Fallen Stars, Session 1

Participants

What follows derives from my (Chris Carter's) log. I've removed extraneous server messages and some instances of whisper, though others may be left in for context. Entries marked with "11" are from the OOC chatter channel.

<Meridius> Hi, folks.
<DM> Hey, Chris.
<DM> All right, where were we...(and the first one to say "Roburcollis" gets smacked.)
<DM> Ah, yes, the characters had recounted their stories and gone off for some rest.
<DM> Anything I should keep in mind before unleashing the sleeping dragon in its midnight munchies raid?
<DM> Er, um, pay no attention to that.
<BA> Yes. The barmaid I scored with last night was really a goddess and she gave me a +12 sword of dragonslaying because I was that good.
<DM> :)
<Meridius> We have a lot of unresolved bookkeeping regarding the disposition of our collective treasure.
<BA> Liatus has a swelled head this morning, and its not from the alcohol.
<DM> We do have some bookkeeping to take care of.
*** BA is now known as Liatus.
* Liatus has called dibs on the trapped chest we found. Beyond that, I think everything we found is up for grabs.
<DM> Now, from my point of view, it'd work just fine to say that the accumulated loot turns into what the Dungeon Master's Guide says characters of your level have, and then you can buy stuff to suit.
<DM> The Hucreles have a well-positioned trading post, which means that a surprising quantity of stuff comes through, and what they don't have they can arrange to get.
<Meridius> I'm fine with that, but I'd also like to get info on a few of the specific things we found in the dungeon as well.
<DM> Certainly.
<Meridius> My problem is I don't have a comprehensive list of all the treasure we acquired.
* DM gets the module and stuff lined up.
<DM> Okay, let me just walk through the encounters and see what's there.
<DM> There are, in the first place, oodles of coins, and there are small gems and jewels which I propose to factor into the cash.
<DM> So these are the items of distinctive note.
<DM> The skeletons in that little secret room early on had three +1 bolts for their crossbows. Memory tells me that Silana put them to use.
<Silana> I still have one unused.
<Silana> I think.
<DM> Yusdrayl gave you gifts. There's the feather token (the one that makes a tree grow), the divine scroll of faerie fire, and you used the disease antidotes after a run-in with giant rats.
<DM> You used the potion of fire breath out of the dragon fountain.
<DM> You've got the everburning candle, and what identification will reveal as a potion of endure elements (fire), and the glass whistle with the Dwarvish for "Night Caller" on it. Identification says that's got a necromantic aura.
<DM> Karakas' belongings included a potion of cure light wounds.
<Silana> Didn't we leave the Faerie Fire scroll in favor of the Spider Climb (that we then used)?
<DM> Oh, that's right, my notes lag in that regard.
<DM> One of the goblin guards had a silver flask of Dwarvish make. The flask is worths ignificantly more than the booze in it.
<Meridius> I want to know more about the glass whistle before deciding whether or not to discard it.
<Silana> Or break it.
<DM> In the nest Calcryx had made for himself, there was a scroll case carved out of bone, with fragments of what appears to be a Dwarvish history of the area.
<Liatus> I think I've been lugging the flask about.
<DM> I believe you have, yes.
<DM> Liatus also has the goblin king's trapped chest.
<Meridius> I'll take the scroll case with the fragmentary Dwarvish history.
<Silana> Okay, my computer is going moderately berserk. Can you all stop and wait while I reboot, please?
<DM> You've got two doses of what Belak's records explain is a growth enhancer - it doubles the size of a normal plant in one month. Each of the bugbear gardeners had some.
<DM> Sure, Dan.
* Liatus notes that he'd like to keep the flask too if no one objects, as I think I'm the only one who a) drinks enough and b) is foppish enough to actually carry something like that around.
<Liatus> Sure
<Silana> Okay, stop as of here. (So I can keep intact logs.)
*** Signoff: Silana (Leaving) at Sat Jun 21 12:40 PM PDT.
*** Signoff: DanQ (EOF from client) at Sat Jun 21 12:41 PM PDT.
<Liatus> Now we can talk about Silana behind her back!
* Liatus votes we kill her and take her share of treasure for ourselves.
* DM laughs.
<DM> "Dan, your character is now soup. Please choose a new alignment to reflect this."
*** DanQ connected at Sat Jun 21 12:46 PM PDT from 208-186-58-70.nrp3feld.roc.ny.frontiernet.net.
*** Silana connected at Sat Jun 21 12:46 PM PDT from 208-186-58-70.nrp3feld.roc.ny.frontiernet.net.
*** Silana has joined channel 11 [Sat. D&D Chatter].
<Liatus> "That soup ain't sitting well. It must be Chaotic Evil soup."
*** Silana has joined channel 10 [Sat. D&D].
<DM> Welcome back, Dan.
<DM> For your log:
<DM> <Liatus> Now we can talk about Silana behind her back!
<DM> * Liatus votes we kill her and take her share of treasure for ourselves.
<DM> <DM> "Dan, your character is now soup. Please choose a new alignment to reflect this."
