carborundum
Adventurer
I'll just have to keep rereading the story hour then 
Have fun in the land of delicious curry!
Have fun in the land of delicious curry!
-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Shilsen's Eberron SH (Finished - The Last Word : 9/20/15)
- Thread starter Rackhir
- Start date
shilsen
Adventurer
Thanks. I'm having a good time here and stuffing myself. One of the biggest advantages to being Indian is the sheer volume of great cuisine, even for someone like me (can't eat spicy food and generally avoid vegetables).I'll just have to keep rereading the story hour then
Have fun in the land of delicious curry!
And I'm already working on the next update.
shilsen
Adventurer
Once Kallionaxis is dead, Prine skins the dragon with the aid of Korm and Six, while attempting to ignore Gareth’s excited suggestions and discussion of what parts of the skin can be turned into which form of armor. When that is accomplished, the group proceeds to search for her lair.
It takes over an hour and a combination of magical and physical searching for them to find it, almost exactly at the center of the dragon’s realm, buried under the ground near the large lake which sits beside the range of small hills. The lair, as far as the adventurers can make out, lies under the surface of the water, so they make preparations and enter.
Beneath the murky waters swim a number of large, misshapen creatures, resembling huge turtles with more openings in their shells than they have limbs. The tojanidas, which Nameless recognizes as not native to Eberron, make a bee-line for the intruders, charging in with jaws agape. There is a quick flurry of activity and the muted explosion of a spell underwater. And then the surviving tojanida flee just as quickly as they came, trailing streamers of green blood and leaving behind the corpses of three of their kind.
Continuing onwards, the adventurers find the underwater tunnel leading up to Kallionaxis’ lair and proceed along it. There is a minor interruption as an unnoticed trap causes part of the tunnel to collapse in on them, but it is quickly cleared and they head onwards. Eventually, they emerge where the tunnel ends in a large pool at the center of a large chamber lit by continual flame torches.
As the adventurers emerge, a blade barrier appears amongst them, as does its source – a hitherto invisible woman with the tail of a huge snake and weapons in each of its six arms. The marilith, bound by Kallionaxis to guard the lair’s entrance just as the tojanida were in the lake, has one moment of glee as the adventurers scatter. Five seconds later, its charred, bloodied and headless body slowly fades out of existence. “Good riddance,” says Gareth, shaking blood off the Endless Blade.
As the others move through Kallionaxis’ lair, they find it to be fairly sparse, consisting only of a few chambers, most of which seem to have seen little use. Each of them is lit by continual light stones and a couple have reams of writing on the walls about the various planes and the Prophecy. Minor magical items and auras dot the place, the most powerful of them coming from a spherical stone embedded in the wall of the largest chamber, which seems to have been used as a bedroom. It is (as Nameless later learns) a draconic healing stone, but unfortunately one that is built into the lair and deactivates if removed.
Not that the alienist stops to identify it now, since his attention and that of the others is on the large bored-looking humanoid sitting near the stone, who rises from his cross-legged posture as the group enters. His bronze skin and long hair, which flows and eddies behind him as if in an invisible breeze, identify him to Nameless, who quickly says, “He’s a genie,” while readying a spell in case the outsider attacks.
The genie, however, simply smiles broadly and bows. “Ah – visitors! I am Manipadmehum Acharya bin Daoud bin Suleiman, Emir of Flame, Master of the Wind, Caliph of …”
“Do we have to fight you, Manipa … um, whatever your name is?” asks Luna quickly, cutting off the introduction.
The genie quirks an eyebrow at the question and then says, its tone still friendly, “Call me Manny. And not necessarily, though I have been asked to guard the treasures contained here.”
“What treasures?” asks Gareth, just as Nameless says, “I hope you were paid in advance.”
The genie looks back and forth between the two, smiling, before it replies. “I wasn’t paid, unfortunately, due to the manner of my summoning. And I don’t actually know what treasures are here. I was simply compacted to protect them from anyone who tried to take them.”
