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The Kordovian Adventurers Guild
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7069485" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 32: THE <em>STAR BEETLE</em></strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Castillan Ivenheart, elf bounder 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Darrien, half-elf ranger 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Gilbert Fung, human wizard 10</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Chik'tak, rastipede sorcerer 2/expert 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Ingebold Battershield, dwarven cleric 10 (Moradin)</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 25 March 2017</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>There was a blinding flash of light, causing each of the heroes to instinctively close his or her eyes. Then the only illumination was once again the two <em>everburning torches</em> tied to Binkadink's helmet-antlers. It revealed a 15-foot cube occupied by six heroes and piles of coins, gold bars, and gems, but the nine chests that had been mounted to the rising floors had somehow vanished. A grinding noise, similar to the one made as the four floor sections had risen to form the cube, alerted the Kordovians to a change in architecture: the wall that had contained the three chests of which the middle had been trapped was slowly being lowered to a horizontal configuration again.</p><p></p><p>"We teleported somewhere else," surmised Gilbert Fung.</p><p></p><p>As the wall once again became a floor, the heroes could see a doorway being exposed by the lowering platform, beyond which seemed to be a short corridor opening into a round chamber. But before checking these new sections out, Gilbert insisted they deal with an issue they should have taken care of previously: namely, stuffing all of the treasure that had been teleported along with them into their <em>portable hole</em>. This was more treasure than any of the assembled heroes had ever seen before in one place, and Gilbert Fung for one didn't want to be parted from it.</p><p></p><p>While the others started tossing gems, coins, and gold bars into the <em>portable hole</em>, Gilbert tried contacting his familiar, using the necklace he'd taken from the sea hag living in Lake Quag. "Mudpie!" he called. "Remain where you are - we try to get back to you!" Having never actually used the necklace before he wasn't sure if it would work on a summoned familiar or not, but the fact that he got no response, coupled with the fact he could no longer sense his familiar through the empathic link he and Mudpie shared, led him to guess they might have been transported to another plane - or at the very least, further than a mile away from each other.</p><p></p><p>Castillan supervised the collection of every last piece of treasure that had been transported with the group. Only when he was satisfied they had left nothing behind did the heroes move on to the next chamber. This had four hallways jutting out from it, one of which the group had just traversed to enter the chamber. In the middle of the room - which was lit by four <em>everburning torches</em> in sconces between the open doorways - sat a podium with a large, leather-bound book sitting upon it. There was a single word embossed upon the book's cover: "WELCOME."</p><p></p><p>After a quick perusal by Castillan suggested the book wasn't trapped, Gilbert hesitantly opened the front cover. On the first page was printed the following:</p><p></p><p>The group found the bunkrooms and toilet to the left and the dining facility, such as it was (it contained only some hardbread, jerky, and barrels of fresh water; Ingebold would undoubtedly need to prepare the <em>create food and water</em> spell daily in the weeks to follow!), to the right. There were two long tables in the dining hall, each with a pair of benches; the deck of playing cards and the chessboard on one of the tables indicated the room doubled as a meager entertainment hall. But it was the corridor straight ahead that took the heroes' breath away: the short passageway opened into a small garden, filled with fruit trees and berry bushes the likes of which none of the heroes had ever seen before. And the view! Where they had expected to see sky and land (or possibly sea), there was instead a vast blackness scattered with swirls of various colors – vibrant purples, deep reds, light pinks and blues – and an abundance of stars. A lengthy wooden dock jutted out from one side of this garden terrace, although no vessels were moored there at present.</p><p></p><p>"Where the Hell <em>are</em> we?" asked Binkadink.</p><p></p><p>The answer was found in the pages of Captain Skunkbeard's book, which the group pored over after confirming that this whole facility was uninhabited save by themselves. They were in something called a "Wildspace Receiving Station" carved out of an "asteroid" - whatever that was. The pages explained about "spelljamming vessels" - some of them normal sailing ships, some of them exotic vehicles built to look like various creatures - that could fly through the air or through this "wildspace" due to a special helm that drained spell energy from a spellcaster piloting the vessel. The book explained that entire solar systems (a world and its sun, plus other worlds and moons in the same general vicinity) were covered in invisible, unbreakable "crystal spheres" and that these crystal spheres floated upon a vast (possibly infinite) rainbow ocean of something called "phlogiston." Trying to make sense of these strange concepts hurt even Gilbert's head, but the first thing he did was to copy its pages over into his <em>Omnibook</em>, giving them two copies to examine.</p><p></p><p>And reading over the "WELCOME" book was a popular pastime in the weeks to follow. Those who had never learned how to play chess were taught to play by those already familiar with the game and they took to it out of sheer boredom. Castillan taught the group every card game he knew - and he knew quite a few! But the Wildspace Receiving Station was a small place to be cooped up in for weeks at a time, and cabin fever hit the group hard.</p><p></p><p>Therefore, experimentation became the order of the day. They tested the concept of "air envelopes" - anyone entering wildspace took along a bubble of air, or an air envelope, with them; the station had a bubble of air all around it, three times it own diameter. Gilbert tethered himself with every bit of rope the collective group owned, tying one end around his ample waist and the other at the far edge of the dock, and then, casting a <em>fly</em> spell on himself, departed the station out past its air envelope. Sure enough, he generated his own air envelope once he left the confines of the station's air envelope (or took a tiny bit of it with him - theories varied), and he confirmed that the air envelope traveled with him, even if he made sharp banking movements. He also cast a <em>gaseous form</em> spell on himself while in his own air envelope and confirmed it would follow him wherever he might float in a mistlike body. Finoula shunted herself from the edge of the dock to the garden terrace with her <em>lightning amulet</em>, confirming it worked just fine under these unusual conditions. At Gilbert's urging, Ingebold prepared two <em>plane shift</em> spells one morning; the wizard had hoped she could send everyone from their present location to the Elemental Plane of Air and then back to Oerth in that fashion, but the first casting had no effect. The cleric described feeling as if there were a strange interference preventing her spell from working - or at least working in the manner she wished; in any case, she feared to try to force the spell and have the group end up somewhere unknown or in some damaged condition.</p><p></p><p>Not wanting to have to set a guard shift every night (although the terms "day" and "night" started to lose their meaning, as the sun was far, far behind them; according to Captain Skunkbeard's book, the asteroid they inhabited was nearly at the edge of the crystal sphere - maybe that was the cause of the interference to Ingebold's <em>plane shift</em> spell?), the rangers took turns casting an <em>alarm</em> spell on the dock and the gardens, as those were the only ways into the Receiving Station besides the teleportation method the group had accidentally employed.