Agents of Chaos (Final Update!)

[the Jester]

Felenga's Rebuttal

Orbius stares intently at the trump of Var. It takes a fair degree of concentration to make contact*, and he's a little flustered...

Before he can finish, Felenga begins making his rebuttal. The ooze octopus was a distraction, to give him time to prepare his minions.

There's a flash of light and three visible creatures appear.

One of them is a deathbringer. It wears intricately worked full plate armor over its death-pallor skin. The breastplate sports an obex symbol, as do the greaves. The undead monster whirls two black flails, moving extremely quickly. The party fought a deathbringer before, when Chemnu attacked them, and it was no picnic. There's another one there, too, but he's cloaked by improved invisibility. Our heroes don't yet realize he's there, but that will change almost immediately.

Just behind the deathbringers are two whirlwinds of flame. Lester recognizes them as living holocausts- elementals composed of equal parts air, fire and evil. The winds around them immediately start moving with startling speed, checking the party and heating up with burning intensity. Small dry grasses on the side of the road burst into flame. Angelfire smiles, enjoying the wind. Habiskis shrieks, blowing away, barely catching himself on a tree.

Before the enemy can move, Orbius throws a barred forcecage around them. They're too far apart to cage them all in a solid box, unfortunately, for the deathbringers immediately cast area dispels at the party, dropping one defensive or buffing spell or another from everyone, almost all of them cast by Orbius. The Eye curses, but he finally gets trump contact with Var. "Come on!" he shouts. "Let's get out of here! You, too, Lester!"

Horbin tries to move forward to Orbius, but the winds are too strong. He is blown off-course and must grab Sybele to avoid being blown away. He's being scorched by the superheating air, too. He grits his teeth; this already looks ugly. Then things get worse, as the living holocausts shoot out of the bars of the forcecage and whip tails of flame out at Lester. Then there's another flash of light, and four weird-looking creatures appear. They're strangely troll-like, but to those knowledgable about the planes, they look like tarry demodands. With loud screams of rage, the four monsters rush at Horbin and Thrush, clawing wildly at them.

"Come on!" Orbius yells over the screaming winds, but the deathbringers cast more dispels, and one of them is targeted at Orbius. He loses many of his magical wards and buffs, and worse- the trump contact. Another dispel hits Lester, taking away much of his magical enhancement as well.

Angelfire leans against the wind but can't progress against it. Zeebo is blown almost into him, and he manages to grab the Mayor with one strong arm just as a dispel hits him. Zeebo is terrified. Horbin is meleeing with one of the half-troll demodands, missing his strike, as is Thrush, who hits but almost loses his sword to its sticky slime; but nobody can move against the winds towards Orbius- and the contact's been lost, regardless, Angelfire notes.

But the fight against Elemental Evil is Lester's specialty. He is an elementalist, after all. Gesturing strongly at the holocaust winds, he uses his powers to control one! "Counter your brother's winds!" he commands, and the air grows still- but it remains deadly hot. The ground itself seems to smoulder, and the half-demodands are clearly protected against it.

Zeebo hastes himself and Horbin, and Sheva hastes herself as well. The half-trolls keep attacking, duelling deadly with Thrush and Horbin, and they're now starting to heal the gashes that our heroes have inflicted! Arrows spring into one of their sides and it roars with pain and anger.

The uncontrolled living holocaust is attacking Orbius, hasted itself. It strikes him, searing across his chest with burning razor winds. Thrush and Horbin are both suffering wounds, and the deathbringers- hasted as well, curse it- keep throwing more targeted dispels from within the bard of their forcecage. I should have only caught one or two of them and made it solid! Orbius thinks wildly.

Live and learn... maybe.

Angelfire tumbles in next to Horbin the Holy, moving with uncanny speed, and swings his falchion in a deadly arc. He knocks one of the half-troll demodands to the ground, then turns to face the next and strikes it in the head with cunning force! Horbin, meanwhile, brings his holy mace down on the one on the ground, finishing it.

