Tabog, already being at the hill-topping-almost-house was a little surprised to see everyone show up so suddenly. He was ragged and wore from late nights and early mornings. Unfortunately, instead of performing at bars and have a good time, he was searching for anything he could use to help him find his beloved boy. He finally took a moment to look at the mess Dramm made with his papers and books and his heart skipped a beat at the implications of what the man was saying.
"It's not even a matter discussion, of course it's worth it! If news of the noise near this neighborhood is noticeable to not just one but numerous notable nitpicky natives..."
Tabog glances at Imedren for a long moment.
"It's made it to the cult as well. Though this Oracular is our goal, the cult is bound to be investigating as well and that's a chance to ride the world of these bastards."
In a flash he was prepared to set off, all of his gear was ready and he had been napping in his clothes. His face turned from exhausted to determined as he set out to get the horses saddled and rented, as needed.
The first moment Tabog finds Dramm otherwise unoccupied he puts his hand on his shoulder. His eyes are shiny and his mouth is tense.
"You have no idea what this means to me. Thanks to you, there's a chance that I'll get to see him again; even if we find this foray fruitless, the fact that my friends formed a fighting force for my family is the most valuable thing I possess."
You ride east from Crossings, and after a few days on horseback, you reach the tiny hamlet of Carbuncle. The town gathers around an old caravan track. The community boasts a single public house called the Stump, which does double duty as the town hall. Several shabby homes cluster around the tavern, and farms surround the community for a mile in all directions.
It doesn't take long for you to realize that Carbuncle's people are odd. Everyone living here displays some oddity of form—a misplaced eye, an extra digit, a hump on the back, or a spare limb. None of them seem particularly perturbed about their abnormalities.
A field just north of the community stands out from the surrounding terrain. It seems to be little more than a stretch of weeds and brambles speckled with fleshy white flowers sprouting from thorny vines. Still, a chilly breeze seems to blow from that direction.
It was a difficult week. Imedren kept himself busy between continuing to hunt for resources from Caribdus's tower and then continuing to work with Inquisitor Randolfus in order to root out any more Cultist's of the Dark Brotherhood. He went back and forth on this though as he was certain anyone Katandramus found useful as more than scapegoats was already captured, dead, or had fled the city by this point.
Outside of that he worked with Randolfus to learn more of what went on within the city council and it's meetings. He was sad that he did not get to see Uruuna much during this time, although he figured that she was probably putting herself into her work more since Nutmeg had been taken from them all.
Though there was not much time for him to ponder these things before Dramm found him and dragged them all to the meeting to explain what he had found.
"This Oracular relic sounds useful, but I have reservations about using it with the warning of the Demonic Stain on it. Also there is precious little known about this Carbuncle we're going to." he stopped talking as he noticed the looks he was getting from the group and bit his tongue. "But given how difficult this lore was to find and the fact we were looking specifically for something like this, it's unlikely we'll be running into agents of the Dark Brotherhood directly. That said, we already know from experience that exploring Elven Ruins is dangerous and that was them guarding Fey magic. This is the best lead we've got.
We'll need to get supplies before we go. We have no idea what we'll be facing and we don't know how we can access this tower or if we'll be able to enter it more than once, after the moon rises.
Dramm, you've made inroads with Master Dreen recently, right? We should speak with him about our plans. I've also been keeping in touch with Inquisitor Randolfus, he may be able to provide us with some aid as well."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Imedren looked around "I suspect they don't get too many visitors. Let's get ourselves a room and ask around if there's been any direct sightings of this tower."
The innkeeper at the Stump is a middle-aged woman named Krissta. Her left arm is truncated, ending just at the elbow, but this doesn't seem to affect her functioning in the slightest. She responds to inquiries about the tower with a smile and a knowing nod. "Aye, the tower! It shows up every month on the Bitter Heath north of town, hazy like a ghost at first, then real as you or me. It brings all sorts of interesting times with it. You're in luck, friends. The full moon's tomorrow, so you can see it for yourself!"
