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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tom Cashel" data-source="post: 119749" data-attributes="member: 321">Episode VIII: The Trials of EnthandasCharacters: Bronn Spellforger (shield dwarf male Wiz5); Caramip Murnig (gnome female Brd4); Roman Gemalee (gold elf male Ftr4); Saeita Neví (wild elf female Mnk5); Van Dyksun (human male Rgr4/Rog1); Velm Trueforger (shield dwarf male Ftr4/Clr1–Clangeddin).NIGHTSCALE:The puling cry of the maggot reaches my ears: This isn’t over!  You may be assured that it is not, insect.  The chill subterranean air lofts beneath my wings as I swing back toward the crumbling towers at the far end of the bridge.There: the tiny gnome ducks into the staircase as I approach, a dark shape in shadows, a doom floating on air, a spectre of death personified.  These fools do not realize what easy prey they are.  When will Zandris show herself?I land atop the bridge, breathing downward, showering the worm (a dwarf who fancies himself a wizard—what a joke!) with scouring acid.  His magic protects him—for now—and he ducks to safety.I hear them within, shouting that they must flee.  I smell the fear sweat, hear the moans of absolute terror…they are mine.ZANDRIS WINTER:Ah, Nightscale...she is beautiful…spurs of bone and glistening black scales.Nightscale, coiled atop the far tower, striking the fear of the serpent into these heretics who style themselves “Wolf Company.”  They will be slaves of Yss-Fara, fodder for Ooltugula’s experiments, prey of the Coil, food for Meerschaulk the Coiled God.“Give us the skull!” I shout.  The time is at hand, for me to take what we have desired for so long…the srtifact spoken of in the ancient riddles of Clan Darkfell: Hathos’ Skull.  “I know you have the remains of the Exile…you brought them from behind the waterfall.  Surrender them and you shall live.  It is all you need to do, really quite an easy thing.”  I use the Voice of the Serpent, but it fails to persuade.One of them—the cowardly fighter called Corwyn Black—tries to flee.  I change him into an asp with a wave of my hand.  Crawl on your belly in the dust, as you deserve.  Tempus cannot help you now.They pour out of the tower like ants from a sinking log.  They run away toward the ruins of Aerunedar.And I hear the sound of our Lord approaching, he whose veins hold the blood of dragons, the beat of the drums and the chant of the troglodytes: Yss-fara, Yss-fara, Yss-fara…“The skull of Hathos,” I insist.  “Give it to me and your lives will be spared…for now.”“Come get it,” says a wavering voice from within.  It sounds like the young white-haired ranger, Van Dyksun.“No tricks,” I say.A canvas sack, bones rattling within, is tossed to me.  I look inside.I smile.  It is the skull.“Await us at the ziggurat,” I tell Nightscale, and she flies away toward the monument.  I gaze in the direction of the fleeing Wolf Company.  The fools—they will find nothing but death in those ruins.***An Excerpt from Bronn’s Spellbook of WarEleint 18The war continues. Today I faced down a black dragon and survived. I won’t go into detail about our disaster at the gatehouse after our tremendous victory on the Arglarllur bridge, but once that dragon landed and her dragonfear took theweak-willed of us (note: research developing anti-dragonfear spell) and Zandris Winter showed her ugly face and demanded “Hathos’ Skull” (Winter family: Traitors!!!), we decided that retreat was our best option. Luckily I was protected from the dragon’s breath by the Art, and I was able to take gaseous form. Floating away to join the others, I was surprised to see Van Dyksun, our ranger, cleverly giving Winter the bag of the Shieldcoil’s bones! What a wonderful ruse! Only later did I discover that his cleverness was unintentional (fairly typical for my band). Still, I would love to be there when she tries to use his "skull" to get through the traps at Moradin’s Fane. Hah! But I was dismayed that the idiot warrior of Tempus was turned into a snake, only minutes after Daziel fell. I certainly won’t miss either of them much, but they were good soldiers. They fought on till the end: and beyond, since it was Daziel’s ghost who led us to the safety of Haela Brightaxe’s shrine. I will rest now and prepare spells soon. (Note: could Combust be used against the dragon? I would love to see it burn. Check Hawksbreath’s notes under Flaming Sphere for possible insights.)Eleint 19After resting, we were attacked by a huge umber hulk. Luckily, our battle was aided by a svirfneblin (calling himself Hnaef), who has now joined my party–which is better than another dwarf, I suppose. Truth told, my cousin’s scorn is about all I can handle now. Tomorrow, we move. Eleint 20Van Dyksun is dead. Rended by a troll. Before I could consider grieving, his ghostly visage appeared. Aerunedar lets no one escape, even the dead. Mystra give me strength to continue the fight! (note: the Troll’s regenerative capabilities were very impressive, a lesser version may be possible under the necromantic sphere. Research later).   