Lester turns to the issue of the deathbringers. "You can cast out," he yells, "so I can cast in!" And he brings an incendiary cloud out, a rolling reddish vapor full of sparks and fire. Then he jerks a potion from his belt and tosses it to Thrush. "Drink this!" he cries, and the warrior does so, some of his wounds closing.

We're not doing so badly, the Eye thinks as Sybele drops the uncontrolled Holocaust, accidentally hitting Horbin in the process.

He might think differently if he knew that Turfi and Lendivo had arrived unseen and were about to slay a party member... much like before.



*Activating a trump is a full-round action that requires a successful Intelligence check, DC 15; it also draws an attack of opportunity. Fortunately, Orbius has ultimate concentration in effect, which allows him to concentrate on multiple things at once.


Next Time: Turfi and Lendivo kill again! The battle continues! The next wave is coming!!

 

[Technik4]

Awesome

Man, high-level play sounds so cool. A few questions since it seems characters have gained a few levels (rightfully so!):

1. Is Zeebo still a straight Wiz/Sor, or has he picked up a prc?

2. Angelfire enjoys the wind. Because he was strong enough to make the save to not be blown away or does he have some kind of wind resistance? We know he has the fire thing down (was it fire immunity or just high resistance?).

3. Horbin never seems to try and turn undead. Is this because at high levels it is a low-chance maneuver or just Horbin's style?

4. Is Thrush a PC? It seemed like he started out as an NPC, then seemed like a cohort, but lately has seemed like a full-fledged PC.

5. How do trumps work exactly? I know its a teleport thing, but reading that its a full-round action sort of gave me an itch to know more. Would you mind throwing a trump up in your homebrew revelation post?

6. Lester uses his powers to control the wind! Isn't he a fire elementalist (Or a para-elementalist, I think he took a prc for that)? Also what happened to him exactly? Is he fully recovered? Did he get that arm back yet?

7. Concerning Orbius. Do you mostly play Orbius or do you let Lester's player do it? How is the division? It reflects really nicely in the SH, youd never know he was a cohort...

8. When did Sheva get de-stoned? I know they trumped away, but you didn't explicitly state it.

9. How do you manage to update everyday?

Anyway as usual, keep up the awesome work. This is still my fav storyhour!

Technik

PS Aw hell, lets make it ten even questions:

10. When do you plan on updating the old story hour?

 

[the Jester]

Re: Awesome

Man, high-level play sounds so cool. A few questions since it seems characters have gained a few levels (rightfully so!):

1. Is Zeebo still a straight Wiz/Sor, or has he picked up a prc?

Still straight wiz/sor... at this point, he was wiz 7/sor 6.

2. Angelfire enjoys the wind. Because he was strong enough to make the save to not be blown away or does he have some kind of wind resistance? We know he has the fire thing down (was it fire immunity or just high resistance?).

Neither, because it was superhot. It was more the heat that he enjoyed than the wind per se. As far as that goes, as a Fire subtype creature he's totally immune to heat damage.

3. Horbin never seems to try and turn undead. Is this because at high levels it is a low-chance maneuver or just Horbin's style?

Hm, good question. I guess it's more just a matter of style- there have been a couple of times when I sort of half-expected him to turn, and it would've been pretty useful. I think turning undead is one of those moves that gets less useful as the pcs advance, though, because high CR undead tend to have lots more HD than CR.

4. Is Thrush a PC? It seemed like he started out as an NPC, then seemed like a cohort, but lately has seemed like a full-fledged PC.

Nope, he's an npc. He probably wouldn't still be with the pcs if it wasn't for Sybele- he's been trying to get her to retire from adventuring for the sake of their baby! Fat chance.

5. How do trumps work exactly? I know its a teleport thing, but reading that its a full-round action sort of gave me an itch to know more. Would you mind throwing a trump up in your homebrew revelation post?

Oooh, complicated one! I'll put some info up over there, but a good start would be to read the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny- they're unabashedly stolen from the series. It starts with Nine Princes in Amber, then the Guns of Avalon, Sign of the Unicorn, the Hand of Oberon and the Courts of Chaos. Fantastic reading. There's a second series as well, but the first one is far better. Nonetheless, I'll put some info up on the other thread. (Players, stay out!!)

