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Story Hour
Ghourmand Vale (3.5 campaign)
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 9099889" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 29: TASTES LIKE CHICKEN</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Ageratum Purslane, halfling rogue 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Alistair Mandelberen Pastlethwaite, human sorcerer 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Chaevaris Noarunal, elf archer 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Harlan Starblade, half-elf paladin 9</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Orchid, elf druid 9</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 9 August 2023</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>The heroes had been back in Ghourmand Vale for about a week, and much had changed during that time. The area was starting to see more traffic and more official presence since the control of the Vale had been affirmed. More outlying areas were looking to the Vale for support and security. The Vale, in return, was expanding its Guard and Ranger forces. Mackrel Slade increased the guard force to include a mounted infantry capable of patrolling within a day's ride of the Vale proper, while Carl Armbust of the Grange had been charged with creating and fielding a force of "Rangers" to patrol the area out to three days and provide awareness at least a week out from the Vale. That was, alas, still a work in progress.</p><p></p><p>Office hours at the Dark and Light Club brought in some rather odd characters with some sad stories and a quick referral to the newly enhanced city Guard. However, one character stood out: a trail-worn ranger climbed the stairs to the balcony of the club, opened the door, and saw Alistair sitting there working on a song. Recognizing the lanky aristocrat with the odd beliefs about halflings, Torkleson Aldershoot moved to re-introduce himself.</p><p></p><p>"Ah!" exclaimed the young sorcerer upon recognizing the halfling ranger from whom they had bought three horses many months back. "I trust you had a pleasant journey from the Fairy Lands?"</p><p></p><p>Torkleson swallowed his retort and pressed on with the spiel he was going to make; no point in antagonizing one of the people he had come to for help. "You recall the village of Cobb's Grange?" he asked. "Well, it's being subverted by outsiders and I need help to stop the corruption. They showed up months ago and are changing the very nature of the village. One or two of the townsfolk disappeared and then rumors started. Folks are being secretive and not trusting those they formerly relied on. Sounds like simple local feuds and politics, but when I saw one of the newcomers meet with a one-armed man and start talking in a language more like snakes, I got suspicious. Then, later, when I saw the same one-armed man coming out of Bungthumper's Inn after closing, I followed him just long enough to see that he had two arms, but the one that came out of his previously empty sleeve was a snake! That was enough for me to know I was in over my head." Realizing what he'd just said, the halfling paused to see if Alistair was going to comment on it, making a snide remark about how "most things were over a halfling's head," but the sorcerer didn't seem to have even noticed the opening he'd been handed. "If these late-comers are in league with some type of snake demon bent on corrupting my village, then I figured I needed to find some type of professionals to deal with them...and that's when I remembered you adventurers, who passed through our village them months back. I recalled you folks dealt with that pack of worgs about to eat my Auggie rather handily, so I figured you might be able to sort these demon thralls before they destroy the village and start on the nearby farms. What do you think? Can you help us?"</p><p></p><p>"I should say so!" declared Alistair with enthusiasm. He was rather looking forward to some excitement, for while it had been good to be back home in the Vale, if truth be told the sorcerer was yearning for a bit of adventure. "I shall fetch the others at once!" And then he walked over to the back wall, opened a door that Torkleson could have sworn hadn't been there a moment ago, and stepped inside. Moments later, he returned with the other heroes the little halfling had met before, plus another elven woman and a timber wolf. "I don't believe you've met Orchid," Alistair offered. "Orchid, this is Torkleson Aldershoot."</p><p></p><p>After the introductions were proffered, Alistair had the halfling repeat the details to the other heroes. When he was done, the sorcerer said, "Well, I seriously doubt if there are any snake gods involved; it seems like your town is being infiltrated by yuan-ti. These strangers, they were all human in appearance, yes?"</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, except for the one with a snake for an arm. I never saw any humans like that before. That's...not normal for humans, is it?"</p><p></p><p>"I should say not."</p><p></p><p>Harlan agreed they'd help out Torkleson and the group gathered up their gear for a three-day trek by horseback to Cobb's Grange. Torkleson showed the heroes his own animal companion, an eagle by the name of <strong>Badgerbane</strong>. He and Ambrose often flew ahead, scouting out the area while the others caught up on horseback - or celestial pegasusback, in the case of Harlan Starblade. By now, his warhorse Law had pretty much been handed down to Orchid, who rode upon the white equine when not herself wildshaped into an animal form of her own.</p><p></p><p>The three days of travel passed by uneventfully, with the nights spent inside the extradimensional dwelling conjured up into being each evening by the necklace Chaevaris wore. On the third day, as they were getting close to the borders of the small village, Alistair said the words to a <em>mage armor</em> spell, knowing the spell's duration would last him through the end of the night, for it was late afternoon already. Orchid followed suit with a <em>longstrider</em> spell on herself, as well as a <em>speak with animals</em> spell that had Shushitan wagging his tail with glee. (The wolf still didn't understand why his mistress could only sometimes remember how to speak as a lupine, but he was always glad when she talked to him in his own language.)</p><p></p><p>"Something's wrong," declared Torkleson, astride his little pony.</p><p></p><p>"What is it?" Harlan asked from the back of Nova, walking along the ground like the other mounts - those unfortunate enough not to have a fine pair of avian wings like himself.</p><p></p><p>"Badgerbane's upset - I can feel it!" The eagle had been flying ahead again and had gone for a high vantage point, allowing him to look down over the entirety of Cobb's Grange. He did a slow circle and then returned, landing on the ground beside Torkleson's pony - the bird was far too large to alight upon the ranger's arm as it might have done hand the little halfling been the size of a human. "What is it?" he asked the bird, and the eagle opened its beak and let out a long screech.