September 21, 2010

So the heroic Motley Crew just finished up some important derring-do (see Recap #35 - Coming Soon!), and arrived back at the makeshift camp set up by the Knights of Phantar, when the giant undead dragon Gloiterwome appeared in the sky. Soon, all of the Oblivion King's army crumbled to the ground and the evil lich flew off on the back of the skeletal dragon like the cover from some awesome never-recorded Iron Maiden album.

A quick analysis by the Mages Guild revealed that the undead army still existed, but lay dormant. The Temple of Tyr began investigating possible ways to stop the Oblivion King from causing the army to re-form, and Lord Miles sent out some Rangers to try physically hacking up the ground in an attempt to physically damage the crumbled remains. Neither approach was given much chance of success. Meanwhile, all of the defensive points around the area have been reinforced, with elves from the kingdoms of both Elric and Morwyn, wizards from the Chumeran Mages Guild, a small contingent of Halflings from Pern, and even a wary army of orcs and goblins from the United Tribes of the Broken Bone. It's also confirmed that the dwarves of Rockholme have gathered at Topo Pass as promised.

Elric's elves also bring strange news of another army amassing in the east, led by a man claiming to be the Sun God Aten, here to purge the Earth of the undead scourge. No priest has heard of a God called Aten, and it's unknown where this Aten is getting followers to form an army, although the elves confirm that it's a mix of humans and lizard-men.

Meanwhile, the Motley Crew begin to get acquainted with Klute, the guy who sent a pack of owlbears to help Malouf escape some undead trolls. The party had heard the name Klute before. According to a pre-recorded message left by Beeblebrox, it was assumed that he had joined up with the group some time ago.

In his own words: "Yeah, man, well, i'm from a place you guys have never heard of called the Jutland territory. Right? Haven't heard of it? Yeah. Well, i was up in the Kjolen mountain range trying to find a rare orchid that only blooms in the snowy peaks. There was a girl back home that i was pretty sure would sleep with me if i could get the flower. Anyway, i'm up there and i get spotted by a white dragon and i've ducked behind an outcropping of snow and ice, and i see something underneath the snow. I start clearing the snow away and there's a quick flash and then i see a big mirror half frozen in the ice. From what i saw of it, looked like the one you have. Well, a mirror's not going to help me against a dragon, so i make sure the coast is clear and i make a break for it. I get about halfway down the mountain before i realize i have no idea where i am. Later turns out i've somehow been teleported to the Hessiac Mountains north of your land but i didn't know that yet.

"I get down the mountain, start wandering around a bit, and i see an old castle with a courtyard full of statues. We all know how this turns out. Next thing i know, my fine features are preserved for all time in stone thanks to the medusa, Shalma. You've heard of her, right? No? Well, someone ought to do something about her. Aren't you guys heroes, out to make the world safe for handsome bards like myself?

"Anyway, some months later, i'm rescued by Candelaria. She's from the Mages Guild. Cute chick. A little clingy. But she did rescue me, and we had some good times before we broke things off. Since then i've been wandering around Chumera trying to figure out where i am in relation to my homeland. I heard about a wizard dude called Beeblebrox who might be able to help, but i guess he's not home right now. While i was in the area i heard about the undead troubles, and i wound up working with the Knights of Phantar."

So... next steps?

• Having another mirror might be helpful in cutting down on travel time. We could head to the Hessiac Mountains, maybe take care of this medusa along the way, and see if Klute can help us find the mirror. If so, Brecaryn could try to send him home and then we could leave one mirror somewhere safe (like with the Knights of Phantar) while we traveled back into the desert with the other one.
• No time to go hunting for another mirror now. We have to head back into the southern desert right away and see if we can find a way to destroy the Oblivion King. We've learned the name of the town that he originally came from. Might find some clues there. Or we could go back to the pyramid where we first found him now that we know what we're walking into.
• Or, we should check out the Dragonkin cave where the Oblivion King was holed up during the Undead War. Might be some clue there. Maybe we should ask around about the Havoc Company mercenaries, who were last seen going into that cave. They can tell us if they got further than we did.
• But now that the Oblivion King is teamed-up with Gloiterwome, we have to be extra careful. We should go back to Mangar's Wood and see how the portal to the Ice Dimension got re-opened. And see if Willie is alive.
• There's also this Aten character. Another army rising in the east doesn't make anyone comfortable, and maybe that better be taken care of sooner rather than later.
• Screw all of this. Time to get the heck out of Chumera. Let's head north until we find a tavern.

I choose option #6. I believe the outcome would be much more enjoyable than all other options.

Is this implying that we have more time that I imagined we did? I thought before it was imperative that we went to the desert but now it seems there are other important things to do first. like getting a mirror to get out of the desert faster? But we could check out the cave before we go down to the desert?