6. Lester uses his powers to control the wind! Isn't he a fire elementalist (Or a para-elementalist, I think he took a prc for that)? Also what happened to him exactly? Is he fully recovered? Did he get that arm back yet?

Heh.. isn't this actually three questions?

He actually uses his powers to command one of the living holocausts (which are both air and fire elementals- they're in the Fiend Folio). This is a high-level elementalist ability; for more on them you can check out the Cydra Yahoo group I started, in the files section there's a Word doc that details the elementalist. He's actually only a first-level paraelementalist (as you get higher level as a paraelementalist you have to have more favored elements as an elementalist; to be a magma p.e. you have to have both fire and earth, to be a smoke p.e. you need both air and fire, etc)/13th level elementalist.

As for his arm, not yet, but as soon as there's time Orbius plans on it!

What happened to him- well, after depositing him at the Temple of Elemental Good, Orbius told the high adept to take him to Galador's temple, where he received instructions- basically to go attack the Temple of Elemental Evil as soon as possible. As long as he's on the quest the effects of Galador's geas are mitigated; if he stops, they'll come back, only even moreso. (If you'll recall, he took a 12-point hit to each ability score! Moreso probably will kill him.) As you'll see, Galador's definition of attacking the Temple includes some fairly indirect questing for a weapon against Felenga- at this point, Felenga is Galador's biggest concern.

7. Concerning Orbius. Do you mostly play Orbius or do you let Lester's player do it? How is the division? It reflects really nicely in the SH, youd never know he was a cohort...

It's 99% James' work (well, the other James- Lester's player). I have enough to worry about. He is an npc, though, and I do reserve the right to take a hand in his control. I actually am much more prone to do so with Habiskis (Sheva's imp), however; there have been several occasions when he's pickpocketed members of the party, for instance.

8. When did Sheva get de-stoned? I know they trumped away, but you didn't explicitly state it.

Ooops, you're right- I left it out! IIRC, Horbin hit her with a break enchantment almost immediately after the fight.

9. How do you manage to update everyday?

Well, it isn't quite every day... But I hurt my back camping last weekend, and so I've had the last couple of days off while I convalesce, so I've had some free time. Also, when the boards are down I usually work up the next couple of updates as a Word doc then cut & paste.

Back to work tomorrow, though!

PS Aw hell, lets make it ten even questions:

10. When do you plan on updating the old story hour?

Er... I need to confer with my players about their conversation with the shade of the Last King of Dorla, and, er, it's on my list, I swear.

Thanks for mentioning it- I keep looking at the link in my sig and putting it off, when people remind me about it- well, let's just say a little prodding helps.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[Technik4]

For anyone else who has never heard of Roger Zelzany, here is the link.

Sounds like good stuff, despite never hearing of him I ordered his Short Story Collection, Amber Collection, and Lords of Light. Can't wait to tear into some new fantasy/sf.

Technik

 

[the Jester]

Turfi and Lendive Slay One of Our Heroes

Turfi the Mortal Hunter arrived, hiding and naturally invisible, moments ago- and has been moving into position. The entire force will be hasted, Felenga saw to that. He saw to many other things, too. Turfi's got eight active effects of one sort or another as he moves in. Zeebo casts bonebreak on one of the half-trolls, and it roars in pain; and then Turfi strikes, slamming the Mayor thrice and constricting him with lethal effect. Zeebo's neck, arms and legs break as he dies instantly.

"ZEEBO!" cries Lester.

He orders the living holocaust he controls to attack the caged deathbringers, but as it does so the other one springs up from the ground where it had lain in wispy form! It whirls at Sheva, trying to incinerate her, but she's too fast, casting dispel temporal manipulations and stripping everyone present of their haste effects. "That ought to even the odds a little!" she shouts angrily, whipping Blue Fang off her back and settling into a fighting stance. Her imp strikes the demondand-troll with its unicorn dagger, flitting away again with its little wings.

The Bile Lords, Orbius thinks. Sorely beset. He says, "We need to get out of here!" He's manages to seem surprisingly calm. He teleports to Var and immediately pulls out Lester's trump.