</p><p></p><p>"The buildings are all on fire, and there's a sinkhole in the middle of town!" translated Orchid.</p><p></p><p>"Combat spells - we're going in now!" commanded Harlan, urging Nova forward down the road. He opted not to allow the pegasus to take flight, so the entire group could enter the town at the same time and in the same area. Orchid leaned over and touched the paladin, channeling a <em>barkskin</em> spell onto him to better protect him in combat - the group had learned to buff Harlan up as best they could, for he was the greatest dealer of damage with his <em>flaming burst longsword</em>. For his part, the paladin cast a <em>bless</em> spell on the group, to include Torkleson and his pony. He then cast a <em>bull's strength</em> spell upon himself, as Orchid touched him again and cast a <em>bear's endurance</em> spell upon him.</p><p></p><p>"I'm splitting off - I've got to see to my family at the ranch!" Torkleson called as he set his pony down a side-road. "You check out the town proper, and we'll meet back up when we're done!"</p><p></p><p>Alistair cast a new spell on each of the five heroes: <em>cat's grace</em>, making each member more dexterous - sure to be useful in combat, the sorcerer felt. He also cast a <em>shield</em> spell upon himself and the traditional <em>flame arrow</em> spell on the assembled group's ammunition, to include the small sack of "pebboulders" he passed over to Ageratum. But Orchid wasn't yet done casting spells. She placed a <em>neutralize poison</em> spell on both Harlan and Ageratum, feeling they, as front-line combatants, were the most likely to have to deal with yuan-ti venom. And then she said, "I'm going to try something. C'mere, Shushitan!"</p><p></p><p>The wolf loped over to his mistress as she brought Law to a momentary stop, and he placed his front paws on Orchid's leg. She then cast an <em>animal growth</em> spell on her timber wolf, expanding him to the size of a dire wolf, followed up by a <em>magic fang</em> spell. Seeing as how the wolf was getting "buffed up" for combat, Alistair offered to cast a <em>mage armor</em> on the wolf as well, and Orchid readily agreed. He then cast a final spell, <em>haste</em>, on the entire group.</p><p></p><p>Fully ready for combat - in fact, just about as ready for combat as they'd even been in their brief adventuring careers - the six heroes and their horse-sized wolf rode into town. Sure enough, the buildings were ablaze, although most were dying down, the flames down to mere embers. There was nobody about but a trio of three women in the center of the village street, gathered around what at first looked to be a sheep being cooked over a fire near the sinkhole, but closer inspection revealed it was no sheep but rather a slain halfling.</p><p></p><p>Orchid was the first to react, likely because her elven eyesight allowed her not only to pick out the halfling's features before the others had caught on to what was going on, but also the telltale sight of snake scales on the cheeks of the three women, marking them as yuan-ti. The druid responded with a <em>flame strike</em> spell, causing a gout of fire to crash down upon the trio, burning them instantly to a crisp in a quite fitting bit of retribution, considering they were cooking a sentient being over a fire themselves when they died. Shushitan raced forward, biting at one of the dead yuan-ti and turning her into a meal herself.</p><p></p><p>As the other heroes followed in the druid's wake, three more yuan-ti purebloods crept forward from between the husks of various burned buildings. These three were all male and came from three different directions, ensuring they wouldn't all share the same fate of instant obliteration from a single <em>flame strike</em> spell. They each carried a longbow with an arrow nocked and ready to fire. The one closest to Orchid raised his weapon, took aim, and fired a shot at the druid, but missed. The other two targeted Shushitan and one of the fired arrows actually managed to strike the wolf, but in his larger size his hide was much tougher than it had been and the fur much thicker, and the arrow didn't even penetrate his skin. He continued his meal, unperturbed by the attempt to slay him with an arrow.</p><p></p><p>Chaevaris rode up on Talkacha and leaped from the saddle, her own longbow out and ready. She let fly with an arrow and shot the yuan-ti farthest away right in the chest, causing him to stagger back with blood spilling from his lips. He pulled the offending shaft from his chest, but it was obvious the man was on his last legs and would likely fall over after any amount of exertion. Alistair, still astride Zephyr, shot at the other yuan-ti further back, striking him unerringly with a <em>magic missile</em> spell; the sorcerer was quite pleased to see he was now able to generate five such darts of blazing energy with the spell, making it as powerful as the <em>magic missiles</em> from his wand (which was good, as he was getting fairly low on remaining charges on his wand).</p><p></p><p>Harlan confirmed the presence of evil from the yuan-ti and charged forward on Nova, heading for the one who had shot at Orchid. His blazing sword struck the yuan-ti on the side and sprawled him into the street where he lay unmoving, unconscious but stabilized due to the presence of the <em>Blood Mirror</em>. Just as quickly, Ageratum was there at the paladin's side, leaping down from her pony Munson and slitting the yuan-ti's neck, dealing the snake-man an amount of physical damage the magic gemstone had no hope of overcoming.</p><p></p><p>Orchid, standing near the sinkhole, could hear the flow of water coming from below. She looked over the edge, and despite the darkening sky - it was twilight, with the sun about to go down - her elven vision allowed her to pick up the glint of slow-moving water down below, some 30 feet or so. A small river or large stream wound beneath the surface of Cobb's Grange, ironically winding rather like a snake. She picked up a pebble from the street and cast a <em>light</em> spell upon it, tossing it into the open sinkhole for a better view.</p><p></p><p>Shushitan looked up from his meal and saw a yuan-ti raising his longbow at the wolf. Despite not having even noticed the arrow shot at him earlier, Shushitan knew anybody aiming at him with a weapon like that was an enemy, and at his mistress's "Go get him, Shushitan!" urging, he was off like a shot, growling as he ran. The yuan-ti had the presence of mind to drop back as the slavering wolf snapped at him, and he barely avoided having a set of savage teeth clamp down upon his arm. Instinctively, he tried catching the wolf up in an <em>animal trance</em>, waving his hand in a pattern in the air meant to captivate the wolf's attention, but Shushitan was having none of it - with a sudden surge forward, he caught the snake-man's throat in his jaws and ripped it out, leaving him to die in the street.