Turnabout's Fair Play - 11/11 session recap

Thoric had a crisis of conscience, and suggested that instead of double-billing Caelebhan, the party ought to come clean and return his book instead. He also suggested offering to find a cure for his thorium poisoning. Xakoraki countered by saying that they should find such a cure before trying this ploy. In the end, the party's plan remained the same - to teleport in the morning to Maazuni in search of information and riches.

In the morning, however, as the party was stirring, they heard the sound of humans barking orders, and the jingling of armored men outside. Vrisana headed for the top of the tower, and Thoric took a peek through the slot in the door. He saw a group of nine armored men about 30 feet away.

Boreas followed Vrisana up into the tower, and set off an alarm as soon as he entered her bedroom. She asked him what the heck he was doing up in her private room, and he said he was heading up top to help defend the tower. She argued with him briefly, not wanting her private room or laboratory to be invaded, but she relented, and he went up top with her and Xakoraki. They saw that they were surrounded by five groups of nine men.

One of the men down below called out to Vrisana, and told her that by Caelebhan's order, and by the will of the council of magisters, she was to turn herself over to his custody. If she had not agreed to this within two minutes, he said they would take the tower by force. Vrisana did not respond to him, but made it clear to the party that she was not going to be taken without a fight. On the ground floor, Orvalion started the ritual to open a linked portal to Maazuni, and said that it would be ready in ten minutes.

True to his word, after two minutes, the tower was attacked. Earth elementals rose from the ground and started pounding on the tower. Vrisana responded with lightning bolts.

Boreas summoned his dancing sword and a poisonous cloud, and eliminated one of the groups over the course of less than half a minute. The other groups, seeing this, backed off quickly and were able to avoid the same fate. Thoric rained holy power down upon the elementals as well.

After five minutes of this, the tower was starting to come apart at the seams. Sandstone bricks worked loose and the floor rocked beneath their feet. There was a flash, and Vrisana cursed. She said that the wards had been breached. At that moment, she was struck by a crossbow bolt. Floating in the air to the side of the tower was Caelebhan. In his hand was a smal crossbow, and he didn't look happy.

Thoric and he exchanged words, and Caelebhan said that he had suspected that Vrisana was involved in their conspiracy. When Thoric asked what his grievances were, he listed them:
- The party lied to him about knowing Orvalion's whereabouts
- They made his city think it was under attack
- They stole his book
- They played with his emotions by using Vrisana to distract him
- And to top it off, they destroyed the dragonstone as well

Caelebhan's demands were that they turn Vrisana over to him and return his book. In reparations, he also demanded a service from the party. Vrisana had stopped casting spells as soon as she was hit with the crossbow bolt, and during the conversation she started to look pale. She finally fainted, and Thoric picked her up and carried her downstairs.

Xakoraki told Orvalion that no matter what happened, that he was to save himself once the portal was open. Then the party went outside to parley. Three of the groups of soldiers approached the tower, and two men handed their weapons over to their comrades before approaching Thoric. Their intent seemed to be to take Vrisana from him. He refused, and the men backed off and reclaimed their weapons. Caelebhan was nowhere to be seen. Thoric demanded that he show himself so that they could talk. Calebhan's voice responded that the party was in no position to make demands. He asked for Vrisana again, and when he was refused he said, "Take them!"

Boreas attacked one of the elementals with his dancing sword, and moved the poison cloud towards one of the groups. He was answered with two crossbow bolts. One skimmed his arm, and the other embedded itself in his leg. He immediately felt a burning sensation. Xakoraki waited for the soldiers to advance, then melted the faces off of several with her acid breath. Ander incapacitated another half-dozen with shuriken, and Kylian held his ground against the elemental. Thoric blasted away at the other elemental, and eventually brought it down.

Boreas, however, found that his spells were failing, and he was unable to cast anything new. He started to feel woozy, and retreated into the tower. He pulled the bolt out of his leg, and saw that it was designed to deliver an injection upon impact.

The party held out for another round or two, and then Orvalion completed the portal. He jumped through immediately, and Boreas followed. Xakoraki saw the edges of the portal waver a bit as Boreas stepped through, and then she went through carrying Vrisana. Thoric noticed the same wavering as Vrisana passed through, then he, Ander, and finally Kylian jumped in.

The air on the other side was humid and oppressive, but the portal closed behind them, and they found themselves alone in mountainous jungle. Boreas passed out, and Thoric used his healing skill to examine him. He determined that Vrisana and Boreas had been injected with a poison mixed with thorium. It was sapping their magical abilities quite effectively, and he realized that healing magic would simply increase the amount of damage. He reasoned that the poison would run it's course, and that they would both be okay in about a week. He also speculated that if enough healing magic were poured into them, then the thorium would dissipate faster, but in so doing would do more permanent radiation damage.