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The Kordovian Adventurers Guild
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7339713" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 43: CROWN OF SHADOWS</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 13</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Castillan Ivenheart, elf bounder 13</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Darrien, half-elf ranger 13</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 13</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Gilbert Fung, human wizard 13</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Hagan, half-orc sorcerer 13</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Ingebold Battershield, dwarven cleric 12 (Moradin)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Jinkadoodle Dundernoggin, gnome illusionist 5</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 27 January 2018</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>It had been months since the members of the Kordovian Adventurers Guild had returned from the island nation of Kozakura. Since that time, Ingebold Battershield had started every morning by dutifully casting a <em>scrying</em> spell, focusing upon the end of a wooden dock jutting out into the cold sea. Day after day, the dock had been empty; today, however, there were three flat stones laid upon the top of one of the wooden posts holding up the pier, placed to form an equilateral triangle. That was the signal they had arranged with Drake, the shapeshifting hengeyokai they had befriended in Kozakura - his way of letting them know he had found the missing merchant ship, the <em>Flying Dolphin</em>.</p><p></p><p>"Guys!" cried Ingebold, afraid to leave her room, for it would mean cutting off her spell - and it had taken an hour of preparation to cast, just it had done each morning. Fortunately, Finoula's room was directly above her Battle-Sister's and she scampered down the stairs to see what was up.</p><p></p><p>"A triangle 'f stones - just like Drake said!" the dwarven cleric enthused, pointing to the image in the font of holy water in the shrine to Moradin along one wall of her bedroom.</p><p></p><p>"Can you see the <em>Flying Dolphin</em>?" asked Finoula. Ingebold pulled back the scrying sensor, revealing the entire dock and the area surrounding it. The missing cargo ship was nowhere to be seen.</p><p></p><p>"Try focusing on Drake!" suggested the ranger, as Castillan entered the room and stood behind her, peeking over her shoulder.</p><p></p><p>After a moment's concentration, the dwarven cleric replied, "Got 'im! 'E's a wee duck!" Sure enough, an image of the hengeyokai in his green-headed duck form filled the center of the font. In this state, he was virtually indistinguishable from a normal duck.</p><p></p><p>"Pull the sensor back!" suggested Castillan. "Let's see where he is!" Ingebold did as suggested but the image became suddenly blurry and indistinct - all but the drake hengeyokai, who could be seen just fine. But all around him was a blur. "Is there something wrong with the spell?" the bounder asked.</p><p></p><p>"Nothin'," insisted Ingebold. "Th' spell's workin' just fine."</p><p></p><p>"I'll go get Gilbert," said Castillan, bounding off to fetch their heavyset mage. In the meantime, Ingebold pulled the scrying sensor even further back, high enough to look down at a blurry shape traveling across the ocean. Just ahead, there was an island coming into view. When Gilbert arrived into Ingebold's room, he had Castillan go fetch Jinkadoodle, the gnome illusionist they used to pilot their spelljamming vessel. For weeks now, he'd been flying all over the globe with Zalian Darisath, an elven scholar from the castle. Zalian had been determinedly mapping the continents of the world from a point of view few mortals were ever granted: straight down from orbit around the planet. In the meantime, Gilbert opened his <em>Omnibook</em> and made a quick sketch of the outline of the island to which the blurry blob - no doubt the missing merchant vessel, somehow masked from scrying attempts - was heading.</p><p></p><p>"What are we waiting for?" asked Darrien. "Let's go teleport to the ship!"</p><p></p><p>"Can't see enough of ship to teleport there," dismissed Gilbert.</p><p></p><p>"Well, the island, then," suggested the half-elf ranger.</p><p></p><p>"No rush," admonished Gilbert. "Ship missing for months - it wait a little longer." When Jinkadoodle couldn't identify the island from the scrying image or Gilbert's notes, the group headed over to the castle and to the elf scholar whose maps were now state-of-the-art. Having assumed the island was likely somewhere in the vicinity of Kozakura, the elf quickly located it in his hand-drawn collection. "That's it," Zalian determined. "Kikimamoru Island."</p><p></p><p>"Let's go!" enthused Castillan.</p><p></p><p>"We not teleporting to unknown island," argued Gilbert. "We take dragonfly ship, look things over. It only take a couple hours - merchant ship can wait that long." Indeed, it was only the matter of about a two-hour flight for the gnome to pilot the dragonfly vessel to Kikimamoru Island; in a matter of a few short months, Jinkadoodle had gone from a prank-focused potionmaker to the premiere spelljamming pilot on the planet and one of the most knowledgeable people on Oerth about the locations of the world's continents and islands.</p><p></p><p>Upon approaching the island, they could see the <em>Flying Dolphin</em> anchored in a bay before the small bit of land rising up from the sea. Jinkadoodle maneuvered the dragonfly vessel behind the merchant ship. Castillan and Finoula, elves both, stood on top of their flying vessel and peered down at the ship that had been missing all these months. There were strange markings all over the ship, covering every visible surface. "What are those?" asked the bounder.</p><p></p><p>"They glyphs," answered Gilbert, who had stepped up behind them and was squinting into the wind to make out the markings. "They shield ship from scrying. That why we only see fuzzy blob when we scry on Drake, and why Rale's wizard chick unable to find missing ship all this time."</p><p></p><p>"What's the crew doing?" asked Finoula. They seemed to be kneeling in rows along the middle of the ship, for the most part motionless.</p><p></p><p>"I think we go find out. Bink! Go get teleport carpet from downstairs!" The little gnome raced off to comply, returning not only with the requested carpet rolled up under his arm but also his jackalope, Obvious, in tow. Behind him came Hagan the half-orc sorcerer with his weasel familiar in his accustomed place on the spellcaster's shoulder.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert outlined his plan, which involved teleporting the ship's crew via the carpet into the hidden lower hold of the dragonfly vessel. Fearing they might have been dominated by the vampiric Emperor Torazoku, Gilbert had Ingebold cast a <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell centered upon herself, and then did likewise. The dwarven cleric then went down to the extradimensional hold to await the arrival of the crewmen; Finoula sent Wrath to go with her Battle-Sister and Gilbert likewise had Mudpie accompany them after he had cast a shared <em>mage armor</em> spell upon both him and his familiar. The heavyset mage then cast a <em>Rary's telepathic bond</em> spell on the men, citing his inability to cover everyone and his assumption that Ingebold could use her magic amulet to communicate with Finoula. Binkadink opted to drink down a <em>potion of delay poison</em>, playing a hunch that it might come in handy.</p><p></p><p>"Okay then, Hagan, you're up!" the gnome fighter announced, jumping onto the back of his jackalope while keeping the rolled-up carpet tucked under one arm. Gilbert crawled into position behind the gnome, and then Hagan cast a <em>fly</em> spell on Obvious. "Off we go!" whooped Binkadink, explaining the plan to his jackalope mount in the language they shared. Obvious leaped off the edge of the dragonfly vessel's roof and took to the skies, flying over towards the <em>Flying Dolphin</em>.</p><p></p><p>"Big jump!" Obvious called in the language of burrowing mammals, clearly enthused. "Big-big-<em>big</em> jump!"</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, the jackalope then grunted in pain. "What's the matter?" asked Binkadink in concern.</p><p></p><p>"Shoulder," replied Obvious. "Hurts." Neither the jackalope nor his riders had noticed it, but there was a narrow blowgun dart sticking out just above the antlered rabbit's left front leg.</p><p></p><p>Castillan, in the meantime, raced across the top of the dragonfly ship, to include over the "head" of the vessel (through which Jinkadoodle could see him through the twin "eye" windows at the helm), and spanned the gap between their spelljamming vessel and the merchant ship ahead and below. He landed softly by Drake, still in his inoffensive duck form. "Who else is on board?" the bounder asked Drake, forgetting two things: that Drake only spoke the Kozakuran language (although he could understand a spattering of the Common tongue used on the other side of the world); and that in his duck form he was limited to only the quacks of normal ducks.</p><p></p><p>However, despite the language barrier and the inability to speak, Drake flung both wings up and used them to point at either end of the back mast; specifically, the cross-beam from which hung the main sail. Looking up at the sail, Castillan spotted a pair of black-clad forms covered head to toe. <We've got ninjas!> he called to the others over the telepathic link as one of the guardians on the ship shot at him with his blowgun, missing by less than an inch. The other targeted Obvious again, hoping to sap his strength even more, but Binkadink, forewarned, pulled his mount out of harm's way at the last possible moment.</p><p></p><p>Finoula spotted the ninja that had shot at Castillan. She ran to the edge of the dragonfly's edge but, realizing she was no bounder, opted to wait for Jinkadoodle to bring the ship closer to the merchant vessel before committing herself to a leap across the span. After all, a miss meant a plunge into the cold sea below. But Darrien raced up alongside her and he shot at the ninja with an arrow from his <em>Arachnibow</em>, getting in a clear hit.