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<blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1539702" data-attributes="member: 15043"><p><strong>The Trip to See a Hermit, and Many Other Surprises</strong></p><p></p><p>The party found the Outlands not too different from the lands of the Empire that they left behind. It took them a full two days to reach the edge of Sigil. There, the city was still dense as ever, though it suddenly stopped, as if a knife had cut a line between it and the rest of the Outlands.</p><p></p><p>The Outlands themselves were much as the old lands of the Empire itself... rolling green hills covered in fields and forests. Some of the trees were rather unusual; Tess at one point swore one of the trees spoke. In the skies above, the party could see strange birds flying alongside the eagles and sparrows the party expected. One species of bird had four wings... which Tess recognized as an arrowhawk.</p><p></p><p>The party still remained jittery... the mystery of what happened to the wizard sent by the Court Mages’ still hung in there heads. With the escape of the erinyes only a few days prior in Sigil, they had no doubt the beast was now after them. Indeed, they were jittery enough that one night Grumki nearly prayed to Kord for a flamestrike on a mere bat. For her part, Sarai giggled when it flew overhead, asking if it was a “nightbird.”</p><p></p><p>Only a few days from their final destination (or so they hoped, Shaun had misgivings about the directions they’d recieved), the party decided to form camp, and rest for the night. 1st watch, held by Tess and Aeron, went uneventfully. On second watch, however, Orion spotted something unusual...</p><p></p><p></p><p>“Look, Orion, doesn’t she look cute!” Siabrey cooed quietly, looking at Sarai. The girl’s tiny form was snuggled close to the side of her sleeping benefactor, even taking to snoring lightly like Shaun. As Orion’s eyes went to her, the little girl’s arm stretched up, and the noise of a tiny yawn came through the air.</p><p></p><p>“I think you woke her,” the monk said dryly. The little girl was now sitting up, and slowly climbing out of her covers. </p><p></p><p>“I’ll check on her,” Orion rolled his eyes, noting Siabrey wasn’t moving. The monk quietly walked over towards her. “Sarai, dear, what’s wrong? You have a bad dream?”</p><p></p><p>The girl had turned away from him, and was walking into the woods. She said nothing to his question.</p><p></p><p>“Sarai, honey, come back!” Orion said softly, walking after her, “It’s not safe!” </p><p></p><p>The little girl kept walking... and Orion became more concerned, as thoughts of the <em>other</em> two little girls the party had run into in Sigil came to his head.</p><p></p><p>“Siabrey, wake everyone!” the monk called quietly, still following her. He then turned back to Sarai, and called again for her to come back. Her head turned, and Orion wasn’t sure what it was... something about her eyes just wasn’t <em>right</em>. Chills ran up his spine, as she turned back, and suddenly broke into a dead sprint, one that was far faster than a little girl should have been capable of. As Orion stood there, stunned and debating what to do, she was quickly racing ahead. </p><p></p><p><em>The staff!</em> Orion’s mind raced. True, Graz’zt had tried to talk to him, but sadly, the demon lord had found Orion to be quite a bore... a “goody two-shoes,” and, “pansy,” were what Graz’zt had devolved into calling him. The monk spun back around, and grabbed the staff. By this point, Sarai was a full sixty feet into the woods, and for a moment, Orion lost sight of her.</p><p></p><p>“What the hell did you wake us for?” a sharp complaint arose from Tess. </p><p></p><p>“Sarai ran into the woods,” Orion said plainly, “and she didn’t look <em>right</em>, I can’t explain it. It looked almost like she was twisting or changing. Maybe it was my eyes.”</p><p></p><p>“Sarai!” Shaun called, and started walking out after her. “Sarai, come back! Where are you?” He was now trotting in her direction, and he caught a glimpse of something large and grotesque. It was covered with greenish scales, with a snake-like head. The monk gave a shout and screamed at the creature, before charging it to deliver a furious blow.</p><p></p><p>It was at that moment that it all began.</p><p></p><p>The beast stepped back from him, and suddenly everyone in the party heard a loud, commanding voice. It was not the voice of a child, but the voice of something different to everyone.