ADVENTURE 21 - CANNIBAL IN THE CLOUDS
PC Roster:
Akari, elven paladin of Hieroneous
Delphyne Babelberi, human witch (wizard)
Rale Bodkin, human rogue
Slayer, half-orc barbarian
I wanted to come up with an adventure that could take place on a cloud island (because when would be the next time the PCs would have ready access to a cloud island?), but flipping through my back issues of
Dungeon magazine, nothing caught my eye. So I ended up designing two very short adventures - "Side Treks," really, in the
Dungeon terminology.
First of all, I decided that the cloud island would be pretty big, large enough that it could support two separate encounters that had nothing to do with each other. The PCs, having crashed onto the island with Prism Keep, would need to go take a look at what they had run "aground" on, so I wouldn't need a whole lot in the way of plot hooks other than "go see what's out there."
For the first encounter, I made a simple cave structure, carved into the side of the cloud as it rose up like a cliff. And since this is a relatively short encounter, I think I might actually try to do this writeup in a more traditional Story Hour fashion. Let's see how that goes, shall we?
- - -
The four adventurers exited Prism Keep by its front entrance and headed around back. The Keep was still supported by its own cloud island, but that cloud island had run aground on a much larger one, and they needed to determine whether this was something they could try to fix on their own, or if they should allow the Archmage Alarius to deal with it once he had awakened from his near comalike slumber.
"Just what do you think we'll be able to do?" asked Rale. "This isn't like pushing a canoe back off of a sandbar."
"It's still worth checking out," replied Akari. "If nothing else, we should do some scouting of this larger island. It could be inhabited, and we might want to know ahead of time if there are enemies about."
"Well, sneaking up on them should be no problem," pointed out Delphyne, looking down at the puffy cloud she was standing on. Her sleight weight sunk her down to her ankles in the cottony white cloudstuff, but it fully supported her and walking along it caused absolutely no noise at all - there were no sticks to step on, no squelching mud, no accidentally kicked pebbles to give away their position as they traveled. In fact, the only sounds they could hear were those they made themselves - not only by talking, but the faint clinking of their armor. Akari was the worst on that front, with his half-plate armor. Slayer's thick hide armor was much quieter, plus he was well trained in the art of moving stealthily from his days back in the tribe. Rale was enjoying the magic leather armor he had taken from Kazmira (and thankful that it, like most magic armor, reconfigured to fit the body style of the wearer; magical properties or not, he would
not be wearing any armor that could be measured in "cup size"). And Delphyne, as an arcane spellcaster, wore no armor at all but trusted in the magical properties of her bracers for protection; otherwise, her clothing was designed primarily for comfort, not its ability to deflect weapon strikes.
As they walked along the larger cloud, they noticed little puffs of cloudstuff being kicked up by their feet. These wisps would float up a few inches before slowly falling back down and being reabsorbed into the larger cloud mass.
The island itself was roughly oval in shape, with a large "hill" of sorts (possibly a small mountain? - it was difficult to judge scale and distance up here) rising up in the middle. The group discovered that climbing uphill was no more treacherous on a puffy cloud than it was on solid ground.
Eventually, their explorations took them to a cave, its entrance carved into the side of the rising hill, which at this part rose nearly vertically like a cliff. The entrance was about ten feet wide, and no illumination came from within - although the interior walls of the cave seemed to be made of cloudstuff as well.
The group took time to ready both illumination and weapons. Akari activated a sunrod and held it in his left hand, his longsword
Hoardmaster in his right, and led the way. Slayer, whose half-orc heritage provided him the ability to see perfectly fine without artificial illumination, followed, his greatsword at the ready. Next came Delphyne, with Rale once again proffering to heroically "protect the rear flank" on his own.
After a short span, the passageway doubled in width, although wispy cloudstuff rose up about a third of the way to the ceiling from the floor along one wall. Examining this area, Delphyne noticed that it was much fluffier than the "normal" cloudstuff that made up the majority of the island, to include the walls and floor of this "cloud-cave," and surmised that it served as a bed - and a very comfortable one at that. Rale insisted on giving it a try (his offers for Delphyne to join him being firmly rebuffed), and, scrounging around, discovered a gem buried at the bottom of this extra-fluffy bed. "Let's hold up here awhile," he said to the others. "I want to see if there's any more treasure in here."
Sure enough, there was. A mad scramble for the giant-sized cloud bed ensued, with everyone digging around into the semisolid mist to feel for a hidden coin or gem along the floor. Akari glanced nervously down the unexplored corridor, but decided if he stood guard the others could do their scrounging safely enough. While waiting for them to finish up, he noticed that there were several weapons embedded into the opposite wall of this area. They looked as if they had been simply pushed into the cloudstuff of the wall until they "stuck," and were on semi-display there - possibly until needed by whoever lived here? The fact that somebody apparently lived here - or at least did, at some point in the past - got his conscience nagging him; maybe they'd best not be rooting around for buried treasure if it turned out they were raiding somebody's bedroom in doing so?
