The Saguaroi stare at him, not comprehending his gesture and continue giving him a wide berth and both parties soon pass each other.
On the third hour Howard sees an immense bird that seems to be made of living flame.
It approaches Howard, calling out in its musical voice, "Traveller - you're a long way from home. What brings you to the Parchlands?"
Howard has no clue what the creature is.
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Howard nods politely to the bird.
"Greetingssss. My name isss Howard Phillips Lovecraft. I am on the trail of an evil man named Lowlsss, who hasss taken the Necronomicon to Neruzavin, and isss in danger of waking a ssslumbering evil there. Have you ssseen any other humanoid partiesss passssssing thisss way recently?"
At the mention of the word Neruzavin, the bird rears up in alarm. "Neruzavin - you seek it? The place is dangerous - there have been many priglims seeking to find it. But only death awaits them there. There is a slumbering evil down there that has been luring sentients to Neruzavin. That thing feeds upon their minds. I, and my fellow guardians, the Girtablilu guard the Parchlands - and allow no outsiders to enter lest they become victims of that thing. For with each mind consumed, its power grows. Turn back, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, your life and soul are in peril."
"I have already dealt with a patrol of gnolls on a vision quest to Neruzavin. They did not heed my warning to leave."The bird says regretfully. "Do not force me to have to deal with you as well." The bird warns Howard.
"And what if you succumb to the great evil instead, fuelling its awakening? It feeds on minds. Like yours." The bird challenges Howard. "Prove to me that you know how to protect yourself from ancient evils, and how you intend to stop Lowls and the great evil there and I shall let you pass."
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Howard nods.
"Very well. I essscaped from Briarssstone Isssle in Ussstalav, where eldritch abominationsss were ssslowly draining the life (and sssanity) of everyone trapped there, freeing the isssland from the horrifying missstsss that ensssnared it. I then put a Cult of Hassstur in Thrussshmoor to the sssword, before quesssting through the Dreamlandsss to find tracesss of what Lowlsss wasss up to.
Mossst recently, I brought the predationsss of sssome Derro ssskinnersss in Cassssssomir to light (for which I wasss awarded thisss bronze medallion); ressscued the Mysssterium in Katheer from the eldritch abominationsss that plagued it, and ressset the malfunctioning wardsss there; and freed a whole bunch of ssslavesss in Okeno (removing their markingsss, and arranging transssport and a nessst egg to ssstart a new life in Absssalom, free from tyranny), in the processssss of dissscovering that Lowlsss had headed to Neruzavin.
I hope that eloquently expressssssesss both my good deedsss, and my ability to look after myssself."
"Hmm," The flaming bird nods as Howard begins to regal his tales about his great deeds. "You've indeed proven yourself to be a Champion of Good and shown respect for life. Rarely do I hear such outstanding deeds of valour and bravery. Usually these deeds are done by adventuring parties. But to accomplish all these alone is phenomenal."
"I will aid you in your quest."The flaming bird then plucks out a wing feather with its beak,then transfers it to one of its enormous talons. "Firstly - showing this feather to the Girtablilu shows that you have passed my - Fawkes - judgement."
"Secondly - should you fall, you will be brought to a place where you will be given succor." He then hands Howard the Feather - that glows an iridescent orange.
"Go then, with your quest - with my blessing upon you."
Howard examines the Feather and realizes it's imbued with powerful magic.
Fawkes nods, then gets back to his aerial patrol.
Howard comes by a pair of territorial markers atop a ridge. The first of these is a rough-hewn, pointed obelisk bearing numerous inscriptions. The largest inscription reads in Common, “These sacred territories contain a slumbering evil. Turn back. The wardens suffer no trespass." The rest of the inscriptions are in a language he does not understand.
A decaying body of a woman rising from the front of monstrous scorpion is impaled on the second obelisk, with inscriptions that Howard does not understand.
Howard recognizes the body of that of a Girtablilu. They have poisonous stings, and have a way with scorpions.
Howard leaves the obelisks and Kalathath pops out of its portable hole to make sure Howard is going in the right direction, then hides back in again, like a turtle retracting into its shell.