“Is there any limit to this promise?” asks Six.
“Yes. Twenty days. Until then, I must protect the treasures and slay any who seek them.” Manny frowns slightly as some of the adventurers tense. “I do not wish to fight you, of course, but as long as Kallionaxis is alive…”
He pauses as Korm begins to laugh, and looks on quizzically as the Gatekeeper explains, “In that case, you’re good. Kallionaxis is dead.”
“Really? Can you prove it?”
Gareth lowers one of the group’s bags of holding to the ground, reaches in and – with some effort – pulls out what is very recognizably the head of a bronze dragon.
“Hah!” Manny laughs loudly, placing a hand on his large belly. “That changes things.” He drops back into a sitting pose, comfortably folding his legs, and says, “Let’s talk.”
Over the next few minutes, the genie explains that he is from the plane of Syrania and was summoned here by Kallionaxis. Manny is quite friendly and evidently pleased that the dragon is dead, saying that she was paranoid and a bit of a bore. He also explains that Kallionaxis’ treasure is contained in a hidden compartment, which he happily points out to the adventurers, and says that he was summoned by a magical rod that is contained therein.
“May we summon you later using it?” asks Nameless. “We have a home which we are often away from, that could use a powerful guardian. And I believe you would find it much more pleasant there than this place. The city where it is located is within a manifest zone linked to Syriana.”
The genie studies him silently for a moment and then says slowly, “Y-es. But I would prefer it if you did not attempt to compel me to your service. I can be much more … helpful if I come to an agreement with you of my free will.”
“Of course,” says the alienist, before Gareth interrupts, “Before we enter into any agreements, I’d like to know that you are not evil, and something of your capabilities. We have many enemies and guarding our home is a dangerous task. Would you mind if I used a detect evil on you and maybe tested your combat ability?”
Manny shakes his head. “Not at all.” Then he grins and taps the handle of the huge scimitar strapped to his back. “And it will be a pleasure to beat you over the head.”
Once Gareth has ascertained that the genie is not evil, the two of them square off for a quick exchange of blows. Gareth quickly discovers that the genie is slightly less proficient a swordsman than himself, but has greater natural strength. When the brief bout is over, Manipadmehum Acharya bin Daoud bin Suleiman takes his leave of the group, thanks them for ending his agreement with Kallionaxis, and disappears.
The adventurers then move to and open the hidden compartment, to reveal a treasure trove of nearly two dozen magical items, many of them very costly and powerful. A number are designed for being worn by a creature of human size and shape and have been set aside into a single set, so they were presumably worn by Kallionaxis if she ever took on a humanoid form. The items in the compartment are quite varied, ranging from a magical lyre to a horn which produces magical fruit to a shirt made of demonskin stitched together (which Korm promptly dons, much to Gareth’s irritation).
But by far the most powerful items are a pair, which lie together in a strongbox at the back of the compartment. One is the rod mentioned by the genie, which Nameless identifies as able to cast a single planar binding spell – lesser, regular or greater – once a month and a single planar ally spell – also lesser regular or greater – once a week. Even more importantly, no components of any kind are used up in the casting. The other item resembles an amulet of the planes, but is larger and more ornate. It can be used twice per day, and besides the ability to transport its users to another plane it protects everyone doing so with a powerful abjuration that lets them avoid planar effects for a day.
Nameless carefully puts the two items away, saying, “These should come in very useful for the future.”
“Good,” says Luna, “Can we go now? I’m getting bored!”
Nameless exchanges a look of almost-completely-mock horror with the others and says, “Quick, everyone gather around.” As they do, he transports the group away and back to Io’lokar.
