krar is down to three.
The Slime-Shrouded Master reaches out with its thoughts and finds the two particular slave-minds it seeks....
One sleeps, dreaming idiot dreams of petroleum-powered chariots and promiscuous females of his pathetic species.... But this other one is quite awake, and quite angry.... Yes, a most incredible rage burns within him.... A delicious bloodthirsty madness.... He has destroyed those worthless assassins sent by The Great Shark.... I wonder how their leader fares?.... The resistance is formidable at this.... Pandora's Box.... I sense that the angry one has friends there even more powerful than his fellow Fierce Ones.... And now the cowardly barracudas swim away with their tails nipped off!.... I must inform The Daemon-Lord of the Silver Tower that The Great Shark has failed.... And that a matter of dire importance develops in the Everglades that His Dread Tyranny would do well not to ignore....
In the slime-coated city of R'lyeh, at rest within the insane, non-Euclidean dimensions of an alien throne of sorts, Dread Cthulhu becomes aware of a disturbance....a resistance to his relentless will originating somewhere near the Earth's equator, in the verdant finger of land that mortals had been recently calling Florida....
The Great Old One's mind reaches out with a spiritual tentacle to probe the minds of his faithful minions in that tropical region.... He finds the vile mind of his own spawn, The Daemon-Lord of the Silver Tower....
(Via telepathy) Why do I detect unrest, my spawn? Do you lack the power, and therefore the right, to rule the domain I have bestowed upon you? Shall I send a worthier spawn to replace you?
No, my Dread Lord! I beseech thee, with humble gratitude for your forbearance, my Dark Master! I shall not fail thee, Peerless King!
It would be better that you were never spawned from my loins if you should fail me, my spawn. See that you pacify your domain before the Summer Solstice, or I shall inform your advisor, The Tentacled Terror, that it has been promoted to Qlippoth-Lord of the Silver Tower upon termination of its predecessor....
The piscodaemon looks at its chief advisor, The Tentacled Terror, with genuine revulsion. The chernobue qlippoth squirms and slithers across the floor of the penthouse temple, drawing nearer, as though it were eavesdropping on the telepathic communication between Cthulhu and spawn, and The Daemon-Lord of the Silver Tower musters every fiber of his considerable will to resist recoiling in fear....
The few successful assassins emerge from their assigned bunkers to find their fellows fleeing and being cut down by a superior defender, and quickly realize that the raid has failed.
Like nightmares fading with the coming of day, the few remaining assassins flee into the darkness surrounding Pandora's Box, diving into the dark waters to swim away, defeated.
The Order of the Elder Sign is victorious, but at a terrible cost.... Two sentries and two of the refugee women have been assassinated, and Krar might not have lasted another round with his attackers had they not been frightened off by the arrival of his allies, Derrik, Jewels, Koran, Grimm, and the others....
And now Pandora's Box was compromised. The enemy knew where it was, and it was no longer safe. All personnel and refugees would have to find another safe place to hide....
Is everyone alright? Gather anyone that's wounded and carefully bring them to Sister Maria or me! We want to use our healing powers as efficiently as possible....
A hound-headed archon with a shining greatsword bows respectfully before Sister Maria and then vanishes in a bright flash of light shaped like a thaumaturgist circle surrounded by Celestial runes.
Madre Dios! Where will we go now!? We cannot stay here, surely....
S%#+! She's right! We can't sit here and wait for the next batch of Cthulhu ninjas to come ripping through here.... And next time, they might not forget that they have insane wizards of their own at their disposal.... Just imagine those pajama fighters backed up by their own casters and healers.... That's what's next.... I guarantee your asses!
Do not tell me that I have to tear down the lab! Damn! Where will go?
Fortitude saves versus giant wasp venom with +5 bonus from antitoxin ....
Dexterity damage....
Dexterity damage....
Ugh.... I'm not sure that was enough....antitoxin....
Sister Maria.... I think I will be needing your assistance.... I was struck by a few of these "ninja stars", and am quite certain that they were....coated with some kind of powerful paralytic.... I can feel my proprioceptors and equilibrium....are off....
Oh, for Heaven's sake, Professor Dirge! Please, sit down, you poor man, I will say a prayer to the Blessed Mother of Our Holy Saviour to intervene on your behalf so the poisons will not gets you!
Sister Maria hustles over to Dirge and casts neutralize poison.
Are we without a home, now, Doctor Hoffmann?
Hell-No Kitty pouts as she wipes blood from her deadly blades.