</p><p></p><p>Obvious altered his flight path to swing right by the ninja who had shot at him twice now, allowing Binkadink to skewer the assassin with his glaive as they passed by in midair. The jackalope then nimbly landed on the back deck, over by Castillan and Drake. But Castillan wasn't there for long; with his bounder training, he ran straight up the main mast and across the rigging, chasing down the remaining ninja. He snapped his fingers upon reaching the beam and stabbed at the ninja, scoring a hit with his short sword. And then Hagan cast a <em>lightning bolt</em> from the dragonfly vessel that finished the second ninja off. He fell silently over the edge of the crossbeam, his smoking corpse plummeting into the ocean waters.</p><p></p><p>As Jinkadoodle piloted the dragonfly ship to directly above the back of the <em>Flying Dolphin</em>, Finoula, Darrien, and Hagan dropped onto the merchant ship to join the others. Oddly, during the entire fight with the two ninja, none of the crew had moved - they still kneeled facing the front of the ship, as if transfixed in place.</p><p></p><p>"Come on!" Gilbert called to them. "We here to rescue you!" None of them moved in the slightest, until Gilbert approached closer. As soon as he got within ten feet of the closest crewman - engulfing him in the area of effect of his still-active <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell - the <em>transfix</em> spell which had sapped the man's will was temporarily abated. He was able to explain that a female spellcaster had left the ship with Captain Mandretti, using the rowboat to get to the island. As the crewman told his tale, Gilbert was amazed to see he was marked with the same types of anti-scrying glyphs covering the ship - only these had been permanently tattooed into his skin. Further examination showed all of the crewmen had been similarly tattooed.</p><p></p><p>By walking among them, temporarily negating the <em>transfix</em> spell, and then walking them back out of the area of effect of the spell so they could get to the carpet on their own, Gilbert managed to get the entire crew to safety. They were given the command word and once inside the ship's lower level, Ingebold took them to the galley and let them help themselves to food and drink. "We're gonna get yer captain back for ye," she promised them, then used the teleport glyph carved in the floor of one of the bedrooms to transfer herself over to the unrolled carpet on the <em>Flying Dolphin</em>.</p><p></p><p>By that time, seeing it was safe to do so, Drake had assumed his hybrid form - that of a man with the head and supple neck of a duck. In this form he could speak, and since Gilbert had learned the Kozakuran language from his mother communication was no longer a problem. "The wu jen's name is <strong>Narata</strong>," he explained to the mage. "She works for the Emperor. She was under direct orders to have this vessel come out to this particular island, but I don't know why."</p><p></p><p>"We find out," Gilbert promised. He gave Drake the command word to the carpet and invited him to go eat with the crew.</p><p></p><p>"So now what?" asked Darrien.</p><p></p><p>"Back on board dragonfly ship," Gilbert commanded. "We have Jinkadoodle fly us to island, we pick up trail there." After dropping the heroes and their assorted familiars and animals onto the shore by the <em>Flying Dolphin</em>'s empty, beached rowboat, the gnome piloted the dragonfly ship straight up, where he could keep an eye out for giant monsters. He'd heard tales of reptiles and insects of ridiculous sizes living in this part of the world, and while it may well have been nothing more than fairy tales he wasn't willing to take any chances.</p><p></p><p>"Two sets of tracks," observed Darrien, looking at the sand beside the rowboat. "A man and a woman, by the looks of it." The tracks headed to a sea cave, with an opening some thirty feet wide and nearly as tall. A ledge along the right side sat along the right side of the interior cave wall, rising in elevation as it went deeper into the cavern. In the back of the cave, the ledge turned into a natural stone bridge crossing the span to the other side of the cave; the open space below the bridge was covered by a thick mist sitting upon the surface of the ocean, which filled the cave. There was no telling how deep the water might be back there, or how much further into the island interior the cave system might reach.</p><p></p><p>Castillan was the first onto the ledge. "Seems sturdy enough," he reported back to the others. He was followed by Finoula and Wrath, then Hagan and Wezhley, and finally Ingebold and Gilbert bringing up the rear. Binkadink opted to remain on Obvious, whose <em>fly</em> spell was still active, and Darrien pulled out his <em>ebony fly</em> and activated it. The fly was the speedier of the two flying mounts, and thus Darrien reached the stone bridge before the others. But while Castillan was only about halfway to the stone bridge, a disturbance in the water attracted his attention. Three lithe shapes rose up from the water and shot darts from blowguns; the bounder barely had time to recognize them as mermaids as he dodged a sharp quill before the aquatic trio had fallen back underneath the water. Finoula and Hagan had also been shot at, but neither had been hit.</p><p></p><p>"They ningyo!" explained Gilbert, recalling tales of these Eastern mermaids from his mother's stories when he was little; as explanations went, it didn't do much for the others. But anticipating another above-water attack, Ingebold readied the words to a <em>spiritual weapon</em> spell and Gilbert prepared to fire off an <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> spell. Hagan got ready for one of his perennial favorites, <em>chain lightning</em>. The ningyo were in for a surprise when they resurfaced!</p><p></p><p>Binkadink had Obvious fly along the leftmost edge of the cavern, fearing to be caught up in any of the spells their casters were ready to throw at the mermaids. Sure enough, in a moment three ningyo leaped up out of the water to shoot quills at the intruders - this time it was Darrien, Castillan, and Finoula who were targeted - and one was promptly hit in the face by a force effect shaped like a dwarven warhammer; all three were grabbed around the waist and wrists by a mass of black tentacles that rose up from the seawater; and a blast of lightning fried all three ningyo, slaying two of them outright and leaving the third barely clinging on to life.</p><p></p><p>Obvious dropped onto the stone bridge, eager to watch the excitement and not understanding that he could simply hover in place to do so. However, from a hidden recess at the far side of the bridge stepped a strange creature: no bigger than a gnome, it had a turtle's shell on its back and reptilian skin, but an indentation in the top of its skull, filled with water. The kappa barked out a question in its native tongue, leaving Binkadink and Obvious at odds about what it was trying to say. But it dropped into a defensive stance, so the gnome assumed it wanted a fight - and he was happy to oblige. Binkadink slashed out with his glaive, carving a deep groove into the kappa's natural armor plating. Then Obvious leaped forward, catching the creature between its teeth and shaking him like a rag doll. This caused the water to spill from the kappa's indentation on the top of his head, a process which weakened the guardian significantly. Obvious dropped his prey to the stone bridge and pinned him with his front paws, and the kappa no longer had the necessary strength to wrest himself free.</p><p></p><p>One of the ningyo managed to free herself from the rubbery, black tentacles encompassing her, and she dropped back to the sea water below her, thinking she was now free. No such luck, however; the <em>spiritual hammer</em> was still locked onto her, and it plunged below the surface of the water to continue its attacks. One solid blow to the temple and she was no longer among the living, her body sinking slowly to the floor of the sea cave.</p><p></p><p>However, three more ningyo popped back up above the surface, shooting darts at Ingebold and Gilbert while staying well outside the radius of the <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> spell. This momentarily surprised the spellcasters, until Gilbert realized there were six ningyo attacking them; three would pop up at a time while the other three were fetching new ammunition from the sea urchins living among them on the bottom of the sea cave. Fortunately, none of the urchin spines found their mark this time, and the ningyo splashed back down into the water.</p><p></p><p>Binkadink dismounted from Obvious, instructing his mount to keep the kappa pinned. Darrien, in the meantime, flew back to the cave beyond the stone bridge to check it out. Finoula slipped past the gnome, his mount, and their prisoner to advance along the rear part of the ledge. Castillan did likewise, but he did so by activating his magic ring and casting a <em>dimension door</em> spell upon himself that sent him to the far end of the ledge. The last 20 feet or so was twice as wide as the rest of the ledge, and the back wall was carved in the shape of two round fish staring at each other. Each fish was about 10 feet high and obviously the work of a talented sculptor. Castillan's elven senses were keeping him focused on the fish carvings; instinctively, he felt there was a secret way to pass beyond the fish into a chamber beyond.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, that kept his attention away from the sea waters in the cave below him, where a massive dragon shaped like an enormous sea turtle rose to the surface. The lung wang expelled a massive breath filled with scalding steam, catching both Castillan and Finoula in its area of effect. A sudden fear filled those two adventurers as well as Darrien, who had seen the attack but not been one of its targets; Hagan likewise was close enough to have seen the attack, but the dragon's frightful presence had no effect on the strong-willed sorcerer.