We’ve decided to stay here for three nights and two days–until everyone regains their strength.Eleint 24Today we made for the Lunar Speculum. First, we battled hideous beasts with human bodies and snakes attached to their heads. Shatterfloor was effective against them, but the ranger’s ghost helped us greatly. Roman’s nimble battle tactic of springing, attacking, and springing back angered Velm, who was left alone to face the enemies’ attacks. Heh. Velm’s love for battle won’t let him stay angry for long. We passed Iolar’s huge statue, and found a way in through the foot. We must investigate that later. One day, there may be a statue of me in its place. Mystra knows what the war will bring?The Lunar Speculum. I admire the powerful magics used here to attempt to destroy the moon goddess’ power. A gigantic crater scars the land, leaving only the ruined temple at its center–hanging in midair, a strong yet invisible foundation of godly Power holding it aloft. (note: good design for my own stronghold!) It was lit by a strange light standing at its center. We climbed a rope and grapnel into the temple nave. Inside, a shaft of moonlight shone down from the Speculum itself onto this section of the temple floor. Trusting in his goddess, Van Dyksun stepped through. The rest of us followed.We were transported to a large chamber stewn with the bodies of goblins, serpent-like creatures, and even an illithid! (Note: I took a small sample from the illithid corpse for later study. I don’t think the others noticed.) As expected in Aerunedar, there was another ghost there. (I’m beginning to hate this place). He is the Seneschal–the ghost of the High Priest of the Speculum. It was he who destroyed these creatures who tried to enter thechambers beyond (which made me look twice at the ghostly visage of our ranger!). He invited us to try to get Enthandas (the ring that Daziel spoke of) within, but there would be seven tests to pass. He also told us some history of this place, and of Shelmroun–the other ring that was taken by servants of the Coil. (Note: these rings appear to be powerful artifacts to Selune. Avoid the temptation to put them on). Our first challenge was a triple path leading to three doors (Earth, Stars, and Moon) inscribed with the following:Choose ye a path, all lead to the goal, but heed ye three warnings that ye are now told: Follow the foot’s path and be saved by sky’s breath. Take the shining path with night’s arsenal at hand.Walk the way of the Goddess and face the storm’s tongue.We decided that the earth’s path would involve us flying or require a whirlwind, the moon’s path would involve lightning, and the star’s path would involve light. Light seemed the best choice, which lead us into a room of seven celestial balls of light which were easily dispatched with our magic weapons. (Note: A darkness spell would have been useful here. Consider learning Blacklight spell at next opportunity). Sadly, the door locked behind us, and after passing the next room, a huge stone slab blocked our way. Forward was our only path. The next room led into a large stone table with two ornate chairs. On the far wall were three paintings. Carved into the top of the table was the following: I often have leaves, though I’m not a tree, Sharp knives all around, I never do flee, For though I’m often surrounded, I never feel fear, And a good turn in time, makes treasure appear.We decided that turning the table would bring us one item from one painting. We voted and chose to get the scroll–which was maddeningly blank! (Only later did I discover it was a moonscroll with the power to be scribed with spells and reused over and over again.) The next room was huge with a large statue of a griffin upon a stone pedestal. Inlaid upon the pedestal in silver letters is the verse: Relaxed I sit upon my perch Till suddenly I give a lurch And off I speed on wing-tips three Before my prey can think to flee. I