Brief Recap: Last turn, Ghotu captured Bibi in her panther form with his Net of Entrapment. Bronk and Blade were stopped from fighting by Fyona and Bardock. Mog healed Dirty Pete, while Humphrey made a new friend--the sailor in the crow's nest Arthur.

Resume the Quest

Brief Recap: Last turn, Blade, Bronk, Fyona, and Bardock brawled with each other to keep Bronk from attacking Bibi with his vorpal halberd. Ghotu captured Bibi with his Net of Entrapment, while Humphrey made a new friend in the crow's nest. Mog healed Dirty Pete. Resume the Quest Blade awakes in the wee hours of the morning, his tongue still swollen from biting it while brawling with Bronk. He is slightly disoriented at first, expecting the waves to rock the boat as they hve the past two weeks, most of which was spent aboard the Broken Wind. Then Blade remembers that they docked in Galay late last night, and that he is sleeping on dry land, though on the second floor. The Inn is slightly upscale, the first one they found last night with rooms available so late. Blade looks out the window and sees the beginning of pale predawn. It is time to rise. Bronk still snores, and Ghotu sleeps silently. Mog and Humphrey, Fyona and Bibi are in another two rooms in this hall. Standing at the door Bibi hears the load noises coming from Bronk. She wonders how she can get Ghotu's attention without waking Bronk and avoiding a situation like the last time she snuck into his room. Before she can come up with a plan Ghotu appears in the doorway. "Did you want something?"

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you. It seems that you have grown cold towards me. I thought we had been friends but now I fear you may turn on me as Bronk did. Especially since I attack you on the ship." Ghotu suggests that they go down stairs. They take a seat in the far corner away from the few sleeping drunks left. Ghotu "What would make you think that I would turn on you." Bibi "I know that my illness can cause mistrust, my own people turned on me." Ghotu "Do you mean they tried to defend themselves against you." Bibi "Yes, I suppose so. But the situation has become more dire and it is obvious even to me that saving the world is more important that my problems. So, if my presence is jeopardizing the mission I will leave." Ghotu getting up from the table "Is that so. Well, maybe you should try that on Humphrey or better yet Blade." Bibi "Please wait...perhaps you misunderstood me. Sometime I say things wrong trying to seem more grown-up." Ghotu returns to the table this time taking the chair next to Bibi. He takes her hands and asks "Do you think you should leave?" Bibi replies trying not to cry "I know I'm causing conflict amongst the party and I also know that this is the closest to a family that I've had since my fathers death." Ghotu "Do you think you should leave." Tears slowly begin to escape Bibi filed eyes "I don't know. I know nothing of saving the world. But I don't want to leave my friends." She adds with a tone of desperation "I've been saving my most powerful stone to use against the githyanki and I wasn't even going to use it to try to get the stone from Humphrey." Ghotu "I would be careful of how you use those stones. I do think you have used the stones unselfishly." Bibi "Do you think I should leave?" Ghotu "No... Why do you ask what I think you should do?" Bibi "I suppose that I don't trust myself. Before I left my village I relied on my Shaman. Know I have all of you and out of the group I felt that I would most likely get the truth from you." Ghotu "Look, you shouldn't leave but it's not because anyone else would lye to you, or that I know the truth about you. But I know that your here and I'm here...Now don't you think you need so rest." Bibi heads upstairs feeling a little better but more confused then ever. By the time Blade makes it downstairs to the common room, Mog is already there. They greet one another as Blade sits. A sleepy looking serving girl brings Blade coffee and sweet bread. Everyone in the company must have had trouble sleeping last night on land, thinks Blade, because it is no time before the entire company is assembled in the common room, ordering breakfast and preparing to continue their quest. Blade, Bibi, Fyona, Mog, Humphrey, Ghotu, Bronk, and Bardock sit around a large round table in one corner of the room, far from the bar, enjoying their first meal in weeks that doesn't consist of dry rations. No one else is in the common room at this early hour. Blade looks at Bibi and says, "I'd like to apologize for my friends behavior since I know he will not. Rashemen are as impolite as they are illogical. Of course the situation never would have come top that if things had been handled differently in the tombs." he says with a hateful glare at Humphrey. Blade had no love of wizards, least of all this one, he'd done nothing but fill them with half-truths and enigmatic sayings since his arrival, plus his outright treachery in the tombs. If it were up to him, he'd gut the bastard on general principle, but he must wait until Bibi gets her cure. The wizard had them over a barrel that was for sure.

"No, it is I that should apologize for putting you all in danger with my presence. I greatly appreciate that you were willing to defend me even against your friend but I should be the one the apologize."

