Mathew_Freeman
Adventurer
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Agents of Chaos (Final Update!)
- Thread starter the Jester
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the Jester
Legend
The Final Beholder Battle
The monstrous humanoids instantly show that they aren't just some dumb beasts, manifesting powers of confusion and feeblemind. The beholder- the last beholder they'll face in the mountain, though our heroes don't know that yet- starts firing off eye rays like mad. But the L and Alcar meet the attack of the enemies with their own mighty magic. A flame strike whumps down from the ceiling, and since Alcar burned more of his incense of meditation it's maximized. The beholder, sadly, can't take the damage, and it drops in mere moments... and the two reptile-beetle-rhino things (whatever they are) find themselves in close combat with Lester, Angelfire and Alcar immediately. One of them breathes out a frosty cone, and both of them strike at our heroes with huge greatclubs and their dreadful horns, and Alcar and Lester each take some wounds- but not enough to even slow them down. In less than thirty seconds the battle's done as Angelfire decapitates the last of the enemies with a blow of his falchion.
Barely breathing hard, the tough band of adventurers sets to searching the place. Strange grey fungus grows almost everywhere, and there are nests of matted, rotting vegatation ("These must be for those beetle guys, since the beholders float," Norman says in passing). After about ten minutes of searching, the party recovers several thousand coins and a pouch holding a dozen pieces of amber, but they can find no exit, so they return to the last other turning they haven't taken, from the beholder duelling area.
The hall leads to a pair of doors. One of them is more than impressive, looking like a thick plug of coppery metal that Lester tells them is orichalcum. The other is more normal, though large (as have been almost all the doors in Bile Mountain). A moment's discussion and the party decides to take the more normal door first. They make ready to throw it open- but before they can, it opens up to reveal another of the sting-tailed ice giants.
[color=139991]"Hold!"[/color] the creature cries as the party's hands fly to their weapons. [color=139991]"I have no wish to fight you!"[/color]
The group hesitates for a moment.
[color=139991]"You have destroyed Red-Eye, who kept my people here enslaved. Now we will not oppose you... so long as you do not interfere with us."[/color]
"We can take this thing," Angelfire calls, and Alcar scowls at the ice giant. For once they're in agreement. But then Lester speaks up.
"Hey, we don't need to fight this guy, we've got better things to do. In fact," he turns to the icy creature, "why don't you join us?"
The giant's face darkens. [color=139991]"You have slain many of my people,"[/color] he rumbles. [color=139991]"I will not hinder you, but do not dare ask for my aid."[/color]
The party considers for a moment. The creature- its name is Tarent- answers a few of their questions; he tells them that his kind are called the Immoths, and that they were enslaved by Red-Eye's beholder clan years ago. Lester demands his treasure, but he scoffs and tells them that they already looted it from his people. When asked what he will do now, Tarent shrugs, telling them he's undecided. [color=139991]"You have killed most of my people. I must find a new cause in my life."[/color] Yes, this guy was the immoths' leader- and that factor finally sways the party; they'll leave him alone. After all, the regular ones were tough enough.
"I can probably get you to your home plane," Horbin offers.
[color=139991]"I do not need your help,"[/color] Tarent tells him coldly.
"Fine," says Lester. "Well, then, one more thing- what's behind that door?" He jerks his thumb at the thick portal on the other end of the hall.
[color=139991]"I do not know,"[/color] Tarent replies. [color=139991]"I have never seen it open, nor could the beholders penetrate beyond it."[/color] At this our heroes exchange glances and smile grimly. If the beholders couldn't do it...
There's just got to be loot, thinks Lester.
Next Time: How does the party get through the door? What's back there? Will Alcar continue to work with the party? And what the heck is resonite??
The monstrous humanoids instantly show that they aren't just some dumb beasts, manifesting powers of confusion and feeblemind. The beholder- the last beholder they'll face in the mountain, though our heroes don't know that yet- starts firing off eye rays like mad. But the L and Alcar meet the attack of the enemies with their own mighty magic. A flame strike whumps down from the ceiling, and since Alcar burned more of his incense of meditation it's maximized. The beholder, sadly, can't take the damage, and it drops in mere moments... and the two reptile-beetle-rhino things (whatever they are) find themselves in close combat with Lester, Angelfire and Alcar immediately. One of them breathes out a frosty cone, and both of them strike at our heroes with huge greatclubs and their dreadful horns, and Alcar and Lester each take some wounds- but not enough to even slow them down. In less than thirty seconds the battle's done as Angelfire decapitates the last of the enemies with a blow of his falchion.
Barely breathing hard, the tough band of adventurers sets to searching the place. Strange grey fungus grows almost everywhere, and there are nests of matted, rotting vegatation ("These must be for those beetle guys, since the beholders float," Norman says in passing). After about ten minutes of searching, the party recovers several thousand coins and a pouch holding a dozen pieces of amber, but they can find no exit, so they return to the last other turning they haven't taken, from the beholder duelling area.
The hall leads to a pair of doors. One of them is more than impressive, looking like a thick plug of coppery metal that Lester tells them is orichalcum. The other is more normal, though large (as have been almost all the doors in Bile Mountain). A moment's discussion and the party decides to take the more normal door first. They make ready to throw it open- but before they can, it opens up to reveal another of the sting-tailed ice giants.
[color=139991]"Hold!"[/color] the creature cries as the party's hands fly to their weapons. [color=139991]"I have no wish to fight you!"[/color]
The group hesitates for a moment.
[color=139991]"You have destroyed Red-Eye, who kept my people here enslaved. Now we will not oppose you... so long as you do not interfere with us."[/color]
"We can take this thing," Angelfire calls, and Alcar scowls at the ice giant. For once they're in agreement. But then Lester speaks up.
"Hey, we don't need to fight this guy, we've got better things to do. In fact," he turns to the icy creature, "why don't you join us?"