</p><p></p><p>To Siabrey, it was a combination of her mother and Luke. To Tess, it was her parents, coupled with... surprisingly, the voice of Pellaron. To Shaun, it was Elenya’s voice. To Orion, it was the headmaster of his order.</p><p></p><p>To Orion, the voice called in a dominating male voice, <span style="color: yellow">“Orion Mystralis! Thou hast served this band of brothers well! Thou hath carried thy burden long enough. Brothers doth serve brothers, and now we have come to serve you! Hand us thy staff, and we shall bear it to its destination!”</span></p><p></p><p>For a split second, Orion stood, staring ahead as the voice echoed in his head, before his mind snapped back. <em>Master Cenobis is not here! He was not aware there were other planes! That cannot be him! That is some beast!</em> The monk’s grip on the staff only tightened.</p><p></p><p>To everyone else, the voice’s siren call varied, but with the same basic demand: <span style="color: yellow"> “Your friend Orion is no friend! He intends to take the staff for himself, and use it to destroy what you love, and become an Emperor far more terrible than Graz’zt himself! Take the staff from him! Give it to us! We shall ensure its proper destruction!”</span></p><p></p><p>For Siabrey, the voice came first as a silent whisper from Lucius... a lover’s whisper, that she should grab the staff. Then it shifted to her mother, an advising, in some ways, commanding tone. Siabrey’s mind, for several seconds, hung on the precipice of charging Orion, tackling him, and taking the staff, but her mind shook free of the powerful <em>suggestion</em>.</p><p></p><p>For Shaun, the voice was of Elenya, and three children’s voices he’d never heard before. The smaller voices screamed for daddy to get them the staff if they loved him, to which Elenya’s pleasant soprano was added, simply saying, “Hon, if you get this for them, I think they’ll be quiet... then we can spend some alone time!” Something about the way Elenya winked in the mental image tipped him off that it wasn’t real, and he too shook off the image.</p><p></p><p>Tess, however, was not as fortunate. While her mother’s harpings and her father’s gentle persuadings she was able to resist, the simple, soft voice of the fallen paladin was far too insidious. It uttered in her mind that he could be brought back if the staff was taken from Orion. A shriek of sonic darts had been ready on Tess’ lips, but these suddenly found themselves redirected...</p><p></p><p>...at Orion.</p><p></p><p>It came as an avalanche of noise, a shriek high and horrible, thundering over his ears and shaking him to his very bones. The monk stumbled under the furious sonic hammerblow, fortunate that Tess was aiming to knock him unconscious, not kill him. He managed to shake off the blows, and still managed to deliver a series of vicious assaults on the unknown beast in front of him.</p><p></p><p>“Back away!” Grumki shouted, slightly too late as Hidalas’ prayers to Tarantor were answered and a column of fire shattered downward from the sky, immolating the creature for several seconds. To the half-orc’s suprise, Orion backflipped furiously, and deftly dodged all the flames that tried to lick him, before leaping back into the fray.</p><p></p><p>Siabrey charged forward, her blades upraised. The fighter’s flaming blades (yes, by this point both her katana and her washazaki were +2 flaming weapons) sliced hard and true through the creature, but the beast seemed to not be harmed by the flames on her weapon.</p><p></p><p>Both Shaun and Vin sent arrows flashing towards the creature as well. Shaun, disbelieving that the little girl he had rescued had turned into this monstrousity, missed badly, his arrow skittering through the trees high and to the right of where the creature was. </p><p></p><p>Vin’s shots, however, went true. All four arrows slammed deep into the creature’s chest, and seemed to flash with brilliant energy as they hit (holy damage). The creature seemed to reel especially hard from this blow, but nonetheless remained standing, even after Aeron sent a lightning bolt in its direction.</p><p>As a matter of fact, the snake headed beast backed away from Orion again, and a blast of unholy fire exploded in the middle of the party. While most managed to shrug off some of the worse effects, poor Geoffrey was left stumbling around, his senses all impaired by the aura of evil and death that covered the area (<em>unholy blight</em>).