Ahh... So NPCs aren't people too? Damn your prejudice!
I'M sowwy :(
I must say that I have met a very interesting group of adventures this past week. A mixed group of fighters, rogues, and arcane spellcasters that seem to be only lacking a healer. I have found out that they are going into the Maure Castle Ruins which I know to be full of powerful undead and that one of there party members has already been killed by a pack of Bodaks. In the morning I will offer my services both as a healer and a slayer of undead to aid them in there quest. It will be good to get away from the temple and truely test the gifts that Pelor has granted me.
:The following morning:
Well I no sooner started to offer my services as Andrew practically jumped out of his skin with enthusiasm. I must say by his reaction they must truely be in great need of someone of my abilities. The rest of the party was also kind in welcoming me to there group and Maccabee filled me in on there grand quest to save the world. Thou hard to believe I sensed that they were all quite sincere about what they had told me. I can only hope that my services will be useful to them on there journey.
Friday, March 3, 2006
Sadly, our newest addition is also our newest drop out. Robert has left and with him Savaun Blackhawk. We wish him well and hope he gets the opportunity to join us again in the future. For the 2 sessions he gamed with us, he was a great addition.
28 Readying, 593 CY
The 2 errant crossbow bolts clattered against the far wall and the party turned their attention from the dead carcass of the huge cat/wolf creature to face this new attack.
Coralis had prepared for the dark and dank recesses of Maure Castle’s dungeons by casting a powerful light spell on his holy symbol and up until now had kept it tucked under his clothes. He stepped around the corner and pulled the brilliant light source out, lighting the dungeon corridors, which were long, indeed, for hundreds of feet. Suddenly shielding their eyes down the corridor and around a nearby corner of a branching corridor were 6 warriors armed with bastard swords and crossbows. Their tabards bore the silver sunburst symbol of the Seekers.
Coralis commanded them to cease attacking and went on to tell them that the party meant them no harm. Maccabee called, “We are here on the behest of other Seekers.” The men smirked and replied, “Sure you are. Heh!” The attacks then continued.
The warrior in Seeker garb inflicted a few good blows, but by and far, the party was picking them apart. Of the six, 2 of them were down and the others fled around a corner and could be heard hustling away.
Coralis, now large from a spell effect, walked after them, but they had already rounded another corner or entered one of the several doors in the corridor he could see. Tysis, Thal’Talis, and Mira Luna had run into the cave of the felled beast and were using curative magic to heal their wounds. Tysis had been badly wounded by the creature and Thal’Talis was dropped by the ranged attacks from the Seeker guards.
Maccabee came over and laid hands on the elven wizard and restored much of his lost health. Tysis quaffed potion after potion.
From around a far corner, 3 of the Seeker guards darted out and began pulling on a massive and expensive looking tapestry hanging from the nearby wall as if they meant to make off with it.
Maccabee and Andrew both moved to attack and suddenly as part of the tapestry fell away from the wall a symbol of evil inscribed on the stones lit up. Andrew looked at in horror and suddenly collapsed… dead. Maccabee resisted the fell power of the symbol and strode up to attack the group. Another of the Seeker guards came out of an adjoining corridor and began pulling at the other end of the tapestry. Maccabee managed to drop 2 of the men as Coralis joined his side. Before they could kill the last guard he managed to pull down the other end of the tapestry exposing another malign symbol of death.
Thal’Talis came out of the cave he was holing up in, took one look at the glowing symbol and also dropped dead. Maccabee, by virtue of his strong fortitude resisted its effects and Coralis had taken a moment to cast a death ward spell before he approached.
Things had gotten very ugly. Andrew and Thal’Talis lie dead. Tysis moaned in misery for his fallen charge, muttering about his failure.
The others thought quickly and decided to gather up whatever things they could and flee. As they prepared to do this, a group of 4 more Seeker guards came running up the long southern corridor nearby and found Coralis hammering at the wall with the symbols. He had destroyed 2 of them and was working on the third.
The Seekers moved up to attack him, but when the party came out in force and began peppering them with spells and martial attacks, they fled back the way they came, presumably for reinforcements. One of them dropped before they could round a corner, but the other 3 escaped.
Quickly, Maccabee summoned Neon and loaded the dead bodies of Thal’Talis and Andrew on to it. He then sent it back to the celestial realms for now. Mira Luna and Tysis busily removed easily looted items from the dead Seeker guards nearby while Maccabee and Coralis rolled up the huge tapestry to pack into one of the bags of holding. As they did, they heard many booted feet coming from the south.
The Seekers had returned with 2 more of their allies with a look of command and competence about them. Mira Luna webbed the hallway, effectively sealing it off from them. Their enemies were left no choice except to find an alternate way to get to them. While they did that, the party gathered up the last of what they were going to take with them and Mira Luna teleported the group back to Seltaren.
Remainder of 28 Readying—1 Coldeven, 593 CY
The party had collected enough treasure and their dead companions owned enough capital to fund the spells necessary to return Thal’Talis and Andrew back to life. However, as the old High Priest of the Temple of Pelor studied their corpses, he told the party that the elf’s spirit had moved on to the afterlife prepared for him. There was no way to bring his spirit back now that he had found his “Heaven.” As for Andrew, his spirit still lingered near his body and could be returned to life with the proper prayers to Pelor.
As the High Priest began the ritual of true resurrection on Andrew, the party waited in the Temple nave and discussed the Seekers. Apparently, Maccabee had went to question Sir Dirfen about these obviously evil Seekers the group had been encountering in Maure Castle’s dungeons and had found him no longer in residence. He was on an extended trip and would not be returning for some time.
Coralis enlightened the group that the Seekers were a secretive organization whose goal it was to find a group of 8 powerful Suel wizards from the Maure family. They had left this world and took with them the secrets of their powerful magic. The Seekers hoped to regain that lost knowledge. Indeed, their eight-pointed star symbolized these 8 Suel wizards of power.
The organization, though not completely evil from member to member, was wholly selfish and intent on magical power. The party now began to see the Seekers in a new… distasteful way; most especially Maccabee the paladin.
Tysis was convinced to continue with the party for a time, though he had not been able to save Thal’Talis. He mourned the loss of his friend, but since he had no familial ties or obligations now, he decided to stick around.
2 Coldeven, 593 CY
The group prepared to return to the dungeons by purchasing scrolls of death ward in anticipation of more of the symbols of death they encountered. They also bought a few items like healing potions and minor equipment before leaving Seltaren again. Maccabee reported to the local Temple of Heironeous and Coralis prepared a word of recall spell to take him and up to 3 others back to the nave of the temple if necessary this time. Mira Luna then teleported the group back to chamber on the 1st level of the dungeon that had the stairs leading down to the 2nd level.
Andrew carefully tinkered with the trap that had wounded Coralis with poisoned spears from the wall so severely days ago. It must have worked because they were able to open the door to the stairs and move in without any traps being set off.
At the bottom of the steps Andrew peeked around the corner into the room where they had fought the huge cat/wolf. It was gone. He then moved in a little bit more and up to where the room turned the corner into the wide hallway they had fought the Seekers and been affected by the symbols of death.
Before Andrew peered around the corner he saw something unusual on the ground just around the corner that caught his attention: bits of gem dust. He didn’t care for that at all and told the rest of the party that it looked suspicious. Coralis came up and carefully approached the corner. He identified the gem dust as a material component that went into creating various symbol spells. Apparently, there was one inscribed on the wall just around the corner.
Expecting another symbol of death, Coralis cast death ward and came around the corner to smash it with his adamantine mace. The symbol lit up, but was not a symbol of death. Instead, someone had inscribed a symbol of insanity. Fortunately, Coralis had other protections active that kept from being mentally manipulated and so he resisted its effects.
The rest of the party approached after the priest had made the area safe but stayed a short distance back in case there were more symbols to deal with. The priest of Pelor seemed to be safe from their effects.
As Coralis moved up to the intersecting hallways, the group could see the dead body of one of the Seekers they had killed. It had been completely stripped and lay face down on the ground. Andrew and Coralis studied the body a moment and then the priest stepped toward it. Suddenly it twitched and stood up. Moaning, it began to shamble forward.
Coralis pulled out his brilliantly illuminated holy symbol and he could see down all branching corridors. There were more undead Seekers shambling toward him from the east and north as well—all six of the ones they had killed recently.
Coralis drew on the power of Pelor and a pulse of positive energy washed over all of the zombies, but the furthest one. In that flash, Tysis saw that the furthest one had some kind of symbol drawn on its bare torso. He shouted, “Don’t let that creature any closer, Coralis!” But it was too late.
The zombie hurriedly shambled toward the group and the symbol flashed with evil light. It was still too far to affect the entire group, but Tysis and Maccabee were both at risk. Luckily they both resisted it. Tysis put 2 arrows into the zombie and dropped it. The symbol still glowed brightly, though. Coralis walked over and crushed the zombie’s chest with his mace spraying blood guts all over the ground and destroying the evil symbol.
For the next hour, the group explored the rooms they found at the northern portion of the dungeon. Aside from one large chamber that was an obvious guard room of the Seekers, they found several rooms covered in silver paint and festooned with many dusty pillows. One of the rooms was large and securable enough to serve as a suitable place to rest once they needed it. Though there was no key to the door’s stout lock, Andrew could easily use his tools to lock and relock it as needed.
At the easternmost section of the north end of the dungeon the party discovered a secret door that led to hallway with stairs descending deeper into the Maure dungeons. Deeper? No, not yet. The party decided to handle things on this level before facing anything down there yet.
Through the Eyes of a Paladin #47
Paladins Log 5930401 supplemental: We have returned back once again from the Ruins of Maure Castle. Andrew and Thal ‘Talis are dead it was but for a few moments after teleporting into the ruins that we first hit a snag of a trapped door. The door apparently activated several spears that were poisoned and pin cushioned our good cleric. Fortunately I was able to give him a potion that neutralizes poison, which saved him from its deadly affects. We then descended into a lower portion of the castle and was met by some oversized guard dog/cat either way it bit a huge chunk out of Thal’ Talis and he was quickly stabilized by the cleric of Pelor.
Soon after we were then ambushed by a group of Seekers and was apparently no longer considered as allies especially the fact they are evil. As the fight went on that is when Andrew and Thal’Talis met their end. A wall covered by a tapestry was uncovered and behind it were some symbols of death in which most of us were exposed to. It took some time but we managed to neutralize the threat and take what we could off our foes and teleported ourselves back to Selteran. It is slow moving in our quest for the Destiny Stone. We managed to raise Andrew and Thal’Talis is enjoying the splendor of the after life. Tysis has chosen to stand where his companion once stood to continue on the journey for fortune and glory. I personally grieved to have seen the once noble family of Black Hawk had no representation. His strange disappearance from the group will be an added mystery as the days move on.
I can not emphasize enough to my companions that caution is not too extreme as we slowly move into the depths of Maure Castle. End of Log.
I tried my best, by Pelor, but I couldn't protect Thal'Talis from the symbol of death that ended his life. So many oaths left unfulfilled or broken... and this yet another. I pray that whatever blessed rest that young elf goes to, that he is happy and a greater power keeps him safe the way I could not.
I had thought of returning to the west, but this young group of heroes has asked me to continue on with them. Even though I failed my oath to Thal, they still want my help. Hmmm... perhaps I may still be able to do some good. Perhaps by aiding this group in their quest it will satisfy the demands of the oaths I have not fulfilled.
Very well. I continue on with this group lending my strength and wisdom to their cause. Whatever relic it is that they search for in the dungeons of Maure Castle, Tysis will be there to help them recover it!
I wish I had been better prepared to deal with those symbols of death but I was only able to protect myself from its effects. I was down a corridor looking for our enemies when I heard the screams coming from the main hall. I feel as thou I should have been able to do more but even I cannot reverse such a horrible death. I will continue to try and keep the party from harm but when a spell or creature causes death to reach out and grab my companions there is little I can do to stop it. We have purchased scrolls of Deathward so that should we be able to prepare to face such spells or creatures we will be immune to there effects. For now we shall push on into the depths of these wretched ruins to find that which we seek.
Ip gets up after a few minutes of being stunned and lands on Tysis's shoulder. His intelligent eyes reflect a sorrow that a normal raven should not be capable of.
"Tysis, he's gone. I was with him the whole time, seeing everything he saw up until he went through the light. His depression from the horrible burns, his feelings of abandonment from his family disappearing, and many more sorrows flooded his mind in his last moments. But one thing I do know, he spoke to my mind from beyond in that very instant that he reached it and said he was at peace."
Ip jumps down on the hewn stone floor between where Thal'talis's cold body lies and Tysis stands.
"We must go on knowing that he has chosen to remain where he is now, and that has a happiness that he could never attain here,"
With that last comment, Ip flies towards the exit and leaves the party forever.
*********************CAMPAIGN INTERLUDE*******************
As the adventurers delve deeper into the dungeons of Maure Castle in search of the ultimate weapon against the growing threat of the Faranth, I take you north and east… Across the windy grasslands of the Duchy of Urnst and west across the rolling plains of the Kingdom of Nyrond; north over the Flinty Hills and deep in to the Rakers where winter’s chill grip is never relaxed.
A group of misfit adventurers sits around a campfire under a rocky outcrop and examine a treasure map to an ancient cave nearby. The party consists of a burly she-minotaur warrior who claims to be from an alternate Prime Material in which the minotaurs are the dominant race, a hobgoblin rogue recently fled from the humanoid controlled city of Spinecastle, a purple skinned tiefling warlock with dubious plans and a shady past, a young human wizard calling himself the Black Mage seeming to jump at every shadow who seems to try too hard at “being evil,” a great hairy brute from the frozen north that claims he’s a holy man, and a troubled dwarven rogue that keeps a great many secrets.
They’ve joined forces to collect an “otherworldly treasure” referred to on the big priest’s treasure map. They make their preparations that night and rest until the morning.