Once they are back in the city, the Angels quickly divide up the spoils from the expedition. Honar and Prine, each taking a share which is substantially smaller than what the Angels individually take, bid them goodbye and leave. But not before Prine asks if they will help him explore the ruins of Io’vakas now. Gareth, quite pleased with their success and evidently no longer mourning the loss of his old equipment, agrees to do so, as do the others. Nameless says, “We can give you a day and perhaps more if we find equipment or knowledge that would be useful against the aberration armies. But since we are Khorvaire’s primary line of defense against the aberrations, our time is not our own.” Prine thanks them and says a day should be enough.
When the two Io’lokari leave, the Angels settle down to relax and rest. The remainder of the day passes without much incident, though a scrying sensor does pop into existence near them. Having grown relatively used to these, nobody reacts with particular excitement, and Luna quickly dispels it.
The Angels also receive multiple sendings from Khorvaire. The first is to Gareth from his mother, who says, “We are in Sentinel Tower. No attacks on Karrlakton, though fighting in nearby area. Karrnathi armies doing well. Hope you are safe. How is Lalia?” The paladin replies to say that things are going well and Lalia was in Sharn and fine the last time he saw her.
Jaela Daran also contacts Gareth to say, “Multiple aberration armies defeated across Khorvaire. Coalitions between nations are working well. Your information was very valuable. Do you have any more knowledge to share?” After a little discussion, Gareth relays Nameless’ reply, who says that the group will have more information in a day or two, but stresses that extreme caution should be used in following up on the information, as it is likely to be compromised at some point and will be used eventually to set up a trap.
Korm also receives a message, this one from Saala Torrn, saying, “Received information about armies from Jaela. Very accurate. Had ziggurat area checked. No activity above ground but powerful presences in ziggurat cavern. Will you return?” The Gatekeeper responds, “We’ll return soon. Possibly without Gareth; he’s being wussy about his brain. Maybe he’ll be better since we skinned the feebleminded dragon. There’s no lich to worry about.”
Lastly, Trillia contacts Nameless to say, “Are you fine? What news? Things seem quiet here. No more attacks on Sharn. City is rebuilding and repairing Cogs. Am still at Gray House.” The alienist replies, “Fine for now, but might change at any moment. You know how it goes. Feebleminded dragons are funny.”
* * * * *
Early the next day, the Guardian Angels leave Io’lokar with Prine. Since poking around the ruins of Io’vakas is generally frowned upon by the Io’lokari, they simply have Nameless teleport them in, using a description from Prine.
They appear in the middle of the remnants of the ancient city, a huge expanse of ruined buildings, walls, statuary and similar structures in a plain of what looks like melted stone fused together, all covered in dust. Prine explains that the assault by the dragons literally melted the city down, while he leads the Angels towards the area which he wishes to explore. As they go, he says that he has generally found nothing worthwhile in Io’vakas on previous visits, but when he came to this area some four months ago he spotted two cloaked and humanoid figures in the open. Prine felt he was being watched and quickly left.
“Speaking of being watched,” says Korm, “Should we worry about that?” The others look where he points, to see a large gold dragon flying by in a wide loop nearly half a mile away.
“No,” says Prine. “Some of the dominion lords tend to keep an eye on Io’vakas, but they shouldn’t interfere unless we do something which draws attention, like large explosions and such.”
“Oh, good,” says Six, in a deadpan metallic voice. “That would never happen.”
As the group goes on, they notice that there is a strange echoing as one walks over the ground, causing the sound of their footsteps to carry further. But just as they are discussing the phenomenon, they are distracted by the sight of two cloaked and hooded figures, resembling Prine’s description, standing some three hundred feet away among the broken statuary which seems to more heavily dot this area. The figures stand stock-still and silent, seemingly gazing into the desert, giving no sign of having spotted the adventurers.
Luna promptly shouts, “Hello,” and then waves, but there is no reply. As the others begin to discuss what to do, she says, “I’ll go check,” and begins to transform.
“Wait, Lu…,” begins Nameless as Luna’s body begins to swell, expand and turn green, but before he can finish Luna disappears. And an instant later, a huge tendriculos appears some thirty feet from the two figures.
