Session 190 - Smelly Things
General Summary
15th of Ilvin (First Month of Winter) 723TR
The story so far
Jolanta, and her trusty bodyguard Blaine, are agents of the mysterious Order of the White Hand, hunting down unscrupulous mages and covering up magical mishaps.
Jolanta has recently traveled to the mysterious Ilmen Marshes and restored her Staff of Cryptan Seaweave to its full magical potential. Now she would like to meet with the marsh's strange inhabitants, the Ilme or mere-dragons.
Also, she has not forgotten about the undead, dwarf-killing warlock, Rantucci, who escaped her clutches months ago.
This is the continuation of Session 187 - Adventures in the Ilmen Marshes and Session 169 - Digging up the Roots.
Location - Ilmen Marshes in the Kingdom of Kaldor.
Part 1 - Meeting The Ilme
Winter Stone (the shortened version of Son of the last day of Winter and Gatherer of Stones) is a 12-ft long mere-dragon is creating art. He has jars of various pigments and is painting intricate designs on a rock. He speaks Hârnic well, all with a formal thardic accent, containing a few antiquated words and mannerisms.
He is concerned that two of his species, Mud Sleeper and Wind Singer, have been captured by humans. He asks the humans in the party to see if they can do something to help. He wants to avoid violence if at all possible. A woman in brightly-colored clothing leads this group. Jolanta and Blaine volunteer to help.
Part 2 - Another Big Lizard
The heroes start their journey to the Ilmen River delta and are hunted the largest reptile they have ever seen. This massive crocodile remains well hidden until it strikes, catching the heroes by surprise. Jolanta frantically Dimension Door's herself and Blaine to safety. Carefully avoiding the dangerous animal, the heroes see smoke in the distance. This must be the human's camp.
Part 3 - Negotiations
The Jolanta examine the campsite. Two unconscious Ilme lie in cages while a group of bored looking humans are having lunch. Jolanta identifies who she suspects to be their leader, decides to approach cautiously underwater, using the Breath Water spell from her staff. She prepares to make a spectacular, hopefully intimidating, appearance.
Jolanta dramatically rises from the swamp water draws the attention of all the humans. The male guards are tense, but their leader, a priestess of Halea, is unfazed and somewhat amused. Introducing herself as Desilea Roesia, she suggests that the Swamp Witch (Jolanta does not give her name) may want to clean off some of the mud and muck in her hair. Roesia is more than willing to talk and gestures to her guards to stand back during the parley
Much to Roesia's amusement, Jolanta uses Prestidigitation to remove the swamp muck from her hair and clothing. The priestess is very astute and doesn't miss a thing, immediately deducing that the source of much of Jolanta's water magic is from her staff. Jolanta considers making a demonstration, using Control Water to wreak the company's boats, but first tries to convince them to hand over the Ilme and leave.
Roesia explains that the Ilme excrete an interesting oil under the bony plates along their backs. This may have applications as an aphrodisiac, but fortuitously she has collected enough samples for her studies and is more than willing to depart peacefully. True to her word, she orders her guards to disassemble the cages, and the camp is quickly abandoned.
Part 4 - Undead Killer Of Dwarves
Winter Stone is exceptionally grateful for Jolanta's assistance and offers to help her in any way possible. On learning that the Ilme have some sort of paranormal scrying abilities, Jolanta asks, "has he or his people seen the undead dwarf killing monster, who calls himself Rantucci."
Stone Singer chews on some Ssilvatha Roots and enters a trance. The Ilme gods are generous; he receives a vision. The undead monstrosity Rantucci is standing near a stone circle. Floating at its center is a glowing crystalline egg-shaped object. This is worth investigating, and Jolanta and Blaine return to the City of Tashal.
Location - City of Tashal in the Kingdom of Kaldor.
Part 5 - An Unexpected Gift
The identity of this mysterious floating object is not hard to uncover. Chamor's Egg is located on one of the pilgrimage routes north of Lake Benath from the Thardic Republic, along the dangerous Kabloqu Trail. Come spring Jolanta will visit this Egg and hunt down Rantucci.
A couple of months later Jolanta receives a small package. A small bottle of expensive perfume, Aroma du N’relkine. The following note accompanies it.
Dearest Swamp Witch
I hope this letter finds you well and free of worms and muck.
Thank you so much for your help in the marshes, your spectacular muddy appearance brought my group much joy and excitement to an otherwise dull and torrid experience. I am sharing with you a small sample of my newest fragrance. I encourage you to find some use for this gift.
Your's faithfully
Roesia Thyme
Mistress of the Luxuriant Page.
Church of Hidden Beauty.
To be continued.
NPC Interactions
Rolyn Dremel - Wizard and expert in the Ilme.
Ergath - the Ergath.
Stone Singer - the Ilme.
Roesia Thyme - Desilea (Mistress of the Luxuriant Page).
Challenges Overcome
Survived an attack by a Giant Crocodile.
Negotiated with Haleans.
Uncovered location of the undead Warlock Rantucci.
Created Contact
Ssilvatha Root and Aroma du N’relkine.
Related Reports
Temple of Halea - Church of Hidden Beauty - updated.
Player Character Status
Jolanta - Human - Level 9 Evoker.
NPC Companion
Blaine
Jolanta's loyal and often drunk bodyguard.
Ilme
The Ilme are a strange reptilian race of intelligent mere-dragons with a lifespan of over 200 years. These creatures bear some resemblance to their great dragon cousins, although they do not have wings. They commonly attain a height of 12-foot and a weight of two tons. The two sexes live apart except when mating.
Somewhat cowardly, the male Ilme are frequently bullied and robbed by local orc bands. They will rarely attack intruders but will fight using all of their formidable strength when cornered. However, they usually try to negotiate first.
Female Ilme are much more aggressive and dangerous; they will attack and kill intruders with blood-thirsty ferocity, especially to protect their young.
Ssilvatha Root
The root of the Ssilvatha plant produces a powerful out-of-body experience in male Ilme call Dreamwalking. A dreamwalker can observe the world beyond the Ilmen Marshes, undetected by all except by those with powerful psionic or magical abilities. Some older Ilme are exceptionally skilled dreamwalkers and can observe events in faraway lands with great precision, although they often lack the knowledge to fully interpret such experiences. The Ilme incorporate these viewing into their rich oral history.
The Ilme keep the location where they source Ssilvatha from a secret, although it is believed it may occur around a well-hidden holy grove or even on the world from which the Ilme originated.
Aroma du N’relkine
Ilme or mere-dragons produce a small quantity of a viscous oil called N’relkine from the ridge of triangular plates down their backs. This can be used as a base for powerful human aphrodisiac and perfumes.
Aroma du N’relkine grants a female wearer +3 to Persuasion Checks when dealing with human males for 6 hours after application.
I know Blaine is an NPC, but does he level up when Jolanta does? I also imagine he is a few levels higher than her, being a fighter, am i right in thinking that? Aemon
I use the sidekick rules from Tasha, and Blaine is a warrior who moves up levels as Jolanta does. Jolanta player manages Blaine during combat and most of the time during roleplaying, which he does a good job. But now and then, I have Blaine do something in character and usually dumb.
LOL yeah gotta have some dumb moments.