The Sea of Starry Night II [IC]

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan II

"Wow...Really... Now, I am impressed... Say, did anyone save any empty potion bottles? This would be great to have around."

Elthan rummages through his own pack, but finds no containers.

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz

"SEDRYN YOU MASHED UP SON OF A DRETCH!!" Aeroz exclaims as he runs towards his formely dead companion. "It's damn good to see you."

Aeroz goes to hug Sedryn, but stops himself in the middle of it. "Sorry, it's been a little rough without you here. We did cremate you, so how could you be here?"

[Dr._Bob]

Sedryn is happy to see both Sheyra and Aeroz, but he just shrugs in response to their questions.

"I can't explain it either. The five of us woke up by the side of the spring simultaneously as best I can tell. The wild elf had her gear with her and started the fire up on higher ground. We were just introducing ourselves to each other when you arrived!

"Perhaps the final confrontation with this 'Sethra' is near, and our presence was required somehow? I can think of no other reason why the gods would bring us back this way ..."

[hr]
Meanwhile, Taern smiles from ear to ear as she is reunited with Fizahn and the Elthans. "Of course I still have Aercalad," she exclaims, holding aloft her spear. Her smile fades however when she tries to explain how she came to be here.

"Well, I was .. I mean, we were ... well, you know, we were fighting that spider demon-thing, and it ... uh, well it got my hand didn't it?" She looks at her intact, but no longer tattooed, hand with some confusion and falls silent.

[hr]
"Aye, lass. When last we saw ye, ye were running back into the cave to fetch yer blasted spear! When ye didn't come through the portal we figgered ye fer a goner."

Thokk frowns as your comments and questions start to register. "What's this about my body being destroyed and eaten by a slime? AND WHY IS THE FRUITCAKE RANGER CARRYING MY SWORD!!!"

[Phasm]

Lissa

Lissa finally releases Sedryn's legs, drying her eyes and blowing her nose on a rag. "Thanks, Sedryn. I guess I needed that. Wow, this place really does look strange!" She cranes her neck, looking around in amazement. This is the first time she's been able to see since before the party entered the Shadow Plane. Then Thokk starts in about his body and his sword. Lissa winces, holding up a hand.

"Look, calm down Thokk, please? You're kinda scaring me there." She sighs, toying with the homemade holy symbol around her neck. "Um, see, the thing is, we were carrying your body so we could find a place to give you a proper funeral like we did Sedryn. Somebody- I think it was Aeroz- took your sword so we could give it to a temple of Moradin once we got back to the surface. But then this huge- I mean really huge, not just by my standards!- black slimy thing oozed under a door and came barreling after us!" Lissa shivers a bit at the memory. "I was still suffering from the spider poison, so I couldn't run that fast. I thought for sure I was a goner, the slime was moving faster than me. But four of the big folk were carrying your body in a net... and, well, somebody suggested putting me in the net instead so I wouldn't get eaten... I'm sorry, Thokk!" The dwarf is the next one to get a full-contact hug. "We tried, we really did! Oh yeah, and the fruitcake ranger has your sword because he needed a weapon and yours is too good to just sit around."

[Zeal]

Hajih, Human Ranger

"Fruitcake? Watch what you’re saying ya knee-high little..." Hajih stops himself and frowns and mutters darkly "I'm glad it was my idea to leave this midget for the scum."

With a sign, Hajih walks over to the spring and scoops up a handful of water and takes a large drink.

[bhdrake]

Lumpy, Half-Orc Warrior/Cynic

True to his word, Lumpy stays out of things, following the others at a fair distance, arms crossed and flail hanging loosely from his grip. His scowl was overlayed with skepticism - he didn't believe in miracles, nor divine intervention on his behalf. Not in 26 years had he ever gotten anything from anyone that he didn't have to give up something else for, an there was always a catch to everything. Miraculous things never happened to him.

He lacked the deep connection with any of the former dead like the others had, andd that let him keep his dispassionate distance. He'd always preferred it that way, given the number of comrades in arms he'd seen buried.

After a long silence, he finally speaks up, a soft, almost threatening undertone to his growl,

"OUt of abject curiosity, ain't ya still carrying his ashes?" He waves a hand at Lissa, then more sharply at Sedryn. "I'm sorta wondering what it's like ta be two places at once."

[Dr._Bob]

When Hajih bends over to sip from the spring, Thokk sneaks up behind him and kicks him in the rear, knocking him into the pool.

