Consequences of the Quill (Restored 5/13/06)

[LordVyreth]

The city of Dragovigis

After waiting for almost half an hour without any response from Tsine, the group decided to carefully leave their hiding place, and after making sure the monster was gone, they continued onward in the hopes of finding their friend or at least learning what happened to him.

After a few minutes, they too reached the other side of the mountain, and saw the dragon-filled shaft. However, they were spotted almost immediately, by the same amethyst dragon that earlier saw Tsine. He flew up to them, (with a number of other dragons to provide back-up,) and began to interrogate them.

“What, more of you? Maybe that other one wasn’t lying after all. Do you know an elf named Tsine? He had a bird with him.”

“Yes, he was part of our group,” Tal responded, though he was barely able to speak. The sheer giddiness of meeting other dragons and the instinctual fear that comes from being near so many powerful beings was making it hard for him to talk normally.

The dragon noticed him too. “Wait, those scales on your body. Are you the child of one of us?”

“Not directly, no. Did you hear of the Moinen family of Methosilang? We were related to dragons by kin a thousand years ago. I have been magically enhancing my ties to my ancestors as of late.”

The dragon was suddenly very interested in Tal and the rest of the party. “Why, there are still some who can trace their lineage to the Moinen alliance among my kind! I must have you speak to them. Oh, but first, you should meet the king. He is currently questioning your friend, and we need to reveal the truth before it turns serious!”

So saying, he and the other dragons offered the party a ride, and then plunged deep into the mist at the bottom of the shaft. They went straight to the floor of the shaft, and then even deeper through an underground tunnel, which like everything here was made of metal and was lit with a number of strange glass lights. The tunnel stretched and curved for a number of minutes, and it slowly grew in proportions as they got deeper. Finally, the path ended in a hallway a mile long. As they passed through it, Tal noticed there was a gigantic dragon from each of the five known species of gem dragons guarding the hallway from alcoves. At the very end of the hall was a chamber that dwarfed even the last hallway in size. A dragon with scales as hard and brilliant as diamonds filled most of the hallway, and sat on a bed of diamonds. Fnipper did some quick math in his head, and decided that even a couple of those diamonds would ensure that he would never have to work again. However, one look at the dragon made him realize that there had to be easier ways to earn it.

After a closer look, the party also noticed a number of strange flexible tubes were stretching from the dragon’s tail to the walls around the room. They also noticed a terrified Tsine, who was currently being held by the dragon between two of its massive claws! However, when the dragon saw the party arrive, and after one of the dragons that flew the party here whispered something in his ear, the dragon put Tsine down and addressed the group. “Well, it seems that this one was telling the truth after all! I apologize for my behavior, but we have to be very careful here about our security. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Facetous, the Diamond Dragon.”

For once, Tal wasn’t the first to speak. Dane tried to pick up the slack. “We are a band of heroes from Methosilang. We came to this place by accident, and we didn’t mean any harm. We were looking for Joddark, a dwarf that disappeared years ago on an expedition here. If he’s not here, we’ll be on our way.”

Facetous nodded. “Ah, I suspect you mean the Sage. Yes, he lives here. I’m sure some of my servants can help you find him. But I’m afraid that you will not be able to leave here now that you are aware of our existence!”

Dane spoke up again. “WHAT!? What do you mean we can’t leave? We’re trying to save the world from the rise of Bas! We can’t afford to stay here forever, even if we wanted to!”

Facetous shrugged. “Bas is a threat, that’s true, but there are dangers even greater than the one she poses, and many of these can be unleashed if this city has any chance of being known to the world at large. But I can explain further later. I have little time for such a discussion now, and I’m sure you have much to see and do here. You should speak to the sage you traveled so far to see, and I heard that one of you even has kin here. Once you had some time to explore, I can explain more about this city and then we can negotiate how to handle your presence here.”

The party was led all the way up back to the surface, where they split up. Tal initially wanted to meet his relatives, but he was told that it would take time to find them and for them to prepare for his arrival, so he asked to see the Sage, which was apparently Joddark’s new title, first. Tsine and Robin went with, and Fnipper went along just for the sake of seeing another small one, but a disgruntled Dane decided to drown his irritation at the local pub, and Fenthrip decided to go with, since he didn’t really care about the mystery that bound the rest of the party.

Tal, Tsine, Robin, and Fnipper were taken to one of the suspended metal spheres, which had a small opening in its side. One of the dragons that took them to the sphere knocked on the side, and was answered by a jovial “Come on in!”

Nervously, the party entered, and almost bumped into an elderly dwarf that was entering the main room of the small home. The friendly look in the dwarf’s was suddenly replaced with shock when he saw the decidedly humanoid guests. “Lore bless me, but these are wondrous guests! Please tell me, are you from Methosilang?”

Tsine beamed. “Yes we are. Well, except for Fnipper here. I’m of the wizards guild as well!”

The dwarf laughed happily. “Oh, you must tell me all about the world since I left!”

Tsine spent hours telling the dwarf the party’s story, and the events in Methosilang since Joddark left. The dwarf grew somber, especially when he heard about the rise of Bas, the breaking of the Methosilang/Delaspie alliance, and the war between Delaspie and the dragon empire. “Aye, so it has already started. She warned me about this.”

Tal suddenly realized who “she” was. “You mean Lore? Then you are her avatar! We have been looking for you!”

Joddark looked shocked again, and then suddenly he grew wiser and more powerful. “Ah, I didn’t expect you to find me so soon. This does complicate things.”

Fnipper snorted derisively. “You’re supposed to be a goddess, and you didn’t know we’d be here?”

Joddark/Lore angrily retorted, “Well, I’m not Ordhari you know. I don’t think it’s important to gather every little bit of information. Now, I’m sure you understand what boon I can grant you.” Instantly, Tal, Tsine, and Robin felt another memory return to them.

They were in a vast, alien land, with a being of immense power. They were speaking to the being, and agreeing to the being’s request. However, the request was apparently vocalized before this flashback, as they never learned the details of this request.

Lore continued, “Now, I’ll try to answer a question for you, as the rules will allow me to do.”

After a brief negotiation, Tal replied, “Perhaps you could tell us more about the spheres of darkness that cover our world in darkness? Are there any ways to destroy them?”

Lore thought for a while, and then replied. “There are only three ways that I know of. First of all, the city of Fierypyre, the capital of the Orc Empire, is not just a city. Once, it was a real dragon of immense power, whose soul was placed into a mammoth metal shell when the original body was too old to survive any longer. The creature is dormant now, of course, to let the city survive. However, while it would ruin the city, the dragon can be briefly re-animated. The resulting creature is a being of immense power, which could potentially destroy at least a few of the orbs before its power ran out and the dragon finally died.

“The second possibility is some sort of powerful magic-draining spell or item. The spheres only remain suspended by the magic of Nerull, so if the magic was removed, they would plummet. Of course, depending on where they land, it could cause massive devastation on the planet just from the impact! This could turn the spheres into a weapon in the hands of a very powerful and unscrupulous being.”

“And the third way?” Tsine asked, after Lore hesitated for a few moments.

“Well, that’s something that only Facetous could tell you about, I’m afraid. Suffice to say that he has something in his power that could destroy one sphere, but it is a very powerful and dangerous weapon. But you have to ask him about it.”

“Yeah, speaking of Facetous, we really have to talk to him. He said that we couldn’t leave the city.”

Lore shook his/her head. “That cannot do, you are too important to the world right now. Don’t worry. You explore the city a bit more, and I’ll speak with him. Maybe we can work out an agreement.”

After this, Tal left to find his relatives, while Tsine remained behind to discuss magic with Joddark and possibly trade some magic, and Fnipper and Robin hit the bar. Tal eventually was led to a door built into one of the sides of the chasm. Inside, there was a luxurious home, which was made out of the same metals as the rest of the chasm, and was illuminated by the same glass lights. There were also strange picture frames on the walls, which projected moving illusions of images of his draconic relatives in action, and seemingly random stories about humans in strange garb, who were speaking an unknown language. For some reason, random disembodied voices would laugh after every few words spoken by one of the humans. While watching these strange images, Tal was surprised by a large amethyst dragon that entered the room. “Ah, you are the long-lost relative I was told about?” the dragon said. “I am Lavaldur, the eldest member of our family of dragons.”

