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<blockquote data-quote="LordVyreth" data-source="post: 1473954" data-attributes="member: 9626"><p><strong>Town Held Hostage</strong></p><p></p><p>The day after the strange images tormented the party was a peaceful, but solemn one. No one spoke much, and Tal especially seemed out of sorts. Eventually, Flix worried so much about his friend that he spoke up. “Tal, are you okay? That dragon-thingy didn’t have any permanent effect, did it?”</p><p></p><p>Tal shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t think my magic has even been affected. But even if that was an illusion, what if it was right? What if whoever is tormenting me can look into my soul, and finds it lacking. What happened to me felt like my worst nightmare coming true. What if this Nightmare Prince could make it happen?”</p><p></p><p>At that, Quercus smashed one of his fists into the other out of frustration. “If that little display of his was any indication of what he’s like, once I get my hands on him, he’ll be lucky to be alive. He sounds like a monster that deserves destruction.”</p><p></p><p>Soon, however, the party had to stop their chatter. They were nearing Delaspie. They were given instructions back in Necropolis on how to handle this. First, they had to take to the forests as much as possible. Then, they had to blow a horn given to them earlier the instant they see the first tower of the wall rise over the tree line. They then had to run as fast as they could, and get through the nearest gate immediately! The party, obviously nervous after receiving such ominous instructions, followed them to the letter, and as they made the last sprint, it soon became apparent why they were instructed to run. Hordes of undead were slowly chasing them! It looked like they would be overrun, but the forest suddenly ended, and the party could see the wall in all of its grandeur. The didn’t really have time to appreciate it right now, of course, so they continued the race until they made it inside the outer gate. As they ran, arrows rained down from the top of the wall, silencing any undead that were too close to the party. Once they got into the first gate, armored knights closed the gap behind them, and fought off the undead long enough for the portcullis to lower and the massive gate doors to be closed. One of the knights immediately turned to the party and simply uttered the word “Password.” It was a simple message, but clearly indicated the intent that if the password was not given, the part was going right back outside the wall.</p><p></p><p>But the party had been briefed on these as well, and after Tal gave it, the guards visibly relaxed, and the second gate was opened for them. It took another four gates before they were actually able to get past the wall, though after seeing the army that constantly waits outside the wall, none of them were going to complain about the excess security! They now had many days of travel ahead of them before they reach the capital city of Delaspie, which is also just called Delaspie. However, the journey was mostly peaceful, since few things could get past the wall or its army of defenders. The party stayed at small towns and inns every night. Finally, the party reached Keddindale, a village just a day away from Delaspie. There, they stayed at the Lion’s View Inn, which Jack and Eric specifically mentioned is an excellent way to rest before the final trek into town. In fact, when they arrived, they found their room was already paid for! They settled in for the last night of their long journey.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Tanos looked on, smiling. This should be the perfect time to finish these fools off, and have some fun with the helpless locals as well. But something was troubling him. That prisoner of theirs looked familiar from somewhere….</p><p></p><p></p><p>It was the screams that woke the party. As one, the group leapt out of bed, and dashed to the windows of their respective rooms. The inn was facing the town square, and it looked like all the chaos was focused there. In the center of the square, a human with a dark cloak was standing in the center, laughing. Behind him was a strange creature. It looked a little like a giant jellyfish, but it only had four tentacles, and its “head” was a self-contained pod of fluid. The tentacles were hooked and barbed, and the entire creature was a sickly dark green color. Worst of all, however, were a number of ghostly green heads floating in the creature’s pod, which were frequently opening their mouths in anguish, and it soon became clear that many of the screams that the party heard was coming from those faces. A flock of strange bats filled the sky, and the area around the square was filled with the bloody remains of humans. The man, after noticing the party was watching, turned to the inn and shouted. “Heroes of Methosilang! You have attracted the attention of my master! I am here to see to it that the secrets you have learned will die here with you! I want you to appear before me, so we can finish this. If you do not, I will have my pet here kill one citizen for every hour you delay. And I will start,” as he says this, he looked to the creature, which obediently grabbed a cowering figure huddled in the crowd, “with this town’s mayor!” The party could see a struggling halfling woman now being lifted fifteen feet off the ground by the hovering monster.