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert was too far back along the ledge to have seen the lung wang, but he had seen Obvious pin the kappa and called over the telepathic link to Binkadink to prevent the gnome from allowing the jackalope to kill his prey. Binkadink relayed the message to Obvious, then passed a healing potion to Finoula, who had staggered back toward him after being scalded by the lung wang's breath. She greedily drank down the vial's contents, but it was another "Winkidew special," having been created by taking shortcuts. While the potion did cure her of the majority of her wounds, it did so by causing them to scab over. In an instant, Finoula's visible skin was covered in itchy, peeling scabs. "Sorry about that," Binkadink offered. "Probably best to just let the magic run its course." The ranger used all her willpower to avoid picking at the scabs, instead focusing her attention back down to the lung wang.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert approached the pinned kappa. "Why you attack us?" he demanded in the Kozakuran language - which he spoke no better than his pidgin Common.</p><p></p><p>"I did not," answered the kappa. "I asked the rabbit-rider his intentions, and he attacked me."</p><p></p><p>"This all a mistake," Gilbert explained. "We just here to rescue captured friend. He a ship captain, his capturer a wu jen woman. They come by this way?"</p><p></p><p>"There has been nobody by that description. The only recent visitors we've had - besides yourselves - are the two celestial beings who passed by half an hour or so ago, on the way to see <strong>The Keeper</strong>."</p><p></p><p>Gilbert called out over the telepathic link: <Everybody back off! We done fighting here! These not our enemies!> He then repeated his message aloud for the benefit of Ingebold and Finoula, who weren't in the link.</p><p></p><p>Castillan, who had picked up the Draconic language, tried calling down to the lung wang before he used his breath weapon again - the bounder doubted he'd survive another such blast. "We come in peace!" he said. "We have no wish to fight!" The lung wang made no response that the bounder could hear, but neither did he continue his attack. Castillan took that as a good sign.</p><p></p><p>And then two humanoid figures levitated up out of the mists of the sea below them. Each was covered in scales like a fish, despite having a humanoid build. Further, each wore a necklace of shells around his neck. They rose up and hovered in the air, one before Castillan and one before Finoula, then began casting spells in unison. They pivoted in midair, facing the others further back down the ledge, nodded in unison, and called back the results of their <em>detect good</em> spells to the lung wang below them.</p><p></p><p>"You may pass," announced the lung wang in a deep voice, speaking in the Kozakuran language; Gilbert hurriedly translated. "Continue on your path to the Keeper; you may pass without further violence." Then the lung wang submerged, and his two levitating hai nu shugenja did likewise, dropping down into the mist-covered waters. Upon Binkadink's signal, Obvious released his pressure on the pinned kappa's chest, and the small sentinel rolled over to fall back over the side of the stone bridge, into the waters of the first sea pool, with the ningyo. As he dismissed his <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> spell, Gilbert realized the kappa was simply replenishing his "water pool" in the depression at the top of his skull, and would likely resume his guardian spot at the end of the stone bridge soon thereafter.</p><p></p><p>By that time, however, the adventurers had all grouped together at the wider ledge in front of the stone fish carvings. Obvious, Wrath, and Grumps Junior had been sent back to the beach to await their arrival. Gilbert took the time to explain what the kappa had told him about the two celestial visitors, while Ingebold tended to Castillan's burns and Finoula resisted the urge to scratch off all of her scabs. Within a few minutes, though, they were reabsorbed back into her unblemished skin; Winkidew's shortcuts were often irritating but they seldom failed to do the job they had been meant to do.</p><p></p><p>Once healed, Castillan began examining the fish carvings. The first thing he noted were their eyes: facing each other, each fish had one eye in view, and in each case this was marked by a hole, as wide around as the thickness of the bounder's arm.</p><p></p><p>"Maybe you like to know what the legend says," suggested Gilbert.</p><p></p><p>"What legend? There's a legend about these fish?"</p><p></p><p>"No, stupid elf! The legend written above fish!"</p><p></p><p>Castillan looked up at the fish carvings and noted the scratches carved into the stone. It looked like a bunch of straight lines going off in all different directions, many of them clumped together. "That's writing?" he asked.</p><p></p><p>"Of course that writing! That Kozakuran writing!"</p><p></p><p>"So what's it say?" asked Ingebold. Her innate stonecunning ability told her the fish were some sort of secret door and that there was a chamber beyond them; she was eager to find a way to pass beyond the carvings and deeper into the complex.</p><p></p><p>"'You will enter two narrow passageways and have to make two decisions once you've done so. Both must be right for you to proceed,'" Gilbert translated.</p><p></p><p>"There we go: two narrow passageways," observed the bounder. "That's got to be these fish eye tunnels. There's probably a lever at the back that you have to turn right. He stuck his arm into the right-hand fish's eye; Binkadink, elevated on his <em>gnomish stilt-boots</em>, did likewise in the leftmost fish's eye. However, both pulled their arms right back out again; Binkadink because his short little gnome arm couldn't reach all the way to the back, and Castillan because he had been stung by something when he put his hand in the narrow tunnel. Pulling it out, there was a black scorpion sitting defiantly on the back of his hand, tail raised in a ready-to-strike-again pose. The bounder contemptuously flung the arachnid over his shoulder into the waters below the ledge.</p><p></p><p>"Are ye all right?" asked Ingebold.</p><p></p><p>"Fine," replied Castillan, about to put his hand back in. Then he said "Screw it!" aloud and rummaged through his pack for his <em>chime of opening</em>. Striking it against the stone carvings, there was an audible "click" and the bounder pushed against the fish. They swung into an interior chamber, with a few steps leading down into a wide corridor.</p><p></p><p>Towards the end of the corridor stood two more sentries. These were Kozakuran men, each armed with what looked to be a wooden wand with a bulbous tip. They each stood beside a niche in the side of the tunnel. Upon seeing the arrival of the outsiders, they each stepped into their niche and swung their wands; these turned out to be drumsticks, used to sound the gongs hanging in the niches to announce the arrival of intruders. The alert having been made, the gong sentries set aside their drumsticks and each grabbed up a naginata, adopting a defensive posture in the corridor.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert called out to them in the Kozakuran language, letting them know they were just there to rescue their kidnapped friend, who likely passed by recently in the guise of a celestial being. "There were two winged celestials who passed by not long ago," confirmed one of the sentries. "You may pass in peace."</p><p></p><p>The group advanced past the gong sentries, into an oval chamber. At one end, an elderly man sat behind a wooden table, throwing coins onto the surface and peering at them intently. "There is disharmony in the temple," he stated aloud. "Your own disharmony will cause the previous disharmony to cease." He nodded at them to pass by in peace; at the other end of the oval chamber there was a circular set of stairs spiraling down to a lower level. The group went down them in single file.</p><p></p><p>The next room was the Hall of the Honored Dead: 18 stone coffins in two rows, with a central path down the center of the room. The fact that these were coffins had Darrien concerned that these might house the Emperor's vampire servants, but Gilbert read the Kozakuran script above each coffin and put the ranger's fears to rest. "These people who helped build this area," he explained.</p><p></p><p>Just ahead, the next room was filled with the scent of burning incense. Binkadink and Gilbert, in the lead, saw an avoral - a hawk-headed, winged celestial - at the far end of the room, about to exit. "Hey!" Gilbert yelled to get the avoral's attention, while Binkadink concentrated as hard as he could to disbelieve what he assumed was an illusion of some sort. It worked; hidden behind the appearance of the avoral was the humanoid's true form, that of one Captain Mandretti - although his skin was covered in the same anti-scrying tattoos as his men wore. "Captain!" called out Binkadink, causing the man to look briefly in his direction, then return his gaze to the exit door and stumble forward as if in a daze.</p><p></p><p>Behind them, the others came into the room of incense. As Finoula entered, her elven ears picked up the quiet sounds of spellcasting and pinpointed it to somewhere in the back of the room. "Female spellcaster in the back of the room!" she called out to the others, hoping someone could target their unseen foe.</p><p></p><p>"Anybody got a means of dispelling an <em>invisibility</em> spell?" called out Castillan.</p><p></p><p>"Aye," called back Ingebold from the other end of the room, but before she could move forward Binkadink had taken measures into his own hands. Crushing up a piece of chalk from his pack, he blew the cloud of fine particles into the back of the room, hoping to cover the invisible spellcaster's form in that method. It was a good plan, but unfortunately Narata had seen it coming and stepped to the side, avoiding the cloud of chalk dust. She silently cursed Finoula's sharp hearing, which had picked up her casting a <em>stoneskin</em> spell upon herself; she'd hoped her presence wouldn't have been suspected for some time yet.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert rushed forward, and as soon as he got close enough to Captain Mandretti, the heavyset mage's still-active <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell temporarily blocked the domination effect the sailor had been under. "What's going on?" he asked, looking around. "Where's my crew?"</p><p></p><p>"They're fine, we're here to rescue you," replied Finoula.