</p><p></p><p>Orion found himself suddenly in a precarious position. The creature in front of him bared her fangs as he charged, and he could plainly see that not only were they as long as his hand, but that some bluish-green slime dripped from them. A party member was blasting him with energy... and to top everything off... a familiar voice came into his head.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red">”Goody two-shoes,</span> Graz’zt sneered into his mind, <span style="color: red"> “You have a habit of not listening to me, but listen well now!”</span></p><p></p><p>“Why should I listen to you?” Orion snarled back, as he delivered another furious series of punches and kicks on the beast. “You, like this thing, are evil. In my opinion, you both deserve destruction!”</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red">”That creature is an old acquaintance of mine... Ubaranian... a kataloth,”</span> Graz’zt’s voice called. <span style="color: red">”Do NOT give me over to her! ]”I WILL NOT be degraded to be misused by a mere yugoloth!</span> the staff snarled. <span style="color: red"> “No one knows who she is in the employ of! I could end up in devil’s hands for all I know!”</span></p><p></p><p>“With that tone,” Orion grunted as another punch landed in the beast’s neck, “maybe I should hand you over, just to tick you off!”</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red">She would merely use my powers to take over plane after plane, including yours... destroying your precious little monastery, your precious little Empire, and likely killing all your precious little friends. Can’t you see that, dim one? While I hate you, and you hate me... in this matter we are allies!”</span></p><p></p><p>“You,” *grunt*, “are talking intelligently for once,” *smack*, “your evil piggishness!”</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red"> “Be grateful I am bound in this staff with this ungodly Pelor trash stuck on, otherwise I would show you manners... and then I would make you into a <u>proper</u> ruler!”</span></p><p></p><p>Another frightening screech from Tess (she failed her save) sent more sonic energy slamming into Orion, and the monk found himself wavering... wobbling. With the voices raging in his head, his ears ringing, his sense of balance gone, he could feel himself fading, ever so slowly, as the blissful darkness of unconsciousness threatened to pull him into its blissful grip. </p><p></p><p>Siabrey’s sword flashed even more furiously, cutting more and deeper gouges into the creature’s sides, and more fire from Shaun, Vin, and Aeron slashed into it. To the party’s chagrin, some of their damage to it seemed to be healing, as wounds filled over, and the beast merely backed away again.</p><p></p><p>The beast then turned its attentions to its most immediate threat, Siabrey. It suddenly lunged forward, and its massive teeth ripped into her shoulder. Siabrey let out a scream, and watched in horror as the beast’s jaws seemed to shudder as it pumped the bluish-green ichor into her veins. For a second, she felt woozy and shaky, but as the creature let go, she momentarily realized that her arms and legs still moved fine... and she responded with several more vicious thrusts and slashes.</p><p></p><p>Shaun’s arrow once again went wide, but this night, as always, Vin’s shots rang true. Three of her arrows found the creature’s belly, brilliant flashes echoing as they impacted, causing the beast to reel. Carefully, uttering words of arcane, she let loose her fourth arrow at the beast’s feet. The arrow flew downward, though just before hitting the ground, it suddenly angled upwards. As the beast roared in pain and confusion, the arrow slammed into its mouth from below, avoiding thick skull and deep muscle. It only had to pierce thin flesh at the roof of the beast’s mouth before burying itself in the creature’s brain. The kataloth tumbled to the ground, death having claimed its body.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>“Hieroneous’ Hognose!” Shaun swore, not caring who heard, “Are you alright Tess?”</p><p></p><p>The bard had suddenly collapsed when the beast had fallen. Her breathing was quick and shallow, though she was able to rise on her own.</p><p></p><p>“W...what happened?” Tess asked, sincerely confused. Siabrey walked over and put her wounded shoulder around her friend.</p><p></p><p>“The beast took control of you, and was using you to attack Orion,” the fighter explained before wincing. “It tried to talk to me too... it wanted us to give it the staff.”