Game-Summaries:2/16/2018 Recollections: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:34, 20 February 2018

Recollections by Cassio

Recollections by Ci

Yet again I find myself at odds with my Master's teachings. We set out to track down and stop a cell leader of The Black Ice Gang named Valas that we suspected would be sending a party to the ruins of Old Solace in search of an ingredient for this mysterious Chaos Curse we keep hearing about. These dark elves certainly seem to have sinister intentions for Solace, and the Magistery certainly considers them to be an intolerable race, but I remember the words of Zifu Poe as he spoke them on the day I left the Temple of Shan Sua:

"Will the earth fall away from under their feet? Will the sun, shining on all else, withhold light and warmth from them? Will water turn to mud when they stop to drink? If sun, and earth, and water refrain from judgment, who am I to withhold the same?"

Yet, as approach two Drow sentries, I hear the words of Master Fēng in my head, as I often do: "The seeds of hatred destroy themselves. The bow is but the instrument." The knowledge of their actions on this plane, make my blood boil... as I loose my arrows and watch the first fall, I do feel like the hand of justice. When we capture and interrogate the second, however, I find a being who is, while cruel and self-interested certainly, not irredeemable and war-like as we were led to believe. I remember a small boy, orphaned and scarred, witness to unspeakable tragedy, who might have turned out much the same had he not been taken in by the Monastery, and set on the path of The Study. That is ancient history, however, and our problems were more immediate.

We descended into Old Solace and found the operation to gather Rust Monster saliva, well under way. We thought to destroy their cache before moving to find the leaders, but we were discovered. Our Bard companion, Callie Tealeaf dispatched the first [Drow]] in short order, but we decided to press on, before we were discovered again. We quickly encountered two more Drow who proved to be little challenge. One ran away, and the other fell to our blades and our fire quickly. the third Drow however, having been roused by the fleeing Drow proved to be another matter. He leapt through Ember's magical flames as if they did not exists, and overcame my defenses quickly. Wielding two glittering swords, he nearly felled me with his first attack. With some timely healing from Callie and Ember, I managed to stand my ground, and with help from our entire party, this Drow, the self-proclaimed Champion of Valas, was defeated. we had not yet faced our direst test however, for waiting in the next room was Valas himself.

Again we seemed to face a Drow Mage of considerable power. I begin to wonder if magic users dominate the culture of these Dark Elves, as we have found them as the leaders of each the cells we have encountered. Valas unleashed spells to poison us and slow us down, but I would not now be stopped! I rushed ahead to disrupt his casting, and we managed to bring him down in short order. With his spells now expired, bringing down the rest of his companions was trivial.

If I had felt some compassion for these Drow before, that ended when I saw the locals they had enslaved to do their bidding here underground. I have no compassion for enslavers of men. One who would keep another like chattel, has left the path of life behind and declared himself an ally of evil and an enemy of all good beings. We freed the townspeople, destroyed the cache of saliva, left the docile rust monsters unmolested, and collapsed the tunnels that the Drow had used to gain access to them. It might have been a futile gesture, given the many points of access to Old Solace and the numerous quantity of rust monsters throughout, but we have at least thwarted this attempt, and eliminated yet another cell of Drow here in Eomas.

The less said about our adventure AFTER returning to the Magistery, the better. It is enough to say that our curiousity far outstripped my trackimg ability, and that the Magistery underground is vast and featureless.

Recollections by Ember

Recollections by Jeroy

Recollections by Jorg

After the Assault in the Vault, Jeroy and Cassio dusted themselves off and followed Ci, Ember, and I to the discovered ruins of Old Solace. There, we ambushed 2 look-outs and one of them immediately began confessing everything he could to be released from our custody. Elyn the drow informed us that there are many different factions and operate without total compliance. Apparently, "the eyes" are next on the list for the Chaos Curse.

We descended the ladder and discover barrels of acidic saliva. We begin to remove the barrels for disposal, when a human commoner catches us. Callie persuades him to approach before dispatching him. We continue in and begin a fight through drow warriors.

Drow Tricks:

- marking opponents with Faerie Fire for future pain.

- hiring Solace's own impoverished citizens for labor

- knowing Common (why did I bother to Comprehend Languages?!)

- being decentralized and forcing other drow to work or die

- just wanting to return to Menzoberranzan (home?) and being very cooperative

- Lolth is a matriarch and a god?

Valas' Champoin hit hard, but Valas' wizardry was nearly too much. Valas calls to "get the commoners to the other portal", but we are too fast to allow any advantage. After defeating Valas, we discovered the drow were feeding the rust monsters metal dust and carefully harvesting their saliva. We evacuated everyone and collapsed this section of the Old Solace ruins in two places. Too bad we didn't find that other portal.

