NOW LIVE! Dungeon Delver's Guide: A Sourcebook for 5E and A5E. An essential tome for creating, exploring, and running dungeons in your 5E or A5E game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 4242474" data-attributes="member: 3448">Session 8:We discussed with the Hastur the consequences of moving the Shadowline.   The Keeper informed us, “If the Shadowline were moved past Ripgut, in the absence of a powerful necromancer, the lesser undead would all perish, and the greater undead would be driven back into Shadow-- either south or east towards Greatclaw.  There was an old Circle, called Circle Treehaven, to the south that could be used as a node to shift the Shadowline.  The area around that circle has been less devastated by the Dhoyles and Demon Lords  than most of the areas in Caldefor.”  The Keeper paused, lost in thought.  She continued quietly.   “Before the intaking, there was an even an ent that made its home there.”“What happened to it?” I asked.“We do not know for sure.  When it was last seen, it was still fighting, but that was at the time of the intaking.  By now--who knows?  It could have gone crazy.  If it still lives, it might even be tainted, but I can’t imagine that it still lives.”“What would be necessary to reactivate Circle Treehaven?”  asked Buzz.“The Great Matrix of Treehaven was withdrawn during the retreat, but the lesser matrices remain.  One would need to transport the Great Matrix to the Circle, remove the faux from the apex, and put the Great Matrix back in its place,” answered the Hastur.  “Once the Great Matrix was restored, we would be able to aport to the Tower and reassert both its defenses and the Shadowline.”We discussed this possibility and agreed that we were ready to move the Shadowline.  The Keeper gave us an “Instructor”-- a small psionically active sphere that would be able to activate the Great Matrix once it was in place. At that point, one of the staff of the Circle approached the Hastur.  “Shield Mechanic Twiddletoes with a report, m’lady.  A small group of the eums have crossed under the line, and seem to be scouting the town-- not more than a half dozen.  They have not taken any offensive action yet.”“Probably looking for us,” said Sideh.  “They would be grateful for our assistance in destroying the dracolich but concerned that we were captured by the Hastur.”“Then we should let them ‘rescue’ us,” said Buzz.  “But how would we do that without risking the lives of guards?”“Gibbets,” I said.  “If we are suspended in gibbets as if we were being left to die of exposure, they could plausibly leave the area unguarded at night.  It would be foolishness for actual guards to leave prisoners undefended, but I think that the forces of Shadow will accept it.  They will then presumably sneak in to release us.”The others quickly agreed.  Fortunately, this Keeper was one of the most sane and sophisticated we had dealt with.  Most of the Hastur, from what I understand, would be incapable of following a plan of deception such as this, but she understood what we planned and ordered her captain to make the appropriate preparations.  And so that evening, the guards locked us in suspended steel cages and then left us unguarded.  The cages were old and worn-- I suspect that they had not been used in about fifty years.  Sometimes our Tarkenian allies reveal how soft they are.  But they still had functioning locks, and the guards locked them closed and removed the keys.  They carefully positioned a wheelbarrow, the Great Matrix for Circle Treehaven, and our weapons and equipment in a nearby shed.  Then they left us dressed in rags, the cages swinging quietly in the wind and as we shifted, as night began to fall.</blockquote>

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