Sputtering, Hajih surfaces, reaches out, grabs one of Thokk's thick legs and drags him into the pool with him. The ranger and dwarf wrestle in the water. At first, both of them seem angry, but eventually the absurdity of the whole situation dawns on them and they both drag themselves out of the spring and collapse, laughing and spent.

"Well, fer a fruitcake, I guess yer not all that bad after all! I will be wantin my sword back though ..."

[hr]
Lissa fishes a small bundle out of her haversack.

"What's this?" asks Sedryn when she places the bundle into his hands.

A strange expression passes over Sedryn's face when he is told that he is holding his own ashes. His face loses its color, and he hastily hands the package back to Lissa. He places a hand over his heart and mutters a brief prayer to Lathander.

"So, how did I die exactly?"

Sedryn blanches further when he hears the details of his grisly murder. He sits down by the edge of the spring and places his head in his hands. "This doesn't make any sense ..."

[Phasm]

Lissa the curious

Lissa raises her eyebrows at the confused cleric. "Yeah, now you see why we're so confused to see you all here!" She looks from the bag of ashes in her hand... to the pool... to Sedryn... and back again. I wonder... No! Things are fine the way they are!... But if he's really alive, then giving the ashes a little dip won't hurt, and I REALLY want to see what happens!... What if we end up with two Sedryns?... Hey, that would be excellent! Three healers, two of them full clerics? I'm totally doing this now!

The gnome casually walks over to the spring, bag of ashes in hand. When she doesn't think anyone is looking, Lissa carefully drops the bag in...

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

Darius remains quiet, thoughts brooding in his mind. He keeps his eyes on the one that Linda recognized. He heads over to speak with Linda.

"Of course I don't know anything about your past, I barely even know you, but I'm curious as to who this person is... and does she have anything to do with this Sethra?"

[Dr._Bob]

The sack of ashes floats for a while, then slowly sinks. Lissa watches it for a while expecting ... well, she's not sure exactly what she is expecting.

Disappointingly, the bag of ashes simply gets wet and drifts down to the bottom of the pool, out of sight. No additional Sedryns pop out of the water. Lissa stares into the pool for several minutes just to be sure nothing surprising is going to happen.

When she turns away from the pool, she sees Sedryn watching her silently. The expression on his face is hard to read. He shivers, turns away, and walks slowly back towards the campfire.

[hr]
The Elthans crouch by the pool resurrecting mice gleefully. Thokk begins to polish his sword, muttering about how only dwarves know how to take care of fine steel properly. Taern listens intently as Fizahn fills her in on the adventures that she has missed. Callos and Djital converse animatedly, happy to be reunited.

Aeroz joins Sedryn by the fire. Solemnly, the elf passes Sedryn's holy symbol and mace back to the cleric. Aeroz also gives Sedryn back his gold signet ring. Sedryn places the medallion around his neck and slips the ring onto his finger. Resting his mace on one shoulder, he grips Aeroz's shoulder tightly. He has no words to express his gratitude.

Darius wanders back towards the fire as well, looking for Linda and the dark-haired woman. To his surprise they aren't there. He backtracks and verifies that they aren't by the pool either. The two women have vanished ...

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

Darius' head shifts rapidly from side to side, trying to catch a glimpse of them somewhere in the woods.

He hisses something under his breath, then turns to the party with a dark and fiery glare, spitting out his words.

"They're gone! Gah!"

His sword practically leaps to his right hand, his torch to the left. He spins around, looking for some trace of them.

"Hajih! You're the ranger here, find them!"

When he finishes yelling he places his torch back, and slides it down his new bow with a slight shudder, his eyes drift off for a moment before he snaps back to attention.

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

Lumpy disengages himself from the shadow tree he's taken to sagging against, fixing Darius with a hard stare,

"Ya know, there is such thing as privacy. Even I can tell they got issues ta work out, whoever the Hell that woman is. Let 'em work it out on their own."

[Zeal]

Hajih, Human Ranger

"Find them? I wouldn't know where to start, I don't even have a full sized weapon." Hajih holds up the small shadow stuff dagger. He shakes out his oversized hat and places it back on his head.

"Sorry Darius, I'm leaving them be, like Lumpy said, they might have 'issues' to work out." Sitting himself on a fallen log, Hajih begins to carve something out of a small piece of shadow plane tree.

