Tarsis

Seeing no comments from the last post...

The ever enlarging company rode out from the small village later that day. They stopped for a brief lunch, courtesy of food provided by Lanarra, late that afternoon. Aranel and Violet chatted off and on for the ride while Darvin and Nym were subdued. Grumbleshanks spent most of the day sleeping, his donkey wandering back and forth across the trail.

The party continued like this for several days until they reached the outskirts of a medium sized city toward night.
"This is Tarsis." Aranel explained. "Currently it the name of both the kingdom and the city, but that seems to change daily. We should be able to meet with my contact tomorrow morning to see if he has any information about your ship."
"I wouldn't mind finding an Inn inside." Nym piped up.
"I will just sleep out here regardless." Grumbleshanks complained.
Darvin, I detect an evil in the city. If you have time tomorrow you search it out. Darvin's sword piped up in his head.
Violet just shook her head.

The trial, such as it is.

Lanarra looked up as the door opened.
"Well hello gentleman. What is the problem?"
The villagers grabbed Grumbleshanks and shoved him forward. "We caught him snooping around last night. He claimed to be looking for a more comfortable spot to sleep.
Lanarra looked him over closely.
"Well introductions first please." She quickly introduced Nym, Darvin, and the villagers to her friend Aranel, before turning back toward Grumbleshanks.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" She asked pointedly.
"Last night, I decided not to join the lovebirds." He said pointing at Nym and Darvin. "Who knows what sort of debauchery they get into. So, I went to camp outside. It was rather uncomfortable so I decided to try to sleep on one of the thatch roofs."
"That could be plausible. An odd thing to do. What do you all have to say in his defense?" Lanarra asked turning toward Darvin, Nym, and Violet.

Valentine's Day

In honor of the stupid holiday known as Valentine's day I am offering chance to win a hero point. To win this hero point, I am looking for the most humorous commentary on the the most "romantic" or "sexual" post." Provide the title of the post, the date, and your humorous commentary on the "romantic" situation in a comment to this post.

Also, in other house keeping business... because we are adding a few players, I am going to be resetting everyone's hero points back to 5. Also, you probably have a fair amount of gold sitting around due to all the leveling up, so make sure that in the next few weeks you have upgraded your equipment (if you so desire.)

On the outskirts of the Village

Several days Talathel found himself stuck out in the woods in the middle of a rainstorm. He, Lailsan, and Zalkar were huddled underneath a length of canvas that they had stretched between two trees.
"Why are we here again Talathel?" Lailsan asked. "This is miserable."
"I could cast..." Zalkar said in a hopeful tone.
"No, Zalkar, I don't trust any of your magic." Talathael said taking a sip from his flask. "I know that this is one of the entrances to the village.

Breakfast and Many Meetings

Lanarra returned a few minutes later looking freshly washed. She had no sign of a night of heavy drinking and seemed to be in a lighthearted and jovial mood. Violet could detect a bit of lavendar about her as well. This caused her to smile despite herself. This woman does seem to have the resources to enjoy life. Lanarra noticed that she had put on a very pretty green summer dress and new leather boots.
"Did you want to change or wash up before we go and meet a friend of mine for breakfast?"

The next morning

I am just going to assume that Darvin and Nym made their way on back to the bed and then rode it up to their room.

"Wake up Darvin." A mellow voice said in his head. "You have a big day ahead of you."
What? He thought to himself. Right... the sword.
Darvin looked over and saw Nym still sleeping next to him. He rubbed her shoulders for a moment before looking out the window. The sky was a perfect blue, and the sun was sending golden rays in through the window.

Mirror, Mirror

Beranhond, Aelysin, and Zalkar traveled on down the path away from the dead creature. After several hours they found a slightly wide spot in the path and decided to camp for the night.

In the morning they continued on their journey. After what seemed another few hours they saw a portal in the distance. Tigrisclawu warned them of an odd mist near the portal.

The portal stuck out above the mist, but all the area below it was obscured and hidden. On edge they continued to make their way to the portal. After a few more minutes of travel they were only thirty or forty feet away from the portal the mist start to clear away. They started to make out the shape of two people. There was silence for a moment as they drew their weapons before Tigrisclawu spoke up.
"You know, that one smells a lot like you Beranhond." Tigrisclawu said sniffing. "And the woman smells like Aelysin. What is going on?"
"I think we have run into your mirror duplicates." Zalkar said quietly. "We... borrowed sections of the mirror realm to cut through the astral sea. Doing so allowed us to maintain normal gravity and time and such. It also means that mirror duplicates were a possibility. However, we hadn't ever actually ran into them."
"Mirror duplicates?"
"Yes, they should be exactly like you... but evil."
Beranhond grimmaced. "Great. What would they want with us?"
"Oh, if they kill you they can take your place in the real world."
"Wonderful." Aelysin said from the other side.
The mist started to clear more and they could make out faces. The taller shape, aside from some scars and a rather hateful expression, looked exactly like Beranhond.
"Zalkar, is that you?" The other Beranhond asked in a calculating voice.
Zalkar looked surprised. "Must be an evil Zalkar running around somewhere too." He whispered aking a step back.
"Keep an eye out, we don't want him to sneak up on us." Beranhond whispered back.

