Session Log 2 - 6-28-04


DamaGM: Rehashing... When we last left our group, they were visiting
the small town of Balam, searching for work. They heard about the
Crimson Thaw, befriended a one-eyed old coot named Marl, pissed off a
beautiful red-head named Evayne, and learned that the Church of the
Light was in Balam for whatever reason.

DamaGM: Jasper spotted some Shev that fled. The group pissed off
Evayne some more, and in the end they all went to bed.

DamaGM: Only to be rudly awakened by screams, and two struggling Shev
barbarians.

DamaGM: As we rejoin our heroes, one of the Shev has just beheaded
the other, and now, screaming mindlessly, the huge barbarian charges
into the tavern!

* Jacen leaps to his feet, only to remember his sword is on the floor
still. He quickly stoops to scoop it up.

Kayden: Awakend by all the shouting and beheading going on, Kayden
slides down from the table with a cantankerous sigh.  He sniffs,
thumbs his nose, and draws his sword--seemingly at the same time.

DamaGM: Without wasting any time, the Shev, wielding a huge sword,
approaches the nearest sleeping human and plunges his sword into the
person's chest.

* Jasper reaches for his quarterstaff and uses it to prop himself to
his feet.  Still half asleep, he begins to shamble in an arc around
the barbarians, trying to figure out just what's going on... and if he
needs to try and clobber one of them.

DamaGM: As of yet, the barbarian hasn't noticed the three of you. He
seems most intent on slaughtering as many of the people still asleep
as he can.

* Kayden stops playing around at the sight of this, and strides
swiftly up to the Shev. Instead of attacking the man from behind, he
swings his sword hard at the Shev's own blade...

Jasper: ...Jasper decides to clobber that Shev as soon as their
attention is on people able to defend themselves (unless the stabbed
man has any chance of not being dead).  As he attaccks, he calls out,
"Wake up you bleeding slugs!  SHEV ATTACK!"

DamaGM: The two swords collide with a massive display of sparks! With
a sharp -twang!- half of the Shev's blade goes flying through the air,
landing harmlessly several feet away.

Jacen: "HAH!" Jacen bellows, leaping forward with his sword pointing
at the Shev...ready to engage now that the enemy sword is not quite so
huge.

Kayden: "What manner of coward strikes a sleeping foe?"  Kayden
demands furiously of the Shev.

DamaGM: The Shev stares at Kayden. Then he bellows furiuosly and
swings the remaining half of the blade at Kayden's head!

DamaGM: Again the blades connect! But the brute looks surprised when
Kayden blocks the blow!

DamaGM: The commotion of the fight has started to penetrate the hung-
over haze of the majority of the room. People begin to rise, shouting
and arming themselves.

Kayden: "You see?  It's different when a man can defend
himself...isn't it?"  Kayden smiles, but there is no mirth in that
grin.  Only murderous intent.  Taking a half step back, Kayden whisks
his sword up and across--aiming for the barbarian's jugular.

DamaGM: With a grin and flourish, Kayden neatly severs the Shev man's
throat. Blood sprays in an bright red arc. The Shev falls backward,
dead, his useless sword, falling from limp fingers.

* Jacen eeps and dances backwards, covering his face.

DamaGM: Most of the crowd, having seen this, gapes slack-jawed at
Kayden.

* Kayden holds his sword at the end of its arc, his face eerily calm
under the arterial spray. He waits a moment longer, and then, without
a word, swings his blade in a reverse arc, and back into its sheath at
his side.

* Jasper scrambles through the crowd to the two injured men.... intent
on verifying their 'dead' status, checking the non-Shev first.

DamaGM: Jasper, both men, Shev and non, are clearing beyond help.

* Jacen regards the headless Shev with rather wide eyes. For all his
bravado, this is by far the goriest slaying he's ever seen. And that's
not out of many.

Jacen: Finally he manages to clear his throat and replace his sword
in its sheathe, only missing once due to shaking hands.