[Phasm]

Lissa

Lissa walks slowly back over to the fire. Well, now you've done it again. Congratulations on making a fool of yourself, Lissa. She sighs, looking over at Sedryn. Guess I'd better go talk to him... though what you say in this situation, I have no idea. "Um, sorry I dropped the ashes of your body in the magic healing spring?" Uh-huh. Etiquette doesn't quite cover much of what we run into.

She sits down by Sedryn, smiling up at him tentatively. "So, um, did anyone tell you that I got to be a cleric? Not on your level, of course, since I was only just chosen." Lissa holds up her homemade holy symbol. "I had to make it myself, since we were in the Underdark and all, but Baravar doesn't seem to mind." She lets the medallion fall, looking pensive. "That's how I got blinded, actually... I tried to detect evil on the group and some worthless sonuva... um, somebody cast a blindness spell on me. Probably Sethra." The gnome scowls. "The cowardly scum. How are we supposed to fight what we can't see, or hear, or touch?"

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan II

*Elthan, done resurecting mice, goes over to the chatting clerics. Eckun is on his arm, a tail hanging out of it's mouth.*

"You don't, thats why he tried probally. Since we havn't given him any further chances to reep mayhem on our sences, we havn't had any sign of him since."
"Since he tried to kiil or maim you both, I feel safest saying this too you. If Sedryn and the others came back to life without any body, the same may be true for Sethra. I feel we may have indirectly led him to his return, if he has figured this out himself, or if he is even with us still."

"I'd suggest we leave soon"

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

"After all we've been through you still think it's prefectly safe to let someone just wander off? We couldn't even find out who killed Sedryn, and you could have just let that very person vanish without a word? Where's the logic in this?"

Darius sighs, crushing a twig under his foot. He keeps his sword dangling in his head, looking left and right for some sign of the missing people.

[Dr._Bob]

The party spends several hours searching for Linda and the dark-haired woman. Unfortunately, there is relatively little ground cover in the shadow forest, plus the morphic nature of the shadow plane ensures that no tracks last for long.

Hajih tries his best, but is unable to find a trail. At least, he opines, there is no sign of a struggle or foul play.

You shout for Linda until your voices are hoarse, but there is no reply from the dark forest.

[hr]
You reconvene at the fire. Sedryn is pleased to hear that Lissa has chose the path of a cleric. He frowns, however, when he hears about how Lissa was blinded.

"The power of darkness is strong within this Sethra. It can not be coincidence that Aeroz and I seek his dagger, while these other good people are searching for the necromancer himself.

"We have been brought together for a reaons. Sethra must be found and destroyed. The kris must be the key!"

Sedryn turns to Sheyra.

"I am sorry that we got you mixed up in all of this. I know that all you want to do is reach your family and safety. Yet, it may be that our meeting was not an accident, as it first appeared. We have all heard that the Sethra-hunters saw you in the portal ... this has not yet been explained ..."

[hr]
Once it seems clear that Linda and the other woman will not be returning, the party packs up and hits the trail once more.

It feels strangely comforting to have Thokk, Taern, Sedryn, and Djital at your sides once more.

Thokk insists on taking the point. Taern sings a travel song. Sedryn walks with Lissa and Sheyra. And Djital converses happily with Callos.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"This is unbelievable! The power of this spring is simply amazing to have completely brought someone back to life with all of their memories."

Callos remiansed with his dear friend about what had happened after the stone sentinal and about things that had happened before then. Something was off but it was primarily paranoia in the back of his mind about all of this.

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

"Well, I'm not gonna say I knew it.... even though I did... I'm not the bragging type..." Darius says with a sarcastic sneer.

He walks along the back of the party, whistling to himself, and becoming absorbed in his own thoughts again.

[Phasm]

Lissa

Lissa looks rather disturbed at the loss of the spellcaster, but there's really nothing anyone can do. I just hope she's okay... this place is creepy enough with a group.

Turning to Sedryn, Lissa asks, "So, do you know anything specific about this 'kris' thing? Other than the fact that it's a magic knife that's somehow connected to Sethra? You made a good point in that we have people working toward two different, yet similar goals here. Maybe if we all put our heads together we can come up with something."

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz

While walking, Aeroz has a look of contemplation on his face. Possibly because he is still wracking his brain for how Sedryn could be alive.

"Hey, I just thought of something. What if it's this environment that's keeping you alive? The plane of shadow I mean. What if it, combined with the effects of the spring and it's own properties ressurected you? What if you can't leave?"

