Subject: The gem

Harp has nothing to add. While he is familiar with divine stuff and the feeling of power that obviously flows thorugh this place (and this tree), the power he feels is so much above him and of a different type than he is used to that he is somewhat awed.

He sort of thinks that centaur stallion would have made a pretty great mount, but he is not going to voice that opinion.
From: Bryan

Subject: The gem

Probably a good idea to keep that thought to himself ;)
From: Mark

Subject: The gem

Flint holds up a green gem. "This is a gem from the Crown of Valorshield. From what Acer told me all summoning and conjuration spells will not work around it. Summoned creatures who get too close are automatically sent back to where they came from" Flint says as they walk back to the camp. He holds out the emerald to Salix "This is what you came for." He drops the gem in Salix's out streched hand. The younger druid feels the hidden power of the gem throb through him. He gut flips, once and he quickly hands the stone to Harp "This belongs to your Order and was actually your mission. Now let's go eat. It has been a long day."

OODM: Flint is in a surprisingly good mood. You can ask him questions if you like.

I will be writing more this afternoon.
From: Kevin

Subject: The gem

Harp takes the offered gem, and give a low bow to Salix and Flint.

"On behalf of the Order of the Silver Sword, I thank you for your efforts and sacrafices. It will be written in the histories so that all of our Order will remember what you gave."

With that, Harp will wrap up the gem and ask Allistair to keep it in his bag of holding.
From: Derek

Subject: The gem

Allistair holds the gem a little warily. "The antimagic properties of these gems don't come into effect until they are placed on the Crown of Valorshield, do they? Because otherwise, a gem that nullifies summoning magic isn't the best choice for placing into a container that uses an extradimensional pocket."
From: Kevin

Subject: The gem

Harp looks back sheepishly. "I hadn't thought of that. I'll keep it then. Sorry about that."

Harp takes the gem back and puts it in a pouch as close to his person as he can.
From: Derek

Subject: The gem

OOC: When we finally get all the gems and the crown assembled, Allistair is going to become absolutely useless.
From: Mark

Subject: The gem

How do you think Lothnar felt? ;)
From: Mark

Subject: Back at camp

Flint looks a bit embarrassed by Harp's praise "It was you and your friends who did the most. And Acer." Flint seems to think Ally is talking to him about the gem and replies "I have no idea. I didn't even know the gem was hidden in the tree until Acer told me. If it does what you say it does, whoever has the whole crown could be almost unstoppable." The party makes small talk as they work their way back to the camp. When they get there the Stallion greets them warmly "Did you find what you were looking for?" "Yes" says Flint "yes, we did."

"Wonderful" the Stallion replies. "My herd has been preparing dinner for you. You would honor us if you would join us." This is spoken to the group as much as it is to Flint. "We do not get much news of the outside world and love to hear new stories from visitors." The Stallion motions for the party to follow and they do. When they get to the clearing they can see that a feast has been prepared. Large tables, strangely shaped, fill the clearing and they are laden with all sorts of food. Berries and cheese, fresh deer, ale, water, breads. The design of the tables makes sense when the sit down to eat. The table allows them to "sit" and still be able to reach things.

A couple of the younger centaurs work as servers, but L'ton is also working as a server. The Stallion is polite to all of the servers, but rude and preemptory to L'ton. L'ton glares at the party but keeps his mouth shut. After several hours of eating and drinking the Stallion stands "I would invite you to my house for some more quite conversation" Flint nods and motions for the party to join him. They walk a short way to a medium sized barn type structure. It is located a fair distance from where the other centaurs seem to live. The Stallion takes a seat in a pile of hay and gestures for the others to either take the available seats or to sit on the floor. Flint and Salix choose the floor. "Ok my friend" says the Stallion to Flint "since you will be the guy in charge for a while I figure you should let me know what is really going on out there. I liked Acer. Tell me of his passing."

Flint, and the party, spends the next hour telling the Stallion the story of the past week or so. As they are telling their story Flint snaps his fingers "I knew there was something I was forgetting." He rummages around in his back pack and pulls out Salix's old leather armor as well as the other things that the party members had left behind before they went to Bodentown. When they are done telling their story Flint speaks up again.

"There is more that you need to know. The last thing Acer told me was what he had learned while captive of Faldor. He said that Faldor was just a pawn. Faldor spoke of someone, or something, that had given him a schedule to keep. Acer said that Faldor seemed in deathly fear of whoever this was."

OODM: Time to ask questions or discuss things before I send you back to Gorn in Schon.
From: Jason

Subject: Back at the camp

Ragnar avoids joining the conversation when Flint discusses Acer's death. He still did not approve of the events at Bodentown. When he mentions Acer's words about Faldor, he perks up and pays attention. When he finishes, Ragnar speaks up. "I assume he gave no name for this person, but did he mention anything else, anything at all? Even knowing if Faldor had met with him personally, or the manner or frequency of their communication, might be useful."
From: Derek

Subject: Back at the camp

Allistair thinks aloud. "Well, I guess Faldor doesn't need to worry about that anymore. Unless he was given the schedule by Nerull himself, or some other power from the outer planes, in which case death will only make things worse for him. I have to admit that I hope he does not enjoy afterlife."

"Ragnar, how much do you know about Nerull and his cult of death? Would Faldor have a superior? Is there a clear heirarchy among Nerull's followers?"

"Before when we were in the chapterhouse and getting the first gem, I was under the impression that all this was just a struggle between Heironius and Hextor, or at least the Order and the descendant of Macedar. Are Nerull and his followers involved too? How many gods are caught up in this contest now? Will there be more?"

