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

[Lela]

Well, that seems a tad complicated, especially when it's one of my first puzzles. Maybe something a tad easier (for both me and them)?

 

[LordVyreth]

The inevitable killer statue

Rudyard, despite his pessimism, let the charge up the stairs, and was bitten on the way up as a result. But he was able to return the blow, slashing the statue’s neck, and causing a few rocks to crumble off of it. It also proved to be a useful distraction, letting Dane, Raz, Tal, and Quercus up the stairs before the draconic statue could respond. Dane and Quercus engaged the creature up close, while Tal shot an orb of magic at it and Raz fired at it from a distance. However, the dragon responded with a strange breath weapon. It was shaped like a wave, and shone in many different colors at once. Tsine gasped when he saw it, after hearing horror stories about such things, but was relieved when he thought about it for a moment, and realized it wasn’t a prismatic effect. The end results weren’t much better, though. Rudyard was blasted by a sonic force, which cut deep into his skin, giving him multiple lacerations. Dane felt like his whole body was trying to pull itself apart, and it was only the most intense effort of will that kept him together. Raz suddenly fell through the floor, and ended up back at the bottom of the stairs, and Quercus disappeared completely. Only Tal was unaffected, which broke his streak of bad luck. At the same time, a book flew out of one of the bookshelves in the room, floated over the dragon, and opened all by itself. A strange, transparent image of an archer materialized above it, and it fired at Rudyard, giving him another nasty wound. Tsine realized that things were getting serious, and let loose with a new spell he just mastered, shooting a bolt of lighting at and through the dragon. Rudyard got his own revenge by slashing at the dragon, while Flix impressively tumbled up the stairs, leapt onto the dragon’s back, and plunged his sword into the dragon’s back. It roared at him and tried to bite the tiny target, but before he could get the chance, Dane neatly sliced the dragon’s head off, causing the entire thing to crumble into a pile of rocks.

While Quercus was healing Rudyard, the rest of the party was looking for Quercus, only to have him appear exactly where he was standing moments later. He immediately prepared to attack the dragon, before realizing the dragon was already destroyed. He looked extremely confused, like he lost all the time he was gone, or just jumped into the future. Regardless, the party noticed that the light was, in fact, revealing another part of the shaft. Another clue could be read in the area around where the light was striking, but most of the shaft more than a few feet away from the light was still shrouded in darkness.

He was also betrayed as he betrayed.
The invader’s magic caught him by surprise,
But at least the mage tried to preserve the books, for the fireball he used damaged None of them.
The knight was knocked out by the blast, then his throat was slit where he lay.

Tsine snorted. “Well, that’s easy. Just find a statue that can be hit by a fireball without damaging any of the books. And if it also has a neck wound, we can be certain.”

It only took a matter of minutes for Tsine to figure out the next statue, and as expected, more secret passages opened. The observation room’s south wall opened up, connecting it to the second floor of the library. Another passageway opened up on the fifth floor, but before exploring that, Flix eagerly dashed back to the elevator, only to return to the party disappointed. “None of the other buttons lit up this time.”

Tal tried to look sympathetic. “Well, maybe we can check the other floors again. Something might have opened up on one of them.”

Quercus groaned. “Maybe we should wait on that. I’m almost out of spells, and I think Tsine is too.” Tsine nodded his agreement.

Tal pondered this for a moment. “Yeah, I agree. I almost am out of magic as well. But before we go, we have to make sure we didn’t do anything to alert the staff of what we did here.”

All they could find, besides the swords of course, were some rocks from the dragon statue that rolled into the library after the secret passageway in that room opened, so they took a few minutes to gather those and toss them back into the observation room before removing the swords and leaving for the night.

A few hours later, a dark figured entered the library, and smiled. The party was doing surprisingly well so far. Well, for mortals anyway….

OOT Notes: The dragon in this fight is yet another creature I made up. It was called, appropriately yet embarrassingly titled a Book Wyrm. I always enjoyed these creatures, especially its weird breath weapon, but whenever I used one, it had a tendency to die too quickly. As always, I’d be happy to share the creature with anyone who wants to take a look at it. It has a CR 8, and unlike my last two monsters, it has been updated for 3.5 already.

 

[Lela]

Hmmmm, that is an interesting Breath Weapon. Could you throw that one my way?

 

[LordVyreth]

Water, Water, Everywhere...

The next day, the party decided to start by humoring Flix, and try the two basements they can already reach. Surprisingly, they found a new passageway leading north. Before exploring it, though, Quercus pointed to the machine. “Since we’re already here, I might as well take another look at the machine. I prepared magic that will help me understand it this morning.”

The machine was apparently a giant pump, if the writing could be trusted. It could be turned on by the switch, but it warns that the pump can’t be turned off here once turned off, and if the pump isn’t disabled at the pump release console before it reaches the end of the “overload” level, it could be destroyed! After explaining all of this to the party, Flix nodded thoughtfully and then said, “Let’s turn it on!”

One shocked silence later, Raz quietly said, “Um, I vote we wait until we could find this pump release thing first, so we don’t pump thousands of gallons of water to some unknown place very close to hundreds of priceless books and then destroy the whole thing.”

“I think I agree with the second idea,” Tsine commented, and everyone else also concurred.

Rudyard turned and went to the head of the group, as he explained his plan. “Well then, let’s investigate the new passageway on this level, and maybe we can find something related over there. I’ll take point; I don’t want any more monsters surprising us the way the elementals and machine things did.” He then began traveling through the new passage, and immediately walked into the solid block of ooze. I really should stop leading the way, Rudyard thought as the acid began to eat into his flesh.

Realizing quickly that things are going very wrong, Dane stepped up and slashed at the now-obvious cube, while carefully avoiding Rudyard with his sword. Meanwhile, Tale fired a ball of magic at the creature, and Rudyard tried to escape the blob, but felt something flooding his body as he moved. He suddenly felt very numb, as if his limbs were made out of rubber, and his movement stopped. Meanwhile, the cube charged toward Dane, who considered attacking it first but wisely chose to dive out the way instead. Suddenly very concerned after seeing his friend stop moving, Flix tumbled in to slash at the creature, while Raz took careful aim and fired into the creature, right past Rudyard, and then through the other side. It was a telling blow, which nearly de-stabilized the creature immediately. Quercus moved up next, and with one careful slash, it was destroyed, and Rudyard was free, though still unable to move for another couple of minutes.

The room beyond the cube was another metal one. It has dozens of mirrors, and a number of holes in the walls and ceiling. There was also one right in the middle of the floor, and a corresponding hole in the ceiling. “So, what do you think this is for?” Tal asked.

