In Search of Orcish Aid

As Kilink journeyed through the grasslands in search of the orcs, they were surprised at the unusual size and variety of the plantlife. In the areas they had all traveled through and lived in farther north, the vegetation had consisted of grasses, brush, sedges, and trees, but all of smaller size. Here, there were few trees, but the grasses, brush and sedges often grew to tremendously large proportions. On top of their horses, there were still many times that Kilink was hard pressed to see over the top of the tall thick blades of grass.

The journey was relatively uneventful, and after 8 days of riding and searching, they found a camp that Thjodolf said might be who they were looking for. Thjodolf urged the group to be cautious in their approach of the camp, and initial scouting of the area revealed a camp of a little over 400, with mostly orcs but some human and several gnolls as well.

Is there anything else you want to know before approaching the camp? If not, the stage is yours.

The Evening's Ceremony

Kilink spent the day mingling with the humans and Loxos at the rendezvous. They were able to acquire horses for the members of the group that did not have them, and as promised, when the sun began to light up the western sky like a giant bonfire, the people cleared out the center of the camp, and started their own bonfire. Slowly, people gathered and began talking amongst themselves, eager to be a witness to this ceremony. Darvin, Talathel, and Nym all sat about 2 rows back from the front, in a gap between two groups of loxos. Beranhond had been asked to take a place of honor in the front row so he could step forward at the right time and play a small part of the ceremony to answer some of the questions he had asked. Conversation within the many groups stayed at a rather loud level, with individuals not keeping to their own group, and engaging others around them freely. There was a joyous, expectant mood in the air.

As the sun continued its descent, the yellow sky became a muted blue with an orange center and then a purple tinged navy with a small red orb. As the red began to fall beyond the horizon, a trumpet blared, announcing the ceremony's beginning. At this point, three loxos painted with purple and blue geometric symbols charged into the center of the gathering and stopped, landing with a thud in a circle centered around the fire. Beranhond saw one throw a handful of powder into the fire, and it flared up, blinding everyone as three humans raced in and joined them. When everyone's eyes had become readjusted, everyone saw the three humans as if they had just appeared there by magic. The trick was repeated for another group of Loxos, but this time it was a smoking, rumbling powder instead of a flash. Taking the sloppy theatrics as a sign of the way the rest of the ceremony was going to go, Beranhond groaned inwardly, suspecting that this ceremony was put on by a bunch of magicians rather than priests, who made a living off of this "show." No gods were involved in these petty magics, and as the evening went on, his suspicions were only confirmed more and more. 

Likewise, Nym noticed that there was nothing magical about the ceremony. The flames were simple tricks, and she could do more magical things when she was four years old than the priests were attempting to show this evening. Darvin was enjoying just being able to sit and watch without having to do anything for a change, and Talathel took a quick second to take a pull from his flask, which made the evening much more enjoyable.

The ceremony was rather quick, and the portion where Beranhond's and others' questions were answered seemed to all of Kilink very vague and superficial. Beranhond was told, "An unknown evil approaches! Beware, or it could spell your doom, and that of all your loved ones." To have the whole day's waiting come to such a hokey ceremony was very disappointing, but out of respect for these people's beliefs, Beranhond accepted the answer and sat down. The rest of the ceremony was uneventful, and ended with a burst of sparks in which all of the priests "disappeared" out of the center and "reappeared" scattered among the crowd as if they had been there the whole time. The gathering broke up slowly, and people began to head back to their beds and individual camps for the end of the evening. Beranhond joined the rest of the group as they headed out of the circle back to their tents.

To the Rendezvous!

The trip to the rendezvous is uneventful, except that Talathel decides it would be funny to tease Lailsan about going to see the elephant graveyard, and a young Loxo overhears and is very upset to be thought of as an elephant. Apparently it's a touchy subject.

When you arrive, you find a large camp, with a large central area that appears to be a gathering area. The central area is currently being used as a market of sorts, and it is filled with Loxos and a couple small booths of humans as well. You see horse traders and mages, and several odd merchants with wares that you don't recognize.

What would you like to do? Split up? If you come up with tasks for each person, I can give them some simple skill checks and we can keep on going, or if you'd like to roleplay through. I would lean toward simple skill checks, myself.

A Bias for Action

This post and all responses to it will be out of character, so you don’t have to italicize everything.

Hello Kilink. It seems that more and more often, lately, there are days where nobody posts or only one person posts. I feel like either schedules have gotten worse to the point where many people are unable to post on a regular basis or else interest is waning. Is this an accurate assessment? Do you want to continue playing? If so, why have you been so poor at posting lately? If we decide not to continue playing, do you want to try to quickly out of game wrap up the storyline, as Beranhond and I did for the stuff that happened while you were all in the dream realm? Please let me know what you’d like to do, so we can all go forward with this.

Just some filler

Beranhond didn't feel comfortable down in Shaar, nor was he completely comfortable wandering around the grasslands. Fortunately Thjodolf seemed fairly content and comfortable with the situation.
One evening, while resting after a long day of travel, Beranhond saw that Darvin was sitting on a mound of dirt overlooking the fields. Wandering on over Beranhond grabbed a seat. They didn't say anything, but looked at the stars for a while.
"Majestic things aren't they?" Beranhond asked. Darvin simply nodded. "I wonder what is out there - I know a lot about the different planes, about the realms of the Gods, but I never really thought much about what is out there in the stars."
After a little while longer Beranhond made his way back into camp and took a seat near the fire.
I wonder where Narath is tonight. He thought as he gazed into the flames. Before he could think any more on the subject Aelysin came on over and sat down next to him.
"Well, my life has certainly gotten more interesting as of late."
"That happens around us - I hope you aren't regretting staying on the ship after Baldur's Gate."
"Not at all... I enjoy the company." She said, her eyes boring at him.
"It is a good set of people here."
They continued to chat into the evening before he excused himself and made his way toward his bedroll.

The Path Suggested by Thjodolf

Thjodolf knows the orcs he is familiar with will be somewhere in the northeast Shaar, but he is not sure exactly where, so he proposes searching in a circular pattern and looking for signs of them. They have somewhat permanent settlements, but they are constructed to be movable, enabling them to quickly move and set up their dwellings elsewhere should the grasslands choose not to provide for them any more in their current location.

