Stuck in a bubble

We had a litch show up while Ken was preparing his spells. Fortunately Ragnar is very skilled at turning undead creatures, which helped the the beetle creatures. What happend next was almost comical. First the litch sent Aracadius to another area and then he covered the floor with grease. I thought it would be a good idea to slide across the the floor to close the cap between the litch and me. Sadly i am not as dexterous as i would like. I ended up falling and had to have Ragnar use a hand to push me across the grease. At this point I was able to get in a single attack then i was put into a buble. Fortunately by this point Aradius had made his way back and the litch decided it made more sense to run. So all in all a good victory for us. We allowed Ken to learn some spells while holding a litch at bay. We will not be able to press on and find the teleport ring. We also need to find Crunch. It seems that he was captured. Ah good the bubble finally went away we can go now.

The Ethics of Lizard Tossing

It seems that bloody lizard isn't happy with me.

Arcadius seems to think that it has a point. I think my wee bit of lizard tossing has offended his sense of honor. Which, alright, sense of honor and what have you and I'm sure that's nice, but this case seems fine to me.

I mean, for starters, it's not like I promised to protect the little bastard. I don't believe I made any promise to it at all. So I didn't break my word.

It doesn't seem like it would be that I've alienated a valuable ally. All the little bastard does is run away when something big enough to eat it shows up. Ix doesn't seem to know much, and what he does know he doesn't always tell us.

Plus, he's an evil bastard. When did being evil stop counting for things with the paladins?

And aside from that, he's a lizard. A talking lizard, sure, but it's not like a did it to a person.

No, that would be wrong.

And heavy. I'd have a bastard of a time tossing a person high enough, even if he was a bastard. Even dwarf tossing would be hard.

Which no one should do. That would be wrong.

Plus, it's embarrassing.

Maybe the gnome, though.

From the Journal of Keniroh

We got back to the Aboleth's dimension, and immediately we saw that it had been redecorated. A stone roof had been placed over the maze, and we quickly found a prismatic wall in our way.

We moved our way though the maze, following an ally of Ragnarr's to where a connection between this plane and nearby planes are connected, in an attempt to break that connection. On the way we met a female mage, who looked somewhat familiar, actually. She then proceeded to start stripping me of my various magical protections and take them for herself. Now that's just rude.

I was a moment away from teaching her a lesson in manners when she phased through the rock and away from us.

I will have to prepare myself better for dealing with her the next time I see her. I just wish I could remember where I'd seen her before.

Alby's Journal

My sister infuriates me! She gives me an amazing puzzle and no idea how to know when it is solved! Knowing her, it is probably some magical spell that gives me warts or donkey ears or something! I wonder where she got this. It's very nicely crafted. Pretty and shiny! Of course it's magical... Anything from Mellie would be, so that's not a helpful clue!

I can't seem to figure out any sort of logic to the symbols. They seem like a mix-match of things that just don't seem to go together. I mean, some look like hieroglyphs and others look like runes... and others just aren't very decipherable at all! I mean, seriously! 12 concentric circles! At least 144 combinations! At least ONE of them has to do SOMETHING!

And even though I haven't been through every combination, I feel like I am making some that I have made before and just going in circles!

I suppose I'll give a few more a try and then get some rest... This is getting crazy!

Hrefna's Calling: A Theory of Wizards

Wizards--more than any other group--seem to be the group most likely to be obsessed with immortality. Perhaps it is a function of our relatively fragile beginnings--or perhaps it is just human nature combined with arcane power--but wizards, unlike many other professions, actually have it within their grasp to cheat death and not only might obsess over immortality, but come close to obtaining it.

As one lich of some renown is said to have remarked:

Don't you get it? Be a vampire, or a ghost, or an immortal with a paint-by-numbers portrait in the rec room. Hell, even a brain-in-a-jar in a pinch. Anything to avoid the Big Fire Below.

So there are a variety of less savory means available to wizards for extending their life, but the wizard's need for thinking ahead and preparation goes past just the base desire to extend their life. Much of this comes from what is just good common sense for any wizard who goes into even remotely dangerous situations.

Even those who aren't obsessed with immortality or self preservation frequently find that preparation is the difference between life and death for them, and so they cannot afford to walk into a situation without due consideration and prepwork. A wizard who gets caught without her spell components or with all fire spells memorized when the enemy has fire elementals is a dead wizard.

So a wizard who is worth his salt and wishes to survive even remotely hostile situations is well advised--and capable--of engaging in preparation.

There are a few different ways that wizards approach this problem, of course. Diviners try to anticipate what is coming in advance and build their defenses accordingly. Others might attempt to gain a little more flexibility in their spell list so that they can spontaneously cast a few relevant abilities, thus meaning they don't need to know exactly what is coming. Some put themselves behind series of elaborate traps and layered defenses. Most learn quickly to put contingencies on themselves using whatever powers they have available, many learn to keep magical defenses up on their person even when traveling in relatively safe areas, those who are not cocky learn not to show all of their power at once, and all who are even half wise learn to not directly confront an enemy unless you know you can escape. Preferably by more than one route. The paranoid might go so far as to copy their consciousness, store their soul, or make friends with a very powerful cleric so that even death does not deter them.

