Aphonion: Journals of a Licensed Diabolist (Sat. and Wed. updates, last 9/3, 9/10)

[Cerebral Paladin]

Finally, towards the end of the fourteenth day, we drew within sight of the shadowline. A mounted force angled to intercept us, closing from deeper in Shadow. We waited for them to close before taking any action, as we could not be sure at first whether they were friends or foes, this close to the border. As they drew nearer, we could see that their banner bore the rayed sun of Glor’diadel, and that there were eight horsemen with an officer, along with one prisoner. Spring hurried forward and greeted them, explaining that they were allies. They warned us to hurry across the shadowline, as a large body of black eum were in pursuit. We hurried as much as we could, with the cavalry forming a guard around the wagon when they learned what it contained. Spring flew up to see if she could see the eum. She quickly returned and reported that there were about 120 black eum approaching us. We made the best time we could, although we could see them nearing us as we tried to hurry to the shadowline. We slipped across the border just before they arrived, although they continued their pursuit. As they reached the line, however, an elven maiden teleported in, high above us, and began hurling needfire at them to drive them back. They were far too weak to stand against one of the Hastur, especially one bolstered by the power of the shadowline itself, and quickly broke and ran.

Safely back in the lands of Tarkenia, we quickly made our way to Tower Woebegone. The Hastur of that tower reverently lifted the matrix with their minds and moved it into their tower. Caldefor may still be in Shadow, but we had struck a mighty blow, and will bring it back into the Darkness soon enough.

[End of Session 2-- sessions 1 and 2 were different days of the same weekend. Session 3 was a year later.]

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

[Session 3]

[I joined this session late, so I only have basic information about our travel into the Shadowlands. The party consisted of Spring, Durak, and Cilorean, with Konrad joining partway through. The party was given two ounces of bone water dust, an extremely powerful dessicant that kills almost instantly. The Hasturs make it a grain at a time, using the resources of entire circles, so the amount we were given represented a substantial investment of psionic resources in our group. We were also given a barrel of skin, in case we needed it. Our mission was to head across Caldefor to one of the dragonholds that the Shadow uses to secure its side of the Shadowline and to use the bone water dust to destroy the army at the dragonhold. By the time I got to this session, we had reached the dragonhold and were hiding in a rope trick, while Spring scouted the enemy army (using his undead status as cover.) We had previously learned of a lord named Bastion, who held a manor near the coast of Caldefor. Lord Bastion was a vampire who had served the Grand Count of Caldefor before the invasion and continued to serve the Grand Count as a minion of Shadow after the invasion.]

As we peered out at the enemy army, we saw a wide range of different troops. There were a large number of eums; many undead--mostly unintelligent, but with a handful of free-willed undead as leaders; many demons, ranging from the relatively insignificant rutterkin up to some powerful demons; a host of trueborn, although fewer of them than the other major components of the army; and a tribe of goblyns, although they were camped up on a nearby hill instead of with the army proper. And, of course, there were the dragon caves: six great caves leading into the face of the hill. Taken as a whole, the army would be far beyond our capabilities if we did not have the bone water dust.

After an extended period scouting, Spring returned to the rope trick and reported to Sergeant Cilorean. He had been within the dragon caves themselves. While six black dragons, including a wyrm, made their lairs within the complex, only one dragon was currently present. She seemed to be a scholarly sort, more interested in studying her scrolls than in leading the army. The dragon was also freakishly meticulous--a trait all the more unusual in a servitor of chaos. Moreover, while the absence of the wyrm lowered the value of our target, it greatly increased our likelihood of success. Spring also reported that the dragon caves contained a black eum with strange silver tracery on its chest. That eum spotted him and had almost created a serious problem, although ultimately it did not.

I explained based on my studies that the black eum was probably one of the eums with a direct connection to Gnnnnst. Most such eums are powerful witchdoctors. He would certainly be another threat for us to watch.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Spring also reported that before he returned to the rope trick, he did some more investigation to determine where the commander of the army was. He spoke to one of the free-willed undead and said that he had a report for the commander and needed to know where the commander’s tent was. The undead gestured towards one of the large tents within the camp and said that Spring should take the report to the commander immediately, as the commander jealously guards information and would allow no one else in the army to learn of its contents, even if they would have been able to use the information better. The undead muttered a little about how the new commander was not up to the standard set by his predecessor; based on some of the things he said, we concluded that the previous commander had probably been a marilith, while the new commander was a glabrezou. Spring lied, saying that he still needed to finish up the last details of his report but wanted to know where he should bring it when he was done. He promised that he would hurry with the report to the commander when it was done.

