A Tainted World (5/18/04)

[Teneb]

Oooooh. Shiiiiiiny.
We left the Underdark with the three freed prisoners in tow. Only one died on the way back, victim of one last Grey Guy ambush. We met the leader of the elves who explained that these disappearances had been occurring for some time. They discovered that the portal we saw opened every seven years; the elves set up the Festival of Life to run concurrently so the nighthag wouldn’t kidnap elves but instead clueless merchants. Nice of them.

Thoroughly sick of elves we decided to leave, picking up a young lass who’s master had left her. Linder took young Gabby under his wing and started teaching her the ways of the bard. We located a gentleman who needed stalwart adventurers to check up on a silver mine he had bought. It seems the man had sent a number of agents to check out the previously abandoned mine, but they never returned. Dangling the possibility of mithril in the mine which the group could use as payment, we set out for the Moonfog Hills.

Several days into our journey to Malthyn, the nearest village to the mine, we approached a small farm. Somewhat out of place was the giant standing over the barn. The brute was huge and misshapen, a third arm jutting from its chest. Gruck and Sam charged at the thing on horseback while Linder, Tarrick, and Gabby (from the wagon) fired arrows at it. Oskar rode around to flank while I summoned a water elemental to attend to the farmhouse, which was on fire. I’m afraid I lost track of the details of the battle in all the chaos, but the giant was defeated. Sadly, the farmer was killed. We escorted the remainder of his family to Malthyn and gifted them with some gold to get them back on their feet.

 

[Teneb]

I hate bugs.
Malthyn was probably one of the smallest, most rundown human encampments I’ve ever encountered. The residents of the village had erected a crude earthen berm around their home for some apparent defensive purpose. The villagers, as a whole, were nervous and appeared despondent. Giants had been attacking much more than usual, killing a number of “prominent” citizens including the local shaman. Furthermore, aerial beasts were attacking at night, carrying victims away. For this reason, no one ventured outside past sunset. These people had the look of trapped animals.

Striving to uplift the morale of the townsfolk, several of us decided to deal with this night terror before heading up to the mine (which we were told had been abandoned for some time). Tarrick endeavored to set some sort of net trap on the roof of the inn while the rest of us watched dubiously. Notably, Gruck refused to have anything to do with the entire operation and bedded down in the inn’s common room for a nap.

Sam and I spent dusk outside. The creature(s) reportedly attacked after sundown, so we were wary. Our caution paid off when three large moths descended upon us. The drone of their wings caused me some confusion (Fort save, rolled a 1), but I had the presence of mind to wildshape. Sam simply hit one a bunch of times, which seemed effective. Each of us was struck a number of times; Sam shrugged the hits off while I found myself unable to move (Fort save, rolled a 1). Inside, Gruck stood up, awakened by the commotion. Tarrick, confused as I was (Fort save, rolled a 1), thumped Gruck in the back with his spiked chain. Gruck was.....unhappy; he burst through the door and used his double axe to good effect on the moths. Linder began humming, overriding the moths’ drone while Oskar freed me from immobility. Sam and Gruck made short work of the moths from that point. We joked a bit that the only combat damage came from our own party. Tarrick looked sheepish - Gruck just looked mad.

The next morning, we decided to check in on a family living in a nearby manor prior to heading for the mine. We learned of the manor from one of the villagers and feared for the isolated family’s safety. Our concern was warranted as we were ambushed twice on the way to the manor. A rolling log trap maimed a number of the group’s horses, but the deformed giants who had set off the trap lay dead shortly thereafter. A group of ogres later attacked, but we had some forewarning as I had taken to the air after the first ambush. Battered and bloody, we made it to the manor.

The family, it turns out, was fine. They had noticed an upsurge in giant activity, but it seemed directed against Malthyn specifically. We stayed the night, unfortunately awakening two guardian gargoyles the family didn’t know about. Gabby was sorely hurt, but Oskar was able to heal her. The head of the household, Milo Mathin, was quite distraught we had been attacked, confessing the family had just recently re-acquired the estate. The previous members of the family living here had installed a number of protections Milo was unaware of. Now he had two less to worry about.

