Agents of Chaos (Final Update!)

[the Jester]

Attack on the Nematodean

Our heroes appear in a burst of unseen teleportative energy in the chamber of the nematodean. It’s full of rubble, a large cave hollowed by who-knows-what in ages past.

A quick glance reveals no obvious signs of habitation, but the worm-thing must be here somewhere. Carefully, our heroes start investigating- and almost immediately, the Eye spots a huge, wet worm coiled loosely under some of the dirt and rock. With a silent gesture he indicates it, and the party starts moving into position. Orbius casts a mass haste, and then Sheva blasts the creature with a flame strike. With a sibilant hiss, the great worm violently jerks upright- and it’s huge; just its forebody rises almost 30’ into the air! The color of pale human skin, it’s covered with little follicles of hair and it drips a disgusting yellow slime where it’s wounded. It shivers as the Eye fires off a blast of mystic cold at it and Sheva blasts it with another flame strike. Habiskis- returned to Sheva’s grasp late in the night- fires his wand of fireballs at the monster.

Then it lunges, snakelike, at Angelfire, trying to bite him; but the scarlet-skinned Coilite manages to avoid its maw. Not so its coils, however; they loop around him and squeeze.

"Hey," Sybele says suddenly, "it just occurred to me- if these things split in two, isn’t it possible that some of these previous adventurers that Mabrack sent down here-"

Before she has a chance to finish her thought, another nematodean bursts out of the rubble, looming high above the heroes.

"-might have already... never mind," Sybele trails off.



Next Time: Well, this was the nematodean’s first playtest, and let’s just say that afterwards I decided to bump its CR from 15 to 18....

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

W00t! It back! With new update and everything!

*praises*

 

[the Jester]

Against the Nematodeans, part one

Several of our heroes are only taking defensive stances; what else can they do, with no way to really hurt the beasts? They’re just distractions for the worms, someone other than the spellcasters for the nematodean- no, nematodeans- to attack.

Thrush and Sybele are in that boat. Sybele has an acid flask or two, but....

Angelfire’s sort of in the same, but he's got some potions of fire breath (to go with his fire shtick) that he bought not so long ago. Still, at the moment he's being crushed by the incredible strength of the nematodean’s coils, and he can’t seem to struggle free. Well, at least it's distracted. And since Angelfire's a fire creature*, the party members who can use fireballs do so with no worry of harming him.

But enough's enough. Angelfire uses psionics to dimension door free, and Sybele hurls her acid, then backpedals away from the worm. The other worm rushes towards Angelfire, but he's far enough away that it doesn't yet reach him. The nematodean that he escaped from thrashes at Sheva, moving in and lunging at her with a bite that deals savage damage.

Orbius still has a trick or two up his sleeves. He casts a maze on the monster rushing Angelfire, then fires an arrow of acid at the remaining one. "He’ll be back!" the Eye warns loudly as the mazed worm vanishes.

Habiskis keeps trying to use the wand, but he's not a sorcerer, he's trying through sheer force of personality, and it seems to fail almost as often as it succeeds! The little imp does a dance of frustration and tries again. The nematodean grabs hold of Thrush and gives him a mighty squeeze. The fighter roars as he pushes back, trying to break free- and succeeding! Teeth grinding, thews bunching, he forces his way from the beast's terrible coils! Sheva tumbles up and lays a spell upon him, and some of the damage heals.

Acid arrow after acid arrow fires from Orbius’ fingers. There are now four of them burning into the monster. Thrush has taken up a torch and is rushing in fiercely, burning the worm. Another acid arrow springs from the Eye. Sheva calls out loud taunts at the swaying worm, trying to distract it. Another fireball blasts it from the imp’s wand; Habiskis has moved near Orbius (which makes the Eye very nervous, but this time Habiskis resists the urge to try to pickpocket him). The creature strikes, smashing the ground near Sheva, but she’s rolling fast to stay away and it misses. And Thrush rushes in again and strikes a final blow with his torch- dropping it!

Breathing heavily, the party exchanges glances. Many of them are wounded, and the nematodean's constriction was deadly. They've shot their wad of spells. And there’s another one in the maze, due back... any time, depending on the intelligence of the worms.


*A long time ago, via Chaos effects, Angelfire got the fire subtype.


Next Time: The party fights nematodean #2, low on fire, acid and cold! Nothing like attacks that do one point of damage at a time!