Tal introduced himself, and they spent a long time reminiscing about the past and comparing their family histories, but Tal sensed there was some sadness in Lavaldur’s tone. “What’s wrong, Lavaldur?”

Lavaldur gave a half-hearted smile and responded, “Call me uncle, though it isn’t an entirely accurate definition of our family relation. I’m afraid you came at a sad time in our family. My son, Zuriden was among a group of explorers who had discovered a new ruin in our chasm just recently. It was a huge find, but there was an accident, and some of the paths in the ruins were destroyed by a landfill. Zuriden was lost behind one of these landslides, and I fear for his life.”

Tal pondered this for a while, and then said, “I think I have a way of solving both of our problems. I will gather my friends, and then meet us at Facetous’ chamber.”

Tal found Tsine, and then went to the bar. However, when he got there, Dane and Fenthrip were out cold. Fnipper and Robin were on their feet, but feeling a little tipsy. “Okay, what happened?” Tal asked. “Did they drink too much?”

The barkeep, a brass dragon, snorted. “Too much? They barely had a sip each! They asked for the strongest drink in the place, so I gave them dragon ale. One sip later, and they were like this. I guess humans really shouldn’t drink stuff this strong.”

Fnipper, who was the most sober of them all, responded, “The barkeep warned them.”

The party, with the exception of the still-unconscious Dane and Fenthrip, went to Facetous, to learn more about the history of this place and try to bargain their way to freedom. Facetous greeted them, and began to tell the story of this city. “Millennia ago, we were driven off the continent by the growing draconic army. Many tried to fight back, but none of us expected all five draconic families to unite so quickly and with such loyalty. Between them and their humanoid masters, we were overwhelmed, and those who fought back died. Soon, the survivors fled here, where they spent many years shivering in the cold among the ruins here. However, they also explored the land, and started to delve deep into the caverns around the mountains. The cold caused a minor ice age, which destroyed some mountains and caused cracks in others that were miles deep. Eventually, we found that among this very mountain range, there were ruins of a civilization older than even we know about. The dragons soon began to excavate the mountain, and found more and greater wonders of this era. However, not all the creations were helpful, and many were hostile creatures that destroyed all living beings on sight. Many such ‘sheens,’ as we call them, have escaped from other fissures like the one we found, and now roam the surface, destroying any living thing they can find that the cold and darkness didn’t already kill. We, meanwhile, turned the wonders we found into this very city, using our combined intellect and experience to discover, at least to a limited degree, how they work. I myself was summoned here by the dragons, when I realized the power of the objects here.

“However, we also know of the dangers of these devices. Many of them would totally alter civilization if they were discovered by outsiders. Warfare would become deadlier than we have ever seen, and the fragile balance of power would be destroyed. Could you imagine if Bas ever heard of this place? She would have the power to annihilate all who stood in her way. And of course there’s the case of myself. Nerull has forbid all other gods of the old order to come here, and he could banish me easily if he learned I was here. I am not sure the ruler of this city: I also am providing it with power using my own divine aura. If I were forced to leave, this city would die.

“Be that as it may, we may be willing to let you leave, for I have spoken to the Sage’s ‘friend.’ She believes you are indeed instrumental for the fate of the world, as a result of the Lady of Memory you speak of. Therefore, I will let you leave after you complete two conditions. First, you must prove your trust to the city by completing a task for us. I have also spoken to Lavaldur, and he has told me about his lost son. If you find him, not only has Lavaldur pledged that he will reward all of you handsomely, but I will consider you friends of the city. The second condition is that you must never speak of this city to outsiders under any circumstances. If these conditions are met, I will let you leave.”

Tal, however, had one more question before he could agree. “I’m afraid that we will not be up to our normal fighting effectiveness. Two of our comrades have fallen under the power of the ale you produce in this city. Would it agreeable if we wait for them to recover before we begin?”

Facetous shook his mighty head. “I’m afraid not. Zuriden might be a dire situation, and could be dead if you wait for the liquor’s effect to wear off.”

Despite this new, the party was eager to take the dragon god’s offer, and thus escape the city to continue the fight against Bas and the twin evil empires.

OOC Notes: The next couple of adventures are probably my favorite ones in the entire set up to this point. It also introduces some new players, who will be introduced in the next game. Yes, that was a Gamers reference up there, by the way. Of course, the DVD wasn’t even out yet by the time of this game, so it was a bit of artistic revision.

 

[LordVyreth]

The Ancient Dungeon

As the party rested for the night in preparation for the expedition the next morning, a pair of figures were speeding their way to the city in pursuit of them. One of them was Galeron, a cleric of the church of Bha-Ael, the ruler goddess. He had heard about the party’s exploits, and was surprised to learn of a rumor that many of them shared the same dream he did over a year ago, involving a mysterious creature called Lady Memory. He decided to follow them and hope that they will share any information they had about this figure. On the way, he encountered a drow named Tebryn, who was lost in the snow and ice of the Sunless continent. He claimed he had no idea how he got here; he just fell through a strange portal, and was in this new land. Galeron was suspicious, but he used his powers to sense him, and he didn’t have the moral taint of evil, so Galeron offered to let Tebryn join him on the quest to find the party. Slowly, they neared a familiar mountain range…


The next morning, the four near-sober members of the party began their journey through the ancient “dungeon.” They traveled at first through a series of narrow tunnels through the mountains, which presumably was once a mere crack that the dragons excavated and turned into a reasonably sized passage. At the end of the path, there was a gigantic cavern, which was bisected by a huge metal gate. It was fifty feet high and just as wide, but the dragons had already broken through the gate enough to crate a five-foot wide hole in the middle of the gate. Carefully, Fnipper led the group towards the hole in the gate. Once he neared the gate, he peaked through the hole, and saw a well-lit, metal room. There was no immediate danger, so he quickly darted into the room, only to find that the room wasn’t as uninhabited as he thought. Four of the rolling “sheens,” much like the ones they encountered among the army of them back on the surface, were here. But the ones here were at least twice the size of the earlier ones!

Fnipper was feeling unusually brave after he remembered how easy the last of these creatures were, and charged the first one just as it was activating. He got a few quick hits in, but since he had no idea how these creatures worked, he couldn’t find a weak spot. The rest of the party was about to enter the room to help Fnipper, when they heard a sound behind them!


Galeron and Tebryn were cautiously entering the tunnel that the party had just left. They had arrived late last night, and after speaking to the Sage, they learned of the earlier arrival of the party. Though the shock was as great for them as it was for the party, they were able to control themselves enough to work out a deal with Facetous. Since Galeron was of the same group as the rest of the party, he would be allowed to join the group, and the honor was extended to Tebryn once Galeron insisted that his new friend would not be left behind. Suddenly, Galeron and Tebryn had to throw caution to the wind, for there were sounds of battle ahead of them! They quickly charged up the rest of the tunnel, with Galeron taking the lead despite Tebryn’s ability to move faster as a result of his lighter armor.

Robin whirled around to respond to this new potential threat, only to see that it was apparently a cleric and a holy warrior of Bha-Ael. Deciding that questions can wait, he drew his bow and began to fire into the room at one of the rollers. Tebryn, however, didn’t think he would be as welcome because of his race, and used his innate magical powers to draw a cloak of darkness around him as he skulked into the room. He wanted to help, but had to time it so they wouldn’t think he was a threat.

Meanwhile, Tal and Tsine had bigger concerns, like saving their friend. Both of them also got to the edge of the room, and began to fire magical projectiles at the rollers. However, the simple-minded rollers still considered Fnipper their primary threat, and three of them surrounded the unfortunate gnome while the other moved to the front of the doorway to engage Robin. Despite his incredible dexterity, Fnipper was surprised by the speed of these creatures, and though he activated his ring of blinking before he entered the fight, fortune was with the metal creatures, as he was always in the wrong place (by his perspective,) when they connected. Desperate, Fnipper tried to use his ring to phase through the wall and to safety, but again luck wasn’t with him, and he materialized within the wall! This caused him to get shunted back into the room. Gasping for air and trying to ignore the dozens of cuts he got from leaving parts of himself inside the wall, he looked up to see the three giant monsters closing in on him. He carefully downed a potion, and hoped he would have more luck dodging these things from now on.