* Kayden finally wipes the back of his sleeve across his face,
smearing the blood across his cheek.

Jacen: "You, uh...got a little...on your face," Jacen says to his
boss.

Kayden: "The business of killing has never been a clean one."  Kayden
answers flatly.

* Jasper picks over the Shev carefully... wondering why he might have
come back on such a seemingly suicidal business.

DamaGM: Your respite is short lived. From the still-open door arises
the clamor of sword-on-sword. And a loud, rapid thumping can be heard
from the ceiling overhead. Somebody, or several somebodies, are on the
second floor, and making a racket.

DamaGM: Several of the more alert and foolhardy bar patrons charge
out the door, bellowing warcries of their own.

* Kayden turns to the stairs instead, and rushes up to the second
floor.

Jasper: ...with his ponderings answered, Jasper props himself up with
his quarterstaff and makes for the stairs.... cautiously enough,
wanting to avoid getting decapitated by an ambush.

* Jacen whirls, and follows Kayden.

DamaGM: You cross another dead Shev on the stairs, this one is also
headless. Blood is everywhere.

* Jacen jumps over it without missing a beat.

DamaGM: A third Shev is on the landing, upright and pinned to the
wall by the remains of a broken spear.

* Kayden nudges it aside, and puts a hand on Jacen's shoulder to slow
the boy down as the kid races past him. "Careful boy." So saying,
Kayden presses forward towards the sounds of fighting.

* Jasper looks around carefully for the individual(s) doing the shev-
pinning.

Jacen: "Careful?" Jacen demands incredulously. "You killed him with
one hit! Surely you don't have to be careful!"

DamaGM: And a fourth lies in the hallway beyond, his stomach sliced
open. Gevan Vanderveldt, the supposed Theodist mage, stands over it,
an elegant longsword held in one hand.

Kayden: "Fools rush in,"  Kayden explains somberly.  "you and I--
let's not be fools."

DamaGM: The sounds of fighting can be heard at the far end of the
hallway. If Gevan even hears it, he doesn't seem to care.

* Jacen nods at Geven and waves his sword. "Well fought, sir!" he
bugles happily. "We felled a pair at the door ourselves!"

* Kayden walks straight past Gevan towards the end of the hallway,
with nary a word.

Jacen: Jacen hurries after.

* Jasper begins edging toward the sounds of fighting... being sure to
keep the people who know what they're doing ahead... and keeping half
an eye and an ear on the 'mage' behind him.

DamaGM: Gevan doesn't look at any of you. He seems intent on studying
the corpse.

DamaGM: As Kayden draws near the source of the fighting, the
combatants become visible, when one of them shoves the other into the
hallway. The first is a Shev, huge like the others, with a sword and
shield. The other you recognize as Evayne's axe-wielding twin
companion.

* Jacen scowls fiercely and starts forward to help the embattled twin.

* Kayden hesitates to join the fight, and unbalance the odds. He does
draw his sword however...

Kayden: "Hold boy..."  Kayden calls.

DamaGM: Axe-wielder pins the Shev against the wall with one large
hand. With his other, he hammers his axe into his opponents head,
cleaving it messily in half.

* Jacen winces and stops where he is. "Ew," he mutters.

* Jasper figures the presence of only one in a set might mean the
other needs help... and tries to duck through to wherever potentially
injured parties might be located.

DamaGM: No sounds of fighting issue from the room Axe-wielder came
from.

Kayden: "Is that the last of them?"  Kayden asks the mighty twin.

DamaGM: As Jasper approaches Axe-Wielder, the large man rounds on the
smaller. He lifts his bloody axe menacingly and roars at Jasper!

DamaGM: As Jasper approaches Axe-Wielder, the large man rounds on the
smaller. He lifts his bloody axe menacingly and roars at all of you!


* Kayden thumbs his nose, and rests his sword indolently across his
shoulders.

