Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
(4e) Saga of Valor
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Netherstorm" data-source="post: 5737805" data-attributes="member: 84943"><p><strong>4. Dagger Rock</strong></p><p></p><p><em>11/21/11: My house was robbed! My laptop is gone with all the campaign notes and pictures in it. Luckily, all of the really important stuff has been stored elsewhere, so the campaign won't be overly effected.</em></p><p> </p><p><em>Also in this adventure, I used a giant mini from warhammer. It's this big spider with seven goblins on the back. It's about 3 squares wide and 6 squares long. I'll try and find a picture once I get a new laptop!</em></p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Saga of Valor </span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Book One - NyrodSpace War 3</span></span></p><p></p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center"><em>Chapter Four: Dagger Rock</em></p><p></p><p> </p><p><strong>Ardra</strong> - Eladrin Bladesinger Vovoidja</p><p><strong>The Blue Monk</strong> - Half-Orc Monk Almoner</p><p><strong>Hartaniel</strong> - Elf Barbarian Groom of the Stool</p><p><strong>Lucky</strong> - Human Warlord Constable</p><p><strong>Ryltar</strong> - Drow Avenger Constable</p><p><strong>Scarlet</strong> - Human Fighter Constable</p><p><strong>Varis</strong> - Half-Elf Warlock Hostarius</p><p> </p><p>The adventurers had made their way to the drow enclave known as Honglath and defeated the leaders of the ruling house, House Tormtor. Nilonim, leader of the rival faction of House Kilsek, offered to pay the heroes to help him finish off his rivals for good. The heroes talked it over. As they did so, they noticed two female drow hovering close to Nilonim. They were:</p><p> </p><p>Quarra - who gazed at him longingly and covered him with her crossbow.</p><p>Nuliira - who openly resented the heroes' presence</p><p> </p><p>Before storming House Tormtor, they'd need to circumvent its' magical protection. For that, they'd need to extract the word of passage from Commander Pellanistra, who was webbed to the altar, her adamantine arm torn off. The arm now belonged to Lucky. Nilonim was ready to torture her to extract the information, but he decided to ask the heroes if they'd like to tr firsty.</p><p> </p><p>Varis, the boy of 12 who actually looked to be 8, and his floating skull familiar stepped forward. Nilonim chuckled and said, "What's that, boy?".</p><p> </p><p>Lucky said, "They're both good kids." She patted them both on the skull.</p><p> </p><p>Teddy the skull looked down and said, "Thank you matron", and flew away quickly.</p><p> </p><p>The warlord drunkenly explained to Nilonim, "They're just advanced for their age. They see how the real world is."</p><p> </p><p>Nilionim held out a curved dagger to Varis. "All right, boy..."</p><p> </p><p>"I won't be needing that," Varis responded.</p><p> </p><p>Varis walked up to the altar and looked down at Pellanistra. He said," You see him over there?". He pointed at teddy the floating skull. "I think he could use a friend. Perhaps you could donate your skull as well as your arm... What is the word of command?". Varis glared at her, his eyes flaring with energy.</p><p> </p><p>Pellanistra regarded him with genuine fear and said "Ollst". It was drow for 'caution'.</p><p> </p><p>Nilonim congratulated Varis. Then he declared that once House Tormtor was taken down, they would summon a yochlol and have Pellanistra turned into a drider.</p><p> </p><p>The heroes huddled up. Scarlet wasn't too sure if she liked the idea of having a drider running around in the world looking for revenge against them. Scarlet thought having Pellanistra dead was better.</p><p> </p><p>Lucky piped up. The heroes could not help but notice her eye patch, peg leg and hook hand as she said somberly, "I'd have to say that dead is better than a lot of things...". But there were fifteen drow members of House Kilsek, as well as dozens of warrior slaves. There was little they could do.</p><p> </p><p>The heroes and House Kilsek gathered together and closed in on House Tormtor's large dwelling. The word of command was spoken, deactivating the house's protective wards, and the adventurers burst in through the doors to find the enemy ready for them. The drow were across the large main chamber, behind a barricade of furniture, aiming crossbows and readying spells. Their bugbear slaves roared and charged forward.</p><p> </p><p>The drow flung flash globes. One exploded at Hartaniel's feet. He couldn't see a thing, but he could hear the bugbears rushing close. He let out a magical shout, blasting the slaves back. Lucky flung Pellanistra's severed adamantite arm at a bugbear, kiling it. </p><p> </p><p>Scarlet dodged blasts of dark fire and crossbow bolts laced with drow poison. She grabbed a luxurious plush chair and flung it at the drow. Two of them were hit by chair legs, and died instantly. The blue monk hid in a shadowy corner, waiting for his time to strike.</p><p> </p><p>Nilonim and his aide, Nuliira were battling three male drow warriors. One warrior had Nilonim down, and was choking him to death. Ardra cast Spook, causing the drow to shriek and stumble off of Nilonim. Nilonim slew the drow and nodded at Ardra.