Mithil & Fluteria

A thin wisp of a young girl sat in the corner of the hotel room where her companions had gathered.  Her robe seemed to swallow her as she rocked back and forth.  Even though she shivered with cold she kept her distance from the fire around which her comrades clustered.  The magnificent butterfly preening in her palm captured all of her attention.

Fluteria’s language was of aerial dance.  She could communicate vast and elegant nuance with subtle movement.  If only Mithil’s spell casting was as expressive as her movements….

“Mithil, it’s cold!”  The butterfly screamed this with a movement that darted towards Mithil’s left eye.  Abashed, Mithil warmed her hands with a cantrip to just the temperature her friend loved.

“Better?”  She whispered to her friend, even if the rest could hear, as the little being returned to her palm.

Fluteria radiated contentment and there was no need for more words. 

“Mithil?”  The butterfly looked at her expectantly and then danced in her palm to say, “you zoned out again, didn’t you?’

“I’m sorry baby.  I marvel at you.”  Mithil again kept her voice to a whisper because Fluteria had remarkable hearing for such a tiny being.

The butterfly indignantly flew away and did a gyrating, counterclockwise circle around the mercenaries’ head.  The motions were mocking and disturbingly obscene.

Mithil’s expression soured, “no, I do not care at all about that one.  I have to act nice to her because I need her.”

The tiny butterfly managed to flutter with skepticism.  She swept her wings wide, asking, “and the rest of them?”

Mithil sighed, “well you saw the duskblade sit in front of a bar radiating cold evil without a care.  I think not.”  Fluteria actually managed an audible laugh at this, nodding with mirth at the memory.

Mithil shuddered, “and the cleric, Hilvin, he and that damned spell…. Who would risk that, ten years off of a life!  No skill, not chance of fighting back to where you were meant to be.  Just “bam!” ten years gone!”

Fluteria looked at Mithil gravely until Mithil responded, “I don’t know Flute.  Ten years would kill most butterflies but I do not know about you.  We will not do it again.  I promise.  Not until I am certain.”

Fluteria communicated her unease that she had gone through the portal even once.   Mithil stroked the little being’s wings lovingly, letting sparkles of light fall onto the delicate form of her friend, “really, I promise.  Never again.  I am sorry.  I didn’t want to do it but should have asked you.”

Only slightly mollified, the butterfly, turned her attention to the window where the ranger and the dog boy stood outside in rain with the cart.

“Flute, I don’t know about them.  The dog boy is obviously crazy and unreliable.   He is, after all, part dog!  I’ve not said two words to the ranger.  I do not know those two.”

Fluteria continued her dance, only it there was a tinge of awe in her movements.  

Mithil nodded, “yes, the angel… who can say about such beings?  Both male and female and divine… wait… Fluteria….”

The butterfly stopped in mid dance, looking nervous.  If a butterfly could blush…

Mithil laughed out loud, the first noise the group at the fire could hear.  She returned her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “reeeaAALLYYY?!  How very interesting!  You have a thing for the intersex angel?!”

The butterfly swooped up and landed on Mithil’s nose, making Mithil’s eyes cross.  Her chittering was audible, “no!  I just find her and him beautiful!”  The butterfly flew back to Mithil’s palm in a huff.

“Flute, you are sulking!  I’m only kidding.  I do not care if she is intersex… but she’s an angel and she’s…,” Mithil struggled for a way to say this last bit delicately, “somewhat larger than you.”

Fluteria stomped out two words, "Not sulking!”

Mithil laughed lovingly, “you know, Flute, you have a ways to progress before any being other than me would even be able to talk with you.   Are you not content to be mine?”

The wizard conjured a bit more heat to warm her friend, “and I do love you.”

Fluteria pantomimed being torn in half.

Mithil grimaced because the pantomime was so realistic, “Okay, okay, don’t’ do that!  You know I hate it when you do that.” 

Mithil considered her words, “Fluteria, you are my only friend in this world.  I will work to become a better wizard so we can find a solution.  You have my word.”

Mithil hesitated before considering, “but, dear friend, what is it you want?  Is it this angel?  Or is it more?”

Fluteria’s dance was expansive of her hopes and dreams.  It lasted for a full five minutes.  Mithil found herself speechless, silently weeping, and burying them both in her overlarge robes.  It was a private moment they would never share.  She said the words to match the dance.

“You want another metamorphosis... you want to be my equal, not familiar. . .”  

“You want to love me from a point of independence; where that might lead you do not know any more than the rest of us.  You want a full life….. you said more but my words are not as expressive as your dance little beauty.”

They both sat in their own version of silence for half an hour before Mithil spoke.

“Fluteria Brealshil, I promise you this,” Mithil said these words formally and the words took on a power of their own, more than a simple promise between friends.