The giant's face darkens. [color=139991]"You have slain many of my people,"[/color] he rumbles. [color=139991]"I will not hinder you, but do not dare ask for my aid."[/color]
The party considers for a moment. The creature- its name is Tarent- answers a few of their questions; he tells them that his kind are called the Immoths, and that they were enslaved by Red-Eye's beholder clan years ago. Lester demands his treasure, but he scoffs and tells them that they already looted it from his people. When asked what he will do now, Tarent shrugs, telling them he's undecided. [color=139991]"You have killed most of my people. I must find a new cause in my life."[/color] Yes, this guy was the immoths' leader- and that factor finally sways the party; they'll leave him alone. After all, the regular ones were tough enough.
"I can probably get you to your home plane," Horbin offers.
[color=139991]"I do not need your help,"[/color] Tarent tells him coldly.
"Fine," says Lester. "Well, then, one more thing- what's behind that door?" He jerks his thumb at the thick portal on the other end of the hall.
[color=139991]"I do not know,"[/color] Tarent replies. [color=139991]"I have never seen it open, nor could the beholders penetrate beyond it."[/color] At this our heroes exchange glances and smile grimly. If the beholders couldn't do it...
There's just got to be loot, thinks Lester.
Next Time: How does the party get through the door? What's back there? Will Alcar continue to work with the party? And what the heck is resonite??
Last edited:
the Jester
Legend
"That's the Thickest Door I've Ever Seen!"
An examination of the door reveals that it's locked with a strange, large-looking keyhole, but neither Sheva nor Norman can get through it even with their best efforts. None of the party's available magic seems to work either.
This leads to a discussion about the merits of opening the door at all. "What if there's something locked away there that shouldn't be let out?" Horbin points out.
Lester has a lot of experience with these sorts of things; he once pulled a lever that released an entity called Fuligin from a cage that had held him for billions of years. Fuligin, once released, virtually destroyed the continent of Dorhaus, summoning demons and devils and ravaging the landscape. His order was simple: if it isn't evil- be it man, animal or plant- kill it. Lester, along with Malford, Thimbleton, Hobbes and other great heroes- had to travel time itself back to the universe destroyed by Fuligin's master to overthrow him and free Dorhaus. The whole adventure cost thousands of lives and left Dorhaus overcome by evil for about a hundred years. Even now, with Fuligin overthrown about a decade ago and Malford now ruling as God-King of West Dorhaus from Var, the population is low, and many evil creatures and forces remain.
"Well, look," says the L, "if we let something out, we'll eventually kill it and take its treasure. Look at my armor, for instance. It came from Fuligin. Yeah, he was a badass, and sure, it took a while, but we managed to take him. And now I have his armor, which is pretty cool stuff. So I think we should go on through."
I guess that just goes to prove that some people never learn.
In any event, our heroes scrabble at the doors a little more, scratching their collective heads, until finally someone remembers the big key from the elder brain pool. They pull it out- and sure enough, it fits in the lock just perfectly. And as they turn it, a strange humming arises from the door. Slowly the orichalcum plug sinks back away from them- revealing itself to be no less than 44' thick! It filled a thick passage that seems to lead into another chamber.
As the party warily advances, they are met by a pair of strange headless things. They tumble in with surpriseing speed, attack and tumble away out of sight around the thick plug. They're moving with blurring speed, seeming to shuffle from one limb to another freely, using all four limbs to move and attack! Their movements are more than a little baffling.
As our heroes move in and try to fight back, it rapidly becomes apparent that these things move faster than anything this side of a quickling, and with their monk-like abilities, they can heal themselves. Fire blasts down on one, but it easily evades it, taking no damage. Then they move in to press their attack, dodging and weaving with unreal alacrity. Arrows zing at them but they bat them aside.
Orbius fires a volley of seeker missiles that streak around, missing, but circle in to try again. The weird headless things are moving with unbelievable grace, leaping from place to place and slamming our heroes around like raquetballs. Spells and weapons both have trouble landing on the monsters, but our heroes have managed to inflict a few serious wounds by now, and a couple of the seeker missiles have landed as well. Alcar finally manages to get a full attack on one of the headless, and with a cry to Galador he drops it down with a final crushing blow to the chest.
The other headless monk continues to dance from enemy to enemy, but it staggers as the L's blade conncects with it and there's a clap of chaotic thunder. Then Orbius casts another seeker missiles spell, and they zip in. For once the creature is off-balance from Lester's blow and suffers almost the full effect of the missiles. It drops as well.
Panting, our heroes look around at the chamber they're in. They're all battered and bloodied from the assault, and they're also getting low on spells and psionic power points. After a quick look around the room, they decide, they'll head back to Var for the night.
The room has few features. Only a set of huge stairs, about 2' high and wide, leads up and out; they seem to be vibrating, filling the room with a low hum. And the walls are painted with ancient, faded imagery: A group of tall cloaked figures is shown, being guarded by headless and having the mastodon loxo as workers. The group is shown coming to Bile Mountain when the river ran clean, bearing some sort of wagon of crystals. They enter the mountain (where they overthrow some sort of powerful angelic being) and then it runs with bile, to the delight of the cloaked figures. The final scene shows a headless celebration around a large pool of bile with a large rock outcropping over it having a 30’ long pillar of crystal plunging down into the bile. The cloaked figures are on the outcropping, near the crystal, and seem to be concentrating on it. The crystal looks like it is glowing and it seems to be shooting out bile.
The party takes note of the images, then trumps away. They'll be back soon enough.
Next Time: The party tries to turn that petrified bad guy back to flesh and take his stuff! And what's up with the vibrating stairs? The party's about to hit epic challenges by sidestepping all the stuff on the lower levels of Bile Mountain- and they're from 12th-17th level!!
An examination of the door reveals that it's locked with a strange, large-looking keyhole, but neither Sheva nor Norman can get through it even with their best efforts. None of the party's available magic seems to work either.
