"Cabbage Patch Cutthroat! There it goes!! Get it!" Lawrance shouts as he let's loose a bolt of energy from his dripping hand

Attack: 9 Damage: 16

Poljen whirls at Lawrance's shout and does his best also to stop the possessed doll...or whatever it is.

"Oh good grief," Perry shakes his head and complains as the evil doll runs away. "We don't have time for this," he says as he fires three purple beams of energy at the creature.

---

Once everyone is back at the castle, Perry tells Maccath, "Sorry my dear, but our current circumstances aren't great right now. Please do make yourself at home, and get some food and rest. We can all talk later. For now, we have a friend to bring back." He looks to the body of Velon with a serious look as he says this. He makes sure that Poppo and the other staff understand the situation with Maccath so that they can help her out.

Perry also goes down to the pool area that they have been building out overlooking the dragon playpen. He places Murtle in it and drops concentration on the Polymorph spell.

Later, Perry approaches Lia, "If possible Lia, I want to be there to watch when you do the ritual. You are an incredibly strong person, Lia. If you need any help from me, I'll be there to help in any way that I can."

Morgaine checks her bags before going up to the castle, upon hearing about the doll getting away; if she is able to she will shot at it with her bow.

Attack, longbow:  3d20 (1, 15, 8) + 8= 8,23, 16

Damage, longbow:   3d8 (4, 6, 3) + 6= 10,12, 9

OoC: I did the rolls just in case they were needed.

The doll gets blasted apart as several people target it in its escape. A thin wail ensues, it sounds much like a little girl crying in pain and grief.

The castle's inhabitants, usually glad to see the Blaze return in triumph, are somber as they watch Velon's corpse carried through the gates.

Mari, suddenly loosed from the confines of her turtle body, finds herself drowning once again. This time on water rather than air. Surfacing from the pool, she finally draws a proper breath into her lungs.

As Cratol get back to their sky castle he carries Velon to Lia and his room where he gently lays him out on the bed.  Cratol nods to Lia as he passes out of the the room and heads to his own rooms where he readies himself for a nice peaceful sleep.  Before laying down he will meditate over all that has happened in the ice dungeon for a while to clear his mind and to make peace with all that happened down there.  After nearly two hours he lays down and goes to sleep. 

  Mari gasps for air   It is a shock to be back in her normal body.   After she clambers out of the pool, she stands before them soaking wet   " Perry, i owe you thanks for saving my life. Once i get over being a turtle i will feel more grateful. That was horrid being a turtle.  I much preferred the ape. We won anyways.   " Glancing at Velon's corpse, she turns pale.  " Poor Velon.  Can you bring him back Lia?" 

  Lia smiles happily as she embraces Mari inspite of her wet clothing   " It is good to have you back my friend.  I can return Velon to us.  I will begin that process in a few moments.  " She nods at Cratol.  " Thank you for carrying him all this way Cratol. You are much stronger than you appear. " 

  Lia gathers up some oils. " Im imploring Sune to give us Velon back.  Any who wish to watch are welcome. " She looks over at Perry meaningfully , remembering that he had mentioned before about wanting to be a part of this. " 

  She removes Velon's armor piece by piece with great reverence. When he is only wearing his small clothes she begins anointing with oils. She brushes his hair until it is perfect in her mind.   Lia takes out the diamond and places it on his chest.  She kneels by him and begins quietly speaking to Sune.  The young wood elf tells Sune how much Velon means to her.  She begins to fervently ask Sune to restore him to health. Lia can feel Sune's power begin to build in her body. After a short time later she feels as if she can barely contain Sune's power. The diamond on his chest is beginning to shimmer brightly. Lia can contain the power for only a moment longer.  She cries out once more for Sune to restore her lover to life.  She releases the energy into the diamond.  The diamond lights the room up as if it is daylight before exploding into shards of light.  The light shards enter the corpse of Velon and the room goes silent.  A moment later Velon can be heard taking a breath.  Color returns to his face. His eyes open as life surges back into him.  Lia collapses weakly by him. " Velon....I  have missed you so.  I can't bear to be without you. " She kisses him softly.   

