Note: This is probably the last of the "pictureless" updates for a while.
School's out for summer!
Zandyrium
Episode 46
The adventurers stood huffing loudly from the exertion of the combat. Thoren and Wassabe were both heavily wounded and Ginny had some minor wounds. The battle had taken its toll in other ways – Heinrich has used all of his prayers and chants, and Justinius only had a few left. Morguhn, Dar, and Mercutio had precious little left in their respective arcane arsenals.
Zerstorung finally broke the silence. “I sense this was not the final enemy. The great prey you were seeking?”
“No,” Mercutio admitted. “He or it was merely one of several probably.”
“We push on,” Zerstorung demanded.
“Look,” Heinrich began. “I am out of divine favors – no chants, no prayers, no liturgies, nothing. I need to rest and pray.”
“I agree,” Mercutio added.
“Once the bear is awakened you must strike quickly. As the bear’s heart pumps blood it gains courage and rage and becomes twice the quarry,” Zerstorung cautioned.
“I don’t know if you have been paying attention, but this is not a bear hunt. This in fact, is a battle against evil fiends who cast vile spells and summon hellish allies,” Mercutio answered.
“There is no difference Saracen,” Zerstorung countered.
“Thoren’s friend does have a point,” Wassabe conceded. “I am the last one to advocate going into battle with less than full resources, but there is a time crunch here. Remember, the Cult of Flame is trying to perform a ritual to unbind some tremendous power. The last time it happened, it destroyed the most powerful wizard covenant in the northern world. Giving them time to work on the ritual seems risky.”
“I think we all understand the problem,” Morguhn began. “However, I may as well attack a dragon with a feather in my current state. I can go no further without rest.”
“We must rest,” Thoren finally stated dejectedly. Thoren knew what Zerstorung’s reaction would be.
“Then the hunt is over?” Zerstorung asked.
“Yes,” Thoren said quietly.
“Wait, no,” Heinrich complained. “We are coming back in the morning. We just need some rest.” The last thing the cleric wanted was to lose a powerful barbarian blade from their band.
“When you stop on the trail of the prey, the hunt is over,” Thoren explained.
“I will return to my people,” Zerstorung stated and started to walk away.
“How are you going to get there?” Mercutio asked. “I have no teleportation spells to spare.”
“I will run,” Zerstorung answered.
“Run?” Wassabe asked incredulously.
“As long as there is a sun and there are stars in the night sky – I will know my way.”
Thoren moved towards the half-orc barbarian and rubbed his hand in one of his wounds, staining it with blood. Zerstorung did likewise and the pair clasped hands.
Zerstorung then left.
…..
Meanwhile…
The cabal of flame cult arcanists met in the lower recesses of the complex. The loss of their death slaad ally was a significant blow against their plans. “The band who killed him must be very formidable,” one of the cult wizards suggested.
The dark dwarf stepped forward. “Jendar must have done significant damage to them. They too must have used great magical powers to overcome the slaad. We may have a chance to destroy them now.”
“You may be right Durzhul,” a half-elf wizard replied. “But what if they are not so exhausted? What if Jendar was no challenge at all to them.”
“Then we are dead and all we have worked for is lost,” Durzhul admitted.
“Exactly,” the half-elf agreed. “I suggest we prepare for the ritual. Durzhul shall probe these mercenaries’ strength and if they are too powerful we shall perform the ritual this evening.”
“We do not have a fourth!” a human female mage warned. “We cannot perform the binding without the fourth.”
“I am fully cognizant of that. We must pray Lord Bazim has mercy on us for the service we perform,” the half-elf countered.
“It’s suicide. Certain death!” the woman protested.
“It will not come to pass,” Durzhul insisted. “I will destroy the interlopers this evening.”
“Yes, that would be well,” the half-elf stated. “We will consider the preparation of the ritual a contingency in any event, agreed?”
Durzhul nodded his head in agreement and the female mage, clearly shaken, merely shrugged.
“Good,” the half-elf pronounced victoriously. “I will fetch the prisoners.”
Durzhul retired to his chambers to summon a pair of slaadi to aid in his assault.
…..
The adventurers were readying their bedrolls on the keep level of the structure when someone wind walked into their camp.
“I’m not too late for the party am I?” a human fighter inquired.
“Dirth!” Mercutio exclaimed. “I was hoping you would make it.”
“Yeah, your message about big money was too much to resist. Besides that rascal Rothlor twisted my arm.”
Mercutio introduced the fighter around to the party members. They were all glad to see another sword.
“That wind walking was a pretty neat trick,” Morguhn commented.
“Unfortunately, it was the last charge in a fun little item I picked up in Thray a few years ago,” Dirth admitted.
“You are Thraegian then?” Heinrich asked.
“To the core my friend,” Dirth nodded.
Heinrich smiled.{1}
Ginny watched the cleric with interest. ”Heinrich can be deceptive when he wants to,” she thought to herself.