</p><p></p><p>And one day, about three weeks into their habitation, the <em>alarm</em> spell was triggered.</p><p></p><p>It was what felt like early in the morning, for most of the group were still asleep in their bunks when the silent <em>alarm</em> spell triggered, waking Darrien instantly. He quickly rounded up the others - save for Finoula, who was already in the gardens and stood watching the approaching visitor with awe - and they gathered up their weapons to go see who was entering the facility from wildspace.</p><p></p><p>It was one of those oddly-built spelljamming vessels Captain Skunkbeard's book had mentioned. This one looked like a giant scarab beetle, although the triangular sail rising up from a mast along its back gave it away as some sort of sailing vessel and there was shadowy movement behind the large, oval panes of glass standing in as the beetle's eyes that hinted at a pilot. The beetleship did an about-face movement as it approached, making the last hundred feet or so backwards. As it slowed to a halt, the beetle's back legs reached out and grabbed the end of the dock. Then a part of the rear deck lowered, and in a few moments a strange creature exited the vehicle and walked down the dock.</p><p></p><p>This was a creature unlike anything the heroes had seen before. They had met up with aspis drones, but those either crawled about on all six legs or stood upright on two. This creature - undoubtedly a giant bug of some type - walked about on six insectoid legs, while its upper half contained an insectoid torso, a pair of arms, and a bug's head with two lengthy, waving antennae. Unhurriedly, it walked down the length of the dock and stood at the threshold of the garden terrace, where the heroes were spread out, weapons at the ready, just in case.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, the bug-man started making strange, clicking sounds with its mandibles. After a lengthy string of such clicks, it tilted its head in a quizzical fashion.</p><p></p><p>"Ah," it suddenly said, realization finally dawning. "Forgiving me. I am forgetting you are not of the knowing the click-language of the tradespeoples. I am being <strong>Chik'tak</strong>. Captain Skunkbeard, he is resupplying his vessel and is sending me to be picking you up, to be taking you to his vessel. You are to be gathering your possessions now to be traveling on the <em>Star Beetle</em>?"</p><p></p><p>"Aye," agreed Ingebold, giving her companions a thumbs-up signal signifying the negative findings of her <em>detect evil</em> spell. The group gathered up their belongings from their bunkrooms, checked in the dining hall that nothing was being left behind, returned the "WELCOME" book to its place on the dais (you never knew, somebody else could end up following the path they'd taken some day), and were ready to go.</p><p></p><p>Chik'tak explained that Captain Skunkbeard had been in the middle of repairing his spelljamming vessel, the <em>Star Skunk</em>, when the Receiving Station alarm had gone off. Therefore, he had sent one of his trusted lieutenants to fetch the intruders and bring them to him. "Not to be of the worrying," reassured the rastipede in his broken Common, "Captain Skunkbeard is only wishing to be meeting you and offering you positions as part of his crew. You are not of the obligated to be accepting of his offer, merely to be of the listening to it. If you are wishing to return to your homes, we will be taking you there. But the <em>Star Beetle</em> is not being of the ready for such a journey. If you are of the wishing to return home, it will be on the <em>Star Skunk</em>."</p><p></p><p>Not having much in the way of better options, the Kordovians boarded the beetleship and allowed Chik'tak to give them the tour. The spelljamming helm - which in this case was a long bench with a helmet that extended down from the ceiling, and which could only be piloted by insectoids of centaurian build - was in the "head" of the beetle, and two wing-cases that covered the back of the ship could be raised, releasing two side-sails in the shape of beetle wings. Chik'tak could move the ship's bug-legs while sitting at the helm; they served as landing gear, grappling claws with limited mobility, and were generally tucked tightly underneath the hull for water landings. A wooden mast rose up some 40 feet from the middle of the beetle's back; this held the main sail - triangular in cut, like on a sailboat - and the wing cases had notches on them so they could be shut around the mast and provide protection to those in the back of the vessel. Even with the wing cases closed, the ceiling height was tall enough that not even Gilbert had to duck or slouch except at the very outer edges.</p><p></p><p>There was a crow's nest at the top of the mast. "Which of you is of the willing to be the climbing up there?" Chik'tak asked and Castillan immediately rose to the challenge. The rastipede was so impressed with the bounder's ability to quickly ascend the mast and rigging that he designated Castillan as his official First Mate for the voyage to Skunkbeard's vessel. (Later that day, Castillan would start laughing in sudden relief, once he realized his mirror prophecy from the Manor of the Purple Mage - "One day soon, you will mate with an insect" - had been fulfilled in a less grotesque manner than he had originally envisioned.)</p><p></p><p>The beetleship had not been more than 20 minutes out from the Receiving Station when they had their first encounter. "Be of the looking to the starboard side," commanded Chik'tak from the spelljamming helm. "That is being a kindori. They are normally of the traveling in pods. It does not seem to be of the living." Indeed, the six-eyed space whale was unmoving, although as the <em>Star Beetle</em> approached, Castillan and Finoula detected movement around the carcass. This turned out to be a trio of oily-feathered birds, built very much like ravens but larger than a human, closer in size to Chik'tak. The skullbirds had been feasting on the carrion meal before them, but apparently the fresh meat aboard the beetleship was too tempting to pass up.</p><p></p><p>As the hungry skullbirds approached, Castillan, Darrien, and Ingebold raised their bow or crossbow and took aim, each hitting a different target. The birds squawked evilly in pain and one started to fly erratically - straight into the range of Binkadink's glaive. The gnome skewered it on his blade and slammed it down to the deck, dead. "They are not of the bad for the eating," commented Chik'tak, not leaving his station at the spelljamming helm.</p><p></p><p>Finoula managed to kill another of the skullbirds with her <em>whip of thorns</em>. Gilbert slew the third with a <em>scorching ray</em> spell, surprised by the way the avian practically exploded in a ball of fire - no doubt the result of its flammable, oily feathers. The <em>Star Beetle</em> passed by the kindori carcass, and the sharp-eyed elves in the group said they saw what looked to be one-eyed sharks swimming around the space whale. "Yes, those are being scavvers," replied Chik'tak. "They are not for the attacking us when they have meat on which to already be eating."</p><p></p><p>Several hours later, the stars ahead started fading out, as did the blackness of wildspace, to be replaced by a cloudy whiteness that seemed to just sort of coalesce from nothingness. "We are approaching the inner edge of the crystal sphere," said the rastipede. The Kordovians stared at the marvels before them. Forming immediately before them was a vast, vertical whirlpool in the field of milky whiteness all around. "You are not to be concerning yourselves," advised Chik'tak. "This is only being the opening into the phlogiston." He effortlessly steered the vessel through the eye of the whirlpool, which seemed very much like entering a long, white tunnel of spinning matter. About halfway through the tunnel the whiteness changed colors, until the tunnel became a wild rainbow of competing hues. Finally, they exited the tunnel and the beetleship floated on an immensely wide ocean of rainbow colors, as far as could be seen.</p><p></p><p>"We are being in the phlogiston now," advised Chik'tak. "From this point on, there will be no making of the fire."