I'm just heading into chat... now!

Cure Light Wounds
Cure Light Wounds
Cure Light Wounds
Cure Light Wounds
Entangle

Level 2:
Cure Moderate Wounds
Cure Moderate Wounds
Hold Person
Silence 15'
Flame Blade

Level 3:
Dispel Magic
Summon Insects
Call Lightning

As ever, it's a real pleasure to DM for you guys.

Before I forget, here's the party as things currently stand. I'll handle equipment tomorrow and we can sort out your plans for next week later.

Hit Points:
Arys: 9/40, Emmerus: 39/45, Isilifeline: 40/40, Joshua: -3/20 [stabilised], Thordalf: 19/20, Valendara: 22/22, Vanima: 30/32

Spells Left:
Emmerus:

Cure Light Wounds
Chant
Flame Blade
Call Lightning
Dispel Magic

Valendara:

Charm Person
Blindness
Aid
Hold Person
Prayer

Vanima:

Magic Missile [x2]

I just heard from SilentOne last night and she’s not going to be able to make the game from now on due to things going on in real life.

Ginafae also won’t be able to make it along for the next fortnight at least.

So… in short, we're really going to need some new players.

I’ve already put a new recruitment post up on the boards and will upgrade it with some flavour text just as soon as I’ve got the time. I’d also be grateful if you could pass the word along if you know anyone else who might be interested.

***

On an in-character note, I’ll upgrade your party inventory (on the first page of this thread) later today with everything you found on the ghouls and in Skratta’s chambers.

If you’re willing to exhaust your magical reserves then you might be able to head on to Thalgrim’s court immediately and fight another battle. Resting anywhere near the orcish stronghold seems a highly dangerous option (unless you can find some way to safely conceal yourselves)… especially given that you’ve just killed their head shaman. Alternatively, you could always head back to the dwarves, either to help them in the coming siege or to rest and re-supply for a return trip. Who knows, you might be lucky enough to avoid the Brotherhood’s attention…

Either way, let me know your plans at some point over the next few days and I’ll start writing up the next adventure.

(Incidentally, Skratta was a 10th level Cleric… congratulations, guys! The Brotherhood have existed in play for over a month now, they’re not just something I made up on the spur of the moment. )

I've really enjoyed playing.. at least the times when my computer allowed chat to run..

Unless my work hours have it so I have fridays off, I'll have to sit out... But I'm working seeing if I do infact get at least some fridays off, will keep you posted on that... for now, it's time for me to curl up with chicken noodle soup and try to get my voice back

Skratta, the hobgoblin shaman, lies dead at your feet: felled by a combination of magical energies, keen archery and cold dwarven steel. The trolls of his pack, burned and charred beyond even the remit of their own legendary healing energies, lie where they fell, slumped together at the chamber’s entrance. An eerie quiet falls upon the cavern in the aftermath of the desperate battle, interrupted by only the ragged breathing of its victors, the scrape of their boots on the flinty rock underfoot and the distant trickling of water to the lake below.

In the low, flickering half-light of Skratta’s fire- now dying to its embers- a hundred distorted, shadowy figures dance and writhe across the dry stone of the cavern’s walls and floor. Oblivious, the party move on to make a more thorough search of the shaman’s chambers. They are bleeding and bruised themselves, slowed by wounds beyond even the remit of their own priests’ healing powers, and their magical reserves are nearing an end. With any luck, however, something can be discovered here to grant them an edge in their final battle with King Thalgrim.

Crude cave painting, depicting monstrous figures- toothed and clawed like beasts of legend- adorn the tunnel walls as they press onwards into the clinging darkness. Somewhere overhead there must surely be a fault in the rock, for their passage is punctuated by whistling screams and bursts of cool air from the rocks overhead. A trio of chambers open from the tunnel’s far reaches. The first is littered with troll dung and chewed, splintered animal bones, nothing of interest or value there. The second appears to represent a shrine of sorts: four thick candles of crudely rendered fat fill the air with a pungent, black smoke, marking the four corners of a large and blood-spattered stone altar. The candlesticks themselves, most likely plundered, appear to have been fashioned from an ornate gold, their finely crafted stems rising up in the likeness of columns of flame themselves. A heavy, iron-bound chest is to be found in the room’s far corner, though this is locked and you are able to discover no key. The third chamber appears to have been Skratta’s own: a heavy chain mail byrnie hangs at the near end of a thick bed of furs, a wickedly spiked morning star and shield presented on a mantle overhead. Buried in the depths of the fur-pile a second chest, this one unlocked, is unearthed, and a collection of potion bottles and baked clay tablets are unearthed inside.