Velon takes a long breath as life is restored to him.  His eyes are wide and blank until he hear's Lia's voice and is able to focus on her.  He starts to comprehend what is happening just in time to return her kiss.  After he slowly sits up and says "I was dreaming of a never ending sea of holy water and mountains built upon mountains higher than I could see."  He pauses, still shaking the cobwebs from his mind.  "It was a place of Gods, and was as beautiful and perfect as...." At that he looks up at Lia and stairs into her eyes.  She knows the rest.  "I wasn't dreaming, was I?"  After another moment he continues "Bahamut was there, I think, or at least his presence was like I've never felt before.  In my confusion it was so tempting to stay, to ascend the mountain, but something tiny inside felt wrong about it.  Then I felt a different power, just as strong, and heard your voice."  After a few more moments, possibly allowing Lia to speak as well, Velon looks at her again and puts his hand on her face.  "I'm sorry, my love."  He hugs her.  Returning to his usual, more jovial tone he continues "I told you I wouldn't survive long without you."  "I was right, at least, so that's something.  That's what I get for running off.  What was it, ten seconds I lasted without your protection?"  He chuckles slightly.  "Can you forgive your beloved fool?"

As Velon continues to hug Lia he takes in his surroundings and sees they are no longer in the icy tomb but rather back home in the castle.  He sees Perry standing there and thinks of the others.  Looking at the tiefling he asks "Mari?"  "What of the others?  The horn?  Maccath?"  Allowing Perry a moment he adds "why do I have a feeling, my friend, that you played no small part in keeping everyone alive for me?"  "Thank you.  I bet you're glad to be free of those furs, eh?"

Watching the play of magics as the divine aura of Sune channels through Lia, Lawrance studies the event of Velon's restoration from death. Once Velon rises up, he  says "Welcome back. Luckily, death is not always final for us. The Horn wasn't there, but we have some detailed leads to it. We have yet to ask McCath once she recovers, but she saw those who bargained with the scientist for it. There were many other items as well, but bringing you back was the priority."

At Lawrance's voice Velon turns to see there are more friends there.  Despite that they did not find the horn, as Velon suspected they might not after his locating spell failed, he gives a small smile and says "this is good, thank you friend."  He looks down a little, not making eye contact with Lawrance for as long as he might normally.  It is likely the wizard does not perceive it as an insult however, as the words seem sincere.  Perhaps it is a bit of shame for how the paladin had treated the wizard in the ice encased castle.

"What of Old White Death's property?"

Glad the doll is smashed to bits, Poljen grins at his companions.  "Finally.  Now, let us go.  We have much to do.  Er, well, Lia and Lawrance, that is.  Lia to help Velon, and Lawrance, maybe with Perry, can start sorting these items.  I, well, I think I need some rest.  If I am needed, you all know where to find me."  He returns to his room, and collapses on his bed, asleep within moments.

Perry grimaces a bit as Mari transforms back in the water without gills. But as she gets out of the water, a wave of relief washes over him. "Thank goodness you're back to normal," he says with a sigh of relief. "It was so terrible, Mari, so terrible. I didn't know what to do and you were suffocating and I didn't know if my spell would work so I panicked and I made you a turtle." 

Then, Perry ruffles around in his bag and pulls out Mari's Thieves' Tools and gives them back to her. "These suit you better," he says. "Sorry for borrowing them without asking, but they did come in handy." 

As Mari and Lia hug, Perry smiles at the heartwarming scene. He uses a bit of bardic magic to dry the two off before they catch colds. 

---

Perry watches intently as Lia performs her ritual to raise Velon. He sits in the room cross-legged with his back against a wall. His swords and mandolin are placed to his side. As Perry watches Lia channel the power of Sune and the warm radiant light envelop the diamond and the surrounding area, he can't help but be moved by the beauty of it all. Still, he does his best to maintain his composure and focuses on the ripples that the divine magic creates in the weave surrounding Velon.

As the ritual continues, he recalls the moment he first saw Velon begin to almost rise as an undead before he managed to shutdown the crystal. "What if that dispel hadn't succeeded? Can a mortal be truly brought back after becoming undead? Or did blocking the crystal at that exact moment somehow prevent the undead transformation from fully taking?" he ponders these questions as he looks to one of his swords next to him. "This is okay, right?" he asks the hexed blade.