The watch order was set and the camp settled in for a slumber.
……
Githraldul heard them first and then he saw them coming up the stairs, two huge red toad-like creatures and a dark dwarf behind them. He shouted an alarm to the rest of the camp and began pouring arrows into the lead red slaadi.
The adventurers woke quickly and each grabbed weapons and shield to join the fray. Wassabe and Githraldul made quick work of the first of the slaad, but the second ripped a huge wound into Thoren. The dark dwarf cast some unspeakable horror that bounced off Heinrich’s mighty will. A barrage of magic missiles from Mercutio had the second slaad fighting for life.
Watching his summoned allies falling, Durzhul summoned a mighty sword to fight in front of him. The sword sliced deeply into Thoren and blood was once again flowing freely from the fighter. The dark dwarf followed this with a powerful chain lightning that bounced around the room, crisping a few of the adventurers, but doing no real damage.
Wassabe and Dirth managed to take up flanking positions on the evil dwarf and had him struggling to stay up.
When the second slaad finally fell to Thoren’s mighty blade, Durzhul decided he had enough and teleported out of the battle.
“We have to rest somewhere else,” Heinrich said. “We cannot sustain another attack like that.”
“To the woods?” Githraldul asked.
All agreed and the adventurers made their way past the corpses of the giants to a cold campsite in the forest.
…..
“They are very powerful,” Durzhul admitted.
“Then we will start the ritual,” the half-elf mage said.
The female sorceress pushed the three prisoners forward and opened a large dark tome. “Perform the ritual and you shall be freed,” she commanded.
“I thought it required a fourth?” one of the prisoner-wizards asked.
The half-elf mage let his backhand fly, slapping the prisoner. “We have enough. Now begin or die!”
The three prisoner mages began reading from the tome in a low chant.
…..
Wassabe watched the morning sun slowly climb into the sky. The night had passed uneventfully and he was grateful to see another day. The clerics rose and began their daily supplications, Morguhn meditated for a short time, and Mercutio looked largely refreshed. The clerics cured Thoren and he and the fighter Dirth began to put their armor on.
A slight tremor began to shake the ground. The quake gained steam and soon the earth below the group was shaking violently. The crashing sounds of old timber could be heard all around them and stones began tumbling down from the mountainside.
“Damn it!” Wassabe cursed. “The ritual!”
Githraldul sprinted to the edge of the woods and could see that most of the outer keep where they were staying earlier had collapsed.
“What now?” Morguhn asked.
Mercutio unfurled his map with charcoal markings. “The only thing we did not explore was this well with the white energy motes bouncing around it.”
“Teleport there then and go down the well?” Justinius suggested.
The group agreed and the casters began creating protective wards of all kinds on the party members. Protection from fire, extra speed, extra armor, any dweomer to help was cast quickly. They then teleported into the chamber with the well. Following a bit of experimentation, the adventurers learned that they could in fact float in the well and could travel up or down exercising their will to do so.
They floated down to a large octagonal room with a pair of large, brass, double doors set in one wall.
Ginny checked the doors for traps, but found none. She did announce that the doors were unusually warm to the touch. Thoren pulled the mighty doors open and revealed a very large chamber illuminated by bubbling lava. The chamber was mostly a lake of magma with several flat-topped stone islands forming a path to another ledge on the far side.
The ledge on the far side had the remnants of a door and a pile of bodies, including at least a couple of slaadi and several humanoids. As the adventurers discussed the best way to travel to the far ledge the lava before them bubbled and burst as a huge 9-headed hydra appeared before them.
The ancient creature breathed fire from all nine heads at once burning many of the adventurers. The group’s response was quick. Spell and blades were put to good use against the beast and it was quickly in a mood to retreat. Before the hydra could dive back into the lava Thoren brought his mighty axe down on the beast. The blade crashed through spine and cartilage hitting a major artery. The hydra’s blood sprayed far and wide, sizzling as it splashed down in the lava. The hydra slipped back into the magma – dead.
…..
The scene on the ledge was one of utter destruction. A half-elf was broken in half, his spine broken into an obscene angle. Slaadi were piled amongst the dead along with the powerful dark dwarf wizard the adventurers had faced the previous evening. Another human female caster had her skull punctured and lay on her side with her eyes distended grossly from the force of the blow. Other humanoid remains were in the grisly pile, but were unidentifiable due to the severe burns covering their bodies.
“These were powerful wizards,” Mercutio commented.
“They have unleashed the being,” Justinius stated.
“If these wizards were killed so easily, how do we stand a chance?” Ginny inquired.
“A fair question,” Wassabe said. “And one we will soon answer.” The swashbuckler began moving down a hall deeper into the ground away from the ledge.
The rest of the group followed.
The deep tunnels opened into a huge chamber with four columns. A large lava pool dominated the middle of the room, but the adventurers could not help but notice the sizable pile of treasure in the far corner.
