Play by E-Mail Turns

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="11200500dvldtc.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Soaring Blade</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Soaring Blade"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id172.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Shalamar 3E"><U>Shalamar 3E</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id180.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="History"><U>History</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Aspects"><U>Aspects</U></A>   |   <B>Play by E-Mail Turns</B>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Shalamar"><U>Shalamar</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id135.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spells"><U>Spells</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="2cad2c00dvldtc.gif"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Play by E-Mail Turns</B></div> <div>  This section of the Soaring Blade web-site is meant to allow the players to keep up with what has been happening with thier e-mails without having to search the Egroups database. I have compiled all e-mails from the list here.</div> <div>   <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0099FF" FACE="Arial" >I am working on highlighting the player's messages in blue</FONT>. The DM's messages will be in grey. </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="527" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Current DM mail will be highlighted in yellow and placed in an outline. </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>   Note that this is a repost of all the avalible e-mails, not written as a story. Details may be a little choppy. Hopefully everything will be understandable. If you have any questions, please e-mail me!</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="24b6c5f0.jpg" border=0 width="108" height="95" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Shalamar sat in his large den, reading through ancient books that held his interest for the time being. The fire in front of him warmed his eleven body, and the wine he drank did so as well. </div> <div>   It was a ine evening in Silverymoon, as it almost always was, and Shalamar had evey reason to relax. He had gone to Aglarond to rest for a while, and everyone had assumed that he was there to investigate the Red Wizards. Ganath, an ambassador from Thay, had ridden Shalamar's heels from the first instant he arrived. To make matters worse, the Simbul, leader of Aglarond, could not stop asking questions about the Emerald Towers whenever the chance presented itself, something Shalamar wanted to forget for a day or two while on his visit. Ah, well.</div> <div>   Silvenmane, the aged half-elf that was Shalamar's personal assistant, came into the room. "Master Shalamar, I wanted to inform you that Magnus the Mage from his tower in Llorkth was attempting to contact you while you were gone. He wanted to know if you had any information about the Witches of Rashemen. I told him everything I could, but you may have more specific information than I."</div> <bR> <div> DM: You may contact Magnus (Scott Nunley) if you like and speak with him. I will e-mail you the information you have on the witches.</div> <div> ---------------------------------------------------------</div> <bR> <div>   The Witches of rashemen are a mysterious lot of women that form a group that rules Rashemen through politics and magic. They are not evil, but are very quick to use action and ask questions later. Their country is located north of Thay and has survived a few attacks from that nation. </div> <div>   It is known that a gift of some type can ease the witches harshness to a vistitor. A handful of soil from a far away nation, a rare spell, or a tale of a great journey are all perfectly acceptable gifts, but eh witches usually prefer the stories!</div> <div>   It is a great insult to wear a mask in front of a Witch of Rashemen. Magnus may want to know this as he wears a half-mask!</div> <bR> <div> -------------------------------------------------------</div> <div> <B>Shalamar</B></div> <div> Reputation: +5</div> <bR> <div> <B>Emerald Towers of Silverymoon</B></div> <div> School Reputation: +5</div> <div> Number of Students: 200</div> <div>   Output of 1st-3rd level mages per year: 20</div> <div>   Output of 4th level mages per year: 10</div> <div>   Output of 5th level mages per year: 10</div> <div>   Output of 6th level mages per year: 4</div> <div> Teachers: 20, each at 10th level (Shalamar's requirement)</div> <div> Required Pay for teachers: -5 Coffers at the end of the year</div> <div> Coffers: +10</div> <div> Profit earned from enrollment per year: +4 per year</div> <div> Wizards gaining school access per year: 10</div> <div> Profit earned from school access per year: +1per year</div> <div> Magical Experiments: None</div> <div> Information: 95% common, 