</p><p></p><p>That left only one combatant remaining topside, the yuan-ti Chaevaris had almost killed with one arrow. He staggered, trying to stay on his feet, as he slowly made his way toward the sinkhole. Once close enough, he leaped over the edge, no doubt wishing to allow the slow-moving currents to take him away to safety. But Chaevaris raced up to the edge of the sinkhole and from the light of Orchid's glowing pebble got enough of a bead on the wounded yuan-ti that she was able to put a second arrow straight through his head. He got his wish as the currents took him away from his enemies, but it was far too late for him to escape with his life,</p><p></p><p>Alistair sent Ambrose on a reconnaissance flight around the village, looking for survivors or additional enemies. The grackle did his aerial circuit and reported back having found neither: any survivors had apparently run for the safety of the nearby woods (or buildings outside of the town proper, like Torkleson's ranch and stables), and any remaining yuan-ti were likely down in the subterranean level below.</p><p></p><p>Harlan dismounted from Nova and instructed his celestial pegasus to round up the other mounts and keep them safe topside while the heroes went below to explore. Alistair likewise told Ambrose to keep guard over the animals, warning his master over their empathic link if they ran into any trouble, for the sorcerer feared to have his grackle come down into the subterranean darkness, where he could very easily fly into a wall and injure himself. Then he gathered the heroes together and cast another new spell: <em>dimension door</em>, which teleported Shushitan (with Orchid riding upon his back), Harlan, and Chaevaris down to a stone floor at the side of the winding river. He was not yet powerful enough to be able to teleport every in one shot, so he purposefully left Ageratum behind, knowing full well she could use the <em>spider climb</em> feature of her <em>cloak of arachnida</em> to walk down the side of the sinkhole and drop to the floor below. The little halfling did just that, dropping to the opposite side of the river from the others.</p><p></p><p>"Ogilvy, if you please," said Alistair, casting an <em>unseen servant</em> spell, to which Chaevaris handed her bullseye lantern with the permanent <em>light</em> stone inside its chamber. Upon direction from Alistair, Ogilvy shone the lantern all around them, illuminating the caverns for as far as possible. Orchid cast a <em>spider climb</em> spell upon Shushitan, telling him in his lupine language what she was doing and what he'd be able to do when she was done. She also asked him if he could smell any snakes, and he replied the whole cavern network smelled like snakes and halflings. Then the curious wolf placed his front paws upon the stone wall of the cavern, testing out the <em>spider climb</em> spell and finding out it worked just as Orchid had said. With his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth, he scampered off, following the river until he veered off down a side passageway to the left, apparently a shortcut that led back to the river at a lower spot after it had turned back around at some point further downstream. Just that quickly, the horse-sized wolf was out of sight of the other adventurers.</p><p></p><p>There was a bit of movement at the edge of the lantern's illumination, and a man-sized figure stepped into view two caverns away. With a wave of his hand - the other sleeve of his robe seeming to hold only a snake instead of a human arm - the illumination diminished significantly as a <em>deeper darkness</em> spell effect took place. Just that quickly, he was reduced to little more than a dark shape.</p><p></p><p>But Chaevaris wasn't satisfied leaving it like that; she pulled out the special arrow from her quiver containing a piece of cloth wrapped around the arrowhead, took aim, and sent it crashing against the wall behind the yuan-ti halfblood. Upon impact, the cloth resumed its full size and shape: that of a raging bonfire, filling the back cavern with enough light for the heroes to be able to make out more than just a vague outline of their robed foe. The elven archer followed up this first shot with two more normal arrows, each imbued with Alistair's <em>flame arrow</em> spell, sending them straight into the yuan-ti's chest. He staggered backwards, then fell flat on his face after Alistair cast a <em>magic missile</em> spell at him, dropping him to the cavern floor. He was too far away from the <em>Blood Mirror</em> for its stabilizing effect to take hold, and his life's blood spilled from his arrow wounds onto the stone floor.</p><p></p><p>Alistair crossed the river to land by Ageratum, stepping from one projecting stone to another; Ogilvy, as an <em>unseen servant</em>, merely floated across the water. Harlan followed suit, jumping from rock to rock, and as he brought the <em>Blood Mirror</em> into range of the downed halfblood it started sealing up the worst of the snake-man's wounds. Once he got within range, he could sense the yuan-ti's aura was as tainted with evil as had been those of the purebloods topside in the halfling village. Ageratum ran across the side wall over by the halfblood, noting the two fungi in the cavern with the writhing, purple tentacles and called out a warning to her companions: "Violet fungi!"</p><p></p><p>Orchid opted to wildshape into the form of a dire bat, a better-suited form for traveling in subterranean caves and passageways. She flew up behind Ageratum, and her wolf, sensing his mistress flapping around behind him, reversed course to go follow her - he liked it when she took on animal form; sometimes they wrestled together like he used to do with his siblings as a pup. Chaevaris followed Ageratum's path in a more careful manner, her bow raised and ready to shoot should any other yuan-ti make an appearance. Alistair and Ogilvy took up the rear, the sorcerer taking out the closest violet fungus with another <em>magic missile</em> spell.</p><p></p><p>Harlan ran into the cavern with the downed yuan-ti halfblood and swung his sword into the side of the second violet fungus, dodging a swiping tendril as he did so. His flaming blade cut the fungus in two, slaying it instantly. Meanwhile, Ageratum had reached the unconscious yuan-ti and slit his throat, then cut off the head of the snake growing from where his left arm should be, just to be sure.