The butterfly hovered in front of Mithil’s face, gazing with hope, as Mithil continued.

“I will work for your next metamorphism.  Nothing is more important to me.   I will do all that can be done but it will take time.”

The little being circled Mithil’s face with inaudible, fluid, whoops of joy.  Her fluttering wings kissed Mithil’s face.

“Fluteria Brealshil, there is more.”   Mithil looked stern, “and you know what you have to do?”

Fluturia chittered, “not” and then feigned a death spiral falling back to Mithil’s pale palm.  Fluteria was motionless on her back.

Mithil grimaced at the realism of the dance “yes! You must not die and this is no joke!  Stay alive so you are more intelligent with age and I have more to help you with.  I KNOW if you aged without progress that would be a loss.  But listen, dear friend.  Just stay alive.  That’s all I ask.   Even if I appear to die, save yourself.  You must live so another can complete my promise.   I will write a note as soon as possible to my Aunt so there can be another if I fall.”

With that somber note, Fluteria nestled into her sleeping pouch, a caged construct designed so that Mithil could not accidently crush her friend, and the two drifted to sleep bonded together.

Return to the temple of evil ECL 5: Factoteum 1, Duskblade 3 , Warblade 1,Entry#6

After body bagging all hostile lifeforms from within the temple and ending the ball set up by the king ,our crew proceeded to search the outside remaining buildings.

The beat-down home looking like it was caved in was inhabited by some hostiles that missed out on the party in the temple. Being rather cautious and sometimes over predicting the enemies' strength I assumed the multiple sets of eyes and coordinated attacks may have been a bBeholder. How wrong was I! Once our mercenary and the cleric decided to tag team a trap door within the home and I half busting my ass on a 10 ft drop, trying to spear whatever was shooting at me from a hole below, , we found a scared hobgoblin family trying to survive.

Man were the fighter and I pissed she was sprayed by fire and I , by i some overseeing force cursed me not to be able to make a simple 10 ft drop as a grown man . I mean come on, as a kid I used to hop out of tower windows like that and not get a scratch . I swear something other than the Mighty Wombat is trying to oversee our demise and heartaches. After all this bullshit and the bad reception we received from the temple there had to be some sort of compensation. Asking for some question in regards as what to expect in the half destroyed tower I received a response in half broken common ;slaves ,pets, and more guards. Supposedly none human , wanting some compensation I snatched at the goblin with the crossbow for his magical shit in his pocket . Puling out a gold armband and a potion i threw back the gold item and took the potion as compensation for bodily harm towards me for this whole trip. I am no thief I just belief in rightful retribution and proper compensation for troubles whether you give me what I deem appropriate as to what I went through is another story, but I am no thief just honorable quester that should be rewarded in proper value .

Heading towards the tower I volunteer to bust down the door at an angle with my executioner mace. And Baamz once again a shit ton of of hobgoblin homemade spears came out flying. Once I was able to get in after the initial barrage I yelled ."Put your arms down for we have your king and no harm will come to him , you are defeated." That diplomatic attempt failed, yet people think I am over the top or barbaric in my method ; well I tried , guess they learned for real that I was quite serious that they were defeated before the fight began especially afterward when my mace/ sword was wearing a goblin costume. After that sullying mess one of the goblins that I pursued upstairs went into a mental break down and tried to reach my feet. I thought it must be a last suicide attempt with another flask , so I backed away, then I thought I am protected from minor flames .Thus I lifted my foot at a distance for him to kiss . Showing that all fight had left him.I did not mind having a servant , even goblin i do not discriminate on race , but rather on certain ideologies.

So as it seemed that the whole tower was cleared with a huge shit room (literally) I thought , this could not be that well guarded for no reasons even if this is the barracks of some sort. I put to use my new pawn "(can t remember his name) Find me where are the shiny or the good stuff" So after shuffling through shit trying to unlock a trap door everyone else soon followed and descended into a room where it would be a perfect opportunity of rest. Since the choke point of any enemies would be limited and easily  picked off. After almost a whole day in that shit hole and bathing done we continued on with my new knave. Going through tunnels and pulling ourselves out of a hole into the forest near Nulb we knew we were about south of the temple so we moved north. Encountered some Ogres that wanted a meal , the cleric thought that they had invited us over to break bread. More like breaking bones ,yet it was their bones and marrows that twisted, curled , and bowed before our onslaught of fiery fireballs, ball busting blows , and medieval brutality on their bitch asses. I swear creatures around are so violent , however evil , they say my Uncle Icelus the first as a death knight is, he sure is more polite and more willing to have tea time and know-how to live than all these living beings around regular non-necropolitic towns. Anyhow when returned to the temple we searched it for 3 days to no avail and teleported / gated back to town to deliver the prisoners to freedom and the king to ready to pick his fate upon his awakening.

