Paladins are lovely lads. So well meaning. So noble, good at hitting things with other things, that sort of thing. Some of the nicest people you'll ever meet, and great role models for your children.
If a thing is evil, fight it. If a thing is good, help it. It's a fine philosophy, but by Pelor's beard, sometimes it makes the buggers a bit daft.
I mean, supposing you end up in a pirate fortress, right? Better, say the fortress is probably under the control of an aboleth, particularly a telepath. So we can assume pretty reasonably that this thing is going to have ways to protect the brains of its minions, right? Or even mess with their minds until they don't even know there's an aboleth present. Being a bloody telepath, a reasonable person could assume this, and therefore assume that evil bastards in this place are probably going to be protected from looking evil. And that, furthermore, they're going to be mind controlled, confused, and bloody pirates, so they're probably not going to be entirely forthcoming about things.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the non-violent solution when it presents itself. I'd be just as happy to accept a man's surrender, tie him up, and leave him stuffed in a barrel where he can't get me into any more trouble.
But these bastards are all just barely on what you might call the smooth talker end of things. Not that smooth, even, but a little bit. And I'm learning that my paladins start having unsolvable moral dilemmas the moment someone answers a question like "are you evil?" with anything other than a yes or no.
It's daft, and it just keeps happening. It seems that the only way I can get them to use their pointy things to hit people is if I get the damn thing started myself. And by then they've been confused by a damn game of "I know you are but what am I" for so long that the reinforcements have arrived.
I mean, really. I shouldn't have to hit things myself, should I? That's what Pelor made bloody paladins for.
Bastards.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
From the Journal of Hrogar
We have an Abolith to kill!
As this one is the telepath, one would assume it knows we are coming. And what we are planning.
It is located on an island, with a pirate fleet on the surface and a Kraken beneath the water surrounding the island.
We thought going through whatever underwater entrance there is would be easiest, but that was before we met the Kraken.
Hopefully things will be easier after that battle, but I tend to doubt it. Still, at least we survived, for now.
As this one is the telepath, one would assume it knows we are coming. And what we are planning.
It is located on an island, with a pirate fleet on the surface and a Kraken beneath the water surrounding the island.
We thought going through whatever underwater entrance there is would be easiest, but that was before we met the Kraken.
Hopefully things will be easier after that battle, but I tend to doubt it. Still, at least we survived, for now.
Sztuczka's Journal
Ok so we found these cannons and this gunpowder and we decided we needed to get through a door and they let me try and set off the cannon at it and it worked at least enough that they could kick it down the rest of the way and then we blew up a trap in the ceiling and the guy up there had put a barrel of gunpowder over the trap so a whole wave of fire came washing down and it was awesome and then there was a door with lots of locks on it and one of them refused to go boom so I used paper and made a little packet of boom and my hair caught on fire and it was awesome but now i doubt my gnominess because i did all that exploding with no training and i still have all my fingers and toes and didn't even lose a limb!
Journal of Crunch, Day 289b
-day289-B:
We have located and neutralized a number of storehouses of pirating supplies within the facility, and dealt with a pirate supervisor as well. There has also been the discovery of a strange series of prisons, each involving crystals encasing a person and surrounded by runes. Arkadesh and Azan have tested the defenses of the primary prison by using the corpse of the pirate supervisor. (Current theory is that this act doubles as a ward against necromantic reactivation of the pirate.) Hrogar has suggested that if the aboleth seeks to imprison these people, it is our imperative to release them; this inspired a campaign of flinging spears, harpoons, and explosives at the primary prison crystal. Regardless of this, the crystal remains mostly intact.
We have also found a cache of explosion-based ranged weaponry, of which Sztuczka is very knowledgeable. We have progressed through a number of doors using these materials, however, firing a ship cannon upwards has proven to be dangerous. (It should be noted that Sztuczka does not feel pain, and may also be suicidal. Special precautions are to be taken.) Dantroe has volunteered for operative evacuation duties during these maneuvers, and has served well in this role.