</p><p></p><p>Quercus and Raz started to put their armor on as quickly as possible, knowing that they had a few minutes and that they’ll need to be at full strength to survive such a fierce foe. Flix, Rudyard, Tal, and Tsine had only minimal armor that they put on as quickly as possible, and then dashed out of the inn. Flix quietly moved to blend in with the crowd, while the others pushed their way to the front of the crowd. Tal got their first, and shouted at the creature, “We’re here. Now, who are you, and what do you want from us?” </p><p></p><p>The man looked on with amusement. “No, I mean all of the heroes. I only see three of you now. I assume the…small one is trying to sneak around in this crowd as we speak, though I wonder why your other friends couldn’t be bothered to appear and help as well. Are they selfish beings who don’t care about these villagers, or merely cowards? And if you want my name, Tanos will suffice, I think.”</p><p></p><p>Tal tried to ignore the taunts. “You gave us an hour; I’m sure they’ll be here before then. But why worry about them? Whatever business you have with us can be handled with just the fo…three of us.”</p><p></p><p>Tanos laughed. “My business with you is to ensure that you never see the light of day again. I’d rather ensure that you’re all here to start instead of getting involved in a pointless melee and having to a headcount afterwards. Especially since I doubt all of your heads will still be intact at that point.”</p><p></p><p>Flix, hiding in the corner, finally had enough. His restraint temporarily snapped, he leapt out and threw a dagger at the floating creature. It pierced the fluid bag, causing it to ooze a vile liquid. The others were about to join in the attack when the creature held up the tentacle holding the mayor, and even with its alien features, its intent was obvious.</p><p></p><p>“Now, that was hardly sporting, now was it?” Tanos began. I’m sure you noticed the flock of bats above you. If you come to me in a group as I ordered earlier, I give you my word that they won’t interfere. If not, well, they may get enraged when they see their leader has been attacked, and suck the blood out of the nearest villager they see. The casualties would be quite excessive, wouldn’t you think? Now, run along and find your friends, so we can settle this already.”</p><p></p><p>Realizing they had no choice, the party retreated back to the inn to find Quercus and Raz. As they did, Rudyard noticed the creature disappear from the town square for a moment, but he had bigger concerns. He also held back for a moment while the others looked for their missing friends, and a gut feeling told him to check on the prisoner. As he looked into the room they were keeping him, his worst fears were confirmed: Paul was gone, and the chest containing his possessions and the stolen items was opened and nearly empty. Even worse the ceramic shards of many of the treasures littered the floor, as if Paul broke them before escaping for some reason. Tanos will have to wait for a moment, Rudyard thought, as he burst out the door and began tracking his quarry.</p><p></p><p>Though his skills at tracking were learned in a forest, Rudyard found them just as useful inside a human settlement. He soon was able to spot the footprints Paul made when leaving the inn, and follow them outside. Even with the crowds of people and the mess they made of the path, he was able to track Paul for blocks before finally spotting him trying to sneak over the wall. A strange humanoid-shaped being made out of an ectoplasmic ooze was scaring away the citizens in the area. Rudyard gave them little heed as he charged at the odd creature. It tried to pound on him, but he easily sidestepped it and slashed at it with his sword. Paul realized this new threat had to be dealt with, and simply glared at Rudyard. Suddenly, a scream erupted in Rudyard’s head, as if his very mind was being pummeled. It took every ounce of will he had in him, but he resisted the effects, and finished off the green monster. He then charged at a suddenly very scared Paul, who threw up his hands in surrender. “Wait,” he yelled. “I won’t resist any more!”</p><p></p><p>Rudyard growled. “You’re lucky they want you alive. But a few smacks from the flat of my blade would make sure I’ll get no more trouble out of you!”</p><p></p><p>Paul trembled, but was able to respond. “Hold on! I can help you. I know about those things that are attacking the village. I can help you fight them if you spare me!”</p><p></p><p>Rudyard thought it over for a moment. “I won’t free you if you agree to help us, but I will speak on your behalf at the trial. But you must swear not to betray us or try to escape us again.”</p><p></p><p>Without hesitation, Paul assented. “I swear by the Eleven Sisters that I won’t try to escape or harm you again. But let me stay hidden in the crowd until the fight begins. If Tanos sees me, we’ll lose the element of surprise.”