</p><p></p><p>“It was a kataloth,” Orion said, still holding his pounding head. “I have no clue what they are... and thanks Tess for the headache that I don’t think time can even fix.”</p><p></p><p>“The strength of Kord can fix anything!” Grumki roared cheerfully, glad to see his friends were alright. “First, we’ll start with the wounded Empress, and then you, good monk!”</p><p></p><p>“A kataloth?” Tess questioned as Siabrey was healed. “Those are yugoloths... daemons of pride... they tempt... I must have failed their test,” the bard looked down. <em>I failed everyone</em> her mind wept.</p><p></p><p>Even though his head hurt mightily, Orion gave her a pat on the head. He coudl read that she felt horrible for what happened... and he knew she wasn’t really to blame.</p><p></p><p>“All of us have bad days, now and then I suppose... just make sure you don’t aim your bad day at me ever again!” he grinned.</p><p></p><p>It was with much trepidation that the party continued onward. Five days after the incident with Sarai, they finally came across a large cottage, removed from the road. AS the party gingerly walked down the path towards it, Siabrey swore she saw a tree start to follow them, and Shaun complained that he saw eyes on the picket fence.</p><p></p><p>After they had gotten about thirty feet along the path, a loud, booming voice echoed in their minds.</p><p></p><p>“Whaddaya want!?”</p><p></p><p>= = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = == = == = = == == </p><p></p><p>Here is the effective end of session 20. The end of the session was rushed, and so more of the questions posed were answered at the start of the next session than during the end of this one. The next session was the official CAMPAIGN FINALE, so stayed tuned for not only that, but bonus sessions afterwards (the players came up with the idea of a “10 years later” session for fun... which I will also type up).</p><p></p><p>As for Sarai, she was a kataloth, a daemon of pride. Corruption, corruption galore. And as a DM, I actually fouled up... I didn't use her most insidious capability. Normally, if she can talk to someone for three round successfully, she can make their alignment change one step toward neutral evil, starting with the alignment itself. She can do this on successive days. She didn't use this once (PCs, thank your lucky behinds... otherwise Grumki would've become... DARK GRUMKI! Chaotic Neutral to Chaotic Evil... hehehe <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> )</p><p></p><p>The stats for the kataloth are somewhere in the Creature Catalogue forums, and created by someone on this site. Sadly, my mind befuddles me as to where... its been too long since I accessed the thread (about... seven weeks now I think). I'll keep looking, and when I find it, I'll post the link here.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Emperor Valerian, post: 1539702, member: 15043"] [b]The Trip to See a Hermit, and Many Other Surprises[/b] The party found the Outlands not too different from the lands of the Empire that they left behind. It took them a full two days to reach the edge of Sigil. There, the city was still dense as ever, though it suddenly stopped, as if a knife had cut a line between it and the rest of the Outlands. The Outlands themselves were much as the old lands of the Empire itself... rolling green hills covered in fields and forests. Some of the trees were rather unusual; Tess at one point swore one of the trees spoke. In the skies above, the party could see strange birds flying alongside the eagles and sparrows the party expected. One species of bird had four wings... which Tess recognized as an arrowhawk. The party still remained jittery... the mystery of what happened to the wizard sent by the Court Mages’ still hung in there heads. With the escape of the erinyes only a few days prior in Sigil, they had no doubt the beast was now after them. Indeed, they were jittery enough that one night Grumki nearly prayed to Kord for a flamestrike on a mere bat. For her part, Sarai giggled when it flew overhead, asking if it was a “nightbird.” Only a few days from their final destination (or so they hoped, Shaun had misgivings about the directions they’d recieved), the party decided to form camp, and rest for the night. 