Adventure #1 - The Jolly Toad

Seeing the debacle unfold in front of him, Maius laughs with each new fall. He briefly considers helping Elodie with some encouraging words, until she mentions disrobing, then he changes his mind and waits for the show!
"I'll take a room and bath tonite as well. I'm not ready yet, but save me one please."
He decides to slide one of the remaining schnapps over to himself. After witnessing how quickly it worked on the women, he plans to sip it slowly.

O.o.C.: I'm ok with a NPC. Hell, Maius was gonna let Steven tag along!
Nice RP on the drinkin game Glitz!

Before heading to bed, Maius will spend some time milling about casually trying to get some information about the area the group just returned from. Cemetery/Cave area

Diplomacy (Gather Information): d4 hours= 3
Roll: d20+9=14
O.o.C.: Don't know if there are any other mods for that roll?

Elodie gives Laci a sloppy kiss on the cheek and says, "I love you, Laci. You'rethebest...barmaid...I've ever met in my LY-FUH."

After Laci leaves, Elodie soaks in the bath until the water is cool, and then climbs into bed to get some rest.

In the morning, Elodie will begin work on the seven potions described before.

That night, Maius hobnobs with the locals and the regulars, trying to learn more about the foothills on the eastern side of the valley. He learns the following ...

• Long, long ago ... a giant snake wrapped itself around Serpent coil Mountain (which is right near there), thus giving the mountain its name. In fact, the snake left an impression in the side of the mountain that can still be used as a path to the summit.
  
• Giants and other monsters are only rarely encountered in the foothills ... but once in awhile, they travel along the mountain tops from Jotun Valley and end up here.
  
• Bighorn sheep dwell on the mountain, and sometimes wander down into the foothills.
  
• The hills are host to many ruins. Some of the ruins were built by the August Empire, but many are rumored to be even older than that (perhaps built by the savage ancestors of the local inhabitants).
  
• Most of the ruins were once towns and cities, a few were castles or keeps, but some are actually catacombs. Burial chambers were built by the August Empire, but some of the crypts are even older
  
• Other burial sites exist in the hills, too; remote cemeteries, private tombs, and even old battle fields where the fallen were buried in unmarked graves.
  
• Rumor has it that some of the dead are still walking around, seeking vengeance upon the living!
  
• Adventurers travel the those ruins every day, in search of treasure ... many of them have struck it rich, but a great many more haven't come back, at all. (Still, most just come back empty-handed).
  
• The Blackbirds are one adventuring company that has become fairly rich.
  
• The Adventurers' Guild was opened to try and meet the growing demand for adventuring gear and a place to sell those treasures. They have been pretty successful, but haven't been able to meet the demand for rooms.
  

That week at the library, Talmut and Maius discover ...

... the Legio Martis was one of the August Legions stationed near Umbrafall and charged with keeping order in the region.

Originally, they were one of the  legions involved in conquering the Realms, but that took place long before the time of General Gnaeus Marsus. It also happened closer to Southern Daxony (near the Valley of Tombs). During the legion's early days, they were revered for their ruthless efficiency (and not just against the local savages ... any member of the L. Martis who broke rank or fled from battle, without an explicit order to do so, was drawn and quartered and then fed to the pigs).

Almost two-hundred years later, Gnaeus Marsus took command of the legion and was reassigned to the Umbrafall region. Of course, the original Imperial records have not survived this long, but a recopied text in the library seems to imply his forces were relocated because of some sort of scandal involving the desecration of holy monuments and sacred burial sites.

Under Gnaeus Marsus, the Legio Martis protected Umbrafall from two invasions by giants. The first was against a clan of Fire Giants led by giantess, Hjorda Surtdotr. The second was against a massive wave of hill giants unified under the mountain giant chieftain, Kolr Iron-tooth. In both cases, the Legio Martis proved victorious and managed to protect the people of Umbrafall. (One source speculates that Gnaeus bore a half-giant child with Hjorda, but no further evidence collaborates the accusation).

Several records state that, years later, Gnaeus Marsus led the Legio Martis against an army of a ten thousand zombies. Maius and Talmut, however, failed to uncover even a single record of anybody being slain by the undead army (a curious fact, given the reported size of the invasion). Even more dubious is that fact that none of the other legions in the area (and there were several) seems to have encountered any portion of the undead forces.

During their stay in the Umbrafall region, the Legio Martis was involved in several construction projects, mostly in the foothills on the eastern side of the valley. According to at least one source, some of their construction sites were not ordered (or even approved) by the Empire. Gnaeus Marsus was ordered to stand trial by the Court Marshall, but failed to appear ... as did his men. 