Listening to Imedren, Joy pipes up.
"How about length of rope and hooks? To get us up to a window?"
****************
Joy looks about her in town with concealed dismay.
These poor people! Something is not right here. A taint?
She thinks upon the matter.
"Even if we don't use it, we can't allow it to be revealed to Katandramus. If he had this, there would be nowhere to hide." Dramm nods to Imedren. "If we can purify it, we might be able to turn the eye to our enemy."
He gathers the papers together when Joy speaks up.
"I'll see what Dreen is willing to part with. He is eager to see justice done."
------
Dramm eyes strange mutations with distrust. The grim surroundings of the village make for a bleak approach. Krissta's friendly greeting catches him off guard.
"The arm. Lot of that around here. Why?" He holds up his own hand. "Haven't got many to go around myself."
Joy isn't sure what's going on around town, but Krissta smiles in response to Dramm's question. "Why, we have been touched by the gods, of course! They smile upon the people of Carbuncle, and these blessings are the signs of their favor!"
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Tabog takes a knee next to Anophth, fiddling with his boot. He leans into the goblin, almost unable to contain himself.
"That's a very nice way to look at it... Touched by the gods/being used as a snot rag. Getting smiled upon/getting laughed at. A blessing/a bad joke. I bet these people could sell a shit sandwich to an elven master chef!"
Uruuna had been quiet for most of the journey to Carbuncle. She rode her horse beside Imedren's, and he could tell something was bothering her, but the halfling seemed reluctant to talk about it.
The strange people of Carbuncle do little to lift her mood. She glances about warily, hands never far from her weapons.
The Gods? You know the Goblin King isn't a god. He's just very powerful. And looks like you've been accepted into his company! You are now like us goblins, shifting and changing at his will!
That's how I got only one eye! And why they call me Anophth! he says, beaming.
Krissta seems offended by the comparison. "We are not goblins! Your King has no sway here. We are the chosen of the true gods, born of the World Mother's womb."
So am I! Chosen by one of the most powerful Fey! And the Goblin King is quite the trickster; he'll definitely pretend to be a God and alter your form. Just on a whim! Because that's the kind of a~##&#@ he is!
From now on, I declare you all honorary Goblins!
Krissta scowls and stalks away to tend to other customers, pointedly ignoring Anophth for the rest of the evening.
"Come on Anophth, you could've done better then that. I fully expected you to convince the wench that she was indeed a true Goblin... You're getting rusty now that you're not half rat!"
Oh, give it some time. The seeds have been planted.
The rest of the afternoon passes without event, but as night falls and the waxing moon rises, the air in the center of the field north of town wavers and the translucent, insubstantial form of a thin stone spire appears. It stabs into the air high above the buildings of Carbuncle.
The citizens gasp in delight as strange happenings begin to occur, coinciding with the tower's appearance. Ordinary objects disappear and reappear in unusual locations, furniture stacks itself up in piles, water turns to blood, milk spoils--weird, surely, but seemingly harmless...
Dramm grimaces at his ale. "Shouldn't be that color. Or smell like that." He pours out his glass with a frown.
"What do you think causes this? Any ideas? Didn't read any specifics, but it looks like Fey tricks. Know anything, Goblin King?" He watches the shimmering spire rising above the village. "We should move soon. Don't know how long we'll have to actually enter the tower. Don't think we want to be inside when the night ends."
It's either chaos magic, or the Fey are involved somewhere. Or both. How far do you think we are from that old fey dungeon we found? Any connections to this?
"The distances between the two are more than a little extreme for the two to be connected. We headed North to find Hamlet and the Elven Ruins. But this time we headed East. This magic is unpredictable though, I guess we'll find out."
The chill in the air sinks causes goosebumps to rise up on your skin as you venture towards the tower. As you cross the Bitter Heath, the sounds of the night seem dull and distant.