F@&@! I don't know!.... Ah.... I'm sorry, Kitty, I didn't mean to yell at you....
Derrik arrives after slaying Rad's assassins and Few others along the way, including the slayers of the women, his runic armor covered in their fresh blood. As panic seems to erupt around him through the realization of the site being compromised he seems calm by comparison.
" If you do not have a back-up site, at this point.. I believe hiding may not be an option anymore.. The element of surprise has been lost. They know you exist and know that we are a threat.. But they do not know what we will do afterward. That will be our small advantage. I am not a leader here.. nor do I come from here.. But I would say... that retaliation would be a choice... Relocation another. But Somehow they have found us and could do so again. I will not be routed like vermin again and again. There was something from our last venture that sent those assassins..and no matter what.. once we have become targets.. that shall not go away. The Question now is what type of target we would like to be. "
Well, there's this place in The Grand Canyon they won't ever find.... It's where I got all those blankets, and medicine bags, and the peyote from.... Several dwindling tribes of American Indians still hold out there against Cthulhu and his monsters.... I'm sure if you offered what resources and skills you have here....they would take you in.... I could take one or two diplomats to ask 'em if its alright to bring the whole lot of ya.... Not like they don't have plenty of room to hide in those canyons....
You're right, Derrik. We can't stay here, but we can't keep hiding, either. If we strike back against our enemy now, perhaps we can catch them unprepared.... The first order of business is cutting off the enemy's means of spying on us. How did they track you back to Pandora's Box?
Sister Maria and Kate heal all the wounded in a surge of positive energy accompanied by hymns and prayers of thanks to various divine patrons, and soon all personnel are engaged in re-securing Pandora's Box and preparing for a full evacuation.
Derrik whips his axe so that blood mars the ground, looking at Prof. Dirge.
" I do not know, Everyone was who they were when we left.. None were those Faceless Changing creatures. So perhaps a bug of some type.. If we had any of the assassins alive we could get it from them. I did not notice anything however. Can you not use your magics to tell if anything is upon our person? "
Of course.... I'm not thinking clearly right now.... The adrenaline, mixed with the poison....
Dirge casts detect magic and scans each and every person at Pandora's Box, soon determining that Koran and Dwayne Lee are both enthralled by a powerful enchantment.
Bringing both subjects to the library, Dirge retrieves several cached scrolls of break enchantment and begins using them in an attempt to free Koran and DL from the aboleth's domination....
Caster level check with scroll of break enchantment (CL 12th) versus DC 27, cast on Koran........fails to break the enchantment!
Caster level check with scroll of break enchantment (CL 10th) versus DC 27, cast on Koran........fails to break the enchantment!
Caster level check with scroll of break enchantment (CL 9th) versus DC 27, cast on Koran........fails to break the enchantment!
Damn it! The enchantment is too powerful! None of these scrolls has worked....
Rad considers it all for a moment.
The base, their efforts, relocation, holding out..and again he finds himself at odds with Derrik.
"First, thank you Derrik. Your actions are likely why Sun Mi still breathes. I owe you a debt. However, I do not think staying is wise. The benefit we had here is that any small lord of Cthulu or random monster could fall prey to us. Surprise and ambush were our armor. Now that we have been located, we need to remember that Cthulu brought enough force to bear to subjugate an entire world and that nothing will stop him from piling monster corpses on top of us until we suffocate."
Rad squeezes Sun Mi's shoulder.
"The advantage to staying here is a matter of resources. Our finite resources here are plentiful, but still finite. Cthulu has infinite reserves to draw from. Our only advantage becomes a weakness. We should relocate."
Derrik nods to Radsworth acknowledging his thanks but about to make something clear.
" Do not feel any debt should be paid.. One does not do such and expect thanks nor acknowledgement. And while you have made a good case for not staying.. I did not state we should either. I think we should attack.. As our enemy has already shown, they can track us somehow if you relocate Professor.. What would stop that from happening again? or for them not to know of our plans through Koran and Dwayne? Once again I ask.. What will hiding do.. if we are simply found once again and routed like vermin? Even worse.. endanger other survivors by drawing our enemies with us. That is a form of Cowardice I will not condone. Eliminate these lords and monsters here so that they have no more communication. We should stay mobile and strike when we can.. then perhaps journey for these.. artifacts that seem so important..... It is a light of Hope humanity needs to continue. And History has assured us with just our race alone.. simply running aware will not end well. "
He seems to scan the group a bit.. as if looking for something or someone..