The mirror Beranhond caught a look at Beranhond and smiled.
"Ah, this must be the nice version of me. Are you going to try to chat and convince me, or are you more honest about what an evil version of yourself would do?" He waves his hands and the mists cleared. His costume was very similar to Beranhond's albeit it was either painted, or stained, in a variety of different blood hues.
"Oh, he will probably still try to talk to us dear." Aelysin said laughing malevolently while drawing her bow. "These good types usually try to think of a way out of a decent fight." The mirror Aelysin had the same brown hair and blue eyes, but they showed none of the teasing mirth that Aelysin did.
Beranhond nodded. "So, are we going to talk for a bit, or are we going to fight?"

Darvin's tiny escapade.

Darvin, smiled foolishly from Nym's kiss before approaching the portal. He closed his eyes and took a step through. Here goes nothing. He thought.
It felt warm and inviting against his legs and arms. But as his whole body passed through the warm comforting touches felt a little uncomfortable.
After a longmoment he finally emerged and open his eyes. The room he was in looked like a long abandoned study. Against the wall bookshelves stood covered in leatherbound volumes, scrolls, and tablets. The desks were covered in a fine layer of dust and cobwebs. The room seemed oddly neat, as thought it had been cleaned before being abandoned. It took a moment for Darvin to adjust to the dark, but when his eyes had adjusted he saw a sword stuck into a rock in the center of the room.

Nym's tiny escapade.

Nym felt nothing as she stepped throug the shimmering portal. The other room was small, unadorned, and poorly lit. Fortunately her dancing lights made the transition shortly after her and lit up the rest of the room.
To her surprise she saw Illuvaen grinning in the corner.
"You look surprised!" He said laughing. "I would be too. But worry not, I am not actually here in the flesh Nym. I managed to get some help in order to subvert this silly "test" to briefly talk to you." He stepped closer. "I need your help."

Elsewhere in the world part 1

Mashy sighed and continued to scrub the counter.
"What's wrong lassie?" The bartender said.
"Oh, its nothing. Just worried." She said pushing her glass toward him.
"Worried? Is it about the sundering, the Lathenderian forces, or something else?" He said as he filled up the pint with beer and sending it back to her.
She smiled weakly and took a sip.
"Well, kind both. There was this guy I used to be really close to." She said taking another sip and looking wisftul.
"Oh, I see." The bartender said knowingly. "He broke your halfling heart didn't he?"
"Yes." She said sighing. "To run off with some young innocent wizard or something." She drank some more. "I mean, I guess I can forgive him for that, but it doesn't make it hurt less or make me worry less. Last thing I heard he was going to go out and right some wrongs or something."
"Lots of wrong's to be righted. Was he heading anywhere near Waterdeep?"
"I think he was heading right for Waterdeep."
"I hope he got out of there, last I heard that land is mostly cracks, lava, and hostile armies."
"The fool." She said. "I am also worried about my family in Secomber. I haven't heard from them in ages and I am worried that the city was taken over."
The bartender held his tongue. He had just heard from some refugees that the only thing left unspoiled in the entire region around Waterdeep were the druids who had escaped into the High Forest.
"I... am sure it will be alright sweetie." He refilled her pint. "On the house."
She put her head down on the bar.
"Darvin, you stupid fool..." she whispered. "I miss you..." The bartender softly patted her arm.

"The new report is in Grand-Warden." A frumpy looking red wizard said behind her.
Ceilith turned away from the view of drab Thay and smiled at him graciously. "Thank you magistrate. Come, walk me down to my office." He nodded and the two of them moved to walk down the stairs away from the battlements.
"How are the repatriations coming along?"
"Quite well. We have arranged travel and a small stipend for all the former slaves who wished to return home to their native lands. Those who decided to remain here have been given either land or start up capital for their home businesses." He paused under her raised eyebrow. "Honestly, nothing can undo the damage wrought by the previous regime, but at least it is a sign that the Republic of Thay is interested in doing what it can."
"Well spoken Halfarg." She said. "I will make note of that in my next report to the Citadel. I will say that we have been quite pleased that our expeditionary force to Thay has had to do little peace-keeping duty. You and your fellows do seem to have turned the corner." Thay had changed dramatically in such a short amount of time. She thought. The revolution had sprung up overnight and the wizards were really not prepared for the damage that a repressed people can do.
"You are lucky that the revolution didn't just slaughter all of you."
"There were many of us who always had qualms about the path that our most recent ruler had. It was a convenient time for us to throw our lot with the opressed masses." He saw the look on her face. "I know that we had been cowards before then, but I hope that the world will give us the chance to show that we will never let that happen again."
"I do not know if the world is as forgiving as I am." She said as she opened the door to her office and ushered him in. Although the new government of the Republic had offered her the former chambers of the ruling wizard she decided that simple chamber would do. She took a seat.
"How about the mobilization?"
"We are trying to push our training ahead of schedule to replace those wizards lost in the revolution. I am hoping that we will soon have enough combat forces to stem the tide. Our new Republic Guard is ahead of schedule - your Paladin's have been instrumental in their training. I daresay that our next army will not know what to make of a Thayvian army trained by Tormish Paladins."
"Let's just hope it is enough." She looked down at the stack of papers. "Any other news?"
"We lost contact with our scout patrol that was sent to Shaar."
"Oh? Any idea what happened?" They had been hoping that the orcs would be helpful allies and stop any disasters in the south.
"Our last report came frofrom Zalkar who said the unit had been destroyed and that he was bringing several warriors back with him. He said he was going to use the gates to travel back, but we haven't heard anything since." The man looked down at a sheet of paper.
"One said he knew you, a cleric named Ethelred Beranhond."
Ceilith felt a leap of her heart as she remembered all of the times she had spent with him and she felt a slight flush creeping to her face.
"Eth?"
Halfrag looked confused. "Do you know him?"
"Long story... very long story... we used to be good friends." She stopped. "Well, still are good friends, our paths just cross in odd and dangerous places. Maybe he can shed some light on the situation."

