Shilsen's Eberron SH (Wherein is the feel of Purple : 11/12/09)

[shilsen]

Originally Posted by ajanders

I can't help but be jealous your plans work out so much better than mine...

So jealous that you're repeating yourself, I see

Admittedly it's a lot easier to have one's plans work out as a DM than a player, but here's a not-so-well-kept secret about my game - I really don't have much in the way of plans.

I don't plan things more than a session or two ahead, and even when it comes to things that might turn into a plot arc, I generally just have certain NPCs in place doing certain things, and what happens with them (or if they even become relevant or feature in the campaign) effectively depends on what the PCs/players do. I've had NPCs I thought were making a single appearance (Bodo & Killian being two examples) become longer-term presences due to PC choice, and I've had others who might have been more serious long-term NPCs just show up once and disappear (though some remain important through actions off-camera).

So the PCs/players can't really screw up my plans, especially where it comes to directions they want to take the campaign, since I don't really have any. Saves me a lot of work and aggravation as a DM, and also keeps things interesting for me, since I often find out the next move in the campaign only a step or two before the players do.

[Solarious]

Originally Posted by shilsen

Apparently you're more appreciative of suspense than Luna's player is. I just got an email from her saying that she'd never be able to survive till the 16th (the likely date of our next session) without knowing, and saying that I couldn't be mean enough to make her wait. Being the kind, gentle soul that I am, I said I'd tell her tomorrow, since I have to make her suffer for at least a day.

Ooh! The 16th is my birthday. Will there be anything special waiting for me that evening?

Originally Posted by shilsen

Of course, it goes without saying that all I'll be telling her is what Luna is aware of, as opposed to anything else that might be occuring. I wouldn't want to burden her with any metagame knowledge, after all

I imagine she is less than appreciative of the mystery, considering that her character is the one about to undergo a padagrim shift. But hey, one of the joys of being a RBDM is watching your players writhe in agony while not really (in technical terms) doing anything to them. And being generous by insisting you could do worse with less, but out of your kind heart you go easy on them! Give with one hand, take with the other. The bait and switch never fails to work.

You can tell her that this particular plot twist is a gift from me. Consider it my contribution to the RBDM's club of scheming evil laughs (not to be confused with triumphant evil laughs, or hurbis-induced triumphant seeming evil laughs). Every little bit matters when you want to petition for admission into it's hallowed halls.

[shilsen]

Originally Posted by Solarious

Ooh! The 16th is my birthday. Will there be anything special waiting for me that evening?

The assurance that while your enjoyment of the day will be offset by the suffering the Angels go through, so as to balance the happiness-sadness ratio in the world?

Actually, the Eberron game got pushed back to the 23rd, since the one-off game wasn't quite wrapped up last Saturday. But we're actually going to do some IC roleplaying over email/online in between, so I'll try to remember to post that in between. I'm also considering putting up the characters in the Rogues Gallery here on ENWorld.

I imagine she is less than appreciative of the mystery, considering that her character is the one about to undergo a padagrim shift.

True, especially since the player has significant similarities to Luna when it comes to the subject of patience. Since I told her something of what's happening on Saturday (and it was a positive thing), she's happier now, though she's also been warned that I'm just letting her know what Luna's aware of, and will only discover all the other stuff going on when her character does.

But hey, one of the joys of being a RBDM is watching your players writhe in agony while not really (in technical terms) doing anything to them. And being generous by insisting you could do worse with less, but out of your kind heart you go easy on them! Give with one hand, take with the other. The bait and switch never fails to work.

You can tell her that this particular plot twist is a gift from me. Consider it my contribution to the RBDM's club of scheming evil laughs (not to be confused with triumphant evil laughs, or hurbis-induced triumphant seeming evil laughs). Every little bit matters when you want to petition for admission into it's hallowed halls.

Certainly. One of the minor rules of RBDMing is to always give credit where due. It sets one up for the moments when one gets to reveal to the PCs/players all the various ways that they screwed themselves

[shilsen]

Originally Posted by Solarious

Ooh! The 16th is my birthday. Will there be anything special waiting for me that evening?

As promised, here is what we've handled so far between sessions:

************************************************** *******************
Six emerges from the water, carrying the very unconscious and barely alive bard who was leading the enemy.

Luna, meanwhile, is still staring at her arm. She, and anybody else who cares to look, can see her wounds gradually healing, at approximately the same rate as it does when she uses a lesser vigor spell. What the others can’t see, however, is the gentle warmth Luna feels emanating from the snakelike band around her forearm.

The healing begins at the arm, the nearest wound (a deep cut on the shoulder) closing gradually, and then the next wound beginning to seal itself, and so on. At the current speed and with the extent of her injuries, it will take over ten minutes for them to close, but the healing shows no signs of abating.

Gurr’khan looks at the healing wounds, with eyebrows raised, and then grunts, “Nice work. Did you just use some magic I didn’t notice, or is this something else I should be concerned about?”

Then he turns to look at Six and the bard, and heads over. “Good work. I should make sure he doesn’t die. I have a few questions for the fool.”

"Well, Gurr’khan,” says Nameless, walking beside him, “I am getting mighty tired of people taking whacks at us. Do you have any problems with us smashing this tribe? I want to impress upon these tribes that we are trifled with at their peril.”

Nameless goes on to suggest that Six have his ears blocked and have his chain wrapped around the bard’s neck while they interrogate the bard to find out what was behind the attack.

Gurr’khan grins, but there’s little mirth in it. “From what Surr’kal told me, you folks have been having that happen a lot.” He throws the unconscious bard a look and says, “But I’d rather we not go off and start dropping fireballs and flame strikes on a village full of women and children. It’s not like the River Snakes, or most of the clans or tribes, whatever their beliefs, to just attack travelers. Let’s talk to this one first.”

Gareth nods. “While some in this village may be violent, to destroy the entire village would be evil. To destroy the warriors of this village, which are also the hunters, would also be evil.” [i]We either find a way to speak with them, or we find another way.

Nameless grins. “Who are you and what have you done with Gareth?” The paladin just stares at him unamusedly.

Luna uses a charge of lesser vigor to revive the bard. He opens his eyes with a pained groan and tries to sit up, before hitting the limits of the chain. His eyes flicker back and forth, panic evident in them for a moment, as well as more than a little surprise as he sees Korm, Luna and Nameless all still alive. Then he quickly seems to grow calmer.

”What do you fools want?” he asks, his voice containing a trace of the melody it’s capable of, but drowned out by the pain of his wounds.

“Well,” says Nameless, “I was just going to wipe out your village and tribe, but he (pointing at Gurr’khan) wanted to find out if there was some reason for your attacking us first. Considering that we took a risk to find out what happened to some of your missing hunters, I’m happy to oblige you if you’d rather just die.”

An expression of surprise flits across the captive’s face and he begins, “Find out what happened to our hunters ...?” Then he stops, and the expression quickly changes to a scowl.

“You lie. The Khyber Serpent spoke to my people last night, warning that you had come to defile our sacred sites. I saw and heard it myself. Some of the fools were not sure, since it was not the shamans who saw it, but my people and I knew that the Serpent speaking to us was a sign of the importance of the situation. So we came, and here you are. We would have returned in triumph with your heads, if not for your damned luck.” By the time he’s done, he’s almost shouting, though evidently possessing enough of a sense of self-preservation not to try an escape.

Gurr’khan, listening intently, says, “He’s an idiot. The Khyber Serpent, I believe, is their clan totem. The totems only speak through the tribe’s shamans.” He grunts and adds, “Mainly because that’s a bloody good way for the shamans to retain significant power in the tribes. Which is easier with idiots like this one.”

The captive just glares at Gurr’khan, but doesn’t add anything.

Korm, with his knowledge of the Marches, corroborates what Gurr’khan says, and adds that there are some daelkyr ruins within the swamp. While the Gatekeepers, and the clans/tribes that lean towards them, try to keep people away from such sites, the Cults of the Dragon Below venerate these locations.

Nameless walks over and pulls out the blade that they found. He shows it to the bard, telling him how they recovered them from the lair of the chuul that attacked them, and where it was.

“Unfortunately, we killed all the chuul, but I’m sure we can find something unpleasant enough to feed you to. Defiling holy sites wasn’t originally on our itinerary for this trip, but I’m sure we can spare enough time to oblige you. I’d hate for you to have gone through all this trouble to attack us and then not defile them like you were expecting us to. That would be rude.”

The bard looks at the blade and then back up at Nameless. “Why should I believe you?” His brow furrows slightly, and then he continues, “You are a very fine liar, but the Serpent has told me of you and your people, and that is all I need to know.”

With more vehemence, he adds, “And your threats mean nothing. My people will come searching for me, and if they find you here they will kill you. And if you visit the sacred sites, then they will certainly follow and kill you. There were only ten of us here and we almost bested you.” He pauses to glare at Luna, Korm and Gurr’khan. “Even the aid of the Gatekeepers will not save you from the hundreds of my clan. You can kill me now, but your deaths will follow. Swiftly.”