" Radsworth.. Where is your other pupil? Are you not aware of his person? I do not see him.. "
Guilt darkens Radsworths face while his eyes widen. Sun Mi gasps and breaks from his grasp, running down the hallways yelling Aarons name. Rad reaches a hand out towards her, then drops it at his side.
"Aaron and I have had a disagreement. He took serious issue at my suggested course of action on the beach with the women. He is more like you than myself. He thinks me both callous and uncaring and I do not know for certain he is mistaken. He also accused me of speaking the magical language of .. Chickenshit, I believe it was. I have made decisions these last few weeks that I would have thought myself incapable of making. He.. Aaron left my chambers and made it quite clear he did not find me to be a suitable instructor."
Rad looks down at the ground for a moment.
"I suppose I should try and find him."
Aw, I'm sorry, Rad.... He's young, and hasn't had to make the kinds of tough decisions in life yet that compromise those youthful ideals of right and wrong.... He's gonna see it your way eventually, Rad, he just needs to grow up a little more.... We who are a bit older and wiser know that cowardice has no part in your suggestions, Rad.
Kate lays a comforting hand on Radsworth's back and rests her head on his shoulder, embracing him....
We'll all find him, Rad, okay? Right, guys? Kate looks to her teammates....
"Actually Kate, I'm okay with his point of view. It has obviously made Derrik a man to be envied by many. The boy could do much worse in view points on the world. Even if I disagree often with the practicality of Derriks choices, I would never call him a failure of a man."
Rad thinks a minute.
"Other than Sun Mi, I have no idea who he knew around here."
Derrik begins to move as soon as Rads mentions Aaron is still missing and the reason.
" Then we are wasting time standing here. Finding him should be all you should be thinking of with assassins about. When he is secured we can talk later. "
The Metal-clad man excusing himself.. having made his decision upon the matter. Intent on finding something on Aaron.
An elderly man with wild, unkempt gray hair falling past his shoulders and a long gray beard, clad in a wrinkled Armani suit, fedora, and alligator-skin shoes and leaning on a gnarled staff topped with a luminous crystal orb and engraved with silver-inlaid runes and sigils, steps from the shadows at the edge of the inner yard, accompanied by Aaron Crux.
Do not fear for the lad Aaron.... Here he is, quite safe and sound, if a bit astounded at the moment....
Indeed, Aaron looks dazed and wide-eyed, and shuffles along beside the old stranger without a word, evidently stunned speechless....
I'm afraid I had to turn him into a turtle for a brief moment in order to save him from notice by a few assassins that were just now lurking about the night outside your little village here.... He'll be quite fine, once the novelty of the experience wears off a bit....
Turning to Derrik, the old man bows stiffly and doffs his fedora.
My name is Merlin. I've come a great distance to make your acquaintance, Sir Derrik the Stubborn. We have met before, but I doubt that you'll remember it, as it's been, oh....some time now....nearly 20 thousand moons, or 16 hundred years, I believe.... You were called by another name then, but I know it's you.... Even with your face hidden under that helmet.... I can see the resemblance in your aura.... It's you.... Arthur....
Merlin stares at Derrik for a moment, grinning in a way that seems uncannily familiar to the young paladin....
It seems to me I overheard that two of your friends are under the influence of hostile enchantments? I might be of some assistance in ridding them of this unwanted dweomer.... If you would be so kind as to fetch them back here?.... Ah, how convenient! Here they are now....
Merlin's faint smirk suggests that coincidences are something he almost expects, as he nods in the direction of the library, from whence return at just that moment, Professor Dirge with Koran and Dwayne Lee....
Salutations, sir.... Merlin doffs fedora and bows to Professor Dirge, who wears an expression of half-expectant amazement as he looks upon the most famous of his kind--Merlin the Magician, Merlin the Wild, Merlin the Wise, Merlin the Archmagus....
By your expression, you know who I am, sir.... I must confess to knowing only what I could glean through some brief divinatory eavesdropping, for which I beg your pardon.... I always try to do a little research before introducing myself to a fellow wizard, Professor Solomon Dirge.... You are named after a far greater wizard than either of us, good sir. I presume you have studied his work, The Key of Solomon?
Professor Dirge stares with wide-eyed amaze at the old man in the Armani suit.
Merlin.... Merlin the.... Magician.... Who advised King Arthur?
No other.... Merlin smiles and nods. I am he....
