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Forgotten Realms Campaign NEW (UPDATED 7/17/06)
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<blockquote data-quote="Ranger5" data-source="post: 2889286" data-attributes="member: 17981"><p><strong>Red Hand of Doom - Part 3 (continued)</strong></p><p></p><p>With the rain and wind lashing at the companions, and the lightning and thunder crashing overhead, they made their way past the carcass of the dead behir and into the worked cavern in the lion-shaped structure at the top of the stairs. The room itself was seemed bare except for a pile of thorn needles that were arranged like a nest large enough to hold the behir and a pile of bones picked mostly clean. Other than that, the room held nothing.</p><p></p><p>The companions began looking about the place and after several minutes of intense searching, Mishka found a cleverly hidden door in the side wall of the room. Carefully opening the secret door, they found a darkened passage of stone leading up further into the lion shaped structure. The corridor spiraled upwards at a gradual incline, almost too slight to be noticed. Tala took out the Eye of Night and activated to shed light. With that, the companions set out into the silence and darkness, broken by the light from the magical gemstone, of the stone corridor.</p><p></p><p>Less then a minute into the corridor, the silence was broken by howls from two ghostly lions. The creatures stepped out of the walls both in front and in back of the party. With unearthly speed the two ghostly lions let out a piercing scream that chilled the blood of the companions. Barros stood defiantly in the face of the creatures before him and his steadfastness bolstered the resolve of his companions. All except Tala that is. The screams of the ghsotly lions caused an overwhelming, mind-numbing fear to overcome her and she fled down the way the companions had come, out of the Ghostlord's lair and into the Thornwaste.</p><p></p><p>The battle was joined with the rest of the companions fighting a battle on two fronts. The magic of Aslan and Barros seemed most effective against the ghostly lions while the melee attacks of Grull and Mishka had a harder time affecting the creatures. Eventually though, the companions won out and the ghostly lions were dispatched. Aslan then went after Tala and was able to bring her back, the fear having left after time.</p><p></p><p>The companions then proceeded upwards and at the end of the corridor they faced another ghostly lion but this one was the ghost of a dire lion. With relative ease though they also dispatched this creature as well. Before them stood a door.</p><p></p><p>They opened the door and were met with an obviously unnatural fog bank filling the room before them and obscuring details of it. With caution they proceeded into the room. Barros was one of the first and found a door. He opened it and that is when all hell broke loose.</p><p></p><p>Inside the room he saw four hobgoblins, three dressed as monks and one was obviously a cleric of Tiamat. Almost immediately he heard some chanting coming from somewhere near the back of room. He yelled out for his companions and battle began.</p><p></p><p>Grull was the first to react running into the room but in his excitement his first attack missed. The hobgoblin monks crowded forward and blocked the rest of the room off. Then the cleric began to chant but the companions seemed to hear two voices speaking at once. Then suddenly two hell hounds appeared and joined the fray. And once again the companions could hear chanting coming from the back of room and the enemies seemed to move quicker. Also every few seconds the door to the room would close on its own cutting off Grull from everyone else as he was the only one in the room.</p><p></p><p>The rest of the companions in the fog were attempting to help Grull when siddenly they had issues of their own. Three more monks came down a set of stairs that were near the back of the room and hidden by the fog. Tala was stunned by one of the monks in their first attack. Mishka focused on these new combatants while Aslan, always near the back, divided his cold spells between the monks in the fog and the hell hounds in the room when the door was opened. Meanwhile, Grull was finally able to slay one of the monks and move further into the room allowing Barros to follow. The cleric finally realized that they must be facing invisible foes and cast a spell to purge and invisibility magics in the immediate area.</p><p></p><p>Two figures were revealed. One was another cleric of Tiamat. The other, though not where they heard the chanting from the back of the room, was one of the most beautiful creautures either had ever seen. She was obviously a hobgoblin but unlike any other hobgoblin they seen before. She was lithe with thick luxurious hair. She wore several mithral necklaces and bracelets. She held a staff with a lightning motif in one hand and a whip in the other. But her eyes were the most engaging. They held an intensity and intelligence that was fierce. It was unfortunate for the two that she was also trying to kill them.