 

[Gruck]

Rust Monsters Suck

Gruck minding own business killing giants when little buzzy things start eating Gruck's armor. Gruck say "Fine, You want some....Come get some." An put axe through buzzy thing. It not like axe since axe explode buzzy thing. Axe head disappear when smash buzzy thing. Gruck new most hated enemy is buzzy thing.

 

[Teneb]

Gruck -> English translation: buzzy things = rust monsters
They'll be making an appearance in the next update. Also in the next update: Tarrick's worst day ever. Really.

 

[Gruck]

Gruck think sneaky guy(Tarrik)'s worst day have to be when sneaky guy die twice by other sneaky guys(Hopps Springs Eternal). Gruck think it funny when sneaky guy dies since sneaky guy tries to hit Gruck when confused(I hate bugs).

 

[Teneb]

Ogres and trolls and rust monsters, oh my!
From the Mathin estate, we decided to head cross-country with me scouting ahead in raven form. I spotted a group of ogres (deformed of course) lying in wait and promptly ice stormed them. As this was quickly becoming our warning signal, the rest of the group ran towards the fight, weapons drawn. I rained lightning down on our foes as Sam broke the neck of one with a flying scissors kick. The ogre’s companion skewered the monk in the thigh with a spear as a troll approached and raked him with its claws.

Seeing his friend in trouble, Gruck charged the ogre engaging Sam, cleaved its spear in two, and sliced it from stem to stern. The dumbfounded ogre keeled over dead. Sam somersaulted away from the troll while Tarrick popped out of concealment and buried an arrow square in the creature’s back.

A second troll had snuck behind our front line and loomed over Linder. Mustering incredible courage, Linder stood toe-to-toe with the brute and buried his morningstar in its chest (followed by a blast of lightning courtesy of me). The troll, being rather unhappy with this turn of events, gripped Linder’s shoulders and tore him in two (while biting his face off). There was a moment of stunned silence on our part.

Gruck and Sam dropped their troll and advanced on the second, carnage on their minds. Tarrick put an arrow in each eye of the “dead” troll to make sure he stayed that way. He repeated the exercize a few moments later with the second troll after Oskar beat it to death. Linder (-9 hp) was patched up and we continued to the mine.

Being more cautious, I scouted ahead by air as Tarrick did the same on the ground. We spotted a three tiered plateau ahead, which by our calculations was the location of the mine. Tarrick spotted five mutated half-ogres gathered around a campfire on the second tier on the backside of the hillock. He headed back to the group while I kept an eye on the brutes. My companions laid out a clever plan whereby the half-ogres would be led into an ambush of missile fire. As they were getting into position, the ogres turned and moved stealthily towards them; our heroes had been noticed.

Giving a cry of warning (ie. flamestrike), everyone scrambled into position. The lead half-ogres threw spears with little effect. Then things got interesting. Two small creatures the size of dogs appeared next to Gruck and Tarrick on the left side of our line. Instead of attacking directly, the things lashed their antennae at the pair’s armor. Realizing they faced rust monsters, both stalwarts gave cries of great terror and backpedaled quickly. Not recognizing the new threat, I used my last flamestrike against the half-ogres again and Sam ended one of their lives. About that time a carrion crawler appeared behind Linder. Fearing the bard would fall for the second time that day, I used my affinity with the earth and summoned two small earth elementals to aid him. It wasn’t necessary as Linder, driven by desperation, smote the crawler right quickly.

Tarrick began firing arrows at the rust monsters, not wishing to close with the creatures. Sam was having a harder time with the remaining half-ogres, being pummeled a number of times with their oversized clubs. I dropped to the ground next to him to offer some badly needed healing. Running out of room to flee, Gruck finally sunk his double-axe into a rust monster, killing it. The act dissolved the head of the weapon, leaving the furious half-orc with a single-headed-double-axe. In frustration, he casually sunk the unbalanced weapon into the head of the remaining half-ogre. The other rusty was a pincushion by that point, and no longer a threat.

With monsters appearing out of thin air, I was certain an enemy summoner must be nearby. Hoping to nab the caster, I cast entangle on the hilltop. The spell proved useless, and I circled high above, keen eyes searching.