With the sun barely up over the tip of the mountains, the group begins descending the tunnel that angles ever downward into the depths of the earth. Sickly plant life grows along the walls and noxious vapors waft up from below.
A black pudding pooling in a bowl shaped shelf along their way is problematic, but numerous magic missiles from Kevin the Black Mage’s wand and eldritch blasts from Nightscreed the tiefling’s fingertips eventually destroy it.
Finally reaching the bottom of the tunnel several hundred feet down, it levels off and appears to have been worked and braced for the next hundred feet until it opens into an immense cavern. Inside, a huge monolithic structure rises into the inky shadows above. The surface of the structure is engraved with a fortune in gold and gems. Shallow pits spaced around its base contain magical flames making the gold and gems sparkle tantalizingly.
The group skulks up to the entrance and Garthantholk the dwarven rogue cannot help but inch out into the cavern and towards the riches nearby. A growl from a tunnel on the other side of this cavern is followed by a pale-skinned, stooped orc with long claws and sharp fangs. More come streaming out of other adjoining tunnels and the party finds themselves engaged in combat with a dozen of the brutes. The claws dig deep when they hit, but the minotaur’s greataxe and the warlock’s eldritch blasts begin to whittle them down.
However, things get hairy when a mind flayer emerges from the opposite side of the cavern from another tunnel. A wave of sonic energy flows over the dwarven rogue and he can do nothing but stand their stunned.
As the battle rages, 2 more mind flayers join the fray. Suddenly, other creatures join as well. Great black skinned toad-like creatures with a mass of slimy tentacles where a head should be. These alien beings seem to be the ones in control of these hostile forces.
The fight wears on, but by the time the group realizes they are outmatched and outnumbered, it is too late. The burly northern priest, the young human wizard, and the ferocious minotaur all succumb to the mental control of the mind flayers. The dwarven rogue is beaten into submission, and the hobgoblin rogue that has been sneaking round the battle is surrounded by the alien creatures and his mind crushed by the flayers.
Only the tiefling manages to escape the clutches of these creatures and vows to never return to this area again. His friends are now the thralls of the strange creatures down below. What ends they will be used for he can only guess.
************************************************************************
Friday, March 10
We were fortunate to have Robert back with us again, so Sevaun Blackhawk and a new adventurer join the group tonight. Dan brings in his new character, Solstin the former paladin of Pelor turned sorcerer.
2 Coldeven, 592 CY (Continued)
Heading back up to the main corridor after discovering the secret door and the stairs leading deeper into the dungeons, the party rounded the corner and far ahead they could see two men. They immediately prepared for a fight, but were relieved to discover their erstwhile companion Savaun in company with another man, him bearing symbols of Pelor.
During their reunion, the party discovered that Savaun had heard that a good friend of his was in town and went to see him during their last visit to Seltaren. Their visit ran a little long and when he came back looking for the party, they had already left again. Savaun had convinced Solstin to join the group with him and they made preparations to go to Maure Castle via teleport, which Solstin was able to cast.
After searching around the top level, they came below and simply followed recent signs of the group’s presence. As it turned out, Solstin and Coralis knew of each other. Solstin had been affiliated with the Temple of Pelor in Greyhawk while Coralis had mainly worked out of the temple in Seltaren. A small, small world after all.
For the next couple hours, the party joined up and began a search of the rooms to the southeast. There they discovered numerous empty alcoves and several doors. One opened into a room full of bits of garbage and a large green marble statue of a hezrou demon. Maccabee could sense magically that it was a golem and the party decided that this thing representing a creature of utter evil should be destroyed.
Entering the room, Savaun and Coralis both magically enlarged and strengthened and Maccabee spelled up with his own magic hacked the thing into a pile of rubble while taking a few good, but non-fatal blows in return.
The door inside the room led to a roaring furnace that they realized the golem intended to dump them all in. They were thankful that it hadn’t succeeded as it would have most likely killed anyone that was dropped into the fire filled pit.
More rooms were discovered, but they were each empty.
At one end of a hallway they investigated they found a well of acidic water that occasionally bubbled up and splashed the hallway around it, etching the stone and filling the air with stinging vapors. The group kept well away from the splashing acid.
As their exploration continued, Andrew caught the sound of a deep, throaty growl coming from a door he hadn’t investigated yet and also heard a voice trying to shush whatever creature was growling.
The party instantly surrounded the area and began trying to get inside. A feminine voice from the other side told them to go away and leaver her alone. Maccabee and the other were convinced the person was evil and a Seeker to which the woman claimed innocence and challenged their questioning of her. It was obvious that she wasn’t coming out and the party wasn’t buying that this person was an innocent in such a deadly place.
Andrew picked the lock on the door on one side of the block of hallway the door entered from while Maccabee pounded on the door on the opposite side, which they could tell led into the same room(s). Andrew opened the door and found what looked like some kind of animal training room. There was nobody in here, but he could here the woman’s voice louder now coming from beyond a second door inside the room. Andrew, Savaun, and Solstin entered while Tysis and Mira Luna stayed out in the hall.
Maccabee and Coralis were staying put around the corner of the hallway at the other door.
Andrew tried the interior door, but found that even after he picked the lock that something heavy was blocking it from being opened. He could not get it to budge. So, Andrew hustled out of the room and out to the other door where Maccabee continued to pound on it, shouting for the woman to open it. Meanwhile Savaun decided to simply batter the door down that Andrew had left, so he began hacking away at it. Solstin, meanwhile, examined the leather whips hanging from the wall and the large cage in the corner.
No sooner had Andrew arrived and began to pick the lock on the other door than it sprang open. He briefly saw a comely elven woman in rugged outdoorsy attire with a bow in her hand before a large tiger lunged at him and tried to sink its teeth into him. Luckily he dodged aside and avoided its large fangs.
Maccabee moved up and hacked it with his sword and then Andrew tumbled in and got in position to stab it from behind. Before either had a chance to make good on their intentions the tiger and its mistress, the elven archer, fled out of the room and down the corridor toward the stairs up to the next level.
The group tried to prevent their escape and Mira Luna thought she had trapped the elven woman in a web spell, but they soon found that the woman had escaped and her tiger, separated from its mistress, had fled into other areas of the dungeon.
Returning to her chambers they found the room furnished very comfortably with a bed, armoire, tub, and desk. There were also many potted plants of the subterranean variety spaced around the room as well.
In the woman’s desk the group found notes that logged the training of some type of creature called a tyrg. They also found references to the man ordering their training—someone named Eli—and two men named Aldest Amaz and Nemill Korigant that were the Seeker Commanders. There was nothing else worth bothering with.
After this strange encounter, the group became embroiled in a moral debate over the rightness of barging into this woman’s chambers and attacking her. Tysis complained that in a horrible place where they have been constantly attacked by monsters, he felt like he had become the monster and was ashamed of this whole event. Solstin seemed to feel guilty about it as well. He returned the whip that he was going to keep back to its peg in the adjoining chamber and a moment later Andrew followed suit. However, Maccabee and Savaun made a case for how untrustworthy anybody they found in this place was and how deadly every encounter they had been involved in so far had been. How could they know that this woman was any different? They still didn’t know. Before Maccabee had had a chance to see if the woman’s aura was evil, she had already fled. Really, nobody and everybody were right and the subject was left as unsettled.
The session ended for the night here.
Through the Eyes of a Paladin #48
Paladin’s thoughts 5930402: Searching through these vast amounts of sleeping quarters I didn’t want to leave anything undone. Using the grappling hook and rope to turn the pillows lying on the floor made me want to insure all stones were not left unturned. There is no telling what lengths these treacherous Seekers have done to impede our quest. These glyphs of warding had already taken too many lives in this dungeon and now seeing the veracity of the Seeker’s has made me a bit wearier of any one else we might find down here.
I have been watching Andrew and he is beginning to get sloppy around each one of these corners. Not taking the time if there are any signs of glyphs etched around in the walls. I am almost ready to step out on my own searching the hallway in which we last saw the wretched seekers came from. I’ll take more of a defensive stance in the rear of the party and hopes for the best and plan for the worst.
An acrid smell of a pool of acid caused me to cover my mouth and nostrils. Looking about seeking any forms of life or treachery. I was asked to check out a stone figure and turned out with my golems bane was able to detect it as a stone golem. I immediately spelled up and engaged the monstrosity. With the assistance of our newfound friend Savaun, Corallis and with the magic assistance of Mira Luna and Sulstan we were able to make short work of the magical monster.
Discovering a woman down here added to the spice of the adventure. Apparently she was aiding the seekers in making guard dogs if you will. The group seemed to have a moral dilemma. I for the most part looked on. She was apparently guilty by association yet the code of Law dictates; Law requires Judgment, Justice requires Mercy and Grace, Justice without Mercy and Grace is Vengeance. I choose the better part of justice to not pursue the woman. The information she had was in her quarters and made the information valuable for any up and coming encounters. It is a far-gone conclusion we will meet some more of her trained pets. As for the wealth and valuables of her belongings they meant little to me and apparently to the Elven woman that had fled with her tiger. The only thing important is getting to the Destiny Stone. Since the Seekers have now become a hindrance to our quest they must be handled righteously.
Truthfully my patience is growing thin, its taking far too long to get to our goal I had never imagined this part of our quest would be so tedious. The party is still ironing out its own personal dilemmas. I suppose if there is one thing I am to learn of this and that is “patience”. Perhaps trying not to speed up our progression but to slow it down and proceed with more caution. Besides I am not sure I am ready for the after life, neither do I suspect it be ready for me.
Thoughts of Solstin:
Wow, what a day. I didn't think I'd run into Savaun yesterday, let alone delve into Maure Castle of all places. The group he has been travelling with has been intersting, in the short time I've known them. We seem to make an excellent team, supporting each other in our weaknesses and bolstering each other in our strengths.
The encounters I've run into so far have only suprised me by being so close to the fables that surround the castle. Together we made quick work of a green stone golem, and had a chance encounter with an elven maiden that I'm still trying to figure out.
And this little ball of light is still following me. I know its sentient somehow, and all I can do is relate the word "Tava" with it, which must be its name. It's been with me for the past week, and I see no reason to fear it, but I am so curious...
Well it would seem that the spellcasters of the group are no stranger to battle tactics and where quite helpful against the stone golem. I am still not sure how the encounter with the elf woman got so out of hand but I do not like Savaun's brash and frankly rude manner in which he speaks to people as thou they are beneath him. I can only assume that it is because of his noble backround that taught him to be like that and Maccabee the paladin is quick to judge everything as evil and jumping right into danger when perhaps it could have been avoided or information gathered by conversation rather than at the tip of his sword. I must say I do not begrudge either of them for there faults for I am not a saint either but I think I will talk with them about what happened and perhaps come to an agreement that would make everyone happy.
Through the Eyes of a Paladin # 49
Paladins Log CY 5930402: Fate be as it may, my assertiveness had paid off. The woman who had left the seen had apparently encountered some evidence of my father; she acquired my father’s journal as her own. Had I not seen the family seal of the roaring lion I would have passed it off as discarded information. But now my hopes of finding out his fate are closer at hand than I expected. Leaving a note behind if the woman returns to her dwelling place may be a full hardy attempt, but there is no telling what information no matter how valuable it may be could bring me closer to finding my father.
This day felt like several weeks. The stone golem, the elf woman, teargs followed by an onslaught of fiendish Gnolls made for a fully long day. I am puzzled of the presence of the Gnoll demon god’s followers being here in the ruins. This place seems to be an orgy for the occult. No telling what or who else is down here and from what our friend Savaun has told us there is a mechanical hydra of some kind guarding the lower areas of this dungeon apparently near the place of antiquities where it is suspected where the Destiny Stone lies.
We have managed to find some treasure to help in our exploits. It was decided to wait until we finish off this level of the dungeon before we return into town.
For sentimental reasons I will be holding on to my fathers journal, Tiberius Banes Daystar, although it be empty it will be made ready for him. Thank Heironeous no one has died this day. The quest continues...
Friday, March 17
2 Coldeven, 593 CY (midmorning)
The party searched through the rooms of the escaped elven ranger and turned up 2 Seeker uniforms, contrary to her claims at not being a Seeker, and a battered journal with a good portion of the pages ripped out and the rest obviously used by the elf whose name they learned is Serini Glistermane. Maccabee recognized the crest branded into its battered leather cover as his missing father’s personal coat of arms. Snatching it from Andrew, Maccabee flipped through the pages. He found nothing to mention his father, but his initials penned on the inside cover.
The group learned a little bit more about the place, though. For example, Serini had written that Eli had forbid any of the Seekers to enter the Chamber of Antiquities or Statuary levels. The elf had sketched a few things in the journal that were of fair quality. One of them on the page she mentioned the Chamber of Antiquities on had a sketch of a hydra made of iron. Seeing this, Savaun immediately recognized it as something he had seen in numerous dreams. It was a sign of his nearness to that which he sought; perhaps what the whole party sought.
Andrew claimed one of the Seeker uniforms and put it on. Savaun grabbed up the other one.
Leaving Serini’s rooms, the party entered the hallway with the acid pool at the east end. A door a little west of the acidic, belching pool was their next place to investigate. Andrew and Savaun huddled near the door and the young rogue could hear some growling from the other side similar to that made by the huge tyrg they had killed. Peeking in, Andrew confirmed this, though these were the size of adult tigers instead of the huge monstrosity of before.
As the light from the hall entered the darkened room, 4 sets of golden eyes regarded the cracked door and a chorus of menacing growls greeted Andrew. He immediately shut the door and told the rest of the party what he had seen. He then opened the door a little wider so he and Savaun could get a better look at the interior of the room.
The tyrg’s stood up and their tails swished back and forth at sight of Andrew as if in friendly greeting, but they growled and hissed at Savaun. Again they closed the door quickly after seeing the rooms dimensions and spotting a second door in the opposite wall.
The group figured that the Seeker uniform must be what made the creatures act friendly to Andrew. Savaun donned the uniform he had grabbed and the two took a risk and opened the door once more and entered while the others remained in the hall.