</p><p></p><p>Traveling through the phlogiston was quite an experience. When one looked over the side of the beetleship, it seemed just like being in the <em>Celestial Avatar</em>, only with multihued waves. There were still stars overhead, making it seem like a normal ocean voyage. But then Chik'tak concentrated on one particular star, and the <em>Star Beetle</em> pivoted in place, its front end raising as its back half lowered, pointing itself at the new star. Amazingly, the phlogiston seemed to pivot right along with the ship, so that even in its new orientation it still seemed to the passengers as if they were on the same level as they had been before the maneuver.</p><p></p><p>"How this possible?" demanded Gilbert Fung.</p><p></p><p>"The phlogiston is being all around us, not just below," replied Chik'tak. "We are seeing the colors of the phlogiston level with our gravity plane and below us, while the phlogiston above us is being transparent, like the crystal spheres until you are getting close to them. But we are being submerged in the phlogiston, beneath the phlogiston, phlogiston is being all around us. When we are moving orientation, the phlogiston we are seeing and the phlogiston we are not seeing is of the moving orientation, as well." The concept was a difficult one for the terrestrial heroes to comprehend, and Gilbert still wasn't sure that their ship's captain knew exactly what he was talking about.</p><p></p><p>Three hours later, though, he had something else to wrap his brain around. Phlogiston was apparently not only omnidirectional and breathable, but it could also apparently take on a ghost form and try to kill you! Or at least that's what it seemed like, when a multicolored shape manifested on the deck and headed toward Castillan. The bounder wasn't sure what this thing was but anything ghostly coming his way was going to get stabbed, even if it was made up of bright, happy, rainbow colors. As he stabbed his short sword into the shimmering shape, the blade went in with hardly any resistance, as if the creature were only partially substantial. Binkadink stabbed it with his glaive and got the same reaction, but the creature visibly flinched, seemingly frightened by the little gnome. (Afterwards, Chik'tak would hypothesize the creature he called a "phlog-crawler" was fearful of the illusory flames of the <em>everburning torches</em> attached to the gnome's helmet-antlers, as fire did incredible damage to a being made up of phlogiston itself.)</p><p></p><p>The phlog-crawler backed away from Binkadink, moving that much faster towards Castillan, engulfing the bounder within its own nebulous form. The bounder felt a cold chill run through his body as a portion of his strength was drained away. But Darrien and his <em>Arachnibow</em> came to the rescue; not wanting to hit his elven friend, Darrien shot three arrows in rapid succession into the very top of the phlog-crawler, well above where the bounder's head would be. Partially substantial or not, that was enough for the phlog-crawler to dissipate away into nothing, although whether the half-elf had slain the creature or just driven it off was never known. Regardless, the <em>Star Beetle</em> traveled onwards, heading toward its target star.</p><p></p><p>Two weeks later, the <em>Star Beetle</em> was noticeably closer to the target star but the voyage across the phlogiston was still undergoing. "This boring!" complained Gilbert Fung, forgetting that boredom was often preferable to terror.</p><p></p><p>Chik'tak, his own senses enhanced via the spelljamming helm, was the first to notice the other ship. It was built like a jet-black spider and seemed to be crawling along laterally ahead of them, just at the edge of vision. "There is being another vessel out there," he said. "First Mate, be climbing to the nest-top and describing the vessel that is of the approaching!"</p><p></p><p>Castillan hurried to comply, confirming that it looked like a big spider - and that it had turned to face them.</p><p></p><p>Chik'tak relayed a question as to whether the spider's legs were all facing forward, or four forward and four to the rear. Upon confirmation from Castillan that the latter was the configuration, the rastipede warned, "That vessel is being a neogi deathspider! They are being slavers! Be preparing to defend yourselves against a boarding party!"</p><p></p><p>Gilbert responded by casting a <em>stoneskin</em> upon himself. Finoula cast a <em>barkskin</em> spell on herself, and then Ingebold and Gilbert each cast a <em>magic circle against evil</em> centered upon themselves. Everyone was already wearing their armor and had weapons at hand; it seemed a safe precaution, especially since there was no "weather" in the phlogiston ocean - no capsizing waves to wash people overboard.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert made a face as the deathspider approached. "Who makes ship that look like <em>spider</em>?" he asked to nobody in particular.</p><p></p><p>"The neogi, apparently," responded Binkadink. "Any idea what a neogi is?" But despite Gilbert's vaunted knowledge of extraplanar creatures, he'd never heard of them. "I think we about to find out, though," he commented. Chik'tak had tried taking evasive maneuvers, but the neogi deathspider was much larger and faster than the <em>Star Beetle</em>. An entire section of the spider's curved abdomen pulled back, revealing a pair of ballistae aimed at the beetleship. As one, they fired, sending metal bolts stabbing into the wooden hull of the beetleship, tethering the two vessels together by metal chains trailing back from the ballista bolts. At the same time, nine creatures poured over the front of the deathspider, leaping across the span between the ships and using the twin chains to pull themselves forward.</p><p></p><p>"Those umber hulks!" Gilbert cried out, watching the massive beasts cross the distance between them. And then he got his first look at a neogi, for perched on the shoulder of each umber hulk was a spidery creature with an eel's head and neck. The neogi were armed with crossbows, but they used their umber hulk slaves as living shields during the boarding action.</p><p></p><p>Castillan and Darrien each started shooting at the oncoming hoard, burying arrows and crossbow bolts into the hulks' thick, chitinous bodies. Binkadink, meanwhile, sent his glaive crashing down on the starboard chain, severing the metal links anchoring the two ships together on that side.</p><p></p><p>By then, the closest umber hulks had tried causing a <em>confusion</em> effect upon the visible heroes but were having no effect. Not realizing the heroes were all standing within the range of one of the two active <em>magic circle against evil</em> spells - which blocked enchantments like the <em>confusion</em> gaze of the umber hulks' mismatched sets of eyes - the hulks were themselves a bit confused for a moment.</p><p></p><p>While Binkadink had been severing the starboard chain, Finoula positioned herself by the port chain. However, rather than attacking the lone remaining chain binding the ships together, she instead targeted all four of the umber hulks lined up along the chain - as well as the four neogi perched upon their shoulders. Using the power of her amulet, Finoula transformed her body into a bolt of lightning which went crashing through all eight bodies lined up. She spun about after reforming atop the cephalothorax of the deathspider vessel to see the effects her attack had had upon the boarders, and couldn't resist a wicked smirk as she saw all four neogi drop down from their slaves' shoulders, their spidery legs twitching in instant death. None of the umber hulks had been slain, but she could see she had hurt each of them to some extent.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah!" called Darrien in between shots of his <em>Arachnibow</em>, cheering on the fact that his fellow ranger had just single-handedly taken out nearly a quarter of the boarding party.</p><p></p><p>The neogi in range along the starboard side tried <em>dominating</em> the heroes aboard the deck of the beetleship, but they too were warded off by the <em>magic circle</em> spells. Hissing curses, they raised their crossbows and started shooting. Once the first umber hulks reached the deck, Ingebold and Binkadink backed up to the entrance to the "head" of the beetleship, to protect Chik'tak at the helm. The rastipede was trying to pull backwards against the deathspider, to no avail - the neogi vessel was too powerful.