[D&D 4e] IG's "Those Left Behind, Chapter 4(e)"

Welcome, players and lurkers.

Nearing its 4th year at EN World, and in its 4th chapter, Those Left Behind has finally made the transition to 4th edition.

Players:
jkason as Shaimon Hu'u, a human ranger/druid (with Dyspeer, his loyal [and effective] wolf companion)
Shayuri as Talashia Thingol, a temperamental storm sorceress (with Shazi, a sarcastic air mephit familiar)
Scotley as Rogash, a dwarven rogue
Lief as Uulark, a shifter cleric
Friadoc as Buurt Wolfhart, a half-orc ranger
renau1g as Caerwyn Thingol, a human paladin with anger issues (barbarian/paladin)


May we all meet well at journey's end.

-IG

As one door closes...

Partially buried in the rubble, Shai, Talashia, Rogash, Uulark, Buurt, Caerwyn, and even the wolf Dyspeer are all amazed that they are still alive, and relatively unharmed. Still, the shock has yet to fade, and seven pairs of eyes dance to and fro following the lone white feather still floating in the air, unwilling to land.

"Get up, you lazy bums!" The voice is familiar, Talashia realizes. Her eyes break from the feather and lock onto Shazi. Apparently making it through the cave-in unscathed, the mephit flutters down and lands on the torn fabric covering Talashia's chest.

"And it was such a beautiful dress," he says, ignoring the scrapes and cuts on his master's face, which was arguably just as beautiful, though Shazi would never admit to it. "Are you going to lay there all day, dear? Or are we going to get up and find out just what in the Nine Hells has happened here?"

Shaimon Hu'u, druidic human ranger

Shaken out of his reverie by the air mephit's enjoinder, Shai tries to pry his way out of the rubble. He finds his legs pinned, though as yet uncrushed. He pushes at the large rock, precariously-balanced as it is, but to no avail. His breath quickens, eyes growing slightly bloodshot, as he tries to call upon the rage-fueled strength he's known for so long, but nothing comes, and he falls back, exhausted.

Dyspeer, meanwhile, manages to wriggle his way free, shaking his whole body after, momentarily engulfed in the cloud of granite dust he throws off. The wolf picks his way through the rubble to lick Shai's face even as he reaches the point of exhaustion.

The large man smiles, patting the wolf on the head, then nods, as if they've just had a conversation. Then, without warning, he stiffens, convulsing, mouth opening wide, wider than his jaws should allow, as if they're hinged. And out from the opening crawls a large python, working its way out as the man's skin pales and shrivels. When it's finally escaped the body, there is nothing left but a translucent skin of the man, which is already wasting into nothing.

Dyspeer sits, cocking his head to one side to study the large, coiled snake. Then, with the briefest hiss, the snake's head lolls, eyes glazing. A hand comes out from its center, and as the reptilian coil swells and shudders, Shai climbs out from the center as if exiting a hole. Then the snake, like Shai's body before it, pales, withers, and dissipates.

Dyspeer moves to Shai's side, licking his hand. Shai roughs up the fur on his wolf's head, then looks around to see if anyone else needs help freeing themselves from the rubble.

"We were too late, that's what happened," Talashia snaps at Shazi. "Now help me up."

With a long-suffering sigh, the mephit started pulling at Talashia's hand. "See, this is why I don't like being underground," he explained. "The elements are unstable. You can't just build things like tunnels and expect them to last. Even earth and stone like to rock around and shudder and collapse."

As she emerged from the rocks like a battered blue phoenix, Talashia retorted, "I notice you survived well enough."

Shazi tapped his chest with a grin. "Immortal."

"How nice for you."

Then the two of them were treated with a ringside seat to Shai's unique version of wild shape.

"That's going to give me nightmares," Shazi whispered. "And I don't even sleep."

For a moment all is quiet, the ringing in Caerwyn's ears won't stop and the paladin goes to hold his hand to his head to help ease the pain when he feels it stuck beneath some rocks. He begins struggling to free himself, but the platemail doesn't grant him the mobility that his druidic and arcane allies possessed. With a surge of strength, the warrior finally throws enough of the obstacles off him to get free. Caerwyn stands up and the dust falls off him as the paladin stands up and begins rotating his right shoulder.

"What happened? How did the place collapse? Talashia?" Caerwyn asked, rubbing his agonizing muscles after the battle against the trolls. "Wait, the trolls! Where are they" Caerwyn thought quickly, reaching down and pulling his large blade free from the rubble and looking around for any threats.

Uulark Simental, Longtooth Shifter Cleric of Sehanine L11

Uulark struggled back to consciousness. "Torm's testicles! What in blazes happened," he thought. With a supreme effort of will, he pried his eyelids open, only to find that the whole world had gone dark! "The sun! The sun! Where's the bloody sun," he lamented. Just then, he thought to raise his arm, and found that when he did so, a small portion of the rubble was dislodged from his "cairn." Heartened by this realization, Uulark flexed every muscle in his body, thinking that if a little is good, lots more must surely be much better.

Meanwhile [back at the ranch], Uulark's companions are having their own struggles, and none of them has bothered to pay much attention to the cairn of fallen stone that had, so far, just been lying there quietly as stones are wont to do. But now they notice that there seems to be an indistinct, vaguely voice-like cry coming from deep within the pile of rubble. A moment later, an arm emerges, and then the entire cairn shakes violently and erupts, leaving a very disheveled-looking Uulark lying before them. He rises, shakes like a wet dog, and begins to dust off the fragments that his shaking was unable to dislodge. "Well, don't everyone tell me at once! Leave me to wonder and guess about what just happened! Sehanine's Salacious Seahorses."

"Caerwyn," Talashia said, relieved. "I don't know about the trolls...I haven't seen them. They may have fled. They would have recovered long before us with their healing abilities..."

"We're still missing Rogash though. And Buurt. Everyone start digging...lets find them!"

Shaimon Hu'u, druidic human ranger

Shai's large smile as his friends emerge falls as Talashia points out the missing party members. He looks around, then kneels next to Dyspeer.

"Rogash and Buurt, Dys. Do you smell them?"

The wolf sneezes, granite dust billowing around him again, but then raises his nose in the air, sniffing tentatively for the missing men.

Uulark Simental, Longtooth Shifter Cleric of Sehanine L11

Uulark just waits to start digging, hopeful that Dyspeer will be successful. "The whole reason that I started adventuring was to avoid real work, you know...."

"Really?" Talashia grunts as she levers a chunk of stone over and sends it tumbling down the pile. "How's that working out for you?"