Suddenly, Tsine looked thoughtful. “Wait here, I have an idea.” He dashed out of the room, and a minute later, he could be heard shouting up from the hole in the floor. “Can you hear me?”

Quercus bent down to the hole. “Where are you?”

“I’m in the light generating room. It’s right below the room you guys are at now! I have an idea, but close your eyes and look away from the hole first!”

The party obeyed, and were glad they did when the light burst from the machine blasted up through the floor and then into the ceiling. Even with their eyes closed, they could see a little bit of the light.

“I think I know what this room is for!” Tsine continued. “We can use these mirrors to redirect the light someplace else. Someone go back to the window room, and someone else go to the library. We can see if the light turns on somewhere else from there. And we can get someone fast to run the messages.”

Dane chose to go back to the library with Flix, while Tal and Rudyard went to the window room. Quercus elected to run messenger service, while Raz moved the mirrors. It took a lot of exploring and trial and error, but they figured out what a few of the other paths of the light were. One appeared from some grating at the bottom of the metal shaft, the second had no apparent effect, the third shot through the library itself, from a crack in a wall into the room with the batteries and fountain, and the fourth also appeared in the dark shaft with the first two clues, but it only illuminated a blank wall. The fifth shot straight across the third floor of the library, and the final one proved useful, for it revealed the forth clue, which was also in the dark shaft.

In the end, the merciless invaders spared nothing.
They even flooded the library with acid somehow, destroying much.
The cowardly guard knew of this, and stood to avoid the flood,
But it did no good, for he was stabbed in the back while he watched his comrades Die.

After reading the clue, the group converged. Raz looked especially worried. “We have to flood the library to figure this one out? We can’t do that!”

Tsine looked around the library. “Well, it might not be too bad,” he said. “Look at the book shelves; they all have protective screens at their tops, as if to prevent the books from being damaged in case this exactly sort of thing would happen. I guess they learned from the event this clue pointed out.”

Raz didn’t look too appeased. “Can’t we just try to figure it out by the layout of the library?”

They tried that, but the ramps and wooden floors of the library were so full of odd bumps, curves, and cracks that it looked impossible. They finally resigned themselves to the more desperate tactic, but the question was still how. There was always the pump of course, but they haven’t found the release valve for it yet. But there still was the last new passage on the fifth floor, so they decided to investigate that first.

They found a staircase up behind this passage, which effectively took them above the top floor of the library. There was a pair of switches here. Quercus translated the writing by them to learn that one switch was used to empty the reservoir after the pump was finished, and the second was designed to turn off the pump once the reservoir was full. However, there was some sort of black screen in front of the switches, preventing the party from reaching them. Quercus identified it as a negative energy field, which he could potentially disable by channeling positive energy. He promised to disable it, while the rest of the party went down to the pump room to activate it. Quercus got ready to channel the energy. However, because he could only temporarily disable it, he had to wait for just the right time to start. He watched the machinery carefully, and the identical color arc that it had. When it entered the yellow area, he quietly raised his holy symbol, and shouted as loud as he could and as much as he could in praise of Bha-Ael. The room glowed with an effervescent light, and after a few moments, an exhausted Quercus was relieved to see the screen was gone. He quickly shut off the pump. A minute later, the rest of the party arrived, and had to make a quick decision. “So, do we release the water now, even though we don’t really know where it will go?” Tal asked.

Flix nodded, and even Raz seemed excited to try it out. “Look,” Raz began, “We have know by now that somebody was planning this challenge for a long time. Whoever he, she, it or they are, it has to be expected that we can actually solve the riddles without damage to the library. We have no choice if we actually want to find the truth.”

The others agreed, and Quercus flipped the switch. There was a rumble below them, and everyone else hurried down the stairs to see a cascade of water rush into the room from out of a hole in the mural. Quercus, suddenly panicking about the whole scenario, turned off the cascade while the reservoir was still half-full, but that was enough. Unfortunately, some stuff also fell out with the water, including some small treasure, but also a pair of filthy tentacle monsters. But there were no real threat to the party, since they were trapped on a pair of the platforms, letting the party easily pick them off from a distance with arrows and ranged spells before they could get near enough to actually hit someone. They also looked a little disorientated, like the bath they were just subjected to was a new and entirely unpleasant experience. After they were destroyed and the treasure was gathered, the party easily identified the correct statue as the only completely dry one, and Raz especially was relieved to see the books were all unharmed.

After placing the fourth blade in the correct statue, another secret passageway appeared in the south wall of the fourth floor. “Let’s check to see if more passageways opened up below us!” Flix yelled happily, and dashed to the elevator.

“What’s with you and that elevator, anyway?” Raz asked, annoyed.

“I…just think it’s neat.” Flix said, while looking a little confused and crestfallen.

Tal took over the discussion. “Let’s use the elevator first. After all, it helped us last time.”

Quercus agreed, but looked worried. “Let’s try to finish up earlier tonight. Most of the water drained away in the grating underneath that shaft, but it’ll take us a while to clean up the puddles and damp floors anyway!

OOC Notes: The two fights in this game went pretty much here as they did in the original. Nobody did spot the cube until it was too late, and the otyghs died extremely quickly. To be fair, though, I expected them to use all the water in the reservoir, and two more otyghs would have fallen out if they did. That also meant that only about half of the treasure fell out, so it’s a plus and a minus for the party. Oh and to help out Lela, and anyone else who might be interested:

Book Wyrm
Huge Construct
Hit Dice: 10d10+40 (95 hp)
Initiative: -1 (-1 Dex)
Speed: 30 ft.
AC: 17 (-2 Size, -1 Dex, +10 Natural, 7 touch, 17 flat-footed)
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/22
Space/Reach: 15/10 feet
Attack: Bite +12 (1d6+7,)
Full Attack: Bite +12 (1d6+7,) 2 Claws +7 (1d4+3)
SA: Metaphysical Breath Weapon, Fiction to Fact
SQ: Construct, Fast Healing 2
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +3
Abilities: Str 25, Dex 8, Con -
Int -, Wis 11, Cha 1
Climate/Terrain: Any land or underground
Organization: Solitary or gang (2-4)
Challenge Rating: 8
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 15-16 HD (Huge) 17-34 (Gargantuan)

Book Wyrms are a kind of specialized golem that are often used to guard places of great knowledge, especially libraries. They resembled large, stone dragons, and even have a breath weapon, like the famous creatures that they share a likeness to.

