Tim (Padachee Sangaree) decides that finishing his apartment move is more important than wasting time with his no-account friends. Billy (Mebble) decides that sleeping is more important. Bruce (Longfellow Yost) grumbles about how he doesn't have enough hit points. Chris (Tonk Sangaree) indicates that that's in the game, and that "hit points" don't exist in real life. Chuck (Darg Sangaree) very happily mentions that he has located a CD of a string quartet playing Warren Zevon music. He proceeds to play it very loud, to everyone's happiness except for Paul, who moans, "I only got fifteen minutes' sleep last night..."
The characters are summoned to a conference with their cousin Jebediah Sangaree. Tonk Sangaree moans, "Ohhh... what time is it?" The messenger responds in a tone so chirpy it is uncalled for, "It is precisely five minutes past eight, sir!" Tonk groans, "Uhh... Listen, my cousin just got his foot chopped off. We'll need a few minutes to sew it back on." In the background, Longfellow Yost yells out, "OW!" The messenger agrees to wait for a bit.
The characters head towards cousin Jebediah's accommodations in the nicer part of town. They notices that there is a large gold circle fastened to the wall of mountains behind the city. Darg Sangaree suggests, "It's made of gold. I bet it has something to do with Pelor." And in fact, it has a large symbol of Pelor carved into it, and it's directly above the Temple to Pelor. Longfellow tells Darg, "That's why you're a priest. As a druid, I would never have guessed that." Tonk adds, "And as a fighter, I was just thinking about how to carve a chunk off it to sell."
Tonk stops by at a weaponsmith's on the square on the way to cousin Jebediah's place. There is a very polite dwarf manning the counter. Tonk indicates, "I'm looking for a longsword. Do you have any in stock? Perhaps anything masterwork or magical?" The dwarf indicates that he's got some ready-made over on the wall, and that he doesn't deal with magical objects. He suggests talking to the unpleasant kobolds over at Grynn's. He also points out that his goods are much more finely-made than even the magical items at Grynn's, which tend to be much more to the functional end of the scale. He is very willing to take specific requests and can make very nice weapons that are much more decorative. Longfellow mentions, "Us druids would just say 'purty'". Darg suggests to the shopkeeper that he should pay no heed to the druid. He's just a druid, after all.
Tonk puts in an order for a masterwork longsword with the Sangaree family crest stamped into it. He pays 15% over normal cost.
The characters enter the Condor Trails neighborhood. The characters are interested to see that while the streets in the central part of the city are paved with cobblestone, those in this place are made with volcanic rock. Longfellow's initial concerns that the streets might be lined with sharp flakes of obsidian turn out to be very much overblown.
Jebediah Sangaree starts out by commenting on how the characters are characteristically tardy, which would concern him more if he thought they were really needed here. He asks point-blank, "Do you have any idea what you're supposed to be doing here?" Tonk responds, "Uncle Enzo says that we're here to help you get a trade agreement, and to keep you out of trouble."
Jebediah indicates that the negotiations have not gone well thus far. He does not have a trade agreement, in part because the nobility are divided between the Trade faction and the War faction. The War faction (which includes Lord Kildare Dostavar's son among them) want to use their skyships to conquer the neighboring human kingdoms, and do not believe that the strength of Highthrone will be helped through trade. The city's biggest problem is that while there is a lot of money in the city, primarily from the mines and the spices grown at high-altitude farms, there isn't enough food and other goods for the people of the city. The Trade faction is backing the construction of the Iniki Way to improve trade to the city, and it is this road that Jebediah Sangaree wants to write a deal to use.
Jebediah Sangaree completely dismisses the ability of the armies of Highthrone and their Skyships to defeat the armies of the surrounding kingdoms. Longfellow Yost agrees, pointing out that the transport and logistical capabilities of a skyship are completely militarily useless. There's nothing that skyship-based troops could do that a column of men marching on the ground can't do. Jebediah compliments Longfellow on his insight. Tonk whispers, "I think your sarcasm is being wasted here."
Tonk Sangaree notes that the characters should be able to get an audience with Lord Kildare Dostavar, thanks to services rendered. Jebediah notes that while Lord Dostavar is a significant noble, he has excused himself from council meetings for months, with his son taking up his duties. There are rumors that Lord Dostavar has gone mad, that he is consumed with despair. His son is a member of the War faction, but has yet to take a strong position.
The Lord Holder is part of the Trade faction, which is why funds are still appropriated for the Iniki Way, but his voice alone is not enough to force the project to rapid completion.