The Elephants Go Marching

Umm, so I was going to make you a map today, but the program I wanted to make it with (Visio) isn't working right now... I will have the map for you tomorrow. In the meantime, let's work on those horses.

The rest of the day after the Lady Narath lands at the Shaar is spent repairing the hull. The next morning, after giving instructions to the crew remaining behind to sail back to and support themselves by doing work on the dock and making due, the small band of Darvin, Nym, Beranhond, Talathel, Aelysin, Scriptus, Codex, Greg, and Lailsan leaves and heads out onto the plains. They make sure to leave a hearing stone with Kailina (who is captain in Darvin's stead) to safeguard, leaving them a way to call the Lady Narath back when they needed to return.

As Kilink sets out in search of mounts, Thjodolf tells them about the many nomadic groups on the grasslands that will most likely be willing to trade you for the horses, with either gold or some slightly exotic trade good. On Nym's assertion that nothing in the hold was that worthwhile or exotic except for a few random magical items that are not too interesting, you bring a bit of the gold from the hold, and travel east and slightly north in search of someone to trade with.

About 3 in the afternoon, you see a dust cloud in the distance, moving slowly northwest, across your path. The dust could be a caravan, Thjodolf tells you, and as they come within sight, you see what can only be a Loxo band. The group appears to number about 20 Loxo, with ages ranging from young to very old, and most of the members of the group that is not obviously an infant carries some sort of bundle or pack on their back. The several who are not carrying bundles carry weapons. Three are armed with morningstars, one has a club, and another has a large hammer. All three have javelins strapped to their backs as well. They stand about 8-10 feet tall and look like elephants walking on their hind legs with handlike appendages at the end of their trunks and wearing loose clothing made of orange and yellow patterned fabric, with beads of different metals as decoration. The pattern appears to be a herringbone-type pattern with good attention to detail.

They are still far enough away that you can leave without them seeing if you would like. Would you like to try to engage them and trade?

Arrival at the Shaar

How do you want to go about exploring this new place? How many of the crew do you plan to bring along, how do you plan on traveling, finding out information about this new area, etc?

Thjodolf tells you the orcs will most likely be in the northeastern part of the Shaar, but he is unsure how easy it will be to find them and warns that there will likely be many difficulties along the way.

Please begin your journey in the comments of this post.

The Shaar

Here are two maps of the Shaar. People commonly refer to the area east of the Landrise as the Eastern Shaar. The Lady Narath landed on the far western edge of the Shaar, based on the advice of Thjodolf, who warned against landing at Ormpur. 

The Shaar

The Eastern Shaar

Days 16-18 of the Trip South

On day 16 of the trip, the lookout spots an odd object floating in the water, and gives it to Nym to evaluate. Perception check, please.


Day 17 is uneventful.

On day 18, the ship arrives at the Shaar. Talathel is at the lookout, Darvin takes the helm, and Beranhond uses his knowledge of the religions of the region and a chat with Talathel to prep the crew for what they should expect. Talathel, please give me a perception check to look for a place to land. Darvin, please give me a Profession: Sailor check. Beranhond, please give me a Knowledge: Religion check and a Diplomacy check. 

Days 13-15 of the Trip South

On day 13, the crew is beginning to enter waters that are unfamiliar to anyone on board, including Thjodolf, and he recommends stopping at Calimport for maps and charts. Darvin and Nym go along to attempt to get what they'll need. Nym and Darvin, please give me an Appraise check.


On day 14, as they travel on the Shining Sea, Wildaron becomes very ill, and Beranhond attempts to heal him.  He feels nauseated, and complains of pain in his chest and belly. Beranhond, please give me a perception check, and a heal check.


On day 15, they land on the beach on Tharsault to give everyone a short bit of shore leave, and as Talathel and Lailsan are walking together, a man walks up to them and asks them a question. "I am going to give you a sentence that is missing three words. Use 3 homonyms that sound alike, such as too and two to complete this sentence, and you will have solved my riddle: 
A bloodthirsty pirate will wander the ____ and essentially _____ everything he ____."
Talathel, either come up with the answer or give me a wisdom check to work it out with Lailsan's help.

Nym's Hat

Nym requested to see what her hat looked like, so here is a picture. Enjoy!

Days 7-12 of the Trip South

Sorry I forgot to post on Friday. :( I'll post double the days at once to make up for it. Also, I was still waiting on Darvin to post. Come on, Nick. Get it together, man!

As you continue the journey south, the days begin to blur together a bit. Days 7 and 8 pass uneventfully, but on day 9, you come across a man clinging to a small raft, who tells you of a pirate treasure buried on an island nearby. The man insists that he just helped bury it, and only just escaped with his life. If you help him get it, he will share the treasure with you, and it should only take an extra day or two on your journey. Darvin and Nym, how do you want to handle this one? You may open it up for the group to discuss, but either the ship's captain or owner should decide how to proceed. You have foodstores for another 5 days at the moment.

On day 10, the wind dies down a bit, and the crew try foraging on the shore for food and water. Everyone, please give me a Survival check.

On day 11, Beranhond discovers that his shield, the holy icon he uses for calling upon Narath's help,  is missing from his room. Distressed, he asks the other members of Kilink, but they have not seen it either. How would you like to begin your search beyond that, Beranhond?

On day 12, Just before sunrise, Helga rushes above deck to report a leak has sprung. Talathel, being the only member of Kilink on deck, is the only one there to receive the report. Most of the crew is still asleep, though there is a bell on board to wake them. Helga tells you the leak is not too serious yet, but she worries that the leak sprung from a warped board in the hull and is concerned that if it warped enough to spring a leak, it could mean more problems down the road if not fixed properly. How do you want to handle the situation, Talathel?

Above the fray

Sorry if I'm stepping on some toes, but I felt like writing something. This takes place on night six during the party.

Talathel was unsure as to why the drink at the party was so weak, but it wasn't doing much for him. He had found himself slightly bored with the party. Lailsan had taken to the task of preparing food for the event, and was busy in the galley. Talathel, not known for his skills in the kitchen, found himself more a hinderance with his assistance, so he went to join the crew.

