Session 37 - Short Negotiations

Looking at Garry in front of him, Yaldranth raised his hands in surrender. Garry was dissapointed, saying he expected better of someone who escaped Thay, saying that he would wait for him to do something. Yaldranth decided to disengage and pick up his weapons again. Adam finally shook off the paralysis from Garry's strike, and moved closer, preparing to hit him if he moved closer. Garry started talking to them about mistakes they had made, saying that he did actually believe they could have beaten him using more underhanded tactics. Adam was annoyed and said he refused, though Yaldranth used the opportunity to fire a poisoned arrow at the old man. Adam then walked over and commanded Garry to drop his weapon, picking it up and saying he would fight in his own way even if it gave him a disadvantage. Yaldranth shot an arrow coated in fire. Adam stabbed him one final time which satisfied the old warrior. He told Adam that he probably wouldn't be the best teacher for him, but he could teach Yaldranth. He then went to throw up from the poison.   In the following days, Jurgen and Finn received several letters, one from Ashura saying that Underbridge was making moves, as well as including several bullets for Dungeons. Jurgen received a letter from Magnus saying he was heading to Pinebell for some meeting, and saying he would watch out for Bjorn. Finn had a letter from his university saying that due to not paying, he was no longer considered a student of the university, and all his projects were considered no longer his property.   At his new desk, John Dungeons got a report about strange activities happening at a warehouse near the docks. He decided to bring along some of the townspeople he had been training, and gathered the rest o the party. Yaldranth had been training with Garry as he threw things at him to dodge. Having been denied training, Adam wandered somewhat aimlessly around town, helping a few people when possible.   Finn marched into the post office, annoyed and asking to see proof of receipt of the letter he had sent to Deridium several months ago. After some waiting, he saw that it had been received by the head of student intake, Chandler Pierce. He thanked the thoroughly disinterested clerk and left to find a lawyer. He arrived at a small office where a person in a very nice suit asked if he was a prospective client. Finn took him to the ship and explained his situation, asking if they could help argue the ship was his seeing as he had replaced almost all parts of it since leaving the university. The lawyer said he couldn't work while Finn was in such severe debt. Finn tried to get a loan from Frederick, but failed, so started making a boat he could sell to raise the downpayment.   John summoned the rest of the party and explained the intelligence he received from his aide (Murphy). He explained the plan would be for the people he had been training to go in first, Jurgen would follow them to simulate a bodyguard situation. Meanwhile the rest of the party would stay by the door, only intervening if they started screaming. Agreeing with the plan, the group made its way to the docks. Jurgen prepared himself to take command for the first time since his retirement, and gave the command to kick the door down.   The group of commoners rushed in, and Jurgen noticed too late as a familiar cast a spell, creating a wall of force that cut off the doorway. Jurgen flashed a yellow warning signal as a person in a dark robe emerged from the shadows. He told them he wanted to negotiate. Jurgen ordered the commoners to spread out, and asked the person to identify themselves. The person said they were a member of the Disciples of Charon, and the party was in the way of their target. They then said that because the party had no stake in the matter, and wanted them to just leave. Jurgen said they couldn't do that yet, and changed his signal to red. Immediatlely, Adam used his sword to dispel the barrier, with assisstance from Finn and Yaldranth. As they ran in, the figure cursed and tried to escape through a dimension door. Jurgen warped space around the portal until it fizzled out. The figure then blew a whistle, and John Dungeons immediately burst round the doorframe and fired a shot at their head. They were able to deflect it with a magical shield, but couldn't see him as he hid back behind the frame. Yaldranth created a big show of his entrance to draw attention using fog cloud, running to the side of the room near the walls.   Adam rushed behind the person, speeding up with magic but failing to stab them. From behind him, a large creature burst out from a crate, a spiderdrake. It spewed a mass of web towards Yaldranth, but missed and failed to trap him, as it flew up into the air. Adam instinctually stabbed at it, realising too late that his weapon was now stuck to the creature and he was dragged into the air. The mage tried again to dimension door out , only for Jurgen to stop them once again. He told one of the commoners to run back to Frederick and warn them it might be a distraction and they were after Alpates again. He then ran forward to engage in a wizard battle. He summoned his massive spectral hand to grab and restrain them, but they were able to escape its grasp. Finn ran over to the spiderdrake on Sonia, before off jumping and flying up to stab the creature.