The tyrg’s responded friendly enough, which is to say they didn’t pounce on Andrew and Savaun and rip them to shreds. As Andrew went over to the other door, Savaun used his expertise in handling wild animals to make friends with the creatures, giving them morsels of food from his pack and scratching their heads. Andrew opened the other door and saw that the next room was simply another training area, but was empty.
As Andrew closed the door, Savaun was beginning to receive aggressive attention from the tyrg’s. One was standing on its hind legs and leaning heavily on Savaun clawing at his pack to get at more of the tasty morsels within. Savaun was getting nervous. He quickly grabbed some bits of rations and tossed them over to the other end of the room. The tyrg quickly pushed off of Savaun and lunged at the bits of food, fighting with the other 3 over the snacks.
Andrew and Savaun quickly exited the room and told the party what they had found.
Moving on, the party began heading south to a corridor that winded out of sight. As Andrew, who was in the lead, entered an intersection, arrows whizzed toward him from the dark areas to left and right of him. One of the arrows sunk into his thigh, the tip exiting the other side of his leg.
The party sprang into action, first of all, lighting up the area with Coralis’s magical light on his holy symbol. A pair of gnoll archers at either end of the hallway was attacking the group. As the group moved to engage them, another gnoll archer attacked from another direction, targeting those at the back of the party—Solstin, Mira Luna, and Tysis.
The trio at the back of the party returned fire and badly wounded their attacker.
Savaun, Andrew, Maccabee, and Coralis engaged the archer to the west.
Yet another gnoll archer attacked the group at the back from the opposite direction. The gnolls had apparently surrounded them from adjacent corridors. However, when the gnolls began taking severe damage, one of them not yet engaged in combat shouted a harsh, guttural order and they began a hasty withdrawal.
As Maccabee pursued the nearest gnoll archer that had ducked around a corner to the south, he suddenly found 2 more gnolls with dire flails waiting for him around that corner. They both struck savagely, wounding the paladin, but not enough to keep him from returning their attacks. Once Savaun and Andrew caught up to Maccabee the 3 of them made quick work of these new enemies as well as the wounded gnoll archers a little further down the corridor who had been quaffing healing potions.
While the others caught up to the vanguard, Andrew busily used healing magic on himself. He had taken quite a beating.
Now that the group was in the wide main hall of this dungeon level, they decided to see just how far south it went and peek into the side corridors as well to get a better idea of their surroundings and update their dungeon map.
Further south, the party spotted a group of 4 dead bodies near the entrance to a long stretch of the main corridor with no branching corridors. It eventually came to a dead end.
Maccabee volunteered to explore the bodies and the corridor scanning for evil auras as he went. Only a thin dissipating vapor of evil from the creatures that no doubt had recently traversed this corridor remained. From the bodies, he sensed nothing. Coralis’s celestial brilliance, which lit the corridors very well for a good distance would have fried the bodies lying in the corridor had they been undead, so the party was confident that the bodies were just corpses of unfortunate adventurers.
The paladin strode up to the dead bodies, but suddenly disappeared as he reached them and then reappeared a tick later at the far end of the corridor at the dead end. When Maccabee tried to exit the long corridor he found that he could not; he was merely teleported against his well back to the dead end.
As the rest of the party stood clustered along the corridor north of Maccabee, the paladin decided to start looking through the dead bodies to see if there were any valuables worth taking. He was rewarded with quite a bit of masterwork weapons and armor and a few things with magical auras as determined by Solstin’s detect magic spell.
Andrew approached the entrance to the corridor after Solstin pointed out the emanation of a strong conjuration effect there and tried to see if he could somehow disable this trap. However, he couldn’t seem to find a place to even begin and gave up.
Mira Luna had just learned a very destructive spell that she offered to use to free the trapped Paladin. She began moving down a parallel corridor to target a section of wall to disintegrate and free him. As she did, the shouts of Tysis and Savaun jerked everyone’s attention to the north where they had been guarding the party’s back.
A tall, imposing gnoll with a three-headed flail in full plate armor and a shield hovering in the air in front of her had stepped out into the wide corridor from the north and summoned a monster to attack them. The blue skinned creature resembled an upright toad with razor sharp protrusions extending from the backs of its humanoid hands. It sliced Tysis repeatedly before Savaun had a chance to hack at it with his sword.
Andrew ran up to help the 2, but was suddenly frozen in place, magically held against his will. A second later, Savaun savagely sliced the big blue monster and it disappeared with a POP!
Meanwhile, Mira Luna targeted a section of wall between her and Maccabee… a green ray leapt from her fingertips and suddenly a 10-ft.-by-10-ft. section of it simply ceased to be. All that remained was dust particles floating lazily to the ground. Maccabee hurriedly hustled through the opening to join the battle.
At the north of the corridor the gnoll had cast a spell and filled the hallway where Tysis, Savaun, and Andrew were clustered with an opaque, swirling collection of biting, gnashing teeth made of magical force. Andrew helplessly stood there as they chewed at him, spraying blood about him. Tysis fled out of the teeth and began fishing healing potions from his pack, he had been severely wounded from the blue slaad that was now thankfully gone. Savaun exited the radius of the teeth and charged the gnoll spell caster, but his attack was deflected by the animated shield.
Mira Luna entered the long corridor and repeatedly tried to dispel the magical teeth, but to no avail. And Andrew… stood there helpless and unseen by his friends being bit to pieces. He dropped to the ground and began the business of bleeding to death.
Solstin and Coralis had teleported together to the other side of the magical teeth and began attacking the gnoll priestess. Her holy symbol hanging from her neck identified her as a follower of Yeenoghu, Demon Prince of Gnolls. After taking quite a bit of damage, she merely stepped back from the reach of their weapons and cast a heal spell on herself, returning her to full health.
Solstin could see that the whirling teeth were effectively splitting the party, so he tried to dispel it. His attempt actually succeeded and there on the ground lie Andrew, his flesh riddled with savage bites and bleeding to death.
Mira Luna rushed up to him and used her healing token to bring him back from the brink of death and return him to consciousness. Maccabee joined them. A moment later she cast dimension door to take them all to the north section of the corridor to join battle.
The gnoll priestess had been casting her own spells during this time. Surrounded by a whirling aura of chaotic energy, she was very difficult to land a physical blow against and many of the party’s spells simply failed to affect her. In return, she had stunned and deafened Macabee and Coralis and created a whirling curtain of sharp blades and jagged metal around her that sliced and gashed Maccabee and Savaun, both engaged in melee combat with her at the time.
However, in this battle of attrition, it was the gnoll priestess that broke first. As the wounds continued to build up, she apparently had finally had enough. Speaking a single word in Gnoll, she simply disappeared. After the party continued attacking the area within the whirling blades, they soon realized that she had not just gone invisible; she had used some form of teleportation to escape.
The party gathered together and holed up in the old Seeker barracks at the north end of the dungeon and healed their wounds. They rested the remainder of the day and through the night without a hint of trouble.
3 Coldeven, 593 CY
The group had used their magic to heal their wounds and got a good night’s sleep. Now prepared with new spells and at full health, they exited the Seeker barracks and began exploring the corridors at the northwest and western sections of the dungeon. Their time-consuming searches for traps, secret doors, and signs of trouble eventually brought them to a room filled with purple priestly robes. Andrew was intrigued and entered to search through them. As he did, a spectral figure rose from the floor to attack him. Coralis stood right behind him with his ever-present celestial brilliance shining from his Pelorian holy symbol. The moment the undead spirit felt the rays of light, it held its insubstantial hands in front of its eyes. Shrieking, it fled back into the stone floor never to appear again while the group tarried here.
After searching the room and finding a suspicious swath of old blood on the far wall, Andrew took one of the purple robes and slipped it on. He then put his Seeker uniform back on over the top of the robes. Apparently he was prepared to fit in to every organization they happened to find lurking down here.
End of session.
Hey, readers. I just wanted to say thanks for following this campaign so far. This month marks our 1 year anniversary since we began sharing it with you on these messageboards.
I'd also like to extend a hearty thank you to all of my players that have made this such a great campaign. The following have contributed with thier characters and ideas, some since the very beginning and others along the way:
April Greer (my wife), Paul Pharez, Ben Huff, Todd Rowe, Isaac Haywood, Stanley Cramer, Dayton Ruff, Kerri Maxey, Dan Dekker, and Robert Alford.
When we made preparations to start this one, I promised my players the best campaign I've ever run. I hope I haven't disappointed. Here's to another year (or however long it takes)!
The small orb of light that had been following Solstin for the past few weeks slowly began to dim, and it formed into a pixie! Or what would seem a pixie to the ignorant.
"Hi Solstin," said the small winged girl in a voice you would expect coming from a 1' tall being "I'm Tava. I've been watching you and your actions for a small time, and I feel they were right about you. I've been assigned by my superiors to act as your right hand in all your endeavours, until the very end."
Simple shock could only express Solstin's state at that moment. "So, what...are you like my familiar or something?" he asked, fully expecting to get blasted in the face with a 4 inch lightning bolt for blurting out such an offensive question.
"Well, I suppose the master-familiar bond can best describe what our relationship is to be."
"Forgive my obtuseness, but what exactly are you?"
"I am a Coure, an eladrin celestial hailing from the Olympium Glades of Arborea."
Solstin gave out a slow whistle and almost whispered "Wow. Wait 'til the others hear about this."
Friday, March 24
3 Coldeven, 593 CY (Continued)
The party exited the room of purple robes and made their way back to a hallway that appeared to lead to the very center of the dungeon. They had been ready to enter it twice before, but got distracted both times. Now, Andrew led the way, carefully searching high and low for traps that might be waiting for the unwary… like symbols of death.
Andrew found nothing dangerous along the way. Turning a corner, the corridor ended at a door to the east. This, too, got the young rogue’s usual cautious search. Other than an excellent lock, there appeared to be nothing of note.
While the rest of the party stretched out along the hallway behind him, Andrew picked the lock and opened the door. The chamber beyond the door appeared to be part shrine, part personal sleeping quarters. The smell was horrific!
The south wall was decorated by a tapestry of the triple headed flail of Yeenoghu. A simple altar occupied the area along the east wall, with a brazier of burning coals and a reed mat in front of it. A jade bowl sat atop the altar with an adamantine dagger balanced atop it. Incense burning in the brazier filled the room with an aromatic smoke that did little to mask the stench of decaying flesh. Bits of grayish, decaying flesh on the bed resting against the northern wall appeared to be the main source of the foul odor.
Andrew realized that the tapestry was trapped and he and Maccabee discussed how to deal with it. Meanwhile, Coralis strode up to the evil altar and began smashing it to bits. This released a malign necromantic energy that sunk into his skin, causing him great pain and discomfort. He could feel it trying to stop his heart, but was able to resist it.
The others out in the hallway called to those in the room periodically to find out what was going on and were told. They were content to guard the hallway while the others searched the room.
Coralis secured the job of removing the tapestry from the wall and the others left the room in case it was another one of the dreaded symbol traps. Before he actually laid hands on the cloth, Coralis cast a death ward spell on himself.
Now alone in the room, Coralis pulled the tapestry down. As he did, a similar effect as what happened when he attacked the altar happened again. The Pelorian priest’s spell protected him from the threat of instant death, though he still felt the pain and discomfort from the necromantic energy that was released.
The party called out to him a moment later to see if he was alright. As Coralis rolled the tapestry up and tucked it inside his bag of holding, he replied that it was now safe.
The wall where the tapestry had hung turned out to be a secret passage leading into a long roughhewn chamber that wound completely around the hexagonal chamber they were in. The party explored the area and found old crates and casks full of spoiled food and wine. They also found a hole with a low tunnel heading west to another hidden room.
Andrew, Maccabee, and Coralis entered the small tunnel and headed towards the end of the crawl space where another hole led up to the hidden room. As Andrew popped his head up and looked around he saw 2 chests and a decayed body at the opposite end of the room to the south of him. He crawled up out of the hole and was immediately greeted by a horrific incorporeal man with a melted face and hollow eye sockets. The ghost moaned in pain and agony. The sound was dreadful to hear, but had no ill effects on the 3 that were coming into the room.
The ghost appeared to be some kind of dead wizard haunting this chamber. It cast a web spell that hindered the 2 that were still in the tunnel, though Andrew was able to dodge the sticky strands.
Maccabee was readying one of his beads from his necklace of fireballs to burn away the webs, though it would also burn him, but before he did, Solstin dispelled the ghost’s webs.
Now free to move through the tunnel, Coralis and Maccabee hurried into the chamber. Coralis held up his holy symbol and called down the cleansing light of Pelor to destroy this undead abomination. The creature shrieked and melted into the floor.
Now that they were free to search the room, Andrew found a lot of silver and gold in one of the chests and a few magical accoutrements on the dead body of the wizard. His spellbook was there in the room, but so old and ruined from the passage of time that it was impossible to even move it without causing it to crumble.
Coralis performed the traditional funeral rites of his faith to put the dead wizard’s soul to rest. The party then exited this area and returned to the dungeon corridors outside of these rooms for more exploration.
As they did, they encountered the 4 tyrgs that Savaun and Andrew had seen the day before. Apparently someone had let them loose. They attacked the party, but ultimately were not much of a threat. Tysis was bitten quite severely and needed healing afterwards, but he appeared to be the only casualty.
The party traversed more dungeon corridors that led them down towards the southern portion. They found a pair of secret doors that seemed there more to provide a shortcut to a nearby corridor than anything else. Andrew headed to a door at the north end of the new corridor while others headed south to an intersection not far from them to see what was there.
It was then that the party came under attack by the main contingent of Seekers on this level of the dungeon. They were apparently having a meeting in a large chamber to the east. Spotting some of the party, they began moving forward to attack them.
To say that it was a tough fight would be a gross exaggeration. The party handled them with smooth precision, leaving only one surviving Seeker guard that promptly surrendered. However, their leader had gone through a nearby door, behind which a spiral stair descended to the next level.
