| Player | Characters |
|---|---|
| Corky | Raifer, Indigo, Furion |
| Mac | Books, Ruurik, Helena |
| Mike | SD, Yosh, Patrick |
| Jon | Gwyn, Rennala |
| Andie | (None) |
| NPC's | Parker, Lord Evanston, Evan Stone, Mayor Etienne, Sgt. Markham |
Helena decided she needed to raise the level of awareness of the spooky red gem she had found. She made a visit to the regular open session held by SD and relayed her information about the gem. SD, feeling it better to keep this out of the public domain, asked her to stay for a private discussion of this item. When the open session was completed they continued. Helena relayed all the information she had dug up about it and the potential it had. SD agreed it was an issue demanding attention. With the knowledge Helena had been working with one of Midway’s guards SD had him sent for. Sgt. Markham arrived a little while later informing SD the gem was in the police evidence locker. This was not where SD wanted it. So he asked Sgt. Markham to meet him at the station the next morning where they would retrieve the gem and take it to the Wizard’s Guild together for a better identification of the item’s properties.
In other general business, the Ioun stone found by the group that stopped the bandits in the pass was given to Furion.
Notices were posted, supplies were gathered and a group organized to be sent to the area of the woods east of Daedelus to make an attempt to negotiate with Lord Evanston. No one wanted a band of thugs holding up travelers that close to Midway at a time the larger White Ninja issue had filtered up the list of things to do. A group was put together from volunteers to be sent to try to work things out. Gwyn, Rennala, Yosh, Patrick, Furion, Indigo, Books, Ruurik and Parker would be the emissaries. A letter of authorization from the Midway government granting this group the power to speak for and negotiate with Lord Evanston was garnered from Mayor Etienne. They set out as soon as the logistics were worked out, SD providing funds and Raifer the transport. They headed south making great time along the road and arrived in Daedelus in 5 days, crashing there for one night.
The next day they moved on heading for the woods where the bandits were known to patrol. They set up camp outside the forest to prepare. From the distance they could see lights moving about in the tree canopy during the night. The next day they made their way in to the wood. It wasn’t long before several of the party realized they were being watched from above. With the sensation of being watched creeping over all Books called for a stop. He then began calling out to those watching, announcing they were there to negotiate with Lord Evanston on behalf of Midway. His calls were met with an arrow holding a note demanding 250 gold to allow passage.
But they were not there to pass through, rather to engage in a discussion. It took some cajoling but eventually a rope dropped to the ground level and an elf slid down. He asked to see the letter of authority to which he questioned about the ‘missing name’. Books gave nothing away but was able to convince the elf they were genuine and were led through the woods to meet the Lord. This took a few hours as they ventured deep in to the area eventually arriving at an open area. Here they parked the wagon leaving half the group there while five of the party accompanied the elves up in to the trees. They provided a rope ladder to make it easier and then guided them through the tree canopy, moving landing to landing until they reached a well guarded area where they were instructed to disarm. But Gwyn stood his ground stating his hammer was his holy symbol. Interestingly, the elves accommodated him, placing the hammer in a pack he could carry but one they tied off preventing any easy access.
In to the main chamber they went where they were met by a group of elves. One stepped forward taking the letter or authority. He had only one question…. “Where was SD's name on the document?” The question caught them off guard as no one had mentioned him yet. But as he became convinced of the authenticity of the letter and the reason why SD's name was not on the document he revealed he was actually Capt Evan Stone of the Royal Simbala Guard. He had identified the subversion invasion, gathered up those he believed loyal to the royal family and fled the kingdom about two years ago. They would stop travelers because they needed to support themselves somehow. The number of elves was significant as Indigo had tried to keep a count of the number on their way to meet the Lord and lost count somewhere around 150.
The discussion now took on a brand new meaning. These were not enemies but rather allies. Stone asked about SD and what he had in mind to resolve the problems. Books broke out one of the Talking Crystals providing a direct line to SD. Stone had heard something about the issues at the McMurtry farm. He agreed to send some of his troops to guard the property until Midway could get their forces there. The clerics in the group offered their services to the elves which was gratefully accepted. Off they went, working long hours through the day to help the wounded members of the elven group.