50% rare, 20% very rare</div> <div> Favor (Mystra): +2</div> <bR> <div> <B>Order of The Emerald Mages</B></div> <div> Mage, Level, Specialty </div> <bR> <div> Silvenmane, 20th, teaching</div> <div> Thautsus, 18th</div> <div> Makor, 17th</div> <div> Orlan, 15th</div> <div> Kelper, 12th</div> <div> Zaltain, 11th</div> <div> Periton, 10th</div> <div> Incanus 10th</div> <div> Eragon, 10th</div> <bR> <div> Loyalty: +10</div> <div> Morale: +10</div> <div>   </div> <div>   Shalamar the emerald mage sat at his great desk in his study chambers. It had been a long summer, especialy considering having to take time away from the college to participte witht the Soaring Blade as part of The Final War. He thought about the many dangers the Blade had faced and how close "Malicor" had come to defeating the party. The mage could not help thinking about how Artaylium handling the villians' identity that they had uncovered during that adventure.</div> <div>   Silvenmane entered Shalamar's study room, looking his usual mysterious self, with his long silver haor pulled into braids down past his ears. His balding head did not make him seem old, but wise and powerful, which he was indeed. It was a shame that this man would meet his death in what would seem to Shalamar to be only a small span of time, even if he used magics to prolong his human life.</div> <div>   "Yes, Silvenmane? How may I help you?" Shalamar asked.</div> <div>   "Master Shalamar, there are some visitiors here to see you, someone from the guard I think."</div> <div>   "Very well then, let's see them in," said Shalamar, "we do not want the Queen's men waiting."</div> <div> ---------------------------------------------</div> <div>   Shalamar came down the stair that lead to his study in the Gret Emerald Tower, carrying his staff and wearing his best robe. He approched the captain of the guard, Elranth, who he had known for some time, although only in passing. He knew the man's family had been killed some time ago by goblins as they had played in the forest. The captain had devoted himself to his occupation ever since, thinking of nothing else. If there was anything good to be said about the situation (which there was not), it would be that it had made the man a perfect warior. if not a perfect man.</div> <div>   "Yes Elranth? How may I help you?"</div> <div>   "Shalamar, I beleive that there is a great number of Orcs gathering together along the road between this city and Sundabar, as we have feared might happen. The tradrers have all stopped their caravans, and travelers are not willing to leave the city, due to the recent news that there were some adventurers that were caught and tortured to death at the Citadel of Many Arrows.</div> <div>   We ask that you aid us in any way you can to find out if the news is true and possibly help us destroy these orcs with your powerful magics. Will you help us?</div> <bR> <div> DM: What will Shalamar's response be, and how will he go about helping if he decides to help at all?</div> <bR> <div> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div> <div>   "Elranth, I am very concered about this situation as it sounds to be something that we should not take lightly." Shalamar looked over the human that stood before him. His stern face and sincere plea a mirror into the man's soul and his sorrow for the loss of his beloved family. At first thought, Shalamar wondered why the guard would even bother him with news of orcs. It seemed such a petty situation. But he then realized that he could not turn his back on the city and it did seem to be affecting caravans into and out of the city. This could ultimaltely lead to delays in spell components to the college as well as food and other supplies. </div> <div> "I will be glad to help you in any way I can Elranth, but, I first need the guard of Silverymoon to send out a scout party to investigate and bring a full report to Lady Aristel. Perhaps I can meet with her and the captain of the guard in the palace when you return with an appraisal of the situation." </div> <div> "Until then I am not privy to what the appropriate course of action should be." </div> <div> Players note: what is the current state of Lady Aristel? And how do I spell it for god's sake..... :-) </div> <div> ----------------------------------------------------------</div> <div> EXP: 500 (x2 rp) = 1000 exp, + 200 (dm response time)</div> <div> Total Exp: 1200</div> <div> "Of course, Shalamar," Elranth agreed. "I thought you might use your magic to somehow detect the orcs without us risking our scouts. But I do not know how magic works, and I am sure it would take you much time an effort. I will send out a party of scouts immediatly."</div> <div> ---------------------------------</div> <div> Two days passed, and Shalamar had almost forgotten the orc sutuation, lost in his studies. News like this came and went on a frequent basis. There were certainly skirmishes on the road to Sundabar from time to time, but such was the way of things. Travelers knew about the Citadel of Many Arrows, and took their fate into their own hands when traveling that road.