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A black dragon arrived in the midst of a rainstorm and attacked Amelkhar for not sending the required ransom of virgins. As the dragon roared with omnipotent glee, the city began to sink into a quickly appearing swamp. Noxious mud and water began to rise between the cobblestones, and buildings sank. The dragon blasted outward with its acidic swamp-slime breath, dissolving the flesh off the people. The people tried to escape, creating bottle necks of chaos at the exits - and the dragon blasted these easily, killing massive amounts of people at once. Other people began to change, to become serpents and reptiles and worse.
Our heroes fled to the central temple. Perhaps the crypt thing could help or perhaps Hamdin could access his extra-dimensional escape hatches he discovered in the last adventure.
Meeting Sailor John and Omar, the heroes fled through the small door which opened for Hamdin. They wound up in Ugot, where a festival was happening. The main instrument in an Ugottian dance is the drum, which is beaten with bare hands or sticks to provide a rhythm. Other instruments are added to enhance the mood, the sound or the numinous quality of the event. Dances may be old traditions handed down from ancient times or they may be new innovations created by recent experts. Some dancers vibrated their bodies in a passionate frenzy not unlike fighting madness, while others performed impressive standing leaps in their dances. Dancing also involves frightening costumes. Masks, face paint, costumes, stilts and even live snakes are used to transform the dancers into mystical beings representing some natural or supernatural concept. The festival was to celebrate the sending of a virgin to the dragon.
Hamdin also discovered that next week a cannibal sorcerer was exacting his due from the city as well - and that all the condemned persons were his top three students at his Ugottian school. Having witnessed the fate of a city which ignored its due to the dragon, they opted to forgo that one for now and get rid of the cannibal sorcerer. Hamdin spoke the headmaster of his school about the wizard.
He told Hamdin of the monstrous Degella, who demands monthly sacrifices of young boys and girls for his ghastly appetites. The villages and the city of Ugot pay this ransom because of the terrible monsters and unholy powers Degella possesses. Degella, an acolyte of the black dragon, can command the weather to devastate the villages, or unleash undead assassins to slay his foes. He lives among baboons and can understand their language. People who enter his region of wilderness (dubbed Kujamii) never return.
As they travelled north, they reached the wizard's sorcerous garden. The terrain became more and more rainforest-like. Hamdin discovered seventeen Gahleb Duhr stones at the outskirts of Kujamii and Sailor John met his first treant.
Once in Kujamii, they were attacked by an assassin vine, which nearly killed the witch Ulalia. After the near party-kill by the assassin vine, they encountered a large number of baboons. Sailor John calmed the baboons down, but the cannibal himself was nearby, watching in hiding. As the heroes passed through the crowd of baboons, the wizard shouted "Attack!" for he had trained the baboons in the attack trick (as per Handle Animal). He also sent in his favorite pet, Senubora, an elite baboon animal ally to attack. Although easy to kill, the sheer numbers of baboons almost overwhelmed the party.
The party then chased after the wizard, who tried to send his mkovu (an undead familiar the size of a child) away. The wizard fought back with mirror image and a +2 ebony thundering war club and nearly killed Achis.
With the wizard dead, the party found his tower in the center of the garden.
The library offers 6 virtual ranks in Craft (Herbalism), Knowledge (Nature), and Knowledge (Ambulatory Plant Life) (or +3 to skill checks for characters with 6 or more ranks already), gained after 2 days of study for a particular question. Other books in the wizard's library include "Dragons of the Vipnaal Swamp" by Brard, "Seventeen: The Secret to Escape" by Zealia of Tsath, "The Eaters" by Mukhali Checheg of Süke-Bator, "The Unholy Mysteries of Ragnfast" by Ugot, "Ecology of the Assassin Vine" by Degella, "Shambling Mounds of the Vipnaal Swamp" by Degella, "Habilum the Iron Maw" by Degella, and "Entangling Plants of Vipnaal" by Degella.
Also, one can find his spellbook, which has the spells: Splash of Vipnaal (Acid Splash), Disrupt Undead, Alarm, Charm Person, True Strike, Identify, Mirror Image, Magic Mouth, False Life, Summon Swarm, Summon Monster (only summons plant monsters or baboons), Summon Monster II (only summons plant monsters or baboons), plague of death, sorcerous garden, raise corpse, the dead speak, spirit of the land. The spellbook is rectangular. The pages are papyrus and the cover is made of large, thick leaves. Three ambulatory vines surround the book - they allow the book to be opened if a drop of blood is dripped into the three pods.