Once he’s done, Gurr’khan grunts, “Like I said, he’s an idiot. Fanatical one, which is always an entertaining sort. The one thing he’s right about is the clan thing. They take it very seriously here, as Korm’akhan can tell you, and they’re sure to have more looking for this bunch, though how soon, is the question.”

”Actually, another question is this whole snake totem thing.” Gurr’khan walks over to the captive and says, “Whether you believe it or not, we had no intention of violating any of your sites. Your totem, or whatever it was, lied to you. How’d you know it was your totem, anyway? Maybe you just had too much to drink.”

The bard glares up at him and snarls, “You blaspheme what you do not know. I saw it with my own eyes, and others did too. It appeared an hour before dawn, near the edge of the village, a giant green serpent wreathed in flame, floating in mid-air. It was the Khyber Serpent, exactly as the shamans describe it. It said that intruders had come to violate its sacred site, and that the clan should rise to crush them.

There were six of us there, and four ran to call one of the shamans, but we,” he pauses to glance at his dead compatriot in the heavy armor, “Waited and listened. The serpent told us exactly where you would be and that there were six of you. It described you perfectly. It said to slay you all and to take your possessions to the sacred site, and then it disappeared, right before the others returned with two of our shamans.”

”The shamans questioned us and did not believe, saying that the Khyber Serpent speaks only to them, but I know that the appearance was a sign of its favor. And so we came here with our warriors. If the others had listened, you would be dead by now.”

Nameless favors the bard with a contemptuous sneer. “Obviously he’s a dupe for whoever was poking around here last night. I doubt his Flaming Serpents are hairy, wet and leave bootmarks. Offhand I’d guess that it was Desro’s acquaintances. They’re easily good enough with disguises and illusions to fool a sucker like this joker. Plus they’d likely know about the dragonshard we got off Desro and how to use it to track us. Finally, the ‘claws on the stone’ fit in too well with the wet hair for it to be a coincidence.

Let’s get going. I’ve no desire to waste my time fighting with a bunch of duped proxies. We can always come back and wipe them out later if they keep bothering us.”

Gurr’khan chuckles a little grimly. “I’d bet a fair amount that you’re right on most, if not all, of those counts. And moving on is a good idea. Saala will be expecting us.”

He jerks a thumb at the bard, who’s listening with a slightly confused expression. “What do you want to do with this? Could send him back with a warning not to bother us again, but I don’t know how well that would work. Anyway, he attacked your group and almost killed some of you, so it’s up to you to decide what to do. I really don’t care.”

Nameless says, “We’ll leave him here tied up with a note, nailed to his forehead, explaining how he got used, by whom, and how his stupidity got his comrades killed for their foolishness in believing him. If you can send a copy via an animal to his village as well, that would be good. I want them to know where to find this idiot so they can mock and humiliate him as he deserves. Death is too easy for someone like him. Make sure they listen to their shamans next time.

We’ll leave the hunter’s blade and include the location of the hunters’ bodies in the note as well. The rest of the stuff we’ll take; they forfeited them when they attacked us. Now how to get him to wait here peacefully? Gurr’khan, could you persuade an animal to sit here and eat his face if he tried to get out of the ropes?”

Gurr’khan is grinning so widely by the end of Nameless’s speech that his head threatens to come off. “You’re a strange man, Nameless, but I like the way you deal with problems.”

He looks around the area. “I can find an animal to keep an eye on him. Sending a message will be more complicated, and I don’t think we need to bother. Somebody or other will come looking for this bunch.”

Gurr’khan points at a couple of low, but sturdy trees. “How about tying the idiot to one of those, but put him a little off the ground? I want to make sure he’s alive when found, and however friendly I make an animal, it might get peckish. Stick the corpses under the trees and stake them to the ground. And back up a little distance when I get back with an animal.”

With that, he walks down to a more watery, swampy area, casts a couple of spells, turns into a crocodile and slithers into the water. About half an hour later, he returns, accompanied by two more crocodiles. Gurr’khan leads them out of the water and to the corpses. The two crocodiles promptly grab a corpse and try to drag it away, but the stakes hold it in place. Gurr’khan growls something at them and they stop trying to pull away the corpse. They rip off some pieces instead, evidently having trouble because it’s still fresh meat.

Gurr’khan walks over to join the rest of the Angels and changes back into his normal form. “Those two will stay around for a while. Now let’s move before anyone gets here.”

The bard is left trussed up tightly to the tree, out of reach of the crocodiles. He persists in making dire (and fairly amusing) threats about the vengeance that his clan, the Khyber Serpent, the denizens of the swamp, etc. will extract from them. Finally, exasperated, Gurr’khan sticks a temporary gag in his mouth. “He’ll be able to work it loose soon enough,” he grunts, “But at least we don’t have to listen to his blithering.”

His judgement is correct, since by the time the bard manages to get rid of the gag, the Angels have wrapped up their camp and are preparing to leave, this time on one phantom steed and three phantom stags. The mounts canter down the hill and into the swamp, the angry shouts of the bard fading quickly behind them.

The area they are heading into seems to have slightly more large vegetation than the previous sections of the swamp that they have seen, but it is not enough to really slow down the magical mounts. One of the reasons for the increase in vegetation is that there is relatively more solid ground (or rather, more mud than water) to travel across or through, and since the mounts treat it like a paved highway, they set a very good pace.

Gurr’khan estimates they are about an hour’s travel from Saala, and his judgement is accurate. Just over an hour later, they ride into the largest collection of trees they have seen in these parts, forming a large wood. As they enter and move through the trees, they note that it seems darker in there than it should be, the sunlight not penetrating between the trees as would be expected. Small wisps of smoke or mist drift through the air. It also seems quieter somehow, sound not traveling as well as it should.

A few minutes later, the group emerges suddenly onto the bank of a large, still pool, stretching over a thousand feet in length and perhaps half that in width. The waters are an inky black and mist-shrouded, making the opposite shore difficult to see. The sky seems very cloudy and much darker than it was when they rode into the trees only minutes ago. The trees come right down to the edge of the water, except for the long shallow bank the mounts emerged onto and a large low hill, bare of trees, which can be seen through the mist, looming over the water on the far shore.

About a hundred feet away is a small tent pitched near the water. Sitting outside the tent, facing each other, are two women. One is an old half-orc, short and stout, her long white hair tied in a braid. The other is an even older human, much thinner, with a surprisingly skeletal face, the skin pulled tight across her skull, which is covered with thinning hair. She has a ragged cloak wrapped around her, and the Angels feel there is something unusual about her posture, though they can’t say yet what it is. Both turn to look as the riders emerge from the forest, and then the half-orc rises to her feet.

She walks towards them, and Gurr’khan rides forward. “Saala,” he says, with a nod, and then dismounts.

She nods back and then looks up at the rest. “I am Saala Torrn. You are welcome.”

[Solarious]

So... you taunted her with the realization that her symbiont works? Genius!

I'm still waiting for Luna to royally screw with the Gatekeepers before she turns into a giant, morbidly obese, masochistic shifter though.

[shilsen]

Originally Posted by Solarious

So... you taunted her with the realization that her symbiont works? Genius!

Pretty much

All I said at the end of the session was that she felt something strange and then realized what it was. Never said it was anything bad. She (and everyone else) just assumed it was.

Mechanically, she has Fast Healing 1 from it under certain circumstances, primarily having the crap beat out of her. Of course, there might be some teensy-weensy other things going on in there, at least one of which should be noticed over the course of the next session.

I'm still waiting for Luna to royally screw with the Gatekeepers before she turns into a giant, morbidly obese, masochistic shifter though.

We'll see what happens. I took a look at the Impure Prince PrC and she definitely does not want to actually take the PrC due to the wildshape loss and the slowed spellcasting. So I'm just going to add in some elements (mechaincal and/or flavor) from there and other places, and mostly just make up stuff as needed.

The meeting with Saala can potentially take the situation with the Shard in a lot of different, and very divergent, directions. I'm looking forward to next session, since until it happens I really have no clue where the campaign is going next.

[Sidekick]

Feed my hunger for more Shil!!!

What do we want MORE when do we want it?

MORE!!!!

again bumping for Justice (and furry shifter chicks)

[shilsen]

Ask and ye shall receive.

Here's the next bit that we've handled between sessions. Which, sadly, will continue for a bit, since we're not playing this weekend due to scheduling issues. So chances are that I'll have another update or two before the next actual game session to tide you over. Until then...

************************************************** **************

Six dismounts and says quickly, “Hello, Saala, and your friend. I will be abrupt, as we have an active stalker following us using means we can’t identify. And we have dragonshard problems. The ones we have may have abilities we don’t know of and abilities we don’t want. Information about the key is why we were originally coming here, but other problems seem to be following us. Time is urgent, as our stalker is still about.”