With this additional information, we were able to develop a plan. Both Spring and I quickly hit on the same plan, with minor variations: if we delivered an “arcane document” to the commander at the same time as we reported to the dragon that the commander was keeping it a secret, we might be able to maneuver them into outright conflict. Even if they kept their cool, it would almost certainly draw the dragon to the same area as the glabrezou commander, which would allow us to destroy both with a single dose of the bone water dust. Sergeant Cilorean approved the plan and ordered us to execute it.

I quickly constructed a document that would seem, at first glance, to contain magical writings. I mixed languages freely, using Common, Infernal, and Abyssal words, and recorded everything in a cipher that would require work to deconstruct before the actual text could be understood, without concealing the diagrams that I drew to suggest extraplanar magic. I carefully drafted it to appear to involve advanced magic, without actually including anything of actual value. In the hands of a mage with skills equal to or superior to my own, it would not take long to conclude that it was gibberish. But to a cursory examination, or to a novice or a well-informed individual without true magical training, it would appear to be an unusual, possibly important magical text.

Spring tucked the text under his arm and descended from the rope trick, planning on sending a goblyn whose acquaintance he had made to speak with the dragon while he brought the text to the glabrezou. The commander had other ideas, however. As Spring dropped out of the rope trick, one of the trueborn awaited him.

We all listened carefully as the trueborn informed Spring that he had orders from the general to escort Spring directly to the command pavilion. Spring tried to talk his way out of it, saying that he needed to take care of something first, but the trueborn was insistent. We gestured for Spring to go with the trueborn relying on the fact that the trueborn was focusing on Spring while Spring looked at us. And so, reluctantly, Spring accompanied the trueborn, without having delivered news of his bait to the dragon.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Sergeant Cilorean and I discussed how we might best deliver the message to the dragon. It would be unduly dangerous for either of us to deliver the message directly-- that might reveal the entire subterfuge. I considered sending one of my summoned creatures, but they would return to Lord Paranswarm’s Hells too quickly, before they could accomplish their task. Finally, we settled on sending a message via one of the free-willed undead, although not a powerful one. I would approach one in a shroud of undeath, using the scroll that I had been equipped with to assist in our infiltration. If I could, I would simply persuade the undead to deliver the message. If that failed, I would use command undead on one of the mindless undead, who cannot resist that spell, and deliver the message that way.

I approached a ghoul, which fawned and gibbered disgustingly as I addressed it. I informed the foul creature that “our masters” among the higher undead had discovered useful intelligence that we believed could gain the favor of the dragon. I handed the ghoul a note--very carefully, to avoid any risk of paralysis and the discovery that would bring--and instructed it to deliver the note to the dragon. The note stated simply, in both Common and Abyssal to be sure the message would be understood, “Powerful arcane writings have been brought to the demonic commander. He does not intend to share the writings with you, despite your greater mastery of the arcane.”

I returned to the rope trick and therefore have to rely on Spring’s subsequent reports and conjecture for what happened next. When we were safely reunited, Spring reported that he was escorted directly to the command tent. The commander himself, a glabrezou referred to as “General Asbog,” questioned Spring about the intelligence he had gained in infiltrating forces on the other side of the Shadowline. The commander apparently spoke disparagingly of independent freelancers and asked Spring who hired him. When Spring said he did not know her name, the general described a marilith. Spring agreed that was the demon who recruited him, and General Asbog used some choice expletives to describe her, making it clear that she was his predecessor. General Asbog also asked who Spring served, and Spring responded that he was a minion of Lord Bastion. Finally, Spring reached the point of his subterfuge and gave the general the document we had prepared. He told the glabrezou that it was taken from a Hastur mage-psion, and that it was likely very important.

