Brief Recap: Last turn, the party did away with Thaddius and his thugs. They were in the streets of Galay, winter, early morning.

The Quest to the Barrow Isle

Fyona joins her new company members after the fight with Thaddius and his thugs. They still do not know who hired Thaddius or why Blade and Bibi are wanted.

Mog approaches Thaddius' corpse, lying in the scarlet stained snow. He says, "Mog can commune with this one, to discover who commanded him to attack us."

But before Mog can begin his spell, a whistle is heard in the morning air. The sun is now fully risen, though gray snow clouds still cover the entire sky.

Humphrey says, "That whistle is from the town guard. They are coming this way." The other adventurers hear answering whistles farther away and decide it is best to make their way quickly to the dock quarter, where a ship waits to take them in search of the Tomb wherein is hidden the Obsidian Stone, according to Egmund.

As the party moves out, Mog grabs Thaddius' severed head and stuffs it into his haversack. "Mog will speak with this one on the ship, tonight."

Bibi find the best possible accommodations for the horse and gives the stable hand one extra gold with instructions to give her and Blades horse special care. She also tells him that if the city is attacked to let the horses go.

She then does to Azrakenez to say good-bye. She communicate to him that if there is danger he is to flee the city and care for the young one until she calls for them.

[NOTE: we also got some loot from Thaddius and the two mages. I will detail the haul as a supplement to this post.]

[Here is the treasure we got:

Thaddius: Wand of Paralyzation, Bracers of Defense AC 5

Mage 1: Wand of Lightning, Ring of Protection +2

Mage 2: Scroll: Protection Undead; Scroll: Find Traps x2; Scroll:

Waterbreathing 30' radius]

Bibi asks Mog and Humphrey how they thing these item would be best used.

* * *

The company is on board the Broken Wind, a sturdy looking mid- sized merchant vessel with one mast. The ship is captained by Captain Gray, an elderly gentleman who is also the owner of the Broken Wind.

The first evening on board, the company is invited to dine with the captain. All eight of the companions are crammed into the captain's tight quarters, sitting around an oblong table eating fish and dried fruit washed down with strong ale. Captain Gray says, "Egmund and I have known each other since I was only a lad. He is much older than he looks mind you, he was already an adept when we met. Ah, where do the years go...

"He of course told me about your destination, though he left out certain facts. I can take you to the Barrow Isle, it is only a week's journey by sea. But he did not tell me why you seek to go there or what you intend to do once you arrive. I assume it has to do with these Githyanki," the word sounds unfamiliar to Captain Gray as he speaks it. "Word has it they have already overrun the Northern Kingdom, though I would never have believed it if Egmund had not assured me it was true. King Ozrik is a proud man, and the Githyanki must be powerful to drive him from his kingdom. I knew him in my younger days as well..."

The captain, probably in his 70s or 80s, wiles the dinner hour away reflecting on his life as though he expects it to end soon. Though he has obviously led a full life--he used to be an adventurer--his thoughts are dour, his outlook for the future of the Wurld not bright.

"The Barrow Isle is the burial ground of a long dead mage whose name has been forgotten by even those at the Guild. No one goes there. It is a small island off the northern coast, and the only feature besides rocks and waste is the Barrow, a man made hill used to entomb the mage's body. But I can't for the life of me figure out why you must go there, especially now, as war approaches. Won't you tell an old man what your mission is, why you must go to that god- forsaken place?"

[Please insert any dinner conversation or answers to Captain Gray's questions here. Also feel free to add other input anywhere you think appropriate about what you do on the voyage.]

Ghotu says, "If Egmund did not choose to tell you what our quest is, I think it best we follow his lead." Ghotu doesn't want to take any chances. He doesn't think the Captain is an enemy, but he just met him after all.

Blade sits crammed into a cormer next to Bronk. The Rasheman warior's bulk is not suited for such small quarters and takes up a disproprtionate area of the room. Blade smiles at Fyona who is seated across from him., " This isn't exactly what I had in mind. " He says. Changing the subject, he says " So where exactly did you learn your swordplay?" Blade was sure he already knew the answer but just wanted to make sure. "It is quite elegant.

Fyona, "Why thank you. I just picked up a little here and there." She is know certain that this its the Blade the was rumor to be her mothers young love when she was a child. She had also heard that they didn't part on amicable term. So, for know she will keep that to herself. But she does wish to share with the group, excluding the captain what she knows about the Gith.

