From: John McCall To: James Raskob Cc: Daniel K Blandford , Arator , Enajien , Etale , Selket Subject: Re: [D&D] game 4 aftermath [ The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] On Sun, 3 Nov 2002, James Raskob wrote: > The only reason Gridley is even willing to think about NOT surrenduring and > letting the Paladins kill us, remove our cursed armor, and rasing us is > that he is worried about where the negative energy will GO. In character, > the only things he's willing to accept are surrenduring and letting the > high cleric(s) of his God work things out, or trying to find out more about > this curse (which means finding the clerics who cast the spell in the first > place). He won't force anyone else to go along with him, but he won't go > along on anything else. As for me, I am more than simply worried about where the negative energy will go. In case you have forgotten, we are not imbued with a simple curse; raw negative energy is no more undead than positive energy is alive. Evelios interrupted the dark summoning of a powerful undead; whether that product was a lichlord or some sort of negative-energy elemental is irrelevent. By some good fortune, that strength collected in eight pools -- seven now -- rather than in a single overwhelming form. Killing us will no more solve this problem than will turning it from our armor, and if some damned fool paladin thinks that by strengthening the servants of the Necromancer he will bring glory to his god, then I, I will defend myself from his stupidity, and I will defy any of you who wish to sacrifice your bodies for that goal. It would be one thing if we were ignorant of the outcome of freeing our bodies of this energy, but that's hardly true. When Nailo fell, we were forced to fight her as a powerful enemy, reanimated by the energies which possess us. When she fell, the energies didn't dissipate; far worse, they redistributed over the rest of us. What would happen if we were all to fall at once? -- other than, of course, some unlucky army being cursed with seven powerful undead menacing them -- it is hard to say. At our cursing, all bodies of sufficient strength were infested, and the rest of our party corrupted. At the fall of Nailo, we were the only living entities present, and so naturally the energy fled back to us. I cannot say what would happen in the case of our mutual destruction, but that the auras would somehow mystically disappear seems far less likely than their finding new hosts among those present -- or worse, growing into a single malevolent spirit. Have you forgotten that the spirit was once an independent entity, an ominous cloud on the horizon speeding against us? Have you discounted the possibility that we are not mere hosts of this spirit, but also traps for its power? Remember that the clerics who summoned this perversity are not worshipping us, but striving to kill us themselves -- or to summon the spirit out from its prison in our armor. There is still time. If the bodies have not disappeared, we can safeguard the corpses of the clerics of Vecna -- and tomorrow, speak with them to gain their secrets, if we can prevent them from raising as dead. If Arator wishes to report to his superiors, he may -- I will accept him as a messenger between us. We cannot dominate them from this distance, and they will not sortie against us as long as the undead are so active, so we are reasonably safe. I am curious to know the outcome of their divinations; Heironeous and his priests are, surely, not as obtuse as their warrior servants. A balanced question in a Commune should reveal the truth easily enough, but only if they will ask it. For now, I say that none of us will turn ourselves in. May the Gods help me, I will not allow this spirit to escape as long as my mind is my own. With their grace, if it is their plan for me to never return to my Keep, I will wander this world, cursed in its sight, doing what I can to fight evil where I see it. So be it. Elan.