I just want to wish everyone a happy New Year and assure you that you are not forgotten.
See you in 2013.
Having entered the Fellnight Realm, our heroes first defeated the treacherous nixie Arvormeigh and her shadow troll minions. They then made their way through enemy territory to the mysterious boundary called the faengard, where they located the breach through which the evil queen Rhoswen's troops had escaped to cause havoc in the material plane.
The gap was guarded by a pair of pixies and one of the bee swarms serving Tenzekil the bleachling gnome. After driving off the pixies and trapping the bee swarm under a dome of ice, the heroes quickly set out to replace the wardstones they had carried with them.
They were interrupted by the appearance of Tenzekil himself, accompanied by even more bees, and another battle ensued. Now, while the bee swarms cover our heroes, Tenzekil is bleeding severely from several arrow wounds. The proud elven ranger, Caelin, lets loose another shaft, which races towards the airborne gnome....
Calins arrow flies true, and strikes Tenzekil in the side. The injury is too much, and the pale gnome collapses. Still borne up by his magic spell, his still form hovers suspended 60 ft. off the ground.
As their master collapses, the surviving bees withdraw along with Tenzekil's giant bee companion. Acting with an intelligence that should be far beyond their vermin minds, they swarm around the still form, forming a thick cloud to shield him from further arrow fire.
Goodluck sighs with relief as the swarm and giants bee leaves. He moves towards his companions, glancing over them to check for injuries.
Is anyone seriously injured?
Meycho fishes out his healing wand and treats his own wounds first.
The bees continue to buzz protectively around their unconscious master. On the ground, the wardstones lie scattered where Taecuss dumped them from his pack.
The pixie soon flies out of sight, and does not look like he intends to stop for a while.
Is anyone seriously injured?Taecuss looks to Meycho, his body swollen with insect venom and skin pierced with a thousand pinpoint wounds. He barely manages to reply "Yes, I seem to have come out for the worst on that."
I'll give you another shot if no one else is more in need, Meycho says after having let the healing magic course from the wand into Taecuss' chest, easing the pain and taking most of the swollenness from his body.
Happiness with his shot quickly faded, and he soon turned his attention to his friends. He grimaced at Taecuss's wounds.
The stones are identical in appearance, and it will not be hard to repair the breach. But you know from the fey of the forest that it won't do much good without the ritual to restore magic of the barrier.
As Taecuss worked, Caelin kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. He whistled Aumgwe over, not wanting to send the bird into the air where he might attract attention.
But is it safe to carry the stones to the very heart of the Fellnight Queen's realm? While I have no intentions of failing in our quest, wouldn't it be more prudent to hide them somewhere against that very danger?
At Taecuss' question regarding the gnome, Meycho turned thoughtful. I think we should leave him. I would not risk angering those pesky insects again. On the other hand, he might possess some magical items that could help us in our task.
Meycho places a hand on Taecuss' arm and intones a short prayer, more healing energy coursing from his hand.
Jervaise shakes his head.
"I agree, we should not take the stones with us. Thus, I think we should put them back in place. However, if we are to do so, we *cannot* leave the one who removed them here, alive. We need to finish what we started, bees be damned!"
Caelin gave Taecuss a worried, skeptical look as he halfheartedly prepared his bow. "I can shoot him from here, but what happens to the bees then? Do they disperse...or seek revenge?"
Caelin looked around at each of his companions as he knocked an arrow. "I really don't want to do this, but I know we can't leave him behind...
When Caelin raises his bow, the intense buzzing from the bees increases in volume and intensity. They are clearly aware of the significance of the gesture, and swarm closer to the lifeless gnome. The giant bee hovers in the air besides them, never taking it's attention from the threats on the ground.
Caelin lowered his bow in a combination of frustration and relief. "This isn't right."
He quickly stowed his bow. "I'm going to see if we can't take him with us."
He drew out his rope and began approaching the gnome.
Caelin approached the swarm-covered gnome slowly with a hand held out gently, the other holding the rope.
Reaching the buzzing mass, he knelt gently beside the body. Moving very, very carefully, he tried to make the former foe more comfortable. After gauging the reaction of the swarm, he began to loosely bind the gnome's hands. With this completed, he called forth some mild healing magic.
Making the most of the time, the group quickly repairs the breach in the faengard, replacing the runecovered stones. A short while after, the magic that hold Tenzekil airborne expires, and the gnome gently floats down, coming to a rest on the grassy hillside.