The figures spin around as Luna appears, each half-crouching and drawing a shortsword. The druid also notices that there is the gleam of armor under their cloaks and that the hands holding the swords, which are the only visible parts of their bodies, have claws at the end of their long fingers and are partially covered in scales.
But Luna has little leisure to consider these sights. Two similar figures rise from where they had been hiding behind the shattered statues and rubble nearby. And an invisible blast of cold strikes the surprised druid, causing a thin coating of frost to appear on her bark.
As Luna roars, more from surprise and anger than actual hurt, the four figures move smoothly towards her. There is a sudden shimmering in the air around each as they do so, which causes their forms to distort slightly. And as they near her each waves a hand, causing a dark nimbus of energy to form around their claws and then shoot forth to strike Luna, causing painful wounds to appear on her.
“!” says Gareth, seeing Luna under attack, and calls on the Endless Blade to carry him forward faster than he can run, skimming just above the ground. The others also hurry towards Luna, but they are too far away to make a difference yet, especially since most of them pause to cast protective spells.
Not that Luna needs much assistance. With the creatures directly attacking her, she growls, “You’ll regret that!” and casts. A powerfully empowered arc of lightning leaps from one creature to another, dropping one of the two in a smoking heap. The other is still jerking spasmodically from the electrical discharge as a swift flame strike envelops it, leaving it a charred corpse.
The remaining two enemies exchange a quick set of words in some language, the accents of which are strange and sibilant to Luna. They instantly disappear from view, but the druid’s incredible hearing lets her know that they are still moving towards her. Which is confirmed as they appear, blades digging painfully deep into her bark.
Seriously hurt by now, Luna rolls out of the way and repeats the combination of spells which she just used. The effects are the same, with first one and then the last assailant dropping lifeless to the ground.
But before she can draw a relieved breath, Luna feels another blast of magical energy from an unknown source strike her, this one consisting of the same kind of electrical energy that she just used. This time, Luna’s cry is half groan and half roar as she feels herself weakening under the attacks. Critically hurt, she moves backwards, gasping the words to a heal spell as she goes.
Some distance behind her, Nameless halts in his flight, his arcane sight revealing things the others cannot see. He especially notices one of the larger broken statues near the spot where the cloaked creatures had been standing. The alienist’s enhanced vision seeing that it is masked by an illusion and has the auras of divination, abjuration and universal magic on it, all of them strong. Nameless shouts, “That statue – it’s a powerful magical trap! Luna, you need to move away from it!”
As he speaks, another burst of energy strikes Luna, this time fiery hot in nature. Nameless’ vision reveals that its source is the strange statue, and he also realizes that it is not the normal arcane or divine magic that he is used to. A split second’s thought is all he needs to identify it as the sort of magical power he found wielded by the quori – psionics.
Luna neither knows nor cares about this information now that she knows where it comes from. With an angry roar she casts her most powerful spell. There is a violent trembling in the earth, its reverberations carrying to all of the Angels, and then the ground simply collapses in a huge circle as her earthquake takes effect. The offending statue, and much of the ground around it, simply collapses into the sinkhole she created and disappears.
Now that it is safe, the other Angels move up to Luna or go to examine the bodies of her late attackers. Prine kneels beside one and pushes the hood back. What is revealed is a mostly human face, but with sharp fangs in its mouth, from between which a forked tongue lolls lifelessly. The eyes are slanted and serpentine, even in death, and the effect is exacerbated by large scale-like patches on the face and neck.
Prine gasps and swears violently at the sight, before looking up at the Angels. “Yuan-ti!”
It takes over an hour and a combination of magical and physical searching for them to find it, almost exactly at the center of the dragon’s realm, buried under the ground near the large lake which sits beside the range of small hills. The lair, as far as the adventurers can make out, lies under the surface of the water, so they make preparations and enter.