</p><p></p><p>Orchid flapped her bat wings and followed the course of the winding river, turning to the south when the water did likewise. In doing so, she was moving farther ahead than her friends, and she entered a cavern to the southwest, where her dire bat echolocation picked out two rather large bodies: yuan-ti abominations! There were massive serpents with the chest and arms of a human, each wielding a massive scimitar. She cast a <em>summon swarm</em> spell, bringing forth a flock of bats who all went flapping around the closest of the abominations, darting in to bite at its scaly hide with their wickedly sharp teeth. Shushitan, already forgetting about the <em>spider climb</em> spell his mistress had imbued upon him, leaped into the river and doggy-paddled over by the southwestern cavern to be by Orchid.</p><p></p><p>Chaevaris and Alistair entered the cavern with the dead halfblood and followed a corridor south, where the sorcerer spotted another violet fungus just up ahead. But before he could get the words of another <em>magic missile</em> spell out of his mouth, Harlan had raced up and made short work of it with his <em>flaming burst longsword</em>. Ageratum joined the group and together they headed south.</p><p></p><p>The bat-swarmed abomination swung his scimitar at Orchid, but his vision was impeded by the numerous bat bodies flying all around him, and he missed by a long shot. He snapped at her with his vicious fangs, again missing, but then got in a lucky strike with his scimitar when he swung it back in her direction. But the second abomination, not in the least bit hampered by swarming bats, was able to fire off an <em>aversion</em> spell effect that hit the dire bat druid with full effect, causing Orchid to panic and want nothing more than to put a great deal of distance between anything even remotely looking like a serpent. She wheeled in place in the air and started flapping back out of the cavern, turning to the east once she was out and following the river again. Shushitan, thinking this must be some sort of game, followed his mistress to see what was up.</p><p></p><p>Unbeknownst to any of the heroes, there was another yuan-ti halfblood pressed up against the wall just by Harlan, using its psionic powers to make it blend seamlessly into the background. It waited until the paladin passed it by, then leaped out at Ageratum, sending a <em>fear</em> effect her way. Her mind froze up for but a mere moment, and then combat instincts kicked in and she slashed at the offending serpent-man with her silver short sword, slicing through an outer layer of scales and proving that it bled as red as any true human. Chaevaris, noticing the creature for the first time when it leaped out at the little halfling, sent an arrow flying into its torso, while behind her Alistair sent two <em>scorching rays</em> striking out at the halfblood, engulfing it in flames and causing it to drop to the stone floor of the narrow passageway. The others passed by it, Ageratum hanging about only long enough to slit its throat before it could heal up.</p><p></p><p>Harlan, in the lead, raced forward into the southwestern cavern and saw the two yuan-ti abominations Orchid had just faced. He charged one of them, swinging his flaming blade into its side and singeing its serpentine torso. It hissed in pain and darted in to bite the paladin, but Harlan blocked the attack with his shield. The other tried to attack as well but was hampered by the bats still flocking around it.</p><p></p><p>Chaevaris stepped into view and took careful aim at the abomination not obscured by flying bat bodies. Alistair stepped up beside her, careful not to bump her and ruin her concentration, and cast a <em>scorching ray</em> spell at the one she was targeting, as he had no desire to slay a bunch of the summoned bats that were helping to do the heroes' work for them. Both gouts of flame struck true, temporarily engulfing the abomination in a halo of fire. Then Harlan channeled holy smiting energy into his blade and brought it crashing down upon the yuan-ti while it was distracted by the burning pain from Alistair's spell, and the paladin's powerful blow knocked it deep into unconsciousness. He then spun in place and brought his flaming blade to stab into the side of the other abomination, not once but twice in rapid succession. Ageratum threw some of her kobold shortspears at the monster, but they failed to penetrate its thick, scaly hide.</p><p></p><p>Writhing in pain and waving its scimitars uselessly at the bats, the remaining abomination managed to get in a lucky strike against Harlan, one of its blades cutting him along the arm. Alistair struck it again with a <em>magic missile</em> spell; by this time he had long since used up his normal allotment of spells of that level of power and was dipping into spell energies usually reserved for more powerful spells, but he didn't care - he knew the <em>magic missile</em> spell would hurt the abomination he was targeting without dealing any damage to the swarm of bats still flying all around him and biting him with their sharp fangs. It truly was the "death of a thousand cuts" - although the really important cut was the next successful strike from Harlan's <em>flaming burst longsword</em>, which bit deep into the abomination's serpentine neck and caused him to collapse, unconscious and bleeding out, to the cavern floor. Quick as a wink, Ageratum was there to slit its throat - and that of its counterpart - before the <em>Blood Mirror</em> could prevent them from dying. The bats, no longer being held in place by Orchid's concentration on maintaining the swarm intact, broke up shortly thereafter and the individual bats all went their separate ways.</p><p></p><p>A quick perusal of the subterranean caverns revealed no further yuan-ti; the heroes assumed the problem had been fully dealt with and went back to strip the serpentine corpses of any valuables. The abomination scimitars were too big to be successfully wielded by anyone of human size, but they were of fine craftsmanship and could likely be sold for a decent price. The halfbloods also wore some fancy jewelry that looked valuable, although a <em>detect magic</em> spell cast by Alistair revealed no magical emanations from any of them.</p><p></p><p>Gathering back up together, the sorcerer cast another <em>dimension door</em> spell and returned everyone to the surface. There they remounted their various steeds and headed over to the Aldershoot ranch. they met up with Torkleson about halfway there; he had been heading back to the ruined village to inform the heroes that his wife, son, and ranch were all fine - the yuan-ti hadn't made it that far away.</p><p></p><p>They spent the night in Cobb's Grange - more accurately, inside their extradimensional dwelling like normal, but after having activated the door along the wall of a building in the village - and then started back towards Ghourmand Vale in the morning. They had hoped by then a few halfling survivors might have returned to Cobb's Grange, but if any survived the massacre they were apparently in no big hurry to return. Torkleson left signs for any that might eventually return to seek him out at his ranch, where he'd help them resettle if that was their intention. And then the heroes were off, headed back to their own "home" on the second floor of the Dark and Light Club, in Ghourmand Vale.