Situation Report
Using the apparatus provided by the Ninth Menegril, you have successfully created an active, continual gate between the dungeon of the Stronghold of First Principles and the demi-plane called Smuggler's Run.
Damlak, the superhero who controls the castle of Buddha's Hand where Maldoor and Into were resurrected, sends a herald to knock on the door of this portal. If you open the door, the herald presents this message in person (a handsome young male human dressed in furs and gems whose value you estimate in the tens of thousands). If you choose to leave the door closed, the herald knocks the following in a rhythm-code the valkyries know.
"Greetings, Grey Company! I bear word from that most esteemed Gentleman of the Road, Damlak, who bids me say:
"I hope Maldoor, Into, E.N. Lightenment, and Arnold are well? It was my pleasure to provide you with bodies, I hope you will wear them in fortunate times. You may all rest assured that reincarnation awaits you in Smuggler's Run.
"I have now jousted with your champions John Fighter and Ivan the Terrible. I have learned some of you whom I cannot trust to keep your word when the stakes are high. But I know there is at least one honest man among you, so in future we can trade fairly for the disposition of the bodies and the transport of your soul. Despite his enmity for you, the Dark One is fully under my control, and you will find me a potent resource in your fight against Lilianth.
"My resurrection fees are high, because I deliver excellent value for top-notch service. I can be up front about this, because the profits that await you in Smuggler's Run are enormous. My fellow adventurers, from this demiplane I drink deep from the wealth of thousands of so-called awesome planets. I can beat the Ninth Menegril's prices, and give you what he never has: fat targets ripe for the picking."
Q&A
Zekon interrogates Damlak's herald:
Q. Do you follow the First Principles?
A. I pay proper obesiance to both sides of the dynamo that keeps wealth flowing.
Q. What's your relation to the Ninth Menegril?
A. Esteemed competitor. We trade through agents in the Nameless City and in Bartertown.
Q: Who would suffer from the collaborations you propose?
A: The forces of the Law in Smuggler's Run are the dwarves and orcs. We will not betray them, if you wish. This demiplane is full of those who follow Chaos and espouse evil: demons, beastmen, giants, ogres, and brigands. And the richest of all, the merchants, are Brethren of the Coin and Gentlemen of the Road like myself. We understand that thievery is part of the game, and practice it honorably.
Q: What do you offer the Grey Company?
A: I will invest in your operations by providing you with information on profitable heists and by selling you the goods and services you will need to adventure successfully in Smuggler's Run.
Q: What do you expect from the Grey Company?
A: I expect that we will trust one another as little as possible to make money together. I expect that you will execute the jobs you choose based on my information, but with no further assistance from me.
Q: What don't you ask of the Grey Company?
A: I claim none of the profits of your exploits, I will merely endeavor to be your best provider of the things you will be able to afford. I don't need you to protect the fact that I have provided your tips, although I do hope we'll exercise mutual discretion about our mutual business.
Ookla adds a question of his own:
Q: What will Damlak's price be in the future for resurrection given the trap arrangement we unknowingly entered into previously?
A: What is the value of the willing cooperation of the Gray Company? We speak of things that are beyond price. I make my services freely available to those who serve me.
A Specific Proposal
Damlak says "I have information on the activities of several merchant rivals. It would please me to see their businesses disrupted. I have a specific interest in one of their cargoes: the soul of an illusionist, now in the form of a lemure, which has recently been harvested from the Abyss. I will pay you commodities worth 200,000 of your "gold pieces" in exchange for this specific lemure, which is being held as part of a larger herd in a fortified corral, and will pay market value for the rest of the herd. If you wish a job that is lower risk, or offers you more independence, I can provide you with information on the routes of caravans which might be raided; I would profit by the disruption of my rivals' enterprises, and you would be free to sell the cargoes as you see fit."
W35 planning has a proposal for discussion.
Edit in your PC's questions to the Q&A.
I am curious to know the thoughts of others on the "rightness" or "wrongness" of turning over the soul of this illusionist.
Is delivering the soul of a dead character who has already been transformed into a lemure a disruption of what you humans see as the "natural order?"
Also, I would ask Damlak or his rep what his price will be in the future for resurrection given the trap arrangement we unknowingly entered into previously.