</p><p> </p><p>One drow of House Tormtor raced past the heroes, trying to flee out the front door. Varis cursed the drow with a devouring worms spell, but he did escape. Ryltar saw Nilonim fighting... and Nuliira behind him, menacingly drawing her poisoned rapier. She meant to strike him down and claim House Kilsek for herself! Ryltar let out a shout of warning. Quarra fired off a crossbow bolt and killed Nuliira with one shot.</p><p> </p><p>The battle over, Quarra approached Nilonim to congratulate him. He blew right by her. He excitedly prepared to summon the yochlol.</p><p> </p><p>Hartaniel pulled Nilonim to the side. Quarra had her crossbow trained on him. The Blue Monk crept behind her, ready.</p><p> </p><p>Hartaniel said, "I think Quarra is interested in you. She'd probably produce good, strong children for you."</p><p> </p><p>Nilonim scowled. "She is useless."</p><p> </p><p>The heroes gathered near the altar in the main hall, and watched from a distance as the fifteen drow of House Kilsek gathered around where Pellanistra was bound. Ardra noticed sigils aroud the base of the altar. She could see that the altar doubled as a teleportation circle. The drow chanted and prayed for twenty minutes, and then Urialle arrived. She was a beautiful drow woman with broad shoulders and a metal helmet. She wore a brooch insignia of a bone spider, which glowed from within. In one hand she held a heated brand. In the other, she held a glass of wine. </p><p> </p><p>Varis knew that Urialle could shift into a form of a yellow blob with a single, hideous eye. He also knew that as a yochlol, she was one of Lolth's handmaidens in the Demonweb Pits.</p><p> </p><p>Urialle went to work on Pellanistra, using the brand, tongs, and knives. Pellanistra screamed throughout the process, in incredible agony. At one point, Urialle paused to behold a bugbear slave. She ordered it close and then cut its' head off, just so she could laugh at its' headless body prancing about.</p><p> </p><p>After half an hour, Pellanistra was transformed. She now had the lower body of a spider, and a thirst for blood. Urialle declared that she'd live a life of rage and hopelessness. Pellanistra scampered into a tunnel that lead to the underdark below. And then, with a sneer, the yochlol used the altar to return from whence she came.</p><p> </p><p>The drow clapped excitedly, and offered the heroes food - rothe and spider meat. Nilonim declared to House Kilsek that they'd be leaving Honglath. He was going to take them deeper below to the sea of Black Blood, where they'd ally themselves with Velkyn Phindar.</p><p> </p><p>The name made Varis remember...</p><p> </p><p><em>Varis was ten years old, and a slave to the drow in the city of Rilauven. The son of Varis' owner, the drow boy who would one day become the floating skull known as Teddy, had taken Varis to the caves near Rilauven to do some exploring. They spotted a cave thirty feet up a wall. A rothe was in there. Teddy wondered how it had got there.</em></p><p> </p><p><em>He raced Varis up to the cave. Inside, they saw the rothe was bleeding from its' underbelly. They also saw a glow coming from the back wall of the cave. Teddy ordered Varis to check it out. As Varis got close, he saw that the glow was coming from a secret wall panel left ajar! Inside was a pile of platinum pieces! On top was a gem lit with fire inside.</em></p><p> </p><p><em>Varis knew immediately that it was a gem that could summon an efreet. The slaves in the city had heard of such gems, and often hoped one day to find one so that they might change their fates.</em></p><p> </p><p><em>Varis picked it up, and a voice from inside said to him: "You who touch this gem may summon a mighty efreet ruler who must obey your command! Say the command word and I shall be your humble servant, confidant, and soldier!"</em></p><p> </p><p><em>Varis had no idea what the command word was.</em></p><p> </p><p><em>As he wracked his brain, the pile of platinum stirred. A huge snake with shimmering black scales emerged! It slithered out onto the cavern floor and transformed into a tall, black-scaled dragon! He was Velkyn Phindar, a deep dragon!</em></p><p> </p><p><em>He lowered a glowing, milky eye to Teddy and Varis and said, "The treasure belongs to me, rivvil."</em></p><p> </p><p><em>Teddy immediately put all the blame on Varis.</em></p><p> </p><p><em>Varis put it back as the deep dragon began to drool. It gobbled up the rothe. The poor beast cried out, and then was swallowed. Velkyn Phindar regarded the trembling youths once more.</em></p><p> </p><p><em>"You are all bones. Begone!"</em></p><p> </p><p><em>The pair climbed down and ran all the way back to Rilauven.</em></p><p> </p><p>The adventurers left Honglath and resumed the journey to Dagger Rock. It was only a few hours from the cave. Along the way, they found three human corpses wrapped up in webbing. They were cut up badly, and had many tiny arrows sticking out of them.</p><p> </p><p>The heroes continued on until they could see Dagger Rock in the distance. Music was coming from the small town. They fund the "X" on the map. It indicated a huge tree just outside of town. The tree was hiollowed out. Inside, they saw markings that indicated canisters had been stored inside it recently. The warped wood on the back suggested the canisters held some kind of alchemical solution.</p><p> </p><p>The adventurers made their way into Dagger Rock. The market was buzzing. There were over a dozen stalls, all filled with local business people selling their wares. A woman walked about, loudly playing the flute. The heroes split up and mingled with the locals.