Combat:
Book Wyrms are mindless fighters, but will never intentionally damage its immediate surroundings, as it often is constructed for the sole purpose of guarding delicate objects like books. It usually starts combat with its Fiction to Fact power, and re-uses that power whenever the current book is destroyed. Otherwise, it uses its deadly melee attacks or breath weapon.
Metaphysical Breath Weapon(Su): The Book Wyrm’s breath weapon is a line of energy thirty feet long. The energy is multicolored, and affects incorporeal and ethereal creatures as easily as material ones, but it only affects living beings. The energy itself is a constantly shifting force of chaos, that forcefully rips the target away from part of reality. For every person in the breaths area of effect, roll 1d8 and consult the table below to see what effect the breath has. All saves are at DC 15 (10+half the creature’s hit dice.)
1. A sonic pulse rips apart the character’s molecular bonds. Damage is 5d6 points of damage, with a Reflex save for half.
2. The character’s body tries to forcefully rip itself apart. The damage is again 5d6 points of damage, but a Fortitude save negates the effect.
3. The character must make a Will Save or be temporarily lost to time. They are sent 1d4 rounds into the future, where they reappear at the exact point they vanished at. If that area is now filled with a solid object, they are trapped until that area is again open.
4. The character loses connect to the magical flow of energy for a moment, effectively having a Dispel Magic spell as cast by a 5th level sorcerer cast on them.
5. The character loses connection with his or her mental energy. They have to make a Will Save or be under the effects of a confusion spell. The duration is 5 rounds.
6. If the character fails a Fortitude save, he or she disconnects with spatial boundaries, and immediately falls through the new incorporeal floor. This only lasts for a moment, long enough to drop the character down one floor, and take falling damage as normal. If there is not floors below the character, they are immediately shunted back upwards when they return to normal space, but take 3d6 points of damage.
7. The character has to make a Will Save or be unaffected by gravity for 1d4 rounds.
8. The energy is in a state of flux when it hit the character, so the character suffers no effect.
Fiction to Fact (Su): As a standard action, the Book Wyrm can pull any book that is within five feet of it to its body, then materialize something from the book. This item then works under the command of the Book Wyrm each turn. It lasts until the book or the construct is destroyed, or until dispelled. The effect can be determined randomly using this table, or it can be created based on the situation, but the attacking item can’t be of a CR that is higher than half that of the Book Wyrm, rounded down. To use the table, roll 1d10.
1. A fighter swings a sword at a melee target (+8 to hit, 1d10+3 damage.)
2. An archer fires an arrow at a ranged target (+8 to hit, 1d8+2 damage.)
3. A wizard casts a random 2nd level arcane spell (DC 15 where applicable.)
4. A wyrmling dragon of a random color breathes at the nearest character, but won’t attack it its breath would damage an unattended inanimate object.
5. A spider bites a melee target (+4, 1d8+3 damage, poison is DC 13, 1d6 Str/1d6 Str.)
6. An Aristocratic noble issues a command, as the 1st level divine spell, at one target within 20 feet. (DC 14, duration is one round.)
7-10. Only numerical information is in the book. These numbers fly around the Book Wyrm, giving it a +2 bonus to attacks, AC, damage, and saves.

 

[LordVyreth]

A fall avoided, and a fall unavoidable

The elevator did have a few new options, sort of. The “B3” button was lit, and on the second basement, the hallway extended far past the light-generating room, and went down a ramp to reach the third basement’s depth as well. It appeared that this floor was made out of a kind of gem that is worthless to sell, but nonetheless very strong. However, both routes ended in dead ends, and as far as the party could tell, the hallway from basement two and the hallway that the elevator opened into from basement three were right next to each other when they ended. Fortunately, there was one clue at the end of the hallways. There were tiny holes at the far wall of both hallways, and the party could peek into the next room from there. It looked huge, and dark, but since none of them had darkvision, they couldn’t make out much for than that. However, there was some writing on the floor, in some sort of glowing substance. It looked like the fifth clue.

The next traitor tried to avoid combat entirely.
He waited away from the battle, but a strange light in the ceiling caught his eye.
He looked up, and as the light caught his eye, it proved to be the perfect target for One of the invaders’ arrows.

“I bet that light generator has something to do with this!” Tsine pondered. “And the mirror room as well. But none of the holes seemed to get especially close to one of the armors.”

“Well, maybe we’re missing something,” Raz suggested. “What about that new path on the fourth floor? Let’s check it out before we try to figure this out.”

A few minutes later, the party was about to travel down the new path behind this passageway, which turned left and started climbing almost immediately, bringing the party level to the fifth floor and then higher still. Their journey was only interrupted once, when a horrendous wailing came from out of nowhere. “It’s some sort of magical trap!” Flix yelled at the top of his lungs! “But I don’t know if I can disable it now that it started!”

“Let me handle it!” Quercus replied, and he willed himself to ignore the pain he was feeling long enough to cast a spell. Suddenly, the hallway was enveloped in total silence. Flix tried to thank him, only to realize he couldn’t talk either. The group had a silent laugh about it, and then climbed to the top of the path.

They appeared to be over the entire library again, and possibly very near the pump release room. There were some holes in the floor, which corresponded to dark spots in the mural below. There was also another mirror, a lever on the wall, and what was very obviously a trap door right below the lever. Raz pondered this, and quickly said to the party, “Wait here, I want to check something out.” He dashed out of the room, and a minute later returned. “As I expected,” he said. “That trap door is right above the central support of the library. If this trap door opens above a hollow spot inside it, who knows how far down it goes?”

“Let me check it out, “ Tal said, and used magic to pull the lever from a distance. The trapdoor opened, as expected, and Rudyard and Flix leaned over it to get a better look. Wisely, neither of them actually stuck their heads into the hole, since the trap door slammed shut moments later.

“I couldn’t see a bottom,” Rudyard told the others. “And there is some sort of goo on the walls. I wouldn’t recommend climbing or flying down. You could get stuck in the goo, Quercus, and then fall and hit the bottom before you would free your wings.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. This mirror should give us our answer. I’ll adjust it. Quercus, you can get to the light room fastest, so you go down there to turn it on. Drop Flix off on the way, and he can take the elevator to the mirror room. Everyone else, go into the main library, and let me know if you see anything.” Tsine finished explaining his plan, and everyone left to get ready for their tasks.

A few minutes later, a light shone into the new room out of one of the holes. Tsine sprung into action, and started adjusting the mirror to shine in each of the other holes in the floor. He stopped when he heard Dane shout, “I think I found it!”

