Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Durnhill Conscripts
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7485080" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 23: WISHING YOU WERE HERE</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 5</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Galen Thorne, human paladin 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 7</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Syngaard, human fighter 8</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 22 August 2018</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>"You can do that now? That quickly?" asked Orion, astonishment evident in her voice.</p><p></p><p>"No problem," assured the merchant wizard. "Your <em>bag of blades</em> supplies the throwing daggers and they're already of masterwork quality. It will be a mere trifle to upgrade the daggers such that they have magical enhancements to aid in the striking of the designated target and deal a blast of electrical energy upon impact. You agree to the price stipulated?"</p><p></p><p>"I do indeed!" enthused the halfling, passing over a bag of coins, and in a few minutes she had her <em>bag of blades</em> back, even more lethal than ever. She tucked it into place at the side of Carl's saddle, so she could reach down and grab a weapon from the bag without effort.</p><p></p><p>Nearby, Kaspar and Syngaard walked out of an armorer's shop that also dealt in magic items. Each had purchased items guaranteed to make them more difficult to hit in combat, no small matter to the elven monk as he was forbidden by his order to wear armor of any type that would inhibit the flexibility he had attained through years of diligent effort. Galen, it the meantime, had summoned his dire lion from the celestial realms, specifically to have a permanent <em>greater magic fang</em> spell cast upon him. It took the combined efforts of a druid and a wizard to do so, but that was why the magic shop employed spellcasters of different varieties. The paladin happily paid the agreed-upon sum, eager now for Burt's next combat.</p><p></p><p>He didn't have long to wait. Although the four heroes were all at various shops along the same street, they weren't all together as a group - until suddenly, they were. In the blink of an eye, the four found themselves several blocks away in the street just outside the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>. Oddly enough, Daleth Stormsea was there as well - and he hadn't even been shopping with the rest of the group! The elf wizard looked around, surprised to see himself outdoors when a moment ago he had been lost deep in study in the Temple of Boccob, researching arcane spellcraft techniques.</p><p></p><p>"What the Hell?" sputtered Syngaard. "What just happened?"</p><p></p><p>Burt was not among the group's number, a fact immediately evident to Galen Thorne. <Burt!> he called out over the empathic link they shared. <I'm just outside the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>! Meet me here at once!> Back in the street outside the magic shop, a saber-fanged dire lion the size of a draft horse suddenly took off at full speed, scattering frightened townsfolk in his wake as he made a bee-line for his human master.</p><p></p><p>"It would seem we were teleported here," Daleth observed, answering the scarred fighter. "I would imagine Skevros needs assistance, at once!" The elf turned and raced to the front door of the tavern that served as the group's headquarters, swinging it open and rushing inside.</p><p></p><p>"Can he do that?" Orion asked, urging Carl to follow behind the elven wizard. Galen, Syngaard, and Kaspar followed suit.</p><p></p><p>"News to me," grumbled Syngaard. "He teleports us all over the damned place, but we always gotta trudge back home ourselves. Never seen 'im teleport us <em>to</em> him." And not only that, but a week ago the group had turned over a magical stone from Ashfall that was to have aided the king's adviser in shielding the kingdom of Durnhill from unwanted teleport effects - it shouldn't have even been possible for the group to be suddenly relocated like they were.</p><p></p><p>Entering the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>, the group got an answer of sorts. There was an elderly man sitting in the spot normally reserved for Skevros at the group's main table; he was bald on top, with a ring of white hair and a long, flowing, white beard that matched the color of his robe - the color of the Azure Glade's Diviners Guild. At his side stood a petite drow woman, her dark skin covered - just barely, Syngaard was quick to notice - in an equally-dark leather outfit that clung to her form like a thin layer of wet cotton. Skevros and Karen stood over to the heroes' right, motionless, the wizard's lips pressed tight; the spot in which they stood normally sported a round table and four chairs, but neither was currently present. Instead, there was a black, round hole standing upright along the wall behind them - a magical <em>gate</em> of some sort, or perhaps one of those curious <em>portable holes</em> the magic shops occasionally offered for sale at outrageous prices. Whichever it was, it stood a good ten feet tall.</p><p></p><p>"What's goin' on?" demanded Syngaard, looking over at Skevros for an explanation. He had his <em>returning javelin</em> in hand, ready to throw if needed. At his side, Galen cast a <em>protection from evil</em> spell, realizing the Diviners Guild was one of the three of nine branches of the Council of Guilds already supposedly infiltrated by the Seekers of Eternity. He moved towards Skevros but was stopped by an invisible wall of some type - a <em>wall of force</em>, perhaps.