Andrew and Maccabee headed down to catch her. At the bottom was an open door with a torch laying on the ground at its threshold. The door appeared to open into an empty corridor. Maccabee quaffed a potion of fly and continued down; while Andrew decided he didn’t like the look of it and backed up the stairs again.
As Maccabee entered the landing, the leader of the Seekers, a dark-haired woman with a bastard sword, lunged out of the shadows and struck at him. At the same time, necromantic energy sprang from the floor under the Paladin, seeping into him and trying to stop his heart, but failing. The energy did inflict pain on the Paladin, but not enough to give him pause.
It was then that Maccbee spotted the gnoll priestess beyond the open door as she cast a spell and then stepped deeper into the room beyond the door. Suddenly a blue slaad appeared on the stairs behind the paladin. It attacked him, but could not land a blow due to Maccabee’s protection from evil.
Maccabee flew into the room where the priestess lurked. To either side of him, ghouls suddenly appeared as they raked at him with their claws. He was able to block their initial blows, but couldn’t avoid all of them as he continued towards the gnoll cleric and landed a smiting blow on her.
From the stairs, Maccabee’s allies began following him down. The blue slaad was chopped to ribbons by a flurry of sword blows and sent back to the plane it had been summoned from. Before anyone could make it to the bottom of the steps and join Maccabee, the gnoll priestess cast another spell that created the same whirling sphere of gnashing, biting teeth that had nearly killed Andrew the previous day inside the stairwell; the stairs were effectively barred from those higher up unless they wanted to wade through the biting jaws.
The Seeker leader was also in the spell effect. The air was filled with pink mist as she was torn to shreds. Andrew quickly got out of the teeth and joined the battle with the gnoll priestess and her ghoulish henchmen.
As this battle wore on, two more of the ghouls joined the fight, using flanking maneuvers to shred their enemies with horrible wounds to vital areas. It was obvious after a moment that these were no ordinary ghouls. This was glaringly obvious when Coralis braved the whirlwind of teeth and emerged to turn the undead abominations and only 2 of them were affected.
The whirling teeth proved problematic for the 2 arcane spellcasters, Mira Luna and Solstin. They tried repeatedly to dispel it, but failed and failed until finally on the 4th try, Mira Luna was able to get rid of it.
This delay in joining their comrades proved very costly.
The gnoll priestess cast several nasty spells at her attackers and was a problem to land a blow on. But it was the ghouls that seemed to be the real threat. Too late, Maccabee realized this. They seemed attracted to his warm blood over the others, like they were able to sense his ebbing life force as he took wound after wound from them.
The 2 remaining ghouls flanked him and tore into him as Maccabee’s companions dealt with the gnoll priestess. The gnolls tore the weakened paladin to shred. He dropped to the ground dead with his throat ripped out. Before they had a chance to feast on him, though, Coralis destroyed them with the positive energy of Pelor.
Now there was only the gnoll cleric to deal with. She had already taken a lot of damage and then healed herself. She had now once again taken a few very big wounds that were quickly adding up. She once again cast blade barrier in what was probably her prep spell preceding her word of recall she had used the day before. However, this time her attackers jumped inside the whirling ring and before she could cast her spell, she stabbed and slashed repeatedly. Andrew slashed her throat with his kukri and she dropped dead.
By this time, the others finally descended the stairs and joined their allies. The chatting little ball of light that was Solstin’s constant companion seemed to dim at sight of the dead paladin as if with great sadness.
With heavy hearts, the party stripped the evil cleric of her possessions and prepared to head back up to the next level carrying Maccabee’s body.
End of session.
Today we battled a group of seekers and were fairing quite well until the party split up and our head strong and not so tactical paladin became trapped by that evil priestess and that blasted spell of whirling and biting darkness that did not allow our spell casters to join in the battle until after I had failed to protect Maccabee from falling at the hands of the most vile undead I have ever had the displeasure of sending to oblivion. Had I been able to act a moment sooner I could have dispatched them and he would still be alive but alas I was to late. I feel that I have failed in my duties but I must not let my faith waiver. The gods must have there reasons for taking such a devoted and honorable man. I have only known him for a short time but I shall miss him for he was a good man and faithful companion.
A voice speaks to the mind of a man in sack cloth.
Al-Leph. Al-Leph. Al-Leph! I know you can hear me! Your silince towards me is very unbecoming of you. Al-Leph!
Who are you? And why are you calling me Al-Leph?
Cause that is your name, you are Al-Leph.
I do not know this name. How is it you know my name but I have no memory of this, for that matter I have no memory of anything else.
You are seeking redemption Al-Leph.
Stop calling me by that name! I am not this Al-Leph! Where are you and why are you doing this to me?
Al-Leph I have been your closest companion since the very begining. Don't you remember me?
NO! I DO NOT REMEMBER! LEAVE ME ALONE!
Al-Leph. I am "Guardian" I am close by your side can you not remeber why you are here?
STOP TALKING TO ME...PLEASE!
OK Al-Leph. I won't be far if you need me.
And don't call me Al-Leph.
Very well.
Thank you
Hmmm... Could this be Paul's new character? See you soon, Al-Leph.
I was having an inner conflict and decided to take a leave of absence from the party. Most of the people within the party had a good heart and took quickly to my presence within their circle, and it made me feel good to be a part of them. However, I was feeling things I had not felt in many a year: friendship, loyalty and, very nearly, at home. Though it had, admittedly, only been a few weeks they made me feel comfortable.
When we made our way back to town I said my goodbyes and left them to their task of tackling Maure Castle. I still had a mission to accomplish and I would not let something as weak as friendship get in the way of that.
Strangely, though, I felt sadness. Part of me began to believe that the very thing the old crone was speaking of when she told me I would find something that would assist me within Maure Castle could very well be this group of companions.
I was still in Seltaran when the rest of the party set out for Maure castle again. I couldn't allow myself to become attached to this group. Nothing good could come of it. I was in the Gilded Quill tavern trying to decide my next move, Entwidamela, my only friend, was, once again, my only company, when I spotted a woman eyeing me. It was an intense stare, making me feel somewhat uncomfortable. I kept my sword hand ready. I knew there were always fools in the employ of Iuz still hunting me down. Good...one less of them. However, I had never felt a stare with such intensity....
Suddenly the woman got up and approached me. She sat down at my table without invitation. My dagger was drawn underneath the table, at the ready. Entwidamela was not aggravated in the least. Odd.
The exact conversation that followed is something I will hold in my heart, something that will belong only to me. However, I will write put a brief here in my journal.
The woman identified herself and says she belongs to a somewhat secret sect of warriors known as Kensai, warriors devoted to an ideal. The Kensai had heard about my travels and my history and tracked me for a time. When the time was right they were to approach me to offer me a place within their ranks. They said I had already chosen my path and my mind clear and set. I only needed the training. They could give that to me. However, I needed to speak my oath, they needed to hear it. She told me it would not be an easy path and would require much devotion. My heart and soul would have to be clear and I would have to embrace honor and valor like a lover. I would have to forsake Kord and pray at the altar of Heironeous and ask him to accept me as his own.
She gave me 48 hours to decide.
That night I prayed to Heironeous. My relationship with Kord was never one of love but one of convenience. I didn’t think he would miss me but I left an offering in his temple in good faith.
I had felt that at this point in my life I was at a crossroads. After my prayers to Heironeous I felt a peace within me. I felt my path was clear, no more doubt. The next morning I sought out the Kensai to begin my training.
It was intense. I thought I was good...she made me better. She said the fruits of my labor would not blossom immediately. I was prepared to wait. I had waited this long. She told me she would be in Seltaran for council and training when I return.
A day later, with clear conscience, I set back out to meet up with my companions within Maure Castle.
Savaun Blackhawk
Ranger 4, Fighter 7, Kensai 1
Wow, now that was tough... but everyone is alright, right?
Oh no, that can't be, its not Macabee is it, is it, he is still alive right, just mostly dead?
NNNNNOOOOOO I can't believe it... why him, why did he not pull back like I told him too, and wait for everyone else... why did he need to continue on his own, we knew what was down there. Why does he feel the need to seperate all the?
I guess we will just have to spend the money to bring him back, I am sure, as lovely as it is, he is not yet ready to spend the rest of eternity with the big H.
Hmm it appears as though I was wrong... Mac was ready. Well Macabee, I most of all will miss you. Your were my shining light and my greatest example. I shall keep you close always and please keep a place ready for me, for I will be there by your side eventually.
We had just fought off a large group of Seekers. I continued around a corner to check for signs of approaching enemies. I never saw one of the Seekers escaping down the stairs, nor did I see some of the party members give chase.
It wasnt very long, either. Every battle is an eternity in the mind's eye but is, in reality, over very quickly.
I came as soon as I heard the yells for assistance. I rushed down the stairs and jumped straight through the whirling, bitingk, gnashing teeth.
There was the honorable paladin, Maccabee, down, unmoving. I jumped in to the fray with the familiar enemy slashing with all of my might. I could see numerous wounds all over her body, red blossoms appearing through clothing. I saw Andrew, in a rare show of ferocity and fearlessness, leap at the beast to strike repeatedly at her.
She went down soon after. I hope we can bring Maccabee back. The world is lacking honorable souls such as his. I wasnt finished learning from him, either.
On another note, I must keep my eye on the priest of Pelor. He wears his vestments but it seems he has not been able to behead the beast of greed, yet.
And for the sake of the entire party I must watch them all. By the gods! They ran in to a half-orc....a HALF-ORC!!!!...in the dungeon and invited him to join the group. Such trusting people....I don't get it sometimes. Perhaps it's me. However, they have proven themselves as friends and allies and I would lay down my life in defense of my friends, as Maccabee has done.
Go in peace, honorable paladin. The world will mourn your passing.
This place is a colossal death trap... First my charge and good friend Thal'talis dies. Now the paladin, this group's champion, is dead at the hands of the worst sort of ghouls I've ever heard tell of (I didn't actually see them).
All seems bleak. I wonder if we'll find what it is we're supposed to find here and live to tell the tale...
Friday, March 31
3 Coldeven, 593 CY (more continuation)
Maccabee was dead, his throat torn out by the vicious uber ghouls. The party was deflated in spirit and resources. After stripping the foul gnoll priestess of Yeenoghu of her gear, the party decided it was time to retreat via teleport spells back to Seltaren once again. One step forward, two steps back…
Coralis brought Maccabee’s body inside the temple of Pelor and sought out his spirit, but found nothing resonating there. The stalwart paladin had finally been drawn home to The Valorous Knight’s court in the Celestial realms, it seemed.
4 Coldeven, 593 CY
Maccabee’s body was taken to the temple of Heironeous where the deeds that led to his demise were described to his church brothers and fellow knights. Later that day he was dressed and prepared for burial. Prayers for his departed spirit to present himself with honor and dignity at the throne of Heironeous were uttered and many mournful hymns expressing the pain of his loss were sung.
The Heironeon brothers took it upon themselves to send word to the paladin’s family in Nyrond of his passing.
5 Coldeven—20 Coldeven, 593 CY
The remainder of the party used the next couple weeks to train in their various crafts a bit and sell the large amount of loot they had returned with. The local College of Wizardry was very helpful in crafting a few items for them and taking a lot of their unwanted or unusable treasure off of their hands.
21 Coldeven, 593 CY
The party as it was now returned via teleport to Maure Castle into the Seeker chambers on the 2nd level where they had camped previously. Their spells brought them exactly on target. However, all was not as it was. When Andrew tried unlocking the door that he had personally locked with his thieves’ tools, he was unable to get the door open. Something held it fast. After a number of pulls on it, Solstin used detect magic to determine that it had been enspelled with an abjuration effect. He used dispel magic on it and the effect was suppressed for a time. While it was, the party opened the door and found the outer hallway completely filled with a dense fog.
A flashing light coming from somewhere to their right lit the fog eerily. Solstin and Mira Luna both recognized this as a fog cloud spell, but how long it had been in place was anyone’s guess. The spell didn’t usually last very long, but this one, as they stood inside the room observing it, continued far longer than the normal duration. They all agreed that entering the fog was just not in their best interest.
Again they used teleport spells to arrive exactly on target in the room where they had found the shrine to Yeenoghu and the secret door that had led to the ghostly wizard the last time they were here. Things looked about the same as they had left them, though the secret door was open, which they knew had been closed when they left.
Leaving that room with Andrew carefully taking the lead, they traveled up the corridor and came to the first of many intersecting corridors. To his left, Andrew could see the edge of more fog in the main north-south corridor of this level. The pulsating light could be seen coming from within it somewhere.
Solstin cast arcane eye and scouted out the fog. Within, he found a human body suspended by hooks and chains from each opposing wall facing the entrance to the level to the north. A pulsating globe of light loomed directly above the body about 15 ft. up.
The party decided to leave this alone, though no visible symbols could be seen around the body or the light.
Taking a left, Andrew located the secret door they had entered before. Opening it, they found more fog shrouding this corridor as well. More light pulsating from within this fog, too. Solstin sent his arcane eye into the fog and found another sphere of light about 15 ft. up well into the corridor, but that was about it, though the fog went on and on until there was no light for his magical sensor to see by.
The party decided to enter and see what came of it, being extraordinarily cautious. Andrew began to move into the corridor and promptly turned a 180, heading the other way. The group watched him, puzzled. They asked him what he was doing? He replied that he was heading down the hallway. Looking around, though, he could see that it wasn’t exactly the way he thought he was going. He was sure he was heading the right way. Even when they pointed the fog-filled corridor out to him, it still felt completely opposite. And he wasn’t the only one.
As the party headed south through the foggy hallway, some of them shared the same feeling that they were heading in the completely wrong direction. It was as if someone had turned their mental compass upside down on them. Each time they came to a branching corridor, the sensation increased for some and subsided for others. Soon they came to the source of the pulsating light. It was a sphere identical to the other one Solstin had spied.