Jebediah suggests that the characters can try canvassing some of the merchants down on the Terraces. He knows that there will soon be a trade fair on Adarath's Find. The characters agree that this seems very reasonable.
The characters are on their way to Adarath's Find when a patrol of guardsmen intercept them with whistles and bells. The characters freeze. The guardsmen unfreeze them and inform them that they are summoned to appear before the High Chamber of the Assembly. The characters offer no resistance to this request. They debate the wisdom of sending a message back to Jebediah, "We'll go talk to your merchants after we're done talking to the High Chamber..."
The characters are escorted into the Palace and a chamber. Fourteen stern-looking men stare down at them from the podium. "You have been brought here because you were seen walking through the Wind-Gates the exact moment they caught fire. And you seemed to know what was going on."
Led by Longfellow, the characters spill their guts. One of the Governors asks, "You were given a magical gem by a complete stranger and did not think to enquire what it did?" Tonk, "Actually, we did. He said it would be helpful. In hindsight, we should have asked helpful to whom." The story continues on to its beginnings.
By the time Tonk, Longfellow and Darg have finished their story, it is clear that half of the Governors are convinced that the characters are both very dangerous and very, very stupid. One of the Governors stands and says, "On behalf of my family I would like to say that we have no dealings with this Lord Rosh character!" It takes a moment for the characters to realize that the Governor must be from the Dostavar family. Tonk offers, "I'm gonna guess that Lord Rosh might be the biggest enemy you guys have found since the goblins?" chirp chirp. Chirp chirp. "I see. So, he's an unknown enemy."
Another Governor stands and says, "Let me suggest to the Council that the Wind-Gates were not just for decoration! When they were to be activated at the Festival of the Wind Goddess, they would have raised up a barrier of wind about the city to protect us against assault from flying enemies! As you know, we have long been almost invulnerable to assault from the ground by humans, giants and goblins. But we remain vulnerable to aerial assault. (much whispering breaks out). I propose that the dragons are in league with the goblins, and they mean to attack us!"
Another Governor mentions, "This is all crazy talk. We've never had the Wind-Gates before, and the dragons haven't attacked us yet."
Tonk asks, "Well, we knew none of this going in. But we'd like to help. What can we do?" The Lord Holder stands and says, "You people seem simple, but I believe the things you say. Which is why I'm not going to condemn you to the salt mines for the rest of your miserable, short lives." He tells the characters that they are free to go.
During the course of this discussion, the characters learn that the military forces of Highthrone are divided between the Aerie Guard and the Sky Navy. The Aerie Guard is an elite force of rangers mounted upon peaks rams who protect the city from goblin invasion (among other things). The Sky Navy is composed of armed skyships, but tends to have lower-grade personnel on average. When Highthrone needs to project military power, it sends the Sky Navy.
The characters learn that getting to Adarath's Find will take a climb of about 1000 stairs. Even though Darg argues that the characters should simply walk, improving themselves and giving homage to Kord, Tonk suggests that the characters would be better advised to rent (or buy) some peaks rams. Longfellow weights in by commenting, "I think I saw Rent-A-Ram just over there!" Darg is eventually won over by Rent-A-Ram's excellent selection and friendly service. Tonk is impressed by the fact that while the rams have been moderately domesticated, they are still pretty fierce and can fight in combat.
Longfellow attempts to persuade the dealer to accept a masterwork greataxe and a might composite shortbow in trade for one or more peaks rams. He senses that the deal is not going well when he compares the salesman to a squashed worm. They don't accept items in trade. Longfellow finally purchases one for 200 gold. In cash.
Adarath's Find burgeons with both locals and newcomers. Vendors are selling colorful wooden toys and cloth streamers for the little ones and turkey drumsticks and oversized flagons of (watery) ale for the adults. It looks like a Renaissance Faire. Longfellow finds someone selling roast chestnuts. He buys a bag. Darg buys Friday the Gnoll a turkey drumstick, which he knows the little gnoll will enjoy much more than a few cloth streamers. Friday eats the whole thing, including the bones. Tonk sees some clowns. He stays the fuck away from them. Freaks. He buys a tankard of ale instead, and is disappointed with its lack of potency.
It doesn't take the characters long to learn that the festival is host to a contest called the Arcane Challenge, a competition of magicians. The challenge is composed of three tasks:
Scoring is based primarily on speed, though the judges will award bonus points for style or finesse. The rules forbid casting spells on other contestants. In each contest, first places wins ten points, second place wins six and third place wins two. The prize is an enchanted statuette of a magician making arcane gestures.
