Countess Sinaria Verlien ======================== The three of us are taken to an antechamber. Tess hears guards being mustered. The Countess arrives, flanked by guards. She is in her early 50s, gold and red hair, tall with a commanding posture, wizard robes of gold and red - traditional Flaemish wizard robes. She speaks with a deep voice ... "How dare you storm into my tower and demand to see me!" Prince says, "I have reason to believe you are holding my son. If you are, I demand you release him immediately." She pauses before responding - Tess thinks she is lying, "I don't have your son." "Oh, but I believe that you do. There is plenty of evidence high mistress." "This is completely ridiculous, I will have my guards throw you out." The guards advance ... Tess moves to flank Ralindi to protect Ralindi somewhat. The prince looks at the Countess and says we will leave, but this is not forgotten. He pushes past the guards, and we leave. The guards Tess sees an excessive number of human guards on the way out, and a number of them appear to be veteran. We Greater Teleport back to his castle, into a comfortable sitting room. The countess is the high master of fire elementalism. The vision of Vanceri's Flaming Exit that Tess had is not admissible in court. The countess has been looking at the Prince funny on council - like she knows something he doesn't. The Countess is less than subtle - likely not good at Charm and Illusion. Prince Jherek wears long ornate robes, plush hat with velvet brim and pointed crown, and has a long braid down his back. He casts Disguise Self, Heightened to 7th level, as a guard. Tess disguises himself as a guard. The Prince did a very good job disguising himself as a guard. Tess puts on the body suit, and can still interact with the Prince okay. The Prince teleports us outside the residence. Tess releases Aldara to take a look around. Standard guards on the outside - she doesn't see the veterans. The Prince casts invisibility, and we sneak up. Aldara returns to the familiar pocket. We step into a side room and see on the wall a portal of fire. The portal appears opaque. A creature hops out - a woman of fire. The bottom half trails away into a tendril of fire. The creature says that the Countess is very worried, that Prince Jherek may return. The creature says it is an oracle - "I find what is lost." The creature says it is a Fire Weird - "I find what is lost, see through what is not." The Prince asks, "Do you know where my son is?" The Fire Weird replies, "I don't know you that well." The Fire Weird, says that it is the countess that has paid for my time here, not yourselves. Tess shows her the +2 mithril shortsword. The Fire Weird accepts the gift. The Fire Weird says, "Your son is here, running eternally. The Countess knows how to get to him." The Prince gives her a ring to protect her, the Fire Weird says she believes it is time she took her pool and goes home. The pool starts draining away. We open the door and some guards ask what we're doing. Tess says "We heard the noise, we'll go and alert the others." Tess motions Jherek to come with him. One of the guards sees through the bluff. Tess tries to knockout and misses one who is wearing chainmail, a large shield and bastardsword. The guard swings and misses twice. The second guard draws back for a big swing with a mace, hitting Tess' leg. The Prince casts Deep Slumber, and the guy Tess was attacking goes down, but the other guy is still standing. Tess tries to knock out the guy who is still standing, who is dazed, but still standing. The Prince casts Deep Slumber again and he goes down. Tess and the Prince head up the tower, fighting their way up versus the 10th level veteran guards. The tower is not well furnished - no rich carpets, no nice hangings or anything. We hear a crackling noise up ahead. Coming down the stairs from above is a large fire elemental. In the room at the bottom of the tower proper, 4 storeys more above. Tess backs out of its reach, puts Sonnescheint in the glove, then casts Heroism. The Prince casts Hold Monster, which works. Then Tess attempts to coup de grace it, which fails. Tess takes a lot of damage. The Prince casts Phantasmal Killer on the elemental. It survives. The elemental attacks the Prince, who looks quite hurt. The Prince casts fear on the elemental, and it saves. Tess moves up and hits the elemental once. The elemental hits Tess once. The Prince casts a Quicken Confusion, which the elemental succeeds against. Then the Prince casts a Greater Shadow Evocation: Cone of Cold, which leaves it still standing. Tess hits the elemental twice. The elemental attacks the Prince in response to the cold. The Prince's clothing and hair has caught on fire. Tess hits three times, and the fire elemental is still barely standing. The Prince rolls on the ground to put the fire out. The Prince casts another Phantasmal Killer, which kills the fire elemental. Heavily wounded Tess and the Prince go through multiple potions of cure light and cure serious wounds. In the room above the furniture is blacked and burned. There is more crackling up ahead. Tess and the Prince cast invisibility. Three troops of small elementals go past. One amongst the fourth troop of smaller elementals sees the shimmering of invisibility. The Prince cast Weird on them (Phantasmal Killer affecting each one), which killed them all. Tess and the Prince head further up. We appear to be at the top of the tower. The room through the open door appears to be elaborately made up. On the other side of the room, looking very worried, is the Countess. She hasn't noticed Tess. Tess casts True Strike, and then attempts to knock her out. Tess hit her hard, but she is still standing. Tess hits her again as she is slow to react, but