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>I got a chance to use all three of Alistair's newly-learned spells this adventure: <em>cat's grace</em>, <em>haste</em>, and <em>dimension door</em>. And I think Dan realized that giving us an unlimited amount of time to cast "prepping for battle" spells resulted in a few untouchable powerhouses; he may be rethinking that particular strategy in future.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 9099889, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 29: TASTES LIKE CHICKEN[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Ageratum Purslane, halfling rogue 9[/INDENT] [INDENT] Alistair Mandelberen Pastlethwaite, human sorcerer 9[/INDENT] [INDENT] Chaevaris Noarunal, elf archer 9[/INDENT] [INDENT] Harlan Starblade, half-elf paladin 9[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Orchid, elf druid 9[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 9 August 2023 - - - The heroes had been back in Ghourmand Vale for about a week, and much had changed during that time. The area was starting to see more traffic and more official presence since the control of the Vale had been affirmed. More outlying areas were looking to the Vale for support and security. The Vale, in return, was expanding its Guard and Ranger forces. Mackrel Slade increased the guard force to include a mounted infantry capable of patrolling within a day's ride of the Vale proper, while Carl Armbust of the Grange had been charged with creating and fielding a force of "Rangers" to patrol the area out to three days and provide awareness at least a week out from the Vale. That was, alas, still a work in progress. Office hours at the Dark and Light Club brought in some rather odd characters with some sad stories and a quick referral to the newly enhanced city Guard. However, one character stood out: a trail-worn ranger climbed the stairs to the balcony of the club, opened the door, and saw Alistair sitting there working on a song. Recognizing the lanky aristocrat with the odd beliefs about halflings, Torkleson Aldershoot moved to re-introduce himself. "Ah!" exclaimed the young sorcerer upon recognizing the halfling ranger from whom they had bought three horses many months back. "I trust you had a pleasant journey from the Fairy Lands?" Torkleson swallowed his retort and pressed on with the spiel he was going to make; no point in antagonizing one of the people he had come to for help. "You recall the village of Cobb's Grange?" he asked. "Well, it's being subverted by outsiders and I need help to stop the corruption. They showed up months ago and are changing the very nature of the village. One or two of the townsfolk disappeared and then rumors started. Folks are being secretive and not trusting those they formerly relied on. Sounds like simple local feuds and politics, but when I saw one of the newcomers meet with a one-armed man and start talking in a language more like snakes, I got suspicious. Then, later, when I saw the same one-armed man coming out of Bungthumper's Inn after closing, I followed him just long enough to see that he had two arms, but the one that came out of his previously empty sleeve was a snake! That was enough for me to know I was in over my head." Realizing what he'd just said, the halfling paused to see if Alistair was going to comment on it, making a snide remark about how "most things were over a halfling's head," but the sorcerer didn't seem to have even noticed the opening he'd been handed. "If these late-comers are in league with some type of snake demon bent on corrupting my village, then I figured I needed to find some type of professionals to deal with them...and that's when I remembered you adventurers, who passed through our village them months back. I recalled you folks dealt with that pack of worgs about to eat my Auggie rather handily, so I figured you might be able to sort these demon thralls before they destroy the village and start on the nearby farms. What do you think? Can you help us?" "I should say so!" declared Alistair with enthusiasm. He was rather looking forward to some excitement, for while it had been good to be back home in the Vale, if truth be told the sorcerer was yearning for a bit of adventure. "I shall fetch the others at once!" And then he walked over to the back wall, opened a door that Torkleson could have sworn hadn't been there a moment ago, and stepped inside. Moments later, he returned with the other heroes the little halfling had met before, plus another elven woman and a timber wolf. "I don't believe you've met Orchid," Alistair offered. "Orchid, this is Torkleson Aldershoot." After the introductions were proffered, Alistair had the halfling repeat the details to the other heroes. When he was done, the sorcerer said, "Well, I seriously doubt if there are any snake gods involved; it seems like your town is being infiltrated by yuan-ti. These strangers, they were all human in appearance, yes?" "Yeah, except for the one with a snake for an arm. I never saw any humans like that before. That's...not normal for humans, is it?" "I should say not." Harlan agreed they'd help out Torkleson and the group gathered up their gear for a three-day trek by horseback to Cobb's Grange. Torkleson showed the heroes his own animal companion, an eagle by the name of [B]Badgerbane[/B]. He and Ambrose often flew ahead, scouting out the area while the others caught up on horseback - or celestial pegasusback, in the case of Harlan Starblade. By now, his warhorse Law had pretty much been handed down to Orchid, who rode upon the white equine when not herself wildshaped into an animal form of her own. The three days of travel passed by uneventfully, with the nights spent inside the extradimensional dwelling conjured up into being each evening by the necklace Chaevaris wore. On the third day, as they were getting close to the borders of the small village, Alistair said the words to a [I]mage armor[/I] spell, knowing the spell's duration would last him through the end of the night, for it was late afternoon already. Orchid followed suit with a [I]longstrider[/I] spell on herself, as well as a [I]speak with animals[/I] spell that had Shushitan wagging his tail with glee. (The wolf still didn't understand why his mistress could only sometimes remember how to speak as a lupine, but he was always glad when she talked to him in his own language.) "Something's wrong," declared Torkleson, astride his little pony. "What is it?" Harlan asked from the back of Nova, walking along the ground like the other mounts - those unfortunate enough not to have a fine pair of avian wings like himself. "Badgerbane's upset - I can feel it!" The eagle had been flying ahead again and had gone for a high vantage point, allowing him to look down over the entirety of Cobb's Grange. He did a slow circle and then returned, landing on the ground beside Torkleson's