| Three months passed without incident for the party (Dominic, Fick, Ignatius, Jack, and Nemo with Drusila and Yarol) and the time for the meeting of nations was at hand. Delegates from across the continent arrived in the port city of Isolda, a prominent city on the border of Dalmara and Garland. At the meeting the party talked to the Marquis d�Sorn who regretfully informed them that Ivalice would soon have to go to war against the Dark Master and Lord Walthari. Ivalice�s intelligence had uncovered a plot linking Velen, Tethyr, and Ubrarktan in an alliance against Ivalice, plotting an invasion. As the meeting began he provided evidence of the connection between the elven nation and Tehtyr, including mention of their plot to attack Ivalice by sea. This would allow the orcs to attack across the Fire pass and invade the heartland of Ivalice. The marquis asked the party�s permission to cross the pass in exchange for crushing their problem with the giants. Other than this upcoming war the rest of the conference was a rather boring affair. Nemo and Fick who were not part of the meeting, left to explore. A nagging feeling drew Nemo to sparsely occupied mansion. After asking around, they learned the head of the town elders owned this house. After trying to get the party to help in the investigation, Nemo and Fick snuck in and discovered a secret passage in the library. The passage went deep into the earth finally opening out into a massive tubular room where zombies worked at carving the stone. Also there were several devils, which attacked them briefly before being driven off. Retreating before reinforcements arrived, they went to the rest of party and told them what happened. Deciding to leave this to the authorities, they informed the Dalmaran delegate Battle Queen Mathilda Orcbane. Foolhardy, she hurried to the elder�s house and told him what she had been told. Brushing past the angry old man, Nemo tried to open the secret door. When it failed to open he smashed it apart revealing the tunnel. After �charming� the old man they decided he had been charmed by the fiends and was innocent. They headed down to do battle. There they met several minor devils and a powerful corugon with a mighty flaming whip. But once the warriors had rushed forward to fight the fiends, the �old man� in his true form attacked. The pit fiend was clearly too much Ignatius to handle without preparation so he sealed himself in a bubble of force. This saved him when infuriated at his lack of success against Dominic he let loose a meteor swarm, nearly killing him and obliterating his shield. Upon regaining consciousness, he healed himself and rose again stronger than before. The pit fiend fled, his minions already torn apart by the arrow and blade. After telling the Marquis they needed more time to decide if Ivalice�s army could come across the mountains, they decided to finally hunt down the mother of all sand sharks, which was rampaging across the desert. After teleporting they found themselves in town fleeing for their lives. A great mound of earth was moving towards town but suddenly stopped as the party approached. Then the massive creature shot 500 feet into the sky and crashed to the ground. The sand shark was easily 500 feet long and powerful. Rearing up it sucked almost all of the party into its gullet. Dominic and Yarol had gotten out of range, and Jack had clung to its rocky nose. Inside the party scurried away from the stomach acid and sealed themselves in a ball of force before teleporting away. The creature pulled itself off the intractable ball and fled. Deciding that since being shot in the eye for hundreds of points of damage (Thanks to Jack) hadn�t killed it and since its hide reflected magic, they would have to teleport in and kill it from the inside. Inside they battle hordes of demonic antibodies, intellect devourers, and finally some worm things trying to control the beast but easily prevailed. Taking the creature�s crystalline brain as treasure, they killed it. |
| Decisions and Discovery |