With the proper persuasion - and after Rale promised to keep all of the amassed coins and gems they had found buried in the "fluffy bed" in the same sack so they could turn it all over to any rightful owner who might eventually be found - Akari led the group deeper into the cave. Neither of them noticed a small scale on the floor at their feet. It was easy to miss, being a silvery white that blended in almost seamlessly with the ambient cloudstuff of the island. But the group pressed on, following the winding passageway as it delved deeper into the cloud.
The next area of note was well-lit, owing to a hole in the "roof" above that allowed sunlight to stream in. It illuminated a homemade desk of sorts, being composed of a wooden door (minus the doorknob) straddling a pair of empty crates tipped on their sides. A short barrel apparently served as a chair; testing it out showed that whoever used this area was about human sized. The desk held three items of interest: a stoppered jar of black ink, a feather quill, and a closed book. The book had no writing on its cover or any indication of its contents. Delphyne, hoping it might be a spellbook, volunteered to open it.
The first page was simply labeled: "Cannibal's Journal."
"Not good," commented Delphyne.
"Evil guy lives here," pointed out Rale, ever the pragmatist. "That means we're keeping the loot we found."
Delphyne flipped through the journal, noting that it was written in a shaky hand in the Common language of the region. She read the last page aloud.
most about her are her eyes – a deep, emerald green that seemed to pierce into my very soul, as if they could actually see the stain spreading there. I kept her for all of three days before I couldn’t take the cries and the pleading any more.
The next was a youth of some 15 or 16 summers. I took him from a shepherd’s field, where he had been tending a flock. I suppose I could just as easily have taken one or more of his sheep, but by then the compulsion was strong within me. Once I had tasted human flesh, the lesser meats had lost their flavor.
At times, between the cravings, I burn with shame at my actions. But when the hunger is upon me, there’s little I can do to resist it. Fasting doesn’t help. Praying doesn’t help, either – I fear I’ve fallen too far for the gods to ever want to redeem me. The good gods, at least – no doubt the gods of evil look upon my actions with much mirth and glee.
I often wonder what will become of me when I die. Is it truly a sin to eat human flesh, not being human myself? Some claim that the eating of any intelligent creature is sinful, that a dwarf eating the flesh of an elf is no better than that same dwarf dining upon dwarven flesh. But I wonder. Many believe that cannibalism is a sure way to rise as a ghoul upon death – can this be my fate? I have eaten the flesh of sentient beings, to be sure – yes, and reveled in its taste – but never have I dined upon the meat of my own species. Surely that must be taken into account. It’s my only hope.
Sometimes, in the black of the night when I am at my lowest, I shudder to think what I have become, and wish only for death, that I may put an end to this horrid business. But I fear rising as a ghoul. As an undead monstrosity, I would be little more than a mindless eating machine, reveling in the consumption of any creature I encountered. But would that be much different than what I’ve become? At least now, while I live, I can hold out for a short time between cravings. Perhaps that will be worth some small consideration when I am judged in the afterlife? I can only hope so.
* * *
I caught another human again today, and spirited him away to the cave of chains. I kid myself by thinking that maybe I’ll let him go, that I’ll change my mind, but I know that eventually, the hunger will win out, as it always does. This one has darker skin than the others I’ve taken. I can’t help wondering if his flesh will taste any different.
* * *
I am a loathsome abomination. This time, I started devouring the man before he was even fully dead.
I cannot say for sure whether the taste was actually enhanced by his pitiful screams, or if it just seemed so due to my depravity. I truly deserve no less than ghouldom.
It may even be worth it, too. I’ll get to feast on all the human flesh I want, without the crushing depression and self-loathing between my abhorrent meals.
In the meantime, I’ll seek out another victim soon. I hate what I’ve become, but I cannot stop myself.
"Let's get out of here before this guy returns," suggested Rale.
"We need to check out the rest of the area," pointed out Akari. "There might be a victim trapped here, ready to become the cannibal's next meal." There was no arguing against that; the team moved deeper down the tunnel. After another twist to the right, the passageway dead-ended into a small room. There, hanging from the ceiling, were numerous barbed chains, and an elderly man lay unmoving and unconscious about a foot above the floor, his flesh impaled upon several savage hooks. The floor and walls, made of the same cloud-stuff as the rest of the cave, showed red and brown bloodstains indicating past and more recent use.
"The cave of chains," whispered Delphyne, eyes grown wide with horror.