Meanwhile, Galeron charged into the doorway, to help Robin fight back the monster. Between the two of them and with Tal and Tsine’s magic supporting them, they were able to destroy the monster, but they didn’t have a chance to help Fnipper.

Fnipper concentrated and focused on his family, and how he would never see them again if he died here. With his focus renewed, he was able to evade his foes far better, and his sense of timing lasted long enough for him to jump through the wall a little more carefully this time. Though he again materialized inside the wall, he was almost on the other side, and the momentum carried him to the safety of the outer chamber despite the pain it caused him. Unfortunately, Tebryn used this exact moment to try to help, and Fnipper came face to face with a strange drow elf that was forcing (from Fnipper’s perspective) a vial of strange liquid upon him!

Galeron entered the room to help engage the three surviving monsters, while Tal and Tsine moved to the far side of the room to continue the magical barrage, and Robin remained in the doorway to fire on the machines from a distance. Galeron heard the screams from outside, and a strange, high-pitched voice yelling “Help! It’s a drow assassin! He’s trying to poison me!”

Suddenly realizing what was going on, Galeron yelled back “It’s okay! He’s a good guy, and he’s with me! He just wants to help!” Robin, after realizing that Fnipper never actually saw Galeron yet, shouted that Fnipper should trust him as well, and Tal and Tsine echoed this claim.

Dubiously, Fnipper drank the liquid, but even after it healed some of his wounds, he looked at the drow with suspicion. “Don’t think this means I trust you, drow. I don’t have faith in any of your stinking kind.” With that, he phased through the wall again to help his friends. Tebryn went around the wall and into the room to help as well, though he did so with less than good intentions. He was used to others mistrusting him because of his race, but he hoped it was different here, and this gnome was really the first to show him any discrimination. He began to dislike the gnome already.

At any rate, now that they were surrounded and overpowered, the remaining rollers soon crumbled when Tsine used up some of his more powerful magic to blast all three of them with flames. The party soon gathered, and began their introductions. Galeron explained that he came from Methosilang to accompany the party, after hearing that they shared a similar dream. He told a bit about his past. Most importantly, he explained about his motivations for adventuring beyond the Lady Memory issue. Notably, he talked quite a bit about his missing mother, who was lost to an orc raid years ago, and who may or may not be alive any more.

Tebryn’s story was even more unusual. He claimed he was from a city called Menzoberranzan, a drow city under the watch of a goddess called Lolth. Tal and Tsine remembered that latter name from the records of the old gods, but this drow city and the idea that one of the old gods is still in control are new concepts for them. Tebryn was just as amazed when he learned of Methosilang, the drow alliance with the surface dwellers, and the creation of the Benefactor drow. Tsine, who did some research on planar theory, suggested that Tebryn was from an alternate plane and somehow ended up here on accident. Both of them were accepted into the group, at least by a majority of the group. Fnipper gave him a look that clearly suggested he still didn’t trust this drow, especially since he wasn’t even from the relatively good drow civilization of Methosilang, and Tebryn’s hatred for the little gnome grew.

OOC Notes: And thus we have our two new characters. Galeron is a cleric/paladin, with a strong emphasis on the former. He also has a dwarven cleric cohort, but he wasn’t written up in time for the game, so he essentially is waiting at home for Galeron until he can be written back into the plot. Tebryn is a normal drow, with SR and spell-like abilities, from the Forgotten Realms. He is a fighter/wizard. Both will be part of the group for a decent amount of time.

 

[LordVyreth]

Well, I did plan on giving you a new update this weekend, but my Word program is giving me grief, so it looks unlikely at this point.

Well, it might be for the best, because I have a bit of a confession to make. I'm seriously starting to burn out. I mean, I've averaged something like four updates a week for months, and I don't think I can handle it any more. Plus, it seems to be killing any discussion among readers. I don't expect to be as often-read as Jollydoc or anything, but it's a little depressing seeing an entire page of almost nothing but my own updates. I'm not quitting or anything, so don't worry, but I'll probably only update on Wednesdays and Sundays from now on. Hopefully, this will encourage some speculation and questions, which I will answer between updates. I'll also finish posting the Excerpts and other campaign info between large updates, as soon as I get my Word working again.

 

[LordVyreth]

Microsoft DungeonPro v5.1

After introductions, the party continued into the dungeon through a corridor in the far end of the guard-room. The corridor was ten feet wide and made of metal like everything else inside the ruins, and it looked like took a little damage from the cave-in, but was nonetheless mostly intact. At the other end of the corridor, there was another room. There was a door in the north wall, but it was also made of metal and was well-sealed. Also in the room was a strange box that was attached to the wall. There was a window in its front, but the only thing on the other side was some strange, glowing letters in an unknown language. A strange slab made of an unknown material was in front of the box, and it had dozens of buttons that were labeled in the same unknown language. Another lump of the material was lying on the slab, and it was attached to the box with some strange wire. It was resting on a soft substance, and had a few unlabeled buttons.

Tal and Tsine started to investigate the strange box and slab, but the rest decided to look at the door. Galeron tried to open it, but it didn’t even have a doorknob or any hinges, so he had no idea where to start. There were some funny knobs and holes in the door, but Fnipper’s attempt to lock pick them proved absolutely useless. Finally, Robin sighed and said, “I’ve had enough of this. Let’s just open the door down the old-fashioned way.” He drew his sword and heaved it into the door with all his might. However, he soon realized that wasn’t the best idea when the door countered his attack! Robin, Fnipper, and Galeron were all overcome with pain by some unknown source, but Tebryn said he thought his sensitive ears picked up something, suggesting the source of the pain was a kind of high-pitched sonic wail. All three of the victims weren’t seriously injured, but the pain of the blast left them all shaken and barely able to move, and Fnipper actually collapsed from the pain. Weakly, Robin asked, “So, any luck on that box yet?”

Galeron went to examine the box as well. Tal asked him, “I don’t suppose you have any magic that will let us translate the letters, do you?” Galeron shook his head.

Tsine sighed, amused. “It’s almost like still having Fenthrip around, isn’t it?”

By now, Fnipper managed to stumble back to his feet, and went over to investigate the machine himself. He tapped into his ancient gnomish powers and started to randomly pressing buttons while moving the lump around. His actions cause a map to appear, with strange writing inside each room. Impressed with his success so far, he started pressing more buttons, and moving the lump, until he noticed that moving the lump moved a little light on the screen. He eagerly tried pressing the lump’s buttons, and somehow caused more screens to appear. Finally, after enough fiddling, he somehow got a strange picture of some metal insects to appear. They looked huge!

“Um, Fnipper…” Tal said, as he saw what he caused to appear. “Maybe you should quit now.”

But Fnipper didn’t seem interested in stopping. He moved the little light onto the bugs, and pressed a few more buttons, and suddenly, a few little lights appeared on the map. They looked like they were moving towards a room at the bottom of the map, which looked suspiciously like the one the party was in…

“What did you do, Fnipper?” a terrified Tsine asked. “You summoned those bug things here!”

Robin quickly took the lead by the door, with his sword out, and Tebryn and Galeron took offensive positions to the sides of him. They tensed, and prepared to move as the door slowly slid open…

And a half dozen sheens the size of insects scurried out, and went immediately to the box and slab. “Well, they looked big in the picture,” Tsine mumbled.

The sheens spent a few moments examining it, and then cleaned a few smudges of dirt that the party got on it. The continued examining it for a few more minutes, and then they moved to the party. The lead one gave a low-pitched, sinister buzz noise, and then they all left the room again, shutting the door behind them. “I think we just got yelled at,” Robin said.

Tsine pondered this for a moment, and then responded, “I bet those things were supposed to fix the slab. That’s why they spent so long looking at it and cleaning it. They expected it to be broken!”