</p><p></p><p>Binkadink crossed the deck and sliced through the port-side chain with his magic glaive, but by then it was too late - the neogi pilot had maneuvered two of the deathspider's front legs to grip the beetleship. Like it or not, the <em>Star Beetle</em> wasn't going anywhere unless they could defeat the entire neogi crew!</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, Castillan cried out in pain from the crow's nest and fell to his knees. He'd been hit with a neogi crossbow bolt, but that wasn't the worst of it - the bolt had contained a passenger of some sort, some spidery thing which immediately started crawling up the bounder's body with remarkable agility. Castillan had tried swatting it away with his hand, but it was quicker than a cockroach - and once it reached the elf's forehead, it caused an agonizing pain that sent all of the bounder's nerve endings firing at once. Darrien was hit with another of these "passenger bolts," and he likewise cried out in pain - but he was able to steel himself against the agony and remain on his feet.</p><p></p><p>Up on the deathspider's outer hull, Finoula ran across the top of the ship and lined herself up behind the five umber hulks and their wicked masters. The rearmost hulk spun and swiped at her with a massive set of claws, but the nimble ranger ducked beneath its paw and activated her amulet for a second time that day, lightning-blasting herself through the five umber hulks and their neogi masters. Once again, all of the neogi were slain, while the umber hulks were wounded but each stayed in the fight. Finoula resumed her elven form back on the <em>Star Beetle</em>, facing the wrath of the nearest umber hulk.</p><p></p><p>A <em>spiritual weapon</em> in the form of a dwarven warhammer started slamming the umber hulk attacking Finoula, letting the ranger know her Battle-Sister was looking out for her. Binkadink's glaive managed to pierce the chitinous armor of one from the port line, skewering it. One at a time, the umber hulks were getting slain as they landed on the deck of the <em>Star Beetle</em>.</p><p></p><p>But then another wave of neogi came screaming across the deck of the deathspider. They were likewise armed with crossbows but had learned their lessons from the first wave of boarders, and were scattered across the width of the ship's top and sides, so they wouldn't present a convenient line for the elf to blast through with her strange lightning attacks. Gilbert and Binkadink were hit by "passenger bolts" by this second wave of neogi, and they too had little cockroach-things skittering across their faces. They were close enough to each other to each see the other's attacker: the things making their way to the heroes' foreheads were oval gemstones flanked by spidery legs. Sudden agony fled through the gnomish fighter and the human wizard, causing each to scream aloud in pain.</p><p></p><p>Castillan managed to overcome his own agony long enough to pitch himself over the edge of the crow's nest, slowing his fall with a hand along the mast enough to land on his feet on the deck, and if it wasn't his most graceful landing at least he didn't end up in a heap. He stabbed out at an umber hulk with his sword's blade, cutting a deep hole in its armored chest.</p><p></p><p>Darrien cast a <em>wind wall</em> spell centered across the front of the deathspider, preventing any more of these "agony gems" from being shot by the neogi at least until they'd crossed over to the beetleship. Unfortunately, those agony gems already deployed were taking their toll; Binkadink, Castillan, Darrien, and Gilbert were pain-crazed into almost total uselessness; the wizard's constant screams were preventing him from casting any spells, and as Castillan dropped unconscious to the deck Ingebold was hit with an agony gem of her own. It skittered to her forehead as Darrien lost consciousness, his willpower finally broken by the constant pain. His final thought was <em>At least we killed all the umber hulks!</em> before passing out.</p><p></p><p>The remaining neogi swarmed onto the beetleship, past Darrien's <em>wind wall</em> spell and thus able to target Finoula. The elf gulped down a <em>spider climb</em> spell as Binkadink, screaming in agony, cut down one, then two, then three, then four neogi menacing his elven friend.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert pulled out not a potion but a wand, striking himself with it and yelling out the command word with a throat hoarse and raw from screaming. His body transformed into a seeping pile of mist that started losing its cohesiveness - and the constant pain, as the agony gem turned to mist as well. (He had hoped it might fall off him during the change in state, but no such luck.)</p><p></p><p>But by then, the helmsman of the neogi deathspider had seen that the little beetleship's defensive force was much more than they had bargained for. As it was, they had already lost their only nine umber hulk slaves, as well as a dozen neogi! He released the ship's forward claws from the <em>Star Beetle</em>, but before Chik'tak could pull away in time the neogi helmsman tipped his own ship nose down, diving before the smaller vessel. The effects were almost instantaneous: as the larger ship's gravity plane tipped down before the beetleship, those aboard the smaller vessel started sliding forward as if their ship were tipping forward. Binkadink and Ingebold both went spilling into the beetleship's head, coming to a stop alongside the bench Chik'tak straddled. The unconscious forms of Castillan and Darrien likewise slid forward, but got caught up in the area where the port wing case hinged up at the front of the vessel. Gaseous Gilbert took the opportunity to fly across the back of the <em>Star Beetle</em> and hide on the other side, opting to remain in his gaseous form for as long as he could.</p><p></p><p>But Finoula was still under the effects of her <em>potion of spider climb</em>, so she had no problem with the beetleship suddenly seeming to balance on its head. Of course, neither did any of the neogi aboard the beetleship, their spidery legs perfectly adequate in clinging to the deck of the vessel, now oriented as a vertical wall. Two of the deathspider's forward limbs were holding the <em>Star Beetle</em> in place, preventing it from toppling over.</p><p></p><p>With a massive effort, Binkadink managed to strike out one last time at a neogi who had wandered within the reach of his glaive, but that sent the others skittering up out of range. And one of the neogi managed to hit Finoula with a "passenger bolt," resulting in the elf ranger gaining an agony gem of her own. Her screams as the semi-sentient item adhered to the skin of her forehead was part frustration and the rest agony.</p><p></p><p>Since Binkadink was still inside the range of Ingebold's <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell, the neogi were unable to target either of them with their <em>domination</em> effects. Thus, they shot at the two with their crossbow bolts until the agony gems took full effect. Chik'tak was similarly targeted with an agony gem, and the fierce-looking rastipede didn't last long after that. Finoula was out of the range of both Gilbert and Ingebold's spells, so she had no such protection; even though she was willing herself not to collapse under the excrutiating pain of the agony gem planted on her forehead, a cruel neogi skittered up to her and <em>dominated</em> her overtaxed mind. "Pass over your weapons," it hissed - and Finoula complied.</p><p></p><p>After that it was simply a matter of cleanup. The deathspider lowered its aft end so the two ships once again shared a single gravity plane, then spun around so it could grab up the beetleship in its lower limbs. The unconscious heroes were lugged over to the deathspider vessel by neogi crewmen who grumbled at the indignity of manual labor now that their umber hulk slaves had been slain. "This lot had better be worth it!" one grumbled to his partner.</p><p></p><p>"Wait, wasn't there another slave?" asked his partner. "A human?"</p><p></p><p>"Was there? I can't tell these damned two-leggers apart. Well, if there was, he must have escaped overboard. Now give me a hand with this damn rastipede - he weighs a ton!"