Suddenly you are all alive again...standing stark naked in base camp.
Zanax is here, too. He sees a large camp in a wooded hollow at the base of a range of mighty mountains. There are many people here in addition to the party that he has met and so recently(?) adventured with. Also, a troop of dwarves labours hard over at one end of the hollow...delving a mine. Two men - under the supervision of a cleric of Thor clad in black leathers and brandishing a whip - chorus -
"Chaos is fun! Chaos is fun!"
Zanax stares at the sight, obviously disturbed by what he sees and hears. "Is this what being dead is like?"
Orlon looks around to see Stiff. "Thanks man. I don't know how many times you saved my bacon, but I'm mortally indebted to you."
A pile of mostly mangled clothing, weapons, armour and equipment lies on the ground nearby.
Standing before you are two people. One is a grey elf in battered plate mail. The other is a mage with an arrow sticking out of his pointy hat.
"Greeting! My name is Zanax. Who do I have to thank for my life?"
"A Staff of Power! You broke a Staff of Power! I can't believe it!" exclaims Stiff. He turns and walks away, shaking his head and muttering to himself.
"Well," says Valdar the grey elf. "That's life, I suppose."
"What's a Staff of Power?" Zanax asks.
The weather is pleasantly warm, though overcast. It is now July...about a month after you met your demise.
Pharian comes to screaming, evidently in the middle of a thought he has been thinking for some time. "...idiot, I can't believe you broke it! Idiot woman! Anybody could have told you..." His voice trails off as he blinks and looks around.
Jesse turns back to Pharian, "But _nobody_ did! If you had suspected this, I might not have done what I did."
Realizing he is naked, Pharian instinctively tries to turn invisible, to no avail.
"Thank you Stiff!" says Darian.
Gilstrock, rapidly taking in that everybody around him is naked, looks down, jumps in surprise, turns beat red, and covers his privates with his hands. "Erm, gotta find me some clothes," he says.
Jesse whistles impressively as she eyes Gilstrock.
Darian notices, but doesn't say anything.
Gilstrock attempts to look dignified and walks as stately as possible over towards the pile of gear and rummages through it.
He finds intact:
shield
frost brand
boots
bracers
ring
field plate
Gisltrock picks up the frost band. "Ahh, Thawbreaker, I'm so glad you survived." He plants a kiss on the blade, then says, "Brrr, cold. You know, Thawbreaker, what I like best about you? You're silent. You don't talk like Saddam does." Gilstrock unceremoniously sheathes the sword.
Gilstrock starts collecting the rest of his gear. When he gets to the ring, he puts it on, saying, "Hmm, had it on the finger so long I completely forgot it was there. Gotta remember this thing, could be useful."
After sifting through the stuff, Gilstrock stands up and looks around. "Anybody here know a good tailor? I liked that blue cloak I used to wear. Would love to buy me a new one."
Looking around, he asks, "Where's the community chest? Gotta see if I can find me some new weapons to replace the ones that got toasted."
Foraging done, Gilstrock turns to Pharian. "You told me about those Staffs once. Powerful and rare magic items that pop severely when they break. Is that what happened? I remember fighting a vampire, then all of a sudden... boom! I think I was dead, floating about and seeing really, really odd things."
Occa notices Tracy and says, "Tracy, you are the best!"
"I know!" she replies.
Occa goes over to the battered pile of weapons and gear and sees if any of his stuff is in there.
All of the nonmagical stuff is destroyed.
The following items Occa finds have survived:
scroll: chain lightning
ring of wizardry
rod of cancellation
sheet of smallness
wand - mother lode
the book
scroll: mass charm, antipathy/sympathy
Everything else he carried was destroyed...either by the explosion or by the ensuing collapse of the dungeon.
Occa says, "Wow...I lost a ton of stuff." He shakes his head and then pulls a gold ring out of the pile. "At least I didn't lose my ring of wizardry....that is my coolest item ever." He looks at the ruins of the rest of his stuff and sighs. "Oh well."
He heads over to the Community chest and starts digging around.
He says, "Hey Stiff, maybe you could wish that staff back...I mean, it is broken..maybe you could fix it."
Stiff teleports up into a nearby tree and sits on a branch. He glares down balefully at Occa like some large owl.
"It doesn't work that way!" he snaps.
Zanax snaps his head around toward Occa "Wish??? Can a wish do that?"
"I have no idea."
He smiles and says, "Well, I wonder if my house is still standing....I think it is, though. The temple of The Gods of Trouble is no more, though." he smiles as he searches through the stuff.
"Are we going to go back and make sure?"
"I will later once I relearn my spells."
"Yes, don't be too confident that the temple is completely destroyed." says Zanax.