Saala looks a little startled at the hurried speech from Six. Before she can respond, Nameless adds, “We should hold off discussing anything potentially ‘interesting’ until tomorrow morning. I have spells that can secure the area from scrying and other such spells, but I do not have them prepared now.”

Saala looks up at the cloudy sky and says, “It’s not even noon. I’d rather not waste time sitting around and waiting till tomorrow, especially in view of what you,” she nods at Six, “Just said. Considering how many of us there are here, hopefully we’d detect it if we were being spied on. Follow me.”

She leads the group to the tent, where the other woman looks up at you, though she continues to sit where she is. Saala says to you, “This is Thlie. Thlie, these are the people I told you about.” Now that you are closer, you can see that one side of Thlie’s face is permanently twisted downwards, and a thin line of spittle leaks out as she nods in your direction. The hands that hold the blanket wrapped around her seem gnarled and twisted. And there’s definitely something very strange about her eyes. Though she looks at you, they seem unfocused somehow.

Saala enters the tent and returns with a couple more mats, which she unrolls and says, “Sit.” She does so too, and says, “Tell me about this stalker.”

Gurr’khan explains what has transpired, including the details of the River Snake attack. Saala listens intently. Thlie does so at times, at others staring off into the distance or muttering under her breath to herself. More drool drips onto her legs, but she doesn’t seem to notice or care, though Saala stops once to wipe it away with a cloth.

After Gurr’khan covers the subject of the stalker(s), Saala says, “And now, what of this Key that I have heard so much of? More precisely, how can I help you with it? Do you come purely for knowledge, or do you wish me to try and rid you of it? I believe it has been somewhat of a burden to you.”

Nameless nods. “I wish to keep it safe. Unfortunately, it is not safe with us, since we seem to attract trouble, like a corpse attracts maggots. Since we are tied to it, we also can not simply leave it somewhere it would be safe either. Given the feelings of some of my companions, retaining that attachment is not a long term option either. So, yes – we would be rid of it and the Gatekeepers are the only ones we can all agree to trust with it.”

Saala says, “As you can guess, I appreciate your choice. From what I have heard of the Key, it is far too dangerous to risk. Gurr’khan has related to me all that you have told him, but I will have more questions about it for you. Before that, however, may I see this Key?”

When Nameless hands Saala the Key, she takes it silently, and a trifle reverently. She looks at it for a long time, turning it back and forth in her hands, and then finally turns to Thlie. The older woman has been staring off across the pool, and it takes a little prodding to gain her attention. Once Saala has it, she hands Thlie the Key, and asks, “Is this one of them?”

Thlie’s somewhat vacant eyes focus on the item, and she strokes it softly. Then she lifts it to her face and closes her eyes, before sniffing it from end to end. The impression the watchers get is of a cat trying to recognize a long unfamiliar scent. Then she opens her eyes and speaks.

“Yes. It is one of them. To open the gate that cannot be opened. To seal the portal that cannot be sealed.” Thlie seems about to say something else, but then breaks off into inaudible mumbles.

Saala carefully takes back the Key from her, places it on her own lap, and covers it with a fold of her blanket. Looking at the quizzical expressions on the Angels’s faces as well as Gurr’khan’s, she says, “Thlie knows about certain things that many don’t. I will tell you more about that – and her – later. But before that, I would like to hear everything that you can tell me about this.”

While Saala is speaking, Gareth sits silently, watching and listening. Then he focuses on his Flame-granted abilities and attempts to detect thoughts.

As Gareth concentrates, though there is no external manifestation, he first senses the stream of Saala’s and Thlie’s thoughts, and then the strength of their flow. He quickly realizes that both of them are very intelligent, more so than any of the people in his group except, of course, for Nameless.

Gareth focuses further, concentrating on Saala. He senses the surface of her thoughts, but as his consciousness attempts to enter into them, he finds himself blocked by the barrier of her will. Realizing that Saala will feel the attempt as soon as she successfully resists it, he instantly drops his focus.

Sure enough, Saala sits up a little straighter and looks around the area. Then she says, “One moment,” and closes her eyes. After a few seconds, she opens them and looks keenly around the group. “Somebody just attempted to use a spell or magical effect on me.”

Saala has to stop and gesture for Gurr’khan, who grunts and begins to rise, to keep his seat, and then she continues. “It was one not used by druids, called detect thoughts. There is nobody else within range of us. Hence, I am presuming it was one of you. I would appreciate it if whoever used it admitted to doing so and explained why he did so.” Her tone remains as calm as it has been ever since she began speaking to the group, but there’s the lightest sense of steel in it.

Speaking up for the first time since they have met, Gareth says, “I was the one who performed it. I am wary about new people, and I am especially wary about new people when concerning myself with powerful magic. If you are offended, then please realize none was meant, and I do this for the safety of the group as well as the world.”

Nameless says dryly, “Well, at least we can be sure we have the real Gareth now.”

Then he addresses Saala and Thlie. “Please forgive him. For some reason he thinks nobody will notice when he’s doing that sort of thing. Or that it will give him some sort of useful information, despite his experiences to the contrary.”

He then launches into a ribald version of the time Gareth was using detect evil in the Daask bar, tossing out a couple of innuendoes about Gareth scoping out the barmaids.

Gareth looks at Nameless calmly. “I do not need your excuses, or apologies for my actions. I stand by them, and would do them again. And I would expect more from a wizard who is attempting to make a valid comparison of detect evil and detect thoughts. Not to forget, a lot of people don't notice when I am doing that sort of thing.”

Six says, “Well, the ones that don’t notice tend to be harmless. The ones that do generally can cause you a world of hurt.”

Saala watches the exchange between the Angels and then looks at Gurr’khan with an eloquently raised eyebrow. Gurr’khan just grunts and says succinctly, “Adventurers!”

Saala grins widely at the comment and then turns back to Gareth. “I understand your caution, though it seems a little late, considering you’ve traveled all this way to speak to me about this,” she taps the shard in her lap. “But I’m not offended – for now. Don’t do it again.”

“That, however,” she continues, “Gives me a little excuse for some rudeness of my own. If you will bear with me…”

She turns back to Gurr’khan and says, “You have had some time with my guests. What do you think of them?”

Gurr’khan grunts again, as seems to be his custom when about to speak, and says, “First, the good stuff. Surr’kal, whom I trust, says they’re quite reliable. I’ve been in two fights with them so far, and they’re very effective. Perhaps the most powerful group of their size I’ve fought beside, and I’ve seen some fairly strong druids in their element, as you know. Apparently, though this is mostly hearsay, they’ve taken some serious risks to protect the Key. In the time I’ve been with them, unless everyone here is faking really well, and I don’t think some of them could act worth a damn,” (his eyes flicker to Korm and Luna as he says this, and then back to Saala) “They did seem quite genuinely concerned about keeping it safe.”

Gurr’khan takes a deep breath and continues. “Now the bad. They’re kinda mental. They fight with each other all the time, and again, hearsay tells me they get into fights all the time. From some things I’ve heard and a little I saw with the River Snakes, they should be dead by rights, but somehow manage to survive.” He grunts again. “Which, I guess is a good thing. Surr’kal, in fact, said that they got some stupid prophecy telling them they’re special and that they’re meant to do great things and that they were meant to find the Key. You know I don’t give a damn about prophecies, but even if it’s right, I’m not sure a group fated for great things should be guarding that.”

He indicates the Key and then pauses, as if thinking of something, and then says quickly, “Also, Luna here’s the most mental. She’s got a symbiont attached to her arm and her tongue, if you didn’t notice. That guy,” (he indicates Six) “Is carrying a bloody floating eye in his bag too, but Luna apparently thinks daelkyr creations are fashion accessories. Just that’s a good enough reason to make sure the Key is some distance from them.”

Gurr’khan ends and gazes around the group with no trace of embarrassment. “She asked what I thought.”

The Angels notice that Saala’s lips twitch with apparent amusement, but she hides it masterfully when Gurr’khan looks back at her. She looks at Luna and asks, “Symbionts? That is a little unusual for a druid.” Her eyes roam over the group. “What do you think of her choice?”

Luna breaks in before any of the others can reply, wearing what some of the Angels now call the ‘flame strike expression.’ “You might not have to worry about me wearing symbionts. I had no idea that they could make me fat! Now, frankly, I have to rethink the whole thing!
I was just trying to fight fire with fire!”

“And anyone who has been fighting these disgusting mutant creatures for as long as Gurr’khan should know that sometimes one must sometimes attempt more creative means to fight them and emerge victorious! And defeating them is... well ... actually rather important! So whatever modes you employ to do so must in the end be more than justified!”

So far, she has been ostensibly addressing Saala, but now she turns to face Gurr’khan. “And frankly, I am not mental in the least! I am a very keen and observant strategist! And at some point, it must be plain to any thinking person that there is no point chatting up the enemy any more, and you just need to do what you came to do! And while I am not chatty, I am focused and results oriented. And while we may not always enjoy working as a team ... we never leave anyone behind! Even the two most antagonistic of our group have gone to hell and back to pull the other out of the fire. I don’t know many others who can actually say that and mean it.”

