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Shadows of Greatness, a Forgotten Realms campaign UPDATED February 1, 2008
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<blockquote data-quote="sniffles" data-source="post: 2953395" data-attributes="member: 30035"><p><strong>The Grey Tower</strong></p><p></p><p>We remained at Brimstone Keep for another week to recover from our recent exertions and to aid the local folk in rebuilding what had been destroyed by the Zhentarim invaders. In the aftermath of our battle to reclaim the keep, I had a long conversation with Rock regarding his role in our company. Once again my friend holds himself to far too high a standard. His only concern with his near death was that had he died he should have failed in his plan to take the gatehouse, thereby ruining our strategy for conquering the usurpers. He actually considered retiring from our travels, perhaps to return to Camber. I know this is not the first time he has entertained such thoughts. I can only remind him of how much I value his companionship. He must convince himself that his worth is greater than he credits.</p><p></p><p>In return for our efforts we have been given an assortment of objects acquired from the Zhentarim, or perhaps stolen by them from travelers. I am now in possession of a cloak that will protect me from lightning and other such energies. We agreed to take with us the armor we had removed from the priestess of Bane and the warlord, hoping to sell them elsewhere or perhaps to have them modified to suit one of us - the first modification being to remove the offensive emblems of Bane that decorate them.</p><p></p><p>At the end of the week Jayda Foxfire and her companion Blaze agreed to guide us to the Grey Tower, Havin Wayfinder's abode. We said brief farewells to the people of the town, which has once more been dubbed Kalton, and followed the pair to Havin's strange residence. It is not truly a tower, instead being a squat structure of grey stone. From the exterior we saw no windows and only a single heavy door, which proved to be ajar. Liadan called out that we came as friends before opening the door wider to admit our entry. There was no response. Jayda and Blaze did not accompany us within, for which they would no doubt be grateful had they known what awaited us.</p><p></p><p>Within the structure we found ourselves in a large circular chamber, entirely empty of any furnishings but for a stone table standing on a plinth in the center of the chamber. The chamber was filled otherwise only with darkness and dust. There was no sign that Rock could discern of any recent activity. A staircase to one side of the center plinth led both up and down, and Nekaya observed that a light was visible from the descending portion. She shouted down the stairs to introduce our presence to anyone below. Rock remarked that he heard a noise like a wind from whatever lay at the bottom of the stair.</p><p></p><p>I cautiously loosened my blades in their scabbards as we descended. Rock took the lead in the event of snares or other dangers upon the stair. As we proceeded we felt the air grow notably warmer. The light at the bottom of the stair was quite bright. As we emerged into another circular chamber, we readily saw the reason for this illumination: a white-hot orb occupied the center of the room, with a smaller orb rapidly circling it. </p><p></p><p>As we squinted at this miniature solar orb a familiar voice began to speak. I recognized it as the voice of Havin Wayfinder. I cannot recall precisely his words, but he spoke of being within arm's reach of our destiny. This seemed to provoke some response in Nekaya, for she began to recite something and strode forward. Sadly she spoke in her native Mulan tongue and none of us could understand her words. As we watched she walked purposefully toward the glowing orb and vanished into its fiery brilliance!</p><p></p><p>This had occurred so unexpectedly that we had no opportunity to react, though I think Rock may have called out to ask her what she was doing. Then the smaller orb appeared to return to its parent and it also disappeared from sight. A tendril of hot light shot out of the large orb and struck one of the windows that I had previously failed to notice. There was a window at each of the cardinal points, and a window midway between each of those. To my surprise one of the windows faced out on the post where we had tied our mounts, though from the exterior we had seen no sign of any opening other than the door.</p><p></p><p>While my attention was momentarily distracted by this discovery, I failed to realize that Rock was running full-tilt toward the orb. Before I could take a step forward he had vanished. Liadan then ran to the side of the area occupied by the orb to see if he or Nekaya emerged from the opposite side. More tendrils of flame shot out of the orb to connect with the windows. </p><p></p><p>I felt something rush past me and reached out to catch hold of Pakkin as the goblin faithfully attempted to follow Nekaya. I must give him credit for his courage; he meant to go where she went no matter how much he feared it, though he ran pell-mell with his eyes tight shut. He struggled mightily to get free of my grasp, but his strength was too little to overcome mine. As I gripped him, Liadan came to a decision and stepped forward to meet the painfully bright light herself. The sphere seemed to be growing unstable now and flares shot out from it in every direction, forcing me to step aside for fear of being impaled by one of its fiery limbs.