This might all seem excessive to some, but if you don't learn to prepare for the worst as a wizard, you end up dead well before your time.

Bael'thas

I don't think they like me very much.

Okay, so I didn't realize how important it was for the wizard to be studying at that time, or that the lich was spent specifically to interrupt that study.  And perhaps it took me longer than it should have to try and teleport my way out of the cage I was contained in.  At least I didn't go sliding across the floor like an idiot.  Don't these people know how to be a little careful when the situation calls for it?

And to be fair, things looked pretty dire to me.  I was stuck in a cage, the metal one was stuck on the other side of the trapdoor, Arcadius had vanished to who knows where, leaving just Azan falling over in the grease and Ragnar.  To be fair some more though, if you're up against a lich, Ragnar probably counts for two or three paladins.

Perhaps this is just how tings tend to go for them.  Maybe they get into situations like this three times before breakfast every day.  If that's the case, well, then it's going to be an interesting trip.

We are back.

This abalith is going to push us to our limits. We have made our way back to the abalith's plane and the layout has changed. The biggest change was the labyrinth. There is now a ceiling. For this reason I believe there is no turning back. Things are getting harder and harder each time we leave. We are giving this abalith to much time to adapt to us. Anyways we have traveled into the labyrinth, having dog water with us has helped us progress quickly. We have made our way to a room with a mirror that produces our counter parts. Fortunately Ken claims he has a spell that will allow us to bypass it. He however needs some time to prepare to use the spell. So we wait. Hmm i think i hear something coming, looks like we are going to have to earn this time needed for Ken.

Journal of Arcadius

Confidence and Doubt

We have returned to the plane of the Aboleth with the aid of Ragnarr's friend Dogwater, the powerful and indeed strangely dog-like water elemental. This being is guiding us through the plane as we seek out portals to destroy.

Shortly after arrival, we met Ix the lizard again. He was much as before, and with as hearty an appetite. It may be that among the many powers upon him is some kind of scrying, however one feels safe from it nowhere on this plane.

We were then set upon by a female human wizard, who seemed to be besting Keniroh in some kind of duel of magic, though she fled as the warriors approached. It may be that Keniroh is not so oriented towards thwarting other mages as was Steinbjorn, but he is very mighty in many other ways, and thank the gods he is with us.

After that, we had easy travel until we arrived at the place where the first gate was to be, but it was beyond a trap door and protected by a Mirror of Opposition. We first tried blocking it with a wall of stone, but this seemed merely to seal the trapdoor shut.

Crunch nobly and honorably offered to test himself first against the mirror, and we considered this, when Ragnarr without warning tossed poor Ix high into the air and in range of the exposed remnant of the mirror. With a flash of magic an anti-Ix appeared and the two hissed and fought. The true Ix appeared to win and was promptly made ethereal and transported down through the sealed trap door. We also discovered that we cannot by any means interfere with the fight once in progress.

I am shocked at Ragnarr's offhand treachery in this matter! Surely, whatever he might be, Ix trusted us, and was poorly rewarded. I will pray for guidance and forgiveness for Rangarr.

Greater doubts were to come, but not in Ragnarr.

Seeing how matters stood, Crunch again offered to risk himself and be the first through the gate. In the meantime, Kenrioh told us he felt new insights of power, and might be able to study additional spells - spells we had felt the lack of thus far. Readily we agreed, and destroyed part of the wall blocking the mirror.

It was a strange scene, as Crunch battled against anti-Crunch in moves so slow and mechanical they seemed almost choreographed. In the end, our Crunch was defeated, but nonetheless was transported down as Ix had been.

Then however, trouble came to us, for the Aboleth knew we were not idle, and meant to disturb Keniroh in his studies. A horde of scarab beetles attacked us and was destroyed. Then, a lich, verily a lich, appeared, green light glowing in its dead eyes! Rarely does one who follows Pelor feel such purity of purpose, such confidence in victory, as when faced with the undead. Praise be to Lord Pelor that we may fight such things!

Ragnarr called upon Lord Pelor and rooted the thing in such a way as to prevent teleportation away, then sent forth healing magic, which is most destructive to the dead which walk, but found it hurled back upon him - no harm to us, but alas also none to it! Meanwhile, the thing cast the spell Grease upon the corridor between us and it. I watched Azan take some paces back and then charge forward, no doubt to take advantage of the very slipperiness of the grease and hurtle forward at the lich!

Alas, at that moment I was cast by the thing into a magic maze, and spent some moments trying to escape. When at last I did, Azan was triumphantly on the other side battling the lich, Ragnarr was continuing to cast spells, and Bael'thas was trapped in a force cage, and apparently engaged in trying to convince Ragnarr to interrupt Keniroh in his studies... the very thing the Aboleth wanted!

I never trusted him fully, for his story seems to be missing much, but now I trust him not at all!

However, there was not time to deal with him. I set myself for a charge such as Azan had done, and slid across the grease like a curling stone. For reasons I cannot recall, at that moment I had a bizarre vision - some shadowy figure, with a red beard and a faint resemblance to Jacob, guiding me with the power of raw hatred. May Pelor help divine the meaning of this strange sight!