</p><p> </p><p>The Blue Monk and Ryltar spotted a dwarf with pale grey skin and coal black eyes, who was wearing the symbol of Dispater. He looked suspicious. They approached him.</p><p> </p><p>"Greetings," said The Blue Monk.</p><p> </p><p>The cleric looked irritated. "What?!"</p><p> </p><p>"Admiring your vestitures."</p><p> </p><p>"Well, why don't you stop it? You don't wanna piss me off."</p><p> </p><p>"I was just curious as far as what you're up to here."</p><p> </p><p>"What does it look like? I'm getting something to eat! Freak."</p><p> </p><p>"Ah. Aggressive. I know your type."</p><p> </p><p>The citizen running the stall nearby dispensing said meat said in his Dagger Rock accent, "We don't want any trouble he'ah in Daggah Rock. Why don't you go dat way and you go dat way?".</p><p> </p><p>The Blue Monk ignored the pleas of the meat handler and continued to question the dwarf. "I'm just curious as to your business in town."</p><p> </p><p>"My business... is none of your business. We're not friends."</p><p> </p><p>The citizen piped up again. "Don't make him angry! Where'd you guys come from? You here to kill dah spidah?"</p><p> </p><p>Ryltar perked up. "What spider?"</p><p> </p><p>"Whadda ya stupid? We can't leave town cause of the spidah out dere! Buncha goblins ridin on it tryin ta kill everybody..!"</p><p> </p><p>Ryltar nodded. "That explains the bodies in the forest..."</p><p> </p><p>The Blue Monk turned to the dwarf and asked him if he knew anything about the spider.</p><p> </p><p>The dwarf said, "If you say one more thing to me, I am going to make you sorry!"</p><p> </p><p>Ryltar leaned down and looked at the dwarf. Then he said, deliberately, "One. More. Thing."</p><p> </p><p>While that was going on, Ardra and her three bugbear slaves checked out a farmer's wares.</p><p> </p><p>Othikan, one of the bugbears, said, "Mommy can we have corn? I mean... master..?"</p><p> </p><p>Another slave, named Pentrac, sniffed it. "It smell so good!"</p><p> </p><p>Ardra laughed and said, "Let's go speak to the nice man."</p><p> </p><p>The farmer offered her corn for one silver, and explained about the spider. He said that adventurers had tried and failed to kill it. He pointed to the dwarf cleric of Dispater and told her that he had refused to help.</p><p> </p><p>The town drunk staggered about, drinking sloppily from a flask. </p><p> </p><p>The farmer told her the spider appeared two to three days ago. And people have been disappearing for the last month. </p><p> </p><p>The farmer said, "I don't wanna scare ya lady. You seem nice, and your dog-men are real fun! But yer probably gonna die. I just wanna warn you. Enjoy ya life!"</p><p> </p><p>Ardra smiled and said, "Yes, we'll all enjoy it with a round of corn."</p><p> </p><p>Lucky approached a goliath who was the head of the town militia. She said to him, "Listen up. My name's Constable Greyweather from Olwynn. I want to inform you of a situation."</p><p> </p><p>The goliath looked at Lucky, with her eyepatch and pegleg. "Jeez lady, what happened to you? Losin a leg.. and an eye..? Might as well give it up!"</p><p> </p><p>Lucky sighed and said, "Yeah I think about that a lot. Tell me about your spider problem." </p><p> </p><p>Captain Bearclaw told her about the spider and the people disappearing. "I'm sorry lady. I'm tryin my best! But yer probably gonna die."</p><p> </p><p>Lucky nodded. "You're probably right."</p><p> </p><p>Hartaniel approached the mayor, who was old, frail and hated newcomers. He held a scarf over his mouth. As he saw Hartaniel approach, he said, "Aw no, we got more!".</p><p> </p><p>They talked. Hartaniel learned of the spider and the disappearances.</p><p> </p><p>Hartaniel said, "I'll make you a deal."</p><p> </p><p>The mayor was taken aback. "Make me a deal!?"</p><p> </p><p>"Yes. I'll cut you a deal. We'll get rid of the goblins.. with the spider underneath them. You mobilize your forces to take on whoever's behind the disappearances."</p><p> </p><p>The mayor glared bitterly. "My forces? You mean my four guards?! That'll take about five minutes." He turned to the guard next to him and said, "Go get the other guards. No wait, don't, I'm being sarcastic."</p><p> </p><p>He turned back to Hartaniel.</p><p> </p><p>"You kill dat spidah, we give you money." </p><p> </p><p>Varis skulked about, keeping a low profile. Nearby a beautiful woman was playing the flute. She sized up Scarlet. Scalet sized her up in return. They tried to intimidate each other through glaring. Scarlet won. The flute playing woman swiftly pranced away.</p><p> </p><p>And that's when Kurik the dwarf got into a fight with The Blue Monk and Ryltar.</p><p> </p><p>The Blue Monk punched Kurik, the dwarf priest of Dispater, right in the face. Hartaniel saw it going down, and tried to distract the mayor. Ryltar turned invisible and bloodied Kurik with his scythe. Ardra abandoned her corn on the cob and ran over and cracked the dwarf with the hilt of her weapon. </p><p> </p><p>Kurik chanted in infernal and called forth a wave of energy that knocked all of the heroes back! He bolted for a side street, but the blue monk chased him down and pinned him to the ground.</p><p> </p><p>Captain Bearclaw angrily shouted at them. He told Kurik he'd been a problem in the town for long enough, and told him to leave Dagger Rock. He told the heroes to leave as well. Only Hartaniel, Lucky and Varis were allowed to remain, as they had nothing to do with the altercation.