General Asbog then dictated a letter, although to whom Spring could not determine, stating that his forces had recovered a magical text of some importance and that it should be deciphered by specialists in Caldefor City. With the message prepared, General Asbog told Spring to lead him to Spring’s associates so that he could interrogate all of us. The General left a vrock he referred to as colonel in charge, although he mentioned to Spring as they left the command tent that placing a vrock in a position of command is an act of last resort, but he simply had no other appropriate minions.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

I can verify the next series of events. The glabrezou and Spring left the command tent. Spring led them on a circuitous route through the camp, never approaching the rope trick. He also used his incorporeal nature to lead the glabrezou literally through some of the troops. General Asbog quickly eliminated the troops that showed insufficient alacrity in making way for him. As they traveled through the camp, the dragon--a black dragon roughly the size of the one we saw a great bronze destroy--winged out of her cave, with the black eum flying behind her with a staff in its hands. [When the dragon received the message, she refused to touch it, because it had been held by a ghoul, but she had a goblyn servant read it for her. She was greatly angered by it, but thanked the ghoul for the great service it had rendered and “rewarded” it as best she could: with a fireball that ended its accursed existence. She then gathered up the eum, who referred to her as “aunt” and asked if a confrontation was wise, but reluctantly accompanied her, and headed out to discuss matters with the glabrezou.]

The dragon greeted the glabrezou, although somewhat imperiously. His response was most aggressive: I believe his exact words were, “Get out of the way, you crazy old witch. I’m on my way to do something.”

She then responded in kind, insulting the general and accusing him of breaking the chain of command and trying to keep arcane spell books away from her. Their posturing and insulting continued for some time, until finally the dragon marched up to General Asbog and slapped him across the face, drawing a fair amount of blood. Spring flew directly upwards in response to this, getting as far away from the battle as he could as quickly as possible. By this point, the vrock had emerged from the command tent, and four took to the air, while two remained on the ground.

With a horrified expression on his face, the general called out, “You have seen this insult! Will you allow a power of the Abyss to be insulted by this power of dirt?” He then attacked the dragon with both claws, and the battle began in earnest.

Upon hearing General Asbog’s words, the vrock began dancing, forming their circle in the air and on the ground. The rutterkin and other lesser demons began fleeing, seeking to get as far from the battle as they could. Meanwhile, the eum, still flying, raised its staff, apparently planning on aiding the dragon, but one of the flying vrocks broke from the circle and pounced on the eum before it could unleash any magical power.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

As the main combatants weakened, the army’s officers gathered to watch the battle. They did not engage, on either side, but simply watched as the dragon and the demon tore into each other. The human officers called their trueborn warriors into formation, still without any command to engage, while the goblyn encampment and the small tribe of trueborn women, children, and elders both fled. Neither group stopped until they were safely on the far side of the surrounding hills, where even catastrophic results from the battle would be unlikely to reach them.

The eum witchdoctor managed to kill the vrock it was battling, but the remaining vrock completed their dance of ruin and unleashed a powerful burst of magical energy that hammered the witchdoctor and the dragon badly. Still, the attack was too little, too late for General Asbog: the dragon tore him to pieces, leaving only a bloody wreck on the ground. Moments after the glabrezou fell, the vrock dove from the air and attacked the dragon on all sides. By this point, even the colonel, the vrock that General Asbog had left in command at the headquarters, had emerged and approached the combat, although he simply tapped his swagger stick and watched instead of joining in.

The dragon killed one more vrock, but not before the other vrock killed the eum witchdoctor. Finally, even the dragon could not withstand the combined force of their attacks and perished.

With both the dragon and General Asbog dead, the vrock colonel asserted his right to command, ordering the other vrock to settle down. But while two of the remaining vrock landed and quietly waited, the other two continued flying, clearly insane. When the colonel flew up to them to order them down again, they attacked him. In a display of disloyalty that would have been shocking if it had not followed so many others, the two “sane” vrock simply watched while their superior officer battled for his life. After an intense battle, the colonel killed both of the insane vrock. They had been injured at the beginning of the fight, but he was also clearly mightier than the average. Still, the fight had taken a fearful toll on him, and his victory was short-lived. One of the two remaining vrock casually killed him as he landed. They then began squawking at each other, flapping their wings, and thrusting their heads forward, clearly in a verbal struggle for dominance and command. Their voices grew ever louder and shriller, until the inevitable physical confrontation began.