</p><p></p><p>With all the enemies revealed, Aslan was able to finish off the last hell hound while Grull cleaved his way through the monks and clerics. Barros went after the female hobgoblin and attempted to take her down. He dealt her a vicious blow from his battleaxe but then she sung a harsh word of magic and a bolt of lightning leapt out and blasted Barros with electricity and thunder. He took the brunt of the blast full force and afterwards found that the world now sounded muted as he even had a hard time hearing his own voice.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile the hobgoblin monks outside in the fog were defeated by Tala, Mishka and Aslan. And as Grull defeated the rest of the hobgoblins in the room he made his way into the side room Barros and the female hobgoblin had entered during their battle. As he came on in a rage, he noticed that she had dropped her staff and whip and seemed to saying something about surrendering. But to Grull, his mind filled with rage, she was the enemy. Barros was just about to accept her surrender when Grull cleaved her in two with a stroke of his mighty greatsword.</p><p></p><p>Barros in his deafened state spat some very inventive curses that he still could not hear. Grull, winded from the rage, just shrugged and sat down to rest.</p><p></p><p>After resting for a few minutes and doing some healing an awaiting for Barros's hearing to return, the companions continued on deeper into the lion shaped fortress.</p><p></p><p>Eventually they came upon an oblong shaped room that had a large statue of a lion in it, a pool filled with viscous yellow liquid, and a room near one end that held a 4' wide ball of obsidian that seemed to radiate magical power. As the companions moved into the room they were suddenly attacked by six undead creatures Barros recognized as the lesser versions of bonedrinkers. Quickly the bonedrinkers grappled Tala and were attacking the rest of the companions. Aslan, as always, retreated a bit to get out of range. He was at the opening of the room with the large obsidian sphere, when he thought he either heard or felt something coming from it and went to investigate.</p><p></p><p>While the rest of the companions were battling the deadly bonedrinkers, Aslan studied the sphere and noticed what appeared to be the shapes of ghostly lions within it. He could also feel the magical power and evilness radiating from the sphere. So absorbed was he by the sphere that he could barely hear the cries of Mishka as he was nearly killed by one of the lesser bonedrinkers having been caught in one's tentacles and repeatedly injected with its deadly venom. Aslan, still looking into the sphere, decided to see if magic could affect it. Clutching the Staff of Life, he cast one of his cold spells at it. It seemed to have little affect on the structure of the sphere but it did do something.</p><p></p><p>The chamber grew unnaturally cold and then a terrible figure appeared in the room near Aslan. His flesh was yellow and shruken, clinging to his bones in ragged tatters, and pale green flames danced where his eyes should have been. He wore old tattered armor made from lion pelts. "Intruders!" he hissed. "You dare to trespass in my domain? Explain yourselves at once!"</p><p></p><p>Sensing the power and the undead nature of the figure before him, Aslan reached out with his staff and channeled its magic into the terrible creature. The power of the healing magic of the Staff of Life overwhelmed the creature and it exploded in a shower of magic and dust. All that was left was an unearthly howl that could be heard for several seconds after the dust from what was once the creature fell to the ground.</p><p></p><p>It was until after the bonedrinkers were finally defeated by the rest of the companions did they realize who Aslan had just destroyed. It was the Ghostlord himself. After that they searched the rest of the Ghostlord's lair and found several rooms hidden behind cleverly hidden doors. They did come across another of the ghostly dire lions but this they dispatched easily.</p><p></p><p>Finally the companions, wearied from the traveling all day and the near continous battles throughout the night, decided to rest.</p><p></p><p>The next day, the 28th of Kythorn, having rested and recovered spells, the companions set out recovering what they could of the items left over from the Red Hand agents and the Ghostlord himself. Aslan used his druidic magic to destroy the the Ghostlord's phylactery putting an end to the evil creature's existence once and for all. Meanwhile, Barros and Grull smashed the obsidian orb to pieces.</p><p></p><p>Barros then attempted to speak with the dead spirit of the female hobgoblin but to no avail. They still had no idea who she was, though they had an idea, nor did they know what the Ghostlord was doing for the Red Hand. They stayed one more night and then finally on the morning of the 29th of Kythorn, they set out for Brindol.