Occa says, "I saw a crater where the temple once stood. It is destroyed."
Zanax turns to Darian and Gilstrock "Um...mind if I borrow some clothes from you guys?"
Then to Zanax he says, "Guess you won't be joining your friends, huh? You are welcome to join us if you like."
Darian looks at Zanax. "What about your superiors in Sandas? Will they be looking for you? Are those the friends that Occa's talking about?"
Zanax looks unsure "I'm not sure...I remember that one of my companions had the ability to scry...do one of you mages have that ability also?"
"Yeah, someone around here can do that. Stiff's got a crystal ball. That's probably how he knew what had happened."
"As for my superiors...I think they are already aware of what has transpired...or at least that I died and was brought back. In any case, they would want me to return to my other companions and finish destroying another temple dedicated to evil."
"Sheesh," Gilstrock says. "Does everybody do that in this world?"
Occa says, "I shall take you back to Sandas then when I go to check on the clean up of my house."
"Will you be able to teleport me to my companions afterwards? I really must try and catch up to them."
Occa says to Zanax, "Do you know where your companions are?"
"Roughly. If you can put me near the area, I can find them." Or rather, they might be able to find me. I'm not too good in the woods."
"Maybe you could have Stiff scry for them. Then Occa can teleport you there."
"You should find them," says Pharian to Zanax. "Because your odds of surviving long are low if you stay with us."
"Perhaps..." Zanax says cryptically.
Pharian looks impatient. "Cut the mysterious sneaky thief crap. I can't stand that. I wasn't threatening you, you know. It's just that the minute you stepped away from Occa's protective shield, you died, and that bodes ill."
Zanax pauses a moment, as if collecting his composure "One, I did not step away from Occa's protective shield. I came around the corner invisibly to ask the aid of one of your mages. I did not expect the vampire mage to be able to see me. Two, if I had my other sword, I could have protected myself. Three, let's see you take 12 magic missiles in the chest after being wounded and survive!"
"Pharian, where you've been? He's not a thief, but a paladin. A strange one, but one nevertheless."
"He may be a paladin, but if he wears a mask and talks mysteriousness, he is acting like a thief, as far as I am concerned," says Pharian.
Occa says, "That is true....well, not a thief, but an assassin." he shrugs.."The mask and all."
Pharian looks more closely at Zanax. "So that's what you look like without that silly mask," he says.
Zanax ignores Pharian's last snide remark.
"Another temple? There sure seems to be a lot of them."
"Perhaps some of you would like to accompany us...your magic and skill at arms would be greatly appreciated. We lack any serious firepower and defenses, as we often have to retreat after wounding the enemy."
"Um," Gilstrock says, "With due apologies to Darian, we should remember that no one of us can save all of the world at once by ourself. We ran off to clean out this temple in Sandas because it was 'the right thing to do' or something, and look what happened to us. We gotta clean us out this dragon place, for the elves, and we gotta keep doing that, or we'll never finish."
"Hell," says Pharian. "As far as I'm concerned, I have no duty to save the world at all. It's not my world."
"Each one of us may not have the power to save the world at once, but we have the responsibility to try!"
"No, no!" Gilstrock says. Then he looks at Zanax. "But you're a Paladin, right? See, the way I figure it is, if each of us tries to save the whole world all at once, we end up dead and saving nothing. Much better to pick a corner of the world to save and concentrate on that. And, make sure you get fed and have some fun bashing heads in the process. That's all that can be expected of each of us."
Darian sticks out his tongue. "That's only because we don't know when to retreat. I kept saying we should head back and rest up. If we were at full strength, the vampire would've been toast, easily. And Jesse wouldn't have had to wrestle him for the staff."
He turns to Zanax.
"Would your friends want that?"
Gilstrock holds his arms out before him and waves his hands furiously as he shakes his head. "No! Darain, no, no! Not again! Remember the dragons? Inner Sanctum? The evil we're workin' on here? Whose vision was it? Dragons coming out and taking over the surrounding countryside by the end of the year? Let's cook our own goose!"
"Besides," Gilstrock says, dropping his arms back to his side, "you still gotta finish that training you started before you died."
"I know... It's just that I haven't felt like we're really helping anyone here. You told me the nearby town wants the dragons around. At least in Sandas, we were helping people that lived there."
"I guess I want something back from the people I'm helping... Not money, but just a simple 'thanks'."
"Yo, Valdar!" Gilstrock calls. "Thank this boy here!"
"Thanks, Darian!" says Valdar.
Darian rolls his eyes. "Um... Sure, you're welcome, Valdar."
Occa says, "Wow, I can't believe Darian gave up his share of the treasure. What an odd bird."