misses 3 other times. The Prince speaks some strange words - doesn't sound like any spell Tess has ever heard. The Countess' eyes flip to another part of the room, and she starts throwing a spell at nothing. The Prince is controlling what she sees, and he says she will lead us to my son. She thinks she won the duel, and then crows over the prince, for being so stupid as to attack her. The Countess says "Fine, I'll throw you in with your son then." A flaming portal appears and we follow her through. We appear in a very large corridor. The ceiling glows. The corridor is so large that there are trees there. Tess knocks her out. Tess relieves the Countess of her magic items. An hour later the Prince returns, supporting a shocked looking young man who is clad in small furs from rabbits, and who looks very skinny and very pale. We're on a demi-plane, there are no other exits. The Prince opens the portal, and we leave, then teleport to the Prince's residence. Tess has carried the Countess with us. The Prince relieves Tess of the Countess. There is much weeping, questions and so forth. Ralindi arrives and asks what happens, Tess says, then Ralindi goes off to see Rejladan. Tess is lead away. Tess stays in their hospitality, away from the core family, for a couple of days. Tess goes to see the Prince in his sitting room. Tess asks for help in due course in seeking minor nobility. The Prince asks what else, Tess says he was glad to be of service, and then mentions access to the library. The Prince never tells Tess why this happened. The demi-plane was a moebius strip plane, and the Atthach was put there to hunt his son. Rejladan has to keep running away. The Atthach actually died years ago. The demi-plane was protected from divination. Tess asks if the Countess will be charged, the Prince says he don't think it will come to that. The Prince would be more than happy to bring Tess into his house and grant him a barony, but Tess is not eligible yet (no 5th level spells). The Prince's library has a lot of books on magic as well as Krondarian custom. ** 7 days passed ** Tess updates Eric Helsing on Glantrian politics, and Eric says he would still like Vasilev removed. Tess makes no guarantees. Tess will spend 6 months of his time on and off in Sind and Glantri. Tess doesn't discover anything further in Glantri - he needs nobility to do that. Rejladan reappears in the capital towards the end of the 6 months. And the Countess also reappears - she escaped, or was rescued. In parliament, the Prince and Countess accuse and counter-accuse each other, but it doesn't go to a court of law. Politically, the two are total enemies. The Countess is of House Linten (Prince Vanceri). The Countess is as powerful politically as the Prince, but to be the Prince would have to depose the head of her house. Tess has also made an enemy in the Countess. Tess may have improved his cause with House Ellerovyn. Tess thinks he would have enough influence now to get minor nobility, courtesy of Prince Jherek. Jaibul does have magical fortifications - probably extra tough to break down. Lani might be a good choice to rule Jaibul. After visiting Jaibul to make military assessments, Tess will spend some time studying to improve his magic skill. +2 levels. After Tess' advances in magic skill, he is allocated a plot of land pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and Tess will have some people to rule over there as well. Tess' title will be Baron. Prince Jherek puts Tess forward, the Elves support it, the Countess and her house don't support it, and Tess has enough backing to get nominated courtesy of the Prince pulling in some favors. Tess is made a Baron in an area in Krondahar, which Tess calls Saraband. That reminds me, when Tess fronts the council to accept his grant of nobility, he will need to cast a well-known 5th level spell to prove his ability. Which won't be a problem of course. Graakhalia ========== Graakhalia is dirt poor and subsistence level, so there isn't any tax to be made. They can trade worked goods, which they have some skill at. Population of Graakhalia currently is about 15,000 now - about 50% of their population was killed by the Huleans. About 20% of them are Elves (3,000 Elves, 12,000 Gnolls). 600 Elders. They don't have Wizards, they only have Sorcerers. They don't have the time to study. Their current government is by democracy - each band elects its own leader. The leaders are normally people who are charismatic, quick-witted, or good at fighting. All the leaders come together and elect a council of 12: 6 Elves and 6 Gnolls, which cannot be leaders of the bands. These are leaders who have spent a lot of time dealing with the other race, they must have been brave, and have proven wisdom. They rule on serious crimes. Decisions are a majority vote, and if they can't decide they roll a sacred wooden die. Their education is very survival focused. They have a time of sharing, where they must live with a family of the other race for at least a year, often frequently longer. Almost all do know how to read and write Elven. They can slowly become more of an agrarian society over generations. They are meant to remain calm and free of emotion, to avoid hasty judgments - quite Elven. You have to keep to the right when you pass someone in a tunnel, and keep your right hand as far away as possible (otherwise you look like you're about to attack them). They don't have mixed racial marriages. Coins are valuable depending on how good they look. Some coins and rocks or wood that the Elven magic users have turned into miniature works of art. It is a barter culture. Tessarael will eventually realize that their biggest problem is lack of water. The Shadow Elves diverted underground rivers, and the Shadow Elves had