pony - the bird was far too large to alight upon the ranger's arm as it might have done hand the little halfling been the size of a human. "What is it?" he asked the bird, and the eagle opened its beak and let out a long screech. "The buildings are all on fire, and there's a sinkhole in the middle of town!" translated Orchid. "Combat spells - we're going in now!" commanded Harlan, urging Nova forward down the road. He opted not to allow the pegasus to take flight, so the entire group could enter the town at the same time and in the same area. Orchid leaned over and touched the paladin, channeling a [I]barkskin[/I] spell onto him to better protect him in combat - the group had learned to buff Harlan up as best they could, for he was the greatest dealer of damage with his [I]flaming burst longsword[/I]. For his part, the paladin cast a [I]bless[/I] spell on the group, to include Torkleson and his pony. He then cast a [I]bull's strength[/I] spell upon himself, as Orchid touched him again and cast a [I]bear's endurance[/I] spell upon him. "I'm splitting off - I've got to see to my family at the ranch!" Torkleson called as he set his pony down a side-road. "You check out the town proper, and we'll meet back up when we're done!" Alistair cast a new spell on each of the five heroes: [I]cat's grace[/I], making each member more dexterous - sure to be useful in combat, the sorcerer felt. He also cast a [I]shield[/I] spell upon himself and the traditional [I]flame arrow[/I] spell on the assembled group's ammunition, to include the small sack of "pebboulders" he passed over to Ageratum. But Orchid wasn't yet done casting spells. She placed a [I]neutralize poison[/I] spell on both Harlan and Ageratum, feeling they, as front-line combatants, were the most likely to have to deal with yuan-ti venom. And then she said, "I'm going to try something. C'mere, Shushitan!" The wolf loped over to his mistress as she brought Law to a momentary stop, and he placed his front paws on Orchid's leg. She then cast an [I]animal growth[/I] spell on her timber wolf, expanding him to the size of a dire wolf, followed up by a [I]magic fang[/I] spell. Seeing as how the wolf was getting "buffed up" for combat, Alistair offered to cast a [I]mage armor[/I] on the wolf as well, and Orchid readily agreed. He then cast a final spell, [I]haste[/I], on the entire group. Fully ready for combat - in fact, just about as ready for combat as they'd even been in their brief adventuring careers - the six heroes and their horse-sized wolf rode into town. Sure enough, the buildings were ablaze, although most were dying down, the flames down to mere embers. There was nobody about but a trio of three women in the center of the village street, gathered around what at first looked to be a sheep being cooked over a fire near the sinkhole, but closer inspection revealed it was no sheep but rather a slain halfling. Orchid was the first to react, likely because her elven eyesight allowed her not only to pick out the halfling's features before the others had caught on to what was going on, but also the telltale sight of snake scales on the cheeks of the three women, marking them as yuan-ti. The druid responded with a [I]flame strike[/I] spell, causing a gout of fire to crash down upon the trio, burning them instantly to a crisp in a quite fitting bit of retribution, considering they were cooking a sentient being over a fire themselves when they died. Shushitan raced forward, biting at one of the dead yuan-ti and turning her into a meal herself. As the other heroes followed in the druid's wake, three more yuan-ti purebloods crept forward from between the husks of various burned buildings. These three were all male and came from three different directions, ensuring they wouldn't all share the same fate of instant obliteration from a single [I]flame strike[/I] spell. They each carried a longbow with an arrow nocked and ready to fire. The one closest to Orchid raised his weapon, took aim, and fired a shot at the druid, but missed. The other two targeted Shushitan and one of the fired arrows actually managed to strike the wolf, but in his larger size his hide was much tougher than it had been and the fur much thicker, and the arrow didn't even penetrate his skin. He continued his meal, unperturbed by the attempt to slay him with an arrow. Chaevaris rode up on Talkacha and leaped from the saddle, her own longbow out and ready. She let fly with an arrow and shot the yuan-ti farthest away right in the chest, causing him to stagger back with blood spilling from his lips. He pulled the offending shaft from his chest, but it was obvious the man was on his last legs and would likely fall over after any amount of exertion. Alistair, still astride Zephyr, shot at the other yuan-ti further back, striking him unerringly with a [I]magic missile[/I] spell; the sorcerer was quite pleased to see he was now able to generate five such darts of blazing energy with the spell, making it as powerful as the [I]magic missiles[/I] from his wand (which was good, as he was getting fairly low on remaining charges on his wand). Harlan confirmed the presence of evil from the yuan-ti and charged forward on Nova, heading for the one who had shot at Orchid. His blazing sword struck the yuan-ti on the side and sprawled him into the street where he lay unmoving, unconscious but stabilized due to the presence of the [I]Blood Mirror[/I]. Just as quickly, Ageratum was there at the paladin's side, leaping down from her pony Munson and slitting the yuan-ti's neck, dealing the snake-man an amount of physical damage the magic gemstone had no hope of overcoming. Orchid, standing near the sinkhole, could hear the flow of water coming from below. She looked over the edge, and despite the darkening sky - it was twilight, with the sun about to go down - her elven vision allowed her to pick up the glint of slow-moving water down below, some 30 feet or so. A small river or large stream wound beneath the surface of Cobb's Grange, ironically winding rather like a snake. She picked up a pebble from the street and cast a [I]light[/I] spell upon it, tossing it into the open sinkhole for a better view. Shushitan looked up from his meal and saw a yuan-ti raising his longbow at the wolf. Despite not having even noticed the arrow shot at him earlier, Shushitan knew anybody aiming at him with a weapon like that was an enemy, and at his mistress's "Go get him, Shushitan!" urging, he was off like a shot, growling as he ran. The yuan-ti had the presence of mind to drop back as the slavering wolf snapped at him, and he barely avoided having a set of savage teeth clamp down upon his arm. Instinctively, he tried catching the wolf up in an [I]animal trance[/I], waving his hand in a pattern in the air meant to captivate the wolf's attention, but Shushitan was having none of it - with a sudden surge forward, he caught the snake-man's throat in his jaws and ripped it out, leaving him to die in the street. That