"That's not what I meant. I meant that I don't expect the elves we're helping here to pay me or the people of Sandas to pay me... Just a simple thanks is enough. Of course, to the victors go the spoils... So, anythign we find off our foes is ours to keep..."
BrightAxe pokes around the pile, but thinks that nothing of his would've survived.
Pharian, to everyone's relief, gets a robe out of the community chest. They don't quite fit right, though, making him look even scrawnier than he used to.
To Darian, Gilstrock says, "Listen to all these visions of elves dying and dragons taking over the countryside and death and destruction and maggots in steak (I hate that!)."
Occa says, "I know...it is making me hungry too."
"The maggots in the steak or all of it?" Darian having secured some more paper from his sleeping area, is busily jotting down the things he remembers Gilstrock hating. "I'll make the list of the things that give you the willies later."
"Barring that, would you be inclined to sell any magic items? It seems that Ray Jay no longer sells them. My companions would be greatly appreciative of that, I know."
"We've got plenty of stuff in our community chest. Of course, we're going to need to go through it and re-arm ourselves to replace any lost items. But, I don't see why we can't see some items. But, I guess that's really a party decision."
"Well, they must be worried about him. Zanax what would these adventurers do to find you?"
Zanax shrugs "Probably scry for me. I'm not sure when I was expected back by...if they saw my remains, they might have proceeded without me."
"I doubt they would have found your remains. If we blew up the temple than there's no way they could find anything. Still, they might've have found out you were there and given up hope."
"If they've scried for you, though, they should've located you. Providing they did it today, of course... I'm not sure someone would find if you were dead..."
Angst says to Stiff, "Hey don't blame me, I did not do it." He dives for his pack and some new clothing "I was just trying to prevent losing any skills from the blasted vampire. At least we know that it was destroyed."
Angst finds that the following have survived...
bastard sword
longsword
ring
potion
He was not carrying / wearing his shortsword, leather armour or khopesh sword...so they survived.
"Orlon , Al, what can you tell me about the gods of law and which of them speaks in a 'kindly old voice' ? This is important, i think"
"I am not the one to ask about the gods of law," Orlon replies. "Chaos rules my life. That's why I love this party."
Occa says to Angst, "So you saw things as well? Maybe we should all fess up...I saw things. I saw the temple destroyed. I saw an army of humanoids, demons and mages amassing to the West near a great River." He looks over to Valdar and says, "Any ideas on that?"
"To the west?? Of what?" says Valdar. "It's mostly the elven lands in the west...and I have heard nothing of armies massing..."
"Whoops...I meant the east."
Occa pauses and says, "I saw a spaceship blow up in orbit around a very large planet."
"I too saw a horde of orcs and demons by a great river, though I thought it was to the east," says Pharian. "And I saw many dragons flying from the halls of Galahad, with dark elves behind them, though I am not sure if that has happened already, or is yet to happen. They flew to ravage the elven lands. I saw an ocean of ice that spread and crushed everything in its path."
Pharian pauses. "And I think I saw Saddam at the bottom of an ocean, and Al gagged, and Jesse roasting on a spit. Or maybe that was all just wishful thinking."
Jesse sticks her tongue out at Pharian. "Well, somebody had to do something. How was I to know what the staff was or that it would break." she says. "As for being on a spit, as long as it's not your's" she says, nodding to his neither regions
Gilstrock looks at Occa. "What, pray tell, is a space ship? This some kind of boat?"
"A ship that flies through the stars and near the suns."
"You can _do_ that?" Gilstrock asks, agog. "Wow."
Occa says, "Someone can..I can't."
"Is that how those monsters delivered me to this place?"
"Yes."
"And most disturbing...I saw no presense of Datura, Goddess of Chaos here. I must have a temple built and find contact with her somehow..."
"I didn't see anything at all while I was dead. In fact, I didn't know I was dead until we arrived here."
"Probably because you don't have a soul."
Darian gets angry. "Hey, are you a priest? Then how would you know? Perhaps I haven't pissed off my deity... Maybe that's why Frey didn't need to speak with me."
Occa says, "No! I am a mage, silly."
"That's my point..."
Occa says, "Well, I have been around long enough to know that elves have no souls."
"Valdar, Orlon? Is this true?"
"Of course," says Valdar. "We have spirits instead. That's why we can't normally be resurrected."
"And is that why I didn't have a vision while I was dead?"
Gilstrock says, "I had some very odd visions, but don't really know what to make of some of them. Saw your house being attacked by a whirlwind, but it dissapated. You have any idea what that means?"
"Saw an army of dwarves on some kind of suicide mission going after a fortified border. But they got all excited when they found out that they weren't going to meet any defense. Wonder if this has anything to do with our friends over here?" Gilstrock gestures to the dwarves working. "In fact, who are those dwarves and what are they doing here?"