"Help me get him down," commanded Akari, passing his sunrod to Rale as he and Slayer sheathed their swords.
"Wait a minute," argued Rale. "How do we know we can trust him?" This brought a lot of astonished gasps and an "Are you kidding?" look from Delphyne. Akari and Slayer grabbed the man by the legs and lifted him, pulling him off of the wicked barbs of the chains, which jingled and clattered at their ministrations. The man groaned, his eyes flickered, and he blinked into staggered semiconsciousness. Slayer lowered him slowly to the floor and Akari laid hands on the old man, healing the worst of his wounds.
"Who are you?" demanded Rale, eager to start the interrogations.
"...water," whispered the old man through parched lips. Akari fumbled at his belt and pulled out a healing potion, propping the man up and helping him to drink it down. He coughed, and closed his eyes as if to sleep.
"We need to get you out of here," suggested Akari. "Can you tell me how you were taken here? And who took you? What are we dealing with?" The victim just looked confused and mumbled incoherently. Akari and Slayer lifted him up and each took one of his arms, determined to drag him out of there if necessary. "Rale, take the lead. We're leaving," he said.
They made it as far as the writing desk before the old man raised his head and struggled to stand on his own two feet. "I think I can make it," he said weakly. "Thank you. Ay. I'm Ayyy...?" He seemed surprised at his inability to recall his own name. As they passed the makeshift table, he stared at the Cannibal's Journal as if it meant something, but to the others it looked as if the memories would not come. They prompted him to keep moving, and headed back the way they had come.
They were almost to the "fluffy cloud" bed when the old man stopped in his tracks and stared straight at the floor, transfixed by something the others didn't see. Finally, Slayer bent over and picked up a small, silvery-white scale, no longer than his little finger and about half that in width. The old man continued to stare at it, mesmerized, then started giggling. He took the scale from Slayer's hand and held it, turning it back and forth between his fingers. “I don’t need to fear the cannibal...and neither do any of you!” he laughed. “I can protect us all!” With that, his features began shifting. He dropped to all fours and began expanding in size, eventually taking the shape of a silver-scaled dragon some 12 feet from nose to tail. Still laughing, he continued, “My memories are returning! My name is
Aelon, and I... I...."
His laughter abruptly ceased, and a look of horror appeared on his reptilian face. “Run,” he whispered. “I’m the cannibal! Run for your lives!”
That's the sort of command you generally don't need to hear twice. Rale turned and sped down the passageway, throwing an "I told you so!" over his shoulder as he ran. Slayer and Akari gripped their swords, ready for combat; they were closer to the exit than Aelon, but Delphyne was trapped behind him. It looked like there would be no running from this threat, but rather that combat would ensue. Personally, both warriors were pleased - better to face the threat and overcome it here in tight quarters than to give it the freedom of the open skies.
Half-orc and elf thrust at the dragon with their swords; Delphyne fired off a cluster of
magic missiles. The dragon wasn't particularly large - at least, not compared to how big these things could get - but it was big enough to do some heavy damage with its claws, teeth, and even by swatting with its wings. It spewed forth a cloud of billowing gas not much different in color than the cloudstuff all around them, and Delphyne felt her muscles locking up. As she plummeted face-first into the ground, she had a moment to think, quite coherently given the circumstances, that given a choice of materials to fall face-first into, cloudstuff was certain to be near the very top of her list.
Akari realized that they needed some protection, especially with their only full-time spellcaster down. "I'm sorry," he apologized in advance, and summoned his war horse,
Tenuma, from the celestial realms where he lived when not summoned by his master. The three adventurers (for Rale eventually returned to do what he could once he saw that Plan A: Run for the Exit had been suddenly converted to Plan B: Fight the Guy Who I Said All Along Shouldn't Be Trusted, Only Now in his Hungry Dragon Form) dodged and weaved around the war horse, using him as a shield from the dragon's vicious bites and ducking beneath him to stab at Aelon with their weapons. Tenuma kicked at the draconic monster as well as he could, and eventually, the three adventurers and a war horse were triumphant, and the silver dragon fell dead into a puff of displaced cloudstuff, which settled down over it again like a shroud.
Akari thanked his trusted steed and used up the rest of his healing touch to soothe the worst of its wounds before releasing it back to its celestial realms. About that time, Delphyne was regaining her mobility, and the four staggered from the cave and back into the sunlight.
But not before Rale retrieved the sack of loot they had gathered from Aelon's cloud-bed.
- - -
I find it kind of ironic that the shortest adventure we had ever had up to this point has taken me the longest to document. While this was a quick little encounter, it did absolutely nothing to sway Dan from the opinion that all NPCs were to be distrusted as a matter of course.