Beneath the murky waters swim a number of large, misshapen creatures, resembling huge turtles with more openings in their shells than they have limbs. The tojanidas, which Nameless recognizes as not native to Eberron, make a bee-line for the intruders, charging in with jaws agape. There is a quick flurry of activity and the muted explosion of a spell underwater. And then the surviving tojanida flee just as quickly as they came, trailing streamers of green blood and leaving behind the corpses of three of their kind.
Continuing onwards, the adventurers find the underwater tunnel leading up to Kallionaxis’ lair and proceed along it. There is a minor interruption as an unnoticed trap causes part of the tunnel to collapse in on them, but it is quickly cleared and they head onwards. Eventually, they emerge where the tunnel ends in a large pool at the center of a large chamber lit by continual flame torches.
As the adventurers emerge, a blade barrier appears amongst them, as does its source – a hitherto invisible woman with the tail of a huge snake and weapons in each of its six arms. The marilith, bound by Kallionaxis to guard the lair’s entrance just as the tojanida were in the lake, has one moment of glee as the adventurers scatter. Five seconds later, its charred, bloodied and headless body slowly fades out of existence. “Good riddance,” says Gareth, shaking blood off the Endless Blade.
As the others move through Kallionaxis’ lair, they find it to be fairly sparse, consisting only of a few chambers, most of which seem to have seen little use. Each of them is lit by continual light stones and a couple have reams of writing on the walls about the various planes and the Prophecy. Minor magical items and auras dot the place, the most powerful of them coming from a spherical stone embedded in the wall of the largest chamber, which seems to have been used as a bedroom. It is (as Nameless later learns) a draconic healing stone, but unfortunately one that is built into the lair and deactivates if removed.
Not that the alienist stops to identify it now, since his attention and that of the others is on the large bored-looking humanoid sitting near the stone, who rises from his cross-legged posture as the group enters. His bronze skin and long hair, which flows and eddies behind him as if in an invisible breeze, identify him to Nameless, who quickly says, “He’s a genie,” while readying a spell in case the outsider attacks.
The genie, however, simply smiles broadly and bows. “Ah – visitors! I am Manipadmehum Acharya bin Daoud bin Suleiman, Emir of Flame, Master of the Wind, Caliph of …”
“Do we have to fight you, Manipa … um, whatever your name is?” asks Luna quickly, cutting off the introduction.
The genie quirks an eyebrow at the question and then says, its tone still friendly, “Call me Manny. And not necessarily, though I have been asked to guard the treasures contained here.”
“What treasures?” asks Gareth, just as Nameless says, “I hope you were paid in advance.”
The genie looks back and forth between the two, smiling, before it replies. “I wasn’t paid, unfortunately, due to the manner of my summoning. And I don’t actually know what treasures are here. I was simply compacted to protect them from anyone who tried to take them.”
“Is there any limit to this promise?” asks Six.
“Yes. Twenty days. Until then, I must protect the treasures and slay any who seek them.” Manny frowns slightly as some of the adventurers tense. “I do not wish to fight you, of course, but as long as Kallionaxis is alive…”
He pauses as Korm begins to laugh, and looks on quizzically as the Gatekeeper explains, “In that case, you’re good. Kallionaxis is dead.”
“Really? Can you prove it?”
Gareth lowers one of the group’s bags of holding to the ground, reaches in and – with some effort – pulls out what is very recognizably the head of a bronze dragon.
“Hah!” Manny laughs loudly, placing a hand on his large belly. “That changes things.” He drops back into a sitting pose, comfortably folding his legs, and says, “Let’s talk.”
Over the next few minutes, the genie explains that he is from the plane of Syrania and was summoned here by Kallionaxis. Manny is quite friendly and evidently pleased that the dragon is dead, saying that she was paranoid and a bit of a bore. He also explains that Kallionaxis’ treasure is contained in a hidden compartment, which he happily points out to the adventurers, and says that he was summoned by a magical rod that is contained therein.
