No problem Rusty, these things happen.

Experience Totals
Beezoo:5,600
Jarak:7,775
Onur:6,000
Raina:5,550
Shaly:7,925

Recap:
So far, you've been attempting to follow clues to find the Tomb of Haggemoth. Zenatos made a forgery of a token for you to go see the Oracle of Alcazar. The tomb must be found and its walls breached or he will die. Shaly, who had read the book Zenatos had found was also placed under the same curse, so you probably shouldn't give up on this task at any point. Anyway, you chartered a rickety old ship, the Manky Bastard, and traveled to the Island of Alcazar. There you met Shelackar who asked you to help him retrieve something from the Pit of Thud on the desert island of El-Fendar. You met with Lord Frohman, the Butcher of Skago, and learned of Zenatos' lies. Onur still does not realize who Lord Frohman is, despite talking with him. You met with the Oracle and despite her vague rambling, you learned several hints as to how you might find the Tomb of Haggemoth. It is probably coincidence, but the "key" to the Tomb can be found in the Pit of Thud in the Tomb of Udo, the Grey, the same place you were to go for Shelackar. Now after having promised Lord Frohman a percentage of your profits(10% on large haul, 14% on medium, 18% on small) you sailed to El-Fendar. On your way there, you ran into a sinking ship and fought some Sahuagin and their sharks for 3 hours. You managed to find your way to El-Fendar where you met the Fuzwah and learned very little about anything. Using his library in conjunction with Shelackar's map you have found a somewhat safe passage to the Pit of Thud. There you managed to get past the guardians and beat the unliving crap out of Udo's mummified apprentice. The group ran across an ice column that amplified sound and in his attempt to bypass it on the underside of the platform, Onur fell into the churning and crashing waters below and is presumed dead. Jarrak and Shaly managed to find a key of some kind inside of a giant crystal attached to a decanter of endless water. The gm remembered that Haymish exists and he after they attempted to dry off, he joined them. Other than that, the group bypassed a rather annoying pitfall trap. Now they continue through to find the Rod of Storms.

The Oracle's riddle:
“You must pass through Ice, and through Fire.
You must find what lies beneath.
And a choice hangs in the balance.
A cold Titan stands upon a field of ice
Ruling over the body of a dead king.
Your compass lies at his feet
A toothless maw crying despair
Drowns Under a sea of sands
The Grey Wizard holds your key in trust
A red moon hangs
Over a forest of bound leaves
Your map is jealously guarded
The fate of a soul lies in your hands.”

Just as a reminder, game starts at 7 PM, EST next Wednesday. Try to be as on time as possible.
Okay, for any new players, this is the current background for you if you so choose. If you can come up with a better reason, feel free to tell me it.

You came to the desert island of El-Fendar for various reasons. Perhaps to find a place to hide amongst the throngs of merchants. Perhaps you came to trade, yourself. Perhaps you've just been traveling between the great islands and thought "hey this looks like a good place to stop". Whatever your reason, you all have spoken to one man: Shelackar, the Vermiculate. He told you his name, though you are unsure as to much more about him. He seems to be native, though he came in on a rather rickety looking ship that is docked near where you landed, loud merriment can be heard from it at all hours. Shelackar has asked you a favor, that you might find the tomb of Udo, the grey, master of weather. He will try to reward you in any way he can, but he desperately needs to find the Rod of storms, which resides in said tomb. He intends to use the rod in order to make it rain and thus relieve El-Fendar of the drout it has been suffering for as long as he can remember. He also says that you may run across another group inside the tomb. Despite their strange quirks, they are good people and can be trusted.

Udo appears to be a figure of myth in the region. It is unsure when he lived, but he appears to have been a great wizard with control over the weather. It is assumed that the rod of storms was his instrument, though little about the item is not exaggerated and it is likely no one knew much about it.

For whatever reasons you may have, you have all convinced the prince, Fuzwah, to let you into the desert to go find the tomb. You are given what appears to be a copy of a map by Shelackar and sent on your way. After a few days of travel, with very little water left, you manage to find the tomb itself. Though more of a cavern, just from the sounds of the great storm inside is enough to tell you that you have found the right place. Inside, your path is obscured by a heavy mist and the slippery metal platforms that appear suspended in the air are difficult to walk on. What appears to be a sea rages below you and all you know is that you do not want to fall.

If you want, you can describe how your character acts or appears in as much detail as you wish for the benefit of other players here. If anything, it will give the players an idea of who they are working with ahead of time. We will still probably do smaller descriptions in game, but this allows for you to be a little bit more detailed. Older players should avoid doing this simply to ensure everyone knows who is in what group.

Next week, while likely not covering much action will cover quite a bit of story information, involve multiple character introductions and come to one of the more important decisions you will run across. Unless we run into a whole lot of problematic issues, we will see our first truly great progress.

I have some really bad news guys. This isn't going to work for me anymore. The reason this time slot has been working for me so far is that I get off around 1 in the afternoon so the rest of my day is off. Now, my position has been changed from department head to manager in charge which would be fine if I stayed where I was. However, they decided to set me up on a 1-9 pm schedule during second shift. Which means, I can no longer actually run this game anymore. So, while we don't necessarily have to end, however, I will have to step down as gm. If anyone wants to take over, I can give you everything you need to run. However, I can't continue running anymore and I'm very sorry about this. It's been nice working with you guys though and I hope you all can continue without me.

Life often throws us a curveball

Well, work comes first for sure, we all have responsibilities.
Should this change and you can DM, I will be glad to join you.

As for running the game, I would like that, but I lead a busy life, and would have to consider it carefuly, but for now it is a no.

If anyone else wants to DM, great.

Stay in touch.

Sad to hear this. But, eh, life goes on. I'll keep an eye on this thread from time to time, in case things decide to take a turn for the better. Beezoo will remain as is, until a chance comes up to play him again. Sadly, I am not as hard-pressed with time, but I'd rather not take on the DMing responsibility on me. That said, I liked ToH tho I didn't get to play it a lot, and I'd wish that it picks up again.

Honestly, the book itself is quite detailed and can be run with minimal effort if need be. It suffers quite a bit in that case, but it's good enough to fall back on it if you need to. I also have a few notes that a gm would need to know as I've been keeping track of things and I have added a few additional bits to the story. Plus, I do have quite a few setting bits that aren't in there. Oddly enough I've been kind of ignoring those, but my absentmindedness tends to be a hindrance in that case. If none of you are sure if you can do it, I will point out that I have two jobs and run/play other games with a home group once a week and still manage to keep a social life. That's about all my time allows for, but I'm busy myself and still managed an alright run so far.