Ragnarr: Sitting in the Drow Cell Part 2

I've never really thought that much about magic.

I mean, I know it works. I ask Pelor to grant me some degree of power, and if he trusts me with that power, he gives it to me and lets me know how to call it out when I need it. Sometimes I need it, sometimes I don't.

For Ryan it's a wee bit different. He learns how to tap into some arcane source of power and goes to it. It seems a wee bit more dangerous, less controlled, but it seems to work out alright.

But now we're here. Anything Ryan tries to cast sucks the life out of the area. Things die, turn to dust.

It makes you wonder.

It makes you wonder if every time a wizard casts a spell, the world dies a little. Of course, things are always being born, so for now, at least, it seems, it would be hard for them to suck all of the life out of anything. But I wonder if, perhaps, it would be good for them to consider each spell they cast a wee bit more carefully, just to be sure.

But if arcane magic takes it's power from life, where does mine come from? Pelor, obviously. But if arcane magic takes a little life each time, what does mine do?

It seems to me that, perhaps, each time I cast a spell, Pelor gives a whee bit of himself to help us out. He's a powerful god, so he's got a lot to give, but perhaps it doesn't last forever.

Perhaps that's what happened to the Old Gods. It's not that they faded from memory, it's just that they gave what they could, and when they could give no more they had to stop. At least until they could recover, and could give again.

It makes you think, doesn't it? Pelor isn't just watching, isn't even just helping us. He cares for his own enough that he's willing to give up pieces of himself to heal us.

Musings of Mistera - Prologue

Cypress is getting restless with the daily monotony. I can tell in his wary eyes and the way he grudgingly lays on the cobblestones as I talk to yet another villager about the wonders of garlic. Any other day he would be by himself in the forest, waiting for me while I peddle what small quantity of tinctures I have before going back to him. Sometimes he would even have a small leftover of a kill waiting for me, something to roast over the fire.

Today is different, and Cypress won't leave my side. Instead, the stubborn wolverine sniffs and growls at every person who approaches me. Five villagers back off before I snap at him.

"Cypress, knock it off. Why don't you go off and hunt in the forest? I'm sure you can find a nice rabbit or two."

Cypress looks up and snarls.

"Seriously, what is up with you today? We've only just arrived here and you--"

Flashes of light and echoes of sound bombard my senses.

A female - wielding a bow - animal by her side - calling for help. A fortress - guarded by the black haired ones.

I shake my head, wondering if I've truly gone mad.

No, go to her, Mistera. Answer the call.

I sit down momentarily, catching my breath. Cypress licks my hand and then scampers to the road, looking back to see if I will follow.

It seems he got the same call as I. When the wilds call, I am there to answer.

Giornale di Aurelia

Thank you, Lady Diana!

Finally another female in the group!

We fought our way through the Drow Keep we are in. The little girl, Leaf, is interesting. She seems to make everyone her friend.

Then came an interesting fight. They had I used a lot of arrows, most of which were recoverable. There were guards and magicians and hidden magicians and more guards and lots of fighting.

I actually got hurt! That does not happen often. Bah! I do not like it.

One of the Magicians threw up a stone wall. We got rid of the guys on our side in quick order, and when the wall disappeared, there were dead bodies and a druid on the other side.

Lady Diana sent us a druid!

From the Journal of Hrogar

We've arrived at the temple that we were searching for, and it is defended by Drow. Drow who like to launch poisoned ballista bolts at you. So we tried to get out of the direct line of fire, and in doing so, Ragnarr ended up falling through a trap door and down into a chute. And then for reasons not entirely known to me, everyone else started jumping down the chute after him. Admittedly, I did want to make sure he wasn't injured, but jumping after him wasn't my first idea. But then the only ones left on top were me and Tupper. Me and TUPPER. So I didn't really have any choice at that point. I kicked Tupper down the chute and jumped in after him. There was no way I was going to try to drag his ass through the arrow assault.

Anyway, jumping down the chute ended up not as bad as it might have. We were able to help Ragnarr and no one died. So then we were able to get out of the pit of spiked we'd fallen in, but unfortunately in the process we alerted the Drow to where we were. We made it down to a tunnel, and eventually met some Drow (I did the courteous thing and offered to let them surrender. I know it wasn't likely but now when I have to start killing them they can't say I didn't give them any other options).

