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 Fall of Civilization
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="the Jester" data-source="post: 4570621" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>The party creeps forward into a large, dank passage. The walls are spotted with weird underground fungi and stained with strange sheets of growth. Stalactites point downward from above, while stalagmites squat grotesquely on the cave floor. This is the path of Voxis. The dwarves of the Hammersell clan had explained to our heroes that the tunnel passes through the old lair of Voxis and then to an underground waterway (another one!) that leads, eventually, out to the sea in another corner of the world. </p><p></p><p><em>We could get away from all of this... the Six-Fingered Hand, this mad war, everything,</em> thinks Nixie.</p><p></p><p>It is tempting; yet they all feel some sense of obligation to the people of the Empire, to their comrades in the army and navy, to their home cities and villages. Should they not try to help if they can? If Fandelose can be defended, aren’t they obligated to try?</p><p></p><p>It is a question that they wrestle with as they proceed through the tunnel. Eventually, here and there, there start to be phosphorescent gleams from certain of the stranger growths on the walls. After about three hours, the passage widens into a larger cavern, with the ruins of several old wagons strewn about and old corpses lying amongst them.</p><p></p><p>“We must be getting close to where they killed the dragon,” Torinn says in a hushed voice. </p><p></p><p>They creep forward, but a sudden noise halts them: a rattling, scrabbling sound. And then, the corpses in the cavern begin to stir, rising up in a mass of undead! Skeletons and zombies rush forward; two hang back, throwing hunks of corrupt, necrotic flesh torn from their own bodies at our heroes. </p><p></p><p>An intense battle breaks out. Kratos hammers his maul into one of the zombies, shattering its head in a single blow; then he, Vann-La and Torinn form a line of defense, while Sta’Ligir* commences with some blowing up of the enemy from the back rank. The undead are tough and dangerous; but the party uses excellent teamwork, and before long they stand triumphant over the ruin of the undead. </p><p></p><p>Grimly, warily, the group moves forward again. </p><p></p><p>And then, suddenly, darkness falls on the group. </p><p></p><p>“What-?” </p><p></p><p><strong><em>ROAR!!!!</em></strong></p><p></p><p>“Argh!!” Vann-La screams as something tears into her. </p><p></p><p>Confusion- movement all over, and a great flapping of wings- </p><p></p><p>Torinn stumbles from the darkness and looks wildly around. <em>Whoosh.</em> It swoops past him. </p><p></p><p>“Dragon!” the cleric cries. </p><p></p><p>It laughs a malevolent laugh as it flies in for another pass, and Torinn ducks behind his shield. The dragon smashes into his shield with its shoulder and bites the dragonborn on the shoulder, delivering a terrible wound. Then, as it passes over the cloud, it vomits a gout of acid that splashes amongst the others. </p><p></p><p>Confusion takes over as the party scatters, several of them screaming in agony from the acid searing them. Kratos misses with his <em>eldritch blast</em> as the dragon swoops in again. The dragon screams, “In the name of my mother, Voxis, I will slay you all and eat your hearts!” And then it lands and belches another gout of acid, this one directly at Kratos. The warlord takes it full in the chest and gives a shout of pain. And then he hurls himself forward, smashing his maul mightily into the dragon’s head. It screeches, and the party rallies; if it can be <em>hurt,</em> it can be <em>killed!</em></p><p></p><p>They pour it on. </p><p></p><p>The battle is exhausting and vicious, with no holds barred and everyone giving it their all. It goes to the wire; the dragon deals out immense punishment, but Torinn and Kratos keep inspiring and healing its victims as they return the damage to the dragon. Meanwhile it has nobody healing it, and slowly- slowly- the party wins the day- and soon, the son of Voxis is slain.**</p><p></p><p>Panting and bleeding, the party spends a few minutes resting and binding their wounds. Both Kratos and Torinn are skilled with healing, and before long the party is back to near full strength. They search around through the debris, especially in the area that Voxis’ son had been lurking, and quickly turn up some money, as well as the Hammersell clan’s lost hammer. </p><p></p><p>“Perfect!” exclaims Kratos proudly. “Let’s go return this to them.”</p><p></p><p>The group heads back out.