Looking down at the food she has no appetite for "I'm sorry." He begins carving his name in the tabletop with a dagger. He had done it so many times in so many places that he no longer had to pay attention the carving process. "I was thinking after all of this was over" he says to no one in particular "of opening a gambling establishment in Vulvania. Lady Luck takes great interest in games of chance. That is why she is prayed to by so many gamblers. They all want the Lady to smile favorably upon them. Of course gaining the favor of any lady requires a bit of luck as well, wouldn't you agree Fyona? " He asks with a smile. "Or do you believe in Fate?" Fyona looks at Blade "Someday I may tell you all of my secrets but not right now."

At a lull in their breakfast, Ghotu uncharacteristically speaks: "Well old man, what do we do now? You have the stone. We can't very well show up at the wizard's guild without it. Do you have it hidden here in town, at some secret hideout of yours?" Ghotu is eager to continue the quest. In his judgment, the party will be lucky to complete its aims before they end up killing one another.

"Yes, by all means we need the Stone. The little fray on the boat certainly illustrates why we need it for our more immediate circumstances. But i suppose you can't be bothered with trifling details like that can you old man? It doesn't fit into the grand cosmic scheme does it? It is no accident that I use the word 'scheme' either. " says Blade venomously, his carving becoming more forceful as he fights to control his anger. Blade realizes he is carving over his own name, which he must have carved in this very table the last time he was here. He doesn't remember being in this place, but by the look of the old "Blade was here," already carved in the table, it must have been some of his early work. Nowadays his name carvings are much more skilled. "I shall retrieve the stone when it is time," Humphrey says. Looking slowly around the table he continues, "we are lucky to be alive, considering we have spent as much time fighting one another as we have the forces of evil. It plays quite nicely into the hands of our enemies that we cannot resolve our differences. As for the stone, you cannot reasonably expect me to risk giving it to Bibi, curing her ailment, especially when such a course risks the stone's usefulness. How can we know the stone will work in the same way if we give it to her? How can we say it will work at all? I know none of you trust me. That is characteristic of those who do not have command of the Arts. I can assure you, whether you believe it or not, I have the interest of the entire world in mind when I choose an action. I wish it were not so that I must deprive this child of her cure, but I must... for now anyway. When we reach Egmund, I shall go and fetch the stone, but not until." Humphrey continues eating his breakfast, staff across his lap. Mog says, "Mog say if what Bibi told us is true, the stone sat in her amulet for many hundred seasons, as a relic of her tribe. Why now does Humphrey believe the amulet will ruin the stone? Or does Humphrey truly believe that? For though Mog commands Arts as powerful as Humphrey's, yet Mog does not trust Humphrey." Mog chews bacon as he speaks. "And Mog, do you think Bibi would be willing to relinquish the stone if it were judged the cure to her ailment--of which we cannot be sure? All we know is barbarian legend. Do you know how it was removed? Do you trust the words of a fifteen year old Barbarian tribesman over one skilled in the arts of magic as you are. If you truly command the Arts to the level you profess, then you, most of all, should understand why I choose this course. I have never said I would let the girl languish forever. I have always maintained I would help her, even give her the stone when this quest is over. But I WILL NOT jeopardize the fate of the world based on the arguments of a fifteen year old girl, no matter the cost!" Humphrey's anger is beginning to show. The orcish shaman spits out his bacon and answers, "Mog can smell lies, and Humphrey stinks of them. Humphrey betrays us, and yet expects trust. He does not ask for trust, he forces it on us by taking that which is not his. All here are part of the quest, yet who among us can look upon the Stone now? Mog's eye is filled with an old man who covets power. Which does Humphrey value more, the quest, or his possession of the Stone? If Mog demanded that Humphrey yield the Stone now, would Humphrey risk battle to retain it? Risk all the Wurld to feed his greed for the Stone? For Humphrey knows he cannot complete this quest alone, without help." Mog's voice grows quiet as he continues, staring straight at Humphrey: "And Humphrey will discover how great is Mog's command of the Arts if he betray this quest again. Pray the Stone is safe where you hid it, mage, for your life depends on it."

"I am with Mog. You WOULD jeopardize the fate of teh world by keeping your cards close to your chest." Blade says angrily sticking his dagger into the tabletop. "Twice now on this journey I have saved you from death. Perhaps you won't be so lucky if a third time occurs. What then? The world would be lost since only you know the wherabouts of the Stone. I suggest you let us in on your secret cache to prevent such an occurance from happening. Or are you afraid by telling we'd no longer be inclined to save your skin or listen to your foolish charlaten tales? My guess is you like the feeling of power it gives you. The secret knowledge of being the only one who knows the wherabouts of the one thing that can save the world from certain doom. Heady stuff for a wizard such as yourself who revels in such things. Your ego may be the doom of us all.... A curse on you and your kind. " Bibi sits quietly listening to all of this. She is glad to hear that Mog is also defending her but she is beginning to get a little put off by everyone talking about her without asking for her input.

