3. In the Temple of Lathander - Shadow War

In the Temple of Lathander - Shadow War

  • V

    @9dada6dc2f=cardamon:

    _The Shade Warrior said she is in the domain of Furlinstasis, the Shadow Dragon we've heard of before, on the plane of Shadows. Mike, foolishly, brought us this information. For that we must show our gratitude, but do not let this influence the rest of you.

    Kabul who was looking at the others dicretly from a corner of the temple breaks his usual silence to speak:

    • It realy worries me when a paladin states that it was a foolish thing to sacrifice oneself for the good of others. It really does. These times of trouble change our perception and make us all wonder if our path is right….

    Anyway, a trecheary or a trap. It doesnt matter. If we know we are being lead to any of those we can use this to our advantage. If we know where to go, we should do it, and have a plan for when they come for us.

    A trap or a treachery, it doesnt matter. We should pretend to fall into either of them and strike back fiercefully showing our enemy he s got something to worry about.

    A trap or treachery.. those words spread misstrust in us, dividing our effords. Some going after glory and fame - not admiting it - some going after other things. We are the ones seting traps we ll step onto.

    I say it s time we do something, instead of reacting to the threat. We must get what they want, before them, and find out a way of using it to our advantage.

    After saying that, kabul leaves the Temple for a short while, just to get a breath of fresh air. He returns shortly, remaining quiet on a corner while the others speak, always shaking his head when the solution propoused is the respond to an action of the Shadovar.

    // I' ll try to log this weekend, guys. RL is really busy latelly._


  • @4e3e3d30ba=Fraoch:

    An exit downwards led into natural caverns, and finally to a rift through which Shadovar were attacking bugbears. That rift the Shadow party went through. We had not enough orbs for all to travel both ways.

    Shadow Plane
    The shadow realm contained large numbers of the dark fey, Shadovar creatures, and a huge, shadowy, thing. And, finally, to a chest which contained an artifact whose touch Rico was unable to easily bear. We were not troubled by negative energy, likely on account of where we entered.

    _Rico flexes his wisdom, echoing something Janick's said before: "I don't think the ones inside were Shadovar. If they were, the Shadovar Warrior who'd captured the others wouldn't have needed us to get the artifact. He'd already have it."

    "In fact, he was certainly powerful enough to go there alone and take it, with no burdens from the Shadowplane. But he didn't. He waited for us."

    "A trap it certainly was, but not necessarily treachery. They knew where to look, we [eventually] knew where to look. They certainly already had eyes on the scene, and can likely travel the same way Val did before her capture, with great speed."

    "The greater question is why they didn't come in after us? Why wait at all? It certainly wasn't patience."_

  • I
    Council of Moradin

    Mike stands in his corner just listening the others talk. His face do not show the joy and flavor for life. Instead of that, a worried look is there as if for the first time the young man has grasped the danger of the situation.

    After Rico's words, he raises a hand and simply asks:

    - Can we use these rocks to rescue Val?


  • ((Please consider this information available to your pc only if they are already here in this meeting. This is not a rumour going around town. It's not something you'll hear walking by. It is specific information being given to specific people.))

    Meeting location
    Was provided by messengers shortly before the meeting time.

    Destination
    Was given only at the meeting, and only after we were content than no one lurked nearby.

    Under Bugbear Lands
    A group of bugbears had escaped battle by means of a recently dug tunnel. There was a brief Shadovar incursion before we descended into an old stone structure.

    An exit downwards led into natural caverns, and finally to a rift through which Shadovar were attacking bugbears. That rift the Shadow party went through. We had not enough orbs for all to travel both ways.

    Shadow Plane
    The shadow realm contained large numbers of the dark fey, Shadovar creatures, and a huge, shadowy, thing. And, finally, to a chest which contained an artifact whose touch Rico was unable to easily bear. We were not troubled by negative energy, likely on account of where we entered.

    The Prime
    Arriving into magical darkness, stepping out of it revealed a horrid scene. The four who had stayed on the Prime held captive by Shadovar warriors, an imposing looking Shadovar standing ready to greet our return.

    Rico recognised the lead Shadovar, remarking, 'it's him again.' The response was that we had something of his, and must hand it over or our friends would die.

    And an image of Val was there, speaking on cue when instructed to by the lead Shadovar. Pleading with us to hand over the artifact.

    Confident that Val would no more say such things than would we, escape with the artifact was attempted. The lead Shadovar fond of the green hand, each who tried to carry it to safety was subdued in turn. Senses having returned, artifact and Shadovar both were gone.


  • _"Right then, if the Legion's going for the barrows..

    Norwick Crypts. Who's coming?"_


  • On another day.