This leads to a discussion about the merits of opening the door at all. "What if there's something locked away there that shouldn't be let out?" Horbin points out.
Lester has a lot of experience with these sorts of things; he once pulled a lever that released an entity called Fuligin from a cage that had held him for billions of years. Fuligin, once released, virtually destroyed the continent of Dorhaus, summoning demons and devils and ravaging the landscape. His order was simple: if it isn't evil- be it man, animal or plant- kill it. Lester, along with Malford, Thimbleton, Hobbes and other great heroes- had to travel time itself back to the universe destroyed by Fuligin's master to overthrow him and free Dorhaus. The whole adventure cost thousands of lives and left Dorhaus overcome by evil for about a hundred years. Even now, with Fuligin overthrown about a decade ago and Malford now ruling as God-King of West Dorhaus from Var, the population is low, and many evil creatures and forces remain.
"Well, look," says the L, "if we let something out, we'll eventually kill it and take its treasure. Look at my armor, for instance. It came from Fuligin. Yeah, he was a badass, and sure, it took a while, but we managed to take him. And now I have his armor, which is pretty cool stuff. So I think we should go on through."
I guess that just goes to prove that some people never learn.
In any event, our heroes scrabble at the doors a little more, scratching their collective heads, until finally someone remembers the big key from the elder brain pool. They pull it out- and sure enough, it fits in the lock just perfectly. And as they turn it, a strange humming arises from the door. Slowly the orichalcum plug sinks back away from them- revealing itself to be no less than 44' thick! It filled a thick passage that seems to lead into another chamber.
As the party warily advances, they are met by a pair of strange headless things. They tumble in with surpriseing speed, attack and tumble away out of sight around the thick plug. They're moving with blurring speed, seeming to shuffle from one limb to another freely, using all four limbs to move and attack! Their movements are more than a little baffling.
As our heroes move in and try to fight back, it rapidly becomes apparent that these things move faster than anything this side of a quickling, and with their monk-like abilities, they can heal themselves. Fire blasts down on one, but it easily evades it, taking no damage. Then they move in to press their attack, dodging and weaving with unreal alacrity. Arrows zing at them but they bat them aside.
Orbius fires a volley of seeker missiles that streak around, missing, but circle in to try again. The weird headless things are moving with unbelievable grace, leaping from place to place and slamming our heroes around like raquetballs. Spells and weapons both have trouble landing on the monsters, but our heroes have managed to inflict a few serious wounds by now, and a couple of the seeker missiles have landed as well. Alcar finally manages to get a full attack on one of the headless, and with a cry to Galador he drops it down with a final crushing blow to the chest.
The other headless monk continues to dance from enemy to enemy, but it staggers as the L's blade conncects with it and there's a clap of chaotic thunder. Then Orbius casts another seeker missiles spell, and they zip in. For once the creature is off-balance from Lester's blow and suffers almost the full effect of the missiles. It drops as well.
Panting, our heroes look around at the chamber they're in. They're all battered and bloodied from the assault, and they're also getting low on spells and psionic power points. After a quick look around the room, they decide, they'll head back to Var for the night.
The room has few features. Only a set of huge stairs, about 2' high and wide, leads up and out; they seem to be vibrating, filling the room with a low hum. And the walls are painted with ancient, faded imagery: A group of tall cloaked figures is shown, being guarded by headless and having the mastodon loxo as workers. The group is shown coming to Bile Mountain when the river ran clean, bearing some sort of wagon of crystals. They enter the mountain (where they overthrow some sort of powerful angelic being) and then it runs with bile, to the delight of the cloaked figures. The final scene shows a headless celebration around a large pool of bile with a large rock outcropping over it having a 30’ long pillar of crystal plunging down into the bile. The cloaked figures are on the outcropping, near the crystal, and seem to be concentrating on it. The crystal looks like it is glowing and it seems to be shooting out bile.
The party takes note of the images, then trumps away. They'll be back soon enough.
Next Time: The party tries to turn that petrified bad guy back to flesh and take his stuff! And what's up with the vibrating stairs? The party's about to hit epic challenges by sidestepping all the stuff on the lower levels of Bile Mountain- and they're from 12th-17th level!!
the Jester
Legend
The next day, the party turns Sorzast (the petrified villain that Lester turned to stone previously) back to flesh in the Temple of Elemental Good and immediately moves to subdue him; but he turns to mist and flees out the building. "Cripes, he's another vampire!" Horbin cries.
"Well, it's broad daylight," Lester says. The party rushes outside.
They can't find his body, but it seems likely that he's been destroyed. They leave word for the authorities just in case.
Angelfire tries to sell his ring of protection +3 but there doesn't seem to be enough ready cash in Var to purchase it. Disgruntled, he decides to wait for Pesh City. Accompanied by Lester, he visits a temple of Bleak- Var has a policy of free religion, even to distasteful faiths. Angelfire wants to get his falchion made unholy. Lester becomes increasingly uncomfortable during the negotiations- the priest of Bleak seems perfectly willing to do it in return for "a favor that we'll name later." Lester leaves. He doesn't like or trust Bleak worshipers; he's had to fight the worst of them in the past.
With Orbius, Lester stone shapes an idol of Boccob. The Eye then communes.
Did the forces of the Temple of Elemental Evil send the air elemental assassins? Yes.
What is the name of the air elemental rogue? Lendivo.
And the name of the monk? There was no monk.
What was the other creature that attacked? A mortal hunter.
What is its name? Turfi.
What is the consequence of Lester taking the scroll of true resurrection? He cannot raise a hand against Galador.
Does Boccob side against Galador in the War of Ethics? Yes.
Is there any way to destroy the geas? Yes.
What must he do? Break the Throne of Darkness.
What guards the Throne of Darkness? The Famine.
What is the greatest weakness of the Famine? Unknown.