The party converged on him, and he was pointing to a suit of armor. “The light shone right where the visor is pointing, and there’s a large gash in the visor where the eyes would be. It has to be this one.” When Dane finished his story, Tal took the fifth sword and plunged it into the armor, causing two more passages to open on the first floor. Excited, the party went down to investigate, only to stop in horror as they got close, for out of the passages, another two of the stone dragons appeared! Quickly, the party prepared for another fight. Remembering well the dragons’ unusual breath weapons, they elected to spread out a bit this time. Raz held back, and began shooting at one of the monsters, while Quercus flew in, sword in hand, but the dragon he attacked was prepared for him, and bit him in the leg as he flew in. He returned the favor, though, with interest. Meanwhile, Flix tumbled in between the dragons, and took advantage of the first dragon’s momentary distraction to drive his sword into the creature’s neck. Of course, as a statue, the monster had no real need for an uninjured neck, but the hunk of rock he took off slowed it down regardless. Rudyard drew his sword and charged the second dragon, narrowly evading being damaged himself as he leapt at the dragon, slicing at its rock hide with his sword. Tal chose to stay in back, and launched a magic missile at the second dragon to help Rudyard out, while Tsine launched a bolt of electricity at the first dragon. However, it was their turn to respond now. One book wyrm breathed on Tal and a slow-to-react Dane, while the other breathed on Rudyard. In addition, books surrounded both of them, with numbers materializing out of the second dragon’s book, and a warrior out of the first. The armored fighter swung a sword at Flix, catching him with a minor but painful gash to the foot. Meanwhile, Rudyard suddenly began to stumble around, suddenly confused, while Tal felt something strip away his magical powers, but fortunately he didn’t have anything up and running at the time. Finally, Dane was ready to get revenge. He began to charge the first dragon, while shouting, “Prepare to diiiiieeeeeaaaaugh!” The last party was actually a terrified scream, for as soon as he took one step, he literally pushed himself off the ground, as if gravity itself lost interest in him! He was send wailing towards the ceiling as the fight continued.

Raz was lucky enough to avoid being caught by either breath, and continued pelting the first dragon with arrows, and Quercus attacked the same foe. Between their attacks and an acidic arrow from Tsine, the first of the dragons fell, but the other was barely injured still. Flix slashed at it and Tal fired more magical orbs at it, but Rudyard did little but stumbled around, confused. The second dragon focused all of its attacks on Flix, leaving the unfortunately little halfling in bad shape. It appeared that the dragon was suddenly faster and more powerful since the numbers started appearing around it. Dane could do little but bounce around the ceiling and yell a lot, but Raz was able to focus his fire on the remaining dragon, just as Quercus flew in to block the dragon, keeping Flix safe. The dragon bit into him as he flew in, but Quercus struck back, and Tal finished the creature off with one more volley of orbs. Rudyard and Dane were both still in trouble, however, at least at first. However, the party was able to deal with Rudyard just by getting out of his way until the confusion wore off. Dane’s problem had a similar solution, but it was hardly a pleasant one for him, as he fell screaming to the ground, landing with a sickening thud. It was time, once again, for Quercus and Tal to perform some healing.

After destroying the dragons, the party investigated both the passages that they came from, but could find nothing. A rudimentary search of the rest of the library revealed nothing either. “Well, let’s try another sweep. I’m sure we can find something this time,” Tsine suggested.

However, Quercus stood up with a disgusted look on his face. “No, I’m getting sick of playing games with whatever joker made this place. I vote we carve out our own solution this time. You with me, Dane?”

“You know it. That last plummet was enough to convince me.” The two fighters began striding purposefully towards the elevator, leaving the rest of the group to catch up.

OOC Notes: I anticipate it being two more updates before I finish this story. With luck, I’ll be done with both by the weekend. Next time, watch as our heroes find an alternate solution to one of the last puzzles!

 

[Lela]

OOC Notes: I anticipate it being two more updates before I finish this story. With luck, I’ll be done with both by the weekend. Next time, watch as our heroes find an alternate solution to one of the last puzzles!

Now that's always fun.

 

[LordVyreth]

The fighter's lock picks

WHAM!!

“Is this really…”

WHAM!!

“I just don’t think we should be doing this…”

WHAM!!

“I mean, I’m sure there’s a real way to do this. We can figure this…”

WHAM!!

“Oh, forget it.”

Tal finally gave up on trying, unsuccessfully, to talk Quercus and Dane out of their latest plan. Finally sick of the puzzles, they had been hacking at one of the walls that lead into the dark room containing the fifth clue for an hour. Finally, the wall could stand no more punishment, and crumbled. Tsine gave them a glance as they prepared to explore. “How did you even know that there is something else in here to find?”

“Well, it’s the only place we didn’t really explore yet,” Dane replied without a hint of hesitation.

The room itself was still almost pitch black, but Quercus easily fixed that now. Once he cast a half dozen light spells, the layout was far easier to determine. It essentially had a deep pit in the middle of the room, with a grating on the floor, and a hole in the ceiling. There was another elevated ledge, like the one the new “door” the party made opened into. That side had a lever and an opening in the east wall. Quercus volunteered to try the lever, which caused a bridge to appear between the two ledges, and opened both the entirety of the wall they destroyed and an opening to the second path. As they walked across the bridge, Tsine looked up and remarked, “I think we’re just above that trap door on the sixth floor. If we had filled this room with water first, I bed someone could have survived the fall.

Dane chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds SO much easier than what we did!”

The path on the other side maintained the crystal motif, but it was brighter somehow, and there was a faint but obvious throbbing noise coming from the walls, like the beating of a strange alien heart. The party eventually led to another crystal room, with a crystalline statue attached to the far wall. As soon as Dane, who was taking point, entered the room, the eyes of the statue glowed ominously. Dane signaled for Flix to check it out, but as soon as he entered the room, three strange monsters appeared out of nowhere! They looked humanoid, but were made out of some strange goo. Flix and Dane were already in the room, and thus the first to react. Flix made a quick thrust at one of the creature’s torsos, but his expert blow was a waste, for the creature had no organs. Dane noticed this as well, and simply used his muscle to slash one in half. Raz and Rudyard burst into the room, and Raz finished off the one that Flix attacked, while Rudyard started attacking the statue itself. Tsine entered next, and used a magic orb volley to destroy the third statue, but as soon as it faded, another one took the place of the first three, and it was larger than the earlier creatures. Realizing that attacking these lesser targets is having no real effect, Tal and Quercus targeted the statue itself when they entered the room, and Flix and Dane did the same when they got the chance. Dane easily shattered the chipped and damaged statue with one blow, causing the last of the ectoplasmic creatures to simply vanish.

