Sorry about the long delay folks...here's an update for you.
Chapter 25
Terenon looked up in wonder. There was little in the world that could measure up to the majestic sight of a dragon in flight. Unfortunately, when the dragon was flying in your direction, it was another matter entirely.
The mage scrambled for the cover of a nearby bush, glad to see that the others were following suit. The dragon flew closer, and Terenon noticed that a humanoid rode on the wyrm’s back. He feared that the patrol had already spotted them. But about a hundred feet away, the rider steered the dragon in a looping circle around back the way it came. Terenon could now make out the rider in greater detail. He was clad in black full plate armor and carried a heavy lance. He had rough yellow skin and russet hair pulled into a pair of topknots. His eyes had a sinister gleam, and his ears were pointed and serrated in back. The dragon wore fine barding of chain.
Completing its turn, the dragon started heading back the way it came. Off in the distance, the group could make out two small red shapes circling around another part of the Vale, before the hill on which sat the Dungeon of the Ruins. It seemed to be where the barracks house was located.
Terenon emerged from the bush, his jaw dropped in amazement. “By all the gods! Chromatic dragons with githyanki riders!”
Grundar frowned thoughtfully, tracking the wyrm with his sharp eyes. “Don’t tell me Acessiwal’s forces have already mobilized.”
“If this is an example of the army the dragon has amassed, Silverymoon, hell, all the Realms are in deep trouble. This does not bode well, not at all," said Terenon. "Rhys, can you divine a way in to the observatory? We cannot stay out here. I doubt we can take on three dragons and their riders, plus there is no telling how many githyanki ground troops there are here."
Rhys flushed profusely as he looked from the dragons to Terenon, shame evident in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Terenon. I thought about praying for Torm to grant me such a spell, but in the end I did not. I have failed in my duty to you.”
Allanon came up to Rhys and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Hey, cheer up, big guy. It’s not your fault. We’ll find some other way in, right?”
Grundar’s eyes gleamed as he suddenly remembered something. "We could teleport into the storage room just outside the well room. It had a bunch of crates, sacks and stuff. From there, its just the double doors to reach the beholder’s lair."
“I can do it,” said Jelani. “Just a dimension door away.”
“Then let’s not stand out here in the open like bait,” grunted Rumar. “Do it.”
As the group prepared for the upcoming fight, they failed to notice Rhys’ embarassment.
They shame me by ignoring my failure! the priest thought to himself.
How could I've been so stupid as to not take that spell today. Oh, sure they figured a way around it. Perhaps that's the problem: THEY always figure out a way around my short comings. With a relatively blank look, Rhys prepared a few defensive spells. Then he joined the others around Jelani, who cast his spell, sending them off through the ether.
--
“Damn! He’s not here!” cursed Grundar.
The group had appeared in the storage room and quickly raced into the orrery, to find it empty. Orichalxos’ spellbooks and personal treasure were all about the room, but the beholder-mage were nowhere to be seen.
The elf sighed and moved to kick at the mobile of globes in the rooms center, when the faintest whisper of movement caught his attention. Turning swiftly around, he noticed two horrid creatures floating down the stairs and moving to block the hallway. They looked like sickly-green floating man-of-war jellyfish. Their bodies pulsed and rippled, and dangling from them were a number of barbed tentacles.
“We’ve got company!” he shouted, pointing to the two grotesque beasts. The others turned to look, though Allanon, Rhys, and Rumar could see nothing but empty air. The other members of the group all had enchantments up that allowed them to see invisible creatures.
“I’ll take your word for it!” said Allanon, weaving a spell. “Shield your eyes!” With that, he sent a scintillating spray of colors at the invisible assailants. The spray washed over them, but he could not see what effects it had had on the creatures.
“One of them’s gone!” said Grundar. “Good work!” He drew his rapier and watched the thing approaching, ready to stab it when it came within range.
“May Torm guide my aim,” Rhys prayed as he sent three bullets sailing at the thing from his sling. Two of the shots went wide, but the third connected, puncturing its body. A jet of greenish, foul smelling gas shot out of the hole.
Rumar shifted about uneasily as the gas emerged from a seemingly empty patch of hallway. He preferred his enemies visible; obviously evil was also always a bonus. "I suppose I'll just have to wait for whatever it is to come to me then, eh?" he grunted, stepping in front of the mages and assuming a defensive stance.
Jelani blinked at the remaining creature. It was certainly ugly enough. Who knew if it was actually dangerous, but it would be best if everyone could see it all the same. He began to chant holding his holy symbol of Akadi in front of him, and a glowing golden wisp of smoke floated from his hand, curling around the room and causing the invisible creature to appear to those who had been previously unable to see it.