</p><p></p><p>As memories of recent events caught up to him, Captain Mandretti called out, "Where is she? There's somebody else in here with us - she's invisible!" Narata sneered an unseen grimace at the turn of events, but then Ingebold cast an <em>invisibility purge</em> spell that brought her back into full focus - although in the guise of a female avoral. However, knowing about the trick, most of the heroes were able to see through the illusion and see her as she truly was: a short, dark-haired Kozakuran woman in minimal armor.</p><p></p><p>Before anyone could react, Narata grabbed Captain Mandretti and pulled him out of the room; once the captain was outside the effect of Gilbert's spell the domination effect snapped back in place and he followed the wu jen willingly. "Go!" she commanded. "Down the steps - quickly!"</p><p></p><p>Outside the incense room, there was an oddly-shaped ledge overlooking a circular room below. The circular room was split into two entwining teardrop shapes, with the further side land and the closer side water. A circular pool of water was centered in the thicker part of the land-teardrop, while a similarly-shaped circular isle of land rose up in the teardrop-shaped pool of water. A series of floating steps led down from the ledge to the small isle; Captain Mandretti stepped down them quickly, as ordered, stepping off the final one and standing on the up-thrust island of stone.</p><p></p><p>None of the heroes made the slightest move to stop him or attack Narata; they were all transfixed by the serpentine dragon standing on the teardrop-shaped stretch of land. It was sinuous like a snake but had four feet tipped with powerful-looking claws; unlike most other dragons with which the heroes were familiar, this one had no wings. It did, however, have "whiskers" in the manner of a catfish drooping down from its lengthy snout.</p><p></p><p>Following his mental orders from the wu jen - for she had her own means of feeding him messages telepathically - Captain Mandretti stood on the round isle facing the dragon and declared, ""I have come for the <em>crown of shadows</em>, at the behest of Emperor Torazoku, legitimate ruler of Kozakura!"</p><p></p><p>At the ledge at the top of the stairs, Gilbert overcame his fascination with the serpentine dragon - a pan lung, just like in his mother's bedtime tales from when he was a child - and called out, "He being controlled by evil spellcaster!" He followed this up with the words to a <em>wall of force</em> spell that sealed Narata in the corner of the ledge, trapped in a triangular space barely wider than her own body.</p><p></p><p>The Keeper looked down at the ship's captain standing before him on the Island of Supplication and asked, in a booming voice, "Is this true? Are you being controlled through spellcraft?"</p><p></p><p>Surprisingly, Captain Mandretti, despite his domination by Narata, looked up at the dragon without fear and simply said, "Yes." Narata gasped; her plans were falling apart before her! She had no way of knowing it, but the Island of Supplication was covered by a permanent <em>zone of truth</em> spell, preventing those who stood there to converse with the Keeper from speaking lies. It also allowed the pan lung to discern the alignments of any standing upon the stone; Narata had suspected that much, which is why she had covered her mental slave and herself in the guise of avorals and sent him down to do the talking, fearing the dragon would be able to discern her own evil aura if she went in his stead down upon the Island of Supplication.</p><p></p><p>The dragon looked up at the assembled heroes. "Which of you spoke the warning?" the Keeper demanded. Gilbert stepped forward.</p><p></p><p>"Climb down to the Island of Supplication," the pan lung commanded, and Gilbert instantly obeyed. Once there, the wizard explained their presence in Kozakura, how Narata had used Captain Mandretti for her own ends, and added the fact that Emperor Torazoku was an undead vampire. The dragon listened intently to Gilbert's tale, nodding as he finished.</p><p></p><p>"Release your prisoner," the Keeper demanded of Gilbert, indicating Narata, "and bring her to me."</p><p></p><p>"Actually," pointed out Gilbert, "I planning to cast <em>Tenser's transformation</em> spell on familiar, have him enter the triangle bounded by cave wall corners and <em>wall of force</em>, and have him kill her." The Keeper actually snorted aloud upon hearing this. "Your plan amuses me," he informed Gilbert. "Enact it, but do not kill her - bring her to the Island of Supplication."</p><p></p><p>Upon Gilbert's command, Mudpie slipped through the solid stone wall behind Narata, grabbing her by the wrists as his master cast the <em>Tenser's transformation</em> spell on his familiar and then dismissed the <em>wall of force</em>. Mudpie then dragged her down the floating steps. (Captain Mandretti and Gilbert had climbed back up the steps in the meantime to make room for them; the Island of Supplication wasn't big enough for more than two people at a time.)</p><p></p><p>"Why does the Emperor want the <em>crown of shadows</em>?" demanded the Keeper. Narata visibly squirmed under the interrogation, trying not to answer, but the <em>zone of truth</em> spell effect was too much for her. "He needs it, so he can appear in the daylight," she explained against her will. "Already rumors of his undead status are circulating among the populace. He wishes to 'prove' he's not a vampire by appearing in the sunlight before his people."</p><p></p><p>"The Kozakuran people do not wish to be ruled by a vampire?" asked the Keeper.</p><p></p><p>"They find the thought abhorrent," admitted Narata. "Emperor Torazoku fears they will rise up against him if they find out their fears are justified. So far he's dodged the issue by having a loyal wu jen appear in his place, covered by an illusion to make him appear to be the Emperor during the daylight hours, but the Emperor's ban against spellcasters other than those working directly for him has made people suspicious."</p><p></p><p>"And now that all of this is known to me, what do you think will happen to you?" asked the pan lung, his forked tongue flicking in and out in anticipation.</p><p></p><p>"I will likely be killed."</p><p></p><p>"You are an insightful young woman," the dragon purred, smiling.</p><p></p><p>"It won't matter," Narata offered. "If I fail to return to the Emperor with the <em>crown of shadows</em>, he'll simply send another force - a larger one, if necessary. And he'll keep sending bigger and more powerful forces until he gets what he wants."</p><p></p><p>"You have convinced me," replied the Keeper. Then, turning to Mudpie, he said, "You may kill her now." Mudpie, his strength greatly increased by Gilbert's spell, crushed the wicked wu jen between his stony hands. He dropped her lifeless body there upon the Island of Supplication, then stood there awaiting further orders.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert didn't give his familiar any orders, waiting to see what would happen next. And the Keeper had turned away from the earth elemental, focusing his attention on the circular pool of water on his teardrop island. Dipping his lengthy tail into the water, he brought it up after a moment. Curled in the tip of the serpentine tail was an elaborate silver crown, inlaid with moonstones. "The <em>crown of shadows</em>," the Keeper offered, passing it to Gilbert. "I wonder of you would be willing to take it away from here. You may either hide it or destroy it, as you see fit, but it seems as if it is too dangerous to keep here any longer."</p><p></p><p>Gilbert took the proffered silver crown from the Keeper. "I think maybe I throw it into sun," he suggested, thinking that with the dragonfly ship that was actually a distinct option.</p><p></p><p>"That may actually be a good idea," replied the Keeper, backing away to his circular pool once again. Again his tail darted into the waters; again it came back up, cradling something at its tip.</p><p></p><p>"Gilbert Fung," the pan lung intoned. "You are a half-breed and thus exempt from ever attaining the throne of Kozakura yourself. Nonetheless, you have this day done the nation of Kozakura a great service. I am certain your ancestors would be proud. To commemorate your actions, I would like you to have these." The tail stretched forward, depositing two jade statuettes into the wizard's hands. Each was a carving of a fierce-looking lion, stylized in the artistic fashion of the Eastern world. Gilbert recognized them as <em>figurines of wondrous power</em>.</p><p></p><p>"Their names are <strong>Hachi</strong> and <strong>Tsumezhao</strong>," the pan lung explained. Gilbert noted the names translated roughly as "Tooth" and "Claw." "They will serve you well in the days to come."</p><p></p><p>"I very honored," Gilbert said, wishing he had a better grasp of the Kozakuran language. He usually spoke in pidgin Common but that was because it made others underestimate him; his broken Kozakuran was now a source of embarrassment for him. But the dragon didn't seem to notice, continuing the conversation in the native tongue of the land.</p><p></p><p>"One final thing, Gilbert," the Keeper said. "I know the temptation must be great for you to aid your mother's country in ousting the vampire Emperor from power. For the sake of Kozakura, I would ask that you would refrain from doing so. It would be far better for Kozakura to free themselves from their undead lord, than to be rescued by powerful foreigners from another land."</p><p></p><p>"I understand," Gilbert answered, bowing down to the dragon. Then, sensing he'd been dismissed, he called Mudpie back to his side. The earth elemental climbed happily back up the floating stairs, not having liked one bit being surrounded by water on a tiny island of stone.</p><p></p><p>"What was all that about?" Darrien wanted to know. Gilbert's conversation with the pan lung dragon had been in the Kozakuran tongue, which of the heroes only Gilbert spoke.</p><p></p><p>"I tell you when we get back to ship," promised Gilbert as the heroes started making their way back the way they'd come.</p><p></p><p>Once back on the <em>Flying Dolphin</em>, the ship's crew were all returned from the dragonfly vessel. The merchant ship wasn't stocked for an overseas voyage, but that didn't matter; the heroes promised to leave their magic carpet on board the <em>Flying Dolphin</em> so the captain and crew could pop up to the dragonfly vessel and help themselves to provisions as needed during the month-long voyage back home to the Western world.