It was a fun adventure. Bob also really enjoyed himself. The one shot adventures lend themselves well to this gaming situation. The next adventures will have more focus, I feel. Also, we learned some things about kid control. We will have to prepare a little better next time. But, I have tons of paper and art supplies. And I know a lot of our kids are very creatively minded.
I for one want to find out more about the following: Wakening the earth. Harnessing or merging with the power of the earth itself (not so much plants, but the raw dirt and stone). I want to find out as much as I can about black dragons, specifically the one at the swamp. Does it have weaknesses?
I also want to start a school of fighting and merge it with the school I have already founded. I want students to be well rounded in martial arts as well as culture and book based learning. The ideal student will look somewhat like a ranger/mage or druid. I want to change the tone of education and learning to earth and earth based magics and powers. The more I know about this the better.
I also want to know if my students were found alive. I also search the surrounding areas for more of the Ghaleb Duhr stones. Are they creations? Are they living beings? Are there more of them? Is there a pattern to their resting places?
__________________ The natural unintended meaning of any abstract, symbolic language is rhubarb.
I for one want to find out more about the following: Wakening the earth. Harnessing or merging with the power of the earth itself (not so much plants, but the raw dirt and stone). I want to find out as much as I can about black dragons, specifically the one at the swamp. Does it have weaknesses?
Your headmaster has been building a school library in your absence. He has located the following books, "Ley Lines of Khardul" by Golgar Methqua, "The Slave Uprising Against the Titans: Apocrypha of the Galeb Duhr" by Tabin Kuhri, and "The Earth Titans: A History" by Tabin Kuhri.
As for the black dragon, the "Dragons of the Vipnaal Swamp" suggests that the dragon has no control over any creature non-reptilian in nature, and fears the undead. The dragon also likes for its meat to be somewhat rotten before consuming it, so it is possible for someone to be brought into the lair by pretending to be a corpse (that is how Brard got in to write his book).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimhelm
I also want to start a school of fighting and merge it with the school I have already founded. I want students to be well rounded in martial arts as well as culture and book based learning. The ideal student will look somewhat like a ranger/mage or druid. I want to change the tone of education and learning to earth and earth based magics and powers. The more I know about this the better.
The Galeb Duhr offer to instruct.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimhelm
I also want to know if my students were found alive.
Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimhelm
I also search the surrounding areas for more of the Ghaleb Duhr stones.
None.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimhelm
Are they creations? Are they living beings? Are there more of them? Is there a pattern to their resting places?
Thank you, IM. It is a shame that my loathing of undead might interfere with my beating the black dragon, however... hmmm. I do have some ideas, though!
__________________ The natural unintended meaning of any abstract, symbolic language is rhubarb.
Well, for one it was written by Zealia of Tsath, and as I understand from other books that have been found, she's a Psion of some sort. That's always interesting. =)
On top of that, one can't help but pick up a book like that and read it just so one knows exactly why Seventeen is the secret to escape. =)
I also want to start a school of fighting and merge it with the school I have already founded. I want students to be well rounded in martial arts as well as culture and book based learning.
Perhaps I can aid in this until you have need of my help again.
Do any of the books reference the trees with eyes?
What are Ley Lines?
Were any treasures of direct monetary value discovered?
__________________ I think we're all bozos on this bus.
Well, for one it was written by Zealia of Tsath, and as I understand from other books that have been found, she's a Psion of some sort. That's always interesting. =)
On top of that, one can't help but pick up a book like that and read it just so one knows exactly why Seventeen is the secret to escape. =)
Does your character come to Ugot to read the book?
I believe his character is still in Ugot. He hasn't left for some time. As for Bob's character helping with the school, I am fine with this. I will need someone to organize this while I am away.
As for my own interests, as long as no one else wants to pursue anything, I am going to pursue the idea of 'waking the earth' as told to me by the stones. Something tells me I need to find a Song of Power, something that can hum and wake the very bones of the ground. So... this is what I will be looking for in the next adventure. If anyone else wants to go or has another quest, let me know!!! I am willing to put mine on hold or merge the two, if possible.
Hamdin
__________________ The natural unintended meaning of any abstract, symbolic language is rhubarb.
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