The night was spent with the group in the safety of the elven controlled land. But the morning brought an alarm. Yosh was awake and received the alert, waking Parker, who woke the remainder of the party with but a few words. There were invaders coming in that were believed to be White Ninja. The elves needed the group to head to an area and defend it. Moving as quickly as they could they reached the area, realizing there were enemy already in the area. Books slid to the side and cast Stealth of Brandobaris to aid his hidden approach. The groups closed in on each other, the Ninja dressed in camouflage clothing kept their movement difficult to detect. But once spotted the bowmen of the group opened fire only to discover these Ninja were able to deflect arrows. Yet Furion was first to draw blood with a well placed and missed deflection as Parker crept up from the rear to cast a Bless on the party.
Arrows were sent flying, several striking their mark. Gwyn struck with a Spiritual Whip and the Ninja archer fumbled his arrow. They were not infallible but they were formidable as Ruurik was struck with a critical blow. Yosh traded blows with one foe as it leaped in to him against his set long spear, each taking damage. Books worked his way to a central position to cast a Prayer spell, affecting almost the entire group while Ruurik was struck again with another critical causing his spine to buckle.. Parker stepped up to heal him as quickly as she could.
The conflict raged all through the wooded area. Off to the side was Furion, engaged in a solo fight with one Ninja. Trying to trap him he cast a Web that the Ninja deftly leaped out of. On the opposite side Indigo, in his own solo fight, used a Mirror Image to confuse his assailant. It was then the battle began to turn as Gwyn's hammer attack killed the first of the Ninja. And even though Ruurik suffered yet another stunning blow Books stopped two Ninja in their tracks with a Hold Person, following it up with a Spiritual Whip to slow the Ninja on Furion and Indigo loosed a Magic Missile. Elsewhere Yosh brought down his axe with a mighty slash dropping the next and Gwyn slammed a Spiritual Whip. Indigo, now no longer engaged, cast Invisibility on himself to escape further conflict, slipping away, and perhaps find a better target. The Ninja were not done. One used a powerful circle kick on Yosh, hitting him hard while Patrick and Rennala scored rare bow hits. Yosh answered back dropping his opponent with another devastating axe attack. Ruurik and Parker teamed up using their bashing weapons to kill one of the held Ninja. Ruurik moved on directing Parker to finish off the second.
Two more Ninja were spotted at the rear of the fight. The obvious leader pointed, directing the other to move in and engage Yosh. He did and struck first with a nasty eagle claw attack. And with that the leader disappeared from view. The Ninjas pressed his attacks on Yosh but a mishit inflicted damage on his self. Books dropped another of the Ninja with a bow shot and then slipped off in stealth mode again. As he crept up to the battle line behind a tree he got the surprise of the engagement as the leader of the Ninja appeared right next to him having stealthily approached to the same spot. They detected each other at the last second, the Ninja gaining just the slimmest of advantages (read that as they both rolled 20’s for initiative but the better spot roll gave the Ninja the edge). She used the moment to attack but Books tumble evaded just as the blow came down eluding the blow. The junior Ninja tried to use his attack to break the axe used by Yosh. He hit it but the weapon survived the blow. Gwyn was now using a sling and scoring hits.
The Ninja remaining now realized their situation was dire and tried to disengage in an attempt to retreat but the party would not allow it. In response, Ruurik was struck by another critical blow, this time gashing and disfiguring his face to which he responded by killing the last of the lesser Ninja. Furion had stopped the leader from escaping but she turned and used a single eagle claw attack to drop Furion who began to bleed out. Gwyn continued to sling her bullets, scoring a critical on the junior Ninja opening the door for Patrick to finish him with a sword attack. With a moment to breather, Ruurik and Rennala each quaffed a healing potion.
Now the only foe left standing, the leader continued to battle but caused herself an injury as Indigo, who had invisibly crept up from behind her, slashed a surprise attack scoring a deep blow, stunning the foe. This drew her attention but her attack missed. Her next move was to evade attacks as she fled the area. She broke through an opening in the group and made good her escape as Indigo fired one last Magic Missile at her. Parker rushed to the aide of Furion and was able to cast healing spells to revive him.
Now they waited for word from the elves if they were needed elsewhere….
Next time ...
This page and its contents are presented solely for the purpose of the RPG game events conducted by a private group. Any references to people or places is explicitly within the context of these RPG games and has no connection to any other similarly named source.
Bob Senkewicz / Howell, New Jersey / senk@optonline.net