Episode 02
From Reydala
Contents |
Characters
Player Characters
Non-Player Characters
Story
It seems that Alain had been finally thwarted, as well as the Ice Elf ambitions. Relative peace returned to the area surrounding Krasevae, however there was still a final piece of worry remaining on Jorue's face. Even though two weeks have passed, the magical sigil that had been traced upon the young Jaze's forehead remained, now and then giving off an eerie blue light. Jorue had never seen anything of this nature before, even in his position as head of a Library of Lucion. He pleaded with the party to find an answer, not wanting the child to be marked for life and not wishing to make it worse by interfering with the magic.
Thus, with Jaze in tow, the party set out to find a cure for his condition. It was not long before they met another traveler on the road, unfortunately he was an assassin of some repute in the local area named Maiten the Red Hand. After a bloody battle, the group emerged Victorious, taking Maiten prisoner and forcing him to reveal to them the identity of his client. He spoke of a wealthy clan leader from the land of Ohnben named El'areid who had asked for the boy to be returned dead or alive. Maiten seemed to know little more than this, and was soon turned over as a prisoner to the local authorities at the nearby Sanoan.
While the canvassed the city for information, they ran into a minstrel boy named Aylo, whom they had recently assisted with a plight concerning his adoptive mother. Aylo lended his assistance in finding someone who might know the story behind Jaze's new features. Aylo spoke of a legendary wizard who had once visited a Sanoan tavern, and went on west into Ohnben, continuing to do great deeds. His name was Varaan.
The party moved west, following the lead across the river into Ohnben lands. They avoided the sandy deserts to the south and moved straight into the Navoral Mountains where Varaan was said to have dwelled. Along the way they faced several perils in the night from the shadowy beasts that resided upon the mountains face. Not only that, but they were forced to deal with the mountains harsh terrain and finally with some more blue cloaked warriors who seemed to be of Ohnben origin. Their apparent leader, an Ohnben woman known as San'Shal demanded that the child be turned over to them.
The party refused, but the Ohnben did not attack. Upon learning that they sought Varaan's aid, San'Shal suggested that they do so and know the truth. The Ohnben returned to waiting, allowing the party to pass. The wizard Varaan was apparently a very respected figure in the history of Ohnben.
Finally they found a tower nestled deep within the mountain peeks, intricate magical energies emanating from it's outer perimeter. It seemed they had found their target. Before they can enter, however, they were approached by a curious being, seemingly a golem crafted what seemed to be wood. A brilliant emerald jewel was emblazoned on his otherwise featureless face, and he carried a wooden staff in one of his wooden hands. Metaphon showed them how to get past the towers defenses, and allowed them an audience with his master, Varaan.
...However, it was found that Varaan had already long expired of natural causes, and their audience was with his bones laying peacefully upon his bed. Metaphon did not seem at all disturbed by this, but suggested that since he had been crafted with a portion of his masters soul, that they direct all questions toward him. Metaphon seemed to be a very wise golem, capable of thought far beyond a normal automaton. He recognized the mark upon Jaze's forehead as coming from the divine hands of the Ice Queen. The magic within it worked very slowly, and seemed to be changing the temperature of it's surroundings on a regional scale. Should the mark be allowed to run it's course, not only would Jaze's death be imminent but the very world would be swallowed by ice. Metaphon spoke that the only thing that could remove the divine mark would be another hand of the divine.
Metaphon told them that the only hope to save the child would be to find a pure soul capable of calling upon the divine. Their thoughts returned to Krasevae where they remembered Aaron, they thought that maybe he could call upon the grace of his Goddess in order to save this child. Metaphon provided them what assistance he could in the form of some old rusted relics he had in his possession, and then bid them farewell and good luck.
On the way back to Krasevae, they met with the Ohnben once more. They repeated their previous demand, insisting that the child be killed before the magic placed on him be allowed to complete. When the party again refused, and spoke of their plans to save both the world and the child, the Ohnben seemed stunned. San'Shal showed anger at their willingness to risk the world in such a manner, yet she did not attack them. They were allowed to leave the mountain and return to Krasevae.
They found that much had changed in the two weeks, especially in the status of Aaron, the initiate they sought. They learned that he had left the city on a pilgrimage to the well of tears, in a search for answers. It was also learned that Sonya had abadoned her position of Regal Knight, and was seen carrying flowers toward the fountain. Captain Remel provided Tristen with the pendant that once belonged to her, in order to keep in close contact during this very important mission.
They started to scale the mountains north of Krasevae to get to the well of tears. The path seemed to have seen better days, most of the guideposts were broken or completely gone, and patrols of Ogres from the Giant Kingdoms canvassed the major passes, on their own search for the child. They followed the Muline river up to the well of tears, however tradgedy struck when jaze was pierced by a poisoned bolt from the opposite bank of the river by a then unknown assassin. The assassin, who would much later be revealed to be the Haldian Arciel, escaped into the crevasses on the opposite bank before the river could be crossed. The poison was taking its toll on Jaze, and he soon lost conciousness, their only hope now was to find Aaron and hope he could cure the child!
It was not long after that they found Aaron, on the banks of the well of tears. His mental state seemed to be much improved from when they had last seen him, he seemed to be slowy returning to a semblance of strength. When he learned of the child's condition, he immediately requested that they look for an old cave formerly used by Mulinel pilgrims along the north edge of the well of tears. He said that curative herbs were once grown there that might help with Jaze's condition.
After the Party returned from the pilgrim cave with the required herbs, Aaron slowly began to work the process to save Jaze's life, both from the poison that now coursed through his body and from the sigil that threatened to end the entire world. As Aaron prayed, others begin to gather at the well of tears. The Regal Knights, led by Lord Solomon, arrived in order to ensure that the world would indeed be saved. The blue raven ohnben clan also arrived, led by San'Shal, seeking both to atone for their willingness to kill the child and to preserve their own way of life against the ice that would threaten to Swallow them all. As Aaron continued to pray, two forces of enemies appeared to attempt to kill the child, a battalion of Devils lead by the once human Sanorak, and a legion of Ice Elves and their allies on a quest to imprison the child so the spell would continue uninterrupted.
Bloody war raged in the mountain valley, staining the snow with the corpses of the fallen. In the end, the party and the regal Knights triumphed, the abyssal armies were routed and the devil Sanorak was destroyed forever (Or so they thought...). However, the losses in return were great, many Regal Knights were rounded, and almost the entirety of the Blue Raven clan were destroyed. Mulinel appeared in a divine revelation, and traced a sigil counter to the one set in place by the Ice Queen. Jaze's visage finally returned to normal, and the world was saved from becoming a frozen wasteland.
Game Logs
- Intermission Game: ???(Supposedly this is the one puzzle game when Scott DM'ed, but there seems to be no log of this game...)
- Game 10: ???(Reydala08-27-05)
- Game 11: ???(Reydala09-03-05)
- Game 12: ???(Reydala09-10-05)
- Game 13: ???(Reydala09-17-05)
- Game 14: ???(Reydala09-24-05)
- Game 15: ???(Reydala10-01-05)
- Game 16: ???(Reydala10-08-05)