He enjoyed some small talk but found himself staring out at the open ocean more than he did conversing as the night drug on. Finally with the moon high above the waters, he climbed up to the crow's nest and settled in.

He listened to the din of the party below. Talathel was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the music. He enjoyed the atmosphere of the festivities without being a part of them.

He looked up at the moon, which shone bright on the cloudless night. He studied its features, fixated on the distant body. He was not sure what drew him to the moon this evening, but he found himself enamored by it.

"Got room for one more?" A voice said, breaking the silence. Talathel looked up to see Lailsan peering over the crow's nest.

"Uh...yea...yes!" Talathel said, surprised. "You came up here?"

"Its the only way I'd get to see you," she said. Talathel nodded. "How is it up here?"

"Its nice. I...I have been looking at the moon." Talathel realized that it was awkward as soon as he said it. Lailsan gave a slight laugh.

"The moon, eh? What about it?"

"I don't know. Its just bright and beautiful this evening." Talathel looked over at Lailsan. The moon gave just enough light that he could see her. In the plae moonlight, she was more beautiful than we he first saw her.

"I suppose that's a good reason." Lailsan slid underneath Talathel's arm. The two elves looked skyward together letting the laughter and music from below serenade their evening.

Days 4-6 of the Trip South

On the fourth day of the journey, you see another ship, and Beranhond advises, since Darvin seems to want to head south with all haste, that you attempt to trade for supplies rather than stopping in a port. Darvin and Beranhond, please roll Diplomacy and Appraise for me. 


The fifth day is uneventful.


On the sixth day, in order to keep cheerier thoughts in the minds of the crew, Nym decides a dance is in order. Several sailors bring out instruments and the crew dances the night away. Nym, please give me a Perform (Instrument) check. Talathel, you are, as usual, drinking heavily. Please give me both a Fortitude check and a Dexterity Check. Darvin and Beranhond, how would you behave at the dance?

Days 1-3 of the Trip South

Please feel free to discuss whatever you want about the evil presence or whatever. Every day I will post another 3 days of the journey southward, until you reach the Shaar (It's an 18 day trip, so this will take 6 days in the real world. Read below if you want to know how I came up with that number). Please continue to post once a day. I would recommend using these daily posts as a way to refresh your weapons and armor, which are now very far behind your class levels. One of your new passengers is able to upgrade your items or transform existing items into new items, if you wish. 

On the first day of the journey, you are able to find a good sized school of tuna and attempt to catch some to replenish food stores. Darvin, please give me a Profession: Fisherman check to see how much you can catch. Other than the tuna, the day is relatively uneventful, and you see only 1 wreck of a ship on the shore, but no ships still sailing. Nym used the relaxing day to take stock of what the crew had done with the time they were absent and appraised the ship's condition and the contents of the holds. Nym, please give me an Appraise and a Spellcraft check to tell find out how you're all doing.


On the second day, you see a school of porpoises in the morning and a few dolphins in the afternoon. Several of the sailors take this as a good omen, and ask Beranhond to perform a service for them to bless the voyage. Beranhond, please give me a Religion check to see how the ceremony goes. Also, Talathel is asked to taste the brew being made in the still onboard. Talathel, please give me a Fortitude check followed by an Appraise check to see whether you like it and if you have any suggestions for taste or whether it's any good.

On the third day, a storm moved in, and caused a bit of disruption, rocking the ship, and pushing them toward the shore. Everyone, please roll Profession (Sailor) to see how you handle the storm.

Also, if you want to know how I calculated 18 days, it is 2500 miles to the Shaar, or 2172 nautical miles, and I am estimating a speed of 5 knots (The caravel can travel at 7 knots, but I am assuming you won't always find prevailing winds to be favorable), so you can travel 120 nautical miles per day. If you are traveling nonstop for 18 days, that will get you there in just over 18 days.

The Idle Hours

Satisfied with Nym's health Beranhond excised himself and made his way to his cabin expecting to have more time to devote to examining the aura of evil. However, as soon as he came in the inventory requests fell off his desk and before too long Beranhond was drawing up items they needed to procure at their next port of call. They had enough food to make it as far south as Baldur's Gate, but no farther than that without a negative impact to their health.
"That looks like exciting work." A familiar voice sad from behind him.
"Beyond thrilling." Beranhond said to the voice. "Sadly, it must get done if we are to survive." He turned and smiled broadly at Narath. She was in a tunic and pants and had made herself comfortable in his hammock. "I was wondering when you would reappear."
"I have been busy - the corruption in Lathander confirmed many of my fears and has set a number of the Gods on edge. It seems that this dark element is not confined to just this part of Faerun or even to this world. A greater darkness is manifesting itself here in the heart of this world, and I suspect in the heart of the world your companions traveled to as well."
Beranhond sat back in his chair. "That would make sense - whoever this Ishamel person is seemed far too powerful and well connected to simply be an isolated agent." Beranhond stood and walked over to Narath. He smiled again and took her hand.
"Yes. Also, I would keep an eye out on your ship as well." Beranhond smiled as Narath had always preferred to avoid the name of this ship. "It was attacked once before, and it would be foolish to think that it won't be attacked again. I certainly don't want any harm coming to them, and certainly not to you."
"Well, you wouldn't want to lose your prophet." He said leaning in towards her face.
"Beranhond, don't tease me like that..." she said before trailing off.

The Break-In

Standing outside Nym's door, Janusa asked, "In here? Are you sure?"

Beranhond nodded yes, and before a plan could be made, Thjodolf opened the door and roared a challenge as he charged into the room. "RAAAAAooooooorrrr!"

When he got into the room and had time to look around, though, all he saw was Nym, lying on the ground. Thjodolf picked her up and set her on the bed, moving a large conch shell that was lying there. "She in dream again?"

Janusa responded, "Last time, they were at least all sleeping and just didn't wake up. This time she just passed out. I don't think it's the same thing."

Darvin, worried for Nym's safety, gestured at his cleric companion. "Beranhond, please take a look at her."