The heroes carefully approach, doing their best to convey to the agitated bees that they mean the gnome no further harm. Remembering that Tenzekil used sylvan to communicate with the obviously intelligent insects, Caelin and Teacuss manage through a combined effort to calm them enough to be able to bind and heal Tenzekil.
The gnome is badly injured, and it is clear that he has been hovering at death's door. If he had been abandoned, he would most likely have perished from his wounds.
As he wakes, Tenzekil look up at you, misery and shame painted on his face.
"I deserve none of your mercy...but I thank you for sparing my bees. They are all that bind me to the world I left behind, and they have already suffered for my actions."
He looks at the repaired barrier.
"You have replaced the wardstones, I see. Good. The Queen must not be allowed to escape into Golarion, or others will fall to her wickedness as I did. But you will have to enter her palace to defeat her, and that is a horrid place, a living mass of thorns twisted and shaped by her cruel being. The entrance is heavily guarded, and her dark fey minions roam the halls - but I know a way you may enter unseen.
When I first came to this place, I was captured by the spriggans and placed in the dungeons beneath the palace until I could be brought before her. There I noticed a pool of dark water, fed by a small stream that flowed in through a low tunnel. If you can find that stream, you should be able to use it to gain entry."
Tenzekil gestures to a scroll case strapped to his side.
"Here, take these - they are a meager way of paying for the harm I have caused, but hopefully they will aid you."
"The Queen's palace is about forty miles from here. If you head east through the forest, you will come to a river. Cross it and you find yourself at the opening of a forested valley nestled between tall peaks on either side. The palace is at the bottom of the valley, clearly visible from miles away. Be careful, though - the forests are thick with worg-mounted spriggans and other fell creatures."
Thank you, Tenzekil. There is still hope for you...and for Golarion.
With that, Meycho makes ready to move out.
Caelin takes the indicated scroll case and hands it to Taecuss. After helping make ready to leave, he returns to the gnome
With a last look of confirmation to the party, he moves to untie Tenzekil.
Caelin followed Meycho's lead. Aumgwe also searched ahead, but Caelin occasionally checked to make sure the presence of two birds of prey would not seem untoward.
The Champions of Bellis set out into the gloomy realm. Thanks to the woodcraft skills of Meycho and Caelin, and the watchful birds, the group is able to evade the roving bands of enemies. Several times, you narrowly escape detection by taking cover in the undergrowth as worg-mounted spriggans pass.
After crossing the river you spend an uncomfortable night in crude shelter, not daring to light a fire. No dawn is there to mark the time to rise again, so after the worst weariness has passed, you set off again.
Late on the second day - at least you think it's the second day - you spot the dark shape of the queens palace in the distance. Just as Tenzekil described it, the thing is a twisted mass of living thorns, beautiful and terrible all at once. From your hidden vantage point, you spot spriggans patrolling the walls and tower ramparts.
Moving round the palace at a safe distance, you manage to locate the stream Tenzekil mentioned. Following it towards the palace, you finally reach a place where it flows into the hillside through a narrow tunnel. Above and ahead, the deep green walls of the palace loom. The water appears to be about chest deep for a medium creature and the of the tunnel ceiling leaves just enough room for you to wade through without having to go below water.
Ugh. I can't wait to finish this module so I can come back and read those spoilers!Not to worry. At this pace we'll be done in 8-9 months - a year tops. :-D
Yeah, probably...I should be fine, I think, but if I could be in the middle, just in case I go under and have to be dragged like a drown mouse...
As the others prepared themselves for immersion, Caelin knelt by the water and scooped a bit up in his hand. He gave it a suspicious sniff to see if it was somehow foul or enchanted.
When the others were ready, he gave a small nod and slipped first into the stream.
With Caelin taking point, you move into the stream and follow it into the caverns. After a short while, you reach a spot where the stream vanishes in under a low ledge. You can hear it drop off towards a lower depth.
Examining the area, you spot a hidden opening. If Tenzekil hadn't told you what to look for, you most likely would have missed it.
Behind it, a narrow staircase lead deeper into the hill. Following it down, you reach the point where stream reemerges. A narrow stone ledge runs beside it, winding through the caverns in the general direction of the palace.
After carefully moving forwards for a good while, Caelin can see that the stream widens into a pool up ahead. From his current position he can't see the far edges of the pool.