(G221 14/11/2014 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, Mira, Guru)

(G221 14/11/2014  via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, Mira, Guru)

DAY 225  (22 Marpenoth)(October) cont  ....

Perhaps because I had no great desire to go back to the gloomy lands of the Plane of Shadows I found
things to keep us busy for the rest of the day.

The four armed thing we dragged through the portal and I dumped it in the main room. It was a fascinating
and immensely impressive being and would look incredible once I had stuffed it.

All other bodies were buried though, under the supervision of Gurudor.

Our short foray into the lands of Shadow made me think that having something on our side that could hear
and smell very well would be useful. There is magic that druids can use to 'awaken' creatures so that they
become sentient, intelligent and can talk. I'd never tried it but it sounded like a good idea. It can't be
used on Nature's Companions though, so Mr B was out of the equation.

With that in mind I changed into an eagle and took a scout around the local area. I was looking for dogs
really, but I saw a robed figure walking about so landed and turning back to human form, hailed them.

As the figure came closer I saw that it was hooded, carried a bow and was female.
I wanted to keep my distance, but she drew closer,
'Ahem! This is a dangerous area you know!', I tried as an opening comment and piece of general advice.
'I know that.', she replied.
'Where do you live?'.
She didn't remove the hood, but replied, 'This is my home.'
'What are you doing?', I said, but had already assumed she was out bagging a rabbit for the pot.
'Hunting.'
'Ah yes.', I said, stepping back nervously. I hadn't liked the way she had said that.
Not really sure I was going to like the answer I asked,
'And ... er ... what are you hunting?'
'YOU!'

She pulled back her hood to reveal her hair was made of snakes. Even without my books I realised she
was a medusa. As she gazed at me I felt my limbs harden, but with a colossal effort of will I shook of
the sensation of my whole body hardening and changed into an eagle, flapping into the air as fast as my
feathery limbs could take me. She'd managed to hit me, but thankfully my druid constitution fended off
her poison.

I flapped home and landed, breathing a long sigh of relief. I'd been right in the soup with that medusa
and I could have ended up as an interesting ornament in the swamp, a scratching post for deer and a
noteworthy landmark and warning to passing travellers. I still shudder to think of it.

Next I talked to Kithguard, and bribing him with a decent dinner got some information from him. The four
armed beast was a Ghirrash. His name was Jherremor. The ferryman had been Sithreal and his two headed
hound was Ephmeral the dusk beast. The ferry followed the beacons apparently to a place where the
'willing disciples to our cause' went.

The others attended to their various activities, sharpening swords, smoothing out dented armour and
the like while I skinned, deboned and stuffed good old Jherremor. My greatest masterpiece!

Tired now. Going to washup and turn in. My last night with Lavinia before I go once more.

DAY 226  (23 Marpenoth)(October)

These swamps are pretty nasty, I realised, and decided to search only around the immediate vicinity of
Wisphaven from now on. I saw alligator tracks, snake marks and other things, but then spotted a beaver
dam. Beavers have very good hearing and sense of smell so I approached and using my magic talked to
the dam owner.

He was a nice enough fellow. In my mind I dubbed him 'Noddy' after an old school friend who talked the
same slow thoughtful way. He was just a home type though, I suppose most beavers are, and was not to be
lured away to a life of adventure. It seemed unfair to force him to come to the Plane of Shadows so I
left him to it. My skill with magic was not yet quite ready for awakening creatures anyway.

So, we banded together once more, our supplies all ready and our loins girded, myself, Mira, Gurudor
and Sylvia went through the portal. Mr B leading the way of course.

I tried a few magical experiments first. I cast a 'Avoid Planar Effects' spell to see if I could then
cast a light spell. I could, and with no 'barrier' to break through to do it. I deemed the 'APE' experiment
a success.

We set about exploring more of the building on the other side of the portal. Upstairs was a sort of
throne room and observatory. The walls were high and there were shuttered openings just below the ceiling.
Looking more closely at the throne we saw it was carved from obsidian.

Sylvia, our resident expert on the Plane of Shadows whispered, 'This is the Dusk Lord's Throne. He was the
ruler of Sansendale, which Archendale conquered in DR 1232.'
She didn't know any more than that, it was just something that had bubbled up from amongst the kittens and
puppies in her brain, a half forgotten lecture from her university days.

The irrepressible Mirabella sat down on the throne, planning something amusing no doubt, but this triggered
the appearance of two ghostly creatures that formed from the surrounding shadows.

Sylvia attempted to turn them, with no effect other than a flash of light. I tried a new spell I'd read
about called Shadowblast, a spell I'd researched ages ago and forgotten about until now. I hoped it would
be useful and it was. For use against denizens of the Plane of Shadows it proved effective and one of the
ghostly creatures was blasted to nothing by it.

The other tackled the last one. Sylvia and Mira closed in on it while Gurudor simply tried to wrestle
with it. It was difficult to hit, but not impossible and Sylvia was the one to land the final blow.

Once everything had calmed down I opened up a shutter and looked out across the landscape. I could see
dim lanterns marking a path through the swamp. I suppose this was the route of the ferry.

Back down the stair then and further looking about revealed nothing more than lizardman tracks. Back at
the boat we loaded it up with out gear and each took an oar. Following the beacons we headed further
into the swamp. At no point did anyone say this was a bad idea although I'm sure I wasn't the only
one thinking it.

We followed the beacons for eight miles, stopped for a late luncheon, then rowed on for another eight.

Just as I was thinking of asking the others if they fancied stopping for the day the boat hit something
so hard that we tipped almost all the way over and Sylvia and Mr B fell out.

As we got to our feet I could see the head of some giant angry turtle creature trying to pull the front
of our boat down into the water. It pulled half of its great ugly bulk onto the fore cabin and breathed
scaling fetid steam onto us. It was blistering and painful but I managed to summon up a batch of crocodiles
and sent them to fight the dreadful thing.

Mira targeted it with her bow and shot arrows at it and Guru charged straight for its jaws. Sylvia climbed
up onto the boat and tried to turn the turtle-beast, suspecting it was undead, but to no effect.

We all tried to fight it as best we could, me with my army of crocodiles, Gurudor with his sword and
Mirabella with her arrows. Mirabella ran and jumped on its back, but could find no weak spot though she
could keep her footing.
Guru was so badly injured by hits snapping jaws that he retreated to the cabin and was healed by Sylvia.
He did managed to 'Bless' us all before he left though, which helped our attacks on the beast.

I cast 'Hypothermia' on it. That, the crocodiles and the savaging that Mr B was doing while swimming around
it eventually finished it off and it groaned a terrible bubbling death sound and floated back down into the
swamp.