    The Shadovar have recovered an artifact. Treachery is a possibility.


  • _To Ael, Rico speaks "You can count on me."

    Then he turns to face the others.

    "We've just faced a Shade Warrior of enormous power. With magic on par with Ronan, but a fierce warrior in addition, Troff failed even make him bleed. He said they're return Val when we turn over the five artifacts they're searching for.

    Now we all know we cannot do that. Val wouldn't want us to. I will aid all and spend my own life if it means her rescue, but if we die, it'll be on our terms. But we cannot doom the world to save one, even our dearest friend.

    The Shade Warrior said she is in the domain of Furlinstasis, the Shadow Dragon we've heard of before, on the plane of Shadows. Mike, foolishly, brought us this information. For that we must show our gratitude, but do not let this influence the rest of you.

    Evil uses reason and our own hearts as a cruel tool to manipulate us. It is when it is honest that is most dangerous. Trust your heart and your strength, not the poisoned honey that drips from their tongues. We know not if the Shade told the truth. We did not know if he would even stick to the bargain. No secret is worth your own life. It is the most precious thing you have. Give it to your friends, your families, your cities, your loves. Never give it to your enemy. He does not deserve it._"

    rallies the troops
    //Charisma 24 | Take 10 = 17
    //Persuade +13 | Take 10 = 23


  • (Ael'Que enters the temple)

    The Legion is organizing am attempt on the Peltarch Barrows. We will need the Defenders to hold the area while we go in and attempt to not only find and retrieve Val, but also to close that rift. Once all five are closed, the Shadovar will have lost. This is the group so far;

    Troff
    Myself
    Elsbeth
    Ronan
    Cael
    Dondiah

    I will add more as soon as I can. I think we should keep it relatively small, say no more then eight. And they use traps there, so we will need a good trapper. They also have a beast like a big glowing bird that makes a sound that stuns you. So mind protections and ultravision is almost mandatory.

    And we need Lycka. She will be able to divine where they took Val and also to find the rift or weak spot in the planes. I think she would be the best for this. If needed though, perhaps Aramuil could help us.
    One last thing, while we are there keep an eye out for more globes. We will need them at the other four places. And they seem to be scattered around there.

    And understand, I am not here to argue with you. If you do not think what I am doing will work, then do not go along. I am here as a courtesy to let you know we will do this. Thankfully Senator Mariston has agreed to offer us his full support.

    // We are looking to do this Sunday afternoon the 12th about 4pm Central US time. Anyone wants to go PM me so I can add you to the list.

  • G

    //friday, saturday at any hour. Sunday evening, but not tooo late. I want to hit the bed at 11.59pm


  • Are we certain Cedric is dead?


  • ((sunday euro afternoon works best for me.))


  • Since these Oscurans are heavily implicated in the murder of squire Cedric we must assume all of that city are our foes in this matter.

    We need organise and move forward with our plans, I suggest interested parties gather here at the temple again and be ready to move out on that same day.

    //aim for the weekend?


  • Hammer repots that he and Sol raided a group of shadows in the pass and made off with three more shadow stones.


  • Perhaps a kind priest sympathetic to our cause and stock of spell crystals could help. I've two right here.


  • In turn I suggest that we listen well to what Lycka has said. At a minimum, with everyone intending to travel to the shadow plane obtaining a stock of the Wight Guards… from Adventure Mart? My recall is uncertain.


  • Helena speaks out:

    "I would suggest that we stop talking, and go check out these places. The Oscurans are working with the shadovar, I would believe, and the more time we spend talking the more they get ahead of us. If these places hold nothing, we can scratch them off our list. This talk has gone in circles for four days now - each day we could've checked out at least one of the places. I suggest Fadia be placed as leader, and take us to each of the places theorized to have artifact as soon as possible. Action, people, action. The shadows don't stay still and wait our chat to be done."


  • "A note of caution - my research suggests that places like graveyards, sites of battle and areas of potent necromancy on this plane, often corresponds to so called darklands on the plane of Shadow. These are areas of extreme darkness - bleak, and filled with negative energy. Entering the darklands is generally NOT a good idea.. but as magic works almost normally on the plane of shadow, it's possible to shield against these effects with magic items or spells. Protection against negative energy would be highly recommended if one was to transition to the plane of shadow from a place like the barrows."


  • I am still hoping to hear the logic behind its being those five places. And not, for example, the Jiyyd catacombs. Perhaps you could present the research and the reasoning leading to these conclusions.


  • "So, if we would use these orbs in the barrows, would it take us to the place they took Val, or would it drop us somewhere randomly on the plane?"


  • That is far from informative.