In any case, whatever guidance I might have had abruptly vanished, and I came crashing next to the lich, on my back and with my feet propped against the wall. The lich made full use of my disadvantage and cast a horrible spell upon me that drained the very blood from my body in agony. Surely only the protection of Lord Pelor preserved me at all!

As soon as I could, I stood up and called forth the healing touch of Lord Pelor, which was but pure destruction for the lich, and pursued the thing while Azan attacked in his turn. It seemed to waver.

In the meantime, Bael'thas seemed to have stepped casually out of his cage prison, or been released, while if the glimpse from the corner of my eye served, he never once hit the lich with an arrow. We must watch him closely.

Regardless of where Bael'thas stands, and whether treachery or carelessness guide his deeds, the lich knew its doom was approaching, and used a simple Passwall to escape us.

Curse thee, ye dead who yet walk, the light of Lord Pelor shall wither thee! May the gods grant us strength and speed, and to you, final death!

*A*

Praise be to Pelor, I think Keniroh is ready at last! Let us set forth!

*A*

Ragnarr: Liches Ain't Shit, or the Dangers of Creeping Doubt

Pelor, thank you for answering my prayers. And in what a lovely fashion, too.

There are idiots involved in the plans of these bastards. Some of them are even powerful enough to be worthy of our efforts, but somehow still idiotic.

I mean, sure, he was a lich. Or was it a she? A wee bit skeletal, so it's hard to say. But a lich ought to be smart enough to see when it's not going to win a fight. And when you've got a whole lot of bastards with glowing symbols of Pelor strapped to them, it should be obvious that this is a bad place for undead.

And aye, sure you've managed to grease the floor between the bastards with big swords and yourself. Sure, you've managed to lock the archer in a force box and vanish one of the sworded bastards to somewhere or other. Aye, it seems like your life is fine, right?

Here's a clue: that "weakened" cleric is still a cleric, and of Pelor, you bastard, and when he asks Pelor to keep your arse right the hell there, he's not doing it for his health. It's because he's about to beat your arse, and everything else be damned.

The only downside is that the bastard got away.

But you know what's nice about that? By Pelor's beard, I'm looking forward to seeing the bastard's face when we do it again. Or when Arcadius get's him by the walls, wizard or no wizard.

Which reminds me: I'm not so sure about this archer. It seems like as not that mega-lich was there to try and stop the wizard from studying some things to help us out. So, you'd think that makes things for the rest of us pretty simple: keep the bastard off the wizard, and let the wizard do what he needs to do.

And there's the new guy, trying to convince the bird man that he should jump in and cast spells, just because he was in a cage, Arcadius had disappeared, I wasn't fully powered, and Azan was trying to learn bloody ice skating. I won't say we weren't savagely inconvenienced, but we still had Pelor on our side, damn it, and we weren't going to lose. We don't need some damn bastard trying to do the aboleth's work for him.

I'm not saying that he's a servant of the aboleth. I mean, I've got a link to him, but there's been things that the aboleths can do that I can't exactly tell through that, so it could go either way. Or he could be a willing servant of the damn fish. But something doesn't add up.

Like the fact that he walked right out of his invisible cage when he wanted to, after he'd spent some time, safe from the fight, trying to convince Big Bird to jump into the fight. (Which would have been a bad idea, anyway. The lich was reflecting spells right and left. At least mine only make me feel fantastic, and don't make us all dead.) So maybe he didn't have to spend all that time in there.

And maybe not even because he's an agent of the seer. Perhaps he's just a coward, terrified of facing overwhelming odds. But that doesn't make a damn bit of sense, either; he says he spent years fighting a guerrilla war against some bastards or others. You'd think that would make him used to overwhelming odds, and used to having to keep one guy out of the fight while he's up to no good. I would have thought that would be his life, aye? It only makes sense.

Unless he's an agent of the aboleth, or there's something very, very big he's not telling us.

Either way, he's going to visit the psychic surgeon with us, and that'll tell us the one.

And if he's clean, it's time he tells us what he was really up to. Because perhaps it was some manner of wankery, but that doesn't matter. The gods have been known to help a bastard out because he's a bastard, to bring him around to good.

But if he's to fight with us, it's only fair that we know.

Before he causes us some real problems.

Journal of Arcadius

Tasks Completed and Yet to be Done

At the temple of Lord Pelor, I have confessed my failure to the high priest Ma'leth, who has grown much older since I last saw him, but still retains that peaceful reflectivity and humor which so endeared him to the folk of the district when I was a boy. He assigned me tasks as atonement, but was not harsh.

My father was less pleased, but he understands the gravity of matters in the broader world and the urgency faced by my companions and I. He therefore commanded me to make a report in detail of the dangers we face, and what import they have for the Land of the Five Rivers, written in the correct old form, for study by those who have need to know. I prepared such, and thereby had little sleep that night.

Somewhat later, we found time to enforce a test of the archery skills of the newcomer Bael'thas. My father's archery master, old Sakhmet, arranged matters and watched with a discerning eye. Bael'thas does upon observation seem to be a competent if not outstanding bowman.