Changing Winds

Nym leaned against her door. Her mind swam with unfinished thoughts as she stared into her dark room. Her heart was racing with anger toward the druids, this Ishmael character, the Lathander priests, the power hungry elf-queen from the dreamworld, the shadowcasters, the dreamworld monks, the red wizards… She felt like a fool for ever having thought good outweighed evil in this world. With an angry gesture, she lit a small candle on a shelf and began pacing the floor. She found she couldn't focus on any one thought. Nym's hands shook and she ground her teeth in blind anger. Having no proper outlet for her anger, she threw her small table across the room where it shattered.

"Now, whatever did you do that for?" cooed a familiar voice in the dark. Nym spun around expecting to see her old friend Rahm behind her. There was no one. "Oh, don't worry, little bird, you're not going mad," the voice of Nym's father soothed from across the room.

Confused and still angry, Nym shouted, "What do you want?" into the dark. For what seemed like a long time, there was no response. Finally, a quiet voice sounding like Druuv the goblin echoed her, "What do you want?" Nym's eyes narrowed. "Have I gone mad?" she wondered. "Perhaps the dream world was too much for my mind... perhaps all this destruction was too much..."

Nym was jarred out of thought by the realization that someone was standing in the room with her. Nym gasped in surprise and demanded again, "What do you want?" The figure stepped forward. Before her stood a half-elf man who for all intents and purposes looked like Illuvaen. Nym blinked at the figure. He almost looked like Illuvaen. The same features, same clothes, hair... but the smile was wrong. And the eyes. This Illuvaen's eyes were dark and there seemed some malice behind them. His smile looked like what Nym imagined a predator would make right before pouncing on helpless prey... Her thoughts were interrupted when this Illuvaen repeated, "What do you want?" as he stepped toward her.

"Who are you?" demanded Nym icily. The figure's smile broadened. "Why, I'm you of course," it replied, taking on Nym's features. Nym blinked slowly as she stared at herself; all except the eyes... and the smile. "I'm part of you here to tell you that you're right to want the druids dead." Nym had backed herself into a corner, "Maybe they were tricked into doing what they did..." she replied weakly. "You know as well as I that that cannot possibly wipe all that blood off their hands..." The smiling mirror-Nym gingerly picked something up from the ruins of the table. It was the little girl's doll Nym had found in Baldur's Gate after it's destruction. Nym stared at the dirty broken doll, overwhelmed with emotion. The figure was now a sad looking little girl with dark eyes. "You fantasized you'd return this to the little girl who lost it... But we both know she was murdered..." "...By the druids..." finished Nym as she took the doll. Tears were forming in her eyes as the reality of all the innocents who died at the hands of the druids at both Baldur's Gate and now Waterdeep. "Now you begin to understand," the figure whispered to Nym, still smiling. Again it looked like Nym. "There can be no good while devils such as these exist." "Yes," agreed Nym. She felt mesmerized by the figure's dark eyes and predatory smile. "You know what you must do then?" it asked. Nym felt light headed. "To restore good, I purge the evil..." "YES," hissed the mirror-Nym. Nym's mind was swimming and her vision was becoming blurry. She realized a dark liquid was running down her chin onto her clothes. She wiped her nose. Blood.

Nym looked back to the figure, which was now blurred in her vision. "Purge the evil..." she muttered as she fell to the floor unconscious. She dreamt of a black starburst behind a skull and the haunting eyes of the figure.

Southward Ho!

Darvin was surprised when Beranhond quickly downed his brandy. The cleric was not one who drank often and seemed to turn his nose up at the stuff most of the time. "He must realize the gravity of the situation." Darvin thought to himself. Talathel came in and sat down and Thjodolf soon followed.

"Where's Nym?" the half-elf asked to the rest of the group. No one seemed to know and everyone just kind of shrugged.

"Oh well, she'll show up if she feels like it." Darvin said as he picked up the bottle of brandy and filled up everyone's glasses.

"I called you all in here because it is obvious to me that something very evil is afoot. We don't know exactly what we are getting ourselves into but I highly doubt its going to be easy or safe. It seems unlikely to me that these terrible things are only happening in the northern half of the coast and I want to head to south to gather more information and get a broader perspective on the situation. I wish us all luck and if this is the last time we are all together, know that it has been my pleasure serving with you." As Darvin said this he held up his drink in toast and then downed it.

"Now, down to business. Thjodolf, where exactly are we going?"

Recounting Beranhond's Adventure Less Briefly

Here follows the full tale of what happened while Kilink was in the dream plane.


The Lady Narath headed back to Waterdeep. When the ship arrives back to Waterdeep, there is a lot of chaos as people are running everywhere, packing up their things. The ships in port are filling with passengers, and the roads are filled with people leaving the city.
"Any idea what is going on Beranhond?"
"None whatsoever; however, lets anchor here and try to see what is going on." The Lady Narath dropped anchor and the crew attempted to contact the other ships for information about what happened.

People on ships nearby are amazed you are pulling into port and tell you that you should get out while you can, because the druids of Istishia have given a warning that they are going to create a disaster like they did at Baldur's Gate in response to threats given by the holy order of Lathander. Beranhond tells the crew that Istishia is a goddess of water.

Beranhond and Kailina take a rowboat into the port. Once there they head on to the temple district to question the priests of Lathander.
There are people swarming the docks, and Beranhond fears that if he leaves the rowboat unattended it will not be there when he returns, so Kailina takes the boat back to the ship after dropping off Beranhond. His size and sword are enough to scare off all but the most foolish and he was polite enough to simply knock them out.

Once Beranhond gets to the temple, he finds priests in a state of disarray. Half of the temple seems to be packing up and trying to get out, another group (about 1/4 of them) are trying to convince them to stay, and the last group, he finds out, are meeting to try to determine what should be done. Beranhond's gardener friend is in the second group.

Beranhond asks the gardener friend what is going on, why he wants them to stay, and why the Druids have decided they would target lathander.

The gardener explains they received a very very threatening and confusing letter saying that they druids had received their emissary, Ishmael, and that they had no intention of standing by while Lathander desecrated their holy sites. They were no longer willing to stand by and watch things happen, were going to make sure Lathander's vile threats were not able to be carried out.