 

[Teneb]

Dude, you’ve looked better

The half-ogres had been using a cave nearby as a base of operations it seems. Oskar and I examined the stonework and concluded this was likely a naturally sealed former entrance to the mine. We decided to camp and recover from our previous battles.

The respite didn’t last long. Our sentries noticed a figure running from the cover of the surrounding woods towards our position about fifteen feet above the forest floor. The man gained the summit and we noticed he was horribly misshapen, arms ending in tentacles. Fearing for our safety, we warned him to stay back and explain who he was. The man (understandably) was nearly mad, gibbering about “them” and begging us to help “the others”.

Focused on the stricken human, we didn’t notice the four ogres emerge from the woods. The walked up behind the cowering man and felled him with one terrible blow. We scrambled out of the cave and engaged the brutes, our wounds and exhaustion hanging heavy upon us. Nevertheless, the monsters were defeated and we all survived.

Realizing there was no rest to be had at the mine, we scurried back to town, luckily without incident. We left Gabby and the wagon behind for their own safety. Fully rested (and with a full complement of spells) we made our way back to the cave, avoiding a roving band of trolls.

After some heated discussion, we decided I should scout the mine entrance. In bat form, I discovered the mine was hastily bricked up about eighty feet in. We opted to climb to the top of the plateau where I had noticed a bit of a crevasse on our earlier trip here.

Sam and Tarrick climbed a number of ledges to the summit one hundred feet above, with me keeping lookout still in bat form. An otyugh appeared out of thin air and began flailing at Sam. It was soon joined by a number of ettercaps. I flew around hurriedly, trying to find the caster with my echolocation. Oskar airwalked Gruck who made the summit. Meanwhile, Sam killed the Otyugh with an assist from Tarrick. Ettercaps threw webs at both for their trouble, snaring Tarrick. Three rust monsters appeared around Tarrick and lashed out at him. Tarrick’s mithril chain armor disintegrated into nothingness (Touch attack, and Tarrick was flat-footed). Gruck waded in, smashing rust monsters with the haft of his axe. Three more ettercaps appeared, surrounding the half-orc and webbing him. At Gruck’s signal, I reluctantly dropped a flamestrike on him. He weathered the assault well, though the ettercaps did not. The spell had the added benefit of burning through the webbing, freeing Gruck. Tarrick was forced to attack the nearby rust monsters with his sap, while Sam made good use of his fists. The battle ended soon thereafter.

I flew down the crevice as Gruck airwalked down carrying Sam. Linder featherfall’d the rest of the group and we all descended. Upon reaching the floor eighty feet down, we were confronted by a bug eyed human with tentacle arms. Sam tried to knock him out, but the bug-man would have none of it. Oskar’s mace decided the matter.

Two doors led from the unremarkable room. One opened into a bedroom. After a cursory search, Tarrick located a concealed lever in a bookshelf. Not finding any traps, the rogue pulled the lever and triggered a good sized fireball. Tarrick was unscathed, but everyone else in the room (i.e.. everyone but me) was fairly singed.

Inside the secret panel we discovered a spellbook with “Mildridge” embroidered on the front. Could this be the name of our mysterious caster? We also discovered a number of papers which might shed light on what’s going on.

A person named Fluopollith, presumably communicating with Mildridge, talks about the Ethereal Diadem. Also mentioned is the Heterochilet portal, which Linder indicates is named after some sort of arcane society. Putting the pieces together, it seems that whoever controls the Ethereal Diadem and takes it to the Chaos Obelisk (located in the mine?) can open the Heterochilet portal and warp normal creatures (including people) into abominations.

As most of us were reflecting on these revelations, Tarrick located a secret door elsewhere in the room. Trying to open it, he set off another warding spell and was polymorphed into a fledgling carrion crawler worm.

 

[Gruck]

Tarrick's a toad hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Gruck like toad legs. Mmmmmmmmmmm slimy..(drool)

 

[Kalendraf]

Trails of slime...

"Floth!" The female voice echoed ominously through the watery cave. "There are intruders. Be prepared to deal with them."

The humanoid frog motioned his hand over the nearby water, clearing his magical view. "It shall be done, mistress," he half-croaked. "Will you grace us with your presence?"