The tower is a thin spire of opalescent stone, 12 yards in diameter and terminating in a sharp tip 40 yards high. However, it remains insubstantial. Any attempts to enter it only result in you walking through it. Perhaps you'll have to wait until the tower is solid tomorrow night.
A feral growl gets your attention. Looking across the field, you see a hulking bear dragging something towards the tower. Its fur is dark as night and its eyes burn red. A closer look reveals the unconscious form of the innkeeper Krissta in its jaws!
"... We are getting involved, aren't we?"
Yes we are, Anophth says, knocking his bow and loosing an arrow.
"Yeah, figured." Dramm draws his knife and carves armor from the air. He closes the gap between him and the bear.
"Uruuna, I can assist you from here, let's do this! "
As he spoke, Imedren's eyes began to glow with the familiar telltale blue of future sight.
"My spells are too destructive. Get Krissta free and I can hit that thing."
"Right," Uruuna says, her foul mood vanishing in the face of danger. She moves closer and readies her crossbow and fires a bolt into the bear's flank!
"Of course we're getting involved, if you'd like to watch that woman die we need to have some words."
Tabog crouches low to the ground and fires.
Even with Joy's advice, Anophth's shot is just short of the bear. The witch misses as well, but Tabog and Uruuna each land a good hit.
As Dramm moves forward to confront the bear, it drops Krissta to the ground and roars, rushing over to meet the sorcerer! It transforms as it goes, rising up on its hind legs as it changes into a horrid humanoid, a mixture of bear and man! It tears at Dramm with its teeth!
As you watch, its wounds begin to heal themselves. "You will not deny me my salvation!" the man-bear bellows, blood dripping from its maw!
"W-what?" Imedren gasps, but retains his focus on guiding Uruuna.
"You're not a beast, but you are a mad man. Sacrifice won't bring about what you desire!"
Uruuna blanches momentarily until her innate courage wins out. She draws her scimitar and charges in beside Dramm, slicing the man-bear's belly!
The assault is shocking, but Dramm maintains his composure. It doesn't stop him from letting out a cry of pain when the teeth pierce his chest. He quickly carves a series of protections into the air, which hums with a barrier!
"I don't care what it was, Imedren! F+!@ing kill it!" He holds his wounds and snaps at the priest.
Tabog lays against the ground as the others attack the beast. He freezes for a moment, suddenly unsure of himself.
That... That's not what I am, right? This is... Some abomination!
He pops up to a sitting position and, with his bow arm on his raised knee, takes another shot.
It's a Skinchanger! Anophth calls out. Use silver!
He fires his bow, launching another arrow.
Anopth rushes to the woman and starts to drag her away from the bear.
The man-bear reels from the hits from Anophth and Uruuna. It loses track of Tabog in the tall grass, so it is quite surprised when the assassin's arrow impales it in the heart. It groans and looks down in disbelief before collapsing to the ground. As blood pours from its fatal injury, it shifts into the form of a brutish, shaggy-haired man. It seems he had been a skinchanger, like Anophth was.
Krissta is badly wounded and unconscious, but she is stable.
"Hell to the yes, kill shot! Anophth, high five!... I mean low five!"
Pleased with his lucky shot and his never-going-to-get-old joke at Anophth's expense, some of the pep in his step has returned as he collects the arrows he can find.
He settles in for the incoming discussion about the poor woman.
"We should do as much as we can to help her, she's an honorary goblin, it's our duty."
"Minor magic will bring her to consciousness. She can heal normally from there." Dramm bends down and carves out an invigorating sign over the unconscious Krissta.
He picks over the corpse of the man while Krissta comes to.
"What did he mean by salvation?"
Krissta groans as she regains consciousness. "Now I understand... The gods sent you here to save my life. I am in your debt. That monster attacked me when I was taking the trash out back. I don't know why it dragged me out here."
