Session Twelve

I HAVE NEW DICE!!
New Radiance dice that are Icey and new Meepo dice that are Fiery.
 
The spoopky music has begun.
Also we are on the Sofa again. And have ice cream and (failed) cookie. It is a good day.
 
To-Do list from last time:
Rest. Level up?
Talk to Meepo about coming with us. Talk to the boys about what they're gonna do.
Read these books!
Touch the glowing orb.
Give Calcrix the sapphires.
 
LONG REST
GAIN XP I have 1293 XP now. Meepo has ... an amount of XP (1242) the POINT BEING he is now ABOVE 900 and HITS LEVEL THREE.
14 max HP, and gets Improved Critical.
 
The Treasures of the Fire Lords is blank - I don't know any spy shit to uncover it. Might want to hang on to it for someone who does.
The Tome of Dragon Lore is full of stuff from people who really like dragons. Reading through it, seems like the majority of it is kind of fluff - poetry, some cool illustrations. The book name-drops a few great dragons, and speaks of the authors' own experience with the greatest of red dragons - the mighty Ashardalon. A tale of this dragon who lorded over an expanse of lush countryside. And then some upstart humans started refusing to pay their dues to the dragon. He grew angry and made demands. They tried to trick him, and he was so enraged that he unleashed a torrent of fire like none has ever seen, permanently scarring the land and creating what is still known today as The Ashen Plain, a barren expanse where nothing grows.
Ashardalon disappeared. Some say in his anger he unleashed so much power that he spent himself, became the very fire and the curse upon the land. Some say he's still hiding somewhere out there, plotting, or perhaps ruling some far off land.
 
There are some stories of other dragons, but Radiance will get to those another time.
 
Going to do some journaling - worrying about all the potential threats that I don't understand well enough to fix right now, and all the unknown ones that might be lurking below. I definitely need to increase my knowledge and my understanding, so that next time I can walk away with a clear conscience.
And then go to sleep.
 
Wis save - 7. So far I'm not rolling great.
Dreams of rationalising the slaughter of snakes, dragons, kobolds, goblins...but these aren't my thoughts. The pattern of these thoughts are all Cadhock. HIs voice runs through - "You have done well." The ashes of the Gulthias tree fills my mind, Belak's corpse, the tree's thralls destroyed, the twig blights reduced back to mere twigs. Even the mephits, evil creatures that do not belong on this plane. "You have done well. There is still work to be done, and you know what will happen if these problems are not addressed"
Wis save - 10.
 
He feels a thrill of being praised. Conflicted feelings, because this is a solution to his concerns! But he's not satisfied with the simplicity of the solution. What's proposed would be to let go, relinquish control. And he's not here for that.
 
It becomes quiet again. Quiet like the stillness of a cavernous room. And a silkier voice rumbles and ripples across.
"What have you learned?"
"There are many paths to power. None of them are cheap."
Power whose cost is the freedom and life of others.
Power that you don't work for, you don't wield well.
Power that's in me, I pay the price for, and I am learning to use it.
And I feel the limitations of my knowledge and power. I need to learn more, and grow more power.
That's what I've learned.
 
I feel smiled upon.
 
"This is the first thing we all must learn, Radiance. You have power enough to do any of these things you worry about. You have the will, the strength of mind to choose.
"You will never know everything. You could spend a lifetime in those ruins and crypts scattered across the world that you have only just started to imagine. If you remove every threat in every one, how many fewer will you reach?
"This is not a question of good or evil. You have done a good thing, yes. Many good things can be done any day, in any part of this world for there are good and evil everywhere. There is power everywhere. And things always balance out. It is not a question of which path is good and which path is evil. It is a question of which path is yours. And that choice is yours to make.
"When he says you have done well, he means you have done good. I say what I mean. You have done well."
 
And drift back into sleep.
 
AND WAKE UP. Meepo is on full health.
Flirt with Calcrix for a bit - flatter her, give her some sapphires, say that if we ever meet again I hope you remember me kindly.
"Thank you for the gifts. I will remember you, Radiance. And I will not eat Meepo, as a token of gratitude.
Is the fire snake longer than her?"
Reassure her that she's much cooler.
 
Go through to the Orb Room.
Fist-sized crystalline globe. North three are cracked and dark, bottom one issues a soft blue light, with faint tinkling notes.
Armor of Agathys - just in case.
Pick up a cracked one. Maybe a very glassy crystal. Almost completely transparent, if not for the cracks.
Put it back. Go up to the glowing one.
Within 5 ft of the orb - music starts. (OOOH FUNKY SWIRLY MUSIC IN THE ROOM)
WIS SAVE FOR US BOTH Me 14, Meepo 16
Meepo saves. I ... bolt from the room back the way I came, and I can see the white dragon Calcrix is trying her best to squeeze through the door out into the courtyard. And I join her, running, to get as far away as I possibly fucking can.
And then I'm free from it.
With a pissed off dragon.
She seems to not be too mad with me.
 
Cover my ears, try to go back inside. Fail the save. Nope. Nope. Nope. Get out.
 
Meepo's gonna try to mess with the orb, since I can't get near it. Hopefully he doesn't die!
He lays out a cloak for it to fall on...hits it with his sword...and gets a Nat 1. It falls onto the stone floor, cracks but doesn't break, and the music gets SO much louder.
Picks it up in a cloak, puts it by the dragon statue in the next room along.
Eh fine, we'll leave that. Close and lock the door, get the boys.
Calcrix thinks the body is a food offering - we give her the dragon door key instead. "Keeper of the keep should keep the keys"
Getting out of here with a body in a wheelbarrow is no mean feat, but we're gonna get it out of here.
 
Meepo doesn't like the sun. I talk him into it. With poetry.
Haul the wheelbarrow and body up the rope, cut the rope and take it with us.
Oooh the goblin graffiti! It says things like "stay out" "piss off" "get fucked". One elegant one - "any who pass here shall perish >:("
It's coming up to midday. Heading back to Oakhirst.
 
To Kerowyn HuKreole's shop. Leave the holy bois outside with the wheelbarrow.
She's real sad. I feel bad taking her coin. But not really.
(Holy shit this is a lot of money. This is 125G per ring PER PARTY MEMBER. (Erky is outside so she didn't see him) so we're getting 750 GOLD.)
Bradford isn't from nearby. The ranger didn't have any family. Someone in a Pellor temple might know Bradford.
 
Go talk to Garon in The Old Boar. He directs me to Mayor Vernor Leng in the town hall. Can be busy, might have better luck talking to the village constable next door.
He'll take me to the constable. Female half-elf, fierce look about her, with a handful of guards loitering.
Felosyal. Tell her about stuff, show her little needle scars on my legs from the twiggies.
Looks like she has a decent force, so that's good. She seems to have taken me seriously.
 
GOODBYES TO THE GOOD BAIS OOOHHHHH
 
Then Radiance and Meepo gather the supplies they need, and get back on the road before dark, heading off together to fate unknown.