At this, the eum and trueborn officers gathered in council, while their presumptive commanders battled to the death. After a short discussion, they each returned to their respective units. They gave a short command, and the troops unleashed their steel javelins at the battling vrock, cutting them down. It was the only display of discipline that we had seen. Indeed, the entire sordid scene was a remarkable demonstration of how desperately Caldefor needs the restoration of Lord Paranswarm’s Order. But with their inability to even maintain an army in camp without destroying themselves, our victory would be assured even if Lord Paranswarm’s backing did not make it inevitable.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Here's a double-length post to make up for last Saturday's missed post.

* * *
The survivors embodied chaos less than the demons had, and it appeared that the internecine struggle had ended. With the core combat troops all gathered tightly around where the battle had been fought, however, the circumstances were perfect for the bone water dust. Spring opened one vial and poured an ounce of the substance down on the eum and trueborn armies, while Sergeant Cilorean used his control over the air to disperse the dust and spread it over the entirety of their armies. As the dust touched the trueborn and the eum, they writhed in agony while all of the moisture in their bodies wicked away. Even though they deserved all that was done to them and I hope they will experience even greater punishment in Lord Paranswarm’s Hell, it was terrible to behold. The dust also consumed the zombies and other undead with flesh--an unexpected side benefit, as we had not thought that it would affect any of the undead. By the time the dust finished its work, only the skeletons and the handful of incorporeal undead remained.

The two wraiths who appeared to command the undead--now perhaps the only officers left in the entire army--discussed what they had seen. They agreed that they could not risk spreading the dust beyond this field, as the punishment that would be visited upon them would be unbearable. And all of the skeletons were contaminated. Their very bones glowed with the dust that glistened on them. The wraiths resolutely ordered the skeletons to line up in tight formations and then ordered each skeleton to smash its neighbor. When only a handful of skeletons remained, the wraiths ordered them to gather into a new formation and repeated the process. Soon only shattered bones and glowing dust remained.

The wraiths then discussed their next step. Their duty was to report to their superiors, but the lords of Shadow would likely hold them responsible for the debacle we had engineered. They concluded that going rogue offered better prospects, and once more the disorder of the enemy advanced our cause. With the only surviving parts of the true army fleeing, our attack would not be reported to the enemy high command until a routine patrol visited the dragonhold--and even then, if the patrol was sufficiently incautious, the bone water dust might claim yet more of the enemy.

Spring immediately flew down to scout out the dragon caves themselves. If the hoards were uncontaminated, they would be well worth recovering. Additionally, several of the caves contained clutches of dragon eggs that could, with proper training, be used to make powerful forces for the liberation of Caldefor. Spring returned to the rope trick a few minutes later and reported that two of the six hoards escaped contamination from the bone water dust. Unfortunately, the wyrm’s hoard had been contaminated--it will be another twenty years before the dust has decayed sufficiently to allow us to recover the treasure of the wealthiest of the dragons that laired at the dragonhold. The hoard of the scholar dragon who died fighting General Asbog had also been exposed to the dust; since her most valuable assets were books and scrolls that crumbled in response to the dust, her treasure was permanently lost. Still, depriving the Shadow of those assets was more important than recovering them for the resistance.

Spring hauled the rope trick slowly across the devastated army camp, finally moving it into the dragon caves. [The DM permitted us to move the rope trick even when we told him that the rules don’t really allow that. This was just as well, because otherwise Konrad would have been doomed if any of the dust had drifted to the area directly beneath the rope trick.] A small handful of guards and servants, divided between trueborn and goblyns, remained alive inside the caverns, but we were easily able to cow them into cooperation. We loaded the treasure into the rope trick-- a total of 9710 silver pieces, gems worth about 3770 silver, and, most importantly, a collection of magic items. We only identified a few at the time, but we later concluded that the items were a mask of the skull, which Sergeant Cilorean took to augment his offensive capabilities; a ring of invisibility, which the Sergeant assigned to me; wands of bear’s endurance and find secret doors; a scroll with arcane sight, rage, and heroism inscribed on it; and a collection of potions, including oil of magic weapon and potions of pass without trace and shield of faith [+2].