Given our current path in Mt. Bile, will Lester come to blows with agents of Galador? Unknown.
Is there any way to side with Boccob and not offend Galador in the immediate future? Yes.
Alcar, meanwhile, trumps off to see an old friend- Belmondo the Enhanced, a dwarven prostheticist and master of the order of mountained maimed old soldiers called the Rough Riders. Belmondo's at his famous lighthouse. They hang out for a while and catch up on old times. Both are strong in the Light, and Alcar tells Belmondo that he's worried about this Bile Mountain place.
"Perhaps Belmondo can help you," Belmondo says. "Belmondo will give you one of these- but be very careful with it! It is very dangerous!" The dwarf hands Alcar a glass globe, about 8" in diameter, full of green slime.
The party takes care of some shopping needs in Pesh via teleportation and trump, Alcar rejoins them, and they prepare to go back to Bile Mountain. Lester summons a planar ally- an earth elemental of impressive power named Polsoon. The elemental agrees to help cleanse Bile Mountain in exchange for Lester's help in slaying an "air prince" named Ahhl'Ahhh.
In the afternoon they gather and mass teleport back into Bile Mountain- more specifically, the room past the great plug to ascend the great stairs. They stop before them, and Sheva looks for any sign of traps; finding none, the redhead in a chain mail bikini steps out of the way.
"I think this is resonite," says Orbius. "I've never seen it before, but I've heard of it. It's an extremely rare stone, and if you gather enough of it into one place it sets up weird magical resonating fields that can have all kinds of different magical effects. It's impossible to harness or control it..." His voice trails off as he looks at the massive stairs. "Supposedly."
A little magical examination ensues. With detect magic spells, they can see a series of magical fields of energy that they'd have to pass through as they ascended the stairs.
"Maybe we can go around them," suggests Lester, and tries to stone shape the wall. It doesn't work, though; his spell won't affect the stone of the wall.
"We'll have to go through them," says Horbin. "I'll find out how we go through each one." With that, he casts find the path.
Next Time: To Breach the Resonating Fields! What happens when you get in too deep somewhere you can't get out of??
"Well, it's broad daylight," Lester says. The party rushes outside.
They can't find his body, but it seems likely that he's been destroyed. They leave word for the authorities just in case.
Angelfire tries to sell his ring of protection +3 but there doesn't seem to be enough ready cash in Var to purchase it. Disgruntled, he decides to wait for Pesh City. Accompanied by Lester, he visits a temple of Bleak- Var has a policy of free religion, even to distasteful faiths. Angelfire wants to get his falchion made unholy. Lester becomes increasingly uncomfortable during the negotiations- the priest of Bleak seems perfectly willing to do it in return for "a favor that we'll name later." Lester leaves. He doesn't like or trust Bleak worshipers; he's had to fight the worst of them in the past.
With Orbius, Lester stone shapes an idol of Boccob. The Eye then communes.
Did the forces of the Temple of Elemental Evil send the air elemental assassins? Yes.
What is the name of the air elemental rogue? Lendivo.
And the name of the monk? There was no monk.
What was the other creature that attacked? A mortal hunter.
What is its name? Turfi.
What is the consequence of Lester taking the scroll of true resurrection? He cannot raise a hand against Galador.
Does Boccob side against Galador in the War of Ethics? Yes.
Is there any way to destroy the geas? Yes.
What must he do? Break the Throne of Darkness.
What guards the Throne of Darkness? The Famine.
What is the greatest weakness of the Famine? Unknown.
Given our current path in Mt. Bile, will Lester come to blows with agents of Galador? Unknown.
Is there any way to side with Boccob and not offend Galador in the immediate future? Yes.
Alcar, meanwhile, trumps off to see an old friend- Belmondo the Enhanced, a dwarven prostheticist and master of the order of mountained maimed old soldiers called the Rough Riders. Belmondo's at his famous lighthouse. They hang out for a while and catch up on old times. Both are strong in the Light, and Alcar tells Belmondo that he's worried about this Bile Mountain place.
"Perhaps Belmondo can help you," Belmondo says. "Belmondo will give you one of these- but be very careful with it! It is very dangerous!" The dwarf hands Alcar a glass globe, about 8" in diameter, full of green slime.
The party takes care of some shopping needs in Pesh via teleportation and trump, Alcar rejoins them, and they prepare to go back to Bile Mountain. Lester summons a planar ally- an earth elemental of impressive power named Polsoon. The elemental agrees to help cleanse Bile Mountain in exchange for Lester's help in slaying an "air prince" named Ahhl'Ahhh.
In the afternoon they gather and mass teleport back into Bile Mountain- more specifically, the room past the great plug to ascend the great stairs. They stop before them, and Sheva looks for any sign of traps; finding none, the redhead in a chain mail bikini steps out of the way.
"I think this is resonite," says Orbius. "I've never seen it before, but I've heard of it. It's an extremely rare stone, and if you gather enough of it into one place it sets up weird magical resonating fields that can have all kinds of different magical effects. It's impossible to harness or control it..." His voice trails off as he looks at the massive stairs. "Supposedly."
A little magical examination ensues. With detect magic spells, they can see a series of magical fields of energy that they'd have to pass through as they ascended the stairs.
"Maybe we can go around them," suggests Lester, and tries to stone shape the wall. It doesn't work, though; his spell won't affect the stone of the wall.
"We'll have to go through them," says Horbin. "I'll find out how we go through each one." With that, he casts find the path.
Next Time: To Breach the Resonating Fields! What happens when you get in too deep somewhere you can't get out of??
Last edited:
the Jester
Legend
To Breach the Resonating Fields
"We can just push through the first field," says Horbin.
A little experimentation reveals that the field is slightly elastic. Angelfire puts his back into it and pushes through the field, leaving a barely-visible hole still in place. Alcar scurries through, glancing momentarily at Angelfire, but the rest of the party is not quick enough- the hole closes.