The gardener tells Beranhond that nobody has any idea who this Ishmael was, but he certainly wasn't an emissary from Lathander, and that there is a large group of priests who are thinking of attacking the druids before they can carry out their threat. It's getting very dicey, and is likely to turn into a full-on war very shortly.

Beranhond quickly recounts what he learned from the druids. "I suspect there is a third party that is inciting this conflict. There usually is."

The gardener tells the cleric that he suspects that as well, but it has gotten past the point of it mattering whether there is a third party involved or not. Whoever Ishmael is, he convinced the druids that he came from Lathander, and now this magical arms race is getting out of hand. It will be very difficult to get the priests to listen to reason. He suggests Beranhond and his friends get out while they still can.

Beranhond asks who else has been in the region, any possible groups that could be behind them. It might be possible to confront them and alleviate the situation before it has gone too far. Druids might be haughty, obnoxious, and overtly suspicious, but they are not unreasonable. 

The gardener tells Beranhond of several poorly handled incidents since they'd received the letter from the druids. First, the emissary who delivered the letter, a pelican, had been shot down by an arrow as it went to leave the city. It had been particularly well-loved by its owner, who came  asking for it a day afterward, but when he arrived at the city, he was laughed at and offered roast pelican meat as a mocking apology. He stood up quickly, enraged, and a scuffle ensued, in which both he, a low level druid, and a low level priest were killed, along with 3 commoners. Both sides took those losses very personally. Also, it was discovered that Ishmael had somehow managed to seriously injure the wife of one of the more powerful druids, as well as branding another druid with the mark of Lathander as if they were cattle. Several other events had happened as well, none of it good.

So, any idea who this Ishmael is with, any way to find him? And any idea who shot the bird and who served up the dish? The Lathander order doesn't make this poor of choices. What about Torm? Any idea what they are up to? I haven't seen many of them around. Could they be behind this? 

The Order of Lathander may not make decisions this poorly, but individuals within the Order who are either misguided or distraught may. The person responsible for shooting the bird was a young priest who believed that threats should be dealt with in kind and saw killing the bird as a response message that Lathander's priests don't take threats lying down. The person serving up the dish was a more senior official who had close personal ties to many of the priests killed in Baldur's gate. He wanted revenge, and thought that in this small way, he could have it. The lower level priest was punished, but there was still a lot of debate going on about how to deal with him, and many people sided with him in his actions. All that the gardener knows about Ishmael is that none of the priests knows who he could be. They were unable to get more than a very brief description of the man which was extremely unhelpful. As for how to find him, the druids said he headed back towards Waterdeep, and when it arrived, nobody matching his description was on board. The ship had met with another ship while at sea, and the crew did not remember anything that happened since the encounter with the other ship. As for the priests of Torm, the gardener is disgusted with their attitude. As the conflict has escalated, they have withdrawn their support, and are now basically bystanders, not taking either side, and trying to stay out of battles. The main force is gathering outside of Waterdeep if you want to find out what they are up to. The Order of Lathander is fed up with them and their lack of support. They have taken the stance that if they can't stand with them now, they are not truly the allies Lathander believed they were. It's doubtful that Torm is behind all of this, but their inactivity is not helping any, either, in the gardener's view.
Beranhond thanks him, tells him that he will probably be back, before heading out to talk with the Tormites.
"Really, talking to Torm again?" Tigrisclawu said laughing at him.
"I know, I know... they are obnoxious but we have to see what is going on in their minds."
"Sureeee... you are just trying to find with Ceilith."
"Shut it ratcatcher!"

This time, Ceilith is there. Surprisingly, she is the one in charge of the group, and greets Beranhond happily. She is more distant than he expected, keeping the tall man at arm's length and behaving as if he is nothing more than a friend or acquaintance. 

"What upcoming attack? The Lathanderian Priests seem to think that you weren't interested in an assault. What do you know about Ishmael? What about the druids?" Questions pour out of Beranhond one after another in the course of their conversation.

She tells Beranhond that they have good reason to suspect that there is at least one more party involved. They believe this 4th group has somehow infiltrated the priests of Lathander, and their agents have been masquerading as Lathanderian priests for some time now. They believe Ishmael was one of this group. They also think that they have found where the group is based, but they won't tell Beranhond where that is, because they know he is a friend of the priests of Lathander, and they don't want their plans to get out. They don't know much about the druids other than that they are good at defending themselves. The many battles they've fought have earned them a grudging respect. They aren't very concerned with the druids right now, though. They want to try to expose and do as much damage to this 4th group as they can before they the group catches wind of them.
Well, Beranhond will certainly join them for the attack (while remaining guarded and such). 

She tells him that the trip will take 5 days to reach where they are going. 

As Beranhond is meeting her, it is the evening of the day the Lady Narath returned to Waterdeep. They are leaving midday the next day for their battle, and so he has that time to prepare or grab anyone from the ship he wants to bring along.

Beranhond returns to the vessel, and grabs his gear. No one felt comfortable volunteering, so he will be traveling alone. He gives orders for the ship to get a safe distance away from Waterdeep in case anything happens. He then returns to the shore and spends the days in the room provided by the gardener friend until leaving with the Tormish Paladins.

The Tormish paladins march to Daggerford, camping in the Ardeep Forest the first night, and there they tell Beranhond of their plans at war council. The Lathander training grounds are located in Daggerford, and they believe at least one of the instructors is the one responsible for this infiltration of the Lathanderian forces, so they are going to try to attack and capture him, in an attempt to find out more about his side. The Tormish paladins outnumber the camp by about 300 to 200, but the camp has more priests, and with this unknown evil corrupting part of the camp, they are expecting heavy casualties. They are preparing for the attack by dressing as paladins of Lathander, and the night in Ardeep Forest is out of the way enough for them to put on their disguises.

"Why don't you just have someone sneak inside and abduct him? Wouldn't that save time, lives, and possibly help keep troop strength up in case of the need for a larger battle?" Beranhond asks. "Naturally, I do not know if anyone is up to that, but perhaps it could work."