Of course I saved you, Anophth says, We Goblins gotta look out for each other. Anophth winks at her and gives a half smile.
Anophth stands up and offers her his hand, to help her up, as well. After she stands, he turns to Dramm and says, I'm guessing this whole tower thing happened to him, and he believes sacrifice will help him somehow. It is a full moon, after all.
Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find the answer there.
Once the danger passes, Imedren's eyes return to their normal color.
"His beliefs make him seem like a local... but not someone who frequented the Stump. Is there anyone who can tell us more of your traditions and beliefs for the area around here, Krissta?"
Krissta shakes her head sadly as she regards the dead man. "Oh, I see now. He is a local. A farmer, Crushal Verd. You said his curse was tied to the moon? Perhaps he thought the tower could cure him. Poor man. May the gods have mercy on his soul."
The innkeeper happily elaborates on the beliefs and traditions of Carbuncle, but there really isn't much more to them than you've previously observed. Once it's clear there is nothing further to be done tonight, you return to the Stump to rest.
***
The next day is uneventful as you make whatever preparations you might need to. That night, the full moon rises high in the sky. More strange happenings occur in town as the tower manifests fully in the center of the Bitter Heath. On the tower’s shadowed side, a black portal opens near the base...
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Tabog stands about 100 yards away from the hole in the void. The portal, though absent of life, was unnerving to Bog. Various members of the party stood around him as he looked on, stoically, until he checked to make sure they were watching.
"What could possibly await us across the threshold... Dramm!"
Tabog motioned for the young man to join him at the front of the group, he continued his stoic glare toward the portal for several seconds longer.
"Put your book away Dramm, this is important... I know you've done a lot for me already, all of you have and I'm truly thankful for that. I really need you to do me one last favor though, it's very simple but I can't trust anyone else to do it. I need you to go in and tell me what's on the other side of that portal."
Imedren had tried asking Uruuna what had seemed to have been bothering her recently after they'd returned Krissta to the Stump. He hadn't missed the way she had perked up once danger had presented itself or the way it seemed to settle back once it had passed but her reluctance to talk had him mildly worried.
Part of him wanted to press her for answers but he kept telling himself to stop.
Uruuna seemed torn when Imedren tried to get her to open up. "Now's not a good time. We need to be focused. Ask me again once we get Nutmeg back," she said.
Imedren nodded and left it at that for now.
~~~~~~~~~~
The days increasingly strange events in town led to an air of excitement for Imedren. He was unsure if there was anything he could do but he waited eagerly for the tower to arrive.
Checking their equipment for the last time the moonlit night beckoned the group and they arrived. As everyone stared at the tower in awe he noticed the strange shimmering portal at the base.
He looked at Tabog and Dramm, as the two began conversing and cast his defensive spell around him.
"Well I was going to go in first but if you two would prefer..."
Dramm's lips tighten when Tabog pulls his attention from the sketches. Apparently, parts of this unique moment would go undocumented. He watched Tabog mince words as stony as he always was.
"This? It's a tower. You're invoking the depths of our experiences together for a door?"
Uruuna adjusts the strap on her shield. "Why don't we all just go in together? It might not be a good idea to separate the party."
Dramm nods and carves his own arcane armor from the air.
"I was mauled by a bear last night. Doesn't seem fair to go twice..."
"Dramm, that's not what this is. How could you think that... Thank you Uruuna, finally someone with a... No wait, Imedren if it means that much to you, I insist."
As Tabog talked he used his slight of hand to slowly move everyone toward the imposing void door until they stepped in.........Tabog realized he was alone, and he knew that he never wanted to be alone again.
***
A chill runs through you as you step through the portal, but it's as effortless as stepping through an open doorway. You find yourselves in a circular chamber 10 yards in diameter, with a ceiling 3 yards high. The walls, floor, and ceiling are the sime white stone as the tower's exterior. Faintly glowing motes of light drift through the air, while bright blue light shines from a hole in the ceiling above. A fragile staircase takes an indirect path around the chamber, ending at the hole. The portal through which you entered shimmers on the wall behind you.