Dinner ends, and the company retires from the captain's quarters to their own.

Mog finally gets the chance to commune with Thaddius' spirit. Some of the other adventurers are with him to watch and ask questions of Thaddius. [Anyone who is interested can be present; if so, please post that you want to be there during the séance.]

[Blade is there]

Ghotu is not present at the seance. He is a little disturbed by the idea frankly. The dead should not be bothered. Ghotu has fought the enough undead to wish that those who cross the veil should stay there.

There is also something else in him that makes him stay away, some feeling that he himself has something in common with the dead. It doesn't make sense, but sometimes he feels as though he has died many deaths. Perhaps the gods play with mortals, entertaining themselves by sending people to their dooms and watching how they act along the way. Ghotu once heard a crazy man on a corner rant that all humans were just actors and that all the wurld was a stage. Truth mixed with nonsense.

Mog spends about an hour preparing the spell, placing Thaddius' head in the center of a design which he scrawls on the floorboards of the cabin with red and black chalk. The dead mage's face is contorted and hideous, one eye open and the tongue lolling out of gray lips.

Mog begins the chant, which takes about ten minutes to complete. When it is done, a cold wind blows into the room, making the candles and the single lantern flutter.

Mog intones, still chanting, "Thaddius, mage of the guild and mercenary, slain by the hand of Blade--SPEAK!" Either the wind or an otherworldly presence howls, and everyone on board the Broken Wind feels a chill. On deck, the night watchmen grip their cutlasses and bundle themselves deeper in their cloaks.

Soon a voice speaks to those present at the séance. "Who summons me from my torment?" The voice is disembodied, seeming to come from everywhere at once.

"Mog Toltec, High Priest of Gruumsh, the Sleepless Eye. You must obey the command of the Eye." Mog's words are still in cadence with his earlier chanting, his eyes closed where he sits cross- legged before Thaddius' severed head.

The voice howls again, louder this time, whether in outrage or in pain the listeners cannot tell. "ASK!" the voice commands. "The dead cannot lie, though we seldom speak the truth."

Mog sits quietly, still humming and swaying with the rhythm of his earlier chant. He quietly intones, "Any who wish knowledge from this shade, ask through me. But 'ware, this spirit is hostile to us and will seek to twist your words."

[Any of you who wish to ask Thaddius a question may do so. Only one question for each person. Compound or complex questions are less likely to get straight answers.]

"Who sent you to find Bibi and me?" Blade asks. "And I am not refering to any underling you may have been dealing with. I want the name of the person in charge."

The otherworldly voice howls, "An old friend and victim of your thievery!"

Bibi "Why does this person seek me?"

The disembodied voice of Thaddius groans, "Because...he seeks...what you seek." The answer is delayed, as if the shade is resisting the call to answer these questions. Hearing this answer crushes Bibi's spirit, knowing that yet another person was seeking the stone.

"Someone find out this person's proper name" Blade blurts out. He nudges Bronks arm encouragibng him to ask just that question.

"What are the true names of the individual or individuals that sent you after Blade and Bibi?" Humphrey asks.

The specter's voice laughs, and says, "You ask the True Name of an Eternal Warrior? Such is beyond me! They pass through a veil that not even The Dead may traverse."

"Ask if it was Bruce Tyrlan. " Blade says to Bronk who is picking his nose at the moment. "I know you are busy righht now but that can wait. This is imporatnt."

[Since everyone only gets to ask one question, I will post the answers as we go, so your later questions can have the benefit of answers to previous questions. Anyone else have a question?]

As, soon as the seance is complete Bibi rushes from the room trying to avoid anyone seeing the tears she can't hold back.

Once she closes the door to her cabin Bibi begins to sob. 'I will never get the stone back and even if I do I will never be able to protect it. Maybe I only want the stone for selfish reasons but it too hard to live without it. Someday someone will kill me when I change. Perhaps I should live as a hermit.' Bibi begins to cry even harder. The idea of being alone is more terrifying then being dead. 'Azriel please help me.'

Later, after the seance...

[DM NOTE: Anne or Keith, please revise to be consistent with my ruling in post 1518--i.e., no private quarters unless someone spends a plot point, and all references to "Blade's room" must be edited:

----

Fyona hears Blade rummaging around in one of the spare cabins she goes to the door and whispers "Blade my I come in?"