make its flesh and tendons part And claw my way into its heart.Now only kin can set me free So strike the cube with one of me.We deduced that an arrow needed to be shot at the "cube," but where was it? Only the ghostly ranger could find the keystone in the ceiling, which solved this riddle. We were granted some magic arrows inside the griffin’s mouth. Good, we will need them.The next area was disturbing. After feeling uneasy, we deduced this was an area of dead magic. My spells would be useless here. My wits and my blade would have to do. A long plinth of stone stood in the midst of bubbling mud. As soon as we set foot on the bridge, a huge slab of granite began sliding down at the other end of the bridge. We ran for it–only to be dragged into the mud by sticky tentacles. Eventually, it was Van’s ghostly telekinetic powers that dragged us from the mud (note: this spell may be useful when I reach the fifth circle of spells). And strength granted to my cousin from Clangeddin kept the door open long enough for most of us to get through. Sadly, my cousin and Hnaef were left behind.The next door had no latch, lock or handle and it bore the following riddle:Housed in crumbling temple, unseen by the eye, Eternal and breathless, never to die. It is said that I’m lost if your life’s goal is greed,Treasures that you hoarde–I will never need.It was the quiet, fearful bard who spoke the true answer: "your soul," which opened the portal. Perhaps she will make a good soldier after all. We still had the seventh challenge left, and the last room opened into a treasure vault filled with tall stone shelves holding many tomes, small coffers, scrolls, potion vials, and other items. At the end of the room, was another moonlight portal. The items would do us well in the upcoming war, but the ranger felt that greed was the final test. He moved to investigate the moonlight beam and disappeared. The fearful bard soon followed, leaving the two elves and myself in the room. With our "conscience" gone, we decided to investigate the items. Roman went first to look at the magical bracers. I remembered my uncle telling me how elves can strip the magic from items just by touching them. Hogwash, but what if the ranger was right? As Roman touched the bracers, a low keening cry rose from the elf’s chest, and I feared some fell magic might be slaying him. When Roman’s shout reached a crescendo (I was fumbling for spell components) it turned into a cry of glee. "These bracers are excellent!" Roman shouted. All was well and we swept the room clean of its treasure. We joined the others in first room with the Seneschal. Luckily one of the scrolls we found was for raising the dead, and the Seneschal himself performed the spell on our ranger, who proceeded to give me a tongue lashing for my "greed." (Funny how useful he was when he was dead). We also found a scroll with powerful arcane magics, which we were forced to use to rescue Velm and Hnaef from within the chambers. It could not be helped. The items we found were touched by Selune herself and radiate power–the gods are powerful beings deserving of our respect. Although the ranger is a fool, he has a good heart and is certainly skillful. This describes most of the others in my band. The ranger and my cousin sought Aerunedar at the will of their deities, Saeita seeks only physical perfection, Caramip seems to want to flee from here as quickly as possible, and Roman seeks glory and riches. We must free Aerunedar from this curse. This place holds the secrets of dwarven magic. Ages past, dwarven battle prowess worked side by side with arcane and divine magics. With Mystra’s help, this age will live again. Lady Mystra, thank you for granting me access to the Weave. But the more knowledge I gain, and the more power I accumulate, the clearer the mysteries of the Weave become to me, and the closer I get to my goal. I regret that I was forced to leave behind the dwarven gods when I left Thunderstone. But I had no choice. I know that one day, there will exist a dwarven god of magic on the pantheon of the dwarven gods–and his name will be Bronn. (Note: consider changing name once godhood is achieved).Now–we rest in the stone cavern guarded by the Seneschal.  There is still one Trial awaiting us, the seventh, and the Seneschal says it is different for everyone.  Indeed–I say bring it, and I will lay low whatever is brought.(Thanks to "Bronn" for supplying his journal...)</blockquote>

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