Finally, the histories seems to indicate that the Legio Martis were defeated by the armies of the Five Kings, but other records indicate that they defected from the Imperial Army and fought against their own countryman. The timeline is unclear, due to conflicting sources, but these two events seemed to have happened around the same time. A litany exists that recounts all of the Imperial Legions that were driven out by the armies of the Five Kings, but the Legio Martis is not listed among them.

(On a side note, the library itself is on the west side of the city, next to a guard tower, two blocks from the Temple of the Gods. The sign outside reads only "Library." A member of the town guard is present in the library at all times, and the old librarian goes by the name of "Frode").

The next morning Jeremiah awakens and boots the girls out of his bed. He than searches the room and makes sure everything is accounted for and pays the cost for the night. After which he heads downstairs for a little breakfast and coffee....

After his breakfast and morning rituals have been taken care of, he heads back over to the adventurers guild to get the location of the rogue looking for work. He is also debating enlisting his services for the remainder of the week with a few of the local wizards.

Jeremiah has no problem finding or recruiting the troubleshooter for hire. He's seems a bit odd, but basically a good guy. And he's willing to work for equal shares and share equal expenses. 

OOC: I will introduce the rogue in greater detail at the beginning of Adv. #2.


Jeremiah seeks out the wizards who were looking for magical test subjects, and finds them in one of the larger buildings on the south-west side of town. When he enters, he is greeted by two seemingly old men in long robes, both with hoods up to shroud their faces. Perceptive as Jeremiah is, he can see how old and wrinkly they are. The two wizards introduce themselves as "Odion of the Seventh Digit" and "Malabus of the Nightless Moon."

"Come in, come in. Please."
"Don't rush him."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"No, I'm not. Come in, come in."

"So, you're interested in earning some ..."
"Would you like some tea?"
"... right some tea!"
"What?"
"What do you mean 'what'?"
"You just asked him if he was interested in earning some tea."
"No, I didn't?"
"You did! You did!"
"Don't be foolish. Anyway, are you interest in earning some tea? Well, now I've done it."
"Yes, you did."
"Pardon me. '... some gold. Are you interested in earning some gold?"
"Right! Are you?"

"Of course, magical experimentation is not without its risks ... but we're confident we can put you back the way you were."
" ... the way you were when you came in."
"That's what I said."
"No, you didn't."
"I did."
"Didn't."
"Did."
"Didn't."
"Oh, don't mind this old geezer ... he's going senile. "
"Senile?"
"Senile!"
"Why you!"
"Side-effects ... possibly some temporary blindness, a voracious appetite, perhaps a little newtism, or you might turn purple ... or green, for awhile. "
"What? Newtism? What is 'newtism'?"
"You know ... 'newtism'."
"You made that up!"
"Did not."
"Did."
"Didn't."
"Come on, now. You're gonna frighten the lad!"
"What?"
"You know ..."
"I do?"
"You do ..."
"Oh, right! Newtism ... He means he's going to turn you into a newt."
"Why did you say that? Now, he's never gonna ..."
"Only temporarily, of course."
"Right, right, of course. Only temporarily."
"So, what do you say?"
"You in?"

OOC: BTW, thanks, Mack  And hmmm...curious about what Jeremiah is up to!

Elodie also deposits money in the bank (she keeps 100 gold with her).

Jeremiah will then proceed with the experiments...

"Oh, no ... no, no ..."
"This is a GREAT time!"
"Yes, a great time to get started."
"Truly. Come on in, come on in."
"Indeed."

Day One
On the first day, Odion and Malabus make good on their promise, casting various spells on Jeremiah and asking him to drink various potions, all of which seemed to either improve or worsen his vision and other senses. At one point, he was, in fact, blind ... but before that, he was he could "see" his own hair growing, then he was near sighted, then deaf, then he could hear again, then he became far-sighted, then he could see into the infrared spectrum, then the ultraviolet ... and only then was he blind. They had some trouble getting him to see again, but afterwards they cast spells that let him see magical auras, had him drink an elixir that did the same thing, then a spell that allowed him to read magical auras, then a potion that allowed him to speak any language they presented to him, then they read a scroll that let him "hear" their surface thoughts, then one that allowed to see the invisible, one that allowed him to instantly locate various objects hidden around the room. They cast a spell that allowed him to "listen" into the next room, one that allowed him to "see" his travel companions at the library. Then they used a wand that alternately made him blind again or gifted with sight once more. They used the wand several times, in fact.