</p><p></p><p>My eyes met Erim's for a brief instant as we both wondered what course of action we ought to pursue. But that choice was taken from us in a heartbeat as the sphere suddenly expanded to fill the entire chamber and we were enguled in its blazing glory.</p><p></p><p>A moment later I felt stone beneath my feet again, and was surrounded by an intense sensation of dryness. I opened my eyes to find myself in another chamber, this one not circular and lacking the miniature sun that had apparently just swallowed me. To my amazement I found myself facing a tableau of Rock, Nekaya and Liadan in battle with a skeletal figure bearing a large curved blade. Behind me our mounts stood in a cluster, nervously shuffling to escape the proximity of several more skeletons that were cowering on the sandy floor.</p><p></p><p>Liadan pronounced a prayer to Lathander and all of the cowering skeletons vanished into clouds of bone dust. Seeing that my three friends could no doubt manage the remaining skeleton, I went to calm the horses. Freed of my grasp, Pakkin ran to hide in a corner. Within a few heartbeats my companions had dispatched the skeleton and begun to explore our surroundings, but just as that occurred we heard the sound of a gong that made me feel a brief chill of distress. Something is very wrong in this place.</p><p></p><p>Rock went immediately to a stair that the sword-wielding skeleton had evidently been guarding. I heard an assortment of clattering noises and dwarven curses as he endeavored to destroy a dangerous trap that blocked the stair. In the meanwhile Nekaya was carefully examining the paintings on the walls of the chamber by the golden glow of her hakra. She then announced that we have been somehow transported to the tomb of an ancient Mulhorandi pharoah!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Quips & Quotes:</strong></p><p></p><p>Hedrin: "It's a horse of last resort."</p><p>Zora: "I was thinking a horse of last dessert."</p><p></p><p>Erim: "Can we get a certificate of authenticity for this sword? Oh, darn, we took it out of the box!"</p><p></p><p>Zora: "Can I have a resurRocktion?"</p><p></p><p>Sniffles: "I need a cloak of will."</p><p>Zora: "Nah, everybody just fires at Will."</p><p></p><p>Erim: "I get my everburning corn out."</p><p>Devo: "Are you taking your shoes off?"</p><p></p><p>Hedrin: "My horse is a naysayer."</p><p></p><p>Devo: "You guys come in on round 3."</p><p>Erim: "Do we have to?"</p><p></p><p>Devo: "You seem to have captured a little bit of the sun."</p><p>Jubilee: "I hope he doesn't mind."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="sniffles, post: 2953395, member: 30035"] [b]The Grey Tower[/b] We remained at Brimstone Keep for another week to recover from our recent exertions and to aid the local folk in rebuilding what had been destroyed by the Zhentarim invaders. In the aftermath of our battle to reclaim the keep, I had a long conversation with Rock regarding his role in our company. Once again my friend holds himself to far too high a standard. His only concern with his near death was that had he died he should have failed in his plan to take the gatehouse, thereby ruining our strategy for conquering the usurpers. He actually considered retiring from our travels, perhaps to return to Camber. I know this is not the first time he has entertained such thoughts. I can only remind him of how much I value his companionship. He must convince himself that his worth is greater than he credits. In return for our efforts we have been given an assortment of objects acquired from the Zhentarim, or perhaps stolen by them from travelers. I am now in possession of a cloak that will protect me from lightning and other such energies. We agreed to take with us the armor we had removed from the priestess of Bane and the warlord, hoping to sell them elsewhere or perhaps to have them modified to suit one of us - the first modification being to remove the offensive emblems of Bane that decorate them. At the end of the week Jayda Foxfire and her companion Blaze agreed to guide us to the Grey Tower, Havin Wayfinder's abode. We said brief farewells to the people of the town, which has once more been dubbed Kalton, and followed the pair to Havin's strange residence. It is not truly a tower, instead being a squat structure of grey stone. From the exterior we saw no windows and only a single heavy door, which proved to be ajar. Liadan called out that we came as friends before opening the door wider to admit our entry. There was no response. Jayda and Blaze did not accompany us within, for which they would no doubt be grateful had they known what awaited us. Within the structure we found ourselves in a large circular chamber, entirely empty of any furnishings but for a stone table standing on a plinth in the center of the chamber. The chamber was filled otherwise only with darkness and dust. There was no sign that Rock could discern of any recent activity. A