<DM> <Liatus> "That soup ain't sitting well. It must be Chaotic Evil soup."
<DM> Anyway, as I was saying...
<DM> You've got five doses of twig blight elixir, such as was affecting that rat in the goblin lab.
* Silana eeps. And sets about choosing a new alignment...
<Silana> Chaotic Noodle.
<DM> Belak had three potions of cure light wounds, his rod of entangle, and two doses of antix-toxin.
<Meridius> Why don't we each take one of those CLW potions...
<Liatus> Sounds good.
<DM> The paladin Braford had his holy symbol of St. Pelorus, and his +1 longsword that can attack other weapons with bonuses to try to break them.
<Meridius> I want to trade that sword in on a different model if I can.
<DM> There's the atlas of this area as it was in the time of the Merithian empire. Not magical, but of interest to someone scholarly.
<DM> You can.
* Liatus suggests perhaps finding a courier to return the holy symbol to Braford's order, or else setting it up as part of a memorial somewhere.
* Silana nods. I was just going to suggest we keep it until we come across a temple or monastery of his order.
<DM> There's the manual of poison preparation, which includes several feats related to handling poisons effectively and safely. (The first one, Poison Use, lets you never run the risk of accidentally poisoning yurself, even when doing things like poisoning a blade in combat. It goes from there. I'm expecting you to probably sell that.)
<Meridius> I'd like to take the Merithian atlas for the time being.
<Liatus> Perhaps Silana could trade in her current outfit for a black leather body suit and red leather vest and start calling herself the Black Widow.
<DM> There's the dried corpse of a small demon-like creature, which one of the local sages recognizes as a mephit. Apparently it's of use in some medium-to-high level magical work.
<Silana> Perhaps not.
<DM> There's a pair of red boots that give off a feeling of unease when handled. Nobody's tried them on yet.
<Silana> Let's not.
<Meridius> Boots of Creepy Bologna-Foot Feeling
<DM> Madame Hucrele says that there's a recluse to the south who studies potentially evil objects in the hopes of sanctifying them, and he will probably buy them if notified.
<DM> There's a bag with a couple of pounds of bark of an unfamiliar sort, with very tough fibers. One of the constables says that it's called midnight wood or night bark. It comes from giant trees that grow up on the northern coast, and when incorporated into bows and shields it gives them greater effectiveness because it's so springy and resilient.
<Silana> As an aside, once long, long ago I gave out a cursed item -- Boots of Orkenkind. They looked like normal, leather-soled boots -- but on any surface, no matter how soft, and no matter how softly the wearer tried to walk, they sounded like iron-soled boots marching on stone floors. :)
<DM> :)
<DM> Right up there with the mace of sharpness. Double impaling damage. Good for high-strength types.
<DM> There's the weird decorative mask: full-head piece, with tentacles sprouting out of the face and inset gems in the cheeks. Probably worth quite a bit to the right fetishist.
<DM> There's the banner of the Principality of Bay, which Liatus has with him.
* 11: Ralph doesn't go for that sort of fetish.
<DM> There's a black wooden flute with silver trim, which sounds really good. (Masterwork flute, adds +1 to performance checks with it.)
<Silana> (Of course, it was the halfling thief who tried them on. He als managed to set off BOTH traps that hit the victim with a Diminution effect. So for a while we had the six-inch halfling who sounded like an iron-shod full-sized orc when walking.)
<DM> And there's a set of six throwing knives made from some unfamiliar red metal. They're not magical, but they are masterworks.
<DM> And that's the lot.
<Silana> Unless anyone objects, I'd like the flute.
* Liatus has no objections. I lack any Performance skill.
<Silana> Okay. So, so far I have one of the CLW potions and the flute.
<Meridius> I have the glass whistle, the bone scroll case containing the regional fragmentary Dwarvish history, one CLW potion, and the Merithian atlas.
<Silana> Oh, and if I was right about still having one left, I have a +1 bolt.
<DM> You are, Dan.
<Meridius> I also have, for the time being, Sir Braford's sword.
<DM> Just so folks know, the WotC expectation for characters at 4th level is a total of 5400 gp's worth of stuff. As we see what folks are keeping and what they're unloading, we can talk about things you'd like to pick up.
<Silana> They're not listed in the chart -- Would the throwing knives be Simple or Martial weapons. They list Dagger under Melee, but not under Ranged.
* Silana changes that first period out for a question mark.
<Ralph> Note that it lists a range increment with the dagger there, so I think that entry covers the ranged use, too.
<DM> They're daggers, yes.
<11: Ralph> Sorry, the rules-lawyeriness just bursts out.
<11: DM> Hmm?
<Silana> Ah, you're right, Ralph, I hadn't spotted that. Silly me, not reading the range increment column in the melee weapons chart. ;)
<11: Ralph> Referring to my remark about the daggers.
<11: DM> OH, well, that was a help. ;)
<Silana> Okay, so that means any of us could use the knives.
* DM notes for Meridius' benefit that a +1 short sword is 2300 gp, and is available.
<Meridius> How about +2?
<DM> That'd be 8300.