They tell him that without bloodshed is the aim, but they do not know how successful they will be. Their cover is pretty thin, that they are here to inspect the grounds and bring the next group of recruits up to Waterdeep with them. If possible, they will grab the man, named Methasse, and be out of the camp before any resistance can be mounted, but if he has any cronies or supporters in the camp, there's a good chance of bloodshed, and they are going in prepared for that.

C'est la vie. Beranhond has a few conversations with Narath about how he can't trust anyone. 

The next morning, the group rides down to the camp and journeys in to the camp. When they arrive, they tell everyone their cover and begin making the rounds "inspecting" the camp. Ceilith personally goes to apprehend Methasse with 5 others. 

As the group arrives at Methasse's tent, things seem to be going well. Nobody has shown any suspicion, and they are able to get in without any trouble. Unfortunately Methasse isn't alone. He is lecturing 6 students as the group come in. 

Ceilith tells him she can just wait for him to get done with the training, but Methasse insists, and his students patiently wait for Ceilith to talk to Methasse. She begins asking him probing questions about how many new followers of Lathander have been coming, how their training is progressing, etc. and eventually asks him what he knows about the messenger to the druids. He answers that he heard about it, but that matters of diplomacy were never his specialty. At this point, Ceilith began hinting that all was not well within the Lathandarian priests and her theories about a corrupting influence in the ranks of the clergy. Methasse's responses became more and more guarded, until she asked him if he knew a man named, "Ishmael."

His response was, "I am called Ishmael." and in the shocked silence that followed, Ceilith, Beranhond, and the other 4 paladins heard a chorus from the six students behind them. "I am called Ishmael." "I am called Ishmael." "I am called Ishmael." 

Realizing that something was very wrong here, Ceilith shouted, "Get out!" and dove to tackle Methasse.

Beranhond pulls his cloak of silencing on and starts to back out of the room with the other paladins. 

Two of the 6 students begin drawing swords. 

As Ceilith flies through the air, Methasse reaches out to touch her, and a shadow seems to pass over her skin, leaving her pale and green-tinged. She is able to tackle him, as one of the 4 students without swords turns toward her and a sinister wave of air leaves his hands, hitting both Methasse and Ceilith. One of the Tormish paladins grabs Beranhond and pushes him toward the door, fearing for his life and trying to get the cleric to hurry. Two more of them draw their swords and take positions to cover the retreat of Beranhond and the other Tormish crusader. The final Tormish crusader gives a silent roar, draws his sword, and charges towards the two Ishmael's with swords. The two Ishmael's with swords meet his charge and the begin a 2 against 1 fight, while two of the final two Ishmael's try to communicate, finding themselves with silent voices. A silent argument breaks out between them, and the final Ishmael follows the lead of the one attacking Ceilith, and flings evil energy toward Beranhond and the 3 paladins with him. 

Beranhond, while jumping back drew his bow bow and attacks.

The battle continues. The two enemies with swords (Paladin1 and Paladin2) attack the Tormish paladin (ally) running at them. The first swipes at him with a longsword, drawing some blood. The second reaches in while he is distracted, and again a shadow seems to pass from his hand over the paladin's body, leaving him looking pale and greenish-colored. He also seems to be physically moved by the impact of the shadow, unlike Ceilith, when she was touched by Methasse.

Methasse (enemy) is able to wriggle free of Ceilith's (ally) grasp, and they both rise to their feet. She draws her rapier, and he tries to punch her but misses. She swings at him with her rapier and misses.

The (enemy) cleric who channeled at Ceilith and Methasse takes advantage of the gap between the two, channeling at only Ceilith, who seems only slightly hurt by the blast. The (enemy) cleric who channeled at the Paladins preparing to leave the room attempts it again, hurting them all a bit, but not doing too much damage.

Beranhond drew his bow and aimed for the center of the forehead. He let it fly and sent the arrow straight through. The man fell over dead.

Seeing their companion die at the hands of the enemy in their midst, the two Lathanderian paladins struck at the swordsmen they were fighting, one dealing him a serious blow to the shoulder and the other ran him through the kidney, ending his brief battle with them.  

One of the two Lathanderian Clerics (Cleric 2) who had been having a silent argument realized that not being able to hear each other was creating quite a problem, and quickly walked over to the lantern sitting against the wall and touched two of the symbols on its top. Immediately, a red glow began emanating from the lantern, getting brighter and brighter and seeming to make everything not in the glow of the red light seem somehow dim. The cleric began walking towards Ceilith, picking his way behind Cleric 1 and coming up behind Ceilith. Focused on Methasse, and without the benefit of sound to give him away, she didn't notice the man walking up behind her.

The man he had been arguing with watched the first man light the lantern, and walked to behind the two paladins, obviously intending to use them as shields and cause damage from behind them.

The paladin to the left of Beranhond (ally) sees the cleric (enemy) rushing over towards Ceilith and moves to block him, quickly swiping the man with his sword. The cleric doesn't see the paladin in time and tries to use an arm to block the blow, receiving a very deep cut in his left arm. 

The paladin two in front of Beranhond (ally) gestures wildly for Ceilith to leave while she still can, but without sound, he is stuck with throwing a small rock in her general direction, aiming for Methasse. He misses badly, but the rock does get Ceilith's attention, and she nods that she understood what he was doing.

The paladin directly in front of Beranhond looks over Beranhond's shoulder as he tries to make sure the way is clear, and his eyes go wide. Looking over his shoulder, Beranhond sees at least 4 other red glows emanating through the top of the buildings in the surrounding area, looking very similar to the eerie glow coming from the lantern.

Methasse makes some gestures, and the shadows seem to leave the corners of the room, swirling around him and obscuring his features, so that the light from the day streaming through the door and window seem to pass him by. 

Ceilith takes the opportunity of him being distracted as he casts  to slip around behind the paladin guarding the way for her, and over to just in front of Beranhond. As she passes the paladin, she taps him on the shoulder and gestures for him to follow.

The cleric who had been channeling at Ceilith follows her movement, taking a step forward and continuing his channeling, this time at the entire group near the door. Dark energies wash over them, making them feel weak. 

Beranhond is going to follow Ceilith, but first he channels energy and excludes Cleric 2 and Paladin 1. The light burst from around him and heals his party as they flee.

