Chat Summary for 15 December, 2000

 

It’s alive!

 

We took care of several things in last night’s chat session.  The first thing we handled was the magic trade with Valdaeron. After a lengthy and at times contentious discussion the party decided to trade the drow items and short swords to Valdaeron for a set of Winged Boots and a Bag of Holding (type 4). 

 

The party then agreed on the distribution of magic items from the last battle.  This is how things turned out:

 

Winged Boots                          Amber

Bag of Holding            Sane (? - Matar, please clarify)

Silent Elven Chain +2                      Hold for Ariessus

Short Bow +2                          Shadow

Short Bow +1                          Matar (from Shadow)

Short Sword +3                    Shadow

Ring of Protection +2               Amber

Ring of Protection +1               Matar (from Amber)

Ring of Protection +3               Thengal

Scroll: Melf’s spells (2)            Diana

Potion of Speed              Katrina

Hat of Disguise            Castinar (Sane asked for this)

Jerkin of Tentacles                      Katrina

Glock 17 9mm                        not decided on

 

The items loaned to the party by Laila were also distributed:

 

Minor Stone of HealingDiana, Nikki, Sane, Shadow

6 Minor Stones of Healing            Amber

Major Stone of HealingMatar, Thengal, Castinar, Katrina, Amber

Great Stone of HealingMatar, Thengal, Castinar

Gem of Curing              Amber

Blanket of Stasis               Amber

 

And, as a reminder, Amber purchased some potions and handed them out.

 

Potion of CMW              Thengal, Matar, Shadow

2 Potions of CMW              Katrina

6 Potions of CLW               Amber

 

The above changes are reflected on the Magic Items list in the Treasure page, on the Party Magic Items list on the Resources page, and on my versions of the character sheets of those who’s 3e characters are finalized (Ari, Amber, Thengal, and Matar). 

 

 

 

 

The Seekers were then allowed to ask questions about Sakar, the Black Lake, and the Bubble.  A background briefing was provided by the Dark Stalkers.  (You can read this briefing on the web page under Resources - Maps - the Bubble.) 

 

Finally the Seekers and Stalkers were ready to set out.  Valdaeron opened a gate to the Fortress of Midnight and the groups passed through.  They boarded a bioship and traveled to Sakar itself.  There they stayed within a covered dock/warehouse owned by House Amirsaqut, one of the Houses in Valdaeron’s temporary alliance.  They stayed in a damp room underground.

 

During their time in the warehouse most of their needs were provided for by three drow.  Two were house servants of House Amirsaqut.  The third was Matron Yees.  From Matron Yees they discovered that House Amirsaqut has a very unique power-sharing arrangement, where Yees shares power with two of her sisters.  Both of those sisters dropped by at one point.  The eldest was Mistress Vantani.  Katrina recognized the name from some of her talks with Ariessus.  (I forgot to point this out during the chat.)  Mistress Vantani is the High Witch of Burj Da’iman (the Tower of Eternity - the Mage College in Sakar).  Some of Ariessus’ early thoughts about the wrongness of drow society came from speaking with this woman.  The third sister was a Priestess of Lolth, Matron Cazar.

 

 

Something very strange happened on the third day that the Seekers were waiting.  A powerful wave of magic passed through the room they were in.  Diana and Nikki felt it strongly, the other spellcasters less so.  The fighters were barely aware of it.  Both Diana and Nikki felt that something profound had just happened, but had no idea what.

 

About an hour later Valdaeron entered the room.  He told the Seekers that something had just happened that seemed to have warped reality somehow.  Valdaeron and a few other powerful figures in town were unaffected, but apparently everybody else was altered somehow.  The kicker was that those that were altered didn’t perceive any change.  They felt that the way they were now was the way they had always been.  Valdaeron then pointed out several things about the party that he perceived as being different from before the wave’s passage.  The party found this quite difficult to believe.  Val then departed.

 

He returned the next day after investigating the phenomenon.  He told the party that the drow apparently knew who was behind the kidnappings that the party was looking into, but they would not reveal that information to him.  The drow believed that the great wave of magic that altered reality originated in the homeland of the group behind the kidnappings.  They further theorized that this group was working on a great magic item or spell, possibly powered by the souls of the kidnapped spellcasters, and that something had gone terribly wrong.  The Weave had been rent in the area.  An explosion of magic surged outward from the rent - the wave the party felt.  This rent somehow altered reality in the area.  Fortunately the area effected seemed to be limited primarily to the Underdark, but some reports of strange changes were reported on the surface around Tilverton.  While the news disturbed the party somewhat, they weren’t all that upset about it, since for them nothing had happened.

 

(OOC: You might be wondering what this is all about.  This is the method we’re using to explain the conversion of the characters over to D&D 3^rd Edition.  Linking the strange conversion effects to the source of the problem the Truth Seekers are trying to find was the idea of one of the game’s lurkers, Simon.)

 

 

It was only a day later that things really picked up.  Valdaeron once again visited the group.  Expectations were high that this was the signal to start, but instead Val gave the party some terrible news.  King Azoun of Cormyr had been slain a short time previous.  His eldest daughter and heir Princess Tanalusta was slain as well, leaving his infant grandson, Azoun V as Crown Prince of Cormyr. Until the child is able to assume the throne his aunt Princess Alusair would govern as Regent.

 

Valdaeron went on to tell the Seekers that a small civil war among the noble houses had erupted at the same time, and that any of those with ties to the throne, especially with any claim to the throne, were targeted for assassination.  The number of nobles with any firm claim to the crown dropped to a handful.  Val spoke for a while about the chaos such a situation could precipitate.

 

Valdaeron finally got around for the reason for his visit.  He told the group that a young Cormyrian nobleman by the name of Narlan Silversword was being held prisoner by House Zimrath, one of the more powerful Houses in Sakar.  Val had known about this for several months and had reported it to Vangerdahast.  The Silversword family had been in negotiations with the drow to ransom their son and family heir.  The kicker was that House Silversword is closely related to the ruling family, and that with the recent assassinations Narlan Silversword could stand as close as fourth or fifth in line to the crown.

 

Val feared that when the Zimrath learn of the situation in Cormyr they will break off negotiations and use Narlan for some nefarious scheme, perhaps even using him to try and topple Cormyr itself.  The Guildmaster believes that Narlan must be rescued quickly if there is any hope to have him returned to Cormyr.

 

“So, there are two people in Sakar that need rescuing, and two groups here able to mount a rescue attempt” Valdaeron concluded.  “The Dark Stalkers have a much better chance of getting to Ariessus, which leaves you to rescue Narlan Silversword.  Are you willing to attempt this?”

 

There was a little discussion about the situation, but the party readily agreed to attempt the rescue.  Val told them they didn’t have much time.  The Stalkers had a plan to go into the Aswadain compound to rescue Ariessus, but the timing of the plan was crucial.  It had to go off in the early evening hours.  Both rescues had to be attempted at the same time to preserve the element of surprise in both attempts.  Due to the need to act before House Zimrath found out about the changes in Cormyr and increased the guard around Narlan, Valdaeron felt it necessary for the rescues to happen today.  “That only leaves nine hours before the rescue attempts need to be launched” Val told them.  “I have to go and start making arrangements to pull this scheme off and won’t see you again until we meet back here at the warehouse.  I’ll try to get you as much help and information as I can.”

 

After a few additional questions about what the party might encounter in the Zimrath compound Valdaeron departed.

 

That was the end of the chat session.