Longfellow signs up instantly. Darg follows his lead. The other contestants include:
Longfellow buys a 20' length of wire with wooden handles on each end. His plan is to cast Soften Earth and Stone on the boulder, stop it with his scimitar, and then chop it to pieces with a length of wire.
Tonk starts working on arranging some side bets. He finds that nobody is willing to bet for the two strangers. In fact, nobody knows much about any of the contestants except for Stalus Silvereyes, who is something of a local favorite.
Darg starts out by casting Bull's Strength on himself and standing next to the landing point. He expects to stop a 12-foot diameter boulder with brute strength. Then he realizes that such a boulder will weight about 24 tons. From the sidelines, Tonk screams out, "Darg! For the love of god, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
The gnome Vonorunka simply casts a Disintegrate on her boulder. She takes out half of the thing. Stalus Silvereyes tries a Lightning Bolt. Her boulder barely even notices. Evren stands around, waiting for the boulder to hit the ground.
Longfellow moves up and casts Soften Earth and Stone on his boulder. In the background, Tonk yells out, "Hey look! Another psychopath just ran up! Oh wait, that's Longfellow." Longfellow's boulder strikes a rock formation on the way down. Half of it shears off. The remainder hits the ground and splashes in a huge splash pattern that covers Longfellow in a wave of soft gray clay.
As Longfellow's boulder splashes to bits, Vonorunka lets loose with a second Disintegrate and takes out the rest of her boulder.
Darg takes a swing at his boulder as it goes by. He actually manages to chip off a bit of it.
Evren the Master Enchanter summons a four-foot long giant worm made out of rock. The front foot of it is red hot. It starts boring into the boulder, but it is clear that it will take the creature quite some time to actually consume the whole thing.
Last, Stalus Silvereyes throws another Lightning Bolt. Her boulder barely notices.
And then the boulders start to bounce. Fortunately, nobody gets crushed.
Darg eventually demonstrates that he can keep on chipping away at his boulder long after Stalus Silvereyes runs out of Lightning Bolts. Unfortunately, the stone-eater Evren the Master Enchanter called up will ensure he gets third place long before. And the two more creatures that Evren summons up on the next round speed the process up quite a bit. The elf runs out of Lightning Bolts and gives up in disgust. Twenty turns later, Darg finally breaks his boulder up. The judges eventually tell him he can stop; the other characters think that they were concerned about the maniacal amount of progress he was making.
Longfellow and Vonorunka tie for first, but Vonorunka gets an extra point for style. The scores are: Vonorunka 11, Longfellow 10, Evren 7, Darg 4. Even though he finished third, people in the stands are all over Darg: "He's fuckin' crazy! Is he even a spellcaster? Is he going to just bash the tower down?" Tonk breaks even on his bets, and wishes that he'd bet on "craziest bastard in the contest."
Tonk places 4 gold on Darg and 2 gold on Longfellow.
Vonorunka goes first with a Fly spell. Darg is next, summoning a celestial eagle that just barely manages to grab the feather. Tonk notices that the celestial eagle seems a little unsteady on its wing; he suspect that it might have been drinking a bit too much last night. Evren also goes with the Fly plan. Longfellow summons up a hawk and sends it to try and kill the celestial eagle. It goes spiraling off into the distance.
And then Stalus Silvereyes wins the "craziest bastard" award by teleporting to the top of the tower and then diving off at Darg's celestial eagle. She misses and starts to fall. Longfellow speculates that she must have some really impressive debts.
Vonorunka lunges for the celestial eagle. The eagle manages to slip free of her grasp. Evren tries the same thing and misses miserably. It might not have seemed possible, but Longfellow's hawk does even worse, missing the eagle completely and flying straight into Vonorunka's face. Stalus Silvereyes just barely manages to survive by casting Levitate, but she's basically out of the running. And then the celestial eagle returns to Darg, giving him ten points and winning Tonk four gold.
Tonk is confident. He puts five gold on Longfellow.