Imedren glanced around the chamber. "This is impressive." he said with awe looking around the room. "It's nothing like what I expected, but that's a good thing I'd say." He looks at the spiraling staircase leading up to the hole in the ceiling. "Let's go up, I want to see what else this tower has." he said to Uruuna, then he began to ascend.
Climbing up the stairs, you emerge into another room with the same dimensions. A pillar of blue, heatless fire rises from the center of the room, licking the ceiling overhead. A staircase ascends around the wall of the room to a shimmering red portal.
Hobb bleats nervously and shies away from the fire.
Imedren examines the blue flames, holding out his staff to see if the flames will burn it at all.
The fire does not burn the staff, but as soon as Imedren touches it to the flames, he disappears in a flash of light! "Imedren!" Uruuna cries.
Dramm is trying to calm Hobb when Imedren vanishes in a bright flash. The light causes Hobb to start and Dramm is nearly bowled over. It takes a moment for Dramm to realize there is no smell of burnt flesh. He creeps closer to the fire, searching for ashes.
"Don't smell anything. Smelled Imedren burn men. Can't smell it now."
"Then what happened to him?" Uruuna asks, worried.
"I don't know." Dramm considers. "Could try it." He glances at the staircase. "Or we could split up. Cover more ground."
"Wooooooooow! This place is cool as sh- OH! damn! Imedren!..." Tabog says. The air of confusion lasted only a moment. "Dramm, that might be a crap idea. Splitting up only helps cartographers and killers.
Dramm fidgets.
"Yeah... smelled Imedren burn men. Just not eager to try it." He takes a breath and reaches his hand out.
Dramm disappears in a flash of blue light. Uruuna follows suit.
"Gah! Damn, Crisps! you exhausting person." Tabog sighs.
***
Imedren finds himself in another chamber. A ball of blazing-hot blue plasma hangs in the air, filling the room with light. A glowing green portal covers a section of the wall 1 yard in diameter. Lying flat on the floor between the plasma and the portal are six irregularly shaped glass panels set within bronze frames. Each frame has feet allowing it to be stood up perpendicular to the floor. One panel is a circle. The others have two, three, five, eleven, and thirteen sides, respectively.
Imedren's eyes widened as the flash of white occurred and he glanced around the room in momentary confusion. "What? Where am I? Uruuna?! TaBog?... Dramm..." he started to back away from the strange suspended in the air as he looked at the rest of the room trying to discern what he could.
After a few moments he calmed himself down, realizing that he was in no immediate danger as long as he didn't try to touch this other source of flames. He looked at the green portal and the bronze frames.
"Okay... that should probably let me leave but what does the rest of this mean? Maybe if I -" he started talking out loud to himself but then was surprised by Dramm's and then Uruuna's sudden appearance. "Dramm! Uruuna!!"
"Im!" Uruuna hugs her husband. "I told you not to do stuff like that!"
He lets out a small laugh of relief. "Says the woman who just dove into the flames after me. But I'm glad you did." he sighed. "The staff was supposed to be the check against anything happening to me."
He looked over at Dramm. "Judging from how fast you came here though, you didn't even give it much thought, did you? That is rather surprising."
"Got lucky. That was interesting. Why fire do you think?" Dramm begins to explore the bronze frames himself. He gently taps edges of it. The frame rings faintly as Dramm taps it.
Imedren lets Uruuna go and begins looking around. "Fire is a powerful source of energy. It can take on it's own life as long as it has something to burn."
Hobb appears in the room, snorting and startling all about. It seems the ram is so stubborn that he even followed Dramm into the fire, heedless of his own safety.
"Are you kidding, Hobb?!" Dramm checks his horns and head. Satisfied, he leads the ram to one side and mutters. "Damn thing is mad. Unnatural."
