yeasrs ago. He stand far to the left of the king, suggesting only minor importance in the court, far down on the pecking order. Talking to him is a figure dressed as a young wizard of the court. He has a long nose and face with intensely black eyes, and carries a courtly staff symbolicly suggesting he serves the role as an advisor. There is something familiar about this figure too thinks the Yellow Wizard, but he's not sure what.
As the group all look up at the giant mural, the dwarf in purple boots walks over to you. "My grand father is in that mural, there" he points "this was once a wonderful place. The elves, dwarves, gnomes and humans all were fast friends. This was the last king of Grime before the kingdom collapsed and war broke out. It was said to have started between the elves and dwarves, but some say it was a human cult of devil worshippers behind it. That the war was begun with planted evidence and falsifide documents. A great trick that played on the natural distrust these races hold for each other. No one really knows for sure what happened. Most of the details are lost in time, and now the dwarves and elves are deep within their own realms seen by few outsiders. The dwarves still reside in the mountains mining gold, and the elves move about in the forest, killing any who cross their path!"
He doesn't know any of the particulars of anything else but suggests you talk to the King's sage. He tells you the mural was to be painted over with one depicting the present king in his glorious battle with a dragon, but the originals quality was so great that he left it as a work of art.
Just then you hear an explosion from behind the stone door that had closed. It rocks the castle. You stand with the dwarf and 3 other fighters (all equally tough looking) the others had gone with the princess. What do you wish to do? The dwarf and other 3 immediatly try pushing the door open but it won't budge. Commands to whomever is on the other side are ignored.
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Post by cadellin on Jun 11, 2008 11:44:32 GMT -5
"All you young fellows might want to stand clear," mutters Cadellin. "Oh, and cover your ears, this'll be loud. Where did I put it? Drat. Maybe in my bag? Ah! Here we are!"
The wizard pulls out his wand of lightning bolts.
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Post by trp2fan on Jun 11, 2008 12:40:30 GMT -5
Calhagn stands behind a statue, such that, the statue is between him and the door. After the loud crack, the fighter will rush the door, and he will only give way if any of the stealthy people desire to be first through.
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Post by AxeMental on Jun 11, 2008 14:51:18 GMT -5
Everyone runs for cover as the wizard pulls his wand and aims at the door KABAM! The door blows inward in hundreds of pieces. When the dust clears you see the room beyond as before, but a person lieing half way out of the wall. Fletcher sees the guards 6 in all dead lieing near the gate. The middle gate is open and darkness lies beyond. What does the group do.
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Post by cadellin on Jun 11, 2008 14:59:17 GMT -5
OOC: Is this darkness as in ordinary boring non-magical darkness, or darkness as in a darkness spell?
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Post by AxeMental on Jun 11, 2008 15:23:17 GMT -5
Fletcher says the area beyond the gate seems to be magically darkened (as in a darkness spell) he can't see threw it.
The dwarf and 2 other royal guard push into the room and disappear into the wall (Fletcher sees them go into the darkness and disappear). What do those in the group do?
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