</p><p> </p><p>The heroes regrouped with their banished friends outside of town. Kurik was barely conscious. They decided to go hunt the spider. They told Kurik he was "free to go", and then quietly followed him through the forest. The nasty fellow did not realize that he was being used as spider-bait. </p><p> </p><p>As they had hoped, Kurik came upon the giant spider!</p><p> </p><p>Over ten feet high and fifteen feet long, venomous ichor dripped from its' mandibles. Seven purple, lolthbound goblins lurked on a platform made of webbing on its' back. They gleefully levelled their short bows at the fearful dwarf.</p><p> </p><p>Scarlet, The Blue Monk and Hartaniel charged the spider. It brought down one of it's pointed, tree-trunk-like legs on Scarlet, bloodying her. Ryltar skulked in the woods nearby, slowly closing in, unseen. Varis pelted the huge spider with a spell, and Ardra fired off a magic missile. </p><p> </p><p>The spider stabbed Scarlet and dropped her. The Blue Monk was bloodied from a similar blow. </p><p> </p><p>Lucky came close and healed Scarlet's wounds. Varis pelted the spider with an eldritch blast.</p><p> </p><p>Kurik tried to run, but Scarlet got up and grabbed him. She shouted at him to fight. Kurik cursed at her and struck her with his mace. Then he called upon the magic of Dispater to heal himself! Scarlet scowled and tossed Kurik at the spider's face! He crashed to the ground before it, prone and terrified. </p><p> </p><p>Hartaniel teleported onto the spider's back, drew his sword, and cut down four of the seven goblins before they could even scream. Then he plunged his blade into the spider, bloodying it. Toxic spider blood spewed everywhere, injuring the heroes.</p><p> </p><p>Varis continued to blast the spider with spells. Ryltar struck from the shadows, carving into its' side with his scythe. Ardra got close and cut into it as well. The spider began to tremble. The heroes had swarmed it and were injuring it badly. Ardra used her magicto toss a goblin hurtling through the air and into a tree, killing it. </p><p> </p><p>Lucky, who was 20 feet to the east, gave out a shout, luring the spider to her. This created an opening, allowing three of the heroes to charge after it as it loomed over the warlord. The Blue Monk, Ardra and Scarlet tore into the spider. </p><p> </p><p>Kurik had been lost in the shuffle. He made a run for it, pausing to shout "f**k you!" at the heroes. Ryltar chased him down and used a spell to blind him. </p><p> </p><p>Hartaniel remained on the spider's back, keeping a hand on a support strand of hardened webbing for balance. He cut down the last of the goblins.</p><p> </p><p>Varis staggered the spider with an eldritch blast. Ardra finished it off, slicing open the creature's side.</p><p> </p><p>The Blue Monk swiftly powdered the faces of the dead with the four point mark and then ran over to Kurik and knoicked him out. </p><p> </p><p>The heroes rested for a moment as the three bugbear slaves tied up the spider's corpse, so that they could drag it back to town. Once ready, the heroes made their way back to Dagger Rock. </p><p> </p><p>On the way back, Kurik admitted he was in town looking for a magic horn that had been stolen from Captain Bearclaw. The horn could summon a roc. He insisted that he didn't know who stole it, or where it was.</p><p> </p><p>Ryltar began to try to teach the heroes drow hand-code. Varis quietly urged him not to. Varis felt that knowing the hand code was an advantage he'd like to keep to himself.</p><p> </p><p>The people of the town cheered as they saw that the heroes had killed the spider. The air was filled with shouts of "They killed tha spidah!".</p><p> </p><p>People gathered around them in the town square and patted them on the back. The heroes proceeded to hand Kurik over to Captain Bearclaw, when...</p><p> </p><p>Undead hordes, led by a single masked plaguebringer, emerged from three side streets! Zombies, wisp wraiths and severed zombie hands all attacked!</p><p> </p><p>The bugbears took on the hands, while the heroes split up and dealt with the wraiths and zombies. The Blue Monk put his fist through a zombie's skull. Varis blasted another... only to watch in horror as it got back up! Hartaniel had one of the giant spider's severed legs in his hand. He threw it and impaled a zombie with it. </p><p> </p><p>Ardra chanted and used a spell to pull the plaguebringer close. She smelled alcohol on him. She surmised that, beneath the mask, was the face of the town drunk.</p><p> </p><p>Varis was near her, firing off spells. The woman who'd been playing on her flute earlier crept close and snatched two gems from his pack. The poor boy was none the wiser. She grinned to herself and raced out of the square. Varis fired off a burning spray spell, killing three zombies. Ryltar and The Blue Monk were having trouble keeping the zombies down.</p><p> </p><p>On the other side of the square. Scarlet slashed into four wisps, destroying them. Lucky closed in on five wraiths and said, "These don't look like the usual wraiths that haunt my nightmares. Goodbye, fallen comrades."</p><p> </p><p>She turned and looked at Captain Bearclaw, who was protecting the mayor. "Hey guys, do any of these look familiar to you? Missing people, maybe?"</p><p> </p><p>In the heat of battle, they stook a glance. They would, in fact, eventually recognize the undead as many of the travelers who had passed throguh town. </p><p> </p><p>Ardra and The Blue Monk pummelled the plaguebringer, knocking him out.