</p><p></p><p>"So I figure we'll get the 4,000 pieces of gold for the return of the captain, the crew, and the ship," offered up Castillan once the dragonfly ship was back in the air. Too bad we won't get the bounty on the ship's cargo, though." The cargo had been unloaded when the <em>Flying Dolphin</em> last made port at the Kozakuran shore and had long since been taken elsewhere in the island nation.</p><p></p><p>"What about future trading missions?" asked Finoula.</p><p></p><p>"I imagine all trips to Kozakura on hold for now," surmised Gilbert. "At least while Emperor Vampire-Tiger in charge. Once he overthrown, I bet new government make contact with outside world again. Then Cal merchant empire swoop in, start making trading voyages again."</p><p></p><p>"I suppose you're right," Finoula admitted.</p><p></p><p>"Usually am," boasted the heavyset mage.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>T-Shirt Worn: My "Jade Warrior" T-shirt, as it fairly accurately depicts Narata, Reiko's replacement in Emperor Torazoku's court. In addition, I also wore the new socks Dan and Vicki got me for Christmas, which feature Asian-style dragons - and which thus fairly accurately depict the pan lung dragon guarding the <em>crown of shadows</em>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7339713, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 43: CROWN OF SHADOWS[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 13 Castillan Ivenheart, elf bounder 13 Darrien, half-elf ranger 13 Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 13 Gilbert Fung, human wizard 13 Hagan, half-orc sorcerer 13[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Ingebold Battershield, dwarven cleric 12 (Moradin) Jinkadoodle Dundernoggin, gnome illusionist 5[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 27 January 2018 - - - It had been months since the members of the Kordovian Adventurers Guild had returned from the island nation of Kozakura. Since that time, Ingebold Battershield had started every morning by dutifully casting a [i]scrying[/i] spell, focusing upon the end of a wooden dock jutting out into the cold sea. Day after day, the dock had been empty; today, however, there were three flat stones laid upon the top of one of the wooden posts holding up the pier, placed to form an equilateral triangle. That was the signal they had arranged with Drake, the shapeshifting hengeyokai they had befriended in Kozakura - his way of letting them know he had found the missing merchant ship, the [i]Flying Dolphin[/i]. "Guys!" cried Ingebold, afraid to leave her room, for it would mean cutting off her spell - and it had taken an hour of preparation to cast, just it had done each morning. Fortunately, Finoula's room was directly above her Battle-Sister's and she scampered down the stairs to see what was up. "A triangle 'f stones - just like Drake said!" the dwarven cleric enthused, pointing to the image in the font of holy water in the shrine to Moradin along one wall of her bedroom. "Can you see the [i]Flying Dolphin[/i]?" asked Finoula. Ingebold pulled back the scrying sensor, revealing the entire dock and the area surrounding it. The missing cargo ship was nowhere to be seen. "Try focusing on Drake!" suggested the ranger, as Castillan entered the room and stood behind her, peeking over her shoulder. After a moment's concentration, the dwarven cleric replied, "Got 'im! 'E's a wee duck!" Sure enough, an image of the hengeyokai in his green-headed duck form filled the center of the font. In this state, he was virtually indistinguishable from a normal duck. "Pull the sensor back!" suggested Castillan. "Let's see where he is!" Ingebold did as suggested but the image became suddenly blurry and indistinct - all but the drake hengeyokai, who could be seen just fine. But all around him was a blur. "Is there something wrong with the spell?" the bounder asked. "Nothin'," insisted Ingebold. "Th' spell's workin' just fine." "I'll go get Gilbert," said Castillan, bounding off to fetch their heavyset mage. In the meantime, Ingebold pulled the scrying sensor even further back, high enough to look down at a blurry shape traveling across the ocean. Just ahead, there was an island coming into view. When Gilbert arrived into Ingebold's room, he had Castillan go fetch Jinkadoodle, the gnome illusionist they used to pilot their spelljamming vessel. For weeks now, he'd been flying all over the globe with Zalian Darisath, an elven scholar from the castle. Zalian had been determinedly mapping the continents of the world from a point of view few mortals were ever granted: straight down from orbit around the planet. In the meantime, Gilbert opened his [i]Omnibook[/i] and made a quick sketch of the outline of the island to which the blurry blob - no doubt the missing merchant vessel, somehow masked from scrying attempts - was heading. "What are we waiting for?" asked Darrien. "Let's go teleport to the ship!" "Can't see enough of ship to teleport there," dismissed Gilbert. "Well, the island, then," suggested the half-elf ranger. "No rush," admonished Gilbert. "Ship missing for months - it wait a little longer." When Jinkadoodle couldn't identify the island from the scrying image or Gilbert's notes, the group headed over to the castle and to the elf scholar whose maps were now state-of-the-art. Having assumed the island was likely somewhere in the vicinity of Kozakura, the elf quickly located it in his hand-drawn collection. "That's it," Zalian determined. "Kikimamoru Island." "Let's go!" enthused Castillan. "We not teleporting to unknown island," argued Gilbert. "We take dragonfly ship, look things over. It only take a couple hours - merchant ship can wait that long." Indeed, it was only the matter of about a two-hour flight for the gnome to pilot the dragonfly vessel to Kikimamoru Island; in a matter of a few short months, Jinkadoodle had gone from a prank-focused potionmaker to the premiere spelljamming pilot on the planet and one of the most knowledgeable people on Oerth about the locations of the world's continents and islands. Upon approaching the island, they could see the [i]Flying Dolphin[/i] anchored in a bay before the small bit of land rising up from the sea. Jinkadoodle maneuvered the dragonfly vessel behind the merchant ship. Castillan and Finoula, elves both, stood on top of their flying vessel and peered down at the ship that had been missing all these months. There were strange markings all over the ship, covering every visible surface. "What are those?" asked the bounder. "They glyphs," answered Gilbert, who had stepped up behind them and was squinting into the wind to make out the markings. "They shield ship from scrying. That why we only see fuzzy blob when we scry on Drake, and why Rale's wizard chick unable to find missing ship all this time." "What's the crew doing?" asked Finoula. They seemed to be kneeling in rows along the middle of the ship, for the most part motionless. "I think we go find out. Bink! Go get teleport carpet from downstairs!" The little gnome raced off to comply, returning not only with the requested carpet rolled up under his arm but also his jackalope, Obvious, in tow. Behind him came Hagan the half-orc sorcerer with his weasel familiar in his accustomed place on the spellcaster's shoulder. Gilbert outlined his plan, which involved teleporting the ship's crew via the carpet into the hidden lower hold of the dragonfly vessel. Fearing they might have been dominated by the vampiric Emperor Torazoku, Gilbert had Ingebold cast a [i]magic circle against evil[/i] spell centered upon herself, and then did likewise. The dwarven cleric then went down to the extradimensional hold to await the arrival of the crewmen; Finoula sent Wrath to go with her Battle-Sister and Gilbert likewise had Mudpie accompany them after he had cast a shared [i]mage armor[/i] spell upon both him and his familiar. The heavyset mage then cast a [i]Rary's telepathic bond[/i] spell on the men, citing his inability to cover everyone and his assumption that Ingebold could use her magic amulet to communicate with Finoula. Binkadink opted to drink down a [i]potion of delay poison[/i], playing a hunch that it might come in handy. "Okay then, Hagan, you're up!" the gnome fighter announced, jumping onto the back of his jackalope while keeping the rolled-up carpet tucked under one arm. Gilbert crawled into position behind the gnome, and then Hagan cast a [i]fly[/i] spell on Obvious. "Off we go!" whooped Binkadink, explaining the plan to his jackalope mount in the language they shared. Obvious leaped off the edge of the dragonfly vessel's roof and took to the skies, flying over towards the [i]Flying Dolphin[/i]. "Big jump!" Obvious called in the language of burrowing mammals, clearly enthused. "Big-big-[i]big[/i] jump!" Unfortunately, the jackalope then grunted in pain. "What's the matter?" asked Binkadink in concern. "Shoulder," replied Obvious. "Hurts." Neither the jackalope nor his riders had noticed it, but there was a narrow blowgun dart sticking out just above the antlered rabbit's left front leg. Castillan, in the meantime, raced across the top of the dragonfly ship, to include over the "head" of the vessel (through which Jinkadoodle could see him through the twin "eye" windows at the helm), and spanned the gap between their spelljamming vessel and the merchant ship ahead and below. He landed softly by Drake, still in his inoffensive duck form. "Who else is on board?" the bounder asked Drake, forgetting two things: that Drake only spoke the Kozakuran language (although he could understand a spattering of the Common tongue used on the other side of the world); and that in his duck form he was limited to only the quacks of normal ducks. However, despite the language barrier and the inability to speak, Drake flung both wings up and used them to point at either end of the back mast; specifically, the cross-beam from which hung the main sail. Looking up at the sail, Castillan spotted a pair of black-clad forms covered head to toe. <We've got ninjas!