OOC: Not sure if I got all the names right. It's been a while since this was discussed.
From: Mark

Subject: Back at the camp

"No" Flint answers "nothing like that. Acer did not have much time to pass on to me what he had to, and he really did not know much more. He was in such poor shape while he was captive, but that bit of information stuck with him: that Faldor was doing someone else's bidding." Flint goes quiet for a few seconds. "You know, this whole thing with Bodentown could have been a ruse to get Acer to come himself. As far as I know Acer was the only druid who knew that the gem was in the tree. He was also one of the few who knew how to get to the valley of the tree. If they had been able to get that information from him, they could have come to the valley."
From: Porter

Subject: Back at the camp

As they're having dinner, Mund asks what sports the centaurs enjoy, and asks if any of them would enjoy wrasslin' with him.
From: Mark

Subject: Back at the camp

The centaurs give Mund a blank look when he mentions wrestling. When he describes what he means one of them says "Oh you mean horse play. Sure, we can try that. I hope we don't hurt you. I mean you are awfully small."

OODM: If I get a chance I will run a wrestling match between Mund and a centaur. They are large creatures so get some bonuses, but Mund is a skilled warrior and has feats and skills that will be useful in unarmed combat.
From: Kevin

Subject: Back at the camp

OOC: Tonight, on Monday Night RAW, it will be the Magnificent Mund vs. The Crazy Centaur's in a 3 fall deathcage match. Vince McMahon will be on hand to see if the ponies can trample all over the most recent addition to the WWE's "stable" of wrestlers.

Mark, I will try to add some more tonight.
From: Porter

Subject: Back at the camp

"Horseplay? Hah! I like that!"
From: Jason

Subject: Back at the camp

Ragnar thinks for a moment, then replies "From what I know of the followers of Nerull, it is unlikely that he has an eccesiastical superior in the sense that Angelwing gives us orders and we follow them. It is more likely that Faldor voluntarily followed another of his order, or even someone who was not another cleric of Nerull, as long as it furthered his god's aims."
From: Porter

Subject: Back at the camp

"How devoted to his god's aims would a feller like Faldor really be? Maybe he just liked death and hurtin' people and Nerull gave him the power to do that. I dunno -- I never understood you godfolk."
From: Jason

Subject: Back at the camp

Ragnar smiles at Mund's description of Faldor's motives and replies "You may well be right about why Faldor chose to follow Nerull. And it is true that clerics of all faiths occasionally stray from following the teachings and furthering the purposes of their patron. However, those that do not continue to follow, at least generally, the path their deity wishes soon find that they cannot rely on his aid. The fact that Faldor had the power to create the monstrosities he did indicates that he was still faithful in advancing the aims of Nerull."
From: Derek

Subject: Back at the camp

"Well, I don't believe in coincidences, and knowing how much the gods love to meddle in our affairs makes it even less likely to be coincidence. I'd be willing to bet that Nerul was connected with this descendant of Macedar that your order spent millenia commiting genocide trying to eradicate."
From: Jason

Subject: Back at the camp

OOC: Question for our DM, is that an accurate description? I know its been mentioned that the silver sword has hunted down and killed this guy's descendents, but I was under the impression it was more of a case by case basis.
From: Mark

Subject: Back at the camp

Yes it was a case by case basis. The Silver Swords did not wipe out whole populations in its efforts. They basically found out what they could about Mesodar's back ground, used what magic they could to track down descendents and killed those. Obviously they failed. And some might argue with this method of killing people with out a trial, but it was not wholesale slaughter.

It might even have been more than that. Most of the hunting was done in the first years after the great war and much of that info has been lost over 3,000 years. Maybe they just imprisoned people until they died or sent them to a monestary to live in exile and no chance to sire children. Or something like that.

Ally has made a jump that is not supported by facts. He may still believe it all he wants.
From: Porter

Subject: Back at the camp

Burn!!
From: Mark

Subject: Back at the camp

Well his brother is a well known racist, bigot. Blood always tells. :)
From: Derek

Subject: Back at the camp

OOC: OK, I remembered it as being a lot more killing than that. Slight retcon to Allistair's statement.

"Well, I don't believe in coincidences, and knowing how much the gods love to meddle in our affairs makes it even less likely to be coincidence. I'd be willing to bet that Nerul was connected with this descendant of Macedar that your order spent millenia trying to eradicate by killing them."
From: Josh

Subject: Back at the camp

OOC: When did we talk about Mecedar? I don't remember him.
From: Mark

Subject: Back at the camp

It is in the archives. I think the first time it might have been mentioned is before the party left for the Testing Grounds. Lothnar said something about it as well.

However, the archives are down since Mike is changing hosts so I can not give a link.

When it comes back up I will link to it.
From: Jason

Subject: Back at the camp

I think his name was Mesodar, and the first time I recall talking about him was here:

http://www.sakeriver.com/kalevan-campaign/2005/07/questions-answered-and-prophecy-read
From: Karl

Subject: Back at the camp

Salix is very curious about the bear form Flint took during the challenge of strength. "What kind of bear was that?" he asks.
From: Mark

Subject: Back at the camp

I already did that a few days ago.

Let me see if I can find the link.
From: Mark

Subject: Back at the camp

There was alot of killing involved with Mesodar's downfall. Hundreds of thousands on both sides died.

The amount of persecution done by the Silver Swords afterwards is unknown. Maybe. ;)
From: Karl

Subject: Back at the camp

Flint side-stepped the question before, since Salix was mainly asking about taking the shape. Now Salix just wants to know more about the creature if it's so powerful that he won't be able to take the shape any time soon. He's interested in it nonetheless.
From: Mark

Subject: Mund vs centaur

I just realized that the charcter sheets from Sake are off line right now. So the bout between Mund and a centaur will be postponed until they are back up.

Sorry.