We also decided to take the best of the trueborn guards with us; we searched them for intelligence, using my detect thoughts spell, and took the best five with us. They were sufficiently impressed by our power that we could expect them to be reasonably obedient, although they would need to be watched carefully until they had been fully endarkened. It would take time to make them as orderly as Lord Paranswarm commands. The remainder would die horribly, either starving to death or entering dust contaminated areas, but there was nothing we could do about that--there was only so much room in our rope trick, and we had no other way to transport them out.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Having secured the treasure, we discussed our next step. We all agreed that we should take control of the tribe of trueborn dependants. If we did not, they would almost certainly be destroyed by the various dangers that now infest our land. Without any significant combat-worthy guards, it was unlikely to be difficult to bring them into loyal service to Caldefor and Lord Paranswarm. There was some discussion of whether we should take them as slaves, which seemed most natural to me as they were captured forces of the enemy, or whether we should rule over them without enslaving them, as Spring advocated. I believe that Spring’s own experience as a former slave makes it difficult for him to understand that slavery is part of Paranswarm’s Order for the world. I tried suggesting that many of them would likely be able to earn their freedom, as he had, but Spring was unpersuaded. Sergeant Cilorean did not settle the discussion, and we ultimately left the matter undecided. There would be time enough to sort out the details of their legal status later.

Spring raised the possibility that we should strike again immediately, heading to another dragonhold before word of our attack spread. At the same time, we had to weigh that against the need to move the tribe of trueborn, the dragon eggs, and the treasure across the Shadowline to where they would be safe. Since we were only a few days south of the border and no alert would reach the other dragonholds from this army, Sergeant Cilorean decided that we would head straight north for the Shadowline. After we had crossed safely and reported, we could head back into Caldefor and strike again. As long as we worked quickly, we would be able to make our second attack before they were alert to our tactics.

The trueborn tribe quickly accepted our dominion. Spring flew over them, commanding them to obedience, while I cast minor magics to impress them even further. Within moments of our accosting them, they had fallen to their knees and were groveling before us. It would be difficult to find a truer demonstration of Lord Paranswarm’s natural order for the world: it is the nature of all things to seek order, with the weak obeying the orders and receiving the protection of the strong. That a group as small as we were could control and protect them only increased their respect for us. We examined the tribe and found that there were about five-hundred trueborn left in the tribe, almost all women and children but with a handful of elderly men as well. They traveled remarkably lightly, and though they were emaciated and clearly starving, they still could travel at a reasonable pace, although not as rapidly as we could have traveled without them. Their scant food supply had been destroyed by the bone water dust--the warriors kept most of the food, and they clung to the army in the hope that the demons would be willing to feed them enough to survive. Of course, only I travel with rations, as my companions are past the need to eat, and while I had brought enough that I had ten days of rations left, that was a pitiful amount of food for five-hundred. After discussing the matter with Sergeant Cilorean, I kept one day’s worth of rations, because I would not be able to remain effective on less than half-rations, and distributed the other nine days worth among the tribe. It was a pitiful amount of food, but they seemed grateful and able to stretch that much more than I would have imagined possible.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

We traveled north for the rest of the day. While the trueborn slowed us and made us much more visible, they pressed hard to keep our pace. I think Sergeant Cilorean was pleased by how far we had managed to travel before the unending shadows and gray clouds of day gave way to night and travel would be too dangerous. The sergeant and Durak maintained continuous patrols during the night, since they also had no need to sleep, while both Spring and I needed rest to recover our spells. We agreed that I would sleep first, and then wake for the last watch, while he would sleep. We also posted a handful of promising young trueborn--children of about 10 or 11 who seemed alert and sensible--as pickets. The trueborn were obedient and cooperative. I approached a couple of the most attractive of the women about sharing my camp with me, and they were eager to become the servants and concubines of a subchief, as they seemed to view me. I will need to consult a priest when I can to be certain that taking on lovers outside orderly matrimony is not a sin, but I do not think it is. Lord Paranswarm teaches that those who rule are entitled to the benefits of their lesser, and while I am but a common mage relative to the free people of Caldefor, the trueborn are right to view me as a subchief under the command of Sergeant Cilorean, who is now effectively their chieftain or master. But I must confess that I might have indulged even if it were a sin.