Behind the statue was an opening, which led to a tiny alcove. It was empty, except for the sixth and final clue.

The last was not a betrayer, but a betrayed.
His body was controlled magically, forcing him to stand against his comrades.
His armor lies in the lower left of the fifth floor,
And there his soul remains as well.
Stab him where you will, but make sure the blade strikes true in the end.

Raz chuckled. “Well, at least this one is easy to figure out.”

Rudyard groaned. “Yeah, but it sounds like a fight, and I don’t think we’re in good shape to handle it.”

Tal nodded. “I concur. Let’s use the rest of this time to clean this place up, and then finish this tomorrow.”

As they left the third basement, Flix noticed that the crystals darkened, and the beating noise stopped. “Wow,” he thought, I hope that doesn’t mean anything.”

It took a few hours and the rest of their spells, but the water was all cleaned or dried up, and the party returned to their inn one more time, ready to finish their adventure off in the next night. Flix in particular had an interesting night. He had been pondering the decision about his future since he met with the criminal. He finally realized he was meant to use this strange, new power. He could pick up the basics from what he learned from the criminal, but when they have some time free after returning to Delaspie, he’ll have to see what that temple was about.

Meanwhile, in the fourth basement, Kulpathi stirred. How long has it been since he was first captured? There was no way to tell. But it appeared that the effect that has had a hold on him for so long has finally worn off. He looked to his companions, who were also recovering. Kulpathi smiled. It would take some time to get their bearings, but after that, it was time for revenge….

OOC Notes: Tsine pretty much nailed how they were supposed to do the puzzle. I have to admit, in retrospect, it was pretty esoteric.
Anyway, I expect to get through the final update of this plot on Sunday, no matter how long it takes! Well, hopefully, at least. Wish me luck!

 

[Lela]

Good luck!

And what new power is Flix working on?

 

[LordVyreth]

Tome Raider: The Last Revelation

As expected, as soon as Tal stabbed the sixth statue with the final sword, something unpleasant happened. An ethereal voice called out “Who awakens me from my centuries of slumber?” Suddenly, a transparent version of the knight they just stabbed emerged from the statue, and floated above them. However, his helmet wasn’t empty, like the armor’s was. It had a human face in it, and it was twisted in an image of rage and despair.
Flix waited anxiously under the statue, ready to attack a soon as it got closer. Tsine, however, wasn’t willing to wait, and fired a volley of magical missiles into it. Their energy was able to penetrate event he veil of life and death, solidly striking the creature. Quercus was equally impatient, and flew up to meet his opponent. However, his weapon wasn’t as useful, for it passed right through the ghostly figure. The same thing happened to Raz when he fired his arrows into the creature, and then it was the creature’s turn to attack. He drew his sword and struck Quercus with it, and it struck true despite being transparent. Tal followed Tsine’s lead and fired a magical bolt into the being, and Rudyard and Dane drew their bows to fire at the flying opponent, but their arrows also had no effect.
Flix was getting tired of waiting. He drew some daggers, and tossed them into the spectral being, but they also passed right through their opponent. Tsine tried switching to stronger magic, but his acidic arrow passed right through the monster. Quercus was able to get a powerful strike, but the creature struck back, and then fled through the walls to deeper in the library. Tal, Rudyard, Dane, and Flix fired uselessly at the creature, but Tsine finally had enough, and silenced the creature with one last volley of magic. It almost looked thankful as it faded away, and silently whispered, “Finish this, and free me,” as it disappeared.

Quercus flew down to meet the others, and noticed that nothing seemed to open this time. “So, now what?” he asked.

Flix brightened up. “There’s still the ‘B4’ button in the elevator. It has to be lit up now, there’s nothing else left!”

The party piled together again, which proved to be a mistake this time. They had gotten too comfortable in the library, and let their guard down, which they realized just as the bolt of lightning struck all of them. Flix, who was normally able to dodge such things, slipped on the floor as he tried to this time, and was flat on his stomach when the bolt hit him dead on. It not only damaged him immensely, but it shredded his cloak. He stood up in a rage. “I just got that!” he yelled as he looked for his attacker. He soon saw his enemy; a strange creature had just appeared out of thin air in the middle of the library. It had an upper body like a drow elf, but the lower body of a drider. Yelling in rage, he charged the creature, only to miss by inches. Realizing they were an easy prey when together, Tal ran out of the elevator, and fired another magical orb at the creature. It returned the favor, by launching a volley of his own orbs at Flix and Tal. The attack floored poor Flix, and as the others struggled to leave the elevator, it ran up a nearby wall, out of range of easy weapons. Dale left the elevator while drawing his bow, and grazed the creature with an arrow, and Tsine decided to switch to heavier magic, returning the creature’s lightning bolt with one of his own. Raz already had his bow out, peppered the creature with multiple arrows, while Quercus flew up to it and sliced it with is sword. Rudyard finished the creature with one of his own arrows, but though the creature was dead, its very existence was a mystery.

“What WAS that thing?” Flix asked angrily after Quercus healed the worst of his wounds. “How did it get here? We know the entire library above the fourth floor.”

Tal shrugged. “We might find an answer when we explore that floor ourselves. But we should be prepared this time. There’s no telling how many of these things are around.”

This time, the party carefully examined the area before using the elevator. As they explored, Rudyard peeked over the metal shaft. “I found the answer!” he called to the others. “Check a look at that grating. It looks like it was pried open.”

After confirming that there weren’t any more of the spider-things near, they took the elevator down, but went down in smaller groups, which guards around the elevator whenever it went down. After everyone was at the lower level, they continued on. The walls of this floor were made of stone, and were kind of slimy. They were very damp, possibly because of the earlier deluge the party sent down here. The party eventually came to a larger room. Four strange black backs were hanging from the ceiling, but they looked like they were split open. Black pools of a strange sticky fluid were scattered throughout the ground. Of course, the party’s main concerns were the room’s occupants. Another drow-spider was waiting for them at the far side of the room, while a simply giant spider was waiting for them near the entrance. Tal responded to the new threat first, by stepping into the room (to avoid keeping the party clustered again,) and then fired an orb of magic at the spider. Rudyard was prepared as well, and charged at the giant spider. However, by the time he got within striking distance of the creature, the spider was prepared, and bit him as well. The wound was a vicious one, and Rudyard felt his strength being sapped as his muscles burned in pain. Nonetheless, he was able to finish his swing, lightly scratching the creature. Tsine was interested in doing something slightly more useful, and launched another volley of magic and the drow creature in the back. Quercus also focused on the drow, flying around the spider safely while it focused on Rudyard, and slashed into the creature. The drow creature responded by casting a spell. She soon vanished completely, leaving Dane to focus instead on the spider. He caught the creature with a telling blow, but while it was weakened by the attack, it had strength enough to again strike Rudyard, infecting him again with its vile poison. However, it soon fell when Flix tumbled into the room, leapt onto the creature, and stabbed in the back, while Raz fired a number of arrows in the creature’s front.