"Crap," says Horbin. "Well, the next field needs to be overcome by channeling sufficient energy at it." Upon hearing this, Alcar extends his hand, holy symbol presented, and begins channeling. In a few short seconds a hole tears open in the field- again it's visible. Alcar passes through it.
"No sweat," Lester tells the rest of the party. "Here, I'll just push a hole through-" As Lester tries to push another hole into it, he realizes that it isn't going to be easy. With a grunt, he fails to penetrate it- and then both he and Horbin, too close to the field, suddenly dance with electricity.
"Ow!" cries Horbin. "That sucks!"
"I could try again," Lester says dubiously, but from the other side, Angelfire grunts and throws himself at it again. He's enhanced by both psionics and magic, and his strength is enormous. The field tears visibly again and the party moves past it, through the hole.
Now that they know they have to move quickly, the party works efficiently to try to work their way past the fields. The third field must be unraveled by skilled spellcraft; Orbius takes the challenge and defeats it. The next field has a very narrow gap that can be squirmed through; a perfect mission for Habiskis, Sheva's imp. The final field must be talked into letting them past; Zeebo handles it with his customary aplomb. (Boy is he horny. Extended dungeon adventures try him sorely due to his enormous fertility.)
At the top is a strange magical circle. It's got hundreds of runes in extremely complex configurations scribed in it; even at first glance Orbius can tell that this is far beyond anything he's ever seen before in terms of magical complexity and power.
With the sort of faith in the ultimate fairness in life that tends to kill cocky parties of adventurers, our heroes all pile into the circle without even examining the runes beyond that cursory glance or anything. And they all vanish, teleported to the highest level of Bile Mountain of all.
Next Time: Enter- Axon and Axel! (I originally thought I could get one of their threat ranges down to 6-20...)
"We can just push through the first field," says Horbin.
A little experimentation reveals that the field is slightly elastic. Angelfire puts his back into it and pushes through the field, leaving a barely-visible hole still in place. Alcar scurries through, glancing momentarily at Angelfire, but the rest of the party is not quick enough- the hole closes.
"Crap," says Horbin. "Well, the next field needs to be overcome by channeling sufficient energy at it." Upon hearing this, Alcar extends his hand, holy symbol presented, and begins channeling. In a few short seconds a hole tears open in the field- again it's visible. Alcar passes through it.
"No sweat," Lester tells the rest of the party. "Here, I'll just push a hole through-" As Lester tries to push another hole into it, he realizes that it isn't going to be easy. With a grunt, he fails to penetrate it- and then both he and Horbin, too close to the field, suddenly dance with electricity.
"Ow!" cries Horbin. "That sucks!"
"I could try again," Lester says dubiously, but from the other side, Angelfire grunts and throws himself at it again. He's enhanced by both psionics and magic, and his strength is enormous. The field tears visibly again and the party moves past it, through the hole.
Now that they know they have to move quickly, the party works efficiently to try to work their way past the fields. The third field must be unraveled by skilled spellcraft; Orbius takes the challenge and defeats it. The next field has a very narrow gap that can be squirmed through; a perfect mission for Habiskis, Sheva's imp. The final field must be talked into letting them past; Zeebo handles it with his customary aplomb. (Boy is he horny. Extended dungeon adventures try him sorely due to his enormous fertility.)
At the top is a strange magical circle. It's got hundreds of runes in extremely complex configurations scribed in it; even at first glance Orbius can tell that this is far beyond anything he's ever seen before in terms of magical complexity and power.
With the sort of faith in the ultimate fairness in life that tends to kill cocky parties of adventurers, our heroes all pile into the circle without even examining the runes beyond that cursory glance or anything. And they all vanish, teleported to the highest level of Bile Mountain of all.
Next Time: Enter- Axon and Axel! (I originally thought I could get one of their threat ranges down to 6-20...)
Mathew_Freeman
Adventurer
Now that's heroic fantasy! I presume the next update is the epic level battle you've been talking about?
Bring it on! Still enjoying this enormously!
Woohoo! Bring on the epic battle! 
Did they stay long enough for Angelfire to get his sword Unholy-ed? Wouldn't that be pretty expensive (and time-consuming) to do on top of the other enchantments on it?
Man, the party sure is racking up the debts that they have - one favor to evil priests, and now a promise to help take down an air prince!
Lookin' forward to this next scene.
Did they stay long enough for Angelfire to get his sword Unholy-ed? Wouldn't that be pretty expensive (and time-consuming) to do on top of the other enchantments on it?
Man, the party sure is racking up the debts that they have - one favor to evil priests, and now a promise to help take down an air prince!
Lookin' forward to this next scene.
the Jester
Legend
Enter Axon and Axel!
A dizzy, sickening moment passes. And then the party reappears, somewhere else, though shaken by the transition; and two individuals are watching them warily, each apparently armed with two rapiers. The creatures look like humans, but they're clearly metallic.
"Greetings," one calls warily. "You must be strong to have come this far, but know that there is no escape. We bid you serve the Bile Lords!"
Our heroes are nonplussed. "Take us to them," Sheva says into the silence, and to their surprise the creatures nod.
"Follow us," says the second metal creature, "and we will escort you to the first of them." With that, the two constructs begin leading the way.
As the party moves down a hall after them, a door opens and a giant peers out at them and scowls. Another door opens, and a heavily-armored human gazes warily at them from the threshold. Or is he? wonders Horbin. There have been so many evil monsters that looked like humans lately... Clearly, other creatures have chosen to serve these Bile Lords.
Soon enough, the two metal creatures- their names are Axon and Axel- lead the party to a door. With a warning to stand back lest they be harmed by the Bile Lord's power, they knock and, at a call from beyond, throw the door wide. Beyond is a modestly-furnished bed chamber- and Chemnu, the Bile Lord.