As Andrew walked beneath it, again completely feeling he was going the wrong direction, he felt something tug at his mind. There and gone again, he could only tell the others that there was some magical effect trying to mess with his head. Mira Luna stepped up next to him. Suddenly, she had a strange look on her face as if involved in some internal conflict. She uttered a single word and was gone.
The others came up close behind Andrew and could see that Mira Luna had disappeared. Solstin had heard what she said and recognized it as the short verbal component of a teleport spell. Coralis came up beside Andrew and felt the same mental tug that was there and gone again. Solstin walked up and felt the same thing, though much more strongly than the others. He recognized it as a suggestion spell. Now Mira Luna’s disappearance made sense, though what exactly she had been compelled to do aside from leaving this immediate vicinity was anyone’s guess.
The even further dwindled party was unsure what exactly to do, so they pressed on down the hallway hoping to figure it out when they were out of this damnable fog. As they did, Tysis was last to come through the suggestion spell and thanks to inheriting the paladin’s magical helm, he was safe from the spell.
They had only taken a few steps when they came into an area of foul, nasty air so horrible that all of them began retching and gasping until they hastily exited the vapors. After a moment they were able to breathe easy once again and settle their nauseous stomachs.
They came to a bend in the hallway and again some of them had the feeling they were going in the wrong direction, but they continued on anyway. A moment later they were out of the fog cloud and looked around them disjointedly. It appeared that they were in the hallway adjacent to the spiral stairs that led down to the next level where Maccabee had been killed by the uber ghouls. Ahead of them was the large room form which the Seekers had attacked them en masse. Odd thing was, it felt like they should be coming out near the pool of acid at the complete other side of the dungeon.
Some them were about to continue their exploration until they began taking stock of their depleted numbers. Mira Luna was missing and they had no idea where she had gone. Tysis asked the 2 spellcasters if they had some kind of divination magic that could locate here, but neither of them had come prepared for that type of thing.
After a short debate, they decided to teleport back to Seltaren so that the next day Coralis could pray for spells that would help them locate her. Solstin also had a spell in reserve that he could cast that would help if the Pelorian priest’s failed.
Before they did anything else, though, they decided to return to the College of Wizardry and see if the experts there could determine what spell was causing all of the unwelcome new changes in the dungeon. Andrew, on the other hand, just wanted to go to an inn and have a whole lot of drinks. The whole fog-filled corridors and sense of direction being turned around on him thing had really shaken him. So, he went one way while the others went the other.
At the College, the group described all of the various magical effects they had seen and Solstin actually named each spell he recognized. The instructor advising them recognized it as a guards and wards spell—a powerful abjuration used by high level wizards to protect their strongholds. He explained in detail all of its various effects, from webbed staircases and fog-filled corridors to gusts of wind and intersecting hallways with confusion effects. They wanted to know how long it would last. He explained that it could last for as short as 22 hours to even days at a time, depending on how powerful the caster was.
The party told the old wizard that clues they had found in the dungeon (an old journal found among some dead bodies and references in the elven tyrg trainer’s journal) led them to believe they might be dealing with a wizard named Eli Tomorast. The wizard arched an eyebrow and told them the story of how the famous wizards Mordenkainen and Bigby had destroyed Eli Tomorast decades ago when they plundered Maure Castle. He believed that it could be someone using that name because of the awe it inspired, but if it really was him returned from the grave, they were in a lot of trouble as he had been a very powerful wizard in his day.
The party paid the man for his help, but in passing a young apprentice had told them to let their lady friend know he had found some more potions of remove fear for her if she wanted them. They began questioning him and learned that Mira Luna had been there only a short while ago to purchase some potions of remove fear before the rest of them arrived.
Arriving at their favorite inn, Coralis, Solstin, Savaun, and Tysis found Andrew seated at a table with Mira Luna. She was having a second breakfast with a tankard of ale while Andrew was tossing back mug after mug as fast as the barmaids could bring them to him.
Apparently Mira Luna had heard a voice in her head telling her that the dungeons of Maure Castle were a horrible place that she should leave immediately and never come back to. So she teleported back to Seltaren where it was safe and with the fear of the place fresh in her mind had gone and purchased potions to remove the fear. After that she had decided she was still hungry so she stopped inside the inn for a late breakfast. And that is where Andrew had found and joined her.
21 Coldeven (continued)—25 Coldeven, 593 CY
Those of the party that had bought magical protections from compulsions and other mind affecting spell effects decided that it was time the rest of the party be similarly equipped, so the next 4 days the party waited for the College of Wizardry to craft them a pair of such items for Mira Luna and Solstin.
26 Coldeven, 593 CY
The party returned back to the Maure Castle dungeons and found them in the same state as before. They avoided the fogged areas and continued to explore the southern portion of the 2nd level of the dungeon. They found rooms with strange shadow stuff in them that they wanted no part of, a trapped chest that used acid to burn some type of exotic flower petal that had a poisonous effect Andrew had to quaff potions of neutralize poison to avoid succumbing to, a room completely filled with brown mold, and a strange magical hand print of blackness in the center of a hexagonal room.
Much of their exploration was very time consuming as Andrew performed his routine trap inspections and searches for secret passages. After the strange events of their last bit of exploring, this portion of the day seemed fairly uneventful.
End of session
"You know Solstin, you don't need that item of Protection from Evil. Eladric beings such as myself radiate such a protective aura."
"Alright Tava, then I'll cancel my order with the College of Wizardry. I'm still amazed at the 'Guards and Wards' spell we ran into. Even though I doubt that I'll ever find it within myself to bring that spell forth, I'm still amazed at how effective it was."
There was a long moment of silence between the coure and human which was at last broken by the former. "Solstin, I think we may be out of our league in Maure Castle. That place has a reputation of death and loss that doesn't come close to doing justice to the truth. Look at the paladin, honorable Macabee. The party we're travelling with has also lost members before we came into the picture. I hope we're not on a fool's errand."
"Foolish or not, I feel deep down that what we're doing down there is vital to the forces of good... as cheesy as it sounds. I think this quest is bigger than you, me, and the others that have fallen..."
Ahh, s#@@, its fog, man how I hate the fog. I must not let on to my friends just how much this fog frightens me. I can’t seem to get my bearing straight in here, its almost as if the world has disappeared so there is no north or south, east or west, I think I am going the right way only to be told by half the others that I am not, and the other half are agreeing with me that I am going the right way. What is becoming of us? It is this damn fog, I know it, it is messing with our minds, in its evil little way. Is it normal to be this terrified of the fog? I have always been like this, the others don’t seem to be afraid really they just seem to be finding this mildly annoying, I on the other had am prepared to die with every step I take, I just can’t stand it, its closing in on me…. (slaps him self) get it together man, it is only fog… Oh wait what’s that up a head there, a flashing light, I am sure that is going to be just all kinds of fun. I can tell you this… it is quite annoying. Oh, great, they all want me to step up and investigate it first. Yeah send Andrew, he is expendable. Hmm, that was weird, I felt something… in the back of my mind, but not quite sure what. Oh hi Mira Luna… what where did she go. Oh she left, great, the fog claims its first victim, I am sure it won’t be the last.
Finally we are out of the fog… only one shy, but oh crap, it is the last link we have to the destiny stone… now what, can we still save the world? I am beginning to wonder if it is really worth it. I shouldn’t be thinking like that, but it is this damn fog, I can’t shake it, it has just really gotten to me…
Great we are going back to town… I can’t wait to leave this accursed castle, after we find the stone, maybe, just maybe we can find someway to collapse it upon itself.
You guys can go to the mages if you want, I am going to the tavern, I need a drink…
Oh, hi Mira Luna, I will be right there… Hey bar keep, send over some ale, and keep them coming…(starts drinking) ahh, this is sooooooo much better than the fog…. (keeps drinking and drinking and drinking……….
3 Coldeven, 593 CY
Dear Diary,
Maccabee has fallen. I feel a great emptiness inside. Many have joined our group from the beginning when we first learned of the stone, but Maccabee was always there. Even though at times I did not agree with the paladin he was family. I’m starting to fear that we will never reach our destination. Worse, I fear that being the last of the original group,that the purpose to this mission will lose its meaning if no one who spoke with the seer survives. Will they understand the purpose? I think tonight, I’ll drink myself to sleep. A toast to Maccabee! He will never be forgotten.
Hmmm… Dead again… this is really getting old. However this is new way to die, and at least my friends don’t have to pack my dead lifeless body back, for I am nothing but dust. If my friends bring me back that means I get a whole new body. I wonder if it will be devoid of all my scars? I not sure whether I wish this to be the case or not. For my scars remind me of my past. Well I guess I will just have to wait and see.
The more we explore this place, the more I think I don’t want to. I know, I keep saying “what’s more important than saving the world” but still, all I see around me is death. I am not sure that we are the ones who should be saving the world. Maybe this task should be carried out by those who we go to when we need help. The clerics who keep casting the spell which brings me back from the dead. Or maybe the wizards who have the knowledge of the spells we are encountering. The fighters who can stand to be hit with the major spells and then just shake it off. I have seen these people before and I wonder, why, why is it us who have to save the world. Why don’t these others take up the mantle of “world savoir”. At times it weighs heavily on my mind and my heart I think these things, but then I count the number of times my soul has been sent to what it believes to be its finial resting place, and I think, maybe I should just give up. I wonder how long it will be until my friends decide I am not worth bringing back. But I guess until that time I will stand bravely by their sides and do what my part is in saving the world.
Friday, April 7
26 Coldeven, 593 CY
The party continued their exploration of the dungeon, ignoring the magical hand design in the center of the hexagonal room.
They found many empty corridors and rooms and eventually came to the main barracks of the Seeker guards and the living quarters of their commander. They claimed the Seekers' supplies for their own and pilfered the commanders desk and papers. The learned the names of each of the Seeker guards and their exact numbers, though at this point it served no valuable purpose since they had all been eradicated. Andrew found a triple lock safe hidden in the commander's desk, but had great difficulties opening it. The party decided to deal with it later, so they dropped it down into their portable hole.
They found a map in the commmander's papers that showed a circular room and a smaller once connected to it via corridor at the center of the dungeon. This had been an area they had meant to explore on earlier forays, but had been sidetracked each time.
Before they started over to that area they found a boarded up door that warned of a danger on the other side. They could not resist the temptation to look and see for themselves. Prying the boards loose, they discovered a small room on the other side occupied by a large pink stone statue of a succubus. Dead bodies lay strewn around it. The party decided to stay clear of it, though it appeared to be just a statue even afer using divinations to determine if it was a construct or golem.
The group boarded the door back up and made their way over to the central room of the dungeon. They encountered more fog on their way and decided to bypass it by using dimension door to get inside the room. This meant that Andrew and Savaun had to climb into the portable hole for a moment since Mira Luna could only take a limited amount of people with her this way.
They had no problems getting into the room. It was about 40 ft. across, circular, and finely furnished. A massive tapestry hung from the west wall and tables and odds and ends were placed around the room. After Savaun and Andrew climbed out of the portable hole, the party was about to examine their surroundings a little closer. For starters there was a suspicious looking little cave opening in the north wall. However, before they managed to get that far a dark haired man in shadow leather armor and large demonic hands in place of normal ones appeared in front of the tapestry on the west wall.
The man told the party he had had enough of their meddling and was there to destroy them once and for all.
Mira Luna quickly cast greater invisibility on Andrew who then tumbled in behind him to sneak attack the wizard. The man's eyes glowed with eldritch blue light and followed Andrew's every movement as he did. However, it did not stop the rogue from stabbing him severely.
After that initial bit of action things got confusing.
Suddenly half of the chamber was webbed, a bone devil was attacking Coralis, Savaun, and Andrew, and the wizard simply sidestepped away from his attackers.
Mira Luna and Solstin were in the other half of the room and tried to dispel the webs, but couldn't seem to make their spells work.
After Coralis tried to turn the bone devil, mistaking it's bony appearance as some sort of undead, the creature began raking him with his claws and trying to bite and sting him. It then created a wall of ice behind Coralis, dividing the room in half.
Andrew and Savaun continued attacking the wizard, but the man took their blows and remained standing with his demoninc hands held together in front of him.
Meanwhile, Mira Luna used a disintegrate spell to destroy the wall of ice. However, it struck something in front of the wall of ice with a resounding POP!
Tava whispered fiercely into Solstin's ear, "Solstin! There's some strong magic behind us. Watch out!"
Suddnely a green ray shot through the air narrowly missing the little glowing sphere of light, which was Tava the coure. As it did the wizard appeared. Apparently, the others were fighting an illusion for here was the real wizard.
Mira Luna ran to Tysis and Solstin who were both on this side of the room now separated by a wall of ice. She grabbed them both and cast dimension door to get to the other side of the ice.
Savaun had meanwhile used a bead from his necklace of fireballs to create a low powered fireball to destroy the webs filling their half of the room. In doing so, the flames disturbed the massive tapestry on the wall. It rippled with life, its tasseled ends transforming into a dozen little sawtoothed maws. The tapestry savagely attacked Savaun and dropped him to ground where he lay a single heartbeat from death.
Coralis reacted quickly to cast a spell that pulled him back from the brink, followed by a mass cure spell.
A moment later the wizard appeared in that half of the room and shot a cone of cold from his fingertips badly damaging some of the adventurers. Andrew and Savaun converged on the wizard now that the bone devil had been destroyed. Savaun shouted, "Retreat! I'll hold him off!"
Andrew and Savaun landed several savage blows on the wizard before the man turned to face Andrew and shot a green ray from his fingertips right into the rogues face. It struck and turned the rogue to dust. His clothes fell in a heap and the wizard turned his attention fully on Savaun.
Coralis was doing his best to soak up the attacks of the animated tapestry and Tysis was shooting the thing with arrows. Solstin cast a telikenis spell to shoot Andrew's things over to Tysis who awkwardkly caught them. However, the rogue's boots remained behind.