Did Klute see Gloiterwome before we "killed" her or did he see another white dragon?

I'm assuming the medusa can wait. We'd probably fail to kill her also and get turned to stone as well. I dont think we have enough stone to flesh scrolls to save us..

It's not clear how much time you have. You don't know where the lich and the dragon went off to, or when (or if) they'll return to re-activate the army.

Klute says the mountains that he was traveling in are lousy with small white dragons, and the one he saw had all its skin, so it probably wasn't Gloiterwome.

when did this aten fellow show up. who the hell is willie? seems everyone else has an army. why do we not have one? I say lets go kill the medusa on the way to finding the escape mirror. We have a giant mirror to use against the medusa. does it get any easier? Only kill the medusa if said creature hoards treasure. if not let someone else deal with it. also while we're away searching for the mirror the two amassed armies can kill each other. problem solved. sometimes its best to let others have a chance to fight. fair is fair.

Willie was the wizard you met in the house in the forest that had the portal to the ice dimension. Remember a bunch of dark elves showed up and tried to kill him but Malouf's barbarian horde prevented it? And then later Brecaryn had a dream-vision of Willie facing off with Gloiterwome after she escaped from the ice dimension.

oh right right the same willie that didn't really want me in the woods. well i guess he got what he deserved. nothing more needs to be done with him. i'm sure he is just hiding in the woods somewhere.

The medusa monster can wait, but definitely worth our time if there is treasure involved...too bad we can loot from the dead there because they'll be turned to stone....

I say we finish up the dragon kin cave and look for clues. I think it could be really important. Besides, if Havoric crew is dead, we might find some extra goodies too. Then we go to desert and to Litch's home town.

Do we know if this Aten guys is bad. A sun God or someone with the power could really clean up the undead here.

My elfs have Griffins and can probably help with travel too.

Option 6 could also be good, let everyone kill and support the winner! The world is a big place (is it? I don't actually know in this game?)

oh, yeah. I think Willie is already dead right, it's that what Brecaryn's vison told us.

i vote dragon kin cave because we're right there.

then the mirror on mt medusa cause it's dangerous to leave an accessible mirror around. we don't want to open the mirror to get some supplies and find an undead army lying in wait on the other side.

then we should send someone (mebbe someone from phantar's group) to mangar's woods to find out info on willy which they can forward to us via the mirror (or via one of Josy's scrying type spells at a pre-appointed time and locale - which makes me think we can scry for info on wiliy now without having to send a party because Josy has been there and is familiar with the place so she ought to be able to do it) while we are making our way back thru the desert to find clues to killing the Oblivion King. we ought to get better desert equipment, though.

Sounds like a plan!

If Klute uncovered the mirror, can we go through our mirror and come out of the snow one? Can we check to see if there's another mirror enterance open because it might be the one?

Does anyone remember what Beeblebrox's message for Klute was? I know I wrote down Synchromie and Snow's messages, but I wasn't taking actual notes. Just wondering..

Checking if the other entrance is open is good, but we'd still have to get to it to ensure no one goes through that one to attack us.

I agree, lets check out the cave, send a message to the other group and do some scrying before/as we head north to get this mirror/equipment for a return trip to the desert.

I guess we'll have to investigate Aten, but probably much later, at least his army will be able to help with the undead army if they are reactivated while we search for the soul.

seems like we're somewhat in agreement we have to go north before we get to the desert. if anything to get equipment. yay for having a vague plan!

Flerm, I don't remember promoting you to General. Am I going to have to ask the priestesses of Lolth to remove your inherent Drow abilities for impersonating an officer?

Ugh. We ARE NOT going after another stupid mirror. I'm no longer a mule, the skin on my fore arms is as rough as Gloierwome hind.

As for the Sun God Aten if he wants to come out here and rid the earth of the undead I say godspeed. I'm so sick of vampires. I also agree with my partner Flerm, we need our own army.

I really need to replenish my supplies of soap and perfume. I don't even have a change of clothes to see my boyfriend for the Harvest.

We should probably head to the Dragonkin cave to gather some info on the Oblivion King and Gloiterwome. Maybe get lucky and find some treasure or weapons to sell.

Fear not Lord Malekith. Just trying out titles.

Leiralyn you don't meet your boyfriend for months. Plenty of time to go shopping after we save the world. If not you will be dead so no worries.

I am OK with -->Cave-->Mirror-->Kill Maldoon.

Maybe we can recruit Chyek, The Gnome, to help save the world.

These are dangerous times and the Gnomes are a fierce race that can turn the tide of the war.

Yes, cave then mirror. I agree we need an army for us to command. We'd be more efficient if we had people to command. We could do lots of good stuff for all (yes, that includes us too). We are heroes after all!

Flerm should have a warrior battle with Maldoon to settle the score. Isn't that the honorable thing to do in this situation?