Ragnarr has expressed an unusual sentiment: disbelief in that he has not only repaired me during the mission, but that he could repair me at all! This was particularly surprising given his relative sobriety. Fortunately, this matter was rectified after an 1i78[30]4D7 encounter in which a pirate ruptured my secondary control clump, and repairs were successfully requested from and implemented by Ragnarr. There was some minor cultural abrasion during this event, however, expectations of hostility in the immediate future are very low. It should also be noted that Sztuczka proved willing to attempt manual repairs to the damage.
Barring new circumstances, we have agreed to pursue the potential of an underground river with regards to locating the aboleth.
We have located and neutralized a number of storehouses of pirating supplies within the facility, and dealt with a pirate supervisor as well. There has also been the discovery of a strange series of prisons, each involving crystals encasing a person and surrounded by runes. Arkadesh and Azan have tested the defenses of the primary prison by using the corpse of the pirate supervisor. (Current theory is that this act doubles as a ward against necromantic reactivation of the pirate.) Hrogar has suggested that if the aboleth seeks to imprison these people, it is our imperative to release them; this inspired a campaign of flinging spears, harpoons, and explosives at the primary prison crystal. Regardless of this, the crystal remains mostly intact.
We have also found a cache of explosion-based ranged weaponry, of which Sztuczka is very knowledgeable. We have progressed through a number of doors using these materials, however, firing a ship cannon upwards has proven to be dangerous. (It should be noted that Sztuczka does not feel pain, and may also be suicidal. Special precautions are to be taken.) Dantroe has volunteered for operative evacuation duties during these maneuvers, and has served well in this role.
Ragnarr has expressed an unusual sentiment: disbelief in that he has not only repaired me during the mission, but that he could repair me at all! This was particularly surprising given his relative sobriety. Fortunately, this matter was rectified after an 1i78[30]4D7 encounter in which a pirate ruptured my secondary control clump, and repairs were successfully requested from and implemented by Ragnarr. There was some minor cultural abrasion during this event, however, expectations of hostility in the immediate future are very low. It should also be noted that Sztuczka proved willing to attempt manual repairs to the damage.
Barring new circumstances, we have agreed to pursue the potential of an underground river with regards to locating the aboleth.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Fun with Cannons
We keep going further into the keep. I can respect the courage of the monk, but he is not the most tactical of the group. He keeps running ahead and attack the enemy and ends up nearly getting killed. Thankfully Ragnar has an amazing ability to keep people alive. Pelor has blessed us with his presence. Any way, we where able to get past a death trap, sadly the archers were only able to hit the monk. Only a couple arrows were able to hit anyone else. Ragnar at this point cast a mist spell and we were able to fight our way through.
After this room we found a few cannons. This was right up Sztu's alley. A cannon is an amazing item in the hands of a noam. Amazing but dangerous. We used the cannon to get through several door. There is still no signs of the abalith. Hopefully we can find some signs of it soon.
After this room we found a few cannons. This was right up Sztu's alley. A cannon is an amazing item in the hands of a noam. Amazing but dangerous. We used the cannon to get through several door. There is still no signs of the abalith. Hopefully we can find some signs of it soon.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Journal of Arcadius
(hastily scrawled note)
I feel... odd.
I'm not sure if it is the accursed amulet, or some other effect, but I am not quite myself. Not that the slain evildoer deserved better, but I'm not sure what possessed me to use his corpse as a means to set off magical defenses in the circle. Pelor forgive me! May his soul find redemption for his deeds in life.
And the cannon...
The less said the better. I suspect the enemy, or at least all but the mightiest or most foolish of them, have fled far from the range of our efforts. Still Sztuczka is enjoying herself mightily, and that is something.
Ragnarr has an odd expression on his face.
Lord Pelor, clear my mind!
*A*
I feel... odd.