The wizard cast another spell and suddenly the moisture was soaked from the partys' bodies. Savaun withered where he stood and Tava the coure suddenly dropped to the ground, a withered little sprite-like body.
Coralis reached over and grabbed the rogues valuable magical boots, which also held the party's portable hole, and layed hands on the dead body of Savaun. He took a savage claw attack from the wizard's demonic hand, but was able to cast word of recall and disappeared.
Mira Luna reacted a second later and teleported herself, Solstin with his dead coure familiar cradled in his arms, and Tysis back to Seltarin.
Afternoon of 26 Coldeven - 28 Coldeven, 593 CY
Back in Seltaren the party regrouped and pooled their resources to have Savaun and Andrew true resurrected. Coralis even found a rare prayer that would bring tava the coure back. Howewever, it required soil or water from the plane Tava hailed from. The party used plane shift to journey to Arvandar in the Olympian Glades of Arborea. There, they basked in the beauty of the primoridial woods, streams, and jasmine scented breezes until a group of large celestial androsphinxes arrived and were planning on eating them.
When the party told the creatures why they were there, their leader scent a messenger to confer with thier queen, Queen Morwel. While they waited, Savaun decided to have a game of riddles with them. The androshpinxes licked their chops with relish and told him they accepted and if he lost, they got to eat him. Though Savaun protested, the leader of the creatures gave him a riddle and hungrily waited for him to fail.
Savaun thought about the riddle for a moment while the other party members grumbled about his foolishness. However, after a moment, Savaun correctly answered. The creatures were very upset and spoke to each other in Celestial about eating him anyway. About that time, a messenger arrived confirming that a coure named Tava had indeed recently returned after dying on the Material Plane. The group was here to simply gather a little soil from her home plane to perform a ritual that would bring her back to life on the Material Plane.
Queen Morwel had granted them permission and her blessings, so Coralis quickly grabbed a handful of soil and, not liking the hungry look in the eyes of the androsphinxes, he cast plane shift again to take the party back to the Material Plane.
A couple teleports later the party was back in Seltaren and Coralis cast the spell needed to return Tava to life.
With the party once again alive and well, they took stock of the situation and grimly faced going back again to try to find the Destiny Stone in the cursed dungeons of Maure Castle. More than that, Coralis had not been able to grab Savaun's ancestral sword, Brightflame. Savaun was now obsessed with the need to retrieve it.
End of session
Guardian?
Yes?
Where are we?
We are in a place commonly known as "The Void", some call it being in "The Gap".
What is this Gap?
It is the place between here and there. Between all the planes this one is between from where you were delievered and soon to the place you once came from.
I suddenly feel terribly ill.
Al-Leph?
Stop calling me that name!!!
Very well...Soon you are going to meet up with some people. They are in a terrible place and will need your help.
MY HELP? What do you mean by My Help?
You will see in time. But look here.
I see.
Do you see these people, they are in morning for a fallen friend. You knew this friend.
(puzzled look)
Look closer!
Yes I can feel their greif some greater than others. She seems to be hurt the most. She is...Beautiful. The others are hiding their grief.
Yes.
Am I to help them in their grief?
No. Grief will continue on this quest of theirs. You will learn more upon your return. Some of what you have just seen you will vaguely remeber when you return. In time...
In time? But guardian I have no sence of this "time".
You will. It will be a bit traumatic at first. As the days, weeks and months pass by you will adapt. And you will learn.
Learn?
Yes I am going to help teach you what you have forgotten.
OK.
Now be still and enjoy the ride.
Did the wall just fall on me? My world is going dark, blackness all around. Im falling, falling....for ever falling. Then a warmth spreads across my body, air rushes in to my lungs. How long was I out? A day? A week? But no, these faces are familiar to me. And that demon....The fight! I remember throwing a weak fireball on the floor to clear the webs and thats when the wall fell on me. Ive got to get up! MOVE, Savaun! Fight! Stand and fight, soldier!
The priest and Andrew had taken up positions to protect me it seems. I promised myself I would not share the same fate as Maccabee. Now is not my time.
I pressed the fight towards the demon with Andrew flanking him, harrying him. The priest had began beating on the wall. Or the tapestry? Have I gone mad? At the same time the mages were attempting to blast the tapestry with spells. I believe that wall fell on me and injured something in my head.
The suddenly the demon-looking thing turned on Andrew and blasted him right in the face, turning him to dust!
"NOOOO!!!", I shouted. I pressed the attack, swinging mercilessly, with wanton abandonment. I screamed for everyone to run, I would hold the attack, give them time. But they stayed.
The demon-thing locked eyes with me, motioned with his hands, said a few words, even as I struck at him. I felt my mouth go dry, my arms and legs losing their strength. I dropped Bright Flame, my armor felt heavy, big. My world was going black. I was faling, falling....."Not again!", I thought.
This time I saw a welcoming light. It enveloped me, caressed me. I gave myself over to it. Then around me I saw familiar faces. What is this place?
But then I saw my family. My father, my mother, my brother.....but where is my sister? Alive, they told me. A slave to the minions of Iuz. They urged me to stay. My sister would soon join us, they promised. She could not survive much longer there. They told me I had fought long enough. It was time to rest. I wept, tired and confused.
Then I heard familiar voices calling for me. Where is that coming from? Then I could see. My companions. In a temple. My body upon a dais. I felt a strong pull back to my body. Stay, my family urged. Let it go, there is nothing for you there.
Wrong.
My honor, my vow, my new companions. And now....my sister.
"Revenge will be mine, Iuz. I promise you. I have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. I'm coming."
Light came rushing in to my vision, my head pounding, my lungs burning for air, my limbs aching as if I had been tied up for hours.
I was alive. More determined than before.
Something was missing, though. A part of me. I took stock of myself. Arms, feet, legs, toes, fingers, head, ears, eyes, nose. All there...yet something was missing. Strong.
I began to get dressed, attempting to ignore the feeling. It was insistent. But then, I understood. I found the reason. Or, rather, I didn't find it. Bright Flame.
Gods.....my sword....
"Now that you've had some rest and thanked Coralis, what is on your mind? Your journey to the queen must have been tiring. Did she recognize you..."
"Solstin, stop already! I don't want to talk about it. All I'll tell you is that going back in death is completely different than going back alive. I prefer the later. The former wouldn't have happened if you would have just heeded my warnings!"
Solstin hung his head in shame, for he knew his familiar was completely in the right in this matter. Barely seconds after her words of frightened warning, Tava was dehydrated to a small husk, all life and liquid gone. This spell of horrid wilting had ended her life on the material plane... for a small time at least.
"You're right Tava. I think this past encounter has taught us a valuable lesson about Maure Castle. The longer we're here, the less chance we have of making it out alive. We weren't far from all ending up on our respective afterlifes."
"Solstin, we need to stick to the plan. We need to find focus. Let's find this Destiny Stone and get out of here. We can't afford any more loss of life in this place. Our situation is desperate."
"Again Tava, you are right. Let's have a talk with the group about this. One thing I can guaruntee you - Savaun won't do anything else until he finds BrightBlade. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of this wizard. We must prepare for him."
Friday, April 14
Paul rejoins the group after a 2 week hiatus. His new character is Ah-Leph. More on him as the campaign progresses.
1 Growfest, 593 CY
After a 2 day break to get fallen comrades restored to life—Tava, requiring a trip to The Olympian Glades of Arboria to actually accomplish this—the party decided to stay focused by ignoring the Growfest celebrations in Seltaren and return to Maure Castle. The party cleric, Coralis, was prepared with a locate object spell to find Savaun’s hereditary sword, Bright Flame, as the party teleported in 2 groups to a familiar spot on the 2nd level of the dungeon.
In the northeast corner of this level, the group had found a secret passage some weeks ago. Beyond it was a corridor ending at stairs down to the next level. Enough time and precious life had been spent on a room by room search of this place to find the Destiny Stone. This time, the party followed a hunch that both Savaun’s visions and clues they had picked up along the way meant they should focus their search in the Chamber of Antiquities. The animal trainer’s journal had indicated it was below this level, so down they went.
With Andrew leading the way, cautiously keeping a lookout for traps, the group reached the bottom and found a large, violet, mushroom-like creature. As they approached, it began shrieking and lashing out with spongy tendrils hanging from its body. Andrew darted past it into a joining of 4 different corridors—two going north and 2 going south, forming a kind of H, with the stairs coming down into the middle of it.
Andrew and the others watched the thing for a moment and realized it was fairly harmless; a shrieker. While deciding on what to do about the noisy fungus, a group of black skinned, bat-like humanoids flapped into the opening to the east of Andrew. He could see others flying past the opening as well—heading south.
The creatures converged on Andrew and the rest of the party still stretched out on the steps. Andrew was clawed by one of them while the other hissed menacingly, its eyes glowing bright red as it did. Unable to help himself, Andrew was overcome with fear and fled back up the stairs to disappear out into the adjoining corridors.
The others on the stairs felt the same compulsion, but resisted its effects. For several moments the party fought these creatures. Apparently, they were very intelligent and had the ability to dispel magic. They were also very resistant to spells. Many of Solstin’s, Coralis’s, and Mira Luna’s spells simply had no effect on them.
During the tail end of the fight, the party was suddenly assisted by a pale skinned man in plate armor covered in course beggar’s clothing. Despite his appearance, he handled his sword with great skill. Eventually, the party slew the 6 creatures.
After the fight, Savaun, who had been strangely hesitant to engage in the fight, recognized the black-skinned beasts as Varongoins, extraplanar creatures commonly found in the service of Iuz. Savaun HATED Iuz. And apparently so did the stranger.
The newcomer was a strange puzzle. Through Coralis’s magical goggles, the man was neither living or dead; nor undead or construct. When asked about himself, his answers were monosyllabic and often bordering on the insane outbursts of a madman. He did not seem to know who he was, but recognized some of the party members and even knew their names.
After Andrew had been located in a room where he had holed up and shoved a table in front of the door, the party decided to take their new ally back to that room and question him more closely in relative safety.
Savaun discovered that underneath the man’s grubby peasant garb his armor was emblazoned with a battered black hawk… Savaun’s family crest. He seemed undone by the discovery and demanded an explanation, but the man whose name the party had yet to learn simply did not seem to remember. He kept having conversations with some unseen entity and when Savaun called the man a thief, claiming he had stolen his armor, a deep, disembodied voice answered hotly, “HE AIN’T NO THIEF!”
This only puzzled the party even more. Apparently this was who the stranger was talking to, but he knew no more of the presence then the party did… except he kept referring to him as GUARDIAN. Savaun seemed to show that this meant something to him when he heard it, but said nothing.
Discussion with the stranger that the party had begun calling I AM, just led around and around in confusing circles. When Coralis used his holy symbol on the stranger to test a theory, the positive energy seemed to awe him, but caused no harm. More puzzlement.
In the end, the party decided that there must be a good reason that I AM had come to them. He kept claiming that he had come to help them, though he didn’t know exactly what it was he was supposed to do yet. The party kept a close eye on him, but allowed him to join their quest.
Back down the stairs again.
The party turned the corner to the north to where the varongoins had come from. Coralis had cast his locate object spell to find Savaun’s sword Bright Flame and followed the hot-cold impressions in his mind. It led them into a room filled with excrement and a high ceiling with little alcoves near the top. Presumably, this was the lair of the varongoins. The party stayed only long enough for Solstin to use prestidigitation to clear a path through the filth to a door on the opposite wall.
Through the door, the party found a long hallway heading west and a branching corridor heading north. Coralis’s spell indicated that they should head north. That hallway ended up turning east and long before the party reached the end of this very long corridor, Coralis’s spell expired.
At the bottom of the sloping corridor—over 2,000 feet in length, by their estimate—the party found a rubble strewn room with an opening in the north that entered a massive corridor filled with two rows of pillars marching off to the east. The pillars were covered in all kinds of strange symbols, many of them quite offensive looking.
As the party discussed where to go since his spell had ended, a pair of glowing green forms rose from the stony floor and settled into the shapes of trolls armed with axes and wearing armor.
The creatures attacked the party and were quite real. However, when they were destroyed, they simply winked out of existence in a flash of white light.
Savaun had stayed near the back of the fight the whole time and when challenged about his “cowardice” he claimed that he was simply useless in a fight without Bright Flame. Coralis was quite angry about his inactivity during the fight and was the one that had called him a coward. Savaun hotly replied, “I’ll show you a coward!” He then ran out in to the long pillar-lined corridor shouting at the top of his lungs, “Where are you? Show yourselves!” He ran the entire distance of the hall shouting this. The others chased after him to stop him from to doing something foolish.
At the end of the corridor he finally stopped and the others quickly gathered around him. Coralis stared at him angrily. Others looked at him as if he had lost his mind. The stranger kept quietly insisting that they go back to a door in a large alcove they had passed while chasing after Savaun. The fact was there were a dozen or so different branching corridors and doors to choose from.
As the party stood there, Mira Luna noticed torchlight coming closer from a corridor leading south from the long hall. She saw 2 figures approaching quickly, one of them a woman with a tower shield and splint mail clutching a nasty black-bladed long sword; the other a man in shadow-shrouded leather armor with a rapier in his hand.
Mira Luna warned the others. Tysis was closest and could see them clearly. He called out that they meant them no harm, but would deal out some punishment if the 2 strangers made any hostile moves. The 2 sneered that they weren’t afraid of an old man.
Soon, the 2 newcomers had entered the large hall and were attacking the party. What’s more, the warrior woman had Bright Flame strapped to her back. The party was confident they could handle these two until Eli Tomorast showed up at the opening to the corridor the others had come from. Not wanting to fight this powerful wizard again, Coralis told those near him he was going to word of recall them out of there. Tysis, however, refused. He wouldn’t leave yet, so the party stayed.