The half-trolls, meanwhile, are rending Thrush terribly, and they rip him nearly in two. He falls, dead, as well. "Nooo!" cries Sybele. She shoots the living holocaust that is attacking Sheva down, then shoots off one of the half-troll's right arm! It falls, dead. Horbin rushes to Thrush's body, grabs it, and drags it to Sybele.

Lester cries, "Begone, Turfi!" He successfully dismisses the mortal slayer. Even as he does so, four vrocks appear alongside some strange tentacled aberration studded with crystals and rocks! The creature springs at Sheva, slapping at her with a tentacle. "I can get us out of here," she calls, but then smiles and strikes another of the half-trolls down with Blue Fang. Habiskis cowardly clings to her leg, but no one notices or cares.

Two of the vrocks teleport in on Horbin, flanking him and attacking! One tries to charm Angelfire, but when it fails the final vrock moves in and attacks him. He falls back to Sheva, as do the rest of the party, and the enemy presses forward! But Angelfire drops one of the half-trolls, cleaving to stun the next with a mighty blow, and then Sheva pulls out a tuning fork and plane shifts them away to the Abyss.


Next Time: An encounter with an old pc, sort of!!

 

[the Jester]

An Old PC in An Unfortunate Place

The ringing of the tuning fork fades into the distance as our beleagured heroes appear in the depths of the Abyss.

The air is hot and smokey, stinking of brimstone and burning flesh. The moans of the damned rise in the distance. Half-melted figures, once mortals that have now been condemned for their sins, lie impales on either side of a road of cracked and charred bones.

"I don't like this place," Lester says nervously, but Habiskis smiles and takes a deep breath, happy to be home.

"We'll trump back to Var," Orbius reassures him, shuffling through the deck of trumps. Lester eyes them; the Eye smiles and says, "I'll give you these back once we're home."

"Llllllesster...." croaks a voice. "Hhhheeeellp... mmmmeeee!"

In horror, the party turns to see a shambling form, one of the souls of the damned, stumbling forth, approaching them with imploring hands. Its molten face seems to flow between that of a fiend of the pit and a vaguely elven face.

"By the elements!" the L cries. "It can't be!"

"You know... this thing?" Sybele eyes the cringing petitioner askance.

"Hhhheeeellp mmee," the creature slurps obscenely, approaching and pawing at the elementalist.

"Who... who are you?" Lester gasps, backing away from it, but he knows the answer.

"You knnnow," the creature gargles. "Plllleeease... rrescue me! It's so horrrribllle heeere..."

"Say your name!" Lester cries, aghast, but he knows who it is. Still the creature shakes its head.

"Nnnnooo," it pleads. It seems barely sentient- but all too cognizant of its crimes, its former friend. Shaken, Lester asks another question, one that chills the party in its answer.

"Then, if you won't tell us who you are- were- then tell us this: who did you betray?"

The piteous creature falls to its molten knees, smoke rising as they burn on the infernal ground. "Dexxxterrr," it groans.

"CYRAX!" Lester groans, and remembers....

Long ago, when Lester first fell in with Baron Malford and Dexter and their brave companions, they were accompanied by an axe-wielding elf of surpassing strength and puissance- but little wisdom. Cyrax, his name was, and he was mighty. His downfall came through a cloak found in the Temple of Elemental Evil- a cloak that made him into a gargoyle, at first only in body, but later in mind as well. But somehow he was returned to the group- some unknown agent with whom he made a dreadful bargain of which he would not speak returned his mind to him. It was not until the party's final, climactic battle with Dexter's archfoe, Farenth (thrice-cursed be his name), that the terms of his deal were clarified- and he turned on the party, striking Dexter down. Only Malford and Lester escaped the battle, the rest falling prisoner to Farenth. If they had not stumbled on an old friend, surely doom would have befallen them all- but, aided by Zazou the Yellow Bard, they managed to mount a rescue.