Fnipper chuckled. “Well, this time, let’s cheer them up!” he yelled as he repeated his last few button presses, summoning the bugs again. This time, however, he then immediately pulled out his sword and drove it into the window, then yanked the lump out of the slab entire. He was still busy wrecking buttons when the door was about to open again. This time, the bugs immediately went to work putting the strange device back together. Fnipper looked on triumphantly and then dashed through the now open door. “Quickly, before they finish, let’s go,” Fnipper yelled, and the rest of the party followed.
The party only got as far as the next hallway before running into a door to the north, and a second one to the west. But there was an unusually large and elaborate glowing light on the wall. Fnipper decided he was on a roll and gleefully tipped it over as well. The insects came automatically this time, and they dashed through the north door as it opened. They ended up in another hallway, with two closed doors on the west wall and an open one on the east. The hallway continues to the north for a while, but it ends abruptly at a pile of metal and rubble. The party went over to investigate. "This must be where that cave-in that Lavaldur was talking about," Tal muttered.

"Can we force our way in?" Galeron asked.

Tsine, as always, looked worried. "I don't think so. If we do, it might cause even more cave-ins. But maybe Fnipper can help us find a way to do it safely. Fnipper?" But as he turned around, he, and everyone else, noticed that Fnipper was no longer there.

"I KNEW there was something we couldn't trust about him!" Tebryn growled.

Fnipper meanwhile, had gone through the door to the east before it closed again, his natural curiosity and the general momentum of the exploration driving him onward. He ended up in a fancy room filled with wooden chairs, fancy paintings, and a large table. There also was a small counter in one corner of the room, with a large metal depression built into it. There were strange knobs and a lever of some sort, and a strange button next to those. Fnipper fiddled with the knobs, and suddenly water poured out of the lever like magic!

After hiding under the table for a few minutes, he went over and tried the button, causing frozen water to appear out of the lever. After a few more minutes of steeling himself up, he tried pulling the lever that was producing all the water, only for it to break in his hands! He quickly went back to hide under the table as a puddle began to form on the floor, but soon more bugs came in from the east door to fix the broken lever, and he dashed through the door to find himself in yet another hallway. He saw another door to the west north of his new position, and a branch in the hallway and two doors to the south. However, he focused instead on a light at the north end of the hallway. Breaking it caused more bugs to arrive from the northern door, and he dashed through to find a strange lab. It looked like the place a wizard would use to brew potions. He continued his smashing tactic by breaking a few of the weird devices in the room, and more bugs poured in from the west, even though the western door was already open. He dashed through it to find himself back in the big table room, but the door he first went through was open as well.

"Fnipper, what happened to..." Tal said, but Fnipper held up a hand to silence him.

"Quiet, I think I figured this thing out," he replied, and after seeing that the northwest door of this hallway was also open, he went through that, with the party hurrying behind him. They went through one more barren and near empty room, and then found themselves in a damp, filthy room with a hole in the floor and a ladder leading down.

No matter how advanced this place was, Tal could figure out this area quickly enough. "This is the sewer access," he said with disgust. "Well, at least we could use the sewers to try bypassing the cave-in." He sounded disappointed. This was a fascinating place, and he wanted to explore it further. But on the other hand, he couldn't fail his cousin, either. Slowly, the party descended into the depths, and deeper into the strange complex.

OOC Notes: The "habitation" puzzle is one of my favorites. The idea was that there were three types of devices that could be broken, and the repair-bots came in three directions to fix it. They were able to find a few shortcuts to get through it faster than I planned, but they also fiddled with the first computer longer than I expected. It was funny trying to explain a computer's functions in a way that the characters would see them while the players tried not to metagame.

Ah, my first update in the new system. Word is still working funny for me, but I can at least start it up in safe mode, which will have to do for now. Now, hopefully we can get some a real dialogue going between updates. Are there any questions or comments about the campaign so far that anyone has?

 

[LordVyreth]

The campaign's second-biggest portable hole mistake

The sewer, while largely ruined from the passing of time and the damage done by the cave-in, still had one accessible tunnel. While dingy, it was comparatively clean for a sewer, but the same couldn’t be said for the room at the end of the tunnel.

“Phew. What IS that?” a disgusted Galeron asked as he looked at the massive room, which was filled with garbage to the point where the floor couldn’t be seen.

“I don’t know. Maybe some more of those worker sheens were given some food preparation jobs, and they didn’t quit for centuries, even though the actual people to eat the food are long gone,” Tsine speculated, in between gagging breaths.

However, Fnipper, who was barely aware of the concept of bathing as a theoretical notion, merely shrugged. What was the problem, really?

Obviously, no one wanted to actually walk through the crud, so everyone prepared magical means to get through it. Fnipper used a ring that let him walk on the wall, while Tsine and Tal used magic to fly across. This didn’t help Galeron, Tebryn or Robin out, though, but Tal had an idea. “What if the three of you waited in my portable hole? There’s enough air to last a long time, and it shouldn’t take more than a few moments to cross the room.” Tebryn and Robin agreed, but Galeron decided that was too risky and decided to tough it out by walking across.

Everything was fine, at least at first. However, after Galeron waded halfway across the room, there was rumble below him. Before anyone could react, three hideous creatures emerged from the filth. Two looked like giant centipedes, with a number of strange tentacles growing out of their faces. The third, however, was far worse. It was a colossal purple worm, and was about the size of half of the room!

Tal reacted first. Though the danger in front of him was great, he chose not to flee, and instead hurled a blast of sonic energy at the worm. Fnipper also chose to help. He leapt into the garbage with a disturbed glee, and then crawled over to the first of the little centipede-creatures. As he crawled, he activated his magic ring and began to blink in and out of reality. Tsine managed to fly a little closer to the other side of the room, and then followed up with a bolt of lightning directed at the second centipede. However, the little centipedes were quick to react, and while the first couldn’t get near the elusive Fnipper, the other was able to repeatedly slap Tsine with its tentacles. The pain was minimal, but to Tsine’s horror, he felt himself slowly go numb. He was terrified beyond belief as the monster dragged him into the garbage, but was helpless to resist.

The worm was even more effective. Seeing an easy prey near its head, it almost casually lunged at Tal, who was nowhere near fast enough to dodge. He began to struggle with the worm, as its dagger-length teeth began to dig into his flesh. Meanwhile, Galeron managed to reach the end of the room, but could do little to help from here. Suddenly, he had an idea, and began to cast a spell.

By the time he was finished, things were steadily getting worse. Fnipper had managed to dispatch the first centipede, but the other was still gnawing into Tsine. Even worse was the microscopic threat, however. Though they were unaware of it at the time, a disease that had been festering and growing stronger for a millennium festered in the waste, and it managed to get into Tsine’s system through his numerous wounds. But Tal had it even worse, as the Worm finished swallowing its prey! Tal began to struggle to escape, as he was being crushed by the creature’s stomach lining and slowly dissolved by digestive acid.

Meanwhile, Robin came upon a brilliant play, and chose to draw three cards. Tebryn dealt them to him, as they tried not to think about what’s going on outside. “What do you think is taking so long?” Robin asked.

Tebryn thought about it the question for a minute. “I don’t know, but I hope they didn’t forget about us. There can’t be that much air in here.”

Galeron’s spell had summoned a celestial creature. It was a lantern archon, the least of the holy beings, but Galeron knew it had powerful long-range weapons and a magical aura that struck fear into its enemies. Sure enough, its appearance caused the worm to shrink back, and it began to fire at the second centipede as Galeron summoned another magical ally. This one was a flying sword, which flew through the air guided by the divine might of his goddess. Between his magic blade, his own sword, and the archon’s beams, the second centipede also soon fell.

However, it was Fnipper who saved the day. He saw the purple worm lunge towards him, and deftly leapt onto the creature’s head, while simultaneously bringing his blade down in a perfectly-placed blow. He had managed to plunge his sword into the creature two more times before the worm could even turn around for a second attack. Fnipper laughed as he saw his enemy come for him, and ran towards the wall. He rebounded off of it just as the worm’s head passed under him, and he was leap straight at the top of the creature’s head. The momentum of his leap plus the perfect timing of the attack was enough to catch the creature perfectly, and he was able to keep the blade in as the creature passed under him, nearly slicing the top of the creature in half! It collapsed, and began to sink into the muck as Fnipper helped dig the near-dead Tal out of the belly. Bedraggled, the heroes shambled out of the room, and decided to rest one last time before they finished their exploration. After all, it doesn’t matter if they find Zuriden if they get killed rescuing him.