</p><p></p><p>As his friends were dragged over to the neogi deathspider for slave processing, Gilbert Fung - still in gaseous form - clung to the bottom of the beetleship, out of sight, various plans racing across his mind.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>T-Shirt Worn: My Einstein T-shirt, specifically because it has the smoke from his pipe forming galaxies in the background. Logan has a T-shirt just like it (they were both gifts from Harry's dad several years ago) - and he opted to wear his for the very same reason, neither of us having informed the other of our decision.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7069485, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 32: THE [i]STAR BEETLE[/i][/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 10 Castillan Ivenheart, elf bounder 10 Darrien, half-elf ranger 10 Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 10 Gilbert Fung, human wizard 10[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Chik'tak, rastipede sorcerer 2/expert 4 Ingebold Battershield, dwarven cleric 10 (Moradin)[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 25 March 2017 - - - There was a blinding flash of light, causing each of the heroes to instinctively close his or her eyes. Then the only illumination was once again the two [i]everburning torches[/i] tied to Binkadink's helmet-antlers. It revealed a 15-foot cube occupied by six heroes and piles of coins, gold bars, and gems, but the nine chests that had been mounted to the rising floors had somehow vanished. A grinding noise, similar to the one made as the four floor sections had risen to form the cube, alerted the Kordovians to a change in architecture: the wall that had contained the three chests of which the middle had been trapped was slowly being lowered to a horizontal configuration again. "We teleported somewhere else," surmised Gilbert Fung. As the wall once again became a floor, the heroes could see a doorway being exposed by the lowering platform, beyond which seemed to be a short corridor opening into a round chamber. But before checking these new sections out, Gilbert insisted they deal with an issue they should have taken care of previously: namely, stuffing all of the treasure that had been teleported along with them into their [i]portable hole[/i]. This was more treasure than any of the assembled heroes had ever seen before in one place, and Gilbert Fung for one didn't want to be parted from it. While the others started tossing gems, coins, and gold bars into the [i]portable hole[/i], Gilbert tried contacting his familiar, using the necklace he'd taken from the sea hag living in Lake Quag. "Mudpie!" he called. "Remain where you are - we try to get back to you!" Having never actually used the necklace before he wasn't sure if it would work on a summoned familiar or not, but the fact that he got no response, coupled with the fact he could no longer sense his familiar through the empathic link he and Mudpie shared, led him to guess they might have been transported to another plane - or at the very least, further than a mile away from each other. Castillan supervised the collection of every last piece of treasure that had been transported with the group. Only when he was satisfied they had left nothing behind did the heroes move on to the next chamber. This had four hallways jutting out from it, one of which the group had just traversed to enter the chamber. In the middle of the room - which was lit by four [i]everburning torches[/i] in sconces between the open doorways - sat a podium with a large, leather-bound book sitting upon it. There was a single word embossed upon the book's cover: "WELCOME." After a quick perusal by Castillan suggested the book wasn't trapped, Gilbert hesitantly opened the front cover. On the first page was printed the following: The group found the bunkrooms and toilet to the left and the dining facility, such as it was (it contained only some hardbread, jerky, and barrels of fresh water; Ingebold would undoubtedly need to prepare the [i]create food and water[/i] spell daily in the weeks to follow!), to the right. There were two long tables in the dining hall, each with a pair of benches; the deck of playing cards and the chessboard on one of the tables indicated the room doubled as a meager entertainment hall. But it was the corridor straight ahead that took the heroes' breath away: the short passageway opened into a small garden, filled with fruit trees and berry bushes the likes of which none of the heroes had ever seen before. And the view! Where they had expected to see sky and land (or possibly sea), there was instead a vast blackness scattered with swirls of various colors – vibrant purples, deep reds, light pinks and blues – and an abundance of stars. A lengthy wooden dock jutted out from one side of this garden terrace, although no vessels were moored there at present. "Where the Hell [i]are[/i] we?" asked Binkadink. The answer was found in the pages of Captain Skunkbeard's book, which the group pored over after confirming that this whole facility was uninhabited save by themselves. They were in something called a "Wildspace Receiving Station" carved out of an "asteroid" - whatever that was. The pages explained about "spelljamming vessels" - some of them normal sailing ships, some of them exotic vehicles built to look like various creatures - that could fly through the air or through this "wildspace" due to a special helm that drained spell energy from a spellcaster piloting the vessel. The book explained that entire solar systems (a world and its sun, plus other worlds and moons in the same general vicinity) were covered in invisible, unbreakable "crystal spheres" and that these crystal spheres floated upon a vast (possibly infinite) rainbow ocean of something called "phlogiston." Trying to make sense of these strange concepts hurt even Gilbert's head, but the first thing he did was to copy its pages over into his [i]Omnibook[/i], giving them two copies to examine. And reading over the "WELCOME" book was a popular pastime in the weeks to follow. Those who had never learned how to play chess were taught to play by those already familiar with the game and they took to it out of sheer boredom. Castillan taught the group every card game he knew - and he knew quite a few! But the Wildspace Receiving Station was a small place to be cooped up in for weeks at a time, and cabin fever hit the group hard. Therefore, experimentation became the order of the day. They tested the concept of "air envelopes" - anyone entering wildspace took along a bubble of air, or an air envelope, with them; the station had a bubble of air all around it, three times it own diameter. Gilbert tethered himself with every bit of rope the collective group owned, tying one end around his ample waist and the other at the far edge of the dock, and then, casting a [i]fly[/i] spell on himself, departed the station out past its air envelope. Sure enough, he generated his own air envelope once he left the confines of the station's air envelope (or took a tiny bit of it with him - theories varied), and he confirmed that the air envelope traveled with him, even if he made sharp banking movements. He also cast a [i]gaseous form[/i] spell on himself while in his own air envelope and confirmed it would follow him wherever he might float in a mistlike body. Finoula shunted herself from the edge of the dock to the garden terrace with her [i]lightning amulet[/i], confirming it worked just fine under these unusual conditions. At Gilbert's urging, Ingebold prepared two [i]plane shift[/i] spells one morning; the wizard had hoped she could send everyone from their present location to the Elemental Plane of Air and then back to Oerth in that fashion, but the first casting had no effect. The cleric described feeling as if there were a strange interference preventing her spell from working - or at least working in the manner she wished; in any case, she feared to try to force the spell and have the group end up somewhere unknown or in some damaged condition. Not wanting to have to set a guard shift every night (although the terms "day" and "night" started to lose their meaning, as the sun was far, far behind them; according to Captain Skunkbeard's book, the asteroid they