</p><p></p><p>"Sit down," suggested the bearded wizard, taking a sip from a tankard of ale with one hand - his other held an ornate staff - and looking not the least bit concerned that there were five heroes and a riding dog armed and ready to do battle with him. "I wish to discuss options with you."</p><p></p><p>"And just who the Hell are you?" demanded Syngaard. (He was in quite the demanding mood, it seemed.)</p><p></p><p>"I believe you know of me. My name is Arcturus; I'm the head of the Diviners Guild in the Azure Glade. Your little group here has become quite the thorn in our side - and I intend to remedy that, one way or the other." Galen's eyes narrowed as the elderly wizard spoke, partly at the mention of "thorn" - as that was, phonetically, the young paladin's last name - but also because he was concentrating on the wizard's aura, which emanated waves of evil. (Oddly enough, the drow woman at his side showed no signs of evil at all; who ever heard of a good - or at least non-evil - drow?)</p><p></p><p>"As I see it, you have three choices," observed Arcturus, counting them off on his fingers. "One: you can join the Seekers of Eternity and share in our successes." Galen visibly choked at that suggestion, drawing a frown from Arcturus. "Two," he continued, "you can tell us how you communed with the Mithral Mage and we will cease all hostility against toward your group and Skevros, despite your master's previous betrayal."</p><p></p><p>"You can go stick your head in a bucket," snarled Galen, not at all aware that his comment might actually be giving the diviner a hint as to the role a bucket of osteovox played in their ability to communicate with the spirit of the Mithral Mage, using a skull of a druid member of the Seekers.</p><p></p><p>"Then there's three: you die," concluded Arcturus. "The choice is yours."</p><p></p><p>"I like option four: we kill you and all of your stupid Seekers!" offered Syngaard, raising his javelin to throw.</p><p></p><p>"A pity," remarked Arcturus, throwing a readied <em>maze</em> spell directly at Daleth, possibly singling the elf out as the greatest threat simply because he himself knew the power of high-level arcane spellcasters; had he known Daleth was the hero with the least actual combat experience of the group, he might have chosen his target differently. In any case, Daleth disappeared at once, his body shunted into an extradimensional maze, unable to interact with the outside world at all until he mentally unraveled the means of escape. At Arcturus's side, the drow woman struck a defensive pose, leading Kaspar to believe he was facing an enemy whose combat training had been very similar to his own.</p><p></p><p>From Carl's back, Orion flung one of her just-upgraded throwing daggers at the white-haired drow, who easily dodged out of the way. The dagger soared past her head and vanished before it struck the back wall. Kaspar mirrored the halfling's attack with three shuriken of his own, but the drow monk nimbly dodged all three of them as well with minimal effort, not even bothering to deflect them with her hands. Syngaard threw his javelin at the drow with an equal lack of success, but he didn't pay any attention as to whether or not the thrown weapon even hit her; he was too busy pulling the <em>human bane scimitar</em> from his belt, having already determined that this Arcturus dude was a human and thus particularly vulnerable to the enchantments of his blade.</p><p></p><p>Galen took a moment to cast a <em>bless weapon</em> on the <em>sword of Zehkar</em> before moving in for combat. Behind him, in the street outside the tavern's open door, the paladin heard Burt's roar as he rapidly approached.</p><p></p><p>Seemingly unperturbed by the terrible odds before him or the fact that Syngaard's deadly blade cut into his side during his spellcasting, Arcturus sent a deadly cone of freezing cold blasting from his fingertips, hitting everyone in the room but Skevros and Karen - and even hitting Burt as he raced up to the tavern's doorway. The <em>cone of cold</em> caused the group's first casualty: Orion's faithful riding dog, Carl, was hit full-force by the blast of frigid cold and his heart immediately stopped beating in his chest. Orion rolled to the floor as her faithful companion keeled over, his icy body already stiffer than rigor mortis would ever affect it. She had instinctively managed to dodge the blast of cold energy, but the cry of rage that exploded from her lips was no less anguished by the pain not having been hers.</p><p></p><p>Without a moment's hesitation - indeed, thought became instant action - Orion snatched up a magical throwing dagger from her <em>bag of blades</em> and sent it hurtling at Arcturus, catching him in the chest, just below the neck. The trained knife-fighter could tell just by the sound it made hitting him that he had some sort of magical protection up - a <em>stoneskin</em> spell, most likely, which would account for the fact that Syngaard's earlier blow with his <em>human bane scimitar</em> hadn't done as much damage as the scarred fighter had expected.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar also decided to target the enemy wizard, so he leaped up onto the bar behind the drow and struck at Arcturus, likewise encountering the man's magical shield against physical attacks - although the monk was pleased to see the protective spell did nothing to deflect the fire and electricity components of his <em>tenryutsume</em>-fueled blows. Below him, the drow woman spun and struck out at Kaspar, but he easily avoided the blow.</p><p></p><p><em>Funny</em>, thought Syngaard. <em>Nobody's hit the drow chick, and she hasn't hit nobody either.</em> He squinted at her, then looked back over at Karen, and a sudden realization hit him. Syngaard wasn't the smartest of men, there was no denying it, but he did occasionally have his flashes of insight. "Don't bother with the drow chick!" he called out. "She's just a spell, like Karen!" He then focused his attention back on Arcturus, doing his best to carve him up with his scimitar. He was successful twice in as many seconds, scoring with a one-two set of slashes that had the elderly wizard cursing aloud in pain despite his magical protection.</p><p></p><p>Galen charged forth, striking Arcturus with his <em>sword of Zehkar</em> and then swiveling away, but this was just to make room for Burt, his mane full of frost, who pounced into the room, leapt up onto the round table that usually served as the group's gathering place, and tore into the bald-headed mage, teeth and claws flashing out in wave after wave of furious violence. Unfortunately, Arcturus's <em>stoneskin</em> spell absorbed the majority of the dire lion's attacks.</p><p></p><p>Still, if nothing else Burt's onslaught convinced Arcturus he was open to attacks from too many directions in his current location. Despite the fact that casting the spell opened him up to a flurry of attacks from those within striking distance - Syngaard, Burt, Galen, and Kaspar - the diviner cast a <em>dimension door</em> spell that sent him across the room, beside the ten-foot-diameter black hole in the wall behind Skevros. Standing beside the <em>forcecage</em> spell that imprisoned his old enemy and his "seen" <em>unseen servant</em>, Arcturus was similarly protected by the wall to the right of the tavern's entry door. Only one hero could stand before him and fight hand-to-hand.</p><p></p><p>Orion didn't need to fight him hand-to-hand, though - she continued throwing her magical daggers at the diviner, wanting him dead for what he had done to poor Carl. Kaspar, still standing upon the bar at the back of the room, likewise used his ranged attacks: throwing stars suffused with both fiery and electrical energy from his <em>tenryutsume</em>. From his vantage point, he could easily strike over the heads of his friends, whichever one ended up confronting the wizard face to face.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard was tempted, but he realized he had a better ranged weapon than Galen had and he also knew the power of the paladin's holy smite attacks, which were usable against evil enemies - and this white-bearded bozo certainly qualified! He moved closer, to the edge of the invisible box keeping Skevros and Karen isolated, and threw his <em>returning javelin</em> at Arcturus, leaving an avenue of attack open for Galen.</p><p></p><p>Galen took the opportunity without hesitation. Charging forward with a roar of fury, the paladin channeled holy energy through his blade, which caused a considerable amount of damage to the evil diviner. But Arcturus wasn't without resources of his own; he took advantage of the paladin's proximity to cast a <em>vampiric touch</em> spell that drained Galen of some of his own vitality, instantly healing the wizard back to the level he'd been at before the paladin's charge. Galen staggered under the effect of the spell, instantly on his last legs before falling in combat.</p><p></p><p>But Kaspar and Orion continued their attacks from across the room, slowly whittling away at the wizard's <em>stoneskin</em> defenses. Syngaard, seeing Galen stagger, grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back, stepping up to take his place - and swing his <em>human bane scimitar</em> at Arcturus while he was at it. The blade hit true and hit deep; now it was Arcturus nearly on his last legs.</p><p></p><p>Orion stopped her throwing-dagger assault to rush forward to Galen's aid. She couldn't cast healing energy through her fingers like the paladin could, but she unstoppered a healing potion and bade the armored warrior drink it down. Galen did so, nodding in gratitude at the halfling's gesture.</p><p></p><p>Emboldened by his own renewal and Arcturus's weakened state, Galen rushed forward again, pulling Syngaard aside so he could repeat his holy smite attack against the wizard. The holy energy coursing through the <em>sword of Zehkar</em> was all it took to end the life of Arcturus, whose bloodstained body crashed to the floor. As it struck, it was enveloped in a blue glow that flickered and then faded into a mist.</p><p></p><p>And that wasn't all that faded with the wizard's death. The solid <em>forcecage</em> imprisoning Skevros and the <em>gate</em> to the quasi-elemental plane of vacuum also snapped off as Arcturus died, allowing Skevros to take a gulp of much-needed air. Dizziness overcame the king's adviser and he dropped to his knees; Kaspar was there in a heartbeat to see to their leader's welfare. Orion had a different task at hand: she stabbed into the dead wizard's chest over and over with one of her electric daggers, ensuring Carl's killer was truly dead.</p><p></p><p>"What was that blue glow?" asked Galen once Skevros had regained his breath. "Some kind of necromantic life-force thing?"</p><p></p><p>"No," replied Skevros. "Arcturus had a <em>contingency</em> spell in effect that would have <em>teleported</em> his body and staff - much like the Azure Guard uses. But I've warded the kingdom against unwanted teleportation with my <em>dimensional anchoring stones</em>, so it wasn't able to take effect."</p><p></p><p>"But you teleported us here," argued Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"No, that wasn't me. It was Arcturus, and he used a <em>wish</em> spell to do so. That's how he managed to appear here in the first place; my wards can prevent teleportation spells but they can't overcome the power of a <em>wish</em>."</p><p></p><p>"<em>Arcturus</em> teleported us here? That don't make no sense," argued Syngaard, heading over to the wizard's corpse to stop Orion's further desecration of it - not that he was worried about such things normally, but they hadn't had a chance to loot the stiff yet!</p><p></p><p>"He wished to speak with you and he is - or was - an impatient man," replied Skevros.</p><p></p><p>"Hey, this guy's got nothin' on him!" complained Syngaard. "Don't high-level wizards carry no coins or gems on 'em or nothin'?"</p><p></p><p>"You will likely find that he wears a <em>robe of the magi</em>, but one attuned to those who follow the path of evil. He had it bleached to match the color of the Diviners Guild, no doubt."</p><p></p><p>"How 'bout his stick?" asked Syngaard, holding up the magic staff Arcturus hadn't even used in battle. "It worth anything?"</p><p></p><p>"An azurewood <em>staff of divination</em>, by the looks of it," replied Skevros. "You might give it to Daleth, upon his return."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, where is Wizard-Pants?" asked Galen, looking around.</p><p></p><p>Before any reply could be made, there was a shimmering in the air and nine robed figures appeared in the tavern. Each robe was of a different color: the eight colors of the specialist wizards of the Azure Glade and a gray one as well. The figures had no faces; instead, a glowing rune appeared in the middle of their hoods. Kaspar recognized the rune inside the yellow robe's hood - it was the personal sigil of Leorna, the Guildmistress of the Illusionists Guild, the same mark she had put on the letter of recommendation she had written to gain the heroes admittance into the Abjurers Guild. The gray-robed rune was the holy symbol of Boccob.</p><p></p><p>Nine voices called out in unison, "You are hereby accused of the assassination of a member of the Council of Guilds. You will appear before the Council to face trial in seven days' time. Failure to comply will be considered an admission of guilt upon which time your deaths will be inevitable. The mark upon Skevros Wrencrofft shall be modified such that he will be allowed to accompany the accused to his manor where the accused shall await trial." With that the robes vanished.</p><p></p><p>"What will we do?" asked Orion. "We're not planning on going, are we?"</p><p></p><p>"I imagine we shall," observed Skevros, thinking furiously.</p><p></p><p>"Screw that!" snarled Syngaard. "What're they gonna do if we don't show up? Come here and try to get us, likely - and then at least we're on our home ground!"</p><p></p><p>"Did you note the emphasis on the word 'inevitable' in their proclamation?" asked Skevros. "If we do not show, they will send inevitables after us, wave after wave, until we eventually comply."</p><p></p><p>"What's an inevitable?" asked Galen. He'd never heard of them.</p><p></p><p>"A sentient construct with a single purpose. We'd do best to avoid them. But no matter: this may actually turn out to our advantage. We already have some allies among the Council: Leorna, for one, and you saved the life of Orlin, the Guildmaster of Conjurers, so he'll likely look upon us with favor. And only a fraction of the Guilds have become infiltrated by the Seekers of Eternity--"</p><p></p><p>"That we know of," interjected Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"As you say," admitted Skevros. "Still, this might be our best chance to get the Seekers' plans out into the open, before the rest of the Council of Guilds. We could very well start a civil war among the Guilds - that would certainly be to our advantage!"</p><p></p><p>"So we're going," said Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"It would seem that way, yes."</p><p></p><p>"Not likin' this plan so much," grumbled Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"So noted," observed Skevros. "But I believe it to be our best course of action." However, he was a bit concerned not only about the upcoming trial but also of the return to his old home, Wrencrofft Manor, the location of so many memories, good and bad. That was the place where his wife, Jessica had been killed trying to save him from himself....</p><p></p><p>There was another rippling in the air and a robed figure appeared. "<em>Now</em> what?" demanded Syngaard, his <em>human bane scimitar</em> back in his hand and ready for action.</p><p></p><p>But it was only Daleth, finally having worked his way through the <em>maze</em> spell. He looked down at the body of the slain wizard in the white robes, then over at Carl's still-frozen corpse over at the other side of the tavern. Orion was bending over her slain mount, weeping softly.</p><p></p><p>"I'm back," announced the elf. "...What did I miss?"</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>Joey once again did not attend this session, but Logan had Daleth appear anyway, just to justify his gaining of the <em>azurewood staff of divination</em>, which has fewer charges than a normal staff but whose charges replenish themselves daily. It was, after all, the only bit of treasure in this whole adventure and it was only suited for Daleth's use. Logan gave Arcturus a readied action to cast a <em>maze</em> spell on Daleth to get him out of the way (so none of the other players would have to double up on PCs for the session), which I thought was a rather elegant solution to Joey's absence.</p><p></p><p>And as a result of the XP received for fighting a 20th-level diviner (even one who had burned off several of his more powerful spells dealing with Skevros), all of the PCs leveled up.</p><p></p><p>Vicki's planning on having Orion purchase a new riding dog and naming this one "Ernie" (a Sesame Street joke involving Galen's dire lion mount). She's even considering having him <em>awakened</em> - besides the bump in Hit Dice that would give her riding mount, I think she just likes the idea of a talking dog in the party with a very good chance of being smarter than Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>By the way, as part of the background music while we played through this adventure, I put on Chicago's song, "Wishing You Were Here" (an obvious choice, given the adventure's title), followed immediately by the entire Pink Floyd album "Wish You Were Here." And I also played a song I recently discovered by Metallica called "Orion."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7485080, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 23: WISHING YOU WERE HERE[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 5 Galen Thorne, human paladin 8 Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 8 Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 7 Syngaard, human fighter 8[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 22 August 2018 - - - "You can do that now? That quickly?" asked Orion, astonishment evident in her voice. "No problem," assured the merchant wizard. "Your [i]bag of blades[/i] supplies the throwing daggers and they're already of masterwork quality. It will be a mere trifle to upgrade the daggers such that they have magical enhancements to aid in the striking of the designated target and deal a blast of electrical energy upon impact. You agree to the price stipulated?" "I do indeed!" enthused the halfling, passing over a bag of coins, and in a few minutes she had her [i]bag of blades[/i] back, even more lethal than ever. She tucked it into place at the side of Carl's saddle, so she could reach down and grab a weapon from the bag without effort. Nearby, Kaspar and Syngaard walked out of an armorer's shop that also dealt in magic items. Each had purchased items guaranteed to make them more difficult to hit in combat, no small matter to the elven monk as he was forbidden by his order to wear armor of any type that would inhibit the flexibility he had attained through years of diligent effort. Galen, it the meantime, had summoned his dire lion from the celestial realms, specifically to have a permanent [i]greater magic fang[/i] spell cast upon him. It took the combined efforts of a druid and a wizard to do so, but that was why the magic shop employed spellcasters of different varieties. The paladin happily paid the agreed-upon sum, eager now for Burt's next combat. He didn't have long to wait. Although the four heroes were all at various shops along the same street, they weren't all together as a group - until suddenly, they were. In the blink of an eye, the four found themselves several blocks away in the street just outside the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i]. Oddly enough, Daleth Stormsea was there as well - and he hadn't even been shopping with the rest of the group! The elf wizard looked around, surprised to see himself outdoors when a moment ago he had been lost deep in study in the Temple of Boccob, researching arcane spellcraft techniques. "What the Hell?" sputtered Syngaard. "What just happened?" Burt was not among the group's number, a fact immediately evident to Galen Thorne. <Burt!> he called out over the empathic link they shared. <I'm just outside the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i]! Meet me here at once!> Back in the street outside the magic shop, a saber-fanged dire lion the size of a draft horse suddenly took off at full speed, scattering frightened townsfolk in his wake as he made a bee-line for his human master. "It would seem we were teleported here," Daleth observed, answering the scarred fighter. "I would imagine Skevros needs assistance, at once!" The elf turned and raced to the front door of the tavern that served as the group's headquarters, swinging it open and rushing inside. "Can he do that?" Orion asked, urging Carl to follow behind the elven wizard. Galen, Syngaard, and Kaspar followed suit. "News to me," grumbled Syngaard. "He teleports us all over the damned place, but we always gotta trudge back home ourselves. Never seen 'im teleport us [i]to[/i] him." And not only that, but a week ago the group had turned over a magical stone from Ashfall that was to have aided the king's adviser in shielding the kingdom of Durnhill from unwanted teleport effects - it shouldn't have even been possible for the group to be suddenly relocated like they were. Entering the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i], the group got an answer of sorts. There was an elderly man sitting in the spot normally reserved for Skevros at the group's main table; he was bald on top, with a ring of white hair and a long, flowing, white beard that matched the color of his robe - the color of the Azure Glade's Diviners Guild. At his side stood a petite drow woman, her dark skin covered - just barely, Syngaard was quick to notice - in an equally-dark leather outfit that clung to her form like a thin layer of wet cotton. Skevros and Karen stood over to the heroes' right, motionless, the wizard's lips pressed tight; the spot in which they stood normally sported a round table and four chairs, but neither was currently present. Instead, there was a black, round hole standing upright along the wall behind them - a magical [i]gate[/i] of some sort, or perhaps one of those curious [i]portable holes[/i] the magic shops occasionally offered for sale at outrageous prices. Whichever it was, it stood a good ten feet tall. "What's goin' on?" demanded Syngaard, looking over at Skevros for an explanation. He had his [i]returning javelin[/i] in hand, ready to throw if needed. At his side, Galen cast a [i]protection from evil[/i] spell, realizing the Diviners Guild was one of the three of nine branches of the Council of Guilds already supposedly infiltrated by the Seekers of Eternity. He moved towards Skevros but was stopped by an invisible wall of some type - a [i]wall of force[/i], perhaps. "Sit down," suggested the bearded wizard, taking a sip from a tankard of ale with one hand - his other held an ornate staff - and looking not the least bit concerned that there were five heroes and a riding dog armed and ready to do battle with him. "I wish to discuss options with you." "And just who the Hell are you?" demanded Syngaard. (He was in quite the demanding mood, it seemed.) "I believe you know of me. My name is Arcturus; I'm the head of the Diviners Guild in the Azure Glade. Your little group here has become quite the thorn in our side - and I intend to remedy that, one way or the other." Galen's eyes narrowed as the elderly wizard spoke, partly at the mention of "thorn" - as that was, phonetically, the young paladin's last name - but also because he was concentrating on the wizard's aura, which emanated waves of evil. (Oddly enough, the drow woman at his side showed no signs of evil at all; who ever heard of a good - or at least non-evil - drow?) "As I see it, you have three choices," observed Arcturus, counting them off on his fingers. "One: you can join the Seekers of Eternity and share in our successes." Galen visibly choked at that suggestion, drawing a frown from Arcturus. "Two," he continued, "you can tell us how you communed with the Mithral Mage and we will cease all hostility against toward your group and Skevros, despite your master's previous betrayal." "You can go stick your head in a bucket," snarled Galen, not at all aware that his comment might actually be giving the diviner a hint as to the role a bucket of osteovox played in their ability to communicate with the spirit of the Mithral Mage, using a skull of a druid member of the Seekers. "Then there's three: you die," concluded Arcturus. "The choice is yours." "I like option four: we kill you and all of your stupid Seekers!" offered Syngaard, raising his javelin to throw. "A pity," remarked Arcturus, throwing a readied [i]maze[/i] spell directly at Daleth, possibly singling the elf out as the greatest threat simply because he himself knew the power of high-level arcane spellcasters; had he known Daleth was the hero with the least actual combat experience of the group, he might have chosen his target differently. In any case, Daleth disappeared at once, his body shunted into an extradimensional maze, unable to interact with the outside world at all until he mentally unraveled the means of escape. At Arcturus's side, the drow woman struck a defensive pose, leading Kaspar to believe he was facing an enemy whose combat training had been very similar to his own. From Carl's back, Orion flung one of her just-upgraded throwing daggers at the white-haired drow, who easily dodged out of the way. The dagger soared past her head and vanished before it struck the back wall. Kaspar mirrored the halfling's attack with three shuriken of his own, but the drow monk nimbly dodged all three of them as well with minimal effort, not even bothering to deflect them with her hands. Syngaard threw his javelin at the drow with an equal lack of success, but he didn't pay any attention as to whether or not the thrown weapon even hit her; he was too busy pulling the [i]human bane scimitar[/i] from his belt, having already determined that this Arcturus dude was a human and thus particularly vulnerable to the enchantments of his blade. Galen took a moment to cast a [i]bless weapon[/i] on the [i]sword of Zehkar[/i] before moving in for combat. Behind him, in the street outside the tavern's open door, the paladin heard Burt's roar as he rapidly approached. Seemingly unperturbed by the terrible odds before him or the fact that Syngaard's deadly blade cut into his side during his spellcasting, Arcturus sent a deadly cone of freezing cold blasting from his fingertips, hitting everyone in the room but Skevros and Karen - and even hitting Burt as he raced up to the tavern's doorway. The [i]cone of cold[/i] caused the group's first casualty: Orion's faithful riding dog, Carl, was hit full-force by the blast of frigid cold and his heart immediately stopped beating in his chest. Orion rolled to the floor as her faithful companion keeled over, his icy body already stiffer than rigor mortis would ever affect it. She had instinctively managed to dodge the blast of cold energy, but the cry of rage that exploded from her lips was no less anguished by the pain not having been hers. Without a moment's hesitation - indeed, thought became instant action - Orion snatched up a magical throwing dagger from her [i]bag of blades[/i] and sent it hurtling at Arcturus, catching him in the chest, just below the neck. The trained knife-fighter could tell just by the sound it made hitting him that he had some sort of magical protection up - a [i]stoneskin[/i] spell, most likely, which would account for the fact that Syngaard's earlier blow with his [i]human bane scimitar[/i] hadn't done as much damage as the scarred fighter had expected. Kaspar also decided to target the enemy wizard, so he leaped up onto the bar behind the drow and struck at Arcturus, likewise encountering the man's magical shield against physical attacks - although the monk was pleased to see the protective spell did nothing to deflect the fire and electricity components of his [i]tenryutsume[/i]-fueled blows. Below him, the drow woman spun and struck out at Kaspar, but he easily avoided the blow. [i]Funny[/i], thought Syngaard. [i]Nobody's hit the drow chick, and she hasn't hit nobody either.[/i] He squinted at her, then looked back over at Karen, and a sudden realization hit him. Syngaard wasn't the smartest of men, there was no denying it, but he did occasionally have his flashes of insight. "Don't bother with the drow chick!" he called out. "She's just a spell, like Karen!" He then focused his attention back on Arcturus, doing his best to carve him up with his scimitar. He was successful twice in as many seconds, scoring with a one-two set of slashes that had the elderly wizard cursing aloud in pain despite his magical protection. Galen charged forth, striking Arcturus with his [i]sword of Zehkar[/i] and then swiveling away, but this was just to make room for Burt, his mane full of frost, who pounced into the room, leapt up onto the round table that usually served as the group's gathering place, and tore into the bald-headed mage, teeth and claws flashing out in wave after wave of furious violence. Unfortunately, Arcturus's [i]stoneskin[/i] spell absorbed the majority of the dire lion's attacks. Still, if nothing else Burt's onslaught convinced Arcturus he was open to attacks from too many directions in his current location. Despite the fact that casting the spell opened him up to a flurry of attacks from those within striking distance - Syngaard, Burt, Galen, and Kaspar - the diviner cast a [i]dimension door[/i] spell that sent him across the room, beside the ten-foot-diameter black hole in the wall behind Skevros. Standing beside the [i]forcecage[/i] spell that imprisoned his old enemy and his "seen" [i]unseen servant[/i], Arcturus was similarly protected by the wall to the right of the tavern's entry door. Only one hero could stand before him and fight hand-to-hand. Orion didn't need to fight him hand-to-hand, though - she continued throwing her magical daggers at the diviner, wanting him dead for what he had done to poor Carl. Kaspar, still standing upon the bar at the back of the room, likewise used his ranged attacks: throwing stars suffused with both fiery and electrical energy from his [i]tenryutsume[/i]. From his vantage point, he could easily strike over the heads of his friends, whichever one ended up confronting the wizard face to face. Syngaard was tempted, but he realized he had a better ranged weapon than Galen had and he also knew the power of the paladin's holy smite attacks, which were usable against evil enemies - and this white-bearded bozo certainly qualified! He moved closer, to the edge of the invisible box keeping Skevros and Karen isolated, and threw his [i]returning javelin[/i] at Arcturus, leaving an avenue of attack open for Galen. Galen took the opportunity without hesitation. Charging forward with a roar of fury, the paladin channeled holy energy through his blade, which caused a considerable amount of damage to the evil diviner. But Arcturus wasn't without resources of his own; he took advantage of the paladin's proximity to cast a [i]vampiric touch[/i] spell that drained Galen of some of his own vitality, instantly healing the wizard back to the level he'd been at before the paladin's charge. Galen staggered under the effect of the spell, instantly on his last legs before falling in combat. But Kaspar and Orion continued their attacks from across the room, slowly whittling away at the wizard's [i]stoneskin[/i] defenses. Syngaard, seeing Galen stagger, grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back, stepping up to take his place - and swing his [i]human bane scimitar[/i] at Arcturus while he was at it. The blade hit true and hit deep; now it was Arcturus nearly on his last legs. Orion stopped her throwing-dagger assault to rush forward to Galen's aid. She couldn't cast healing energy through her fingers like the paladin could, but she unstoppered a healing potion and bade the armored warrior drink it down. Galen did so, nodding in gratitude at the halfling's gesture. Emboldened by his own renewal and Arcturus's weakened state, Galen rushed forward again, pulling Syngaard aside so he could repeat his holy smite attack against the wizard. The holy energy coursing through the [i]sword of Zehkar[/i] was all it took to end the life of Arcturus, whose bloodstained body crashed to the floor. As it struck, it was enveloped in a blue glow that flickered and then faded into a mist. And that wasn't all that faded with the wizard's death. The solid [i]forcecage[/i] imprisoning Skevros and the [i]gate[/i] to the quasi-elemental plane of vacuum also snapped off as Arcturus died, allowing Skevros to take a gulp of much-needed air. Dizziness overcame the king's adviser and he dropped to his knees; Kaspar was there in a heartbeat to see to their leader's welfare. Orion had a different task at hand: she stabbed into the dead wizard's chest over and over with one of her electric daggers, ensuring Carl's killer was truly dead. "What was that blue glow?" asked Galen once Skevros had regained his breath. "Some kind of necromantic life-force thing?" "No," replied Skevros. "Arcturus had a [i]contingency[/i] spell in effect that would have [i]teleported[/i] his body and staff - much like the Azure Guard uses. But I've warded the kingdom against unwanted teleportation with my [i]dimensional anchoring stones[/i], so it wasn't able to take effect." "But you teleported us here," argued Kaspar. "No, that wasn't me. It was Arcturus, and he used a [i]wish[/i] spell to do so. That's how he managed to appear here in the first place; my wards can prevent teleportation spells but they can't overcome the power of a [i]wish[/i]." "[i]Arcturus[/i] teleported us here? That don't make no sense," argued Syngaard, heading over to the wizard's corpse to stop Orion's further desecration of it - not that he was worried about such things normally, but they hadn't had a chance to loot the stiff yet! "He wished to speak with you and he is - or was - an impatient man," replied Skevros. "Hey, this guy's got nothin' on him!" complained Syngaard. "Don't high-level wizards carry no coins or gems on 'em or nothin'?" "You will likely find that he wears a [i]robe of the magi[/i], but one attuned to those who follow the path of evil. He had it bleached to match the color of the Diviners Guild, no doubt." "How 'bout his stick?" asked Syngaard, holding up the magic staff Arcturus hadn't even used in battle. "It worth anything?" "An azurewood [i]staff of divination[/i], by the looks of it," replied Skevros. "You might give it to Daleth, upon his return." "Yeah, where is Wizard-Pants?" asked Galen, looking around. Before any reply could be made, there was a shimmering in the air and nine robed figures appeared in the tavern. Each robe was of a different color: the eight colors of the specialist wizards of the Azure Glade and a gray one as well. The figures had no faces; instead, a glowing rune appeared in the middle of their hoods. Kaspar recognized the rune inside the yellow robe's hood - it was the personal sigil of Leorna, the Guildmistress of the Illusionists Guild, the same mark she had put on the letter of recommendation she had written to gain the heroes admittance into the Abjurers Guild. The gray-robed rune was the holy symbol of Boccob. Nine voices called out in unison, "You are hereby accused of the assassination of a member of the Council of Guilds. You will appear before the Council to face trial in seven days' time. Failure to comply will be considered an admission of guilt upon which time your deaths will be inevitable. The mark upon Skevros Wrencrofft shall be modified such that he will be allowed to accompany the accused to his manor where the accused shall await trial." With that the robes vanished. "What will we do?" asked Orion. "We're not planning on going, are we?" "I imagine we shall," observed Skevros, thinking furiously. "Screw that!" snarled Syngaard. "What're they gonna do if we don't show up? Come here and try to get us, likely - and then at least we're on our home ground!" "Did you note the emphasis on the word 'inevitable' in their proclamation?" asked Skevros. "If we do not show, they will send inevitables after us, wave after wave, until we eventually comply." "What's an inevitable?" asked Galen. He'd never heard of them. "A sentient construct with a single purpose. We'd do best to avoid them. But no matter: this may actually turn out to our advantage. We already have some allies among the Council: Leorna, for one, and you saved the life of Orlin, the Guildmaster of Conjurers, so he'll likely look upon us with favor. And only a fraction of the Guilds have become infiltrated by the Seekers of Eternity--" "That we know of," interjected Syngaard. "As you say," admitted Skevros. "Still, this might be our best chance to get the Seekers' plans out into the open, before the rest of the Council of Guilds. We could very well start a civil war among the Guilds - that would certainly be to our advantage!" "So we're going," said Kaspar. "It would seem that way, yes." "Not likin' this plan so much," grumbled Syngaard. "So noted," observed Skevros. "But I believe it to be our best course of action." However, he was a bit concerned not only about the upcoming trial but also of the return to his old home, Wrencrofft Manor, the location of so many memories, good and bad. That was the place where his wife, Jessica had been killed trying to save him from himself.... There was another rippling in the air and a robed figure appeared. "[i]Now[/i] what?" demanded Syngaard, his [i]human bane scimitar[/i] back in his hand and ready for action. But it was only Daleth, finally having worked his way through the [i]maze[/i] spell. He looked down at the body of the slain wizard in the white robes, then over at Carl's still-frozen corpse over at the other side of the tavern. Orion was bending over her slain mount, weeping softly. "I'm back," announced the elf. "...What did I miss?" - - - Joey once again did not attend this session, but Logan had Daleth appear anyway, just to justify his gaining of the [i]azurewood staff of divination[/i], which has fewer charges than a normal staff but whose charges replenish themselves daily. It was, after all, the only bit of treasure in this whole adventure and it was only suited for Daleth's use. Logan gave Arcturus a readied action to cast a [i]maze[/i] spell on Daleth to get him out of the way (so none of the other players would have to double up on PCs for the session), which I thought was a rather elegant solution to Joey's absence. And as a result of the XP received for fighting a 20th-level diviner (even one who had burned off several of his more powerful spells dealing with Skevros), all of the PCs leveled up. Vicki's planning on having Orion purchase a new riding dog and naming this one "Ernie" (a Sesame Street joke involving Galen's dire lion mount). She's even considering having him [i]awakened[/i] - besides the bump in Hit Dice that would give her riding mount, I think she just likes the idea of a talking dog in the party with a very good chance of being smarter than Syngaard. By the way, as part of the background music while we played through this adventure, I put on Chicago's song, "Wishing You Were Here" (an obvious choice, given the adventure's title), followed immediately by the entire Pink Floyd album "Wish You Were Here." And I also played a song I recently discovered by Metallica called "Orion." [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Durnhill Conscripts
Top