“As for the shard ... by all means take the bloody thing! I can’t be tied to some stupid hunk of rock that gives me a headache if I leave it alone for 20 minutes, for goodness sake! I’d rather destroy it than live like this for another minute!!”

“So ... there! Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Gurr’khan.” Luna points at Gurr’khan’s abdomen, where she knows the strange tentacular growths are. “And you would be a much happier fellow if you made your tragedy a weapon against those who inflicted it! Just a thought!”

With that, Luna winds down abruptly. There’s complete silence, for a moment. Even Thlie, who had been murmuring to herself when Luna started, is looking at her intently now.

Gurr’khan, whose mouth is sagging slightly open, shuts it with a snap and glares at Luna for a moment. He grunts loudly in preparation for an angry response, but is cut off by a loud peal of laughter. Thlie rocks back and forth, giggling with amusement. She points at Luna and chortles, “She’s funny! I like her!” before breaking into another fit of giggles.

Gurr’khan now turns to glare at her, and his mood evidently isn’t helped when Saala too adds a loud chuckle, accompanied by a broad grin. “A woman of strong opinions, I see. I like that. I’d warn you about your choices, but you know what you are getting into, and each of us must choose our own path. Even if,” she adds with another chuckle, “It apparently leads to weight issues. That is not a risk I normally think of when I think of dangers associated with symbionts.”

She turns to address the entire group and then pauses, as if she just thought of something. Turning back to Luna, Saala says, “In the interests of honesty, I should tell you that you are not the first to take that road. Over the centuries, some of those who study and battle the daelkyr and their minions have attempted to use their tools, such as symbionts, against them. That, of course, is a risky road, and it takes people of strong will and constitution to do it.” Saala’s eyes flicker sideways at Gurr’khan for a split second, and she adds, “There have even been a very few Gatekeepers who have walked that path.”

“By the moons!” breaks in Gurr’khan, with an irritated growl, “Do you have to encourage her, Saala? Why not just slap a stormstalk on her head and be done with it?”

Another chortle from Thlie interrupts. “He’s funny too!”

Korm interjects with a laugh, “Luna's definitely mental. I warned her about the symbionts’ dangers and tried to talk her out of it, but it was like trying to wrestle a mountain. Or debate philosophy with a bear. An impatient, hungry bear. An impatient, hungry bear with the ability to call fire from the sky and shoot angry bees from its mouth.”

“But Luna is a strong warrior and a druid of good character. I don't fault her motivations.” Korm motions with his head to the rest of the Angels. “Besides, they're all barmy too. We work well together.”

Saala chuckles and says, “Thank you, Korm’akhan. I respect your opinions, not just as a Gatekeeper, but because I know something of your reputation.”

She waves a hand dismissively at a still irritated Gurr’khan. “If needed, Luna and I can discuss the subject further later. But back to the question of the Key. Despite Gurr’khan’s reservations, at least he vouches for the efforts you have made to keep it safe, which I appreciate.” She pauses and then turns to Nameless.

“I do have a question for you. I believe you were the one person able to use the Key at various times. Why is that? Please, be honest. I need to know everything that I can about this matter.”

[shilsen]

We played yesterday and a few interesting developments occurred. I'll have an update up in a day or two.

And Luna, by the way, is now shedding. Life's tough when you're messing with symbionts

[Solarious]

.....

HAVE MY BABIES!!!

.....

I'm sorry, did I say something? Why are you all looking at me like that? Ah! Why is Luna shedding all over me? GET OFF ME WOMAN! *phwaps the blubberbutt with a rolled up Khoranberg Chronicle* YOUR SIDEBURNS ITCH!!!

[shilsen]

Originally Posted by Solarious

HAVE MY BABIES!!!

.....

I'm sorry, did I say something? Why are you all looking at me like that?

As promised...

************************************************** *******************
Nameless replies, “I am not entirely certain why. It could be as simple as I was the first one to touch it.”

“Then again, there are many things I do not fully understand about myself. I am called Nameless, but that is really a description not a name. Whatever it is that names things is absent in me. Most of my past is also veiled from me as well and there is much to indicate that I am not now what I once was or may have been.”

“My mentor in the arcane has a spell that can detect aberrations and for some reason I detect as an aberration to this spell. Several of the creatures in Yarkuun Draal seemed to respond to me as if I were a Daelkyr, and a dream that I had, after we defeated and sealed a Daelkyr using the Key, seemed to indicate that I have in some way been touched by them. Perhaps that has something to do with it as well.”

“Perhaps it is Edgar?” he adds, showing his rock to Saala, “An affinity with one rock could lead to an affinity with others.”

Saala looks a little puzzled. “Edgar?” She begins to turn to Gurr’khan for explanation, when Thlie, who has once again been paying attention, places a twisted hand on her shoulder.

When Saala turns to her, Thlie says nothing. Instead, she slowly levers herself off the ground and hobbles towards Nameless. As she rises and moves, everyone watching can see that both of her legs are twisted and deformed, skin pushed out of place by misshapen bones.

Reaching Nameless, she bends slowly to look into his eyes. Nameless finds himself gazing into two cloudy gray eyes, each of them strangely vacant, with a tiny pinprick of blackness at the center of each. It takes a second or two to realize what else is distinctive about them. As far as Nameless can judge, the eyes are completely and utterly insane.

Her actions, however, are not. Or at least not very much. Thlie leans closer and sniffs at Nameless. Her own breath is somewhat rank and slightly tart. After a series of long sniffs, she straightens up and then hobbles back to her mat, before subsiding onto it. She looks at Saala, who has been waiting silently, and says solemnly, “It doesn’t matter. It’s all in his head. And he cannot use it again. He has too much knowledge now.” She pauses and then adds, “You can trust him. All of them.” There is another pause, and then the demeanor cracks as she giggles loudly. “And they’re all mental. Hee hee!”

Saala looks quizzically at her friend for a few seconds, and then says, “It’s too late for me to stop trusting you, though I’m not going to pretend I know what that means.”

She turns back to Nameless. “You sound honest enough, though I get the feeling you’re not sharing something, but if Thlie says I should trust you, I will. But you still have to answer my original question.” She glances at Gareth, whose attempt to detect thoughts had interrupted the request. “Tell me everything you can about the Key.”

The Angels spend the better part of the next two hours going over every detail they can of their association with the Key and all the events that had the least connection with it. Saala asks questions continuously, revisiting every detail that they bring up. Thlie switches between paying rapt attention to the story and completely ignoring both it and their presence.

When they are finally done, and Saala has asked the last of her questions, she says, “Well, you’ve certainly had an interesting time of things. And for your efforts I thank you.” She falls silent, lowering her head in thought. After a few seconds, she looks up. “I think now it’s time for me – us – to return the favor and tell you what we know. Please remember that what I’m about to tell you now absolutely cannot be revealed to anyone.”

Saala waits for the Angels to all assent and then rises to her feet. She says, “Thlie – you can go ahead. We’ll join you soon.” Thlie nods, rises awkwardly, and hobbles toward the pool. At the water’s edge she turns, gives the group a lopsided smile, and simply falls in. There are a series of ripples and she disappears below the dark surface.

Saala says, “Please prepare for a swim. If you can change to a form or use magic that will help, please do so. Can any of you breathe underwater?” Since Nameless is the only one who cannot do so, she casts a water breathing spell on him.

Then she turns to Gurr’khan, who has been watching with the same curiosity as the Angels, and says, “Follow behind me.” To Six she says, “You can ride me.” With that, Saala transforms into a large crocodile, followed moments later by Gurr’khan and Luna. She heads for the water, carrying Six, followed by the other two druids, with Gareth on Luna’s back, Korm having grown gills and webbing between his fingers to swim alongside, and Nameless availing of a fly spell to help him move through the water.

As the cold waters of the lake close over them, the Angels find that some light filters through the dark water, though dimly. Saala heads directly across the lake, staying only a few feet below the surface. When about halfway across, she descends quickly to a depth of about fifty feet, and continues across the lake.

Within seconds, she reaches the far bank, which seems to descend unusually precipitously from the water’s edge. Gaping in the bank ahead of her is a huge tunnel, over twenty feet across. Saala heads into it, the others following as she swims up the steep slope of the tunnel. The tunnel seems to be natural in origin, but the smoothness of its sides and consistent size makes it clear that it has been worked on too.

Six, riding on her broad back, sees the flickering of torchlight through the water above, seconds before they break through the surface. When they do, Six finds himself near the edge of a pool in the middle of a dark cavern, illuminated only by two everburning torches embedded in the roughly semicircular walls. These walls seem to be made of thickly packed earth, with some stone near the base, rising to a curved ceiling some thirty feet above. A large open doorway in the horizontal wall that makes up the base of the semicircle reveals an even larger chamber, illuminated by many more torches.