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The Hammersells are overjoyed at the return of their forge hammer. They thank the party effusively and say that they will spread the word that the party members are <em>duran khazad,</em> dwarf-friends. </p><p></p><p>With Kratos holding a new magic warhammer that he bought from the Hammersells, the party discusses what to do next, consulting the dwarves with their questions.</p><p></p><p>“What about this other corner of the world thing?” asks Nixie. </p><p></p><p>“So we would sail down this waterway, or what?” asks Vann-La.</p><p></p><p>The dwarves confirm this, but then explain that the party will have to fashion a raft from fungus. This takes them to a waterfall, and that will eventually lead them out.</p><p></p><p>“I don’t know about that,” says Vann-La. “It sounds like an easy way to have things go terribly awry...”</p><p></p><p>“There’s a bigger issue,” Heimall declares. “What about our people? The Six-Fingered Hand aren’t going to leave Fandelose alone if we aren’t there. I think we need to make a stand, if we can find a place where it’s viable. Even if Fandelose isn’t that place, it’s our best place to start looking for that place. At the very least, we can warn them that the Hand is coming, and let them know just how bad it looks.”</p><p></p><p>“He’s right,” sighs Nixie. “We can’t just run forever.”</p><p></p><p>“And this fungus boat waterfall trip sounds like a bad idea,” reiterates Vann-La. </p><p></p><p>“It sounds like we’re agreed, then,” says Nowhere Jones. “We’ll keep going the way we were headed- through the xvart city.” <em>And if I’m lucky, maybe I can burn the whole damn place down on our way out.</em></p><p></p><p>“I was thinking about that,” Kratos speaks up. “The dwarves here told us that we need to put on a strong front if we want to pass through the xvart city unmolested, right? Well, we just killed a dragon. Let’s mount its head on our wagon!”</p><p></p><p>The party agrees that this is a great idea. They return to the battle site, this time taking the wagon with them, and put as many ominous-looking dragon parts as they can in it. Then they return to the dwarves again, and they make a collective camp. </p><p></p><p>In the morning, the party moves on towards the xvart city of Xvaangensleff. </p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Agents of the Six-Fingered Hand- ahead of our heroes!</p><p></p><p>*I just discovered last night that I’ve been misspelling this all along; it should be Sta L’igir. But, as I always do when things of this nature come up, I’ll just explain it away as using the Common spelling, versus the Elven. (Sort of like how Frank is Francois.)</p><p></p><p>**This was an awesome, epic, knock-down, drag-out fight. It was not one of those “got really boring” fights I keep hearing about. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 4570621, member: 1210"] The party creeps forward into a large, dank passage. The walls are spotted with weird underground fungi and stained with strange sheets of growth. Stalactites point downward from above, while stalagmites squat grotesquely on the cave floor. This is the path of Voxis. The dwarves of the Hammersell clan had explained to our heroes that the tunnel passes through the old lair of Voxis and then to an underground waterway (another one!) that leads, eventually, out to the sea in another corner of the world. [i]We could get away from all of this... the Six-Fingered Hand, this mad war, everything,[/i] thinks Nixie. It is tempting; yet they all feel some sense of obligation to the people of the Empire, to their comrades in the army and navy, to their home cities and villages. Should they not try to help if they can? If Fandelose can be defended, aren’t they obligated to try? It is a question that they wrestle with as they proceed through the tunnel. Eventually, here and there, there start to be phosphorescent gleams from certain of the stranger growths on the walls. After about three hours, the passage widens into a larger cavern, with the ruins of several old wagons strewn about and old corpses lying amongst them. “We must be getting close to where they killed the dragon,” Torinn says in a hushed voice. They creep forward, but a sudden noise halts them: a rattling, scrabbling sound. And then, the corpses in the cavern begin to stir, rising up in a mass of undead! Skeletons and zombies rush forward; two hang back, throwing hunks of corrupt, necrotic flesh torn from their own bodies at our heroes. An intense battle breaks out. Kratos hammers his maul into one of the zombies, shattering its head in a single blow; then he, Vann-La and Torinn form a line of defense, while Sta’Ligir* commences with some blowing up of the enemy from the back rank. The undead are tough and dangerous; but the party uses excellent teamwork, and before long they stand triumphant over the ruin of the undead. Grimly, warily, the group moves forward again. And then, suddenly, darkness falls on the group. “What-?” [b][i]ROAR!!!![/i][/b] “Argh!!” Vann-La screams as something tears into her. Confusion- movement all over, and a great flapping of wings- Torinn stumbles from the darkness and looks wildly around. [i]Whoosh.