"I also saw a pirate ship attacking an elven merchant vessel," Gilstrock continues. "Quite a massacre, actually. There was a dragon circling overhead."
Gilstrock says, "There was this one vision that I couldn't make heads or tails of. There was this big... well, big glowing thing, like the sun, only redder, and I have the idea that it was bigger, though I don't rightly know why. Maybe because the sun is only as big as your thumb."
Gilstrock holds extends arm and closes one eye, so that his thumb just obscures the sun.
"Anyway, this sun thing exploded. Boom!" Gilstrock holds his arms out in a John Madden-like gesture to indicate the size of the explosion. He continues, "Wow, I thought that vampire staff was big, that was nothing. This was one major explosion. Out of the explosion, aside from all the, you know, explosion stuff, came three tiny stones. Now, there was something there, a metal sort of contraption, just kind of hanging there. Musta been somekind of airship, I dunno. Not like anything I've ever seen. But this metal thing, which seemed to be watching the sun-thing explode, picked up the three stones."
Gilstrock shrugs. "Dunno. Valdar, you have any idea what any of this means?"
"The pirates have been raiding our ships off the coast with renewed vigour," the elf lord says. "Our people are starting to suffer."
"Hmm," Gilstrock says. "The pirates connected to the dragons? You told us once, but I can't remember. Died and all, you know."
"That's right," says Valdar.
Darian pokes around the stuff to see if he can find anything that looks familiar.
Darian finds that he still has:
frost brand
elfin chain
16 arrows
cloak
pouch of accessability
shield
He was not wearing his other two suits of chain mail.
"Alright! Now, I've just got to replace some mundane stuff like clothes, non-magical weapons and some other small items."
"Occa, I'm sorry. It appears that the staff of illumination and the wand of fire were lost. I'll repay you someday..."
Darian rummages through the community chest looking for clothing that'll fit him.
"Thank Horus we are back !" Al exclaims and after seeing himself naked, he takes a quick glance at Jesse and then after a brief smile, he gets dressed.
"Everyone I have an announcement ! Horus has spoken to me !!! This is what he has commanded of me !!
"Your time is not yet, my little paladin," says a voice out of the darkness. "You have destroyed a powerful bastion of chaos...but greater bastions must fall before you can rest.
"You shall commission atop the ruins of that foul temple a new edifice...a place devoted to the worship of Me. Once I had many followers in that part of the world...now I wish to regain them.
"While that place is being constructed you shall continue to destroy the dragons and their allies...and then you shall move on to greater evils..."
Pharian looks at Al. "So you'll be leaving us then?" he asks.
"Nice try, but no, I will keep a close eye on you, mage.. you might actually let some of the dragons get away!!" Al responds with a wide grin.
"Oh," says Pharian. "I just assumed that you were going to be leaving us after the one adventure. The last time I knew a paladin he kept going on about how hanging out with all of us was besmirching his lawful good soul, and how he would have to start spending more time with people who were good enough for him. Occa's no saint, after all, and neither am I."
"Dear Pharian, I would think by now you would realize that I thrive on chaos, as opposed to order !! Chaos brings retribution to order where law usually prevents it !!" Al says with a grin.
"What about Saddam then?" asks Pharian. "I thought I heard him ranting and raving about law at some point."
"Law is the backbone to society.. it is quite essential but as the Arm of Vengeance of Horus, Law is ever so limiting !!" Al says with a sly grin. "I act by my lord's wishes and that is the eradication of those who harm those who can't help themselves and they are invariably evil."
Occa says, "I am the Duke of Chaos, though!"
Jesse smiles, "Can we change that to the duke of earl? It would be easier to work with than duke of chaos."
Occa says, "Sure, why not."
"I have need of the dwarves here to begin a temple to him as we continue to clear the mountain of the evil that has infested it !"
The following have survived...
armour of Horus
helm
buckler
girdle
Saddam
In addition, Al did not have his scimitar with him.
"Thank you, Horus !" Al says as he puts everything on. "Saddam, so glad to see you !"
"That's pretty impressive sounding... So, I guess we do go back to Sandas. That's good because I never got a chance to talk with Ray Jay..."
Occa says, "Darn...I wanted to build a temple to Datura there...I have no god here. Well, I guess a temple of horkus is better than gods of trouble, although probably less interesting."
"Occa, you can honestly say that you find me boring ?" Al asks with a smile.
Occa smiles and says, "I guess not."
"Thor and Idun both loved what we did to the dungeon, but they say the real work is back at the dragon stronghold. It sounds like alot of us got the same message." comments Orlon.
After finding out the date, Zanax seems depressed. "July? I've lost nearly a month! What happenned?"