Once Velon is back, Perry is just completely overcome with gratitude and happiness. "I can't...I can't believe it. You're actually back," he whimpers. "*sniff* Everyone's fine, Mari is fine. No evil horn, but we rescued Maccath and she is resting. And...yes I am glad to be out of those furs. They were smelly, heavy, and looked terrible...*sniff*. I'm just glad you're alive, boss. I had hoped beyond all hope that you hadn't fully changed into one of those things."

  Mari grins as she takes the thieves tools back from Perry.  " You did wonderfully Perry.  You saved my life. " She kisses him on the cheek.   

 Lia scowls playfully at Velon.   " I forgive you for running off rashly like that.   Do it again and i will strike you down myself.   " Her tight hug afterwards softens her words.    

Velon chuckles at Lia's threat.  He kisses her deeply.  "That's fair" he says with a smile.

The paladin smiles at Perry but then gets a curious look and asks "changed?"  "Well I look forward to hearing the tale of how the remaining members of the mighty Silver Blaze overcame that place, rescued Maccath and overcame the folly of their 'leader'.  Who better to tell it than the greatest bard the world has known, or will know when your deeds are done, Master Pennington?  Not a bad friend...and swordsman...if I may add, as well.  We did give that bone swarm hell, didn't we?"  Velon gives him a sincere smile and nod.  "But first, what is in the kitchen today?  I've never been so hungry in my entire life!"

Velon goes to the the kitchen with whoever will join him and has an informal meal.  If Perry or others will join him he is eager to hear about all that transpired and more on where they stand with regard to Maccath, the horn, and their bargain with Old White Death.  Afterwards he retires to his room for a bit to clean up, change and take some time to himself to think.  Before dinner the paladin walks about the castle briefly to check in with the men, Captain Callahan and the rest.  At dinner he greets everyone and briefly thanks them for their heroism in his absence, saying he will have more to say once everyone arrives and after they have eaten and told him their individual tale of their recent mission.  The paladin waits and waits, even for Cratol.  He waits hours even, sending Captain Callahan's men out to look for the monk.  He uses the Locate Object to find an item the monk wears daily until he can be tracked down and persuaded to attend the time in the dining hall with the Blaze.  The paladin holds steadfast in this mission.  When the seemingly insurmountable task has been achieved, Velon speaks to the group.

"Friends, thank you for all you have accomplished in the face of that which would surely mean death to all but the mightiest heroes in our world.  I am honored to have a second chance to fight beside you.  More importantly, I owe you all an apology.  I took a risk down in that frozen tomb and put you all in danger as you could no longer rely on me to have your back during the worst of it all."  He looks to Poljen as he mentions taking that risk, smiles and remarks "ironic, I know."  "I am sorry that I failed you, but am not surprised that you did not fail each other, or our cause." Pausing for a rest and a deep breath Velon continues.  "I was never meant to be a leader.  I am a a fool who had never read a book not long before I met you.  You chose me during a tough time when Fay and others were down, or worse, and Lia had to leave.  I spend many hours awake at night fearing for making the wrong choices, failing all of you, and failing the people of this world, and I take it out on all of you when my fear gets the better of me.  My magic is strong, my hammer is strong, my armor is strong, but I sometimes fear that I am weak.  I wanted to suggest to you that I may not be the best leader in this room, and leave the rest to you.  I think we all know who the best and most respected leader is.  From what I'm told, when I fell everyone knew who it was without any need for debate.  Some of you have known her name since before anyone even knew the name 'Silver Blaze'."  At that he looks to Lia with a long pause and a small smile before beginning to sit again while asking "what say you all?"

Cratol wakes up after a nice bit of sleep and makes it down to the dining hall when he sees Velon in there alive again he will sit down next to him and say, "I am glad to see you back.  We prevailed in the ice as you probably have been told.  Carryng you out was not something any of us wanted but as you are the leader leaving you behind was not a choice either.  We would have much rather you walked out with the rest of us but it is very good to see that Lia has the power to bring any of us back if we should fall.  One thing I know for sure is that we will probably face greater and greater foes and challenges to finish thei quest to make sure the cultist do not win.  With that being said I think that if we are able we take the castle to my home to repovision and I can get a weapon that is there that could help us and myself in said quest." 