During the fight, Andrew realized that Eli was only an illusion, but soon the real wizard appeared and cast a spell that dropped Mira Luna. It would have killed her had Coralis not used one of his more powerful healing spells to immediately pull her back from the brink. Solstin had also managed to use a telekinesis spell to wrest Bright Flame from their enemies. Savaun quickly strode up and grabbed it, but took a savage beating in the process. The enemy warrior was no joke. She had proved that she was more than a match for Coralis, Tysis, and Savaun.
Now that they had reclaimed Savaun’s sword, the party wasted no time. I AM reached down and picked up Mira Luna and Solstin made ready to teleport himself, I AM carrying Mira Luna, and Andrew back to Seltaren while Coralis cast word of recall to take himself, Tysis, and Savaun back there as well.
Before the spell was cast, Eli strode up and cast something. He immediately touched I AM on the back and said with a menacing smile, “Be seeing you real soon. This is far from over.”
POOF!
The party was all back in Seltaren.
Those that had witnessed the spellcasting performed by Eli right before Solstin cast his teleport spell wondered what the wizard had done to I AM. Indeed, the newcomer wondered what had been done to him as well. There seemed to be nothing wrong with him.
Solstin recalled the words and gestures and realized it was an arcane mark spell. He looked I AM over and couldn’t see any visible sign of the spell. He told I AM as he did so, “You’ve been marked. That was an arcane mark spell he cast.”
End of session
What had just happened Guardian?
We have just arrived at your destination.
The stars are gone. They are no longer passing by us. But it is dark.
Look harder.
Oh! I see. Its dark but in shades of red.
Yes. You can see in the dark.
This is a strange place. I feel an oppressive feeling upon my being.
Yes.
...
What is it old friend.
I am having some kind of vision or image running through my mind. Are you doing that to me Guardian?
No...What kind of image?
It is disturbing. Blood is everywhere and people are screaming and yelling and these horrid evil creatures I have never seen before. I can feel the emotions of the people and the horror surrounding them.
What do these creatures look like?
A humanoid looking creature has a squat and blubbery, almost hairless body with pale sickly flesh and a slack mouth full of fangs.
Do you know what it is?
... I am feeling anger. It is as if I am there.
What are you doing there?
I am fighting these creatures and there is another bigger and more horrible.
What do you see?
I am killing them and I am not alone. There are many there like myself all for the same cause and most of them are close friends.
Yes.
Why do you say yes?
Cause Ah-Leph you were there.
Nooooo!
My friend you really need to get a grip on yourself.
I do not like these feelings I am having and I do not like this place.
You are seeing what once was before the ascension. It is your memories. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.
Guardian you are now speaking in parables. But in a very strange way I am familiar with what you are saying and bring peace into my being.
You are a witness and testimony of these truths.
Yes.
Our time here is coming.
Yes I sense it. We must run through here.
I feel this quickening.
We must run faster.
Look ahead there is some kind of brilliant light ahead.
Yes I see it, hurry!
I hear yelling and fighting going on.
Yes. What is it?
I am having one of those images in my head again.
You need to put it aside for now you are needed.
I am trying.
Focus on what is in front of you.
Yes. I know these people.
We must kill those creatures.
I know these kinds of creatures.
Just kill them!!!
...
These people look upon me strangely.
We saw them before our arrival. It is them and the one in which we have come to serve.
Yes I see them.
They are sad and grief stricken.
Yes you remember.
They have lots of questions that I am not certain I can answer.
We are an oddity in this place.
I feel their warmth. It is familiar to me.
Yes. It is as you once was.
...
Time will bring back your memories. Assist these people as best as you can.
Time?
Yes a day here is like a thousand years from when we have just come.
Hmmm. There are so many different emotions that I am unaccustomed to.
Friend whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
It will be difficult in a sad and dark place as this.
In the end you will prevail over your thoughts and we will help to fulfill these peoples destiny.
For some reason I know this. But guardian you needs not push me too hard.
...
Did you notice how Mira Luna jumped upon my touch?
Yes you are not like any of these.
She said my touch was icy cold.
Yes.
It was not always so.
Yes.
Savaun had spoken that blasphemous name, which I am more than familiar with. It makes me feel angry and disgust within my gut.
Yes. Iuz is an abomination upon these lands and an evil that needs complete obliteration.
They seem to want to find this Destiny Stone I am glad they are able to have some form of trust in me.
We need to stay close. Watch them as they move through out the dungeon.
There actions are not very precautionary and they are very loud. How are we to find anything if we keep on allowing the opposition know where we are at?
Many of them have already seen the after life and apparently do not wish to go there. Their desire to finish the course is great and they have no peace.
Yes. Peace. I remember that. A peace that is beyond human understanding and a place with no more suffering, no more tears and no more pain.
Yes.
Champion? I am having another one of those memories again.
What is it?
I remember being over run and taken by those evil hordes, not just one time but twice. The second time we ended up in the sacred place.
Yes and it was there you had found your rest.
TROLLS!!!
You are hurt.
Hmmm. I do not feel any pain.
You need to heal yourself.
Very well.
Why is Savaun running down that corridor?
Pride goeth before the fall and fear resides in the weak.
I recognize his symbol of some noble order but he seems to lack in the traits of nobility.
Nobility is not given it is earned.
...
We seem to have met with more people down here.
There intentions is to bring more harm, and you must destroy that magic user.
Look Mira Luna has fallen. We must get that mage.
Why are we leaving?
It appears the mage has attached something upon us. This can’t be good.
Seltaran?
What is my problem, it seems as though every day I find something else that truely just frightens me to my core. This time it is some sort of bat thing...Oh how I hate ths freaking dungeon.
Hmmm... so Savaun is being a coward... well I guess I will just have to shame him into fighting. Black Chicken.. I like it, mayhap we need call him that from now on, I wonder how he will take it.
Oh, not to well... running off down the corridor like a idiot, well I guess we should go after him...
Oh crap, I guess this means we aren't leaving just yet, for there on the back of that rather mean looking lady, is Bright Flame, just what we are looking for, but at least we don't have to contend with... Crap, there is his Eli himself... well I guess this has to happen sooner or later...
NNNNNOOOOO not Mira Luna.... NNNNNNNOOOOOOO why why are we staying here, this is not going to end well...Oh we are leaving.... great... hopefull Mira is only mostly dead...
What is my problem, it seems as though every day I find something else that truely just frightens me to my core. This time it is some sort of bat thing...Oh how I hate ths freaking dungeon.
Andrew!Andrew! Fear not. O death where is thy sting, O grave where is thy victory.Fear is your enemy.Cooler heads will prevail.
I am beginning to think that this quest is going to cost us more than we bargained for. I have been unable so far to keep death from taking away members of this party and thou my faith is strong the evil within this place is even stronger. I am glad that I was able to save Mira Luna from that blasted wilting spell that Eli is so fond of. I am very glad that we got Bright Flame back for Sauvan because without it he turned into a total spineless coward. He seemed to think that it is his weapon that makes him great when in fact it is the hand that wields it that is truely great. Perhaps since it has been returned to him he will return to his old battle ready self. I feel bad for being so hard on him but I was simply trying to instill some fight into him but to no availe. That stunt he pulled could have gotten us all killed and I will have a talk with him about endangering the entire party by being a complete idiot but I will not use such harsh language for he has been through much and needs support not harsh words. This thing we met that is neither alive or undead is quite puzzling to me. He seems to be human yet he radiates a celestial glow and his flesh is as cold as death but he is not evil and in fact good. I unlike Savaun who has very poor manners when it comes to meeting strangers think that he will make an excellent ally providing he is not simply insane by his outbursts. He seems to have lost his memories and needs time to regain them. Until then I welcome him into our group and hope that he does not meet a similar fate as our last fighter. Pelor help us should we meet with Eli again it may just be the last time for many or all of us. I do not think he will continue to toy with us any longer.
Friday, April 21
The notes for this session will be somewhat short.
The party had just returned to an area of the Seltaren Temple of Pelor that Coralis had reserved for his word of recall spell. It happened to be one of two areas of contemplation along a ringed balcony overlooking the nave of the temple 20 feet below. Above the balcony rose the dome which topped the temple itself. Coralis had instructed his bretrhen and sisters at the temple to keep this area clear.
Corals appeared in the contemplation area still clutching Tysis and Savaun. Solstin also popped in nearby with Andrew and I AM in tow, the latter carrying the unconscious and extremely withered looking Mira Luna.
While Coralis cast healing spells to restore the party to full health and waving back to Brother Palaver down in the nave who had noticed their arrival, Solstin told the rest of the party that Eli had cast an arcane mark spell and inscribed it on I AM somewhere on his back. When he cast detect magic he could clearly see a single stylized, if somewhat hastily inscribed, "E" on I AM's peasant garb. He grabbed I AM by the arm and told him, "We've got to hurry up and get that erased over at the College of Wizardry."
Before the group had a chance to do much else, Eli Tomorast and his two cronies (the rogue now no longer blind) suddenly popped in to the contemplation area only a few feet away from the group.
For the next minute, the group again had to battle their enemies. No longer were they safe simply teleporting back to Seltaren after things got rough in the dungeon. Eli had obviously tracked them, perhaps via scrying. Whatever the case, during this continuation of the battle in the dungeon, Coralis, Tysis, and Andrew were affected by a confusion spell and spent most of the battle hacking at each other, babbling incoherently, and occasionally enjoying brief moments of clarity.
Mira Luna chose the better part of valor and ran for cover after getting lightning bolted. I AM squared off with Eli's burley warrior. After shattering her tower shield to splinters, the woman returned the favor and cut apart I AM's mithral shield. A moment later, I AM dealt her a killing blow with a smiting attack.
The combined attacks of the party early in the fight dropped the enemy rogue.
The clerics down in the nave hastened to attack the intruding wizard after ushering petitioners out of the temple and closing its massive doors. Their combined sound burst spells proved just what the party needed to keep Eli from loosing his most potent spells. The cocophany was enough to stun him long enough to allow the party to take out his henchmen (and woman). Once he regained his senses he cast a time stop spell. The next moment he was gone. And so were the bodies of the rogue and the female warrior.
After battle, the confusion and the effects of Eli's Evard's black tentacles spell continued to harry the party. Eventually, Mira Luna dispelled the confusion on Tysis and Andrew and then webbed Coralis whose affliction she was unable to remove.
Enough time passed for all of Eli's spells to finally disperse and the party received healing from the priests that had aided them in their fight.
The party was a bit unnerved by Eli's brazen audacity to attack them in a holy temple. After Solstin convinced I AM to simply get rid of the marked garment & burn it and the newcomer was properly garbed (in Pelorian robes), Coralis told the party he was going to commune with "the big man upstairs" - Pelor himself - and see if they could get some answers to properly locate the Destiny Stone and use it with all haste so as to not have to face Eli again.
2 Growfest - 3 Growfest, 593 CY
The group spent long hours composing and discarding questions for Coralis to ask Pelor. Meanwhile, the city officials had met with the high priest of the Temple of Pelor and deemed Eli Tomorast a major threat to Seltaren after the events that had marred the first day of Growfest celebrations.
A reward of 10,000 gp was offered for the capture or death of the villainous wizard. This, of course, brought numerous adventurers and adventuring parties out of the woodwork, clamoring to be the ones that got the reward. Many of these adventurers came to ask the party questions about the dungoen where Eli Tomorast is holed up. Many of these parties were young and inexperieced and were warned away from entering the dungoen; it was almost certain death for them. However, this didn't seem to curb their unthusiasm.
During this time, the party entertained the idea of perhaps hiring on new party members to bolster their strength. Nothing came of the conversation except for Brother Palaver at the Temple of Pelor offering to join. Coralis, kindly, but firmly told him to stick to his duties in the temple. Brother Palaver had a way to go before he was ready to face the horrors of Maure Castle.
We ended our session with an unfinished list of questions the players had assembled for Coralis to ask Pelor. Next session, I'll post the questions and the results.
Through the eyes of a Deathless #1
I AM Deathless?
Yes.
It is what the Pelorian Priest has called me. He called me a Deathless. So that is what I have become here. I am beginning to understand. But this temple to Pelor is very alien to me much as it was in the ruins of Maure castle.
Before you ascended you had spent some time in many places like this.
Ascended?
Yes ascended.
Yes, I remember now. But it wasn’t in Pelor’s favor I was. Plus I do not like how these men of their faith have been looking at me and prying in my affairs.
You are an oddity to these mortals, as you would have been, had you been in their shoes.
Perhaps, yet with their kindness they have restricted me to this place and it has become nothing more than a glorified dungeon. That feeling of oppressiveness is very much upon me here. There is much restriction on this plane; it was a miracle of living here. I can see that now.
I am glad that it is coming to you now.
Guardian?
Yes?
A feeling of anger is welling up in me again I am still not use to these feelings and I am not use to these people always asking questions and treating me less than they are.
It is not uncommon that men and woman of religions project an air of holiness. O not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the temples. And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, teacher, teacher. But be not ye called teacher. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. It was cause of this hypocrisy that lead you out to the open road it was your spirit of liberty that brought favor to your God and it was your death that demanded a time for a reckoning.
I don’t like it here Guardian, I sense their motives and it is all about false pretense. Pride is there master not holiness.
Well we have two days in this place. Coralis has made it possible to have your shield restored. You owe them the gratitude for that and the indignity of their persistent questioning or interrogations. The cloak they had given you will help to conceal your appearance to the commoners.
Do I have anything to hide or be ashamed of Guardian?
No.
I do not like this name they give me.
I AM NOT DEATHLESS! I AM AH-LEPH AND I AM A KNIGHT.
Yes you are all that and more, but you are not one to boast let them learn of you on there own terms. Respect is not given but earned.
You are correct Guardian, I apologize.
Ya know Ah-Leph it is good to see you back to your old self.
Perhaps, but there is still something missing in all of this.
Give it time, but like yourself I am more interested in looking around this city of Seltaran we have never been here before.