Meanwhile, deep in the complex, Zuriden was waiting. But he was neither trapped nor in any particular danger. In fact, he found truths deep within the structure that made changed his mind completely about the nature of his city and the actions of those inside it. He wanted to change everything, and he didn’t especially want to be disturbed while he did so.

OOC Notes: Okay, so I embellished Fnipper’s actions just a little, but not by much. He did more or less single-handedly destroy that worm with a series of sneak attacks. Galeron admittedly helped a lot with the penalties his archon gave the purple worm, but otherwise he might have saved the party from a TPK. Especially when the worm essentially swallowed half the party in one gulp!

This and the last two updates were all from one game, and it was a great one. Two close combats, some great role-playing with the new players, and the fun of watching them figure out the habitation. If I had to pick, I’d say this was possibly my favorite game of the campaign to date.

Sorry about the short update, btw. I lost all of yesterday to Father’s Day festivities, and with a Wednesday update so close, I didn’t want to go overboard for this one. Expect the next one to finish up the ancient dungeon and start the next adventure.

 

[LordVyreth]

Confrontation in the Danger Room

After a night’s rest, the party woke up, ready to finish their quest. However, it soon became obvious that Tsine wasn’t feeling in perfect health. He was chuckling madly to himself, and Galeron immediately put his training as a healer to work. “He must have caught some sort of disease from that muck we all fell in yesterday. I can fix it easily enough.” He channeled the healing power of his goddess into Tsine, and immediately removed the physical effects of the disease. Unknown to all of them, however, a more powerful, magical strain of the illness had infected him, and it grew ever-stronger despite Tsine showing no further symptoms.

The party continued exploring the sewer, but it only takes a few minutes before they reach the end of the last tunnel not blocked by rubble. Fortunately, there was a ladder leading back to the surface of the base here, and they cautiously climbed it. They found themselves in another hallway, which was blocked to the south by more rubble, but continued on to the north. The party prepared to go north, but Fnipper stopped to examine the rubble first. “Something isn’t right about this,” he said. “I’ve seen natural cave-ins before, and this isn’t one. It looks like it was deliberate.”

The party looked worried, but Tal looked devastated, since he knew that this meant that either Zuriden was attacked, or he purposely caused this. He desperately asked, “Maybe it was just a result of the rubble collapsing into this place? Some of the walls and ceilings are really strong.”

Fnipper looked at his friend and sighed. “Maybe, Tal. Maybe.”

The northern path continued on for another 100 feet, and ended at another door. However, this one looked different, like it wasn’t built for security. Fnipper offered to investigate, but Tebryn pushed him aside. “No, I’ll handle this one. I’m still annoyed that I couldn’t help more in the last fight.”

Of course, Tebryn was far more interested in not letting Fnipper show him up again, but he obviously didn’t say that. He neared the door, but before he could investigate it, it suddenly opened automatically!

Behind the door, there was a massive room. It was at least fifty feet wide and just as long, and it was quite tall as well. The top half of the entire western wall was made of glass or some other transparent substance. But the floor was even stranger. Most of it was metal and tiled in five foot squares, but the entire outer perimeter of the room and a line going through and across the middle were made of strange metal strips. As soon as the door opened, the room changed further, as parts of the floor randomly began to electrify, and the metal strip parts of the floor began to move!

The room’s inhabitants looked just as dangerous. Six little metal insects skittered about on the floor. Three were made of a strange silvery metal, two were gold, and one looked like it was made of, or at least plated with, platinum. But the worst of them all was a large vaguely bipedal insect that waited at the far end of the room. It was brimming with sharp hook arms and metal rotary blades, and electricity crackled along its form.

Robin and Tsine were the first to react. They fired at the giant sheen with arrows and a rain of ice, but both merely helped freeze the creature. Fnipper then ran into the room, and began to attack the nearest of the silver robot bugs. However, while he did destroy the first of the tiny robots, he suddenly found the surprisingly quick giant sheen looming over him. Even with his agility, Fnipper couldn’t avoid the creature’s giant mandible-saw blade, and it gave him a brutal gash to the chest. Galeron moved up to help Fnipper with some healing magic, but as soon as he finished, the conveyor belt moved him back towards the door. Tebryn and Tal also remained in the hallway behind the door, and used their magic to further wound the sheen and the gold bugs. Eager for vengeance, one of the silver horrors skittered up to attack Fnipper, while the other went after Galeron. However, the gold and platinum bugs stood at the head of the hall, and began to shoot bolts of lightning at the party, who was neatly arranged to get caught by every single bolt!

Suddenly, with a crash, Zuriden burst through the left window. Tal was overjoyed to see his cousin, but before he could speak, Zuriden looked at the party, and shouted at the sheens in Draconic, “Destroy them all! We can’t risk being discovered yet!”

Shocked at hearing his cousin’s words, Tal stopped paying attention to the rest of the fight. “Zuriden, wait! I am your cousin from Methosilang! Stop this fighting, we can resolve this peacefully.

This gave Zuriden pause. He looked troubled for a moment, but continued. “No, I’m sorry, but this is too important to let family get in the way. I won’t let these wonders get destroyed.” However, he and Tal continued to talk, as Tal desperately tried to find a way to resolve the situation peacefully.

As they talked, the fight raged on, though Tal’s conversation with Zuriden mercifully kept the dragon out of the battle. The giant sheen was eventually brought down by a combination of Tebryn and Tsine’s magic, but not before it could breathe a plasma line into the hallway. This was enough to convince the rest of the party to take the fight into the room, even if it meant being moved constantly by the conveyor belt, and one wrong move causing electrocution. A well-placed fireball by Tebryn later was enough to finish off all but one gold, one silver-ish, and the platinum bugs, and Galeron and Fnipper were able to destroy the first two easily enough.

However, it was at this point that Zuriden noticed his allies were being destroyed. “No, I won’t allow this!” he shouted, and exhaled a blast of concussive force right into the middle of the group. This was enough to knock Tsine and Tebryn off their feet, and while they still breathed, they were steadily getting weaker.

Tal also realized that negotiations had broken down, and yelled to the group, “Take him alive! We have to learn what’s going on!” He fired a magical blast that struck the platinum bug, and the rest of the group surrounded the dragon.

Zuriden focused on his smallest, and he thought weakest threat. However, even with all of his draconic might, he couldn’t land a single blow on the nimble gnome, especially since he had used his magical ring to blink in and out of reality constantly. Robin and Galeron took their friend’s advice, and began to pummel the relatively young dragon with the flats of their blades. Fnipper wasn’t so merciful, and let his dagger sink perfectly into the dragon’s back time and time again. However, despite these massive wounds, Zuriden remained standing, but he bowed his head. “I surrender. I can’t fight you any longer like this.”

Tal led the interrogation. “Why? Why did you fake the cave-in, and go into hiding.”

Zuriden shook his head sadly. “You must still be new here. Since we first discovered these ancient treasures, Facetous and the others have been planning what to do with them. We could use them to help defeat the dragons and regain our honor, but they would have none of that! They think that these weapons would unbalance the power structure of the world! In fact, if the empires were ever defeated, they planned on destroying the entire city to ensure it would never be discovered by anyone else! You know that giant dragon statue in the middle of town? Inside of the mouth, there is a MIDAS weapon, which we discovered in our explorations. We don’t know how it works exactly, but apparently it can destroy everything within a few miles of it when used! They plan on detonating it if the city is no longer needed or it if is sufficiently threatened.

“When I discovered this place, I realized it was the largest find we’ve ever had. From here, I could have discovered other ruins, and program an army of sheens. But I knew it would never happen if the elders explored this place first, so I tried to hide as much of it as possible while making them think I was dead.”

Tal sighed. “Honestly, I think I agree with you, but this isn’t the way to do it. And I’m afraid that we need to return you to your father if we ever want to leave.

Zuriden nodded. “I understand. It’s too late for my plan now anyway. But could you at least do something for me?”

“What?”

“Don’t tell the others what I have been doing here. I couldn’t bear to hear their reactions, and I would be forbidden from ever exploring again.”

After some debate within the party, Tal replied. “Agreed. We hope you can find a way to convince your people to help us. We need all the help we can get in our fight.”