</p><p></p><p>Rudyard, eager to get back to his friends, agreed, and went back to the inn with Paul. By now, Quercus and Raz were finally ready, and the group went back to square as one. Though Flix again snuck into the crowd as they approached. The green monster had returned as well, and it looked fully healed from the wound Flix gave it earlier.</p><p></p><p>“We are all here now, you murderer!” Quercus yelled. “Let’s end this mess so we can put you to justice!”</p><p></p><p>Tanos looked at the group with a frown. “And where is your sneaky friend this time…”</p><p></p><p>“Right here!” Flix yelled, and this time charged the square, just as the other five charged in from the other side. The floating creature didn’t even have time to threaten the mayor further, or perhaps it didn’t care to now that his prey were all gathered in front of him. Flix was the first to strike, however, and he prepared to stab his sword straight into Tanos’ heart. But something made him pause. The way he spoke about Flix earlier, like he tried to emphasis or gloss over his size, made him change his attack, aiming for where his heart would be if he was closer to Flix’s size. His intuition paid off, and Tanos screamed from a much lower area than expected. Flix noticed the “man’s” form immediately vanished, to be replaced with a shadowy figure. Another illusion! Quercus saw it, too, and cast a spell to purge invisibility and reveal Tanos’ true form. With a flash of light, a halfling appeared inside the illusionary man. However, he wasn’t a normal halfling. His body was altered, much like the orcs were, to have metal grafts and implants, including a tail, and insectoid wings. But he didn’t appear to be in any pain, except for the obvious gaping chest wound, of course. He appeared to be fully in control of his implants. Meanwhile, the strange jellyfish-creature floated over the rest of the party, slashing at them with all four of his tentacles. Tsine was outside of his range, but Tal, Raz, Quercus, and Rudyard all took a deep gash from the creature. Tanos, meanwhile, looked surprisingly happy. He yelled at the bats to destroy everyone they see, and then took off into the air. Flix tried to stab at him as he flew, but his attack bounced off his thick metallic skin. Laughing maniacally, he tossed a fireball into the area of Tal and Tsine, and caught Raz in the blast as well. Already, everyone but Flix was heavily injured. Raz fired at the jellyfish with his bow, but the creature regenerated nearly all of the wounds it took. Tal and Tsine fired at him, but while Tsine’s acid arrow struck true, Tal’s magical orb vanished inches from the creature. Rudyard drew his bow and fired at Tanos, only to have his arrows bounce off his metal armor skin. It was looking very bad for the party.</p><p></p><p>Flix tried to continue his attack, by throwing a dagger at Tanos, but it veered off wildly. Quercus disengaged from the jellyfish to attack Tanos, but took another slash from the creature as a party shot as he flew. The jellyfish ignored him after that, and instead suddenly spun in a circle, gathering dark orbs of energy around it, and then released them outward, catching Rudyard, Raz, Flix, and Tal in the blast. The orb heading towards Rudyard caught him in the head, and he uttered one last, agonizing scream, and then collapsed on the floor, unmoving. Suddenly, a jet of strange white fire appeared out of literally nowhere, scorching both Tanos and the jellyfish. Both screamed in pain, and Tanos yelled out, “Traitor! When I tell my master of this, he’ll make sure you’ll never see a moment without misery for the rest of your long life!” But he couldn’t spot his new enemy, so he instead fired an arrow of acid at Tal. It sunk deep into him, and he collapsed from the pain. Realizing they had to kill these creatures quickly, Raz fired on Tanos, and scored a perfect shot between his armored plates and deep into his chest. Meanwhile, Tsine fired a volley of missiles at the jellyfish. They pummeled its pod, and as it tried to recover, Quercus suddenly spun around in the air to target his remaining foe. It weakly tried to slash at him, but his attack went wide, and Quercus drove his blade straight into the pod and out the other side. It burst like a water balloon, causing the creature to hang limply from his sword for a moment, and then dissolve into ash. The screaming faces inside the pod flew out, shrieking a cry of happiness and joy before disappearing into the night. The bats saw that their master was defeated, and flew off as well. The party quickly moved to gather their wounded friends, and try to find Paul.</p><p></p><p>OOC Notes: The jellyfish monster is called a Lipido, and is from the same video game idea that the Sunken came from. Tanos, on the other hand, used the half-machine template from an old Dungeon article. It won’t be the last time that template gets used, either.