1st watch, held by Tess and Aeron, went uneventfully. On second watch, however, Orion spotted something unusual... “Look, Orion, doesn’t she look cute!” Siabrey cooed quietly, looking at Sarai. The girl’s tiny form was snuggled close to the side of her sleeping benefactor, even taking to snoring lightly like Shaun. As Orion’s eyes went to her, the little girl’s arm stretched up, and the noise of a tiny yawn came through the air. “I think you woke her,” the monk said dryly. The little girl was now sitting up, and slowly climbing out of her covers. “I’ll check on her,” Orion rolled his eyes, noting Siabrey wasn’t moving. The monk quietly walked over towards her. “Sarai, dear, what’s wrong? You have a bad dream?” The girl had turned away from him, and was walking into the woods. She said nothing to his question. “Sarai, honey, come back!” Orion said softly, walking after her, “It’s not safe!” The little girl kept walking... and Orion became more concerned, as thoughts of the [i]other[/i] two little girls the party had run into in Sigil came to his head. “Siabrey, wake everyone!” the monk called quietly, still following her. He then turned back to Sarai, and called again for her to come back. Her head turned, and Orion wasn’t sure what it was... something about her eyes just wasn’t [i]right[/i]. Chills ran up his spine, as she turned back, and suddenly broke into a dead sprint, one that was far faster than a little girl should have been capable of. As Orion stood there, stunned and debating what to do, she was quickly racing ahead. [i]The staff![/i] Orion’s mind raced. True, Graz’zt had tried to talk to him, but sadly, the demon lord had found Orion to be quite a bore... a “goody two-shoes,” and, “pansy,” were what Graz’zt had devolved into calling him. The monk spun back around, and grabbed the staff. By this point, Sarai was a full sixty feet into the woods, and for a moment, Orion lost sight of her. “What the hell did you wake us for?” a sharp complaint arose from Tess. “Sarai ran into the woods,” Orion said plainly, “and she didn’t look [i]right[/i], I can’t explain it. It looked almost like she was twisting or changing. Maybe it was my eyes.” “Sarai!” Shaun called, and started walking out after her. “Sarai, come back! Where are you?” He was now trotting in her direction, and he caught a glimpse of something large and grotesque. It was covered with greenish scales, with a snake-like head. The monk gave a shout and screamed at the creature, before charging it to deliver a furious blow. It was at that moment that it all began. The beast stepped back from him, and suddenly everyone in the party heard a loud, commanding voice. It was not the voice of a child, but the voice of something different to everyone. To Siabrey, it was a combination of her mother and Luke. To Tess, it was her parents, coupled with... surprisingly, the voice of Pellaron. To Shaun, it was Elenya’s voice. To Orion, it was the headmaster of his order. To Orion, the voice called in a dominating male voice, [color=yellow]“Orion Mystralis! Thou hast served this band of brothers well! Thou hath carried thy burden long enough. Brothers doth serve brothers, and now we have come to serve you! Hand us thy staff, and we shall bear it to its destination!”[/color] For a split second, Orion stood, staring ahead as the voice echoed in his head, before his mind snapped back. [i]Master Cenobis is not here! He was not aware there were other planes! That cannot be him! That is some beast![/i] The monk’s grip on the staff only tightened. To everyone else, the voice’s siren call varied, but with the same basic demand: [color=yellow] “Your friend Orion is no friend! He intends to take the staff for himself, and use it to destroy what you love, and become an Emperor far more terrible than Graz’zt himself! Take the staff from him! Give it to us! We shall ensure its proper destruction!”[/color] For Siabrey, the voice came first as a silent whisper from Lucius... a lover’s whisper, that she should grab the staff. Then it shifted to her mother, an advising, in some ways, commanding tone. Siabrey’s mind, for several seconds, hung on the precipice of charging Orion, tackling him, and taking the staff, but her mind shook free of the powerful [i]suggestion[/i]. For Shaun, the voice was of Elenya, and three children’s voices he’d never heard before. The smaller voices screamed for daddy to get them the staff if they loved him, to which Elenya’s pleasant soprano was added, simply saying, “Hon, if you get this for them, I think they’ll be quiet... then we can spend some alone time!” Something about the way Elenya winked in the mental image tipped him off that it wasn’t real, and he too shook off the image. Tess, however, was not as fortunate. While her mother’s