inhabited was nearly at the edge of the crystal sphere - maybe that was the cause of the interference to Ingebold's [i]plane shift[/i] spell?), the rangers took turns casting an [i]alarm[/i] spell on the dock and the gardens, as those were the only ways into the Receiving Station besides the teleportation method the group had accidentally employed. And one day, about three weeks into their habitation, the [i]alarm[/i] spell was triggered. It was what felt like early in the morning, for most of the group were still asleep in their bunks when the silent [i]alarm[/i] spell triggered, waking Darrien instantly. He quickly rounded up the others - save for Finoula, who was already in the gardens and stood watching the approaching visitor with awe - and they gathered up their weapons to go see who was entering the facility from wildspace. It was one of those oddly-built spelljamming vessels Captain Skunkbeard's book had mentioned. This one looked like a giant scarab beetle, although the triangular sail rising up from a mast along its back gave it away as some sort of sailing vessel and there was shadowy movement behind the large, oval panes of glass standing in as the beetle's eyes that hinted at a pilot. The beetleship did an about-face movement as it approached, making the last hundred feet or so backwards. As it slowed to a halt, the beetle's back legs reached out and grabbed the end of the dock. Then a part of the rear deck lowered, and in a few moments a strange creature exited the vehicle and walked down the dock. This was a creature unlike anything the heroes had seen before. They had met up with aspis drones, but those either crawled about on all six legs or stood upright on two. This creature - undoubtedly a giant bug of some type - walked about on six insectoid legs, while its upper half contained an insectoid torso, a pair of arms, and a bug's head with two lengthy, waving antennae. Unhurriedly, it walked down the length of the dock and stood at the threshold of the garden terrace, where the heroes were spread out, weapons at the ready, just in case. Suddenly, the bug-man started making strange, clicking sounds with its mandibles. After a lengthy string of such clicks, it tilted its head in a quizzical fashion. "Ah," it suddenly said, realization finally dawning. "Forgiving me. I am forgetting you are not of the knowing the click-language of the tradespeoples. I am being [b]Chik'tak[/b]. Captain Skunkbeard, he is resupplying his vessel and is sending me to be picking you up, to be taking you to his vessel. You are to be gathering your possessions now to be traveling on the [i]Star Beetle[/i]?" "Aye," agreed Ingebold, giving her companions a thumbs-up signal signifying the negative findings of her [i]detect evil[/i] spell. The group gathered up their belongings from their bunkrooms, checked in the dining hall that nothing was being left behind, returned the "WELCOME" book to its place on the dais (you never knew, somebody else could end up following the path they'd taken some day), and were ready to go. Chik'tak explained that Captain Skunkbeard had been in the middle of repairing his spelljamming vessel, the [i]Star Skunk[/i], when the Receiving Station alarm had gone off. Therefore, he had sent one of his trusted lieutenants to fetch the intruders and bring them to him. "Not to be of the worrying," reassured the rastipede in his broken Common, "Captain Skunkbeard is only wishing to be meeting you and offering you positions as part of his crew. You are not of the obligated to be accepting of his offer, merely to be of the listening to it. If you are wishing to return to your homes, we will be taking you there. But the [i]Star Beetle[/i] is not being of the ready for such a journey. If you are of the wishing to return home, it will be on the [i]Star Skunk[/i]." Not having much in the way of better options, the Kordovians boarded the beetleship and allowed Chik'tak to give them the tour. The spelljamming helm - which in this case was a long bench with a helmet that extended down from the ceiling, and which could only be piloted by insectoids of centaurian build - was in the "head" of the beetle, and two wing-cases that covered the back of the ship could be raised, releasing two side-sails in the shape of beetle wings. Chik'tak could move the ship's bug-legs while sitting at the helm; they served as landing gear, grappling claws with limited mobility, and were generally tucked tightly underneath the hull for water landings. A wooden mast rose up some 40 feet from the middle of the beetle's back; this held the main sail - triangular in cut, like on a sailboat - and the wing cases had notches on them so they could be shut around the mast and provide protection to those in the back of the vessel. Even with the wing cases closed, the ceiling height was tall enough that not even Gilbert had to duck or slouch except at the very outer edges. There was a crow's nest at the top of the mast. "Which of you is of the willing to be the climbing up there?" Chik'tak asked and Castillan immediately rose to the challenge. The rastipede was so impressed with the bounder's ability to quickly ascend the mast and rigging that he designated Castillan as his official First Mate for the voyage to Skunkbeard's vessel. (Later that day, Castillan would start laughing in sudden relief, once he realized his mirror prophecy from the Manor of the Purple Mage - "One day soon, you will mate with an insect" - had been fulfilled in a less grotesque manner than he had originally envisioned.) The beetleship had not been more than 20 minutes out from the Receiving Station when they had their first encounter. "Be of the looking to the starboard side," commanded Chik'tak from the spelljamming helm. "That is being a kindori. They are normally of the traveling in pods. It does not seem to be of the living." Indeed, the six-eyed space whale was unmoving, although as the [i]Star Beetle[/i] approached, Castillan and Finoula detected movement around the carcass. This turned out to be a trio of oily-feathered birds, built very much like ravens but larger than a human, closer in size to Chik'tak. The skullbirds had been feasting on the carrion meal before them, but apparently the fresh meat aboard the beetleship was too tempting to pass up. As the hungry skullbirds approached, Castillan, Darrien, and Ingebold raised their bow or crossbow and took aim, each hitting a different target. The birds squawked evilly in pain and one started to fly erratically - straight into the range of Binkadink's glaive. The gnome skewered it on his blade and slammed it down to the deck, dead. "They are not of the bad for the eating," commented Chik'tak, not leaving his station at the spelljamming helm. Finoula managed to kill another of the skullbirds with her [i]whip of thorns[/i]. Gilbert slew the third with a [i]scorching ray[/i] spell, surprised by the way the avian practically exploded in a ball of fire - no doubt the result of its flammable, oily feathers. The [i]Star Beetle[/i] passed by the kindori carcass, and the sharp-eyed elves in the group said they saw what looked to be one-eyed sharks swimming around the space whale. "Yes, those are being scavvers," replied Chik'tak. "They are not for the attacking us when they have meat on which to already be eating." Several hours later, the stars ahead started fading out, as did the blackness of wildspace, to be replaced by a cloudy whiteness that seemed to just sort of coalesce from nothingness. "We are approaching the inner edge of the crystal sphere," said the rastipede. The Kordovians stared at the marvels before them. Forming immediately before them was a vast, vertical whirlpool in the field of milky whiteness all around. "You are not to be concerning yourselves," advised Chik'tak. "This is only being the opening into the phlogiston." He effortlessly steered the vessel through the eye of the whirlpool, which seemed very much like entering a long, white tunnel of spinning matter. About halfway through the tunnel the whiteness changed colors, until the tunnel became a wild rainbow of competing hues. Finally, they exited the tunnel and the beetleship floated on an immensely wide ocean of rainbow colors, as far as could be seen. "We are being in the phlogiston now," advised Chik'tak. "From this point on, there will be no making of the fire." Traveling through