We are presently resting underground, having decided that it would save time in the long run, and is worth the risk.
Earlier, when we came down, Lani sent several air elementals ahead of us to scout. Unfortunately, she lost contact with several of them. I imagine they were dispelled, or perhaps killed. We never heard the sound of fighting.
The enemy used an interesting spell against us as well. We'd done a pass wall, but before we went through it, they cast a spell that we may as well call a Wall of Dispelling. Interesting idea. Useful kin areas like this. It's probably not much good aboveground. The main advantage of such a spell is that when people see the wall, they don't know what it is. That is one useful thing about unique spells.
Before we managed to start resting properly, we ended up destroying a number of skeletons (dwarven). They were searching each of the buildings. Most of us moved to a building they had already searched. The exception being, of course, being Roland. He felt that it was deceitful, or some such. Roland's silly notions are going to get him killed one of these days. Well, he's as stubborn as a mule about being honourable. Completely daft, if you ask me.
We did the same procedure today. There were more skeletons watching from within the galleries. They were not hard to deal with. Lani's elementals made short work of them.
Lani also sent off two elementals (one to watch the other), which managed to kill off a sizeable group of trolls, orcs, and ogres. The elemental came back, got healed, then went off again.
The elementals have not seen any sign of the mages today. Why do I feel that they've probably left?
It has been two days of searching. With absolutely no luck whatsoever. It appears everything has been looted already. There aren't many monsters left either. I guess the island shall have to be given a name other than Monster Island now.
The looting was performed by a group of six red robed mages. They always made sure to never reveal their faces. I guess they've left by now with everything worth taking.
Apparently they didn't find everything they wanted. We asked Leo and discovered that the treasure is with its original owners. I'm surprised Leo actually succeeded in his divination. I thought he'd end up disappearing in a puff of smoke. I'm glad he didn't.
We have decided to search the rest of this place anyway. Who knows, maybe they missed something.
We also decided to give Zim the dwarven weapon we found, so that he may donate it to his temple. I agree with the others, in that Zim has been quite useful to the party, especially with respect to flying the falcon. But, I feel that everyone has been useful, and certainly that everyone tried to help the group as best they can. That said, the dwarven weapon really is quite appropriate to donate to Zim's deity.
It's the feast of the snaked back on Sind today. Can't say I'm in any mood to celebrate though.
Well, we've just wasted plenty of time. An absolute, complete and utter, waste of the parties time. Nothing left.
We had Gurzurk do a divination for us, with a donation of 200 gold. He was told ``The dwarves are not somewhere the party currently know how to reach''. In other words, he isn't going to tell us where the dwarves are, just that it'd take some time for us to find out. Bah.
So what do we do now? Tess says we should seek immortality. There are only a few, quick and easy steps to follow. First, one must find a sponsor. Second, one must name and petition the sponsor at an appropriate site. Often one should have a gift for the sponsor, usually something lowly like an artifact. Just enough to get the sponsor's attention, of course. One would then be tested, and, if one is lucky, one gets to go on a quest to become an immortal. Once the quest is successfully completed, one would be made an immortal.
Yay. Something to do to pass the time. I sometimes think I should retire though. I have a wife, and adventuring is quite a risk. I'd rather like to raise a family. I'd be very disappointed if I died.
Bah.
We'll head to Serraine, so Zim can donate that dwarven weapon.
We arrived at Serraine today. It's the same as usual. We exchanged all the treasure we got from Monster Island for gems. Apparently gems are worth more elsewhere as well, which is nice.
Tess, who is apparently banished from Serraine, would like to see that changed. He'll negotiate terms with that Eric Helsing fellow. Good luck to him.
At the moment though, I'd like a holiday.
Oh, on the side. I asked Turia to follow Zim, invisible, to get a look at this Gwen person. Hehehe. Turia agreed, of course. And she's pretty sure she saw her as well. She followed the female gnome (presumably Gwen) from a house that Zim was in. Followed her all the way back to Science Park, which is presumably where she works. Perhaps I should go to Science Park in the near future, just to have a look around, of course. If Zim was just a little bit more open about this, then I'm sure my curiosity wouldn't be so great. <sigh>.
Tess is now allowed back in Serraine. I guess he's happy.
T'saz's business is going well, ever since her competitors died.
Lani's sister has a boyfriend. Why do I write this information in my diary? I have no idea. Because it's gossip, I guess.
Tess left to go speak to the shadow elven enchanter that we rescued earlier (the business to do with the crown). Tess hopes that the enchanter may be able to make us the device that protects against scrying, at a hopefully reduced cost. It's certainly worth finding out about. Zim is flying him to Darokin, from which he'll head to the city of the stars. It'll probably take him a while, I guess. Tess didn't like the idea of conducting business through his girlfriend (who's name begins with a P). Oh well, I may as well start doing some research.
