In the Valley of Shadows - Part 2

January 9, 2007

Back in Arabel, Reece has met someone. When the group first arrived in Arabel, Reece felt a pull to a warehouse that was deserted. When he arrived inside, a portal opened up and a woman stepped out. She was dressed in old fashioned clothes and was hobbling a bit. She turned to gesture at the portal when some Shades stepped out. She cast a spell to deflect one group but a single Shade, that Reece could tell looked different, was not affected. Reece could tell the other group wouldn't be distracted for long. He wasn't sure if he should help her just because she was a pretty face or not. He had felt pulled here, though, perhaps divinely inspired. And he knew the Shades weren't good.

Reece jumped into the battle, with steel and spell against the group that had been distracted. His weapon found and hit them and his spells put them off balance. Soon, he took them out and looked for the woman and the Shade. He saw them fighting with spells thirty feet away. She was losing and they both knew it, Reece could see. He ran to them, leading with a spell and getting his sword ready. A minute later, Reece and the woman had won.

"Thank you," she said, out of breath. Her clothes were stained with blood, some old and some new. She had a regal manner about her but her eyes and face were warm and open. "I certainly couldn't have escaped without you."

"It was my pleasure. My name is Reece."

"I am called Tabra. We must get away from here, in case more follow. Do you know where we are? Do you know of a safe place?"

"Yes and yes." Reece held out his arm and Tabra looped hers in his. Then Reece turned and started leading them out of the warehouse. "We are in Arabel and I know of several places where we can go that will be safe."

"Good. Again, my thanks."

Over the next few days, Reece found out a lot about Tabra. She was quite open about herself. She had been a captive of the returned city of Shade until a tenday ago, when she managed to escape. However, in doing so, she had burnt out a lot of her magic. She thought it would take years to get what she had lost but she counted it a worthy price.

Tabra is a wizard, trained by a Netherese arcanist, one of the first in fact. She is almost six hundred years old and has decided that wizards of today rely too much on the past and not enough on what they can do. To that end, she has created a group to help find and destroy the magic of Netheril. She wants to get rid of the ideas they had, which were magic at any cost. She doesn't think that is worth it.

In all of this, Reece finds himself being pulled to Tabra. He had realized that performing didn't suit him anymore. He knew he was going to be an adventurer and this would give him purpose. He spent several days with her, getting her rested until she could contact some friends and get to her own place. He also sent word to the others that he would catch up to them and he knew they left the city.

When Tabra felt better a few days later, she suggested that Reece catch up with his friends. She would still be in Arabel for several seasons at least and he should be with them. Reece agreed and Tabra used scrying mirror to find them and then a wand to send Reece to them.

In the fortress, the group had just killed a mage and were wondering about the next door. They heard noises behind it and readied themselves as they opened it. Huge spiders wrapped in flame were behind the door! As soon as the door opened, they attacked. One of the spiders bit and poisoned Eric but he was still able to fight. He and Victor were holding them back but that was about it. Duece's arrows couldn't penetrate their tough chitin.

Reece appeared in the room and after seeing the spiders, cast a spell at them. The spell penetrated the spider's defenses and made it unable to do anything. Eric and Victor easily finished it off now. They kept this up for the next spiders and soon all were dead. They heard chanting and Victor led down the hallway into the room.

Victor didn't spot the ambush, though, and the warriors in the room got the drop on him. They nearly killed him with their attacks, but he survived and again battle was joined. There were clerics casting fire spells and the two warriors attacking. Again, Eric and Victor led the way with steel, while Reece used more magic and Duece used his arrows to bring them down. At one point, Duece used Shadow Magic to form a shadow arrow on his bow as he pulled the string back. Unfortunately, he didn't hit the warrior as well as he would have preferred.

The party prevailed, although barely. That's when they saw the mages performing some ritual. Eric charged ahead after a few potions. The mages were into the ritual and the party hit them fast and hard. It was over in moments.

The group finally asked Reece how he got there and what had happened to him. Reece said that perhaps they should wait a bit until the place was thoroughly searched. The party agreed and did so. They couldn't get into one room. Duece's attempt to look in it were also thwarted, so they left it alone. A search of the rest of the place showed that there was old furniture but new clothes and gear in the remaining rooms. They took a few things here and there and then went to the kitchen area, where Duece had seen the shadow figures.

After looking at them a while, Duece thought he might be able to help them. He gathered his magic and was about to cast it when it twisted in his grasp and did something else. The shadow figures were suddenly very real and there! In talking with them, it turns out they were servants from several millenia ago. Further, the food stores were also in a statis and as fresh as if they had been preserved a few days ago.

The group talks with the slaves as best they can. Victor speaks enough Elvish as does one of the slaves such that they can passibly communicate. They figure many scholars would be interested in talking to them and that should help them earn money to make a living. They might even be able to sell the foodstuffs to the same scholars, to show how the Netherese wizards ate.

The group gets with Nail, who agrees and decides not to take his share, giving it to them instead. Nail casts a gate to get them back to where they met. The former slaves are non plussed and walk through. Victor is more hesitant but it ends up being quite pleasant compared to what happened before. Nail then heads out without revealing his true form to the servants.

They go back to Arabel and Reece introduces all of them to Tabra. The servants are worried they are being sold back into slavery, even though it was explained that they aren't slaves and slaves are illegal in Cormyr, due to Tabra's manner. She does her best to put them at ease, with only slight success. She says she will help them, as she speaks Netherese, Loress actually, and she takes care of them.

That leaves the group needing to decide what to do.

Notes

• I am sure I have forgotten a few things. I didn't get to this as quick as I wanted.
• Reece's player was back and the first part is what I worked out on why he was gone, what he was doing and how he joined them so quickly.
• It was a lot of fun! There was a lot of fun dialog with the servants. We, as players, had a lot of fun "dumbing" down what could be communicated, since neither side spoke elvish very well.