<Meridius> How would the value of Sir Braford's sword apply against that?
<DM> His sword Shatterspike plus your share of the overall loot would get you a +2 short sword with not a lot of cash left over.
<DM> If I'm following this correctly, you'd end up with around 500 gp left over.
<Meridius> That sounds fine to me. I don't need to be slopping over with money, though I may have to pass on an armor upgrade...
<Meridius> Do I find out how the glass whistle works at some point? If it's not useful to me I'd probably sell it as well.
<DM> Yes, though it takes the local priests a couple of days of praying and researching to find it out. If you blow it over a grave in darkness or at night, it animates the corpse beneath, like the animate dead spell. It's good for that once a week. A caravan of dwarves arriving from one of their settlements in the Cataract mountains allows as how they'd be just as happy to take it off your hands and go dispose of it the way they dispose of all evil dwarvish magic.
<Silana> Is the whistle 'party' loot or did Meridius claim it?
<Meridius> I claimed the whistle.
<DM> The dwarves also express an interest in that strange mask. They say that it's actually made from the skin of a monster whose race they fight with occasionally, and if you're not using it, they think they might have an application for it.
<Silana> Not meaning to be cranky about it, but can we keep the 'claiming' stuff to things people can actually use or have some specific want for, until we find out what things are worth?
<Silana> Or at least ask first?
* Meridius claimed the whistle when it was originally found.
<Silana> Okay.
<DM> He did; there's discussion of it back when in the logs.
<Meridius> But I don't object to putting the proceeds from the whistle into the general fund.
<Meridius> I'm only looking for a way to score enough cash to be able to get my magic gladius and an armor upgrade and still have a decent bit leftover.
<Silana> I'm not disputing that he did. I just didn't recall that detail (not likely I would without looking through the logs myself). If you claimed it then and nobody said anything, then it's yours.
* Liatus has no claim to the whistle or the mask.
<Silana> I don't want either one, either. The mask is 'party' loot, far as I know. The whistle is Meridius' if he claimed it back when we got it.
<DM> Something about the whistle seemed to intrigue Meridius. Possibly he had visions of magical enhancement to his drill sergeant abilities. :)
<Silana> Or a +3 to whistling at chicks or something.
<Silana> :)
<DM> Anyway, the dwarves will do a straight swap. They'll use their craft to weave a +1 enchantment into a suit of armor in exchange for the whistle, and will do likewise for the mask.
<Liatus> Cool.
<Silana> What can we find out about the rod of Entangle?
<DM> It casts the Entangle spell as found in the Player's Handbook, and it's got 11 charges left in it.
<Meridius> What I'm looking to do is upgrade to lorica segmentata from lorica squamata, so if I can get segmentata with a +1 enchantment, that'd kick ass.
<Meridius> (Lorica segmentata == banded mail, btw)
<DM> You can.
<Meridius> So by the time this is done I'll have a +2 gladius, +1 lorica segmentata, and some as-yet-unspecified number of leftover gold pieces?
<DM> You'll still come out with 500 gp when all is said and done.
<DM> Yes.
<Silana> Okay, we don't have anyone who can cast Entangle, do we? (Since Liatus isn't Plant domain, and we have no ranger or druid.)
* Liatus wonders if he should consider upgrading his armor or just adding the +1 to what he already wears.
<DM> BA, feel free to check encumbrance figures and such and think it over. The +1 can apply to as much as you feel is wise to wear.
* DM emphasizes "is wise to" rather than "want to". :)
<Silana> So the rod's useful, but will run out before many uses and we can't recharge it.
<DM> Right.
<Silana> What about the ucky boots? What can we get in exchange for them?
<DM> If I may add an OOC note, hanging onto it is probably your wise bet. It's not got the world's greatest sale value, and the wand may come in handy.
<Silana> Oh, I wasn't suggesting selling the rod. Just noting that in divvying stuff, it's not worth as much as it would be to someone who knows the spell.
<Silana> In any of our hands, it's a limited resource, not a renewable one, is all. :)
<DM> Ah, true.
<DM> Madame Hucrele examines the boots carefully, and decides that they're very much the sort of thing her recluse would want. She's willing to offer you her best guess at the price he'll pay, with a note allowing you to claim the extra if it turns out he pays more than she expects.
<11: Ralph> Though in the hands of someone who has Craft Wand, one spell from the Entangle wand could create more wands.
<11: Ralph> You may wish to consider the rules about use of wands--you can't use a wand of X unless X is on your spell list.
<Silana> That's not any of us, either, Ralph.
* Liatus thinks he'll stick with the type of armor he's got, and just go with the enchantment.
<DM> Fair enough.
<DM> Madame Hucrele offers 2000 gp's worth of credit for the boots, or the opportunity to trade them outright for a ring of feather fall. It had been cursed, but the recluse (Old Man Tertius) neutralized the curse some while back. Now it just does its thing.
<Silana> Okay. You two have both gotten armor upgrades. I'd like to either get my crossbow enchanted, or pick up something in the way of protection if we can.