Chemnu is hideous. The bile lord is ten feet tall, withered with age, skin yellow and dripping disgusting yellow bile like sweat. He has only small patches of hair remaining and looks almost skeletally thin. A cloud of noxious yellow gas seems to emanate from him, extending about 15' from him.
"Visitors, my lord," says Axon.
The party, naturally, is on the balls of their feet, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice- but this guy looks old and mean. Angelfire tries to move up close to him to take his measure eye to eye, but as he moves into the cloud he groans, sickened by it, and moves back.
"Have they agreed to serve?" Chemnu asks. His voice is old and ragged, but not faint; it's as strong as steel.
"Not yet, my lord," Axel replies.
"You will," he says to the party. "There is no other choice. There is no way out of this level of Bile Mountain. In the meantime," Chemnu tells Axon and Axel, "allow them the run of the place. Except for the personal quarters of the Bile Lords, of course. And show them our power."
The two constructs nod and lead the party away. They're all somewhat shaken by the reception they're getting; and the human and giant- indicative of others who have come and not been able to escape- are a little demoralizing too. But our heroes aren't quitters, so they've all got plans forming.
Then Axon and Axel show them the room of cages. Along the floor are a dozen small cages, each holding withered and dead creatures that tried to resist the power of the bile lords. Among these forms are ones recognizable as some sort of celestial, a dragon, a pit fiend, a marilith, an illithid, a mastodon loxo and many unrecognizable creatures that have rotted away.
"You may wander at will for now, but you must come to your senses in time. There is no other source of food or drink, unless you can create it yourselves. And there is no escape. The Bile Lords have been here for a very long time."
Next Time: Well, now what do our heroes do??
A dizzy, sickening moment passes. And then the party reappears, somewhere else, though shaken by the transition; and two individuals are watching them warily, each apparently armed with two rapiers. The creatures look like humans, but they're clearly metallic.
"Greetings," one calls warily. "You must be strong to have come this far, but know that there is no escape. We bid you serve the Bile Lords!"
Our heroes are nonplussed. "Take us to them," Sheva says into the silence, and to their surprise the creatures nod.
"Follow us," says the second metal creature, "and we will escort you to the first of them." With that, the two constructs begin leading the way.
As the party moves down a hall after them, a door opens and a giant peers out at them and scowls. Another door opens, and a heavily-armored human gazes warily at them from the threshold. Or is he? wonders Horbin. There have been so many evil monsters that looked like humans lately... Clearly, other creatures have chosen to serve these Bile Lords.
Soon enough, the two metal creatures- their names are Axon and Axel- lead the party to a door. With a warning to stand back lest they be harmed by the Bile Lord's power, they knock and, at a call from beyond, throw the door wide. Beyond is a modestly-furnished bed chamber- and Chemnu, the Bile Lord.
Chemnu is hideous. The bile lord is ten feet tall, withered with age, skin yellow and dripping disgusting yellow bile like sweat. He has only small patches of hair remaining and looks almost skeletally thin. A cloud of noxious yellow gas seems to emanate from him, extending about 15' from him.
"Visitors, my lord," says Axon.
The party, naturally, is on the balls of their feet, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice- but this guy looks old and mean. Angelfire tries to move up close to him to take his measure eye to eye, but as he moves into the cloud he groans, sickened by it, and moves back.
"Have they agreed to serve?" Chemnu asks. His voice is old and ragged, but not faint; it's as strong as steel.
"Not yet, my lord," Axel replies.
"You will," he says to the party. "There is no other choice. There is no way out of this level of Bile Mountain. In the meantime," Chemnu tells Axon and Axel, "allow them the run of the place. Except for the personal quarters of the Bile Lords, of course. And show them our power."
The two constructs nod and lead the party away. They're all somewhat shaken by the reception they're getting; and the human and giant- indicative of others who have come and not been able to escape- are a little demoralizing too. But our heroes aren't quitters, so they've all got plans forming.
Then Axon and Axel show them the room of cages. Along the floor are a dozen small cages, each holding withered and dead creatures that tried to resist the power of the bile lords. Among these forms are ones recognizable as some sort of celestial, a dragon, a pit fiend, a marilith, an illithid, a mastodon loxo and many unrecognizable creatures that have rotted away.
"You may wander at will for now, but you must come to your senses in time. There is no other source of food or drink, unless you can create it yourselves. And there is no escape. The Bile Lords have been here for a very long time."
Next Time: Well, now what do our heroes do??
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the Jester
Legend
Trapped in Bile Mountain
Left to their own devices, our heroes rapidly discover that neither teleportation nor trumps will allow them to escape. There are four main halls leading from the room they were initially transported to. One leads to the servant quarters, where they saw the human and the giant, and to Chemnu; the next leads to the room of cages. The third, according to Axon and Axel, leads to the rooms of the other Bile Lords- who may not appreciate intrusion. The final one leads to an unfinished area. "You may go there if you like, but be warned- there are bile beasts of fantastic power there," Axel had warned them. "We cannot guarantee your safety there."
Naturally, the party has gone to the unfinished area- or at least far enough down the hall that they're out of sight of the two construct guardians. They have a strategy session, and consider trying to raise the dragon in the cage. Zeebo has a sinking fear that the Bile Lords may have killed the dragon he's looking for, and it might even sort of be his dragon- while guarding the hatching cave of the dragon eggs, Zeebo had... performed experiments on some of the eggs, experiments related to his enormous fertility.
The party decides to try to find out what they can about this place with divination magic, now that they're inside it. Orbius casts a legend lore about this level of Bile Mountain, and receives this in response:
Locked shut tight by epic spells
Sealed against intrusion and flight
Feeding forever from bilish hells
Into the river by Peshan night
Beware the Lords of Bile
Who feed their needs with misery's gain
Their crux is the crystal
Destroy it if you can to end the pain.