 

[the Jester]

Against the Nematodeans, Pt. 2 (or, the Second Half)

When the second nematodean reappears, Sheva’s already thought out her best option. She tings a tuning fork and cries, "Go to Heaven!!" But it resists her plane shift, so she pulls out a torch, cursing mightily.

Another fireball blossoms from Habiskis' wand, and Sybele hurls two flasks of alchemists' fire at the huge worm. Thrush rushes in and the torch he wields slaps at the worm some more. People are scattering as the worm rushes at them, frightfully deadly. Its bite snaps at Sheva, only her blur saving her. She hastes herself and activates her cloak of embrace, sprouting extra arms. She pulls a torch, and stands ready for it. Angelfire breathes a gout of flame at the worm, which reaches down to Thrush, who has severely burned it with the torch, and bites him! He just grunts as the worm tears loose a chunk of his abdomen, but he’s clearly just taken a serious wound. Worse, the thing crashes down on him with its long coils and constricts him! "Aaargh!" he cries.

Orbius summons a fire elemental. "Grapple that worm! Don’t actually strike it!" he cries in Ingnan. Then he tries to polymorph the great monster crushing Thrush into a bunny, but once again he fails to affect it!

Sheva scoops up Thrush's torch, lights hers with it, and lays a devastating series of blows on the worm, on the side Thrush didn’t burn. Its pale skin bleeds copious yellow fluid as it hisses and sizzles. The thing hisses and sways above the party like a reed in a windstorm, squeezing Thrush in its terrible coils. "Thrush!" Sybele cries, firing off a dinky little psionic finger of fire- it's all she's got left. The creature’s forebody whips down, biting Sheva's arm and shaking her for an instant before dropping her to the ground again. She staggers, then grimly shakes it off and keeps up her assault. A final fireball completely expends Habiskis' wand and it crumbles to dust, leaving the imp squeaking curses and cowering behind a rocky pillar.

But then Orbius' elemental moves in, trying to grapple the nematodean back. The monster slaps a bite at it as it reaches for it and easily twists away from the living fire’s grab, but the yellowish fluid leaking prolifically from it catches fire and it burns. As it writhes and twists, Thrush finally manages to slip free, staggering away, his ribs cracked, almost all the breath driven from him. With a groan, he pulls back from it and quickly quaffs two healing potions, then glances around. Orbius is firing rays of frost, Sybele more fingers of fire. Is that all we've got left? the fighter wonders wildly, then shakes the sweat from his forehead and chugs another bottle of healing fluid.

But Orbius is just waiting for the right moment. He’s been edging around, looking for a clear shot, and as he hesitates while Sheva and, especially, Angelfire tumble out of his line of fire, he starts casting the last big damage spell he’s got- a final cone of cold. There's a sparkle of blue-white light as frost condenses from the water vapor in the air and forms on the stones; the nematodean takes the worst of it- although the fire burning on it goes out- and with a final hiss, it falls, shattering into hundreds of icy chunks.

For a moment the party is silent, scarcely believing it's over. Sybele almost points out that there could, indeed, be more of them- but she decides to cross her fingers and hope for the best instead. And nothing else emerges from the rubble.

"We did it!" cries the Eye.

A search through the rubble turns up some very interesting loot...




Next Time: Treasure! Negotiations! Marius! Morland! And New Years' Eve!

 

[the Jester]

"Wow, all this must have come from the adventurers that Mabrack sent down here previously," Sybele comments.

The party's turned up quite a collection of broken armor and weapons, a few gems, a village's worth of coins and more. Among the more interesting nonmagical items are a golden symbol of Galador and a mithral harp studded with sapphires at the tuning pegs ("too bad we don't have a bard," comments Sheva).

Quite a few magical items turn up, too; after Orbius has a chance to use his new perfect identify spell on some, and regular identify spells on the rest, it turns out that they've found:

• Potions of flying, protection from fire, remove disease, remove fear and aid;
  An arcane scroll containing the spells wall of force, cloudkill, and minor globe of invulnerability;
  Bracers of Escape (gives a +15 competence bonus to Escape Artist checks and a +4 shield bonus to AC vs. attacks that can initiate a grapple);
  A Wand of Magic Missiles, maximized (caster level 9, but only 6 charges);
  A Tome of Understanding +2;
  The Devouring Rod (functions 2/day, can cast destruction by touch, grant its wielder a +3 enhancement bonus to all ability scores for one hour, or emanate a planar shockwave that breaks all dimension anchors/locks or similar effects within 60' and deals 10d6 to all ethereal or incorporeal creatures within the same range; each time it's used there's a 25% chance it will devour a random magic item of its wielder, and if it's used once in a day it can choose to activate itself a second time; Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 10, Ego 6, AL CE; never bestows a negative level).
  The Strogassian Shadow Ring (graven with a grey screaming face on the band, once put on it can't be removed without a successful break enchantment against 20th level caster or severing the wearer's finger; the wielder may use a Shadow Touch ability, which lasts for 10 rounds and gives the wearer a touch attack that deals 1d6 str damage, Fort DC 10+1/2 HD+ cha bonus negates; using this ability deals 1d4 str damage to the wearer; also allows the wearer to cast fear as a 10th-level sorcerer, save DC 14+cha bonus; deals 1d4 cha damage to wearer when activated; also allows the wearer to heal herself as the spell, except that it won't heal ability damage inflicted by the ring itself; using this deals 1d6 con damage to the wearer. Finally, the wearer can cast slow (save DC 13+cha bonus) as a 10th-level sorcerer, although this inflicts 1d4 points of dex damage to the wearer).

"Well, that works out," Sheva says cheerfully. The party returns to the storm giant wizard's castle above and reports their success. Then they take a well-deserved rest and divide up the loot. Sybele takes the ring since she's already got one semi-cursed ring (taken from Firestorm Peak years ago), Sheva takes the tome and then realizes that it's useless to her (she's already read one). Muttering curses, she decides to sell it. Angelfire eyes it greedily, hoping she'll offer it to him; this will prove the first real strain in their relationship. Orbius claims the devouring rod with real reservations; he decides to sell it, though Habiskis licks his lips at the thought of owning such an item.

Mabrack booms, "Good news! Marius has agreed to negotiate with you. He should be here on New Year's Day." He frowns momentarily. "I tell you what I told him; you are guests in my home. Do not cause trouble, or I will be forced to destroy you." Enthusiastically, Sybele agrees, hoping she might see her daughter again soon.

During the day, an unexpected visitor arrives, looking for Lester. It's Morland, the dwarven stonelord that they met in the battle with the formian hive on Pesh months ago. He fled the Battle of Pesh when it became apparent that his sacred earth temple was going to be overrun, and found a wizard willing to teleport him to the party Lester was in- of course, the L's not here now, but he asked to be transported to the group, and he seems safe here (although the giant's more than a little disconcerting to the little dwarf).

Then, as it's New Year's Eve, they all get roaring drunk. The conversation goes in many directions that are probably not the most discrete ("the best way to kill a mage is to get in close," says Sheva to the giant; Sybele keeps coming on to Mabrack, leading Thrush frowning grimly- she's his, after all), but nobody starts a fight and things seem relatively smooth. The group gets trashed until they're on the verge of passing out; then Angelfire naps himself, Thrush and Mabrack, and after an hour, they awake refreshed and start drinking again, not stopping til almost 10 on New Year's Morning.

At noon, Mabrack receives a sending. "Marius," he announces, "will be here in fifteen minutes."


Next Time: Negotiations with Marius!

 

[Stone D. Mason]

To those who have journeyed onward,

Aye, it thee Stone D. Mason, Drawven warrior and old confidant and friend. I see ye battle on, I see ye fight the good fight, the fight that I wish I could see, and more so be. Oh, how I long for the battle, for my axe has hung to long, by the mantle that warms my hearth, my sons, my daughters, and all that I love, but still I long for thee.

Home is the warrior, home from the field, and the worker removed from the till.

I grant upon thee all that I am; strength, honor, dedication, and ignorance not see the difference. Follow thy codes, and above all the law, and good fortune I am sure will befall thee. Listen not to your will less it be strong, listen to thine own hearts, stubbornness, and esteem. Be willing to deliver everything, and except nothing in return. Take joy in thy looting, and be happy with thy defeats. Oh, the days they pass so slowly now that I have departed from thee.

I write to bring tidings to all, and wish the best of luck to thee. Especialy, I wish luck to my confidants, old friends who fought along side me.

To Lester, The L., the elemental steady thy path you shall, and find strength in your greatest assets those that surround thee. You fight the good fight, as distracted as it may seem. But you are a rock, like me, moved not often, but drastically.

To Malferd; be not too brave for it is not with in you, instead be wise and retrieved. The fields have always favored you, and then you invented the plow? Be strong of mind and wisdom, for you know it best, yet forget not your cunningness the node of the plan.

And, to whatever god that guided me along my deviant plan. Thank you for leading me to my journey’s end, so that I can know what it is I really long for. The trek was good, but the home is too, and all that came in between. Adventure seems such a distant memory that I wish, one day, to find again.