<Meridius> 2000gp credit will buy a lot of iron rations. :)
<Silana> Like, say, ALL of them.
<DM> The credit on the boots would get Silana +1 armor of any style she can wear, and still have most of a thousand left over.
* Meridius buys Silana a Ring of Pitying the Fool Who Messes With Me.
* Silana laughs.
<Silana> Well, armor is out, unfortunately, if I don't want my spells to fail.
* DM looks at protective items.
<Meridius> A protective item that stacks with Mage Armor would rock.
<11: Ralph> The bracers of armor are the mage's friend. Unless you have mage armor, in which case you don't care.
<DM> A +1 ring of protection would exhaust the credit, but give Silana +1 AC.
<Silana> What does and doesn't stack? I know they have new rules for that, but the only part of the DMG I've looked at at all yet is the magic items section.
<DM> The boots and the wand together would get Silana enough for +2 bracers of armor.
<Silana> If bracers don't work with Mage Armor, never mind on that.
<DM> They don't. It's one or the other.
<11: Ralph> In general, bonuses with different names stack, bonuses with the same names don't. Bracers of armor and mage armor both confer armor bonuses, which don't stack; a ring of protection confers a deflection bonus, which does stack with an armor bonus.
<11: DM> What he said.
<Silana> I'm not questioning if that's right, I'm curious what does and doesn't work. Can someone point me to the new stacking rules, so I don't have to flip through the whole DMG for the next hour to find them?
<11: Ralph> Just a moment, I'll find the DMG for a page ref.
<DM> p. 177 in the DMG.
<DM> By the way, BA: if Liatus would like to get his weapon enchanted to +1, he can afford to do so.
<Meridius> Liatus is already using a +1 morningstar.
<DM> That's true, he is, I forgot.
<Meridius> Can he afford to get it up to +2? :)
<DM> He could, actually, though it would leave him with about a hundred gp.
<Silana> A Shield spell, I'm guessing, is also a Deflection bonus?
<DM> I think so, yes.
<DM> Oh, a historical note for Meridius: this +2 gladius belonged to one of the commanders of cavalry in your own legion, back when the empire first went to war in the Cataract valley. So it's got history.
<DM> And, while I'm at it, here's local scenery, minus the asphalt and such: http://www.geocities.com/llarrow/oregon_gorge.html
* Liatus wonders if there's another +2 gladius out there.
<11: Ralph> The shield spell is actually a cover bonus in 3e. I'm told that in 3.5, it's a shield bonus, and doesn't stack with a shield.
<DM> There may well be, somewhere in the province.
<11: DM> It is. I happened to stumble across that while checking out something else for Gamma World.
<DM> Both swords blazing? :)
* Liatus wonders this because as nice as the morning star is, I sometimes feel my Weapon Focus Short Sword feat is going to waste. Plus there's the issue that the gladius really is the prefered weapon of my faith.
<DM> Ah ha.
* Silana blinks in confusion. Neither "Cover" nor "Shield" bonus is on that chart.
*** Chris has joined channel 10 [Sat. D&D].
<DM> There are a couple of +1 gladii here, also veterans of the legion's efforts, and the dwarves could (for their suitably hefty fee) enchant that up for your to +2. They'll take the morningstar off your hands as part of the deal.
<Silana> But either way, that means that a +1 Ring of Protection wouldn't keep a Shield spell from working.
<Chris> Don't kick other me.
<Chris> I'm on from my PC so I can modify my character sheet and still see what's going on.
*** Chris is now known as MeridiusII.
<DM> The Meridius of Earth II. :)
<11: Ralph> The cover bonus is normally provided by cover, not by magic items. The shield bonus is a new thing from 3.5, so that you no longer have to say 'the armor bonus of a shield and the armor bonus of armor stack together.'
<Silana> Older and higher-level?
<DM> And with white at the temples, yes.
<Silana> Okay, cool. So if no one objects, I'll use the credit from the boots to get a +1 Ring of Protection? (Since the proceeds from other stuff went to improving your ACs?)
* Liatus wonders if he could trade them some of the meteorite metal he brought back as part of the deal.
<DM> The dwarves manage to not quite salivate at the offering. They'll gladly take some of that and let you keep the morningstar.
<DM> If you would like a +1 shield, they can use some of the meteoric metal in the process, and it'll come out a little lighter than usual.
<DM> The dwarves aren't actually Jewish enough to say something like "gimme that, goyische tall person, you don't know what you're doing with this", but that's the general attitude.
<DM> They also offer to buy you as much beer or wine as is necessary for you to take however long it takes to tell them all about the find, and about anything else of the sort you found in the citadel.
<MeridiusII> Perhaps they'd like to see the fragmentary dwarvish history in the bone scroll case?
* Liatus hmms and decides that their behavior means haggling is in order.
<11: Ralph> I've read some of the logs. Offering to buy Liatus all the wine he likes might be... risky. :)
<Silana> Okay, having gotten the +1 Ring (unless anyone objects, no one's spoken yet), what I want to do out of my share of the remaining loot is to get my crossbow enchanted to +1 if I can, and to buy some scrolls to learn new spells from (since I have a L0, a L1 and a L2 slot now open).
