Session 31: Shock Shopping Report
General Summary
Waking after a good rest, the party made their way to the training area set aside for magical testing and other dangerous things.
The group began to train, taking turns testing new abilities and exploring new skills.
Roy began by trying out a new spell, conjuring a lance of ice to destroy a foe. Unfortunately he made a mistake, and fell to the floor shivering uncontrollably. As Jeeves rushed up to help him, Roy begged "Don't let Quirico set me on fire, please!". This turned out to be very relevant as Quirico headed over with oil, flint, and steel. Roisin Marshfield argued with him to not burn their friend, and with Jeeves ' concurence managed to persuade the fire-loving fighter not to douse the man in flaming oil. Jeeves pronounced the wizard to be near death from cold and Quirico continued to offer burning oil, which Roy refused. Boris , however, stepped forward with prayerful holy magic to restore the wizard's body heat.
Recovering, Roy asked for a volunteer and Boris stepped up. Roy sent forth a magical suggestion, but Boris simply looked back dourly, and ignored the effect. Realizing Boris could not be charmed, for some reason, Roy asked for a different volunteer, and Quirico stepped up. Quirico asked to be taught to dance, and Roy sent forth the magic once again. Quirico began dancing so terribly that they companions began to worry he might injure himself. Roy sent forth a newly learned magical effect to dispell the charm, and while it worked, some minor defect in the incantation caused face paint to appear on everyone, nearby, painting them like fierce totem animals. A flumph also appeared and became frightened, Roy encased it in a magical stasis field, and a moment later as the field dispersed a cloud of the most foul stench known filled the room, coating Jeeves in the stink. Jeeves spent the next hour removing the stench from himself and collecting the fluid in a vial for use in herbal preparations. Meanwhile Roy sprouted a pair of thin metal antennae from his forehead, which while retractible automatically extend when he begins casting a spell. The rest of the day was uneventful. The next day Jeeves began sparring with Quirico , attempting to disarm his friend. Jeeves used a flourish with a touch of magic to try to disarm Quirico , failing, and a fragment of this arcane energy floated off and struck Roy , who vanished. Jeeves tried to determine if Roy was simply invisible, but it was clear that Roy was simply gone. Jeeves tried the same move again, failed again, and Quirico suddenly became a fountain of raisins, dates, and figs, enough that soon a few tons of the food were in a large pile on the floor. Jeeves informed the tavern proprietor who had the staff collect the bounty, and spent another hour looking for Roy , but did not find him. Jeeves and Cigfran faced off, and again Jeeves tried to disarm his friend, and succeeded, but in the process grew a massive pair of bull horns, stretching almost 6 feet from tip to tip to either side of his head. Sadly for Jeeves this also destroyed his customary "pirate" style hat. Jeeves also found he had trouble holding this immense weight up and lay down to rest for a bit. Jeeves continued to practice, as best he could, and about 5 hours later Roy reappeared as though no time had passed. Roy noticed the sudden changes, and also ate a few dates and rasins while contemplating the source of these wild magic surges. Roy finally came to the conclusion that this was simply the common side effect of magically skilled individuals trying out new skills and abilities. The effect was common when wizards train, and in fact represented one of the greatest sources of danger in most schools where magical skills were taught. The next day dawned with Boris removing the curse aflicting Jeeves , and successfully removed the horns, returning him to normal. Boris also tried to remove Roy 's antennae, but failed. Roy tried to remove the antennae by dispelling them, but found they could not be removed that way, and was encased in a large sealed wicker basket for his trouble, taking a few minutes to cut himself free. Jeeves tried to tug at the antennae, but Roy felt the approach and reprimanded him, explaining that doing so would cause him significant harm. Roisin Marshfield asked for a volunteer, and Quirico agreed, asking first if "You'll make it better, right?" to which Roisin Marshfield agreed. Quirico took a knife, and sliced his arm from elbow to wrist. Roisin Marshfield stepped forward and spoke inspiring words laced with magic, causing the wound to close up. Roisin Marshfield also disgorged a bell larger than herself, somehow magically spitting it out without shattering her bones or tearing her flesh. Jeeves knocked on the bell and found it tuned to a G# tone. Boris looked around to try and find the cause of the uncontrolled magic, but found nothing. Quirico asked if Roisin Marshfield could do something about the light scar that remained, and Roisin Marshfield leaned over the arm and gently wept so that her tears fell on the skin. Where they fell the scar disappeared. A stray bit of the magic in the tears, the magic of her noble blood, escaped and touched a bit of paper nearby, summoning a powerful undead made from magical scrolls.