“May we summon you later using it?” asks Nameless. “We have a home which we are often away from, that could use a powerful guardian. And I believe you would find it much more pleasant there than this place. The city where it is located is within a manifest zone linked to Syriana.”
The genie studies him silently for a moment and then says slowly, “Y-es. But I would prefer it if you did not attempt to compel me to your service. I can be much more … helpful if I come to an agreement with you of my free will.”
“Of course,” says the alienist, before Gareth interrupts, “Before we enter into any agreements, I’d like to know that you are not evil, and something of your capabilities. We have many enemies and guarding our home is a dangerous task. Would you mind if I used a detect evil on you and maybe tested your combat ability?”
Manny shakes his head. “Not at all.” Then he grins and taps the handle of the huge scimitar strapped to his back. “And it will be a pleasure to beat you over the head.”
Once Gareth has ascertained that the genie is not evil, the two of them square off for a quick exchange of blows. Gareth quickly discovers that the genie is slightly less proficient a swordsman than himself, but has greater natural strength. When the brief bout is over, Manipadmehum Acharya bin Daoud bin Suleiman takes his leave of the group, thanks them for ending his agreement with Kallionaxis, and disappears.
The adventurers then move to and open the hidden compartment, to reveal a treasure trove of nearly two dozen magical items, many of them very costly and powerful. A number are designed for being worn by a creature of human size and shape and have been set aside into a single set, so they were presumably worn by Kallionaxis if she ever took on a humanoid form. The items in the compartment are quite varied, ranging from a magical lyre to a horn which produces magical fruit to a shirt made of demonskin stitched together (which Korm promptly dons, much to Gareth’s irritation).
But by far the most powerful items are a pair, which lie together in a strongbox at the back of the compartment. One is the rod mentioned by the genie, which Nameless identifies as able to cast a single planar binding spell – lesser, regular or greater – once a month and a single planar ally spell – also lesser regular or greater – once a week. Even more importantly, no components of any kind are used up in the casting. The other item resembles an amulet of the planes, but is larger and more ornate. It can be used twice per day, and besides the ability to transport its users to another plane it protects everyone doing so with a powerful abjuration that lets them avoid planar effects for a day.
Nameless carefully puts the two items away, saying, “These should come in very useful for the future.”
“Good,” says Luna, “Can we go now? I’m getting bored!”
Nameless exchanges a look of almost-completely-mock horror with the others and says, “Quick, everyone gather around.” As they do, he transports the group away and back to Io’lokar.
Once they are back in the city, the Angels quickly divide up the spoils from the expedition. Honar and Prine, each taking a share which is substantially smaller than what the Angels individually take, bid them goodbye and leave. But not before Prine asks if they will help him explore the ruins of Io’vakas now. Gareth, quite pleased with their success and evidently no longer mourning the loss of his old equipment, agrees to do so, as do the others. Nameless says, “We can give you a day and perhaps more if we find equipment or knowledge that would be useful against the aberration armies. But since we are Khorvaire’s primary line of defense against the aberrations, our time is not our own.” Prine thanks them and says a day should be enough.
When the two Io’lokari leave, the Angels settle down to relax and rest. The remainder of the day passes without much incident, though a scrying sensor does pop into existence near them. Having grown relatively used to these, nobody reacts with particular excitement, and Luna quickly dispels it.
The Angels also receive multiple sendings from Khorvaire. The first is to Gareth from his mother, who says, “We are in Sentinel Tower. No attacks on Karrlakton, though fighting in nearby area. Karrnathi armies doing well. Hope you are safe. How is Lalia?” The paladin replies to say that things are going well and Lalia was in Sharn and fine the last time he saw her.
Jaela Daran also contacts Gareth to say, “Multiple aberration armies defeated across Khorvaire. Coalitions between nations are working well. Your information was very valuable. Do you have any more knowledge to share?” After a little discussion, Gareth relays Nameless’ reply, who says that the group will have more information in a day or two, but stresses that extreme caution should be used in following up on the information, as it is likely to be compromised at some point and will be used eventually to set up a trap.