Jacen: "Uh...hi. We're not Shev," Jacen explains in his adolescent
high pitched voice, and his short stature.

Jacen: "We're just wanting to help kill off any of the brutes that
are left." He pauses. "Shev brutes that is. Not...any other kinds of
brutes that might be nearby."

DamaGM: The man shows no signs of recognizing you. He swings his axe
at the person closest to him, which just so happens to be Jasper!

DamaGM: Just when it looks like Jasper's death is whistling towards
him, his foot hits a patch of blood on the wooden floor. Momentum and
surprise fling his feet out from under him, and he lands hard on his
back. As he falls, the axe whistles inches from his face and imbeds
itself in the wall.

* Jacen quickly grabs Jasper's shoulders and starts hauling the slight
young man backwards away from the crazed berserker.

Jasper: "Light pro..waaugh!"  Jasper exclaims as gravity does what
Jasper's reflexes can not...

* Kayden takes this opportunity to interpose himself between Jasper
and the twin. He looks lazily disinterested...in a supremely cocky
way...as he sizes up the big man.

DamaGM: Axe-wielder tugs on his axe, trying futiliy to free his
weapon.

Kayden: "Do you want to find out how well you can handle an axe with
one arm?"  Kayden asks politely.

Jacen: "Or no head!" Jacen calls from where he's pulled Jasper.

Kayden: "If not, you might wish to stand down.  Far down."  He adds.

DamaGM: With an incoherent snarl, Axe-wielder gives up on the weapon,
and swings an arm wildly at Kayden.

* Jasper tries to climb back to his feet.  "Thanks friend..."  He says
sincerely, but distractedly... eyeing the door.

* Kayden backs away with a swift shuffle of his feet and swats the
enormous ham fist an inch to the left--making it narrowily miss his
face.

DamaGM: The large man's fist goes wide of its intended target.
Focused intently on Kayden, he advances.

Jacen: "Stop it!" Jacen yells shrilly. "We're NOT THE ENEMY!"

* Kayden decides to drive Jacen's point home by kicking the big man
squarely in the nuts.

DamaGM: Jacen, you hear Gevan's voice. "Give it up, boy. He won't
listen. The Theodist have him."

DamaGM: The man is too intent on killing Kayden to try an dodge. With
a loud, meaty thunk, Kayden's foot connects with crotch. An almost
comical expression of pain crosses the man's face, and he drops to his
knees, holding his groin and keening.

* Jacen whirls to face Gaven, face contorted in a curiously cute
expression of fury. "Let him go then!"

* Jasper runs past the man into the room... prepared to stop drop and
scream for mercy if someone is waiting to attack him.

Follow Jasper


Kayden: "There now...that took some wind out eh?"  Kayden observes.
He half turns to look over at Gaven.  "What's all this about the
Theodist?"  Almost as an afterthought he turns back to the twin and
pivots his hips to deliver a looping left hook to the man's jaw.

DamaGM: Gevan lifts an amused eyebrow. "You think I did this?"

Jacen: "You deny you're Theodist?" Jacen challenges, lifting his
sword. "And no tricks! I'll spit your heart before you can utter a
word of your black magic!"

DamaGM: Axe-wielder head snaps to one side, right before he sprawls
across the floor, stone cold unconcious.

* Kayden grimaces and wrings his hand out. He glances at his fist,
examining the way his knuckles are already puffing up red and
irritated, and then goes over to Jacen. "Easy boy. Maybe this fellow
can shed some light on what's happening here..."

DamaGM: Gevan shrugs. "I don't deny anything. Frankly, boy, you're
too far beneath me for me to care." He smiles cooly, "But, to humor
you, no, I'm not a Theodist and, no, I did not do this and, no, again,
I do not use 'black magic.'"

DamaGM: "Anything else you wish to accuse me of?"