OOC Notes: Another fight where Fnipper shined, at least when Zuriden began to attack. Otherwise, this was a very rough one for the party. Getting bunched together in a hallway is a very bad idea when nearly the entire enemy party has breath weapons! I purposely had Zuriden wait a few rounds before fighting to avoid a potential TPK.

 

[LordVyreth]

Tie

The heroes returned with a sullen but cooperative Zuriden, and were welcomed upon their return. Lavaldur in particular was overjoyed to see his son safe, and gladly paid the party the money he agreed to give them. While Tal spent some time reminiscing with his relatives, Tsine went to visit Joddark and introduce him to Tebryn and Galeron, and then explain to them what they learned so far. Meanwhile, Fnipper and Robin went to retrieve their friends Fenthrip and Dane, so they can meet with Facetous and hopefully get permission to leave the city. Surprisingly, Fenthrip was still bedridden. “They said I’ll be okay pretty soon, but I can’t even stand up without getting sick. If it’s okay with you, I think I’ll just wait here until you’re ready to leave.”

Dane, however, had an even stranger tale to tell. “It was amazing. While I was unconscious, I had a strange vision. I imagined myself flying on glittering red wings, and sharing my mind with the collective wisdom of millennia. I always thought Tal was little freaky, but I finally understand what he’s been doing to himself. If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to spend some time here, to try to understand what I must do.”

Robin looked shocked. “But why not come with us and learn as we adventure, like Tal? We need your help to defeat Bas.”

Dane shook his head. “I’ll be there for the final battle, don’t worry. But I need to take some time and plan for my future first.”

And so Robin and Fnipper left, alone. As they left, Robin was devastated at losing another friend, even if it was peacefully and hopefully not permanent. But Fnipper was more thoughtful than anything. Didn’t Tal once mention a half-dragon with glittering red scales?

The party regrouped and went to meet with Facetous. He looked at them proudly. “I have heard of your heroism and bravery, and I believe you to be worthy heroes. Very well. Since Joddark’s “friend” insists that you will be of utmost importance back at your home. I will allow you to leave. But there is once condition.” He leaned very close to the group. “I want you all to swear an oath to whatever goddess you worship that you will never, EVER speak of this place to outsiders. Do you hear me?”

They all nodded their assent, but Tal, who had been talking to Fnipper on his way here, had a question. “Actually, there is one person I met you might be interested in. He was a half-dragon, with ruby red scales.”

This gave even Facetous pause. “What? How is that possible? My son died over a thousand years ago.”

“Yes, but this man claimed that he died when falling onto some ancient bones, and became a half-dragon when he was raised. Maybe these bones are tied to your son?”

Facetous thought for a long time, before finally saying, “Very well. If you see this man, you may send him here. But make sure no one else hears you, and only tell him as much as he must here. Now, if that is all, you should leave as soon as you can.”

However, Tal, being ever inquisitive, felt a strong urge to ask one more question. “Is there nothing else on this continent? Just this city and a few primitive tribes?”

Facetous nodded. “Essentially, yes. Well, and the blue man…”

“The blue man?”

“Yes, he’s a strange man that lives at the base of a nearby mountain. He looks like a normal human, except for a slightly blue-tinted hue to his skin, and he wears only simple clothing, but doesn’t look like he is suffering from the cold at all. He says that he is guarding someone called ‘TIE,’ who the man claims is his master. However, when some of my followers see him, he always says that this master is not available at the moment, and to come back later. He doesn’t even respond to threats, and any amount of force just makes him vanish, only to return an hour or so later.”

At the words “TIE,” a powerful headache built up in Tal, Tsine, Galeron, and Robin’s heads. Tsine suddenly remembered that the word TIE was also used in the writings of Wee Jas, back in Delaspie’s library’s hidden passages. He also realized that…

“We must go meet this man,” Galeron suddenly said, finishing Tsine’s thought. This came as a surprise to all of them, including Galeron, who hadn’t heard the full story of Delaspie yet.

But the other three nodded immediately. This, like perhaps Delaspie itself, is a clue to their shared memory and the nature of Lady Memory. Tebryn looked around confused, and Fnipper shrugged. “This isn’t the first time they’ve done this, but it was profitable this time, so I’m inclined to go along with it.”

Tebryn sighed and mentally resigned himself to going with. After all, he had nowhere else to go, but this was already very aggravating to him. He felt like a mere spectator to this strange puzzle. Well, maybe this TIE, whoever it was, could give him some answers as well.

The party left the next day, minus Dane and Fenthrip, and began a three-day trek through the mountains. However, before they left, Galeron had a request for Tsine. “I’m starting to worry about my friend and trusted cohort, Thorrun. He is a worshipper of Bha-Ael, like myself, and I believe he could be a boon to our group.”

Tsine agreed, and they were gone and back again in a matter of minutes. Now, they were accompanied by a short but stout dwarf, who wore the same priestly garments and symbols of Galeron. After a brief introduction, he was ready to join the group on their journey.

The next three days were harrowing, but except for the general danger of the mountain journey, it was fairly safe. The only exception were a pair of brief fights, once against bulky humanoids made of ice, and the second time against dragons again made of ice. But they were both very easy foes, and were dispatched in a matter of moments. But Tsine was nervous. It was as if something was testing them…


Meanwhile, another story began over a thousand years ago. In a noble and heroic kingdom that once was at this exact same spot long ago before the dark moons, Grockith lived. He was a hero of the time, and himself was a half-dragon. He was a holy knight for his god, a paladine (as it was spelled at the time,) of the highest order, and struck fear in the hearts of his enemies with a rhinoceros steed. However, shortly after the problems began as the two evil beings rose to power, he decided to go on a quest to learn how to stop them. He soon found himself speaking to a plain-looking man, much like the one the party was going to meet, and who told him that TIE would meet with him, but soon, and that he could wait here until it was time. He then waited a little while, until he was instructed that it was time to pass the first test now that he had some new allies that could help him actually succeed. He was teleported out to begin the test, unaware that TIE was having a little fun with him, and that he had been waiting for over a thousand years! Though he had some idea when he noticed how cold and dark it was.


Meanwhile, the party had reached the mountain, where the blue-hued man was waiting for him. He looked them over, and spoke to them, “My master is in fact ready to speak to you. However, before you can meet TIE,” which caused everyone to suffer more headaches, “You must pass a number of tests. The first one is simple: you must defeat me. Do not worry, I have been instructed not to threaten your lives, though some of the later tests will be dangerous. Also, before we begin, you must meet one last ally, who has been waiting here for a long time to receive the help he needed to pass the tests himself.”

With that, Grockith and his mount appeared out of thin air, and after some initial confusion, both groups realized the other was here to help. With that, the test began!

Robin started with a volley of arrows, but the man was far more dexterous than he appeared, and his skin was like iron. Thorrun began to prepare defensive magic, while Tsine and Tal hurled more offensive spells at him. However, before the fight started, Tsine noticed that the man’s skin turned from blue to red, and realized that this might mean he developed a resistance to fire. He switched over to his less powerful lightning magic, which nonetheless had a powerful effect. Strangely, though, the man didn’t bleed when injured. Instead, where he was wounded, his body began to turn blurry and indistinct.

The more combat-related members of the party didn’t have the time to worry about such things, however, and Fnipper, Grockith, and Galeron charged the man. However, only Grockith and Fnipper could even reach him before he disappeared. Fnipper noticed before the man vanished that even though he was able to stab the strange creature, he didn’t find any actual organs inside!

The party wandered around confused for a moment, before a red ball suddenly landed among them, and exploded in a blast of incredibly painful fire, which somehow left no serious injuries on any of them! The guardian was standing on the mountain, and it looked like he was invisible! Tal quickly sent his familiar, a pseudodragon named Violet known for her ability to see invisible creatures, up to find him, and then saw through her eyes to continue firing at him. He was rewarded by another blast of subduing flames, and then a volley of energy missiles which had an equally painful effect. Oddly, he saw through Violet’s eyes that the man was creating these effects out of strange metal tubes that emerged out of nowhere from his body!