Nothing more than a sturdily-wrought iron holy symbol, in the shape of a double-headed axe, and a collection of beads and animal-bone tokens are to be found on Skratta’s body itself. The furthest depths of the shaman’s chambers have been plumbed and there is now nothing for it but to head back before you are discovered, or to exhaust what little remains of your healing magics and chance one final battle with Thlagrim and the warriors of his court.

***

The equipment list on the first page of this thread has been updated with the treasures recovered from last Friday’s adventure.

You haven’t had a chance to cast Detect Magic on any of these items yet, so you won’t know which are enchanted until you get a chance to rest overnight and cast a spell over them. There may also be encumbrance issues if you’re trying to take some of these items (the giant’s sword, the locked chest and the pile of furs) back to Caer Hwarnsvalon with you.

I'll start writing next week's adventure just as soon as someone lets me know what your plans are IC...

If we leave, Emerus and isil cannot come back, and Arys is no longer with us as she's dropped fro mthe game, which means I can't npc her anymre either.

If Vorrioch will allow it I'd like to work on a thiefly/mage or straight mage character to bring in as a second Pc, at least until the ranks are filled with individual players.

But considering we're wounded, short players, and out of spells, we're in trouble either way. I've only got a call lightning, a chant and a flame blade spell left, nothing really helpful here in the cave.

And the mages are completely tapped ecept for perhaps a blindness by Val?

So really either we can try and batten down the hatches and sleep here for the night (But I don't recall a door so that's almost impossible*

Or leave. Emmerus swore upon Pelor to drive out the evi, but being forced to swear an oath to the Patriarch elder guy he's afraid of what would happen if he left and tried to return.

Soooo...

Emmerus would LOVE to know what the items are in hopes of possibly finding an edge, but the time restraints and encumbrance issues are gonna make it impossible to take it all or figure it out.

So, take what we can carry, potions, tablets, morning star shield and chainmail (leave the massive sword unfortunately) and furs as well likely, or atake a couple each and be done with the rest, and let us return home. Emmy wil have to risk returning later.

(Perhaps if I can bring in my new charrie he can cast Invisibility Sphere and help everyone get back into the tunnel undetected but I smehow doubt Vors gonna let us get away with it after making that oath

I can't play this friday I'm doing spring cleaning for somebody in the day time while evereyone is gone, and then I'm going out with my boyfriend to party

I can't be the only player you guys lol.

So it's me and DM/Brianna all game? (ractically every game) in the difficult situations we're in, purely the lack of numbers is bound to get us all killed.

*mumble mumble rant*

So… you’d want to retire Emmerus completely and start playing a new character?

I’m not going to stop you if you’ve made your mind up but it would be great if you could either find a way to deal with (or work around) the restriction IC. Also, I’ve really enjoyed having Emmerus with the party, though no doubt whoever you decide to play next will be just as cool.

Basically, if you are deciding to head back to the dwarves then I’ll probably start the siege… you can try to make a return trip to the mountain if you’d like though getting there might be slightly more of a problem. Or, if you’re heading back to Bridhvale we can start something up from there.

I'm afraid I don't really know when and if I'll next be able to tag along. I seem to be perennially busy on Friday nights and, even when I'm not, I have busy Saturdays.

So I'm not sure I can help with the current lack of players unfortunately.

If it’s just going to be the four of us most games from now on then we might want to start thinking about whether it’s worth continuing at all.

Numbers in-character aren’t such an issue, as I can always scale back on the monsters or just give you a few more henchmen. It’s the out of character side I’m more worried about, as even if just one more person can’t make it to an adventure then we won’t really have a party at all.

Anyhow, I’ll post recruitment threads on a couple more boards this afternoon, and I’d appreciate it if you could help spread the word as well. Failing that, it might be best to wrap things up with a bang this Friday rather than just let it drag on and peter out over the next few weeks.

I'm hoping that next week I can play, but friday just don't seem to work for me, thursday I work the night shift, so I'm up until 7am Friday...and then depends on when I get my butt out of bed, which I KNOW will be early this week so I can come do the damned spring cleaning. Fridays are usually the night I spend with my boyfiend...since our schedules always contradict during the week, friday is the best bet to see him.

No problem, I understand that real life needs to take priority.

We could try moving the game to another night, but I’m guessing that everyone has work during the week. Saturdays wouldn’t work either, since Brianna and Dragon Mistress wouldn’t be able to make it. Sundays aren’t ideal for me (since I have sports in the afternoon), but if that works better for everyone else then we could always give it a try.

Anyway, I’ll post ads on a couple of other forums and see if I get any response, if not then I’m happy to continue running for as long as people want to play. If the game’s going to die, though, I’d prefer to wrap everything up dramatically than for the campaign to just peter out.

that is understandable hun. The thing with me is friday during my day is good for me...but after supper is terrible. During the day it is easy for me because I'm usually on the computer from morning until late afternoon, then my boyfriend picks me up around supper time. If I don't go out with him, dad and I go out.