The hole in its body began to close as the thing suddenly jetted through the air and lashed out at Grundar with a barbed tendril. The elf stabbed the thing as it drew up in front of him, but his rapier doesn't even penetrate its body. The tendril went straight for Grundar’s eyes, but the nimble rogue dodged aside as the tendril shot past his head.
Terenon wove a spell and sent a thin green ray at the thing. It struck the creature's gassy body, tearing a small hole through it. Even as he watched though, the hole began to grow back.
"There are subtler ways to kill something," said Allanon, shaking his head. He invoked the words to a spell and felt wild magic surging through him, adding power and effectiveness to the spell (and not blowing him up for a change). A shadowy image appeared and touches the creature. The thing jerked smasmodically as it died from fright, then suddenly its body exploded in a blast of toxic gas. Grundar was caught in the poisonous fumes, and he coughed violently as he stumbled out of it. He felt weak and sick.
Rhys quickly moved to check on the poisoned elf. Terenon gave Allanon the thumbs up for his selection on spells. It was true that the mage usually went with brute force when other options were available, but he was an evoker after all.
Terenon paced the room for a bit then his eyes lit up. "I think I know what’s been happening here. I think the beholder and the scepter of the ar-magus are still in the area."
The mage saw the questioning looks on his companions faces. He continued, "The beholder was doing quite a bit of research on the Selskar Order, but cared nothing of the prison of the Firebringer. He only wanted the Acolytes gone. He said he wanted the Vale for himself."
"I think that the scepter was originally created for some other purpose than imprisoning the Firebringer. I think the scepter was originally created for a ritual for opening a portal to the plane of Limbo, for the deal with the Firebringer. The Ar-Magus disovered that instead he could use the power of the scepter to imprison the Firebringer."
"Remember the room opposite the lava room where the Firebringer’s prison was? I think that room was where the portal was supposed to be. I don't believe the beholder has any ties to Acessiwal, but instead has made a pact with the githyanki. Why? Well, who are the sworn enemy of the githyanki, besides mind flayers? The githzerai. And where do the githzerai live? On the plane of Limbo."
"The beholder is probably playing two fronts. One with the githyanki and another with the slaadi. If he can open the gate he will have great pull with both cultures. As for why the red dragons are here, the githyanki have a pact with them on the Prime Material Plane."
"I believe Orichalxos is still here and working on opening the portal. I can teleport us to the gate room, but I won't have another to teleport us out. We can fight our way there, but I doubt we will reach it with enough power to fight the beholder."
Jelani listened to Terenon’s theory with interest. It was fascinating the way the man’s mind worked. He was very bright, but for someone so...rigid, he tended to jump to a lot of conclusions. “Well, that’s one way to look at it, and it’s certainly a valid possibility,” the mystic theurge said. “Another thing to consider is that most times when you destroy a creature from another layer of existence, it is actually banished back to its own plane; the Firebringer was specifically barred from doing that. So then, perhaps the creature’s destruction on this plane, combined with that barrier reacted in a way no one had foreseen, creating sort of an inter-dimensional explosion; weakening or even tearing the fabric between our two existences. Though I suppose warping would be a better word.”
“Or I suppose that the githyanki could have just been there when the sealed doorway that had been created summoning Bazim-Gorag suddenly opened…any or all of this could be true: the question at hand is what we can and should do about it.”
“The githyanki presence makes more sense to me now,” said Rhys. “As Jelani had mentioned the Firebringer’s death has attracted some attention to both the event and to us. Beings of that stature tend to take notice when one of their kind passes. Even while bound, his presence was a focal point and now the balance--or perhaps I should say the game that they play--has been altered. A piece has been removed from the game and new ones have appeared. Make no mistake: we've all been added to the game as pawns, though I say that with no measure of disrespect. Whomever each of us serves is taking a new look at us.” The passion in Rhys's eyes and tone of his voice showed a firm conviction to his belief in what he's saying.
Jelani glanced at his companions, making sure they were all paying attention. “The truth is that we’re unaware of the situation within the complex and we have several options. First, we can do as Terenon suggests and teleport blindly into the gate room, not necessarily a bad plan, but one to be taken with caution. Secondly, we could fight through all the forces that are there and then confront the beholder. We could return to Silverymoon, and spend a day or two preparing ourselves for this specific fight, but that would let our foes more time to prepare as well. Lastly, we could teleport into the ruins near where the gate is located, say the tomb, and take it from there, but then we might have to fight some of the beholder’s guards. Am I missing anything? Whatever we decide, I’ll be able to teleport us out if the situation gets grim.”
Terenon nodded in agreement. "Anything is possible, but one thing is for sure. Something is being protected here, and we have little alternative but to investigate. The plan of teleporting to the Crypt is a good one. It is secreted away, and probably of little interest to anyone. As long as we don't disturb the crypts, it will be a safe place to teleport into. The ghosts there may even have some information for us."
"Unless there any objections. I will take us there now."