Six only notices all of these details a little later, since the first things that draw his attention are the two huge nostrils, each nearly the size of his head, which are no more than three feet from his face when Saala comes to a stop on the bank of the pool. Beneath the huge nostrils is a twisted mouth, half-open to reveal rows of proportionately large teeth.

As Six reflexively half-leaps, half-stumbles off Saala’s back, he looks up past the teeth and the nostrils, along the long snout to the bony cheekbones, above which glow two amber eyes, set deep into sockets at the base of two forward-curving horns, all of which combine to form the almost skeletal face of the huge black dragon watching him.

Saala, changing quickly back to her own form, chuckles as she notes the expressions in the faces of the people emerging from the pool behind her, and then says, “Don’t worry. This is Thlie.” The comment is instantly followed by all of the Angels hurriedly turning and calling to the crocodile Luna, “DON’T flame strike her!”

Luna, once she has reached the bank and changed back, looks at them disgustedly. “I wasn’t going to!”

Saala laughs. “Yes, that would be a bad idea. Let me re-introduce you to Thlielaxara, direct descendant of Vvaraak, the Scaled Apostate.”

As the others study the dragon, they can see that her eyes retain the somewhat vacant stare that Thlie had in her human form, and her four limbs are twisted and deformed too. Even her mouth is twisted, causing acidic drool to drip out, which the Angels quickly back up to avoid.

“Thlie,” says Saala, “Maybe you should switch forms. It’ll be more comfortable.” While Thlie nods and complies, Saala leads the group into the next chamber. As they follow, she says, “This is where Thlie usually lives. We’re actually inside that hill you saw from the opposite side of the lake.”

This chamber seems to be a mixture of bedroom, sitting room and museum. The central area is empty, with a large indented alcove in one side, strewn with rushes to make a rough bed, albeit one much too small for the dragon’s natural form. Near it is a pile of woven mats, which Saala fetches and distributes in a large circle. There is a doorway in the far wall, a thick curtain hanging down over it. The chamber is lit by over a dozen everburning torches in the walls. Their light glitters off the surface of scores of items that have been embedded into the walls of the chamber. These include Eberron dragonshards of various sizes, various skulls (most from animals, but with a couple of humanoid skulls and a few that Nameless and Korm recognize as belonging to aberrations), a few pieces of armor and weapons, a giant arm holding a giant-sized longsword, a single large glowing orb that the Angels recognize as a conductor stone from the lightning rail, a complicated apparatus set into an alcove of its own (which Nameless identifies as an orrery of the planes) and other odd knick-knacks.

As they are sitting down, Six (already having produced a sketchpad to note what he has seen of Thlielaxara’s true form) whispers to Nameless, “Who’s Vvaraak?”

“She’s the dragon who taught Druidism to the Gatekeepers, millennia ago.”

Saala, having heard the question and answer, adds, “Yes. Nameless is well-informed. Vvaraak is the one who brought Druidism to Khorvaire and taught the orcs, who became the first Gatekeepers. Sixteen thousand years ago. Thlielaxara came to the Marches three hundred years ago as a young dragon, to follow in the footsteps of her ancestor, to study what is known as the Draconic Prophecy, and to see the results of Vvaraak’s teachings. She chose to live near the Pond of Shadows, drinking from its waters to gain great prophetic powers, but,” Saala gazes a little sadly at Thlie, “Steadily becoming insane.”

Thlie, now back in human form and sitting near Saala, nods and smiles at the comment. “Yes, Saala is right. I’m quite mad.” She giggles.

“Well, at least she knows it,” mutters Luna, before Saala continues. “Despite her … situation, Thlie remained a friend of the Gatekeepers, and we kept her secret. A hundred years ago, she saved a group of Gatekeepers, including the then leader, from a small army of aberrations from Khyber and a tribe that worshipped the Dragon Below. She was slain in the battle. A grateful Gatekeeper reincarnated her, but her mental fracturing manifested in her shape, and though she was brought back as a dragon, she came back with some physical issues. Nevertheless, Thlie is incredibly well-informed and the best source I know for information about the past, especially anything associated with the dragons, as the Key is.”

Six interrupts politely. “Do you know the beholder Ek’aankh?”

Saala looks a little surprised at the apparently disconnected question. “Yes. That is the name of a legendary monster that terrorized the Shadow Marches. Why?”

“Well, we met him. And had a nice chat. I thought of him since he seemed to know a lot about the past too.”

“Yes,” corroborates Korm. “They did. But I have to admit I didn’t get to, since I was a statue at the time.”

“I see,” says Saala slowly, with a bemused expression that clearly says she doesn’t, “You … chatted … with Ek’aankh. While Korm was a statue.” Gurr’khan just rolls his eyes, not to indicate disbelief so much as resignation to the strange things that seem to have happened to the Angels.

Nameless adds, “I think he’s mellowed a fair bit.” Then he grins. “But you don’t want to wake him suddenly. We gather that he’s crotchety when woken up.”

Six goes on to relate some of what happened. Saala listens and finally says, “Interesting, as seems to be the case with everything in your collective past. Of course, it’s not like he’s likely to be an easy source. Especially not about the Key. But I’ll let Thlie explain about it.”

Turning to Thlie, who has currently lost interest and is mumbling to herself, Saala explains for a little while that she should tell the ‘nice people’ what she told Saala about the Key. Thlie seems to focus, and after a little bit more prodding, turns to the group.

Her explanation takes longer than it normally should, simply because Saala has to bring her back to the point every once in a while. Eventually, Thlie explains that the three progenitor wyrms created (or found) the Prophecy before the creation of the world. But it was forgotten, while demons overran the world in the Age of Demons, ten million years ago. Eventually, the dragons rediscovered the Prophecy and, with other draconic species like the couatls, fought the demons. A hundred thousand years ago, the couatls sacrificed most of their number to first create the Silver Flame and bind the most powerful Demon Lords in Khyber. Over time, some of the demon lords would try to escape, and some of the dragons feared that they would not be permanently bound. To attempt to keep them so, they made numerous inventions and discoveries.

First the dragons invented the dimensional seals, which not only could hold shut manifest zones but, in sufficient numbers, would permanently separate a plane from Eberron (which is what Vvaraak taught the orcs to do for Xoriat). Though immune to most physical and magical damage, seals would leak over time, and they could be destroyed if enough power was brought to bear. Some dragons felt that relying on only the seals was too risky and it is they who built the first of the Keys. Using a Key, one could lock a seal (or an individually bound fiend) so tightly that there was no chance of escape. But in order to have this power, they had to be made able to unlock the seals too. Either ability needed to work through living hosts, who would bind themselves to each Key. As long as the bond remained, the Key would hold the given seal in place. The bond could be passed on from guardian to guardian, so that the Key would always hold. Certain Keys would work differently from others with regard to the relationship with a guardian, and this was especially true in conjunction with non-draconic guardians, since the Keys bonded better to their draconic creators. Keys were built to be usable by true dragons and those trained by them, but as part of their nature, could also be used by those they were meant to bind, like the rakshasas or the daelkyr. While a number of Keys were originally made, most are still in Argonessen. Only a few were actually brought to Khorvaire, usually by dragons who are interested in the Prophecy, and especially those who wish to help the younger races. There are perhaps, Thlie estimates, only a dozen or so Keys in Khorvaire, all probably occupied secretly to hold dimensional seals in place or perhaps waiting to seal one that is weakened. Few non-dragons know of their existence.

Once Thlie has completed relating the details, Saala adds, “Evidently two such Keys were taken to the island near Xen’drik you went to. Your act of bonding with the one evidently created one with the second. Incidentally, since the first Key was used by all of you to re-seal a daelkyr that had escaped, which is something that I’m fairly sure has never happened, the original bond is gone and that seal is as permanent as can be.”

“Are you sure that’s never happened? Considering that nobody knows where the other Keys are, something similar could have happened sometime, right?” asks Six.

Saala shakes her head. “If a daelkyr, and even more a rakshasa rajah, ever escaped, we’d know about it. And so would all of Khorvaire.”

Turning to address the group, Saala continues, “Now you know as much as I do. Due to Thlie’s knowledge and nature, she can actually use the Key. There are a couple of options for you. We could remove your bond to it and….”

“That’s it!” says Luna, “We don’t need any other choices!”

The others laugh but add that she’s probably right. Saala smiles too. “I thought you’d go for that. The other option would be for you to be permanent guardians of the Key.”

That option is quickly vetoed, especially by Luna, and Saala says, “Very well. This will hurt and weaken you. I will try to help as much as possible. If any of you have lesser restoration or similar spells ready or can prepare them, do so. Give me a few minutes.”

She walks over to the far side of the chamber and sits down to meditate. Luna watches her with a big grin on her face. “We’re finally going to get rid of that damn shard. Finally!”