Korm also receives a message, this one from Saala Torrn, saying, “Received information about armies from Jaela. Very accurate. Had ziggurat area checked. No activity above ground but powerful presences in ziggurat cavern. Will you return?” The Gatekeeper responds, “We’ll return soon. Possibly without Gareth; he’s being wussy about his brain. Maybe he’ll be better since we skinned the feebleminded dragon. There’s no lich to worry about.”
Lastly, Trillia contacts Nameless to say, “Are you fine? What news? Things seem quiet here. No more attacks on Sharn. City is rebuilding and repairing Cogs. Am still at Gray House.” The alienist replies, “Fine for now, but might change at any moment. You know how it goes. Feebleminded dragons are funny.”
* * * * *
Early the next day, the Guardian Angels leave Io’lokar with Prine. Since poking around the ruins of Io’vakas is generally frowned upon by the Io’lokari, they simply have Nameless teleport them in, using a description from Prine.
They appear in the middle of the remnants of the ancient city, a huge expanse of ruined buildings, walls, statuary and similar structures in a plain of what looks like melted stone fused together, all covered in dust. Prine explains that the assault by the dragons literally melted the city down, while he leads the Angels towards the area which he wishes to explore. As they go, he says that he has generally found nothing worthwhile in Io’vakas on previous visits, but when he came to this area some four months ago he spotted two cloaked and humanoid figures in the open. Prine felt he was being watched and quickly left.
“Speaking of being watched,” says Korm, “Should we worry about that?” The others look where he points, to see a large gold dragon flying by in a wide loop nearly half a mile away.
“No,” says Prine. “Some of the dominion lords tend to keep an eye on Io’vakas, but they shouldn’t interfere unless we do something which draws attention, like large explosions and such.”
“Oh, good,” says Six, in a deadpan metallic voice. “That would never happen.”
As the group goes on, they notice that there is a strange echoing as one walks over the ground, causing the sound of their footsteps to carry further. But just as they are discussing the phenomenon, they are distracted by the sight of two cloaked and hooded figures, resembling Prine’s description, standing some three hundred feet away among the broken statuary which seems to more heavily dot this area. The figures stand stock-still and silent, seemingly gazing into the desert, giving no sign of having spotted the adventurers.
Luna promptly shouts, “Hello,” and then waves, but there is no reply. As the others begin to discuss what to do, she says, “I’ll go check,” and begins to transform.
“Wait, Lu…,” begins Nameless as Luna’s body begins to swell, expand and turn green, but before he can finish Luna disappears. And an instant later, a huge tendriculos appears some thirty feet from the two figures.
The figures spin around as Luna appears, each half-crouching and drawing a shortsword. The druid also notices that there is the gleam of armor under their cloaks and that the hands holding the swords, which are the only visible parts of their bodies, have claws at the end of their long fingers and are partially covered in scales.
But Luna has little leisure to consider these sights. Two similar figures rise from where they had been hiding behind the shattered statues and rubble nearby. And an invisible blast of cold strikes the surprised druid, causing a thin coating of frost to appear on her bark.
As Luna roars, more from surprise and anger than actual hurt, the four figures move smoothly towards her. There is a sudden shimmering in the air around each as they do so, which causes their forms to distort slightly. And as they near her each waves a hand, causing a dark nimbus of energy to form around their claws and then shoot forth to strike Luna, causing painful wounds to appear on her.
“
!” says Gareth, seeing Luna under attack, and calls on the Endless Blade to carry him forward faster than he can run, skimming just above the ground. The others also hurry towards Luna, but they are too far away to make a difference yet, especially since most of them pause to cast protective spells.Not that Luna needs much assistance. With the creatures directly attacking her, she growls, “You’ll regret that!” and casts. A powerfully empowered arc of lightning leaps from one creature to another, dropping one of the two in a smoking heap. The other is still jerking spasmodically from the electrical discharge as a swift flame strike envelops it, leaving it a charred corpse.