</p><p> </p><p>Kurik, once again, escaped during the confusion. He made sure to turn before making his exit and shouting "f**k you!" one last time. Unlike the other attempts, this time Kurik was able to escape Dagger Rock for good.</p><p> </p><p>The heroes and the bugbear slaves took out the undead. Then they rested and questioned the plaguebringer. He explained that the cult of Urgathoa's lair was located beneath a stone near the river. Their job had been to create a disease to unleash on Olwynn should the drow invasion fail. That disease - blood veil - had already been sent to Olwynn. Now the cult was in Dagger Rock awaiting further orders. They'd been spending the down-time torturing and experimenting on the populace, creating new strains of the disease.</p><p> </p><p>The heroes immediately sent one of their pixie messengers to Olwynn with the news. Then, they resolved to go to the lair and to wipe out the cult for good...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Netherstorm, post: 5737805, member: 84943"] [b]4. Dagger Rock[/b] [I]11/21/11: My house was robbed! My laptop is gone with all the campaign notes and pictures in it. Luckily, all of the really important stuff has been stored elsewhere, so the campaign won't be overly effected.[/I] [I]Also in this adventure, I used a giant mini from warhammer. It's this big spider with seven goblins on the back. It's about 3 squares wide and 6 squares long. I'll try and find a picture once I get a new laptop![/I] [CENTER][FONT=Arial Black][SIZE=3]Saga of Valor [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial Black][SIZE=3]Book One - NyrodSpace War 3[/SIZE][/FONT][/CENTER] [CENTER][I]Chapter Four: Dagger Rock[/I][/CENTER] [B]Ardra[/B] - Eladrin Bladesinger Vovoidja [B]The Blue Monk[/B] - Half-Orc Monk Almoner [B]Hartaniel[/B] - Elf Barbarian Groom of the Stool [B]Lucky[/B] - Human Warlord Constable [B]Ryltar[/B] - Drow Avenger Constable [B]Scarlet[/B] - Human Fighter Constable [B]Varis[/B] - Half-Elf Warlock Hostarius The adventurers had made their way to the drow enclave known as Honglath and defeated the leaders of the ruling house, House Tormtor. Nilonim, leader of the rival faction of House Kilsek, offered to pay the heroes to help him finish off his rivals for good. The heroes talked it over. As they did so, they noticed two female drow hovering close to Nilonim. They were: Quarra - who gazed at him longingly and covered him with her crossbow. Nuliira - who openly resented the heroes' presence Before storming House Tormtor, they'd need to circumvent its' magical protection. For that, they'd need to extract the word of passage from Commander Pellanistra, who was webbed to the altar, her adamantine arm torn off. The arm now belonged to Lucky. Nilonim was ready to torture her to extract the information, but he decided to ask the heroes if they'd like to tr firsty. Varis, the boy of 12 who actually looked to be 8, and his floating skull familiar stepped forward. Nilonim chuckled and said, "What's that, boy?". Lucky said, "They're both good kids." She patted them both on the skull. Teddy the skull looked down and said, "Thank you matron", and flew away quickly. The warlord drunkenly explained to Nilonim, "They're just advanced for their age. They see how the real world is." Nilionim held out a curved dagger to Varis. "All right, boy..." "I won't be needing that," Varis responded. Varis walked up to the altar and looked down at Pellanistra. He said," You see him over there?". He pointed at teddy the floating skull. "I think he could use a friend. Perhaps you could donate your skull as well as your arm... What is the word of command?". Varis glared at her, his eyes flaring with energy. Pellanistra regarded him with genuine fear and said "Ollst". It was drow for 'caution'. Nilonim congratulated Varis. Then he declared that once House Tormtor was taken down, they would summon a yochlol and have Pellanistra turned into a drider. The heroes huddled up. Scarlet wasn't too sure if she liked the idea of having a drider running around in the world looking for revenge against them. Scarlet thought having Pellanistra dead was better. Lucky piped up. The heroes could not help but notice her eye patch, peg leg and hook hand as she said somberly, "I'd have to say that dead is better than a lot of things...". But there were fifteen drow members of House Kilsek, as well as dozens of warrior slaves. There was little they could do. The heroes and House Kilsek gathered together and closed in on House Tormtor's large dwelling. The word of command was spoken, deactivating the house's protective wards, and the adventurers burst in through the doors to find the enemy ready for them. The drow were across the large main chamber, behind a barricade of furniture, aiming crossbows and readying spells. Their bugbear slaves roared and charged forward. The drow flung flash globes. One exploded at Hartaniel's feet. He couldn't see a thing, but he could hear the bugbears rushing close. He let out a magical shout, blasting the slaves back. Lucky flung Pellanistra's severed adamantite arm at a bugbear, kiling it. Scarlet dodged blasts of dark fire and crossbow bolts laced with drow poison. She grabbed a luxurious plush chair and flung it at the drow. Two of them were hit by chair legs, and died instantly. The blue monk hid in a shadowy corner, waiting for his time to strike. Nilonim and his aide, Nuliira were battling