> he called to the others over the telepathic link as one of the guardians on the ship shot at him with his blowgun, missing by less than an inch. The other targeted Obvious again, hoping to sap his strength even more, but Binkadink, forewarned, pulled his mount out of harm's way at the last possible moment. Finoula spotted the ninja that had shot at Castillan. She ran to the edge of the dragonfly's edge but, realizing she was no bounder, opted to wait for Jinkadoodle to bring the ship closer to the merchant vessel before committing herself to a leap across the span. After all, a miss meant a plunge into the cold sea below. But Darrien raced up alongside her and he shot at the ninja with an arrow from his [i]Arachnibow[/i], getting in a clear hit. Obvious altered his flight path to swing right by the ninja who had shot at him twice now, allowing Binkadink to skewer the assassin with his glaive as they passed by in midair. The jackalope then nimbly landed on the back deck, over by Castillan and Drake. But Castillan wasn't there for long; with his bounder training, he ran straight up the main mast and across the rigging, chasing down the remaining ninja. He snapped his fingers upon reaching the beam and stabbed at the ninja, scoring a hit with his short sword. And then Hagan cast a [i]lightning bolt[/i] from the dragonfly vessel that finished the second ninja off. He fell silently over the edge of the crossbeam, his smoking corpse plummeting into the ocean waters. As Jinkadoodle piloted the dragonfly ship to directly above the back of the [i]Flying Dolphin[/i], Finoula, Darrien, and Hagan dropped onto the merchant ship to join the others. Oddly, during the entire fight with the two ninja, none of the crew had moved - they still kneeled facing the front of the ship, as if transfixed in place. "Come on!" Gilbert called to them. "We here to rescue you!" None of them moved in the slightest, until Gilbert approached closer. As soon as he got within ten feet of the closest crewman - engulfing him in the area of effect of his still-active [i]magic circle against evil[/i] spell - the [i]transfix[/i] spell which had sapped the man's will was temporarily abated. He was able to explain that a female spellcaster had left the ship with Captain Mandretti, using the rowboat to get to the island. As the crewman told his tale, Gilbert was amazed to see he was marked with the same types of anti-scrying glyphs covering the ship - only these had been permanently tattooed into his skin. Further examination showed all of the crewmen had been similarly tattooed. By walking among them, temporarily negating the [i]transfix[/i] spell, and then walking them back out of the area of effect of the spell so they could get to the carpet on their own, Gilbert managed to get the entire crew to safety. They were given the command word and once inside the ship's lower level, Ingebold took them to the galley and let them help themselves to food and drink. "We're gonna get yer captain back for ye," she promised them, then used the teleport glyph carved in the floor of one of the bedrooms to transfer herself over to the unrolled carpet on the [i]Flying Dolphin[/i]. By that time, seeing it was safe to do so, Drake had assumed his hybrid form - that of a man with the head and supple neck of a duck. In this form he could speak, and since Gilbert had learned the Kozakuran language from his mother communication was no longer a problem. "The wu jen's name is [b]Narata[/b]," he explained to the mage. "She works for the Emperor. She was under direct orders to have this vessel come out to this particular island, but I don't know why." "We find out," Gilbert promised. He gave Drake the command word to the carpet and invited him to go eat with the crew. "So now what?" asked Darrien. "Back on board dragonfly ship," Gilbert commanded. "We have Jinkadoodle fly us to island, we pick up trail there." After dropping the heroes and their assorted familiars and animals onto the shore by the [i]Flying Dolphin[/i]'s empty, beached rowboat, the gnome piloted the dragonfly ship straight up, where he could keep an eye out for giant monsters. He'd heard tales of reptiles and insects of ridiculous sizes living in this part of the world, and while it may well have been nothing more than fairy tales he wasn't willing to take any chances. "Two sets of tracks," observed Darrien, looking at the sand beside the rowboat. "A man and a woman, by the looks of it." The tracks headed to a sea cave, with an opening some thirty feet wide and nearly as tall. A ledge along the right side sat along the right side of the interior cave wall, rising in elevation as it went deeper into the cavern. In the back of the cave, the ledge turned into a natural stone bridge crossing the span to the other side of the cave; the open space below the bridge was covered by a thick mist sitting upon the surface of the ocean, which filled the cave. There was no telling how deep the water might be back there, or how much further into the island interior the cave system might reach. Castillan was the first onto the ledge. "Seems sturdy enough," he reported back to the others. He was followed by Finoula and Wrath, then Hagan and Wezhley, and finally Ingebold and Gilbert bringing up the rear. Binkadink opted to remain on Obvious, whose [i]fly[/i] spell was still active, and Darrien pulled out his [i]ebony fly[/i] and activated it. The fly was the speedier of the two flying mounts, and thus Darrien reached the stone bridge before the others. But while Castillan was only about halfway to the stone bridge, a disturbance in the water attracted his attention. Three lithe shapes rose up from the water and shot darts from blowguns; the bounder barely had time to recognize them as mermaids as he dodged a sharp quill before the aquatic trio had fallen back underneath the water. Finoula and Hagan had also been shot at, but neither had been hit. "They ningyo!" explained Gilbert, recalling tales of these Eastern mermaids from his mother's stories when he was little; as explanations went, it didn't do much for the others. But anticipating another above-water attack, Ingebold readied the words to a [i]spiritual weapon[/i] spell and Gilbert prepared to fire off an [i]Evard's black tentacles[/i] spell. Hagan got ready for one of his perennial favorites, [i]chain lightning[/i]. The ningyo were in for a surprise when they resurfaced! Binkadink had Obvious fly along the leftmost edge of the cavern, fearing to be caught up in any of the spells their casters were ready to throw at the mermaids. Sure enough, in a moment three ningyo leaped up out of the water to shoot quills at the intruders - this time it was Darrien, Castillan, and Finoula who were targeted - and one was promptly hit in the face by a force effect shaped like a dwarven warhammer; all three were grabbed around the waist and wrists by a mass of black tentacles that rose up from the seawater; and a blast of lightning fried all three ningyo, slaying two of them outright and leaving the third barely clinging on to life. Obvious dropped onto the stone bridge, eager to watch the excitement and not understanding that he could simply hover in place to do so. However, from a hidden recess at the far side of the bridge stepped a strange creature: no bigger than a gnome, it had a turtle's shell on its back and reptilian skin, but an indentation in the top of its skull, filled with water. The kappa barked out a question in its native tongue, leaving Binkadink and Obvious at odds about what it was trying to say. But it dropped into a defensive stance, so the gnome assumed it wanted a fight - and he was happy to oblige. Binkadink slashed out with his glaive, carving a deep groove into the kappa's natural armor plating. Then Obvious leaped forward, catching the creature between its teeth and shaking him like a rag doll. This caused the water to spill from the kappa's indentation on the top of his head, a process which weakened the guardian significantly. Obvious dropped his prey to the stone bridge and pinned him with his front paws, and the kappa no longer had the necessary strength to wrest himself free. One of the ningyo managed to free herself from the rubbery, black tentacles encompassing her, and she dropped back to the sea water below her, thinking she was now free. No such luck, however; the [i]spiritual hammer[/i] was still locked onto her, and it plunged below the surface of the water to continue its attacks. One solid blow to the temple and she was no longer among the living, her body sinking slowly to the floor of the sea cave. However, three more ningyo popped back up above the surface, shooting darts at Ingebold and Gilbert while staying well outside the radius of the [i]Evard's black tentacles[/i] spell. This momentarily surprised the spellcasters, until Gilbert realized there were six ningyo attacking them; three would pop up at a time while the other three were fetching new ammunition from the sea urchins living among them on the bottom of the sea cave. Fortunately, none of the urchin spines found their mark this time, and the ningyo splashed back down into the water. Binkadink dismounted from Obvious, instructing his mount to keep the kappa pinned. Darrien, in the meantime, flew back to the cave beyond the stone bridge to check it out. Finoula slipped past the gnome, his mount, and their prisoner to advance along the rear part of the ledge. Castillan did likewise, but he did so by activating his magic ring and casting a [i]dimension door[/i] spell upon himself that sent him to the far end of the ledge. The last 20 feet or so was twice as wide as the rest of the ledge, and the back wall was carved in the shape of two round fish staring at each other. Each fish was about 10 feet high and obviously the work of a talented sculptor. Castillan's elven senses were keeping him focused on the fish carvings; instinctively, he felt there was a secret way to pass beyond the fish into a chamber beyond. Unfortunately, that kept his attention away from the sea waters in the cave below him, where a massive dragon shaped like an enormous sea turtle rose to the surface. The lung wang expelled a massive breath filled with scalding steam, catching both Castillan and Finoula in its area of effect. A sudden fear filled those two adventurers as well as Darrien, who had seen the attack but not been one of its targets; Hagan likewise was close enough to have seen the attack, but the dragon's frightful presence had no effect on the strong-willed sorcerer. Gilbert was too far back along the ledge to have seen the lung wang, but he had seen Obvious pin the kappa and called over the telepathic link to Binkadink to prevent the gnome from allowing the jackalope to kill his prey. Binkadink relayed the message to Obvious, then passed a healing potion to Finoula, who had staggered back toward him after being scalded by the lung wang's breath. She greedily drank down the vial's contents, but it was another "Winkidew special," having been created by taking shortcuts. While the potion did cure her of the majority of her wounds, it did so by causing them to scab over. In an instant, Finoula's visible skin was covered in itchy, peeling scabs. "Sorry about that," Binkadink offered. "Probably best to just let the magic run its course." The ranger used all her willpower to avoid picking at the scabs, instead focusing her attention back down to the lung wang. Gilbert approached the pinned kappa. "Why you attack us?" he demanded in the Kozakuran language - which he spoke no better than his pidgin Common. "I did not," answered the kappa. "I asked the rabbit-rider his intentions, and he attacked me." "This all a mistake," Gilbert explained. "We just here to rescue captured friend. He a ship captain, his capturer a wu jen woman. They come by this way?" "There has been nobody by that description. The only recent visitors we've had - besides yourselves - are the two celestial beings who passed by half an hour or so ago, on the way to see [b]The Keeper[/b]." Gilbert called out over the telepathic link: <Everybody back off! We done fighting here! These not our enemies!