"Because all of our lives depend upon the success of this quest, I shall take only small offense at your remarks orc!" Humphrey pushes his chair out, his temples flaring, clearly angry over the Orc's threats. However! Tempt me not orc! "Humphrey raises his staff above his head, frightening the approaching serving wench into spilling coffee. "I do not require your trust, your friendship, nor your support in this quest. You are instruments of the stone, as am I. When we complete the task, any of you are welcome to try your luck!" He turns to leave the room, planning to study.

Bibi stand up. "Wait just a minute, first of all Humphrey I am 16. This may seem trivial to you but the rest of us had a celebration over three moons ago which you did not bother to attend. And I like Blade have saved your life and for what? More lies and deceit. I was willing to allow Mog to hold the stone but you had to have it for yourself. And Mog is right, my family held the stone for many many year. So, your doubt of my power maybe your undoing."

Bibi takes a deep breath and continues. "You tried to distract me with your talk about how I was the ONE and perhaps you were right. Maybe I am the one that will save the world from your greed." She takes her seat feeling very good about herself. As angry as she is, she does not feel the least bit out of control. She suspects that this new feeling of not being alone has given her freedom from some of her fear. Blade suddenly remembers that Mog can commune with the dead and a satisfied smile comes over his face. "Very well wizard keep your secrets. But if Death comes calling for you, you are on your own." ghotu says to anyone listening, "Regardless of how any, one of us feel or think, fighting with ones self can only bring grief." "Bibi have you asked mog or Humphrey, about some relaxation exercises?"

Bibi "Yes, Mog has agreed to teach me meditation. But I can assure you, you won't find me taking any advice from Humphrey." "Blade have you asked Bronk why he tried to kill Bibi? You do think he was going to kill Bibi dont you?"

"Of course he was. His rationale was that she was a problem and she was going to eliminate the problem by killing her. It makes sense in a narrow minded way of looking at the world. However, the problem could also be solved by putting the stone back in her amulet. I do not blame Bronk for his worldview. That is the way of the Rashemen. The most direct path is the way they will always take." explains Blade.

"Mog I may be wrong but. It seems to me that Humphrey does just expect us to "follow his lead" not that he`s trying to trick us or anything............Although somewhat insulting, somewhat amusing as well,,,,,,but I could be wrong as well. "I am not wrong however about being famished and in need of something much more meaty than bread, thank you very much!" he says in the direction of the frightened, and in Ghotus` hungry eyes, very comely serving wench. The wench is already carrying a tray laden with everyone's breakfast as Ghotu looks at her. She does look scared, and doesn't talk to anyone in the party as she fills coffee cups and quickly leaves. Fyona wanders if this group is worth all the trouble they cause. Running her hand down her neck she feels the scar. 'It'll be worth it when I kill that dead lech. Beside they do keep things exciting.'

Bronk looks at the party one by one with a smile on his face . He takes another bite of the food before him. He swallows and then says with a smirky grin "Me thinks ole' Humphrey needs his hair parted.". Then yells at the bar wench...."HEY WENCH.....MORE FOOD!!!!!". Hearing Bronk's comments as he heads toward the stairs, Humphrey returns to the table. Looking around it, his shoulders slump noticeably. He looks as if a weariness has overtaken him. "Quest- brothers, though I dare not call you friends, we are tied together in this quest." He speaks softly, barely audible. "The world depends upon our completion of the quest. Perhaps all of you are right. Perhaps I have been covetous, but only to protect all of you, Bibi, and the world from the terrible fate that surely awaits us if we fail to complete the journey. Even the Gods could not predict we would land in such a predicament. But truly you do not require my protection." Humphrey reaches into his robes and pulls a small satchel from a deep pocket. "If you dare to trust the legends of a tribe of barbar..., of um, plainsmen's legends with the fate of the world, I suppose it is a decision for all of to make." He pulls the Obsidian stone from the pouch and pitches it on the table. "And if any of you feel you want to try you luck by matching magic against magic, or steel v. magic, now is the time to air it. We cannot allow these problems to prohibit the ultimate success of the quest." He stands, waiting for the reaction of the party members. Mog looks at Humphrey first with suspicion, then with grudging respect. He doesn't reach for the Stone. "How are we to know if this is in fact the Obsidian Stone? I've pulled a few switches myself in my career. Your past actions throw suspicion on this one." Looking at Mog, Blade says. "Is there a spell you can cast to confirm that this is the Stone? " then looking at Bibi, "Or perhaps you would know somehow if that is in fact the real Obsidian Stone."