While the Angels are waiting for Saala and talking amongst themselves and to Gurr’khan, Thlie suddenly points at Gareth. “What is that?”

Surprised, Gareth asks, “What?”

“That sword.”

“Kizmet.”

“Can I see it?”

Gareth slowly unsheathes the sword. As he grasps the hilt, he feels a wave of wariness, tinged with slight curiosity. After a second of hesitation, he hands the sword to the dragon as old woman.

Thlie takes the sword and, in what seems to be her customary method dealing with anything, slowly sniffs her way all along the blade. Then she nods and hands it back. “Fiend blade.”

“I beg your pardon? You know what this is?”

“Yes. It is a fiend blade.”

Nameless chuckles. “She’s going to tell you there’s a fiend bound inside it.”

Gareth throws him an irritated look, but his attention is wholly on Thlie. “Can you tell me anything about it? Are there more like it?”

“Yes,” says Thlie, slowly beginning to rock back and forth as she speaks, which sends little flecks of drool spilling down her cheek. “My people first made them. They are made to especially hurt fiends. Some can weaken them. Others prevent the use of some of their abilities, for a time. Fiend blades bind to a certain user over time and develop power as the wielder does. As time goes by, they …..” She stops as a fit of coughing takes her.

Gareth waits patiently, until Thlie stops coughing. When she does, Thlie sniffs, looks up the ceiling and then begins to mumble to herself. When it becomes clear she is no longer interested in or focused on the subject, Gareth says, “Excuse me – can you tell me more about the sword?”

Thlie pauses in her muttering, looks at him curiously, and then says, “You’re pretty!”

A couple of the others guffaw at the unexpected comment, while Gareth simply tries to avoid looking exasperated and ignores the momentary thrill of amusement he feels from the sword. Again, he says, as politely as he can, “Could you please tell me more about the sword? I would greatly appreciate it.”

Thlie nods. “Yes,” she says with finality, “You’re very pretty.”

Luna, still grinning broadly, says, “I don’t think she’s that interested in the sword any more, Gareth.”

As she speaks, Luna is idly scratching her forearm, and Six notices a patch of hair come off under her nails and fall off, leaving a bare patch of skin. “Luna,” he says, pointing at it, “I think you’re losing hair.”

“What?” asks the shifter, before she looks down at the spot. Her eyes go wide and she repeats herself in a yell, “WHAT?!”

“You’re going bald now?” asks Gareth, with a wide grin.

“That’s not ing funny!” snarls Luna, before turning to snatch up the patch of fur and rub the bare area of skin, about two inches across, which is completely smooth.

“Actually, it’s quite funny,” mutters Korm, under his breath.

Gurr’khan grunts, “I told you about those symbionts,” pointing at the band wrapped around Luna’s forearm only a few inches from the bare patch.

Luna shoots him a glare. “Yes, you’re a bloody genius, aren’t you?” She looks back down at the hair and the skin, before raising both hands above her head and screaming her frustration. The scream drowns out the sound of her companions, only partly in humor, grabbing at their heads and saying, “No flame strikes please!”

Luna slams her fists into the ground beside her. “This is too much! Now I’m fat AND going bald?! A tentacle or two I could have borne, but this … is … too … much!!”

She is reaching down to rip the symbionts off her body when she feels a hand on her shoulder. “What’s going on?” asks Saala, whom nobody has noticed walking over to join them.

“Luna’s having a bad hair day,” says Nameless, and then quickly scrambles backward as the angry shifter reaches for him.

“Yes,” says Saala mildly, “I heard a bit of it. And something about the sword. Still, we should deal with the Key, should we not?”

“Yes,” growls Luna. “At least let’s get that off our backs!”

[Sidekick]

YAY. Shil this is nice. A elder and insane dragon, a fat balding shifter. A paladin with a sword that has bound a demon. And a wizard who refuses to acknowledge his past that he has rediscovered.

I likes this group yes I does…

Please Sir, may I have some more?

[shilsen]

Originally Posted by Sidekick

YAY. Shil this is nice. A elder and insane dragon

After the session, I realized that the only two dragons the group has explicitly met happen to be insane. Not sure what that means, if anything.

, a fat balding shifter. A paladin with a sword that has bound a demon. And a wizard who refuses to acknowledge his past that he has rediscovered.

I likes this group yes I does…

When the most 'normal' person in the group is a living construct, you know you're onto a very interesting bunch.

Please Sir, may I have some more?

I've been busy with student conferences (oh joy!) all week and have more tomorrow, but I'll be working on the next writeup this evening. Let's just say a couple of interesting changes are coming.

[Solarious]

Dragons, and old ones in particular, are at least able to take more mental abuse than others. Then again, insane, old dragons are also capable of causing a great deal of... trouble. We proved that already though, didn't we?

Too bad Luna isn't taking symbionts... hmn... how should I put this? Kindly? I wanted to see how badly she could screw over Gurr'khan. Well, at least I'll get to see how badly you can screw over the Angels. That's something I can count on at least.

[shilsen]

Originally Posted by Solarious

Dragons, and old ones in particular, are at least able to take more mental abuse than others. Then again, insane, old dragons are also capable of causing a great deal of... trouble. We proved that already though, didn't we?

Just a teensy bit

Too bad Luna isn't taking symbionts... hmn... how should I put this? Kindly? I wanted to see how badly she could screw over Gurr'khan. Well, at least I'll get to see how badly you can screw over the Angels. That's something I can count on at least.

I'll try to please. What happens by the end of the session may count, but I'll leave the decision up to you. I did get some written up today, so I thought I'd just go ahead and post it, rather than waiting till tomorrow to add more.

I presume you won't complain


************************************************** *******************
“Very well,” says Saala. She walks over to Thlie, producing the Key from within her robes, and squats down next to her. After quietly speaking to the shapechanged dragon for a couple of minutes, she hands the Key over. Thlie takes it in both of her twisted hands and holds it awkwardly in front of her chest.

“Hold on!” says Nameless, “If this is anything like what happened when I transferred it from Corven to Korm, this would be a really good time to cast a bear’s endurance on everyone.”

“That’s a good idea,” says Saala. “I cannot help, since I have prepared as many spells as I can to remove the damage that you will suffer.”

With the aid of Gurr’khan, all of the Angels soon have a bear’s endurance protecting them. Saala waits until they are done and then says, “So, who will be the firs…”

“Me!” says Luna decisively, before the Gatekeeper can finish.

Saala smiles gently. “I thought that might be the case.” She walks over to sit next to Thlie and says, “All right, Thlie – go ahead.”

Thlie closes her eyes and concentrates. Immediately, a thick beam of amber light shoots from the Key and hits Luna in the middle of her chest. The shifter grunts as she feels it slowly draining her vitality. An uncomfortable burning sensation begins where the beam hit, right where the blue tattoo indicating the link to the Key is.

A couple of seconds later, the beam splits into two, one half shooting off to strike Gurr’khan in his chest. “Hey!” says the alarmed Gatekeeper, adding worriedly, “Saala?”

Saala quickly turns to Thlie. “Try to absorb it! Like you said you could!”

Thlie, with eyes still shut, frowns with concentration, and the second beam visibly retracts from Gurr’khan’s chest and then hits Thlie instead. A second after it does so, it begins to pulse, as does the one attached to Luna. The druid goes pale, as she feels her vitality flow away at an alarming rate. Thlie apparently feels a similar effect, though it is either not as strong or she is simply more stoical, from the expression on her face.

The beams suddenly wink off. Luna gasps in relief and then quickly checks under her shirt. “It’s gone!” she says, relief drowning out weakness in her voice. “There’s just a large bruise,” she says, as she touches it, quickly adding, “Ow! A large painful bruise.” She quickly casts a lesser restoration to recover some of her lost vitality.

Saala is doing the same to Thlie, who seems less affected*, and thanking her. “Will she be able to continue?” asks Nameless.

“Yes,” replies Saala, as she continues to cast spells. “It’s better to do this all at once.”

After Thlie is fully healed, Saala asks who the next person is to volunteer. One by one, the rest of the Angels go through the same process that Luna did. Each is left with a red, painful bruise, but their links to the Key are gone. The process almost kills a couple of them**, Nameless’s suggestion about preparatory bear’s endurances being all that keeps them alive.

With a series of lesser restorations being cast, they are quickly out of danger, but when Saala and everyone else runs out, everyone involved is far from healthy. Thlie, taking damage every time, looks especially weak. As Saala carefully takes the Key from her hands, she sags and almost collapses. Saala helps her to her feet and leads her to the sleeping area, where Thlie lies down.

After covering her with a blanket, Saala returns and joins the others. “Well – that went about as well as it could. Let’s return to my camp.”

Once back there, Saala spends a little time talking to the group. The bruises that they have remain red and painful, but gradually fade over the course of an hour. One thing that the Angels notice is that while they no longer have the awareness of the Key that they did earlier, there is a lingering awareness. They are aware of the direction that the Key is from them, though not of its distance or location. Saala says that, based on what Thlie has told her, they will slowly lose this awareness, though it will take time.