</p><p></p><p>They could only imagine what awaited them.</p><p></p><p>(To be continued with Part 4 of the Red Hand of Doom)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ranger5, post: 2889286, member: 17981"] [b]Red Hand of Doom - Part 3 (continued)[/b] With the rain and wind lashing at the companions, and the lightning and thunder crashing overhead, they made their way past the carcass of the dead behir and into the worked cavern in the lion-shaped structure at the top of the stairs. The room itself was seemed bare except for a pile of thorn needles that were arranged like a nest large enough to hold the behir and a pile of bones picked mostly clean. Other than that, the room held nothing. The companions began looking about the place and after several minutes of intense searching, Mishka found a cleverly hidden door in the side wall of the room. Carefully opening the secret door, they found a darkened passage of stone leading up further into the lion shaped structure. The corridor spiraled upwards at a gradual incline, almost too slight to be noticed. Tala took out the Eye of Night and activated to shed light. With that, the companions set out into the silence and darkness, broken by the light from the magical gemstone, of the stone corridor. Less then a minute into the corridor, the silence was broken by howls from two ghostly lions. The creatures stepped out of the walls both in front and in back of the party. With unearthly speed the two ghostly lions let out a piercing scream that chilled the blood of the companions. Barros stood defiantly in the face of the creatures before him and his steadfastness bolstered the resolve of his companions. All except Tala that is. The screams of the ghsotly lions caused an overwhelming, mind-numbing fear to overcome her and she fled down the way the companions had come, out of the Ghostlord's lair and into the Thornwaste. The battle was joined with the rest of the companions fighting a battle on two fronts. The magic of Aslan and Barros seemed most effective against the ghostly lions while the melee attacks of Grull and Mishka had a harder time affecting the creatures. Eventually though, the companions won out and the ghostly lions were dispatched. Aslan then went after Tala and was able to bring her back, the fear having left after time. The companions then proceeded upwards and at the end of the corridor they faced another ghostly lion but this one was the ghost of a dire lion. With relative ease though they also dispatched this creature as well. Before them stood a door. They opened the door and were met with an obviously unnatural fog bank filling the room before them and obscuring details of it. With caution they proceeded into the room. Barros was one of the first and found a door. He opened it and that is when all hell broke loose. Inside the room he saw four hobgoblins, three dressed as monks and one was obviously a cleric of Tiamat. Almost immediately he heard some chanting coming from somewhere near the back of room. He yelled out for his companions and battle began. Grull was the first to react running into the room but in his excitement his first attack missed. The hobgoblin monks crowded forward and blocked the rest of the room off. Then the cleric began to chant but the companions seemed to hear two voices speaking at once. Then suddenly two hell hounds appeared and joined the fray. And once again the companions could hear chanting coming from the back of room and the enemies seemed to move quicker. Also every few seconds the door to the room would close on its own cutting off Grull from everyone else as he was the only one in the room. The rest of the companions in the fog were attempting to help Grull when siddenly they had issues of their own. Three more monks came down a set of stairs that were near the back of the room and hidden by the fog. Tala was stunned by one of the monks in their first attack. Mishka focused on these new combatants while Aslan, always near the back, divided his cold spells between the monks in the fog and the hell hounds in the room when the door was opened. Meanwhile, Grull was finally able to slay one of the monks and move further into the room allowing Barros to follow. The cleric finally realized that they must be facing invisible foes and cast a spell to purge and invisibility magics in the immediate area. Two figures were revealed. One was another cleric of Tiamat. The other, though not where they heard the chanting from the back of the room, was one of the most beautiful creautures either had ever seen. She was obviously a hobgoblin but unlike any other hobgoblin they seen before. She was lithe with thick luxurious hair. She wore several mithral necklaces and bracelets. She held a staff with a lightning motif in one hand and a whip in the other. But her eyes were the most engaging. They held an intensity and intelligence that was fierce. It