[/i] It swoops past him. “Dragon!” the cleric cries. It laughs a malevolent laugh as it flies in for another pass, and Torinn ducks behind his shield. The dragon smashes into his shield with its shoulder and bites the dragonborn on the shoulder, delivering a terrible wound. Then, as it passes over the cloud, it vomits a gout of acid that splashes amongst the others. Confusion takes over as the party scatters, several of them screaming in agony from the acid searing them. Kratos misses with his [i]eldritch blast[/i] as the dragon swoops in again. The dragon screams, “In the name of my mother, Voxis, I will slay you all and eat your hearts!” And then it lands and belches another gout of acid, this one directly at Kratos. The warlord takes it full in the chest and gives a shout of pain. And then he hurls himself forward, smashing his maul mightily into the dragon’s head. It screeches, and the party rallies; if it can be [i]hurt,[/i] it can be [i]killed![/i] They pour it on. The battle is exhausting and vicious, with no holds barred and everyone giving it their all. It goes to the wire; the dragon deals out immense punishment, but Torinn and Kratos keep inspiring and healing its victims as they return the damage to the dragon. Meanwhile it has nobody healing it, and slowly- slowly- the party wins the day- and soon, the son of Voxis is slain.** Panting and bleeding, the party spends a few minutes resting and binding their wounds. Both Kratos and Torinn are skilled with healing, and before long the party is back to near full strength. They search around through the debris, especially in the area that Voxis’ son had been lurking, and quickly turn up some money, as well as the Hammersell clan’s lost hammer. “Perfect!” exclaims Kratos proudly. “Let’s go return this to them.” The group heads back out. *** The Hammersells are overjoyed at the return of their forge hammer. They thank the party effusively and say that they will spread the word that the party members are [i]duran khazad,[/i] dwarf-friends. With Kratos holding a new magic warhammer that he bought from the Hammersells, the party discusses what to do next, consulting the dwarves with their questions. “What about this other corner of the world thing?” asks Nixie. “So we would sail down this waterway, or what?” asks Vann-La. The dwarves confirm this, but then explain that the party will have to fashion a raft from fungus. This takes them to a waterfall, and that will eventually lead them out. “I don’t know about that,” says Vann-La. “It sounds like an easy way to have things go terribly awry...” “There’s a bigger issue,” Heimall declares. “What about our people? The Six-Fingered Hand aren’t going to leave Fandelose alone if we aren’t there. I think we need to make a stand, if we can find a place where it’s viable. Even if Fandelose isn’t that place, it’s our best place to start looking for that place. At the very least, we can warn them that the Hand is coming, and let them know just how bad it looks.” “He’s right,” sighs Nixie. “We can’t just run forever.” “And this fungus boat waterfall trip sounds like a bad idea,” reiterates Vann-La. “It sounds like we’re agreed, then,” says Nowhere Jones. “We’ll keep going the way we were headed- through the xvart city.” [i]And if I’m lucky, maybe I can burn the whole damn place down on our way out.[/i] “I was thinking about that,” Kratos speaks up. “The dwarves here told us that we need to put on a strong front if we want to pass through the xvart city unmolested, right? Well, we just killed a dragon. Let’s mount its head on our wagon!” The party agrees that this is a great idea. They return to the battle site, this time taking the wagon with them, and put as many ominous-looking dragon parts as they can in it. Then they return to the dwarves again, and they make a collective camp. In the morning, the party moves on towards the xvart city of Xvaangensleff. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Agents of the Six-Fingered Hand- ahead of our heroes! *I just discovered last night that I’ve been misspelling this all along; it should be Sta L’igir. But, as I always do when things of this nature come up, I’ll just explain it away as using the Common spelling, versus the Elven. (Sort of like how Frank is Francois.) **This was an awesome, epic, knock-down, drag-out fight. It was not one of those “got really boring” fights I keep hearing about. :) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Fall of Civilization
Top