harpings and her father’s gentle persuadings she was able to resist, the simple, soft voice of the fallen paladin was far too insidious. It uttered in her mind that he could be brought back if the staff was taken from Orion. A shriek of sonic darts had been ready on Tess’ lips, but these suddenly found themselves redirected... ...at Orion. It came as an avalanche of noise, a shriek high and horrible, thundering over his ears and shaking him to his very bones. The monk stumbled under the furious sonic hammerblow, fortunate that Tess was aiming to knock him unconscious, not kill him. He managed to shake off the blows, and still managed to deliver a series of vicious assaults on the unknown beast in front of him. “Back away!” Grumki shouted, slightly too late as Hidalas’ prayers to Tarantor were answered and a column of fire shattered downward from the sky, immolating the creature for several seconds. To the half-orc’s suprise, Orion backflipped furiously, and deftly dodged all the flames that tried to lick him, before leaping back into the fray. Siabrey charged forward, her blades upraised. The fighter’s flaming blades (yes, by this point both her katana and her washazaki were +2 flaming weapons) sliced hard and true through the creature, but the beast seemed to not be harmed by the flames on her weapon. Both Shaun and Vin sent arrows flashing towards the creature as well. Shaun, disbelieving that the little girl he had rescued had turned into this monstrousity, missed badly, his arrow skittering through the trees high and to the right of where the creature was. Vin’s shots, however, went true. All four arrows slammed deep into the creature’s chest, and seemed to flash with brilliant energy as they hit (holy damage). The creature seemed to reel especially hard from this blow, but nonetheless remained standing, even after Aeron sent a lightning bolt in its direction. As a matter of fact, the snake headed beast backed away from Orion again, and a blast of unholy fire exploded in the middle of the party. While most managed to shrug off some of the worse effects, poor Geoffrey was left stumbling around, his senses all impaired by the aura of evil and death that covered the area ([i]unholy blight[/i]). Orion found himself suddenly in a precarious position. The creature in front of him bared her fangs as he charged, and he could plainly see that not only were they as long as his hand, but that some bluish-green slime dripped from them. A party member was blasting him with energy... and to top everything off... a familiar voice came into his head. [color=red]”Goody two-shoes,[/color] Graz’zt sneered into his mind, [color=red] “You have a habit of not listening to me, but listen well now!”[/color] “Why should I listen to you?” Orion snarled back, as he delivered another furious series of punches and kicks on the beast. “You, like this thing, are evil. In my opinion, you both deserve destruction!” [color=red]”That creature is an old acquaintance of mine... Ubaranian... a kataloth,”[/color] Graz’zt’s voice called. [color=red]”Do NOT give me over to her! ]”I WILL NOT be degraded to be misused by a mere yugoloth![/color] the staff snarled. [color=red] “No one knows who she is in the employ of! I could end up in devil’s hands for all I know!”[/color] “With that tone,” Orion grunted as another punch landed in the beast’s neck, “maybe I should hand you over, just to tick you off!” [color=red]She would merely use my powers to take over plane after plane, including yours... destroying your precious little monastery, your precious little Empire, and likely killing all your precious little friends. Can’t you see that, dim one? While I hate you, and you hate me... in this matter we are allies!”[/color] “You,” *grunt*, “are talking intelligently for once,” *smack*, “your evil piggishness!” [color=red] “Be grateful I am bound in this staff with this ungodly Pelor trash stuck on, otherwise I would show you manners... and then I would make you into a [u]proper[/u] ruler!”