By now, Thorrun finished a spell that let some of the party see invisible creatures, and Robin joined in the distance attack with his bow, while Tebryn tried to dispel the magical effects on his foe. Surprisingly, nothing happened, as if all the strange powers the man had weren’t even magical! They were in for another surprise when the man realized this attack was failing, and teleported in front of Grockith. Instantly, he set upon the surprised warrior with a pair of blades, and attacked the poor paladine a half/dozen times in a matter of moments. Before he even knew what was happening, the unfortunate warrior was reduced from perfect health to being barely able to stand! Fortunately, the attacks once again were painful and disorientating, but not deadly.

Now that he was again among the party, the strange man was soon set upon by a half-dozen trained warriors. Between the party’s many spells and attacks, he soon was defeated, but even this was a strange effect. He didn’t so much die as completely disintegrate. Fnipper thought he saw a strange shimmer where the man once stood, but before he could warn the others, the shimmer was gone. No sooner did the man “die,” than the path opened for the party. In fact, the entire mountain rumbled as it partially split open, leaving a dark tunnel! Cautiously, the party entered, ready for their next test.

OOC Notes: Lots of stuff for this update. Grockith is a new player, though a short-lived one. He was mostly there to replace Dane’s player, who had to leave the group for time reasons. And yes, he did pronounce it “paladine,” and we never really learned why. We soon learned that wasn’t the only odd variant he brought to paladins, either.

TIE is a major figure in both this campaign and my other ideas. It also was the cause of one of the major running jokes of the campaign. Whenever the name was used from this point on, at least one person would hold his or her head in mock pain, much like the characters suffered the first few times they heard the name in this game.

The guardian was actually a NAHULI, a creature of my own creation. Essentially, it’s a person made of a swarm of advanced nanomachines, which let him change his body into almost any shape, letting him changes his abilities and defenses on a round by round basis. It was a pretty good fight, despite the non-lethal nature of it.

 

[LordVyreth]

The ol' Switcheroo

Tal sighed. “Okay, let’s try this again…”

He had been trying to explain where they were to Grockith, but he doesn’t seem to be getting it. At the end of the tunnel, there was nothing but a well-furnished room, with a wooden motif that seemed totally out of place with the mountain they were supposedly inside. Tsine, Thorrun, Tebryn, and Galeron were investigating the books of a nearby bookshelf, Robin was napping, and Fnipper was repeatedly stealing some of the many art decorations of the room, running back down the tunnel, and returning disappointed after all the decorations somehow teleported back into the room. This let Tal with the unfortunate task of explaining things to Grockith. Tal had figured out that he was from an earlier time fairly quickly after Grockith explained how he got here, but Grockith was clearly having trouble with the issue.

“I’m afraid Tal is telling the truth, Grockith. You have been waiting here for over a thousands years, I’m afraid,” a mysterious voice said from the middle of the room. Everyone turned as one, and saw the guardian standing there. His skin was now a normal hue, and he didn’t look like he had a scratch on him.

“But how? It barely felt like a few days.”

“Merely the master’s powers at work.”

Grockith finally looked like caught up, but the shock of it had hit him suddenly. “But that means everyone I know is dead! My friends, my family, the very kingdom I came here to save! Why would you do this to me?”

The guardian continued to show no emotion, and simply responded, “You did agree to wait a while for a chance to speak to the master.”

“A thousand years is a while?”

“It’s barely an eye blink to my master, I assure you. Now, maybe you can get some help from my master about this, but you must speak to him first. And to do that, you must finish the test.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Tebryn, who also wanted some answers about why he was stuck on this plane, asked.

“Why, use that door,” the guardian replied, and pointed at a door that wasn’t there a few seconds ago. “You may rest here as long as you like first, but as soon as you pass through the door, the test will begin immediately.

After taking a night to recover from the injuries and spells lost in the battle with the guardian, the party prepared to cautiously go through the door, with Fnipper and Grockith taking the lead; Fnipper for his scouting ability, and Grockith because he really wanted to kill something at this point to a degree that paladins really shouldn’t want to kill something.

The room they entered looked like the interior of a castle. In fact, it looked like a bedroom, but the décor suggested the owner wasn’t the most pleasant person. The entire area was very dark, with only a few candles lighting the entire room. There was an unlit fireplace, black curtains on the walls, blood red carpeting and most ominously, a wooden coffin where the bed should be. Fnipper and Grockith were coming to the obvious conclusion about the room’s owner when Tebryn pushed his way in after getting impatient.

“A vampire, eh,” Tebryn comments, having grasped the situation almost instantly. “Okay, Fnipper, you get ready to attack. Grockith, you move to the side and prepare to charge with your…mount, and I’ll ambush him with a fireball. If he survives the fireball, you two attack, okay?”

The other two nodded, and took their positions. Both tensed as Tebryn tossed a fireball, destroying was apparently a very empty coffin. Suddenly, Grockith was pelted by arrows from the real enemy, who had been hiding behind the curtain. However, despite being totally unaware of the attack, his thick armor and hide blocked all the arrows. The three warriors whirled around to face their new foe…

And realized too late that it was a medusa. Tebryn, who was waiting by the door, was out of range of her potent attacks, and Grockith was able to resist the power of her gaze, but Fnipper wasn’t so lucky. He barely had time to utter a few choice gnomish curse words before turning into a statue!

Realizing what this enemy is capable of, Tebryn summoned a sphere of darkness around him, which proved problematic when the rest of the group arrived moments later. Galeron, Tal, Tsine, and Robin prepared to leave the sphere as carefully as possible, but Thorrun was still stuck in the sphere when everyone left, and because the rest of the group was busy fighting, he spent the entire fight wandering in circles in the dark!

However, it wasn’t a very hard fight at this point, now that everyone knew what their enemy was. The entire group quickly scattered while trying to avoid both the darkness and her devastating gaze, and attacked her en masse with missile weapons and magic. She was clearly trained at defensive maneuvers, for she easily and completely dodged Tebryn’s fireballs and Tsine’s lightning bolts, but the volley of arrows and Tal’s magic missiles finished her off quickly enough anyway.

As soon as she was defeated, a doorway appeared in the far wall. But before the party went through it, they of course had to deal with Fnipper. “Can’t you do anything?” Tal pleaded with Galeron.

“Nothing orthodox. I’m not prepared to handle the incredible divine energies needed to restore a petrified being back into the flesh. But perhaps I can cure him with a more all-purpose spell? I have one that can break any enchantment placed upon a being, but it will be difficult.”

Nonetheless, he tried his best, but failed. Fortunately, Thorrun also knew that spell, and he was able to restore the now very confused gnome back to his true form. The elated party traveled through the second door, and this time everyone went through more or less as once.

Surprisingly, the area beyond the doorway had nothing to do with the earlier location. They appeared to be in a sunny hillside garden, covered with beautiful trees, stone artwork, and a giant reflecting pool at the other side of the forest. The only suspicious object they saw was a strange pile of dust located near where they entered from. As soon as they entered, the pool began to ripple, and then turned into a portal.

This was puzzling. Had they finished this test already? Suspicious, Fnipper took point, and carefully began to cross the garden, this time ready for any enemy that might appear. However, once the rest of the party began to follow, they were suddenly stopped by a strange force that clearly wasn’t there when Fnipper crossed. They began to feel around the wall, and found it had enclosed them on all four sides! Even worse, as soon as they realized this, Fnipper and the rest of the party were simultaneously attacked! Fnipper was caught at point-blank by a force of overwhelming goodness, manifested in one simple word! The rather amoral Fnipper was unprepared for it, and began to stagger around, blinded and deafened by the experience. Despite this, he still knew which direction the portal was, and broke into a run for it. The rest of the party, meanwhile, was struck by a cone or prismatic energy! Robin was almost electrocuted by the cone, and Tebryn was almost teleported to another plane, but the rest of the party was lucky enough to get through with only minor burns or corrosive wounds.

They realized they had to get out of there quickly, but no sooner did they begin to make plans, then yet another magical attack got them! This time, it was a pair of strange lions, which seemed to glow with a holy energy. Finally fed up, Robin, Tebryn, Tsine, and Tal used magic or their natural climbing and jumping abilities to scale the wall, while Galeron, Thorrun, and Grockith made short work of the lions. Another trio of lions appeared on the other side and tried to attack Fnipper, but he didn’t even seem to notice, which was just as well as the lions’ attacks went right through them. They were obviously illusions, but Fnipper’s current condition ironically made him unable to even recognize the threat!