<Liatus> Can I use my Diplomacy skill?
<DM> You can, Liatus.
<Liatus> Given my track record, can I take 20? :)
<DM> Meridius, they look it over and smile to each other. This is of interest to them; they say it's an account of some local history from the point of view of a clan that got wiped out later, and there's unfamiliar perspective in it. They consider what they'd like to offer you for it, if you're willing to sell.
<DM> Silana can do all those things.
<DM> Sorry, BA, take 10 or roll.
<MeridiusII> I'm willing to sell, but probably don't haggle as well as Liatus. :)
* Liatus decides to risk rolling, although this will likely end my streak.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+10 = 14 (4).
<Liatus> See.
<MeridiusII> An updated version of Meridius is up at http://www.q7.com/~carter/rpg/
*** Signoff: MeridiusII (EOF from client) at Sat Jun 21 2:18 PM PDT.
<DM> The lead negotiator for the dwarves hmms and haws. He explains that they don't have all that much with them, but that he could perhaps grant you tokens of favor that would get you good treatment from other dwarves in the region,s ince this kind of lore is of advantage to them.
<DM> (Silana can pretty well fill out her spellbook to taste.)
<Meridius> I'm good with such tokens.
* Liatus wishes he'd taken 10.
<DM> If that's good for you, then, the dwarves give each of you an amulet in the shape of a squared-off spiral, and say to present these to dwarves you meet for aid.
<DM> OOC, BA, it wouldn't have gotten you any more. There are limits to what these guys can do at the moment.
<Silana> Okay, the choice of a new L1 spell is easy -- Shield.
<Liatus> Was their hemming and hawing for me or for Meridius?
* Meridius imagines dwarves in the background sniggering, looking at the amulets and saying to themselves, "Yeah, those and 2 coppers will buy you a cup of coffee..."
<DM> After some more hmming and hawing, the dwarves produce of their flasks. It's got outer and inner compartments, and if you fill the inner one with dirty or contaminated water, it becomes cleaned in the course of filtering into the outer one for drinking. They hate to give it up, but it is useful to travelers, and somewhat expresses their appreciation.
<DM> Chris, :)
<DM> To sort out:
<DM> The tokens and the flask are in response to Liatus. They're still considering about Meridius' offer.
<DM> They wonder if Meridius would also want one of the cleansing flasks.
* Meridius would love one.
<DM> They say it will catch all natural diseases and contaminants, and many magical ones.
<DM> In that case, they hand over one of these flasks in exchange for the scroll case and its contents.
<Meridius> I can see later if Imperial engineers can copy the design. :)
<DM> Good thinking. :)
<DM> Okay, so Meridius and Liatus both have +2 gladii, and Silana has a +1 crossbow.
<Silana> Darn, so many good choices for L2 spells, and I only get one.
<DM> Meridius has his new armor and Silana her ring of protection. I'm assuming Liatus will also wish to enhance his defenses.
<DM> And Meridius and Liatus each have one of the clean-water flasks, which may come in handy if you have to spend more time on the road.
<Liatus> Do I have any of the metal left over after the swap?
<DM> Yes, a pound and some.
<Liatus> And I swapped the mask to get my armor enchanged for +1?
<DM> Right.
* Liatus debates selling the morning star but decides to keep it for now.
<DM> It's often nice to have a spare weapon. :)
<Liatus> I think I still have some of the javelins and daggers I picked up around the dungeon.
<DM> If you want them, you certainly can. I'm not going to haggle much as long as it doesn't get ridiculous. :)
<Liatus> I think it was like five daggers that I was mostly carrying around as emergency last ditch weapons and perhaps utensils. And the javelins I picked up and keep forgetting about but that I can still use as a ranged weapon in an emengency.
<Liatus> 3 javelins, I think.
* DM nods.
<DM> Dan, what did you settle on for new 0th and 1st level spells?
<DM> Oh, shield, right.
* Silana nods. I'm still deciding on the L0 and L2.
<DM> There's also time to stock up on rations and matters like that.
<DM> All of this happens over the course of several days, between time to evaluate goods, the arrival of the dwarvish contingent, and like that.
<Silana> I'm seriously considering Dancing Lights for the L0. Several potential good choices at L2.
<DM> If Ralph has any thoughts on 2nd level spells, I'd be interested in hearing them.
<Silana> Bearing in mind that I only get to know one spell at L2, but I get to cast it 4x/day.
<DM> It's hard to go wrong with Bull's Strength or Cat's Grace.
<Silana> Invisibility, of course, is a good option. So is See Invis.
<11: Ralph> The sorceress in my game used Flaming Sphere as her first L1 to good effect.
<11: Ralph> Since it's a move-equivalent to move it, you can maintain two Flaming Spheres at a time to harrass people with.
* Liatus inserts his stock grump about 3.5 Bull's Str.
<Silana> We already have Bull's Strength available in the party, and, well, another 4x/day of it would be a little much.
<DM> That's true.