I speak often to my offspring of the times I spent with thee, and long for the time that I can return with them, fighting along side me.

Good luck sweet Princes and Princesses… may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Missing the thrill of the hunt,
Stone D. Mason

 

[the Jester]

To those who have journeyed onward,

Aye, it thee Stone D. Mason, Drawven warrior and old confidant and friend. I see ye battle on, I see ye fight the good fight, the fight that I wish I could see, and more so be. Oh, how I long for the battle, for my axe has hung to long, by the mantle that warms my hearth, my sons, my daughters, and all that I love, but still I long for thee....

>snip<

I speak often to my offspring of the times I spent with thee, and long for the time that I can return with them, fighting along side me.

Good luck sweet Princes and Princesses… may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Missing the thrill of the hunt,
Stone D. Mason

Wow, that's so cool!

The above message came unexpectedly from an old friend (and an old character in the campaign), Stone. Now Thane of Platinum Peak on Dorhaus, Stone is a powerful fighter who traveled with Lester, Malford, Hobbes (the tabaxi leader), Drelvin and others that have been mentioned in passing here (some of whom will shortly take on greater prominence in the story).

He's also, alas, a lycanthrope; but in a world where the moons come years or decades apart, that's a well-kept secret known only to a very few and suspected only by a few more.

Good to hear from you, Stone!! And maybe I'll post a little interlude with the present goings-on for you sometime soon! If you're ever in the area, give me a call or send me an email!

 

[the Jester]

Negotiations with Marius

The simulacrum is brilliant, and he knows it. Of course, he's only a shade of the real Marius, but even so...! He has his instructions, and his motives, he supposes, are roughly the same as the so-called 'real' Marius'. And he knows about the knot.

His forehead creases as he thinks about that. The temporal knot, some distance downstream, going to happen sometime... not soon, but planning ahead is what being a chronomancer is about. There's a knot in time where the adventurers he's going to talk to- or at least some of them- interfere with him in a big way. He- well, the 'real' him- can see the temporal knot, and the simulacrum has the memory of it even if he can't perceive it himself. They have to be stopped, kept from interfering. And they want to negotiate, just as he'd foreseen! The simulacrum remembers that, too- but something has been causing distortions lately, ripples in the chronal surface. Things have been diverging from the most likely path. He- the 'real' him- couldn't foresee the result of this meeting. Thus... the simulacrum.

I'm real too, the simulacrum thinks resentfully, then smooths his face and steps into the stream portal. There's a sense of giddiness as the silvery dust sweeps him along, and then he steps out into the Prime Plane. He casts a few cursory defensive spells, then teleports without error to Mabrack's Castle. The giant shows him to a sitting room.

And there they are; the adventurers. He studies them: Sybele, obviously, her form earthen and craggy, her blonde hair falling low on her back, her bow and sword. Some man next to her, obviously a warrior. I don't know him, the simulacrum notes. Then there's Angelfire, the red-skinned one. A Coilite, worthy of respect. Too bad Coila's on the wrong side of the Great Conflict. That one would be Orbius, the Boccobite. His master is missing, the simulacrum notes. As is the Galadorian. A pity. And that last one must be Sheva: red hair curling down almost to the waist, wearing only a chain mail bikini and a large collection of deadly-looking greatswords.

"First off," the simulacrum says without preamble, "let's get one thing out of the way. I'm not the real Marius, I'm a simulacrum here to negotiate in his place, so you'll gain nothing by attacking me."

"Very well," the Eye answers cautiously. "We're here to negotiate Jezebel's release."

"Of course," the simulacrum says. "I have a number of people of interest to you."

"Like who? Other than Jezebel," Orbius asks.

"You know about Jezebel; let's just say there are a number of others."

"I don't really care about my dad," Angelfire says.

"What do you want from us? We don't know why you're messing with us! What have we done to you?" Sybele implores.

"Yes, perhaps we can stop doing whatever it is that we're doing, or undo what we've done, or something- but we don't even know what we've done, and until we know how we've angered you we can't put things aright." Orbius is feeling his way cautiously in this conversation.

The simulacrum settles back in his chair and studies the group. "You have interfered with my plans, and you will do so more in the future."

"Why do you oppose Coila in the Great War of Ethics?" Sheva speaks up, her eyes burning into Marius as she stares at him. Or rather, at his simulacrum.