greater rainfall. Alfheim (Aengmoor) Forest has greater rainfall, sumps drain off the water, and the Shadow Elves were using that water. The Elves in Graakhalia do have a plan to control the water and water storage, and also use it defensively. They have been working on this for a couple of centuries. Tunnel Shapers would be more effective, but are secret. They think in a few decades that the water problem should be solved. This water plan may affect Sind - Baratkand worst affected as closest. They do have water, but they can't manage it that well at the moment. It would take on the order of millions of gold to complete the plan more quickly. The Elves go into Sind once a year to sell gems. They don't tell the people that they are from Graakhalia. ** Seeker's present date is 1033-03-11. ** Items to sell from the countess =============================== 37,500gp Ring of Telekinesis 6,000gp Goggles of Night 13,500gp Robe of Scintillating Colors 22,000gp Ring of Energy Resistance: Cold - Greater ======== 79,000gp Tess is keeping the following items from the Countess ===================================================== 1,500gp Rod of Metamagic Extend, Lesser [KEEP] 12,500gp Cloak of Resistance +5 [sold to Ved] 125gp Potion of Enlarge Person 125gp Elixir of Swimming 150gp Potion of Cure Moderate 1,125gp Potion of Heroism x3 [sold one to Ved] 125gp Potion of Reduce Person 125gp Elixir of Sneaking 2,363gp Wand of Summon Monster III - 21 charges 0.5*25*20(caster level)*(6+9+5+6) = 6,500gp - Scroll at 20th: Greater Dispel Magic, Soul Bind, Lesser Planar Binding, Planar Binding 0.5*25*15(caster level)*(5+8+7+7+6) = 6,187.5gp - Scroll 15th: Mind Fog, Trap the Soul, Bigby's Grasping Hand, Control Weather, Summon Monster VI 0.5*25*5(caster level)*(1+3+3) = 437.5gp - Scroll 5th: Grease, Magic Circle Against Chaos, Daylight 0.5x25x10x5x5 = 3,125gp - Scroll 10th: Fireball x5 Spells Tess will get from Lani and Zim (no Evocation spells) ============================================================ 4th x 1 - Lesser Globe of Invulnerability 5th x 21 - Baleful Polymorph, Break Enchantment, Cloudkill, Dismissal, Dominate Person, Dream, False Vision, Feeblemind, Hold Monster, Mage's Private Sanctum, Nightmare, Passwall, Permanency, Persistent Image, Prying Eyes, Seeming, Summon Monster V, Telekinesis, Teleport, Transmute Rock to Mud, Wall of Stone Tess pays 909gp to Lani and Zim each to copy these. *paid* Magic items Tess will buy ========================= 12,000gp Boots of Speed 18,000gp Gloves of Storing and Dex +2 increased to Dex +4 41,300gp Superiorwork Glamered Mithral Shirt +5, Shadow (+5 Hide), Silent Moves (+5 Move Silently) [superiorwork costs as adamantine, so +5,000gp for light armor and gives max. Dex +2 and reduces the armor check penalty by 1 - i.e. to max. Dex bonus +8 or Dex 26) Cost: Mithral Shirt 1,100gp; Hide +5 3,750gp, Move Silently +5 3,750gp; Superiorwork 5,000gp; AC +5 25,000gp; Glamered 2,700gp = 41,300gp total Tess sells his old armor to Ved for 2,750gp (4,900gp less than half price of 15,300gp). Report to Grey ============== Tess did go down to Jaibul last session. Glenn and I went through it very quickly. I don't have the details. Tess will give Grey a military assessment - rough numbers, break down by green vs. veteran, break down by cavalry vs. infantry etc. The fortifications are magically reinforced. You'll need someone with better spellcraft than Tess to take a look at them to figure out what it is. Tess thinks that Grey will have problems invading Jaibul by brute force. A more effective approach would be if the Black Rajah died - maybe have a chat with Turia and Tess may be able to help provide some intelligence - then if we ensured that one of the party mages beat all the other mages there for the succession. Given that Lani is taking Path of the Paragon, she is probably the appropriate choice, and will need to do something along those lines at some stage anyway. Sure, use military force to back things up, but whichever ruler is installed will face repeated challenges by the other mages until they've established they are the best mage - Grey will probably have problems doing that if he is ruler of Baratkand at the same time. Tess accepts the governor position for Graakhalia, that is liaison to Baratkand, in the middle of 1032 when he is approached. In due course, Tess finds out some information. The Graakhalian Elves have been working on setting up a series of dykes, levees, tunnels, aquifers and so forth over several centuries to control the water supply. This is essential for them to establish agriculture. They expect to be finished in a few decades. However, Tess is of the opinion that the water supply in nearby regions, that is Sind particularly Baratkand, will be affected. This will probably be quite bad for Baratkand, unless done in consultation with engineers in Baratkand ... for example, you might be able to drain the swamp without losing arable grassland around Baratpur - indeed maybe there will be the opportunity for more arable grassland to the arid lands west of Baratkand, where the nomads that Grey was thinking of annexing were. Net cost for completing the engineering is on the order of millions of gold currently. Given that Graakhalia is dirt poor and short of labor, things will be proceedings slowly. I think Grey could get involved by offering to help fund things, in exchange for ensuring that Baratkand is not badly affected by the changes in water courses. Around the middle of 1033, Tess is granted the title of Baron and some land in Krondahar, Glantri (eastern side of Glantri near the Ethengarians). Soon thereafter, Tess is going to be very stressed for time. Not sure how to resolve it yet, just saying that Grey will note that Tess is stressed and tired.