As usual, Vonorunka goes first. She casts a spell with no visible effect, then steps forward to dig through the haystack. Darg simply tries searching. He looks in the wrong haystack. From the sidelines, Tonk yells, "Darg! The OTHER haystack!" Evren summons up a gust of wind, spreading his haystack out over a wide area. Nobody is sure what he's planning, but he steps forward and starts sweeping away the hay. Longfellow casts Heat Metal on all metal in his haystack, then waits for the smoke to form. And then Stalus Silvereyes unveils her secret weapon, a Rod of Metal and Mineral Detection. She commences clearing away hay with grim determination.
Everyone continues searching through their respective haystacks, or remains of one in the case of Evren. Longfellow casts Endure Elements so once he finds the needle he doesn't hurt himself. Darg, realizing that it will take him hours to find the needle unaided, turns to using a flint and steel to set his haystack on fire.
Vonorunka manages to take first, followed by Stalus Silvereyes. Longfellow manages to get third place. Vonorunka takes 10 and wins first place with 21 points. Darg takes 14 and wins second place. Longfellow takes 13 and wins third place.
While Tonk is standing in the audience making bets, a half-orc walks up to him and says, "Have you heard about the giants? There's a band of giants living close to here?" Tonk responds, "What kind of giants? Stone or hill?" "Stone." "I hate those fuckers. What about them?" "There's a band of them living near here, and I'm trying to gather up a group of brave people to deal with them." Tonk replies, "I think my cousins and I would be interested." He calls over Longfellow and Darg. Longfellow suggests that he should also call over the elf wizard, who has more cojones than half the men in the crowd.
There are some quick introductions. The half-orc is Verrek and his dwarf buddy is Murt. They are part of the Company of the Shining Stone. Murt tells Darg, "You have great courage, my friend!" Tonk slaps Darg on the back and jokes, "Yep, that was what we were all saying before the contest when we heard about his plan." Verrek asks Darg, "Have you studied the way of the berserker?" Darg grimaces, "No" Hopeful, Verrek asks, "Would you like to?" Darg becomes dismissive, telling the half-orc, "No, that's okay."
With the pleasantries aside, Verrek and Murt explain that one of their companions, the famous mage Gestrontal, was one of the judges. And their friend Tarragona is an archer chickadee currently competing in the archery contest. Darg and Tonk suddenly perk up, "Archery! Woo! We gotta go compete! See ya in a minute!"
Tarragona wins handily, landing her three arrows dead center every time. Darg and Tonk barely manage to place, in spite of a very respectable showing.
Darg takes a moment to ask around the area to see if anyone knows about the Company of the Shining Stone or its various local members. He learns that they're not locals, but they are known. They have a reputation for being ruthless in the way that PC's are often ruthless. For example, they would be willing to nail the doors and windows shut and then set the building on fire. They just wouldn't be willing to do it to an orphanage.
Darg also learns that the locals have a lot of complaints about the Aerie Guard. The locals think that they've lost their touch ever since the goblin attack (which didn't affect the locals, but which they did hear about).
Longfellow tries talking to local merchants. None of them speak to him. He doesn't understand why. Tonk suggests it might be because he's got a pile of twelve dead rats across his shoulders.
Tonk finally manages to trade his masterwork greataxe away, getting three Spider Climb potions from Stalus Silvereyes in exchange. He distributes these among the characters. Then everyone troops off to check out the stone giants.
Both Longfellow and the archer Tarragona head out to scout the landscape. The giant encampment is centered around a single large hide tent. Longfellow approaches to scout in the early evening, when several giants are just returning to camp. He is able to count nine adults. One of them wears many necklaces and marks of rank. There are also two children (only about seven feet tall). The giants who have just come back to camp are carrying mining tools, mostly shovels and picks.
Longfellow watches as the giants prepare dinner. He sees nothing stolen and no human goods.
He quickly decides that any attempt to attack the stone giants would be an elaborate form of suicide. In contrast, some kind of parley seems like the very spirit of sanity. He lays down all his weapons and steps into the light of the campfires to asks to speak to the leader. He is quite grateful when they decide that they would rather talk to him than grind his bones to make their bread (he had heard that stone giants were very fond of that sort of thing). The leader tells him that they are here to find sky-metal for their rituals. They will not be staying long: the leader knows from his father that there is a hidden formation of sky-metal nearby, and once they gather enough they will return to their traditional lands.
The giant leader is very aware of the Company of the Shining Stone. He says that some of their members snuck into their camp when the giants were asleep and revealed the hole in the cliffs. The giants woke and drove the Company away, but not before they injured several giants and hurt one of the children. Longfellow offers some consolations, which the giant leader accepts. He then asks if he can take a look at the cave. The giant indicates that he and his people have nothing to do with the place, and gives Longfellow permission.