</p><p></p><p>This game was another one I over prepared for. I had an elaborate timetable, plans for Paul after his escape, an order of hostages killed, and so on. Fortunately, unlike the temple adventure earlier, we started this one midway through the session (everything from the hydra battle up to now was one night of gaming,) so when it ended quickly, it actually felt well timed.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LordVyreth, post: 1473954, member: 9626"] [b]Town Held Hostage[/b] The day after the strange images tormented the party was a peaceful, but solemn one. No one spoke much, and Tal especially seemed out of sorts. Eventually, Flix worried so much about his friend that he spoke up. “Tal, are you okay? That dragon-thingy didn’t have any permanent effect, did it?” Tal shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t think my magic has even been affected. But even if that was an illusion, what if it was right? What if whoever is tormenting me can look into my soul, and finds it lacking. What happened to me felt like my worst nightmare coming true. What if this Nightmare Prince could make it happen?” At that, Quercus smashed one of his fists into the other out of frustration. “If that little display of his was any indication of what he’s like, once I get my hands on him, he’ll be lucky to be alive. He sounds like a monster that deserves destruction.” Soon, however, the party had to stop their chatter. They were nearing Delaspie. They were given instructions back in Necropolis on how to handle this. First, they had to take to the forests as much as possible. Then, they had to blow a horn given to them earlier the instant they see the first tower of the wall rise over the tree line. They then had to run as fast as they could, and get through the nearest gate immediately! The party, obviously nervous after receiving such ominous instructions, followed them to the letter, and as they made the last sprint, it soon became apparent why they were instructed to run. Hordes of undead were slowly chasing them! It looked like they would be overrun, but the forest suddenly ended, and the party could see the wall in all of its grandeur. The didn’t really have time to appreciate it right now, of course, so they continued the race until they made it inside the outer gate. As they ran, arrows rained down from the top of the wall, silencing any undead that were too close to the party. Once they got into the first gate, armored knights closed the gap behind them, and fought off the undead long enough for the portcullis to lower and the massive gate doors to be closed. One of the knights immediately turned to the party and simply uttered the word “Password.” It was a simple message, but clearly indicated the intent that if the password was not given, the part was going right back outside the wall. But the party had been briefed on these as well, and after Tal gave it, the guards visibly relaxed, and the second gate was opened for them. It took another four gates before they were actually able to get past the wall, though after seeing the army that constantly waits outside the wall, none of them were going to complain about the excess security! They now had many days of travel ahead of them before they reach the capital city of Delaspie, which is also just called Delaspie. However, the journey was mostly peaceful, since few things could get past the wall or its army of defenders. The party stayed at small towns and inns every night. Finally, the party reached Keddindale, a village just a day away from Delaspie. There, they stayed at the Lion’s View Inn, which Jack and Eric specifically mentioned is an excellent way to rest before the final trek into town. In fact, when they arrived, they found their room was already paid for! They settled in for the last night of their long journey. Tanos looked on, smiling. This should be the perfect time to finish these fools off, and have some fun with the helpless locals as well. But something was troubling him. That prisoner of theirs looked familiar from somewhere…. It was the screams that woke the party. As one, the group leapt out of bed, and dashed to the windows of their respective rooms. The inn was facing the town square, and it looked like all the chaos was focused there. In the center of the square, a human with a dark cloak was standing in the center, laughing. Behind him was a strange creature. It looked a little like a giant jellyfish, but it only had four tentacles, and its “head” was a self-contained pod of fluid. The tentacles were hooked and barbed, and the entire creature was a sickly dark green color. Worst of all, however, were a number of ghostly green heads floating in the creature’s pod, which were frequently opening their mouths in anguish, and it soon became clear that many of the screams that the party heard was coming from those faces. A flock of strange bats filled the sky, and the area around the square was filled with the bloody remains of humans. The man, after noticing the party was watching, turned to the inn and shouted. “Heroes of Methosilang! You have attracted the attention of my master! I am here to see to it that the secrets you have learned will die here with you! I want you to appear before me, so we can finish this. If you do not, I will have my pet here kill one citizen for every hour you