CELESTIAL  CAPER

March 13, 2010


<< John owes us detailed text for this introductory, scene-setting exposition >>

<< While we're waiting for that, the following is from my brief notes and memory -- and thus may differ from what actually happened and was said >>

Taizu is out of town on some errand for either his father, or perhaps for some Shadowdancer / spy duty for his "handler" (details are unimportant).

Tarva is woken up by some form of message from Mordenkainen (head of the Circle of Eight), telling her that the Balance is severely affected, and she should contact her relatives at once.  Sleepily, she first thinks of Taizu's family, but then realizes that Mordenkainen must have been referring to Celestials.  

Through some mechanism or another [which Tarva apparently knows]  she places a 'call' to the Celestial Plane.  Instead of reaching her mentor, Mandarla, as she usually does, she is in contact with a Hound Archon.  Furthermore he is acting very flustered and confused.  But eventually she gets passed along to someone who seems to know more about what's happening.  

Apparently, as impossible as it sounds, the Archivest in charge of menacing weapons, and of keeping them safe and unavailable, has been killed, murdered, and by a Solar.   The Solar must have gone mad,  another impossibility.  There is a strong likelihood that one or more of  the weapons is missing -- nobody can tell because somehow the Solar has made it impossible for anyone to enter the building, or inspect it from afar.

However, they do know that the insane Solar is no longer in that building, or anywhere else on the Celestial Plane.  They have located him, roughly, northwest of the Crystal Spire Mountains on Oerth.  At this moment -- and time is critical -- Tarva is the closest Celestial "agent" available.  She is being asked to get together a group of adventurers that will work with her to track down and deal with this rogue Solar and ?his?her? weapon(s), before s/he has time to establish a base

Tarva thinks, "No wonder Mordenkainen is concerned about the Balance."

His Most Holy Halbot Channellite, head of the local Temple of Pelor (and thus the primate for the entire continent) is being informed of the need to act swiftly on this problem, and will arrange to have the group, once assembled, teleported to as close to the Solar's location as they can pinpoint.

<<  End of exposition >>

Day 1


Tarva packs up her adventuring gear and heads for the Temple.  From there, using messengers assigned to her, she sends out invitations to all the adventurers she knows are in town, tersely explaining that there is a major incursion of Evil, and asking if the addressee would come help her challenge and defeat it.  Some replies come back "no", but six adventurers do arrive to hear more details.  Tarva explains all the above, nobody wants to back out, everyone gets their gear together, and the Temple mages teleport them into the Crystal Spire Mountains.

<<I think there was some device or mechanism for knowing which direction to go, but it isn't in my notes.>>

About two hours into the march there is suddenly a group of Fire Giants ahead of us: ten of them, about 200' in front of Rowan (who is out in front), 300' from the rest of the group.

0.  Velia ducks then flies towards them; Tarva shoots FG-6 for 11; Rowan shoots FG-6 for 20; FG-1 fumbles, rest miss.

1.  Velia runs up to within 90'; Tarva shoots FG-6 for 28; Rowan shoots FG-6 for 128; Axe activates his boots: Haste, moves within 80'; FGs hit Axe for 26, Surune for 18 & 6; Ninalyn casts Divine Favor on herself; Zeln casts Stinking Cloud as a line across the left (from our viewpoint) half of the FGs.

2.  Velia jumps over the Stinking Cloud Line, tumbles to behind an FG; Tarva shoots; Rowan kills FG-6; Axe hits an FG; FGs hit Surune for 27; Zeln casts Wall of Ice in front of the right half of the FGs.

3.  Velia kills FG-9; Tarva shoots; Rowan kills FG-7; Axe kills FG-8; FGs hit Axe for 21, Surune for 30 & 18; Ninalyn charges; Surune kills FG-3; Zeln looks around.

4.  Velia moves; Tarva shoots; Rowan shoots; Axe criticals to kill FG-10; FGs hit Ninalyn for 25, Surune for 24 & 33 & 50; Ninalyn strikes; Surune kills FG-1, yells for help; Zeln casts Lesser Orb of Acid.

5.  Velila kills FG-4; Tarva moves to Surune, Lay on Hands for 50; Rowan kills FG-5; Axe deactivates his boots, moves; FG-2 misses Tarva; Ninalyn charges; Surune moves, hits; Zeln looks around.

6.  Velia moves; Tarva hits FG-2; Rowan kills FG-2.

Velia searches the bodies:
    400 pp
    10 gems
    10 greatswords (huge)
    10 suits of half-plate armor (huge)
     iron rod, 2"6" long, covered in a non-repeating pattern

Velia finds an extra wound on the back of one of the Fire Giants.  It looks completely different than the wounds caused by our weapons.   With that as a hint, she searches the other bodies again and finds a similar wound on five of the other bodies: not always in the same place.  She brings this to the group's attention.  Both Ninalyn and Tarva notice that the wounds are corrupted.  Tarva casts Detect Evil and finds that -- whereas normally a dead (and not undead) body ceases to have any alignment -- these bodies are still detecting as being Evil.  Closer concentration locates the Evil along a line from each strange wound (now findable on the other four bodies as well) straight to the heart, and including both.  When Tarva gets back to the first body, she finds that the aura of Evil has diminished along the line, and at the wound, but the heart is as strongly Evil as before.

Ninalyn casts Cure Moderate, Mass, on herself, Surune, and Axe for 43; then uses other spells to heal Surune completely.

Velia is a little freaked out by the attention Ninalyn and Tarva are paying to this strange wound, and says, "Just burn the bodies already."  Ignoring her, the two of them dissect one of the bodies, finding that where the heart should have been is, instead is an oddly twisted mass with no chambers.  They are very careful to not touch it with their hands, but only use daggers and Healing Kit tools, plus some tongs, somewhat grudgingly lent them by Velia.  Ninalyn is certain that this could not have kept the Fire Giants alive in a normal sense; but is equally sure that they were not undead.  She concludes that it must be some sort of body manipulative -- powering and controlling -- effect, perhaps Planar in nature.  

Zeln casts a Wall of Fire, circular, to burn the bodies.  This does indeed destroy the bodies, but the ten 'hearts' are left behind intact.  Tarva tries hitting them by casting Magic Missiles, but that does nothing.   Ninalyn's thinks possibly her Holy Sword might be effective, and that proves to be true.  She then destroys the other nine also.

End of run.