Bibi feels certain that it is but she says nothing. She is now full of doubt. Maybe the wizard is right. Maybe if she put's the stone in her locket it won't come out. After all she has know idea how it was stolen from her father.

Mog waves his rod over the stone, and says, "This stone has great power. Mog cannot be certain, but this could be the Stone." Bronk looks at Humphrey. He stands and says" Yes...we are in this together....and beyond what you think...even a Rasheman Warrior such as myself and Bardock here have feelings. The wurld will go on....and then again it may not. If it was meant for the wurld to go on...then we shall succeed in our quest. Each one of us must trust each other....but have no true leader. We must decide together our fate....not leave it in the hands of one person. There is no more time for temper tantrums or argue. The next time there is....the company and I shall part ways. I find you all to be great comrades...especially Blade. But I will not let any one person endanger the lives of the whole group either by coveting something(Power)....or by throwing tantrums. For doing so not only endangers the lives of the other group members (but as the wizard is so inclined to remind us), the wurld too." Bronk then holds out his arm to Humphrey. "There must be friendship Humphrey....or there can be no trust. Without trust there can be no more quest...and I dare say that without the quest we will cease to exist.....even you."Mog says, "The Rasheman shames us, and rightly. Mog will put the quest before our differences."Who shall bear the Stone?" He looks to the others.

"It seems obvious to me that Bibi should put it back in her locket, at least for now. Eventually her transformations will end with someone getting killed. " says Blade. Loking at Bibi he says, "It is yours by heritage. If it will stave off your curse you need to use it for that purpose. I'm sure it will still have plenty of power to save the Wurld as well."

"If we are lucky, eh Blade?" Humphrey says, looking at the man. He continues, looking at the others, " Consider this as well Bibi, if you choose to put the stone back in the Locket, and it will not come out, you will have to sacrifice the entire locket to the quest. Though it may be spent now, each of those stones are receptacles of magic. I am sure one as schooled in the Arts as Mog, along with my humble assistance, could find a way to recharge those stones, even if the stone is ultimately sacrificed."

Bibi "I'm afraid he might be right. I don't know how the thief removed the stone from the locket when it was taken from my father. It was no doubt some type of magic but I'm not sure. I would still prefer that Mog carry the stone and I suggest we take it to Egmund now. I'm sure our presence here has not gone without notice." She looks around the table for reactions. Everyone seems to be a bit surprised by her not taking the stone.

Blade lets out a loud breath of air, clearly agitated by Bibi's uncertainty. "If Mog carries it, it won't stop you from changing into a beast will it? Have you not noticed your transformations becoming more frequent? If it happens again , who is to say that Bronk won't succed in elimimnating the problem that your transformations pose? I stood against my friend to stop him last time, and I do not look forward to having to do so again."

It seems clear that Ghotu agrees with the part about leaving now because he's just left the table saying he was going to pack.

Fyona also gets up from the table and heads up stairs.

Blade watches her leave and realizes he has been at sea for far too long. Perhaps that was everyone' s problem. "I vote we leave tomorrow. There are certain....things taht must be accomplished before I set out on another damn journey with this bickering crowd. Surely everyone has materials and equipemnt to gather and at least one day eway from one another may do some good for everyon'e state of mind." He stands up from the table and says. "I'm off to find some entertainment in this town. Surely, the people here have to be blowing off steam somewhere with the war bearing down on them. " As he heads for the door he looks back at Bronk who is still sitting at the table and says, "What are you waiting for? An invitation?" Without waiting for a response he is out the door and on his way.

Bronk swallow's the last bit of food and grabs a drum leg. He looks at Bardock and says"Come on...Let's go have some fun Bro!" With that the 2 Rasheman warriors stand up and hurridly rush out the door.

[SIDE NOTE: THE STATE OF GALAY

When the adventurers returned to Galay the previous night, they could tell that the town was ready for seige. The harbor was blockaded and the Broken Wind was boarded and initially denied port, until the commander of the blockade fleet recognized Captain Gray (Captain of our ship). The city walls are also fortified, with earthen ramps built up on the inside of two gates, utterly blocking them and providing the defenders easy access to the top of the wall. Though the adventurers did not see many people, everyone they saw was openly armed. Most buildings in the city are now boarded up. It is clear that those who remain in the city expect the Gith to arrive soon, maybe in a matter of days.]

[REFRESHER ON THE QUEST:

Our current quest is to return with the Obsidian Stone to Galay, where we will allow Egmund to insert it into his time machine (which you may recognize when you see it if you remember your Dragonlance lore). From there, we will hopefully travel back to before the Dark Queen was summoned and prevent Thae-Rune Ibn from using the Stone to summon her. If you have any other questions, we will meet Egmund next turn and you can ask him.]

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