Shortly after I fell off to sleep, one of my concubines woke me. She looked very apprehensive, although I am not certain why--perhaps she was worried about the threat that had been spotted. One of our pickets, a boy of about 10, stood nearby, and when I asked him why he had awakened me, he said that he had seen two great metal spirits. He reported the spirits to Spring, who had said that he had power over metal and had flown from the camp to observe the spirits personally. As the boy, who I later learned was named Bonepicker, described this, he made it clear that he thought Spring’s actions were foolishness. I asked him to describe the spirits in more detail, and he said that one was a great serpent with thousands of segments, while the other was a huge puma, and that both had a long line of glowing orange crystals along their backs. I told Bonepicker to accompany me and began leading him to Sergeant Cilorean, because this matter needed to be reported to the Sergeant at once.

Bonepicker said that the spirits must have spotted our camp and would surely destroy Spring and then attack us, because the metal spirits hate all the servants of the Shadow. At that I grabbed Bonepicker and forced him to his knees. I informed him that he now served Lord Paranswarm and would never be a creature of Shadow again. I think I frightened him greatly with this, but it was worthwhile, because he accepted his endarkening as I made the sign of the downward arrow over him. Once that matter was taken care of, I told him to return to his feet so we could continue to Sergeant Cilorean. The boy followed, a little shaken but still obedient. He added that the metal spirits were fully charged, because all of their crystals glowed, so they must have a charging station nearby. At that, I finally realized what they must be. Metal constructs with orange power crystals that hate the Shadow could only be constructs of the Orange Mage.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

I passed on Bonepicker’s report to Sergeant Cilorean, as well as my conclusion that the constructs were servitors of the Orange Mage. The Sergeant stated that he would approach them and inform them that we remain loyal to Lord Paranswarm. I asked what we should do if the Orange Mage’s constructs had gone insane, as their master did, or did not believe him, and attacked him anyway. He said that we should flee, so with his permission I had the entire tribe roused and prepared for flight. Gratifyingly, the tribe was ready to run within a minute of my passing the command. I promised that if he fell I would see to it that the tribe safely reached the Shadowline.

Sergeant Cilorean and Spring later reported their conversation with the metal spirits. When Sergeant Cilorean informed them that we served Lord Paranswarm, they switched from the language they had been using--Celestial, from what I can gather--and addressed them in Common. The puma apologized; it had been trying to persuade the serpent that they should attack and kill us all, assuming that we had to be forces of Shadow. They were very pleased to learn that there were still others who fought to restore Caldefor, and they offered to bring us the “human charging packets” that they had at the charging station. A little additional questioning confirmed that they meant a supply of preserved food intended for human servants of the Orange Mage. However, they refused to show us where the charging station was-- what we did not know we could not reveal, even if captured and tortured. Sergeant Cilorean agreed that was prudent. In all, they supplied us with about 500 daily rations worth of food-- enough to put our entire tribe on half-rations. Sergeant Cilorean and Spring also informed them that the Orange Mage still lived, on the far side of the Shadowline, although they omitted the fact that he is still insane. His constructs were greatly relieved to hear that and agreed to send several of the worker automata with us. Without the Orange Mage or one of his skilled apprentices, the automata would inevitably break down, so sending them across to the Orange Mage would allow them to best serve the fight against Shadow.

Meanwhile, I had cast detect thoughts to measure the strength of Bonepicker’s mind, because he had seemed intelligent. His mind was remarkably strong--roughly at the same level as my own. When Sergeant Cilorean and Spring returned, I asked the sergeant for permission to train Bonepicker as an apprentice. I would not be able to teach him the skills and arts of diabolism until he has been examined, approved, and licensed as an apprentice diabolist by the SHH and the Holy Church, but I could begin teaching him the general principles of magic that all wizards must know, which would lay an effective foundation for if and when he is approved. [It didn’t occur to Konrad that between training by a diabolist and watching Konrad’s casting, Bonepicker would surely pick up some of the basics of diabolism without any formal training.] The Sergeant authorized his training, and I informed Bonepicker that he was now my apprentice. I directed him to sleep at a place on the outskirts of my personal camp and replaced him in the guard pickets with one of the other youths in the tribe.