I contacted Rosaline and Aden today. It appears that they're well; at present they're kicking back for winter. I asked if they'd be able to help in my little endeavour, to which they indicated they would, so long as they weren't busy.
I hope they will be available: our weak spot is the party. If Hule can eliminate us, the threat to Hule is likewise eliminated. My present intention is to try and surround the party with additional adventurers. They can both help in warfare, but more importantly, they make us an even more difficult target to eliminate. Sigh. I doubt I will have much luck in this endeavour.
As I expect to eventually be known to the Sind people, assuming we get that far, it seems appropriate to use my real name, Kvana. Likewise, Turia has chosen the Sindhi name Tara.
Zim has all sorts of notions about choosing an appropriately ``heroic'' name for me. He is unhappy with Kvana. I believe he's ignorant of the insult he gives me when he criticises the name Kvana. Moreover, he's certainly ignorant of what a good Sindhi name is. Sindhi is not his native tongue, after all.
The unicorn goes by the name Aliara. Aliara speaks mentally, of course. Aliara's home plane is Arboria: apparently demons hunted her there. It appears Aliara finds the grove in Serraine acceptable accommodation, so we can expect to see a little more of her for the next while.
In the meantime, I have asked my resistance contact in Jahore to obtain information on the warehouse holding the old falcon. I have indicated he has a month; in the meantime, I will continue to practice public speaking. Turia will look for Armour of Command in the Cage.
I contacted my noble resistance contact in Sayr Ulan earlier today. The noble believes that Chandra Ul'Nervi, the Maharaja, is acting as Hule's administrator unwillingly. If this holds true, then hopefully there will be no need to find a replacement for him.
Safranna rocked up today with a pair of mated falcons hovering on her every word. Strange. You'd think she was becoming more Thora-like.
Unfortunately, I have had no luck selling the scimitar of speed. The best offer so far is a mere 100 thousand gold, far less than its true value. I'll hold off on its sale.
Turia found an Armour of Command. Unfortunately, it's for a sheeplike race, and even then, it'll cost 100 thousand gold. It's simply not worth it. I've given up on this angle, although I do believe it was worth considering.
My resistance contact in Jahore has identified the warehouse holding the falcon. It would appear forty Hule soldiers guard it. The guard changes every eight hours. The warehouse itself is wooden, and built on dirt. It has two levels. There are eight guards outside, and 32 inside.
We started to discuss a convoluted, complex plan to rescue the falcon's engines. In the end, we've decided to just use brute force. It's a lot easier that way. We'll use the reduce spell to shrink the engines.
Either way, we will wait for the night of the Festival of Lights. With luck, the soldiers won't be quite as wary.
I had two names of Sindhi who's are travelling abroad. Yadev and Kanla. Unfortunately, it would appear that Yadev is dead. At any rate, the Sending to him failed.
I did contact Kanla, and went to speak with him. He's presently accompanying a group of Gantrians. After a chat, it would appear that the Glantrians are interested in monetary remuneration if they're to help. Kanla did not seem happy. He does, in fact, seem quite unimpressed with his companions. Nonetheless, it would appear that he is willing to assist. I indicated that I'd contact him closer to the date we expect operations to begin. I'm not particularly surprised the Glantrians are unwilling to assist. They aren't exactly known for their generosity.
Fascinating.
As prearranged, the party went to meet representatives of Ghira's people. We of course went in, spells up and protecting us. Of course, we were greeted at arrow point.
Once both parties realised we weren't going to blast each other, the tension eased.
Graakhalia, the name of the country beneath the Plain of Fire, is not a solely Gnollish country. It is co inhabited by both Gnolls and Elves, of all possibilities. Moreover, it appears they peacefully work together in a structured, ordered society. That's the strange part: they get along with each other! They dress the same, and have the same customs. A most fascinating situation. We saw no halfbreeds, but then, I doubt half-breeds would be possible without magical intervention.
Graakhalia is a cave system inhabited by the Gnolls and Elves, whose living conditions are quite poor at present, as well as strange fungal growths, the source of food in this environment. The temperature seems consistently warm. The surrounds are actually fairly spacious.
Apparently the living conditions are poor since they've had to move again, a result of further orcish incursions.
Primarily we spoke to seven people, the clan elders. These included a mixture of representation: both old gnolls, and old elves. I've never actually seen an old elf before, so it must be quite an achievement.
It's a peculiar situation. These elves and gnolls have no choice but to trust us, as their situation is so desperate.
As indicated before, they estimate there to be about 30000 orcs, and some trolls. Unfortunately, these orcs and trolls do not know how to care for the fungus, meaning the harvest all the food they can from the fungus, leaving nothing behind to grow in the next season. The orcs are also starving, but they are willing to eat their comrades who die, something the Graakhalians do not do (thank the Pantheon).
The Graakhalians follow both Melidden (an elvisg deity), and Marmarket (don't know this fellow).