three male drow warriors. One warrior had Nilonim down, and was choking him to death. Ardra cast Spook, causing the drow to shriek and stumble off of Nilonim. Nilonim slew the drow and nodded at Ardra. One drow of House Tormtor raced past the heroes, trying to flee out the front door. Varis cursed the drow with a devouring worms spell, but he did escape. Ryltar saw Nilonim fighting... and Nuliira behind him, menacingly drawing her poisoned rapier. She meant to strike him down and claim House Kilsek for herself! Ryltar let out a shout of warning. Quarra fired off a crossbow bolt and killed Nuliira with one shot. The battle over, Quarra approached Nilonim to congratulate him. He blew right by her. He excitedly prepared to summon the yochlol. Hartaniel pulled Nilonim to the side. Quarra had her crossbow trained on him. The Blue Monk crept behind her, ready. Hartaniel said, "I think Quarra is interested in you. She'd probably produce good, strong children for you." Nilonim scowled. "She is useless." The heroes gathered near the altar in the main hall, and watched from a distance as the fifteen drow of House Kilsek gathered around where Pellanistra was bound. Ardra noticed sigils aroud the base of the altar. She could see that the altar doubled as a teleportation circle. The drow chanted and prayed for twenty minutes, and then Urialle arrived. She was a beautiful drow woman with broad shoulders and a metal helmet. She wore a brooch insignia of a bone spider, which glowed from within. In one hand she held a heated brand. In the other, she held a glass of wine. Varis knew that Urialle could shift into a form of a yellow blob with a single, hideous eye. He also knew that as a yochlol, she was one of Lolth's handmaidens in the Demonweb Pits. Urialle went to work on Pellanistra, using the brand, tongs, and knives. Pellanistra screamed throughout the process, in incredible agony. At one point, Urialle paused to behold a bugbear slave. She ordered it close and then cut its' head off, just so she could laugh at its' headless body prancing about. After half an hour, Pellanistra was transformed. She now had the lower body of a spider, and a thirst for blood. Urialle declared that she'd live a life of rage and hopelessness. Pellanistra scampered into a tunnel that lead to the underdark below. And then, with a sneer, the yochlol used the altar to return from whence she came. The drow clapped excitedly, and offered the heroes food - rothe and spider meat. Nilonim declared to House Kilsek that they'd be leaving Honglath. He was going to take them deeper below to the sea of Black Blood, where they'd ally themselves with Velkyn Phindar. The name made Varis remember... [I]Varis was ten years old, and a slave to the drow in the city of Rilauven. The son of Varis' owner, the drow boy who would one day become the floating skull known as Teddy, had taken Varis to the caves near Rilauven to do some exploring. They spotted a cave thirty feet up a wall. A rothe was in there. Teddy wondered how it had got there.[/I] [I]He raced Varis up to the cave. Inside, they saw the rothe was bleeding from its' underbelly. They also saw a glow coming from the back wall of the cave. Teddy ordered Varis to check it out. As Varis got close, he saw that the glow was coming from a secret wall panel left ajar! Inside was a pile of platinum pieces! On top was a gem lit with fire inside.[/I] [I]Varis knew immediately that it was a gem that could summon an efreet. The slaves in the city had heard of such gems, and often hoped one day to find one so that they might change their fates.[/I] [I]Varis picked it up, and a voice from inside said to him: "You who touch this gem may summon a mighty efreet ruler who must obey your command! Say the command word and I shall be your humble servant, confidant, and soldier!"[/I] [I]Varis had no idea what the command word was.[/I] [I]As he wracked his brain, the pile of platinum stirred. A huge snake with shimmering black scales emerged! It slithered out onto the cavern floor and transformed into a tall, black-scaled dragon! He was Velkyn Phindar, a deep dragon![/I] [I]He lowered a glowing, milky eye to Teddy and Varis and said, "The treasure belongs to me, rivvil."[/I] [I]Teddy immediately put all the blame on Varis.[/I] [I]Varis put it back as the deep dragon began to drool. It gobbled up the rothe. The poor beast cried out, and then was swallowed. Velkyn Phindar regarded the trembling youths once more.[/I] [I]"You are all bones. Begone!"[/I] [I]The pair climbed down and ran all the way back to Rilauven.[/I] The adventurers left Honglath and resumed the journey to Dagger Rock. It was only a few hours from the cave. Along the way, they found three human corpses wrapped up in webbing. They were cut up badly, and had many tiny arrows sticking out of them. The heroes continued on until they could see Dagger Rock in the distance. Music was coming from the small town. They fund the "X" on the map. It indicated a huge tree just outside of town. The tree was hiollowed out. Inside, they saw markings that indicated canisters had been stored inside it recently. The warped wood on the back suggested the canisters held some kind of alchemical solution. The adventurers made their way into Dagger Rock. The market was buzzing. There were over a dozen stalls, all filled with local business people selling their wares. A woman walked about, loudly playing the flute. The heroes split up and mingled with the