Roy started off by conjuring again the lance of ice, which struck the creature. In the process he found that something had stolen his knowledge of Magnify Gravity. The creature then cast that very spell at Quirico and Roisin Marshfield. The creature then stepped up to Roy and punched him in the face. Roy attempted to cast the shield spell, which the creature stole from him, and the creature then punched again, stealing a portion of his magical ability, as well as gaining from Roy the knowledge of Icelance, which it then cast right into Roy 's face, causing him to fall unconscious. Cigfran struck the creature, dealing some damage. Boris then cast a healing word, slightly healing Roy , and waking him. Boris then rushed up and struck the creature. Roisin Marshfield ordered Quirico to attack, which he did, but his normal weapon did no damage, and Boris struck with his rod, but the creature summoned a protective field that deflected the attack. Jeeves stepped up and tried to electrify the creature with a shocking grasp, but his hand was blocked by the mystic shield. Quirico , instead of attacking ineffectually, patched up Roy a bit. Roy threw a chromatic orb at the creature, hitting it in the chest with intense cold, causing severe damage. The creature then tried to send an icelance, but missed. It also punched Boris , taking the sending spell, and dealing a good bit of harm. The creature used the sending spell to tell Boris , in Quirico 's voice, "You should have given me a more useful spell, I'll just have to take a few more." Cigfran took careful aim and fired, striking powerfully, but was suddenly engulfed in flames that burned him strongly. Boris then conjured a spiritual weapon, but the creature stole the spell, and used it to attack Boris . Roisin Marshfield ordered Cigfran to attack, though that missed, and coordinated Boris melee strike, which hit powerfully. Jeeves then struck shockingly, destroying the creature, which burst into flames and burned away, as Jeeves ' flesh began to rot away. Boris tried to cure disease, to no effect, Roy began examining the effect, and Jeeves continued to rot away. Boris then attempted to remove a curse, as Roy recognized this effect as the infamous "Mummy's Curse", and the rotting stopped. Roy searched the scene, and found a scroll of four spells as the only remains of the creature. The scroll contained Scorching Ray, Confusion, Item, and Lightning Blast. Boris , however, found his armor and clothing had disappeared, leaving him naked, his legs were covered in bark, and he smelled of roses. Cigfran stepped up and prayed to The Source, calling forth divine magic to protect Roisin Marshfield. Unfortunately the magic nearly transformed her into butter, but she managed to hold it together and butter merely coated her skin. Cigfran then summoned Fairy Fire, and everyone except Roisin Marshfield became covered in pink sparks, even as Cigfran found his newly learned magic could not heal his own wounds. Cigfran then laid a hand on Roy who was blessed with vigilance. A knock came on the door. When opened an individual leaned in, with a bone through the septum of the nose. That individual invited Roy to a dinner that night where they would be consuming the flesh of several of their enemies. Roy politely declined, and the individual left. Cigfran asked if Roy was often invited to such things, and he said that is a first. Roisin Marshfield said she didn't recommend the experience, and the party asked curiously after that and she explained she was forced to drink blood back in the day. There was another knock on a door, and when opened a goblin stepped in and said "Thank goodness we found you, finally", as a small horde of goblins came in and swore allegiance, explaining that every goblin within miles was now her subject as the Goblin Queen. As Jeeves asked if they could request help from the goblins, one of the goblins who remained behind as a guard raised a hand and explained he is a runner to summon help if needed. Another raised a hand and asked if he could kill Jeeves , "I Can kill him? Can I kill him? Can I kill him? Can I kill him?" Roisin Marshfield explained that they could not. "Awwww, but he's not a goblin and I'm hungry." Roisin Marshfield explained that they could not kill and eat any of the people, and the goblins all looked quite disappointed at that.
Roisin Marshfield asked Cigfran where the spellcasting came from, and Cigfran raised a Holy Symbol with a half moon and a ray of gold between the moon and an obsidian field, identifying himself as a devotee of The Source of Twilight, those who walk the edge and bring light to the darkest places along with the calm dimness of twilight to those in need of peace. Cigfran also granted darkvision to the entire group, which encased Boris in a new suit of full plate armor made of glass, but strong as steel. Boris complained a bit about the weight, although it was not particularly impactful, despite Boris constant complaint about the weight. The group went to the Steelworks to speak with CORG!. Asking CORG! about armor, he explained that the glass armor was about as light as heavy armor could get, and very expensive. Mithril would be expensive, and take a very long time, perhaps a year or longer. The group also realized that Boris , with his lack of dexterity, should not try to use Mithril armor, as he would not benefit as much. They eventually determined that Boris would be OK with just being a little bit slower. Cigfran asked about a Mithril breastplate, which was possible. Cigfran also, using thieves' cant, asked about using a Void Crystal, and learned that he could make Blacklight armor or Blink armor with such things. CORG! would need the assistance of someone who could safely handle the Void Crystal to consider it. The group also considered enchanted weapons and a few other options. After selling some leftover items, and deciding to spend about a year in town exploring personal goals, the team headed off for a good night's sleep.