Zeebo goes to the cage chamber and sets out to identify the cages, but- as he feared- they are too complex for his spell to decipher. Horbin casts a commune and speaks with deity.
Are the Bile Lords native to the Prime Plane? Yes.
Where's the crystal? Unknown.
Do you know how I can find the crystal? No.
Are there are any allies we can make here? Maybe.
How might I recognize them? My enemy's enemy is my friend.
Are any of the Lords in conflict with each other? Unknown
Are any of the Lords' minions in conflict with each other? No.
How powerful are the minions compared to the Lords? Fairly.
Do I have a chance at dispelling their magic? Unknown.
Are the creatures in the cages dead? Some.
Can they be healed? Unnecessary and useless.
Are they retrievable at all? Yes.
Will anything less than a wish or miracle retrieve them? Yes.
Will a regenerate help? No.
The group talks over what they've learned. Alcar tries to bend the bars of the cage holding the shriveled celestial, but to no avail. All of the creatures in the cages lie still and unmoving; if any of them are alive, none of them show it. Frustrated, the angel stalks off.
Sheva casts a sending to her church on Tirchond, telling the head priest that she and Angelfire are trapped in Bile Mountain and that the entire congregation should pray constantly until they're freed. Then she beats her imp and makes him commune with the infernal powers.
Why was the pit fiend in the cage here in Bile Mountain? It was helping an evil cleric.
What evil cleric? Dythax the Bone-Spirited.
Is there any way to revive the pit fiend? Yes.
Who are the Bile Lords? An ancient, corrupt and mysterious power.
What are the names of the Bile Lords? Unknown.
What became of Dythax? He died.
Since he regenerates, the imp's black eye fades quickly. He stares resentfully at Sheva for a moment after relaying his commune results, then fades back into invisibility. After discussing what they've learned so far, Orbius casts yet another commune.
What spell is needed to free the caged creatures? Several may work.
What can I use? Greater Dispelling or Dispel Magic.
What cleric spells that Horbin could cast would work? Break Enchantment.
Do we risk angering the Bile Lords by freeing their prisoners? Possibly.
Where was Dythax the Bone-Spirited slain? On the third level.
What level are we on now? Six.
Which Lord of Bile Mountain would be most eager to have us serve? Unknown.
Is there a source of food here? Not a safe one.
Will a discern location allow me to find the location of the crystal? Maybe.
Is there anyone who could take us safely to the crystal? No.
Is the crystal located on level six? Unknown.
Who within Bile Mountain knows the location of the crystal? Unknown.
Is it at all possible to use Lester's power to dig a way out? Possible but unlikely.
Can anyone in the party successfully bring back the dead prisoners? No.
More discussion ensues, and the party decides first to go into the dangerous unfinished section of the level to see what they can find. "Maybe the crystal's hidden there," Zeebo suggests.
So they follow the hall down to where it opens into a huge chamber with a hideous monster in it.
Next Time: The party fights a monster with a 10d12 breath weapon!
Left to their own devices, our heroes rapidly discover that neither teleportation nor trumps will allow them to escape. There are four main halls leading from the room they were initially transported to. One leads to the servant quarters, where they saw the human and the giant, and to Chemnu; the next leads to the room of cages. The third, according to Axon and Axel, leads to the rooms of the other Bile Lords- who may not appreciate intrusion. The final one leads to an unfinished area. "You may go there if you like, but be warned- there are bile beasts of fantastic power there," Axel had warned them. "We cannot guarantee your safety there."
Naturally, the party has gone to the unfinished area- or at least far enough down the hall that they're out of sight of the two construct guardians. They have a strategy session, and consider trying to raise the dragon in the cage. Zeebo has a sinking fear that the Bile Lords may have killed the dragon he's looking for, and it might even sort of be his dragon- while guarding the hatching cave of the dragon eggs, Zeebo had... performed experiments on some of the eggs, experiments related to his enormous fertility.
The party decides to try to find out what they can about this place with divination magic, now that they're inside it. Orbius casts a legend lore about this level of Bile Mountain, and receives this in response:
Locked shut tight by epic spells
Sealed against intrusion and flight
Feeding forever from bilish hells
Into the river by Peshan night
Beware the Lords of Bile
Who feed their needs with misery's gain
Their crux is the crystal
Destroy it if you can to end the pain.
Zeebo goes to the cage chamber and sets out to identify the cages, but- as he feared- they are too complex for his spell to decipher. Horbin casts a commune and speaks with deity.
Are the Bile Lords native to the Prime Plane? Yes.
Where's the crystal? Unknown.
Do you know how I can find the crystal? No.
Are there are any allies we can make here? Maybe.
How might I recognize them? My enemy's enemy is my friend.
Are any of the Lords in conflict with each other? Unknown
Are any of the Lords' minions in conflict with each other? No.
How powerful are the minions compared to the Lords? Fairly.
Do I have a chance at dispelling their magic? Unknown.
Are the creatures in the cages dead? Some.
Can they be healed? Unnecessary and useless.
Are they retrievable at all? Yes.
Will anything less than a wish or miracle retrieve them? Yes.
Will a regenerate help? No.
The group talks over what they've learned. Alcar tries to bend the bars of the cage holding the shriveled celestial, but to no avail. All of the creatures in the cages lie still and unmoving; if any of them are alive, none of them show it. Frustrated, the angel stalks off.
Sheva casts a sending to her church on Tirchond, telling the head priest that she and Angelfire are trapped in Bile Mountain and that the entire congregation should pray constantly until they're freed. Then she beats her imp and makes him commune with the infernal powers.
Why was the pit fiend in the cage here in Bile Mountain? It was helping an evil cleric.
What evil cleric? Dythax the Bone-Spirited.
Is there any way to revive the pit fiend? Yes.
Who are the Bile Lords? An ancient, corrupt and mysterious power.
What are the names of the Bile Lords? Unknown.