staircase to one side of the center plinth led both up and down, and Nekaya observed that a light was visible from the descending portion. She shouted down the stairs to introduce our presence to anyone below. Rock remarked that he heard a noise like a wind from whatever lay at the bottom of the stair. I cautiously loosened my blades in their scabbards as we descended. Rock took the lead in the event of snares or other dangers upon the stair. As we proceeded we felt the air grow notably warmer. The light at the bottom of the stair was quite bright. As we emerged into another circular chamber, we readily saw the reason for this illumination: a white-hot orb occupied the center of the room, with a smaller orb rapidly circling it. As we squinted at this miniature solar orb a familiar voice began to speak. I recognized it as the voice of Havin Wayfinder. I cannot recall precisely his words, but he spoke of being within arm's reach of our destiny. This seemed to provoke some response in Nekaya, for she began to recite something and strode forward. Sadly she spoke in her native Mulan tongue and none of us could understand her words. As we watched she walked purposefully toward the glowing orb and vanished into its fiery brilliance! This had occurred so unexpectedly that we had no opportunity to react, though I think Rock may have called out to ask her what she was doing. Then the smaller orb appeared to return to its parent and it also disappeared from sight. A tendril of hot light shot out of the large orb and struck one of the windows that I had previously failed to notice. There was a window at each of the cardinal points, and a window midway between each of those. To my surprise one of the windows faced out on the post where we had tied our mounts, though from the exterior we had seen no sign of any opening other than the door. While my attention was momentarily distracted by this discovery, I failed to realize that Rock was running full-tilt toward the orb. Before I could take a step forward he had vanished. Liadan then ran to the side of the area occupied by the orb to see if he or Nekaya emerged from the opposite side. More tendrils of flame shot out of the orb to connect with the windows. I felt something rush past me and reached out to catch hold of Pakkin as the goblin faithfully attempted to follow Nekaya. I must give him credit for his courage; he meant to go where she went no matter how much he feared it, though he ran pell-mell with his eyes tight shut. He struggled mightily to get free of my grasp, but his strength was too little to overcome mine. As I gripped him, Liadan came to a decision and stepped forward to meet the painfully bright light herself. The sphere seemed to be growing unstable now and flares shot out from it in every direction, forcing me to step aside for fear of being impaled by one of its fiery limbs. My eyes met Erim's for a brief instant as we both wondered what course of action we ought to pursue. But that choice was taken from us in a heartbeat as the sphere suddenly expanded to fill the entire chamber and we were enguled in its blazing glory. A moment later I felt stone beneath my feet again, and was surrounded by an intense sensation of dryness. I opened my eyes to find myself in another chamber, this one not circular and lacking the miniature sun that had apparently just swallowed me. To my amazement I found myself facing a tableau of Rock, Nekaya and Liadan in battle with a skeletal figure bearing a large curved blade. Behind me our mounts stood in a cluster, nervously shuffling to escape the proximity of several more skeletons that were cowering on the sandy floor. Liadan pronounced a prayer to Lathander and all of the cowering skeletons vanished into clouds of bone dust. Seeing that my three friends could no doubt manage the remaining skeleton, I went to calm the horses. Freed of my grasp, Pakkin ran to hide in a corner. Within a few heartbeats my companions had dispatched the skeleton and begun to explore our surroundings, but just as that occurred we heard the sound of a gong that made me feel a brief chill of distress. Something is very wrong in this place. Rock went immediately to a stair that the sword-wielding skeleton had evidently been guarding. I heard an assortment of clattering noises and dwarven curses as he endeavored to destroy a dangerous trap that blocked the stair. In the meanwhile Nekaya was carefully examining the paintings on the walls of the chamber by the golden glow of her hakra. She then announced that we have been somehow transported to the tomb of an ancient Mulhorandi pharoah! [B]Quips & Quotes:[/B] Hedrin: "It's a horse of last resort." Zora: "I was thinking a horse of last dessert." Erim: "Can we get a certificate of authenticity for this sword? Oh, darn, we took it out of the box!" Zora: "Can I have a resurRocktion?" Sniffles: "I need a cloak of will." Zora: "Nah, everybody just fires at Will." Erim: "I get my everburning corn out." Devo: "Are you taking your shoes off?" Hedrin: "My horse is a naysayer." Devo: "You guys come in on round 3." Erim: "Do we have to?" Devo: "You seem to have captured a little bit of the sun." Jubilee: "I hope he doesn't mind." [/QUOTE]
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