<11: Ralph> Web is also mighty useful as a supporting spell.
<DM> Strength Of A Shitload Of Bulls.
<Silana> Web is also useful, yes, but the times it's helpful are less constant. Needing or wanting 4 Webs in one day will be unusual.
* Ralph notes that my player rarely uses Flaming Sphere any more at 8th level--Fireball is much more useful.
<Ralph> Very true--my player has used Flaming Sphere much more.
<Silana> Well, yes, but 8th level is a LONNNNG ways off.
<Ralph> Sixth level is when you get to start slinging fireballs.
<Silana> Especially since I'm considering adding another class.
<Ralph> You're the only arcane spellcaster for your group, right?
<Silana> Yes.
<Silana> Unless we get a new player.
* Liatus looks longingly at Ralph.
<Ralph> My tactical recommendation is to pick a spell that you're going to want to cast four times a day, and buy scrolls and wands for things you'll need just once in a while.
<Silana> Ralph: Obviously.
<Silana> Which is why I've already ruled out most of the L2 list.
* Ralph is playing in two games and running a third, so doesn't really have time. :)
<Ralph> Invisibility lasts for so long that you may not want that four times a day.
<Silana> Well, except I can cast it on others, too.
<Ralph> Certainly.
<Silana> Being able to make the whole party invisible once a day is kinda useful. :)
<Ralph> I could imagine so.
<DM> Indeed.
<Silana> Rope Trick is damn useful, but not 4x/day (a.k.a. Silana's Sudden Campground). ;)
<DM> :)
<DM> I don't wish to stampede folks, and if there are other goodies you'd like to look into I'm cool with that. Otherwise, once Dan settles on spell choices, I can go ahead and set the hook for the enxt set of developments.
* Meridius is ready.
* Liatus thinks. I have my shiney new sword, my buffed armor, my box, my two flasks and money. I think I'm good.
<DM> :)
<Silana> Hmm. It's down to Blur, Invisibility, Flaming Sphere, Darkvision, or Levitate.
<Silana> Thought about Prot. from Arrows, but it's not as generally useful.
<Liatus> Oh, I would like to invest in some sort of knock out drug for my trapped box. Since I'd rather not have it killing people.
<DM> Certainly. In fact, that manual of poisons has instructions for making one.
<Silana> Bruce, can I buy something with Continual Flame cast on it?
<DM> Hmm. Maybe. Let me look at costs.
<Silana> The material components cost 50gp.
<Meridius> As long as it isn't a Prince Albert of Continual Flame that you expect either Liatus or I to wear...
<Silana> Um, no.
<DM> Yes, Silana can buy something with continual flame on it.
<Silana> "Quick the torches went out! Drop your pants!" Perhaps not.
<Meridius> In Rome we are strong enough to wear THIS. [DM]
<Meridius> Makes for a nice conversation piece at a public bath house.
<Liatus> Flee, puny humanoids! Flee before the flaming might of out schlongs!
<Silana> For values of 'conversation' that include 'staring' and 'pointing and laughing'...
* Liatus would think "staring in shocked horror" might work.
<DM> Well, we've got the Roman groove going, obviously.
* Silana laughs at a choice I eliminated for the L2 -- Alter Self. "Yup, we're just more of you [insert enemy type here], yup we are..." Except that one is 'You', not touch, so I couldn't change us all.
<DM> :)
<Silana> Blur, OTOH, IS a touch spell.
<Ralph> Our sorceress has had good results with Alter Self. Flying can be handy.
<Silana> I thought of that, Ralph.
<Silana> As can having gills, etc.
<Silana> Just not thinking it's good enough for 4x/day as my only L2 spell.
<Ralph> I'm inclined to agree.
<Silana> Ah, hell. Invis it is.
<DM> Invisibility is good. :)
<Silana> Just too tactically useful. Either for giving out to everyone, or having the multiples to be able to go somewhere, attack, re-invis myself, move, attack again, re-invis myself, etc.
<Gnaea> Where'd I go? [DM]
* Silana giggles.
<DM> All right, then...
<Silana> Yeehah. I'm now +6 with the crossbow within 30'. :)
<DM> There you go. :)
<Silana> Oh, who's taking the knives?
<DM> About a week after your return from the citadel, when you're all duly kitted out, a day's conversations, negotiations, and other carryings-on end in a pleasant sunset. That night, about an hour after the twilight glow fades, there's a sudden flurry of shooting stars, very bright.
<DM> The dwarves don't much care - skies are skies, ho hum - but most of the people in town gather to enjoy the sight. It's clear night with a half-full moon, so the view is very good.
* Silana watches in fascination. "Oooh..."
<DM> A few of the brightest ones actually make an audible whistling sound, which is unusual though not entirely unprecedented. Most of the streaks are white, but a few come in different colors: very vivid blues, greens, and reds.
* Meridius makes a sign to Mars.
<DM> Then there comes a VERY LARGE streak across the sky, with an almost painfully loud shriek. It disappears behind the front ridge of the Cataract Mountains, and there's a tremendous explosion there, lighting up the whole eastern half of the sky.