What brings you here to us at this dark hour, Master? Have you come to save us from Cthulhu and the great evil that has corrupted our world? Dirge's eyes are wet with tears of near-ecstasy as he gazes upon the Master of All Wizards....
Indeed, I have, Solomon. And so has King Arthur....
Merlin gestures at the stunned Derrik.
Derrik has very few times been astonished in his life.. and after the reckoning that brought forth the Great Old One's wrath.. did he ever think it would happen again. but This.. This truly stunned him. Derrik might not have been the most kind.. but even at a young age.. he was always adept at doing things for the betterment of others. And During these times.. it was his beliefs that left him stable and sane. But to be King Arthur.. Legendary in both name and story.. was flabbergasting. It could not be.. Derrik was genially furthest from someone like that.. if he ever existed. But something... something told him it was not false.
He looked at the people around him and noticed Even the Older.. Solomon was amazed... and this Merlin.. Magician.. Druid, Archmage.. One of many titles.. was the real thing.
" I... I am honored to meet you Merlin.. The Great.. But I could not possibly be King Arthur.. I am not worthy of such.. "
Falling to a knee unable to react to the familiarity that this man gave him.
It is not a matter of worthiness, Derrik. It is more a matter of karmic identity, if that makes any sense at all to you....
Merlin turns his strange, twinkling eyes on Koran, and then Dwayne Lee.
Ah, yes.... I see the enchantments here.... No matter....
Merlin places a gnarled hand on Koran's chest and casts break enchantment.... Caster level check (maximum 15) vs DC 27.... The dominate monster enchantment is broken on Koran!
He then touches Dwayne Lee on the forehead.... Caster level check (maximum 15) vs DC 27.... Dwayne Lee is freed from the enchantment as well!
There! Now that no unwelcomed audiences are possible, we may speak freely. I am indeed come to aid mankind in its darkest hour, and so have many other goodly souls the world has not seen the likes of in many a moon.... Beowulf's come back as a rather fetching young lass in the jungles of Brazil.... Gilgamesh has returned, he's a rather pugnacious youth surviving in the ruins of Harlem.... Odysseus and Sinbad haven't changed much, both are living aboard ships and on the move right now....
As Merlin tells of these mythic heroes reborn, the crystal orb atop his staff flickers with images of their current locations....
Your village has been marked by Cthulhu's dark minions, and will be a constant target henceforth. I propose that you relocate to the canyon castle as Mister Hooty and Professor Radsworth suggested, and I am prepared to facilitate such a relocation with my humble arts, such as they are.... But there is another venture I would propose....
Merlin looks at Derrik with a wry grin.
I suspect King Arthur will have his memory jogged by a visit to once-familiar lands.... And by the feel of a once-familiar sword in his hand once more.... Excalibur has been waiting all these long centuries for your return, my boy.... Let it wait no longer!
Merlin proposes the following plan:
After a full night's rest to rememorize spells, he and Professor Dirge will begin a systematic teleportation of personnel to the rebel stronghold in The Grand Canyon.
Once all personnel and refugees have been safely relocated, Merlin will take The Fierce Ones to Scotland via teleport spell, to Loch Ness, where they will imbibe a cache of water breathing potions, dive to the bottom with everburning torches, evade or overcome the Loch Ness Monster that guards the watery bed of The Lady of the Lake, who in turn holds fast in her mailed hands the Sword of Kings--Excalibur--and claim said sword from said eladrin.
Then return to Lido Key to slay The Slime-Shrouded Master and its faceless stalkers, sinspawns, and skums.
Wow, you make it sound so easy. No disrespect Merlin, but I'm not really equipped to fight underwater. Also, is there a lab in Scotland? Would we have allies there?
The next morning, Merlin and Dirge begin the systematic teleportation of all personnel and refugees to the stronghold in The Grand Canyon, and between the both of them, they are able to accomplish the task in five days, teleporting 15 people to The Grand Canyon Stronghold each day (Merlin making two round trips daily, bringing 6 people with him each trip, and Dirge making a single round trip each day, transporting three people each trip).
The stronghold in the Grand Canyon is a series of caverns and tunnels, well ventilated by narrow pores and fissures, lit by a series of gas-powered lights, and irrigated via natural springs. Some 230 other survivors are already eking out a living there, more than half of them Native Americans.
They welcome the newcomers with open arms, celebrating with dancing, feasting, and drinking. There is a renewed sense of hope and possibility in the air all that week, and new friendships are forged as old ones are strengthened. It is a happy time for the Order of the Elder Sign and the Allied Tribes of The Grand Canyon.