"I let you stew for awhile!" snaps Stiff from up in his tree.
"You're only back because I talked him into wishing you back. He's pretty pissed," says the elf. He adds to Zanax, "I am Valdar."
Zanax extends his hand in friendship "Pleased to meet you, Valdar."
Looking up at Stiff in the tree, he says, "Good sir, I thank you for my life. Is there something I can do to repay the favor?"
"Because the staff was broken?"
"Of course. It's every mage's wet dream to own a staff of power...that is, if they don't have a staff of the arch mage already..."
"Oh... I'm sorry, from all of us. I never heard anyone mention about this staff. It must be fairly powerful or you wouldn't want one..."
Occa says to Zanax, "Well, the vampire magic missiled you to death. Then Jesse decided to kill the rest of us. Then we stayed dead for about a month."
He shrugs.
"I hate it when that happens," Gilstrock says.
"When what happens? When a vampire magic missles you to death, when Jesse decides to kill the rest of us or when we stay dead for a month?"
"Yeah," Gilstrock says. "That. All of that."
"Oh. I'll have to write that down with the rest of... Damn, my list was in one of my pouches. Hope it survived. Otherwise, we'll have to start again with those things that give you the willies and those things that you hate..."
Jesse, who has been poking the pile to see if anything remains of her old equipment, turns to Occa. "I dodn't mean to." she says. "How was I to know that the staff would do that? I'm not a mage. I just figured it was the easiest way to stop the vampire from using it."
She finds the following...
shortsword
ring of regeneration
ring
dart
staff
6 darts
3 sling bullets
wand of magic missiles
She was not carrying her other ring or her cursed longsword.
She turns to the group, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill you all. I didn't know."
In a gesture of true friendship, Al puts his arm around Jesse's shoulder and covers her up."Its ok... the important things is that we are all here ALIVE now !"
"Hey, the same thing would've happened if someone have hit the staff with a sword, right? I mean, it's unfortunate that it happened, but I can't see where you should be terribly upset."
Darian gives her a grin. "Just don't do it again, okay?"
Occa says, "Well, I didn't think you knew what was happening. Hell, I didn't think it would happen either. In fact, who would think those things were so sensitive? I mean, heck, you use a staff for wapping people in the head...who would think a little tugging would snap it. Anyway, we are alive...no real harm done."
He looks at the pile of charred gear and says, "Well, except for all our gear. I am not sure if we are going to fare well with our strength so depleted magically..." He then smiles and says, "but we are alive...that is all that really matters."
"So was the 'kindly old voice' Horus or some other god, I told him that I would serve but not blindly so I need to know which one he was." Angst is begining to become a bit agitated. He bends down to see if he can find his leather armour and other items.
"Angst, relax ! Horus came to me and may have come to any of you as well. Suffice it to say you were brought back for a purpose... "
"O yes one other thing, You know those dragons up there, it seems that they are scheduled to burst out of the tunnels before the end of the year, and completely take over the surrounding countryside, if we don't stop them"
"Evidently, defeating the dragons may be just one of those purposes !!"
"Does this mean that those who did not meet their gods' did not quite live up to their ideals or just that their gods' were busy?" he wonders.
Angst then says to Occa. "I just hope the the new women will not think that just because you disappeared in all that smoke, like a proper charlaten, you aren't coming back, boy is she in for a surprise! You will have to make more than one simulacrum this time just to save time on making others after they get killed. They could be useful back here at base camp."
Gilstrock looks around. "Did Cannon Fodder not make it back with us?"
Later, Zanax will ask Occa and Darian "Since we've been dead for a month, does that mean an Identify spell will work on an item I possess?"
"I don't know. You weren't in possession of it for a month... I can try if you'd like. Occa'd probably have a better shot at it, though since he's a lot more powerful than me."
Zanax looks at Occa "Occa?"
Occa says, "I suppose I could do it."
He shrugs.
"What is it?"
Zanax hands Occa a ring. "It allows me to walk on water, but I've since found out that it has other powers, but needs to be activated by slaying something...something big! I'd like to know what I have to slay and what other powers it may possess."
"Occa's the man then. I'm not powerful enough to determine that kind of thing... But, it sounds real interesting..."
Occa throws Zanax the ring and says, "Slay a water elemental. That will activate it."
Zanax fumbles the ring as he catches it "Um...what's a water elemental? Are they evil creatures? And what powers will killing one do?"
"No, they aren't evil, but they will kill you if they get a chance. I could summon one for you to attack if you like. As for powers...I am not sure...I can't remember. Probably create water and maybe some weather spells. The rings of elemental command are all pretty powerful. It is really a nice item."