<DM> And a moment later, the ground shakes. DC 10 Reflexes checks to stay standing.
* Silana whispers, "Dear Minerva..." Then she's trying to keep on her feet in the face of the tremors.
## Meridius rolled 1d20+3 = 12 (9).
## Silana rolled 1d20+3 = 11 (8).
* Meridius stays standing.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+2 = 11 (9).
* Silana looks at her companions, eyes wide with shock. "What WAS that??!?"
<DM> All of you stay up, though a goodly number of Roburcollis' inhabitants fall over.
<DM> And the earthquake gets the dwarves' attention; they come rushing out of their encampment to stare at the eastern glow.
<Meridius> "A meteor, I'd wager, though I've never heard one shriek so."
<Liatus> Would Arcana rolls be any help in figuring out what might have happened?
<DM> One of the dwarves draws out some sort of gauge, which he holds up to his eyes and marks against some of the stars.
<DM> It might indeed.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+7 = 12 (5).
## Silana rolled 1d20+5 = 17 (12).
<DM> You both know that sometimes things do fall from the sky - Liatus just traded some of such a thing. :) That must have been the fall of something quite heavy, not far away.
<DM> Folks with Survival-type skills may wish to roll them for an insight.
* Liatus gets visions of hauling back more ore and trading it for even more goodies.
<DM> The dwarves start conferring quietly, and using their gauge some more.
* Meridius approaches the dwarves and speaks to them in their tongue. "What do you make of that meteor what just fell?"
<DM> The dwarves are startled to hear their own language in the mouth of someone so tall and not-stocky. "Well met, sir."
* Meridius nods at the "well met".
*DM* The dwarf says, "I very much hope I'm wrong about this. But I think that that thing fell perilously close to the main entrance to our clan's halls. We'll have to leave at first light to see."
*DM* He adds, "And...there's something else. The trees are thick in these parts, and there's plenty of tinder. The skyfalls I've heard of were all hot. I fear for fire."
* -> DM: Meridius replies, "Do you require aid?"
* DM adds dwarven comments in whisper, so that Meridius can garble them in repetition.
*DM* He says, "We're well-set for travel, though thank you for asking. We can pack in a few minutes and go as soon as we can see the path."
<BA> Windlord just died on me.
<DM> Annoying. Just after Liatus' vision of great loot, Meridius went off to speak with the dwarves. In dwarvish, so the nuances are lost to the rest of you.
-> *DM* "Good luck to you then."
*DM* "Thank you kindly."
<DM> Clouds gather over the glow, illuminated by fierce white and red light from below. They spread fairly quickly out in all directions.
* Meridius returns to the group. "The dwarves are concerned that the meteor landed very close to one of their halls, and that the surrounding forest might be set afire. I asked the fellow if they required assistance, but he declined aid. They'll be on their way at first light to investigate."
<DM> Up the street, Nacele, the local priestess in the temple of all gods, lets out a terrible shout. "I am cursed!"
*** BA is now known as Liatus.
<Nacele> "The gods have forsaken me in my hour of ignorance! My rites have no effect!" [DM]
* Liatus makes a religion roll.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+7 = 13 (6).
* Silana gulps, and turns to look worriedly at Liatus.
<Liatus> I just suck today it seems.
<DM> What sort of info are you trying to recall?
<11: DM> By the way, I'll be stopping promptly at the top of the hour.
<Liatus> Reasons her rites might be failing, and if it will effect me.
* 11: Silana nods.
<DM> Hard to say, Liatus. The gods seldom remove their blessings without some good reason, but you can't imagine what it would be. Certainly Nacele has done her duties for you and your comrades, in healing and the identification of strange items and all.
<11: Silana> So what did we do with the Rod of Entangle, and who took the throwing knives? (Not to interrupt the RP now, but to be answered before we break.)
<DM> Constable Felosial emerges from the sheriff's building with a worried look. "The cells won't lock."
* Liatus raises an eyebrow. "Curiouser and curiouser."
<11: Meridius> I need neither of those things.
<DM> Felosial notices Nacele's shouting and goes over to try to calm her down, without much success.
<DM> Madame Hucrele gets a _very_ worried look and dashes off to her store, disappearing inside. A lamp shows her movements back and forth inside.
* Liatus also attempts to calm Nacele. "Control yourself, woman. Your behavior will panic those who look to you for spiritual guidence."
<DM> Nacele glares at Liatus. "Not one of the rites I know works. I have no power to offer the people I serve. How calm do you think I should be when the gods abandon me?"
<DM> Spot rolls, please, while I'm at it.
<Liatus> "Silana, see what it is that has Madame Hucrele so distressed."
## Meridius rolled 1d20 = 17 (17).
* Silana suggests softly to Liatus, "Perhaps you should test your own magics?"
<Liatus> (Are my powers still working?)
<DM> As it happens, no.
## Silana rolled 1d20+2 = 12 (10).
*** Liatus has joined channel 11 [Sat. D&D Chatter].
*DM* Your everburning candle just flickered and went out.
<Liatus> Can I attempt to figure out why?