The party waited anxiously for their other foe to make a move, only to hear more casting. Tsine and Quercus recognized the spell as a healing spell! Realizing they can’t wait for her, Quercus told everyone to prepare, and then cast a spell of his own, which revealed everything hidden by magic. The drow-spider was again a target, and soon fell to the combined might of the party.

The tunnel continued to the east, but the party hesitated. “If these creatures came from those bag things on the ceiling, then we still have two more of them left. Or maybe only one, if the spider came from one of the bags as well,” Tsine explained.

Quercus nodded. “I don’t think we could survive another battle if we get caught unaware again. We should rest up for tonight, and then finish things tomorrow.”

Raz looked shocked. “How can you say that now? We’re so close to the truth! And if we leave now, we’ll lose any element of surprise we might have now.”

His protests fell on deaf ears. Rudyard and Flix in particular were severely wounded, and the rest of the party prepared to leave. Raz followed behind reluctantly, muttering to himself that he can’t put up with creatures so reluctant to find the truth for much longer.

The next night, the party returned, rested and prepared, only to find that the body of the female drow-spider was gone! They carefully approached the east path, only for it to get engulfed in darkness as they got close. Quercus frowned, “This darkness is too strong for most magic to counter.”

Flix chuckled. “No problem,” he said, and he beamed with excitement, literally, as lights emerged from his eyes. As they began to glow, the rest of the party thought they heard a faint scream in their heads for a moment.

Tal was about to ask Flix exactly what he just did, but stopped when he saw how hard Flix was concentrating. “I can ask later, once we solve our bigger problems,” he thought. Only Rudyard had an idea what was going on, since he fought Palfrin earlier. But how did Flix gain such abilities?

At the end of the passageway, they found the body of the drider woman, held in a standing position from a rope. Carefully, Dane took point, and cut the rope, while expecting a trap or something else to appear. Nothing did. Nervously, he and the others stepped over the body, so full of dread that something will happen that they almost wished that whatever it was would appear and get it over with. The party found that beyond the body, there was a narrow stone bridge over a massive pit. The walls of the chamber were forty feet from the bridge, and crisscrossed with so many small holes and tunnels that it looked like an insect hive. It was then that the party got their wish.

The area around the entire front ranks was filled with an inky, black cloud, which was then immediately followed by a fireball. The first cloud was repellent to the party’s more noble members, though it was only slightly chilling to Tal. The fireball was far less discriminating, and when it cleared as well; at least half the party was barely able to walk. The party looked for the source of the attack, and found another drider hiding in one of the holes. He looked maniacally at the party, and laughed. “You fools! You fight Kulpathi, the chosen of Lolth herself! I will make all of you a sacrifice to her name!”

Quercus looked at the creature. There was something strange, even sinister about it. He suddenly realized this was no normal mortal creature. It had the bloodline of a fiend, and perhaps even had one as a parent. This realization came too late, however, for Tsine and Tal already fired their first magical volley. Tsine’s acid arrow struck the creature, but he just grinned as it bubbled harmlessly on his skin. Tal’s magical orb didn’t even reach him; it simply dissipated when it came within a few inches of the monster. He responded by chucking his own acid arrow at Tsine, who gasped as it struck him. The pain was too great for him, after the earlier volley of magic, and he fell to the ground groaning. Meanwhile, Kulpathri wasn’t done. With supernatural speed, he already finished a second spell, which split him into a five identical forms. Rudyard and Leo fired at the creature, but many of their attacks didn’t reach him, and those that hit merely caused some of his forms to dissipate. Rudyard looked at the party’s wizards. “We need flight!” he yelled. “We’ll never be able to hit him from here!”

Flix threw a dagger at the drider, but it also went wide, and he came to the same conclusion. Quercus, meanwhile, wasn’t eager to remain an easy target, and he cast as spell of his own. Immediately, the laughter of Kulpathri stopped, even though he was still trying to laugh. Scowling, the creature retreated deeper into the tunnel. Dane took advantage of the break in the action to drink a potion and heal himself.

Tal could do little, since he couldn’t fly, but he prepared to fire at the creature when it returned. Flix forced a potion down Tsine’s throat, stopping the bleeding, but it wasn’t enough for him to wake up, especially since the acid from Kulpathri’s last attack gave him one last singe before vanishing. Quercus was finally ready to take the fight to Kulpathri. He grabbed Flix and Rudyard, and flew over to the cave that Kulpathri fled down. Dane and Raz, meanwhile, still prepared to strike the creature when it came out. However, when he did return, out of another cave, he ignored the attacks of Tal, Dane, and Raz, and fired a volley of magic orbs at the three. Tal and Dane merely staggered backwards from the blows, but Raz was hit right in the head. Barely standing already, he collapses in a heap. Rudyard and Flix charged through the tunnels, but couldn’t catch up to him. Quercus was in a better situation, though, since he could fly. He yelled to Dane, “Get the wounded out of the area,” and then flew straight at the monster, giving him the first wound of the fight. Dane obliged, and started to drag Tsine and Raz to safety. Tal wasn’t ready to back down, and he fired one last time at the drider. This time his magic missile struck true, but all it did was finish the last of his illusionary doubles off. He growled and carefully cast a spell at Tal, filled the area around him with stinging insects, and then fled down the tunnel, narrowly evading an attack by Quercus on the way. Soon, however, he was surrounded by Quercus from one side and Flix and Rudyard on the other. However, barely anything they could do was able to hit him, as he evaded most of their blows, and his magical armor blocked the rest. He was able to cast a spell that made his attacks more accurate, and used it to claws Flix across the face, sending the unfortunate halfling to the floor yet again. However, this attack was just enough of a distraction for Quercus to land a perfect attack. He slipped his massive blade into Kulpathri’s back, and he looked down on it in amazement, cried out to Lolth one last time, and was silent.

After healing from the almost deadly battle, the party finally crossed the bridge, where they came upon a tiny room. A familiar voice called out to them as they approached. “Well, get in here! It’s about time you finished up. We were getting worried,” Olivia said.