His story is also a strange one. He said he was a villager attacked by strange and evil beings, some form of Aberration, called Neogi, who descended from the sky in a ship of magic, raiding for slaves and plunder. He, Bael'thas fought them in raids of his own from the woods, which is certainly brave. Still, there is little in his prior experience or such skill as we have seen to explain why he would be called to join us in tasks as difficult and dangerous as those we face, or indeed how such as he could expect to survive them.

Unless there is something he has not told us.

Time shall tell and the gods shall judge.

In the meantime, sleep... for tomorrow we return to the plane of the Aboleth.

Pelor, guide and guard us, that we may defeat these foes of our world!

*A*

Journal of Crunch, Day 302

-day302:
Revised conclusions: Sword is alive.

After observation of the weapon's emotional reactions to my questions, I have seen a pattern in them that marks the existence of a sentient being. My best guess is that it is an unexpected side effect of the positive energy relay upgrades from my refit. Besides sentience, it has also gained a number of powers and abilities on the way: it is noteably sharper, capable of small feats of magic, and can electrocute anything hit by it. The sword is to be commended for gaining such functions on its own.

I have decided to name it Rusty, based off of my experience when I first received it. While Rusty seems amused by the name, I can't tell if it remembers that experience. It seems that Rusty is trepid at the idea of being introduced to my allies. This may have something to do with Ragnarr's reaction to it, which is now very confusing. Fortunately, I believe I have a plan to ease its introduction with a series of tactical conversations and social equipment upgrades.

Oh yes, the prisoner. After careful testing, questioning, and punching of the prisoner, we have decided to allow him to join our unit. His name is Bael'thas, and he hails from the lands of Coronthalus in Subplane 3. He was indeed sent here by a vision from his deity Ehlonna. He has spent much time in guerrilla warfare against creatures known as niyogi, and is a good marksman when not attacked in melee.

As for locating the junctions in the Plane of the Seer Aboleth, Ragnarr has made progress on that front. He has contacted Dogwater, who has agreed to locate them for us. Dogwater has become larger since the Incident, and has also eaten metal again. Ken bolstered our defenses for tomorrow before going to bed. Tomorrow we return again to the Plane of the Seer Aboleth. Tonight I will attempt to read a book to Rusty.

Conclusions: Life is a strange and surprising thing. Waterproof journals are a good long-term investment.

Bael'thas

Well, the group seem to have accepted me for what I am and allowed me to join them in their fight.  I had to prove to them my skill as an archer, since I gave a less than stellar performance in the where I met them.  It turns out that the evil they are fighting is a group of aboleths, large psionic monsters with a tendancy to mind control attackers to become their servants, and to that end the group has taken precautions to keep themselves shielded from such mental attack.  They have an item that will grant me the same protection temporarily, fortunately.  I shall have to find out what it is that shields some of them permanently and see if I can't get one of my own.

Soon, we are going to a... I think they called it a pocket dimension?  Some extraplanar space that is inhabited by the aboleth known as the Seer.  Apparently its specialty is to know what we're doing before we do it, and it's had time to prepare accordingly.  Great.

Oh well, it should be interesting at least.  I've never been off-plane before.  Can't be worse than this desert, right?

From the Journal of Keniroh

So, after what felt like a fairly long time in the afterlife (a couple weeks, at least) I was resurrected. Turns out I was only dead for about a day. I guess that's just how the celestial planes work.

Once back to walking among the living, it was back to work. Apparently when the others came back through the portal to the material plane, some of those demon-hunting-spider-things came through, and were causing trouble. So I quickly prepared myself to help deal with these intruders into our plane of existence.

We caught up with the monsters, and were able to kill one of them, and almost killed the other, but he was able to get away, the bastard. While I'm sure we'd all like to keep after them, we must first deal with the source of the intrusion, and the Aboleth that controls that dimension. Thus, we are returning to it to try to deal with the threat once and for all.

While we were fighting the spider demons, we met another warrior, who claims to have been trying to help us, but we aren't quite ready to trust him. The plan is to try to verify that he tells the truth using magic, although the Aboleth has ways of getting around such spells. We shall see whether we can trust him or not.

It is a good thing to take a break every so often

After asking some questions of the wood elf we have decided that he is not in services of the abalith, or that he is an assassin here to try and kill us. He claims to have had a vision to come assist us with battling the abablith. Before we let him join use we need to determine if this initial encounter was him running on some bad luck or if he is just not a good archer. We are going to take him to a range and if he can prove that he has some skill we will let him come along. This step needs to be taken because if we bring in another Tupper it will get us killed. We are no longer dealing with weak creatures that we exchange blows with. One mistake can and has cost people their lives. Anyways, time to relax. We need to take advantage of time like this so that we do not wear thin. We need to keep our skills at their peak and not relaxing from time to time prevents that. So I am off to take a break.

Ragnarr: Idiots, Arseholes, and Other Bastards Who Try to Take Over the World

Pelor has a plan.

Yes, I know that's the kind of rubbish we clerics are always spouting out. It's a good way to shut up uppity bastards who ask too many questions. "Oh, no, Timmy, getting your leg chewed off by a dire ferret is no sign that the gods hate you. It's all part of their PLAN!"