locals. The Blue Monk and Ryltar spotted a dwarf with pale grey skin and coal black eyes, who was wearing the symbol of Dispater. He looked suspicious. They approached him. "Greetings," said The Blue Monk. The cleric looked irritated. "What?!" "Admiring your vestitures." "Well, why don't you stop it? You don't wanna piss me off." "I was just curious as far as what you're up to here." "What does it look like? I'm getting something to eat! Freak." "Ah. Aggressive. I know your type." The citizen running the stall nearby dispensing said meat said in his Dagger Rock accent, "We don't want any trouble he'ah in Daggah Rock. Why don't you go dat way and you go dat way?". The Blue Monk ignored the pleas of the meat handler and continued to question the dwarf. "I'm just curious as to your business in town." "My business... is none of your business. We're not friends." The citizen piped up again. "Don't make him angry! Where'd you guys come from? You here to kill dah spidah?" Ryltar perked up. "What spider?" "Whadda ya stupid? We can't leave town cause of the spidah out dere! Buncha goblins ridin on it tryin ta kill everybody..!" Ryltar nodded. "That explains the bodies in the forest..." The Blue Monk turned to the dwarf and asked him if he knew anything about the spider. The dwarf said, "If you say one more thing to me, I am going to make you sorry!" Ryltar leaned down and looked at the dwarf. Then he said, deliberately, "One. More. Thing." While that was going on, Ardra and her three bugbear slaves checked out a farmer's wares. Othikan, one of the bugbears, said, "Mommy can we have corn? I mean... master..?" Another slave, named Pentrac, sniffed it. "It smell so good!" Ardra laughed and said, "Let's go speak to the nice man." The farmer offered her corn for one silver, and explained about the spider. He said that adventurers had tried and failed to kill it. He pointed to the dwarf cleric of Dispater and told her that he had refused to help. The town drunk staggered about, drinking sloppily from a flask. The farmer told her the spider appeared two to three days ago. And people have been disappearing for the last month. The farmer said, "I don't wanna scare ya lady. You seem nice, and your dog-men are real fun! But yer probably gonna die. I just wanna warn you. Enjoy ya life!" Ardra smiled and said, "Yes, we'll all enjoy it with a round of corn." Lucky approached a goliath who was the head of the town militia. She said to him, "Listen up. My name's Constable Greyweather from Olwynn. I want to inform you of a situation." The goliath looked at Lucky, with her eyepatch and pegleg. "Jeez lady, what happened to you? Losin a leg.. and an eye..? Might as well give it up!" Lucky sighed and said, "Yeah I think about that a lot. Tell me about your spider problem." Captain Bearclaw told her about the spider and the people disappearing. "I'm sorry lady. I'm tryin my best! But yer probably gonna die." Lucky nodded. "You're probably right." Hartaniel approached the mayor, who was old, frail and hated newcomers. He held a scarf over his mouth. As he saw Hartaniel approach, he said, "Aw no, we got more!". They talked. Hartaniel learned of the spider and the disappearances. Hartaniel said, "I'll make you a deal." The mayor was taken aback. "Make me a deal!?" "Yes. I'll cut you a deal. We'll get rid of the goblins.. with the spider underneath them. You mobilize your forces to take on whoever's behind the disappearances." The mayor glared bitterly. "My forces? You mean my four guards?! That'll take about five minutes." He turned to the guard next to him and said, "Go get the other guards. No wait, don't, I'm being sarcastic." He turned back to Hartaniel. "You kill dat spidah, we give you money." Varis skulked about, keeping a low profile. Nearby a beautiful woman was playing the flute. She sized up Scarlet. Scalet sized her up in return. They tried to intimidate each other through glaring. Scarlet won. The flute playing woman swiftly pranced away. And that's when Kurik the dwarf got into a fight with The Blue Monk and Ryltar. The Blue Monk punched Kurik, the dwarf priest of Dispater, right in the face. Hartaniel saw it going down, and tried to distract the mayor. Ryltar turned invisible and bloodied Kurik with his scythe. Ardra abandoned her corn on the cob and ran over and cracked the dwarf with the hilt of her weapon. Kurik chanted in infernal and called forth a wave of energy that knocked all of the heroes back! He bolted for a side street, but the blue monk chased him down and pinned him to the ground. Captain Bearclaw angrily shouted at them. He told Kurik he'd been a problem in the town for long enough, and told him to leave Dagger Rock. He told the heroes to leave as well. Only Hartaniel, Lucky and Varis were allowed to remain, as they had nothing to do with the altercation. The heroes regrouped with their banished friends outside of town. Kurik was barely conscious. They decided to go hunt the spider. They told Kurik he was "free to go", and then quietly followed him through the forest. The nasty fellow did not realize that he was being used as spider-bait. As they had hoped, Kurik came upon the giant spider! Over ten feet high and fifteen feet long, venomous ichor dripped from its' mandibles. Seven purple, lolthbound goblins lurked on a platform made of webbing on its' back. They gleefully levelled their short bows at the fearful dwarf. Scarlet, The Blue Monk and Hartaniel charged the spider. It brought