It is the calming of the seas back in Sind. Hopefully, the Sindhis will be allowed to celebrate in the proper, traditional way, but who knows what Hule does and does not allow.
I did a sending to Tess as well. He basically said to try again in three weeks. More time for research I guess.
Another sending to Tess today. Unfortunately, he said that we probably cannot get the protection from scrying item for several years. We are to pick him up in Darokin city on the 28th.
Roland is happy. He purchased some full plate pegataur barding +4. Nice. Safranna had to sell her horseshoes of speed in order to afford it.
At this point, I think I'll mention that Zhi is totally insane! He wanted to purchase a helm of brilliance (nice item), because it would look good on him. But he couldn't afford it. So what does he decide to do? He chooses to gamble his ring of free action (valued at 20000 gold). By the Pantheon! Well, unfortunately for him, he lost it relatively early.
Tess has returned today (Zim picked him up). The news is both good and bad. The shadow elf enchanter is willing to make it for us for free, which is very generous. Unfortunately, it will probably take him a couple of years to make, as he doesn't know what components to use. Apparently they would be different to the components we were told to acquire by the Alphatian enchanter. Although I wonder if it would take so long since he is a shadow elf, and time doesn't have as much meaning for him.
Tess is supposed to go see him again in a couple of months, which means Tess really has to start heading back straight away.
How much longer are we going to be stuck on Serraine, wasting time? This is beginning to annoy me. We have no idea what our enemies are up to. Nothing good, that's for sure.
Well, this week was the first anniversary of the week of no magic. Huzzah huzzah. To think that it has already been a whole year since that event. Time really does fly when one is having fun.
Ah, resolution day. What a fun time. Pity I'm in a city which doesn't have the same traditions as I do.
I wonder. Maybe I should suggest to Zhi that he uncover all the special days in the year for all the countries he can find. Then he'll have excuses to celebrate as often as he likes!
Oh the complete and utter fool that Zim is! To believe he could be so unthoughtful, arrogant, unwise, righteous, stupid, and a dozen other things! Words cannot describe it!
Months ago, and that is MONTHS ago, he decided that he give the mirror back to the Enduks! It was only today that he told us! He did not consult with anyone other than his own self. He knew the party had not agreed to give it back, and yet he decided to go over our heads and take it upon himself to do so! The DISLOYALTY of the cretin is amazing! I had come to expect better of Zim than this. Not only does he decide to hand it back to the Enduks without telling us, he hides his guilt for months. He was too cowardly to admit his guilt upfront. Instead he hoped that we would never find out!
Argh! It was supposed to be Roland who was holding the mirror. Apparently Zim asked if Roland could let him carry it, which obviously Roland agreed to. For whatever ingenuous reason, Roland obviously didn't feel that we needed to know that Zim had started carrying it. I had thought Roland would be just a tad wiser! He knew the reason we had him carry it is because he was the most capable of us to defend himself, and thus prevent our enemies from taking it from one of us. But ignore that he did, and instead let Zim carry it, even though Zim isn't nearly as tough as Roland. And by some amazing stroke of fate, none of us even knew that Zim had been given the mirror until today, when we learn that Zim decided to give it back to the Enduks! Clearly that Zim asked Roland for the mirror meant that this CRIME against the party was premeditated.
Zim has effectively said to us: ``Fuck you, I'll do what I want.'' He is oh so righteous in his cause. Oh, he thinks he is so right in what he did. He has not indicated ANY feelings of remorse on his actions, not indicated that he is sorry to have gone over our heads in his decision, not even slightly apologetic. I would say that he even seems happy he got to do this to us.
In a party, people should trust the group decision first! Especially in something such as this, which is so clear cut; the mirror is an item the entire party should decide about, not just Zim alone. Oh, that's right. How could I forget? The entire party had already made a decision. Zim even got a vote himself. But now we know how much Zim cares about party decisions; if the party decision doesn't match Zim's own agenda, then Zim ignores the party decision. Really quite simple, isn't it?
Oh, he made his own, illogical case as to why the Enduks should get the mirror. Oh, it was their property in the first place. Oh, they are such a peaceful race as well. Well, it may have been their property in the first place, but why should we be sure that they will use it wisely? They are peaceful are they? Well, centuries ago, they were a peaceful, pacifistic race. And they paid for it. They let the man-scorpions into their land, and the man-scorpions betrayed them. They lost their homeland. I'd say they've learnt from this. I'd say that they are no longer the peaceful, pacifistic people they once were. They war right now with the man-scorpions, and it looks like they'll get their homeland back. Once they have, I'd say their foreign policy isn't going to be quite the same as it was in the past. I doubt they have much trust for other races anymore. And they have the star device to back them up. A near-perfect assassination weapon. The original use may have been defensive, but that could easily change.