She's striking, the construct thinks. If I were the real one, I would take her for my bride. "I worship Coila for what she represents- the mysteries of Time, and it's inevitable march. That's been the direction of my arcane studies for centuries now. She represents that relentless flow, the orderly wearing down of all things. I understand why she supports Chaos; it's about personal power. I just can't agree with her. I am a philosopher, and I've traveled the planes, and I have seen worlds where Chaos holds sway. Do you know what that's like? Barbarism holds sway, books and things of learning are forgotten or burned. Terror reigns in such worlds, and I'll not aid such things in happening here or anywhere.

"I've heard all the arguments about the Forinthian Empire stifling dissent and other religions, about it absorbing local cultures. I agree that those things are tragic, but the Empire also builds roads and schools, ships food to hungry islands in a hundred places and more, helps modernize savages and helps to heal the sick and injured. The world is more certain; there's less war, crime, disorder.

"No, a victory for Chaos would be a disaster for everyone. It must be prevented."

The simulacrum pauses, looking intensely back at Sheva. She doesn't seem swayed. By Coila, she's beautiful, the simulacrum thinks again.

"Well, if we agree to stay out of the war will you return my daughter?" Sybele nearly begs.

"You will greatly stay out of the war without my action," the simulacrum states. "But I will make you an offer. If you will submit to exile far enough in what you would call 'the future' that you cannot interfere with my plans, I will return the ones I have taken. Say, a thousand years."

Orbius answers grimly. "We have things to do. We don't really know what your plans are, and we're sorry if you were involved with the formians, but if you can contact us and tell us when we're messing with your stuff we'll stop."

Marius shakes his head. "Insufficient. You may cause us problems even unintentionally." That knot comes, unbidden, to the front of the simulacrum's mind again. It has to be untangled! If there were more of me, it thinks, we could work harder to monitor everything. I wonder if that's occurred to the 'real' me? I wish I was self-controlled!

"Well, what can we do then?" Orbius asks.

The simulacrum considers, then says, "Pledge to stay out of my affairs, including when contacted, and to do my bidding three times."

"That's too much," Angelfire says.

"Who all do you have?" Orbius asks.

The simulacrum smiles. "Well, you know I have Jezebel, and of course Nigel is my... ally. And I have your Galadorian friend's boy Till. And more besides, but that's enough to give you an idea."

"You don't have anyone on me," Sheva says, "and you murdered a fellow priest of Coila. I'll not do your bidding." Angelfire nods vigorously.

The simulacrum shrugs delicately. "Then what more do you offer? Or this meeting is over, and was useless."

"No!" Sybele cries. "Please! My daughter, just return my daughter! I'll take your pledge!"

The ersatz Marius frowns. "I'll tell you what. You take my pledge, and I'll release your daughter." His face turns cold. "But if any of you interfere with my plans knowingly, I'll kill her. Without a second warning."

"Okay," Sybele says eagerly. "Whatever, just bring her to me!"

The simulacrum smiles briefly. "First you'll take a geas," he says, and casts a spell. In moments it is done. Then the simulacrum departs. "I'll be back in moments," he says as he telports away.



Next Time: Jezebel, Sybele's half-dragon love child, was five years old when they last saw each other. A Family Reunion!

 

[the Jester]

Sybele's Daughter

"Mom?"

Oh my god, Sybele thinks, she's grown so much...

Jezebel is fifteen now. She's looking at Sybele with a mix of distrust, resentment and hope on her face. But she's holding Marius' hand.

Marius... He lets go of her hand and murmurs, "Go, child." Jezebel hesitantly steps towards Sybele, who holds her hands out to the half-dragon girl.

Jezebel turns back to Marius and hugs him fiercely. Then she walks towards her mother, slowly closing the distance. She does not go into her mother's embrace.

"Do you want to stay with him?" Sybele asks hoarsely.

Jezebel looks torn for a moment. Her eyes start to glimmer with tears. She shakes her head no, then rushes to Sybele. They hug. Behind Jezebel, Marius stares hard at Sybele.

"Remember our bargain," he calls, and teleports away.




Next Time: The Return of Horbin the Holy!

 

[Talix]

Hey there Jester, still reading and loving this storyhour. I apologize for the length inbetween my replies.

This most recent negotiation was pretty cool, I thought - nice that they were able to find a solution without compromising the other members of the party.

I am surprised, though, that they didn't confirm a couple things, like, say, "Your plans won't be bothered by us crushing the Temple of Elemental Evil, will they?" Otherwise, things could get hairy pretty quickly.

I look forward to seeing the long-term consequences of this bargain.