Elyn the drow was physically hurt by the sun and drew plenty of attention as we approached the Magistery. Cece, the guard had Jeroy fetch a Blue Justice, and Tane took custody over Elyn. Elynwas destined for the "lightless", whatever that is.

After reporting to Highest Liandrin of our findings, a bell sounds in her desk and we follow her to the depths of the Magistery. Over 60 levels of descent later, we are truly lost, but see Highest enter a door. Unable to pick the lock, Tane answers our knocking and bids us wait because they "have it handled". We leave immediately and rely on the survival skills of Ember and Ci to get us back.

10 days later...

At the top of the stairs, Highest Liandrin informed us that Ellen was of some use and an Envoy was sent to the Nightshade Kingdom that day. We should be hearing back soon.

Wait, what do you mean I can't enter the Wrestling bouts?! Do you have any idea who I am!!??!

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 ==Recollections by Ci==
-Yet again I find myself at odds with my Master's teachings. We set out to track down and stop a cell leader of [[Black Ice Gang| The Black Ice Gang]] named [[Valas]] that we suspected would be sending a party to the ruins of [[Old Solace]] in search of an ingredient for this mysterious [[The Chaos Curse| Chaos Curse]] we keep hearing about. These [[Drow| dark elves]] certainly seem to have sinister intentions for [[Solace]], and the [[Magistery]] certainly considers them to be an intolerable race, but I remember the words of Zifu Poe as he spoke them on the day I left the Temple of Shan Sua:
+Yet again I find myself at odds with my Master's teachings. We set out to track down and stop a cell leader of [[Black Ice Gang| The Black Ice Gang]] named [[Valas]] that we suspected would be sending a party to the ruins of [[Old Solace]] in search of an ingredient for this mysterious [[The Chaos Curse| Chaos Curse]] we keep hearing about. These [[Drow| dark elves]] certainly seem to have sinister intentions for [[Solace]], and the [[Magistery]] certainly considers them to be an intolerable race, but I remember the words of [[Zifu Poe]] as he spoke them on the day I left the [[Temple of Shan Sua]]:
 ''"Will the earth fall away from under their feet? Will the sun, shining on all else, withhold light and warmth from them? Will water turn to mud when they stop to drink? If sun, and earth, and water refrain from judgment, who am I to withhold the same?"''
-Yet, as approach two [[Drow]] sentries, I hear the words of Master Fēng in my head, as I often do: "The seeds of hatred destroy themselves. The bow is but the instrument." The knowledge of their actions on this plane, make my blood boil... as I loose my arrows and watch the first fall, I do feel like the hand of justice. When we capture and interrogate the second, however, I find a being who is, while cruel and self-interested certainly, not irredeemable and war-like as we were led to believe. I remember a small boy, orphaned and scarred, witness to unspeakable tragedy, who might have turned out much the same had he not been taken in by the Monastery, and set on the path of The Study. That is ancient history, however, and our problems were more immediate.
+Yet, as approach two [[Drow]] sentries, I hear the words of [[Master Fēng]] in my head, as I often do: "The seeds of hatred destroy themselves. The bow is but the instrument." The knowledge of their actions on this plane, make my blood boil... as I loose my arrows and watch the first fall, I do feel like the hand of justice. When we capture and interrogate the second, however, I find a being who is, while cruel and self-interested certainly, not irredeemable and war-like as we were led to believe. I remember a small boy, orphaned and scarred, witness to unspeakable tragedy, who might have turned out much the same had he not been taken in by the Monastery, and set on the path of [[The Study]]. That is ancient history, however, and our problems were more immediate.
 We descended into [[Old Solace]] and found the operation to gather Rust Monster saliva, well under way. We thought to destroy their cache before moving to find the leaders, but we were discovered. Our Bard companion, [[Callie| Callie Tealeaf]] dispatched the first [Drow]] in short order, but we decided to press on, before we were discovered again. We quickly encountered two more [[Drow]] who proved to be little challenge. One ran away, and the other fell to our blades and our fire quickly. the third [[Drow]] however, having been roused by the fleeing [[Drow]] proved to be another matter. He leapt through [[Ember]]'s magical flames as if they did not exists, and overcame my defenses quickly. Wielding two glittering swords, he nearly felled me with his first attack. With some timely healing from [[Callie]] and [[Ember]], I managed to stand my ground, and with help from our entire party, this [[Drow]], the self-proclaimed Champion of [[Valas]], was defeated. we had not yet faced our direst test however, for waiting in the next room was [[Valas]] himself.