“I hope you’re right,” says Luna. “I want to be completely done with that thing.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” says Saala. “You can spend the night here.” After a moment’s thought, she asks, “Now that you are free of the Key, is there anything particular you need to do? I was thinking that there might be a couple of places where people of your varied skills could be helpful to the Gatekeepers. Naturally, since you are adventurers, I would find a way to make it worthwhile for you. Is that something you might be interested in?”

“We would certainly consider it,” says Nameless. “There’s nothing essential that we need to do next.”

The others agree, Luna doing so a little reluctantly, and Saala thanks them for agreeing to consider the proposition. “I will head back to Thlie now,” she says. “I need to speak to her about some of the things I’m considering. We’ll discuss this further in the morning.”

As she is about the leave, Nameless says, “Don’t forget what I said about the people who we think have been tracking us and are probably after the Key.”

“Yes. Thank you for reminding me.” With that, Saala disappears back into the lake.

After she leaves, the Angels and Gurr’khan spend time getting ready for the night. Nameless, Six and Gareth debate whether the people following them might have some interest other than the Key. Nameless is quite sure that’s what they are after, pointing out that they not only are the ones who killed Arrok and Dala, who really had no importance besides their connection with the finding of the Key, but they removed Arrok’s tattoo.

As the discussion is winding down, Nameless receives a sending from Trillia, who says, “Just checking on you. Everything fine here. Stuffed mind flayer done two days early. Currently standing in my foyer. Any idea when you will be back?”

Nameless responds, “We are fine. Met Gatekeepers. Successfully removed link to Key today. Not sure about return yet. Keep in touch.” After a second’s pause, realizing he can still relay a bit more, he adds, “Luna getting fat and losing hair.”

Luna gives him a dirty look and says, “I used my lesser restorations, you know. I have a flame strike left!”

The others laugh at Nameless’s comment, and his mention of the preserved mind flayer causes further amusement.

After some more talking the group eventually settles in for the night, Nameless making sure to put up a private sanctum spell to protect them from scrying and more mundane spying.

***
The next morning, shortly after the Angels awake, they are joined by Saala. She says that Thlie is better and the two of them have discussed many things during the night, especially regarding a couple of the propositions that she has for them. Saala suggests that they have breakfast and prepare spells before rejoining Thlie and her.

After she leaves, the Angels discuss the possibility of working with the Gatekeepers over breakfast. Gurr’khan doesn’t contribute, listening silently for the most part. When asked if he has any idea what Saala has in mind, he grunts, “I really have no idea. Saala must be quite impressed with you all. Of course, I still think you people are insane, but it’s her call.” A little grudgingly, he adds, “Though you do have more skills than most.”

Once the Angels are done preparing their spells, they take care of the lingering effects from the previous evening. “That feels better,” says Luna, “But I can still feel that damn Key. I wonder when that’ll end”

“Look on the bright side,” says Six, with a chuckle. “If it doesn’t and they stick the Key somewhere permanent, you’ll have a permanent sense of direction.”

“I’ll pas…,” begins Luna, when a faint sound catches her extremely sharp hearing. Only Six and Gurr’khan, both almost as sensitive as her, hear it too.

“What’s wrong?” asks Korm, as all three turn to look in the direction of the hill across the lake, Thlie’s lair.

“Explosion!” says Luna. “From there!”

“Damn!” says Gurr’khan, “Get on board. I’ll swim, but it’ll take some time.”

Nameless, quickly calculating, says, “Six – you go with Gurr’khan. I can get the rest right in there. Luna – don’t transform into a bear yet. I can’t carry that much.”

As Gurr’khan transforms into a giant crocodile and slithers into the water, Six leaps onto his back. Still on the bank, Nameless and the others quickly cast a protective spell each, and then Nameless prepares to transport everyone. “You sure you know where you’re taking us?” asks Gareth.

“I’ve got direction from the Key,” says Nameless quickly, “And I’ve got a pretty good idea about distance.”

“Pretty good?” thinks Gareth, sending up a silent prayer to the Silver Flame to aid Nameless’s judgement.

Whether it be the Flame’s favor or simply Nameless’s incredible intellect, the alienist makes no mistake. He [i]dimension door[/s] them with pinpoint accuracy. Nameless, Gareth, Luna and Korm appear in the middle of Thlie’s main chamber.

The first thing they notice is Saala next to a wall near them.

All three pieces of her.


* The person losing a link took 2d10 Con dmg. Thlie took 2d6 Con dmg.
** Nameless and Six got taken to a 0 Con, with the Bear’s Endurance keeping them alive.

[shilsen]

Saala’s corpse has literally been hacked apart and lies near one of the chamber’s walls. The area around it is stained yellowish-green, Korm and Luna recognizing the signs of a rejuvenation cocoon that was destroyed or dispelled before it could complete its work. Nearby, backed up against the wall, and gibbering to herself, is Thlie.

Of more immediate concern are the two other people in the chamber, standing over Saala’s corpse. One is a muscular female orc, wearing ornate plate-mail armor that the Angels instantly recognize was worn by the fake Dala during the battle with Desro. She carries the same saw-toothed falchion, blood still dripping off its blade. Behind her is an older, slimmer male orc, in well-worn traveling garb. The latter is rising to his feet from Saala’s corpse, and simultaneously tucking the Key, glittering in his right hand, into his clothes.

As the adventurers appear, the male orc smiles and casts a spell, causing rubbery black tentacles to erupt from the ground around them. Korm and Gareth bull their way through the tentacles to open ground. While Nameless is seized by the tentacles, as is Luna, who is still in her normal form, he simply dimension doors the pair of them outside the spell’s grasp.

The delay, however, is what matters. The swordswoman steps forward and takes a ready stance. As she does, she calls back over her shoulder, “Can we kill them this time or do we have to pretend to lose again?” The other laughs. “No – you can kill them now. They have served their purpose.”

Luna snarls at the glib confidence of their enemies and transforms into her favorite bear form, also calling on her shifter heritage for added fortitude. As she transforms, her senses sharpen, especially that of scent. The bear Luna wrinkles her snout, recognizing the same combination of mustiness and wet hair that she smelled at the camp a couple nights ago.

While she is transforming, Korm rushes forward to engage the swordswoman. As he hacks at her, he again finds that her resistance to damage, whatever its source, takes the edge of his blows. Hers, however, bite through his defenses and the Gatekeeper is soon bleeding heavily.

His attack, however, keeps her occupied enough for Gareth to rush by at the spellcaster. Nameless casts a spell at the same time, causing three of his wolves to appear, two rushing at the spellcaster and one at the swordswoman. To Korm’s relief, though the one attacking his opponent barely scratches her, it uses its bulk to shove her off her feet.

The other two wolves leap forward, their innate true strike ability making it impossible for them to miss. And yet they do, as they slam into an invisible barrier a foot from their target. He simply smiles past them at a momentarily flabbergasted Nameless. “You didn’t think it would be that easy, would you?”

What in the Planes is that? wonders Nameless.*

Meanwhile, Gareth sets his feet and swings, crying, “In the name of the Flame!” Kizmet kindles with silver fire as it comes down, and then clangs harmlessly off multiple layers of magical protection.

“Please!” says the untouched target. “I was killing your kind when being a paladin meant something.” He gestures dismissively, sending three scorching rays burning into Gareth’s chest, and following them instantly with a coruscating ray of enfeeblement that saps the paladin’s strength.

Beside the apparent protection against Nameless’s summoned creatures, the spellcaster apparently has other unusual spellcasting abilities. As the fight progresses, he casts a greater command, ordering each of the Angels to sleep. Though they fight off the magical compulsion, they realize that their enemy, so far apparently an arcanist, just used a spell normally used only by clerics. Moreover, he cast it in a unique form modified to be arcane in nature.

What is this guy?

Unknown to the others, Luna soon has an answer. While they are unable to do much to the spellcaster, his ally is not as lucky. Though her resistance to damage and heavy armor protects her almost completely from the wolves (all three of which Nameless now sends after her), they constantly snap at her and often manage to pull her off her feet. And they distract her from Korm and Luna, allowing them to inflict more and more minor nicks and cuts on her.

The spellcaster, after almost taking an already wounded Gareth off his feet with a quick volley of magic missiles, targets Nameless with a dispel magic. Nameless grins as his ring automatically counterspells it, and replies, “You’re not the only one who learns.”

Knowing that responding in kind is likely to be useless, Nameless targets the swordswoman, currently involved in dispatching one of the wolves. His dispel does take hold, stripping off the magical protection she has. It also causes her magical disguise to shimmer for just a second. Only Luna is keen-eyed enough**, the mystical connection to her guardian beast spirit letting her see through it in the moment of weakness, and her brow furrows as she sees something she cannot identify. Unfortunately, as a bear, she cannot communicate what she sees.

