L:22 Child Abuse

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Starring: Nict, Thaddeus, Tarralon, Donovan, & Dario
Guest Starring: Regent Tolmari, Nyssa Silverwind, Joanna
Challenge: None
Location: Silvertree, Mountains outside of the Vault of the Crimson Ruby
Date Played: 08 Apr 2012

Reading Malyth's Journal (and Book Burning)

Dario: Tarralon reads the journal with a alacrity that only magic can grant, revealing the secrets of my nemesis. The journal is a tale of corruption, as an entity named Donar slowly warps him over time. Deduction would tell us that it is his sword but a more obvious clue is available to us—the sword whispers in the language of the devils.

The spellbook is warded with magics that spark at every touch. Upon confirming that the tome is merely a spellbook, Nict tosses it into the fire. Tarralon complains loudly about burning books, loss of knowledge, etc., and while I loathe robbing the world of knowledge, some things should remain unknown.

Which raises another point of contention with Tarralon, who points out that the Prophecies of Man were successfully recovered by Malyth. "This would have never happened had we taken the book." Nict points out that the adamantine staff we had was easily stolen and wouldn't the prophecies, which are far more valuable, be just as easily stolen? That is another book that the world could do without.

Nict: Malyth is secured & taken to a magic warded cell. We find 2 books with Malyth: 1 a journal & 1 a booby-trapped spellbook. I am able to open the booby trapped spellbook by protecting myself from electricity, but when it starts to get past that protection, I try to give it to the others. No one wants to take it, & Dario drones on about how the thing is evil so I drop it in the fire.

We learn that Malyth has been busy. Kalyan is dead. He was able to collect the Prophecies of Man from Eliam's tomb, & he also was the one to kidnap the little girl we saw in the vision when we touched the book back in the tomb.

Planmaking and Surprise Teleport

Dario: As we enter the astrolabe we hear bickering between the dear sweet Nyssa and Regent Tolmari. It seems that the Regent believes that "it is not time", whatever that means. Nyssa sees our arrival and continues her conversation so that we might get a valuable clue. I need to thank her properly.

The Regent does not believe any of our stories until I causally produce a soulstone. Once she is done picking her jaw up off the ground, we trade tales and begin to organize a plan. Only three know the location and how to access the Crimson Ruby—Nyssa, the Regent, and Old Man Crachet, who lives in Acworth.

Unknown to us, Nyssa starts up the astrolabe and the room fills with a vision of the mountains and an army of orcs. Suddenly fireballs are hurdling down from our position, causing chaos. We dive into the mountain, into the dark, and are released in the cold dark somewhere inside.

Nict: We get to the Astrolabe & talk to Tolmari. She doesn't seem to believe us until we produce several soulstones. Then that changes everything, she agrees to prepare for the attack as well as she can that we saw in Thad's dream/vision.

We have several options in front of us for where to go next, but I suggest finding the little girl as she could starve in the meantime if we go after any of the other quests as Malyth had expected to go back to her. Luckily, we are able to pinpoint his layer.

Malyth's Lair

Dario: Exploring the lair we hear the sound of a girl crying out. Before we find her we find a mural that is steeped in magic. As the defenders poke at it with sticks and magic, Tarralon, Donovan, and I stride forth to find the girl. As I do she is bathed in fire and I dive to intercept the flames. I get a good burn for the effort but the girl is unharmed. The ropes binding her are easily cut.

Exploring the caverns, we discover that it is some sort of extra dimension space. Tarralon has a looooong explaination of how that works but to put it simply, we can access Acworth AND the Vault of the Crimson Ruby from our location.

As we rest for the night I wish that Nyssa had warned us that she was going to transport us here before we left. As I place my head to bedroll I hear whispers that promise a better world...

Nict: We follow the path in the lair until we come across a mural. It depicts several ghosts binding a young woman & it detects as magical. Tarralon tells us that it is a type of spirit creature that is used to bind things in the world. I go to destroy one of the creatures in the painting but am surprised as I feel something try to enter my mind & get me to stop. I overcome this & burn one of the creatures.

Thad tries to put an arrow into the mural, but stops. I suspect that what happened to me, happened to him. I tell him that we should go get the others as a distraction. (Sorry, my friend.) I then cast burning hands to destroy all the binding spirits. Thad tries to stop it with water, but it is too late. I explain to him what had happened, but I think he is still mad at me...

We travel & find that the others have found the girl & that I may have gone overboard with the fire. I agree to watch the girl as the others explore. The little girl looks up at me, & I can't help, but be reminded of my little sister, Sehra. I give her some of my softer rations to eat & let her rest in my bedroll as I keep guard against anything that might attack us.

The others return & we sleep. I'm cold as I have let the little one continue sleeping in my bedroll...