Rubbish, really, and lazy rubbish at that. If you want to know why the dire ferret chewed off your leg, you'd better start with "Well, Timmy, here's what happens when you take a piss in a dire ferret's den." Because the gods aren't a badger, and if you're stupid enough to do something to that ferret, I don't think they'll give too much of a shite if you get eaten by the damn thing. If they're really nice, maybe they'll send me along to grow it back, later, but it's your own stupid fault for pissing off a ferret the size of your auntie.

But this isn't that kind of "Pelor has a plan" shite. I've seen his plan. I've felt it. I'm not rightly sure I remember it, exactly, but I've felt it. I know it's there.

And the bit that I'm sure of is that, for whatever reason, we're up against a shiteload of aboleths until the end. Or at least Arcadius is. The rest of us... who knows if we'll get that far. But this is the plan.

The trouble is that, sure, it's Pelor's plan. And I'm honored that I have a part in that plan, that I'll help to save the world from these bastards. I just have to wonder, a whee bit, why we have to fight bastards who are so damn smart.

I mean, you figure that, of all the bastards trying to take over the world, the huge majority have got to be stupid, right? For one thing, they want to rule the world, and I've seen the world, and I'm not really sure why these bastards want it. For another, these are individuals who honestly think that their evil plan to conquer the world isn't going to be stopped by some small group of warriors, hand picked by the gods themselves and protected by the hand of destiny to defeat the intruders.

You notice how, now that we're well underway, we meet some new, powerful warrior every time an old 0ne dies or has to leave? That would be the "the gods have a plan" bit. They've got the damn thing down to replacement bits.

And yet, bastards keep trying. So you might think that, being that none of the other bastards were successful, that these would be idiots with no sense of pattern recognition.

But do we get the job of fighting that guy? No. We get the smart bastard, the smarmy sort that reworks his entire damn plane of existence just to make our lives harder.

Bastards.

Then again, I suppose if these wankers were dumber, they wouldn't need the likes of us to shut them down.

Well damn, that makes complaining about it bloody hard. It's like Pelor has a plan or something.

I suppose it's back to trying to work out how to cast Revive Bruised Ego on the wizard, then.

From the Journal of Keniroh

So, I finally arrived at the celestial planes, and specifically: the realm of Halmyr, God of Strategy and Warfare!

It looked like a fairly standard realm, as afterlives go. Clouds, a nice cool breeze, peaceful and such. I was quickly met by a guide who explained to me that I was likely to be raised soon, so I should stay in a section of the first layer which is effectively a waiting room. It was like a giant library combined with a training room. Shelves of books, chairs and tables with sectioned off areas where you could practice weapon techniques or spar with other entities waiting in the room with you. Many of these entities were having philosophical discussions, most often with some relevance to some historic war strategy or another.

And the inhabitants of this area didn't need to rely on just discussion to debate their points, there were all sorts of strategy games that mimicked warfare in some way or another that could be used to test theories and arguments. Would a Dracip Maneuver work against the Rotciv Gambit? Games from Chess to Go and far more complex games could be used to try out various tactics, or just to pass the time.

I developed some interest in a particularly strange game that one fellow introduced me to. It involved using small figurines on a hexagonal map to reenact the battles of another plane of existence, where magic did not exist, but instead the humans used giant war-golems (not unlike huge versions of Crunch) to battle over great swaths of territory. It was a relatively complex game, involving many rules and lots of dice rolling, although not the most complex game I've tried. And because time moves differently in the celestial realms than it does on the material plane, I had weeks to learn the game and develop some proficiency with it before being brought back to life.

While the type of combat and weapons used were not exactly applicable to the types of combat I usually find myself in, it was a nice way to rest up and prepare for the coming battles. And it did give me an idea on some possible transmutation spells I might try working on if and when I get some time. For that matter, if I were to work with the right golem-smith, we might be able to create a fearsome creation, indeed!

Anyway, death wasn't too bad, but I have too much to accomplish on the material plane to stay there longer than necessary. I'll meet final death soon enough, I'm sure (but not too soon, I hope).

From the Journal of Keniroh

Is it still a near death experience if you actually die?

We recently did battle with a great and terrible dragon! After a long and hard fought battle (and the unfortunate death of the one called Dantroe) we were able to kill it, with a magic missile of all things dealing the final blow!

Unfortunately, the dragon was right over us when it died, and about 600 feet in the air. While the others were able to get out of the way or otherwise survive it's crash landing, I was not so lucky. The last thing I remember seeing was a large piece of bone coming right at me.

The next thing I knew, I was floating in a dark void. I looked around trying to get my orientation but could not immediately figure out where I was. But from the little I could remember, and from what I'd heard from stories of others who had died (and eventually been resurrected) I could at least figure out that I was dead. Except something was off; usually those who have died find themselves in a more pleasant environment. Either they find themselves floating in clouds, or on a sunny field of grass, or they wake up in a warm but suitably grimy tavern with busty bar-maids and a perpetual bar-fight going on. Basically, they wake up having been transported to whatever afterlife is appropriate, depending on the person, their specific god(s) worshiped, and whether said god(s) feel they have proven their worth or not (even the worshipper of Vecna I once spoke with on this subject was quickly greeted by an infernal entity and told where to go and what to do).