[/color] Another frightening screech from Tess (she failed her save) sent more sonic energy slamming into Orion, and the monk found himself wavering... wobbling. With the voices raging in his head, his ears ringing, his sense of balance gone, he could feel himself fading, ever so slowly, as the blissful darkness of unconsciousness threatened to pull him into its blissful grip. Siabrey’s sword flashed even more furiously, cutting more and deeper gouges into the creature’s sides, and more fire from Shaun, Vin, and Aeron slashed into it. To the party’s chagrin, some of their damage to it seemed to be healing, as wounds filled over, and the beast merely backed away again. The beast then turned its attentions to its most immediate threat, Siabrey. It suddenly lunged forward, and its massive teeth ripped into her shoulder. Siabrey let out a scream, and watched in horror as the beast’s jaws seemed to shudder as it pumped the bluish-green ichor into her veins. For a second, she felt woozy and shaky, but as the creature let go, she momentarily realized that her arms and legs still moved fine... and she responded with several more vicious thrusts and slashes. Shaun’s arrow once again went wide, but this night, as always, Vin’s shots rang true. Three of her arrows found the creature’s belly, brilliant flashes echoing as they impacted, causing the beast to reel. Carefully, uttering words of arcane, she let loose her fourth arrow at the beast’s feet. The arrow flew downward, though just before hitting the ground, it suddenly angled upwards. As the beast roared in pain and confusion, the arrow slammed into its mouth from below, avoiding thick skull and deep muscle. It only had to pierce thin flesh at the roof of the beast’s mouth before burying itself in the creature’s brain. The kataloth tumbled to the ground, death having claimed its body. “Hieroneous’ Hognose!” Shaun swore, not caring who heard, “Are you alright Tess?” The bard had suddenly collapsed when the beast had fallen. Her breathing was quick and shallow, though she was able to rise on her own. “W...what happened?” Tess asked, sincerely confused. Siabrey walked over and put her wounded shoulder around her friend. “The beast took control of you, and was using you to attack Orion,” the fighter explained before wincing. “It tried to talk to me too... it wanted us to give it the staff.” “It was a kataloth,” Orion said, still holding his pounding head. “I have no clue what they are... and thanks Tess for the headache that I don’t think time can even fix.” “The strength of Kord can fix anything!” Grumki roared cheerfully, glad to see his friends were alright. “First, we’ll start with the wounded Empress, and then you, good monk!” “A kataloth?” Tess questioned as Siabrey was healed. “Those are yugoloths... daemons of pride... they tempt... I must have failed their test,” the bard looked down. [i]I failed everyone[/i] her mind wept. Even though his head hurt mightily, Orion gave her a pat on the head. He coudl read that she felt horrible for what happened... and he knew she wasn’t really to blame. “All of us have bad days, now and then I suppose... just make sure you don’t aim your bad day at me ever again!” he grinned. It was with much trepidation that the party continued onward. Five days after the incident with Sarai, they finally came across a large cottage, removed from the road. AS the party gingerly walked down the path towards it, Siabrey swore she saw a tree start to follow them, and Shaun complained that he saw eyes on the picket fence. After they had gotten about thirty feet along the path, a loud, booming voice echoed in their minds. “Whaddaya want!?” = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = == = == = = == == Here is the effective end of session 20. The end of the session was rushed, and so more of the questions posed were answered at the start of the next session than during the end of this one. The next session was the official CAMPAIGN FINALE, so stayed tuned for not only that, but bonus sessions afterwards (the players came up with the idea of a “10 years later” session for fun... which I will also type up). As for Sarai, she was a kataloth, a daemon of pride. Corruption, corruption galore. And as a DM, I actually fouled up... I didn't use her most insidious capability. Normally, if she can talk to someone for three round successfully, she can make their alignment change one step toward neutral evil, starting with the alignment itself. She can do this on successive days. She didn't use this once (PCs, thank your lucky behinds... otherwise Grumki would've become... DARK GRUMKI! Chaotic Neutral to Chaotic Evil... hehehe :) ) The stats for the kataloth are somewhere in the Creature Catalogue forums, and created by someone on this site. Sadly, my mind befuddles me as to where... its been too long since I accessed the thread (about... seven weeks now I think). I'll keep looking, and when I find it, I'll post the link here. [/QUOTE]
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