And yet Zim doesn't listen to this. He listens to himself, and believes himself. He obviously does not wish to hear the advice of others. Disloyal fool.
His punishment is to learn the laws of Serraine. They are quite long, and I think his punishment is too weak, but it is his punishment. He had better perform it.
Apparently he convinced the Enduks that we'd be able to use the star device to ``kill'' the sundered man. Yay yay. We could have done so much more if we had held onto the mirror.
Well, at least there is some good news today. Tess got back, and he bought back an amulet of proof against detection. Apparently he lied before so no-one would know we were getting it. It's quite nice really. The wearer, and those within 30 feet of the wearer, cannot be detected. No aura is discernable. All divinations, all detections, etc, fail. Powerful beings, such as immortals, can pierce this.
I have been delegated the responsibility of carrying this item, because of my belt, and the fact that I am not uncapable. Originally we would have had Zim carry it, but Zim's patent stupidity made that impossible.
And another item of good news. Tessarael is to be married to Phoranon. About time too. I guess this means that Tess will start getting it regularly. Hehe.
We will be teleporting to where Tom is soon, and head on our way to Mirage.
Blast. I looked at Shan the Nymph, and now I am blind. Bugger. She really is very attractive though. Magically, of course.
We are presently resting at her little area, so we can remove this blindness from me, and so we can memorise some appropriate spells to swim to the gate. Zhi isn't keen. He doesn't want to get wet. Turia tried knocking him out, but was unfortunately unsuccessful. Could have saved us a lot of trouble.
It looks like Tom has disappeared. Probably the no magic week that was the final straw for him. There was no equipment there, but I swapped a picked up a rock in exchange for a few candles. On my way back, I'll exchange the candles for several gold, and see if they become magical later on. I'm interested in seeing if the place still has its magical properties. I recall Tom saying that it was like this before he was here. It'd be nice if the lucky dip was still working.
After that, we got escorted through the orc territory (where they speak cage common), went past the rock creatures, who ignored us, and through to where we are now, with Shan. She really is stunningly attractive. Not that I'm telling Turia this though!
We are now in Mirage. Unfortunately, we did have to rest and rememorise a second time. I just happened to look at Shan again. Oh well. Kinda got blinded again. Ooops.
We didn't have much difficulty establishing our mind shields again. The mountains are green today. Not very standard. Someone is being creative.
This ability to create things. Wonderful. Makes for interesting bedsport.
Well, we're heading towards Freyja's place by concentrating on getting there now. Hopefully won't take too long.
Oh, unfortunately, I have discovered that I can want my ability to expend power to disappear here. Just by willing it, as I might will into existence a fish. So, unfortunately, the Beltharian spell casting method does not work here. Shame, but it does neaten the theory up a little.
A busy day today. After travelling through the forests, we saw the fort on the mountainside today. It took little effort to get to the top, and shortly thereafter, Freyja herself deigned to speak with us. Quite generous really, although I get the impression she wasn't terribly impressed with us being there.
Nonetheless, she did spend some time with us. We discovered some very interesting news. Thora is not dead. Hmm. I guess she's somewhere where she can't be contacted via sendings. Hmm. Interesting. There are some other people we know of which are in a place where sendings fail. Coincidence?
Freyja stated that destroying the sundered man would not be an easy task. If we do not destroy the sundered man, then all we are doing is delaying the threat he represents. I guess this means Freyja believes a quest to destroy the sundered man is worthwhile. The go-ahead has been given to Safranna at the very least.
Freeyja also commented that the God war appears to have settled down for now. Well, maybe things will start becoming peaceful again?
>From our discussion with Freyja, it appears that asking direct questions is more successful. Asking for what we want to know, rather than what we think is allowed to be asked. But maybe it's just Freyja.
And I wonder why Freyja said ``No, I won't'' to Turia. Turia said she'd rather not discuss it. I guess I may find out one day.
After leaving Freyja (and she made it quite clear when she wanted us to leave), we each tried finding our respective deities on Mirage, and each of us failed.
So how do we destroy the sundered man? Tess made a wild suggestion that maybe we have to destroy all the copies of the books that appeared after the death of the sundered man? Well, it's certainly an interesting idea. I doubt anyone would be able to guess what was required to destroy the sundered man, but it does have an interesting logic. The books did start appearing just after his death, and there is certainly a history and story behind the books. And why would he need a specific kind of book for when he was reconstructed? The books don't appear to have anything that useful in them, nothing that can't be acquired through other means anyway. What is so special about them? Maybe, just maybe.
Well, either way, destroying the books would be a good thing. Frankly, they can only be harmful to others. Gives us something to do to pass the time anyway.