Illuvaen crepty quietly through the woods and looked out into the open glade. Seeing nothing he waved his hands back to to his followers. His six companions approached with bows drawn.
"Any sign of danger?"
"No, I think we avoided my mother's trackers."
"She is getting better at tracking than the shadowcasters were." One said quietly.
"She is far too clever." Illuvaen responded in a hushed tone. "At least she hasn't fully learned how to use the gem, otherwise we would be in series trouble."
"Next time some visitors from another world show up Illuvaen don't be so nice to them OK?"
Illuvaen winced. It was true that he had helped Nym escape the world and that their efforts had unwittingly put his mother in charge. I hope she is doing well. He thought. I wouldn't mind seeing her again, even if she is running with that foolish Darvin.
"Alright, time to move, lets get into the safety of the village!" Illuvaen shouted. Then moving as one, he and his companions darted across the field and dived into a nearly invisible hole in the ground.

Wandering in an Astral Sea

As soon as the creature had been felled he turned toward Zalkar.
"Shutup."
"But, I didn..."
"You are talking, shutup!" He said forcefully.
"We will talk later oh powerful Wizard of Thay." He said as turned away from the Wizard. I probably shouldn't take my anger out on him. Beranhond thought. Though, he did lead us into the Astral Sea without any kind of plan...
As he stalked away from the wizard Beranhond saw that Tigrisclawu had found a nice bit of dead animal flesh to play with and seemed content. Weird cat... He thought shaking his head. Over to his left, Aelysin had knelty before the corpse of the creature and was trying to remove her arrows. She was having a bit of problem as the arrows seemed locked within the carcass.
"So, Aelysin..." he said approaching her.
"Yes, Eth?" She said, still prying on the arrow.
"You are very good with that bow. I think most of the injuries were caused by you."
"Well, thank you." She said smiling at him, before turning back to the corpose ."I just do what I can."
"So, did you learn those techniques from hunting?"
She didn't look at him. "In a way."
"Oh?" He said looking at her closely.

Sense motive:
Roll(1d20)+11:
13,+11
Total:24

"Hunting... while working with the trading guilds?"
"I guess you could say that." She stood up looked over at Zalkar and then stepped closer into him. Then, to his surprise, she put her arms around his neck and pulled him to close
"Oh Eth, you aren't the only one with an interesting past. Let's just say that parts of my past have been more interesting than simply working for a trading guild." Before he could respond she pulled his face down and kissed him.
"In either case, I will tell you more later when there are less prying eyes. Let's just get out of this mess."

In the Hall of Aethea

"Oh, they are probably doing what they think is best. Though best is a relative term for Darvin." Talathel responded smiling at Aethea.
Zalkar grew more nervous as they continued to sit at the table. Although Talathel seemed rather unworried, Zalkar was very suspicious of the situation. Why would they want him? He wasn't the leader of the group or anything Zalkar thought to himself. He set his glass down and looked around at the guards stationed throughout. They had no weapons, but had the bearing of people who needed none. From the muscles on their arms, Zalkar could tell that their robes hid powerful physiques. Their steely calm reminded him of monks he had met while traveling in Faerun.

Zalkar was quite calm compared to Lailsan. She hadn't been to keen on traveling through the Astral Sea to begin with, but their recent arrival in this odd land had made her even less comfortable. At the same time, she was rather curious about these people. From their knowledge of Talathel, and Talathel's ease with the setting it appeared that this was the land that he had traveled to before the destruction of Waterdeep.
"How do you know Talathel, Aethea?" Lailsan said interuppting.
The woman looked her direction.
"Oh, he was kind enough to destroy the evil Shadowcasters, weren't you?" She said smiling