"Water elementals... Let's see... What did my master say abou them... They're conjured creatures that are fairly powerful. They are more effective if they occupy a body of water since they can use that to increase their mass. They're not evil, but I guess the conjurer could be and that might affect their aura."
Zanax shakes his head negatively "Thank you, but no. It would be wrong to summon a creature just to slay it. Even if it gives me power to fight evil. I will simply have to wait."
Occa smiles and says, "Right answer."
Zanax smiles weakly and sighs "Well, at least I did one thing right today...I mean this month." Zanax looks confused. "I hope everything's alright in Sandas...and with my companions."
Zanax frowns as he stares at the halfling Who Knows and the two chorusing males.
He turns to Al "Why are they here?"
"Who are they ?" Al asks.
"The halfling is Who Knows," says Valdar. "Those two men are prisoners...whom Tracy is converting to the ethos of good and chaos."
The halfling waves at Zanax.
Zanax frowns and looks at Valdar and Al "You know, he is *evil*..."
"But she doesn't ACT evil..." says Valdar, winking at the lady halfling.
"Zanax, I just found out... as I felt a taint in his soul. Truthfully, this is the first time I have met the halfling and unlike my metal friend, I inquire before I blindly strike !!" Al turns to Who Knows, and asks him, "Who Knows, I have detect a taint in your soul, care to explain why you pursue a road that will ultimately, sooner than later, bring destruction upon you ??"
Who Knows winks at Al.
She tells him "Haven't you heard of the saying 'We're here for a good time, not a long time'? Well, that's my motto."
"Well, little one, as long as you keep that motto not to include others in a negative way, we can get along, despite what my metal friend and Zanax may think. I have a broader view on life, good, and evil, than the two of them... but even I have my limits !" Al says in a matter of fact tone and ends with a small smile.
"We are hardly in a position to talk about travelling roads that bring destruction upon us," says Pharian to Al, "given the size of the roof that so recently fell upon our disentegrated heads. In my experience, good people get hurt at least as often as evil people. Even more so, really."
"True, but the point is that evil people purposely hurt other people. While those who are good, try not to."
"Except that paladins do purposely hurt evil people," says Pharian, who is apparently feeling either philosphical or contrary. You suspect the latter.
Occa starts laughing so hard that he falls down on the ground and rolls around trying to stop...
Zanax smiles tolerantly "Yes...and we do our best to do so!"
This doesn't help Occa's state at all...he continues....
Occa says, "That is Oh well, not Who Knows! Good lord! Besides, I knew he was evil months ago. That is the problem with you pesky paladins..you always have to be pushy. Just leave the halfling alone and nobody gets hurt."
"I beg your pardon, Occa?" Oh Well asks. "I take offense to being mistaken for a halfling."
Standing tall at 5'6", he adds "I may be short, but I'm not that short. Besides, my intentions are toally honorable, even if they aren't as good as yours."
Zanax looks concerned "You consort with a known evil...and you're not even trying to convert him???"
"For the umpteenth time, I am not a male!" Who knows points out to Zanax. "Must I drop my drawers to prove it to you?"
"I apologize for my error. But you're still evil!"
"You know," BrightAxe would like to add his two cents in, "Even though I feel Chaos is more abhorrant than this whole good/bad thing, y'all are forgetting the basic premise of other people."
He pauses and set's down his beer, "People are judged by their actions and accomplishments not by some possibly true magical reading or their feelings about who they are. You should try to trust your gut and mind more than your magic."
After pausing he'll finish "If you treat others and judge them based on some magical reading that, *maybe*, you comprehend slightly, you're acting chaotically and not with the gifts our gods gave us at birth."
He steps off his soapbox and drinks some more beer.
"It's not magic...it's a divine gift from my god that lets me see the evil in people's heart. A good person who does an evil deed, doesn't automatically become evil. Similarly, a person who does a good deed, doesn't automatically become. The aura I read is the way a person generally will act."
Occa says, "I am converting those two over there...they are very evil. I could have killed them, but they opted for conversion. However, I must insist that you do not question me or my actions."
Zanax inhales sharply "I do not wish to offend you. I consider you a worthy ally in my fight against evil. However, you must understand that one of the tenets that I follow is that evil must be converted or destroyed. I have no problem with pitting evil against evil...but using evil methods to destroy evil...is well, evil itself."
"Zanax, I attempt to personify Vengeance and if evil must be manipulated at times or associated with in order to destroy a greater evil, then so be it... but eventually all evil will suffer. I once had to hunt down and kill a rogue member of my temple because he began killing people who he viewed as evil for merely breaking laws such as littering... He even dubbed himself the Punisher.. cute name.. " Al puffs out a plume of smoke and chops down on his stogie again... "but he went rogue and turned evil.. so evil is inside of us all, it just how we control it.. hence until I see Who Knows commit an evil act, I will trust my companions to vouch for her !"