What became of Dythax? He died.
Since he regenerates, the imp's black eye fades quickly. He stares resentfully at Sheva for a moment after relaying his commune results, then fades back into invisibility. After discussing what they've learned so far, Orbius casts yet another commune.
What spell is needed to free the caged creatures? Several may work.
What can I use? Greater Dispelling or Dispel Magic.
What cleric spells that Horbin could cast would work? Break Enchantment.
Do we risk angering the Bile Lords by freeing their prisoners? Possibly.
Where was Dythax the Bone-Spirited slain? On the third level.
What level are we on now? Six.
Which Lord of Bile Mountain would be most eager to have us serve? Unknown.
Is there a source of food here? Not a safe one.
Will a discern location allow me to find the location of the crystal? Maybe.
Is there anyone who could take us safely to the crystal? No.
Is the crystal located on level six? Unknown.
Who within Bile Mountain knows the location of the crystal? Unknown.
Is it at all possible to use Lester's power to dig a way out? Possible but unlikely.
Can anyone in the party successfully bring back the dead prisoners? No.
More discussion ensues, and the party decides first to go into the dangerous unfinished section of the level to see what they can find. "Maybe the crystal's hidden there," Zeebo suggests.
So they follow the hall down to where it opens into a huge chamber with a hideous monster in it.
Next Time: The party fights a monster with a 10d12 breath weapon!
the Jester
Legend
Bile Beasts
The party has the drop on it, and they use their initiative to good effect: Sheva moves in and whips out a blade, Horbin and Alcar both cast flame strike- though the creature resists Horbin's. Orbius' magic missiles fizzle against its spell resistance as well. Polsoon, Lester's conjured earth elemental, charges forward with the L on his shoulder. And the bile beast is too slow to react until suddenly everyone is on top of it (except for Zeebo, who's moved back and is crouching behind a corner, peeking out to cast buffing spells on his allies (he's already hasted Sheva).
Then the things breathes.
A huge cone of wretched, vomit-smelling acid spews from the great reptillian monster's mouth. The cone sprays over everyone except Zeebo, although Polsoon's massive bulk provides some cover for many of the party. The pain that burns in on them all is extreme, severe; the acid hisses as it eats hair and flesh. The screams of the party chill the Mayor, but everyone's still alive... and with the multiplicity of clerics up there, he's hopeful it'll stay that way. He casts another haste, this one on Angelfire.
The creature's desperate for a way out; it's huge, but it's surrounded now, suffering under the hammering blows of Alcar, Lester, Polsoon, Sheva and Angelfire; it's no surprise that it falls before it has another chance to act.
Speed and surprise seem to be the order of the day; the party finds a bile roper and Horbin slays it in a single round with a destruction spell. Continuing along, the party sees a passage that descends into a bile-filled area. "No way," Horbin says.
"We can come back later if we need to," Sheva says, thinking, I could make Habiskis swim down there...
Further explorations lead to another chamber with a pool in it. The party looks around warily, and suddenly the imp's voice cries out, "Master- in the pool!!"
A strange, watery, frog-like creature drooling bile from its immense mouth* suddenly rises to the surface of the water, and the party feels a wracking pain as a horrible, dehydrating blast of pain shoots through all of them. Even wracked with terrible pain, however, they still manage to return fire with a volley of seeker missiles and a flame strike. Then the thing's tongue shoots out, grabbing Angelfire, and with a startled cry, the fiery priest of Coila is dragged into the bile! And the bloated monster starts sinking into the bile, dragging him under!
*This was a half-water elemental bile froghemoth, by the way.
Next Time: The end of the froghemoth fight, and we get closer to the epic battles... yes, battles...
The party has the drop on it, and they use their initiative to good effect: Sheva moves in and whips out a blade, Horbin and Alcar both cast flame strike- though the creature resists Horbin's. Orbius' magic missiles fizzle against its spell resistance as well. Polsoon, Lester's conjured earth elemental, charges forward with the L on his shoulder. And the bile beast is too slow to react until suddenly everyone is on top of it (except for Zeebo, who's moved back and is crouching behind a corner, peeking out to cast buffing spells on his allies (he's already hasted Sheva).
Then the things breathes.
A huge cone of wretched, vomit-smelling acid spews from the great reptillian monster's mouth. The cone sprays over everyone except Zeebo, although Polsoon's massive bulk provides some cover for many of the party. The pain that burns in on them all is extreme, severe; the acid hisses as it eats hair and flesh. The screams of the party chill the Mayor, but everyone's still alive... and with the multiplicity of clerics up there, he's hopeful it'll stay that way. He casts another haste, this one on Angelfire.
The creature's desperate for a way out; it's huge, but it's surrounded now, suffering under the hammering blows of Alcar, Lester, Polsoon, Sheva and Angelfire; it's no surprise that it falls before it has another chance to act.
Speed and surprise seem to be the order of the day; the party finds a bile roper and Horbin slays it in a single round with a destruction spell. Continuing along, the party sees a passage that descends into a bile-filled area. "No way," Horbin says.
"We can come back later if we need to," Sheva says, thinking, I could make Habiskis swim down there...
Further explorations lead to another chamber with a pool in it. The party looks around warily, and suddenly the imp's voice cries out, "Master- in the pool!!"
A strange, watery, frog-like creature drooling bile from its immense mouth* suddenly rises to the surface of the water, and the party feels a wracking pain as a horrible, dehydrating blast of pain shoots through all of them. Even wracked with terrible pain, however, they still manage to return fire with a volley of seeker missiles and a flame strike. Then the thing's tongue shoots out, grabbing Angelfire, and with a startled cry, the fiery priest of Coila is dragged into the bile! And the bloated monster starts sinking into the bile, dragging him under!
*This was a half-water elemental bile froghemoth, by the way.
Next Time: The end of the froghemoth fight, and we get closer to the epic battles... yes, battles...
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