And then I heard a tremendous roar out in the darkness! Had I ended up in the abyssal void?! I didn't think I'd behaved that badly! I mean, sure, I'd played more than my share of tricks on those seven-fold-veil elves, and I'll admit there's times I would have liked to have done certain things differently when I was working as a mercenary, but never anything so bad I'd think it would warrant being trapped in the abyss! Then again, I'm sure plenty of others who got stuck in the abyss would say the same thing.

I was really getting worried, but then Dantroe appeared in front of me! Turns out he'd woken up in a similar situation, and wasn't sure where we were either, but had eventually spotted me. I at least was glad to see someone else besides whatever was roaring! And I figured one as pious as him certainly wouldn't end up in the void.

And then it hit me! We were still in the pocket dimension! There was so little connection to the celestial realms here that we weren't able to be pulled to where we'd normally go! And the roaring was from the dragon who'd just died too and was in the same predicament!

From my (albeit limited) knowledge, we should be able to exit through the same portal we came in through when alive, we just needed to find it. Dantroe was the one to feel warmth coming from one direction, and then spot the dim light in the distance. We quickly moved toward it as we remembered the demons in the area and did not want to become a meal for them! Luckily, we were able to move very quickly and unnoticed to the portal. Right after Dantroe went through, and just before I went through, I called out into the dark void as loud as I could: "The portal is over here dragon! It was nothing personal when I killed you!" and then I dived through the portal before getting any response.

Quickly we were back in our normal plane, and immediately we could feel our respective afterlives pulling. Dantroe and I exchanged brief farewells and wished each other luck wherever we ended up. Nice fellow, that Dantroe. I must say I'm sorry for the part I played in his death; had I not turned him into a dragon, things might have gone differently. Ah well, I'm certain he's in a better place now.

Journal of Bael'thas

Well that didn't go quite as planned.

By the grace of Ehlonna, I had been given a vision in which I met a group of holy warriors, engaged in a great battle against the forces of evil.  Mostly followers of Pelor, two were dwarves who were apparently complete opposite: one wearing a mountain of plate armor, and the other wearing rags.  Another of the group was curiously not made of flesh.  What evil they are fighting was not clear.

I was traveling with a caravan bound for the town that I had seen in the vision, but we did not make it.  Without warning, people were taken, wrapped in webs, and dragged a short distance before disappearing entirely.  The attackers were never visible, and there was mass confusion.  I managed to hide and escape capture, and after the attack stopped, I emerged to try and piece together what had happened.  Nobody was left alive, and there were no tracks of any attackers to follow.

I spent the next day looking for clues around the caravan, anything that might lead me to the attackers.  Eventually, I heard the sounds of battle over a dune and quickly moved to investigate.  What I found appeared to be the group I had been sent to join, engaged in battle with a demonic spider-like being the likes of which I had never seen.

I immediately joined in, intending to put a few arrows in the demon.  However, between the excitement of unexpected battle combined with meeting the ones from my vision, not a single shot landed on target.  Immediately after this, I sensed something sneaking up on me, and whirled around.

What happened next makes little sense to me.  I suddenly found myself struck by the flying sword of the metal being, and then was set upon by another demon-spider who had not been visible.  The next bit of the battle was a blur, but I seem to recall the others fighting the other demon as its poison sent me unconscious.

After the battle, they revived me, but now my task seems to be to convince them I'm not in league with these demons.  I suppose that's understandable, given that I didn't actually manage to hit anything in the fight.  Although They might have noticed I was nearly killed by one of them.

One would hope that fact will work to my advantage.

Journal of Crunch, Day 301

-day301:
The food here is very good, although the grape remnants will be difficult to clean out later. As Arkadesh's family maintains a series of farms, it is all fresh. Arkadesh enjoyed the breakfast more than anyone. First priority of the day was to reactivate Keniroh at a local temple of Pelor, which was accomplished without concern. Keniroh seems pleased with his new title of dragonslayer, though this may inhibit future relations with peaceful dragons should knowledge of this event become widespread.

After the reactivation session, a priest approached Ragnarr and informed him of foul doings in the desert: a patrol found a trading caravan ransacked and covered in webs. Ragnarr and Keniroh then collaborated to both find the offensive force and to transport us to it, as well as augment our abilities to battle it. The forces in question were revealed to be the bebilith from yesterday with two reinforcements. The bebilith fled the field of battle, while its reinforcements were slain and captured respectively. The prisoner will be held until we can confirm his statements, that he was not seeking to fight us and that he was sent to this place by the goddess Ehlonna.

On the way back to the temple, I experienced a strange sensation. Careful isolation of equipments suggested that it was originating from my sword. When Ragnarr was asked to confirm it, he noted nothing unusual and confirmed that I was working correctly. The sensation ended before our return to the temple.


An experiment was carried out to determine the origin of recent abnormal phenomena surounding my equipment. First, the previously broken toy was carefully rebroken and placed in the same pocket as before. All other equipment was removed from the bag. Next, the sword was placed within easy reach of me. Finally, observations on the states of both the toy and the sword are to be recorded every hour.