left only one combatant remaining topside, the yuan-ti Chaevaris had almost killed with one arrow. He staggered, trying to stay on his feet, as he slowly made his way toward the sinkhole. Once close enough, he leaped over the edge, no doubt wishing to allow the slow-moving currents to take him away to safety. But Chaevaris raced up to the edge of the sinkhole and from the light of Orchid's glowing pebble got enough of a bead on the wounded yuan-ti that she was able to put a second arrow straight through his head. He got his wish as the currents took him away from his enemies, but it was far too late for him to escape with his life, Alistair sent Ambrose on a reconnaissance flight around the village, looking for survivors or additional enemies. The grackle did his aerial circuit and reported back having found neither: any survivors had apparently run for the safety of the nearby woods (or buildings outside of the town proper, like Torkleson's ranch and stables), and any remaining yuan-ti were likely down in the subterranean level below. Harlan dismounted from Nova and instructed his celestial pegasus to round up the other mounts and keep them safe topside while the heroes went below to explore. Alistair likewise told Ambrose to keep guard over the animals, warning his master over their empathic link if they ran into any trouble, for the sorcerer feared to have his grackle come down into the subterranean darkness, where he could very easily fly into a wall and injure himself. Then he gathered the heroes together and cast another new spell: [I]dimension door[/I], which teleported Shushitan (with Orchid riding upon his back), Harlan, and Chaevaris down to a stone floor at the side of the winding river. He was not yet powerful enough to be able to teleport every in one shot, so he purposefully left Ageratum behind, knowing full well she could use the [I]spider climb[/I] feature of her [I]cloak of arachnida[/I] to walk down the side of the sinkhole and drop to the floor below. The little halfling did just that, dropping to the opposite side of the river from the others. "Ogilvy, if you please," said Alistair, casting an [I]unseen servant[/I] spell, to which Chaevaris handed her bullseye lantern with the permanent [I]light[/I] stone inside its chamber. Upon direction from Alistair, Ogilvy shone the lantern all around them, illuminating the caverns for as far as possible. Orchid cast a [I]spider climb[/I] spell upon Shushitan, telling him in his lupine language what she was doing and what he'd be able to do when she was done. She also asked him if he could smell any snakes, and he replied the whole cavern network smelled like snakes and halflings. Then the curious wolf placed his front paws upon the stone wall of the cavern, testing out the [I]spider climb[/I] spell and finding out it worked just as Orchid had said. With his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth, he scampered off, following the river until he veered off down a side passageway to the left, apparently a shortcut that led back to the river at a lower spot after it had turned back around at some point further downstream. Just that quickly, the horse-sized wolf was out of sight of the other adventurers. There was a bit of movement at the edge of the lantern's illumination, and a man-sized figure stepped into view two caverns away. With a wave of his hand - the other sleeve of his robe seeming to hold only a snake instead of a human arm - the illumination diminished significantly as a [I]deeper darkness[/I] spell effect took place. Just that quickly, he was reduced to little more than a dark shape. But Chaevaris wasn't satisfied leaving it like that; she pulled out the special arrow from her quiver containing a piece of cloth wrapped around the arrowhead, took aim, and sent it crashing against the wall behind the yuan-ti halfblood. Upon impact, the cloth resumed its full size and shape: that of a raging bonfire, filling the back cavern with enough light for the heroes to be able to make out more than just a vague outline of their robed foe. The elven archer followed up this first shot with two more normal arrows, each imbued with Alistair's [I]flame arrow[/I] spell, sending them straight into the yuan-ti's chest. He staggered backwards, then fell flat on his face after Alistair cast a [I]magic missile[/I] spell at him, dropping him to the cavern floor. He was too far away from the [I]Blood Mirror[/I] for its stabilizing effect to take hold, and his life's blood spilled from his arrow wounds onto the stone floor. Alistair crossed the river to land by Ageratum, stepping from one projecting stone to another; Ogilvy, as an [I]unseen servant[/I], merely floated across the water. Harlan followed suit, jumping from rock to rock, and as he brought the [I]Blood Mirror[/I] into range of the downed halfblood it started sealing up the worst of the snake-man's wounds. Once he got within range, he could sense the yuan-ti's aura was as tainted with evil as had been those of the purebloods topside in the halfling village. Ageratum ran across the side wall over by the halfblood, noting the two fungi in the cavern with the writhing, purple tentacles and called out a warning to her companions: "Violet fungi!" Orchid opted to wildshape into the form of a dire bat, a better-suited form for traveling in subterranean caves and passageways. She flew up behind Ageratum, and her wolf, sensing his mistress flapping around behind him, reversed course to go follow her - he liked it when she took on animal form; sometimes they wrestled together like he used to do with his siblings as a pup. Chaevaris followed Ageratum's path in a more careful manner, her bow raised and ready to shoot should any other yuan-ti make an appearance. Alistair and Ogilvy took up the rear, the sorcerer taking out the closest violet fungus with another [I]magic missile[/I] spell. Harlan ran into the cavern with the downed yuan-ti halfblood and swung his sword into the side of the second violet fungus, dodging a swiping tendril as he did so. His flaming blade cut the fungus in two, slaying it instantly. Meanwhile, Ageratum had reached the unconscious yuan-ti and slit his throat, then cut off the head of the snake growing from where his left arm should be, just to be sure. Orchid flapped her bat wings and followed the course of the winding river, turning to the south when the water did likewise. In doing so, she was moving farther ahead than her friends, and she entered a cavern to the southwest, where her dire bat echolocation picked out two rather large bodies: yuan-ti abominations! There were massive serpents with the chest and arms of a human, each wielding a massive scimitar. She cast a [I]summon swarm[/I] spell, bringing forth a flock of bats who all went flapping around the closest of the abominations, darting in to bite at its scaly hide with their wickedly sharp teeth. Shushitan, already forgetting about the [I]spider climb[/I] spell his mistress