Immersive Ink

ehiker133 wrote:"Ulric... you called it a gholum. The same term we used for the iron machine we fought in the basement of our manse. I did not see the beast of fire, myself, so could not properly call it such, but... it seems unusual that gholums are in use in both the abbey and in Ket. Some might even call it coincidence. And I don't believe in coincidence. From what High... er, Taurnorn... has indicated, making gholums is beyond snork knowledge. Could someone be making gholums for them and for the wolf priests?" Desmond asks the fire mage.

"In truth I used the word golem simply because I have not other way to label the creature that rose from the tar pit. It did not appear to be a beast of nature; instead it looked as though it was made. Although it could easily have been some unknown demon from another dimension summoned by the evil priests that lurk below the abbey. It was quite different from the golem we faced below our manse. That one was made of earth. This one seemed to be made of fire. I think it unlikely that they are from the same source."

"As far as how to stop it, I do have enchantments that could harm it. My fire-based magic may not be effective, but I have other spells that would cause it considerable harm. I also now have the power to make myself or one of you invisible."

"It would appear that we are coming to an agreement. Is it to be Olaf's plan then? If so when do we leave?"

"If it is to be the abbey", says Gustave, "we should equip ourselves accordingly. I found my blade turned from the foes as though by some unnatural force - perhaps the Elves know of a solution."

"We should also go well supplied with food. I wonder if there is a good bakery about...", he muses, wondering what an Elvish pastry might be like.

Tonneau wrote:"We should also go well supplied with food. I wonder if there is a good bakery about...", he muses, wondering what an Elvish pastry might be like.

I believe you each have three weeks of waybread filling your packs.

So long as all this isn't carried off, allowed to rot, or eaten by monsters you should be amply supplied.

Beringar frowns.

"This abbey you speak of... It sounds worse than any snork fortress. It had better be loaded with riches."

After a brief pause, he continues:

"Still, the lad's got a point."

ehiker133 wrote:

Eris wrote: "Nasty thought." Olaf says, "You're probably right, though."

"let's see...." Olaf thinks a second, "There were undead creatures in the Abbey that you fought, right? Our normal weapons weren't as effective as they usually are, is that also right? If we go back shouldn't we give some thought to something like silvered blades and arrow heads?"

"And that gholum thing was shooting heat rays out of its eyes, but it didn't see our Hi, er Taurorn, when he was invisible." Olaf continues, "If we could make ourselves less visible to it, maybe we could get up close and kill...er, disable it?"

"Invisibility spells, or such magic, would be great, but maybe smoke or dust or something like that to obscure its vision would work as well?" Olaf squints, "How do you kill a gholum, though, with sword and axe or with some sort of magic, or maybe you just turn it off by flipping a switch? Does anyone know?"

OOC: undead? Hmmm... I remember wolves, wolf-men, priests, the floating beak thing, the grey ooze thing... The fire elemental/gholum... I don't recall any undead. At least not that Desmond fought. Maybe it was the other group?

Also keep in mind, Eris, that those of us fighting as Heros (4th level or higher) shouldn't have to worry about such limitations, at least I think that is what WOTE said. Still want to get some cool magic weapons, of course...

OOC: Olaf wasn't with either group that fought inside the Abbey, he and Highbough were on the roof or skulking around the outside of the temple while you did the fighting inside. He knows you fought "un-natural" creatures, he's *assuming* undead, if he's wrong, he's wrong.

Dorgan is still in favor of tracking down The Boar first but, if that vote fails, he'd rather clear the Abbey before hitting one of the Goblin settlements.

"Long, long ago, before Men came to these parts--and before they called me 'Highbough'--I traveled to Hezmog. It must have been 200 or more years ago. At that time, Hezmog was an ancient and abandoned fortress, not overrun with goblins as it is today. It has sprawling highland grounds encircled within an outer wall that covers many miles--it would take a day to traverse the entire perimeter. Within are a number of individual bastions with their own internal walls, the largest of which hangs over a dark lake. It was the highest, most remote tower which I sought--a sort of intellectual pilgrimage."

Taurnorn pauses and reflects. "All that was long ago, and the goblins are industrious, if crude, miners and tunnelers... Who knows what they may have unearthed in the catacombs below Hezmog?"

Very well.

It appears the consensus is to return to the lonely abbey in order to establish a base of operations. With respect to fighting the lycanthropes, Gallaine advises you to arm yourselves with silvered blades for the weres are largely invulnerable to iron but cannot defy silver.

The quartermaster has limited stocks of silver but various silvered blades could be forged at your request: a silvered arrow is 5 sp, a silvered dagger 30 sp, a silvered spear 50 sp, a silvered axe 60 sp, and a silvered sword 75 sp. Forging any of these will take a day.

Regarding the whereabouts of The Boar, the elves have not specifically searched for him, nor sighted him for about two weeks now. He could be half way to Maine if he broke through one of the Goblin blockades along the road... having Wen send out animals scouts, or convincing the elves to engage in an aerial reconnaissance are likely the best hopes of locating him--if he is still in the Hinterlands--at this stage.

Gallaine's beastmaster has called in a flight of hippogriffs, and will be ready to depart at dawn tomorrow.

You have the the sixth day to make your final preparations. You can depart at dawn on the seventh day on the wing--or else on foot after that.

Desmond will be the first to request a silvered dagger from the quartermaster.

Gustave joins his twin-orbed comrade.

"It is a little small...are you sure it is not just for cooking?" he says, inspecting the foot-long blade with some distaste.