down one of it's pointed, tree-trunk-like legs on Scarlet, bloodying her. Ryltar skulked in the woods nearby, slowly closing in, unseen. Varis pelted the huge spider with a spell, and Ardra fired off a magic missile. The spider stabbed Scarlet and dropped her. The Blue Monk was bloodied from a similar blow. Lucky came close and healed Scarlet's wounds. Varis pelted the spider with an eldritch blast. Kurik tried to run, but Scarlet got up and grabbed him. She shouted at him to fight. Kurik cursed at her and struck her with his mace. Then he called upon the magic of Dispater to heal himself! Scarlet scowled and tossed Kurik at the spider's face! He crashed to the ground before it, prone and terrified. Hartaniel teleported onto the spider's back, drew his sword, and cut down four of the seven goblins before they could even scream. Then he plunged his blade into the spider, bloodying it. Toxic spider blood spewed everywhere, injuring the heroes. Varis continued to blast the spider with spells. Ryltar struck from the shadows, carving into its' side with his scythe. Ardra got close and cut into it as well. The spider began to tremble. The heroes had swarmed it and were injuring it badly. Ardra used her magicto toss a goblin hurtling through the air and into a tree, killing it. Lucky, who was 20 feet to the east, gave out a shout, luring the spider to her. This created an opening, allowing three of the heroes to charge after it as it loomed over the warlord. The Blue Monk, Ardra and Scarlet tore into the spider. Kurik had been lost in the shuffle. He made a run for it, pausing to shout "f**k you!" at the heroes. Ryltar chased him down and used a spell to blind him. Hartaniel remained on the spider's back, keeping a hand on a support strand of hardened webbing for balance. He cut down the last of the goblins. Varis staggered the spider with an eldritch blast. Ardra finished it off, slicing open the creature's side. The Blue Monk swiftly powdered the faces of the dead with the four point mark and then ran over to Kurik and knoicked him out. The heroes rested for a moment as the three bugbear slaves tied up the spider's corpse, so that they could drag it back to town. Once ready, the heroes made their way back to Dagger Rock. On the way back, Kurik admitted he was in town looking for a magic horn that had been stolen from Captain Bearclaw. The horn could summon a roc. He insisted that he didn't know who stole it, or where it was. Ryltar began to try to teach the heroes drow hand-code. Varis quietly urged him not to. Varis felt that knowing the hand code was an advantage he'd like to keep to himself. The people of the town cheered as they saw that the heroes had killed the spider. The air was filled with shouts of "They killed tha spidah!". People gathered around them in the town square and patted them on the back. The heroes proceeded to hand Kurik over to Captain Bearclaw, when... Undead hordes, led by a single masked plaguebringer, emerged from three side streets! Zombies, wisp wraiths and severed zombie hands all attacked! The bugbears took on the hands, while the heroes split up and dealt with the wraiths and zombies. The Blue Monk put his fist through a zombie's skull. Varis blasted another... only to watch in horror as it got back up! Hartaniel had one of the giant spider's severed legs in his hand. He threw it and impaled a zombie with it. Ardra chanted and used a spell to pull the plaguebringer close. She smelled alcohol on him. She surmised that, beneath the mask, was the face of the town drunk. Varis was near her, firing off spells. The woman who'd been playing on her flute earlier crept close and snatched two gems from his pack. The poor boy was none the wiser. She grinned to herself and raced out of the square. Varis fired off a burning spray spell, killing three zombies. Ryltar and The Blue Monk were having trouble keeping the zombies down. On the other side of the square. Scarlet slashed into four wisps, destroying them. Lucky closed in on five wraiths and said, "These don't look like the usual wraiths that haunt my nightmares. Goodbye, fallen comrades." She turned and looked at Captain Bearclaw, who was protecting the mayor. "Hey guys, do any of these look familiar to you? Missing people, maybe?" In the heat of battle, they stook a glance. They would, in fact, eventually recognize the undead as many of the travelers who had passed throguh town. Ardra and The Blue Monk pummelled the plaguebringer, knocking him out. Kurik, once again, escaped during the confusion. He made sure to turn before making his exit and shouting "f**k you!" one last time. Unlike the other attempts, this time Kurik was able to escape Dagger Rock for good. The heroes and the bugbear slaves took out the undead. Then they rested and questioned the plaguebringer. He explained that the cult of Urgathoa's lair was located beneath a stone near the river. Their job had been to create a disease to unleash on Olwynn should the drow invasion fail. That disease - blood veil - had already been sent to Olwynn. Now the cult was in Dagger Rock awaiting further orders. They'd been spending the down-time torturing and experimenting on the populace, creating new strains of the disease. The heroes immediately sent one of their pixie messengers to Olwynn with the news. Then, they resolved to go to the lair and to wipe out the cult for good... [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
(4e) Saga of Valor
Top