Meeting Summar for 8/6/2011
1) We decided that we couldn't take all of the amassed treasure with us because of the weight. We had trouble determining what we should do with the treasure that we couldn't carry, so we decided to scout out a ruined city that was 1/2 a mile from our location.
We set up a camp and each person started to prepare in their own manner. Beld began to pray for spells from Crimson, M'rag began to swap one spell out of memory for another, and D'Gar began to covet the treasure she already had in her possession while coveting the treasure she had yet to acquire from others.
2) Xog went to scout out the road ahead of us to make sure that there were no orcs that lay in waiting to ambush us. As nothing was found on the road, Xog continued into the town to see if there were any good spots within the walls that would provide us with a great spot to hide our excess treasure.
Popping in and out of a few buildings, Xog eventually found one that was a little off the beaten path and the stairs to the upper levels were decayed and crumbling. He found one dwelling that was perfect as the upper level could support the treasure, but there was no apparent way to access the second level.
The plan was to levitate the treasure up to the upper level and dress it with a camouflage so that it would be very difficult to find.
3) The next day, once everyone had memorized their spells and healed up, we set off towards the town with additional treasure. It appeared that we put it up on the upper level of the impromptu stash house and felt it was a good job.
Before we put the treasure up in the selected spot, Beld casted a Detect Magic spell so that we could find any magical objects within the acquired treasure. Beld reported that the following were magical:
A) Steel Dagger
B) Glow Stone
C) Iron Helm
D) Mithrel Longsword
E) Steel Lance Head
Beld reported that all of the magical items emitted roughly the same glow except for the lance head, which emitted a very, very strong glow. Beld seemed to think that the lance head, while not something that anyone in the party would be able to use effectively, was probably work a LOT of money. Beld advised the party to keep the lance head very safe so that we could sell it later.
4) We continued out of the city and went south along the riverbank. We were attempting to obscure our trail as we went south, but Shade picked up on the fact that there were wind sprites following us from the north.
Shade spoke with the sprites and determined that the sprites were following us as they were instructed to follow "the ones with the smelly rocks." Shade relayed all of this to us and told us that the wind sprites were commanded to follow us by a shaman who was very large and a troll. The shaman was apparently accompanied by many other trolls. The sprites, after speaking with Shade and finding our location, turned back to report our location to the shaman.
As we continued south, we scanned the area for any area that we could find refuge and defend the area for an attack. Shade would send his crow out to scout the air and to see if the enemy could be spotted from the skies.
5) We finally found a good spot where we felt we could establish a good defensive position. Everyone went to sleep and we all took turns keeping watch. During his watch, Shade found that we were being followed by more wind sprites and decided to converse with them. He questioned our followers to find out the proximity of our enemies. While the sprites weren't very clear, Shade figured (based on the vague responses from the wind sprites) that the trolls were only 4 to 6 hours away. From the first time Shade questioned the sprites to the second time (just recently) when Shade questioned the sprites, it was determined that the trolls were making great time (great for them, bad for us).
We felt that the position we were in atop a small hill was the best position for defensive purposes. While we didn't have much time, we decided that the best thing to do would be to prepare for the enemies to arrive.
Wanting to fortify our position, we all worked towards erecting a barricade around our position. Well, that isn't entirely true. Wrento sat idly by and watched everyone else erect the barricade, which resulted in everyone except Wrento suffering a 5% hit to their evasion points.
6) Suddenly Shade let out a great bellow as if in pain. Everyone turned to Shade to see what was wrong, but Shade seemed to be struggling with an internal pain.
It turns out that our pursuers were not trolls at all, but rather ogres. Very, very large beings that had looks of malice as they approached us. They were spread out on their line about 100' apart and most were heavily armored.
One of the ogres stepped forward after exchanging words in ogre with Xog. Then, speaking in common, Xog blurted out, "Okay! Me do that!" With that, Xog stepped forward towards the individual troll who had moved closer than the rest towards us. While not knowing exactly what was going on, it looked like Xog was somehow negotiating for our safety.
Xog came back to the group and told us that the ogres wanted to the ore that we had and the magical bones that we had acquired. Xog informed us that if we returned those items, they would leave us alone. This led to some debate among the party, but we acquiesced to the demands of the ogre. D'Gar objected to this, but the rest of the party decided that we should try and see if we can keep a small sample of the magical bones and ore.
M'rag accompanied Xog to speak with the shaman when Xog went back out towards him. The shaman said that the ogres needed all of the ore and dragon bones and that we could not have a sample. We gave the ore and the dragon bones to the ogres and they left as they promised.
7) We continued south and we found that the sides of the valley grew closer together as the opening of the valley became increasingly more narrow. We expected to climb out of the valley soon enough.
Shade informed us that there was a dwarven settlement about 45 miles south of us. We decided that we should continue south and visit the village.
8) As we approached from the north, we heard bells being rung in alarm. It was about 5pm and the dwarves pointed various weapons towards us and one dwarf bellowed down from the wall, "Who are you and why are you here?"
M'rag replied that we were travelers and we're from Ma'cab. We were instructed to attach our weapons to our horses and then we would be allowed to enter the village.
When entering, the dwarves approached us to find out if we had any news of the lands and if we had any goods to trade.
We noticed that the dwellings of the village were all carved into the sides of the mountains and the fields in front were used for various agricultural purposes. The halls of stone were carved with great craftsmanship and there were windows of stained glass.
We met with the mayor of the dwarven village and recapped our journey and our encounters with him. We told him of the ogres and the ores that we returned. He did not seem to know about the ores we spoke of.
We have have a little time and we head to a local hall to enjoy some fine ale and swap war stories.