the phlogiston was quite an experience. When one looked over the side of the beetleship, it seemed just like being in the [i]Celestial Avatar[/i], only with multihued waves. There were still stars overhead, making it seem like a normal ocean voyage. But then Chik'tak concentrated on one particular star, and the [i]Star Beetle[/i] pivoted in place, its front end raising as its back half lowered, pointing itself at the new star. Amazingly, the phlogiston seemed to pivot right along with the ship, so that even in its new orientation it still seemed to the passengers as if they were on the same level as they had been before the maneuver. "How this possible?" demanded Gilbert Fung. "The phlogiston is being all around us, not just below," replied Chik'tak. "We are seeing the colors of the phlogiston level with our gravity plane and below us, while the phlogiston above us is being transparent, like the crystal spheres until you are getting close to them. But we are being submerged in the phlogiston, beneath the phlogiston, phlogiston is being all around us. When we are moving orientation, the phlogiston we are seeing and the phlogiston we are not seeing is of the moving orientation, as well." The concept was a difficult one for the terrestrial heroes to comprehend, and Gilbert still wasn't sure that their ship's captain knew exactly what he was talking about. Three hours later, though, he had something else to wrap his brain around. Phlogiston was apparently not only omnidirectional and breathable, but it could also apparently take on a ghost form and try to kill you! Or at least that's what it seemed like, when a multicolored shape manifested on the deck and headed toward Castillan. The bounder wasn't sure what this thing was but anything ghostly coming his way was going to get stabbed, even if it was made up of bright, happy, rainbow colors. As he stabbed his short sword into the shimmering shape, the blade went in with hardly any resistance, as if the creature were only partially substantial. Binkadink stabbed it with his glaive and got the same reaction, but the creature visibly flinched, seemingly frightened by the little gnome. (Afterwards, Chik'tak would hypothesize the creature he called a "phlog-crawler" was fearful of the illusory flames of the [i]everburning torches[/i] attached to the gnome's helmet-antlers, as fire did incredible damage to a being made up of phlogiston itself.) The phlog-crawler backed away from Binkadink, moving that much faster towards Castillan, engulfing the bounder within its own nebulous form. The bounder felt a cold chill run through his body as a portion of his strength was drained away. But Darrien and his [i]Arachnibow[/i] came to the rescue; not wanting to hit his elven friend, Darrien shot three arrows in rapid succession into the very top of the phlog-crawler, well above where the bounder's head would be. Partially substantial or not, that was enough for the phlog-crawler to dissipate away into nothing, although whether the half-elf had slain the creature or just driven it off was never known. Regardless, the [i]Star Beetle[/i] traveled onwards, heading toward its target star. Two weeks later, the [i]Star Beetle[/i] was noticeably closer to the target star but the voyage across the phlogiston was still undergoing. "This boring!" complained Gilbert Fung, forgetting that boredom was often preferable to terror. Chik'tak, his own senses enhanced via the spelljamming helm, was the first to notice the other ship. It was built like a jet-black spider and seemed to be crawling along laterally ahead of them, just at the edge of vision. "There is being another vessel out there," he said. "First Mate, be climbing to the nest-top and describing the vessel that is of the approaching!" Castillan hurried to comply, confirming that it looked like a big spider - and that it had turned to face them. Chik'tak relayed a question as to whether the spider's legs were all facing forward, or four forward and four to the rear. Upon confirmation from Castillan that the latter was the configuration, the rastipede warned, "That vessel is being a neogi deathspider! They are being slavers! Be preparing to defend yourselves against a boarding party!" Gilbert responded by casting a [i]stoneskin[/i] upon himself. Finoula cast a [i]barkskin[/i] spell on herself, and then Ingebold and Gilbert each cast a [i]magic circle against evil[/i] centered upon themselves. Everyone was already wearing their armor and had weapons at hand; it seemed a safe precaution, especially since there was no "weather" in the phlogiston ocean - no capsizing waves to wash people overboard. Gilbert made a face as the deathspider approached. "Who makes ship that look like [i]spider[/i]?" he asked to nobody in particular. "The neogi, apparently," responded Binkadink. "Any idea what a neogi is?" But despite Gilbert's vaunted knowledge of extraplanar creatures, he'd never heard of them. "I think we about to find out, though," he commented. Chik'tak had tried taking evasive maneuvers, but the neogi deathspider was much larger and faster than the [i]Star Beetle[/i]. An entire section of the spider's curved abdomen pulled back, revealing a pair of ballistae aimed at the beetleship. As one, they fired, sending metal bolts stabbing into the wooden hull of the beetleship, tethering the two vessels together by metal chains trailing back from the ballista bolts. At the same time, nine creatures poured over the front of the deathspider, leaping across the span between the ships and using the twin chains to pull themselves forward. "Those umber hulks!" Gilbert cried out, watching the massive beasts cross the distance between them. And then he got his first look at a neogi, for perched on the shoulder of each umber hulk was a spidery creature with an eel's head and neck. The neogi were armed with crossbows, but they used their umber hulk slaves as living shields during the boarding action. Castillan and Darrien each started shooting at the oncoming hoard, burying arrows and crossbow bolts into the hulks' thick, chitinous bodies. Binkadink, meanwhile, sent his glaive crashing down on the starboard chain, severing the metal links anchoring the two ships together on that side. By then, the closest umber hulks had tried causing a [i]confusion[/i] effect upon the visible heroes but were having no effect. Not realizing the heroes were all standing within the range of one of the two active [i]magic circle against evil[/i] spells - which blocked enchantments like the [i]confusion[/i] gaze of the umber hulks' mismatched sets of eyes - the hulks were themselves a bit confused for a moment. While Binkadink had been severing the starboard chain, Finoula positioned herself by the port chain. However, rather than attacking the lone remaining chain binding the ships together, she instead targeted all four of the umber hulks lined up along the chain - as well as the four neogi perched upon their shoulders. Using the power of her amulet, Finoula transformed her body into a bolt of lightning which went crashing through all eight bodies lined up. She spun about after reforming atop the cephalothorax of the deathspider vessel to see the effects her attack had had upon the boarders, and couldn't resist a wicked smirk as she saw all four neogi drop down from their slaves' shoulders, their spidery legs twitching in instant death. None of the umber hulks had been slain, but she could see she had hurt each of them to some extent. "Yeah!" called Darrien in between shots of his [i]Arachnibow[/i], cheering on the fact that his fellow ranger had just single-handedly taken out nearly a quarter of the boarding party. The neogi in range along the starboard side tried [i]dominating[/i] the heroes aboard the deck of the beetleship, but they too were warded off by the [i]magic circle[/i] spells. Hissing curses, they raised their crossbows and started shooting. Once the first umber hulks reached the deck, Ingebold and Binkadink backed up to the entrance to the "head" of the beetleship, to protect Chik'tak at the helm. The rastipede was trying to pull backwards against the deathspider, to no avail - the neogi vessel was too powerful. Binkadink crossed the deck and sliced through the port-side chain with his magic glaive, but by then it was too late - the neogi pilot had maneuvered two of the deathspider's front legs to