Howard catches sight between one and three humanoids watching from a distant outcropping before those figures slink away, only to appear from another vantage point hours later.
Howard runs into a pack of gnolls, 8 in total. They are lead by a gnoll wearing a fang necklace, with a dagger that looks like a Basilisk's tooth. 6 of the gnolls wield scorpion whips, while the 7th is wielding a falchions. The group points at Howard, growling to themselves in their strange tongue. "Jihadharini kwa kiumbe hicho cha ajabu."
Watch out for that weird creature.
The falchion wielding gnoll asks their leader, while pointing at Howard, "Tunapaswa kumwua, Bouda Gazrella?"
Should we kill him, Bouda Gazrella?
Their leader shakes her head, "Hapana. Itachukua muda mwingi na haitumiki kwa nia ya kupata Neruzavin."
No. It will waste too much time and serve no purpose in getting to Neruzavin.
The gnolls begin to give Howard some distance but keep a tight grip on their weapons, in preperation of being attacked.
Howard gives the gnolls a wide berth and continues his journey. He notices that the gnolls are heading in the same direction as he is. At the end of the day, he planeshifts back into his demiplane, and Kalathath eventually pops out of the portable hole. ”An improvement in affairs this way of travelling is. No aching bones from riding camels. Also encounter the hostile denizens of the Parchlands I would rather not, after a bad concussion I ended up with the last time.”
”This place, yours?” It asks Howard.
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Howard nods.
"That ssseemsss perfectly sssensssible. I am pleasssed that the new travel arrangementsss are working for you. Yesss, thisss isss my persssonal coterminousss demiplane. For the moment, it isss quite basssic, essssssentially a bolt-hole for sssafety, but I have high hopesss for it down the track."
"Well, miss the sights I do, but rather stay living I would. Miss my old body I do too, far tougher then this one is."Kalathath muses regretfully.
"A library I would build, but leave this space bare mostly I would. Too much furniture, a cluttered mind indicates."
"Prudent it is to ward against those hounds. Hurt you, have they?" Kalathath asks.
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Howard nods.
"When I wasss but a neophyte, I encountered one, and it wasss an extremely painful experience. More recently, I dealt with a pack that were coming through a faulty ward-mirror, by encasssing it in a perfect sssphere of ssstone. Additionally, asss sssomeone who movesss between dimensionsss through both ssshort and long range teleportation effectsss a lot, I know that I am bound to attract the attention of more of them with time..."
"Unable to end the mind swap I am, as my old body corrupted has been. Attracting unwanted attention we both have. Wonder what happened to my fellow Yithians in stasis I do..."
"Each jump in the universe, attracts their attention does. A surefire way of stopping them, forbiddance is. Yet lock us out your demiplane it will as well."
"Perhaps then tonight, watches both of us shall keep?"
Howard and Kalathath keep watch through the entire night, in a featureless demiplane, but their night despite their reservations (or paranoia=P), passes uneventfully.
The next day, Kalathath gets back into the portable hole and Howard planeshifts and then greater teleports them back to the Parchlands.
On the third hour of his journey, Howard sees Fawkes soaring overhead. "Ah, I see we meet again. How goes your travels?" Fawkes asks genially.
"Gnolls?! Did you find out where they were headed to, and which way did they go?" Fawkes sounds rather grumpy, giving an irritated squawk. "If they're headed to Neruzavin they'll need to be dealt with before they become food and in the process awaken the great evil."Fawkes complains.
"Yesterday was a good day. The dates are in season and there was this delicious gazelle I found drinking at the oasis. Mmmph."Fawkes makes a satisfied cluck.
"Could you please do me a favor - if you do hear of any creatures going to Neruzavin - get them to turn back and if they don't listen, tell me or the Girtablilu about it. We'll deal with them."Fawkes states. "I mean if you could take a more active role, it'd be great, but I don't really want bystanders getting hurt, if you get my drift."
"Yeah that'd be helpful, now where did you meet those gnolls and which way did they go?" Once given directions, Fawkes begins to fly off, this time putting urgency in his wingbeats. "I'd better track them down to see what they're up to."He tells Howard before leaving.