So we were lead away and put in a jail cell, but we were able to escape and found a hall with many other trapped entities. We allowed one of them out, a young girl with rocks floating around her, and she's been following us since. I'm not quite sure what to make of her, but we should help her if we can. We eventually made our way to an area which looked like an obvious trap, but with the help of the little girl AND HER ABILITY TO MELT WALLS WITH HER MIND we were able to get past it and meet up with some Drow who were doing paperwork. We fought them, having some trouble wearing down their cleric and mage, but eventually defeated them, with the mage putting up a rock-wall to cover his retreat and leaving his comrades to fend for themselves. Then the little girl made them "her friends" and they stopped seeming to have wills of their own. A strange little girl indeed.

We also met up with another person, someone apparently sent to assist us (or so she claims). Well, the more the merrier.

Day: Sitting the Drow's Dungeon

So, Drow.

Pack of bastards, that lot. Not so much as a "Hello, how are ye' doing" before they start shotting an arseload of poisoned arrows at us. And ballista bolts. Really, are any of us that big, to require such a damn big bolt?

It's not like we've got us the kind of master sniper who could pick off all the bastards. Ryan might be able to make us invisible, sure, if we don't all mind dying. So we do what any proper bunch of Paladins would do: we run.

And we get to the cliffs, and they're still shooting at us, and what do we have to deal with? Stairs! Pelor damned stairs!

So, I made to climb them, get out of the damn arrows. It was kind of relief that I didn't have to climb them, after all. They turned into a chute and I slid down the bastards.

Now, the folks I travel with are a nice lot. Not always so bright, but they mean well. Which, I suppose, is why they decided that it was a good idea to jump down the chute after me. The chute which for no reason would possibly have poisoned spikes at the bottom.

At least I cushioned the fall for a few people. Only the dwarfs got ill from the poison, which only shows that the Drow gods are perverse and unnatural beings. And that they have damn anti-dwarf poison. And that it's not the proper, alcoholic kind.

But we live. The gods must be watching over this bunch, because we live. And we find a way out of the pit, and into some tunnels, where a nasty lizard beast made friends with Tupper. (Really. Friends. With Tupper. I'm telling you, this place is not natural.)

And, of course, we found a Drow patrol. Which Hrogar, who will fit in nicely with this lot, promptly asked to surrender. For some strange reason, sitting inside of their own fortress, heavily armed, with dozens of reinforcements within shouting distance, they said no.

At least no one tried to charge the bastards. Not that it would have done much. Before we knew it, somebody had cast a spell (apparently without dying) and we were safe and sound in this cell. It's a nice change of pace, really: quiet, and no one's immediately going to try and kill us.

It's just that we can't get out, which is a problem.

Though we're working on it. If the gods watch over us, and it seems they do, they'll likely let us out.

If only to put us in front of something worse.

Giornale di Aurelia

Lord Hercules has made it clear in my dreams that I am no where near finished with this business, even if his disciple's soul is recovered. I do not like this. I am surrounded by men. They fight well enough for men, but they are still men.

I do not like this wasteland. I want my mountains, my village, my world back.

Out here I feel too removed from my duties. I was not meant for questing and such! This is a thing for heroes, not Hunters!

I really wish to write more about this. I find though that now is not a good time for a long entry, neither is it a good time because my anger stops my words.

If Hercules were not a god, I would tell him to vaffanculo! Pardon my language, Lady Diana.

From the Journal of Hrogar

We killed a Beholder, and hopefully that was a good thing. Part of me worries that he was rightfully guarding the lower levels from thieves or something like that. Although it's probably more likely he was a guard for someone living down there. Which is perhaps really the more serious possibility, because we didn't do any searching beyond where we found the Beholder. Someone put the Beholder there, and someone summoned the Jinn to the upper level to cause trouble for the nearby town. And we don't know who it is or why they're doing it, and we didn't do anything to stop them. We hopefully slowed them down, but I would have liked to do a bit more searching, but the others wanted to move on quickly.

Sometimes I fear the others want to move too quickly. To focus only on the primary mission at hand, and to Tartarus with the rest of the world. But I feel we need to be balanced in our approach, attacking both the causes as well as the symptoms. If we focus too much on one and not on the other, it will prove disastrous.

Still, we've at least slowed down whoever was attacking the town, so perhaps that's enough. And who knows, maybe after we deal with the Temple we're heading to (assuming we survive) we can head back and finish off whoever is causing trouble for the town.