<DM> None of Liatus' spells work. They feel like they should, but then there's just nothing instead of the release of power.
<DM> Sure.
* Silana waits to see what Liatus' response is...
## Liatus rolled 1d20+7 = 11 (4).
* Meridius draws out the Everburning Candle and shows the others that it's no longer everburning.
<DM> Liatus draws a blank, unfortunately.
* Liatus just gives up. I'm not rolling any more dice.
* Silana frowns on seeing first Liatus' distress, and then the candle, and decides testing her own powers is in order. She attempts to cast Prestidigitation...
<DM> Even a small town like Roburcollis has a lot of small enchantments about. They all cease to work.
<Liatus> "My divine blessings are likewise blocked. And if our candle is any indication, it appears the more arcane energies are also being dampened.
<DM> No result, Silana finds.
* Silana nods, looking frightened. "My magic is not working, either."
<Liatus> "It would appear that our aetherial newcomer is somehow connected with this."
<Liatus> "I suggest we investigate. And quickly."
* 11: DM notes, lest anyone worry, that this is not a permanent hosing or anything. It's a plot complication, not a lasting change in the landscape.
* 11: Silana was taking that on faith. :)
<Meridius> "We might do well to join the dwarves and pool our investigative skills."
<DM> The newly gathered clouds have spread as far as Roburcollis now, and a light shower begins to fall. Big fat ploppy drops, which are warm to the touch. And filled with ash. And slightly acidic - distinctly uncomfortable to bare skin.
<DM> And we'll stop there, with the unwholesome rain. :)
* 11: Liatus wasn't. I figured you suckered us into blowing all out coin on magic stuff then making it useless.
<Silana> "Ugh! Let's get inside!"
<11: Liatus> You bad bad man.
* 11: Liatus pops Bruce on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.
<11: DM> Hey ow stop. :)
* DM loves a good cliffhanger, yes he does.
* Silana pulls her cloak's hood up to protect her hair and hurries toward the inn.
* Liatus makes one last arcane roll to investigate the rain.
<Liatus> Because I'm dumb.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+7 = 18 (11).
<DM> Hey, the lore comes through.
* DM whispers an insight.
* Liatus sniffs the air. "There's a fire. Somewhere out there where that piece of the sky fell to earth."
<Meridius> "The dwarves were afraid one would start. I'll warn them."
<Liatus> "I suggest we stay indoors until the rain stops. Such rains do not do well for the skin or most objects."
* Liatus seeks out the constable to advise that all of the town's rainbarrels be covered quickly.
* Silana is already running for the inn.
<DM> :)
<Meridius> If folks aren't already getting under cover, I'll set to letting the townsfolk know to get indoors and wait out the rain.
<DM> It only takes one or two burning droplets to give most people the idea, but some are slower on the uptake. The constables thank you for helping.
* Meridius figures a little Imperial authority always helps in such matters.
<DM> Indeed.
<DM> The relatively stupid people tend to respond to a firm voice and simple commands. It's a lot like herding, really.
<Silana> Or dealing with con-goers.
* Liatus idly wonders if we could keep the chronicle running long enough to turn this place into a small city.
<DM> I think it would be really cool, if so.
<11: Silana> Okay, unclaimed items as I see them: One dead mephit. The six throwing daggers of unknown red metal. The Rod of Entangle (11 charges). And the bag of night bark. Correct me if I'm wrong on any of that, or if I've forgotten anything. There are also the odd floating-symbol-in-flask things. Also, how much cash do we have left?
<DM> Anyway, thanks again, folks. I was very interested to see how the loot-handling went, and I hope you are suitably traumatized by the new development.
<11: DM> The dead mephit became part of your cash to spend on equipment, or such was my thinking.
* Liatus baps Bruce on the nose again.
<11: Silana> I was figuring the same, but I hadn't seen anything actually said about it.
<11: Meridius> Dan, if you check Meridius' sheet, you'll see what he has (aside from the lately added dwarvish ID token and purifying flask). Meridius claims nothing else of the Citadel treasure, and has his money supply set.
* Liatus needs to idle to eat.
<11: DM> You each have a few hundred gp after gear, plus the wand, the night bark, the knives, and the engrams.
*** Liatus is now known as BA.fud.
<11: Silana> Meridius didn't want the knives. Does Liatus have a use for them?
<11: Silana> Just trying to sort out who has what, even if it's still 'party' gear.
<DM> Same time next week, I hope. :) With more adventure and less shopping! :)
* Silana nods. I'll be at Origins, but that doesn't preclude relaxing in my room for awhile to be online. :)
<Silana> By Saturday late afternoon, I'll probably want to be off my feet for while. :)
<DM> Oh, folks who want to avoid spoilers for this game should not pick up Bruce Cordell's book When The Sky Falls. :)
<DM> And I'm done here, I think.
<DM> We'll settle the gear question in e-mail or something.
*** Signoff: DM (EOF from client) at Sat Jun 21 4:45 PM PDT.


Chris Carter <*> <carter@q7.com>
Created: 22 June 2003