Lord John Fighter:
Lemures are the immortal remains of those who, consciously or not, have traded with Devilish powers to further their mortal aims. The devils, wicked as they are, acknowledge the primacy of Law. They keep their bargains. So I see no obligation to destroy or rescue these lemures. Similarly, it seems that the powers of Smuggler's Run are content with their current order, which seems to accept theft as a normal component of merchant rivalry. I consider the injustices and horrors of our own world sufficient to occupy us; let these Smugglers look for light when they are ready. Therefore, I have no objection to the adventures so far described. 200,000 pieces of gold will go far in helping to properly restore the desecrated resting place of the Pharoah, so I will ride with the Grey Company in this lemure rustling, if that is our choice.
However, I propose instead that we strike against Ashur Ram, who we have shied from too long. We all rightly fear his powers, yet he is an evil of our own world who may yet cause great mischief as our Awesome Planet sees more disruption. Our priests are mighty, and our greatest mage is restored to us. I believe we should destroy the Necromancer's power and seize his wealth, rather than hire ourselves out as mere employees of these impassive powers of Smuggler's Run.
An additional point: we are offered goods for which we may obtain gold. Perhaps we could also acquire some of those magical tools which we have found so useful before on the lemure expedition, but perhaps not. But we can be much more certain that Ashur Ram's treasure vaults will hold gold and ancient magics both. To be blunt, speaking as that man Damlak called "honest" because I did surrender my magical arms and armor when our defeat at dragon jousting honorably required it, thus securing our continued amity with the Buddha's Hand and resurrection (at least for now), I yearn for more and more powerful items of magic, that I may again become, and we all may remain, forces to be reckoned with.
[Meta] For better or worse, Ookla might very well prove to be a liability when it comes to dealing with Ashur Ram. He has serious problems with the undead, even with just the sight of them.[/Meta]
Ookla is glad for the return of our most powerful mage and amused intrigued by the workings of John Fighter's mind in regards to Damlak's proposal. However, he thinks it is time to move against the giants, time in fact to dispatch their souls to the netherworlds.
This would also be cool with JF, but
a) where/how exactly? like attack the glacial rift or what?
b) [Meta] I know Ookla's got Giant killing bonuses, but those guys are still essentially beyond our average party level, and even though we've got this supposedly reliable resurrection going, I don't want a TPK (trodden party kill), whereas Ashur Ram has been on our radar for a long time, so his dungeon is maybe not so wall-to-wall deadly in comparison to our average party level [/Meta]
Ookla's question answered above.
It sounds like I am prepping for the tower of the necromancer Ashur Ram, and also for a reconnaisance of/strike against the frost giants where they await the coming of winter on a mountaintop to the north. If there are voices arguing for returning to Smuggler's Run to tangle with dinosaurs and bandits, please let them be heard!
Maldoor is up for anything, but the only compelling argument he has so far heard for any of these plans is:
Killing Ashur Ram would also be appealing.
"Ahem. I would say, 'most competent.'
"Nevertheless, due to fluctuations in the sidereal realm, I will be unable to accompany you on this voyage. But if my schedule of research will allow, I will compose a missive to Damlak advising him of the limitations his methods of divining character. Holding the newly-dead as hostages, so as to coerce rescuers into a lopsided gamble, strikes me as a poor vantage point to criticize others' integrity."
Jarri agrees that action against the frost giant invasion is vital. Investigating the Dogballs Goblins who seem to provide some service to them may be an option. Aren't there also goblins in the mountain of Slumath's volcano? Giant agents should be now checking on Snurri, since they've surely been expecting some kind of communication with them. Taking out either an advance party the giants may have stationed, recon of some sort, or perhaps messing with the goblins could be a way to go. Also, the portal straight into the hill giant fort is another choice.
all quite meta:
Investigations are hardly ever fun with this many people at a table. There's all sorts of "what first?" and "who's paying the sphinx?" and "No, ask her this instead!" and "Let's make friends with the Dogballs!" so honestly I'd rather save that kind of thing for carousing. Also honestly, I'd rather focus on what's near at hand and more in-character relevant than going off into the newest, hippest sub-plane. Most honest of all, D&D with this many players is best in a dungeon so we don't have a bunch of efforts drifting away from each other that bore half of the table. So I would like to get into a dungeon with rewards.
If we can quickly suss out the set-up of the giants in the mountains, maybe that would be worthwhile, but if they are at a sort of camp in the mountains, they might not have brought their treasury with them, and seriously, those are big big bags of hit dice. Ashur Ram and his wraiths and were-tigers seems to me a more well-defined doable objective for the next couple of sessions.