In the end, Cyrax hanged for his crimes, and it was Baron Malford's hand that pulled the plank from beneath his feet, dispensing justice as was his feudal right. And Cyrax did not even defend his actions! Later still, the party journeyed with his brother- Alcar, who was afterward to become an angel... and to also demonstrate that same lack of wisdom. Must have run in the family.

But now... a chance to redeem Cyrax...

"No way," says Horbin, unexpectedly. "He betrayed Dexter? He's where he deserves."

"I don't know," Lester starts. "Maybe-"

"I THINK NOT!" comes an evil voice. "HE IS WHERE HE BELONGS, NOW! IF YOU WISH HIM... YOU MUST BATTLE ALL THE ARMIES OF THE ABYSS FOR HIM!"

The creature that approaches is a hideous parody of a devil, a burning, skeletal frame blackened by the very fires of perdition. Its fleshless wings drip sizzling blood.

"Well," Lester tries, "perhaps we could bargain for him..."

"CERTAINLY, O ELEMENTALIST! I WILL TAKE IN TRADE EITHER YOURSELF OR YOUR COHORT!"

"No, I don't think so," Lester says, shaken.

Orbius breaks off the negotiations as he gets trump contact with Var. "Enough of this! This... creature... has earned his final reward, and it is not our place to interfere! Let us away!"

"Nnnnnooooo, pplleeasssse," the hideous creature pleads, but the party vanishes into a rainbow as they leave the Lower Plane behind.



Next Time: A major shake-up in the party! Old pcs leave, and other, older pcs join!



edited to fix the backstory- the L got away too!

 

[the Jester]

ooops... double post!

More soon!

 

[the Jester]

The Breaking of the Party

"Hmph! Trade me away, indeed!"

"Hey, I'd never do that," the L protests. "I'd be blind without my Eye!"

"Indeed you would," retorts Orbius tartly.

The party strategizes as they leave the palace in Var. "We need a place to hide out," Lester opines.

"I can't teleport us any more today," the Eye points out. "That's a crucial factor. That means we can't travel instantly."

"My temple in the Shining City is warded against teleportation," Sheva states. "And I thought you had a detect scrying up, Orbius? How could they send forces after us without tripping it?"

"I don't know," Orbius admits. "And I don't like it."

"Hey, when I was in the past universe, Tleilax talked about some kind of weird sympathetic tracking magic his people had- maybe that's it?" Lester wonders.

"Either way," Sheva says grimly, "we have a lot to deal with right now." She gestures at the corpses of Zeebo and Thrush. "You got your cohort true resurrected; can you do it for Zeebo?"

"Uh, I don't know," Lester mumbles. "The price was pretty high, and I think it was basically a one time deal. Besides, can't you or Horbin just raise him and be done with it? I have to get on the Temple of Elemental Evil..."

"No," Sheva answers. "If you can't do it, I probably can arrange for it at my temple. It'll just take a day or so."

"Look, I can't wait. I'm geased, I gotta go..."

"Then," Sheva states with finality, "we quit."

"Uh, well, you can word of recall to your temple, do your thing, and then Orbius can 'port you back to-"

"No."

Silence for a moment; then, the Elementalist tries again cautiously. "I mean, why shouldn't we just raise them? That way we don't have to wait, and there's no problem-"

"Except that it drains some of their life energy," Horbin points out.

"No," Sheva says again firmly. "You help us or we won't help you. I don't really care about your geas or your needs. I care about Zeebo- he's been my friend for years. I had an opportunity to get him a true resurrection before and I passed it up, but I won't do it again. So you help us or we quit."

"One thing at a time," sooths Orbius. "Where are we going to hide out?"

"No, the first thing is this," Horbin states. "I can resurrect one of them- Sheva, if you're insistent about Zeebo, I'll do Thrush. Let's get him to the temple of Dexter."

A scant half-hour later, Thrush's eyes open and he lets out a weak cry. Shaking, he sits up, clutching at himself, and retches. "Oooh," he groans, then look around in a momentary panic. "Where- Sybele! You're okay? And Jezebel?" The two nod, the half-dragon touched by his concern.

"We should go somewhere other than my god's temple, in case there's another attack. I don't want my people to suffer." Horbin's very nervous; he seems to have something of a feeling for bad situations, and he thinks this one isn't over yet.