Blade smiles to himself. "What an unexpected surprise. Please come in." As Fyona enters, Blade spies Bronk peeking out the crack of the bedroom doorway across the hall. The Rasheman warrior is grinning from ear to ear and gives Blade the thumbs up sign. Blade grins slighltly and closes the door before Fyona catches a glimpse of the silent exchange.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Blade pours two glasses of rum for them. He had won the bottle in a card game with one of the deckhands earlier and it was waht he had been looking for when Fyona had heard him. He had hid the bottle in this room to keep Bronk from getting his hands on it.

Once inside Blades cabin she tells him of how she was hired a spy but not why. And she shares with him all of the useful knowledge she has about the Gith (but I don't know what that is) and details her say with them.

"That is all very fascinating, but surely we can think of something more interseting to talk about. Something more personal...Like the real reason you came to my room in the middle of the night. "

Fyona giggles "I not sure my mother would approve."

"Perhaps you shouldn't tell her then. Some things are best left unsaid."

Just then, as Blade moves in, SLAM! The door to the spare quarters flies open and Humphrey stands in the doorway and says "The captain has asked that we all go to the hold! A powerful storm approaches! Grab your things! "Hurry!" he says.

Blade curses the wizard's interruption, he runs top side to see the approaching storm and discovers that it has been a false alarm. The captain has drnuk to deeply of his spirits this night and It was a false alarm. If nothing else, he has ruined the intimate moment between Blade and Fyona, Humphrey produces two dark glasses and a bottle of wine. "This wine comes from the Greater Norien valley. It is a red! .Would you care to join me on deck to have a glass?" Humphrey asks Fyona. "I would be greatly interested in discussing again y our acquantaince with Thae Rune Ibn.

"I do intend to share all of the information that I have about Ibn but I have other things I must attend to right now." Fyona quickly heads back to the cabins.

Blade rushes to the spare qaurters and seed that Fyona is nowhere to be found.

As Fyona makes her way down she comes across Bronk. The large man is examining the unlight lantern hanging on the wall. Bronk "the wick is stuck." Fyona realizes that she get past Bronk in the narrow hall. "Let me see it" Fyona looks at the wick and sees that a tiny thread is sticking out. She pulls the hood off the lantern and grabs the thread with her teeth and pulls. The thread snaps and is now half as short. She tries again this time the wick pulls through "there." Bronk fumbles around searching his pockets for a flint "do you have a light." Fyona "not on me." Bronk continues his search "I know I've got it some where, there it is." He strikes and strikes and strikes and strikes. "Must have gotten wet." Fyona "I've got one in my room, lets get it." She follows him to her room hurries in a gets the flint. She goes back to the door where Bronk is waiting. "Here just get it back to me later." Fyona slides past him to the cabin next door to see if Blade is there. But she finds that he and the rum they had left on the table are gone.

The next morning Blade awakes with a slight hangover and the familiar feeling of loneliness that frequently accompanies them. He gazes at Humpghrey who is still aseep in his hammock. He couldn't be sure, but Blade suspects that the wizard intentionally interrupted his advances towards Fyona the night before. Humphrey had to have known that The captain was obviuosly drunk out of his mind, ranting about appraoching storms as well as wanting to go chasing after giant white whales. Whateve the wizard's reasoning may have been it still didin't change the fact that Blade was now waking up in a crowded roomful of smelly men, instead of the perfumed arms of Fyona. "Damn wizards. " Blade mutters as he shuffles off to the latrine.

Cut Scene: Bruce Tyrlan in Galay

Bruce sat reading the scroll--a summary of recent news events in Galay gathered by the Information Minister. For a copper a week, one could receive the news in this form, delivered by pages to one's very doorstep.

Bruce spat. Thaddius had been missing for two days, and Bruce had heard no word. He knew Thaddius had hired men to help to capture Blade and Bibi, but his spies were so far unable to locate them.

The city was in near chaos as the populace fled south or aided in preparations for the siege. The Guild Keep of the mages could not be abandoned like any other town, and the mages would stay and fight. Besides, Galay was on an island with only one functioning bay capable of receiving ships. The Githyanki would be hard pressed to land any sizeable force on the island, especially with the mages helping in the defense.

Bruce read the news scroll again, cursing at what it told him. Thaddius's decapitated body had been found near the dock quarter, his head missing. Two other mages also had been killed. The Ministry of Information claimed to have a suspect for the murders. The scroll read:

"One Blade, a notorious assassin originally from the north, but who is apparently wanted by a number of sovereigns from the Free Cities to the Potentates, has murdered three distinguished members of the benevolent mages Guild. The murder is thought to be a hired killing, as the killer scrawled his calling card in the snow--in his victim's blood. Guild commentators say the assassin Blade is a killer for hire and always leaves this mark on his victims. Investigation continues."