"Not this time. They have invaded my lab, and they have proven rather resourceful. I'm not sure the wards in place will be enough to deter their progress. In any event, I'm heading to alert Fluopolith and then send word to the others. I have faith in your abilities Floth. Do not disappoint me."

"Yes, mistress. You are kind to Floth. These intruders will be dealt with and fed to our pets. Or did you have other intentions for them?"

"My sister said that she already has enough subjects to test the portal, so we do not need more at this time. However, if you are successful in capturing some of them alive, I would be very interested in questioning them to learn who they are and who sent them. These are certainly not like the miners sent to explore the mine, nor are they like those damned relentless witchhunters we managed to ambush & decimate on the east branch. Could be adventurers, I suppose, but this area has had little to offer thrillseekers. Why choose to come here, and now, when we are so close..."

"Fear not mistress, Floth will deal with them." The image faded leaving floth seeing his own reflection in the filthy murky pool. Floth barked some commands to his followers and prepared for visitors. "Soon you will enjoy fresh carrion", he croaked while lightly stroking the tentacle of the creature in the garbage mound next to him.

Meanwhile, back in Malthyn...

A cry rose up from the grainery, and everyone turned to look that way with fear. Could a giant or troll have gotten this close without the guards sounding the alarm?
Gabby pulled out her bow and ran toward the sounds.

One of the townsfolk was wrapped by a hideous tentacled worm. One of the tentacles was wrapped around his neck strangling him. She took a shot, but missed, nearly hitting the farmer by mistake. She called for help, but almost everyone seemed paralyzed with horror at the sight.

As she closed, she dropped her bow and drew her sword. Then she charged at it and landed her blade deep in the slimy body of the worm. The skewered worm loosed it's grip on the farmer, convulsed wildly and finally lay still. Quickly, Gabby knelt down, let go of her blade, and helped tend to the farmers wounds. His eyes were still in a panic from his near death experience. His lips tried to move, but his crushed wind pipe was unable to sound any words. "Rest now. No need to talk," Gabby reassured him. She started to cast a healing spell on him.

But he kept trying to say something. Suddenly, Gaby felt something wrap around her arm and neck. It was another one of these worms! She reached for her sword, but before she could grab it, the worm had pulled her to the ground. It was strangling her and now had both her arms wrapped as well. She struggled to break free, but couldn't seem to escape its grip.

A few townsfolk had seen this and started shouting for help, but only a few moved to aid her. They came bearing pitchforks, but were tentative to strike at the creature. Then a large figure rushed forward and swung a hammer. The blow connected squarely with the worm, but grazed Gabby in the process. The hammer felt very hot and even singed her skin, and she immediately knew who had come to her rescue. It was the half-orc blacksmith. He struck at it one more time before it finally let go and lay motionless.

"Thank you." Gabby said after catching her breath. She'd had deep bruises on her arms and neck from this, but at least she'd be able to heal herself. However, she saw yet another worm scurrying out of the grainery. She quickly pointed and reached to recover her sword. The blacksmith closed with it, but missed. On the next round, she got to her feat and started singing a song to hopefully inspire the blacksmith's ability. It seemed to help, as the next turn, the smith connected with a crushing blow that broke the gooey worm into two quivering pieces. Fortunately, unlike earthworms, this kind died when divided. After a few seconds, this one stopped moving.

Gabby finally healed the farmer then herself. Then she and the blacksmith searched the grainery for more worms, but found none. They had to watch their step as the worms had coated everything with a slippery coating of slime. They did find the remains of 3 large egg sacs that appeared to have recently hatched. These were the likely source of the worms. Could the moths that came each night be laying these? They relayed the information to the villagers and then started searching building to building for any other eggs or worms.

"Where are those guys," she thought to herself. Had the others encountered hideous creatures like these as well? Hopefully, they'd come back soon, and the town would be back to normal...whatever normal was for this place.

 

[Teneb]

Just to get everyone caught up, we've cleared the upper level of the mine. It was mostly smaller monsters, so it wasn't too difficult. Ursa managed to befriend a little (non-summoned) rust monster - but don't tell the group.

We descended into the lower levels where Tarrick's run of bad luck continued in a big way. I have a suspicion that we're nearing the final confrontation and will update accordingly once we're victorious (confident, ain't I?)