Jacen: "Uh..." some of Jacen's fire leaves him during the rebuking.
"You, uh...brought the Shev here?" He regards the mess on the stairs.
"And then killed a lot of them."

DamaGM: "Do I look like a fighter?" He brandishes the sword. "I keep
this thing around to make upstarts like *them*" he gestures at the
unconcious Axe-wielder. "think twice before messing with me."

Jacen: Now thoroughly confused, Jacen asks, "Then who killed all
those Shev?"

Kayden: "Well, what do you know of this attack then?"  Kayden asks
Gevan.  To mollify Jacen, he pats the boy on the head.

DamaGM: "Would you believe me if I said that the Shev killed
themselves? Of course not. I'm a Theodist, and not to be trusted." His
smile is malicious.

* Jacen furiously swats at Kayden's hand, not wanting to look like a
child in front of Gevan. He quickly sheathes his shortsword.

* Kayden snorts with disgust. "Have you nothing worth saying man? You
offend my eyes, get gone before I decide to really take notice of
you."

* Kayden tilts his chin towards the stairs--indicating the direction
Gevan should get gone in.

DamaGM: Gevan studies Kayden for a moment. Then he smiles again.
"Kayden Rook. An amazing coincedence that you're here."

Jacen: "And I'm Jacen," the boy says stoutly. "Also coincidental, if
maybe not quite as much. I'm learning fast though."

* Kayden grimaces as if he'd swallowed something nasty.

DamaGM: Gevan seems at a loss of words, but only for a moment. Then
his habitual smile returns. "Well, since you put it so nicely, I
believe I shall be off." He strides away, down the stairs.

DamaGM: Jasper's voice drifts out the open door, "We have a problem
in here..."

Kayden: "Odd fellow."  Kayden grumbles.  He turns sharply and limps
into the room at Jasper's call.

* Jacen tilts his chin up and nods. "Well done," he congratulates
Kayden, as if a teacher praising a prodigious student. He hurries to
the room Jasper went into.

DamaGM: The room is in shambles. Axe-wielder's twin, Sword-bearer,
lies dead on the floor. Evayne is in the corner, clutching her sword
and staring vacantly at nothing. Jasper is near her.

DamaGM: Evayne's voice fills the room, "Vak dulyoth Samalander.
Hinath ir. Vak dulyoth Salamander. Hinath ir." She repeats the strange
words over and over.

Jasper: "She's summoning a fire elemental... and it doesn't look like
she's in any condition to control it to our benefit."  He frowns.

* Jacen frowns. "What happened to her?"

Jacen: "Well...stop her!"

Jacen: He rushes forward to cover her mouth with his hand.

* Kayden glances quietly from the crouching Evayne to the felled
Swordman. In particular he looks for blood on her sword...and perhaps
an open belly wound in the corpse.

DamaGM: Kayden, Evayne's sword is coated with blood. At a glance, you
can tell that Sword-bearer was stabbed in the back. He lies facedown
in a pool of blood.

Jasper: "...I would have done that if I didn't think one of you two
might have a better idea."  He shrugs as Jacen rushes in.  He tries to
bat her dagger from her hands with his quarterstaff..

DamaGM: Jasper knocks the sword from her hands, and it tumbles to the
floor. In response, her chant takes on a fierce intensity. "Vak
dulyoth Samalander! Hinath ir!"

Jacen: "Shhh!" Jacen frantically stuffs the hem of his overlong shirt
into her mouth and tries to press it in with both hands.

* Kayden frowns deeply. "Let us hope the madness does not have her...I
would be loathe to strike down such a lovely girl." He strides swiftly
toward's Evayne even as he speaks, leans over her, and delivers a
swift sharp slap to the sipe of her face.

Jasper: "Get ready to knock her out cold.  Even if you can take an
elemental, it could burn down the entire building before all was said
and done."

DamaGM: "Vak dulyoth-" Jacen's abrubt shirt-stuffing silences her
chant. A moment later, Kayden slaps her.