Nervously, the party entered the tiny room, which was filled with metal junk that looked similar to the monsters they fought earlier. Olivia was hunched over a few pieces of it, trying to assemble them into some new form. Without turning or even looking up, Olivia continued when they entered the room. “So, I suppose you’re wondering what all this is about, huh?”

Tal took the initiative. “I guess so. Did you build this dungeon?”

“Yes and no. I mostly just scrapped the pieces together from some of the ruins around here.”

“But how did you find them? How did you accomplish this?”

“Oh, I had my friend help me. She’s interested in meeting you as well, but first we have to get the two hangers-on out of the room. This conversation is only for those who had the dream.” She turned to glare at Flix and Rudyard. Rudyard in particular wanted to protest, but something about the eyes suggested that she was not one to cross. They reluctantly let themselves out.

“Now then, now that that’s out of the way, I’ll summon my friend.” She stood up, and suddenly, something about her changed. She looked the same, but there was something better about her now, as if there was a presence within her.

Quercus figured it out first. “You’re a goddess!”

“Olivia” smiled. “Well, Olivia isn’t. But she is my avatar. And yes, I am one of the Eleven Sisters.”

“You mean twelve, right?” Tal replied.

The being inside Olivia grumbled. “Yes, there are twelve of us. As you might have guessed, the church doesn’t know the whole, official truth. Bas is real, and she is still alive. She has, however, fallen out of the outer planes, and is trapped on this plane. For years, her physical form has been trapped as well, and she was helpless. But about a century ago, either she managed to escape or something helped her get free. She’s still mostly trapped, but she is growing in strength every moment. However, she is not a concern that you can worry about directly just yet. We have something else to worry about for now.”

“Lady Memory?” Raz asked eagerly.

“Precisely.”

Quercus wasn’t ready for that talk just yet, however. “But what about what the books above said? Were you and the other Sisters really created?”

“Olivia” looked troubled, and replied. “Yes and no. It is complicated, and not really something that you are ready for yet. Do not worry. We are real goddesses the same way any other could be. Do not be troubled; your faith has not been misplaced.”

“But what about Lady Memory?” Tsine asked. He among the five had felt the call of her the strongest, and wanted to know more about this potential leader of his.

“Well, I can’t tell you much for now. You see, there are rules even among the gods that must be followed. Too much information cannot be freely given away. However, I am at liberty to give one answer to any question you as a group could pose to me. Before I let you decide what that will be, however, we must discuss other things. I can tell you this. I did not build the first part of this dungeon, including the magic letter gems, the first secret tunnel, or the flying books, nor did I place those books there for you to find. I believe Lady Memory or her servants did so. The Eleven of us decided not to interfere directly with this puzzle that she wanted you to discover. Instead, we decided to create a second test, and talk to you directly. Now then, what is your question?”

The party discussed for only a few moments, but there was no need. They wanted more answers about Lady Memory. The goddess, after hearing this request, responded, “I can answer that as best as I can, but first there is one more test you must pass. I need you to tell me my name.”

This caused confusion, but only for a few moments. Tsine led the argument. “Olivia’s a spell caster, and obviously a hoarder of knowledge, or she never would have become the head librarian. She has to be a worshipper of Ordhari, the goddess of knowledge.” The party conceded to him, and the avatar nodded her approval upon hearing the answer.

“That is correct. I am indeed Ordhari. Now, as for the Lady of Memories, I have to admit with some shame, considering my focus, that I don’t know exactly. Though that alone gives us some clues. She can’t be a mere mortal, if she is hiding her form from the goddesses. She could be another god. One of the old gods is possible, or perhaps a god from another plane, coming to claim or reclaim her standing on this world. It could also be Bas, which is one of the reasons the Eleven of us do not quite trust this Lady Memory. It could also be a being as powerful as a god, but that exists outside of what we know of divinity. Such beings are theoretically possible. Now, that is all I can tell you, but the other avatars are also scattered across the continent. Like me, if you can find them and guess their names, they will also answer a question. There is also one more boon that they and I will provide you with. You know that your earlier memories are scattered, and still lost to you to a degree. We can offer you one memory shard, however slight, of events that you will not remember naturally. I shall grant you mine now.”

Each of the heroes suddenly found himself in an unearthly place. Each was in a state of total contentment, but suddenly they had to leave it for some reason. Suddenly, the memory ended, and the party was back with Ordhari. She continued talking. “Now, I must leave here. But Olivia still has a few issues she’d like to discuss with you. I’ll let her take the floor.”

Olivia “returned” to her body, and began speaking. “Now, I have one last offer for you. I want this place kept a secret, for obvious reasons. I can do my research here without public prying, and I might be kicked out of the library if they discovered this place. They might even close the library down while they excavate all the strange ruins from around here. So I’m willing to offer you 20,000 gold in ‘hush’ money. And as a final reward, I’ll let you keep the six swords you used to get here! They’re not magical by themselves, but they are of good quality. You can get a good price for them.”

The party agreed, and returned to the surface to rest after their long journey. Rudyard prepared to finish training his new mount, and the rest prepared to rest after a long week of adventuring. However, when they returned to the inn, they received a letter. Apparently, Lerissa sent them a note, saying that there are problems at home. She wants them to come back as soon as possible, and even pre-paid for a teleport for them when they are ready!

OOC Notes: Well, that adventure was finally over. The next one should hopefully go up a bit sooner. I don’t have to work on a new adventure for a few weeks at least, so I can focus on this again.

The fight with Kulpathri was about as long and difficult as it sounded. Ah, the days of 3.0 haste. I don’t really miss them that much! The party was really glad to finish him off. Only a few villains gave the party such a long and tough fight since.

Oh, and Lela, I’m sorry I ran out of time for your dungeon. I’ll get it worked out tomorrow or Tuesday. What level of detail are you looking for?

 

[LordVyreth]

The End of the Beginning, part 1

As urgent as Lerissa’s note was, the party still had to finish their preparations before leaving. Dane decided that while he was a loyal Delaspie citizen, this Lady Memory enigma would have to come first, and he formally quit his job at the library to join the group. As usual with Delaspie bureaucracy, this took a few weeks. Just as importantly, Rudyard had to spend some time finishing up his new mounts training, and everyone had to spend some time and money buying new equipment after the windfall of treasure they received in the library. Finally, Tal realized that he wasn’t really in a position to be in a relationship until he quit this hazardous life, so he decided to break things off with White for now. However, when he went to meet her, she had already left, with no word where she was going or even a goodbye to Tal!