The Wombat allowed us rather easy foes this time around and has procured me with a little bit of a following may he see my leadership skills be able to handle more of a crowd to give him praise and honor my family's name .Or even better, to return them to serve them directly or indirectly under the Black Parade , on that fateful day when the damned shall march to reclaim what all mortal life will have to be subjugated under, realistically or metaphorically speaking .. Death Or... Undeath .

Free City of Greyhawk (stats)

The Free City of Greyhawk
Metropolis
Population: 69,500
GP Limit: 100,000 gp
Assets: 347,500,000 gp
City Guard: 695
Ready Militia: 3,475

DM Entry: Mistletoe as Divine Focus

The following material has been added to the Aryathan Jiil Classes and Prestige Classes book. The spell has been added to the Aryathan Jiil Libram of Magic IV. 

Also recently, all 4 of the Librams of Magic have been updated to make the formatting the same across all four of those books, and about a dozen or so new spells have been added to book 4. Additionally, a new Index has been made that includes all of the spells from the four Librams, this helps me to know what spells have already been updated, but you may find it useful if you need to know where you found a spell in one of the Librams.

Divine Focus: The default divine focus for a druid or ranger is a sprig of mistletoe or holly. –Player’s Handbook.

Holly and Mistletoe: Sprigs of holly and mistletoe are used by druids as the default divine focus for druid spells. Druids can easily find these plants in wooded areas and then harvest sprigs from them essentially for free. –Player’s Handbook.

Below are some new optional divine foci for druids and rangers, as well as how to harvest them.

Barrowed Mistletoe: Any mistletoe not personally harvested by you. Using barrowed mistletoe as a divine focus for one of your spells reduces the duration to 50% of normal (or -2 to the spell’s save DC for instantaneous or permanent spells), and reduces the range to 75% of normal (or -1 to the spell’s save DC for Touch, Personal, or 0-ft spells). The saving throw penalties (if any) stack.

Greater Mistletoe: Greater mistletoe must be harvested personally on Midsummer’s Eve, cut with a gold or silver sickle or the touchsickle spell, and caught in a golden bowl (worth at least 100 gp) before it touches the ground. Mistletoe that is harvested in any other way is considered normal mistletoe, sometimes referred to as “lesser mistletoe”. Using greater mistletoe as a divine focus for one of your spells increases its duration to 125% of normal (or +1 to the spell’s save DC for instantaneous or permanent spells).

Holly: Using holly as a divine focus for one of your spells reduces the duration to 50% of normal (or -1 to the spell’s save DC for instantaneous or permanent spells), and reduces the range to 75% of normal (or -1 to the spell’s save DC for Touch, Personal, or 0-ft spells), and reduces the area to 75% of normal (or -1 to the spell’s save DC for Effect or Target spells). The saving throw penalties (if any) stack.

Oak Leaves: Using holly as a divine focus for one of your spells reduces the duration to 50% of normal (or -2 to the spell’s save DC for instantaneous or permanent spells), and reduces the range to 50% of normal (or -2 to the spell’s save DC for Touch, Personal, or 0-ft spells), and reduces the area to 50% of normal (or -2 to the spell’s save DC for Effect or Target spells). The saving throw penalties (if any) stack.

Harvesting: A druid’s or ranger’s divine focus cannot be found within a spell component pouch. Rather, you must harvest your own, or barrow someone else’s divine focus. In no circumstance can you use a purchased divine focus to cast a druid or ranger spell. To harvest divine foci, you simple make a normal Survival check to hunt and forage (see the Survival skill description in the Player’s Handbook) and then roll on the table below to determine if you have harvested any and what kind you have found. Every serving of food and water your check indicates also produces an equal amount of divine foci chances. Thus if you rolled a 12, you would sustain 2 people with food and water, and also produce two rolls on the table below, each result representing a single divine focus for a single casting of a spell.

How Many Do I Have For My New Character? Any new character (regardless of the character’s level) may roll 10 times on the table below. Thereafter you must forage for additional divine foci during game play.

Chance of Finding	Divine Focus	Duration	Range	Area
01-10	None	—	—	—
11-50	Oak Leaves	50% (or -2 to the spell’s save DC for instantaneous or permanent spells)	50% (or -2 to the spell’s save DC for Touch, Personal, or 0-ft spells)	50% (or -2 to the spell’s save DC for Effect or Target spells)
60-85	Holly	50% (or -1 to the spell’s save DC for instantaneous or permanent spells)	75% (or -1 to the spell’s save DC for Touch, Personal, or 0-ft spells)	75% (or -1 to the spell’s save DC for Effect or Target spells)
—	Barrowed Mistletoe	50% (or -2 to the spell’s save DC for instantaneous or permanent spells)	75% (or -1 to the spell’s save DC for Touch, Personal, or 0-ft spells)	—
86-00	Mistletoe	—	—	—
—	Greater Mistletoe	125% (or +1 to the spell’s save DC for instantaneous or permanent spells)	—	—

Touchsickle

Updated from Dragon 164, AD&D 2^nd edition.