grip the beetleship. Like it or not, the [i]Star Beetle[/i] wasn't going anywhere unless they could defeat the entire neogi crew! Suddenly, Castillan cried out in pain from the crow's nest and fell to his knees. He'd been hit with a neogi crossbow bolt, but that wasn't the worst of it - the bolt had contained a passenger of some sort, some spidery thing which immediately started crawling up the bounder's body with remarkable agility. Castillan had tried swatting it away with his hand, but it was quicker than a cockroach - and once it reached the elf's forehead, it caused an agonizing pain that sent all of the bounder's nerve endings firing at once. Darrien was hit with another of these "passenger bolts," and he likewise cried out in pain - but he was able to steel himself against the agony and remain on his feet. Up on the deathspider's outer hull, Finoula ran across the top of the ship and lined herself up behind the five umber hulks and their wicked masters. The rearmost hulk spun and swiped at her with a massive set of claws, but the nimble ranger ducked beneath its paw and activated her amulet for a second time that day, lightning-blasting herself through the five umber hulks and their neogi masters. Once again, all of the neogi were slain, while the umber hulks were wounded but each stayed in the fight. Finoula resumed her elven form back on the [i]Star Beetle[/i], facing the wrath of the nearest umber hulk. A [i]spiritual weapon[/i] in the form of a dwarven warhammer started slamming the umber hulk attacking Finoula, letting the ranger know her Battle-Sister was looking out for her. Binkadink's glaive managed to pierce the chitinous armor of one from the port line, skewering it. One at a time, the umber hulks were getting slain as they landed on the deck of the [i]Star Beetle[/i]. But then another wave of neogi came screaming across the deck of the deathspider. They were likewise armed with crossbows but had learned their lessons from the first wave of boarders, and were scattered across the width of the ship's top and sides, so they wouldn't present a convenient line for the elf to blast through with her strange lightning attacks. Gilbert and Binkadink were hit by "passenger bolts" by this second wave of neogi, and they too had little cockroach-things skittering across their faces. They were close enough to each other to each see the other's attacker: the things making their way to the heroes' foreheads were oval gemstones flanked by spidery legs. Sudden agony fled through the gnomish fighter and the human wizard, causing each to scream aloud in pain. Castillan managed to overcome his own agony long enough to pitch himself over the edge of the crow's nest, slowing his fall with a hand along the mast enough to land on his feet on the deck, and if it wasn't his most graceful landing at least he didn't end up in a heap. He stabbed out at an umber hulk with his sword's blade, cutting a deep hole in its armored chest. Darrien cast a [i]wind wall[/i] spell centered across the front of the deathspider, preventing any more of these "agony gems" from being shot by the neogi at least until they'd crossed over to the beetleship. Unfortunately, those agony gems already deployed were taking their toll; Binkadink, Castillan, Darrien, and Gilbert were pain-crazed into almost total uselessness; the wizard's constant screams were preventing him from casting any spells, and as Castillan dropped unconscious to the deck Ingebold was hit with an agony gem of her own. It skittered to her forehead as Darrien lost consciousness, his willpower finally broken by the constant pain. His final thought was [i]At least we killed all the umber hulks![/i] before passing out. The remaining neogi swarmed onto the beetleship, past Darrien's [i]wind wall[/i] spell and thus able to target Finoula. The elf gulped down a [i]spider climb[/i] spell as Binkadink, screaming in agony, cut down one, then two, then three, then four neogi menacing his elven friend. Gilbert pulled out not a potion but a wand, striking himself with it and yelling out the command word with a throat hoarse and raw from screaming. His body transformed into a seeping pile of mist that started losing its cohesiveness - and the constant pain, as the agony gem turned to mist as well. (He had hoped it might fall off him during the change in state, but no such luck.) But by then, the helmsman of the neogi deathspider had seen that the little beetleship's defensive force was much more than they had bargained for. As it was, they had already lost their only nine umber hulk slaves, as well as a dozen neogi! He released the ship's forward claws from the [i]Star Beetle[/i], but before Chik'tak could pull away in time the neogi helmsman tipped his own ship nose down, diving before the smaller vessel. The effects were almost instantaneous: as the larger ship's gravity plane tipped down before the beetleship, those aboard the smaller vessel started sliding forward as if their ship were tipping forward. Binkadink and Ingebold both went spilling into the beetleship's head, coming to a stop alongside the bench Chik'tak straddled. The unconscious forms of Castillan and Darrien likewise slid forward, but got caught up in the area where the port wing case hinged up at the front of the vessel. Gaseous Gilbert took the opportunity to fly across the back of the [i]Star Beetle[/i] and hide on the other side, opting to remain in his gaseous form for as long as he could. But Finoula was still under the effects of her [i]potion of spider climb[/i], so she had no problem with the beetleship suddenly seeming to balance on its head. Of course, neither did any of the neogi aboard the beetleship, their spidery legs perfectly adequate in clinging to the deck of the vessel, now oriented as a vertical wall. Two of the deathspider's forward limbs were holding the [i]Star Beetle[/i] in place, preventing it from toppling over. With a massive effort, Binkadink managed to strike out one last time at a neogi who had wandered within the reach of his glaive, but that sent the others skittering up out of range. And one of the neogi managed to hit Finoula with a "passenger bolt," resulting in the elf ranger gaining an agony gem of her own. Her screams as the semi-sentient item adhered to the skin of her forehead was part frustration and the rest agony. Since Binkadink was still inside the range of Ingebold's [i]magic circle against evil[/i] spell, the neogi were unable to target either of them with their [i]domination[/i] effects. Thus, they shot at the two with their crossbow bolts until the agony gems took full effect. Chik'tak was similarly targeted with an agony gem, and the fierce-looking rastipede didn't last long after that. Finoula was out of the range of both Gilbert and Ingebold's spells, so she had no such protection; even though she was willing herself not to collapse under the excrutiating pain of the agony gem planted on her forehead, a cruel neogi skittered up to her and [i]dominated[/i] her overtaxed mind. "Pass over your weapons," it hissed - and Finoula complied. After that it was simply a matter of cleanup. The deathspider lowered its aft end so the two ships once again shared a single gravity plane, then spun around so it could grab up the beetleship in its lower limbs. The unconscious heroes were lugged over to the deathspider vessel by neogi crewmen who grumbled at the indignity of manual labor now that their umber hulk slaves had been slain. "This lot had better be worth it!" one grumbled to his partner. "Wait, wasn't there another slave?" asked his partner. "A human?" "Was there? I can't tell these damned two-leggers apart. Well, if there was, he must have escaped overboard. Now give me a hand with this damn rastipede - he weighs a ton!" As his friends were dragged over to the neogi deathspider for slave processing, Gilbert Fung - still in gaseous form - clung to the bottom of the beetleship, out of sight, various plans racing across his mind. - - - T-Shirt Worn: My Einstein T-shirt, specifically because it has the smoke from his pipe forming galaxies in the background. Logan has a T-shirt just like it (they were both gifts from Harry's dad several years ago) - and he opted to wear his for the very same reason, neither of us having informed the other of our decision. [/QUOTE]
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