"Thanks for the endorsement Al." Who Knows remarks.
Occa says, "Evil can be a tool to destroy evil as well, Zanax. Trust that this group will destroy all the evil in this section of the world...what who knows role is in this is not known by you or Al. So, just don't worry about it and trust us that we know what we are doing."
Zanax shrugs "I trust you and your comrades...just be wary that evil eventually will turn on you...even if it's just a tool."
Occa says, "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword. We all know that."
"Well, if it's our god's will to destroy evil...who am I to argue with him?"
"So be it. I will let you handle the situation as you see fit. I am not an extremist. I hope for yours and ours sake, you are right."
"Don't ever expect help from me, and I don't expect help from you," Who Knows tells Zanax.
"I don't expect help from evil people, because it is in their nature not to help others. Selfishness and their resistance to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others are prime characteristics of evil."
"Shouldn't you be testing for good, Al?" asks Pharian. "I thought paladins wouldn't consort with anyone who wasn't good for more than a little while. I wouldn't want you not living up to your standards, because then Saddam would have to cut your living heart out."
"YES!" crows Saddam vehmently. "Al, you are aiding and abetting the growth of evil by consorting with evil! You are no better than evil itself! Zanax, you claim to be a paladin! Take me so that I can cut out Al's living heart! Followed by his living brain, his living liver, his living intestines, his living..."
Saddam rants on.
Gilstrock guffaws at Saddam's performance.
Jesse smiles, "Saddam, there is a famous song about another tin man and I believe the title is something to the effect of 'if I only had a brain.' I'll have to remember the words later."
"Shut up, Saddam, you know that I keep my oath to Horus better than anyone. So, stifle it already. You know I will not slay unless I am SURE that one is evil. Something you have yet to learn, my metal friend !!"
"Oh all right!" says Saddam, and shuts up.
"You know...I have this cleric friend who is working on this silence spell for swords just like that!" Zanax says with a smirk.
"Zanax, if your friend is in Sandas, maybe a trip there would be a good idea, as I need a spare set of clothes as well. Scale mail, even that has been blessed by a god, is still a little chafing !" Al says with a smirk. "Anyway, Zanax, which deity are you a Paladin for ? Plus since you seem to be from Sandas, I need to hire a contractor and some builders.... can you refer me to someone ?"
"I follow the god Votishal. As for a contractor and builders, I think I know some reliable people." Zanax proceeds to give Al a short list of people.
Al turns to Pharian. "No, Saddam and I have come to an understanding, he is a tad extreme, but we fight for the same cause. The defeat of Evil !!"
"So Saddam knows that you find law limiting?" Pharian asks Al. "I would have thought that would bother him...he seems so, well, uptight. And Horus doesn't object to you consorting with neutrals?"
"Not at all - they have their uses !" Al says with a smile. "And yes, Saddam is a tad uptight, but Good and Law can be a strict road to follow, hence we balance each other.. he isn't so Law abiding and I curb my chaos !! It was be no mere coincidence that we were paired together !!"
"Talking about that.. Who Knows, what exactly do you do ? and why do I sense a taint in your soul ?" Al asks as he turns to the halfling. "By the way, Occa, my portable hole was disintegrated in the explosion. Oh well !!"
Zanax looks troubled "How is it that you can talk about the destruction of your magic equipment to casually? Does you community chest contain so much magic that everything you lost in the blast is expendable?"
"Zanax, I am surprised at you. Oh wait a minute." Al disappears into his tent and soon you all smell a pungent smoke that wafts out. He walks out with a cigar in his mouth. "Its been too long.." he says as he puffs on his stogie.
"Anyway, Zanax, a Paladin is not concerned with wealth, he is concerned with his deity, and I know Horus certainly does provide for me. I would be saddened if the mail he gave me was destroyed, even if Saddam was melted, but the hole was useful, but a temptation. So, I will make do.. Horus is always testing me.... and I will always prove to be a devoted follower !! as you should of your god, that is if you're truly a Paladin ?"
Zanax smiles "I'm not concerned with wealth...it's just that any power lost that could have been used against evil saddens me. As for proving myself to my god, it seems I have much to atone for..."
Zanax sighs.
"Eh, it is just equipment after all," Gilstrock says. "Besides, Occa doesn't ever seem to really get worked up over much of anything. Except when he feels the need to slit a throat or two, but he even does that with a sense of good spirits."
Occa smiles.
Jesse looks around again, not shy about her nudity anymore. "Occa, Pharian, do either of you know if this wand of magic missiles can be recharged and if so, how? I used it a lot and don't want it to run out in the future. Also, what shall we do?" she asks everyone.