was unfortunate for the two that she was also trying to kill them. With all the enemies revealed, Aslan was able to finish off the last hell hound while Grull cleaved his way through the monks and clerics. Barros went after the female hobgoblin and attempted to take her down. He dealt her a vicious blow from his battleaxe but then she sung a harsh word of magic and a bolt of lightning leapt out and blasted Barros with electricity and thunder. He took the brunt of the blast full force and afterwards found that the world now sounded muted as he even had a hard time hearing his own voice. Meanwhile the hobgoblin monks outside in the fog were defeated by Tala, Mishka and Aslan. And as Grull defeated the rest of the hobgoblins in the room he made his way into the side room Barros and the female hobgoblin had entered during their battle. As he came on in a rage, he noticed that she had dropped her staff and whip and seemed to saying something about surrendering. But to Grull, his mind filled with rage, she was the enemy. Barros was just about to accept her surrender when Grull cleaved her in two with a stroke of his mighty greatsword. Barros in his deafened state spat some very inventive curses that he still could not hear. Grull, winded from the rage, just shrugged and sat down to rest. After resting for a few minutes and doing some healing an awaiting for Barros's hearing to return, the companions continued on deeper into the lion shaped fortress. Eventually they came upon an oblong shaped room that had a large statue of a lion in it, a pool filled with viscous yellow liquid, and a room near one end that held a 4' wide ball of obsidian that seemed to radiate magical power. As the companions moved into the room they were suddenly attacked by six undead creatures Barros recognized as the lesser versions of bonedrinkers. Quickly the bonedrinkers grappled Tala and were attacking the rest of the companions. Aslan, as always, retreated a bit to get out of range. He was at the opening of the room with the large obsidian sphere, when he thought he either heard or felt something coming from it and went to investigate. While the rest of the companions were battling the deadly bonedrinkers, Aslan studied the sphere and noticed what appeared to be the shapes of ghostly lions within it. He could also feel the magical power and evilness radiating from the sphere. So absorbed was he by the sphere that he could barely hear the cries of Mishka as he was nearly killed by one of the lesser bonedrinkers having been caught in one's tentacles and repeatedly injected with its deadly venom. Aslan, still looking into the sphere, decided to see if magic could affect it. Clutching the Staff of Life, he cast one of his cold spells at it. It seemed to have little affect on the structure of the sphere but it did do something. The chamber grew unnaturally cold and then a terrible figure appeared in the room near Aslan. His flesh was yellow and shruken, clinging to his bones in ragged tatters, and pale green flames danced where his eyes should have been. He wore old tattered armor made from lion pelts. "Intruders!" he hissed. "You dare to trespass in my domain? Explain yourselves at once!" Sensing the power and the undead nature of the figure before him, Aslan reached out with his staff and channeled its magic into the terrible creature. The power of the healing magic of the Staff of Life overwhelmed the creature and it exploded in a shower of magic and dust. All that was left was an unearthly howl that could be heard for several seconds after the dust from what was once the creature fell to the ground. It was until after the bonedrinkers were finally defeated by the rest of the companions did they realize who Aslan had just destroyed. It was the Ghostlord himself. After that they searched the rest of the Ghostlord's lair and found several rooms hidden behind cleverly hidden doors. They did come across another of the ghostly dire lions but this they dispatched easily. Finally the companions, wearied from the traveling all day and the near continous battles throughout the night, decided to rest. The next day, the 28th of Kythorn, having rested and recovered spells, the companions set out recovering what they could of the items left over from the Red Hand agents and the Ghostlord himself. Aslan used his druidic magic to destroy the the Ghostlord's phylactery putting an end to the evil creature's existence once and for all. Meanwhile, Barros and Grull smashed the obsidian orb to pieces. Barros then attempted to speak with the dead spirit of the female hobgoblin but to no avail. They still had no idea who she was, though they had an idea, nor did they know what the Ghostlord was doing for the Red Hand. They stayed one more night and then finally on the morning of the 29th of Kythorn, they set out for Brindol. They could only imagine what awaited them. (To be continued with Part 4 of the Red Hand of Doom) [/QUOTE]
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