Bruce laughed--Blade had actually written his name in the snow in his "victim's" blood. The stakes were getting higher in this game. Bruce wondered how high they would ultimately go.

"Marcus," Bruce said to the aged man next to him and handed him the scroll. "Thaddius has failed us. He didn't get Blade, nor did he find the stone on the girl."

"I told you sending an apprentice to do a master's work was not a good idea." Marcus replied.

"Yes, you did magi. You did. Gather your servants. We leave tonight for Galay. It is time to test your mastery."

"Indeed. the man said, as he turned into a wisp of air. He continued, his words seeming to come from nowhere. "If the magocracy gets to Blade first, they will have the girl, and the stone, not to mention Blade. We must move swiftly now, as the hour of our destiny approaches. To fail will insure the full council discovers our plans."

"Yes, we must Marcus." Bruce says, thinking of how true the Archmagi's words were.

[Bruce would definitely know that it was Blade. remember that he left "Blade was here" written in th esnow with Thadddius' blood. His infromation mimistry would have seen this. unless they are complete buffooons. Also Thaddius' deacpitated head had been replaced with a snowman head. ]

[DM NOTE: You are correct, sir! I edited the above passage to incorporate the facts you point out. Thanks for catching such things.]

If any in the Guild learned of Thaddius' work as a mercenary to kidnap someone, he would be punished--as would anyone else involved, including Bruce. But Bruce had taken precaution to insulate himself, demanding that Thaddius not reveal his identity to anyone. Still, where magic was involved, nothing was certain. The mages had ways of discovering even the best hid secrets. [Brian, feel free to add to this section, like what Bruce decides to do next, etc. Or you can email it to me.]

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Cut Scene: Thae-Rune Ibn in Heklamar

The Wrathgiver Thae-Rune Ibn knelt in meditation before the altar of his goddess, the Dark Queen. He was deep in the search for his enemies, the humans who had been attempting to thwart the Githyanki since before the invasion began. His quarters once belonged to the King of this land, Ozrik, who had escaped the siege of Heklamar and was reported to be headed south with a sizeable force, fleeing the Githyanki horde.

Thae-Rune Ibn had underestimated the humans in general, he had to admit. He had nearly been killed by one, a female called Fyona who had been sent to him as a "gift" from one of the human kingdoms, but who was actually an assassin. The King who sent her, from an eastern potentate, was paying for his actions. His skin was, at that moment, being flayed from his still living body, and would be used for another of Thae-Rune Ibn's spellbooks. One human was good for nearly ten pages, and their skin could retain even the most potent Githyanki runes. Hundreds of human slaves had already been made part of the Wrathgiver's library.

Thae-Rune Ibn had lost contact with Humphrey and his party once they had given his Wizarding Stone to a mage at the Guild, a mage named Egmund. Thae-Rune Ibn had watched Egmund through the Wizarding Stone, and he had learned much. First, he had learned that Egmund understood that the stone would allow scrying, for he tried to shield it from Thae-Rune Ibn's seeking. But the magic of the human mages, though formidable, was not equal to that of a Wrathgiver of the Dark Queen.

Second, he learned that Egmund had fashioned a Time Machine. This intrigued Thae-Rune Ibn. It was not long before he realized what the humans intended to do with the machine.

This was a serious threat. If the humans could actually travel back in time--something no Githyanki mage had ever accomplished--they could wreak havoc on the Githyanki invasion plans.

Distracted, Thae-Rune Ibn drew his attention away from the search for Humphrey and his party. He instead reached out for Egmund.

He found the old man sitting quietly in his study, near the Time Machine. Thae-Rune Ibn could see Egmund's room clearly, and he positioned his sight so he could read what Egmund was writing in a journal.

After only a few moments, a great secret was revealed to Thae- Rune Ibn. The humans still sought after the Obsidian Stone. They needed it to make the Time Machine work.

That must be the current quest of Humphrey and his party. Thae- Rune Ibn did not know exactly where they were, but he knew where they must be heading. The Barrow Isle, where he had hidden the Obsidian Stone and its guardian.

He arose from his meditation, his intention clear. He spoke a magic word quietly, and a Githyanki servant appeared in the doorway. "Lord?"

"Summon the Wyvern Riders. They fly south, tonight."

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