The remaining two enemies exchange a quick set of words in some language, the accents of which are strange and sibilant to Luna. They instantly disappear from view, but the druid’s incredible hearing lets her know that they are still moving towards her. Which is confirmed as they appear, blades digging painfully deep into her bark.
Seriously hurt by now, Luna rolls out of the way and repeats the combination of spells which she just used. The effects are the same, with first one and then the last assailant dropping lifeless to the ground.
But before she can draw a relieved breath, Luna feels another blast of magical energy from an unknown source strike her, this one consisting of the same kind of electrical energy that she just used. This time, Luna’s cry is half groan and half roar as she feels herself weakening under the attacks. Critically hurt, she moves backwards, gasping the words to a heal spell as she goes.
Some distance behind her, Nameless halts in his flight, his arcane sight revealing things the others cannot see. He especially notices one of the larger broken statues near the spot where the cloaked creatures had been standing. The alienist’s enhanced vision seeing that it is masked by an illusion and has the auras of divination, abjuration and universal magic on it, all of them strong. Nameless shouts, “That statue – it’s a powerful magical trap! Luna, you need to move away from it!”
As he speaks, another burst of energy strikes Luna, this time fiery hot in nature. Nameless’ vision reveals that its source is the strange statue, and he also realizes that it is not the normal arcane or divine magic that he is used to. A split second’s thought is all he needs to identify it as the sort of magical power he found wielded by the quori – psionics.
Luna neither knows nor cares about this information now that she knows where it comes from. With an angry roar she casts her most powerful spell. There is a violent trembling in the earth, its reverberations carrying to all of the Angels, and then the ground simply collapses in a huge circle as her earthquake takes effect. The offending statue, and much of the ground around it, simply collapses into the sinkhole she created and disappears.
Now that it is safe, the other Angels move up to Luna or go to examine the bodies of her late attackers. Prine kneels beside one and pushes the hood back. What is revealed is a mostly human face, but with sharp fangs in its mouth, from between which a forked tongue lolls lifelessly. The eyes are slanted and serpentine, even in death, and the effect is exacerbated by large scale-like patches on the face and neck.
Prine gasps and swears violently at the sight, before looking up at the Angels. “Yuan-ti!”
carborundum
Adventurer
Good grief, Penfold!
And is Six getting psychic in his old age? Mind you, who could have predicted an earthquake?
And is Six getting psychic in his old age? Mind you, who could have predicted an earthquake?
Welcome to the cult. Robe fittings are at 9:30 am sharp.
Yeah, I'm glad Sep seems to have found his muse again. For a while there we were going 9 mo - 1 yr between updates. I do wish he'd offer some insights into how he manages to make things work at those power levels though.
shilsen
Adventurer
And is Six getting psychic in his old age? Mind you, who could have predicted an earthquake?
Predicting mayhem with the Guardian Angels is ... well, you know
Five months? Damn. Welcome to the secret club.
Yeah, that's something I'd be very interested to read about too. I gather that part of it is the fact that he's doing things very differently to the RAW and it sounds like he does things individually with each player for the most part rather than actually playing together, plus some of the stuff which makes his story hour so much fun isn't oriented for gaming (how much of it is about the NPCs, for example). But getting some details from him would be nice.
carborundum
Adventurer
Say Shil, whatever happened that other game/ story hour thread of yours. You know, the granny-unfriendly one. Did it ever get posted anywhere else? It was mighty amusing and interesting, if you ask me!
shilsen
Adventurer
Alas, we never got enough written about that to make it a real story hour. But yes, it was (and is, since we're still playing) a pretty interesting and amusing game/story.
BTW, I'm almost done with the next writeup, so I should have it up in a couple of days. Watch this space.
carborundum
Adventurer
I can only dream (*shudder*) about what those characters got up to. Alas indeed
Glad you're having fun mate!
Glad you're having fun mate!
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