had imbued upon him, leaped into the river and doggy-paddled over by the southwestern cavern to be by Orchid. Chaevaris and Alistair entered the cavern with the dead halfblood and followed a corridor south, where the sorcerer spotted another violet fungus just up ahead. But before he could get the words of another [I]magic missile[/I] spell out of his mouth, Harlan had raced up and made short work of it with his [I]flaming burst longsword[/I]. Ageratum joined the group and together they headed south. The bat-swarmed abomination swung his scimitar at Orchid, but his vision was impeded by the numerous bat bodies flying all around him, and he missed by a long shot. He snapped at her with his vicious fangs, again missing, but then got in a lucky strike with his scimitar when he swung it back in her direction. But the second abomination, not in the least bit hampered by swarming bats, was able to fire off an [I]aversion[/I] spell effect that hit the dire bat druid with full effect, causing Orchid to panic and want nothing more than to put a great deal of distance between anything even remotely looking like a serpent. She wheeled in place in the air and started flapping back out of the cavern, turning to the east once she was out and following the river again. Shushitan, thinking this must be some sort of game, followed his mistress to see what was up. Unbeknownst to any of the heroes, there was another yuan-ti halfblood pressed up against the wall just by Harlan, using its psionic powers to make it blend seamlessly into the background. It waited until the paladin passed it by, then leaped out at Ageratum, sending a [I]fear[/I] effect her way. Her mind froze up for but a mere moment, and then combat instincts kicked in and she slashed at the offending serpent-man with her silver short sword, slicing through an outer layer of scales and proving that it bled as red as any true human. Chaevaris, noticing the creature for the first time when it leaped out at the little halfling, sent an arrow flying into its torso, while behind her Alistair sent two [I]scorching rays[/I] striking out at the halfblood, engulfing it in flames and causing it to drop to the stone floor of the narrow passageway. The others passed by it, Ageratum hanging about only long enough to slit its throat before it could heal up. Harlan, in the lead, raced forward into the southwestern cavern and saw the two yuan-ti abominations Orchid had just faced. He charged one of them, swinging his flaming blade into its side and singeing its serpentine torso. It hissed in pain and darted in to bite the paladin, but Harlan blocked the attack with his shield. The other tried to attack as well but was hampered by the bats still flocking around it. Chaevaris stepped into view and took careful aim at the abomination not obscured by flying bat bodies. Alistair stepped up beside her, careful not to bump her and ruin her concentration, and cast a [I]scorching ray[/I] spell at the one she was targeting, as he had no desire to slay a bunch of the summoned bats that were helping to do the heroes' work for them. Both gouts of flame struck true, temporarily engulfing the abomination in a halo of fire. Then Harlan channeled holy smiting energy into his blade and brought it crashing down upon the yuan-ti while it was distracted by the burning pain from Alistair's spell, and the paladin's powerful blow knocked it deep into unconsciousness. He then spun in place and brought his flaming blade to stab into the side of the other abomination, not once but twice in rapid succession. Ageratum threw some of her kobold shortspears at the monster, but they failed to penetrate its thick, scaly hide. Writhing in pain and waving its scimitars uselessly at the bats, the remaining abomination managed to get in a lucky strike against Harlan, one of its blades cutting him along the arm. Alistair struck it again with a [I]magic missile[/I] spell; by this time he had long since used up his normal allotment of spells of that level of power and was dipping into spell energies usually reserved for more powerful spells, but he didn't care - he knew the [I]magic missile[/I] spell would hurt the abomination he was targeting without dealing any damage to the swarm of bats still flying all around him and biting him with their sharp fangs. It truly was the "death of a thousand cuts" - although the really important cut was the next successful strike from Harlan's [I]flaming burst longsword[/I], which bit deep into the abomination's serpentine neck and caused him to collapse, unconscious and bleeding out, to the cavern floor. Quick as a wink, Ageratum was there to slit its throat - and that of its counterpart - before the [I]Blood Mirror[/I] could prevent them from dying. The bats, no longer being held in place by Orchid's concentration on maintaining the swarm intact, broke up shortly thereafter and the individual bats all went their separate ways. A quick perusal of the subterranean caverns revealed no further yuan-ti; the heroes assumed the problem had been fully dealt with and went back to strip the serpentine corpses of any valuables. The abomination scimitars were too big to be successfully wielded by anyone of human size, but they were of fine craftsmanship and could likely be sold for a decent price. The halfbloods also wore some fancy jewelry that looked valuable, although a [I]detect magic[/I] spell cast by Alistair revealed no magical emanations from any of them. Gathering back up together, the sorcerer cast another [I]dimension door[/I] spell and returned everyone to the surface. There they remounted their various steeds and headed over to the Aldershoot ranch. they met up with Torkleson about halfway there; he had been heading back to the ruined village to inform the heroes that his wife, son, and ranch were all fine - the yuan-ti hadn't made it that far away. They spent the night in Cobb's Grange - more accurately, inside their extradimensional dwelling like normal, but after having activated the door along the wall of a building in the village - and then started back towards Ghourmand Vale in the morning. They had hoped by then a few halfling survivors might have returned to Cobb's Grange, but if any survived the massacre they were apparently in no big hurry to return. Torkleson left signs for any that might eventually return to seek him out at his ranch, where he'd help them resettle if that was their intention. And then the heroes were off, headed back to their own "home" on the second floor of the Dark and Light Club, in Ghourmand Vale. - - - I got a chance to use all three of Alistair's newly-learned spells this adventure: [I]cat's grace[/I], [I]haste[/I], and [I]dimension door[/I]. And I think Dan realized that giving us an unlimited amount of time to cast "prepping for battle" spells resulted in a few untouchable powerhouses; he may be rethinking that particular strategy in future. [/QUOTE]
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