"Well, we could go to the Temple of Elemental Good..." Lester trails off, frowning. "Of course, that might not be such a good idea, either." He glances to the west; it's nearly sundown, and the sky is turning the color or blood.

"Does your temple have wards?" Sheva asks.

"Uh- what do you mean?"

"Protections against scrying, teleportation, that sort of thing?" she snaps impatiently.

"Uh, we believe in the power of the elements..."

"Your temple is weak," Sheva sneers disdainfully.

"Let's see what we can find out," Orbius cries dramatically, and communes.

Who am I talking to? Boccob.
Where is a safe place for us in Var tonight? Rajah's Room.
Are the forces of the Temple of Elemental Evil going to launch another attack on us before we're healed? After a fashion.
Will they attempt to smite us from afar or send forces after us? No.
When will they ressurect Lareth? Unknown.
How many Elemental Princes of Evil remain in the temple? Three.
Crap, Orbius thinks, that means they had all four...
What are their names? Olhydra, Yan-C-Bin and Ogremoch.
What is Ogremoch's greatest weakness? Lust for power.
Can any of the Elemental Princes of Evil be turned against Felenga? No.
Out of the remaining Elemental Princes of Evil, which do we have the best chance against? All the same.
Where is Felenga's phylactery? Unknown.
What would be the best way to word a wish to get the L's arm back? Who cares.
Who will grant the wish if I use the scroll I got? The nearest Power.
What is the best time of day to strike at Ogremoch? All the same.
Is the Temple of Elemental Evil likely to strike at the Temple of Elemental Good in the near future? Yes.
When? Any time.
Is there a way to weaken Felenga before we attack him? Not significantly.
What would be the most fruitful action we could take against the Temple of Elemental Evil tomorrow? Be ready to flee.

"Oh, crap," Lester says when Orbius relates what he's learned. He gulps. My temple, he thinks...

"All right, what's this 'Rajah's room?'" asks Sheva.

Lester answers, "We need to talk to King Malford."

And tomorrow, I leave, thinks Sheva, forever.



Next Time: An audience with God-King Malford the Magnificent!

 

[the Jester]

An Audience with God-King Malford

As the party heads towards King Malford's castle, Lester stops for a moment.

"Oh no!" he gasps. He's staring into what appears to everyone else to be empty space. But to him-

"Noooo!" he shouts, the fingers of his one hand clawing momentarily at his eyes. "The spaces between the spaces! Aargh!"

Lester sees things. He's seen them before, long ago, when he touched a great, formless mind beyond mortal comprehension, accidentally, and a weird black fungus grew on his brain. He began to perceive strange things swimming between the spaces we all know; things that nobody else could seem to see. Then, slowly, over the course of months, his head began to swell... and he had developed a third eye that he couldn't control. It wasn't until his companions entered his head and killed the fungus that he returned to... well... relative normality. The third eye died, and his head shrank back down.

They're back. Just for an instant, but it's enough to chill the L to his bones, enough to freak him out more than the Bile Lords or even Felenga ever could.

Horbin eyes Lester warily and thinks of a priest he knows who's said similar things.

***

God-King Malford the Magnificent is pouring over maps of his domain- and, hopefully, of the areas he'll soon add to his domain- in one of the studies in his palace. He's intent on annexing Goldstone, a process that seems to be going well in the absence of the Tiger Princess. He hums softly to himself, making little marks on the parchment he's got unrolled across the marble table, when a page enters and clears his throat.

"Yes, yes, what is it?" the gnome-king mumbles.

"Your pardon, Your Majesty... one of your old friends has come to beg an audience." The page, a half-elf, hesitates a beat, then adds, "He's come with some... ahem... rough folk."

"Ah!" Malford's eyes light up with good humor. "Good, good! Belmondo, eh? I haven't seen him in quite a while!"

"Ah, no, Your Majesty. It's Lester."