delay. And I will start,” as he says this, he looked to the creature, which obediently grabbed a cowering figure huddled in the crowd, “with this town’s mayor!” The party could see a struggling halfling woman now being lifted fifteen feet off the ground by the hovering monster. Quercus and Raz started to put their armor on as quickly as possible, knowing that they had a few minutes and that they’ll need to be at full strength to survive such a fierce foe. Flix, Rudyard, Tal, and Tsine had only minimal armor that they put on as quickly as possible, and then dashed out of the inn. Flix quietly moved to blend in with the crowd, while the others pushed their way to the front of the crowd. Tal got their first, and shouted at the creature, “We’re here. Now, who are you, and what do you want from us?” The man looked on with amusement. “No, I mean all of the heroes. I only see three of you now. I assume the…small one is trying to sneak around in this crowd as we speak, though I wonder why your other friends couldn’t be bothered to appear and help as well. Are they selfish beings who don’t care about these villagers, or merely cowards? And if you want my name, Tanos will suffice, I think.” Tal tried to ignore the taunts. “You gave us an hour; I’m sure they’ll be here before then. But why worry about them? Whatever business you have with us can be handled with just the fo…three of us.” Tanos laughed. “My business with you is to ensure that you never see the light of day again. I’d rather ensure that you’re all here to start instead of getting involved in a pointless melee and having to a headcount afterwards. Especially since I doubt all of your heads will still be intact at that point.” Flix, hiding in the corner, finally had enough. His restraint temporarily snapped, he leapt out and threw a dagger at the floating creature. It pierced the fluid bag, causing it to ooze a vile liquid. The others were about to join in the attack when the creature held up the tentacle holding the mayor, and even with its alien features, its intent was obvious. “Now, that was hardly sporting, now was it?” Tanos began. I’m sure you noticed the flock of bats above you. If you come to me in a group as I ordered earlier, I give you my word that they won’t interfere. If not, well, they may get enraged when they see their leader has been attacked, and suck the blood out of the nearest villager they see. The casualties would be quite excessive, wouldn’t you think? Now, run along and find your friends, so we can settle this already.” Realizing they had no choice, the party retreated back to the inn to find Quercus and Raz. As they did, Rudyard noticed the creature disappear from the town square for a moment, but he had bigger concerns. He also held back for a moment while the others looked for their missing friends, and a gut feeling told him to check on the prisoner. As he looked into the room they were keeping him, his worst fears were confirmed: Paul was gone, and the chest containing his possessions and the stolen items was opened and nearly empty. Even worse the ceramic shards of many of the treasures littered the floor, as if Paul broke them before escaping for some reason. Tanos will have to wait for a moment, Rudyard thought, as he burst out the door and began tracking his quarry. Though his skills at tracking were learned in a forest, Rudyard found them just as useful inside a human settlement. He soon was able to spot the footprints Paul made when leaving the inn, and follow them outside. Even with the crowds of people and the mess they made of the path, he was able to track Paul for blocks before finally spotting him trying to sneak over the wall. A strange humanoid-shaped being made out of an ectoplasmic ooze was scaring away the citizens in the area. Rudyard gave them little heed as he charged at the odd creature. It tried to pound on him, but he easily sidestepped it and slashed at it with his sword. Paul realized this new threat had to be dealt with, and simply glared at Rudyard. Suddenly, a scream erupted in Rudyard’s head, as if his very mind was being pummeled. It took every ounce of will he had in him, but he resisted the effects, and finished off the green monster. He then charged at a suddenly very scared Paul, who threw up his hands in surrender. “Wait,” he yelled. “I won’t resist any more!” Rudyard growled. “You’re lucky they want you alive. But a few smacks from the flat of my blade would make sure I’ll get no more trouble out of you!” Paul trembled, but was able to respond. “Hold on! I can help you. I know about those things that are attacking the village. I can help you fight them if you spare me!” Rudyard thought it over for a moment. “I won’t free you if you agree to help us, but I will speak on your behalf at the trial. But you must swear not to betray us or try to escape us again.” Without hesitation, Paul assented. “I swear by the Eleven Sisters that I won’t try to escape or harm you again. But let me stay hidden in the crowd until the fight begins. If Tanos sees me, we’ll lose the element of surprise.” Rudyard, eager to get back to his friends, agreed, and went back to the inn with Paul. By