</div> <div>   However, Shalamar would not want the Citadel to get out of hand. It was widely known that the fortress held thousands of orcs, although they rarely left the mountain in great numbers. If they should decide to do so, however, the results could be disasterous. </div> <div>   As expected, Shalamar greeted Elranth upon his return to the Great Emerald Tower, and listened carefully to his news.</div> <div>   "Shalamar, I am afraid that it might be worse than we expected. Orcs are gathering in great numbers. However, we have detirmined that they are not attacking caravans, but seem to be grouping themselves together in numbers of about 150 orcs per "army". We don't really know what to make of it. It's not like any military maneuver we have ever seen."</div> <div>   "I was not going to bother you with these details, but there is one more thing. A dark elf has been seen with the orcs, who seems to be a powerful mage. He seemed to be commanding the orcs, but he might just be working with them, we are not sure. He has a small, black skull that has ruby eyes that he seems to use to cast spells of some sort. There were glows about his body but no apparent effect of the spells. You may know more about this kind of thing than we do."</div> <div>   Shalamar had an extensive background with magic, but he never did specialize in artifacts (a field of study he would have to study further).</div> <div> DM Note: Lore (Artifacts) is a proficiency that Shalamar does not have. however, he can use his Spellcraft at a huge negative to try to figure out what the skull is. Shalamar's Spellcraft is 26 (-10), or 16. The roll is on d20, and the DM rolls an 18, for a failed roll.</div> <div>   Shalamar was not sure what the skull was, but he could guess it was a powerful item if the scouts had seen the drow using it often. It might not even need charges, a rare thing for any magic item. </div> <div>   Orcs and dark elves were not a common mixture. The situation had reached a stranger level than Shalamar had expected. Were there more drow elves? Who was this mage? Shalamar could wait for further news, send out one of The Order, or investigate himself. </div> <div> DM: What will Shalamar do?</div> <div> P.S.: Her name is spelled High Lady Alustriel (All-us-tree-el). She is a chaotic good half-elf, and a 22nd level mage. I will be adding more about her in the future on the Soaring Blade homepage.</div> <bR> <div> "This is quite unpleasant news that you visit upon today Elranth." "I am not military strategist, but it would seem that the orcs are intent on making war." News of a war was not something the emerald mage wanted to hear. He picked Silverymoon in which to locate his college for its reputation as being one of the most peaceful cities in all the realms. </div> <div> Even so Shalamar was hesitant to get involved. Wars were the business of warriors; not mages in training. The thought of Kendall Moonsun crossed the mages thoughts. Wouldn't he love to investigate this problem. But then again Kendall probably wouldn't be sharp enough to find his way here. A slight smile crossed the high elf's lips. </div> <div> "Elranth, the news of the dark elf's presence is more of a concern to me than the orcs.", Shalamar said with a even tone. "But, I am in no position to help in the way of preparing an army." "I need you to gather the army of Silverymoon and have more scouts in the field reporting on what is happening." "Have Lady Aristel get in contact with me as soon as possible and if anything more provocative were to occur and would need powerful magics to overcome, feel free to contact me." Shalamar stepped down from his chair in his audience room, his deep green robes flowing softly and silently over the wooden floors. The chair was more of a throne and was made of solid black oak inlaid with emeralds and other gems from throughout the realms. It was also a magic teleport to safe haven should things get unruly. Shalamar has had more than a few frays in his audience room that he would like to forget. "Silvenmane, please show these fine men to the door." </div> <div> Little did Elranth, Silvenmane, or the others officers know. Shalamar was quite concerned about the drow in his area of the realms. Shalamar immediately went to his study to find out more...... </div> <div> ----------------------</div> <div> EXP: +2500</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="520" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1468 WIDTH="508"><div> Needless to say, Shalamar's guests were more than a little upset at being dismissed so easily. Still, it was common knowledge that Shalamar the Mage was not a wizard-for-hire, and not even a wizard-to-bother for that matter. </div> <div>   Shalamar knew it was not wise to alert the guard that there could be powerful magic at play. Magic was a science for the wizard, but it was a total, and frightening, mystery to the common folk. The Art was sometimes seen not as magic, but an all-powerful source of energy that could accoplish anything at all, even the downfall of the gods. Shalamar thought for a moment about the days of The Time of Troubles, when the gods walked the face of Faerun, and many were destroyed by magic. Prehaps the commonfolk were not so wrong after all, and prehaps <I>he </I>should be the one frightened...