The enemy paladin on the left sees the Tormish paladin and rushes over to stop his escape, attacking him with his longsword. In a shower of sparks, the paladin of Torm deflects the blow, and is unhurt. The other paladin runs up to attack the first of the paladins guarding the escape. He is able to get past the man's sword, only to be blocked by a shield. 

The cleric who had been trying to cut off Ceilith, on finding himself face to face with a paladin, decides to try some direct contact, and touches the paladin, causing a dark shadow to pass over his hands into the paladin.

The enemy cleric who had been standing behind the paladins, using them as a shield, finds they have dispersed and walks to a spot next to the action on the left hand side of the room, attacking the Tormish group in the doorway with a blast from his hands.

The Tormish Paladin being surrounded attempts to back away from his attackers and make his way to the door. As he does so, the enemy Paladin swipes at him, but he avoids the swipe, and makes it back to the group, waiting for them to get through the door before he follows them through. The two paladins to Beranhond's right duck through the door, taking up positions outside to protect from anyone who might try to ambush them outside. 

Beranhond sees Methasse conjuring some foul magic, and watches as the two dead men in the room rise, and begin plodding toward the group in the doorway. Both zombies slammed into the Paladin that was the farthest into the room, the first coming at him with fists and the other with his sword. The fists seemed to hurt the man, but seeing his fallen comrade attack him with his sword seems to make the man wilt, and he is bloodied before he can do anything about it.

Ceilith takes this as a good indication that it is time to go, and pushes Beranhond toward the door.

Beranhond channels energy as he flees towards the door and excludes Cleric 2 and Paladin 1.

Ceilith and the last paladin stumble out the door behind you. The cleric who had been waiting for your move appears in the doorway long enough to channel more darkness your way before ducking back.

As the group leaves, Beranhond casts obscuring mist and they run back to the rest of the Tormish Paladins, having been mostly healed. The camp around them begins buzzing like a kicked anthill, with young paladins streaming out of buildings everywhere. By being discreet, the Tormish paladins are able to make it out of the camp, but as soon as Beranhond and the contingent reach their own camp, Ceilith calls a council and tells them they need to leave immediately, before they are attacked by the mob that will be following soon. The mob does not know the expedition are followers of Torm, but the mob will be after them soon regardless. Scouts report that the entire Lathanderian training camp is breaking down and preparing to move. It will be ready in less than an hour. Ceilith gives the order to move before then, and the march begins.

Several times, the Tormish group is accosted by undead on their way north, but they are easily able to dispatch the attackers, finally reaching the gates of Waterdeep, which are closed on their arrival.

They ride with a quick steady pace and Beranhond spends a fair amount of time calming the fears of the expedition. As he rides past the burning corpses of zombies he hopes that the rest of Kilink and the Lady Narath are safe from harm.

Naturally enough, are there people on the walls and near the gates? Does anyone approach?

The walls are deserted. There is a small side gate next to the main gate that usually has a guard posted at it, but it is currently closed. 

Beranhond walks forward and knocks on the side door.

A frazzled guard opens the small porthole in the door and asks why they have come to the city in its last hours. He looks very emotionally strained (and no check is needed to determine that).
Beranhond quickly explains the situation, the coming Lathanderian camp, and their need to warn the city as much as possible. 

The guard lets you in, not really understanding why you want to enter a doomed and dying city. He tells you that you should probably leave by the next day's sundown, as that is when the druids said they would destroy the city.

When you ask her why she returned, she tells you it was a safe harbor from the renegade Lathanderian priests, and she was intending to show the Tormish paladins here the corruption in their midst, so they could see that it was fully trained priests of Lathander who had caused all of this chaos and disruption. She hopes to convince the priests here that they have a problem within their own midst as well as those external problems they are already trying to confront.

Well, lets search out BH's friend and see what he can do to help as well.

He is one of 20 priests who have decided to stay and see if they can counter the druid's magic at all from within the city. You see a great many of them packing things and moving them to the docks and the roads out of the city, so that the holy relics and such of the city are preserved. The gardener friend of yours is rather busy making preparations and preparing a room for the 20 of them who will be trying to counter the spells tossed at the city.

Well, BH will quickly let him know what happened. He would also try to find a way to send a message to the single-minded Druids to let them know that attacking Waterdeep is missing the real enemy.

What do you propose to send a message? The clerics aren't really sure where they are, except that they are somewhere out to sea.

Oh, are these a different group of druids?

These druids are known to be worshipers of Istishia, the water lord. These druids count in their dominion all things that travel on or in the seas. The druids on the land have their own misgivings, but they are not connected to the group that is threatening. The Istishian druids are much more powerful and numerous. The druids you saw at Goldenfields are a rather small group, and not known for either political or magical might.

Beranhond will be:

Checking in with Ceilith and making sure she is doing alright and maybe reminiscence a bit. Beranhond has been traveling alone for a while so certainly is glad to see someone he knows.

Asking down at the docks in case any of the remaining sailors/fishers know any contacts that might lead to Istishian druids.

Check in with the gardener to see if there is any help he can provide.

Sit around a bit to see if he can figure out how to get back to the Lady Narath.

Probably talk a bit with Narath about how none of this is what he planned on.

Okay. That all takes you until the next morning. Here's what you find out:

• Ceilith is all right. It appears you lost them somewhere in your retreat.
• The gardener welcomes your help, and has you place down some mats on the floor and some chairs in a circle, then sends you on your way.
• The sailors tell you that they aren't willing to go there, but they know that there is a coral reef around Ruathym that supposedly has monstrous sea beasts that are sacred to the Istishian druids. You might find some of the druids there, tending them.
• The Lady Narath set sail only the day before, you find out, and according to people on the docks they were heading back to Baldur's Gate. You should be able to catch up with them in relatively short order if you sail after them.

What is Ceilith's plan and the Tormish paladins? BH would have asked her about that. 

Ceilith and the Tormish paladins plan to regroup near Loudwater and try to get reinforcements. There are not many Tormish paladins in the area at the moment, and she fears that the corruption is deeper than she feared. She's very leery of the Lathanderian priests here, as well, and is keeping her group very separate until they march away early in the morning.