Hour 1. Bag is unmoved, toy is still broken. No unusual activity from sword. Adding tools to bag.
Hour 2. Bag has been moved slightly, toy is still broken. No unusual activity from sword. Removing tools from bag, adding unused clothing.
Hour 3. Bag is unmoved, toy is still broken. No unusual activity from sword. Removing clothing from bag, adding non-journal books.
Hour 4. Bag is unmoved, toy is still broken. No unusual activity from sword. Removing books from bag, adding remaining holy symbols from old Symbol of Emotion.
Hour 5. Bag is unmoved, toy is still broken. No unusual activity from sword. Removing symbols from bag, adding battle gear (including sword).
Hour 6. Bag is unmoved. Toy has been repaired. Sword is glowing, crackling with electrical energy, and emitting sensations of minor agitation and frustration when held.

Conclusions: inconclusive.

Journal of Arcadius

Home and Guilt

May I pay the price for what has happened! May those who have died find peace in the afterlife.

Fleeing the evil plane of the Aboleth once more, we returned to the prime material plane. This time, to my homeland. It was my idea. Curse my weakness and vanity! I thought on one hand that if any place was a safe haven, it would be my homeland, and on the other that it would be good to see my family after so many years. Instead we, unwitting fools, brought death in our wake. Bebilith, accursed and vile, from the depths of the abyss via the boundaries of the Aboleth plane, followed us through the portal!

Now, innocents have died, and we brought it to them.

I have brought shame and dishonor upon my land and my family. For this, I must atone. Some of the others seem to want to keep our guilt a secret, I cannot.

At least we slew one of the fiends. though the mightier escaped to some plane unknown.

We seem to have also drawn a stranger, friend or foe is unclear, an archer who claimed to be helping us. He seems to be an incompetent shot, which is either bad or good, depending on which side he is truly on.

O' gods, let us not be burdened with another Tupper!

O' people of the five rivers, I mourn thy loss.

O' Lord Pelor, I accept thy judgment!


*A*

Yet another creature released

Yet again in our rush to raise Ken we have released another creature onto this land. We were able to kill one of the creatures but not both the second one got away. We also were not able to stop them from killing a caravan of people. We need to be more cautious as we work to defeat these abalith, or we will just replace the abalith with another creature.
While fighting the creatures we came across a wood elf. He claim that he was hunting down the creatures same as us. For now we are going to use some spells to find out if we can trust him. I believe he was not working with the creatures but I he might be working for the ababliths. The only action we have seen him take is shooting arrows that missed both us and the creatures. So he could be an assassin who was not ready for the other creatures messing up his assassination attempt. We will see, if he is who he say he is he could be helpful down the road.

Ragnarr: Kingdom of the Spiders

In our defense, this one wasn't really our fault.

I mean, yes, we let out a whee bit of horribly evil bastards that want to invade, kill everything, and lay babies in their head. Yes, the word "again" could be added to that bit, and it wouldn't be wrong. But this one wasn't really our fault.

We had to get back somehow, after all. Trying to pull off what we needed to pull off on that damn demi-plane would have been a bastard. And the new wizard lad did deserve a resurrection after what he pulled off. It went badly for him, but damn impressive of him. (Even if he does seem convinced that the gifts of Pelor somehow aren't good enough by themselves, but need "improved". Have to have a talk to him about that one.)

So we came back to our plane. And the nasty giant flesh eating invisible spider things followed us.

And we dealt with them, too. And with the bastard ranger who might have been trying to help us, might have been trying to kill us, but either way seems to be a crap shot.

He claims he was sent to help us. Pelor save us from the incompetent bastards other deities send to join our little world saving club.

But at least I have an excuse to summon Dogwater.

It's been too long. I wonder how his bitch is?

I should get on with that, anyway.

I just hope he can help us.

Journal of Arcadius

Tragedy

We slew a dragon today, but at great cost. The Aboleth's plane is assaulted by demons and guarded by all manner of strange beings, including a talking lizard enchanted to appear as a dragon. However, we also encountered a very real and live one. An enormous, powerful, and no doubt very old Green Dragon. Ken, whose powers were great, turned Dantroe into a Dragon, of smaller stature, and that brave, reckless monk soared into the skies to do battle while the rest of us organized. It was a fearsome fight, and over all too soon - Dantroe falling from the sky and turning back into his natural form upon death, and that form breaking in ruin upon the ground. The rest of us meanwhile were given glowing wings by Lord Pelor, through the intercession of Ragnarr, and we took flight in attack, dealing the Dragon much harm. It then claimed to be an ally of Melrik, here attacking the Aboleth's plane for its own purposes. It seemed plausible, yet something about it rang untrue, and there was the recent memory of our friend's death...

Trusting in the guidance of Lord Pelor, I announced my disbelief and charged the Dragon. Alas, my powers seem week upon this plane, and I failed time and again to strike it. Meanwhile, the others had better luck, and did it so much further harm that it attempted to escape. As it soared to the skies, perhaps five hundred feet up or more, Ken hit it with a magic missile, and this spell finally struck it down. It fell towards us from on high, and at that moment we realized our danger. We fled in all directions from the colossal bulk dropping towards us, all except Azan, who crouched to the ground under his shield. The thing struck the ground in an explosion of flesh and scales. Lord Pelor must have preserved Azan, for I cannot see otherwise how he survived that impact. Alas! Ken was not so lucky. He was running, laughing in triumph as he went, when a large piece of bone flew like a ballista bolt through his chest and impaled him against a wall!