Cratol will tell Velon his role in the castle and what he observed and did all the way to carrying his body back to the castle when the crystal was broken.  He will open his Haversack and pull out the items that they put in so that Lawrence can identify and catalog the items. 

When Velon talks about having a new leader he will say, "While you yet live you should remain our leader.  Granted you made mistakes but we all do and we learn from those mistakes.  THe role of a leader is never easy and sometimes very hard.  But you have a good head on your shoulders and good people under you that can give you some sound advise.  But when it comes down to it we all know from the past even the best laid plans can go wrong after the first arrow or sword swing has taken place."

Perry is momentarily stunned and his face turns a slightly darker shade of purple as he receives Mari's kiss. He smiles softly and simply replies, "You're welcome, Mari."

---

At the dinner, Perry recounts to Velon what transpired during the fight. As he does so, he creates illusory images of scenes from the fight to help illustrate the story. The first such scene shows Velon and Perry fighting side-by-side together against the bone swarm. Velon looks normal with his warhammer and his Bahamut armor, but for some reason Perry appears different. He is not wearing his normal outfit, his shield, or his mandolin. And instead of the heavy winter furs, he is wearing foreign-looking, flowing silken clothing and has one lone sword at his side. His purple hair is in a ponytail and he has assumed an angled fighting stance with one hand on the sheathe of the blade while the other is on the hilt.

"There we were, standing side-by-side fighting the swarm of bones, when suddenly you disappeared in a step of mist," Perry recounts. "I turned to Lia and said, "Lia, Velon has taken the fight inside. I have met many warriors throughout my legendary career as a legendary swordsmen, but I have known no man as sturdy nor as honorable as Velon Rodaan. That defensive prowess and rock-solid honor will surely allow him to survive in there for over 12 seconds."

The illusory image changes to a dramatic close up of Perry's eyes.

"Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, we all heard a scream come from inside the room. Unfortunately, we could not see what had transpired through the swarm. We began hearing uncomfortable noises of sharp teeth and claws gnashing upon metal coming from the room as many of our fellow heroes assaulted the undead swarm to try and break through."

The image changes to Morgaine, Poljen, and Cratol hitting the undead fiend.

"But ultimately, it was I, a humble wanderer, who managed to deal the final artful blow to the creature."

The image changes to a super dramatic one of Perry in a pose that implies him slicing past the creature in a flash of his blade. 

"After that, we all ran in. And we saw you on the ground not far from the crystal."

The image changes to Velon face down on the ground near the crystal. Then quickly changes again to Perry screaming at the crystal.

"I screamed at the crystal. I yelled, "You inanimate object! How dare you strike down our leader, He Who Was Chosen and the Child of the Dragon! You shall pay for your evil transgressions!" Then, with a simple waive of my hand, I interrupted the magic tethering the crystal to this plane. Now, all that stood between us and victory was a simple undead dragon."

The image changes to the undead dragon.

"We all attacked the dragon. Lawrance with his fire, the others with their hitting, and I with the ancient forbidden techniques of the blade, passed down through the Pennington line for generations. Finally, it was none other than the Beautiful and Radiant Lia Galanodal, unmatched in archery because she is an elf and fueled by her vengeance, who dealt the final blow to the creature with that magical arrow that was crafted specifically to kill dragons."

The image changes to the now shattered crystal.

"We had won. All that was left to do was to find the horn (which we didn't), find Maccath (which we did), get all the items for the evil dragon we chose to partner with, kill four more skeletons who were there, free Maccath, shrink Mari into a smaller turtle, haul you along with all the other previously mentioned things out of the death trap ice castle, kill an evil doll, travel back to our flying castle, change Murtle back, and then resurrect you. But after all of that, we were done."

---

Regarding choosing the new leader, Perry stays out of the discussion but nods along as others speak.