Longfellow peers inside. He sees a carven corridor extending at least 55 feet into the hillside, ending in a hexagonal room with a large statue. The statue is at least 18 feet tall, on a pedestal. Longfellow casts Light on a rock and throws it inside to get a slightly better view.
Interested by what he has seen, he goes back to the camp and yells out, "Boss Giant!" The giant leader growls, "Call me by my name! I am Amar!" "Yeah, so. Mind if I bring my friends back and take a look inside?" Amar waves dismissively, "Okay, as long as you ditch the Shining Stone people."
Tarragona has already returned and spent some time poisoning the water for Longfellow. He gets back to find the dwarf looking intently at him and fingering his axe. "So, cutting deals with the giants behind our backs?" Longfellow looks nervous and casts Obscuring Mist. The characters run towards the giant camp, where Amar is willing to believe their improbable story.
The characters decide to investigate the dungeon, bringing the peaks ram and Watches-Birds-at-Dawn.
The characters venture down the corridor into the hexagonal room. They can see that the statue is of a robed human with scepter and scroll in hand. Seeing nothing of interest around, the characters move down the corridor to the right. They hear a heavy stone-on-stone thumping from ahead of them. The characters stop. The thumping doesn't. A walking statue appears. It looks like a slightly smaller (only eight feet tall) version of the statue on the pedestal, except that this one has hands outstretched as if it were casting a spell. The characters withdraw to the hexagonal room and prepare for battle. Longfellow throws Barkskin on Darg and Tonk. Darg throws Bull's Strength on Tonk and Shield of Faith on himself. Tonk can't cast spells, so he just stands around trying to look useful.
The stone golem approaches, casting a spell on Tonk as it comes. Even though the spell is resisted by a Will save, it fails. Everyone cheers. The happiness is a bit less pronounced when the golem slams Tonk for 23 points of damage. By the time Tonk attacks with his warhammer and discovers that the golem is not vulnerable to nonmagical weapons, there is no happiness left at all. The mood has moved much closer to utter depression when Darg strikes with a +1 greatsword and also has no effect. Tonk offers, "Now, it is time to run."
The characters organize up something of a withdrawal. Tonk stays behind to cover the retreat, using Expertise to keep himself from dying an untimely death. Longfellow summons up a couple of sacrificial badgers to delay the thing. Each of them lasts precisely one round. Darg takes two massively crushing blows as he retreats, healing himself as he goes. Tonk is the rear guard. He takes another thump to his shield, but lives through the experience.
The characters cower at the end of the entry tunnel, watching the golem. After a while, the thing stomps its way back into the compound.
The characters decide that the right-hand path is too dangerous, so Longfellow heads back in and sneaks down the left-hand corridor. He gets crushed by a boulder. The other characters see the boulder roll out to the statue and vanish. Darg asks Tonk, "So you want that I should go get him?" Tonk offers, "Use the Spider Climb potion, dude. Maybe stepping on the floor was what did him. And I think he has a small fortune of magic on him."
Darg approaches very carefully, keeping to the walls. He has a rope tied around his waist, with the other end tied to the peaks ram's saddle. He notices that the corridor is full of shiny light. This confuses him, until he realizes that Longfellow was carrying a couple of sunrods, which rather uniquely work when they are broken. Unlike Longfellow.
Darg manages to avoid triggering any traps. Venturing further down the corridor, he finds a passageway that looks to the north. And a door at the end of the corridor. He would go look farther, except that Tonk won't let him outdistance the rope. He takes a look at Longfellow's body and yells back, "Hey Tonk! You got a spatula?"
Darg decides to check out the rest of the compound before squeegeeing Longfellow up. He heads north to a door, Spider Climbing all the way. He tries opening the door and gets himself hit by a Lightning Bolt for his trouble. Tonk yells, "Darg? Are you still alive?" Darg is too busy listening to a Magic Mouth that tells him, "Return from whence you came or face the dire wrath of Harsef the Never-Lost!" He ignores it, because the door is open. In the room beyond he can see a small bronze sarcophagus covered with mystic runes in a small chamber. Six bronze urns and a small coffer stand around the corners. Darg tries casting Detect Magic. He yells back to Tonk, "The entire room is magical! I think it's necromancy!"