I'm not sure if it is the accursed amulet, or some other effect, but I am not quite myself. Not that the slain evildoer deserved better, but I'm not sure what possessed me to use his corpse as a means to set off magical defenses in the circle. Pelor forgive me! May his soul find redemption for his deeds in life.
And the cannon...
The less said the better. I suspect the enemy, or at least all but the mightiest or most foolish of them, have fled far from the range of our efforts. Still Sztuczka is enjoying herself mightily, and that is something.
Ragnarr has an odd expression on his face.
Lord Pelor, clear my mind!
*A*
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Ragnarr: After a Very Strange Day
I'm really worried about the effects of Papa Lad's amulet. We know that it's doing something bad to him, since usually things that kill you when you try and take them off aren't of the good and shiny sort. But the effect that it's had has been very, very strange.
He seems... giddy. Childlike. And possessed of the kind of humor you usually only find among veteran healers, the kind that have been fighting plague for too damn long. He spent a long, long time tossing things into a circle of protective power, trying to short it out. Which is kind of odd and pointless, by itself.
But then he started using the body of the bastard who wouldn't let us by. Tied a rope around his leg and tossed him.
Which was funny, in a gallows humor sort of way. But very unlike Arcadius.
And that was before he let the gnome play with cannons. None of us died, and I'm happy to say that we seem to have scared off most of the bloody pirates with our experiments. It seems they can tell from the other side of walls that we have no bloody clue what we're doing with the thing. We're operating off a story Laddette heard one time, about this friend of hers whose brother was in a play, and in the play they talked about firing a cannon.
If you don't believe that we're not under divine protection after that worked, it gets weirder.
I can heal Laddytron. I can heal the bloody robot.
I want to try casting a status on it tomorrow. I don't even know if I'll be able to figure out how it's doing. I mean, with most of the Paladins I have at least some idea of what they should feel like normally: like me, but less sore and more sober. But what in Hel's name is a tin can supposed to feel like in the first place?
At least there's some kind of normalcy in all this. We got shot at. Quite a bit. And I've found myself trying to explain to hostile individuals who we are and what, exactly, we're doing in their house.
Mind you, we're in the middle of the ocean. But at least it's easier to explain than "Why, no, I happen to have gated into the middle of your manor house in the middle of the plane of water entirely on accident. Don't mind me." So there's that.
Oh, Pelor. Looks like Laddette is about ready to blow up something else. I'd best be ready to heal.
He seems... giddy. Childlike. And possessed of the kind of humor you usually only find among veteran healers, the kind that have been fighting plague for too damn long. He spent a long, long time tossing things into a circle of protective power, trying to short it out. Which is kind of odd and pointless, by itself.
But then he started using the body of the bastard who wouldn't let us by. Tied a rope around his leg and tossed him.
Which was funny, in a gallows humor sort of way. But very unlike Arcadius.
And that was before he let the gnome play with cannons. None of us died, and I'm happy to say that we seem to have scared off most of the bloody pirates with our experiments. It seems they can tell from the other side of walls that we have no bloody clue what we're doing with the thing. We're operating off a story Laddette heard one time, about this friend of hers whose brother was in a play, and in the play they talked about firing a cannon.
If you don't believe that we're not under divine protection after that worked, it gets weirder.
I can heal Laddytron. I can heal the bloody robot.
I want to try casting a status on it tomorrow. I don't even know if I'll be able to figure out how it's doing. I mean, with most of the Paladins I have at least some idea of what they should feel like normally: like me, but less sore and more sober. But what in Hel's name is a tin can supposed to feel like in the first place?
At least there's some kind of normalcy in all this. We got shot at. Quite a bit. And I've found myself trying to explain to hostile individuals who we are and what, exactly, we're doing in their house.
Mind you, we're in the middle of the ocean. But at least it's easier to explain than "Why, no, I happen to have gated into the middle of your manor house in the middle of the plane of water entirely on accident. Don't mind me." So there's that.
Oh, Pelor. Looks like Laddette is about ready to blow up something else. I'd best be ready to heal.
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