</div> <div> ---------------------</div> <div>   Back in his study, Shalamar would have more of a chance to find out about this strange black skull with magical powers, and if Tymora followed him, more about the drow elf that weilded it.</div> <div>   He began in the most logical place, The Book of Artifacts, written by a long dead sorcerer of Nethril, the book described some of the worlds most powerful magic relics. The mages of that time considered them powerful magic items. They were now <I>the </I>most powerful magic items. The magics that the ancients cast were powerful indeed. Shalamar's tenth-level spells were just a taste of what the old masters were capable of. It was a shame that Shalamar had not had more time to study their effects yet, except for the Soaring Blade using them to feed the creature that protected Malicor in the Vault of the Forbidden. Well, even professionals made mistakes. But if elves had one thing, it was time, and Shalamar would get around to that soon enough.</div> <div>   On with the business at hand. The Book of Artifacts listed many, many skulls; The Skull of Vecna, The Skull of The Vampire Lord, The Skull of Warriors. All of them did not however, fit the description that Shalamar was looking for, except a few, but those were either restricted to certain races or professions, not usable by a drow elf magic-user.</div> <div>   Other books followed, their pages turning within Shalamar's hands like the sails of Cloudrifter blowing back and fouth in a storm. The Endless Book of Tales, The Magical Guide to Ancient Knowledge, Nathal's Tome, all of these proved useless.</div> <div>   Then suddenly, Shalamar had an idea. He might be looking for this information in the wrong books. Opening his guide to Faerun, by the aged wizard Eliminster, Shalamar looked up the topic of Drow Elves.</div> <div>   There was the usual chatter by the old mage. Shalamar wondered if there was as much information about the subject than all of the wanderings the mage went into under the topic at hand. Still, his reading was far more interesting than most mages. He wrote of the dark elves home, Menzoberranzan (men-zoe-bear-an-zan), and the fact that a few of their kind have surfaced that seem to defy the other drow elves, but they remain hidden. The normal drow elf is taught from birth to serve Lolth, the demon queen, and because of that are evil beyond all description. Shalamar wondered what had been the result to the drow elves when the Soaring Blade had killed Lolth on her own plane with Demonbane. With their "god" defeated, what were they doing now?</div> <div>   Shalamar decided to look up more about Lolth, just for a moment, to see what the possible results would be in the event of her death. Her power had to go <I>somewhere</I>. Under her topic, he found her plane of existance, her possible (unproven) real names, known powers bestowed to her followers, and other information. It was also here that he stumbled upon the fact that Lolth had placed a large amount of her magic into a black skull with red-gem eyes, in case she should ever be destroyed. </div> <div>   The skull was to be taken by her high priestess, and kept under her protection. Then, when the time was right, the skull could be used to control large numbers of humanoids. Once the skull had them under contol for a time (the book was vauge here), the priestess was to command them to battle to the death against other, non-drow elves. When the task was complete, the humanoids were to gather the blood of the fallen elves, pouring the liquid of life of a hundered of them over the skull. The power of Lolth hidden with the skull would then be released, and lolth would be reborn, even from oblivion.</div> <div>   Shalamar found such a magic item, even an artifact, to have such power doubtful. But then again, he had seen The Crown of the First Gods raise Taymon, Kendel, Dinian, and heal Artaylium with but a thought. If it were possible, the Blade, and hundreds of elves, were in great danger.</div> <div>   Silverymoon did not have the elven population to ensure the hundred would be killed that were needed. It's magics (including Shalamar's) would also be a heavy match against the orcs. However, The High Forest was not as well protected by mages, and there were many more than a hundred elves there, with the women and children being the easiest targets....</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div>   </div> </td> </tr></table></body>