Once everything was finished, it was almost a month after they finished their dealings with the library. The party returned to Methosilang using Lerissa’s teleportation spell, and went to look for her, only to find her manor locked and guarded by royal forces! Tal looked incensed. “What is the meaning of this?” He demanded.

The guards looked at him with disinterest. “By order of the royal crown, the noble title of Lerissa Turivain has been temporarily suspended. Her royal manor has been barred from residency until her formal hearing can decide what to do with her.”

“What reason could the crown possibly have to take such a drastic measure? And show some respect! I am of house Moinen, and my friend Tsine here is also of noble birth.”

The guard suddenly straightened up, and his tone of voice became more serious. “She was accused of heresy, good sir. She was trying to convince the populace of an twelfth god that the church was hiding the existence of, and thus inciting a riot among the populace.”

It occurred to Tal that maybe he would have to censor some of his new stories a bit before performing them. “Where can I find her now?”

“She is currently staying at the Fluid Temple,” the guard replied, referring to the human-run temple dedicated to the goddesses that are currently portrayed most often with human avatars. “As a worshipper of Ordhari, she has sought aid from her fellow worshippers.”

The party hurried to meet their friend. She looked in less than perfect condition, but considering they first met her when she was a prisoner, she wasn’t that bad off comparatively. She also had a look of defiance and determination. She greeted the party with a warm but hurried voice. “Ah, I’m glad you finally could arrive. I was worried that something happened to you after you took so long to return. Things have gone badly in Methosilang this past month. Two villages at the very bottom of our sphere of control were attacked by an army of Malefactor drow, and other monsters. The first one was finally ended a week later, when the military finally arrived. Most of the invaders fled as soon as the military came close, so the town was easily retaken, but by then, many townsfolk were killed or taken into slavery. Even worse, almost two weeks later, and during a full moon, many of the survivors suddenly transformed into horrible rat-like monsters. They tried to flee the city, but were killed. However, a second invasion occurred the same day. When we thwarted it three days later, there were no survivors. Everyone was killed or taken away.”

The party was silent for a long moment after her story. Malefactor drow? They haven’t attacked Methosilang in centuries! Many thought they were extinct, or even a myth. But Quercus knew better, after his talk with his half-sister. In fact, hearing about this invasion was already giving him a sick feeling in his stomach, like he knew what was coming. Tsine, however, was the first to speak. “What is the crown saying about this?”

Lerissa spit with contempt. “Bah! They don’t accept the truth. They’re insisting that the malefactors are league with the orcs! That’s absurd; the orcs would never willingly work with elves, whatever type they may be. However, we’ve learned that the invaders are mostly wearing robes, both red and yellow colored, and carry tiny scimitars. We know what that makes them, don’t we? But try telling the royals that! They never found any holy books or other evidence of Bas, so they refuse to believe it. I was warned once to stop spreading what we saw at the temple, and the second time I complained, they stripped me of my title and sent me and my family here!”

“Was all this the reason you sent for us again?” Raz asked.

“Well, no, actually. We got some good news just before the invasions began. We found a defector from the Orc Empire. Fortunately, I was among the group that discovered her, so we were able to keep her prisoner as an official prisoner of the church before the royals could get their hands on her. I sent for you because she was asking for some of you specifically.”

The surprised party was led to another room, where a familiar lizard woman was waiting for them. “Greetingsssss,” the woman hissed. “I believe we did not exchange names the last time we met. I am called Setisth.”

Rudyard recognized her as the lizard woman they captured at the orc camp earlier, and then released. “What are you doing here?”

“I had to flee after what happened to Teggif. You know, the kobold that apparently was the only survivor of your later attack. Well, he was a survivor, at least. He was killed by some human with metal parts attached to him. It looked like the same thing our chieftain suffered from, but this one was in no pain. He slaughtered poor Teggif without mercy. I realized I would be next, but I couldn’t just desert the empire. They would have killed my entire tribe to set an example. I was able to fake my own death, and then flee here, hoping that I could be protected here.”

The party was about to finish the conversation, but an aid walked in, whispered something to Lerissa, and left. Lerissa nodded, and stood up. “We have more concerns, I’m afraid. A third invasion has begun. We can’t afford to let them make fools of us again. Fortunately, I have a plan this time. Since the invaders flee from a direct invasion, I want a party to try sneaking in, or at least do minor damage to their army so they don’t simply run again. The reason these raids have been so successful is because the enemy has been using some sort of magical device that blocks all divination and teleportation magic we try to use to reach the city. This has slowed our armies immensely, as you can imagine. Your goal is to find this magical item, and destroy it. I have used what few contacts I still have to get a retaliatory strike prepared, and all you have to do is alert us when the item is destroyed, and they will teleport in to catch the enemy unprepared. I will give you a scroll with the sending spell to use to contact me when you are finished. Now, your secondary objectives include defeating their leaders, if you can find them and they look like they are within your capacity to fight them, and of course to find any real evidence that these invaders are really cultists of Bas. Just helping the enemy defeat these zealots should help our standing in the city, but if we can prove Bas is a real threat, we might be able to get the kingdom to destroy to this cult before they get much stronger.”

“What do we know about the enemy?” The military-minded Dane asks.

“Well, few specifics. There are a lot of cultists, and possibly more of those were-monsters in their ranks. The Malefactor drow are mostly the ones in the red robes. We have heard reports of a giant bat-like monster that leads their air attacks, but it apparently has the face of a silent, pale-white elf. We also got some information about their leaders. One is a dark-haired man, with yellow spots in his hair. The other is a drow woman, but she is clearly not pure drow. She has horns, red eyes, and wings, and rides a flying, black horse. She has been described by survivors as a brutal woman that begins a fight for any reason, against here enemies or her own servants. The only ones she treats with any respect are the black-haired man, and a drow woman who apparently is a powerful cleric.

Tal, Tsine and Flix gulped nervously after hearing the black-haired spotted man was involved, but Quercus was more interested in the demonic drow. It was as he feared. The Lady of Blood, the one that his sister warned him about, was here, and is another servant of Bas apparently. Between her, the spotted man, and the Nightmare Prince, she had a number of powerful servants already, and that’s just the ones they already know about. Can such a foe even be stopped?

OOC Notes: The session that included this part of the story was not the most well planned one from the party’s perspective. Fortunately, I planned a timeline that describes events based on how long it took the party to arrive, so I knew exactly what has happened up to the point the party arrived. If they arrived much earlier, Lerissa would still be a noblewoman, but if they waited much longer, they would have missed the adventure entirely! Tune in next time when one of their enemies couldn’t even keep a straight face while fighting them! And no, I don’t mean the Tasha spell was used.