Howard continues with his journey and 5 hours into the journey sees a creature twice the height of a human, this horned monstrous warrior wielding a massive blade. On seeing Howard flying by, he casts fly on himself and moves to intercept.
Howard has no idea what the creature is.
Howard recognizes it as a sepid div. It has 10 DR cold iron and good.
It points a finger at Howard and a green ray streaks out. Howard realizes that spell is disintegrate!
The green ray penetrates Howard's shield and strikes Howard but he manages to resist the worst of it.
Howard pounces on the creature but it ducks out of the way of the bite. The two claws hit and he rends the creature. . His tail slap does not get past the creature's thick hide.
His claw strikes do not seem to be fully effective.
The creature casts mirror image defensively.
He suddenly grows 8 doppelgangers!
The creature then steps next to Howard.
Howard's bite and claws hit only his doppelgangers but he manages to slap the creature with his tail, and give it a good squeeze.
The creature begins slashing Howard with his falchion.
None of the attacks hit.
As Howard drops him and starts flailing around at his doppelgangers he drops another set of mirror images.
6 doppelgangers appear this time!
Seeing that it's attacks have no effect on Howard, it calls up a rain of stones to engulf them both.
Howard does not manage to get out of the way in time and is pelted by stones!
The creature however is unaffected by its stone rain.
Howard's bite and claw hits his doppelgangers and the claw and the tail slap, as well as the subsequent squeeze, wound the creature greatly. It tries to get away by casting greater teleport but doesn't quite make it.
Howard finds on his body a +1 falchion. He then continues his journey, with Kalathath popping up occasionally like a jack on the box to point him the right way.
An hour travelling later, Howard runs into a creature with a body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the face of a wise human man.
He recognizes the creature as a Lammasu. They are protectors of the weak and ever-vigilant champions against evil. These noble creatures dwell in crumbling desert ruins or other remote areas, where they tirelessly fight against the forces of darkness, hoping to defend those they consider lesser races from the evils that often lurk in such places. He sees the creature wearing a holy symbol of Iomedae as an amulet.
They have oracle spellcasting and can pounce and rake.
The Lammasu greets Howard with a military salute. "Hail and well met, traveler. What brings you to the Parchlands?"
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Howard bows politely, before responding:
"Greetingsss to you as well, o noble Lammasssu. I am Howard, Howard Phillipsss Lovecraft, and I am on the trail of an evil man named Lowlsss, to try and put a ssstop to hisss mad plansss, before he wakesss a ssslumbering evil in Neruzavin. Have you seen any Human travelersss, possssssibly with Gnollsss, in your travelsss? What bringsss you here?"
"I am Sir Amrivast, paladin in the service of the Inheritor."He introduces himself proudly. "A most worthy goal indeed."He pronounces as Howard tells him of his plans to stop Lowls,and retracts his claws then gives Howard a hearty shoulder pat.
"I have not seen any human travellers nor any gnolls since I've been in here. I am here to rid the world of an ancient evil that lies at the heart of the Parchlands. Since you say there is a great evil in Neruzavin, the place must be cleansed. Let us put Neruzavin to fire and sword. Onwards!"
"Protected? But aren't paladins supposed to be the ones who go around protecting others?" He looks at Howard slightly incredulously. "But if it'll make you happy, go ahead!" He cheerfully allows Howard to cast on him.
The last two hours of the day's journey pass uneventfully, and Sir Amrivast tells Howard, "It's growing dark, we should set up a camp here. How shall we split the watches?"
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Howard nods politely to Sir Amrivast.
"Actually, I do not sssleep, thanksss to Keep Watch. Ssstill, I need 8 hoursss of relative quiet in order to recharge, ssso what I have been doing isss going to a private demiplane at night; it isss basic (I ssstill need to do a lot of work on it, being little more than ground, sssky, and air, at present), but you are welcome to join me."
"Uh...what's a demiplane? And what's Keep Watch?" He stares at Howard not comprehending what Howard is talking about. "And why so much trouble, can't we just sleep on a high rock or something?"