Two brave comrades lost so quickly! Yet at least, they died well and in service to a great purpose.

Praise be that we were guided with the foresight to prepare for the resurrection of one. It will be Ken, as Dantroe once told us he did not wish to be brought back from death. Yet, matters are now worse.


*A*

Journal of Crunch, Day 306b-300

-day292 + Sigil day14-B :: day300:
Operations in the Plane of the Seer Aboleth have not gone well. Ken and Dantroe have fallen in combat with a fearsome green dragon. Due to Dantroe's beliefs, we will not be reactivating him. Ragnarr gave his components a sincere and moving eulogy, although we were unable to recover them. Before the battle, Ken had expressed the desire for reactivation. Ken was responsible for the slaying of the fiendish dragon that slew Dantroe, and pushed himself to the very limits of his abilities to do so. He was slain after the battle by the debris of the fallen corpse of the fiendish dragon. Azan in particular was very fortunate to survive the impact of the dragon corpse, which covered the area in draconic fluids and organic components.

Before the dragon was defeated, it had claimed allegiance with an ally of dubious morality known by the others as Mellrik. The dragon claimed that the seer aboleth has merged with the demiplane itself, rendering it immune to conventional weaponry. It also claimed that there are invading forces from the Lower Planes to contend with, as the demiplane serves as a transplanar access point to Prime Material Subplane 3. Assuming all of this is true, our best option is to sever the connection between the Plane of the Seer Aboleth and Prime Material Subplane 3, leaving the demiplane to drift in the Astral Plane. This can be done at a serious of junction points across the Plane of the Seer Aboleth, however, these are likely to be heavily guarded as neither of the opposing forces wish to disrupt access to Prime Material Subplane 3.

All things considered, another regrouping was required. This time we retreated to Prime Material Subplane 3, to the Land of the Five Rivers. Upon our return, this unit I spotted an unusual ripple in the air, which was revealed to be a bebilith. Webbing was observed around our entrance point on the Plane of the Seer Aboleth, but no bebilith were present at that time. The creature then disappeared shortly after Ragnarr confirmed its presence. No further contact was made. The residence of Arkadesh's family is very nice, with a variety of religious adornments honoring Pelor, and some well-made floors. We have coordinated with the household's guards to maintain a night watch due to our encounter with the bebilith.

There is a minor matter of concern. I have been carrying a small broken toy in my bag with the intent of mending it during a dull or peaceful period. As it has rarely been dull or peaceful, the toy was neglected. However, during the latest inventory check I found it to have been restored by means and persons unknown. Reason suggests it was one of my travelling companions, however, previous experiences indicate that they are neither as knowledgeable about woodworking as I am, or the sort of persons who would dig through the inventory of comrades without permission. All equipment is in nominal shape and without the taint of villainry. No lapse of memory experienced. It is a mystery.

Conclusions: We are notably unprepared for battles in the Plane of the Seer Aboleth, and may have a campaign ahead of us in said demiplane. We may have also led a vile creature to a new hunting ground.

Rock, Paper, o wait falling dragon beats wizzard

We just finished a fight with a green dragon. The dragon claimed to be allies with a ranger that people in the group knew. Which is why we talked with it for a while, but things seemed not right and I think the death of Dantroe was to hard for us to allow to drop. So we continued to fight the dragon. Thankfully Ken had some very useful spells that made victory possible. We able to defeat the dragon but we loss two comrade. As sad before xxx died early, he was turn into to a dragon and the green dragon killed him. Ken also died. As the dragon was trying to escape, Ken killed it with a magic missal. The problem was the dragon fell from the sky and landed on a few of us. I was able to pull though Ken was not. Well Ragnar is going to raise Ken next, but we will not be raising Dantroe. He did not wish to be brought back.

Eulogy for Dantroe

To be honest, I can't say we ever really knew the lad. I mean, who can ever really know another person and all that rubbish, but I think that was even more true for Dantroe.

He was a quiet lad, and I say that to his credit. He let his actions speak for him, and whether those actions were good or bad, they spoke loudly.

He was a brave lad, even if he didn't always have the best sense of strategy. Always in front, he was, the first to charge the enemy and the last to give up. I guess, really, that if I were to guess how he'd die, this was it.

You fought bravely, lad, right up to the end. Against a foe a damn sight bigger than you, with a hell of a lot more time to get used to being a dragon, you fought like the mad bastard you were.

But now you're fight is over. And though most of us here follow Pelor, there's not one of us that doesn't believe you've made it to Moradin's halls. And that, in those halls, you're drinking all the finest Dwarven ale with the randiest Dwarven women you ever denied yourself in life.

And I hope you know that your sacrifice brought us victory, and when we're out of here, we'll raise a glass in your honor.

Good luck to you, lad, and may Moradin watch over your soul's journey. Rest well, and know that your part in this is done, and done well.