When did they say they were going to attack the city?

If "They" is the Lathanderian trainees that attacked you, they never said they were going to. If "They" is the druids who threatened to destroy the city, the answer is the day after you returned to Waterdeep, and asking all of your questions brought you to that morning.

Yes, I was referring to the Druids when I said "they." BH is going to leave the city and find a safe position to watch so that he can return after the carnage and assist as possible with healing (much like he did for Balder's Gate).

Recounting Beranhond's Adventure in Brief

"Let's just get away from the city for now - there is an army behind us and I do not want to be caught up with it." Once we are away from the city, and after we have all rested a bit more, why don't we convene and I will tell you what I learned." After everyone nodded Beranhond led Aelysin on down and showed her a bed on which to rest before he made his way to his cabin and feel promptly asleep.

I am just going to skip forward several hours - hope you don't mind
After several hours of traveling south from the city, Beranhond, Nym, Darvin, and Talathel convened in the conference room.
"After you fell into your catatonic state I led the Lady Narath back to Waterdeep. Seeing no improvement I went ashore to try to learn more about the situation. I was surprised to arrive and find that the city was in chaos and everyone was fleeing. It appears that the druids of Ishishia had decided that they were going to attack Waterdeep as they had attacked Baldur's Gate."
"The druids attacked Baldur's Gate?" Nym asked.
"Yes. I suspect their reason is that they felt that these cities were haven for the "fallen" Lathanderians. heir official reason was because of the threats made by Lathander by way of this Ishmael. He had desecrated their shrines and holy sites and rather than dealing directly with the Lathander council they took Ishmael at face values. However, I will get to that more in a bit."
"But Lathander didn't do anything did they?" Nym asked.
"Well..." Beranhond paused. "It appears that several low level priests had done some fairly stupid things. It appears that Lathanderian priests mishandled several events; of course many of these poorly handled events were in response to the attack by the druids. Let's just say that in general neither side were interested in listening to one another. I decided to go see what the Tormish Paladins were up to and met up with my old friend Ceilith." He took a sip of water, though no one seemed to be inclined to ask questions. Darvin did have his eyebrow raised as if he knew that there was more to the "old friend" than Beranhond was letting on.
"She let me know that the Tormish followers were convinced that Lathander was being infiltrated and that they were going to go plan on attacking a camp. I joined them and we traveled north to a camp where a small contingent snuck into a camp and met a man named Methasse. Eventually it turned out that this man was Ishmael and we barely escaped with our lives. The entire camp of trained Lathanderian priests and paladins started uprooting and set to follow the Tormish paladins."
"We arrived back to Waterdeep to find it abandoned. Ceilith pulled the Tormish Paladins back and is quite distrustful of Lathander in general. I myself am inclined to agree as there appears to be corruption from top to bottom."
Beranhond drank a bit more water.
"As you can see, the entire region has disintegrated into chaos. I would suggest we either seek out the druids of Ishistia and talk to them. We could join up with the Tormish Paladins, but they are waiting for reinforcements and that will take some time. In general I do not think we are quite strong enough yet to take on this Methasse/Ishmael. We could seek out some allies and see if that might help."
Dan will be making the text document available for everyone so you can read the specifics.

A Reunion

As Beranhond and Aelysin arrived back on the boat, Beranhond was happy to see that everyone was awake once more from their odd slumber.

Please conduct your planning and reuniting activities in the comments on this post. If you do not decide what to do by midnight on Tuesday, July 15th, it will be decided for you.

My Soul to Take/Keep

As the shield shattered, there was a sudden silence, as everyone watched stood petrified, hoping that the horrific things they were envisioning were about to happen to the clerics left in the city would not come to pass. The moment seemed to stretch on, until onlookers almost began to question whether the druids were about to murder the clerics within.

Just as these questions began to force their way to the surface, a wail began to rise. However, the wail did not come from the remains of Waterdeep. It came from the forest to the south, as a great dark cloud rose up from the hills to the hills to the northwest of Ardeep forest and engulfed it in shadow and dark shapes swarmed over the hillside to converge on the forest. The wail became discernible as a cacaphony of shrieks of pain and anguish, and flashes of light and darkness showed that powerful magic was being thrown back and forth from the forces within the forest and the forces coming at it.

As the battle of Ardeep got under way, the cloud grew, and a great pillar of flame flew at the city, targeting the temple that had so recently had a brief respite. The fireball hurtling toward the city was slashed asunder by invisible forces before it reached the temple, but it was only 100 feet away from the structure before it splashed into the water, sending up gouts of steam. Either the priests were still alive, or someone was protecting them.

Very little could be seen of the battle of Ardeep Forest from either the Lady Narath or Beranhond's perspective, though it seemed that very few of the dark shapes entering the forest were stopped and the darkness was not receding. Several minutes passed, and soon the flashes of light ceased altogether, leaving only the darkness and the dark shapes that had converged on the forest.

And If I Should Die Before I Wake

As Darvin commands the ship farther out to sea and Beranhond rescues the woman from the halflings, an enormous thundering crack is heard clearly by everyone within several miles. All attention isdrawn to Waterdeep, which began to pitch and roll. Soon, the city walls begin to sink, consumed by the earth where they had stood. The air is filled with grinding, clashing metal and stone, as well as the protest of wood cracking, though there were few inhabitants remaining in the city, and so there are no screams as of yet. The city is consumed by the gaping maw underneath it in short order, becoming a giant sinkhole, except for the Temple of Lathander, which stands alone in the devastation, a single safe haven in the storm that rages on around it. As the buildings of the city sink, dustclouds rise up, and bestial shapes can be seen rising up from under the city, rushing out of the destruction to the surrounding countryside and trying to find cover. As the dust begins to settle, water begins to rush through cracks in the earth toward the newly created depression, sucking water from the river and the ocean, as well. The temple still stands, but lightning continues to crackle all around it, crashing against an invisible bubble surrounding the structure that begins to glow as it is struck by the bolts. The bolts increase in intensity, causing cracks to form in the now shimmering shield around the temple, until it abruptly shatters, leaving the temple exposed.