Each PC receives 1,000 XP.
Wow, you make it sound so easy. No disrespect Merlin, but I'm not really equipped to fight underwater. Also, is there a lab in Scotland? Would we have allies there?
Nobody's really equipped to fight underwater, lad, unless they be a shark or a kraken.... But I'm afraid that's where the sword lies. I know where there is a cache of water breathing potions near Loch Ness.... Should still be there, and there were plenty for all as I recall.... Now, we won't be staying there longer than it takes to fetch Excalibur, Dr Grimm, so you shan't be missing your laboratory for too long....
Scotch? Is there any casks of that stuff worth its oak?
Merlin grins at Grimm.
Now you're in the right spirit, lad! I'm sure we can find a few barrels to tap whilst we're on Holliday in old Caledonia....
On the morning of Wednesday, April 17th, the day after the last personnel and equipment have been teleported over to The Grand Canyon Stronghold, Merlin calls for The Fierce Ones to ready themselves for the journey to Loch Ness.
Once all preparations have been made, and farewells have been wished by friends, lovers, pupils and mentors, Merlin bids The Fierce Ones to join hands with him in a circle, and intones the incantation that whisks them off to a far-off land, on the misty shore of Loch Ness.
The sudden drop in temperature by nearly 20 degrees Fahrenheit is immediately noticeable. A fog blankets the gray waters of the loch, and gathers in the dells along the shore. Merlin and The Fierce Ones stand on a relatively flat, rocky strand of beach backed by low cliffs topped by wooded hills on the west shore of the loch. The ivy-clad stones of a ruined keep perch atop the cliffs behind the beach some 400 feet to the west.
Merlin points with his staff to the ruined keep. Yonder lies the ruins of what once was known as The Lady's Keep in the elden days. The stash of potions should still be hidden within. Let us hope no fresh horror from another world hides within as well....
That said, Merlin leads The Fierce Ones west up the strand to the cliff beneath the looming ruin, where an ancient stair, hardly distinguishable from the craggy cliff side after so many centuries of weather and wear, ascends to the keep....
The stair ascending to the keep is 5 ft wide, so it must be climbed in single file. Merlin leads the way up the crumbling steps, bidding all to watch their steps on the perilous stair.
At the top, an ancient path lined with mossy stones leads across a grassy yard some 20 ft to the bottom of a 10-ft-wide stone stairway that ascends to about 20 ft up the face of the ancient, ivy-clad keep, to a dark archway where a pair of doors once hung. The base of the keep is about 50 ft wide, and the keep rises to a height of about 60 ft, the upper battlements having fallen over the centuries, leaving a jagged, broken appearance where pennants once fluttered over a sturdy turret. Dark arrow slots perforate the mossy, ivy-clung stone walls at heights of 24 ft and 44 ft.
Perception checks versus DC 25 from all, please....
Radsworth is suspicious of the Wizard at first. If Cthulu was capable of watching them through Korans thoughts and already controlled a host of shapechangers, shouldn't he also be capable of sending his own arcane servant into their midst with happy talk of relocation and future promise?
He maintains skepticism all the way through the transportation, fearing some sinister trick that sends them right into Cthulu's dinner table when they re-locate.
Only after everyone moves, does Rad talk to Merlin for any real length of time, as well as confessing his original worries.
"I have so many questions for you Merlin... but unfortunately I don't even know how to ask them. When I found Traveler, there was nothing but a primer on the basic language of magic and how to find it. I've accumulated a little bit of spell knowledge, but a lot of disciplines remain foreign to me. Especially Illusion and Divination. Speaking a magic language based on words that mean other words and what-ifs is nearly impossible for me. Abjuration and Enchantment are no better. What about you, is there a school you specialize in?"
Didn't Sabbath record an album here?
No, Professor Radsworth, I am an equal master of all schools of magic. In my time, which was what later sages aptly dubbed The Dark Ages, much magical lore had been lost thanks to the depredations of barbarian hordes like the Goths and the Vandals, who tended to view spell books ands scrolls as fuel for fire and something to wipe their arses with.... As a result, when I first began my studies, the luxury of specializing in a specific school to the neglect of certain others was rarely afforded. One studied everything one could get hold of with equal fervor, my lad....
[dice=perception]1d20+11
Krar notices something in one of the dark arrow slots....a glitter of tiny eyes, a glint of sharp, tiny teeth, and a small, scaly claw recede further into the darkness....