At the end of the first day, they gave him 75 gold and a potion that makes him more accurate in combat, and then begged him to return then the next day.

OOC: Potion of True Strike (+20 to your next attack roll and not affected by miss chance during that attack).


Day Two
On the second day, Odion and Malabus experimented with spells that put Jeremiah to sleep, spells that made him laugh uncontrollably, spells that turned him stupid, and spells that returned him to normal. They gave him a potion that paralyzed him, read a scroll that made him unbearably angry, waved a wand that made him insatiably hungry, and then they turned him back to normal again. They cast a spell that made him susceptible to anything they told him to do (followed by the hilarious hi-jinx of making him dance like a chicken). They cast a spells that drove him to madness and dementia, and then put his mind back to normal. They even cast a spell that made him think he they were invisible, but that he (for some unknown reason) was now able to see invisible creatures.

In the end, they put everything (including him) back to normal, gave him another 125 gold and two white arrows they claim will out their targets to sleep. Again, they begged him to come back the following day.

OOC: Two +1 Sleep Arrows (Deals nonlethal damage and the victim must make a DC 11 Will save or fall asleep).


Day Three
On the next day, Odion and Malabus turned Jeremiah into a newt! And then a chicken, a frog, an owl, a tiny dragon, a tea cozy, a goat, and goblin. In each of these forms, they asked him to perform a variety of tasks and chores, to see how well he'd do ... he helped them take out the garbage, sweep and mop the laboratory floor, wash and dry various beakers and bowls, fold some laundry, and eventually move several heavy boxes. While he did his chores, they experimented with a variety of other magical effects, to see how they would combine. They made him super strong and extra clumsy, gave him flight but made him dull-witted, turned him invisible for awhile, then blue, then green, then purple. They made him green and purple at the same time, like some sort of weird zebra. They even made him prance around as a woman (well, a female, anyway ... he was still a goat at the time).

In the end, they made him normal again and gave him both another 200 gold and a small token with the image of an acorn engraved on both sides. They claim the token can be used (once) to cause a great oak tree to spring into existence. 

OOC: Feather Token (Tree)


Day Four
On the fourth day, things got a little weird. The used spells and wands and potions and oils that made him hear all sorts unexplained noises, the created an exact duplicate of Jeremiah and asked him to play chess with himself, they made him stare at a swirling pattern of color, asked him to walk up some transparent stairs, and made him look into a mirror that made it seem like he was literally standing five feet away from where he thought he was. They asked him to read a book and laughed, saying he was the only one who could see the text ... not even they could see it. They caused a forest to magically appear inside the room, then a great wall that he could easily pass through as if it wasn't there. They out him to sleep and forced him to experience a variety of dreams and nightmares. They even read a scroll that caused him to "run away from himself."

In the end, everything was returned to normal and they begged him to return one more time. They paid him 300 gold and gave him a scroll they say will hide him from anyone attempting to scry on him.

OOC: Scroll of Non-detection. (Non-detection IS on the Ranger's spell list, so Jeremiah can actually use it).


Day Five
On the fifth and final day, they informed him they would be performing no more experiments on him. Instead, they cast a protection spell on him and gave him another 425 gold. Again, they thanked him and asked him to come by and visit any time.

OOC: Jeremiah gains a permanent +1 resistance bonus on all saves!

"Thank you, thank you, Jeremiah!"
"Yes, yes, thank you ... you have been a most excellent test subject."
"Excellent, indeed!"
"Come back, anytime."
"Right! To visit ... not fore more tests."
"I didn't say more tests!"
"I know you didn't ... though, we may be doing more tests in the future."
"Of course, of course. But after we've had time to process all the results." 
"Oh, how very right you are."

The morning that the group is set to depart, Elodie purchases a heavy horse trained for combat, a military saddle, and four saddle bags. Afterwards, she buys some extra supplies to go in the saddlebags:

• Antitoxin
  
• Grappling hook
  
• Healer's kit x2
  
• Rope, silk
  
• Shovel
  
• Tindertwig x3
  
• Torch x7
  

The horse is reddish-brown with white spots on its rump. Elodie decides to name him Egan.

"Thanks, I will be sure to stop by again. This has been the strangest week of my life but well worth it." Jeremiah will head over to the adventurers guild to make a deposit before he swings by the Jolly Toad...

Once he gets to the Jolly Toad he'll ask the group if they want to get some horses before they leave.

Glitz wrote:Elodie ... will try to determine how many uses are left (in the wand).

 Fifteen.