As a near-unconscious Gareth shouts, “I could use some healing,” she growls and hurries to his side, slapping a big paw against him and invoking a cocoon around him. The irritated spellcaster turns to Luna and slaps a hand against her head, his hand glowing with dark energy. The druid shudders, barely managing to fight off the killing energy of the harm spell due to her unusual fortitude, emerging alive but severely wounded.

Even worse, her movement to Gareth’s side leaves Korm alone facing the swordswoman with the single remaining wolf. As she, having just been knocked off her feet, rises, Korm takes the opportunity to land as powerful a blow as he can. Seconds later, he is down, bleeding and unconscious.

Nameless hurriedly summons a set of wolves, but only gets one. Luckily, reinforcements arrive at exactly the right moment. A large crocodile hurls itself out of the water in the next chamber and Six leaps off it and races forward. Even as the swordswoman dispatches another wolf, he reaches her and the chain lashes out, again pulling her to the ground.

“Gurr’khan!” shouts Six, throwing a quick glance at Saala’s corpse and the weeping form of Thlie, who has crawled to it. “Talk to Thlie! Get her in the fight!”

Behind him, the crocodile changes form and the Gatekeeper hurries forward too.

Luna growls her appreciation of the incoming allies. Having discovered that the spellcaster is incredibly hard to hit, she simply rears up, throws both paws around him, and pulls him into her grasp. For all of a second, before he slips out with magical alacrity, grins at her and steps quickly to the swordswoman’s side. “We’re leaving,” he says.

He has a Freedom of Movement too? Come on! “Stop them!” yells Nameless. “Luna! Gurr’khan! Blast them!” He takes to the air, flying forward as fast as he can.

The druids respond immediately, two flame strikes smashing down on the pair. Nameless, stopping short just outside the area of the blast, simultaneously unleashes a cone of cold on them. The spellcaster emerges completely unscathed, but the swordswoman cries out as she is badly scorched and frozen at once. She concentrates for a moment, making sure that her resistance to magic doesn’t affect her ally’s spell, and then he teleports them away.

“Son of a bitch!”

With the enemies gone, Gurr’khan rushes to Saala’s corpse, while Gareth, having emerged from his cocoon completely healed, rushes to revive Korm.

Once Korm is back on his feet too, an angry and sorrowful Gurr’khan returns to join the others. “What happened before Six and I got here? Was Saala alive when you got there?”

The others explain what happened. After they do, Gurr’khan rubs his forehead wearily and says, “I could try to reincarnate Saala, since she has never been before***. But I will need to travel to a place where I can easily find the ingredients for it, and so I could not do it before tomorrow.”

Luna, who has changed back to her shifter form, quickly says, “Actually, I’ve got the ingredients right here.”

“What?”

“Yes. We were planning to use it on someone who was killed by those two things we just fought, and we didn’t get to. We can use that for Saala.”

“Speaking of which,” says Gareth, “What in the Hells were they? The Flame and Kizmet let me overcome the resistance to damage of just about every kind of creature, but they seem completely unaffected by that.”

Luna looks around with a puzzled expression. “I was going to ask what they were, but you saw it, right?”

“Saw what?” ask the others, sounding just as puzzled.

“Through the disguise when Nameless hit her with the dispel. You didn’t see her face?”

“No, Luna – we don’t all have your abilities where vision is concerned. What did you see?”

Luna waves her hands expressively as she explains. “Its head was that of a tiger, even though the body was human-shaped. With big teeth and glowing red eyes. Body had fur on it, which must be where that wet hair smell came from.”

Nameless, Gareth, Korm and Gurr’khan all say at the same time. “Rakshasa.”


* I house-ruled Protection from Evil (and Magic Circle from Evil) to only protect against evil summoned creatures, just as the other “Protection from X” spells only protect against whatever “X” is. So a protection against neutral summoned creatures, as pseudonatural creatures are, is unknown to the PCs.

** Rolled a 19, for a DC 40 spot check. Should just have penetrated the disguise but not revealed its real nature, but I thought it was an interesting way to handle the revelation. And much better than just some NPC doing it.

*** Returning from the dead is significantly difficult in my game, because I prefer it that way and also think it better fits Eberron. One of a few house rules on the subject is that anyone brought back by a certain spell can never be brought back by the same spell again.

[Solarious]

At long, long last. We've figured out who's been hounding the Angels from the beginning, the Lords of Dust. As a plus, the moment they relinquish their link the Key, they loose it to the people they'll least want to have it. Well, at the very least they know the Key won't be trying to kill them this time, since it's likely to end up somewhere nasty like Ashtakala or deep inside Khyber.

I approve heartily! The Angels are screwed seven ways. Wouldn't have it any other way.

[shilsen]

Originally Posted by Solarious

At long, long last. We've figured out who's been hounding the Angels from the beginning, the Lords of Dust.

Yup! The BBEG is finally unmasked. I've had him lurking in the shadows from the beginning, and the PCs have already met him in a couple of different guises before they met him with Desro.

I'd thought there was a fair chance of a reveal if they managed to capture Desro, but that didn't happen. Not that he would have been able to reveal everything, because he was effectively a patsy too. The entire Desro thing was a setup, intended to get Desro killed and have the Angels pick up the dragonshard ring on his finger, which would let the rakshasas follow them to the Shadow Marches. Which they did. The fight vs. Desro and his two allies involved a lot of faking on the part of the rakshasas, as they pretended to be in deeper trouble than they were and to "flee."

As a plus, the moment they relinquish their link the Key, they loose it to the people they'll least want to have it.

At least I let them remove the link before it was stolen. My kindness knows no bounds.

Well, at the very least they know the Key won't be trying to kill them this time, since it's likely to end up somewhere nasty like Ashtakala or deep inside Khyber.

You're close to right. You'll see after the writeups for the session we had on Saturday (this one was the last one from the previous session). The Angels chase the rakshasas and have a couple of amusing encounters. One involving trying to pimp out the paladin (quote: "Just close your eyes and think of Khorvaire") for the greater good. And a very interesting revelation.

Not to spoil anything, but the Angels are now on their way to the Demon Wastes. On the bright side, at least it's not Zilargo.

I approve heartily! The Angels are screwed seven ways. Wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm sure my players appreciate the sentiment.

[Rackhir]

Originally Posted by shilsen

The entire Desro thing was a setup, intended to get Desro killed and have the Angels pick up the dragonshard ring on his finger, which would let the rakshasas follow them to the Shadow Marches. Which they did. The fight vs. Desro and his two allies involved a lot of faking on the part of the rakshasas, as they pretended to be in deeper trouble than they were and to "flee."

We didn't think they were in "Big Trouble" in the Desro Fight given their DR (Don't remember if their SR was apparent). We just assumed that the fight wasn't worth it for them after Desro got killed.

The main question I have at this point is "Why bother with all the subterfuge?" They had more than enough force to just take it from us and even if we had every ally we could have mustered in Sharn, we couldn't have stopped them. Hell, if they'd attacked us before we'd headed off to Ya'kun Drall we couldn't have even pursued them, lacking the ability to teleport.

The only thing I can think of is that for whatever reason they didn't want us to have a link to the shard. Thlie still has one though doesn't she?

[shilsen]

Originally Posted by Rackhir

The main question I have at this point is "Why bother with all the subterfuge?" They had more than enough force to just take it from us and even if we had every ally we could have mustered in Sharn, we couldn't have stopped them. Hell, if they'd attacked us before we'd headed off to Ya'kun Drall we couldn't have even pursued them, lacking the ability to teleport.

The only thing I can think of is that for whatever reason they didn't want us to have a link to the shard.

Bingo!

Remember what Thlie said. In order to function, a Key needs to be linked to one or more guardians, who can use it to bind or unbind. So, as long as it's linked to one or more guardians, nobody else can use it to bind or unbind anything. Which is why Nameless could use it for binding the escaping daelkyr only because the last guardian (Tyrass, the insane silver dragon) had died, and he had to use it while building links between the Key and the Angels (and Dala and Arrok). Similarly, Naxaliyen couldn't use the Key to unlock the dimensional seal in Yarkuun Draal but had to get Nameless to do so.

If the rakshasas got the Key while the Angels were in Sharn, it would have been useless until every one of the Angels was dead. They could, of course, have tried to kill the Angels off and get the Key, but if one or more of the Angels escaped, it would have been useless until they were tracked down and killed.

It was just more convenient to get them to remove the link and then get the Key.

Thlie still has one though doesn't she?

No, Thlie didn't link to it. She simply removed the Angels' links (and took backlash damage since the Key resists being un-linked from a living guardian without a new link being formed). With her lifestyle and state, she basically can't be a guardian. Ideally, Saala would have had her link the Key to a suitable Gatekeeper (or group of them) and they would use it on an appropriate dimensional seal.

But the best-laid plans of high-level druids gang aft agley.