Tales of Tolvenia, Chapter Ten, Part Two

Date: 4 October 2011. Present: Zach (Haley), Mike (Malack), Eric (Goblina) and Andy (Dolo).

In the aftermath of the battle against the rishtuk lizards, the party had various conditions to contend with. Snowflake, Goblina’s loyal and well trained steed, had received a critical wound, which Jaren staunched with his Healing magic. Those party members who had been bitten were, luckily enough, strong enough to stave of the effects of the germ-laden rishtuk saliva. With Anima bein shared between casters, many wounds were healed – and a night’s rest healed more.

The party also recovered some items from the body of the crushed man.

The next challenge the party faced was a band of dwarven black-marketeers that Haley noticed in the darkness of a parallel cave. Having spotted them, the party was able to extinguish or conceal their lights. As the band passed by below them, the characters nominated the charismatic scripture-thumber Jaren to hail them. Critically failing his social check, however, was enough to make the dwarves instantly hostile.

Before they could load and release a volley of crossbow bolts, Malack intervened with an inspired limerick that went something along the lines of:

There was an elf from Twilight Bay
Whom everyone thought was gay,
But being an elf
He played with himself –
So you never can trust the fey.

The dwarves roared with laughter and, when the parties met a short time later, generously shared their rations and sold some of their contraband – blue leaf and torgenroot – with those party members whose Wealth Rating allowed it. They also described some tracks they’d spotted recently that turned out to belong to the mysterious elf and his own party.

The party tried their best to press on at the end of the day – the result being that Malack spent the following day in a state of tiredness, while Haley was dazed.

The party encountered a large boulder that appeared to have been pushed over the entrance to the narrow cave the characters were in. With Zirg conjuring a giant crowbar and with Jaren boosting their Strength by sorcerous means, Dolo and Malack were able to lever the boulder out of the way (and then have an arm-wrestling match in the remaining few seconds of the spell).

The party pushed ahead at the end of their third day underground, making good time.