Occa says, "Cast magic missle spells into it will recharge it."
"That's how you charge wands? You cast that spell at it? Amazing... I had no idea..."
"No, you cast a spell that the wand can do. For example, if we still had my staff of ilumination, I would have cast continual light into it."
"Perhaps tonight, we can share our experiences, for I say strange things and do not know the history of the world to be able to place them."
Occa speaks to Valdar for a moment...then they both disappear.
After a short time Occa and Valdar return.
Darian looks at them expectantly.
Occa, after returning, seems to be in an even better mood. "The house looks just grand! Plus, I now have my spell books back and I have some news of the temple. While we were exploring underneath...a whirlwind came out of the temple and headed out and destroyed a lawful good temple within Sandas that was a secret or something. Then another tried to destroy my house...but that is when everything exploded....and we died. Anyway, things seem to be going well there."
"A secret temple of good? Do you know which one? And do you have any idea who sent the whirlwind?"
"No. But it came from the temple...so it was from there. Who knows. Doesn't matter...they died."
He shrugs and says, "Anyone need to train? If so, let's do it now and then head back into the dungeon of dragons...things are going to be ALOT harder...hell, I lost over a dozen magic items!" He smiles and says, "At least I have my spell books!"
He laughs.
"I need to finish my fighter training."
Occa says, "I am getting close to needing to train as well...I will have to see if I am ready."
Zanax grabs Occa by the shirt. "What temple???!!"
Occa says, "I would assume your temple."
Zanax looks around in panic. "Can you take me to Sandas immediately?"
Occa says, "It has been destroyed for a month now...I expect another day will be alright. Let me study first and then I will take you."
Zanax seems dis-satisfied, but nods anyway. "Could we take a look with the crystal ball for my temple and for my companions?"
"Ask Stiff...I don't have a crystal ball."
Zanax nods and starts looking around for Stiff.
Stiff just sits in his tree and glares.
"C'mon, Stiff, help the poor guy out. It's not his fault the staff was broken. He was already dead."
"Hey Stiff, Are you gonna sit around all day and pout? We've done worse things before. It was just a staff. Geez, you act as if it was the end of the world," Orlon berates Stiff.
Zanax shakes his head "It's alright, Darian. You and your companions have done enough for me already. To ask more from you would be wrong."
Darian shrugs. "Seems like it's the least we can do, since we couldn't protect you from the vampire. And Stiff's a really good guy. He's just upset because we broke the staff. He'll get over it."
"Valdar, can you take Zanax and me to Sandas now?"
"Sorry...just used up all my teleports for the day on Occa. Why do you want to go, anyway?"
"I wanted to meet with Ray Jay. She said I should stop by the next time I was in town to talk about my psionics. Plus, I want to make sure that Zanax gets back safely to his friends."
"Ray Jay is away, still."
Gilstrock emerges from the Community Chest with a new spear in hand. "Whelp, got me a new spear," he says. "But it's not enough. I like carrying a flail around, too -- blunt weapon, you know, good for head bashing. And I need a short bow, since I'm not too good with a long bow, and that's all we got."
"Besides, I'd like to try and pick myself up a new cloak. So who wants to go shopping? And where can we go?" Gilstrock asks.
Scratching his head, Gilstrock muses, "I guess I could look for a axe, and start carrying that around with me."
"I need to get some more clothing. Seems like I should get more than a couple of outfits."
Jesse claps her hands, "Yes, I need a new lute and flute, among other things as well as more clothing, new boots and perhaps some magical armor bracer like things, since mine were destroyed in the explosion."
"What is this Inner Sanctum? And where exactly are we?" asks Zanax.
"Inner Sanctum is that little piss-ant town over..." Gilstrock points vaguely east, then his hand drifts to the south and slowly falls back to his side as he looks north, and then west. "Well, it's the little town somewhere nearby. We went there when we first arrived. Had some decent food. Seems that the guy in charge there was in league with the dragons or some such, so we came out and set up base camp here in the wilderness."
Gilstrock shrugs. "I don't really know what was going on, it was Occa or somebody who talked to the mayor, or baron, or whatever of the town. Besides, it's more fun sleeping out in the open. Especially last winter, when it was decently cold out here!"
Occa says, "Okay, in the morning we go to Sandas on a shopping trip. Sadly, with the portable holes gone only a few of us can go back....I can only carry maybe 1500 pounds. Wich means I can take 5 people and probably whatever we buy there. Everyone make a list....I will take Al, who should meet Connie..she can find contractors for a temple..although you may need to speak to the city about building a temple. I will take Zanax so that he can be on his way....ah, hell, I will just use two teleports... we can stay a day and I can do two more teleports. So, everyone goes to my house tomorrow."