"Oh. I see." His enthusiasm dampened, Malford harrumphs, then says, "Well, go ahead and admit him to the throne room in, say, fifteen minutes. I'll be there presently." He squints back over his maps, muttering briefly, then activates his rod of splendor to properly attire himself to impress and stumps off to his throne.

When the party is ushered in to the chamber, they find themselves face-to-face with a living legend: Malford, First Companion of Dexter (the Son of Galador) himself, author of the King Malford Edition of the Galadron, former pirate and adventurer. The little gnome has gems and gold adorning his arms and neck, a golden fur from an aurumvorax upon his back. He sits in a large throne of wine-colored fey wood, its arms carved to resemble displacer beasts (his heraldric animal). He sports wild white hair and a small beard and moustache; in fact, he looks a lot like a large-nosed Einstein (though the analogy would be lost on him or any of our other heroes). Behind him is an elven archer, leaning insouciently against the wall. As one, the party bows.

"Uh, hey, there, Malford!" calls Lester. "Er, King Malford, I mean! Let me introduce everyone- this here's Horbin, he's a cleric of Dexter- you remember him, right, of course you do- let's see, this is Sybele, the red one's Angelfire, um, in the chain mail bikini is Sheva..." When he's finished giving the names of the group to the impassive gnome-king, he continues, "So, uh, how's it going?" He gives Malford a large grin.

"Okay," the King answers. There is caution evident in his tone.

"How much money do you need?" the elf calls sarcastically from behind his king.

"No, it's not like that!" Lester protests, eyeing Drelvin the Archer, bodyguard of Malford's Queen, Moira, with distress. "We just need a place to stay for the night, and we heard that, uh, Rajah's room was open."

"Oh, I don't know," Malford mumbles, his sharp eyes narrowing. "What do you think, Charleston?"

After a moment (and a quick augury), a voice comes from Malford's invisible lamassu cohort. "I recommend against it, Sire."

"Who've you pissed off this time?" the King demands.

"Felenga, all right!" Lester confesses. "It's Felenga! But he's bad for everyone! C'mon, Malford, it's for the ultimate good of all Dorhaus!*"

"Rajah's room, eh?" King Malford purses his lips and seems to consider for a moment. "How would you get in there anyway?"

"Oh, uh, I can just pass through earth and stone and walk right in. You just tell me where it is."

What is this 'Rajah's room' anyway? wonders the rest of the party. And where is it?

"And your companions?"

"Well, they can trump in-"

"No they can't. It's protected against such things."

"Well, they can teleport in-"

"Not today we can't," Orbius reminds him.

"Uh, well, humm... we can work something out..."

"Passwall?" Orbius suggests.

The King sighs. "I'll tell you what. Give me the trump you have of me, and you can stay."

"What!" Lester protests. "I could get a lot of money for that!" Malford's eyes harden, and the Elementalist hurriedly continues, "Not that I'd do something like that, of course... aw, c'mon, Malford, I might need that sometime!"

"I don't think you're responsible enough to have it," the gnome says.

"Well... all right, I'll tell you what," Lester tries. "How about I'll give you the trump if you join us on our adventures?"

Drelvin, still behind the throne, snickers.

Malford coughs into his hand. "Oh, no, all that adventuring stuff- that's behind me. I've got kids now, and a wife- why, the Queen would kill me!" He smiles. "But give over the trump and you can stay in Rajah's room."

The L sighs. "Well, I guess, hm, you do have a lot of enemies, and I can definitely see why you wouldn't want them to get ahold of it... all right, all right!" Reluctantly, he shuffles out Malford's trump and hands it over.

And the party, with Malford's aid, has a room for the night.


*Dorhaus is the continent on which Malford's kingdom is; Var is the city that is its capitol.



Next Time: Lester continues to try to talk Malford into going adventuring! The destruction of the Temple of Elemental Good! And exeunt Sheva and Zeebo!

 

[Talix]

Yikes!

Man your campaign is action-packed! I don't think your players will ever grow bored.

That revenge attack was pretty impressive - it had to have the party seriously worried. And rightly so, obviously, with a couple members dying!

And hopefully this time you won't post another update while I'm writing this and make my commentary slightly more obsolete.

Good, good stuff!