[Dr._Bob]

You have heard the story before, but Sedryn willingly retells the tale of how he and Aeroz (along with Lithandrill and Wottworte) were sitting in a tavern ("the Black Bat, if memory serves ...") when a man burst in clutching something in his hands.

The man was afraid for his life, and for good reason. The man was carrying a serpentine dagger, but he was cut down by a red-haired woman who appeared out of the shadows.

It turned out that the man was an envoy from Thay. Aeroz and Sedryn (and the others) were framed for the death of the envoy, and have been seeking the true killers and the dagger in order to clear their name.

One of the Elthans jumps in to explain how the dagger is apparently known as the kris of Sethra, and just happens to have been a source of power for the very same necromancer that they (the Elthans, Taern, Thokk, Fizahn, and Linda) have been searching for.

The fact that your two parties were brought together can hardly be a coincidence.

[hr]
Sedryn listens to Aeroz's concerns, but has no answer for him.

The party marches on for many hours and is just about to settle down for a rest when Hajih spots a faint glow from a campfire in the distance ...

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz

"That reminds me, I wonder how Lithandrill is doing anways? Last I remember he was getting drunk in that town."

[Zeal]

Hajih, Human Ranger

Pushing his hat out of his eyes, Hajih points towards the campfire and addresses the group "Over there, a campfire, it might be them, or more dead companions... or both."

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

"Or they might be the dead companions." Darius says with a little morbid chuckle.

[HempRope]

Ow. I'm sorry I was gone. After an insane week, some friends decided that we needed to go someplace interesting, and spirited me away before I could let you people know. Anyway, I'm here now, and should be able to post consistently for a while.
I don't think I'm going to try and play through all of what I missed, please pretend Achkby was appropriately disconcerted and pleased by the spring's effects.

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

Achkby trudges silently along, trying to stick close to the Elthans. He listens carefully as the story of the quests is related once again, but then sinks back into his pondering.

What is their role in all of this? What factions are interested in all of this? How many are there? Might there just be one or two, playing us against themselves from all sides? I have no idea what my role in all of this might be. Perhaps I'm in over my head. I'm really just a wanderer.
I always felt I should be part of something larger... but now I am, and is it too large? Too serious? Seeing our revived comrades makes me realize just how many people have died in the search for this 'Sethra' and his 'Kris.' These four... and the tentacle-beast-boy... and perhaps the Druid and the Drow. And... and the other halfling, before me. Wottworte.
All this death, and so much hardship... think of Lissa, blinded... and all of us, stumbling around in the Underdark for days with no food... and hurt on countless other occasions. Is it worth it, for me to be tied up in it all for next to nothing?

[OOC]And I felt like doing a little internal monologue to get back into the swing of things. Oh, how I've missed seeing my time gobbled up by this rapturous website...[/OOC]

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

The burly orc shrugs, still keeping himself indifferent on the matter, "Hey, they wander off, it's their price ta pay."

When the fire is spotted, he grumbles softly, glancing at Hajih, "How is it that everyone but ya can light a fire in this damned place?"

[Zeal]

Hajih, Human Ranger

Hajih looks back at Lumpy and replies sarcastically

"Can I come back from the dead? No, I can’t, Lumpy. So not being able to light a fire seems rather petty compared to that."

[Dr._Bob]

The party approaches quietly, spreading out in order to surround the campfire.

As you near the fire, you see no one. The fire seems to have been left untended for many hours and is dying out.

[hr]
As you step into the clearing, you get a strange sense of deja vu. You've been here before.

A quick search of the area finds the spring nearby, confirming that you seem to have circled around and found yourself back at the campsite.

Taern is sure, however, that she put out the fire before the party left. Someone must have been here while you were away and rekindled the flames.

Indeed, Hajih is able to detect two pairs of footsteps in the ashes around the campfire. Someone was here not long ago ...

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn approaches the fire cautiously. He carefully scans the distance. A chill creeps through him as he looks at the footprints Hajih indicated. Involuntarily he shudders. What could be out there? I'm not sure I like this shadow plane anymore. "Linda or her friend could have made the footprints. There are only two pair, but others could have not stepped in the ashes. I don't like this. Hajih, can you track the person by ash footprints they might have left after exiting the camp?" How could we have made a circle without meaning to? Unless the spring really appears when you need it and one of us needs it now, or will need it...