A two-headed, lean, frog-like being with mottled red skin hissed at the sight of the adventurers. The creature wielded a massive glaive of dark iron with black flames licking at its edges and shaft. “There is no binding,” one of the head hissed. “No binding to save you,” the other countered.
Thoren dashed to the attack. The long glaive found its mark on the fighter. The wound caused Heinrich pain as well. The cleric had called upon a prayer that allowed him to share the burden of wounds with the fighter. As the dark bladed glaive dug into Thoren, Heinrich was reconsidering the wisdom of such a prayer.
Thoren missed with his heavy axe and almost fell off balance.
The creature sensing Thoren’s precarious position attacked the fighter. The first blow struck home and both Thoren and Heinrich were shaken. The second blow was even more vicious and caused Heinrich to faint. The enchantment lifted as Heinrich left consciousness and Thoren awaited the next blow. The glaive cut through the mighty fighter’s abdomen and Thoren fell in two pieces at Bazim’s feet.
Fear washed over the rest of the group at they paled at the sight of Thoren’s bisection.
Wassabe and Dirth pressed the attack and Githraldul fired arrows – one of which hit home. Heinrich cast a spell – it bounced off the creature’s resistance. Justinius cast a spell – it bounced off the creature’s resistance. Mercutio cast a spell – it bounced off the creature’s resistance. Wassabe attacked five times and did no damage. Ginny shot several arrows – they all bounced off.
The two-headed creature smiled and reigned blows down on Dirth. The fighter withstood the initial assault, but the third blow was telling. The Glaive cleaved through the fighter’s collarbone and deep into the fighter’s chest. Dirth withered falling to his knees. The creature planted a foot in Dirth’s chest and pulled his weapon free. Dirth fell over backwards, dead.
Wassabe pulled out his bow and fire. Githraldul fired his bow. Ginny fired his bow. The creature seemed amused by the adventurers’ efforts. Justinius desperately cast blindness – by the grace of Garvitas Morte the prayer penetrated the creature’s protections and it was blinded! A cheer went up amongst the band.
Heinrich and Dar poured healing potions down Heinrich.
Some magic missiles from Mercutio penetrated Bazim’s hide. The creature shook with rage and then disappeared from the chamber.
“He is gone?” Wassabe asked.
“Yes,” Justinius replied. The cleric had cast true seeing earlier.
“It was not a teleportation spell,” Mercutio warned.
“Dimension Door?” Morguhn asked.
“Yep,” Dar and Mercutio confirmed in unison.
“There is a secret door on the far wall,” Justinius announced.
“Then he is just curing himself,” Heinrich suggested.
“We should go,” Wassabe suggested. “We were lucky to drive him off.”
“We’re going to leave all of this behind?” Ginny asked wading through the piles of treasure. “There has to be thousands here.”
“I cannot call the fighters back now,” Heinrich stated. “I need to pray. We will have to take their corpses.”
“They’re huge!” Githraldul complained. “Who can carry them?”
“I will carry Thoren,” Morguhn stated.
“I will help you,” Heinrich said. They both began to move towards the corpse.
Bazim reappeared.
“Damn it!” Wassabe screamed. “I wanted to leave!”
Morguhn quickly cast a Wall of force separating himself and Heinrich from the beast.
Githraldul stepped around the wall and launched a volley of arrows at Bazim. Only one of the missiles hit home and it was clear to all the creature was no longer blind.
Bazim strode down the edge of the wall and struck Githraldul with his dark glaive. The impact nearly struck the elf down. Another blow from the weapon and he would join Thoren and Dirth.
The Wall of force foiled Mercutio’s immediate plans of unleashing a torrent of Lightning Bolts. Mercutio went with a desperate ploy he cast a Phantasmal Killer. In the grand scheme of things the illusion should have been nothing but a bother to the great Bazim. Something about the illusion made the two-headed beast hesitate. The adventurers watched in wonder as the monster turned, froze, and fell to the ground dead – frightened to death. The most unlikely of spells had brought the creature’s doom!
The fighters would be resurrected in the morning. The cult of flame was defeated. A major threat to the northern world was defeated by the most unlikely of methods. A huge treasure horde sat there for the plundering. Life was good!
The adventurers assembled the next morning after breaking camp and prepared for a long well deserved rest. Heinrich suddenly received a sending from Bishop Prolariate:
The emperor is dead. Assassinated. Return to investigate. War with Thray may be imminent. Council meeting tonight.
Heinrich sighed. “Things had gone too well,” he thought dejectedly. The cleric contemplated what his reply should be. He knew one thing for sure – there would be no rest in Zandyrium…
To be continued…
{1} Heinrich now has a position of some power in the Emperor’s council in Zandyrium. The Emperor is currently planning a war against Thray. Heinrich is not in favor of the war, but he has made it clear he will choose Zandyrium if it comes to blows.