> He then repeated his message aloud for the benefit of Ingebold and Finoula, who weren't in the link. Castillan, who had picked up the Draconic language, tried calling down to the lung wang before he used his breath weapon again - the bounder doubted he'd survive another such blast. "We come in peace!" he said. "We have no wish to fight!" The lung wang made no response that the bounder could hear, but neither did he continue his attack. Castillan took that as a good sign. And then two humanoid figures levitated up out of the mists of the sea below them. Each was covered in scales like a fish, despite having a humanoid build. Further, each wore a necklace of shells around his neck. They rose up and hovered in the air, one before Castillan and one before Finoula, then began casting spells in unison. They pivoted in midair, facing the others further back down the ledge, nodded in unison, and called back the results of their [i]detect good[/i] spells to the lung wang below them. "You may pass," announced the lung wang in a deep voice, speaking in the Kozakuran language; Gilbert hurriedly translated. "Continue on your path to the Keeper; you may pass without further violence." Then the lung wang submerged, and his two levitating hai nu shugenja did likewise, dropping down into the mist-covered waters. Upon Binkadink's signal, Obvious released his pressure on the pinned kappa's chest, and the small sentinel rolled over to fall back over the side of the stone bridge, into the waters of the first sea pool, with the ningyo. As he dismissed his [i]Evard's black tentacles[/i] spell, Gilbert realized the kappa was simply replenishing his "water pool" in the depression at the top of his skull, and would likely resume his guardian spot at the end of the stone bridge soon thereafter. By that time, however, the adventurers had all grouped together at the wider ledge in front of the stone fish carvings. Obvious, Wrath, and Grumps Junior had been sent back to the beach to await their arrival. Gilbert took the time to explain what the kappa had told him about the two celestial visitors, while Ingebold tended to Castillan's burns and Finoula resisted the urge to scratch off all of her scabs. Within a few minutes, though, they were reabsorbed back into her unblemished skin; Winkidew's shortcuts were often irritating but they seldom failed to do the job they had been meant to do. Once healed, Castillan began examining the fish carvings. The first thing he noted were their eyes: facing each other, each fish had one eye in view, and in each case this was marked by a hole, as wide around as the thickness of the bounder's arm. "Maybe you like to know what the legend says," suggested Gilbert. "What legend? There's a legend about these fish?" "No, stupid elf! The legend written above fish!" Castillan looked up at the fish carvings and noted the scratches carved into the stone. It looked like a bunch of straight lines going off in all different directions, many of them clumped together. "That's writing?" he asked. "Of course that writing! That Kozakuran writing!" "So what's it say?" asked Ingebold. Her innate stonecunning ability told her the fish were some sort of secret door and that there was a chamber beyond them; she was eager to find a way to pass beyond the carvings and deeper into the complex. "'You will enter two narrow passageways and have to make two decisions once you've done so. Both must be right for you to proceed,'" Gilbert translated. "There we go: two narrow passageways," observed the bounder. "That's got to be these fish eye tunnels. There's probably a lever at the back that you have to turn right. He stuck his arm into the right-hand fish's eye; Binkadink, elevated on his [i]gnomish stilt-boots[/i], did likewise in the leftmost fish's eye. However, both pulled their arms right back out again; Binkadink because his short little gnome arm couldn't reach all the way to the back, and Castillan because he had been stung by something when he put his hand in the narrow tunnel. Pulling it out, there was a black scorpion sitting defiantly on the back of his hand, tail raised in a ready-to-strike-again pose. The bounder contemptuously flung the arachnid over his shoulder into the waters below the ledge. "Are ye all right?" asked Ingebold. "Fine," replied Castillan, about to put his hand back in. Then he said "Screw it!" aloud and rummaged through his pack for his [i]chime of opening[/i]. Striking it against the stone carvings, there was an audible "click" and the bounder pushed against the fish. They swung into an interior chamber, with a few steps leading down into a wide corridor. Towards the end of the corridor stood two more sentries. These were Kozakuran men, each armed with what looked to be a wooden wand with a bulbous tip. They each stood beside a niche in the side of the tunnel. Upon seeing the arrival of the outsiders, they each stepped into their niche and swung their wands; these turned out to be drumsticks, used to sound the gongs hanging in the niches to announce the arrival of intruders. The alert having been made, the gong sentries set aside their drumsticks and each grabbed up a naginata, adopting a defensive posture in the corridor. Gilbert called out to them in the Kozakuran language, letting them know they were just there to rescue their kidnapped friend, who likely passed by recently in the guise of a celestial being. "There were two winged celestials who passed by not long ago," confirmed one of the sentries. "You may pass in peace." The group advanced past the gong sentries, into an oval chamber. At one end, an elderly man sat behind a wooden table, throwing coins onto the surface and peering at them intently. "There is disharmony in the temple," he stated aloud. "Your own disharmony will cause the previous disharmony to cease." He nodded at them to pass by in peace; at the other end of the oval chamber there was a circular set of stairs spiraling down to a lower level. The group went down them in single file. The next room was the Hall of the Honored Dead: 18 stone coffins in two rows, with a central path down the center of the room. The fact that these were coffins had Darrien concerned that these might house the Emperor's vampire servants, but Gilbert read the Kozakuran script above each coffin and put the ranger's fears to rest. "These people who helped build this area," he explained. Just ahead, the next room was filled with the scent of burning incense. Binkadink and Gilbert, in the lead, saw an avoral - a hawk-headed, winged celestial - at the far end of the room, about to exit. "Hey!" Gilbert yelled to get the avoral's attention, while Binkadink concentrated as hard as he could to disbelieve what he assumed was an illusion of some sort. It worked; hidden behind the appearance of the avoral was the humanoid's true form, that of one Captain Mandretti - although his skin was covered in the same anti-scrying tattoos as his men wore. "Captain!" called out Binkadink, causing the man to look briefly in his direction, then return his gaze to the exit door and stumble forward as if in a daze. Behind them, the others came into the room of incense. As Finoula entered, her elven ears picked up the quiet sounds of spellcasting and pinpointed it to somewhere in the back of the room. "Female spellcaster in the back of the room!" she called out to the others, hoping someone could target their unseen foe. "Anybody got a means of dispelling an [i]invisibility[/i] spell?" called out Castillan. "Aye," called back Ingebold from the other end of the room, but before she could move forward Binkadink had taken measures into his own hands. Crushing up a piece of chalk from his pack, he blew the cloud of fine particles into the back of the room, hoping to cover the invisible spellcaster's form in that method. It was a good plan, but unfortunately Narata had seen it coming and stepped to the side, avoiding the cloud of chalk dust. She silently cursed Finoula's sharp hearing, which had picked up her casting a [i]stoneskin[/i] spell upon herself; she'd hoped her presence wouldn't have been suspected for some time yet. Gilbert rushed forward, and as soon as he got close enough to Captain Mandretti, the heavyset mage's still-active [i]magic circle against evil[/i] spell temporarily blocked the domination effect the sailor had been under. "What's going on?" he asked, looking around. "Where's my crew?" "They're fine, we're here to rescue you," replied Finoula. As memories of recent events caught up to him, Captain Mandretti called out, "Where is she? There's somebody else in here with us - she's invisible!" Narata sneered an unseen grimace at the turn of events, but then Ingebold cast an [i]invisibility purge[/i] spell that brought her back into full focus - although in the guise of a female avoral. However, knowing about the trick, most of the heroes were able to see through the illusion and see her as she truly was: a short, dark-haired Kozakuran woman in minimal armor. Before anyone could react, Narata grabbed Captain Mandretti and pulled him out of the room; once the captain was outside the effect of Gilbert's spell the domination effect snapped back in place and he followed the wu jen willingly. "Go!" she commanded. "Down the steps - quickly!" Outside the incense room, there was an