Finally, he managed to reach the pool, though even that was well-guarded. A nearby tree fired a lightning beam at him, which he expertly evaded despite his total inability to even see it. Robin, Tebryn, Tsine, and Tal weren’t so lucky, as parts of the lightning curved around and hit them! Fnipper didn’t seem to notice or care, and continued his run. As he neared the pool, he evaded a giant saw blade that also appeared out of nowhere, and again despite having any way to know it was there beyond a few vibrations in the air and his own finely-honed danger sense. He narrowly dodged a beam of life-draining light as he dove into the pool, safe.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group wasn’t doing so well. The group trapped inside the walls didn’t have any more threats, but they still had to get out of the box, which took the strength and general height of Grockith and his rhino to easily perform. Meanwhile, the illusionary lions vanished almost as quickly as they appeared, but they were replaced with a strange man whose lower body was made of nothing but clouds. He saw the party, and immediately transformed into a whirlwind before attacking them! This caught the unfortunate Tebryn, but as he struggled to escape, the rest of the party fired on the living whirlwind until it safely dissipated, and the group was able to collectively escape. Well, they were able to escape a few minutes later, once the saw blade over the pool finally vanished.

OOC Notes: Ah, I love magical traps. The party was convinced that they were under attack by invisible enemies. But that happens next game…

It was a mixed game for Fnipper. On one hand, he was blinded, deafened, and turned to stone in one day. On the other, he was perfectly dodging traps while totally unaware of their presence, which has to count for something.

Oh, did you figure out how the challenges in this thing are set up yet? Here’s a hint: think about the dust pile in the garden.

 

[LordVyreth]

Campaign in Crisis!

Okay, I just came back from a game, and we're in a serious jam. Two of my oldest players will be moving out within a month or so, and taking a number of other players with them via links, car rides, and such. This will essentially mean the end of the campaign unless we move it to online, which all of us are eager to do, since none of us want such a long campaign to come to such a sudden and depressing end. However, most of us don't have much experience with this sort of thing, so we need some help to get this off the ground. I'll continue my updates for now, but to be honest, if we can't figure out a way to make this work and the campaign ends, I don't know if I could handle further updating the campaign when I know it will have no real ending. So, if you are a fan and want this Story Hour to continue, or just generally want to give me some advice, I appreciate any comments you can add to my advice board in the main page, found here.

 

[LordVyreth]

Fiendish Interlude

Exhausted, the party stumbled into the next area, to find a shivering Fnipper waiting for them. He had long since recovered his sight and hearing, since he was stuck waiting for them for a few minutes. “So, did you figure out where we are now?” Tal asked.

Fnipper shrugged. “I think we’re inside a small cave on the outside of the mountain again.”

“The same one we started from?”

“It looks that way to me, but I barely went to the edge of the cave so far.”

“Well, do you want to check it out for us again?”

Fnipper looked at Tal like he was crazy. “After the last two times I did that here? I’ll pass.”

Grockith sighed and got back on his rhino mount. “Fine, I’ll do it then, but you come right behind me. Forward!”

Grockith and his “steed” bounded forward, and ended up on a mountain path just outside of the cave. He carefully ascended it, and ended up on a much larger ledge about fifty feet up. The rest of the party followed, while using healing magic to recover from the damage they took in the last room. Eventually, the whole group made it to ledge, only to find that the path ended there. As they were planning their next move, the entire ledge suddenly lit up, and Fnipper noticed that there was something slowly winging its way towards the party. Quickly, the party took up defensive positions, and prepared whatever was coming there way. As it got closer, they saw that it was a strange monster with the upper body of a dwarf and the lower body of a giant bat. It neared the party, and announced to them, “Nothing personal, but I have to kill you.” It dawned on Tal, Tsine, and Robin that this was the same thing the orc and dragons that attacked them earlier had said. Before they could respond, however, they were suddenly attacked by more enemies that appeared out of no where!

There was a small humanoid with red claws, a winged monster that was wreathed in flames, and a bulky winged humanoid with a red, glowing third eye. Fnipper’s sharp senses noticed that there was a fourth being in the middle of the other three, but it was invisible and it left again almost immediately.

The party quickly split up to deal with this new threat. Grockith, Galeron, and Thorrun charged towards the little one, which was the closest of the three, while Robin backed into a corner and started firing at the three-eyed one, and Fnipper tumbled into combat with the flaming monster. This left Tal and Tsine to deal with the initial threat, who was getting ever-closer. Tal and Tsine pummeled him with magic, but it wasn’t enough to slow him down. Tal then made the mistake of sending Violet out to attack, since he didn’t own her long enough to know what her real level of strength was. The creature managed to hit, but her poison didn’t even slow the powerful warrior down, and instead it gave the dwarf-bat an easy target. Without even slowing down much, he attacking the unlucky dragon with his axe, causing the dying creature to plummet to the ground far below them! Lucky for her and Tal, she landed in on a smaller ledge just below one the party was fighting on, and didn’t plummet down the entire mountain to certain doom.

While Tal scrambled to help his endangered companion, the fight raged on. Fnipper easily defeated the fiery monster, since he was too agile a target for the slow-moving monster, and though the creature’s flames licked at Fnipper every time he got close, the agile gnome evaded them every time.

Surprisingly, the smaller demon proved to be one of the greatest threats. Grockith, who reached the monster first, certainly had no trouble hitting it, but every time he it, it released a wave of negative energy which slowly sucked the life out of Grockith, Robin, Galeron, and all the rest of his companions that were nearby. Grockith has had years of training as a warrior and easily shrugged off the wounds, but some of the others weren’t as tough, and pleaded with him to stop attacking the creature. Grockith considered this, until he noticed the creature was slowly recovering from the wounds it just received. “We’ll have to kill it eventually,” he thought. “If I don’t do it now, all the damage we took already would be wasted.” So thinking, he continued to attack the monster, killing it, but it died laughing as Grockith and almost all of his friends winced in pain.

Robin wasn’t having an easy time of it, either. Besides the damage he was slowly taking from the small creature’s negative waves, he was cornered by the large monster. Even worse, there was something very strange about the creature’s third eye. Robin tried to avoid looking into it, but as the fight wore one, he soon found himself staring right into it. As he looked at it, he could feel the creature peering right into his very soul, and pulling his life force right out of him…

Suddenly, the nightmare ended, as Fnipper plunged his sword right into the creature’s back and out his chest. All three of his eyes glazed over, leaving Robin drained but alive. However he would need magic before he recovered completely, and those eyes would haunt him in his nightmares for months.

With the rest of the party victorious, the dwarf-bat monster was an easy target. He had been mostly harassing the party’s spell-casters up to this point, but wasn’t able to get close to them and stay close enough to really tear into them. But now Grockith and Fnipper were bearing down on him, and eager to take out their anger on something that didn’t hurt them back whenever it got stabbed. The creature soon died, and plummeted down the mountain to the ground below. Luckily, Violet was still breathing at this point, and Galeron was able to stop the bleeding and bring her back to consciousness.

“What was that all about?” a confused Fnipper asked.

Tal grimaced. “Well, I think that whoever sent that bat-thing after us also sent a pair of dragons at us earlier. I think he’s either hiring mercenaries or forcing them to attack us.”

“And those reinforcement of his were demons, albeit some more obscure variants,” Tsine said, now that he could look back on his old school research with a clear head.

“I bet this is more of Bas’ doing,” Tal grumbled. “She’s worked with all kinds of evil outsiders before.”

“But we can’t do anything about it for now,” Robin admitted. “Hey, maybe we could ask Shekuldellstra when we get back!”

“But where can we go from here?” Grockith asked, before suddenly noticing that another cave opened up at the end of the back. “So, we’re still being tested,” he grumbled.

The party took a few moments to heal their wounds, and prepared for the next challenge.

OOC Notes: I got the Monster Manual 2 right around now, like you couldn’t tell. Hence the use of the Tauric template, and the new demon types. Jovocs are so much fun to use!

Sorry for the small update, but it’s been a hectic weekend what with the Fourth of July and all. Plus, after the events that I mentioned last time, you can imagine I’m not in the most enthused mood about this update anyway.