"Hobb? Dramm is your goat just that well trained or-" he shakes his head. "No, he just follows you." he looks to the area the rest of them appeared. "Well at least TaBog and Joy have some common sense or they probably would have jumped into the flames by now."
He glanced back over to the frames. "It looks like these things can be stood up. I wonder if anything changes when we do. Uruuna, help me with this one. Dramm, keep an eye out for anything strange that might happen."
You lift up the two-sided piece of glass and move it about the room. Placing it between the ball of plasma and the portal causes the light shining from the fiery ball to change the portal's color to orange.
Dramm lets out a low whistle. "Controls the location by color, maybe?"
"Interesting. The room we were in before had a red portal at the top. So assuming you're correct, we just have to keep checking the colors here until we find the red one and we'll find the others then. Other than that though, we'll have to check the rest of this tower by going through the portals."
"... What happens to Anophth or Joy or Tabog if they step through the portal now?" Dramm asks.
"I don't know. Maybe nothing? Maybe they come here? Or maybe something bad..." Imedren ponders.
"Uh... okay lets set this one down and try lifting the one closest to the flame." Imedren said, moving the one he'd indicated.
The circular shard of glass causes the portal to change to a blue color. The other glass shards produce portals of purple, pink, teal, and yellow, respectively. Combinations of multiple shards or all six only result in the portal returning to its default green color.
"So, blue, orange, purple, pink, teal, and yellow from each glass frame respectively. Then a green portal if we don't do anything, or start combining them. 7 options and not one of them is a red portal. This otherwise feels like the heart of the tower. The question is... where do we go from here? I'm inclined to just start with the green portal and see where that takes us."
Joy sees the flames, and breathes deeply.
Her skin appears to grow bark-like.
She reaches for the flame -
- and appears behind the others.
"Just me. What has happened here?"
Let's find out! Anophth says, jumping in the green portal.
It was a mere 10 minutes after the stubborn goat hopped into the fire that Tabog's loneliness began to combat the dread of jumping into a pillar of fire. He slowly stepped closer and closer to the fire, unnerved by its lack of heat.
"Curiosity killed the cat, you know..."
He smiled when his companions came into view and began to help with the glass panels while Imedren filled him in on their discoveries thus far.
"Dammit, Anophth, confidence is great and all but..." The Goblin was already gone. Dramm shakes his head with a small smile. "We wanted him back, right? Come on, Hobb."
Dramm follows after Anophth and leads the ram behind him. Hobb butts him occasionally with an aggressive bleat.
Dramm and Hobb follow Anophth into the portal. The trio (and anybody else who follows) is teleported to another circular chamber. A black stone obelisk stands at the center of this level, 2 yards wide, 2 yards long, and 3 yards tall, rising up to touch the ceiling. The floor around it is strewn with round black stones, each one the size of a human fist.
Dramm gets closer to inspect the obelisk, searching for markings or writing. He nudges one of the fist sized stones with a foot before reaching down to pick one up. Hobb chews on one of Dramm's sleeves.
"Must be for something. Interacting with the obelisk? Creations of it?"
The stone is cold to the touch and smooth. When Dramm gets within 4 yards of the obelisk, bright green lines begin to twist and writhe across its surface. Dramm hesitates, but presses on for another couple yards.
As soon as he gets within 2 yards of the obelisk, the stone in his hand shakes slightly, then transforms into a enormous scarab beetle with a crimson stripe running down its back! It clicks its mandibles as it regards the sorcerer with compound eyes.
All around the chamber, the stones shudder as they awaken, and without moments, they gather into three heaving swarms of ravenous beetles, eager to devour you!
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"GAH!" Dramm shakes the beetle loose with a shout. He grabs his ax from his back and swipes at the nearest swarm with the flat of the blade before retreating back to Anophth.
"They are NOT rocks! Not rocks!"