Darg decides to check the room out. He grabs the coffer. Then he gets the sense that there is something wrong with the room. As if there might be an illusion over the room. He suspects that the real room might be larger than he is seeing. He moves past the borders of the illusion and sees that the room is actually 35 feet deep and 20 feet wide. It is filled with coffers, boxes, bales and other goods. There are silks, rare woods and paintings, but all look aged and decayed. There is a gold box containing spoiled spices, but the box is still worthwhile. There is an ebony urn containing worthless perfumed water. There is a statuette of a Pegasus. There is a suit of masterwork plate armor sized for a gnome. There are six masterwork shortswords. There is a silver mesh net with small sapphires woven into it. Darg sucks down another Spider Climb potion and carts out everything he can grab.
With the loot safely at the giants' encampment, Tonk and Darg retrieve Longfellow's body for Reincarnation. He is completely smashed. Flat. All his bones are shattered. His skull has an odd shape. And his organs are ruptured. Tonk, "Ooh... this is totally disgusting... Darg, do you have a bag for this? Friday, don't eat any of this, we'll need it later."
The characters stay with the stone giants for a night. Darg memorizes Gentle Repose and Silence. He uses the first to keep Longfellow's body from decomposing. Tonk asks the giants if they'd be willing to escort the characters back to the main road. Boss Giant Amar asks, "What would you be willing to offer us?" Tonk, "Well, strangely enough we have quite a lot of items. Perhaps you'd like this nice Pegasus?" The giant accepts the Pegasus. The giants take the characters back to Biway Station. From there they head over to the Druid's Grove.
Several druids agree that Meyzor has the power to reincarnate the dead. The characters are directed towards the orchards. Darg practices his speech, "You will help our friend or we will cut this tree down..." Tonk indicates that this sort of reasoning is not going to be helpful.
Meyzor turns out to be fairly willing to help a fellow (dead) druid. He even agrees to determine the fee after the reincarnation. He says that he will talk to Longfellow after he comes back, and if Longfellow truly believes in Nature then Meyzor will not charge for the spell. But the characters will have to wait for tomorrow, because he does not have Reincarnation available right then.
Early the next morning, Meyzor casts the spell. The characters watch as Longfellow's remains disintegrate into dust, only to be replaced by a large crag eagle. Meyzor takes Longfellow the Eagle aside to talk to him. He asks how much of Highthrone Longfellow has seen. Longfellow comments on how the Druid's Grove is very nice. Meyzor agrees that it is, but points out that it is all of Nature that remains in the Highthrone valley. All else has been cut down and paved over. Meyzor tells Longfellow that the Prophet of Veharika showed the people this valley many years ago, and they have not taken good care of it since then. The priestesses of Veharika are concerned about the environment hereabouts. He tells Longfellow, "I would like you to help me." Longfellow preens himself with a claw and asks the elder druid, "What can I do? Awwk!" Meyzor scolds him, "First off, stop doing that. Then, watch people. You have connections with the government that I do not have. You have connections to a trading family. Have you noticed the local deforestation situation?" Longfellow indicates that he has, and then goes on to a discussion of erosion and habitat destruction. Meyzor eventually begs him to stop. Longfellow agrees that he will stand with Meyzor when the time comes to stand against the humans and their deforesting ways. Meyzor heads off to the others to tell them that he will not charge for the spell.
Longfellow looks over his various possessions and tells the others that he will probably need to give up quite a number of them, including:
All agree to redistribute these items at the beginning of the next session. In recompense, Darg gives Longfellow his Ring of +1 Protection.
Tonk agrees to work up a leatherwork harness for Longfellow so he can still carry and use his wands of Light and Cure Light Wounds, and to let him carry small items (e.g., bottles of acid). The harness also works as studded leather armor (+3 AC). Tonk also puts together a very nice bandolier for Watches-Birds-at-Dawn so it can carry the rest of Longfellow's stuff. Once he finishes, Tonk points out that he's not going to put it on the creature until it's good and drunk. Or asleep. Or both.
The next night in the inn, the characters hear a familiar song in the common room. Someone is performing the song that Morgan first performed for the satyr back before the characters reached Crobin's Crossing, and which he taught to Sparrow. It is a young blond bard playing the song on a lute. Tonk tips the guy a couple of gold and says he knew the guy who wrote the song.
Everyone gains 1000 experience points. Longfellow gains an additional 500 points, both for dying and being reincarnated and for talking to the stone giants rather than fighting them. This compensates rather nicely for the level he loses for being brought back to life.
Appraised values on the items brought back from the tomb of Harsef the Never-Lost are: