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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7530379" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 30: THE ASTRAL GOLEM</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Galen Thorne, human paladin 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Syngaard, human fighter 10</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 28 November 2018</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>"So what's up?" asked Syngaard, as usual the last to appear at the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em> as the result of a summons from Skevros. He got an ale from Karen before joining the others at the table. Skevros had two opened books before him: Hirek's spellbook, recently recovered by the conscripts in one of his old golem construction labs hidden away in the Baator's Breath Mountains; and the Black Journal, his own accounts during the time he'd been turned to evil after donning a <em>helmet of opposite alignment</em>. This latter work had been recovered by the conscripts in Skevros's manor house in the Azure Glade, before he'd been able to travel there under his own power. There was also a map of a section of some dungeon and a cloth bag.</p><p></p><p>In answer to Syngaard's initial question, Skevros dumped the contents of the bag onto the table, revealing ten emeralds. In response to Syngaard's unspoken question - before the scarred fighter even had a chance to voice it - Skevros turned to him and said, "Yes, this is a paying mission. Here is your payment up front. And you are also welcome to any treasures you might unearth in the area to which I will send you."</p><p></p><p>Each of the heroes grabbed up a pair of the emeralds. Syngaard was suitably impressed. "I like this mission already," he admitted.</p><p></p><p>"May we ask the parameters of our assignment?" asked Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"Certainly. In Hirek's spellbook there is a section on the creation of golems. One form of golem in particular stood out to me, due to the reagents required in its creation - reagents I have only heard of once before, specifically within the Black Journal. I believe that while I was evil - under the effects of the helmet - I either built or attempted to build an astral golem."</p><p></p><p>"Golem?" echoed Galen. "I have heard of such creatures. They are said to be difficult to destroy."</p><p></p><p>"Indeed," agreed Daleth. "Typically, most spells have no effect on such constructs." The elf scowled, not liking the thought of having to go up against a creature likely immune to most of his spells.</p><p></p><p>"According to Hirek's writings on the subject, an astral golem is an altered version of a normal golem that, instead of using an elemental spirit to power it, uses an astral projection. It therefore functions more like a suit of armor for a powerful mage rather than as a traditional golem. With the notes in the Black Journal, I only know that I procured the reagents necessary to build one, not what type of base golem I would have made."</p><p></p><p>"Say what now?" asked Syngaard. "What's a base golem?"</p><p></p><p>Daleth looked disdainfully at the bald fighter. "There are many types of golem, the traditional ones being crafted of stone, clay, iron, or even flesh," he explained. "The astral golem might have been constructed to look like any of these golems, and might even be indistinguishable from the normal type of whatever golem it was patterned after."</p><p></p><p>"Quite so," agreed Skevros. "With my exile so recently modified by the Council of Guilds, I have been visiting my old home of late and found a secret room in my basement, one that wasn't there before my fall to evil and for which I have no recollection. Within, I found notes about converting an old dungeon I once visited during my adventuring days into a workshop. Scrying upon several old sites I had visited in the past, I found one of the dungeons shielded from scrying. I can only imagine that is the probable location of my workshop."</p><p></p><p>"And you wish us to visit this location?" reasoned Orion.</p><p></p><p>"Indeed. Your mission is to check out the workshop and determine if I did in fact complete an astral golem. If so, bring it back if possible, but destroy it rather than let it fall into the hands of anyone else. After all, I believe its purpose was likely to be used to find the Mithral Mage within 'Dwarven Hell' and it is therefore too dangerous a tool to allow the Seekers of Eternity to obtain."</p><p></p><p>"You can <em>teleport</em> us directly there?" asked Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"I can. Having been there before, I should be able to deposit you anywhere within the dungeon's confines." He pushed the sketch of the dungeon he'd made: three separate rooms each connected by doors to an oblong central chamber. At Orion's prompting, Skevros further explained what he knew about each room. "This room contained some sort of <em>magic circle</em> inscribed upon the floor," he said, indicating the southernmost room. "It was blocked off from the main chamber by a <em>wall of force</em>, as was the northernmost room. That one held a desk and several bookshelves, mostly empty as I recall."</p><p></p><p>"And the eastern room?" asked Orion.</p><p></p><p>"It was a bedroom, I believe. This whole area was the dwelling place of a wizard of some repute."</p><p></p><p>"Where is it located?" asked Galen.</p><p></p><p>"The Azure Glade."</p><p></p><p>"That figures," scoffed Syngaard, finishing off his ale. "Can't seem to stay away from that damn place."</p><p></p><p>"Well, at least there will be no trudging involved," replied Skevros with a half-smile. "I'll <em>teleport</em> you there and you can return with the <em>ring of returning</em> once you've checked it out."</p><p></p><p>"Let's get our prep spells in place," suggested Galen, casting a <em>protection from evil</em> spell upon himself. Daleth followed suit with a <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell. Then Orion called Carl to her and climbed up into his saddle, everyone gathered close together, and Skevros cast the spell that sent them instantaneously across the miles to the central chamber of the dungeon depicted on his map.</p><p></p><p>There was a <em>wall of force</em> in place behind the heroes blocking access to the central chamber from the mountainside beyond, but the two similar spells Skevros had described were no longer present. However, there were wooden double doors in their place, leading to the northern and southern rooms. Another set of double doors led to what would be the wizard's bed chamber, at the far end of the chamber to the east. The place was unlit save for the ever-changing colors of four glowing, blobby spheres floating in the air above a quartet of plinths, two flanking each set of doors to the north and south. The conscripts recognized these as prismatic oozes, having seen them in place in Skevros's manor when they had first entered it.</p><p></p><p>"That's a good indicator that Skevros made this place his own," Orion suggested.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, when he went all evil," Syngaard sneered. "Only he don't remember that part too good, so we gotta go check out stuff he oughta already know."</p><p></p><p>"Well, he's explained that the <em>wish</em> spell his wife cast to return him to his normal mental state erased the memories of what he'd done in the months--" the halfling began, only to be cut off by the scarred fighter.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, yeah, whatever."</p><p></p><p>Kaspar examined the floating prismatic oozes. "They aren't attacking," he noted. "I assume they sense the rings we wear, which are attuned to Skevros."</p><p></p><p>"Don't really care so much about the why," sneered Syngaard. "Just glad they're stayin' put." He had his morningstar in hand, ready to attack, just in case.</p><p></p><p>Orion had climbed back down out of the saddle and approached the northern door with a practiced eye. Seeing no obvious traps, she touched the doorknob. It was locked, but unlocked with an audible "click" upon her touch.</p><p></p><p>"I didn't even see you use your lockpicks," observed Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"That's because I didn't even have a chance to do so!" the halfling answered. But then another "click" indicated the door had automatically relocked itself; apparently it remained unlocked only for a brief moment before locking itself again if the door wasn't opened in that time.</p><p></p><p>"I'm going in," Orion announced, touching the doorknob again, waiting for the "click," and then opening the door.</p><p></p><p>Galen, in the meantime, approached the doors to the wizard's bedroom to the east. The doors unlocked at his touch, revealing a desk covered with jars of inks and paints directly before him. There was a small chest on the floor next to the desk, while the walls on the northern half of the room were mirrored, flanking a table. Lying facedown on this table, unmoving, was a humanoid figure with long, white-blond hair, apparently wearing plate armor of some kind of whitish material.</p><p></p><p>Seeing no obvious threat in the room, Galen backed out and closed the door quietly behind him. Then he returned to the others, who had crowded into the study Orion had opened. There were no sounds of combat, the paladin was glad to hear. Entering the room with the others, Galen saw a room with bookshelves covering two opposite walls, filled with journals written by someone with the initials "S.D." A single book stood out from the others by its different binding, the title "A Study on Advanced and Archaic Golem Construction" written upon its spine. Examining it, Orion said, "It's written by Khier - the name being used by the ghost of Hirek."</p><p></p><p>"Guy likes his golems," Syngaard observed.</p><p></p><p>One of the journals was sitting on the desk in the middle of the room. Orion examined it next, flipping it to its last entry, which read:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The rest of the journal entries seemed to have a common theme of the writer waiting for someone to return.</p><p></p><p>"Shall we?" asked Galen, departing the study and heading to the room directly across the central chamber. It unlocked at his touch, and to his surprise when he opened it he was faced by three people, all of whom he recognized, and who were equally as surprised at the paladin's sudden appearance. The first two of these were a woman and a man, Sienna and Averos, the Ossirnian mercenaries who had tried setting off a war between their kingdom and Durnhill. The woman wore plate mail and had her <em>vicious greatsword</em> at the ready, while the man, in combat leathers, had a rapier hanging from his belt.</p><p></p><p>And the third figure was Skevros himself, who rose quickly from his seated position in the middle of the <em>magic circle</em> inscribed on the floor.</p><p></p><p>"Wha--?" began Galen in confusion. He instinctively detected their auras for signs of evil, and at the first indication that there was evil present he stepped back and closed the door behind him, hearing it automatically lock as he did so.</p><p></p><p>"Let us out!" came the muffled cries from inside the room, indicating the trio couldn't open the doors by themselves. Galen summoned his bonded mount from the Beastlands, and as Burt materialized in the chamber, the paladin ordered him to guard the door.</p><p></p><p>"Evil Skevros is in there, along with two of the Ossirnians who tried to start the war in the Treaty Keep, with Gumruk," Galen explained to the others.</p><p></p><p>"Evil Skevros? How is that even possible?" asked Orion.</p><p></p><p>"It isn't," replied Daleth. "He's an impostor, or an illusion, no doubt. But it would seem combat is imminent." And then the elven wizard cast a <em>haste</em> spell upon all of his companions, animal or otherwise.</p><p></p><p>But then a "click" announced the door unlocking and there stood Skevros; it made sense that the door would open to him, if he had been the one to craft it. "What are you doing here?" he demanded as he opened the door - and then came to an abrupt halt once he spotted the full-sized dire lion staring him down from the other side of the doorway. Behind Burt, Syngaard sized up his foes, determined they all looked to be human, and switched out his morningstar for his <em>human bane scimitar</em>. If any of them got past the dire lion, he'd be ready for them!</p><p></p><p>Averos stepped up beside Skevros, flaming rapier in hand, ready to fight the dire lion if it attacked. But then Kaspar squeezed past Burt, standing immediately before Skevros. "Why are you here?" he asked, wishing to start a discussion rather than a combat, if at all possible.</p><p></p><p>There was no recognition in Skevros's eyes as he stared at the monk, which, Kaspar realized, would be perfectly natural for the wizard if he was in fact the same Skevros from back in time when he had been evil. But how could he be here now? And if he were the same Skevros from earlier in his life, did the party dare kill him without also slaying their own, later-in-time Skevros? Kaspar hoped this was some sort of impostor - it made things so much easier if that were the case!</p><p></p><p>"We just want to leave this place," replied Skevros. "Step aside, all of you, and we'll let you live."</p><p></p><p>"Dunno if you noticed, bright boy, but it's five against three - and that's not counting our dire lion or our ghost dog," Syngaard countered. "Howzabout you drop them weapons to the ground while we figure out what to do with you?"</p><p></p><p>Neither of the trio seemed willing to comply. Orion therefore struck the first blow with a thunderstone thrown into the middle of the room. There was a sudden explosion of sound and both men grabbed the sides of their heads. From the noises they made, they seemed to have been deafened by the sonic attack. (Sienna had also winced in pain at the burst of sound but had apparently shrugged off the worst of the effects.)</p><p></p><p>Sienna was the first from her group to react, rushing forward with her <em>vicious greatsword</em> and swinging it at Kaspar with all of her strength behind the blow. Kaspar stepped back just in time to avoid the worst of it, but it still scored a line of blood down his chest. Sienna shuddered as the backlash from her magic blade sent a wave of harmful energy her way, but it merely drew an unsettling smile from her. Did she actually enjoy the pain using her blade caused her?</p><p></p><p>"Back, Burt!" called Galen, wanting the dire lion's bulk out of the way so the others could approach and fight. Burt obeyed, scooting to the side as his master approached, the <em>sword of Zehkar</em> in hand. Galen noted the mercenaries' auras blazed with unmistakable evil, but Skevros - or, more accurately, his impostor - had an aura untainted by evil. He thus made his first strikes against Sienna, channeling the holy power of his god through his sword as he brought a smiting attack against the young fighter. Sienna took the blow and seemed to enjoy the pain it brought. She was a weird one, all right!</p><p></p><p>Daleth raised his <em>staff of divination</em> and cast a <em>true seeing</em> spell. With his enhanced vision, he could now see that Averos and Sienna looked the same as ever, save for a silvery "tail" trailing behind each. The Skevros impostor, however, seemed to be made of porcelain with blue runes around the edges of its face and all over its jointed hands. It also had a silvery cord leading off from its back. "They're astral projections!" Daleth called out to the others. "And Skevros -- he's the astral golem!"</p><p></p><p>"Our orders were clear," Syngaard called out. "Bring it back if we can, otherwise destroy it!" The grin on his scarred face expressed his pleasure at getting to destroy the thing.</p><p></p><p>Skevros countered with a <em>flame strike</em> spell encompassing Kaspar, Galen, and Syngaard, although the monk's training allowed him to evade the evil flames altogether. Not so the other two, who took the full force of the spell. Syngaard grunted and prepared to charge into the room, but Daleth held him back. "I shall cast a <em>fireball</em> into the room!" he warned. Syngaard just growled in frustration - he didn't see why he had to stay back from the action just because Wizard-Pants wanted to get in some of his flashy spells - but he acquiesced, settling with hurling his <em>javelin of returning</em> at Sienna. Once again, she seemed to enjoy the pain of combat, the little freak!</p><p></p><p>Averos thrust the point of his <em>flaming rapier</em> at Galen, but Kaspar, still under the effects of Daleth's <em>haste</em> spell, threw so many punches and kicks at the mercenary rogue in rapid-fire succession that his astral form collapsed into itself. The monk realized the real Averos, wherever he was, was perfectly fine but at least he was no longer a factor in this fight.</p><p></p><p>Orion tossed an electrified dagger from her <em>bag of blades</em> at Sienna, who once again seemed to enjoy it. The fighter turned to face Galen and brought her <em>vicious greatsword</em> down on the paladin, seeming to draw as much pleasure from her own pain as harming her enemy. Galen staggered back from the blow and then, finding himself next to Syngaard, decided to cast a <em>bull's strength</em> spell on the scarred fighter. "I've increased your strength," he informed Syngaard. "The power of Hieroneous will enhance your strikes!"</p><p></p><p>"Don't feel no different," Syngaard grunted in reply, for the spell had indeed been wasted as Syngaard already wore a magic belt that increased his strength - and by a larger amount than Galen's spell would have granted. But while those two had been thus involved, Daleth cast his <em>fireball</em> spell into the room, channeling it through his <em>metamagic rod</em> to increase its effectiveness. The fiery blast destroyed Sienna's astral body but seemed to have no effect on the ersatz Skevros - if anything, it seemed to have made him even more powerful than before! Belatedly, Daleth recalled his own worries earlier, back at the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>, that many golems were unaffected by most spells - and now he recalled that some of them even drew power from certain energy attacks! Well, now he knew not to use fire spells against an astral golem...a good thing to know.</p><p></p><p>Skevros, grinning wildly, cast an <em>unholy blight</em> spell that would have encompassed every hero he was up against...if he hadn't fumbled the spell due to his lingering deafness from Orion's initial thunderstone. His triumphant expression turned to one of disdain as he realized he had failed to cast the spell at all.</p><p></p><p>The party surged forward, attacking the astral golem from all four sides. Blades struck it, fists and elbows struck it, but altogether they seemed to be dealing it very little damage, no doubt at least partially due to the increase in power Daleth's <em>fireball</em> had provided the astral golem. Galen was forced to heal himself after a particularly effective blow from the astral golem's fists, which struck like a catapult's thrown stone. Finally, in an act of desperation, Daleth tried casting a <em>dispel magic</em> spell onto the golem. A look of shock crossed the face of the fake Skevros as the astral golem powered down, the astral form that had granted it its movement dissipating away to nothingness as the unknown caster's animating spirit was cast back into its physical body.</p><p></p><p>"Good job, Wizard-Pants!" affirmed Galen, slapping the wizard on the shoulder.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, it almost makes up for that boneheaded move with the <em>fireball</em>," Syngaard added.</p><p></p><p>"You did well," Orion said. "You not only defeated our last - and most powerful - foe, but you also kept the astral golem intact! We can bring it back to Skevros to check out!" Mounted on Carl for the additional height, she dropped the opening of her <em>bag of holding</em> over the astral golem's head, drawing the entire construct into its extradimensional space.</p><p></p><p>"Let's go check out that last room," Galen suggested. He led the way to the room he'd peeked into earlier, with the blond-haired suit of white armor on the table.</p><p></p><p>Surprisingly, the figure was no longer facedown on the table but upright by the desk. It spun around, and Daleth - whose <em>true seeing</em> spell was still intact - could see a small, silvery cord floating out of the figure's torso. The blue runes all over the porcelain plates suggested this was a second astral golem; Skevros had likely been able to make them both at the same time, especially since both were merely the size of a man and most golems were much larger.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar, trying to avoid a fight if possible, asked, "Who are you? We have no desire to fight you." The fact that it had been in a separate room from the others allowed the elven monk to hope it hadn't been associated with the Ossirnian mercenaries and whoever had been powering the other astral golem.</p><p></p><p>In response, the figure looked rapidly at each of the party members in turn; getting a good look at its face, Kaspar realized (with a small amount of discomfort) that it bore a remarkable resemblance to Dow, the homunculus familiar Skevros had created to look after his daughter. The figure then held up a hand in a "wait" gesture before turning back to the desk and pulling out two scrolls. She gave these to Daleth, pantomiming that he should cast them upon her.</p><p></p><p>After a <em>read magic</em> spell allowed the elf to understand the scrolls' contents, he announced they contained the spells <em>silent image</em> and <em>major image</em>. "Well, go ahead!" prompted Orion.</p><p></p><p>Casting the first spell caused the illusion of the astral golem's plate mail construction to seem to flow into a single piece of unbroken (but bendable) porcelain, hiding the joints and the runes covering her body. The second spell allowed the figure to talk and change facial expressions.</p><p></p><p>"Thank you," said Dow - and it was recognizably the same voice as that of Skevros's foot-tall homunculus, which as far as anybody knew was still back at the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em> - or at least the extradimensional rooms the king's adviser kept in the back. But this raised even more questions: How did Skevros's familiar learn how to astrally project itself? How can a construct astrally project itself in the first place? And why would evil Skevros have made a human-sized Dow body for his familiar to project into?</p><p></p><p>"How did you get here?" Dow asked. "And why are you all so small?"</p><p></p><p>"So small?" asked Orion. "What do you mean?"</p><p></p><p>"You're all my size."</p><p></p><p>Sudden understanding struck the halfling. "We're not your size, Dow," she explained. "You're our size!" Dow looked down at her arms and back to the group. "All this time?" she asked in amazement. "I've been human-sized all this time?" She had assumed her master had made these rooms - and the astral golem she currently inhabited - scaled to that of her normal body.</p><p></p><p>Dow was short on explanations for now, eager to return to her master at the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>, but she explained that she'd routinely spent time here in this body when she wasn't otherwise needed. Furthermore, the journals in the other room - spanning 32 years in all - had all been scribed by her.</p><p></p><p>"So you're 'S.D.'?" Orion asked.</p><p></p><p>"Yes," answered Dow. "'Sarah's Doll'." She sighed heavily - or at least seemed to, given she was nothing more than a magical construct given the appearance of a living being.</p><p></p><p>"I don't think she's ever coming back."</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>Logan further explained the last entries in Dow's journal: "Red" and "Little Red" were Dow's terms for Maria Quillbender and Hope Syngaard; "the Broken Man" was Syngaard himself, describing the scars on his face; "the fey" were Daleth and Kaspar, both of whom had an aversion to the doll-construct that spoke like a little girl as she had been intended as a plaything for a little girl, Skevros's own young daughter Sarah.</p><p></p><p>We're not sure who was inhabiting the "Skevros" astral golem, given that he was casting cleric spells at us and the third Ossirnian mercenary we encountered at the Treaty Keep was a wizard. But I'm sure we'll meet up with him again soon enough.</p><p></p><p>There were some goodies in the chest by the desk: a pair of <em>boots of levitation</em> which went to Syngaard, a <em>necklace of adaptation</em> that Orion claimed, a <em>lesser metamagic rod of silent spell</em> that went to Daleth, and a <em>ring of sustenance</em> that Galen took. There was also a helmet in there that turned out to be nonmagical; Skevros turned as white as a ghost when he saw it, as it was the (now unpowered) <em>helm of opposite alignment</em> that had turned him evil all those years ago.</p><p></p><p>And fighting astral bodies is a sure-fire way to allow the PCs to kill their enemies without actually killing them! Good one, Logan!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7530379, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 30: THE ASTRAL GOLEM[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 8 Galen Thorne, human paladin 10 Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 10 Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 9 Syngaard, human fighter 10[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 28 November 2018 - - - "So what's up?" asked Syngaard, as usual the last to appear at the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i] as the result of a summons from Skevros. He got an ale from Karen before joining the others at the table. Skevros had two opened books before him: Hirek's spellbook, recently recovered by the conscripts in one of his old golem construction labs hidden away in the Baator's Breath Mountains; and the Black Journal, his own accounts during the time he'd been turned to evil after donning a [i]helmet of opposite alignment[/i]. This latter work had been recovered by the conscripts in Skevros's manor house in the Azure Glade, before he'd been able to travel there under his own power. There was also a map of a section of some dungeon and a cloth bag. In answer to Syngaard's initial question, Skevros dumped the contents of the bag onto the table, revealing ten emeralds. In response to Syngaard's unspoken question - before the scarred fighter even had a chance to voice it - Skevros turned to him and said, "Yes, this is a paying mission. Here is your payment up front. And you are also welcome to any treasures you might unearth in the area to which I will send you." Each of the heroes grabbed up a pair of the emeralds. Syngaard was suitably impressed. "I like this mission already," he admitted. "May we ask the parameters of our assignment?" asked Kaspar. "Certainly. In Hirek's spellbook there is a section on the creation of golems. One form of golem in particular stood out to me, due to the reagents required in its creation - reagents I have only heard of once before, specifically within the Black Journal. I believe that while I was evil - under the effects of the helmet - I either built or attempted to build an astral golem." "Golem?" echoed Galen. "I have heard of such creatures. They are said to be difficult to destroy." "Indeed," agreed Daleth. "Typically, most spells have no effect on such constructs." The elf scowled, not liking the thought of having to go up against a creature likely immune to most of his spells. "According to Hirek's writings on the subject, an astral golem is an altered version of a normal golem that, instead of using an elemental spirit to power it, uses an astral projection. It therefore functions more like a suit of armor for a powerful mage rather than as a traditional golem. With the notes in the Black Journal, I only know that I procured the reagents necessary to build one, not what type of base golem I would have made." "Say what now?" asked Syngaard. "What's a base golem?" Daleth looked disdainfully at the bald fighter. "There are many types of golem, the traditional ones being crafted of stone, clay, iron, or even flesh," he explained. "The astral golem might have been constructed to look like any of these golems, and might even be indistinguishable from the normal type of whatever golem it was patterned after." "Quite so," agreed Skevros. "With my exile so recently modified by the Council of Guilds, I have been visiting my old home of late and found a secret room in my basement, one that wasn't there before my fall to evil and for which I have no recollection. Within, I found notes about converting an old dungeon I once visited during my adventuring days into a workshop. Scrying upon several old sites I had visited in the past, I found one of the dungeons shielded from scrying. I can only imagine that is the probable location of my workshop." "And you wish us to visit this location?" reasoned Orion. "Indeed. Your mission is to check out the workshop and determine if I did in fact complete an astral golem. If so, bring it back if possible, but destroy it rather than let it fall into the hands of anyone else. After all, I believe its purpose was likely to be used to find the Mithral Mage within 'Dwarven Hell' and it is therefore too dangerous a tool to allow the Seekers of Eternity to obtain." "You can [i]teleport[/i] us directly there?" asked Kaspar. "I can. Having been there before, I should be able to deposit you anywhere within the dungeon's confines." He pushed the sketch of the dungeon he'd made: three separate rooms each connected by doors to an oblong central chamber. At Orion's prompting, Skevros further explained what he knew about each room. "This room contained some sort of [i]magic circle[/i] inscribed upon the floor," he said, indicating the southernmost room. "It was blocked off from the main chamber by a [i]wall of force[/i], as was the northernmost room. That one held a desk and several bookshelves, mostly empty as I recall." "And the eastern room?" asked Orion. "It was a bedroom, I believe. This whole area was the dwelling place of a wizard of some repute." "Where is it located?" asked Galen. "The Azure Glade." "That figures," scoffed Syngaard, finishing off his ale. "Can't seem to stay away from that damn place." "Well, at least there will be no trudging involved," replied Skevros with a half-smile. "I'll [i]teleport[/i] you there and you can return with the [i]ring of returning[/i] once you've checked it out." "Let's get our prep spells in place," suggested Galen, casting a [i]protection from evil[/i] spell upon himself. Daleth followed suit with a [i]magic circle against evil[/i] spell. Then Orion called Carl to her and climbed up into his saddle, everyone gathered close together, and Skevros cast the spell that sent them instantaneously across the miles to the central chamber of the dungeon depicted on his map. There was a [i]wall of force[/i] in place behind the heroes blocking access to the central chamber from the mountainside beyond, but the two similar spells Skevros had described were no longer present. However, there were wooden double doors in their place, leading to the northern and southern rooms. Another set of double doors led to what would be the wizard's bed chamber, at the far end of the chamber to the east. The place was unlit save for the ever-changing colors of four glowing, blobby spheres floating in the air above a quartet of plinths, two flanking each set of doors to the north and south. The conscripts recognized these as prismatic oozes, having seen them in place in Skevros's manor when they had first entered it. "That's a good indicator that Skevros made this place his own," Orion suggested. "Yeah, when he went all evil," Syngaard sneered. "Only he don't remember that part too good, so we gotta go check out stuff he oughta already know." "Well, he's explained that the [i]wish[/i] spell his wife cast to return him to his normal mental state erased the memories of what he'd done in the months--" the halfling began, only to be cut off by the scarred fighter. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Kaspar examined the floating prismatic oozes. "They aren't attacking," he noted. "I assume they sense the rings we wear, which are attuned to Skevros." "Don't really care so much about the why," sneered Syngaard. "Just glad they're stayin' put." He had his morningstar in hand, ready to attack, just in case. Orion had climbed back down out of the saddle and approached the northern door with a practiced eye. Seeing no obvious traps, she touched the doorknob. It was locked, but unlocked with an audible "click" upon her touch. "I didn't even see you use your lockpicks," observed Kaspar. "That's because I didn't even have a chance to do so!" the halfling answered. But then another "click" indicated the door had automatically relocked itself; apparently it remained unlocked only for a brief moment before locking itself again if the door wasn't opened in that time. "I'm going in," Orion announced, touching the doorknob again, waiting for the "click," and then opening the door. Galen, in the meantime, approached the doors to the wizard's bedroom to the east. The doors unlocked at his touch, revealing a desk covered with jars of inks and paints directly before him. There was a small chest on the floor next to the desk, while the walls on the northern half of the room were mirrored, flanking a table. Lying facedown on this table, unmoving, was a humanoid figure with long, white-blond hair, apparently wearing plate armor of some kind of whitish material. Seeing no obvious threat in the room, Galen backed out and closed the door quietly behind him. Then he returned to the others, who had crowded into the study Orion had opened. There were no sounds of combat, the paladin was glad to hear. Entering the room with the others, Galen saw a room with bookshelves covering two opposite walls, filled with journals written by someone with the initials "S.D." A single book stood out from the others by its different binding, the title "A Study on Advanced and Archaic Golem Construction" written upon its spine. Examining it, Orion said, "It's written by Khier - the name being used by the ghost of Hirek." "Guy likes his golems," Syngaard observed. One of the journals was sitting on the desk in the middle of the room. Orion examined it next, flipping it to its last entry, which read: The rest of the journal entries seemed to have a common theme of the writer waiting for someone to return. "Shall we?" asked Galen, departing the study and heading to the room directly across the central chamber. It unlocked at his touch, and to his surprise when he opened it he was faced by three people, all of whom he recognized, and who were equally as surprised at the paladin's sudden appearance. The first two of these were a woman and a man, Sienna and Averos, the Ossirnian mercenaries who had tried setting off a war between their kingdom and Durnhill. The woman wore plate mail and had her [i]vicious greatsword[/i] at the ready, while the man, in combat leathers, had a rapier hanging from his belt. And the third figure was Skevros himself, who rose quickly from his seated position in the middle of the [i]magic circle[/i] inscribed on the floor. "Wha--?" began Galen in confusion. He instinctively detected their auras for signs of evil, and at the first indication that there was evil present he stepped back and closed the door behind him, hearing it automatically lock as he did so. "Let us out!" came the muffled cries from inside the room, indicating the trio couldn't open the doors by themselves. Galen summoned his bonded mount from the Beastlands, and as Burt materialized in the chamber, the paladin ordered him to guard the door. "Evil Skevros is in there, along with two of the Ossirnians who tried to start the war in the Treaty Keep, with Gumruk," Galen explained to the others. "Evil Skevros? How is that even possible?" asked Orion. "It isn't," replied Daleth. "He's an impostor, or an illusion, no doubt. But it would seem combat is imminent." And then the elven wizard cast a [i]haste[/i] spell upon all of his companions, animal or otherwise. But then a "click" announced the door unlocking and there stood Skevros; it made sense that the door would open to him, if he had been the one to craft it. "What are you doing here?" he demanded as he opened the door - and then came to an abrupt halt once he spotted the full-sized dire lion staring him down from the other side of the doorway. Behind Burt, Syngaard sized up his foes, determined they all looked to be human, and switched out his morningstar for his [i]human bane scimitar[/i]. If any of them got past the dire lion, he'd be ready for them! Averos stepped up beside Skevros, flaming rapier in hand, ready to fight the dire lion if it attacked. But then Kaspar squeezed past Burt, standing immediately before Skevros. "Why are you here?" he asked, wishing to start a discussion rather than a combat, if at all possible. There was no recognition in Skevros's eyes as he stared at the monk, which, Kaspar realized, would be perfectly natural for the wizard if he was in fact the same Skevros from back in time when he had been evil. But how could he be here now? And if he were the same Skevros from earlier in his life, did the party dare kill him without also slaying their own, later-in-time Skevros? Kaspar hoped this was some sort of impostor - it made things so much easier if that were the case! "We just want to leave this place," replied Skevros. "Step aside, all of you, and we'll let you live." "Dunno if you noticed, bright boy, but it's five against three - and that's not counting our dire lion or our ghost dog," Syngaard countered. "Howzabout you drop them weapons to the ground while we figure out what to do with you?" Neither of the trio seemed willing to comply. Orion therefore struck the first blow with a thunderstone thrown into the middle of the room. There was a sudden explosion of sound and both men grabbed the sides of their heads. From the noises they made, they seemed to have been deafened by the sonic attack. (Sienna had also winced in pain at the burst of sound but had apparently shrugged off the worst of the effects.) Sienna was the first from her group to react, rushing forward with her [i]vicious greatsword[/i] and swinging it at Kaspar with all of her strength behind the blow. Kaspar stepped back just in time to avoid the worst of it, but it still scored a line of blood down his chest. Sienna shuddered as the backlash from her magic blade sent a wave of harmful energy her way, but it merely drew an unsettling smile from her. Did she actually enjoy the pain using her blade caused her? "Back, Burt!" called Galen, wanting the dire lion's bulk out of the way so the others could approach and fight. Burt obeyed, scooting to the side as his master approached, the [i]sword of Zehkar[/i] in hand. Galen noted the mercenaries' auras blazed with unmistakable evil, but Skevros - or, more accurately, his impostor - had an aura untainted by evil. He thus made his first strikes against Sienna, channeling the holy power of his god through his sword as he brought a smiting attack against the young fighter. Sienna took the blow and seemed to enjoy the pain it brought. She was a weird one, all right! Daleth raised his [i]staff of divination[/i] and cast a [i]true seeing[/i] spell. With his enhanced vision, he could now see that Averos and Sienna looked the same as ever, save for a silvery "tail" trailing behind each. The Skevros impostor, however, seemed to be made of porcelain with blue runes around the edges of its face and all over its jointed hands. It also had a silvery cord leading off from its back. "They're astral projections!" Daleth called out to the others. "And Skevros -- he's the astral golem!" "Our orders were clear," Syngaard called out. "Bring it back if we can, otherwise destroy it!" The grin on his scarred face expressed his pleasure at getting to destroy the thing. Skevros countered with a [i]flame strike[/i] spell encompassing Kaspar, Galen, and Syngaard, although the monk's training allowed him to evade the evil flames altogether. Not so the other two, who took the full force of the spell. Syngaard grunted and prepared to charge into the room, but Daleth held him back. "I shall cast a [i]fireball[/i] into the room!" he warned. Syngaard just growled in frustration - he didn't see why he had to stay back from the action just because Wizard-Pants wanted to get in some of his flashy spells - but he acquiesced, settling with hurling his [i]javelin of returning[/i] at Sienna. Once again, she seemed to enjoy the pain of combat, the little freak! Averos thrust the point of his [i]flaming rapier[/i] at Galen, but Kaspar, still under the effects of Daleth's [i]haste[/i] spell, threw so many punches and kicks at the mercenary rogue in rapid-fire succession that his astral form collapsed into itself. The monk realized the real Averos, wherever he was, was perfectly fine but at least he was no longer a factor in this fight. Orion tossed an electrified dagger from her [i]bag of blades[/i] at Sienna, who once again seemed to enjoy it. The fighter turned to face Galen and brought her [i]vicious greatsword[/i] down on the paladin, seeming to draw as much pleasure from her own pain as harming her enemy. Galen staggered back from the blow and then, finding himself next to Syngaard, decided to cast a [i]bull's strength[/i] spell on the scarred fighter. "I've increased your strength," he informed Syngaard. "The power of Hieroneous will enhance your strikes!" "Don't feel no different," Syngaard grunted in reply, for the spell had indeed been wasted as Syngaard already wore a magic belt that increased his strength - and by a larger amount than Galen's spell would have granted. But while those two had been thus involved, Daleth cast his [i]fireball[/i] spell into the room, channeling it through his [i]metamagic rod[/i] to increase its effectiveness. The fiery blast destroyed Sienna's astral body but seemed to have no effect on the ersatz Skevros - if anything, it seemed to have made him even more powerful than before! Belatedly, Daleth recalled his own worries earlier, back at the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i], that many golems were unaffected by most spells - and now he recalled that some of them even drew power from certain energy attacks! Well, now he knew not to use fire spells against an astral golem...a good thing to know. Skevros, grinning wildly, cast an [i]unholy blight[/i] spell that would have encompassed every hero he was up against...if he hadn't fumbled the spell due to his lingering deafness from Orion's initial thunderstone. His triumphant expression turned to one of disdain as he realized he had failed to cast the spell at all. The party surged forward, attacking the astral golem from all four sides. Blades struck it, fists and elbows struck it, but altogether they seemed to be dealing it very little damage, no doubt at least partially due to the increase in power Daleth's [i]fireball[/i] had provided the astral golem. Galen was forced to heal himself after a particularly effective blow from the astral golem's fists, which struck like a catapult's thrown stone. Finally, in an act of desperation, Daleth tried casting a [i]dispel magic[/i] spell onto the golem. A look of shock crossed the face of the fake Skevros as the astral golem powered down, the astral form that had granted it its movement dissipating away to nothingness as the unknown caster's animating spirit was cast back into its physical body. "Good job, Wizard-Pants!" affirmed Galen, slapping the wizard on the shoulder. "Yeah, it almost makes up for that boneheaded move with the [i]fireball[/i]," Syngaard added. "You did well," Orion said. "You not only defeated our last - and most powerful - foe, but you also kept the astral golem intact! We can bring it back to Skevros to check out!" Mounted on Carl for the additional height, she dropped the opening of her [i]bag of holding[/i] over the astral golem's head, drawing the entire construct into its extradimensional space. "Let's go check out that last room," Galen suggested. He led the way to the room he'd peeked into earlier, with the blond-haired suit of white armor on the table. Surprisingly, the figure was no longer facedown on the table but upright by the desk. It spun around, and Daleth - whose [i]true seeing[/i] spell was still intact - could see a small, silvery cord floating out of the figure's torso. The blue runes all over the porcelain plates suggested this was a second astral golem; Skevros had likely been able to make them both at the same time, especially since both were merely the size of a man and most golems were much larger. Kaspar, trying to avoid a fight if possible, asked, "Who are you? We have no desire to fight you." The fact that it had been in a separate room from the others allowed the elven monk to hope it hadn't been associated with the Ossirnian mercenaries and whoever had been powering the other astral golem. In response, the figure looked rapidly at each of the party members in turn; getting a good look at its face, Kaspar realized (with a small amount of discomfort) that it bore a remarkable resemblance to Dow, the homunculus familiar Skevros had created to look after his daughter. The figure then held up a hand in a "wait" gesture before turning back to the desk and pulling out two scrolls. She gave these to Daleth, pantomiming that he should cast them upon her. After a [i]read magic[/i] spell allowed the elf to understand the scrolls' contents, he announced they contained the spells [i]silent image[/i] and [i]major image[/i]. "Well, go ahead!" prompted Orion. Casting the first spell caused the illusion of the astral golem's plate mail construction to seem to flow into a single piece of unbroken (but bendable) porcelain, hiding the joints and the runes covering her body. The second spell allowed the figure to talk and change facial expressions. "Thank you," said Dow - and it was recognizably the same voice as that of Skevros's foot-tall homunculus, which as far as anybody knew was still back at the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i] - or at least the extradimensional rooms the king's adviser kept in the back. But this raised even more questions: How did Skevros's familiar learn how to astrally project itself? How can a construct astrally project itself in the first place? And why would evil Skevros have made a human-sized Dow body for his familiar to project into? "How did you get here?" Dow asked. "And why are you all so small?" "So small?" asked Orion. "What do you mean?" "You're all my size." Sudden understanding struck the halfling. "We're not your size, Dow," she explained. "You're our size!" Dow looked down at her arms and back to the group. "All this time?" she asked in amazement. "I've been human-sized all this time?" She had assumed her master had made these rooms - and the astral golem she currently inhabited - scaled to that of her normal body. Dow was short on explanations for now, eager to return to her master at the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i], but she explained that she'd routinely spent time here in this body when she wasn't otherwise needed. Furthermore, the journals in the other room - spanning 32 years in all - had all been scribed by her. "So you're 'S.D.'?" Orion asked. "Yes," answered Dow. "'Sarah's Doll'." She sighed heavily - or at least seemed to, given she was nothing more than a magical construct given the appearance of a living being. "I don't think she's ever coming back." - - - Logan further explained the last entries in Dow's journal: "Red" and "Little Red" were Dow's terms for Maria Quillbender and Hope Syngaard; "the Broken Man" was Syngaard himself, describing the scars on his face; "the fey" were Daleth and Kaspar, both of whom had an aversion to the doll-construct that spoke like a little girl as she had been intended as a plaything for a little girl, Skevros's own young daughter Sarah. We're not sure who was inhabiting the "Skevros" astral golem, given that he was casting cleric spells at us and the third Ossirnian mercenary we encountered at the Treaty Keep was a wizard. But I'm sure we'll meet up with him again soon enough. There were some goodies in the chest by the desk: a pair of [i]boots of levitation[/i] which went to Syngaard, a [i]necklace of adaptation[/i] that Orion claimed, a [i]lesser metamagic rod of silent spell[/i] that went to Daleth, and a [i]ring of sustenance[/i] that Galen took. There was also a helmet in there that turned out to be nonmagical; Skevros turned as white as a ghost when he saw it, as it was the (now unpowered) [i]helm of opposite alignment[/i] that had turned him evil all those years ago. And fighting astral bodies is a sure-fire way to allow the PCs to kill their enemies without actually killing them! Good one, Logan! [/QUOTE]
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