now, Quercus and Raz were finally ready, and the group went back to square as one. Though Flix again snuck into the crowd as they approached. The green monster had returned as well, and it looked fully healed from the wound Flix gave it earlier. “We are all here now, you murderer!” Quercus yelled. “Let’s end this mess so we can put you to justice!” Tanos looked at the group with a frown. “And where is your sneaky friend this time…” “Right here!” Flix yelled, and this time charged the square, just as the other five charged in from the other side. The floating creature didn’t even have time to threaten the mayor further, or perhaps it didn’t care to now that his prey were all gathered in front of him. Flix was the first to strike, however, and he prepared to stab his sword straight into Tanos’ heart. But something made him pause. The way he spoke about Flix earlier, like he tried to emphasis or gloss over his size, made him change his attack, aiming for where his heart would be if he was closer to Flix’s size. His intuition paid off, and Tanos screamed from a much lower area than expected. Flix noticed the “man’s” form immediately vanished, to be replaced with a shadowy figure. Another illusion! Quercus saw it, too, and cast a spell to purge invisibility and reveal Tanos’ true form. With a flash of light, a halfling appeared inside the illusionary man. However, he wasn’t a normal halfling. His body was altered, much like the orcs were, to have metal grafts and implants, including a tail, and insectoid wings. But he didn’t appear to be in any pain, except for the obvious gaping chest wound, of course. He appeared to be fully in control of his implants. Meanwhile, the strange jellyfish-creature floated over the rest of the party, slashing at them with all four of his tentacles. Tsine was outside of his range, but Tal, Raz, Quercus, and Rudyard all took a deep gash from the creature. Tanos, meanwhile, looked surprisingly happy. He yelled at the bats to destroy everyone they see, and then took off into the air. Flix tried to stab at him as he flew, but his attack bounced off his thick metallic skin. Laughing maniacally, he tossed a fireball into the area of Tal and Tsine, and caught Raz in the blast as well. Already, everyone but Flix was heavily injured. Raz fired at the jellyfish with his bow, but the creature regenerated nearly all of the wounds it took. Tal and Tsine fired at him, but while Tsine’s acid arrow struck true, Tal’s magical orb vanished inches from the creature. Rudyard drew his bow and fired at Tanos, only to have his arrows bounce off his metal armor skin. It was looking very bad for the party. Flix tried to continue his attack, by throwing a dagger at Tanos, but it veered off wildly. Quercus disengaged from the jellyfish to attack Tanos, but took another slash from the creature as a party shot as he flew. The jellyfish ignored him after that, and instead suddenly spun in a circle, gathering dark orbs of energy around it, and then released them outward, catching Rudyard, Raz, Flix, and Tal in the blast. The orb heading towards Rudyard caught him in the head, and he uttered one last, agonizing scream, and then collapsed on the floor, unmoving. Suddenly, a jet of strange white fire appeared out of literally nowhere, scorching both Tanos and the jellyfish. Both screamed in pain, and Tanos yelled out, “Traitor! When I tell my master of this, he’ll make sure you’ll never see a moment without misery for the rest of your long life!” But he couldn’t spot his new enemy, so he instead fired an arrow of acid at Tal. It sunk deep into him, and he collapsed from the pain. Realizing they had to kill these creatures quickly, Raz fired on Tanos, and scored a perfect shot between his armored plates and deep into his chest. Meanwhile, Tsine fired a volley of missiles at the jellyfish. They pummeled its pod, and as it tried to recover, Quercus suddenly spun around in the air to target his remaining foe. It weakly tried to slash at him, but his attack went wide, and Quercus drove his blade straight into the pod and out the other side. It burst like a water balloon, causing the creature to hang limply from his sword for a moment, and then dissolve into ash. The screaming faces inside the pod flew out, shrieking a cry of happiness and joy before disappearing into the night. The bats saw that their master was defeated, and flew off as well. The party quickly moved to gather their wounded friends, and try to find Paul. OOC Notes: The jellyfish monster is called a Lipido, and is from the same video game idea that the Sunken came from. Tanos, on the other hand, used the half-machine template from an old Dungeon article. It won’t be the last time that template gets used, either. This game was another one I over prepared for. I had an elaborate timetable, plans for Paul after his escape, an order of hostages killed, and so on. Fortunately, unlike the temple adventure earlier, we started this one midway through the session (everything from the hydra battle up to now was one night of gaming,) so when it ended quickly, it actually felt well timed. [/QUOTE]
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