Err, it would appear they don't deal with the surface dwellers as my people have a tendency of attacking them on sight.
It's just so bizarre that these two races peacefully coexist. Apparently, in the distant past, they were both fleeing various disasters, and ended up underneath this Plain. Eventually they learnt from each other, both the good and bad points, and here they are.
The next biggest problem for the Graakhalians is that they are near the cavern. The cavern is lush in fungal growths, but is populated by the skeleton-like spore men. Although it's possible to live with the spore men, they have a tendency to spread their spores that, when infecting someone, end up turning the infected into spore men as well (over a period of a couple of days). Not an ideal situation. Normal healing cannot help an infected person, although the spores themselves can be cured. Apparently the fungus men have a strange sort of culture.
It appears these spore men occupy an entire layer. It's possible that we could get the Graakhalians to whatever layer is beneath that, but they don't know what's there. It's quite possible that it's the underdark.
The problem is the Graakhalians are running out of places to run to. One idea of the Graakhalians is to lure the orcs into the Cavern. This is probably possible. After all, one reason the orcs pursue the Graakhalians is in an attempt to determine what their source of food is. The orcs believe that the Graakhalians have some secret stash of food, which the Graakhalians say they don't have. Judging by their appearance, I'd guess they don't.
Hule does send it's stolen gold through the caverns. At the moment, only 100 soldiers (or thereabouts) guard each caravan. Apparently they've been lulled by the lack of attacks. Previously, they were guarded by as many as 500 troops.
The caravans pass through once every 28 days, on a journey that takes 25 days. Thus, it would be possible to take out two caravans over a very short period of time. The caravans deliver their goods to about 40 giants on the Hule side. The caravans do not return with any valuables.
Hule has smoothed out a nice route for the caravan's to take, in order to ease the use of horses and carts.
The Hule underneath the Plain do use battle magic, of the sort involving fireballs, etc.
The Graakhalians do have shamans, but unfortunately they've taken heavy losses. The Graakhalians no longer have trained warriors. They have all died in combat, with the exception of perhaps 100 or so.
The orcs tend to congregate in numbers on the order of 1000 or so. The Graakhalians congregate in smaller numbers, but numbers that are still almost unsustainable. Food, unfortunately, doesn't tend to congregate.
Thora made the comment that we could hire berserkers from her homeland who would be honoured to fight giants, at a rate of a mere silver per day. I'll put her in touch with Garan.
Unfortunately, the orcs have a significant tactical advantage underground. They don't need light.
Oh, on the side, it appears that the orcs occasionally capture and attempt to convert people in some sort of strange ritual. It's apparently quite unsuccessful.
Well there is much organising that needs to be done. In the meantime Gurzurk will remain behind to help, as will Thora. Gurzurk can help to seal off various tunnels, and Thora is able to provide food for about 2000 people per day.
Had a squiz at Jahore today. The magical zone about the warehouse extends up to 20'. It covers the whole building. The building itself is of a standard design. The wood has some holes where a rat could squeeze through. The windows on the first floor are curtained. One could squeeze through the windows, so long as one was unarmoured, and not too large.
There's the sound of hammering from within.
I had a look at some similar warehouses in the area. They're of a pretty standard design. The roof of the warehouse is peaked, and the wooden walls are about an inch thick.
I returned to the falcon with a sample of the soil, and a sample of the wood from another warehouse.
Wow. Safranna became a priestess of Freyja today. How strange! Well, good for her.
We had a nice little graduation ceremony, with various attendees. Even Aliara attended.
Oh, afterwards I asked Gurzurk for his deity's opinion of the Graakhalians. Apparently he considers them to be relatively ordered, and generally good. Stranger and stranger.
Oh, I've also provided Thora with a sample of Hollow World potion fruit seeds. I don't expect them to grow to bear magical fruit. They may grow and bear fruit, but not the magical kind.
Did some more checking today. One of the soldiers at the warehouse appears to be a commander of some sort. He has a magical red steel blade, at any rate.
Unfortunately, entering the warehouse whilst polymorphed would set off some of the wards.
The mission was almost a complete success. We entered the warehouse some time after midnight, dealt with the guards (there were only eight; it appears the rest were celebrating), slew a few of the mages (one got away, two weren't there), shrunk one engine and collected the parts to the rest, and then left.
We took one mage prisoner. Gurzurk remained behind a short while: his elemental cleared the warehouse of virtually all evidence, and left nothing for the Huleans to play with. He even disintegrated the bodies. We took all their notes.
We engaged in virtually no large scale combat. The response time of the Huleans was understandably slow.
A couple of the guards also got away. Two were held, and it appears that a number of Sindhi citizens were beating them to death whilst they were unable to defend themselves. My heart beats with pride.
There was a true-seeing active as one of the wards. It revealed that Thora's true form is a wolf. Fancy that.
A highly successful operation. Now Zim has one fully functional engine, an engine that has been dismantled into many small parts, and his skeleton of a rat Tom.