oddly-shaped ledge overlooking a circular room below. The circular room was split into two entwining teardrop shapes, with the further side land and the closer side water. A circular pool of water was centered in the thicker part of the land-teardrop, while a similarly-shaped circular isle of land rose up in the teardrop-shaped pool of water. A series of floating steps led down from the ledge to the small isle; Captain Mandretti stepped down them quickly, as ordered, stepping off the final one and standing on the up-thrust island of stone. None of the heroes made the slightest move to stop him or attack Narata; they were all transfixed by the serpentine dragon standing on the teardrop-shaped stretch of land. It was sinuous like a snake but had four feet tipped with powerful-looking claws; unlike most other dragons with which the heroes were familiar, this one had no wings. It did, however, have "whiskers" in the manner of a catfish drooping down from its lengthy snout. Following his mental orders from the wu jen - for she had her own means of feeding him messages telepathically - Captain Mandretti stood on the round isle facing the dragon and declared, ""I have come for the [i]crown of shadows[/i], at the behest of Emperor Torazoku, legitimate ruler of Kozakura!" At the ledge at the top of the stairs, Gilbert overcame his fascination with the serpentine dragon - a pan lung, just like in his mother's bedtime tales from when he was a child - and called out, "He being controlled by evil spellcaster!" He followed this up with the words to a [i]wall of force[/i] spell that sealed Narata in the corner of the ledge, trapped in a triangular space barely wider than her own body. The Keeper looked down at the ship's captain standing before him on the Island of Supplication and asked, in a booming voice, "Is this true? Are you being controlled through spellcraft?" Surprisingly, Captain Mandretti, despite his domination by Narata, looked up at the dragon without fear and simply said, "Yes." Narata gasped; her plans were falling apart before her! She had no way of knowing it, but the Island of Supplication was covered by a permanent [i]zone of truth[/i] spell, preventing those who stood there to converse with the Keeper from speaking lies. It also allowed the pan lung to discern the alignments of any standing upon the stone; Narata had suspected that much, which is why she had covered her mental slave and herself in the guise of avorals and sent him down to do the talking, fearing the dragon would be able to discern her own evil aura if she went in his stead down upon the Island of Supplication. The dragon looked up at the assembled heroes. "Which of you spoke the warning?" the Keeper demanded. Gilbert stepped forward. "Climb down to the Island of Supplication," the pan lung commanded, and Gilbert instantly obeyed. Once there, the wizard explained their presence in Kozakura, how Narata had used Captain Mandretti for her own ends, and added the fact that Emperor Torazoku was an undead vampire. The dragon listened intently to Gilbert's tale, nodding as he finished. "Release your prisoner," the Keeper demanded of Gilbert, indicating Narata, "and bring her to me." "Actually," pointed out Gilbert, "I planning to cast [i]Tenser's transformation[/i] spell on familiar, have him enter the triangle bounded by cave wall corners and [i]wall of force[/i], and have him kill her." The Keeper actually snorted aloud upon hearing this. "Your plan amuses me," he informed Gilbert. "Enact it, but do not kill her - bring her to the Island of Supplication." Upon Gilbert's command, Mudpie slipped through the solid stone wall behind Narata, grabbing her by the wrists as his master cast the [i]Tenser's transformation[/i] spell on his familiar and then dismissed the [i]wall of force[/i]. Mudpie then dragged her down the floating steps. (Captain Mandretti and Gilbert had climbed back up the steps in the meantime to make room for them; the Island of Supplication wasn't big enough for more than two people at a time.) "Why does the Emperor want the [i]crown of shadows[/i]?" demanded the Keeper. Narata visibly squirmed under the interrogation, trying not to answer, but the [i]zone of truth[/i] spell effect was too much for her. "He needs it, so he can appear in the daylight," she explained against her will. "Already rumors of his undead status are circulating among the populace. He wishes to 'prove' he's not a vampire by appearing in the sunlight before his people." "The Kozakuran people do not wish to be ruled by a vampire?" asked the Keeper. "They find the thought abhorrent," admitted Narata. "Emperor Torazoku fears they will rise up against him if they find out their fears are justified. So far he's dodged the issue by having a loyal wu jen appear in his place, covered by an illusion to make him appear to be the Emperor during the daylight hours, but the Emperor's ban against spellcasters other than those working directly for him has made people suspicious." "And now that all of this is known to me, what do you think will happen to you?" asked the pan lung, his forked tongue flicking in and out in anticipation. "I will likely be killed." "You are an insightful young woman," the dragon purred, smiling. "It won't matter," Narata offered. "If I fail to return to the Emperor with the [i]crown of shadows[/i], he'll simply send another force - a larger one, if necessary. And he'll keep sending bigger and more powerful forces until he gets what he wants." "You have convinced me," replied the Keeper. Then, turning to Mudpie, he said, "You may kill her now." Mudpie, his strength greatly increased by Gilbert's spell, crushed the wicked wu jen between his stony hands. He dropped her lifeless body there upon the Island of Supplication, then stood there awaiting further orders. Gilbert didn't give his familiar any orders, waiting to see what would happen next. And the Keeper had turned away from the earth elemental, focusing his attention on the circular pool of water on his teardrop island. Dipping his lengthy tail into the water, he brought it up after a moment. Curled in the tip of the serpentine tail was an elaborate silver crown, inlaid with moonstones. "The [i]crown of shadows[/i]," the Keeper offered, passing it to Gilbert. "I wonder of you would be willing to take it away from here. You may either hide it or destroy it, as you see fit, but it seems as if it is too dangerous to keep here any longer." Gilbert took the proffered silver crown from the Keeper. "I think maybe I throw it into sun," he suggested, thinking that with the dragonfly ship that was actually a distinct option. "That may actually be a good idea," replied the Keeper, backing away to his circular pool once again. Again his tail darted into the waters; again it came back up, cradling something at its tip. "Gilbert Fung," the pan lung intoned. "You are a half-breed and thus exempt from ever attaining the throne of Kozakura yourself. Nonetheless, you have this day done the nation of Kozakura a great service. I am certain your ancestors would be proud. To commemorate your actions, I would like you to have these." The tail stretched forward, depositing two jade statuettes into the wizard's hands. Each was a carving of a fierce-looking lion, stylized in the artistic fashion of the Eastern world. Gilbert recognized them as [i]figurines of wondrous power[/i]. "Their names are [b]Hachi[/b] and [b]Tsumezhao[/b]," the pan lung explained. Gilbert noted the names translated roughly as "Tooth" and "Claw." "They will serve you well in the days to come." "I very honored," Gilbert said, wishing he had a better grasp of the Kozakuran language. He usually spoke in pidgin Common but that was because it made others underestimate him; his broken Kozakuran was now a source of embarrassment for him. But the dragon didn't seem to notice, continuing the conversation in the native tongue of the land. "One final thing, Gilbert," the Keeper said. "I know the temptation must be great for you to aid your mother's country in ousting the vampire Emperor from power. For the sake of Kozakura, I would ask that you would refrain from doing so. It would be far better for Kozakura to free themselves from their undead lord, than to be rescued by powerful foreigners from another land." "I understand," Gilbert answered, bowing down to the dragon. Then, sensing he'd been dismissed, he called Mudpie back to his side. The earth elemental climbed happily back up the floating stairs, not having liked one bit being surrounded by water on a tiny island of stone. "What was all that about?" Darrien wanted to know. Gilbert's conversation with the pan lung dragon had been in the Kozakuran tongue, which of the heroes only Gilbert spoke. "I tell you when we get back to ship," promised Gilbert as the heroes started making their way back the way they'd come. Once back on the [i]Flying Dolphin[/i], the ship's crew were all returned from the dragonfly vessel. The merchant ship wasn't stocked for an overseas voyage, but that didn't matter; the heroes promised to leave their magic carpet on board the [i]Flying Dolphin[/i] so the captain and crew could pop up to the dragonfly vessel and help themselves to provisions as needed during the month-long voyage back home to the Western world. "So I figure we'll get the 4,000 pieces of gold for the return of the captain, the crew, and the ship," offered up Castillan once the dragonfly ship was back in the air. Too bad we won't get the bounty on the ship's cargo, though." The cargo had been unloaded when the [i]Flying Dolphin[/i] last made port at the Kozakuran shore and had long since been taken elsewhere in the island nation. "What about future trading missions?" asked Finoula. "I imagine all trips to Kozakura on hold for now," surmised Gilbert. "At least while Emperor Vampire-Tiger in charge. Once he overthrown, I bet new government make contact with outside world again. Then Cal merchant empire swoop in, start making trading voyages again." "I suppose you're right," Finoula admitted. "Usually am," boasted the heavyset mage. - - - T-Shirt Worn: My "Jade Warrior" T-shirt, as it fairly accurately depicts Narata, Reiko's replacement in Emperor Torazoku's court. In addition, I also wore the new socks Dan and Vicki got me for Christmas, which feature Asian-style dragons - and which thus fairly accurately depict the pan lung dragon guarding the [i]crown of shadows[/i]. [/QUOTE]
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