(069) Pilgrims & Practicalities

[Merctime]

"If you wish it. I must confess I haven't heard that before, but it does smack of truth," says Dhren to Desmond. "I'll try to assist in another venue, and leave this poor fellows health in the very capable hands of Josiane."

Dhren will move away, having given Dorgan some measure of aid to satisfy himself, and move about to assist in general cleaning.

[Condorcet]

"A miracle..." mutters Helmut breathlessly.

"My Lady you are true to your name," he says with an awed bow, "command me that I may assist you."

[sully]

Dorgan says, "Aye, don't make me retch. It won't help. The poison's in my blood, there's no stopping that."

He gets up just enough to kneel before Josiane.

"As if I wasn't enough in yer debt, Miss. Thank you. 'Cept now I'm not sure if'n I'm still gonna die in a few days. I can feel the ice in my veins."

[doctorx]

Dorgan says, "Aye, don't make me retch. It won't help. The poison's in my blood, there's no stopping that."

He gets up just enough to kneel before Josiane.

"As if I wasn't enough in yer debt, Miss. Thank you. 'Cept now I'm not sure if'n I'm still gonna die in a few days. I can feel the ice in my veins."

Josiane kneels and puts her arms around her friend and holds him close for a moment.

When she pulls back her face is tired and tear-stained, but there is a faint light still glimmering in her grey eyes and a comforting smile on her face.

"Then we shall find a cure, my friend," she says in a weary but relieved voice; "Let us be about it forthwith."

She stands and moves back to the table. Her focus is now on that scroll. She is not reading or even touching it at this point, merely trying to get a sense of whether she can detect any sense of a curse or other fell enchantment about it...

[waysoftheearth]

With the most immediate threat to Dorgan's life passed, some semblance of normality returns. The remainder of the afternoon and evening is spent arguing and negotiating and ultimately dividing the loot into reasonable shares.

Her focus is now on that scroll. She is not reading or even touching it at this point, merely trying to get a sense of whether she can detect any sense of a curse or other fell enchantment about it...

"You mean this scroll?" inquires Ulric archly, tapping the breast of his robe where he has secured the dusty scroll recovered from the Abysmal Pit earlier that day. "'twill avail you little; the writings therein are for sorcerer's eyes alone. I will learn more of them after sunrise."

This much done, the evening repast (once again comprising largely the Elvish bread) is taken, and plans for the morrow are discussed. Beringar and Valorn have yet to return, and Dorgan is now living on borrowed time.

As our heroes, and the entourage of pilgrims, prepare to bed down for the evening anxious thoughts occupy some of their minds...

So ends the second day since leaving Southwatch.

Players now cash in their respective XP awards as detailed here.

The referee is waiting to see whether the Ring Team will be present at the abbey this night, or not, before making night checks and beginning day three...

[sully]

Dorgan will ask Ulric if he knows of any sorcery or alchemy that might render the poison in his veins inert.

Can you tell how desperate he is, to be willing to allow a Man to work his sorceries on the dwarf?

[ehiker133]

While supping on Elven way bread, Desmond quietly muses their options...

"Some of us need to go see what has happened to Beringar and Valorn. Ashtad, are you sure there was just the one ogre? Or maybe they ran into another pack of wolves? I think whoever goes to check on their whereabouts should do so in force. We also have Nizzeb or Nizzbit or whatever that duple-genge's name is to deal with. We have no idea what happened to Dieter, Highbough, Olaf, and Wen - I assume they figured out a way to operate the ring and hopefully they're looking for The Gustave now! And then we have to figure out how to heal Dorgan here."

Doodling a map in the dirt, he asks aloud, "Anyone have any idea how far it is to the elves from here? I suppose they could help him. Too bad we don't have one of Guntrum's beans handy. The only other people I know of who could help us are the Sisters from Ket who sent us here in the first place. And last we knew, Ket was overrun with Goblins and we had no idea where the sisters were. Josiane, maybe you can use that orb to try and find the mother of the order? Maybe she's not in Ket anymore..."

"Hey... speaking of rings, Ulric, did you ever figure out what that ring you have does?"

Does that about cover the different things we immediately have to set to task? Or am I missing something?

[sully]

Dorgan says, "Damn! I never thought of the elves. How far is it? I should start running there now."

I'm serious. Dorgan would run for days to the elven fastness because he thinks they must have some antidotes there. One other thing the team needs to do is continue to clean up the abbey and attempt to fortify its defenses.

[ehiker133]

Desmond recollects it's about six leagues north of the abbey.

Hinterlands Map Aid (Locations of Goblin encampments/fortresses in relation to known landmarks):

Here's a mud-map to help visualise the geography:

  Code:

.E.........................
N+S..................X.....
.W.................Hezmog..
...........................
...................X.......
................Zuzyag.....
..................X........
South......X.....Gzum......
..X......Abbey...Atog......
watch......................
.........X.................
....X....Ruin..............
...Ket.....................

Some "approximate" distances (subject to the ref's ailing memory) from Southwatch are:

Ket: 8 leagues west,
The Abbey: 6 leagues south,
The Ruin: 10 leagues south-west,
Gzum-Atog: 12 leagues south,
Zuzyag: 16 leagues south-south-east,
Hezmog: 20 leagues south-east.

[doctorx]

"You mean this scroll?" inquires Ulric archly, tapping the breast of his robe where he has secured the dusty scroll recovered from the Abysmal Pit earlier that day. "'twill avail you little; the writings therein are for sorcerer's eyes alone. I will learn more of them after sunrise."

Josiane turns away with a disappointed frown on her face, clearly thinking hard.

She suddenly cocks her head to one side, eyes half-closed, looking puzzled. Is she trying to remember something? Or perhaps even listening to someone..?

Her grey eyes snap wide and she speaks in that strange decisive tone of hers.

"Wen. Lleuad-Wen. Wen the Pale. I want him. Where is he?"

"Indeed, come to that," she continues in gentler, more mortal tones; "What has become of the members of our company investigating the ring?"

An eyebrow raised in incredulity.

"By the Saint, surely they've learnt by now to not just wander off??" ( )