Poljen wakes, weary and sore, but feeling much recovered.  He heads to the dining room and asks Poppo to make him twice as much breakfast as usual, which means about 4 servings of everything.  When Velon walks in he brightens, "There you are!  You look much LIVELIER than the last time I saw you on your feet!  HAH!"  He turns to whomever is also there.  "I knew he would be back.  Sune may be fickle and even cruel at times, but she is powerful, and never seems to deny a request of our Lovely Lia."

After Perry speaks, the barbarian says, "Despite Perry's, er, em-bell-ish-ments of his swordplay, that is a fairly accurate telling.  Well done, Bard of the Blaze!" 

When Velon calls for a vote, he scoffs. "Bah!  Every leader makes mistakes.  I made mistakes when I led the Blaze.  Lia has made mistakes.  You have made mistakes.  You WILL get to make more mistakes than the rest of us, as you do a better job than the rest of us."  He turns to Lia.  "By the way, I want to commend you.  When Velon fell, you fought your instinct to focus on rescuing his corpse.  You made sound decisions and gave clear orders.  Keeping you as Velon's second-in-command should also stay the same."

He turns once more to Velon.  "I agree with your idea of going for that crystal.  But your mistake was going yourself.  Alone at any rate.  With your divine powers, you do more damage than I can.  Cratol is both a faster and quicker fighter than I could be.  But I think there is no argument that I am the toughest member of the Blaze.  I can take more abuse, because I am so hard-headed, yes?  So next time, either send me, as I will last longer on my feet, or take me with you, so I may protect your back while you accomplish the dangerous task.  That is MY job here.  To keep the rest of you from taking more damage than necessary."

At the dinner meeting, Lawrance listens intently a each person speaks, stating their opinions and stances with regards to the past close call. Amused by the 'enhanced' replay of Perry's recounting, he grins wondering if the room is due for a song, as well. Once others have finished speaking he takes his turn

"This talk of passing on leadership is all fine and good, although your reasoning doesn't pass muster. We knew the link to the creature controlling our trials was through the crystal, and we assumed the best way of sundering that link was by destroying it. I tried the first attack on it, but couldn't do enough. You continued what we thought was the fastest, best route to defeat the forces arrayed against us. This wasn't necessarily a bad choice - we just didn't understand just how tough that link was. Nor how strong the mind behind that mess was, and able to strike back with immense force that came close to doing more than merely killing you. That beam it hit you with was a powerful magic that would have vapourized any lesser person! Of all of us, you were the ONLY one who had any chance of surviving such a magic. Does that make you a poor leader, or a leader who is where he needs to be - at the forefront of any battle? I may have had issue with some of your decisions, or the ways of your God in granting your needs and wishes, but that doesn't mean I see you as any less of a good leader or valiant ally. What we are trying to achieve here far exceeds petty bickering, or misguided ideals - we have overcome our differences to defeat the Dragon Queen, and that and only that should be our focus. If you truly feel that Lia would be better suited to achieve that goal, then fine, appointed her leader and let's continue. If your only reason to give over to her the leadership of the Blaze was from this single, slightly eager error in judgement then I say you're still stuck in the moment and not looking to our future goals. "

With that, he sits down and waits for the next speaker.

  Lia looks on at Perry's slide show with a big grin.   " Thats exactly the way i remember it happening.  You are an amazing bard Perry.   

  Lia listens to Velon and the others on the leadership debate.  She speaks when it is her turn.  " Thanks for the compliments.   However, Velon, you should remain our leader.  You have led us well for a long time.  I feel most comfortable with you as our leader. I will be glad to stay second in command to you.  One rash act doesnt offset all the great decisions you have made.  Hopefully, you will use a little more caution next time. " She winks at him.   

Morgaine arrives at the castle and removes the winter iems and her armor, washes up and gets dressed. She heads to the dinning hall to find other members of the Blaze there as well as Velon. She is happy to once again see him alive and is greatful Lia ws able to return him back among the living.  She will state such before sitting down at the table. Only raising to speak is she needs too.

Once Perry  is finished his wonderful tale of our last battle, she will only add what might have been left out of her fight within the bone swarm. She otherwise sit and listen to the others tell their tales. As far as the issue of leader, she will stay silent only to nod her head at what the others have spoken about Velon and how all of us make mistakes; that doesn't mean that we give up a role that others feel is our place.