The math doesn’t add up, or, just one more thing…

In the aftermath of the events that closed the Midway festival there were many activities that followed. The first was some poking around by Indigo. He has begun seeking sponsorship and volunteers to work with him on a trip to the 10,000 Islands to map and scout it. And maybe look for some artifacts… he was able to speak with several envoys and found some interest but the best idea he was given was to scout out the costs involved and the effort needed to put together such an expedition. And the best place to start looking for that was in Sparta, a large city on the coast where the previous missions to the Islands launched. So off he intends to go to find out what he can.

Next was the effort to re secure the ground under the orphanage and make the chamber safe for the Galeb Duhr family they found there last time. SD marshaled a force of wizards armed with earth shaping spells and a small force of mining dwarves and they headed in to the cavern. SD communicated with the creature via the use of spells and they were able to come to an agreement on how the cavern was to be supported and shaped to satisfy the creature. He spoke with it and asked if it had any knowledge of the evil that used to be there in the now gone Caste of Darkness, but the creature knew little of that structure or its inhabitants. It did know of Drow and was able to give a very exact location for where they could be found, but this location fell in line with information already suspected for where the Drow kingdoms existed in a mountain range to the south west. Their efforts to reshape the cavern were impressively successful. The after effect of this was that the orphanage was able to be reopened and reoccupied in short order! As part of the construction repairs an access way was built to allow the surface folk the ability to enter the domain of the rock creature if help was ever needed. SD also presented the creature with a Wizard Marked stone for it to use as a means of communication. Should it ever need assistance all it will need to do is present it to one of the guards of Midway.

The new Alchemy shop, to be called “Gold Dragon Alchemy” and operated by Kozmo and John Z. began to take shape. The site was selected and an invitation sent to Tollemay regarding the development of his ‘Sustenance’ potion. Tollemay agreed to come work with them with a 60-40 financial split agreement in place. The Gold Dragon head John had preserved was placed in a secured location on the site for future dissection and extraction of components. Jerri was also to be involved using his expertise in culinary skills.

Jimmi and SD discussed expansion of the winery on site. SD spoke with the Mayor and secured a job for Jimmi to be the official Vintner in Midway. Jimmi took up the mantle and began with investigating the available seeds and decided to make use of one smaller section of the farming area to begin growing some of the other varieties in hopes of being able to hybrid some of the grapes in to different style wines. The idea of exploring out in the world to gather other varieties of grape seeds was also floated and considered for future quests to expand the possibilities. And thus Battaglia winery has begun its expansion plans.

On the topic of Midway business, SD also spoke with the mayor about bonuses for the staff and employees of Midway for their service during the wildly successful festival. The Mayor was thrilled and happy to implement the plan to all those in the employ of the city!

Agamemnon engaged in deep discussion with SD regarding the hammer he has been using for some time. The hammer has a thunderbolt insignia engraved on it and his name, which magically appeared when he picked it up during a mission. He is not sure if it is a Hammer of Thunderbolts but he does know it is magical. He has been trying to figure out just what the darn thing does, if it does anything. The discussion with SD scattered around a number of topics and SD offered the recipe for making a Girdle of Fire Giant Strength, should he need it. In the end, Agamemnon has more work to do on the Hammer, he may put together a team to gather the material components to make the belt, find out if he needs the belt in order for the hammer to ‘work fully’, and he plans to continue his prayers to understand best how to use the weapon.

A new group was being put together by Raifer. This team has plans to go in to the wagon construction business. They discussed with Tollemay, now that he was in Midway, some ideas on improving the existing ideas on wagon construction as part of the new business. They hoped he remembered what there was to know about the levitating wagons, but he was unable to remember any of it.

And SD went to Vora and presented him with a magical gem. SD knew this style of gem, having seen one before with his name on it. He had been able to read the name on this gem but did not know who it was until he showed it to PJ. PJ was visibly shaken as he confirmed it was his name. SD gave this gem to Vora for him to destroy since that was how he disposed of the previous was intended for him. Vora set about in preparation to perform the tasks needed.

And then there are the ants… ants…. And more ants….

SD posted a job request looking for adventurers to enter the caverns and clean out the ants, hoping to have them kill the queen or queens and any and all egg chambers they can find. They needed the help fast with the desired start of the trip the next day as there was no time to lose. Stepping up and applying for the job were Rispin, Jack Daniels, Blarg and Grogg Rocksmoker, Charles Emerson Winchester III, Kenny Makeit, Ollie, Bru M’Hilda and Ben. Jack, being the most experienced applicant to charge as leader. They gathered up supplies and provided by SD, who also gave them each 3 copper coins with Continual Light cast on them and in they went.

They veered right away from the Galeb and down a passage. The passage split not long after that, one passage continuing forward and another heading down. They chose to head down. The dwarves made mention that the slope was about 30 degrees down, a very steep angle and the team proceeded carefully. As they descended the passageway became more and more finely carved progressing from a rough tunnel to a more circular and fine walled area. Some stray ants approached and skittered by them and they let them pass unharmed. Up ahead a switchback was seen and they cautiously traversed the 180 degree turn back but still heading down although at a more reasonable 10 degree slope. In this area the tunnel became almost unnaturally smooth but still able to support 2 people abreast.

As they ventured forward, a side opening was spotted. They moved up to it looking for anything out of the ordinary. They did hear the skittering of some number of ants coming from what would appear to be the side tunnel. Slowly they approached, Jack using his lit coin to peer in to the opening found a side chamber populated with a number of ants. In they went for a better look and found a good number of the ants working in the space. There were no other access points to the chamber and no other creatures here. But at that time a new scent wafted in to the room and with it the ants scattered. Most moving quickly to scurry up the walls but a few moved in to attack the party.

The first to strike a blow was the wizard Rispin as Bru swung but dropped her weapon. The ants attempted to bite but missed and as they settled in to their attack positions Charles cast a Bless to aid the party. Kenny struck next with a perfect shot and Rispin continued popping the bug in front of him as Ben fumbled his dokyu while attempting to fire. At that point Jack was bitten and bitten hard causing his leg to become incapacitated. In response he swing down hard with his long sword and cleaved the bug in half. At this point there was now just one ant attacking the party as the rest of the horde had climbed the walls and were making their way around the party towards the chamber exit. The one last ant crawled in to and on to Bru engaging her in hand to hand…or bug…or whatever… and it hit Bru with a hard bite, critically injuring her leg. Grogg raced over and jumped in to the pile now to help Bru. He slammed his fist down on the bug and crushed its head, killing the last aggressive one.

Blarg was monitoring the ants now and used his lit coin to observe them racing for the chamber exit. There were far more of them than they had originally thought. Thankfully they all raced for the exit and the party let them do it. Charles went to Jack and healed him, granting back the use of the badly injured leg. Heals were also cast on Bru to get her back to an operational state. And the group gathered themselves up and prepared to move on.

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