DamaGM: Evanye's head whips to one side, she stares blindly in that
direction for a moment, then she abrubtly begins to sob.

Jacen: Jacen hesitates, then carefully pulls his shirt hem back out.
"Sorry about that...you were kind of crazy for a second there. Are you
all right? What happened?"

Jasper: "That seemed to work well enough...."  Jasper nods as he
approaches the window, making sure they're not about to get jumped.

* Kayden sighs with relief. He squats on his heels beside her, with a
groan, and flaps his hand irrately at Jacen. "Stop pestering her
boy...look at me girl. What happened to you? Are you all right?"

DamaGM: Evayne turns a tear-filled gaze on Jacen, then lunges into
his arms, sobbing fiercly into his shoulder.

* Jacen gives Kayden a wounded look...cut off by an expression of
almost comic alarm as Evayne hugs him.

* Kayden straightens up slowly. A dark expression crosses fleetingly
over his face.

Jacen: "Uh...no...it's all right...really...uh..." He turns his wide,
round eyes imploringly on Kayden, clearly begging for help.

Jasper: "Theodist enchantment, likely..."  Jasper quietly answers in
her stead. "Which further indicates the Shev and the Theodists are in
league which further indicates..."  He pauses, suddenly looking around
franticaly.

DamaGM: And around you, the room continues to grow warmer. In
minutes, it's hotter than a desert, and getting worse.

* Jacen awkwardly pats Evayne's back, his momentary panic fading into
resignation. "That's it...get it all out. Everything's okay now."

* Kayden squints sourly at Jacen for a moment, and then takes Evayne's
arm and pulls her away. "Come, we'd best leave this place...and
quickly."

Jasper: "We didn't stop her in time..."  He gritts.  "Get her out of
here... we're goig to have a fire elemental in here shortly."

* Kayden tugs Evayne out the door as quickly as he can...

* Jasper doesn't leave right away... casting around the room
frantically... assuming if someone wanted the place burnt down, there
might be something worth burning.

DamaGM: Evayne doesn't resist being pull out the door.

DamaGM: Behind all of you, the roof bursts into sudden flames as a...
thing... howls furiously.





	DamaGM: The interior of the room is a complete disaster.
	Furniture, clothing, blood is scattered everywhere. There are
	two people present: Evayne Maar, and the Sword-bearer. Sword-
	bearer is on the floor, on his stomach, in a pool of blood.

	DamaGM: Evayne sits in a corner, hood down and eyes wide. She
	stares fearfully at you as you enter. She's holding a bloody
	shortsword.

	DamaGM: The window is open.

	DamaGM: The brother is dead.

	DamaGM: Evayne appears unhurt, but it will take a more
	thorough examination to tell for sure.

	Jasper: "Are you okay?"  Jasper asks her, keeping eye
	contact... ready to duck back out if she's berserk too.

	DamaGM: Evayne's eyes flick between you and the dead body.
	Her lips move, but you can't quite make out what she's saying.

	Jasper: "Theodists... if you believe Gevan."  he mutters
	darkly.  "The other one is in good hands now, I think."

	Jasper: He moves toward her cautiously... keeping an eye on
	the corpse, not trusting it to stay dead with theodists about.
	"Will you let me try to help you?"

	DamaGM: Evayne shudders, and her eyes take on an odd, glazed
	aspect. Her mumbling becomes clearer.

	DamaGM: "Vak dulyoth Samalander. Hinath ir. Vak dulyoth
	Salamander. Hinath ir." Over and over again.

	DamaGM: You know what she's saying, and it sends a chill
	through you. /"Spirt of Fire, Salamander. Bring Fire to all."/

	DamaGM: Around her, you begin to detect a faint haze.

	Jasper: Jasper grimaces and tries to bat her shortsword out
	of her hands.

	Jasper: "We have a problem in here..."  He calls out the
	door.

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