Transmutation

Level: Druid 2, Ranger 2

Components: V, S

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: Personal

Target: You

Duration: 1 round/level

            One of your hands becomes a sickle. It only requires a touch attack to damage a target and strikes as a magic weapon (although it has no enhancement bonus to attack or damage rolls). You may use touchsickle to harvest greater mistletoe as if it were a gold or silver sickle.

Return to the temple of evil ECL 5: Factoteum 1, Duskblade 3 , Warblade 1,Entry#5

   Returning from town having done our shopping with my motley crew accompanied with a new fighter mercenary because of the dangers of the road ahead may yield, we re off to The temple of Evil. Having way overslept on the carriage back to Nulb , we are at the gates of the temple of evil. Greeted by a  big party of hobgoblins to be the welcome comittee right after the gate just awaiting our splendid arrival. Just eager to serve us a most undesired cocktail of death with a minor rain of spears ,disoriented charges along warcry, with the usual swinging of weapons everywhere in disaray , they eventual drink upon their own blood . In reality it may have been their own death they were throwing this party for.

   After a brief waltz with these furry little goblins, we continue to the huge double doors of the cathedral . The cleric proceeds to knock upon expecting a proper welcoming to a ball or perhaps a banquet since the hobgoblin knew how to throw a reception he must of expected some kind of automated etiquettes, even from these beings. Just like I did in a ghost town in Nulb I expected a ghostly drink at a ghostly bar and thus extended my hand out and awaited for a cool juice from the beyond. Sadly ,that poor soul must of lost his manners on the way betwixt life and death cause a drink I did not receive. So I can definitively understand why the cleric knocked on the door; we expect a certain amount of "know how" and respect even from enemies or most unexpected places that ALL life forms/beyond should JUST know.

   Well ,after a rude wait of them not coming to the door we just decided to let ourselves in. Damn little creatures or whatever the hell else was in the temple now I'm getting a little flustered that I had to strain to get that BIG ASS door opened. And it shall soon develop into a crescendo of anger what I initially felt at the door . But wait, inside this luscious blasphemously ornamented cathedral there goes the second round of the committee and this time they brought (let me make a name for it out of nowhere ) a baby Kong !Aka a Dire Ape . Man, I thought this might be a little tougher , they upped their game though in comparison to outside. Well that dance was done with a little more crispy and volley of flying shooting goblins after being hit by our mage's fire ball , wheezing and whoaing every where. The Kong gave us so hard knocks with his good tango but still we endured it and came out as the parties' champions once again.

   Searching around for clues in this desecrated / defecated upon place ,where the goblins seemed to have made it their home , we found nothing of interest halfway through the building. Their were curtains though and so the mage sent out her butterfly to see what was awaiting us behind. More entertainment I assume,treasures, demons with promises, or just more Goblins setting up another show or type of guest dance . Well, after the butterfly HAD confirmed there were other life forms behind it, the kobold on our end went to investigate further. He came running back saying get ready .
Yes, and this time it was the curtain call folks, it was the king and his unholy patriarch court that had set up this bizarre party wanting us to  give him acknowledgement of his warm welcome . He invited us to dance to his fugue I believe .A most bizarre thing it was but indeed this whole journal in general was weird.

   I knew he wanted acknowledgement of his warm welcome committee and wanted us to give thanks and perhaps he would have served us an easier dance to step to . But no, I could not forgive him, not because of the rains of javelins, the slew of subjects he threw against us, not the baby kong bonking me on the head during the Tango, or even his rude ass invisible right hand goblin trying to smack a drink out of my hand drinking uninvited in front of his king. Even he had his reasons.My anger was aimed because these fools did not let us in  when the cleric knocked . Unforgivable! With epic swirling of ice storm ,invisble jokers left and right, the king displaying his double sided blade dance work, cleric reciting shit and my fluid dodges while being angry at the king I finally sundered him.

   I shall drag him along to give us safety to traps, interrogate him, turn him in the authorities for a reward, or even make him our servants until he has learnt all sorts of proper manners . Unlike his fellow servants who all went to see their deity on the other side he shall know no respite of the sort .He was the king and thus should have known better to let his guest in when politely knocked especially after besting his first group of greeters. THAT is WHY he shall not die quite yet.
May the Wombat be pleased and teach this cretin a lesson not only to be a king but from the lowest place all must spawn to become great, he either never knew it or forgot his base roots of humbleness. Always in manners for the Wombat.