I am interested to, plus what use I have of my senses I love exploring. The touch and feel of such things here are fascinating this is nothing like Celestria. The things here seem lifeless and base. And the wickedness here simply abounds in men’s hearts. It is most dismal and dark.
You can count on it being dismal yet.
There has been little to no signs of innocence here. Perhaps when they tire of asking me questions they will guide me through the city.
That would be wonderful.
Aha! Our Bible-quoting deathless adventurer is beginning to remember things. I guess those tentacles that had him all wrapped up squeezed some memories loose!
Aha! Our Bible-quoting deathless adventurer is beginning to remember things. I guess those tentacles that had him all wrapped up squeezed some memories loose!
Ya Know Steve, that Icon you've chosen looks alot like Michael Jackson. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm!
Aha! Our Bible-quoting deathless adventurer is beginning to remember things. I guess those tentacles that had him all wrapped up squeezed some memories loose!Ya Know Steve, that Icon you've chosen looks alot like Michael Jackson. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm!
Heh. Ok. Whatever that means???
Guardian?Yes?
A feeling of anger is welling up in me again I am still not use to these feelings and I am not use to these people always asking questions and treating me less than they are.
It is not uncommon that men and woman of religions project an air of holiness. O not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the temples. And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, teacher, teacher. But be not ye called teacher. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. It was cause of this hypocrisy that lead you out to the open road it was your spirit of liberty that brought...
Since we are quoting religious texts, here's a little ditty the proslytizing priests of Pelor often sing in the temple as they revel in the holiness of their God. I'm sure Ah-Leph will hear it many times before the party is ready to depart Seltaren.
We are not the ordinary,
Fearlessly extraordinary,
Working righteous Hari Kari,
In our humble way,
(REFRAIN)
Humble way, now.
Humble way.
Our humble way.
Bearing swords of truth we plunder,
Slicing wicked men a'sunder,
We are something of a wonder,
In our humble way.
(REFRAIN)
Crooked generation,
We demand your veneration.
Will you shake your heels at us
as we call you to your knees?
Crooked generation,
Will you scoff at foreordination?
We are warriors by our rights,
so respect us, if you please.
We are not the ordinary,
Fearlessly extraordinary,
Working righteous Hari Kari,
In our humble way,
(FINAL REFRAIN)
Ya Know Steve, that Icon you've chosen looks alot like Michael Jackson. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm!
What is MJ anyways? I would say a Half-elf Necromancer 3 /Bard 7.
Ya Know Steve, that Icon you've chosen looks alot like Michael Jackson. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm!What is MJ anyways? I would say a Half-elf Necromancer 3 /Bard 7.
LOL. Interesting topic, IGR. I would definitely agree with him being a bit on the "fey" side. I'm thinking much more levels in Bard. At least 10. And the way he can manipulate the way people think, perhaps some levels in Mindbender.
Since we are quoting religious texts, here's a little ditty the proslytizing priests of Pelor often sing in the temple as they revel in the holiness of their God. I'm sure Ah-Leph will hear it many times before the party is ready to depart Seltaren.We are not the ordinary,
Fearlessly extraordinary,
Working righteous Hari Kari,
In our humble way,(REFRAIN)
Humble way, now.
Humble way.
Our humble way.Bearing swords of truth we plunder,
Slicing wicked men a'sunder,
We are something of a wonder,
In our humble way.(REFRAIN)
Crooked generation,
We demand your veneration.
Will you shake your heels at us
as we call you to your knees?Crooked generation,
Will you scoff at foreordination?
We are warriors by our rights,
so respect us, if you please.We are not the ordinary,
Fearlessly extraordinary,
Working righteous Hari Kari,
In our humble way,(FINAL REFRAIN)
Cool!
It seems Heironeous has chosen to test my new faith. My companions are certainly beginning to lose faith in me.
I strive to be a knight, to hold true the values of a knight and a lord. Yet constantly I am challenged by those I meet. It is one thing to speak of it, another thing entirely to do it. I am confident I will persevere. I have much and more to contemplate.
I was upset about the loss of my sword. Not as a tool but as a symbol of my house and my commitment to my word. Yet going in to battle it seems as if it was as much a part of me as my arm or leg. For the first time in my life I feared battle. I hesitated, and cowered in the face of my enemy. I hope no one noticed. I will get over this.
Another battle, my legs are like lead. Fear grips my heart with an icy grip. My swings are slow and clumsy. Gods! What is wrong with me. Coralis and Andrew have noticed and are beginning to berate me. I dont blame them.
Blackchicken? Is this my new name? Andrew thinks that belittling me will set my nerves on edge and goad me in to battle. My mind wants to by the hand prevents me. Am I really this insignificant without Bright Flame?
Ive had enough from Coralis and Andrew! Ive drawn the line and theyve crossed it! Its easy to cover fear with a blanket of anger. I charged off down the hall, eyes blind to any danger, screaming for an enemy to face.
And find them I did...
2 humans appeared from a hallway to my right. I had to overcome my fear. I must! As I moved to engage Andrew saw something and his response drew my attention. There, on the back of the large, well armored female, was Bright Flame.
That was all the motivation I needed.
I engaged the female, mind singularly focused on the task before me. After a few exchanged blows my companions flanked the female and began to draw the attention of the roguish looking male to my left.
Suddenly Bright Flame leapt from the scabbard on the womans back sailing in to the air, as if lifted out by the hand of god. It fell right at my feet! Ignoring the attack from the woman I grasped Bright Flame, feeling the familiar warmth spread up my arm and throughout my body. I felt alive once again and pressed my attack with renewed vigor.
All was not well, however. Eli had appeared and joined the fray. Mira Luna had fallen. My companions looked hurt. In my pride I had endangered the party.
Coralis signaled the retreat and the teleport spells were being cast. Everyone quickly gathered hands for the egress. I wanted to stay, to undo what I had done. More pride talking.
We got away and Mira was quickly revived from her unconscious state. That would have weighed heavily on my heart, to have brough unneeded suffering upon my friends.
We went back to town for resupplying and resting. I fear I must stay behind on the next outing to contemplate my future and my actions. I must prove to myself that I am more than my sword, and to my friends that I am a knight worthy of the title and a person worthy of my standard, the Blackhawk. I must hold myself to a higher standard lest I lose myself.
I will meet up with them when they return.
Friday April 28
I asked a favor of a couple of my former players; join us for one session to bolster the party enough to survive the Chambers of Antiquities. Ben and Todd agreed and so tonight we had a reunion of the party as it is now composed and Brandon the wandering monk of Rao and his traveling companion, Streutgarr the dwarven dervish.
I promised a list of the Commune questions, but I think I'll just paraphrase the whole thing.
2 Growfest, 593 CY
On this day, the party spent most of their time brainstorming at their favorite inn. They wanted Coralis to ask Pelor questions like, "Is the Destiny Stone in the Chambers of Antiquities in the Maure Castle dungeons?" And "Is the Destiny Stone being used by the Seekers?" And questions aimed at finding out what compass point the Destiny Stone was at in relation to the dungeon.
There were more questions, of course, but the party learned that the Destiny Stone WAS in the Chambers of Antiquites and it was not being used by the Seekers. They learned that it was in the northeastern portion of the Chambers of Antiquities.
However, they still had a ton more questions. The answers seemed to spawn more questions than satisfy those already asked. So, Coralis agreed to prepare another Commune spell and cast it again the next day.
3 Growfest, 593 CY
In the morning, a little girl arrived at Solstin's room and delivered a polished wooden box. Within it was a strange letter offering a powerful magical rod (also in the box) made of an extraplanar wood. The letter stated that whomever had written it had observed the party's diligent efforts to obtain their prize in the face of much adversity and death. The rod was said to store powerful magic capable of miraculous wonders; anything they wished for, basically. However, it had very limited uses, so Solstin would need to take great care with how he used it. The letter was signed "M".
Solstin showed the others and detect magic spells were used on it. Two powerful dweomers: one was of the universal school of magic, the other could not be discerned.
The party took it to the College of Wizardry to have it analyzed, but their attempts failed. In fact, the rod seemed to resist them as if it was a living thing.
The party left the College, but hung on to the rod, planning to use this powerful boon. Coralis recognized the wood as an extraplanar variety found on Arborea. The rod itself was hard as iron, though.
After the party had done all of this, they returned to the inn and were preparing to ask a whole new slew of questions when an old friend walked into the common room. Brandon, the monk of Rao, had been searching for the party and finally caught up to them here. With him was his traveling companion Streutgarr, a dwarven warrior armed with scimitars.
Brandon had been busy traveling afar while the party had found the location of the Destiny Stone and then learned that part of it was missing and hidden somewhere in the depths of Maure Castle.
Apparently, he had been taken back to Bastro by divine means and re-visted the old cottage of the Seer. However, it was empty and had been for many, many years. The locals all said that the place was a holy site. They knew only that a holy saint had one time lived there, but that was long before any of their times and it was more of a local legend now. However, the place was kept in good condition and universally held as a holy place. So who was this Seer they had met? At the time, it seemed that he was a well-known resident of Bastro. But, now things seemed a little different. In fact, going back to that cold winter day that everyone met in the little college, those that had needed directions there had simply been shown the way to the home of the Seer, which was what they called the place, though they had never actually given directions to the Seer himself.
Strange...
Also, local folklore held a divine being known as the Seer often traveled the world in the guise of a little girl or a very old man.
Even stranger was that the description they gave of the little girl matched that of the little girl that had delivered the box to Solstin this morning.
The party couldn't tell what to make of this and it changed the questions they were going to ask Pelor, though Brandon seemed to think that their purpose was wholly endorsed by both Rao AND Pelor.
More later...
April 28 session continued...
After Brandon commendeered the kitchen and cooked up a fine meal for his friends with the inn keeper and his staff helping out as they could, the group retired to a private place for Coralis to cast his second Commune spell. With Brandon's news, there were a few questions added such as, "Is the Destiny Stone harmful to us?" and "Should we obtain the Destiny Stone?"
Some of the other questions were aimed at finding out if there were any traps such as magical symbols, guardians, etc.
The end result was that they found out that Pelor's will was for the party to obtain the stone. It was of no danger to them. There were indeed symbol traps in the Chambers of Antiquites and a mechanical hydra that they actually didn't have to fight in order to get to the Destiny Stone.
Brandon thought that a vision he had recently had would help the party. He described seeing the hand of Rao sketch a symbol in the sand. It was somewhat oval shaped with a line extending straight from its top and then intersected with another line. The hand had drawn a circle where the intersecting line ended on the right side.
Brandon had drawn on parchment and suggested that it could be a map of this area. The party did not doubt it was significant. They took the parchment with them when they all teleported back to Maure Castle the following day.
More later...
More continuation...
4 Growfest, 593 CY
Bright and early, the party teleported in two groups without incident. Some of them entered the portable hole for the trip there and were helped out again once the party arrived safely where they had been teleporting to for the last two trips.
The party brought Brandon and Streutgarr up to speed on their environs and some of the things they had encountered.
They entered the secret door on Tomorast's Hold that had stairs inside that descended to the northeasterly portion of the level below it (they had not learned of a name attributed to that level yet). The party believed that it was on that level that they would find the Destiny Stone according to the answers they got from Coralis's commune spells.
So down they went past the ashes of the burnt violet shrieker and they turned right to check out the door nearby.
No sounds from the other side and no traps.
Andrew picked the lock and the party entered a small circular chamber obviously used as a sleeping quarters. A tempting looking chest got Andrew's attention. He checked it for traps and then opened it up and found a bit of tasty loot inside. A magical suit of chainmail, a pair of finely crafted nun-chukus, a fine cloak, a magical ring, and a spell scroll.
He grabbed the loot and shared it out for the arcanists to examine and then went to the next door inside the room to listen at it.
Andrew shushed the rest of the party and listened again. He heard faint muffled sounds from the other side.
The party readied themselves for trouble and Andrew opened the door. On the other side he found a short hallway and another door. The sounds were louder once he approached the next door, almost like a muffled sound of someone struggling.
Once Andrew checked the door out for traps, he opened it and found a large oddly shaped torture chamber. The muffled sounds came from a grey-skinned, vaguely elf-like woman on a rack at the center of the room. She had been gagged as well. He also spotted someone hiding behind a large torture chair.
When Andrew stepped in he was suddenly attacked by 2 flanking rogues. One hit him, but the other missed.
The party then engaged these attackers for several moments, killing two of them, but Brandon stabilized the third who was close to being on his way out, too. Brandon used healing magic to revive the rogue and tried to talk peacefully with him. He had wanted to do this from the start, abhorring violence.
The rogue told the party he could give them information about this place if he allowed him to leave. He claimed to be captured with his now-dead allies by Eli's henchmen and locked up here and tortured regularly. When asked how it was that he and his dead friends had all of their gear and were free, he said that their things had been kept in this same room and often waved before them to taunt them. They had just recently escaped and reclaimed their things when the party arrived. When they heard them outside the door, they assumed it was Eli's thugs returning to do more harm to them and laid an ambush for them.
The group wasn't sure they should believe anything he said, but he was very convincing. He confimed that there was a metal hydra somewhere in these dungeons and had never heard of the Destiny Stone. He couldn't tell them exactly where the construct was, but did voluntarily tell the party what each of his dead companions' possessions did (they each had several magic items on them).
The rogue-his name was Drueth-then was allowed to leave with his things and they never saw him again.
Of the woman on the torture rack, the party could learn nothing. Unfortunately, she had been killed by one of Solstin's sanctified area spells. It would not harm good creatures, but neutral and evilly-aligned creatures were affected by it. They would never know which of these she was. However, after examing her remains, they deduced that she had been a githyanki.
The party then spent then next hour searching for the most northeasterly section of this level. They found a gore spattered room and hallways and other doors more to the west, but nothing really jumped out as significant in the northeast section except for the long sloping passage that led down to the next level where they had last encountered Eli Tomorast.
The group started to get a little discourage, but decided to go down the long sloping corridor again.
I'll finish tomorrow. Time has been short today.